And as my
ancestor
Radzi-
?
?
Poland - 1910 - Protestantism in Poland, a Brief Study of its History
Un-
dertake then, I pray, O magnanimous King,
under the auspicious banner of Christ, a work
so worthy of your royal elevation, as well as
of your heroic virtue, so that the eternal truth
of God, by which his own glory and the salva-
tion of men are promoted, may, wherever thy
kingdom spreads, recover its own authority,
which has been taken away by the fraudulent
dealings of antichrist. It is truly an arduous
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
17
work, and of such magnitude as is sufficient to
fill even the wisest with solicitude and fear.
As it is the peculiar work of God, we ought
not in this case to regard the extent of human
powers as the glory due to his power; so
that relying on that not only to help us but
also to guide us, we may venture on things
far beyond our own strength. For the work
of restoring and establishing the Church is not
without reason everywhere assigned in Scrip-
ture to God. The Lord who has himself as it
were by his own hand laid the foundations of
the Church will not suffer it to remain in a
decayed state, for he is represented as solici-
tous to restore it and to repair its ruins; for
by speaking thus, he in effect promises that he
will never fail us when engaged in this work.
As he would not have us sit down as idle
spectators of his power, so the presence of his
aid in sustaining the hands which labor, clearly
proves that he himself is the chief architect.
This one thing is abundantly sufficient, that
we have such an invincible Leader, that the
more he is assailed, the greater will be the vic-
tories and the triumphs gained by his power.
Farewell, invincible King. May the Lord Jesus
rule you by the spirit of wisdom, sustain you
by the spirit of valor, bestow on you all kinds
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? 18 MISSION WOKK AMONG THE POLES
of blessings, long preserve your Majesty in
health and prosperity, and protect your king-
dom. Amen. "
Later, in 1554 he wrote: "When Christ
wishes even his humblest disciples to be like
lamps suspended in a lofty place, that send
out their light to a distance, what does he re-
quire of a king, whom he has placed at the
summit of human dignity, that he might shine
before all others? Remember then, most ex-
cellent King, that a light has been divinely
kindled up for the whole of Poland, which
cannot be kept hidden any longer without
your incurring serious blame. When the battle
that is to be fought here is for the glory of
God in the kingdom of Christ, for the purity
of religious worship, for the salvation of the
human race, such is the excellence of the cause
that it should absorb all vexations in its glory,
and easily surmount all obstacles. When God
asserts that it is his own work to restore his
ruined Church, of which he is the only founder,
we may conclude with certainty that he will
by no means desert us in the moment of need.
Because the enemies of sound doctrine will
strive with all their might to shut the door
against pious and sincere teachers, it would be
necessary that a helping hand should be held
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 19
out to them by your Majesty, in order that
without any restraint they may turn the peo-
ple away from the errors of superstition to the
straight path of piety. "
Nicholas Radziwill, one of the most distin-
guished nobles of Poland, the friend and con-
fidant of King Sigismund Augustus, in 1553
publicly adopted the Reformed doctrines, and
caused to be translated and printed at his own
expense the first Protestant Bible in Poland.
In 1555 Calvin wrote to him: "It is my wish
that the kingdom of Christ should nourish
everywhere, yet at the present moment Poland
deservedly occupies my thoughts with a very
special anxiety. For from the time that the
light of a purer doctrine began to shine upon
it, this happy beginning has at the same time
inflamed my desire with the hopes of a better
progress. Unquestionably you see that it is
a work of immense difficulty to establish the
heavenly reign of God upon earth. You see
with what indifference that cause is treated,
which ought not only to occupy the chief
place among our cares, but even absorb all our
thoughts. "
Again he writes to the King: "Since in
Poland true religion has already begun to
dawn, since many pious and wise men volun-
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? 20 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
tarily aspire after the pure worship of God, I,
whom the King of kings has appointed a
preacher of his gospel and a minister of his
Church, call upon your Majesty in his name to
make this work above all others your especial
care. Your Majesty has far less difficulty to
struggle with than Hezekiah and Josiah, who
had an arduous and severe contest with the
contumacy of their people; whereas in our
days the greater part of the Polish nobility
shows a prompt and cheerful disposition to
embrace the faith of Christ. "
Polish nobles desired Calvin to establish
their Reformation in person; but he recom-
mended the Polish noble and reformer John a
Lasco or Laski in his stead. During that
century there were many eminent representa-
tives of this family in the Church, the council,
and the camp. John Laski, or a Lasco, was
born in 1499, and was educated for the priest-
hood. His travels in Germany, Italy, France,
and Belgium, introduced him to many famous
scholars of the day. In 1524 Zwingli sowed
the first doubt in his mind as to the orthodoxy
of the Eoman Church. The year 1525 he
spent with Erasmus, who had a regard for
him bordering on enthusiasm. D'Aubigne,
speaking of Erasmus as the greatest critic of
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 21
the age, quotes his praises: "A glorious
ancestry, high rank, prospects the most bril-
liant, a mind of wonderful richness, uncom-
mon extent of knowledge, and with all this
there is about him not the faintest taint of
pride. The sweetness of his disposition puts
him in harmony with everyone. His morals
are pure as the snow. He has all the brilliancy
of gems and gold. He has manners so easy,
so open and so cordial that his company day
by day makes me young again. " This friend-
ship Laski repaid with the liberality of a
Polish grandee. He purchased the library of
Erasmus, but left to him its use during his
lifetime. He returned to his native land in
1526, and might have obtained the first
dignities of the Polish Church, for his uncle
was the primate of the kingdom and he
seemed destined to be his successor. By his
marriage, after his profession of the Reformed
faith, he sacrificed these splendid prospects of
preferment. Protestant princes sought his aid
in advancing the Reformation. He may be
considered as the real founder of the Protestant
Church in Friesland, as in 1543 he was nomi-
nated superintendent of all the churches, and
labored there with zeal for six years. By
invitation of Archbishop Cranmer he went to
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? 22 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
England in 1548 to assist in the reformation of
the English Church, and spent six months
with him at Lambeth. Latimer highly praised
him in a sermon before King Edward the
Sixth; and King Edward in a letter to Sigis-
mund Augustus described Laski as a man
gifted with eminent qualities and possessing
extensive information. After another visit to
Germany we find him in England in 1550. If
an Anglo-Saxon asks whether a Pole can be
converted, it may suffice to point to this
Polish noble who was chosen as one of eight
divines who formed in 1551 a commission
for the reformation of English ecclesias-
tical law. He was nominated the superin-
tendent of the foreign Protestant congrega-
tion established in London, composed of
French, Germans and Italians, who found
both asjdum and liberal support from the
English Government. Upon the accession of
Queen Mary to the throne, John Laski left
England, and after sojourning in Friesland
and Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he estab-
lished a church for the Belgian Protestant
refugees, he returned in 1556 to his native
land. He had previously published an account
of the foreign churches that he had superin-
tended, and explained his views about the
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 23
necessity for a reformation in Poland. He
became superintendent of all the Reformed
churches in Little Poland, soon after his
return. He labored to promote a union of the
Protestant denominations; and organized a
hundred and twenty-two churches in Little
Poland. To Calvin he reports: "I am now,
my Calvin, so overwhelmed with cares and
business that I cannot write. On the one
hand enemies, on the other false friends, assail
us, so that there is no rest. Farewell. Send
greeting's most cordially to all brethren in the
Lord. " He died in 1560, was buried with
honors, and his death was a great loss to the
Reformation. At Basel he had studied di-
vinity with (Ecolampadius and Hebrew with
Pellican. He visited Bucer at Cambridge.
