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MARCH

26, 1665 --England. Richard Baxter writes, “Being the Lord’s Day, as I was preaching in a private house where we received the Lord’s Supper, a bullet came in at the window among us and passed by me, and narrowly missed the head of a sister-in-law of mine that was there, and hurt none of us; and we could never discover whence it came.”

26, 1776 --South Carolina. The South Carolina Convention expresses a desire of accommodation with Great Britain even “though traduced and treated as rebels,” and asserts “the good of the people” to be “the origin and end of all government.”

26, 1862 --Pennsylvania. Rev. Joseph Gilmore, the twenty-eight year old son of the New Hampshire Governor will supply the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He is to preach from Psalm 23 for this mid-week service. Following the service, he and Mrs. Gilmore will be entertained in the home of Deacon and Mrs. Waltson. The sermon will haunt the preacher until he will write down several stanzas on the back of a sheet of paper. Only then does he find relief. He will forget his four stanzas and chorus, but his wife will send a copy to a Boston publisher. It will be here that Mr. William Bradbury will discover it and will set it to music. The poem will become known by the title, “He Leadeth Me! 0 Blessed Thought!”

27, 1546 --Germany. Juan Diaz, a Spaniard converted by the grace of God, is treacherously murdered at the instigation of his brother Alfonso who is attached to the Papal Court. Mr. Juan Diaz has worked with John Calvin in Geneva, and with Mr. Bucer at the Colloquy at Regensburg.

27, 1863 --Confederate States of America. President Jefferson Davis appoints this day for fasting, humiliation, and prayer.

27, 1927 --China. Nationalist Chinese armies are pushing north to conquer the upper Yangtze Valley. Today the city of Nanking is taken from the Communists. Many foreigners, including missionaries are murdered. Pearl Sydenstricker, later known as Pearl S. Buck, well-known novelist, is the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, and is hid in a peasant hut.

28, 1478 --Germany. Hieronymous Emser is born. Dr. Johann Eck in his own Bible will incorporate his translation of the Bible. For the book of Revelation, Mr. Emser will make use of the illustration of Mr. Lucas Cranach which depicts Rome as the modern Babylon. Thus even in a Roman Catholic Bible, Rome will be so depicted.

28, 1521 --Italy. This Thursday before Easter, Rome resounds with a solemn excommunication of Dr. Martin Luther. The streets leading to the church have been crowded early this morning by the Papal guards, and by a crowd of people who have flocked from all parts of Italy to receive the benediction of the Pope. The square in front of the Basilica is decorated with branches of laurel and myrtle; wax tapers are seen burning on the church balcony. Suddenly bells rend the air with solemn tones, while the Pope clothed in his pontifical robes is carried in a chair and appears on the balcony. The people kneel with heads uncovered; the flags are lowered; muskets are grounded and all is silence. In moments, the Pope stretches out his hands, and raising them toward Heaven, bends them slowly towards the ground, and makes the sign of the cross. Three times the ritual is repeated and the air echoes afresh with the ringing of bells. This pronounces the Pope’s benediction to the surrounding country; then priests advance with lighted torches. They reverse them, brandish them and throw them about violently signifying the flames of Hell; and the words of malediction are heard from the height of the temple.
 

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