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JUNE

 5, 755 --Germany. Boniface, having labored here among the Germans, is martyred. An Englishman, originally named Winfrid, he began his labor in Thuringia and Hessia, easternmost lands of the Franks. Here he found pagans as well as Christians who knew nothing of the ecclesiology of Rome, nor did they want to learn anything of it. Laboring under the protection of Charles Martel, he has expelled anti-Roman priests.
     Tonight his camp is attacked and Boniface with his company are killed and eaten. The Fries, having witnessed his singing and praying in the midst of torture are converted as a result.

5, 1561 --Italy. The Peace of Cavour is signed by Duke Emanuel Philibert, granting the
Waldensians limited toleration in the valleys of Luserna, San Hartino, and Perosa.

6, 445 --Italy. Emperor Valentinian III decrees, “Let that be a law to all—whatever the authority of the Roman see has sanctioned or shall sanction.” Thus Pope Leo I, “The Great”, today obtains from the Emperor the famous decree recognizing the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. It is based upon the merits of Peter, the dignity of the city, and the decrees of Nicea. It ordains that any opposition to its rulings should be regarded as treason, and it provides for the forcible extradition by provincial governors of any who refuse to answer a summons to Rome.

6, 1523 --Sweden. The Riksdag elects Gustavus Vasa as King of Sweden. During his reign, Laurentius and Olaf Petri will lead a revolt against the Roman Catholic Church and establish Lutheranism here. He will encourage the first efforts to Christianize Lapland and Finland.

6, 1641 --New Netherlands. “Whereas a considerable number of respectable Englishmen with their clergymen have applied to us for permission to settle here and to reside under us, and requested that some Articles might be offered to them, we have therefore resolved to communicate the following Articles to them: I.) They shall be bound to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Noble Lords States-General and the West India Company under whose protection they will reside. II.) They shall enjoy the free exercise of religion.”

6, 1657 --New York. Rev. John Ernest Goetwater arrives in New Amsterdam to pastor the Lutherans here, but the Pastors Megalopolensis and Drisius will withstand him and he will be forbidden to preach. He will be forced to return to Europe. Freedom of worship will not be granted to Lutherans here until the British capture New Amsterdam.

6, 1753 –England. A bill is passed by Parliament for the better regulating of clandestine marriages performed by the chaplains of the Fleetwood Prison. Here disreputable clergymen have made a trade of marrying all who desire it. So lax has been this practice that Schaff declares one man by the name of John Gayhan, himself a prisoner from 1701 to 1740, boasted of having performed thirty-six thousand marriages during that time.

6, 1795 --England. This morning, as William Romaine comes down for breakfast, he presides in family devotions. He prays most earnestly to God that “He would fit them for, and support them in their trials that day, which might be many.” Today he will be seized with an illness that will prove to him to be fatal. At the age of eighty-one years, he has preached three days every week.

6, 1844 --England. The first Young Men’s Christian Association meets in London. George Williams gathers twelve young men. On November 25, 1851, the city of Montreal will form its own association.

6, 1882 --Scotland. This evening at the Innellan Manse, George Matheson pens the hymn,
“0 Love that wilt not let me go”, in only five minutes. He will change only one word of the composition. He is forty years old and has been blind since his eighteenth year.

6, 1910 --England. The British Organization of the Evangelical Alliance addresses the king of Spain—   

    “To His Majesty Don Alfonso XIII, King of Spain: Sir, on behalf of the council and members of the Evangelical Alliance (British Organization), representing Evangelical Christians of various churches throughout the British Empire, we humbly address to your Majesty this expression of our heart felt gratitude for the publication of the Royal order of June 6, 1910 which interprets in its natural sense Article XI of the Spanish constitution, and grants to Spanish Evangelicals the toleration which the framers of the constitution desired to give them.
    “We are convinced that this wise step has secured for Spain the good-will of all progressive peoples.
       “We rejoice with all friends of Religious Liberty that those who are unable to accept the State religion are permitted to worship God in accordance with their conscience, free from the disabilities which compelled them to conceal their existence as members of the Evangelical Churches, and subjected them to many inconveniences.
      “We earnestly trust that this enlightened policy will be continued until Spanish Evangelicals enjoy the Religious Liberty extended to Roman Catholics by Protestant nations.”
 

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