HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GREAT REFORMATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 IN 
 
 GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, 
 
 ETC. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNE, 
 
 ' 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF GENEVA, AND MEMBER OF THE SOCIETE 
 EVANGELIQUE." 
 
 JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT ST. 
 
 SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON. 
 
 1844. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE work I have undertaken is not the history 
 of a party. It is the history of one of the greatest 
 revolutions ever effected in human affairs, the 
 history of a mighty impulse communicated to the 
 world three centuries ago, and of which the opera- 
 tion is still everywhere discernible in our own days. 
 The history of the Reformation is altogether dis- 
 tinct from the history of Protestantism. In the 
 former all bears the character of a regeneration 
 of human nature, a religious and social transfor- 
 mation emanating from God himself. In the latter, 
 we see too often a glaring depravation of first prin- 
 ciples, the conflict of parties, a sectarian spirit, 
 and the operation of private interests. The 
 history of Protestantism might claim the attention 
 only of Protestants. The history of the Refo;ma- 
 tion is a book for all Christians, or rather for all 
 mankind. 
 
 An historian may choose his portion in the field 
 before him. He may narrate the great events 
 which change the exterior aspect of a nation, or 
 of the world ; or he -may record that tranquil pro- 
 gression of a nation, of the church, or of mankind, 
 which generally follows mighty changes in social 
 relations. Both these departments of history are 
 of high importance. But the public interest has 
 seemed to turn, by preference, to those periods 
 which, under the name of Revolutions, bring forth 
 a nation, or society at large, for a new era, and 
 to a new career. 
 
 Of the last kind is the transformation which, 
 with very feeble powers, I have attempted to 
 describe, in the hope that the beauty of the sub- 
 ject will compensate for my insufficiency. The 
 name of revolution which I here give to it, is, in 
 our days, brought into discredit with many who 
 almost confound it with revolt. But this is to 
 mistake its meaning. A revolution is a change 
 wrought in human affairs. It is a something new 
 which unrolls itself from the bosom of humanity ; 
 and the word, previously to the close of the last 
 century, was more frequently understood in a 
 good sense than in a bad one: "a happy a 
 wonderful Revolution" was the expression. The 
 Reformation, being the re-establishment of the 
 principles of primitive Christianity, was the reverse 
 of a revolt. It was a movement regenerative of 
 that which was destined to revive ; but conserva- 
 tive of that which is to stand forever. Christianity 
 and the Reformation, while they established the 
 great principle of the equality of souls in the sight 
 of God, and overturned the usurpations of a proud 
 priesthood, which assumed to place itself between 
 the Creator and his creature, at the same time 
 laid down as a first element of social order, that 
 there is no power but what is of God, and called 
 on all men to love the brethren, to fear God, to 
 honour the king. 
 
 The Reformation is entirely distinguished from 
 the revolutions of antiquity, and from the greater 
 part of those of modern times. In these, the 
 question is one of politics, and the object proposed 
 is the establishment or overthrow of the power of 
 the one or of the many. The love of truth, of 
 holiness, of eternal things, was the simple and 
 powerful spring which gave effect to that which we 
 have to narrate. It is the evidence of a gradual ad- 
 
 vance in human nature. In truth, if man, instead 
 of seeking only material, temporal, and earthly 
 interests, aims at a higher object, and seeks spi- 
 ritual and immortal blessings, he advances, he 
 progresses. The Reformation is one of the most 
 memorable days of this progress. It is a pledge 
 that the struggle of our own times will terminate 
 in favour of truth, by a triumph yet more spiritual 
 and glorious. 
 
 Christianity and the Reformation are two of the 
 greatest revolutions in history. They were not 
 limited to one nation, like the various political 
 movements which history records, but extended 
 to many nations, and their effects are destined to 
 be felt to the ends of the earth. 
 
 Christianity and the Reformation are, indeed, 
 the same revolution, but working at different pe- 
 riods, and in dissimilar circumstances. They 
 differ in secondary features : -'they are alike in 
 their first lines and leading characteristics. The 
 one is the re-appearance of the other. The former 
 closes the old order of things ; the latter begins 
 the new. Between them is the middle age. One 
 is the parent of the other ; and if the daughter is, 
 in some respects, inferior, she has, in others, cha- 
 racters, altogether peculiar to herself. 
 
 The suddenness of its action is one of these 
 characters of the Reformation. The great revo- 
 lutions which have drawn after them the fall of a 
 monarchy, or an entire change of political system, 
 or launched the human mind in a new career of 
 development, have been slowly and gradually 
 prepared ; the power to be displaced has long been 
 mined, and its principal supports have given way. 
 It was even thus at the introduction of Christianity, 
 But the Reformation, at the first glance, seems 
 to offer a different aspect. The Church of Rome 
 is seen, under Leo X., in all its strength and glory. 
 A monk speaks, and in the half of Europe this 
 power and glory suddenly crumble into dust. This 
 revolution Reminds us of the words by which the 
 Son of God announces his second advent: "As 
 the lightning cometh forth from the west and 
 shineth unto the east, so shall also the coming of 
 the Son of man be." 
 
 This rapidity is inexplicable to those who see in 
 this great event only a reform ; who make it 
 simply an act of critical judgment, consisting in a 
 choice of doctrines, the abandoning of some, the 
 preserving others, and combining those retained, 
 so as to make of them a new code of doctrine. 
 
 How could an entire people ? how could many 
 nations have so rapidly performed so difficult a 
 work ? How could such an act of critical judgment 
 kindle the enthusiasm indispensable to great and 
 especially to sudden revolutions ? But the Refor- 
 mation was an event of a very different kind ; and 
 this its history will prove. It was the pouring 
 forth anew of that life which Christianity had 
 brought into the world. It was the triumph of 
 the noblest of dpctrines-yof that which animates 
 those who receive it with the purest and most 
 powerful enthusiasm, the doctrine of Faith the 
 doctrine of Grace. If the Reformation had been 
 what many Catholics and Protestants imagine, 
 if it had been that negative system of a negative 
 reason, which rejects with childish impatience 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 whatever displeases it, and disowns the grand 
 ideas and leading truths of universal Christianity, 
 it would never have overpassed the threshold 
 of an academy, of a cloister or even of a monk's 
 cell. But it had no sympathy with what is com- 
 monly intended by the word Protestantism. Far 
 from having sustained any loss of vital energy, it 
 arose at once like a man full of strength and reso- 
 lution. 
 
 Two considerations will account for the rapidity 
 and extent of this revolution. One of these must 
 be sought in God, the other among men. The 
 impulse was given by an unseen hand of power, 
 and the change which took place was the work 
 of God, This will be the conclusion arrived at 
 by every one who considers the subject with im- 
 partiality and attention, and does not rest in a 
 superficial view. But the historian has a further 
 office to perform : God acts by second causes. 
 Many circumstances, which have often escaped 
 observation, gradually prepared men for the great 
 transformation of the sixteenth century, so that 
 the human mind was ripe when the hour of its 
 emancipation arrived. 
 
 The office of the historian is to combine these 
 two principal elements in the picture he presents. 
 This is what is attempted in the present work. 
 We shall be easily understood, so long as we 
 investigate the secondary causes which contributed 
 to bring about the revolution we have undertaken 
 to describe. Many will, perhaps, be slower of 
 comprehension, and will be inclined even to charge 
 us with superstition, when we shall ascribe to 
 God the accomplishment of the work. And yet 
 that thought is what we particularly cherish. The 
 history takes as its guiding star the simple and 
 pregnant truth that GOD is IN HISTORY. But this 
 truth is commonly forgotten, and sometimes dis- 
 puted. It seems fit, therefore, that we should 
 open our views, and by so doing justify the course 
 we have taken. 
 
 In these days, history can no longer be that 
 dead letter of facts to recording which the majority 
 of the earlier historians confined themselves. It 
 is felt that, as in man's nature, so in his history, 
 there are two elements, matter and spirit. Our 
 great writers, unwilling to restrict themselves to 
 the production of a simple recital, which would 
 have been but a barren chronicle, have sought for 
 some principle of life to animate the materials of 
 the past. 
 
 Some have borrowed such a principle from the 
 rules of art ; they have aimed at the simplicity, 
 truth, and picturesque of description ; and have 
 endeavoured to make their narratives live by the 
 interest of the events themselves. 
 
 Others have sought in philosophy the spirit 
 which should fecundate their, labours. With 
 incidents they have intermingled reflections, 
 instructions, political and philosophic truths, 
 and have thus enlivened their recitals with a moral 
 which they have elicited from them, or ideas they 
 have been able to associate with them. 
 
 Both these methods are, doubtless, useful, and 
 should be employed within certain limits. But 
 there is another source whence we must above all 
 seek for the ability to enter into the understanding, 
 the mind, and the life of past ages; and this is 
 Religion. History must live by that principle of 
 life which is proper to it, and that life is God. He 
 must be acknowledged and proclaimed in history ; 
 and the course of events must be displayed as the 
 annals of the government of a Supreme Disposer. 
 
 I have descended into the lists to which the 
 recitals of our historians attracted me. I have 
 there seen the actions of men and of nations de- 
 veloping themselves with power, and encountering 
 in hostile collision ; I have heard I know not 
 what clangour of arms ; but nowhere has my 
 attention been directed to the majestic aspect of 
 the Judge who presides over the struggle. 
 
 And yet there is a principle of movement ema- 
 nating from God himself in all the changes among 
 nations. God looks upon that wide stage on which 
 the generations of men successively meet and 
 struggle. He is there, it is true, an invisible God ; 
 but if the profaner multitude pass before Him with- 
 out noticing Him, because he is "a God that 
 hideth himself," thoughtful spirits, and such as 
 feel their need of the principle of their being, seek 
 him with the more earnestness, and are not satis- 
 fied until they lie prostrate at his feet. And their 
 search is richly rewarded. For, from the heights 
 to which they are obliged to climb to meet their 
 God, the world's history, instead of offering, as 
 to the ignorant crowd, a confused chaos, appears 
 a majestic temple, which the invisible hand ot God 
 erects, and which rises to His glory above the 
 rock of humanity. 
 
 Shall we not acknowledge the hand of God in 
 those great men, or in those mighty nations which 
 arise, 1 come forth, as it were, from the dust of 
 the earth, and give a new impulse, a new form, 
 or a new destiny to human affairs ? Shall we not 
 acknowledge His hand in those heroes who spring 
 up among men at appointed times ; who display 
 activity and energy beyond the ordinary limits of 
 human strength ; and around whom individuals 
 and nations gather, as if to a superior and myste- 
 rious power ? Who launched them into the ex- 
 panse of ages, like comets of vast extent and flam- 
 ing trains, appearing at long intervals, to scatter 
 among the superstitious tribes of men anticipations 
 of plenty and joy or of calamities and terror? 
 Who, but God himself? Alexander would seek 
 his own origin in the abodes of the Divinity. And 
 in the most irreligious age there is no eminent 
 glory but is seen in some way or other seeking to 
 connect itself with the idea of divine interposition. 
 
 And those revolutions which, in their progress, 
 precipitate dynasties and nations to the dust, those 
 heaps of ruin which we meet with in the sands of 
 the desert, those majestic remains which the field 
 of human history offers to our reflection, do they 
 not testify aloud to the truth that God is in History ? 
 Gibbon, seated on the ancient Capitol, and con- 
 templating its noble ruins, acknowledged the in- 
 tervention of a superior destiny. He saw, he felt 
 its presence ; wherever his eye turned it met 
 him ; that shadow of a mysterious power re- 
 appeared from behind every ruin ; and he con- 
 ceived the project of depicting its operation in 
 the disorganization, the decline, and the cor- 
 ruption of that power of Rome which had enslaved 
 the nations. Shall not that mighty hand which 
 this man of admirable genius, but who had 
 not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ, discerned 
 among the scattered monuments of Romulus and 
 of Marcus Aurelius, the busts of Cicero, and 
 Virgil, Trajan's trophies, and Pompey's horses, 
 be confessed by us as the hand of our God ? 
 
 But what superior lustre does the truth that 
 God is in history acquire under the Christian 
 dispensation ? What is Jesus Christ but God's 
 purpose in the world's history ? It was the dis- 
 covery of Jesus Christ which admitted the greatest 
 of modern historians* to the just comprehension 
 of his subject. " The gospel," says he, "is the 
 fulfilment of all hopes, the perfection of all philo- 
 sophy, the interpreter of all revolutions, the key to 
 all the seeming contradictions of the physical and 
 moral world, it is life, it is immortality. Since 
 I have known the Saviour, every thing is clear; 
 with him, there is nothing I cannot solve."t 
 
 Thus speaks this distinguished historian ; and, 
 in truth, is it not the keystone of the arch, is 
 it not the mysterious bond which holds together 
 the things of the earth and connects them with 
 those of heaven, that God has appeared in our 
 nature ? What ! God has been born into this 
 
 * John von Muller. 
 
 t Lettre a C. Bonnet. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 world, and we are asked to think and write, as if 
 He were not everywhere working out his own 
 will in its history? Jesus Christ is the true God 
 of human history ; the very lowliness of his ap- 
 pearance may be regarded as one proof of it. If 
 man designs a shade or a shelter upon earth, we 
 look to see preparations, materials, scaffolding, 
 and workmen. But God when he will give shade 
 or shelter, takes the small seed which the new- 
 born infant might clasp in its feeble hand, and de 
 posits it in the bosom of the earth, and from that 
 seed, imperceptible in its beginning, he produces 
 the majestic tree, under whose spreading boughs 
 the families of men may find shelter. To achieve 
 great results by imperceptible means, is the law 
 of the divine dealings. 
 
 It is this law which has received its noblest il- 
 lustration in Jesus Christ. The religion which 
 has now taken possession of the gates of all na- 
 tions, which at this hour reigns, or hovers over all 
 the tribes of the earth, from east to west, and 
 which even a sceptical philosophy is compelled 
 to acknowledge as the spiritual and social law of 
 this world ; that religion, than which there is 
 nothing nobler under the vault of heaven, nay, 
 in the very universe of creation ; what was its 
 commencement ? . . . A child born in the meanest 
 town of the most despised country of the earth ; 
 a child whose mother had not even what falls 
 to the lot of the most indigent and wretched wo- 
 man of our cities, a room to bring forth in ; a 
 child born in a stable and placed in an ox's crib 
 . . . . O God ! I acknowledge thee there, and I 
 adore thee. 
 
 The Reformation recognised the same law of 
 God's operations : and it had the consciousness 
 that it fulfilled it. The thought that God is in 
 history is often put forth by the Reformers. We 
 find it on one occasion in particular expressed by 
 Luther, under one of those comparisons familiar 
 and grotesque, yet not without a certain sublimi- 
 ty, which he took pleasure in using, that he might 
 be understood by the people. "The world," 
 said he one day, in a conversation with his friend 
 at table, "the world is a vast and grand game 
 of cards, made up of emperors, kings, and 
 princes. The pope for several centuries has 
 beaten emperors, princes, and kings. They have 
 been put down and taken up by him. Then came 
 our Lord God ; he dealt the cards ; he took the 
 most worthless of them all, (Luther,) and with it 
 he has beaten the Pope, the conqueror of the 
 kings of the earth . . . There is the ace of God. 
 ' He has cast down the mighty from their seats, 
 and has exalted them of low degree,' as Mary 
 says." 
 
 The age of which I am about to retrace the 
 history is most important for our own generation. 
 Man, when he feels his weakness, is generally 
 inclined to seek assistance in the institutions he 
 sees standing around him, or else in groundless 
 inventions of his imagination. The history of the 
 Reformation shows that nothing new can be 
 wrought with "old things," and that if, accord- 
 ing to the Saviour's word, we need new bottles 
 for new wine, we need also new wine for new 
 bottles. The history of the Reformation directs 
 men to God, who orders all events in history ; to 
 that divine word, ever ancient in the eternal na- 
 ture of the truths it contains, ever new in the 
 regenerative influence it exercises, that word 
 which, three centuries ago, purified society, 
 brought back the faith of God to souls enfee- 
 bled by superstition, and which, in every age of 
 man's history, is the source whence cometh sal- 
 vation. 
 
 It is singular to observe many persons, impel- 
 led by a vague desire to believe in something set- 
 tled, addressing themselves now-a-days to old 
 Catholicism. In one view, the movement is na- 
 tural. Religion is so little known (in France) 
 
 that men scarce think of finding it elsewhere than 
 where they see it inscribed in large letters on a 
 banner that time has made venerable. We do 
 not say that all Catholicism is incapable of afford- 
 ing to man what he stands in need of. We think 
 Catholicism should be carefully distinguished 
 from Popery. Popery is, in our judgment, an 
 erroneous and destructive system ; but we are 
 far from confounding Catholicism with Popery. 
 How many respectable men, how many sincere 
 Christians, has not the Catholic Church comprised 
 within its pale ! What important services were 
 rendered by Catholicism to the existing European 
 nations, in the age of their first formation, at a 
 period when itself was still richly imbued with 
 the Gospel, and when Popery was as yet only 
 seen behind it as a faint shadow ! But those times 
 are past. In our day, attempts are made to re- 
 connect Catholicism with Popery ; and if Catholic 
 and Christian truths are put forward, they are but 
 as baits made use of to draw men into the net of 
 the hierarchy. There is, therefore, nothing to be 
 hoped from that quarter. Has Popery renounced 
 so much as one of its observances, of its doctrines, 
 or of its claims? The religion which was insup- 
 portable in other ages will be less so in ours ? 
 What regeneration has ever emanated from 
 Rome? Is it irom that priestly hierarchy, full, 
 even to overflow, of earthly passions, that that 
 spirit of faith, of charity, of hope can come forth, 
 which alone can save us ? Can an exhausted sys- 
 tem, which has scarcely strength for its own 
 need, and is everywhere in the struggles of death, 
 living only by external aids, can such a sys- 
 tem communicate life, and breathe throughout 
 Christian society the heavenly breath that it re- 
 quires ? 
 
 This craving void in the heart and mind which 
 betrays itself in our contemporaries, wil! lead 
 others to apply to that modern Protestantism 
 which has, in many parts, taken the place of the 
 powerful doctrines of Apostles and Reformers ? 
 A notable uncertainty of doctrine prevails in 
 many of those Reformed churches whose first 
 members sealed with their blood the clear and liv- 
 ing faith that animated their hearts. Men distin- 
 guished for their information, and, in all other 
 things, susceptible of generous emotions, are found 
 carried away into singular aberrations. A vague 
 faith in the divine authority of the Gospel is the 
 only standard they will maintain. But what is this 
 Gospel ? The whole question turns on that ; and 
 yet on that they are silent, or else each one 
 speaks after his own mind. What avails it to 
 know that God has placed in the midst of the 
 nations a vessel containing their cure, if we are 
 regardless what it contains, or fail to appropriate 
 its contents to ourselves ? This system cannot 
 fill up the void of the times. Whilst the faith of 
 Apostles and Reformers discovers itself, at this 
 day, everywhere active and effectual for the con- 
 version of the world, this vague system does no- 
 thing, throws lighten nothing, vivifies nothing. 
 
 But let us not abandon all hopes. Does not 
 Catholicism confess the great doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity? does it not acknowledge the one God, 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, Creator, Saviour, and 
 Sanctifier? And that vague Protestantism, 
 does it not hold in its hand the book of life, for 
 conviction and instruction in righteousness ? And 
 how many upright minds, honoured in the sight 
 of men and beloved of God, are there not found 
 among those subjected to these two systems ! 
 How can we help loving them ? How refrain 
 from ardently desiring their complete emancipa- 
 tion from human elements ? Charity is boundless ; 
 it embraces the most distant opinions to lead them 
 to the feet of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Already there are indications that these two 
 extreme opinions are in motion, and drawing 
 nearer to Jesus Christ, who is the centre of the 
 A3 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 truth. Are there not already some Roman Ca- 
 tholic congregations among whom the reading of 
 the Bible is recommended and practised ? and as 
 to Protestant rationalism, how many steps has it 
 not already taken towards Jesus Christ? It never 
 was the offspring of the Reformation; for the 
 history of that great change will show that it was 
 an epoch of faith : but may we not be permitted 
 to hope that it is drawing nearer to it ? Will not 
 the power of the truth come forth to it from the 
 word of God ? and will not its coming have the 
 effect of transforming it? Already we often see in 
 it a feeling of religion, inadequate no doubt, but 
 yet a movement in the direction of sound learning, 
 encouraging us to look for more definite ad- 
 vances. 
 
 But modern Protestantism, like old Catholicism, 
 is, in itself, a thing from which nothing can be 
 hoped, a thing quite powerless. Something very 
 different is necessary, to restore to men of our day 
 the energy that saves. A something is requisite 
 which is not of man, but of God. " Give me," 
 said Archimedes, "a point out of the world, and 
 I will raise the world from its poles." True 
 Christianity is this standing beyond the world, 
 which lifts the heart of man from its double pivot 
 of selfishness and sensuality, and which will one 
 day move the whole world from its evil way, and 
 cause it to turn on a new axis of righteousness and 
 peace. 
 
 Whenever religion has been the subject of dis- 
 cussion, there have been three points to which our 
 attention have been directed. God, Man, -and 
 the Priest. There can be but three kinds of reli- 
 gion on this earth, God, Man, or the Priest, is its 
 author or its head. 1 call that the religion of the 
 Priest, which is devised by the priest, for the glory 
 of the priest, and in which a priestly caste is do- 
 minant. I apply the name of the religion of Man 
 to those systems and various opinions framed by 
 man's reason, and which, as they are the offspring 
 of his infirmity, are, by consequence, destitute of 
 all sanative efficacy. I apply the words religion 
 of God, to the Truth, such as God himself has 
 given it, and of which the object and the effect are 
 God's glory and Man's salvation. 
 
 Hierarchism, or the religion of the priest ; Chris- 
 tianity or the religion of God ; rationalism, or the 
 religion of man; such are the three doctrines 
 which in our day divide Christendom. There is 
 no salvation, either for man or society, in hierar- 
 chism or in rationalism. Christianity alone can 
 give life to the world ; and, unhappily, of the three 
 prevailing systems, it is not that which numbers 
 most followers. 
 
 Some, however, it has. Christianity is operat- 
 ing its work of regeneration among many Catho- 
 lics of Germany, and doubtless also of other 
 countries. It is now accomplishing it with more 
 purity, and power, as we think, among the evan- 
 gelical Christians of Switzerland, of France, of 
 Great Britain, and of the United States. Blessed 
 be God, such individual or social regenerations, 
 wrought by the Gospel, are no longer in these 
 days prodigies to be sought in ancient annals. We 
 have ourselves witnessed a powerful awakening, 
 begun in the midst of conflicts and trials, in a 
 small republic, whose citizens live happy and 
 tranquil in the bosom of the wonders with which 
 creation surrounds them.* It is but a beginning ; 
 and already from the plenteous horn of the 
 Gospel we see come forth among this people a 
 
 * Canton of Vaud. 
 
 noble, elevated, and courageous profession of the 
 great truths of God ; a liberty ample and real, a 
 government full of zeal and intelligence ; an affec- 
 tion, elsewhere too rarely found, of magistrates for 
 people, and of the people for their magistrates; a 
 powerful impulse communicated to education and 
 general instruction, which will make of this coun- 
 try an example for imitation ; a slow, but certain 
 amelioration in morals ; men of talent, all Chris- 
 tians, and who rival the first writers of our lan- 
 guage. All these riches developed between the 
 dark Jura and the summits of the Alps, on the 
 magnificent shores of Lake Leman, must strike 
 the traveller attracted thither by the wonders of 
 those mountains and valleys, and present to his 
 meditation one of the most eloquent pages which 
 the Providence of God has inscribed in favour of 
 the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is the history of the Reformation in general 
 that I propose to write. I intend to trace it among' 
 different nations, to point out the same effects 
 of the same truths, as well as the diversities 
 which take their origin in the varieties of the na- 
 tional character. But it is in Germany especially 
 that we shall see and describe the history of the 
 Reformation. It is there we find its primitive 
 type ; it is there that it offers the fullest deve- 
 lopment of its organization. It is there that it 
 bears, above all, the marks of a revolution not 
 confined to one or more nations, but, on the con- 
 trary, affecting the world at large. The German 
 Reformation is the true and fundamental Refor- 
 mation. It is the great planet, and the rest revolve 
 in wider or narrower circles around it, like sa- 
 tellites drawn after it by its movement. And yet 
 the Reformation in SWITZERLAND must, in some 
 respects, be considered as an exception, both be- 
 cause it took place at the very same time as that 
 of Germany, and independently of it ; and because 
 it bore, especially at a later period, some of those 
 grander features which are seen in the Jatter. 
 Notwithstanding that recollections of ancestry and 
 of refuge, and the memory of struggle, suffering, 
 and exile, endured in the cause of the Reforma- 
 tion in France, give, in my view, a peculiar 
 charm to the history of its vicissitudes, I never- 
 theless doubt whether I could place it in the same 
 rank as those which I have here spoken of. 
 
 From what I have said, it will be seen that I 
 believe the Reformation to be the work of God. 
 Nevertheless, as its historian, I hope to be impar- 
 tial. I think I have spoken of the principal Ro- 
 man Catholic actors in the great drama, Leo X., 
 Albert of Magdeburg, Charles V., and Doctor 
 Eck, &c. more favourably than the majority of 
 historians. And, on the other hand, I have had 
 no wish to conceal the faults and errors of the 
 Reformers. 
 
 This history has heen drawn from the original 
 sources with which a long residence in Germany, 
 the Low Countries, and Switzerland has made 
 me familiar : as well as from the study, in the 
 original languages, of documents relating to the 
 religious history of Great Britain and other coun- 
 tries. Down to this time we possess no history 
 of that remarkable period. Nothing indicated 
 that the deficiency would be supplied when I com- 
 menced this work. This circumstance could alone 
 have led me to undertake it ; and I here allege 
 it in my justification. The want still exists ; 
 and I pray Him from whom cometh down every 
 good gift, to cause that this work may, by His 
 blessing, be made profitable to some who shall 
 read it. 
 
IISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 STATE OP EUROPE PRIOR TO THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Rise of the Papacy Early Encroachments Co-operation of the Bishops Unity of the Church- 
 Visible Unity Primacy of St. Peter Patriarchates Policy of Rome Charlemagne Disorders 
 of Rome Hildebrand The Crusades Spiritual Despotism Salvation by Grace Pelagianism 
 The Church Penance Indulgences Purgatory Tax of Indulgences The Papacy and Chris- 
 tianity Theology Dialectics Predestination Penance Religion Relics Morals Corruption 
 Disorders of the Priests Bishops and Popes Alexander VI. Caesar Borgia General Corrup- 
 tion Ciceronians Efforts for Reform Prospects of Christianity State of the Papacy Internal 
 Divisions Carnality of the Church Popular Feeling Doctrine Development of Mind Revival 
 of Letters Philosophy Principle of Reformation Witnesses Mystics Wiclif Huss Wit- 
 nesses The Empire Peace State of the People State of Germany Switzerland Italy Spain 
 Portugal France Low Countries England Bohemia and Hungary Frederic the Wise 
 Men of Letters Reuchlin His Labours Reuchlin in Italy Contest with the Dominicans The 
 Hebrew Writings Erasmus Erasmus and Luther Hutten Literae Obscurorum Virorum Hut- 
 ten at Brussels Sickingen -Cronberg Hans Sachs General Ferment. 
 
 THE world was tottering on its old founda- 
 tions when Christianity appeared. The va- 
 rious religions which had sufficed for an earlier 
 age no longer satisfied the nations. The 
 mind of the existing generation could no 
 longer tabernacle in the ancient forms. The 
 gods of the nations had lost their oracles as 
 the nations had lost their liberty in Rome. 
 Brought face to face in the Capitol, they had 
 mutually destroyed the illusion of their di- 
 vinity. A. vast void had ensued in the reli- 
 gious opinions of mankind. 
 
 A kind of Deism, destitute of spirit and 
 vitality, hovered for a time over the abyss in 
 which had been engulphed the superstitions 
 of heathenism. But, like all negative opi- 
 nions, it had no power to edify. The narrow 
 prepossessions of the several nations had 
 fallen with the fall of their gods, their va- 
 rious populations melted, the one into the 
 other. In Europe, Asia, Africa, all was but 
 one vast empire, and the human family began 
 to feel its comprehensiveness and its unity. 
 
 Then the Word was made flesh. 
 
 God appeared amongst men, and as Man, 
 to save that which was lost. In Jesus of Na- 
 zareth dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily. 
 
 This is the greatest event in the annals of 
 all time. The former ages had been a prepa- 
 ration for it; the latter unroll from it. It is 
 their centre and connecting link. 
 
 From this period the popular superstitions 
 had no significancy, and such feeble relics of 
 them as outlived the general wreck of incre- 
 dulity, vanished before the majestic orb of 
 eternal truth. 
 
 The Son of Man lived thirty-three years on 
 this earth. He suffered, he died, he rose 
 again, he ascended into heaven. His disci- 
 
 ples, beginning at Jerusalem, travelled over 
 the Roman empire and the world, everywhere 
 proclaiming their Master the author of ever- 
 lasting salvation. From the midst of a peo- 
 ple who rejected intercourse with others pro- 
 ceeded a mercy that invited and embraced 
 all. A great number of Asiatics, of Greeks, 
 of Romans, hitherto led by their priests to the 
 feet of dumb idols, believed at their word. 
 *' The Gospel suddenly beamed on the earth 
 like a ray of the sun," says Eusebius. A 
 breath of life moved over this vast field of 
 death. A new, a holy people was formed 
 upon the earth; and the astonished world be- 
 held in the disciples of the despised Galilean 
 a purity, a self-denial, a charity, a heroism, 
 of which they retained no idea. 
 
 The new religion had two features amongst 
 many others which especially distinguished 
 it from all the human systems which fell be- 
 fore it. One had reference to the ministers 
 of its worship, the other to its doctrines. 
 
 The ministers of paganism were almost the 
 gods of those human inventions. The priests 
 led the people, so long at least as their eyes 
 were not opened. A vast and haughty hie- 
 rarchy oppressed the world. Jesus Christ 
 dethroned these living idols, abolished this 
 proud hierarchy, took from man what man 
 had taken from God, and re-established the 
 soul in direct communication with the divine 
 fountain of truth, by proclaiming himself the 
 only Master and the only Mediator. " One is 
 your master, even Christ, (said he,) and all 
 ye are brethren." (Matt, xxiii.) 
 
 As to doctrine, human religions had taught 
 that salvation was of man. The religions of 
 the earth had invented an earthly salvation. 
 They had taught men that heaven would be 
 given to them as a reward ; they had fixed its 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 price, and what a price . The religion of God 
 taught that salvation was His gift, and ema- 
 nated from an amnesty and sovereign grace. 
 God hath given to us eternal life. (1 John 
 v. 11.) 
 
 Undoubtedly Christianity cannot be sum- 
 med up in these two points : but they seem to 
 govern the subject, especially when histori- 
 cally viewed. And as it is impossible to 
 trace the opposition between truth and error 
 in all things, we have selected its most pro- 
 minent features. 
 
 Such were the two principles that com- 
 posed the religion which then took possession 
 of the Empire and of the whole world. The 
 standing of a Christian is in them, and apart 
 from them, Christianity itself disappears. 
 On their preservation or their loss depended 
 its decline or its growth. One of these prin- 
 ciples was to govern the history of the reli- 
 gion ; the other its doctrine. They both 
 presided in the beginning. Let us see how 
 they were lost: and let us first trace the fate 
 of the former. 
 
 The Church was in the beginning a com- 
 munity of brethren. All its members were 
 taught of God; and each possessed the liberty 
 of drawing for himself from the divine foun- 
 tain of life. John vi. 45. The epistles, which 
 then settled the great questions of doctrine, 
 did not bear the pompous title of any single 
 man, or ruler. We find from the holy Scrip- 
 tures that they began simply with these 
 words: "The apostles, elders, and brethren, 
 to our brethren." Acts xv. 23. 
 
 But the writings of these very apostles 
 forewarn us that from the midst of these bre- 
 thren, there shall arise a power which shall 
 overthrow this simple and primitive order. 
 2 Thess. ii. 
 
 Let us contemplate the formation and trace 
 the development of this power alien to the 
 Church. 
 
 Paul of Tarsus, one of the chiefest apostles 
 of the new religion, had arrived at Rome, the 
 capital of the empire and of the world, preach- 
 ing the salvation that cometh from God only. 
 A church was formed beside the throne of the 
 Caesars. Founded by this same apostle, it 
 was at first composed of converted Jews, 
 Greeks, and some inhabitants of Rome. For 
 a while it shone brightly as a light set upon 
 a hill, and its faith was everywhere spoken 
 of. But ere long it declined from its first 
 simplicity The spiritual dominion of Rome 
 arose as its political and military power had 
 done before, and was slowly and gradually 
 extended. 
 
 The first pastors or bishops of Rome em- 
 ployed themselves in the beginning in con- 
 verting to the faith of Christ the towns and 
 villages that surrounded the city. The neces- 
 sity which the bishops and pastors felt of re- 
 ferring in cases of difficulty to an enlightened 
 guide, and the gratitude which they owed to 
 the metropolitan church, led them to maintain 
 an intimate union with her. As is generally 
 the consequence in such circumstances, this 
 reasonable union soon degenerated into de- 
 
 pendence. The bishops of Rome regarded as 
 a right the superiority which the neighbour- 
 ing churches had voluntarily yielded. The 
 encroachments of power form a large portion 
 of all history : the resistance of those whose 
 rights are invaded forms the other part : and 
 the ecclesiastical power could not escape that 
 intoxication which leads those who are lifted 
 up to seek to raise themselves still higher. It 
 felt all the influence of this general weakness 
 of human nature. 
 
 Nevertheless the supremacy of the Roman 
 bishop was at first limited 1 to the overlooking 
 of the churches, in the territory lawfully sub- 
 ject to the prefect of Rome. But the rank 
 which this imperial city held in the world 
 offered to the ambition of its first pastors a 
 prospect of wider sway. The consideration 
 which the different Christian bishops enjoyed 
 in the second century was in proportion to the 
 rank of the city over which they presided. 
 Rome was the greatest, the richest, and the 
 most powerful city in the world. It was the 
 seat of empire, the mother of nations. "All 
 the inhabitants of the earth are hers," 2 said 
 Julian, and Claudian declares her to be "the 
 fountain of laws." 3 
 
 If Rome be the Queen of cities, why should 
 not her pastor be the King of Bishops ? Why 
 should not the Roman church be the mother 
 of Christendom? Why should not all na- 
 tions be her children, and her authority be 
 the universal law? It was natural to the 
 heart of man to reason thus. Ambitious 
 Rome did so. 
 
 Hence it was that when heathen Rome fell, 
 she bequeathed to the humble minister of the 
 God of peace, seated in the midst of her own 
 ruins, the proud titles which her invincible 
 sword had won from the nations of the earth. 
 
 The bishops of the other parts of the Em- 
 pire, yielding to the charm that Rome had 
 exercised for ages over all nations, followed 
 the example of the Campagna, and aided the 
 work of usurpation. They willingly ren- 
 dered to the Bishop of Rome something of 
 that honour which was due to this Queen 
 of cities : nor was there at first any thing of 
 dependence in the honour thus yielded. They 
 acted towards the Roman pastor as equals 
 toward an equal ; 4 but usurped power swells 
 like the avalanche. Exhortations, at first 
 simply fraternal, soon became commands in 
 the mouth of the Roman Pontiff. A chief 
 place amongst equals appeared to him a 
 throne. 
 
 The Bishops of the West favoured this 
 encroachment of the Roman pastors, either 
 from jealousy of the Eastern bishops, or be- 
 cause they preferred subjection to a pope to 
 the dominion of a temporal power. 
 
 On the other hand, the theological sects 
 which distracted the east, strove, each for 
 itself, to gain an interest at Rome, hoping to 
 triumph over its opponents by the support of 
 the principal of the Western churches. 
 
 Rome carefully recorded these requests and 
 intercessions, and smiled to see the nations 
 throw themselves into her arms. She neg- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ected no opportunity of increasing and ex- 
 tending her power. The praises, the flattery, 
 and exaggerated compliments paid to her, and 
 her being consulted by other churches, became 
 in her hands as titles and documents of her 
 authority. Such is the heart of man exalted 
 to a tnrone; flattery intoxicates him, and his 
 head grows dizzy. What he possesses im- 
 pels him to aspire after more. 
 
 The doctrine of " the Church," and of " the 
 necessity for its visible unity," which had 
 gained footing as early as the third century, 
 favoured the pretensions of Rome. The great 
 bond, which originally bound together the 
 members of the church, was a living faith in 
 the heart, by which all were joined to Christ 
 as their one Head. But various causes ere 
 long conspired to originate and develope the 
 idea of a necessity for some exterior fellow- 
 ship. Men, accustomed to the associations 
 and political forms of an earthly country, car- 
 ried their views and habits of mind into the 
 spiritual and everlasting kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ. Persecution powerless to destroy, 
 or even to shake the new community, com- 
 pressed it into the form of a more compacted 
 body. To the errors that arose in the schools 
 of deism, or in the various sects, was opposed 
 * the truth " one and universal" received from 
 the Apostles and preserved in the church. 
 All this was well, so long as the invisible 
 and spiritual church was identical with the 
 visible and outward community. But soon a 
 great distinction appeared : the form and the 
 vital principle parted asunder. The semblance 
 of identical and external organization was 
 gradually substituted in place of the internal 
 and spiritual unity which is the very essence 
 of a religion proceeding from God. Men suf- 
 fered the precious perfume of faith to escape 
 while they bowed themselves before the empty 
 vase that had held it. Faith in the heart no 
 longer knit together in one the members of the 
 church. Then it was that other ties were 
 sought; and Christians were united by means 
 of bishops, archbishops, popes, mitres, cere- 
 monies, and canons. The Living Church re- 
 tiring by degrees to the lonely sanctuary of a 
 few solitary souls, an exterior church was 
 substituted in place of it, and installed in all 
 its forms as of divine institution. Salvation 
 no longer flowing forth from that word which 
 was now hidden it began to be affirmed that 
 it was conveyed by means of certain invented 
 forms, and that none could obtain it without 
 resorting to such means ! No one, it was 
 said, can by his faith attain to everlasting life : 
 Christ communicated to the Apostles, and the 
 Apostles to the Bishops, the unction of the 
 Holy Spirit; and this Spirit is found only in 
 this order of communication. In the begin- 
 ning of the Gospel, whosoever had received 
 the spirit of Jesus Christ was esteemed a 
 member of the church : now the order was 
 inverted ; and no one, unless a member of the 
 church, was counted to have received the 
 spirit of Jesus Christ. 
 
 As soon as the notion of a supposed necessi- 
 ty for a visible unity of the church had taken 
 
 root,* another error began to spread : namely, 
 that it was needful that there should be some 
 outward representative of that unity. Though 
 no trace of any primacy of St. Peter above the 
 rest of the Apostles appears in the Gospels ; 
 although the idea of a primacy is at variance 
 with the mutual relations of the disciples as 
 44 brethren," and even with the spirit of the 
 dispensation which requires all the children 
 of the Father to minister one to another,* 
 (1 Pet. iv. 10,) acknowledging but one Mas- 
 ter and Head; and though the Lord Jesus 
 had rebuked his disciples whenever their 
 carnal hearts conceived desires of pre-emi- 
 nence ; a Primacy of St. Peter was invent- 
 ed, and supported by misinterpreted texts, 
 and men proceeded to acknowledge in that 
 Apostle, and in his pretended successor, the 
 visible representative of visible unity and 
 head of the whole Church ! 
 
 The constitution of the patriarchate con- 
 tributed further to the exaltation of the Ro- 
 man Papacy. As early as the first three 
 centuries, the churches of the metropolitan 
 cities had been held in peculiar honour. The 
 Council of Nice, in its sixth canon, named 
 especially three cities, whose churches, ac- 
 cording to it, held an anciently established au- 
 thority over those of the surrounding provinces. ^ 
 These were Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. 
 The political origin of this distinction may be 
 discerned in the name which was at first given 
 to the bishops of these cities ; they were called 
 Exarchs, like the political governors. 5 In 
 later times they bore the more ecclesiastical 
 name of Patriarch. It is in the Council of 
 Constantinople that we find this title first 
 used. This same Council created a new Pa- 
 triarchate, that of Constantinople itself, the 
 new Rome, the second capital of the Empire. 
 Rome at this period shared the rank of Patri- 
 archate with these three churches. But when 
 the invasion of Mahomet had swept away the 
 bishoprics of Alexandria and Antioch, when 
 the see of Constantinople fell away, and in 
 latter times even separated itself from the 
 West, Rome alone remained, and the circum- 
 stances of the times causing everything to 
 rally around her, she remained from that time 
 without a rival. 
 
 New and more powerful partisans than all 
 the rest soon came to her assistance. Igno- 
 rance and superstition took possession of the 
 
 *From the previous reflections it is clear that 
 the author does not disparage that Unity which is 
 the manifested result of the partaking of the life 
 of the Head by the members ; but only that life- 
 less form of unity which man has devised in place 
 of it. We learn from John xvii. 2123, that the 
 true and real One-ness of BELIEVERS was to be 
 manifested, so that the world might believe that 
 the Father had sent Jesus. Hence we may con- 
 clude that the things which divide, instead of ga- 
 thering, the " little flock" are contrary to his mind : 
 and among such things must be classed not alone 
 the carnality of names, (1 Cor. iii. 4.) but every 
 commandment or requirement of men that ex- 
 cludes the very weakest whom God has received. 
 (Rom. xiv. 1 3 ; Acts xi. 17. compare Acts ii, 44, 
 &c.) Translator. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Church, and delivered it up to Rome, blind- 
 fold and manacled. 
 
 Yet this bringing into captivity was not 
 effected without a struggle. The voices of 
 particular churches frequently asserted their 
 independence. This courageous remonstrance 
 was especially heard in proconsular Africa 
 and in the East. 6 
 
 To silence the cries of the churches, Rome 
 found new allies. Princes, who in those 
 troublesome times often saw their thrones tot- 
 tering, offered their adherence to the Church, 
 in exchange for her support. They yielded to 
 her spiritual authority, on condition of her pay- 
 ing them with secular dominion. They left her 
 to deal at will with the souls of men, provided 
 only she would deliver them from their ene- 
 mies. The power of the hierarchy in the as- 
 cending scale and of the imperial power which 
 was declining, leaned thus one toward the 
 other and so accelerated their twofold des- 
 tiny. 
 
 Rome could not lose by this. An edict 
 of Theodosius II. and of Valentinian III. pro- 
 claimed the bishop of Rome "ruler of the 
 whole church." Justinian issued a similar 
 decree. These decrees did not contain all 
 that the Popes pretended to see in them. But 
 those times of ignorance it was easy for 
 them to gain reception for that interpretation 
 which was most favourable to themselves. 
 The dominion of the Emperors in Italy be- 
 coming every day more precarious, the Bish- 
 ops of Rome took advantage of it to withdraw 
 themselves from their dependence. 
 
 But already the forests of the North had 
 poured forth the most effectual promoters of 
 papal power. The barbarians who had in- 
 vaded the West and settled themselves there- 
 in, but recently converted to Christianity, 
 ignorant of the spiritual character of the 
 Church, and feeling the want of an external 
 pomp of religion, prostrated themselves in a 
 half savage and half heathen state of mind at 
 the feet of the Chief Priest of Rome. At the 
 same time the people of the W 7 est also sub- 
 mitted to him. First the Vandals, then the 
 Ostrogoths, a short time after the Burgundians 
 and the Alains, then the Visigoths, and at 
 last the Lombards and the Anglo-Saxons 
 came bowing the knee to the Roman Pontiff. 
 It was the sturdy shoulders of the idolatrous 
 children of the North which elevated to the 
 supreme throne of Christendom, a pastor of 
 the banks of the Tiber. 
 
 These events occurred in the West at the 
 beginning of the seventh century, at the pre- 
 cise period that the Mahometan power arose 
 in the East, and prepared to overrun another 
 division of the earth. 
 
 From that time the evil continued increas- 
 ing. In the eighth century we see the Bish- 
 ops of Rome on the one hand resisting the 
 Greek Emperors, their lawful sovereigns, and 
 endeavouring to expel them from Italy; whilst 
 on the other they court the French Mayors of 
 the Palace, and demand from this new power 
 now arising in the West, a share in the wreck 
 of the empire. We see Rome establish her 
 
 usurped authority between the East, which 
 she repelled, and the West which she courted ; 
 thus erecting her throne upon two revolutions. 
 
 Alarmed by the progress of the Arabs, who 
 had made themselves masters of Spain, and 
 boasted that they would speedily traverse the 
 Pyrenees and the Alps, and proclaim the name 
 of Mahomet on the seven hills; terrified at 
 the daring of Aistolpho, who, at the head of 
 his Lombards, threatened to put every Roman 7 
 to death, and brandished his sword before the 
 city gates Rome, in the prospect of ruin, 
 turned on all sides for protection, and threw 
 herself into the arms of the Franks. The 
 usurper Pepin demanded the confirmation of 
 his claim to the throne : the Pope granted it ; 
 and, in return, obtained his declaration in de- 
 fence of the " Republic of God." Pepin re- 
 covered from the Lombards their conquests 
 from the Emperor; but instead of restoring 
 them to that Prince, he deposited the keys of 
 the conquered cities on the altar of St. Peter's; 
 and with uplifted hand, swore that it was net 
 in the cause of man that he had taken arms, 
 but to obtain from God the remission of his 
 sins, and to do homage for his conquests to 
 St. Peter! Thus did France establish the 
 temporal power of the Popes. 
 
 Charlemagne appeared. At one time we 
 see him climbing the stairs of St. Peter's, de- 
 voutly kissing the steps : again he presents 
 himself, but it is as master of all the nations 
 composing the Western Empire, and of Rome 
 itself. Leo III. decided to confer the rank on 
 one who already possessed the power; and in 
 the year 800, on Christmas day, he placed the 
 crown of the Roman Emperors on the brow 
 of the son of Pepin. 8 From this period the 
 Pope belonged to the empire of the Franks, 
 and his connexion with the East was at an 
 end : thus loosing his hold on a decayed tree, 
 nodding to its fall, in order to graft himseli 
 upon a wild but vigorous sapling. Little could 
 he then have dared to hope for the elevation 
 that awaited his successors among the German 
 nations, to which he thus joined himself. 
 
 Charlemagne bequeathed to his feeble suc- 
 cessors only the wreck of his own power. In 
 the ninth century disunion everywhere weak- 
 ened the civil authority. Rome perceived 
 that this was the moment to exalt herself. 
 What better opportunity could offer for achiev- 
 ing the Church's independence of the state, 
 than when the crown of Charles was broken, 
 and its fragments scattered over his former 
 empire. 
 
 It was then that the pretended decretals of 
 Isidorus appeared. In this collection of alleged 
 decrees of the Popes, the most ancient bish- 
 ops, contemporaries of Tacitus and Quintilian, 
 were made to speak the barbarous Latin of 
 the ninth century. The customs and consti- 
 tutions of the Franks were gravely attributed 
 to the Romans in the time of the Emperors. 
 Popes quoted the Bible in the Latin transla- 
 tion of St. Jerome, who lived one, two, or 
 three centuries after them. And Victor, bishop 
 of Rome in the year 192, wrote to Theophilus, 
 who was archbishop of Alexandria in 385. 
 

 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 e impostor who had fabricated this collec- 
 tion, endeavoured to prove that all hishops 
 derived their authority from the bishop of 
 Rome, who held his own immediately from 
 Christ. He not only recorded all the succes- 
 sive acquisitions of the Pontiffs, but carried 
 them back to the earliest times. The Popes 
 did not blush to avail themselves of this con- 
 temptible imposture. As early as 865, Nicho- 
 las I. selected weapons from this repository 
 to attack princes and bishops. 9 This bare- 
 faced fabrication was for ages the arsenal of 
 Rome. 
 
 Nevertheless the vices and atrocities of the 
 Pontiffs were such as suspended for a time 
 the object of the decretals. The Papacy sig- 
 nalized its sitting down at the table of Kings 
 by shameful libations ; and intoxication and 
 madness reigned in its orgies. About this 
 time tradition places upon the Papal throne a 
 girl named Joan, who had taken refuge at 
 Rome with her lover, and whose sex was be- 
 trayed by the pains of child-birth coming 
 upon her in the midst of a solemn procession. 
 But let us not needlessly exaggerate the shame 
 of the Roman Pontiffs. Women of abandoned 
 character reigned at this period in Rome. 
 The throne which affected to exalt itself above 
 the majesty of kings, was sunk in the filth 
 of vice. Theodora and Marozia installed and 
 deposed at their pleasure the pretended teach- 
 ers of the Church of Christ, and placed on 
 the throne of St. Peter their lovers, their sons, 
 and their grandsons. These two well au- 
 thenticated charges may have given rise to 
 the tradition of the female Pope Joan. 
 
 Rome was one vast scene of debauchery, 
 wherein the most powerful families in Italy con- 
 tended for pre-eminence. The counts of Tus- 
 cany were generally victorious in these contests. 
 In 1033, this family dared to place upon the 
 pontifical throne, under the name of Benedict 
 IXth, a young boy brought up in debauchery. 
 This child of twelve years of age continued 
 when Pope, in the practice of the same scan- 
 dalous vices. 10 Another party elected in his 
 stead Sylvester III., and Benedict, with a 
 conscience loaded with adulteries, and hands 
 stained with homicide, at last sold the Papacy 
 to a Roman ecclesiastic. 11 
 
 The Emperors of Germany, roused to in- 
 dignation by these enormities, purged Rome 
 with the sword. In 1047, a German bishop, 
 Leo IX., possessed himself of the pontifical 
 throne. 
 
 The Empire, using its right as suzerain, 
 raised up the triple crown from the mire, and 
 preserved the degraded Papacy by giving to 
 it suitable chiefs. In 1046, Henry III. de- 
 posed the three rival popes, and pointing with 
 his finger, on which glittered the ring of the 
 Roman patricians, designated the bishop to 
 whom St. Peter's keys' should be confided. 
 Four Popes, all Germans, and chosen by the 
 Emperor, succeeded. Whenever the Pontiff 
 
 rors were not sorry to see the Popes reforming 
 abuses strengthening the influence of the 
 church holding councils choosing and de- 
 posing prelates in spite of foreign princes 
 for in all this the Papacy, by its pretensions, 
 did but exalt the power of the reigning Em- 
 peror, its suzerain Lord. But such excesses 
 were full of peril to his authority. The 
 power thus gradually acquired might at any 
 moment be directed against the Emperor him- 
 self, and the reptile having gained strength, 
 might turn against the bosom that had warmed 
 it, and this result followed. The Papacy 
 arose from its humiliation and soon trampled 
 under foot the princes of the earth. To exalt 
 the Papacy was to exalt the Church, to ag- 
 grandize religion, to ensure to the spirit the 
 victory over the flesh, and to God the conquest 
 of the world. Such were its maxims ; in 
 these, ambition found its advantage, and 
 fanaticism its excuse. 
 
 The whole of this new policy is personified 
 in one man, HILDEBRAND. 
 
 Hildebrand, who has been by turns indis- 
 creetly exalted or unjustly traduced, is the 
 personification of the Roman pontificate in its 
 strength and glory. He is one of those cha- 
 racters in history, which include in them- 
 selves a new order of things, resembling in 
 this respect Charlemagne, Luther, and Na- 
 poleon, in different spheres of action. 
 
 Leo IX. took notice of this monk as he was 
 going to Cluny, and carried him with him to 
 Rome. From that time Hildebrand was the 
 soul of the Papacy, till he himself became 
 Pope. He had governed the Church under 
 different Pontiffs, before he himself reigned 
 under the name of Gregory VII. One grand 
 idea occupied his comprehensive mind. He 
 desired to establish a visible theocracy, of 
 which the Pope, as the vicar of Christ, should 
 be the head. The recollection of the ancient 
 universal dominion of heathen Rome, haunted 
 his imagination and animated his zeal. He 
 wished to restore to Papal Rome what Rome 
 had lost under the Emperors. " What Marius 
 and Csssar," said his flatterers, "could not 
 effect by torrents of blood, you have accom- 
 plished by a word." 
 
 Gregory VII. was not actuated by the spirit 
 of Christ. That spirit of truth, humility, 
 and gentleness, was to him unknown. He 
 could sacrifice what he knew to be the truth, 
 whenever he judged it necessary to his policy. 
 We may instance the case of Berengarius. 
 But without doubt he was actuated by a spirit 
 far above that of the generality of Pontiffs, 
 and by a deep conviction of the justice of his 
 cause. Enterprising, ambitious, persevering 
 in his designs, he was at the same time skil- 
 ful and politic in the use of the means of 
 success. 
 
 His first task was to remodel the militia of 
 the Church. It was needful to gain strength 
 before attacking the Imperial authority. A 
 
 of Rome died, a deputation from its church j council held at Rome, removed the pastors 
 repaired to the Imperial court, just as the en- from their families, and obliged them to de- 
 voys of other dioceses, to solicit the nomina- vote themselves" undividedly to the hierarchy, 
 ion of a bishop to succeed him. The Empe- The law of celibacy, devised and carried into 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 operation by the Popes, (who were them- 
 selves monks,) changed the clergy into a 
 monastic order. Gregory VII. claimed to 
 exercise over the whole body of bishops and 
 priests of Christendom, a power equal to 
 that possessed by an abbot of Cluny over the 
 order subjected to his rule. The legates of 
 Hildebrand passed through the provinces, 
 depriving the pastors of their lawful partners, 
 and the Pope himself, if necessary, excited 
 the populace against the married clergy. 12 
 
 But Gregory's great aim was to emancipate 
 Rome from subjection to the Emperor. Never 
 would he have dared to conceive so ambitious 
 a design, if the discord which disturbed the 
 minority of Henry IV., and the revolt of the 
 German princes from that young Emperor had 
 not favoured his project. The Pope was at 
 this time one of the magnates of the empire. 
 Making common cause with some of the 
 greatest of its vassals, he strengthened him- 
 self in the aristocratic interest, and then pro- 
 ceeded to prohibit all ecclesiastics from 
 receiving investiture from the Emperor, under 
 pain of excommunication. 
 
 He thus snapt asunder the ancient ties 
 which connected tbe several pastors and their 
 churches with the royal authority, but it was 
 that he might bind them to the pontifical 
 throne. He undertook to restrain by a power- 
 ful hand, priests, princes, and people; and to 
 make the Pope a universal monarch. It was 
 Rome alone that every priest was to fear and 
 in her only he was to hope. The kingdoms 
 and principalities of the earth were to be her 
 domain ; and kings were to tremble before the 
 thunders of the Jupiter of New Rome. Wo 
 to those who should resist her. Their subjects 
 were released from their oaths of allegiance 
 their whole country placed under interdict 
 public worship was to cease the churches to 
 be closed the bells mute the sacrament no 
 longer administered and the malediction ex- 
 tended even to the dead, to whom, at the com- 
 mand of the proud Pontiff, the earth refused 
 the peace and shelter of the tomb. 
 
 The Pope^whose power had been from the 
 very beginning subordinate, first to the Roman 
 Emperors ; then to the Frankish princes ; 
 and lastly, to the Emperors of Germany ; at 
 once freed himself, and assumed the place of 
 an equal, if not of a master. Yet Gregory 
 the Vllth was in his turn humbled ; Rome 
 was taken, and Hildebrand obliged to flee. 
 He died at Salerno ; his last words were, 
 Dilexi justitiam d odivi iniquitatem ; proplerea 
 morior in exilio.* And who will dare to 
 charge with hypocrisy words uttered at the 
 very gates of the tomb. 
 
 The successors of Gregory acted like soldiers 
 arriving after a great victory. They threw 
 themselves as conquerors on the unresisting 
 Churches. Spain, delivered from the presence 
 of Islamism, and Prussia, reclaimed from 
 idolatry, fell into the embrace of the crowned 
 priest. The crusades, undertaken at his 
 
 * 1 have loved righteousness and hated ini- 
 quity therefore I die in exile. 
 
 instance, spread far and wide, and everywheie 
 confirmed his authority: the pious pilgrims, 
 who in imagination had seen saints and 
 angels conducting their armed hosts, and who 
 entering humbly and barefooted within the 
 walls of Jerusalem, had burned alive the 
 Jews in their synagogue, and shed the blood 
 of tens of thousands of Saracens on the spots 
 where they came to trace the footsteps of the 
 Prince of Peace, bore with them to the East 
 the name of the Pope, whose existence had 
 been scarcely known there, since the period 
 when he exchanged the supremacy of the 
 Greeks for that of the Franks. 
 
 Meanwhile that which the arms of the 
 republic and of the empire had failed to effect, 
 was achieved by the power of the Church. 
 The Germans brought to the feet of a bishop 
 the tribute their ancestors had refused to the 
 mightiest generals; and their princes thought 
 they received from the Popes their crown, 
 while in reality the Popes imposed upon them 
 a yoke. The kingdoms of Christendom, 
 already subject to the spiritual empire of 
 Rome, became her serfs and tributaries. 
 
 Thus every thing was changed in the 
 Church. 
 
 At the beginning it was a society of breth- 
 ren, and now an absolute monarchy is reared 
 in the midst of them. All Christians were 
 priests of the living God, (1 Pet. ii. 9,) with 
 humble pastors for their guidance. But a 
 lofty head is uplifted from the midst of these 
 pastors; a mysterious voice utters words full 
 of pride ; an iron hand compels all men, small 
 and great, rich and poor, freemen and slaves, 
 to take the mark of its power. The holy and 
 primitive equality of souls before God is lost 
 sight of. Christians are divided into two 
 strangely unequal camps. On the one side a 
 separate class of priests daring to usurp the 
 name of the Church, and claiming to be pos- 
 sessed of peculiar privileges in the sight of 
 the Lord. On the other, timid flocks reduced 
 to a blind and passive submission; a people 
 gagged and silenced and delivered over to a 
 proud caste. Every tribe, language, and na- 
 tion of Christendom submitted to the dominion 
 of this spiritual king who had received pow r er 
 to overcome. 
 
 But side by side with that principle that 
 should have pervaded the history of Christi- 
 anity was a principle that was given to pre- 
 side over its doctrine. This was the great 
 principle of Christianity; its leading idea 
 that of grace, of pardon, and amnesty, and of 
 the gift of eternal life. This idea supposed 
 an alienation from God, and an inability in 
 man to enter, by any power of his own, into 
 communion with an infinitely holy Being. 
 The opposition of true and false doctrine can- 
 not assuredly be entirely summed up in the 
 question of salvation by faith or by works. 
 Nevertheless, it is the most striking feature 
 in the contrast. We may go farther: Salva 
 tion considered as derived from any power in 
 man is the germinating principle of all errors 
 arid perversions. The scandals produced by 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 this fundamental error brought on the Refor- 
 mation ; and the profession of the contrary 
 principle was the means by which it was 
 achieved. It is therefore indispensable that 
 this truth should be prominent in an introduc- 
 tion to the history of that Reformation. 
 
 Salvation by Grace. Such, then, was the 
 second peculiarity which was designed espe- 
 cially to distinguish the religion that came 
 from God from all human systems. And what 
 had become of this great and primordial 
 thought 1 ? Had the Church preserved it as a 
 precious deposit ? Let us follow its history. 
 
 The inhabitants of Jerusalem, of Asia, of 
 Greece, and of Rome, in the time of the Ro- 
 man Emperors, had heard this gospel. YE 
 ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IT is 
 THE GIFT OF GOD, (Eph. ii. 8;) and at this 
 voice of peace, at the sound of these good 
 tidings, at this word of power, multitudes of 
 sinners believed, and were attracted to Him 
 who alone can give peace to the conscience ; 
 and numerous societies of believers were formed 
 in the midst of the degenerate communities of 
 that age. 
 
 But ere long an important error began to 
 prevail, as to the nature of Saving Faith. 
 Faith (according to St. Panl) is the way 
 through which the whole being of the believer, 
 his understanding, his heart, and his will, 
 enters upon present possession of the salvation 
 purchased by the incarnation and death of the 
 Son of God. Jesus Christ is apprehended by 
 Faith, and from that hour becomes all things 
 to, and all things, in the believer. He com- 
 municates to the human nature a divine life ; 
 and the believer, renewed and set free from 
 the power of self and of sin, feels new affec- 
 tions, and bears new fruits. Faith, says the 
 theologian, labouring to express these thoughts, 
 is the subjective appropriation of the objective 
 Work of Christ. If faith is not the appropri- 
 ation of Salvation it is nothing the whole 
 economy of Christian doctrine is out of place ; 
 the fountains of the new life are sealed, and 
 Christianity is overturned from its foundation. 
 
 And this consequence did in fact ensue. By 
 degrees this practical view of Faith was for- 
 gotten, and ere long it was regarded, as it still 
 is by many, as a bare act of the understand- 
 ing, a mere submission to a commanding 
 evidence. 
 
 From this primary error a second neces- 
 sarily resulted. When Faith was robbed of 
 its practical character, it could no longer be 
 maintained that Faith alone saved. Works 
 no longer following in their places as its 
 fruits it seemed necessary to range them on 
 one line with it; and the Church was taught 
 to believe that the sinner is justified by FAITH 
 and by WORKS. In place of that Christian 
 unity in doctrine, which comprises in a single 
 principle Justification and Works Grace and 
 a rule of life belief and responsibility, suc- 
 ceeded that melancholy quality which regards 
 religion and moral duty as things altogether 
 unconnected; a fatal delusion which brings in 
 death, by separating the body from the spirit, 
 whose continued union is the necessary con- 
 
 dition*of life itself. The word of the Apostle 
 heard across the interval of ages is, "Having 
 begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect 
 by the flesh." 
 
 Another error contributed to unsettle the 
 doctrine of Grace. This was Pelagianisrn. 
 Pelagius asserted that man's nature was not 
 fallen, that there is no such thing as here- 
 ditary evil, and that man having received 
 power to do good has only to will in order to 
 perform it. 13 If the doing "good things" con- 
 sists in certain external acts, Pelagius judged 
 truly. But if regard is had to the motives 
 whence these external acts proceed, or to the 
 entire inward life of man, (see Matt. xii. 34,) 
 then we discern in all his works selfishness 
 forgetfulness of God, pollution and weakness. 
 This was the doctrine of St. Augustine. He 
 proved that to entitle any action to approval, 
 it was needful not merely that it should seem 
 right when looked at by itself and from the 
 outside, but above all that its real spring in 
 the soul should be holy. The Pelagian doc- 
 trine rejected by St. Augustine from the 
 church when it presented itself broadly for in- 
 vestigation, re-appeared ere long with a side 
 aspect as semi-Pelagian, and under forms of 
 expression borrowed from St. Augustine's own 
 writings. It was in vain that eminent Father 
 opposed its progress. He died soon after. 
 The error spread with amazing rapidity 
 throughout Christendom passing from the 
 West to the East, and even at this day it con- 
 tinues to disturb and harass the Church. The 
 danger of the doctrine appeared in this: that 
 by placing goodness in the external act rather 
 than in the inward affections, it led men to 
 put a high value upon outward action, legal 
 observances and works of penance. The 
 more of such works the greater the reputed 
 sanctity heaven was to be obtained by means 
 of them and (extravagant as such a thought 
 must appear to us) it was not long before cer- 
 tain persons were believed to have made at- 
 tainments in holiness beyond that which was 
 required of them. 
 
 Thus did the proud heart of man refuse to 
 give the glory to that God to whom all glory 
 belongs. Thus did man claim to deserve, 
 what God had decreed to give freely ! He 
 essayed to find in himself the salvation which 
 the Gospel brought to him ready wrought out 
 from heaven. He spread a veil over the 
 saving truths of salvation which cometh from 
 God, and not from man a salvation which 
 God gives but barters not; and from that 
 day all the other truths of religion were over- 
 clouded ; darkness spread over the church, 
 and from this deep and deplorable gloom were 
 seen to arise innumerable errors. 
 
 And in the first place we may observe that 
 both great divisions of error converged to one 
 effect. Pelagianisrn, while it corrupted the 
 church's teaching, strengthened the hierarchy : 
 by the same influence by which it hid the 
 doctrine of grace, it exalted the authority of 
 the Church for grace was God's part in the 
 work as the Church was man's ! 
 
 As soon as salvation was taken out of tha 
 B 
 
8 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 hands of God, it fell into the hands *of the 
 Priests. The latter put themselves in the 
 place of the Lord ; and the souls of men 
 thirsting for pardon were no longer taught to 
 look to heaven, but to the Church, and espe- 
 cially to its pretended Head. The Roman 
 Pontiff was in the place of God to the blinded 
 minds of men. Hence all the grandeur and 
 authority of the Popes, and hence also unut- 
 terable abuses. 
 
 Doubtless the doctrine of salvation by Faith 
 was not entirely lost to the Church. We meet 
 with it in some of the most celebrated Fathers, 
 after the time of Constantine; and in the mid- 
 dle ages. The doctrine was not formally de- 
 nied. Councils and Popes did not hurl their 
 bulls and decrees againsfit; but they set up 
 beside it a something which nullified it. Sal- 
 vation by Faith was received by many learned 
 men, by many a humble and simple mind, 
 but the multitude had something very different. 
 Men had invented a complete system of for- 
 giveness. The multitude flocked to it and 
 joined with it, rather than with the Grace of 
 Christ ; and thus the system of man's devising 
 prevailed over that of God. Let us examine 
 some of the phases of this deplorable change. 
 
 In the time of Vespasian and his sons, he 
 who had been the most intimate companion of 
 the despised Galilean, one of the sons of Ze- 
 bedee, had said : " If we confess our sins, God 
 is faithful and just to forgive our sins." 
 
 About 120 years later, under Cominodus, 
 and Septimius Severus, Tertullian, an illus- 
 trious pastor of Carthage, speaking of pardon, 
 already held a very different language. "It 
 is necessary (said he) to change our dress and 
 food, we must put on sackcloth and ashes, we 
 must renounce all comfort and adorning of the 
 body, and falling down before the Priest, im- 
 plore the intercession of the brethren." 14 Behold 
 man turned aside from God, and turned back 
 upon himself. 
 
 Works of penance, thus substituted for the 
 salvation of God, multiplied in the Church 
 from the time of Tertullian to the 13th cen- 
 tury. Men were enjoined to fast, to go bare- 
 headed, to wear no linen, &c. or required to 
 leave home and country for distant lands, or 
 else to renounce the world and embrace a 
 monastic life. 
 
 In the llth century were added voluntary 
 flagellations ; a little after they became an ab- 
 solute mania in Italy, which was then in a 
 very disturbed state. Nobles and peasants, 
 .old and young, even children of five years old, 
 went in pairs, through the villages, the towns, 
 and the cities, by hundreds, thousands, and 
 tens of thousands, without any other covering 
 than a cloth tied round the middle, and visiting 
 the churches in procession in the very depth 
 of winter. Armed with scourges, they lashed 
 themselves without pity, and the streets re- 
 sounded with cries and groans, which drew 
 forth tears of compassion from all who heard 
 them. 
 
 And yet long before the evil had arrived at 
 this height, men sighed for deliverance from 
 the tyranny of the priests. The priests them' 
 
 selves were sensible that if they did not devise 
 some remedy, their usurped power would be 
 at an end. Then it was that they invented the 
 system of barter known by the name of indul- 
 gences. It is under John, surnamed the Faster, 
 archbishop of Constantinople, that we see its 
 first commencement. The priests said, "O 
 penitents, you are unable to perform the pen- 
 ances we have imposed upon you. W T ell then, 
 we, the priests of God, and your pastors, will 
 take upon ourselves this heavy burden. Who 
 can better fast than we"? Who better kneel 
 and recite psalms than ourselves?" But the 
 labourer is worthy of his hire. " For a seven 
 weeks fast > (said Regino, abbot of Prum,) such 
 as are rich shall pay twenty pence, those who 
 are less wealthy ten pence, and the poor three 
 pence, in the same proportion for other things." 15 
 Some courageous voices were raised against 
 this traffic, but in vain. 
 
 The Pope soon discovered what advantages 
 he might derive from these indulgences. His 
 want of money continued to increase. Here 
 was an easy resource, which, under the appear- 
 ance of a voluntary contribution, would re- 
 plenish his coffers. It seemed desirable to 
 establish so lucrative a discovery on a solid 
 footing. The chief men of Rome exerted them- 
 selves for this purpose. The irrefragable doc- 
 tor, Alexander de Hales, invented, in the 13th 
 century, a doctrine well suited to secure this 
 mighty resource to the Papacy, A bull of 
 Clement VII. declared the new doctrine an 
 article of the faith. The most sacred truths 
 were made to subserve this persevering policy 
 of Rome. Christ, it was affirmed, has done 
 much more than was required for reconciling 
 God and man. One single drop of his blood 
 would have sufficed for that ; but he shed his 
 blood abundantly, that he might form for his 
 church a treasury that eternity itself should 
 never exhaust. The supererogatory merits of 
 the saints, the reward of the works they have 
 done, beyond and additional to the obligations 
 of duty, have still further enriched this treasu- 
 ry. Its guardianship and distribution are con- 
 fided to the Vicar of Christ upon earth. He 
 applies to every sinner, for sins committed 
 after baptism, these merits of Christ and of 
 his saints, in the measure and degree that his 
 sins have made necessary. Who would dare 
 to attack a custom of so high and holy an 
 origin. 
 
 Rapidly was this almost inconceivable in- 
 vention reduced to a system. The scale im- 
 posed ten, twenty years of penance, for such 
 and such kinds of sin. " It is not merely for 
 each kind of sin, but for each sinful action, that 
 this penance of so many years is demanded," 
 exclaimed the mercenary priests. Behold 
 mankind, bowed down under the weight of a 
 penance that seemed almost eternal. 
 
 " But for what purpose this long penance, 
 when life is so short when can it take effect 1 ? 
 How can man secure the time requisite for its 
 performance? You are imposing on him cen- 
 turies of severe discipline. When death comes 
 he will but laugh at you for death will dis- 
 charge him from his burden. Ah, welcome 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 9 
 
 death!" But this objection was provided 
 against. The philosophers of Alexandria had 
 spoken of a fire in which men were to be pu- 
 rified. Some ancient doctors in the church had 
 received the notion. Rome declared this phi- 
 losophic tenet the doctrine of the church ; and 
 the Pope, by a bull, added purgatory to his 
 domain. He declared that man would have 
 to expiate in purgatory all he could not ex- 
 piate on earth; but that indulgences would 
 deliver men's souls from that intermediate 
 state in which their sins would otherwise hold 
 them. Thomas Aquinas set forth this new 
 doctrine in his celebrated Summa. Nothing 
 was left undone to fill the mind with terror. 
 Man is by nature inclined to fear an unknown 
 futurity and the dark abodes beyond the grave ; 
 but that fear was artfully excited and increased 
 by JiO'vible descriptions of the torments of this 
 purifying fire. We see at this day in many 
 Catholic countries paintings exposed in the 
 temples, or in the crossways, wherein poor 
 souls engulphed in flames invoke alleviation 
 for their miseries. Who could refuse the 
 money that, dropt into the treasury of Rome, 
 redeemed the soul from such horrible torments ? 
 
 But a further means of increasing this traffic 
 was now discovered. Hitherto it had been 
 the sins of the living that had been turned to 
 profit ; they now began to avail themselves of 
 the sins of the dead. In the 13th century it 
 was declared that the living might, by making 
 certain sacrifices, shorten or even terminate the 
 torments their ancestors and friends were en- 
 during in purgatory. Instantly the compas- 
 sionate hearts of the faithful offered new trea- 
 sures for the priests. 
 
 To regulate this traffic, they invented short- 
 ly after, probably in the Pontificate of John 
 XXII. the celebrated and scandalous tax of 
 indulgences, of which more than forty editions 
 are extant : a mind of the least delicacy would 
 be shocked at the repetition of the horrors there- 
 in contained. Incest was to cost, if not de- 
 tected, five groschen, if known, or flagrant, six. 
 A certain price was affixed to the crime of mur- 
 der, another to infanticide, adultery, perjury, 
 burglary, &c. Oh, shame to Rome ! exclaims 
 Claudius of Espersa, a Roman divine ; and 
 we may add, Oh, shame to human nature! 
 For no reproach can attach to Rome which 
 does not recoil with equal force on mankind 
 in general. Rome is human nature exalted, 
 and displaying some of its worst propensities. 
 We say this in truth as well as in justice. 
 
 Boniface VIII., the boldest and most ambi- 
 tious of the Popes, after Gregory VII., effected 
 still more than his predecessors had done. 
 
 He published a bull in 1300, by which he 
 declared to the church that all who should at 
 that time or thenceforth make the pilgrimage 
 to Rome, which should take place every hun- 
 dred years, should there receive a plenary in- 
 dulgence. Upon this multitudes flocked from 
 Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, France, Spain, 
 Germany, Hungary, and other quarters. Old 
 men, of sixty and seventy, set out on the pil- 
 grimage; and it was computed that 200,000 
 visited Rome in one month. All these foreign- 
 
 ers brought with them rich offerings, and the 
 Pope and the Romans saw their coffers re- 
 plenished. 
 
 The avarice of the Pontiffs soon fixed this 
 jubilee at intervals of fifty years, afterwards 
 at thirty-three years, and at last at twenty-five. 
 Then, for the greater convenience of the pur- 
 chasers, and to increase the profits of the 
 venders, they transferred both the jubilee and 
 its indulgences from Rome to the market- 
 places of all the nations of Christendom. It 
 was no longer necessary to abandon one's 
 home ; what others had been obliged to seek 
 beyond the Alps, each might now obtain at 
 his own door. 
 
 The evil was at its height, and then the 
 Reformer arose. 
 
 We have seen what had become of the 
 principle which was designed to govern the 
 history of Christianity ; we have also seen 
 what became of that which should have per- 
 vaded its doctrine. Both were now lost. 
 
 To set up a single caste as mediators be- 
 tween God and man, and to barter in exchange 
 for works and penances, and gold, the salva- 
 tion freely given by God ; such was Popery.. 
 
 To open wide to all, through Jesus Christ, 
 and without any earthly mediator, and with- 
 out that power that called itself the Church, 
 free access to the gift of God, eternal life , - 
 such was Christianity, and such was the Re- 
 formation. 
 
 Popery may be compared to a high wall 
 erected by the labour of ages, between man and 
 God. Whoever will scale it must pay or suf- 
 fer in the attempt ; and even then he will fail 
 to overleap it. 
 
 The Reformation is the power which has 
 thrown down this wall, has restored Christ to 
 man, and has thus made plain the way of ac- 
 cess to the Creator. 
 
 Popery interposes the Church between God 
 and man. 
 
 Christianity and the Reformation bring God 
 and man faoe to face. 
 
 Popery separates man from God : -the Gos- 
 pel re-unites them. 
 
 After having thus traced the history of the 
 decline and loss of the two gran' 1 principles 
 which were to distinguish the religion of God 
 from systems of man's devising, let us see 
 what were the consequences of this immense 
 change. 
 
 But first let us do honour to the church of 
 that middle period, which intervened between 
 the age of the Apostles and the Reformers. 
 The church was still the church, although fallen 
 and more and more enslaved. In a word, she 
 was at all times the most powerful friend of 
 man. Her hands, though manacled, still dis- 
 pensed blessings. Many eminent servants 
 of Christ diffused during these ages a benefi- 
 cent light ; and in the humble convent the 
 sequestered parish there were found poor 
 monks and poor priests to alleviate bitter suf- 
 ferings. The church Catholic was not the Pa- 
 pacy. This filled the place of the oppressor ; 
 
10 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that of the oppressed. The Reformation 
 which declared war against the one, came to 
 liberate the other. And it must be acknow- 
 ledged, that the Papacy itself was at times, in 
 the hands of Him who brings good out of evil, 
 a necessary counterpoise to the ambition and 
 tyranny of princes. 
 
 Let us now contemplate the condition of 
 Christianity at that time. 
 
 Theology and religion were then widely 
 different. The doctrine of the learned, and 
 the practice of priests, monks, and people, 
 presented two very different aspects. They 
 had, however, great influence upon each other, 
 and the Reformation had to deal with both. 
 Let us examine them, and take a survey first 
 of the Schools, or Theology. 
 
 Theology was still under the influence of 
 the middle ages. The middle ages had awoke 
 from their long trance, and had produced 
 many learned men. But their learning had 
 been directed neither to the interpretation of 
 the Holy Scriptures, nor to the examination 
 of the history of the Church. Scriptural ex- 
 position, and the study of history, the two 
 great sources of theological knowledge, still 
 slumbered. 
 
 A new science had usurped their place. It 
 was the science of Dialectics. The art of rea- 
 soning became the fruitful mine of a new 
 theology. The middle ages had discovered 
 the long lost writings of Aristotle. Their 
 knowledge of him was derived either from old 
 Latin versions, or from translations from the 
 Arabic. The resuscitated Aristotle appeared 
 in the West as a giant, subjecting the minds, 
 and even the consciences of men. His philo- 
 sophic method added strength to the disposi- 
 tion for dialectics which marked the age. It 
 was a method well suited to subtle researches 
 and trivial distinctions. The very obscurity 
 of the translations of the Greek philosopher 
 favoured the dialectic subtlety which had capti- 
 vated the West. The Church, alarmed at its 
 progress, fora while opposed this new tenden- 
 cy. She feared that this taste for discussion 
 might engender heresies. But the dialectic 
 philosophy proved to be easily compounded 
 with ; monks employed it against heretics, 
 and thenceforward its victory was secure. 
 
 It was the characteristic of this method of 
 teaching, to suggest numerous questions on 
 every branch of theology, and then to decide 
 them by a solution. Often these inquiries 
 turned upon most useless matters. It was 
 asked whether all animals had been enclosed 
 in Noah's ark; and whether a dead man 
 could say mass, &c. 18 But we should be 
 wrong to form our judgment of the scholastic 
 divines from such examples only. On the 
 contrary, we must often acknowledge the 
 depth and extent of their inquiries. 
 
 Some among them made a distinction be- 
 tween theological and philosophical truth, 
 affirming that a proposition might be theologi- 
 cally true, and philosophically false. In this 
 way it was hoped to reconcile incredulity with 
 a cold and dead adherence to the forms of the 
 Church. But there were others, and Thomas 
 
 Aquinas at their head, who maintained that 
 the doctrine of revelation was in no respect at 
 variance with an enlightened reason ; and that 
 even as Christian charity does not annihilate 
 the natural affections, but chastens, sanctifies, 
 ennobles, and governs them, so Faith does not 
 destroy Philosophy, but may make use of it 
 by sanctifying and illuminating it with its 
 own light. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity, opened a wide 
 field for the dialectic method of the theolo- 
 gians. By dint of distinctions and disputes, 
 they fell into contrary errors. Some distin- 
 guished the three Persons so as to make of 
 them three Gods. This was the error of Ro- 
 celin of Compeigne and his followers. Others 
 confounded the Persons so as to leave only an 
 ideal distinction. This was the case with 
 Gilbert of Poictiers and his adherents. But 
 the orthodox doctrine was ably maintained by 
 others. 
 
 The dialectic subtlety of the times was not 
 less directed to the article of the Divine Will. 
 How are we to reconcile the will of God with 
 his almighty power and holiness 1 The scho- 
 lastic divines found in this question numerous 
 difficulties, and laboured to remove them by 
 dialectic distinctions. "We cannot say that 
 God wills the existence of mV," said Peter 
 the Lombard, " but neither can we say that 
 He wills that evil should not exist." 
 
 The majority of these theologians sought 
 to weaken by their dialectic labours the doc- 
 trine of Predestination which they found in 
 the church. Alexander de Hales availed him- 
 self for this purpose of the following distinc- 
 tion of Aristotle; that every action supposes 
 two parties, namely, an agent, and the thing 
 subjected to the action. Divine Predestina- 
 tion, said he, acts doubtless for man's salva- 
 tion ; but it is requisite that it find in the soul 
 of man a capacity for the reception of this 
 grace. Without this second party the first 
 cannot effect any thing; and Predestination 
 consists in this, that God knowing by his pre- 
 science those in whom this second requisite 
 will be found, has appointed to give them his 
 grace. 
 
 As to the original condition of man, these 
 theologians distinguished natural gifts and 
 free gifts. The first they held to consist in 
 the primitive purity and strength of the human 
 soul. The second were the gifts of God's 
 grace that the soul might accomplish good 
 works. But here again the learned were di- 
 vided ; some contended that man had original- 
 ly possessed only natural gifts, and had by 
 his use of them to merit those of grace. But 
 Thomas Aquinas who was generally on the 
 side of sound doctrine, affirmed that the gifts 
 of grace had from the beginning been closely 
 united with the gifts of nature, because the 
 first man was perfect in his moral health. 
 The Fall, said the former, who leaned to- 
 wards Free-will, has deprived man of the 
 gifts of grace, but it has not entirely stripped 
 him of the primitive strength of his nature ; 
 for the least sanctification would have been 
 impossible if there had been no longer with 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 11 
 
 him any moral strength. Whilst, on the other 
 side, the stricter theologians thought that the 
 Fall had not only deprived man of grace, but 
 corrupted his nature. 
 
 All acknowledged the work of Reconcilia- 
 tion wrought out by Christ's sufferings and 
 death. But some maintained that redemption 
 could have been effected in no other way than 
 by the expiatory satisfaction of the death of 
 Jesus Christ, whilst others laboured to prove 
 that God had simply attached redemption and 
 grace to this price. Others again, and among 
 these last we may particularize Abelard,made 
 the saving efficacy of redemption to consist 
 merely in its fitness to awaken in man's heart 
 a confidence and love toward God. 
 
 The doctrines of Sanctification or of Grace 
 discovers to us in fresh abundance the dialectic 
 subtlety of these divines. All of them, ac- 
 cepting the distinction of Aristotle already 
 mentioned, laid down the necessity of the ex- 
 istence in man of a materia disposita, a some- 
 thing disposed to the reception of grace. But 
 Thomas Aquinas ascribes this disposition to 
 grace itself. Grace, said they, was formative 
 for man before the Fall ; now, that there is in 
 him something to extirpate, it is grace re- 
 formative. And a farther distinction was laid 
 down between grace given gratuitously, gra- 
 tia gratis data, and grace that makes accept- 
 able, gratia gratum faciens ; with many other 
 similar distinctions. 
 
 The doctrine of penance and indulgence, 
 which we have already exhibited, crowned the 
 whole of this system, and ruined whatever 
 good it might contain. Peter the Lombard 
 had been the first to distinguish three sorts of 
 penitence; that of the heart or compunction; 
 that of the lips, or confession; that of works, 
 or satisfaction by outward action. He distin- 
 guished, indeed, absolution in the sight of God 
 from absolution before the church. He even 
 affirmed that inward repentance sufficed to 
 obtain the pardon of sins. But he found a 
 way back into the error of the church through 
 another channel. He allowed that for sins 
 committed after baptism, it was necessary 
 either to endure the fires of purgatory, or to 
 submit to the ecclesiastic penance ; excepting 
 only the sinner whose inward repentance and 
 remorse should be so great as to obviate the 
 necessity of further sufferings. He proceeds 
 to propose questions which, with all his skill 
 in dialectics, he is embarrassed to resolve. If 
 two men, equal in their spiritual condition, but 
 one poor and the other rich, die the same day, 
 the one having no other succours than the ordi- 
 nary prayers of the church, while for the other 
 many masses can be said, and many works of 
 charity can be done, what will be the event] 
 The scholastic divine turns on all sides for an 
 answer, and concludes by saying that they will 
 have the like fate, but not by the like causes. 
 The rich man's deliverance from purgatory will 
 not be more perfect, but it will be earlier. 
 
 We have given a few sketches of the sort 
 
 of Theology which reigned in the schools at 
 
 the period of the Reformation. Distinctions, 
 
 ideas, sometimes just, sometimes false, but 
 
 3 
 
 still mere notions. The Christian doctrine had 
 lost that odour of heaven, that force and prac- 
 tical vitality which came from God, and which 
 had characterized it as it existed in the apos- 
 tolic age : and these were destined again to 
 come to it from above. 
 
 Meanwhile the learning of the schools was 
 pure when compared with the actual condition 
 of the Church. The theology of the learned 
 might be said to flourish, if contrasted with 
 the religion, the morals, the instructions of 
 the priests, monks, and people. If Science 
 stood in need of a revival, the Church was in 
 still greater need of a Reformation. 
 
 The people of Christendom, and under that 
 designation almost all the nations of Europe 
 might be comprised, no longer looked to a 
 living and holy God for the free gift of eternal 
 life. They therefore naturally had recourse 
 to all the devices of a superstitious, fearful, 
 and alarmed imagination. Heaven was peopled 
 with saints and mediators, whose office it was 
 to solicit God's mercy. All lands were filled 
 with the works of piety, of mortification, of 
 penance and observances, by which it was to 
 be procured. Take the description of the state 
 of religion at this period given by one who 
 was for a long while a monk, and in after life 
 a fellow-labourer with Luther, Myconius. 
 
 " The sufferings and merits of Christ were 
 looked upon (says he) as an empty tale, or 
 as the fictions of Homer. There was no lon- 
 ger any thought of that faith by which we are 
 made partakers of the Saviour's righteousness, 
 and the inheritance of eternal life. Christ was 
 regarded as a stern judge, prepared to condemn 
 all who should not have recourse to the inter- 
 cessions of saints or to the Pope's indulgences. 
 Other intercessors were substituted in his 
 stead ; first the Virgin Mary, like the heathen 
 Diana ; and then the saints, whose numbers 
 were continually augmented by the Popes. 
 These intercessors refused their mediation 
 unless the party was in good repute with the 
 monastic orders which they had founded. To 
 be so, it was necessary not only to do what 
 God had commanded in his word, but also to 
 perform a number of works invented by the 
 monks and priests, and which brought them 
 in large sums of money. Such were Ave 
 Marias, the prayers of St. Ursula, and of St. 
 Bridget. It was necessary to chaunt and cry 
 day and night. There were as many different 
 pilgrimages as there were mountains, forests, 
 and valleys. But with money these penancea 
 might be compounded for. The people there- 
 fore brought to the convents and to the priests 
 money, and every thing they possessed that 
 was of any value, fowls, ducks, eggs, wax, 
 straw, butter, and cheese. Then the chaunt- 
 ings resounded, the bells rang, the odour of 
 incense filled the sanctuary, the sacrifices were 
 offered up, the tables groaned, the glasses cir- 
 culated, and these pious orgies were termina- 
 ted by masses. The bishops no longer ap- 
 peared in the pulpits, but they consecrated 
 priests, monks, churches, chapels, images, 
 books, and burial places, and all these brought 
 
 B2 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 a large revenue. Bones, arms, feet, were pre- 
 served in boxes of silver or gold ; they gave 
 them to the faithful to kiss during mass, and 
 this increased their gains. 
 
 " All maintained that the Pope being in the 
 place of God (2 Thessal. ii. 4) could not err; 
 and there were none to contradict them." 17 
 
 At the church of All Saints, at Wittemberg, 
 was shewn a fragment of Noah's ark ; some 
 soot from the furnace of the three children ; a 
 piece of wood from the crib of the infant Jesus ; 
 some hair of the beard of the great St. Chris- 
 topher; and nineteen thousand other relics, 
 more or less precious. At Schaifhausen was 
 shown the breath of St. Joseph, that Nicode- 
 mus received on his glove. In Wurtemburg, 
 might be seen a seller of indulgences disposing 
 of his merchandise with his head adorned 
 with a feather plucked from the wing of the 
 Archangel Michael. 18 But there was no need 
 to seek so far for these precious treasures. 
 Those who farmed the relics overran the coun- 
 try. They bore them about in the rural dis- 
 tricts, (as has since been done with the Holy 
 Scriptures;) and carried them into the houses 
 of the faithful, to spare them the cost and 
 trouble of the pilgrimage. They were exhibit- 
 ed with pomp in the churches. These wan- 
 dering hawkers paid a certain sum to the pro- 
 prietors of the relics, with a per centage on 
 their profits. The kingdom of heaven had 
 disappeared ; and men had opened in its place 
 on earth, a market of abominations. 
 
 At the same time, a profane spirit had in- 
 vaded religion, and the most solemn recollec- 
 tions of the church ; the seasons which seemed 
 most to summon the faithful to devout reflec- 
 tion and love, were dishonoured by buffoonery 
 and profanations altogether heathenish. The 
 Humours of Easter held a large place in the 
 annals of the Church. The festival of the 
 Resurrection claiming to be joyfully com- 
 memorated, preachers went out of their way 
 to put into their sermons whatever might excite 
 the laughter of the people. One preacher imi- 
 tated the cuckoo; another hissed like a goose; 
 one dragged to the altar a layman dressed in 
 a monk's cowl ; a second related the grossest 
 \ndeeencies; a third recounted the tricks of 
 the Apostle St. Peter, among others, how, 
 at an inn, he cheated the host, by not paying 
 his reckoning. 19 The lower orders of the clergy 
 followed the example, and turned their supe- 
 riors into ridicule. The very temples were 
 converted into a stage, and the priests into 
 mountebanks. 
 
 If this was the state of religion, what must 
 have been the morals of the age 1 ? 
 
 Doubtless the corruption was not universal. 
 Justice requires that this should not be for- 
 gotten. The Reformation elicited many shin- 
 ing instances of piety, righteousness, and 
 strength of mind. The spontaneous power 
 of God was the cause; but how can we doubt 
 that by the same power the germs of this new 
 life had been deposited long before in the bo- 
 som of the church. If, in these our days, any 
 one were to collect the immoralities and de- 
 grading vices that are committed in any single 
 
 country, such a mass of corruption would 
 doubtless be enough to shock every mind. 
 But the evil, at the period we speak of, bore a 
 character and universality that it has not borne 
 at any subsequent date; and above all, the 
 abomination stood in the holy places, which 
 it has not been permitted to do since the Re- 
 formation. 
 
 Moral conduct had declined with the life cf 
 faith. The tidings of the gift of eternal life 
 is the power of God to regenerate men. Once 
 take away the salvation which is God's gift, 
 and you take away sanctification and good 
 works : and this was the result. 
 
 The proclamation and sale of indulgences 
 powerfully stimulated an ignorant people to 
 immorality. It is true that, according to the 
 Church, they could benefit those only who 
 made and kept a promise of amendment. But 
 what could be expected from a doctrine in- 
 vented with a view to the profit to be gained 
 from it? The venders of indulgences were 
 naturally tempted to further the sale of their 
 merchandise by presenting them to the people 
 under the most attractive and seducing aspect ; 
 even the better instructed did not fully com- 
 prehend the doctrine in respect to them. All 
 that the multitude saw in them was a permis- 
 sion to sin ; and the sellers were in no haste 
 to remove an impression so favourable to the 
 sale. 
 
 What disorders, what crimes, in these ages 
 of darkness, in which impunity was acquired 
 by money ! What might not be feared when 
 a small contribution to the building of a 
 church was supposed to deliver from the pun- 
 ishments of a future world ! What hope of 
 revival when the communication between God 
 and man was at an end; and man, afar off 
 from God, who is spirit and life, moved only 
 in a circle of pitiful ceremonies and gross 
 practices, in an atmosphere of death. 
 
 The priests were the first who felt the effects 
 of this corrupting influence. Desiring to ex- 
 alt themselves, they had sunk themselves 
 lower. Infatuated men ! They aimed to rob 
 God of a ray of his glory, and to place it on 
 their own brows ; but their attempt had failed, 
 and they had received only a leaven of cor- 
 ruption from the power of evil. The annals 
 of the age swarm with scandals. In many 
 places the people were w T ell pleased that the 
 priest should have a woman in keeping, that 
 their wives might be safe from his seductions. 20 
 What scenes of humiliation were witnessed 
 in the house of the pastor! The wretched 
 man supported the mother and her children, 
 with the tithe and the offering ; 21 his conscience 
 was troubled; he blushed in presence of his 
 people, of his servants, and before God. The 
 mother, fearing to come to want when the 
 priest should die, provided against it before- 
 hand, and robbed the house. Her character 
 was gone: her children were a living accusa- 
 tion of her. Treated on all sides with con- 
 tempt, they plunged into brawls and debauch- 
 eries. Such was the family of the priests. 
 These horrid scenes were a kind of instruction 
 that the people were ready enough to follow. 22 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 13 
 
 The rural districts were the scene of nu- 
 merous excesses. The abodes of the clergy 
 were frequently the resorts of the dissolute. 
 Cornelius Adrian, at Bruges, 23 the Abbot. 
 Trinkler, at Cappel 24 imitated the customs of 
 the East, and had their harems. Priests, con- 
 sorted with abandoned characters, frequented 
 the taverns, played dice, and finished their 
 orgies by quarrels and blasphemy. 25 
 
 Tne council of Schaffhausen proriibited the 
 clergy from dancing in public except at wed- 
 dings; from carrying two kinds of weapons; 
 and decreed that a priest who should be found 
 in a house of ill-fame should be stripped of 
 his ecclesiastical habit. 26 In the archbishopric 
 of Mentz they scaled the walls in the night, 
 committed disturbances and disorders of all 
 kinds in the inns and taverns, and broke open 
 doors and locks. 27 In several places the priest 
 paid to the bishop a regular tax for the woman 
 with whom he lived, and for every child he 
 had by her. A German bishop, who was pre- 
 sent at a grand entertainment, publicly de- 
 clared that in one year eleven thousand priests 
 had presented themselves to him for that pur- 
 pose. It is Erasmus who records this. 28 
 
 The higher orders of the hierarchy were 
 equally corrupt. Dignitaries of the Church 
 preferred the tumult of camps to the service of 
 the altar. To be able, lance in hand, to com- 
 pel his neighbours to do him homage, was 
 one of the most conspicuous qualifications of 
 a bishop. Baldwin, archbishop of Treves, 
 Was constantly at war with his neighbours 
 and vassals; razing- their castles, building 
 fortresses of his own, and thinking only how 
 to enlarge his territory. A certain bishop of 
 Eichstadt, when dispensing justice, wore under 
 his habit a coat of mail, and held in his hand 
 a long sword. He used to say he did not fear 
 five Bavarians, provided they would but at- 
 tack him in the open field. 29 Everywhere the 
 bishops were engaged in constant war with 
 the towns; the citizens demanding freedom, 
 and the bishops requiring implicit obedience. 
 If the latter triumphed, they punished the re- 
 volters, by sacrificing numerous victims to 
 their vengeance ; but the flame of insurrection 
 broke out again at the very moment when it 
 was thought to be extinguished. 
 
 And what a spectacle was presented by the 
 Pontifical Throne in the generation imme- 
 diately preceding the Reformation ! Rome, 
 it must be acknowledged, has seldom been 
 witness to so much infamy. 
 
 Rodrigo Borgia, after living in illicit inter- 
 course with a Roman lady, had continued a 
 similar connection with one of her daughters, 
 by name Rosa Vanozza, by whom he had five 
 children. He was living at Rome with 
 Vanozza and other abandoned women, as 
 cardinal, and archbishop, visiting the churches 
 and hospitals, when the death of Innocent 
 VIII. created a vacancy in the Pontifical 
 chair. He succeeded in obtaining it by brib- 
 ing each of the cardinals at a stipulated price. 
 Four mules, laden with silver, were publicly 
 driven into the palace of Sforza, the most in- 
 fluential of the cardinals. Borgia became 
 
 Pope under the name of Alexander VI. and 
 rejoiced in the attainment of the pinnacle of 
 pleasures. 
 
 The very day of his coronation he created 
 his son Caesar, a ferocious and dissolute 
 youth, archbishop of Valencia and bishop of 
 Pampeluna. He next proceeded to celebrate 
 in the Vatican the nuptials of his daughter 
 Lucrezia, by festivities, at which his mistress 
 Julia Bella was present, and which were en- 
 livened by farces and indecent songs. " Most 
 of the ecclesiastics," says an historian, 30 "had 
 their mistresses, and all the convents of the 
 capital were houses of ill fame." Caesar 
 Borgia espoused the cause of the Guelphs, 
 and when by their assistance he had annihi- 
 lated the power of the Ghibelines, he turned 
 upon the Guelphs, arid crushed them in their 
 turn. But he would allow none to share in 
 the spoils of his atrocities. In the year 1497, 
 Alexander conferred upon his eldest son the 
 duchy of Benevento. The Duke suddenly 
 disappeared. That night a faggot-dealer on 
 the banks of the Tiber saw some persons 
 throw a corpse into the river ; but he said no- 
 thing of it, for such things were common. 
 The Duke's body was found. His brother 
 Csesar had been the instigator of the murder. 31 
 He did not stop there. His brother-in-law 
 stood in the way of his ambition. One day 
 Caesar caused him to be stabbed on the stair- 
 case of the Pope's palace, and he was carried 
 covered with blood to his own apartments. 
 His wife and sister never left him. Dreading 
 lest Caesar should employ poison, they were 
 accustomed to prepare his meals with their 
 own hands. Alexander placed guards before 
 his door, But Caesar ridiculed these precau- 
 tions, and on one occasion when the Pope 
 visited him dropped the remark, "What can- 
 not be done at dinner may be at supper." 
 Accordingly, he one day gained admittance to 
 the chamber of the wounded man, turned out 
 his wife and sister, and calling Michilotto, the 
 executioner of his horrors, and the only man 
 in whom he placed any confidence, commanded 
 him to strangle his victim before his eyes. 
 Alexander had a favourite named Peroto, 
 whose preferment offended the young Duke. 
 Caesar rushed upon him, Peroto sought refuge 
 under the Papal mantle, clasping the Pontiff 
 in his arms; Caesar stabbed him, and the 
 blood of the victim spirted in the Pontiff's 
 face. " The Pope," adds a contemporary and 
 witness of these atrocities, "loves the Duke 
 his son, and lives in great fear of him." Caesar 
 was one of the handsomest and most power- 
 ful men of his age. Six wild bulls fell be- 
 neath his hand in single combat. Nightly 
 assassinations took place in the streets of 
 Rome. Poison often destroyed those whom 
 the dagger could not reach. Every one feared 
 to move or breathe lest he should be the next 
 victim. Caesar Borgia was the hero of crime. 
 The spot on earth where all iniquity met and 
 overflowed was the Pontiff's seat. When 
 man has given himself over to the power of 
 evil, the higher his pretensions before God, 
 the lower he is seen to sink in the depths of 
 
14 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 J*ell. The dissolute entertainments given by 
 the Pope and his son Csesar and his daughter 
 Lucrezia, are such as can neither be described 
 nor thought of. The most impure groves of 
 ancient worship saw not the like. Historians 
 have accused Alexander and Lucrezia of in- 
 cest, but the charge is not sufficiently esta- 
 blished. The Pope, in order to rid himself 
 of a wealthy Cardinal, had prepared poison 
 in a small box of sweetmeats, which was to 
 be placed on the table after a sumptuous feast : 
 the Cardinal receiving a hint of the design, 
 gained over the attendant, and the poisoned 
 box was placed before Alexander. He ate of 
 it and perished. The whole city came to- 
 gether, and could hardly satiate themselves 
 with the sight of this dead viper. 32 
 
 Such was the man who filled the pontifical 
 throne at the commencement of the age of the 
 Reformation. 
 
 Thus the clergy had disgraced religion and 
 themselves. Well might a powerful voice 
 exclaim, " The ecclesiastic order is opposed 
 to God and to his glory. The people well 
 know it; and it is but too evident, from the 
 many songs, proverbs, and jests on the priests, 
 current amongst the common people, as also 
 from the figures of monks and priests scrawled 
 on the walls, and even on the playing cards, 
 that every one has a feeling of disgust at the 
 sight or name of a priest." It is Luther who 
 thus speaks. 33 
 
 The evil had spread through all ranks; a 
 spirit of delusion had been sent among men ; 
 the corruption of morals corresponded to the 
 corruption of the faith ; the mystery of iniquity 
 weighed down the enslaved Church of Christ. 
 Another consequence necessarily ensued 
 from the neglect into which the fundamental 
 doctrine of the Gospel had fallen. From the 
 darkness of the understanding resulted the 
 corruption of the heart. The priests having 
 taken into their own hands the dispensing a 
 salvation which belonged only to God, had 
 thereby secured a sufficient hold on the respect 
 of the people. What need had they to study 
 sacred learning ? It was no longer their office 
 to explain the Scriptures, but to grant letters 
 of indulgence ; and for the fulfilling of that 
 ministry, it was unnecessary to have acquired 
 any great learning. 
 
 In country parts, says Wimpheling, they 
 appointed as preachers poor wretches whom 
 they had taken from beggary, and who had 
 been cooks, musicians, huntsmen, stable boys, 
 and even worse. 34 
 
 The superior clergy themselves were sunk 
 in great ignorance. A bishop of Dunfeldt 
 congratulated himself on never having learned 
 Greek or Hebrew. The monks asserted that 
 all heresies arose from these languages, but 
 especially from the Greek. " The New Tes- 
 tament," said one of them, " is a book full of 
 serpents and thorns. Greek," continued he, 
 " is a modern language, but recently invented, 
 and against which we must be upon our guard. 
 As to Hebrew, my dear brethren, it is certain 
 that whoever studies that immediately becomes 
 a Jew." Heresbach, a friend of Erasmus, 
 
 and a respectable writer, reports these very 
 words. Thomas Linacer, a learned and cele- 
 brated divine, had never read the New Tes- 
 tament. Drawing near his end (in 1524) he 
 called for it, but quickly threw it from him 
 with an oath, because his eye had caught the 
 words, " But I say unto you, Swear not at 
 all." "Either this is not the Gospel," said 
 he, " or we are not Christians." Even the 
 school of theology in Paris did not scruple to 
 declare before the Parliament, " There is an 
 end of religion if the study of Hebrew and 
 Greek is permitted." 35 
 
 If here and there among the clergy some 
 learning existed, it was not in sacred litera- 
 ture. The Ciceronians of Italy affected a 
 great contempt for the Bible on account of its 
 style : men who arrogated to themselves the 
 title of Priests of Christ's Church translated 
 the words of the Holy Ghost into the style of 
 Virgil and of Horace, to accommodate them 
 to the ears of men of taste. The Cardinal 
 Bembo wrote always, instead of the Holy 
 Spirit, " the breath of the celestial zephyr ;" 
 for remission of sins he substituted the " pity 
 of the Manes and of the Gods ;" and instead 
 of Christ the Son of God, " Minerva sprung 
 from the brows of Jupiter." Finding one day 
 the respectable Sadoletus employed on a trans- 
 lation of the Epistle to the Romans, "Leave 
 these childish productions," said he, "such 
 puerilities do not become a sensible man." 36 
 
 Behold some of the consequences of the 
 system that then weighed down Christendom. 
 This picture no doubt exhibits in strong co- 
 lours both the corruption of the Church and 
 the need of reformation. It is for that reason 
 we have sketched it. The vital doctrines of 
 Christianity had almost disappeared, and with 
 them the life and light which constitute the 
 essence of true religion. The internal strength 
 of the Church was gone, and its lifeless and 
 exhausted frame lay stretched over the Roman 
 world. 
 
 Who shall give it new life 1 Whence shall 
 we look for a remedy for so many evils'? 
 
 For ages a reformation in the church had 
 been loudly called for, and all the powers o* 
 this world had attempted it. But God alone 
 could bring it to pass. And he began by 
 humbling the power of man, that he might ex- 
 hibit man's helplessness. We see human 
 assailants, one after another, fail and break to 
 pieces at the feet of the Colossus they under- 
 took to cast down. 
 
 First temporal princes resisted Rome. The 
 whole power of the Hohenstaufens, heroes 
 who wore the Imperial crown, seemed directed 
 to humble and reform Rome, and deliver the 
 nations, and especially Germany, from her ty- 
 ranny. But the castle of Canossa gave proof 
 of the weakness of the Imperial power against 
 the usurped dominion of the Church. A war- 
 like prince, the Emperor Henry IV., after a 
 long and fruitless struggle against Rome, was 
 reduced to pass three days and nights in the 
 trenches of that Italian fortress, exposed to the 
 winter's cold, stripped of his imperial robes, 
 barefoot, in a scanty woollen garment, implor- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 15 
 
 ing with tears and cries the pity of Hilde- 
 brand, before whom he kneeled, and who, 
 after three nights of lamentation, relaxed his 
 papal inflexibility, and pardoned the suppliant. 37 
 Behold the power of the high and mighty of 
 the earth, of kings and emperors against Rome ! 
 
 To them succeeded adversaries perhaps 
 more formidable, men of genius and learn- 
 ing. Learning awoke in Italy, and its awaken- 
 ing was with an energetic protest against the 
 Papacy. Dante, the father of Italian poetry, 
 boldly placed in his Hell the most powerful of 
 the Popes ; he introduced St. Peter in heaven 
 pronouncing stern and crushing censures on 
 his unworthy successors, and drew horrible 
 descriptions of the monks and .clergy. Pe- 
 trarch, that eminent genius, of a mind so su- 
 perior to all the emperors and popes of his 
 time, boldly called for the re-establishment of 
 the primitive order of the Church. For this 
 purpose he invoked the efforts of the age and 
 the power of the emperor Charles VII. Lau- 
 rentius Valla, one of the most learned men of 
 Italy, attacked with spirit the pretensions of 
 the Popes, and their asserted inheritance from 
 Constantine. A legion of poets, learned men, 
 and philosophers, followed in their track ; the 
 torch of learning was everywhere kindled, 
 and threatened to reduce to ashes the Romish 
 scaffolding that intercepted its beams. But 
 every effort failed; Pope Leo X. enlisted 
 among the supporters and satellites of his 
 court, literature, poetry, sciences and arts ; 
 and these came numbly kissing the feet of a 
 power that in their boasted infancy they had 
 attempted to dethrone. Behold the power of 
 Jotters and philosophy against Rome ! 
 
 At last an agency which promised more 
 ability to reform the church came forward. 
 This was the Church itself. At the call for 
 Reformation, reiterated on all sides, and which 
 had been heard for ages past, that most impos- 
 ing of ecclesiastical conclaves, the Council 
 of Constance, assembled. An immense num- 
 ber of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, eighteen 
 hundred doctors of divinity and priests ; the 
 Emperor himself, with a retinue of a thousand 
 persons ; the Elector of Saxony, the Elector 
 Palatine, the Duke of Bavaria and Austria, 
 and ambassadors from all nations, gave to this 
 assembly an air of authority, unprecedented 
 in the history of Christianity. Above the rest, 
 we must mention the illustrious and immortal 
 doctors of the University of Paris, the Aillys, 
 the Gersons, the Clemangnis, those men of 
 piety, learning, and courage, who by their 
 writings and eloquence communicated to the 
 Council an energetic and salutary direction. 
 Every thing bowed before this assembly ; with 
 one hand it deposed three Popes at once, while 
 with the other it delivered John Huss to the 
 flames. A commission was named, composed 
 of deputies from different nations, to propose 
 a fundamental reform. The Emperor Sigis- 
 mund supported the proposition with the whole 
 weight of his power. The Council were unani- 
 mous. The cardinals all took an oath that 
 he among them who should be elected Pope 
 would not dissolve the assembly, nor leave 
 
 Constance before the desired reformation 
 should be accomplished. Colonna was chosen 
 under the name of Martin V. The moment 
 was come which was to decide the Reform of 
 the Church; all the prelates, the Emperor, the 
 princes, and the representatives of different na- 
 tions, awaited the result with intense desire. 
 ** The Council is at an cnrf," exclaimed Martin 
 V. as soon as he had placed the tiara on his 
 brow. Sigismund and the clergy uttered a 
 cry of surprise, indignation, and grief; but 
 that cry was lost upon the winds. On the 
 16th of May, 1418, the Pope, arrayed in the 
 pontifical garments, mounted a mule richly 
 caparisoned; the Emperor was on his right 
 hand, the Elector of Brandenburg on his left, 
 each holding the reins of his palfrey ; four 
 counts supported over the Pope's head a mag- 
 nificent canopy ; several princes surrounded 
 him bearing the trappings; and a mounted 
 train of forty thousand persons, says an histo- 
 rian, composed of nobles, knights, and clergy 
 of all ranks, joined in the solemn procession 
 outside the walls of Constance. Then indeed 
 did ROME, in the person of her pontiff sitting 
 on a mule, inwardly deride the superstition 
 that surrounded her; then did she give proof 
 that to humble her a power must be exerted 
 far different from any thing that could be put 
 in motion by emperors, or kings, or bishops, 
 or doctors of divinity, or all the learning of 
 the age and of the church. 
 
 How could the Reformation proceed from 
 the very thing to be reformed \ How could 
 the wound find in itself the elements of its 
 curel 
 
 Nevertheless the means employed to reform 
 the Church, and which the result showed to 
 be inefficacious, contributed to weaken the 
 obstacles and prepared the ground for the Re- 
 formers. 
 
 The evils which then afflicted Christendom, 
 namely, superstition, incredulity, ignorance, 
 unprofitable speculation, and corruption of 
 morals, evils naturally engendered in the 
 hearts of men, were not new on the earth. 
 They had made a great figure in the history 
 of nations. They had invaded, especially in 
 the East, different religious systems, which 
 had seen their times of glory. Those enervated 
 systems had sunk under these evils, and not 
 one of them had ever arisen from its fall. 
 
 And was Christianity now to undergo the 
 same destiny ? Was it to be lost like those 
 old religions of the nations'? Was the blow 
 that had doomed them to death to be of power 
 to destroy it 1 Was there nothing to secure 
 its preservation! And these opposing forces 
 which overflowed it, and which had al- 
 ready dethroned so many various systems of 
 worship, were they indeed to have power to 
 seat themselves without resistance on the 
 ruins of the Church of Jesus Christ? 
 
 No: there is in Christianity that which 
 j there was not in any of these national systems. 
 { It does not, like them, offer certain general 
 ! ideas, mixed with tradition and fables, des- 
 | tined, sooner or later, to fall before the march 
 I of human reason ; but it contains within it pure 
 
16 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Truth, built upon facts which challenge the 
 scrutiny of any upright and enlightened mind 
 Christianity has for its object not merely t< 
 excite in man certain vague religious feelings 
 of which the impression, once forgotten, can 
 never be revived; its object is to satisfy, am 
 it does in reality satisfy, all the religious wants 
 of human nature, in whatever degree that na 
 ture may be developed. It is not the contri 
 vance of man, whose works pass away and art 
 forgotten, but it is the work of God, who up> 
 holds what he creates ; and it has the promises 
 of its Divine Author for the pledge of its dura 
 tion. 
 
 It is impossible that human nature can ever 
 be above the need of Christianity. And if 
 ever man has for a time fancied that he coulc 
 do without it, it has soon appeared to him 
 clotned in fresh youth and vigour, as the only 
 cure for the human soul ; and the degenerate 
 nations have returned with new ardour to 
 those ancient, simple, and powerful truths, 
 which in the hour of their infatuation they 
 despised. 
 
 In fact, Christianity displayed, in the 16th 
 century, the same regenerative power which 
 it had exercised in the first. After the lapse 
 of fifteen hundred years, the same truths pro- 
 duced the same effects. In the days of the 
 Reformation, as in the days of Peter and Paul, 
 the Gospel, with invincible energy, over- 
 came mighty obstacles. The efficacy of its 
 sovereign power was displayed from north to 
 south; amidst nations differing most widely 
 in manners, in character, and in civilization. 
 Then, as in the times of Stephen and of James, 
 it kindled the fire of enthusiasm and devotion 
 in the midst of the general deadness, and raised 
 on all sides the spirit of martyrs. 
 
 How was this revival in the Church and 
 in the world brought to pass 1 
 
 An observant mind might then have dis- 
 cerned two laws by which God governs the 
 course of events. 
 
 He first prepares slowly and from afar that 
 which he designs to accomplish. He has 
 ages in which to work, 
 
 Then, when his time is come, he effects the 
 greatest results by the smallest means. He 
 acts thus in nature and in providence. For 
 the production of a gigantic tree, He deposits 
 in the earth a tiny seed ; for the renovation of 
 his church, He makes use of the meanest in- 
 strument to accomplish what emperors, learn- 
 ed men, and even the heads of that church 
 have failed to effect ! We shall shortly have 
 to investigate and bring to light this little seed 
 that a divine hand placed in the earth in the 
 days of the Reformation. We must now 
 distinguish and recognise the different methods 
 by which God prepared the way for the great 
 change. 
 
 We will first survey the condition of the 
 Papacy ; and from thence we will carry our 
 view over the different influences which God 
 caused to concur to the accomplishment of 
 his purposes. 
 
 At the period when the Reformation was on 
 the point of breaking forth, Rome appeared in 
 
 peace and safety. One might have said that 
 nothing could for the future disturb her tri- 
 umph. She had gained great and decisive 
 victories. The general councils, those upper 
 and lower senates of Catholicism, had been 
 subdued. The Vaudois and the Hussites had 
 been put down. No university, (except per- 
 haps that of Paris, which sometimes raised 
 its voice at the instance of its kings,) 
 doubted of the infallibility of the oracles of 
 Rome. Every one seemed to take part with 
 its power. The superior clergy preferred 
 to give to a remote head the tenth of their 
 revenues, and quietly to consume the remain- 
 der to the hazarding of all for the acquisition 
 of an independence which would cost dear, 
 and bring little advantage. The humbler 
 clergy, before whom were spread the prospects 
 and baits of higher dignities, were willing to 
 purchase these cherished hopes by a little 
 slavery. Add to which, they were every- 
 where so overawed by the heads of the hie- 
 rarchy, that they could scarcely move under 
 their powerful hands, and much less raise 
 themselves and make head against them. 
 The people bowed the knee before the Roman 
 altar, and even kings, who began in secret to 
 despise the Bishop of Rome, could not have 
 dared to raise the hand against it, lest they 
 should be reputed guilty of sacrilege. 
 
 But if at the time when the Reformation 
 broke out, opposition seemed outwardly to 
 have subsided, or even ceased altogether, its 
 internal strength had increased. If we take 
 a nearer view, we discern more than one symp- 
 tom which presaged the decline of Rome. The 
 general councils, had, in their fall, diffused 
 their principles through the Church, and car- 
 ried disunion into the camp of those who im- 
 pugned them. The defenders of the hierarchy 
 had separated into two parties; those who 
 maintained the system of the absolute power 
 of the Pope, according to the maxims of Hilde- 
 brand ; and those who desired a constitutional 
 Papacy, offering securities and liberty to the 
 churches. 
 
 To this we may add, that in all parties faith 
 n the infallibility of the Roman bishop had 
 seen rudely shaken. If no voice was raised 
 to attack him, it was because every one was 
 anxious to retain the little faith he still pos- 
 sessed. The slightest shock was dreaded, 
 est it should overturn the edifice. The 
 Christianity of the age held in its breath ; but 
 t was to avoid a calamity in which it feared 
 ;o perish. From the moment when man 
 ;rembles to quit a once venerated creed, he 
 no longer holds it, and he will soon abandon 
 ts very semblance. 
 
 Let us see what had brought about this 
 singular posture of mind. The church itself 
 was the primary cause. The errors and super- 
 thions she had introduced into Christianity, 
 were not, properly speaking, what had so fatal- 
 y wounded her. This might indeed be thought 
 f the nations of Christendom had risen above 
 he Church in intellectual and religious de- 
 elopement. But there was an aspect of the 
 uestion level to the observation of the laity, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 17 
 
 and it was under that view that the Church 
 was judged : it was become altogether earth- 
 ly. That priestly sway which governed the 
 world, and which could not subsist but by the 
 power of illusion, and of that halo which in- 
 vested it, had forgotten its true nature, and 
 Jeft Heaven and its sphere of light and glory, 
 to immerse itself in the low interests of citi- 
 zens and princes. Born to the representation 
 of the spirit, the priesthood had forsaken the 
 spirit for the flesh. They had thrown aside 
 the treasures of learning and the spiritual pow- 
 er of the word, and taken up the brute force 
 and false glory of the age: and this had 
 naturally resulted. It was truly the spiritual 
 order that the Church had at first attempted 
 to defend. But to protect it against the re- 
 sistance and invasion of the nations, she had 
 from false policy had recourse to earthly in- 
 struments and vulgar weapons. When once 
 the Church had begun to handle these wea- 
 pons, her spiritual essence was lost. Her 
 arm could not become carnal without her 
 heart becoming the same ; and the world soon 
 saw her former character inverted. She had 
 attempted to use earth in defence of Heaven : 
 she now employed Heaven itself to defend 
 earthly possessions. Theocratic forms be- 
 came, in her hands, only instruments of world- 
 ly schemes. The offerings which the people 
 laid at the feet of the sovereign pontiff of 
 Christendom, were used to support the luxury 
 of his court, and the charge of his armies. 
 His spiritual power supplied the steps by 
 which he placed his feet above the kings and 
 nations of the earth. The charm was dis- 
 pelled ; and the power of the Church was 
 gone, from, the hour that men could say, " she 
 is become as one of us." 
 
 The great were the first to scrutinize the 
 title to this supposed power. 38 The very ques- 
 tioning of it might possibly have sufficed to 
 overturn Rome. But it was a favorable cir- 
 cumstance on her side, that the education of 
 the princes was everywhere in the hands of 
 her adepts. These persons inculcated in their 
 noble pupils a veneration for the Roman pon- 
 tiffs. The chiefs of nations grew up in the 
 sanctuary of the C hurch . Princes of ordinary 
 minds scarce ever got beyond it. Many even 
 desired nothing better than to be found with- 
 in it at the close of life. They chose to die 
 wearing a monk's cowl rather than a crown. 
 
 Italy was mainly instrumental in enlighten- 
 ing the sovereigns of Europe. They had to 
 contract alliances with the Popes, which had 
 reference to the temporal Prince of the States 
 of the Church, and not to the Bishop of bish- 
 ops. Kings were much astonished to find 
 the Popes ready to sacrifice some of the assert- 
 ed rights of the Pontiff, that they might retain 
 the advantages of the Prince. They saw these 
 eelt-styled organs of truth resort to all the 
 petty artifices of policy, deceit, dissimulation, 
 and even perjury. 39 Then it was that the 
 bandage that education had drawn over the 
 eyes of secular princes fell off. It was then 
 that the artful Ferdinand of Arragon had re- 
 course to stratagem against stratagem ; it was 
 
 then that the impetuous Louis XII. struck a 
 medal with this legend, Perdarn Babylonis 
 nomen.-* and the respectable Maximilian of 
 Austria, grieved at hearing of the treachery of 
 Leo X., exclaimed, " This Pope, like the rest, 
 is in my judgment a scoundrel. Henceforth 
 I can say that in all my life no Pope has 
 kept his faith or word with me. I hope, if 
 God be willino-, that this one will be the last 
 of them." 40 
 
 Discoveries of this sort made by kings 
 gradually took effect upon the people. Many 
 other causes had unclosed the long sealed eyes 
 of Christian nations. The most reflecting be- 
 gan to accustom themselves to the idea that 
 the Bishop of Rome was a man, and some- 
 times even a very bad man. The people be- 
 gan to suspect that he was not much holier 
 than their own bishops, whose characters 
 were very doubtful. But the popes them- 
 selves contributed more than any single cause 
 to their own dishonour. Released from con- 
 straint after the Council of Basle, they gave 
 themselves up to the boundless licentiousness 
 of victory. Even the dissolute Romans shud- 
 dered. The rumours of these disorders spread 
 through other countries. The people, incapa- 
 ble of arresting the torrent that swept their 
 treasure into this gulf of profligacy, sought 
 amends in hatred. 41 
 
 Whilst many circumstances contributed to 
 sap what then existed, there were others lend- 
 ing to the production of something new. 
 
 The singular system of theology that had 
 established itself in the Church, was fitted 
 powerfully to assist in opening the eyes of 
 the rising generation. Formed for a dark age, 
 as if the darkness were to endure forever, this 
 system was destined to be superseded and scat- 
 tered to the winds as soon as the age should 
 outgrow it. And this took place. The Popes 
 had added now this, and now that article to 
 the Christian doctrine. They had changed or 
 removed only what could not be made to square 
 with their hierarchy ; what was not opposed 
 to their policy was allowed to remain during 
 pleasure. There were in this system true 
 doctrines, such as redemption, the power of 
 the Spirit of God, &c., which an able theolo- 
 gian, if one had been found, could have used 
 to combat and overturn the rest. The pure 
 gold mixed with the baser metal in the mint 
 of the Vatican, was enough to reveal the fraud. 
 It is true that if any courageous opponent took 
 notice of it, the winnowing fan of Rome was 
 immediately set to work to cast the pure grain 
 forth. But these rejections and condemna- 
 tions did but augment the confusion. 
 
 That confusion was without bounds, and 
 the asserted unity was but one vast disorder. 
 At Rome there were the doctrines of the Court, 
 and the doctrines of the Church. The faith 
 of the metropolis differed from that of the pro- 
 vinces. Even in the provinces there was an 
 infinite diversity of opinion. There was the 
 creed of princes, of people, and, above all, of 
 the religious orders. There were the opinions 
 
 * I will extirpate the name of Babylon. 
 
18 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of this convent, of that district, of this doctor, 
 and of that monk. 
 
 Truth, that it might pass safe through the 
 period when Rome would have crushed it with 
 her iron sceptre, had acted like the insect that 
 weaves with its threads the chrysalis in which 
 it envelopes itself during the winter. And, 
 strange to say, the means that had served in 
 this way to preserve the truth, were the scho- 
 lastic divines so much decried. These inge- 
 nious artisans of thought had strung together 
 all the current theological notions, and of these 
 threads they had formed a net, under which it 
 would have been difficult for more skilful per- 
 sons than their contemporaries to recognise 
 the truth in its first purity. We may regret, 
 that the insect, full of life^ and so lately shining 
 with the brightest colours, should wrap itself 
 in its dark and seemingly inanimate covering; 
 but that covering preserves it. It was thus 
 with the truth. If the interested and suspi- 
 cious policy of Rome, in the days of her power, 
 had met with the naked truth, she would have 
 destroyed it, or, at least, endeavoured to do so. 
 Disguised as it was by the divines of that pe- 
 riod, under endless subtleties and distinctions, 
 the Popes did not recognise it, or else per- 
 ceived that while in that state it could not 
 trouble them. They took under their protec- 
 tion both the artisans and their handy-work. 
 But the spring might come, when the hidden 
 truth might lift its head, and throw off all the 
 threads which covered it. Having acquired 
 fresh vigour in its seeming tomb, the world 
 might behold it in the days of its resurrection, 
 obtain the victory over Rome and all her er- 
 rors. This spring arrived. At the same time 
 that the absurd coverings of the scholastic di- 
 vines fell, one after another, beneath the skil- 
 ful attacks or derisions of a new generation, 
 the truth escaped from its concealment in full 
 youth and beauty. 
 
 It was not only from the writings of the 
 scholastic divines that powerful testimony was 
 rendered to the truth. Christianity had every- 
 where mingled something of its own life with 
 the life of the people. The Church of Christ 
 was a dilapidated building: but in digging 
 there were in some parts discovered in its 
 foundations the living rock on which it had 
 been first built. Some institutions which bore 
 date from the best ages of the Church still ex- 
 isted, and could not fail to awaken in many 
 minds evangelical sentiments opposed to the 
 reigning superstition. The inspired writers, 
 the earliest teachers of the Church, whose 
 writings were deposited in different libraries, 
 uttered here and there a solitary voice. It was 
 doubtless heard in silence by many an atten- 
 tive ear. Let us not doubt (and it is a consol- 
 ing thought) that Christians had many breth- 
 ren and sisters in those very monasteries where- 
 in we are too apt to see nothing but hypocri- 
 sy and dissoluteness. 
 
 It was not only old things that prepared the 
 revival of religion; there was also something' 
 new which tended powerfully to favour it. ; 
 The human mind was advancing. This fact 
 alone would have brought on its enfranchise- i 
 
 ment. The shrub as it increases in its growth 
 throws down the walls near which it was 
 planted, and substitutes its own shade for theirs. 
 The high priest of Rome had made himself 
 the guardian of the nations. His superiority 
 of understanding had rendered this office easy ; 
 and for a long time he kept them in a state of 
 tutelage and forced subjection. But they were 
 now growing and breaking bounds on all sides. 
 This venerable guardianship, which had its 
 origin in the principles of eternal life and of 
 civilization, communicated by Rome to the 
 barbarous nations, could no longer be exer- 
 cised without resistance. A formidable ad ver- 
 versary had taken up a position opposed to her, 
 and sought to control her. The natural dis- 
 position of the human mind to develope itself, 
 to examine and to acquire knowledge, had 
 given birth to this new power. Men's eyes 
 were opening: they demanded a reason for 
 every step from this long respected conductor, 
 under whose guidance they had marched in 
 silence, so long as their eyes were closed. 
 The infancy of the nations of Modern Europe 
 was passed ; a period of ripe age was arrived. 
 To a credulous simplicity, disposed to believe 
 every thing, had succeeded a spirit of curiosi- 
 ty, an intelligence impatient to discover the 
 foundations of things. They asked of each 
 other what was the design of 'God in speaking 
 to the world 1 and whether men had a right to 
 set themselves up as mediators between God 
 and their brethren] One thing alone could 
 have saved the Church ; a'nd this was to rise 
 still higher than the laity. To keep on a level 
 with them was not enough. But, on the con- 
 trary, the Church was greatly behind them. It 
 began to decline just when they began to 
 arise. While the laity were ascending in the 
 scale of intelligence, the priesthood was ab- 
 sorbed in earthly pursuits and worldly in- 
 terests. A like phenomenon has been often 
 seen in history. The eaglet had become full- 
 fledged, and there was none who could reach 
 it or prevent its taking flight. 
 
 Whilst in Europe the light was thus issuing 
 from the prisons in which it had been held 
 captive, the East was sending new lights to 
 the West. The standard of the Osmanlis, 
 planted in 1453 on the walls of Constantino- 
 ple, had driven thence the learned of that city. 
 They had carried Grecian literature into Italy. 
 The torch of antiquity rekindled the intellec- 
 tual flame which had for so many ages been ex- 
 tinguished. Printing, then recently discover- 
 ed, multiplied the energetic protests against 
 the corruption of the Church, and the not less 
 powerful calls which summoned the human 
 mind to new paths. There was at that time, 
 as it were, a burst of light. Errors and vain 
 ceremonies were exposed. But this light, 
 well suited to destroy, was most unfit to build 
 up. It was not given to Homer or Virgil to 
 rescue the Church. 
 
 The revival of letters, of science, and of the 
 arts, was not the moving principle of the Re- 
 formation. We may rather say that the Pa- 
 ganism of the poets, when it re-appeared in 
 Italy, brought with it the Paganism of the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 19 
 
 heart. Vain superstitions were attacked ; 
 but it was incredulity that established itself 
 in their stead, with a smile of disdain and 
 mockery. Ridicule of all things, even the 
 most sacred, was the fashion, and deemed the 
 mark of wit. Religion was regarded only as 
 an instrument of government. " I have one 
 fear," exclaimed Erasmus in 1516, * it is that 
 with the study of ancient literature the ancient 
 Paganism should re-appear." 
 
 True, the world saw then, as after the 
 mockeries of the Augustan age, and as in our 
 own times after those of the last century, a 
 new Platonic Philosophy, which, in its turn, at- 
 tacked this impudent incredulity; and sought, 
 like the philosophy of our own days, to inspire 
 respect for Christianity, and re-animate the 
 sentiments of religion. At Florence the Medici 
 favoured these efforts of the Platonists. But 
 never can philosophical religion regenerate the 
 Church or the World. Proud despising the 
 preaching of the cross pretending to see in 
 the Christian dogmas only types and symbols 
 unintelligible to the majority of minds it may 
 evaporate in mystical enthusiasm, but must 
 ever be powerless to reform or to save. 
 
 What then would have ensued if true 
 Christianity had not re-appeared in the world 
 and if true faith had not replenished the 
 heart with its strength and holiness ? The 
 Reformation saved religion, and with it so- 
 ciety. If the Church of Rome had had at 
 heart the glory of God, and the happiness of 
 nations, she would have welcomed the Refor- 
 mation with joy. But what were these to a 
 LeoX? 
 
 In Germany, the study of ancient learning 
 had effects the very reverse of those which 
 attended it in Italy and France. It was 
 * mixed with faith.' What had, in the latter, 
 produced only a certain trivial and sterile re- 
 finement of taste, penetrated the lives and 
 habits of the Germans, warmed their hearts, 
 and prepared them for a better light. The 
 first restorers of letters in Italy and in France 
 were remarkable for their levity; often for 
 their immorality. The German followers, 
 with a grave spirit, sought zealously for truth. 
 There was formed in that country a union of 
 free, learned, and generous individuals, among 
 whom were some of the princes of the land, 
 and who laboured to render science useful to 
 religion. Some of them brought to their stu- 
 dies the humble teachableness of children : 
 others an enlightened and penetrating judg- 
 ment, inclined perhaps to overstep the limits 
 of sound and deliberate criticism; but both 
 contributed to clear the passages of the tem- 
 ple, hitherto obstructed by so many supersti- 
 tions. 
 
 The monkish theologians perceived the 
 danger, and they began to clamour against the 
 very same studies that they had tolerated in 
 Italy and France, because they were there mix- 
 efl v/ith levity and dissoluteness. A conspiracy 
 was entered, into against languages and sci- 
 ences, for in their rear they perceived the true 
 faith. One day a monk, cautioning some one 
 against the heresies of Erasmus, was asked 
 
 " in what they consisted ?" He confessed he 
 had not read the work he spoke of, and could 
 but allege "that it was written in too good 
 Latin." 
 
 Still all these exterior causes would have 
 been insufficient to prepare the renovation of 
 the Church. 
 
 Christianity had declined, because the two 
 guiding truths of the new covenant had been 
 lost. The first, in contradistinction to Church 
 assumption, is the immediate relation existing 
 between every individual soul and the Foun- 
 tain of Truth-r-the second, (and this stood 
 directly opposed to the idea of merit in human 
 works,) is the doctrine of salvation by Grace. 
 Of these two principles, immutable and im- 
 mortal in themselves, forever true, however 
 slighted or corrupted, which, it might then 
 have been asked, was to be first set in mo- 
 tion, and give the regenerative impulse to the 
 Church 1 Was it to be the former, the prin- 
 ciple of Church authority? Or was it to be 
 the latter, the energy of the Spirit] In our 
 days men pretend to operate through the social 
 condition upon the soul ; through human na- 
 ture in genera], upon individual character. It 
 will be concluded that the principle of a 
 Church was prominent in the movement: 
 History has shown the very contrary : it has 
 proved that it is by individual influence that 
 an impression is produced on the community, 
 and that the first step toward restoring the 
 social condition is to regenerate the soul. 
 All the efforts for amelioration witnessed in 
 the middle ages arose out of religious feeling ; 
 the question of authority was never mooted 
 till men were compelled to defend against the 
 hierarchy the newly discovered truth. It was 
 the same in later times, in Luther's case. 
 When the Truth that saves appears on the one 
 side, sustained by the authority of God's word, 
 and on the other, the Error that destroys, 
 backed by the power of the Roman hierarchy, 
 Christians cannot long hesitate; and in spite 
 of the most specious sophisms and the fairest 
 credentials, the claim to authority is soon dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 The Church had fallen because the great 
 doctrine of Justification through faith in Christ 
 had been lost. It was therefore necessary that 
 this doctrine should be restored to her before 
 she could arise. Whenever this fundamental 
 truth should be restored, all the errors and 
 devices which had usurped its place, the train 
 of saints, works, penances, masses, and indul- 
 gences would vanish. The moment the ONE 
 Mediator and his ONE sacrifice were acknow- 
 ledged, all other mediators, and all other 
 sacrifices, would disappear. "This article 
 of justification," says one* whom we may look 
 upon as enlightened on the subject, " is that 
 which forms the Church, nourishes it, builds 
 it up, preserves and defends it. No one can 
 well teach in the Church, or successfully re- 
 sist its adversary, if he continue not in his 
 attachment to this grand truth." "It is," 
 adds the Reformer, referring to the earliest 
 
 * Luther to Brentius. 
 C 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 prophecy, " the heel that crushes the serpent' 
 head." 
 
 God, who was then preparing his work 
 raised up, during a long course of ages, a sue 
 cession of witnesses to this truth. But th 
 generous men, who bore testimony to thi 
 truth, did not clearly comprehend it, or a 
 least did not know how to bring it distinctl} 
 forward. Incapable of accomplishing the 
 work, they were well suited to prepare it 
 We may add also, that if they were not pre 
 pared for this work, the work itself was no 
 ready for them. The measure was not ye 
 full the need of the true remedy was not ye 
 felt so extensively as was necessary. 
 
 Thus, instead of felling the tree at the roo 
 by preaching chiefly and earnestly the doc- 
 trine of salvation by grace, they confinec 
 themselves to questions of ceremonies, to th 
 government of the Church, to forms of wor- 
 ships, to the adoration of saints and images 
 or to the transubstantiation, &c. ; and thus 
 limiting their efforts to the branches, they 
 might succeed in pruning the tree here anc 
 there, but they left it still standing. In order 
 to a salutary reformation without, there mus 
 be a real reformation within. And faith alone 
 can effect this. 
 
 Scarcely had Rome usurped power before a 
 vigorous opposition was formed against her; 
 and this endured throughout the middle ages 
 
 Archbishop Claudius of Turin, in the ninth 
 century, Peter of Bruys, his pupil Henry 
 Arnold of Brescia, in the twelfth century, in 
 France and Italy, laboured to restore the wor- 
 ship of God in spirit and in truth ; but they 
 sought that worship too much in the riddance 
 from images and outward ceremony. 
 
 The Mystics, who have existed in almost 
 every age, seeking in silence, holiness, righ- 
 teousness of life, and quiet communion with 
 God, beheld with alarm and sorrow the 
 wretched condition of the Church. They 
 carefully abstained from the quarrels of the 
 schools, and all the unprofitable discussions 
 beneath which true piety had been well nigh 
 buried. They laboured to turn men from the 
 empty form of an outward worship, from noise 
 and pomp of ceremonies, that they might lead 
 them to the inward peace of the soul that 
 seeks all its happiness in God. They could 
 not do this without coming in collision with 
 all the received opinions, and exposing the 
 wounds of the Church; but still even they 
 had no clear views of the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith. 
 
 Far superior to the Mystics in purity of doc- 
 trine, the Vaudois formed a long-continued 
 chain of witnesses for the truth. Men more 
 free than the rest of the Church appear from 
 early times to have inhabited the summits of 
 the Piedmontese Alps. Their numbers had 
 increased, and their doctrine had been purified 
 by the disciples of Valdo. From the heights 
 of their mountains the Vaudois protested for 
 ages against the superstitions of Rome. 42 
 "They contended," said they, "for their 
 lively hope in God through Christ; for re- 
 generation and inward renewal by faith, hope, 
 
 and charity; for the merits of Christ, and the 
 all-sufficiency of his grace and righteousness." 43 
 
 And yet this primary truth of the Justifica- 
 tion of the sinner, which ought to rise pre- 
 eminent above other doctrines, like Mount 
 Blanc above the surrounding Alps, was not 
 sufficiently prominent in their system. 
 
 Pierre Vaud, or Valdo, a rich merchant of 
 Lyons, (A. D. 1170,) sold all his goods and 
 gave to the poor. He and his friends appear 
 to have had for their object to re-establish in 
 the intercourse of life the perfection of primi- 
 tive Christianity. He began then, like others, 
 at the branches, and not at the root. Never- 
 theless his preaching was powerful; for he 
 recalled the minds of his hearers to the Scrip- 
 tures which menaced the Roman hierarchy in 
 its foundation. 
 
 In 1360, Wicklif made his appearance in 
 England, and appealed from the Pope to the 
 Word of God ; but the real inward wound of 
 the Church appeared to him as only one of 
 many symptoms of its malady. 
 
 John Huss preached in Bohemia a century 
 before Luther appeared in Saxony. He 
 seemed to enter more deeply than all who had 
 gone before him into the essence of Christian 
 truth. He besought Christ to grant him grace 
 to glory only in his cross, and in the inesti- 
 mable humiliation of his sufferings. But he 
 attacked rather the lives of the clergy than 
 the errors of the Church. And yet he was, 
 if we may be allowed the expression, the 
 John the Baptist of the Reformation. The 
 flames of his martyrdom kindled a fire which 
 shed an extensive light in the midst of the 
 general gloom, and was destined not to be 
 speedily extinguished. 
 
 John Huss did more: prophetic words re- 
 sounded from the depths of his dungeon. He 
 foresaw that a real reformation of the Church 
 was at hand. When driven from Prague, and 
 compelled to wander in the fields of Bohe- 
 mia, where he was followed by an immense 
 crowd eager to catch his words, he exclaimed : 
 The wicked have begun by laying treache- 
 rous snares for the goose.* But if even the 
 goose, which is only a domestic fowl, a tame 
 creature, and unable to rise high in the air, 
 has yet broken their snares, other birds, whose 
 flight carries them boldly towards heaven, will 
 break them with much more power. Instead 
 of a feeble goose, the truth will send forth 
 eagles and keen-eyed falcons." 44 The Reform- 
 ers fulfilled this prediction. 
 
 And when the venerable priest was sum- 
 moned, by order of Sigismund. before the 
 Council of Constance, and cast into prison, 
 he chapel of Bethlehem, where he had pro- 
 claimed the Gospel and the future triumph of 
 Christ, employed his thoughts more than his 
 >wn defence. One night, the holy martyr 
 bought he saw from the depths of his dungeon 
 he pictures of Christ, which he had painted 
 n the walls of his oratory, effaced by the 
 -"ope and his bishops. This dream distressed 
 lim. Next night he saw several painters 
 
 * The word Huss in Bohemian signifying goose. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 in restoring the figures in greater | many convents may have concealed similar 
 arid more vivid colouring; and this treasures! 
 
 the painters, surrounded by But these holy men only held this faith 
 themselves, and did not know how to commti- 
 
 engagect 
 
 numbers 
 
 work performed, 
 
 an immense multitude, exclaimed: 
 
 Now 
 
 let the popes and bishops come when they | nicate it to others. Living in retirement, they 
 
 adds Huss. "Think of your defence, rather 
 than of your dreams," said his faithful friend, 
 the Chevalier de Chlum, to whom he had im- 
 parted his dream. "I am no dreamer," re- 
 plied Huss; "but I holo 1 it certain, that the 
 image of Christ will never be effaced. They 
 desired to destroy it, but it will be imprinted 
 anew on the hearts of men by much better 
 preachers than myself. The nation that loves 
 Christ will rejoice at this. And I, awaking 
 from the dead, and rising as it were from the 
 grave, shall leap for joy." 45 
 
 A century elapsed ; and the Gospel torch, 
 rekindled by the Reformers, did in truth en- 
 lighten many nations, who rejoiced in its 
 beams. 
 
 But it was not only amongst those whom 
 Rome regarded as her adversaries, that a life- 
 giving word was heard at that period. Ca- 
 tholicism itself and we may take comfort 
 from the thought reckons amongst its own 
 members numerous witnesses for the truth. 
 The primitive edifice had been consumed ; but 
 a holy fire smouldered beneath its ashes, and 
 from time to time bright sparks were seen to 
 
 Anselm of Canterbury, in a work for the 
 use of the dying, exhorted them "to look 
 solely to the merits of Jesus Christ." 
 
 A monk, named Arnoldi, offered up every 
 day in his peaceful cell this fervent prayer, 
 "Oh, Lord Jesus Christ! I believe that in 
 thee alone I have redemption and righteous- 
 ness." 46 
 
 A pious bishop of Bale, Christopher de 
 Utenheim, had his name written upon a pic- 
 ture painted on glass, which is still at B?ile, 
 and round it this motto, which he wished to 
 have always before him, " My hope is in 
 the cross of Christ ; I seek grace, and not 
 works." 47 
 
 A poor Carthusian, brother Martin, wrote 
 this affecting confession : " Oh, most merciful 
 God ! I know that I can only be saved, and 
 satisfy thy righteousness, by the merit, the 
 innocent suffering, and death of thy well- 
 beloved Son. Holy Jesus ! my salvation is 
 in thy hands. Thou canst not withdraw the 
 hands of thy love from me ; for they have 
 created, and formed, and redemeed me. Thou 
 hast inscribed my name with a pen of iron, 
 in rich mercy, and so as nothing can efface it, 
 on thy side, thy hands, and thy feet ; &c. &c. 
 After this the good Carthusian placed his 
 confession in a wooden box, and enclosed the 
 
 Jiteor tamen corde et scripto. If I cannot con- 
 fess these things with my tongue, I at least 
 confess them with my pen and with my heart." 
 The word of truth was laid up in the sanc- 
 tuary of many a pious mind, but to use an 
 expression in the Gospel, it had not free course 
 in the world. 
 
 If men did not openly confess the doctrine 
 of salvation, they at least did not fear, even 
 within the pale of the Romish Church, boldly 
 to protest against the abuses which disgraced 
 it. Italy itself had at that time her witnesses 
 against the priesthood. The Dominican, Sa- 
 varonola, preached at Florence in 1498 against 
 the insupportable vices of Rome; but the 
 powers that then were, despatched him by the 
 inquisition and the stake. 
 
 Geil'er of Kaisersberg was for three-and- 
 thirty years the great preacher of Germany. 
 He attacked the clergy with energy. " When 
 the summer leaves turn yellow," said he, " we 
 say that the root is diseased ; and thus it is, a 
 dissolute people proclaim a corrupted priest- 
 hood." " If no wicked ma'frfought to say mass," 
 said he to his bishop', " drive out all the priests 
 from your diocese." The people, hearing this 
 courageous minister, learned even in the sanc- 
 tuary to see the enormities of their spiritual 
 guides. 
 
 This state of things in the Church itself 
 deserves our notice. When the Wisdom of 
 God shall again utter his teachings, there will 
 everywhere be understandings and* hearts to 
 comprehend. When the sower shall again 
 come forth to sow, he will find ground pre- 
 pared to receive the seed. When the word 
 of truth shall resound, it will find echoes to 
 repeat it. When the trumpet shall utter a 
 war-note in the Church, many of her children 
 will prepare themselves to the battle. 
 
 We are arrived near the scene on which 
 Luther appeared. Before we begin the his- 
 tory of that great commotion, which caused to 
 shoot up in all its brilliancy that >ight of 
 truth which had been so long concealed, and 
 which, by renovating the Church, renovated 
 so many nations, and called others into ex- 
 istence, creating a new Europe and a new 
 Christianity, let us take a glance at the differ- 
 ent nations in the midst of whom this revolu- 
 tion in religion took place. 
 
 The Empire was a confederacy of different 
 states, with the Emperor at their head. Each 
 of these states possessed sovereignty over its 
 own territory. The Imperial Diet, composed 
 
 box in a hole he had made in the wall of his cell. 48 of all the princes, or sovereign states, exercised 
 The piety of brother Martin would never the legislative power for the whole of the 
 have been known, if his box had not been Germanic body. The Emperor ratified the 
 found, on the 21st of December, 1776, in tak- | laws, decrees, or resolutions, of this assembly, 
 ing down an old building which had been part and it was his office to publish and execute 
 of the Carthusian convent at B&le. How them. The seven more powerful princes, un- 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 der the title of Electors, had the privilege of 
 awarding the Imperial crown. 
 
 The princes and states of the Germanic Con- 
 federacy had been anciently subjects of the 
 Emperors, and held their lands of them. But 
 after the accession of Rodolph of Hapsburg, 
 (1273,^3 series of troubles had taken place, 
 in which princes, free cities, and bishops, 
 acquired a considerable degree of independ- 
 ence, at the expense of the Imperial sovereign. 
 
 The north of Germany, inhabited chiefly by 
 the old Saxon race, had acquired most liberty. 
 The Emperor, incessantly attacked by the 
 Turks in his hereditary possessions, was dis- 
 posed to keep on good terms with courageous 
 chiefs and communities, whose alliance was 
 then necessary to him. Several free cities in 
 the north-west and south of Europe had, by 
 commerce, manufactures, and industry, at- 
 tained a considerable degree of prosperity, 
 and, by that means, of independence. The 
 powerful house of Austria, which wore the 
 crown of the Empire, controlled the majority 
 of the states of central Germany, overlooked 
 their movements, and was preparing to extend 
 its dominion, over and beyond the whole Em- 
 pire, when the Reformation interposed a power- 
 ful barrier to its encroachments, and saved the 
 liberties of Europe. 
 
 If, in the time of St. Paul, or of Ambrose, 
 of Austin, of Chrysostom, or even in the days 
 of Anselrn and Bernard, the question had been 
 asked, what people or nation God would be 
 likely to use to reform the church, the thought 
 might have turned to the countries honoured 
 by the Apostles' ministry, to Asia, to Greece, 
 or to Rome, perhaps to Britain or to France, 
 where men of great learning had preached ; 
 but none would have thought of the barbarous 
 Germans. All other countries of Christendom 
 had, in their turn, shone in the history of the 
 Church ; Germany alone had continued dark. 
 Yet it was Germany that was chosen. 
 
 God, who prepared during four thousand 
 years the Advent of his Messiah, and led 
 through different dispensations, for many ages, 
 the people among whom he was to be born, 
 also prepared Germany in secret and unob- 
 served, unknown indeed even to itself, to be 
 the cradle of a Religious Regeneration, which, 
 in a later day, should awaken the various na- 
 tions of Christendom. 
 
 As Judea, the birthplace of our religion, lay 
 in the centre of the ancient world, so Germa- 
 ny was situated in the midst of Christian na- 
 tions. She looked upon the Netherlands, 
 England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hunga- 
 ry, Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, and the whole 
 of the north. It was fit that the principle of 
 life should develope itself in the heart of Eu- 
 rope, that its pulses might circulate through 
 all the arteries of the body the generous blood 
 designed to vivify its members. 
 
 The particular form of constitution that the 
 Empire had received, by the dispensations of 
 Providence, favoured the propagation of new 
 ideas. If Germany had been a monarchy, 
 strictly so called, like France or England, the 
 arbitrary will of the sovereign might have suf- 
 
 ficed to delay for a long time the progress of 
 the Gospel. But it was a confederacy. The 
 truth, opposed in one state, might be received 
 with favour by another. Important centres of 
 light, which might gradually penetrate through 
 the darkness, and enlighten the surrounding 
 population, might be quickly formed in dif- 
 ferent districts of the Empire. 
 
 The internal peace which Maximilian had 
 given to the Empire was no less favourable to 
 the Reformation. For a long while, the nu- 
 merous members of the Germanic body had 
 laboured to disturb each other. Nothing had 
 been seen but confusions, quarrels, wars in- 
 cessantly breaking out between neighbours, 
 cities, and chiefs. Maximilian had laid a so- 
 lid basis of public order by instituting the Im- 
 perial chamber appointed to settle all dif- 
 ferences between the states. The Germans, 
 after so many confusions and anxieties, saw a 
 new aera of safety and repose. This condition 
 of affairs powerfully contributed to harmonize 
 the general mind. It was now possible in the 
 cities and peaceful valleys of Germany to seek 
 and adopt ameliorations, which discord might 
 have banished. We may add, that it is in the 
 bosom of peace that the Gospel loves most to 
 gain its blessed victories. Thus it had been 
 the will of God, fifteen centuries before, that 
 Augustus should present a pacified world for 
 the blessed triumphs of Christ's religion. 
 Nevertheless the Reformation performed a 
 double part in the peace then beginning for 
 the Empire. It was as much cause as effect. 
 Germany, when Luther appeared, offered to 
 the contemplation of an observer the sort of 
 movement which agitates the sea after a con- 
 tinued storm. The calm did not promise to 
 be lasting. The first breath might again call 
 up the tempest. We shall see more than one 
 example of this. The Reformation, by com- 
 municating a new impulse to the population, 
 destroyed forever the old motives of agitation. 
 It made an end of the system of barbarous 
 times, and gave to Europe one entirely new. 
 
 Meanwhile the religion of Jesus Christ had 
 had its accustomed influence on Germany. 
 The common people had rapidly advanced; 
 numerous institutions arose in the Empire, 
 and particularly in the free cities, well adapt- 
 ed to develope the minds of the mass of the 
 people. The arts flourished ; the burghers 
 followed insecurity their peaceable labours and 
 the duties of social life. They gradually open- 
 ed to information, and thus acquired respect 
 and influence. It was not magistrates bend- 
 ing conscience to political expediency, or no- 
 bles emulous of military glory, or a clergy 
 seeking gain or power, and regarding religion 
 as their peculiar property, who were to be the 
 founders of the Reformation in Germany. It 
 was to be the work of the bourgeoisie of the 
 people of the whole nation. 
 
 The peculiar character of the Germans was 
 such as especially to favour a Reformation in 
 Religion. A false civilization had not en- 
 feebled them. The precious seeds that a fear 
 of God deposits in a nation had not been 
 scattered to the winds. Ancient manners still 
 
subsisted. 1 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 23 
 
 ibsisted. There was in Germany that up- 
 rightness, fidelity, love, and toil, and perseve- 
 rance, that religious habit of mind which 
 we still find there, and which presages more 
 success to the Gospel than the scornful or 
 brutal levity of other European nations. 
 
 Another circumstance may have contributed 
 to render Germany a soil more favourable to 
 the revival of Christianity than many other 
 countries. God had fenced it in ; he had pre- 
 served its strength for the day of its giving 
 birth to his purpose. It had not fallen from 
 the faith after a period of spiritual vigour, as 
 had been the case with the churches of Asia, 
 of Greece, of Italy, of France, and of Britain. 
 The Gospel had never been offered to Germa- 
 ny in its primitive purity; the first missiona- 
 ries who visited the country gave to it a reli- 
 gion already vitiated in more than one particu- 
 lar. It was a law of the Church, a spiritual 
 discipline, that Boniface and his successors 
 carried to the Prisons, the Saxons, and other 
 German nations. Faith in the " good tidings," 
 that faith which rejoices the heart and makes 
 it free indeed, had remained unknown to them. 
 Instead of being slowly corrupted, the religion 
 of the Germans had rather been purified. In- 
 stead of declining, it had arisen. It was in- 
 deed to be expected that more life and spiritual 
 strength would be found among this people 
 than among those enervated nations of Chris- 
 tendom where deep darkness had succeeded to 
 the light of truth, and an almost universal cor- 
 ruption had taken place of the sanctity of the 
 earliest times. 
 
 We may make the like remark on the exte- 
 rior relation between the Germanic body and 
 the Churfch. The Germans had received from 
 Rome that element of modern civilization, the 
 faith. Instruction, legislation, all, save their 
 courage and their weapons, had come to them 
 from the Sacerdotal city. Strong ties had from 
 that time attached Germany to the Papacy. The 
 former was a spiritual conquest of the latter, and 
 we know to what use Rome has ever turned 
 her conquests. Other nations, which had held 
 the faith and civilization before the Roman 
 Pontiff existed, had continued in more inde- 
 pendence of him. But this subjection of 
 Germany was destined only to make the re- 
 action more powerful at the moment of 
 awakening. When Germany should open 
 her eyes, she would indignantly tear away 
 the trammels in which she had been so long 
 kept bound. The very measure of slavery 
 she had had to endure would make her deliver- 
 ance and liberty more indispensable to her, 
 and strong champions of the truth would come 
 forth from the enclosure of control and re- 
 striction in which her population had for ages 
 been shut up. 
 
 When we take a nearer view of the times 
 of the Reformation, we see, in the government 
 of Germany, still further reasons to admire the 
 wisdom of Him, by whom kings reign and 
 princes execute judgment. There was, at 
 that time, something resembling what has in 
 our own days been termed a system of see- 
 saw. When an energetic sovereign presided 
 
 over the Empire, the imperial power was 
 strengthened ; on the other hand, when he was 
 of feeble character, the authority of the Elec- 
 tors gained force. 
 
 Under Maximilian, the predecessor of 
 Charles V., this alternate rise and depression 
 of the various states was especially remark- 
 able. At that time the balance was altogether 
 against the Emperor. The princes had re- 
 peatedly formed close alliances with one ano- 
 ther. The emperors themselves had urged 
 them to do so, in order that they might direct 
 them at one effort against some common ene- 
 my. But the strength that the princes ac- 
 quired from such alliances against a passing 
 danger, might, at an after period, be turned 
 against the encroachments or power of the 
 Emperor. This did indeed ensue. At no 
 period had the electors felt themselves more 
 independent of their head, than at the period 
 of the Reformation. And their head having 
 taken part against it, it is easy to see that this 
 state of things was favourable to the propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel. 
 
 W T e may add, that Germany was weary of 
 what the Romans contemptuously termed "/Ac 
 patience of the Germans." The latter had, in 
 truth, manifested much patience ever since 
 the time of Louis of Bavaria. From that 
 period the emperors had laid down their arms, 
 and the ascendency of the tiara over the crown 
 of the Caesars was acknowledged. But the 
 battle had only changed its field. It was to 
 be fought on lower ground. The same con- 
 tests, of which emperors and popes had set the 
 example, were quickly renewed in miniature, 
 in all the towns of Germany, between bishops 
 and magistrates. The commonalty had caught 
 up the sword dropped by the chiefs of the 
 empire. As early as 1329, the citizens of 
 Frankfort on the Oder had resisted with in- 
 trepidity their ecclesiastical superiors. Ex- 
 communicated for their fidelity to the Mar- 
 grave Louis, they had remained twenty-eight 
 years without masses, baptisms, marriage, or 
 funeral rites. And afterwards, when the 
 monks and priests reappeared, they had open- 
 ly ridiculed their return as a farce. Deplora- 
 ble irreverence, doubtless ; but of which the 
 clergy themselves were the cause. At the 
 epoch of the Reformation, the animosity be- 
 tween the magistrates and the ecclesiastics 
 had increased. Every hour the privileges and 
 temporal possessions of the clergy gave rise 
 to collision. If the magistrates refused to 
 give way, the bishops and priests imprudently 
 had recourse to the extreme means at their 
 disposal. Sometimes the Pope interfered ; 
 and it was to give an example of the most re- 
 volting partiality, or to endure the humiliating 
 necessity of leaving the triumph in the hand? 
 of the commons, obstinately resolved to main- 
 tain their right. These continual conflicts had 
 filled the cities with hatred and contempt of 
 the Pope, and the bishops, and the priests. 
 
 But not only among the burgomasters, 
 councillors, and town clerks did Rome and 
 the clergy find adversaries; they had oppo- 
 nents both above and below the middle classes 
 c2 
 
24 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of society. From the commencement of the 
 16th century, the Imperial Diet displayed an 
 inflexible firmness against the papal envoys. 
 In May, 1510, the States assembled at Augs- 
 burg, handed to the Emperor a statement of 
 ten leading grievances against the Pope and 
 clergy of Rome. About the same time, there 
 was a violent ferment among the populace. 
 It broke out in 1512 in the Rhenish provinces ; 
 where the peasantry, indignant at the weight 
 of the yoke imposed by their ecclesiastical 
 sovereigns, formed among themselves the 
 League of the Shoes. 
 
 Thus, on all sides, from above and from 
 beneath, t was heard a low murmur, the fore- 
 runner of the thunderbolt that was about to 
 fall. Germany appeared ripe for the work 
 appointed for the 16th century. Providence, 
 in its slow course, had prepared all things; 
 and even the passions which God condemns 
 were to be turned by His power to the fulfil- 
 ment of His purposes. 
 
 Let us take a view of other nations. 
 
 Thirteen small republics, placed with their 
 allies in the centre of Europe, among moun- 
 tains which compose as it were its citadel, 
 formed a simple and brave population. Who 
 would have thought of looking to these ob- 
 scure valleys for the men whom God would 
 choose to be, jointly with the children of the 
 Germans, the liberators of the church 1 Who 
 would have guessed that poor and unknown 
 villages, just raised above barbarism hidden 
 among inaccessible mountains, in the ex- 
 tremity of lakes never named in history, 
 would, in their connexion with Christianity, 
 eclipse Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, 
 and Rome? Yet so it was. Such was the 
 will of him who causeth it to rain upon one 
 city, and causeth it not to rain upon another 
 city, and maketh his showers to descend on 
 one piece of land, while another withereth 
 under drought. (Amos iv. 7.) 
 
 Circumstances of another kind seemed to 
 surround with multiplied rocks the course of 
 the Reformation in the bosom of the Swiss 
 population. If, in a monarchy, it had to fear 
 the hinderances of power; in a democracy it 
 was exposed to the hazards of the precipita- 
 tion of the people. True, this Reformation, 
 which, in the states of the Empire, could but 
 advance slowly and step by step, might have 
 its success decided in one day in the general 
 council of the Swiss republic. But it was 
 necessary to guard against an imprudent haste, 
 which, unwilling to wait a favourable moment, 
 should abruptly introduce innovations, other- 
 wise most useful, and so compromise the 
 public peace, the constitution of the state, and 
 even the future prospects of the Reformation 
 itself. 
 
 But Switzerland also had had its prepara-. 
 ttons. It was a wild tree, but one of generous 
 nature, which had been guarded in the depth 
 of the valleys, that it might one day be grafted 
 with a fruit of the highest value. Providence 
 had diffused among this recent people, princi- 
 
 Sles of courage, independence, and liberty, 
 estined to manifest all their strength when 
 
 the signal of conflict with Rome should be 
 given. The Pope had conferred on the Swiss 
 the title of protectors of the liberties of the 
 Church; but it seems they had understood 
 this honourable name in a totally different 
 sense from the pontiff. I f their sold iers guard- 
 ed the Pope in the neighbourhood of the Capi- 
 tol, their citizens, in the bosom of the Alps, 
 carefully guarded their own religious liberties 
 against the invasion of the Pope and of the 
 clergy. Ecclesiastics were forbidded to have 
 recourse to any foreign jurisdiction. The 
 " lettre des pretres" was a bold protest of Swiss 
 liberty against the corruptions and power of 
 the clergy, Zurich was especially distin- 
 guished by its courageous opposition to the 
 claims of Rome. Geneva, at the other ex- 
 tremity of Switzerland, struggled against its 
 bishops. Doubtless the love of political inde- 
 pendence may have made many of its citizens 
 forget the true liberty; but God had decreed 
 that this love of independence should lead 
 others to the reception of a doctrine which 
 should truly enfranchise the nation. These 
 two leading cities distinguished themselves 
 among all the rest in the great struggle we 
 have undertaken to describe. 
 
 But if the Helvetic towns, open and ac- 
 cessible to ameliorations, were likely to be 
 drawn early within the current of the Reforma- 
 tion, the case was very different with the 
 mountain districts. It might have been 
 thought that these communities, more simple 
 and energetic than their confederates in the 
 towns, would have embraced with ardour a 
 doctrine of which the characteristics were 
 simplicity and force: but He who said "At 
 that time two men shall be in the field, the 
 one shall be taken and the other left," saw fit 
 to leave these mountaineers, while He took 
 the men of the plain. Perhaps an attentive 
 observer might have discerned some symptoms 
 of the difference which was about to manifest 
 itself between the people of the town and of 
 the hills. Intelligence had not penetrated to 
 those heights. Those Cantons, which had 
 founded Swiss liberty, proud of the part they 
 had played in the grand struggle for inde- 
 pendence, were not disposed to be tamely in- 
 structed by their younger brethren of the 
 plain. Why, they might ask, should they 
 change the faith in which they had expelled 
 the Austrians, and which had consecrated by- 
 altars all the scenes of their triumphs 1 Their 
 priests were the only enlightened guides to 
 whom they could apply; their worship and 
 their festivals were occupation and diversion 
 for their tranquil lives, and enlivened the 
 silence of their peaceful retreats. They con- 
 tinued close against religious innovations. 
 
 Passing the Alps, we find ourselves in that 
 ttaly, which, in the eyes of many, was the 
 Holy Land of Christianity. Whence would 
 Europe look for good to the Church but from 
 Italy, and from Rome itself! The power 
 which placed successively upon the pontifical 
 chair so many different characters, might it 
 not one day place thereon a pontiff who should 
 become an instrument of blessing to the Lord's 
 
heri 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 25 
 
 ? Even if no hope was to be placed 
 on the popes, were there not there bishops and 
 councils which would reform the Church 1 
 Nothing good can come out of Nazareth ; it 
 must proceed from Jerusalem, from Rome. 
 Such might have been the thoughts of man, 
 but God's thoughts were not as theirs. He 
 says, " Let him that is filthy be filthy still ;" 
 Rev. xxii. 11, and He left Italy to its unright- 
 eousness. Many causes conspired to deprive 
 this unhappy country of Gospel light. Its 
 different states, sometimes rivals, sometimes 
 enemies, came into violent collision as often as 
 they were shaken by any commotion. This 
 lana of ancient glory was by turns the prey 
 of intestine wars and foreign invasions ; the 
 stratagems of policy, the violence of factions, 
 the agitation of battles, seemed to be its sole 
 occupation, and to banish for a long time the 
 Gospel of peace. 
 
 Italy, broken to pieces, and without unity, 
 appeared but little suited to receive one gene- 
 ral impulse. Every frontier line was a new 
 barrier, where truth would be stopped and 
 challenged, if it sought to cross the Alps, or 
 land on those smiling shores. It was true 
 the Papacy was then planning a union of all 
 Italy, desiring, as Pope Julius expressed it, 
 to expel the barbarians, that is, the foreign 
 princes ; and she hovered like a bird of prey 
 over the mutilated and palpitating members 
 of ancient Italy. But if she had gained her 
 ends, we may easily believe that the Reforma- 
 tion would not have been thereby advanced. 
 
 And if the truth was destined to come to 
 them from the north, how could the Italians 
 so enlightened, of so refined a taste and so- 
 cial habits, so delicate in their own eyes, con- 
 descend to receive any thing at the hands of 
 the barbarous Germans. Their pride, in fact, 
 raised between the Reformation and them- 
 selves a barrier higher than the Alps. But 
 the very nature of their mental culture was a 
 still greater obstacle than the presumption of 
 their hearts. Could men, who admired the 
 elegance of a well cadenced sonnet more than 
 the majestic simplicity of the Scriptures, be a 
 propitious soil for the seed of God's word 1 
 A false civilization is, of all conditions of a 
 nation, that which is most repugnant to the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Finally, whatever might be the state of 
 things to Italy Rome was always ROME. 
 Not only did the temporal power of the Popes 
 incline the several parties in Italy to court at 
 any cost their alliance and favour, but, in ad- 
 dition to this, the universal sway of Rome 
 offered more than one inducement to the ava- 
 rice and vanity of the Italian states. When- 
 ever it should become a question of emanci- 
 pation of the rest of the world from the yoke 
 of Rome, Italy would again become Italy! 
 Domestic quarrels would not be suffered to 
 prevail to the advantage of a foreign system ; 
 and attacks directed against the head of the 
 peninsula would immediately call up the af- 
 fections and common interests from their long 
 sleep. * 
 
 The Reformation, then, had little prospect 
 
 of success in that country. Nevertheless, 
 there were found within its confines souls pre- 
 pared to receive the Gospel light, and Italy 
 was not then entirely disinherited. 
 
 Spain possessed what Italy did not, a se- 
 rious and noble people, whose religious mind 
 had resisted even the stern trial 'of the eight- 
 eenth century, and of the Revolution, and 
 maintained itself to our own days. In every 
 age this people has had among its clergy men 
 of piety and learning, and it was sufficiently re- 
 mote from Rome to throw off without difficulty 
 her yoke. There are few nations wherein one 
 might more reasonably have hoped for a re- 
 vival of that primitive Christianity, which 
 Spain had probably received from St. Paul 
 himself. And yet Spain did not then stand 
 up among the nations. She was destined to 
 be an example of that word of the Divine 
 Wi&dom, " The first shall be last." Various 
 circumstances conduced to this deplorable 
 result. 
 
 Spain, considering its isolated position, and 
 remoteness from Germany, would feel but 
 slightly the shocks of the great earthquake 
 which shook the Empire. But more than 
 this, she was busily occupied in seeking trea- 
 sure very different from that which the Word 
 of God was then offering to the nations. In 
 her eyes the new world outshone the eternal 
 world. A virgin soil, which seemed to be 
 composed of gold and silver, inflamed the 
 imagination of her people. An eager desire 
 after riches left no room in the heart of the 
 Spaniard for nobler thoughts. A powerful 
 clergy, having the scaffolds and the treasures 
 of the land to their disposal, ruled the Pen- 
 insula. Spain willingly rendered to its priests 
 a servile obedience, which, releasing it from 
 spiritual pre-occupations, left it to follow its 
 passions, and go forward in quest of riches, 
 and discoveries of new continents. Victori- 
 ous over the Moors, she had, at the expense 
 of her noblest blood, thrown down the cres- 
 cent from the towers of Granada, and many 
 other cities, and planted in its place the cross 
 of Jesus Christ. This great zeal for Chris- 
 tianity, which promised so much, turned 
 against the truth, for could Catholic Spain, 
 that had triumphed over infidels, refuse to op- 
 pose heretics ] How could a people who had 
 expelled Mahomet from their noble country, 
 allow Luther to make way in it? Their kings 
 went further. They fitted out their fleets 
 against the Reformation. They went forth to 
 meet and conquer it in England and in Hol- 
 land. But these attacks had the effect of 
 elevating the nations assailed ; and, ere long, 
 their power crushed the power of Spain. 
 Thus those Catholic countries lost, owing to 
 the Reformation, that very temporal wealth 
 which had led them, at the first, to reject the 
 spiritual liberty of the Gospel. Yet the Spa- 
 nish nation was generous and brave; and 
 many of its noble people, with equal ardour 
 and better knowledge, than those who had 
 rushed upon the swords of the Arabs, gave 
 up their lives at the stake to the Inquisition. 
 Portugal was nearly in the same condition 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 as Spain. Emanuel the Fortunate gave to it 
 an " age of gold," which tended to unfit it for 
 that self-denial which Christianity requires. 
 The nation precipitating itself on the newly 
 discovered routes to India and the Brazils, 
 turned its back upon Europe and the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 Few countries seemed likely to be better 
 disposed than France for the reception of the 
 evangelical doctrines. Almost all the intel- 
 lectual and spiritual life of the middle ages 
 was concentrated in her. It might have been 
 said that the paths were everywhere trodden 
 for a grand manifestation of the truth. Men 
 of the most opposite characters, and whose 
 influence over the people had been most 
 powerful, had in some degree countenanced 
 the Reformation. Saint Bernard had set the 
 example of that heartfelt faith, that inward 
 piety which is the most beautiful feature of 
 its character. Abelard had introduced into 
 the study of theology the rational principle, 
 which, though incapable of developing the 
 truth, is yet powerful for the destruction of 
 error. Many heretics, so called, had revived 
 the light of God's word in the provinces. 
 The University of Paris had placed itself in 
 opposition to the Church, and had not feared 
 to combat it. In the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century, the Clemangis and the Gersons had 
 spoken out with undaunted courage. The 
 Pragmatic Sanction had been a grand Act of 
 Independence, and promised to be the palla- 
 dium of Gallic liberty. The French nobility, 
 numerous, jealous of their pre-eminence, and 
 having at this period been gradually deprived 
 of their privileges by the growing power of 
 their kings, must have been favourably dis- 
 posed towards a religious change which might 
 restore to them some portion of the inde- 
 pendence they had lost. The people, of quick 
 feelings, intelligent, and susceptible of gene- 
 rous emotions, were as open, or even more so, 
 than most other nations, to the truth. It 
 seemed as if the Reformation must be, among 
 them, the birth which should crown the tra- 
 vail of several centuries. But the chariot of 
 France, which for so many generations seemed 
 to be advancing to the same goal, suddenly 
 turned at the moment of the Reformation, and 
 took a contrary direction. Such was the will 
 of Him who rules nations and their kings. 
 The prince, then seated in the chariot, and 
 holding the reins, and who, as a pattern of 
 learning, seemed likely to be foremost in pro- 
 moting the Reformation, turned his people in 
 another direction. The augury of ages was 
 deceived, and the impulse given to France 
 was spent and lost in struggles against the 
 ambition and fanaticism of her kings. The 
 race of Valois deprived her of her rights. 
 Perhaps if she had received the Gospel, she 
 might have become too powerful. God had 
 chosen a weaker people, a people that as yet 
 was not, to be the depository of his truth. 
 France, after having been almost reformed, 
 found herself, in the result, Roman Catholic. 
 The sword of her princes, cast into the scale, 
 caused it to incline in favour of Rome. Alas ! 
 
 another sword, that of the Reformers them- 
 selves, insured the failure of the effort for 
 Reformation. The hands that had become ac- 
 customed to warlike weapons, ceased to be 
 lifted up in prayer. It is by the blood of its 
 confessors, not by that of its adversaries, that 
 the Gospel triumphs. Blood shed by its de- 
 fenders, extinguishes and smothers it. Francis 
 I., in the very beginning of his reign, eagerly 
 sacrificed the Pragmatical Sanction to the 
 Papacy, substituting a concordat detrimental 
 to France, and advantageous to the crown and 
 to the Pope. Maintaining by his sword the 
 rights of the German Protestants at war with 
 his rival, this ** father of the sciences" plunged 
 it up to the hilt in the hearts of his own re- 
 formed subjects. His successors did, from 
 motives of fanaticism, or weakness, or tc 
 silence the clamours of a guilty conscience, 
 what he had done for ambition. They met 
 indeed with a powerful resistance, but it was 
 not always such as the martyrs of the first 
 ages had opposed to their Pagan persecutors. 
 The strength of the Protestants was the source 
 of their weakness ; their success drew after it 
 their ruin. 
 
 The Low Countries formed, at that period, 
 one of the most flourishing portions of Eu- 
 rope. Its population was industrious, better 
 informed, owing to its numerous connections 
 with different regions of the earth, full of 
 courage, and passionately attached to its inde- 
 pendence, its privileges, and its liberty. On 
 the very borders of Germany, it would be the 
 first to hear the report of the Reformation ; it 
 was capable of receiving it. But all did not 
 receive it. To the poor it was given to re- 
 ceive the truth. The hungry were filled with 
 good things, and the rich sent empty away. 
 The Netherlands, which had always been 
 more or less connected with the Empire, had 
 forty years before fallen to the possession of 
 Austria, and after Charles V., they devolved 
 to the Spanish branch, and so to the ferocious 
 Philip. The princes and governors of this 
 ill-fated country trampled the Gospel under 
 foot, and waded through the blood of its mar- 
 tyrs. The country was composed of two di- 
 visions widely dissimilar the one from the 
 other. The south, rich, and increased in 
 goods succumbed. How could its extensive 
 manufactures, carried to such perfection, 
 how could Bruges, the great mart of northern 
 merchandise, or Antwerp, the queen of com- 
 mercial cities, make their interests consist 
 with a long and bloody struggle for the things 
 of faith ? But the northern provinces, de- 
 fended by their dykes, the sea, their marshes, 
 and, still more, by the simple manners of the 
 population, and their determination to suffer 
 the loss of all, rather than of the Gospel, 
 not only preserved their franchises, their pri- 
 vileges and their faith, but achieved independ- 
 ence and a glorious existence as a nation. 
 
 England then gave little promise of all she 
 has subsequently acquired. Driven from the 
 Continent, where she had long obstinately 
 contended for the conquest of France, she be- 
 gan to turn her eyes towards the ocean as to 
 
 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 27 
 
 the empire which was designed to be the true 
 end of her victories, and of which the inherit- 
 ance was reserved for her. Twice converted 
 to Christianity, first under the Britons, then 
 under the Anglo-Saxons, she paid devoutly 
 the annual tribute of St. Peter's pence. Yet 
 was she reserved for a lofty destiny. Mis- 
 tress of the ocean, everywhere present through 
 all parts of the earth, she was ordained to be 
 one day, with the people to whom she should 
 give birth, as the hand of God to scatter the 
 seed of life in remotest islands and on bound- 
 less continents. Already some circumstances 
 gave presage of her destinies. Great intel- 
 lectual light had shone in the British Isles, 
 and some glimmerings of it still remained. A 
 crowd of foreigners, artists, merchants, work- 
 men, from the Low Countries, Germany, and 
 other regions, thronged her harbours and 
 cities. The new religious opinions would 
 therefore be easily and quickly introduced. 
 Finally, England had then an eccentric king, 
 who, endowed with some learning and con- 
 siderable courage, was continually changing 
 his purposes and notions, and turning from 
 one side to another, according to the direction 
 in which his violent passions impelled him. 
 It was possible that one of the inconsistencies 
 of Henry V11I. might prove favourable to the 
 Reformation. 
 
