Gualther Mark

Gualther Mark was Rector of Kampen, in the Province of Overyssel. In the month of February, 1621, four Remonstrant burghers of that town were unexpectedly involved in great trouble, in consequence of a supplicatory letter, which had been addressed to them by an exiled Remonstrant Minister, accidentally falling into the hands of the town authorities. One of the four was Mark Gualther, who, after being detained as a prisoner about ten days, and undergoing various annoyances and privations, had his papers seized, and was confined to his own house, with an injunction not to stir from it, or to converse with any one, except the members of his own family ; and to mention nothing which had occurred during his examination before the Magistrates. His brother-in-law, Borghorst, becoming surety for him, he was released from prison on the above conditions. He was afterwards charged with heresy, and the articles of accusation against him consisted of garbled extracts from his own private memorandums, made by Dr. William Stephanus and Daniel Pipard.

Being cited to appear again before the Magistrates, the Burgomaster, Albert Hof, who, before the change of government, had professed himself a Remonstrant, accosted him in the following terms. "I am very sorry, Mark, to be obliged to speak to you as I am about to do. I have had too good an opinion of you, never imagining that you were such a wicked and blasphemous person. The council have perused your papers, and discovered by them, that you have embraced the opinions of the Arians, Pelagians, Socinians, and such like heretics, all which are contrary to the word of God, to the Catechism, and the Canons of the national Synod of Dort, where such holy and learned men were assembled: and further, that you have treated with contempt their High-Mightinesses, the States-General, His Excellency the Prince of Orange, and the Magistrates of this town." He was charged with having drawn up animadversions upon the Catechism, and with rejecting several things contained in it as false ; with having said, that Abraham was not saved by faith in Christ, but that he believed in God only ; with having compared some of the modern clergy to Pharisees ; with having advanced the position, that, under the pretext of religion, men often aim at temporal rule ; and with having examined the questions, Whether it was lawful, under the New Covenant, to wage war on account of religion, and whether religion was the foundation of the legal government in the Low Countries.

These were unpardonable offences in the eyes of his Judges, and quite sufficient, in their estimation, to justify them in treating him with the most rigorous severity. In vain did he plead, that the manuscripts, on which these charges were founded, had been drawn up for his own private use ; that he had never communicated their contents to any one, or entertained the remotest idea of making them public ; that they contained many things, which were entirely at variance with his own sentiments ; that among them were extracts from published books, made merely for the purpose of examination and inquiry, of some of which he approved only in part, while of others he entirely disapproved ; but that, admitting them to contain expressions of opinion as heretical and abominable as was represented, this was a matter with which he alone was concerned, and for which he was responsible to God alone.

Some of the Council made these pleas the subject of their merriment ; others assailed Gualther with the foulest and most opprobrious epithets ; and none had the honesty or manliness to allow the sincerity of his intentions, or to give him the advantage of any extenuating circumstances, which might be alleged in his favour. He was again committed to prison, and ultimately condemned to perpetual banishment, as a propagator of the heresies of Arius, Pelagius and Socin.

On the 25^th of June, the Heers, Albert Hof and John Saryse, with the Secretary Hoghstraten, came to the prison, to declare to him the sentence of the Magistrates, which was, that he should be banished for ever from the town of Kampen, and from the liberties and jurisdiction thereof. But they told him, at the same time, with their heads uncovered, and in the most solemn manner, how much it grieved them to be the bearers of such sad tidings ; that they would rather have seen it otherwise ; and that it was their wish and prayer, that God would bless him wherever he went. His reply was, "No matter: I accept it with patience and content, as a part of that cross, which my Saviour is pleased to lay upon me." They then exacted from him a solemn promise, that he would never seek to revenge the treatment which he had received, either upon the Magistrates, or any of their Officers. When he had given this promise, which it was usual in such cases to demand, he added, that vengeance belonged to God, and he would repay it ; and that it was a very hard sentence, but that such a judgment would be one day followed by another. He would have said more ; but at these last words, they made a precipitate retreat. He was then released from prison ; and being attended by one of the town messengers to the passage of the Yssel, took his leave of Kampen for ever.

He retired to Elburg, a small town in Gelderland, upon the Zuyder-Zee, where the Magistrates gave him leave to settle. He petitioned to have his papers restored to him ; but this favour he was not able to obtain. He then requested, that they might be transcribed at his own expense ; but to no purpose. At last he asked for the titles of them ; but was told, that even this could not be granted. The reader will be able to form his own judgment, from what has now been stated, of the harsh nature of the proceedings against this learned and excellent man.

(Vidend. Brandt's Hist, of the Ref. in and about the Low Countries, Vol. IV. Bk. liv. pp. 247—275, A. D. 1621. Be la BocJte's Abridgment, Vol. II. pp. 674—678.)