His influence was great in the court of
Edward the Sixth, and can be traced in the
second prayer book, and in the views of Cran-
mer and Hooper. His catechism at Embden
in Friesland was partly the basis for the
Heidelberg Catechism. He wrote what was
virtually the first confession of the Nether-
lands Reformed Church. Rev. Dr. A. Kuyper
of Holland has done good service to the Church
in publishing the works of this reformer.
D'Aubigne thus estimates him: "A Lasco
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? 24 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
does not stand in the first rank of the men of
the Reformation. But in one respect he sur-
passed them all, and this by reason of the
state of life in which it pleased God that he
should be born. He knew better than anyone
what it was to sacrifice for Jesus Christ the
world with its dignities and its favors, and he
did this with a noble courage. No sooner was
the bandage, placed over his eyes, removed,
than he felt abhorrence of bondage. He be-
came one of the most beautiful examples of
moral freedom in the sixteenth century. "
John Laski did not labor in vain for the
union of Protestants in Poland. The Bohe-
mian Brethren, sometimes called Waldenses,
driven from their country in 1548 emigrated
to Poland, where they formed forty congrega-
tions. At the first general Protestant synod,
held at Kosminek, 1555, a union was effected
between them and the Reformed or Calvinistic
churches. Calvin wrote to a Polish nobleman,
Stanislaus Krasinski: "From a union with the
Waldenses [or Brethren] I hope the best, not
only because God blesses every act of a holy
union of the members of Christ, but also be-
cause at the present crisis the experience of the
Waldenses, who are so well drilled in the service
of the Lord, will be of no small benefit to you. "
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 25
In the year 1569 occurred a notable event,--
the formal union of Poland and Lithuania at
the Diet of Lublin. The principal noblemen
of the three Protestant communions of Poland,
assembled at that Diet, resolved to promote a
union of their respective denominations, hoping
that Sigismund Augustus, who had often
wished for such a union, would at last be in-
duced to embrace Protestantism. They were
the more impelled to this by the death of
their leaders, Laski and Prince Eadziwill.
Krasinski narrates that at this Diet the King
gave a sort of recognition to Protestantism
by attending the funeral of a Protestant, (with
all his court, senate, and foreign ministers)
the Grand General of the Crown, Sieniaw-
ski, who died at the advanced age of eighty-
one. At Sendomir, in 1570, a synod adopted
the Consensus Sendomiriensis, "the only im-
portant confessional document of the evangel-
ical churches in Poland. "1 It deserves remem-
brance: "An Act of religious union between
the churches of Grand and Little Poland, Rus-
sia, Lithuania, and Samogitia, which had hith-
erto appeared to differ from each other in re-
spect to the confessions of Augsburg, Bohemia,
and Switzerland, concluded at the Synod of
1Schaff.
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? 26 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
Sendomir, April 14th, 1570. The Reformed
orthodox churches of Poland have resolved
from love of peace and concord to convoke a
synod, and to bear witness to a complete
unanimity among themselves. We have there-
fore held a friendly and Christian conference,
and agreed with united hearts as to the follow-
ing points :" here follow statements concern-
ing the doctrines of God, the Holy Trinity,
the Incarnation of the Son of God, justification,
and other fundamental articles; also more de-
tails concerning the Lord's Supper, with a long
extract from the Saxon Confession which
Melancthon prepared in 1551 for the Council
of Trent. They add their pledges: "We will
at the same time abolish and bury in eternal
oblivion all the contentions, troubles, and dis-
sensions, which have hitherto impeded the
progress of the gospel, not without great
offense to many pious souls, and which have
afforded to our enemies opportunities for ca-
lumniating us, and for attacking our true Chris-
tian religion; but on the contrary, we will
oblige ourselves to maintain peace and tran-
quillity, to live in mutual love, and conjointly
promote, in accordance with this our brotherly
union, the edification of the Church,--main-
taining, however, the order of discipline as
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 27
well as the rites of every church, as the pres-
ent union leaves free to every church its rites
and ceremonies; because it is of little im-
portance what rites are observed, provided the
doctrine itself, and the foundation of our faith
and salvation, remain pure and unadulterated.
After having mutually given each other our
hands, we have made a sacred promise faith-
fully to maintain peace and faith, and to pro-
mote it every day more and more for the edi-
fication of the kingdom of God, and carefully
to avoid all occasions of dissension. Finally,
we do oblige ourselves not to seek our own in-
terest, but, as it becomes the true servants of
God, to seek only the glory of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and to spread the truth of his
gospel by words and deeds. And that it may
last forever prosperously, firm, and without
infraction, we ardently pray to God the Father,
who is the Author and abundant Source of all
comfort and peace, who has snatched us and
our churches from the dense darkness of popery,
and gifted them with the light of his pure
word and holy truth, that he should bless this
our holy peace, concord, union and covenant, to
the glory of his name and edification of his
Church. Amen. "
"A few weeks afterwards," says Schaff, "a
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
synodical meeting was held at Posen in the
same spirit of union, and twenty brief articles
were adopted for the purpose of confirming
and preserving the Consensus. When the peo-
ple who stood outside of the house where the
meeting was held, heard the happy conclusion,
they joined in the singing of the Te Deum,
with tears of joy and gratitude to God. The
Consensus was again confirmed by the general
synods at Cracow, 1573; Petricow, 1578; Vlad-
islav, 1583; and Thorn, 1595. This last was
the largest synod ever held in Poland. "
In Poland, as elsewhere, literature and edu-
cation were fostered by the gospel. The first
national poet, Rey, was a Protestant; and so
was Bielski, the first historian who used the
vernacular tongue. In half a century Poland
was placed on a par with the most enlightened
nations of Europe. Protestants gave the Bible
to this nation, as they have done to all the
modern world. Christopher Radziwill, a de-
scendant of the nobleman who published the
first Protestant Bible in Poland, dedicated
another edition of it to his sovereign, Vladi-
slav the Fourth, with these words:--
"Sire,--As this book of Holy Scripture
which was published sixty-nine years ago
(1563) adorned with the name of your royal
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 29
Majesty's predecessor, King Sigismund Augus-
tus, of immortal memory, was printed a second
time during the election of your royal Majesty,
it seemed to be just that it should be also now
presented in this new garment, to the world,
under the royal name. For as our Protestant
ancestors were inspired with such veneration
for King Sigismund Augustus of sacred mem-
ory, that they presented in homage to his
earthly throne that which they taught and be-
lieved concerning the majesty of Heaven, thus
also we, having elected by our free votes your
royal Majesty for our lord and master, thought
it our duty to offer a similar expression of our
affection toward your royal Majesty, as the
successor not only of the crown, but also of
the virtues, of Sigismund Augustus, and par-
ticularly of his attachment to our nation and
its liberties. And, as our ancestors were not
ashamed to stand up with this book before the
monarchs and potentates of this world, it be-
hooves us also to declare that not only are we
not ashamed of this reprint of the Bible, but
that we are ready to appear before the
anointed of the Lord and render an account of
our faith, not from any human doctrines and
traditions, but from the Scriptures, inspired by
the Holy Ghost.
