Part 5

The =Gallican Church= is the so-called Church of France or Gaul, the ancient name of the country. Père Hyacinth, its founder, whose church was opened in Paris February 7, 1870, originally separated from the Church of Rome owing to his disapproval of the enforced celibacy of the clergy. The =Lutheran Church= of Germany took its name from Martin Luther (born 1483, died 1546), the monk who became the pioneer of =Protestantism=. In the year 1529 the Emperor Charles V. summoned a Diet at Spiers for the avowed object of enlisting the aid of the German Princes against the Turks, but really to devise some means of tranquillizing the disturbances which had grown out of Luther’s opposition to the Church of Rome, and restoring the national religion. Against a decree drawn up at this Diet six princes and the deputies of thirteen imperial towns offered a vehement _protest_, and ever afterwards the =Lutherans= were in consequence styled =Protestants=. The first Standard of Faith, according to the doctrines of Luther, is known as =The Augsburg Confession=, because it was presented by Luther and Melancthon to Charles V., during the sitting of the Imperial Diet at Augsburg in the year 1530.

The =Calvinists= were the followers of John Calvin (born 1509, died 1604), the zealous reformer of Switzerland. In due time these also styled themselves Protestants. From Switzerland Protestantism spread into France through the energy of a Genevese Calvinist named Hugh or Hugue, after whom the French Protestants adopted the name of =Huguenots=.

But Luther and Calvin were by no means the earliest of the reformers.

In England the =Wycliffites=, or followers of John Wycliffe (born 1324, died 1387), became known as =Gospellers=, after their leader had completed the translation of the Bible in 1377. Eventually they adopted the title of =Lollards=, in imitation of a sect of German reformers headed by Walter Lollard, a dissolute priest, who turned theologian and was publicly burned for heresy at Cologne in 1322. In France the precursors of the Huguenots were the =Albigenses= of Languedoc, so called because their capital was Albi, and its people were called the Albigeois, early in the twelfth century; and in 1170, the =Waldenses=, inhabiting the wooded districts of Valdois and Piedmont. The latter received their designation in accordance with the German _walden_, forests. The =Camisards=, or wearers of the _Camisè_, a peasant’s smock, to conceal their armour, comprised a body of Protestant insurgents who took up arms in the district of the Cevennes after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., October 22, 1685. As these always conducted their attacks upon the soldiery under cover of the darkness the term “Camisard” in military parlance soon came to imply a night attack. The Protestants of Bohemia were styled =Hussites=, after John Huss (born 1373, burned 1415); they were also known as =Bethlemites= from the Church of Bethlehem in Prague, in which Huss used to hurl forth his denunciations against the Church of Rome. The =Moravians=, otherwise =The United Brethren=, who were driven by persecutions from Moravia and Bohemia in the last century, claimed to be descendants of the original Hussites.

Having now traced the rise of Protestantism generally, let us at once dispose of the various sects and denominations before confining ourselves to the Established Church and its offshoots.

The =Adamites= were the fanatical followers of one Picard, in Bohemia, self-styled “Adam, Son of God,” who, about the year 1400, proposed to reduce mankind to a state of primitive innocence and enjoyment. No clothes were worn, wives were held in common, and many other violations of Nature were committed ere they finally disappeared from the face of the earth. A similar sect were the =Libertines=, in Holland, These contended that nothing could be regarded as sinful in a community where each was at full liberty to act up to his natural dictates and passions. The =Jansenists= favoured the doctrines of Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, in France (born 1585, died 1638). For a long period these maintained an open warfare with the =Jesuists=, properly, soldiers of the “Society of Jesus” [_see_ RELIGIOUS ORDERS], until they were finally put down by Pope Clement in 1705. The =Gabrielites= were a sect of Anabaptists of Germany in the sixteenth century, named after Gabriel Scherling, their founder. The =Labadists= were a sect of Protestant ascetics of the seventeenth century who conformed to the rules laid down by Jean Labadie, of Bourg, in Germany. The =Socinians=, a sect corresponding to the modern =Unitarians=, owed their existence to Lælius Socinus, an Italian theologian in 1546. The anti-Calvinists of Holland were styled =Arminians=, after the Latinized name (Jacobus Arminius) of their leader, James Harmensen (born 1560, died 1609). The =New Christians= comprised a number of Portuguese Jews in the fifteenth century, who, although they consented to be baptized under compulsion, still practised the Mosaic rites and ceremonies in secret. The =Old Catholics= of Germany are the followers of the late Dr. Döllinger, of Munich (born 1799, died 1890), who refused to accept the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope promulgated July 18, 1870.

