OLD CATHOLICS

OLD CATHOLICS (Ger. Altkatholiken), the designation assumed | pelled him also to withhold his submission alike as by those members of the Roman Catholic Church who refused to accept the decrées of the Vatican Council of 1870 defining the dogma of papal infallibility (see VATICAN COUNCIL and INFALLIBILITY) and ultimately set up a separate ecclesiastical organization on the episcopal model. The Old Catholic movement, at the outset at least, differed fundamentally from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century in that it aimed not at any drastic changes in doctrine but at the restoration of the ancient Catholic system, founded on the diocesan episcopate, which under the influence of the ultramontane movement of the 19th century had been finally displaced by the rigidly centralized system of the papal monarchy. In this respect it represented a tendency of old standing within the Church and one which, in the 18th century, had all but gained the upper hand (see FEBRONIANISM and GALLICANISM). Protestantism takes for its standard the Bible and the supposed doctrines and institutions of the apostolic age. Old Catholicism sets up the authority of the undivided Church, and accepts the decrees of the first seven general councils-down to the second council of Nicaea (787), a principle which has necessarily involved a certain amount of doctrinal divergence both from the standards of Rome and those of the Protestant Churches.

The proceedings of the Vatican council and their outcome had at first threatened to lead to a serious schism in the Church. The minority against the decrees included many of the most distinguished prelates and theologians of the Roman communion, and the methods by which their opposition had been overcome seemed to make it difficult for them to submit. The pressure put upon them was, however, immense, and the reasons for submission may well have seemed overwhelming; in the end, after more or less delay, all the recalcitrant bishops gave in their adhesion to the decrees.

The "sacrificio dell' intelletto," as it was termed-the subordination of individual opinion to the general authority of the Church-was the maxim adopted by one and all. Seventeen of the German bishops almost immediately receded from the position they had taken up at Rome and assented to the dogma, publishing at the same time a pastoral letter in which they sought to justify their change of sentiment on the ground of expediency in relation to the interests of the Church (Michelis, Der neue Fuldaer Hirtenbrief, 1870). Their example was followed by all the other bishops of Germany. Darboy, archbishop of Paris, and Dupanloup, bishop of Orleans, in France adopted a like course, and took with them the entire body of the French clergy. Each bishop demanded in turn the same submission from the clergy of his diocese, the alternative being suspension from pastoral functions, to be followed by deprivation of office. It may be urged as some extenuation of this general abandonment of a great principle, that those who had refused to subscribe to the dogma received but languid support, and in some cases direct discouragement, from their respective governments. The submission of the illustrious Karl Joseph von Hefele was generally attributed to the influence exerted by the court of Württemberg.

The universities, being less directly under the control of the Church, were prepared to show a bolder front.' Dr J. F. von Schulte, professor at Prague, was one of the first to publish a formal protest. A meeting of Catholic professors and distinguished scholars convened at Nuremberg (August 1870) recorded a like dissent, and resolved on the adoption of measures for bringing about the assembling of a really free council north of the Alps. The Appel aux Evêques Catholiques of M. Hyacinthe Loyson (better known as "Père Hyacinthe"), after referring ," "the empire of the to the overthrow of "the two despotisms," Napoleons and the temporal power of the popes," appealed to the Catholic bishops throughout the world to put an end to the schism by declaring whether the recent decrees were or were not binding on the faith of the Church. This appeal, on its appearance in La Libertà early in 1871, was suppressed by the order of the king of Italy. On the 28th of March Döllinger, in a letter of some length, set forth the reasons which com

