November

25, 1527 --England. Thomas Bilney is arrested and confined in the Tower of London for his denunciations of the invocation of saints and relic-worship. Convinced the doctrine of Justification by faith is Biblical, he has espoused the Reformation and has influenced Hugh Latimer to join the ranks, lie will be brought to trial and will deny having knowingly taught the doctrines of Luther, but will in a moment of weakness, yield. When he is released in 1529, he will return to Cambridge, and being remorseful for his abjuration, he will resume his preaching. He will again be arrested and will be burned at the stake at Norwich, August 19, 1531.

25, 1742 --Pennsylvania. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg arrives in Philadelphia. He has been sent by the Halle Pietists, and Michael Ziegenhagen, a Lutheran court preacher in London. Within six weeks we will be recognized as the pastor of the Philadelphian Lutherans.
Pietism has acted as a check to the adultery and drunkenness common among Lutheran pastors. It has combated worldliness and has viewed the world as a thing which every Christian must shun. He has maintained every child of God must renounce worldliness.

25, 1748 --England. At the age of seventy-five years, Isaac Watts dies. He is renown as a hymnwriter. He will be buried at Bunhill Fields near the grave of John Bunyan. His hymnbook for children will save Sir Walter Scott from suicide.
His physical appearance leaves much to be desired. Once when in an inn with some friends he overheard a gentleman contemptuously remark, "What! Is that the great Dr. Watts?" In good humor he turned and quoted lines he had composed --

Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I must be measured by my soul,
The mind's the standard of the man.

25, 1944 --Mexico. At Vera Cruz, Papists burn the Protestant Church of La Gloria. Also singled out for burning are nine houses belonging to Protestants. Of the seven people who die in the blazes, five are children. The Romanists will expel sixty families who are associated with the Church of God.

26, 579 --Italy. The Lombards besiege the city of Rome.

26, 1095 --France. Pope Urban preaches to a great throng at the Council of Clermont and succeeds in instigating the First Crusade to rid the "Holy Land" from the Moslem infidels.

26, 1504 --Spain. Isabella, daughter of King John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal, his second wife, dies today. In 1469 she married her cousin, Ferdinand who in 1479 became king of Aragon, thus creating the kingdom of Spain out of several petty states. It was Isabella who established the Spanish Inquisition and made it a state institution.

26, 1731 --England. William Cowper is born at Berkhamstead to a minister of the Church of England. He will be dubbed the "greatest poet of his time" and will leave such poems as "God Moves In A Mysterious Way, His Wonders To Perform"; "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood," and "O, For A Closer Walk With God." These will later be set to music.

26, 1758 --United States. The English colonists in America mark today as a General Thanksgiving Day observance.

26, 1760 --Austria. Franz Joseph Haydn is married. His wife will not share his life's work and will think nothing of using her husband's manuscripts to line her pastry pans or to curl her hair.
     A prolific songwriter, he will pray for ideas when they do not readily come. His oratorio, "The Creation," was inspired by a stirring presentation of Handel's "Messiah." During the composition of the work, he confessed, "Daily I fell on my knees and thanked God for strength." The text is taken from the Bible and the works of John Milton.
     In 1808 he will be carried on a stretcher to hear a presentation of it in Vienna. When the audience bursts forth with a thunderous applause at the chorus, "And There Was Light!" he will raise his trembling hand and confess, "Not from me. It all comes from above."
     The Austrian National hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" was composed by Mr. Haydn, the words of which were written by John Newton.

"Who knows if God has not chosen me, and called me, and if they ought not to fear that in despising me they may be despising God Himself? ...Moses was alone on coming out of Egypt --Elijah alone in the time of King Ahab --Isaiah alone in Jerusalem --Ezekiel alone in Babylon . . .. God never chose for a prophet either the high priest or any other great personage. He usually chose persons who were low and despised --on one occasion He even chose a shepherd (Amos). At all times the saints have had to rebuke the great --kings, princes, priests, the learned --at the risk of their lives . . .. Ambrose in his day was alone . . .. After him, Jerome was alone; later still Augustine was alone . . .. I do not say that I am a prophet, but I say they ought to fear just because I am alone and they are many . . .."

-Martin Luther-

26, 1863 --United States. President Abraham Lincoln proclaims Thanksgiving Day for this year's harvest. Thanksgiving Day will now become a national tradition for the people of the United States, and will become the only such nation to celebrate an annual Thanksgiving Day.