Nevertheless books attacking the old ideas and suggesting reforms in Church and State constantly appeared and were freely circulated. The writers took care not to place their names or those of the publishers upon the title-pages, and many such books were printed at Geneva or in Holland, where great freedom prevailed. Many others which purported to be printed abroad were actually printed secretly at home.

116. The Church in Southern and Central Europe. In Spain, Austria, and Italy, however, and especially in the Papal States, the clergy, particularly the Jesuits, were more powerful and enjoyed more privileges than in France. In Spain the censorship of the press and the Inquisition constituted a double bulwark against change until the latter half of the eighteenth century.

In Germany the position of the Church varied greatly. The southern states were Catholic, while Prussia and the north had embraced Protestantism. Many bishops and abbots ruled as princes over their own lands. Their estates covered almost a third of the map of western and southern Germany and were, of course, quite distinct from the religious divisions or dioceses.

V. THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHED CHURCH AND
THE PROTESTANT SECTS

117. The Anglican Church. In England Henry VIII had thrown off his allegiance to the Pope and declared himself the head of the English Church. Under his daughter, Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603), Parliament had established the Church of England. It abolished the mass and sanctioned the Book of Common Prayer, which has since remained the official guide to the services in the Anglican Church. The beliefs of the Church were brought together in the Thirty-Nine Articles, from which no one was to vary or depart. The system of government of the Roman Catholic Church, with its archbishops, bishops, and priests, was retained, but the appointment of bishops was put in the hands of the monarch or his ministers (see Vol. I, §§ 762, 797). Anyone who failed to attend services on Sunday and holy-days was to be fined.

118. The Persecution of Catholics. Those who persisted in adhering to the Roman Catholic faith fared badly, although happily there were no such general massacres as overwhelmed the Protestants in France. Under the influence of the Jesuits some of the English Catholics became involved in plots against the Protestant queen, Elizabeth, who had been deposed by the Pope. These were in some instances executed for treason. Indeed, anyone who brought a papal bull to England, who embraced Catholicism, or converted a Protestant was declared a traitor. Fines and imprisonment were inflicted upon those who dared to say or to hear mass.1

119. The English Dissenters. But there were many Protestants who did not approve of the Anglican Church as established by law. These were called "Dissenters," and they developed gradually into several sects with differing views. By far the most numerous of the Dissenters were the Baptists. They spread to America, and were the first Protestant sect to undertake foreign missions on a large scale, having founded a society for that purpose as early as 1792.

Another English sect which was destined also to be conspicuous in America was the Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they are commonly called. This group owes its origin to George Fox, who began his preaching in 1647. The Friends were distinguished by their simplicity of life and dress, their abhorrence of war, and their rejection of all ceremonial, including even the Lord's Supper. Their chief stronghold in America has always been Pennsylvania, more particularly Philadelphia and its neighborhood, where they settled under the leadership of William Penn.

The Quakers were the first religious sect to denounce war ever and always, and they should have much of the credit of beginning

1 It may be noted here that the Catholics found a refuge in America from their Protestant persecutors, as did the Huguenots who fled from the oppression of the Catholic government in France. The colony of Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore in 1634 and named after the French wife of Charles I. In the nineteenth century the number of Catholics in the United States was vastly increased by immigration from Ireland, Italy, and other countries, so that there are over thirteen millions to-day who have been baptized into the Roman Catholic Church.

the movement against war, which had gained much headway, as we shall see later, before the outbreak of the great world conflict in 1914.

120. John Wesley and the Methodists. The last of the great Protestant sects to appear was that of the Methodists. Their founder, John Wesley, when at Oxford had established a religious society among his fellow students. Their piety and the regularity of their habits gained

for them the nickname of "Methodists." After leaving Oxford, Wesley spent some time in the colony of Georgia. On his return to England in 1738 he came to believe in the sudden and complete forgiveness of sins known as "conversion," which he later made the basis of his teaching. He began a series of great revival meetings in London and other large towns. He spent a great part of his time journeying up and down the land, aided in his preaching by his brother Charles and by the impassioned Whitefield. Only gradually did the Methodists separate themselves from the Church of England, of which they at first considered themselves members. In 1784 the numerous American Methodists were formally organized into the Methodist Episcopal Church, and early in the nineteenth century the English Methodists became an independent organization. At the time of Wesley's death his followers numbered over fifty thousand, and there are now in the United States over six millions, including the various branches of the Church.

121. Decline of Religious Persecution. By the end of the seventeenth century the spirit of religious persecution had died down in England. To be sure, England had its State Church, but by the Act of Toleration of 1689 the Dissenters were permitted to hold services in their own way, even though they were excluded from government offices unless they abjured their own faith, and they could not obtain a degree at the universities.

Toward Roman Catholics the law remained as harsh as ever. Those who clung to the Roman Catholic faith, to the Pope and the mass, were forbidden to enter England. The celebration of the mass was strictly prohibited. All public offices were closed to Catholics, and of course they could not sit in Parliament. Indeed, legally, they had no right whatever to be in England at all. But, as in the case of the Dissenters, the laws were enforced less and less as time went on.

122. Freedom of the Press in England. The Church courts still existed in England and could punish laymen for not attending church, for heresy, and for certain immoral acts. But their powers were little exercised compared with the clergy on the Continent. Moreover one who published a book or pamphlet did not have to obtain the permission of the government as in France. Indeed, nowhere was there such unrestrained discussion of scientific and religious matters at this period as in England. England, in the early eighteenth century, was the center of progressive thought from which the French philosophers and reformers drew their inspiration.

QUESTIONS

I. Who were the serfs? In what parts of Europe were they to be found in the eighteenth century? Describe the life of the peasants on a French estate.

II. Contrast the towns of the eighteenth century with those of to-day. Describe the guild system. What were the advantages and the disadvantages of the system? In what respects are the modern tradeunions unlike the guilds?

III. What privileges did a French noble enjoy in the old régime? How did one become a noble? Contrast the English nobility with the

French. What justification, if any, was there for the despotic rule of the kings of the old régime?

IV. In what ways did the Church of the Middle Ages differ from the Church, Catholic or Protestant, of modern times? How many of its medieval powers did the Roman Catholic Church retain in the seventeenth century? What was the "Index"? What examples are there of religious intolerance in France and England during the period just named?

V. What Church replaced the Roman Catholic Church in England after the Protestant revolt? Describe its system of government. Where may a statement of its beliefs be found? Mention the different religious sects (Dissenters) which appeared in England after the break with Rome. How has their influence been felt beyond England? In what ways did religious tolerance appear in England in the late seventeenth and the eighteenth century? Have we religious toleration in the United States?

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING

Studies in Source Materials. ROBINSON and BEARD, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I: (1) the condition of the country people, pp. 138-141; (2) the towns and the guilds, pp. 141-146; (3) the Catholic Church, pp. 148-152; (4) the Jesuit Order, pp. 152-160; (5) the English Established Church and the Protestant sects, pp. 160–171.

Supplementary. HAYES, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, Vol. I: (1) agriculture in the eighteenth century, pp. 395–399; (2) commerce and industry in the eighteenth century, pp. 399–403; (3) the privileged classes, pp. 403-406; (4) religious conditions in the eighteenth century, 406–414.