a Christian,

a theologian, an historical student and a citizen." The publica-
tion of this letter was shortly followed by a sentence of ex-
communication pronounced against Döllinger and Professor
Johannes Friedrich (q.v.), and read to the different congrega-
tions from the pulpits of Munich. The professors of the univer-
sity, on the other hand, had shortly before evinced their resolu-
tion of affording Döllinger all the moral support in their power
by an address (April 3, 1871) in which they denounced the
Vatican decrees with unsparing severity, declaring that, at the
very time when the German people had "won for themselves
the post of honour on the battlefield among the nations of
the earth," the German bishops had stooped to the dishonouring
task of "forcing consciences in the service of an unchristian
tyranny, of reducing many pious and upright men to distress
and want, and of persecuting those who had but stood steadfast
in their allegiance to the ancient faith" (Friedberg, Aktenstücke
z. ersten Vaticanischen Concil, p. 187). An address to the king,
drawn up a few days later, received the signatures of 12,000
Catholics. The refusal of the rites of the Church to one of the
signatories, Dr Zenger, when on his deathbed, elicited strong
necessary to fill up by election six vacancies in the council of
expressions of disapproval; and when, shortly after, it became
the university, the feeling of the electors was indicated by the
return of candidates distinguished by their dissent from the
new decrees. In the following September the demand for
another and a free council was responded to by the assembling
of a congress at Munich. It was composed of nearly 500 dele-
Teutonic element was now as manifestly predominant as the
gates, convened from almost all parts of the world; but the
Latin element had been at Rome. The proceedings were pre-
Among those who took a prominent part in the deliberations
sided over by Professor von Schulte, and lasted three days.
were Landammann Keller, Windscheid, Döllinger, Reinkens,
Maassen (professor of canon law at Vienna), Friedrich and
Huber. The arrangements finally agreed upon were mainly
provisional; but one of the resolutions plainly declared that
it was desirable if possible to effect a reunion with the Oriental
Greek and Russian Churches, and also to arrive at an "under-
In the following year lectures were delivered at Munich by
standing" with the Protestant and Episcopal communions.
various supporters of the new movement, and the learning and
eloquence of Reinkens were displayed with marked effect. In
France the adhesion of the abbé Michaud to the cause attracted
considerable interest, not only from his reputation as a preacher,
but also from the notable step in advance made by his declara-
tion that, inasmuch as the adoption of the standpoint of the
Tridentine canons would render reunion with the Lutheran
and the Reformed Churches impossible, the wisest course would
than was embodied in the canons of the first seven oecumenical
be to insist on nothing more with respect to doctrinal belief
councils. In the same year the Old Catholics, as they now
began to be termed, entered into relations with the historical
inaugural address as rector of the university of Munich, expressed
little Jansenist Church of Utrecht. Döllinger, in delivering his
his conviction that theology had received a fresh impulse and
that the religious history of Europe was entering upon a new
phase.

Other circumstances contributed to invest Old Catholicism
In February 1872 appeared
with additional importance. It was evident that the relations
between the Roman Curia and the Prussian government were
becoming extremely strained.
the first measures of the Falk ministry, having for their object
the control of the influence of the clergy in the schools, and in
May the pope refused to accept Cardinal Hohenlohe, who during
the council had opposed the definition of the dogma, as Prussian
minister at the Vatican. In the same year two humble parish
priests, Renftle of Mering in Bavaria and Tangermann of Unkel
in the Rhineland, set an example of independence by refusing

The rites were administered and the burial service conducted by Friedrich, who had refused to acknowledge his excom

munication.

