The tendencies of some of the earlier leaders of the Anabaptists were unquestionably of a heterodox character, as regards the doctrine of the Trinity; but their views were by no means well defined, nor were their declarations explicit enough to warrant us in giving them the name of Antitrinitarian*. They may, indeed, be ranked among the pioneers of modern Unitarianism; and are therefore not improperly regarded by Trechsel as precursors of Michael Servetus. (1) Two of the most distinguished of them were Melchior Hoffmann and David George, whom it has not been thought right to pass over in total silence, although no place has been assigned to them in the body of this work.

Melchior Hoffmann is omitted by Sandius, in his Catalogue of Antitrinitarians, in which, however, Bock contends that his name ought to have been inserted. But the evidence adduced by the latter to prove that he was an Antitrinitarian is not at all conclusive. Hoffmann published, in 8vo., at Strasburg, in the year 1530, an interpretation of the Apocalypse of John, which he dedicated to Frederick, King of Denmark, and which is now extremely rare. The title of this book was "Auslegung der heimlichen Offenbarung Joannis, des heiligen Apostels und Evangelisten." Walchius says, that it is obscure, and full of fanaticism and paradox. (2) It is on the evidence supplied by this book, however, that Hoffmann has been ranked among the Antitrinitarian Anabaptists. He finds the three persons of the Trinity prefigured, for instance, in the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and renders the last clause in 1 John v. 7," und die drey dienem in eins." But these are very insufficient reasons for believing that the writer's sentiments were Antitrinitarian; for there are not wanting later orthodox writers, who have discovered similar typifications of the Trinity in the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and Bock himself admits, that Hoffmann's interpretation of the passage relating to the heavenly witnesses, is confirmed by some manuscript copies of the Vulgate. Hoffmann further says, that Christ became the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, in favour of which opinion he refers to Psalm II 7, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." (3) But there are also not a few orthodox writers, who have explained this passage in the same way as Hoffmann, among whom it is perhaps sufficient to mention the name of Calvin. (4) The evidence, therefore, of Hoffmann's Antitrinitarianism is by no means decisive. But as Bock includes him in his Catalogue, it may not be amiss to run over a few of the leading particulars of his history.

He was a Suabian by birth, and a skinner by trade. His biographers describe him as an unlettered man; but intimate that he was insinuating in his address, and possessed of much natural eloquence. He gave it out, that he had a divine call to preach the truth, which, as he said, had entirely disappeared from among Christians. He was strenuous in his denunciations against Psedobaptism, and a confident believer in the approach of the Millennium. Full of these notions, as well as of other strange fancies, he travelled through the states of Livonia, Friesland, Holstein and Magdeburg, preaching his peculiar doctrines, and exciting great tumults wherever he went.(5) Seckendorf mentions a letter of Luther's to the Rev. William Pravest, a Protestant Minister of Holstein, dated March 14th, 1528, and cautioning him against "Melchior Pellifex," who had left Wittenberg in a fit of anger, because the inhabitants would not listen to his dreams. (6) From Kiel, in Holstein, he went to Emden, (7) where he was received by the common people as an Apostle, and in a short time collected a society of three hundred followers of both sexes, baptizing all who presented themselves. (8) From this place he appears to have made excursions into different parts of the Duchies of Holstein and Sleswick, for the purpose of propagating his doctrines. Seckendorf informs us, that Bugenhagen disputed with him at Flensburg, in 1529 ;tt and that an account of the disputation was printed. The subject of discussion was the Lord's Supper, and it took place at the command of the King of Denmark, in the presence of Duke Christiern, and a large body of Nobles. Hoffmann, on this occasion, defended the views of Zwingle.