And as my ancestor Radzi-
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE TOLES
will, in his dedication of the Bible to King
Sigismund Augustus, took God for witness,
that he could not give any stronger expression
of respect to his master, and sincerely wished,
on the same occasion, to the King every kind
of eternal and temporal happiness, thus I,
having received this Bible from our pious
teachers, who have carefully superintended
this edition, take God, the Searcher of hearts,
for witness, that it is not for vain ceremony's
sake, but as a sign of my true allegiance and
devotion that I offer this present, which I con-
sider the most precious thing in the world, and
which I value above my fortune, yea, and my
life ! --doing it in my own name as well as in
that of all the Protestant congregations of
Poland and Lithuania, with whom we shall all
ever pray for a long and happy reign to your
Majesty.
"Although I do not admit that anyone
having a true Polish heart would be so forget-
ful of the country's laws and the times in
which we live, as to venture on calumniating
to your royal Majesty this our sincere present,
as well as our Protestant religion, because
there are neither controversies nor allusions in
it which can give offense to anyone, yet if
some foreigner should act in such a manner,
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 31
let your royal Majesty remember that when
the King of kings shall call before his throne
all the monarchs of the world, they will have
to render an account of their worship to God
and of the people intrusted to them according
to this statute and not according to any other;
and that nobody will be sheltered there by the
advice of others, but will be obliged to answer
for himself. "
The press was a formidable weapon by which
the Reformation assailed the errors of Rome;
and it gave Luther and Calvin a surpassing
advantage over Wyclif and Huss. Protes-
tants in all parts of Poland established print-
ing presses, which published large numbers not
only of religious but of literary and scientific
works. Polish Protestants also established
schools, one of which, Lezno or Lissa, in the
seventeenth century gained a European repu-
tation, through its eminent teacher, John Amos
Comenius. His Janua Linguarum Reserata,
or Door of Languages Unlocked, was trans-
lated into twelve European and three Asiatic
tongues. The governments of Sweden and of
England invited him to reform their schools.
In Little Poland, the Calvinists had fourteen
higher schools, and several in Lithuania, chiefly
established by the Radzi wills. In the sixteenth
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century, the elementaiy schools, mostly Protes-
tant, are said to have numbered fifteen hun-
dred. "The effects of toleration stimulated
commerce and industry. Many foreigners
sought in Poland a refuge from religious per-
secution. Thus Italian congregations existed
at Cracow, Vilna, and Posnania, as also did
German, French and Scotch, by whose immi-
gration, the towns of Poland rapidly increased
in population and wealth. " 1
There was great need for a reformation in
Poland. Modrzewski, who became secretary
to Sigismund Augustus, explained to him the
necessity for reforming the Church. "What
has created the dissensions in the Church?
The corruption of manners and discipline;
neglect of the laws; and perversion of doc-
trines and ceremonies. Those who have pos-
sessed themselves of the lucrative dignities
of the Church have engaged in unworthy
occupations. They have become fond of
revels, of rich dress, precious stones, and large
retinues. All their time is devoted to play
and hunting. They have become enamored of
comfort, ease, and luxury. What is now the
intellectual authority of the clergy? The
greatest part of them are ignorant of the
1 Krasinski.
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 33
Scriptures; some are given up to atheism;
they deride everything that is holy. They
bave ceased to believe in religion; they have
rejected doctrines and neglected actions pre-
scribed by God. They have appropriated to
themselves villages, towns, castles, tithes,
enormous incomes, and richly endowed states.
They have founded their supremacy upon
money, upon worldly connections and assist-
ance, and upon a luxurious life. They wish
to rule only by force; and in order to main-
tain their authority they have elevated their
Church contrary to the precepts of Christ.
But no religious community can be durable
and maintain its unity if its doctrines and
actions are not founded upon the pure word
of God. "
The Eoman Catholic Synod of Lowicz made
some remarkable confessions: "The beginning
of the troubles has been caused by the care-
lessness of the parochial, as well as of the
higher, clergy; but the apostolical see has
also committed many errors; it has neglected
the dangers and remained indifferent to them.
The inactivity and supineness of the bishops
have increased the troubles of the Church and
produced the greatest injury to the clergy.
One of them has publicly said in the assembly
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? 34 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
of the nobles, 'Let the people believe what
they like, provided I receive my income. '
We must not conceal our faults. The regular
and secular clergy are infected with the ut-
most profligacy of manners. They are ad-
dicted to luxury, avarice, debauchery, idleness,
carelessness; and, what is worse, the priests
have no knowledge of the law of God. "
Pope Paul the Fourth sent his nuncio, Lippo-
mani to Poland, in 1556. The King had sent a
letter for the Pope to the Council of Trent, de-
manding that mass should be performed in
the national language the communion in
two kinds, the marriage of priests, the abo-
lition of the Annates, and the convocation of
a national council for the reform of abuses.
