STEBBIXG
1002
STEDIXGERS
on Practical ChrUlidiiity (1759-GO, 2 vols. 8vo). See Alliboiie, I>icl. <;/' Urit. mid A mer. A uthors, s. v.
Stebbing, Henry (-'). I).I>.. son of the preceding, waslMTii at Ki.'kin^'liiill. Suftolk.in ITIO; entereil Cath- ariiu- Hall, Cambridge, 17;M; siiceeodcd his father as preaeticrof <Jray's Inn, 17;)(»; and shortly alter as chap- lain in ordinary to the king. He received his degree of 1).I>. in 17J;i, and died at Gray's Inn in 17H7. He was a truly learned and good man. and an indefatigable preacher. lie wrote Sermong on I't-actictd :^iibjec/.i, published witli an account of the autlior by his son (Lond. 3 vols. «vo; vol. i and ii, 1788; vol. iii, 1790). 8ee Darling, Cyclop, liibliojj. s. v. ; AUibone, Diet, of Uril. awl A mvr. A itl/wrg, s. v.
Stebbiiis, Dixon, a minister of the IVIethodist Episcopal Chiircli, was a native of Wilbraliam, Mass. Of his early life and conversion we are without infor- mation. He was received into the I'rovidence Confer- ence in 1842, and preached, with intervals of ill-health, until l.S')3, when he received a sui)erannuated relation. He died at Hanson, Sept. 27, 1853. See .yinutes of An- nual t'onjereticeg, 1854. p. 340.
Stebbins, Lorenzo D., a minister of the Meth- odist Kpiseopal Church, was born Sept. 2, 1817. He was educated at Cazenovia Seminary, and graduated from the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in 1842. In 1844 he joined the I$lack Kiver Conference; in 18o3 became professor of mathematics to the New York Conference Seminary ; in 1854 was appointed principal of Fairfield Seminary. At the close of the year lie was transferred to the Troy Conference, and in ]«i)(! to the N'ew England Conference. In the spring of 18G7 he removed to Central New York, where he re- mained until his death, Nov. 1, 18G9. See Minutes of Annual ('onfertnces, 1870, p. 88,
Stebbins, Stephen J., a minister of the Jleth- odist Episcopal Church, was born at South Salem, West- chester Co., N. Y., in 1808. He professed conversion May 10, 1828, and soon after joined the Church. He was licensed to preach in 183G. and iu 1839 was re- ceived into the New York Conference. After several years he was transferred to the New York J^ast Con- ference, in which he continued to preach until 1867, when he ended his regular labors. He then removed to IJethel, Conn., where he died, Fel). 3, 1876. See Min- uli-ji if Annual Cunfiniwi-.i, 1876, p. 62.
Steck, John Michael, a Lutheran clergyman, was l)orn at (icrmantown, I'a., Oct. 5, 1765. He stud- ied tiieology inidcr Dr. Ilclinuth, and was afterwards adniitteil a member of the Lutheran Synod of Penn- sylvania. In 17H4 he took charge at Chambersbiirg, in 178;( became pastor to the congregations in IJed- fiiril and Somerset counties, and in 1792 accepted a call from the congregations in Westmoreland County, mak- ing (Jn-ensburg his residence, where he died, .inly 14, 1«30. He was an earnest, faithful, and successful min- ister. S<"e Sprague, Annal.t if the Amet: J'ulpit, ix, 148.