When he had been settled some time at Emden, an old man, who laid claim to the gift of prophecy, told him that he must go to Strasburg, where be would be cast into prison, and set at liberty again at the end of six months; after which he and his fellow-labourers, to the number of a hundred and forty-four thousand, would sow the seed of the Gospel throughout the world. Having, therefore, left as his substitute at Emden, John Trypmaeker, he went to Strasburg with all possible expedition, for the purpose of fulfilling this prediction; and challenged the Ministers of the city to a public disputation. This challenge was accepted, and a disputation took place on the 11th of June, 1532, which ended, according to the accounts which have reached our times, in his complete defeat. Persisting, however, in his fanatical course, he was cast into prison, where, after awaiting in vain the fulfilment of the old man's prediction, he pined himself to death. (9)

Besides the work, of which the title is given above, Hoffmann published several others, which are occasionally alluded to, and quoted by ecclesiastical writers. His followers were known by the name of Hoffmannists, or Melchiorites. Ubbo Philipps joined this sect, and his disciples at first took the name of Ubbonites; but after the year 1544, they were called Mennonites, from Menno Simonis. Ubbo Philipps was the son of a Roman Catholic priest of Leeuwarden. He had a brother of the name of Theodore, or Dirk Philipps, who was a good Latin and Greek scholar, and was brought up a Catholic, but afterwards connected himself with the Anabaptists, and was employed by his brother Ubbo, in conjunction with David George and others, as a Minister of that sect. (10)

David George, (or Ioris,) "though properly to be reckoned," says Bock, "among the fanatical and crazy Anabaptists, is not to be excluded from the number of Antitrinitarians, although Sandius has not assigned him a place among the latter." (11) The authority for this assertion is a passage in a treatise written by David George himself, and entitled, " Welches der rechte Glaube sey." In this treatise, speaking of the Trinity, as explained by the orthodox, he intimates, that it has a direct tendency to obscure our knowledge of God; that God "was, is, and ever remains impersonal;" and that, when he is spoken of as consisting of " three persons," such language is adopted merely for our sake, and not on God's own account. (12) The truth is, that David George, as far as any definite position in the theological world can be assigned to him, was a Sabellian. He has unfolded his doctrine in an explanation of the Creation, in some Epistles, and in upwards of two hundred and fifty tracts of various sizes, as well as in his principal work, published under the title of "The Book of Wonders." (13) The following is a brief outline of his theological system. The true word of God is not the outward letter, but God himself, his word and his voice within man. In the Godhead there is no proper distinction of persons; and it is the same thing whether we call the Divine Being Father, Son, or Holy Ghost; or simply God. He has revealed himself, however, in three persons, Moses, Elias and Christ; or more definitely, in Moses, Christ and David. But these are human, not divine persons, in whom God as it were tabernacles, or dwells. They are the mediums through which God has made himself known in three successive ages of the world, which bear to each other the relation of body, soul and spirit; or childhood, youth and manhood. Faith prevailed in the first; Hope in the second; and in the third, or manly age, which is now approaching, Love, as the greatest of the three, is to succeed to Faith and Hope. In the first of these ages everything was a mere bodily image of the second; and the second stands in the same relation to the third, as the first did to the second. The revelation which God made of himself through Christ according to the flesh, was neither the last, nor the highest. The true spiritual Christ is not a man, but the eternal word of the Father, begotten in himself, and could not, in fact, become incarnate, being alike incapable of change or diminution. It assumed the form of Christ after the flesh, and dwelt in him, and thus became a medium of communication and intercourse with men; serving as a pattern to them of the new and spiritual life, and thus enabling them to work out their own redemption. But this spiritual existence, this deeper and more complete knowledge, was not only hidden from the Patriarchs and Prophets. Neither Christ after the flesh, nor his Apostles, spoke out clearly and distinctly, but in an imperfect, dark and enigmatical manner; and it was reserved for David George, not when his body was made flesh, but after he had received the spirit, to reveal that deeper and more complete knowledge, and to set up God's eternal kingdom, in which, under the spiritual reign of Christ David, all earthly power will come to an end. (14) Full of these and other strange notions, he acquired many followers in Holland, East Friesland, Luneburg, Holstein and Ditmarsch, who remained quietly and faithfully attached to his cause, till some time after his death. Harassed by the persecution which everywhere attended himself and his followers in the Low Countries, he formed the resolution of awaiting the promised, happy time, in a distant country. With his family and a few confidential friends, therefore, he travelled, in the spring of 1544, by way of Strasburg to Basle, where, at his own request, he was admitted to the privileges of citizenship, and continued to live in great splendour, under the assumed name of Johannes Bruckius, or John a Bruck, for the space of fifteen years; during the whole of which time he regularly attended the services of the Church, in the place of his adoption, and passed for a good orthodox Protestant. (15) He was bom at Delft, in Holland, A.D. 1501. His father, who, according to some, was called Ludio, according to others George ab Ammersford, obtained a livelihood by travelling about as a mountebank and conjuror. (16) His mother, whose Christian name was Mary, was a zealous Anabaptist; and was beheaded, with thirty-five others, at Delft, by the Catholics, on a charge of heresy. David was by nature a quick and intelligent child; and it is not improbable, that his wits were sharpened still further by the training which he underwent, in order to fit him, at the proper age, for following his father's profession. The name given to him at his baptism was John; but travelling about with his father, he commonly acted the part of David,and ever after retained that name. (17) His education, however, in the popular sense of that word, was wholly neglected; and whatever distinction he acquired was entirely owing to the force of his own native talent. (18) He was trained to the profession of an artist, and became an excellent painter on glass. But when he grew up, he joined the Anabaptists, and was a teacher among them for several years, commencing when he was about the age of thirty.