The famous convert, Peter Paul Vergerio, who
had himself been a papal nuncio to Germany,
whose pen was an aid to the Eeformation,
wrote to the King, of Lippomani: "A man is
now entering your realm who will destroy
your wise and salutary designs; he will pre-
vent a peaceful reformation of the Church and
will disturb the kingdom. " The Pope wrote
to the King: "If I am to credit the reports
that reach me, I must feel the most profound
grief and even doubt of your and your realm's
salvation. You favor heretics, you listen to
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 35
their conversations, you admit them to your
company and board, you receive their letters
and write to them. You suffer their works,
sanctioned with your name, to be read and
circulated. The Palatine of Vilna,1 a heretic,
is chancellor of Lithuania, the most intimate
friend of the King, in private and in public,
and may be considered in some measure as the
coregent of the kingdom and the second
monarch. John Laski and Vergerius have
arrived by your orders in this country. As
our letters, embassies, admonitions, have been
without effect we shall have recourse to the
utmost severity. " Lippomani entreated the
King to "seize arbitrarily the leaders of the
Reformed party, and to execute them in a
summary manner, because the Protestants
being deprived of their heads would then
have been easily exterminated. "2 This con-
versation became public, and raised violent
hatred throughout the country against the
legate. The Synod of Lowicz, which was con-
voked by Lippomani, attempted to try Luto-
mirski, rector of Konin, for heresy. He boldly
appeared with influential friends, each armed
with a Bible; and the sj'nod did not dare to
prosecute him. It did succeed, however, in a
1 Nicholas Radziwill. 2 Krasinski.
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? 36 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
case of sacrilege. Dorothy Lazecka, a poor
girl, was absurdly accused of obtaining the
host at communion, and afterwards selling it
to Jews who pierced it with needles, and ob-
tained some blood from it. The Jews and
this woman were condemned to be burned alive,
the King's exequatur was forged, and this
sentence was executed before his messenger
could prevent it. All Poland was filled with
horror; and Lippomani left the country fol-
lowed by national execrations.
The triumph of the Eeformation seemed
certain; but though it advanced rapidly for
fifty years, it declined as rapidly in the next
half century. Religion has its book of lamen-
tations. The tolerant and accomplished Sigis-
mund Augustus showed a fatal irresolution
wThen he vacillated between the counsels of
Calvin and the threats of the Pope. For two
hundred years the Jagellon dynasty had
guided the affairs of the kingdom. This mon-
arch was the seventh and last of his line. In
two centuries more, under Swedish and Saxon
dynasties, "after a career of degeneracy al-
most unexampled in the history of the
world,"1 Poland disappeared from the map of
Europe. The free election of its kings meant
1 Westminster Review, 63.
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
37
the offer of its crown in the markets of
Europe; and it was generally obtained by a
foreigner.
How are the mighty fallen! And why
Poland? The invasions of Turks, Tartars, and
Swedes, the growth and greed of Austria,
Prussia, and Russia, and the resentment of the
two last-named powers for the parsecution of
Lutherans or Greek Orthodox, have been men-
tioned as external causes; and for internal
ones, the lack of a middle class and of sym-
pathy between nobles and peasantry, the lack
of a national spirit and of centralized power
like that which developed itself in other Euro-
pean nations. Yet Isaiah suggests the real
reason for the decline of this kingdom, whose
history illustrates his prophecy: "The nation
and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish. " It is aptly remarked, that " Prussia
was as flat and incomparably more sterile than
Poland, and equally exposed to the ambition
of its neighbors; but it steadily increased in
territory and population. " 1 The gospel, the
strongest bond between noble and peasant, the
power which enlightens and uplifts any peas-
antry, was stolen from this kingdom by the
Jesuits. Calvin's words to the King seem
1 Blackwood, 30: 231.
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
prophetic: "If the opportunity offered by
God is neglected, you may afterwards have to
stand before a door that is closed. "
Poland may well rue the day when Cardinal
Hosius, despairing of other means for hinder-
ing the gospel, in 1564 sought the aid of the
Jesuits. They are the most learned order in
the Church of Eome, and have been a curse to
mankind wherever they have gone. "Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. " The questions at stake between
Jesuits and Reformers may seem too compli-
cated for solution by ordinary readers. Yet a
wayfaring man though a fool can apply the
wise maxim of Christ, " By their fruits shall
ye know them. " The Rev. Dr. Dalton of St.
Petersburg said, in 1884, to the Presbyterian
Council at Belfast: "It is my deepest convic-
tion, as the result of long years of study, that
Poland has been strangled by the Romish
Church. Had that noble people remained
true to the leading of John a Lasco, then to
the present day had those melancholy words
'Finis Polonies'' remained unspoken. If
anyone wishes to understand what the auda-
cious man of Rome, with his bodyguard of
Jesuits, can make out of a noble country, let
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 39
him study the history of Poland to the present
day--the history of a people that, as few oth-
ers, offered in its worldly circumstances so
many favorable points to a Presbyterian de-
velopment. "
It is true, indeed, that some of the professed
Protestants of Poland must bear their burden
of censure. Professed Protestants in the
United States have sometimes thought more
of their personal ambitions than of their reli-
gion. Those who love religious liberty may
learn from Polish annals not to trust in such
leaders. Some Polish churches were com-
posed almost entirely of nobles who neglected
the evangelization of their peasantry. Lack
of missionary zeal is always a sin, and in this
case was a disastrous mistake; according to
Krasinski, it was the principal cause for the
decline of Protestantism in his country. In
1718 Little Poland had only eight Reformed
churches, whereas in the sixteenth century it
had a hundred and twentjr. The Princes
Radziwill were instrumental in the conversion
of thousands of their peasantry in Samogitia,
whose descendants preserved their religion for
generations, and contrasted favorably in their
morals and prosperity with their Catholic
neighbors. Had all Polish nobles imitated
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
this example, the nation might have been
transformed and saved. The organization of
the Protestants was not complete. A per-
manent committee should have been main-
tained in the capital to watch over their in-
terests which were exposed to persistent
Romish persecution. The three political divi-
sions of the country, Grand and Little
Poland and Lithuania, were independent in
their ecclesiastical establishments--meeting in
general synods, it is true, in times of emer-
gency. The harmony sought by the Synod of
Sendomir did not continue; and instances of
Lutheran ill will toward the Bohemian and
Reformed churches mar the pages of Polish
history. The compact phalanx of the Jesuits
was always ready to profit by such dissen-
sions.
The Protestant ranks were weakened by the
lapse of some into Socinianism. Faustus
Socinus, an Italian who was connected by
marriage with the first families of Poland, de-
veloped the Unitarian opinions of his day into
a system. The number of his adherents in-
creased until they could hold synods where
eminent men were present. Calvin's sagacity
detected the insincerity of Blandrata, an Ital-
ian Unitarian, and his warnings were read at
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 41
the Synod of Cracow. Rakow was the Rome
of Socinianism, its fountain head for Europe, the
"Sarmatian Athens," whose school once had
a thousand pupils, and whose printing press
published not only Socinian but literary
and scientific works as well. There could be
no union between Protestants and Socinians,
then or since. Through Jesuit influence,
Socinians were persecuted and in 1658 ex-
pelled from Poland. Though zealous, their
converts were never numerous and were
chiefly from the upper classes of society.
They created dissensions in some Reformed
churches, and kept many in the Church of
Rome who inclined toward Protestantism.