 Scotland was then torn by factions. A 
 king five years old, a queen regent, ambitious 
 nobles, an influential clergy, harassed this 
 courageous nation on all sides. It was how- 
 ever destined to hold a distinguished place 
 amongst the nations which should receive the 
 Reformation. 
 
 The three northern kingdoms, Denmark, 
 Sweden, and Norway, were united under one 
 government. These rude and warlike people 
 seemed likely to have little sympathy with 
 the doctrine of love and peace. Yet from the 
 very energy of their character, they were per- 
 haps better disposed to receive the spirit of 
 the evangelical doctrine than the southern na- 
 tions. But these descendants of warriors and 
 pirates brought perhaps too warlike a spirit to 
 the support of the Protestant cause; in sub- 
 sequent times they defended it heroically by 
 the sword. 
 
 Russia, situate at the extremity of Europe, 
 had but little connection with other states, we 
 may add, that she belonged to the Greek 
 Church. The Reformation effected in the 
 West had little or no influence upon the East. 
 
 Poland seemed well prepared for a reforma- 
 tion. The vicinity of the Bohemian and 
 Moravian Christians had disposed it to receive 
 thnt religious impulse which the neighbouring 
 states of Germany were destined speedily to 
 impart to it. As early as the year 1500, the 
 nobility of Poland had demanded that the cup 
 should be given to the laity, appealing to the 
 custom of the primitive Church. Theliberty 
 which was enjoyed in the cities, and the inde- 
 pendence of its nobles, made this country a 
 safe asylum for Christians who were perse- 
 cuted in their own. The truth they brought 
 with them was joyfully welcomed by num- 
 5 
 
 bers. It is the country which in our times has 
 the fewest confessors of the Gospel. 
 
 The flame of Reformation, which had long 
 flickered in Bohemia, had almost been extin- 
 guished in blood. Nevertheless some poor 
 survivors, escaped from the carnage, were still 
 living to see the day that Huss had predicted. 
 
 Hungary had been distracted by intestine 
 wars, under the rule of princes without ability 
 or experience, who, in the result, made the 
 country a dependency of Austria, by enrolling 
 that powerful house among the heirs of the 
 crown. 
 
 Such was the condition of Europe at the 
 beginning of that sixteenth century, which 
 was destined to produce so mighty a change 
 in the great Christian family. 
 
 But we have already observed, it was on 
 the vast platform of Germany, and more par- 
 ticularly in Wittemberg, in the heart of the 
 Empire, that the grand drama of the Reforma- 
 tion was to commence. 
 
 Let us contemplate the actors in the pro- 
 logue which ushered in, or contributed to the 
 work of which Luther was appointed to be in 
 God's hands the hero. 
 
 Of all the electors of the Empire the most 
 powerful at that time was Frederick of Saxony, 
 surnamed the Wise. The influence he exer- 
 cised, joined to his wealth and generosity, 
 raised him above his equals. 49 God selected 
 him to serve as a tree, under shadow of which 
 the seed of truth might put forth its first shoot 
 without being rooted up by the tempests 
 around it. 
 
 Born at Torgua in 1463, he manifested from 
 his early youth much love for science, philoso- 
 phy, and piety. Succeeding, in 1487, in con- 
 junction with his brother John, to the govern- 
 ment of the hereditary states of his family, he 
 received the dignity of Elector from the Em- 
 peror Frederick III. In 1493, the pious prince 
 undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre. 
 Henry of Schaumburg on that sacred spot con- 
 ferred upon him the order of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre. He returned to Saxony in the follow- 
 ing summer. In 1502 he founded the univer- 
 sity of Wittemberg, which was destined to be 
 the nursery of the Reformation. 
 
 When the light dawned, he did not commit 
 himself on either side, but stood by to secure 
 it. No man was fitter for this office ; he pos- 
 sessed the general esteem, and was in the in- 
 timate confidence of the Emperor. He even 
 acted for him in his absence. His wisdom 
 consisted not in the skilful working of deep 
 laid policy, but in an enlightened and prescient 
 prudence, of which the first law was never for 
 the sake of any self-interest to infringe the 
 rules of honour and religion. 
 
 At the same time he felt in his heart the 
 power of the word of God. One day, when 
 the Vicar-General, Staupitz, was in his com- 
 pany, the conversation turned on public de- 
 claimers : "All sermons," said the Elector, 
 "made up of mere subtleties and human tra- 
 ditions, are marvellously cold, without nerve 
 or power, since there is no subtlety we can 
 advance that may not by another subtlety be 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 overturned. Holy Scripture alone is clothed 
 with such power and majesty that shaming us 
 out of our rules of reasoning, it compels us to 
 cry out * Never man spake as this.' " Staupitz 
 assenting entirely to his opinion, the Elector 
 cordially extended his hand to him, and said, 
 *' Promise me that you will always think thus." 50 
 Frederic was precisely the prince that was 
 needed for the cradle of the Reformation. Too 
 much weakness on the part of those friendly 
 to the work might have allowed it to be crush- 
 ed. Too much haste would have caused too 
 early an explosion of the storm that from its 
 origin gathered against it. Frederic was mo- 
 derate but firm; he possessed that Christian 
 grace which God has in all times required 
 from his worshippers; he waited for God. He 
 put in practice the wise counsel of Gamaliel 
 "If this work be of man it will come to 
 naught; if it be of God we cannot overthrow 
 it." "Things are come to such a pass," said 
 the prince to one of the most enlightened men 
 of his time, Spengler of Nuremberg, " that 
 men can do no more : God alone can effect 
 anything; therefore we must leave to his power 
 those great events which are too hard for us." 
 We may well admire the wisdom of Provi- 
 dence in the choice of such a prince to guard 
 the small beginnings of its work. 
 
 Maximilian I., who wore the Imperial crown 
 from 1493 to 1519, may be reckoned among 
 those who contributed to prepare the way of 
 the Reformation. He afforded to the other 
 princes the example of enthusiasm for litera- 
 ture and science. He was less attached than 
 any other to the Popes, and had even thoughts 
 of seizing on the Papacy. No one can say 
 what it might have become in his hands; but 
 we may be allowed to imagine from this cir- 
 cumstance, that a rival power to the Pope, 
 such as the Reformation, would not have 
 reckoned the Emperor of Germany among its 
 fiercest opponents. 
 
 Among even the princes of the Romish 
 Church were found venerable men, whom sa- 
 cred study and sincere piety had prepared for 
 the divine work about to be wrought in the 
 world. Christopher of Stadion, bishop of 
 Augsburg, knew and loved the truth ; but he' 
 would have had to sacrifice all by a coura- 
 geous confession of it. Laurentius de Biba, 
 bishop of Wurtzburg, a kind, pious, and wise 
 man, and esteemed by the Emperor and princes, 
 was accustomed to speak openly against the 
 corruption of the Church. But he died in 
 1519, too early to take part in the Reforma- 
 tion. John VI., bishop of Meissen, was used 
 to say, "As often as I read the Bible, I find 
 there a different religion from that which is 
 taught to us." John Thurzo, bishop of Breslau, 
 was called by Luther the best bishop of the 
 age. 51 But he, too, died in 1520. William 
 Brie, onnet, bishop of Meaux, contributed large- 
 ly to introduce the Reformation in France. 
 Who indeed can say to what extent the en- 
 lightened piety of these bishops and of many 
 others, was of use in preparing, each in his 
 diocese, and beyond it, the great work of the 
 Reformation ? 
 
 But it was reserved to men of lower station 
 than these princes or bishops to become the 
 chief instruments of God's providence in the 
 work of preparation. It was the scholars and 
 the learned, then termed humanists, who ex 
 ercised the greatest influence on their age. 
 
 There existed at that time open war be- 
 tween these disciples of letters and the scho- 
 lastic divines. The latter beheld with alarm 
 the great movements going on in the field of 
 intelligence, and took up with the notion that 
 immobility and ignorance would be the best 
 safeguards of the Church. It was to save Rome 
 that divines opposed the revival of letters ; but 
 by so doing they in reality contributed to her 
 ruin, and Rome herself unconsciously co- 
 operated in it. In an unguarded moment, 
 under the pontificate of Leo X., she forsook 
 her old friends, and embraced her youthful ad- 
 versaries. The Papacy formed with literature 
 a union which seemed likely to break the old 
 alliance with the monastic orders. The Popes 
 did not at first perceive that what they had 
 taken up as a toy was in reality a sword that 
 might destroy them. Thus in the last century 
 we beheld princes who received at their courts 
 a tone of politics and a philosophy which, if 
 they had experienced their full effect, would 
 have overturned their thrones. The alliance 
 of which we have spoken did not last long. 
 Literature advanced, entirely regardless of 
 that which might endanger the power of its 
 patrons. The monks and the scholastic di- 
 vines perceived that to forsake the Pope would 
 be to abandon their own interests. And the 
 Pope, notwithstanding the transient patronage 
 which he bestowed upon the fine arts, adopted, 
 when it suited his interest, measures most 
 opposed to the spirit of the time. 
 
 The revival of letters presented at that time 
 an animating spectacle. Let us sketch some 
 lines of this picture, selecting such as have 
 the closest connexion with the revival of the 
 true faith. 
 
 In order that the truth might triumph, it was 
 necessary that the arms that were to achieve 
 the victory should be taken from the arsenal 
 in which for ages they had lain hidden. These 
 weapons were the Holy Scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testament. It was necessary to 
 revive in Christendom the love and study of 
 the sacred Greek and Hebrew texts. The 
 man chosen by God for this work was John 
 Reuchlin. 
 
 A very sweet toned child's voice had been 
 noticed in the choir of the church of Pforzheim. 
 It attracted the attention of the Margrave of 
 Baden. It proved to be that of John Reuchlin, 
 a young boy, of pleasing manners and of a 
 sprightly disposition, the son of an honest ci- 
 tizen of the place. The Margrave treated him 
 with great favour, and made choice of him in 
 1473 to accompany his son Frederick to the 
 University of Paris. 
 
 The son of the bailiff of Pforzheim in trans- 
 ports of joy arrived in company with the 
 prince at this most celebrated school of the 
 West. He there found the Spartan Hermo- 
 nymos, and John Weissel, surnamed the Light 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 29 
 
 of the World, and he had now an opportunity 
 of studying, under the most able masters, the 
 Greek and Hebrew, of which there was at 
 that time no professor in Germany, and which 
 he himself was destined one day to restore in 
 the land of the Reformation. The young and 
 indigent German transcribed for rich students 
 the verses of Homer, and the orations of 
 Isocrates, and thus earned the means of prose- 
 < uting his studies, and purchasing books. 
 
 But he heard other things from Weissel 
 which made a powerful impression on his 
 mind. "The Popes may be deceived," said 
 Weissel. " All satisfaction made by men is 
 blasphemy against Christ, who has com- 
 pletely reconciled and justified mankind. To 
 God alone belongs the power of giving com- 
 plete absolution. It is not necessary to con- 
 fess our sins to the priests. There is no 
 purgatory, unless it be God himself, who is a 
 consuming fire, and purifies from all pollu- 
 tion." 
 
 When Reuchlin was hardly twenty, he 
 taught philosophy and Greek and Latin at 
 Bale, and it was then accounted almost a 
 miracle that a German should speak Greek. 
 
 The partisans of Rome began to be uneasy 
 when they saw men of independent character 
 searching into these ancient treasures. " The 
 Romans make a wry face," said Reuchlin, 
 " and clamorously assert that all such literary 
 labours are contrary to Roman piety, since 
 the Greeks are schismatics. Oh ! what pains 
 and patience are needed to restore wisdom and 
 learning to Germany !" 
 
 Soon after, Eberhard of Wiirtemberg in- 
 vited Reuchlin to Tubingen, to adorn that 
 rising university; and in 1487 he took him 
 into Italy. Chalco-ndylas, Aurispa, John 
 Picus of Mirandola, were his friends and 
 companions at Florence. And at Rome, when 
 Eberhard had a solemn audience of the Pope, 
 surrounded by his cardinals, Reuchlin pro- 
 nounced an address in such pure and elegant 
 Latin, that the assembly, who expected no- 
 thing of that kind from a barbarous German, 
 were in the utmost astonishment, and the 
 Pope exclaimed, " Certainly this man de- 
 serves to be ranked with the best orators of 
 France and Italy." 
 
 Ten years after, Reuchlin was obliged to 
 take refuge at Heidelberg, at the court of the 
 Elector Philip, to escape the vengeance of the 
 successor of Eberhard. Philip, in conjunc- 
 tion with John of Dalberg, bishop of Worms, 
 his friend and chancellor, endeavoured to dif- 
 fuse the light that was beginning to dawn in 
 all parts of Germany. Dalberg had formed a 
 library, which was open to all the studious. 
 Reuchlin made in this new field, great efforts 
 to enlighten and civilize the people. 
 
 Being sent to Rome by the Elector in 1498, 
 on an important mission, he employed the 
 time and money he could command, either in 
 improving himself in the Hebrew, under the 
 instruction of the learned Jew, Abdias Sphorna, 
 or in purchasing whatever Hebrew and Greek 
 manuscripts he could meet with, intending to 
 use them as torches, to diffuse in his own 
 
 country the light which was beginning to ap- 
 pear. 
 
 An illustrious Greek, Argyropylos, was ex 
 plaining in that metropolis, to a numerous 
 auditory, the wonderful progress his nation 
 had formerly made in literature. The learned 
 ambassador went with his suite to the room 
 where the master was teaching, and on his 
 entrance saluted him, and lamented the misery 
 of Greece, then languishing under Turkish 
 despotism. The astonished Greek asked the 
 German : " Whence come you, and do you 
 understand Greek ]" Reuchlin replied : " I 
 am a German, and am not quite ignorant of 
 your language." At the request of Argyro- 
 pylos, he read and explained a passage of 
 Thueydides, which the professor happened to 
 have before him ; upon which Argyropylos 
 cried out in grief and astonishment, " Alas ! 
 alas ! Greece, cast out and fugitive, is gone to 
 hide herself beyond the Alps." 
 
 It was thus that the sons of barbarous Ger- 
 many and those of ancient Greece met together 
 in the palaces of Rome ; thus it was that the 
 East and the West gave each other the right 
 hand of fellowship in this rendezvous of the 
 world, and that the former poured into the 
 hands of the latter those intellectual treasures 
 which it had carried off in its escape from the 
 barbarism of the Turks. God, when his plans 
 require it, brings together in an instant, by 
 some unlocked for catastrophe, those who 
 seemed forever removed from each other. 
 
 On his return to Germany, Reuchlin was 
 again permitted to take up his abode at Wiir- 
 temberg. It was at this time that he entered 
 upon tne labours that were most useful to 
 Luther and to the Reformation. He trans- 
 lated and expounded the Penitential Psalms, 
 revised the Vulgate, and especially distin- 
 guished himself, by the publication of the 
 first Hebrew and German Grammar and Dic- 
 tionary. Reuchlin, by this labour, took off 
 the seals from the ancient Scriptures, and 
 made himself a name more enduring than 
 brass. 
 
 But it was not alone by his writings, but 
 also by his life, that Reuchlin sought to pro- 
 mote the cause of truth. He had great influ- 
 ence over the minds of youth, and who can 
 estimate how much the reformation owes to 
 him on that account? We will mention but 
 one example. A young man, a cousin of his, 
 the son of an artisan, famous as a manufac- 
 turer of arms, whose name was Schwarzerd, 
 came to lodge with his sister Elizabeth, for 
 the purpose of studying under his direction. 
 Reuchlin, delighted with the talents and dili- 
 gence of his young pupil, adopted him, and 
 spared neither advice, presents of books, ex- 
 ample, nor any thing else that was likely to 
 make his relation useful to the Church and to 
 his country. He rejoiced in seeing his work 
 prosper in his hands; and thinking his Ger- 
 man name Schwarzerd too harsh, he trans- 
 lated it into Greek, according to the custom 
 of the time, and called the young student 
 Mtlandhon. This was the illustrious friend 
 of Luther. 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Soon after, the amiable Reuchlin was in- 
 volved, much against his inclination, in a 
 violent contest, which was one of the preludes 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 There was at Cologne a baptised Jew, 
 named Pfefferkorn, intimately connected with 
 the inquisitor Hochstraten. This man and 
 the Dominicans solicited and obtained from 
 the Emperor Maximilian, probably with no 
 bad motives, an order, requiring the Jews to 
 bring all their Hebrew books (the Bible ex- 
 cepted) to the town-hall of the city in which 
 they resided, there to be publicly burnt. The 
 reason alleged was, that they were full of 
 blasphemies against Jesus. It must be con- 
 fessed, that they were at least full of absurdi- 
 ties, and that the Jews themselves would not 
 have lost much by the proposed measure. 
 However, they did not think so; and no 
 power could rightly deprive them of works 
 which were, in their estimation, of great 
 value. Add to which, the Dominicans might 
 be influenced by other motives than zeal for 
 the Gospel. It is probable that they expected, 
 by this means, to extort considerable ransoms 
 from the Jews. 
 
 The Emperor asked Reuchlin to give his 
 opinion of these works. The learned doctor 
 pointed out the books that were written 
 against Christianity, leaving them to the fate 
 they deserved; but he tried to save the rest : 
 '* The best way to convert the Jews," he 
 added, "would be to establish in each uni- 
 versity two masters of the Hebrew language, 
 who should teach divines to read the Bible in 
 Hebrew, and thus refute the Jewish doctors." 
 The Jews, in consequence of this advice, had 
 their writings restored to them. 
 
 The proselyte and the inquisitor, like ravens 
 "who see their prey escaping, uttered cries of 
 rage and fury. They picked out different 
 passages from the writings of Reuchlin, per- 
 verted the sense, declared the author a he- 
 retic, accused him of being secretly inclined 
 to Judaism, and threatened him with the in- 
 quisition. Reuchlin was at first alarmed, but 
 these men becoming more insolent, and pre- 
 scribing to him disgraceful conditions of peace, 
 he published, in 1513, a " Defence against his 
 Slanderers at Cologne," in which he described 
 the whole party in the liveliest colours. 
 
 The Dominicans vowed vengeance. Hoch- 
 straten erected, at Mayence, a tribunal against 
 Reuchlin. The writings of this learned man 
 were condemned to the flames. Reuchlin 
 appealed to Pope Leo X. This Pope, who 
 did not much like those narrow-minded and 
 fanatical monks, referred the whole affair to 
 the Bishop of Spires; the latter declared 
 Reuchlin innocent, and condemned the monks 
 to pay the expenses of the investigation. 
 
 This affair was of great importance, and 
 made much noise in Germany. It exhibited 
 in the most revolting publicity, the very large 
 class of monkish theologians; it drew to- 
 gether in closer alliance all the friends of 
 learning then called Reuchlinists, from the 
 name of their distinguished head. This strug- 
 gle was like an affair of advanced posts, 
 
 which influenced in a considerable degree the 
 great contest which the heroic courage of Lu- 
 ther afterwards waged with error. 
 
 This union of letters with the faith is an 
 important feature of the Reformation, and 
 serves to distinguish it both from the esta- 
 blishment of Christianity, and from the revival 
 in religion taking place in our own days. 
 The Christians, in the Apostles' time, had 
 against them the intellectual cultivation of 
 the age; and, with some exceptions, it is the 
 same at this day. But the majority of men 
 of letters were ranged on the side of the Re- 
 formers. Even general opinion was favour- 
 able to them. The work gained in extension : 
 perhaps it lost in depth ! 
 
 Luther, acknowledging all that Reuchlin 
 had done, wrote to him shortly after his vic- 
 tory over the Dominicans: "The Lord has 
 wrought in you, that the light of his holy 
 word may again shine forth in Germany, 
 where, for so many ages, it has been, alas ! 
 not only stifled, but extinct." 52 
 
 Reuchlin was about twelve years old when 
 one of the greatest geniuses of the age was 
 born, A man, full of vivacity and wit, named 
 Gerard, a native of Gouda, in the Low 
 Countries, had formed an attachment to the 
 daughter of a physician, named Margaret. 
 The principles of the Gospel did not govern 
 his life ; or, to say the least, his passion si- 
 lenced them. His parents, and nine brothers, 
 urged him to enter into the Church. He fled, 
 leaving Margaret on the point of becoming a 
 mother, and repaired to Rome. The shame- 
 struck Margaret gave birth to a son. Gerard 
 heard nothing of it ; and, some time after- 
 wards, he received from his parents intelli- 
 gence, that she he loved was no more. Over- 
 whelmed with grief, he took priest's orders, 
 and devoted himself to the service of God. 
 He returned to Holland; and, lo! Margaret 
 was still living, she would never marry an- 
 other ; and Gerard remained faithful to his 
 priest's vows. Their affection was concen- 
 trated on their infant son. His mother had 
 taken the tenderest care of him. The father, 
 after his return, sent him to school, when he 
 was only four years old. He was not yet 
 thirteen, when his master, Sinthemius of De- 
 venter, embracing him one day in great joy, 
 exclaimed : " That child will attain the high- 
 est summits of learning." This was Eras- 
 mus of Rotterdam. 
 
 About this time his mother died ; and shortly 
 after his father, from grief, followed her. 
 
 The young Erasmus,* alone in the world, 
 felt the strongest aversion to the monastic life, 
 which his tutors would have constrained him 
 to embrace. At last, a friend persuaded him 
 to enter himself in a convent of regular ca- 
 nons; which might be done without taking 
 orders. Soon after, we find him at the court 
 of the Archbishop of Cambray ; and, a little 
 "ater, at the university of Paris. There he 
 
 
 * He was named Gerhard after his father. He 
 ranslated this Dutch name into Latin, (Deside- 
 ius,) and into Greek (Erasmus.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION; 
 
 31 
 
 pursued his studies in the greatest poverty, 
 but with the most indefatigable perseverance. 
 Whenever he could obtain any money, he 
 employed it in the purchase of Greek authors, 
 and then, of clothes. Often the poor Hol- 
 lander solicited in vain the generosity of his 
 protectors : hence, in after life, it was his 
 greatest satisfaction to contribute to the sup- 
 port of young and poor students. Devoted 
 incessantly to the investigation of truth and 
 learning, he yet shrunk from the study of 
 theology, from a fear lest he should discover 
 therein any error, and so be denounced as a 
 heretic. 
 
 The habits of application which he formed, 
 at this period, continued to distinguish him 
 through life. Even in his journeys, which 
 were generally on horseback, he was not idle. 
 He was accustomed to compose on the high 
 road, or travelling across the country, and, on 
 arriving at an inn, to note down his thoughts. 
 It is in this way that he composed his cele- 
 brated "Praise of Folly] during a journey 
 from Italy to England. 
 
 Erasmus very early acquired a high reputa- 
 tion among scholars. 
 
 But the monks, irritated by his " Praise of 
 Folly," in which he had turned them to ridi- 
 cule, vowed vengeance against him. Courted 
 by princes, he constantly excused himself from 
 their invitations ; preferring to gain his lively- 
 hood with Frobenius the printer, by correcting 
 his proofs, to a life of luxury and favour in 
 the splendid courts of Charles V., of Henry 
 VIII., and Francis I. ; or even to encircling 
 his head with the cardinal's hat, which was 
 offered to him. 54 
 
 From 1509 he taught at Oxford. In 1516 
 he came to Bale, and in 1521 fixed his abode 
 there. 
 
 What was his influence on the Reforma- 
 tion? 
 
 It has been too much exalted by some, and 
 too much depreciated by others. Erasmus 
 never was, and never could have become, a 
 Reformer ; but he prepared the way for others. 
 Not only did he in his time diffuse a love of 
 learning and a spirit of inquiry and discussion, 
 which led much farther than he himself would 
 follow, but, in addition to this, he was able, 
 sheltered by the protection of great prelates 
 and powerful princes, to unveil and combat 
 the vices of .the Church by the most pungent 
 satires. 
 
 He did more; not satisfied with attacking 
 abuses, Erasmus laboured to recall divines 
 from the scholastic theology to the study of 
 the Holy Scriptures. "The highest use of 
 the revival of philosophy," said he, " will be 
 to discover in the Bible the pure and simple 
 Christianity." A noble saying! and would 
 to God that the organs of the philosophy of 
 our days understood as well their proper duty, 
 "lam firmly resolved," said he again, "to 
 die in the study of the Scripture. In that is 
 my joy and my peace." 55 " The sum of all 
 Christian philosophy," says he in another 
 place, "is reduced to this: to place all our 
 nope in God, who, without our deserts, by 
 
 grace, gives us all things by Jesus Christ; to 
 know that we are redeemed by the death of 
 his Son ; to die to the lusts of the world ; and 
 to walk conformably to his doctrine and ex- 
 ample ; not merely without doing wrong to 
 any, but doing good to all; to bear with 
 patience our trial in the hope of a future re- 
 compense ; and finally to ascribe no honour 
 to ourselves on the score of our virtues, but 
 to render praise to God for all our strength 
 and works. And it is with this that man 
 must be imbued until it becomes to him a se 
 cond nature." 56 
 
 But Erasmus was not content with making 
 so open a confession of the evangelic doctrine ; 
 his labours did more than his words. Above 
 all, he rendered a most important service to the 
 truth by publishing his New Testament ; the 
 first, and for a long time, the only critical edi 
 tion. It appeared at Bale in 1516, the year 
 previous to the usual date of the Reformation. 
 He accompanied it with a Latin translation, 
 wherein he boldly corrected the Vulgate, and 
 with notes, defending his corrections. Thus 
 Erasmus did that for the New Testament 
 which Reuchlin had done for the Old. 
 
 Divines and learned men might thus read 
 the word of God in the original language; 
 and at a later period they were enabled to re- 
 cognise the purity of the doctrine of the Re- 
 formers. " Would to God," said Erasmus, 
 in sending forth this work, "would to God it 
 might bear as much fruit for Christianity as it 
 has cost me labour and application." His 
 wish was realized. In vain did the monks 
 clamour against it. " He pretends to correct 
 the Holy Ghost!" said they. The New 
 Testament of Erasmus shed a brilliant light. 
 This great man also diffused a taste for the 
 word of God by his paraphrases of the Epistle 
 to the Romans. The effect of his studies 
 went beyond his own intentions : Reuchlin 
 and Erasmus gave the Scriptures to the 
 learned; Luther, to the people. 
 
 Erasmus served as a stepping-stone to seve- 
 ral others. Many who would have taken alarm 
 at evangelical truths brought forward in all 
 their energy and purity, suffered themselves 
 to be drawn on by him, and became after- 
 wards the most zealous actors in the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 But the very causes that made him a fit in- 
 strument to prepare this great work, disquali- 
 fied him for accomplishing it. " Erasmus 
 knows very well how to expose error," said 
 Luther, " but he does not know how to teach 
 the truth." The Gospel of Christ was not the 
 fire that kindled and sustained his life, the 
 centre around which his activity revolved. In 
 him Christianity was second to learning. He 
 was too much influenced by vanity to acquire 
 a decided influence over his contemporaries. 
 He carefully weighed the effect that each 
 step might have upon his own reputation. 
 There was nothing that he liked better to talk 
 about than himself and his own glory. "The 
 Pope," he wrote to an intimate friend, with a 
 childish vanity, at the period when he declared 
 himself the adversary of Luther, " the Pope 
 D 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 has sent me a diploma fall of good-will and 
 honourable testimonials. His secretary de- 
 clares that it is an unprecedented honour, and 
 that the Pope himself dictated it word for 
 word." 
 
 Erasmus and Luther are the representatives 
 of two great ideas relative to a Reformation, 
 of two great parties in their age, and in all 
 ages. The one class are men of a timid pru- 
 dence ; the other those of active courage and 
 resolution. These two great bodies of men 
 existed at this period, and they were personified 
 in these two illustrious heads. The former 
 thought that the cultivation of theological 
 science would lead gradually and without 
 violence to the Reformation of the Church. 
 The more energetic class thought that the 
 spread of more correct, ideas amongst the learn- 
 ed would not put an end to the gross supersti- 
 tions of the people, and that to reform such or 
 such an abuse was of little importance, so long 
 as the life of the church was not thoroughly 
 renovated. 
 
 57 " A disadvantageous peace," said Erasmus, 
 " is better than the most just war." He thought, 
 -^(and how many Erasmuses have lived since 
 that time, and are still living) he thought that 
 a Reformation which should shake the Church 
 would risk the overturning it ; he foresaw with 
 terror passions excited, evil mingling every- 
 where with the little good that might be done ; 
 existing institutions destroyed without others 
 being substituted in their stead, and the vessel 
 of the Church, letting in water on every side, 
 engulphed at last in the raging billows. 
 "They who let in the ocean to new beds," 
 said he, "are often deceived in the result of 
 their toil : for the mighty element once ad- 
 mitted, stops not where they would have it 
 stayed, but overflows where it will, spreading 
 devastation around." 68 
 
 But the more courageous party was not at a 
 loss for an answer. History had sufficiently 
 proved that a candid exhibition of the truth, 
 and a decided war against imposture, could 
 alone ensure the victory. If they had used 
 caution and political artifice, the Papal court 
 would have extinguished the light in its first 
 glimmerings. Had not gentler means been 
 tried for ages] Had they not seen Council 
 after Council convoked with the intention of 
 reforming the Church ? All had been in vain. 
 Why again try an experiment that had so often 
 
 Undoubtedly a thorough Reformation was 
 not to be effected without violence. But when 
 has anything great or good appeared amongst 
 men without causing some disturbance? 
 Would not the fear of seeing evil mingling 
 with good, if it were allowed, put a stop to 
 the very noblest and holiest undertakings'? 
 We must not fear the evil that may arise from 
 general disturbance, but we must strengthen 
 ourselves to resist and overcome it. 
 
 Is there not, moreover, a marked difference 
 between the agitation which arises from hu- 
 man passions, and that which is wrought by 
 the Spirit of God 1 ? The former loosens the 
 bonds of society, but the latter strengthens 
 
 them. How erroneous was it to suppose, 
 with Erasmus, that in the state in which 
 Christianity then was, with that mixture of 
 opposing elements, of truth and error, of life 
 and death, a violent convulsion could possibly 
 be avoided. Close if you can, the crater of 
 Vesuvius when the contending elements are 
 already agitating its bosom ! The middle ages 
 had witnessed more than one violent commo- 
 tion, with an atmosphere less stormy than that 
 existing at the time of the Reformation. We 
 must not at such a moment think of arresting 
 and repressing, but rather of directing and 
 guiding. 
 
 If the Reformation had not broke forth, who 
 can estimate the ruin that would have en- 
 sued 1 Society a prey to a thousand destruc- 
 tive elements, without any regenerating or 
 preserving principles, would have been fright- 
 fully subverted. Certainly, a Reformation 
 such as Erasmus contemplated, and such as 
 many moderate but timid men of our times 
 still dream of, would have overturned Chris- 
 tian society. The people, deprived of the 
 light and piety which a true Reformation 
 brought down even to the lowest ranks, aban- 
 doned to violent passion and a restless spirit 
 of revolt, would have burst the chain like an 
 enraged animal roused by provocation to un- 
 controllable fury. 
 
 The Reformation was nothing less than the 
 coming in of the Spirit of God among men, a 
 regulating principle, placed by God upon the 
 earth. It might, it is true, move the elements 
 of ferment which are hidden in the human 
 heart, but God triumphed over all. The evan- 
 gelical doctrine, the truth of God, penetrating 
 among the mass of the people, destroyed what 
 was destined to be destroyed, but every- 
 where strengthened what was to be maintain- 
 ed. The effect of the Reformation was to 
 build up. Only prejudice could say that it 
 lowered. And it has been justly observed 
 that the ploughshare might as well be accused 
 of injuring the earth it breaks up only to pre- 
 pare it for fruitful ness. 
 
 The great maxim of Erasmus was, " Give 
 light, and the darkness will disperse of itself." 
 The principle is good ; Luther acted upon it. 
 But when the enemies of the light attempted 
 to extinguish it, or to snatch the torch from 
 him who bore it, was it fit that, from a love of 
 peace, they should be suffered to do so ? Was 
 it not a duty to resist the wicked 1 
 
 Erasmus was deficient in courage. But 
 courage is as necessary to effect a reformation 
 as to capture a city. There was much timi- 
 dity in his character. From his youth he 
 trembled at the mention of death. He took 
 the most extraordinary care of his health. He 
 would avjDid, at any sacrifice, a place where 
 contagion prevailed. His relish for the com- 
 forts of life surpassed even his vanity, and 
 this was his reason for declining more than 
 one brilliant offer. 
 
 Thus it was that he did not pretend to the 
 part of a Reformer. " If the corrupted morals 
 of the court of Rome require a great and speedy 
 remedy," said he, " it is not for me, or such 
 
as me to eff 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 33 
 
 to effect it." 59 He had none of that 
 strength of faith which animated Luther. 
 Whilst the latter was ever ready to lay down 
 his life for the truth, Erasmus, with perfect 
 ingenuousness, could say, " Let others affect 
 martyrdom : for my part, I think myself un- 
 worthy of that honour. 60 I fear, if a tumult 
 arose, I should be like Peter in his fall." 
 
 Erasmus, by his writings and discourses, 
 had, more than any other person, hastened the 
 Reformation; and yet he trembled when he 
 saw the tempest he had raised approaching. 
 He would have given every thing to restore 
 the former calm, even with its heavy vapours. 
 But it was too late, the darn was broken 
 down. It was no longer possible to stay the 
 violence of the torrent that was at once to 
 cleanse and fertilize the world. Erasmus was 
 powerful, so long as he was an instrument in 
 God's hands. When he ceased to be that 
 he was nothing. 
 
 In the result Erasmus knew not on which 
 side to range himself. None pleased him, 
 and he dreaded all. " It is dangerous to 
 speak," said he, " and dangerous to be silent." 
 In all great religious movements, there are 
 such undecided characters, respectable in 
 some things, but hindering the truth, and who, 
 from a desire to displease no one, displease all. 
 
 What, we may ask, would become of truth, 
 if God were not to raise up in its defence more 
 courageous champions ] 
 
 Listen to the advice given by Erasmus to 
 Vigilius Zuichem, afterwards president of the 
 superior court of Brussels, as to his deport- 
 ment towards the sectaries, (for that was the 
 name he gave to the reformers.) "My friendship 
 for you makes me desire that you should keep 
 yourself quite clear of contagion of sects, and 
 that you give them no ground to claim Zuichem 
 as their own. If you approve their teaching, at 
 leasi dissemble your approval; arid, above 
 all, never dispute with them. A jurisconsult 
 must be on his guard with these people, as a 
 certain dying man eluded the devil. The 
 devil asked him what he believed. The dying 
 man, fearing that, if he confessed, he should 
 be surprised in some heresy, answered, 'What 
 the Church believes.' His interrogator press- 
 ed him with the question, * What does the 
 Church believe 1 ?' The other replied, ' What 
 I believe] Again the devil, 'And what do 
 you believe? and the dyino- man rejoined, 
 'What the Church believes.'" 61 
 
 So, the Duke George of Saxony, the mortal 
 enemy of Luther, having received an equivocal 
 answer to a question he had addressed to Eras- 
 mus, exclaimed aloud, " My dear Erasmus, 
 wash me the robe, if you can, without wetting 
 it." Secundus Curio, in one of his works, 
 depicts two heavens, the Papal and the 
 Christian. He found Erasmus in neither; 
 but perceived him incessantly wheeling in 
 never ending eddies between both. 
 
 Such was Erasmus. He wanted that 
 4 liberty of heart' which makes truly free. 
 How different would he have been, if he had 
 
 Slven up himself to devote his soul to truth, 
 ut after trying to work some reforms, with 
 
 the approbation of the heads of the Church, 
 after having, for the sake of Rome, abandoned 
 the Reformation, when he saw that the two 
 could not walk together, he lost all his in- 
 fluence with either. On the one side, his re- 
 cantations could not repress the indignation 
 of the fanatic partisans of Popery. They felt 
 the injury he had done them, and never for- 
 gave it. The monks poured forth abuse on 
 him from their pulpits. They called him a 
 second Lucian, a fox that had laid waste the 
 vineyard of the Lord. A doctor of Constance 
 had the portrait of Erasmus hung up in his 
 study, that he might spit in his face as often 
 as he pleased. 
 
 And on the other hand, Erasmus, forsaking 
 the standard of the Gospel, found himself de- 
 prived of the affections and esteem of the 
 noblest men of his age, and had doubtless to 
 suffer the loss of those heavenly consolations 
 which God sheds into the hearts of those who 
 act as good soldiers of Christ. So at least it 
 would seem from the bitter tears, painful 
 vigils, disturbed rest, failure of appetite and 
 loss of relish for literary pursuits, once his 
 only enjoyments, wrinkled forehead, sallow 
 complexion, and dejected and sorrowful ex- 
 pression, that hatred of what he calls a cruel 
 life, and desire of death which he described to 
 his friends. 62 Poor Erasmus! 
 
 The enemies of Erasmus went a little beyond 
 the truth, when they said, on the appearance 
 of Luther, " Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther 
 has hatched it." 63 
 
 The same signs of new life that were seen 
 among the princes, the bishops and the learn- 
 ed, were visible among men of the world, 
 nobles, knights, and warriors. The nobles of 
 Germany played an important part in the Re- 
 formation. Many of the most illustrious sons 
 of Germany formed a close alliance with lite- 
 rary men, and, inflamed with a zeal some- 
 times indiscreet, made efforts to deliver their 
 dependents from the yoke of Rome. 
 
 Various causes would contribute to make 
 friends to the Reformation among the nobles. 
 Some, having frequented the Universities, had 
 there received into their bosoms that fire with 
 which the learned were animated. Others, 
 educated in noble sentiments, had hearts open 
 to the elevating doctrines of the Gospel. Many 
 found in the Reformation a vague and chival- 
 rous something to charm and captivate them. 
 Others, it must be owned, were influenced by 
 ill-will to the clergy, who had helped, unde'r 
 the rule of Maximilian, to deprive them of 
 their ancient independence, and reduce them 
 to submission to their princes. Full of enthusi- 
 asm, they deemed the Reformation the prelude 
 of a great political renovation; they hoped to 
 behold the Empire emerge from the crisis with 
 a splendour altogether unprecedented, and a 
 better and more glorious state of things estab- 
 lished in the world, as much by the sword of 
 chivalry as by the word of God. 64 
 
 Ulric de Hiitten, surnamed the Demosthenes 
 of Germany from his philippics against the 
 Papacy, forms, as it were, the link which then 
 held united the knights and the men of letters 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 He was no less distinguished by his writings ' 
 than by his military exploits. Descended j 
 from an ancient family of Franconia, he was 
 sent when eleven years old, to the convent of 
 Fulda, to become in due time a monk. But 
 TJlric, who felt no inclination for that vocation, 
 fled from the convent in his sixteenth year, 
 and repaired to the University of Cologne, 
 where he devoted himself to the study of lan- 
 guages and poetry. At a later period he led 
 a wandering life, was present in 1513 at the 
 siege of Padua, in the capacity of a common 
 soldier, saw Rome and all her abominations, 
 and there sharpened the darts which he after- 
 wards hurled against her. 
 
 On his return to Germany, Hiitten com- 
 posed against Rome a writing entitled The 
 Roman Trinity. He there strips bare the 
 disorders of that court, and shows the neces- 
 sity of putting a forcible stop to its oppres- 
 sions. "There are three things," says a 
 traveller named Vadiscus, introduced in this 
 tract, " which we commonly bring away with 
 us from Rome, a bad conscience, a vitiated 
 stomach, and an empty purse. There are 
 three things which Rome does not believe in : 
 the immortality of the soul, the resurrection 
 of the dead, and hell. There are three things 
 which Rome trades in: the grace of Christ, 
 the dignities of the church, and women." 
 The last writing obliged Hiitten to quit the 
 court of the Archbishop of Mentz, where he 
 was residing when he composed it. 
 
 When Reuchlin's affair with the Domini- 
 cans made a noise, Hiitten took the part of the 
 learned doctor. One of his university ac- 
 quaintances, Crotus Robianus,and others, com- 
 posed at that time the famous satire known by 
 the name of " Letters of Obscure Men," which 
 first appeared in 1516, one year before the 
 theses of Luther. This writing was attributed 
 especially to Hiitten, and it is very probable 
 that he had a large share in its composition. 
 In it the monks who were the enemies of 
 Reuchlin, and are exhibited as the authors of 
 these letters, discourse of the affairs of the 
 time, and of theological subjects, in their man- 
 ner and in barbarous Latin. They address to 
 their correspondent Eratius, professor at Co- 
 logne, the most idiotic and useless questions; 
 they discover with the utmost simplicity their 
 gross ignorance, incredulity, superstition, and 
 low arid vulgar spirit, and at the same time 
 their pride, and fanatical and persecuting zeal. 
 They relate to him many of their low adven- 
 tures and debaucheries, and many scandalous 
 particulars of the conduct of Hochstraten, 
 Ptefferkorn, and other heads of their party. 
 These letters are very amusing, from their 
 mixture of hypocrisy and stupidity : and the 
 whole was so much to the life, that the Domi- 
 nicans and Franciscans of England received 
 the writing with great approbation, and thought 
 it to be really composed in the principles and 
 for the defence of their order. A prior of Bra- 
 bant, in his credulous simplicity, bought a 
 large number of copies, and sent them as pre- 
 sents to the most distinguished of the Domi- 
 nicans. The monks, more and more irritated, 
 importuned Leo X. for a severe bull against 
 
 all who should dare to read these letters; but 
 that pontiff refused them. They were com- 
 pelled to endure the general ridicule, and to 
 suppress their anger. No work ever struck 
 a more terrible blow at the pillars of Popery. 
 But it was not by ridicule and satire that the 
 Gospel was ordained to triumph. If its 
 friends had continued their progress in these 
 ways; if the Reformation, instead of attack- 
 ing error with the weapons of God, had had 
 recourse to the spirit of mockery, its cause 
 had been lost. Luther loudly condemned 
 these satires. One of his acquaintances hav- 
 ing sent him one, entitled "The Burden of 
 the Petition of Pasquin." "The absurdities 
 you have sent me," said he, "appear to be 
 the production of an ill-regulated mind. I 
 have shown them to some friends, and they 
 all formed the same opinion of them." And 
 in reference to the same work, he wrote to 
 another of his correspondents. "This peti- 
 tion seems to me a freak of the same buffoon 
 who wrote the Letters of Obscure Men. I 
 approve his design, but not his performance; 
 for he deals only in reproachful and insulting 
 language." 65 This judgment may be thought 
 severe, but it shows the spirit of Luther, and 
 how he arose above his contemporaries. Yet 
 it must be added that he did not always follow 
 these wise maxims. 
 
 Ulric, being obliged to renounce the protec- 
 tion of the Archbishop of Mentz, courted the 
 favour of Charles V., who was then at variance 
 with the Pope. 
 
 He repaired to Brussels, where Charles 
 held his court. But, far from gaining any 
 advantage, he learned that the Pope had re- 
 quired the Emperor to send him bound hand 
 and foot to Rome. The inquisitor Hochstra- 
 ten, the persecutor of Reuchlin, was one of 
 those charged with the office of bringing him 
 to trial. Indignant that his enemies should 
 have dared to make such a demand of the 
 Emperor, Ulric quitted Brabant. Just outside 
 Brussels he met Hochstraten on the road. 
 The terrified inquisitor fell upon his knees and 
 commended his soul to God and the saints. 
 " No," said the knight ; " I will not soil rny 
 weapon with thy blood !" He gave him some 
 strokes with the flat of his sword, and allowed 
 him to pass unhurt. 
 
 Hiitten sought refuge in the Castle of 
 Ebernburg, where Francis of Sickingen offered 
 an asylum to all who were persecuted by the 
 Ul tramontanes. It was there that his zeal, 
 panting for the enfranchisement of his nation, 
 dictated those remarkable letters addressed to 
 Charles V., Frederic the elector of Saxony, 
 Albert archbishop of Mentz, and the princes 
 and nobility, which place him in the first rank 
 of orators. There he composed all those 
 writings, destined to be read and compre- 
 hended by the common people, which spread 
 throughout the German population a horror of 
 Rome and a love of liberty. Devoted to the 
 cause of the Reformer, his design was to lead 
 | the nobles to take up arms in favour of the 
 Gospel, and to rush sword in hand on that 
 Rome which Luther aimed to destroy only 
 by the word and invincible power of the truth 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 35 
 
 And yet, in the midst of all this warlike exul- 
 tation, it is delightful to find in Hiitten kind and 
 considerate feelings. At the death of his pa- 
 rents, he gave up to his brothers all the 
 property of the family, though he was the 
 eldest son, and even begged them not to write 
 to him nor send him any money, lest, notwith- 
 standing their innocence, they should be ex- 
 posed to the malice of his enemies, and fall 
 with him into the pit. 
 
 If truth cannot acknowledge him as one of 
 her children, for she ever walks in company 
 with holiness of life and charity of heart, she 
 will at least accord to him all honourable 
 mention as one of the most formidable enemies 
 of error. 63 
 
 The same may be said of Francis of Sick- 
 ingen, his illustrious friend and protector. 
 This noble knight, whom many of his con- 
 temporaries judged worthy of the Imperial 
 crown, s'vines in the foremost rank of the war- 
 like antagonists of Rome. Though delight- 
 ing in the noise of battles, he was full of ar- 
 dour for learning, and veneration for its pro- 
 fessors. At the head of an army which 
 threatened Wiirtemberg, he commanded that 
 in case Stutgard should be taken by assault, 
 the house and property of the distinguished 
 scholar, John Reuchlin, should be respected. 
 He afterwards invited him to his camp, em- 
 braced him and tendered him his assistance 
 in the contest between him and the monks of 
 Cologne. Chivalry had for a long time prided 
 itself in despising learning. The period we 
 are retracing presents a new spectacle. Under 
 the ponderous cuirasses of Sickingen and Hiit- 
 ten, we perceive that new movement of the 
 general intelligence then everywhere begin- 
 ning to make itself felt. The Reformation 
 gave to the world as its first fruits, warriors 
 who were friends of the arts and of peace. 
 
 Hiitten, during his residence at the castle 
 of Sickingen, after his return from Brussels, 
 encouraged the brave knight to study the 
 evangelic doctrine, and explained to him the 
 main truths on which it is based. " And is 
 there any man," exclaimed Sickingen in as- 
 tonishment, "that dares seek to overturn such 
 a doctrine ! Who dares to attempt it 1 ?" 
 
 Several who were at a later period distin- 
 guished as Reformers found a refuge in his 
 castle. Among others Martin Bucer, Aquila, 
 Schwebel, (Ecolampadius; so that Hiitten, 
 with some reason, designated Ebernburg the 
 " house of the just/' (Ecolampadius preach- 
 ed, according to his custom, every day at the 
 castle. Nevertheless the warriors there col- 
 lected were ere long weary of hearing so much 
 of the mild virtues of Christianity; the ser- 
 mons were too long for them, though (Ecolam- 
 padius did his best to be brief. They, how- 
 ever, came every day to church, but it was 
 merely to hear the benediction, or to make a 
 short prayer, so that (Ecolampadius was used 
 to exclaim, "Alas! the word is here sown 
 upon rocks." 
 
 Soon after, Sickingen, wishing to help the 
 cause of truth in his own fashion, declared 
 war against the Archbishop of Treves, " to 
 6 
 
 open a door," as he said " for the Gospel." 
 It was in vain that Luther, who had then ap- 
 peared, dissuaded him from it; he attacked 
 Treves with five thousand horse and a thou- 
 sand foot. The courageous Archbishop as- 
 sisted by the Palatine and the Landgrave of 
 Hesse, compelled him to retreat. In the 
 spring following, the allies besieged him in 
 his castle of Landstein. After a 'bloody as- 
 sault, Sickingen was obliged to retire: he was 
 mortally wounded. The three princes pene- 
 trated into the fortress, and passing through 
 its apartments, found the lion-hearted knight 
 in a vault, stretched on his death-bed. He 
 put forth his hand to the Palatine, without 
 seeming to notice the princes who accompa- 
 nied him. But they overwhelmed him with 
 questions and reproaches. " Leave me in 
 quiet," said he, " for I must now prepare to 
 answer to a greater Lord than ye." When 
 Luther heard of his death, he exclaimed, " The 
 Lord is just but wonderful ! It is not by the 
 sword that he will have his gospel propagated." 
 
 Such was the melancholy end of a warrior 
 who, as Emperor, or as an Elector, might 
 perhaps have raised Germany to a high degree 
 of glory, but who, confined within a narrow 
 circle, expended uselessly the great powers 
 with which he was gifted. It was not in the 
 tumultuous minds of these warriors that divine 
 truth came to fix her abode. It was not by 
 their arms that the truth was to prevail ; and 
 God by bringing to nought the mad projects 
 of Sickingen, confirmed anew the testimony 
 of St. Paul, "The weapons of our warfare are 
 not carnal, but mighty through God." 
 
 Another knight, Harmut of Cronberg, the 
 friend of Hiitten and Sickingen, appears, how- 
 ever, to have had more wisdom and knowledge 
 of the truth. He wrote with much modesty 
 to Leo X., urging him to restore his temporal 
 power to him to whom it belonged, namely, 
 to the Emperor. Addressing his subjects as 
 a father, he endeavoured to explain to them 
 the doctrines of the Gospel, and exhorted them 
 to faith, obedience, and trust in Jesus Christ, 
 " who," added he, " is the sovereign Lord of 
 all." He resigned to the Emperor a pension 
 of two hundred ducats, " because he would no 
 longer serve one who gave ear to the enemies 
 of the truth." And we find a saying of his re- 
 corded, which places him in our judgment 
 above Hiitten and Sickingen. " Our heaven- 
 ly teacher, the Holy Ghost, can, when he 
 pleases, teach us in one hour much more of 
 the faith of Christ, than could be learned in 
 ten years at the University of Paris." 
 
 However, those who only look for the 
 friends of the Reformation on the steps of 67 
 thrones, or in cathedrals and academies, and 
 who suppose it had no friends amongst the 
 people, are greatly mistaken. God, who was 
 preparing the hearts of the wise and powerful, 
 was also preparing amongst the lowest of the 
 people many simple and humble men, who 
 were one day to become the promoters of his 
 truth. The history of those times shows the 
 excitement that prevailed among the lower 
 classes. There were not only many young 
 
 D2 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 men who rose to fill the highest offices in the j shop, situated at one of the gates of the im- 
 Church, but there were men who continued perial city of Nuremberg, proceeded sounds 
 
 all their lives employed in the humblest occu- 
 pations, who powerfully contributed to the 
 revival of Christianity. We relate some cir- 
 cumstances in the life of one of them. 
 
 He was the son of a tailor named Hans 
 
 that resounded through all Germany, prepar 
 ing the minds of men for a new era, and every- 
 where endearing to the people the great revo- 
 lution which was then in progress. The 
 spiritual songs of Hans Sachs, his Bible in 
 
 Sachs, and was born at Nuremberg, the 5th | verse, powerfully assisted this work. It 
 November, 1494. He was named Hans 
 (John) after his father, and had made some 
 
 ', <f 
 man s genius 
 
 progress in his studies, when a severe illness 
 obliging him to abandon them, he applied 
 himself to the trade of a shoemaker. Young 
 Hans took advantage of the liberty this hum- 
 ble profession afforded to his mind, to search 
 into higher subjects better suited to his incli- 
 nation. Since music had been banished from 
 the castles of the nobles, it seemed to have 
 sought and found an asylum amongst the 
 lower orders of the merry cities of Germany. 
 A school for singing was held in the church 
 of Nuremberg. The exercises in which young 
 Hans joined opened his heart to religious im- 
 pressions, and helped to excite in him a taste 
 for poetry and music. However, the young 
 could not long be confined 
 within the walls of a workshop. He wished 
 to see that world of which he had read so 
 much in books, of which his companions had 
 told him so much, and which his youthful 
 imagination peopled with wonders. In 1511, 
 he took his bundle on his shoulders, and set 
 out. directing his course towards the south. 
 The young traveller, who met with merry 
 companions on his road, students who were 
 passing through the country, and many dan- 
 gerous attractions, soon felt within himself a 
 fearful struggle. The lusts of life and his 
 holy resolutions contended for the mastery. 
 Trembling for the issue, he fled and sought 
 refuge in the little town of Wels, in Austria, 
 (1513,) where he lived in retirement, and in 
 the cultivation of the fine arts. The Emperor 
 Maximilian happened to pass through the 
 town with a brilliant retinue. The young 
 poet was carried away by the splendour of 
 this court. The prince received him into his 
 hunting establishment, and Hans again forgot 
 his better resolutions in the joyous chambers 
 of the palace of Inspruck. But again his 
 
 The 
 
 conscience loudly reproached 
 young huntsman laid aside his glittering uni- 
 form, set out, repaired to Schwartz, and after- 
 wards to Munich. It was there, in 1514, at 
 the age of twenty, he sang his first hymn, 
 
 'to the honour of God," to a well known 
 :;hanl. He was loaded with applause. 
 Everywhere in his travels he had occasion to 
 notice numerous and melancholy proofs of the 
 abuses under which religion was labouring. 
 
 . On his return to Nuremberg, Hans settled 
 in life, married, and became the father of a 
 family. When the Reformation burst forth, 
 tie lent an attentive ear. He clung to that 
 holy book which had already become dear to 
 him as a poet, and which he now no longer 
 searched for pictures and music, but for the 
 
 would perhaps be difficult to say to which it 
 was most indebted, the Prince Elector of 
 Saxony, Administrator of the Empire, or the 
 shoemaker of Nuremberg! 
 
 There was at this time something in every 
 class of society that presaged a Reformation. 
 In every quarter signs were manifest, and 
 events were pressing forward that threatened 
 to overturn the work of ages of darkness, and 
 to bring about " a new order of things." The 
 light discovered in that age had communicat- 
 ed to all countries, with inconceivable rapidi- 
 ty, a multitude of new ideas. The minds of 
 men, which had slept for so many ages, seem- 
 ed resolved to redeem by their activity the time 
 they had lost. To have left them idle and 
 without nourishment, or to have offered them 
 no other food than that which had long sus- 
 tained their languishing existence, would 
 have shown great ignorance of human nature. 
 The mind of man saw clearly what was, and 
 what was coming, and surveyed with daring 
 eye the immense gulf that separated these 
 two worlds. Great princes were seated upon 
 the throne, the ancient colossus of Rome was 
 tottering under its own weight; the by-gone 
 spirit of chivalry was leaving the world, and 
 giving place to a new spirit which breathed 
 at the same time from the sanctuaries of learn- 
 ing and from the dwellings of the common 
 people. The art of printing had given wings 
 to the written word, which carried it, like 
 certain seeds, to the most distant regions. 
 The discovery of the Indies enld.ged the 
 boundaries of the world. Every thing pro- 
 claimed a mighty revolution at hand. 
 
 But whence was the stroke to come that 
 should throw down the ancient edifice, and 
 call up a new structure from the ruins? No 
 one could answer this question. Who had 
 more wisdom than Frederic I Who had more 
 learnino- than Reuchlin] Who had more ta- 
 
 lent than Erasmus 1 
 energy than Huttenl 
 
 Who had more wit and 
 Who had more courage 
 
 than Sickingen 1 Who had more virtue than 
 Cronberg 1 And yet it was neither Frederic, 
 nor Reuchlin, nor Erasmus, nor Hiitten, nor 
 Sickingen, nor Cronberg. Learned men, 
 princes, warriors, the Church itself, all had 
 undermined some of the old foundations; but 
 there they had stopped : and no where was 
 seen the hand of power that was to be God's 
 instrument. 
 
 However, all felt that it would soon be 
 seen. Some pretended to have discovered in 
 the stars sure indications of its appearing. 
 Some, seeing the miserable state of religion, 
 foretold the near approach of Antichrist. 
 Others, on the contrary, presaged some refor- 
 
 light of truth. To this sacred truth he soon mation at hand. The world was in expect* 
 dedicated his lyre. From a humble work-jtion. Luther appeared. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE YOUTH, CONVERSION, AND EARLY LABOURS OF LUTHER. 
 
 14831517. 
 
 Luther's Parents Birth of Luther Luther's Early Life Magdeburg His Hardships The "Shu- 
 namite" Recollections The University Discovery The Bible Mental Agitation Visit to 
 Mansfeld Luther's Resolution The Farewell The Convent Humiliations Endurance 
 His Studies Ascetic Life Mental Struggle Monastic Tendencies Staupitz Staupitz and 
 Luther Present of a Bible The Aged Monk The Change Consecration Luther at Eisleben 
 Invitation to Wittemberg First Instructions Lectures The Old Chapel His Preaching 
 Journey to Rome Sickness at Bologna Luther in Rome Effects of his Journey Pilate's 
 Staircase Confession of Faith Luther leaves Home. Carlstadt Luther's Oath Luther's 
 Courage Attacks the Schoolmen Spalatin Luther's Faith His Preaching Luther on Idolatry 
 On Superstitions His Conduct George Spenlein The True Righteousness Luther and 
 Erasmus Christian Charity George Leiffer Luther's Theses His Visitation Plague at 
 Wittemberg The Elector and the Relics Spalatin Duke George Luther's Sermon Eraser 
 The Supper Free Will Theses Nature of ManDoctor Eck Urban RegiusThe Theses 
 sent to Eck Effect of the Theses. 
 
 ALL things were ready. God who prepares 
 his work for ages, accomplishes it, when his 
 time is come, by the feeblest instruments. It 
 is the method of God's providence to effect 
 great results by inconsiderable means. This 
 law, which pervades the kingdom of nature, 
 is discerned also in the history of mankind. 
 God chose the Reformers of the Church from 
 the same condition, and worldly circum- 
 stances, from whence he had before taken 
 the Apostles. He chose them from that hum- 
 ble class which, though not the lowest, can 
 hardly be said to belong to the middle ranks. 
 Everything was thus to make manifest to the 
 world, that the work was not of man, but of 
 God. The reformer, Zwingle, emerged from 
 a shepherd's hut among the Alps: Melanc- 
 thon, the great theologian of the Reformation, 
 from an armourer's workshop : and Luther 
 from the cottage of a poor miner. 
 
 The opening period of a man's life, that 
 in which his natural charactei is formed and 
 developed under the hand of God, is always 
 important. It is especially so in Luther's 
 career. The whole Reformation was there. 
 
 The different phases of this work succeeded 
 each ether in the mind of him who was to be 
 the instrument for it, before it was publicly 
 accomplished in the world. The knowledge 
 of the Reformation effected in the heart of 
 Luther himself is, in truth, the key to the 
 Reformation of the Church. It is only by 
 studying the work in the individual that we 
 can comprehend the general work. They 
 who neglect the former, will know but the 
 form and exterior signs of the latter. They 
 may gain knowledge of certain events and 
 results, but they will never comprehend the 
 intrinsic nature of that renovation ; for the 
 principle of life that was the soul of it will 
 remain unknown to them. Let us then study 
 the Reformation of Luther himself, before we 
 contemplate the facts that changed the state 
 of Christendom. 
 
 John Luther, the son of a peasant of the 
 village of Mora, near Eisonach, in the county 
 of Mansfeld, in Thuringia, descended from an 
 ancient and widely-spread family of humble 
 
 peasantry^married the daughter of an inhabit- 
 ant of Neustadt, in the bishopric of Wurzburg, 
 named Margaret Lindemann. The newly 
 married couple left Eisenach, and went to set- 
 tle in the little town of Eisleben, in Saxony. 
 
 Seckendorff relates, on the testimony of 
 Relban, the superintendant of Eisenach in 
 1601, that the mother of Luther, thinking that 
 her time was not near, had gone to the fair of 
 Eisleben, and that there she was brought to 
 bed of her son. Notwithstanding the credit 
 that is due to Seckendorff, this fact does not 
 seem well authenticated ; indeed it is not al- 
 luded to by any of the oldest historians of 
 Luther ; moreover, the distance from Mora to 
 Eisleben must be about twenty-four leagues, 
 a journey not likely to have been underta- 
 ken in the state in which Luther's mother 
 then was, for the sake of going to a fair ; and 
 lastly the testimony of Luther himself appears 
 to contradict this assertion. 2 
 
 John Luther was a man of upright charac- 
 ter, diligent in his business, open-hearted, and 
 possessing a strength of purpose bordering 
 upon obstinacy. Of more cultivated mind 
 than the generality of his class, he read much. 
 Books were then rare ; but John did not 
 neglect any opportunity of procuring them. 
 They were his recreation in the intervals of 
 rest that his severe and assiduous labours al- 
 lowed him. Margaret possessed those vir- 
 tues which adorn good and pious women. 
 Modesty, ihe fear of God, and devotion, espe- 
 cially marked her character. She was con- 
 sidered by the mothers of families in the place 
 where she resided, as a model worthy of their 
 imitation. 3 
 
 It is not precisely known how long the new- 
 married couple bad been settled at Eisleben, 
 when, on the 10th of November, at 11 o'clock 
 in the evening, Margaret gave birth to a son. 
 Melancthon often questioned the mother of 
 his friend as to the time of her son's birth. "I 
 well remember the day and the hour," replied 
 she; "but lam not certain about the year." 
 But James, the brother of Luther, an honest 
 and upright man, said that, according to the 
 opinion of all the family, Martin was born in 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the year of our Lord 1483, on the 10th of No- 
 vember. It was the eve of St. Martin. 4 The 
 first thought of his pious parents was to de- 
 vote to God, by the rite of baptism, the child 
 that had been sent them. The next day, which 
 was Tuesday, the father, with joy and grati- 
 tude, carried his son to St. Peter's church. It 
 was there he received the seal of his dedica- 
 tion to the Lord. They named him Martin, 
 in memory of the day. 
 
 Little Martin was not six months old, when 
 his parents left Eisleben, to go to Mansfeld, 
 which is only five leagues distant. The mines 
 of Mansfeld were then much celebrated. John 
 Luther, an industrious man, feeling that he 
 should perhaps be called upon to bring up a 
 numerous family, hoped to get a better liveli- 
 hood there for himself and his children. It 
 was in this town that the understanding and 
 physical powers of young Luther were first 
 developed ; it was there that his activity began 
 to display itself; there he began to speak and 
 act. The plains of Mansfeld, the banks of 
 the Vipper, were the theatre of his first sports 
 with the children of the neighbourhood. 
 
 The early years of their abode at Mansfeld 
 were full of difficulty for the worthy John and 
 his wife. They lived at first in extreme 
 poverty. " My parents," said the Reformer, 
 " were very poor. My father was a woodcut- 
 ter, and my mother has often carried the wood 
 on her back, that she might earn wherewith 
 to bring us children up. They endured the 
 hardest labour for our sakes." The example 
 of parents whom he reverenced, and the habits 
 they trained him to, very early accustomed 
 Luther to toil and frugal fare. How often may 
 Martin, when a child have accompanied his 
 mother to the wood, and made up and brought 
 to her his little fagot. 
 
 There are blessings promised to the labour 
 of the righteous ; and John Luther experienced 
 their reality. He gradually made his way, 
 and established at Mansfeld two small fur- 
 naces for iron. By the side of these forges 
 little Martin grew up, and it was with the 
 earnings of this industry that his father was 
 afterwards able to place him at school. " It 
 was from a miner's fireside," says the worthy 
 Mathesius, " that one who was destined to 
 recast vital Christianity was to go forth : an 
 expression of God's purpose, by his means, to 
 cleanse the sons of Levi, and refine them as 
 gold in His furnace." 5 Respected by all for 
 his uprightness, irreproachable conduct, and 
 good sense, he was made one of the council 
 of Mansfeld, the chief town of the district so 
 called. Circumstances of too pinching want 
 might have weighed down their child's spirit; 
 while comparatively easy circumstances would 
 dilate his heart and raise his character. 
 
 John took advantage of his new appoint- 
 ment, to court the society he preferred. He 
 \>aid great attention to the learned, and often 
 invited to his table the ecclesiastics and school- 
 masters of the place. His house afforded a 
 sample of those social meetings of citizens 
 that did honour to Germany in the beginning 
 of the 16th century. It was a kind of mirror, 
 
 to which came, and wherein were reflected, 
 the numerous subjects which successively 
 took possession of the agitated stage of the 
 times. The child derived advantage from 
 this. Doubtless the sight of these men, to 
 whom so much respect was shown in his 
 father's house, excited in the haart of young 
 Martin the ambitious desire that he himself 
 might one day be a schoolmaster or a man of 
 learning. 
 
 As soon as he was old enough to receive 
 instruction, his parents endeavoured to com- 
 municate to him the knowledge of God, to 
 train him in His fear, and form him to the 
 practice of the Christian virtues. They applied 
 the utmost care to this earliest domestic educa- 
 tion. 6 But their solicitude was not confined to 
 this instruction. 
 
 His father, desiring to see him acquire the 
 elements of that learning for which he had so 
 much esteem, invoked upon him the blessing 
 of God, and sent him to school. Martin was 
 then a little child. His father and Nicholas 
 Emler, a young man of Mansfeld, often car- 
 ried him in their arms to the house of George 
 Ernilius, and came again to fetch him. Years 
 afterwards, Emler married Luther's sister. 
 Fifty years later, the Reformer reminded the 
 aged Nicholas of this touching mark of affec- 
 tion received in his childhood, and commemo- 
 rated it on the blank leaves of a book present- 
 ed to this old friend. 7 
 
 The piety of his parents, their active turn 
 of rnind and strict virtue, gave to the boy a 
 happy impulse, and helped to form in him a 
 habit of seriousness and application. In those 
 days it was the practice to use chastisements 
 and fear as the main impulses in education. 
 Margaret, although she sometimes approved 
 the too great severity of her husband, often 
 opened her maternal arms to Martin, and com- 
 forted him in his tears. Yet she herself over- 
 stepped the precept of that wisdom which tells 
 us that he who loves his child will chastise 
 him early. The resolute character of the child 
 gave frequent occasion for correction and re- 
 primand. " My parents," said Luther in after 
 life, "treated me cruelly, so that I became 
 very timid ; one day for a mere trifle my 
 mother whipped me till the blood came. They 
 truly thought they were doing right ; but they 
 had no discernment of character, which is yet 
 absolutely necessary, that we may know when, 
 on whom, and how, punishment should be 
 inflicted." 8 
 
 At school, the poor child was treated with 
 equal severity. His master flogged him fifteen 
 times in one day. " It is right," said Luther, 
 relating this fact, " it is right to punish child- 
 ren, but at the same time we must love them." 
 With such an education Luther early learned 
 to despise the attractions of a self-indulgent 
 life. It is a just remark of one of his earliest 
 biographers, that " that which is to become 
 great must begin in small things ; and if child- 
 ren are from their youth brought up with too 
 much daintiness and care, they are injured for 
 the rest of their lives." 
 
 Martin learned something at school. He 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 39 
 
 was taught the heads of the Catechism, the 
 Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, 
 the Lord's Prayer, some hymns, some forms 
 of prayer, a Latin Grammar composed in the 
 fourth century by Donatus, master of St. 
 Jerome, and which, improved by Remigius, a 
 French monk, in the eleventh century, was for 
 a long while in great repute in the schools; 
 he also read the Cisio Janus, a singular 
 calendar, composed in the tenth or eleventh 
 century ; in a word all that was studied in 
 the Latin school of Mansfeld. 
 
 But it appears that the child was not yet led 
 to God. The only religious feeling that he 
 then manifested was that of fear. Every time 
 that he heard Christ spoken of, he turned pale 
 with terror ; for he had been represented to 
 him only as an angry judge. 9 This servile 
 fear, which is so far removed from true reli- 
 gion, perhaps prepared his mind for the good 
 tidings of the gospel, and for that joy which 
 he afterwards felt when he learned to know 
 Christ as meek and lowly of heart. 
 
 John Luther, in conformity with his pre- 
 dilections, resolved to make his son a scholar. 
 That new world of light and science which 
 was everywhere producing vague excitement, 
 reached even to the cottage of the miner of 
 Mansfeld, and excited the ambition of Martin's 
 father. The remarkable character, and per- 
 severing application of his son, made John 
 conceive the highest hopes of his success. 
 Therefore, when Martin was fourteen years 
 of age, in 1497, his father came to the resolu- 
 tion of parting from him, and sending him to 
 the school of the Franciscans at Magdeburg. 
 Margaret was obliged to yield to this decision, 
 and Martin made preparations for leaving his 
 paternal roof. 
 
 Amongst the young people of Mansfeld, 
 there was one named John Reinecke, the son 
 of a respectable burgher. Martin and John, 
 who had been school-fellows, in early child- 
 hood, had contracted a friendship which lasted 
 to the end of their lives. The two boys set 
 out together for Magdeburg. It was at that 
 place, when separated from their families, 
 that they drew closer the bonds of their friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Magdeburg was like a new world to Martin. 
 In the midst of numerous privations, (for he 
 had hardly enough to subsist on,) he observed 
 and listened. Andreas Proles, a provincial 
 of the Augustine order, was then preaching 
 with great zeal the necessity of reforming 
 Religion and the Church. Perhaps these 
 discourses deposited in the soul of the youth 
 the earliest germ of the thoughts which a 
 later period unfolded. 
 
 This was a severe apprenticeship for Luther. 
 Cast upon the world at fourteen, without 
 friends or protectors, he trembled in the pre- 
 sence of his masters, and in his play-hours he 
 and some children, as poor as himself, with 
 difficulty begged their bread. "I was accus- 
 tomed," says he, "with my companions to 
 beg a little food to supply our wants. One 
 day about Christmas time, we were going all 
 together through the neighbouring villages, 
 
 from house to house, singing in concert the 
 usual carols on the infant Jesus born at 
 Bethlehem. We stopped in front of a pea- 
 sant's house which stood detached from the 
 rest, at the extremity of the village. The 
 peasant hearing us sing our Christmas carols, 
 came out with some food which he meant to 
 give us, and asked in a rough loud voice, 
 'Where are you, boys?' Terrified at these 
 words, we ran away as fast as we could. We 
 had no reason to fear, for the peasant offered 
 us this assistance in kindness; but our hearts 
 were no doubt become fearful from the threats 
 and tyranny which the masters then used 
 towards their scholars, so that we were seized 
 with sudden fright. At last, however, as the 
 peasant still continued to call after us, we 
 stopped, forgot our fears, ran to him, and 
 received the food that he offered us. It is 
 thus," adds Luther, " that we tremble and 
 flee when our conscience is guilty and alarmed. 
 Then we are afraid even of the help that is 
 offered us, and of those who are our friends, 
 and wish to do us good." 10 
 
 A year had scarcely elapsed, when John 
 and Margaret, hearing what difficulty their 
 son found in supporting himself at Magdeburg, 
 sent him to Eisenach, where there was a cele- 
 brated school, and at which place they had 
 relations. 11 They had other children, and though 
 their circumstances were much improved, they 
 could not maintain their son in a city where 
 he was a stranger. The unremitting labours 
 of John Luther could do no more than support 
 the family at Mansfeld. He hoped that when 
 Martin got to Eisenach he would find it easier 
 to earn his living. But he was not more 
 fortunate there than he had been at Magdeburg. 
 His relations who lived in the town did not 
 trouble themselves about him, or perhaps they 
 were very poor and could not give him any 
 assistance. 
 
 When the young scholar was pressed with 
 hunger, he was obliged, as at Magdeburg, to 
 go with his school-fellows and sing in the 
 streets to earn a morsel of bread. This cus- 
 tom of Luther's time is still preserved in 
 many towns in Germany. These young 
 people's voices sometimes form a most harmo- 
 nious concert. Often the poor modest boy, 
 instead of bread, received nothing but harsh 
 words. More than once, overwhelmed with 
 sorrow, he shed many tears in secret; he 
 could not look to the future without trem- 
 bling. 
 
 One day, in particular, after having been 
 repulsed from three houses, he was about to 
 return fasting to his lodging, when having 
 reached the Place St. George, he stood before 
 the house of an honest burgher, motionless, 
 and lost in painful reflections. Must he, for 
 want of bread, give up his studies, and go to 
 work with his father in the mines of Mans- 
 feld? Suddenly a door opens, a woman 
 appears on the threshold : it is the wife of 
 Conrad Cotta, a daughter of the burgomaster 
 of Eilfeld. 12 Her name was Ursula. The 
 chronicles of Eisenach call her "the pious 
 Shunamite," in remembrance of her who so 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 earnestly entreated the prophet Elijah to eat 
 bread with her. This Christian Shunamite 
 had more than once remarked young Martin 
 in the assemblies of the faithful ; she had 
 been affected by the sweetness of his voice 
 and his apparent devotion. 13 She had heard 
 the harsh words with which the poor scholar 
 had been repulsed. She saw him over- 
 whelmed with sorrow before her door; she 
 came to his assistance, beckoned him to enter, 
 and supplied his urgent wants. 
 
 Conrad approved his wife's benevolence; 
 he even found so much pleasure in the society 
 of young Luther, that, a few days afterwards, 
 he took him to live in his house. From that 
 moment he no longer feared to be obliged to 
 relinquish his studies. He was not to return 
 to Mansfeld, and bury the talent that God 
 had committed to his trust! God had opened 
 the heart and the doors of a Christian family 
 at the very moment when he did not know 
 what would become of him. This event 
 disposed his soul to that confidence in God, 
 which at a later period the severest trials could 
 not shake. 
 
 In the house of Cotta, Luther lived a very 
 different life from that which he had hitherto 
 done. He enjoyed a tranquil existence, 
 exempt from care and want; his mind became 
 more calm, his disposition more cheerful, his 
 heart more enlarged. His whole nature was 
 awakened by the sweet beams of charity, and 
 began to expand into life, joy, and happiness. 
 His prayers were more fervent; his thirst for 
 learning became more ardent; and he made 
 rapid progress in his studies. 
 
 To literature and science he united the 
 study of the arts ; for the arts also were then 
 advancing in Germany. The men whom 
 God designs to influence their contemporaries, 
 are themselves at first influenced and led by 
 the tendencies of the age in which they live. 
 Luther learned to play on the flute and on the 
 lute. He often accompanied his fine alto 
 voice with the latter instrument, and thus 
 cheered his heart in his hours of sadness. 
 He also took pleasure in expressing by his 
 melody his gratitude to his adoptive mother, 
 who was very fond of music. He himself 
 loved this art even to his old age, and com- 
 posed the words and music of some of the 
 most beautiful German hymns. 
 
 Happy time for the young man ! Luther 
 always looked back to them with emotion ! 
 and a son of Conrad having gone many years 
 after to study at Wittemberg, when the poor 
 scholar of Eisenach had become the learned 
 teacher of his age, he joyfully received him at 
 his table and under his roof. He wished to 
 repay in part to the son what he had received 
 from the father and mother. 
 
 It was when memory reverted to the Chris- 
 tian woman who had supplied him with bread 
 when every one else repulsed him, that he 
 uttered this memorable saying: "There is 
 nothing sweeter than the heart of a pious wo- 
 man." 
 
 But never did Luther feel ashamed of the 
 time, when, pressed by hunger, he sorrow- 
 
 fully begged the bread necessary for the sup- 
 port of life and the continuance of his studies. 
 So far from this, he thought with gratitude on 
 the extreme poverty of his youth. He con- 
 sidered it as one of the means that God had 
 made use of to make him what he afterwards 
 became, and he thanked him for it. The condi- 
 tion of poor children, who were obliged to lead 
 the same kind of life, touched him to the heart. 
 " Do not despise," said he, " the boys who 
 try to earn their bread by chanting before 
 your door, * bread for the love of God,' Punem 
 propier Deum. I have done the same. It is 
 true that in later years my father maintained 
 me at the University of Erfurth, with much 
 love and kindness, supporting me by the 
 sweat of his brow ; but at one time I was only 
 a poor mendicant. And now by means of my 
 pen, I have succeeded so well, that I would 
 not change fortunes with the Grand Seignor 
 himself. I may say more: if I were to be 
 offered all the possessions of the earth heaped 
 one upon another, I would not take them in 
 exchange for what I possess. And yet I 
 should never have known what I do, if I had 
 not been to school, and been taught to write.'* 
 Thus did this great man acknowledge that 
 these humble beginnings were the origin of 
 his glory. He was not afraid of reminding 
 his readers that that voice whose accents elec- 
 trified the Empire and the world, had not very 
 long before begged a morsel of bread in the 
 streets of a petty town. The Christian takes 
 pleasure in such recollections, because they 
 remind him that it is in God alone that he is 
 permitted to glory. 
 
 The strength of his understanding, the live- 
 liness of his imagination, and his excellent 
 memory, enabled him in a short time to get 
 the start of all his fellow-students. 14 He made 
 especially rapid progress in the dead lan- 
 guages, in rhetoric, and in poetry. He wrote 
 sermons, and made verses. Cheerful, oblig- 
 ing, and what is called good-hearted, he was 
 beloved by his masters and his companions. 
 
 Amongst the professors, he was particularly 
 attached to John Trebonius, a learned man, of 
 an agreeable address, and who had that regard 
 for the young which is so encouraging to them 
 Martin had observed that when Trebonius 
 came into the school-room he took off his hat 
 and bowed to the scholars ; a great condescen- 
 sion in those pedantic times. This had 
 pleased the young man. He began to per- 
 ceive that he himself was something. The 
 respect paid him by his master had raised the 
 scholar in his own estimation. The col- 
 leagues of Trebonius, whose custom was dif- 
 ferent, having one day expressed their asto- 
 nishment at this extreme condescension, he 
 answered them ; and his answer made an 
 rnpression on young Luther. " There are," 
 said he, " amongst these youths, some whom 
 God will one day raise to the ranks of bur- 
 gomasters, chancellors, doctors and magis- 
 rates. Though you do not now see the 
 outward signs of their respective dignities, it 
 s yet proper to treat them with respect." 
 Doubtless the young scholar heard these 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 41 
 
 words with pleasure, and perhaps he then 
 saw himself in prospect adorned with a doc- 
 tor's cap. 
 
 Luther had attained his eighteenth year. 
 He had tasted the sweets of learning. He 
 thirsted after knowledge. He sighed for a 
 university education. He longed to go to one 
 of those fountains of all knowledge, where his 
 thirst for it might be satisfied. 15 His father re- 
 quired him to study the law. Full of confi- 
 .dence in his son's talents, he desired to see him 
 cultivate them and make them known in the 
 world. Already, in anticipation, he beheld 
 him filling honourable offices amongst his fel- 
 low-citizens, gaining the favour of princes, and 
 shining on the great stage of the world. It 
 was determined that the young man should be 
 sent to Erfurth. 
 
 Luther arrived at that university in the 
 year 1501; Jodocus, surnamed the Doctor of 
 Eisenach, was then teaching scholastic philo- 
 sophy in that place with great success. Me- 
 lancthon regrets that there was at that time 
 nothing taught at Erfurth but a logic beset 
 with difficulties. He expresses the opinion 
 that if Luther had met with professors of a 
 different character, if he had been taught the 
 milder and more tranquillizing doctrines of 
 true philosophy, it might have moderated and 
 softened the natural vehemence of his cha- 
 racter. 16 The new pupil, however, began to 
 study the philosophy of the times in the writ- 
 ings of Occam, Scotus, Bonaventura, and 
 Thomas Aquinas. In later years he looked 
 upon this class of writers with abhorrence; 
 he trembled with rage when even the name of 
 Aristotle was pronounced in his presence ; and 
 he went so far as to say that if Aristotle had 
 not been a man, he should be tempted to take 
 him for the devil. But his mind, eager for 
 instruction, required better food ; and he ap- 
 plied himself to the study of the best ancient 
 authors, Cicero, Virgil, and others. He did 
 not satisfy himself, like the generality of stu- 
 dents, with learning by heart the works of 
 these writers; but he endeavoured especially 
 to fathom their thoughts, to imbibe the spirit 
 by which they were animated, to make their 
 wisdom his own, to comprehend the object 
 they aimed at in their writings, and to enrich 
 his understanding with their weighty sen- 
 tences and brilliant descriptions. He often 
 pressed his tutors with inquiries, and soon 
 outstript his school-fellows. 17 Gifted with a 
 retentive memory and a vivid imagination, all 
 that he had read or heard remained fixed on 
 his memory; it was as if he had seen it him- 
 self. Thus did Luther distinguish himself 
 in his early youth. "The whole University," 
 says Melancthon, "admired his genius." 18 
 
 But even at this early period the young 
 man of eighteen did not study merely with a 
 view of cultivating his understanding; there 
 was within him a serious thoughtfulness, a 
 heart looking upwards, which God gives to 
 those whom he designs to make his most 
 zealous servants. Luther felt that he de- 
 pended entirely upon God, a simple and 
 powerful conviction, which is at once a prin- 
 
 ciple of deep humility and an incentive to 
 great undertakings. He fervently invoked 
 the divine blessing upon his labours. Every 
 morning he began the day with prayer; then 
 he went to church ; afterwards he commenced 
 his studies, and he never lost a moment in the 
 course of the day. "To pray well," he was 
 wont to say, "was the better half of study." 19 
 
 The young student spent in the library of 
 the university the moments he could snatch 
 from his academical labours. Books being 
 then scarce, it was in his eyes a great privi- 
 lege to be able to profit by the treasures of this 
 vast collection. One day, (he had been then 
 two years at Erfurth, and was twenty years 
 of age,) he was opening the books in the li- 
 brary one after another, in order to read the 
 names of the authors. One which he opened 
 in its turn drew his attention. He had not 
 seen anything like it till that hour. He reads 
 the title : it is a Bible ! a rare book, unknown 
 at that time. 20 His interest is strongly excited ; 
 he is filled with astonishment at finding more 
 in this volume than those fragments of the 
 gospels and epistles which the Church has se- 
 lected to be read to the people in their places 
 of worship every Sunday in the year. Till 
 then he had thought that they were the whole 
 word of God. And here are so many pages, 
 so many chapters, so many books, of which 
 he had no idea ! His heart beats as he holds 
 in his hand all the Scripture divinely inspired. 
 With eagerness and indescribable feelings he 
 turns over these leaves of God's word. The 
 first page that arrests his attention, relates the 
 history of Hannah and the young Samuel. He 
 reads, and can scarcely restrain his joyful 
 emotion. This child whom his parents lend 
 to the Lord as long as he liveth ; Hannah's 
 song in which she declares that the Lord 
 raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth 
 up the beggar from the dunghill, to set him 
 among princes ; the young Samuel who grows 
 up in the temple before the Lord ; all this his- 
 tory, all this revelation which he has discover- 
 ed, excites feelings till then unknown. He 
 returns home with a full heart. "Oh!" 
 thought he, "if God would but give me such 
 a book for my own ! 21 Luther did not yet under- 
 stand either Greek or Hebrew. It is not pro- 
 bable that he should have studied those lan- 
 guages during the first two or three years of 
 his residence in the university. The Bible 
 that filled him with such transport was in 
 Latin. He soon returned to the library to find 
 his treasure again. He read and re-read, and 
 then in his surprise and joy, he went back to 
 read again. The first gleams of a new truth 
 then arose in his mind. 
 
 Thus has God caused him to find His word ! 
 He has now discovered that book of which he 
 is one day to give to his countrymen that ad- 
 mirable translation in which the Germans for 
 three centuries have read the oracles of God. 
 For the first time, perhaps, this precious 
 volume has been removed from the place that 
 it occupied in the library at Erfurth. This book, 
 deposited upon the unknown shelves of a dark 
 room, is soon to become the book of life to a 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 whole nation, 
 that Bible. 
 
 The Reformation lay hid in I grounded hope of immortality. Two events 
 occurred, one after the other, to rouse his soul 
 
 It was in the same year that Luther took 
 his first academical degree, that of a bachelor. 
 
 The excessive labour he had undergone in 
 preparing for his examination, occasioned a 
 dangerous illness. Death seemed at hand. 
 Serious reflections filled his mind. He thought 
 his earthly career was at an end. All were 
 interested about the young man. " It was a 
 pity," thought they, " to see so many hopes 
 so early extinguished." Several friends came 
 to -visit him on his sick bed. Amongst them 
 was an old man, a venerable priest, who had 
 observed with interest the labours and academi- 
 cal life of the student of Mansfeld. Luther 
 could not conceal the thoughts that filled his 
 mind. " Soon," said he, " I shall be sum- 
 moned hence." But the prophetic old man 
 kindly answered. " My dear bachelor, take 
 courage! you will not die this time. Our 
 God will yet make you his instrument in com- 
 forting many others. 22 For God lays his cross 
 upon those whom he loves, and those who 
 bear it patiently gain much wisdom." The 
 words impressed the sick youth. It was as 
 he lay in the dust of death that he heard the 
 voice of a priest remind him that God, as 
 Samuel's mother had said, raiseth up the poor. 
 The old man has poured sweet consolation 
 into his heart, and revived his spirits; he will 
 never forget it. " This was the first prophecy 
 the doctor ever heard," says Mathesius, the 
 friend of Luther, who relates this circumstance, 
 "and he often recollected it." We may easily 
 comprehend in what sense Mathesius calls 
 this speech a prophecy. 
 
 When Luther was restored to health there 
 was in him a something new. The Bible, his 
 sickness, the words of the old priest, seemed 
 to have called him to a new vocation. There 
 was, however, as yet, no settled purpose in 
 his mind. He resumed his studies. In 1505 
 he was made master of arts, or doctor in phi- 
 losophy. The university of Erfurth was then 
 the most celebrated in all Germany. The others 
 were in comparison but inferior schools. The 
 ceremony was performed according to custom, 
 with much pomp. A procession with torches 
 came to do honour to Luther. 23 The festival 
 was magnificent. There was general rejoicing. 
 Luther, perhaps, encouraged by these honours, 
 prepared to apply himself entirely to the study 
 of the law, agreeably to the wishes of his father. 
 
 But God willed otherwise. Whilst Luther 
 was engaged in various studies, and beginning 
 to teach natural philosophy and the ethics of 
 Aristotle, with the other branches of philoso- 
 phy, his conscience incessantly reminded him 
 that religion was the one thing needful, and 
 that his first care should be the salvation of 
 his soul. He had learned God's hatred of 
 sin ; he remembered the penalties that his 
 word denounces against the sinner; and he 
 asked himself tremblingly, if he was sure that 
 he possessed the favour of God. His con- 
 science answered : No! His character was 
 prompt and decided ; he resolved to do all 
 that depended upon himself, to ensure a well 
 
 and confirm his resolution. 
 
 Amongst his college friends there was one, 
 named Alexis, with whom he was very inti- 
 mate. One morning a report was spread in 
 Erfurth that Alexis had been assassinated. 
 Luther hurried to the spot and ascertained the 
 truth of the report. This sudden loss of his 
 friend affected him, and the question which he 
 asked himself: " What would become of me, 
 if / were thus suddenly called away 1" filled 
 his mind with the liveliest apprehension. 24 
 
 It was then the summer of 1505. Luther 
 availed himself of the leisure afforded him by 
 the university vacation, to take a journey to 
 Mansfeld, to revisit the beloved abode of his in- 
 fancy, and to see his affectionate parents. Per- 
 haps, also, he intended to open his heart to his 
 father, to sound him upon the plan that was 
 forming in his mind, and obtain his permission 
 to engage in a different vocation. He foresaw 
 all the difficulties that awaited him. The idle 
 life of the greater part of the priests was par- 
 ticularly offensive to the active miner of Mans- 
 feld. The ecclesiastics were moreover little 
 esteemed in society : most of them possessed 
 but a scanty revenue, and the father who had 
 made many sacrifices to keep his son at the 
 university, and saw him lecturing publicly in 
 his twentieth year, in a celebrated school, was 
 not likely readily to renounce his proud hopes. 
 
 We are not informed of what passed during 
 Luther's abode at Mansfeld. Perhaps the de- 
 cided wish of his father made him fear to open 
 his mind to him. He again left his father's 
 house for the halls of the academy. He was 
 within a short distance of Erfurth when he 
 was overtaken by a violent storm. The thun- 
 der roared ; a thunderbolt sunk into the ground 
 by his side. Luther threw himself on his 
 knees. His hour is perhaps come. Death, 
 judgment, eternity, are before him in all their 
 terrors, and speak with a voice which he can 
 no longer resist. "Encompassed with the 
 anguish and terror of death," 25 as he himself 
 says, he makes a vow, if God will deliver him 
 from this danger, to forsake the world, and 
 devote himself to His service. Risen from 
 the earth, having still before his eyes that 
 death that must one day overtake him, he ex- 
 amines himself seriously, and inquires what 
 he must do. 26 The thoughts that formerly 
 troubled him return with redoubled power. 
 He has endeavoured, it is true, to fulfil all his 
 duties. But what is the state of his soul? 
 Can he, with a polluted soul, appear before 
 the tribunal of so terrible a God 1 He must 
 become holy. He now thirsts after holiness 
 as he had thirsted after knowledge. But 
 where shall he find it? How is it to be at- 
 tained ? The university has furnished him 
 with the means of satisfying his first wish. 
 Who will assuage this anguish, this vehement 
 desire that consumes him now 1 To what school 
 of holiness can he direct his steps? He will 
 go into a cloister ; the monastic life will ensure 
 his salvation. How often has he been told 
 of its power to change the heart, to cleanse 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 43 
 
 the sinner, to make man perfect ! He will 
 enter into a monastic order. He will there 
 become holy. He will thus ensure his eter- 
 nal salvation. 27 
 
 Such was the event that changed the voca- 
 tion and the whole destiny of Luther. The 
 hand of God was in it. It was that powerful 
 hand that cast to the ground the young master 
 of arts, the aspirant to the bar, the intended 
 jurisconsult, to give an entirely new direction 
 to his after life. Rubianus, one of Luther's 
 friends at the university of Erfurth, .wrote to 
 him in later times: "Divine Providence fore- 
 saw what you would one day become, when, 
 on your return from your parents, the fire of 
 heaven struck you to the ground, like another 
 Paul, near the city of Erfurth, and separating 
 you from us, led you to enter the Augustine 
 order." Thus, similar circumstances marked 
 the conversion of two of the greatest instru- 
 ments chosen by Divine Providence to effect 
 the two greatest revolutions that have ever 
 taken place upon the earth : Saint Paul and 
 Luther.* 
 
 Luther re-onters Erfurth. His resolution is 
 unalterable. Still it is with reluctance that 
 he prepares to break ties that are so dear to 
 him. He does not communicate his design. 
 to any of his companions. But one evening 
 he invites his college friends to a cheerful and 
 simple repast. Music once more enlivens 
 their social meeting. It is Luther's farewell 
 to the world. Henceforth the companions of 
 his pleasures and studies are to be exchanged 
 for the society of monks; cheerful and witty 
 discourse for the silence of the cloister : merry 
 voices, for the solemn harmony of the quiet 
 chapel. God calls him; he must sacrifice all 
 things. Now, however, for the last time, let 
 him give way to the joys of his youth ! The 
 repast excites his friends. Luther himself 
 encourages their joy. But at the moment 
 when their gaiety is at its height, the young 
 man can no longer repress the serious thoughts 
 that occupy his mind. He speaks. He de- 
 clares his intention to his astonished friends ; 
 they endeavour to oppose it; but in vain. 
 And that very night Luther, perhaps dreading 
 their importunity, quits his lodgings. He 
 leaves behind his books and furniture, taking 
 with him only Virgil and Plautus. (He had 
 not yet a Bible.) Virgil and Plautus! an 
 epic poem, and comedies ! Singular picture 
 of Luther's mind ! .There was, in fact, in his 
 character, the materials of a complete epic 
 poem; beauty, grandeur, ai^}, sublimity ; but 
 his disposition inclined to gaiety, wit, and 
 mirth ; and more than one ludicrous trait 
 broke forth from the serious and noble ground- 
 work of his life. 
 
 Furnished with these two books, he goes 
 alone in the darkness of the night, to the con- 
 
 vent of the hermits of -St. Augustine. He 
 asks admittance. The door opens and closes 
 again. Behold him forever separated from, 
 his parents, from his companions in study, 
 and from the world. It was the 17th of 
 August, 1505. Luther was then twenty-one 
 years and nine months old. 
 
 At length he is with God. His soul is safe. 
 He is now to obtain that holiness he so ar- 
 dently desired. The monks who gathered 
 round the young doctor were full of admiration, 
 commending his decision and renunciation of 
 the world. 28 But Luther did not forget his 
 friends. He wrote to them, bidding adieu to 
 them and to the world, and the next day he sent 
 them these letters, together with the clothes he 
 had till then worn, and the ring he received, 
 when made master of arts, which he returned 
 to the university, that nothing might remind 
 him of the world he had renounced. 
 
 His friends at Erfurth were struck with 
 astonishment. Must it be, thought they, that 
 such eminent talents should be lost in that 
 monastic life, which is but a kind of burial 
 alive. 29 Full of grief, they immediately re- 
 paired to the convent, in hopes of inducing 
 Luther to retract so fatal a resolution; but in 
 vain. The doors were closed against them. 
 A whole month was to elapse before any one 
 could be permitted to see the new monk, or to 
 speak to him. 
 
 Luther had almost immediately communi- 
 cated to his parents the great change that had 
 now taken place. His father was thunder- 
 struck. He trembled for his son, as Luther 
 himself tells in the dedication of his book on 
 monastic vows, addressed to his father. His 
 weakness, his youth, the strength of his pas- 
 sions, made his father fear that, after the first 
 moments of enthusiasm should have passed, 
 the indolent life of a monk might either tempt 
 the. young man to despair, or occasion him to 
 fall into some grievous sin. He knew that a 
 monastic life had already ruined many. Be- 
 sides, the miner of Mansfeld had formed 
 other plans for his son. He had hoped that 
 he would contract a rich and honourable mar- 
 riage. And now all his ambitious projects 
 were overthrown in one night by this impru- 
 dent step. 
 
 John wrote an angry letter to his son, in 
 which he used a tone of authority that he had 
 laid aside from the period when his son had 
 been made Master of Arts. He withdrew all 
 his favour, and declared him disinherited from 
 a father's love. In vain did John Luther's 
 friends, and doubtless his wife, endeavour to 
 soften his displeasure, by saying: "If you 
 would make a sacrifice to God, let it be the 
 best and dearest of your possessions, your 
 son, your Isaac." The inexorable town-coun- 
 cillor of Mansfeld would listen to nothing. 
 
 After some time, however, (Luther tells us 
 this in a sermon preached at Wittemberg, the 
 20th of January, 1544,) the plague visited the 
 neighbourhood, and deprived John Luther of 
 two of his sons. Just then there came one 
 
 * Some historians relate that Alexis was killed 
 by the thunder-bolt that alarmed Luther; but two 
 contemporaries, Mathesius and Selneccer (in Orat. 
 de Luth.) distinguish between these two events ; 
 we may even add to their testimony that of Me- 
 lancthon, who says, " Sodalem nescio quo casu | who tol(1 the father ' who was in deep afflic- 
 iaterfectum." (Vita Luth.) Ition: "The monk of Erfurth is also dead." 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 His friends took that opportunity of recon- 
 ciling the father to the young novice. " If it 
 should be a false report," said they, "at least 
 sanctify your present affliction by consenting 
 that your son should be a monk." " Well, be 
 it so," said John Lutber, with a heart broken 
 and yet struggling; "and God grant he may 
 prosper !" When Luther, at a later period, 
 reconciled to his father, related the event that 
 had induced him to embrace a monastic life : 
 " God grant," replied the worthy miner, "that 
 you may not have mistaken a delusion of the 
 devil for a sign from heaven." 30 
 
 There was then in Luther little of that 
 which made him in after life the Reformer of 
 the Church. His entering into a convent is 
 a proof of this. It was an act in that spirit 
 of a past age from which he was to contribute 
 to deliver the Church. He who was about to 
 become the teacher of the world, was as yet 
 only its servile imitator. A new stone was 
 added to the edifice of superstition, by the very 
 person who was shortly to overturn it. Lu- 
 ther was then looking for salvation in himself, 
 in works and observances ; he knew not that 
 salvation cometh of God only. He sought to 
 establish his own righteousness and his own 
 glory, being ignorant of the righteousness and 
 glory of God. But what he was then igno- 
 rant of he soon learned. It was in the cloister 
 of Erfurth that the great change was effected 
 which substituted in his heart God and His 
 wisdom, for the world and its traditions, and 
 prepared the mighty revolution of which he 
 was the most illustrious instrument. 
 
 Martin Luther, on entering the convent, 
 changed his name, and took that of Augustine. 
 " What can be more mad and impious," said 
 he, in relating this circumstance, "than to re- 
 nounce one's Christian name for the sake of a 
 cowl! It is thus the popes are ashamed of 
 their Christian names, and show thereby that 
 they are deserters from Jesus Christ." 31 
 
 The monks had received him joyfully. It 
 was no small gratification to their self-love to 
 see the university forsaken, by one of its most 
 eminent scholars, for a house of their order. 
 Nevertheless, they treated him harshly, and 
 imposed upon him the meanest offices. They 
 perhaps wished to humble the doctor of phi- 
 losophy, and to teach him that his learning 
 did not raise him above his brethren ; and 
 thought, moreover, by this method, to prevent 
 his devoting himself to his studies, from which 
 the convent would derive no advantage. The 
 former master of arts was obliged to perform 
 the functions of door-keeper, to open and shut 
 the gates, to wind up the clock, to sweep the 
 church, to clean the rooms. 32 Then, when the 
 poor monk, who was at once porter, sexton, 
 and servant of the cloister, had finished his 
 work : " Cum sacco per civitatem With your 
 bag through the town!" cried the brothers; 
 and, loaded with his bread-bag, he was obliged 
 to go through the streets of Erfurth, begging 
 from house to house, and perhaps at the doors 
 of those very persons who had been either his 
 friends or his inferiors. But he bore it all. 
 Inclined, from his natural disposition, to de- 
 
 vote himself heartily to whatever he under- 
 took, it was with his whole soul that he had 
 become a monk. Besides, could he wish to 
 spare the body! to regard the satisfying of 
 the flesh] Not thus could he acquire the 
 humility, the holiness, that he had court? to 
 seek within the walls of a cloister 1 ? 
 
 The poor monk, overwhelmed with toil, 
 eagerly availed himself of every moment he 
 could snatch from his degrading occupations. 
 He sought to retire apart from his companions, 
 and give himself up to his beloved studies. 
 But the brethren soon perceived this, came 
 about him with murmurs, and forced him to 
 leave his books: " Come, come! it is not by 
 study, but by begging bread, corn, eggs, fish, 
 meat and money, that you can benefit the 
 cloister." 33 And Luther submitted, put away 
 his books, and resumed his bag. Far from 
 repenting of the yoke he had taken upon him- 
 self, he resolved to go through with it. Then 
 it was that the inflexible perseverance with 
 which he ever prosecuted the resolutions he 
 had once formed began to develope itself. His 
 patient endurance of this rough usage gave a 
 powerful energy to his will. God was exer- 
 cising him first with small trials, that he might 
 learn to stand firm in great ones. Besides, to 
 be able to deliver the age in which he lived 
 from the miserable superstitions under which 
 it groaned, it was necessary that he should 
 feel the weight of them. To empty the cup, 
 he must drink it to the very dregs. 
 
 This severe apprenticeship did not, how- 
 ever, last so long as Luther might have feared. 
 The prior of the convent, upon the intercession 
 of the university of which Luther was a mem- 
 ber, freed him from the mean offices the monks 
 had imposed upon him. The young monk 
 then resumed his studies with fresh zeal. 
 The works of the Fathers of the Church, es- 
 pecially those of St. Augustine, attracted his 
 attention. The exposition which this cele- 
 brated doctor has written upon the Psalms, 
 and his book concerning the Letter and the 
 Spirit, were his favourite reading. Nothing 
 struck him so much as the opinions of this 
 Father upon the corruption of man's will, and 
 upon the grace of God. He felt, in his own 
 experience, the reality of that corruption, and 
 the necessity for that grace. The words of 
 St. Augustine found an echo in his heart: if 
 he could have belonged to any other school 
 than that of Christ, it would have undoubted- 
 ly been that of the doctor of Hippo. He 
 almost knew by^ heart the works of Peter 
 d'Ailly and of Gabriel Biel. He was struck 
 with an observation of the former, that if the 
 Church had not decided otherwise, it would 
 have been preferable to allow that we really 
 receive the bread and wine in the Holy Sacra- 
 ment, and not mere accidents. 
 
 He also studied with attention Occam and 
 Gerson, who have so freely expressed them- 
 selves concerning the authority of the Popes. 
 To this course of reading he united other ex- 
 ercises. He was heard publicly to unravel 
 the most complicated arguments, and extri- 
 cate himself from labyrinths whence others 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 45 
 
 could find no outlet. His hearers were asto- 
 nished. 34 
 
 But it was not to gain the credit of being 
 a great genius that he entered a cloister; it 
 was to find the aliments of piety to God. 35 He 
 regarded these pursuits only as recreations. 
 
 He loved, above all, to draw wisdom from 
 the pure spring of the Word of God. He 
 found in the convent a Bible, fastened by a 
 chain. He had constant recourse to this 
 chained Bible. He understood but little of 
 the Word ; but still it was his most absorbing 
 study. Sometimes he would meditate on a 
 single passage for a whole day ; another time 
 hs learned by heart some parts of the Prophets, 
 but above all he wished to acquire, from the 
 writings of the Apostles and Prophets, the 
 knowledge of God's will, to increase in 
 reverence for His name, and to nourish his 
 faith by the sure testimony of the word. 36 
 
 It was apparently at this period, that he 
 began to study the Scriptures in the originals, 
 and, by this means, to lay the foundation of the 
 most perfect and useful of his printed works, 
 the translation of the Bible. He made use 
 of the Hebrew Lexicon, by Reuchlin, which 
 had just appeared. John Lange, a brother in 
 the convent, who was skilled in the Greek 
 and Hebrew, and with whom he always main- 
 tained an intimate acquaintance, probably as- 
 sisted him at the outset. He also made much 
 use of the learned comments of Nicholas Lyra, 
 who died in 1340. It was this circumstance 
 that made Pflug (afterwards Bishop of Naurn- 
 burg) remark : " Si Lyra non lyrasset, Luther- 
 us nun saltassef. If Lyra had not played his 
 lyre Luther had never danced." 37 
 
 The young monk applied himself to his 
 studies with so much zeal, that often, for two 
 or three weeks together, he would omit the 
 prescribed prayers. But he was soon alarmed 
 by the thought that he had transgressed the 
 rules of his order. Then he shut himself up 
 to redeem his negligence; he set himself to 
 repeat conscientiously all his omitted prayers 
 without thinking of his necessary food. On 
 one occasion he passed seven weeks almost 
 without sleep. 
 
 Burning with the desire after that holiness 
 which he had sought in the cloister, Luther 
 gave himself up to all the rigour of an ascetic 
 life. He endeavoured to crucify the flesh by 
 fastings, macerations, and watchings. 38 Shut 
 up in his cell, as in a prison, he was continu- 
 ally struggling against the evil thoughts and 
 inclinations of his heart. A little bread, a 
 single herring, were often his only food. In- 
 deed he was constitutionally abstemious. So 
 it was that his friends have often seen him, 
 even after he had learned that heaven was not 
 to be purchased by abstinence, content him- 
 self with the poorest food, and go four days 
 together without eating or drinking. 39 This is 
 stated on the authority of a credible witness, 
 Melancthori; and we see from this how 
 little attention is due to the fables which igno- 
 rance and prejudice have circulated as to in- 
 temperance in Luther. Nothing was too 
 great a sacrifice, at the period we speak of, 
 
 for the sake of becoming holy to gain heaven. 
 Never did the Rornish Church contain a monk 
 of more piety ; never did a cloister witness 
 efforts more sincere and unwearied to purchase 
 eternal happiness. 40 When Luther, become a 
 Reformer, declared that heaven could not be 
 thus purchased, he knew \vell what he said; 
 " Verily," wrote he to Duke George of Sax- 
 ony, "I was a devout monk, and followed the 
 rules of my order so strictly, that I cannot tell 
 you all. If ever a monk entered into heaven 
 by his monkish merits, certainly I should have 
 obtained an entrance there. All the monks 
 who knew me will confirm this ; and if it had 
 lasted much longer, I should have become 
 literally a martyr, through watchings, prayer, 
 reading, and other labours." 41 
 
 We approach the period which made Luther 
 a new man; and, by discovering to him the 
 unfathomable love of God, created in him the 
 power to declare it to the world. 
 
 Luther did not find, in the tranquillity of the 
 cloister and monkish perfection, the peace he 
 was in quest of. He wanted an assurance 
 that he was saved. This was the great want 
 of his soul; without it he could not rest. 
 But the fears which had shaken him in the 
 world, pursued him to his cell. Nay, more,, 
 they increased there, and the least cry of his 
 conscience seemed to resound beneath the 
 vaulted roofs of the cloister. God had led 
 him thither, that he might learn to know him- 
 self, and to despair of his own strength or 
 virtues. His conscience, enlightened by the 
 Divine Word, taught him what it was to be 
 holy ; but he was filled with terror at finding, 
 neither in his heart nor in his life, the tran- 
 script of that holiness which he contemplated 
 with wonder in the Word of God. Melancholy 
 discovery ! and one that is made by every 
 sincere man. No righteousness within ; no 
 righteousness in outward action: everywhere 
 omission of duty, sin, pollution. The more 
 ardent Luther's natural character, the more 
 powerful was this secret and constant resis- 
 tance of his nature to that which is good, and 
 the deeper did it plunge him into despair. 
 
 The monks and theologians encouraged him 
 to do good works, and in that way satisfy the 
 divine justice. "But what works," thought 
 he, " can proceed out of a heart like mine ? 
 How can I, with works, polluted even in their 
 source and motive, stand before a Holy 
 Judge 1 ?" "I was, in the sight of God, a 
 great sinner," says he; "and I could not 
 think it possible for me to appease him with 
 my merits" 
 
 He was agitated and dejected ; shunning 
 the trivial and dull discourse of the monks. 
 The latter, unable to comprehend the tempes- 
 tuous heavings of his soul, watched him with 
 astonishment, while they complained of his 
 silent and unsocial manners. 42 One day, 
 Cochlaeus tells us, whilst mass was perform- 
 ing in the chapel, Luther's abstraction led him 
 thither, and he found himself in the choir in 
 the midst of the monks, dejected and in 
 anguish of mind. The priest had bowed 
 before the altar the incense was offered, the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Gloria chanted, and the gospel was being 
 read, when the unhappy monk, unable to 
 suppress his mental torment, exclaimed, fall- 
 ing upon his knees, " It is not I it is not I." 
 The monks were all amazement, and the 
 solemnity was for an instant interrupted. 
 Luther may perhaps have thought he heard 
 some reproach of which he knew himself 
 guiltless ; or he may have meant, at the mo- 
 ment, to declare himself undeserving of being 
 of the number of those to whom Christ's 
 death had brought eternal life. According to 
 Cochlaeus, the gospel of the day was the 
 account of the dumb man out of whom Jesus 
 cast a devil. Possibly Luther's exclamation 
 
 if the story be true,) had reference to this 
 
 
 
 ct, and that resembling the dsemoniac in 
 being like him speechless, he by his cry pro- 
 tested that his silence was owing to a different 
 cause from demoniacal possession. Indeed, 
 Cochlaeus tells us that the monks did some- 
 times ascribe the mental distresses of their 
 brother to a secret intercourse with the devil, 
 and that writer appears himself to have shared 
 in the opinion. 44 
 
 A tender conscience led him to regard the 
 least sin as a great crime. No sooner had he 
 detected it, than he laboured to expiate it by 
 the strictest self-denial ; and that served only 
 to make him feel the inutility of all human 
 remedies. " I tormented myself to death," 
 says he, " to procure for my troubled heart and 
 agitated conscience peace in the presence of 
 God : but encompassed with thick darkness, I 
 nowhere found peace." 
 
 All the practices of monkish holiness which 
 quieted so many drowsy consciences around 
 Jiim, and to which in his agony of mind he 
 had recourse, soon evinced themselves to be 
 useless prescriptions of an empirical quackery 
 in religion. " When during the time I was a 
 monk, I felt temptations assail me, I am a lost 
 man, thought I. Immediately I resorted to a 
 thousand methods to appease the reproaches 
 of my heart. I confessed every day. But all 
 that was of no use. Then, overwhelmed with 
 
 conflict. The young monk moved, like a 
 spectre, through the long corridors of the clois- 
 ters with sighs and groans. His bodily powers 
 failed, his strength forsook him; sometimes he 
 was motionless as if dead. 45 
 
 One day, overcome with sadness, he shut 
 himself in his cell, and for several days and 
 nights suffered no one to approach him. One 
 of his friends, Lucas Edemberger, uneasy 
 about the unhappy monk, and having some 
 presentiment of his state, took with him some 
 young boys, choral singers, and went and 
 knocked at the door of his cell. No one open- 
 ed or answered. The good Edemberger, still 
 more alarmed, broke open the door, and dis- 
 covered Luther stretched on the floor in un- 
 consciousness, and without any sign of life. 
 His friend tried in vain to recall his senses, 
 but he continued motionless. Then the young 
 choristers began to sing a sweet hymn. Their 
 clear voices acted like a charm on the poor 
 monk, to whom music had always been a 
 source of delight, and by slow degrees his 
 strength and consciousness returned. 46 But if 
 for a few instants music could restore to him 
 a degree of serenity, another and more power- 
 ful remedy was needed for the cure of his mala- 
 dy; there was needed that sweet and penetrat- 
 ing sound of the Gospel, which is the voice 
 of God. He felt this to be his want. Accord- 
 ingly his sufferings and fears impelled him to 
 study with unwearied zeal the writings of the 
 Apostles and Prophets. 47 
 
 Luther was not the first monk who had 
 passed through these conflicts. The cloisters 
 often enveloped in their dark walls abomina- 
 ble vices, which, if they had been revealed, 
 would have made an upright mind shudder; 
 but often also they concealed Christian vir- 
 tues, which grew up beneath the shelter of a 
 salutary retirement ; and which, if they had 
 been brought forth to view, would have been 
 the admiration of the world. They who pos- 
 sessed these virtues, living only with each 
 other and with God, drew no attention from 
 without, and were often unknown even to the 
 
 dejection, I distressed myself by the multi- small convent in which they were enclosed; 
 
 tude of my thoughts. See, said I to myself, 
 thou art envious, impatient, passionate; there- 
 fore wretch that thou art ! it is of no use to 
 thee to have entered into this holy order." 
 
 And yet Luther, imbued with the prejudices 
 of the age, had from his youth deemed the re- 
 medies of which he now experienced the in- 
 efficacy, the certain cure of a sick soul. What 
 was to be thought of this strange discovery 
 which he had just made in the solitude of his 
 cloister? One may then live in the sanctuary, 
 and yet carry within a man of sin. He has 
 obtained another garment, but not 
 
 their life was known only to God. At times 
 these humble recluses fell into that mystic theo- 
 logy, the melancholy failing of the noblest 
 minds, which in an earlier age had been the 
 delight of the first monks on the banks of the 
 Nile, and which wears out unprofitably the 
 souls in which it reigns. 
 
 But whenever one of these men was called 
 to fill a distinguished post, he manifested vir- 
 tues of which the salutary effects were long 
 and widely felt. The candle being placed on 
 the candlestick, gave light to all the house; 
 
 another many were awakened by this light. Thus it 
 
 heart; his hopes are disappointed; where shall was that these pious souls were propagated 
 he turn 1 ? All these rules and observances, from generation to generation ; and they were 
 can they be mere inventions 1 Such a suppo- j shining like distant torches in the very periods 
 sition appeared to him one moment as a temp- when the cloisters were often only the impure 
 tation of the devil, and the next, an irresisti- j receptacles of darkness, 
 ble truth. Struggling either against the holy I There was a young man who had thus dis- 
 voice which spoke in his heart, or against the : tinguished himself in one of the convents in 
 venerable institutions which had the sanction Germany. His name was John Staupitz; he 
 of ages, Luther's existence was a continued j was descended from a noble family in Misnia. 
 
Prom e: 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 47 
 
 early youth he had been marked by a 
 taste for letters and a love of virtue. 48 He felt 
 the necessity of retirement that he might de- 
 vote himself to learning. But he soon found 
 that philosophy, and the study of nature, 
 could do nothing for our eternal salvation. 
 
 He therefore began to study divinity. But 
 he especially endeavoured to join obedience 
 with knowledge. " For," says one of his 
 biographers, " it is in vain to call ourselves 
 divines, if we do not confirm that noble title 
 by our lives." The study of the Bible and 
 of St. Augustine, the knowledge of himself, 
 the war he, like Luther, had to wage with the 
 deceitfulness and lusts of his own heart, 
 led him to the Saviour. He found in faith in 
 Christ, Peace to his soul. The doctrine of 
 the Election by Grace especially engaged his 
 thoughts. The uprightness of his life, the 
 depth of his learning, the eloquence of his 
 speech, no less than a striking exterior and 
 dignified manners, recommended him to his 
 contemporaries. 49 The Elector of Saxony, 
 Frederic the Wise, honoured him with his 
 friendship, employed him in several embas- 
 sies, and founded under his direction the Uni- 
 versity of Wittemberg. Staupitz was the 
 first professor of divinity in that school, from 
 whence the light was one day to issue to en- 
 lighten the schools and churches of so many 
 nations. He was present at the Council of 
 Lateran, in place of the archbishop of Salz- 
 burg, became provincial of his order in Thu- 
 ringia and Saxony, and afterwards Vicar- 
 general of the Augustines for all Germany. 
 
 Staupitz deeply lamented the corruption of 
 morals and the errors of doctrine which then 
 devastated the Church. His writings on the 
 love of God,' 'on Christian faith,' and 'con- 
 formity with the death of Christ,' as well as 
 the testimony of Luther, give proof of this. 
 But he -considered the first of these two evils 
 as much greater than the latter. Besides, the 
 gentleness and indecision of his character, his 
 desire not to go beyond the sphere of action 
 which he thought assigned to him, made him 
 more fit to be the restorer of a convent than 
 the Reformer of the Church. He would have 
 wished to raise none but men of distinguished 
 characters to offices of importance, but not 
 finding them, he submitted to the necessity of 
 employing others. " We must," said he, 
 " plough with such horses as we can find ; 
 and if we cannot find horses, we must plough 
 with oxen." 60 
 
 We have seen the anguish and internal 
 struggles which Luther underwent in the con- 
 vent of Erfurth. At this period the visit of 
 the Vicar-general was announced. Staupitz, 
 in fact, arrived in his usual visitation of in- 
 spection. The friend of Frederic, the founder 
 of the University of Wittemberg, the chief of 
 the Augustines, cast a benevolent look upon 
 those monks who were subject to his authority. 
 Soon one of the brothers attracted his notice. 
 He was a young man of middle stature, re- 
 duced by study, fasting, and watching, so that 
 you might count his bones. 51 His eyes, which 
 were afterwards compared to a falcon's, were 
 
 sunk; his demeanour was dejected; his coun- 
 tenance expressed a soul agitated with severe 
 conflicts, but yet strong and capable of en- 
 durance. There was in his whole appearance 
 something grave, melancholy, and solemn. 
 Staupitz, who had acquired discernment by 
 long experience, easily discerned what was 
 passing in that mind, and at once distinguished 
 the young monk from all his companions. 
 He felt drawn towards him, had a kind of 
 presentiment of his singular destiny, and soon 
 experienced for his inferior a paternal interest. 
 He, like Luther, had been called to struggle; 
 he could, therefore, understand his feelings. 
 He could, above all, show him the path to 
 that peace which he had himself found. What 
 he was told of the circumstances that had in- 
 duced the young Augustine to enter the con- 
 vent, increased his sympathy. He enjoined 
 the prior to treat him with more mildness. 
 He availed himself of the opportunities his 
 office afforded for gaining the confidence of 
 the young monk. He approached him affec- 
 tionately, and endeavoured in every way to 
 overcome the timidity of the novice a timidity 
 increased by the respect and fear that he felt 
 for a person of rank so exalted as that of 
 Staupitz. 
 
 The heart of Luther, which had remained 
 closed under harsh treatment, at last opened 
 and expanded to the sweet beams of love. 
 " As in water face answereth to face, so the 
 heart of man to man." (Prov. xxvii. 9.) 
 Staupitz's heart responded to that of Luther. 
 The Vicar-general understood him. The monk 
 felt towards him a confidence till then un- 
 known. He opened to him the cause of his 
 sadness, he described the horrid thoughts that 
 distressed him, and hence ensued, in the clois- 
 ter of Erfurth, conversations full of wisdom 
 and instruction. . 
 
 "It is in vain," said the dejected Luther 
 to Staupitz, "that I make promises to God; 
 sin is always too strong for me." 
 
 " Oh, my friend," answered the Vicar- 
 general, looking back on his own experience, 
 "I have vowed to the holy God more than a 
 thousand times that I would live a holy life, 
 and never have I kept my vow ! I now make 
 no more vows, for I know well I shall not 
 keep them. If God will not be merciful to 
 me for Christ's sake, and grant me a happy 
 death when I leave this world, I cannot, with 
 all my vows and good works stand before 
 him. I must perish." 52 
 
 The young monk is terrified at the thought 
 of divine justice. He confesses all his fears. 
 The unspeakable holiness of God his sove- 
 reign majesty fill him with awe. W 7 ho can 
 endure the day of his coming? Who can 
 stand when he appeareth ? 
 
 Staupitz resumed. He knew where he had 
 found peace, and it was in his heart to tell the 
 young man. " Why," said he, " do you dis- 
 tress yourself with these speculations and 
 high thoughts ? Look to the wounds of Jesus 
 Christ, to the blood which he has shed for 
 you ; it is there you will see the mercy of 
 God. Instead of torturing yourself for your 
 
 E2 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 faults, cast yourself into the arms of the Re- 
 deemer. Trust in him, in the righteousness 
 of his life, in the expiatory sacrifice of his 
 death. Do not shrink from him ; God is not 
 against you ; it is you who are estranged and 
 averse from God. Listen to the Son of God. 
 He became man to assure you of the divine 
 favour. He says to you, * You are my sheep ; 
 you hear my voice ; none shall pluck you out 
 of my hand.'" 53 
 
 But Luther could not find in himself the 
 repentance he thought necessary to his salva- 
 tion ; he answered, (and it is the usual answer 
 of distressed and timid minds,) " How can I 
 dare believe in the favour of God, so long as 
 there is no real conversion? I must be 
 changed before He can receive me." 
 
 His venerable guide proves to him that 
 there can be no real conversion, so long as 
 man fears God as a severe judge. "What 
 will you say then," cries Luther, " to so 
 many consciences, to whom are prescribed a 
 thousand insupportable penances in order to 
 gain heaven?" 
 
 Then he hears this answer from the Vicar- 
 general ; or rather he does not beJieve that it 
 comes from a man ; it seems to him a voice 
 resounding from heaven. 54 "There is," said 
 Staupilz, " no true repentance but that which 
 begins in the love of God and of righteous- 
 ness. 55 That which some fancy to be the end 
 of repentance is only its beginning. In order 
 to be filled with the love of that which is 
 good, you must first be filled with the love of 
 God. If you wish to be really converted, do 
 not follow these mortifications and penances. 
 Love him who has first loved you." 
 
 Luther listens, and listens again. These 
 consolations fill him with a joy before un- 
 known, and impart to him a new light. "It 
 is Jesus Christ," thinks he in his heart; 
 "yes, it is Jesus Christ himself who comforts 
 me so wonderfully by these sweet and saluta- 
 ry words." 56 
 
 These words, indeed, penetrated the heart of 
 the young monk like a sharp arrow from the 
 bow of a strong man. 57 In order to repentance, 
 we must love God! Guided by this new light, 
 he consulted the Scriptures. He looked to all 
 the passages which speak of repentance and 
 conversion. These words, so dreaded hitherto, 
 (to use his own expressions,) become to him 
 an agreeable pastime and the sweetest refresh- 
 ment. All the passages of Scripture which 
 once alarmed him, seemed now to run to him 
 from all sides, to smile, to spring up and play 
 around him. 58 
 
 " Before," he exclaims, " though I carefully 
 dissembled with God as to the state of my 
 heart, and though I tried to express a love for 
 him, which was only a constraint and a mere 
 fiction, there was na word in the Scripture 
 more bitter to me than that of repenlance. But 
 now there is not one more sweet and pleasant 
 to me. 59 Oh! how blessed are all God's pre- 
 cepts, when we read them not in books alone, 
 but in the precious wounds of the Saviour." 60 
 
 However, Luther, though comforted by the 
 words of Staupitz, sometimes relapsed into 
 
 depression. Sin was again felt in his timid 
 conscience, and then to the joy of salvation, 
 succeeded all his former despair. " Oh, my 
 sin ! my sin ! my sin !' cried the young monk, 
 one day in the presence of the Vicar-general, 
 and in a tone of the bitterest grief. " Well, 
 would you be only the semblance of a sinner," 
 replied the latter, " and have only the semblance 
 of a SAVIOUR?" And then Staupitz added 
 with authority : " Know that Jesus Christ is 
 the Saviour of those even who are real and 
 great sinners, and deserving of utter con- 
 demnation." 
 
 It was not only the sin that he found in his 
 heart that troubled Luther: to the doubts of 
 his conscience were added those of his reason. 
 If the holy precepts of the Bible distressed 
 him, some of the doctrines of the divine word 
 increased his distress. The truth, which is 
 the great instrument by means of which God 
 gives peace to man, must necessarily begin by 
 taking from him that false confidence which 
 is his ruin. The doctrine of election especially 
 troubled the young man, and launched him 
 into a field difficult indeed to explore. Must 
 he believe that it was man who first chose God 
 for his portion? or that it was God who first 
 chose man? The Bible, history, daily expe- 
 rience, the writings of Augustine, all had 
 shown him that we must always and in every 
 thing refer in the last case to that sovereign 
 will by which every thing exists, and upon 
 which every thing depends. But his ardent 
 mind desired to go farther. He wished to 
 penetrate into the secret counsels of God, to 
 unveil his mysteries, to see the invisible, and 
 comprehend the incomprehensible. Staupitz 
 checked him. He persuaded him not to at- 
 tempt to fathom God, who hideth himself; but 
 to confine himself to what He has revealed of 
 his character in Christ. " Look at the wounds 
 of Christ," said he, "and you will there ee 
 shining clearly the purpose of God towards 
 men. We cannot understand God out of 
 Christ. ' In Christ you will see what I am 
 and what I require,' hath the Lord said ; ' you 
 will not see it elsewhere, either in heaven or 
 on earth.' " 61 
 
 The Vicar-general did yet more. He brought 
 Luther to acknowledge the fatherly design of 
 God's providence in permitting these tempta- 
 tions and varied struggles with which his soul 
 had to contend. He made him see them in a 
 light well suited to revive his spirit. God 
 prepares for himself by such trials the souls 
 which he destines to some important work. 
 We must prove the vessel before we launch 
 it on the mighty deep. If education is neces- 
 sary for every man, there is a particular educa- 
 tion necessary for those who are to influence 
 the generation in which they live. This is 
 what Staupitz represented to the monk of Er- 
 furth. " It is not for nothing," said he, " that 
 God proves you by so many trials; however, 
 you will see there are great things in which 
 he will make use of you as his minister." 
 
 These words, which Luther heard with 
 wonder and humility, filled him with courage, 
 and discovered to him in himself, powers which 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 49 
 
 lie had not even suspected. The wisdom and 
 prudence of an enlightened friend gradually 
 revealed the strong man to himself. Staupitz 
 did not stop there. He gave him valuable di- 
 rections for his studies. He advised him to 
 derive henceforth all his divinity from the 
 Bible, laying aside the systems of the schools. 
 11 Let the study of the Scriptures," said he, 
 "be your favourite occupation." Never was 
 better advice, or better followed. But what 
 especially delighted Luther, was the present 
 that Staupitz made him of a Bible. At last 
 he himself possessed that treasure which until 
 that hour he had been obliged to seek either 
 in the library of the University, or at the chain 
 in the convent, or in the cell of a friend. From 
 that time he studied the Scriptures, and espe- 
 cially St. Paul's Epistles, with increasing 
 zeal. His only other reading was the works 
 of St. Augustine. All that he read was power- 
 fully impressed upon his mind. His struggles 
 had prepared him to understand the word. The 
 soil had been deeply ploughed ; the incorrupti- 
 ble seed took deep root. When Staupitz left 
 Erfurth, a new light had arisen upon Luther. 
 Still the work was not finished. The Vicar- 
 general had prepared it. God reserved the 
 completion of it for a more humble instrument. 
 The conscience of the young Augustine had 
 not yet found repose. His health at last sunk 
 under the exertions and stretch of his mind. 
 He was attacked with a malady that brought 
 him to the gates of the grave. It was then 
 the second year of his abode at the convent. 
 All his anguish and terrors returned in the 
 prospect of death. His own impurity and 
 God's holiness again disturbed his mind. One 
 day when he was overwhelmed with despair, 
 an old monk entered his cell, and spoke kindly 
 to him. Luther opened his heart to him, and 
 acquainted him with the fears that disquieted 
 him. The respectable old man was incapable 
 of entering into all his doubts, as Staupitz had 
 done; but he knew his Credo, and he had 
 found there something to comfort his own 
 heart. He thought he would apply the same 
 remedy to the young brother. Calling his 
 attention therefore to the Apostle's creed, 
 which Luther had learnt in his early child- 
 hood at the school of Mansfeld, the old monk 
 uttered in simplicity this article: " / believe 
 in the forgiveness of sins." These simple 
 words, ingenuously recited by the pious 
 brother at a critical moment, shed sweet con- 
 solation in the mind of Luther. " I believe," 
 repeated he to himself on his bed of suffering, 
 "1 believe the remission of sins." "Ah," 
 said the monk, " you must not only believe 
 that David's or Peter's sins are forgiven : the 
 devils believe that. 68 The commandment of 
 God is that we believe our own sins are for- 
 given." How sweet did this commandment 
 appear to poor Luther ! " Hear what St. Ber- 
 nard says in his discourse on the Annuncia- 
 tion," added the old brother. "The testimony 
 which the Holy Ghost applies to your heart 
 is this : ' Thy sins are forgiven theeS " 
 
 From that moment the light shone into the 
 heart of the young monk of Erfurth. The 
 
 word of Grace was pronounced, and he believed 
 it. He renounced the thought of meriting sal- 
 vation ; and trusted himself with confidence 
 to God's Grace in Christ Jesus. He did not 
 perceive the consequence of the principle he 
 admitted ; he was still sincerely attached to 
 the Church : and yet he was thenceforward 
 independent of it; for he had received salva- 
 tion from God himself; and Romish Catho- 
 licism was virtually extinct to him. From 
 that hour Luther went forward; besought 
 in the writings of the Apostles and Prophets 
 for all that might strengthen the hope which 
 rilled his heart. Every day he implored help 
 from above, and every day new light was im- 
 parted to his soul. 
 
 This comfort to his spirit restored health to 
 his body. He quickly arose from his sick-bed. 
 He had received new life in more than one 
 sense. The festival of Christmas, which 
 soon after arrived, was to him an occasion of 
 rich enjoyment of all the consolations of faith. 
 He took part in the solemnities of that sacred 
 season with sweet emotion; and when, in the 
 services of the day, he had to sing these words, 
 " beata culpa quac talem meruisti Redemp- 
 torem!" Gs his whole soul joyfully responded 
 Jlmen. 
 
 Luther had now been two years in the clois- 
 ter. The time drew near when he was to be 
 ordained priest. He had received largely ; 
 and he looked forward with joy to the liberty 
 afforded, by the priest's office, of freely giving 
 what he had so freely received. He resolved 
 to take advantage of the approaching solem- 
 nity, to be perfectly reconciled to his father. 
 He invited him to be present at it, and even 
 asked him to fix the day. John Luther, who 
 had not yet entirely forgiven his son, neverthe- 
 less accepted this invitation, and named Sun- 
 day, May 2, 1507. 
 
 Amongst the number of Luther's friends was 
 John Braun, vicar of Eisenach, who had been 
 his faithful adviser during his abode in that 
 town. Luther wrote to him on the 22d of 
 April : this is the earliest letter extant of the 
 Reformer. It is addressed : " To John Braun, 
 holy and venerable priest of Christ and of 
 Mary." 
 
 It is only in the two earliest letters of 
 Luther that the name of the Virgin occurs. 
 
 " God, who is glorious and holy in all his 
 works," said the candidate for the priesthood, 
 "having condescended to raise me up, who 
 am but a wretched man, and in every way an 
 unworthy sinner, and to call me, by his alone 
 and most free mercy, to his high and holy 
 ministry, I, that I may testify my gratitude 
 for goodness so divine and munificent, ought 
 (as far as dust and ashes can) to fulfil, with 
 all my heart, the office intrusted to me. 
 
 " For this cause, my beloved father, lord, 
 and brother, 1 ask you, if you have time, and 
 your ecclesiastical and domestic affairs allow 
 it, to deign to assist me by your presence and 
 your prayers, that my sacrifice may be ac- 
 ceptable in the sight of God. 
 
 " But I give you notice, that you must come 
 straight to our monastery, and spend some 
 
50 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 time with us, without seeking any other lodg- 
 incr; you must become an inhabitant of our 
 cells." 
 
 At length the day arrived. The miner of 
 Mansfelddid not fail to be present at the con- 
 secration of his son. He even gave him an 
 unequivocal proof of his affection and gene- 
 rosity, by making him a present on this occa 
 sion of twenty florins. 
 
 The ceremony took place. Jerome, bishop 
 of Brandenburg, officiated. At the moment 
 in which he conferred upon Luther the power 
 of celebrating the mass, he put the cup into 
 his hand, and addressed him in these solemn 
 words: " JLctipe potestatem mcrificandi pro 
 vivis et morluis Receive the power of offering- 
 sacrifice for the living and the dead." Luther, 
 at that moment listened calmly to these words, 
 which granted him power to do the work of 
 the Son of God himself; but, at a later period, 
 they made him shudder. "That the earth 
 did not then swallow us both up," says he, 
 " was an instance of the patience and long 
 suffering of the Lord." 61 
 
 His father afterwards dined in the convent 
 with his son, the friends of the young priest, 
 and the monks. The conversation turned on 
 Martin's enterance into the cloister. The 
 brethren commended it as a highly meritori- 
 ous action ; on which the inflexible John, turn- 
 ing to them, remarked : *' Have you not read 
 in the scripture, that it is a duty to obey father 
 and mother 1" These words struck Luther. 
 They exhibited the action which brought him 
 into the convent in a totally different light; 
 and long afterwards they resounded in his 
 heart. 
 
 Luther, after his consecration, acting by the 
 advice of Staupitz, made several short excur- 
 sions on foot to the parishes and convents of 
 the environs ; either to occupy his mind, or 
 for the sake of necessary exercise ; or else to 
 accustom himself to preaching. 
 
 It had been appointed that Corpus-Christi 
 should be kept with much ceremony at Eisle- 
 ben. The Vicar-general was to be present : 
 Luther attended. He still felt his need of 
 Staupitz, and took every opportunity of being 
 in the company of that enlightened guide, who 
 helped forward his soul in the way of life. 
 The procession was numerous and gaudy. 
 Staupitz himself carried the host: Luther 
 followed next in his priestly garments. The 
 thought that Jesus Christ himself was borne 
 before him by the Vicar-general, the idea 
 that the Lord in person was present, sudden- 
 ly struck upon Luther's imagination, and so 
 overawed him, that it was with difficulty he 
 went forward: a cold sweatcame over him ; he 
 staggered, and thought he should die in the ago- 
 ny of his fear : at last the procession stopped. 
 The host which had awakened the monk's ter- 
 rors was reverently deposited in the sacristy, 
 and Luther, left alone with Staupitz, threw 
 himself into his arms, and confessed the cause 
 of his fear. Then the Vicar-general, who 
 had long known that gracious Saviour who 
 breaks not the bruised reed, gently whis- 1 
 pered ! " Dear brother, it was not Jesus j 
 
 Christ; for Christ does not terrify; he ever 
 comforts." 65 
 
 Luther was not destined to remain hidden 
 in an obscure convent. The time had arrived 
 which was to transfer him to a wider theatre. 
 Staupitz, with whom he still maintained a 
 regular correspondence, was well persuaded 
 that there was in the young monk a spirit too 
 stirring to be confined within a narrow range. 
 He spoke of him to Frederic, the Elector of 
 Saxony; and that enlightened prince invited 
 Luther, in 1508, probably near the close of 
 that year, to become professor of the Univer- 
 sity of Wittemberg. Wittemberg was the 
 field on which Luther was ordained to fight 
 many a hard battle. He felt himself called 
 thither. He was pressed to repair quickly to 
 his new post. He answered the call imme- 
 diately; and in the haste of his removal, he 
 had not time even to write to one whom he 
 called his master and well-beloved father, the 
 curate of Eisenach, John Braun. He wrote 
 to him from Wittemberg, a few months after : 
 " My departure was so sudden," said he, " that 
 it was almost unknown to those with whom I 
 was living. It is true, I am at a greater dis- 
 tance, but the better half of me remains still 
 with you ; and the further I am removed in 
 bodily presence, the more closely my spirit is 
 drawn to you." 06 Luther had been three years 
 in the cloister of Erfurth. 
 
 Arriving at Wittemberg, he repaired to the 
 convent of the Augustines, where a cell was 
 assigned him ; for though a professor, he 
 ceased not to be a monk. He was appointed 
 to teach physics and dialectics. This ap- 
 pointment was probably conferred upon him 
 in consideration of his philosophical studies 
 at Erfurth, and his degree of master of arts. 
 Thus Luther, who was then hungering and 
 thirsting for the word of God, was obliged to 
 apply himself almost exclusively to the scho- 
 lastic philosophy of Aristotle. He felt the 
 need of that bread of life which God gives to 
 the world ; and he was forced to bury himself 
 in mere human subtleties. Hard necessity ! 
 how did he sigh under it ! "I am very well, 
 by God's favour," wrote he to Braun, " but 
 that I am compelled to give my whole atten- 
 tion to philosophy. From the moment of my 
 arrival at Wittemberg I have longed to ex- 
 change that study for theology; but," added 
 he, lest he should be thought to mean the the- 
 ology of that age, "I mean that theology 
 which seeks the kernel of the nut, the pulp of 
 the wheat, the marrow of the bone. 67 How- 
 ever things may go, God is God," continued 
 he with that confidence which was the life of 
 his soul, "man almost always errs in his judg- 
 ment; but this is our God forever and ever; 
 ie will be our guide unto death." The la- 
 jours that were then imposed upon Luther 
 were at a later period of great use in enabling 
 him to combat the errors of the schools. 
 
 He could not rest there. The desire of his 
 heart was destined to be fulfilled. That 
 same power, which some years before had 
 driven Luther from the bar to a religious life, 
 now impelled him to the Bible. He applied 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 51 
 
 3lf zealously to the study of the ancient 
 iguages, especially the Greek and Hebrew, 
 lat he might draw knowledge and doctrine 
 the fountain head. He was, through 
 life, indefatigable in his studies. 68 Some 
 months after his arrival at the university he 
 solicited the degree of bachelor in divinity 
 He obtained it at the end of March, 1509, 
 with a particular direction to Biblical theo- 
 
 logy. 
 Evi 
 
 ]very day at one o'clock Luther was ex- 
 pected to discourse upon the Bible ; a precious 
 hour for the professor and the pupils, and 
 which always gave them deeper insight into 
 the divine sense of those discoveries so long 
 lost to the people and to the schools. 
 
 He began these lectures, by explaining the 
 Psalms, and he soon passed to the Epistle to 
 the Romans. It was especially in meditating 
 upon this book that the light of truth entered 
 his heart. In the retirement of his tranquil 
 cell, he devoted whole hours to the study 
 of the divine word, with St. Paul's Epistle 
 open before him. One day having proceeded 
 as far as the 17th verse of the first chapter, he 
 there read this passage of the prophet Habak- 
 kuk : " The just shall live by faith." The 
 precept strikes him. There is then for the just 
 another life than that possessed by the rest of 
 men; and this life is the fruit of faith. This 
 word, which he receives into his heart as 
 if God himself had planted it there, discloses 
 to him the mystery of the Christian life, and 
 increases that life in his soul. In the midst 
 of his struggles in after life, the words often 
 recurred to him, "The just shall live by 
 faith." 69 
 
 The lectures of Luther, with such a prepara- 
 tion, were very different from any that had 
 been heard before. It was not now an eloquent 
 rhetorician, or a pedantic schoolman who 
 spoke ; it was a Christian who had experienced 
 the power of revealed truths; who derived 
 them from the Bible, who drew them from the 
 treasury of his own heart, and presented 
 them in full life to his astonished auditors. 
 It was no longer man's teaching, but God's. 
 
 This altogether new way of exhibiting the 
 truth made some noise : the rumour of it 
 spread far, and attracted to the newly founded 
 university a crowd of young and foreign 
 students. Several even of the professors 
 attended Luther's lectures, and amongst 
 others, the celebrated Martin Pollich of Mel- 
 lerstadt, doctor of physic, law, and philosophy, 
 who, with Staupitz, had organized the uni- 
 versity of Wittemberg, and had been its first 
 rector. Mellerstadt, who has been often called 
 "the light of the world," modestly mixed 
 with the pupils of the new professor. " This 
 monk," said he, "will put all doctors to the 
 rout; he will introduce anew style of doctrine, 
 and will reform the whole Church: he builds 
 upon the word of Christ; and no one in this 
 world can either resist or overthrow that 
 word, though it should be attacked with all 
 the weapons of Philosophers, Sophists, Sco- 
 tists, Albertists, and Thomists." 70 
 
 Staupitz, who was as the hand of Pro- 
 8 
 
 vidence to develope the gifts and treasures that 
 lay hidden in Luther, invited him to preach in 
 the church of the Augustines. The young 
 professor shrunk from this proposal. He 
 wished to confine himself to his academical 
 duties; he trembled at the thought of adding 
 to them those of public preaching. In vain 
 Staupitz entreated him: "No, no," replied 
 he, " it is no light thing to speak to men in 
 God's stead." 71 An affecting instance of humi- 
 lity in this great Reformer of the Church ! 
 Staupitz persisted. " But the ingenious Lu- 
 ther found," says one of his historians, " fif- 
 teen arguments, pretexts or evasions, to excuse 
 himself from this summons." At last the 
 chief of the Augustines, still persevering in 
 his application : "Ah, worthy doctor," said 
 Luther, "it would be the death of me. I 
 could not stand it three months." "And what 
 then," replied the Vicar-general ; " in God's 
 name so be it ; for in heaven also the Lord 
 requires devoted and able servants." Luther 
 was obliged to yield. 
 
 In the middle of the square of Wittemberg 
 stood an old wooden chapel, thirty feet long 
 and twenty broad, whose walls, propped on 
 all sides, were falling to ruins. A pulpit 
 made of planks, raised three feet above the 
 ground, received the preacher. It was in this 
 chapel that the Reformation was first preach- 
 ed. It was the will of God that this work 
 for the restoration of his glory should have 
 the humblest beginnings. The foundation 
 of the church of the Augustines was only just 
 laid, and till it should be completed they 
 made use of this mean place of worship. 
 "That building," adds the contemporary ot" 
 Luther, who relates these circumstances, 
 "may be aptly compared to the stable in 
 which Christ was born. 72 It was in that enclo- 
 sure that God willed, if we may so speak, 
 that his well-beloved Son should be born 
 a second time. Amongst the thousand cathe- 
 drals and parish churches with which the 
 world is filled, not one was chosen for the 
 glorious announcement of everlasting life." 
 
 Luther preached : every thing was striking 
 in the new preacher. His expressive counte- 
 nance and dignified demeanour, his clear and 
 sonorous voice, charmed the audience. Before 
 his time, the greater number of preachers had 
 sought to amuse their hearers rather than to 
 convert them. The deep seriousness that 
 marked the preaching of Luther, and the joy 
 with which the knowledge of the Gospel 
 filled his own heart, gave to his eloquence an 
 authority, energy, and unction, which none of 
 his predecessors had possessed. " Gifted 
 with a ready and lively intelligence," says 
 one of his adversaries, 73 " having a retentive 
 memory, and speaking his mother tongue with 
 remarkable fluency, Luther was surpassed in 
 loquence by none of his contemporaries. 
 Addressing his hearers from his place in the 
 pulpit, as if he had been agitated by some 
 aowerful passion, and adapting his action to 
 ;he words, he affected their minds in a surpris- 
 ng manner, and carried them like a torrent 
 whither he would. So much power, action, 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and eloquence are rarely found amongst the 
 people of the north." " He had," says 
 Bossuet, " a lively and impetuous eloquence, 
 which delighted and captivated his auditory". 74 
 
 In a short time the little chapel could no 
 longer contain the crowds that flocked thither. 
 The council of Wittemberg then chose Luther 
 for their preacher, and called upon him to 
 preach in the church of that city. The im- 
 pression which he there produced was still 
 greater. His wonderful genius, his eloquent 
 style, and the excellency of the doctrines he 
 proclaimed, equally astonished his auditors. 
 His reputation spread far and wide, and Fre- 
 deric the Wise himself came once to Wittem- 
 berg to hear him. 
 
 It was as if a new existence was opening 
 for Luther. To the drowsiness of the cloister 
 had succeeded a life of active exertion. Free- 
 dom, employment, earnest and regular action 
 completed the re-establishment of harmony 
 and peace in his spirit. He was now at last 
 in his proper place, and the work of God was 
 about to open out its majestic course. Luther 
 was continuing his teaching both in the hall 
 of the academy and in the church, when he 
 was interrupted in his labours. In 1510, or 
 according to some, not till 1511 or 1512, he 
 was despatched to Rome. A difference had 
 arisen between seven convents of his order 
 and the Vicar-general. 73 Luther's acuteness, 
 eloquence, and talents in discussion led to his 
 being chosen to represent these seven monas- 
 teries. 76 This dispensation of divine Provi- 
 dence was needed. It was fit that Luther 
 should know what Rome was. Full of the 
 prejudices and illusions of the cloister, he had 
 always pictured it to himself as the seat of 
 holiness. 
 
 He set out; he crossed the Alps. But hard- 
 ly had he descended into the plains of rich 
 and voluptuous Italy than he found at every 
 step matter of surprise and scandal. The poor 
 German monk was entertained at a wealthy 
 convent of the Benedictines, situate on the 
 Po, in Lombardy. This convent enjoyed a 
 revenue of thirty-six thousand ducats ; twelve 
 thousand were spent for the table, twelve 
 thousand on the buildings, and twelve thou- 
 sand to supply the other wants of the monks. 77 
 The magnificence of the apartments, the rich- 
 ness of the dresses, and the delicacy of the 
 viands, astonished Luther. Marble, silk, and 
 luxury of every kind; what a novel spectacle 
 to the humble brother of the convent of Wit- 
 temberg! He was amazed and silent; but 
 Friday came, and what was his surprise ! The 
 table of the Benedictines was spread with 
 abundance of meats. Then he found courage 
 to speak out. "The Church," said he, "and 
 the Pope forbid such things." The Benedic- 
 tines were offended at this rebuke from the 
 unmannerly German. But Luther, having 
 repeated his remark, and perhaps threatened 
 to report their irregularity, some of them 
 thought it easiest to get rid of their trouble- 
 some guest. The porter of the convent hinted 
 to him that he incurred danger by his stay 
 He accordingly took his departure from this 
 
 epicurean monastery, and pursued his journey 
 to Bologna, where he fell sick. 78 Some have 
 seen in this sickness the effects of poison. It 
 is more probable that the change in his mode 
 of living disordered the frugal monk of Wit- 
 temberg, who had been used to subsist for the 
 most part on dry bread and herrings. This 
 sickness was not "unto death," but for the 
 glory of God. His constitutional sadness and 
 depression returned. What a fate was before 
 him, to perish thus far away from Germany 
 under a scorching sun, in a foreign land. The 
 distress of mind he had experienced at Er- 
 furth again oppressed him. A sense of his 
 sins disturbed him ; and the prospect of the 
 judgment of God filled him with dismay. But 
 in the moment when his terror was at its 
 height that word of Paul, " The just shall live 
 by Failh" recurred with power to his thought, 
 and beamed upon his soul like a ray from 
 heaven. Raised and comforted, he rapidly 
 regained health, and again set forth for Rome, 
 expecting to find there a very different manner 
 of life from that of the Lombard convents, and 
 eager to efface, by the contemplation of Roman 
 sanctity, the sad impression left upon his 
 memory by his sojourn on the banks of the Po. 
 
 At last, after a fatiguing journey under the 
 burning sun of Italy, he approached the seven- 
 hilled city. His heart was moved within him. 
 His eyes longed to behold the queen of the 
 earth and of the Church ! As soon as he dis- 
 covered from a distance the Eternal City, 
 the city of St. Peter and St. Paul, the metro- 
 polis of the Catholic World, he threw himself 
 on the earth, exclaiming, " Holy Rome, I 
 salute thee !" 
 
 Luther was now in Rome; the professor of 
 Wittemberg was in the midst of the eloquent 
 ruins of the Rome of Consuls and of Emperors, 
 the Rome of Confessors of Christ and of Mar- 
 trys. There had lived Plautus and Virgil, 
 whose works he had carried with him into his 
 cloister; and all those great men whose history 
 had so often stirred his heart. He beheld their 
 statues, and the ruined monuments which still 
 attested their glory. But, all this glory and 
 power had passed away. He trod under foot 
 the dust of them. He called to mind, at every 
 step he took, the melancholy presentiments of 
 Scipio, when, shedding tears over the ruins of 
 Carthage, its palaces in flames, and its walls 
 broken down, he exclaimed : " // will one day 
 be thus with Rome /" " And truly," said Lu- 
 ther, "the Rome of Scipios and Caesars is but 
 a corpse. There are such heaps of ruin that the 
 foundations of the houses rest at this hour where 
 once their roofs were. There," said he, turn- 
 ing a melancholy look on its ruins, " there 
 were once the riches and treasures of this 
 world !" 79 All these fragments of wreck which 
 his foot encountered whispered to Luther, with- 
 in Rome herself, that what is strongest in the 
 sight of men may be destroyed by the breath 
 of the Lord. 
 
 But with these profaner ruins were mixed 
 holy ashes ; the thought of this came to his 
 mind. The burial places of the martyrs are 
 hard by those of Roman generals and con- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 53 
 
 querors. Christian Rome, and her trials, had 
 more power over the heart of the Saxon monk, 
 than Pagan Rome with all her glory. In this 
 very place arrived that epistle wherein Paul 
 wrote, " the just shall live by faith." He is j 
 not far from the forum of Appius and the Three 
 Taverns. In that spot was the house of Nar- 
 cissus ; here stood the palace of Caesar, where 
 the Lord delivered the Apostle from the jaws 
 of the lion. Oh, how did these recollections 
 strengthen the heart of the monk of Wittem- 
 berg! 
 
 Rome then presented a widely different as- 
 pect. The warlike Julius II. filled the ponti- 
 fical chair, and not Leo X., as some distin- 
 guished historians of Germany have said, 
 doubtless for want of attention. Luther often 
 related an incident of this Pope's life. When 
 the news was brought him that hjs army had 
 been defeated by the French before Ravenna, 
 he was reading his prayers ; he threw the book 
 on the floor, exclaiming, with a dreadful oath, 
 " Well, now thou art become a Frenchman. 
 Is it thus thou guardestthy church ]" Then, 
 turning himself in the direction of the country 
 to whose arms he thought to have recourse, he 
 uttered these' words, "Holy Swiss, pray for 
 us." 80 Ignorance, levity, and dissolute morals, 
 a profane contempt of every thing sacred, and 
 a shameful traffic in divine things ; such was 
 the spectacle presented by this wretched city. 
 Yet the pious monk continued for awhile in 
 his illusions. 
 
 Having arrived about the period of the fes- 
 tival of St. John, he heard the Romans re- 
 peating around him a proverb current among 
 the people: "Blessed is that mother," said 
 they, " whose son says mass on St. John's 
 eve." Oh, thought Luther, how gladly would 
 I make my mother blessed. The pious son 
 of Margaret made some attempts to say mass 
 on that day, but he could not, the crowd was 
 too great. 81 
 
 Warm in his feeling, and confiding in dispo- 
 sition, he visited all the churches and chapels, 
 gave credit to all the marvellous stories there 
 told him, went through with devotion the ob- 
 servances required, and was pleased at being 
 able to perform so many pious acts, from 
 which his friends at home were debarred. 
 " How do I regret," thought the pious monk, 
 " that my father and mother are still living: 
 how happy should I be to deliver them from 
 the fire of purgatory by my masses, rny prayers, 
 and other admirable works." 82 He had found 
 the light; but the darkness was far from being 
 wholly chased from his mind ; he had the faith 
 and love of the Gospel, but not the knowledge 
 of it. It was no easy matter to emerge from 
 that deep gloom that had for so many ages 
 overspread the earth. 
 
 Luther said mass several times at Rome. He 
 went through it with all the unction and dig- 
 nity that such an act seemed to him to require. 
 But how was the heart of the Saxon monk dis- 
 tressed, when he saw the profane and heartless 
 formality with which the Roman clergy cele 
 brated this Sacrament ! The priests, on their 
 part, laughed at his simplicity. One day, when 
 
 he was officiating, he found that at the altar 
 they had read seven masses while he was 
 reading one. " Quick ! quick !" said one of 
 the priests, "send Our Lady her Son back 
 speedily;" thus impiously alluding to the 
 transubstantiation of the bread into the body 
 and blood of Christ. Another time Luther 
 dad only got as far as the Gospel, when the 
 priest who was at his side had already finish- 
 ed the mass: "Make haste, make haste!" 
 whispered the latter, "do have done with it." 83 
 
 His astonishment was still greater, when 
 be found in the dignitaries of the Church, the 
 same corruption he had observed in the infe- 
 rior clergy. He had hoped better things of 
 them. 
 
 It was the fashion at the papal court to at- 
 tack Christianity: and a person was not 
 counted a man of sense, if he did not hold 
 some eccentric and heretical opinion in rela- 
 tion to the dogmas of the Church. 84 Some 
 would have convinced Erasmus, by certain 
 passages from Pliny, that there was no dif- 
 ference between the souls of men and of beasts ; 
 and there were young courtiers of the Pope, 
 who affirmed that the orthodox faith was the 
 growth of the cunning invention of the saints. 
 
 Luther's office of envoy from the Augus- 
 tines of Germany, procured him invitations 
 to several meetings of distinguished ecclesi- 
 astics. One day, in particular, he was at 
 table with several prelates: the latter exhi- 
 bited openly their buffoonery in manners and 
 impious conversation; and did not scruple to 
 give utterance before him to many indecent 
 jokes, doubtless thinking him one like them- 
 selves. They related, amongst other things, 
 laughing, and priding themselves upon it, 
 how when saying mass at the altar, instead 
 of the sacramental words which were to trans- 
 form the elements into the body and blood of 
 the Saviour, they pronounced over the bread 
 and wine these sarcastic words : " Bread thou 
 art, and bread thou shalt remain ; wine thou 
 art, and wine thou shalt remain Panis es et 
 panis manebis ; vinum es et vinum manebis." 
 " Then," continued they," " we elevate the 
 pyx, and all the people worship." Luther 
 could scarcely believe his ears. His mind, 
 gifted with much vivacity, and even gayety, 
 in the society of his friends, was remarkable 
 for gravity when treating of serious things. 
 These Romish mockeries shocked him. " I," 
 says he, " was a serious and pious young 
 monk ; such language deeply grieved me. 
 If at Rome they speak thus openly at table, 
 thought I, what, if their actions should cor- 
 respond with their words, and popes, cardi- 
 nals, and courtiers should thus say mass. 
 And I, who have so often heard them recite 
 it so devoutly, how, in that case, must I have 
 been deceived?" 
 
 Luther often mixed with the monks ana 
 citizens of Rome. If some among them ex- 
 tolled the Pope and the clergy, the greater 
 number gave free vent to their complaints and 
 sarcasms. What stories had they to tell of 
 the reigning Pope, of Alexander VI., and of 
 so many others ! One day, his Roman friends 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 related, how Caesar Borgia, having fled from 
 Rome, had been taken in Spain. On the eve 
 of trial, he prayed for mercy, and asked for a 
 priest to visit him in his prison. They sent 
 him a monk. He murdered him, disguised 
 himself in his cowl, and effected his escape. 
 "I heard that at Rome: it is a thing well 
 known," says Luther. 85 Another day, passing 
 along the principal street that led to St. Peter's 
 church, he stopped in astonishment before a 
 statue, representing a pope, under the figure 
 of a woman holding a sceptre, clothed in the 
 papal mantle, bearing a child in her arms. 
 "It is a girl of Mentz," said the people, 
 " who was chosen Pope by the Cardinals, 
 and was delivered of a child on this spot : 
 therefore no pope ever passes through this 
 street." " I wonder," observed Luther, " that 
 the popes allow the statue to remain." 86 
 
 Luther had expected to find the edifice of 
 the church encompassed with splendour and 
 strength; but its doors were broken in, and 
 its walls consumed by fire. He saw the 
 desolation of the sanctuary, and drew back in 
 alarm. He had dreamed of sanctity ; he found 
 nothing but profanation. 
 
 He was not less struck with the disorders 
 committed in the city. " The police is strict 
 and severe in Rome," said he. " The judge, 
 or captain rides through the city every night, 
 with three hundred attendants. He stops all 
 he finds in the streets ; if he meets an armed 
 man, he hangs him or throws him into the 
 Tiber. And yet the city is full of disorders 
 and murders ; whilst, in places where the 
 word of God is truly and faithfully preached, 
 we see peace and order prevail, without the 
 necessity for law or severity." 87 "It is in- 
 credible what sins and atrocities are com- 
 mitted in Rome," he says again ; " they must 
 be seen and heard to be believed. So that it 
 is usual to say: * If there be a hell, Rome is 
 built above it; it is an abyss from whence all 
 sins proceed.' " 88 
 
 This sight made at the time a great impres- 
 sion on Luther's mind ; an impression which 
 was afterwards deepened. " The nearer we 
 approach to Rome, the greater number of bad 
 Christians do we find," said he several years 
 after. "It is commonly observed, that he 
 who goes to Rome for the first time, goes to 
 seek a knave there; the second time, he finds 
 him ; and the third time, he brings him away 
 with him under his cloak. But now, people 
 are become so clever, that they make the three 
 journeys in one." 89 One of the most profound 
 geniuses of Italy, though of deplorable cele- 
 brity, Macchiavelli, who was living at Flo- 
 rence when Luther passed through that city 
 to go to Rome, has made a similar remark : 
 "The greatest symptom," said he, "of the 
 approaching ruin of Christianity, (by which 
 he meant the Roman Catholic religion,) is, 
 that the nearer we approach the capital of 
 Christendom, the less do we find of the Chris- 
 tian spirit in the people. The scandalous 
 example and the crimes of the court of Rome 
 have caused Italy to lose every principle of 
 pietr and every religious sentiment. We 
 
 Italians," continues the great historian, "are 
 principally indebted to the Church and to the 
 priests, for having become impious and pro- 
 fligate." 90 Luther felt, later in life, all the im- 
 portance of this journey : " If any one would 
 give me a hundred thousand florins," said he, 
 "I would not have missed seeing Rome." 91 
 
 This journey was also of advantage to him 
 in regard to learning. Like Reuchlin, Luther 
 profited by his residence in Italy, to obtain a 
 deeper understanding of the Holy Scriptures. 
 He there took lessons in Hebrew from a cele- 
 brated rabbin, named Elias Levita. He ac- 
 quired partly at Rome the knowledge of that 
 divine word under the assault of which Rome 
 was doomed to fall. 
 
 But this journey was above all of great 
 importance to Luther in another respect. Not 
 only was the veil withdrawn, and the sardonic 
 laugh, the jesting incredulity, which lay con- 
 cealed behind the Romish superstitions, re- 
 vealed to the future Reformer : but also the 
 living faith which God had implanted in him 
 was then powerfully strengthened. 
 
 We have seen how he had at first submitted 
 to all the vain practices which the church en- 
 joins in order to purchase the remission of 
 sins. One day, in particular, wishing to ob- 
 tain an indulgence promised by the Pope to 
 any one who should ascend on his knees what 
 is called Pilate's staircase, the poor Saxon 
 monk was slowly climbing those steps which 
 they told him had been miraculously trans- 
 ported from Jerusalem to Rome. But whilst 
 he was going through this meritorious work 
 he thought he heard a voice like thunder speak- 
 ing from the depth of his heart: " The just 
 shall live by faith." These words, which 
 already on two occasions had struck upon his 
 ear as the voice of an angel of God, resounded 
 instantaneously and powerfully within him. 
 He started up in terror on the steps up which 
 he had been crawling; he was horrified at 
 himself; and, struck with shame for the de- 
 gradation to which superstition had debased 
 him, he fled from the scene of his folly. 92 
 
 This powerful text had a mysterious in- 
 fluence on the life of Luther. It was a crea- 
 tive word for the Reformer and for the Refor- 
 mation. It was by means of that word that 
 God then said : " Let there be light, and there 
 was light." 
 
 It is frequently necessary that a truth should 
 be repeatedly presented to our minds, in order 
 to produce its due effect. Luther had often 
 studied the Epistle to the Romans, and yet 
 never had justification by faith, as there taught, 
 appeared so clear to him. He now understood 
 that righteousness which alone can stand in 
 the sight of God ; he was now partaker of that 
 perfect obedience of Christ which God im- 
 putes freely to the sinner as soon as he looks 
 in humility to the God-man crucified. This 
 was the decisive epoch in the inward life of 
 Luther. That faith which had saved him from 
 the fear of death became henceforward the 
 'soul of his theology; a strong hold in every 
 I danger, giving power to his preaching and 
 I strength to his charity, constituting a ground 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 55 
 
 of peace, a motive to service, and a consola- 
 tion in life and death. 
 
 But this great doctrine of a salvation which 
 proceeds from God and not from man, was not 
 merely the power of God unto salvation to 
 Luther, it also became the power of God to 
 reform the Church. It was the same weapon 
 which the Apostle had once wielded, and now, 
 after long disuse, it was drawn forth in its 
 original brightness from the arsenal of Al- 
 mighty God. At the moment when Luther 
 started from his knees, transported with emo- 
 tion at that word which St. Paul had address- 
 ed to the inhabitants of Rome, the truth, hith- 
 erto held captive and fettered in the Church, 
 stood also up to fall no more. 
 
 We must here quote his own words. 
 " Though as a monk I was holy and irre- 
 proachable," says he, " my conscience was 
 still filled with trouble and torment. I could 
 not endure the expression the righteous jus- 
 tice of God. I did not love that just and holy 
 Being who punishes sinners. I felt a secret 
 anger against him; I hated him because, not 
 satisfied with terrifying by his law, and by 
 the miseries of life, poor creatures already 
 ruined by original sin, he aggravated our suf- 
 ferings by the Gospel. But when by the Spirit 
 of God, I understood these words, when I 
 learnt how the justification of the sinner pro- 
 ceeds from God's mere mercy by the way of 
 faith, 93 -then I felt myself born again as a new 
 man, and I entered by an opened door into the 
 very paradise of God. 94 From that hour I saw the 
 precious and holy Scriptures with new eyes. 
 I went through the whole Bible. I collected 
 a multitude of passages which taught me what 
 the work of God was. And as I had before 
 heartily hated that expression, 'the righteous- 
 ness of God,' I began from that time to value and 
 to love it, as the sweetest and most consolato- 
 ry truth. Truly this text of St. Paul was to 
 me as the very gate of heaven." 
 
 Hence it was, that, when he was called 
 upon on some solemn occasions to confess 
 this doctrine, it ever roused his enthusiasm 
 and rough eloquence. "I see," said he in a 
 critical moment, 95 "that the devil, by means of 
 his teachers and doctors, is incessantly attack- 
 ing this fundamental article, and that he can- 
 not rest to cease from this object. Well, then, 
 I, Doctor Martin Luther, an unworthy evan- 
 gelist of our Lord Jesus Christ, do confess 
 this article, ' that faith alone, without works, 
 justifies in the sight of God, and I declare, 
 that in spite of the emperor of the Romans, 
 the emperor of the Turks, the emperor of the 
 Tartars, the emperor of the Persians, the 
 Pope, all the cardinals, bishops, priests, 
 monks, nuns, kings, princes, nobles, all the 
 world, and all the devils, it shall stand un- 
 shaken forever! that if they will persist in 
 opposing this truth, they will draw upon their 
 heads the flames of hell. This is the true 
 and holy gospel, and the declaration of me, 
 Doctor Luther, according to the light given to 
 
 me by the Holy Spirit There is no one," 
 
 he continues, "who has died for our sins, but 
 Jesus Christ the Son of God. I repeat it once 
 
 more : let all the evil spirits of earth and hell 
 foam and rage as they will, this is nevertheless 
 true. And if Christ alone takes away sin, we 
 can not do so by all our works. But good 
 works follow redemption, as surely as fruit 
 appears upon a living tree. This is our doc- 
 trine, this the Holy Spirit teacheth, together 
 with all holy Christian people. We hold it in 
 God's name. Amen!" 
 
 It was thus that Luther discovered what 
 hitherto even the most illustrious teachers and 
 reformers had overlooked. It was in Rome 
 that God gave him this clear view of the fun- 
 damental doctrine of Christianity. He had 
 come to seek in that city of the Pontiffs, the 
 solution of some difficulties concerning a mon- 
 astic order; he brought back in his heart, that 
 which was to emancipate the Church. 
 
 Luther left Rome, and returned to Wittem- 
 berg, full of grief and indignation. Turning 
 away his eyes in disgust from the pontifical 
 city, he directed them trustfully to the Holy 
 Scriptures, and to that new life which the 
 word of God seemed then to offer to the world. 
 This word gained ground in his heart in pro- 
 portion as the Church lost its hold upon him. 
 He disengaged himself from the one to turn 
 to the other. All the Reformation was com- 
 prised in that change ; for it put God in the 
 place the priest had usurped. 
 
 Staupitz and the Elector did not lose sight 
 of the monk they had called to the university 
 of Wittemberg. It seems as if the Vicar-gene- 
 ral had a presentiment of the work that was 
 to be accomplished in the world, and that find- 
 ing it too hard for him, he desired to urge Lu- 
 ther to undertake it. Nothing is more re- 
 markable, or perhaps more inexplicable, than 
 the character of the man who was ever ready 
 to impel the monk onward in the path to which 
 God called him, and yet himself went and 
 ended his days sadly in a convent. The 
 preaching of the young professor had made an 
 impression on the prince; lie admired the 
 strength of his understanding, the power of 
 his eloquence, and the excellence of the sub- 
 jects that he handled. 96 The Elector and his 
 friends, wishing to promote a man of such 
 great promise, resolved to raise him to the 
 distinction of doctor of divinity. Staupitz re- 
 paired to the convent. He led Luther into 
 the cloister garden, and there talking with 
 him alone under a tree, which Luther after- 
 wards took pleasure in pointing out to his dis- 
 ciples, the venerable father said to him: 97 "My 
 friend, you must now become Doctor of the 
 Holy Scriptures." Luther drew back. The 
 thought of this distinguished honour overcame 
 him. " Seek one more worthy of it," said he ; 
 "for my part, I cannot consent to it." The 
 Vicar-general pressed the point. " The Lord 
 has much to do in the Church, he requires just 
 now young and vigorous doctors." " This was 
 said perhaps jestingly," adds Melancthon, 
 "yet the event corresponded to it, for usually 
 many presages announce great revolutions." 98 
 There is no reason to suppos-e that Melancthon 
 here speaks of prophecy, strictly so called 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The last century, though remarkable for in- 
 credulity, saw this exemplified : how many 
 presages, without miracle, preceded the revo- 
 lution at the close of that century ! 
 
 " But I am weak and ailing ;" said Luther ; 
 " I have not long to live. Look for a strong 
 man." " The Lord has work in heaven as in 
 earth ; dead or alive, God requires you." 99 
 
 "The Holy Spirit alone can make a doctor 
 of divinity," loo excl aimed the monk, more and 
 more overcome with fear. " Do as your con- 
 vent desires," said Staupitz, " and what I your 
 Vicar-general require you to do, for you have 
 promised to obey us." "But think of my 
 poverty," resumed the friar, " 1 having nothing 
 wherewith to pay the expenses incident to 
 such a promotion." " Do not make yourself 
 uneasy about that," said his friend, "the prince 
 is so kind as to take the charges upon him- 
 self." Urged on all sides, Luther was obliged 
 to submit. 
 
 It was toward the summer of 1512, Luther 
 set out for Leipsic to receive from the trea- 
 surers of the Elector, the money requisite on 
 his promotion. But, according to court cus- 
 tom, the money did not arrive. Luther, be- 
 coming impatient, wished to depart; but the 
 obedience becoming the character of a monk 
 restrained him. At last, on the 4th of Octo- 
 ber, he received from Pfeffinger and John 
 Doltzig, fifty florins. He gave them a re- 
 ceipt, in which he assumed no other designa- 
 tion than monk. " I, Martin," said he, " bro- 
 ther of the order of the Eremites." 101 Luther 
 hastened back to Wittemberg. 
 
 Andrew Bodenstein of Carlstadt was at that 
 time the Dean of the Faculty of Theology. 
 Carlstadt is the name under which this doctor 
 is best known. He was also called the A. 
 B. C. Melancthon first gave him that name, 
 alluding to the three initials of his name. 
 Bodenstein acquired in his native country the 
 first elements of education. He was of grave 
 and sombre character perhaps inclined to 
 jealousy, of unquiet temper, but very eager 
 for learning, and gifted with great capacity. 
 He visited several universities to enlarge his 
 knowledge, and studied theology at Rome it- 
 self. On his return from Italy to Germany, 
 he established himself at Wittemberg, and 
 there became doctor of theology. At this 
 time, as he himself afterwards declared, he 
 had not read the Holy Scriptures. 102 This trait 
 gives a very just idea of what then constituted 
 theology. Carlstadt, besides his functions as 
 professor, was canon and archdeacon. This 
 was the man who was one day to divide the 
 Reformation. He then saw in Luther only an 
 inferior; but the Augustine soon became an 
 object of his jealousy. One day he remarked, 
 " I will not be less distinguished than Luther." 103 
 Far from anticipating at this time the future 
 greatness of the young professor, Carlstadt 
 conferred on his destined lival the first degree 
 of the university. 
 
 On the 18th October, 1512, Luther was 
 made licentiate in theology, and took the fol- 
 , owing oath : 
 
 " I swear to defend the truth of the Gospel 
 
 with all my strength. " 104 The following day, 
 Bodenstein solemnly delivered to him, in pre- 
 sence of a numerous assembly, the insignia of 
 Doctor in Theology. 
 
 He was made Biblical Doctor, and not Doc- 
 tor of Sentences, and was therefore specially 
 bound to devote himself to the study of the 
 Bible, instead of human traditions. Then it 
 was, as he himself tells us, that he espoused 
 his well-beloved and Holy Scriptures. 105 He 
 promised to preach them faithfully, to teach, 
 them in purity, to study them all his life, and 
 to defend them so far as God should enable 
 him, by disputation, and by writing against 
 false teachers. 106 
 
 This solemn vow was to Luther his voca- 
 tion as a Reformer. Binding upon his con- 
 science the sacred obligation to investigate 
 freely, and declare openly evangelical truth, 
 that oath lifted the new made doctor above the 
 narrow bounds to which his monastic vow 
 might have restricted him. Called by the 
 University, by his Sovereign, in the name of 
 the Imperial Majesty, and of the Roman See 
 itself, and bound before God, by the most sa- 
 cred of oaths, he was from that time the in- 
 trepid herald of the word of life. On that 
 memorable day Luther was installed Cham- 
 pion of the Bible. 
 
 Therefore it is that this oath pledged to the 
 Holy Scriptures may be regarded as one of 
 the immediate causes of the revival of the 
 Church. The infallible authority of the word 
 of God was the first and fundamental princi- 
 ple of the Reformation. Every reform in de- 
 tail afterwards effected in doctrine, morals, 
 church government, and public worship was 
 but a consequence of this first principle. In 
 these days we can hardly imagine the sensa- 
 tion produced by this elementary truth, so 
 simple, yet for ages neglected. A few men, 
 of more enlarged discernment than the vulgar, 
 alone foresaw its important consequences. 
 Speedily the courageous voices of all the Re- 
 formers proclaimed this powerful principle, at 
 the sound of which the influence of Rome 
 crumbled into the dust: " Christians receive 
 no other doctrines than those which rest on 
 the express words of Christ, the apostles and 
 prophets. No man, nor any assembly of 
 men, has power to prescribe new doctrines." 
 
 The situation of Luther was changed. The 
 call he had received became to the Reformer 
 as one of those extraordinary commissions 
 which the Lord intrusted to prophets under 
 the old dispensation, and to apostles under the 
 new. The solemn engagement he had con- 
 tracted, made so profound an impression on 
 his soul, that the recollection of this vow suf- 
 ficed at a later period to comfort him in the 
 midst of the greatest dangers and the rudest 
 conflicts. And when he saw all Europe agi- 
 tated and disturbed by the doctrine he had 
 proclaimed, when the accusations of Rome, 
 the reproaches of many pious men, and the 
 doubts and fears of his own heart (so easily 
 moved) might have caused him to falter, to 
 fear, and fall into despondency, he called to 
 i mind the oath he had taken, and remained 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 57 
 
 firm, tranquil, and rejoicing 1 . "I came for- 
 ward," said he, "in a critical moment, and I 
 put myself into the Lord's hands. Let his 
 will be done. Who asked of him that he 
 would make of me a teacher ? If he has made 
 me such, let him support me ; or if he change 
 his purpose, let him deprive me. This tribu- 
 lation then does not intimidate me. I seek 
 but one thing to have his favour in all he calls 
 me to do in his work." Another time he said, 
 " He who undertakes any thing without a di- 
 vine call seeks his own glory. But I, Doctor 
 Martin Luther, was constrained to become a 
 doctor. The Papacy endeavoured to stop me 
 in the discharge of my duty, but you see what 
 has happened to it; and much worse shall 
 yet befall it; they cannot defend themselves 
 against me. By God's help I am resolved to 
 press on, to force a passage through, and 
 trample dragons and vipers under foot. This 
 will begin in my lifetime, and finish after 1 
 am gone." 107 
 
 From the hour of this oath Luther no long- 
 er sought the truth for himself alone, but for 
 the Church. Still retaining his recollections 
 of Rome, he perceived indistinctly before him 
 a path in which he purposed to go forward with 
 all the energy of his soul. The spiritual life 
 which hitherto had grown up within him, be- 
 gan to manifest itself in outward action. This 
 was the third period of his progress. His en- 
 trance into the convent had turned his thoughts 
 towards God ; the knowledge of the remission 
 of sins, and of the righteousness of faith, had 
 delivered his soul from bondage. The oath 
 he had now taken had given him that baptism 
 by fire which constituted him the Reformer of 
 the Church. 
 
 The first adversaries he attacked were those 
 celebrated schoolmen whom he had studied 
 so deeply, and who then reigned supreme in 
 every university. He accused them of Pela- 
 gianism; boldly opposing Aristotle (the father 
 of the school !) and Thomas Aquinas, he un- 
 dertook to hurl them from the throne whence 
 they exercised so commanding an influence, 
 the one over philosophy, and the other over 
 theology. l08 
 
 " Aristotle, Porphyry, the theologians of the 
 Sentences," said he, writing to Lange, " these 
 are the unprofitable study of this age. I de- 
 sire nothing more ardently than to lay open 
 before all eyes this false system, which has 
 tricked the Church, by covering itself with a 
 Greek mask; and to expose its worthlessness 
 before the world." 109 In all his public disputa- 
 tions he was accustomed to repeat "The 
 writings of the Apostles and Prophets are 
 more certain and sublime than all the sophisms 
 and theology of the schools." Such language 
 was new, but gradually people became familiar- 
 ized with it; and about one year after this he 
 was able exultingly to write, "God works 
 amongst us ; our theology and St. Augustine 
 make wonderful progress, and are already 
 paramount in our university. Aristotle is on 
 the wane, and already totters to his fall, which 
 is near at hand and irreversible. The lectures 
 on the Sentences are received with utter dis- 
 
 taste. None can hope for hearers unless he 
 profess the scriptural theology." 110 Happy the 
 university where such testimony could be 
 given ! 
 
