"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
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APRIL
9 - 15, 1570 -Poland. The Sendomir Synod is held, the purpose of which
is the organization of the Polish Protestant Church.
9, 1663 --Scotland. Covenant-preacher John Livingstone, finding no place
for him in Scotland, leaves his country aboard John Allah's ship and in
eight days will arrive in Rotterdam where he will spend the remainder of
his life. He dies in August of 1672.
9, 1761 --England. At King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire, William Law dies.
For refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Abjuration
on the accession of George I he lost all prospects for advancement in
the Church of England. He began therefore to tutor Edward Gibbon, father
of the historian. But he wi11 become best known for his writings among
which is his Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life.
10, 847 --Italy. Pope Leo IV is consecrated as Pope, and expresses his
concept of his
See to be the “Mistress and Head of all Churches."
10, 1606 --England. The Royal Charter of Virginia will be granted today
" ...for the furtherance of so noble a work which may by the providence
of Almighty God hereafter to the glow of the Divine Majesty the
propagation of the Christian religion to such people as yet live in
darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge of God, and may
in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human
civility and to settle a quiet government."
It will urge the first governor "the using of all
possible means to bring over the natives to a love of civilization and
to a love of God and of His true Religion." By 1674, it will still be
without towns or lawyers.
10, 1644 --Massachusetts. At Plymouth, William Brewster dies. He fled to
Amsterdam with Mr. John Robinson to escape English persecution. He
became the elder and Mr. Robinson the teacher in the church out of which
the Pilgrims embarked for the New World. When the Pilgrims set sail, Mr.
Brewster was aboard the Mayflower as one of them.
10, 1806 – Washington, D.C. President Thomas Jefferson signs an act of
Congress declaring, “It is earnestly recommended to all officers and
soldiers diligently to attend Divine services; and all officers who
shall behave indecently or irreverently at any place of Divine worship,
shall if commissioned officers, be brought before a general court
martial, then to be publicly and severely reprimanded by the President.”
10, 1806 --Noah Carolina. Leonidas Polk is born in Raleigh. As a West
Point cadet, choked with emotion, he will enter the quarters of Chaplain
Charles P. McIlvaine carrying a religious tract he has found. He will
want to hear more about Christ, about life after death, about religious
duty.
Following his conversion, he will be the first cadet to
be publicly baptized, and a religious awakening will sweep the corps. He
will astound the corps by becoming the leader of a "praying platoon." An
Episcopal, he will become the only bishop to be made General in the War
Between the States.
10, 1827 --Indiana. At Livonia, William Alexander Parsons Martin is
born. In 1850, he will go to China as a Presbyterian missionary and will
be captured by Chinese pirates in 1855. He will later become President
and Professor of International Law in Tung Wen College, Peking and
advisor in international law to the Chinese government in several
disputes, notably with France in 1885 and 1885. He will become President
of the Imperial University of China from 1897 to 1902, and from 1902 to
1905, he will serve as President of the University of Wu-Chang.
10, 1829 --England. In Nottingham, the poor and uneducated Samuel Booth
has a son whom he names, William. As a young man, William will be led
into Methodism, but will later leave it to found the Salvation Army.
10, 1834 --Massachusetts. Adoniram Judson marries Mrs. Sarah Boardman, a
widow of three years, of missionary Dr. Boardman. Mr. Judson's first
wife has died eight years ago. After three years absence from the United
States, he will return home, but his wife will die at St. Helena.
