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THE

AND

Church of England Magazine.

MAY 1825.

MEMOIRS OF THE REFORMERS.

TAUSSAN.

AMONG the names held in honour in the reformed history of Denmark, the principal is John Taussan. He was born, of obscure parents, in 1499, at the village of Birkinde, in the little fertile island of Funen, and was one of those whose lot it has been to struggle with the difficulties arising from contracted circumstances, under an ardent desire of improvement, discoverable in his early childhood. It appears, however, that he was enabled to obtain some education, first at Aarhuus, and next at Odensee, the capital of the island. He was then removed, after the custom of the times, to the monastery of St. John of Jerusalem, at Antvorskow in Zealand.

His attention to his studies, and purity of morals, attracting the notice of Eskild, the venerable prior, he determined to send him, at the expense of the foundation, to some foreign university, in the full persuasion that the youug monk would return to be the credit and ornament of his order. His principal and patron acccordingly allowed him to make choice of any school or college, with the exception of that of Wittenberg, infected, as he considered it, with the Lutheran heresy. Louvain and Cologne were recommended to him as the more eligible, and he selected the latter. Disgusted at the scholastic trifling, MAY 1825

however, which prevailed at this place, the youthful Taussan was soon sensible that he had gained but little by the change; and was earnestly longing for purer doctrine and more solid instruction, when the writings of Luther were put into his hands. These had such an effect upon him, that he set off for Wittenberg, notwithstanding his engagement to the contrary, and at the risque of losing his pension. Whether this journey was privately undertaken, or that the knowledge of it did not reach his superiors, he took his master's degree at Rostock, and, returning to his native land about 1521, was admitted professor of theology*.

Invited to his former quarters at Antvorskow, his evangelical sentiments excited the ill-will of the monks, notwithstanding his irreproachable character and respectable talents. This feeling was increased by the endeavours, which he considered it his duty to make, to reform both the studies and morals of the foundation. In this reform, however, he proceeded with much judgment, dealing with his brethren in the first instance in a mild and gentle manner, by shewing them the plain meaning of certain passages of Scripture; and then by degrees unfolding the erroneous system of the Romanists to his

Bibliotheca Danica, t. i. p. 1-7; Munter's Reform. of Denmark; Mem. Taussani; Sciagraphia Lutheri Danici.

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more immediate acquaintance. At length, on the Thursday before Easter, in 1524, he preached with so much zeal and energy on the all-sufficient merits of the death and passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the utter helplessness of man to turn himself to any good work, as well as his inability to make satisfaction for past transgressions, that the indignation of the principal friars was wrought up to the highest pitch, while his old patron, the prior, was at the head of the opposition against him. Eskild dreaded the thought of his monastery becoming a nursery for Lutheranism, and ordered him to depart to another foundation of the order, at Wiborg in North Jutland; exhorting Peter Jansen, the prior, to keep a watchful eye over him, and prevent him from spreading his pernicious doctrines. But the event was very different. Shut up in his cloister, he did not desert the cause for which he suffered, but did his utmost to cheer the dark cells of the monks with some beams of Dvine truth, and even preached to the passengers in the street through the grated windows; while God blessed his word, by making it effectual to the illumination and conversion of Thoger, a monk, who in the sequel became pastor of Wiborg; and of another friar, named Erasmus, a Franciscan. Nor was this all. His fame reached the ears of Frederick I. his sovereign, who granted him a special licence, in 1526, as his chaplain, to preach at Wiborg, requiring all persons to abstain from molesting him both on religious and political pretences. In order to account for this seasonable indulgence, it will be necessary to look back on the history of Denmark. In the reign of Christiern II. Pope Leo sent Archimbold, as his legate, into Scandinavia, to sell his indulgences, who was received by that monarch with all possible respect and hospitality; but his extreme rapacity disgusted the