to accept the decrees. The former, driven from his parish | at Freiburg-im-Breisgau. At the congress Bishop Reinkens spoke church, was followed by the majority of his congregation, who, in hopeful terms of the results of his observations during a in spite of every discouragement, continued faithful to him; recent missionary tour throughout Germany. The conference, and for years after, as successive members were removed by held on the 14th, 15th and 16th of September, had for its special death, the crosses over their graves recorded that they had died object the discussion of the early confessions as a basis of agree"true to their ancient belief." Tangermann, the poet, expelled ment, though not necessarily of fusion, between the different in like manner from his parish by the archbishop of Cologne, communions above-named. The meetings, which were presided before long found himself the minister of a much larger congre- over by Döllinger, successively took into consideration the gation in the episcopal city itself. These examples exercised Filioque clause in the Nicene creed, the sacraments, the canon of no little influence, and congregations of Old Catholics were Scripture, the episcopal succession in the English Church, the shortly after formed at numerous towns and villages in Bavaria, confessional, indulgences, prayers for the dead, and the eucharist Baden, Prussia, German Switzerland, and even in Austria. (see DÖLLINGER). The synod (May 27-29) was the first of a At Warnsdorf in Bohemia a congregation was collected which series, held yearly till 1879 and afterwards twice a year, in which still represents one of the most important centres of the move- the doctrine and discipline of the new Church were gradually ment. In September the second congress was held at Cologne. formulated. The tendency was, naturally, to move further It was attended by some 500 delegates or visitors from all parts and further away from the Roman model; and though the synod of Europe, and the English Church was represented by the expressly renounced any claim to formulate dogma, or any bishops of Ely and Lincoln and other distinguished members. intention of destroying the unity of the faith, the "Catholic At this congress Friedrich boldly declared that the movement Catechism" adopted by it in 1874 contained several articies was directed "against the whole papal system, a system of fundamentally at variance with the teaching of Rome. At the errors during a thousand years, which had only reached its first synod, too, it was decided to make confession and fasting climax in the doctrine of infallibility." optional, while later synods pronounced in favour of using the vernacular in public worship, allowing the marriage of priests, and permitting them to administer the communion in both kinds to members of the Anglican Church attending their services. Of these developments that abolishing the compulsory celibacy of the clergy led to the most opposition; some opposed it as inexpedient, others-notably the Jansenist clergy of Hollandas wrong in itself, and when it was ultimately passed in 1878 some of the clergy, notably Tangermann and Reusch, withdrew from the Old Catholic movement.

The movement thus entered a new phase, the congress occupying itself mainly with the formation of a more definite organization and with the question of reunion with other Churches. The immediate effect was a fateful divergence of opinion; for many who sympathized with the opposition to the extreme papal claims shrank from the creation of a fresh schism. Prince Chlodwig Hohenlohe, who as prime minister of Bavaria had attempted to unite the governments against the definition of the dogma, refused to have anything to do with proceedings which could only end in the creation of a fresh sect, and would make the prospect of the reform of the Church from within hopeless; more important still, Döllinger refused to take part in setting up a separate organization, and though he afterwards so far modified his opinion as to help the Old Catholic community with sympathy and advice, he never formally joined it.

Meanwhile, the progress of the quarrel between the Prussian government and the Curia had been highly favourable to the movement. In May 1873 the celebrated Falk laws were enacted, whereby the articles 15 and 18 of the Prussian constitution were modified, so as to legalize a systematic state supervision over the education of the clergy of all denominations, and also over the appointment and dismissal of all ministers of religion. The measure, which was a direct response to the Vatican decrees, inspired the Old Catholics with a not unreasonable expectation that the moral support of the government would henceforth be enlisted on their side. On the 11th of August Professor J. H. Reinkens of Breslau, having been duly elected bishop of the new community, was consecrated at Rotterdam by Bishop Heykamp of Deventer, the archbishop of Utrecht, who was to have performed the ceremony, having died a few days before. In the meantime the extension of the movement in Switzerland had been proceeding rapidly, and it was resolved to hold the third congress at Constance. The proceedings occupied three days (12th to 14th September), the subjects discussed being chiefly the institution of a synod as the legislative and executive organ of the Church, and schemes of reunion with the Greek, the African and the Protestant communions. On the 20th of September the election of Bishop Reinkens was formally recognized by the Prussian government, and on the 7th of October he took the oath of allegiance to the king.

The following year (1874) was marked by the assembling of the first synod and a conference at Bonn, and of a congress 1 Reinkens was elected at Cologne in primitive Christian fashion by clergy and people, the latter being representatives of Old Catholic congregations.

The diocesan synod, under the presidency of the bishop, consists of the clergy of the diocese and one lay delegate for every 200 church members. It now meets twice a year and transacts the business prepared for it by an executive committee of 4 clergy and 5 laymen. In Switzerland the organization is still more democratic: the bishop does not preside over the synod and may be deposed by it.