 At the same time that Luther attacked Aris- 
 totle, he took part with Erasmus and Reuchlin 
 against their enemies. He entered into cor- 
 respondence with those great men and others 
 of the learned, such as Pirckheimer, Mutian, 
 Hiitten, who belonged more or less to the same 
 party. He formed also at this period another 
 friendship, which was yet more important in 
 its influence on his after life. 
 
 There was then at the court of the Elector 
 a person remarkable for wisdom and candour. 
 This was George Spalatin, a native of Spaltus, 
 or Spalt, in the bishopric of Eichstadt. lie 
 had been curate of the village of Hohenkirch, 
 near the forests of Thuringia. He was after- 
 wards chosen by Frederic the Wise as his 
 secretary and chaplain, and private teacher of 
 his nephew, John Frederic, heir of the electo- 
 ral crown. Spalatin was a man of simple 
 manners, in the midst of a court; timid in 
 emergencies, and circumspect and prudent as 
 his master; in contrasting with the energetic 
 Luther, with whom he was in daily commu- 
 nication. Like Staupitz, he was fitted rather 
 for peaceable than for stirring times. Such 
 men are necessary: they are like that soft 
 covering in which we wrap jewels and chrys- 
 tals, to protect them from injury in transport- 
 ing them from place to place. They seem of 
 no use, and yet without them the precious 
 gems would be broken or lost. Spalatin was 
 not capable of great actions, but he faithfully 
 and noiselessly discharged the task assigned 
 to him. m He was at first one of the principal 
 aids of his master, in collecting those relics 
 of the saints of which Frederic was long an 
 amateur. But by slow degrees he, like his 
 master, turned toward the truth. The faith 
 which was then reappearing in the Church, 
 did not so suddenly lay hold on him as on 
 Luther, he was led on by more circuitous 
 paths. He became the friend of Luther at 
 the court, the agent through which matters of 
 business were transacted between the Re- 
 former and the Princes, the go-between of the 
 Church and the state. The Elector honoured 
 Spalatin with the closest intimacy, and in his 
 journeys admitted him to share his carriage. 113 
 In other respects the air of the court was often 
 oppressive to the worthy Spalatin, and affected 
 him with deep sadness; he would have wished 
 to leave all these honours, and again to become 
 a simple pastor in the woods of Thuringia. 
 But Luther comforted him, and persuaded him 
 to remain at his post. Spalalin acquired 
 general esteem. The princes and scholars 
 of his age evinced the sincerest respect for 
 him. Erasmus was accustomed to say, " The 
 name of Spalatin is inscribed not only as one 
 of my dearest friends, but of my most revered 
 protectors, and that not on paper, but on my 
 heart." 114 
 
 The affair of Reuchlin and the monks was 
 then making much noise in Germany. The 
 most pious persons often hesitated which side 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 to take, for the monks were bent upon destroy 
 ing the Jewish books which contained blas- 
 phemies against Christ. The Elector com- 
 missioned his chaplain to consult the doctor 
 of Wittemberg, whose reputation was con- 
 siderable. Luther replied by letter, and it is 
 the earliest of his letters to the court preacher. 
 
 "What shall I say] these monks pretend 
 to expel Beelzebub, but it is not by the 
 finger of God. I never cease to complain and 
 grieve at it. We Christians begin to be wise 
 in things that are without, and senseless at 
 home. 11 ^ There are, in all the public places of 
 our Jerusalem, blasphemies a hundred times 
 worse than those of the Jews, and in every 
 corner of it spiritual idols. We ought in holy 
 zeal to carry forth and destroy these enemies 
 within. But we neglect what is most press- 
 ing, and the devil himself persuades us to 
 abandon our own concerns, while he hinders 
 us from reforming what is amiss in others." 
 
 Luther never lost himself in this quarrel. 
 A living faith in Christ was that which 
 especially filled his heart and life. " Within 
 my heart," says he, "reigns alone, and must 
 alone reign, faith in my Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who alone is the beginning, the middle, and 
 the end of the thoughts that occupy me day 
 and night." 116 
 
 His hearers listened with admiration as he 
 spoke from the professor's chair, or from the 
 pulpit, of that faith in Christ. His instruc- 
 tions diffused light. The people marvelled 
 that they had not earlier acknowledged truths 
 which appeared so evident in his mouth. 
 "The desire to justify ourselves is the spring 
 of all our distress of heart," said he; "but 
 he who receives Christ as a SAVIOUR has 
 peace, and not only peace, but purity of heart. 
 All sanctification of the heart is a fruit of 
 faith. For faith in us is a divine work which 
 changes us, and gives us a new birth, ema- 
 nating from God himself. It kills Mam in 
 us; and, through the Holy Spirit which it 
 communicates, it gives us a new heart and 
 makes us new men. It is not by empty 
 speculations," he again exclaims, "but by 
 this practical method that we obtain a saving 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ." 117 
 
 It was at this time that Luther preached on 
 the Ten Commandments a series of discourses, 
 which have been preserved to us under the 
 name of Declamations for the People. Doubt- 
 less they are not free from errors. Luther 
 was only gradually gaining light: "The path 
 of the just is as the shining light, which 
 shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
 But still what truth in these discourses! 
 what simplicity ! what eloquence! how well 
 can we conceive the effect that the new 
 preacher would produce on his audience and 
 oh his age. We will cite only one passage 
 at the opening of his discourses. 
 
 Luther ascended the pulpit of Wittemberg, 
 and read these words: "Thou shall have no 
 other gods than Me." Then turning to the 
 people, who thronged the sanctuary, he said : 
 "All the sons of Adam are idolaters, and j 
 guilty transgressors of this first command-! 
 
 ment." 1 ' 8 Doubtless this strange assertion 
 startled his audience. He must justify it 
 The speaker continued: "There are two 
 kinds of idolatry ; the one in outward action, 
 the other within our hearts. 
 
 "The outward, by which man worships 
 wood, stone, reptiles, or stars. 
 
 "The inward, by which man, dreading 
 chastisement, or seeking his own pleasure, 
 renders no outward worship to the creature, 
 but yet in his heart loves it and trusts in it. 
 
 " But what kind of religion is this 1 you do 
 not bend the knee before riches and honour, 
 but you give them your heart. The noblest 
 part of your nature. Alas ! with your bodies 
 you worship God, and with your spirits the 
 creature. 
 
 "This idolatry pervades every man until he 
 is freely recovered by faith that is in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 "And how is this recovery brought about? 
 
 "In this way: Faith in Christ strips you 
 of all confidence in your own wisdom, and 
 righteousness, and strength ; it teaches you 
 that if Christ had not died for you, and saved 
 you by his death, neither you nor any created 
 power could have done so. Then you begin 
 to despise all these things which you see to 
 be unavailing. 119 
 
 ! ' Nothing remains, but Jesus Jesus only; 
 Jesus, abundantly sufficient for your soul. 
 Hoping nothing from all created things, you 
 have no dependence save on Christ, from 
 whom you look for all, and whom you love 
 above all. 
 
 " But Jesus is the one sole and true God. 
 When you have him for your God, you have 
 no other gods." 120 
 
 It was thus that Luther pointed out how 
 the soul is brought to God, its sovereign good 
 by the Gospel ; agreeable to that declaration 
 of Christ : " I am the way and no man cometh 
 unto the Father but by me." 
 
 The man who thus spoke to this generation 
 was surely intent not merely on overturning 
 some abuses; his aim, above all, was to esta- 
 blish true religion. His work was not merely 
 negative ; it was primarily positive. 
 
 Luther then turned his discourse against 
 the superstitions which filled Christendom; 
 signs and mysterious omens ; observances of 
 particular days and months ; familiar demons, 
 phantoms, influences of the stars, incantations, 
 metamorphoses, incubi and succubi; patro- 
 nage of saints, &c. &c. &c. He attacked 
 them all, one after the other, and with a strong 
 arm cast down these false gods. 
 
 But it was especially before the academy, 
 before that youth, enlightened and eager for 
 instruction, that Luther spread out the trea- 
 sures of the word of God. " He so explained 
 the Scriptures," says his illustrious friend 
 Melancthon, "that, in the judgment of all 
 pious and enlightened men, it was as if a new 
 light had arisen on the doctrine after a long 
 and dark night. He pointed out the differ- 
 ence between the Law and the Gospel. He 
 refuted that error then predominant in the 
 Church and schools, that men by their own 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 works, obtain remission of sins, and are made 
 righteous before God by an external disci- 
 pline. He thus brought back the hearts of 
 men to the Son of God. 121 Like John the 
 Baptist, he pointed to the Lamb of God who 
 has taken away the sins of the world. He 
 explained that sin is freely pardoned on ac- 
 count of God's Son, and that man receives 
 this blessing through faith. He in no way 
 interfered with the usual ceremonies. The 
 established discipline had not in all his order 
 a more faithful observer and defender. But 
 he laboured more and more to make all under- 
 stand the grand essential doctrines of Con- 
 version; of the Forgiveness of Sins; of Faith; 
 and of the true consolations of the Cross. Pious 
 souls were attracted and penetrated by the 
 sweetness of this doctrine ; the learned re- 
 ceived it joyfully. 122 One might have said that 
 Christ and his Apostles and Prophets had 
 come forth from darkness or from some impure 
 dungeon. 123 
 
 The firmness with which Luther appealed 
 to and rested on the Gospel, gave great autho- 
 rity to his teaching. But other circumstances 
 added yet further to his power. With him, 
 action corresponded with his words. It was 
 known that these discourses were not merely 
 the fruit of his lips. 124 They came from the 
 heart, and were practised in his daily walk. 
 And when, at a later period, the Reformation 
 burst forth, many influential men who saw 
 with grief the divisions of the Church, won 
 before-hand by the holy life of the Reformer, 
 and his remarkable genius, not only did not 
 oppose him, but embraced the doctrine to 
 which his life gave testimony. 125 The more 
 men loved the Christian virtues, the more did 
 they incline toward the Reformer; all the 
 most upright divines were in favour of him. 126 
 This is what those who knew him, said of 
 him, and especially the wisest man of his 
 age, Melancthon, and Luther's celebrated op- 
 ponent Erasmus. Envy and detraction have 
 dared to talk of his dissolute life. Wittem- 
 berg was changed by this preaching of Faith. 
 This city became the focus of a light which 
 was soon to illuminate Germany, and spread 
 over the whole Church. 
 
 Luther, whose heart was tender and affec- 
 tionate, desired to see those whom he loved 
 in possession of the light which had guided 
 him in the paths of peace. He availed him- 
 self of all the opportunities he possessed, as 
 professor, teacher, and monk, as well as of 
 his extensive correspondence, to communicate 
 his treasure to others. One of his old asso- 
 ciates of the convent of Erfurth, the monk 
 George Spenlein, was then in the convent of 
 Memmingen, having, perhaps, spent a short 
 time at Wittemberg. Spenlein had commis- 
 sioned Luther to sell some effects that he had 
 left in his hands, a cloak of Brussels stuff, a 
 work by the doctor Isenac, and a monk's hood. 
 Luther carefully executed this commission. 
 "He got," says he, "a florin for the cloak, 
 half a florin for the book, and a florin for the 
 hood," and had forwarded the amount to the 
 Father Vicar, to whom Spenlein was indebted 
 9 
 
 the three florins. But Luther passed quickly 
 from this account of a monk's effects to a more 
 important subject. 
 
 " I should like," says he to brother George, 
 "to know how it is with your soul? Is it 
 weary of its own righteousness 1 In a word 
 does it breathe freely 1 and put its trust in the 
 righteousness of Christ ] In these days, pride 
 has drawn many aside, and especially those 
 who labour with all their strength to be righ- 
 teous. Not understanding the righteousness 
 of God, which is given to us freely in Jesus 
 Christ, they would stand before him on their 
 own merits. But that can never be. When 
 you and I were living together, you were 
 under this delusion, and so was I.. I contend 
 against it unceasingly, and I have not yet en- 
 tirely overcome it." 
 
 " Oh, my dear brother, learn to know Christ, 
 and him crucified. Learn to sing anew song 
 to despair of your own work, and to cry unto 
 him, Lord Jesus, thou art my righteousness, 
 and I am thy sin. Thou hast taken on thee 
 what was mine, and given to me what is 
 thine; 127 what thou wast not, thou becamest, 
 that I might become what 1 was not. Beware, 
 my dear George, of aspiring after such purity 
 as that thou mayest not have to acknowledge 
 thyself a sinner; for Christ dwells only with 
 sinners. He came down from heaven, where 
 he abode with the just, to dwell also with 
 sinners. Meditate often on this love of Christ, 
 and you will taste its unspeakable comfort. 
 If our labours and afflictions could give peace 
 to the conscience, why did Christ die upon 
 the cross ? You will find peace in him alone; 
 despairing of yourself and of your works, and 
 beholding with what love he spreads his arms 
 to you; taking all your sins on himself, and 
 bestowing on you all his righteousness." 
 
 Thus, the doctrine of power, which had 
 already been the saving of the world in the 
 days of the Apostles, and which was a second 
 time to save it in the days of the Reformers, 
 was set forth by Luther fearlessly and clearly. 
 Reaching across many centuries of ignorance 
 and superstition, he, in this, gave his hand to 
 St. Paul. 
 
 Spenlein was not the only one whom he 
 sought to instruct in this fundamental doc- 
 trine. The little of the truth he found on this 
 subject in the writings of Erasmus distressed 
 him. It was desirable to enlighten on this 
 matter a man of such great authority arid 
 such admirable genius. But how to do this. 
 His friend at the court, the chaplain of the 
 Elector, was much respected by Erasmus ; to 
 him Luther addressed himself thus: "What 
 displeases me in Erasmus, that man of rare 
 erudition, is, that where the Apostle speaks 
 of the righteousness of works and of the law, 
 he understands the fulfilment of the ceremonial 
 law. The righteousness of the law consists 
 not alone in ceremonies, but in all the works 
 of the Ten Commandments. When these 
 works are done without faith in Christ, they 
 may, it is true, make a Fabricius, a Regulus, 
 or a man of perfect integrity in man's sight, 
 but they, in that case, are as little entitled to 
 
 F2 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 the name of righteousness, as the fruit of the 
 medlar tree is entitled to be called a fig. For 
 we do not become righteous, as Aristotle as- 
 serts, by doing works of righteousness, but 
 when we are righteous we do righteous works. 
 It is necessary that the agent be changed, 128 and 
 then the works by consequence. Abel was 
 first acceptable to God, and then his sacrifice 
 was accepted." Luther continues : "I entreat 
 you, fulfil the duty of a friend and of a Chris- 
 tian in pressing these things on Erasmus." 
 This letter is dated "in great haste, from the 
 corner of our convent, the 19th of October, 
 1516." It exhibits in its true light the rela- 
 tion between Luther and Erasmus. It shows 
 the sincere interest he took in what he thought 
 really for the good of that illustrious writer. 
 Doubtless at a later period Erasmus's opposi- 
 tion to the truth obliged him to oppose him 
 openly ; but he did so only after having sought 
 to set his adversary right. 
 
 The world, then, heard at length ideas at 
 once clear and deep on the nature of that 
 which is good. The principle was at last 
 proclaimed, that what constitutes the real 
 goodness of an action is not its outward cha- 
 racter, but the spirit in which it is performed. 
 This was aiming a death-blow at all the su- 
 perstitious observances which had for centu- 
 ries oppressed the Church, and prevented the 
 Christian virtues from growing and prospering. 
 
 "I read Erasmus," writes Luther elsewhere, 
 " but he every day loses weight with me. I 
 love to see him rebuke, with so much learning 
 and firmness, the grovelling ignorance of the 
 priests and monks ; but I fear he does no great 
 service to the doctrine of Christ. What is of 
 man, is nearer to his heart than what is of 
 God. 129 We live in critical times. To make a 
 good and judicious Christian, it is not enough 
 to understand Greek and Hebrew. St. Jerome, 
 who knew five languages, is inferior to St. 
 Augustine, who understood but one; though 
 Erasmus thinks the contrary. I carefully 
 conceal my opinion of Erasmus, lest I should 
 give an advantage to his adversaries. It may 
 foe, that the Lord will give him understanding 
 in his good time." 130 
 
 The inability of man, the almighty power 
 of God, these were the two truths that Lu- 
 ther sought to re-establish. That is but a 
 melancholy religion, and a poor philosophy, 
 which directs man to his own natural strength. 
 Past acres have made trial of that strength; 
 and whilst, in earthly things, man has attained 
 admirable excellence, he has never been able 
 to dissipate the darkness which hides God 
 from his soul, or to change a single inclination 
 to evil. The highest attainment in wisdom 
 of the most aspiring minds, or of the souls 
 most eager after perfection, has been to despair 
 of themselves. 131 It is, therefore, a generous, 
 consoling, and supremely true doctrine, which 
 discovers to us our impotence, that it may de- 
 clare a power of God by which we can do 
 all things; and that is a noble Reformation 
 which vindicates on earth the glory of heaven, 
 and pleads before man the rights of the mighty 
 God. 
 
 But no one knew better than Luther the 
 intimate connection that unites the free salva- 
 tion which cometh of God, with the free works 
 of man. No one showed better than he, that 
 it is only in receiving all from Christ, that 
 man gives freely to his brethren. He ever 
 presented, in the same picture, these two 
 procedures, that of God, and that of man. 
 Thus, after having declared to Spenlein the 
 righteousness which saves us, he added, "If 
 thou firmly believest these things, as thou 
 oughtest, (for cursed is he whosoever doth not 
 believe them,) receive thine erring and igno- 
 rant brethren as Jesus Christ hath received 
 thee. Bear with them patiently ; make their 
 sins your own; and if you have any good 
 thing to communicate to them, do it. Receive 
 you one another, said the Apostle, as Christ 
 also hath received us, to the glory of God. 
 It is a wretched righteousness which will not 
 bear with others, because it deems them evil, 
 and seeks the solitude of the desert, instead 
 of doing good to such, by long-suffering, by 
 prayer and example. If thou art the lily and 
 the rose of Christ, know that thy dwelling- 
 place is among thorns. Only take heed, lest, 
 by impatience, rash judgments, and pride, 
 thou thyself become a thorn. Christ reigns 
 in the rnidst of his enemies. If he had desired 
 to live only among the good, and die only for 
 such as loved him, would he have died at all 1 
 and among whom would he have lived 1" 
 
 It is affecting to see how Luther himself 
 put in practice these precepts of charity. An 
 Augustine of Erfurth, George Leiffer, was 
 exposed to many trials. Luther heard of it, 
 and a week after he wrote this letter, he went 
 to him with expressions of compassion: "I 
 hear," said he, " that you are driven about by 
 many tempests, and that your soul is impelled 
 hither and thither by the waves. The cross 
 of Christ is divided over the earth, and each 
 one has his share. Do not you refuse your 
 portion; rather receive it as a holy relic ; not, 
 indeed, into a gold or silver vase, but, what is 
 much preferable, into a heart of gold a heart 
 imbued with meekness. If the wood of the 
 cross was so sanctified by the blood and body 
 of Christ, that we deem it the most venerable 
 of relics, how much more should we count as 
 holy relics, the wrongs, persecutions, suffer- 
 ings, and hatred of men, since they were not 
 only touched by Christ's flesh, but embraced, 
 kissed, and made blessed by his boundless 
 love." 132 
 
 The teaching of Luther bore fruit. Many 
 of his disciples felt themselves impelled to a 
 public profession of the truths which their 
 master's lessons had revealed to them. Among 
 his hearers was a young scholar, Bernard of 
 Feldkirchen, professor of Aristotelian physics 
 in the university, and, five years later, the 
 first of the ecclesiastics who entered into the 
 marriage state. 
 
 Luther desired Feldkirchen to maintain, un- 
 der his presidence, theses, in which his princi- 
 ples were set forth. The doctrines professed 
 by Luther acquired by this means additional 
 publicity. The disputation took place in 1516 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 61 
 
 This was Luther's first attack on the reign 
 of the sophists and on the Papacy, as he says 
 himself. Feeble as it was, it. cost him many 
 misgiving-s. "I consent to the printing of 
 these propositions," said he, many years after, 
 when publishing them in his works, "chiefly 
 that the greatness of rny cause, and the suc- 
 cess with which God has crowned it, may not 
 lift me up ; for they manifest abundantly my 
 shame; that is to say, the infirmity and igno- 
 rance, the fear and trembling, with which I 
 began this contest. I was alone; I had 
 thrown myself rashly into the affair. Not 
 being able to draw back, I gave up to the 
 Pope many important points ; I even worship- 
 ped his authority." 133 
 
 The following were some of these proposi- 
 tions : 134 
 
 " The old man is the vanity of vanities; he 
 is the universal vanity, and he makes other 
 creatures vain, whatever goodness may be in 
 them. 
 
 "The old man is called 'the flesh,' not 
 merely because he is led by the desires of the 
 flesh, but also because, though he should even 
 be chaste, virtuous, and just, he is not born 
 again of God, by the Spirit. 
 
 "A man who is a stranger to the grace of 
 God cannot keep the commandments of God, 
 nor prepare himself, wholly or in part, to 
 receive grace, but remains necessarily under 
 sin. 
 
 "The will of man, without divine grace, is 
 not free, but enslaved, and willing to be so. 
 
 "Jesus Christ, our strength, our righteous- 
 ness, he who searches the heart and reins, is 
 the only discerner and judge of our deserts. 
 
 "Since all things are possible through 
 Christ to him that believeth, it is superstitious 
 to seek for other help, either in man's will or 
 in the saints." 135 
 
 This disputation made a great noise, and it 
 has been considered as the commencement of 
 the Reformation. 
 
 The moment drew nigh when that Reforma- 
 tion was to burst forth. God hastened the 
 preparation of the instrument he designed to 
 use. The Elector, having built a new church 
 at Wittemberg, and given it the name of All 
 Saints, despatched Staupitz to the Low Coun- 
 tries to collect relics to enrich the new temple. 
 The Vicar-general commissioned Luther to 
 take his place in his absence, and, in particu- 
 lar, to make a visitation to forty monasteries 
 of Misnia and Thuringia. 
 
 Luther went first to Grimma, and thence to 
 Dresden. Everywhere he endeavoured to 
 establish the truths he had discovered, and to 
 enlighten the members of his order. " Do 
 not join yourself to Aristotle," said he to the 
 monks, " or to the other teachers of a mis- 
 leading philosophy, but apply yourselves to 
 the reading of the word of God. Seek not 
 your salvation in your own strength and good 
 works, but in the merits of Christ, and in the 
 grace of God." 136 
 
 An Augustine monk of Dresden had eloppd 
 from his convent, and was residing at Mentz, 
 where the prior of the Augustines had received 
 
 him. Luther wrote to the prior, 137 desiring him 
 to send back this stray sheep; and he added 
 these words of truth and charity : " I know 
 I know that it cannot be but that offences must 
 come. It is no wonder wnen man falls, but 
 it is a miracle when he rises and continues 
 standing. Peter fell that he might know that 
 he was a man. Even at this day we see 
 cedars of Lebanon falling. The angels, 
 even, (difficult as it is to conceive it,) fell in 
 heaven, and Adam in Paradise. Why, then, 
 should we wonder when a reed is shaken by 
 the whirlwind, or a flickering taper is extin- 
 guished." 
 
 From Dresden, Luther repaired to Erfurth, 
 and reappeared, to exercise the functions of 
 Vicar-general in that same convent, where, 
 eleven years before, he had wound up the 
 clock, opened the gates, and swept the floor 
 of the church. He placed in the post of prior 
 of the convent, his friend the bachelor, John 
 Lange, a man of learning and piety, but aus- 
 tere in his disposition. Therefore it was he 
 exhorted him to affability and patience. " Put 
 on," said he, writing to him shortly after, 
 " put on a spirit of meekness toward the prior 
 of Nuremberg. It is proper that you should 
 do so, since the prior has assumed a harsh 
 and bitter tone. Bitterness is not expelled 
 by bitterness, that is to say, the devil is not 
 cast out by the devil; but the sweet over- 
 comes and expels the bitter, in other words, 
 the finger of God casts out devils." 138 Perhaps 
 we may regret that Luther himself, on some 
 occasions, forgot to follow these excellent 
 directions. 
 
 At Neustadt, on the Orla, there was nothing 
 but disunion. Disturbances and dissensions 
 reigned in the convent. The whole body of 
 the monks were in open war with their prior. 
 They beset Luther with their complaints. 
 The prior, Michael Dressel, or Tornator, as 
 Luther calls him, translating his name into 
 Latin, enumerated to the Doctor all his 
 grievances. " Oh, for peace 1" said the prior. 
 "You seek peace," said Luther, "but it is 
 only the peace of the world, and not the peace 
 that is of Christ. Do you not know that our 
 God has set his peace in the midst of opposi- 
 tion"? He whom nobody disturbs has not 
 peace, but he who, harassed by all men, and 
 by the things of this life, bears all tranquilly 
 and joyfully ; he it is that has the true peace. 
 You cry, with Israel, peace, peace, when there 
 is no peace. Say rather with Christ, the cross, 
 the cross, and there will be no cross : for the 
 cross ceases to be a cross when we can say 
 with love : * O blessed cross ! there is no 
 wood like thine!' " 139 On his return to Wit- 
 temberg, Luther, desiring to put a stop to these 
 dissensions, allowed the monks to elect an- 
 other prior. Luther returned to Wittemberg 
 after six weeks absence. What he had witness- 
 ! ed saddened him; but his journey gave him a 
 better knowledgeof the Church and of the world, 
 and more confidence in his intercourse with 
 mankind, beskies offering many opportunities 
 of pressing the fundamental truth that. " Holy 
 Scripture alone shows us the way to heaven," 
 
62 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and at the same time exhorting the brethren to 
 live holily and at peace one with another. 140 
 Doubtless a plenteous seed was sown in the 
 different Augustine convents during that jour- 
 ney of the Reformer. The monastic orders, 
 which had long been the support of Rome, 
 did more, perhaps, for the Reformation than 
 against it. This was especially true of the 
 Augustines. Almost all the men of liberal 
 and enlightened piety who were living in the 
 cloisters, turned towards the Gospel. A new 
 and generous blood seemed to circulate through 
 these orders, which were as the arteries of the 
 Catholic body in Germany. In public, little 
 was as yet heard of the new ideas of the Au- 
 gustine of Wittemberg ; while they were 
 already the chief subject of conversation in 
 chapters and monasteries. More than one 
 cloister was, in this way, the nursery of the 
 Reformers. When the great struggle came, 
 pious and brave men came forth from their re- 
 tirement and exchanged the solitude of monk- 
 ish life for the active service of ministers of 
 God's word. Even as early as this visit of 
 inspection in 15 1G, Luther aroused by his 
 words many a drowsy spirit. Hence that 
 year has been named " the Morning Star of 
 the Reformation." 
 
 Luther now resumed his usual occupation. 
 He was, at this period, overwhelmed with 
 labour. Besides his duties as professor, 
 preacher, and confessor, he was burdened with 
 many temporal concerns of his order and con- 
 vent. " I require almost continually," said 
 he, " two secretaries ; for I do scarce any thing 
 else all day long than write letters. I am 
 preacher to the convent, reader of prayers at 
 table, pastor and parish minister, director of 
 studies, vicar of the priory, (that is to say, 
 prior ten times over,) inspector of the fish- 
 ponds of Litzkau, counsel to the inns of Herz- 
 berg at Torgau, lecturer on St. Paul, and 
 commentator on the Psalms. Seldom have I 
 time to say my prayers, or to sing a hymn; 
 not to mention my struggle with flesh and 
 blood, the devil and the world. See what an 
 idle man I am !" 141 
 
 About this time the plague showed itself at 
 Wittemberg. A great number of the students 
 and doctors quitted the town. Luther re- 
 mained. " I do not very well know," wrote 
 he to his friend at Erfurth, "whether the 
 plague will suffer me to finish the Epistle to 
 the Galatians. Quick and sudden in its at- 
 tacks, it makes great havoc, especially among 
 the young. You advise me to flee but whi- 
 ther shall I flee 1 I hope the world will not 
 go to pieces if brother Martin should fall. 142 If 
 the plague spreads, I will send the brethren 
 away in all directions, but for my part I am 
 placed here ; obedience does not allow me to 
 leave the spot until He who called me hither 
 shall call me away. Not that I am above the 
 fear of death, (for I arn not the Apostle Paul, 
 but only his commentator,) but I trust the 
 Lord will deliver me from the fear of it." 
 Such was the firm resolution of the Doctor 
 of Wittemberg. He whom the plague could 
 not force to retire a single step, would he draw 
 
 back from fear of Rome 1 would he recede in 
 the prospect of the scaffold ? 
 
 The same courage that Luther evinced in 
 presence of the most formidable evils, he ma- 
 nifested before the great ones of the world. 
 The Elector was well satisfied with the Vicar- 
 general. He had reaped a rich harvest of 
 relics in the Low Countries. Luther gave an 
 account of it to Spalatin. This affair of the 
 relics is singular enough, occurring as it did 
 at the moment when the Reformation was 
 about to open. Assuredly the Reformers did 
 not see clearly whither they were tending. 
 The Elector deemed that nothing less than a 
 bishopric was a reward commensurate with 
 the services of the Vicar-general. Luther, to 
 whom Spalatin wrote on the subject, highly 
 disapproved the suggestion. "There are 
 many things," answered he, " that are pleas- 
 ing to your prince, which yet displease God. 
 I do not deny that he is skilled in the concerns 
 of the world, but in what relates to God and 
 the salvation of souls, I consider him alto- 
 gether blind, as well as his adviser Pfeffinger. 
 I do not say that behind his back, like a ca- 
 lumniator; I do not conceal my opinion from 
 them; for I am at all times ready myself to 
 tell them both so to their faces. Why will 
 you," continued he, " seek to surround that 
 man (Staupitz) with all the heavings and 
 tempests of episcopal cares I" 143 
 
 The Elector did not take amiss the frank- 
 ness of Luther. "The prince," wrote Spa- 
 latin, "often speaks of you in honourable 
 terms." Frederic sent the monk some stuff 
 for a gown. It was of very fine cloth. " It 
 would be too fine," said Luther, " if it were 
 not a prince's gift. I am not worthy that any 
 man should think of me, much less a prince, 
 and so noble a prince. Those are most use- 
 ful to me who think worst of me. 144 Present 
 my thanks to our Prince for his favour, but 
 know that I desire neither the praise of thy- 
 self nor of others ; all of the praise of man 
 is vain, the praise that cometh of God being 
 alone true." 
 
 The worthy chaplain would not confine 
 himself to his functions at the court. He 
 wished to make himself useful to the people, 
 but, like many others in all ages, he wished 
 to do it without offence, without irritating any 
 one, and so as to conciliate general favour. 
 " Point out to me," said he, in a letter to 
 Luther, " some writing to translate, but one 
 that shall give general satisfaction, and at the 
 same time be useful !" " Agreeable and use- 
 ful," replied Luther, " that is beyond my 
 skill. The better things are, the less they 
 please. What is more salutary than Christ] 
 and yet he is to most a savour of death. You 
 will say that what you intend is to be useful 
 to those who love Christ; then cause them 
 to hear his voice; you will thus be agreeable 
 and useful never doubt it but to a small 
 number, for the sheep are but rare in this 
 dreary region of wolves." 145 
 
 Luther, however, recommended to his friend 
 the sermons of Tauler the Dominican. " I 
 never saw," said he, " either in Latin or in 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 our language, a theology more sound or more 
 conformable to the Gospel. Taste them and 
 see how gracious the Lord is, but not till you 
 have first tasted and experienced how bitter is 
 every thing in ourselves/' 146 
 
 It was in the course of the year 1517 that 
 Luther became connected with Duke George 
 of Saxony. The house of Saxony had at 
 that time two chiefs. Two princes, Ernest 
 and Albert, carried off in their childhood from 
 the castle of Altenburg, by Kunz of Kau- 
 fungen, had by the treaty of Leipsic been ac- 
 knowledged as the founders of the two houses 
 which still bear their names. The Elector 
 Frederic, son of Ernest, was at the period we 
 are recording, the head of the Ernestine branch, 
 as his cousin Duke George was head of the 
 Albertine branch. Dresden and Leipsic were 
 situated in the states of this duke, and he him- 
 self resided in the former of these cities. His 
 mother, Sidonia, was daughter of the King of 
 Bohemia, George Podibrad. The long strug- 
 gle which Bohemia had maintained with Rome, 
 since the time of John Huss, had had some 
 influence on the Prince of Saxony. He had 
 often manifested a desire of a Reformation. 
 " He sucked it with his mother's milk," said 
 they ; " he is, by his nature, an enemy to the 
 clergy." 147 He annoyed, in many ways, the 
 bishops, abbots, canons, and monks ; and his 
 cousin, the Elector Frederic, often had to in- 
 terpose in their behalf. It must have seemed 
 that Duke George would be the warmest pa- 
 tron of a Reformation. The devout Frederic, 
 on the contrary, who had in early life assumed, 
 in the holy sepulchre, the spurs of Godfrey, 
 and armed himself with the long and heavy 
 sword of the conqueror of Jerusalem, making 
 oath to fight for the Church, like that valiant 
 knight, seemed marked out to be. the most ar- 
 dent champion of Rome. But in what pertains 
 to the Gospel, all the calculations of human 
 wisdom arc often deceived. The very reverse 
 ensued. The Duke would have taken plea- 
 sure in bringing down the Church and the 
 clergy, in humbling the bishops, whose prince- 
 ly retinue much exceeded his own; but to 
 receive into his heart the doctrine of the Gos- 
 pel, which was to humble him, to confess 
 himself a guilty sinner, incapable of being 
 saved except by grace, was quite another 
 thing. He would have willingly reformed 
 others, but he had no idea of reforming him- 
 self. He would perhaps have put his hand 
 to the work to oblige the Bishop of Mentz to 
 limit himself to one bishopric, and to have 
 only fourteen horses in his stables, as he said 
 more than once; 148 but when he saw one alto- 
 gether unlike himself appear as the Reformer, 
 when he beheld a plain monk undertake 
 this work, and the Reformation gaining ground 
 among the people, the proud grandson of 
 the Hussite King became the most violent 
 adversary of the reform to which he had shown 
 himself favourable. 
 
 In the month of July, 1517, Duke George 
 requested Staupitz to send him a learned and 
 eloquent preacher. Staupitz sent Luther, re- 
 commending him as a man of great learning 
 
 and irreproachable conduct. The prince in- 
 vited him to preach at Dresden in the chapel 
 of the castle on St. James the Elder's day. 
 
 The day came. The Duke and his court 
 repaired to the chapel to hear the preacher 
 from Wittemberg. Luther seized with joy 
 the opportunity of giving his testimony to the 
 truth before such an assembly. He chose as 
 his text the gospel of the day: "Then the 
 mother of Zebedee's children came to him 
 with her sons," &c. (Mat. xx. 20.) He 
 preached on the desires and unreasonable 
 prayers of men, and then proceeded to speak 
 with energy on the assurance of salvation. 
 He rested it on this foundation; that they 
 who hear the word of God and believe it, are 
 the true disciples of Christ, elect unto eternal 
 life. Then he spoke of free election: he 
 showed that his doctrine, viewed in connection 
 with Christ's work, has power to dispel the 
 terrors of conscience, so that men, instead of 
 fleeing far from the Holy God, in the consci- 
 ousness of their unworthiness, are brought by 
 grace to seek refuge in Him. In conclusion, 
 he related a story of three virgins, from which 
 he deduced edifying instructions. 
 
 The word of truth made a profound im- 
 pression on the hearers. Two of them, espe- 
 cially, seemed to pay particular attention to 
 the sermon of the monk of Wittemberg. The 
 first was a lady of respectable appearance, 
 seated on the benches of the court, and on 
 whose features might be traced a deep emo- 
 tion. This was Madame de la Sale, lady of 
 the bed-chamber to the Duchess. The other 
 was Jerome Emser, licentiate of canon law, 
 and secretary and counsellor to the duke. 
 Emser was gifted with talents and extensive 
 acquirements. A courtier, a skilful politician, 
 he would have wished at once to satisfy two 
 opposite parties, to pass at Rome as a de- 
 fender of the Papacy, arid at the same time 
 shine among the learned men of Germany. 
 But beneath this dexterous policy lay hid 
 much violence of character. It was the cha- 
 pel of the castle of Dresden that was the 
 scene of the first meeting of Luther and 
 Emser, who were destined afterwards to break 
 more than one lance together. 
 
 The dinner hour sounded in the castle, and 
 soon the ducal family and the different per- 
 sons of the court were assembled round the 
 table. The conversation naturally turned on 
 the morning preacher. "How did you like 
 the sermon]" said the Duke to Madame de 
 la Sale. " If I could but hear one other 
 such sermon," answered she, "I would die in 
 peace." "And I," replied Duke George 
 angrily, "would give something not to have 
 heard it ; for such sermons are good for no- 
 thing, and serve only to encourage men in 
 sin." 
 
 The master having thus made known his 
 opinion, the courtiers gave vent to their dis- 
 satisfaction. Each was ready with his re- 
 mark. Some asserted that in Luther's story 
 of the three virgins, he had in his eye three 
 ladies of the court; hereupon much talk and 
 whispering ensued. The three ladies were 
 
64 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 rallied on the circumstance of the monk of 
 Wittemberg, having, as they said, publicly 
 pointed them out. 149 " He is an ignorant fel- 
 low," said some. " A proud monk !" said 
 others. Each one criticised the sermon in his 
 own manner, and made the preacher say what 
 he pleased. The truth had fallen in the midst 
 of a court little prepared to receive it. Every 
 one mangled it at his will. But whilst the 
 word of God was thus to some an occasion of 
 falling, it was to the lady of the bed-cham- 
 ber a corner-stone of edification. One month 
 afterwards, she fell sick, embraced with con- 
 fidence the grace of the Saviour, and died 
 with joy. 150 
 
 As to the Duke, it was not perhaps in vain 
 that he heard this testimony to the truth. 
 Whatever had been his opposition to the Re- 
 formation during his life, he is known to have 
 declared on his death-bed that he had no other 
 hope than in the merits of Christ. 
 
 It w r as a matter of course that Eraser should 
 do the honours to Luther in the name of his 
 master. He invited him to supper. Luther 
 declined. But Eraser pressed him until he 
 assented. Luther expected to meet only a 
 few friends, but he soon saw it was a trap 
 laid for him. 151 A master of arts of Leipsic and 
 several Dominicans were with the Prince's 
 secretary. The master of arts, full of confi- 
 dence in himself, and of hatred against Luther, 
 accosted him with a friendly and gentle air, 
 but soon lost his temper, and talked loudly. 152 
 The debate was opened. The discussion turn- 
 ed, says Luther, on the solemn trifling of 
 Aristotle and St. Thomas. 153 In conclusion, 
 Luther challenged the master of arts to define, 
 with all the learning of the Thomists, in what 
 obedience to God's commandments consisted. 
 The master of arts, though puzzled, put a good 
 face upon it. " Pay me my fees first," said 
 he, holding out his hand, "Da pastum" as 
 though he were called on to give a formal lec- 
 ture^treating the guests as his scholars. " At 
 this ridiculous reply," adds the Reformer, " we 
 all laughed outright, and hereupon we sepa- 
 rated." 
 
 During this conversation, a Dominican had 
 listened at the door. He wanted to enter that 
 he might spit in Luther's face. 154 He, however, 
 restrained himself; but publicly boasted of it 
 afterwards. Eraser, delighted to see his guests 
 contending with each other, while he himself 
 appeared to maintain a guarded medium, took 
 pains to excuse himself to Luther on the in- 
 cident of the evening. 155 The latter returned to 
 Wittemberg. 
 
 He again applied himself laboriously to 
 work. He was preparing six or seven young 
 divines, who were about to undergo examina- 
 tion for license to teach. What most pleased 
 him was, that their promotion would contri- 
 bute to the downfal of Aristotle. '* I would 
 lose no time," said he, " in adding to the num- 
 ber of his opponents." 156 And with this object, 
 he, about that time, published some theses 
 which deserve our attention. 
 
 The Freedom of the Will was his high sub- 
 ject. He had already slightly touched on it 
 
 in the theses of Feldkirchen; he now went 
 more fully into the question. Ever since the 
 promulgation of Christianity, a controversy 
 has been carried on, with more or less keen- 
 ness, between the two doctrines of the liberty 
 and the bondage of the human will. Certain 
 scholastic writers, as Pelagius, and others, 
 hnd taught that man possessed, from his own 
 nature, a freedom of will, or the power of 
 loving God and doing righteousness. Luther 
 denied this doctrine; not in order to deprive 
 man of liberty, but that he might lead him to 
 obtain it. The point of dispute, then, is not, 
 as has been commonly said, between liberty 
 and slavery ; it is between a liberty proceed- 
 ing from man's nature, and a liberty that 
 cometh of God. The one party, who call 
 themselves the advocates of liberty, say to 
 man : " Thou hast the power to do right, thou 
 hast no need of more, liberty !" the others, 
 who have been styled the partisans of slavery, 
 say to him the very reverse: "True liberty 
 is what thou needest, and it is what God of- 
 fers to thee in the Gospel." On the one side, 
 they talk of liberty so as to perpetuate servi- 
 tude ; on the other, they proclaim to us our 
 bondage that we may obtain liberty. Such 
 has been the contest in St. Paul's time; in 
 the days of St. Augustine ; and, again, in 
 those of Luther. The one party, congratulat- 
 ing man on his freedom, would, in effect, re- 
 concile him to slavery; the other, showing 
 how his fetters may be struck off, are the true 
 advocates of liberty. 
 
 But we should be deceiving ourselves, if we 
 are to sum up, in this question, the whole of 
 the Reformation. It is one, and only one, of 
 many doctrines that the professor of Wittem- 
 berg contended for. It would, especially, be 
 a strange error to assert, that the Reformation 
 was a fatalism, an opposition to the notion 
 of human liberty. It was a noble emancipa- 
 tion of the mind of man. Bursting the many 
 cords with which the hierarchy had tied down 
 the thoughts of men, restoring the ideas of 
 liberty, of right of free investigation, it 
 liberated its own age, ourselves, and the re- 
 motest posterity. And let none say : " True, 
 the Reformation did liberate man from all 
 human despotism; but at the same time, re- 
 duced him to slavery in other things, by pro- 
 claiming the sovereignty of grace." Doubt- 
 less, its aim was to bring the human will into 
 harmony with the divine will, to subject the 
 former absolutely to the latter, and to blend 
 them together. But where is the philosopher 
 who does not know, that perfect conformity 
 to the will of God is the sole, sovereign, and 
 complete liberty ; and that man will never be 
 truly free, until perfect righteousness and un- 
 changing truth reign unrivalled in his heart 
 and mind 1 
 
 The following are a few of the ninety-nine 
 propositions which Luther put forth in the 
 church, against the Pelagian rationalism of the 
 scholastic theology : 
 
 " It is true that man, who is become * a bad 
 tree,' can but will and do what is evil. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 65 
 
 "It is false that the will, left to itself, can 
 do good as well as evil ; for it is not free, but 
 led captive. 
 
 " It is not in the power of man's will to 
 purpose or not purpose all that is suggested 
 to him. 
 
 " Man, by nature, cannot wish that God 
 should be God. He would prefer that him- 
 self should be God, and that God should not 
 be God. 
 
 " The excellent, infallible, and sole prepa- 
 ration for grace, is the election and the ever- 
 lasting predestination of God. 157 
 
 " It is false to say, that man, if he does all 
 in his power, dissipates the obstacles to divine 
 grace. 
 
 "In one word, nature possesses neither a 
 pure reason nor a good will. 158 
 
 " On man's part, there is nothing that goes 
 before grace, nothing but impotency and re- 
 bellion. 
 
 " There is no moral virtue without pride or 
 sadness, that is to say, without sin. 
 
 " From first to last, we are not the masters 
 of our actions, but their slaves. 
 
 " We do not become righteous by doing that 
 Which is righteous; but having become righ- 
 teous, we do that which is righteous. 
 
 "He who says a theologian unacquainted 
 with logic is a heretic and empiric, makes 
 an empirical and heretical assertion. 
 
 " There is no form of reasoning or syllogism 
 suited to the things of God. 159 
 
 " If the syllogistic method were applicable 
 to divine things, the doctrine of the Holy 
 Trinity would be known and not believed. 
 
 " In a word, Aristotle is to theology as dark- 
 ness to light. 
 
 " Man is more opposed to the grace of God 
 than to the law itself. 
 
 " He who is destitute of the grace of God 
 sins incessantly, though he should neither kill, 
 nor steal, nor commit adultery. 
 
 " He sins, because he does not fulfil the 
 law spiritually. 
 
 " It is the righteousness of hypocrites not 
 to kill, and not to commit adultery in outward 
 acts. 
 
 " The law of God and the will of man are 
 two opposites, which, without the grace of 
 God, cannot be made to meet. 160 
 
 "What the law prescribes the will never 
 seeks, unless, from fear or interest, it effects to 
 seek it. 
 
 "The law is a task-master of our will, 
 which is not brought into obedience, save only 
 by the young child born unto us. 161 (Isa. ix. 6.) 
 
 " The law makes sin to abound, for it 
 irritates and repels the will. 
 
 " But the grace of God makes righteous- 
 ness to abound 'by Jesus Christ;' who leads 
 us to love the law. 
 
 " All the works cf the law seem fair with- 
 out, but are sin within. 
 
 "The will, when it turns towards the law, 
 without the grace of God, does so only for its 
 own self-pleasing. 
 
 "They are still under the curse who do the 
 works of the law. 
 
 ; ' Blessed are all they who do works of the 
 grace of God. 
 
 "The law which is good, and in which we 
 have life, is the love of God shed abroad in 
 our hearts by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " Grace is not given, that works may be 
 done oftener or easier; but because, without 
 grace, no work of love can be done. 
 
 "To love God is to abhor ourselves, and to 
 have nothing out of God." 162 
 
 Thus, Luther attributes to God all good 
 that man can do. It is not enough to repair 
 and patch up, if we may so speak, man's will ; 
 an entirely new will must be given him. 
 God only could have said this; because God 
 only could accomplish it. This is one of the 
 greatest and most important truths that the 
 human mind can receive. 
 
 But Luther, while proclaiming the impo- 
 tence of man, did not fall into a contrary 
 extreme to that he opposed. He says, in his 
 8th thesis: "It does not follow, from this- 
 statement, that the will is in its nature bad : 
 that is, that its nature is that of evil itself, as 
 the Manicheans have asserted." 163 The nature 
 of man was at first essentially good : it has 
 turned aside from good, that is, from God, 
 and inclined to evil. Still its holy and glorious 
 origin remains, and it may, by the power of 
 God, be restored and renewed. The office of 
 Christianity is thus to restore it. It is true, 
 the Gospel represents man in a condition of 
 humiliation and impotence, but between two 
 states of glory and of grandeur a past glory, 
 from which he has been hurled, and a future 
 glory, to which he is called. That is the real 
 truth : man knows it, and on the slightest 
 consideration, he perceives that all that is said 
 of his present purity, power, and glory, is 
 nothing but a fiction designed to lull and 
 soothe his pride. 
 
 Luther, in his theses, protested not only 
 against the pretended goodness of man's will, 
 but also against the asserted illumination of 
 his understanding in regard to divine things. 
 The schoolmen had exalted human reason as 
 well as man's will. This theology, as it had 
 been represented by some of its teachers, was 
 at the bottom a kind of rationalism. The 
 propositions that we have quoted, show this. 
 We might suppose them directed against the 
 rationalism of our day. In the theses which 
 were the signal of the Reformation, Luther 
 censured the Church and the popular supersti- 
 tions which had overloaded the Gospel with 
 indulgences, purgatory, and so many other 
 abuses. In the theses we have now quoted, 
 he attacked the schools and the rationalism 
 which had retrenched from the Gospel the 
 doctrine of God's sovereign grace. The Re- 
 formation turned against rationalism before it 
 attacked superstition. It proclaimed the rights 
 of God before it lopped off the excrescences 
 of man. It was positive before it was 
 negative. This has not been sufficiently ad- 
 verted to, and yet, if we do not keep it in 
 mind, it is impossible to appreciate this reli- 
 gious revolution and its true nature. 
 
 However this may be, the truths that 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Luther had just expressed with so much 
 energy, were quite new to his hearers. To 
 maintain these theses at Wittemberg woulc 
 have been an easy thing. His influence pre- 
 vailed there. It might have been said that he 
 was choosing- a field in which he knew no 
 antagonist could oppose him. By offering 
 battle in another university, he was giving 
 them a wider publicity; and it was through 
 publicity that the Reformation was to be 
 effected. He chose Erfurth, whose divines 
 had shown themselves so offended with him. 
 He therefore sent these theses to John 
 Lange, prior of Erfurth, and wrote to him 
 thus: "My anxiety to know your mind on 
 these paradoxes is great, perhaps extreme. 1 
 strongly suspect that your theologians will 
 consider as paradox, and even as cacodox, that 
 which I mustalways consider very orthodox. 164 
 Tell me, therefore, your opinion, as soon as 
 you can. Pray inform the faculty of theology, 
 and all others, that I am ready to come among 
 you, and publicly maintain these propositions, 
 either in the University or in the monastery." 
 It does not appear that Luther's challenge ws 
 accepted. The monks of Erfurth contented 
 themselves with letting him know that these 
 theses had greatly displeased them. 
 
 But he determined to send them into another 
 part of Germany. He turned his eyes, for 
 that purpose, on one who played a remarka- 
 ble part in the history of the Reformation, and 
 whose character it is necessary we should un- 
 derstand. 
 
 John Meyer, a distinguished professor, was 
 then teaching at the University of Ingolstadt, 
 in Bavaria. He was a native of Eck, a vil- 
 lage of Suabia, and was commonly called Doc- 
 tor Eck. He was a friend of Luther, who 
 highly esteemed his talents and information. 
 He was full of intelligence, well read, and 
 gifted with an extraordinary memory. To his 
 learning he united eloquence. His action and 
 voice expressed the liveliness of his genius. 
 Eck was, as to talent, in southern Germany, 
 what Luther was in the north. They were 
 the two most distinguished theologians of that 
 period, though differing widely in their ten- 
 dency, as the sequel showed. Ingolstadt 
 almost rivalled Wittemberg. The reputation 
 of the two Doctors drew from all sides to their 
 respective universities a crowd of students 
 eager to listen to their lectures. Their person- 
 al qualities, not less than their learning, en- 
 deared them to their scholars. The character 
 of Eck has been censured. An incident of his 
 life will show, that, at this period at least, his 
 heart was not closed against generous im- 
 pulses. 
 
 Among the students, whom his reputation 
 had attracted to Ingolstadt, was a young man 
 named Urban Regius, born on the banks of 
 one of the Swiss lakes. He had studied first 
 at the University of Friburg in Brisgau. Ar- 
 riving at Ingolstadt, whither the reputation of 
 Eck had attracted him, Urban there attended 
 courses of philosophy, and won the doctor's 
 favour. Obliged to provide for his own ne- 
 cessities, he found himself compelled to take 
 
 charge of the education of some young nobles. 
 He was not only to overlook their conduct 
 and studies, but himself to buy for them the 
 books and clothes they needed. These youths 
 were accustomed to dress well and live ex- 
 pensively. Regius, uneasy at this, requested 
 the parents to remove their sons. "Take 
 courage," answered they. His debts in- 
 creased, his creditors became clamorous, he 
 knew not what would become of him. The 
 Emperor was then collecting an army against 
 the Turks. Some recruiting parties arrived 
 at Ingolstadt. In his desperation Urban en- 
 listed. He appeared in the ranks in military 
 garb, at a review preparatory to marching. 
 Just then, Doctor Eck arrived in the square 
 with some of his colleagues. To his great 
 surprise, he recognised his student in the 
 midst of the recruits. "Urban Regius!" 
 said he, approaching him, and fixing on him 
 a scrutinizing eye. "I am here!" said the 
 conscript. " What, I pray you, is the cause of 
 this change 1" The young man told his story. 
 " I will settle the affair," answered Eck. He 
 then proceeded to take away his halberd, and 
 bought his discharge from the recruiting 
 officers. The parents, threatened by the Doc- 
 tor with the displeasure of their prince, sent 
 the necessary funds for their children's ex- 
 penditure. Urban Regius was preserved, to 
 become at a later period one of the supporters 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 It was Doctor Eck that Luther pitched on 
 to make known in the southern states his 
 theses on Pelagianism and the Rationalism of 
 the schools. He did not, however, send them, 
 direct to the Professor of Ingolstadt, but ad- 
 dressed them to their common friend, the wor- 
 thy Christopher Scheurl, town-clerk of the 
 ity of Nuremberg, requesting him to forward 
 them to Eck, at Ingolstadt, which was not 
 far from Nuremberg. " I send you," said he, 
 " my propositions, (merely paradoxical, or 
 even kakisiodoxical as they seem to many;) 
 communicate them to our dear Eck, that learn- 
 d and sagacious man, that I may know what 
 tie thinks of them." 165 It was thus Luther then 
 poke of Doctor Eck ; such was the friendship 
 which united them. Luther was not the first 
 to break off this good understanding. 
 
 But the combat was not to be fought on 
 that field. These theses turned, it may be 
 thought, on doctrines of higher importance 
 than those which, two months after, set the 
 whole Church in a flame. And yet, notwith- 
 standing Luther's challenge, they passed un- 
 noticed. They were read, at the most in the 
 >recincts of the school, and they made no sen- 
 sation beyond its bounds. The reason of this 
 was, that they contained only academic propo- 
 sitions, and theological doctrines ; whilst the 
 heses which followed had immediate refer- 
 ence to an evil which had grown up in the 
 midst of the people, and overflowed Germany 
 on all sides. So long as Luther confined him- 
 self to bringing forth long-forgotten doctrine, 
 no response was heard. When he pointed to 
 he abuses which offended all minds, every 
 >ne gave ear. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 67 
 
 Nevertheless, Luther, in both cases, did 
 but design to raise one of those theological 
 discussions then frequent in the University. 
 His ideas did not range beyond that circle. 
 He had no thought of becoming a Reformer. 
 He had a low opinion of his own powers, and 
 his humility even amounted to mistrust and 
 anxiety, " I deserve, such is my ignorance," 
 said he, " nothing better than to be hidden 
 
 in a corner unknown to every one." 166 But a 
 powerful hand drew him forth from this cor- 
 ner, where he would have wished to remaia 
 unknown to the world. An occurrence, which 
 did not depend on Luther's will, threw him on 
 the field of battle, and the conflict began. It 
 is this providential circumstance that the pro- 
 gress of events calls on us to narrate. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 THE INDULGENCES AND THE THESES. 
 
 15171518. 
 
 Tetzel Confessions The Sale Penance Letter of Indulgence Relaxations A Soul in Pur- 
 gatory The Shoemaker of Hagenau Myconius A Stratagem Opinions of the People The 
 Miser of Schneeberg Leo X. Albert Farming Indulgences Franciscans and Dominicans 
 Confession A Calumny Refuted Luther's Sermon The Dream Theses Letter to Albert 
 Efforts for Reform The Bishops Spread of the Theses Reception of the Theses Effects 
 of the Theses Myconius Apprehension Opposers at Wittemberg Luther's Answer Dejec- 
 tion of Luther Motives Tetzel's Attack Luther's Answer Luther's Boldness Luther and 
 Spalatin Study of the Scriptures Scheurl and Luther Albert Durer Tetzel's Reply Dispu- 
 tation at Frankfort Tetzel's Theses Luther's Theses Burned Outcry of the Monks' 
 Luther's Composure Tetzel's Theses Burned The higher Clergy Prierias The Romish 
 System The Disciple of the Bible The Doctrine of the Reformation Luther's Reply to 
 Prierias Hochstraten Doctor Eck The " Obelisks" The '" Asterisks" Scheurl Attempts 
 Reconciliation Luther's Tracts " Who art in Heaven" " Our Daily Bread" " Remission of 
 Sins" Effects of Luther's Teaching Luther's Journey The Palatine Castle The " Para- 
 doxes" The Disputation Its Results Bucer Brentz The Gospel of Heidelburg Effect 
 on Luther The Old Professor Return to Wittemberg. 
 
 A GREAT agitation reigned, at that time, 
 among the people of Germany. The Church 
 had opened a vast market on the earth. Judg- 
 ing from the crowd of buyers, and the noise 
 and jests of the dealers, we might call it a 
 fair; but a fair held by monks. The mer- 
 chandise they extolled, offering it at a re- 
 duced price, was, said they, the salvation of 
 souls ! 
 
 The dealers passed through the country in 
 a gay carriage, escorted by three horsemen, in 
 great state, and spending freely. One might 
 have thought it some dignitary on a royal pro- 
 gress, with his attendants and officers, and 
 not a common dealer, or a begging monk. 
 When the procession approached a tow'n, a 
 messenger waited on the magistrate : " The 
 grace of God, and of the Holy Father, is at 
 your gates :" said the envoy. Instantly every 
 thing was in motion in the place. The clergy, 
 the priests, the nuns, the council, the school- 
 masters, the trades, with their flags, men 
 and women, young and old, went forth to 
 meet the merchants, with lighted tapers in 
 their hands, advancing to the sound of mu- 
 sic, and of all the bells of the place ; " so 
 that," says an historian, "they could not 
 have given a grander welcome to God him- 
 self." Salutations being exchanged, the whole 
 procession moved toward the church. The 
 pontiff's bull of grace was borne in front, on 
 a velvet cushion, or on cloth of gold. The 
 chief vendor of indulgences followed, sup- 
 porting a large red wooden cross; and the 
 10 
 
 whole procession moved in this manner, 
 amidst singing, prayers, and the smoke of in- 
 cense. The sound of organs, and a concert 
 of instruments, received the monkish dealer 
 and his attendants into the church. The cross 
 he bore with him was erected in front of the 
 altar: on it was hung the Pope's arms; and, 
 as long as it remained there, the clergy of the 
 place, the penitentiaries, and the sub-commis- 
 sioners, with white wands in their hands, 
 came every day after vespers, or before the 
 salutation, to do homage to it. 1 This great 
 bustle excited a lively sensation in the quiet 
 towns of Germany. 
 
 One person in particular drew the attention 
 of the spectators in these sales. It was he 
 who bore the great red cross and had the 
 most prominent part assigned to him. He was 
 clothed in the habit of the Dominicans, and 
 his port was lofty. His voice was sonorous, 
 and he seemed yet in the prime of his strength, 
 though he was past his sixty-third year. 2 This 
 man, who was the son of a goldsmith of Leip- 
 sic, named Diez, bore the name of John Diezel 
 or Tetzel. He had studied in his native town, 
 had taken his bachelor's degree in 1487, and 
 entered two years later into the order of the 
 Dominicans. Numerous honours had been 
 accumulated on him. Bachelor of Theology, 
 Prior of the Dominicans, Apostolical Com- 
 missioner, Inquisitor, (hereficas pravitatis in- 
 quisitor,} he had ever since the year 1502, 
 filled the office of an agent for the sale of in- 
 dulgences. The experience he had acquired 
 G 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 as a subordinate functionary had very early 
 raised him to the station of chief commissioner. 
 He had an allowance of 80 florins per month, 
 all his expenses defrayed, and he was allowed 
 a carriage and three horses; hut we may rea- 
 dily imagine that his indirect emoluments far 
 exceeded his allowances. In 1507, he gained 
 in two days at Freyberg 2000 florins. If his 
 occupation resembled that of a mountebank, 
 he had also the morals of one. Convicted at 
 Inspruck of adultery and abominable profli- 
 gacy, he was near paying the forfeit of his 
 life. The Emperor Maximilian had ordered 
 that he should be put into a sack and thrown 
 into the river. The Elector Frederic of Saxony 
 had interceded for him, and obtained his par- 
 don. 3 But the lesson he had received had not 
 taught him more decency. He carried about 
 with him two of his children. Miltitz, the 
 Pope's legate, cites the fact in one of his let- 
 ters. 4 It would have been hard to find in all 
 the cloisters of Germany, a man more adapted 
 to the traffic with which he was charged. To 
 the theology of a monk, and the zeal and spirit 
 of an inquisitor, he united the greatest effron- 
 tery. What most helped him in his office, 
 was the facility he displayed in the invention 
 of the strange stories with which the taste of 
 the common people is generally pleased. No 
 means came amiss to him to fill his coffers. 
 Lifting up his voice and giving loose to a 
 coarse volubility, he offered his indulgences 
 to all comers, and excelled any salesman at a 
 fair in recommending his merchandise. 5 
 
 As soon as the cross was elevated with the 
 Pope's arms suspended upon it, Tetzel as- 
 cended the pulpit, and, with a bold tone, 
 began, in the presence of the crowd whom the 
 ceremony had drawn to the sacred spot, to ex- 
 alt the efficacy of indulgences. The people 
 listened and wondered at the admirable vir- 
 tues ascribed to them. A Jesuit historian 
 says himself, in speaking of the Dominican 
 friars whom Tetzel had associated with him : 
 " Some of these preachers did not fail, as 
 usual, to distort their subject, and so to exag- 
 gerate the value of the indulgences as to lead 
 the people to believe that, as soon as they 
 gave their money, they were certain of salva- 
 tion and of the deliverance of souls from pur- 
 gatory." 6 
 
 If such were the pupils, we may imagine 
 what lengths the master went. Let us hear 
 one of these harangues, pronounced after the 
 erection of the cross. 
 
 "Indulgences," said he, "are the most 
 precious and sublime of God's gifts. 
 
 "This cross" (pointing to the red cross) " has 
 as much efficacy as the cross of Jesus Christ. 7 
 
 " Draw near, and I will give you letters, duly 
 sealed, by which even the sins you shall here- 
 after desire to commit shall be all forgiven you. 
 
 "I would not exchange my privileges for 
 those of Saint Peter in heaven, for I have 
 saved more souls with my indulgences than 
 he with his sermons. 
 
 " There is no sin so great that the indul- 
 gence cannot remit it, and even if any one 
 should (which is doubtless impossible) ravish 
 
 the Holy Virgin Mother of God, let him pay, 
 let him only pay largely, and it shall be for 
 given him. 8 
 
 " Even repentance is not indispensable. 
 
 "But more than all this: indulgences save 
 not the living alone, they also save the dead. 
 
 " Ye priests, ye nobles, ye tradesmen, ye 
 wives, ye maidens, and ye young men hearken 
 to your departed parents and friends, who cry 
 to you from the bottomless abyss: ' We are 
 enduring horrible torment ! a small alms would 
 deliver us; you can give it, and you will 
 not!'" 
 
 A shudder ran through his hearers at these 
 words, uttered by the formidable voice of the 
 mountebank monk. 
 
 " The very moment," continued Tetzel, 
 " that the money clinks against the bottom of 
 the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, 
 and flies free to heaven. 9 
 
 " 0, senseless people, and almost like to 
 beasts, who do not comprehend the grace so 
 richly offered ! This day, heaven is on all 
 sides open. Do you now refuse to enter 1 ? 
 When then do you intend to come in 1 This 
 day you may redeem many souls. Dull and 
 heedless man, with ten groschen you can de- 
 liver your father from purgatory, and you are 
 so ungrateful that you will not rescue him. In 
 the day of judgment, my conscience will be 
 clear; but you will be punished the more 
 severely for neglecting so great a salvation. 
 I protest that though you should have only 
 one coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, 
 to purchase this grace. Our Lord God no 
 longer deals with us as God. He has given 
 all power to the Pope !" 
 
 Then, having recourse to other inducements, 
 he added, " Do you know why our most Holy 
 Lord distributes so rich a grace 1 ? The dila- 
 pidated Church of St. Peter and St.Paul is to 
 be restored, so as to be unparalleled in the 
 whole earth. That church contains the bodies 
 of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, and a 
 vast company of martyrs. Those sacred bo- 
 dies, owing to the present condition of the 
 edifice, are now, alas! continually trodden, 
 flooded, polluted, dishonoured, and rotting in 
 rain and hail. Ah ! shall those holy ashes be 
 suffered to remain degraded in the mire]" 1 ' 
 
 This touch of description never failed to 
 produce an impression on many hearers. 
 There was an eager desire to aid poor Leo X., 
 who had not the means of sheltering from the 
 rain the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul ! 
 
 The speaker next proceeded to declaim 
 against the disputers who should question, 
 and the traitors who should oppose his mis- 
 sion: "I declare them all excommunicated!" 
 
 Then turning to the docile souls among his 
 hearers, and impiously perverting the Scrip- 
 ture, " Blessed," said he, " blessed are the eyes 
 that see what you see ; for I tell you that many 
 prophets and many kings have desired to see 
 the things which ye see, and have not seen 
 them, and to hear the things which ye hear, 
 and have not heard them." And as a finish 
 to his address, pointing to the strong box in 
 which the money was received, he generally 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 69 
 
 concitided his moving discourse by thrice call- 
 ing on tne people, " Bring your money ! bring 
 money ! bring money !" " He uttered this 
 cry with such a dreadful bellowing,'' observed 
 Luther, " that one might have thought some 
 wild bull was rushing among the people and 
 goring them with his horns." 11 The moment 
 he had made an end, he came down the steps 
 of the pulpit, ran towards the strong box, and, 
 in sight of all the people, threw in a piece of 
 silver with a loud sound ! 12 
 
 Such were the discourses that Germany 
 heard with astonishment, in the days when 
 God was preparing Luther. 
 
 The sermon ended, the indulgence was con- 
 sidered as having "established its throne in 
 the place with due solemnity." Confession- 
 als, surmounted with the Pope's arms, were 
 prepared. The sub-commissioners and con- 
 fessors chosen were held to represent the apos- 
 tolic penitentiaries, or absolving priests of 
 Rome, at the period of a great jubilee; and on 
 each of their confessionals were inscribed their 
 names and titles. 13 
 
 Then the people came in crowds to the con- 
 fessors. They came, not with contrite hearts, 
 but with money in their hands. Men, women, 
 the young, the poor, and those who lived by 
 alms, every one then found money. The 
 absolving priest, after again setting forth the 
 indulgence, thus addressed the penitents: 
 " How much money can you, in your con- 
 science, spare to obtain so perfect a remis- 
 l " "This question," said the Archbishop 
 
 sionT 
 
 of Mentz, in his instructions to the commis- 
 sioners, " must be put at the moment, in order 
 that the penitents may be better disposed to 
 contribute." 
 
 These conditions fulfilled were all that was 
 necessary. In the Pope's bull, something 
 was indeed said of the repentance of the heart 
 and confession of the lips; butTetzel and his 
 companions cautiously abstained from all 
 mention of these; otherwise their coffers 
 might have remained empty. The archiepis- 
 copal instructions forbade even to mention 
 conversion or contrition. Three great benefits 
 were proclaimed. It is sufficient to notice the' 
 first. " The first benefit we announce," said 
 the commissioners, acting on their instructions, 
 " is the complete pardon of all sins ; and it is 
 not possible to speak of any greater benefit 
 than this, since man who lives in sin is de- 
 prived of the divine favour, and by this com- 
 plete pardon he recovers the grace of God. 14 
 Now, we affirm, that to obtain these great 
 blessings, it is only necessary to purchase an 
 indulgence. 15 And as to those who desire to 
 deliver souls from purgatory, and to procure 
 for them the forgiveness of all their sins, let 
 them put their money in the chest: but it is 
 not needful that they should feel sorrow of 
 heart, or make confession with the lips. 16 Let 
 them only hasten to bring their money, for 
 they will thus do a work most profitable to 
 departed souls, and to the building of the 
 Church of St. Peter." Greater blessings 
 could not be proposed, nor at a lower cost. 
 Confession being gone through, (and it was 
 
 | soon despatched,) the faithful hastened to the 
 | vendor. Only one was commissioned to sell. 
 He had his counter close to the cross. He 
 turned a scrutinizing glance on those who 
 came. He examined their manner, step, and 
 attire, and demanded a sum in proportion to 
 the apparent circumstances of the party pre- 
 senting himself. Kings, queens, princes, 
 archbishops, bishops, &c., were to pay, accord- 
 ing to the regulation, for an ordinary indul- 
 gence, twenty-five ducats; abbots, counts, 
 barons, &c., ten. The other nobles, superiors, 
 and all who had an annual income of 500 
 florins, were to pay six. Those who had an 
 income of 200 florins, one; the rest, half a 
 florin. And, further, if this scale could not in 
 every instance be observed, full power was 
 given to the apostolic commissary, and the 
 whole might be arranged according to the dic- 
 tates of sound reason, and the generosity of 
 the giver. 17 For particular sins Tetzel had a 
 private scale. Polygamy cost six ducats; 
 sacrilege and perjury, nine ducats ; murder, 
 eight; witchcraft, two. Samson, who carried 
 on in Switzerland the same traffic as Tetzel in 
 Germany, had rather a different scale. He 
 charged for infanticide, four livres tournois; 
 for a parricide or fratricide, one ducat. 18 
 
 The apostolic commissaries sometimes en- 
 countered difficulties in their commerce. It 
 often happened, as well in the towns as in the 
 villages, that husbands were opposed to the 
 traffic, and forbade their wives to carry any 
 thing to the dealers. What were their super- 
 stitious partners to do 1 " Have you not your 
 marriage portion, or some other property, at 
 your disposal ?" asked the vendors. " In that 
 case you can dispose of it for this holy pur- 
 pose, without your husband's consent." 19 
 
 The hand that delivered the indulgence 
 could not receive the money : that was forbid- 
 den under the severest penalties ; there was 
 good reason to fear that hand might not always 
 be trustworthy. The penitent was himself to 
 drop the price of his pardon into the chest. 
 An angry look was cast on those who dared 
 to close their purses. 20 
 
 If, among those who pressed into the con- 
 fessionals, there came one whose crimes had 
 been public, and yet untouched by the civil 
 laws, such person was obliged, first of all, to 
 do public penance. He was conducted to a 
 chapel, or sacristy; there he was stripped of 
 his clothes, his shoes taken off his feet, and 
 he left in his shirt. They made him fold his 
 arms upon his breast, placed a light in one 
 hand, and a wax taper in the other. Then the 
 penitent walked at the head of the procession, 
 which passed to the red cross. He kneeled 
 till the- singing and the collect were concluded ; 
 then the commissary gave out the psalm, 
 " Miserere mei" The confessors immediately 
 approached the penitent, and led him across 
 the station towards the commissary, who, 
 taking the rod, and striking him thrice gently 
 on the back, 21 said, " God take pity on thee, and 
 pardon thy sin !" After this, he gave out the 
 Kyrie eleison, &c. Then the penitent being 
 led back, and placed before the cross, the con 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 fessor pronounced the apostolical absolution, 
 and declared him reinstated in the company 
 of the faithful. Wretched mummeries ! con- 
 cluded by a passage of Scripture, which, at 
 such a time, was a profanation ! 
 
 We will give one of these letters of absolu- 
 tion. It is worth while to know the contents 
 of these diplomas, which gave occasion to the 
 Reformation. 
 
 "Our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on 
 thee, N. N., and absolve thee by the merits 
 of his most holy sufferings ! And I, in virtue 
 of the apostolic power committed to me, 
 absolve thee from all ecclesiastical censures, 
 judgments, and penalties that thou mayst 
 have merited ; and further, from all excesses, 
 sins, and crimes that thou mayst have com- 
 mitted, however great and enormous they 
 may be, and of whatever kind, even though 
 they should be reserved to our holy father the 
 Pope, and to the Apostolic See. I efface all 
 the stains of weakness, and all traces of the 
 shame that thou mayst have drawn upon thy- 
 self by such actions. I remit the pains thou 
 wouldst have had to endure in purgatory. I 
 receive thee again to the sacraments of the 
 Church. I hereby reincorporate thee in the 
 communion of the saints, and restore thee to 
 the innocence and purity of thy baptism ; so 
 that, at the moment of death, the gate of the 
 place of torment shall be shut against thee, 
 and the gate of the paradise of joy shall be 
 opened unto thee. And if thou shouldst live 
 long, this grace continueth unchangeable, till 
 the time of thy end. 
 
 " In the name of the Father, of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
 
 "The Brother, John Tetzel, commissary, 
 hath signed this with his own hand." 
 
 In this document, we see with what art 
 presumptuous and false doctrines were inter- 
 spersed among sacred and Christian expres- 
 sions. 
 
 All the faithful were to come and confess in 
 the spot where the red cross was set up. 
 None but the sick, old men, and women with 
 child, were exempt. If, however, there was 
 in the neighbourhood any noble in his castle, 
 or wealthy man in his palace, his personal 
 attendance was dispensed with. 22 For he might 
 not care to mingle with this mob of people, 
 and his money was worth fetching from his 
 residence. 
 
 If there was any convent whose superiors, 
 disapproving TetzePs traffic, forbade their 
 monks to resort to the places where the 
 indulgence was offered, means were still 
 found to remedy this. Confessors were sent 
 to them, commissioned to absolve them con- 
 trary to the rules of their order and the will 
 of their superiors. 23 Not a vein of the mine was 
 left unexplored. 
 
 Then came what was the object and end 
 of the whole affair, the reckoning of the 
 money. To guard against all risks, the chest 
 had three keys ; one was in the keeping of 
 Tetzel, the other with the delegated treasurer 
 of the house of Fugger of Augsburg, to 
 whom, sometime before, this vast speculation 
 
 had been farmed ; and the third was lodged 
 with the civil authority. When the appointed 
 day arrived, the chest was opened in presence 
 of a public notary, and the whole contents 
 carefully counted, and entered in the books. 
 Was it not fit that Christ should arise and 
 drive out these buyers and sellers from the 
 temple ? 
 
 The mission being ended, the dealers relax- 
 ed in amusement, after their labours. The 
 instruction of the commissary-general did, it 
 is true, forbid their frequenting taverns and 
 disreputable places. 24 But they paid little 
 regard to this interdict. Sin must have had 
 few terrors for men who carried on so easy a 
 traffic in it. " The mendicant friars led an 
 irregular life," says a Roman Catholic histo- 
 rian ; " they spent in taverns, gaming houses, 
 and houses of ill-fame, what the people had 
 scraped together from their poverty." 25 It is 
 even affirmed that, when they were in the 
 taverns, they would sometimes stake on dice 
 the salvation of souls. 26 
 
 But let us see to what scenes this sale of 
 the pardon of sins gave rise in Germany. 
 There are some incidents, which of them- 
 selves are a picture of the times. We like to 
 let those whose history we write speak for 
 themselves. 
 
 At Madgeburg, Tetzel refused to absolve a 
 rich lady, unless she paid down one hundred 
 florins. The lady consulted her usual con- 
 fessor, who was a Franciscan. " God gives 
 us remission of sins freely," answered he; 
 " He does not sell it." Yet he entreated her 
 not to mention what he had said. But the 
 report of an opinion so adverse to his gains 
 having reached the ears of Tetzel, " Such an 
 adviser," he exclaimed, " deserves to be ex- 
 pelled or burnt alive." 27 
 
 Tetzel found but few sufficiently enlighten- 
 ed, and still fewer bold enough to resist him. 
 In general he could easily manage a supersti- 
 tious crowd. He had erected the red cross of 
 indulgences at Zwickau, and the good people 
 of the place had hastened to pour in the 
 money that was to liberate souls. He was 
 about to leave with a full purse. The even- 
 ing before his departure, the chaplains and 
 their acolytes called upon him to give them a 
 farewell repast. The request was reasonable ; 
 but what was to be done? the money was 
 already counted and sealed up. In the morning 
 he had the large bell tolled. A crowd hurried 
 to the church: every one thought that some- 
 thing extraordinary had happened, since the 
 period of the station had expired. " I had 
 intended," said he, "to take my departure 
 this morning, but last night I was awakened 
 by groans. I listened : they proceeded from 
 the cemetery. Alas ! it was a poor soul that 
 called me, and entreated to be delivered from 
 the torment that consumed it. I therefore 
 have tarried one day longer, that I might 
 move Christian hearts to compassion for this 
 unhappy soul. Myself will be the first to 
 contribute; but he who will not follow rny 
 example will be worthy of all condemnation." 
 What heart would not answer to such an 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 71 
 
 appeal. Besides, who can tell what soul thus 
 cries from the tomb 1 The gifts were many ; 
 and Tetzel, with the chaplains and acolytes, 
 sat down to a merry feast paid for by offerings 
 for the poor soul of Zwickau. 28 
 
 The dealers in indulgences had established 
 themselves at Hagenau in 1517. The wife 
 of a shoemaker, profiting by the permission 
 given in the instruction of the Commissary- 
 general, had procured, against her husband's 
 will, a letter of indulgence, and had paid for 
 it a gold florin. Shortly after she died ; and 
 the widower omitting to have mass said for 
 the repose of her soul, the curate charged him 
 with contempt of religion, and the judge of 
 Hagenau summoned him to appear before him. 
 The shoemaker put in his pocket his wife's 
 indulgence, and repaired to the place of sum- 
 mons. "Is your wife dead?" asked the 
 judge. " Yes," answered the shoemaker. 
 " What have you done with her "?" " I buried 
 her and commended her soul to God." " But 
 have you had a mass said for the salvation 
 of her soul?" "I have not: it was not 
 necessary : she went to heaven in the mo- 
 ment of her death." " How do you know 
 that ]" " Here is the evidence of it." The 
 widower drew from his pocket the indulgence, 
 and the judge, in presence of the curate, read, 
 in so many words, that in the moment of 
 death, the woman who had received it would 
 go, not into purgatory, but straight into heaven. 
 " If the curate pretends that a mass is neces- 
 sary after that," said the shoemaker, " my 
 wife has been cheated by our Holy Father 
 the Pope; but if she has not been cheated, 
 then the curate is deceiving me." There was 
 no reply to this defence, and the accused was 
 acquitted. 29 It was thus that the good sense 
 of the people disposed of these impostures. 
 
 One day, when Tetzel was preaching at 
 Leipsic, and had introduced into his preach- 
 ing some of these stories of which we have 
 given a specimen, two students indignantly 
 left the church, exclaiming " It is not possi- 
 ble to listen any longer to the ridiculous and 
 childish tales of that monk." 30 One of these 
 students, it is affirmed, was young Camerarius, 
 who was subsequently the friend of Melanc- 
 thon, and wrote his life. 
 
 But, of all the young men of that period, 
 Tetzel made the strongest impression on My- 
 conius subsequently celebrated as a Reform- 
 er and an historian of the Reformation. My- 
 conius had received a religious education. 
 " My son," said his father, who was a pious 
 Franconian, " pray frequently ; for all things 
 are freely given to us by God alone. The 
 blood of Christ," he added, "is the only ran- 
 som for the sins of the whole world. Oh, my 
 son! if there were but three men to be saved 
 by the blood of Christ, only BELIEVE; 31 and 
 be sure that you shall be one of those three. 
 It is an insult to the Saviour's blood to doubt 
 its power to save." Then, proceeding to warn 
 his son against the trade that was begin- 
 ning in Germany," The Roman indul- 
 gences," said he, " are nets to fish for money, 
 and delude the simple. Remission of sins 
 
 and eternal life are not to be purchased by 
 money." 
 
 At thirteen, Frederic was sent to the school 
 of Annaberg, to finish his studies. Soon after, 
 Tetzel arrived in this town, and remained 
 there for two months. The people flocked in 
 crowds to hear him preach. "There is," ex- 
 claimed Tetzel, with a voice of thunder, "no 
 other means of obtaining eternal life save the 
 satisfaction of good works. But this satisfac- 
 tion is out of man's power. His only re- 
 source is to purchase it from the Roman Pon- 
 tiff." 82 
 
 When Tetzel was on the point of leaving 
 Annaberg his appeal became more urgent. 
 " Soon," said he with a threatening accent, 
 "I shall take down that cross, and close the 
 gate of heaven, and put out that sun of grace 
 which shines before your eyes." 33 Then, re- 
 suming a tenderer strain of exhortation, 
 " This," said he, " is the day of salvation, this is 
 the accepted time." And as a last effort, the 
 pontifical Stentor, 3t speaking to the inhabitants 
 of a country rich in mines, exclaimed, "In- 
 habitants of Annaberg! bring hither your 
 money; contribute liberally in aid of indul- 
 gences, and all your mines and mountains 
 shall be filled with pure silver." Finally, at 
 Easter, he proclaimed that he would distribute 
 his letters to the poor gratuitously, and for the 
 love of God. 
 
 The young Myconius happened to be among 
 the hearers. He felt a wish to take advan- 
 tage of this offer. " I am a poor sinner," said 
 he, addressing in Latin the commissioners to 
 whom he applied, " and I need a free pardon." 
 " Those only," answered the dealers, " can 
 share in the merits of Christ who stretch forth 
 a helping hand to the Church that is, give 
 their money." "What mean, then," said 
 Myconius, "those promises of free distribu- 
 tion posted up on the gates and walls of the 
 churches T" " Give at least a gros," said Tet- 
 zel's people, after having vainly interceded 
 for the young man with their master. " I 
 cannot." " Only six deniers." "I have 
 not even so much." The Dominicans then 
 began to apprehend that he meant to entrap 
 them. "Listen." said they, " we will give 
 you six deniers." On which the young man, 
 raising his voice with indignation, replied: 
 " I will have none of the indulgences that are 
 bought and sold. If I desired to purchase 
 them I should only have to sell one of my 
 books. What I want is a free pardon, and 
 for the love of God. You will have to ac- 
 count to God for having, for the sake of six 
 deniers, missed the salvation of a soul." 
 " Ah ! ah ! " said they, " who sent you to 
 tempt us 1 ?" "No one," replied the young 
 man: "the desire of receiving the grace of 
 God could alone induce me to appear before 
 such great lords." He left them. 
 
 " I was grieved," says he, " at being thus 
 sent away without pity. But I felt in myself 
 a Comforter, who whispered that there is a 
 God in heaven who forgives repentant souls 
 without money and without price, for the sake 
 of his Son, Jesus Christ. As I left these 
 G-2 
 
73 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 people, the Holy Spirit touched my heart. I 
 burst into tears, arid with sighs and groans 
 prayed to the Lord : O God, since these men 
 have refused remission of sins because I had 
 no money to pay, do thou, Lord, take pity on 
 me, and forgive them in mere mercy. I re- 
 tired to my chamber. I took my crucifix from 
 my desk, placed it on my chair, and kneeled 
 before it. I cannot here put down what I ex- 
 perienced. I asked of God to be my father, 
 and to make me what he would have me. I 
 felt my nature changed, converted, transform- 
 ed. What had before delighted me was now 
 distasteful. To live with God, and to please 
 him, became my most ardent my single de- 
 sire." 35 
 
 Thus Tetzel himself was preparing the Re- 
 formation. By scandalous abuses he made 
 way for a purer teaching ; and the generous 
 indignation which he excited in youthful 
 minds was destined one day to break forth 
 with power. We may judge of this by the 
 following incident. 
 
 A Saxon gentleman had heard Tetzel at 
 Leipsic, and was much shocked by his im- 
 postures. He went to the monk, and inquired 
 if he was authorized to pardon sins in inten- 
 tion, or such as the applicant intended to com- 
 mit? "Assuredly," answered Tetzel; "I 
 have full power from the Pope to do so." 
 " Well," returned the gentleman, " I want 
 to take some slight revenge on one of my 
 enemies, without attempting his life. I will 
 pay you ten crowns, if you will give me a 
 letter of indulgence that shall bear me harm- 
 less." Tetzel made some scruples; they 
 struck their bargain for thirty crowns. Shortly 
 after, the monk set out from Leipsic. The 
 gentleman, attended by his servants, laid wait 
 for him in a wood between Jiiterboch and 
 Treblin, fell upon him, gave him a beating, 
 and carried off the rich chest of indulgence- 
 money the inquisitor had with him. Tetzel 
 clamoured against this act of violence, and 
 brought an action before the judges. But the 
 gentleman showed the letter signed by Tetzel 
 himself, which exempted him beforehand from 
 all responsibility. Duke George who had at 
 first been much irritated at this action, upon 
 seeing this writing, ordered that the accused 
 should be acquitted. 36 
 
 This traffic everywhere agitated the minds 
 of the people, and was everywhere discussed. 
 It was the subject of conversation in castles, 
 academies, and private houses, as well as in 
 inns, taverns, and all places of resort. 37 Opin- 
 ions were divided ; some believed, some were 
 indignant. But the sober part of the nation 
 rejected with disgust the whole system of in- 
 dulgences. This doctrine was so opposed to 
 the scriptures and to sound sense, that all men 
 who possessed any knowledge of the Bible, 
 or any natural acuteness, had already con- 
 demned it in their hearts, and only waited for 
 a signal to oppose it. On the other hand, 
 mockers found abundant cause for ridicule. 
 The people, who had been irritated for so many 
 years by the ill conduct of the priests, and 
 whom the fear of punishment had alone re- 
 
 ! tained in any outward respect, gave loose to 
 jail their animosity; and on all sides were, 
 I heard complaints and sarcasms upon the love 
 ' of money that infected the clergy. 
 
 The people went still farther. They im- 
 pugned the power of the keys and the authori- 
 ty of the Sovereign Pontiff. "Why, "said 
 they, does not the Pope deliver at once all the 
 souls from purgatory by a holy charity, and 
 on account of the great misery of those souls, 
 since he frees so great a number for the sake 
 of perishable gain and the cathedral of St. 
 Peter?" 
 
 " Why do we continue to observe the festi- 
 vals and anniversaries for the dead ? Why 
 does not the Pope surrender, or why does he 
 not permit people to resume the benefices and 
 prebends founded in favor of the dead, since 
 now it is useless, and even wrong, to pray 
 for those whom indulgences have forever set 
 free ? What is this new kind of holiness of 
 God and of the Pope, that for the sake of 
 money they grant to a wicked man, and an 
 enemy of God, the power of delivering from 
 purgatory, a pious soul, beloved by the 
 Lord, rather than themselves deliver it freely 
 from love for it, and on account of its great 
 misery ?" 38 
 
 Accounts were circulated of the gross and 
 immoral conduct of the traffickers in indul- 
 gences. " To pay," said they, " what they owe 
 to drivers who carr) 7 them and their goods ; to 
 innkeepers at whose houses they lodge, or to 
 any one who does them service, they give a 
 letter of indulgence for four, five, or as many 
 souls as they wish." Thus the brevets of 
 salvation were circulated in the inns and mar- 
 kets, like bank notes or paper money. " Bring 
 hither your money ," said the common people, 
 " is the beginning, the middle, and the end of 
 their sermons." 39 
 
 A miner of Schneeberg meeting a seller of 
 indulgences inquired : " Must we then believe 
 what you have often said of the power of in- 
 dulgences and of the authority of the Pope, 
 and think that we can redeem a soul from pur- 
 gatory by casting a penny into the chest?" 
 The dealer in indulgences affirmed that it was 
 so. " Ah !" replied the miner, " what a cruel 
 man the Pope must be, thus to leave a poor 
 soul to suffer so long in the flames for a 
 wretched penny ! If he has no ready money, 
 let him collect a few hundred thousand crowns, 
 and deliver all these souls by one act. Even 
 we poor folks would willingly pay him the 
 principal and interest." 
 
 The people of Germany were weary of the 
 shameful traffic that was carrying on in the 
 midst of them. They could no longer bear the 
 impostures of these Romish tricksters, as Lu- 
 ther remarks. 40 Yet no bishop or divine dared 
 to lay a finger on their quackery and deceit. 
 The minds of men were in suspense. They 
 asked each other, if God would not raise up 
 some powerful instrument for the work that 
 was required to be done. But such an one 
 was no where visible. 
 
 The pope who then filled the pontifical 
 throne was not a Borgia, but Leo X. of the il- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 73 
 
 lustrious family of the Medici. He was a man 
 of talent, open-hearted, kind, and indulgent. 
 His manners were affable, his liberality un- 
 bounded, and his morals greatly superior to 
 those of his court. Nevertheless the Cardinal 
 Pallavicini confesses that they were not quite 
 free from reproach. To these amiable quali- 
 ties he added many of the accomplishments 
 that form a great prince. He was, especially, 
 a liberal patron of the arts and sciences. The 
 earliest Italian comedies were represented in 
 his presence, and most of the dramas of his 
 time were honoured by his attendance. He 
 was passionately fond of music, his palace 
 daily resounded with musical instruments, and 
 he was often heard humming the airs that 
 had been sung before him. Fond of magnifi- 
 cence he spared no expense in feastings, public 
 games, theatrical entertainments, and gifts. 
 No court surpassed in splendour or in plea- 
 sures that of the Sovereign pontiff. So that 
 when news was brought that Julian Medici 
 was about to choose Rome as a place of resi- 
 dence for himself, and his young bride, Cardi- 
 nal Bibliena, the most influential of Leo's 
 council, exclaimed, " God be praised! We 
 wanted nothing here but a female circle." A 
 *' female circle'' was felt requisite to complete 
 the attractions of the Pope's court. But a 
 feeling of religion was a thing of which Leo 
 was entirely ignorant. " His manners," says 
 Sarpi, " were so charming, that he would have 
 been a perfect man, if he had some knowledge 
 in religious matters, and a little more inclina- 
 tion for piety, concerning which he never trou- 
 bled himself." 41 
 
 Leo was in great want of money. He had 
 to provide for his vast expenses ; to satisfy all 
 demands on his liberality; to fill with gold 
 the purse he every day threw to the people ; 
 to defray the costs of the licentious plays at 
 the Vatican ; to gratify the continued demands 
 of his relations and courtiers who were ad- 
 dicted to voluptuousness ; to portion his sister, 
 who had married Prince Cibo, a natural son of 
 Pope Innocent VIII.; and to bear all the ex- 
 penses attending his taste for literature, arts, 
 and pleasures. His cousin, Cardinal Pucci, 
 who was as skilful in the art of amassing money 
 as Leo was prodigal in spending, advised him 
 to have recourse to indulgences. The Pope, 
 therefore, published abull, proclaiming a gene- 
 ral indulgence, the product of which should 
 be appropriated, he said, to the building of 
 St. Peter's Church, that splendid monument 
 of ecclesiastical magnificence. In a letter given 
 at Rome, under the seal of the fisherman, in 
 November, 1517, Leo required from his com- 
 missioner of indulgences 147 gold ducats, "to 
 pay for a manuscript of the 33d book of Livy." 
 Of all the uses he made of the money extorted 
 from the Germans, this was undoubtedly the 
 best. But it was strange to deliver souls from 
 purgatory that he might, purchase a manuscript 
 of the wars of the Romans ! 
 
 There was then in Germany a young prince 
 who was in many respects a counterpart of 
 Leo X. : this was Albert, the younger brother 
 of the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg. This 
 
 young man, at the age of twenty-four, had 
 been made Archbishop and Elector of Mentz 
 and of Madgeburg; two years after he was 
 made Cardinal. Albert had neither the virtues 
 nor the vices which have often character- 
 ized the dignitaries of the Church. Young, 
 volatile, worldly-minded, but not devoid of 
 generous sentiments, he plainly saw many of 
 the abuses of Catholicism, and cared little for 
 the fanatical monks that surrounded him. His 
 equity inclined him to acknowledge, at least 
 in part, the justice of what the friends of the 
 Gospel required. In his heart he was not 
 greatly opposed to Luther. Capito, one of 
 the most distinguished Reformers, was for a 
 long time his chaplain, counsellor, and inti- 
 mate confidant. Albert regularly attended his 
 preaching. " He did not despise the Gospel," 
 says Capito ; " on the contrary, he highly es- 
 teemed it, and for a long time prevented the 
 monks from attacking Luther." But he would 
 have had the latter abstain from compromising 
 him, and beware, while pointing out the errors 
 in doctrine and the vices of the inferior clergy, 
 of bringing to light the faults of the bishops 
 and princes. Above all, he feared to find his 
 own name thrust forward in the contest. 
 " See," said Capito to Luther, at a subsequent 
 period, deluding himself as is usual in such 
 cases, "see the example of Christ and of his 
 Apostles : they reproved the Pharisees and the 
 incestuous person in the church of Corinth, 
 but did not do so by name. You do not know 
 what is passing in the hearts of the bishops. 
 There is, perhaps, more good in them than you 
 think." But the frivolous and profane turn of 
 Albert's character was likely to indispose him. 
 for the Reformation, even more than the sus- 
 ceptibilities and fears of his self-love. Affa- 
 ble in his manners, witty, graceful, of expen- 
 sive and even dissipated habits, delighting in 
 the pleasures of the table, and in rich equi- 
 pages, houses, licentious pursuits, and literary 
 society, this young Archbishop and Elector 
 was in Germany what Leo was at Rome. His 
 court was one of the most splendid of the Em- 
 pire. He was ready to sacrifice to pleasure 
 and grandeur all the foretastes of truth that 
 might visit his soul. Yet there was in him, 
 to the last, a sort of struggle with his better 
 convictions ; and he more than once manifested 
 moderation and equity. 
 
 Like Leo, Albert was in want of money, 
 Some rich merchants of Augsburg, named 
 Fugger, had made him some advances. He 
 was pressed for the means of liquidating his 
 debts ; nay, more ; although he had obtained 
 two archbishoprics and a bishopric, he had not 
 enough to pay for his pallium at Rome. This 
 ornament made of white wool, interspersed 
 with black crosses, and blessed by the Pope, 
 who was accustomed to send it to the arch* 
 bishops as a sign of their jurisdiction, cost 
 them 26,000, or, as some say, 30,000 florins. 
 
 It was quite natural that Albert should form 
 the project of resorting to the same means as 
 his superior to obtain money. He solicited 
 from the Pope the contract for the " farmi ng" of 
 all the indulgences, or, as they expressed it at 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Rome, " the contract for the sins of the Ger 
 mans." 
 
 At times the Popes kept the speculation in 
 their own hands. Sometimes they farmed i 
 to others; as, in certain states, is still done 
 with framing-houses. Albert proposed to Lee 
 to divide the profits. Leo, in accepting the 
 bargain required immediate payment of the 
 pallium. Albert, who was all the while de 
 pending on the indulgences for the means ol 
 discharging this claim, applied to the Fuggers 
 who, thinking it a safe investment, made, on 
 certain conditions, the required advances ; am 
 were appointed cashiers in this great under 
 taking. They were at this period bankers t 
 many princes, and were afterwards made 
 counts for the services they had rendered. 
 
 The Pope and Archbishop having thu 
 divided beforehand the spoils of the credulous 
 souls of Germany, it was necessary to earn 
 out the project, and to find some one to under 
 take the trouble of realizing it. The charge 
 was first offered to the Franciscans, and thei 
 guardian was associated in it with Albert 
 But the Franciscans did not desire any part in 
 this undertaking, which was already in il 
 repute among good people. The Augustine 
 monks, who were more enlightened than the 
 other religious orders, would have cared stil 
 less to join in it. Meanwhile, the Francis 
 cans feared to offend the Pope, who had lately 
 sent to their general, Forli, a cardinal's hat 
 which cost that poor mendicant order 30,00( 
 florins. The guardian therefore judged i 
 most prudent not to meet the offer by a direc 
 refusal; but he raised all kinds of difficulties 
 in the way of Albert ; they never could agree 
 so that the Elector was glad to accept' the 
 proposal that he should take the whole charge 
 of the concern. The Dominicans, on their 
 part, coveted a share in the lucrative trade 
 about to be opened. Tetzel, already notorious 
 in such matters, hastened to Mentz, and ten- 
 dered his services to the Elector. His proved 
 usefulness in publishing the indulgences for 
 the knights of the Teutonic Order of Prussia 
 and Livonia was recollected, and he was ac- 
 cepted ; and thus it was that all this traffic 
 passed into the hands of his order. 42 
 
 The first time Luther heard speak of Tetzel 
 was, as far as we are informed, in the year 
 1516, at Grimrna, when he was commencing 
 his visitation of the churches. Some one 
 came and told Staupitz, who was still with 
 Luther, that a seller of indulgences, named 
 Tetzel, was making much noise at Wurtzen. 
 Some of his extravagant expressions being 
 quoted, Luther was indignant, and exclaimed, 
 "God willing, I will make a hole in his 
 drum." 43 
 
 Tetzel in his return from Berlin, where he 
 had met with a most friendly reception from 
 the Elector Joachim, a brother of the farmer- 
 general, took up his abode at Jiiterboch. 
 Staupitz, availing himself of the confidence 
 the Elector Frederic reposed in him, had re- 
 peatedly called his attention to the abuse of 
 the indulgences, and the disgraceful proceed- 
 ings of the collectors. 44 The Princes of 
 
 Saxony, indignant at the shameful traffic, had 
 forbidden Tetzel to enter their provinces. 
 He was therefore compelled to stop on the 
 territory of his patron, the Archbishop of 
 Magdeburg. But he drew as near as he 
 could to Saxony. At Jiiterboch he was only 
 four miles distant from Wittemberg. "This 
 great purse-drainer," said Luther, "went 
 boldly to work, beating up the country all 
 round, so that the money began to leap out of 
 every man's purse, and fall into his chest." 
 The people flocked in crowds from Wittem- 
 berg, to the indulgence market at Jiiterboch. 
 
 Luther was still at this time full of respect 
 for the Church and for the Pope. He says 
 himself, " I was then a monk, a papist of the 
 maddest, so infatuated and even steeped in 
 the Romish doctrines, that I would willingly 
 have helped to kill any one who had the 
 audacity to refuse the smallest act of obedi- 
 ence to the Pope. I was a true Saul, like 
 many others still living." 45 But, at the same 
 time his heart was ready to take fire for what 
 he thought the truth, and against what, in his 
 judgment, was error. "I was a young doc- 
 tor, fresh from the anvil, glowing and rejoicing 
 in the glory of the Lord." 46 
 
 One day Luther was at confessional in 
 Wittemberg. Several residents of that town 
 successively presented themselves: they con- 
 fessed themselves guilty of great irregularities, 
 adultery, licentiousness, usury, unjust gains: 
 such were the things men came to talk of with 
 a minister of God's word, who must one day 
 give an account of their souls. He reproved, 
 rebuked, and instructed. But what was his 
 astonishment, when these persons replied that 
 they did not intend to abandon their sins ! 
 The pious monk, shocked at this, declared, 
 that since they would not promise to change 
 their habits of life, he could not absolve them. 
 Then it was that these poor creatures appealed 
 to their letters of indulgence; they showed 
 them, and contended for their efficacy. But 
 Luther replied, that he had nothing to do with 
 their paper; and he added, "If you do not 
 turn from the evil of your way, you will all 
 perish." They exclaimed against this, and 
 renewed their application; but the doctor was 
 immoveable. "They must cease," he said, 
 "to do evil, and learn to do well, or otherwise 
 no absolution. Have a care," added he, 
 
 how you give ear to the indulgences: you 
 have something better to do than to buy 
 'icences which they offer you for paltry pence." 4V 
 
 Much alarmed, these inhabitants of Wittem- 
 )erg quickly returned to Tetzel, and told him 
 hat an Augustine monk treated his letters 
 with contempt. Tetzel, at this, bellowed 
 with anger. He held forth in the pulpit, 
 ised insulting expressions and curses, and, to 
 strike the people with more terror, he had a 
 ire lighted several times in the grand square, 
 md declared that he was ordered by the Pope 
 o burn the heretics, who should dare to op- 
 iose his most holy indulgences. 48 
 
 Such was the incident that first gave occa- 
 ion to the Reformation, though not the cause 
 f it. A pastor sees his sheep going on in a 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 75 
 
 way that would lead them to their ruin ; he 
 seeks to guide them out of it. He has as yet 
 no thought of reforming the Church and the 
 world. He has seen Rome and its corruption ; 
 but he does not erect himself against Rome. 
 He discerns some of the abuses under which 
 Christendom groans, but he has no thought 
 of correcting those abuses. He does not de- 
 sire to constitute himself a Reformer. 49 He 
 has no more plan in his mind for the reform 
 of the Church, than he had previously had for 
 that which had been wrought in his own soul. 
 God himself designed a Reformation, and to 
 make Luther the instrument of its accomplish- 
 ment. The same remedy, of which the effi- 
 cacy was proved by the removal of his own 
 distress, it was God's purpose that he should 
 apply to the distresses of Christendom. He 
 remains quietly in the circle assigned to him. 
 He goes simply where his master calls him. 
 He is discharging at Wittemberg his duties 
 as professor, preacher, pastor. He is seated 
 in the temple, where the members of his 
 church come to open their hearts to him. It 
 is there, on that field, that Evil attacks, and 
 Error seeks him out. Those about him would 
 hinder him from discharging his duty. His 
 conscience, bound to the word of God, is 
 aroused. Is it not God who calls him? 
 Resistance is a duty, therefore it is also a 
 right; he must speak. Such was the course 
 of the events occurring in the providence of 
 that God, who had decreed to revive Chris- 
 tianity by the agency of a miner's son; and 
 to refine in his furnace the corrupted teaching 
 of the Church. 50 
 
 After what has been stated, it is needless 
 to refute a lying charge invented by some 
 enemies of Luther, and not till after his death. 
 It has been said it was a jealousy on the part 
 of the monks of his order, the mortification 
 of seeing the Dominicans, and not the Augus- 
 tines, who had previously held it, intrusted 
 with this shameful and disreputable com- 
 merce, that led the Doctor of Wittemberg to 
 attack Tetzel, and his teaching. The well 
 ascertained fact that this traffic had been at 
 first offered to the Franciscans, who would 
 not have it, suffices to refute this invention 
 repeated by writers who do but copy one an- 
 other. Cardinal Pallavicini himself declares 
 that the Augustines had never held this office. 51 
 Besides, we have seen the struggle of Luther's 
 soul. His conduct needs no other explana- 
 tion. He could not refrain from confessing 
 aloud the doctrine to which he owed his hap- 
 piness. In Christianity, when a man finds a 
 treasure for himself, he hastens to impart it to 
 others. In our day men have abandoned such 
 puerile and unworthy attempts to account for 
 the great revolution of the sixteenth century. 
 It is recognised that there must be some more 
 powerful lever to raise the whole world, and 
 that the reformation was not in Luther merely, 
 but that the age in which he lived must 
 necessarily have given birth to it. 
 
 Luther, called on alike by obedience to the 
 truth of God and by charity to man, ascended 
 the pulpit. He warned his hearers as was 
 
 ; his duty, as himself tells us. 52 His Prince had 
 I obtained from the Pope some special indul- 
 gences for the church in the castle of Wit- 
 ! temberg. Some of the blows, which he is 
 about to strike at the indulgences of the in- 
 quisitor, may easily fall on those of the Elec- 
 tor. It matters not; he will brave his dis- 
 grace. If he sought to please man, he would 
 not be the servant of Christ. 
 
 " No one can show from the Scriptures that 
 God's justice requires a penalty or satisfaction 
 from the sinner," said the faithful minister of 
 the word to the people of Wittemberg. "The 
 only duty it imposes on him is a true repent- 
 ance, a sincere change of heart, a resolution 
 to bear the cross of Christ, and to strive to do 
 good works. It is a great error to seek our- 
 selves to satisfy God's justice for our sins, for 
 God ever pardons lliem freely by an inestima- 
 ble grace. 
 
 " The Christian Church, it is true, requires 
 somewhat from the sinner, and what she re- 
 quires she may remit. But that is all. And 
 furthermore, these indulgences of the Church 
 are only tolerated out of regard for slothful 
 and imperfect Christians, who will not employ 
 themselves zealously in good works; for they 
 excite no one to sanctification, but leave every 
 one in his lowness and imperfection." 
 
 Then, passing to the pretext on which the 
 indulgences were proclaimed, he continued: 
 " It would be much better to contribute to the 
 building of St. Peter's from love to God, than 
 to buy indulgences for such a purpose. But 
 say you, shall we then not buy them ? I have 
 already said as much, and I repeat it : my 
 advice is that none should buy them. Leave 
 them for drowsy Christians, but do you keep 
 yourselves separate from such. Let the faith- 
 ful be turned from indulgences, and exhorted 
 to the works they neglect." 
 
 Then, glancing at his adversaries, Luther 
 concluded in these words : ** And if some cry 
 that I am a heretic, for the truth which I 
 preach is prejudicial to their coffers I pay 
 little regard to their clamours ; they are men 
 of gloomy or sickly minds, who have never 
 felt the truths of the Bible, never read the 
 Christian doctrine, never understood their own 
 teachers, and are perishing in the tattered rags 
 of their vain opinions. 53 However, God grant 
 to them and to us a right understanding! 
 Amen." This said, the Doctor came down 
 from the pulpit, leaving his hearers much af- 
 fected by this bold harangue. 
 
 This sermon was printed and made a deep 
 impression on all who read it. Tetzel an- 
 swered it, and Luther defended himself; hut 
 this was at a later period, in 1518. 
 
 The feast of All Saints w r as at hand. Some 
 chroniclers relate at this time, a circumstance, 
 which, however little important it may be to 
 the history of this epoch, may still serve to 
 characterize it. It is a dream of the Elector, 
 beyond reasonable doubt true in the essen- 
 tial parts, though some circumstances may 
 have been added by those who related it. It 
 is mentioned by Seckendorf. 64 " The fear of 
 giving occasion to his adversaries to say that 
 
7G 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Luther's doctrine rested upon dreams, has 
 perhaps prevented other historians from speak- 
 ing of it," observes this respectable writer. 
 
 The Elector, Frederic of Saxony, these 
 chroniclers tell us, was then at his castle of 
 Schweinitz, six leagues from Wittemberg. 
 The morning of the 3 1st of October, being 
 with his brother, Duke John, (who was then 
 co-regent, and who reigned alone after his 
 death,) and with his Chancellor, the Elector 
 said to the Duke : 
 
 " Brother, I must tell you a dream that I 
 had last night, and of which I should be very 
 glad to know the meaning. It is so deeply 
 engraved on my mind, that I should not for- 
 get it were I to live a thousand years, for I 
 dreamt it thrice, and each time with some 
 new circumstances." 
 
 Duke John. " Is it a good dream or bad 
 dream?" 
 
 The Elector." I know not : God knows." 
 
 Duke John. " Do not make yourself un- 
 easy about it : tell it me." 
 
 The Elector. " Having gone to bed last 
 night, tired and dispirited, I fell asleep soon 
 after saying my prayers, and slept quietly 
 about two hours and a half. I then woke ; 
 and continued engaged till midnight with a 
 variety of thoughts. I considered how I 
 should keep the festival of All Saints; I 
 prayed for the poor souls in purgatory, and 
 besought God to guide me, my counsellors 
 and my people, into all truth. I fell asleep 
 again: and then I dreamt that Almighty God 
 sent a monk to me, who was the true son of 
 the Apostle Paul. All the saints accompanied 
 him, according to the command of God, in 
 order to testify to me in his favour, and to de- 
 clare that he was not come with any fraudu- 
 lent design, but that all he did was agreeable 
 to the will of God. They asked me, at the 
 same time, graciously to allow him to write 
 something on the church door of the castle of 
 Wittemberg; which request I granted by the 
 mouth of the Chancellor. Thereupon the 
 monk went his way, and began to write, but 
 in such large characters, that I could read 
 from Schweinitz what he was writing. The 
 pen that he used was so long that its extremity 
 reached even to Rome, wounded the ears of a 
 lion (Leo} that was couched there, and shook 
 the triple crown on the Pope's head. - All the 
 cardinals and princes, running hastily towards 
 him, endeavoured to support it. You and I, 
 brother, among the rest, attempted to support 
 it; I put out my arm: but, at that moment I 
 woke, with my arm extended, in great alarm, 
 and very angry with the monk who handled 
 liis pen so awkwardly. I recovered myself a 
 little; it was only a dream. 
 
 " But I was still hall asleep, and I closed 
 my eyes again. My dream continued. The 
 lion, still disturbed by the pen, began to roar 
 with all his might, so that the whole city of 
 Rome and all the states of the holy Empire 
 ran to inquire what was the matter. The 
 Pope called upon us to restrain the monk, and 
 addressed himself particularly to me, because 
 he lived in my country. I woke again ; I re- 
 
 peated a Paler nosfer. I besought God to pre- 
 serve the holy Father, and I then fell asleep 
 again. 
 
 " After this, I dreamt that all the Princes 
 of the Empire, you and I amongst the rest, 
 were flocking to Rome, trying one after the 
 other to break this pen ; but the more we ex- 
 erted ourselves, the stiffer it became; it resist- 
 ed as if it had been made of iron ; at length 
 we were tired. I then asked the monk, (for 
 I seemed to be sometimes at Rome, and some- 
 times at Wittemberg,) where he had obtained 
 that pen, and why it was so strong] 'The 
 pen,' replied he, ' once belonged to the wing 
 of a goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old.* 
 I received it from one of my old schoolmasters; 
 its strength is that no one can take the pith out 
 of it; and I am myself quite surprised at it.' 
 Suddenly I heard a loud cry : from the 
 monk's long pen had issued a great number 
 of other pens. I woke a third, time : it was 
 daylight." 
 
 Duke John. " Master Chancellor, what do 
 you think of it 1 ? Oh ! that we had here a 
 Joseph or a Daniel enlightened by God !" 
 
 The Chancellor. " Your highnesses know 
 the vulgar proverb, that the dreams of maidens^ 
 scholars, and nobles, have generally some 
 hidden meaning : but we shall not know the 
 meaning of this for some time, till the things 
 to which it relates shall have taken place. 
 Therefore, commend the accomplishment of 
 it to God, and leave it in his hands." 
 
 Duke John. "I agree with you, Master 
 Chancellor : it is not right that we should 
 puzzle our heads about the meaning of this : 
 God will turn all to his glory." 
 
 The Elector. " God in his mercy grant it! 
 However, I shall never forget the dream. I 
 have thought of one interpretation ; but I 
 keep it to myself. Time will perhaps show 
 if I have guessed right." 
 
 Such, according to the manuscript of Wei- 
 mar, was the conversation that took place on 
 the morning of the 31st of October at Schwei- 
 nitz. Let us next see what happened in the 
 evening of the same day at Wittemberg. We 
 now return to the firmer ground of history. 
 
 The admonitions of Luther had produced 
 but little effect: Tetzel, without disturbing 
 himself, continued his traffic and his impious 
 addresses to the people. 55 Shall Luther sub- 
 mit to these grievous abuses ? shall he keep 
 silence? As a pastor, he has powerfully ex- 
 horted those who attended his ministry ; and 
 as a preacher, he has uttered a warning voice 
 from the pulpit. He has yet to speak as a 
 divine; he has yet to address himself, not 
 merely to a few persons in the confessional, 
 not merely to the assembly of the church of 
 Wittemberg, but to all those who are, like 
 himself, teachers of God's word. His reso- 
 lution is formed. 
 
 It was not the Church that he thought of 
 
 * John Huss. This is one of the particulars 
 that may have been added at a subsequent period, 
 in allusion to the well known saying of Huss him' 
 self. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 77 
 
 attacking ; it was not the Pope he was about 
 to call to account; on the contrary, his re- 
 spect for the Head of the Church would not 
 allow him to be any longer silent in regard to 
 assumptions, by which the Pope's credit was 
 disparaged. He must take his part against 
 those audacious men who dared to mix up his 
 venerable name with their disgraceful traffic. 
 Far from thinking of a revolution that should 
 overthrow the primacy of Rome, Luther con- 
 ceived that he had the Pope and Catholicism 
 with him, against the effrontery of the monks. 53 
 
 The feast of All Saints was a very impor- 
 tant day at Wittemberg, and especially at the 
 church which the Elector had built and filled 
 with relics. On this occasion those relics, 
 encased in gold and silver, and adorned with 
 precious stones, were set out to dazzle the 
 eyes of the people with their magnificence. 57 
 Whoever, on that day, visited the church, and 
 there confessed himself, obtained a plenary 
 indulgence. On that great day the pilgrims 
 flocked in crowds to Wittemberg. 
 
 Luther, whose plan was already formed, 
 went boldly on the evening of the 31st of 
 Ootober, 1517, to the church, towards which 
 the superstitious crowds of pilgrims were 
 flocking, and affixed to the door ninety-five 
 theses or propositions, against the doctrine of 
 indulgences. Neither the Elector, nor Stau- 
 pitz, nor Spalatin. nor any of his friends, even 
 those most intimate with him, had any pre- 
 vious intimation of his design. 58 
 
 Luther therein declared, in a kind of pre- 
 amble, that he had written these theses in a 
 spirit of sincere charity, and with the express 
 desire of bringing the truth to light. He de- 
 clared himself ready to defend them, next day, 
 at the university itself, against all opposers. 
 
 The attention excited by them was very 
 great; and they were read and repeated on all 
 sides. The pilgrims, the university, and the 
 
 (whole city were soon in confusion. The fol- 
 lowing are some of the propositions written 
 by the pen of the monk, and posted on the 
 door of the church of Wittemberg : 
 
 " 1. When our Master and Lord Jesus 
 Christ says, ' Repent,' he means that the 
 whole life of his faithful servants upon earth 
 should be a constant and continual repentance. 
 
 " 2. This cannot be understood of the sa- 
 crament of penance, (that is to say of con- 
 fession and satisfaction,) as administered by 
 the priest. 
 
 " 3. However, our Lord does not here speak 
 only of inward repentance: inward repent- 
 ance is invalid, if it does not produce out- 
 wardly every kind of mortification of the flesh. 
 
 " 4. Repentance and grief that is to say, 
 true penitence, lasts as long as a man is dis- 
 pleased with himself, that is to say, till he 
 passes from this life to eternal life. 
 
 "5. The Pope has no power or intention 
 to remit any other penalty than that which he 
 has imposed, according to his good pleasure, 
 or conformably to the canons, that is to say, 
 to the Papal ordinances. 
 
 " 6, The Pope cannot remit any condemna- 
 tion ; but can only declare and confirm the 
 
 remission that God himself has given; except 
 only in cases that belong to him. If he does 
 | otherwise, the condemnation continues the 
 same. 
 
 "8. The laws of ecclesiastical penance can 
 only be imposed on the living, and in nowise 
 respect the dead. 
 
 "21. The commissioners of indulgences 
 are in error in saying, that, through the in- 
 dulgence of the Pope, man is delivered from, 
 all punishment, and saved. 
 
 "25. The same power, that the Pope has 
 over purgatory in the Church at large, is pos- 
 sessed by every bishop in his diocese and 
 every curate in his parish. 
 
 " 27. Those persons preach human inven- 
 tions who pretend that, at the very moment 
 when the money sounds in the strong box, 
 the soul escapes from purgatory. 
 
 "28. This is certain : that, as soon as the 
 money sounds, avarice and love of gain come 
 in, grow and multiply. But the assistance 
 and prayers of the Church depend only on 
 the will and good pleasure of God. 
 
 " 32. Those who fancy themselves sure of 
 their salvation by indulgences will go to the 
 devil with those who teach them this doc- 
 trine. 
 
 " 35. They teach antichristian doctrine 
 who profess that, to deliver a soul from pur- 
 gatory, or to purchase an indulgence, there is 
 no need of sorrow or of repentance. 
 
 "36. Every Christian who feels true re- 
 pentance for his sins has perfect remission 
 from the punishment and from the sin, with- 
 out the need of indulgences. 
 
 "37, Every true Christian, dead or living, 
 is a partaker of all the riches of Christ, or 
 of the Church, by the gift of God, and with- 
 out any letter of indulgence. 
 
 " 38. Yet we must not despise the Pope's 
 distributive and pardoning power, for his 
 pardon is a declaration of God's pardon. 
 
 " 40. Repentance and real grief seek and 
 love chastening; but the softness of the in- 
 dulgence relaxes the fear of chastisement, and 
 makes us averse from it. 
 
 "42. We must teach Christians, that the 
 Pope neither expects nor wishes us to com- 
 pare the act of preaching indulgences with 
 any charitable work whatsoever. 
 
 "43. We must teach Christians, that he 
 who gives to the poor, or lends to the needy, 
 does better than he who buys an indulgence. 
 
 " 44. For the work of charity makes cha- 
 rity to abound, and renders man more pious; 
 whilst the indulgence makes him not better, 
 but only more confident in himself, and more 
 secure from punishment. 
 
 45. W T e must teach Christians, that he 
 who sees his neighbour in want, and, not- 
 withstanding that, buys an indulgence, does 
 not in reality acquire the Pope's indulgence, 
 and draws down on himself the anger of God. 
 
 46. We must teach Christians, that if 
 they have no superfluity, they are bound to 
 keep for their families wherewith to procure 
 necessaries, and they ought not to waste 
 their money on indulgences. 
 
78 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 " 47. We must teach Christians, that the 
 purchase of an indulgence is not a matter of 
 commandment, but a thing in which they are 
 left at liberty. 
 
 "48. We must teach Christians, that the 
 Pope, having more need of the prayer of faith 
 than of money, desires prayer rather than 
 money, when he distributes indulgences. 
 
 " 49. We must teach Christians, that the 
 Pope's indulgence is good, if we do not put 
 our trust in if; but that nothing can be more 
 hurtful, if it leads us to neglect piety. 
 
 " 50. We must teach Christians, that if the 
 Pope knew the exactions of the preachers of 
 indulgences, he would rather that the metro- 
 politan church of St. Peter were burnt to ashes, 
 than see it built up with the skin, the flesh, 
 and bones of his flock. 
 
 "51. We must teach Christians, that the 
 Pope, as in duty bound, would willingly give 
 his own money, though it should be necessary 
 to sell the metropolitan church of St. Peter for 
 the purpose, to the poor people, whom the 
 preachers of indulgences now rob of their last 
 penny. 
 
 "52. To hope to be saved by indulgences 
 is to hope in lies and vanity; even although 
 the commissioner of indulgences, nay, though 
 even the Pope himself, should pledge his own 
 soul in attestation of their efficacy. 
 
 " 53. They are the enemies of the Pope and 
 of Christ, who, to favour the preaching of in- 
 dulgences, forbid the preaching of the word 
 of God. 
 
 " 55. The Pope can think no otherwise 
 than this: "If the indulgence (which is the 
 lesser) is celebrated with the sound of a bell, 
 and pomp and ceremony, much more is it right 
 to celebrate the preaching of the Gospel (which 
 is the greater) with a hundred bells, and a 
 hundred times more pomp and ceremony. 
 " 62. The true and precious treasure of the 
 Church is the holy Gospel of the glory and 
 grace of God. 
 
 " 65. The treasures of the Gospel are nets, 
 in which it formerly happened that the souls 
 of rich men, living at ease, were taken. 
 
 "66. But the treasures of the indulgence 
 are nets, wherewith now they fish for rich 
 men's wealth. 
 
 " 67. It is the duty of bishops and pastors 
 to receive with all respect the commissioners 
 of the apostolical indulgences. 
 
 " 68. " But it is much more their duty to 
 satisfy themselves, by their presence, that the 
 said commissioners do not preach the dreams 
 of their own fancy instead of the Pope's orders. 
 
 "71. Cursed be whosoever speaks against 
 the Pope's indulgence. 
 
 " 72. But blessed be he who opposes the 
 foolish and reckless speeches of the preachers 
 of indulgences. 
 
 "78. The Pope's indulgence cannot take 
 away the least of our daily sins, so far as 
 the blame or offence of it is concerned. 
 
 "79. To say that the cross, hung with the 
 Pope's arms, is as powerful as the cross of 
 Christ, is blasphemy. 
 
 "80. The bishops, pastors, and divines, 
 
 who allow these things to be taught to the 
 people will have to give account for it. 
 
 "81. This shameless preaching, these 
 impudent praises of indulgences, make it 
 difficult for the learned to defend the dignity 
 and honour of the Pope against the calumnies 
 of preachers, and the subtle and artful ques- 
 tions of the common people, 
 
 "86. Why, say they, does not the Pope 
 build the metropolitan church of St. Peter's 
 with his own money, rather than with that of 
 poor Christians, seeing that he is richer than 
 the richest Crassus 1 
 
 " 92. May we therefore be rid of those 
 preachers, who say to the Church of Christ 
 ' Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. 
 
 " 94. We must exhort Christians to en- 
 deavour to follow Christ, their head, under the 
 cross, through death and hell. 
 
 "95. For it is better, through much tribu- 
 lation, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
 than to gain a carnal security by the consola- 
 tions of a false peace." 
 
 Here then was the beginning of the work. 
 The germs of the Reformation were enclosed 
 in these theses of Luther. They attacked the 
 indulgences, and this drew notice ; but under 
 this attack was found a principle, which, 
 while it drew much less of the people's atten- 
 tion, was one day to overturn the edifice of the 
 Papacy. The evangelic doctrine of a free 
 and gracious remission of sins was for the first 
 time publicly professed. The work must now 
 go forward. In fact it was evident that who- 
 ever should receive that faith in the remission 
 of sins proclaimed by the Doctor of Wittem- 
 berg, whoever should possess that repent- 
 ance, that conversion, and that sanctification, 
 of which he urged the necessity, would no 
 longer regard human ordinances, would throw 
 off the bandages and restraints of Rome, and 
 acquire the liberty of God's children. All 
 errors would fall before this truth. It was by 
 this that the light had just entered the mind 
 of Luther; it was likewise by it that the light 
 was ordained to spread in the Church. A 
 clear perception of this truth was what had 
 been wanting to the earlier Reformers. Hence 
 the unprofitableness of their efforts. Luther 
 clearly saw, at a later period, that in proclaim- 
 ing justification by faith, he had laid the axe 
 to the root of the tree. "It is doctrine that we 
 attack in the followers of the Papacy," said 
 he. " Huss and Wicklif only attacked their 
 life; but in attacking their doctrine, we seize 
 the goose by the throat. Every thing depends 
 on the word of God, which the Pope has 
 taken from us and falsified. I have overcome 
 the Pope, because my doctrine is according 
 to God, and his is the doctrine of the devil." 59 
 
 We also, in our day, have lost sight of this 
 cardinal doctrine of justification by faith, 
 though not in the same way as our fathers. 
 "In Luther's time," says one of our contem- 
 poraries, 604 '^ remission of sins cost some mo- 
 ney at least; but in our days, every one takes 
 it gratuitously to himself." There is much 
 analogy between these two false notions. In 
 our error there is perhaps more forgetfulness 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 79 
 
 of God than that which prevailed in the 16th 
 century. The principle of justification by 
 God's free grace, which delivered the Church 
 from such deep darkness at the period of the 
 Reformation, can alone renew this generation, 
 terminate its doubts and waverings, destroy 
 the egotism which consumes it, establish mo- 
 rality" and uprightness among the nations, 
 in a word, bring back to God the world which 
 has forsaken him. 
 
 But if these theses of Luther were strong in 
 the strength of the truth they proclaimed, they 
 were no less powerful in the faith of him who 
 declared himself their champion. He had 
 boldly drawn the sword of the word. He had 
 done this in reliance on the power of truth. 
 He had felt that, in dependence on the pro- 
 mises of God, something might be hazarded, 
 as the world would express it. " Let him 
 who resolves to begin a good work," (said he, 
 speaking of this bold attack,) " undertake it, 
 relying on the goodness of the thing itself, and 
 in no degree on any help or comfort to be de- 
 rived from men : moreover, let him not fear 
 men, nor the whole world. For that text shall 
 never be falsified: 'It is good to trust in the 
 Lord, and he that trusteth in him shall cer- 
 tainly never be confounded.' But as for him 
 who will not, or cannot, venture something, 
 trusting in God, let him carefully abstain from 
 undertaking any thing." 61 We cannot doubt 
 that Luther, after having fixed his theses on 
 the door of the church of All Saints, withdrew 
 to his peaceful cell, filled with that peace and 
 joy which flow from an action done in the 
 name of the Lord, and for the cause of ever- 
 lasting truth. 
 
 Whatever boldness may appear in these 
 theses, we still discover in them the monk who 
 would refuse to allow a single doubt as to the 
 authority of the Roman See. But in attack- 
 ing the doctrine of indulgences, Luther had 
 unconsciously borne hard upon many errors, 
 the discovery of which could not be agreeable 
 to the Pope, since it must necessarily lead, 
 sooner or later, to the discrediting his su- 
 premacy. Luther's views, at that time, did 
 not extend so far; but he felt the boldness 
 of the step he had just taken, and thought 
 therefore that he ought to qualify it, as far as 
 he could, consistently with the respect he owed 
 to the truth. He consequently put forth these 
 theses only as doubtful propositions, in respect 
 to which he solicited information from the 
 learned ; and he added (in accordance, it is 
 true, with an established custom,) a solemn 
 protestation, by which he declared, that he did 
 not mean to say or affirm anything that was 
 not founded on the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers 
 of the Church, and the rights and decretals of 
 the court of Rome. 
 
 Often did Luther, in after times, when he 
 contemplated the vast and unexpected conse- 
 quences of this courageous step, feel amazed 
 at himself, and unable to comprehend how he 
 had dared to take it. The truth was, an in- 
 visible and all-powerful hand held the guiding 
 rein, and urged on the herald of truth in a road 
 which he knew not, and from the difficul- 
 
 ties of which he would perhaps have shrunk, 
 lad he been aware of them, and advanced 
 alone and of his own will. "I entered on 
 this controversy," said he, "without any set- 
 tled purpose or inclination, and entirely un- 
 prepared ... I call God to witness this who 
 sees the heart." 62 
 
 Luther had learned what was the source of 
 these abuses. A little book was brought him, 
 adorned with the arms of the Archbishop of 
 Mentz and Magdeburg, containing rules to 
 be followed in the sale of the indulgences. 
 Thus it was this young prelate, this accom- 
 plished prince, who had prescribed, or at least 
 sanctioned, this imposture. Luther saw in 
 him only a superior, whom it was his duty to 
 honour and respect. 63 He resolved no longer 
 to beat the air, but rather to apply to those 
 who had the office of government in the 
 church. He addressed to him a letter full of 
 frankness and humility. Luther wrote to Al- 
 bert the same day that he placarded his theses. 
 'Forgive me, most reverend Father in 
 Christ, and most illustrious Prince, if I, who 
 am the very meanest of men, have the bold- 
 ness to write to your sublime grandeur. 64 The 
 Lord Jesus is my witness that, feeling how 
 small and contemptible I am, I have long de- 
 layed to do so. Yet let your Highness look 
 upon an atom of dust, and in your episcopal 
 compassion graciously receive my request. 
 
 " Men are carrying throughout the country 
 the papal indulgence, under your Grace's 
 name. I will not so much accuse the cla- 
 mours of the preachers, (for I have not heard 
 them,) as the false opinions of simple and 
 ignorant people, who, when they purchase 
 these indulgences, think themselves sure of 
 their salvation. 
 
 " Great God ! the souls confided, my very 
 excellent Father, to your care, are trained not 
 for life, but for death. The strict reckoning 
 that will one day be required of you, increases 
 every day. I could no longer keep silence. 
 No! man is not saved by the work or the 
 office of his bishop. Scarcely even is the 
 righteous saved, and the way that leadeth 
 unto life is narrow. Why then do the preach- 
 ers of indulgences, by empty fictions, lull the 
 people in carnal security. 
 
 "The indulgence alone, if we can give ear 
 to them, is to be proclaimed and exalted. 
 What, is it not the chief and only duty of 
 the bishops to teach the people the Gospel 
 and the love of Christ 1 ! 65 Christ himself has 
 nowhere told us to preach indulgences, but 
 he has enjoined us to preach the Gospel. 
 How horrid and dangerous then it is for a 
 bishop to allow the Gospel to be withheld, 
 and the indulgences alone to be continually 
 sounded in the ears of the people ! 
 
 " Most worthy Father in God, in the In- 
 struction of the Commissioners, which was 
 published in your Grace's name, (certainly 
 without your knowledge,) it is said, that the 
 indulgence is the most precious treasure; that 
 by it a man is reconciled to God, and that 
 repentance ' is not needed by those who pur- 
 chase it. 
 
 H 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 "What can I, what ought I to do, most 
 worthy bishop and serene prince 1 Oh! I 
 entreat your Highness, by the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, to look into this matter with paternal 
 vigilance, to suppress this book entirely, and 
 to order the preachers to address to the people 
 different instructions. Jf you neglect to do 
 this, prepare yourself to hear some day a voice 
 lifted, that shall refute these preachers, to the 
 great disgrace of your most serene Highness." 
 
 Luther, at the same time, sent his theses to 
 the Archbishop, and asked him in a postscript 
 to read them, in order to convince himself of 
 the little dependence that was to be placed on 
 the doctrine of indulgences. 
 
 Thus, the only wish of Luther was, that 
 the watchmen of the Church should arouse 
 themselves, and endeavour to put a stop to the 
 evils that were laying it waste. Nothing 
 could be more noble or respectful than this 
 letter of a monk to one of the greatest princes 
 of the Church and of the Empire. Never did 
 any one act more in the spirit of Christ's pre- 
 cept : " Render unto Caesar the things that are 
 Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
 God's." This conduct bears no resemblance 
 to that of the reckless revolutionist, who de- 
 spises dominions and speaks evil of dignities. 
 It is the conscientious appeal of a Christian and 
 a priest, who renders honour to all, but, above 
 all, has the fear of God in his heart. But all 
 his entreaties and supplications were useless. 
 Young Albert, wholly engrossed by pleasure 
 and the pursuits of ambition, made no reply 
 to this solemn address. The Bishop of Bran- 
 denburg, Luther's ordinary, a learned and 
 pious man, to whom he also sent the theses, 
 replied that he was attacking the power of the 
 Church; that he would bring upon himself 
 much trouble and grief; that the attempt 
 would be found too much for his strength, and 
 that he would do well to give up the affair 
 altogether. 66 The princes of the Church closed 
 their ears to the voice of God, which was 
 making itself heard in so affecting and ener- 
 getic a manner through the instrumentality of 
 Luther. They would not understand the 
 signs of the times; they were struck with 
 that blindness which has already accelerated 
 the ruin of so many powers and dignities. 
 44 They both thought at that time," as Luther 
 afterwards observed, "that the Pope would 
 be too powerful for a poor mendicant monk 
 like me." 
 
 But Luther could judge better than the 
 bishops, of the fatal effect of indulgences on 
 the lives and morals of the people; for he 
 was intimately connected with them. He 
 saw constantly and close at hand, what the 
 bishops only knew from reports that could 
 not be depended on. If he found no help 
 from the bishops, God was not wanting to 
 him. The head of the Church, who sits in 
 the heavens, and to whom alone all power is 
 given upon earth, had himself prepared the 
 soil, and committed the seed to the hand of 
 his servant ; he gave wings to those seeds of 
 truth, and scattered them in a moment over 
 the whole field of the church. 
 
 No one appeared next day at the university 
 to impugn the propositions of Luther. Tet- 
 zel's traffic was too generally decried and too 
 disreputable for any other person than himself, 
 or one of his followers, to dare to accept the 
 challenge. But these theses were destined to 
 find an echo beyond the vaulted roof of the 
 academy. Hardly had they been nailed to 
 the church door of the castle of Wittemberg, 
 when the feeble sound of the hammer was 
 succeeded by a thunderclap, which shook the 
 very foundations of proud Rome; threatened 
 with instant ruin the walls, gates, and pillars 
 of the Papacy; stunned and terrified its cham- 
 pions; and at the same time awakened from 
 the slumber of error many thousands of men. 67 
 
 These theses spread with the rapidity of 
 lightning. Before a month had elapsed, they 
 had found their way to Rome. " In the space 
 of a fortnight," says a contemporary historian, 
 " they had spread over Germany, and within 
 a month they had run through all Christendom, 
 as if angels themselves had been the bearers 
 of them to all men. It is difficult to conceive 
 the stir they occasioned." 68 They were after- 
 wards translated into Dutch, and into Spa- 
 nish ; and a traveller carried them for sale as 
 far as Jerusalem. " Every one," said Luther, 
 "was complaining of the indulgences, and, 
 as all the bishops and doctors had kept 
 silence, and no one was inclined to take the 
 bull by the horns, poor Luther became a fa- 
 mous doctor; because, at last, said they, one 
 doctor was found who dared grapple with 
 him. But I did not like this glory, and 
 I thought the song in too high a key for my 
 voice." 69 
 
 Many of the pilgrims who had flocked 
 from all sides to Witternberg at the feast 
 of All Saints, took back with them not the 
 indulgences but the famous theses of the 
 Augustine monk. Thus they helped to diffuse 
 them. Every one read them, meditating and 
 commenting on them. Men conversed about 
 them in convents and in colleges. 70 The devout 
 monks who had entered the convents that 
 they might save their souls, and all upright 
 and well-intentioned men rejoiced at so simple 
 and striking a confession of the truth, and 
 heartily desired that Luther might continue 
 the work he had begun. " I observe," says 
 one very worthy of credit, and a great rival 
 of the Reformer, (Erasmus,) speaking to a 
 cardinal, " that the more irreproachable men's 
 morals, and the more evangelical their piety, 
 the less are they opposed to Luther. His 
 life is commended even by those who cannot 
 endure his opinions. The world was weary 
 of a method of teaching in which so many 
 puerile fictions and human inventions were 
 mixed up, and thirsted for that living, pure, 
 and hiddqji stream which flows from the veins 
 of the apostles and evangelists. The genius 
 of Luther was such as fitted him for these 
 things, and his zeal would naturally take fire 
 at so noble an enterprise." 71 
 
 To form an idea of the various but prodi- 
 gious effect that these propositions produced 
 in Germany, we should endeavour to follow 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 81 
 
 them wherever they penetrated, into the 
 study of the learned, the cell of the monk, and 
 the palaces of the princes. 
 
 Reuchlin received a copy of them. He 
 was tired of the rude conflict he had waged 
 with the monks. The strength evinced by 
 the new combatant in these theses cheered the 
 depressed spirits of the old champion of 
 letters, and gave fresh joy to his drooping 
 heart. "Thanks be to God," exclaimed he, 
 after having read them, " they have now found 
 a man who will give them so much to do, that 
 they will be very glad to leave my old age to 
 pass away in peace." 
 
 The cautious Erasmus was in the Low 
 Countries when the theses reached him. He 
 inwardly rejoiced to see his secret desires for 
 the reform of abuses so courageously express- 
 ed : he commended their author, only exhort- 
 ing him to more moderation and prudence. 
 And yet, when some one in his presence 
 blamed Luther's violence, " God," said Eras- 
 mus, " has sent a physician who cuts into the 
 flesh, because, without such an one, the dis- 
 order would become incurable." And when 
 afterwards Ihe Elector of Saxony asked his 
 opinion of Luther's affair, " I am not at all 
 surprised," answered he, smiling, " that he 
 has occasioned so much disturbance, for he 
 has committed two unpardonable offences, 
 he has attacked the tiara of the Pope, and the 
 bellies of the monks." 72 
 
 Doctor Flek, prior of the cloister of Stein- 
 lausitz, had for some time discontinued read- 
 ing mass, but he told no one his true reason. 
 One day he found the theses of Luther in the 
 convent refectory : he took them up and read ; 
 and no sooner had he gone through some 
 of them, than, unable to suppress his joy, he 
 exclaimed, "Oh ! now at last, one is come 
 who has been long waited for, and will tell 
 you all ; look there, monks !" Thence glanc- 
 ing into futurity, as Mathesius remarks, and 
 playing on the word Wittemberg: "All the 
 world," said he, "will come to seek wisdom 
 on that mountain, and will find it." 73 He wrote 
 to the Doctor, urging him by all means to con- 
 tinue the glorious struggle with courage. 
 Luther calls him " a man full of joy and con- 
 solation." 
 
 The ancient and famous episcopal see of 
 Wiirzburg was then filled by a pious, kind, 
 and prudent man, Laurence of Bibra. When 
 a gentleman came to announce to him that he 
 destined his daughter for the cloister, " Better 
 give her a husband," said he. And he added, 
 " If you want money to do so, I will lend 
 you." The Emperor and all the princes had 
 the highest esteem for him. He deplored the 
 disorders of the Church, and especially of the 
 convents. The theses reached him also in his 
 episcopal palace ; he read them with great 
 joy, and publicly declared that he Approved 
 Luther's view. He afterwards wrote to the 
 Elector Frederic, " Do not let the pious Doc- 
 tor Martin Luther leave you, for the charges 
 against him are unjust." The Elector rejoiced 
 at this testimony, copied it with his own hand, 
 and sent it to the Reformer. 
 
 The Emperor Maximilian, the predecessor 
 of Charles V., himself read and admired the 
 theses of the monk of Wittemberg. He per- 
 ceived the wide grasp of his thoughts ; he fore- 
 saw that this obscure Augustine might proba- 
 bly become a powerful ally in Germany, in her 
 struggle with Rome. Accordingly, he sen* 
 this message to the Elector of Saxony : "Take 
 care of the monk Luther, for a time may come 
 when we may have need of him:" 74 and shortly 
 after, meeting PfefHnger, the confidential ad- 
 viser of the Elector, at the Diet, " Well," 
 said he, "what is your Augustine about? 
 Truly his propositions are not to be despised. 
 He will show wonders to the monks." 75 
 
 Even at Rome, and at the Vatican, the the- 
 ses were not so ill received. Leo X. regarded 
 them rather with the feelings of a friend of 
 learning than a Pope. The amusement they 
 gave him made him overlook the stern truths 
 they contained ; and when Silvester Prierias, 
 the master of the sacred palace, besought him 
 to treat Luther as a heretic, he answered, 
 " That same brother, Martin Luther, is a man 
 of talent, and all that is said against him is 
 mere monkish jealousy." 76 
 
 There were few on whom the theses of 
 Luther had more effect than on the student of 
 Annaberg, whom Tetzel had so unmercifully 
 repulsed. Myconius had entered into a con- 
 vent. That very night he had dreamed that 
 he saw a wide field covered with ripe grain. 
 " Reap," said the voice of him who seemed 
 to conduct him ; and when he excused him- 
 self as unskilled, his guide showed him a 
 reaper labouring at his work with inconceiv- 
 able activity. "Follow him, and do as he 
 does," 77 said his guide. Myconius, panting, 
 like Luther, for holiness, gave himself up in 
 the convent to watchings, fastings, macera- 
 tions, and all the works of man's invention. 
 But in the end he abandoned all hope of attain- 
 ing the object of his pursuit. He left off study 
 and applied himself only to manual labours. 
 Sometimes he bound books, sometimes he 
 wrought as a turner, or at some other mecha- 
 nical occupation. This activity of body was 
 unavailing, however, to quiet his troubled con- 
 science. God had spoken to him ; he could 
 not relapse into his former sleep. This dis- 
 tress of mind lasted several years. Men some- 
 times imagine that the paths of the Reformers 
 were altogether pleasant, and that when once 
 they had rejected the burdensome observances 
 of the Church, nothing remained but ease and 
 delight. . Such persons do not know that they 
 only arrived at the truth by internal struggles 
 a thousand times more painful than the observ- 
 ances to which servile spirits readily submitted. 
 
 At length the year 1517 arrived : the theses 
 of Luther were published; they ran through 
 all lands ; they arrived at the convent in which 
 the student of Annaberg was immured. He 
 retired with another monk, John Voit, into a 
 corner of the cloister, that he might read them 
 undisturbed. 78 There was indeed the truth he 
 had learned from his father; his eyes were 
 opened ; he felt a voice within him responding 
 to that which then resounded throughout Ger- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 many; and a rich comfort filled his heart. 
 44 1 see clearly," said he, " that Martin Lu- 
 ther is the reaper whom I beheld in my dream, 
 and who taught me to gather in the ripe corn." 
 Immediately he began to profess the doctrine 
 which Luther had proclaimed. The monks 
 listened to him with dismay, combated his 
 new opinions, and exclaimed against Luther 
 and his convent. " That convent," replied 
 Myconius, " is as the Sepulchre of our Lor*; 
 some men attempt to hinder Christ's resurrec- 
 tion, but they cannot succeed in their attempt." 
 At last his superiors, seeing that they were 
 unable to convince him, forbade him for a 
 year and a half all intercourse beyond the 
 walls of his convent; prohibiting him from 
 writing or receiving letters; and threatened 
 him with perpetual imprisonment. However, 
 the hour of deliverance came also to him. 
 Appointed shortly after pastor at Zwickau, 
 he was the first who openly declared against 
 the Papacy in the churches of Thuringia. 
 " Then it was that I was enabled," says he, 
 "to labour with my venerable father Lu- 
 ther in the harvest of the gospel." Jonas has 
 designated him a man capable of all he 
 dertook. 79 
 
 Doubtless there were other souls besides 
 these to whom the theses of Luther were the 
 signal of life. They kindled a new light in 
 many a cell, cabin, and even palace. Whilst 
 those who sought, in monastic seclusion, a 
 well-supplied board, a life of indolence, or the 
 reverence of their fellow-men, observes Mathe 
 sius, heaped reproaches on the Reformer's 
 name, the monks who lived in prayer, fast- 
 ings, and mortifications, thanked God when 
 they heard the first cry of that eagle predicted 
 by John Huss, a century before. 80 Even the 
 common people, who understood but little of 
 the theological question, and only knew that 
 this man protested against mendicant friars 
 and indolent monks, hailed him with shouts 
 of joy. An extraordinary sensation was pro- 
 duced in Germany by his bold propositions. 
 But others of his contemporaries foresaw their 
 serious consequences, and the many obstacles 
 they would have to encounter. They loudly 
 expressed their fears, and never rejoiced with- 
 out trembling. 
 
 "I fear much," wrote Bernard Adelrnan, 
 the excellent canon of Augsburg, to his friend 
 Pirckheimer, " that the worthy man will be, 
 after all, obliged to yield to the avarice and 
 power of the partisans of indulgences. His 
 remonstrances have had so little effect, that 
 the Bishop of Augsburg, our primate and me- 
 tropolitan, has just ordered, in the Pope's 
 name, fresh indulgences for St. Peter's at 
 Rome. 81 Let him, without losing time, seek 
 the support of the princes; let him beware of 
 tempting God ; for one must be void of com- 
 mon sense, not to see the imminent danger in 
 which he stands." Adelman rejoiced greatly 
 when a report was current that King Henry 
 VIII. had invited Luther to England. " He 
 will there," thought he, "be able to teach the 
 truth without molestation." Many there were 
 who thus imagined that the doctrine of the 
 
 Gospel needed to be supported by the power 
 of princes. They knew not that it advances 
 without any such power, and that often the al- 
 liance of this power hinders and weakens it. 
 
 The celebrated historian, Albert Kranz, was 
 lying on his death-bed at Hamburgh, when 
 the theses of Luther were brought to him. 
 " Thou hast truth on thy side, brother Martin !" 
 exclaimed the dying man, "but thou wilt not 
 succeed. Poor monk, get thee to thy cell, and 
 cry, God, have mercy on me!" 82 
 
 An old priest of Hexter in Westphalia, hav- 
 ing received and read the theses in his pres- 
 bytery, said, in low German, shaking his head, 
 " Dear brother Martin, if you succeed in cast- 
 ing down that purgatory and those sellers of 
 paper, truly you will be a great man." Erbe- 
 nius, who lived a hundred years later, wrote 
 these lines under the words we have quoted : 
 
 Quid vero, nunc si viveret, 
 Bonus iste clericus diceret ?* 
 
 Not only did many of Luther's friends, con- 
 ceive fears from his proceeding; several ex- 
 pressed to him their disapproval. 
 
 The Bishop of Brandenburg, grieved at see- 
 ing so important a controversy originating in 
 his own diocese, would have wished to stifle 
 it. He resolved to set about it with mildness. 
 " 1 find," said he to Luther, by the Abbot of 
 Lenin, " nothing in the theses concerning the 
 indulgences at variance with the Catholic faith. 
 I even myself condemn those imprudent pro- 
 clamations; but for the love of peace, and out 
 of regard to your bishop, cease to write on this 
 subject." Luther was embarrassed that so 
 distinguished an abbot and so great a bishop 
 should address him with such humility. Moved 
 and carried away by the first impulse of his 
 heart, he answered, " I consent; I prefer obe- 
 dience even to the working of miracles, if that 
 were possible to me." 83 
 
 The Elector saw with regret the commence- 
 ment of a contest, legitimate doubtless, but 
 one of which the result could not be foreseen. 
 No prince more sincerely desired to maintain 
 the public peace than Frederic. Yet now 
 what a vast conflagration might not this little 
 fire kindle! what great contentions, what 
 rending asunder of the nations might this 
 quarrel with the monks produce ! The Elector 
 sent Luther repeated intimations of his un- 
 easiness on the subject/ 4 
 
 In his own order, and even in his convent 
 of Wittemberg, Luther met with disapproba- 
 tion. The prior and the sub-prior were fright- 
 ened at the outcry made by Tetzel and all his 
 companions. They went to brother Martin's 
 cell, alarmed and trembling: "Pray," said 
 they, "do not bring disgrace upon your order! 
 The other orders, and especially the Domini- 
 cans, are already transported with joy to think 
 that thay are not alone in their obloquy." 
 Lather was affected by these words; but soon 
 recovering himself, he answered, "Dear fa- 
 thers ! if the thing is not of God, it will come 
 
 What would the worthy clerk now say 
 If he were living in our day ? 
 

 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 83 
 
 naught; if it is, let it go forward." The 
 prior and the sub-prior were silent. "The 
 thing is going forward still" adds Luther, 
 after having related this circumstance, " and 
 if it please God, it will go on better and better 
 to the end. Amen." 85 
 
 Luther had many other attacks of a very 
 different kind to endure. At Erfurth he was 
 accused of violence and pride in the manner 
 in which he condemned the opinions of others ; 
 a reproach to which those persons are gene- 
 rally exposed who have that strength of con- 
 viction which is produced by the word of God. 
 He was reproached with haste, and with 
 levity. 
 
 "They require modesty in me," replied 
 Luther, "and they themselves trample it un- 
 der foot in the judgment they pass on me ! . . . 
 We behold the mote in another's eye, and con- 
 sider not the beam that is in our own eye. . . . 
 The truth will gain no more by rny modesty 
 than it will lose by my rashness." " I should 
 like to know," continued he, addressing him- 
 self to Lange, " what errors you and your di- 
 vines have found in my theses. Who does 
 not know that we can seldom advance a new 
 idea without an appearance of pride, and with- 
 out being accused of seeking quarrels ? If 
 humility herself attempted any thing new, 
 those of a different opinion would exclaim that 
 she was proud. 86 Why were Christ and all the 
 martyrs put to death ? Because they appeared 
 proud despisers of the wisdom of the times in 
 which they lived, and because they brought 
 forward new truths without having first hum- 
 bly consulted the oracles of the old opinions. 
 
 " Let not the wise men of the present day, 
 therefore, expect from me so much humility, 
 or rather hypocrisy, as to ask their judgment, 
 before I publish that which my duty calls upon 
 me to proclaim. What I am doing will not 
 be effected by the prudence of man, but by the 
 counsel of God. If the work is of God, who 
 shall stop it] If it is not, who can forward 
 it? Not my will, not theirs, nor ours, bat 
 Thy will, thine, holy Father, who art in hea- 
 ven !" 
 
 What boldness, what noble enthusiasm, 
 what trust in God ! and especially what truth 
 in these words, and what truth for all times ! 
 
 However, the reproaches and accusations 
 which were brought against Luther from all 
 sides, did not fail to make some impression 
 upon his mind. He was deceived in his ex- 
 pectations. He had expected to see the heads 
 of the Church, the most distinguished philo- 
 sophers of the nation, publicly join him ; but 
 it was quite otherwise. A word of encourage- 
 ment hastily bestowed at the outset was "all 
 that the more favourably disposed afforded 
 him ; and many of those whom he had regarded 
 with most veneration were loud in their con- 
 demnation of him. He felt himself alone in 
 the Church; alone against Rome; alone at 
 the foot of that ancient and formidable cita- 
 del, whose foundations reached to the bowels 
 of the earth, and whose walls, ascending to 
 the skies, appeared to deride the presump- 
 tuous stroke which his hand had aimed against 
 12 
 
 | them. 87 He was disturbed and dejected at the 
 
 j thought. Doubts, which he thought he had 
 
 I overcome, returned to his mind with fresh 
 
 j force. He trembled to think that he had the 
 
 whole authority of the Church against him. 
 
 To withdraw himself from that authority, to 
 
 resist that voice which nations and ages had 
 
 humbly obeyed, to set himself in opposition 
 
 to that Church which he had been accustomed 
 
 frfm his infancy to revere as the mother of 
 
 the faithful ; he, a despicable monk, it was 
 
 an effort beyond human power. 88 No one step 
 
 cost him so much as this, and it was in fact 
 
 this that decided the fate of the Reformation. 
 
 No one can describe better than himself the 
 struggle he then suffered in his mind. "I 
 began this affair," said he, " with great fear 
 and trembling. What was I at that time? 
 a poor, wretched, contemptible friar, more 
 like a corpse than a man.* 9 Who was I, to 
 oppose the Pope's majesty, before which not 
 only the kings of the earth and the whole 
 world trembled ; but also, if I may so speak, 
 heaven and hell were constrained to obey the 
 slightest intimation of his will? No one 
 can know what I suffered those first two 
 years, and in what dejection, I might say in 
 what despair, I was often plunged. Those 
 proud spirits who afterwards attacked the 
 Pope with such boldness, can form no idea of 
 my sufferings ; though, with all their skill, 
 they could have done him no injury, if Christ 
 had not inflicted upon him, through me, His 
 weak and unworthy instrument, a wound from, 
 which he will never recover. But whilst they 
 were satisfied to look on and leave me to face 
 the danger alone, I was not so happy, so calm, 
 or so sure of success ; for I did not then know 
 many things which now, thanks be to God, I 
 do know. There were, it is true, many pious 
 Christians who were much pleased with my 
 propositions and thought highly of them. 
 But I was not able to recognise these, or look 
 upon them as inspired by the Holy Ghost; I 
 only looked to the Pope, the cardinals, the 
 bishops, the theologians, the jurisconsults, the 
 monks, the priests. It was from thence that 
 I expected the Spirit to breathe. However, 
 after having triumphed, by means of the Scrip- 
 tures, over all opposing arguments, I at last 
 overcame, by the grace of Christ, with much 
 anguish, labour, and great difficulty, the only 
 argument that still stopped me, namely, * that 
 I must hear the church;' 90 for, from my heart, 
 I honoured the church of the Pope as the true 
 church, and I did so with more sincerity and 
 veneration than those disgraceful and infa- 
 mous corrupters of the church, who, to oppose 
 me, now so much extol it. If I had despised 
 the Pope, as those persons do in their hearts, 
 who praise him so much with their lips, I 
 should have feared that the earth would open 
 at that instant, and swallow me up alive, like 
 Korah and his company." 
 
 How honourable are these struggles to 
 Luther's character ! what sincerity, what up- 
 rightness, do th.ey evince ! and how much 
 more worthy of our respect is he rendered by 
 these painful assaults from within and from 
 SH 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 without, than he could have been by an intre- 
 pidity untried by conflict. This travail of his 
 soul is good evidence of the truth and divine 
 nature of his work. We see that the cause 
 and principle of all his actions was from 
 heaven. Who will dare to say, after all the 
 characteristics we have pointed out, that the 
 Reformation was a political affair ? No, 
 certainly, it was not the fruit of human policy, 
 but of divine power. If Luther had Uhly 
 been actuated by human passions, he won Id 
 have yielded to his fears ; his disappoint- 
 ments and misgivings would have smothered 
 the fire that had been kindled in his soul, and 
 he would only have shed a transient light 
 upon the Church, as had been done before by 
 so many zealous and pious men, whose names 
 have been handed down to posterity. But 
 now God's time was come ; the work was not 
 to be arrested ; the enfranchisement of the 
 Church must be accomplished. Luther was 
 destined at least to prepare the way for that 
 complete deliverance and that mighty increase 
 which are promised to the kingdom of Christ. 
 Accordingly he experienced the truth of that 
 glorious promise : " The youths shall faint, 
 and be weary, and the young men shall utterly 
 fail : But they that wait on the Lord shall re- 
 new their strength; they shall mount up with 
 wings, as eagles." And the same divine 
 power, which, animating the heart of the Doc- 
 tor of Wittemberg, had led him to the combat, 
 soon restored his former courage. 
 
 The reproaches, the timidity, or the silence 
 of his friends had discouraged him ; the at- 
 tacks of his enemies reanimated him: this is 
 usually the case. The adversaries of the 
 truth, thinking by their violence to do their 
 own work, did in fact the work of God. 91 
 Tetzel took up the gauntlet, but with a feeble 
 hand. The sermon of Luther, which had had 
 the same eifect upon the common people as 
 the theses had had upon the learned, was the 
 first thing he undertook to answer. He re- 
 plied to this discourse, sentence by sentence, 
 in his own manner ; he then gave notice that 
 he was preparing to confute his adversary 
 more at length, in some theses which he 
 would maintain at the famous university of 
 Frankfort upon the Oder. "Then," said he, 
 referring to the conclusion of Luther's sermon, 
 "every one will be able to discover who is an 
 heresiarch, a heretic, a schismatic, who is 
 in error, who is rash, who is a slanderer. 
 Then it will be evident to the eyes of all, who 
 has ' a gloomy brain,' who has ' never felt the 
 Bible, read the doctrines of Christianity, and 
 understood his own teachers ;' and in de- 
 fence of the propositions that I bring forward 
 I am ready to suffer any punishment what- 
 soever, imprisonment, bastinado, water, or 
 fire." 
 
 One thing strikes us in this work of TetzeFs. 
 It is the difference between his German and 
 that of Luther. It seems as if there w.ere a 
 distance of several ages between them. A 
 foreigner especially finds it difficult to under- 
 stand Tetzel, whilst the language of Luther 
 is almost entirely such as is used at the pre- 
 
 sent day. It is sufficient to compare their 
 writings, to see that Luther is the father of 
 the German language. This is undoubtedly 
 one of the least of his merits, but still it is a 
 merit. 
 
 Luther replied to this attack without nam- 
 ing Tetzel; Tetzel had not named him. 
 But there was no one in Germany who could 
 not have written in the front of their produc- 
 tions the names which the authors thought fit 
 to conceal. Tetzel endeavoured to confound 
 the repentance that God requires with the pe- 
 nitence that the Church imposes ; in order to 
 give higher value to his indulgences. Luther 
 undertook to clear up this point. 
 
 " To avoid many words," said he, in his 
 own picturesque language, " I give to the 
 winds, (which have more leisure than I have,) 
 his other remarks, which are but paper flowers 
 and dry leaves, and I content myself with 
 examining the foundations of his edifice of 
 burrs." 
 
 " The penitence imposed by the holy Father 
 cannot be the repentance required by Christ: 
 for what the holy Father imposes he can dis- 
 pense with : and if these two penitences are 
 one and the same thing, it follows that the 
 holy Father takes away what Christ imposes, 
 and destroys the commandment of God . . . 
 Let him only ill treat me," continues Luther, 
 after having quoted other false interpretations 
 of Tetzel, "let him call me a heretic; schis- 
 matical, slanderous, and whatever he pleases : 
 I shall not be his enemy on that account; 
 nay, so far from it, I will, on that account, 
 pray for him as for a friend. But it cannot be 
 endured that he should treat the Holy Scrip- 
 ture, our consolation, as a sow treats a sack 
 of oats." 92 
 
 We must accustom ourselves to find Luther 
 sometimes using expressions too coarsely vi- 
 tuperative for modern taste : it was the cus- 
 tom of the time ; and we generally find in 
 those words which shock our notions of pro- 
 priety in language, a suitableness and strength 
 which redeem their harshness. He con- 
 tinues : 
 
 " He who purchases indulgences, (say our 
 adversaries again,) does better than he who 
 gives alms to a poor man, unless he be re- 
 duced to the greatest extremity. Now, if 
 they tell us that the Turks are profaning our 
 churches and crosses, we may hear it without 
 shuddering, for we have amongst ourselves 
 Turks a hundred times worse, who profane 
 and annihilate the only true sanctuary, the 
 word of God, which sanctifies all things. . . . 
 Let him who wishes to follow this precept, 
 take good care not to feed the hungry, or to 
 clothe the naked, before they die of want, and 
 consequently have no more need of assistance." 
 
 It is important to compare Luther's xeal for 
 good works, with what he says about justifi- 
 cation by faith. Indeed, no one who has any 
 experience and knowledge of Christianity, 
 wants this new proof of a truth of which he 
 has felt the fullest evidence; namely, that the 
 more firmly we hold the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith, the better we know the necessi- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 85 
 
 ty of works, and the more diligent we are in 
 the practice of them ; whilst on the other hand, 
 any laxity of the doctrine of faith brings with 
 it, of necessity, a neglect of good works. Lu- 
 ther, St. Paul before him, and Howard after 
 him are proofs of the former assertion. All 
 men without this faith, and the world is full 
 of such, give proof of the latter. 
 
 Luther proceeds to refer to the insults of 
 Tetzel, and returns them in this fashion : "It 
 seems to me, at the sound of these invectives, 
 that I hear a great ass braying at me. I re- 
 joice at it, and should be very sorry that such 
 people should call me a good Christian." . . . 
 We must represent Luther such as he was, 
 and with all his weaknesses. This inclina- 
 tion to humour, and even low humour, was 
 one of them. He was a great man, a man of 
 God ; but he was a man, and not an angel, 
 nor even a perfect man. Who has the right 
 to require this in him 1 ? 
 
 " Furthermore," adds he, defying and chal- 
 lenging his adversaries to combat, "although 
 for such things it is not the custom to burn 
 heretics, here am I, at Wittemberg, I, Doctor 
 Martin Luther! and if there is any inquisitor 
 who wishes to chew iron, or blow up rocks, 
 I give him notice that he may have a safe- 
 conduct hither, open gates, a good table, and 
 a lodging prepared for him, all through the 
 gracious care of the worthy prince, Duke 
 Frederic, Elector of Saxony, who will never 
 be the protector of heretics." 93 
 
 We see that Luther was not wanting in 
 courage. He trusted in the word of God, and 
 that is a rock that never fails to shelter us in 
 the storm. But God in his faithfulness also 
 afforded him other assistance. To the bursts 
 of joy with which the multitude received the 
 theses of Luther, had succeeded a mournful 
 silence. The learned had timidly withdrawn 
 when they heard the calumnies and insults 
 of Tetzel and of the Dominicans. The bish- 
 ops, who had before loudly blamed the abuse 
 of the indulgences, seeing them at last attack- 
 ed, had not failed, as is always the case, to 
 discover that the attack was unseasonable. 
 The greater part of the Reformer's friends 
 were alarmed. Every one shrunk back. But 
 when the first alarm was over, a change took 
 place in the minds of men. The monk of 
 Wittemberg, who, for some time had been al- 
 most alone in the Church, soon saw himself 
 again surrounded by a multitude of friends and 
 admirers. 
 
 There was one, who, though timid still re- 
 mained faithful to him at this crisis, and whose 
 friendship was a consolation and support. 
 This was Spalatin. Their correspondence 
 had been kept up. " I return you thanks," 
 he says to him, speaking of a special mark of 
 friendship he had received from him, "but 
 what do I not owe you V' 94 It was on the llth 
 of November, 15 17, eleven days after the pub- 
 lication of the theses, and consequently at the 
 moment when the minds of the people were 
 in the greatest ferment, that Luther thus pour- 
 ed forth his gratitude to his friend. It is in- 
 teresting to see in this very letter to Spalatin, 
 
 how this strong man who had just performed 
 an action requiring so much courage, acknow- 
 ledges whence his strength is derived. "We 
 can do nothing of ourselves; we can do all 
 things by the grace of God. Ignorance in 
 any measure is altogether beyond our power 
 to overcome. There is no ignorance so dark 
 but the grace of God can dispel it. The more 
 we labour by our own strength to attain wis- 
 dom,' the more infatuated we become. 95 And 
 it is not true that this invincible ignorance 
 excuses the sinner, for otherwise there is no 
 such thing as sin in the world." 
 
 Luther had sent his propositions neither to 
 the prince nor to any of his courtiers. It ap- 
 pears that the chaplain expressed some sur- 
 prise at this. "I did not wish," answered 
 Luther, "that my theses should reach the 
 hands of our illustrious prince, or any of his 
 circle, before those who think they are there- 
 in referred to had received them, lest they 
 should suppose that I published them by the 
 prince's direction, or to court his favour, and 
 out of ill-will to the Bishop of Mentz. I am 
 told there are several who fancy this ; but 
 now I can safely affirm, that my theses were 
 published without the privity of Duke Fre- 
 deric." 96 
 
 If Spalatin comforted his friend, and sup- 
 ported him with all his influence, Luther, on 
 his part endeavoured to answer all the inqui- 
 ries addressed to him by the diffident chap- 
 lain. Among his questions was one which 
 is often proposed in our days. " W T hal," 
 asked he, " is the best method of studying the 
 Scriptures ?" 
 
 " Hitherto," answered Luther, " worthy 
 Spalatin, you have asked only things I was 
 able to answer. But to guide you in the study 
 of the Holy Scripture is beyond my strength. 
 However, if you insist on knowing my method, 
 I will not conceal it from you. 
 
 "It is most plain we cannot attain to the 
 understanding of Scripture either by study or 
 by strength of intellect. Therefore your first 
 duty must be to begin with prayer. 97 Entreat the 
 Lord to deign to grant you, in his rich mercy, 
 rightly to understand his word. There is no 
 other interpreter of the word of God but the 
 author of that word himself; even as He has 
 said, ' They shall all be taught of God.' Hope 
 nothing from your study, or the strength of 
 your intellect; but simply put your trust in 
 God, and in the guidance of his Spirit. Be- 
 lieve one who has made trial of this method." 58 
 Here we see how Luthei attained to the pos- 
 session of the truth which he preached to 
 others. It was not, as some have said, by 
 following the guidance of his own presump- 
 tuous reason ; nor was it, as others assert, by 
 surrendering himself to the contentious pas- 
 sions. He drew from the purest and holiest 
 spring, by humble, trusting, and prayerful in- 
 quiry of God himself. But then, there are 
 few men of this age who follow his example ; 
 and hence it is that there are few who under- 
 stand him. To a. thoughtful mind these 
 words of Luther are of themselves a justifica- 
 tion of the Reformation. 
 
86 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Luther also found consolation in the friend- 
 ship of respectable laymen. Christopher 
 Scheurl, the worthy town-clerk of the imperial 
 city of Nuremberg, at this time afforded him 
 some affecting marks of his regard." How 
 sweet to the heart of a man encompassed with 
 adversaries is every intimation of interest felt 
 in his success ! The town-clerk of Nurem- 
 berg went further ; he wished to bring over 
 other friends to the man he himself befriended. 
 He proposed to him that he should dedicate 
 one of his writings to Jerome Ebner, a juris- 
 consult of Nuremberg, who was then in great 
 repute. "You have a high notion of my la- 
 bours," answered Luther modestly ; " but I 
 myself have a very poor opinion of them. It 
 was my wish, however, to comply with your 
 desire. I looked, but amongst all my papers, 
 which I never before thought so meanly of, I 
 could find nothing but what seemed totally 
 unworthy of being dedicated to so distin- 
 guished a person by so humble an individual 
 as myself." Touching humility ! The words 
 are those of Luther, and he is speaking of 
 the comparatively unknown name of Doctor 
 Ebner ! Posterity has not ratified his esti- 
 mate. 
 
 Luther, who made no attempt to circulate 
 his theses, had not only abstained from send- 
 ing them to the Elector and his court, but had 
 not even sent them to Scheurl. The town- 
 clerk of Nuremberg expressed some surprise 
 at this. " My design," answered Luther, 
 " was not to make them so public. I wished 
 to discuss the various points comprised in them 
 with some of our associates and neighbours. 100 
 If they had condemned them, I would have 
 destroyed them ; if they had approved them, 
 I would have published them. But now they 
 have been printed again and again, and cir- 
 culated so far beyond all my expectations, 
 that I regret the product! on of them ; 101 not that 
 I fear the truth being made known to the peo- 
 ple, for that is my object; but they are not 
 in the best form for general instruction. They 
 contain some points, too, which are still ques- 
 tionable in my own judgment. And if I had 
 thought they would have made such an im- 
 pression, there are propositions that I would 
 have left out, and others that I would have 
 asserted with greater confidence." Luther 
 afterwards thought differently. Far from 
 fearing that he had said too much, he declared 
 he ought to have spoken out much more fully. 
 But the apprehensions that Luther evinced to 
 Scheurl do honour to his sincerity. They 
 show that he had no preconceived plan, or 
 party purpose; that he was free from self- 
 conceit, and was seeking the truth alone. 
 When he had discovered it in its fulness, his 
 language was changed. " You will find in 
 my earlier writings," said he, many years 
 afterwards, " that I very humbly conceded to 
 the Pope many and important things which I 
 now abhor and regard as abominable and 
 blasphemous." 102 
 
 Scheurl was not the only layman of consi- 
 deration who then manifested a friendly dis- 
 position towards Luther. The famous painter, 
 
 Albert Durer, sent him a present, probably 
 one of his productions, and the Doctor ex- 
 pressed his gratitude for the gift. 103 
 
 Thus Luther, at that time, experienced in 
 his own person the truth of the divine word : 
 " A friend loveth at all times ; and a brother 
 is born for adversity." But he recalled the 
 passage for comfort to others as well as to 
 himself. 
 
 He pleaded for the entire nation. The 
 Elector had just levied a tax, and it was af- 
 firmed that he was about to levy another, in 
 accordance, probably, with the advice of Pfef- 
 finger, his counsellor, whose conduct was 
 often the subject of Luther's strictures. The 
 Doctor boldly placed himself in the breach. 
 " Let not your Hihness," said he, " despise 
 the prayer of a poor friar. I beseech you, in 
 God's name, not to impose any further tax. 
 I was heart-broken, and so were many of 
 those who are most devoted to you, at see- 
 ing to what a degree the last had injured your 
 Highness's fair name and popularity. It is 
 true that God has endowed you with a lofty 
 judgment, so that you see further into the 
 consequences of these things than I or your 
 subjects in general. But it may be the will 
 of God that a meaner capacity shall minister 
 instruction to a greater, to the end that no 
 one may trust in himself, but simply in the 
 Lord our God. May he deign, for our good, 
 to preserve your body in health, and your soul 
 for everlasting blessedness. Amen." Thus 
 the Gospel, while it honours kings, pleads the 
 cause of the people. It instructs subjects in 
 their duties, and it calls upon princes to be 
 regardful of their subjects' rights. The voice 
 of such a Christian man as Luther, speaking 
 in the secret chamber of a sovereign, may 
 often do more than can be effected by a whole 
 assembly of legislators. 
 
 In this same letter, in which Luther incul- 
 cated a stern lesson to his prince, he was not 
 afraid to ask a boon of him, or rather, to re- 
 mind him of a promise, the promise he had 
 made him of a new gown. This freedom on 
 Luther's part, at a moment when he might 
 fear he had offended Frederic, is equally 
 honourable to the Prince and the Reformer. 
 " But if," said he, " Pfeffinger has the charge 
 of these matters, let him give it me in reality, 
 and not in protestations of friendship. For as 
 to weaving fine words together, it is what he 
 excels in ; but no good cloth comes of that." 
 Luther thought that by his faithful counsels 
 he had fairly earned his court garment. 104 How- 
 ever, two years after he had not received it, 
 and his solicitation was renewed. 105 A fact 
 which seems to show that Frederic was not 
 so easily wrought upon by Luther as has been 
 supposed. 
 
 The minds of men had gradually recovered 
 from the alarm that had at first been commu- 
 nicated to them. Luther himself was inclined 
 to declare that his words did not bear the con- 
 struction that had been put upon them. New 
 events might have diverted public attention ; 
 and the blow aimed against the Romish doc- 
 trine might have spent itself in the air, as had 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 87 
 
 often bepn the case before. But the partisans 
 of Rome prevented the affair from ending thus. 
 They fanned the flame instead of extinguish- 
 ing it. 
 
 Tetzel and the Dominicans haughtily re- 
 plied to the attack made upon them. Eager 
 to crush the audacious monk who had dis- 
 turbed their traffic, and to conciliate the favour 
 of the Roman Pontiif, they raised a shout of 
 indignation, affirmed that to attack the in- 
 dulgences established by the Pope, was to 
 attack the Pope himself; and summoned to 
 their assistance all the monks and divines of 
 their school. 106 It is evident, indeed, that Tet- 
 zel was conscious of his own inability to cope 
 with such an adversary as Luther. Quite 
 disconcerted by the Doctor's attack, and irri- 
 tated in the highest degree, he quitted the 
 neighbourhood of Wittemberg, and went to 
 Frankfort on the Oder, where he arrived in 
 November, 1517. Conrad Wimpina, a man 
 of great eloquence, and one of the most dis- 
 tinguished divines of the time, was one of the 
 professors in the university of that city. 
 Wimpina regarded with a jealous eye both 
 the Doctor of Wittemberg and the university 
 to which he belonged. The reputation en- 
 joyed by both gave him umbrage. Tetzel 
 requested him to answer the theses of Luther, 
 and Wimpina accordingly wrote two series 
 of antitheses, the first in defence of the doc- 
 trine of indulgences, and the second of the 
 Papal authority. 
 
 On the 20th January, 1518, took place that 
 disputation which had been so long preparing, 
 which had been announced so ostentatiously, 
 and on which Tetzel built his hopes. Loudly 
 had he beat to arms. Monks had been gather- 
 ing together from all the neighbouring clois- 
 ters. More than three hundred were now 
 assembled. Tetzel read to them his theses. 
 In these he repeated all that he had advanced 
 before, even the declaration that " Whoso- 
 ever shall say the soul does not take its 
 flight from purgatory, immediately that the 
 money is dropped into the chest is in error." 107 
 
 But, above all, he put forward propositions 
 by which the Pope seemed actually " seated," 
 as the apostle expresses it, " in the temple of 
 God, showing himself to be God." This 
 shameless dealer in counterfeit wares found it 
 convenient to retreat with all his disorders and 
 scandals under the cover of the Pope's mantle. 
 
 The following are positions which he de- 
 clared himself ready to defend, in presence of 
 the numerous assembly that surrounded him : 
 
 "3. Christians should be taught, that the 
 Pope, in the plenitude of his power, is higher 
 than the universal church, and superior to 
 councils; and that entire submission is due 
 to his decrees. 
 
 " 4. Christians should be taught, that the 
 Pope alone has the right to decide in questions 
 of Christian doctrine; that he alone, and no 
 other, has power to explain, according to his 
 judgment, the sense of Holy Scripture, and to 
 approve or condemn the words and works of 
 others. 
 
 "5. Christians should be taught, that the 
 
 judgment of the Pope, in things pertaining to 
 Christian doctrine, and necessary to the salva- 
 tion of mankind, can in no case err. 
 
 "6. Christians should be taught, that they 
 should place more dependence in matters of 
 faith on the Pope's judgment, expressed in 
 his decrees, than of the unanimous opinion 
 of all the learned, resting merely upon their 
 interpretation of Scripture. 
 
 "8. Christians should be taught, that they 
 who conspire against the honour or dignity of 
 the Pope incur the guilt of treason, and deserve 
 to be accursed. 
 
 " 17. Christians should be taught, that there 
 are many things which the Church regards as 
 certain articles of the Catholic faith, although 
 they are not found either in the inspired Scrip- 
 tures or in the early Fathers. 
 
 "44. Christians should be taught to regard 
 as obstinate heretics all who, by speech, action, 
 or writing, declare that they would not retract 
 their heretical propositions, though excommu- 
 nication after excommunication should be 
 showered upon them like hail. 
 
 "48. Christians should be taught, that they 
 who protect the errors of heretics, and who, 
 by their authority, hinder them from being 
 brought before the judge who has a right to 
 hear them, are excommunicate ; and that if, 
 within the space of one year, they cease not 
 from doing so, they will be declared infamous, 
 and severely visited with punishment, con- 
 formable to the provisions of the law, and for 
 the warning of others. 108 
 
 "50. Christians should be taught, that they 
 who scribble so many books and tracts, who 
 preach, or publicly, and with evil intention, 
 dispute about the confession of the lips, the 
 satisfaction of works, the rich and large in- 
 dulgences of the Bishop of Rome and his 
 power; they who side with those who preach 
 or write such things, and take pleasure in their 
 writings, and circulate them among the people 
 and in society; and finally, all they, who, in 
 secret, speak of these things with contempt or 
 irreverence, must expect to fall under the pen- 
 alties before recited, and to plunge themselves 
 and others along with them, into eternal con- 
 demnation at the great day, and the deepest 
 disgrace in this present world. For every 
 beast that toucheth the mountain shall be 
 stoned." 
 