commonalty, while his disposition to intrigue led the King and royal party to suspect that he would betray their designs to the Swedes; so that he was dismissed with signal disgrace, and with forced disbursement of the sums collected. The tenets of the Reformed then began to be assiduously spread by Paul Helie and Wormorden, two learned Carmelites of Copenhagen. Peter de Lillers also, a nobleman who had imbibed the sentiments of Luther and Melancthon of Wittenberg, endeavoured to make them known among his countrymen ; while the King himself, struck with the force of truth, or desirous of appropriating some of the ecclesiastical revenues, shewed such favour to Lutheranism, that he requested his uncles, Frederick the elector, and John prince of Saxony, to send him one of their ministers, who might reprove the popish doctors for their neglect of spiritual offices, and undue attachment to temporal concerns. They gladly dispatched an erudite and pious pastor, called Martin, in 1520; whom the King appointed to preach an evening lecture on Sundays and holidays, at the church of St. Nicholas, in his capital. There was soon a great confluence of all persons who understood the German language, to hear the eloquent Saxon; but as the novelty of the circumstance attracted some Danes, as well as Germans, Paul Helie, anxious to instruct his fellow-citizens, though subsequently an apostate from the cause, acted the primitive part of interpreter to the congregation. This plan would have been attended with much profit, had it not been for the simple energy of the preacher, who, when warmed by his subject, indulged in vehement gestures, which had such a ludicrous effect on the lower orders, whom he was addressing in an unknown tongue, that they could not refrain from laughter; when the more malicious of the popish clergy, offended at the

zealous stranger for intruding into their church, and drawing their flocks from them, encouraged the people to turn his preaching into ridicule.

The canons and vicars of the cathedral engaged in a paltry trick to bring his ministration into discredit. They employed an acute lad to attend his discourses, and watch his tones and gestures, which he imitated afterwards in mock addresses on some trifling subject; and this buffoon performed his task so well, at various scenes of conviviality, that he might be very easily mistaken for Master Martin himself; for which purpose, when he had plentifully partaken of meat and drink, he was led about the streets, that the preacher might be thought "a gluttonous man and a winebibber." Their malice had the effect of determining this good pastor to leave Copenhagen, and return to Saxony.!

Christiern being expelled the kingdom in 1523, was succeeded by his uncle, Frederick duke of Holstein, who decidedly took part with the religious reformers, in opposi tion to the bishops; and it is observable, that political disputes did not hinder the progress of evangelical truth; for while the ex-king, who retired into Holland, promoted a version of the New Testament in his own language, the new monarch, in the earlier part of his reign, granted liberty,not only to Taussan, but also to Sadolin, Schrock, and others, to promulgate the Protestant doctrine in Wiborg and its vicinity.

The regal licence, however, was not sufficient to protect our reformer from the insults of the bigoted monks, who at length forced him to quit their convent; an event which, though it deprived him of monastic sustenance,set him at greater liberty to proclaim those glorious truths which were so dear to his heart. His friends obtaining access for him to the pulpit of the principal church

at Wiborg, George Fris, the bishop, endeavoured by force of arms to hinder his preaching; but a stout body of citizens defended the church from the attacks of the episcopal party, drew chains across the streets forming regular barriers, and, while some kept guard without, others with arms in their hands attended Divine service.

In June 1526, the King being firmly settled on the throne, and having made his public entry into the capital two days before, set the example to his subjects of eating meat on prohibited seasons, and communicating in both kinds after the Lutheran manner, attended by Magnus Goye, his master of the horse. Soon after the solemnity of his coronation, in 1524, he had issued an edict in favour of the Reformation, but appears not to have made, till now, this open profession in Copenhagen. The citizens of Flensborg, in the duchy of Sleswick, declared their preference of a purer faith, drove twelve monks out of their city, and established in their place some Protestant clergy. In Funen also, the Reformed doctrine made considerable progress; and would have been admitted into Odensee, had not Bellenack, the bishop, and Paul Helie, canon of the cathedral, opposed it with all their influence. Frederick could not but observe the vacillating conduct of the latter, and, that he might appear to act with fairness, sent for him to the castle of Copenhagen-whither he was brought on the twenty-fourth of June, by Tycho Crabbe, a nobleman-to hear him discourse on the subject of Lutheranism, engaging that he should be free from molestation. In the course of his address on this occasion he told the King that blame was chargeable on both parties, and recommended moderation. He was treated with proper respect by the court, but was grievously insulted by the mob and soldiery on his return from the castle; and it is

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