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to teachers of such a refractory and obstinate disposition. If this should not prove to be the result, then it must be con

The two men who were chosen assessors to Bogerman, were James Rolandus, minister of Amsterdam, and Herman Faukelius of Middelburgh.—RoLANDUS could never mention the Remonstrants and their doctrines, in his sermons or private discourses, without being much agitated and trembling throughout his body. He could scarcely keep his countenance unchanged, if he met any noted Remonstrant in the street. In accordance with these feelings, he did not hesitate plainly to declare, that if Melancthon were then alive, and should come before them [the Synod] and maintain his notions about Conditional Predestination, they would not suffer him to divulge them.-FAUKELius, the second Assessor, had, long before, in conjunction with the other ministers of the Walcheren Class, assisted to prejudge and condemn the cause of the Remonstrants, in a letter which they wrote to the Divines in other countries, and had consented to the schism or separation. He was deputed to the Synod of Dort by men who had previously passed an unanimous resolution," that the FIVE POINTS of the Remonstrants were errors, contrary to the word of God and to the formularies of union.”

The persons whom the Inland Divines chose for Registrars or Secretaries to the Synod, were SEBASTIAN DAMMAN, minister of Zutphen, and FESTUS HOMMIUS, of Leyden.

Damman had long before condemned the doctrine of the Remonstrants in several productions, and had united in extending the breach of Churchfellowship at Nimeguen and in other places by ejecting the Remonstrants. In publishing the Acts of the last provincial synod, held at Arnheim, under the title of "The Written Conferences of Guelderland," he had been guilty of bad faith, and had inserted many facts that were contrary to truth. His notorious tergiversation gave general offence. Having been himself an Arminian, he had formerly lived in a state of intimate friendship with Jacob Bruno, minister of Arnheim, who married the sister of Arminius. He had frequently extolled and recommended to others the opinions of the Remoustrants; and, after being received into the ministry by the class of Zutphen, whom he knew to hold the same sentiments, he openly declared, "Our Theology is no Theology It is only mere Calvinology and Bezology!" By these expressions he intended to intimate, that many of the clergy did not derive their Divinity from the word of God, but from the works of Calvin and Beza.-The Remonstrants therefore had strong reasons for thinking, that he and his fellow-secretary were very improper persons to sustain that important office. It was in the power of these men to register in the acts of the Synod every thing at full length which militated against the cited persons, and to present whatever was favourable to them in a mutilated and garbled abridgment: This power they egregiously abused in numerous instances, and managed matters so well as to escape the reprehension which they richly deserved. For their usual practice was, to delay the public reading of the Acts of the preceding Sessions till several days afterwards; and then if any member stated his recollection to be different from the Synodical statement, if it happened to be respecting any matter of importat ce, his opinion was borne down by the better memories of the President and his associates. Brandt states in reference to this trick, in the course of his narrative: "On the 18th of December, the Acts of some of the preceding sessions were revised. The Remonstrants state, that the President, with his Assessors and Secretaries, composed a kind of little Synod among themselves; and, after regulating and adjusting most of the Acts according to their own minds, did not communicate them to the members at each succeeding session while the remembrance of the transactions was fresh in their minds, but deferred it occasionally for the space of a week or a fortnight: When, causing them [their version of the Acts,] to be suddenly produced, they took the members by surprize; and, reading them in great haste, while they were met together for other business, they found the members had either for

cluded, that there are no remedies calculated to remove all evils; but those must be employed which have in them the gotten them, or were then without the notes which they had made about each matter. To the Foreigners such proceedings appeared suspicious, and they could not avoid sometimes complaining of them. The cited persons also said, that when the Acts of the Synod were read in their presence, (which did not occur above twice or thrice,) they discovered in them several palpable mistakes and manifest untruths, which confirmed them still more in the jealousy which they had entertained of the partiality of the secretaries.”—On the second of January, it is said: "The President briefly related the transactions with the Remonstrants for some days preceding, adding, that the Acts could not be read last week, because one of the secretaries who had attended the deputation from the Commissioners to the States-General at the Hague, had taken a great part of them with him, that he might be enabled to inform their High Mightinesses of all that had passed.”—On the 7th of January, he gives a similar ac"The Acts of some of the preceding sessions were read and considered. The Remonstrants state, that the members were surprised at this; for they had expected to be employed in copying some of the President's questions concerning Reprobation. They complained therefore, that, in consequence of having received no notice, they had lately omitted to bring their notes with them, to compare them with the Acts of the Synod."

