The Reformation in Germany and Holland was productive of great and glorious effects, although it was not complete. Errors in doctrine, nearly or quite as incongruous with Scripture as those abandoned, were retained; ceremonies, nearly equal in absurdity to those prohibited, were still celebrated; and persecutions, exhibiting more similarity to the practices of Papacy than to the meekness and quietude of pure Christianity, were still prosecuted. The Reformation required to be reformed, and of this many pious and holy men were aware. At length, in 1694, a violent controversy arose in nearly all the Protestant churches of those two countries, in consequence of the attempts which were being made to promote a practical and vital religion. At this time the pious Spener was ecclesiastical superintendent of the court of Saxony. He was likewise at the head of the party distinguished for its advocacy of reformatory measures. However, neither his dignified and important station, nor the fact that the tenets of his followers were predicated upon scripture according to its literal interpretation, could preserve them from falling under the odium of heresy, and incurring the effects of a virulent opposition. Their doctrines were examined by the ecclesiastical dignitaries, who, instead of instituting a comparison between them and Holy Writ, sought to discover whether or not they were conformable to the tenets deemed orthodox by the Consistory of Wittemberg. The decision was in the negative; hence they were suppressed in their public lectures and ministrations. This prohibition, while it shut up churches, and hushed the eloquence of public lecturers, savoured of persecution, and consequently excited a spirit of inquiry in the minds of the multitude. In such cases as this, reverend divines would consult their own interest by bestowing greater attention upon the study of human nature. Persecution agitates the public mind, excites the sympathy of some, the curiosity of all, and promulgates the very sentiments it is endeavouring to restrain. Besides, persecutors are not omniscient, conventicles will be held, and to their other charms that of secrecy is then added. In the year 1708, Alexander Mack, of Schriesheim, and seven others in Schwartzenen, Germany, met together, regularly to examine, in a careful and impartial manner, the doctrines of the New Testament, in order to ascertain what obligations it imposes upon professing Christians. These inquiries terminated in the formation of the society now called the Dunkers, or First-day German Baptists. Persecution, while it scattered them, likewise led to the dissemination of their doctrines; some were driven to Crefelt, in the Duchy of Cleves, and the mother church voluntarily removed to Sevustervin, in Friesland, whence its members emigrated to America in 1719, and dispersed to different parts of Pennsylvania. In 1723, they formed a church at Germantown, under the pastoral care of Peter Becker. The rapid growth of