In our own country the =Scotists= were those who adopted the opinions of John Duns Scotus (born 1272, died 1308), concerning the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception, in opposition to the =Thomists=, or followers of St. Thomas Aquinas (born 1227, died 1274), who denied that the Virgin was conceived without sin. The =Sabbatarians=, known also as the =Seventh Day Baptists=, founded by Brabourne, a clergyman who, about the year 1628, maintained that the seventh day was the real Sabbath as ordained at the beginning. The =Fifth Monarchy Men=, who came into existence during the reign of Charles I., believed in the early coming of Jesus Christ to re-establish the four great monarchies of the ancient world, viz., the Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman, contemporaneously with the fifth, the Millennium. The =Muggletonians= were the followers of one Ludovic Muggleton, a journeyman tailor, who set himself up as a prophet in 1651. The =Society of Friends= originally styled themselves =Seekers=, because they sought the truth after the manner of Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler, as narrated in _St. John_ iii. 1-21. They were first designated =Quakers= by Justice Bennet of Derby, in 1650, in consequence of George Fox, the founder, having admonished him and all present to quake on hearing the Word of the Lord. The Seekers came into existence in 1646. The =White Quakers=, who seceded from the main body about 1840, are distinguished by their white clothing. The original sect of the =Shakers=, first heard of in the time of Charles I., received its name from the convulsive movements indulged in by its members as part of their peculiar form of worship. The modern sect sprang from a body of expelled Quakers, headed by James Wardley, in 1747. They emigrated to America in May, 1772, and formed a permanent settlement near Albany, New York, two years afterwards. The =Mormons= derived their designation from “The Book of Mormon,” claimed to be a lost portion of the Bible written by the angel Mormon, the last of the Hebrew line of prophets, and found inscribed in Egyptian characters upon plates of gold by Joseph Smith, the founder of the sect, in the year 1827. This work was really written by the Rev. Solomon Spalding, who died in 1816. Joseph Smith died in 1844. The =Peculiar People= are so styled because they believe in the efficacy of prayer on the part of their elders, and the anointing with oil in the name of the Lord for the cure of sickness as set forth in _James_ v. 14. This sect was first heard of in London in 1838. The =Faith Healers=, or those who uphold the doctrine of Healing by Faith, lately sprung up in our midst, may be regarded as an offshoot of the Peculiar People. The =Irvingites= are the followers of Edward Irving, a Scottish divine (born 1792, died 1834), who maintained that Christ was liable to commit sin in common with the rest of mankind. The =Humanitarians= incline to the same belief. The =Sacramentarians= are those who deny the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist: the Calvinists were originally known by this title. The =Plymouth Brethren= first appeared at Plymouth about the year 1830; they so style themselves because they confess Christ as a fraternal community and do not recognize any order of priesthood. The =Perfectionists= of North America are so called owing to their rejection of civil laws, on the plea that the guidance of the Holy Spirit suffices for all earthly as well as spiritual affairs. Another body of co-coreligionists peculiar to North America are the =Hopkinsians=, named after Samuel Hopkins, of Connecticut, their founder. The doctrines which they hold are mainly Calvinistic.

The =Scottish Covenanters= were those who subscribed to a solemn league or covenant to stand by each other in opposition to the religious and political measures of Charles I. This occurred in 1638. In less than ten years afterwards the Covenanters, having increased in numbers and power, assumed the entire direction of their own ecclesiastical affairs and styled themselves =Presbyterians=, a term derived from the Greek _presbuteros_, an elder, because they contended that the government of the Church as set forth in the New Testament was by presbyters, equal in office, power, and order. The national Church of Scotland, therefore, when at length it was recognized by the English Parliament, bore the title of the =Scottish Presbyterian Church=. It was, however, not long before dissensions became rife. The strictest body of the Presbyterians adopted the style of =Cameronians=, after the name of their leader, Archibald Cameron, who was executed in 1688 on account of his religious opinions; while an equally numerous body, headed by John Macmillan, became known as =Macmillanites=, and also as =The Reformed Presbytery=. A much later sect was that founded in 1841 by James Morison, under the designation of the =Morisonians=. But the most alarming split in the Presbyterian Church took place May 18, 1843, when Dr. Chalmers, with a large following, established a separate community, entitled =The Free Church of Scotland=.