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But HOMMIUS was a worse character than even Damman. He was not a person of such a bold and passionate disposition as Bogerman or Gomarus; but he possessed all the cunning smoothness and cool malignity of a practised assassin. Engaged for many years in the vile arts of private slander and detraction against some of the best of his cotemporaries, he was at no time scrupulous respecting the means which he employed; and whenever he was detected in his infamous practices, and had them exposed to him in private, he was not at all abashed, but expressed his willingness to contradict them, and to pursue other courses. This man, and one or two of his friends, equally artful and plotting, were the prime movers in most of the important ecclesiastical disturbances which arose in the Low Countries previous to the convening of the Synod of Dort. The Remonstrants state," that those among them, who conversed with him, and took great pains to induce him to embrace counsels tending to peace and forbearance, had frequently had experience of the curious methods which he employed to their detriment. Finding himself surrounded as if with a guard of mad and raging people, he could attempt any thing with impunity: and, under the protection of this shield, he earnestly strove to effect a breach of the peace with the Remonstrants. Though he affected outwardly to aim at peace, yet his constant endeavours in private, were, by vile artifices and without any regard to the prayers and entreaties of the best patriots, to cause the resolutions of the States to be rejected, and a schismatical banner to be publicly displayed at Leyden. For he knew that almost all the churches viewed that city as the polar star of Holland, on account of the influence which it possessed in ecclesiastical affairs, by means of its University and Divinity-College. But he screened himself under a fair outside and the zeal of the people: If that zeal had been restrained by him, he would have been defeated in all his projects." A man of this description must have been a very dangerous subject in that critical state of the Dutch Republic. But the conduct of Hommius as a literary man and a Divine, will consign his name to perpetual execration. To his care was entrusted the publication of the second edition of the posthumous works of the two Professors, Trelcatius senior and junior; but he made very great alterations in them, without offering any apology or explanation. The first edition of those works had been published from authentic manuscripts. Egregious discrepancies therefore became apparent, when the two varying impressions were compared together; and it was soon ascertained, that several of the alterations of Hommius were in direct contradiction to the avowed sentiments of the deceased authors.

least peril. The mild and affectionate expostulation of Christ our Saviour, must also live in our recollections: He addressed -His bad faith was displayed, in a still more reprehensible manner, when, early in 1618, he composed a Latin work, principally for the service and information of those foreigners who were invited to the National Synod, to be perused by them prior to their arrival. It was entituled, Specimen Controversiarum Belgicarum, and purported to contain exact quotations from the different writers whose sentiments were judged to be obnoxious to the ContraRemonstrants. But those quotations were publicly proved to be, in many instances, false; and were obviously presented in that mutilated form, to excite a general prejudice against the cause of the Remonstrants. It was soon afterwards translated into Dutch for the use of the common people, under the title of The Monster of the Low-Country Differences. For this disgraceful publication, a few copies of which he presented to the States of Holland, their Lordships voted to the author a reward of two hundred Guilders. To point out the culpable perversions and falsifications in regard to his own words quoted in the Specimen, Episcopius wrote an able tract, called, Optima Fides Festi Hommii, and afterwards, on the same subject, Brevis Responsio. One of the misquotations of which Episcopius complained, is thus stated: "We deny, that the knowledge of God which is obtained from nature, is SAVING knowledge:" Hommius gives this sentence with the word "NATURAL" instead of SAVING, in order to find some pretence for affixing a charge of Socinianism on the author.-But this champion of Calvinism possessed "a front of brass ;" and, so far from being abashed at these and similar exposures, he proceeded onward in his mad career, and proved to the learned world of what incorrigible materials his mind was composed.

