"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
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JULY
26, 1557 --Belgium. At Bergen, Angelus Merula, a Dutch
Protestant has been convicted of heresy. He was arrested at The Hague in
1553, but in the following year the authorities claimed he recanted. As
he was deaf, it is most likely he did not understand the document that
was read to him. He has been condemned to death, but today he is led to
the place of execution and as he kneels in prayer he suddenly dies.
Though his views on the Lord’s Supper are the same as Zwingli’s they are
strangely enough his own. To him the Word of God is the sole authority.
All Christians are priests unto God. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are
the only Sacraments. An asylum for orphans founded by him in Briel is
still in existence.
26, 1581 --Netherlands. In January 1579, the five northern provinces
united at Utrecht. They perfected the insurrection by forming the basis
of a sovereignty. Their ablest leaders were put under the ban and a
price offered for the assassination of William, Prince of Orange. Today,
the deputies in the Assembly at The Hague declare their independence
from the King of Spain. They state, “The Prince is made for the
subjects, without whom there would be no prince; and if, instead of
protecting them he seeks to take from them their old freedom and use
them as slaves, he must be holden not a prince, but a tyrant and may
justly be deposed by the authority of the State.”
26, 1690 --England. After destroying the Dutch-English fleet in the
Battle of Beachy Head, the French fleet bombards the city of Teignmouth
in a continued attempt to restore the Roman Catholic, James II to his
throne in England. William and Mary have lately occupied his throne. A
number of houses will be set afire and some small ships destroyed, but
the French fleet has passed up an English convoy of two hundred
Mediterranean merchant ships that have taken refuge at Plymouth.
26, 1795 --England. About midnight, as the Sabbath begins, William
Romaine dies, and enters into that Rest “that remaineth for the people
of God.” Besides many persons on foot, fifty coaches follow the hearse
to the graveside on August 3rd. From the moment he was seized with his
illness, he considered it to be his last, and frequently spoke of
himself as a dying man.
26, 1847 --Liberia. In 1812 in the First Baptist Church of Richmond,
Virginia, members gather to hear Rev. Loft Carey, a black freeman,
preach from Romans 8:32 --“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?”
Following the sermon, Mr. Carey, Mr. Colin Teague, and
five others covenant together to found a sister church. With the Church
at Richmond promising their support, they set sail the following day
aboard the S. S. Nautilus. Their plan was to establish the First Baptist
Church of West Africa, and will become known as the Providence Baptist
Church of Monrovia, Liberia. Mr. Carey was elected governor of the
colony.
In 1828, when a Spanish ship captain in search of
slaves attacked the colony, Mr. Carey and seven others were killed when
a child accidentally knocked over a candle that ignited the gunpowder.
Today, the colony of Liberia becomes the first
independent black African republic. The inhabitants adopt a constitution
modeled after that of the United States and adopt as their motto, “The
Love of Liberty Brought Us Here.”
In 1856, American Baptist (the Northern
Convention) will adopt the policy of sending black missionaries to the
republic, while the Southern Baptists will be unable to do so on account
of it being against the law to teach blacks how to read and write.
In the 1900’s, Liberian Christians will begin sending
out missionaries into surrounding areas.
26, 1862 --Italy. A Concordat is negotiated between Pope Pius IX and the
President of Venezuela.
26, 1869 --Ireland. The Irish Church Act is passed and effective January
1st, 1871, the union between the Irish Church and the Church of England
is dissolved.