All was commotion and disruption, and, for a time,
everything seemed to be on the downward course to ruin.
But the imminence of the danger brought a speedy and violent reaction.
The persecution of the French Huguenots drove them across the boundary
line. The Dutch true to their traditional hospitality, received them
with open arms. The guests returned their welcome by diffusing new
spiritual life through the hospitable country. The Cocceians laid off
their worldly habits. Days of fasting and prayer were appointed by the
civil and ecclesiastical authorities, while an increasing love for the
church, as bequeathed by the fathers, was overspreading the land. The
attachment to what was old and time-honored became a glowing enthusiasm.
Sharp distinctions between parties disappeared. Men who had formerly
been violently arrayed against each other now expressed a disposition to
unite in one common effort to restore the church to her former purity.
Brokel, Imytegeld, Groenewegen, Lampe, and Vitringa, representing
different and opposing forces, united in a harmonious effort to reform
the heritage of Christ.
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