The =Puritans= of England were to the Established Church what the Pharisees were to the Jews. And not only did these Puritans profess a greater purity of doctrine, of morals, and of living, than their neighbours, but they embraced the earliest opportunity of separating themselves from the Church of England altogether. They were, in fact, the first of the Dissenters. On August 24, 1662, which date witnessed the secession of nearly two thousand ministers from the Church of England through their non-compliance with the “Act of Uniformity,” the Puritans joined forces with the latter, and the combined body assumed the name of =Nonconformists=. The Protestants were, consequently, divided into two great parties--the =Conformists=, or those who conformed to the requirements laid down in the “Act of Conformity,” and the =Nonconformists=. The latter have in more recent times borne the name of =Dissenters=, because they dissent from the Established Church. The =Sectarians= are Dissenters who attach themselves to one or other of the numerous sects and denominations which exist outside the Church of England. The =Congregationalists= and the =Independents= are one and the same. They maintain that each congregation is an independent religious community entitled to exercise the right of appointing its own ministers and managing its own affairs. These tenets were first publicly advanced by Robert Brown, a violent opponent of the Established Church, in Rutlandshire, as early as the year 1585. The =Unitarians= are the modern =Socinians= already alluded to. They are opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity; and, consequently, to the =Trinitarians=. The =Baptists= not only reject infant baptism, but hold that the adult subject should be baptized after the manner in which Christ was baptized by St. John. On this account the original Baptists, who arose about 1521, received the name of =Anabaptists=, because, having been already baptized during infancy, they of necessity went through the ceremony a second time on arriving at full age. The prefix _ana_ is Greek, signifying twice. The followers of John Wesley (born 1703, died 1791) and his brother, Charles Wesley (born 1708, died 1788), were styled =Methodists=, owing to the methodical strictness of their lives and religious exercises. They were also denominated =Wesleyans=, or =Wesleyan Methodists=, in contradistinction to the =Primitive Methodists=, or =Ranters=, who separated from the original sect under Hugh Bourne, in 1810, and retained the style of open-air preaching peculiar to John Wesley in his early itinerant days.

The terms “High Church” and “Low Church” first came into prominence during the reign of Queen Anne. Nowadays, as then, that section is styled =High Church= which regards the Church of England as the only ark of salvation, while the less apprehensive and more moderate section is called =Low Church=. Those who take a still more liberal and comprehensive view of orthodox doctrine belong to what is known as the =Broad Church=, which is but another name for =Latitudinarianism=, as originally professed by a number of divines opposed alike to the Puritans and the High Church party in the time of Charles I. On the other hand, the =Ritualists= comprise the extreme High Church party who are anxious to return to the ritual of public worship in vogue during the reign of Edward VI. Prior to 1866, in which year the term arose, these High Churchmen bore the name of =Puseyites=, because they agreed with the views set forth by Dr. Pusey in his celebrated “Tracts for the Times,” published at Oxford between 1833 and 1841. Those scholars who assisted Dr. Pusey in the composition of these =Oxford Tracts=, as they were called, as well as the public at large who believed in their teaching, were styled =Tractarians=; while the great Roman Catholic revival that took place in the Church of England at this period universally bore, and still bears, the name of the =Oxford Movement=.

_TAVERN SIGNS._

=Hotel= is a French term, derived from _hostil_, a lordly house, a palace. The designation =Public House=, signifying a house of public resort for refreshment and conviviality, is a modern substitute for =Tavern=, derived from the Latin _taberna_, a hut, a wooden booth; frequently also for =Inn=, or rather, as originally written, _Inne_, which expressed the Anglo-Saxon for a mansion. And here we may at once observe that by far the majority of our mediæval inns and =Hostelries= [_see_ HOTEL] grew out of the mansions of the nobility during the prolonged absence of their owners. At such times the privilege of utilizing the mansion for his own profit naturally fell to the family’s most trustworthy dependent, viz., the head gamekeeper, whose green costume gave existence to the sign of =The Green Man=, when, after quitting the family’s service, he set up an inn on his own account either in connection with his own cottage or abutting on the public highway. Nevertheless, this sign had nothing in common with that of =The Green Man and Still=, expressive of a herbalist bringing his herbs to a distillery, and which was doubtless the sign of a herbalist turned innkeeper.

As the family arms always occupied a prominent position on the front of the mansion these soon became known far and wide, though scarcely in accordance with their full heraldic significance. Briefly, the most conspicuous object in them sufficed to impress itself upon the minds of travellers as the distinguishing sign of the establishment; so that, instead of speaking of _lions gules_ and _lions azure_, &c., they simplified matters by referring to red and blue lions, &c. Such was the origin, then, of =The Red Lion=, =The Blue Lion=, and many another familiar sign of this character. Moreover, as a variation of the same device entered into the arms of different families, it happened that the most conspicuous object in them became popular in different parts of the country at the same time. Another fruitful source of the rapid multiplication of a particular sign throughout the same county, and even upon the same estate, was the fact that as often as a retired dependent of a nobleman’s family turned innkeeper, he was pretty certain to name his establishment in accordance with the popular description of the original inn or mansion. If it chanced, however, that that sign had already been appropriated by another innkeeper in the immediate vicinity, the full cognizance of the ground landlord was adopted. Thus, in the Midland Counties there is no sign so common as =The Bear and Ragged Staff=, which was the cognizance of the Earl of Warwick, the King Maker. Similarly, =The Boar’s Head= was the cognizance of the Gordons; =The Black Bull=, that of the House of Clare; and =The Talbot=, that of the House of Shrewsbury. Another oft-to-be-met-with sign is =The Chequers=, which comprised the arms of the Earls of Fitzwarren who, in the time of the Plantagenets, held the right of granting the vintners their licences. Later in our history the same cognizance was adopted by the Stuarts. As every one is aware, =The Red Rose= was the recognized badge of the Lancastrians, and =The White Rose= that of the Yorkists. It may be assumed that these two signs were naturally more popular throughout the country at large during the =Wars of the Roses= than at any subsequent period. During that turbulent period of English history, too, the devices of the several adherents of the rival houses were not unfrequently chosen in commemoration of a particular event; as, for example, after the Battle of Barnet, when =The Star=, the badge of the Earl of Oxford who decided the fate of that day, sprang up as an inn-sign in all directions, except, of course, upon Yorkist ground.