 We perceive that Luther was not the only 
 object of Tetzel's attack. In his 48th thesis 
 he probably had an eye to the Elector of 
 Saxony. In other respects these propositions 
 savour strongly of the Dominican. To threaten 
 all opposition with rigorous chastisements, 
 was an inquisitor's argument, which there was 
 no way of answering. The three hundred 
 monks, whom Tetzel had assembled, were 
 full of admiration of all that he had said. The 
 divines of the university were too fearful of 
 being classed among the promoters of heresy, 
 and too much attached to the principles of 
 Wimpina, openly to attack the astounding 
 theses which had been read in their presence. 
 
 This affair, therefore, about which there had 
 been so much noise, seemed likely to end like 
 
88 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 a mock fight ; but among the crowd of students 
 present at the discussion was a young man, 
 ahout twenty years of age, named John Knip- 
 strow. He had read the theses of Luther, and 
 found them agreeable to the Scriptures. In- 
 dignant at seeing the truth publicly trampled 
 under foot, without any one offering himself 
 in its defence, the young man raised his voice, 
 to the great surprise of the whole assembly, 
 and attacked the presumptuous Tetzel. The 
 poor Dominican, who had not reckoned on any 
 such opposition, was thrown into dismay. 
 After some attempts at an answer, he aban- 
 doned the field of battle, and made room for 
 Wimpina. The latter defended his cause with 
 more vigour; but Knipstrow pressed him so 
 hard that, to put an end to the untoward con- 
 test, Wimpina, in his capacity of president, 
 declared the discussion terminated, and pro- 
 ceeded at once to the promoting of Tetzel to 
 the rank of Doctor, as the recompense of this 
 glorious dispute. After this, Wimpina, to get 
 rid of his young antagonist, caused him to be 
 sent to the convent of Pyritz, in Pomerania, 
 with directions that he should be strictly watch- 
 ed. But this newly-risen luminary, removed 
 from the banks of the Oder, was destined, at a 
 later period, to diffuse the light over Pome- 
 rania. God, when he sees fit, employs the 
 disciple to confound the master. 
 
 Tetzel, desirous to make up for the check 
 he had met with, had recourse to the ultima 
 ratio of Rome and its inquisitors, the fire. 
 He set up a pulpit and a scaffold in one of the 
 suburbs of Frankfort. He went thither in 
 solemn procession, arrayed in the insignia of 
 an inquisitor of the faith. He inveighed, in 
 his most furious manner, from the pulpit. He 
 hurled his thunders with an unsparing hand, 
 and loudly exclaimed, that " the heretic Luther 
 ought to be burned alive." Then, placing the 
 Doctor's propositions and sermon on the scaf- 
 fold, he set fire to them. 109 He showed greater 
 dexterity in this operation than he had dis- 
 played in defending his theses. Here there 
 was none to oppose him, and his victory was 
 complete. The arrogant Dominican re-entered 
 Frankfort in triumph. When parties accus- 
 tomed to power have sustained defeat, they 
 have recourse to certain shows and semblances, 
 which must be allowed them as a consolation 
 for their disgrace. 
 
 The second theses of Tetzel mark an im- 
 portant epoch in the Reformation. They 
 changed the ground of the dispute, transfer- 
 ring it from the indulgence-market to the halls 
 of the Vatican, and diverted the attack from 
 Tetzel, to direct it against the Pope. For the 
 contemptible trafficker whom Luther had as- 
 sailed and held powerless in his grasp, they 
 substituted the sacred person of the Head of 
 Church. Luther was all astonishment at this. 
 A little later, probably, he would, of his own 
 accord, have taken up this new position; but 
 his enemies spared him the trouble. Thence- 
 forward, the dispute had reference, not merely 
 to a discredited traffic, but to Rome itself; 
 and the blow, that a bold hand had aimed 
 against Tetzel's stall, smote, and shook to 
 
 'its foundation, the throne of the pontifical 
 king. 
 
 The theses of Tetzel served, moreover, 
 only as a signal to the troop of Romish doc- 
 tors. A shout was raised against Luther by 
 the monks, enraged at the appearance of an 
 adversary more formidable even than Erasmus 
 or Reuchlin. The name of Luther resounded 
 from all the Dominican pulpits. They stirred 
 up the passions of the people; they called 
 the intrepid Doctor, a madman, a seducer, a 
 wretch possessed by the devil. His teaching 
 was decried as the most horrible of heresies. 
 *' Only wait," said they, " a fortnight, or, at 
 most, a month, and that notorious heretic will 
 be burned alive." Had it depended on the 
 Dominicans, indeed, the Saxon Doctor would 
 soon have met the fate of Huss and of Jerome ; 
 but God was watching over him. His life 
 was destined to accomplish what the martyr- 
 dom of Huss had begun. For each individual 
 serves the purposes of God; one by his life, 
 another by his death. Already many ex- 
 claimed that the whole university of Wittem- 
 berg was tainted with heresy, and they pro- 
 nounced it infamous. 110 "Let us drive out the 
 wretch and all his partisans," said they. And 
 in many cases these clamours did, in fact, 
 excite the passions of the people. Those 
 who shared in the opinions of the Reformer 
 were pointed out to public observation, and 
 wherever the monks had power in their hands, 
 the friends of the Gospel felt the effects of 
 their hatred. Thus the prophecy of our Sa- 
 viour began to be fulfilled : " They shall 
 revile you, and persecute you, and say all 
 manner of evil against you falsely, for my 
 sake." This recompense of the world is in 
 no age withheld from the decided disciples of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 When Luther heard of the theses of Tetzel 
 and of the general attack of which they had 
 given the signal, his courage rose. He saw 
 that it was necessary to face such adversaries 
 boldly; his intrepid spirit felt no difficulty in 
 resolving to do so. But, at the same time, 
 their weakness discovered to him his own 
 strength, and inspired him with the conscious- 
 ness of what in reality he was. 
 
 He did not, however, give way to those 
 emotions of pride which are so congenial to 
 man's heart. " I have more difficulty," wrote 
 he to Spalatin, at this time, " to refrain from 
 despising my adversaries, and so sinning 
 against Christ, than I should have in van- 
 quishing them. They are so ignorant, both of 
 human and divine things, that it is humbling 
 to have to dispute with them ;. and yet it is 
 this very ignorance which gives them their in- 
 conceivable bold ness and their brazen front." 111 
 But what, above all, strengthened his heart, 
 in the midst of this general hostility, was the 
 deep conviction that his cause was the cause 
 of truth. " Do not wonder," he wrote to Spa- 
 latin, in the beginning of 1518, " that they re- 
 vile me so unsparingly. I hear their revilings 
 with joy. If they did not curse me, we could 
 not be so firmly assured that the cause I hav<J 
 undertaken is thatof God himself. 112 Christ was 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 89 
 
 set for a sign that should be spoken against." 
 " I know," said he, another time, " that from 
 the beginning the Word of God has been such 
 as that whosoever would carry it into the 
 world, must, like the apostles, leave every 
 thing, and be delivered unto death. If it were 
 not so, it would not be the word of Christ." 113 
 This peace, in the midst of agitation, is a thing 
 unknown to the heroes of the world. We see 
 men at the head of a government, of a politi- 
 cal party, sink under their labours and trials. 
 The Christian generally gathers new strength 
 in conflict. It is because he is acquainted 
 with a hidden source of refreshment and cou- 
 rage, unknown to him whose eyes are closed 
 against the Gospel. 
 
 One thing, however, at times disturbed Lu- 
 ther : It was the thought of the dissensions 
 his courageous resistance might give rise to. 
 He knew that a word might be enough to set 
 the world in a flame. He at times foresaw 
 prince opposing prince ; nation, perhaps, set 
 against nation. His love for his country took 
 alarm ; his Christian charity recoiled from the 
 prospect. He would gladly have secured 
 peace ; yet it behoved him to speak. It was 
 the Lord's will. "I tremble," said he," I 
 shudder at the thought that I may be an oc- 
 casion of discord to such mighty princes." 114 
 
 He still kept silence in regard to Tetzel's 
 propositions concerning the Pope ; had he been 
 carried away by passion, doubtless he would 
 have fallen with impetuosity upon that astound- 
 ing doctrine, under which his adversary sought 
 shelter and concealment for himself. But he 
 did nothing of the kind. There is in his de- 
 lay, reserve, and silence, a something grave 
 and solemn, which sufficiently reveals the 
 spirit that animated him. He paused, yet not 
 from weakness, for the blow was but the 
 heavier when at length it fell. 
 
 TetzeT, after his auto-da-fe at Frankfort on 
 the Oder, had hastened to send his theses into 
 Saxony. They will serve, thought he, as an 
 antidote to those of Luther. A man was de- 
 spatched by the inquisitor from Alle to distri- 
 bute his propositions at Wittemberg. The 
 students of that university, indignant that 
 Tetzel should have burned the theses of their 
 master, no sooner heard of the arrival of his 
 messenger than they surrounded him in troops, 
 inquiring in threatening tones how he had 
 dared to bring such things thither. Some of 
 them purchased a portion of the copies he had 
 brought with him ; others seized on the remain- 
 der ; thus getting possession of his whole stock, 
 which amounted to eight hundred copies ; then, 
 unknown to the Elector, m the senate, the rector, 
 Luther, and all the professors, the students of 
 Wittemberg posted bills on the gates of the 
 University, bearing these words : " Whosoever 
 desires to be present at the burning and obse- 
 quies of the theses of Tetzel, let him repair at 
 two o'clock to the market place." 
 
 They assembled in crowds at the hour ap- 
 pointed ; and, amidst the acclamations of the 
 multitude, committed the propositions of the 
 Dominican to the flames. One copy was saved 
 Luther afterwards sent it to his 
 
 friend Lange, of Erfurth. The young students 
 acted on the precept of them of old time, " an, 
 eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," and 
 not on that of Christ. But when doctors and 
 professors had set such an example at Frank- 
 fort, can we wonder that young students should 
 follow it at Wittemberg] The report of this 
 academic execution spread through Germany, 
 and made much noise. ua Luther was deeply 
 grieved at it. 
 
 "I am surprised," wrote he, to his old 
 master, Jodocus, at Erfurth, " that you could 
 think I had any thing to do with the burning 
 of Tetzel's theses. Do you think I have utter- 
 ly lost my senses 1 But whatcanl do? When 
 the tale is told of me, any thing, arid from every 
 quarter, gains implicit belief. 117 Can I tie up 
 men's tongues'? No matter! let them tell, 
 and hear, and see, and report whatever they 
 please. I will go on as long as the Lord shall 
 give me strength ; and, with God's help, I 
 will fear nothing." " What will come of it," 
 said he to Lange, " I know not ; this only I 
 know, that the peril in which I stand is greatly 
 enhanced by the act." 118 This occurrence shows 
 how the hearts of the young were already 
 kindled in the cause of which Luther was the 
 champion. It was a sign of high import ; fol 
 a movement once begun among the young is 
 necessarily soon communicated to the entire 
 generation. 
 
 The theses of Tetzel and of Wimpina, 
 though slightly esteemed, produced a certain 
 effect. They opened out the questions in dis- 
 pute ; they enlarged the rent in the mantle of 
 the church ; they brought new questions of 
 thrilling interest into the field of controversy. 
 Consequently, the heads of the Church began 
 to take a nearer view of the debate, and to de- 
 clare themselves strongly against the Reform- 
 er. " I know not, truly, on whose protection 
 Luther can rely," said the Bishop of Bran- 
 denburg, "that he ventures in this way to at- 
 tack the authority of the bishops." Perceiving 
 that this new conjuncture called for new pre- 
 cautions, the Bishop came himself to Wit- 
 temberg. But he found Luther animated by 
 that inward joy which springs from a good 
 conscience, and determined to give battle. 
 The Bishop felt that the monk was obeying a 
 power higher than his own, and returned in an 
 angry mood to Brandenburg. One day, (be- 
 fore the close of the winter of 1518,) while 
 seated at his fireside, he said, turning to those 
 who surrounded him, " I will not lay my head 
 down in peace until I have cast Martin into 
 the fire like this fagot ;" and as he spoke he cast 
 the fagot on the blazing hearth. The revolution 
 of the sixteenth century was to be no more in- 
 debted for support to the heads of the Church 
 than that of the first century had been to the 
 sanhedrim and the synagogue. The dignified 
 priesthood was again, in the sixteenth centu- 
 ry, opposed to Luther, the Reformation, and 
 its ministers, as it had formerly been to Jesus 
 Christ, the Gospel, and his Apostles, and as 
 it too often is, in all periods, to the truth. 
 "The Bishops,' r said Luther, speaking of the 
 visit of the prelate of Brandenburg. " begin to 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 see that they should have done what I am 
 doing, and they are ashamed. They call me 
 arrogant and audacious; and I do not deny 
 that I am so. But they are not the people to 
 know either what God is, or what we are." 119 
 
 A more formidable resistance than that 
 which Tetzel had offered had now sprung up 
 against Luther. Rome had answered him. 
 A reply had gone forth from the walls of the 
 sacred palace. It was not Leo X., however, 
 who condescended to meddle with theology. 
 " A squabble among the monks!" said he: 
 " the best way is to take no notice of it." 
 And on another occasion he observed : "It is 
 a drunken German that has written these 
 theses : 120 when he is sober he will talk very 
 differently." A Dominican of Rome, Syl- 
 vester Prierias, master of the pontifical palace, 
 filled the office of censor. In that capacity 
 he was the first to take cognisance of the 
 theses published by the Saxon monk. 
 
 A Roman censor, and the theses of Luther! 
 how remarkable the encounter! Freedom of 
 speech, freedom of inquiry, and freedom of 
 religious belief, had now to maintain a conflict, 
 within the very gates of Rome, against the 
 power that claims to hold in its hands the 
 monopoly of spiritual knowledge, and at its 
 own will to suppress the voice of Christian 
 truth or allow its utterance. The struggle 
 between that Christian liberty which stamps 
 men the children of God, and that pontifical 
 despotism which makes them the slaves of 
 Rome, is symbolized, as it were, in the very 
 beginning of the Reformation, by the encounter 
 of Luther and Prierias. 
 
 This Roman censor, this prior-general of 
 the Dominicans, this dignitary, whose office 
 empowered him to determine what doctrines 
 Christian men should profess, and on what 
 points they should be silent, was eager to 
 reply. He published a writing which he 
 dedicated to Leo X., and in which he spoke 
 contemptuously of the German monk, and 
 declared, with an assurance altogether Roman, 
 that he should like to know whether that 
 Martin had indeed an iron snout and a head 
 of brass, which it was impossible to shatter. 121 
 Then, under the form of a dialogue, he pro- 
 ceeded to attack Luther's theses, employing 
 by turns ridicule, reviling, and threats. 
 
 The contest, between the Augustine of 
 "Witternberg and the Dominican of Rome, 
 was waged on the question which is in itself 
 the principle of the Reformation; namely, 
 what is the sole infallible authority for Chris- 
 tians 1 Take the system of the Church, as 
 set forth by its most independent organs. 122 
 
 The letter of the written word is dead, 
 without that spirit of interpretation, which 
 alone reveals its hidden meaning. But this 
 spirit is not given to every Christian, but to 
 the Church, that is, to the priests. It is great 
 presumption to affirm that He, who promised 
 to the Church to be with her always even to 
 the end of the world, could have abandoned 
 her to the power of error. It will be said, 
 perhaps, that the doctrine and constitution of 
 the Church are not now such as we find them 
 
 in the Holy Scriptures. Undoubtedly; but 
 this change is only apparent, it extends only 
 to the form and not to the substance. Nay, 
 more, this change is a progression. The 
 life-giving power of the Divine Spirit has 
 imparted reality to what, in Scripture, existed 
 only in idea. To the outline of the word it 
 has given a body, put a finishing touch to its 
 rough draught, and completed the work of 
 which the Bible had merely furnished the 
 rudiments. Consequently, we must under- 
 stand the meaning of Holy Scripture as it 
 has been determined by the Church, under 
 the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So far the 
 Catholic doctors were agreed : at this point 
 they were divided, General Councils, said 
 some, (and Gerson was of their number,) are 
 the representatives of the Church. Others 
 said, it is the Pope who is the depositary of 
 the spirit of interpretation ; and no one has 
 the right to construe Scripture otherwise than 
 in accordance with the decree of the Roman 
 Pontiff. This was the tenet espoused by 
 Prierias. 
 
 Such was the doctrine which the master Oi 
 the palace opposed to the infancy of the 
 Reformation. He advanced assertions, with . 
 respect to the power of the Church and of the 
 Pope, to which the most shameless flatterers 
 of the Court of Rome would have blushed to 
 subscribe. The following is one of the prin- 
 ciples laid down at the commencement of his 
 writing: "Whosoever does not rely on the 
 teaching of the Roman Church, and of the 
 Roman Pontiff, as the infallible rule of faith, 
 and as that from which Holy Scripture itself 
 derives its obligation and authority, is a 
 heretic." 123 
 
 Then follows a dialogue in which the 
 speakers are Luther and Sylvester, and in 
 which the latter labours to refute the Doctor's 
 propositions. The sentiments of the Saxon 
 monk were altogether new and strange to a 
 Roman censor; hence Prierias showed that 
 he understood neither the feelings of his heart, 
 nor the principles that regulated his conduct. 
 He estimated the teacher of the truth by the 
 petty standard of the retainers of the Papacy. 
 " My good Luther," says he, " were it thy 
 fortune to receive from our Lord the Pope a 
 good bishopric and a plenary indulgence for 
 the rebuilding of thy church, how would thy 
 tone be altered, and how loudly wouldst thou 
 extol the indulgence which it now delights 
 thee to disparage !" "With all his pretensions 
 to refinement, this Italian has frequent recourse 
 to the grossest scurrility of language. " If it 
 is the nature of dogs to bite," says he to Lu- 
 ther, " I should fear thou hadst a dog for thy 
 father." 124 To ward the close of his work, the 
 Dominican even marvels at his own conde- 
 scension, in parleying thus with a mutinous 
 monk ; and in taking leave of his adversary, 
 he shows him the cruel teeth of an inquisitor. 
 "The Roman Church," says he, "the supre- 
 macy of whose power, spiritual and temporal, 
 is vested in the Pope, can restrain, by the 
 secular arm, those who, having first received 
 the faith, afterwards depart from it. The 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 91 
 
 Church is under no obligation to employ 
 argument to combat and overcome rebels." 125 
 Such words, proceeding from the pen of a 
 dignitary of the Roman court, were deeply 
 significant; yet they did not intimidate Lu- 
 ther; he believed, or affected to believe, that 
 this dialogue was not written by Prierias, but 
 by Ulric de Hutten, or some other contributor 
 to the Litterae Obscurorum Virorum. " One 
 of that fraternity," said he, " from the mere 
 love of satire, or to set Luther against Prie- 
 rias, has collected together this mass of ab- 
 surdity." 126 However, after having for some 
 time kept silence, his doubts, if he had any, 
 were removed ; he set to work, and in two 
 days prepared his answer. 127 
 
 The Bible had decided Luther's destiny '. it 
 had moulded the Reformer and commenced 
 the Reformation. Luther's belief depended 
 not on the testimony of the Church. His 
 faith had come from the Bible itself: from 
 within, and not from without. He was so 
 deeply convinced that the evangelic doctrine 
 was immovably built upon the word of God 
 that all external doctrine was to him superflu- 
 ous. This experimental knowledge possessed 
 by Luther opened to the Church a new futu- 
 rity. The living spring, which had gushed 
 forth for the refreshment of the monk of Wit- 
 temberg, was to become a mighty river that 
 should slake the thirst of nations. 
 
 "To understand Scripture, it is neces- 
 sary that the Spirit of God should open the 
 understanding," said the Church, and thus 
 far it said truly. But its error lay in consider- 
 ing the Holy Spirit as the exclusive privilege 
 of a particular caste, and supposing that he 
 could be pent up in assemblies and colleges, 
 in a city, or a conclave. " The wind bloweth 
 where it listeth," said the Son of God, when 
 speaking of the Spirit of God, and else- 
 where: "They shall be all taught of God." 
 The corruption of the Church, the ambition of 
 the Pontiffs, the passions of Councils, the ani- 
 mosities of the clergy, the pomp of the pre- 
 lates, had banished far from those priestly 
 abodes that Holy Spirit that Spirit of hu- 
 mility and of peace. The Spirit of God had 
 departed from the assemblies of the proud, 
 and the palaces of princes of the Church, and 
 had tabernacled with simple Christians and 
 humble priests. He had turned from a tyran- 
 nous hierarchy, whose bloody heel again and 
 again had trampled on the poor, from a 
 proud and ignorant clergy, whose leaders were 
 oetter skilled in the use of the sword than of 
 the Bible, and was present with despised 
 sectaries, or with men of understanding and 
 learning. The holy cloud, that had withdrawn 
 itself from the stately temple and the proud 
 cathedral, had descended on the secluded 
 dwellings of the humble, or the tranquil 
 chamber of the conscientious inquirer. The 
 Church, debased by her love of power and 
 lucre, dishonoured before the people by her 
 venal perversion of the doctrine of life, the 
 Church, busy in selling salvation, that she 
 might replenish a treasury exhausted by her 
 pride and debaucheries, had forfeited al: 
 13 
 
 respect ; and men of sense no longer attached 
 any value to her testimony. Despising an 
 authority so degraded, they gladly turned to- 
 ward the divine word and its infallible au- 
 hority as the only refuge open to them in that 
 universal confusion. 
 
 The age therefore was ripe. The bold 
 movement by which Luther shifted the supr 
 ort of the highest hopes of man's heart, 
 oosening them with a strong hand from the 
 walls of the Vatican to fix them on the rock 
 of the word of God, was hailed with enthu- 
 siasm. This was the object the Reformer had 
 in view in his answer to Prierias. 
 
 Passing by the principles the Dominican 
 bad laid down at the opening of his work 
 "I," said he, "following your example, will 
 also lay down certain principles." 
 
 The first is this passage of St. Paul : " If 
 any one preach unto you another Gospel than 
 that is preached, though he should be an angel 
 from heaven, let him be accursed." 
 
 The second is the following, from St. Au- 
 gustine writing to St. Jerome : " I have learn- 
 ed to render to the inspired Scriptures alone 
 the homage of a firm belief, that they have 
 never erred ; as to others, I do not believe in 
 the things they teach, simply because it is 
 they who teach them." 
 
 Here Luther, with a steady hand, establish- 
 es the fundamental principles of the Reforma- 
 tion. The word of God, the whole word of 
 God, and nothing but the word of God. "If 
 you rightly understand these principles," con- 
 tinues he, "you will also understand that 
 your whole Dialogue is overturned by them ; 
 for you have done nothing but bring forward 
 phrases and opinions of St. Thomas." Then, 
 openly impugning the axioms of his adversary, 
 he freely confesses that he thinks both Popes 
 and Councils may err. He complains of the 
 flatteries of the Roman courtiers, who ascribe 
 this and that power to the Pope. He declares 
 that the Church exists virtually in Christ 
 alone, and representatively in a General Coun- 
 cil. 128 And then, alluding to the insinuation of 
 Prierias: "undoubtedly you judge me by 
 yourself," said he; "but if I aspired to be 
 made a bishop, I certainly should not use the 
 language which you find so offensive. Do you 
 imagine I am ignorant of the manner in which 
 bishoprics and priest's orders are obtained at 
 Rome? Do not the very children sing, in 
 every street of that city, these well known 
 words : 
 
 " Of all foul spots the wide world round, 
 The foulest here in Rome is found ?" 129 
 
 (Such songs had been current in Rome be- 
 fore the election of one of the last Popes.) 
 Yet Luther speaks of Leo with respect. " I 
 know," says he, " that he may be compared 
 to Daniel in Babylon : his innocence has often 
 endangered his life." He concludes by re- 
 plying very briefly to the threatening language 
 used by Prierias. " Lastly, you say that the 
 Pope is both ppntiff and emperor, and that he 
 can employ the secular arm to compel obedir 
 ence. Do you thirst for blood then ? I pro? 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 lest to you that these rhodomontades an 
 menaces of yours give me not the slightes 
 alarm. For what if I were to lose my life 
 Christ still lives; Christ my Lord, and the 
 Lord of all, blessed forever. Amen." 
 
 Thus fearlessly did Luther, in opposition to 
 the infidel altar of the Papacy, set up the altar 
 of the holy and infallible word of God ; an 
 altar, before which he would have every knee 
 to bow, and on which he declares himself 
 ready to offer up his life. 
 
 A new adversary now presented himself in 
 the lists, a Dominican, like his predecessors 
 James Hochstraten, the inquisitor of Cologne, 
 of whose outcries against Reuchlin, and the 
 friends of literature, we have already spoken, 
 could not restrain his rage when he heard of 
 the first efforts of the hero of the Reformation. 
 It was not to be wondered at, that monkish ig- 
 norance and fanaticism should assail the man 
 who was to give them the death-blow. Mona- 
 chism had arisen when the primitive truth had 
 begun to disappear. From that period rnona- 
 chism and error had grown up side by side. 
 The man who was to accelerate their fall had 
 now appeared. But his sturdy antagonists 
 would not abandon the field. The struggle 
 lasted to the end of Luther's life, but we re- 
 gard it as epitomised in this dispute of Hoch- 
 straten and Luther; the free and courageous 
 Christian, and the irascible slave of monkish 
 superstitions ! Hochstraten lost his temper, 
 he gave vent to his indignation, and loudly 
 demanded the death of the heretic. He would 
 have had recourse to the stake to secure the 
 triumph of Rome. " It is high treason against 
 the Church," exclaimed he, " to suffer so hor- 
 rid a heretic to live an hour longer. Away 
 with him at once to the scaffold !" This san- 
 guinary counsel was but too well followed in 
 many countries, and the voices of many mar- 
 tyrs, as in the earlier ages of the Church, 
 gave testimony to the truth from the midst of 
 the flames. But in vain were fire and sword 
 invoked against Luther. The angel of the 
 Lord encamped around him, and defended 
 him. 
 
 Luther answered Hochstraten in few words, 
 but with much vigour : " Out upon thee," said 
 he, at the close of his reply, "thou senseless 
 murderer, thirsting for the blood of thy breth- 
 ren ! I sincerely desire that thuu shouldst not 
 call me Christian and faithful; but that thou 
 shouldst continue on the contrary to decry me 
 as a heretic. Understand me, thou blood- 
 thirsty man ! enemy to the truth ! and if thy 
 rage prompt thee to attempt my life, take care 
 to act circumspectly, and to choose thy time 
 well ; God knows what is my purpose if my 
 life should be spared My hope and ex- 
 pectation, God willing, shall not be disap- 
 pointed." 130 Hochstraten made no reply. 
 
 An attack more trying to his feelings, await- 
 ed the Reformer. Doctor Eck, the celebrated 
 professor of Ingolstadt, the deliverer of Urban 
 Regius, the friend of Luther, had received the 
 famous theses. Eck was not a man to de- 
 fend the abuses of the indulgences; but he 
 was a doctor of the school, not of the Bible,- 
 
 well versed in the scholastic divinity, but not 
 in the word of God. If Prierias had repre- 
 sented Rome, and Hochstraten the monks, 
 the new combatant represented the schools. 
 The scholastic philosophy, which for almost 
 five centuries held sway over Christendom, 
 far from yielding to the earliest efforts of the 
 Reformer, arose in its pride to crush the man 
 who dared to treat it with contempt. Eck 
 and Luther, Luther and the Schools, were 
 often afterwards arrayed one against the other. 
 But it was now the contest opened. 
 
 It could hardly happen but that Eck should 
 consider many of Luther's assertions errone- 
 ous. ' We have no reason to doubt the sin- 
 cerity of his convictions. He was enthusiastic 
 in defence of the scholastic opinions, whilst 
 Luther was an equally enthusiastic adherent 
 of the word of God. We may even imagine 
 that Eck felt some concern at the necessity 
 of opposing his old friend : and yet it appears, 
 from the manner in which he assailed him, 
 that passion and jealousy had some share in 
 his motives. 
 
 It was under the title of Obelisks that he 
 wrote his remarks on the theses of Luther. 
 Desiring at first to keep up appearances, he 
 did not publish his work, but contented him- 
 self with communicating it in confidence to 
 his ordinary, the Bishop of Eichstadt. But 
 the Obelisks were soon widely dispersed, 
 ither through the indiscretion of the Bishop, 
 or by the Doctor's own act. One copy fell 
 nto the hands of Link, a preacher at Nurem- 
 berg, and a friend of Luther; by him it was 
 communicated to Luther himself. Eck was 
 a very different adversary from either Tetzel, 
 Prierias, or Hochstraten : the more his work 
 excelled theirs in learning and subtlety, the 
 more injurious was likely to be its effects. 
 fie spoke of " his feeble adversary" in a tone 
 of compassion, well knowing that pity is 
 more disparaging than anger. He insinuated 
 hat Luther's propositions were spreading the 
 Bohemian poison, that they savoured of Bo- 
 lemia, and by these malignant references, 
 drew upon Luther the odium attaching in 
 Germany to the name of Huss and the Bohe- 
 nian schismatics. 
 
 The malice that was discernible in this 
 writing, roused Luther's indignation. But 
 
 was still more grieved at the thought that 
 he blow came from an old friend. " It was 
 hen," thought he, " at the cost of the affec- 
 ion of his friends that truth must be de- 
 ended." Luther unbosomed the sadness of 
 iis heart, in a letter to Egranus, pastor at 
 Zwickau. * In these Obelisks," said he, " I 
 .m called a * pestilent man,' ' a Bohemian,' 
 a heretic,' and reproached as ' seditious,' 
 insolent,' and 'rash.' I overlook minor 
 eproaches, such as 'dull,' 'stupid,' 'igno- 
 ant,' ' despiser of the sovereign pontiff,' &c. 
 ^hroughout there are nothing but insults, and 
 yet he who has written them is a distinguished 
 man, in whom genius and learning are blend- 
 ed ; moreover, one who was united to me by 
 a great intimacy, recently contracted. 131 His 
 name is John Eck, doctor of divinity, chan- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 cellor of Ingolstadt, &c. a man well known 
 and highly esteemed for his writings. If I 
 did not know the design of Satan, I should 
 wonder at the rage which has prompted Eck 
 to violate a friendship so delightful, and so 
 recent besides, and that without giving me 
 one word of notice." 132 
 
 But if Luther's heart was wounded, his 
 courage was not abated. On the contrary, 
 he caught fresh fire for the dispute. "Re- 
 joice, brother," he said to Egranus, who had 
 likewise been attacked by a violent adversary, 
 " rejoice, and let not these paper missiles ter- 
 rify you! The more furious my adversaries, 
 the more I advance. I leave the things that 
 are behind, for them to bark at, and I stretch 
 forward to those that are before, that they 
 may bark at those also in their turn." 
 
 Eck felt how disgraceful his conduct had 
 been, and endeavoured to justify himself in a 
 letter to Carlstadt. In it he termed Luther 
 "their common friend." He threw all the 
 blame on the Bishop of Eichstadt, at whose 
 solicitation he declared he had written his 
 work. He had not intended to publish the 
 Obelisks, he said ; if it had been otherwise he 
 would have manifested more regard for the 
 ties of friendship, by which he was united to 
 Luther. Finally, he intimated a wish that, 
 instead of engaging in a public controversy 
 with him, Luther should turn his arms against 
 the divines of Frankfort. The professor of 
 Ingolstadt, who had not feared to strike the 
 first blow, began to quail when he considered 
 the strength of the adversary he had had the 
 imprudence to attack. He would willingly 
 have avoided the contest. But it was now 
 too late. 
 
 All these fine speeches did not satisfy Lu- 
 ther; however, he wished to remain silent. 
 "I will swallow patiently," he said, "this 
 morsel, worthy of Cerberus." 133 But his friends 
 were of a different opinion. They importuned 
 him and obliged him to comply. He there- 
 fore answered Eck's Obelisks by his Asterisks, 
 or Stars; "opposing," as he said, "the light 
 and dazzling brightness of the stars of heaven, 
 to the rust and livid hue of the Obelisks of the 
 doctor of Ingolstadt." In this work he treated 
 his new adversary with less harshness than 
 he had used towards his former opponents ; 
 but his suppressed indignation at times broke 
 forth in his words. 
 
 He proved that in all that chaos of Obelisks 
 there was nothing of the Scriptures, nothing 
 of the Fathers of the Church, nothing of the 
 ecclesiastical canons : but throughout, nothing 
 but glosses of the schools; opinions, mere 
 opinions, and dreams; 134 in a word, all those 
 very things that Luther had attacked. The 
 Asterisks are full of life and energy. The 
 author is indignant at the errors in his friend's 
 book, but he pities the man.'^He again asserts 
 the fundamental principle that he had main- 
 tained in his answer to Prierias; " The sove- 
 reign pontiff is a man, and may be led into 
 error; but God istruth itself, and cannoterr." 136 
 And afterwards, using an argument " ad /to- 
 minem," against the scholastic doctor ; " It is 
 
 certainly an act of audacity," says he, " for 
 any one to teach as the philosophy of Aris- 
 totle, what he cannot prove on Aristotle's au- 
 thority. You allow this. Well, with much 
 greater reason is it the height of audacity, to 
 affirm in the Church, and amongst Christians, 
 what Christ himself has not taught. 137 Now 
 where do we find in the Bible, that the trea- 
 sure of Christ's merits is confided to the 
 Pope 1" 
 
 Lastly, he adds : " As to the malicious re- 
 proach of Bohemian heresy, I bear this accu- 
 sation patiently, for Christ's sake. I live in 
 a celebrated university, a city of note, a con- 
 siderable bishopric, a powerful duchy, where 
 all are orthodox, and where, undoubtedly, 
 they would not tolerate so wicked a heretic.' 
 
 Luther did not publish the Asterisks, he 
 only communicated them to his friends; it 
 was not till afterwards that they were given 
 to the public. 133 
 
 This rupture between the doctor of Ingol- 
 stadt and the doctor of Wittemberg caused a 
 great sensation in Germany. They had com- 
 mon friends. Scheurl, especially, took alarm. 
 It was through him that the two doctors had 
 become acquainted. He was one of those 
 who wished to see a Reformation take place 
 in the universal Germanic church, and by the 
 agency of its most distinguished members. 
 But if, at the outset, the most eminent theo- 
 logians were to fall to quarrelling; if, whilst 
 Luther was advancing new opinions, Eck 
 stood up as the representative of the old, what 
 confusion was to be apprehended ] Would 
 not numerous adherents flock around each 
 chief, and form two hostile camps in the bo- 
 som of the empire ? 
 
 On these accounts Scheurl endeavoured to 
 reconcile Eck and Luther. The latter declared 
 himself ready to forget every thing; that he 
 loved Eck's talents ; 139 that he admired his 
 learning ; and that he felt more grief than 
 anger at his old friend's conduct. " I am pre- 
 pared," said he to Scheurl, "either for peace 
 or war; but I prefer peace. Help us, then, 
 by your good offices ; grieve with us that the 
 devil has kindled this beginning of discord 
 among us; and afterwards rejoice that Christ 
 in his mercy has extinguished it." He wrote 
 affectionately to Eck, but the latter returned 
 no answer. 140 He did not even send him any 
 message. The time for a reconciliation was 
 past. The breach grew wider and wider. 
 The pride of Eck and his implacable spirit, 
 soon broke the last ties of their declining 
 riendship. 
 
 Such were the struggles which the charn- 
 jion of God's word had to maintain in the 
 >eginning of his career. But, in the estima- 
 tion of a Christian, those combats are of small 
 account, that are to be waged in the high 
 places of this world, or in the arena of the 
 schools. Human teachers imagine that they 
 have obtained a splendid triumph if some 
 literary circles are filled with the fame of 
 their systems. As their desire is rather to 
 gratify their self-love, or to please a party, than 
 to benefit mankind, this brilliant worldly sue- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 cess suffices them. Thus, their labours may 
 be compared to smoke, which, after blinding 
 the eyes, passes away without leaving any 
 vestige behind. Neglecting to deposit their 
 principles in the masses, they do little more 
 than skim the surface of society. 
 
 Not so the Christian; his aim is neither a 
 name in society, nor academical honours ; but 
 the salvation of souls. He willingly foregoes 
 the intellectual rivalry in which he might en- 
 gage at his ease with the disputers of this 
 world, and prefers the secret labours which 
 carry light and life into the sequestered dwell- 
 ings of the poor. This did Luther ; or rather, 
 following his Master's precept, "He did this, 
 and left no other things undone." While 
 combating inquisitors, chancellors of univer- 
 sities, and masters of the palace, he laboured 
 to diffuse sound religious knowledge among 
 the multitude. With this view, he about the 
 same time published several popular tracts, 
 such as his sermons on the Ten Command- 
 ments, preached two years previously in the 
 church of Wittemberg, and which have al- 
 ready been mentioned, and also his explana- 
 tion of the Lord's Prayer, for the simple and 
 unlearned laity. Who would not desire to 
 know what the Reformer then addressed to 
 the people! 141 We will cite, therefore, some 
 of the words which he put forth to "run 
 through the land," as he says in the preface 
 to the last mentioned work. 
 
 Prayer, that interior act of the heart, will 
 undoubtedly be ever one of the points with 
 which a true and vital reformation will com- 
 mence ; Luther's thought was turned to this 
 solemn subject. It is not possible to trans- 
 fuse his energetic style and the vigour of his 
 language, which was in course of formation, 
 so to speak, under his pen, as he composed. 
 We will however make some attempt. 
 
 "When thou prayest," said he, "let thy 
 words be few, but thy thoughts and feelings 
 many and deep. The less thou speakest, the 
 better thy prayers. Few words and much 
 thought is a Christian frame. Many words 
 and little thought is heathenish." 
 
 " The prayer that is external and of the 
 body is that 'mumbling of the lips, that out- 
 ward babble, gone through without attention, 
 and heard and seen of men ; but prayer in 
 spirit and in truth is the inward desire, the 
 motions and sighs that proceed from the 
 depth of the heart. The former is the prayer 
 of hypocrites, and of those who trust in them- 
 selves. The latter is the prayer of God's 
 children who walk in his fear." 
 
 Passing on to the opening words of the 
 Lord's Prayer, he thus expresses himself: 
 Our Father. " Of all names there is not one 
 which more inclines us towards God than the 
 name of Father. We should feel less love, 
 and derive less consolation, from addressing 
 him as Lord, or God, or Judge. By that word 
 Father, his bowels of compassion are moved; 
 for there is no sound more sweet or prevailing 
 with a father than the voice of his child." 
 
 He continues, and on the words, "who art 
 in heaven," he says : " Whosoever professes 
 
 that he has a father in heaven, acknowledges 
 himself to be a stranger upon earth : hence, 
 there is in his heart an ardent longing, like 
 that of a child that is living among strangers 
 in want and grief, afar from its fatherland. It 
 is as if he said, Alas ! my father, thou art in 
 heaven, and I, thy suffering child, am on earth, 
 far from thee, encompassed with dangers, 
 wants, and mourning. 
 
 " Hallowed be thy name? " He w r ho is 
 passionate, abusive, envious, and slanderous, 
 dishonours the name of God in which he has 
 been baptized. Profaning to impious uses a 
 vessel that God has consecrated to himself, 
 he is like a priest who should take the holy 
 cup and give drink to swine, or gather dung 
 into it." 
 
 " Thy kingdom come ." "Those who amass 
 property and build magnificent mansions, who 
 strive after what the world can give, and utter 
 this prayer with their lips, resemble those 
 huge organ pipes which incessantly sincr with 
 all their power in the churches, without 
 speech, feeling, or reason." 
 
 Further on, Luther attacks the error of pil- 
 grimages, which was then so prevalent : " One 
 goes to Rome, another to St. James, a third 
 builds a chapel, and a fourth endows religious 
 houses, in order to attain to the kingdom of 
 God ; but all neglect the one thing needful, 
 which is, to become themselves his kingdom. 
 Why seek the kingdom of God beyond the 
 seas'? It is in thy heart it should arise." 
 
 " It is an awful thing," he continues, " to 
 hear us offer this petition, 'Thy will be done.' 
 Where in the church do we see this 'will of 
 God ]' One bishop rises against another 
 bishop; one church against another church. 
 Priests, monks, and nuns quarrel, and thwart, 
 and wa^e war with each other, and every- 
 where discord prevails. And yet each party 
 declares that there is good will and upright 
 intention ; and so, to the honour and glory of 
 God, they altogether do the devil's work. . . " 
 
 " Why do we use the words, ' our bread ]' " 
 he continues, expounding these words, " Give 
 us this day our daily bread." " Because we 
 do not pray for the common bread that heathens 
 partake, and which God gives to all men, 
 but for 'our' bread, the bread of those who 
 are 'children' of the heavenly Father." 
 
 " And what then is this bread of God ? It 
 is Jesus Christ our Lord. ' I am the bread 
 of life which came down from heaven, and 
 giveth life to the world.' Therefore let no 
 one be deluded: whatever sermons and in- 
 structions do not exhibit and make known 
 Jesus Christ, cannot be the daily bread and 
 nourishment of souls." 
 
 " Of what use is it that such bread has been 
 provided, if it is not served up, and so we are 
 unable to partake of if? It is as if a noble 
 feast were prepared, and none were ready to 
 distribute the bread, to place the meat on 
 table, or fill the cups, and so the guests should 
 be reduced to feed on the mere sight and smell. 
 Therefore we must preach Christ alone. 
 
 " But, say you, what is it to know Christ 1 
 and what good will come of it ? I answer ; 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 95 
 
 to learn and know Christ is to understand 
 what the Apostle declares, namely : that 
 ' Christ is made unto us of God, wisdom 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.' 
 Now you understand that, if you acknowledge 
 all your wisdom mere blameworthy foolish- 
 ness, your righteousness a criminal iniquity, 
 your holiness a guilty pollution, your redemp- 
 tion a miserable sentence of condemnation ; 
 if you feel that you are truly, before God, and 
 before all creatures, a fool, a sinner, an im- 
 pure and condemned man : if you manifest, 
 not by word alone, but from the bottom of 
 your heart, and by your works, that there is 
 neither salvation nor comfort for you, save 
 only in Christ. To believe is nothing else 
 than feeding on this bread from heaven." 
 
 Thus Luther faithfully adhered to his reso- 
 lution to open the eyes of a blinded people, 
 whom the priests were leading at their plea- 
 sure. His writings rapidly dispersed through- 
 out Germany, called up a new light, and shed 
 abundantly the seed of truth on a soil well 
 prepared for it. But, while attending to those 
 who were at a distance, he did not forget those 
 who were nigh at hand. 
 
 The Dominicans, from their pulpit, anathe- 
 matized the infamous heretic. Luther, the 
 man of the people, and who, if he had desired 
 it, could, by a few words, have called up the 
 popular fury against them, disdained such 
 triumphs, and thought only of instructing his 
 hearers. 
 
 And he did so. His reputation, which 
 epread more and more widely, and the bold- 
 ness with which he lifted the banner of 
 Christ in the midst of an enslaved Church, 
 increased the eager attendance on his preach- 
 ing at Wittemberg. The crowd of hearers was 
 more considerable than ever. Luther went 
 straight to his mark. One day, having ascend- 
 ed the pulpit, he undertook to prove the doc- 
 trine of repentance, and on this occasion, he 
 pronounced a discourse which became after- 
 wards very celebrated, and in which he laid 
 down some of the grounds of the evangelical 
 doctrine. 
 
 He first contrasted man's pardon with God's 
 pardon. " There are," said he, " two kinds 
 of remission: the remission of the penalty, and 
 the remission of the sin. The first reconciles 
 outwardly the offender with the Church. The 
 second, which is the heavenly grace, recon- 
 ciles the offender with God. If a man does 
 not find in himself that peace of conscience, 
 that joy of heart which springs from God's 
 remission of sin, there is no indulgence that 
 can help him, though he should buy all that 
 had ever been offered upon earth." 
 
 He continues: "They wish to do good 
 works before their sins are forgiven them, 
 whilst it is indispensable that our sins be par- 
 doned before good works can be done. It is 
 not works which banish sin ; but drive out sin 
 and you will have works. 142 For good works 
 must be done with a joyful heart, and a good 
 conscience toward God, that is, with remission 
 of sins." 
 
 He then comes to the chief object of this 
 
 sermon, which was also the great end of the 
 whole Reformation. The Church had put 
 itself in the place of God and his word ; he 
 rejects her assumption, and shows every thing 
 to depend on faith in God's word. 
 
 "The remission of the sin is out of the 
 power of pope, bishop, priest, or any man 
 living ; and rests solely on the word of Christ, 
 and on thine own faith. For Christ did not 
 design that our comfort, our hope, and our sal- 
 vation, should be built on a word or work of 
 man, but solely on himself, on his work, and 
 on his word. . . . Thy repentance and thy 
 works may deceive thee; but Christ, thy God, 
 will not deceive thee, nor will he falter, and 
 the devil shall not overthrow his words." 143 
 
 " A pope or a bishop has no more power to 
 remit sin than the humblest priest. And even, 
 without any priest, every Christian, even 
 though a woman or a child, can do the same. 144 
 For if a simple believer say to thee, ' God 
 pardon thy sin in the name of Jesus Christ,' 
 and thou receive that word with firm faith, and 
 as though God himself spake it to thee thou 
 art absolved." 
 
 "If thou dost not believe that thy sins are 
 forgiven thee, thou makest thy God a liar, and 
 showest thyself to hold more to thy vain 
 thoughts than to God and his word." 
 
 " Under the Old Testament, neither priest, 
 nor king, nor prophet, had authority to declare 
 remission of sins. But under the New, every 
 believer has this power. The Church is full 
 of remission of sins. 145 If a devoted Christian 
 should comfort thy conscience by the word of 
 the cross, whether that Christian be a man or 
 woman, young or old, receive that comfort 
 with such faith as to endure death a hundred 
 times, rather than doubt that God has ratified 
 it. Repent; do all the works thou canst ; but 
 let aith in pardon through Christ hold the 
 first rank, and command the whole field of 
 your warfare." 145 
 
 Thus spake Luther to his surprised and de- 
 lighted hearers. All the superstructures which 
 presumptuous priests had raised for their own 
 gain between God and the soul of man were 
 thrown down, and man brought face to face 
 with his God. The word of forgiveness now 
 descended pure from on high without passing 
 through a thousand corrupting channels. That 
 the witness of God should be received, it was 
 no longer necessary that men should attach to 
 it their delusive seal. The monopoly of the 
 priestly caste was abolished ; the Church was 
 delivered from her thraldom. 
 
 Meanwhile it was become needful that the 
 flame that had been lighted up in Wittemberg 
 should be kindled elsewhere. Luther, not 
 satisfied with proclaiming the truth of the 
 Gospel in the place of his own abode, as well 
 to the students as to the people, was desirous 
 to scatter in other places the seeds of sound 
 doctrine. In the spring of 1518 the order of 
 the Augustines held its chapter general at 
 Heidelberg. Luther was summoned thither 
 as one of the most distinguished men of his 
 order. His friends made every effort to dis- 
 suade him from undertaking this journey. In 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 truth, the monks had laboured to make the 
 name of Luther hated in all the places he 
 would have to pass through. To insult they 
 added threats. A little matter would suffice 
 to raise a tumult on his journey, in which he 
 might fall a victim. "Or else," said his 
 friends, " what they dare not do by violence 
 they will accomplish by treachery and fraud."' 14 
 But Luther never allowed himself to be stop- 
 ped short in the performance of a duty by fear 
 of danger, however imminent. Accordingly 
 ne was deaf to the timid suggestions of his 
 friends : he plainly showed in whom he put 
 his trust, and under whose protection he was 
 resolved to undertake this dreaded journey. 
 Then the festival of Easter being terminated, 
 he quietly set out on foot, 148 the 13th April, 1518. 
 
 He took with him a guide named Urban, 
 who carried his little baggage, and was to ac- 
 company him as far as Wurtzburg. What 
 thoughts must have crowded the heart of this 
 servant of the Lord during his journey ! At 
 Weissenfels, the pastor, who had no previous 
 knowledge of him, recognised him immediate- 
 ly as the Doctor of Wittemberg, and received 
 him cordially. 149 At Erfurth, two other brethren 
 of the order of the Augustines joined company 
 with him. At Judenbach, the three travellers 
 met Degenhard Pfeflinger, the confidential ad- 
 viser of the Elector, and were entertained by 
 him at the inn. " I had the pleasure," writes 
 Luther to Spalatin, " of making the rich lord 
 poorer by some groncken ,- you know how I love 
 on all occasions to levy contributions on the 
 rich for the advantage of the poor; especially 
 when the rich are friends of mine." 150 He reach- 
 ed Coburg, overcome with fatigue. "All 
 goes well, by God's favour," wrote he, "un- 
 less it be that I must acknowledge myself to 
 have sinned in undertaking this journey on 
 foot. But for that sin I think I have no need 
 of any indulgence, for my contrition is perfect, 
 and the satisfaction plenary. I am exhausted 
 with fatigue, and all the conveyances are full. 
 Is not this enough, and more than enough, of 
 penance, contrition, and satisfaction T' 151 
 
 The Reformer of Germany, not finding room 
 in the public conveyances, nor any one will- 
 ing to give up his place to him, was obliged, 
 on the following morning, notwithstanding his 
 weariness, to set out again from Coburg, on 
 foot. He arrived at Wurtzburg the second 
 Sunday after Easter, towards evening. From 
 thence he sent back his guide. 
 
 It was in this town that the Bishop of Bibra 
 resided, who had received his theses with so 
 much approbation. Luther was the bearer of 
 a letter to him from the Elector of Saxony. 
 The Bishop, delighted with the opportunity 
 thus offered of becoming personally acquaint- 
 ed with this courageous champion of the truth, 
 immediately invited him to the episcopal pa- 
 lace. He himself went to meet him, address- 
 ed him very affectionately, and offered to pro- 
 cure him a guide as far as Heidelberg. But 
 Luther had met at Wurtzburg his two friends, 
 the Vicar-general Staupitz, and Lange, the 
 Prior of Erfurth, and had been offered a seat 
 in their carriage. He therefore thanked Bibra 
 
 for his proffered kindness, and the next day 
 the three friends set out from Wurtzburg. 
 They travelled in this manner for three days, 
 conversing together. On the 21st of April 
 they reached Heidelberg. Luther alighted at 
 the convent of the Augustines. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony had given him a let 
 ter for the Count Palatine Wolfgang, Duke 
 of Bavaria. Luther repaired to his magnifi- 
 cent castle, the delightful situation of which 
 is even at this day the admiration of strangers. 
 The monk, a native of the plains of Saxony, 
 had a heart capable of admiring the pictur- 
 esque situation of Heidelberg, commanding 
 the two beautiful valleys of the Rhine and the 
 Necker. He delivered his letter of recom- 
 mendation to John Simler, the steward of the 
 household. The latter, on reading it, observed : 
 " Truly, you have a valuable letter of credit 
 here.'" 52 The Count Palatine received Luther 
 very graciously. He invited him repeatedly 
 to bistable, together with Lange and Staupitz. 
 It was a great comfort to Luther to meet with 
 so friendly a reception. " We were very happy 
 together," says he, "and amused each other 
 with agreeable and pleasant conversation, 
 taking our repasts, examining the beauties of 
 the Palatine palace, admiring the ornaments, 
 the armoury, cuirasses, and every thing re- 
 markable that this celebrated and truly royal 
 castle contains." 153 
 
 But Luther had another task to perform. 
 He must work while it was yet day. Called 
 for a time to a university which exercised an 
 extensive influence over the west and south 
 of Germany, he was there to strike a blow 
 which should put in movement the churches 
 of those countries. He began therefore to 
 write some theses, which he proposed to main- 
 tain in a public disputation. Such disputa- 
 tions were not unusual ; but Luther felt that, 
 to make this useful, it must be of a striking 
 character. His natural disposition, moreover, 
 prompted him to present truth in a paradoxi- 
 cal form. The professors of the university 
 would not suffer the disputation to take place 
 in their great hall. A room was, therefore, 
 engaged in the convent of the Augustines, 
 and the 2Gth of April was fixed for the dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 Heidelberg at a later period received the 
 evangelical doctrine. One who was present 
 at the conference in the convent of the Au- 
 gustines might have then foreseen, that that 
 conference would one day bear fruit. 
 
 The reputation of Luther attracted a numer- 
 ous auditory, professors, courtiers, burghers, 
 students came in crowds. The following are 
 some of the Doctor's "paradoxes," for by 
 that name he designated his theses. Even in 
 our day, perhaps, some might give them no 
 better name ; yet it would be easy to render 
 them in propositions obvious to common 
 sense. 
 
 " 1. The law of God is a salutary rule of 
 ife; and yet it cannot help man in the obtain- 
 ng of righteousness ; but on the contrary im- 
 pedes him." 
 * 3. Works of men, let them be as fair and 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 97 
 
 good as they may, are yet evidently nothing 
 but mortal sins." 
 
 " 4. Works that are of God, however un- 
 sightly and evil in appearance, have yet an 
 endless efficacy." 
 
 " 7. The works of the righteous themselves 
 would be mortal sins, if from a holy reverence 
 of the Lord, they did not fear that their works 
 might indeed be mortal sins." 154 
 
 "9. To say that works done out of Chris 
 are truly dead works, but not mortal sins, 
 is a dangerous forgetfulness of the fear of 
 God." 
 
 " 13. Free will, since the fall of man, is 
 but an empty word; and if man does all he 
 can, he still sins mortally." 
 
 "16. A man who dreams he can attain to 
 grace by doing all that is in his power, adds 
 sin to sin, and is doubly guilty." 
 
 " 18. It is certain that man must altogether 
 despair of his own ability, if he would be 
 made capable of receiving the grace of Christ." 
 "21. A theologian of this world calls good 
 evil, and evil good ; but a teacher of the 
 cross is a teacher of the truth." 
 
 "22. The wisdom which applies itself to 
 learn the invisible perfections of God from 
 his works, puffs up, blinds, and hardens men." 
 "23. The law calls forth God's anger: 
 slays, accurses, judges, and condemns, what- 
 soever is not in CAm/." 155 
 
 "24. Yet this wisdom ( 22,) is not an 
 evil ; and the law ( 23,) is not to be rejected; 
 but he who learns not the wisdom of God 
 under the Cross, turns to evil whatever is 
 good." 
 
 "25. That man is not justified who does 
 
 many works; but he who, without having 
 
 yet done works, has much faith in Christ." 
 
 "26. The law says, ' Do this,' and what it 
 
 enjoins is never done; Grace says, ' Believe 
 
 in him,' and immediately all is perfected." 156 
 
 " 28. The love of God finds nothing in man, 
 
 but creates in him what He loves. Man's 
 
 love is the gift of his well beloved." 157 
 
 Five doctors of divinity attacked these the- 
 ses. They had read them with the surprise 
 that their novelty excited. Such theology 
 seemed to them extravagant. They, however, 
 entered on the discussion, as Luther tells us, 
 with a courtesy which inspired him with much 
 esteem for them ; yet with great earnestness 
 and discernment. Luther, on his part, mani- 
 fested unusual mildness in his mode of reply, 
 unrivalled patience in listening to the objec- 
 tions of his opponents, and all the quickness 
 of St. Paul in solving the difficulties opposed 
 to him. His answers short but full of the 
 word of God, astonished his hearers. " He 
 is exactly like Erasmus," said many, "except 
 that he surpasses him in one thing ; that is, 
 he openly professes what Erasmus was satis- 
 fied with insinuating." 158 
 
 The disputation was drawing near to its 
 close. The adversaries of Luther had, at 
 least, retreated with honour from the field ; 
 the youngest of them, Doctor George Niger, 
 alone continued the contest with the powerful 
 disputant; alarmed at the bold propositions 
 
 of the Augustine monk, and not knowing what 
 argument to have recourse to, he exclaimed, 
 with an accent of fear, " If our peasantry heard 
 such things, they would stone you to death." 169 
 At these words a general laugh went round 
 the assembly. 
 
 Yet never did an auditory listen with more 
 attention to a theological discussion. The 
 first words of the Reformer had aroused men's 
 minds. Questions, which but a little while 
 before, would have met only with indifference, 
 were, at that hour, teeming with interest. An 
 observer might have read in the countenances 
 of those present the new ideas which the bold 
 assertions of the Saxon Doctor awakened in 
 their minds. 
 
 Three youths, especially, were much affect- 
 ed. One of them, by name Martin Bucer, 
 was a Dominican, of twenty-seven years of 
 age, who, in spite of the prejudices of his 
 order, seemed unwilling to lose a word of 
 the Doctor's remarks. A native of a small 
 town in Alsace, he had, in his sixteenth year, 
 entered a convent. He soon showed such 
 capacity, that the more enlightened of the 
 monks formed high expectations of him. 160 "He 
 will, one day," said they, "be an honour to 
 our order/' His superiors accordingly sent 
 him to Heidelberg, that he might apply him- 
 self to the study of philosophy, theology, 
 Greek, and Hebrew. At that period, Eras- 
 mus published several of his writings. Mar- 
 tin Bucer read them with avidity. 
 
 Shortly after this, the first published writ- 
 ings of Luther appeared. The student of 
 Alsace hastened to compare the doctrines of 
 the Reformer with the Holy Scriptures. Some 
 misgivings as to the truth of Popery were 
 then awakened in his mind. 161 It was in this 
 way that light was spread in those days. 
 The Elector Palatine took notice of the young 
 man. His powerful and sonorous voice and 
 agreeable manners, his eloquence, and the 
 freedom with which he attacked the prevail- 
 ing vices, made his preaching remarkable. 
 Appointed chaplain to the Elector, he was 
 fulfilling the functions of his office, when he 
 heard of Luther's visit to Heidelberg. How 
 great was his joy ! He was among the first 
 to repair to the hall of the convent of the Au- 
 gustines. He had with him paper, pens, and 
 nk, intending to take notes. But whilst his 
 land rapidly traced the words of Luther, the 
 hand of God wrote in imperishable characters 
 on his heart the great truths he heard. The 
 irst gleams of the doctrine of grace diffused 
 themselves in his soul in the course of that 
 memorable hour. 162 The Dominican was won 
 to Christ. 
 
 Not far from Bucer sate John Brentz, or 
 Brentius, then nineteen years of age. Brentz, 
 son of a magistrate of a town in Suabia, had 
 >een entered student at Heidelberg in his thir- 
 eenth year. His application was unequalled. 
 :Ie rose at midnight for study. This custom 
 iad become so confirmed, that in after life he 
 could never sleep after that hour. But at a 
 ater period, he devoted the stillness of these 
 seasons to meditation on the Scriptures. 
 
98 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Brentz was one of the first to discern the new 
 light then appearing in Germany. He hailed 
 it with a soul overflowing with love. 103 He 
 eagerly perused the writings of Luther. But 
 how was he rejoiced -at the opportunity of 
 hearing him at Heidelberg! One of the 
 Doctor's propositions especially struck young 
 Brentz. It was this : " That man is not 
 justified in the sight of God who does many 
 works ; but he who, without having yet done 
 works, has much faith in Christ." 
 
 A pious woman of Heilbronn, on the Necker, 
 the wife of one of the council of that town, 
 named Snepf, following the example of Han- 
 nah, had dedicated her first-born son to the 
 Lord, in the fervent desire to see him devote 
 himself to the study of divinity. This young 
 man, born in 1495, made rapid progress in 
 learning; but either from liking, or from am- 
 bition, or else in compliance with his father's 
 desire, he took to the study of jurisprudence. 
 The pious mother grieved to see her son Ehr- 
 hard pursuing a course different from that to 
 which she had consecrated him. She ad- 
 monished him, expostulated, and again and 
 again reminded him of her vow made at his 
 birth. 164 At length, overcome by his mother's 
 perseverance, Ehrhard Snepf complied, and he 
 soon had such a relish for his new studies, 
 that nothing could have diverted him from 
 them. 
 
 He was very intimate with Bucer and 
 Brentz, and this friendship continued as long 
 as they lived ; " for," says one of their histo- 
 rians, " friendships founded on the love of 
 literature and of virtue are always lasting." 
 He was present with his two friends at the 
 disputation at Heidelberg. The paradoxes 
 and courageous efforts of the Doctor of Wit- 
 temberg, gave a new impulse to his mind. 
 Rejecting the vain opinion of human merit, 
 he embraced the doctrine of the free justifica- 
 tion of the sinner. 
 
 The next day, Bucer went to Luther. "I 
 had," says he, " a familiar private conversa- 
 tion with him, a most exquisite repast of no 
 ordinary viands, but of the truths which he 
 set before me. To every objection that I 
 made, the Doctor had a ready reply ; and he 
 explained every thing with the greatest clear- 
 ness. Oh ! would to God I had time to write 
 you more about it." 165 Luther was himself af- 
 fected with Bucer's deep emotion. " He is 
 the only brother of his order," he wrote to 
 Spalatin, "who is sincere; he is a young 
 man of great promise. He received me with 
 simplicity, and conversed very earnestly. He 
 deserves our love and confidence." 166 
 
 Brentz, Snepf, and many others, moved by 
 the new truths which were beginning to en- 
 lighten their minds, also visited Luther; they 
 talked and conferred with him ; they requested 
 an explanation of what they had not under- 
 stood. The Reformer, leaning on the word 
 of God, answered them. Every word that he 
 spoke imparted fresh light to their minds. A 
 new world seemed to open before them. 
 
 After the departure of Luther, these noble- 
 minded men began to teach at Heidelberg. 
 
 It was fit that they should carry on what the 
 man of God had begun, and not leave the 
 torch that he had kindled to expire. The 
 disciple will speak when the teacher is si- 
 lent. Brentz, young as he was, undertook 
 to expound St. Matthew's Gospel, at first 
 in his own room afterwards, when that 
 apartment was found too small, in the hall of 
 Philosophy. The theologians, envious at the 
 concourse of hearers that this young man drew 
 together, betrayed their irritation. Brentz 
 then took orders, and transferred his lectures 
 to the college of the canons of the Holy Ghost. 
 Thus the fire, already kindled in Saxony, 
 was communicated to Heidelberg. The light 
 spread rapidly. This period has been called 
 the seed-time of the Palatinate. 
 
 But it was not the Palatinate alone that 
 reaped the fruits of that memorable disputa- 
 tion at Heidelberg. These courageous friends 
 of the truth soon became shininglights in the 
 Church. All of them attained to eminent 
 stations, and took a conspicuous part in the 
 transactions to which the Reformation gave 
 birth. Strasburg, and afterwards England, 
 were indebted to the labours of Bucer for a 
 purer knowledge of the truth. Snepf first 
 declared it at Marburg, then at Stuttgard, at 
 Tubingen, and at Jena. And Brentz, after 
 having laboured at Heidelberg, taught for a 
 long time at Halle in Suabia, and at Tubin- 
 gen. We shall meet with them again, as we 
 trace the course of the Reformation. 
 
 This disputation carried forward Luther 
 himself. He increased from day to day in 
 the knowledge of the truth. "I am one of 
 those," said he, " who have myself made 
 progress by writing for and instructing others, 
 not one of those who, without any such 
 training, have suddenly become great and 
 learned doctors." 
 
 He was delighted to see the eagerness with 
 which the young students received the grow- 
 ing truth. This it was that comforted him 
 when he found the old doctors so deeply- 
 rooted in their opinions. " I have the glorious 
 hope," said he," "that even as Christ, when 
 rejected by the Jews, turned towards the 
 Gentiles, so we shall see the rising genera- 
 tion receive the true theology, which these 
 old men, wedded to their vain and fantastical 
 opinions, now obstinately reject." 167 
 
 The chapter being ended, Luther proposed 
 returning to Wittemberg. The Count Pala- 
 tine gave him a letter for the Elector, dated 
 the 1st of May, in which he said that "the 
 skill which Luther had shown in the disputa- 
 tion did great honour to the university of Wit- 
 temberg." He was not allowed to return on 
 foot. 168 The Augustines of Nuremberg con- 
 ducted him as far as Wurtzburg. From thence 
 he went to Erfurth with the brethren of that 
 city. Immediately on his arrival, he paid a 
 visit to his former master, Jocodus. The old 
 professor, much grieved and scandalized at 
 the course his pupil had taken, was accus- 
 tomed to prefix to all Luther's propositions a 
 thetai the letter which the Greeks made use 
 of to denote condemnation. 169 On several occa- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 99 
 
 sions he had written to the young doctor in a 
 style of reproach. The latter wished to an- 
 swer these letters by word of mouth. Not 
 being admitted, he wrote to his master: " All 
 the university, with the exception of one licen- 
 tiate, think as I do. Nay, more: the Prince, 
 the Bishop, several other prelates, and all the 
 most enlightened of our citizens, declare 
 unanimously that till now they never knew 
 or understood Christ and his Gospel. I am 
 willing to receive your reproofs. And even 
 should they be harsh, they will appear gentle 
 to me. Open your heart, therefore, without 
 fear; express your displeasure: I will not 
 and cannot be angry with you. God and my 
 own conscience are my witnesses." 170 
 
 The old doctor was affected by these ex- 
 pressions of his former pupil. He wished to 
 try whether there were no means of removing 
 the condemnatory theta. They talked over 
 the subject, but to no purpose. " I made him 
 understand, however," says Luther, " that all 
 their dogmas were like that creature which is 
 said to devour itself. But it is useless to talk 
 
 to a deaf man. These doctors cling to their 
 petty distinctions, though they confess that 
 they have nothing to confirm them but what 
 they call the light of natural reason, a 
 gloomy chaos to us who proclaim the one 
 true and only light, Christ Jesus." 171 
 
 Luther quitted Erfurth in the carriage be- 
 longing to the convent, which took him to 
 Eisleben. From thence the Augustines of the 
 place, proud of the doctor who had done such 
 honour to their order and their town, which 
 was his native place, furnished him with 
 horses to proceed to Wittemberg at their ex- 
 pense. Every one wished to show some mark 
 of affection and esteem to this extraordinary 
 man, whose fame was daily increasing. 
 
 He arrived on the Saturday after Ascension 
 day. The journey had done him good, and 
 his friends thought him looking stronger and 
 in better health than before he set out. 172 They 
 rejoiced at all that he related. Luther rested 
 for a while after the fatigue of his journey and 
 his dispute at Heidelberg ; but this rest was 
 only a preparation for severer labours. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 LUTHER BEFORE THE LEGATE. 
 
 May to December, 1518. 
 
 The Pope Leo X. Luther to his Bishop Luther to the Pope Luther to the Vicar- General- 
 The Cardinal to the Elector Sermon on Excommunication Luther's Influence Diet at Augs- 
 burg The Emperor and the Elector Letters to the Pope Citation of Luther to Rome Inter- 
 cession of the University The Legate De Vio The Pope's Brief Luther's Indignation The 
 Pope to the Elector George Schwarzerd Melancthon Luther and Melancthon Staupitz to 
 Spalatin Luther's Resolution He sets out At Nuremberg Luther at Nuremberg De Vio 
 Serra Longa and Luther Return of Serra Longa Prior of the Carmelites Serra Longa Luther 
 and Serra Longa The Safe Conduct Appearance before the Legate First Interview De Vio's 
 Proofs Luther's Replies A Proposal Luther and De Vio Luther's Declaration The Legate's 
 Answer Luther's Request Third Conference Luther's Declaration The Legate's Answer 
 Luther's Reply The Cardinal Foiled Rumours De Vio and Staupitz Luther to Carlstadt 
 The Communion Departure of Staupitz Letter to the Legate Luther and the Legate Lu- 
 ther's Letter to the Legate His Appeal Luther's Flight Nuremberg The Legate to the 
 Elector Luther to the Elector Graefenthal Luther to Spalatin Luther's Intended Departure 
 A Critical Hour Deliverance Dissatisfaction at Rome The Pope's Bull Luther's Appeals to 
 a Council. 
 
 AT length Truth had raised its head in the 
 midst of the nations of Christendom. Having 
 triumphed over the inferior instruments of the 
 papal power, it was now to enter upon a strug- 
 gle with its head himself. We are about to 
 contemplate Luther in close conflict with 
 Rome. 
 
 It was after his return from Heidelberg that 
 Luther advanced to the attack. His first 
 Theses on the indulgences had been imper- 
 fectly understood. He resolved to set forth 
 their meaning more plainly. He had found, 
 by the clamours proceeding from the blind- 
 ness and hatred of his enemies, how important 
 it was to gain over to the side of the truth the 
 more enlightened portion of the nation: he 
 decided therefore to appeal to its judgment, by 
 presenting to it the grounds on which his new 
 convictions rested. It was quite necessary to 
 14 
 
 invite the decision of Rome ; he did not hesi- 
 tate to send thither his explanations; while 
 with one hand he held them forth to all his im- 
 partial and enlightened fellow-countrymen, he, 
 with the other, laid them before the footstool 
 of the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 
 These explanations of his theses, which he 
 called solutions? were written with great mo- 
 deration. Luther tried to soften the passages 
 that had occasioned irritation, and evinced a 
 genuine modesty. But, at the same time, he 
 manifested an immovable conviction, and cou- 
 rageously defended every proposition that truth 
 obliged him to maintain. He repeated, once 
 more, that every Christian who truly repented 
 had remission of sins without any indulgence ; 
 that the Pope had no more power than the 
 lowest priest to do anything beyond simply 
 declaring the forgiveness that God had already 
 
100 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 granted ; that the treasury of the merits of 
 saints, administered by the Pope was a pure 
 fiction : and that holy Scripture was the sole 
 rule of faith. But let us listen to his own 
 statement of some of these things. 
 
 He begins by laying down the nature of true 
 repentance, and contrasts that act of God, by 
 which man is regenerated, with the mum- 
 meries of the Romish Church. * The Greek 
 word petavofits," said he, " signifies, put on 
 a new spirit, a new mind, take to you a 
 new nature, so that, ceasing to be earthly, you 
 may become heavenly : Christ is a teacher of 
 the spirit, and not of the letter, and his words 
 are spirit and life." Thus he teaches a re- 
 pentance in spirit and in truth, and not those 
 outward penances which the haughtiest sin- 
 ner may perform without any real humiliation, 
 he requires a repentance, \vhich may be 
 wrought in every situation of life, under the 
 purple robe of kings, under the priest's cas- 
 sock, the prince's hat, in the midst of the 
 splendours of Babylon, where Daniel dwelt, 
 as well as under the monk's frock, or the 
 mendicant's rags.* 
 
 Further on we read these bold words: "I 
 care little what pleases or displeases the Pope. 
 He is a man like other men. There have been 
 many popes who have not only taken up with 
 errors and vices, but things yet more extraor- 
 dinary. I listen to the Pope as pope, that is, 
 when he speaks in the canons, agreeably to 
 the canons, or regulates any matter conjointly 
 with a council, but not when he speaks of 
 his own mind. If I acted on any other rule, 
 might I not be required to say, with those 
 who know not Jesus Christ, that the horrible 
 massacres of Christians, by which Julius II. 
 was stained, were the good deeds of a kind 
 shepherd of the Lord's sheep 1" f 
 
 "I must needs wonder," ne continues, "at 
 the simplicity of those who have said that the 
 two swords in the Gospel represent the one 
 the spiritual, the other the temporal power. 
 True it is, that the Pope holds a sword of 
 Iron, and thus offers himself to the view of 
 Christians not as a tender father, but as an 
 awful tyrant. Alas! God, in his anger, hath 
 given us the sword we preferred, and with- 
 drawn that which we despised. Nowhere, in 
 all the earth, have there been more cruel wars 
 than among Christians. Why did not the 
 same ingenious critic who supplied this fine 
 commentary, interpret the narrative of the two 
 keys delivered to St. Peter in the same subtle 
 manner, and establish, as a dogma of the 
 Church, that the one serves to unlock the 
 treasury of heaven, and the other the treasures 
 of this world ?" 
 
 " It is impossible," says he, " for a man to 
 be a Christian without having Christ; and, if 
 he has Christ, he has, at the same time, all 
 that is in Christ. What gives peace to the 
 conscience is that, by faith, our sins are no 
 more ours, but Christ's, upon whom God hath 
 laid them all; and that, on the other hand, all 
 
 * On the first Thesis. 
 
 t Thesis 80. 
 
 t Thesis 26. 
 
 Christ's righteousness is ours, to whom GoJ 
 hath given it. Christ lays his hand upon us, 
 and we are healed. He casts his mantle upon 
 us, and we are clothed ; for he is the glorious 
 Saviour, blessed forever."* 
 
 With such view of the riches of salvation by 
 Christ, there could no longer be any need of 
 indulgences. 
 
 At the same time that Luther thus attacked 
 the papal rule, he spoke honourably of Leo 
 X. "The times we live in," said he, " are so 
 evil, that even persons of the highest station 
 have no power to help the Church. We have 
 at this time a very good Pope in Leo X. His 
 sincerity and learning are a matter of joy to 
 us. But what can he do alon , amiable and 
 gracious as he is? He deserved, assuredly, 
 to be elected Pope in better times. In these 
 days we deserve none but such as Julian II. 
 or Alexander VI." 
 
 He then came to this point. " I will speak 
 out, in a few words and boldly. The Church 
 requires to be reformed. And it is a work 
 neither for one man, as the Pope, nor for 
 several, as the cardinals and fathers in council 
 assembled, but for the whole world ; or rather 
 it is a work which appertains to God alone. 
 As to the time when such Reformation shall 
 commence, he only knows it who has appoint- 
 ed all time. The barriers are thrown down, 
 and it is no longer in our power to restrain the 
 overflowing billows." 
 
 These are a few of the declarations and 
 thoughts which Luther addressed to the more 
 enlightened of his countrymen. W 7 hitsuntide 
 was drawing near; and thus it was at the 
 same season in which the apostles rendered 
 to their risen Saviour the first testimony of 
 their faith, that Luther, the new apostle, pub- 
 lished this animated testimony, in which he 
 breathed forth his ardent desires for the resur- 
 rection of the Church. On Whitsun-eve, 22d 
 May, 1518, he despatched this writing to the 
 Bishop of Brandenburg, his ordinary, accom- 
 panied with these words : 
 
 " Most worthy Father in God ! 
 
 " It is now some time since a new and un- 
 heard-of doctrine, concerning the apostolic 
 indulgences, began to be preached in these 
 parts: the learned and the unlearned were 
 troubled by it; and many persons known, or 
 personally unknown to me, requested me to 
 declare from the pulpit, or by writing, my opi- 
 nion of the novelty I will not say the impu- 
 dence of the doctrine I refer to. At first I 
 kept myself silent and neutral. But, at last, 
 things came to such a pass, that the Pope's 
 holiness was compromised. 
 
 " What could I do? I thought it my part 
 neither to approve nor condemn these doc- 
 trines, but to open a discussion on this import- 
 ant subject, till such time as the holy Church 
 should pronounce upon it. 
 
 " No one presenting himself, or accepting 
 the challenge to a discussion to which I had 
 nvited all the world ; and my theses being 
 :onsidered not as matters for debate, but as 
 
 * Thesis 37. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 101 
 
 propositions dogmatically asserted; 2 I find 
 myself obliged to put forth an explanation of 
 them. Deign, therefore, to accept these offer- 
 ings that I present to you, most -clement Bi- 
 shop. 3 And that all may see that I am not 
 acting presumptuously, I entreat your reve- 
 rence to take pen and ink and blot out, or even 
 throw into the fire whatever may displease 
 you. I know that Christ needs none of my 
 labour or services, and that he can easily, 
 without my instrumentality, make known the 
 good tidings in his church. Not that the de- 
 nunciations and threats of my enemies alarm 
 me. Quite the contrary. If they were not so 
 wanting in prudence, and lost to shame, no 
 one should hear or know any thing about me. 
 I would immure myself in a corner, and there 
 study alone for my own profit. If this matter 
 is not of God, it will certainly not be to my 
 honour, nor to the honour of any man, but will 
 come to naught. May glory and honour be to 
 Him to whom alone they belong!" 
 
 Luther was* up to this time, under the in- 
 fluence of respect for the head of the Church ; 
 he gave credit to Leo for justice and a love of 
 truth. Accordingly, he resolved to write to 
 him also. A week after, on Trinity Sunday, 
 30th May, 1518, he addressed to him a letter, 
 of which the following are some fragments. 
 
 "To the most blessed Father, Pope Leo X., 
 Supreme Bishop, brother Martin Luther, an 
 Augustine, wishes eternal salvation ! 
 
 "I hear, most holy Father, that evil reports 
 circulate concerning me, and that my name is 
 in bad odour with your Holiness. I am called 
 a heretic, an apostate, a traitor, and a thousand 
 other reproachful names. What I see sur- 
 prises me, and what I hear alarms me. But 
 the sole foundation of my tranquillity remains 
 unmoved, being a pure and quiet conscience. 
 O, holy Father ! deign to hearken to me, who 
 am but a child, and need instruction." 
 
 Luther then relates the affair from its begin- 
 ning, and thus proceeds: 
 
 " Nothing was heard in all the taverns but 
 complaints of the avarice of the priests, attacks 
 on the power of the keys, and of the supreme 
 bishop. I call all Germany to witness. When 
 I heard these things, my zeal was aroused for 
 the glory of Christ, if I understand my own 
 heart; or, if another construction is to be put 
 on my conduct, my young and warm blood 
 was inflamed. 
 
 " I represented the matter to certain princes 
 of the Chnrch, but some laughed at me, and 
 others turned a deaf ear. The awe of your 
 name seemed to have made all motionless. 
 Thereupon I published this dispute. 
 
 "This, then, holy Father, this is the action 
 which has been said to have set the whole 
 world in a flame ! 
 
 "And now what am I to do? I cannot 
 retract what I have said, and I see thatHhis 
 publication draws down on me, from all sides, 
 an inexpressible hatred. I have no wish to 
 appear in the great world, for I am unlearned, 
 of small wit, and far too inconsiderable for 
 such great matters, more especially in :his 
 illustrious age, when Cicero himself, if he 
 
 were living, would be constrained to hide him- 
 self in some dark corner. 4 
 
 " But in order to appease my enemies and 
 satisfy the desires of many friends, I here pub- 
 lish my thoughts. I publish them, holy Fa- 
 ther, that I may dwell the more safely under 
 your protection. All those who desire it may 
 here see with what simplicity of heart I have 
 petitioned the supreme authority of the Church 
 to instruct me, and what respect I have mani- 
 fested for the power of the keys. If I had not 
 acted with propriety, it would have been im- 
 possible that the serene Lord Frederic, Duke 
 and Elector of Saxony, who shines foremost 
 among the friends of the apostolic and Christian 
 truth, should have endured that one, so dan- 
 gerous as I am asserted to be, should continue 
 in his university of Wittemberg. 
 
 " Therefore, most holy Father, I throw my- 
 self at the feet of your holiness, and submit 
 myself to you, with all that I have and all that 
 I am. Destroy my cause, or espouse it : pro- 
 nounce either for or against me; take my life, 
 or restore it, as you please; I will receive 
 your voice as that of Christ himself, who pre- 
 sides and speaks through you. 5 If I have de- 
 served death, I refuse not to die ; the earth is 
 the Lord's, and all that therein is. May He 
 be praised forever and ever. May He main- 
 tain you to all eternity. Amen. 
 
 " Signed the day of the Holy Trinity, in the 
 year 1518. Brother Martin Luther, Augus- 
 tine." 
 
 What humility and truth in this fear, or 
 rather this admission of Luther, that his young 
 and warm blood had perhaps taken fire too 
 hastily ! We see here the man of sincerity, 
 who, instead of presuming on himself, dreads 
 the influence of his passions, even in such 
 actions as are most conformable to the com- 
 mandment of God. This is not the language 
 of a proud fanatic. We behold Luther's 
 earnest desire to gain over Leo to the cause of 
 truth, to avoid all schism, and to cause the 
 Reformation (the necessity of which he pro- 
 claimed) to proceed from the highest authority 
 in the Church. Certainly, it is not he who 
 can be accused of having broken up that unity 
 of the Western Church, which so many of all 
 sects have since regretted. On the contrary, 
 he gave up every thing but truth that he might 
 maintain it. It was his adversaries who, re- 
 fusing to allow the fulness and sufficiency of 
 the salvation wrought by Jesus Christ, tore to 
 shreds the Lord's vesture at the foot of the 
 cross. 
 
 After writing this letter, Luther, on the 
 same day, wrote to his friend Staupitz, Vicar- 
 general of his order. It was through him that 
 he resolved to forward to Leo both his " Solu- 
 tions" and his letter. 
 
 " I beg of you," said he, " to receive with 
 favour the poor productions that I send you,* 
 and to forward them to the excellent Pope Leo 
 X. Not that I mean by this to draw you into 
 the peril in which I stand; lam resolved my- 
 self to incur the whole danger. Christ will 
 
 The Solutions. 
 
102 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 look to it, and make it appear whether what 
 I have said comes from him or myself, 
 Christ, without whom the Pope's tongue can- 
 not move, nor the hearts of kings decree. 
 
 " As for those who threaten me, I have no 
 answer for them but the saying of Reuchlin : 
 * The poor man has nothing to fear, for he has 
 nothing to lose.' 6 I have neither money nor 
 astate, and I desire none. If I have some- 
 times tasted of honour and good report, may 
 He who has begun to strip me of them finish 
 his work. All that is left me is this wretched 
 body, enfeebled by many trials : let them kill 
 it by violence or fraud, so it be to the glory 
 of God ; by so doing they will but shorten 
 the term of my life by a few hours. It is suf- 
 ficient for me that I have a precious Redeem- 
 er, a powerful High Priest, my Lord Jesus 
 Christ. I will praise him as long as I have 
 breath. If another will not join me in prais- 
 ing him, what is that to me!" 
 
 In these words we read the innermost heart 
 of Luther. 
 
 Whilst he was thus placing confidence in 
 Rome, Rome had thoughts of vengeance 
 against him. As early as the 3d of April, 
 Cardinal Raphael de Rovera had written to 
 the Elector Frederic in the Pope's name, to 
 intimate that some suspicion was entertained 
 of his fidelity, and to desire him to avoid pro- 
 tecting Luther. "The Cardinal Raphael," 
 observed the latter, " would have been well 
 pleased to see me burned alive by Duke Fre- 
 deric." 7 Thus Rome was beginning to turn 
 arms against Luther; her first blow was di- 
 rected to the depriving him of his protector's 
 favour. If she succeeded in destroying this 
 shelter of the monk of Wittemberg, he would 
 fall an easy prey to her agents. 
 
 The German sovereigns were very tenacious 
 of their reputation as Christian princes. The 
 slightest suspicion of heresy filled them with 
 fears. The Roman Court had skilfully taken 
 advantage of this disposition of mind. Fre- 
 deric had always been attached to the religion 
 of his fathers. Hence the Cardinal Raphael's 
 letter produced a very considerable impression 
 upon his mind. But, on the other hand, the 
 Elector made it a rule never to be hasty in 
 any thing. He knew that truth was not 
 always on the side of the strongest. The dis- 
 putes of the Empire with Rome had taught 
 him to discern the interested views of that 
 court. He had arrived at the conviction that, 
 to be a Christian prince, it was not necessary 
 to be a slave to the Pope. 
 
 " He was not one of those profane persons," 
 says Melancthon, "who would stifle all 
 changes in their very birth. Frederic sub- 
 mitted himself to the will of God. He care- 
 fully read the writings that were put forth, 
 and would not allow any to destroy what he 
 thought true." He possessed this power. 
 Besides being absolute sovereign of his own 
 dominions, he enjoyed at least as much respect 
 throughout the Empire as was paid to the 
 Emperor himself. 
 
 It is probable that Luther received some in- 
 timation of this letter of Cardinal Raphael's, 
 
 which reached the Elector on the 7th of July. 
 Perhaps it was in the prospect of excommu- 
 nication, which this Roman missive seemed 
 to forebode, that he ascended the pulpit of 
 Wittemberg on the 15th of the same month, 
 and preached a discourse on that topic, which 
 made a deep impression on his hearers. He 
 explained the distinction between inward and 
 outward excommunications, the former ex- 
 cluding from communion with God, and the 
 latter from the rites and ceremonies of the 
 Church. " No one," said he, "can reconcile 
 the fallen soul to God but the Lord. No one 
 can separate a man from communion with God 
 but that man himself, by his own sins. Bless- 
 ed is that man who dies under an unjust sen- 
 tence of excommunication! Whilst, for 
 righteousness' sake, he suffers a cruel judg- 
 ment from men, he receives from God the 
 crown of everlasting happiness!" 
 
 Some loudly commended this bold language ; 
 others were yet more enraged by it. 
 
 But Luther did not now stand alone; and 
 though his faith needed no other support than 
 that of God himself, he had called up on all 
 sides a power that protected him from his ene- 
 mies. The voice of this man had been heard 
 by the whole German nation. From his ser- 
 mons and writings issued beams of light 
 which awakened and illuminated his contem- 
 poraries. The energy of his faith rushed like 
 a stream of fire upon the frozen hearts of men. 
 The life which God had given to this extra- 
 ordinary mind was imparted to the dead body 
 of the Church. Christendom, which had re- 
 mained motionless for so many years, was 
 now alive with religious enthusiasm. The 
 popular attachment to the superstitions of 
 Romanism was daily lessening ; those who 
 came with money in hand to purchase pardon 
 were every day fewer; 8 and the reputation of 
 Luther was every day extended. Men's 
 thoughts were directed toward him, and he 
 was hailed with affection and respect, as the 
 intrepid defender of truth and freedom. 9 Doubt- 
 less all did not penetrate the depth of the doc- 
 trines he proclaimed. It was enough for the 
 greater number to know that the new doctor 
 stood up against the Pope ; and that, at his 
 powerful word, the dominion of the priests 
 and monks was tottering to its fall. The at- 
 tack of Luther was to them like a beacon-fire 
 on a mountain top, which announces to a 
 whole people the moment for bursting their 
 bonds. Luther was not aware of the influence 
 he had obtained, till all the generous spirits 
 among his countrymen had by acclamation 
 acknowledged him their leader. But to many 
 the appearance of Luther was much more than 
 this. The word of God, which he handled 
 with so much power, penetrated to the souls 
 of men like a two-edged sword. In many 
 hearts an ardent desire was kindled to obtain 
 the assurance of pardon and everlasting life. 
 Since the first ages of the Church, there had 
 not been witnessed such hungering and thirst- 
 ing after righteousness. If the preaching of 
 Peter the Hermit and of Bernard had induced 
 multitudes, during the middle ages, to assume 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 103 
 
 outwardly the symbol of the cross, the preach- 
 ing of Luther influenced the hearts of men to 
 take up the true cross, the truth that saves 
 the soul. The superstructure, which then en- 
 cumbered the Church, had smothered true 
 piety : the form had extinguished the spirit. 
 The word of power given to Luther was as a 
 breath of life to Christendom. At first sight 
 the writings of Luther carried with them the 
 sympathy both of the faithful and of the un- 
 believer; of the latter, because the positive 
 doctrines, afterwards to be established, were 
 not yet fully opened ; of the former, because 
 those doctrines were in principle comprised in 
 that living faith, which his writings set forth 
 with so much power. Hence the influence of 
 those writings was unbounded. They spread 
 instantaneously throughout Germany, and the 
 whole world. Everywhere a persuasion ex- 
 isted that what men now beheld was not 
 merely the rise of a new sect, but a new birth 
 of the Church and of society. Those who 
 \vere then born again by the breath of God's 
 Spirit rallied round him who had been instru- 
 mental in imparting to them spiritual life. 
 Christendom was divided into two opposing 
 parties; the one contending for the spirit 
 against form ; and the other for form against 
 the spirit. On the side of form there was, it 
 is true, every appearance of strength and mag- 
 nificence ; on the side of the spirit there was 
 weakness and littleness. But form, void of 
 the spirit, is as an empty body which the first 
 breath may overthrow. Its resemblance of 
 strength serves only to exasperate the hostility 
 and hasten its downfall. Thus the simple 
 word of truth had called forth a whole host in 
 favour of Luther. 
 
 It could not be otherwise, for the nobles 
 were beginning to bestir themselves, and the 
 empire and the Church were already uniting 
 their forces to rid themselves of the trouble- 
 some monk. The Emperor Maximilian was 
 then holding an imperial diet at Augsburg. 
 Six Electors had repaired thither in person at 
 his summons. All the Germanic states had 
 their representatives in this assembly. The 
 kings of France, of Hungary, and of Poland, 
 had sent ambassadors. All these princes and 
 envoys displayed great magnificence. The 
 war against the Turks was one of the causes 
 for which the diet was held. The Sultan 
 Selirn, after having poisoned his father, and 
 put his brothers and their children to death, 
 had carried his victorious arms into Armenia, 
 Egypt, and Syria. Serious apprehensions 
 were entertained that he,might push forward 
 his armies into Italy and Hungary. It was 
 not long, however, before death closed his 
 career. But Leo X. did not, on that account, 
 abandon tne project of a new crusade. His 
 legate earnestly exhorted the Germanic states 
 to prepare for war. " Let the clergy," said 
 he, " pay a tenth, the laity a fiftieth part of 
 their property ; let each family furnish the 
 pay of one soldier; let the rich give annual 
 contributions, and all will go well." The 
 states, bearing in mind the bad use that had 
 been made of former contributions, and in- 
 
 fluenced by the prudent advice of the Elector 
 Frederic, contented themselves with answer- 
 ing that they would consider the matter, and 
 at the same time brought forward new griev- 
 ances against Rome. A Latin discourse, pub- 
 lished whilst the Diet was sitting, boldly 
 pointed out to the German princes the real 
 danger. "You wish," said the author, "to 
 expel the Turk. Your intention is good, but 
 1 fear you are mistaken as to his person. 
 You must look for him in Italy, and not in 
 Asia. Each of our princes has power suffi- 
 cient to defend his country against the Turk 
 of Asia; but as to the Turk of Rome, the 
 whole of Christendom is not sufficient to 
 conquer him. The former has not yet done 
 us any harm ; the latter walketh about every- 
 where thirsting for the blood of the poor." 10 
 
 Another affair no less important was to en- 
 gage the attention of the Diet. Maximilian 
 wished to have his grandson Charles, who 
 was already King of Spain and Naples, pro- 
 claimed King of the Romans, and his succes- 
 sor in the Imperial dignity. The Pope un- 
 derstood his own interest too well to wish to 
 see the throne of the Empire filled by a prince 
 whose power in Italy might make him so for- 
 midable to himself. The Emperor imagined 
 that he had gained over to his side the majori- 
 ty of the Electors and of the states ; but he 
 met with a decided opposition from Frederic. 
 It was in vain that he solicited him ; in vain 
 did the ministers and best friends of the Elec- 
 tor join their entreaties to the solicitations of 
 the Emperor ; the Prince was inexorable, and 
 showed, as has been observed, that he had 
 firmness of mind not to depart from a resolu- 
 tion of which he had seen the propriety. The 
 Emperor's design failed. 
 
 From that time Maximilian sought to in- 
 sinuate himself into the good graces of the 
 Pope, in order to win his assent to his favour- 
 ite plan. Wishing to give him a particular 
 proof of his attachment, he wrote to him (on 
 the 5th of August) the following letter : " Most 
 holy Father, we were informed some days 
 since, that a brother of the Augustine order, 
 named Martin Luther, had taken himself to 
 maintain certain propositions relative to the 
 sale of indulgences. What gives us the more 
 concern is, that the aforesaid brother meets 
 with many protectors, amongst whom are some 
 of exalted rank. 11 If your Holiness and the 
 most reverend Fathers of the Church (the 
 Cardinals) do not promptly exert your author- 
 ity to put an end to these scandalous proceed- 
 ings, these mischievous teachers will not 
 only seduce the common people, but will 
 involve great princes in their destruction. 
 We will be careful to enforce throughout our 
 Empire, whatever your Holiness shall decree 
 on this subject, to the glory of Almighty 
 God." 
 
 This letter must have been written in con- 
 sequence of some rather warm discussion that 
 Maximilian had had with Frederic. The same 
 day the Elector wrote to Raphael de Rovera. 
 He was doubtless apprized that the Emperor 
 was addressing the Roman Pontiff, and, ia 
 K 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 order to parry the blow, he himself opened a 
 communication with Rome. 
 
 " It will ever be my desire," said he, " to 
 prove my submission to the universal Church. 
 
 " Therefore have I never defended the writ- 
 ings and discourses of Doctor Martin Luther. 
 I hear, however, that he has uniformly express- 
 ed his willingness to appear, under a safe-con- 
 duct, before learned, Christian, and impartial 
 judges, to defend his doctrine, and to submit 
 to their decision, if they should be able by the 
 Scriptures to convince him of error." 12 
 
 Leo X., who, until this hour, had allowed 
 the matter to take its course, roused at length 
 by the outcry of the theologians and monks, 
 now appointed an ecclesiastical court in Rome, 
 for the purpose of judging Luther, and in which 
 the Reformer's great enemy, Sylvester Prie- 
 rias, w r as at once accuser and judge. The pre- 
 liminaries were soon arranged, and the court 
 summoned Luther to appear before it in person 
 within sixty days. 
 
 Luther was at Wittemberg, quietly await- 
 ing the good effects which he imagined his 
 submissive letter to the Pope was calculated 
 to produce, when, on the 7th August, two 
 days only after the letters from Frederic and 
 Maximilian had been despatched to Rome, he 
 received the summons from the papal tribunal. 
 "At the moment that I looked for benedic- 
 tion," said he, " I saw the thunderbolt descend 
 upon me. I was like the lamb that troubled 
 the stream at which the wolf was drinking. 
 Tetzel escaped, and I was devoured." 
 
 This summons threw all Wittemberg into 
 consternation, for, whatever course Luther 
 might take, he could not escape danger. If he 
 went to Rome, he would become the victim of 
 his enemies. If he refused to appear, he would, 
 as usual, be condemned for contumacy, and 
 would not escape, for it was known that the 
 Legate had received from the Pope an order 
 to strain every nerve to excite the Emperor 
 and the German princes against Luther. His 
 friends were alarmed. Shall the preacher of 
 the truth go and risk his life " in that great 
 city, drunk with the blood of the saints and of 
 the martyrs of Jesus'?" Shall every man 
 who ventures to lift his head in the midst of 
 the enslaved nations of Christendom be, on 
 that account, struck down 1 Shall this man 
 be trampled under foot, who seemed formed to 
 resist a power which nothing had previously 
 been able to withstand 1 Luther himself could 
 see no one but the Elector able to save him ; 
 but he preferred death to endangering his 
 prince's safety. His friends at last agreed on 
 an expedient which would not compromise 
 Frederic. Let him refuse Luther a safe-con- 
 duct : the latter would then have a fair excuse 
 for not appearing at Rome. 
 
 On the 8th of August, Luther wrote to 
 Spalatin to ask him to use his influence with 
 the Elector, to have his cause heard in Ger- 
 many. " See," said he writing to Staupitz, 
 " what snares they lay for me, and how I am 
 surrounded by thorns. But Christ lives and 
 reigns, the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
 ever. My conscience tells me that I have 
 
 taught the truth, though truth appears still more 
 odious because I teach it. The Church is the 
 womb of Rebecca. The children must strug- 
 gle together, even to the endangering of the 
 mother's life. 13 As to the rest, pray to the Lord 
 that I may not take too much joy in the trial. 
 May God not lay this sin to their charge !" 
 
 The friends of Luther did not confine them- 
 selves to consultations and complaints. Spala- 
 tin wrote, on the part of the Elector, to Ren- 
 ner, the Emperor's secretary : " Doctor Martin 
 will willingly submit himself to the judgment 
 of any of the universities of Germany, except 
 Erfurth, Leipzic, and Frankfort on the Oder, 
 which have forfeited their claim to be regarded 
 as impartial. It is out of his power to appear 
 at Rome in person." 1 * 
 
 The members of the university of Wittem- 
 berg addressed an intercessory letter to the 
 Pope himself. " His weak health," they said, 
 speaking of Luther, "and the dangers of the 
 journey, make it difficult, and even impossible, 
 that he should obey the order of your Holiness. 
 His distress and his entreaties incline us to 
 compassionate him. We beseech you then, 
 most Holy Father, as obedient children, to 
 look upon him in the light of one who has 
 never been tainted by any doctrines opposed 
 to the tenets of the Romish Church." 
 
 The university, in its solicitude, addressed 
 another letter the same day to Charles von 
 Miltitz, a Saxon gentleman, who was cham- 
 berlain to the Pope, and was much esteemed 
 by him. In this letter they gave a more de- 
 cided testimony in favour of Luther than they 
 had dared to do in the former. " The reve- 
 rend father, Martin Luther, the Augustine," 
 said they, "is the noblest and most distin- 
 guished member of our university. For seve- 
 ral years, we have been witnesses of his talent, 
 his learning, his intimate acquaintance with 
 arts and literature, his irreproachable morals, 
 and his truly Christian deportment." 15 -This 
 strong sympathy of those about him is one of 
 the greatest proofs of Luther's worth. 
 
 Whilst the result of this application was 
 anxiously awaited, it was settled with less 
 difficulty than might have been expected. 
 The Legate de Vio, mortified at his failure in 
 the commission he had received to excite a 
 general war against the Turks, wished to give 
 importance to his embassy into Germany by 
 some other distinguished service. He thought 
 that if he were to extirpate heresy he should 
 return to Rome with honour. He therefore 
 petitioned the Pope to put this affair into his 
 hands. Leo, on his part, was well disposed 
 towards Frederic, for having so firmly resisted 
 the election of Charles. He felt that he 
 might again have need of his assistance. 
 Without further reference to the former sum- 
 mons, he commissioned his Legate, by a brief, 
 dated the 23d of August, to investigate the 
 affair in Germany. The Pope conceded no- 
 thing by consenting to this mode of proceed- 
 ing, and in case Luther should be prevailed 
 on to retract, the publicity and scandal that 
 must have attended his appearance at Rome 
 would be avoided. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 105 
 
 "We charge you," said the Pope, "to 
 compel the aforesaid Luther to appear before 
 you in person ; to prosecute and reduce him 
 to submission without delay, as soon as you 
 shall have received this our order ; he having 
 already been declared a heretic by our dear 
 brother Jerome, bishop of Asculan." 16 
 
 " For this purpose," said he, " invoke the 
 power and assistance of our very dear son in 
 Christ, Maximilian, and the other princes of 
 Germany, and of all the communities, uni- 
 versities, and potentates, whether ecclesiasti- 
 cal or secular. And when you have secured 
 his person, cause him to be detained in safe 
 custody, that he may be brought before us." 17 
 
 We see that this indulgent concession of 
 the Pope was little else than an expedient 
 for dragging Luther to Rome. Then follows 
 the milder alternative. 
 
 " If he should return to a sense of his duty, 
 and ask pardon for so great an offence, freely 
 and of his own accord, we give you power to 
 receive him into the unity of holy mother 
 Church." 
 
 The Pope soon returns to his maledictions. 
 
 " If he should persist in his stubbornness, 
 and you fail to get possession of his person, 
 we give you power to proscribe him in all 
 places in Germany ; to put away, curse, and 
 excommunicate all those who are attached to 
 him, and to enjoin all Christians to shun their 
 society." 
 
 Even this is not enough. 
 
 " And to the end," he continues, " that this 
 pestilence may the more easily be rooted out, 
 you will excommunicate all the prelates, reli- 
 gious orders, universities, communities, counts, 
 dukes, and potentates, the Emperor Maximi- 
 lian excepted, who shall neglect to seize the 
 said Martin Luther, and his adherents, and 
 send them to you under proper and safe cus- 
 tody. And if (which God forbid) the afore- 
 said princes, communities, universities, and 
 potentates, or any who belong to them, shelter 
 the said Martin and his adherents, or give 
 them publicly or secretly, directly or indirectly, 
 assistance and advice, we lay an interdict on 
 these princes, communities, universities, and 
 potentates, with their towns, boroughs, coun- 
 tries, and villages ; as well as on' the towns, 
 boroughs, countries, and villages, where the 
 said Martin shall take refuge, as long as he 
 shall remain there, and three days after he 
 shall have quitted the same." 
 
 This audacious power, which affects to be 
 the earthly representative of him who said : 
 " God sent not his Son into the world to con- 
 demn the world, but that the world through 
 him might be saved," continues its anathemas : 
 and, after having pronounced penalties against 
 ecclesiastics offending, thus proceeds: 
 
 "As to the laity, if they do not obey your 
 orders, without any delay or demur, we de- 
 clare them reprobate, (excepting always his 
 Imperial Majesty,) unable to perform any 
 lawful act, disentitled to Christian burial, and 
 deprived of all fiefs which they may hold \ 
 either from the apostolic see or from any lord 
 whatever." 18 
 
 Such was the treatment that awaited Lu- 
 ther. The Roman despot had prepared every 
 thing to crush him. He had set every engine 
 at work ; even the quiet of the grave must be 
 invaded. His ruin seemed inevitable. How 
 could he escape this powerful combination ? 
 But Rome had miscalculated ; the movement 
 excited by the Spirit of God could not be 
 quelled by the decrees of its chancery. 
 
 Even the semblance of a just and impartial 
 inquiry had been disregarded ; and Luther 
 had already been declared a heretic, not only 
 before he had been heard, but even long before 
 the expiration of the time allowed for his per- 
 sonally appearing. The passions (and never 
 are they more strongly excited than in reli- 
 gious discussions) break through all forms 
 of justice. Not only in the Roman church, 
 but in those Protestant churches which have 
 departed from the Gospel, and in every place 
 where truth has been forsaken, do we find it 
 treated in this way. All means seem good 
 against the Gospel. We frequently see men, 
 who, in any other case, would shrink from 
 committing the least injustice, not hesitating 
 to trample under foot all rule and equity, when 
 Christianity, or her witnesses, are concerned. 
 
 When Luther eventually came to the know- 
 ledge of this brief, he gave free expression to 
 his indignation. " The most remarkable part 
 of the transaction is this," said he ; " the brief 
 was issued the 23d of August ; I was sum- 
 moned the 7th of August; so that between 
 the summons and the brief, sixteen days had 
 elapsed. Now, make the calculation, and 
 you will find that my Lord Jerome, bishop of 
 Asculan, proceeded against me, pronounced 
 judgment, condemned me, and declared me a 
 heretic, before the summons reached me, or, 
 at the most, within sixteen days after it had 
 been forwarded to me. Now, I ask what be- 
 comes of the sixty days that are granted me 
 in the summons itself] They began the 7th 
 of August they would expire the 7th of Oc- 
 tober Is this the style and manner of 
 
 the Roman Court, that in the same day she 
 summons, exhorts, accuses, judges, condemns, 
 and declares guilty, and this, too, in the case 
 of one who is at such a distance from Rome, 
 and who can have no knowledge of what is 
 going on? What answer can they make to 
 all this 1 ? They certainly forgot to clear their 
 brains with hellebore, before they had recourse 
 to such clumsy artifice." 19 
 
 But at the same time that Rome was arm- 
 ing the legate with her thunders, she was en- 
 deavouring, by soft and flattering speeches, to 
 detach from Luther's interest the prince whose 
 power she most dreaded. The same day, 
 (the 23d of August, 1518,) the Pope wrote to 
 the Elector of Saxony. He had recourse to 
 the same practised policy which we have 
 before noticed, and sought to flatter the 
 Prince's vanity. 
 
 " Dear Son," said the Roman Pontiff, 
 " when we think of your noble and worthy 
 family; of you, who are its ornament and 
 head ; when we remember how you and your 
 ancestors have always wished to uphold the 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Christian faith and the honour and dignity of 
 the Holy See, we cannot believe that a man 
 "who abandons the faith can rely on your 
 Highness's favour, and recklessly give the 
 rein to his wickedness. And yet reports have 
 reached us from all quarters, that a certain 
 brother Martin Luther, a monk of the order of 
 St. Augustine, acting the part of a child of 
 iniquity and a despiser of God, has forgotten 
 his habit and his order, which require humi- 
 lity and obedience, and boasts that he fears 
 neither the authority nor the chastisement of 
 any man, assured, as he declares himself, of 
 your favour and protection. 
 
 " But, as we are sure that he is, in this, 
 deceiving himself, we have thought it good to 
 write to your Highness, and to exhort you, 
 according to the will of God, to be jealous of 
 your honour as a Christian prince, the orna- 
 ment, the glory, and the sweet savour of your 
 noble family, to defend yourself from these 
 calumnies, and to clear yourself, not only 
 from the commission of so great a crime as 
 that which is imputed to you, but also from 
 the very suspicion which the rash presumption 
 of this monk tends to bring upon you." 
 
 Leo, at the same time, intimated to Frederic 
 that he had commissioned the Cardinal of St. 
 Sixtus to examine into the aifair; and he de- 
 sired him to deliver up Luther into the hands 
 of the legate, "lest," said he, recurring to his 
 favourite argument, "pious people of this or 
 after times should one day lament and say, 
 The most dangerous heresy that ever afflicted 
 the Church of God, arose through the assist- 
 ance and under the protection of that noble 
 and worthy family." 20 
 
 Thus Rome had taken her measures. To 
 one party she offered the intoxicating incense 
 of flattery ; for the other she reserved her ven- 
 geance and her terrors. 
 
 All earthly powers emperor, pope, princes, 
 and legates were put in motion against the 
 humble friar of Erfurth, whose inward con- 
 flicts we have already traced. " The kings 
 of the earth stood up, and the rulers took 
 counsel against the Lord, and against his 
 anointed." 
 
 Before this letter and brief had yet reached 
 Germany, and while Luther was still fearing 
 that he should be obliged to appear at Rome, 
 a fortunate circumstance occurred to comfort 
 his heart. He needed a friend into whose 
 bosom he could pour out his sorrows, and 
 whose faithful love should comfort him in his 
 hours of dejection. God sent him such a 
 friend in Melancthon. 
 
 George Schwarzerd was a skilful master- 
 armourer of Bretten, a small town in the Pa- 
 latinate. On the 14th of February, 1497, a 
 son was born to him, whom he named Philip, 
 and who, afterwards, became celebrated under 
 the name of Melancthon. George, who en- 
 joyed the esteem of the princes of the Palati- 
 nate, of Bavaria, and of Saxony, was remark- 
 able for the perfect uprightness of his dealings. 
 Often did he refuse to take from purchasers 
 the price they offered ; and, if he knew that 
 they were poor, he obliged them to take back 
 
 their money. He regularly rose at midnight, 
 and offered a prayer upon his knees. If he 
 ever happened to omit this service, he was 
 dissatisfied with himself all day. Schwarz- 
 erd's wife, whose name was Barbara, was the 
 daughter of a respectable magistrate, John 
 Reuter. She was of an affectionate disposi- 
 tion, somewhat inclined to superstition, but 
 very discreet and prudent. Some old and 
 well-known German rhymes are ascribed to 
 her pen. We give their sense as well as we 
 are able. 
 
 Gifts to the poor impoverish none ; 
 To church to pray will hinder none ; 
 To grease the wheel delayeth nono , 
 Ill-gotten wealth enricheth none ; 
 God's holy book deludeth none. 
 
 Also the following: j 
 
 He who is a freer spender \ 
 
 Than his plough or toil can render, 
 Sure of ruin, slow or fast, 
 May perhaps be hanged at last. 21 
 
 Philip was not eleven years old when his 
 father died. Two days before his death, 
 George summoned his son to his bedside, and 
 exhorted him to " set the Lord always before 
 him." " I foresee," said the dying man, 
 " that stormy times are at hand. I have wit- 
 nessed great things ; but there are greater still 
 in preparation. God preserve and guide you, 
 my son !" After receiving his father's bless- 
 ing, Philip was sent to Spire, that he might 
 not be present at his father's death. He wept 
 bitterly on taking his departure. 
 
 Reuter, the worthy bailiff, Philip's grand- 
 father, who had a young son of his own, per- 
 formed a father's part towards the orphan. 
 He took both Philip and his brother George 
 into his own house, and, shortly after, engaged 
 John Hungarus as tutor to the three boys. 
 Hungarus was an excellent man, and after- 
 wards preached the gospel with great effect, 
 continuing his labours to an advanced age. 
 He never overlooked any fault in the young 
 man, but punished it with discretion : " It 
 was thus," said Melancthon, in 1554, "that 
 he made me a grammarian. He loved me as 
 if I had been his son ; I loved him as a father; 
 and I trust that we shall meet in heaven." 22 
 
 Philip was remarkable for the excellence of 
 his understanding, his quickness in acquiring, 
 and his talent for communicating knowledge. 
 He could never be idle, but was always seek- 
 ing for some one with whom he might discuss 
 the things he had heard. 23 It often happened 
 that learned foreigners passed through Bretten, 
 and visited Reuter. On such occasions, the 
 bailiff's grandson immediately accosted them, 
 engaged them in conversation, and pressed 
 them so closely on the subjects discussed, 
 that bystanders were astonished. 
 
 To a powerful genius he united great sweet- 
 ness of disposition, and thus gained the favour 
 of all who knew him. He had an impediment 
 in his speech ; but, following the example of 
 the illustrious Grecian orator, he laboured with 
 so much perseverance to overcome this defect, 
 that in after life no traces of it were perceptible. 
 
 On the death of his grandfather, young Phi- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 107 
 
 lip was sent with his brother and his uncle 
 John to the school of Pforzheim. The young 
 boys lodged with one of their female relations, 
 who was sister to the celebrated Reuchlin. 
 Thirsting for knowledge, Philip, under the 
 tuition of George Simler, made rapid progress 
 in learning, and especially in the Greek lan- 
 guage, to which he was passionately devoted. 
 Reuchlin often visited Pforzheim. At his 
 sister's house he became acquainted with her 
 young inmates, and was very much struck 
 with Philip's answers. He presented him 
 with a Greek grammar and a Bible. These 
 two books were, destined to be the study of his 
 whole life. 
 
 When Reuchlin returned from his second 
 journey into Italy, his young relation, who 
 was then twelve years old, ceJebrated the day 
 of his arrival by acting in his presence, with 
 some friends, a Latin comedy of his own com- 
 posing. Reuchlin, delighted with the young 
 man's talent, tenderly embraced him, called 
 him his beloved son, and, smiling, placed 
 upon his head the red hat he had received 
 when he was made doctor. It was at this 
 time that Reuchlin changed his name of 
 Schwarzerd for that of Melancthon. Both 
 words signify black earth) the one in the Ger- 
 man, the other in Greek. Most of the learned 
 men of those times translated their names into 
 Greek or Latin. 
 
 At twelve years of age Melancthon went to 
 the university of Heidelberg. It was there 
 he began to slake his thirst for knowledge. 
 At fourteen he was made bachelor. In 1512, 
 Reuchlin invited him to Tubingen, where 
 many eminent scholars were assembled. He 
 attended the lectures of the theologians, the 
 physicians, and the jurisconsults. There was 
 no kind of knowledge that he deemed unwor- 
 thy of pursuit. He sought not for fame, but, 
 for the possession and advantage of learning. 
 
 Holy Scripture especially engaged his at- 
 tention. Those who frequented the church of 
 Tubingen had remarked that he had frequently 
 a book in his hand, which he read between 
 the services. The mysterious volume seemed 
 larger than the ordinary mass-books; and a 
 report was circulated that Philip on such oc- 
 casions read some profane author. But it 
 turned out that the suspected book was a copy 
 of the Holy Scriptures, recently printed at 
 Bale by John Frobenius. He continued to 
 use this book all his life, with the most dili- 
 gent attention. He always carried about him 
 this precious volume, taking it with him to 
 the various public assemblies which he was 
 called on to attend. ^Rejecting the vain systems 
 of the schoolmen, he adhered to the plain word 
 of God. Erasmus, writing at that time to 
 CEcolampadius, thus expresses himself. "I 
 have the highest opinion and the most bril- 
 liant expectations of Melancthon. May our 
 Lord so order events, that he may long sur- 
 vive us! He will altogether eclipse Eras- 
 mus." 25 
 
 Nevertheless, Melancthon then partook of 
 the errors of his time, " I shudder," said he, 
 at an advanced period of his life, " when I 
 
 think of the superstitious respect I paid to 
 images, while I was yet a Papist." 26 
 
 In 1514, he was made Doctor of Philoso- 
 phy, and began to lecture publicly. He was 
 then seventeen. The grace and charm which 
 he communicated to his instructions formed a 
 striking contrast to the tasteless method then 
 followed by the doctors, and especially by the 
 monks. He took an active part in the con- 
 test in which Reuchlin was engaged with the 
 ignoramuses of his time. Agreeable in con- 
 versation, gentle and graceful in manners, and 
 beloved by all who knew him, he soon ac- 
 quired great authority and established repu- 
 tation among the learned. 
 
 It was at this time that the Elector Frederic 
 formed the design of inviting some man of 
 distinguished learning to become professor of 
 the ancient languages in his university in 
 Wittemberg. He applied to Reuchlin, who 
 recommended Melancthon. Frederic foresaw 
 the celebrity that the young Grecian would 
 confer on an institution so dear to him and 
 Reuchlin, overjoyed at so favourable an open- 
 ing for his young friend, wrote to him in the 
 words of the Lord to Abraham ; " Get thee out 
 from thy country, and from thy kindred, and 
 from thy father's house, and I will make thy 
 name great, and thou shall be a blessing." 
 " Yes," continued the old man, " I trust it will 
 be thus with thee, my dear Philip, my disci- 
 ple and my joy." 27 Melancthon acknowledged 
 the voice of God in this summons. All the 
 university grieved at his departure : yet were 
 there some who envied and hated him. He 
 bade farewell to his native place, exclaiming, 
 " The will of the Lord be done !" He was 
 then one-and-twenty. 
 
 Melancthon performed the journey on horse- 
 back in company with some Saxon merchants, 
 as in the desert the traveller joins a caravan: 
 for, as Reuchlin says, "he knew neither the 
 roads nor the towns they had to pass through." 28 
 At Augsburg he waited on the Elector, who 
 was stopping there. At Nuremberg he made 
 acquaintance with the excellent Pirckheimer, 
 and at Leipzig with the learned Grecian, 
 Mosellanus. The university of this latter 
 city gave a feast in his honour. The repast 
 was truly academical. A variety of dishes 
 were introduced in succession, and as each 
 was put upon the table, one of the professors 
 rose and addressed a studied Latin speech to 
 Melancthon. The latter answered impromptu. 
 At last, tired of so much eloquence, he said : 
 " My learned friends, suffer me to answer once 
 for all to your orations ; for, being entirely un- 
 prepared, I am unable to infuse into my re- 
 plies so much variety as you have introduced 
 in your addresses." After this the dishes 
 were brought in without the accompanying 
 orations. 29 
 
 Melancthon arrived at Wittemberg on the 
 25th of August, 1518, two days after Leo X. 
 had signed the brief addressed to Cajetan, and 
 the letter to the Elector. 
 
 The professors of Wittemberg did not re- 
 ceive Melancthon so graciously as those of 
 Leipzig had done. Their first impression of 
 2 K 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 him did not answer the expectation they had 
 formed. They beheld a young man, who look- 
 ed even younger than he really was, of small 
 stature, and of a shy and timid demeanour. Is 
 this the famous Doctor, thought they, that the 
 great men of our day, such as Erasmus and 
 Reuchlin, so highly extol? .... Neither 
 Luther, to whom he first introduced himself, 
 nor Luther's colleagues, conceived any great 
 hopes of him, when they remarked his youth, 
 his diffidence, and his retiring manners. 
 
 On the 29th of August, being four days 
 after his arrival, he delivered his inaugural 
 discourse. The whole university was con- 
 vened on the occasion. 30 The lad, as Luther 
 calls him, spoke such elegant Latin, and 
 manifested so much learning, so cultivated an 
 understanding, and such sound judgment, that 
 all his auditors were astonished. 
 
 When he had concluded his speech, all 
 crowded around him to offer their congratula- 
 tions; but no one felt more delighted than 
 Luther. He hastened to communicate to his 
 friends the sentiments of his heart. " Me- 
 lancthon," said he, writing to Spalatin on the 
 31st of August, "delivered, only four days 
 after his arrival, so beautiful and learned an 
 oration that it was heard by all with approba- 
 tion and astonishment. We soon got over the 
 prejudices we had conceived from his personal 
 appearance; we now extol and admire his 
 eloquence. We thank the prince and yourself 
 for the service you have done us. I can wish 
 for no better Greek master. But I fear that 
 our poor fare will not suit his delicate frame, 
 and that we shall not keep him long with us, 
 on account of the smallness of his allowance. 
 I hear that the people of Leipzig are already 
 bragging that they will be able to carry him 
 off from us. Beware, my dear Spalatin, of 
 despising this youth. The young man is 
 worthy of the highest honour. 31 
 
 Melancthon began at once to expound 
 Homer and St. Paul's Epistle to Titus. He 
 was full of ardour. "I will use every en- 
 deavour," he wrote to Spalatin, " to win the 
 favour of those at Wittemberg, who love learn- 
 ing and virtue." Four days after his inaugu- 
 ration, Luther again wrote to Spalatin : 
 
 " I commend to your special regard that 
 most learned and very amiable Grecian, Philip. 
 His lecture-room is always crowded. All the 
 theologians, especially, attend his lectures. 
 He puts them all, whether they be in the up- 
 per, the lower, or the middle classes, upon 
 learning Greek." 32 
 
 Melancthon, on his part, felt he could return 
 Luther's affection. He soon discerned in him 
 a kindness of disposition, a strength of mind, 
 a courage, and a wisdom, which till then he 
 had never found in any man. He revered and 
 loved him. " If there be any one," said he, 
 ' that I love and embrace with my whole heart, 
 it is Martin Luther." 33 
 
 With such feelings did Luther and Melanc- 
 thon meet; and their friendship continued till 
 death. W T e cannot sufficiently admire the 
 goodness and wisdom of God, in bringing to- 
 
 saryto each other. Melancthon was as re- 
 markable for calmness, prudence, and gentle- 
 ness, as Luther was for wisdom, impetuosity, 
 and energy. Luther communicated vigour to 
 Melancthon : Melancthon moderated Luther. 
 They were like positive and negative agents 
 in electricity, by whose reciprocal action an 
 equilibrium is maintained. If Melancthon had 
 not been at Luther's side, the torrent might 
 have overflowed its banks : when Luther was 
 not by, Melancthon faltered, and gave way 
 even where he ought not. 34 Luther did much 
 by power.- Melancthon did no less, perhaps, 
 by following a slower and gentler method. 
 Both were upright, open-hearted, and gen- 
 erous ; both, full of love for the word of eter- 
 nal life, proclaimed it with a fidelity and de- 
 votion which gf verned their whole lives. 
 
 Melancthon's appearance wrought a revolu- 
 tion, not merely in Wittemberg, but through- 
 out Germany and the learned world. The 
 study he had applied to the Greek and Latin 
 classics and to philosophy had given an order, 
 clearness, and precision to his ideas which 
 diffused on the subjects he handled a new light 
 and an indescribable beauty. The sweet spirit 
 of the Gospel fertilized and animated all his 
 reflections ; and in his lectures the driest 
 sciences appeared clothed with a grace that 
 charmed all hearers. The sterility that the 
 scholastic philosophy had spread over in- 
 struction was gone, a new method of teaching 
 and of study was introduced by Melancthon! 
 " Thanks to him," says a distinguished his- 
 torian of Germany, Plank, 35 "Wittemberg be- 
 came the school of the nation." 
 
 The impulse that Melancthon gave to Lu- 
 ther in his work of translating the Bible, is 
 one of the most memorable circumstances of 
 the friendship between these great men. As 
 early as 1517, Luther had made some attempts 
 towards that translation. He got together as 
 many Greek and Latin books as he could col- 
 lect. With the aid of his dear Philip, his la- 
 bour now proceeded with fresh energy. Lu- 
 ther obliged Melancthon to take part in his 
 researches, consulted him in difficult passages ; 
 and the work, which was destined to be one 
 of the grandest works of the Reformer, ad- 
 vanced more securely and rapidly to its com- 
 pletion. 
 
 Doubtless, the arrival of Melancthon at so 
 critical a moment brought with it a sweet re- 
 laxation to the mind of Luther. Doubtless, 
 in the delightful expansion of a new friend- 
 ship, and in the midst of the Biblical studies 
 to which he applied himself with fresh zeal, 
 he sometimes altogether forgot Rome, Prierias, 
 Leo, and that ecclesiastical court before which 
 he was to appear. Yet these were brief mo- 
 ments that soon passed away. His thoughts 
 were ever reverting to the awful tribunal be- 
 fore which he was cited by the influence of 
 his implacable enemies. With what terror 
 would not the thought have filled a soul de- 
 siring aught but the triumph of truth ! But 
 Luther did not tremble in the prospect of it : 
 full of trust in the faithfulness and power of 
 
 gether two men so different, and yet so neces- j God, he remained firm ; and was ready to ex- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 109 
 
 pose himself alone to the wrath of enemies 
 m M-e terrible than those who had brought Huss 
 to the stake. 
 
 A few days after the arrival of Melancthon, 
 and before the decision of the Pope, which re- 
 moved the citation of Luther from Rome to 
 Augsburg, could be known, Luther wrote thus 
 to Spalatin : " I do not ask our sovereign to do 
 the least thing in defence of my theses, I am 
 willing to be delivered up, and cast alone into 
 the hands of all my adversaries. Let him 
 suffer the storm to exhaust all its rage on me. 
 What I have undertaken to defend, I hope I 
 shall, by Christ's help, be enabled to maintain. 
 As to force, we must needs yield to that, but 
 without forsaking the truth." 36 
 
 Luther's courage communicated itself to 
 others. The gentlest an<i most timid, behold- 
 ing the danger that threatened the witness of 
 the truth, found language full of energy and 
 indignation. The prudent and pacific Stau- 
 pitz wrote to Spalatin on the 7th September : 
 " Do not cease to exhort the Prince, our mas- 
 ter not to be dismayed by the roaring of the 
 lions. Let the Prince make a stand for the 
 truth, without regarding Luther or Staupitz, 
 or the order. Let there be at least one place 
 where we may speak freely and fearlessly. I 
 know that the plague of Babylon (I had almost 
 said, of Rome) is let loose against all who 
 attack the corruptions of those who betray 
 Christ for gain. I, myself, have seen a preach- 
 er of the truth pulled out of his pulpit, and, 
 though on a saint's day, bound and dragged 
 to prison. Others have witnessed still great- 
 er atrocities. Therefore, my dearly beloved, 
 persuade his Highness to continue in his pre- 
 sent sentiments." 87 
 
 The order for his appearance at Augsburg, 
 before the cardinal legate, at length arrived. 
 It was now with one of the princes of the Ro- 
 man Church that Luther had to do. All his 
 friends besought him not to set out. 38 They 
 feared that a snare might be laid for him on 
 his journey, or a design formed against his life. 
 Some set about finding a place of concealment 
 for him. Staupitz himself, the timid Stau- 
 pitz, was moved at the thought of the danger 
 which threatened that brother Martin whom 
 he had drawn forth from the obscurity of the 
 cloister, and launched upon the agitated sea 
 where his life was now in peril. Ah ! would 
 it not have been better for that poor brother to 
 have remained all his life unknown? It is 
 too late now. Yet he will do all in his power 
 to save him. Accordingly he wrote to him 
 from his convent at Salsburg, on the 15th 
 September, imploring him to flee and take 
 refuge with him. " It seems to me," said he, 
 " that the whole world is up in arms, and 
 combined against the truth. Even so was 
 the crucified Jesus hated ! I see not that you 
 have any thing else to expect than persecution. 
 Ere long no one without the Pope's permis- 
 sion will be allowed to search the Scriptures, 
 and to learn Christ from them, which yet is 
 Christ's injunction. Your fripnds are few in 
 number. God grant to those few friends cou- 
 rage to declare themselves in opposition to 
 
 your formidable enemies! Yourmostpiudent 
 course is to leave Wittemberg for a time, and 
 come and reside with me. Then let us live 
 and die together. This is also the Prince's 
 opinion," adds Staupitz. 39 
 
 From different quarters Luther received 
 alarming information. Count Albert of Mans- 
 feldt sent him a message to abstain from sett- 
 ing out, because some great nobles had bound 
 themselves by an oath, to seize and strangle, 
 or drown him. 40 But nothing could shake his 
 resolution. He would not listen to the Vicar- 
 general's offer. He will not go and hide in 
 the convent of Salzburg: he will continue 
 faithfully on that stormy stage where the 
 hand of God has placed him. It is by perse- 
 verance in the midst of opposers, by loudly 
 proclaiming the truth in the midst of the world, 
 that the kingdom of the truth is advanced. 
 Why then should he flee ? He is not of those 
 who draw back unto perdition, but of those 
 who believe to the saving of their souls. That 
 word of the Master, whom he is resolved to 
 serve and love continually, resounds in his 
 heart: *' Whosoever shall confess me before 
 men, him will I confess before rny father which 
 is in heaven." Everywhere, in the history 
 of Luther, and of the Reformation, do we find 
 ourselves in presence of that intrepid spirit, 
 that elevated morality, that boundless charity, 
 which the first establishment of Christianity 
 had exhibited to the world. " I am like Jere- 
 miah," said Luther, at the moment we are 
 speaking of, " 'a man of strife and conten- 
 tion;' but the more they increase their threat- 
 enings, the more they multiply my joy. My 
 wife and children are well provided for. My 
 lands and houses and all my goods are safe/ 1 
 They have already torn to pieces my honour 
 and my good name. All 1 have left is my 
 wretched body ; let them have it ; they will 
 then shorten my life by a few hours. But as 
 to my soul, they shall not have that. He, 
 who resolves to bear the word of Christ to 
 the world, must expect death at every hour; 
 for our spouse is a bloody husband unto us" 42 
 
 The Elector was then at Augsburg. Short- 
 ly before he left that city and the Diet, he 
 pledged himself to the Legate, that Luther 
 should appear before him. Spalatin wrote to 
 his friend, by direction of the Prince, that the 
 Pope had named a commission to hear him in 
 Germany; that the Elector would not suffer 
 him to be carried to Rome; and desired him 
 to prepare to set out for Augsburg. Luther 
 resolved to obey. The information he had 
 received from Count Mansfeldt induced him 
 to ask Frederic for a safe-conduct. The latter 
 replied, that it was not needed, and sent him 
 only letters of recommendation to several of 
 the most distinguished counsellors of Augs- 
 burg. He, at the same time, forwarded some 
 money for his journey, and the Reformer, 
 poor and unprotected, set forth on foot, to place 
 himself in the power of his adversaries. 43 
 
 With what feelings must he have quitted 
 Wittemberg, and directed his steps towards 
 Augsburg, where the Pope's legate awaited 
 him ! The object of his journey was not like 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that to Heidelberg, a friendly meeting ; he 
 was about to appear without any safe-conduct, 
 before the delegate of Rome; perhaps he was 
 going to meet death. But his faith was not 
 in word, it was in truth. Therefore it was 
 that it gave him peace ; and he advanced 
 without fear, in the name of the Lord of Hosts, 
 to bear his testimony to the Gospel. 
 
 He reached Weimar on the 28th of Sep- 
 tember, and took up his lodging in the con- 
 vent of the Cordeliers. One of the monks 
 could not take his eyes off him. This was 
 Myconius. It was the first time he had seen 
 Luther. He wished to approach him, and 
 whisper that he owed to him the peace of his 
 soul, and that all his desire was to labour with 
 him. But Myconius was closely watched by 
 his superiors, and was not permitted to speak 
 to Luther. 44 
 
 The Elector of Saxony then held his court 
 at Weimar, and it is probable that, on that 
 account, the Cordeliers received the Doctor. 
 The day after his arrival was the festival of 
 St. Michael : Luther said mass, and was 
 even invited to preaah in the Castle Chapel. 
 It was a mark of favour that his Prince took 
 pleasure in conferring upon him. He preach- 
 ed from an overflowing heart, in the presence 
 of the court, on the text of the day, which is 
 in Matthew's Gospel, ch. xviii. verses 1 to 
 11. He spoke strongly against hypocrites, 
 and such as boast of their own righteousness. 
 But he said not a word of the angels, though 
 it was the invariable custom to do so on St. 
 Michael's day. 
 
 The courage of the Doctor, who was re- 
 pairing quietly on foot to attend a summons, 
 which, for so many before him, had been a 
 summons to die, astonished those who beheld 
 him. Interest, wonder, and compassion suc- 
 cessively took possession of their hearts. 
 John Kestner, provisor of the Cordeliers, 
 struck with apprehension at the thought of 
 the dangers that awaited his guest, said : " My 
 brother, you have to meet Italians at Augs- 
 burg. They are shrewd people, subtle an- 
 tagonists, and will give you enough to do. I 
 fear you will not be able to defend your cause 
 against them. They will cast you into the 
 fire, and the flames will consume you." 45 Lu- 
 ther answered gravely : " My dear friend, 
 pray to our Lord God, who is in heaven, and 
 put up a paster noster for me and for his dear 
 child Jesus, whose cause is mine, that he 
 may be favourable to him. If He maintains 
 his cause, mine is safe; but if He will not 
 maintain it, certainly it is not in me to main- 
 tain it; and it is He who will bear the dis- 
 honour." 
 
 Luther continued his journey on foot, and 
 arrived at Nuremberg. Being about to pre- 
 sent himself before a prince of the church, he 
 wished to make a suitable appearance. The 
 dress he wore was old, and much the worse 
 for his journey. He therefore borrowed a 
 monk's frock of his faithful friend Wenceslas 
 Link, the preacher at Nuremberg. 
 
 Doubtless Luther did not call on Link 
 alone, but visited his other friends at Nurem- 
 
 berg, and among them Scheurl, the town- 
 clerk, Albert Durer, the celebrated painter, 
 (to whose memory that town is at this time 
 erecting a statue,) and others. He was con- 
 firmed in his resolution by his intercourse 
 with these excellent ones of the earth, whilst 
 many monks as well as laity caught the alarm 
 at his journey, and besought him to turn back. 
 The letters he wrote from this town breathe 
 the spirit which then animated him : " I find," 
 said he, "men of cowardly spirit, who wish 
 to persuade me not to go to Augsburg; but I 
 am determined to go on. May the Lord's 
 will be done! Even at Augsburg, and in the 
 midst of his enemies, Christ reigns. Let 
 Christ be exalted, and the death of Luther or 
 any other sinner is of little moment. As it 
 is written: * May the God of my salvation be 
 exalted !' Farewell ! persevere, stand fast, 
 for we must be rejected either by men or by 
 God : but God is true, and man is a liar." 46 
 
 Link and Leonard, an Augustine monk, 
 could not bear to let Luther encounter alone 
 the dangers that threatened him. They knew 
 his disposition, and that, overflowing as he 
 was with self-devotion and courage, he would 
 probably be wanting in prudence. They 
 therefore accompanied him. When they 
 were within five leagues of Augsburg, Lu- 
 ther, who was no doubt suffering from the 
 fatigue of his journey, and the agitation of his 
 mind, was seized with violent pains in the 
 stomach. He thought he should die. His 
 two friends, much alarmed, engaged a wagon. 
 They arrived at Augsburg in the evening of 
 Friday, the 7th of October, and alighted at the 
 convent of the Augustines. Luther was much 
 exhausted; but he rapidly recovered; and 
 doubtless his faith and the vivacity of his 
 mind greatly conduced to his restoration to 
 health. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival, and before he 
 had seen any one, Luther, desiring to show 
 every mark of respect to the Legate, begged 
 Wenceslas Link to go to his house, to an 
 nounce that he was in Augsburg. Link did 
 so, and respectfully intimated to the Cardinal, 
 on behalf of the Doctor of Wittemberg, that 
 the latter was ready to appear before him 
 whenever he should require his attendance. 
 De Vio was rejoiced at this intelligence. At 
 length, then, he had the hot-headed heretic in 
 his power; he inwardly resolved that he 
 should not leave Augsburg as he had entered 
 it. At the same time that Link waited upon 
 the Legate, the monk Leonard went to an- 
 nounce to Staupitz Luther's arrival at Augs- 
 burg. The Vicar-general had previouslv 
 written to the Doctor, to say he would cei- 
 tainly visit him as soon as he arrived. Lit- 
 ther lost no time in informing him of his pre- 
 sence. 47 
 
 The Diet was over. The Emperor and the 
 Electors had already left the place. The 
 Emperor, it is true, had not finally taken his 
 departure, but was hunting in the environs. 
 The representative of Rome alone remained 
 at Augsburg. Had Luther arrived whilst 
 the Diet was sitting, he would have met 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 powerful friends ; but every thing now seem- 
 ed likely to yield before the papal authority. 
 
 The judge before whom Luther was to ap- 
 pear was not of a character to calm his appre- 
 hensions. Thomas de Vio, who was sur- 
 named Cajetan from the town of Gaeta, in the 
 kingdom of Naples, where he was born, 
 (1469,) was one of whom great expectations 
 had been entertained from his youth. At 
 sixteen he had entered into the order of the 
 Dominicans, contrary to the express wish of 
 his parents. He had afterwards become 
 general of his order, and cardinal of the 
 church of Rome. But what boded ill to Lu- 
 ther, the learned Doctor was one of the most 
 zealous advocates of that scholastic theology 
 which the Reformer had so severely handled. 
 His learning, the austerity of his disposition, 
 and the purity of his morals, insured to him 
 an influence and authority in Germany, which 
 other Roman courtiers would not easily have 
 acquired. It was to his reputation for sanc- 
 tity, no doubt, that he owed his appointment. 
 Rome had calculated that this would admi- 
 rably serve her purposes. Thus even the 
 good qualities of Cajetan made him still more 
 formidable. Besides, the affair intrusted to 
 him was by no means a complicated one. 
 Luther was already declared a heretic. If he 
 would not retract, the Legate's duty must be 
 to send him to prison; and, if he escaped, to 
 visit with excommunication such as should 
 dare to receive him. This was the course 
 which the dignitary before whom Luther 
 was cited was authorized to take on behalf of 
 Rome. 48 
 
 The Reformer had recruited his strength by 
 a night's rest. On the morning of Saturday, 
 the 8th of October, he began to reflect on his 
 strange situation. He was resigned, and was 
 patiently waiting till God's will should be 
 manifested by the progress of events ; he did 
 not wait long. A person, unknown to him, 
 sent him word, as if entirely devoted to his 
 service, that he was coming to visit him, ad- 
 vising him to avoid appearing before the 
 Legate till he had seen him. The message 
 came from an Italian courtier, named Urban 
 de Serra Longi, who had often visited Ger- 
 many as envoy from the Margrave of Mont- 
 ferrat. He had known the Elector of Saxony, 
 at whose court he had been accredited, and 
 after the Margrave's death, had attached him- 
 self to the Cardinal de Vio. 
 
 The art and address of this courtier pre- 
 sented the most striking contrast to the noble 
 frankness and generous integrity of Luther. 
 The Italian soon arrived at the monastery of 
 the Augustines. The Cardinal had sent him 
 to sound the Reformer, and to prepare him for 
 the recantation expected from him. Serra 
 Longa imagined that his long residence in 
 Germany gave him an advantage over the 
 other courtiers of the Legate's train ; he ex- 
 pected to make short work with this German 
 monk. He arrived, attended by two servants, 
 and professed to have come of his own accord, 
 from friendship for a favourite of the Elector 
 of Saxony, and out of love to the Church. 
 
 After having saluted Luther with many pro- 
 fessions, the diplomatist added, in a tone of 
 affection : 
 
 "I am come to offer you prudent and good 
 advice. Make your peace with the church. 
 Submit unreservedly to the Cardinal. Retract 
 your calumnies. Recollect the abbot Joachim 
 of Florence : he, as you know, had put forth 
 heresies, and yet he was afterwards declared 
 no heretic, because he retracted his errors." 
 
 Luther intimated his intention of standing 
 upon his defence. 
 
 SERRA LONGA. " Beware of that. Would 
 you presume to enter the lists with the Legate 
 of his Holiness]" 
 
 LUTHER. " If they can prove to me that I 
 have taught any thing contrary to the Romish 
 Church, I will be my own judge, and imme- 
 diately retract. But the main point is, to 
 ascertain whether the 'Legate relies more on. 
 the authority of St. Thomas than the faith will 
 sanction. If he does, I shall certainly not 
 submit to him." 
 
 SERRA LONGA. " Oh, oh ! you intend, then, 
 to offer him battle !" 
 
 Upon this the Italian began to use language 
 which Luther designates as horrible. He as- 
 serted that one might maintain false proposi- 
 tions, if they only brought in money and filled 
 the strong box ; that all discussion in the univer- 
 sities concerning the Pope's authority was to 
 be avoided ; but that, on the contrary, it was 
 sound doctrine that the Pontiff might, by a 
 nod, alter or suppress articles of faith ; 49 -with 
 much more in the same strain. But the crafty 
 Italian soon perceived that he was forgetting 
 himself; he resumed his former gentleness, 
 and endeavoured to persuade Luther to sub- 
 mit to the Legate in every thing, and to retract 
 his doctrine, his theses, and the oaths he had 
 taken. 
 
 The Doctor, who at first had given some 
 credit to the fair professions of the orator Ur- 
 ban, (as he calls him in his narrative,) began 
 to suspect that they were very hollow, and 
 that he was much more in the interest of the 
 Legate than in his. He therefore spoke with 
 rather more reserve, and contented himself 
 with saying that he was quite ready to be 
 humble and obedient, and to give satisfaction 
 in any point in which he might be shown to 
 be in error. At these words Serra Longa ex- 
 claimed, exultingly: "I will go directly to 
 the Legate, and you will follow me presently. 
 Every thing will go well, and it will be soon 
 settled." 50 
 
 He took his leave, and the Saxon monk, 
 who had more discernment than the Roman 
 
 Yet hope prevailed. The visit of Serra Longa, 
 whom he afterwards calls a foolish meddler, 52 
 and his strange assertions, aroused his courage. 
 The different counsellors, and other respect- 
 able inhabitants of Augsburg, to whom the 
 Elector recommended Luther, were all eager 
 to visit a man whose name already resounded 
 through all Germany. Peutinger, the Impe- 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 rial counsellor, one of the most distinguished ! 
 patricians in the city, and who often invited 
 Luther to his table, the counsellor Langeman- 
 tel, Doctor Auerbach of Leipzig, and the two 
 brothers Adelmann, both canons, with several 
 others repaired to the convent of the Augustines. 
 With cordial friendship they accosted this ex- 
 traordinary man who had taken a long journey 
 to deliver himself up to the agents of Rome. 
 " Have you a safe-conduct 1" asked they. 
 '* No," replied the intrepid monk. " What 
 boldness!" they exclaimed. "This," said 
 Luther, " was a civil phrase to express my 
 fool-hardiness." All joined in entreating him 
 not to go to the Legate without first obtaining 
 a safe-conduct from the Emperor himself. It 
 is probable that something had already trans- 
 pired concerning the papal brief of which the 
 Legate was the bearer. 
 
 " But I came to Augsburg without a safe- 
 conduct," replied Luther, "and I met with 
 no harm." 
 
 " The Elector," resumed Langemantel, 
 with affectionate earnestness, " commended 
 you to our care; you ought therefore to follow 
 our directions." 
 
 Doctor Auerbach added his entreaties to 
 those of Langemantel. " We know," said 
 he, " that the Cardinal is, in his heart, enraged 
 against you to the greatest degree. 53 We must 
 not trust these Italians." 54 
 
 The canon Adelmann spoke to the same 
 effect: "They have sent you without pro- 
 tection," said he, " and they have neglected 
 to provide you with the very thing which you 
 most need." 55 
 
 His friends took upon themselves to obtain 
 the necessary safe-conduct from the Emperor. 
 They then proceeded to tell Luther how many 
 persons of consequence were favourably dis- 
 posed toward him. " The French minister 
 himself, who left Augsburg a few days ago, 
 spoke of you most honourably ," 56 This remark 
 struck Luther, and he remembered it after- 
 wards. Thus some of the most remarkable ci- 
 tizens of one of the first cities in the empire 
 were already gained over to the Reformation. 
 
 Their conversation had reached this point, 
 when Serra Longa returned : " Come," said 
 he to Luther, " the Cardinal is waiting for 
 you. I will myself conduct you to him. But 
 first let me tell you how you 'nust appear in 
 his presence. When you enter the room 
 where he is sitting, you must prostrate your- 
 self with your face to the ground; when he 
 tells you to rise, you must kneel before him, 
 and you must not stand erect till he orders you 
 to do so. 57 Remember that it is before a prince 
 of the church you are about to appear. As to 
 the rest, fear nothing ; all will soon be settled 
 without any difficulty." 
 
 Luther, who had before promised to accom- 
 pany Serra Longa whenever he should sum- 
 mon him, was embarrassed. 
 
 However, he did not fail to repeat the ad- 
 vice of his Augsburg friends, and said some- 
 thing of a safe-conduct. 
 
 " Beware of asking anything of the sort," 
 replied Serra Longa quickly, "you have no 
 
 need of it whatever. The Legate is well dis- 
 posed towards you, and quite ready to end the 
 affair amicably. If you ask for a safe-conduct, 
 you will spoil all/' 58 
 
 " My gracious lord, the Elector of Saxony," 
 replied Luther, "recommended me to several 
 honourable men in this town. They advise 
 me not to venture without a safe-conduct: I 
 ought to follow their advice. Were I to neglect 
 it, and any thing should befall me, they would 
 write to the Elector, my master, that I would 
 not hearken to them." 
 
 Luther persisted in his resolution; and Serra 
 Longa was obliged to return to his employer, 
 and report to him the failure of his mission, 
 at the very moment when he fancied it would 
 be crowned with success. 
 
 Thus ended that day's conference with the 
 orator of Montferrat. 
 
 Luther received another invitation, proceed- 
 ing from very different motives. John Frosch, 
 prior of the Carmelites, was an old friend. 
 Two years before, he had maintained some 
 theses, as a licentiate in theology, under the 
 superintendence of Luther. He called on him, 
 and pressed him to come and stay with him. 
 He laid claim to the honour of having the 
 Doctor of all Germany as his guest. Already 
 men did not fear to render him homage in the 
 face of Rome; already the weak was become 
 the stronger. Luther accepted the invitation, 
 and accordingly removed from the convent of 
 the Augustines to that of the Carmelites. 
 
 The day did not close without his seriously 
 reflecting on his position. The visit of Serra 
 Longa, and the apprehensions of the counsel- 
 lors, concurred to convince him of the difficult 
 circumstances in which he stood. Neverthe- 
 less, he had God in heaven for his protector, 
 and in His keeping he could sleep in peace. 
 
 The next day was Sunday; he obtained a 
 little more rest. 'However, he was obliged to 
 bear another kind of fatigue. Nothing was 
 talked of in the city but Dr. Luther, and all 
 desired to see (as he wrote to Melancthon) 
 " the new Erostratus who had kindled so vast 
 a conflagration." They crowded about him ; 
 and the good Doctor, doubtless, smiled at this 
 strange excitement. 
 
 But he had also to support another sort of 
 importunity. If there was a general wish to 
 see him, there was a still greater desire to hear 
 him. He was asked on all sides to preach. 
 Luther had no greater joy than to proclaim the 
 Gospel. He would have rejoiced to preach 
 Christ in this great city, and in the solemn 
 circumstances in which he was placed. But 
 on this, as on many occasions, he manifested 
 a most proper feeling of decorum, and much 
 respect for his superiors. He declined to 
 preach, in the fear that the Legate might think 
 he did so to vex and to brave him. This mo- 
 deration and prudence were assuredly as valu- 
 able instructions as a sermon. 
 
 However, the Cardinal's agents did not let 
 
 him rest, but returned to the charge. "The 
 
 Cardinal," said they, "sends you assurances 
 
 of his grace and favour : why are you afraid ]" 
 
 ! And they endeavoured by every possible argu- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 113 
 
 ment to persuade him to wait upon the Legate. 
 " He is so gracious, that he is like a father," 
 said one of these emissaries. But another, 
 going close up to him, whispered, "Do not 
 believe what they say. There is no depend- 
 ence to be placed upon his words." 59 Luther 
 persisted in his resolution. 
 
 On the morning of Monday, the 10th of 
 October, Serra Longa again renewed his per- 
 suasions. The courtier had made it a point 
 of honour to succeed in his negotiations. The 
 moment he entered, 
 
 " Why," he asked in Latin, "why do you 
 not go to the Cardinal 1 He is expecting you 
 in the most indulgent frame of mind. With 
 him the whole question is summed up in six 
 letters, REVOCA, retract. Come, then, with 
 me ; you have nothing to fear." 
 
 Luther thought within himself that those 
 were six very important letters ; but, without 
 further discussion, he replied, 
 
 " As soon as I have received the safe-con- 
 duct, I will appear." 
 
 Serra Longa lost his temper at these words. 
 He persisted he brought forward additional 
 reasons for compliance. But Luther was im- 
 movable. The Italian courtier, still irritated, 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " You imagine, no doubt, that the Elector 
 will take up arms in your favour, and risk, for 
 your sake, the loss of the dominions he inherits 
 from his ancestors." 
 
 LUTHER." God forbid !" 
 
 SERRA LONGA. "When all forsake you, 
 where will you take refuge 1 ?" 
 
 LUTHER, smiling and looking upwards with 
 the eye of faith " Under heaven !" 60 
 
 For an instant Serra Longa was struck dumb 
 by this sublime and unexpected reply; he 
 then continued : 
 
 "How would you act, if you had the Le- 
 gate, the Pope, and all the Cardinals in your 
 power, as they have you, at this moment, in 
 theirs ?" 
 
 LUTHER. " I would pay them all respect 
 and honour. But the word of God is, with 
 me, above all." 
 
 SERRA LONGA, laughing, and moving one of 
 his fingers backward and for ward, in a manner 
 
 Culiar to the Italians. " Ha, ha ! all proper 
 lour ! I do not believe a word of it." 
 
 He then left the house, leaped into his sad- 
 dle, and disappeared. 
 
 Serra Longa went no more to Luther; but 
 he long remembered the resistance he had met 
 with from the Reformer, and that which his 
 master was doomed soon after to experience 
 in person. We shall find him again, at a later 
 period, loudly demanding the blood of Luther. 
 
 Shortly after Serra Longa had left Luther, 
 the latter received the safe-conduct. His 
 friends had procured it from the Imperial 
 counsellors. It is probable that they had con- 
 sulted the Emperor on the subject, as he was 
 not far from Augsburg. It would even seem, 
 from what the Cardinal afterwards said, that, 
 from a wish to avoid offending him, they had 
 asked his consent to their application ; perhaps 
 that may have been the reason why De Vio 
 
 sounded Luther through Serra Longa ; for to 
 oppose openly the giving him a safe-conduct 
 would have discovered intentions that it wag 
 wished to conceal. It seemed a safer policy 
 to persuade Luther himself to desist from the 
 demand. But it soon became evident that the 
 Saxon monk was not likely to yield. 
 
 Luther was about to appear before the Le- 
 gate. In requiring a safe-conduct, he did not 
 lean upon an arm of flesh, for he well remem- 
 bered that the Emperor's safe-conduct had not 
 preserved John Huss from the flames. He 
 only desired to do his duty, by following the 
 advice of his master's friends. The Lord 
 would decide his cause. If God required his 
 life, he was ready joyfully to lay it down. 
 At this solemn moment, he felt the need of 
 once more communicating with his friends, 
 and especially with Melancthon, already so 
 endeared to him ; and he availed himself of 
 an interval of leisure to write to him. 
 
 "Show yourself a man," said he, "as you 
 are ready to do. Instruct the youth of our 
 beloved country in what is right and agreeable 
 to the will of God. As for me, I am going to 
 offer up myself for you and for them, if it be 
 the Lord's will. 61 I prefer death, yea, even 
 what to me would be the greatest misfortune, 
 the loss of your valued society, to retracting 
 what it was my duty to teach, and perhaps 
 ruining by my failure the noble cause to which 
 we are devoted. 
 
 " Italy is involved, as Egypt was formerly, 
 in thick darkness, even darkness which may 
 be felt. The whole nation knows nothing of 
 Christ, nor of what pertains to him. And yet 
 they are our lords and masters in the faith and 
 in morals. Thus the wrath of God is fulfilled 
 amongst us ; as the prophet says, 'I will give 
 children to be their princes, and babes shall 
 rule over them.' Do your duty to God, my 
 dear Philip, and avert his wrath by fervent 
 and holy prayer." 
 
 The Legate, apprized that Luther would 
 appear the next day before him, called together 
 those in whom he had confidence, both Ita- 
 lians and Germans, that he might concert with 
 them how he ought to treat the German monk. 
 Opinions were divided. One said, " We must 
 compel him to retract. Another, " We must 
 arrest him and throw him into prison." A 
 third was of opinion that it would be better to 
 put him out of the way. A fourth, that it 
 would be expedient rather to win him over by 
 gentleness and mildness. The Cardinal seems 
 to have resolved, in the first instance, to make 
 trial of this last method. 62 
 
 At length the day of conference arrived. 63 
 The Legate, knowing that Luther had declared 
 himself willing to retract whatever should be 
 proved contrary to the truth, was sanguine as 
 to the result : he did not doubt that one of his 
 rank and learning would, without much diffi- 
 culty, reclaim the monk to obedience to the 
 Church. 
 
 Luther repaired to the house of the Legate, 
 accompanied by the prior of the Carmelites, 
 his friend and host, by two friars of the con- 
 vent, by Doctor Link, and by an Augustine, 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 probably the same that had accompanied him 
 from Nuremberg. Scarcely had he entered 
 the Legate's palace, when all the Italians, 
 who composed the train of this Prince of the 
 Church, flocked round him, desiring to see the 
 famous Doctor, and pressed him so closely, 
 that he could hardly proceed. On entering- 
 the room where the Cardinal was waiting for 
 him, Luther found him accompanied by the 
 apostolical nuncio and Serra Longa. His re- 
 ception was cool, but civil : and, according to 
 Roman etiquette, Luther, following the in- 
 structions of Serra Longa, prostrated himself 
 before the Cardinal ; when the latter told him 
 to rise, he knelt; and when the command was 
 repeated, he stood erect. Several of the most 
 distinguished Italians of the Legate's house- 
 hold entered the room, in order to be present 
 at the interview, impatient to see the German 
 monk humble himself before the Pope's repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 The Legate was silent. He expected, says 
 a contemporary, that Luther would begin his 
 recantation. But Luther waited reverently 
 for the Roman Prince to address him. Find- 
 ing, however, that he did not open his lips, he 
 understood his silence as an invitation to open 
 the business, and spoke as follows : 
 
 " Most worthy father, upon the summons 
 of his Holiness the Pope, and at the desire of 
 my gracious Lord, the Elector of Saxony, I 
 appear before you, as a humble and obedient 
 son of the Holy Christian Church ; and I 
 acknowledge that it was I who published the 
 propositions and theses that are the subject of 
 inquiry. I am ready to listen with all sub- 
 mission to the charges brought against me, 
 and, if I am in error, to be instructed in the 
 truth." 
 
 The Cardinal, who had determined to as- 
 sume the tone of a kind and compassionate 
 father towards an erring child, answered in 
 the most friendly manner, commended Lu- 
 ther's humility, and expressed the joy he felt 
 on beholding it, saying: "My dear son, 
 you have filled all Germany with commotion 
 by your dispute concerning indulgences. I 
 hear that you are a doctor well skilled in the 
 Scriptures, and that you have many followers. 
 If, therefore, you wish to be a member of the 
 Church, and to have in the Pope a most gra- 
 cious lord, listen to me." 
 
 After this exordium, the Legate did not 
 hesitate to tell him all that he expected of 
 him, so confident was he of his submission : 
 " Here," said he, " are three articles which, 
 acting under the direction of our most holy 
 Father, Pope Leo the Tenth, I am to propose I 
 to you : 
 
 " First, you must return to your duty; you 
 must acknowledge your faults, and retract 
 your errors, your propositions, and sermons. 
 Secondly, you must promise to abstain for the 
 future from propagating your opinions. And, 
 thirdly, you must engage to be more discreet, 
 and avoid every thing that may grieve or dis- 
 turb the church." 
 
 LUTHER. " Most worthy father, I request 
 to be permitted to see the Pope's brief, by 
 
 virtue of which you have received full power 
 to negociate this affair." 
 
 Serra Longa and the rest of the Italians of 
 the Cardinal's train were struck with asto- 
 nishment at such a demand, and although the 
 German monk had already appeared to them 
 a strange phenomenon, they were completely 
 disconcerted at so bold a speech. Christians 
 familiar with the principles of justice desire 
 to see them adhered to in proceedings against 
 others or themselves ; but those who are ac- 
 customed to act according to their own will 
 are much surprised when required to proceed 
 regularly and agreeably to form and law. 
 
 DE Vio "Your demand, my son, cannot 
 be complied with. You have to acknow- 
 ledge your errors ; to be careful for the future 
 what you teach ; not to return to your vomit ; 
 so that you may rest without care and anxiety ; 
 and then, acting by the command and on the 
 authority of our most holy father the Pope, I 
 will adjust the whole affair." 
 
 LUTHER. " Deign, then, to inform me 
 wherein I have erred." 
 
 At this request, the Italian courtiers, who 
 had expected to see the poor German fall upon 
 his knees and implore mercy, were still more 
 astonished than before. Not one of them 
 would have condescended to answer so im- 
 pertinent a question. But De Vio, who 
 thought it scarcely generous to crush this 
 feeble monk by the weight of all his autho- 
 rity, and trusted, moreover, to his own learn- 
 ing for obtaining an easy victory, consented 
 to tell Luther what he was accused of, and 
 even to enter into discussion with him. We 
 must do justice to the general of the Domi- 
 nicans. It must be acknowledged, that he 
 showed more equity, a greater sense of pro- 
 priety, and less irritation, than have subse- 
 quently been exhibited in a majority of simi- 
 lar cases. He assumed a tone of condescen- 
 sion, and said : 
 
 " My beloved son! there are two proposi- 
 tions put. forward by you, which you must, 
 before all, retract: 1st. 'The treasure of 
 indulgences does not consist of the merits and 
 sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ; -2dly. 
 ' The man who receives the holy sacrament 
 must have faith in the grace offered to him.' " 
 
 Both these propositions did indeed strike a 
 death-blow at the commerce of Rome. If the 
 Pope had not power to dispose at will of the 
 Saviour's merits, if, on receiving the paper 
 in which the brokers of the Church traded, 
 men did not acquire a portion of that infinite 
 righteousness, this paper currency lost its 
 value, and men would count it no better than 
 a mere rag. And thus also with the sacra- 
 ments. The indulgences were, in some sense, 
 an extraordinary branch of commerce with 
 Rome; the sacraments made part of her ordi- 
 nary traffic. The revenue they yielded was 
 by no means small. But to assert that faith 
 was necessary to make them productive of 
 any real benefit to the soul of the Christian, 
 was to rob them of their attraction in the sight 
 of the people. For faith is not in the Pope's 
 gift ; it is beyond his power, and can come 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 115 
 
 from God alone. To declare its necessity 
 was, therefore, to snatch from the hands of 
 Rome both the speculation and the profits at- 
 tached to it. In assailing these two doctrines, 
 Luther had followed the example of Christ 
 himself. In the very beginning of his minis- 
 try, he had overturned the tables of the mo- 
 ney-changers, and driven the dealers out of 
 the temple. " Make not my Father's house a 
 house of merchandise." 
 
 Cajetan continued : " I will not bring for- 
 ward the authority of St. Thomas, and the 
 other scholastic doctors, to confute these er- 
 rors ; I will rest entirely on the holy Scrip- 
 tures, and speak to you in perfect friendship." 
 
 Nevertheless, when De Vio proceeded to 
 bring forward his proofs, he departed from the 
 rule he had laid down. 6 * He combated Lu- 
 ther's first proposition by an Extravagance or 
 Constitution* of Pope Clement ; and the se- 
 cond, by all sorts of opinions from the scho- 
 lastic divines. The discussion turned at its 
 outset upon this constitution of the Pope in 
 favour of indulgences. Luther, indignant at 
 hearing what authority the Legate attributed 
 to a decree of Rome, exclaimed : 
 
 " I cannot receive such constitutions as 
 sufficient proofs on subjects so important. 
 For they wrest the holy Scriptures, and never 
 quote them to the purpose." 
 
 DE Vio. " The Pope has authority and 
 power over all things." 
 
 LUTHER, (warmly.} "Save the Scrip- 
 tures." 65 
 
 DE Vio, (in derision.)*" Save the Scrip- 
 tures ! ... Do not you know that the Pope 
 is higher than the Councils, for he has re- 
 cently condemned and punished the council 
 of Bale." 
 
 LUTHER. " But the university of Paris has 
 appealed against his decision." 
 
 DE Vio. "Those gentlemen of Paris will 
 receive their desert." 
 
 The Cardinal and Luther then proceeded 
 to discuss the second article, namely the faith 
 that Luther declared to be necessary to render 
 the sacraments efficacious. Luther pursuing 
 his usual method, quoted, in favour of the 
 opinion that he maintained, several passages 
 of Scripture. But the Legate received them 
 with derision. " It is of faith in general that 
 you are speaking now," said he. " Not so," 
 replied Luther. One of the Italians, the Le- 
 gate's master of the ceremonies, provoked at 
 Luther's resistance and answers, was burning 
 with desire to speak. He often attempted to 
 interrupt the conversation; but the Legate 
 commanded silence. At last he was obliged 
 to reprove him in so authoritative a tone, that 
 the master of ceremonies left the room in con- 
 fusion. 66 
 
 " As to indulgences," said Luther to the 
 Legate, " if you can prove to me that I am mis- 
 taken, I am ready to receive instruction. We 
 may leave that subject open, without com- 
 
 * This name is given to certain Constitutions of 
 the Popes, collected and appended to the Canon 
 Law. 
 
 promising our faith as Christians. But as to 
 that other article concerning faith, if I yielded 
 any thing there, I should be denying Christ. 1 
 cannot, therefore, and I will not yield that 
 point, and by God's hel-p I will hold it to the 
 end." 
 
 DE Vio, (beginning to lose temper.} 
 " Whether you will or will not, you must this 
 very day retract that article, or else for that 
 article alone, I will proceed to reject and con- 
 demn all your doctrine." 
 
 LUTHER. " I have no will but the Lord's. 
 He will do with me whatseemeth good in his 
 sight. But had I a hundred heads, I would 
 rather lose them all than retract the testimony 
 I have borne to the holy Christian faith." 
 
 DE Vio. " I am not come here to argue 
 with you. Retract or prepare to endure the 
 punishment you have deserved." 67 
 
 Luther clearly perceived that it was impos- 
 sible to end the affair by a conference. His 
 adversary was seated before him as though he 
 himself were Pope, and required an humble 
 submission to all that he said to him, whilst 
 he received Luther's answers, even when 
 grounded on the holy Scriptures, with shrugs, 
 and every kind of irony and contempt. He 
 thought the most prudent plan would be to an- 
 swer the Cardinal in writing. This means, 
 thought he, offered at least one consolation to 
 the oppressed. Others might then give their 
 judgment of the affair; and the unjust adver- 
 sary, who, by clamour, remained master of the 
 field, might be overawed by the public voice. 68 
 
 Having, therefore, shown a disposition to 
 withdraw: "Do you wish," said the Legate 
 to him, "that I should give you a safe-con- 
 duct to repair to Rome?" 
 
 Nothing would have pleased Catejan better 
 than the acceptance of this offer. He would 
 thus have got rid of an affair of which he began 
 to perceive the difficulties, and Luther and his 
 heresy would have fallen into the hands of 
 those who would have known how to deal 
 with them. But the Reformer, who was sen- 
 sible of the dangers that surrounded him even 
 at Augsburg, took care to refuse an offer that 
 would have delivered him up, bound hand and 
 foot, to the vengeance of his enemies. He re- 
 jected the proposal as often as De Vio chose 
 to repeat it: which he did several times. The 
 Legate concealed the chagrin he felt at Lu- 
 ther's refusal ; he assumed an air of dignity, 
 and dismissed the 'monk with a compassionate 
 smile, under which he endeavoured to hide 
 his disappointment, and, at the same time, 
 with the politeness of one who hopes to have 
 better success another time. 
 
 Hardly had Luther reached the court-yard 
 of the palace, when the loquacious Italian, the 
 master of the ceremonies, whom the Cardi- 
 nal's reprimands had obliged to leave the hall 
 of audience, delighted at being able to speak to 
 him out of the hearing of Cajetan, and eager 
 to confound the abominable heretic by his 
 overpowering arguments, ran after him, and, 
 before he came up with him, began to deal 
 out his sophisms. But Luther, disgusted with 
 the man's folly, answered him with one of 
 L 
 
116 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 those sarcastic rebukes which he always had j 
 at command, and the master of the ceremo- 
 nies, quite confounded, turned back and slunk 
 abashed to the Cardinal's palace. 
 
 Luther had not been impressed with a very 
 high opinion of his dignified adversary. He 
 had heard from him, as he afterwards wrote 
 to Spalatin, assertions which were quite con- 
 trary to sound theology, and which, in the 
 mouth of another, would have been considered 
 arch-heresies. And yet De Vio was looked 
 upon as the most learned of the Dominicans. 
 Next to him stood Prierias. " We may judge 
 from this," said Luther, "what those must 
 be who fill the tenth or the hundreth rank." 69 
 
 On the other hand, the noble firmness of 
 the Doctor of Wittemberg had greatly sur- 
 prised the Cardinal and all his courtiers. In- 
 stead of a poor monk, sueing abjectly for par- 
 don, they beheld a man of independent spirit, 
 an undaunted Christian, an enlightened Doc- 
 tor, who required them to bring proofs to sup- 
 port their unjust accusations, and courageous- 
 ly defended his own doctrine. The inmates 
 of Cajetan's palace exclaimed with one voice 
 against the pride, obstinacy, and effrontery of 
 the heretic. Luther and De Vio had learned 
 to know one another, and both were preparing 
 themselves for a second interview. 
 
 A joyful surprise awaited Luther on his re- 
 turn to the convent of the Carmelites. The 
 Vicar-general of the order of the Augustines, 
 his friend, his father, Staupitz, had arrived 
 there. Not having been able to prevent Lu- 
 ther from going to Augsburg, Staupitz gave 
 his friend a new and affecting proof of his at- 
 tachment, by joining him in that city, with 
 the hope of rendering him some service. This 
 excellent man foresaw that the conference with 
 the Legate would have momentous results. His 
 fears and his friendship for Luther combined 
 to disturb him. It was a balm to the Reformer's 
 heart, after that trying conference, to embrace 
 so precious a friend. He related to him how 
 he had found it impossible to obtain a satis- 
 factory answer, and how he had been required 
 to recant without even an attempt to convict 
 him of error. " You must absolutely," said 
 Staupitz, " answer the Legate in writing." 
 
 Alter what he had heard of this first inter- 
 view, Staupitz expected no good result from 
 any succeeding one. He therefore determined 
 upon a step which he thought the present cir- 
 cumstances made necessary ; he decided to re- 
 lease Luther from the obligation of obedience 
 to his order. Staupitz proposed by this means 
 to attain two objects ; if, as he could not but 
 forbode, Luther should fail in his undertaking, 
 this proceeding would prevent the disgrace of 
 his condemnation from being reflected on his 
 whole order; and if the Cardinal should en- 
 join him to oblige Luther to silence or to a 
 recantation, he would have an excuse for non- 
 eompliance. 70 This ceremony was gone through 
 in the usual forms. Luther clearly perceived 
 all that it foreboded. His mind was deeply 
 affected by the breaking of ties that he had 
 formed in the enthusiasm of youth. The order 
 he had chosen now rejected him. His natural 
 
 protectors forsook him. Already he was be 
 come a stranger to his brethren. But though 
 his heart was oppressed with sorrow at the 
 thought, he recovered his serenity by looking 
 to the promises of a faithful God, who has 
 said: "I will never leave thee ; I will nevei 
 forsake thee." 
 
 The Imperial counsellors, having intimated 
 to the Legate through the Bishop of Trent, 
 that Luther was provided with the Emperor's 
 safe-conduct, at the same time cautioning him 
 against taking any steps against the Re- 
 former's person, De Vio in a violent passion 
 abruptly answered in the true Romish style, 
 "Be it so; but I shall do what the Pope en- 
 joins me." 71 We know what the Pope's in- 
 junctions were. 
 
 The next day* both parties prepared for a 
 second interview, which seemed likely to be 
 decisive. Luther's friends, intending to ac- 
 company him to the Legate's palace, repaired 
 to the convent of the Carmelites. The Dean 
 of Trent and Peutinger, both Imperial coun- 
 sellors, and Staupitz, arrived one after the 
 other. Besides these, Luther soon had the 
 pleasure of welcoming the knight Philip von 
 Feilitzsch, and Doctor Ruhel, counsellors of 
 the Elector, who had received orders from their 
 master to be present at the conferences, and 
 to watch over Luther's personal safety. They 
 had arrived at Augsburg on the previous even 
 ing. They were commissioned to keep close 
 to him, says Mathesius, as the knight Chlum 
 stood by John Huss, at Constance. The 
 Doctor also took a notary with him, and, ac- 
 companied by all his friends, repaired to the 
 Legate's palace. 
 
 As they set out, Staupitz drew close to Lu- 
 ther; he felt all that his friend would have 
 to endure; he knew that if his eye were not 
 directed towards the Lord, who is the deliver- 
 er of his people, he must sink under his trial: 
 " My dear brother," said he, solemnly, " ever 
 bear in mind that you entered on these strug- 
 gles in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 72 It 
 was thus that God encompassed his humble 
 servant with consolations and encouragement. 
 
 Luther, on arriving at the Cardinal's, found 
 there a new opponent: this was the prior of 
 the Dominicans of Augsburg, who was seated 
 beside his superior. Luther, in conformity 
 with his resolution, had put his answer in 
 writing. The customary salutations being 
 gone through, he read, with a firm voice, the 
 following declaration : 
 
 " I declare that I honour the holy Roman 
 Church, and, moreover, that I will continue to 
 do so. I have sought after truth in my public 
 disputations, and what I have taught, I, to 
 this hour, regard as right, true, and Christian. 
 Nevertheless I am but a man, and I may be 
 mistaken. I am therefore willing to be in- 
 structed and corrected wherever I may have 
 erred. I declare myself ready to answer by 
 word of mouth or in writing, all objections 
 and all charges that the illustrious Legate 
 may bring against me. I declare myself will- 
 
 Wednesday, 12th Oct. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 117 
 
 ing to submit my theses to the decision of the j 
 four universities of Bale, Fribourg in Brisgau, J 
 Louvain, and Paris, and to retract whatever j 
 they shall declare to be erroneous. In a word, 
 I am ready to do all that can be required of 
 a Christian man. But I solemnly protest 
 against the method that has been pursued in 
 this affair, and against that strange assump- 
 tion which would oblige me to retract, with- 
 out having convicted me of error." 73 
 
 Undoubtedly nothing could be more conso- 
 nant with reason than these proposals of Lu- 
 ther, and they must have greatly embarrassed 
 a judge who had been previously instructed 
 what judgment he was to pronounce. The 
 Legate, who was quite unprepared for this 
 protest, endeavoured to hide his confusion, by 
 affecting a laugh, and putting on the sem- 
 blance of mildness. 
 
 " This protest," he said to Luther with a 
 smile, "is quite unnecessary; I will not dis- 
 pute with you in public or in private, but my 
 wish is to settle the whole affair with paternal 
 tenderness." 7 ' 4 
 
 It was the policy of the Cardinal to lay 
 aside the strict forms of justice, which afford 
 protection to the accused, and to treat the 
 matter as an affair of administration between 
 a superior and his inferior; a convenient 
 method, as it leaves the fullest scope to the 
 exercise of arbitrary power. 
 
 Continuing in the most affectionate tone : 
 " My dear friend," said De Vio, " I beseech 
 you to abandon this useless design ; but ra- 
 ther return to a sense of duty, acknowledge 
 the truth, and behold me ready to reconcile 
 you to the Church, and to the supreme bishop. 
 . . . Retract, my friend, retract; such is the 
 Pope's will. Whether it be your will or not, 
 matters little ; you would find it hard to kick 
 against the pricks. . . ." 
 
 Luther, who saw himself already treated as 
 a rebellious child, rejected by the Church, ex- 
 claimed : "I cannot retract! but I offer to 
 answer, and in writing. We had enough of 
 contention yesterday." 
 
 De Vio was provoked at this expression, 
 which reminded him that he had not acted 
 with sufficient discretion; but he recovered 
 himself, and said, smiling : 
 
 " Contention ! my dear son; I did not con- 
 tend with you. I am as little inclined as 
 yourself to contention ; but to gratify his High- 
 ness the Elector Frederic, I am ready to hear 
 you and exhort you as a friend and a father." 
 Luther did not understand why the Legate 
 should have taken umbrage at the phrase he 
 had made use of; for, thought he to himself, 
 if I had not wished to be courteous, I should 
 not have said " contend," but " dispute" and 
 ** quarrel," for that was what we really did 
 yesterday. 
 
 However, De Vio, who felt that, oefore the 
 respectable witnesses present at the confer- 
 ence, he must at least appear to convince 
 Luther, and endeavour to crush him by argu- 
 ment, reverted to the two propositions which 
 he had pointed out as fundamental errors, fully 
 resolved to allow the Reformer the fewest 
 
 possible opportunities of reply. Relying on 
 Italian volubility, he overwhelmed him with 
 objections, without waiting for an answer. 
 Sometimes he sneered, sometimes he chided ; 
 he declaimed with passionate energy : he 
 jumbled together the most incongruous things; 
 quoted St. Thomas and Aristotle ; exclaimed 
 and raved against all who differed from them; 
 and broke out in invective against Luther. 
 Again and again the latter attempted to reply ; 
 but the Legate instantly interrupted him and 
 overwhelmed him with threats. "Recant! 
 recant !" was the burden of his harangue ; he 
 stormed, enacted the dictator, and put down 
 all effort to reply. 75 Staupitz undertook to stop 
 the Legate. " Deign to allow Doctor Martin 
 time to answer," said he. But the Legate re- 
 sumed his harangue : he quoted the eocirava- 
 fances and the opinions of St. Thomas : he 
 ad resolved to have all the talk to himself. 
 Unable to convince, and fearing to strike, he 
 would at least stun by his violence. 
 
 Luther and Staupitz clearly perceived that 
 they must not only forego all hope of enlight- 
 ening De Vio by discussion, but also of 
 making any useful confession of the faith. 
 Luther, therefore, renewed the request he had 
 made at the beginning of the interview, and 
 which the Cardinal had then eluded. And 
 not being permitted to speak, he requested 
 that he might be allowed at least to put his 
 answer in writing and send it to the Legate. 
 Staupitz seconded his request; several of the 
 company present joined in his solicitations ; 
 and Cajetan, in spite of his dislike to written 
 documents, for he remembered that such do- 
 cuments are lasting, at length consented. 
 They separated. The hope which had been 
 conceived that the affair might be terminated 
 at this interview was thus adjourned, and it 
 was necessary to await the result of the en- 
 suing conference. 
 
 The permission granted to Luther by the 
 general of the Dominicans to take time for 
 reflection, and to write his answer to the two 
 distinct allegations brought against him re- 
 lating to the indulgences and to faith, was 
 undoubtedly no more than strict justice; and 
 yet we must give De Vio credit for it, as a 
 mark of moderation and impartiality. 
 
 Luther left the Cardinal's palace rejoicing 
 that his just request had been granted. In 
 his way to and from the palace, he was the 
 object of general attention. Enlightened men 
 were interested in his cause, as if they them- 
 selves were about to stand upon their trial. 
 It was felt that it was the cause of the gospel, 
 of justice, and of liberty, which was then to 
 be pleaded at Augsburg. The lower orders 
 alone sided with Cajetan, and they, doubtless, 
 gave the Reformer significant proofs of theij\ 
 disposition, for he took notice of it. 76 
 
 It daily become more evident that the Le- 
 gate would hear nothing from him save the 
 words, " I retract;" and those words Luther 
 was determined not to utter. What issue 
 could be looked for in so unequal a struggle? 
 How could it for a moment be thought that 
 the whole power of Rome, arrayed against 
 
118 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 one man, could fail in the end to crush him 1 ' Scripture, which teach us that the saints have 
 Luther saw all this : he felt the pressure of j not merit enough, ought to be more regarded 
 that heavy hand under which he had dared to ' than those words of men, which affirm that 
 place himself; he despaired of ever returning they have merits in superabundance. For the 
 
 to Wittemberg, of seeing his dear Philip 
 again, and once more finding himself encir- 
 cled by those noble youths in whose hearts he 
 so delighted to sow the seeds of everlasting 
 life. He saw the sentence of excommunica- 
 tion suspended over his head, and did not 
 doubt that it would shortly fall upon him. 77 
 These forebodings distressed him, but did not 
 cast him down. His trust in God was not 
 shaken. God may, indeed, destroy the instru- 
 ment he has hitherto made use of; but he 
 will maintain the truth. Whatever may hap- 
 pen, Luther must defend it to the last. With 
 these feelings, therefore, he began to prepare 
 the protest he intended to present to the Le- 
 gate. It seems he devoted to that purpose a 
 part of the 13th of October. 
 