Meanwhile the movement had made some progress in other countries-in Austria, in Italy and in Mexico; but everywhere it was hampered by the inevitable controversies, which either broke up its organization or hindered its development. In Switzerland, where important conferences were successively convened (at Solothurn in 1871, at Olten in 1872, 1873 and 1874), the unanimity of the "Christian Catholics," as they preferred to call themselves, seemed at one time in danger of being shipwrecked on the question of episcopacy. It was not until September 18th, 1876, that the conflict of opinions was so far composed as to allow of the consecration of Bishop Herzog by Bishop Reinkens. The reforms introduced by M. Hyacinthe Loyson in his church at Geneva received only a partial assent from the general body. Among the more practical results of his example is to be reckoned, however, the fact that in French Switzerland nearly all the clergy, in German Switzerland about one half, are married men.

The end of the Kulturkampf in 1878, and the new alliance between Bismarck and Pope Leo XIII. against revolutionary Socialism, deprived the Old Catholics of the special favour which had been shown them by the Prussian government; they continued, however, to enjoy the legal status of Catholics, and their communities retained the rights and the property secured to them by the law of the 4th of July 1875. In Bavaria, on the other hand, they were in March 1890, after the death of Döllinger, definitely reduced to the status of a private religious sect, with very narrow rights. When Bishop Reinkens died in January 1896 his successor Theodor Weber, professor of theology at Breslau, elected bishop on the 4th of March, was recognized only by the governments of Prussia, Baden and Hesse. The present position of the Old Catholic Church has disappointed the expectation of its friends and of its enemies. It has neither advanced rapidly, as the former had hoped, nor retrograded, as the latter have frequently predicted it would do. In Germany there are 90 congregations, served by 60 priests, and the number of adherents is estimated at about 60,000. In Switzerland there are 40 parishes (of which only one, that at Lucerne, is in the

E.g. especially Question 164: "this (the Christian) community is invisible," and Question 167, "one may belong to the invisible Church (i.e. of those sharing in Christ's redemption) without belong. ing to the visible Church.

some of which have been translated into English, give his personal Roman Catholic cantons), 60 clergy and about 50,000 adherents. | Preussen (Bonn, 1874). (c) Reinkens's own speeches and pastorals, In Austria, though some accessions have been received since published by Eberhard Stirngiebl; and the persecutions to which the Los von Rom movement began in 1899, the Old Catholic views and experiences; the Life of Huber has been written and by J. Mayor, Facts and Documents (London, 1875). (d) For SwitzerChurch has not made much headway; it has some 15 churches the Old Catholic clergy were exposed have been set forth in a pamphlet land, C. Herzog, Beiträge zur Vorgeschichte der Christkathol. Kirche der and about 15,000 adherents. In Holland the Old Catholic or Schweiz (Bern, 1896). Jansenist Church has 3 bishops, about 30 congregations and over OLD DEER, a parish and village in the district of Buchan, 8000 adherents. In France the movement headed by Loyson There is but one congregation, in Paris, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 4313. The village lies did not go far. beautiful new church on on the Deer or South Ugie Water, 10 m. W. of Peterhead, where it has built for itself a the Boulevard Blanqin. Its priest is George Volet, who was ordained by Herzog, and it has just over 300 members. It and 2 m. from Mintlaw station on the Great North of Scotland is under the supervision of the Old Catholic archbishops of Railway Company's branch line from Aberdeen to Peterhead, Utrecht. In Italy a branch of the Old Catholic communion The industries include distilling, brewing, and the manufacture was established in 1881 by Count Enrico di Campello, a former of woollens, and there are quarries of granite and limestone. the 6th century, of which no trace remains. A most interesting canon of St Peter's at Rome. A church was opened in Rome Columba and his nephew Drostan founded a monastery here in by Monsignor Savarese and Count Campello, under the supervision of the bishop of Long Island in the United States, who relic of the monks was discovered in 1857 in the Cambridge undertook the superintendence of the congregation in accordance University library by Henry Bradshaw. It consisted of a small with the regulations laid down by the Lambeth conference. MS. of the Gospels in the Vulgate, fragments of the liturgy But dissensions arose between the two men. The church in of the Celtic church, and notes, in the Gaelic script of the 12th Rome was closed; Savarese returned to the Roman Church; century, referring to the charters of the ancient monastery, and Campello commenced a reform work in the rural districts including a summary of that granted by David I. These are adorned with Gaelic designs. It had belonged to the monks of of Umbria, under the episcopal guidance of the bishop of Salisbury. among the oldest examples of Scottish Gaelic. The MS. was also This was in 1885. In 1900 Campello returned to Rome, and once more opened a church there. In 1902 he retired from active Deer and been in the possession of the University Library since participation in the work, on account of age and bodily infirmity; 1715. It was edited by John Stuart (1813-1877) for the Spalding The Book of Deer. In 1218 William Comyn, earl of Buchan, and his place at the head of it was taken by Professor Cicchitti Club, by whom it was published in 1869 under the title of of Milan. Campello ultimately returned to the Roman comup the river than the monastery and on the opposite bank. munion. There are half-a-dozen priests, who are either in founded the Abbey of St Mary of Deer, now in ruins, m. farther The Although it was erected for Cistercians from the priory of Kinloss, Roman or Old Catholic orders, and about twice as many connear Forres, the property of the Columban monastery was regregations. Old Catholicism has spread to America. Polish Romanists there, in 1899, complained of the rule of Irish in the church. The parish is rich in antiquities, but the most bishops; elected a bishop of their own, Herr Anton Kozlowski; moved to it. The founder (d. 1233) and his countess were buried presented him to the Old Catholic bishops in Europe for consecrawhich stood near the Abbey-was destroyed in 1854. tion; and he presides over seven congregations in Chicago and noted of them-the Stone of Deer, a sculptured block of syenite, the neighbourhood. The Austrian and Italian churches no bishops, and the Austrian government refuses to allow the thriving village of NEW DEER (formerly called Auchriddie) Old Catholic bishops of other countries to perform their functions lies about 7 m. W. of the older village; it includes the ruined in Austria. Every Old Catholic congregation has its choral castle of Fedderat. union, its poor relief, and its mutual improvement society. Theological faculties exist at Bonn and Bern, and at the former a residential college for theological students was established by Bishop Reinkens. Old Catholicism has eight newspaperstwo in Italy, two in Switzerland, and one each in Holland, Germany, Austria and France. It has held reunion conferences at Lucerne in 1892, at Rotterdam in 1894, and at Vienna in 1897. At these, members of the various episcopal bodies have been welcomed. It has also established a quarterly publication, the Revue internationale de théologie, which has admitted articles in French, German and English, contributed not merely by Old Catholics, but by members of the Anglican, Russian, Greek and Slavonic churches. Old Catholic theologians have been very active, and the work of Döllinger and Reusch on the Jesuits, and the history of the Roman Church by Professor Langen, have attained a European reputation.