To misreport the Theses of Episcopius, had been a favourite employment with Hommius from the year 1616, when he was summoned to two conferences with the learned professor, to substantiate his charges before the Curators of the University and the Burgomasters of Leyden; at both of which, with that monstrous flexibility of temper and principles which seemed natural to him, after being completely foiled in his disingenuous attempts, he professed himself to be completely satisfied with the explanations which Episcopins gave. Yet these salutary checks did not produce in him any signs of amendment, for he omitted no opportunity to vilify Episcopius and the Remonstrants. He distinguished himself particularly by his diligence in obtaining the different public and private disputations of Episcopius, as they were copied down by the Divinity students in the course of his lectures. But every one conversant with notes of this kind, knows how very inaccurately they are often taken, even by young men of the greatest acquirements. From these imperfect sources were the Theses of Episcopius derived which were criticised by the Divines of the Synod. Brandt relates, that on the second day of Jan., the President" exhorted the members of the Synod to prepare their scruples or objections on the subject of doctrine, to extract from the books of the Remonstrants whatever proceeded beyond the Five Points, and for that purpose carefully to observe the Theses or Disputations of the Professor Episcopius, which had lately been printed. Festus Hommius, who had published those Theses from a certain copy which he had procured, said, that now no man in the Synod had any reason to hesitate about this being the Professor's own work, and that they might fully rely on its authenticity. Yet Episcopius had ventured to assert, in a publication, only a few days before, that the appear`ance of that work had done him great injustice, whether it had been done intentionally or through negligence. Though Festus boasted, that he had acted bona fide, yet, the Remonstrants say, he could not be ignorant, that the copy from which he had the work printed, abounded with errors. There were in it whole sentences of which no good sense could be made; while, in others, many things were stated diametrically opposed to the sentiments of the author, and several that were false, or at least liable to much misconstruction."

his disciples and said, "Will ye also go away?" (John vi, 67.) We must use the same interrogation; and must rest at that point and cease from all ulterior measures.

On the 17th of Jan., Hommius and Faukelius were deputed to the Hague with two of the Lay Commissioners, to report progress to their High Mightinesses, one of whom, adverting to this deputation says, "Those deputies were not contented to make a simple report of matters, but even turned informers; they [the ecclesiastical deputies] were not only full of complaints about the obstinacy and rebellion of the Remonstrants, but likewise accused Episcopius of having communicated certain Theses or Positions to such of his disciples as he instructed in private, in which he had treated the Synod with contempt, and had even rejected the word of God: They added, that this would appear by the printed Theses themselves,-though, they believed, that it was not he, but some one else, that had published these Theses, and that he was totally unacquainted with the matter."

This is a slight sketch of the character and conduct of Festus Hommius, to whose care and that of Damman was confided the composition of the Acts and some other Synodical documents. He had made himself very conspicuous by the part which he had acted in all the disturbances in Holland, and was one of the Contra-Remonstrant deputies both at the Conference of the Hague and at that of Deft. His zeal and impudence gave him great importance in the eyes of all good Calvinists; and how well qualified he was thought to be for any confidential services, is very plain from the use which Sir D. Carleton made of him in his dextrous management of affairs at the Synod. Hales says, in his third letter, "Upon Saturday, the day after my coming to Dort, I went to Festus Hommius, and delivered him your honour's letters, upon perusal of which, he liberally promised me an index of all whatsoever had passed in the Synod until my coming to town."-The following account of his quarrel with old Lubbertus extracted from Balcanqual's notes, is highly illustrative of the spirit which animated the leaders of the Synod, and of the man's own cool and sedate method of managing an unpleasant affair. It is known that much address was displayed, by all the rigid Supra-lapsarians, to shield their good brother, Maccovius, from the well-merited and severe censure which was meditated against him by the moderate part of the Synod. Festus, who, for his Supra-lapsarian opinions, may be classed with Gomarus, fought hard for Maccovius; and, in that needful service, he spared none of those arts in which he was an adept. The period to which the extract from Balcanqual refers, was, when each of the members delivered his sentiments respecting the course to be pursued against Maccovius, whose blasphemous expressions had been first brought under the notice of the Synod by Sibrandus Lubbertus: "When Sibrandus had to deliver his opinion, he inveighed with great immodesty against Festus, upbraiding him with the height of his ingratitude to him. He also recited a new catalogue of the opinions of Maccovius, which were of the same class with the former. Festus, having obtained the President's permission to speak, answered Sibrandus in a modest manner, and stated, that those Theses had not been composed by Maccovius, but by a certain very learned young man of the name of Parker, who was removed far above the slightest suspicion of heterodoxy. He also said, though Sibrandus might now refuse to sustain the part of a public accuser, yet he had received information, from some persons in every respect entitled to credit, that Sibrandus had pillaged, from those Theses and from some other of his lectures, all the errors which had been objected against Maccovius.—When Sibrandus heard all this, he was agitated with a most violent passion, and twice invoked [Deum vindicem,] the vengeance of God upon his soul, if there was any truth in those statements! So that the President was compelled frequently to remind him of the sacred modesty and reverence which were due to the Synod."