Hoornbeek, who states that David was originally a painter, says that he first became celebrated for his strenuous opposition to Catholicism; and afterwards for bringing about a reconciliation among the different sects of Anabaptists. The same writer describes him as a zealous leader among the Hoffmannists, a sect which had its origin in the year 1534. (19) In 1536, he made an attempt to unite the Munsteriani and the Hoffmannists, and his efforts were crowned with success. But he drew upon himself the dislike of both parties; for they suspected that, in what he had done, he had been actuated by some latent motive of self-interest. His immediate friends, however, instead of being alienated from him, clung to him the more closely; and said that it happened to him, as it does to most peace-makers,—that where he deserved the greatest thanks, he received the least. About the same time, meeting some Priests, who were carrying in procession the sacrament of the altar, he rebuked them publicly, telling them that they were guilty of idolatry; and on being seized, he narrowly escaped with his life, through the favour of some of the Magistrates. But the member which had offended was condemned to pay the penalty. His tongue was bored through with an awl upon a scaffold, and he was then banished for ever.

On the 2nd of January, 1538, it was declared by placard, through the whole of Holland, "That none should dare to harbour David Iorison, and Mainard van Emden, teachers among the Anabaptists, on pain of being hanged at their own doors; and that whoever gave such information as might lead to their discovery, should receive a reward of one hundred guilders for each of the aforesaid persons, and forty guilders for any other Anabaptist." This placard was repeated on the 27th of February in the same year; and though David George himself escaped, his mother, and many other Anabaptists, suffered. When questioned about her son, she said, that he led a very godly life, aiming at nothing but an humble imitation of his Lord, and doing no evil to any one; that the Hague would have been set on fire, and much more mischief done, if he had not prevented it; and that, by his writings, the name and will of God had been so illustriously manifested to the world, that nothing like it had ever yet been done by any person upon earth, in which she very greatly rejoiced. (20) Being persecuted in Lower Germany, he sought a home in Upper Germany, from which he went, by way of Switzerland, to Venice, making a stay of ten or eleven days at Basle. From Venice he returned to Basle, where he was naturalized, and found an asylum for the rest of his life.

He alleged, that he had been driven out of his native country for the gospel's sake; and after experiencing many troubles, both by sea and land, he was desirous of finding a place of rest. He entreated the Magistrates to admit him to the privileges of a citizen of Basle; and said that, if his request was granted, God's protection would be extended towards their city; and that, if necessary, he and his adherents would lay down their lives in its defence. Moved by the representations which he gave of his misfortunes, the Magistrates lent a favourable ear to his story, and granted his request.