 On the following day, Luther returned to 
 the Cardinal's palace, attended by the coun- 
 sellors of the Elector. The Italians crowded 
 round him as usual, and a number of them 
 were present at the conference. Luther step- 
 ped forward and presented his protest to the 
 Legate. The Cardinal's attendants gazed 
 intently on his writing, in their eyes so daring 
 and presumptuous. The following is the 
 declaration which the Doctor of Wittemberg 
 handed to their master: 78 
 
 " You charge me upon two points. And 
 first you bring against me the constitution of 
 Pope Clement VI., in which it is asserted 
 that the treasure of indulgences is the merit 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the saints; 
 an assertion which I deny in my theses. 
 
 44 Panormitanus," continues he, (applying 
 that designation to Ives, Bishop of Chartres, 
 toward the close of the eleventh century, and 
 author of the famous collection of ecclesiasti- 
 cal law called Panormia) " Panormitanus 
 in his first book declares, that, in what per- 
 tains to our holy faith, not only a General 
 Council, but even a private Christian, is above 
 the Pope, if he can adduce clearer testimony 
 from the Scriptures, and better reasons. 79 The 
 voice of our Lord Jesus Christ is far above 
 the voice of all men, by whatever names they 
 may be called. 
 
 44 What most disturbs me and excites my 
 most painful reflections is, that this constitu- 
 tion contains in it many things altogether con- 
 trary to the truth. First, it asserts that the 
 merits of the saints form a treasury ; whilst 
 the whole volume of Scriptures testifies that 
 God rewards us far more richly than we have 
 deserved. The prophet exclaims : 4 Enter not 
 into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for 
 in thy sight shall no man livingbejustified.' 80 
 4 Wo to man,' says St. Augustine, 4 however 
 honourable and praiseworthy his life may be, 
 if God were to pronounce a judgment upon 
 him from which mercy should be excluded.' 81 
 
 44 Thus, then, the saints are not saved by 
 their merits, but solely by the mercy of God, 
 as I have declared. I maintain this, and I 
 take my stand upon it. The words of holy 
 
 Pope is not above, but under the authority of 
 the word of God." 
 
 Luther did not stop there : he showed that 
 if the indulgences could not consist in the 
 merits of the saints, neither could they con- 
 sist in the merits of Christ. He proved that 
 the indulgences were barren and unprofitable, 
 since they had no other effect than to excuse 
 men from good works, such as prayer, alms, 
 &c. 44 No," he exclaimed, t4 the righteous- 
 ness of Christ Jesus is not a treasure of in- 
 dulgences, excusing us from good works, but 
 a treasure of grace quickening us to perform 
 them. The righteousness of Christ is applied 
 to the faithful, not by indulgences, not by the 
 keys, but by the Holy Ghost alone, and not 
 by the Pope. If any one holds an opinion 
 resting on better foundations than mine," 
 added he, in concluding what referred to this 
 first point, 44 let him make it known, and then 
 will I retract." 
 
 44 1 have affirmed," said he, adverting to 
 the second charge, 44 that no man can be jus- 
 tified before God except by Faith ; so that it 
 is necessary that a man should believe with 
 a perfect confidence that he has received par- 
 don. To doubt of this grace is to reject it. 
 The faith of the just is his righteousness and 
 his life. "* 2 
 
 Luther supported his proposition by manv 
 texts from Scripture. 
 
 44 Deign, then, to intercede in my behalf 
 with our most holy lord the Pope Leo X., 
 that he may not treat me with so much 
 severity. My soul seeks the light of truth. 
 I am not so proud, not so set upon vainglory, 
 that I should be ashamed to retract, if I had 
 taught what is not agreeable to the truth. 
 My greatest joy will be to see the triumph of 
 that doctrine which is according to the mind 
 of God. Only let me not be forced to do any 
 thing that is against my conscience." 
 
 The Legate took the declaration which Lu- 
 ther presented, and, after looking it over, said 
 oolly : 44 You have wasted many words, and 
 written what is little to the purpose : you have 
 replied very foolishly to the two charges 
 brought against you, and you have covered 
 your paper with numerous passages from the 
 holy Scriptures that have no reference what- 
 ever to the subject." De Vio then with a 
 contemptuous gesture threw down Luther's 
 protest, as if unworthy of his regard; and, 
 resuming the tone which had in some degree 
 Deen successful in the last interview, he re- 
 newed the cry that Luther must retract. The 
 alter was inflexible. 44 Brother ! brother !" 
 ;ried De Vio in Italian, " when you were last 
 lere you were very docile, but to-day you are 
 altogether intractable." Then the Cardinal 
 jegan a long speech, borrowed from the writ- 
 ngs of St. Thomas ; he again extolled with 
 all his might the constitution of Clement VI.; 
 he persisted in maintaining that, in virtue of 
 that constitution, the very merits of Chris! 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 119 
 
 are distributed to the faithful by means of the 
 indulgences: he thought he had silenced Lu- 
 ther. The latter at times attempted to speak ; 
 but De Vio scolded and thundered on without 
 intermission, and, as on the previous occasion, 
 claimed the sole right to be heard. 
 
 This manner of proceeding had on the first 
 occasion been .in some, measure successful ; 
 but Luther was not a man to bear with it a 
 second time. His indignation at length broke 
 forth, and it was now his turn to astonish the 
 bystanders, who thought him already conquer- 
 ed by the prelate's volubility. He raised his 
 sonorous voice : he took up the Cardinal's fa- 
 vourite objection, and made him pay dearly for 
 his temerity in entering the lists against him. 
 " Retract ! retract !" repeated De Vio, showing 
 him the constitution of the Pope. " Well !" 
 said Luther, " only prove to me, by this con- 
 stitution, that the treasure of indulgences is 
 the very merit of Christ, and I consent to re- 
 tract, according to the will and pleasure of 
 your eminence. . ." 
 
 The Italians, who had not expected this, 
 exulted at his words, and could not repress 
 their joy at seeing the adversary at length 
 taken in the toils. As to the Cardinal, he was 
 like one beside himself; he laughed aloud 
 but it was an indignant and angry laugh; he 
 stepped forward, took up the volume contain- 
 ing the famous constitution, turned over the 
 leaves, found the passage, and elated, with the 
 advantage he thought he had secured, read it 
 aloud with breathless eagerness. 83 The Italians 
 were now triumphant ; the counsellors of the 
 Elector were anxious and embarrassed ; Lu- 
 ther waited the right moment. At last, when 
 the Cardinal came to these words, " The Lord 
 Jesus Christ acquired this treasure by his 
 sufferings," Luther interrupted him ; "Most 
 worthy father," said he, "deign to consider 
 this passage well, and to meditate upon it 
 carefully : ' He has acquired.' 84 Christ has 
 acquired a treasure by his merits , the merits 
 then are not the treasure ; for, to speak with 
 philosophic precision, the cause is a different 
 thing from that which flows from it. The 
 merits of Christ have acquired for the Pope 
 the power of giving such indulgences to the 
 people ; but they are not the very merits of 
 the Lord which the Pope distributes. Thus, 
 then, my conclusion is true, and this constitu- 
 tion, which you so loudly appeal to, testifies 
 with me to the truth which I declare." 
 
 De Vio still held the book in his hand ; his 
 eyes still rested on the fatal passage : the in- 
 ference was unanswerable. Behold him taken 
 in the very net he had spread for another; and 
 Luther, with a strong hand, held him fast, to 
 the utter astonishment of the Italian courtiers 
 who surrounded him. The Legate would have 
 eluded the difficulty ; but all retreat was closed. 
 From an early stage of the discussion he had 
 given up the testimony of the Scriptures, and 
 that of the Fathers ; and had sheltered himself 
 under this extravagance of Clement VI., and 
 now he was taken in his stronghold. Still he 
 was too artful to betray his embarrassment. In 
 order to conceal his confusion, the Cardinal 
 
 abruptly changed the subject, and vehemently 
 attacked Luther on other points of difference. 
 Luther, who detected this skilful manoeuvre, 
 drew tighter on every side the net in which he 
 had taken his opponent, making it impossible 
 for him to escape: "Most reverend father," 
 said he, in a tone of irony, veiled under the 
 semblance of respect, " your Eminence must 
 not suppose that we Germans are altogether 
 ignorant of grammar : to be a treasure, and to 
 purchase a treasure, are two very different 
 things." 
 
 " Retract !" exclaimed De Vio, " retract ! or 
 I will send you to Rome, there to appear be- 
 fore the judges commissioned to take cogni- 
 sance of your cause. I will excommunicate 
 you, and all your partisans, and all who shall 
 at any time countenance you ; and will cast 
 them out of the Church. Full power has been 
 given to me for this purpose by the holy apos- 
 tolic see. 85 Think you, that your protectors 
 will stop me 1 Do you imagine that the Pope 
 can fear Germany ! The Pope's little finger 
 is stronger than all the princes of Germany 
 put together." 86 
 
 * Condescend," replied Luther, " to forward 
 the written answer I have given you to Pope 
 Leo X., with my most humble prayers." 
 
 The Legate, at these words, glad to have a 
 momentary respite, again assumed an air of 
 dignity, and turning to Luther, said, in a 
 haughty and angry tone : 
 
 " Retract, or return no more!" 87 
 
 The expression struck Luther. He must 
 now answer in another manner than by words. 
 He made an obeisance and withdrew. The 
 counsellors of the Elector followed, and the 
 Cardinal and his Italians, left alone, looked 
 at each other, utterly confounded at such a re- 
 sult of the discussion. 
 
 Luther and De Vio never met again : but 
 the Reformer had made a powerful impression 
 on the Legate, which was never entirely ef- 
 faced. What Luther had said concerning 
 faith, what De Vio read in the subsequent 
 writings of the Doctor of Wittemberg, consi- 
 derably changed the Cardinal's sentiments. 
 The theologians of Rome saw with surprise 
 and dissatisfaction the opinions touching jus- 
 tification which he brought forward in his 
 commentary upon the Epistle to the Romans. 
 The Reformation did not recede, nor did the 
 Reformer retract; but his judge, who had so 
 repeatedly commanded him to retract, changed 
 his views, and himself, indirectly, retracted 
 his errors. Thus the unshaken fidelity of the 
 Reformer was crowned with reward. 
 
 Luther returned to the monastery where he 
 had been a guest. He had stood firm : he had 
 borne witness to the truth; he had done what 
 it was his duty to do ; God would do the rest. 
 His heart overflowed with joy and peace. 
 
 However, the tidings that were brought him 
 were not encouraging ; a rumour prevailed 
 throughout the city that, if he did not retract, 
 he was to be seized and thrown into a dun- 
 geon. The Vicar-general of the order, Stau- 
 pitz himself, it was asserted, had given his 
 consent to this. 88 Luther could not believe 
 L2 
 
1-20 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that his friend would act in this manner. No! j 
 Staupitz could not. betray him ! As to the de- 
 signs of the Cardinal, his own words had 
 thrown sufficient light upon them. Yet Luther 
 would not flee from the danger; his life, as 
 well as the truth itself, was in powerful keep- 
 ing, and, in spite of all these threatenings, he 
 determined not to leave Augsburg. 
 
 The Legate soon repented of his violence; 
 he felt that he had forgotten the part it was 
 his policy to play, and wished to resume it. 
 Hardly had Staupitz dined, (for the interview 
 had taken place in the morning, and dinner 
 was served at noon,) when he received a mes- 
 sage from the Cardinal, inviting him to his 
 house. Staupitz repaired thither, accompanied 
 by Wenceslaus Link. 89 TheVicar-general found 
 the Legate alone with Serra Longa. De Vio 
 immediately advanced towards Staupitz, and 
 addressed him in the gentlest manner: 
 "Try now," said he, " to prevail upon your 
 monk and induce him to retract. Really, I am 
 pleased with him on the whole, and he has no 
 better friend than myself." 90 
 
 STAUPITZ. " I have already done my en- 
 deavours, and I will now again advise him 
 humbly to submit to the church." 
 
 DE Vio. "You must give him proper an- 
 swers to the arguments that he adduces from 
 the Scriptures." 
 
 STAUPITZ. "I must confess, my lord, that 
 that is beyond my power ; for Doctor Martin is 
 more than a match for me, both in acuteness 
 and in knowledge of the Scriptures." 
 
 The Cardinal smiled, we may imagine, at 
 the Vicar-general's frank confession. His 
 ow r n experience, moreover, had taught him 
 the difficulty of convicting Luther of error. 
 He continued, addressing himself to Link as 
 well as to Staupitz : 
 
 " Are you aware that, as favourers of here- 
 tical doctrine, you are yourselves exposed to 
 the penalties of the church?" 
 
 STAUPITZ. " Deign to resume the confer- 
 ence with Luther, and open a public disputa- 
 tion on the controverted points." 
 
 DE Vio, alarmed at the thought of such a 
 measure, exclaimed, "I will argue no more 
 with the beast. Those eyes of his are too 
 deeply set in his head, and his looks have too 
 much meaning in them." 91 
 
 Staupitz finally obtained the Cardinal's 
 promise that he would state in writing what 
 he required Luther to retract. 92 
 
 The Vicar-general then returned to Luther. 
 In some degree shaken by the representations 
 of the Cardinal, he endeavoured to lead him 
 to some concession. " Refute then," said Lu- 
 ther, " the Scriptures I have brought forward." 
 " That is beyond my power," said Staupitz. 
 "Very well," replied Luther, "my con- 
 science will not allow me to retract until those 
 passages of Scripture can be shown to have 
 another meaning. And so," continued he, 
 " the Cardinal professes his willingness to set- 
 tle the affair in this way, without subjecting 
 me to disgrace or detriment. Ah! these are 
 fine Italian words, but, in plain German, they 
 mean nothing less than my everlasting shame 
 
 and ruin. What better can he look for who, 
 from fear of man and against his own con- 
 science, denies the truth]" 
 
 Staupitz desisted; he merely informed Lu- 
 ther that the Cardinal had consented to send 
 him in writing the points on which he required 
 his recantation. He then, doubtless, acquaint- 
 ed him with his intention of leaving Augs- 
 burg, where he had now nothing more to do. 
 Luther communicated to him a purpose he 
 had formed for comforting and strengthening 
 their souls. Staupitz promised to return, and 
 they separated for a short time. 
 
 Left alone in his cell, Luther's thoughts 
 turned towards the friends most dear to his 
 heart. His thoughts wandered to Weimar 
 and to Wittemberg. He wished to tell the 
 Elector what was passing, and thinking there 
 might be impropriety in addressing the Prince 
 in person, he wrote to Spalatin, and begged 
 the chaplain to let his masier know the state 
 of his affairs. He related to him all that had 
 passed, even to the promise the Legate had 
 just made to send a statement of the contro- 
 verted points in writing. He concluded by 
 saying : " Thus the matter stands ; but I have 
 neither hope nor confidence in the Legate. I 
 am resolved not to retract a single syllable. I 
 shall publish the answer that I have put into 
 his hands, in order that, if he proceed to vio- 
 lence, he may be covered with shame in the 
 sight of all Christendom." 93 
 
 The Doctor next availed himself of the few 
 moments that were still remaining, to send 
 tidings of himself to his friends at Wittem- 
 berg. 
 
 " Peace and happiness !" he wrote to Doc- 
 tor Carlstadt. "Accept these few words in 
 place of a long letter: for time and events 
 are pressing. Another time I hope to write 
 to you and others more fully. For three days 
 my affair has been in hand, and things are at 
 such a point that I have no longer a hope of 
 seeing you again, and have nothing to expect 
 but excommunication. The Legate will not 
 allow me to defend myself, either publicly or 
 in private. His wish, he tells me, is to act the 
 part of a father, not of a judge; and yet he 
 will hear nothing from me but the words : 
 ' I retract, and acknowledge that I have been 
 in error.' And those are words I will not 
 utter ! The peril in which my cause is placed 
 is so much the greater, because it is judged 
 not only by implacable enemies, but even by 
 men incapable of understanding its merits. 
 However, the Lord God lives and reigns : to 
 His keeping I commend myself; and I doubt 
 not that in answer to the prayers of pious 
 souls, He will send me deliverance : / seem 
 to feel that prayer is being made for me ! 
 
 "Either I shall return to you unhurt; or 
 else, under a sentence of excommunication, I 
 must seek shelter elsewhere. 
 
 " Whatever may happen to me, quit your- 
 self manfully ; stand fast, and glorify Christ 
 joyfully and without fear. . . . 
 
 "The Cardinal always styles me 'his dear 
 son.' I know how little that means. Still I 
 am persuaded I should be to him one of the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 121 
 
 dearest and most acceptable of men, if I would 
 but pronounce the single word: ' RevocoS But 
 1 will not become a heretic, by renouncing the 
 faith that has made me a Christian. Better 
 far would it be to be cast out and accursed, 
 and perish at the stake. 
 
 " Farewell, my dear Doctor! sbow this let- 
 ter to our theologians, to Amsdorff, to Philip, 
 to Otten, and to others, in order that you may 
 pray for me, and also for yourselves ; for it is 
 your cause also that is now trying. It is the 
 cause of the faith of Jesus Christ, and of the 
 grace of God." 94 
 
 Sweet thought ! which ever fills with con- 
 solation and peace the hearts of those who 
 have borne witness to Jesus Christ, to his di- 
 vinity and grace, when the world rains upon 
 them from all sides its censures, its inter- 
 dicts, and its scorn ! " Our cause is the cause 
 of faith in the Lord." And what sweetness 
 also in the conviction expressed by the Re- 
 former : " I seem to feel that lam prayed for" 
 The Reformation was a work of prayer and 
 of piety toward God. The struggle between 
 Luther and De Vio was, in truth, one of a re- 
 ligious principle, then reappearing in full 
 vigour, with the expiring strength of the dis- 
 putatious dialectics of the middle age. 
 
 Thus did Luther converse with his absent 
 friends. Staupitz soon returned; Doctor 
 Ruhel and the knight Feilitzsch, both of them 
 sent by the Elector, also visited him after 
 taking leave of the Cardinal. Some other 
 friends of the Gospel joined them; and Luther, 
 seeing thus assembled together these noble- 
 minded men, who were soon to be parted from 
 each other, and from whom he himself was 
 about, perhaps, to be forever separated, pro- 
 posed that they should join in celebrating the 
 Lord's Supper. The proposal was agreed to ; 
 and this little assembly of the faithful partook 
 of the body and blood of Christ. What must 
 have been the feelings of the Reformer's 
 friends at the moment when, as they celebrated 
 with him the Lord's Supper, they reflected 
 that this was perhaps the last time that this 
 privilege would be allowed him. What joy 
 and love must have filled the heart of Luther 
 in the consciousness of being so graciously 
 accepted by his Master at, the very moment 
 when men were rejecting him. How solemn 
 must have been that supper! How sacred 
 that evening ! 95 
 
 The next day, (Sunday, 15th October,) 
 Luther expected to receive the instructions 
 which the Legate was to send to him. 
 
 But, not receiving any message from him, 
 he requested his friend Doctor Wenceslaus 
 Link to wait upon the Cardinal. De Vio re- 
 ceived Link most affably, and assured him 
 that he wished to take the most friendly 
 course. " I no longer consider Doctor Martin 
 Luther a heretic," added he ; "I will not, at 
 this time, excommunicate him, unless I re- 
 ceive further instructions from Rome : for I 
 have sent his answer to the Pope by an ex- 
 press." Then, to give a proof of his good in- 
 tentions towards him, he added : " If Doctor 
 Luther would only retract on the subject of 
 
 indulgences, the business would soon be con- 
 cluded ; for as to faith in the sacraments, that 
 is an article that every one may interpret and 
 understand in his own way." Spalatin, who 
 relates this, adds this sarcastic but just obser- 
 vation: "Whence it is evident, that Rome 
 attaches more importance to money than to 
 our holy faith and the salvation of souls." 86 
 
 Link returned to Luther. He found Stau- 
 pitz there, and gave an account of his visit. 
 When he mentioned the. unexpected conces- 
 sion of the Legate: "It would have been 
 well," said Staupitz, "if Doctor Wenceslaus 
 had had a notary and witnesses with him, to 
 have taken down that speech in writing; for, 
 if such a proposal were made public, it would 
 do no small prejudice to the cause of these 
 Romans." 
 
 However, the more the Roman prelate soft- 
 ened his tone, the more confirmed the honest 
 Germans were in their distrust of him. Se- 
 veral of those trustworthy persons to whom 
 Luther had been recommended held a council 
 together. " The Legate," said they, " is pre- 
 paring some mischief, through this courier he 
 speaks of, and it is much to be feared that you 
 will all be seized and cast into prison." 
 
 Staupitz and Wenceslaus, therefore, deter- 
 mined to leave the town ; they embraced Lu- 
 ther, who persisted in remaining at Augsburg, 
 and directed their course by two different roads 
 to Nuremberg, not without many misgivings 
 as to the fate of the magnanimous witness 
 whom they were leaving behind them. 
 
 Sunday passed very quietly. Luther waited 
 in vain for a message from the Legate : the 
 latter sent none. He then determined to write 
 to him. Staupitz and Link, before they set 
 out, had begged him to treat the Cardinal with 
 all possible respect. Luther had not yet made 
 trial of Rome and her envoys; it was his first 
 experience. If his humble deference did not 
 succeed, he would know what to expect in 
 future. But now, at least, he must make trial 
 of it. As to his own share in the matter, not 
 a day passed in which he did not condemn 
 himself, and mourn over his proneness to use 
 expressions stronger than the occasion re- 
 quired ; why should he not confess to the Car- 
 dinal what he every day confessed to God ? 
 Besides, Luther's heart was easily affected 
 by kindness, and he suspected no evil. He 
 therefore look up his pen, and, with a feeling 
 of respectful good will, wrote to the Cardinal 
 as follows;* 
 
 " My very worthy father in God, I approach 
 you once more, not personally, but by letter, 
 entreating thy fatherly kindness graciously to 
 listen to rne. 
 
 "The reverend Doctor Staupitz, my very 
 dear father in Christ, has advised me to humble 
 myself, to mistrust my own judgment, and to 
 submit my opinion to the judgment of pious 
 and impartial men. He also commended your 
 fatherly kindness, and has fully convinced me 
 of your friendly disposition towards me. This 
 intelligence has filled me with joy. 
 
 * This letter bears date the 17th October. 
 
122 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 "Now, therefore, most worthy father, I 
 confess, as 1 have already done before, that as 
 I have not shown (as they tell me) sufficient 
 diffidence, gentleness, and respect for the name 
 of the sovereign pontiff; and though my oppo- 
 nents have given me great provocation, I now 
 see that it would have been better to have con- 
 ducted my cause more meekly, courteously, 
 and reverently, and not to have answered a 
 fool according to his folly, lest I should be 
 like unto him. 
 
 "This grieves me very much, and 1 ask 
 pardon. 1 will publicly acknowledge it from 
 the pulpit, as indeed I have often done before. 
 I will endeavour, by the grace of God, to speak 
 differently. I will do more : I am ready to 
 promise, of rny own accord, not again to say 
 a single word on the subject of indulgences, 
 if this business is arranged. But, then, let 
 those also who led me to begin it be compel- 
 led, on their part, to moderate their discourses, 
 or to be silent. 
 
 " So far as the truth of what I have taught 
 is concerned, the authority of St. Thomas and 
 of the other doctors cannot satisfy me. I must 
 hear (if I am worthy to do so) the voice of the 
 spouse, which is the Church. For it is certain 
 she hears the voice of the bridegroom, Christ. 
 
 " I, therefore, in all humility and submis- 
 sion, entreat you to refer this matter, hitherto 
 so unsettled, to our most holy lord, Leo X., 
 in order that the Church may decide, pro- 
 nounce, and ordain, and that those who shall 
 be called on to retract, may do so with a good 
 conscience, or believe in all sincerity." 97 
 
 In reading this letter, another reflection 
 occurs to us. We see that Luther did not act 
 upon a preconceived plan, but solely in obe- 
 dience to convictions successively impressed 
 upon his rnind and heart. Far removed from 
 any settled scheme or preconcerted opposition, 
 he was sometimes, without suspecting it, in 
 contradiction with himself; earlier convictions 
 were still standing in his mind, although their 
 opposttes had already found a place there. 
 And yet it is in these characters of truth and 
 sincerity that some have sought for objections 
 to the Reformation; it is because it followed 
 that necessary law of progression, imposed in 
 every thing on the human mind, that some 
 have written the history of its variations ,- it is 
 in those very features that mark its sincerity, 
 and make it honourable, that one of eminent 
 genius has seen the most powerful objections 
 against it. 98 . Strange perverseness of the mind 
 of man ! 
 
 Luther received no answer to his letter. 
 Cajetan, and all his courtiers, after being so 
 violently agitated, had suddenly become mo- 
 tionless. What could be the reason of this 1 
 Might it not be that calm which precedes a 
 storm 1 Some viewed the delay in the light 
 in which Pallavicini has represented it. " The 
 Cardinal was wailing," says he, "till the 
 proud monk, like an inflated bellows, should 
 gradually lose the wind which filled him, and 
 become humble." 99 Those who thought they 
 better understood the ways of Rome, felt sure 
 that the Legate intended to arrest Luther, but 
 
 that, not daring to proceed to such extremities 
 on his own authority, on account of the Impe- 
 rial safe-conduct, he was awaiting an answer 
 from Rome to his message. Others could not 
 believe that the Cardinal would wait so long. 
 "The Emperor Maximilian," they said, (and 
 in this they might speak the truth,) "will no 
 more scruple to give up Luther for trial by the 
 Church, notwithstanding his safe-conduct, 
 than Sigismund did to surrender Huss to the 
 council of Constance. The Legate is perhaps 
 now in communication with the Emperor. 
 The sanction of Maximilian may every hour 
 be expected. The more opposed he was before 
 to the Pope, the more does he seem to seek 
 to please him; and so it will be till the crown 
 of the empire encircles his grandson's brows." 
 
 Not a moment was to be lost. " Draw up 
 an appeal to the Pope," said the kind-hearted 
 men who surrounded Luther; "draw up an 
 appeal to the Pope, and leave Augsburg with- 
 out delay." 
 
 Luther, whose presence in that city had for 
 the last four days been utterly useless, and 
 who had sufficiently proved, by remaining 
 after the departure of the Saxon counsellors 
 sent by the Elector to watch over his safety, 
 that he feared nothing, and was ready to an- 
 swer for himself, yielded at last to the wishes 
 of his friends. But first he resolved to inform 
 De Vio of his intention : he wrote to him on 
 the Tuesday, the eve of his departure. This 
 letter was in a bolder strain than the former. 
 Seeing his advances were unavailing, Luther 
 seems to erect himself in the consciousness 
 of his right, and of the injustice of his ene- 
 mies. 
 
 " Most worthy father in God," he wrote to 
 De Vio, "your paternal kindness has witness- 
 ed, yea, witnessed and sufficiently acknow- 
 ledged my obedience. I have undertaken a 
 long journey, in the midst of dangers, in great 
 weakness of body, and notwithstanding my 
 extreme poverty, at the command of our most 
 holy lord, Leo X. ; I have personally appeared 
 before your eminence; and, lastly, I have 
 thrown myself at the feet of his Holiness, and 
 now wait his good pleasure, ready to submit 
 to his judgment, whether he condemn or acquit 
 me. I therefore feel that I have left nothing 
 undone that becomes an obedient son of the 
 Church. 
 
 " It is my intention, therefore, not uselessly 
 to prolong my stay here ; it is indeed impos- 
 sible I should do so, as I want the means; 
 and you have positively forbidden my again 
 appearing before you unless I would retract. 
 
 " Thus I again set out in the name of the 
 Lord, desiring, if possible, to find some place 
 where I may live in peace. Several persons 
 of more importance than myself have persuaded 
 me to appeal from your paternal kindness, and 
 even from our most holy lord, Leo X., ill-in- 
 formed, to himself when he shall be better 
 informed on the matter. Though I know that 
 such an appeal will be more agreeable to his 
 highness the Elector than a recantation, yet, 
 if it had been my duty only to consult my own 
 feelings, I would not have made it. ... 1 have 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 123 
 
 committed no crime; I ought therefore to 
 have nothing to fear." 
 
 Luther, having written this letter, (which 
 \vas not delivered to the Legate until after his 
 departure,) prepared to leave Augsburg. God 
 had preserved him hitherto, and with all his 
 heart he praised the Lord for his protection. 
 But it was his duty not to tempt God. He 
 embraced his friends, Peutinger, Langemantel, 
 the Adelmanns, Auerbach, and the Prior of 
 the Carmelites, 'who had afforded him such 
 Christian hospitality. On Wednesday, before 
 daybreak, he was up and ready to set out. 
 His friends had advised him to take every 
 possible precaution, fearing, that if his depart- 
 ure were known, it might be opposed. He 
 followed their advice as well as he could. A 
 horse, that Staupitz had left at his disposal, 
 was brought to the door of the convent. Once 
 more he bids adieu to his brethren : he then 
 mounts and sets out, without a bridle for his 
 horse, without boots or spurs, and unarmed. 
 The magistrate of the city had sent him as a 
 guide a horseman, who was well acquainted 
 with the. roads. This man conducts him in 
 the dark through the silent streets of Augs- 
 burg. They directed their course to a little 
 gate in the wall of the city. One of the coun- 
 sellors, Langemantel, had ordered that it 
 should be opened to him. He is still in the 
 Legate's power. The hand of Rome is still 
 over him ; doubtless, if the Italians knew that 
 their prey was escaping, the cry of pursuit 
 would be raised : who knows whether the 
 intrepid adversary of Rome may not still be 
 seized and thrown into prison 1 .... At last 
 Luther and his guide arrive at the little gate : 
 they pass through. They are out of Augs- 
 burg; and putting their horses into a gallop, 
 they soon leave the city far behind them. 
 
 Luther, on leaving, had deposited his ap- 
 peal to the Pope in the hands of the Prior of 
 Pomesaw. His friends advised him not fo 
 send it to the Legate. The Prior was com- 
 missioned to have it posted, two or three days 
 after the Doctor's departure, on the door of a 
 cathedral, in the presence of a notary and of 
 witnesses. This was done. 
 
 In this writing Luther declared that he ap- 
 pealed from the most holy Father the Pope, 
 ill-informed in this business, to the most holy 
 Lord and Father, in Christ, Leo X. by name, 
 by the grace of God, when better informed, 
 &c. &c. 100 The appeal had been drawn up in 
 the regular form, by the assistance of the Im- 
 perial notary, Gall de Herbrachtigen, in the 
 presence of two Augustine monks, Bartholo- 
 mew Utzmair and Wengel Steinbies. It was 
 dated the 16th of October. 
 
 When the Cardinal heard of Luther's de- 
 parture, he was struck with surprise, and, as 
 he affirmed in a letter to the Elector, even 
 with alarm and apprehension. He had, in- 
 deed, some reason to be vexed. This depart- 
 ure, which so abruptly terminated his nego- 
 tiations, disconcerted all the hopes which his 
 pride had so long cherished. He had been 
 ambitious of the honour of healing the wounds 
 of the Church, and re-establishing the de- 
 17 
 
 clining influence of the Pope in Germany; 
 and not only had the heretic escaped with 
 impunity, but without his having so much as 
 humbled him. The conference had served 
 only to exhibit in a strong light, on the one 
 hand, the simplicity, uprightness, and firm- 
 ness of Luther, and, on the other, the imperi- 
 ous and unreasonable procedure of the Pope 
 and his representative. Inasmuch as Rome 
 had gained nothing, she had lost ; and her 
 authority, not having been reinforced, had in 
 reality sustained a fresh check. What will 
 be said of all this at the Vatican 1 ? what will 
 be the next despatches received from Rome 1 
 The difficulties of the Legate's situation will 
 be forgotten, the untoward issue of the affair 
 will be ascribed to his want of skill. Serra 
 Longa and the rest of the Italians were furi- 
 ous on seeing themselves, dexterous as they 
 were, outwitted by a German monk. DeVio 
 could hardly conceal his vexation. Such an 
 insult appeared to call for vengeance, and we 
 shall soon see him give utterance to his anger 
 in a letter to the Elector. 
 
 Meanwhile Luther, accompanied by the 
 horseman, continued his journey from Augs- 
 burg. He urged his horse and kept the poor 
 animal at full speed. He called to mind the 
 real or supposed flight of John Huss, the 
 manner in which he was overtaken, and the 
 assertion of his adversaries, who affirmed that 
 Huss having, by his flight, annulled the Empe- 
 ror's safe-conduct, they had a right to condemn 
 him to the flames. 101 However, these uneasy 
 feelings did not long occupy Luther's mind. 
 Having got clear from the city where he had 
 spent ten days under that terrible hand of 
 Rome which had already crushed so many 
 thousand witnesses for the truth, and shed so 
 much blood, at large, breathing the open 
 air, traversing the villages and plains, and 
 wonderfully delivered by the arm of the Lord, 
 his whole soul overflowed with praise. He 
 might well say: "Our soul is escaped as a 
 bird out of the snare of the fowlers ; the snare 
 is broken, and we are delivered. Our help is 
 in the name of God, who made heaven and 
 earth." 102 Thus was the heart of Luther filled 
 with joy. But his thoughts again reverted to 
 De V'io : " The Cardinal," thought he, " would 
 have been well pleased to get me into his 
 power and send me to Rome. He is, no doubt, 
 mortified that I have escaped from him. He 
 thought he had me in his clutches at Augs- 
 burg. He thought he held me fast; but he 
 was holding an eel by the tail. Shame that 
 these people should set so high a price upon 
 me ! They would give many crowns to have 
 me in their power, whilst our Saviour Christ 
 was sold for thirty pieces of silver." 103 
 
 Luther travelled fourteen leagues the first 
 day. In the evening, when he arrived at the 
 inn where he was to spend the night, he was 
 so fatigued (his horse, says one of his bio- 
 graphers, had a very rough trot) that, on 
 alighting, he was unable to stand, and dropped 
 motionless upon the straw. He, however, 
 enjoyed some rest. The next day he con 
 tinued his journey. At Nuremberg he found 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Staupitz, who was engaged in visiting the 
 convents f his order. It was in this city that 
 he first saw the brief that the Pope had sent 
 to Cajetan concerning him. He was indig- 
 nant at it, and had he read it before he left 
 Wittemberg, it is very probable he would 
 never have appeared before the Cardinal. " It 
 is impossible to believe," said he, " that any 
 thing so monstrous can have emanated from a 
 Sovereign Pontiff." 104 
 
 Everywhere on his journey Luther was an 
 object of general interest. He was returning 
 without having given up any thing. Such a 
 victory gained by a mendicant friar over the 
 representatives of Rome, filled every heart 
 with astonishment. It seemed as if Germany 
 had now its revenge for the Italian contempt 
 of Ul tramontanes. God's word had obtained 
 more honour than the word of the Pope. That 
 power, which for ages had borne rule, had 
 just received a formidable check. The jour- 
 ney of Luther was a triumph. Men rejoiced 
 at, the obstinacy of Rome, because it was like- 
 ly to hasten her ruin. If she had not insisted 
 on retaining her shameful gains, if she had 
 been prudent enough not to despise the Ger- 
 mans, if she had reformed flagrant abuses, 
 perhaps, according to human calculations, 
 things would have returned to the death-like 
 state from which Luther had awakened. But 
 the Papacy would not yield ; and the Doctor 
 was to'be constrained to bring many other er- 
 rors to light, and to advance in the knowledge 
 and manifestation of the truth. On the 26th 
 of October, Luther arrived at Graefenthal, at 
 the extremity of the woods of Thuringia. He 
 there met Count Albert of Mansfeldt, the 
 same person who had so strongly dissuaded 
 him from going to Augsburg. The Count 
 laughed heartily at his strange equipment. 
 He compelled him to stop, and obliged him to 
 become his guest: Luther soon afterwards 
 continued his journey. 
 
 He hastened on, desiring to be at Wittem- 
 berg on the 31st of October, in the expecta- 
 tion that the Elector would be there at the 
 feast of All Saints, and that he might have an 
 interview with him. The brief which he had 
 read at Nuremberg had revealed to him all the 
 danger of his situation. In fact, being already 
 condemned at Rome, he could not hope either 
 to continue at Wittemberg, or to find an asy- 
 lum in a convent, or to dwell anywhere in 
 peace and safety. The protection of the 
 Elector might, perhaps, avail him ; but he 
 was far from being sure of it. He had no- 
 thing more to hope from the true friends he 
 had hitherto possessed at this prince's court. 
 Staupitz, having lost the favour he had long 
 enjoyed, was then leaving Saxony. Spalatin, 
 though beloved by Frederic, had not much 
 influence over him. The Elector himself was 
 not sufficiently instructed in the doctrine of 
 the Gospel to expose himself for the sake of 
 it to manifest dangers. However, Luther 
 thought he could not do better than return 
 to Wittemberg, and there wait to see what the 
 eternal and merciful God would do with him. 
 If, as some expected, he were unmolested, he 
 
 resolved to devote himself entirely to the study 
 and to the instruction of youth. 105 
 
 Luther got back to Wittemberg on the 30th 
 of October. His haste had been in vain. 
 Neither the Elector nor Spalatin had come to 
 the feast. His friends were delighted to see 
 him again amongst them. He hastened to in- 
 form Spalatin of his arrival. " I have arrived 
 to-day at Wittemberg, safe and sound, through 
 God's mercy, "said he; "but how long I shall 
 stay here I know not. ... 'I am filled with 
 joy and peace ; and find it hard to conceive 
 how the trial I am enduring can appear so 
 grievous to so many distinguished men." 
 
 De Vio had not waited long, after the de- 
 parture of Luther, to pour forth all his indio-- 
 nation to the Elector. His letter breathed 
 vengeance^ 
 
 He gave Frederick an account of the con- 
 ference, with an air of self-satisfaction : 
 " Since brother Martin," said he in conclusion, 
 " cannot be brought by paternal measures to ac- 
 knowledge his error and to continue faithful to 
 the Catholic Church, I request your Highness 
 to send him to Rome, or to banish him from 
 your territories. Be assured that this compli- 
 cated, evil-intentioned, and mischievous affair 
 cannot be long protracted ; for as soon as I 
 shall have informed our most holy lord of all 
 this artifice and malice, he will bring it to a 
 speedy end." In a postscript, written with his 
 own hand, the Cardinal entreated the Elector 
 not to tarnish with shame his own honour and 
 that of his illustrious ancestors, for he cause 
 of a contemptible monk. 106 
 
 Never was the soul of Luthe* roused to 
 higher indignation than when he read the copy 
 of this letter which the Elector sent him. The 
 sense of the sufferings he was destined to en- 
 dure, the value of the truth for which he con- 
 tended, contempt for the conduct of the Roman 
 Legate, together swelled his heart. His an- 
 swer, written at the moment when his whole 
 soul was thus agitated, is distinguished by that 
 courage, elevation, and faith, which he ever 
 displayed in the most trying circumstances of 
 his life. He gave, in his turn, an account of 
 the conference at Augsburg. He described the 
 deportment of the Cardinal : and thus pro- 
 ceeded : 
 
 " I would like to answer the Legate, put- 
 ting myself in the place of the Elector. 
 
 " * Prove to me that you understand what 
 you talk about,' I would say to him ; ' let the 
 whole discussion be carried on in writing. I 
 will then send brother Martin to Rome, or 
 :lse I will apprehend him and have him put 
 to death. I will take care of my own con- 
 science and honour, and I will not allow my 
 lory to be sullied. But as long as your ab- 
 solute knowledge shuns the light, and only 
 discovers itself by clamour, I cannot put faith 
 in darkness.' 
 
 ' This, most excellent Prince, is the answer 
 I would make him. 
 
 ' Let the reverend Legate, or the Pope him- 
 self, specify my errors in writing: let them 
 bring forward their reasons ; let them instruct 
 me, who desire to be instructed, who ask to 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 125 
 
 be so, who intend what I say, and long for { haps he might have persuaded Luther to con- 
 instruction, so that even a Turk would not ceal himself for some time. But he resolved 
 
 refuse to satisfy me. If I do not retract and 
 condemn myself, when they have proved to 
 me that the passages of Scripture that I have 
 quoted ought to be understood in a different 
 sense from that in which I have understood 
 them, then, O most excellent Elector! let 
 your Highness be the first to prosecute and 
 expel me, let the university reject rne and 
 overwhelm rne with indignation. I will go 
 further, and I call heaven and earth to witness, 
 let the Lord Christ Jesus himself reject and 
 condemn me ! These are not words of vain 
 presumption, but of firm conviction. Let the 
 Lord deprive me of his grace, and every crea- 
 ture of God refuse to countenance me, if, when 
 I have been shown a better doctrine, I do not 
 embrace it. 
 
 " But if, on account of my low estate, and 
 because I am but a poor mendicant brother, 
 they despise me, and so refuse to instruct me 
 in the way of truth, let your Highness beg the 
 Legate to inform you in writing wherein I 
 have erred ; and if they refuse this favour to 
 your Highness yourself, let them write their 
 own views, either to his Imperial Majesty, or 
 to some German Archbishop. What ought 1 
 to do what can I do more ? 
 
 " Let your Highness listen to the voice of 
 your conscience and of your honour, and not 
 send me to Rome. No man has the right to 
 require this of you ; for it is impossible that 1 
 should be safe in Rome. The Pope himself 
 is not safe there. It would be enjoining you 
 to betray Christian blood. They have there 
 paper, pens, and ink ; they have also number- 
 less notaries. It is easy for them to write 
 wherein and wherefore I have erred. It will 
 cost them less trouble to instruct me at a dis- 
 tance by writing, than, having me among 
 them, to put me to death by stratagem. 
 
 " I resign myself to banishment. My ad- 
 versaries lay snares for me on all sides ; so 
 that I can nowhere live in safety. That no 
 harm may happen to you on my account, I 
 leave your territories, in God's name. I will 
 go wherever the eternal and merciful God 
 will have me. Let him do with me what 
 seemeth him good. 
 
 " Th us, then, most serene Elector, I reverent- 
 ly bid you farewell. I commend you to Al- 
 mighty God, and I give you endless thanks for 
 all your kindness to me. Whatever he the peo- 
 ple among whom I may hereafter live, wher- 
 ever rny future lot may be cast, 1 shall ever 
 remember you, and shall gratefully pray, with- 
 out ceasing, for the happiness of you and yours. 107 
 
 " I am still, thanks to God, full of joy, and 
 praise him that Christ, the Son of God, counts 
 me worthy to suffer in so holy a cause. May 
 He forever preserve your illustrious High- 
 ness. Amen." 
 
 This letter, so overflowing with the accents 
 of truth and justice, made a deep impression 
 on the Elector. " He was shaken by a very 
 eloquent letter," says Mairnbourg. Never 
 could he have had the thought of giving up 
 an innocent man to the power of Rome. Per- 
 
 not even in appearance to yield in any way to 
 the Legate's threats. He wrote to his coun- 
 sellor, Pfeffinger, who was then at the court 
 of the Emperor, to represent to his Majesty 
 the real state of affairs, and to beg him to 
 write to Rome, so that the matter might be 
 brought to a conclusion, or at least be deter- 
 mined in Germany by impartial judges. 108 
 
 Some days after, the Elector wrote to the 
 Legate in reply : " Since Doctor Martin has 
 appeared before you at Augsburg, you ought 
 to be satisfied. We did not expect that, 
 without convincing him of error, you would 
 claim to oblige him to retract. Not one of 
 the learned men in our states has intimated to 
 us an opinion that Martin's doctrine is im- 
 pious, anti-christian, or heretical." The 
 Prince, in the latter part of his letter, declined 
 sending Luther to Rome, or expelling him, 
 from his territories. 
 
 This letter, which was communicated to 
 Luther, rejoiced his heart. " Gracious God !" 
 he wrote to Spalatin, " with what joy I read 
 and re-read it ; for I know what confidence I 
 may repose in these words, at once so forcible 
 and so discreet. I fear the Italians will not 
 understand their full import. But they will 
 at least comprehend that what they believed 
 already finished is scarcely yet begun. Be 
 pleased to present my grateful acknowledg- 
 ments to the Prince. It is strange that he 
 (De Vio) who, a little while ago, was a mendi- 
 cant friar like myself, is not afraid to address 
 the most powerful princes with disrespect, to 
 call them to account, to threaten and command 
 them, and treat them with such preposterous 
 haughtiness. Let him learn that the tempo- 
 ral power is ordained of God, and that none 
 are permitted to trample its glory under foot." 109 
 
 One thing that had undouotedly encouraged 
 Frederic to answer the Legate in a tone which 
 the latter did not expect, was a letter addressed 
 to him by the university of Wittemberg. It 
 was not without reason that they declared 
 themselves in the Doctor's favour. The uni- 
 versity was increasing in reputation, and sur- 
 passed all the other schools. A crowd of 
 students flocked thither from all parts of Ger- 
 many, to listen to this extraordinary man, 
 whose instructions seemed to open a new era 
 to religion and learning. These young men, 
 who arrived from the different provinces, would 
 often stop when they discovered in the distance 
 the steeples of Wittemberg ; and, raising their 
 hands toward heaven, bless God for having 
 caused the light of truth to shine forth from 
 Wittemberg, as in former ages from Mount 
 Sion, that it might penetrate to the most dis- 
 tant lands. 110 A life and activity, hitherto un- 
 known, was infused into the university studies. 
 " Our young men are as diligent here as ants 
 upon an ant-hill," wrote Luther. 111 
 
 Thinking that he might soon be driven out 
 
 of Germany, Luther busied himself in publisti- 
 
 ing a report of the conference at Augehurg. 
 
 He resolved that it should be preserved as a 
 
 i memorial of the struggle between Rome and 
 
126 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 himself. He saw the storm ready to burst, 
 but he did not fear it. He was in daily ex- 
 pectation of the maledictions of Rome. He 
 arranged and regulated every thing, that he 
 might be ready when they arrived. " Having 
 tucked up my gown and girded my loins," said 
 he, " I am ready to depart, like Abraham, not 
 knowing whither I go ; or, rather, well know- 
 ing whither, since God is everywhere." 112 He 
 intended to leave behind him a farewell letter. 
 " Take courage, then," he wrote to Spalatin, 
 " to read the letter of a man accursed and ex- 
 communicated." 
 
 His friends were full of fears and anxiety 
 on his account. They entreated him to deliver 
 himself up as a prisoner into the Elector's 
 hands, that that prince might keep him some- 
 where in safety. 113 
 
 His enemies could not comprehend the 
 grounds of his confidence. One day, at the 
 court of the Bishop of Brandenburg, the con- 
 versation turned on the Reformer, and it was 
 asked on what support he could be depending. 
 Some said, " It is on Erasmus and Capito and 
 other learned men that he reckons for protec- 
 tion." "No, no," replied the Bishop; "the 
 Pope would care very little for those gentry. 
 It is to the University of Wittemberg and the 
 Duke of Saxony that he looks for support.". . . 
 Thus both parties were ignorant of that strong 
 tower in which the Reformer had sought 
 refuge. 
 
 Thoughts of taking his departure were pass- 
 ing through Luther's mind. It was not the 
 fear of danger that gave rise to them, but the 
 presentiment of the incessantly renewed oppo- 
 sition he should find in Germany to the open 
 profession of the truth. " If I stay here," said 
 he, " I shall be denied the liberty of speaking 
 and writing many things. If I depart, I will 
 pour forth freely the thoughts of my heart, and 
 devote my life to Christ." 114 
 
 France was the country where Luther hoped 
 he mightwithout hinderance proclaim the truth. 
 The liberty enjoyed by the doctors of the uni- 
 versity of Paris appeared to him worthy of 
 envy. Besides, he, on many points, agreed 
 in the opinions that prevailed there. What 
 might have ensued, if Luther had been re- 
 moved from Wittemberg to France? Would 
 the Reformation have established itself there 
 as it did in Germany ? Would the power of 
 Rome have been dethroned there ; and France, 
 which was destined to endure a long struggle 
 between the hierarchical principles of Rome 
 and the ruinous principles of an irreligious 
 philosophy, have become the great dispenser 
 of evangelical light? It is useless to indulge 
 in vain conjectures. But, certainly, Luther at 
 Paris would have made a great difference in 
 the fortunes of the Church and of France. 
 
 The soul of Luther was deeply moved. He 
 often preached in the church of the city, sup- 
 plying the place of Sirnon Heyns Pontanus, 
 the pastor of W T ittemberg, who was frequently 
 indisposed. He thought it right, at all ha- 
 zards, to take leave of the congregation to 
 whom he had so often preached the doctrine 
 of salvation. " I am a very unstable preach- 
 
 [ er," said he one day in the pulpit, "and very 
 | uncertain in rny position. How often have I 
 I left you suddenly without taking leave of you ! 
 If this should happen again, and I should 
 never return, receive my last farewell !" Then, 
 having added a few words, he concluded by 
 saying, with moderation and gentleness, " Fi- 
 nally, I warn you not to be terrified, if the 
 Papal censures should be discharged against 
 me in all their fury. Do not blame the Pope, 
 nor bear any ill-will to him, or to any man 
 living, but leave the whole matter to God." 115 
 At length, the moment of his departure 
 se.emed at hand. The Prince gave him to 
 understand that he wished him to leave Wit- 
 temberg. The wishes of the Elector were too 
 sacred with Luther for him not to hasten to 
 comply with them. The Reformer prepared 
 to depart, without knowing well to what quar- 
 ter to direct his steps. Resolving, however, 
 once more to see his friends about him, he in- 
 vited them to a farewell repast. Seated with 
 them at table, he once more enjoyed their con- 
 versation and their affectionate and anxious 
 friendship. A letter was brought to him. It 
 came from the court. He opened and read it. 
 His heart sank within him. It enclosed an 
 order for his departure. The Prince inquired, 
 "Why he delayed so long?" His soul was 
 overwhelmed with dejection. However, he 
 resumed courage ; and, raising his head, said, 
 firmly and joyfully, turning to those about 
 him, " Father and mother forsake me, but the 
 Lord will take me up." 116 Depart then he must. 
 His friends were much affected. What would 
 become of him ? If Luther's protector rejects 
 him, who will receive him'? And this Gos- 
 pel, this word of truth, and this admirable 
 work he had taken in hand, will, doubtless, 
 perish with the faithful witness. The fate of 
 the Reformation seemed suspended by a single 
 thread ; and would not the moment in which 
 Luther left the walls of Wittemberg break 
 that thread 1 Luther and his friends said little. 
 Sympathizing in his feelings, they gave vent 
 to their tears. However, but a short time had 
 elapsed, when a second messenger arrived. 
 Luther opened this letter, expecting to find a 
 reiterated order for his departure. But, lo! 
 the mighty power of the Lord ! for the present 
 he is saved. Every thing is changed. "As 
 the Pope's new envoy," said the letter, " hopes 
 that every thing may be settled by a confer- 
 ence, remain for the present. " 117 How important 
 was this hour ! and what might have happened 
 if Luther, ever anxious to obey the Prince's 
 pleasure, had left Wittemberg immediately on 
 the receipt of the first letter! Never had Lu- 
 ther and the cause of the Reformation been 
 brought lower than at this moment. It might 
 have been thought that their fate was decided : 
 in an instant it was changed. Having reached 
 the lowest step in his career, the Reformer 
 rapidly arose, and from that time his influence 
 continued to ascend. "At the word of the 
 Lord," in the language of the prophet, "his 
 servants go down to the depths, and mount 
 up again to heaven." 
 Spalatin, by Frederic's orders, sent for Lu- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 127 
 
 ther to Lichtemberg, to have an interview with 
 him. They had a long conversation on the 
 state of affairs. " If the Pope's sentence of 
 condemnation come, I certainly cannot remain 
 at Wittemberg," said Luther. "Beware," 
 replied Spalatin, " of being in too great a hurry 
 to go to France." 118 He left him, telling him 
 to wait further tidings from him. " Only 
 commend my soul to Christ," said Luther to 
 his friends. "I see that my adversaries are 
 more and more determined on my destruction. 
 But Christ is meanwhile strengthening me in 
 my determination not to give way." 11 
 
 Luther at that time published his report of 
 the conference at Augsburg. Spalatin had 
 written to him from the Elector to abstain 
 from doing so; but it was too late. When 
 the publication had taken place, the Prince 
 gave his sanction. " Great God !" said Lu- 
 ther in his preface, "what a new, what an 
 amazing crime, to seek after light and truth, 
 and above all in the Church, that is to say, in 
 the kingdom of truth !" " I send you this 
 document," said he, writing to Link: "it 
 cuts too deep, no doubt, to please the Legate; 
 but my pen is ready to give out much greater 
 things. I myself know not whence these 
 thoughts come to me. 120 As far as I can see, 
 the work is not yet begun ; so little reason is 
 there for the great men of Rome hoping to see 
 an end of it. I shall send you what I have 
 written, in order that you may judge if I am 
 right in believing that the Antichrist of whom 
 St. Paul speaks, now reigns in the court of 
 Rome. I think I can prove that now-a-days 
 the power that presides there is worse than 
 the Turks themselves." 
 
 On all sides, sinister reports reached Lu- 
 ther. One of his friends wrote him word that 
 the new envoy from Rome had received orders 
 to apprehend him and deliver him to the Pope. 
 Another reported that, as he was travelling, 
 he had met with a courtier, and that, the con- 
 versation having turned upon the affairs which 
 were then the general topic in Germany, the 
 latter confided to him that he had undertaken 
 to seize and deliver Luther into the hands of 
 the Sovereign Pontiff. " But the more their 
 fury and violence increase," wrote Luther, 
 44 the less do I fear them." 121 
 
 Cajetan's ill success had occasioned much 
 dissatisfaction at Rome. The vexation felt 
 at the failure of the affair, fell in the first in- 
 stance upon him. All the Roman courtiers 
 thought they had cause to reproach him for 
 having been deficient in the prudence and ad- 
 dress which, in their account, were the most 
 indispensable qualifications in a legate, and 
 for not having relaxed the strictness of his 
 scholastic theology on so important an occa- 
 sion. " The failure is entirely owing to him," 
 said they. " His awkward pedantry has 
 spoiled all. Why did he provoke Luther by 
 insults and threats, instead of alluring him by 
 the promise of a bishopric, or even, if neces- 
 sary, a cardinal's hat]" 122 These mercenaries 
 judged of the Reformer by themselves. The 
 failure, however, must be retrieved. On the 
 one hand, it was requisite that Rome should 
 
 declare herself; on the other, she must not 
 offend the Elector, who might be very ser- 
 viceable to her in the anticipated event of the 
 election of an Emperor. As it was impos- 
 sible for Roman ecclesiastics to form a notion 
 of the true source whence Luther derived his 
 strength and courage, they imagined that the 
 Elector was much more deeply implicated in 
 the matter than he really was. The Pope re- 
 solved, therefore, to pursue a different line of 
 policy. He caused to be published in Ger- 
 many, by his Legate, a bull, wherein he con- 
 firmed the doctrine of indulgences precisely 
 in those points which had been questioned, 
 but making no mention either of the Elector 
 or of Luther. As the Reformer had always 
 declared, that he would submit to the decision 
 of the Romish Church, he must now, as the 
 Pope thought, either keep his word, or openly 
 show himself to be a disturber of the peace 
 of the Church, and a despiser of the apostolic 
 see. In either case, the Pope, it was thought, 
 must be a gainer. But nothing is ever gained 
 by so obstinate a resistance against the truth. 
 In vain had the Pope threatened with excom- 
 munication whosoever should teach otherwise 
 than he ordained ; the light is not arrested by 
 such orders. It would have been wiser to 
 moderate, by certain restrictions, the preten- 
 sions of the sellers of indulgences. Appa- 
 rently, this decree of Rome was a further act 
 of impolicy. By legalizing the most flagrant 
 abuses, it irritated all sensible men, and ren- 
 dered impossible the return of Luther to his 
 allegiance to the Church. " It was commonly 
 thought," says a Catholic historian, and a 
 great enemy to the Reformation, (Maimbourg,) 
 " that this bull had been framed only for the 
 gain of the Pope and of the mendicant friars, 
 who began to find that no one would give any 
 thing for their indulgences." 
 
 The Cardinal De Vio published this decree 
 at Lintz, in Austria, on the 13th of December, 
 1518 ; but Luther had already taken his stand 
 in a position of security. On the 28th of 
 November he had appealed, in the chapel of 
 Corpus Christi at Wittemberg, from the Pope 
 to a General Council of the Church. He 
 foresaw the storm that was about to burst 
 upon him, and he knew that God only could 
 avert it. But there was something he him- 
 self was called to do; and he did it. He 
 must, no doubt, leave Wittemberg, if it were 
 only for the sake of the Elector, as soon as the 
 maledictions of Rome should arrive there ; 
 yet he resolved not to quit Saxony and Ger- 
 many without a public protest. He, there- 
 fore, drew up his appeal ; " and that it might 
 be ready to be distributed as soon as the furies 
 of Rome should overtake him," as he says, 
 he had it printed, under the express condition 
 that the bookseller should deposit with him 
 all the copies. But this man, from desire of 
 gain, sold almost the whole impression, whilst 
 Luther was quietly expecting to receive them. 
 He was much annoyed, but the thing was 
 done. This bold appeal was dispersed far 
 and wide. In it Luther again protested that 
 he had no intention of saying any thing against 
 M 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the holy Church, or the authority of the apos- 
 tolic see, and the Pope duly informed. " But," 
 continued he, "seeing that the Pope, who is 
 God's vicar upon earth, may, like any other 
 man, fall into error, commit sin, and utter 
 falsehood, and that the appeal to a General 
 Council is the only safeguard against acts of 
 injustice which it is impossible to resist, on 
 these grounds I find myself obliged to have 
 recourse to it." 123 
 
 Behold, then, the Reformation launched 
 upon a new career. It is no longer to depend 
 
 upon the Pope and his decrees, but upon a 
 General Council. Luther speaks to the 
 Church at large, and the voice which pro- 
 ceeds from the chapel of Corpus Christi is to 
 make itself heard in all the gatherings of the 
 Lord's flock. It is not in courage that the 
 Reformer is wanting. Behold him giving 
 new proof of it. Will God be wanting to 
 him? The answer will be read in the dif- 
 ferent phases of the Reformation which are 
 still to pass before us. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 THE LEIPSIC DISCUSSION. 
 1519. 
 
 The Pope's Chamberlain Luther in Danger Favourable Circumstances Tetzel's Fears Mil 
 titz's Caresses Retractation Luther proposes Silence The Legate's Kiss Tetzel rebuked 
 Luther's Letter Opposed to Separation De Vioand Miltitz at Treves The Reformed Opinions 
 spread Luther's Writings Contest seems to flag Eck The Pope's Authority Luther 
 Answers Alarm of Luther's Friends Truth secure of Victory The Bishop's Remonstrance 
 Mosellanus Arrival of Eck An ill Omen Eck and Luther The Pleissenburg Judges 
 proposed The Procession Luther Carlstadt- Eck Carlstadt's Books Merit of Con- 
 
 fruity Scholastic Distinction Grace gives Liberty Melancthon Eck claims Victory 
 mther preaches Quarrel of Students and Doctors Eck and Luther The Roman Primacy 
 Equality of Bishops Christ the Foundation Insinuation The Hussites Commotion in the 
 Audience Monkish Horror The Indulgences Attention of the Laity Eck's Report George 
 of Anhalt The Students of Leipsic Results of the Disputation More Liberty Activity of 
 Eck Melancthon's Defence Firmness of Luther Staupitz's Coolness Christ given for us 
 Infatuation of the Adversaries The Lord's Supper Is Faith necessary God's Word a Sword 
 Luther's Calmness. 
 
 THE clouds were gathering over Luther and 
 the Reformation. The appeal to a General 
 Council was a new attack on Papal authority. 
 A bull of Pius II. had pronounced the greater 
 excommunication against any one, even though 
 he should be the Emperor himself, who should 
 be guilty of such a rejection of the Holy 
 Father's authority. Frederic of Saxony, 
 scarcely yet v/ell established in the evangelic 
 doctrine, was on the point of banishing Lu- 
 ther from his states. 1 A second message from 
 Leo X. would, in that case, have thrown the 
 Reformer among strangers, who might fear to 
 compromise their own security by harbouring 
 a monk whom Rome had anathematized. And 
 even if one of the German nobles had taken up 
 arms in his defence, such poor knights, look- 
 ed down upon with contempt by the powerful 
 sovereigns of Germany, must ere long have 
 sunk in their hazardous enterprise. 
 
 But at the moment when all his courtiers 
 were urging Leo to rigorous measures, when 
 another blow would have laid his enemy at his 
 feet, that Pope suddenly changed his course, 
 and made overtures of conciliation. 2 Doubtless 
 it may be said, he mistook the disposition of 
 the Elector, and thought him much more fa- 
 vourable to Luther than he really was. We 
 may allow that public opinion, and the spirit 
 of the age powers then comparatively new 
 might seem to Leo to surround the Reformer 
 with an insurmountable rampart of defence. 
 
 We may suppose, as one historian* has done, 
 that Leo did but follow the impulse of his 
 judgment and his heart, which inclined him to 
 gentleness and moderation. But this method, 
 so nnlike Rome, at such a juncture, is so 
 strange, that it is impossible not to acknow- 
 ledge in it a more powerful intervention. 
 
 A noble Saxon, chamberlain to* the Pope, 
 and canon of Mentz, of Treves, and of Meis- 
 sen, was then at the court of Rome. He had 
 worked his way into favour. He boasted of 
 his connection, by family relationships, with 
 the princes of Saxony so that the Roman 
 courtiers sometimes called him Duke of 
 Saxony. In Italy he paraded his German no- 
 bility. In Germany he affected awkwardly 
 the manners and refinement of Italy. He was 
 addicted to wine, and this vice had gained 
 strength from his residence at Rome. 3 Never- 
 theless the Roman courtiers built great hopes 
 on him. His German origin, his insinuating 
 manner, and his skill in negotiation, altogether 
 persuaded them that Charles Miltitz would, 
 by his prudence, succeed in arresting the re- 
 volution that threatened the world. 
 
 It was important to hide the real object of 
 the Roman chamberlain's mission this was 
 not difficult. Four years before, the pious Elec- 
 tor had petitioned the Pope for the golden rose. 
 This rose was deemed to represent the body of 
 
 * Roscoe, vol. iv. p. 2. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Jesus Christ. It was consecrated every year by 
 the sovereign Pontiff, and presented to one of 
 the leading 1 princes of Europe. It was decided 
 to present it this year to the Elector. Miltitz 
 set out, with instructions to inquire into the 
 state of affairs, and to gain over Spalatin and 
 Pfeffinger, the Elector's counsellors. He was 
 intrusted with private letters for them. By 
 thus conciliating the co-operation of those who 
 surrounded the Elector, Rome expected quickly 
 to become the mistress of her now formidable 
 adversary. 
 
 The new Legate arrived in Germany, in 
 December, 1518, and endeavoured in the course 
 of his journey to sound the general opinion. 
 To his extreme astonishment, he noticed, 
 wherever he stopped, that the majority of the 
 inhabitants were favourable to the Reforma- 
 tion. Men spoke of Luther with enthusiasm. 4 
 For one who declared himself on the Pope's 
 side, he found three against him. 5 Luther has 
 preserved an incident that occurred. " What 
 is your opinion of the See (seclia) of Rome ?" 
 often inquired the Legate, of the mistresses 
 and domestics of the inns. One day, one of 
 these poor women answered with naivete : 
 u What can we know of the sort of chairs 
 {sedia} you have at Rome, whether of stone 
 or wood?" 6 
 
 The mere report of the arrival of the new 
 Legate spread suspicion and distrust in the 
 Elector's court, the university, the city of 
 Wittemberg, and throughout Saxony. " Thank 
 God, Martin is still alive !" wrote Melancthon 
 in alarm. 7 It was whispered that the Roman 
 chamberlain had orders to get Luther into his 
 power by stratagem or violence. On all sides 
 the Doctor was advised to be on his guard 
 against the snares of Miltitz. " He is sent," 
 said they, " to seize and deliver you to the 
 Pope. Persons deserving of credit have seen 
 the brief with which he is furnished." "I 
 await the will of God," replied Luther. 8 
 
 Miltitz had indeed arrived, bearing letters 
 addressed to the Elector, his counsellors, the 
 bishops, and the burgomasier of Wittemberg. 
 He brought with him seventy apostolic briefs. 
 If the flattery and favours of Rome were suc- 
 cessful, and Frederic should deliver up Lu- 
 ther, these briefs were to be used as passports. 
 It was his plan to post up one of them in each 
 of the towns on his route, and in this way to 
 convey his prisoner to Rome, without opposi- 
 tion. 9 
 
 The Pope seemed to have taken all his 
 measures. In the Elector's court they scarce 
 knew what course to pursue. Violence they 
 might have resisted, but what to oppose to the 
 head of Christendom, uttering the language 
 of mildness and reason? would it not be well- 
 timed if Luther could lie concealed till the 
 storrn should have passed by? An unforeseen 
 event came to the deliverance of Luther, the 
 Elector and the Reformation from this per- 
 plexing position. The aspect of the world 
 was suddenly changed. 
 
 On the 12th of January, 1519, died Maxi- 
 milian, the Emperor of Germany. Frederic 
 of Saxony, agreeably to the Germanic Con- 
 
 stitution, became administrator of the Empire. 
 From that moment the Elector was relieved 
 from the fear of nuncios and their projects. 
 New interests were set to work in the Roman 
 Court, which compelled it to temporize in its 
 negotiations with Frederic, and arrested the 
 blow which it cannot be doubted Miltitz and 
 De Vio had meditated. 
 
 The Pope had an earnest desire to exclude 
 from the imperial throne Charles of Austria, 
 then the reigning king of Naples a neighbour 
 on a throne was in his judgment more to be 
 feared than a monk of Germany. Desiring to 
 secure the co-operation of the Elector who in 
 this matter might be of so great service, he 
 resolved to afford some respite to the monk 
 that he might the better counterwork the king. 
 In spite of this policy, both made progress. It 
 formed, however, the motive for the change in 
 Leo X.'s proceedings. 
 
 Another circumstance contributed to avert 
 the storm that impended over the Reformation. 
 Political troubles broke out immediately after 
 the Emperor's demise. In the south the 
 Suabian Confederation sought to avenge itself 
 on Ulric of W : iirtemberg, who had broken his 
 allegiance. In the north the Bishop of Hildes- 
 heim invaded, with an armed force, the Bish- 
 opric of Minden and the states of the Duke of 
 Brunswick. Amidst these confusions, how 
 could the great ones of the age attach import- 
 ance to a dispute concerning the remission of 
 sins ! But God made above all conducive to 
 the progress of the Reformation the reputation 
 of the Elector, now Vicar of the Empire, for 
 prudence, and the protection he afforded to the 
 new teachers. "The tempest was hushed," 
 says Luther, "the Papal excommunication 
 began to be thought light of." Under shelter 
 of the Elector, the Gospel spread itself abroad, 
 and hence no small damage to the cause of 
 the Papacy. 10 
 
 We may add that during an interregnum 
 the severest prohibitions naturally lost much 
 of their authority. Communication became 
 more open and easy. The ray of liberty that 
 beamed upon those first beginnings of the Re- 
 formation, helped materially to develope the 
 yet tender plant ; and a thoughtful observer 
 might even then have discerned how favourable 
 political liberty would one day be to the pro- 
 gress of evangelic Christianity. 
 
 Miltitz, who had reached Saxony before the 
 death of Maximilian, had lost no time in vi- 
 siting his former friend Spalatin ; but scarcely 
 did he begin to open his charges against Lu- 
 ther before the chaplain broke out in com- 
 plaint against Tetzel. He acquainted the 
 Nuncio with the falsehoods and blasphemies 
 of the vender of indulgences, and declared 
 that all Germany ascribed to the Dominican's 
 proceedings the dissensions that distracted 
 the Church. 
 
 Miltitz was astonished. Instead of accuser, 
 he found himself in the place of one accused. 
 His wrath was instantly turned against Tet- 
 zel, and he summoned him to appear before 
 him at Altenburg, and account for his con- 
 duct. 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The Dominican, as cowardly as he was 
 boastful, dreading the people whose indigna- 
 tion had been roused by his impostures, had 
 discontinued his progresses through the towns 
 and provinces, and was then living in retire- 
 ment in the college of St. Paul. He turned 
 pale on the receipt of Miltitz's letter. Rome 
 herself seemed to abandon him to condemn 
 him and to tempt him to quit the only asylum 
 in which he reckoned himself safe as if to 
 expose him to the anger of his enemies. Tet- 
 zel refused to obey the Nuncio's summons. 
 He wrote to Miltitz on the 31st December, 
 1518 " Certainly I would not shrink from 
 the fatigue of the journey if I could leave 
 Leipsic without risking my life; but Martin 
 Luthei has so roused and excited powerful 
 chiefs against me, that I am nowhere safe. 
 A great number of his partisans have bound 
 themselves by oath to put me to death ; there- 
 fore I cannot come to you." 11 A striking con- 
 trast between the two men then dwelling, one 
 in the college of St. Paul at Leipsic, and the 
 other in the cloister of St. Augustine at Wit- 
 temberg. The servant of God manifested an 
 intrepid courage in the face of danger; the 
 servant of mei betrayed a contemptible cow- 
 ardice. 
 
 Miltitz had been directed in the first in- 
 stance to try the effect of persuasion ; and it 
 was only on the failure of this, that he was to 
 produce his seventy briefs, and play off the 
 favours of Rome so as to induce the Elector 
 to restrain Luther. He therefore expressed 
 a wish for an interview with the Reformer. 
 Spalatin, their common friend, offered his 
 house for the purpose, and Luther left Wit- 
 temberg for Altenburg on the 2d or 3d of 
 January. 
 
 In this interview Miltitz exhausted all the 
 stratagems of a diplomatist and Roman cour- 
 tier. At the instant of Luther's arrival, the 
 Nuncio approached him with great show of 
 friendship " Oh," thought Luther, " how is 
 his former violence changed to gentleness. 
 The second Saul came to Germany the bearer 
 of seventy briefs, authorizing him to drag me 
 in chains to that homicide Rome, but the 
 Lord has thrown him to the earth in the way." 12 
 " Dear Martin," said the Pope's chamberlain, 
 in a persuasive tone, " I thought you were an 
 old theologian, who, quietly seated at his fire- 
 side, had certain theological crotchets, but I 
 see you are yet young and in the prime of life". 13 
 " Do you know," continued he, assuming a 
 graver tone, "that you have drawn away all 
 the world from the Pope 1 ?" 14 Miltitz well 
 knew that it is by flattering the pride of men 
 that they are most readily deluded; but he 
 did not know the man he had to deal with. 
 
 " Even if I were backed by an army of 
 twenty-five thousand men," continued he, " I 
 truly would not undertake to kidnap and carry 
 you to Rome." 13 Thus, notwithstanding her 
 power, Rome felt weak when opposed to a ! 
 poor monk, and the monk was conscious of 
 strength in his opposition to Rome. "God 
 arrests the billows on the shore," said Luther, 
 " and he does so with the sand !" 16 
 
 The Nuncio, thinking he had by these flat- 
 teries prepared the mind of Luther, thus con- 
 tinued : * Be persuaded, and yourself stanch 
 the wound you have inflicted on the Church, 
 and which none but yourself can heal. Be- 
 ware, I beseech you," he added, "of raising 
 a storm in which the best interests of man- 
 kind would be wrecked." 17 And then he gra- 
 dually proceeded to hint that a retractation 
 was the only way of remedying the evil, but 
 instantly softened the objectionable word by 
 expressions of high esteem for Luther and 
 indignation against Tetzel. The net was 
 spread by a skilful hand, what hope of escape 
 from its meshes 1 
 
 " If the Archbishop of Mentz had acted 
 thus with me from the first," said Luther, at 
 a later period, " this matter had not made the 
 noise it has done." 18 
 
 Luther spoke out: enumerated, with calm- 
 ness, yet with earnestness and energy, the 
 just complaints of the Church; he gave free 
 expression to his indignation against the 
 Archbishop of Mentz, and boldly complained 
 of the unworthy manner in which the Roman 
 Court had treated him, notwithstanding the 
 purity of his intentions. 
 
 Miltitz, who had not expected so decided a 
 tone, nevertheless suppressed his anger. " I 
 offer," said Luther, " from this time forth to 
 keep silence on these things, and to let the 
 matter die away, provided my enemies are re- 
 duced to silence; but if they continue their 
 attacks, we shall very soon see a partial dis- 
 pute give rise to a serious struggle. My 
 weapons are ready prepared." 19 After a mo- 
 ment's pause, he continued, " I will even go 
 a step further. I will write to his Holiness, 
 acknowledging that I have been a little too 
 violent; and declare that it is as a faithful 
 son of the Church that I have opposed a style 
 of preaching which drew upon it the mock- 
 eries and insults of the people. I even con- 
 sent to put forth a writing, wherein I will 
 desire all who shall read my works, not to see 
 in them any attack on the Church of Rome, 
 and to continue in submission to its authority. 
 Yes, I am willing to do every thing and bear 
 every thing : but as to a retractation, don't 
 expect it from me." 
 
 Miltitz saw by Luther's resolute manner 
 that the wisest course was to seem satisfied 
 with what the Reformer was willing to pro- 
 mise. He merely proposed that they should 
 name an Archbishop as arbitrator on some of 
 the points they would have to discuss. " Be 
 "t so," said Luther " but 1 much fear that 
 ;he Pope will not accept of any judge; if so, 
 [ will not abide by the Pope's decision, and 
 then the dispute will begin again. The Pope 
 will give us the text, and I will make my own 
 commentary on it." 
 
 Thus ended the first interview of Luther 
 with Miltitz. They met once again, and at 
 this meeting the truce, or rather the peace, 
 was signed. Luther immediately gave in- 
 formation to the Elector of all that had passed. 
 
 " Most serene Prince and gracious Lord," 
 wrote he, " I hasten humbly to inform your 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 Electoral Highness that Charles Miltitz and 
 myself are at last agreed, and have terminated 
 our differences by the following articles : 
 
 " 1. Both sides are forbidden to write or 
 act, henceforward, in the question that has 
 been raised. 
 
 " Miltitz will, without delay, communi- 
 cate to his Holiness the state of affairs. His 
 Holiness will commission an enlightened 
 bishop to inquire into the affair, and to point 
 out the erroneous articles which I am to retract. 
 If proof is afforded me that I am in error, I 
 will gladly retract, and never more do any 
 thing that can lessen the honour or authority 
 of the holy Roman Church." 20 
 
 The agreement thus effected, Miltitz's joy 
 broke forth. "For a century," said he, " no 
 question has caused more anxiety to the Car- 
 dinals and court of Rome. They would have 
 given ten thousand ducats rather than see it 
 prolonged." 21 
 
 The Pope's chamberlain spared no marks 
 of attention to the monk of Wittemberg; one 
 moment he expressed his satisfaction, the 
 next he shed tears. These demonstrations of 
 sensibility but little moved the Reformer, yet 
 he avoided betraying what he thought of them. 
 "I feigned not to understand the meaning of 
 those crocodile tears," said he. The croco- 
 dile is said to weep when it is unable to seize 
 on its prey. 22 
 
 Miltitz invited Luther to supper. The 
 doctor accepted the invitation. His host laid 
 aside the dignity of his function, and Luther 
 gave free vent to the cheerfulness of his natu- 
 ral temper. The repast was joyous ; 23 and the 
 moment of adieu arriving, the Legate opened 
 his arms to the heretic doctor, and saluted 
 him. 24 "A Judas kiss," thought Luther. "I 
 affected not to understand these Italian man- 
 ners," wrote he to Staupitz. 25 
 
 Would that salute indeed make reconcilia- 
 tion between Rome and the dawning Reforma- 
 tion ? Miltitz hoped it might, and rejoiced 
 in the hope ; for he had a nearer view than 
 the Roman Court could take of the terrible ef- 
 fect the Reformation was likely to produce 
 on the Papacy. If Luther and his oppo- 
 nents are silenced, said he to himself, the 
 dispute will be terminated; and Rome, by 
 skilfully calling up new circumstances, will 
 regain her former influence. To all appear- 
 ance, therefore, the struggle was nearly pass- 
 ed Rome had opened her arms and the Re- 
 former had cast himself into them. But this 
 work was not of man, but of God. It was 
 the mistake of Rome to see only a contro- 
 versy with a monk, in what was in reality a 
 revival of the Church. The kisses of a papal 
 chamberlain could not arrest the renewal of 
 Christianity. 
 
 Miltitz, acting on the agreement that he 
 had just concluded, repaired from Altenburg 
 to Leipsic, where Tetzel was then residing. 
 There was no need to enjoin silence on the 
 Dominican, for he would gladly have sought, 
 if possible, to hide himself in the bowels of 
 the earth ; but the Nuncio resolved to vent his 
 wrath upon him. On arriving at Leipsic, he 
 18 
 
 cited him before him. He overwhelmed him 
 with reproaches, accused him of being the 
 cause of all the evil, and threatened him with 
 the Pope's anger. 26 He went further: the- 
 agent of the house of Fugger, who was then 
 at Leipsic, was confronted with him. Miltitz 
 exhibited to the Dominican the accounts of 
 that house, papers that bore his own signature ! 
 and demonstrated that he had squandered or 
 appropriated to his own use considerable sums. 
 The unhappy man, whom, in the day of his 
 triumph, nothing could abash, was struck 
 motionless by these well-founded charges. 
 He shrunk despairingly his health gave way 
 and he knew not where to hide his shame. 
 Luther received intelligence of the miserable 
 fate of his former adversary, and seems to 
 have been the only person concerned for him. 
 "I pity Tetzel," wrote he to Spalatin. 27 He 
 did not stop there. It was not the man, but 
 his actions, that he had hated. At the very 
 time when Rome was pouring wrath upon him, 
 Luther wrote to him a letter of consolation. 
 But all was in vain ! Tetzel, haunted by the 
 remorse of conscience, alarmed by the re- 
 proaches of his dearest friends, and dreading 
 the anger of the Pope, died miserably, shortly 
 afterwards. It was commonly believed that 
 grief had hastened his end. 28 
 
 Luther, in fulfilment of the promises that 
 he had made to Miltitz, wrote to the Pope, on 
 the 3d of March as follows : " Most holy 
 Father, May your Holiness condescend to 
 incline your paternal ear, which is that of 
 Christ himself, toward your poor sheep, and 
 listen with kindness to his bleating. What 
 shall I do, most holy Father! I cannot stand 
 against the torrent of your anger, and I know 
 no way of escape. They require of me that I 
 should retract. I would be prompt to do so, 
 if that could lead to the result they desire. But 
 the persecutions of my enemies have spread 
 my writings far and wide, and they are too 
 deeply engraven on the hearts of men to be by 
 possibility erased. A retractation would only 
 still more dishonour the Church of Rome, and 
 call forth from all a cry of accusation against 
 her. Most holy Father, I declare it in the 
 presence of God, and of all the world, I never 
 have sought, nor will I ever seek, to weaken, 
 by force or artifice, the power of the Roman 
 Church or of your Holiness. I confess that 
 there is nothing in heaven or earth that should 
 be preferred above that Church, save only 
 Jesus Christ the Lord of all." 29 
 
 These words might appear strange, and 
 even reprehensible in Luther, if we failed to 
 bear in mind that the light broke in upon him 
 not suddenly, but by slow and progressive 
 degrees. They are evidence of the important 
 truth, that the Reformation was not a mere oppo- 
 sition to the Papacy. It was not a war waged 
 against a certain form or condition of things, 
 neither was it the result of any negative tend- 
 ency. Opposition to the Pope was its second- 
 ary sign. A new life, a positive doctrine, 
 was its generating principle "Jesus Christ 
 the Lord of all, and who should be preferred 
 before all," and above Rome herself, as Lu- 
 M 2 
 
132 
 
 HiSTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ther intimates in the latter words of his letter. 
 Such was essentially the cause of the Revo- 
 lution of the sixteenth century. 
 
 It is probable that a short time previous to 
 the period we are recording, the Pope would 
 not have passed over unnoticed a letter in 
 which the monk of Wittemberg flatly refused 
 any retractation. But Maximilian was no 
 more ; it was a question who was to succeed 
 him, and Luther's letter was disregarded in the 
 midst of the political intrigues which then 
 agitated the city of the pontiffs. 
 
 The Reformer turned his time to better ac- 
 count than his potent enemy. Whilst Leo the 
 Tenth, absorbed in his interests as a temporal 
 prince, was straining every nerve to exclude a 
 formidable neighbour from the throne, Luther 
 daily grew in knowledge and in faith. He 
 studied the decretals of the Popes, and the dis- 
 coveries he had made materially modified his 
 ideas. He wrote to Spalatin " I am read- 
 ing the decretals of the Pontiffs, and, let me 
 whisper it in your ear, I know not whether 
 the Pope is Antichrist himself, or whether he 
 is his apostle; so misrepresented, and even 
 crucified, does Christ appear in them." 30 
 
 Yet he still esteemed the ancient Church 
 of Rome, and entertained no thought of sepa- 
 ration from it. "That the Roman Church," 
 said he, " is more honoured by God than all 
 others is not to be doubted. St. Peter, St. 
 Paul, forty-six popes, some hundreds of thou- 
 sands of martyrs, have laid down their lives 
 in its communion, having overcome hell and 
 the world, so that the eyes of God rest on the 
 Roman Church with special favour. Though 
 now-a-days every thing there is in a wretched 
 state, it is no ground for separating from it. 
 On the contrary, the worse things are going, 
 the more should we hold close to it ; for it is 
 not by separation from it that we can make 
 it better. We must not separate from God 
 on account of any work of the devil, nor cease 
 to have fellowship with the children of God, 
 who are still abiding in the pale of Rome, on 
 account of the multitude of the ungodly. There 
 is no sin, no amount of evil, which should be 
 permitted to dissolve the bond of charity or 
 break the unity of the body. For love can do 
 all things, and nothing is difficult to those 
 who are united." 31 
 
 It was not Luther who separated himself 
 from Rome, but Rome that separated herself 
 from Luther; and in so doing put from her 
 the ancient faith of that Catholic Church 
 which she then represented. It was not Lu- 
 ther who took from Rome her power, and 
 obliged her bishop to descend from a throne 
 that had been usurped : the doctrines he pro- 
 claimed, the word of the apostles, which God 
 again made known in the Church with power 
 and clearness, were alone effectual to dethrone 
 the tyranny that had for centuries enslaved 
 the Church.. 
 
 These declarations of Luther, published to- 
 wards the end of February, were not such as 
 were altogether satisfactory to Miltitz and De 
 Vio. These two vultures had both seen their 
 prey escape them, and had retired within the 
 
 walls of ancient Treves. There, under favour 
 of the Archbishop, they nourished the hope of 
 accomplishing by their union the purpose each 
 had separately failed to effect. The two 
 Nuncios saw plainly that nothing was to be 
 expected from Frederic, now invested with 
 supreme power. They saw that Luther per- 
 sisted in his refusal to retract. The only 
 chance of success consisted in depriving the 
 heretical monk of the Elector's countenance, 
 and then inveigling him within their reach. 
 Once at Treves, in a state subject to a Prince 
 of the Church, and no cunning will deliver him 
 till he shall have fully satisfied the require- 
 ments of the Pontiff. They went to work 
 without delay. " Luther," said Miltitz to the 
 Elector Archbishop of Treves, "has accepted 
 the arbitration of your Grace : we request you, 
 therefore, to summon him before you." The 
 Elector of Treves accordingly wrote on the 3d 
 of May to the Elector of Saxony, requesting 
 him to send Luther to him. De Vio, and, 
 shortly after, Miltitz himself, repaired to Fre- 
 deric, to announce to him that the Golden 
 Rose had arrived at Augsburg, consigned to 
 the care of the Fuggers. The moment, they 
 thought, had arrived for striking a decisive 
 blow. 
 
 But affairs were changed : neither Frederic 
 nor Luther was moved from his confidence. 
 The Elector comprehended his new position, 
 and no longer feared the Pope, much less his 
 agents. The Reformer, seeing Miltitz and 
 De Vio united, foresaw the fate that awaited 
 him, if he complied with their summons. 
 "On all sides," said he, "my life is waylaid." 32 
 Besides, he had appealed to the Pope, and the 
 Pope, busy in intrigues with crowned heads, 
 had not answered his appeal. Luther wrote 
 to Miltitz, " How can I set out without an 
 order from Rome in these troublous times! 
 How can I expose myself to so many dangers, 
 and such heavy expense, poor as I am "?" 
 
 The Elector of Treves, a prudent and mo- 
 derate man, and connected by relations of 
 friendship with Frederic, resolved to consult 
 the interests of the latter. He had no wish to 
 interfere, unless positively required to do so. 
 He, therefore, came to an agreement with the 
 Elector of Saxony, to adjourn the examination 
 to the ensuing Diet, and it was not until two 
 years after that the Diet assembled. 
 
 Whilst the dangers that threatened Luther 
 were thus warded off by a providential hand, 
 he himself was boldly advancing to a result 
 he did not discern. His reputation was in- 
 creased, the cause of truth gained strength, 
 the number of students at Witternberg in- 
 creased, and among them were found the most 
 distinguished youth of Germany. " Our city." 
 wrote Luther, " can scarce hold the numbers 
 who are arriving;" and on another occasion 
 he observes, " The students increase upon us 
 like an overflowing tide." 33 
 
 But already the Reformer's voice was heard 
 beyond the confines of Germany. Passing 
 the frontiers of the Empire, it had begun to 
 shake the foundations of the Roman power 
 among the several nations of Christendom, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 133 
 
 Frobenius, the celebrated printer of Basle, bad 
 
 ?ut forth a collection of Luther's writings, 
 'hey circulated rapidly. At Basle, the bishop 
 himself commended Luther. The Cardinal 
 of Sion, after reading his works, exclaimed, 
 with an ironical play on his name, " Luther, 
 thou art a true Luther !" (a purifier, lauterer.} 
 
 Erasmus was atLouvain when the writings 
 of Luther were received in the Low Countries. 
 The Prior of the Augustines at Antwerp, who 
 had studied at Wittemberg, and acquired, ac- 
 cording to the testimony of Erasmus, a know- 
 ledge of primitive Christianity, read them 
 with eagerness, as did other Belgians. But 
 those who were intent only on their own self- 
 ish interest, remarks Erasmus, men who fed 
 ' the people with old wives' tales, broke out in 
 angry fanaticism. " I cannot tell you," wrote 
 Erasmus to Luther, " the emotion and truly tra- 
 gic agitation your writings have occasioned." 34 
 
 Frobenius sent 600 copies of these writings 
 to France and Spain. They were publicly 
 sold in Paris : the Sorbonne doctors read them 
 with approbation, as it would appear. It was 
 high time, said some of them, that those who 
 devoted themselves to biblical studies should 
 speak out freely. In England these books 
 were received with still greater eagerness. 
 Some Spanish merchants translated them into 
 Spanish, and forwarded them from Antwerp 
 to their own country. "Assuredly," says 
 Pallavicini, " these merchants must have been 
 of Moorish blood." 35 
 
 Calvi, a learned bookseller of Pavia, took 
 a large quantity of copies to Italy, and distri- 
 buted them in the transalpine cities. It was 
 no desire of gain that inspired this man of 
 letters, but a wish to contribute to the revival 
 of the love of God. The power with which 
 Luther maintained the cause of Christ, filled 
 him with joy. " All the learned men of Italy," 
 wrote he, " will unite with me, and will send 
 you tributary verses from our most distin- 
 guished writers." 
 
 Frobenius, in transmitting to Luther a copy 
 of his publication, related these joyful tidings, 
 and thus continued: "I have sold all the 
 impressions except ten copies, and no specu- 
 lation ever answered my purpose so well as 
 this." Other letters informed Luther of the 
 joy his writings diffused. " I am delighted," 
 said he, " that the truth is found so pleasing, 
 although she speaks with little learning and 
 in stammering accents." 36 
 
 Such was the commencement of the awaken- 
 ing in the several countries of Europe. If we 
 except Switzerland, where the preaching of 
 the Gospel had been already heard, the arrival 
 of the Doctor of Wittemberg's writings every- 
 where forms the first page in the history of 
 the Reformation. A printer of Basle scattered 
 the first germs of truth. At the moment when 
 the Roman pontiff thought to stifle the work 
 in Germany, it began to manifest itself in 
 France, the Low Countries, Italy, Spain, 
 England, and Switzerland. Even though the 
 power of Rome should fell the parent stem . . . 
 the seeds are henceforth spread abroad in all 
 lands. 
 
 Whilst the conflict was beginning beyond 
 i the limits of the Empire, it seemed to be sus- 
 | pended within. The most turbulent allies of 
 Rome, the Franciscan monks of Juterbok, 
 who had imprudently attacked Luther, had 
 retired in silence after a vigorous reply from, 
 the Reformer. The Pope's partisans were no 
 longer heard Tetzel was incapable of any 
 movement. The friends of Luther entreated 
 him to give over further contest, and he had 
 promised to do so. The theses were begin- 
 ning to be forgotten. This hollow peace 
 struck powerless the eloquence of the Reform- 
 er. The Reformation appeared arrested in its 
 progress. " But," observed Luther, speaking 
 subsequently of this period, " men were form- 
 ing vain schemes, for the Lord had arisen to 
 judge among the nations." 37 Elsewhere we 
 find him exclaiming, " God does not conduct, 
 but drives me, and carries me forward. I am 
 not master of my own actions. I would 
 gladly live in peace, but I am cast into the 
 midst of tumult and changes." 38 
 
 The scholastic Eck, author of the Obelisks, 
 and Luther's early friend, was the first to 
 recommence the combat. He was sincerely 
 attached to the Papacy ; but he appears to 
 have been a stranger to the religion of the 
 heart, and to have been of that class, too nu- 
 merous in every age, who look upon science, 
 and even upon theology and religion, as means 
 of advancement in the world. Vainglory 
 dwells under the cassock of the pastor as well 
 as under the armour of the warrior. Eck had 
 applied himself to the logic of the schools, and 
 was acknowledged an adept in this kind of 
 controversy. Whilst the knights of the mid- 
 dle ages, and the warriors of the age of the 
 Reformation, sought glory in tournaments, the 
 scholastic pedants contended for distinction in 
 those syllogistic discussions for which the 
 academies often afforded a stage. Eck, full 
 of confidence in himself, and proud of the 
 popularity of his cause, and of the prizes he 
 had won in eight universities of Hungary, 
 Lombardy, and Germany, ardently desired an 
 opportunity of displaying his ability and ad- 
 dress. The "obscure monk," who had so 
 suddenly grown into a giant this Luther, 
 whom no one had hitherto humbled offended 
 his pride and aroused his jealousy. 39 It may 
 have occurred to him, that in seeking his own 
 glory he might ruin the cause of Rome. . . . 
 But scholastic pride was not to be checked by 
 such a thought. Divines, as well as princes, 
 have at times sacrificed the general weal to 
 their own personal glory. We shall see what 
 particular circumstance afforded the Doctor of 
 Ingolstadt the desired opportunity of enter- 
 ing the lists with his rival. 
 
 The zealous but too ardent Carlstadt was 
 still in communication with Luther; they 
 were also specially united by their attachment 
 to the doctrine of grace, and by their admira- 
 tion for St. Augustine. Of enthusiastic cha- 
 racter and small discretion, Carlstadt was not 
 a man to be restrained by the skill and policy 
 of a Miltitz. He had published against Eck's 
 obelisks some theses, wherein he espoused the 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 opinions of Luther and their common faith. 
 Eck had put forth a reply, and Carlstadt had 
 not left'hirn the advantage of the last word.' 10 
 The discussion grew warm. Eck desiring to 
 profit by the opportunity, had thrown down 
 the gauntlet, and the impetuous Carlstadt had 
 taken it up. God used the passions of these 
 two men to bring about his purposes. Luther 
 had taken no part in these discussions, and yet j 
 he was destined to be the hero of the struggle. 
 There are some men who by the necessity of 
 the case are continually brought forward on 
 the stage. It was settled that Leipsic should 
 be the scene of the discussion. This was the 
 origin of the Leipsic dispute, afterwards so 
 famous. 
 
 Eck thought it a small thing to contest the 
 question with Carlstadt. It was his object to 
 humble Luther. He therefore sought by every 
 means to tempt him into the field, and for this 
 end put forth thirteen theses, which he so 
 framed as to bear directly on the principal 
 doctrines of the Reformer. 41 The thirteenth 
 was in these words, "We deny that the 
 authority of the Roman Church did not rise 
 above that of other churches before the time 
 of Pope Sylvester : and we acknowledge in 
 every age as successor of St. Peter and Vicar 
 of Jesus Christ him who was seated in the 
 chair and held the faith of St. Peter." Sylves- 
 ter lived in the time of Constantine the Great; 
 Eck, therefore, in this thesis, denied that the 
 primacy possessed by Rome was given to it 
 by that emperor. 
 
 Luther, who had consented, not without re- 
 luctance, to remain silent, was deeply moved 
 as he read these propositions. He saw that 
 they were directed against him, and felt that 
 he could not decline the challenge without 
 disgrace. " That man," said he, " declares 
 Carlstadt to be his antagonist, and at the same 
 moment attacks me. But God reigns. He 
 knows what it is that He will bring out of 
 this tragedy. 42 It matters little how it affects 
 Doctor Eck or me. The purpose of God must 
 be fulfilled. Thanks to Eck, this, which has 
 hitherto been but a trifle, will in the end be- 
 come a serious matter, and strike a fatal blow 
 against the tyranny of Rome and her Pon- 
 tiff." 
 
 The truce had been broken by Rome her- 
 self. Nay, more, in again giving the signal 
 of battle, the contest had been transferred to a 
 quarter which Luther had not yet directly at- 
 tacked. Eck had called the attention of his 
 adversaries to the primacy of Rome. He thus 
 followed the dangerous example of Tetzel. 43 
 Rome invited the stroke ; and if in the re- 
 sult she left on the arena proofs of her defeat, 
 it is certain that she herself had provoked the 
 formidable blow. 
 
 The Pontiff's supremacy once overturned, 
 all the superstructure of Rome must needs 
 crumble into dust. Hence the Papacy was 
 in danger, and yet neither Miltitz nor Cajetan 
 took any step to prevent this new contest. 
 Could they imagine the Reformation subdued 
 or were they smitten with the blindness 
 which deludes the powerful to their ruin ] 
 
 Luther, who had set a rare example of 
 moderation in keeping silence so long, boldly 
 accepted the challenge of his new antagonist. 
 He put forth fresh theses in reply to those of 
 Eck. The concluding one was thus express- 
 ed "It is by contemptible decretals of Ro- 
 man Pontiffs, composed hardly four centuries 
 ago, that it is attempted to prove the primacy 
 of the Roman Church; but arrayed against 
 this claim are eleven centuries of credible 
 history, the express declarations of Scripture, 
 and the conclusions of the Council of Nice, 
 the most venerable of all the councils." 44 
 
 " God knows," wrote Luther, at the same 
 time, to the Elector, "that it was my fixed 
 purpose to keep silence, and that I was re- 
 joiced to see the struggle brought to a close. 
 I was so scrupulous in my adherence to the 
 treaty concluded with the Pope's commissary, 
 that I did not answer Sylvester Prierias, not- 
 withstanding the taunts of my adversaries, and 
 the advice of my friends. But now Dr. Eck 
 attacks me; and not me only, but the whole 
 university of Wittemberg. I cannot allow 
 truth to be thus loaded with opprobrium." 45 
 
 Luther wrote at the same time to Carlstadt: 
 "Worthy Andrew, I am not willing that you 
 should enter on this dispute, since the attack is 
 in reality directed against me. I gladly lay 
 aside my serious studies to turn my strength 
 against these parasites of the Pontiff." 46 Then 
 turning to his adversary, and disdainfully call- 
 ing from Wittemberg to Ingolstadt, he ex- 
 claims, " Now then, dear Eck, take courage, 
 gird on thy sword. 47 If I could not please 
 thee when thou earnest as a go-between, per- 
 haps I may better satisfy thee as an antago- 
 nist. Not that I, of course, can expect to over- 
 come thee, but that after all thy triumphs in 
 Hungary, Lombardy, Bavaria, (if we are to 
 believe thy own report,) I shall be giving thee 
 the opportunity of earning the name of con- 
 queror of Saxony and Misnia! so that thou 
 shalt ever after be hailed with the glorious 
 epithet of August."** 
 
 All Luther's friends did not share in his 
 courage, for no one had hitherto been able 
 to resist the sophisms of Eck. But their 
 great cause of alarm was the subject-matter 
 of the dispute. . . . the Pope's primacy ! How 
 can the poor monk of Wittemberg dare to 
 stand up against the giant who for ages has 
 crushed all his enemies 1 The courtiers of 
 the Elector were alarmed. Spalatin, the 
 prince's confidant, and the intimate friend of 
 Luther, was filled with apprehensions. Fre- 
 deric himself was not at ease. Even the 
 sword of the Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, 
 with which he had beerf invested at Jerusa- 
 lem, would not avail him in this struggle. 
 Luther alone was unmoved. "The Lord," 
 thought he, " will deliver him into my hand." 
 His own faith furnished him with encourage- 
 ment for his friends. "I beseech you, my 
 dear Spalatin," said he, "do not give way to 
 fear. You well know that if Christ had not 
 been on our side, what 1 have already done 
 must have been my ruin. Even lately did 
 not news come from Rome to the Duke of 
 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 135 
 
 Pomerania's chancellor, that I had destroyed 
 all respect for Rome, and that no way appear- 
 ed of quieting the general feeling; so that it 
 was intended to deal with me, not judicially, 
 but by Roman stratagem; such were the 
 words used I suppose meaning poison, am- 
 bush, or assassination ! 
 
 " I restrain myself, and out of regard to the 
 Elector and the University, I keep back many 
 things which I would employ against Baby- 
 lon, if I were elsewhere. O, my dear Spa- 
 latin, it is not possible to speak truth con- 
 cerning Scripture and the Church, without 
 rousing the beast. Don't expect to see me at 
 peace unless I renounce the study of divine 
 things. If this matter be of God, it will not 
 end till all my friends have forsaken me, as 
 all the disciples of Christ forsook him. Truth 
 will stand unaided, and will prevail by his 
 right hand, not mine or yours, or by any other 
 man's. 49 If I perish, the world will not perish 
 with me. But wretch that I am, I fear I am 
 not worthy to die in such a cause." " Rome," 
 wrote he again about this time, " Rome eager- 
 ly longs for my destruction, and I grow weary 
 of defying her. I am credibly informed that 
 a paper effigy of Martin Luther has been pub- 
 licly burnt in the Campus Floralis at Rome, 
 after being loaded with execrations. I await 
 their onset." 50 " The whole world," he con- 
 tinued, "is in motion and shaking. What 
 will be the consequence, God alone knows. 
 For my part I foresee wars and calamities. 
 God have mercy on us." 51 
 
 Luther wrote letter after letter to Duke 
 George, to ask permission of that prince, in 
 whose states Leipsic was situated, to repair 
 thither, and take part in the discussion: still 
 he received no answer. 52 The grandson of the 
 Bohemian king Podiebrad, alarmed by Lu- 
 ther's proposition touching the Pope's autho- 
 rity, and fearing, lest Saxony should become 
 the theatre of struggles similar to those which 
 had long ravaged Bohemia, resolved not to 
 consent to Luther's request. The latter here- 
 upon decided to publish some exnjanations of 
 his thirteenth thesis. But this tract, so far 
 from persuading Duke George, strengthened 
 him in his resolution ; and he decidedly re- 
 fused the Reformer his permission to take 
 part in the discussion, allowing him only to 
 be present as a spectator. 53 Luther was great- 
 ly mortified ; nevertheless it was his desire 
 simply to follow God's leadings, and he re- 
 solved to repair thither, to witness what took 
 place, and wait any opening that might offer. 
 
 At the same time, the prince promoted by 
 all his influence the discussion between Eck 
 and Carlstadt. George was devotedly attach- 
 ed to the established doctrine but he was 
 upright, sincere, a friend to free inquiry, and 
 far from deeming all exercise of individual 
 judgment in such things justly open to the 
 charge of heresy, merely because it might 
 give offence to Rome. Add to this, the Elec- 
 tor united his influence with his cousin, and 
 George, emboldened by the language of Fre- 
 deric, ordered that the dispute should take 
 place/' 4 
 
 Bishop Adolphus of Merseburg, in whose 
 diocess Leipsic was situate, saw more clearly 
 than Miltitz and Cajetan, the danger of sub- 
 jecting questions of such high importance to 
 the uncertain issue of a single combat. Rome 
 could not well expose to such hazard the ac- 
 quisition of several centuries. All the divines 
 of Leipsic, sharing in the alarm, entreated then 
 bishop to interfere and prevent the discussion. 
 Adolphus, therefore earnestly dissuaded Duke 
 George, but the latter answered with much 
 good sense : " I am surprised to find a bishop 
 holding in abhorrence the ancient and lauda- 
 ble custom of our fathers, to inquire into 
 doubtful questions in matters of faith. If 
 your theologians object to defend their doc- 
 trines, the money given them would be better 
 bestowed in maintaining old women and 
 children, who, at least, mightsew and sing." 55 
 
 This letter produced little effect on the 
 bishop and his divines. Error has a hidden 
 conscience which makes its supporters fear 
 discussion, even while they talk most largely 
 of free inquiry. Advancing without circum- 
 spection, it draws back with cowardice. 
 Truth provokes not, but holds firm. Error 
 provokes inquiry and then retires. The pros- 
 perity of the university of Wittemberg was 
 an object of jealousy at Leipsic. The monks 
 and the priests from their pulpits besought the 
 people to avoid the new heretics. They re- 
 viled Luther, depicting him and his friends in 
 the darkest colours, to rouse the fanaticism 
 of the lowest classes against the doctors of 
 the Reformation. 56 Tetzel himself, who was 
 still living, exclaimed from his retreat, " It is 
 the devil himself who is urging on this con- 
 test." 57 
 
 Still not all the Leipsic professors were 
 of this opinion. Some belonged to the class 
 of indifferent spectators, ever ready to find 
 amusement in the faults of both sides. Of 
 this number was Peter Mosellanus. He 
 cared little for John Eck, or Carlstadt, or 
 Martin Luther, but he promised himself much 
 amusement from their contest. "John Eck, 
 the most illustrious of gladiators of the pen 
 and rhodomontadists," said he, writing to his 
 friend Erasmus, "John Eck, who, like the 
 Socrates of Aristophanes, looks down upon 
 the gods themselves, is about to come to blows 
 with Andrew Carlstadt. The battle will end 
 in smoke. There will be matter for mirth for 
 ten Democrituses." 58 
 
 On the other hand, the timid Erasmus was 
 alarmed at the idea of a dispute; and his 
 prudence tried to prevent the discussion. 
 " If you would trust Erasmus," wrote he to 
 Melancthon, "you would apply yourself 
 rather to the cultivation of literature, than to 
 disputes with its enemies. 59 In that way I 
 think we should get on better. Above all, 
 let us remember in the contest that we must 
 not conquer by force of words only, but also 
 by modesty and gentleness." Neither the 
 fears of the priests, nor the prudence of paci- 
 ficators, could now prevent the contest. Each 
 party prepared himself. 
 
 Eck was the first to arrive at the place of 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 endezvous. On the 21st of June he entered 
 Leipsic, accompanied by Poliander, a young 
 man whom he had brought from Ingolstadt to 
 take notes of the discussion. He was re- 
 ceived with great honours. Attired in priestly 
 garments, at the head of a numerous proces- 
 sion, he passed through the streets of the city 
 on Corpus Christi day. All crowded to see 
 him. "The whole population was in my 
 favour," said he, in speaking of it; "never- 
 theless," he continues, " a rumour was spread 
 abroad in the city that I should be defeated 
 in the encounter." 
 
 The day after the festival, Friday, the 24th 
 of June, and St. John's day, the party from 
 Wittemberg arrived in Leipsic. Carlstadt, 
 who was to conduct the controversy against 
 Eck, was alone in his travelling car, in ad- 
 vance of the rest. Duke Barnim of Pome- 
 rania, who was at that time studying at Wit- 
 temberg, and had been chosen Rector of the 
 University, followed in an open carriage. 
 Seated beside him were the two celebrated 
 divines the fathers of the Reformation Me- 
 lancthon and Luther. Melancthon had refused 
 to be separated from his friend. " Martin, 
 that soldier of Jesus Christ," were his words 
 to Spalatin, "has stirred up all this filthy 
 bog. 60 My soul is moved with indignation 
 when I think of the shameful conduct of the 
 Pope's doctors. Stand firm and constant 
 with us." Luther himself had requested his 
 Achates, as he has been termed, to bear him 
 company. 
 
 John Lange, vicar of the Augustines, se- 
 veral doctors of law, a few masters of arts, 
 two licentiates in theology, and other eccle- 
 siastics, among whom was noticed Nicholas 
 AmsdorfT, closed the procession. Amsdorff, 
 descended from a noble family of Saxony, far 
 from being fascinated by the brilliant career 
 to which his birth seemed to call him, had 
 devoted himself to theology. The theses on 
 indulgences had led him to the knowledge of 
 the truth. Instantly he had made a courage- 
 ous profession of faith. 61 Of energetic mind 
 and vehement character, Amsdorff was accus- 
 tomed to urge on Luther, already by nature 
 prompt, to actions of questionable prudence. 
 Born to elevated station, he was not awed by 
 rank, and in addressing the great he spoke at 
 times with a freedom bordering upon rude- 
 ness. "The gospel of Jesus Christ," said 
 he in presence of a noble assembly, " belongs 
 to the poor and afflicted, and not to princes, 
 lords, and courtiers, such as you, who live in 
 a round of pleasures and enjoyments." 62 
 
 But this was not all the array of Wittem- 
 berg. A large body of students accompanied 
 their teachers. Eck affirms that there were 
 as many as two hundred. Armed with pikes 
 and halberds, they attended the doctors in 
 their route, resolved to defend them, and 
 proud of their cause. 
 
 In this order the procession of the Refor- 
 mers arrived at Leipsic. Just as it had passed 
 the Grirnma gate, and had reached the ceme- 
 tery of St. Paul, a wheel of Carlstadt's tra- | 
 veiling car broke down. The archdeacon, ! 
 
 whose vanity was pleasing itself with so 
 solemn an entry, was precipitated into the 
 mud. He was not hurt, but was compelled 
 to proceed on foot to the place assigned for 
 his abode. Luther's chariot, which was fol- 
 lowing that of Carlstadt, got before him, and 
 bore the Reformer safe and sound to his desti- 
 nation. The people of Leipsic, who had 
 assembled to witness the entry of the cham- 
 pions of Wittemberg, interpreted this acci- 
 dent as an ill omen for Carlstadt; and it was 
 soon a prevalent impression that he would 
 break down in the conflict, but that Luther 
 would remain master of the field. 63 
 
 Adolphus of Merseburg was not idle. As 
 soon as he learned the approach of Luther 
 and Carlstadt, and even before they had 
 alighted, he caused to be affixed on the doors 
 of the churches a notice prohibiting the open- 
 ing of the discussion under pain of excommu- 
 nication. Duke George, astounded at this 
 audacity, directed the city council to tear 
 down the bishop's placard, and committed to 
 prison the daring meddler who had ventured 
 to be the agent of his orders. 64 George had 
 himself arrived at Leipsic. He was accom- 
 panied by all his court; among the rest by 
 Jerome Eraser, with whom Luther had spent 
 a memorable evening at Dresden. 65 George 
 made the customary presents to the two dis- 
 putants. " The Duke," said Eck boastfully, 
 " presented me with a fine stag, and to Carl- 
 stadt he gave only a roebuck." 66 
 
 The moment Eck heard that Luther had 
 arrived, he repaired to the doctor's lodging: 
 " What is this ]" said he, " I am told you 
 object to dispute with me." LUTHER. " How 
 can I dispute, since the Duke forbids me to do 
 so." ECK. " If I am not allowed to dispute 
 with you, I shall take very little interest in 
 discussing with Carlstadt. It is on your ac- 
 count I am here." 67 Then, after a moment's 
 silence, he continued, " If I obtain the Duke's 
 permission, will you take the field ]" LU- 
 THER, (overjoyed .) " Only obtain permission, 
 and we wil^meet." 
 
 Eck instantly waited on the Duke; he la- 
 boured to dissipate his fears ; he assured him 
 that he was certain of victory, and that the 
 Pope's authority, far from suffering by the dis- 
 pute, would come out of it the more glorious. 
 "It was fit," he said, "that the argument 
 should bear against the principal party. If 
 Luther be unhumbled, every thing is still to 
 be done; if he is overcome, all is at an end." 
 George granted the desired permission. 
 
 The Duke had had a large apartment pre- 
 pared in his palace, named Pleissenburg. Two 
 elevated pulpits had been erected opposite 
 each other, tables had been placed for the 
 notaries engaged to take notes of the discus- 
 sion, and benches were ranged around for the 
 audience. The pulpits and benches were hung 
 with rich tapestry. In front of that intended 
 for the doctor of Wittemberg, was suspended 
 the portrait of St. Martin ; on that of Eck 
 was the figure of St. George. " We shall 
 see," said the haughty Eck, as he contem- 
 plated this emblem " if I do not trample my 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 137 
 
 antagonists under my feet." Every thing an- 
 nounced the high importance attached to the 
 dispute. 
 
 On the 25th of June, a meeting was held in 
 the Castle to settle the order that should be 
 followed. Eck, who placed even more de- 
 pendence on his declamation and action than 
 on his arguments, exclaimed, " We will dis- 
 pute freely and extempore, and the notaries 
 need not take down our words." 
 
 CARLSTADT. " It was understood that the 
 discussion should be written, printed, and 
 submitted to the judgment of the public." 
 
 ECK. "Writing down all that is said 
 wearies the minds of the disputants, and pro- 
 tracts the contest. There is an end at once of 
 the spirit necessary to give animation to the 
 discussion. Do not delay the flow of elo- 
 
 Ua 
 
 quence. 
 
 The friends of Eck supported his proposal ; 
 but Carlstadt persisted in his objections, and 
 the champion of Rome was obliged to give 
 way. 
 
 ECK. " Well, be it so ; let it be in writing : 
 but at least the discussion taken down by the 
 notaries must not be made public before it has 
 been submitted to the inspection of chosen 
 judges." 
 
 LUTHER. "Then does the truth that Doc- 
 tor Eck and his followers hold dread the 
 light?" 
 
 ECK. "There must be judges." 
 
 LUTHER. " What judges ?" 
 
 ECK. " W T hen the discussion is closed, we 
 will settle who they shall be." 
 
 The object of the Romanists was apparent. 
 If the Wittemberg divines accepted judges 
 they were lost : for their adversaries were pre- 
 viously secure of the favour of those who 
 would be applied to. If they refused to abide 
 their decision, their enemies would cover them 
 with shame, by circulating the report that 
 they feared to submit themselves to impartial 
 award. 
 
 The Reformers demanded for judges not 
 this and that individual, whose opinion had 
 been previously formed, but the general body 
 of Christians. It was to this universal suf- 
 frage they appealed. Besides, sentence of 
 condemnation given against them would, in 
 their judgment, matter little, if, in defending 
 their cause before the Christian world, they 
 should lead souls to the discovery of the light. 
 " Luther," says a Roman historian, "required 
 the whole body of believers for his judges, 
 in other words, a tribunal so extensive that no 
 urn would be found to receive the suffrages." 69 
 
 The parties separated. "Observe their 
 artifices," remarked Luther and his friends to 
 each other. " They do no doubt mean to 
 require that the Pope or the Universities 
 should be the judges of the result." 
 
 In fact, on the following morning the Ro- 
 mish party sent one of their number to Luther, 
 with instructions to propose to him .... the 
 Pope .... as judge the Pope ! " The Pope !" 
 said Luther, " how can I accede to such a pro- 
 posal ?" 
 
 " Beware," said all his friends, " of ac- 
 
 cepting such unjust conditions." Eck and his 
 advisers held another council. They gave up 
 the Pope, and proposed certain Universities. 
 " Do not retract, the liberty you have before 
 conceded to us," said Luther. " We cannot 
 yield this point," replied they. "Then," ex- 
 claimed Luther, " I will take no part in the 
 discussion." 70 
 
 Again the parties separated, and throughout 
 the city the affair was a subject of conversa- 
 tion. "Luther will not accept the challenge," 
 said the Romanists . . . . " He will not ac- 
 knowledge any judge !" His words are com- 
 mented on and misconstrued, and endeavours 
 are made to represent them in the most unfa- 
 vourable colours. " What, is it true that he 
 declines the discussion!" said the warmest 
 friends of the Reformer. They flock around 
 him and give expression to their misgivings : 
 "You decline the discussion !" said they, 
 "your refusal will bring lasting shame on 
 your University, and on the cause you have 
 taken in hand." 
 
 It was assailing him on his weak side. 
 " Well then," said he, indignantly, " I accept 
 the conditions proposed ; but I reserve to 
 myself the right to appeal, and decline the 
 jurisdiction of Rome." 71 
 
 The 27th of June was the day fixed for the 
 opening of the discussion. Early in the morn- 
 ing a meeting took place in the great college 
 of the University, and from thence the train 
 walked in procession to the church of St. 
 Thomas, where a solemn mass was performed, 
 by order and at the expense of the Duke. 
 After the service the parties present repaired 
 in procession to the ducal castle. In front,' 
 walked Duke George and the Duke of Pome- 
 rania; then came counts, barons, knights, and 
 other persons of rank, and lastly, the doctors, 
 of both sides. A guard consisting of seventy- 
 three citizens, armed with halberds, accompa- 
 nied their march, with banners flying, and 
 martial music, halting at the castle-gates. 
 
 The procession having reached the palace, 
 each took his seat in the hall, where the dis- 
 cussion was to take place. Duke George, the 
 hereditary Prince John, Prince George of An- 
 halt, then twelve years of age, and the Duke 
 of Pomerania, occupied the seats assigned 
 them. 
 
 Mosellanus ascended the pulpit, to remind 
 the theologians, by the Duke's order, in what 
 manner they were to dispute. "If you fall to 
 quarrelling," said the speaker, " what differ- 
 ence will remain between a theologian in dis- 
 cussion and a shameless duellist? In this 
 question, what is victory but the recovery of 
 a brother from error? It seems as if each of 
 you should be more desirous to be so conquer- 
 ed than to conquer!" 72 
 
 This address terminated, sacred music re- 
 sounded in the halls of Pleissenburg; the 
 whole assembly fell upon their knees, and the 
 ancient hymn of invocation to the Holy Spirit, 
 Fern, Sunde Spiritus, was chanted. Solemn 
 moments in the history of the Reformation ! 
 Thrice was the invocation repeated, and whilst 
 this impressive voice was heard around the 
 
138 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 defenders of the ancient doctrine, and the 
 champions of this new teaching-, the church- 
 men of the middle ages, and those who sought 
 to restore the church of the apostles, humbly 
 bowed their foreheads to the earth. The time- 
 honoured bond of one communion still bound 
 together all these different minds; the same 
 prayer still proceeded from all these lips, as 
 if one heart pronounced it. 
 
 These were the last moments of outward 
 and lifeless unity : a new Oneness of the 
 spirit and of life was commencing. The Holy 
 Spirit was invoked upon the church, and was 
 preparing to answer in the revival of Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 The chanting and prayer being concluded, 
 all rose from their knees. The discussion 
 was about to commence, but it being twelve 
 o'clock, it was postponed till two in the after- 
 noon. 
 
 The Duke assembled at his table the prin- 
 cipal persons who intended to be present at 
 the discussion. After the repast, they returned 
 to the castle. The hall was filled with spec- 
 tators. Discussions of this kind were the 
 public meetings of that age. It was in such 
 meetings that the men who represented the 
 generation in which they lived agitated the 
 questions which occupied the general mind. 
 Soon the speakers took their places. That 
 their appearance may be better conceived, we 
 will give their portraits as traced by one of 
 the most impartial witnesses of the encounter. 
 
 " Martin Luther is of middle size, and so 
 thin, by reason of his continual studies, that 
 one can almost count his bones. He is in the 
 prime of life, and his voice is clear and sono- 
 rous. His knowledge and understanding of 
 the Holy Scriptures are incomparable: the 
 whole word of God is at his fingers' ends. 73 
 
 " Added to this, he has vast resources of 
 argument and ideas. One might perhaps de- 
 sire somewhat more judgment to arrange every 
 thing in its right order. In conversation he is 
 agreeable and obliging ; in no respect stoical 
 or proud; he accommodates himself to every 
 one; his manner of speaking is pleasing, and 
 full of jovially ; he evinces much firmness, and 
 has ever a contented expression of counte- 
 nance, whatever may be the threats of his ad- 
 versaries. So that one is constrained to be- 
 lieve that it is not without divine assistance 
 that he does such great things. He is blamed, 
 however, for being more severe in his reproofs 
 than is becoming a divine, especially when 
 advancing novelties in religion." 
 
 " Carlstadt is smaller in stature; he has a 
 dark and sunburnt complexion; his voice is 
 harsh; his memory less tenacious than that of 
 Luther, and he is yet more warm in temper. 
 Yet he possesses, though in a lower degree, 
 the same qualities for which his friend is re- 
 markable." 
 
 "Eck is tall and broad shouldered; his 
 voice is strong and truly German. He has 
 good lungs, so that he would be well heard in 
 a theatre, and would even make a capital 
 town-crier. His articulation is rather thick 
 than clear. He has none of the grace so much 
 
 commended by Fabius and Cicero. His 
 mouth, eyes, and whole countenance give you 
 the idea rather of a soldier, or a butcher, than 
 of a divine. 74 His memory is wonderful, and 
 if his understanding were equal to it, he would 
 be a truly perfect man. But his comprehen- 
 sion is slow, and he wants that judgment, 
 without which all other gifts are useless. 
 Hence, in disputing, he produces a mass of 
 passages from the Bible, citations from the 
 Fathers, and different kinds of proof, without 
 careful selection or discernment. Add to 
 this, his effrontery is almost inconceivable. If 
 he is embarrassed he breaks off from the sub- 
 ject in hand, plunges into another, sometimes 
 even takes up the opinion of his antagonists 
 under a different form of expression, and with 
 wonderful address attributes to his opponent 
 the very absurdity he himself was defending." 
 
 Such is the description given by Mosellanus 
 of the men who then engaged the attention of 
 the multitude who thronged the great hall of 
 the Pleissenburg. 
 
 The discussion was opened by Eck and 
 Carlstadt. 
 
 Eck's eyes rested for an instant on some ar- 
 ticles that lay on the desk of his adversary's 
 pulpit, and which seemed to offend his eye. 
 These were the Bible and the Fathers. " I 
 object to entering upon the discussion," ex- 
 claimed he on a sudden, " if you are permitted 
 to bring your books with you." Strange that 
 a theologian should have recourse to books in 
 order to dispute. Eck's surprise ought to 
 have been yet more surprising. " All this is 
 but a fig-leaf by which this Adam seeks to 
 hide his shame," said Luther. "Did not 
 Augustine consult books when he contended 
 against the Mariicheans 1 ?" 75 It mattered not! 
 the partisans of Eck were loud in their clam- 
 ours. Mutual imputations were thrown out. 
 " The man has no memory," said Eck. Fi- 
 nally, it was arranged, according to the wish 
 of the Chancellor of Ingolstadt, that each 
 party should be restricted to the use of his 
 memory and of his tongue. "Thus, then," 
 said many, " in this disputation the point at 
 issue will not be the inquiry after truth, but 
 what praise is to be assigned to the speech 
 and memory of the disputants." 
 
 It being impossible to relate, at length, the 
 course of a discussion which lasted seventeen 
 days, we must, to borrow the expression of an 
 historian, imitate painters, who, in represent- 
 ing a battle, give prominence to the more me- 
 morable actions, leaving the rest in the back 
 ground. 76 
 
 The subject in dispute, between Eck and 
 Carlstadt, was an important one. "Man's 
 will, previous to his conversion," said Carl- 
 stadt, " can do no good work. Every good 
 work, proceeds entirely and exclusively from 
 God, who gives to man first the will and af- 
 terwards the power to perform it." This 
 truth has been proclaimed by Holy Scripture, 
 in the words 77 -// is God that worketh in you, 
 both to will and to do of his good pleasure, and 
 by Saint Augustine, who, in disputing with 
 the Pelagians, had expressed it almost in the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 139 
 
 same words. Every action which is wanting 1 
 in love to God, and obedience to Him, is in 
 His sight destitute of that which can alone 
 render it good ; even though in other respects 
 flowing from the noblest of human motives. 
 But there is in man a natural opposition to the 
 will of God. He has not in himself the 
 strength to overcome this. He has neither 
 the power nor the will to do so. This then 
 must be the work of divine power. 
 
 This is the doctrine so cried down by the 
 world, and which is yet so simple ; the doc- 
 trine of Free-will. But the scholastic divines 
 had expounded it so as scarcely to be recog- 
 nised. Doubtless, said they, the will of man 
 in a state of nature can do nothing truly accept- 
 able to God ; but it can do much to render him 
 more capable of receiving the grace of God, 
 and more meet to obtain it. They called these 
 preparations a merit of congruity ; 78 " because 
 it was congruous," says Thomas Aquinas, 
 "that God should treat with special favour 
 the man who makes a right use of his own 
 will." And as to the conversion which must 
 be wrought in man, doubtless it was the grace 
 of God, which, as the scholastic divines taught, 
 must effect it; but without excluding natural 
 powers. These powers, said they, have not 
 been destroyed by sin : sin but interposes an 
 obstacle to their development; but when this 
 impediment is removed, and that, said they, it 
 is the office of the Spirit of God to accomplish, 
 the action of these powers is restored. To 
 make use of their favourite illustration, the 
 bird that has been long confined, has, in this 
 condition, neither lost its strength nor forgot- 
 ten how to fly ; but a friendly hand is needed 
 to loose its fetters before it can again rise on the 
 wing. Such, said they, is the condition of man. 79 
 
 This was the subject of dispute between 
 Eck and Carlstadt. Eck had at first seemed 
 entirely opposed to Carlstadt's propositions on 
 this subject; but finding it difficult to main- 
 tain the position he had chosen, he said, "I 
 grant that our will has not power to do a good 
 act, and that it receives power from God.'' 
 "Do you then acknowledge," asked Carl- 
 stadt, overjoyed at having won such a con- 
 cession, " that a good work comes entirely 
 of God." "The whole good work comes truly 
 from God," replied the subtle Eck, " but not 
 entirely" " That is a discovery most worthy 
 of theological learning," cried Melancthon. 
 " An entire apple," pursued Eck, " is produced 
 by the sun, but not by one effect, and without 
 the co-operation of the plant." 80 Doubtless no 
 one ever maintained that an apple was al- 
 together the product of the sun. 
 
 Well, then, said the opposing parties, going 
 deeper into this question, at once so delicate 
 and so important in philosophy and religion, 
 let us then inquire how God acts on man, 
 and how man concurs with this action. "I 
 acknowledge," said Eck, "that the first 
 tnought leading to the conversion of a man 
 comes from God, and that man's will is in 
 this entirely passive." 81 So far the two antago- 
 nists were agreed. " I acknowledge," said 
 Carlstadt, "on my side, that after this first 
 
 n 
 
 act, which proceeds from God, something is 
 requisite on the part of man, which St. Paul 
 calls will, and which the Fathers term con- 
 sent." Here again both agreed ; but from this 
 point they diverged. "This consent on the 
 part of man," said Eck, "comes partly from 
 our natural will, partly from God's grace to 
 us." s2 "No," said Carlstadt, "it is requisite 
 that God should entirely create this will in 
 man." 83 Hereupon Eck began to manifest sur- 
 prise and anger at words so well adapted to 
 make man sensible of his own nothingness. 
 "Your doctrine," said he, "regards man as a 
 stone, a log, incapable of reciprocal action." 
 " What !" answered the Reformers, " does not 
 the capacity for receiving the strength that 
 God produces in him, a capacity which, 
 according to us, man possesses, sufficiently 
 distinguish him from a stone, or a log of 
 wood?" "But," replied their antagonist, "you 
 take a position that directly contradicts expe- 
 rience, when you refuse to acknowledge any 
 natural ability in man." " We do not deny," 
 replied the others, " that man possesses cer- 
 tain powers and ability to reflect, meditate, 
 and choose; only we count such powers as 
 mere instruments which can do no good thing 
 until the hand of God has moved them ; they 
 are like to a saw thata man holds in his hands." 34 
 
 The great question of Free-will was here 
 discussed; and it was easy to demonstrate 
 that the doctrine of the Reformers did not take 
 away from a man the liberty of a moral agent, 
 and reduce him to a passive machine. The 
 liberty of a moral agent consists in the power 
 of acting conformably to his choice. Every 
 action performed without external constraint, 
 and in pursuance of the determination of the 
 soul itself, is a free action. The soul is deter- 
 mined by motives ; but we constantly see the 
 same motives acting diversely on different 
 minds. Many do not act conformably to the 
 motives of which they yet acknowledge all 
 the force. This failure of the motive proceeds 
 from obstacles opposed by the corruption of 
 the heart and understanding. But God, in 
 giving " a new heart and a new spirit," takes 
 away these obstacles ; and in removing them, 
 far from depriving men of liberty, he removes 
 that which hindered him from acting freely, 
 and from following the light of his conscience; 
 and thus, as the Gospel expresses it, makes 
 him free. (John viii. 36.) 
 
 A trivial incident interrupted the discussion. 
 Carlstadt, as Eck relates, had prepared certain 
 arguments, and, like many preachers of our 
 own day, he was reading what he had written. 85 
 Eck saw in this mere college tactics ; he ob- 
 jected to it. Carlstadt, embarrassed, and fear- 
 ing he should not get on well without his 
 paper, persisted. "Ah !" exclaimed the doc- 
 tor of the schools, proud of the advantage he 
 thought he had obtained, "he has not quite so 
 good a memory as I have." The point was 
 referred to arbitrators, who permitted the read- 
 ing of passages of the Fathers, but came to 
 the resolution that, with that exception, the 
 discussion should be extempore. 
 
 This first stage of the dispute was often in- 
 N 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 terrupted by the spectators. Much agitation 
 and even audible expressions of feeling broke 
 forth. Any proposition that did not find favour 
 with the majority excited instant clamours, 
 and then it was necessary to enjoin silence. 
 The disputants themselves were sometimes 
 carried away by the eagerness of the dispute. 
 
 Close to Luther stood Melancthon, who 
 was almost in an equal degree an object of 
 curiosity. He was of small stature, and would 
 have passed as not above eighteen years of 
 age. Luther, who was a head taller, seemed 
 connected with him in the closest friendship ; 
 tney came in and went out together. "To 
 look at Melancthon," said a Swiss divine* 
 who studied at Wittemberg, " one would say 
 he was but a youth ; but in understanding, 
 learning, and talent, he is a giant; and one 
 wonders how such heights of wisdom and 
 genius can be contained within so slight a 
 frame." Between the sittings, Melancthon 
 conversed with Carlstadt and Luther. He 
 aided them in their preparation for the discus- 
 sion, and suggested the arguments that his 
 vast learning enabled him to contribute ; but 
 while the discussion was going on, he remain- 
 ed quietly seated among the spectators, listen- 
 ing with attention to the words of the speakers. 86 
 At times, however, he carne to the assistance 
 of Carlstadt. Whenever the latter was near 
 giving way under the declamation of the Chan- 
 cellor of Ingolstadt, the young professor would 
 whisper a word, or hand him a slip of paper 
 whereon he had noted down a reply. Eck 
 having on one occasion perceived this, and 
 indignant that the grammarian, as he termed 
 him, should dare to meddle in the discussion, 
 turned round and said insolently, " Be silent, 
 Philip ! mind your studies, and do not stand 
 in my way." 87 Eck may perhaps have even 
 then foreseen how formidable an opponent he 
 would one day find in this youth. Luther was 
 roused by this rude insult directed against his 
 friena. "The judgment of Philip," said he, 
 " has greater weight with me than a thousand 
 Dr. Ecks." 
 
 The calm Melancthon easily detected the 
 weak points of the discussion. " One cannot 
 help feeling astonished," said he, with that 
 prudence and gracious spirit which we recog- 
 nise in all his words, "when we think on the 
 violence with which these subjects were treat- 
 ed. How could any expect to derive instruc- 
 tion from if? The Spirit of God loves retire- 
 ment and silence; it is there he penetrates 
 into our hearts. The bride of Christ does not 
 take her stand in the streets and cross-ways, 
 but she leads her spouse into the house of her 
 mother." 88 
 
 Each party claimed the victory. Eck re- 
 sorted to every artifice to appear victorious. 
 As the lines of divergence ran closely together, 
 it often happened that he exclaimed that he 
 had reduced his adversary to his opinion; or 
 else, like another Proteus, said Luther, he 
 turned suddenly round, put forth Carlstadt's 
 opinion differently expressed, and triumphant- 
 
 * John Kessler, afterwards Reformer at St. Gall. 
 
 ly demanded if he could refuse to acknowledge 
 it. And the uninitiated, who had not watched 
 the manoeuvre of the sophist, began to applaud 
 and exult with him. Nevertheless, Eck, 
 without perceiving it, in reality gave up in the 
 course of the discussion much more than he 
 had intended. His partisans laughed immo- 
 derately at his successive devices; "but," 
 said Luther, " I am much inclined to think 
 that their laughter was affected, and that they 
 were actually on thorns, when they saw their 
 chief, who had commenced the battle with 
 bravados, abandon his standard, leave his 
 own ranks, and act the part of a shameless 
 deserter." 89 
 
 Three or four days after the opening of the 
 conference, it had been interrupted on account 
 of the festival of the apostles St. Peter and 
 St. Paul. 
 
 The Duke of Pomerania requested Luther 
 to preach on the occasion in his chapel. Lu- 
 ther gladly consented. But the chapel was 
 early thronged, and the crowds of hearers in- 
 creasing, the assembly adjourned to the great 
 hall of the castle, where the conference had 
 been carried on. Luther took his text from 
 the gospel of the day, and preached on the 
 grace of God and the authority of St. Peter. 
 What he was accustomed to maintain before 
 a learned auditory, he then declared to the 
 people ; Christianity brings the light of truth 
 to the humblest as well as the most intelligent 
 minds. It is this which distinguishes it from 
 all other religions, and all systems of philoso- 
 phy. The Leipsic divines, who had heard 
 Luther's sermon, hastened to report to Eck 
 the offensive expressions with which they had 
 been scandalized. " You must answer him," 
 cried they ; " these specious errors must be 
 publicly refuted. Eck desired nothing better. 
 All the churches were at his service, and on 
 four successive occasions he ascended the 
 pulpit and inveighed against Luther and his 
 sermon. Luther's friends were indigrrant. 
 They demanded that the theologian of Wit- 
 temberg should in his turn be heard. But 
 their demand was disregarded. The pulpits 
 were open to the enemies of the gospel, and 
 shut to those who proclaimed it. " I was 
 silent," said Luther, " and was obliged to 
 suffer myself to be attacked, insulted, and ca- 
 lumniated, without even the power to excuse 
 or defend myself." 90 
 
 It was not only the clergy who opposed 
 the teachers of the evangelical doctrine; the 
 burghers of Leipsic were in that of one mind 
 with the clergy. A blind fanaticism rendered 
 them the ready dupes of the falsehood and 
 prejudice which were circulated abroad. The 
 principal inhabitants abstained from visiting 
 Luther or Carlstadt; and if they accidentally 
 met in the street, they passed them without 
 salutation. They misrepresented them to the 
 Duke. On the other hand, they were in daily 
 communication and interchange of visits with 
 the Doctor of Ingolstadt. To Luther they 
 offered the disputant's customary present of 
 wine. Beyond this, any who were favour- 
 ably disposed toward him concealed their pre 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 141 
 
 dilection from others : several, following the 
 example of Nicodemus, came to him in the 
 night or by stealth. Two individuals alone 
 stood forward to their own honour, and pub- 
 licly declared themselves his friends: Doc- 
 tor Auerbach, whom we have already seen at 
 Augsburg, and Doctor Pistor the younger. 
 
 The greatest agitation prevailed in the city. 
 The two parties resembled two hostile camps, 
 and sometimes came to blows. Frequent 
 quarrels took place in the inns between the 
 Leipsic students and those of Witiemberg. 
 It was currently asserted, even in the meet- 
 ings of the clergy, that Luther carried about 
 with him a devil enclosed in a small box. 
 " I know not," said Eck spitefully, "whether 
 the devil is in the box or under his frock 
 but sure I am he is in one or the other." 
 
 Several doctors of the opposing parties 
 were lodged, during the progress of the dis- 
 putation, in the house of the printer Herbi- 
 polis. Their contentions ran so high, that 
 their host was obliged to place a police ser- 
 geant, armed with a halberd, at the head of 
 the table, with instructions to preserve the 
 peace. One day Baumgarten, a vender of 
 indulgences, came to blows with a gentleman 
 attached to Luther, and in the violence of his 
 fit of passion, burst a blood-vessel and ex- 
 pired. " I myself," says Frb'schel, who re- 
 lates the fact, " was one of those who carried 
 him to the grave." 91 In such results the gene- 
 ral ferment in men's minds manifested itself. 
 Then, as in our days, the speeches in the as- 
 semblies found an echo in the dinner-room 
 and public streets. 
 
 Duke George, though strongly biassed in 
 favour of Eck, did not evince so much zeal in 
 his cause as his subjects. He invited all 
 three, Eck, Luther, and Carlstadt to dinner. 
 He even requested Luther to visit him in pri- 
 vate; but soon manifested the prejudices that 
 had been artfully inculcated. " Your tract 
 on the Lord's Prayer," said the Duke, " has 
 misled the consciences of many. There are 
 some Who complain that for four days to- 
 gether they have not been able to say one 
 paler." 
 
 It was on the 4th of July that the contest 
 commenced between Eck and Luther. Every 
 thing announced that it would be more vio- 
 lent and decisive than that which had just 
 terminated. The two disputants were ad- 
 vancing to the arena, firmly resolved not to 
 lay down their arms till victory should have 
 declared in favour of one or the other. General 
 attention was alive, for the subject of dispute 
 was the Pope's primacy. Two prominent 
 hinderances obstruct the progress of the Gos- 
 pel, the hierarchy and rationalism, as applied 
 to the doctrine of man's moral powers, had 
 been the object of attack in the early part of 
 the discussion. The hierarchy, viewed in 
 what was at once -its basis as well as climax 
 the doctrine of the Pope's authority was 
 now to be impugned. On the one side ap- 
 peared Eck, the defender of the established 
 teaching, and, like some boastful soldier, 
 strong in confidence derived from previous 
 
 triumphs. 92 On the other side came Luther, 
 to whom the contest seemed to promise no- 
 thing but persecutions and ignominy, but who 
 presented himself with a clear conscience, a 
 firm determination to sacrifice every thing to 
 the cause of truth, and a hope full of faith in 
 God's power to deliver him. 
 
 At seven in the morning the two disputants 
 had taken their places, encompassed by an 
 attentive and numerous auditory. 
 
 Luther stood up, and adopting a necessary 
 precaution, said, with humility : 
 
 "In the name of the Lord Amen. I de- 
 clare that the respect I have for the Sovereign 
 Pontiff would have prevented my sustaining 
 the part I am taking in this discussion, had. 
 not the worthy Doctor Eck persuaded me 
 thereto." 
 
 ECK. " In thy name, blessed Jesus ! Be- 
 fore I enter on this discussion, I protest in 
 your presence, noble chiefs, that all I shall 
 say is subject to the judgment of the first of 
 all episcopal chairs, and to the master who 
 fills it." 
 
 After a moment's silence, Eck continued : 
 
 "There is in God's Church a primacy de- 
 rived from Christ himself. The Church 
 militant has been set up in the likeness of 
 the Church triumphant. But this latter is a 
 monarchy, wherein every thing ascends hier- 
 archically to its sole head God himself. 
 Therefore it is that Christ has established a 
 similar order upon earth. How monstrous 
 would the Church be without a head." 93 
 
 LUTHER, turning to the assembly, 
 
 " When the doctor declares that it is most 
 needful that the Church universal have a 
 Head, he says well. If there be any one 
 among us who affirms the contrary, let him 
 stand forth. I hold no such thing." 
 
 ECK. "If the Church militant has never 
 been without its one Head, I would beg to 
 ask who he can be, but the Roman Pontiff 1 ?" 
 
 LUTHER, raising his eyes to heaven, 
 
 "The Head of the Church militant is 
 Christ himself, and not a mortal man. I be- 
 lieve this, on the authority of God's testi- 
 mony, whose word says, He must reign until 
 his enemies be put under his feet. 94 Let us 
 then no longer give ear to those who put away 
 Christ to the Church triumphant in heaven. 
 His kingdom is a kingdom of faith. We sec 
 not our Head, and yet we are joined to him." 95 
 
 ECK, not discomfited, and turning to other 
 arguments, resumed: 
 
 " It is from Rome as St. Cyprian tells us, 
 that sacerdotal unity proceeded." 56 
 
 LUTHER. "As regards the Western Church, 
 agreed. But is not this Roman Church her- 
 self derived from that of Jerusalem 1 And to 
 speak correctly, the church of Jerusalem was 
 mother and nurse of all the churches." 97 
 
 ECK. " St. Jerome affirms, that if autho- 
 rity above that of all other churches is not 
 lodged with the Pope, there will be in the 
 Church as many schisms as there are b;shoj.s". t8 
 
 LUTHER. " I admit it, that is to say, that 
 if all the faithful were consenting, this autho- 
 rity might, agreeably to the principles of 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 human legislation, be rightfully ascribed to ! 
 the chief Pontiff." Neither would I deny that 
 if the whole body of believers should consent 
 to acknowledge as first and chief bishop the | 
 bishop of Rome, or of Paris, or of Magdeburg, ; 
 it would be our duty to acknowledge him as 
 such, from respect to this general consent of 
 the whole church : but that is what the world 
 has never seen nor ever will see. Even in 
 our own day, does not the Greek church with- 
 hold her consent to Rome 1 ?" 
 
 Luther was at this time quite prepared to 
 acknowledge the Pope as chief magistrate of 
 the Church, freely chosen by it ; but he de- 
 nied his divine right. It was not until a later 
 period that he denied that any submission was 
 due to him. That was an advance to which 
 the Leipsic controversy mainly contributed. 
 But Eck was on ground which Luther knew 
 better than he. As Eck appealed to the au- 
 thority of the Fathers, Luther resolved to de- 
 feat him by the Fathers themselves. 
 
 "That my construction of the words," said 
 he, " is truly what St. Jerome intended, I will 
 prove by his own epistle to Evagrius. Every 
 bishop, says he, whether of Rome or of Eugu- 
 bium, whether of Constance or of Regium, 
 whether of Alexandria or of Thanis, has the 
 same honour and the same priestly rank. 100 The 
 influence of wealth, or the humility of poverty 
 alone makes their difference of standing." 
 
 From the Fathers, Luther passed to the de- 
 crees of the Councils, which recognise in the 
 bishop of Rome only thefirstamonghispeers. 101 
 "We read," said he, "in the decree of the 
 Council of Africa, ' Let not the bishop of the 
 chief see, be called Prince of the Pontiffs, or 
 Sovereign Pontiff, or any other name of that 
 sort, but simply bishop of the first see.' If 
 the monarchy of the bishop of Rome were of 
 divine right," continued Luther, " would not 
 this decision be heretical ?" 
 
 Eck met this by one of the subtle distinc- 
 tions to which he was so accustomed to have 
 recourse. 
 
 "The bishop of Rome, if you please, is not 
 universal bishop, but bishop of the church 
 universal." 102 
 
 LUTHER. "I will not say one word on that 
 answer. Let our hearers themselves judge 
 concerning it." 
 
 " Certainly," he afterwards observed, "that 
 was a gloss worthy of a theologian, and just 
 of a kind to content a disputant eager for tri- 
 umph. I have not remained at Leipsic, at 
 considerable cost to no purpose, since I have 
 learned that the Pope of a truth is not uni- 
 versal bishop, but bishop of the church uni- 
 versal !" 103 
 
 ECK. " Well, to come to the point. The 
 venerable doctor requires from me a proof that 
 the primacy of the church of Rome is of divine 
 right; I find that proof in the words of Christ 
 ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
 build my church? St. Augustine, in one of 
 his epistles, has thus explained the meaning 
 of the passage ' Thou art Peter, and on this 
 rock, that is to say, on Peter, I will build my 
 church.' It is true, that Augustine has else- 
 
 where said, that by this rock we must under- 
 stand Christ himself, but he has not retracted 
 his first explanation." 
 
 LUTHER. " If the reverend doctor brings 
 against me these words of St. Augustine, let 
 him himself first reconcile such opposite asser- 
 tions. For certain it is, that St. Augustine 
 has repeatedly said, that the rock was Christ, 
 and hardly once that it was Peter himself. 
 But even though St. Augustine and all the 
 Fathers should say that the Apostle is the 
 rock of which Christ spake, I would, if I 
 should stand alone, deny the assertion sup- 
 ported by the authority of the Holy Scripture 
 in other words by divine right 104 -for it is 
 written, ' Other foundation can no man lay than 
 that is laid, even Christ Jesus. n 5 Peter himself 
 calls Christ the chief corner-stone, and living 
 rock, on which we are built up, a spiritual 
 house." 106 
 
 ECK. " I am astonished at the humility and 
 diffidence with which the reverend doctor un- 
 dertakes to stand alone against so many illus- 
 trious Fathers, thus affirming that he knows 
 more of these things than the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff, the Councils, divines, and universities! 
 ... It would no doubt be very wonderful 
 if God had hidden the truth from so many 
 saints and martyrs till the advent of the reve- 
 rend father." 
 
 LUTHER. "The Fathers are not opposed 
 to me. St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and the 
 most eminent divines say as I do. On that 
 confession of faith the church is built, says St. 
 Ambrose, explaining what is to be understood 
 by the stone on which the church rests. 107 Let 
 my antagonist then restrain his speech. Such 
 expressions as he has just used, do but stir up 
 animosity, instead of helping in learned dis- 
 cussion." 
 
 Eck had not expected so much learning in 
 his adversary, and managed to extricate him- 
 self from the labyrinth in which he had en- 
 deavoured to entangle him. "The reverend 
 father," said he, "has entered on this. discus- 
 sion after well preparing his subject.* Your 
 excellencies will excuse me if I should not 
 produce so much exact research. I came 
 hither to discuss, and not to make a book." 
 Eck was in some sort taken by surprise, but 
 not defeated. Having no other argument at 
 hand, he had recourse to an odious and con- 
 temptible artifice, which if it did not bear 
 down, must at least greatly embarrass his ad- 
 versary. If the suspicion of being a Bohe- 
 mian, a heretic, a Hussite, do but hang over 
 Luther, he is vanquished ; for the Bohemians 
 were detested in the church. The doctor of 
 Ingolstadt adopted this stratagem. "From 
 primitive times," said he, " it has been ever 
 acknowledged, that the Church of Rome de- 
 rives her primacy from Christ himself, and 
 not from human law. I must admit, how- 
 ever, that the Bohemians in their obstinate 
 defence of their errors have attacked this doc- 
 trine. I ask the reverend father's pardon if I 
 am opposed to the Bohemians on account of 
 their opposition to the Church; and if the 
 present discussion has recalled those heretics 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 143 
 
 to my recollection; for .... according to my 
 humble judgment . . . . the inferences the doc- 
 tor has drawn are entirely favourable to their 
 errors; and, it is said, they boast of this." 108 
 
 Eck had rightly calculated the effect. All 
 his partisans loudly applauded the artful in- 
 sinuation, and an exultation was manifest in 
 the auditory. "These insults," said the Re- 
 former at a subsequent period, "pleased their 
 fancy much more than the progress of the dis- 
 cussion." 
 
 LUTHER. "I neither love, nor ever shall 
 love, a schism. Since on their own authority 
 the Bohemians have separated from unity with 
 us, they are in the wrong : even though di- 
 vine right should be in favour of the doctrine: 
 for the highest divine right is love and the 
 unity of the Spirit." 109 
 
 It was on the fifth of July, in the morning 
 sitting, that Luther uttered these words. The 
 meeting shortly after broke up, the dinner 
 hour having arrived. It is likely that some 
 one of the friends, or perhaps of the enemies 
 of the doctor, drew his thoughts to the fact 
 that he had gone very far in thus condemn- 
 ing the jChristians of Bohemia. Had they 
 not in reality stood for those doctrines that 
 Luther was then maintaining ? Hence it was, 
 when the assembly were again together at 
 two in the afternoon, Luther broke silence, 
 and said courageously : " Among the articles 
 of John Huss and the Bohemians, there are 
 some that are most agreeable to Christ. This 
 is certain; and of this sort is that article: 
 * There is only One church universal ;' and 
 again: * That it is not necessary to salvation 
 that we should believe the Roman church 
 superior to others.' It matters little to me 
 whether Wiclif or Huss said it. It is Truth." 
 
 This declaration of Luther produced an im- 
 mense sensation on the auditory. Huss, 
 Wiclif, names held in abhorrence, pronounced 
 with respect by a monk, in the midst of a 
 Catholic assembly ! . . . . An almost general 
 murmur ran round the hall. Duke George 
 himself was alarmed. He foresaw for Saxo- 
 ny the unfurling of the standard of that civil 
 discord which had ravaged the states of his 
 maternal ancestors. Not able to suppress his 
 feelings, he broke forth in a loud exclamation, 
 in the hearing of all the assembly : " He is 
 mad." 110 Then, shaking his head, he rested 
 his hands on his sides. The whole assem- 
 bly was in high excitement. Those who 
 were seated rose from their seats, conversing 
 in groups. The drowsy were aroused : the 
 enemies of Luther exulted; and his friends 
 were greatly perplexed. Several who till 
 then had listened to him with satisfaction, be- 
 gan to doubt his orthodoxy. The effect of 
 this speech was never effaced from the mind 
 of Duke George: from that hour he looked 
 with an evil eye on the Reformer and became 
 his enemy. 111 
 
 As to Luther, he did not give way to this 
 burst of murmurs. "Gregory Nazianzen," 
 continued he, with noble calmness, " Basil the 
 Great. Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and a great 
 many other Greek bishops, are saved; and 
 
 yet they never believed that the Church of 
 Rome was superior to other churches. It does 
 not belong to the Roman pontiffs to add new 
 articles of faith. There is no authority for the 
 believing Christian but the Holy Scripture. 
 It, alone, is of divine right. I beg the worthy 
 Doctor Eck to grant me that the Roman pon- 
 tiffs have been men, and not to speak of them 
 as if they were Gods." 112 
 
 Eck here resorted to one of those pleasant- 
 ries which give an easy advantage, in appear- 
 ance, to him who uses them. 
 
 "The reverend father, who is not skilful in 
 his cookery," said he, " has just made a very 
 bad hash of heretics and Greek saints, so that 
 the odour of sanctity of the one hides the taste 
 of poison in the others." 113 
 
 LUTHER, interrupting Eck with spirit 
 "The worthy doctor speaks with effrontery. 
 In my judgment, Christ can have no concord 
 with Belial." 
 
 Such were the discussions which gave em- 
 ployment to the two doctors. The assembly 
 were attentive. The interest at times flagged, 
 however, and the hearers were not displeased 
 when any incident occurred to enliven them 
 by some distraction. It often happens, that 
 events of the greatest importance are in this 
 way broken in* upon by comic accidents. 
 Something of this sort took place at Leipsic. 
 
 Duke George, following the custom of the 
 age, kept a court fool. Some wags said to 
 him, "Luther is contending that a court fool 
 may get married : Eck maintains the contrary 
 opinion." Hereupon the fool conceived great 
 aversion for Eck ; and every time he came to 
 the hall in the Duke's suite, he eyed the theo- 
 logian with threatening looks. One day, the 
 Chancellor of Ingolstadt, descending to buf- 
 foonery, shut one eye, (the fool was blind of 
 one eye,) and with the other looked askance 
 at the dwarf. The latter, no longer able to 
 control himself, poured forth a torrent of abuse 
 on the learned doctor. The whole assembly, 
 says Peifer, gave way to laughter, and this 
 incident lessened in some degree the extreme 
 tension of their minds. 114 
 
 During this time the city was the scene of 
 events which showed the horror with which 
 the bold assertions of Luther inspired the par- 
 tisans of Rome. The loudest clamours pro- 
 ceeded from the convents in the Pope's inte- 
 rest. One Sunday the doctor of Wittemberg 
 entered the church of the Dominicans just 
 before high mass. There were present only 
 a few monks, who were going through the 
 earlier masses at the lower altars. As soon 
 as it was known in the cloister that the heretic 
 Luther was in the church, the monks ran to- 
 gether in haste, caught up the remonstrance, 
 and, taking it to its receptacle, carefully shut 
 it up, lest the holy sacrament should be pro- 
 faned by the impure eyes of the Augustine of 
 Wittemberg. While this was doing, they 
 who were reading mass collected together the 
 sacred furniture, quitted the altar, crossed the 
 church, and sought refuge in the sacristy, as 
 if, says a historian, the devil himself had been 
 behind them. 
 
 N2 
 
144 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Everywhere the discussions furnished sub- 
 ject of conversation. In the lodging-houses, 
 at the university, at the court, each one gave 
 his opinion. Duke George, with all his irri- 
 tation, did not pertinaciously refuse to allow 
 himself to be convinced. One day, when Eck 
 and Luther were dining with him, he inter- 
 rupted their conversation by the remark, 
 " Whether the Pope be by divine right or hu- 
 man right, it is at any rate a fact that he is 
 Pope." 115 Luther was quite pleased with these 
 words. "The prince," said he, "would never 
 have given utterance to them, if my arguments 
 had not impressed him." 
 
 The dispute on the Pope's primacy had 
 lasted five days. On the 8th of July they 
 came to the subject of Purgatory. The dis- 
 cussion lasted rather more than two days. 
 Luther at this time admitted the existence of 
 purgatory; but he denied that this doctrine 
 was taught in Scripture and by the Fathers, 
 in the way the scholastic divines and his ad- 
 versary asserted. " Our Doctor Eck," said 
 he, alluding to the superficial character of his 
 opponent, " has to-day run over Scripture al- 
 most without touching it, as a spider runs 
 upon the water." 
 
 On the llth of July the disputants arrived 
 at the Indulgences. " It was no better than 
 play a mere joke," said Luther. "The in- 
 dulgences fell with scarce the shadow of de- 
 fence. Eck agreed with me in almost every 
 thing." 116 Eck himself observed, " If I had not 
 met Doctor Martin on the question of the 
 Pope's primacy, I could almost come to agree- 
 ment with him." 117 
 
 The discussion afterwards turned on Re- 
 pentance, the Priest's absolution, and Satis- 
 factions. Eck, as his practice was, quoted 
 the scholastic divines, the Dominicans, and 
 the Pope's canons. Luther closed the discus- 
 sion by these words : . 
 
 "The reverend doctor avoids the Holy 
 Scriptures, as the devil flees from before the 
 cross. For my part, saving the respect due 
 to the Fathers, I prefer the authority of the 
 word of God ; and it is that which I would 
 press upon our judges." 118 
 
 Thus ended the dispute between Eck and 
 Luther. Carlstadt and the doctor of Ingol- 
 stadt continued for two days to discuss the 
 merits of man in good works. On the 16th 
 of July the affair was terminated, after having 
 lasted twenty days, by a sermon from the 
 Superior of Leipsic. As soon as this was 
 over, a band of music was heard, and the so- 
 lemnity was closed by the Te Dcum. 
 
 But, during this solemn chant, men's minds 
 were no longer as they were when the hymn 
 Veni Spiritus had been sung. Already the 
 presentiments of some appeared realized. The 
 arguments of the two opposing champions had 
 inflicted an open wound on the Papacy. 
 
 These theological discussions, which in our 
 days would excite little attention, had been 
 followed and listened to with interest for 
 twenty days, by laymen, knights, and princes. 
 Duke Barnim of Pomerania and Duke George 
 were constant in attendance. "But, on the 
 
 other hand," says an eye-witness, "some 
 Leipsic divines, friends of Eck, slept soundly 
 much of the time ; and it was even necessary 
 to wake them at. the close of the discussion, 
 lest they should lose their dinner." 
 
 Luther was the first who quitted Leipsic. 
 Carlstadt set out soon after. Eck remained a 
 few days after their departure. 
 
 No decision was made known on the mat- 
 ters discussed. Each one commented on them 
 as he pleased. 119 " There has been at Leipsic," 
 said Luther, "loss of time, not search after 
 truth. For these two years past that we have 
 been examining the doctrines of the adversa- 
 ries, we have counted all their bones. Eck, 
 on the contrary, has hardly grazed the sur- 
 face, yet he has made more outcry in one hour 
 than we have in two long years." 120 
 
 Eck, in private letters to his friends, acknow- 
 ledged his having been defeated on many 
 points; but he was at no loss for reasons to 
 account for it. 121 " The Wittemberg divines," 
 said he, in a letter to Hochstraten, dated the 
 24th July, "have had the best of the argu- 
 ment on certain points ; first, because they 
 brought with them their books; secondly, 
 because their friends took notes of the dis- 
 cussion, which they could examine at home at 
 leisure; thirdly, because they were several in 
 number: two doctors (Carlstadt and Luther,) 
 Lange, vicar of the Augustines, two licen- 
 tiates, Amsdorff, and a most arrogant nephew 
 of Reuchlin, (Melancthon,) three doctors of 
 law, and several masters of arts, all were as- 
 sisting in the discussion, either publicly or in 
 secret. As for myself, I came forward alone, 
 having only right on my side." Eck forgot 
 Emser, the bishop, and all the doctors of 
 Leipsic. 
 
 If such admissions were made by Eck in 
 his confidential correspondence, it was quite 
 otherwise in public. The doctor of Ingolstadt 
 and the theologians of Leipsic, loudly boasted 
 of " their victory." They spread everywhere 
 false reports. Them' uth-pieces of their party 
 repeated their self-gratulations. " Eck," wrote 
 Luther, " boasts in all companies of his victo- 
 ry." 122 But the laurels were an object of con- 
 tention in the camp of Rome. " If we had not 
 come in aid of Eck," said his Leipsic allies, 
 " the illustrious doctor would have been over- 
 thrown." " The divines of Leipsic are well- 
 meaning people," said the doctor of Ingol- 
 stadt, " but I had formed too high expectations 
 from them I did all myself." " You see," 
 said Luther to Spalatin, " that they are sing- 
 ing another Iliad and ^Eneid. They are so kind 
 as to make me play the part of Hector or 
 Turnus, whilst Eck is their Achilles or ./Eneas. 
 Their only doubt is, whether the victory was 
 gained by the forces of Eck or of Leipsic. All 
 I can say, to throw light on the question, is, 
 that doctor Eck clamoured continually, and 
 the men of Leipsic keep continual silence." 123 
 
 " Eck has obtained the victory, in the opi- 
 nion of those who do not understand the ques- 
 tion, and who have grown gray in scholastic 
 studies," observed the elegant, witty, and ju- 
 dicious Mosellanus ; " but Luther and Carl- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 145 
 
 stadt remain masters of the field, in the judg- ] 
 ment of those who have learning, intelligence, j 
 and modesty." 124 
 
 The dispute was, however, destined not to 
 vanish in mere smoke. Every work done in 
 faith bear's fruit. The words of Luther had 
 found their way, with irresistible power, to the 
 minds of his hearers. Several, who had re- 
 gularly attended in the hall of the castle, were 
 brought under the truth. It was especially 
 in the very midst of its most active enemies, 
 that its conquests were achieved. Poliander, 
 secretary to Eck, and his intimate friend and 
 disciple, was gained to the cause of the Re- 
 formation ; and as early as the year 1522, he 
 preached the gospel publicly at Leipsic. John 
 Cellarius, professor of Hebrew, one of the 
 warmest opponents of the Reformation, struck 
 by the words of the mighty doctor, began to 
 search, the Scriptures more deeply. Shortly 
 after, he gave up his place; and, full of hu- 
 mility, came to Wittemberg, to study at the 
 feet of Luther. He was subsequently pastor 
 at Frankfort and at Dresden. 
 
 Among those who sat on the benches re- 
 served for the court, and who surrounded Duke 
 George, was George of Anhalt, a young prince 
 of twelve years, descended from a family ce- 
 lebrated for their bravery against the Saracens. 
 He was then prosecuting his studies under a 
 private tutor. This illustrious youth was 
 early distinguished for his eager desire of 
 knowledge and love of truth. Often he was 
 heard to repeat the proverb of Solomon, 
 *' Lying lips do not become a prince." The 
 discussion at Leipsic awakened in this child 
 serious reflections, and a decided partiality for 
 Luther. 125 Shortly after he was offered a bishop- 
 ric. His brothers and all his relations urged 
 him to accept it; desiring to see him rise to 
 the higher dignities of the church. He was 
 immovable in his refusal. On the death of 
 his pious mother, he found himself in posses- 
 sion of all the Reformer's writings. He put 
 up constant and fervent prayers to God, be- 
 seeching him to bring his heart under the 
 power of the truth; and often in the privacy 
 of his cabinet, he exclaimed with tears, " Deal 
 with thy servant according to thy mercy and 
 teach me thy statutes." 126 His prayers were 
 answered. Under strong conviction, and con- 
 strained to action on it, he fearlessly ranged 
 himself on the side of the gospel. In vain his tu- 
 tors, and foremost among them Duke George, 
 oesieged him, with entreaties and remon- 
 strances. He continued inflexible; and George, 
 half brought over by the answers of his pupil, 
 exclaimed, " I am not able to answer him : 
 but I will, nevertheless, continue in my 
 church, for it is not possible to break an old 
 dog." We shall again meet with this amiable 
 prince; who was, indeed, one of the noble 
 characters of the Reformation ; who himself 
 preached the word of life to his subjects: and 
 to whom has been applied the saying of Dion 
 Cassius on the emperor Marcus Antoninus, 
 " In his whole life, he was consistent with 
 himself; a good man without any guile." 127 
 
 It was especially among the students that 
 
 the words of Luther were received with en- 
 thusiasm. They felt the difference between 
 the spirit and power of the Wittemberg doctor, 
 and the sophistical distinctions and vain spe- 
 culations of the chancellor of Ingolstadt. 
 They saw Luther relying on the word of God. 
 They saw doctor Eck taking his stand only 
 on the traditions of men. The effect was in- 
 stantaneous. The lecturing halls of the uni- 
 versity of Leipsic w r ere almost deserted after 
 the disputation. A circumstance of the time 
 contributed to this : the plague showed itself. 
 But there were several other universities, as 
 Erfurth or Ingolstadt, to which the students 
 might have retired. The force of truth attract- 
 ed them to Wittemberg. There the number 
 of students was doubled. 128 
 
 Among those who removed from the one uni- 
 versity to the other, there was a young man of 
 sixteen, of melancholy character, silent, and 
 often lost in abstraction in the very midst of 
 the conversation and amusements of his fel- 
 low-students. 129 His parents had thought him 
 of weak intellect, but ere long they found him 
 so quick in his learning, and so continually 
 occupied in his studies, that they conceived 
 great expectations of him. His uprightness, 
 candour, diffidence, and piety, made him an 
 object of general affection, and Mosellanus 
 pointed to him as a pattern to the whole uni- 
 versity. His name was Gaspard Cruciger, 
 and he was a native of Leipsic. The young 
 student of Wittemberg was at a later period 
 the friend of Melancthon, and a fellow-labour- 
 er with Luther in the translation of the Bible. 
 
 The disputation at Leipsic had yet nobler 
 results. It was there that the theologian of 
 the Reformation received his call to the work. 
 Modest and silent, Melancthon had been pre- 
 sent at the discussion, taking scarcely any 
 part in it. Hitherto he had applied himself 
 only to literature. The conference communi- 
 cated to him a new impulse, and launched the 
 eloquent professor into theology. From that 
 hour he bowed the heights of his learning be- 
 fore the word of God. He received the evan- 
 gelical doctrine with the simplicity of a child. 
 His auditors heard him explain the way of 
 salvation with a grace and clearness which 
 delighted every one. He advanced boldly in 
 this path so new to him, for, said he, " Christ 
 will not be wanting to those who are his." lco 
 From this period, the two friends went for- 
 ward together, contending for liberty and truth, 
 the one with the energy of Paul, the other with 
 the gentleness of John. Luther has well ex- 
 pressed the difference in their vocations. " I," 
 says he, " was born for struggling on the field 
 of battle with parties and devils. Thus it in 
 that my writings breathe war and tempest. I 
 must root up stock and stem, clear away 
 thorns and brambles, and fill up swamps and 
 sloughs. I am like the sturdy wood-cutter, 
 who must clear and level the road. But our 
 master of arts, Philip, goes forward quietly 
 and gently, cultivating and planting, sowing 
 and watering joyfully, according as God has 
 dealt to him so liberally of his gifts." 131 
 
 If Melancthon, the tranquil sower, was 
 
146 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 called to his work by the Leipsic discussion, 
 Luther, the sturdy wood-cutter, felt that it 
 added strength to his arm, and his courage 
 was proportionately exalted. The mightiest 
 result of the discussion was indeed that which 
 was wrought in Luther himself " The scho- 
 lastic theology," said he, " then crumbled into 
 dust before me, under the boasted presidence 
 of Doctor Kck." The covering, which the 
 schools and the church had spread before the 
 sanctuary, was rent from top to bottom. 
 Driven to further investigation, he attained 
 unexpected discoveries. With equal surprise 
 and indignation, he beheld the evil in all its 
 magnitude. Searching into the annals of the 
 Church, he discovered that the supremacy of 
 Rome had its origin in the ambition of one 
 party and the credulous ignorance of another. 
 Silence, as to these melancholy discoveries, 
 was not permitted to him. The pride of his 
 adversaries, the victory they pretended to 
 have gained. their endeavours to put out the 
 light, decided his purpose. He went forward 
 in the way wherein God led him, without 
 disquieting himself as to the result to which 
 it might lead him. Luther has marked this 
 as the epoch of his enfranchisement from the 
 papal yoke. " Learn of me," says he, " how 
 hard it is to unlearn the errors which the 
 whole world confirms by its example, and 
 which, by long use, have become to us as a 
 second nature. 132 ! had for seven years read 
 and hourly expounded the Scriptures with 
 much zeal, so that I knew them almost all by 
 heart. 133 ! had also all the first-fruits of the 
 knowledge and faith of my Lord Jesus Christ; 
 that is, I knew that we are justified and saved, 
 not by our works, but by faith in Christ; and 
 I even openly maintained that it is not by di- 
 vine right that the Pope is chief of the Chris- 
 tian church. And yet . . I could not see the 
 conclusion from all this; namely, that of 
 necessity and beyond doubt, the Pope is of 
 the devil. For what is not of God, must 
 needs be of the devil." 134 Luther adds, further 
 on " I do not now give free utterance to my 
 indignation against those who still adhere to 
 the Pope, since 1, who had for so many years 
 read the Holy Scriptures with so much care, 
 yet held to the Papacy with so much obsti- 
 nacy." 135 
 
 Such were the real results of the Leipsic 
 discussion, and they were much more im- 
 portant 'than the discussion itself. They 
 were, like the first successes which discipline 
 and inspirit an army. 
 
 Eck gave himself up to all the intoxication 
 of what he had tried to represent as a victory. 
 He circulated slanders against Luther. He 
 heaped one imputation upon another. 136 He 
 wrote to Frederic. He sought, like a skilful 
 general, to profit by the confusion which ever 
 follows a conflict, in order to obtain from the 
 Prince some important concessions. Before 
 taking measures against his adversary in per- 
 son, he invoked the flames to consume his 
 writings even those which he had not read. 
 He entreated the Elector to convoke the pro- 
 vincial council "Let us," said the foul- 
 
 mouthed Doctor, " exterminate all these ver- 
 min before they have multiplied beyond 
 bounds." 137 
 
 It was not against Luther alone that he 
 poured out his wrath. His rashness called 
 Melancthon into the lists. The Tatter, con- 
 nected by the tenderest friendship with the 
 worthy (Ecolampadius, sent him an account 
 of the discussion, speaking in terms of com- 
 mendation of Doctor Eck. 133 Nevertheless, the 
 pride of the Chancellor of Ingolstadt was 
 wounded. He instantly took pen in hand 
 against "that grammarian of Wittemberg, 
 who, to say the truth, is not unacquainted 
 with Greek and Latin, but had dared to cir- 
 culate a letter, wherein he had insulted him, 
 Dr. Eck." 139 
 
 Melancthon answered. This was his first 
 theological writing. It is marked by the 
 exquisite urbanity which distinguished this 
 excellent man. After laying down the prin- 
 ciples of hermeneutical science, he shows 
 that we ought not to explain the Holy Scrip- 
 ture by the Fathers, but the Fathers by the 
 Holy Scripture. " How often," says he, 
 " has not Jerome been mistaken ! how often 
 Augustine ! how often Ambrose ! How often 
 do we not find them differing in judgment 
 how often do we not hear them retracting 
 their errors ! There is but one Scripture 
 divinely inspired and without mixture of 
 error." 140 
 
 " Luther does not adhere to certain dubious 
 expositions of the ancients, say his adver- 
 saries: and why should he adhere to them? 
 In his explanation of the passage of St. Mat- 
 thew, Thou art Peter, and on this rock will 1 
 build my church, he says the very same thing 
 as Origen, who in his account is a host, yea, 
 the very thing that Augustine writes in his 
 homily, and Ambrose in his sixth book on 
 St. Luke, not to mention others. What then, 
 you will say, can the Fathers contradict each 
 other ! And what is there so surprising in 
 that] 141 ! reverence the Fathers, because I 
 believe the Holy Scripture. The sense of 
 Scripture is one and simple, as heavenly truth 
 itself. We enter into it by comparing Scrip- 
 ture with Scripture, and deduce it from the 
 thread and connection of the whole. 142 There 
 is a philosophy enjoined us with respect to 
 the Scriptures given by God ; it is to bring 
 to them all the thoughts and maxims of men, 
 as to the touchstone by which these are to be 
 tried." 143 
 
 For a long time no one had so elegantly 
 set forth such powerful truths. The word of 
 God was reinstated in its proper place, and 
 the Fathers in theirs. The course by which 
 the true sense of Scripture is obtained was 
 plainly indicated. The preaching of the Gos- 
 pel rose above the difficulties and glosses of 
 the schools. Melancthon furnished a means, 
 available for all times, of answering those, 
 who, like Dr. Eck, would involve this sub- 
 ject in perplexities. The weak " gram- 
 marian" had arisen, and the broad and robust 
 shoulders of the scholastic gladiator had yield- 
 ed under the first movement of his arm. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 147 
 
 The more Eck felt his weakness, the louder 
 were his clamours. He thought by rhodo- 
 montade and accusations to secure the victory 
 which his argument had failed to achieve. 
 The monks and all the partisans of Rome re- 
 echoed these clamours. From all parts of 
 Germany reproaches were showered ^.pon 
 Luther; but he remained unmoved by them. 
 44 The more reproach is heaped upon me," 
 said he, at the conclusion of some explana- 
 tions which he published of the propositions 
 of Leipsic, " the more do I glory in it. Truth, 
 that is to say Christ, must increase, while I 
 must decrease. The voice of the bridegroom 
 and of the bride gives me a joy that is far 
 above the fears their clamours cause me. It 
 is not men that are opposing me, and I have 
 no enmity against them ; it is Satan, the prince 
 of evil, who is labouring to intimidate me. 
 But he who is in us is greater than he who 
 is in the world. The opinion of this age is 
 against us, that of posterity will be more 
 favourable." 144 
 
 If the discussion of Leipsic multiplied the 
 enemies of Luther in Germany, it augmented 
 the number of his friends in distant parts. 
 "That which Huss was formerly in Bohe- 
 mia," wrote the Brethren to him from that 
 country, "you, Martin, are now in Saxony; 
 therefore, continue in prayer, and be strong in 
 the Lord." 
 
 About this time a rupture took place between 
 Luther and Emser, then professor at Leipsic. 
 The latter wrote to Dr. Zack, a zealous Roman 
 Catholic of Prague, a letter, apparently in- 
 tended to remove from the Hussites the im- 
 pression that Luther partook of their views. 
 Luther could not doubt that the design of the 
 Leipsic professor was, under the semblance 
 of justifying him, to cause the suspicion to 
 hang over him of adhering to the Bohemian 
 heresy, and he resolved at once to rend asun- 
 der the veil with which his former guest at 
 Dresden sought to cover his enmity. With 
 this view he published a letter addressed " to 
 the he-goat Emser." (The armorial bearing 
 of Emser was a he-goat.) He concluded this 
 writing with words which well express the 
 writer's character " Love for all men, but 
 fear of none !" 145 
 
 While new friends and new enemies came 
 forth, some earlier friends began to show signs 
 of estrangement from Luther. Staupitz, by 
 whose means the Reformer had emerged from 
 the obscurity of the cloister of Erfurth, began 
 to evince some coldness towards him. Luther 
 rose to an elevation of views whither Staupitz 
 was not able to follow him. " You abandon 
 me," wrote Luther to him; "I have been all 
 this day grieving like a weaned child. 146 ! 
 dreamed of you last night," continues the Re- 
 former. " I thought you were taking leave 
 of me, and I was weeping and sobbing bitter- 
 ly; but I thought you put out your hand to 
 me and bade me be tranquil, for you would 
 return to me again." 
 
 The peacemaker, Miltitz, resolved to make 
 another effort to calm the minds of the dispu- 
 tants. But what influence could be had over 
 20 
 
 men still agitated by the feeling of conflict? 
 His endeavours w r ere unavailing. He pre- 
 sented the famous Golden Rose to the Elector, 
 and the prince did not give himself the trouble 
 even to receive it in person. 147 Frederic well 
 knew the artifices of Rome ; it was useless, 
 therefore, to think any longer ofdeceiving him. 148 
 
 Far from giving ground, Luther continued 
 to advance. It was at this time that he struck 
 one of his heaviest blows against prevailing 
 error, by publishing his first Commentary on 
 the Epistle to the Galatians.* The second 
 commentary undoubtedly surpassed the first: 
 but even in this he set forth with great power 
 the doctrine of justification by faith. Every 
 word of the new apostle was full of life, and 
 God made use of him as an instrument to in- 
 troduce the knowledge of himself into the 
 hearts of the people. " Christ has given Him- 
 self for our sins," said Luther to his contem- 
 poraries: 149 '^! is not silver or gold that he has 
 given for us ; it is not a man ; it is not the 
 host of angels; it is Himself, without whom 
 nothing is great, that he has given. And this 
 incomparable treasure he has given for our 
 sins! Where now are those who proudly 
 boast the power of our will 1 where are the 
 precepts of moral philosophy 1 where the 
 power and the obligation of the law ? Since 
 our sins are so great that nothing less than a 
 ransom so stupendous could remove them, 
 shall we still seek to attain unto righteousness 
 by the strength of our will, by the force of 
 law, by the doctrines of men 1 What use can 
 we have of all these subtleties and delusions'? 
 Alas ! they could but cover our iniquities with 
 a cloak of lies, and make us hypocrites beyond 
 the reach of salvation." 
 
 But while Luther proved that there is no 
 salvation for man but in Christ, he showed, 
 also, that this salvation changes the heart of 
 man, and makes him abound in good works. 
 " He who has truly heard the word of Christ 
 and keeps it, is thenceforward clothed with the 
 spirit of charity. If thou lovest him who hath 
 made thee a present of twenty florins, or ren- 
 dered thee any service, or testified in any other 
 way his affection towards you, how much 
 more shouldestthou love Him who hath given 
 for thee, not gold or silver, but himself,- who 
 hath received for thee so many wounds ; who 
 hath undergone for thy sake an agony and 
 sweat of blood ; who in thy stead hath suf- 
 fered death ; in a word, who, in discharge of 
 thy sins, hath swallowed up death, and ac- 
 
 ;uired for thee a Father in heaven, full of love ! 
 f thou dost not love him, thy heart hath not 
 entered into or understood the things which 
 he hath done; thou hast not believed them; 
 for faith worketh by love." "This epistle is 
 my epistle," said Luther, speaking of the 
 Epistle to the Galatians ; " I have espoused it." 
 His adversaries did but hasten his progress. 
 Without them it would have been more gra- 
 dual. Eck provoked against him at this period 
 a new attack on the part of the Franciscans 
 of Juterbok. Luther, in his answer, not satis- 
 
 September, 1519. 
 