Many such became indifferent to the Scrip-
tures, and adopted the easy, deceitful Romish
tenet, that the study of the Bible should not
be permitted to all. Unitarianism paralyzed
some Presbyterian churches of Ireland at a
more recent period, but in that land of Protes-
tant liberty, the breach was repaired.
dertake then, I pray, O magnanimous King,
under the auspicious banner of Christ, a work
so worthy of your royal elevation, as well as
of your heroic virtue, so that the eternal truth
of God, by which his own glory and the salva-
tion of men are promoted, may, wherever thy
kingdom spreads, recover its own authority,
which has been taken away by the fraudulent
dealings of antichrist. It is truly an arduous
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
17
work, and of such magnitude as is sufficient to
fill even the wisest with solicitude and fear.
As it is the peculiar work of God, we ought
not in this case to regard the extent of human
powers as the glory due to his power; so
that relying on that not only to help us but
also to guide us, we may venture on things
far beyond our own strength. For the work
of restoring and establishing the Church is not
without reason everywhere assigned in Scrip-
ture to God. The Lord who has himself as it
were by his own hand laid the foundations of
the Church will not suffer it to remain in a
decayed state, for he is represented as solici-
tous to restore it and to repair its ruins; for
by speaking thus, he in effect promises that he
will never fail us when engaged in this work.
As he would not have us sit down as idle
spectators of his power, so the presence of his
aid in sustaining the hands which labor, clearly
proves that he himself is the chief architect.
This one thing is abundantly sufficient, that
we have such an invincible Leader, that the
more he is assailed, the greater will be the vic-
tories and the triumphs gained by his power.
Farewell, invincible King. May the Lord Jesus
rule you by the spirit of wisdom, sustain you
by the spirit of valor, bestow on you all kinds
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? 18 MISSION WOKK AMONG THE POLES
of blessings, long preserve your Majesty in
health and prosperity, and protect your king-
dom. Amen. "
Later, in 1554 he wrote: "When Christ
wishes even his humblest disciples to be like
lamps suspended in a lofty place, that send
out their light to a distance, what does he re-
quire of a king, whom he has placed at the
summit of human dignity, that he might shine
before all others? Remember then, most ex-
cellent King, that a light has been divinely
kindled up for the whole of Poland, which
cannot be kept hidden any longer without
your incurring serious blame. When the battle
that is to be fought here is for the glory of
God in the kingdom of Christ, for the purity
of religious worship, for the salvation of the
human race, such is the excellence of the cause
that it should absorb all vexations in its glory,
and easily surmount all obstacles. When God
asserts that it is his own work to restore his
ruined Church, of which he is the only founder,
we may conclude with certainty that he will
by no means desert us in the moment of need.
Because the enemies of sound doctrine will
strive with all their might to shut the door
against pious and sincere teachers, it would be
necessary that a helping hand should be held
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 19
out to them by your Majesty, in order that
without any restraint they may turn the peo-
ple away from the errors of superstition to the
straight path of piety. "
Nicholas Radziwill, one of the most distin-
guished nobles of Poland, the friend and con-
fidant of King Sigismund Augustus, in 1553
publicly adopted the Reformed doctrines, and
caused to be translated and printed at his own
expense the first Protestant Bible in Poland.
In 1555 Calvin wrote to him: "It is my wish
that the kingdom of Christ should nourish
everywhere, yet at the present moment Poland
deservedly occupies my thoughts with a very
special anxiety. For from the time that the
light of a purer doctrine began to shine upon
it, this happy beginning has at the same time
inflamed my desire with the hopes of a better
progress. Unquestionably you see that it is
a work of immense difficulty to establish the
heavenly reign of God upon earth. You see
with what indifference that cause is treated,
which ought not only to occupy the chief
place among our cares, but even absorb all our
thoughts. "
Again he writes to the King: "Since in
Poland true religion has already begun to
dawn, since many pious and wise men volun-
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? 20 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
tarily aspire after the pure worship of God, I,
whom the King of kings has appointed a
preacher of his gospel and a minister of his
Church, call upon your Majesty in his name to
make this work above all others your especial
care. Your Majesty has far less difficulty to
struggle with than Hezekiah and Josiah, who
had an arduous and severe contest with the
contumacy of their people; whereas in our
days the greater part of the Polish nobility
shows a prompt and cheerful disposition to
embrace the faith of Christ. "
Polish nobles desired Calvin to establish
their Reformation in person; but he recom-
mended the Polish noble and reformer John a
Lasco or Laski in his stead. During that
century there were many eminent representa-
tives of this family in the Church, the council,
and the camp. John Laski, or a Lasco, was
born in 1499, and was educated for the priest-
hood. His travels in Germany, Italy, France,
and Belgium, introduced him to many famous
scholars of the day. In 1524 Zwingli sowed
the first doubt in his mind as to the orthodoxy
of the Eoman Church. The year 1525 he
spent with Erasmus, who had a regard for
him bordering on enthusiasm. D'Aubigne,
speaking of Erasmus as the greatest critic of
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 21
the age, quotes his praises: "A glorious
ancestry, high rank, prospects the most bril-
liant, a mind of wonderful richness, uncom-
mon extent of knowledge, and with all this
there is about him not the faintest taint of
pride. The sweetness of his disposition puts
him in harmony with everyone. His morals
are pure as the snow. He has all the brilliancy
of gems and gold. He has manners so easy,
so open and so cordial that his company day
by day makes me young again. " This friend-
ship Laski repaid with the liberality of a
Polish grandee. He purchased the library of
Erasmus, but left to him its use during his
lifetime. He returned to his native land in
1526, and might have obtained the first
dignities of the Polish Church, for his uncle
was the primate of the kingdom and he
seemed destined to be his successor. By his
marriage, after his profession of the Reformed
faith, he sacrificed these splendid prospects of
preferment. Protestant princes sought his aid
in advancing the Reformation. He may be
considered as the real founder of the Protestant
Church in Friesland, as in 1543 he was nomi-
nated superintendent of all the churches, and
labored there with zeal for six years. By
invitation of Archbishop Cranmer he went to
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? 22 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
England in 1548 to assist in the reformation of
the English Church, and spent six months
with him at Lambeth. Latimer highly praised
him in a sermon before King Edward the
Sixth; and King Edward in a letter to Sigis-
mund Augustus described Laski as a man
gifted with eminent qualities and possessing
extensive information. After another visit to
Germany we find him in England in 1550. If
an Anglo-Saxon asks whether a Pole can be
converted, it may suffice to point to this
Polish noble who was chosen as one of eight
divines who formed in 1551 a commission
for the reformation of English ecclesias-
tical law. He was nominated the superin-
tendent of the foreign Protestant congrega-
tion established in London, composed of
French, Germans and Italians, who found
both asjdum and liberal support from the
English Government. Upon the accession of
Queen Mary to the throne, John Laski left
England, and after sojourning in Friesland
and Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he estab-
lished a church for the Belgian Protestant
refugees, he returned in 1556 to his native
land. He had previously published an account
of the foreign churches that he had superin-
tended, and explained his views about the
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 23
necessity for a reformation in Poland. He
became superintendent of all the Reformed
churches in Little Poland, soon after his
return. He labored to promote a union of the
Protestant denominations; and organized a
hundred and twenty-two churches in Little
Poland. To Calvin he reports: "I am now,
my Calvin, so overwhelmed with cares and
business that I cannot write. On the one
hand enemies, on the other false friends, assail
us, so that there is no rest. Farewell. Send
greeting's most cordially to all brethren in the
Lord. " He died in 1560, was buried with
honors, and his death was a great loss to the
Reformation. At Basel he had studied di-
vinity with (Ecolampadius and Hebrew with
Pellican. He visited Bucer at Cambridge.