His appearance is described as remarkably prepossessing. He had a long flowing beard of an auburn colour, and sparkling blue eyes. His countenance was grave, but expressive of mildness and affability; and his address was free and unconstrained. In short, he seemed to have in him all the qualities of modesty and sincerity. With these external recommendations, he went to Basle, and was hospitably entertained by one of the citizens. When he had been some time located there, he purchased some houses in the city, and a farm in the country, as well as other property; settled his children in life; and, by good offices of various kinds, procured for himself many friends. During the whole of his residence at Basle he was attentive to the duties of religion, exemplary in all the customary exercises of devotion, and a bountiful dispenser of alms to the poor. His wealth was immense, his plate costly, and his household furniture rich and sumptuous; but of these he made no ostentatious display.

John Acronius, Professor of Medicine and Mathematics at Basle, who seems to have had the most favourable opportunities of becoming acquainted with his private history, says, that in his own house he wore a quadrangular crown, in the front of which was a star; sate upon a throne; and received a kind of homage from his people, resembling that usually paid to a Monarch. (21)

Various conjectures were formed concerning him; some thinking him to be a person of noble rank, and some a rich factor, or merchant; while others were wholly at a loss to conceive who he was, or whence he came. The mystery thus attending him was greatly increased by the silence and reserve of himself and his followers, as to his previous history; and by the caution with which he formed and extended his acquaintance. At length his wife was attacked by a disease, of which she died; and himself and many others were subsequently carried off by the same complaint. "He that declared himself to be greater than Christ," says the author of the "Apocalypsis Heresiarcharum," "and voted himself immortal, on the 2nd of August, 1556, died the death; and was honourably buried, according to the ceremonies of the parish Church; and his funeral rites were celebrated in the presence of his sons and daughters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, servant-men and maids, and a great conflux of citizens." (22)

Soon after his decease, his son-in-law, Nicholas Blesdyck, charged him with having maintained the most blasphemous and pestilential errors. The Senate of Basle, before whom this accusation was brought, being satisfied with the evidence by which it was supported, resolved that his doctrine, on mature examination, was impious, and derogatory to the divine nature; that his printed and published works should be burnt; that, as the most infamous promoter of the sect of the Anabaptists, and a most horrid blasphemer against God and Christ, he should be accounted unworthy of Christian burial; that he should be taken out of the grave by the common hangman, and burnt, together with his books, and all his writings and manuscripts. Accordingly, his body was disinterred, and with all his works, and his likeness, was brought by the hangman to the place of execution ; and the coffin being opened, the body, which was found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, was first exhibited to the spectators, and then consumed by fire, along with the whole of his writings, May 13th, 1559, not quite three years after his death. He had predicted that he should be raised from the grave in three years; and the prediction was thus, in one sense, fulfilled. (23)

It is said that he pleaded for the lawfulness of polygamy, denied the existence of hell and devils, sought to do away with external worship, and advocated a community of goods, (24) "Nothing more horribly impious and extravagant can possibly be conceived," says Mosheim, "than the sentiments and tenets of this fanatic, if they were really such as they have been represented, either by his accusers or his historians. For he is said to have given himself out for the Son of God, the fountain of divine wisdom, to have denied the existence of angels, good and evil, of heaven and hell, and to have rejected the doctrine of a future judgment; and he is also charged with having trampled upon all the rules of decency and modesty with the utmost contempt. In all this, however, it is possible that there may be much exaggeration." (25)

