Yet in spite of persecution they flourished, for the ideal of a pure Church was attractive, and the spirit of revolt could not be satisfied with the offer of any definite reform of the ecclesiastical system. The Anabaptists, in fact, were the Radicals of the Reformation era, men who carried principles to their logical conclusions, and were not to be put off by considerations of practical expediency. They saw the inconsequence of the system of territorial Churches to which Lutheranism rapidly drifted. They were not moved by Calvinism which replaced one hierarchical system by another. They maintained that the true Church consisted of those who had the inward consciousness of a new life, and that admission to the Church was a privilege reserved only for them. The Church, therefore, required no organisation, but rejoiced in that freedom which belonged to those whose spiritual life was secure.
I have dwelt upon these general tendencies of religious thought, because they explain a claim which the Baptists make to a direct succession of their opinions from Apostolic times. It is true that they are the representatives of tendencies which took form in early times, and frequently afterwards manifested themselves in varying shapes. But the claim to a spiritual lineage or succession is too impalpable to admit of serious discussion. It is enough to say that from time to time we find men expressing the opinion that baptism should only be administered to adults; but the link of connexion between the upholders of this opinion cannot be traced. The revolt against formalism frequently made itself heard, and