His influence was great in the court of
Edward the Sixth, and can be traced in the
second prayer book, and in the views of Cran-
mer and Hooper. His catechism at Embden
in Friesland was partly the basis for the
Heidelberg Catechism. He wrote what was
virtually the first confession of the Nether-
lands Reformed Church. Rev. Dr. A. Kuyper
of Holland has done good service to the Church
in publishing the works of this reformer.
D'Aubigne thus estimates him: "A Lasco
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? 24 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
does not stand in the first rank of the men of
the Reformation. But in one respect he sur-
passed them all, and this by reason of the
state of life in which it pleased God that he
should be born. He knew better than anyone
what it was to sacrifice for Jesus Christ the
world with its dignities and its favors, and he
did this with a noble courage. No sooner was
the bandage, placed over his eyes, removed,
than he felt abhorrence of bondage. He be-
came one of the most beautiful examples of
moral freedom in the sixteenth century. "
John Laski did not labor in vain for the
union of Protestants in Poland. The Bohe-
mian Brethren, sometimes called Waldenses,
driven from their country in 1548 emigrated
to Poland, where they formed forty congrega-
tions. At the first general Protestant synod,
held at Kosminek, 1555, a union was effected
between them and the Reformed or Calvinistic
churches. Calvin wrote to a Polish nobleman,
Stanislaus Krasinski: "From a union with the
Waldenses [or Brethren] I hope the best, not
only because God blesses every act of a holy
union of the members of Christ, but also be-
cause at the present crisis the experience of the
Waldenses, who are so well drilled in the service
of the Lord, will be of no small benefit to you. "
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 25
In the year 1569 occurred a notable event,--
the formal union of Poland and Lithuania at
the Diet of Lublin. The principal noblemen
of the three Protestant communions of Poland,
assembled at that Diet, resolved to promote a
union of their respective denominations, hoping
that Sigismund Augustus, who had often
wished for such a union, would at last be in-
duced to embrace Protestantism. They were
the more impelled to this by the death of
their leaders, Laski and Prince Eadziwill.
Krasinski narrates that at this Diet the King
gave a sort of recognition to Protestantism
by attending the funeral of a Protestant, (with
all his court, senate, and foreign ministers)
the Grand General of the Crown, Sieniaw-
ski, who died at the advanced age of eighty-
one. At Sendomir, in 1570, a synod adopted
the Consensus Sendomiriensis, "the only im-
portant confessional document of the evangel-
ical churches in Poland. "1 It deserves remem-
brance: "An Act of religious union between
the churches of Grand and Little Poland, Rus-
sia, Lithuania, and Samogitia, which had hith-
erto appeared to differ from each other in re-
spect to the confessions of Augsburg, Bohemia,
and Switzerland, concluded at the Synod of
1Schaff.
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? 26 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
Sendomir, April 14th, 1570. The Reformed
orthodox churches of Poland have resolved
from love of peace and concord to convoke a
synod, and to bear witness to a complete
unanimity among themselves. We have there-
fore held a friendly and Christian conference,
and agreed with united hearts as to the follow-
ing points :" here follow statements concern-
ing the doctrines of God, the Holy Trinity,
the Incarnation of the Son of God, justification,
and other fundamental articles; also more de-
tails concerning the Lord's Supper, with a long
extract from the Saxon Confession which
Melancthon prepared in 1551 for the Council
of Trent. They add their pledges: "We will
at the same time abolish and bury in eternal
oblivion all the contentions, troubles, and dis-
sensions, which have hitherto impeded the
progress of the gospel, not without great
offense to many pious souls, and which have
afforded to our enemies opportunities for ca-
lumniating us, and for attacking our true Chris-
tian religion; but on the contrary, we will
oblige ourselves to maintain peace and tran-
quillity, to live in mutual love, and conjointly
promote, in accordance with this our brotherly
union, the edification of the Church,--main-
taining, however, the order of discipline as
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 27
well as the rites of every church, as the pres-
ent union leaves free to every church its rites
and ceremonies; because it is of little im-
portance what rites are observed, provided the
doctrine itself, and the foundation of our faith
and salvation, remain pure and unadulterated.
After having mutually given each other our
hands, we have made a sacred promise faith-
fully to maintain peace and faith, and to pro-
mote it every day more and more for the edi-
fication of the kingdom of God, and carefully
to avoid all occasions of dissension. Finally,
we do oblige ourselves not to seek our own in-
terest, but, as it becomes the true servants of
God, to seek only the glory of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and to spread the truth of his
gospel by words and deeds. And that it may
last forever prosperously, firm, and without
infraction, we ardently pray to God the Father,
who is the Author and abundant Source of all
comfort and peace, who has snatched us and
our churches from the dense darkness of popery,
and gifted them with the light of his pure
word and holy truth, that he should bless this
our holy peace, concord, union and covenant, to
the glory of his name and edification of his
Church. Amen. "
"A few weeks afterwards," says Schaff, "a
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
synodical meeting was held at Posen in the
same spirit of union, and twenty brief articles
were adopted for the purpose of confirming
and preserving the Consensus. When the peo-
ple who stood outside of the house where the
meeting was held, heard the happy conclusion,
they joined in the singing of the Te Deum,
with tears of joy and gratitude to God. The
Consensus was again confirmed by the general
synods at Cracow, 1573; Petricow, 1578; Vlad-
islav, 1583; and Thorn, 1595. This last was
the largest synod ever held in Poland. "
In Poland, as elsewhere, literature and edu-
cation were fostered by the gospel. The first
national poet, Rey, was a Protestant; and so
was Bielski, the first historian who used the
vernacular tongue. In half a century Poland
was placed on a par with the most enlightened
nations of Europe. Protestants gave the Bible
to this nation, as they have done to all the
modern world. Christopher Radziwill, a de-
scendant of the nobleman who published the
first Protestant Bible in Poland, dedicated
another edition of it to his sovereign, Vladi-
slav the Fourth, with these words:--
"Sire,--As this book of Holy Scripture
which was published sixty-nine years ago
(1563) adorned with the name of your royal
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 29
Majesty's predecessor, King Sigismund Augus-
tus, of immortal memory, was printed a second
time during the election of your royal Majesty,
it seemed to be just that it should be also now
presented in this new garment, to the world,
under the royal name. For as our Protestant
ancestors were inspired with such veneration
for King Sigismund Augustus of sacred mem-
ory, that they presented in homage to his
earthly throne that which they taught and be-
lieved concerning the majesty of Heaven, thus
also we, having elected by our free votes your
royal Majesty for our lord and master, thought
it our duty to offer a similar expression of our
affection toward your royal Majesty, as the
successor not only of the crown, but also of
the virtues, of Sigismund Augustus, and par-
ticularly of his attachment to our nation and
its liberties. And, as our ancestors were not
ashamed to stand up with this book before the
monarchs and potentates of this world, it be-
hooves us also to declare that not only are we
not ashamed of this reprint of the Bible, but
that we are ready to appear before the
anointed of the Lord and render an account of
our faith, not from any human doctrines and
traditions, but from the Scriptures, inspired by
the Holy Ghost.