possess

An outline of the whole movement up to the year 1875 will be found in The New Reformation, by " Theodorus "(J. Bass Mullinger); and an excellent résumé of the main facts in the history of the movement in each European country, as connected with other developments of liberal thought, and with political history, is given in the second volume of Dr F. Nippold's Handbuch der neuesten Kirchengeschichte, vol. ii. (1883). See also A. M. E. Scarth, The Story of the Old Catholic and Kindred Movements (London, 1883); Bühler, Der Altkatholicismus (Leiden, 1880); J. F von Schulte, Der Altkatholizismus (Giessen, 1887); and article in Hauck-Herzog's Realencyk. für prot. Theol. und Kirche, i. 415. For details the following sources may be consulted: (a) For the proceedings of the successive congresses: the Stenographische Berichte, published at Munich, Cologne, Constance, &c.; those of the congress of Constance were summarized in an English form, with other elucidatory matter, by Professor John Mayor. (b) For the questions involved in the consecration of Bishop Reinkens: Rechtsgutachten über die Frage der Anerkennung des altkatholischen Bischofs Dr Reinkens in Bayern (Munich, 1874); Emil Friedberg, Der Staat und d. Bischofswahlen in Deutschland (Leipzig, 1874); F. von Sybel, Das altkatholische Bisthum und das Vermögen d. römischkatholischen Kirchengesellschaften in