148 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 fied with repeating what he had already taught, I 
 attacked some errors which he had recently 
 discovered. 150 "! should be glad to be inform- 
 ed," said he, " where, in the Scripture, the 
 power of canonizing saints has been given to 
 the Popes ; and also what necessity, what use 
 there can be in canonizing them." "For 
 aught it matters," he added, ironically, "let 
 them go on canonizing to their heart's con- 
 tent." 151 
 
 These new attacks of Luther remained un- 
 answered. The infatuation of his enemies 
 favoured him as much as his own courage. 
 They contended, with much warmth and pas- 
 sion, for things that were at most but second- 
 ary and subordinate opinions; and when 
 Luther assailed the very foundations of the 
 Romish doctrine, they saw them struck with- 
 out uttering a word. They exerted themselves 
 to defend some advanced outworks at the very 
 time that their intrepid adversary was pene- 
 trating into the citadel, and planting there the 
 standard of the truth. Hence they were after- 
 wards much astonished to see the fortress, 
 of which they had constituted themselves the 
 defenders, undermined, on fire, and sinking in 
 the midst of the flames, while they thought it 
 impregnable, and were braving the besiegers. 
 It is the ordinary course in such catastrophes. 
 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper began 
 now to occupy the thoughts of Luther. He 
 sought in vain to find this holy Supper in the 
 Mass. One day (it was a short time after his 
 return from Leipsic) he ascended the pulpit. 
 Let us pay attention to his words, for they are 
 the first he uttered on a subject which has 
 since divided the Reformed Church into two 
 parties. " There are three things," said he, 
 " necessary to be understood in the holy sacra- 
 ment of the altar: the sign, which must be 
 external, visible, and under a corporeal form : 
 the thing signified, which is internal, spiritual, 
 and within the soul of man; and Faith, which 
 uses both." 152 If definitions had been carried 
 no further, the unity of the Church would not 
 have been destroyed. Luther continued : 
 
 "It would be well if the Church, in a gene- 
 ral council, would order the sacrament to be 
 administered in * both kinds' to all believers; 
 not, however, that one kind would not be suf- 
 ficient, for Faith of itself would suffice." 
 
 These bold words pleased his hearers. Some, 
 however, were surprised and angry. " It is 
 false," said they; "it is a scandal." 153 The 
 preacher continued : 
 
 "There is no union more intimate, more 
 deep, more indivisible, than that which takes 
 place between the food and the body which 
 the food nourishes. Christ unites himself to 
 us in the sacrament in such a manner, that he 
 acts as if he were identical with us. Our sins 
 assail him . his righteousness defends us. 11 
 
 But Luther was not satisfied with declar- 
 ing the truth : he attacked one of the funda- 
 mental errors of Rome. 154 The Romish Church 
 pretends that the sacrament operates by itself, 
 independently of the person who receives it. 
 Nothing can be more convenient than such an 
 opinion. Hence the ardour with which the 
 
 sacrament is sought for, and hence come the 
 profits of the Romish clergy. Luther at- 
 tacked this doctrine,* and "met it with its 
 opposite,! which requires faith and consent 
 of heart in him who receives it. 
 
 This energetic protest was calculated to 
 overthrow the long-established superstitions. 
 But, strange to say, no attention was paid to 
 it. Rome passed unnoticed what one would 
 have thought would have called forth a shriek, 
 while she bore down haughtily on a remark 
 Luther had let fall at the commencement of 
 his discourse, on " communion in both kinds." 
 
 This discourse having been published in 
 the month of December, a cry of heresy arose 
 on all sides. " It is the doctrine of Prague 
 to all intents and purposes !" was the excla- 
 mation at the court of Dresden, where the 
 sermon arrived during the festival of Christ- 
 mas: "besides the work is written in Ger- 
 man, in order that the common people may 
 understand it." 155 The devotion of the prince 
 was disturbed, and on the third day of the 
 festival he wrote to his cousin Frederic : 
 " Since the publication of this discourse the 
 number of the Bohemians who receive the 
 Lord's Supper in both kinds has increased 
 six thousand. Your Luther, instead of a 
 simple Wittemberg professor, will, ere long, 
 be Bishop of Prague, and an arch-heretic." 
 " He is a Bohemian by birth," said some, 
 " and of Bohemian parents ! He was brought 
 up at Prao-ue, and instructed from the writings 
 ofWiclif!" 
 
 Luther thought fit to contradict these re- 
 ports in a tract, wherein he formally gave an 
 account of his origin. " I was born at Eisle- 
 ben," he said, "and was baptized in the 
 Church of St. Peter. I never in my life was 
 nearer to Bohemia than Dresden." 156 
 
 The letter of Duke George did not estrange 
 the Elector from Luther. A few days after- 
 wards, this prince invited the doctor to a 
 splendid banquet, which he gave to the 
 Spanish Ambassador, and Luther on this oc- 
 casion boldly disputed with the minister of 
 Charles. 157 The Elector, through the medium 
 of his chaplain, had begged him to defend his 
 cause with moderation. " Too much impru- 
 dence displeases men," answered Luther to 
 Spalatin, " but too much prudence is displeas- 
 ing to God. It is impossible to make a stand 
 for the Gospel without creating some disturb- 
 ance and offence. The word of God is a 
 sword, waging war, overthrowing and de- 
 stroying; it is a casting down, a disturbance, 
 and comes, as the prophet Amos says, as a 
 bear in the way, and as a lion in the forest. 158 
 I want nothing from them. I ask nothing. 
 There is One above who seeks and requires. 
 Whether his requirements be disregarded or 
 obeyed, affects not me." 159 
 
 Every thing announced that Luther would 
 soon have more need than ever of faith and 
 courage. Eck was forming plans of ven- 
 geance. Instead of gathering the laurels 
 
 * Known by the name of opus operatum. 
 t That of opus operantis. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 149 
 
 which he had reckoned upon, the gladiator of 
 Leipsic had become the laughing-stock of all 
 the men of sense of his country. Keen sa- 
 tires were published against him. One 
 appeared as a " letter from some unlearned 
 Canons." It was written by (Ecolampadius, 
 and stung Eck to the quick. Another was a 
 complaint against Eck, probably written by 
 the excellent Pirckheimer, of Nuremberg, 
 abounding in a pungency, and at the same 
 time a dignity of which nothing but the 
 Provincial Letters of Pascal can convey any 
 idea. 
 
 Luther expressed his displeasure at some 
 of these writings. " It is better," said he, 
 " to attack openly, than to wound from behind 
 a hedge.'" 60 
 
 How was the Chancellor of Ingolstadt 
 deceived in his calculations! His country- 
 men abandoned him. He prepared to cross 
 the Alps, to invoke foreign assistance. Wher- 
 ever he went, he breathed threats against Lu- 
 ther, Melancthon, Carlstadt, and even the 
 Elector himself. " Judging by the haughti- 
 ness of his words, says the Doctor of Wit- 
 temberg, "one would say that he imagines 
 himself to be the Almighty." 161 Inflamed with 
 
 anger and the thirst for vengeance, Eck took 
 his departure for Italy, there to receive the 
 reward of his asserted triumphs, and to forge 
 in the capitol at Rome mightier bolts than 
 those weapons of scholastic controversy which 
 had been broken in his hands. 
 
 Luther well knew the dangers which this 
 journey of his antagonist was likely to draw 
 down on him, but he did not quail. Spalatin, 
 in alarm, urged him to make advances to an 
 accommodation. " No," replied Luther, " so 
 long as he challenges, I dare not withdraw 
 from the contest. I commit every thing to 
 God, and give up my bark to winds and 
 waves. The battle is the Lord's. Why 
 will you fancy that it is by peace that Christ 
 will advance his cause? Has not he him- 
 self, have not all the martyrs after him, 
 poured forth their blood in the conflict T' 162 
 
 Such, at the commencement of the year 
 1520, was the position of the two combatants 
 of Leipsic. The one engaged in rousing the 
 power of the Papacy to crush his rival. The 
 other awaiting the contest with all the calm- 
 ness of one who seems to reckon upon peace. 
 The year then opening was destined to wit- 
 ness the bursting of the storm. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 THE ROMAN BULL. 
 
 1520. 
 
 Istes for the Empire Charles Francis I. The Crown offered to Frederic Charles elect- 
 ed Dangers Frederic to the Roman Court Luther's Feelings Melancthon's Alarm 
 Schaumburg Sickingen Hiitten Luther's Confidence Faith, the Spring of Works The 
 Author of FaithAttack on the PapacyThe Three Barriers All Christians Priests Corrup- 
 tions of Rome Germany in Danger Call for Reform Marriage of Priests The Empire Con- 
 clusion Success of the Appeal Rome Policy of Rome Separation 'The Swiss Priest The 
 Roman Consistory Condemnation Melancthon Melancthon's Hearth His Studies Melane- 
 thon's Mother The Gospel in Italy Luther on the Mass " Babylonian Captivity" of the 
 Church Baptism No other Vows Miltitz at Eisleben Deputation to Luther Conference at 
 Lichtenberg Luther's Letter to the Pope Union of Christ and the Believer Arrival of the Bull 
 in Germany The Students of Leipsic Eck at Erfurth Luther's Feelings The Pirckheimer 
 Family Luther Ulric Zwingle Luther's Answer Fresh Movements The Bonfire of Lou- 
 vain Luther's Tranquillity Appeal to a Council Struggle Burning of the Pope's Bull Lu- 
 ther and the Academy Luther and the Pope Melancthon to the States Luther encourages 
 his Friends Melancthon to the Fearful Luther's Vocation the Bible and the Doctors Retrac- 
 tation Aleander the Nuncio The Nuncio and the Emperor The Nuncio and the Elector- 
 Duke John's Son intercedes The Elector protects Luther The Nuncio's Answer Erasmus 
 in Cologne Erasmus and the Elector Erasmus's Declaration Erasmus's Advice The Con- 
 fessional Luther on Confession Antichrist Luther's Cause gains Strength Satires Ulric 
 Von Hiitten Carnival at Wittemberg Staupitz alarmed Luther's Labours Progress of the 
 Reformation. 
 
 A NEW actor was about to appear on the 
 stage. It was the will of God that the monk 
 of Wittemberg should be brought face to face 
 with the most powerful monarch who had 
 appeared in Christendom since the days of 
 Charlemagne. He made choice of a prince 
 in the vigour of youth, to whom every thing 
 promised a reign of long duration, a prince 
 whose sceptre bore sway over a considerable 
 part of the old, and also over a New World, 
 so that, according to a celebrated saying, the 
 sun never set upon his vast domains ; and i 
 
 with this prince he confronted the humble 
 Reformation, that had had its beginning in 
 the secret cell of a convent at Erfurth in the 
 anguish and groans of a poor monk. The 
 history of this monarch, and of his reign, was 
 destined, apparently, to read an important 
 lesson to the world. It was to show the no- 
 thingness of all "the strength of man," when 
 it presumes to strive against " the weakness 
 of God." Had a prince, friendly to Luther, 
 been called to the empire, the success of the 
 Reformation might have been attributed to his 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 protection. Had an emperor of feeble cha- 
 racter filled the throne even though he should 
 have been opposed to the new doctrine, the 
 success that attended it might have admitted 
 of explanation by the weakness of the reign- 
 ing sovereign. But it was the haughty con- 
 queror of Pavia whose pride was to be hum- 
 bled before the power of the divine Word; 
 and the whole world was called to witness 
 that he to whom power was given to lead 
 Francis I. to the dungeons of Madrid was 
 compelled to lay down the sword before the 
 son of a poor miner. 
 
 The Emperor Maximilian was no more. 
 The electors were assembled at Frankfort to 
 choose his successor. This was a decision of 
 high importance to all Europe under present 
 circumstances. All Christendom was occu- 
 pied with the election. Maximilian had not 
 been what is called a great prince ; but his 
 memory was dear to the people. They were 
 fond of calling to rnind his ready wit, and 
 good-nature. Luther often mentioned him in 
 conversation with his friends, and one day re- 
 lated the following sally of the monarch : 
 
 A mendicant was following him closely, 
 asking alms, and calling him brother; "for," 
 said he, " we are both descended from the same 
 father, Adam. I am poor," he continued, 
 " but you are rich, and therefore ought to as- 
 sist me." The emperor turned round at these 
 words, and said : " Here, take this penny, go 
 to your other brethren, and if every one of 
 them gives you as much, you will soon be 
 richer than I am." 1 
 
 The crisis required, for the Imperial crown, 
 a prince of more energy than the good-natured 
 Maximilian. The times were about to change ; 
 ambitious potentates were to contest the throne 
 of the Emperors of the West ; a powerful hand 
 must seize the reins of the Empire, and long 
 and bloody wars must succeed to a profound 
 peace. 
 
 Three kings contended at the diet of Frank- 
 fort for the crown of the Cassars. A young 
 prince, grandson of the late Emperor, born in 
 the first year of the century, and consequently 
 nineteen years of age, was the first who pre- 
 sented himself. He was named Charles, and 
 was born at Ghent. His grandmother, on the 
 father's side, Mary, daughter of Charles the 
 Bold, had bequeathed to him Flanders, and 
 the rich territories of Burgundy. His mother, 
 Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand of Arragon and 
 Isabella of Castile, and wife of Philip, son of 
 the Emperor Maximilian, had transmitted to 
 him the united crowns of Spain, Naples, and 
 Sicily : to which Christopher Columbus had 
 added a New World. The death of his grand- 
 father placed him at this moment in possession 
 of the hereditary dominions of Austria. This 
 young prince, endowed with much intelli- 
 gence, and amiable when it pleased him to be 
 so, combined with the taste for military exer- 
 cises, in which the illustrious Dukes of Bur- 
 gundy had so long distinguished themselves, 
 the subtlety and penetration of the Italians, 
 the reverence for existing institutions which 
 Ktill characterizes the house of Austria, and 
 
 | which promised a firm and zealous defender 
 | to the Papacy, and a great knowledge of pub- 
 I lie affairs, acquired under the tutorship of 
 Chievres. From the age of fifteen he had at- 
 ! tended at all the deliberations of his council. 2 
 These various qualities were in some degree 
 concealed and veiled by the reserve and taci- 
 turnity peculiar to the Spanish nation. There 
 was something melancholy in his long thin 
 visage. " He is pious and silent," said Lu- 
 ther; "I venture to say that he does not 
 speak so much in a year as I do in a day." 3 If 
 the character of Charles had been developed 
 under the influence of liberal and Christian 
 principles, he would perhaps have been one 
 of the most admirable princes recorded in his- 
 tory ; but political considerations absorbed his 
 thoughts, and tarnished his better qualities. 
 
 Not contented with the many sceptres 
 gathered together in his hand, the young 
 Charles aspired to the imperial dignity. " It 
 is a sunbeam which sheds splendour on the 
 house it lights upon," remarked some; "but 
 when any one puts forth the hand to lay hold 
 on it, he grasps nothing." Charles, on the 
 contrary, saw in it the summit of all earthly 
 greatness, and a means of obtaining a sort of 
 magic influence over the minds of the peo- 
 ple. 
 
 Francis I. of France, was the second of the 
 competitors. The young paladins of the court 
 of this king, incessantly urged on him, that 
 he ought, like Charlemagne, to be Emperor 
 of all the West; and, following the example 
 of the knights of old, lead them against the 
 Crescent, which menaced the Empire, strike 
 the power of the infidels to the dust, and re- 
 cover the holy sepulchre. " It is necessary," 
 said the ambassadors of Francis to the Elec- 
 tors, " to prove to the dukes of Austria, that 
 the imperial crown is not hereditary. Ger- 
 many has need, under existing circumstances, 
 not of a young man of nineteen, but of a prince 
 who unites, with experienced judgment, ta- 
 lents already acknowledged. Francis will 
 combine the forces of France and Lombard y, 
 with those of Germany, to make war upon 
 the Mussulmans. Besides this, as he is so- 
 vereign of the duchy of Milan, he is already 
 a member of the Empire." The French am- 
 bassadors supported these arguments with 
 400,000 crowns, expended in purchasing suf- 
 frages, and with entertainments, at which the 
 guests were to be gained over to their party. 
 
 Lastly, Henry VIII., king of England, jeal- 
 ous of the power which the choice of the Elec- 
 tors would give, either to Francis or to Charles, 
 also entered the lists : but he soon left these 
 two powerful rivals to dispute the crown be- 
 tween them. 
 
 The Electors were disinclined to the cause 
 of the latter candidates. The people of Ger- 
 many, they thought, would see in the king 
 of France a foreign master, and this master 
 might very likely deprive themselves of that 
 independence of which the nobility of his own 
 dominions had lately seen themselves stripped. 
 As for Charles, it was an established maxim 
 with the Electors not to choose a prince al- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 151 
 
 ready playing an important part in the Empire. 
 The Pope partook of their apprehensions from 
 such a choice. He was for rejecting the king of 
 Naples, his neighbour, and the king of France, 
 whose enterprising spirit he dreaded. "Choose 
 rather one from amongst yourselves ;" was the 
 advice he caused to be conveyed to the Elec- 
 tors. The Elector of Treves proposed the 
 nomination of Frederic of Saxony. The Im- 
 perial crown was laid at the feet of this friend 
 of Luther. 
 
 Such a choice would have obtained the ap- 
 probation of all Germany. The prudence of 
 Frederic and his love for the people were well 
 known. At the time of the revolt of Erfurth, 
 he had been urged to take that town by assault. 
 He refused, that he might spare the effusion 
 of blood. And when it was urged that the as- 
 sault would not cost the lives of five men : his 
 answer had been, " A single life would be too 
 much." 4 It seemed as if the election of the 
 protector of the Reformation was on the point 
 of securing its triumph. Ought not Frederic 
 to have regarded the wish of the Electors as a 
 call from God himself? Who was better able 
 to preside over the destinies of the Empire, 
 than so prudent a prince ? Who more likely 
 to withstand the Turks than an Emperor 
 abounding in faith 1 ? It may be that the Elec- 
 tor of Saxony's refusal, so much lauded by 
 historians, was a fault on the part of this 
 prince. It may be that the struggles by which 
 Germany was afterwards torn, are to be partly 
 attributed to this refusal. But it is hard to 
 say, whether Frederic deserves censure for 
 want of faith, or honour for his humility. He 
 judged that the safety of the Empire required 
 that he should refuse the crown. 5 " There is 
 need of an Emperor more powerful than my- 
 self to save Germany ;" said this modest and 
 disinterested prince : " the Turk is at our 
 gates. The king of Spain, whose hereditary 
 possessions (in Austria) border on the me- 
 naced frontier, is its natural defender." 
 
 The Legate of Rome, seeing that Charles 
 was about to be chosen, declared that the Pope 
 withdrew his objections; and on the 28th of 
 June the grandson of Maximilian was elected. 
 44 God," said Frederic at a subsequent period, 
 44 has given him to us in mercy and in dis- 
 pleasure." 6 The Spanish envoys offered 30,000 
 gold florins to the Elector of Saxony, as a mark 
 of their master's gratitude ; but this prince re- 
 fused the gift, and prohibited his ministers 
 from accepting any present. At the same time, 
 he contributed to the security of the liberties 
 of Germany, by a treaty to which the envoys 
 of Charles swore in his name. The circum- 
 stances under which the latter assumed the 
 Imperial crown seemed to give a stronger 
 pledge than these oaths in favour of German 
 liberty and of the continued progress of the 
 Reformation. The young prince felt himself 
 cast into shade by the laurels which his rival, 
 Francis I., had gathered at Marignan. Their 
 rivalry was to be continued in Italy, and the 
 time it would occupy would, doubtless, be 
 sufficient to strengthen and confirm the Re- 
 formation. Charles quitted Spain in May, 
 
 1520, and was crowned on the 22d of October 
 at Aix-la-Chappelle. 
 
 Luther had foreseen that the cause of the 
 Reformation would, ere long, have to be plead- 
 ed before the Emperor. He wrote to Charles, 
 while this prince was still at Madrid. "If 
 the cause which I defend," said he to him, "is 
 worthy of appearing before the throne of the 
 Majesty of heaven, it is surely not unworthy 
 of engaging the attention of a prince of this 
 world. O Charles! thou prince among the 
 kings of the earth ! I throw myself as a sup- 
 pliant at the feet of your Most Serene Majesty, 
 and conjure you to deign to receive under the 
 shadow of your wings, not me, but the very 
 cause of that eternal truth, for the defence of 
 which God has intrusted you with the sword." 7 
 The young king of Spain treated this strange 
 letter from a German monk with neglect, and 
 gave no answer. 
 
 While Luther was in vain turning his eyes 
 towards Madrid the storm seemed to increase 
 around him. The flame of fanaticism was 
 kindled in Germany. Hochstraten, never 
 weary in attempts at persecution, had extract- 
 ed certain theses from the writings of Luther. 
 The universities of Cologne and of Louvain 
 had, at his solicitation, condemned these 
 works. That of Erfurth, still retaining an 
 angry recollection of Luther's preference of 
 Wittemberg, was about to follow their ex- 
 ample; but Luther, on learning their inten- 
 tion, wrote to Lange in such str.ong terms, 
 that the theologians of Erfurth were alarmed 
 and kept silence. The condemnation, pro- 
 nounced at Cologne and Louvain, was suffi- 
 cient, however, to produce great excitement. 
 Add to this that the priests of Meissen, who 
 had taken part with Emser in his quarrel, 
 openly declared (according to the statement 
 of Melancthon) that whosoever should kill 
 Luther would be without sin. 8 ** The time is 
 come," says Luther, "in which men will 
 think they do service to Jesus Christ in put- 
 ting us to death." These murderous sugges- 
 tions, as might have been expected, produced 
 their natural results. 
 
 While Luther was walking one day before 
 the monastery of the Augustines, says one of 
 his biographers, a stranger, having a pistol 
 concealed in his sleeve, approached, and said 
 to him: why do you go thus alone 1 ?" " I 
 am in the hands of God," answered Luther; 
 "he is my strength and shield. What can 
 man do unto me V 9 Hereupon, adds the histo- 
 rian, the stranger turned pale, ancl fled trem 
 bling. Serra Longa, the orator of the con- 
 ference of Augsburg, wrote about the same 
 time to the Elector: "Let not Luther find an 
 asylum in yourHighness's territories ; let him 
 be everywhere driven and stoned in open day : 
 that will rejoice me more than if you were to 
 give me 10,000 crowns." 10 
 
 It was, however, on the side of Rome that 
 the storm was chiefly gathering. A nobleman 
 of Thuringia, Valentine Teutleben, vicar of 
 the Archbishop of Mentz, and a zealous parti- 
 san of the Papacy, was the representative of 
 the Elector of Saxony at Rome. Teutleben, 
 O 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 
 
 scandalized at the protection which his master 
 granted to the heretical monk, saw with vexa- 
 tion and impatience his mission paralyzed by 
 this, as he thought, imprudent conduct. He 
 imagined that by alarming the elector he 
 should induce him to abandon the rebellious 
 theologian. " I can get no hearing," wrote 
 he, "on account of the protection which you 
 grant to Luther." But the Romanists were 
 deceived, if they thought to intimidate the 
 prudent Frederic. This prince knew that the 
 will of God and the voice of the people were 
 more irresistible than decrees of the papal 
 court. He directed his ambassador to inti- 
 mate to the Pope, that far from defending 
 Luther, he had always left him to defend 
 himself; that he had already requested him 
 to quit the university, and even Saxony; 
 that the doctor had declared himself ready to 
 obey, and would not have been then in the 
 electoral states, had not the Legate himself, 
 Charles Miltitz, begged the prince to keep 
 him near his own person, lest, repairing to 
 other countries, Luther should act with more 
 liberty than in Saxony itself. 11 Frederic did 
 still more : he wished to open the eyes of 
 Rome. " Germany," continued he, in his 
 letter, "possesses a great number of learned 
 men, well acquainted with languages and 
 sciences ; the laity themselves are beginning 
 to be enlightened, and to be fond of the sacred 
 writings; and if the reasonable terms of Dr. 
 Luther are-refused it is much to be feared that 
 peace will never be re-established. The doc- 
 trine of Luther has taken deep root in many 
 hearts. If, instead of refuting it by the testi- 
 mony of the Bible, attempts are made to crush 
 it by the thunders of the Church, great of- 
 fence will be occasioned, and terrible and 
 dangerous rebellions will be excited." 12 
 
 The elector, placing confidence in Luther, 
 caused the letter of Teutleben, as well as an- 
 other which he had received from the Cardinal 
 St. George, to be communicated to him. The 
 Reformer was much moved on reading them. 
 He saw at once all the dangers that surround- 
 ed him, and his mind was for an instant over- 
 whelmed. But it was at such moments that 
 his faith broke forth, and manifested itself in 
 all its strength. Often weak and ready to 
 fall into despondency, he was seen to rise and 
 appear greater in the midst of the storm. He 
 would gladly have been delivered from so 
 many trials, but he knew well at what price 
 peace was offered to him, and he indignantly 
 rejected it. "Hold my peace!" said he; "I 
 am willing to do so, if they will permit me, 
 that is to say, if they will silence others. If any 
 one envies me my appointments, let him take 
 them ; if any one desires the destruction of 
 my writings, let him burn them. I am ready 
 to keep silence, provided it be not required 
 that evangelical. truth should stand still. 13 I 
 ask for no cardinal's hat, nor gold, nor any 
 thing else that Rome values. I will make 
 any sacrifices; so that the way of salvation 
 is left open to Christians. 14 All their threats 
 do not terrify me, all their promises cannot 
 seduce me." 
 
 Wanned by these feelings, Luther soon 
 recovered his disposition for action, and chose 
 the Christian's conflict rather than the calm 
 of the recluse. One night sufficed to repro- 
 duce in his mind the desire to overthrow the 
 power of Rome. " My resolution is taken," 
 he wrote next morning: " I despise alike the 
 rage and the favour of Rome. Away with re- 
 conciliation! I desire never more to have any 
 communication with her. 15 Let her condemn 
 let her burn my writings! In my turn, I 
 will condemn and publicly burn the canon 
 law, that nest of all heresies. My modera- 
 tion hitherto has been useless; and I re- 
 nounce it." 
 
 His friends were very far from being so 
 confident. The consternation was great at 
 Wittemberg. "Our expectation is on the 
 stretch," said Melancthon. "I would rather 
 die than be separated from Luther. 16 If God 
 does not send us help we perish." " Our 
 Luther is still alive," wrote he a month after- 
 wards in his anxiety ; " God grant that he 
 may yet live long ! for the Romish sycophants 
 leave no stone unturned for his destruction. 
 Pray for the preservation of the intrepid vindi- 
 cator of sacred learning." 17 
 
 These prayers were heard. The warnings 
 which the Elector had addressed to Rome 
 through the medium of his representative 
 were not without foundation. The preaching 
 of Luther had resounded far and wide ; in cot- 
 tages, in convents, in the houses of the citi- 
 zens, in the castles of the nobles, in the acade- 
 mies, and in the palaces of kings. "Let my 
 life," he had said to Duke John of Saxony, * be 
 found to bear fruit only in the conversion of 
 one man, and I shall willingly consent that 
 all my books should perish." 18 It was not a 
 single individual, it was a great multitude, 
 that had discovered light in the writings of 
 the humble doctor. Accordingly, everywhere 
 men were found ready to protect him. The 
 sword, intended for his destruction, was being 
 forged in the Vatican ; but heroes were arising 
 in Germany who would defend him at hazard 
 of their own lives. At the moment when the 
 bishops were chafing with anger, when the 
 princes kept silence, when the people were in 
 expectation, and the thunders were already 
 rolling above the seven hills, God stirred up 
 the German nobility to form a bulwark for 
 his servant. 
 
 Sylvester of Schaumburg, one of the most 
 powerful knights of Franconia, at this junc- 
 ture sent his son to Wittemberg with a letter 
 for the Reformer. " Your life is in danger," 
 wrote Schaumburg. "If the assistance of 
 the electors, of the princes, or of the magis- 
 trates should fail you, beware, I entreat you, of 
 seeking refuge in Bohemia, where learned men 
 have formerly had so much to endure; come 
 rather to me. I shall soon, God willing, have 
 collected above a hundred gentlemen, and with 
 their help I shall be able to preserve you from 
 all peril." 19 
 
 Francis of Sickingen, that hero of his age, 29 
 whose intrepid courage we have already seen, 
 loved the Reformer, both because he thought 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 153 
 
 him worthy to be loved, and also because he 
 was hated by the monks. " My services, my 
 possessions, and my person, in short every 
 thing which 1 have," he wrote, " is at your dis- 
 posal. You are resolved to stand up for the 
 truth of the Gospel. I am ready to lend my 
 aid in that work." 21 Harmuth of Cronberg 
 held the same language. Lastly, Ulric of 
 Hiitten, the poet and valiant knight of the six- 
 teenth century, took every occasion to speak 
 out in favour of Luther. But what a contrast 
 between these two men! Hiitten wrote to 
 the Reformer: " We want swords, bows, ja- 
 velins, and bombs, in order to repel the fury 
 of the devil." Luther on receiving these let- 
 ters exclaimed, " I will not resort to arms and 
 bloodshed for the defence of the Gospel. It is 
 by the preaching of the Word that the world 
 has been conquered ; by the Word the Church 
 has been saved ; by the Word, also, it will be 
 restored." " I do not despise his offer," said 
 he again on receiving the letter of Sehaumburg 
 which we have mentioned, " but I will de- 
 pend on none but Christ alone." 22 Not thus 
 had Roman Pontiffs spoken when they waded 
 in the blood of the W'aldenses and Albigenses. 
 Hiitten was conscious of the difference be- 
 tween Luther's object and his own ; and ac- 
 cordingly wrote thus nobly to him on the sub- 
 ject: ** My thoughts are running on earthly 
 aims, while you, contemning such things, are 
 devoted to the things of God alone ;' ?23 and 
 forthwith he set out to endeavour, if possible, 
 to o-ain over to the cause of truth Ferdinand 
 and Charles V. 24 
 
 Thus at one moment the enemies of Lu- 
 ther overwhelmed him, and at another his 
 friends arise in his defence. " My bark," says 
 he, "is driven at the mercy of the winds, 
 fear and hope alternately prevail ; but what 
 does it signify T' 25 Nevertheless the testimo- 
 nies of sympathy which he received were not 
 without their effect upon his mind. "The Lord 
 reigns," he said; "I see His hand palpably 
 present." 26 Luther felt that he no longer stood 
 alone; his words had borne fruit, and this 
 thought inspired him with fresh courage. The 
 fear of compromising the interest of the Elec- 
 tor could no longer keep him in check, now 
 that he felt that he had other defenders pre- 
 pared to brave the anger of Rome. He became 
 consequently more free, and, if possible, more 
 resolute. This is an important epoch in the 
 development of Luther's character. "It is 
 right that Rome should understand," wrote 
 he at this time to the chaplain of the Elector, 
 "that although she should succeed in obtain- 
 ing by her threats my expulsion from Wittern- 
 berg, she would only injure her own cause. 
 Not in Bohemia, but in the heart of Germany, 
 are those who are ready to defend me against 
 the thunders of Papacy. If I have not yet 
 brought to bear upon my adversaries alt that 
 I am preparing for them, it is neither to my 
 moderation nor to the weight of their tyranny 
 that they are to attribute my forbearance, but 
 to the name of the Elector and to the interests 
 of the university of Wittemberg, which I 
 feared to compromise; now that such fears 
 
 are dissipated I am about to re-double my ef- 
 forts against Rome and her courtiers. 27 
 
 Yet it was not so much on the great the Re- 
 former relied. He had often been urged to dedi- 
 cate one of his books to Duke John, brother 
 of the Elector, but had abstained from doing 
 so. " I fear," he said, " lest this suggestion 
 may proceed from himself. The Holy Scrip- 
 tures ought not to minister to the glory of any 
 other name but that of God." 28 Luther now 
 shook off these fears, and dedicated to Duke 
 John his discourse on Good Works. Of all 
 his writings, this is the one in which the Re- 
 former most powerfully opens the doctrine of 
 justification by faith, that great truth, whose 
 power he estimates far above the sword of 
 Hiitten, the armed bands of Sickingen, or the 
 favour of dukes or electors. 
 
 "The first, the noblest, and the greatest of 
 all works," says he, " isfaiihin Jesus Christ. 29 
 From this work all others must flow. They 
 are all but the vassals of faith, and receive 
 from it alone all their efficacy." 
 
 "If a man but feel in his heart the assu- 
 rance that what he does is acceptable to God, 
 his action is good, though he should but raise 
 a straw from the earth ; but if he has riot this 
 confidence, his action is not a good work, 
 even though he should raise the dead to life. 
 A Heathen, a Jew, a Turk, a sinner, may do 
 all other works ; but to put one's trust in God, 
 and have assurance that we are accepted by 
 him, is what none but the Christian standing 
 in grace is capable of doing." 
 
 " A Christian who has faith in God does 
 all with liberty and joy : while that man who 
 is not at one with God, is full of cares and 
 under bondage; he inquires anxiously what 
 amount of good works is required of him; he 
 turns to ask of this man or another, finding no 
 rest for his soul, and doing every thing with 
 fear and dissatisfaction." 
 
 " Therefore it is that I have ever held up 
 the necessity of Faith. But in the world 
 around me it is otherwise. There the essen- 
 tial thing is represented to be the having many 
 works, works of high fame and of all degrees, 
 without regarding whether they are done in 
 faith. Thus they build up their peace, not on 
 the good pleasure of God, but on their own 
 merits, or in other words on the sand." (Matt, 
 vii. 26.) 
 
 "It is said that to preach faith, is to dis- 
 courage good works ; but though a man should 
 have in himself the combined strength of all 
 his race, or even of all created beings, this one 
 duty of the life of faith would be a task too 
 great to be ever performed. If I say to a sick 
 man: 'resume your health, and you will have 
 the use of your limbs,' can it be said that I 
 forbid him to use his limbs ? Must not health 
 precede labour ? It is the same when we preach 
 faith : faith must go before works, in order to 
 good works." 
 
 " Where then, you will say, is this faith to 
 be found, and how is it to be received? Truly, 
 this is what most concerns us to know. Faith 
 comes from Jesus Christ alone, promised and 
 given freely." 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 44 man ! consider Christ, and see in him 1 overturns and destroys it. Frederic I., Fre- 
 how God displays his mercy towards thee I deric II., and many other emperors besides, 
 without any worthiness of thine going before. 35 before whom the world stood in awe, have 
 Draw from this discovery of His grace the be- 
 lief and assurance that all thy sins are forgiven 
 thee. Works never could produce this faith. 
 It flows in the blood, from the wounds and 
 
 death of Christ. It springs up, from that 
 source, to rejoice our hearts. Christ is the 
 rock whence flow our milk and honey." (Deut. 
 xxxii.) 
 
 Not being able to notice all the works of 
 Luther, we here quote some short extracts 
 from this discourse on Good Works, on ac- 
 count of the Reformer's own opinion of it. 
 *' In my opinion," said he, "it is the best of 
 my published writings," and he immediately 
 adds this deep reflection: " But I know that 
 when I please myself with what I write, the 
 infection of that bad leaven hinders it from 
 pleasing others." 31 Melancthon, in transmit- 
 ting this discourse to a friend, accompanied 
 it with these words : " No one among all the 
 Greek and Latin writers has come nearer to 
 the spirit of St. Paul than Luther." 32 
 
 But besides the substitution of a scheme of 
 merits in place of the grand truth of grace 
 and amnesty, another evil had grown up in 
 the Church. A haughty power had arisen in 
 the midst of the humble shepherds of Christ's 
 flock. Luther resolved to attack this usurped 
 authority. In the midst of all his troubles, 
 he had privately studied the rise, progress, 
 and usurpations of the Papacy. The dis- 
 coveries he had made had filled him with 
 amazement. He no longer hesitated to make 
 them known, and to strike the blow which, 
 like the rod of Moses in old time, was to 
 awaken a people that had long slumbered in 
 bondage. Even before Rome could find time 
 to publish her formidable bull, he himself 
 hurled against her a declaration of war. " The 
 * time to be silent' is past," he exclaims; 
 "the 'time to speak' is arrived." On the 
 23d of June, 1520, he published the celebrated 
 Appeal to his Imperial Majesty and the Chris- 
 tian nobility of the German nation, concerning 
 the Reformation of Christianity.^ 
 
 " It is not rashly and without consideration," 
 said he, in the commencement of this appeal, 
 44 that I, a man of the common people, take 
 upon himself to address your highnesses. 
 The misery and oppression which at this hour 
 weigh down all Christian states, and more 
 especially Germany, wring from me a cry of 
 distress. I find myself compelled to call for 
 help ; I must see if God will not give his 
 Spirit to some one or other of our country- 
 men, and thus stretch forth his hand to save 
 our wretched nation. God has placed over 
 us a young and generous prince (the Empe- 
 thus 
 
 been trampled under foot by the Popes, be- 
 cause they trusted in their own strength rather 
 than in God. Therefore they could not suc- 
 ceed. It is against the power of hell that we 
 have to contend in this struggle. We must 
 set about the work, hoping nothing from the 
 strength of our own arms, and depending 
 humbly on the Lord ; looking to the present 
 distress of Christians, instead of dwelling on 
 the acts of evil doers. Take but another 
 course, and though the work may seem to 
 prosper for a while, all of a sudden, in the 
 very height of the struggle, confusion will 
 come in, evil men will cause boundless dis- 
 asters, and the world will be deluged with 
 blood. The greater our power, the greater 
 our danger if we walk not in the fear of the 
 Lord." 
 
 After this exordium, Luther continued as 
 follows : 
 
 44 The Romanists have raised three barriers 
 against all reformation. When the temporal 
 power has attacked them, they have denied 
 its authority, and asserted that the spiritual 
 power was superior to it. When any one 
 rebuked them out of the Scripture, they have 
 answered, that no one but the Pope was able 
 to interpret Scripture. W T hen they have been 
 threatened with a council, the reply has been, 
 no one but the Sovereign Pontiff has autho- 
 rity to convoke a council." 
 
 44 They have thus wrested from our hands 
 the three rods destined to correct them, and 
 have given the rein to all evil. But now, 
 God help us, and give us one of those trum- 
 pets which overthrew the walls of Jericho ! 
 With the breath of our lips, let us throw 
 down the paper walls, which the Romanists 
 have .built around them, and lift up the 
 scourges which punish the wicked, by ex- 
 posing the wiles and stratagems of the devil." 
 
 Luther then begins the assault. He shakes 
 to its very foundation that papal monarchy 
 which had for centuries past banded together 
 the nations of the West under the sceptre of 
 the Roman bishop. That there is no such 
 thing as a priestly caste, is the truth, hidden 
 from the church even from its first ages, 
 which he powerfully sets forth at the outset: 
 
 44 It has been said, that the Pope, the bish- 
 ops, the priests, and those who dwell in the 
 convents, form the spiritual or ecclesiastical 
 state ; and that the princes, nobles, citizens, 
 and peasants, form the secular state or laity. 
 This is a fine story, truly. Let no one, how- 
 ever, be alarmed by it. Jill Christians belong 
 to the spiritual state ; and there is no other dif- 
 ference between them than that of the functions 
 which they discharge. We have all one 
 
 ror Charles V.,) and has thus filled 
 
 hearts with high hopes. 34 But we ourselves baptism, one faith, and it is this which consti- 
 must, on our parts, do all that is possible for i tutes the spiritual man. The unction, the 
 us to do. tonsure, ordination, consecration by the bishop 
 
 44 Now, it is of the very first necessity, that or the pope, may make a hypocrite, but never 
 we do not at all rely upon our own strength, a spiritual man. We are all alike consecrated 
 or our own wisdom. If we begin even a ' priests by baptism, as St. Peter says : 4 Ye 
 good work with confidence in ourselves, God are priests and kings j' although, it does not 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 155 
 
 belong to all to exercise such offices, for none 
 can take to himself that which is common to 
 all, without the consent of the community. 
 But if we were without this consecration 
 from God, the Pope's unction could never 
 constitute a priest. If a king had ten sons of 
 equal claim to the inheritance, and they should 
 choose one of their number to act for them, 
 they would all be kings, though only one of 
 them would administer their common power. 
 The case is the same with the Church. If 
 any pious laymen were banished to a desert, 
 and, having no regularly consecrated priest 
 among them, were to agree to choose for that 
 office one of their number, married or unmar- 
 ried, this man would be as truly a priest as 
 if he had been consecrated by all the bishops 
 in the world. Augustine, Ambrose, and Cy- 
 prian were chosen in this manner. 
 
 "Hence it follows that laity and priests, 
 princes and bishops, or, as they say, the clergy 
 and the laity, have in reality nothing to dis- 
 tinguish them, but their functions. They all 
 belong to the same estate; but all have not 
 the same work to perform. 
 
 44 If this be true, why should not the magis- 
 trate chastise the clergy 1 ? the secular power 
 has been ordained by God for the punishment 
 of evil-doers, and the praise of those who do 
 well. And free scope should be allowed for 
 it to act throughout Christendom; let it touch 
 whom it may, pope, bishops, priests, monks, 
 nuns, or any others. St. Paul says to all 
 Christians : Let every soul (consequently the 
 Pope also,) be subject to the higher powers, for 
 they bear not the sword in vain." 
 
 Having in like manner overturned " the 
 other barriers," Luther passed in review the 
 corruptions of Rome. He displayed in a 
 popular style of eloquence, the evils that had 
 been felt and acknowledged for centuries. 
 Never had a more noble protest been heard. 
 The great assembly before whom Luther 
 spoke was the Church; the power whose 
 corruptions he attacked was that papal power 
 which had for ages weighed heavily upon all 
 nations; and the reformation he so loudly 
 called for was destined to exert its powerful 
 influence over all Christian nations through- 
 out the world, and to last as long as man 
 shall exist upon the earth. 
 
 He commenced with the Pope. It is 
 monstrous," he says, 44 to see him who is 
 called the vicar of Christ, displaying a mag- 
 nificence unrivalled by that of any Empero". 
 Is this to resemble the poor and lowly JESUS, 
 or the humble St. Peter 1 The Pope, say they, 
 is the lord of the world ! But Christ, whose 
 vicar he boasts himself to be, said: My king- 
 dom is not of this world. Ought the power of 
 the vicar to go beyond that of his Lord 1" 
 
 Luther next proceeded to describe the effects 
 of papal sway. 44 Do you know what end the 
 Cardinals serve? I will tell you. Italy and 
 Germany have many convents, religious foun- 
 dations, and benefices, richly endowed. By 
 what machinery can this wealth be drawn to 
 Rome! Cardinals have been created; to 
 them these cloisters and prelacies have been 
 21 
 
 given ; and at this moment Italy is almost 
 deserted, the convents are destroyed, the bish- 
 oprics devoured, the towns falling to decay, 
 the inhabitants demoralized, religious worship 
 expiring, and preaching abolished ! And why 
 is all this 1 Because, forsooth, all the wealth 
 of the churches must go to Rome. The Turk 
 himself would never have so ruined Italy." 
 
 Luther then turned to his native country. 
 
 44 And now that they have sucked the blood 
 of their own nation, they come to Germany ; 
 they begin softly ; but let us be on our guard, 
 or Germany will soon be like Italy. We have 
 already some Cardinals here and there. Be- 
 fore the dull-minded Germans comprehend our 
 design, think they, they will have neither bish- 
 opric, convent, benefice, nor so much as one 
 penny left. Antichrist must possess the trea- 
 sure of the earth. Thirty or forty Cardinals 
 will be created in a day ; to one will be given 
 Bamberg, to another the bishopric of Wiirz- 
 burg; to these will be attached rich benefices, 
 until the churches and the cities are left deso- 
 late. And then the Pope will say, I am the 
 vicar of Christ, and shepherd of his flocks. 
 Let the Germans submit to my authority !" 
 
 The indignation of Luther kindled as he 
 proceeded : 
 
 44 What! shall we Germans endure these 
 robberies and extortions of the Pope? If the 
 kingdom of France has been able to defend 
 itself from them, why should we suffer our- 
 selves to be thus ridiculed and laughed at 1 ? 
 And, ! would that they robbed us only of our 
 goods! but they also lay waste the churches; 
 they fleece the sheep of Christ; abolish the 
 worship, and silence the word of God." 
 
 Luther exposed the 44 Romish practice" of 
 gradually abstracting the wealth and the reve 
 nues of Germany. Annats, palls, commen- 
 dams, administrations, expective graces, rever- 
 sions, incorporations, reserves, &c., all pass 
 before him : 44 let us," says he, 44 endeavour 
 to put a stop to so much wretchedness and 
 desolation. If we want to march against the 
 Turks, let us begin with those Turks who are 
 the worst of all. If we hang thieves, and cut 
 off the heads of brigands, let us not suffer the 
 avarice of Rome to escape, which is the great- 
 est of all robbers and thieves ; and that, too, 
 in the name of St. Peter and of Jesus Christ ! 
 Who can tolerate this 1 ? Who can keep si- 
 lence? Has not all that the Pope possesses 
 been obtained by robbery ? for he has neither 
 purchased it, nor inherited it from S.t. Peter, 
 nor gained it by his labours. Whence, then, 
 does it all come 1 ? " 
 
 The Reformer proposes remedies for all 
 these evils. He calls energetically upon the 
 German nobility to put an end to these depre- 
 dations on the part of Rome. Coming then 
 to the Pope himself. "Is it not ridiculous,'* 
 he exclaimed, " that the Pope should pretend 
 to be the lawful heir of the Empire? Who 
 gave it to him ? Was it Christ, when he said, 
 "Tht kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
 them; but it shall not be so with you?" (Luke 
 xxii. 25, 26.) How is it possible to govern 
 an empire, and at the same time to preach, 
 o2 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 pray, study, and have care for the poor? 
 Christ forbade the twelve to carry with them 
 either gold or two coats, because the duties of 
 the ministry cannot he discharged, unless there 
 is a freedom from all other care ; and the Pope 
 would at the same time govern the Empire, 
 
 *ad ronrmin "Pnne t" 
 
 the appointment of Christ and his apostles, 
 every town should have a pastor, or bishop, 
 and that this pastor may have one wife, as St. 
 Paul writes to Timothy : ' Let the bishop be 
 the husband of one wife,' (1 Tim. iii. 2,) and 
 as is still the practice in the Greek church. 
 
 and remain Pope!" But the devil has persuaded the Pope, as St. 
 
 Luther went on to strip the Pontiff of his j Paul tells Timothy, (1 Tim. iv. 1 3,) 'to 
 spoils: "Let the Pope renounce all pretensions | forbid' the clergy 'to marry.' And hence 
 
 to the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. He 
 has no more right to it than I have. It is 
 without any just claim, and inconsistent with 
 the directions of Christ, that he holds posses- 
 sion of Bologna, Imola, Ravenna, Romagna, 
 the Marches of Ancona, &c. ' No man that 
 warrethj says St. Paul, 'entangkth himself 
 with the affairs of this life. 1 (a Tim. ii. 4.) 
 And the Pope, who claims to be chief of the 
 Church militant, entangles himself more with 
 the things of this life than any emperor or 
 king. We must relieve him from all this 
 burden. Let the Emperor put into the hands 
 of the Pope the Bible and mass-book, in order 
 that his holiness may leave government for 
 kings, and keep to preaching and praying." 35 
 
 He was quite as earnest against the Pope's 
 ecclesiastical authority in Germany, as against 
 his temporal power in Italy. " As a first 
 step," says he, " it behoves us to expel from 
 all the German States the Pope's legates, and 
 the pretended benefits which they sell us at 
 their weight in gold, and which are mere im- 
 postures. They take our money, and for 
 what? for legalizing ill-gotten gains; for 
 dissolving the sacredness of oaths ; for teach- 
 ing us to break faith ; for instructing us in 
 sin, and leading us directly to hell. Hear 
 this, O Pope ! not * most holy,' but most sin- 
 ning! May God, from his throne on high, 
 hurl thy throne ere long to the bottomless pit !" 
 
 The Christian tribune proceeded. Having 
 summoned the Pope to his bar, he cited before 
 him all the corruptions which followed in the 
 train of the Papacy, and began to sweep from 
 the floor of the Church the rubbish that en- 
 cumbered it. He commenced with the monks. 
 
 " Now, then, I come to that slothful crew 
 who promise much, but do little. Bear with 
 me, my friends ; I mean you well : what I 
 have to say to you is a truth both sweet and 
 bitter; it is, that no more cloisters must be 
 built for mendicant friars. God knows we 
 have enough already and would to heaven 
 they were all levelled with the ground ! Va- 
 gabonding through a country never has done 
 and never can do good." 
 
 The marriage of ecclesiastics comes next. 
 It was the first time that Luther had spoken 
 on that subject. 
 
 "To what a condition is the clergy fallen! 
 and how many priests do we find burdened 
 with women and children, and their bitter re- 
 morse, while no one comes to their aid ! It 
 may suit the Pope arid the bishops to let things 
 go on as they list, and that which is lost con- 
 tinue lost: be it so. But, for my part, I will 
 deliver my conscience. 1 will open my mouth 
 freely : let pope, bishop, or whoever will, take 
 
 miseries innumerable. What is to be done ? 
 What resource for so many pastors, irreproach- 
 able in every thing, except that they live in 
 secret commerce with a woman to whom they 
 would, with all their heart, be joined in wed- 
 lock? Ah ! let them set their consciences at 
 rest ; let them take this woman for their law- 
 ful wife, let them live virtuously with her, 
 without troubling themselves whether it please 
 the pope or not. The salvation of the soul is 
 of more consequence than tyrannous and arbi- 
 trary laws, which come not from the Lord." 
 
 It is in this way that the Reformation sought 
 to restore purity of morals in the Church. 
 The Reformer continued : 
 
 " Let festivals be abolished, and none ob- 
 served but Sunday: or, if it is wished to 
 keep the great Christian festivals, let them be 
 celebrated only in the morning, and the rest 
 of the day be regarded as a working-day. 
 For since people do nothing on feast-days but 
 drink, play, run into vice, or waste their time 
 in idleness, there is much more offence to God 
 on these days than on others." 
 
 He then turns to the dedication of churches, 
 which he designates mere taverns; and next 
 notices the customary fasts and the different 
 religious fraternities. He insists not only 
 against the abuses of these things, but aims 
 to put an end to schisms. " It is time," he 
 says, "that we should take a serious interest 
 in the affair of the Bohemians ; that we should 
 lay aside hatred and envy, and unite with ' 
 them." He proposes some excellent measures 
 of conciliation, and adds: "It is thus that 
 we ought to convince heretics by Scripture, 
 following in this the example of the early 
 fathers, and not exterminate them by fire. 
 According to the contrary course the execu- 
 tioners would be the best teachers in the world. 
 Oh ! would to God that on both sides we 
 would stretch out the right hand of brotherly 
 humility, instead of erecting ourselves in the 
 opinion of our strength of argument and right. 
 ~harity is more needed than the Roman Pa- 
 sacy. I have done all in my power. If the 
 Pope and his adherents offer opposition, on 
 -heir own heads must rest the responsibility. 
 The Pope ought to be willing to surrender 
 >very thing authority, wealth, and honour 
 f by so doing he could save one soul. But 
 IB would rather see the whole universe perish 
 han yield a hair's-breadth of the power he 
 las usurped! I am clear of these things". 36 
 
 After this, Luther turns to the universities 
 and schools : 
 
 " I fear much," he says, " that the universi- 
 ies will be found to be great gates leading 
 down to hell, unless they take diligent care 
 
 offence at it! I say, then, that, according to to explain the Holy Scriptures, and to engrave 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 157 
 
 them in the hearts of our youth. I would not 
 advise any one to place his child where the 
 Holy Scriptures are not regarded as the rule 
 of life. Every institution where God's word 
 is not diligently studied must become cor- 
 rupt." 37 Weighty words! which governments, 
 fathers, and the learned in all ages, would do 
 well to consider. 
 
 Towards the close of his appeal, he reverts 
 to the Empire and the Emperor: 
 
 " The Pope," he says, " not being able to 
 manage the ancient masters of the Roman 
 empire, bethought himself of the plan of ap- 
 propriating their title and empire, and then 
 giving them to us Germans. Thus it has 
 happened that we have become vassals of the 
 Pope. The Pope took possession of Rome, 
 extorting from the Emperor an oath not to re- 
 side there; and hence it is that the Emperor 
 is Emperor of Rome, without Rome! We 
 have the name, and the Pope the country and 
 its cities. We have the title and arms of the 
 Empire : the Pope monopolizes its treasure, 
 power, privileges, and liberties. He devours 
 the kernel, and we are put off with the shell. 
 It is thus that the pride and tyranny of Rome 
 have at all times abused our simplicity. 
 
 " But may God, who has given us such an 
 empire, now stand by us ! Let us act worthily 
 of our name, our title, and our arms; let us 
 preserve our liberty ! and let the Romans learn 
 what it is that God has given us by their 
 hands. They boast of having given us an 
 empire. Well, then, let us take it, for it is ours. 
 Let the Pope abandon Rome, and all he holds 
 possession of in the Empire. Let him cease 
 his taxes and extortions ! Let him restore to 
 us our liberty, our power, our property, our 
 honour, our souls and bodies! Let the 
 Empire be what an empire ought to be, and 
 Jet the sword of princes no longer be lower- 
 ed before the hypocritical pretensions of a 
 Pope!" 
 
 There is a lofty reason in these words, be- 
 sides their force and persuasion. Did ever, 
 before, any orator make such an appeal to the 
 whole nobility of the empire, and the Emperor 
 himself? Far from wondering that so many 
 of the German States separated themselves 
 from Rome, ought we not rather to be asto- 
 nished that all Germany did not rise en masse 
 and retake from Rome that imperial power 
 which the Popes had with so much effrontery 
 usurped 1 
 
 Luther terminates this bold harangue with 
 these words : 
 
 "I can easily believe that I may have held 
 too high a tone, that I may have proposed 
 many things which will appear impossible, 
 and attacked many errors with too much vehe- 
 mence. But what can I do? Let the world 
 be offended rather than God ! They can but 
 take my life. Again and again I have offered 
 peace to my adversaries. But God has, by 
 their own instruments, compelled me continu- 
 ally to uplift a louder and a louder voice 
 against them. I have one indictment in re- 
 serve against Rome. If their ears itch to 
 know what it is, I will utter it aloud. Dost 
 
 thou know, O Rome! dost thou not know 
 well what I mean ?...." 
 
 Allusion is probably made here to a tract 
 on Popery which Luther intended to give to 
 the world, but which has not been published. 
 The prior Burkhard wrote at the time to Spen- 
 gler : " There is also a little book de execrandd 
 venere Romanurum , but it is kept back." The 
 title indicated the probability that it would 
 afford great occasion of scandal. There is 
 reason to rejoice that Luther had the modera- 
 tion not to publish this work. 
 
 "If my cause is just," continued he, "it 
 will be its lot to be condemned on earth, and 
 espoused only by Christ in heaven. Let them 
 come on then, popes, bishops, priests, monks, 
 and doctors ! let them bring forth all their 
 zeal, and let loose all their rage ! Verily, it 
 is their part to persecute the truth, as every 
 age has witnessed." 
 
 But where did the monk acquire so clear a 
 perception of public affairs, which the States 
 of the Empire themselves often found it diffi- 
 cult to estimate correctly] What could em- 
 bolden this obscure German to stand up in the 
 midst of his own long-enslaved nation, and to 
 strike such mighty blows against the papal 
 authority ? What is this mysterious strength 
 which inspires him 1 ? May we not answer 
 that he had heard these words of God, ad- 
 dressed to one of the holy men of old : " Be- 
 hold, I have made thy face strong against 
 their faces ; as an adamant, harder than flint, 
 have I made thy forehead : fear them not." 
 
 Addressed to the German Nobility, Luther's 
 appeal soon reached all those for whom it had 
 been written. It spread through Germany 
 with wonderful rapidity. His friends trem- 
 bled ; Staupitz, and those who preferred a 
 moderate course, thought the blow too severe. 
 " In these days," answered Luther, " whatever 
 is quietly mooted, falls into oblivion, and no 
 one troubles himself about it." 38 At the same 
 time, he evinced perfect simplicity and humili- 
 ty. He had no conception of the prominent 
 part he was to perform. "I know not what 
 to say of myself," he wrote; "perhaps I am 
 the precursor of Philip, (Melancthon,) and, 
 like Elias, am preparing the way for him in, 
 spirit and in power. And it is he who will 
 one day trouble Israel and the house of Ahsb." c9 
 
 But there was no need to wait for another 
 than him who had already appeared. The 
 house of Ahab was already shaken. The 
 Appeal to the German Nubility had appeared 
 on the 26th of June, 1520 ; and in a short timo 
 4000 copies were sold, an extraordinary 
 number for that period. The astonishment 
 was universal. This writing produced a pow- 
 erful sensation among all the people. The 
 force, the spirit, the clearness, and the noble 
 daring which reigned throughout it rendered 
 it a most popular tract. In short, it was felt 
 by the common people as proceeding from one 
 who loved them. The hesitating views of 
 very many wise men were clearly brought out, 
 and the usurpations of Rome* were made evi- 
 dent to the minds of all. No one at Wittem- 
 berg any longer doubted that the Pope, was 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Antichrist. Even the Elector's court, so cir- 
 cumspect and timid, manifested no disappro- 
 bation, and seemed to wait the result. But 
 the nobility and the people did not wait. The 
 whole nation was roused ; the voice of Luther 
 had deeply moved it; henceforth it was gained 
 over, and rallied round the standard that he 
 raised. Nothing could have been more favour- 
 able to the Reformer than this publication. 
 In palaces, in the castles of the nobles, in the 
 citizens' dwellings, and even in the cottages 
 of the peasantry, all were now prepared, and 
 as though cased in steel, against the sentence 
 of condemnation which was about to fall upon 
 this prophet of the people. All Germany was 
 in a flame; and whenever the Pope's bull 
 might come, it would not avail to extinguish 
 the conflagration. 
 
 At Rome every thing was ready for the con- 
 demnation of the defender of the Church's 
 liberties. That Church had long lived in pro- 
 found security. For many years the monks 
 of Rome had accused Leo X. of caring for 
 nothing but luxury and pleasure, and wast- 
 ing time in hunting, plays, and music, while 
 the Church was nodding to its ruin. 40 Now, 
 at length aroused by the clamours of Eck, 
 who had come from Leipsic to invoke the 
 power of the Vatican, the Pope, the cardi- 
 nals, the monks, and all Rome were awake 
 to the sense of danger and intent on saving 
 the Papacy. 
 
 In fact, Rome was brought into the neces- 
 sity of having recourse to measures of stem 
 severity. The gauntlet was thrown down ; 
 the combat must be to the death. It was not 
 the abuses of the Pontiff's authority itself 
 that Luther had attacked. At his bidding, the 
 Pope was required to descend meekly from 
 his throne, and become again a simple pastor 
 or bishop on the banks of the Tiber. All the 
 dignitaries of the Roman hierarchy were re- 
 quired to renounce their riches and worldly 
 glory, and again become the elders and 
 deacons of the churches of Italy. All that 
 splendour and power, which had for centuries 
 dazzled the West, was to vanish away and 
 give place to the humble simplicity of wor- 
 ship of the first Christians. Doubtless God 
 could have wrought these changes, and He 
 will do so in his own time ; but they could not 
 be looked for from man. And even if a people 
 had been found so disinterested and courage- 
 ous as to be willing to overturn the ancient and 
 costly edifice of the Roman Church, thousands 
 of priests and bishops would have put forth 
 their hands to save it from its fall. The Pope 
 had received his power under the express con- 
 dition of defending the dominion confided to 
 him. Rome believed herself to be set by God 
 for the government of the Church. We can- 
 not, therefore, be surprised that she stood pre- 
 pared to hurl the most terrible judgments. 
 And yet for a while she hesitated. Many car- 
 dinals, and the Pope himself, had no wish to 
 resort to severe measures. The statesmanlike 
 Leo was well aware that a sentence, the exe- 
 cution of which depended on the rather doubt- 
 ful consent of the civil power, might seriously 
 
 compromise the authority of the Church. He 
 saw besides that the violent measures already 
 resorted to had but increased this evil. Might 
 not this Saxon monk be gained over] asked 
 the politicians of Rome. Was it possible that 
 the Church's power, aided by Italian artifice, 
 should fail to accomplish its object 1 Nego- 
 tiation must yet be tried. 
 
 Eck, therefore, found many difficulties to 
 contend with. He tried every expedient; la- 
 bouring incessantly to prevent any concessions 
 to what he deemed heresy. In his daily walks 
 through Rome he loudly vaunted his anger, 
 and called for vengeance. He was quickly 
 joined by the fanatical party of the monks. 
 Emboldened by these allies, he besieged the 
 Pope and the cardinals with fresh courage. 
 According to him, any attempt at conciliation 
 was useless. Such efforts, said he, are mere 
 fancies and remote expectations. He knew 
 the danger, for he had wrestled with the auda- 
 cious monk. He saw the necessity for cutting 
 off this gangrened member, lest the disorder 
 should spread throughout the body. The vehe- 
 ment disputer of Leipsic met and removed ob- 
 jection after objection, and with difficulty per- 
 suaded the Pope. 41 He was resolved to save 
 Rome in spite of herself. He left no stone 
 unturned. For hours together he continued in 
 close deliberation with the Pontiff. 42 He excited 
 the court and the convents, the people and 
 the church. " Eck is moving against me," 
 says Luther, "the lowest depths of hell; he 
 has set the forest of Lebanon in a blaze." 43 At 
 length he carried his point. The politic coun- 
 sellors were overborne by the fanatics who 
 were admitted to the papal councils. Leo gave 
 way. The condemnation of Luther was de- 
 termined on, and Eck began to breathe freely. 
 His pride was flattered by the thought that he 
 had decided the ruin of his heretical rival, and 
 thus saved the Church. " It was well," said he, 
 "that I came at this time to Rome, for the er- 
 rors of Luther were but little known there. It 
 will one day be known how much I have done 
 in behalf of this cause." 44 
 
 Thus did God send out a spirit of infatua- 
 tion upon the doctors of Rome. It had be- 
 come necessary that the separation between 
 truth and error should be effected, and it was 
 error that was destined to make the separation. 
 Had matters been brought to an accom- 
 modation, it could only have been at the 
 expense of truth; but to take away from truth 
 the smallest portion of itself is paving the way 
 for its utter loss and annihilation. In this re- 
 spect Truth resembles the insect which is said 
 to die if deprived of one of its antennae. Truth 
 requires to be entire and perfect in all its 
 members, in order to the manifestation of that 
 power by which it is able to gain wide and 
 salutary victories and extend its triumphs 
 to future ages. Blending a little error with 
 truth, is like casting a grain of poison into a 
 full dish ; that grain suffices to change the 
 quality of the food, and death, slow but cer- 
 tain, is the result. The defenders of the doc- 
 trine of Christ, against the attacks of its ad- 
 versaries, guard its advanced outworks as 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 159 
 
 jealously as the citadel itself; for the enemy 
 once in possession of the least important of 
 these posts, is not far removed from conquest. 
 The Roman Pontiff, at the period we are treat- 
 ing of, determined upon rending asunder the 
 Church, and the portion which he has con- 
 tinued to hold, though still magnificent, hides 
 in vain, under outward pomp and ceremony, 
 the principle that is undermining its existence. 
 Where the word of God is, there only is life. 
 Luther, courageous as he was, would proba- 
 bly have been silent if Rome herself had kept 
 silence, or shown any desire to make conces- 
 sions. But God had not allowed the Reforma- 
 tion to be dependent on the weakness of man's 
 heart; Luther was in the hands of One whose 
 eye penetrated results. Divine Providence 
 made use of the Pope to break every link be- 
 tween the past and the future, and to throw 
 the Reformer into a course altogether un- 
 known, and leading he knew not whither. The 
 Papal Bull was Rome's bill of divorce ad- 
 dressed to the pure Church of Jesus Christ in 
 the person of one who was then standing as 
 her humble but faithful representative; and 
 the Church accepted it, that she might thence- 
 forward hold only from her H.ead who is in 
 heaven. 
 
 Whilst at Rome the condemnation of Lu- 
 ther was sought for with violent animosity, an 
 humble priest, an inhabitant of one of the rude 
 towns of Switzerland, who never had any in- 
 tercourse with the Reformer, had been deeply 
 affected at the thought of the blow which 
 hung over him, and whilst even the intimates 
 of the doctor of Wittemberg were silent and 
 trembling, this Swiss mountaineer formed the 
 resolution to do his utmost to arrest the dread- 
 ed bull! His name was Ulric Zwingle. 
 William Des Faucons, secretary to the Pope's 
 Legate in Switzerland, and intrusted by the 
 Legate with his duties during his absence, 
 was his friend. " As long as I live," said the 
 Nuncio ad interim only a few days before, 
 "you may rest assured of every thing on my 
 part that can be expected from a true friend." 
 The Swiss priest, trusting to this assurance, 
 repaired to the office of the Roman Nuncio, (so 
 at least we may conclude from one of his let- 
 ters.) It was not for himself that he feared 
 the dangers into which faith brings the be- 
 liever : he knew that a disciple of Christ must 
 be ever ready to lay down his life. " All that 
 I ask of Christ for myself," said he to a friend 
 to whom he at the time unbosomed his anxiety 
 respecting Luther, " is that I may support the 
 afflictions which await me like a man. I am 
 a vessel of clay in his hands; let him break 
 me in shivers or strengthen me as seems good 
 to him." 45 But the Swiss preacher dreaded the 
 consequences to the Church of so severe a 
 blow struck at the Reformer. He laboured to 
 persuade the representative of Rome to inform 
 the Pope on the matter, and to employ all the 
 means in his power to deter him from excom- 
 municating Luther. 46 -' The dignity of the holy 
 see itself is concerned in it," said he ; " for if 
 things come to such a pass, Germany, en- 
 thusiastically attached to the Gospel and its 
 
 teacher, will be sure to treat the Pope and his 
 anathemas with contempt." 47 The effort was 
 unavailing, and it appears that, even at the 
 time it was made, the blow was already struck. 
 Such was the first occasion on which the path 
 of the Saxon doctor and that of the Swiss 
 priest were so ordered as to meet together. We 
 shall again find the latter in the course of 
 this history, and shall behold him developing 
 his character, and growing by degrees to lofty 
 stature in the church of the Lord. 
 
 The condemnation of Luther once deter- 
 mined on, new difficulties arose in the bosom, 
 of the consistory. The divines proposed to 
 proceed immediately to fulminate the sentence; 
 the civilians, on the contrary, desired to com- 
 mence by a citation. " Was not Adam," said 
 they, appealing to their colleagues, " cited 
 before he was condemned! 'Adam, where 
 art thou V said the Lord. In the instance of 
 Cain likewise: Where is thy brother Abel?' 
 asked the Eternal." To these singular argu- 
 ments drawn from holy Writ, the canonists 
 added considerations derived from natural law. 
 " Evidence of a crime," they said, " cannot 
 take from any criminal the right of defending 
 himself against the charge."* 8 It is pleasing 
 to trace such principles of equity in a Romish, 
 synod. But these scruples did not suit the 
 theologians of the assembly, who, carried 
 away by passion, thought only of setting to 
 work quickly. It was finally arranged that 
 Luther's doctrine should be condemned imme- 
 diately; and that as to himself and his adhe- 
 rents, a term of sixty days should be granted 
 them ; after which, if they did not recant their 
 opinions, they should be all ipso facto excom- 
 municated. De Vio, who had returned from 
 Germany sick, had himself carried on his 
 couch to the assembly, unwilling to miss 
 this petty triumph, which afforded him some 
 consolation. Though defeated at Augsburg, 
 he claimed to take part at Rome in condemn- 
 ing the unconquerable monk, whom his learn- 
 ing, acuteness, and authority had failed to 
 humble. Luther was not there to answer: 
 hence the boldness of De Vio. On the 15th 
 of June the sacred college agreed on the con- 
 demnation, and gave their approbation to the 
 celebrated bull. 
 
 " Arise, O Lord !" said the Roman Pontiff, 
 speaking at this solemn moment as Vicar of 
 God and Head of the Church, "arise, and 
 remember the reproaches wherewith fools re- 
 proach thee all day long. Arise, O Peter! 
 remember thy holy Roman Church, mother of 
 all the churches, and mistress of the faith. 
 Arise, O Paul ! for a new Porphyry is hero, 
 attacking thy doctrines and the holy popes, 
 our predecessors. Finally, arise, O assembly 
 of all the saints! holy Church of God! and 
 intercede for us with God Almighty." 49 
 
 The Pope proceeds to cite, as pernicious, 
 scandalous, and corrupt, forty-one propositions 
 of Luther, in which the latter explained the 
 "sound doctrine" of the gospel. The follow- 
 ing are included in the propositions con- 
 demned : 
 
 "To deny that sin remains in the infant 
 
160 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 after baptism is to trample under foot St. Paul 
 and our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 "A new life is the best and highest peni- 
 tence." 
 
 "To burn heretics is contrary to the will 
 of the Holy Spirit," &c. t &c. 
 
 "As soon as this bull shall be published," 
 continues the Pope, " the bishops are to search 
 diligently for the writings of Martin Luther 
 in which these errors are contained, and to 
 burn them publicly and solemnly in the pre- 
 sence of the clergy and of the laity. As to 
 Martin himself, what is there, in the name of 
 Heaven, that we have not done"? Imitating 
 the goodness of God Almighty, we are ready, 
 notwithstanding, to receive him again into the 
 bosom of the Church ; and we allow him sixty 
 days to forward to us his recantation in writ- 
 ing, attested by two prelates ; or, rather, 
 (which would be more satisfactory,) to pre- 
 sent himself before us in Rome, that none 
 may any more doubt his obedience. In the 
 mean time, he must from this moment cease 
 preaching, teaching, and writing, and commit 
 his works to the flames. And if he do not 
 recant within the space of sixty days, we, by 
 these presents, sentence himself and his adhe- 
 rents as open and contumacious heretics." 
 The Pope afterwards pronounces a long train 
 of excommunications, maledictions, and inter- 
 dicts against Luther and all his partisans, 
 with orders to seize their persons and send 
 them to Rome. 50 It is easy to guess what 
 would have become of these generous confes- 
 sors of the Gospel in the dungeons of the 
 Papacy. 
 
 The storm was thus gathering over the head 
 of Luther: the bull was published; and for 
 centuries Rome had not uttered the sentence 
 of condemnation without following it with the 
 stroke of death. This murderous message 
 from the seven-hilled city was to reach the 
 Saxon monk in his cloister. The moment 
 was well chosen. The new Emperor, who 
 had so many reasons for cultivating friendly 
 relations with the Pope, would no doubt hasten 
 to recommend himself by sacrificing to him 
 an obscure monk. Leo X., the cardinals, and 
 all the partisans of Rome exulted, fancying 
 they saw their enemy at their feet. 
 
 While the eternal city was thus agitated, 
 events of more tranquil character were pass- 
 ing at Wittemberg. Melancthon was shed- 
 ding there a soft but brilliant light. Near 
 two thousand auditors from Germany, Eng- 
 land, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Hunga- 
 ry, and Greece, were frequently assembled 
 around him. He was twenty-four years of 
 age, and had not taken orders. Every house 
 in Wittemberg was open to this young pro- 
 fessor, so learned, and at the same time so 
 amiable. Foreign universities, Ingolstadt in 
 particular, sought to attract him within their 
 walls. His friends at Wittemberg resolved 
 to retain him among them, by inducing him 
 to marry. Although he desired a partner for 
 his dear Philip, Luther declared he would not 
 be his adviser in this affair. Others took that 
 part upon themselves. The young doctor 
 
 was a frequent visitor at the house of the bur 
 gomaster Krapp, who belonged to an ancient 
 family. Krapp had a daughter named Cathe- 
 rine, of a mild and amiable character, and 
 great sensibility. Melancthon's friends urged 
 him to ask her in marriage; but the young 
 scholar was buried in his books, and would 
 not hear of any thing else. His Greek au- 
 thors and his Testament formed his delight. 
 He met the arguments of his friends with 
 other arguments. At length his consent was 
 obtained. The necessary steps were taken 
 for him by his friends, and Catherine was 
 given to him for a wife. He received her 
 very coldly, and said, with a sigh, 5I "God has 
 then willed it so! I must forego rny studies 
 and my pleasures, in compliance with the 
 wishes of my friends." 52 Yet he was not in- 
 sensible to Catherine's merits. " Her cha- 
 racter and education," said he, "are such as 
 I might have desired of God. Af|t,a o soj 
 ffx^cupoiT'o.* And truly she is deserving of 
 a better husband." The match was agreed 
 on during the month of August; the espousals 
 took place on the 25th of September, and at 
 the end of November, the marriage was cele- 
 brated. Old John Luther, with his wife and 
 daughters, came to Wittemberg on this occa- 
 sion; and many learned and distinguished 
 persons attended at the celebration of the 
 wedding. 53 
 
 The young bride was as remarkable for her 
 warmth of affection as the young professor for 
 his coldness of manner. Ever full of anxiety 
 for her husband, Catherine was alarmed by 
 the least appearance of danger to the object 
 of her affection. When Melancthon proposed 
 to take any step that might compromise his 
 safety, she overwhelmed him with entreaties 
 to renounce his intention. "I was obliged," 
 wrote Melancthon, on one of these occasions, 
 " I was obliged to yield to her weakness ; it 
 is our lot." How many instances of unfaith- 
 fulness in the Church may have a similar ori- 
 gin ! Perhaps to the influence of Catherine 
 we should attribute the timidity and fears for 
 which her husband has been often blamed. 
 Catherine was no less tender and affectionate 
 as a mother than as a wife. She gave liberally 
 to the poor. " Forsake me not, O God, when 
 I am old and grayheaded !" Such was the 
 ordinary ejaculation of this pious and timid 
 soul. The heart of Melancthon was soon 
 won over by the affection of his wife. When 
 he had once tasted the sweets of domestic life, 
 he became fully sensible of their value. He 
 was formed, indeed, to relish them, and no- 
 where was he more happy than with his Ca- 
 therine and his children. A French traveller, 
 having one day found the " master of Germa- 
 ny" rocking the cradle of his child with one 
 hand, and holding a book in the other, started 
 with surprise. But Melancthon, without being 
 disconcerted, explained to him with so much 
 earnestness the high value of children in the 
 sight of God, that the stranger left the house 
 
 * May God bring the affair to a happy issue !- 
 (Corp. Ref. i. 212.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 161 
 
 wiser, to use his own words, than he had 
 entered it. 
 
 The marriage of Melancthon added a do- 
 mestic hearth to the Reformation. There 
 was thenceforward in Wittemberg one family 
 whose house was open to all those who were 
 breathing the new life. The concourse of 
 strangers was immense. 54 People came to 
 Melancthon concerning a thousand different 
 matters; and the established rule was to re- 
 fuse nothing to any one. 55 The young profes- 
 sor was especially disinterested on occasions 
 of doing good. When his money was spent, 
 he would secretly part with his table service 
 to some dealer, but little concerning himself 
 for the loss of it, so that he might have where- 
 withal to relieve the distressed. 
 
 Accordingly, " it would have been impos- 
 sible," says his friend Camerarius, " to have 
 provided his own wants and those of his 
 family, if a divine hidden blessing had not 
 furnished him from time to time with the 
 means." His good-nature was extreme. He 
 had some ancient gold and silver medals, re- 
 markable for their legends and impressions. 
 One day he was showing them to a stranger 
 who was on a visit. " Take any one you 
 would like," said Melancthon to him. " I 
 would like them all," answered the stranger. 
 " I own," says Philip, " I was at first offended 
 at this unreasonable request : nevertheless, I 
 gave them to him." 56 
 
 There was in the writings of Melancthon 
 a delightful odour of antiquity, which gave 
 them an inexpressible charm, while it did not 
 prevent the savour of Christ from being at the 
 same time exhaled from every part of them. 
 There is not one of his letters to his friends, 
 in which one is not naturally reminded of the 
 wisdom of Homer, of Plato, of Cicero, and 
 of Pliny CHRIST remaining always his Mas- 
 ter and his God. Spalatin had desired of 
 him an explanation of this saying of Jesus 
 Christ: " Without me, ye can do nothing." 
 (John xv. 5.) Melancthon referred him to 
 Luther: " ' Cur agam gestum spectante Ros 
 cio,' to use the words of Cicero,"*- said he. 
 He then continues: "The passage teache 
 that we must be absorbed by Christ, so that 
 we ourselves should no longer act, but that 
 Christ should live in us. As the divine na- 
 ture has been made one body with man in 
 Christ, so should man be incorporated by faith 
 with Jesus Christ." 
 
 This celebrated scholar usually retired to 
 rest shortly after supper. At two or three 
 o'clock in the morning he was at work. 57 It 
 was during these early studies that his best 
 works were composed. His manuscripts 
 were usually laid on his table, exposed in 
 view of all who went in and out, so that he 
 was robbed of several of them. When he had 
 invited any friends to his house, he requested 
 one or other of them, before sitting down to 
 table, to read some short composition, either 
 in prose or verse. When he made a journey, 
 
 * *Why should I speak in the presence of Ros- 
 cius ? (Corp. Reform. Ep. Apr. 13, 1520.) 
 
 always took with him some young persons 
 as companions. He conversed with them in 
 a manner both instructive and entertaining. 
 [f conversation flagged, each was required to 
 recite in turn some passages from the ancient 
 poets. He frequently resorted to irony, tem- 
 pering it, however, by much sweetness. " He 
 does but prick the skin," said he, speaking 
 of himself, " he never inflicts a wound." 
 
 Learning was his passion. The great ob- 
 ject of his life was to diffuse a love of letters 
 and general information. Let us not forget 
 that the literature highest in his estimation 
 was the Holy Scripture, and only subordi- 
 nately the literature of the heathen. "I de- 
 vote myself," said he, " to one thing only ; 
 the defence of learning. We must by our 
 example kindle the admiration of youth for 
 knowledge, and lead them to love it for its 
 own sake, not for the gain that is to be made 
 of it. The ruin of letters brings with it the 
 destruction of all that is good : religion, 
 morals, the things of God, and the things of 
 
 man. 58 The better a man is, the 
 
 greater is his desire to preserve knowledge; 
 for he knows that of all plagues ignorance is 
 the most pernicious." 
 
 Some time after his marriage Melancthon 
 went to Bretten, in the Palatinate, in com- 
 pany with Camerarius and some other friends, 
 on a visit to his affectionate mother. As 
 soon as he caught a view of his native town, 
 he alighted, and kneeling down thanked God, 
 for having permitted him to see it once more. 
 Margaret, embracing her son, almost swooned 
 for joy. She pressed him to fix his abode at 
 Bretten, and was urgent in entreaties that he 
 would continue in the faith of his fathers. 
 Melancthon excused himself, but with much 
 moderation and reserve, from fear of wound- 
 ing his mother's conscience. He grieved at 
 parting from her; and whenever any travel- 
 ler brought him news from his native town, 
 he was as merry, he said, as if going back to 
 childhood itself. Such, in the touching pri- 
 vacy of domestic life, was the man who was 
 one of the chief instruments of the religious 
 revolution of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The family peace and busy studies of Wit- 
 temberg were shortly after disturbed by a 
 tumult. The students quarrelled and came to 
 blows with the citizens. The rector betrayed 
 great want of energy. The grief of Melanc- 
 thon on witnessing the excesses of these dis- 
 ciples of learning may be easily imagined. 
 Luther was indignant. His was not the cha- 
 racter that would conciliate by undue conces- 
 sions. The disgrace these disorders brought 
 upon the university deeply wounded him. 59 
 He ascended the pulpit, and preached with 
 great force against these seditions ; calling 
 on both parties to submit themselves to the 
 magistrates. 60 His discourse occasioned great 
 irritation. "Satan," said he, "not being 
 able to prevail against us from without, seeks 
 to injure us from within. I do not fear him ; 
 but 1 fear lest the anger of God should fall 
 upon us for not having fully received his 
 word. In these last three years, I have been 
 
162 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 thrice exposed to great danger: in 1518 at 
 Augsburg, in 1519 at Leipsic, and now in 
 1520, at Wittemberg. It is neither by wis- 
 dom, nor by violence, that the renovation of 
 the Church will be accomplished, but by 
 humble prayer, and a bold faith, that shall 
 range Jesus Christ on our side. 61 O my friend, 
 join thy prayers to mine, that the evil spirit 
 may not be permitted to use this little spark, 
 to kindle a vast conflagration." 
 
 But more terrible conflicts awaited Luther. 
 - Rome was brandishing the sword, with 
 which she was about to strike the preacher 
 of the Gospel. The rumour of the condem- 
 nation which was about to fall upon him, far 
 from depressing the Reformer, increased his 
 courage. He took no pains to parry the stroke 
 of this haughty power. It is by striking yet 
 more terrible blows himself, that he will 
 baffle those of his adversaries. While the 
 Transalpine congregations were fulminating 
 their anathemas against him, he was planning 
 to carry the sword of the word into the midst 
 of the Italian states. Letters from Venice 
 spoke of the favour with which the opinions 
 were there received. He ardently desired to 
 send the Gospel beyond the Alps. But 
 evangelists were required to be the bearers 
 of it. " I could wish," said he, " that we 
 had living books, that is to say, preachers, 
 and that we could multiply and protect them 
 in all places, that they might convey to the 
 people the knowledge of divine things. 62 The 
 Prince could not undertake a work more 
 worthy of himself. If the people of Italy 
 were to receive the truth, our cause would 
 then be unassailable." It does not appear 
 that this project of Luther was realized. At 
 a later period, it is true, some preachers of 
 the Gospel, Calvin himself among others, re- 
 sided for a while in Italy: but at this time no 
 steps were taken to accomplish Luther's plan. 
 He had looked for help to one of the princes 
 of this world. Had he appealed to men in 
 humble station, but full of zeal for the king- 
 dom of God, the result might have been very 
 different. At the period we are recording, 
 the idea was general that every thing must 
 be done by governments ; and the association 
 of private individuals, an agency by which 
 in our days such great things are accom- 
 plished in Christendom, was almost unknown. 
 
 If Luther was not successful in his plans 
 for spreading the knowledge of the truth to 
 distant countries, he was hut the more zealous 
 in preaching it at home. It was at this time 
 that he delivered, at Wittemberg, his discourse 
 on the office of the mass.^In this discourse he 
 declaimed against the numerous sects of the 
 Romish Church, and reproached her, with 
 justice, for her want of unity. "The multi- 
 plicity of laws in matters of conscience," he 
 exclaims, " has filled the world with sects and 
 divisions. The hatred thence engendered be- 
 tween priests, monks, and laity, is even 
 greater than that which exists between Chris- 
 tians and Turks. Nay, more than this ; 
 priests are mortal enemies to priests, and 
 monks to monks. Each is devoted to his 
 
 own sect, and despises all others. The unity 
 and love of Christ is broken up and destroyed." 
 He then attacks the opinion that the mass 
 is a sacrifice and has any power in itself. 
 " The better part of every sacrifice, and con- 
 sequently of the Lord's Supper," he says, "is 
 in the word and the promises of God. With- 
 out faith in this word and in these promises, 
 the sacrament is but dead ; it is a body with- 
 out a soul, a cup without wine, a purse with- 
 out money, a type without fulfilment, a letter 
 without meaning, a casket without jewels, a 
 sheath without a sword." 
 
 The voice of Luther was not, however, con- 
 fined within the limits of Wittemberg, and if 
 he did not find missionaries to carry his in- 
 structions to distant parts, God had provided 
 a missionary of a new kind. Printing was 
 destined to supply the place of preachers of 
 the Gospel. The press was to constitute a bat- 
 tery which should open a breach in the Roman 
 fortress. The mine had been charged by Lu- 
 ther, and the explosion shook the edifice of 
 Rome to its foundations. His famous tract on 
 the Babylonian Captivity of the Church appear- 
 ed on the 6th of October, 1520. 64 Never had 
 any one evinced such courage in circum- 
 stances so critical. 
 
 In this work he begins by setting forth, with 
 admirable irony, all the advantages for which 
 he is indebted to his enemies : 
 
 " Whether I will or no," says he, " I learn 
 more and more every day, urged on as I am 
 by so many celebrated masters. Two years 
 ago I attacked indulgences ; but with such fal- 
 tering indecision that I am now ashamed of it. 
 It, however, is not to be wondered at ; for then 
 I had to roll forward the rock by myself." 
 
 He then returns thanks to Prierias, to Eck, 
 to Emser, and to his other adversaries. "1 
 denied," he continued, " that the Papacy was 
 from God, but admitted that it stood by hu- 
 man right. But now, after having read all the 
 subtleties on which these worthies set up their 
 idol, I know that Papacy is nothing but the 
 reign of Babylon, and the violence of the 
 mighty hunter Nimrod. I therefore request 
 all my friends, and all booksellers, that they 
 will burn the books I have before written on 
 this subject, and in their stead substitute this 
 single proposition : ' The Papacy is a gene- 
 ral chase, led by the Bishop of Rome, and 
 having for its object the snaring and ruinino 1 
 of souls.' " 65 
 
 Luther afterwards attacks the errors that 
 prevailed with respect to the sacraments, 
 monastic vows, &c. He reduces the seven 
 sacraments of the Church to three; Baptism, 
 Penitence, and the Lord's Supper. He ex- 
 plains the true nature of the latter. He then 
 passes on to baptism, and it is here especially 
 that he establishes the excellence of Faith, 
 and makes a powerful attack upon Rome. 
 God," he says, "has preserved to us this 
 sacrament alone pure from human traditions. 
 God has said : 4 He that believeth, and is bap- 
 tized, shall be saved.' This promise of God 
 ought to be preferred to the glory of all works, 
 to all vows, satisfactions, indulgences, and 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 163 
 
 everything which man has invented. Now on 
 this promise, received by faith, depends our 
 salvation. If we believe, our heart is strength- 
 ened by the divine promise ; and though a be- 
 liever should be bereft of all beside, this pro- 
 mise which he believes will never forsake him. 
 "With this he will be able to withstand the ad- 
 versary who assaults his soul. It will be his 
 support in the hour of death, and his plea at 
 the judgment-seat of God. In all his trials it 
 will be his consolation that he can say : God 
 is faithful to his promise : I have received the 
 pledge of it in baptism : if God is for me, who 
 can be against me? Oh, how rich is the bap- 
 tized Christian ! nothing can ruin him, but his 
 own refusal to believe. 
 
 " Perhaps the baptism of little children may 
 be objected to what I say as to the necessity 
 of faith. But as the word of God is mighty 
 to change the heart of an ungodly person, who 
 is not less deaf, nor less helpless than an in- 
 fant so the prayer of the Church, to which 
 all things are possible, changes the little 
 child, by the operation of faith which God 
 pours into his soul, and thus purifies and re- 
 news it." 66 
 
 Having explained the doctrine of baptism, 
 Luther makes use of it as a weapon against 
 the Papacy. If the Christian really finds all 
 his salvation in renewal by baptism through 
 faith, what need has he of the prescriptions 
 of Rome? 
 
 " For this reason," says Luther, "I declare 
 that neither Pope, nor bishop, nor any other 
 man living, has authority to impose the least 
 thing upon a Christian without his own con- 
 sent. Whatever is done otherwise, is done by 
 an arbitrary assumption. 67 We are free from all 
 men. The vow which we have made in bap- 
 tism is of itself sufficient, and more than we 
 can ever fulfil. 68 All other vows, then, may be 
 dispensed with. Let whoever enters into the 
 priesthood or joins a monastic order, be as- 
 sured that the labours of a monk or of a priest, 
 however arduous, differ in no respect, as to 
 their value in the sight of God, from those 
 of a peasant working in the field, or of a 
 woman attending to the duties of her house. 69 
 God esteems all things according to the faith 
 whence they proceed. And it often happens 
 that the simple labour of a serving man or 
 woman is more acceptable to God than the 
 fastings and works of a monk, because in these 
 last faith is wanting. Christian people are 
 the true people of God, carried captive to Ba- 
 bylon, and there stripped of what they had 
 acquired by their baptism." 
 
 Such were the means by which the reli- 
 gious revolution, we are relating, was accom- 
 plished. The necessity of faith was first es- 
 tablished, and then the Reformers applied it 
 to demolish and bring to dust the prevailing 
 superstitions. It was with that power, which 
 is of God, and which can remove mountains, 
 that they advanced against so many errors. 
 These words of Luther, and many other simi- 
 lar appeals, circulating far and wide through 
 cities, convents, and country places, became 
 the leaven which leavened the whole mass. 
 22 
 
 Luther terminated this work on the Baby- 
 lonian Captivity with these words: 
 
 " I hear that new papal excommunications 
 have been concocted against me. If this be 
 so, this book may be regarded as a part of my 
 future * recantation.' The rest will follow 
 shortly, in proof of my obedience; and the 
 whole will, by Christ's help, form a collec- 
 tion such as Rome has never yet seen or heard 
 of." 
 
 After this, all hope of reconciliation be- 
 tween the Pope and Luther must necessarily 
 have vanished. The incompatibility of the 
 faith of the Reformer with the Church's 
 teaching could not but be evident to the least 
 discerning. But at this very time fresh ne- 
 gotiations had just commenced. About the 
 end of August, 1520, and five weeks before 
 the publication of the " Babylonian Capti- 
 vity," the chapter of the Augustines was 
 assembled at Eisleben. The venerable Stau- 
 pitz resigned on this occasion the office of 
 Vicar-general of the order, and Wenceslaus 
 Link, who had accompanied Luther to Augs- 
 burg, was invested with that dignity. The 
 indefatigable Miltitz arrived suddenly during 
 the sitting of the chapter. 70 He was eagerly 
 bent on reconciling the Pope and Luther. 
 His self-love, his avarice, but above all his 
 jealousy and hatred were interested therein. 
 The vainglorious boasting of Eck had thrown 
 him into the shade; he knew that the doctor 
 of Ingolstadt had disparaged him at Rome, 
 and he would have made any sacrifice to baffle 
 the plots of his troublesome rival by the 
 prompt conclusion of peace. The religious 
 bearing of the question gave him little or no 
 concern. One day, as he himself relates, he 
 was at table with the Bishop of Meissen ; and 
 the guests had drank pretty freely, when a 
 new work of Luther's was brought in. It 
 was opened and read ; the bishop went into 
 a passion: the official swore; but Miltitz 
 laughed heartily. 71 Miltitz dealt with the Re- 
 formation as a man of the world ; Eck as a 
 theologian. 
 
 Stimulated by the arrival of Dr. Eck, Mil- 
 titz addressed to the chapter of the Augus- 
 tines a discourse delivered with a very marked 
 Italian accent, thinking by this means to 
 impose upon his good countrymen. 72 " The 
 whole order of the Augustines is compromised 
 in this affair," said he : " Point out to me, I 
 pray you, some means of restraining Luther." 73 
 " W 7 e have nothing to do with the doctor," 
 answered the fathers, " and we should not 
 know what advice to give you." They rested 
 their answer, doubtless, on the fact of Luther 
 having been released by Staupitz at Augs- 
 burg from his obligations as concerned their 
 order. Miltitz persisted. "Let a deputation 
 of this venerable chapter wait on Luther, and 
 request him to write a letter to the Pope, 
 assuring him that he has never laid any plots 
 against his person. 74 That will suffice to ter- 
 minate the affair." The chapter yielded to 
 the proposal of the Nuncio, and commissioned, 
 doubtless at his desire, Staupitz the late Vicar- 
 general, and Link his successor, to confer 
 
164 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 with Luther. The deputation set out imme- 
 diately for Wittemberg, bearing 1 a letter from 
 Miltitz addressed to the doctor; and full of 
 expressions of high repect. "There was no 
 time to lose," said he; "the thunder, already 
 suspended over the head of the Reformer, was 
 about to burst; and then all would be over." 
 
 Neither Luther, nor the deputies, who were 
 favourable to his opinions, entertained a hope 
 that any thing would be gained by writing to 
 the Pope. 75 But this in itself was a reason for 
 not refusing compliance with the suggestion. 
 The letter could but be a matter of form, which 
 would make still more apparent the justice of 
 Luther's cause. * This Italian of Saxony," 
 (Miltitz,) thought Luther, " has doubtless his 
 own private interest in view in making this 
 request. Well, be it so; I will write, instrict 
 conformity with truth, that I have never en- 
 tertained any design against the Pope's person. 
 I must be on my guard, and not be too stern 
 in my hostility to the see of Rome. Yet it 
 shall be sprinkled with salt." 76 
 
 But shortly after this, the doctor heard of 
 the arrival of the bull in Germany ; on the 3d 
 of October, he declared to Spalatin that he 
 would not write to the Pope, and on the 6th 
 of the same month he published his book on 
 the " Babylonian Captivity." Still Miltitz 
 was not disheartened. His wish to humble 
 Eck made him dream of impossibilities. On 
 the 2d of October he had written in full con- 
 fidence to the Elector: "All will go well; 
 but for God's sake, do not any longer delay 
 paying me the pension which you and your 
 brother have allowed me for some years past. 
 I must have money to gain new friends at 
 Rome. Write to the Pope, present the young 
 cardinals, his relations, with gold and silver 
 pieces of your Electoral Highness's coin, and 
 add some for me ; for I have been robbed of 
 what you had given me." 77 
 
 Even after Luther had heard of the bull, 
 the intriguing Miltitz was not discouraged. 
 He requested a conference with Luther at 
 Lichtenberor. The Elector ordered the latter 
 to repair thither. 78 But his friends, and above 
 all the affectionate Melancthon, opposed his 
 going. 79 " What," thought they, " at the mo- 
 ment of the appearance of the bull which 
 enjoins all to seize Luther, that he may be 
 taken to Rome, shall he accept a conference, 
 in a secluded place, with the Pope's Nuncio! 
 Is it not clear that Dr. Eck, not being able to 
 approach the Reformer, because he has made 
 his hatred too public, the crafty chamberlain 
 has undertaken to snare Luther in his toils'?" 
 
 These fears could not restrain the doctor of 
 "Wittemberg. The Prince had commanded, 
 and he resolved to obey. " I am setting out 
 for Lichtenberg," he wrote on the llth of 
 October to the chaplain: "Pray for me." 
 His friends would not desert him. On the 
 same day, towards evening, Luther entered 
 Lichtenberg on horseback, surrounded by thirty 
 horsemen, amongst whom was Melancthon. 
 About the same time, the Pope's Nuncio ar- 
 rived, attended only by four persons. 80 Might 
 not this modest escort be a stratagem to in- 
 
 spire Luther and his friends with confidence? 
 Miltitz was urgent in his solicitations; he 
 assured Luther that the blame would be 
 thrown on Eck and his foolish boastings, and 
 that all would be arranged to the satisfaction 
 of both parties. 81 "Well!" answered Luther, 
 " I offer to keep silence for the future, if my 
 adversaries will but do the same. I will do 
 all I can to maintain it." 82 
 
 Miltitz was overjoyed. He accompanied 
 Luther as far as Wittemberg. The Reformer 
 and the Papal Nuncio entered the city side by 
 side, while Dr. Eck was drawing near it, 
 holding, in menacing hands, the formidable 
 bull, which, it was hoped, would extinguish 
 the Reformation. " We shall bring the affair 
 to a happy issue," wrote Miltitz forthwith to 
 the Elector : " thank the Pope for his rose, 
 and send at the same time forty or fifty florins 
 to the cardinal Quatuor Sanctorum."* 3 
 
 Luther, in fulfilment of his promise, was to 
 write to the Pope. Before bidding an eternal 
 farewell to Rome, he resolved once more to 
 address to her some weighty and salutary 
 truths. His letter may perhaps be regarded 
 by some as a mere caustic composition, a bit- 
 ter and insulting satire; but this would be to 
 mistake his feelings. It was his conviction 
 that to Rome were to be attributed all the ills 
 of Christendom : bearing that in view, his 
 words are, not insults, but solemn warnings. 
 The more he loves Leo, the more he loves the 
 church of Christ; he resolves therefore to dis- 
 close the greatness of the evil. The energy 
 of his affection may be inferred from the 
 strength of his expressions. The moment is 
 arrived for heavy blows. He reminds us of 
 a prophet, for the last time traversing the 
 city, reproaching it with all its abominations, 
 revealing to it the judgments of the Eternal, 
 and crying aloud : " Yet a few days!" The 
 following is the letter : 
 
 " To the Most Holy Father in God, Leo X., 
 Pope of Rome, all happiness and prosperity 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. 
 
 "From the midst of this violent contest, 
 which, for these three years past, I have waged 
 with abandoned men, I cannot refrain from 
 sometimes turning my eyes toward you, O 
 Leo, Most Holy Father in God. And although 
 the madness of your impious parasites has 
 compelled me to appeal from your sentence 
 to a future Council, my heart has never been 
 turned away from your Holiness; and I have 
 never ceased, by prayers and sighs, to pray to 
 God for your prosperity, and for that of your 
 pontificate. 84 
 
 ' I have attacked, it is true, some antichris- 
 tian doctrines, and I have inflicted some deep 
 wounds on my adversaries, on account of their 
 impiety. I cannot regret this, for I have in 
 this Christ for an example. Of what use is 
 salt, if it hath lost its savour"? or the sword- 
 alade, if it doth not cut 1 ? 85 Cursed is he who 
 doth the Lord's work coldly. O, most excel- 
 "ent Leo, far from having conceived any evil 
 design against you, I wish you the most pre- 
 cious blessings for all eternity. One thing 
 only have I done. I have defended the word 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 165 
 
 of truth. I am ready to give way to every | man court] It exceeds the very Turks in 
 one, in every thing: but as regards that word, vice and profligacy. Once as the gate of hea- 
 I will not I cannot abandon it. 89 He who i ven, it is become the jaws of hell itself! dis- 
 expects otherwise of me, mistakes me. j tending and kept open by the wrath of God, 90 
 
 It is true that I have attacked the court of 
 Rome ; but neither yourself nor any man upon 
 earth can deny that the corruption of that 
 court is greater than that of Sodom or Gomor- 
 rah, and that there is no hope left of curing its 
 impiety. True, I have been filled with horror, 
 beholding that in your name the poor of 
 Christ's flock were deceived. I have opposed 
 this, and will continue to oppose it; not that 
 I dream of effecting anything in this Babylon 
 of confusion, against the opposition of syco- 
 phants : but I am debtor to my brethren, that, 
 if possible, some of them may escape these 
 terrible scourges. 
 
 "You know that Rome, for many years 
 past, has inundated the world with every thing 
 destructive to soul and body. The Church 
 of Rome, formerly pre-eminent for sanctity, 
 is become a den of thieves, a scene of open 
 prostitution, a kingdom of death and hell, so 
 that Antichrist himself, if he were to appear, 
 could not increase its iniquity. 87 All this is as 
 clear as the light of day. 
 
 "And you, O Leo, are all this while as a 
 lamb in the midst of wolves; or as Daniel in 
 the den of lions! Unaided, how car, you 
 resist these monsters'? Perhaps there may be 
 three or four cardinals uniting virtue with 
 learning. But what are these among so many 1 
 You will be taken off by poison, even before 
 you are able to apply a remedy. There is no 
 hope for Rome ; the anger of God has gone 
 forth, and will consume her. 88 She hates re- 
 proof, and dreads reform ; .she refuses to re- 
 strain the madness of her impiety; and it may 
 be said of her as of her mother: ' We would 
 have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: 
 let us forsake her.' 89 Men looked to you and 
 your cardinals to apply the cure to all this; 
 but the patient laughs at her physician, and 
 the steed will not answer to the reins. 
 
 ** Full of affection for you, most excellent 
 Leo, I have ever regretted that, formed as you 
 are for a better age, you have been raised to 
 the pontificate at such a period as this. Rome 
 is not worthy of you, or of any who resemble 
 you ; she deserves no other ruler than Satan 
 himself. And truly it is he, rather than your- 
 self, who reigns in that Babylon. Would to 
 God that, laying aside the glory which your 
 enemies extol so highly, you could exchange 
 it for a simple pastorship, or subsist on your 
 paternal inheritance! for none butJudases are 
 fit for such state. What end, then, dear Leo, 
 is served by you in this court of Rome, unless 
 it be that execrable men should, under cover 
 of your name and power, ruin men's fortunes, 
 destroy souls, multiply crimes, and lord it over 
 the faith, the truth, and the whole Church of 
 God I O, Leo, Leo ! you are the most unfor- 
 tunate of men, and you sit on the most peril- 
 ous of all thrones ! I tell you the truth, be- 
 cause I wish you well. 
 
 " Is it not true that there is nothing under 
 heaven more corrupt and hateful than the Ro- 
 
 so that when I behold so many poor creatures 
 throwing themselves into it, I must needs cry 
 aloud in the midst of this tempest, that some 
 may be saved from the frightful abyss. 
 
 " This, O Leo, my Father, is the reason 
 why I have inveighed so strongly against a 
 see which dispenses death to its adherents. 
 Far from conspiring against your person, I 
 have felt that I was labouring for your safety, 
 in boldly attacking the prison, or, rather, the 
 hell in which you are confined. To do the 
 utmost to destroy the court of Rome, is but to 
 discharge your own duty. To cover it with 
 shame, is to honour Christ; in a word, to be 
 a Christian, is to be nut a Roman. 
 
 " However, seeing that I was losing my 
 time in succouring the See of Rome, I sent 
 to her my letter of divorce, saying, Farewell, 
 Rome; ' he that is unjust, let him be unjust 
 still ; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy 
 still ;' and then, in silence and retirement, 
 applied myself to the study of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. Then it was that Satan stirred up his 
 servant, John Eck, a great enemy of Jesus 
 Christ, to challenge me again to descend into 
 the arena. He sought to establish his own 
 primacy, not the primacy of Peter; and with 
 this purpose, to conquer Luther, and lead him 
 in triumph to Rome, upon him must lie the 
 blame of the defeat which has covered Rome 
 with shame." 
 
 Luther here relates what had passed between 
 himself and De Vio, Miltitz, and Eck ; he then 
 continues : 
 
 " Now, then, I come to you, most holy Fa- 
 ther, and, prostrate at your feet, entreat you 
 to restrain, if possible, the enemies of peace. 
 But I cannot retract my doctrines. I cannot 
 consent that rules of interpretation should be 
 imposed on Holy Scripture. The word of 
 God, the source whence all liberty flows, must 
 be left free. 91 
 
 ** O Leo, my Father ! do not listen to the 
 flatterers who tell you that you are not a mere 
 man, but a demigod, and that you may right- 
 fully command whatever you please. You 
 are the ' servant of servants? and the place 
 where you are seated is of all places the most 
 dangerous and the most miserable. Put no 
 faith in those who exalt you, but rather in 
 those who would humble you. I may be bold 
 in presuming to teach so sublime a Majesty, 
 which ought to instruct all men. But I see 
 the dangers which surround you at Rome; I 
 see you driven first one way, then another, on 
 the billows of a raging sea; and charity 
 obliges me to warn you of your danger, and 
 urge you to provide for your safety. 
 
 "That I may not appear in your Holiness's 
 presence empty-handed, I present you with a 
 little book which has been dedicated to you, 
 and which will apprize you with what subjects 
 I may occupy myself in case your flatterers 
 shall permit me. It is but a trifle in appear- 
 ance, yet its contents are important: for it 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 comprises a summary of the Christian's life. 
 I am poor, and have nothing more to offer you ; 
 and indeed is there any thing- you have need 
 of, save spiritual gi fts ] I commend myself to 
 the remembrance of your Holiness, praying that 
 the Lord Jesus may ever preserve you! Amen !" 
 
 The little book which Luther presented in 
 token of respect to the Pope, was his discourse 
 of "the liberty of the Christian." The Re- 
 former shows incontrovertibly in this treatise, 
 that the Christian, without infringement of the 
 liberty which faith gives him, may submit to 
 every external ordinance, in a spirit of liberty 
 and love. Two truths are the basis of his ar- 
 gument : " A Christian is free, and all things 
 are his. A Christian is a servant, and sub- 
 ject in all things unto all. He is free, and 
 has all things by faith ; he is a subject and a 
 servant in love." 
 
 He first shows the power of faith in render- 
 ing the Christian/ree . " Faith unites the soul 
 with Christ, as a spouse with her husband," 
 says Luther to the Pope. " Every thing 
 which Christ has, becomes the property of the 
 believing soul : every thing which the soul 
 has, becomes the property of Christ. Christ 
 possesses all blessings and eternal life : they 
 are thenceforward the property of the soul. 
 The soul has all its iniquities and sins : they 
 are thenceforward borne by Christ. A bless- 
 ed exchange commences : Christ who is both 
 God and man, Christ who has never sinned, 
 and whose holiness is invincible, Christ the 
 Almighty and Eternal, taking to himself by 
 his nuptial ring of Faith, all the sins of the 
 believer, those sins are lost and abolished in 
 him ; for no sins dwell before his infinite 
 righteousness. Thus by faith the believer's 
 soul is delivered from all sins, and clothed 
 with the eternal righteousness of her bride- 
 groom Christ. happy union ! the rich, the 
 noble, the holy Bridegroom takes in marriage 
 his poor, guilty, and despised spouse, delivers 
 her from every evil, and enriches her with the 
 most precious blessings. 92 -Christ, a king and 
 a priest, shares this honour and glory with all 
 Christians. The Christian is a king, and con- 
 sequently possesses all things; he is a priest, 
 and consequently possesses God. And it is 
 faith, not works, which brings him all this ho- 
 nour. A Christian is free from all things, 
 above all things, faith giving him richly of 
 all things!" 
 
 In the second part of his discourse, Luther 
 presents the other side of the truth. "Although 
 the Christian is thus made free, he voluntarily 
 becomes a servant, that he may act towards 
 his brethren as God has acted towards himself 
 by Jesus Christ." "I will serve," he says, 
 "freely, joyfully, gratuitously, a Father who 
 has thus shed upon me all the abundance of 
 his blessings : I will become all things to my 
 neighbour, as Christ has become all things for 
 me ." "From Faith," continues Luther, 
 " flows the love of God ; from love flows a 
 life of liberty, charity, and joy. O how noble 
 and exalted is the Christian's life! but, alas! 
 none know it, and none preach it. By faith 
 the Christian ascends to God ; by love he de- 
 
 scends to man ; and yet abides ever in God. 
 Such is true liberty, a liberty which as much 
 surpasses every other as the heavens are high 
 above the earth." 
 
 This was the work with which Luther ac- 
 companied his letter to Leo X. 
 
 While the Reformer was thus addressing 
 himself for the last time to the Roman Pontiff, 
 the bull which excommunicated him was 
 already in the hands of the dignitaries of the 
 German Church, and at the doors of Luther's 
 dwelling. The Pope had commissioned two 
 high functionaries of his court, Carracioli and 
 Aleander, to carry it to the Archbishop of 
 Mentz, desiring him to see to its execution. 
 But Eck himself appeared in Saxony, as herald 
 and agent in the great effort of the Pontiff. 
 The doctor of Ingolstadt had had better oppor- 
 tunities than any other of knowing the force 
 of Luther's blows: he had seen the danger, 
 and had stretched forth his hand to support 
 the tottering power of Rome. He imagined 
 himself the Atlas destined to bear up on his 
 robust shoulders the old Roman world, which 
 was ready to crumble into ruin. Elated with 
 the success of his journey to Rome, proud of 
 the commission which he had received from 
 the Sovereign Pontiff, and of the bull he bore 
 in his hands, and which contained the con- 
 demnation of his unconquerable rival, his pre- 
 sent mission was in his eyes a greater triumph 
 than all the victories he had gained in Hunga- 
 ry, in Bavaria, in Lombardy, and Saxony, and 
 from which he had previously derived so much 
 credit. But all this pride was about to be 
 humbled. By intrusting to Eck the publica- 
 tion of the bull, the Pope had committed an 
 error which was destined to destroy its im- 
 pression. So marked a distinction, granted 
 to a man who did not hold any elevated rank 
 in the Church, offended minds that were sus- 
 ceptible of offence. The Roman Bishops, ac- 
 customed to receive the bulls of the Pope di- 
 rect, took it amiss that the present bull should 
 be published in their dioceses by this unex- 
 pected Nuncio. The nation which had ridi- 
 culed the pretended victor in the conferences 
 at Leipsic, when he fled to Italy, saw with 
 astonishment and indignation the same person 
 reappear on this side the Alps, armed with 
 the insignia of a pontifical Nuncio, and with 
 power to crush men whom it held in honour. 
 Luther regarded this sentence, conveyed to 
 him by his implacable adversary, as an act of 
 personal vindictiveness. This condemnation 
 appeared to him, says Pallavicini, as the con- 
 cealed poniard of a mortal enemy, and not the 
 lawful axe of a Roman lictor. 93 Accordingly 
 this writing was considered, not as the bull of 
 the Sovereign Pontiff, but as the bull of Dr. 
 Eck. Thus the force of the blow was broken 
 by the very motives which had provoked it. 
 
 The chancellor of Ingolstadt had repaired in 
 haste to Saxony. It was there that he had 
 given battle, it was there that he wished to 
 parade his victory. He succeeded in getting 
 the bull posted up at Meissen, at Merseburg, 
 and at Brandenburg, toward the end of Sep- 
 tember. But in the first of these towns it was 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 167 
 
 placarded in a place where nobody could read 
 it, and the bishops of these three dioceses were 
 in no haste to publish it. His great protector, 
 Duke George himself, forbade the council of 
 Leipsic to make it public before they had re- 
 ceived the order of the Bishop of Merseburg, 
 and this order did not arrive till the following 
 year. " These difficulties are but for form's 
 sake," thought Eck at first; for in other re- 
 spects every thing seemed to smile upon him. 
 Duke George sent him a gilt cup and a few 
 ducats; Miltitz himself, who had hastened to 
 Leipsic on hearing that his rival was arrived, 
 invited him to dinner. The two Legates were 
 fond of the luxuries of the table, and Miltitz 
 thought that he could not have a better oppor- 
 tunity of sounding Dr. Eck than over their 
 wine. "When he had drunk pretty freely," 
 says the Pope's chamberlain, " he began to 
 boast above measure ; he displayed his bull, 
 and told how he had planned to bring that in- 
 solent fellow, Martin, to reason." 94 But it was 
 not long before the doctor of Ingolstadt had 
 occasion to observe that the wind was turning. 
 A great change had been effected at Leipsic 
 within a year. 95 On St. Michael's day, some 
 students posted, in ten different places, placards 
 wherein the new Nuncio was keenly attack- 
 ed. Taking the alarm, he sought refuge in 
 the convent of St. Paul, where Tetzel had 
 already found an asylum, refused all visits, 
 and obtained from the prior a promise that his 
 juvenile opponents should be called to account. 
 But poor Eck gained little by this. The stu- 
 dents composed a ballad upon him, and sung 
 it in the streets. Eck overheard it from his 
 seclusion. At this all his courage vanished, 
 and the formidable champion trembled in every 
 limb. Threatening letters poured in upon 
 him. A hundred and fifty students arrived 
 from Wittemberg, loudly exclaiming against 
 the Papal envoy. The poor Nuncio could 
 hold out no longer. 
 
 " I do not wish him to be killed, 96 "said Lu- 
 tber, *' but I hope his designs will be frus- 
 trated.' Eck quitted his retreat by night, re- 
 tired clandestinely from Leipsic, and sought 
 to conceal himself at Coburg. Miltitz, who 
 relates the circumstance, seemed to triumph in 
 it even more than the Reformer. But his 
 triumph did not last long. The chamberlain's 
 plans of conciliation all failed, and his end 
 was deplorable, having, while in a state of in- 
 toxication, fallen into the Rhine at Mentz. 
 
 By degrees Eck resumed courage. He re- 
 paired to Erfurth, where the theologians had 
 shown more than one mark of their jealousy 
 of the Wittemberg doctor. He required that 
 this bull should be published in that city; but 
 the students seized the copies, tore them in 
 pieces, and threw them into the river, saying, 
 " Since it is a bubble, let us see it float." 97 
 " Now," said Luther, on hearing of this, " the 
 paper of the Pope is truly a bubble, (bulla."} 
 Eck did not dare to show himself at Wittem- 
 berg: he sent the bull to the prior, menacing 
 him, if it were not complied with, with the 
 ruin of the university. He wrote at the same 
 lime to Duke John, brother and colleague of 
 
 Frederic : " Do not take my proceeding amiss," 
 said he, "for I am contending for the faith, 
 and my task costs me much care and labour 
 as well as money." 98 The prior declared, that 
 not having received a letter from the Pope ac- 
 companying the bull, he must object to pub- 
 lish it, and referred the matter to the opinion 
 of the lawyers. Such was the reception which 
 the condemnation of the Reformer met with 
 from the learned world. 
 
 While the bull was producing this violent 
 agitation in the minds of the Germans, a 
 solemn voice was raised in another country of 
 Europe. One, who discerned the extensive 
 schism the Pope's bull would cause in the 
 Church, stood forth to utter a word of warn- 
 ing and to defend the Reformer. This was 
 the same Swiss priest whom we have already 
 mentioned, Ulric Zwingle, who, without any 
 communication or previous friendship with 
 Luther, put forth a tract replete with discre- 
 tion and dignity, and the earliest of his nume- 
 rous writings. 99 A fraternal affection seemed to 
 attract him towards the doctor of Wittemberg. 
 " The piety of the Pontiff," he said, " requires 
 of him that he should joyfully sacrifice his 
 dearest interests to the glory of Christ his 
 King, and to the general peace of the Church. 
 Nothing is more derogatory to his true digni- 
 ty than the having recourse only to rewards 
 and terrors for its defence. The writings of 
 Luther had not even been read, before he was 
 decried among the people as a heretic, a schis- 
 matic, and even as Antichrist himself. None 
 gave him warning, no one refuted him : he re- 
 quested a discussion, and it was thought suf- 
 ficient to condemn him. The bull that has 
 been issued against him is disapproved even 
 by those who respect the Pope's authority ; 
 for they discern in every part of it traces of 
 the impotent hatred of a few monks, and not 
 the mildness of a Pontiff who should be the 
 vicar of a Saviour full of charity. It is univer- 
 sally acknowledged, that the current teaching 
 of the Gospel of Christ has greatly degene- 
 rated, and that a visible and signal restoration 
 of laws and public morals is requisite. 100 Con- 
 sult all men of learning and virtue, and it will 
 be found that the more perfect their sincerity 
 and their attachment to the truths of the Gos- 
 pel, the less are they stumbled by the books 
 of Luther. There is no one who does not con- 
 fess that these books have made him a better 
 man, although, perhaps, there may be some 
 parts not to be approved. 101 Let men of pure 
 doctrine and of acknowledged probity be select- 
 ed ; let three princes above all suspicion, the 
 Emperor Charles, the King of England, and 
 the King of Hungary, appoint arbitrators: and 
 let the arbitrators read the writings of Luther, 
 let him be heard in person, and let whatever 
 they shall determine be ratified. Ntx^cuto 
 YI -tov ~KpiGtov TtatSfc'ia xai ato^ia !"* 
 
 This suggestion proceeding from Switzer- 
 land was not attended to. It was necessary 
 that the great divorce should take place; it 
 
 * " May the doctrine and truth of Christ gain 
 the victory!" 
 
163 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was needful that Christendom should be rent; 
 the remedy for the evils that oppressed it was 
 to be discovered in its very wounds. 
 
 And, indeed, what importance could be at- 
 tached to this resistance on the part of a few 
 students, priors, and priests ? If the strong arm 
 of Charles V. should unite with the power of 
 the Pope, will they not together suffice to crush 
 all these scholars and grammarians 1 Will any 
 be able to withstand the combined power of the 
 Pontiff of Christendom and of the Emperor of 
 the West ? The blow is struck, Luther is 
 excommunicated; the Gospel seems lost! At 
 this awful crisis, the Reformer does not dis- 
 guise from himself the greatness of the dan- 
 ger in which he is placed. He looks for sup- 
 port from above, and prepares to receive, as 
 from the hand of the Lord himself, the blow 
 which seems about to crush him. The thoughts 
 of his soul were gathered before the throne of 
 God. " What is about to happen," said he, 
 44 1 know not, nor do I care to know, assured as 
 I am that He who sits on the throne of heaven 
 has, from all eternity, foreseen the beginning, 
 the progress, and the end of this affair. Let 
 the blow light where it may, I am without 
 fear. Not so much as a leaf falls, without the 
 will of our Father. How much rather will He 
 care for us ! It is a light thing to die for the Word, 
 since the Word which was made flesh hath him- 
 self died. If we die with him, we shall live with 
 him ; and passing through that which he has 
 passed through before us, we shall be where he 
 is and dwell with him forever." 102 At times, how- 
 ever, Luther was unable to repress his contempt 
 for the devices of his enemies,and we find in him 
 a recurrence of that mixture of sublimity and 
 irony which characterized his writings. 44 1 
 know nothing of Eck's movements," said he, 
 44 except that he has arrived with a long beard, 
 a lono- bull, and a long purse ; but I laugh 
 at his bull." 103 
 
 It was on the third of October that he was 
 made acquainted with the Pap'al rescript. 
 44 At last then this Roman bull has come to 
 hand," said he, 4 'I despise it; and resist it 
 as impious, false, and in every way worthy 
 of Eck. It is Christ himself who is therein 
 condemned. No reasons are given in it; I 
 am cited to appear, not that I may be heard, 
 but that I may recant. I will treat it as a 
 forgery, although I believe it to be genuine. 
 Oh, that Charles the Fifth would act as a 
 man ! oh, that for the love of Christ he would 
 humble these demons! 104 ! glory in the prospect 
 of suffering for the best of causes. Already I 
 feel in my heart more liberty ; for I now know 
 that the Pope is Antichrist, and that his chair 
 is that of Satan himself." 
 
 It was not merely in Saxony that the thun- 
 ders- of Rome had awakened apprehension. A 
 private family in Suabia, which had been 
 neutral in the contest, found its peace suddenly 
 disturbed. Bilibald Pirckheimer, of Nurem- 
 berg, one of the most distinguished men of 
 his age, who had lost his beloved wife Cres- 
 centia soon after their union, was joined in the 
 closest bonds of affection with his two young 
 sisters, Charitas, abbess of St. Claire, and 
 
 Clara, a nun in the same convent. These two 
 young ladies served God in solitude, and di- 
 vided their time between study, attendance on 
 the poor, and meditation on eternity. Bilibald, 
 engaged in the business of the state, sought 
 relaxation from public duties in the corres- 
 pondence which he kept up with them. They 
 were learned, read Latin, and studied the 
 Fathers of the Church; but nothing was so 
 dear to them as the Holy Scriptures. They 
 had never had any other instructor than their 
 brother. The letters of Charitas are distin- 
 guished by delicacy and amiable feelings. 
 Full of tender affection for Bilibald, she dread- 
 ed the least danger that approached him. 
 Pirckheimer, to reassure this timid spirit, 
 composed a dialogue between Charitas and 
 Veritas, (Charity and Truth,) in which Veri- 
 tas endeavours to strengthen Charitas. 105 No- 
 thing can be more touching, or more fitted to 
 console an affectionate and anxious heart. 
 
 What must have been the dismay of Chari- 
 tas, when a rumour was spread that the name 
 of Bilibald was posted up immediately under 
 the Pope's bull, in conjunction with the name 
 of Luther ! In fact, Eck, urged on by blind 
 fury, had associated with Luther six of the 
 mostdistinguished persons in Germany; name- 
 ly, Carlstadt, Feldkirchen, and Egranus, who 
 cared very little for his proceedings, and Adel- 
 man, Pirckheimer, and his friend Spengler, 
 whose position as public functionaries ren- 
 dered them peculiarly sensitive to reproach. 
 The agitation was great in the convent of St. 
 Claire. How could the disgrace of Bilibald 
 be endured 1 Nothing is more painful to re- 
 latives than such trials. Pirckheimer and 
 Spengler wrote to the Pope, affirming that 
 they adhered to the doctrines of Luther only 
 so far as they were in conformity with the 
 Christian faith. Revenge and anger had been 
 evil counsellors to Eck. The reputation of 
 Bilibald and his friends brought the bull 
 against them into discredit; and their charac- 
 ter and their numerous connections increased 
 the general irritation. 
 
 Luther at first pretended to doubt the au- 
 thenticity of the bull. 44 1 find," said he, in 
 his first writing he put forth, " that Eck has 
 brought from Rome another bull, which is so 
 like himself, that it might be named Doctor 
 Eck) so full is it of falsehood and error. He 
 gives out that it is the Pope's doing; whereas 
 it is a mere piece of deception." Having al- 
 leged reasons for his doubts, Luther ends by 
 saying, 44 I require to see with my own eyes 
 the seal and strings, the very words and sig- 
 nature of the bull, in a word, every thing be- 
 longing to it; otherwise I will not care one 
 straw for these outcries." 106 
 
 Bnt no one, not even Luther himself, doubt- 
 ed that the bull was the Pope's. Germany 
 waited to see what the Reformer would do. 
 Would he stand firm? All eyes were turned 
 towards Wittemberg. Luther did not keep 
 them long in suspense. He answered by a 
 tremendous discharge of artillery, publishing 
 on the 4th of November, 1520, his work 
 
 Against the Bull of Antichrist." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 169 
 
 " What numberless errors and frauds," said 
 he, " have crept in among the poor deluded 
 people under cover of the Church and the pre- 
 tended infallibility of the Pope ! how many 
 souls have t^us been lost! how much blood 
 shed ! how many murders committed ! how 
 many kingdoms laid waste!" 
 
 "I can discern all the difference," said he, 
 ironically, " between skill and malice, and I 
 care very little for malice so unskilful. To 
 burn books is an act so easy, that even child- 
 ren may perform it; how much more, then, 
 the Holy Father and his illustrious doctors ! 107 
 One would have looked for some more cun- 
 ning move. Besides, for aught I care, let 
 them destroy my works ! I desire nothing 
 better ; for all I wanted was to lead Christians 
 to the Bible, that they might afterwards throw 
 away my writings. !08 Great God, if we had but 
 a right understanding of the Holy Scriptures, 
 what need would there be of my books! By 
 God's grace, I arn free, and bulls can neither 
 soothe nor intimidate me. My strength and 
 my consolation are in a place where neither 
 men nor devils can ever reach them." 
 
 The tenth proposition of Luther, condemned 
 by the Pope, was couched in these terms : 
 "A man's sins are not pardoned, unless he 
 believes that they are pardoned when the 
 priest pronounces absolution." The Pope, 
 by condemning this proposition, denied that 
 faith was necessary in the sacrament. " They 
 pretend," exclaims Luther, "that we are not 
 to believe that our sins are pardoned, when 
 we are absolved by the priest. What then 
 are we to do? Hear now, Christians, this 
 great news from Rome! Condemnation is 
 pronounced against that article of which we 
 profess when we say, 'I believe in the Holy 
 Ghost, the Christian Church, and the remis- 
 sion of sins.' If I knew that the Pope had 
 really issued this bull at Rome," (which he 
 did not doubt,) "and that it had not been 
 forged by that arch-liar Eck, I would proclaim 
 to all Christians that they ought to hold the 
 Pope as the very Antichrist the Scripture 
 speaks of. And if he would not cease from 
 thus publicly proscribing the faith of the 
 Church, then ... let the temporal sword itself 
 be opposed to Azw, rather than to the Turk ! . . . 
 For the Turk leaves us free to believe, but the 
 Pope forbids it !" 
 
 While Luther was speaking with so much 
 energy, new dangers were gathering. The 
 plan of his enemies was to procure his expul- 
 sion from Wlttemberg. If Luther could be 
 removed from Wittemberg, Luther and Wit- 
 temberg would both be ruined. One measure 
 would rid Rome of her heretic doctor and of 
 the heretical university. Duke George, the 
 Bishop of Merseburg, and the Leipsic theolo- 
 gians were clandestinely labouring for this 
 result. K9 Luther, on hearing of it, remarked, 
 " I leave the matter in God's hands." I10 T!iese 
 intrigues were not altogether without effect. 
 Adrian, professor of Hebrew at Wittemberg, 
 suddenly turned against the doctor. It re- 
 quired considerable firmness of faith to bear 
 up against the weight of the Pope's bull. 
 
 There are some who will go only a certain 
 length with truth. Such was Adrian. Awed 
 by the Pope's sentence, he quitted Wittem- 
 berff, and repaired to Leipsic to Dr. Eck. 
 
 The bull was beginning to take effect. The 
 word of the Pontiff of Christendom still car- 
 ried force. Fire and sword had long since 
 taught submission. The stake was still fixed 
 and the fagots piled at his bidding. Every 
 thing announced that an awful catastrophe 
 was about to put an end to the audacious re- 
 bellion of the Augustfne monk. The Pope's 
 nuncios had made urgent representations to 
 the young emperor : Charles declared that he 
 would protect the ancient religion ; and in 
 some of his hereditary states scaffolds were 
 raised for the purpose of committing the writ- 
 ings of the heretic to the flames. 111 Eccle- 
 siastical dignitaries and counsellors of state 
 attended at these autos-da-fe. Those flames 
 will strike terror in all quarters, said the Ro- 
 man courtiers. And they did, indeed, carry 
 fear to many timid and superstitious minds; 
 but even in the Emperor's hereditary states, 
 the only part of his dominions where the clergy 
 ventured to carry the bull into execution, the 
 people, and sometimes the higher classes, 
 often treated these pontifical demonstrations 
 with ridicule or indignation. " Luther," said 
 the doctors of Louvain, in an audience with 
 Margaret, who at that time governed the Low 
 Countries, " Luther is undermining the Chris- 
 tian faith."" Who is this Luther ?" asked the 
 princess. "An ignorant monk." "Well," 
 replied she, "do you, who are learned, and so 
 many, write against him. The world will 
 surely believe a company of learned men, 
 rather than a single monk of no learning." 
 The doctors of Louvain preferred an easier 
 method. They raised, at some expense, a 
 vast pile of wood. The multitude flocked to 
 the place. Students and citizens were seen 
 making their way through the crowd in great 
 haste, carrying under their arms huge volumes, 
 which they threw into the flames. Their ap- 
 parent zeal edified the monks and doctors; 
 but the stratagem was soon after discovered : 
 it was the Sermones discipuli, Tartaret, and 
 other scholastic and popish books, which had 
 been thrown into the fire instead of the writ- 
 ings of Luther. 112 
 
 The Count of Nassau, viceroy of Holland, 
 in reply to the solicitations of the Domini- 
 cans, to be permitted to burn the obnoxious 
 books, answered : " Go preach the Gospel 
 as purely as Luther, and you will have no 
 reason to complain of any one." Conversa- 
 tion turning on the Reformer at a banquet at 
 which the greatest princes of the empire were 
 present, the lord of Ravenstein said aloud : 
 " After the lapse of four whole centuries, a 
 single Christian man has stood forth at last, 
 and him the Pope would put to death." 113 
 
 Luther, conscious of the strength of his 
 cause, preserved his composure amidst all the 
 tumult excited by the bull. 114 " Were it not for 
 your exhortations," said he to Spalatin, " I 
 should hold my peace; assured as I am, that 
 it is by the wisdom and the power of God 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that the work must be accomplished." 115 Here 
 was the man of a timid spirit urging openness 
 of speech, while the man of native resolution 
 was disposed to remain silent. The reason 
 was, that Luther discerned the operation of a 
 power whose agency was unnoticed by his 
 friend. "Be of good cheer," continued the 
 Reformer, " it was Christ that began all this, 
 and he will bring it to its appointed issue; 
 even though my lot be banishment and 
 death. Jesus Christ is here present; and 
 He that is in us is mightier than he that is in 
 the world." 116 
 
 But duty now requires him to speak, that 
 the truth may be made manifest. Rome has 
 assailed him; it shall be seen whether he 
 shrinks from her blows. The Pope has 
 placed him under the ban of the Church; he 
 will place the Pope under the ban of Chris- 
 tianity. The sentence of the Pontiff has 
 hitherto been absolute : he will now oppose 
 sentence to sentence, and the world shall per- 
 ceive which is the word of power. " For the 
 peace of my own conscience," said he, " I am 
 resolved that men shall no longer remain 
 ignorant of the danger they are in;"" 7 and forth- 
 with he took steps to renew his appeal to a 
 General Council. To appeal from the Pope 
 to a council was in itself a crime. It was, 
 therefore, by a fresh violation of the pontifical 
 authority, that Luther undertook to exonerate 
 himself from the offences already laid to his 
 charge. 
 
 On the 17th of November, a notary and five 
 witnesses, of whom Cruciger was one, as- 
 sembled at ten o'clock in the morning, in one 
 of the halls of the Augustine convent, in 
 which Luther resided. There, the public 
 functionary, Sarctor von Eisleben, being in 
 readiness to take a minute of his protest, the 
 Reformer in a solemn tone of voice spoke as 
 follows, in the presence of the witnesses ; 
 
 " Forasmuch as a General Council of the 
 Christian Church is superior to the Pope, 
 especially in matters of faith; 
 
 " Forasmuch as the authority of the Pope 
 is not superior, but inferior to Scripture, and 
 he has no right to slay Christ's sheep, or cast 
 them into the jaws of the wolf; 
 
 " I, Martin Luther, an Augustine, and Doc- 
 tor of the Holy Scriptures at Wittemberg, on 
 my own behalf, and on behalf of such as stand 
 or shall stand on my side, do, by this instru- 
 ment, appeal from his holiness, Pope Leo, to 
 a General Christian Council, hereafter to be 
 held. 
 
 " I appeal from the aforesaid Pope Leo ; 
 first, as an unjust, hasty, and oppressive judge, 
 who condemns me without having given me 
 a hearing, and without declaring the grounds 
 of his judgment : secondly, as a heretic and 
 apostate, misguided, hardened, and condemn- 
 ed by Holy Writ, who requires me to deny 
 the necessity of Christian faith in the use of 
 the sacraments ;* thirdly, as an enemy, an 
 Antichrist, an adversary of the Scriptures, 
 
 * The German copy has a few paragraphs 
 which are not in the Latin. 
 
 and a usurper of their authority, 118 who pre- 
 sumes to set up his own decrees against all 
 the declarations of the word of God ; fourthly, 
 as a contemner, a calumniator, a blasphemer 
 of the Holy Christian Church, and of every 
 free Council, who asserts that \ Council is 
 nothing in itself. 
 
 "Wherefore, I most humbly beseech the 
 most serene, illustrious, excellent, wise, and 
 worthy lords, Charles the Roman Emperor, 
 the Electors, princes, counts, barons, knights, 
 gentlemen, cities, and municipalities of the 
 whole German nation, to adhere to "this my 
 protest, and unite with me to resist the anti- 
 christian proceedings of the Pope, for God's 
 glory, in defence of the Church and of the 
 Christian faith, and to uphold the free Coun- 
 cils of Christendom; and Christ, our Saviour, 
 will richly reward them by his everlasting 
 grace. But if there be any who set my en- 
 treaties at naught, preferring obedience to the 
 Pope, an impious man, 119 rather than to obey 
 God, I do hereby disavow all responsibility 
 on their account, having given a faithful 
 warning to their consciences ; and I leave 
 them to the final judgment of God, together 
 with the Pope and all his adherents." 
 
 Such was Luther's instrument of divorce ; 
 such was his answer to the Pontiff's bull. It 
 was a deeply momentous declaration. The 
 charges which he brought against the Pope 
 were of the gravest character, nor were they 
 lightly preferred. The protest was circulated 
 throughout the whole of Germany, and found 
 its way into most of the courts of Christen 
 dom. 
 
 Luther, however, though his recent ac* 
 might have seemed the very extremity of 
 daring, had another and a still bolder measure 
 in contemplation. He was determined that 
 in nothing would he be behind Rome. The 
 monk of Wittemberg shall do all that the 
 Sovereign Pontiff ventures to do. Sentence 
 against sentence he has already pronounced ; 
 he will now kindle pile for pile. The de- 
 scendant of the Medici and the miner's son 
 have encountered each other in the lists, breast 
 to breast; and while that conflict continues 
 with which the world is destined to resound, 
 not a blow shall be struck by the one com- 
 batant that shall not be returned by the other. 
 On the 10th of December, a placard was 
 affixed to the walls of the university of Wit- 
 temberg. It contained an invitation to the 
 professors and students to repair at the hour 
 of nine in the morning to the east gate, beside 
 the Holy Cross. A great number of doctors 
 and youths assembled, and Luther, putting 
 himself at their head, led the procession to the 
 appointed spot. How many piles had Rome 
 kindled during the ages of her domination ! 
 Luther was now to make a better application 
 of the great Romish principle. It was only 
 of some musty writings that he sought to be 
 rid, and fire he thought could never be em- 
 ployed to better purpose. A scaffold had 
 already been erected. One of the oldest 
 among the Masters of Arts soon set fire to it. 
 As the flames arose, Luther drew nigh, and 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 171 
 
 cast into the midst of them the Canon Law, 
 the Decretals, the Clementines, the Extra- 
 vagants of the Popes, and a portion of the 
 works of Eck and of Emser. When these 
 books had been reduced to ashes, Luther took 
 the Pope's 'Bull in his hand, held it up, and 
 said aloud : " Since thou hast afflicted the 
 Lord's Holy One, may fire unquenchable af- 
 flict and consume thee !" and thereupon he 
 threw it into the flames. He then with much 
 composure bent his steps towards the city, 
 and the crowd of doctors, professors, and stu- 
 dents, with loud expressions of applause, 
 returned to Wittemberg in his train. " The 
 Decretals," said Luther, "are like a body 
 whose face is as fair as a virgin's; but its 
 limbs are forceful as those of the lion, and its 
 tail is that of the wily serpent. In all the 
 papal laws, there is not a single word to teach 
 us what Jesus Christ truly is.'' 120 " My ene- 
 mies," he said again, "by burning my books, 
 may have disparaged the truth in the minds 
 of the common people, and occasioned the 
 loss of souls ; for that reason I have burned 
 their books in my turn. This is a mighty 
 struggle but just begun. Hitherto I have 
 been only jesting with the Pope. I entered 
 upon this work in the name of God ; He 
 will bring it to a close without my aid, by his 
 own power. If they dare to burn my books, 
 of which it is no vain boast to say that 
 they contain more of the Gospel than all the 
 Pope's books put together, I may with far 
 better reason burn theirs, which are wholly 
 worthless." 
 
 Had Luther commenced the Reformation by 
 an act like this, the consequences might have 
 been deplorable. Fanaticism might have been 
 awakened by it, and the Church forced into a 
 career of disorder and violence. But in the 
 first stages of his task, the Reformer had been 
 satisfied with calmly expounding the doctrines 
 of Scripture. The foundations of the edifice 
 had been cautiously and securely laid. In the 
 present posture of affairs, a vigorous blow, 
 such as he had just struck, might not merely 
 be productive of no ill effect; it might proba- 
 bly hasten the moment when Christianity 
 should rejoice over the downfall of the power 
 by which the Christian world had so long 
 been held in thraldom. 
 
 Luther by this act distinctly announced his 
 separation from the Pope and the Papal 
 Church. After his letter to Leo, such an an- 
 nouncement might in his estimation be neces- 
 sary. He now accepted the excommunication 
 which Rome had pronounced. He proclaimed 
 in the face of Christendom that between him 
 and the Pope there was war even to the death. 
 Like the Roman who burned the vessels that 
 had conveyed him to the enemy's shore, he 
 left himself no resource, but to advance and 
 offer battle. 
 
 We have seen how he re-entered Wittem- 
 berg. On the following morning, the hall of 
 the academy was more than usually crowded. 
 
 had been excited, a deep solemnity prevailed, 
 the address which the doctor was to deliver 
 23 
 
 'was the subject of earnest expectation. Ha 
 proceeded with a portion of his commentary 
 upon the Psalms, which he had begun in 
 the month of March of the preceding year. 
 Having finished his lecture, he paused for a 
 few moments, and then he said with great vi- 
 vacity : * Be on your guard against the laws 
 and statutes of the Pope. I have burned the 
 Decretals, but that is mere child's play. It is 
 time, and more than time, that the Pope him- 
 self were burned, I mean," he immediately 
 subjoined "the 'papal chair, with all its false 
 doctrines, and all its abominations." As- 
 suming then a more solemn tone : " If you do 
 not with your whole hearts resist the impious 
 usurpation of the Pope, you cannot be saved. 
 Whosoever lakes pleasure in the Popish doc- 
 trine and worship will be lost to all eternity in 
 the world to come." 121 
 
 " True," added he, " if we reject that false 
 creed, we must expect no less than to encoun- 
 ter every kind of danger even to the loss of 
 life. But far better it is to expose ourselves 
 to all the perils that this present world can 
 assail us with, than to hold our peace! So 
 long as my life shall last, I, for my part, will 
 never cease to warn my brethren of the wound 
 and plague of Babylon, lest any of those who 
 now walk with us should slide back like the 
 rest into the pit of hell." 
 
 It is difficult to conceive the effect which 
 was produced upon the auditory by this dis- 
 course, with the energy of which we our- 
 selves cannot fail to be struck. " Not a man 
 among us," adds the candid student to whom 
 we are indebted for its preservation, " unless 
 he be a senseless block, (as all the Papists 
 are," he remarks in a parenthesis) " not a 
 man among us doubts that this is the very 
 truth. It is evident to all the faithful, that 
 Doctor Luther is an angel of the living God;, 
 commissioned to lead back the sheep of 
 Christ's flock to the wholesome pastures from 
 which we have wandered." 122 
 
 This discourse and the act which preceded 
 it mark an important epoch in the Reforma- 
 tion. In his heart, Luther had been alienated 
 from the Pope by the controversy at Leipsic. 
 But at the moment when he burned the bull, 
 he declared in the most explicit manner his 
 separation from the Bishop of Rome and the 
 Roman Church, and his adherence to the 
 Church universal, as founded by the apostles 
 of Jesus Christ. At the east gate of Wittem- 
 berg he kindled a flame which three hundred 
 years have not yet extinguished. 
 
 " The Pope," said he, " has three crowns : 
 I will show you why ; the first is against 
 God, for he abrogates religion; the second 
 against the Emperor, for he abrogates the se- 
 cular power; the third against society at 
 large, for he abrogates marriage." 123 When he 
 was accused of too much violence in his op- 
 position to Popery: "Oh!" he replied, 
 " were it mine to choose, my testimony against 
 it should be no other than the voice of thun- 
 der, and every word should fall like the fiery 
 bolt." 124 
 
 This undaunted spirit was rapidly commu- 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 nicated to Luther's friends and fellow-coun- 
 trymen. The nation rallied round him. Me- 
 lancthon, about this time, addressed to the 
 States of the Empire a discourse which, for 
 elegance of style and strength of reasoning 1 , is 
 worthy of its amiable author. It was an an- 
 swer to a book attributed to Emser, but pub- 
 lished under the name of the Roman theologian 
 Rhadinus. Never had Luther himself spoken 
 with greater energy ; and yet in Melancthon's 
 composition there is a grace superadded, which 
 wins it way to the heart. 
 
 After proving, by texts quoted from Scrip- 
 ture, that the Pope is not superior to other 
 bishops ; " What hinders us," he asks of 
 the States, " from depriving the Pope of the 
 authority with which we have invested him 1 ? 125 
 It is a matter of small concern to Luther that 
 our wealth the treasure of Europe is sent 
 to Rome. What grieves him, and grieves us 
 also, is, that the Papal laws and Pontifical do- 
 minion entail upon the souls of men, not jeo- 
 pardy merely, but absolute ruin. Every man 
 may judge for himself, whether or not it be- 
 hoves him to dedicate his money to the main- 
 tenance of Romish luxury ; but to form a judg- 
 ment on matters of religion and the holy mys- 
 teries is beyond the capacity of the multitude. 
 On this ground does. Luther appeal to your 
 faith and to your zeal ; and every pious man, 
 if not openly, at least by secret groans and 
 sighs, joins in the same invocation. Recollect 
 that you are Christians, princes of a Christian 
 nation, and hasten to rescue the piteous wreck 
 of Christianity from the tyrannous hand of 
 Antichrist. They who would persuade you 
 that you have no jurisdiction over these priests 
 are deceiving you grossly. Let the same spirit 
 that animated Jehu against the priests of Baal, 
 urge you by that memorable example to crush 
 the Romish superstition ; a superstition more 
 detestable by far than the idolatry of Baal 
 itself." 12 " Such was the language in which the 
 mild Melancthon addressed the princes of Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Here and there a cry of alarm was raised 
 among the friends of the Reformation. Men of 
 feeble character, ever inclined to concession 
 and compromise, and Staupitz, the foremost 
 of this class, gave utterance to sentiments of 
 deep concern. " All that has been done hith- 
 erto," said Luther to him, " has been mere 
 play. Remember what you yourself said ; 
 if God were not the author of all this, it never 
 could have taken place. The tumult is con- 
 tinually growing more and more tumultuous ; 
 nor do I think that it will ever be appeased 
 until the last day ." 127 This was Luther's method 
 of encouraging* the timorous. Three centu- 
 ries have passed away, and the tumult is not 
 
 44 The Papacy," continued he, " has ceased 
 to be what it was yesterday, and the day be- 
 fore. Excommunicate me, and burn my writ- 
 ings it may, ay, and put me to death! but 
 that which is now going forward it can never 
 stop. We stand on the very threshold of 
 some wonderful dispensation. 128 When I burn- 
 ed the bull, it was with inward fear and trem- 
 
 bling ; but I look back upon that act with more 
 pleasure than upon any passage of my life." 129 
 
 Here we cannot but pause, delighted to trace 
 the image of the future so vividly impressed 
 on the mighty mind of the Reformer. " O my 
 father," says he to Staupitz in the conclusion 
 of his letter, " pray for the word of God and 
 for me ! I am hurried along by these billows, 
 and wellnigh overwhelmed." 130 
 
 On every side, then, the battle is now be- 
 gun. The combatants have flung away their 
 scabbards. The Word of God has reclaimed 
 its rightful authority, and the sentence of de- 
 position has gone forth against him who had 
 usurped the place of God. The agitation per- 
 vades every class of the community. In no 
 age has there been a lack of selfish men, who 
 would gladly allow mankind to slumber on in 
 error and corruption : but those whose hearts 
 are enlarged, however timid by natural consti- 
 tution, think far differently. " We are well 
 aware," says the rnild and moderate Melanc- 
 thon, " that statesmen are averse from all in- 
 novation ; and it must be confessed that in 
 this scene of mournful confusion, which we 
 call human life, controversies, however just 
 the grounds from which they spring, are always 
 chargeable with some measure of evil. Never- 
 theless, it is necessary that God's word and 
 his commandments should have preference in 
 the Church over every earthly interest. 131 The 
 everlasting anger of God is denounced against 
 such as endeavour to suppress the truth. It 
 was Luther's duty, therefore, a Christian 
 duty from which he could in no way escape, 
 more especially as he held the office of a 
 teacher in the Church, to reprove those per- 
 nicious errors which unprincipled men were 
 so shamefully engaged in diffusing. If these 
 disputes engender many evils, as, to my great 
 grief," he adds, " I perceive that they do, the 
 fault rests with those who first propagated er- 
 ror, and with those who now, with diabolical 
 malignity, attempt to uphold it." 
 
 But this was not the opinion entertained by 
 all. Luther was overwhelmed with reproach- 
 es, the storm burst upon him from every 
 quarter. " He stands alone !" said some. 
 " He teaches new doctrines !" said others. 
 
 " Who knows," replied Luther, deeply con- 
 scious of the vocation he had received from on 
 high, "who knows whether God has not 
 called and chosen me for this very purpose, 
 and whether they who despise me have not 
 reason to fear lest they be found despisers of 
 God himself? 122 Moses was alone when the 
 Israelites were led out of Egypt; Elijah was 
 alone in the time of King Ahab ; Ezekiel was 
 alone at Babylon. Godi has never chosen for 
 his prophet either the high-priest or any other 
 person of exalted rank ; he has generally cho- 
 sen men of a mean and low condition, in the 
 instance of Amos, even a simple shepherd. 
 The saints in every age have been called upon 
 to rebuke the great of this world Kings and 
 princes priests and scholars and to fulfil 
 their office at the peril of their lives. Has it 
 not been thus under the New Testament dis- 
 pensation 1 Ambrose in his time stood alone j 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 173 
 
 after him, Jerome was alone; later still, Au- 
 gustine was alone. I say not that I am a 
 prophet; but I say that they have the more 
 reason to fear, because I am alone and they are 
 many. 133 Of this I am sure, that the Word of 
 God is with me, and that it is not with them." 
 
 " It is asserted also," continues he, "that I 
 am bringing forward novelties, and that it is 
 impossible to believe that all other teachers 
 for so long a time have been in error. 
 
 " No these are not novelties that I preach ! 
 But I affirm that the doctrines of Christiani- 
 ty have been lost sight of by those whose spe- 
 cial duty it was to preserve them by the 
 learned by the bishops. I doubt not, indeed, 
 that the truth has still found an abode in some 
 few hearts, were it only with infants in the 
 cradle. 134 Poor husbandmen and simple child- 
 ren, in these days, understand more of Jesus 
 Christ than the Pope, the bishops, or the doc- 
 tors. 
 
 "I am accused of rejecting the holy doctors 
 of the Church. I reject them not, but since 
 those doctors all labour to prove what they 
 write by the Holy Scriptures, it follows that 
 the Scriptures must be clearer and more con- 
 clusive than their writings. Who would 
 ever think of proving what is in itself obscure 
 by the help of something obscurer still 1 Ne- 
 cessity, therefore, obliges us to have recourse 
 to the Bible, as all the doctors have done; 
 and to test their writings by it, for the Bible 
 is our only rule and standard. 
 
 " But it is further objected that men high in 
 station pursue me with their censures. What 
 then ! do not the Scriptures clearly show that 
 they who persecute are generally in the wrong, 
 and they who suffer persecution in the right, 
 that the majority has always been on the 
 side of falsehood, and the minority only on the 
 side of truth ? It is the fate of truth to occa- 
 sion an outcry." 135 
 
 Luther then passes under review the vari- 
 ous propositions which had been condemned 
 by the bull as heretical; and demonstrates 
 their truth by arguments drawn from Holy 
 Scripture. With how much force, in particu- 
 lar, does he maintain the doctrine of grace! 
 
 "What," says he, "shall we say, that na- 
 ture, antecedently to, and unassisted by, grace, 
 can hate sin, flee from sin, and repent of it, 
 while yet, after grace vouchsafed, that same 
 nature loves sin, seeks it, yearns after it, and 
 never ceases to strive against grace and op- 
 pose it, this being the burden under which 
 the saints are continually groaning. It is as 
 though you were to tell me that some sturdy 
 tree, which my utmost efforts could never 
 bend, would bend of its own accord were it 
 left alone, or that some torrent which dikes 
 and dams were ineffectual to restrain would 
 check its own course if all these impediments 
 were removed. NO! never shall we attain 
 to repentance by considering sin or its conse- 
 qcences, but only by fixing our contemplation 
 on the wounded Saviour, and on the love of 
 which his wounds are the token. 136 The know- 
 ledge of sin must proceed from repentance, 
 not repentance from the knowledge of sin. 
 
 That knowledge is the fruit, repentance the 
 tree. In our country the fruit grows on the 
 tree, but in the domain of his Holiness it 
 would seem that the tree grows on the fruit!" 
 
 The intrepid teacher, though protesting, yet 
 retracts some of his propositions. Notwith- 
 standing all his protestations, Luther retracts. 
 
 But our surprise will cease, when we learn 
 the manner of his doing this. After citing the 
 four propositions regarding indulgences which, 
 had been condemned by the bull,* he simply 
 adds: 
 
 "In deference to the holy and learned bull, 
 I retract all that I have ever advanced on the 
 subject of Indulgence. If my books deserved 
 to be burned, it was because they contained 
 certain concessions to the Pope in respect to 
 that doctrine of indulgences; on which ac- 
 count I myself now condemn them to the 
 flames." 
 
 Then follows another retractation in respect 
 to John Huss : " I now say, not that some of 
 the articles but that all the articles propound- 
 ed by John Huss are altogether orthodox. 
 The Pope in condemning Huss has condemn- 
 ed the Gospel. I have gone five times as far 
 as he, and yet I greatly fear I have not gone 
 far enough. Huss only says that a wicked 
 Pope is not a member of the Christian Church; 
 I, on the other hand, were I now to see St. 
 Peter himself seated in the Roman chair, 
 would deny that he was Pope by God's ap- 
 pointment." 
 
 The powerful language of the Reformer 
 sunk deep into men's minds, and prepared 
 them for enfranchisement. Every word was 
 a living spark helping to spread the flame 
 through the whole nation. But an important 
 question was yet to be decided. Would the 
 Prince, whose territory Luther inhabited, con- 
 cur in the execution of the bull, or would he 
 oppose it? This question was not easily an- 
 swered. The Elector, as well as the other 
 princes of the Empire, was then at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. It was there that the crown of 
 Charlemagne was placed on the head of the 
 youngest, and yet the most powerful monarch 
 of Christendom. The pomp and magnificence 
 displayed on that occasion surpassed all pre- 
 vious example. After the ceremony, Charles 
 the Fifth, attended by Frederic and the other 
 princes, by the ministers and ambassadors, 
 immediately repaired to Cologne. Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, which had been visited by the 
 plague, seemed to discharge its entire popu- 
 lation into that ancient city of the Rhine. 
 
 Among the crowd of strangers who were 
 then received within its walls, were the Pope's 
 two nuncios, Marino Carracioli and Hierony- 
 mus Aleander. Carracioli, who had been 
 employed on a previous embassy to Maximi- 
 lian, was authorized to congratulate the new 
 Emperor, and to treat with him on affairs of 
 state. But Rome had perceived that in or' 1 
 to bring her measures for the extinction 
 Reformation to a successful issu*' 
 send to Germany a nuncio sp^ 
 
 The 19th to the 22 
 
174 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 with that service, and fitted by a peculiar cast 
 of mind, and by a union of dexterity with 
 activity, for its accomplishment. With this 
 view Aleander had been selected. 137 This in- 
 dividual, who at a later period was invested 
 with the cardinal's purple, was descended, it 
 would appear, from a family of considerable 
 antiquity, and not, as some have reported, 
 from a Jewish stock. The licentious Borgia 
 sent for him to Rome to make him secretary 
 to that son Caesar, at whose very name all 
 Rome trembled. "The master and the ser- 
 vant were well matched," says a contem- 
 porary writer, intimating thus similarity of 
 character between Aleander and Alexander 
 the Sixth. The verdict seems too severe. 
 After the death of Borgia, Aleander give him- 
 self up to study with renewed ardour. His 
 proficiency in Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, and 
 Arabic, gained him the credit of being the 
 most learned man of his age. Whatsoever 
 pursuit he engaged in, he devoted himself to 
 it with his whole heart. The zeal with which 
 he applied himself to the acquisition of lan- 
 guages was no less intense than that which 
 he afterwards displayed in persecuting the 
 Reformation. His services were next en- 
 gaged by Leo the Tenth. Protestant histo- 
 rians speak of his epicurean morals ; Romish 
 historians celebrate his blameless life. 138 It 
 appears that he was addicted to luxury, to 
 dramatic entertainments, and public shows. 
 " Aleander lives at Venice the life of a gro- 
 velling epicurean in high estate," said his old 
 friend Erasmus. All reports agree that he 
 was a man of imperious character, prompt in 
 his actions, ardent, indefatigable, imperious, 
 and devoted to the Pope. Eck was the fiery 
 and intrepid champion of the schools; Ale- 
 ander, the haughty envoy of the domineering 
 Vatican. He seemed born to be a Nuncio. 
 
 Rome had every thing in readiness for the 
 destruction of the monk of Wittemberg. The 
 part which Aleander had to performas the 
 Pope's representative in the coronation of the 
 Emperor, he regarded as only a subordinate 
 commission, adapted, however, to promote 
 his main design, by the personal consider- 
 ation which it necessarily secured for him. 
 But his real office was to persuade Charles to 
 crush the Reformation in its birth. 139 "The 
 Pope," said the Nuncio, as he gave the bull 
 into the Emperor's hands, " the Pope, who 
 has measured his strength with so many 
 mighty princes, will find little difficulty in 
 dealing with these grammarians." Under 
 that contemptuous designation he included 
 Luther, Melancthon, and Erasmus. Erasmus 
 himself was present at the audience. 
 
 Immediately after his arrival at Cologne, 
 Aleander, acting in concert with Carracioli, 
 made it the object of his most strenuous ef- 
 forts that the heretical writings of Luther 
 should be publicly burned in every part of 
 the empire, but more particularly under the 
 eyes of the German princes assembled in that 
 city. Charles the Fifth had already given 
 his consent, so far as concerned his hereditary 
 dominions. The agitation of men's minds in 
 
 ' this juncture was extreme. The ministers 
 I of Charles and the Nuncios themselves were 
 1 solemnly warned that measures like these, 
 instead of healing the wound, would inflame 
 it. "Do you imagine," they were asked, 
 I "that the doctrine taught by Luther exists 
 only in those books which you are now con- 
 demning to the flames ] It is deeply engraven 
 where you cannot obliterate it in the hearts 
 of the German nation. 140 If you mean to em- 
 ploy force, you must give the word for myriads 
 of swords to be unsheathed, and a countless 
 multitude of victims to be slaughtered. Pil- 
 ing a few fagots together to burn a few 
 sheets of paper will be of no avail : nor does 
 it beseem the dignity of the Emperor or that 
 of the Sovereign Pontiff to employ such wea- 
 pons." 141 The Nuncio clung to his fagots not- 
 withstanding. " These flames that we shall 
 kindle," said he, "are a sentence of condem- 
 nation written in giant characters, conspicuous 
 far and wide to the learned and the unlearn- 
 ed legible even to such as can read no 
 others." 
 
 But, after all, the Nuncio cared little about 
 books or papers ; Luther himself was the 
 mark he aimed at. "These fires," he re- 
 marked again, " are not sufficient to purify the 
 pestilential atmosphere of Germany , 142 Though 
 they may strike terror into the simple-minded, 
 they leave the authors of the mischief unpu- 
 nished. We must have an imperial edict 
 sentencing Luther to death." 143 
 
 Aleander found the Emperor less compli- 
 ant when the Reformer's life was demanded, 
 than he had shown himself before, when his 
 books alone were attacked. 
 
 " Raised as I have been so recently to the 
 throne, I cannot," said Charles, "without the 
 advice of my counsellors, and the consent of 
 the Princes of the Empire, strike such a blow 
 as this against a faction so numerous and so 
 powerfully protected. Let us first ascertain 
 what our father, the Elector of Saxony, thinks 
 of the matter ; we shall then be prepared to 
 give our answer to the Pope." 144 On the Elec- 
 tor, therefore, must the Nuncios now exer- 
 cise their artifices and the power of their 
 rhetoric. 
 
 On the first Sunday of November, after 
 Frederic had attended mass in the convent of 
 the Cordeliers, Carracioli and Aleander de- 
 manded an audience of him. He received 
 them in the presence of the Bishop of Trent 
 and of several of his counsellors. Carracioli 
 opened the interview by presenting to the 
 Elector the Pope's brief. Of a milder cha- 
 racter than Aleander, he thought it expedient 
 to gain the Prince over, if possible, by fail 
 speeches, and accordingly began by compli 
 menting him and his ancestors. " In your 
 Highness," said he, "are reposed all our 
 hopes for the salvation of the Church and the 
 Holy Roman Empire." 
 
 But the impetuous Aleander, resolved to 
 come at once to the point, stepped abruptly 
 forward and interrupted his colleague, who 
 modestly gave way to him. 145 " It is to myself 
 and to Eck," said he, " that the affair of friar 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 175 
 
 Martir 
 
 tin has been intrusted. Consider the in- 
 finite peril into which this man is plunging 
 the Christian commonwealth. Unless a re- 
 medy be speedily applied, the fate of the 
 Empire is sealed. " Why has the Empire of the 
 Greeks been destroyed, but because they fell 
 away from the Pope 1 You cannot join your- 
 self to Luther without being dissevered from 
 Christ. 146 In the name of his Holiness, I re- 
 quire of you two things; first, that you cause 
 Luther's writings to be burned ; secondly, 
 that you inflict upon the heretic himself the 
 punishment he deserves, or else that you de- 
 liver him up a prisoner to the Pope. 147 The 
 Emperor and all the Princes of the Empire 
 have signified their willingness to accede to 
 our demands ; you alone demur." 
 
 Frederic replied by the mouth of the Bishop 
 of Trent: "This is a matter of too much im- 
 portance to be decided instantly. Our deter- 
 mination in regard to it shall be duly commu- 
 nicated to you." 
 
 The position in which the Elector was 
 placed was a difficult one. To which side 
 shall he incline? On the one side are arrayed 
 the Emperor, the Princes of the Empire, and 
 the Sovereign Pontiff, whose authority Frede- 
 ric, at this time, has no thought of shaking 
 off: on the other stands a monk, a poor monk, 
 for against Luther alone is this assault level- 
 led. The reign of Charles has but just begun. 
 Shall Frederic, the oldest, the wisest of the 
 sovereign princes of Germany, be the first to 
 kindle discord in the Empire? And, besides, 
 how shall he forfeit the praise of that devotion 
 which led him in earlier days on his long pil- 
 grimage to the sepulchre of Christ? 
 
 But there were voices raised to plead on the 
 opposite part also. A youthful Prince, who 
 afterwards wore the electoral diadem, and 
 whose reign was signalized by great calami- 
 ties John Frederic, the son of Duke John, 
 and nephew of the Elector, having been edu- 
 cated by Spalatin, and having now attained 
 the age of seventeen, had had his heart deeply 
 imbued with a love of the truth, and was ar- 
 dently attached to Luther. 148 When he saw him 
 pursued by the anathemas of Rome, he em- 
 braced his cause with the fervour of a young 
 Christian, and the spirit of a young Prince. 
 He wrote to the Reformer, and also to his 
 uncle, and with dignified earnestness besought 
 the latter to protect Luther against his ene- 
 mies. On the other hand, Spalatin, often, 
 it must be confessed, in too timid a strain, 
 as well as Pontanus, and the other counsellors 
 who were with the Elector at Cologne, repre- 
 sented to the Prince that he could not abandon 
 the Reformer. 149 
 
 Amidst this general agitation, one man 
 remained unmoved : it was Luther himself. 
 While his friends were invoking the assist- 
 ance of the great to save him from destruction, 
 the monk, in his cloister at Wittemberg, had 
 come to the conclusion that it was his part, 
 rather, to rescue the great of this world from 
 their imminent peril. "If the Gospel," he 
 wrote to Spalatin, "were of such a nature that 
 it must be propagated or supported by earthly 
 
 potentates, God would not have committed it 
 to the hands of a few fishermen. 150 It is not to 
 princes or to pontiffs that the task is assigned 
 of defending God's word. Enough for them, 
 if they can themselves escape the judgments 
 of the Lord and his Anointed. I speak thus 
 boldly, that they may be led to acquaint them- 
 selves with the divine Word, and may find 
 salvation there." 
 
 What Luther desired was about to be ac- 
 complished. The same faith that worked 
 unseen in the convent of Wittemberg, was to 
 display its power in the princely halls of Co- 
 logne. Frederic's courage, which for a while, 
 perhaps, had faltered, soon rose again to its 
 wonted pitch. He shuddered at the thought 
 of delivering an honest man into the hands of 
 his implacable enemies. "Justice must have 
 precedence even of the Pope :" by this prin- 
 ciple would he regulate his conduct. 
 
 On the 4th of November, his counsellors 
 intimated, in his name, to the Papal Nuncios, 
 who had again met in the presence of the 
 Bishop of Trent, in the Elector's palace, that 
 his highness had seen with great concern the 
 advantage which Doctor Eck had taken of his 
 absence, to involve many persons in the sen- 
 tence of condemnation, who were not particu- 
 larized in the bull ; that since his departure 
 from Saxony, multitudes, very probably, of 
 every class, the learned as well as the unlearn- 
 ed, the clergy as well as the laity, had joined 
 themselves to Luther, and become parties to 
 his appeal ; 151 that neither his Imperial Majesty 
 nor any one else had yet made it appear to 
 him that Luther's writings had been refuted, 
 or demonstrated to be fit only for the flames ; 
 that he demanded, therefore, that Doctor Lu- 
 ther should be furnished with a safe-conduct, 
 and permitted to answer for himself before a 
 tribunal composed of learned, pious, and im- 
 partial judges." 
 
 After this announcement, Aleander, Carra- 
 cioli, and their followers withdrew for a while 
 to hold a consultation. 152 This was the first 
 occasion on which the Elector had publicly 
 declared his intentions in regard to the Re- 
 former. The Nuncios had expected him to 
 adopt a very different course. The affair hav- 
 ing been brought to that stage in which his 
 continued neutrality would expose him to dan- 
 gers, the full extent of which no foresight 
 could measure, they thought that he would no 
 longer hesitate to give up the obnoxious monk. 
 So Rome had reasoned. But her machina- 
 tions were now to be baffled by a power which 
 her calculations had left wholly out of view 
 the love of justice and truth. 
 
 On the readmission of the Nuncios into the 
 audience-chamber, "I should like to know," 
 said the arrogant Aleander, "what would the 
 Elector think, if one of his subjects were to 
 appeal from his judgment to that of the King 
 of France, or some other foreign sovereign." 
 But, perceiving at last that the Saxon coun- 
 sellors were not to be wrought upon, " Wo 
 will execute t)ie bull," said he; "we will 
 pursue and burn the writings of Luther. As 
 for his person," he added, affecting a tone of 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 disdainful indifference, "the Pope has little 
 inclination to imbrue his hands in the blood 
 of the unhappy wretch." 
 
 When the tidings reached Wittemberg of 
 the reply given by the Elector to the Nuncios, 
 Luther's friends were transported with joy. 
 Melancthon and Amsdorff, in particular, con- 
 ceived the most sanguine hopes of the future. 
 "The German nobles," said Melancthon, 
 "will follow the guidance of the Prince whom 
 they revere as their Nestor. If Homer styled 
 his aged hero the bulwark of the Greeks, why 
 may not our Frederic be surnamed the bulwark 
 of Germany?" 
 
 Erasmus, the oracle of courts, the arbiter of 
 schools, the luminary of the age, was then at 
 Cologne. He had been summoned thither by 
 several princes, desirous to profit by his coun- 
 sels. Erasmus, at the epoch of the Reforma- 
 tion, was the leader of that party which held 
 the just mean between the other two: such, 
 at least, was his own persuasion, a mistaken 
 one, however; for when truth and error stand 
 in hostile opposition, justice halts not on the 
 middle ground. He was the chief of that 
 philosophical and academic party, which, for 
 centuries, had been attempting to correct the 
 abuses of the Romish Church, but still with- 
 out success. He was the representative of 
 human wisdom, a wisdom far too weak to 
 chastise the pride of Popery. The task could 
 be achieved only by the wisdom of God, which 
 men often deem foolishness, but at the voice 
 of which the mountains crumble into dust. 
 Erasmus would neither thro whim self into the 
 arms of Luther, nor yet would he crouch at 
 the footstool of the Pope. He wavered, and 
 sometimes lost his balance between the two 
 opposing influences; ever and anon attracted 
 towards the Reformer, and then again suddenly 
 drawn back into the sphere of Romish delu- 
 sion. In a letter addressed to Albert, the 
 Archbishop of Mentz, he had declared himself 
 in Luther's favour. "It seems," said he, 
 "as though the last spark of Christian piety 
 were about to be extinguished ; and this it is 
 that has stirred up the heart of Luther; his 
 aim is not distinction, nor is he seeking 
 wealth." 154 But this letter, which Ulric Von 
 Hiltten imprudently published, was the cause 
 of so much annoyance to Erasmus, that he 
 determined to observe more caution for the 
 future. Moreover, though he lay under the 
 charge of connivance with Luther, the unmea- 
 sured language employed by the latter gave 
 him serious umbrage. "Almost all good peo- 
 ple lean towards Luther," he observed, "but 
 I perceive that the affair will end in rebellion. 
 155 .. I do not wish my name to be coupled 
 with his. 156 It injures me, and does him no j 
 service." 157i ' Be it so," replied Luther; "if 
 that displeases you, I promise you that I will 
 never make mention of you, or any of your 
 friends." Such was the man to whom the 
 favourers and the enemies of the Reformer 
 alike addressed themselves. 
 
 The Elector, knowing that the opinion of a 
 man so highly respected as Erasmus would 
 carry great weight with it, requested a visit 
 
 from the illustrious Hollander. Erasmus 
 obeyed the invitation on the 5th of December. 
 The friends of Luther regarded the interview 
 with some measure of secret alarm. The 
 Elector was standing before the fire, with Spa- 
 latin by his side, when Erasmus was ushered 
 into the chamber. " What think you of Lu- 
 ther?" asked Frederic immediately. The 
 prudent Erasmus, surprised by the question 
 so suddenly put to him, endeavoured at first 
 to evade a reply. He screwed up his mouth, 
 bit his lips, and remained silent. Hereupon 
 the Elector raised his eyebrows, (as was his 
 custom, Spalatin tells us, when he meant to 
 force an explicit answer from the person with 
 whom he was conversing,) and looked Eras- 
 mus steadfastly in the face. 158 The latter, at a 
 loss how to extricate himself from the diffi- 
 culty, replied at last, in a half-jocular tone: 
 " Luther has committed two grievous sins; he 
 has attacked the Pope's crown and the monks' 
 bellies." 159 The Elector smiled, but intimated 
 to his visitor that he was in earnest. Eras- 
 mus then, casting off his reserve, replied as 
 follows : " The origin of all these dissensions 
 is the hatred the monks bear to learning, and 
 the fear that besets them of seeing their tyran- 
 ny brought to an end. What are the weapons 
 of their warfare against Luther] clamour, ca- 
 bal, malice, and slander. The more virtuous 
 a man is, and the more strongly attached to 
 the doctrines of the Gospel, the less does he 
 find to censure in Luther's proceedings. 160 The 
 severity of the bull has roused the indigna- 
 tion of all good men ; for they find in it none 
 of the gentleness that befits the Vicar of 
 Christ. 161 Two universities only, out of the 
 whole number, have condemned Luther; and 
 even they have condemned without having 
 convicted him. Let them not deceive them- 
 selves; the danger is greater than some per- 
 sons imagine. There are difficulties in their 
 way which will not easily be surmounted. 162 
 To begin the reign of Charles by so unpopu- 
 lar an act as Luther's imprisonment, would 
 be an evil omen for the future. The world is 
 thirsting for gospel truth : let us beware how 
 we resist so holy a desire. 163 Let the whole 
 question be examined by dispassionate and 
 competent judges; it is the only course that 
 can be followed, consistently with the dignity 
 of the Pope himself." 
 
 Such was the language of Erasmus to the 
 Elector. Its frankness may perhaps astonish 
 us; but Erasmus well knew to whom he was 
 speaking. Spalatin listened to it with de- 
 light. When Erasmus took his leave, he ac- 
 companied him the whole way to the house 
 of Count von Nuenar, the provost of Cologne, 
 where the illustrious scholar resided. The 
 latter, obeying the impulse of the moment, 
 when he found himself at home, sat down, 
 committed to writing the substance of what 
 he had said to the Elector, and gave the paper 
 into Spalatin's hands. The fear of Aleander, 
 however, soon took possession of his mind ; 
 the courage he had felt in the presence of the 
 Elector and his chaplain forsook him, and he 
 entreated Spalatin to let him have that un- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 177 
 
 puarded paper back again, lest it should fall 
 into the hands of the terrible Nuncio. But it 
 was already too late. 
 
 The Elector, feeling himself strengthened 
 by the opinion of Erasmus, assumed a more 
 decided tone in his communications with the 
 Emperor. Erasmus himself, in several con- 
 ferences, which (like those granted to Nico- 
 demus of old) were held at night, laboured 
 hard to persuade the Imperial counsellors that 
 the whole affair might be referred to the judg- 
 ment of an impartial tribunal. 164 He probably 
 hoped that he himself might be chosen to de- 
 cide the controversy which threatened to divide 
 the Cnristian world. His vanity would have 
 found ample gratification in such an office. 
 But at the same time, that he might not lose 
 his credit at Rome, he wrote to Leo the Tenth 
 in the most submissive terms, and Leo answer- 
 ed his letters graciously ; a circumstance 
 which was the soufce of deep mortification to 
 Aleander. 165 In his devotion to the Pope's cause, 
 the Nuncio would willingly have administer- 
 ed a severe reproof to the Pope himself; for 
 Erasmus gave publicity to the Pontiff's let- 
 ters, and made them subservient to the con- 
 firmation of his own credit. Aleander for- 
 warded a remonstrance on this head to the 
 Vatican. The reply he received was to this 
 effect : " Do riot appear to perceive the evil 
 intentions of the man. Prudence forbids it. 
 We must not close the door of repentance 
 against him." 166 
 
 Charles, himself, adopted a system of equi- 
 poise, which consisted in flattering both the 
 Pope and the Elector, and manifesting a dis- 
 position to lean alternately to the one side or 
 the other, according to the shifting exigency 
 of the moment. His ministers obscurely in- 
 timated to Aleander the plan which their mas- 
 ter was inclined to follow. " The Emperor," 
 said they, "will be regulated in his conduct 
 towards the Pope, by the tenor of the Pope's 
 conduct towards himself; he does not choose 
 to increase the power of his rivals, particularly 
 that of the King of France." 167 At these words, 
 the arrogant Nuncio gave vent to his indigna- 
 tion. " What," he replied, " even though the 
 Pope should relinquish his alliance with the 
 Emperor, must the Emperor on that account 
 relinquish his creed? If that be the way in 
 which he means to avenge himself, bid him 
 tremble, his faithlessness will be visited on 
 his own head." But the Imperial diploma- 
 tists were not to be intimidated by the Nun- 
 cio's threats. 
 
 Yet, though the Roman legates had failed 
 to bend the great ones of this world to their 
 will, the inferior agents of the Papacy suc- 
 ceeded in making some impression on the 
 lower ranks of men. The myrmidons of Rome 
 had heard the command given by their chief. 
 Many fanatical priests gladly took advantage 
 of the bull to alarm the consciences of their 
 hearers, and many well-meaning but ill-in- 
 structed ecclesiastics deemed it a sacred duty 
 to obey the injunctions of the Pope. It was 
 in the confessional that the struggle against 
 Rome had been begun by Luther ; it was in 
 
 the confessional that Rome now put forth her 
 strength against the adherents of the Reform- 
 er. Denied all public recognition of its validi- 
 ty, the bull, nevertheless, became powerfully 
 operative in these solitary tribunals. * Have 
 you read the writings of Luther?" was the 
 question put by the confessor: "have you 
 them in your possession ? do you regard 
 them as true or heretical V And if the pe- 
 nitent hesitated to pronounce the prescribed 
 anathema, the priest refused him absolution. 
 The consciences of many were disturbed. 
 Great agitation prevailed amongst the people. 
 This dexterous expedient promised fair to 
 bring multitudes once more under the Papal 
 yoke, who had but now been won over to the 
 gospel. Well might Rome rejoice that six 
 centuries before* she had created a tribunal so 
 admirably adapted to secure to the priesthood 
 a despotic sway over the conscience of every 
 Christian. So long as that tribunal stands, 
 her empire shall not be overthrown. 
 