My very famous, most polite and courteous hearers, these are the remarks which have been impressed on my mind, and

We will now proceed to give some account of the composition of the Acts. In the 73d session, among other matters, it was proposed, at the suggestion of the Commissioners, to compose from the Acts at large, an abstract of all the Synodical proceedings, to be transmitted to foreign princes for their information. This province was assigned to Altingius, Steinius, and the Assessors and Scribes; and Bogerman and Dr. Davenant were appointed the supervisors of such abridgment. But as that short narrative only embraced the occurrences up to that period, it was resolved, some time after the departure of the foreign divines, ou the 28th of May, as Damman was then engaged in abridging the remainder of the Acts, which his fellow secretary had generally entered into the Journal, and as it was found to be impossible for him to finish his abstract before the conclusion of the Synod, on account of the many other occupations which demanded his attention, that he should, after the dissolution of the Synod, continue the labour of extracting at his leisure, and that when he had finished them, he should summon the supervisors, (Bogerman, Roland, Polyander, Mehnius, and a few others,) to confirm them in their reduced form. In consequence of this determination, Damman kept those documents in his possession till the month of November.

In December 1618, the States General had issued a proclamation prohibiting the printing, publication, importation, sale or vending of all or any of the proceedings of the National Synod, or of such papers as had been or might be drawn up or presented there, under the penalty of 200 Guilders for the first offence, loss of copies, &c. The requisitions of this proclamation were so rigorously observed, that the Remonstrants experienced the greatest difficulty in publishing any papers, however remote in subject from the Five Points or the other subjects of controversy. In May 1619, this proclamation was repeated by the States of Holland, with more severe penalties, a third part of which were awarded to the secretaries. It prohibited the Remonstrants from publishing any thing that related to the Synod, while their adversaries were allowed daily to print and circulate among the people all kinds of false and scandalous stories to their prejudice. A privilege was, at the same time, granted to the Synodical secretaries, empowering them to hinder every one from publishing, without their leave, any part of the proceedings of the Synod.

In October 1619, Damman having completed his task, the revisors met together, and, after a critical examination of the abridged Acts, gave them the sanction of their approbation and presented them to the States General, accompanied by a petition for their immediate publication. Their High Mightinesses appointed Commissioners from their own body to peruse this abridged "Historical Relation of the Acts of the National Synod;" who reported to the Generality, on the 28th Nov., that it would be proper, to have some harsh expressions in the Preface mollified, the letters of the Foreigners inserted, and the whole to be signed by the States General as well as by the Clergy. It was then resolved, that they should be again revised, and a deputy out of each province was commissioned for that purpose: After their emendations had been taken into consideration, on the 28th of Dec., their Lordships invited Heinsius and Hommius to attend them at the Hague," in order to revise and consider of the abridged Canons of the Synod of Dort, and to put them into a better form or style." After all these deliberations and revisals, the Acts of the Synod were put to press; and, in March 1620, they made their first public appearance. The preface to them was supposed to be the production of Hommius; and from the very glaring mis-statement of facts which it exhibited, it was most probably of his composition. It is addressed to "the Reformed Churches of Christ," and contains an account of the Rise and Progress of the ecclesiastical differences in the United Provinces. The work itself is divided into three parts: The First gives an abridged

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