the Christians who follow the opinions of Martin Luther, one of the principal reformers of the church in the sixteenth century.

The Lutherans, of all Protestants, are those who differ the least from the Catholic church; as they affirm that the body and blood of Christ are materially present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, though in an incomprehensible manner; and likewise represent some religious rites and institutions, such as the use of images in churches, the distinguishing vestments of the clergy, the private confession of sins, the use of wafers in the administration of the Lord's Supper, the form of exorcism in the celebration of baptism, and other ceremonies of a similar kind, as tolerable, and some of them as useful. With regard to the divine decrees, the Lutherans maintain that they respect the salvation or misery of men, in consequence of a previous knowledge of their sentiments and characters, and not as free and unconditional, and as founded on the mere will of God. Towards the close of the last century, the Lutherans began to entertain a greater liberality of sentiment than they had before adopted; although in many places they persevered longer in severe and despotic principles than other Protestant churches. Their public teachers now enjoy an unbounded liberty of dissenting from the decisions of those symbols or creeds which were once deemed almost infallible rules of faith and practice, and of declaring their dissent in the manner which they judge the most expedient. Mosheim attributes this change in their sentiments to the maxim which they generally adopted, that Christians were accountable to God alone for their religious opinions; and that no individual could be justly punished by the magistrate for his erroneous opinions, whilst he conducted himself as a virtuous and obedient subject, and made no attempts to disturb the peace and order of civil society.