Steck, Michael John, a Lutheran clergyman, Bon of the preceding, was born at (Jreensburg^ I'a., Mav 1, 1793, anil studied at the <;reensl)urg Aca<lctny. Soon after leaving the academy he began to study theology undi-r his father, conliiniing it with Hev. .lacob Schnee, of l'itlsl)ur(;li. He wa.s licensed to preach by the Synod of Tennfylvania in IHI6, and U-gan his lal)ors as tem- [Mirury assisiaiil to his father. He received a call from Ijinca-ler, <>., and entered upon his duties Dec. 1.5, 1816. Here h<; lalnired with greal aiieplance in his own and other churches, boides making, by appointment of the synod, extensive missionary tours. In 1829 Mr. Sleek removed to (Jreensburg as his father's assistant; and on the death of his father, in 1«30, succeeded to the Bole pnHtornle, where he Inborerl until his death, Sept. 1, l«4K. An idea may l)e formeil of ihe amount, of his UlMtrs from the fact that be niinislered reguhirly to eleven churehe*, U;»ide» preaching at three or four sta-
tions, some of which were distant thirty miles from his residence. See Sprague, -4 nna& of the Amer. Pulpil, ix, 148.
Stedingers, a community of Frisians who were settled in the vicinity of Bremen and Oldenburg at the beginning of the 13th century, and who were deprived of liberty and independence because they refused to ren- der tithes to the Cliurch. A certain priest became dis- satistied with the amount of the fee paid at confession by the wife of a prominent man, and when administer- ing the sacrament he placed her money instead of the host in her mouth. Convinced that her sins prevented her from swallowing the supposed host, she carried it in her mouth to her home, where she discovered its nature. Her husband was inilignant at the insult of- fered his wife, and reported the case to the superiors of the priest, but oi)t;iined only unworthy reproaches in rejily. He therefore considered himself warranted in punisiiing the otfender, and took his life. The clergj' now assumed the attitude of an injured party, and com- plained to archbishop Hertwig II of Bremen, who de- tnanded the rendition of the murderer and the payment of an immoderate fine, and accompanied his demand with violent threats of punishment in case of refusal. As the action of the criminal had been already approved hy the Stedingers, they refused obedience ; and when the archbishop imposed increasingly heavy burdens, and even pronounced the ban over the country, they re- nounced the authority of himself and his chapter, re- fused further tithes, and declared that they would thenceforward recognise no authority over them save that of the civil government (1204 sq.). The arch- bishop, having already in 1197 oblained the promise of pope Innocent III that a crusade should be inaugurated against the Stedingers if required for their subjection, now collected an army (1207) and marched against the rebels, but was appeased with money and promises. He died in the following year, and his successors re- newed the war, prosecuting it with varying success during forty j'ears. A large army raised by archbishop Gerhard II was utterly defeated and its base of opera- tions, the Castle of Schluter {Castrvm Slutlere), stormed in 1230. Enraged by the disaster, the bishop and his associates now called upon the world to combine for the destruction of the contumacious heretics, and did not hesitate to spread abroad the most contemptiblv silly and impossible stories, which could only find credence in a superstitious and spiritually enslaved age. The pope was nevertheless induced by such calumnies to pronounce the general ban of the Church over the un- happy community, and to cause a crusade against it to be preached. Forty thousand soldiers assembled at Bremen to avenge tlie injury sustained by the Church, and the most powerful ally of her enemies, duke Otto of Liineburg, was detached from their cause through papal intluence and the fear of the imperial interdict. The Stedingers nevertheless prepared for resistance; and w^hen tlie attack was made and irresistible numbers prevailed against them, four hundred of them laid down their lives in the conflict before the field was lost; and in another place a wing of the great army was actually defeated, and its purpose of destroying the dikes of the river Weser and drowning out the ])opulation prevented. The prisoners taken by the crusaders were, however, numerous, and all miseral)ly perished at the stake. The country was devastated with fire and sword, and rajjine aiul li(;entiousnes8 were the governing motives of the army of the Church. A final battle took place on May 27 ("i*), 1234, near Altenesch. ICleven thousand Sted- ingers drove Ihe mighty host of their adversaries before them, but, having lost their formation in the pursuit, were themselves taken in flank and rear by the cavalry under count Cleve. Half of them fell on the field, or were drowned in the stream. Of the remainder, some fled to the free F'risians and became fully identified with them, and others sul)mitted to the authority of the Church. Their countrv was divided between the