attention from the Bible, which was the only true source of spiritual knowledge. It was not until several years later that he began to oppose in public the Lutheran doctrine of sanctification.

Up to the age of twenty-seven he remained with his parents, when, contrary to their will, he married a girl below his station. As a consequence he was thrown almost -penniless upon his own resources. He rented a farm and undertook several small business ventures, in all of which he was successful, so that he was ultimately enabled to purchase the estate of Lötorp for 1000 rix-dollars, cash.

In 1842, having heard of the Devotionalists in Helsingland, he visited that province as a dealer in flour, in which capacity he traveled extensively in his own and neighboring parishes. In 1843, at the age of thirty-four, he made his second visit to Helsingland. In January of this year, while passing through Söderala Parish, he formed an acquaintance which proved to be of inestimable importance in the shaping of future events. Discovering by mere chance that Jonas Olson was a Devotionalist, he applied to him for lodging over night, and his request was hospitably granted. It was a Saturday night. The stranger appeared reserved, and had nothing to say on religious subjects. The following morning Olson's married sister came over to buy some flour. But the stranger answered, "Do you not know that to-day is the Sabbath? We will postpone business till to-morrow." The stranger accompanied the family to church. On the way home, contrary to the custom, he said not a word about the sermon. In the afternoon his host took him to a conventicle of the Devotionalists, where he was invited to speak. But he remained silent. On taking leave the following morning he said to his host, "I have had a restless night. The Lord hath imposed a duty upon me. I have struggled in prayer to avoid it, but cannot. Be a priest in your own house. I have been here a Saturday night and a Sunday night, and you have not assembled your household in prayer."

If Jonas Olson had been previously impressed by his guest's conduct, he was not any the less so now. The rebuke was accepted in humility, and from that time on Jonas Olson recognized in the stranger a man of God. He accompanied him to Hudiksval and Gefle, and everywhere introduced him to the conventicles of the Devotionalists. On account of the personal standing of his introducer, Eric Janson everywhere met with a favorable reception. Everywhere he was invited to speak, and he now no longer refused. The appreciativeness of his audiences spurred him on to his most eloquent efforts, and the evident results of his preaching convinced him that his mission as a revivalist lay in Helsingland.

In June of the same year he made his third visit to Helsingland. He was now in such demand that, like his great Master, he was obliged to travel by night and preach by day. His sermons frequently lasted from five to six hours. Many of the clergy visited his meetings, but as yet no objections were raised to his preaching. His fourth journey to Helsingland was made in the following autumn. He now decided to sell his estate in Westmanland and move to Helsingland. In the meantime, however, his father died, and he moved instead into the home thus left vacant. Here he remained till April, 1844, when he accomplished his original purpose and removed to Forsa in the north of Helsingland.

With the advent of Eric Janson to Helsingland in 1842 we may, roughly speaking, say that Jansonism begins. Eric Janson never had any large following in his own province of Westmanland, nor even in his own parish. Although, indeed, he made numerous converts outside of Helsingland, this province nevertheless remained the Jansonist stronghold. The reason is to be sought in the fact that the conditions in Helsingland were particularly favorable for the reception of his doctrine. To the Devotionalists of Helsingland there was nothing positively new in his teaching. The two points in which he disagreed with the Established Church were, firstly, with regard to the doctrine of sanctification; secondly,

1

(with regard to the devotional literature. In the doctrine of sanctification he agreed with the Methodists, holding that the faithful have no sin. But, as we have seen, Jonas Olson had accepted this doctrine from George Scott, the English Methodist clergyman stationed in Stockholm. It is impossible to ascertain whether or not Eric Janson himself ever came under the personal influence of George Scott. Some of his followers assert that he did; others assert with equal positiveness that he did not. But be that as it may, in matters of faith he had much in common with John Wesley, and his style of preaching and method of delivery is said to have resembled very much that of the early Methodists. Nor was his rejection of the devotional literature new in Helsingland. In 1805, Eric Stålberg, of the parish of Piteå, had founded a sect of Separatists, which spread rapidly over the greater part of Norrland, including the province of Helsingland. One characteristic of this sect was that, with the exception of Luther's writings, it discouraged the use of devotional literature, saying that, at the best, human writings are full of error and only tend to distract the attention from the Word of God. Although Jonas Olson and the majority of the orthodox Devotionalists in Helsingland cannot be said to have shared this view previous to the advent of Eric Janson, they were nevertheless familiar with it.