 Luther was speedily informed of what was 
 going on. With none to aid him in baffling 
 this device, how shall he act! The Word, 
 the testimony of Holy Writ, loudly and fear- 
 lessly proclaimed this shall be his weapon 
 of defence. The Word shall find access to 
 those troubled consciences, those dismayed 
 hearts, and they shall be strengthened. A 
 powerful impulse was needed, and powerfully 
 was the voice of Luther lifted up. He ad- 
 dressed the penitents in a tone of intrepid dig- 
 nity and high-minded contempt for all second- 
 ary considerations. " When you are asked," 
 said he, " whether or not you approve of my 
 books, let your answer be ' You are a con- 
 fessor, not an inquisitor nor a jailer. It is 
 my duty to confess whatsoever my conscience 
 prompts me to disclose, it is yours to abstain 
 from prying into the secrets of my heart. 
 Give me absolution first, and then dispute 
 with Luther with the Pope with whomso- 
 ever you please ; but beware of turning the 
 sacrament of penance into an instrument of 
 strife and debate.' And if the confessor 
 should refuse to yield," said Luther, " I would 
 dispense with his absolution. Be not disquiet- 
 ed ; if man absolves you not, God will ab- 
 solve you. Rejoice, therefore, that you are 
 absolved of God himself, and come forward 
 fearlessly to the sacrament of the altar. The 
 priest will have to answer at the last day for 
 the absolution he has withheld. They may 
 deny us the sacrament, but they cannot de- 
 prive us of the strength and grace which God 
 has attached to it. It is not their will, nor any 
 power of theirs, but our own faith that the 
 Lord has made essential to our salvation. 
 The sacrament, the altar, the priest, the 
 church, we may pass them all by; that 
 word of God which the bull condemned is 
 more than all these things ! The soul may 
 dispense with the sacrament, but it cannot 
 live without the Word. Christ, the true 
 bishop, will himself supply your spiritual 
 feast." 168 
 
 * In 1215, by the fourth Lateran Council under 
 Innocent the Third. 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Such was the strain of Luther's exhortation. 
 That animating voice pierced the recesses of 
 every dwelling, of every troubled bosom, 
 and courage and faith were everywhere 
 awakened by its echoes. But it was not 
 enough for him to stand on the defensive, he 
 feit that he must become the assailant, and re- 
 turn blow for blow. A book had been written 
 against him by a Roman theologian, named 
 Ambrosius Catharinus. " I will rouse the 
 choler of that Italian beast," 169 said Luther. He 
 kept his word. In his answer, he proved by 
 the revelations of Daniel and St. John, by the 
 Epistles of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Jude, 
 that the kingdom of Antichrist, predicted and 
 described in the Bible, was no other than the 
 Papacy. " I know for certain," said he, in 
 conclusion, " that our Lord Jesus Christ liveth 
 and reigneth. In the strength of that assu- 
 rance I could face ten thousand Popes, and 
 never shrink. May God visit us at length ac- 
 cording to his infinite power, and hasten the 
 day of the glorious coming of his Son, in 
 which he shall destroy that man of sin. And 
 let all the people say, Amen." 170 
 
 And all the people did say, Amen ! A sa- 
 ered dread took possession of every mind. The 
 image of Antichrist seated on the Pontifical 
 throne was present to every imagination. 
 This new idea, so startlingly displayed by Lu- 
 ther to his contemporaries in the glowing co- 
 lours of prophetic delineation, gave a fearful 
 shock to the power of Rome. Faith in the di- 
 vine Word succeeded to that unqualified sub- 
 mission which had hitherto been rendered to 
 the Church, and the Pope's authority, so long 
 regarded with the deepest reverence,'was now 
 the object of general detestation and terror. 
 
 Germany replied to the Papal bull by salut- 
 ing Luther with redoubled acclamations. The 
 plague had made its appearance in Wittem- 
 berg, yet HCAV students were continually flock- 
 ing to the university, and from five to six 
 hundred disciples were statedly assembled to 
 listen to the lectures of Luther and Melanc- 
 thon. The convent chapel and the city church 
 were both too small for the eager crowd that 
 hung on the lips of the Reformer. The prior 
 of the Augustines was in constant alarm, lest 
 the buildings should give way under the 
 weight of the throngs that filled them. 171 Nor 
 was this excitement confined within the walls 
 of Wittemberg all Germany partook of it. 
 From princes, nobles, and scholars, in every 
 quarter, Luther received letters that spoke 
 the language of encouragement and of faith. 
 More than "thirty such letters were shown by 
 him to Spalatin. 172 
 
 On one occasion the Margrave of Branden- 
 burg, accompanied by several other princes, 
 came to Wittemberg, to pay Luther a visit. 
 "They wanted to see the Man," as he him- 
 self expresses it. 173 And of a truth all wanted 
 to see Ike man whose voice stirred the nations 
 and caused the Pontiff of the West to totter 
 on his throne. 
 
 The enthusiasm of Luther's friends grew 
 stronger every day. " 0, the unheard-of folly 
 of Eraser!" cried Melancthon, "that he 
 
 should presume to measure his strength with 
 our Hercules, overlooking the finger of God 
 in what has been done by Luther, even as the 
 I king of Egypt overlooked it in the acts of 
 Moses." 174 The mild Melancthon employed the 
 most energetic language to urge forward such 
 as appeared to him to be falling back, or 
 pausing in their course. " Luther has arisen 
 to defend the truth," said he, addressing John 
 Hesse, "and dost thou keep silence 1 ? He 
 breathes still ay, and prospers, in spite of 
 all the wrath and fury of Pope Leo. Remember 
 that it is impossible for Romish impiety to 
 give a sanction to the Gospel. 175 In this unhappy 
 age how can we hope that a Judas or a Caia- 
 phas, a Pilate or a Herod will ever be want- 
 ing to uphold the evil cause ? Stand forth then 
 to resist such adversaries, in the might of 
 God's holy word." 
 
 Besides this, caustic satires against the 
 most conspicuous among the Italian agents of 
 the Pope were circulated through all the pro- 
 vinces of the empire. Ulric von Hiitten was 
 indefatigable in his exertions. He addressed 
 letters to Luther, to the Legates, to all the 
 most considerable personages of Germany. 
 " I tell thee once and again I tell thee, O Ma- 
 rinus !" said he in an epistle to the Legate 
 Carracioli, " that those deceitful mists with 
 which you blinded our eyes are scattered for- 
 ever; the Gospel is preached, the truth is 
 made known, the absurdities of Rome are 
 given up to contempt, your decrees are un- 
 heeded, and null, our deliverance is at hand." 176 
 
 Not content with the use of prose, Hiitten 
 had recourse also to verse. He published his 
 " Outcry on the Fire raised by Luther." Ap- 
 pealing in this poem to Christ himself, he 
 besought him to rebuke in his fiery displea- 
 sure all who dared to deny his authority. 
 Hiitten was not inclined to stop at words ; 
 he was eager to draw his sword in the strug- 
 gle. Luther reproved his rash designs. " 1 
 would not have the Gospel supported by vio- 
 lence and carnage," said he: "I have written 
 to Hiitten to tell him so." 178 
 
 The celebrated painter, Lucas Cranach, 
 published a set of prints under the title of 
 Christ's Passion and Antichrist,- representing 
 on one side the glory and magnificence of the 
 Pope; on the other the humiliation and suf- 
 ferings of the Redeemer. Luther composed 
 the inscriptions for these prints. They pro- 
 duced an unexampled effect. The people re- 
 nounced their attachment to a church which 
 appeared in every particular so directly op- 
 posed to the example of its founder. "It is 
 an excellent work," said Luther, "for the 
 laity." 179 
 
 In some instances those who attacked the 
 Papacy employed weapons ill suited to the 
 sanctity of the Christian character Emser 
 bad answered Luther's work, addre&sed " To 
 he Goat of Leipsic," by another, inscribed 
 "To the Bull of Wittemberg:" the appella- 
 tion was not ill chosen. But at Magdeburg 
 Emser's book was hung to the gallows, with 
 this inscription: "The book is worthy of its 
 place ;" and a rod was hung under it, to denote 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 179 
 
 the punishment due to the author. 180 At Doeb- 
 lin there was written under the Pope's bull, 
 in derision of its impotent fury, "The nest is 
 here, but the birds are flown." 181 
 
 The students of Wittemberg, taking advan- 
 tage of the carnival, dressed up one of their 
 own number in garments resembling those 
 worn by the Pope, and carried him in pompous 
 procession, though in a manner somewhat too 
 ludicrous, as Luther remarks, through the 
 streets of the city. 182 When they reached the 
 great square beside the river, some of them, 
 feigning a mutiny, made a sudden attempt to 
 throw the Pope into the water. His Holiness, 
 unwilling to submit to the immersion, took to 
 his heels; his cardinals, his bishops, and fa- 
 miliars of every degree did the same; the stu- 
 dents chased them from street to street, and 
 every corner of Wittemberg enjoyed the spec- 
 tacle of some Romish dignitary pursued by 
 the jeers and shouts of the excited populace. 183 
 "The enemy of Christ," says Luther, "who 
 mocks at kings, and at Christ himself, meets 
 but a just requital, when he also is turned into 
 mockery." Here, in our judgment, he errs; 
 the spotless dignity of truth ought not to be 
 so profaned. In the conflicts she is called 
 upon to wage, she needs not such auxiliaries 
 as songs, or caricatures, or the mummeries of 
 a carnival. It may be, indeed, that without 
 these popular demonstrations, her success 
 would be less apparent ; but it would be purer, 
 and consequently more durable. 
 
 It was not all exultation and defiance, how- 
 ever, with the Reformer. Behind his triumphal 
 chariot, drawn joyously along by enthusiastic 
 and devoted adherents, there stood the slave 
 to remind him of impending evil. Some of 
 his friends, at this time, seemed disposed to 
 retrace their steps. Staupitz, whom he called 
 his father, appeared to be wavering. The 
 Pope had accused him, and Staupitz had de- 
 clared himself ready to submit to the judgment 
 of his Holiness. " I fear," said Luther, " that 
 by accepting the Pope as your judge, you will 
 seem to renounce me and the doctrines which 
 I have maintained. If Christ loves you, he 
 will constrain you to retract your letter. Christ 
 is rejected, stripped, blasphemed ; this is not 
 the time to shrink back, but to sound the 
 onset. 184 You exhort me to be humble; I, on 
 the other hand, exhort you to be firm : for you 
 have too much humility, as I have too much 
 pride. I shall be called a proud man, I know ; 
 a covetous man, an adulterer, a homicide, an 
 antipope, a wretch guilty of every crime. It 
 matters little, so that no one can charge me 
 with having impiously kept silence while the 
 Lord was complaining, ' I looked on my right 
 hand and beheld , but there was no man that 
 would know meS The word of Christ is a 
 word, not of peace, but of the sword. If you 
 will not follow Christ, let me advance alone. 
 I will press forward, and the prize of the high 
 calling shall be mine." 185 
 
 Luther thus, like a consummate general, 
 
 kept a watchful eye on the face of the battle; 
 
 and while fresh combatants were continually 
 
 rushing forward at his bidding into the thick- 
 
 24 
 
 est of the fight, he failed not to mark where 
 any of his followers were beginning to give 
 ground ; nor was he slow to rally them again 
 beneath their adopted standard. His warning 
 voice resounded far and wide. Letter followed 
 letter in rapid succession. Three printing 
 presses were incessantly employed in multi- 
 ing the copies of his various writings. 186 
 
 is discourses passed from hand to hand 
 through the whole nation; supporting the agi- 
 tated penitent in the confessional, giving cou- 
 rage to the faltering convert in the cloister, 
 and asserting the claims of evangelic truth, 
 even in the abodes of princes. 
 
 "Amid the storms that assailed me," he 
 wrote to the Elector, " I always hoped that I 
 should be permitted to enjoy repose at last. 
 But I now see that this was one of the thoughts 
 of man. Day after day the waves are rolling 
 higher, and on every side the ocean hems me 
 in. Fiercely, indeed, is the tern pest raging: 137 
 yet I still grasp the sword with one hand, 
 while with the other I build up the walls of 
 Sion." 188 His former ties are now broken : the 
 arm that levelled the thunders of excommuni- 
 cation against him, has severed them forever. 
 "Being excommunicated by the bull," said 
 he, "I am released from the authority of the 
 Pope and the monastic laws. I embrace my 
 deliverance with joy. Yet I relinquish not 
 the habit of my order; nor do I leave the con- 
 vent." 189 And still, in the midst of all this 
 commotion, he recalls to mind the dangers to 
 which his own soul is exposed in the struggle. 
 He feels the necessity of watching over him- 
 self. "Thou dost well to pray for me," he 
 wrote to Pellican, who was residing at Basle ; 
 "I cannot give myself up as I ought to holy 
 exercises; life is a cross to me. Thou dost 
 well in exhorting me to moderation; I feel the 
 need of it; but I am not master of myself: an 
 impulse, of I know not what nature, hurries 
 me away. I bear enmity to no man ; but I 
 am so beset with enemies myself, that I can- 
 not be sufficiently on my guard against the 
 seductions of Satan. 190 Pray for me, then. . . ." 
 
 Thus it was that both the Reformer and the 
 Reformation were led forward on the way 
 which God had marked out for them. The 
 agitation was still spreading more widely. 
 Persons who might have been expected to 
 prove the stanchest adherents of the hierarchy, 
 began now to share in the general movement. 
 "Those even," says Eck, with considerable 
 candour, "on whom the Pope has conferred 
 the best benefices and the richest prebends, 
 are as mute as so many senseless stocks. 
 There are many of them even, who extol Lu- 
 ther as a man filled with the Spirit of God, 
 and call the defenders of the Pope sophists 
 and flatterers." 191 The Church, apparently in 
 full vigour, supported by the treasures, the 
 power, the armed array of the world, but in 
 reality exhausted, enfeebled, destitute of the 
 love of God, of Christian vitality, of devotion 
 to the truth, found herself, in this condition, 
 opposed to a company of simple-minded but 
 courageous men, who had learned that God is 
 with them who contend for his word, and 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 therefore never doubted of their victory. In 
 all ages it has been seen how great is the 
 power of any predominant idea to work upon 
 the inert mass of mankind, to rouse the spirit 
 of a nation, and to urge its votaries by thou- 
 sands, if need be, into the field of battle and 
 the very jaws of death. But if an idea whose 
 origin is earthly has a potency so great, what 
 limit shall we set to the power of one commu- 
 nicated from above, when God himself has 
 opened men's hearts to receive it] Not often, 
 indeed, in the world's history has such a power 
 been exerted ; it was displayed, however, in 
 the infancy of Christianity ; at the period of 
 
 the Reformation it was exhibited again ; and 
 it shall be witnessed once more in the latter 
 days. Men who despised the riches and the 
 grandeur of the world, and were content to 
 lead a life of poverty and privation, began now 
 to bestir themselves for the sake of that most 
 precious of all treasures, the doctrine of truth 
 and grace. All the elements of religious feel- 
 ing were fermenting in the agitated bosom of 
 society, and a glowing enthusiasm was kin- 
 dled in men's souls, which forced them, bj 
 an irresistible impulse, into that glorious career 
 opened by the providence of God for the moral 
 renovation of their race. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 THE DIET OF WORMS. 
 
 January to May, 1521. 
 
 Difficulties Luther summoned to Worms Public Opinion Efforts of Aleander Fresh charges 
 against Luther Aleander rouses Rome The Bull fulminated Luther's Motives Political 
 
 Councils The Confessor And the Chancellor Unavailing Manoauvres Erasmus's Declara- 
 tion The Briefs The ThreatsThe Audience Speech of Aleander Rome's Defence Ap- 
 peal to Charles Effects of the Nuncio's Speech Feelings of the Princes Duke George's 
 Speech Character of the Reformation Charles gives way Public Opinion Luther's Serenity 
 Death and no Retractation Summons Safe-conduct Fears of the Elector Holy Thursday at 
 Rome The Pope and Luther Luther's Courage Bugenhagen Persecution in Pomerania 
 Amsdorff Schurff Hiitten to Charles V. Luther's Farewell Luther at Weimar Cavalcade 
 of Erfurth Justus Jonas Preaches at Erfurth Faith and Works The People and Luther 
 Luther to Spalatin A Stratagem Luther's Resolution Enters Worms Death-song Capito 
 and the Temporizers Citation His Prayer The Strength of the Reformation Luther repairs 
 to the Diet The Diet Luther is encouraged Luther's Answer Luther's Prudence The 
 Spaniards Luther's Vow Luther again before the Diet Luther's Speech Requires Proof of 
 Error A Warning Voice Repeats his Speech in Latin New Attempt Calm in the Midst of 
 Tumult Duke Eric's Offering The Elector and Spalatin The Emperor's Message The 
 Safe-conduct in Danger Enthusiasm for Luther Conciliation Concourse to Luther Philip 
 of Hesse Conference at Apb. of Treves' Wehe's Exhortation Private Conversation Coch- 
 leeus's Proposal Bursting of the Wineglass Conference at the Hotel Final Conference with 
 the Archbishop End of the Negotiations Luther ordered to quit Worms Luther's Departure 
 from Worms His Letter to Cranach Luther's Letter to Charles V. The Curate of Eisenach 
 Charles signs the Decree against Luther The Edict of Worms Luther among his Relations- 
 The Ways of God The Wartburg The Reformation under a Cloud. 
 
 THE Reformation engendered by the solita- 
 ry struggles of a broken and contrite spirit, in 
 a cell of the convent at Erfurth, had been gain- 
 ing strength from the moment of its birth. A 
 man of humble station, holding in his hand 
 the Word of life, had stood erect in the pre- 
 sence of earthly dignities, and they had quail- 
 ed before him. Armed with that Word alone, 
 he had encountered first Tetzel and his nume- 
 rous host, and after a brief resistance those 
 greedy traffickers had been driven from the 
 field ; then the Roman Legate at Augsburg, 
 and the Legate in confusion had suffered his 
 prey to escape ; then again the learned di- 
 vines in the halls of Leipsic, and the astonish- 
 ed theologians had seen the weapons of their 
 scholastic logic shivered in their hands ; 
 lastly, when the Pope himself had started from 
 his slumbers to launch his fiercest lightnings 
 at the head of the offending monk that same 
 Word had again been the safeguard of him 
 who trusted in it, and the arm of the spiritual 
 despot had been stricken with palsy. One 
 
 struggle more was yet to be endured ; for the 
 Word was destined to triumph over the Em- 
 peror of the West, over the kings and princes 
 of many lands, and at length, having humbled 
 all earthly opposition, to be exalted in the 
 church, and there to reign supreme as the very 
 Word of the living God. 
 
 A solemn diet was about to be convened, 
 the first assembly of the German States since 
 the accession of Charles. Nuremberg, the 
 city in which, by virtue of the Golden Bull, 
 j it ought to have been held, was at this time 
 afflicted by the plague; it was therefore sum- 
 I moned to meet at Worms, on the 6th of Janua- 
 | ry, 1521. 1 Never before had so many princes 
 ! been present at the Diet ; on this occasion all 
 j were desirous of taking a part in the first act 
 | of the young Emperor's government ; all were 
 ambitious of displaying their own grandeur. 
 Among the rest, the young Landgrave Philip 
 I of Hesse, who was afterwards to play so im- 
 portant a part in the Reformation, arrived at 
 I Worms about the middle of January, with a 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 181 
 
 train of six hundred cavaliers, many of them 
 highly distinguished for their military prowess. 
 
 A more powerful motive, however, had 
 actuated the electors, the dukes, the archbish- 
 ops, the landgraves, the margraves, the counts, 
 the bishops, the barons and lords of the Em- 
 pire, as well as the deputies of the free cities 
 and the ambassadors of the various foreign 
 sovereigns, whose gorgeous retinues were now 
 pouring from every quarter into the city of 
 Worms. Intimation had been given that the 
 Diet would be occupied with the nomination 
 of a Council of Regency to administer the 
 government in the Emperor's absence, with 
 the question regarding the jurisdiction of the 
 Imperial Chamber, and with other weighty 
 matters; but the public attention was chiefly 
 fixed upon a subject distinct from all these, 
 but which the Emperor had also mentioned in 
 his letters of convocation, namely, the Re- 
 formation. The great political interests of 
 state faded into insignificance when contrasted 
 with the cause of the monk of Wittemberg. 
 This was the main topic of discourse among 
 the dignified personages who were assembled 
 in Worms. 
 
 Every thing indicated that the Diet would 
 be a difficult and boisterous one. Charles, at 
 this early period, had not yet adopted a de- 
 cided line of policy, his tutor and first minis- 
 ter died while the assembly was sitting, 
 many ambitious designs were on foot, many 
 conflicting passions at work, the Spaniards 
 and the Flemings were striving hard to ex- 
 clude each other from the confidence of their 
 youthful Sovereign, the Nuncios were busily 
 pursuing their artful schemes, the German 
 rrinces had assumed a tone of independence. 
 It was easy to foresee that a struggle was at 
 hand in which all the subtleties of party in- 
 trigue would find ample exercise. 2 
 
 How was Charles to act, between the Pa- 
 pal Nuncio on the one hand, and the Elector 
 to whom he was indebted for his crown on the 
 other 1 How avoid giving offence either to 
 Aleander or to Frederic? The former was 
 continually urging the Emperor to execute the 
 Pope's bull ; the latter as perseveringly en- 
 treated him to take no steps against the monk 
 until he should have allowed him a hearing. 
 Desirous of satisfying both these contending 
 parties, the young Prince, during a temporary 
 residence at Oppenheim, had written to the 
 Elector to bring Luther to the Diet, on the as- 
 surance that no injustice should be practised 
 against, him, that he should be protected from 
 all violence, and that a free conference should 
 be allowed him with men qualified to discuss 
 the disputed points. 
 
 This letter from Charles, which was accom- 
 panied by others from his minister Chievres 
 and the Count of Nassau, threw the Elector 
 into great perplexity. He well knew that at 
 any moment an alliance with the Pope might 
 become necessary to the young and ambitious 
 Emperor, and that Luther in that case would 
 be lost. If he carried the Reformer to Worms, 
 he might probably be conducting him to the 
 scaffold. And yet the Emperor's orders were 
 
 peremptory. The Elector desired Spalatin 
 to inform Luther of the directions he had re- 
 ceived. " Our enemies," observed the chap- 
 lain, " are straining every nerve to accomplish 
 their design." 3 
 
 The friends of Luther trembled, but he him- 
 self partook not of their fears. His health at 
 that time was very weak ; but this he heeded 
 not. " If I cannot perform the journey to 
 Worms as a man in good health," said he in 
 his answer to the Elector, "I will be carried 
 thither in a litter. For since the Emperor has 
 summoned me, I can regard it only as the call 
 of God. If they intend to use violence against 
 me, as they probably do, for assuredly it is 
 with no view of gaining information that they 
 require me to appear before them ; I commit 
 the matter into the hands of God. He still 
 lives and reigns who preserved the three Is- 
 raelites in the fiery furnace. If it be not His 
 will to save me, my life is little worth. Let 
 us only take care that the Gospel be not ex- 
 posed to the insults of the ungodly, and let us 
 shed our blood in its defence rather than allow 
 them to triumph. Who shall say whether my 
 life or my death would contribute most to the 
 salvation of my brethren I It is not for us to 
 decide. Let us only pray God that our young 
 Emperor may not begin his reign by imbruing 
 his hands in my blood. I would rather perish 
 by the sword of Rome. You remember the 
 judgments with which the Emperor Sigis- 
 mund was visited after the murder of John 
 Huss. Expect any thing from me but flight or 
 recantation. Fly I cannot, still less can I re- 
 cant." 4 
 
 Before Luther's letter reached him, the 
 Elector had formed his resolution. This 
 Prince, whose acquaintance with the Gospel 
 was daily increasing, began now to adopt a 
 more decided course. He was sensible that 
 the conference at Worms could lead to no ad- 
 vantageous result. " It seems to me," he 
 wrote to the Emperor, " that to bring Luther 
 with me to Worms, would be an undertaking 
 of much difficulty. I beg to be relieved from 
 it. Moreover, it has never been my desire to 
 favour his doctrines, but only to prevent him 
 from being condemned unheard. The Le- 
 gates, without waiting for your sanction, took 
 measures which were injurious both to Lu- 
 ther's honour and to mine ; and I have reason 
 to fear that he has been provoked to an act of 
 imprudent retaliation, which, in the event of 
 his appearance at Worms, might place him in 
 extreme jeopardy." The Elector alluded to 
 the burning of the Pope's bull. 
 
 But the report of Luther's intended appear- 
 ance had already been circulated at Worms. 
 The seekers after novelty heard it with joy, 
 the Imperial courtiers with alarm, but by 
 none was it received with so indignant a feel- 
 ing as by the Papal Legate. Aleander, on 
 his way to the Diet, had had opportunities of 
 seeing to what extent the Gospel proclaimed 
 by Luther had found acceptance in every 
 class of society. Academicians, lawyers, 
 nobles, the inferior clergy, many even of the 
 monks, and vast numbers of the common peo- 
 
182 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 pie, had embraced the Reformation. 6 The ad- 
 herents of the new doctrines showed a fearless 
 front, their language was frank and firm, 
 and, on the contrary, an unconquerable terror 
 paralyzed the partisans of Rome. The Pa- 
 pacy was standing yet, but those who were 
 regarded as its pillars began to stagger, for 
 their ears had already caught the presages 
 of approaching ruin; presages resembling 
 that faint and dubious sound which alone 
 gives brief warning when a mountain totters 
 to its fall. 6 Aleander, in the course of his 
 journey to Worms, was often subjected to the 
 severest mortification. When he had occa- 
 sion to halt in any spot for refreshment or re- 
 pose, neither collegians, nor nobles, nor priests, 
 even among those believed to be favourable 
 to the Pope's cause, would venture to receive 
 him, and the haughty Nuncio was obliged to 
 seek shelter in the meanest inns. 7 Alarmed 
 by these symptoms, Aleander concluded that 
 his life was in danger. He arrived at Worms, 
 with that idea uppermost in his mind, and 
 his Roman fanaticism assumed additional bit- 
 terness from the sense of personal injury. He 
 had immediate recourse to every means within 
 his reach to prevent the audacious appearance 
 of the formidable Luther. "Would it not be 
 a scandal," said he, "to see laymen insti- 
 tuting a fresh inquiry into a cause in which 
 the Pope has already pronounced a sentence 
 of condemnation]" To a Roman courtier, 
 nothing could be so unwelcome as an inquiry, 
 and, moreover, this was to have taken place 
 in Germany, not at Rome, a circumstance in 
 itself deeply affronting, even on the supposi- 
 tion of Luther being eventually condemned 
 without a dissentient voice ; but such result 
 of the trial was uncertain. Might it not be 
 feared that the man whose powerful eloquence 
 had already done such deadly mischief might 
 draw aside many of the princes and lords into 
 the path of perdition? Aleander's remon- 
 strances with Charles were of the most urgent 
 character, he entreated, he threatened, he spoke 
 in the lofty tone of one who represented the 
 Head of the Church. 8 Charles gave way, and 
 wrote to the Elector that inasmuch as the 
 time allowed to Luther had expired, he was 
 now in the condition of a man actually ex- 
 communicated by the Pope, and consequently, 
 if he would not retract what he had written 
 Frederic must leave him at Wittemberg. But 
 that prince had already commenced his jour- 
 ney without him. " I beseech the Lord," 
 said Melancthon, when the Elector took his 
 departure, "to deal graciously with our so- 
 vereign. On him rest all our hopes for the 
 revival of Christianity. His enemies will 
 stop at nothing, xai rtdv-ta fa^tov xu^tjOjUti'oi,* 
 but God will bring to nought the devices of 
 Achitophel. As for us, let us perform our 
 part in the conflict by our teachings and our 
 prayers." Luther was much grieved that he 
 was forbidden to appear at W T orms. 9 
 
 It was not enough for Aleander, however, 
 
 * They will not leave a stone unturned. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. 279. 24 Jan.) 
 
 that Luther was prevented from making his 
 appearance at the Diet, he was bent on 
 obtaining his condemnation. He returned 
 incessantly to the charge with the princes, 
 prelates, and other members of the assembly ; 
 he charged the Augustine not only with dis- 
 obedience and heresy, but also with sedi- 
 tion, rebellion, impiety and blasphemy. But 
 the very tones of his voice betrayed the pas- 
 sions by which he was actuated. " Hatred 
 and the thirst of vengeance," an observer re- 
 marked, "are his motives, rather than any 
 true zeal for religion;"* and in spite of the 
 frequency and the vehemence of his harangues 
 he persuaded no one. 10 Some reminded him 
 that the Pope's bull had only condemned Lu- 
 ther conditionally ; others allowed indications 
 to escape them of the joy they felt at seeing 
 the pride of Rome brought down.. The Em- 
 peror's ministers on the one hand, and the 
 ecclesiastical Electors on the other, affected 
 extreme coldness, the former, in order that 
 the Pope might perceive the necessity of con- 
 tracting an alliance with their master, the lat- 
 ter that he might be compelled to purchase 
 their co-operation at a higher price. A con- 
 viction of Luther's innocence was the pre- 
 vailing sentiment in the assembly, and Ale- 
 ander could not restrain his indignation. 
 
 But the coldness of the Diet he could bet- 
 ter have brooked than the coldness which was 
 now manifested by Rome. Rome, when at 
 length, with much difficulty, she had been 
 induced to treat the attack of the "drunken 
 German" as a serious matter, never imagined 
 that a bull emanating from the Sovereign 
 Pontiff could fail to reduce him at once to 
 complete and abject submission. She had 
 relapsed into her former security, and neither 
 bull nor coin did she now forward to Ger- 
 many. Now, without money, how was it 
 possible to manage an affair like this? 11 Rome 
 must be roused, and Aleander accordingly 
 sounds the alarm. " Germany," he wrote to 
 the Cardinal de Medicis, "is falling away 
 from Rome ; the Princes, I say, are falling 
 away from the Pope. A little more delay 
 a little more compromise and the case be- 
 comes hopeless! Money! Money! or Ger- 
 many is lost!" 12 
 
 At this cry Rome awakes ; the retainers of 
 the Papacy, assembled in the Vatican, cast 
 aside their torpor, and hasten to forge fresh 
 thunders of direful potency. The Pope issues 
 a new bull, and that excommunication, with 
 which hitherto the heretical doctor had only 
 been threatened, is now decidedly pronounced 
 against him and against all his adherents. 13 
 Rome, by thus wilfully snapping asunder the 
 last thread that yet held him to her church, 
 gave Luther more liberty, and consequently 
 more power. Assailed by the papal thunders, 
 he cast himself, with a more ardent love, into 
 the arms of Christ. Driven from the out- 
 ward temple, he felt more deeply that he 
 
 * (Hist. Joh. Cochlaei de actis et scriptis Mar- 
 tini Luiheri. Par. 1556. p. 27. verso. Cochlseus 
 was one of Luther's greatest enemies. We shall 
 shortly have to speak of him.) 
 

 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 183 
 
 a temple himself, inhabited by the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 "It is a glorious thing to think of," said he, 
 " that we sinners, believing in Christ and feed- 
 ing on his flesh, should have him d wellingin us, 
 in all his power, his wisdom, and his righte- 
 ousness, for it is written, ' Whosoever believeth 
 in me, in him I abide." 1 O wonderful abode ! 
 marvellous tabernacle, how far excelling that 
 which was set up by Moses ! within, how 
 magnificently adorned, with costly hangings 
 and purple veils and implements of gold ! and 
 yet without, even like that other tabernacle 
 which God commanded to be erected in the 
 wilderness of Sinai there is nothing to be seen 
 but the coarse covering of ram's skins and 
 goat's hair. 14 Often does the Christian stumble, 
 and in his outward aspect all is weakness and 
 reproach. But what matters it? beneath 
 that infirmity and foolishness of his, a power 
 lies hid which the world cannot know, and 
 which yet must overcome the world ; for 
 Christ abideth in him. I have sometimes 
 seen Christians halting in their walk, and 
 ready to fall, but when the hour came that 
 they must wrestle with the enemy, or plead 
 their Master's cause before the world, Christ 
 on a sudden stirred within them, a*nd so strong 
 and valiant did they then become that Satan 
 was dismayed and fled from their presence." 15 
 
 Such an hour as he spoke of was soon to 
 come upon himself; and Christ, who ** abode" 
 with him was then to be his present help. 
 Rome in the mean time cast him off in scorn. 
 The Reformer and all who took part with 
 him, of whatsoever rank or degree, were ana- 
 thematized, and were declared to have forfeit- 
 ed for themselves and their descendants all 
 their honours and their worldly goods. Every 
 faithful Christian was enjoined, as he valued 
 his own soul, to shun all intercourse with that 
 accursed crew; in every place where the 
 heresy had gained a footing, it was the duty 
 of the priests on Sundays and holidays, at the 
 hour of high mass, solemnly to publish the 
 sentence of excommunication. The sacred 
 vessels and ornaments were to be removed 
 from the altar, the cross to be laid on the 
 ground, twelve priests, holding torches in 
 their hands, were to light them first, and im- 
 mediately to dash them down, and extinguish 
 them by trampling them under foot ; the 
 bishop was then to proclaim the condemna- 
 tion of those ungodly men ; the bells were to 
 be tolled ; the bishop and the priests in con- 
 cert were to chant anathemas and maledic- 
 tions ; and the service was to be concluded by 
 a discourse of unsparing severity against Lu- 
 ther and his adherents. 
 
 Twenty-two days had elapsed since the 
 publication of the sentence at Rome, though 
 it probably had not yet transpired in Ger- 
 many, when Luther, having heard that it 
 was again in contemplation to summon him to 
 Worms, addressed a letter to the Elector, 
 couched in such terms as to give that Prince 
 the option of communicating it to the Diet. 
 Luther was anxious to correct the erroneous 
 notions entertained by the Princes who com- 
 
 posed that august assembly, and candidly 
 to explain to them the true merits of a cause 
 so little understood. " I rejoice with all my 
 heart, most serene Prince," said he, " that his 
 Imperial Majesty is disposed to have this af- 
 fair brought before him. I call Christ to wit- 
 ness that it is the cause of the German na- 
 tion, of the Catholic church, of the Christian 
 world, of God himself, not the cause of a 
 solitary, humble individual. I am ready to 
 repair to Worms, provided only that a safe- 
 conduct, and learned, pious, and impartial 
 judges be allowed me. 16 I am ready to answer 
 for myself, for it is not in the spirit of reck- 
 lessness, nor for the sake of worldly profit, 
 that I have taught the doctrine which is laid 
 to my charge ; I have taught it in obedience 
 to my conscience and to my oath as a doctor 
 of the Holy Scriptures; for God's glory 
 have I taught it, for the salvation of the 
 Christian Church, for the good of the Ger- 
 man people, for the rooting out of gross su- 
 perstition and grievous abuses, the cure of 
 innumerable evils, the wiping away of foul 
 disgrace, the overthrow of tyranny, blasphe- 
 my, and impiety in countless forms." 
 
 This declaration, made at so critical a mo- 
 ment of Luther's life deserves to be regarded 
 with deep attention. Here we see the motives 
 by which he was actuated, here are the secret 
 springs which gave the first impulse of revi- 
 val to the Christian community. We find no 
 traces here of monkish emulation, or a desire to 
 break loose from the restraint of monastic vows. 
 
 But all this was of little moment to mere 
 politicians. An alliance with the Pope was 
 every day becoming more necessary to the 
 success of Charles's designs. Situated as he 
 was between the Pope and the Elector, he 
 could have wished either to separate Frederic 
 from Luther, or to satisfy the Pope without 
 offending Frederic. But how was this to be 
 accomplished 1 Many of his courtiers treated 
 the whole affair of the Augustine monk with 
 that contemptuous indifference which politi- 
 cians generally affect when the interests of re- 
 ligion are discussed. " Let us avoid all ex- 
 treme measures," said they. " Let us entangle 
 Luther in negotiations, and silence him by 
 the help of some partial concessions. To 
 stifle the flame, not fan it, is the course of 
 true policy. If the monk fall into the trap, 
 we have gained our object. By accepting a 
 compromise, he will fix a gag on his own 
 mouth arid ruin his cause. To save appear- 
 ances, a few external reforms must be granted, 
 the Elector will be satisfied, the Pope will 
 be conciliated,- and things will go on once 
 more in the ordinary track." 
 
 Such was the plan devised by the confi- 
 dants of the emperor. The doctors of Wit- 
 temberg appear to have discovered this new 
 artifice. "They are trying to gain men over 
 secretly," said Melancthon, " and mining in 
 the dark." 17 John Glapio, the Emperor's con- 
 fessor, a man in high repute, an adroit courtier, 
 and a wily monk, was charged with the exe- 
 cution of the scheme. Glapio possessed the 
 full confidence of Charles, who, adopting in 
 
184 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 this particular the Spanish custom, abandoned 
 to him almost entirely the care of all matters 
 relating to religion. Charles had no sooner 
 been elevated to the Imperial throne, than 
 Leo hastened to gain the good will of Glapio 
 by marks of favour which the confessor warm- 
 ly acknowledged. 18 He could not better dis- 
 charge his debt of gratitude to the Pontiff than 
 by silencing the new-born heresy, and accord- 
 ingly he applied himself to the work. 19 
 
 Among the counsellors of the Elector of 
 Saxony, one who held a conspicuous place 
 was Gregory Brack, or Pontanus, a man dis- 
 tinguished for intelligence, decision, and cou- 
 rage, whose skill in divinity might have 
 shamed all the doctors; while his wisdom 
 was adequate to baffle the united craft of all 
 the monks in the court of Charles the Fifth. 
 Glapio, knowing the influence which the 
 Chancellor possessed, requested an interview 
 with him, and introducing himself, as though 
 he had been a friend of the Reformer : " I was 
 filled with joy," said he, in a kindly tone, 
 " when I read the first writings of Luther; I 
 looked upon him as a vigorous tree that had 
 shot forth goodly branches and gave promise 
 to the Church of the most precious fruit. 
 Many others, it is true, had entertained the 
 same views as he ; but none had so nobly and 
 undauntedly proclaimed the truth. But when 
 I read his book on the Babylonian Captivity, 
 I felt like a man stunned and overwhelmed by 
 a shower of blows from head to foot. I can- 
 not believe," added the monk, " that brother 
 Martin will avow himself the author of it; it 
 is marked neither by his peculiar style, nor 
 by the learning he elsewhere evinces." After 
 some discussion the Confessor continued : 
 *' Conduct me to the Elector, and in your 
 presence I will show him where Luther has 
 erred." 
 
 The Chancellor replied that the business of 
 the Diet left his Highness no leisure, and, 
 moreover, that he took no part in that affair. 
 The monk, to his great vexation, found his 
 request eluded. "Nevertheless," said the 
 Chancellor, " since you say there is no evil 
 without a remedy, be pleased to explain 
 yourself." 
 
 Assuming a confidential air, the Confessor 
 answered, "The Emperor earnestly desires to 
 see a man like Luther reconciled to the 
 Church; for his books (before the publication 
 of the treatise on the Babylonian Captivity} 
 were by no means disagreeabletohisMajesty. 20 
 That last work of Luther's was, doubtless, 
 written under the irritation of feeling excited 
 by the bull. Let him but declare that he had 
 no intention to disturb the peace of the Church, 
 and the learned of every nation will join hands 
 with him. Procure me an audience of his 
 Highness." 
 
 The Chancellor waited on the Elector again. 
 Frederic well knew that any retractation what- 
 soever was impossible. " Tell the Confessor," 
 said he, " that I cannot comply with his wish; 
 but continue your conference with him." 
 
 Glapio received this message with many 
 demonstrations of respect; and, shifting his 
 
 ground, he said, "Let the Elector name some 
 persons in whom he places confidence to deli- 
 berate on this affair." 
 
 THE CHANCELLOR. "The Elector does not 
 profess to be Luther's advocate." 21 
 
 THE CONFESSOR. "Well, then, you and I, 
 at least, can take the matter up. Christ is 
 my witness that I urge this from love to the 
 Church, and to Luther himself, who has 
 opened so many hearts to the truth." 
 
 The Chancellor having refused to undertake 
 a task which properly belonged to the Reformer 
 himself, was about to withdraw. 
 
 " Stay !" said the monk. 
 
 THE CHANCELLOR. " What is your wish?" 
 
 THE CONFESSOR. " Let Luther deny that 
 he is the author of the Babylonian Captivity." 
 
 THE CHANCELLOR. " But the Pope's bull 
 condemns all his other works." 
 
 THE CONFESSOR. "That was because of 
 his obstinacy. If he disclaims that book, the 
 Pope, in virtue of his plenary authority, can 
 easily reverse the sentence of excommunica- 
 tion. W T hat may we not hope for, now that 
 we have so excellent an Emperor?" 
 
 Perceiving that these words had made some 
 impression on the Chancellor, the monk fol- 
 lowed them "up by observing, " Luther always 
 wants to argue from the Bible. The Bible 
 it is like wax; you may stretch and mould it 
 any way that you please. I would undertake 
 to find authority in the Bible for doctrines 
 more extravagant even than Luther's. He 
 runs into error by interpreting every word of 
 Christ as a command." Wishing next to act 
 upon the other's fears, he added, " What 
 would the issue be, if, to-morrow or the next 
 day, the Emperor were to have recourse to 
 arms? . . . Think of that." 
 
 The Confessor's artifices were not yet ex- 
 hausted. "A man might have lived ten years 
 in his company," says Erasmus, "without 
 having fathomed him at last." 
 
 " What an excellent book," said he to the 
 Chancellor on his next visit, a few days after- 
 wards, " is that work of Luther's on Christian 
 liberty ! What wisdom, what learning, what 
 wit does it display! it is the production of a 
 scholar, indeed ! .... Let men of irreproach- 
 able character be chosen on both sides, and 
 let the Pope and Luther agree to abide by their 
 judgment. In many articles it is past a doubt 
 that a decision would be in Luther's favour. 22 . . 
 I will speak to the Emperor about it myself. 
 Believe me, I am not without grounds for 
 what I say to you. I have told the Emperor 
 that the chastisements of God would fall upon 
 him and the princes also, unless the Church, 
 the spouse of Christ, were cleansed from all 
 those stains which now defile her. I told him, 
 too, that God had raised up Luther, and given 
 him a commission to reprove men for their 
 sins, using him as a rod to punish the offences 
 of the world." 23 
 
 These words we may receive as the echo 
 of the popular voice at that period, and as tes- 
 tifying the opinion which was then entertained 
 of Luther, even by his enemies. The Chan- 
 cellor, roused by what the monk had just said, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 185 
 
 ild not help expressing his surprise that his 
 master should be treated with so little defer- 
 ence. "The Emperor holds daily consulta- 
 tions on this affair," said he, "and the Elector 
 is invited to none of them. He thinks it 
 strange that the Emperor, to whom he has 
 rendered some service, should exclude him 
 from his councils." 
 
 THE CONFESSOR. "I was never present at 
 any of those deliberations but once, and on 
 that occasion I heard the Emperor resist the 
 importunities of the Legates. Five years 
 hence it will be seen what Charles has done 
 for the reformation of the Church." 
 
 "The Elector," replied Pontanus, "knows 
 nothing of Luther's intentions. Let him be 
 summoned hither to speak for himself." 24 
 
 The Confessor replied, with a deep sigh, 
 "I call God to witness how ardently I desire 
 to see the reformation of Christendom accom- 
 plished." 
 
 To slacken the course of the affair, to keep 
 Luther's mouth closed in the mean time this 
 was the sum of what Glapio aimed at; at all 
 events, to prevent Luther from coming to 
 Worms. To the nuncios, the monks, and the 
 rest of the papal phalanx, a dead man return- 
 ing from the other world, and appearing in the 
 midst of the Diet, would not have been so 
 fearful a spectacle as the bodily presence of 
 the Doctor of Wittemberg. 
 
 "How many days does it take to travel 
 from Wittemberg to Worms!" inquired the 
 Confessor, in a tone of affected indifference; 
 and immediately departed, having first en- 
 treated Pontanus to present his very respectful 
 salutations to the Elector. 
 
 Such were the stratagems practised by the 
 courtiers. The firmness of Pontanus discon- 
 certed them all. That upright man was un- 
 moved as a rock throughout the whole course 
 of these proceedings. And, in the end, the 
 monks themselves fell into the snare which 
 they had laid for their enemies. "The Chris- 
 tian," said Luther, in his figurative language, 
 "is like the bird tethered beside a trap. 
 Wolves and foxes prowl around it, and at 
 length spring upon their prey ; but they fall 
 into the pit and perish there, while that timo- 
 rous bird remains unharmed. Thus it is that 
 we are preserved by the holy Angels, and 
 those devouring wolves, the hypocrites and 
 persecutors, are restrained from doing us any 
 hurt." 25 Not only were the artifices of the 
 Confessor unavailing, but the admissions he 
 had made confirmed Frederic in his opinion 
 that Luther was in the right, and that it was 
 his duty to protect him. 
 
 The hearts of men were still inclining more 
 strongly towards the Gospel. A Dominican 
 prior proposed that the Emperor, the Kings 
 of France, Spain, England, Portugal, Hun- 
 gary, and Poland, the Pope, and the Electors, 
 should name representatives, to whom the de- 
 termination of the controversy should be com- 
 mitted. "A case like this," it was urged, 
 " has never been decided by the Pope alone." 26 i 
 Such was the spirit now everywhere preva- j 
 lent, that it seemed impossible to condemn i 
 
 Luther without having heard and convicted 
 him. 27 
 
 Aleander, in the height of his alarm, dis- 
 played unwonted energy. It was no longer 
 against the Elector and Luther alone that he 
 had to contend. The secret negotiations of 
 the Confessor, the plan of accommodation 
 proposed by the Dominican, the acquiescence 
 of Charles's ministers, the coldness of Rornish 
 piety even among the most devoted friends of 
 the Pontiff a coldness which Pallavicini 
 likens to that produced by the gush of some 
 icy stream, 28 all these circumstances Aleander 
 viewed with a foreboding eye. He had at 
 length received from Rome the money he had 
 applied for; he had in his possession briefs 
 couched in the strongest language, and ad- 
 dressed to the highest authorities in the Em- 
 pire. 29 Fearful least his victim should escape 
 him, he conceived that now was the time to 
 strike the decisive blow. He forwarded the 
 briefs to the several parties to whom they 
 were directed, he scattered silver and gold 
 with an unsparing hand, he lavished the most 
 alluring promises, " and aided by his three- 
 fold machinery," says the Cardinal, whose 
 narrative we follow, "made a fresh effort to 
 draw the wavering assembly to the Pope's 
 side." 30 For the Emperor he planted his snares 
 with special diligence. He took advantage 
 of the dissension between the Flemish and 
 Spanish ministers. He laid incessant siege 
 to the Sovereign's ear. The friends of Rome, 
 waking at his call from their torpor, pressed 
 the youthful Charles with their united soli- 
 citations. "Not a day passes," wrote the 
 Elector to his brother John, "but measures 
 hostile to Luther are brought forward ! his 
 enemies now demand that he should be placed 
 under the ban of the Pope and the Emperor 
 jointly; to injure him by every possible 
 method is their single aim. The men who 
 parade their red hats before us, the Romans 
 and their followers, pursue this work with 
 an unwearied zeal." 31 
 
 Aleander did, in reality, urge the condem- 
 nation of the Reformer with an impetuosity 
 which Luther himself designates as "incre- 
 dible fury." 32 The Jlpostate Nuncio, as Luther 
 calls him, 33 was on one occasion transported 
 by his anger so far beyond the bounds of cau- 
 tion, that he cried aloud : " If ye seek to shake 
 off your allegiance to Rome, ye Germans! 
 we will bring things to such a pass, that ye 
 shall unsheath the sword of extermination 
 against each other, and perish in your own 
 blood." 34 "It is in this way that the Pope 
 feeds Christ's sheep," observes the Reformer. 
 
 But much unlike this was the language he 
 used himself. For his own sake he asked 
 nothing. " Luther," said Melancthon, " is 
 ready to purchase the glory and advancement 
 of the Gospel at the cost of his own life." 35 
 But he trembled when he thought of the 
 calamities of which his death might be the 
 signal. He saw a misguided people aveng- 
 ing his martyrdom, probably by shedding the 
 blood of Ins adversaries, and especially that 
 of the priests. He deprecated so terrible a 
 
186 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 responsibility. " God," said he, " is restrain- 
 ing the fury of his enemies ; but if it break 
 loose .... then shall we see a storm burst- 
 ing on the heads of the priests like that which 
 formerly swept over Bohemia and laid it 
 waste. I shall not have to answer for this, 
 for I have made it my earnest prayer that the 
 German Princes would oppose the Romans 
 by the wisdom of their counsel, not by the 
 sword. 36 To war against priests, a timid and 
 helpless tribe, is to war against women and 
 children." 
 
 Charles the Fifth did not long hold out 
 against the solicitations of the Nuncio. The 
 bigotry he inherited from his Flemish and 
 Spanish ancestors had been successfully fos- 
 tered by his preceptor Adrian, who at a later 
 period ascended the Pontifical throne. But 
 it was necessary to obtain the concurrence of 
 the States. " Convince the Diet" said the 
 youthful Monarch. This was exactly what 
 Aleander desired ; it was agreed that he should 
 be introduced to the assembly on the 13th of 
 February. 
 
 The Nuncio duly prepared himself for that 
 solemn audience. It was a weighty task that, 
 had been imposed upon him ; but Aleander 
 was worthy to sustain it. He was not merely 
 the Legate and representative of the Sove- 
 reign Pontiff, invested with all the outward dig- 
 nity befitting his exalted functions, he was 
 also one of the most eloquent men of his 
 age. The friends of the Reformation waited 
 the result in some anxiety. The Elector, 
 under the pretext of indisposition, absented 
 himself from the sitting; but he instructed 
 some of his counsellors to attend and to take 
 notes of the Nuncio's discourse. 
 
 On the appointed day, Aleander proceeded 
 to the Imperial Assembly. The feelings of 
 the people were strongly excited, many called 
 to mind how Annas and Caiaphas had gone 
 to the judgment-hall of Pilate to demand the 
 death of him " who perverted the nation" At 
 the moment when the Nuncio had his foot 
 upon the threshold, the usher of the Diet, 
 says Pallavicini, rudely stepping up to him, 
 set his clenched fist against his breast and 
 thrust him back. 37 " He was a Lutheran in 
 his heart," adds the Romish historian. If this 
 anecdote is true, it certainly shows an un- 
 seemly excess of passion in the individual, 
 but it also enables us to judge how powerful 
 an effect had been produced by Luther's 
 teaching, even among those who kept the 
 doors of the Germanic Council. The high- 
 spirited Aleander, repressing the officer's in- 
 solence by his dignified demeanour, walked 
 forward and entered the hall. Never had 
 Rome been summoned to plead her cause 
 before so august an assembly. The Nuncio 
 placed before him such documents as he 
 thought necessary to certify the sentence of 
 condemnation, together with the writings of 
 Luther and the Papal bulls, and then, silence 
 having been proclaimed in the Diet, he spoke 
 as follows: 
 
 "Most august Emperor! most potent 
 Princes ! most excellent Deputies ! I appear 
 
 before you to advocate the cause which en- 
 gages the warmest affections of my heart. My 
 office is to guard the ever-hallowed tiara that 
 rests on the brows of my master, to uphold 
 that Pontifical throne in whose defence I 
 would gladly deliver my body to the flames, 
 were I only assured that the newly-spawned 
 heresy which I stand forth to denounce would 
 perish along with me.* 
 
 " I deny the assertion that the controversy 
 between Luther and Rome is one in which 
 the Pope alone is interested. I have Luther's 
 writings here before me, and any man who 
 has his eyesight may see that they attack the 
 holy doctrines of the Church. He teaches 
 that those alone are worthy communicants, 
 whose consciences are filled w.ith sorrow and 
 confusion on account of their sins, and that 
 baptism justifies no one unless he hath faith 
 in that word of promise of which baptism is 
 the pledge. 38 He denies the necessity of good 
 works to qualify us for everlasting glory. He 
 denies that we have liberty and power to obey 
 the law of nature and the law of God. He 
 affirms that we sin of necessity in all our ac- 
 tions. Have weapons better fitted than these 
 to sever all the ties of morality ever been 
 drawn from the arsenal of hell ] . . . . He 
 contends for the abrogation of religious vows. 
 What miserable disorder would the world 
 behold, if those who were designed to be the 
 leaven of their race were to cast aside their 
 sacred vestments, forsake the temples that 
 once resounded with their holy songs, and 
 plunge at once into adultery, incest, and licen- 
 tiousness ! 
 
 " Why should I enumerate all the crimes 
 of this audacious monk ] He sins against the 
 dead, for he denies the existence of purgato- 
 ry ; he sins against heaven, for he says that he 
 would not believe an angel sent from heaven ; 
 he sins against the church, for he maintains 
 that all Christians are priests; he sins against 
 the saints, for he treats their venerable writ- 
 ings with contempt; he sins against Councils, 
 for he calls the Council of Constance an as- 
 sembly of devils; he sins against the secular 
 power, for he forbids the punishment of death 
 to be inflicted on any one who has not com- 
 mitted a mortal sin. 39 There are people who 
 tell us he is a man of piety. I will not 
 impugn his private character; I will only 
 remind this assembly that it is a common 
 thing for the devil to deceive men under the 
 appearance of sanctity." 
 
 * Dummodo mecum una monstrum nascentig 
 haeresis arderet. (Pallavicini, i. 97.) Secken- 
 dorf, and after him other Protestant historians, 
 have asserted that Pallavicini himself is the author 
 of the speech which he puts into the mouth of 
 Aleander. It is true, that the Cardinal admits 
 having moulded it into the shape in which he pre- 
 sents it to his readers ; but he specifies the mate- 
 rials he has used, and among these Aleander's 
 letters deposited in the archives of the Vatican. 
 (Acta Wormatiae, fol. 66 and 99.) I think, there- 
 fore, that to reject it altogether would be injudi- 
 cious. I have collected some additional passages 
 of the speech from other sources, Protestant and 
 Romish. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 187 
 
 Aleander next adverted to the decree of the 
 Council of Florence, condemning the doctrine 
 of purgatory, and laid the Pope's bull regard- 
 ing that council at the Emperor's feet. The 
 Archbishop of Mentz took up the bull and gave 
 it into the hands of the Archbishop of Cologne 
 and Treves, who received it reverently, and 
 handed it to the other Princes. The Nuncio 
 having thus preferred his charge against Lu- 
 ther, proceeded in his second object, the jus- 
 tification of Rome. 
 
 " Luther tells us that at Rome the lips pro- 
 fess what the life belies. If this be true, must 
 not the inference we draw from it be exactly 
 the opposite of his ] If the ministers of any re- 
 ligion live in accordance with its precepts, 
 that very token proves the religion to be false. 
 Such was the religion of the ancient Romans. 
 Such is that of Mahomet, and that of Luther 
 himself; but such is not the religion taught us 
 by the Roman Pontiffs. No ! the doctrine 
 they profess condemns them all as having 
 failed in their duty, many of them as highly 
 blameworthy, some, I frankly confess it, as 
 deeply criminal. 40 . . By that doctrine their 
 actions are delivered over to the censure of 
 men's tongues while they live, to the execra- 
 tion of history after their death. 41 Now what 
 pleasure, or what profit, I ask, can the Pon- 
 tiffs have proposed to themselves in inventing 
 a religion like this"? 
 
 " The Church, we shall be told, in the early 
 ages was not governed by the Roman pon- 
 tiffs .... and what is the inference here ] If 
 an argument like this is to have any weight, 
 we may next exhort men to feed upon acorns, 
 or princesses of royal blood to go forth and 
 wash their garments by the river side." 
 
 But the Nuncio's main attack was directed 
 personally against his antagonist the Reform- 
 er. Adverting indignantly to the opinion ex- 
 pressed by some, that Luther ought to be heard : 
 " Luther," cried he, "will allow himself to 
 be set right by no one. Long ago the Pope 
 summoned him to Rome, but he obeyed not 
 the call. The Pope then required him to ap- 
 pear before his Legate at Augsburg, and he 
 did appear there, when he had obtained a safe- 
 conduct from the Emperor, that is to say, 
 when the Legate's hands were tied, and the 
 use of his tongue alone allowed him. 42 . . 
 Oh," said Aleander, turning towards Charles, 
 "I beseech your Imperial Majesty not to do 
 that which could only reflect dishonour upon 
 your name. Meddle not with an affair in 
 which the laity have no right to interpose. 
 Discharge the duty that properly devolves 
 upon you. Let Luther's doctrines be proscribed 
 by your authority throughout the Empire, 
 let his writings be everywhere committed 
 to the flames. Shrink not from the path of 
 justice. There is enough in the errors of 
 Luther to warrant the burning of a hundred 
 thousand heretics. 43 And whom have we to 
 fear? The multitude 1 ? Their insolence makes 
 them formidable while the battle is delayed, 
 but when it comes, their cowardice will ren- 
 der them contemptible. Foreign princes? 
 Nay ! the King of France has issued an edict 
 25 
 
 to prevent Luther's doctrine from gaining an 
 entrance into his dominions ; the King of 
 England is preparing to combat him with his 
 own royal pen. The opinion of Hungary, 
 Italy, and Spain, it is for yourself to declare, 
 and there is not one of your neighbours, how 
 great soever their hatred against you, who 
 would wish you so much mischief as this 
 heresy must entail upon you. For if our enemy 
 dwells close beside us, we may, perhaps, de- 
 sire that the ague should enter his house, but 
 not the plague. What are all these Lutherans ? 
 A motley rabble of insolent grammarians, licen- 
 tious priests, disorderly monks, ignorant advo- 
 cates, degraded nobles, misled and perverted 
 plebeians. How greatly superior is the Catho- 
 lic party in numbers, in intelligence, in power ! 
 A unanimous decree of this illustrious as- 
 sembly will open the eyes of the simple, show 
 the unwary their danger, determine the wa- 
 vering, and strengthen the weak-hearted. But 
 if the axe be not laid to the root of this venom- 
 ous plant, if the death-blow be not dealt 
 against it, then I behold it covering Christ's 
 heritage with its branches, changing the vine- 
 yard of the Lord into a howling wilderness, 
 converting God's kingdom into a haunt of 
 wild beasts ; plunging Germany into the 
 same wretched condition of barbarism and de- 
 solation to which Asia has been reduced by 
 the superstition of Mahomet." 
 
 The Nuncio concluded his address. He had 
 spoken for three hours. His impetuous elo- 
 quence had produced a strong sensation in the 
 assembly. The Princes looked at each other, 
 Cochlaeus tells us, with countenances that be- 
 trayed excitement and alarm, and murmurs 
 were soon heard to arise from various quar- 
 ters against Luther and those who supported 
 him. 44 If the energetic Luther had been pre- 
 sent to reply to this address ; if, taking ad- 
 vantage of those admissions which the re- 
 membrance of the infamous Borgia, his former 
 master, had wrung from the Roman orator, he 
 had shown that the very arguments by which 
 the Nuncio attempted to defend Rome were 
 sufficient to condemn her ; if he had demon- 
 strated that the doctrine which bore witness 
 to her iniquity was not that invented by her, 
 as the orator had said, but was that pure re- 
 ligion which Christ had given to the world, and 
 which it was the aim of the Reformation to 
 re-establish in its primitive lustre; if he had 
 drawn a faithful and vivid picture of the errors 
 and abuses of the Papacy, and pointed out 
 how it converted the religion of Jesus Christ 
 into an engine of self-aggrandizement and 
 spoliation ; the effect of the Nuncio's harangue 
 would have been utterly and at once destroyed ; 
 but no one rose to speak. The assembly 
 continued under the influence of the address, 
 and, in the first moments of agitation and ex- 
 citement, it manifested a strong desire to root 
 out the Lutheran heresy from the soil of the 
 Empire. 45 
 
 Nevertheless this victory was won in ap- 
 pearance only. It was the will of God that 
 Rome should have an opportunity of display- 
 ing the utmost strength of her cause with her 
 R 
 
188 
 
 HISTORV OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 utmost skill. The greatest of her orators had 
 spoken in this assembly of Princes; he had 
 said all that Rome had to say in her own be- 
 half; but to many of those who heard him, 
 this last effort of the Papacy was destined to 
 serve as a sign of its abasement. If the open 
 confession of truth be required to secure it 
 triumph, so also the unreserved exhibition of 
 error is the necessary prelude of its overthrow. 
 Neither of them can accomplish its course in 
 secret. The light brings all things to the 
 test. 
 
 A few days were sufficient to efface the im- 
 pression produced by the speech, as is always 
 the case when an orator has recourse to high 
 sounding words to cover the hollowness of 
 his reasoning. The majority of the Princes 
 were ready to sacrifice Luther, but none were 
 disposed to abandon the rights of the Empire, 
 or to suppress the grievances of the Germanic 
 nation. They were willing enough to give 
 up the insolent monk who had dared to speak 
 out so plainly; but their compliance in this 
 particular entitled them, as they thought, to 
 represent to the Pope more urgently the justice 
 of a reform, demanded by the concurrent voice 
 of the chiefs of the nation. And accordingly 
 it was the most determined of Luther's per- 
 sonal enemies, Duke George of Saxony, who 
 spoke with the greatest earnestness against 
 the encroachments of Rome. This prince, the 
 grandson of Podiebrad, King of Bohemia, 
 though offended by the doctrine of grace 
 taught by the Reformer, still looked forward 
 with hope to a Reformation, moral and eccle- 
 siastical. The chief cause of his irritation 
 against the monk of Wittemberg was, that, by 
 those obnoxious doctrines of his, he was spoil- 
 ing the whole affair. But now, when he 
 found the Nuncio studiously involving Luther 
 and the Reformation of the Church in one and 
 the same sentence of condemnation, Duke 
 George suddenly stood up to speak in the as- 
 sembly of the Princes, to the great astonish- 
 ment of those who knew his hostility to the 
 Reformer. "The Diet," said he, "must not 
 lose sight of the grievances of which it has to 
 claim redress from the Court of Rome. How 
 numerous are the abuses that have crept into 
 our dominions ! The annats, which the Em- 
 peror granted of his free will for the good of 
 religion, now exacted as a due; the Roman 
 courtiers daily inventing new regulations to 
 favour the monopoly, the sale, the leasing out 
 of ecclesiastical benefices; a multitude of of- 
 fences connived at; a scandalous toleration 
 granted to rich offenders, while those who 
 have not wherewithal to purchase impunity 
 are severely punished; the Popes continually 
 bestowing reversions and rent-charges on the 
 officers of their palace to the prejudice of those 
 to whom the benefices rightly belong; the 
 abbeys and convents of Rome given in com- 
 mendam to cardinals, bishops and prelates, 
 who apply their revenues to their own use, 
 so that in many convents where there ought 
 to be twenty or thirty monks, not one is to be 
 found; stations multiplied to excess; shops 
 for indulgences opened in every street and 
 
 I square of our cities, shops of Saint Anthony, 
 of the Holy Ghost, of Saint Hubert, of Saint 
 Vincent, and 1 know not how many more ; 
 societies contracting at Rome for the privilege 
 of setting up this trade, then purchasing from 
 their bishop the right of exposing their mer- 
 chandise to sale: and finally, to meet all this 
 outlay of money, squeezing and draining the 
 last coin out of the poor man's purse ; indul- 
 gences which ought to be granted only with a 
 view to the salvation of souls, and procured 
 only by prayer and fasting and works of 
 charity, sold for a price; the officials of 
 the bishops oppressing men of low degree 
 with penances for blasphemy, or adultery, or 
 drunkenness, or profanation of this or that 
 festival, but never addressing so much as a 
 rebuke to ecclesiastics who are guilty of the 
 same crimes ; penances so devised as to be- 
 tray the penitent into a repetition of his offence, 
 in order that more money may be exacted from 
 him : 43 these are but a few of the abuses 
 which cry out on Rome for redress. All shame 
 is laid aside, and one object alone incessantly 
 pursued, money ! evermore money ! so that 
 the very men whose duty it is to disseminate 
 the truth are engaged in nothing but the propa- 
 gation of falsehood, and yet they are not 
 merely tolerated but rewarded ; because the 
 more they lie the larger are their gains. This 
 is the foul source from which so many cor- 
 rupted streams flow out on every side. Profli- 
 gacy and avarice go hand in hand. The 
 officials summon women to their houses on 
 various pretences, and endeavour, either by 
 threats or by presents, to seduce them, 47 and 
 if the attempt fails, they ruin their reputation. 
 Oh ! it is the scandal occasioned by the clergy 
 that plunges so many poor souls into ever- 
 lasting perdition. A thorough reform must be 
 effected. To accomplish that reform, a Gene- 
 ral Council must be assembled. Wherefore, 
 most excellent Princes and Lords, I respect- 
 fully beseech you to give this matter your im- 
 mediate attention." Duke George then pre- 
 sented a written catalogue of the grievances 
 he had enumerated. This happened a few 
 days after Aleander's address. The important 
 document has been preserved in the archives 
 of Weimar. 
 
 Luther himself had not spoken with greater 
 energy against the abuses of Rome, but he 
 had done something more. The Duke pointed 
 out the evil, Luther along with the evil had 
 pointed out also its cause and its cure. He 
 had shown that the sinner receives the true 
 indulgence, that remission of sins which 
 comes from God, solely by faith in the grace 
 and merits of Christ; and by this simple yet 
 powerful truth he had overthrown all the 
 traffic which had been established by the 
 priests. " How shall a man become holy 1 ?" 
 said he one day. " A cordelier will reply : 
 Put on a gray hood and tie a cord round 
 your middle. A Roman will answer: Hear 
 mass and fast. But a Christian will say: 
 Faith in Christ and that alone justifies and 
 saves. We must have eternal life before good 
 works. But when we are born anew and 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 189 
 
 
 made children of God by the word of grace, 
 then we perform good works." 48 
 
 The Duke's language was that of a secular 
 prince; Luther's that of a true Reformer. 
 The gieat sin of the Church was that she had 
 thrown down the barriers that separated her 
 from the world, that she had converted all 
 her operations and all her benefits into exter- 
 nal and material things. In the last stage of 
 her contamination, she had embraced the 
 scheme of indulgences, and the most spiritual 
 blessing that belongs to Christianity, pardon, 
 was now to be bought at a stall like food 
 or drink! Luther's great achievement con- 
 sisted in this, that betook advantage of that 
 extremity of degradation into which Christi- 
 anity had sunk, to lead back individuals and 
 the Church to the original fountain of life, 
 and to re-establish the supremacy of the Holy 
 Spirit in the sanctuary of the believer's heart. 
 The remedy in this case, as in many others, 
 arose out of the evil itself, and the two ex- 
 tremes touched each other. Henceforward 
 the Church, which for so many ages had been 
 content with an external manifestation by 
 ceremonies and observances and practices of 
 human authority, began once more to seek 
 her development within, in faith, hope, and 
 charity. 
 
 The Duke's speech produced the greater 
 effect on account of his well-known opposi- 
 tion to Luther. Other members of the Diet 
 brought forward other grievances. Even the 
 ecclesiastical princes supported these com- 
 plaints. 49 "We have a Pontiff," said they, 
 "who is occupied only with pleasure and the 
 chase; the church preferment of Germany is 
 bestowed at Rome on gunners, falconers, 
 valets, ass-drivers, grooms, guardsmen, and 
 other people of the same stamp, ignorant, 
 inexperienced, and strangersto our nation." 60 
 
 The Diet nominated a Committee to draw 
 up a list of grievances ; the enumeration ex- 
 tended to a hundred and one. A deputation 
 composed of secular and ecclesiastical princes 
 presented this report to the Emperor, with an 
 earnest request that he would do them right 
 in the matter, conformably to the engage- 
 ment he had contracted on his elevation to 
 the throne. " What a loss of Christian souls," 
 said they to Charles, "what injustice, what 
 extortion are the daily fruits of those scandal- 
 ous practices to which the spiritual head of 
 Christendom affords his countenance. The 
 ruin and dishonour of our nation must be 
 averted. We therefore very humbly, but very 
 urgently, beseech you to sanction a general 
 Reformation, to undertake the work, and to 
 carry it through." 51 The Christian community 
 at this period was operated upon by an un- 
 known power, which descended alike on 
 princes and people, a wisdom from above, 
 which exerted its influence even on the adver- 
 saries of reform, and prepared the way for 
 that great deliverance whose appointed hour 
 Was now at hand. 
 
 Charles could not be insensible to the re- 
 monstrances of the Imperial Diet. Neither 
 the Nuncio nor the Emperor had anticipated 
 
 them. The latter immediately withdrew the 
 edict which commanded Luther's writings to 
 be committed to the flames in every part of 
 the Empire, and issued in its stead a provi- 
 sional order that all copies of those writings 
 should be delivered into the hands of the 
 magistrates. 
 
 This did not satisfy the assembly; it de- 
 manded Luther's appearance. It is unjust, 
 said his friends, to condemn Luther without 
 having heard him, and without having ascer- 
 tained from his own lips that he is the author 
 of those books which it is proposed to burn. 
 His doctrine, said his adversaries, has taken 
 so fast a hold on men's minds, that it is im- 
 possible to check its progress, unless we 
 allow him a hearing. There shall be no dis- 
 puting with him ; and in the event of his ac- 
 knowledging his writings, and refusing to 
 retract them, we will all with one accord, 
 Electors, Princes, and States of the holy Em- 
 pire, in firm adherence to the faith of our 
 ancestors, give your Majesty our unsparing 
 aid to carry your decrees into full effect. 52 
 
 Aleander, disturbed by this proposal and 
 dreading every thing from Luther's intrepi- 
 dity and the ignorance of the Princes before 
 whom he would have to plead, made strenu- 
 ous efforts to prevent his being summoned. 
 After conferring with Charles's ministers, he 
 went to those Princes who were best dis- 
 posed towards the Pope, and from them to 
 the Emperor himself. 53 " It is not permitted," 
 said he, "to question what the Sovereign 
 Pontiff has decreed. There shall be no dis- 
 puting with Luther, you say; hut how can 
 we be sure," he continued, " that the genius 
 of this audacious man, the fire that flashes 
 from his eyes, the eloquence of his speech, 
 the mysterious spirit that animates him, will 
 not suffice to excite a tumult] 54 Already there 
 are many who revere him as a saint, and his 
 image is everywhere to be seen encircled 
 with rays of glory, like those which surround 
 the heads of the blessed. If he must needs 
 be cited to appear, beware, at all events, of 
 pledging the public faith for his safety" 55 
 These last words were calculated to intimi- 
 date Luther, or to pave the way for his de- 
 struction. 
 
 The Nuncio found it easy to influence the 
 grandees of Spain. In the intensity of their 
 fanatic zeal, they panted for the annihilation 
 of the new heresy. Frederic, Duke of Alva, 
 in particular, was thrown into a fit of rage, as 
 often as the Reformation was mentioned. 56 It 
 would have delighted him to wade knee-deep 
 in the blood of its proselytes. The summons 
 for Luther's appearance was yet suspended, 
 but his name had become a watchword of 
 startling interest in the ears of all the mag- 
 nates of Christendom then assembled at 
 Worms. 
 
 The man by whom the powers of the earth 
 
 were thus shaken seemed alone to enjoy peace. 
 
 The tidings from Worms were alarming; 
 
 | even Luther's friends were dismayed. " No- 
 
 | thing is left to us but your good will and your 
 
 prayers," wrote Melancthon to Spalatir?. 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 " Oh that God would vouchsafe to make our 
 blood the price of the Christian world's de- 
 liverance !" 57 But Luther, a stranger to all 
 fear, shutting himself up in his quiet cell, 
 fixed his meditations, with an immediate re- 
 ference to his own case, on these ecstatic 
 words of Mary, the mother of Jesus: "My 
 soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
 rejoiced in God my Saviour. . . For he that is 
 mighty hath done to me great things ,- and holy 
 is his name. . . He hath showed strength with 
 his arm. . . He hath put down the mighty 
 from their seats, and exalted them of low de- 
 gree." Let us review some of the thoughts 
 which passed through Luther's heart. " He 
 that is mighty . . . saith Mary. Oh what 
 holdness of speech in this young virgin! By 
 a single word she brands all the strong with 
 weakness all the mighty with faintness all 
 the wise with folly and all those whose 
 name is glorious on the earth with disgrace ; 
 and casts all strength, all might, all wis- 
 dom, all glory, at the feet of God alone. 58 
 His arm, she says again, signifying the 
 power by which he acts of himself, without 
 the aid of any of his creatures, that myste- 
 rious power which operates in secret and in 
 silence until it has accomplished all his will. 
 . . . Destruction comes when none has mark- 
 ed its approach deliverance comes when none 
 has dared to look for it. He leaves his child- 
 ren in oppression and misery, so that every 
 one says within himself, They are past all 
 hope! But even then is He strongest; for 
 when man's strength ends, God's strength 
 begins. Only let faith wait upon him. . . 
 And at another time he suffers his enemies to 
 exalt themselves in their pomp and vainglory. 
 He withdraws from them the succour of his 
 strength, and leaves them to be puffed up with 
 their own. 59 He empties them of his eternal 
 wisdom, and permits them to be inflated with 
 their own wisdom, which is but for a day; 
 and then, when the eyes of their fellow men 
 are dazzled with their greatness, God's arm 
 is lifted up, and lo ! the fabric they have been 
 rearing disappears in a moment, like a bubble 
 bursting in the air !" 
 
 It was on the 10th of March, while the im- 
 perial city was trembling at his name, that Lu- 
 ther concluded his commentary on the magni- 
 ficat. 
 
 He was not long to be left undisturbed in 
 his retreat. Spalatin, in obedience to the or- 
 ders of the Elector, sent him a note of the ar- 
 ticles which he would be called on to retract. 
 A retractation after his refusal at Augsburg ! 
 "Never fear," he wrote to Spalatin, "that I 
 will retract a single syllable, since the only 
 argument they have to urge against me is that 
 my writings are at variance with the ob- 
 servances of what they call the Church. If 
 our Emperor Charles sends for me only to re- 
 tract, my answer shall be that I will remain 
 here, and it will be all the same as though I 
 had been at Worms and returned again. But 
 if the* Emperor chooses then to send for me to 
 put me to death as an enemy to the Empire, I 
 shall be ready to obey his summons: 60 for, by 
 
 Christ's help, I will never abandon his word 
 in the hour of battle. I know that these blood- 
 thirsty men will never rest till they have taken 
 my life. God grant that my death may be 
 laid to the charge of the Papists alone !" 
 
 The Emperor at length had formed his re- 
 solution. Luther's appearance before the Diet 
 seemed the only probable method of settling 
 the affair which engrossed the attention of the 
 Empire. Charles accordingly resolved to cite 
 him to Worms, but without giving him a safe- 
 conduct. It now became necessary for Fre- 
 deric once more to assume the part of his pro- 
 tector. The danger which threatened the Re- 
 former was obvious to every one. The friends 
 of Luther, Cochlaeus remarks, were afraid that 
 he would be delivered up to the Pope, or that 
 the Emperor would himself cause him to be 
 put to death as an obstinate heretic, who had 
 forfeited every claim to be treated with good 
 faith. 61 There was a long and earnest debate 
 on this point in the Diet. 62 Overawed, at last, 
 by the agitation that prevailed in almost every 
 part of Germany, and fearing lest some sud- 
 den tumult, or some dangerous insurrection 63 
 (in favour of the Reformer, doubtless) should 
 break out in the course of Luther's journey, 
 the Princes decided that it was expedient to 
 quiet men's minds in regard to his personal 
 safety ; and not only the Emperor, but also the 
 Elector of Saxony, Duke George, and the 
 Landgrave of Hesse, through whose territo- 
 ries he had to pass, gave him severally a safe- 
 conduct. 
 
 On the 6th of March, 1521, Charles the 
 Fifth affixed his signature to the following 
 summons addressed to Luther: 
 
 " Charles, by the grace of God, Emperor 
 elect of the Romans, always August, &c.&c. 
 
 "Worshipful, well beloved, and godly! 
 Whereas we and the States of the holy Em- 
 pire here assembled, have resolved to institute 
 an inquiry touching the doctrine and writings 
 which thou hast lately put forth, we have on 
 our own behalf and on behalf of the Empire, 
 issued our safe-conduct, hereunto annexed, for 
 thy journey hither and return to a place of se- 
 curity. Our hearty desire is that thou should- 
 est prepare thyself to set out immediately, so 
 that within the space of twenty-one days, fixed 
 by our safe-conduct, thou mayest without fail 
 present thyself before us. Fear no injustice 
 or violence. We will steadily abide by our 
 safe-conduct aforesaid, and we expect that 
 thou wilt pay obedience to our summons. 
 Such is our earnest injunction. 
 
 " Given in our imperial city of Worms, this 
 6th day of the month of March, in the year of 
 our Lord 1521, and the second of our reign. 
 "CHARLES. 
 
 " By order of my Lord the Emperor, under 
 his sign manual, ALBERT, Cardinal of Mentz, 
 Arch-Chancellor. 
 
 " Nicolas Zwyl." 
 
 The safe-conduct enclosed in this writ was 
 directed "To the worshipful our well beloved 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 191 
 
 and godly Doctor Martin Luther, of the order j 
 of the Augustines." 
 
 It began thus : 
 
 " We, Charles, the fifth of that name, hy 
 the grace of God, Emperor elect of the Ro- 
 mans, always August, King of Spain, of the 
 Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Hungary, of 
 Dalmatia, of Croatia, &c., Archduke of Aus- 
 tria, Duke of Burgundy, Count of Hapsburg, 
 of Flanders, of the Tyrol," &c. &c. 
 
 And then this sovereign of so many states, 
 intimating that he has cited a certain Augus- 
 tine monk, named Luther, to appear in his 
 presence, requires all princes, lords, magis- 
 trates, and others, to respect the safe-conduct 
 which he has granted to him, under pain of 
 being dealt with as offenders against the Em- 
 peror and the Empire. 64 
 
 Thus did the Emperor bestow the appella- 
 tions of "well beloved, worshipful, and god- 
 ly," on a man whom the head of the Church 
 had visited with excommunication. The 
 phraseology of the instrument was designed to 
 remove all mistrust from the mind of Luther 
 and his friends. Caspar Sturm was appointed 
 to deliver this missive to the Reformer, and to 
 escort him to Worms. The Elector, fearing 
 some outbreak of the popular feeling, wrote 
 on the 12th of March to the magistrates of 
 Wittemberg, desiring them to adopt measures 
 for the safety of the Emperor's officer, and, if 
 necessary, to furnish him with a guard. The 
 herald took his departure. 
 
 Thus was the purpose of God fulfilled. It 
 was His will that this light, which He had 
 kindled in the world, should be set upon a 
 hill ; and emperor, kings, and princes were 
 all busily employed though they knew it not 
 in executing what He had appointed. It is 
 an easy thing with Him to raise the meanest 
 to dignity. An act of His power, operating 
 through successive years, suffices to lead the 
 offspring of a Saxon peasant from the lowly 
 cottage of his childhood to that imperial hall 
 in which assembled sovereigns awaited his 
 coming. In His presence none are either 
 small or great; and when he wills it, Charles 
 and Luther meet on the same level. 
 
 But will Luther obey the summons 1 ? His 
 best friends were in uncertainty on this point. 
 " Dr. Martin," wrote the Elector to his bro- 
 ther on the 21st of March, "is cited to appear 
 here ; but I know not whether he will come. 
 I augur nothing but mischief." Three weeks 
 later, on the 16th of April, this excellent prince, 
 perceiving that the danger was increasing, 
 wrote again to Duke John as follows: "A 
 proclamation has been issued against Luther. 
 The cardinals and the bishops are very hard 
 upon him. 65 God grant that this may end well ! 
 Would to God that I could insure him a fa- 
 vourable hearing!" 
 
 While these things were passing at Worms 
 and Wittemberg, the Papacy was renewing 
 its assaults. On the 28th of March, which 
 was the Thursday before Easter, all Rome re- 
 sounded with a solemn sentence of excommu- 
 nication. It is the custom at this season to 
 publish the terrible bull in ccena Domini, 
 
 which is nothing but a long string of impreca- 
 tions. On the day of which we speak, the 
 approaches to the church in which the Sove- 
 reign Pontiff was to officiate in person, were 
 filled at an early hour by the Papal guard, and 
 by a vast multitude, that had flocked together 
 from all parts of Italy to receive the benedic 
 tion of the Holy Father. The square before 
 the Basilica was decorated with laurel and 
 myrtle; wax candles were burning on the 
 balcony of the church, and beside them was 
 elevated the sacred receptacle of the host. On 
 a sudden the deep sound of bells reverberates 
 through the air; the Pope, arrayed in his 
 pontifical robes, and borne in an arm-chair, 
 makes his appearance on the balcony; the 
 people fall on their knees; all heads are un- 
 covered: the flags that were waving in the 
 wind are lowered; the troops ground their 
 arms ; and a solemn silence ensues. After a 
 pause of some moments, the Pope slowly 
 stretches out his hands, lifts them up towards 
 heaven, and then, making the sign of the cross, 
 lets them gradually fall towards the earth. He 
 repeats these gestures three times. And now 
 again the pealing bells are heard, giving no- 
 tice, far and wide, of the Pontiff's benediction ; 
 and next a train of priests is seen advancing, 
 each with a lighted torch in his hand : as they 
 rush hurriedly along, they swing their torches 
 downwards, they brandish them aloft, they 
 toss them wildly to and fro, like so many fires 
 of hell; the multitude are thrilled with awe 
 and terror; and the words of malediction roll 
 heavily above their heads.* 
 
 When Luther was apprized of this excom- 
 munication, he published the form of it, with 
 some remarks in that caustic style which he 
 knew so well how to assume. Although this 
 publication did not appear till some time after- 
 wards, we shall present some extracts from 
 it here. Let us listen to the high-priest of 
 Christendom, as he speaks from the balcony 
 of his Basilica, and to the monk of Wittem- 
 berg, who answers him out of the heart of 
 Germany. 66 
 
 There is something characteristic in the 
 contrast of the two voices. 
 
 THE POPE. -"Leo, bishop." 
 
 LUTHER. " Bishop ! as much as a wolf is 
 a shepherd ; for a bishop's duty is to give 
 godly exhortations, not to vomit forth impre- 
 cations and curses." 
 
 THE POPE." Servant of all the servants 
 of God " 
 
 LUTHER. "In the evening, when we are 
 drunk ; but next morning we call ourselves 
 Leo, lord of all lords." 
 
 THE POPE. "The Bishops of Rome, our 
 predecessors, have been wont on this festival 
 to employ the arms of justice. . . ." 
 
 LUTHER. " Which, according to. your ac- 
 count, are excommunication and anathema; 
 
 * This ceremony is described in several works, 
 and, amongst others, in the "Tagebuch einer 
 Reise durch Deutschland und Ifalien." (Berlin, 
 1817, iv. 94.) Its principal features are of a higher 
 antiquity than the times of which we treat. 
 
 2R 
 
192 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 but, according to St. Paul, long-suffering. 
 
 kindness, love unfeigned." (2 Cor. vi. 6, 7.] 
 
 THE POPE. "According to the duty of the 
 
 Apostolic charge, and to maintain the purity 
 
 of the Christian faith " 
 
 LUTHER. "That is to say, the tempora] 
 possessions of the Pope." 
 
 THE POPE. " And the unity thereof, which 
 
 consists in the union of the members with 
 
 Christ their head, .... and with his Vicar." 
 
 LUTHER. "For Christ is not sufficient: 
 
 we must have another besides." 
 
 THE POPE. "To preserve the holy com 
 munion of the faithful, we follow the ancient 
 rule, and accordingly do excommunicate and 
 curse, in the name of God Almighty, the Fa- 
 ther " 
 
 LUTHER. " Of whom it is said : ' God sent 
 not his Son into the world to condemn .the 
 world.' "(John iii. 17.) 
 
 THE POPE. ."The Son and the Holy 
 Ghost, and by the authority of the Apostles, 
 Peter and Paul, and by our own 
 
 LUTHER. " OUR OWN, says the ravenous 
 wolf, as though God's might were too weak 
 without him." 
 
 THE POPE. " We curse all heretics : 
 the Garasi,* the Patarini, the poor men' of 
 Lyons, the Arnoldists, the Speronists, the 
 Passageni, the Wicklefites, the Hussites, the 
 Fraticelli " 
 
 LUTHER. " Because they have sought to 
 possess themselves of the Holy Scriptures, 
 and admonished the Pope to be modest, and 
 preach the Word of God." 
 
 THE POPE. " And Martin Luther, recent- 
 ly condemned by us for a like heresy, together 
 with all his adherents, and all persons, who- 
 soever they may be, who aid or abet him." 
 
 LUTHER. " I thank thee, most gracious 
 Pontiff, that thou hast proclaimed me in com- 
 pany with all these Christians. It is an honour 
 for me to have had my name proclaimed at 
 Rome at the time of the festival, in so glo- 
 rious a manner, and to have it circulated 
 throughout the world with the names of all 
 those humble confessors of Christ." 
 
 THE POPE. " In like manner, we ex- 
 communicate and curse all pirates and cor- 
 sairs. . . ." 
 
 LUTHER. " And who is the greatest of all 
 pirates and corsairs, if it be not he who takes 
 souls captive, and binds them in chains, and 
 delivers them to death ?" 
 
 THE POPE. " . . . especially such as in- 
 fest our seas " 
 
 LUTHER. " OUR seas ! St. Peter, our pre- 
 decessor said: * Silver and gold have I none ,' 
 (Acts iii. 6.) Jesus Christ said, * The kings of 
 the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; but ye 
 shall not be so.' (Luke xxii. 25.) But if a 
 wagon laden with hay must give way to a 
 drunken man, how much more fitting is it that 
 St. Peter and Christ himself should give way 
 to the Pope !" 
 
 THE POPE. " In like manner we excom- 
 
 * This is a corrupt orthography : read Gazari 
 or Cathari. 
 
 municate and curse all those who falsify on; 
 bulls and letters apostolical . . . ." 
 
 LUTHER. "But God's letters, God's Holy 
 Scriptures, any one may condemn and burn 
 them." 
 
 THE POPE. " In like manner we excommu- 
 nicate and curse all those who intercept any 
 provisions on their passage to our city of 
 Rome " 
 
 LUTHER. " He snarls and bites like a dog 
 that is battling for his bone." 67 
 
 THE POPE. " In like manner we condemn, 
 and we curse all those who withhold any pri- 
 vileges, dues, tithes, or revenues belonging to 
 the clergy." 
 
 LUTHER. " Forasmuch as Christ hath said, 
 ' If any man will sue thee at the law and take 
 away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also ;' 
 (Matt. v. 40 :) and ye have now heard Our 
 commentary thereon . ." 
 
 THE POPE. "Whatever be their station, 
 dignity, order, authority, or rank, be they even 
 bishops or kings." 
 
 LUTHER. " ' For there shall be false teacher* 
 among you* who shall despise dominion, and 
 speak evil of dignities? saith the Scripture." 
 (Jude 8.) 
 
 . THE POPE. "In like manner we condemn 
 and curse all who in any manner whatsoever 
 shall molest the city of Rome, the kingdom 
 of Sicily, the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, 
 the patrimony of St. Peter in Tuscany, the 
 duchy of Spoleto, the marquisate of Ancona, 
 the Campagna, the cities of Ferrara and Be- 
 nevento, or any other city or territory belong- 
 ing to the Church of Rome." 
 
 LUTHER. " 0, Peter, thou poor fisherman ! 
 how hast thou become master of Rome and 
 so many kingdoms besides ] I bid thee all 
 hail ! Peter ! king of Sicily ! ... and fish- 
 erman of Bethsaida." 
 
 THE POPE. " We excommunicate and 
 curse all chancellors, counsellors, parliaments, 
 procurators, governors, officials, bishops and 
 others who shall resist any of our letters ad- 
 monitory, permissive, prohibitory, mediatory, 
 or executive." 
 
 LUTHER. " For the Holy See seeks only 
 to live in idleness, pomp and debauchery, to 
 rule and intimidate, to lie and deceive, to 
 dishonour and seduce, and commit all kinds 
 of evil in peace and security . . . ." 
 
 " O Lord, arise ! it is not so with us as the 
 Papists pretend ; thou hast not forsaken us, 
 neither are thine eyes turned away from us." 
 
 Such was the dialogue between Leo the 
 Tenth at Rome, and Martin Luther at Wittem- 
 )erg. 
 
 The Pontiff having concluded his anathe- 
 mas, the parchment on which they were 
 written was torn up and its fragments scat- 
 ;ered among the people. The crowd was 
 nstantly thrown into violent commotion, 
 every one rushed forward eager to seize a 
 scrap of the terrible bull. These were the 
 loly relics that the Papacy offe/ed to his fol- 
 owers on the eve of the great day of grace 
 and expiation. The multitude soon dispersed, 
 and the neighbourhood of the Basilica resumed 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 193 
 
 Its accustomed stillness. Let us return to 
 Wittemberg. 
 
 It was now on the 24th of March, Gas- 
 par Sturm, the Imperial Herald, had passed 
 through the gates of the city in which Luther 
 resided. He presented himself before the 
 Doctor, and delivered into his hands the Em- 
 peror's writ of summons. It was an anxious 
 and solemn moment for the Reformer. His 
 friends were all panic struck. Hitherto not 
 one of the Princes, not even Frederic the 
 Wise, had openly espoused his cause. The 
 knights, it is true, had begun to use threaten- 
 ing language; but Charles, in the plentitude 
 of his power, paid small regard to it. Luther, 
 however, preserved his composure: "The 
 Papists," said he, observing the distress of 
 his friends, " have little desire to see me at 
 Worms; but they long for my condemnation 
 and death! 68 No matter! Pray, not for me, 
 but for the word of God. My blood will 
 scarcely be cold before thousands and tens of 
 thousands in every land will be made to an- 
 swer for the shedding of it. The ' Most Holy' 
 adversary of Christ, the father and master and 
 chief of manslayers is resolved that it shall be 
 spilt. Jlmen! The will of God be done! 
 Christ will give me his Spirit to overcome 
 these ministers of Satan. I despise them 
 while I live; I will triumph over them in 
 death. 59 They are striving hard at Worms to 
 force me to recant. My recantation shall be 
 this : I said formerly that the Pope was 
 Christ's vicar; now I say that he is the ad- 
 versary of the Lord and the Apostle of the de- 
 vil." And when he was told that all the pul- 
 pits of the Franciscans and Dominicans were 
 ringing with imprecations and maledictions 
 against him: 70 "Oh, how it delights me to hear 
 it," exclaimed he. He knew that he had 
 obeyed the will of God, and that God was 
 with him: why then should he fear to set 
 out ? Purity of intention and a conscience void 
 of offence impart to the servant of God a hid- 
 den yet incalculable strength which never fails 
 him, a strength in which he goes forth 
 against his enemies with that assurance of 
 victory which no adamantine breastplate, no 
 phalanx of trusty spears can ever afford. 
 
 Luther was at this time unexpectedly called 
 on to welcome a man who, like Melancthon, 
 was destined to be his friend through life, as 
 well as to give him present comfort in the 
 hour of his departure. 71 This was a priest 
 named Bugenhagen, in the thirty-sixth year 
 of his age, who had fled from the rigorous 
 persecution exercised by the Bishop of Camin, 
 and Prince Bogislas, of Pomerania, against 
 all, whether ecclesiastics, citizens, or scho- 
 lars, who embraced the Gospel. 72 Born at 
 Wollin, in Pomerania, (whence he is com- 
 monly called Pomeranus,) of a family hold- 
 ing senatorial rank, Bugenhagen, from the 
 age of twenty, had been teaching at Treptow. 
 The young listened eagerly to his instructions ; 
 the noble and the learned vied with each other 
 in courting his society. He was a diligent 
 student in the sacred literature, and one who 
 prayed to God to enlighten and direct him. 73 
 
 One evening (it was towards the end of De- 
 cember, 1520) as he sat at supper with some 
 friends, a copy of Luther's book on the Baby- 
 lonian Captivity was put into his hands. 
 " Since Christ's death," said he, after having 
 glanced it over, " there have been many here- 
 tics to vex the Church ; but never yet has 
 there risen up such a pest as the author of 
 this book." Having taken the book home 
 with him, however, and read it once and 
 again, his thoughts underwent a total change; 
 truths of which he had never dreamed became 
 palpable to his mind; and returning a few 
 days afterwards to his companions, he said : 
 "The whole world has been lying in thick 
 darkness. This man and none but he has 
 discerned the truth." 74 Several priests, a dea- 
 con, and even the abbot himself, received the 
 pure doctrine of salvation, and in a short time, 
 by their powerful preaching, they turned their 
 hearers, says an historian, from human super- 
 stitions, to put their sole trust in the availing 
 righteousness of Jesus Christ. 75 Then burst 
 forth the persecution. Many were already 
 groaning in dungeons. Bugenhagen escaped 
 from his enemies, and arrived as we have 
 seen, at W 7 ittemberg. " He is suffering for 
 the Gospel's sake," observed Melancthon, 
 writing on this occasion, to the Elector's 
 chaplain, " where could he seek refuge, but 
 in this asylum of ours under the protection of 
 our Prince V 6 
 
 But by none was Bugenhagen received so 
 joyfully as by Luther. It was agreed be- 
 tween them that immediately after the Refor- 
 mer's departure, Bugenhagen should begin to 
 expound the Psalms. Thus did Providence 
 raise up that gifted man to supply, in part at 
 least, the loss of him whom Wittemberg was 
 about to lose. A year later, Bugenhagen was 
 placed at the head of the Church of that city, 
 and he continued to preside over it for six-and- 
 thirty years. Luther bestowed upon him the 
 emphatic appellation of the Pastor. 
 
 Luther was now ready to set out. His 
 dejected friends believed that, unless God 
 should interpose by a miracle, he was going 
 to meet his death. Melancthon, far removed 
 from his native soil, had attached himself to 
 Luther with the strong affection of an ardent 
 mind. " Luther," said he, " makes up to me 
 for the loss of all my friends. He is, in my 
 estimation, greater and more wonderful than 
 I know how to express. You remember how 
 Socrates was revered by Alcibades ; but my 
 admiration of Luther is of a higher kind, for 
 it is a Christian feeling." And he adds the 
 beautiful though simple phrase: "As often 
 as I contemplate him, he seems to me every 
 time to have grown greater than himself." 77 
 Melancthon wished to bear Luther company 
 in his perils. But their common friends, 
 and, doubtless, the Reformer himself, op- 
 posed his desire. Was not Philip to fill his 
 friend's place ? and if the latter should never 
 return, who would then carry on the work of 
 reformation ? ** Would to God ;" said Me- 
 lancthon, as he reluctantly submitted, " I were 
 allowed to set out with him." 78 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The vehement Amsdorff at once declared 
 his intention to accompany the Doctor. His 
 bold heart delighted in danger and his lofty 
 spirit did not shrink from appearing before an 
 assembly of kings. The elector had invited 
 to Wittemberg a professor of law, the cele- 
 brated John Schurff, son of a physician at St. 
 Gall, a man of a remarkably mild disposition, 
 who lived in intimacy with Luther. 79 " He 
 could never find the heart to pass sentence 
 of death upon ''any criminal," said Luther, 
 speaking of Schurfi . Yet this timid man de- 
 sired to be present with the Doctor as his ad- 
 viser, in the course of his hazardous journey. 
 Peter Suaven, a young Danish student, who 
 lodged in IVIelancthon's house, and was after- 
 wards famous for his preaching of the Gospel in 
 Pomeraniaand Denmark, also announced that 
 he would accompany his " father." It was fit 
 that the youth of the schools should have some 
 one to represent it, at the side of the champion 
 of truth. 
 
 All Germany was moved at the thought of 
 the dangers which threatened one who was the 
 people's representative. She found a voice 
 that was worthy of her to express her alarms. 
 Ulric Hiitten, trembling at the thought of the 
 blow the country was on the eve of sustain- 
 ing, wrote on the 1st of April to Charles V. 
 himself: " Most excellent Emperor, you are 
 about to involve yourself and us in one com- 
 mon ruin. What is the object of this pro- 
 cedure against Luther, unless it be the destruc- 
 tion of our liberty and the downfall of your 
 power ? Throughout the empire there is no 
 man but takes a lively interest in this matter. 80 
 The priests alone are opposed to Luther, be- 
 cause he has stood forth against their over- 
 grown power, shameful luxury, and depraved 
 conduct, and pleaded for the Christian doc- 
 trine, the national liberties, and purity of mo- 
 rals. 
 
 " O Emperor, no longer countenance those 
 Roman advocates, those bishops and cardinals 
 who would hinder all reformation. Have you 
 not noticed the sadness of the people when 
 they beheld your arrival, approaching the 
 Rhine surrounded with those red hats, a 
 troop of priests, instead of a cohort of valiant 
 warriors ? 
 
 44 Give not up your sovereign majesty to 
 those who would trample it under their feet. 
 Take pity on us, and do not involve the whole 
 nation in your own ruin. Lead us into the 
 midst ofdangers 81 against sword and cannon 
 let all nations conspire, and their armies 
 come against us, so that we may prove our 
 courage in the face of day, and not be conquer- 
 ed and enslaved, darkly and secretly, as if we 
 were women unarmed and unresisting. . . . 
 Alas, we hoped that you would deliver us 
 from the Roman yoke and dethrone the Pon- 
 tiff's tyranny. God grant that the future may 
 be happier than these beginnings. 
 
 " All Germany is at your feet, 82 imploring 
 your help, your compassion, your fidelity ; ap- 
 pealing to those German heroes, who stood 
 erect before the proud city, when the whole 
 world besides were its subjects, and conjuring 
 
 you to save her, to restore her to what she 
 once was to deliver her from slavery, and 
 j avenge her on her tyrants." 
 
 Thus spake the German nation to Charles 
 I the Fifth, by the mouth of Ulric Hiitten. The 
 I Emperor paid no attention to this appeal, and, 
 it is probable, threw the letter contemptuously 
 to one of his secretaries. He was a Fleming, 
 not a German. His personal power, and not 
 the liberty or glory of the Empire, was the ob- 
 ject of his desire. 
 
 It was the 2d of April. Luther was to take 
 leave of his friends. After having apprized 
 Lange, by letter, that he would spend the 
 Thursday or Friday following at Erfurth, he 
 bade adieu to his colleagues. 83 Turning to Me- 
 lancthon, he said, with deep emotion : " If 
 I never return, and my enemies should take 
 my life, cease not, dear brother, to teach and 
 stand fast in the truth. Labour in my stead, 
 since I can no longer work. If thy life be 
 spared, my death will matter little." Then 
 committing his soul to Him who is faithful, 
 Luther stepped into the wagon and quitted 
 Wittemberg. The town-council had furnish- 
 ed him with a plain carriage, covered with an 
 awning, which the travellers might throw 
 back or draw over them at pleasure. The Im- 
 perial herald in full costume, and wearing the 
 imperial eagle, went before on horseback, and 
 was followed by his servant. Then came Lu- 
 ther, Schurff, Amsdorff, and Suaven in their 
 open wagon. The burghers of Wittemberg, 
 to whom the Gospel was precious, sorrowing 
 and in tears, invoked the blessing of God 
 upon his journey. Luther set forth. 
 
 He soon had occasion to observe that gloomy 
 presentiments filled the hearts of those he met. 
 AtLeipsic no honours were paid him, beyond 
 the customary oifering of wine. At Naum- 
 burg he met a priest, probably J. Langer, a 
 man of stern zeal, who kept hung up in his 
 study a portrait of the celebrated Jerome Sa- 
 vonarola, of Ferrara, who perished in the 
 flames at Florence in the year 1498, by order 
 of Pope Alexander the Sixth, a martyr to 
 liberty and morals, rather than a confessor of 
 the Gospel. Taking down the portrait of the 
 Italian martyr, the priest held it forth in si- 
 lence as he approached Luther. The latter 
 well understood the import of this silent 
 action, but his intrepid spirit was unmoved. 
 " It is Satan," he remarked, " who seeks by 
 these terrors to hinder the confession of the 
 truth in the assembly of the princes, for he 
 foresees the effect it will have on his king- 
 dom." 84 " Stand fast in the truth thou hast pro- 
 fessed," replied the priest gravely, " and thy 
 God will never forsake thee." 85 
 
 Having passed one night at Naumburg, 
 where the burgomaster had received him hos- 
 pitably, Luther arrived on the following even- 
 ing at Weimar. He had scarcely alighted, 
 when he heard the voices of the criers on all 
 sides. They were proclaiming his sentence. 
 * Look there," said the herald. He turned 
 his eyes, and beheld with astonishment the 
 Emperor's messengers passing from street tc 
 street, everywhere placarding the impena* 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 195 
 
 edict, enjoining all men to bring in his writ- 
 ings to the magistrates. Luther saw clearly 
 that these vigorous proceedings were design- 
 ed to stay his further progress, by working 
 upon his apprehensions, and after that, to 
 condemn him as having refused to appear. 
 "Well, Doctor, will you go any further]" 
 asked the herald, in alarm. "Yes," replied 
 Luther, " though I should be put under inter- 
 dict in every town, I will go on. I rely on the 
 Emperor's safe-conduct." 
 
 At Weimar, Luther had an audience of 
 Duke John, brother to the Elector of Saxony, 
 who was then residing in that city. The prince 
 requested him to preach, and he consented. 
 Words of life-giving power flowed forth from 
 his swelling heart. A Franciscan monk, John 
 Voit, a friend of Frederic Myconius, was on 
 that occasion converted to the Gospel. Two 
 years afterwards he left the convent, and be- 
 came subsequently professor of theology at 
 Wittemberg. The Duke assisted Luther with 
 money for his journey. 
 
 From Weimar the Reformer repaired to Er- 
 furth. It was the town in which his youth 
 had been passed. He expected to find there 
 his friend Lange ; if, ae he had written word, 
 there was no risk incurred by entering the 
 town. 86 As became within three or four leagues 
 of the place, nigh the village of Nora, he saw 
 at a distance a troop of horsemen. Were they 
 friends or foes? Rapidly Crotus, rector of 
 the University, Eobanus Hesse, the friend of 
 Melancthon, (styled by Luther the prince of 
 poets,) Euricius Cordus, John Draco, and 
 others, to the number of forty, senators, stu- 
 dents, and burghers, welcomed him with joy- 
 ful acclamations. A crowd of the popula- 
 tion of Erfurth met him in the road and cheer- 
 ed him as he drew nigh, eager to behold the 
 mighty monk who had dared to give battle to 
 the Pope. 
 
 A young man of twenty-eight years of age, 
 named Justus Jonas, preceded the party. 87 Jo- 
 nas, after studying the law at Erfurth, had 
 been elected rector of the University in 1519. 
 Receiving the light of the gospel, which was 
 then beaming forth in all directions, he had 
 conceived the wish to devote himself to sacred 
 learning. " I think," said Erasmus, in writ- 
 ing to him, "that God has chosen you as his 
 instrument to make known to others the glory 
 of his Son Jesus." 88 The thoughts of Jonas 
 were all turned towards Luther at Wittemberg. 
 Some years before, when he was yet a student 
 of law, his enterprising spirit had led him, in 
 company with a few friends, to make a jour- 
 ney on foot through forests infested by thieves, 
 and across a country ravaged by the plague, 
 in order to visit Erasmus, who was then at 
 Brussels. And shall he not brave dangers of 
 another kind to accompany the Reformer to 
 Worms? He entreated Luther to allow him 
 to join him, and Luther consented. This was 
 the first meeting of the two doctors, who were 
 destined to pass their whole lives in labouring 
 together for the revival of the Church. Divine 
 Providence was assembling around Luther 
 men who were destined to be the lights of 
 26 
 
 Germany: Melancthon, Amsdorff, Bugenha 
 gen, Jonas. After his return from YVorms, 
 Jonas was elected provost of the church ot 
 Wittemberg and doctor of divinity. " Jonas," 
 continued Luther, " is a man whose continued 
 life on this earth is worth any purchase. 59 No 
 preacher had more power of captivating his 
 hearers. " Porneranus is exegetical," said 
 Melancthon; "I am a logician, Jonas is the 
 preacher. Words flow beautifully from his 
 lips, and his eloquence is full of energy. But 
 Luther excels in all." 90 It appears that about 
 this time a friend of Luther's childhood, and 
 also one of his brothers, joined him in his route. 
 
 The deputation from Erfurth had turned 
 their horses' heads. They entered its walls, 
 on horseback and on foot, surrounding Luther's 
 wagon. At the city gate, in the public squares, 
 and in those streets where the poor monk had 
 so often begged a morsel of bread, a crowd of 
 spectators was assembled ; Luther alighted at 
 the convent of the Augustines. Lange wel- 
 comed him with joy. Usingen and some of 
 the more aged friars manifested considerable 
 coolness. He was requested to preach; 
 preaching had been forbidden him; but the 
 herald himself, carried away by the feelings 
 of those about him, gave his consent. 
 
 On the Sunday after Easter, the church of 
 the Augustines, of Erfurth, was crowded to 
 excess. The brother whose duty it once was 
 to unclose the gates and sweep out the aisles, 
 ascended the pulpit, and, opening the Bible, 
 read these words : " PEACE be unto you ! and 
 when Jesus had so said, he showed unto them 
 his hands and his side.'" 1 (John xx. 19, 20.) 
 " Philosophers, learned doctors, and writers," 
 said he, " have all laboured to show how man 
 can attain to eternal life, and they have all 
 failed. I am now to tell you the way." 
 
 In every age this has been the great ques- 
 tion; accordingly, his hearers were all at- 
 tention. 
 
 " There are two kinds of works," continued 
 the Reformer; "works not of ourselves, and 
 these are good works; and our own works, 
 and they are but little worth. One builds 
 a church; another goes a pilgrimage to St. 
 James's or St. Peter's ; a third fasts, prays, 
 assumes the cowl, and goes barefoot; another 
 does something else. All these are of no 
 value, and will pass away; for our own works 
 are powerless. But I am about to declare to 
 you what is work indeed. God has raised up 
 a Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He might 
 destroy death, finish transgression, and close 
 the gate of hell. This is the work of Salva- 
 tion. The devil thought he had the Lord in 
 his grasp, when he saw him between two 
 thieves, suffering a shameful death, under thn 
 curse of God and men. But the Godhead dis- 
 played its power, destroying Death, Sin, and 
 Hell " 
 
 " Christ has overcome ! this is the great 
 news ! and we are saved by his work, not by 
 our own. The Pope teaches a different doc- 
 trine. But I affirm that even the holy mother 
 of God is saved neither by her virginity, nor 
 by her maternity, nor yet by her purity, or hei 
 
196 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 works, but solely by means of faith, and by 
 the operation of God. . . ." 
 
 While Luther was preaching, a noise was 
 suddenly heard in one of the galleries, and it 
 was thought it was giving way from the weight 
 of the crowd. This caused much confusion 
 in the auditory. Some rushed from their 
 places, others were motionless from fear. The 
 preacher stopped for a moment, then, stretch- 
 ing forth his hand, he exclaimed aloud, " Fear 
 not! there is no danger: the devil is seeking 
 to throw hinderances in the way of my preach- 
 ing the gospel, but he shall not gain his point." 91 
 At his bidding, those that were leaving the 
 place stopped, astonished and constrained ; 
 the assembly resumed its calmness, and Lu- 
 ther proceeded, not regarding the temptations 
 of the devil. " Some, perhaps, will say, You 
 talk to us much about faith; teach us, then, 
 how to obtain it. Well, agreed ; I will show 
 you how. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Peace 
 be unto you! Behold my hands f That is to 
 say, Look, man ! it is I, I alone, who have 
 taken away thy sin and redeemed thee, and 
 now thou hast peace, saith the Lord. . . ." 
 
 ** I," continued Luther, "ate not the fruit 
 of the tree no more did you ; but we have 
 received the sin transmitted to us by Adam, 
 and we have sinned. In like manner, I suf- 
 fered not on the cross no more did you ; but 
 Christ suffered for us; we are justified by the 
 work of God, and not by our own : I myself, 
 saith the Lord, am thy righteousness and thy 
 redeemer." 
 
 " Believe the Gospelbelieve St. Paul 
 and not the letters and decretals of the Popes." 
 
 Luther, after preaching Faith as justifying 
 the sinner, proceeds to preach Works as the 
 fruits and evidence of our being saved. 
 
 "Since God has saved us, let us so order 
 our works that he may take pleasure in them. 
 Art thou rich 1 ? let thy riches be the supply 
 of other men's poverty. Art thou poor? let 
 thy service minister to the rich. If thy labour 
 is for thyself alone, the service thou offerest 
 to God is a mere pretence." 92 
 
 Not a word concerning himself did Luther 
 find place for in this sermon, nor yet for any 
 allusions to the circumstances in which he 
 stood ; not a word concerning Worms, the 
 Emperor, or the Nuncios : he preached CHRIST, 
 and Him alone. In a moment when the eyes 
 of all the world were turned on him, he had 
 no thought uppermost for himself; it is a 
 mark of the faithful servant of God. 
 
 Luther took his departure from Erfurth, and 
 passed through Gotha, where he again preach- 
 ed. Myconius adds, that after the sermon, 
 when the congregation were leaving, the devil 
 detached from the pediment of the church 
 some stones that had not moved for two hun- 
 dred years. The Doctor took a night's rest 
 in the convent of the Benedictines at Rein- 
 hardsbrunn, and proceeded from thence to 
 Eisenach, where he was suddenly taken ill. 
 Amsdorff, Jonas, SchurfF, and all his friends 
 were alarmed. They bled him, and were un- 
 remitting in attentions. The Schulthess of 
 the town, John Oswald, brought him a cordial. 
 
 Luther having taken it, had some sleep, and, 
 refreshed by rest, was enabled to resume his 
 journey on the following morning. 
 
 Everywhere, as he passed, the people of the 
 country flocked round him. 93 His progress re- 
 sembled a triumph. Men contemplated with 
 interest the bold man who was goinor to pre- 
 sent himself bareheaded before the Emperor 
 and the Empire. 84 A dense crowd accompanied 
 his steps, discoursing with him. "Ah," said 
 some, " there are plenty of cardinals and bish- 
 ops at Worms! . . . You will be burned alive, 
 and your body reduced to ashes, as they did 
 with John Huss." But nothing daunted the 
 monk. " Though they should kindle a fire, 
 whose flame should reach from Worms to 
 Wittemberg, and rise up to heaven, I would 
 go through it in the name of the Lord, and 
 stand before them ; I would enter the jaws of 
 the behemoth, break his teeth, and confess the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." 95 
 
 One day, when he had entered into an inn, 
 and the crowd was as usual pressing about 
 him, an officer made his way through, and 
 thus addressed him : "Are you the man who 
 has taken in hand to reform the Papacy? . . . 
 How can you expect to* succeed?" "Yes," 
 answered Luther, "I am the man. I place 
 my dependence upon that Almighty God 
 whose word and commandment is before me." 
 The officer, deeply affected, gazed on him 
 with a mild expression, and said, "Dear 
 friend, there is much in what you say; I am 
 a servant of Charles, but your Master is 
 greater than mine. He will help and protect 
 you." 96 Such was the impression that Luther 
 produced. Even his enemies were awed by 
 the sight of the crowd that surrounded him ; 
 but they have depicted his progress in very 
 different colours. 87 At length the Doctor reached 
 Frankfort on Sunday, the llth of April. 
 
 Accounts of Luther's progress had before 
 this reached Worms. The Pope's partisans 
 had not expected that he would obey the Em- 
 peror's summons. Albert, Cardinal-archbishop 
 of Mentz, would have given the world to stop 
 him on his journey; new expedients were re- 
 sorted to for this purpose. 
 
 Luther rested a short time at Frankfort ; 
 from thence he wrote to Spalatin, who was 
 then with the Elector at Worms, announcing 
 his approach. It is the only letter he wrote 
 during the journey. "I am arrived here," 
 said he, "although Satan has sought to stop 
 me in my way by sickness. From Eisenach 
 to this place I have been suffering, and 1 am 
 at this moment in worse condition than ever. 
 I find that Charles has issued an edict to ter- 
 rify me ; but Christ lives, and we shall enter 
 Worms in spite of all the councils of hell and 
 all the powers of the air. Therefore engage a 
 lodging for me." 98 
 
 Next day Luther visited the learned school 
 of William Nesse, the celebrated geographer 
 of that age. "Apply yourselves," said he, 
 "to the reading of the Bible and the investi- 
 gation of truth." Then, laying his right hand 
 on one and his left on another, he pronounced 
 his blessing on all the scholars. 
 

 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 197 
 
 Luther was thus entered in blessing I Sickengen, " and Bucer must be the bearer of 
 
 children, he was not the less the hope of aged 
 Christians. A widow of great, age, who served 
 God with her heart, Catherine of Holzhausen, 
 came to him with these words : " My father 
 and mother predicted to me that God would 
 one day raise up a man who should oppose 
 the vanities of the Pope, and rescue the word 
 of God. I hope you are that man; and I 
 wish you the grace and Holy Spirit of God 
 
 /* I 1 4 ICQ 
 
 for your help. y - 
 
 These feelings were very far from being 
 general at Frankfort. John Cochlaeus, dean 
 of the Church of our Lady, was a devoted ad- 
 herent of the Roman Church. He could not 
 repress his fears at sight of Luther in his pas- 
 sage through Frankfort on his way to Worms. 
 He felt that the Church had need of zealous 
 defenders. It mattered little that he had not 
 been called upon. Scarcely had Luther left 
 the city, when Cochlseus set out after him, 
 ready, as he said, to lay down his life in de- 
 fence of the honour of his Church. 100 
 
 The panic was great among the partisans 
 of the Pope. The heresiarch was approaching ; 
 every day, every hour brought him nearer. 
 Once at Worms, and all might be ruined. 
 The Archbishop Albert, the Confessor Glapio, 
 and all the political advisers of the Emperor 
 were in dismay. How to stop the monk was 
 the question. To seize and carry him off 
 was not to be thought of, for he was furnished 
 with Charles's safe-conduct; artifice alone 
 could compass the end. Instantly they devise 
 the following plan. The Emperor's confessor 
 and his grand chamberlain, Paul of Armsdorff, 
 set out in haste from Worms. 101 They direct 
 their course toward the chateau of Ebernburg, 
 distant about ten leagues, and the residence 
 of Francis Sickingen, the knight who had 
 offered Luther an asylum. Bucer, a young 
 Dominican, and chaplain to the Elector Pala- 
 tine, converted to the Gospel at the period of 
 the conference at Heidelberg, had sought re- 
 fuge and was then residing in this "abode of 
 the righteous." The knight, who was not 
 well versed in matters of religion, was easily 
 imposed upon; and the character of the former 
 chaplain to the Palatine favoured the views 
 of the confessor. In fact, Bucer was disposed 
 for peace. Distinguishing fundamental from 
 secondary truths, he thought he might sacri- 
 fice the latter for the sake of peace and unity. 102 
 
 The chamberlain and Charles's confessor 
 opened the business. They gave Sickengen 
 and Bucer to understand that if Luther were 
 once in Worms, it would be all over with him. 
 They declared that the Emperor was ready to 
 send certain learned men to Ebernberg, there 
 to talk over matters with the Doctor. "Both 
 parties," said they to the knight, "will put 
 themselves under your protection." And to 
 Bucer they said, " We agree with Luther on 
 all essential things, the only questions be- 
 tween us relate to some secondary points. 
 You will act as mediator between us." The 
 knight and the doctor were shaken. The con- 
 fessor and the chamberlain continued " The 
 invitation must come from you," said they to 
 
 it." 1C3 The whole project was agreed to, ac- 
 cording to their wish. Only let Luther credu- 
 lously obey their invitation to Ebernburg, and 
 the term of his safe-conduct will soon expire : 
 then who can protect him] 
 
 Luther had reached Oppenheim. In three 
 days his safe conduct would be void. A troop 
 of horsemen were seen approaching, and soon 
 he recognised the same Bucer with whom he 
 had held such intimate conversations at Heidel- 
 berg. 104 "These horsemen belong to Francis 
 Sickengen," said Bucer, after the first greet- 
 ings. " He has sent me to conduct you to 
 his fortress. 103 The Emperor's confessor desires 
 a conference with you. His influence with 
 Charles is unbounded; every thing may yet 
 be arranged ; but have nothing to do with 
 Aleander !" Jonas, AmsdorfT, Schurff, knew 
 not what to think. Bucer urged him : but 
 Luther never faltered. "I shall go on," an- 
 swered he, " and if the Emperor's confessor 
 has any thing to say to me, he will find me at 
 Worms. I repair to the place of summons." 
 
 In the mean while Spalatin himself began 
 to be disturbed with apprehensions. Situate 
 in the midst of enemies of the Reformation, 
 he heard it said on all sides that the heretic's 
 safe-conduct would be disregarded. His 
 friendship took the alarm. At the moment 
 when Luther was approaching the city, a ser- 
 vant met him and delivered him a message 
 from the chaplain: "Abstain from entering 
 Worms." And this from Spalatin himself, 
 the Elector's confidential adviser! Luther, 
 still unshaken, turned his eyes on the mes- 
 senger, and answered, "Go tell your master, 
 that though there should be as many devils at 
 J'Vbrms as there are tiles on its roofs, I would 
 enter i7." 106 At no time had the grandeur of 
 Luther's spirit been more evidenced. The 
 messenger re-entered Worms, and delivered 
 the astounding declaration. " I was then in- 
 trepid," said Luther, (a few days before his 
 death.) "I feared nothing. God can give 
 this boldness to man. I know not whether 
 now I should have so much liberty and joy." 
 " When our cause is good," adds his disciple 
 Mathesius, " the heart expands and gives cou- 
 rage and energy to the evangelist and the 
 soldier." 107 
 
 At last, on the morning of the 16th April, 
 Luther discovered the walls of the ancient 
 city. All were expecting him. But one sub- 
 ject occupied the thoughts of the citizens. 
 Some young nobles, Bernard of Kirschfeld, 
 Albert Lindenau, with six mounted cavaliers, 
 and other gentlemen of the prince's retinue, 
 to the number in all of a hundred, (according 
 to Pallavicini,) in their impatience, rode out 
 of the city to meet him, and surrounding his 
 travelling car, escorted him to the gates. He 
 went forward. The Imperial herald gaL^ped 
 before, attired in the vestments of his office. 
 Luther came next, in his modest vehicle. Jonas 
 followed on horseback, and the party of horse- 
 
 men surrounded him. A 
 awaitin 
 
 waiting his arrival at the gates, 
 'clock he entered within those walls, 
 
 vast crowd was 
 At ten 
 whence 
 
193 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 so many had predicted to him that he would 
 never again depart. Behold him in Worms ! 
 Two thousand persons accompanied the 
 famed monk of Wittemberg through the streets 
 of the city. People ran to their doors to see 
 him. The crowd was increasing every mo- 
 ment, and was even greater than at the pub- 
 lic entry of the Emperor himself. Of a sud- 
 den, says an historian, a man clothed in gro- 
 tesque habiliments, and bearing before him a 
 lofty cross, as is customary at funerals, pene- 
 trated through the crowd, and advanced to- 
 wards Luther: then with the shrill and 
 plaintive cadence, in which the priests perform 
 masses for the repose of the dead, he chanted 
 these words as if he were uttering them from 
 the abode of departed spirits 
 
 Advenisti, O desiderabilis ! 
 Quern expectabamus in tenebris !* 
 
 Thus was Luther's arrival celebrated by a 
 requiem. It was the court fool of one of the 
 Dukes of Bavaria, who (if the account may 
 be depended upon) thus gave to Luther one 
 of those warnings, replete at once with solemn 
 instruction and irony, of which so many in- 
 stances are on record. But the shouts of the 
 crowd soon drowned the de profundis of the 
 cross-bearer. The procession made its way 
 with difficulty through the people. At last 
 the herald of the Empire stopped before the 
 hotel of the Knights of Rhodes. It was there 
 that Frederic of Thun, and Philip Feilitsch, 
 two counsellors of the Elector, and Ulric Pap- 
 pen heim, the Marshal of the Empire, had 
 taken up their abode. Luther alighted from 
 his wagon, and as he set foot on the ground, 
 exclaimed, ** God will be my defence." 108 " I 
 entered Worms," said he, at a later period, 
 ** in an open cart and in a monk's frock. And 
 every one carne out into the streets, desiring 
 to see friar Martin." 109 
 
 The intelligence of his arrival was received 
 with alarm by the Elector of Saxony and Ale- 
 ander. Albert, the young and accomplished 
 Archbishop, whose mind was in a middle posi- 
 tion, was dismayed at this daring step. " If 
 1 had no more courage than the Archbishop," 
 said Luther, u true it is they would never have 
 seen me at Worms." 
 
 Charles V. instantly convoked his council. 
 The confidential advisers of the Emperor re- 
 paired in haste to the palace for the fear had 
 communicated to them. " Luther is come," 
 said Charles, " what must be done 1" 
 
 Modo, Bishop of Palermo and Chancellor 
 of Flanders, answered, according to the testi- 
 mony of Luther: " We have long thought 
 of this matter. Let your Majesty rid your- 
 self at once of this man. Did not Sigismund 
 bring John Huss to the stake? One is under 
 no obligation either to give or to observe a 
 safe-conduct in the case of heretics." 110 " Not 
 so," said Charles, " what we promise we 
 should observe and keep." It was, therefore, 
 Agreed that the Reformer should be heard. 
 
 Whilst the great were thus planning how 
 
 * Thou art come whom we desired whom we 
 waited for in the regions of darkness ! 
 
 to deal with Luther, there were not a few in 
 Worms rejoicing in the opportunity of at last 
 beholding this distinguished servant of God. 
 Capito, chaplain and counsellor of the Arch- 
 bishop of Mentz, was of their number. This 
 remarkable man, who a little while before 
 had preached the Gospel in Switzerland with 
 much liberty* though he then owed it to the 
 station he filled, to pursue a course which ex- 
 posed him to the charge of cowardice from 
 the Evangelical preachers, and of dissimula- 
 tion, from the Romanists. 111 Yet at Mentz he 
 had preached the doctrine of faith with great 
 clearness. When he was leaving that city he 
 had arranged for his place being supplied by 
 a young and zealous preacher named Hedion. 
 The word of God was not bound in that an- 
 cient seat of the German primacy. The 
 Gospel was eagerly listened to ; in vain did 
 the monks attempt to preach from the Scrip- 
 tures after their manner; in vain did they 
 make every effort to arrest the impulsion given 
 to men's rninds. 112 Their failure was complete. 
 But whilst preaching the new doctrine, Capito 
 sought to maintain friendly relations with its 
 persecutors ; with a few of the same opinions 
 he flattered himself that he might in this way 
 render great service to the Church. To hear 
 them talk one might have thought that if Lu- 
 ther was not burnt, and his followers excom- 
 municated, it was only owing to the influence 
 that Capito possessed with the Archbishop. 113 
 Cochlaeus, dean of Frankfort, arriving at 
 Worms at the same time as Luther, repaired 
 direct to Capito's residence. The latter, who 
 at least was outwardly on very friendly terms 
 with Aleander, introduced Cochlaeus to him, 
 becoming thus a connecting link between the 
 Reformer's two great enemies. 114 Doubtless 
 Capito imagined that he did service to the 
 cause of Christ, by keeping up these appear- 
 ances; but it would be impossible to show 
 any good effect flowing from them. The 
 event almost always disconcerts such calcu- 
 lations of human policy, proving that a de- 
 cided course, while it is the most frank, is 
 also most wise. 
 
 Meanwhile crowds continued to gather out- 
 side the hotel of Rhodes where Luther had 
 alighted. Some had conceived an idea of 
 him as a prodigy of wisdom; others as a 
 monster of iniquity. Every one desired to 
 see him. 115 They left him, however, a few 
 hours to recruit himself after his journey, and 
 discourse with his most intimate friends. But 
 ss soon as the evening closed in, counts, 
 barons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, and 
 citizens, flocked about him. All, even those 
 most opposed to him, were struck with his 
 courageous bearing the joy that beamed in. 
 his countenance the power of his eloquence, 
 and the solemn elevation and enthusiasm 
 which gave to the words of a single monk a 
 sort of irresistible authority. But some as- 
 scribed this grandeur to a something divine; 
 while the partisans of the Pope loudly ex- 
 claimed that he was possessed by a devil. 116 
 
 Book VIII. 
 
HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 
 
 199 
 
 Visitors poured in, and the succession of the 
 curious kept Luther from his bed till a late 
 hour. 
 
 On the next morning-, 17th of April, the 
 hereditary Marshal .of the Empire, Ulric Pap- 
 penheim, cited him to appear at four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, in presence of his Imperial 
 Majesty and of the States of the Empire. 
 Luther received the message with profound 
 respect. 
 
 Thus all things were ready. He was 
 about to appear for Jesus Christ before the 
 most august of all assemblies. Encourage- 
 ments were not wanting. The bold knight, 
 Ulric Hiitten, was then in the castle of Ebern- 
 burg. Prevented coming to Worms, (for Leo 
 the Tenth had desired Charles to send him 
 bound hand and foot to Rome,) he resolved 
 at least to stretch out the hand of friendship 
 to Luther, and on the same day, 17th of April, 
 he wrote to him, adopting the words of the 
 king of Israel : " The Lord hear thee in the 
 day of trouble : the name of the God of Jacob 
 defend thce : send thee help out of Zion . grant 
 thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all 
 thy counsel. O beloved Luther, my venerated 
 father ! . . . . fear not and stand firm. The 
 counsels of the wicked have laid wait for you, 
 they have opened their mouths against you 
 like roaring lions. But the Lord will arise 
 against them and put them to flight. Fight, 
 therefore, valiantly the battle of Christ. For 
 my part I too will fight boldly. Would to 
 God I might be allowed to face their frowns. 
 But the Lord will deliver his Vine, that the 
 wild boar of the forest has laid waste .... 
 Christ preserve you!" 117 . . . Bucer did what 
 Hiitten was prevented doing, he made the 
 journey from Ebernburg to Worms, and never 
 left his friend during his stay there. 118 
 
 But Luther looked not to men for his 
 strength. " He who, attacked by the enemy, 
 holds up the buckler of Faith" said he one 
 day, " is like Perseus presenting the head of 
 the Gorgon. Whoever looks upon it is struck 
 dead. It is thus that we should hold up the 
 Son of God against the snares of the devil." 119 
 On the morning of this 17th April, he was 
 for a few minutes in deep exercise of mind. 
 God's face seemed to be veiled, and his faith 
 forsook him : his enemies seemed to multiply 
 before him, and his imagination was overcome 
 by the aspect of his dangers. His soul was 
 like a ship driven by a violent tempest, rocked 
 from side to side, one moment plunged in 
 the abyss, and the next carried up to heaven. 
 In that hour of bitter trial when he drank of 
 the cup of Christ an hour which to him was 
 as the garden of Gethsemane, he threw him- 
 self with his face upon the earth, and uttered 
 those broken cries, which we cannot under- 
 stand, without entering, in thought, into the 
 anguish of those deeps from whence they rose 
 to God." 120 "Oh God, Almighty God ever- 
 lasting ! how dreadful is the world ! behold 
 how its mouth opens to swallow rne up, and 
 how small is my faith in Thee ! . . . Oh ! the 
 weakness of the flesh and the power of Satan ! 
 If I am to depend upon any strength of this 
 
 world all is over. . . . The knell is struck. 
 
 . . . Sentence is gone forth God ! 
 
 God ! O thou my God ! help me against 
 all the wisdom of this world. Do this, I be- 
 seech thee ; thou shouldst do this by 
 
 thy own mighty power The work is 
 
 not mine, but Thine. I have no business 
 
 here I have nothing to contend for 
 
 with these great men of the world ! I would 
 gladly pass mv days in happiness and peace. 
 But the cause is Thine, . . . . and it is righ- 
 teous and everlasting ! O Lord ! help me ! 
 
 faithful and unchangeable God ! I lean not 
 upon man. It were vain ! Whatever is of 
 man is tottering, whatever proceeds from him 
 must fail. My God! my God ! dost thou not 
 hear ? My God ! art thou no longer living ? 
 Nay, thou canst not die ? Thou dost but hide 
 Thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work. 
 
 1 know it ! ... Therefore, O God, accom- 
 plish thine own will ! Forsake me not, for the 
 sake of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, 
 my defence, my buckler, and my stronghold." 
 
 After a moment of silent struggle, he con- 
 tinued, "Lord where art thou] . . . My 
 God, where art thou 1 . . .Come! I pray 
 thee, I am ready. . . . Behold me prepared 
 to lay down my life for thy truth . . . suffer- 
 ing like a lamb. For the cause is holy. It 
 is thine own ! . . . I will not let thee go ! 
 no, nor yet for all eternity ! And though the 
 world should be thronged with devils and 
 this body, which is the work of thine hands, 
 should be cast forth, trodden under foot, cut 
 in pieces, .... consumed to ashes, . . . 
 my soul is thine. Yes, I have thine own 
 word to assure me of it. My soul belongs to 
 thee, and will abide with thee forever ! Amen ! 
 O God send help ! . . . Amen!" 121 
 
 This prayer discloses to us Luther and the 
 Reformation. History here lifts the veil of 
 the sanctuary, and discovers the secret source 
 whence strength and courage descended to 
 the humble and despised man, who was God's 
 instrument, to set at liberty the soul and 
 thought of man, and open a new age. Lu- 
 ther and the Reformation lie open before us. 
 We discern their inmost springs. We see 
 where their power lay. This effusion of a 
 soul offering itself up in the cause of truth is 
 found in the collection of documents relative 
 to the citation of Luther to Worms, under 
 number 16. of the safe-conducts and other 
 papers of that nature. One of his friends 
 doubtless overheard and preserved it. In our 
 judgment it is one of the noblest of historical 
 documents. 
 
 Four o'clock arrived. The Marshal of the 
 Empire appeared. Luther prepared to set out. 
 God had heard his prayers ; he was calm 
 when he quitted the hotel. The herald walk- 
 ed first. Next came the Marshal of the Em- 
 pire, followed by the Reformer. The crowd 
 that thronged the streets was yet more dense 
 than on the preceding evening. It was not 
 possible to advance it was in vain that or- 
 ders were given to make way; the crowd 
 was increasing. At last the herald, seeing 
 the impossibility of reaching the Town Hall, 
 S 
 
200 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 demanded admission into some private houses, 
 and conducted Luther through the gardens 
 and hack ways to the place where the Diet 
 was assembled. 122 The people who witnessed 
 this, rushed into the houses after the monk of 
 Wittemberg, stationing themselves at the 
 windows overlooking the gardens, and many 
 of them taking their stand on the tops of the 
 houses. The roofs and the pavements, above 
 and beneath, all around him, were covered 
 with spectators. 123 
 
 Arriving at last at the Town Hall, Luther 
 and his companions were again at a loss how 
 to pass the gateway, which was thronged by 
 the multitude. Make room! was the cry; 
 but no one stirred. The Imperial soldiers then 
 cleared a passage. The people hurrying for- 
 ward to enter together with the Reformer, the 
 soldiers drove them back with their halberds. 
 Luther entered the interior of the hall, and 
 there again he beheld the enclosure crowded. 
 In the ante-chambers and window recesses, 
 there were more than five thousand spectators 
 German, Italian, Spanish and of other na- 
 tions. Luther advanced with difficulty. As 
 he drew near the door which was to admit him 
 to the presence of his judges, he was met by 
 a valiant knight, George Freundsberg, who, 
 four years afterwards, attended by his follow- 
 ers, couched his lance at the battle of Pavia, 
 and bearing down the left of the French army, 
 drove it into the Tessino, and decided the cap- 
 tivity of the King of France. This old general, 
 seeing Luther pass, touched him on the shoulder 
 and shaking his head, blanched in many battles, 
 said kindly, " My poor monk, my poor monk, 
 thou hast a march and a struggle to go through, 
 such as neither I nor many other captains 
 have seen the like in our most bloody battles 
 But if thy cause be just, and thou art sure of 
 it, go forward in God's name, and fear nothing ! 
 He will not forsake thee!" 124 A noble tribute 
 rendered by martial spirit to the courage of 
 the soul. " He that ruleth his spirit is greater 
 than he that taketh a city," was the word of 
 a king. (Prov. xvi. 32.) 
 
 And now the doors of the hall were thrown 
 open, Luther entered, and many who formed 
 no part of the Diet gained admission with 
 him. Never had any man appeared before so 
 august an assembly. The Emperor Charles 
 V., whose kingdom extended across both 
 hemispheres, his brother the Archduke Fer- 
 dinand, six Electors of the Empire, most of 
 whose successors are now crowned heads, 
 twenty-four dukes, many of them territorial 
 sovereigns, and among whom were some who 
 bore a name in after times held in fear and 
 horror by the nations who accepted the Re- 
 formation (the. Duke of Alva and his two 
 sons) eight margraves, thirty archbishops, 
 bishops, and prelates, seven ambassadors, 
 including those of France and England, the 
 deputies of ten free cities, a number of 
 princes, counts, and barons of rank, the 
 Pope's Nuncios, in all two hundred persons. 
 Such was the imposing assemblage before 
 which stood Martin Luther. 
 
 His appearance there was of itself a signal 
 
 victory over the Papacy. The man whom the 
 Pope had condemned stood before a tribunal 
 raised by that very fact above the Pope's 
 authority. Placed under interdict, and struck 
 out from human fellowship by the Pope, he 
 was cited in respectful terms, and received be- 
 fore the noblest of human auditories. The 
 Pope had decreed that his lips should be 
 closed forever, and he was about to unclose 
 them in the presence of thousands assembled 
 from the remotest countries of Christendom. 
 Thus had an immense revolution been effected 
 by his means ; Rome was brought down from 
 her seat, and the power that thus humbled 
 her was the word of a monk ! 
 
 Some Princes who were near him, observing 
 the humble son of the miner of Mansfeld 
 awed and affected in this assembly of sove- 
 reigns, approached him kindly. One of them 
 whispered, " Fear not them who are able to 
 kill the body, and cannot destroy the soul." 
 Another whispered to him, " When you are 
 brought before kings it shall be given to you 
 by the Spirit of your Father what you shall 
 say." 125 Thus was the monk strengthened with 
 his Master's words by the great ones of this 
 world. 
 
 Meanwhile the guards made way for Lu- 
 ther. He stepped forward and found himself 
 in front of the throne of Charles V. All eyes 
 were turned upon him. The confusion was 
 stilled, and there was a profound silence. 
 " Say nothing until a question is put to you," 
 said the Marshal of the Empire as he quitted 
 him. 
 
 After a moment's solemn pause, John Eck, 
 the Chancellor of the Archbishop of Treves, 
 and the friend of Aleander, whom we must not 
 confound with the theologian of that name, 
 rose, and in a clear and sonorous accent, first 
 in Latin and then in German, said : 
 
 " Martin Luther, his sacred and invincible 
 Majesty has cited you before his throne, act- 
 ing on the opinion and advice of the States of 
 the Holy Roman Empire, to require you to 
 answer to these questions. First: Do you 
 acknowledge these writings to have been 
 composed by you ?" At the same time the 
 speaker pointed with his finger to about twenty 
 volumes placed on a table in the centre of the 
 hall, immediately before Luther. " I could 
 not guess where they had obtained them," 
 said Luther, relating the fact; it was Alean- 
 der who had taken the trouble to collect them. 
 "Secondly," continued the Chancellor, "Are 
 you prepared to retract these, and the proposi- 
 tions contained therein, or do you persist in 
 what you have therein advanced ]" 
 
 Luther, without faltering, was about to an- 
 swer the first question in the affirmative, when 
 Jerome "Schurff, hastily interrupting him, ex- 
 claimed aloud, " Let their titles be read." 126 
 
 The Chancellor advancing to the table read 
 the titles. There were in the number several 
 works of a devotional character, and altogether 
 unconnected with the controverted points. 
 
 The enumeration being gone through, Lu- 
 ther spoke as follows, first in Latin, then in 
 German: 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 " Most gracious Emperor, Princes and 
 Lords ! 
 
 " His Imperial Majesty puts to me two 
 questions. 
 
 " As to the first, I acknowledge the books, 
 the names of which have been read, to be of 
 my writing ; I cannot deny them. 
 
 " As to the second, seeing that it is a ques- 
 tion which has reference to faith, and the sal- 
 vation of souls, a question which concerns 
 the word of God, the greatest and most pre- 
 cious treasure of heaven or earth, 127 I should 
 act rashly if I were to answer without reflec- 
 tion. I might say less than the circumstance 
 demands, or more than truth requires, and so 
 sin against that word of Christ, Whosoever 
 shall deny me before men, him I will deny be- 
 fore my Father who is in heaven. Therefore 
 it is that I most humbly desire his Imperial 
 Majesty to allow me time, that I may answer 
 without offending against the word of God." 
 
 This reply, far from countenancing the sup- 
 position of indecision in Luther, was worthy 
 of the Reformer and of the assembly. It was 
 fit that he should act calmly and circumspect- 
 ly in a question of such grave importance, 
 that this solemn moment of his life might be 
 clear from the suspicion of passion or precipi- 
 tancy. Besides, by taking reasonable time the 
 deliberate firmness of his resolution would be 
 the more strikingly apparent. Many men in 
 the history of the world have brought great 
 evils on themselves and their contemporaries 
 by a hasty word. Luther restrained his own 
 naturally impetuous temper: he suppressed 
 the words that were on his tongue and kept 
 silence, when all the feelings that inspired 
 him struggled to find utterance. This self 
 command and calmness, so unusual in such a 
 man, increased his power a hundred-fold, and 
 enabled him afterwards to answer with a pru- 
 dence, a force, and a dignity, which balked 
 the expectations of his enemies, and confound- 
 ed their pride and malice. 
 
 Nevertheless, as his tone had been respect- 
 ful, many thought he was wavering. A ray 
 of hope appeared for the Roman courtiers. 
 Charles, eager to know more of a man whose 
 teaching disturbed the Empire, had observed 
 him narrowly. Turning to one of his courtiers, 
 he remarked contemptuously, " Certainly that 
 man will never induce me to turn heretic." 128 
 Then rising from his seat, the young Emperor, 
 attended by his ministers, withdrew to the 
 council chamber; the Electors assembled in 
 another apartment together with the Princes ; 
 the deputies of the free cities in a third. 
 The Diet on re-assembling agreed to grant 
 the request. It was a notable blunder in men 
 actuated by passion and prejudice. 
 
 "Martin Luther," said the Chancellor of 
 Treves, " his Imperial Majesty, acting in the 
 goodness of his nature, consents to allow you 
 one day's delay ; but on condition that you 
 make answer by word of rnouth, and not in 
 writing." 
 
 Immediately the Imperial herald came for- 
 ward and conducted Luther back to the hotel. 
 Threats and shouts accompanied him through 
 
 the crowd; alarming reports reached his 
 frieze "The Diet is displeased," it was 
 
 wiiat js <au uua i i iivy any uiej aio 
 
 ed to bring you to the stake. 129 . . If they 
 ttempt it," they added, "it shall be at 
 ril of their lives." " And it would have 
 
 friends. 
 
 said : " the Pope's envoys triumph ; the Re- 
 former will fall a victim." Men's passions 
 were roused. Some gentlemen repaired in 
 haste to Luther. "Doctor," said they in agi- 
 tation, what is all this 1 They say they are 
 resolved to brine 
 dare attemr 
 the peril 
 
 been so," said Luther, repeating their words 
 at Eisleben twenty years later. 
 
 On the other hand, Luther's enemies were 
 all confidence. "He has begged for time;" 
 said they, " he is going to retract. At a dis- 
 tance his speech was arrogant; but now his 
 courage forsakes him. ... He is conquered." 
 
 Luther was perhaps the only person at 
 Worms perfectly undisturbed. A few mi- 
 nutes after his return from the diet he wrote 
 to the counsellor Cuspianus: "I am writing 
 to you from the midst of a tempest (perhaps 
 he alluded to the noise of the crowd outside 
 his hotel). An hour ago I appeared before 
 the Emperor and his brother. 130 . . . I avowed 
 myself the author of my books, and I have 
 promised to give my answer to-morrow, as to 
 recantation. By the help of Jesus Christ, I 
 will not retract a single letter of my writings." 131 
 
 The commotion among the people and the 
 soldiers of the states was increasing every 
 hour. Whilst the two parties were repairing 
 calmly to the Diet, the people and the sol- 
 diers came to blows in the streets. The 
 Spanish troops, proud and stern, gave great 
 offence by their insolence to the burghers of 
 the city. One of these satellites of Charles, 
 finding in a bookseller's shop the Pope's Bull, 
 published with a commentary written by the 
 knight Hiitten, laid hands upon it, tore it in 
 pieces, and trampled it under foot. Others 
 having discovered several copies of Luther's 
 tract on the Captivity of Babylon, carried them 
 off and tore them up. The common people 
 roused to resistance, fell upon the soldiers and 
 compelled them to retire. At another time a 
 mounted Spaniard pursued, sword in hand, 
 through the public streets of Worms, a Ger- 
 man, who fled from him, and the people in 
 their fright made no attempt to^top the pur- 
 suer. 132 
 
 Some politic persons thought they had hit 
 upon an expedient to rescue Luther. "Re- 
 tract," said they, "your errors in doctrine, 
 but adhere to all you have said concerning the 
 Pope and his court, and you will be safe." 
 Aleander trembled at the suggestion. But 
 Luther, not to be moved from his purpose, 
 declared that he cared little for a political 
 reformation if it were not based upon faith. 
 
 On the 18th of April, Father Glapio, the 
 Chancellor Eck, and Aleander met early in 
 the morning agreeably to orders from Charles 
 V. to settle the course of proceeding with 
 Luther. 
 
 Luther composed his thoughts. He felt 
 that tranquillity of soul without which man can 
 do nothing truly great. He prayed ; he read 
 the Word of God ; he glanced over his own 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 writings, and endeavoured to give a suitable \ 
 form to his answer. The thought that he was 
 ahoul to bear testimony for Jesus Christ and 
 his word in the face of the Emperor and of 
 the whole Empire dilated his heart with joy ! 
 The moment when he was to make his appear- 
 ance was approaching. He drew near the 
 table on which the volume of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures lay open, placed his left hand upon it, 
 and raising the other towards heaven, he 
 vowed to adhere constantly to the Gospel, and 
 to confess his faith freely, even though he 
 should be called to seal his confession with 
 his blood. This done, he felt the peace of his 
 soul increased. 
 
 At four o'clock the herald presented him- 
 self, and conducted Luther to the hall of the 
 Diet. The general curiosity was extreme, 
 for the answer was to be decisive. The Diet 
 being engaged in deliberation, Luther was 
 obliged to wait in the court, surrounded by a 
 dense crowd, eagerly moving to and fro, and 
 resembling a sea of heads. For two hours, 
 the Reformer was hemmed in by the multi- 
 tude pressing to see him. " I was not used," 
 said he, "to such ways and noises." I33 To an 
 ordinary man this would have been a grievous 
 hinderance to preparedness of mind. But Lu- 
 ther was walking with God. His look was 
 serene; his features unruffled. The Eternal 
 was placing him on a rock. Evening began 
 to close in, and the torches were lighted in the 
 hall. Their light gleamed through the ancient 
 painted glass to the court beyond, and the 
 whole scene wore an aspect of more than com- 
 mon solemnity. At length the Doctor was ad- 
 mitted. Many persons obtained admission 
 .with him, for every one was desirous to hear 
 his answer. The Princes having taken their 
 seats, and Luther being again in presence of 
 Charles V. the Chancellor of the Elector of 
 Treves broke silence, and said : 
 
 " Martin Luther, you requested yesterday a 
 delay which is now expired. Certainly the 
 Diet was not bound in justice to accede to 
 your desire, since every man should be so 
 grounded in his faith as to be able at all times 
 to give an answer to those who ask him ; much 
 more one who is an eminent and learned doc- 
 tor in the Scriptures Now, therefore, 
 
 answer the inquiry of his Majesty, who has 
 manifested so much indulgence. Are you 
 prepared to defend all that your writings con- 
 tain, or do you wish to retract any part of 
 them 1" 
 
 After having spoken these words, the Chan- 
 cellor repeated them in German. 
 
 " Hereupon," say the Acts of Worms, 
 " Doctor Martin Luther made answer in a low 
 and humble tone, without any vehemence or 
 violence, but with gentleness* and mildness, 
 and in a manner full of respect and diffidence, 
 yet with much joy and Christian firmness." 134 
 
 " Most Serene Emperor, and you illustrious 
 Princes and gracious Lords," said Luther, 
 turning towards Charles, and looking round 
 the assembly, "I this day appear before you 
 in all humility, according to your command ; 
 and I implore your Majesty and your august 
 
 Highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen 
 wit'h favour to the defence of a cause which I 
 am well assured is just and right. I ask par- 
 don if, by reason of my ignorance, I am want- 
 ing in the manners that befit a court; for I 
 have not been brought up in king's palaces, 
 but in the seclusion of a cloister. 
 
 "Two questions were yesterday put to me 
 by his Imperial Majesty ; the first, whether I 
 was the author of the books whose titles were 
 read ; the second, whether I wished to revoke 
 or defend the doctrine I have taught. I an- 
 swered the first, and I adhere to that answer. 
 
 "As to the second, I have composed writ- 
 ings on very different subjects. In some I 
 have discussed Faith and Good Works, in a 
 spirit at once so pure, clear, and Christian, 
 that even my adversaries themselves, far from 
 finding any thing to censure, confess that these 
 writings are profitable, and deserve to be pe- 
 rused by devout persons. The Pope's bull, 
 violent as it is, acknowledges this. What 
 then should I be doing, if I were now to re- 
 tract these writings ? Wretched man ! I alone, 
 of all men living, should be abandoning truths 
 approved by the unanimous voice of friends 
 and enemies, and opposing doctrines that the 
 whole world glories in confessing. 
 
 "I have composed, secondly, certain works 
 against Popery, wherein I have attacked such 
 as, by false doctrines, irregular lives, and 
 scandalous example's, afflict the Christian 
 world, and ruin the bodies and souls of men. 
 And is not this confirmed by the grief of all 
 who fear God 1 Is it not manifest that the 
 laws and human doctrines of the Popes entan- 
 gle, vex, and distress the consciences of the 
 faithful, while the crying and endless extor 
 tions of Rome engulf the property and wealth 
 of Christendom, and more particularly of this 
 illustrious nation 1 
 
 " If I were to revoke what I have written 
 on that subject, what should I do ... but 
 strengthen this tyranny, and open a wider 
 door to so many and flagrant impieties? 125 
 Bearing down all resistance with fresh fury, 
 we should behold these proud men swell, 
 foam, and rage more than ever. And not 
 merely would the yoke which now weighs 
 down Christians be made more grinding by 
 my retractation, it would thereby become, so 
 to speak, lawful ; for, by my retractation, it 
 would receive confirmation from your most 
 Serene Majesty, and all the States of the Em- 
 pire. Great God ! I should thus be like to an 
 infamous cloak, used to hide and cover over 
 every kind of malice and tyranny. 
 
 " In the third and last place, I have written 
 some books against private individuals, who 
 had undertaken to defend the tyranny of Rome 
 by destroying the faith. I freely confess that 
 I may have attacked such persons with more 
 violence than was consistent with my profes- 
 sion as an ecclesiastic. I do not think of my- 
 self as a saint; but neither can I retract these 
 books, because I should, by so doing, sanction 
 the impieties of my opponents; and they 
 would thence take occasion to crush God's 
 people with still more cruelty. 
 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 203 
 
 "Yet, as I am a mere man, and not God, I 
 will defend myself after the example of Jesus 
 Christ, who said, l If I have spoken evil, bear 
 witness against meS (John xviii. 23.) How 
 much more should I, who am but dust and 
 ashes, and so prone to error, desire that every 
 one should bring forward what he can against 
 my doctrine! 
 
 " Therefore, most Serene Emperor, and you 
 illustrious Princes, and all, whether high or 
 low, who hear me, I implore you by the mer- 
 cies of God to prove to me by the writings of 
 the prophets and apostles that I am in error. 
 As soon as 1 shall be convinced, I will in- 
 stantly retract all my errors, and will myself 
 be the first to seize rny writings, and commit 
 them to the flames. 
 
 " What I have just said, I think, will clearly 
 show that I have well considered and weighed 
 the dangers to which I am exposing myself; 
 but, far from being dismayed by them, I rejoice 
 exceedingly to see the Gospel this day, as of 
 old, a cause of disturbance and disagreement. 
 It is the character and destiny of God's word. 
 4 1 carne not to send peace unto the earth, but 
 a sword,' said Jesus Christ. God is wonder- 
 ful and awful in his counsels. Let us have a 
 care lest, in our endeavours to arrest discords, 
 we be found to fight against the holy word of 
 God, and bring down upon our heads a fright- 
 ful deluge of inextricable dangers, present dis- 
 aster, and everlasting desolation Let us 
 
 have a care lest the reign of the young and 
 noble Prince, the Emperor Charles, on whom, 
 next to God, we build so many hopes, should 
 not only commence, but continue and termi- 
 nate its course under the most fatal auspices. 
 I might cite examples drawn from the oracles 
 of God," continued Luther, speaking with 
 noble courage in the presence of the mightiest 
 monarch of the world ; " I might speak of 
 Pharaohs, of Kings of Babylon, or of Israel, 
 who were never more contributing to their 
 own ruin than when, by measures in appear- 
 ance most prudent, they thought to establish 
 their authority. God removeth the mountains, 
 and they know not. (Job ix. 5.) 
 
 "In speaking thus, I do not suppose that 
 such noble Princes have need of my poor judg- 
 ment; but I wish to acquit myself of a duty 
 that Germany has a right to expect from her 
 children. And so, commending myself to your 
 August Majesty, and your most Serene High- 
 nesses, I beseech you, in all humility, not to 
 permit the hatred of my enemies to rain upon 
 me an indignation I have not deserved."* 
 
 Luther had pronounced these words in Ger- 
 man, with modesty, and yet with much earn- 
 estness and resolution: 136 he was desired to 
 repeat them in Latin ; (the Emperor was not 
 fond of German.) The splendid assembly 
 which surrounded the Reformer, its noise and 
 excitement, had exhausted him. "I was 
 bathed in sweat," said he, "and standing in 
 the centre of the Princes." Frederic of Thun, 
 confidential counsellor of the Elector of Sax- 
 
 * This speech, as well as most of the documents 
 we cite, are taken, word for word, from authentic 
 documents. See L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 776 780. 
 27 
 
 ony, who, by his master's orders, had taken 
 his stand at the Reformer's side, to guard him 
 against surprise or violence, seeing the ex- 
 haustion of the poor monk, said, "If you are 
 not equal to the exertion of repeating your 
 speech, what you have said will suffice." 
 But Luther, having taken a moment's breath- 
 ing time, began again, and repeated his ad- 
 dress in Latin, with undiminished power. 137 
 
 " The Elector was quite pleased with that," 
 said the Reformer, when relating the circum- 
 stance. 
 
 As soon as he stopped speaking, the Chan- 
 cellor of Treves, spokesman of the Diet, said, 
 angrily, 
 
 " You have not given any answer to the 
 inquiry put to you. You are not to question 
 the decisions of the Councils, you are required 
 to return a clear and distinct answer. Will 
 you, or will you not retract 1 ?" Luther then 
 answered unhesitatingly, " Since your most 
 Serene Majesty and your High Mightinesses 
 require of me a simple, clear, and direct an- 
 swer, I will give one, and it is this: 138 I cannot 
 submit my faith either to the Pope or to the 
 Councils, because it is as clear as noonday 
 that they have often fallen into error, and even 
 into glaring inconsistency with themselves. 
 If, then, I am not convinced by proof from 
 Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons; if I am 
 not satisfied by the very texts that I have cited ; 
 and if my judgment is not in this way brought 
 into subjection to God's word, I neither can 
 nor will retract any thing; for it cannot be 
 right for a Christian to speak against his con- 
 science." Then turning a look on that assem- 
 bly before whom he stood, and which held in 
 its hands his life or death "I stand here, and 
 can say no more : God help me! Amen." 1C9 
 
 Thus did Luther, constrained to act upon 
 his Faith ; led by his conscience to the sur- 
 render of his life; bound by the noblest of all 
 necessity, the servant of the truth he believed, 
 and in that service most free; like a vessel 
 freighted with treasure more precious than it- 
 self, that the pilot runs upon the rocks, pro- 
 nounce the sublime words that, at the distance 
 of three centuries, still make our hearts bound 
 within us. Thus spake, in presence of the 
 Emperor and the chiefs of the nation, a single 
 monk! and that weak and poor man, standing 
 alone, but depending on the grace of the Most 
 High, shone forth grander and mightier than 
 them all. His words came with a power 
 against which the great of this world could 
 do nothing. This is that weakness of God 
 which is stronger than men. The Empire 
 and the Church on the one hand, an obscure 
 individual on the other, have looked upon each 
 other. God had gathered together these kings 
 and prelates, to bring publicly to naught their 
 wisdom. The battle is lost; and the conse- 
 quences of this defeat of the po\vers of this 
 world will be felt among all nations, and in 
 all ages to come. 
 
 The assembly was motionless with astonish- 
 ment. Several of the Princes present could 
 scarcely conceal their admiration. The Em- 
 peror, recovering from first impressions, ex- 
 2s 
 
204 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 claimed, " The monk speaks with an intrepid 
 heart, and unshaken courage." 140 The Spaniards 
 and Italians alone were confounded, and soon 
 began to ridicule a moral grandeur which they 
 could not comprehend. 
 
 " If you do not retract," resumed the Chan- 
 cellor, as soon as the assembly had recovered 
 from the impression produced by Luther's 
 speech, "the Emperor and the States of the 
 Empire will proceed to consider how to deal 
 with an obstinate heretic." At these words 
 Luther's friends trembled ; but the monk re- 
 peated : " May God be my helper! for I can 
 retract nothing." 141 
 
 This said, Luther withdrew, and the 
 Princes deliberated. Every one saw clearly 
 that the moment was critical for Christendom. 
 On the yea or nay of this monk, perhaps, de- 
 pended the repose of the Church and of the 
 world for ages to come. In the desire to over- 
 awe him, he had been raised on a platform in 
 sight of a whole nation: the attempt to give 
 publicity to his defeat had only served to en- 
 hance his victory over his enemies. The par- 
 tisans of Rome could not patiently submit to 
 this humiliation. Luther was again called in, 
 and the speaker thus addressed him : " Mar- 
 tin, you have not spoken with that humility 
 which befits your condition. The distinction 
 you have drawn as to your works was need- 
 less, for if you retracted such as contain errors, 
 the Emperor would not allow the rest to be 
 burned. It is absurd to require to be refuted 
 by Scripture, when you are reviving heresies 
 condemned by the General Council of Con- 
 stance. The Emperor therefore commands you 
 to say simply, yes or no, whether you mean 
 to affirm what you have advanced, or whether 
 you desire to retract any part thereof." " I 
 have no other answer to give than that I have 
 already given," said Luther quietly. They 
 understood him. Firm as a rock, the bil- 
 lows of the powers of the world had broken 
 harmlessly at his feet. The simple energy of 
 his words, his erect countenance, the glance 
 of his eye, the inflexible firmness that might 
 be traced in his rude German features, had in- 
 deed left a deep impression on the assembly. 
 All hope of quelling his spirit had vanished. 
 The Spaniards, the Belgians, and even the 
 Italians were silent. The monk had triumph- 
 ed over these powers of this world. He had 
 said No to the Church and to the Empire. 
 Charles the Fifth arose from his seat, and the 
 whole assembly rose at the same instant. 
 " The Diet will meet again to-morrow morn- 
 ing to hear the Emperor's decision," said the 
 Chancellor aloud. 
 
 It was night; each repaired home in the 
 dark. Two of the Imperial officers were ap- 
 pointed t& accompany Luther. Some per- 
 sons took it into their heads that his doom had 
 been decided, that they were conducting him 
 to prison, which he would only leave to 
 mount the scaffold. Then a tumult spread. 
 Several gentlemen demanded aloud : " Are 
 they leading him to prison!" "No!" an- 
 swered Luther, " they are conducting me to 
 niy hotel." On hearing this the commotion 
 
 subsided. Then certain Spaniards of the Em- 
 peror's household followed the bold man 
 through the streets that led to the hotel, with 
 shouts and mockery, while others poured forth. 
 the cries of a wild beast bereft of his prey. 142 
 But Luther maintained his firmness and as- 
 surance. 
 
 Such was the scene of Worms. The in- 
 trepid monk who had hitherto boldly braved 
 all his enemies, spoke on that occasion to 
 those who thirsted for his blood with calm 
 dignity and humility. With no exaggeration, 
 no enthusiasm of the flesh, no irascibility ; he 
 was in peace in the liveliest emotion; unpre- 
 sumptuous, though withstanding the powers 
 of this world ; and full of grandeur in presence 
 of the great ones of the earth. Behold an in- 
 dubitable sign that Luther was then acting in 
 obedience to God, and not the suggestions of 
 his own pride. In the hall at Worms was 
 one greater than Luther or than Charles. 
 " When ye shall be brought before governors 
 and kings for my sake, take no thought how 
 or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given 
 you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 
 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of 
 your Father which speaketh in you." Never, 
 perhaps, has this promise been more signally 
 fulfilled. 
 
 A powerful impression had been produced 
 on the chiefs of the empire. Luther had re- 
 marked this ; and it had given him new cou- 
 rage. The Pope's adherents were provoked 
 because Eck had not earlier interrupted the 
 speech of the guilty monk. Several princes 
 and lords were won over to his cause by the 
 tone of deep conviction with which he had de- 
 fended it. It is true, with some the effect was 
 transient; but some, who then concealed their 
 thoughts, at a later period declared themselves 
 with great boldness. 
 
 Luther had returned to his hotel, and was 
 seeking in repose to recruit his strength, ex- 
 hausted in the stern and trying events of the 
 day. Spalatin and others of his friends sur- 
 rounded him, giving thanks to God. As they 
 were discoursing, a servant entered bearing a 
 silver vase filled with Eimbek beer. "My 
 master," said he, as he offered it to Luther, 
 "desires you to refresh yourself with this be- 
 verage." " What Prince is it," said the Wit- 
 temberg Doctor, " who has me in such gra- 
 cious remembrance!" It was the aged Duke 
 Eric of Brunswick. The Reformer was moved 
 by this offering from a powerful lord belong- 
 ing to the Pope's party. " His Highness 
 himself," continued the messenger, "drank 
 of the cup before sending it to you." Here- 
 upon Luther, being thirsty, poured out some 
 of the Duke's beer, and after having drunk, 
 he said : " As on this day Duke Eric has re- 
 membered me, may our Lord Jesus Christ re- 
 member him in the hour of his last struggle." 143 
 The gift was a trifling one ; but Luther, de- 
 siring to show his gratitude to a Prince who 
 thought of him at such a moment, gave him 
 of such as he had, a prayer ! The servant 
 bore his message to his master. The aged 
 Duke called to mind these words at the mo- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 205 
 
 rnent of his death, and addressing a young 
 page, Francis Kram, who was standing at his 
 bedside. "Take the Bible," said he, "and 
 read to me." The youth read the words of 
 Christ, and the soul of the dying man took 
 comfort. " Whosoever shall give you a cup (f 
 wafer to drink in my name, because ye belong 
 to Christ," said the Saviour, " verily I say unto 
 you he shall not lose his reward.' 9 '' 
 
 The servant of the Duke of Brunswick had 
 scarcely left him, when a messenger from the 
 Elector of Saxony brought orders to Spalatin 
 to come to him immediately. Frederic had 
 attended the Diet with many apprehensions. 
 He had expected that Luther's courage would 
 have failed him in the Emperor's presence. 
 Hence he had been deeply affected by the Re- 
 former's firmness. He felt proud of having 
 taken such a man under his protection. When 
 the chaplain arrived, the table was spread. 
 Tne Elector was just sitting down to supper 
 with his court, and already the servant in 
 waiting had taken away the vase in which it 
 was the custom to wash before eating. On 
 seeing Spalatin enter, Frederic instantly made 
 a sign to him to follow him ; and as soon as 
 he found himself alone with him in his bed- 
 chamber, he said with strong emotion : " Oh ! 
 how Luther spoke before the Emperor and all 
 the States of the Empire : all I feared was 
 that he might go too far !" 144 From that time 
 Frederic formed a resolution to protect the 
 Doctor more openly. 
 
 Aleander saw the effect that Luther had 
 produced ; there was no time to lose. It was 
 necessary to urge the young Emperor to adopt 
 vigorous measures. The moment was favour- 
 able : a war with France was impending. 
 Leo X., eager to aggrandize his states, and 
 caring little for the peace of Christendom, 
 was at the same time secretly negotiating two 
 treaties, 145 one with Charles against Francis, 
 and the other with Francis against Charles. 
 By the former he stipulated with the Emperor 
 for the possession of Parma, Placentia, and 
 Ferrara; by the latter he claimed from the 
 King a district of the kingdom of Naples, 
 which should be conquered from Charles. 
 The latter felt the importance of gaining Leo 
 to his side, that he might be strengthened by 
 his alliance in the war with his rival of France. 
 The mighty Pontiff's friendship seemed to be 
 cheaply purchased by the sacrifice of Luther. 
 The day following Luther's appearance 
 being Friday, the 19th of April, the Emperor 
 caused to be read aloud to the Diet, a mes- 
 sage written in Flemish by his own hand: 1 6 
 
 " Descended from the Christian Emperors 
 of Germany, from the Catholic Kings of 
 Spain, from the Archdukes of Austria and, 
 Dukes of Burgundy, who have all distin- 
 guished themselves as defenders of the faith 
 of Rome, I am firmly resolved to tread in the 
 footsteps of my ancestors. A single monk, 
 led astray by his own madness, erects him- 
 self against the faith of Christendom. I 
 will sacrifice my kingdoms, my power, my 
 friends, my treasure, my body and blood, my 
 thoughts and my life, to stay the further pro- 
 
 gress of this impiety. 147 1 am about to dismiss 
 the Augustine Luther, forbidding him to cause 
 the least disturbance among the people. I 
 will then take measures against him and his 
 adherents, as open heretics, by excommuni- 
 cation, interdict, and every means necessary 
 to their destruction. 148 1 call on the members 
 of the states to comport themselves like faith- 
 ful Christians." 
 
 This address was not well received by all 
 to whom it was addressed. Charles, young 
 and hasty, had not observed the customary 
 form which obliged him first to ask the opi- 
 nion of the Diet. Immediately two directly 
 opposite parties began to show themselves. 
 The creatures of the Pope, the Elector of 
 Brandenburg, and several dignitaries of the 
 church, demanded that Luther's safe-conduct 
 should not be respected. 149 "His ashes ought 
 to be thrown into the Rhine," said they, " as 
 was the fate of John Huss." Charles, if we 
 may believe one historian, subsequently re- 
 pented bitterly that he did not adopt this 
 cowardly suggestion. "I acknowledge," 
 said he, towards the close of life, "that I 
 committed a great mistake in not punishing 
 Luther with death. I was not bound to keep 
 my promise ; that heretic had offended a 
 master greater than I. 1 might and I ought 
 to have forgotten my pledge, and avenged the 
 offence he committed against God. It is be- 
 cause I did not have him put to death, that 
 heresy has ever since been spreading. His 
 death would have stifled it in its cradle."* 
 
 This frightful proposal filled the Elector 
 and all Luther's friends with alarm. "The 
 death of John Huss," said the Elector Pala- 
 tine, "has brought too many calamities on 
 Germany for us to think of again erecting a 
 like scaffold." Even Duke George exclaim- 
 ed: "The German Princes will not endure 
 the violation of a safe-conduct. This first 
 Diet, presided over by our new Emperor, will 
 not be guilty of so shameful an action. Such 
 perfidy befits not the ancient good faith of the 
 Germans." The Bavarian Princes, though 
 attached to the Roman Church, supported this 
 protest; and the prospect of his death that 
 Luther's friends had before them gradually 
 disappeared. 
 
 The report of these discussions, which 
 lasted for two days, circulated in the city. 
 Party spirit was roused. Certain gentlemen 
 who had espoused the new opinions began to 
 speak their minds boldly on the act of trea- 
 chery that Aleander solicited. "The Empe- 
 ror," said they, " is young, and is led away 
 by the cajoleries of Papists and bishops. " li0 
 Pallavicini mentions four hundred nobles, all 
 ready with their swords to enforce respect to 
 
 * Sandoval Hist, de Carlos V., quoted by 
 Llorente in his History of the Inquisition, ii. 57. 
 According to Llorente, the supposition that 
 Charles toward ihe end of his life leaned to evan- 
 gelical opinions is an invention of the Protestants, 
 and of the enemies of Philip II. The question ia 
 a problem in history which the numerous cita 
 tions of Llorente seem, unhappily, to solve con 
 ibrmably to his statement. 
 
206 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Luther's safe-conduct. On the morning of I 
 Saturday, placards were seen posted on the 
 doors of the houses, and in the public squares, 
 some against Luther, and others in his favour. 
 In one was read the strong and simple words 
 of Ecclesiastes, Wo to thee, land, when 
 thy king is a child!" It was rumoured that 
 Sickengen had assembled, at a distance of a 
 few leagues from Worms, within the impreg- 
 nable walls of his fortress, a number of knights 
 and soldiers, and waited only the issue of the 
 affair to know how to act. The popular en- 
 thusiasm, not merely in Worms, but even in 
 the remotest towns of the Empire, 131 the in- 
 trepid courage of the knights, the devotion 
 of several princes to the cause of the Refor- 
 mation all together, gave clear intimation to 
 Charles and to the Diet that the course of 
 proceeding urged by the Romanists might 
 place in jeopardy the supreme authority, give 
 birth to popular commotions, and endanger 
 the very stability of the Empire itself 152 It 
 was but a question whether a single monk 
 should be brought to the stake ; but the 
 princes and partisans of Rome could not mus- 
 ter among them all either the strength or the 
 courage necessary for the act. Doubtless, 
 also, Charles V., yet in his youth, feared to 
 incur the guilt of perjury. We might infer 
 this, from a saying which, if report be true, 
 he uttered at this juncture. " Though honour 
 and good faith should be banished from the 
 earth, they should find an asylum in the 
 breasts of princes." It is a melancholy re- 
 flection that he appears to have forgotten this 
 maxim before his death. But the Emperor 
 may have been actuated by other motives. 
 The Florentine Vettori, the friend of Leo X. 
 and of Machiavelli, affirms that Charles spared 
 Luther that he might hold the Pope in check. 153 
 In the sitting of Saturday, the violent pro- 
 positions of Aleander were rejected. Luther 
 was the object of much affection, and a desire 
 was general to rescue this simple man, whose 
 confidence in God was so affecting; but it 
 was wished, at the same time, to save the 
 Church. Men trembled at the foreseen con- 
 sequences of either the triumph or the pu- 
 nishment of the Reformer. Plans of concilia- 
 tion were started, and it was proposed to make 
 a new effort with the Doctor of Wittemberg. 
 The Archbishop Elector of Mentz himself, 
 the young and prodigal Albert, 154 " more devout 
 than bold," says Pallavicini, had caught the 
 alarm at witnessing the interest evinced by 
 the people and the nobility in the fate of the 
 monk of Saxony. His chaplain, Capito, 
 who during his residence at Bale had con- 
 tracted acquaintance with the evangelical 
 priest of Zurich, Zwingle, a courageous con- 
 fessor of the truth, of whom we have before 
 had occasion to speak, there can be little 
 doubt, also represented to Albert the justice 
 of the Reformer's cause. The worldly Arch- 
 bishop experienced one of those transient re- 
 currences of Christian feelings which we 
 sometimes trace in the lives of men, and con- 
 sented to wait on the Emperor and request 
 him to give time for a fresh attempt. But 
 
 Charles would not hear of any thing of the 
 kind. On Monday the 22d of April, the 
 Princes came in a body to repeat the request 
 of Albert. *'I will not go from what I have 
 laid down," replied the Emperor. "I will 
 authorize no one to have any official commu- 
 nication with Luther. But," added he (much 
 to the indignation of Aleander,) " I will allow 
 that man three days' consideration; daring 
 which time any one may exhort him privately, 
 as he may think fit." 135 It was all his friends 
 asked. The Reformer, thought they, elevated 
 by the solemnity of his public trial, would 
 perhaps give way in more friendly conference, 
 and, by this means, it might be possible to 
 save him from the gulf that yawned before 
 him. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony knew the very con- 
 trary: hence he was full of anxiety. "If it 
 were in my power," he wrote on the next day 
 to his brother, Duke John, " I would be ready 
 to undertake the defence of Luther. You can 
 hardly imagine how I am beset by the parti- 
 sans of Rome. If I were to tell you all, you 
 would hear strange things. 156 They are bent 
 upon his ruin ; and if any one evinces the leasl 
 interest in his safety, he is instantly cried 
 down as a heretic. May God, who forsaketh 
 not the cause of the righteous, bring the strug- 
 gle to a happy issue !" Frederic, without be- 
 traying his warm affection for the Reformer, 
 contented himself with keeping a constant eytj 
 upon all his movements. 
 
 Not so men of all ranks at Worms. Their 
 sympathy broke forth without fear ordisguiso. 
 On the Friday, a train of princes, counts, ba- 
 rons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, laity 
 and common people, surrounded the Reform- 
 er's lodging, entering and departing as if 
 never satisfied with gazing on him. 157 He was 
 become the man of Germany. Even those 
 who did not question his being in error, weie 
 affected by the nobility of soul which led him 
 to peril his life at the call of his conscience. 
 Luther had the happiness of holding with 
 many persons at Worms, and those some of 
 the most intelligent of the nation, conversa- 
 tions abounding in that salt with which all his 
 words were seasoned. All, on leaving him, 
 carried away a sentiment of generous enthu- 
 siasm for truth. " How many things have I 
 to tell you," wrote George Vogler, private se- 
 cretary to the Margrave Casimir von Bran- 
 denburg. " What conversations, overflowing 
 with piety and kindness, Luther has had with 
 me and others. Oh ! how rich in grace is 
 that man !" 158 
 
 One day a young Prince, of seventeen 
 years of age, galloped into the court of the 
 inn ; it was Philip, who for two years had 
 governed Hesse. The young Landgrave was 
 of decided and enterprising character, wise 
 above his years, warlike, impetuous, and little 
 accustomed to be guided by anything but his 
 own will. Struck by Luther's speech, he 
 wished to have a nearer view of him. " He 
 however was not on my side in the matter." 159 
 said Luther, in relating it. He threw hims'elf 
 from his horse, ran up the stairs without cere- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 207 
 
 mony to Luther's apartment, and addressing 
 him, said, * Well, Doctor; how are you going 
 onT" "My noble lord," answered Luther, 
 " I think all will end well." " I hear," re- 
 plied the Landgrave, laughing, " that you, 
 Doctor, teach that a woman may leave her 
 husband and take another when the first is 
 proved to be too old." The courtiers of the 
 Imperial Court had invented this story. The 
 enemies of truth never fail to circulate inven- 
 tions as pretended doctrines of Christian 
 teachers. "No, my lord," replied Luther, 
 with gravity, " do not talk thus, I beg of your 
 Highness." On this the Prince thrust out his 
 hand to the Doctor, cordially grasping Lu- 
 ther's, with the words : " Dear Doctor, if 
 you are in the right, may God be your helper !" 
 and then leaving the room, jumped into his 
 saddle and rode off. It was the first inter- 
 view of these two men, who were destined 
 subsequently to stand in the van of the Re- 
 formation, defending it, the one by the sword 
 of the Word, and the other by that of kingly 
 power. 
 
 The Archbishop of Treves, Richard von 
 Greiffenklau, by permission of Charles, had 
 undertaken the office of mediator. Richard, 
 who was intimate with the Elector of Saxony, 
 and a stanch Roman Catholic, wished, by 
 accommodating this affair, to render a service 
 to his friend as well as to the Church. In the 
 evening of Monday, 22d April, just as Luther 
 was sitting down to table, a messenger from 
 this prelate brought him word that the Arch- 
 bishop wished to see him on the day after the 
 morrow, Wednesday, at six in the morning. 
 