The

OLDENBARNEVELDT, JOHAN VAN (1547-1619), Dutch statesman, was born at Amersfoort on the 14th of September 1547. The family from which he claimed descent was of ancient lineage. After studying law at Louvain, Bourges and Heidelberg, to practise in the law courts at the Hague. In religion a moderate and travelling in France and Italy, Oldenbarneveldt settled down Calvinist, he threw himself with ardour into the revolt against Spanish tyranny and became a zealous adherent of William the Silent. He served as a volunteer for the relief of Haarlem (1573) and again at Leiden (1574). In 1576 he obtained the important post of pensionary of Rotterdam, an office which carried with it official membership of the States of Holland. In this capacity his industry, singular grasp of affairs, and persuasive powers of speech speedily gained for him a position of influence. He was ance of the countship of Holland and Zeeland by William (1584) active in promoting the Union of Utrecht (1579) and the acceptOn the assassination of Orange it was at the proposal of Oldenbarneveldt that the youthful Maurice of Nassau was at once elected stadholder, captain-general and admiral of Holland. strenuous opposition offered by the States of Holland to the During the governorship of Leicester he was the leader of the centralizing policy of the governor. In 1586 he was appointed, in succession to Paul Buys, to the post of Land's Advocate of Holland. This great office, which he held for 32 years, gave to a man of commanding ability and industry unbounded influence in a many-headed republic without any central executive authority. Though nominally the servant of the States of Holland he made himself politically the personification of the province which bore more than half the entire charge of the union, and as its mouthpiece in the states-general he practically dominated that assembly. In a brief period he became entrusted with such large and far-reaching authority in all the details of administration, as to be virtually "minister of all affairs."

province, raise a local force of 4000 men (waardgelders) to keep the peace. The states-general meanwhile by a bare majority (4 provinces to 3) agreed to the summoning of a national church synod. The States of Holland, also by a narrow majority, refused their assent to this, and passed (August 4, 1617) a strong resolution (Scherpe Resolutie) by which all magistrates, officials and soldiers in the pay of the province were required to take an oath of obedience to the states on pain of dismissal, and were to be held accountable not to the ordinary tribunals, but to the States of Holland. It was a declaration of sovereign independence on the part of Holland, and the states-general took up the challenge and determined on decisive action. A commission was appointed with Maurice at its head to compel the disbanding of the waardgelders. On the 31st of July 1618 the stadholder appeared at Utrecht, which had thrown in its lot with Holland, at the head of a body of troops, and at his command the local levies at once laid down their arms. His progress through the towns of Holland met with no opposition. The states party was crushed without a blow being struck. On the 23rd of August, by order of the states-general, the advocate and his chief supporters, de Groot and Hoogerbeets, were arrested.

During the two critical years which followed the withdrawal | States of Holland should, on their own authority, as a sovereign of Leicester, it was the statesmanship of the advocate which kept the United Provinces from falling asunder through their own inherent separatist tendencies, and prevented them from becoming an easy conquest to the formidable army of Alexander of Parma. Fortunately for the Netherlands the attention of Philip was at their time of greatest weakness riveted upon his contemplated invasion of England, and a respite was afforded which enabled Oldenbarneveldt to supply the lack of any central organized government by gathering into his own hands the control of administrative affairs. His task was made the easier by the whole-hearted support he received from Maurice of Nassau, who, after 1589, held the Stadholderate of five provinces, and was likewise captain-general and admiral of the union. The interests and ambitions of the two men did not clash, for Maurice's thoughts were centred on the training and leadership of armics and he had no special capacity as a statesman or inclination for politics. The first rift between them came in 1600, when Maurice was forced against his will by the states-general, under the advocate's influence, to undertake an expedition into Flanders, which was only saved from disaster by desperate efforts which ended in victory at Nieuwport. In 1598 Oldenbarneveldt took part in special embassies to Henry IV. and Elizabeth, and again in 1605 in a special mission sent to congratulate James I. on his accession.

The opening of negotiations by Albert and Isabel in 1606 for a peace or long truce led to a great division of opinion in the Netherlands. The archdukes having consented to treat with the United Provinces "as free provinces and states over which they had no pretensions," Oldenbarneveldt, who had with him the States of Holland and the majority of burgher regents throughout the county, was for peace, provided that liberty of trading was conceded. Maurice and his cousin William Louis, stadholder of Frisia, with the military and naval leaders and the Calvinist clergy, were opposed to it, on the ground that the Spanish king was merely seeking an interval of repose in which to recuperate his strength for a renewed attack on the independence of the Netherlands. For some three years the negotiations went on, but at last after endless parleying, on the 9th of April 1609, a truce for twelve years was concluded. All that the Dutch asked was directly or indirectly granted, and Maurice felt obliged to give a reluctant and somewhat sullen assent to the favourable conditions obtained by the firm and skilful diplomacy of the advocate.