Fanatical as David George was in some of his notions, there is one circumstance recorded of him, which shews, that, in spite of his monomania, he was far in advance of many of his contemporaries, in a knowledge of the duties which Christians owe to each other, and which ought to render his memory dear to every true and genuine disciple of Christ . When the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Geneva were deliberating upon the expediency of putting Servetus to death, David George addressed an intercessory letter to the Swiss Magistrates, exhorting them to spare his life. Of this letter, which was written on the 1st of October, 1553, but to which the author, from prudential motives, did not attach his name, the following is the substance. (26) Having heard that the pious Servetus had been delivered up to the civil authorities through envy and hatred, and that the ecclesiastical authorities were about to pronounce sentence of death against him, the author was so disquieted, that he felt it to be his duty, as a member of the body of Christ, to lift up his voice against this wrong, and to unburden his mind in the presence of the Lord. He entertained a confident expectation, that the Magistrates would not listen to the perverse counsels of the Ministers, but would rather obey the Supreme Teacher of the Christian Church, who would have no man to be put to death on account of his faith. It was horrible blindness and tyranny for Ministers of the Gospel, anointed, called and sent of God, for the purpose of restoring the dead to life, reforming their souls, and calling them to a knowledge of the truth, to visit wanderers from the right path with capital punishment, and by temporal death to consign them to that which was eternal. Such a judgment belonged to no one, but the Author of life, and the Redeemer of souls. It was the duty of the Magistrate to punish the impious and wicked, but to defend and protect the pious from being oppressed, and deprived of their lives, by the wicked, on account of their faith. Those who thirsted for the blood of others were not disciples of Christ, but manslayers from the beginning. If it were allowed to put heretics to death, this world would be filled with universal slaughter, and few men living would be safe. Special care should be taken, not to entrust the power of the sword to any Church, for the purpose of cutting off those whom it deems heretics. Servetus, although convicted of heresy and contumacy, ought not to be put to death, and loaded with disgrace; but rather to be admonished in a friendly spirit, and, if found to be incorrigible, to be banished from the city. The Lord of the Church had allowed tares to grow up along with the wheat, in the field of his Church, and had reserved to himself the office of separating the one from the other, by his reapers, in the future life. The letter concluded with a solemn exhortation to the Magistrates to shew mercy, and not shed innocent blood; and to judge not, lest they themselves should be judged. (27)

It has been said of David George, that he was totally destitute of learning of every kind, and had something obscure, harsh and illiterate in his manner of expression. But the above letter to the Magistrates of Switzerland, though it proved utterly unavailing, and probably injured, instead of serving the cause of Servetus, contains, as Bock has well observed, no marks of ignorance, or plebeian rudeness. (28)

The following estimate of the character of David George, from the pen of Mosheim, appears to have for its foundation substantial truth. "That he had both more sense, and more virtue, than is generally imagined, appears manifestly, not only from his numerous writings, but also from the simplicity and candour that were visible in the temper and spirit of the disciples he left behind him, of whom several are yet to be found in Holstein, Friesland, and other countries. He deplored the decline of vital and practical religion, and endeavoured to restore it among his followers; and in this he seemed to imitate the example of the more moderate Anabaptists. But the excessive warmth of an irregular imagination threw him into illusions of the most dangerous and pernicious kind, and seduced him into a persuasion that he was honoured with the gift of divine inspiration, and had celestial visions constantly presented to his mind. Thus was he led to such a high degree of fanaticism, that, rejecting as mean and useless the external services of piety, he reduced religion to contemplation, silence, and a certain frame or habit of soul, which it is equally difficult to define and to understand." (29)

A particular account of the Life and Doctrine of David George was published at Basle, A. D. 1559; and in the year following at Antwerp. "Davidis Georgii, Hollandi Hseresiarchse, Vita et Doctrina, quandiu Basileae fuit: tum quid post ejus Mortem cum Cadavere, Libris, ac reliqua ejus Familia actum sit: per Rectorem et Academiam Basil, in Gratiam Amplissimi Senatus ejus Urbis, conscripta. Antvcrpiw, apud Gulielm. Simonem. Cum Privilegio. M.D.LX." This little work is not paged, but contains what is equivalent to 48 pages. On the back of the title-page is the "Imprimatur," dated Nov. 9th, 1559, signed by P. de Lens; and on the last page but one occurs the following. "Haic Historia Davidis Georgii candidum ac pium Lectorem non offeudet. L Schellinck, S. Nicolai, Bruxell' Portionarius."