And as my ancestor Radzi-
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? 30
MISSION WORK AMONG THE TOLES
will, in his dedication of the Bible to King
Sigismund Augustus, took God for witness,
that he could not give any stronger expression
of respect to his master, and sincerely wished,
on the same occasion, to the King every kind
of eternal and temporal happiness, thus I,
having received this Bible from our pious
teachers, who have carefully superintended
this edition, take God, the Searcher of hearts,
for witness, that it is not for vain ceremony's
sake, but as a sign of my true allegiance and
devotion that I offer this present, which I con-
sider the most precious thing in the world, and
which I value above my fortune, yea, and my
life ! --doing it in my own name as well as in
that of all the Protestant congregations of
Poland and Lithuania, with whom we shall all
ever pray for a long and happy reign to your
Majesty.
"Although I do not admit that anyone
having a true Polish heart would be so forget-
ful of the country's laws and the times in
which we live, as to venture on calumniating
to your royal Majesty this our sincere present,
as well as our Protestant religion, because
there are neither controversies nor allusions in
it which can give offense to anyone, yet if
some foreigner should act in such a manner,
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 31
let your royal Majesty remember that when
the King of kings shall call before his throne
all the monarchs of the world, they will have
to render an account of their worship to God
and of the people intrusted to them according
to this statute and not according to any other;
and that nobody will be sheltered there by the
advice of others, but will be obliged to answer
for himself. "
The press was a formidable weapon by which
the Reformation assailed the errors of Rome;
and it gave Luther and Calvin a surpassing
advantage over Wyclif and Huss. Protes-
tants in all parts of Poland established print-
ing presses, which published large numbers not
only of religious but of literary and scientific
works. Polish Protestants also established
schools, one of which, Lezno or Lissa, in the
seventeenth century gained a European repu-
tation, through its eminent teacher, John Amos
Comenius. His Janua Linguarum Reserata,
or Door of Languages Unlocked, was trans-
lated into twelve European and three Asiatic
tongues. The governments of Sweden and of
England invited him to reform their schools.
In Little Poland, the Calvinists had fourteen
higher schools, and several in Lithuania, chiefly
established by the Radzi wills. In the sixteenth
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? 32 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
century, the elementaiy schools, mostly Protes-
tant, are said to have numbered fifteen hun-
dred. "The effects of toleration stimulated
commerce and industry. Many foreigners
sought in Poland a refuge from religious per-
secution. Thus Italian congregations existed
at Cracow, Vilna, and Posnania, as also did
German, French and Scotch, by whose immi-
gration, the towns of Poland rapidly increased
in population and wealth. " 1
There was great need for a reformation in
Poland. Modrzewski, who became secretary
to Sigismund Augustus, explained to him the
necessity for reforming the Church. "What
has created the dissensions in the Church?
The corruption of manners and discipline;
neglect of the laws; and perversion of doc-
trines and ceremonies. Those who have pos-
sessed themselves of the lucrative dignities
of the Church have engaged in unworthy
occupations. They have become fond of
revels, of rich dress, precious stones, and large
retinues. All their time is devoted to play
and hunting. They have become enamored of
comfort, ease, and luxury. What is now the
intellectual authority of the clergy? The
greatest part of them are ignorant of the
1 Krasinski.
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 33
Scriptures; some are given up to atheism;
they deride everything that is holy. They
bave ceased to believe in religion; they have
rejected doctrines and neglected actions pre-
scribed by God. They have appropriated to
themselves villages, towns, castles, tithes,
enormous incomes, and richly endowed states.
They have founded their supremacy upon
money, upon worldly connections and assist-
ance, and upon a luxurious life. They wish
to rule only by force; and in order to main-
tain their authority they have elevated their
Church contrary to the precepts of Christ.
But no religious community can be durable
and maintain its unity if its doctrines and
actions are not founded upon the pure word
of God. "
The Eoman Catholic Synod of Lowicz made
some remarkable confessions: "The beginning
of the troubles has been caused by the care-
lessness of the parochial, as well as of the
higher, clergy; but the apostolical see has
also committed many errors; it has neglected
the dangers and remained indifferent to them.
The inactivity and supineness of the bishops
have increased the troubles of the Church and
produced the greatest injury to the clergy.
One of them has publicly said in the assembly
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? 34 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
of the nobles, 'Let the people believe what
they like, provided I receive my income. '
We must not conceal our faults. The regular
and secular clergy are infected with the ut-
most profligacy of manners. They are ad-
dicted to luxury, avarice, debauchery, idleness,
carelessness; and, what is worse, the priests
have no knowledge of the law of God. "
Pope Paul the Fourth sent his nuncio, Lippo-
mani to Poland, in 1556. The King had sent a
letter for the Pope to the Council of Trent, de-
manding that mass should be performed in
the national language the communion in
two kinds, the marriage of priests, the abo-
lition of the Annates, and the convocation of
a national council for the reform of abuses.
