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FEBRUARY
 

4, 1555 --England. John Rogers goes to the stake "as if he was walking to his wedding." He became a Protestant through the acquaintance of William Tyndale, and afterwards, under the pseudonym of "Thomas Matthew", he translated the Scriptures using the translations of William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, adding a preface and notes. It is known as "Matthew's Bible." Today he becomes England's first “Marian” martyr, the first martyr to suffer at the hands of Queen Mary.

4, 1747 --England. Thomas Scott is born at Braytoft, Lincolnshire. As a young man he will be deprived of the privilege of an early education and will be hounded by poverty being compelled to earn his livelihood as a farm worker until his ordination. John Newton will teach him about the grace of God and will bring him to embrace Calvinistic theology. He will succeed Mr. Newton in his church.

4, 1794 --France. The French Convention decrees Negro slavery should be abolished in all French colonies. This is the first act of any nation to decree the abolition of slavery.

4, 1862 --New Hebrides. John Paten is driven from the island of Tanna by savage attacks. The natives have proved to be intractable.


5, 1703 --Ireland. In the county of Armaugh, Gilbert Tennent is born. He will become an ardent admirer of George Whitefield and at the request of Mr. White-field will accompany him to Boston on a preaching tour.


5, 1723 --Scotland. In Yester, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, John Witherspoon is born. He is a direct descendant of John Knox through his mother's side of the family. A Presbyterian minister, he will receive credit for firmly establishing Princeton College. He will be the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence, and will be credited with leading John Hancock to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.


5, 1725 --Massachusetts. James Otis is born in West Barnstable. He sill become renown as a defender of human rights. In June 1764, he will declare before the Massachusetts legislature, "The authority of the Parliament of Great Britain is circumscribed by bounds which, if exceeded, their acts become mere power without right, and consequently void."

"Acts of Parliament against natural equity are void. Acts against the fundamental principles of the British institutions are void." "The wild wastes of America have been turned into pleasant habitations; little villages in Great Britain, into manufacturing towns and opulent cities; and London itself bids fair to become the metropolis of the world. These are the fruits of commerce and liberty. The British empire, to be perpetuated, must be built on the principles of justice."

The Assembly will respond, "Can it be possible that duties and taxes shall be assessed without the voice or consent of an American Parliament? If we are not represented, we are slaves ... Prohibitions of trade are neither equitable nor just; but the power of taxing is the grand barrier of British liberty. If this is once broken down, all is lost."

In July, Mr. Otis will write, " ...Government is founded not on force, as was the theory of Hobbes; nor on compact, as was the theory of Locke and the Revolution of 1688; nor on property as had been asserted by Harrington. It springs from the necessities of our nature, and has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God. Man came into the world and into society at the same instant. There must exist in every earthly society a supreme sovereign, from whose final decision there can be no appeal but directly to Heaven. This supreme power is originally and ultimately in the people; and the people never did in fact freely, nor can rightfully, make an unlimited renunciation of this Divine right. Kingcraft and priestcraft are a trick to gull the vulgar. The happiness of mankind demands that this grand and ancient alliance should be broken off forever.

“The Omniscient and Omnipotent Monarch of the Universe has, by the grand charter given to the human race, placed the end of government in the good of the whole. The form of government is left to the individuals of each society; its whole superstructure and ad-ministration should be conformed to the law of Universal reason. There can be no prescription old enough to supersede the law of nature and the grant of God Almighty, who has given all men a right to be free. If every prince, since Nimrod had been a tyrant, it would not prove a right to tyrannize. The administrators of legislative and executive authority, when they verge toward tyranny, are to he resisted; if they prove incorrigible, are to be deposed.
 

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