In 1642, another Life of David George appeared, in 12mo., purporting to be printed from the manuscript of his son-in-law, Nicholas Blesdyck. Its title was as follows. "Historia Vitse, Doctrinse, ac Rerum gestarum Davidis Georgii, Haeresiarchae: conscripta ab ipsius Genero, Nicolao Blesdikio: nunc primum prodit in Lucem ex Musieo Jacobi Revii. Daventrise, apud Nathanaelem Costium, Bibliopolam. MDCXLII." It extends over 169 pages; is preceded by a Dedicatory Epistle to Johannes a Wevelichoven, J. U. D. Reip. Lugduno-Batav. Syndico, &c.; and concludes with an "Epilogus." The history professes to be a transcript from the author's autograph, made in the month of Feb. 1581.

Lamy, in his " Histoire du Socinianisme, Paris, 1723," (30) includes not only David George and Melchiob Hoffmann, in his list of Arianizing Anabaptists, who infected Upper and Lower Germany with their errors; but John Matthias, John Beckhold, John Van Geelen, andJohn Van Campen. Even Bock, however, admits, that he can discover no good grounds for regarding these fanatics as, in any sense of the word, Antitrinitariuns.(31)

(1) M. Servet u. s. Vorg. S. 34-55. X

(2) Walchii Bibl. Théologie. Tom. IV. pp. 784, 785.

(3) Bock, Hist. Antitrin. Tom. II. p. 297.

(4) Wilson's Concessions of Trinitarians. Manchester, 1842, 8vo. p. 160.

(5) Bock, Hist. Ant. T. II. p. 292.

(6) Hist. Lutheranismi, L. ii. p. 122.

(7) Brandt's Hist, of the Ref. in the Low Countries, Vol. I., A. D. 1534, p. 62.

(8) Apocalypsis, p. 69. Hist. Lutheranismi, L. iii. p. 243.

(9) Bock, Hist. Antitrin. Tom. II. p. 293. Hoornbeek, Summa Controversiarum, L. v. P. 343. Brandt, ubi supra.

(10) Bock, ubi supra, p. 298.

(11) Hist. Antitrin. T. I. P. i. p. 371, art. David Georgius, vulgo Ioris.

(12) Bock, supra ubi, T. II. p. 283.

(13) T "Wonderboeck, waerin dat von der Weldt aen verfloten, gheopenbaert est. 1542, en 4 to. ; 2ème éd., Agrandie et améliorée, 1551, Fol. Vide Walchii Bibl. Theol. Pp. T. II. 43-45. M . Servet und seine Vorgänger, S. 43.

(14) M. Servet u. s. V. S. 43-50.

(15) Pp. 54, 55. Geo. Hornii Hist. Eccles. Ed. Nov. Frankof. and Moen. 1704, période, iii. Art. xxxviii. p. 497.

(16) Mich. Servet us V. S. 36, 37.

(17) Hist J Brandt, de la Réf. in the Low Countries, Vol. I. Bk. iii. p. 75.

(18)M. Servet us V. S. 37.

(19) Summa Controversiarum. Traject. ad Rehn. 1658, pp. 351. 387.

(20) Hist. de Brandt, de la Réf. in the Low Countries, Vol. I. pp. 74, 75.

(21) Epistolarum ab Must, et Claris Viris Scripturarum centuries Tres; quas collcgit Sim. Abbes Oabbema. IIarling. Fris. 1663, Ep. 67, pp. 141-143.

(22) Apocalypsis, & c, art. David George.

(23) M. Servet u. s. V. S. 55. Hoornbeek, Summa Controv. L. vi. p. 388.

(24) Hoornbeek, supra ubi, p. 387.

(25) Moshem. Inst. Hist. Eccles. Ssec. xvi. S. iii. P. ii. C. iii. } xxiv, Maclaine's Translation. f Bock, Hist. Antitrin. T. II. pp. 367, 368.

(26) Bock, Hist. Antitrin. T. II. pp. 367, 368.

(27) A copy of the original letter may be seen in Allwocrden's Hist. Mich. Serveti, S. 79—84; and an abstract of it, of which the above is a translation, in Bock's Hist. Antitrin., 1. c.

(28) Ubi supra, p. 368.

(29) Mosh. Inst. Hist. Eccles., 1. c.

(30) 4to. P. ii. Chap. xix. pp. 340-351.

(31) Hist. Ant. T. II. p. 300.