The famous convert, Peter Paul Vergerio, who
had himself been a papal nuncio to Germany,
whose pen was an aid to the Eeformation,
wrote to the King, of Lippomani: "A man is
now entering your realm who will destroy
your wise and salutary designs; he will pre-
vent a peaceful reformation of the Church and
will disturb the kingdom. " The Pope wrote
to the King: "If I am to credit the reports
that reach me, I must feel the most profound
grief and even doubt of your and your realm's
salvation. You favor heretics, you listen to
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 35
their conversations, you admit them to your
company and board, you receive their letters
and write to them. You suffer their works,
sanctioned with your name, to be read and
circulated. The Palatine of Vilna,1 a heretic,
is chancellor of Lithuania, the most intimate
friend of the King, in private and in public,
and may be considered in some measure as the
coregent of the kingdom and the second
monarch. John Laski and Vergerius have
arrived by your orders in this country. As
our letters, embassies, admonitions, have been
without effect we shall have recourse to the
utmost severity. " Lippomani entreated the
King to "seize arbitrarily the leaders of the
Reformed party, and to execute them in a
summary manner, because the Protestants
being deprived of their heads would then
have been easily exterminated. "2 This con-
versation became public, and raised violent
hatred throughout the country against the
legate. The Synod of Lowicz, which was con-
voked by Lippomani, attempted to try Luto-
mirski, rector of Konin, for heresy. He boldly
appeared with influential friends, each armed
with a Bible; and the sj'nod did not dare to
prosecute him. It did succeed, however, in a
1 Nicholas Radziwill. 2 Krasinski.
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? 36 MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
case of sacrilege. Dorothy Lazecka, a poor
girl, was absurdly accused of obtaining the
host at communion, and afterwards selling it
to Jews who pierced it with needles, and ob-
tained some blood from it. The Jews and
this woman were condemned to be burned alive,
the King's exequatur was forged, and this
sentence was executed before his messenger
could prevent it. All Poland was filled with
horror; and Lippomani left the country fol-
lowed by national execrations.
The triumph of the Eeformation seemed
certain; but though it advanced rapidly for
fifty years, it declined as rapidly in the next
half century. Religion has its book of lamen-
tations. The tolerant and accomplished Sigis-
mund Augustus showed a fatal irresolution
wThen he vacillated between the counsels of
Calvin and the threats of the Pope. For two
hundred years the Jagellon dynasty had
guided the affairs of the kingdom. This mon-
arch was the seventh and last of his line. In
two centuries more, under Swedish and Saxon
dynasties, "after a career of degeneracy al-
most unexampled in the history of the
world,"1 Poland disappeared from the map of
Europe. The free election of its kings meant
1 Westminster Review, 63.
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
37
the offer of its crown in the markets of
Europe; and it was generally obtained by a
foreigner.
How are the mighty fallen! And why
Poland? The invasions of Turks, Tartars, and
Swedes, the growth and greed of Austria,
Prussia, and Russia, and the resentment of the
two last-named powers for the parsecution of
Lutherans or Greek Orthodox, have been men-
tioned as external causes; and for internal
ones, the lack of a middle class and of sym-
pathy between nobles and peasantry, the lack
of a national spirit and of centralized power
like that which developed itself in other Euro-
pean nations. Yet Isaiah suggests the real
reason for the decline of this kingdom, whose
history illustrates his prophecy: "The nation
and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish. " It is aptly remarked, that " Prussia
was as flat and incomparably more sterile than
Poland, and equally exposed to the ambition
of its neighbors; but it steadily increased in
territory and population. " 1 The gospel, the
strongest bond between noble and peasant, the
power which enlightens and uplifts any peas-
antry, was stolen from this kingdom by the
Jesuits. Calvin's words to the King seem
1 Blackwood, 30: 231.
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
prophetic: "If the opportunity offered by
God is neglected, you may afterwards have to
stand before a door that is closed. "
Poland may well rue the day when Cardinal
Hosius, despairing of other means for hinder-
ing the gospel, in 1564 sought the aid of the
Jesuits. They are the most learned order in
the Church of Eome, and have been a curse to
mankind wherever they have gone. "Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. " The questions at stake between
Jesuits and Reformers may seem too compli-
cated for solution by ordinary readers. Yet a
wayfaring man though a fool can apply the
wise maxim of Christ, " By their fruits shall
ye know them. " The Rev. Dr. Dalton of St.
Petersburg said, in 1884, to the Presbyterian
Council at Belfast: "It is my deepest convic-
tion, as the result of long years of study, that
Poland has been strangled by the Romish
Church. Had that noble people remained
true to the leading of John a Lasco, then to
the present day had those melancholy words
'Finis Polonies'' remained unspoken. If
anyone wishes to understand what the auda-
cious man of Rome, with his bodyguard of
Jesuits, can make out of a noble country, let
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 39
him study the history of Poland to the present
day--the history of a people that, as few oth-
ers, offered in its worldly circumstances so
many favorable points to a Presbyterian de-
velopment. "
It is true, indeed, that some of the professed
Protestants of Poland must bear their burden
of censure. Professed Protestants in the
United States have sometimes thought more
of their personal ambitions than of their reli-
gion. Those who love religious liberty may
learn from Polish annals not to trust in such
leaders. Some Polish churches were com-
posed almost entirely of nobles who neglected
the evangelization of their peasantry. Lack
of missionary zeal is always a sin, and in this
case was a disastrous mistake; according to
Krasinski, it was the principal cause for the
decline of Protestantism in his country. In
1718 Little Poland had only eight Reformed
churches, whereas in the sixteenth century it
had a hundred and twentjr. The Princes
Radziwill were instrumental in the conversion
of thousands of their peasantry in Samogitia,
whose descendants preserved their religion for
generations, and contrasted favorably in their
morals and prosperity with their Catholic
neighbors. Had all Polish nobles imitated
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MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES
this example, the nation might have been
transformed and saved. The organization of
the Protestants was not complete. A per-
manent committee should have been main-
tained in the capital to watch over their in-
terests which were exposed to persistent
Romish persecution. The three political divi-
sions of the country, Grand and Little
Poland and Lithuania, were independent in
their ecclesiastical establishments--meeting in
general synods, it is true, in times of emer-
gency. The harmony sought by the Synod of
Sendomir did not continue; and instances of
Lutheran ill will toward the Bohemian and
Reformed churches mar the pages of Polish
history. The compact phalanx of the Jesuits
was always ready to profit by such dissen-
sions.
The Protestant ranks were weakened by the
lapse of some into Socinianism. Faustus
Socinus, an Italian who was connected by
marriage with the first families of Poland, de-
veloped the Unitarian opinions of his day into
a system. The number of his adherents in-
creased until they could hold synods where
eminent men were present. Calvin's sagacity
detected the insincerity of Blandrata, an Ital-
ian Unitarian, and his warnings were read at
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? MISSION WORK AMONG THE POLES 41
the Synod of Cracow. Rakow was the Rome
of Socinianism, its fountain head for Europe, the
"Sarmatian Athens," whose school once had
a thousand pupils, and whose printing press
published not only Socinian but literary
and scientific works as well. There could be
no union between Protestants and Socinians,
then or since. Through Jesuit influence,
Socinians were persecuted and in 1658 ex-
pelled from Poland. Though zealous, their
converts were never numerous and were
chiefly from the upper classes of society.
They created dissensions in some Reformed
churches, and kept many in the Church of
Rome who inclined toward Protestantism.
Many such became indifferent to the Scrip-
tures, and adopted the easy, deceitful Romish
tenet, that the study of the Bible should not
be permitted to all. Unitarianism paralyzed
some Presbyterian churches of Ireland at a
more recent period, but in that land of Protes-
tant liberty, the breach was repaired.