Where the innkeeper was not bound by any ties of gratitude or regard to the ground landlord he evinced his loyalty to the reigning monarch by adopting a portion of the royal arms. As examples of this class:--=The White Swan= was the badge of Edward III. and of Henry IV.; =The White Swan and Antelope=, of Henry V.; =The White Hart=, and =The Sun=, both of Richard II.; =The White Lion=, of Edward IV. as Earl of March, and =The Three Suns=, of Edward IV. as King of England; =The Eagle=, of Queen Mary; =The Blue Boar=, of Richard III.; =The Red Dragon=, that of Henry VII., chosen for his standard after the Battle of Bosworth Field, and =The Greyhound=, his original badge as King. =The Rose= is the symbol of England, just as =The Thistle= stands for Scotland, =The Shamrock= for Ireland, and =The Leek= for Wales. A very general expression of loyalty, again, was conveyed in the sign of =The Crown=, which, by the way, was shrewdly complimentary to the reigning house without offering offence to the partisans of a rival claimant to the throne. =The Rose and Crown= had reference originally to the union of the red and white roses in the House of Tudor by the marriage of Henry VII. with Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV., in the year 1486; =The Crown and Sceptre= must have originated in the mind of one who had been witness to the elaborate ceremonial peculiar to a coronation; while =The Crown and Anchor= signified the reliance which was placed in the exalted person that wore the crown.

If, on the other hand, our mediæval innkeeper chose to flatter the ground landlord without actually adopting his cognizance, he invariably named his establishment after his lordship’s family title, _e.g._, =The Earl of March=, in compliment to the Duke of Richmond, or else set up some such sign as =The Hare and Hounds=, =The Tally Ho!=, =The Fox in the Hole=, &c., in allusion to the sporting tastes of his patron. At times he even went so far as to enter into the religious enthusiasm of the latter by exhibiting a preference for =The Angel= or =The Salutation=, both referring to the Annunciation of the Virgin; =The Three Kings=, meaning the Magi who presented themselves to the Infant at Bethlehem; or =The Cross Keys=, the symbol of St. Peter, and the badge of the Archbishop of York. The sign of =The Mitre= was generally adopted by an innkeeper whose establishment stood in the vicinity of a cathedral; consequently, this particular sign abounds in cities, but is rarely to be met with in the rural districts.

During the period of the Holy Wars, if the innkeeper did not content himself with the sign of =The Turk’s Head= or =The Saracen’s Head=, that of =The Golden Cross=, which was the ensign carried by the Crusaders, was usually chosen. The modern sign of =The Half-Moon= originated in the crescent, the ensign of the Infidel. The signs of =The Swan=, =The Pheasant=, and =The Peacock= arose in the days of knight-errantry, when every knight selected one of these birds as an emblem of chivalry, and exerted a pride in the association. For example, one of the principal characters in the “Niebelungen Lied” is called “The Knight of the Swan.” Then, again, many innkeepers assumed a sign in honour of the patron saint of England, or in commemoration of his combat with the dragon, viz., =The St. George=, =The St. George and Dragon=, =The George and Dragon=, =The Green Dragon=, &c. =The George=, a common sign enough in our own day--it would be difficult to name a town that has not its “George” in the High Street--was originally connected with the dragon too; but at the commencement of the Hanoverian succession the heraldic device was painted out altogether, and the words THE GEORGE were put up in its place. The like observation applies to all such signs as =The King’s Arms=, =The Queen’s Arms=, =The Freemasons’ Arms=, =The Coachmakers’ Arms=, =The Saddlers’ Arms=, =The Carpenters’ Arms=, &c., nowadays identified by name only, instead of their distinctive badge or crest. We must not omit to mention also that, since the especial function of tavern and other signs was to call attention to the character of an establishment in days when the people were unable to read, and when, therefore, the display of the owner’s name or of the name of the house would have been useless, the misapprehension of the painted device was of common occurrence. Hence the corruption of many signs from their original meaning.