Jansonism did not spring ready-made from the brain of its author. It was a gradual development, and the form which it ultimately assumed was largely determined by the attitude of the Established Church. Eric Janson did not at - first display any separatistic tendencies. He merely preached against the rationalism and dead orthodoxy which were prevalent in the Swedish Church. He advocated a return to the simplicity and earnestness of primitive Christianity. He warned his followers to read the Word of God, and did not hesitate to punish in public the sins of prominent individuals. His preaching was of a pre-eminently nomistic character, and many even of those who thought they had found peace

in God saw the vanity of their lives.

He traveled from

parish to parish conducting revival meetings. The number of his adherents was soon estimated at from 1500 to 4000. The clergy became alarmed at the rapid growth of a strong religious sentiment over which they had no control and the import of which they did not understand. They regarded the Jansonists as a new sect holding doctrines that were subversive of the existing church organization. In order to regain their lost hold upon their congregations they denounced Janson from the pulpit, and appeared in the conventicles to warn their parishioners against the impostor and false prophet. They attempted to refute his heresies with regard to the devotional literature and the doctrine of sanctification. But Janson was gifted with a matchless power of debate, besides being well versed in the Scriptures, and whenever it came to a battle of words was almost certain to come off victorious. The Jansonists were refused admittance to the Lord's Supper. Eric Janson retaliated by saying that there could be no faith without persecution; that there was no saving power in the sermon of an unconverted minister; and forbade his followers to worship in the Established Church, holding his conventicles at the time of the regular church service. This was the beginning of his estrangement from the Established Church.

As the influence of Janson increased, so also the number and hostility of his enemies. His followers were subjectedto the abuse and insult of the rabble. Their meetings weredisturbed, their houses pelted with stones, and their persons assaulted. But they praised the Lord who tried their faith by allowing them to be persecuted. They marched along the public highways at night and sang spiritual hymns, or gathered in front of the parsonages to pray for the conversion of their unregenerate pastors. When their conventicles were prohibited they assembled in the woods and in out of the way places to partake of the Holy Communion. Faint rumors of these midnight gatherings came to the church authorities, and

the spectre of a new peasant insurrection stalked abroad. Eric Janson was regarded as a second Thomas Münzer. He was charged with all sorts of atrocious crimes. A large number of his followers were women. Women frequently accompanied him on his missionary journeys. With one of these, by the name of Sophia Schön, he was particularly accused of sustaining improper relations. One night she was surprised in her home by the pastor of Österunda Parish, who had come with a number of his henchmen to find Eric Janson. Eric Janson was, of course, not to be found; but Sophia Schön was dragged from her bed and brought, dressed only in her linen, to the sheriff's bailiff.

In June, 1844, an event took place which gave the opponents of the new heresy an opportunity of adopting severe legal measures. Already since 1840 Eric Janson had witnessed against the assumed abuse of the devotional literature. The human writings of Luther, Arndt, Scriver, Nohrborg - had usurped the place of the Bible. These new idols had stolen away the hearts of the people. They must be destroyed.

The burning of the books took place June 11. A great concourse of people from the country around assembled on a farm near the town of Tranberg. An immense bonfire was made of books, pamphlets, tracts-everything except the Bible, the hymn-book and catechism. Amidst the singing of hymns and great spiritual exaltation the assemblage watched the destruction of the "Harlot of Babylon."

The embers of the fire had hardly died out before the news was spread in every quarter of Sweden. People were horrified. Two days later, Janson was arrested by the Crown officials and brought before the sheriff's court in Gefle. After a preliminary trial he was transferred to the sheriff's court in Westerås, under whose jurisdiction he properly belonged. Here his mental condition was examined into by a medical expert, while a court chaplain examined into his spiritual. He was finally released to await a new trial, but was not allowed to return to Helsingland.