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APRIL

 28, 1559 --England. After encountering strong opposition, Queen Elizabeth passes the
Act of Uniformity, the third of its kind. It establishes the new Prayer Book under penalties similar to those during the reign of Edward VI. It subjects all absentees from church without an excuse to a fine of one shilling, and gives to the Queen liberty to "ordain and publish such further ceremonies and rites as may be most for the advancement of the church."

28, 1748 --Pennsylvania. Henry Muhlenberg, the Lutheran pastor here, writes, "We consulted together in Providence with regard to a suitable liturgy which we could introduce for use in our congregations . . .. To adopt the Swedish liturgy did not appear either suitable or necessary since most of our congregations came from districts on the Rhine and the Main and considered the singing of collects to be Papistical . . .. We therefore took the liturgy of the Savoy Church in London as the basis, cut out parts and added to it . . .. "

29, 1559 --England. Parliament passes the New Supremacy Act rejecting all authority of the Pope over the Church of England.

29, 1607 --Virginia. The London Company erects a cross on Cape Henry.

29, 1619 --Holland. Today the Council of Dort accepts the Belgic Confession. Written originally in France, this confession contains thirty-seven articles elaborating particularly on the Doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Church and the Sacraments, and has been ranked the best symbolic statement of Calvinistic doctrine, with the exception of the Westminster Confession.

29, 1647 --England. The Westminster Assembly has been ordered by Parliament to appoint a committee to “prepare a joint confession of Faith." On December 4, 1646, the finished work was sent first to the House of Commons, and three days later to the House of Lords. Six hundred copies have been authorized to be printed. Today, the House of Commons orders Scripture proofs to be added and six hundred copies of these to be printed.

29, 1703 --France. Sunday. A band of Camisards (Huguenots) take refuge in a deserted farmhouse. They are led by Jean Cavalier. A miller attends them whose two sons are members of Cavalier's band. Though he exhibits apparent piety, the Huguenots have no sooner laid down to sleep, than the miller, possessed with a love for gold sets out to sell the lives of his two sons and the Camisard leader. The price: fifty pieces of gold. Eight regiments of foot and two regiments of dragoons are immediately dispatched to surprise the Camisards while they sleep.
     The alarm is given and four hundred men, with Cavalier at their head, seek to free three hundred others yet remaining in the Tower. For five hours they fight. Four hundred to five hundred more Huguenots rallying to help their brethren are unsuccessful, and before daybreak, the Camisards retreat unable to free their brethren.
     At last, the fortifications of the Tower are set on fire by use of hand grenades, and the three hundred imprisoned, singing Psalms, perish amidst the flames. The Huguenots have lost some four hundred men, while the Loyalists have lost some twelve hundred.

29, 1798 --Austria. In Vienna, Franz Joseph Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" is first performed. Mr. Haydn has selected the words from the Genesis account and from John Milton's Paradise Lost with modifications by Baron Von Swieter. In popularity, it will rank next to Handel's "Messiah" until the appearance of Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah."


 

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