The immediate effect of the truce was a strengthening of Oldenbarneveldt's influence in the government of the republic, now recognized as a "free and independent state"; external peace, however, was to bring with it internal strife. For some years there had been a war of words between the religious parties, known as the Gomarists (strict Calvinists) and the Arminians (moderate Calvinists). In 1610 the Arminians drew up a petition, known as the Remonstrance, in which they asked that their tenets (defined in five articles) should be submitted to a national synod, summoned by the civil government. It was no secret that this action of the Arminians was taken with the approval and connivance of the advocate, who was what was styled a libertine, i.e. an upholder of the principle of toleration in religious opinions. The Gomarists in reply drew up a Contra-Remonstrance in seven articles, and appealed to a purely church synod. The whole land was henceforth divided into Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants; the States of Holland under the influence of Oldenbarneveldt supported the former, and refused to sanction the summoning of a purely church synod (1613). They likewise (1614) forbade the preachers in the Province of Holland to treat of disputed subjects from their pulpits. Obedience was difficult to enforce without military help, riots broke out in certain towns, and when Maurice was appealed to, as captain-general, he declined to act. He did more, though in no sense a theologian; he declared himself on the side of the Contra-Remonstrants, and established a preacher of that persuasion in a church at the Hague (1617).

The advocate now took a bold step. He proposed that the

Oldenbarneveldt was with his friends kept in the strictest confinement until November, and then brought for examination before a commission appointed by the states-general. He appeared more than sixty times before the commissioners and was examined most severely upon the whole course of his official life, and was, most unjustly, allowed neither to consult papers nor to put his defence in writing. On the 20th of February 1619 he was arraigned before a special court of twenty-four members, only half of whom were Hollanders, and nearly all of them his personal enemies. It was in no sense a legal court, nor had it any jurisdiction over the prisoner, but the protest of the advocate, who claimed his right to be tried by the sovereign province of Holland, whose servant he was, was disregarded. He was allowed no advocates, nor the use of documents, pen or paper. It was in fact not a trial at all, and the packed bench of judges on Sunday, the 12th of May, pronounced sentence of death. On the following day the old statesman, at the age of seventy-one, was beheaded in the Binnenhof at the Hague. Such, to use his own words, was his reward for serving his country forty-three years.

The accusations brought against Oldenbarneveldt of having been a traitor to his country, whose interests he had betrayed for foreign gold, have no basis in fact. The whole life of the advocate disproves them, and not a shred of evidence has ever been produced to throw suspicion upon the patriot statesman's conduct. All his private papers fell into the hands of his foes, but not even the bitterest and ablest of his personal enemics, Francis Aarssens (see AARSSENS), could extract from them anything to show that Oldenbarneveldt at any time betrayed his country's interests. That he was an ambitious man, fond of power, and haughty in his attitude to those who differed from him in opinion, may be granted, but it must also be conceded that he sought for power in order to confer invaluable services upon his country, and that impatience of opposition was not unnatural in a man who had exercised an almost supreme control of administrative affairs for upwards of three decades. His high-handed course of action in defence of what he conceived to be the sovereign rights of his own province of Holland to decide upon religious questions within its borders may be challenged on the ground of inexpediency, but not of illegality. The harshness of the treatment meted out by Maurice to his father's old friend, the faithful counsellor and protector of his own early years, leaves a stain upon the stadholder's memory which can never be washed away. That the prince should have felt compelled in the last resort to take up arms for the Union against the attempt of the province of Holland to defy the authority of the Generality may be justified by the plea reipublicae salus suprema lex. To eject the advocate from power was one thing, to execute him as a traitor quite another. The condemnation of Oldenbarneveldt was carried out with Maurice's consent and approval, and he