 The chaplain, attended by Sturm, the Im- 
 perial herald, was at Luther's door before six 
 in the morning of that day. But already, and 
 as early as four o'clock, Aleander had sum- 
 moned Cochlaeus to his side. The Nuncio 
 had quickly discerned in the man whom 
 Capito had introduced to him a devoted in- 
 strument of the Roman Court, and one on 
 whom he could rely as upon himself. Not 
 being himself able to attend the interview, 
 Aleander wished much to have some one in 
 place of himself. " Do you go direct to the 
 Archbishop of Treves," said he to the Dean 
 of Frankfort, " take no part in the discussion, 
 but merely pay attention to all that is said, so 
 as to be able to bring me an exact report," 160 
 The Reformer repaired, accompanied by some 
 of his friends, to the Archbishop's residence. 
 He found the Prelate surrounded by the Mar- 
 grave Joachim of Brandenburg, Duke George 
 of Saxony, the Bishops of Brandenburg and 
 Augsburg, some nobles and deputies of the 
 free cities, and other civilians and divines, 
 among whom were Cochlaeus and Jerome 
 Wehe, chancellor of Baden. The latter, a 
 learned civilian, was anxious to see a reform- 
 ation of general morals and discipline : he 
 went even further in his wishes. " What we 
 want," said he, " is that word of God, so long 
 hidden under a bushel, should be brought for- 
 ward in all its brightness." 161 This friend to 
 conciliation was appointed to conduct the 
 conference. Turning kindly to Luther, he 
 
 said, " the object in summoning you hither 
 is not to dispute with you, but to urge upon 
 you brotherly exhortations. You know how 
 carefully Scripture enjoins us to beware of the 
 'arrow that flieth by day, and the destruction 
 that wasteth at noon-day.' The adversary of 
 the human race has impelled you to the pub- 
 lishing certain things contrary to the faith. 
 Consider your own eternal interest, and that 
 of the Empire. Have a care, lest those whom 
 Christ hath redeemed from eternal death by 
 his blood, should by you be led away to their 
 everlasting ruin. Cease to set up your judg- 
 ment against that of holy Councils. Unless 
 we adhere to the decrees of our fathers, there 
 will be nothing but confusion in the Church. 
 The eminent Princes who hear me are quite 
 intent upon saving you ; but if you persist, the 
 Emperor will banish you beyond the Empire, 162 
 and no part of the world will tnen be able to 
 give you shelter. Consider, therefore, the fate 
 that awaits you." 
 
 " Most serene Princes," answered Luther, 
 " I thank you for your kind concern, but I am 
 but a poor man, of too mean station to look to 
 be advised by such great lords ;" 163 and he pro- 
 ceeded to say, " I have not censured all the 
 Councils, but only the Council of Constance, 
 for their condemnation of John Huss's doc- 
 trine : namely, that the Christian Church is 
 the assembly of those who are predestined to 
 salvation. 16 * It condemned that article of our 
 faith, I believe in the holy universal Church, and 
 even the word of God." He added : " I am 
 told that my preaching gives occasion to stumb- 
 ling. I answer, that it is impossible to preach 
 the Gospel of Christ without offence. \Vhy 
 then should any such fear separate me from 
 the Lord, and that divine word which alone is 
 truth 1 No, rather will I give up body, blood, 
 and life itself! . . ." 
 
 The Princes and Doctors having deliberated, 
 Luther was called in, and Wehe resumed with 
 mildness : " We must honour the powers that 
 be, even when they err: and sacrifice much 
 for the sake of charity." Then with more 
 earnestness he added : " Submit to the judg- 
 ment of the Emperor, and fear nothing." 
 
 LUTHER. "I consent with all my heart to 
 the Emperor, the Princes, and even the hum- 
 blest Christian's examining and judging of 
 my writings, but on one single condition, 
 namely, that they take God's word for their 
 guide. Men have nothing to do, but to render 
 obedience to that. My conscience is in de- 
 pendence upon that word, and I am the bound- 
 en subject of its authority." 165 
 
 THE ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. "If I 
 understand you, Doctoi, you will acknow- 
 ledge no other judge than the Holy Scrip- 
 ture ?" 
 
 LUTHER. " Yes, my Lord, exactly so that 
 is my resolve." 166 On this the Princes and 
 Doctors withdrew, but the excellent Arch- 
 bishop of Treves was still loath to forego his 
 undertaking. " Come with me," said he to 
 Luther, passing into his private apartment, 
 and at the same time he desired John Eck and 
 Cochleeus of the one side, and Schurff and 
 
208 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Amsdorflf of the other party to follow. "Why, 
 asked Eck, with warmth, " continually appeal 
 to the Holy Scripture] it is from thence 
 come all heresies." But Luther, says his 
 friend Mathesius, was unmoved as a rock, 
 backed by the true rock, the word of the Lord. 
 " The Pope," said he, " is no judge in things 
 pertaining to the word of the Lord. It is 
 the duty of every Christian to see and un- 
 derstand how to live and die." 167 They sepa- 
 rated. The partisans of the Papacy felt 
 Luther's superiority, and ascribed it to the 
 circumstance of there being no one at hand 
 capable of answering him. " If the Emperor 
 had managed well," says Cochlaeus, " when 
 he cited Luther to Worms, he would have 
 also summoned theologians capable of refuting 
 his errors." 
 
 The Archbishop of Treves repaired to the 
 Diet, and communicated the failure of his 
 negotiation. The surprise of the young Ern- 
 peror was only equalled by his indignation. 
 "It is high time," said he, " to put an end to 
 this business." The Archbishop requesting 
 a delay of two days, and all the Diet joining 
 in the request, Charles V. gave consent. 
 Aleander, losing patience, broke forth in com- 
 plaints. 168 
 
 While these things were passing in the 
 Diet, Cochlaeus burned with desire to bear 
 off the victory denied to prelates and kings. 
 Though he had ever and anon thrown out a 
 word, in the presence of the Archbishop of 
 Treves, the injunction of Aleander to main- 
 tain silence had restrained him. He resolved 
 to make amends for this restraint, and lost no 
 time, after giving the Pope's Nuncio an ac- 
 count of his mission, to present himself at 
 Luther's lodging. Advancing to him in a 
 friendly manner, he expressed his regret at 
 the Emperor's resolution. After they had 
 dined together, the conversation grew more 
 animated. 169 Cochlaeus urged Luther to retract. 
 The latter shook his head. Several persons 
 who sat at table could with difficulty control 
 their feelings. They expressed their indig- 
 nation that the Papists, instead of convincing, 
 should seek to restrain the Reformer by force. 
 " Well," said Cochlseus to Luther, growing 
 impatient of these reproaches, " I offer to dis- 
 pute publicly with you if you will forego your 
 safe-conduct." 170 Of all things what Luther 
 most wished was a public discussion. What 
 was he to do 1 ? To throw aside his safe-con- 
 duct would be to risk destruction : to decline 
 Cochlasus's challenge would be casting doubt 
 upon his cause. The guests saw in this pro- 
 posal an act of perfidy planned with Aleander, 
 whom the Dean had just left. Vollrat von 
 Watzdorf relieved Luther from the embarrass- 
 ment of a decision. Warm in his temper, 
 and roused to indignation at the thought of a 
 stratagem devised for delivering Luther into 
 the hands of the executioner, 171 he rose with 
 great warmth, and seizing the terrified priest 
 turned him out of doors; and blood might 
 have flowed, had not the guests interposed 
 between the angry knight and the trembling 
 Cochlaeus. 172 The latter withdrew in confusion 
 
 from the hotel of the Knights of Rhodes. 
 Doubtless it was nothing but the warmth of 
 argument that had drawn forth the words let 
 slip by the Dean: doubtless there was no 
 design concocted with Aleander to draw Lu- 
 ther into the toils. Cochlaeus denies it, and 
 we prefer to believe his assurance. Yet, true 
 it is, he had but just quitted the Nuncio to 
 present himself at Luther's lodging. 
 
 That same evening the Archbishop of 
 Treves assembled at supper the persons who 
 had been present in the morning's conference. 
 He sought thus to unbend the minds of the 
 parties, and dispose them in favour of recon- 
 ciliation. Luther, with all his intrepid firm- 
 ness in presence of arbiters or judges, was 
 remarkable in private intercourse for a good 
 nature and cheerfulness, which gave ground 
 to hope almost any thing from him. The 
 Archbishop's Chancellor, who had displayed 
 so much stiffness in his official bearing, con- 
 curred in this plan, and towards the end of 
 the repast, gave Luther's health. The latter 
 was about to return the compliment, the 
 wine was poured out, and according to his 
 custom he had made the sign of the cross on 
 his glass ; when all of a sudden the glass 
 burst in his hands, and the wine was spilt 
 upon the table. The guests were thunder- 
 struck. Some of Luther's friends exclaimed, 
 ' It must have been poisoned,"* but the Doc- 
 tor, without discomposure, answered with a 
 smile " Dear friends, either this wine was 
 not destined for me, or it would have dis- 
 agreed with me:" adding calmly "No doubt 
 the glass has flown, because m washing, it 
 was plunged too suddenly in cold water." 
 These simple words have something of gran- 
 deur about them in his circumstances, and 
 show his unruffled peace. We cannot hence 
 infer that the Romanists intended to poison 
 Luther, above all, at the table of the Arch- 
 bishop of Treves. This repast had no effect 
 one way or another. Neither human applause, 
 nor any fear of man, could shake the Refor- 
 mer's decision. It was from above ! 
 
 On the morning of Thursday, the 25th of 
 April, the Chancellor Wehe and Doctor Peu- 
 tinger of Augsburg, the Emperor's counsel- 
 lor, who had expressed much friendship for 
 Luther on occasion of his interview with De 
 Vio, repaired to the hotel of " the Knights of 
 Rhodes." The Elector of Saxony sent Fre- 
 deric von Thun, and another of his council, 
 to be present at the conference. " Rely upon 
 us," said Wehe and Peutinger, earnestly de- 
 sirous at any sacrifice to prevent the schism 
 which was on the point of dividing the 
 Church " this business shall be concluded 
 in a Christian spirit ; take our word for it." 
 " I answer at once," said Luther ; " I con- 
 sent to forego my safe-conduct, and resign my 
 person and my life to the Emperor's disposal; 173 
 
 * Es miisse Gift darinnen gewesen seyn. Lu- 
 ther does not mention this circumstance, but his 
 friend Razeberg, physician to the Elector John 
 Frederic, records it in a manuscript history, found 
 in the library of Gotha, and says he received it 
 from an eye-witness. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 209 
 
 but as to the word of God . . . Never!" Fre- 
 deric von Thun, in strong emotion, stood up, 
 and addressing the two envoys, said, " Is not 
 that enough? Is not such a sacrifice suffi- 
 cient 1 ?" And then, protesting he would hear 
 no more, he withdrew. On this Wehe and 
 Peutinger, hoping to succeed better with the 
 DoctoAimself, seated themselves at his side. 
 44 Submit to the Diet," said they to him. 
 "No," answered Luther, "for it is written, 
 * Cursed is he who trusteth in man.' " (Jere- 
 miah xvii.) Wehe and Peutinger redoubled 
 their exhortations and instances, pressing 
 the Reformer more and more closely ; Lu- 
 ti.er, worn out, arose, and made sign to them 
 to retire, saying: "I will allow no man to 
 exalt himseif above God's word." 174 " Think 
 better of it," said they as they withdrew; 
 " we will call on you again in the afternoon." 
 
 They came, according to appointment, but 
 aware that Luther would not yield the point, 
 they brought with them a new proposal. Lu- 
 ther has declined to acknowledge the Pope, 
 the Emperor, and the Diet, there was yet an 
 authority which he himself had formerly in- 
 voked ; a General Council. Doubtless such 
 a suggestion would call forth the anger of 
 Rome, but it was a last plank. The delegates, 
 therefore, proposed to Luther an appeal to a 
 Council. He had only to accede to the offer 
 without entering into points of detail. Years 
 must elapse before the difficulties the Pope 
 would interpose in the way of a Council could 
 be removed. A gain of some years was every 
 thing to the Reformation and the Reformer. 
 God, in the progress of events, would in that 
 time bring about great changes. But Luther 
 put right above all things ; he had no desire 
 to deliver himself at the expense of the Truth, 
 even though a silent dissimulation of it should 
 be all required of him. "I consent, but," 
 he answered, and the condition involved an 
 appeal from the Council as judge, "on con- 
 dition that the Council should decide accord- 
 ing to Holy Scripture. 111 ' 5 
 
 Peutinger and Wehe, who had no idea of a 
 Council deciding otherwise, hastened over- 
 joyed to the Archbishop. "Doctor Martin," 
 said they, "will submit his writings to the 
 judgment of a Council." The Archbishop 
 was preparing to communicate the intelli- 
 gence to the Emperor, when a doubt crossed 
 his mind ; he sent for Luther. 
 
 Richard von Greiffenklau was alone when 
 the Doctor arrived. " Dear Doctor," said the 
 Archbishop, with much kindness of manner, 
 " my doctors assure me that you consent to 
 submit your cause without reserve to the de- 
 cision of a Council." 176 " My Lord," answered 
 Luther, "I can endure anything except to 
 abandon the Holy Scripture" The Arch- 
 bishop saw at once that Wehe and Peutinger 
 had not fully explained the facts. Never 
 could Rome give her consent to a Council 
 which should take Scripture alone for its 
 guide. "It was requiring," says Pallavicini, 
 " that one of weak sight should read very 
 small writing, and at the same moment re- 
 fusing him the use of glasses." 177 The good 
 
 Archbishop sighed. "It was of little use," 
 said he, "my sending for you. What would 
 have been the consequence if I had gone di- 
 rect to bear the message to the Emperor 1 ?" 
 
 The unshaken firmness and uprightness of 
 Luther may well astonish us. They will, 
 however, be comprehended and honoured by 
 all who know the righteousness of God. Sel- 
 dom has a nobler testimony been borne to the 
 unchangeable word of the Lord at the peril of 
 the liberty and life of the man who thus bore 
 witness. 
 
 " Well then," said the venerable Prelate, 
 addressing Luther, "let me hear your own 
 remedy for the evil." 
 
 LUTHER was silent for an instant. " My 
 Lord, I know of none but what is found in 
 that word of Gamaliel: 4 If this work be of 
 men, it will come to naught. But if it be of 
 God ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be 
 found even to fight against God.' Let the 
 Emperor, the Electors, and the states of the 
 Empire, return that answer to the Pope." 
 
 THE ARCHBISHOP. " At least retract some 
 articles." 
 
 LUTHER. " Provided they be not those 
 which the Council of Constance has con- 
 demned." 
 
 THE ARCHBISHOP. " Alas, I fear it is pre- 
 cisely those." 
 
 LUTHER. "Then far sooner take my life; 
 rather would I be deprived of my limbs than 
 give up the plain and sincere W r ord of God.'' 178 
 
 The Archbishop at length understood Lu- 
 ther. " Retire," said he, still in a tone of 
 much mildness. "My Lord," resumed Lu- 
 ther, " may I beg you to request his Majesty 
 to send me the safe-conduct necessary for my 
 return whence I came." " I will attend to 
 it," replied the worthy Archbishop, and they 
 parted. 
 
 Thus terminated these negotiations. The 
 attention of the whole Empire had been en- 
 gaged by this man, and its urgent entreaties 
 and direful threats had not caused him to 
 stumble. 179 His erect bearing under the iron 
 hand of the Popew r as the means of emancipat- 
 ing the Church and the commencement of 
 a new era. The interposition of Providence 
 was manifest. It was one of those grand 
 scenes in history above which the majesty of 
 God seems to rise and hover. Luther retired 
 in company with Spalatin, who had joined 
 them during his conversation with the Arch- 
 bishop. John von Minkwitz, counsellor of 
 the Elector of Saxony, had been taken ill at 
 Worms. The two friends visited him. Lu- 
 ther comforted the sick man in .the tenderest 
 manner. "Farewell;" said he as he left the 
 room, " to-morrow I leave Worms." 
 
 Luther was not mistaken. Scarcely three 
 hours had elapsed from his return to his hotel, 
 when the Chancellor Eck, attended by the 
 Chancellor of the Empire, and a notary, pre- 
 sented themselves. 
 
 The Chancellor addressed him as follows : 
 "Martin Luther, His Imperial Majesty, the 
 Electors, Princes, and States of the Empire, 
 having repeatedly and in various ways, but 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 in vain, exhorted you to submission, the 
 Emperor, in his character of defender of the 
 Catholic faith, finds himself compelled to re- 
 sort to other measures. He therefore orders 
 you to return to whence you came, within the 
 space of twenty-one days, and prohibits you 
 from disturbing the public peace on your 
 journey, either by preaching or writing." 
 
 Luther was well aware that this message 
 was the precursor of his condemnation. "It 
 has happened unto me," answered he mildly, 
 " according to the will of the Eternal. Bless- 
 ed be his name!" He then proceeded, 
 " And first, I humbly, and from the bottom of 
 my heart, thank his Majesty, the Electors, 
 Princes, and States of the Empire, that they 
 have given me so gracious ( a hearing. I nei- 
 ther have, nor ever have had a wish but for 
 one thing: to wit, a reformation of the Church 
 according to the Holy Scripture. I am ready 
 to do or to suffer all things for obedience to 
 the Emperor's will. Life or death, honour or 
 dishonour, I will bear. I make but one reser- 
 vation the preaching of the Gospel ; for, 
 says St. Paul, the Word of God is not to be 
 bound." The deputies retired. 
 
 On Friday morning the 26th of April, the 
 Reformer's friends and several nobles assem- 
 bled at Luther's lodgings. 180 Men took delight 
 in recognising in the Christian constancy he 
 had opposed to Charles and to the Empire, 
 the features of the celebrated character of an- 
 tiquity. 
 
 Justum ac tenacem propositi virum, 
 Non civium ardor prava jubentium 
 Non vuitus instantis tyranni, 
 Mente quatit golida. . . (Horat. Od. lib. 3.) 
 
 All were eager once more, and perhaps for 
 the last time, to say farewell to the intrepid 
 monk. Luther partook of a simple repast. 
 And now he must bid adieu to his friends, 
 and depart far from them under a sky over- 
 hung with storms. He resolved to spend this 
 solemn moment in the presence of God. He 
 fortified his soul, and gave his blessing to 
 those around him. 181 It was ten o'clock. Lu- 
 ther left, the hotel, attended by his friends who 
 had accompanied him to Worms. Twenty 
 gentlemen on horseback surrounded the wa- 
 gon. A crowd accompanied him outside the 
 city. Sturm, the Imperial herald, joined him 
 shortly after at Oppenheim, and on the fol- 
 lowing day the party arrived at Frankfort. 
 
 Thus did Luther leave those walls which 
 seemed destined to become his tomb. His 
 heart overflowed with praise to God. "Satan 
 himself," said he, "kept the Pope's citadel, 
 but Christ has made a wide breach in it, and 
 the devil has been compelled to confess that 
 Christ is mightier than he." 182 
 
 "The day of the Diet of Worms," says the 
 devout Mathesius, the disciple and friend of 
 Luther, "is one of the most glorious given to 
 the earth before its great catastrophe." 183 The 
 conflict at Worms resounded far and near; and 
 as the report of it traversed Europe from the 
 northern countries to the mountains of Switzer- 
 land, and the towns of England, France, and 
 
 Italy, many seized with eagerness the mighty 
 weapons of the word of God. 
 
 Arriving at Frankfort on the evening of 
 Saturday, the 27th of April, Luther, on the 
 following morning, took advantage of a mo- 
 ment of leisure, the first he had enjoyed for a 
 long time past, to despatch a short letter, re- 
 plete at once with familiarity and energy, to 
 his friend Lucas Cranach, the celebrated painter 
 at Wittemberg. " My service to you, dear 
 Master Lucas," said he: "I expected his 
 Majesty would assemble fifty learned doctors 
 to convict the monk outright. But not at all. 
 Are these books of your writing? Yes. 
 Will you retract them 1 ? No. Well, begone! 
 There's the whole history. Deluded Ger- 
 mans . . . how childishly we act ! how we 
 are duped and defrauded by Rome ! Let the 
 Jews sing their Yo ! Yo ! Yo! But a pass- 
 over is coming for us also, and then we will 
 sing Hallelujah!* We must keep silence 
 and endure for a short time. 'A little while 
 and ye shall not see me, and again a little 
 while and ye shall see me,' said Jesus Christ. 
 I trust I may say the same. Farewell ! I 
 commend you all to the Eternal. May He 
 preserve in Christ your understanding and 
 your faith from the attacks of the wolves and 
 dragons of Rome. Amen." 
 
 After writing this rather mysterious letter, 
 Luther immediately set out for Friedberg, six 
 leagues from Frankfort. Time, in fact, pressed. 
 On the following morning he again collected 
 his thoughts, and resolved once more to ad- 
 dress Charles the Fifth. He was unwilling 
 to appear in the light of a guilty rebel. In 
 his letter he explained clearly the obedience 
 the Christian owes to his king, and that which 
 is due to God, and the point at which the 
 former must give place to the latter. As we 
 read Luther's letter, we are involuntarily re- 
 minded of the saying of. the greatest autocrat 
 of modern times: "3/y dominion ends where 
 that of conscience commences. "f 
 
 " God is rny witness, who knoweth the 
 thoughts," said Luther, " that I am ready with 
 all rny heart to obey your Majesty, through 
 good or evil report, in life or in death, with no 
 one exception, save the word of God, by which 
 man liveth. In all the affairs of this life my 
 fidelity shall be unshaken, for, in these, loss 
 or gain has nothing to do with salvation. 
 But it is contrary to the will of God, that man 
 should be subject to man in that which per- 
 tains to eternal life. Subjection in spirituals 
 is a real worship, and should be rendered only 
 to the Creator." 184 
 
 Luther also wrote in German a letter to the 
 States. It was nearly to the same effect, and 
 recapitulated what had taken place at Worms. 
 This letter was several times transcribed and 
 
 * Es miisscn die Juden einmal singen To, To, 
 lo ! . . . (L. Epp. i. 589.) The shouts of the Jews 
 at the crucifixion are here taken to represent the 
 riumphant. songs of the partisans of Popery on the 
 downfall of Luther; but the Reformer hears at a 
 distance the hallelujahs of deliverance. 
 
 t Napoleon to the Protestant deputies, after his 
 accession to the Empire. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 211 
 
 circulated throughout the Empire, exciting 
 everywhere, says Cochlasus, the feelings of 
 the people against the Emperor and the upper 
 ranks of the clergy. 185 
 
 Early the following morning Luther wrote 
 a note to Spalatin, enclosing in it the two let- 
 ters he had written on the previous evening. 
 He sent back to Worms the herald Sturm, 
 who had been gained to the cause of the Gos- 
 pel. Embracing him, he parted from him, 
 and set out in haste for Grunberg. 
 
 On the Tuesday, when he was within two 
 leagues distance from Hirschfeld, he was met 
 by the Chancellor to the Prince Abbot of the 
 city, who had come out to welcome him. 
 Soon after appeared a troop of horsemen, 
 headed by the Abbot. The latter dismounted, 
 Luther stepped from his wagon. The Prince 
 and the Reformer embraced, and entered 
 Hirschfeld together. The Senate received 
 them at the gates. 186 Thus dignitaries of the 
 Church opened their arms to a monk whom 
 the Pope had anathematized, and the higher 
 classes did honour to a man whom the Empe- 
 ror had placed under ban of the Empire. 
 
 " To-morrow morning, at five o'clock, we 
 shall be at church," said the Prince, rising 
 from a repast to which he had invited the 
 Reformer. He insisted on his occupying his 
 own apartment. The following day Luther 
 preached, and the Prince Abbot and his suite 
 attended the sermon. 
 
 In the evening of that day Luther reached 
 Eisenach, the scene of his childhood. All 
 his acquaintance in the place came round him, 
 and entreated him to preach; and the follow- 
 ing day they escorted him to church. Upon 
 this the curate appeared, attended by a notary 
 and witnesses. He stepped forward, trembling 
 between fear of losing his appointment and of 
 opposing the energetic man before him. "I 
 must protest" said ht*at last, with embarrass- 
 ment, "against the liberty you are about to 
 take." Luther ascended the pulpit, and a 
 voice which, three-and-twenty years before, 
 had sung in the streets of that same town for 
 a morsel of bread, proclaimed through the 
 vaulted roofs of its venerable church the word 
 which was beginning to agitate the world. 
 The sermon being over, the curate stepped up 
 to Luther. He held in his hand the record 
 drawn up by the notary, and regularly wit- 
 nessed, to protect the curate from dismissal. 
 <>I ask your pardon," said he, humbly; "I 
 take this course from fear of the tyrants that 
 oppress the Church." 187 
 
 And truly there was ground for apprehen- 
 sion. Affairs at Worms had changed their 
 aspect, and Aleander reigned paramount. "The 
 only prospect for Luther is banishment," wrote 
 Frederic to his brother, Duke John; "nothing 
 can save him. If God permits me to see you 
 again, I shall have strange things to tell you. 
 Not only Annas and Caiphas, but Pilate and 
 Herod have conspired against him." Frederic 
 had no desire to prolong his stay, and accord- 
 ingly quitted Worms, as did the Elector Pa- 
 latine. The Elector Archbishop of Cologne 
 also took his departure from the Diet, and the 
 28 
 
 inferior Princes followed the example. Deem- 
 ing it impossible to avert the blow, they pre- 
 ferred, perhaps unwisely, to leave the place. 
 The Spaniards, Italians, and the most ultra- 
 montane of the German Princes alone remained. 
 
 Thus Aleander was master of the field. He 
 presented to Charles a rough draft of an edict, 
 intended to serve as a model for that the Diet 
 was about to publish against the monk. The 
 production of the Nuncio pleased the incensed 
 Emperor. He assembled the members of th.p 
 Diet still at Worms in his council-chamber, and 
 read to them Aleander's paper, which, as Palla- 
 vicini informs us, was approved by all present. 
 
 On the following day, which was a public 
 festival, the Emperor repaired to the cathedral, 
 attended by the nobles of his court. The ser- 
 vice being gone through, a crowd of persons 
 thronged the interior, when Aleander, clothed 
 in the insignia of his order, approached Charles. 188 
 He held in his hand two copies of the edict 
 against Luther, one in Latin, the other in 
 German; and, kneeling before his Imperial 
 Majesty, he petitioned Charles to affix to it 
 his signature and the seal of the Empire. It 
 was at the moment when sacrifice had just 
 been offered, when the incense filled the tem- 
 ple, and the hymn w r as reverberating in the 
 vaulted roofs, and, as it were, in the imme- 
 diate presence of God, that the seal was to be 
 set to the destruction of the enemy of Rome. 
 The Emperor, in the most gracious manner, 
 took a pen and attached his signature to the 
 edict. 189 Aleander withdrew in triumph, and 
 instantly sent the decree to the printer, and 
 thence to every part of Christendom. 190 This 
 result of Roman diplomacy had cost no small 
 pains to the Papacy. We learn from Palla- 
 vicini himself that the edict, though dated the 
 8th of May, was written and signed some days 
 later, but antedated, in order that it might 
 appear sanctioned by the presence of the whole 
 Diet. 
 
 " We, Charles the Fifth, &c.," said the 
 Emperor, " to the Electors, Princes, Prelates, 
 and all to whom these presents shall come. 
 
 "The Almighty having confided to us for 
 the defence of our holy faith more extensive 
 dominion and rule than He hath given to any 
 of our predecessors, we purpose to employ all 
 our powers to preserve our holy empire from 
 being polluted by any heresy. 
 
 " The Augustine monk, Martin Luther, re- 
 gardless of our exhortations, has madly at- 
 tacked the holy Church, and attempted to 
 destroy it by writings full of blasphemy. He 
 has shamefully vilified the unalterable law 
 of holy marriage ; he has laboured to incite 
 the laity to imbrue their hands in the blood 
 of their priests: 191 and, defying all authority, 
 has incessantly excited the people to revolt, 
 schism, war, murder, theft, incendiarism, and 
 the utter destruction of the Christian faith. . . 
 In a word, and passing over many other evil 
 intentions, this being, who is no man, but Sa- 
 tan himself under the semblance of a man in 
 a monk's hood, has collected in one offensive 
 mass, all the worst heresies of former ages, 
 adding his own to the number. 192 
 T 
 
212 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 "We have therefore dismissed from our 
 presence this Luther, whom all reasonable 
 men count a madman, or possessed by the 
 devil ; and it is our intention that, so soon as 
 the term of his safe-conduct is expired, effec- 
 tual measures be forthwith taken to put a stop 
 to his fury. 
 
 " For this end, and on pain of incurring the 
 penalty of treason, we hereby forbid you to 
 receive the said Luther from the moment when 
 the said term is expired, or to harbour or to 
 give him meat or drink, or by word or act, 
 publicly or in private, to aid or abet him. 
 We further enjoin you to seize, or cause him 
 to be seized, wherever he may be, and to 
 bring him before us without delay, or hold 
 him in durance until you shall be informed 
 how to deal with him, and have received the 
 reward due to your co-operation in this holy 
 work. 
 
 " As to his adherents, you are enjoined to 
 seize upon them, putting them down, and 
 confiscating their property. 
 
 "Touching his writings seeing that the 
 best of food is held in horror by all men when 
 the least poison is mixed therewith, how 
 much more should such writings, wherein the 
 main object is a mortal venom, be not merely 
 rejected, but destroyed 1 You will, therefore, 
 burn, or in other ways utterly destroy them. 
 
 "As to the authors, poets, printers, painters, 
 venders, or purchasers of caricatures or pla- 
 cards against the Pope or the Church, you are 
 enjoined to seize on their persons and pro- 
 perty, and deal with them as may seem fit. 
 
 "And if any one, whatever may be his 
 rank, should dare to act contrary to this de- 
 cree of our Imperial Majesty, we command 
 that he be placed under ban of the Empire. 
 
 " Let each one observe this decree." 
 
 Such was the edict signed in the cathedral 
 of Worms. It was more than a Roman bull, 
 which though issued in Italy might not be 
 carried into execution in Germany. The Em- 
 peror himself had spoken, and the Diet had 
 ratified the decree. The whole body of Ro- 
 manists shouted for joy. "The tragedy is 
 over," exclaimed they. " For my part," said 
 Alphonso Valdez, a Spaniard of Charles's 
 court, " I am persuaded it is not the last act, 
 but the beginning." 193 Valdez clearly perceived 
 that the movement was in the Church, the 
 people, the age, and that were Luther to fall, 
 his cause would not perish with him. But 
 none could help seeing the imminent and ine- 
 vitable danger in which the Reformer was 
 placed, and the superstitious multitude were 
 impressed by a feeling of horror at the thought 
 of that incarnate Satan whom the Emperor 
 pointed to as clothed with a monk's habit. 
 
 The man against whom the mighty ones of 
 this earth were thus forging their thunderbolts, 
 on leaving the pulpit of Eisenach, endea- 
 voured to muster resolution to take leave of 
 some of his dearest friends. He decided not 
 to take the road to Gotha and Erfurth, but to 
 proceed by way of the village of Mora, the 
 birthplace of his father, in order once more 
 to see his grandmother (who died four months 
 
 I afterwards) and to visit his uncle, Henry Lu- 
 ! ther, and some other relations. Schurff, Jo- 
 nas, and Suaven set out for Wittemberg : 
 Luther entered his wagon, accompanied by 
 Amsdorff, and plunged into the forest of Thur 
 ringen. 194 
 
 That same evening he arrived in the village 
 of his fathers. The aged peasant pressed to 
 her heart that grandson who had dared to 
 confront the Emperor and the Pope. Luther 
 passed the following day with his relations, 
 joyfully contrasting its sweet tranquillity with 
 the turmoil of Worms. The next day he 
 again set out in company with Amsdorff and 
 his brother James. It was in these secluded 
 spots that the Reformer's fate was on the point 
 of being decided. They skirted the woods 
 of Thuringen, taking the path that leads to 
 Waltershausen. As the wagon was passing 
 a narrow defile near the ruined church of 
 Glisbach, a short distance from the castle of 
 Altenstein, suddenly a noise was heard, and 
 in a moment, five horsemen, masked and armed 
 from head to foot, fell upon them. His bro- 
 ther James, as soon as he caught sight of the 
 assailants, jumped from the wagon, and fled 
 as fast as he could without uttering a word. 
 The driver would have resisted. "Stop," 
 cried a hoarse voice, and instantly one of the 
 attacking party threw him to the earth. 195 An- 
 other oftiie masks grasped Amsdorff, and held 
 him fast. While this was doing, the three 
 horsemen laid hold on Luther, maintaining 
 profound silence. They forced him to alight, 
 and throwing a knight's cloak over his shoul- 
 ders, set him on a led horse that they had 
 with them. This done, the two other masks 
 let go Amsdorff and the wagoner, and the 
 whole five sprang into their saddles. One 
 dropped his cap, but they did not stop to re- 
 cover it; and in the twinkling of an eye, the 
 party and their prisoner tvere lost in the thick 
 gloom of the forest. At first they took the 
 direction of Broderode ; but they rapidly 
 changed their route, and without quitting the 
 forest, rode first in one direction and then in 
 another, turning their horses' feet to baffle any 
 attempt to track their course. Luther, little 
 used to riding, was soon overcome with fa- 
 tigue. 196 His guides permitted him to stop for a 
 few instants. He rested on the earth beside 
 a beech tree, and drank some water from a 
 spring, which still bears his name. His bro- 
 ther James, continuing his flight from the 
 scene of the rencounter,reached Waltershausen 
 that evening. The driver, hastily throwing 
 himself into the wagon, in which Amsdorff 
 had already mounted, galloped his horse at 
 full speed, and conducted Luther's friend to 
 Wittemberg. At Waltershausen, at Wittem- 
 berg, in the open country, the villages and 
 towns on the route, the news spread that Lu- 
 ther was carried off. Some rejoiced at the 
 report, but the greater number were struck 
 with astonishment and indignation, and soon 
 a cry of grief resounded throughout Ger- 
 many " Luther has fallen into the hands of 
 his enemies !" 
 
 After the stirring conflict that Luther had 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 213 
 
 been called to sustain, it had pleased God that 
 he should be transferred to a place of repose 
 and peace. After raising him on the dazzling 
 stage of Worms, where all the energies of the 
 Reformer's soul had been roused to their 
 highest pitch, God had prepared for him the 
 obscure and lowly refuge of a prison. He 
 draws from the deepest obscurity the frail in- 
 struments by which He designs to bring 
 mighty things to pass ; and then when He has 
 suffered them to shine for a while on an illu- 
 mined stage, He dismisses them again to ob- 
 scurity. The Reformation was to be brought 
 about by other steps than violent struggles or 
 public tribunals. Not thus does the leaven 
 penetrate the body of the people : the Spirit 
 of God seeks stiller channels. The man whom 
 the champions of Rome were pitilessly perse- 
 cuting, was to disappear for a time from the 
 world. It was needful that his personal great- 
 ness should be hidden in the shade, that the 
 revolution then accomplishing might not bear 
 the impress of one man. It was fit that the 
 man should be put aside, that God alone might 
 remain, to move by his Spirit over the abyss, 
 wherein the darkness of the middle ages was 
 sinking, and to say, "Let there be light!" in 
 order that there might be light. 
 
 The shades of evening closing in, and no 
 one being now able to observe their track, Lu- 
 ther's escort changed their route. It was nearly 
 eleven o'clock at night when they arrived at 
 the foot of a hill. I97 The horses slowly climbed 
 the steep ascent. On the summit stood an 
 ancient fortress, on every side but that by 
 which they approached it, surrounded by the 
 black forests which clothe the mountains of 
 Thuringen. 
 
 It was to the lofty and isolated castle of 
 Wartburg, where the ancient Landgraves in 
 earlier times had fixed their retreat, that Lu- 
 ther was thus led. The bolts were drawn 
 back, the iron bars fell, the gates unclosed, 
 the Reformer passed the threshold, and the 
 doors were closed upon him. He dismounted 
 in an inner court. One of the horsemen, 
 Burkard von Hund, lord of Altenstein, then 
 left him. Another, John von Berlepsch, pro- 
 vost of Wartburg, conducted him to his 
 
 j apartment, where he found a knight's gar- 
 ment and sword. The three others followed, 
 and took away his ecclesiastical habit, attiring 
 him in the knightly dress prepared for ,him, 
 and enjoining him to let his beard and hair 
 grow, that no one in the castle might know 
 who he was. 198 The attendants of the castle of 
 Wartburg were to know the prisoner only by 
 the name of knight George. Luther scarcely 
 recognised himself under his singular meta- 
 morphosis. '"Left at length to his meditations, 
 he had leisure to revolve the extraordinary 
 events that had befallen him at Worms, the 
 uncertain future that awaited him, and his new 
 and strange abode. From the narrow win- 
 dows of his turret, his eye discovered the dark, 
 untrodden, and boundless forest which sur- 
 rounded him. " It was there," says Mathe- 
 sius, his friend and biographer, " that Luther 
 was shut in, like St. Paul in his prison at 
 Rome." 
 
 Frederic von Thun, Philip Feilitsch, and 
 Spalatin, in a confidential conversation with 
 Luther, by order of the Elector, had not dis- 
 guised from him that his liberty would be sa- 
 crificed to the anger of Charles, and of the 
 Pope. 2co Yet this forced abduction was so in- 
 volved in mystery that Frederic himself was 
 for a long time ignorant of the place where 
 Luther was concealed. The grief of those who 
 were favourable to the Reformation continued. 
 Spring passed away ; summer, autumn, win- 
 ter, succeeded ; the sun had run its annual 
 course, and the walls of the Wartburg still 
 held their prisoner. Truth had been placed 
 under interdict by the German Diet ; and its 
 defender, immured in a fortress, was no longer 
 on the stage of events ; and even the fate that 
 had overtaken him was unknown. Alean- 
 der was all confidence, and the Reformation 
 appeared lost . . . but God reigns ! and the 
 blow which seemed to bring to nothing the 
 cause of the Gospel, will but serve to rescue 
 its undaunted servant, and diffuse far and 
 wide the radiance of faith. 
 
 Let us leave Luther a captive in Germany, 
 on the heights of the Wartburg, and let us see 
 what God was then bringing to pass in other 
 countries of Christendom. 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 BOOK VIIT. 
 
 THE SWISS. 
 
 1484 1522. 
 
 Democracy Mercenary Service The Cottage of Wildbaus The Herdsman's Family Young 
 Ulric Ulric at Bale Ulric at Berne Jetzer and the Ghost Jetzer's Visions Exposure of the 
 Dominicans Passion for Music Wittembach Schinner The Labyrinth Zwingle in Italy 
 Principals of the Reformation Zwingle's Studies Zwingle's Classical Studies Paris and Claris 
 Oswald Myconius jCEs^laropadius Zwingle and Marignan Alarm of the Pope Dawn of the 
 Reformation Effects of the'jJeleaTat Marignan The Two Worlds Our Lady of the Eremites 
 A Learned Society Zwingle Transcribes the Scriptures Zwingle Opposes Error Effects of 
 his Preaching Zwingle and the Legate The Bishop of Constance Stapler and Zwingle The 
 Preachership The Candidates Zwingle's Confession Zwingle Elected Leaves Einsidlen 
 Reception by the Chapter Zwingle's Mode of Lecturing Zwingle opens the Gospel Effects 
 of his Preaching Opposition Familiar Manner Love of Music Imitation of Christ The Col- 
 porteur Samson at Berne The Dean of Bremgarten Henry Bullinger Samson and the Dean 
 Zwingle's Studies Samson and the Helvetic Diet THe"Bafhs of Pfeffers The Critical Mo- 
 ment Zwingle Attacked by the Plague His Sick Bed and Hymn General Joy The Adver- 
 saries Effect of the Visitation Myconius and Xyloctect Myconius Goes to Lucerne Capido 
 and Hedio Opposition .of- the Monks The Unnatural Son Zwingle's Gentleness Fall and 
 Recovery of Man Expiation of the God-man No Merit in Good Works Power of Love for 
 Christ Effects of his Preaching Dejection and Courage Zwingle and Staheli Violent Attacks 
 The Reformer of Berne Halfer's Dejection Oswald Persecuted H. Bullinger Gerold Von 
 Knonau Roubli at Bale War Between Francis and Charles Foreign Service of the Swiss 
 Ferment Truth Triumphs Amidst Opposition The Bishop's Deputies The Councils The 
 Parties Confronted The Coadjutor and Zwingle Zwingle's Answer Hofman's Charge 
 Zwingle's Reply The Bishop's Mandates The Archeteles The Bishop Appeals to the Diet 
 Zwingle and the Monks The Nuns of Oetenbach Defeat of Bicocca Francis Lambert 
 Preaches at Zurich The Commander of the Johannites Carnival at Berne The "Feeders 
 Upon the Dead" The Scull of St. Ann Appenzel Adultery and Murder Zwingle's Marriage 
 Meeting at Einsidlen Petition to the Bishop The Meeting at Einsidlen Breaks Up A Scene 
 in a Convent Myconius at Lucerne Effects of the Petition The Council and the Diet Fri- 
 burg Treatment of Oswald Oswald Encouraged Oswald Quits Lucerne Zwingle's Family 
 Alarmed His Resolution Zwingle's Prayer. 
 
 AT the period when the decree of the Diet 
 of Worms was announced, a steadily progres- 
 sive movement was beginning to manifest it- 
 self in the quiet valleys of Switzerland. To 
 the voices which were raised in the plains of 
 Upper and Lower Saxony, responded from 
 the mountains of Switzerland the bold voices 
 of its priests and herdsmen, or of the inhabit- 
 ants of its martial cities. The partisans of 
 Rome, in their sudden alarm, exclaimed aloud 
 that a vast and formidable conspiracy was 
 every where forming against the Church. 
 The friends of the Gospel joyfully replied, 
 that as in spring-time the breath of life is felt 
 from the sea-shore to the mountain top, so the 
 Spirit of God was now melting the ice of a 
 long winter in every part of Christendom, and 
 clothing with verdure and flowers the most 
 secluded valleys, and the most steep and bar- 
 ren rocks. Germany did not communicate the 
 light of truth to Switzerland, Switzerland to 
 France, France to England : all these lands 
 received it from God; just as no one region 
 transmits the light to another, but the same 
 orb of splendour dispenses it direct to the 
 earth. Raised far above men, Christ, the 
 Day-Star from on high, was, at the period of 
 the Reformation, as at the first introduction 
 of the Gospel, the Divine source whence 
 came the light of the world. One and the 
 
 same doctrine suddenly established itself in 
 the 16th century, at the domestic hearths, and 
 in the places of worship, of nations the most 
 distant and dissimilar. It was because the 
 same Spirit was every where present, pro- 
 ducing the same faith. 
 
 The Reformation in Germany and that in 
 Switzerland demonstrate this truth. Zwingle 
 did not communicate with Luther. Doubtless 
 there was a bond of union between both these 
 men; but we must seek it above this earth. 
 He who gave the truth from heaven to Lu- 
 ther, gave it to Zwingle. Their communion 
 was in God. " I began," said Zwingle, " to 
 preach the Gospel in the year of grace 1516 
 that is, at a time when the name of Luther 
 had never been heard among these countries. 
 It was not from Luther that I learned the 
 doctrine of Christ, it was from God's word. 
 If Luther preached Christ, he does as I do : 
 that is all." 1 
 
 But whilst the several Reformations de- 
 rived from the same Spirit a comprehensive 
 unity, they also bore various peculiar fea- 
 tures derived from the different populations 
 in the midst of which they were wrought. 
 
 We have already slightly sketched the state 
 of Switzerland at the period of the Reforma- 
 tion. We will add but a few words. In 
 Germany the principle of monarchy prevailed. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 1 
 
 215 
 
 In Switzerland the democratic principle pre- 
 vailed. In Germany the Reformation had to 
 struggle against the authority of princes, in 
 Switzerland against the will of the people. 
 A popular assembly, more readily swayed 
 than a single individual, is more hasty in 
 its decisions. The victory over Papal rule, 
 which beyond the Rhine had cost years, re- 
 quired, on the Swiss bank, but a few months 
 or even days. 
 
 In Germany the person of Luther rises 
 majestically amid the Saxon population; he 
 seems almost alone in his attacks on the Ro- 
 man Colossus ; and wherever the battle rages 
 we distinguish his lofty figure on the field of 
 conflict. Luther is, as it were, the monarch 
 of the change which is effected. In Switzer- 
 land the contest is begun, at one and the same 
 time, in several cantons ; there is a confede- 
 ration of Reformers; their very number sur- 
 prises us. Doubtless one head is seen above 
 the rest, but no one commands; it is a re- 
 publican magistracy, to which all come, bear- 
 ing the peculiar features of their origin. We 
 have Wittembach, Zwingle, Capito, Heller, 
 (Ecolampadius, Oswald Myconius,Leo Juda, 
 Farell, Calvin; it is at Claris, at Bale, at 
 Zurich, at Berne, at Neufchatel, at Geneva, 
 at Lucerne, at Schaffhausen, at Appenzel, at 
 Saint Gall, and in the country of the Grisons. 
 In the German Reformation but one stage is 
 seen, and that uniform and level, like the face 
 of the land ; but in Switzerland the Reforma- 
 tion appears broken, like the country itself, 
 by its thousand hills. Every valley has its 
 own hour of awakening, and every mountain 
 top its own radiance. 
 
 A calamitous period had ensued to the 
 Swiss people since their exploits against the 
 Dukes of Burgundy. Europe having learned 
 the strength of their arms, had drawn them 
 from their fastnesses, and deprived them of 
 their independence, by making them arbiters 
 in the field of battle of the fortunes of her 
 states. The hand of the Swiss peasant turn- 
 ed a sword against the breast of his country- 
 man in the plains of Italy and France, while 
 foreign intrigues were spreading discord and 
 envy in those Alpine meadows, so long the 
 abode of simplicity and peace. Tempted by 
 golden bribes, sons, workmen, and servants, 
 quitted by stealth the chalets of the mountain 
 pastures to tread the banks of the Rhone or 
 of the Po. Swiss unity had yielded to the 
 gradual progress of mules laden with gold. 
 The Reformation, for in Switzerland the Re- 
 formation had its political aspect, proposed 
 to re-establish the unity and primitive virtue 
 of the cantons. Its first call was, that the 
 people should tear in pieces the nets of for- 
 eign lures, arid with one heart embrace each 
 other at the foot of the Cross. But its gene- 
 rous desire was unheeded; Rome, long used 
 to recruit in the Swiss valleys the blood she 
 lavished in the strife for power, arose indig- 
 nantly. She excited the Swiss against their 
 own countrymen ; and passions, till then un- 
 known, lacerated the bosom of the nation. 
 
 Switzerland stood in need of a reformation. 
 
 The Swiss were, it is true, remarkable for a 
 simplicity and credulity which were subjects 
 of ridicule to the cunning Italians ; but they 
 were also considered to be of all nations the 
 most stained by incoritinency. Astrologers 
 ascribed this to the constellations, 2 philoso- 
 phers to the temperament of these indomita- 
 ble people, moralists to the principles of the 
 Swiss, who counted deceit, unkindness, and 
 calumny, sins of deeper dye thanunchastity. 3 
 Marriage was forbidden to the priests; but it 
 would have been difficult to find one who 
 lived in true celibacy. Often they were en- 
 joined to behave themselves not chastely 
 but prudently. This was one of the first dis- 
 orders which the Reformation opposed. It is 
 time to take a view of the glimmerings of the 
 new light that was dawning in the Alps. 
 
 Toward the middle of the eleventh century, 
 two pilgrims penetrated from St. Gall, in the 
 direction of the mountains southward of that 
 ancient monastery, and reached an uninhabit- 
 ed valley ten leagues in extent. 4 This valley 
 is, on the north, separated from the canton of 
 Appenzel by the lofty mountains of the Sen- 
 tis, the Sommerigkopf, and the Old Man. 
 Southward the Kuhfirsten, with its seven 
 peaks, rises between it and the Wallenses, 
 Sargans, and the Grisons. Towards the east, 
 the valley lies open to the rays of the rising 
 sun, displaying in the distance the magnifi- 
 cent prospect of the Tyrolese Alps. The two 
 pilgrims, arriving at the source of a small 
 stream, the Thur, erected there two cells. 
 By slow degrees thinly-scattered habitations 
 appeared; and on the most elevated site, 
 2010 feet above the lake of Zurich, there 
 arose around a little church a village called 
 Wildhaus, or the Wildhouse, on which now 
 depend two hamlets, Lisighaus, or Elizabeth's 
 house, and Shonenboden. On those elevated 
 spots the earth does not yield its fruits. A 
 green sward of Alpine freshness clothes the 
 whole valley, ascending the sides of moun- 
 tains, above which, enormous rocks rise in 
 savage grandeur towards heaven. 
 
 A quarter of a league from the church, near 
 Lisighaus, beside a footway leading to the 
 pastures beyond the river, there still stands a 
 solitary house. Tradition informs us that the 
 wood required for the building was felled on 
 the very spot it occupies. 5 It has every ap- 
 pearance of remote antiquity. The walls are 
 thin, the windows are composed of small 
 round panes, the roof is formed of shingles, 
 loaded with stones to prevent the wind carry- 
 ing them away. In front gushes a limpid 
 stream. 
 
 There lived in this house towards the close 
 of the fifteenth century a man named Zwin- 
 gle, amman or bailiff of the village. The 
 family of Zwingle or Zwingli was ancient, 
 and in great esteem among the dwellers on 
 these mountains. 6 Bartholomew, the bailiff's 
 brother, first curate of the parish, and in 1487 
 dean of Wesen, enjoyed a sort of reputation 
 in the district. 7 The wife of the amman of 
 Wildhaus, Margaret Meili, whose brother 
 John was afterwards abbot of the convent of 
 
216 
 
 HISTOkY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Fischingen in Thurgovia, had already borne 
 him two sons, Henry and Klaus, when on 
 new-year's day, 1484, just seven weeks from 
 the birth of Luther, a third son, who was af- ' 
 terwards named Ulric, saw the light in this 
 solitary chalet. 8 Five other sons, John, Wolf- 
 gang, Bartholomew, James, and Andrew, and 
 one daughter, added to the strength of this 
 Alpine family. Not a man in the neighbour- 
 ing country was more respected than the bai- 
 liff Zwingle. 9 His character, his office, and 
 his numerous progeny, made him the patri- 
 arch of these hills. He, as well as his sons, 
 led a shepherd life. Soon as the early days 
 of May arrived to cheer the mountains, the 
 father and his sons set out with their flocks 
 for the pastures; ascending as the season ad- 
 vanced, from station to station, and attaining 
 the loftiest summits of the Alps towards the 
 end of July. Then they began again to de- 
 scend gradually toward the valley, and in this 
 way the people of Wildhaus were accustomed 
 to return in autumn to their lowly cottages. 
 Frequently in summer the young folks, who 
 had been left behind in their habitations, eager 
 to breathe the pure air of the mountains, set 
 out in parties for the chalets, accompanying 
 with their songs the sound of their rustic 
 music ; for all were musical. As they arrived 
 on the Alps, the shepherds saluted them from 
 afar with their horns and songs and hastened 
 to regale them with a repast of milk ; after 
 which the merry company, by many a wind- 
 ing path, descended again into the valley to 
 the sound of their pipes. Ulric, doubtless, 
 sometimes shared these delights in early 
 youth. He grew up at the foot of those 
 rocks which seemed everlasting, and whose 
 peaks pointed to the skies. " I have often 
 thought," said one of his friends, "that be- 
 ing brought near to heaven on these sublime 
 heights, he contracted a something heavenly 
 and divine." 10 
 
 Many were the long winter evenings in 
 the cottages of Wildhaus. At such seasons 
 young Ulric listened at his paternal hearth to 
 the conversations of the bailiff and the elder- 
 ly men of the village. When they recounted 
 now the people of the valley had formerly 
 groaned under a cruel yoke, his heart re- 
 sponded to the old men's joy at the thoughts 
 of the independence achieved by Tockenburg, 
 and secured to it by its alliance with the 
 Swiss. The love of his country was kindled, 
 and Switzerland became endeared to his heart. 
 If a word were uttered against the confede- 
 rated cantons, the child would immediately 
 rise, and with simple earnestness undertake 
 their defence. 1 / Often, too, would he sit quiet- 
 ly at the knee of his pious grandmother, list- 
 ening with fixed attention to her Bible stories 
 and superstitious legends, and eagerly receiv- 
 ing them into his heart. 
 
 The ffood bailiff took delight in observing 
 the promising disposition of his son. He- 
 thought he saw that Ulric might be fit for 
 something better than tending his herds on 
 Mount Sentis, and singing: the Ranz des 
 Mergers. One day he took him in his hand 
 
 and directed his steps towards Wessen. He 
 crossed the grassy summits of the Ammon 
 avoiding the wild and bold rocks which bor- 
 der the lake of Wallenstadt; and arriving at 
 the village, entered the dwelling of the dean, 
 his brother, and gave into his care the young 
 mountaineer, to be examined as to his capaci- 
 ties. 12 The dean, in a short time loved his 
 nephew as if he were his own son. Delight- 
 ed with the quickness of his understanding, 
 he confided the task of his instruction to a 
 school-master, who soon taught him all he 
 himself knew. W'hen he was ten years old, 
 Ulric already evinced marks of superior intel- 
 ligence, and his father and uncle decided on 
 sending him to Bale. 13 
 
 W : hen this child of the mountains of Tock- 
 enburg arrived in that celebrated city, a new 
 world seemed to open before him. The fame 
 of the celebrated Council of Bale, its univer- 
 sity founded by Pius II. in 1460, its printing 
 presses, which recalled to life the great writers 
 of antiquity, and disseminated through the 
 world the first fruits of the revival of learn- 
 ing, and the circumstances of its being the 
 abode chosen by such eminent men as the 
 Wessels and Wiltembachs, and, above all, 
 by Erasmus, made Bale at the period of the 
 Reformation one of the great foci of illumi- 
 nation in the West. 
 
 Ulric was placed in St. Theodore's school, 
 at that time presided over by Gregory Binzli, 
 a man of affectionate character, and of a 
 gentleness at that period rarely found in 
 school-masters. Young Zwingle made ra- 
 pid progress. Learned discussions, much in 
 vogue in that age among the doctors of uni- 
 versities, had descended even to the children 
 of the school. Ulric took part in them, dis- 
 ciplining his nascent strength against the pu- 
 pils of other establishments, and invariably 
 coming off victorious from these contests, 
 which were as the preludes of those which 
 were to overthrow the Papal authority in 
 Switzerland. 14 Such early successes roused 
 the jealousy of his senior rivals. Ere long 
 he outgrew the school of Bale, as he had 
 outgrown that of Wesen. 
 
 Lupulus, a distinguished scholar, had short- 
 ly before opened at Berne, the first learned 
 foundation of Switzerland. The bailiff of 
 Wildhaus, and the curate of Wesen, agreed 
 together to send the youth there, and in 1497, 
 Zwingle, leaving the smiling plains of Bale 
 again approached those upper Alps among 
 which he had passed his infancy, and whose 
 snowy summits glowing in the sun might be 
 discerned from Berne. Lupulus, a distin- 
 guished poet, introduced his pupil to the 
 hidden treasures of classical learning, then 
 known only, and but slightly to a few. 15 The 
 young neophyte was delighted to breathe 
 these perfumes of antiquity. His mind open- 
 ed, his style took its form, and himself be- 
 came a poet. 
 
 Among the convents of Berne, that of the 
 Dominicans was most celebrated. A grave 
 controversy existed between these monks and 
 the Franciscans. The latter maintained the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 217 
 
 immaculate conception of the Virgin, which 
 the former denied. Wherever they went, at 
 the splendid altar that adorned their church, 
 and from the twelve columns which supported 
 its roof, the Dominicans thought of nothing 
 but to humble their rivals. The well-toned 
 voice of Zwingle had drawn their notice ; 
 they listened to the accounts brought them of 
 his precocious understanding; and thinking 
 he might do credit to their order, sought to 
 attract him amongst them, and invited him 
 to take up his residence in the convent, until 
 the period when he might pass his noviciate. 16 
 The future usefulness of Zwingle was at stake. 
 The am man of Wildhaus, on learning the baits 
 the Dominicans held out, trembled for the in- 
 nocence of his son, and desired him to leave 
 Berne without delay. Thus Zwingle escaped 
 those monastic walls in which Luther had 
 voluntarily immured himself. What after- 
 wards ensued will shew the greatness of the 
 danger Zwingle then incurred. 
 
 A great agitation reigned in Berne in 1507. 
 A young man of Zurzack, named John Jetzer, 
 having one day presented himself at the con- 
 vent of the Dominicans, had been repulsed. 
 The poor youth, grieving at his rejection, had 
 returned to the charge, holding out 53 florins 
 and some silk stuffs. " It is all I have in the 
 world," said he, " take it, and receive me into 
 your order." He was admitted on the 6th of 
 January as a lay brother. But on the very 
 first night a strange noise in his cell filled 
 him with terror. He fled to the convent of 
 Carthusians, but they sent him, back to the 
 Dominicans. 
 
 The following night, being the eve of the 
 festival of St. Matthias, he was awakened by 
 deep sighs. Opening his eyes he beheld by 
 his bedside a tall phantom clothed in white : 
 " I am a soul from the fires of purgatory ;" 
 said a sepulchral voice. The lay brother an- 
 swered shuddering, " May God deliver you ! 
 I can do nothing." On this the spirit drew 
 nigh, and seizing him by the throat, reproach- 
 ed him with his refusal. The terrified Jetzer 
 cried aloud, " What can I do for your de- 
 liverance?" "You must scourge yourself 
 to blood during eight days, and lie prostrate 
 on the earth in the chapel of St. John." 
 This said, the apparition vanished. The lay 
 brother confided what he had seen to his con- 
 fessor, the convent preacher, and by his ad- 
 vice submitted to the discipline enjoined him. 
 It was soon reported throughout the town that 
 a departed soul had applied to the Dominicans 
 for its deliverance out of purgatory. The mul- 
 titude deserted the Franciscans, and every one 
 hastened to the church where the holy man 
 was seen stretched prostrate on the earth. 
 The soul of the sufferer had announced that 
 it would return in eight days. On the ap- 
 pointed night it re-appeared, accompanied 
 by two spirits tormenting it, and howling 
 fearfully : " Scot," said the voice ; " Scof, 
 the forger of the Franciscans' doctrine of 
 the immaculate conception of the Virgin is 
 among those who suffer with me these horri- 
 ble torments." At this report, which soon 
 
 circulated in Berne, the partisans of the 
 Franciscans were still more appalled. But 
 the soul had announced that the Virgin her- 
 self would make her appearance. According- 
 ly, on the day named, the astonished brother 
 beheld Mary appear in his cell. He could 
 not believe his eyes. She approached him 
 kindly, delivered to him three tears of Jesus, 
 three drops of his blood, a crucifix, and a let- 
 ter addressed to Pope Julius II. " He is," 
 said she, "the man whom God has chosen to 
 abolish the festival of the immaculate concep- 
 tion." Then coming close to the bed in which 
 the brother lay, she announced in a solemn tone 
 that a distinguished grace was about to be con- 
 ferred on him, and he felt his hand pierced 
 with a nail ! but Mary wrapped round the 
 wound a linen cloth, worn (she said) by 
 her son during the flight into Egypt. But 
 this was not enough ; that the glory of the 
 Dominicans might equal that of the Francis- 
 cans, Jetzer was to have the five wounds of 
 Christ and of St. Francis in his hands, feet, 
 and side. The other four were inflicted, a 
 sleeping potion was administered and he was 
 placed in an apartment hung with tapestry, 
 representing the events of the Passion. Here 
 he passed days, his imagination becoming 
 inflamed. Then the doors were from time to 
 time thrown open to the people, who came in 
 crowds to gaze on the brother with the five 
 wounds, extending his arms, with his head 
 reclined, and imitating in his posture the 
 crucifixion of our Lord. At intervals, losing 
 consciousness, he foamed at the mouth, and 
 seemed to give up the ghost. " He is suffer- 
 ing the cross of Christ," whispered those who 
 stood round him. The multitude, eager for 
 wonders, incessantly thronged the convent. 
 Men worthy of high esteem, even Lupulus, 
 the master of Zwingle, were awe-struck; 
 and the Dominicans from their pulpits, ex- 
 tolled the glory with which God had covered 
 their order. 
 
 For some years that order had felt a neces- 
 sity for humbling the Franciscans, and adding 
 by the claim of miracles to the devotion and 
 liberality of the people. Berne, with its " sim- 
 ple, rustic, and ignorant population," (adopt- 
 ing the description of it given by the suh-prior 
 of Berne to the chapter held at Wempfen on 
 the Necker) had been chosen for the scene of 
 these wonders. The prior, the sub-prior, the 
 preacher, and the purveyor of the convent had 
 taken upon them the chief parts; but they 
 could not play them throughout. Favoured 
 with another vision of Mary, Jetzer thought 
 he recognized the voice of his confessor, and 
 having given utterance to his suspicion, Mary 
 vanished. Soon after she again appeared to 
 upbraid him with his incredulity. "This 
 time it is the prior!" cried Jetzer, throwing 
 himself forward with a knife in his hand. 
 The saint hurled a pewter plate at the head 
 of the brother, and again disappeared. 
 
 In consternation at the discovery which 
 Jetzer had made, the Dominicans sought to 
 rid themselves of him by poison. He de- 
 tected the artifice, and fleeing from the con- 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 vent, divulged their imposture. They put a 
 good face upon the matter, and despatched 
 deputies to Rome. The Pope commissioned 
 his legate in Switzerland, together with the 
 Bishops of Lausanne and Sion, to investigate 
 the affair. The four Dominicans were con- 
 victed, and condemned to be burned alive, 
 and on the first of May, 150.9, they perished 
 in the flames, in presence of more than 30,000 
 spectators. This event made a great noise 
 throughout Europe, and by revealing one great 
 plague of the Church, was instrumental in 
 preparing the way of the Reformation. 17 
 
 Such were the men from whose hands 
 young Ulric Zwingle escaped. He had stu- 
 died letters at Berne, he was now to apply 
 himself to philosophy ; and for this purpose 
 he repaired to Vienna in Austria. Joachim 
 Vadian, a young native of St. Gall, whose 
 genius seemed to give promise of a distin- 
 guished statesman to Switzerland; Henri 
 Loreti, of the canton of Glaris, commonly 
 called Glarianus, and who shewed considera- 
 ble talent for poetry ; a young Suabian, John 
 Heigerlin, son of a smith, and on that account 
 called Faber, of supple character, fond of 
 distinction, and manifesting the qualities of a 
 courtier : such were the companions of Ul- 
 ric's studies and amusements in the Austrian 
 capital. 
 
 In 1502 Zwingle returned to Wildhaus : 
 while he gazed on its mountains, he felt that 
 he had tasted of the sweets of learning, and 
 was no longer able to live amid his brethren's 
 songs, andlhe bleatings of their flocks. He 
 was eighteen : he went to Bale to renew his 
 application to study; 18 and there at one and 
 the same time master and student, he taught 
 in the school of St. Martin, and pursued his 
 studies at the university: he could now dis- 
 pense with his father's succours. Shortly 
 after he took the degree of Master of Arts. 
 A native of Alsace, named Capito, who was 
 nine years older than himself, was one of his 
 dearest friends. 
 
 Zwingle devoted himself to the study of 
 scholastic theology, for, called as he was at 
 a later period to combat its sophisms, it was 
 necessary he should explore its tangled laby- 
 rinths. But often the joyous student of the 
 mountains of the Sentis was seen suddenly 
 to shake off the dust of the schools, and ex- 
 changing his philosophic toils for amusement, 
 take the lute, harp, violin, flute, dulcimer, or 
 hunting-horn, and pour forth gladsome sounds 
 as in the meadows of Lisighaus, making his 
 apartment, or the houses of his friends echo 
 with the airs of his beloved country, and ac- 
 companying them with his own songs. In 
 his love of music he was a true son of Tock- 
 enburg, a master among many. 19 He played 
 the instruments we have named, and others 
 besides. Enthusiastically attached to the art, 
 he diffused a taste for it through the univer- 
 sity, not that he relished dissipation, but be- 
 cause he loved relaxation from the fatigue of 
 
 graver studies, and its power of restoring i after being ordained at Constance by the 
 him with fresh strength for close application. 20 1 bishop, preached his first sermon at Rappers- 
 There was no one more cheerful or more ami- ! will. On St. Michael's day he read his first 
 
 able, or whose discourse had more charms.- 1 
 He might have been compared to a vigorous 
 alpine-tree, expanding in all its grace and 
 strength, not yet pruned, and sending forth 
 its strong boughs on every side. The mo- 
 ment was destined to arrive, when these 
 branches would shoot upward with renewed 
 vigour toward heaven. 
 
 Having made his way into scholastic the- 
 ology, he returned weary and disgusted from 
 these arid sands, having found nothing but 
 confused ideas, a vain babble, emptiness, 
 and barbarism, without any sound idea of 
 doctrine. "It is mere lost time," said he, 
 and he waited to know more. 
 
 Just at that crisis (November, 1505) arrived 
 in Bale, Thomas Wittembach, son of a bur- 
 gomaster of Bienne. Wittembach had pre- 
 viously been teaching at Tubingen at the 
 same time with Reuchlin. He was in the 
 prime of life, sincere, pious, versed in the liberal 
 sciences, in mathematics, arid in the Holy 
 Scriptures. Zwingle and all the young stu- 
 dents immediately gathered round him. An 
 energy hitherto unknown breathed in his dis- 
 courses, and prophetic words proceeded from 
 his lips. " The time is not far distant," said 
 he, "when the scholastic theology will bo 
 abolished, and the primitive teaching of the 
 Church restored." 22 "The death of Christ," 
 added he, "is the only ransom of our souls." 23 
 The heart of Zwingle eagerly received those 
 seeds of life. 24 
 
 Among the students who constantly attend- 
 ed the lectures of the youthful Doctor, was a 
 young man of twenty-three years of age, of 
 small stature, and weak and unhealthy ap- 
 pearance, but whose look bespoke at once 
 gentleness and intrepidity. It was Leo Juda, 
 son of a curate of Alsace, and whose uncle 
 had lost his life at Rhodes, under the standard 
 of its knights, for the defence of Christendom. 
 Leo and Ulric lived in the closest intimacy. 
 Leo played the dulcimer, and had a very fine 
 voice. Often in his apartment the two friends 
 of the arts amused themselves in joyous song. 
 Leo Juda became subsequently Zwingle's 
 colleague, and death itself could not terminate 
 this sacred friendship. 
 
 The situation of pastor of Glaris became 
 vacant at this period. Henry Goldi,a young 
 courtier in the Pope's service, groom of his 
 Holiness's palfrey, and already endowed with 
 several benefices, hastened to Glaris with the 
 Pope's letter of appointment. But the shep- 
 herds of Glaris, proud of the antique glories 
 of their race, and of their struggles for liberty, 
 were unwilling to bow their heads before a 
 parchment from Rome. Wildhaus is not far 
 from Glaris; and Wesen, of which Zwingle's 
 uncle was curate, is the place where that 
 people hold their market. The reputation of 
 the young master of arts at Bale had pene- 
 trated to these mountains. The people of 
 Glaris resolved to choose Zwingle for their 
 priest. They invited him in 1506. Zwingle, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 219 
 
 mass at Wildhaus, in presence of all his rela- 
 tions and the friends of his family, and towards 
 the close of the year reached Glaris. 
 
 He immediately applied himself zealously 
 to the duties of his extensive parish. Yet he 
 was but twenty-two years of age, and at times 
 he yielded to dissipation and the loose mo- 
 rality of the age. As a Romish priest he was 
 like other priests all around him. But even 
 at that time, when as yet the Gospel had not 
 changed his heart, Zvvingle never plunged 
 into those scandals which often grieved the 
 Church, and he constantly felt that it was 
 necessary to subject his desires to the holy 
 rule of God's word. 25 
 
 A passion for war at that time disturbed 
 the quiet valleys of Glaris. There dwelt in 
 those valleys whole families of heroes ; the 
 Tschudi, the Wala, the Aebli, whose blood had 
 been shed on the field of battle. The elder 
 warriors were accustomed to recount to youths 
 ever ready to listen to such recitals, the events 
 of the wars of Burgundy and Suabin, the bat- 
 tles of St. James and of Ragaz. But alas, it 
 was no longer against the enemies of their 
 liberty that these martial shepherds took arms. 
 They might, be seen at the bidding of the King 
 of France, of the Emperor, of the Duke of 
 Milan, or of the Pope, descending like an 
 avalanche from the Alps, and rushing with the 
 noise of thunder against the trained soldiers 
 of the plain. 
 
 Towards the end of the fifteenth century, 
 a poor boy named Matthew Schinrier, who 
 was attending the school of Sionin the Valais, 
 was one day singing before the doors, as 
 Luther used to do rather later, when he heard 
 himself called by an old man ; the latter struck 
 by the liberty with which the child answered 
 his questions, said in that prophetic accent 
 which, say some, man sometimes acquires 
 shortly before his departure from this world 
 " Thou shalt be a Bishop and a Prince!" 26 
 The prediction made a deep impression on the 
 young mendicant, and from that moment an 
 ambition the most unbounded took possession 
 of his heart. At Zurich, and at Como, his 
 progress in his studies amazed his teachers. 
 He was appointed curate in a small parish in 
 the Valais ; rose rapidly in reputation, and 
 being subsequently sent to Rome to solicit the 
 Pope's confirmation of a recent election of a 
 Bishop of Sion, he procured the bishopric for 
 himself, and encircled his head with the epis- 
 copal crown. Ambitious and artful, yet not 
 unfrequently noble and generous, this man 
 never regarded one dignity as anything but a 
 stepping-stone to a higher. Having tendered 
 his services to Louis XII. for a stipulated 
 price, the King remarked, " It is too much for 
 any one man." "I will shew him," replied 
 the Bishop of Sion in a passion, " that I am a 
 man worth purchasing at the cost of many." 
 Accordingly he made proposals to Pope Ju- 
 lius II. who received his advances with joy; 
 and Schinner, in the year 1510, succeeded in 
 uniting the whole Swiss Confederation with 
 the policy of the ambitious Pontiff. The 
 Bishop having been rewarded with a Cardi- 
 29 
 
 ! nal's hat, smiled to see but a single step 
 j between him and the papal throne itself! 
 
 Schinner's attention was continually en- 
 ; gaged by the Swiss cantons, and as soon as 
 I he discerned any man of rising influence, he 
 j hastened to attach him to his interest. The 
 pastor of Glaris drew his notice; and it was 
 not long before Zwingle was apprized that the 
 Pope had granted him an. annual pension of 
 fifty florins, to encourage him in his studies. 
 His poverty being such as did not allow his 
 purchasing books, this money, so long as he 
 received it, was spent in procuring classical 
 and theological works from Bale. 27 Zwingle 
 thenceforward connected himself with the Car- 
 dinal, and thus became attached to the Roman- 
 ist party. Schinner and Julius II. at length 
 laid as'ide the mask. Eight thousand Swiss 
 collected together by the eloquence of the 
 Cardinal Bishop passed the Alps ; but want 
 of supplies, and the valour and bribes of the 
 French, obliged them to retreat ingloriously to 
 their mountains. They brought with them the 
 usual effects of their foreign wars, suspicion, 
 licentiousness, party spirit, violence, and 
 every kind of disorder. The citizens rose 
 against their magistrates, the children against 
 their fathers, agriculture and their flocks 
 were neglected, and luxury and beggary 
 increased, the most sacred ties were broken, 
 and the Confederacy seemed on the point of 
 falling to pieces. 
 
 Then it was that the eyes of the young 
 curate of Glaris were opened, and his indig- 
 nation was awakened. His powerful voice 
 was raised to shew the people the gulph into 
 which they were hurrying. In the year 1510, 
 he published his poem, entitled the Labyrinth. 
 Behind the mazes of that mysterious gar- 
 den, Minos has concealed the Minotaur, a 
 monster half man and half bull, whom he feeds 
 with the blood of the Athenian youth. The 
 Minotaur, says Zwingle, is the sin, the irreli- 
 gion, and the foreign service of the Swiss 
 which devour her children. 
 
 A brave man, Theseus, undertakes to deli- 
 ver his country ; but many obstacles are in the 
 way ; first, a lion with one eye ; it is Spain 
 and Arragon; next a crowned eagle, with 
 open throat; it is the Empire; then acock 
 with crest erect, as if provoking to the onset; 
 it is France. The hero overcoming all these 
 obstacles, slays the monster and delivers his 
 country. 
 
 So it is now," exclaims the poet. " the 
 people wander in the labyrinth; but being 
 without the clue, they never return to light. 
 We nowhere see men following the walk of 
 Christ. For a breath of fame we risk our 
 lives, harass our neighbours, rush into 
 strifes, war, and battles .... as if the very 
 furies had broken loose from hell." 28 
 
 A Thesus was needed, a Reformer; 
 Zwingle saw this, and from that moment he 
 had an obscure presentiment of his destiny. 
 Shortly after this he put forth another allegory, 
 in which his meaning was more clearly con- 
 veyed. 29 _ 
 In April, 1512, the confederates again rose 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 at the Cardinal's summons to the rescue of 
 the Church. Glaris was foremost. The whole 
 commune was enrolled for the campaign, and 
 ranged under its banner with its Landaman 
 and Pastor. Zwingle was compelled to join 
 the march. The army passed the Alps; and 
 the Cardinal made his appearance among the 
 confederates, with the Pontiffs presents, a 
 ducal cap adorned with pearls and gold, and 
 surmounted with the Holy Spirit, represented 
 under the figure of a dove. The Swiss scaled 
 the walls of the fortified towns, and in the 
 face of the enemy swam the rivers, naked, 
 with their halberds in their arms. Every 
 where the French were defeated, the bells and 
 trumpets sounded, people flocked from all 
 sides ; the nobles sent to the army wine and 
 fruits in great abundance ; monks and priests 
 proclaimed on the roads that the confederates 
 were God's people, and the avengers of the 
 spouse of Christ; while the Pope, a prophet 
 similar to Caiaphas, conferred on the confede- 
 rates the title of " Defenders of the Liberty of 
 the Church." 30 
 
 This visit to Italy was not without its con- 
 sequences to Zwingle in his vocation as a 
 Reformer. It was on his return from this 
 campaign that he began to study Greek, " in 
 order," he said, " to draw from the true source 
 the doctrine of Christ." 31 "I am resolved to 
 apply myself so closely to Greek (he wrote to 
 Vidian, Feb. 23, 1513,) that no one but God 
 shall call me off from that study." "I do so 
 from a love of divine learning, and not for the 
 sake of fame." At a subsequent period, a 
 worthy priest who had been his school-fellow, 
 having visited him, " Master Ulric," said 
 the visitor, " they tell me you have gone into 
 the new error, and that you are a follower of 
 Luther." "I am no Lutheran," said Zwingle, 
 " for I understood Greek before I had heard 
 the name of Luther." 32 To understand Greek 
 and study the Gospel in the original, was in 
 Zw ingle's judgment the basis of the Reforma- 
 tion. 
 
 Zwingle went beyond this early acknow- 
 ledgment of the great principle of Evangelic 
 Christianity, namely the unerring authority 
 of Holy Scripture. He further saw the way 
 of determining the sense of the Divine Word : 
 "Those persons have but low thoughts of 
 the Gospel, who regard whatever they think 
 incompatible with their reason as of no conse- 
 quence, unnecessary, or unjust. 23 Men are not 
 permitted to bend the Gospel according to 
 their pleasure, to their own interpretations." 
 "Zwingle looked to heaven," says his best 
 friend, "desiring to have no other interpreter 
 than the Holy Ghost." 25 
 
 Such, from the very commencement of his 
 career, was the man who has been boldly 
 represented as having aimed to subject the 
 Bible to human reason. "Philosophy and 
 Theology," said he, "were constantly raising 
 difficulties in my mind. At length I was 
 brought to say, we must leave these things, 
 and endeavour to enter into God's thoughts in 
 his own word. I applied myself," continues 
 he, "in earnest prayer to the Lord to give me 
 
 lis light; and though I read nothing but 
 Scripture, its sense became clearer to me than 
 f I had studied many commentators." He 
 3ompared Scripture with Scripture, interpret- 
 ng obscure texts by such as were more clear. 36 
 Ere long he was thoroughly acquainted with 
 he Bible, and especially with the New 
 Testament. 37 When Zwingle thus turned 
 towards the Holy Scriptures, Switzerland 
 made its earliest advance towards the Re- 
 formation. Accordingly, when he expounded 
 their meaning, all felt that his leaching 
 came from God and not from man. 38 "A 
 work altogether divine!" exclaims Oswald 
 Myconius; "it was in this manner that 
 we recovered the knowledge of heavenly 
 truth." 
 
 Yet Zwingle did not despise the explana- 
 tions of the most celebrated teachers ; he sub- 
 sequently studied Origen, Ambrose, Jerome, 
 Augustine, Chrysostom, but never as authori- 
 ties. "I study the doctors," said he, "just 
 as we ask a friend, How do you understand, 
 this?" Holy Scripture was, in his judgment, 
 the touchstone by which the holiest doctors 
 should themselves so be tested. 39 
 
 Zwingle's advance was slow and progres- 
 sive. He did not arrive at truth, as Luther 
 had done, by those tempest-shocks, which 
 compel the soul hastily to seek a refuge; he 
 reached it by the gentle influence of Scripture 
 a power which gradually subdues the heart 
 of man. Luther attained the wished-for shore 
 after struggling with the storms of ocean; 
 Zwingle by steering cautiously and slowly 
 along the shore. They are the two leading 
 methbdsby which God conducts men. Zwingle 
 was not fully converted to God and his Gospel 
 until the early days of his abode at Zurich ; yet 
 the moment when in 1514orl515,thisbold man 
 bowed the knee before God, to ask of Him to 
 enable him to understand His word, was that 
 wherein appeared the dawn of the day-star 
 which afterwards rose upon him. 
 
 It was about this time that a poem of Eras- 
 mus, wherein that writer introduced Jesus 
 Christ speaking to one who was perishing by 
 his own apathy, produced a deep impression 
 on Zwingle's thoughts. Alone in his room 
 he repeated to himself the passage in which 
 Jesus complained that men came not to him 
 for all grace, though he was the fountain of 
 all blessing. ".#///" said Zwingle, ".,?///" 
 and that word again and again recurred to his 
 mind "Are there then any created beings or 
 saints, from whom we should seek help 1 No, 
 Christ is our only treasure."* 
 
 Zwingle did not confine his reading to 
 Christian writers. One of the accompani- 
 ments of the Reformation of the sixteenth 
 century was an attentive study of the classics. 
 Zwingle delighted in the poems of Hesiod, 
 Homer, and Pindar, and has left commenta- 
 ries on the two latter. He studied closely 
 Cicero and Demosthenes, whose writings 
 instructed him in oratory and politics. The 
 
 * Zwinele, speaking in 1523, says he read this 
 poem of Erasmus eight or nine years before. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 221 
 
 child of the mountains also loved the wonders I 
 of nature as reported by Pliny. Thucydides, ! 
 Sallust, Livy, Caesar, Suetonius, Plutarch, 
 and Tacitus, gave him an insight into the 
 affairs of life. He has been blamed for his 
 enthusiastic attachment to the great names of 
 antiquity ; and true it is that some of his ex- 
 pressions respecting them are not to be justi- 
 fied. But in paying them so much honour, 
 he thought he discerned in them not mere 
 human virtues, but the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit. God's dealings, far from being limited 
 in former ages to the Holy Land, extended, 
 as he thought, to the whole world. 40 "Plato, 
 also," said he, "drew from a source divine; 
 and if the Catos, Camillus', and Scipios, had 
 not been deeply religious, could they have 
 acted so nobly as we know they did 1 ?" 41 
 
 Zwingle diffused around him a love of let- 
 ters. Several young persons of distinction 
 were brought up in his school. "You have 
 offered me not only your books, but yourself," 
 wrote Valentine Tschudi, son of one of the 
 heroes in the wars of Burgundy; and this 
 youth, who had already studied at Vienna 
 and Bale under the first masters, added, "I 
 have never met with any one who explains 
 the classics with so much justness of thought, 
 and depth of understanding, as yourself." 42 
 Tschudi went to Paris, and had an opportunity 
 of comparing the genius of its university, with 
 that he had known in the narrow valley of the 
 Alps, overlooked by the gigantic summits and 
 eternal snows of the Dodi, the Glarnisch, the 
 Rhigi, and the Freyberg. "In what trifling 
 do they educate the youth of France!" said 
 he, "no poison can equal the sophistical art 
 they are trained in. It dulls the faculties, 
 destroys the judgment, and reduces to the 
 level of the brutes. It makes a man a mere 
 echo, an empty sound. Ten women could 
 not compete with one of such sophists. 43 Even 
 in their prayers I feel assured they bring their 
 sophisms to God himself, and would by syl- 
 logisms oblige the Holy Spirit to grant their 
 petitions." Such at this period was Paris, 
 the intellectual capital of Christendom, con- 
 trasted with Giaris, a market-town of shep- 
 herds of the Alps. One gleam of light from 
 God's word gives more true illumination than 
 all the wisdom of man. 
 
 A great genius of that age, Erasmus, exer- 
 cised much influence on Zwingle. The mo- 
 ment any of his writings appeared, Zwingle 
 hastened to procure it. In 1514 Erasmus 
 visited Bale, and was received by its Bishop 
 with every expression of esteem. All the 
 friends of learning assembled round him. 
 But the monarch of the schools had at once 
 discovered the man who promised to be the 
 glory of Switzerland. "I congratulate the 
 Swiss People," said he, writing to Zwingle, 
 "that you are doing your best to civilize 
 and ennoble it, by studies. and moral conduct 
 alike worthy of admiration. " 44 Zwingle longed 
 to sec him. "Spaniards and Gauls once 
 made the journey to Rome to look on Titus 
 Livius," said he, and set out. Arriving 
 at Bale, he there found a man about forty 
 
 years of age, of small stature, weak health, 
 and delicate constitution, but extremely ami- 
 able and polite. 45 It was Erasmus. The charm 
 of his intimacy banished Zwingle's timidity, 
 and the power of his intellect impressed him 
 with reverence. "As poor," said Ulric, "as 
 ^Eschines, when the disciples of Socrates 
 ach brought a gift to their master, 1 make 
 you the present he made, and give you my- 
 self" 
 
 Among the men of learning who then form- 
 ed a kind of a court of Erasmus, Amerbach, 
 Rhenarius, Froben, Nessenus. Glareanus, and 
 the rest Zwingle took notice of a young 
 native of Lucerne, twenty-seven years of age, 
 named Oswald Geishussler. Erasmus, trans- 
 ating his name into Greek, had named him 
 Myconius. We shall often speak of him by 
 tiis Christian name, to distinguish this friend 
 of Zwinale from Frederic Myconius, the dis- 
 iple of Luther. Oswald, after studying at 
 Rothwyl with another young man of his own 
 age, named Berthold Haller, then at Berne, 
 and afterwards at Bale, had become rector 
 of St. Theodoric's and still later of St. Peter's 
 school in that city. Though the humble 
 schoolmaster had but a slender income, he 
 bad married a young girl of a simplicity and 
 purity of mind that won all hearts. We have 
 already said that it was a time of trouble in 
 Switzerland ; when foreign wars gave rise to 
 scandalous disorders, and the soldiers return- 
 ing to their country brought with them habits 
 of licentiousness and brutality. One winter's 
 day, gloomy and overcast, some of these 
 wretches attacked the qniet dwelling of Os- 
 wald in his absence. They assaulted the 
 door, threw stones, and with indecent lan- 
 guage called for his wife. At last they burst 
 open the door, and having made their way to 
 his school, broke every thing in the place, and 
 then retired. Shortly after Oswald returned. 
 His son, little Felix, ran to meet him with 
 loud cries; and his wife, speechless, made 
 signs of horror. In a moment he perceived 
 what had happened. At the same instant a 
 noise was heard in the street. Unable to 
 control himself, the schoolmaster seized a 
 weapon and pursued the rioters to the ceme- 
 tery. They took refuge within it and prepared 
 to resist. Three of them rushed upon Myco- 
 nius and wounded him ; and while his wounds 
 were being dressed, the wretches again broke 
 into his house with horrid cries. Oswald tells 
 no more/ 16 Such were the scenes which took 
 place in Switzerland at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century, before the Reformation had 
 humanized the manners of the people. 
 
 The uprightness of Oswald Myconius, and 
 his desire of learning and virtue brought him 
 into contact with Zwingle. The rector of the 
 school of Bale at once acknowledged the 
 superior genius of the curate of Giaris. In 
 unaffected humility he shrunk from the 
 praises of Zwingle and Erasmus. " You 
 schoolmasters," the latter would often say, 
 " are, in my opinion, equal to kings." But 
 the modest Myconius was of a different judg- 
 ment. "I do but creep upon the earth," said 
 
222 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 he; "from my childhood there has been a 
 something low and small about me." 47 
 
 A preacher who had arrived in Bale, almost 
 at the same time as Zwingle, was then ex- 
 citing attention. Of mild and peaceful tem- 
 per, lie loved a tranquil life; slow and cir- 
 cumspect in his actions, he was most happy 
 in studious occupations, and in endeavours to 
 promote good will among Christians. 48 He 
 was named John Hausschein, in Greek (Eco- 
 lampadius, or "light of the house," and was 
 horn in Franconia, of rich parents, one year 
 before the birth of Zwingle. His pious mother 
 wished to devote to learning and to God him- 
 self the only child that providence had left 
 her. His father at first destined him to com- 
 merce, and afterwards to jurisprudence; but 
 on CEcolampadius's return from Bologna, 
 (where he had studied law) the Lord, whose 
 purpose it was to make him a light in the 
 Church, called him to the study of Theology, 49 
 He was preaching in his native town when 
 Capito, who had made his acquaintance at 
 Heidelberg, obtained his election as preacher 
 at Bale. He there proclaimed Christ with an 
 eloquence which was the admiration of his 
 hearers. 50 Erasmus admitted him to intimacy. 
 (Ecolampadius was charmed with the hours 
 he spent in the society of this distinguished 
 genius. " We must seek," said the prince of 
 scholars, " we must seek but one thing in 
 Holy Scripture, namely, Jesus Christ." 51 He 
 presented to the young preacher in token of 
 his friendship the first chapters of St. John's 
 Gospel. (Ecolampadius would often kiss this 
 pledge of so valued a friendship, and appended 
 it to his crucifix,' "in order," said he, "that 
 I may always remember Erasmus in my 
 prayers." 
 
 Zwingle returned to his mountain-home 
 with his mind and heart full of all he had 
 seen and heard at Bale. "1 should not be 
 able to sleep," said he, writing to Erasmus, 
 " without holding some discourse with you. 
 There is nothing I am so proud of as having 
 seen Erasmus." Zwingle had received a new 
 impulse. Such visits have at times great 
 effects on a Christian's conduct. The disci- 
 ples of Zwingle, Valentin, .lost, Louis, Peter, 
 and Egidius Tschudi ; his friends, the bailiff 
 Aebli, the curate Binzli of Wesen, Fridolin 
 Brunner, and the celebrated professor Glarea- 
 nus, were delighted to watch his growth in 
 wisdom and knowledge. The old respected 
 him as a courageous defender of his country; 
 the faithful pastors as a zealous minister of 
 the Lord. Nothing was transacted in the 
 country without his advice. All the better 
 sort looked to him as destined one day to re- 
 store the ancient virtues of their country. 52 
 
 Francis the First having ascended the throne, 
 and preparing to avenge on Italy the honour of 
 France, the Pope in alarm, sought to gain 
 over the cantons. Thus, in 1515, Ulric again 
 saw the plains of Italy covered by the batta- 
 lions of his fellow-countrymen. But the dis- 
 cord which the intrigues of the French intro- 
 duced among the army of the confederates 
 grieved his spirit. Often might he be seen, 
 
 in the midst of the camp, haranguing, in words 
 of energy and wisdom, an audience armed 
 from head to foot and ready for battle. 63 On 
 the 8th of September, five days before the 
 battle of Marignan, he preached in the square 
 of Monza, where the Swiss troops who 
 I adhered to their standards were assembled. 
 I "If the advice of Zwingle had then been 
 followed," says Werner Steiner of Zug, 
 " what miseries would our country have bec-n 
 spared !" But all ears were closed against 
 the accents of concord, peace, and submission. 
 The overpowering eloquence of the Cardinal 
 Schinner electrified the confederates, and 
 made them rush impetuously to the fata! 
 plains of Marignan. The flower of the Swiss 
 youth perished. Zwingle, who had failed 
 in his attempts to avert these calamities, ex- 
 posed himself in the cause of Rome to the 
 greatest danger. His hand grasped a sword! 34 
 Melancholy mistake of Zwingle. He, a min- 
 ister of Christ, more than once forgot that it 
 was his duty, to fight only with the weapons 
 of the Spirit, and he was doomed to see 
 accomplished in his own case in a most 
 striking manner, that prophecy of the Lord, 
 They that take the sword shall perish by the 
 sword. 
 
 Zwingle and the Swiss failed to save Rome 
 from defeat. The Venitian ambassador, at 
 the court of Rome, was the first to learn the 
 news of the defeat at Marignan. Overjoyed 
 he repaired early to the Vatican. The Pope 
 left his apartments, though scarcely attired, 
 to give him audience. Leo the Tenth on 
 hearing the intelligence made no secret of his 
 fears. In a moment of alarm he saw nothing 
 but Francis the First, and lost all hope : 
 " My Lord ambassador," said he tremblingly 
 to Zorsi, " we must throw ourselves into the 
 king's arms and cry for mercy." Luther and 
 Zwingle, when in circumstances of peril, 
 knew another refuge and invoked another 
 mercy. 55 
 
 This socond visit to Italy was not unattended 
 with advantage to Zwingle. He took notice 
 of the differences between the Ambrosian 
 ritual, in use at Milan, and that of Rome. He 
 collected and compared with each other the 
 most ancient canons of the Mass. Thus his 
 spirit of inquiry found employment amid the 
 tumult of camps. At the same time the sight 
 of the children of his native land, drawn from 
 their mountains, and delivered up to slaughter 
 like their cattle, filled him with indignation. 
 " The blood of the confederates," said he, " is 
 counted of less value than their sheep and 
 oxen." The faithlessness and ambition of 
 the Pope, 56 -the avarice and ignorance of the 
 clergy, the licentiousness and immorality of 
 the monks, the pride and luxury of the 
 prelates, the corruption and venality that 
 spread on all sides among his countrymen, 
 all these evils were forced more than ever on 
 his notice, and helped to deepen more than 
 ever his conviction of the necessity of a refor- 
 mation in the Church. 
 
 Zwingle from that time preached the word 
 of God with more distinctness. He expound 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 223 
 
 ed the portions of the Gospels and Epistles 
 chosen for public worship; ever comparing 
 Scripture with Scripture. 57 He spoke with 
 force and animation, and pursued with his 
 auditors the same course that God was pur- 
 suing with him. 58 He did not expose, as Lu- 
 ther did, the wounds of the Church ; but, 
 according as his study of the Bible discovered 
 to him any profitable instruction, he imparted 
 it to his flock. He laboured to persuade them 
 to receive the truth into their hearts ; and then 
 depended upon it for the effect it was destined 
 to produce. 59 "If the people see clearly what 
 is true," thought he, " they will at once dis- 
 cern what is false." This maxim is good in 
 the commencement of a reformation, but a 
 time arrives when error must be boldly de- 
 nounced. Zwingle well knew this. "The 
 spring," said he, "is the season for sowing 
 our seed." It was then seed time with him. 
 
 Zwingle has marked this period as the 
 dawn of the Swiss Reformation. Four years 
 before, he had bent over God's book ; and he 
 now raised his head and turned toward the 
 people to impart to them the light he had re- 
 ceived from it. It was a new and important 
 epoch in the development of the religious 
 revolution of these countries; but it is a mis- 
 taken conclusion to infer that Zwingle's re- 
 formation preceded Luther's. Zwingle may 
 possibly have preached the Gospel a year pre- 
 vious to the theses of Luther, but the Gospel 
 was preached by Luther himself four years 
 before those celebrated propositions. If Lu- 
 ther and Zwingle had done nothing but preach, 
 the Reformation would not have so soon spread 
 through the Church. The one and the other 
 was neither the first monk, nor the first priest 
 who taught a purer doctrine than the scholas- 
 tic teachers; but Luther was the first who 
 boldly and publicly raised the standard of 
 truth against prevailing error, and invited 
 general attention to the fundamental doctrine 
 of the Gospel, salvation by grace; thus intro- 
 ducing his generation to that path of know- 
 ledge, faith, and life, from which a new world 
 has arisen, and commencing a rea! and saving 
 change. The great battle, of which the sig- 
 nal was given in the theses of 1517, was the 
 true parent of the Reformation, and gave to it 
 both its soul ad its form. Luther was the 
 earliest of the Reformers. 
 
 A spirit of inquiry was beginning to breathe 
 on the Swiss mountains. One day the curate 
 of Claris, being in the lovely country of Mol- 
 lis, at the house of Adam the curate of the 
 place in company with Binzli, curate of We- 
 sen, and Varchon, curate of Kerensen, the 
 party of friends found an old liturgy in which 
 they read these words, "After the child is 
 baptized, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
 and the cup is to be given him. " -" Then," 
 remarked Zwingle, " the Supper was at that 
 time given under both kinds!" The liturgy 
 in question was about two centuries old. 
 This was a grand discovery for the priests 
 of the Alps. 
 
 The defeat at Marignan produced the con- 
 sequences that were to be expected in the j 
 
 remoter cantons. The victorious Francis I. 
 lavished gold and flattery to win over the 
 confederates; and the Emperor adjured them 
 by their honour, by the tears of widows and 
 orphans, and the blood of their brethren, not 
 to sell their services to their murderers. The 
 French party prevailed in Glari,?, and his re- 
 sidence in the country became from that time 
 a burthen to TJlric. 
 
 At Claris, Zwingle might have remained a 
 man of his own age. Party intrigue, poliiical 
 prejudices, the Empire, France, the Duke of 
 Milan, might have almost absorbed his life. 
 God never leaves in the tumult of the world 
 those whom he is training for the people. 
 He leads them aside, he sets them in soli- 
 tude, where they may feel themselves in his 
 presence, and gather inexhaustible instruc- 
 tion. The Son of God himself, the type in 
 that particular of his denlings with his ser- 
 vants, passed forty days in the desert. The 
 time had come when Zwingle was to be de- 
 livered from the turmoil of his political agita- 
 tion, which by constant passage through his 
 soul would have quenched the Spirit of God. 
 It was time that he should be disciplined for 
 another stage than that whereon figured cour- 
 tiers and factions, and on which he might 
 have been tempted to waste an energy worthy 
 of better aims. His country stood in need of 
 a very different service. It was necessary 
 that a new life should at this time descend 
 from heaven, and that he who was to be 
 the instrument in communicating it to others 
 should himself unlearn the things of time. 
 These two spheres are entirely distinct; a 
 wide space separates these two worlds; and 
 before passing from the one to the other, 
 Zwingle was to halt for a while en a neutral 
 territory, a middle and preparatory ground, 
 there to be taught of God. God at this time 
 took him from the centre of the factions of 
 Claris, and led him, for his noviciate, to the 
 solitude of a hermitage. Thus was the hope- 
 ful promise of the Reformation, which ere 
 long was to be transplanted to another soil, 
 and to cover the mountains with its shadow, 
 shut up in the narrow enclosure of the walls 
 of an abbey. 
 
 About the middle of the ninth century, a 
 wayfaring monk, Meinrad of Hohenzollern, 
 had passed between the lakes of Zurich and 
 Wallstetten, and resting on a little hill in 
 front of an amphitheatre of fir trees, had con- 
 structed there his cell . Outlaws had imbrued 
 their hands in the blood of the saint. For a 
 long time the blood-stained cell was deserted. 
 But towards the end of the tenth century, a 
 convent and church, in honour of the Virgin, 
 was built on this sacred spot. On the eve of 
 the day appointed for its consecration, the 
 Bishop of Constance and his priests were at 
 prayers in the church when a heavenly 
 chaunt, proceeding from some invisible be- 
 ings, suddenly resounded in the chapel. 
 They listened prostrate and amazed. Next 
 day, as the bishop was about to consecrate 
 the chapel, a voice three times repeated, 
 " Stop ! Stop ! God himself lias consecrated 
 
224 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 it." 61 Christ in person, it was said, had pro- 
 nounced his blessing on it during the night; 
 the hymns heard were those of the angels, 
 apostles, and saints ; and the Virgin had ap- 
 peared for an instant like a flash of lightning 
 on the altar. A bull of Leo VIII. forbade the 
 faithful to doubt the truth of this legendary 
 tale. P^rom that time a vast crowd of pil- 
 grims poured incessantly to our Lady of the 
 Eremites for the consecration of the angels. 
 Delphi and Ephesus in former ages, and Lo- 
 retto in modern times, have alone equalled the 
 renown of Einsidlen. It was in this singular 
 scen.e that Ulric Zwingle was, in 15 16, called 
 to be priest and preacher. 
 
 Zwingle did not hesitate. "I am neither 
 swayed by ambition, nor the love of gain," 
 said he, " but driven by the intrigues of the 
 French." 62 Motives of a higher kind concur 
 to decide him. On the one hand being more 
 retired, having more quiet, and a charge of 
 less extent, he will have more time for study 
 and meditation. On the other hand, this re- 
 sort of pilgrims will afford him opportunity 
 for diffusing to the most distant lands the 
 knowledge of Christ. 63 
 
 The friends of the gospel at Glaris loudly 
 expressed their grief. " What worse could 
 have befallen Glaris," said Peter Tschudi, 
 one of the most distinguished citizens of the 
 canton, "than to lose so valuable a man." 64 
 His parishioners, seeing his inflexibility, re- 
 solved to continue to him the name of pastor 
 of Glaris, with a part of the stipend, and the 
 power of returning to it whenever he would. 65 
 
 Conrad of Reichberg, a gentleman de- 
 scended from an ancient family, of serious, 
 open-hearted, intrepid, and sometimes stern 
 manners, was one of the best known hunts- 
 men of the country whither Zwingle was go- 
 ing. He had establ ished on one of his estates 
 a stud for the breeding of horses, which be- 
 came famous in Italy. This man was the Jib- 
 hot of Our Lady of the Eremites. Reichberg 
 held in equal aversion the pretensions of Rome, 
 and theological controversy. When one, on 
 occasion of a visitation of the order, made 
 some remarks : " I am master here and not 
 you," answered he abruptly ; " go about your 
 business." Another time, w T hen Leo Juda 
 was discussing some subject at table with the 
 administrator of the convent, the hunting Ab- 
 bot exclaimed : " Let me put an end to your 
 disputings : I say with David, Have merer/ 
 upon me, God! according to thy loving kind- 
 ness .- Enter not into judgment with thy servant ! 
 and I want to know nothing more." 66 
 
 The Baron Theobald de Geroldsek was 
 administrator of the monastery. He was of 
 mild character, sincerely pious, and fond of 
 learning. His favourite scheme was to col- 
 lect in his convent a society of learned men. 
 With this view he had invited Zwingle. 
 Eager for instruction, he entreated his new 
 friend to direct his studies. "Read the Holy 
 Scriptures," answered Zwingle, " and for the 
 better understanding them, consult St. Je- 
 rome." "And yet," he continued, "a time 
 is coming (and- soon too, with God's help,) 
 
 when Christians will think little of St. Jerome? 
 or any other teacher, but the Word of God." 67 
 The conduct of Geroldsok exhibited evidence 
 of his progress in the faith. He gave per- 
 mission to the nuns of a nunnery attached 
 to Einsidlen to read the Bible in the vulgar 
 tongue, and some years after he took up his 
 abode at Zurich, in Zwingle's neighbourhood, 
 and died on the plain of Cappel. The same 
 attraction soon united to Zwingle the worthy 
 QExlin, Lucas, and other inmates of the abbey 
 walls. These studious men, remote from the 
 clamours of party, were accustomed to read 
 together the Scriptures, the Fathers, the mas- 
 terpieces of antiquity, and the writings of the 
 restorers of learning. It often happened that 
 friends from distant parts joined their interest- 
 ing circle. One day Capito, among others, 
 arrived on a visit to Einsidlen. The two 
 friends, renewing the connexion formed at 
 Baden, together went round the convent and 
 its wild environs, absorbed in conversation 
 touching the Scripture and the will of God. 
 On one point they were agreed ; it was that 
 the Pope must fall! Capito was at that time 
 a braver man than he was at a later date. 
 
 In this quiet retreat, Zwingle had rest, lei- 
 sure, books, and friends ; and he grew in un- 
 derstanding and in faith. Then it was (May 
 1507,) that he applied himself to a task that 
 was very useful to him. As in early times, 
 the kings of Israel with their own hands 
 transcribed the law of God, so Zwingle copied 
 out the Epistles of St. Paul. There were then 
 none but cumbrous editions of the New Tes- 
 tament, and Zwingle wished to be able to 
 carry it always about him.* He learnt by 
 heart the whole of the Epistles; then the re- 
 maining books of the New Testament ; and 
 after that portions of the Old. Thus did his 
 heart cleave more and more to the supreme 
 authority of God's W T ord. Not satisfied with 
 acknowledging its supremacy he formed the 
 resolution to subject his life to it in sincerity. 
 Gradually his walk became in every thing 
 more Christian. The purpose for which he 
 had been brought into this wilderness was 
 then accomplishing. Doubtless it was not 
 till his visit to Zurich that the Christian life 
 penetrated his soul with power; but already 
 at Einsidlen his progress in sanctification 
 was evident. At Glaris he had been seen to 
 take part in worldly amusements; at Ein- 
 sidlen he was more noticeable for purity of 
 manners and freedom from every stain and 
 from every kind of worldliness : be began to 
 see the great spiritual interests of the people, 
 and by slow degrees learned what God would 
 teach him. 
 
 Providence had besides other purposes in 
 bringing him to Einsidlen. He was to have 
 a nearer view of the superstitions and corrup- 
 tions which had invaded the Church. The 
 image of the Virgin, carefully preserved in 
 the monastery, it was alleged had the power 
 of working miracles. Over the gate of the 
 abbey might be read this pompous inscription 
 
 ' This manuscript is in the library of Zurich. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 225 
 
 "Here may be obtained complete remission | they had brought to present to the Virgin, 
 ot sins." A multitude of pilgrims from all A crowd of pilgrims returned to their native 
 parts of Christendom flocked to Einsidlen, 
 
 to 
 
 that they might obtain this grace for their pil- 
 grimage. The church, the abbey, the whole 
 valley, was crowded on occasion of the fete 
 of the Virgin, with her devout worshippers. 
 But it was especially on the grand fete of the 
 consecration of the angels, that the crowd 
 thronged the hermitage. Long files, to the 
 number of several thousands of both sexes, 
 climbed the steep sides of the mountain lead- 
 ing to the oratory, singing hymns, or counting 
 the beads of their chaplets. These devout 
 pilgrims forced their way into the church, be- 
 lieving themselves nearer to God there than 
 any where else. 
 
 Zwingle's residence at Einsidlen had simi- 
 lar effects to those attending Luther's visit to 
 Rome, in admitting him to a closer view of 
 the corruptions of the Papacy. It was there 
 his education, as a Reformer, was completed. 
 The seriousness his soul had acquired soon 
 manifested itself in outward action. Affected 
 at the sight of so many evils, he resolved to 
 oppose them energetically. He did not falter 
 between his conscience and his interest. He 
 boldly stood up, and his powerful eloquence 
 fearlessly attacked the superstition of the 
 crowd that surrounded him. " Think not," 
 said he, speaking from his pulpit, "that God 
 is in this temple more than in any other part 
 of creation. Wherever he has fixed your 
 dwelling he encompasses you, and hears you 
 as much as at our Lady at Einsidlen. What 
 power can there be in unprofitable works, 
 weary pilgrimages, offerings, prayers to the 
 Virgin and the saints, to secure you the fa- 
 vour of God ? What signify the multiplying 
 of words in prayer? What efficacy in the 
 cowl, or shaven crown, or priestly garments 
 falling, and adorned with gold ! God looks 
 upon the heart and our heart is far off from 
 God." 68 
 
 But Zwingle was resolved to do more tfian 
 resist superstition; he sought to satisfy the 
 ardent desire after reconciliation with God, 
 which urged on some of the pilgrims that 
 flocked to the chapel of our Lady of Einsid- 
 len. " Christ," he cried, like the Baptist from 
 another wilderness of Judea; "Christ, who 
 offered himself on the cross once for all, is 
 the sacrifice and victim which satisfies for all 
 eternity, for the sins of all believers." 69 Thus 
 Zwingle went forward. From the hour, when 
 so bold a style of preaching was heard in the 
 most venerated sanctuary in Switzerland, the 
 banner of resistance to Rome was more dis- 
 tinctly visible above its mountains : and there 
 was a kind of earthquake of reformation which 
 moved its very foundations. 
 
 In truth, an universal astonishment took 
 possession of men's minds at the sound of 
 
 the eloquent priest's sermons. Some with- 
 drew with horror; others fluctuated between 
 the faith of their fathers and the doctrine that 
 wa to give them peace; many were led 
 that Jesus who was declared to be full of 
 mercy, and took away with them the tapers 
 
 places, everywhere announcing the tidings 
 they had heard at Einsidlen. " Christ ALONE 
 saves us, and he saves EVERYWHERE !" It 
 often happened that troops of pilgrims, as- 
 tonished at what they thus heard recounted, 
 turned back without completing their pil- 
 Trimage. The worshippers of Mary were 
 every day fewer. It was from their offerings 
 ;he revenue of Zwingle and of Geroldsek was 
 drawn. But the bold witness for the truth 
 was too happy to see himself impoverished, 
 while thus, spiritually, making many rich. 
 
 On Easter Sunday, 1518, among the nume- 
 rous hearers of Zwingle was a learned man, 
 of gentle character and active charity, named 
 Gaspard Hedio, a doctor of divinity at Bale. 
 Zwingle preached on the history of the man 
 taken with palsy, (Luke v.) in which occurs 
 our Lord's declaration: ** The Son of Man 
 hath power on earth to forgive sins," a passage 
 well suited to strike the crowd assembled in 
 the church of the Virgin. The preacher's 
 discourse moved, delighted, and inspired the 
 whole assembly ; and in an especial manner 
 the doctor of Bale. 70 Long afterwards Hedio 
 would express his admiration : " How beau- 
 tiful and profound ! how grave and convinc- 
 ing ! how moving and agreeable to the Gospel 
 was that discourse !" said he. " How it re- 
 minds one of the fvspyia, (force) of the an- 
 cient doctors." 71 From that moment Hedio 
 admired and loved Zwingle. 72 He longed to 
 go to him and open his heart; he lingered 
 about the abbey without daring to make ad- 
 vances, restrained, as he tells us, by a sort of 
 superstitious fear. Mounting his horse, he 
 slowly departed from our Lady's chapel, look- 
 ing back on a spot which held so great a trea- 
 sure, with the warmest regret. 73 
 
 In this manner did Zwingle preach ; less 
 powerfully, no doubt, but with more mode- 
 ration, and no less success than Luther; he 
 avoided precipitation, and gave less offence 
 to men's minds than the Saxon monk; he 
 trusted to the power of Truth for results. 
 The same prudence marked his intercourse 
 with the dignitaries of the Church. Far 
 from directly opposing them, like Luther, 
 he continued long on friendly terms with 
 them. They treated him with respect, not 
 only on account of his learning and talents, 
 (and Luther would have been entitled to 
 equal attention from the Bishops of Mentz 
 and Brandeburg) but still more on account 
 of his devotion to the Pope's political views, 
 and the influence that, such a man as Zwingle 
 must needs possess in a republic. 
 
 In fact, several cantons, weary of the Pope's 
 service, were on the point of a rupture. But 
 the Legates hoped to retain many on their 
 side by gaining Zwingle, as they had gained 
 
 over Erasmus, by pensions and honours. 
 The Legates, Ennius and Pucci, often visited 
 Einsidlen, where, from the proximity of the 
 to democratic cantons, their negociations with 
 those states were most easy. But Zwingle, 
 far from sacrificing truth to the solicitations 
 
226 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and bribes of Rome, allowed no opportunity to 
 pass of defending 1 the Gospel. The famous 
 Schinner, who was then on ill terms with 
 his diocese, spent some time at Einsidlen. 
 "The whole Papacy," remarked Zwingle, in 
 conversation with him, "rests on bad foun- 
 dations. 74 Do you begin and clear away er- 
 rors and corruptions, or else you will see the 
 whole fabric come tumbling to the ground 
 with frightful noise." 75 
 
 He spoke with the same frankness to the 
 Legate Pucci. Four times did he return to 
 the charge. "By God's help," said he, "I 
 mean to preach the Gospel, and that will 
 shake Rome :" and then he went on to ex- 
 plain what was needed in order to save the 
 Church. Pucci promised every thing, but 
 did nothing. Zwingle declared his intention 
 to throw up the Pope's pension, but the Le- 
 gate entreated him to retain it. As he had 
 no desire to appear in open hostility against 
 the head of the Church, Zwingle continued in 
 receipt of it for three years. " But do not 
 think," said he, "that for any money I will 
 suppress a single syllable of truth." 7 ** Pucci, 
 in alarm, procured the nomination of the Re- 
 former as acolyte of the Pope. It was a step 
 to further honours. Rome sought to intimi- 
 date Luther by solemn judgments; and to 
 win Zwingle by her favours. Against one 
 she hurled excommunications; to the other 
 she cast her gold and splendours. They 
 were two different methods for attaining the 
 same end, and sealing the daring lips which 
 presumed, in opposition to the Pope's plea- 
 sure, to proclaim the word of God in Germa- 
 ny and Switzerland. The last device was 
 the most skilfully conceived, but neither 
 was successful. The enlarged hearts of the 
 preachers of the Gospel were shewn to be 
 above the reach of vengeance or seduction. 
 
 About this time, Zwingle conceived great 
 hopes of another Swiss prelate. This was 
 Hugo of Landenberg, Bishop of Constance. 
 Landenberg gave directions for a general 
 visitation of the churches, but being a man 
 of very feeble character, he allowed himself 
 to be overruled, sometimes by Faber his vicar, 
 at others by a bad woman, from whose in- 
 fluence he could not extricate himself. He 
 sometimes seemed to honour the Gospel ; 
 and yet, if any one preached it boldly, he 
 looked upon the preacher as a disturber. He 
 was one of those men too often met with in 
 the church, who, preferring truth' to error, are 
 nevertheless more tender of error than con- 
 cerned for truth ; and are frequently found at 
 last opposed to those in whose ranks they 
 ought to be contending. Zwingle applied to 
 Hugo; but in vain. He was doomed to ex- 
 perience, as Luther had done, that it was use- 
 less to invoke the assistance of the heads of 
 the Church ; and that the only way to revive 
 Christianity was to act the part of a faithful 
 teacher of God's word. The opportunity for 
 this was not long delayed. 
 
 in 1518, a barefooted Carmelite arrived 
 on the heights of St. Gothard, in those ele- 
 vated passes which have been with difficulty 
 
 opened across the steep rocks that separate 
 Switzerland from Italy. This man had been 
 brought up in an Italian convent, and was the 
 bearer of Papal indulgences, which he was 
 commissioned to sell to the good Christian 
 people of the Helvetic league. Brilliant suc- 
 cesse>s under two preceding Popes had made 
 him notorious for this shameful traffic. Com 
 panions of his journey, whose business it was 
 to puff off his wares, accompanied his advance 
 across snows and ice-fields, as old as creation 
 itself. The caravan, miserable in its appear- 
 ance, and a good deal resembling a troop of 
 adventurers in quest of booty, went forward 
 to the sound of the dashing streams that form 
 by their confluence the rivers Rhine, Reuss, 
 Aar, Rhone, Tessino, and others, silently 
 meditating the spoiling of the simple Swiss. 
 Samson, for that was the name of the Car- 
 melite, attended by his company, arrived first 
 at Uri, and commenced their trade. They 
 had soon made an end with these poor coun- 
 try folks, and removed thence to the canton 
 of Schwitz. It was there Zwingle was re- 
 siding; and there it was that the contest 
 between these servants of two widely differ- 
 ent masters was to begin. " I am empowered 
 to remit all sins!" said the Italian monk (the 
 Tetzel of Switzerland) to the people of 
 Schwitz. "Heaven and earth are subject 
 to my authority; and I dispose of Christ's 
 merits to whoever will purchase them, by 
 bringing me their money for their indul- 
 gence." 
 
 When tidings of this discourse reached 
 Zwingle, his zeal was kindled, and he 
 preached vehemently. "Christ," said he, 
 "the Son of God, says, Come unto me all ye. 
 who labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest. What audacious folly and 
 madness is it then to say, contradicting him: 
 ' Buy letters of indulgence, apply to Rome, 
 give yonr money to the monks, sacrifice 
 to the priests! 77 -if you do these things, I will 
 absolve you from your sins.' Christ is the 
 one offering! Christ is the only sacrifice! 
 Christ is the only way !" 78 
 
 Throughout Schwitz people soon spoke of 
 Samson as a cheat and impostor. He took 
 the road to Zug; and, for the moment, the 
 two champions missed each other. 
 
 Scarcely had Samson taken his departure 
 from Schwitz, when a citizen of that canton 
 named Stapfer, who was much respected, and 
 afterwards public secretary, was suddenly 
 reduced, with his family, to a state of total 
 destitution. "Alas!" said he, addressing 
 himself in his perplexity to Zwingle, "I 
 know not how to satisfy my hunger and the 
 wants of my poor children." 79 Zwingle could 
 give when Rome would take; and he was as 
 ready to do good works, as he was to oppose 
 those who inculcated them as means by which 
 we, are saved. He daily supplied Stapfer 
 with support. 80 "It is God," said he, intent 
 on taking no credit to himself, "it is God 
 who begets charity in the believer, and gives 
 at once the first thought, the resolve, and the 
 work itself: it is God who does it by his own 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 227 
 
 power." 81 Stapfer's affection for him lasted 
 till death ; and four years after this, when 
 he filled the post of Secretary of Schwitz, 
 he turned to Zwingle under the feeling of a 
 higher want, and with noble candour said, 
 "Since it was you who once supplied my 
 temporal need, how much more may I expect 
 you may give me that which shall satisfy the 
 famine of my soul." 
 
 The friends of Zwingle multiplied daily. 
 It was no longer at Glaris, Bale, and Schwitz, 
 that persons were found whose hearts were 
 with him: at Uri, there was Schmidt the 
 secretary ; at Zug, Colin Muller, and Werner 
 Steiner, his old companion in arms at Marig- 
 nan; at Lucerne, Xyloctect and Kilchrneyer; 
 at Bienne, Wittemhach; and in other parts 
 not a few. But the curate of Einsidlen had 
 no more devoted friend than Oswald Myco- 
 nius. Oswald had quitted Bale in 1516 to 
 take the direction of the cathedral school at 
 Zurich. At this period that city possessed 
 neither learned men nor schools. Oswald 
 laboured , in conjunction with several benevo- 
 lent persons, to reclaim the people of Zurich 
 from their ignorance, and initiate them in an- 
 cient learning. He at the same time defended 
 the uncompromising truth of holy Scripture, 
 and declared that if the Pope or the Emperor- 
 should enjoin what was contrary to the Gos- 
 pel, it was man's duty to obey God alone, 
 who is above Emperor or Pope. 
 
 Seven centuries before, Charlemagne had 
 added a college of canons to that same cathe- 
 dral, the school attached to which was placed 
 under Oswald Myconius. These canons hav- 
 ing declined from their first institution, and 
 wishing to enjoy their benefices in the sweets 
 of indolence, had adopted the custom of elect- 
 ing a preacher, to whom they delegated the 
 duty of preaching and the cure of souls. This 
 post became vacant shortly after the arrival 
 of Oswald, who immediately thought of his 
 friend. What a blessing it would be to Zu- 
 rich ! Zwingle's manners and appearance 
 were prepossessing; he was a handsome 
 man, 82 of polite address, and pleasing conver- 
 sation, already remarked for his eloquence, 
 and distinguished among all the confederated 
 Swiss for his brilliant genius. Myconius 
 spoke of him to the provost of the chapter, 
 Felix Frey, who was prepossessed by the 
 manners and talents of Zwingle; 83 to Utinger, 
 an old man much respected, and to the canon 
 Hoffman, a man of upright and open charac- 
 ter, who having for a long time opposed the 
 foreign service cf the Swiss, was favourably 
 inclined toward Ulric. Other inhabitants 
 of Zurich had, on different occasions, heard 
 Zwingle at Einsidlen, and had returned home 
 full of admiration. The approaching election 
 of a preacher for the cathedral ere long put 
 every body in Zurich in motion. Various in- 
 terests were started : many laboured night 
 and day to promote the election of the elo- 
 quent preacher of our Lady of the Eremites. 84 
 Myconius apprized his friend of it. " On 
 Wednesday next," answered Zwingle, "I 
 am going to dine at Zurich, and we will talk 
 30 
 
 it over." He came accordingly. Calling on 
 one of the canons the latter inquired : " Could 
 you not come amongst us and preach the word 
 of God?" "I could," answered Zwingle, 
 "but I will not come unless invited ;" and 
 forthwith he returned to his monastery. 
 
 This visit alarmed his enemies. They per- 
 suaded several priests to offer themselves as 
 candidates for the vacant post. A Suabian, 
 named Lorenzo Fable, even preached a ser- 
 mon in proof of his talent ; and a report pre- 
 vailed that he was chosen. "True it is, then," 
 said Zwingle when he heard it, "no prophet 
 is honoured in his own country; since a 
 Suabian is preferred before a Swiss. I see 
 what popular applause is worth." 85 Imme- 
 diately afterwards Zwingle received intelli- 
 gence from the secretary of Cardinal Schinner 
 that the election had not taken place; never- 
 theless the false report that had reached him 
 piqued the curate of Einsidlen. Finding one 
 so unworthy as Fable aspiring to fill the 
 office, he was the more bent on obtaining it, 
 and wrote to Myconius on the subject. Os- 
 wald answered the following day. "Fable 
 will continue Fable.- the good folks who will 
 have to decide the election, have learned that 
 he is the father of six sons, and is besides 
 possessed of I can't tell how many benefices." 83 
 
 Zwingle's opponents were not discouraged ; 
 true, all agreed in extolling his distinguished 
 acquirements; 87 butsorne said, "he is too pas- 
 sionately fond of music;" others, "he is fond 
 of company and pleasure;" others again, "he 
 was in his youth very intimate with people 
 of loose morals." One man even charged 
 him with having been guilty of seduction. 
 This was mere calumny : yet Zwingle, al- 
 though more innocent than the ecclesiastics 
 of his age, had more than once, in the first 
 years of his ministry, given way to the pas- 
 sions of youth. It is not easy to estimate 
 the effect upon the soul of the atmosphere 
 in which it lives. There existed under the 
 Papacy, and among the clergy, disorders that 
 were established, allowed, and recognised, as 
 agreeable to the laws of nature. A saying 
 of ^Eneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II., 
 gives some notion of the wretched state of 
 public morals at this period. 88 Licentiousness 
 had become almost every where allowed. 
 
 Oswald exerted all his activity in his 
 friend's favour. He laboured to the utmost 
 to clear his character, and happily succeeded. 89 
 He visited the burgomaster Roust, Hoffman, 
 Frey, and Utinger. He extolled the probity, 
 the frankness, and deportment of Zwingle, 
 and confirmed the favourable impression that 
 he had made on the people of Zurich. But 
 little credence was given to the assertions of 
 his adversaries. The men of most weight 
 gave their judgment that Zwingle should he 
 the preacher of Zurich. The canons whis 
 pered the same thing. "You may hope for 
 success," wrote Oswald with emotion, " for 
 I have hopes of it." At the same time he 
 apprised him of the charges of his enemies. 
 Although Zwingle was not yet altogether a 
 new man, his was the soul of one whose cort- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 science is awakened, and who may fall into 
 sin, but never without struggle and remorse. 
 Often had he determined to live a holy life, 
 alone among his order, in the world. But 
 when he heard himself accused he would not 
 boast of exemption from sin. Accordingly he 
 vrote to the canon U linger. "With none to ! 
 walk with me in the path of holiness (many 
 even of those about me being offended at it,) 
 1 did alas! fall; and, as St. Peter says, 
 turned again, like a dog, to my own vomit. 90 
 God knows with what shame and anguish I 
 have dragged forth into light these sins from 
 the depths of my heart, and spread them be- 
 fore that mighty God, to whom I, however, 
 confess my wretchedness more freely than to 
 mortal man." 91 But while Zwingle acknow- 
 ledged himself a sinner, he vindicated him- 
 self from the odious charges brought against 
 him, and affirmed that he had ever abhorred 
 the thought of adultery, or the seduction of 
 the innocent; 92 -melancholy excesses ! then 
 too common : " I call to witness," he added, 
 "all with whom I ever lived." 93 
 
 On the llth of December the election took 
 place. Zwingle was chosen by a majority 
 of seventeen out of twenty-four votes. The 
 time had come for the Reformation to arise 
 in Switzerland. The chosen instrument that 
 Providence had been for three years preparing 
 in the seclusion of Einsidlen was ready, and 
 was to be transferred to another scene. God, 
 who had made choice of the rising university 
 of Witteniberg, situate in the heart of Ger- 
 many, under the protection of the wisest of 
 princes, there to call Luther, made a choice 
 of Zurich, esteemed the chief town of Hel- 
 vetia, there to fix Zwingle. At Zurich he 
 would be in communication not merely with 
 the most intelligent and simple-minded, the 
 most resolute and energetic, of the Swiss 
 population, but also with the various cantons 
 that lay around that ancient and influential 
 state. The hand that had taken up a poor 
 herdsman of mount Sentis, and placed him 
 in a preparatory school, now established 
 him, mighty in word and in deed, in the 
 face of all his nation, that he might become 
 the instrument of its regeneration. Zurich 
 was to become the focus of illumination for 
 the whole of Switzerland. 
 
 To the inmates of Einsidlen, the day on 
 which they received the tidings of Zwingle's 
 nomination was a day of rejoicing and grief 
 intermingled. The society which had been 
 formed there was about to be broken up by 
 the removal of its most valuable member; 
 and who could tell whether superstition might 
 not again assert her sway over that ancient 
 haunt of the pilgrim "\ The Council of Schwitz 
 transmitted to Ulric an address, expressive of 
 their sentiments, in which they styled him 
 "their reverend, learned, and very gracious 
 master and worthy friend." 94 " Choose for us 
 at least a successor worthy of yourself," said 
 Geroldsek to Zwingle. " I have a little lion 
 for you, he replied, who is both simple-hearted 
 and wise; a man conversant with the mys- 
 teries of Holy Writ." " I will have him," 
 
 said the administrator immediately. This 
 was Leo Juda, that mild yet intrepid man, 
 with whom Zwingle had contracted so close 
 a fellowship at Bale. Leo Juda accepted a 
 charge which brought him nearer to his be- 
 loved Ulric. The latter, after embracing his 
 friends, bade farewell to the solitude of Ein- 
 sidlen, and pursued his journey to that de- 
 lightful region, where the cheerful and goodly 
 city of Zurich is seated, amidst an amphi- 
 theatre of gentle hills, whose sides are 
 clothed with vineyards, and their feet be- 
 decked with meadows and orchards, while 
 over their wooded crests are descried the 
 lofty summits of the distant Albis. Zurich, 
 the political centre of Switzerland, where the 
 leading men of the nation were frequently as- 
 sembled, was a point from which the Helvetic 
 territory might be acted on, and the seeds of 
 truth scattered over the whole of the cantons. 
 Accordingly the friends of literature and of 
 the Gospel hailed the election of Zwingle 
 with their heartiest acclamations. At Paris, 
 especially, the Swiss students, who were a 
 numerous body there, were transported with 
 joy at the tidings. 95 But if at Zurich, Zwingle 
 had the prospect of a mighty victory opened 
 to him, he had also to expect an arduous con- 
 flict. Glareanus wrote to him from Paris: 
 "I foresee that your learning will excite a 
 bitter hostility against you ; but take courage, 
 and, like Hercules, you will overcome all the 
 monsters you have to encounter." 96 
 
 It was on the 27th of December, 1518, that 
 Zwingle arrived at Zurich ; he alighted at the 
 hotel of Einsidlen. His welcome was a cor- 
 dial and honourable one 97 The chapter im- 
 mediately assembled to receive him, and he 
 was invited to take his place among his col- 
 leagues. Felix Frey presided ; the canons, 
 whether friendly or hostile to Zwingle, were 
 seated indiscriminately round their principal. 
 There was a general excitement throughout 
 the assembly ; every one felt, though proba- 
 bly he knew not why, that this new appoint- 
 ment was likely to have momentous results. 
 As the innovating spirit of the young priest 
 was regarded with apprehension, it was agreed 
 that the most important of the duties attached 
 to his new office should be distinctly pointed 
 out to him. "You will use your utmost 
 diligence," he was gravely admonished, "in 
 collecting the revenues of the chapter not 
 overlooking the smallest item. You will ex- 
 hort the faithful, both from the pulpit and in 
 the confessional, to pay all dues and tithes, 
 and to testify by their offerings the love which 
 they bear to the Church. You will be care- 
 ful to increase the income that arises from the 
 sick, from masses, and in general from all 
 ecclesiastical ordinances." The chapter add- 
 ed : "As to the administration of the sacra- 
 ments, preaching and personally watching 
 over the flock, these also are among the 
 duties of the priest. But for the performance 
 of these, you may employ a vicar to act in 
 your stead, especially in preaching. You 
 are to administer the sacraments only to 
 persons of distinction, and when especially 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 229 
 
 called upon: you are not allowed to admin- 
 ister them indiscriminately to people of all 
 ranks." 98 
 
 What regulations were these for Zwingle 
 to subscribe to! Money! money! nothing 
 but money ! Was it then for this that Christ 
 had appointed the ministry 1 Prudence, how- 
 ever stepped in to moderate his zeal : he knew 
 that it is impossible for the seed to be dropped 
 into the earth, and the tree to grow up, and 
 the fruit to be gathered all at once. Without 
 offering any remarks on the charge that had 
 been delivered to him, he modestly expressed 
 the nrratitude he felt for having been made the 
 object of so honourable a choice, and then pro- 
 ceeded to explain what were his intentions. 
 "The history of Jesus," said he, "has been 
 too long kept out of the people's view. It is 
 my purpose to lecture upon the whole of the 
 Gospel according to St. Matthew, 89 drawing 
 from the fountains of Scripture alone, sound- 
 ing all its depths, comparing text with text, 
 and putting up earnest and unceasing prayers, 
 that I may be permitted to discover what is 
 the mind of the Holy Spirit. 10 It is to the 
 glory of God, to the praise of his only Son, 
 to the salvation of souls, and their instruction 
 in the true faith, that I desire to consecrate 
 my ministry." 101 Language, so new to their 
 ears, made a deep impression on their chap- 
 ter. Some heard it with joy ; but the greater 
 part signified their disapproval of it. 102 " This 
 method of preaching is an innovation," cried 
 they; "one innovation will soon lead to an- 
 other; and where can we stop?" The canon 
 Hoffman, especially, thought it his duty to 
 prevent the fatal effects of an appointment 
 which he had himself promoted. "This ex- 
 pounding of Scripture," said he, "will do the 
 people more harm than good." "It is no 
 new method," replied Zwingle, "it is the old 
 one. Recollect St. Chrysostom's homiles 
 upon Matthew, and St. Augustine's upon 
 John. Besides, I will be cautious in all that 
 I say, and give no one cause to complain." 
 
 In abandoning the exclusive use of detach- 
 ed portions of the Gospels merely, Zwingle 
 was departing from the practice that had pre- 
 vailed since the days of Charlemagne, and 
 restoring the Holy Scriptures to their ancient 
 rights; he was connecting the Reformation, 
 even in the beginning of his ministry, with 
 the primitive times of Christianity, and pre- 
 paring for future ages a deeper study of the 
 Word of God. But more than this : the firm 
 and independent posture which he assumed 
 in relation to the Church, gave iitirnation 
 that his aim was extraordinary : his character 
 as a Reformer began npw to manifest itself 
 distinctly to the eyes of his countrymen; and 
 the Reformation consequently moved a step 
 onward. 
 
 Hoffman, having failed in the chapter, ad- 
 dressed a written request to the principal, that 
 lie would prohibit Zwingle from disturbing 
 the people in their faith. The principal sent 
 for the new preacher, and spoke to him in a 
 very affectionate tone. But no human power 
 could seal his lips. On the 31st of December, 
 
 he wrote to the Council of Claris, that ho 
 entirely relinqirshed the cure of souls, which, 
 by their favour, he had hitherto retained ; and 
 for the future he dedicated himself entirely to 
 Zurich, and the work which God was prepar- 
 ing for him in that city. 
 
 On Saturday, the first of January, 1519, 
 Zwingle, having on that day completed his 
 thirty-fifth year,' ascended the pulpit of the 
 cathedral. "The church was filled by a nu- 
 merous assemblage of persons desirous to 
 see a man who had already acquired cele- 
 brity, and to hear that new Gospel of which 
 every one was beginning to speak. " It is to 
 Christ," said Zwingle, " that I wish to guide 
 you, to Christ, the true spring of salvation. 
 This divine word is the only food that I seek 
 to minister to your hearts and souls." Ho 
 then announced that on the following day, 
 the first Sunday of the year, he would begin 
 to explain the Gospel according to Saint 
 Matthew. On the morrow, accordingly, the 
 preacher, and a still more numerous audito- 
 ry, were assembled in their places. Zwingle 
 opened the Gospel, the book that had so long 
 been sealed, and read the first page. Pass- 
 ing under review the history of the Patriarchs 
 and prophets (from the first chapter of Mat- 
 thew,) he expounded it in such a manner, that 
 all exclaimed in astonishment and delight 
 " We never heard the like of this before?' 103 
 
 He continued in this way to explain the 
 whole of St. Matthew according to the Greek 
 original. He showed how the explanation 
 and the application of the Bible were both to 
 be found in the very nature of man. Setting 
 forth the sublimest truths of the gospel in fa- 
 miliar language; his preaching adapted itself 
 to every class, to the wise and learned, as 
 well as the ignorant and simple. 104 He magni- 
 fied the infinite mercies of God the Father, 
 while he besought his hearers to put their 
 trust in Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. 1C5 At 
 the same time that he called them to repent- 
 ance by the most persuasive appeals, he com- 
 bated the errors which prevailed among his 
 countrymen by the most vigorous reasoning. 
 He raised a fearless voice against luxury, in- 
 temperance, extravagance in dress, injustice 
 to the poor, idleness, mercenary service in 
 war, and the acceptance of pensions from 
 foreign princes. "In the pulpit," says one 
 of his contemporaries, " he spared no one, 
 neither Pope, nor Emperor, nor Kings, nor 
 Dukes, nor Princes, nor Lords, not even the 
 Confederates. All the strength and all the 
 joy of his own heart were in God ; therefore 
 he exhorted the whole city of Zurich to trust 
 in none but Him." 106 "Never before had any 
 man been heard to speak with so much autho- 
 rity," says Oswald Myconius, who watched 
 the labours of his friend with joy and ardent 
 hope. 
 
 It was impossible that the Gospel could be 
 proclaimed in Zurich without effect. A 
 great and continually increasing multitude of 
 every class, but especially of the lower orders, 
 flocked to hear it. 107 Many of the citizens of 
 Zurich had ceased to attend public worship. 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 " I derive no benefit from the discourses of 
 these priests," was the frequent observation 
 of Fusslin, a poet and historian, as well as a 
 councillor of state ; "they do not preach the 
 things pertaining to salvation ; for they un- 
 derstand them not. Avarice and voluptuous- 
 ness are the only qualities I discover in them." 
 Henry Ranschlin, the state-treasurer, a dili- 
 gent reader of the Scriptures, entertained the 
 same sentiments. "The priests," said he, 
 " gathered together by thousands at the Coun- 
 cil of Constance .... to burn the best man 
 among them all." These distinguished men, 
 attracted by curiosity, came to hear Zwingle's 
 first lecture. The emotions which the preach- 
 er awakened in their minds, were successively 
 depicted in their countenances. " Glory be to 
 God," said they as they left the church ; "this 
 is a preacher of the truth. He w r ill be our 
 Moses ; to lead us forth from Egypt. 108 From 
 that hour they became the intimate friends of 
 the Reformer. " Ye rulers of this world," 
 said Fiisslin, " cease to persecute the doctrine 
 of Christ. After Christ the Son of God had 
 been put to death, fishermen were raised up to 
 publish his Gospel. And so now, if you 
 destroy the preachers of the truth, you will 
 see glass workers, and millers, and potters, 
 and founders, and shoemakers, and tailors, 
 starting up to teach in their stead." 109 
 
 At first there was but one cry of admira- 
 tion throughout Zurich, but when the first 
 burst of enthusiasm had subsided, the enemy 
 took heart again. Many well-meaning men, 
 alarmed by the thought of a Reformation, 
 gradually fell away from Zwingle. The vio- 
 lence of the monks, which for a brief space 
 had been suppressed, now broke out anew, 
 and the college of the canons resounded with 
 complaints. Zwingle remained immovable. 
 His friends, as they contemplated his courage, 
 recognised in their teacher the true spirit of 
 the apostolic age. 110 Among his enemies there 
 were some who jeered and mocked at him, 
 others who resorted to insulting threats; but 
 he endured all with the patience of a Chris- 
 tian. 111 " If we would win souls to Christ," he 
 often remarked, " we must learn to shut our 
 eyes against many things that meet us in our 
 way." 112 An admirable saying, which ought 
 not to pass unnoted. 
 
 His character, and his habitual deportment 
 towards his fellow-men, contributed as much 
 as his public ministrations to gain all hearts. 
 He was at once a true Christian and a true 
 republican. The equality of mankind was 
 with him no unmeaning phrase; it was in- 
 scribed on his heart, and his life was in 
 accordance with it. He had neither that 
 Pharisaical pride nor that monkish coarseness 
 by which men of simple and of refined taste 
 are alike disgusted; all acknowledged the 
 attraction of his manner, and found themselves 
 at ease in his society. Bold .and energetic 
 in the pulpit, he was affable to those whom 
 he met in the streets or public walks; he was 
 often seen in the places where the civic com- 
 panies or trading bodies held their meetings, 
 explaining to the burghers the leading arti- 
 
 cles of the Christian faith, or holding familiar 
 conversation with them. He accosted peasants 
 and patricians with the same cordiality. 
 " He invited the country-folks to dinner," 
 
 says one of his most violent enemies, "walked 
 
 I with them, talked to them about God, and 
 often put the devil into their hearts, and his 
 own writings into their pockets." His 
 example had such weight, that even the 
 town-councillors of Zurich would visit those 
 rustic strangers, supply them with refresh- 
 ment, go about the city with them, and pay 
 them all possible attention. 113 
 
 He continued to cultivate music, though 
 " with moderation," as Bullinger assures us; 
 nevertheless the adversaries of the Gospel 
 took advantage of this, and called him " the 
 evangelical lute-player and piper." 114 Faber, 
 on one occasion, reproved him for indulging 
 in this recreation. " My dear Faber," replied 
 Zwingle, with manly frankness, "thou know- 
 estnot. what music is. I do not deny that I 
 have learned to play the lute and the violin, 
 and other instruments; and at worst, they 
 serve me to quiet little children when they 
 cry; 115 but as for thee, thou art too holy for 
 music ! and dost thou not know, then, that 
 David was a cunning player on the harp, and 
 how he chased the evil spirit out of Saul ] 
 Oh ! if thy ears were but awake to the notes 
 of the celestial lute, the evil spirit of ambi- 
 tion and greediness of wealth, by which thou 
 art possessed, would in like manner depart 
 from thee." Perhaps there was something of 
 weakness in Zwingle's attachment to music; 
 yet it was in a spirit of open heartedness, and 
 evangelical liberty, that he cultivated an art 
 which religion has always connected with her 
 loftiest exercises. He composed the music 
 of several of his Christian lyrics, and was not 
 ashamed sometimes to touch his lute for the 
 amusement of the little ones of his flock. He 
 
 I displayed the same kindly disposition in his 
 demeanour towards the poor. "He ate and 
 drank," says one of his contemporaries, "with 
 all who invited him, he treated no one with 
 disdain, he was full of compassion for the 
 poor, and always composed and cheerful in 
 good or evil fortune. No calamity ever daunted 
 him, his speech was ever hopeful, his heart 
 ever stedfast." 116 Thus did Zwingle continually 
 enlarge the sphere of his influence, sitting 
 alternately at the poor man's scanty board, 
 and the banquet table of the great, as his 
 Master had done before Kim, and never, in 
 any situation, omitting an opportunity to fur- 
 ther the work with which God had entrusted 
 him. 
 
 From the same motive he was indefatigable 
 in study. From sun-rise until the hour of ten 
 he employed himself in reading, writing, or 
 translating; the Hebrew especially, during 
 that portion of the day occupied much of his 
 attention. After dinner he gave audience to 
 those who had any communication to make to 
 him, or stood in any need of his advice; he 
 walked out in company with his friends, and 
 visited his people. At two o'clock he resumed 
 
 i his walk. He took a short turn after suppej 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 231 
 
 and then began writing letters, which often 
 engaged him till midnight. He always read 
 and wrote standing, and never allowed the 
 customary allotment of his time to he dis- 
 turbed , except for some very'im portant cause. 117 
 
 But the efforts of one man were notenough. 
 He received a visit about this time from a 
 stranger named Lucian, who brought him 
 some of the works of the German Reformer. 
 Rhenanus, a scholar then resident at Bale, 
 and an unwearied propagator of Luther's 
 writings in Switzerland, had sent this man to 
 Zwingle. It had occurred to Rhenanus that 
 the hawking of books might be made a pow- 
 erful means of spreading the doctrines of the 
 Gospel. "Ascertain," said Rhenanus to 
 Zwingle, " whether this Lucian possesses a 
 sufficient share of discretion and address; if 
 it shall appear that he does, let him go from 
 city to city, from town to town, from village 
 1o village, nay from house to house, all over 
 Switzerland, carrying with him the writings 
 of Luther, and especially the exposition of the 
 Lord's Prayer, written for the laity. 113 The 
 more it is known, the mare purchasers will it 
 find. But be sure to let him take no other 
 books ; in his pack, for if he have none but 
 Luther's, he will sell them the faster." To 
 this expedient was many a Swiss family 
 indebted for the gleam of light that found an 
 entrance into their humble dwelling. There 
 was one book, however, which Zwingle should 
 have caused to be circulated before any of 
 Luther's the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 An opportunity of displaying his zeal in a 
 new field of service was soon afforded him. 
 Samson, the famous dealer in indulgences, 
 was journeying by slow stages toward Zurich. 
 This vender of disreputable wares had arrived 
 from Schwitz at Zug on the 20th of Septem- 
 ber, 1518, and had remained at Zug three 
 days. An immense crowd had gathered about 
 him in that town. Those of the poorest class 
 were the most eager of the throng, and thus 
 prevented the rich from making their way to 
 him. This did not suit the monk's purpose, 
 and accordingly one of his attendants kept 
 crying out to the populace : " Good people, 
 do not press forward so hard. Clear the way 
 for those who have money. We will do our 
 best afterwards to satisfy those who have 
 none." From Zug, Samson and his company 
 went on to Lucerne, from Lucerne to Un- 
 derwalden, and thence, passing through a 
 cultivated region of the Alps, with its rich 
 interjacent villages, skirting the everlasting 
 snows of the Oberland, and displaying their 
 Romish merchandise for sale in every inhabit- 
 ed spot of the loveliest district of Switzerland, 
 they arrived at length in the neighbourhood 
 of Berne. At first, the monk received an 
 intimation that he would hot be allowed to 
 enter the city ; but eventually, by the aid of 
 some interested auxiliaries within, he suc- 
 ceeded in gaining admission, and spread out 
 his stall in St. Vincent's church. He there 
 began to cry up his wares more loudly than 
 ever. "Here," said he to the rich, "are 
 indulgences on parchment, for one crown! 
 
 There," addressing himself to the poor, " are 
 absolutions on common paper, for two batz 
 only !" One day, a knight of high name, 
 Jacob von Stein, presented himself before him, 
 mounted on a prancing dapple-grey charger. 
 " Give me," said the knight, "an indulgence 
 for myself; for my troop, which is five hun- 
 dred strong; for all the vassals on my 
 domain of Belp; and for all my ancestors; 
 and I will give you in return this dapple grey 
 horse of mine." It was a high price to ask 
 for a horse. Nevertheless, the charger pleased 
 the barefooted Carmelite. The bargain was 
 struck, the beast was led into the monk's 
 stable, and all those souls were duly declared 
 to have been delivered forever from the pains 
 of hell. 119 On another occasion, a burgher ob- 
 tained from him for thirteen florins an indul- 
 gence, by virtue of which, his confessor was 
 authorized to absolve him, among other 
 things, from every kind of perjury. 120 Samson 
 was held in suck reverence, that the council- 
 lor, Von May, an old man of enlightened 
 mind,havingdropped some expressions against 
 him, was obliged to ask pardon of the haughty 
 monk on his knees. 
 
 The last day of his stay had now arrived. 
 A deafening clamour of bells gave warning to 
 the inhabitants of Berne that the monk was 
 about to take his departure. Sarnson was in 
 the church, standing on the steps of the high 
 altar. The canon, Henry Lupulus, Zwingle's 
 former master, officiated as his interpreter. 
 " When the wolf and the fox come abroad 
 together," said the canon Anselm, addressing 
 the Schultheiss von Watteville, " the wisest 
 plan for you, worshipful Sir, is to gather your 
 sheep and your geese with all speed into a 
 place of safety." But the monk cared little 
 for such remarks as these, which, moreover, 
 seldom reached his ears. "Fall on your 
 knees," said he to the superstitious crowd ; 
 "repeat three pater nosters and three ava 
 marias, and your souls will instantly be as 
 pure as they were at the moment of your 
 baptism." The multitude fell on their knees 
 forthwith. Then determined to outdo himself, 
 Samson cried out, " I deliver from the tor- 
 ments of purgatory and hell the souls of all 
 the people of Berne who have departed this 
 life, whatsoever may have been the manner or 
 the place of their death." These mountebanks, 
 like those who perform at fairs, always 
 reserved their most astounding feat for the 
 last. 
 
 Samson, now heavily laden with coin, 
 directed his course towards Zurich, through 
 the Argan and Baden. As he proceeded on 
 his journey, this Carmelite, who had made so 
 sorry a figure when he first crossed the Alps, 
 displayed an increasing pomp and pride of 
 retinue. The bishop of Constance, having 
 taken umbrage because he had not applied to 
 him to legalize his bulls, had forbidden aH the 
 curates of his diocese to open their churches to 
 him. At Baden, however, the curate did not 
 venture, to persevere in obstructing the holy 
 traffic. The monk's effrontery rose to a high- 
 er pitch. Pacing round the church-yard at 
 
232 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the head of a procession, he used to fix his j carrying him off, when some passers-by re- 
 eyes on some object in the air, while his cognised and rescued him. At the age of 
 acolytes were chaunting the hymn for the three years, he already knew the Lord's 
 dead, and pretending that he saw the liberated prayer and the Apostles' creed; and would 
 
 souls flying up from the church-yard towards 
 heaven, to cry out: "Ecce volant! Behold! 
 they fly !" One day a man, residing in the 
 neighbourhood, found his way into the tower 
 of the church and mounted to the belfry ; 
 presently a quantity of white feathers floated 
 in the air, and fell thickly on the astonished 
 procession : " Behold ! they fly !" cried the 
 waggish citizen of Baden, from his lofty 
 perch, still shaking more feathers, out of a 
 pillow that he had unripped. Many of the 
 bystanders laughed heartily at the jest'. 121 Sam- 
 son, on the contrary, was greatly incensed, 
 norcould he be appeased until assurances were 
 given him that the man was at times disorder- 
 ed in his intellect. He left Baden quite 
 crest-fallen. 
 
 Pursuing his journey, he arrived about the 
 end of February, 1519, at Bremgarten, whither 
 he had been invited by the Schultheiss, and 
 the second curate of the town, both of whom 
 had seen him at Baden. The dean of Brem- 
 garten, Bullinger, was a man, than whom 
 none, in all that country, stood higher in 
 public estimation. He was but ill-informed, it 
 is true, as to the errors of the Church, and 
 imperfectly acquainted with the word of God; 
 but his frank disposition, his overflowing 
 zeal, his eloquence, his liberality to the 
 poor, his willingness to do kind offices for his 
 humble neighbours, made him universally 
 beloved. In his youth he had formed a con- 
 
 often steal into the church, mount his father's 
 pulpit, gravely stand up there, and repeat at 
 the full pitch of his voice, " 1 believe in God 
 the Father, &c., &c." When he was twelve 
 years old, his parents sent him to the grammar 
 school of Emmeric, not without feelings of 
 strong apprehension, for those were dangerous 
 times for an inexperienced boy. Instances 
 were frequent of students, to whom the disci- 
 pline of a university appeared too severe, ab- 
 sconding from their college in troops, carrying 
 children along with them, and encamping in 
 the woods, whence they sent out the young- 
 est of their party to beg, or else, with arms in 
 their hands attacked travellers, plundered 
 them, and then consumed the fruit of their ra 
 pine in debauchery. Henry was happily pre- 
 served from evil in his new and distant abode 
 Like Luther, he gained his subsistence by 
 singing at the doors of houses, for his father 
 was resolved that he should learn to depend 
 on his own resources. He had reached the 
 age of sixteen when he first opened a New 
 Testament. "I there found," said he, " all 
 that is necessary for man's salvation, and from 
 that hour I came to the conclusion that we 
 must follow the Holy Scriptures alone, and 
 reject all human additions. 1 neither trust the 
 Fathers, nor myself; but I explain Scripture 
 
 by Scripture, addin< 
 nothing away." 122 Goc 
 
 nothing, and taking 
 was in this way train- 
 
 ing up the youth, who was afterwards to be 
 
 nection of aconscientious kind with the daugh- the successor of Zwingle. He is the author 
 ter of a councillor of the same town. Such was of that manuscript chronicle from which we 
 the custom with those members of the priest- 
 hood, who wished to avoid a life of profligacy. 
 Anna had brought him five children, and his 
 numerous family had in no degree diminished 
 the consideration in which the Dean was held. 
 There was not in all Switzerland a more hos- 
 pitable house than his. Being much addicted 
 to the chase, he was often seen, surrounded by 
 ten or a dozen dogs, and accompanied by the 
 lords of Hall wyll, the abbottof Mury, and the 
 partricians of Zurich, scouring the fields and 
 forests in his vicinity. He kept open house, 
 and not one among all his guests was a blither 
 man than himself. When the deputies, who 
 were sent to the Diet, passed through Brem- 
 garten, on their way to Baden, they never 
 failed to take their seats at the Dean's table. 
 Bullinger," said they, "keeps court like 
 
 some powerful baron." 
 Strangers, when they 
 
 visited the house, 
 
 were sure to remark a boy of intelligent as- 
 pect, whom they found among its inmates. 
 This was Henry, one of the Dean's sons. The 
 child in his earliest years passed through 
 many imminent perils. He had been seized 
 with the plague, and reduced to such extremi- 
 ty, that he was thought to be dead, and 
 preparations were making for his burial, 
 when, to the joy of his parents, he gave signs 
 that he was yet alive. At another time, a 
 vagrant enticed him from the house, and was 
 
 so frequently quote. 
 
 It was about this time that Samson arrived 
 at Bremgarten, with all his train. The stout- 
 hearted Dean, not in the least intimidated by 
 this little army of Italians, gave notice to the 
 monk that he must not vend his merchandise 
 within his jurisdiction. The Schultheiss, the 
 town-council, and the second pastor, all friends 
 of Samson, were assembled in a room of the 
 inn, where the latter had taken up his quar- 
 ters, and clustered in much perplexity round 
 the irritated monk. The Dean entered the 
 chamber. "Here are the Pope's bulls ! " said 
 the monk, " open your church to rne ! " 
 
 THE DEAN. "I will suffer no one, under 
 colour of unauthenticated letters like these 
 (for the bishop has not legalized them,) to 
 squeeze the purses of my parishioners." 
 
 THE MONK, in a solemn lone. " The Pope 
 is above the bishop. I charge you not to de- 
 prive your flock of so marvellous a grace." 
 
 THE DEAN. " W 7 ere it to cost me my life, 
 I will not open my church." 
 
 THK MONK, in great anger. "Rebellious 
 priest! in the name of our most holy lord, the 
 Pope, I pronounce against thee the greater 
 excommunication, nor will 1 grant thee ab- 
 solution until thou hast paid a penalty of three 
 hundred ducats for this unheard of presump- 
 tion." 
 
 THE DEAN, turning to go out again. " 1 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 233 
 
 am prepared to answer for myself before j 
 my lawful judges; as for thee, and thy ex- 
 communication, I have nothing to do with 
 either." 
 
 THE MONK, transported with rogr. 123 -"Head- 
 strong beast that thou art! I am going straight 
 to Zurich, and there I will lodge my com- 
 plaint with the deputies of the Confederation." 
 
 THE DEAN. " I can show myself there as 
 well as thou, and thither will I go." 
 
 While these things were passing at Brem- 
 garten, Zwingle, who saw the enemy gradu- 
 ally draw nigh, was preaching with great 
 vigour against indulgences. 124 The vicar, Faber 
 of Constance, encouraged him in this, and 
 promised him the support of the bishop. 125 "! 
 know," said Sampson, on his road to Zurich, 
 "that Zwingle will speak against me, but I 
 will stop his mouth." Assuredly, Zwingle 
 felt too deeply the sweetness of the pardoning 
 grace of Christ to refrain from attacking the 
 paper pardons of these presumptuous men. 
 Like Luther, he often trembled on account of 
 sin; but in the Saviour he found deliverance 
 from his fears. Humble, yet strong-minded, 
 he was continually advancing in the know- 
 ledge of the Lord. " When Satan," said he, 
 "attempts to terrify me, crying aloud: Lo! 
 this and that thou hast left undone, though 
 God has commanded it! the gentle voice of 
 the Gospel brings me instant comfort, for it 
 whispers: What thou canst not do (and of a 
 truth thou canst do nothing), that Christ 
 does for thee, and does it thoroughly." "Yes !" 
 continued the pious evangelist, "when my 
 heart is wrung with anguish by reason of my 
 impotence, and the weakness of the flesh, my 
 spirit revives at the sound of these joyful 
 words: Christ is thy sinlessness! Christ is 
 thy righteousness ! Christ is the Alphaand the 
 Omega ; Christ is the beginning and the end ; 
 Christ is all ; he can do all ! 126 All created 
 things will disappoint and deceive thee; but 
 Christ, the sinless and the righteous, will ac- 
 cept thee."" Yes, it is He," exclaimed 
 Zwingle, " who is our righteousness, and the 
 righteousness of all those who shall appear as 
 righteous forever before the throne of God !" 
 
 Confronted by truths like these, the indul- 
 gences could never stand : Zwingle, therefore, 
 hesitated not to attack them. "No man," 
 said he, " has power to remit sins, except 
 Christ alone, who is very God and very man 
 in one. 127 Go, if thou wilt, and buy indulgen- 
 ces. But be assured, that thou art in nowise 
 absolved. They who sell the remission of 
 sins for money, are but companions of Simon 
 the magician, the friends of Balaam, the am- 
 bassadors of Satan." 
 
 The worthy Dean Bullinger, still heated by 
 his altercation with the monk, arrived before 
 him at Zurich. He came to lay a complaint 
 before the Diet against the shameless traffick- 
 er, and his fraudulent trade. Deputies sent 
 by the bishop on the same errand were already 
 on the spot, with whom he made common 
 cause. Assurances of support were proffered 
 him on all hands. The same spirit which 
 animated Zwingle was now breathing over 
 
 the whole city. The council of state resolved 
 to prohibit the monk from entering Zurich. 
 
 Sampson had arrived in the suburbs, and 
 alighted at an inn. Already he had his foot 
 in the stirup to make his entry into the city, 
 when he was accosted by messengers from 
 the council, who offered him the honorary 
 wine-cup, as an agent of the Pope, and at the 
 same time intimated to him that he might 
 forego his intention of appearing in Zurich. 
 " I have somewhat to communicate to the 
 Diet, in the name of his Holiness," replied 
 the monk. This was only a stratagem. It 
 was determined, however, that he should be 
 admitted ; but as he spoke of nothing but his 
 bulls, he was dismissed, after having been 
 forced to withdraw the excommunication he 
 had pronounced against the Dean of Brem- 
 garten. He departed in high dudgeon; and 
 soon after the Pope recalled him into Italy. 
 A cart, drawn by three horses, and loaded 
 with coin, obtained under false pretences from 
 the poor, rolled before him over those steep 
 roads of the St. Gothard, along which he had 
 passed eight months before, indigent, unat- 
 tended, and encumbered by no burden save 
 his papers. 128 
 
 The Helvetic Diet showed more resolution 
 at this time than the Diet of Germany. The 
 reason was, that no bishops or cardinals had 
 seats in it. And accordingly the Pope, un- 
 supported by those auxiliaries, was more 
 guarded in his proceedings towards Switzer- 
 land than towards Germany. Besides this, 
 the affair of the indulgences, which occupies 
 so prominent a place in the narrative of the 
 German Reformation, forms but an episode 
 in the history of the Reformation in Switzer- 
 land. 
 
 Zwingle's zeal overlooked all considera- 
 tions of personal ease or health ; but continued 
 toil at last rendered relaxation necessary. He 
 was ordered to repair to the baths of Pfeffers. 
 " Oh !" said Herus, one of the pupils resident 
 in his house, who in this parting salutation 
 gave utterance to a feeling which was shared 
 by all to whom Zwingle was known, " had I 
 a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, and a 
 voice of iron, as Virgil says or rather, had I 
 the eloquence of Cicero, never could I express 
 how much I owe you, or how much pain I 
 suffer from this separation." 129 Zwingle, how- 
 ever, was constrained to go. His journey to 
 Pfeffers led him through the frightful gorge 
 formed by the impetuous torrent of the Jarnina. 
 He descended into that " infernal gulf," to use 
 the phrase of Daniel the hermit, and reached 
 the baths of which he was in quest, a site 
 continually shaken by the din of the tumbling 
 torrent, and moistened by the cloud of spray 
 that rises from its shattered waters. In the 
 house in which Zwingle was lodged, it was 
 necessary to burn torches at noonday ; and it 
 was the belief of the neighbourhood that fear- 
 ful spectres might sometimes be descried glid- 
 ing to and fro amidst the darkness: and yet 
 even here he found an opportunity of serving 
 his Master. His affability won the hearts of 
 many of the invalids assembled at the baths. 
 
234 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Of this number was the celebrated poet, Philip 
 Ingentinus, a professor of Friburg, in the Bris- 
 gau, who from that time became a strenuous 
 supporter of the Reformation. 130 
 
 God was watching over his work, and it 
 was his will to hasten it. The defect of 
 Zwingle consisted in his strength. Strong in 
 bodily constitution, strong in character, strong 
 in talent, he was destined to see all his strength 
 laid low in the dust, that he might become such 
 an instrument as God loves best to employ. 
 There was a baptism with which he yet need- 
 ed to be baptized, the baptism of adversity, 
 infirmity, weakness, and pain. Luther had 
 received it in that season of anguish when 
 piercing cries burst forth from his narrow cell, 
 and echoed through the long corridors of the 
 convent at Erfurth. Zwingle was to receive 
 it by being brought into contact with sickness 
 and death. In the history of the heroes of 
 this world, of such men as Charles XII. or 
 Napoleon, there is always a critical moment 
 which shapes their career and ensures their 
 future glory; it is that in which a conscious- 
 ness of their own strength is suddenly impart- 
 ed to them. And a moment not less decisive 
 than this, though stamped with an impress 
 altogeiher different, is to be found in the 
 life of every heroic servant of God; it is that 
 moment in which he first recognises his abso- 
 lute helplessness and nothingness; then it is 
 that the strength of God is communicated to 
 him from on high. A work such as that which 
 Zwingle was called to perform is never ac- 
 complished in the natural strength of man; it 
 would in that case come to naught, just as a 
 tree must wither which is planted in its full 
 maturity and vigour. The plant must be 
 weak, or its roots will never strike ; the grain 
 must die in the earth, or it cannot bring forth 
 much fruit. God was about to lead Zwingle, 
 and with him the work which seemed to be 
 dependent on him for success, to the very 
 gates of the grave. It is from amidst the dry 
 bones, the darkness and the dust of death, that 
 God delights to raise His instruments, when 
 He designs to scatter light and regeneration 
 and vitality over the face of the earth. 
 
 While Zwingle was buried among the stu- 
 pendous rocks that overhang the headlong tor- 
 rent of the Jamina, he suddenly received in- 
 telligence that the plague, or tbe"great death? 
 as it was called, had visited Zurich. This 
 terrible malady broke out in August, on St. 
 Lawrence's day, and lasted till Candlemas, 
 sweeping away during that period no fewer 
 than two thousand five hundred souls. The 
 young people who resided under Zwingle's 
 roof had immediately quitted it, according to 
 the directions he had left behind him. His 
 house was deserted therefore' but it was his 
 time to return to it. He set out from Pfeffers 
 in all haste, and appeared once more among 
 his flock, which the disease had grievously 
 thinned. His young brother Andrew, who 
 would gladly have stayed to attend upon him, 
 he sent back at once to Wildhaus, and from 
 that moment gave himself up entirely to the 
 victims of that dreadful scourge. It was his 
 
 daily task to testify of Christ and his conso 
 lations to the sick.* His friends, while they 
 rejoiced to see him still unharmed, while the 
 arrows of pestilence were flying thick around 
 him, were visited nevertheless with many se- 
 cret misgivings on his account. 132 " Do good," 
 was the language of a letter written to him 
 from IMle, by Conrad Brunner, who himself 
 died of the plague a few months afterwards ; 
 "but at the same time be advised to take 
 care of your own life." The caution came too 
 late ; Zwingle had been seized by the plague. 
 The great preacher of Switzerland was stretch- 
 ed on a bed from which it was probable he 
 might never rise. He now turned his thoughts 
 upon the state of his own soul, and lifted up 
 his eyes to God. He knew that Christ had 
 given him a sure inheritance; and pouring 
 forth the feelings of his heart in a hymn full 
 of unction and simplicity, the sense and the 
 rhythm of which we will endeavour to exhibit, 
 though we should fail in the attempt to copy 
 its natural and primitive cast of language, 
 he cried aloud : 
 
 Lo at my door 
 Gaunt death I spy ; 133 
 Hear, Lord of lite, 
 Thy creature's cry. 
 
 The arm that hung 
 Upon the tree, 
 Jesus, uplift 
 And rescue me. 
 
 Yet, if to quench 
 My sun at noon 
 Be thy behest, 134 
 Thy will be done ! 
 
 In faith and hope 
 Earth I resign, 
 Secure of heaven, 
 For I am thine ! 
 
 The disease in the mean time gained ground ; 
 his friends in deep affliction beheld the man on 
 whom the hopes of Switzerland and of the 
 Church reposed ready to be swallowed up by 
 the grave. His bodily powers and natural fa- 
 culties were forsaking him. His heart was 
 smitten with dismay ; yet he found strength 
 sufficient left him to turn towards God, and to 
 cry: 
 
 Fierce grow my pains : 
 
 Help, Lord, in haste ! 
 
 For flesh and heart 
 
 Are failing last. 
 
 Clouds wrap my sight, 
 My tongue is dumb, 
 Lord, tarry not, 
 The hour is come. 1135 
 
 In Satan's grasp 
 On hell's dark brink 
 My spirit reels, 
 Ah, must I sink ? 
 
 * M. de Chateaubriand had forgotten this fact, 
 and a thousand similar ones, when he remarked 
 that " the Protestant pastor abandons the helpless 
 on the bed of death, and is never seen rushing 
 into the grasp of the pestilence." (Essay on 
 English Literature.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 235 
 
 No, Jesus, no ! 
 Him I defy, 
 While here beneath 
 Thy cross I lie. 
 
 The Canon Hoffman, sincerely attached to 
 the creed which he professed, could not bear 
 the idea of seeing Zwingle die in the errors 
 which he had inculcated. He waited on the 
 principal of the chapter. " Think," said he, 
 " of the peril of his soul. Has he not given 
 the name of fantastical innovators to all the 
 doctors who have taught for the last three 
 hundred and eighty years and upwards Al- 
 exander of Hales, Saint Bonaventura, Al- 
 bertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and all the 
 canonists H Does he not affirm that the doc- 
 trines they have broached are no better than 
 dreams into which they have fallen, with their 
 hoods drawn over their eyes, in the gloomy 
 corners of their cloisters? Alas! it would 
 have been better for the city of Zurich had he 
 ruined our vintages and harvests for many a 
 year ; and now that he is at death's door I be- 
 seech you save his poor soul !" It would ap- 
 pear that the principal, more enlightened than 
 the canon, did not think it necessary to con- 
 vert Zwingle to St. Bonaventura and Albertus 
 Magnus. He was left undisturbed 
 
 Great was the consternation that prevailed 
 throughout the city. The believers cried to 
 God night and day, earnestly entreating that 
 He would restore their faithful pastor. 136 The 
 alarm had spread from Zurich to the moun- 
 tains of Tockenburg. Even in that elevated 
 region the plague had made its appearance. 
 Seven or eight persons had fallen a prey to it 
 in the village : among these was a servant of 
 Nicholas, Zwingle's brother. 137 No tidings were 
 received from the Reformer. " Let me know," 
 wrote young Andrew Zwingle, " what is thy 
 state, my beloved brother ! The abbot, and 
 all our brothers salute thee." It would seem 
 that Zwingle's parents were already dead, 
 since they are not mentioned here. 
 
 The news of Zwingle's illness, followed by 
 a report of his death, was circulated through- 
 out Switzerland and Germany. " Alas !" ex- 
 claimed Hedio, in tears, " the deliverer of 
 our country, the trumpet of the Gospel, the 
 magnanimous herald of the truth is stricken 
 with death in the flower and spring-tide of his 
 age!" 138 When the intelligence reached Bale 
 that Zwingle was no more, the whole city re- 
 sounded with lamentations. 139 
 
 But that glimmering spark of life which had 
 been left unquenched, began now to burn 
 more brightly. Though labouring still under 
 great bodily weakness, his soul was impressed 
 with a deep persuasion that God had called 
 him to replace the candle of His word on the 
 deserted candlestick of the Church. The plague 
 had relinquished its victim. With strong 
 emotion Zwingle now exclaimed : 
 
 My Father God, 
 Behold me whole ! 
 Again on earth 
 A living soul I 
 
 31 
 
 Let sin no more 
 My heart annoy, 
 But fill it, Lord, 
 With holy joy. 
 
 Though now delayed, 
 My hour must come, 
 Involved, perchance, 
 In deeper gloom.* 
 
 It matters not ; 
 
 Rejoicing yet 
 
 I'll bear my yoke 
 
 To heaven's bright gate.t 
 
 As soon as he was able to hold a pen, (it 
 was about the beginning of November,) he 
 wrote to his family. Unspeakable was the 
 joy which his letter imparted to all his rela- 
 tives, 140 but especillay to his younger brother 
 Andrew, who himself died of the plague in 
 the course of the following year, leaving Ulric 
 to lament his loss with tears ajid cries, sur- 
 passing the measure, as he himself remarks, 
 even of a woman's passion. 141 At Bale, Con- 
 rad Brunner, Zwingle's friend, and Bruno 
 Amerbach, the celebrated printer, both young 
 men, had been carried to the grave after 
 three days' illness. It was believed in that 
 city that Zwingle also had perished. There 
 was a general expression of grief throughout 
 the university. " He whom God loves," said 
 they, "ismadeperfectinthemorning of life." 142 
 But what was their joy when tidings were 
 brought, first by Collinus, a student from Lu- 
 cerne, and afterwards by a merchant of Zu- 
 rich, that Zwingle had been snatched from the 
 brink of the grave. 143 The vicar of the Bishop 
 of Constance, John Faber. that early friend of 
 Zwingle, who was afterwards his most violent 
 opponent, wrote to him on this occasion : 
 44 Oh, my beloved Ulric ! what joy does it give 
 me to learn that thou hast been delivered from 
 the jaws of the cruel pestilence. When thy 
 life is in jeopardy, the Christian common- 
 wealth has cause to tremble. The Lord has 
 seen it good by this trial to incite thee to a 
 more earnest pursuit of eternal life." 
 
 This was indeed the end which the Lord 
 had in view in subjecting Zw T ingle to trial ; 
 and the end was attained, but in another way 
 than Faber contemplated. This pestilence of 
 the year 1519, which committed such frightful 
 ravages in the north of Switzerland, became 
 an effectual agent in the hands of God for the 
 conversion of many souls. 144 But on no one did 
 it exercise so powerful an influence as on 
 Zwingle. The Gospel, which he had hereto- 
 fore embraced as a mere doctrine, now became 
 a great reality. He rose from the dark bor- 
 
 * These words were fulfilled in a remarkable 
 manner, twelve years afterwards, on the bloody 
 field of Cappel. 
 
 t Although these three fragments of poetry have 
 their respective date attached to them, " at the be- 
 ginning, in the middle, at the end of the sick- 
 ness," and truly represent the feelings of Zwin- 
 gle at the different epochs, it is probable that they 
 were not thrown into the form into which we now 
 find them, until after his recovery .-<See Bullin- 
 ger, MS.) 
 
236 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ders of the tomb with a new heart. His zeal 
 became more ardent, his life more holy, his 
 preaching more free, more Christian, more 
 persuasive. This was the epoch of Zwingle's 
 complete emancipation: henceforward he de- 
 voted himself entirely to God. But, along 
 with the Reformer, the Reformation, also, of 
 Switzerland received new life. The scourge 
 of God, " the great death," while it ranged 
 over those mountains, and swept along those 
 valleys, impressed a character of deeper holi- 
 ness on the movement which was taking place 
 within their bosom. The Reformation, as 
 well as Zwingle, was immersed in the waters 
 of sanctified affliction, and came forth endued 
 with a purer and more vigorous vitality. It 
 was a memorable season in the dispensations 
 of God for the regeneration of the Swiss people. 
 
 Zwingle derived an accession of that strength 
 of which he stood so much in need, from his 
 renewed communion with his friends. With 
 Myconius especially he was united by the 
 bonds of a strong affection. They walked 
 side by side, each supporting the other, like 
 Luther and Melancthon. Oswald was happy 
 at Zurich. His position there was a constrained 
 one, it is true; but the virtues of his modest 
 wife made him amends for all his discomforts. 
 It was of her that Glareanus said, " Could I 
 meet a young woman resembling her, I would 
 prefer her to a king's daughter." The enjoy- 
 ment which Zwingle and Myconius found in 
 their reciprocal friendship was sometimes 
 broken in upon, however, by the voice of a 
 faithful monitor. That monitor was the canon 
 Xyloctect, who was continually calling on 
 Myconius to return to Lucerne, the place of 
 his birth. " Zurich is not thy country," said 
 he, "but Lucerne. Thou sayest that the Zu- 
 richers are thy friends; I acknowledge it: but 
 canst thou tell how it will fare with thee when 
 the shadows of evening begin to fall on thy 
 path! Remember thy duty to thy country: 145 
 such is my desire, my entreaty, and, if I may 
 so speak, my command !" Following up his 
 words by acts, Xyloctect caused Myconius to 
 be elected rector of the collegiate school of his 
 native city. Oswald then hesitated no longer ; 
 he saw the finger of God in this nomination, 
 and, great as was the sacrifice demanded of 
 him, he resolved to make it. Might it not be 
 the will of the Lord to employ him as His in- 
 strument in publishing the doctrine of peace 
 in the warlike canton of Lucerne"? But how 
 shall we describe the parting between Zwin- 
 gle and Myconius! On either side, their 
 farewell was accompanied with tears. "Thy 
 departure," observed Ulric in a letter written 
 to Oswald shortly afterwards, " has been such 
 a discouragement to the cause which I defend, 
 as can only be compared to that which would 
 be felt by an army drawn up in order of battle, 
 were it suddenly deprivedof one of its wings. 146 
 Alas! now I feel the value of my Myconius, 
 and can perceive how often, when I dreamed 
 not of it, he has upheld the cause of Christ." 
 
 Zwingle felt the loss of his friend the more 
 acutely, by reason of the debilitated state to 
 which the plague had reduced him. " It has 
 
 enfeebled my memory," he complains, in a 
 letter dated 30th November, 1519, "and pros- 
 trated my spirits." While he was yet scarcely 
 convalescent, he had resumed all his labours. 
 "But," said he, "I often, in preaching, lose 
 the thread of my discourse. My whole frame 
 is oppressed with languor, and I am little bet- 
 ter than a dead man." Besides this, Zwin- 
 gle's opposition to indulgences had aroused 
 the animosity of those who supported them. 
 Oswald encouraged his friend by the letters 
 he wrote to him from Lucerne. Was not the 
 Lord, at this moment, giving a pledge of his 
 readiness to help, by the protection which he 
 afforded in Saxony to the mighty champion 
 who had gained such signal victories over 
 Rome? "What thinkest thou," said Myco- 
 nius to Zwingle, "of the causa of Lulher! 
 For my part, I have no fear either for the 
 Gospel or for him. If God does not protect 
 his truth, by whom else shall it be protected ! 
 All that I ask of the Lord is, that he will not 
 withdraw his hand from those who have no- 
 thing so dear to them as his Gospel. Go on 
 as thou hast begun, and an abundant reward 
 shall be bestowed upon thee in heaven." 
 
 The arrival of an old friend at this time 
 brought some comfort to Zwingle, in his grief 
 for the removal of Myconius. Bunzli, who 
 had been Ulric's master at Bale, and who had 
 since succeeded the Dean of Wesen, the Re- 
 former's uncle, arrived at Zurich in the first 
 week of the year 1520, and Zwingle and he 
 formed the resolution of taking a journey to 
 Bale together, to see their common friends. 147 
 Zwingle's visit to Bale was not unproductive 
 of good. " O, my dear Zwingle," wrote John 
 Glother, at a later period, " never shall I 
 forget thee. My gratitude is thy due for the 
 kindness displayed by thee during thy stay at 
 Bale, in visiting me as thou didst, me, a poor 
 schoolmaster, a man without name, without 
 learning, without merit, and in a low condition. 
 My affections thou hast won by that elegance 
 of manners, that indescribable fascination, by 
 which thou subduest all hearts, and, I might 
 almost say, the very stones." U8 But Zwingle's 
 earlier friends derived still greater benefit from 
 his visit. Capito and Hedio, with many 
 others, were electrified by his powerful dis- 
 courses; and the former, adopting the same 
 course at Bale which Zwingle bad pursued at 
 Zurich, began to expound St. Matthew's Gos- 
 pel to an auditory which continually increased 
 in numbers. The doctrine of Christ manifested 
 its power in searching and warming the heart. 
 The people received it with joy, and hailed 
 the revival of Christianity with eager acclama- 
 tions. 149 The Reformation had already dawned. 
 A proof of this was soon seen in a conspiracy 
 of priests and monks, which was formed 
 against Capito. Albert, the young Cardinal- 
 archbishop of Mentz, who was desirous to 
 attach so learned a man to his person, took 
 advantage of this circumstance, and invited 
 him to his court. Capito, seeing the difficul- 
 ties with which he was surrounded, accepted 
 the invitation. 150 The people thought themselves 
 aggrieved, their indignation was roused against 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 237 
 
 the priests, and the city was thrown into com- 
 motion. 151 Hedio was spoken of as Capito's 
 successor; but some objected to his youth, 
 and others said, " He is his disciple." " The 
 truth," said Hedio, " is of too pungent a qua- 
 lity. There are susceptible ears, which it 
 cannot fail to wound, and which are not to be 
 wounded with impunity. 152 No matter; I will 
 not be turned aside from the straight road." 
 The monks redoubled theirefforts. " Beware," 
 was their language in the pulpit, "of giving 
 credence to those who tell you that the sum 
 of Christian doctrine is to be found in the 
 Gospels, and in the Epistles of St. Paul. 
 Scotus has rendered greater service to Chris- 
 tianity than Paul himself. All the learning 
 that has been preached and published has 
 been stolen from Scotus. The utmost that 
 certain persons have been able to achieve in 
 their attempts to gain a reputation for them- 
 selves, has been to mix up a few words of 
 Greek and Hebrew with his matter, so as to 
 perplex and darken the whole." 153 
 
 The tumult continued to increase ; there 
 was reason to fear that after Capito's depart- 
 ure, the opposition would become still more 
 powerful. "I shall be left almost alone, 
 weak and insignificant as I am," said Hedio, 
 * to struggle with those formidable monsters." 154 
 In this emergency he betook himself to God 
 for succour; and in a letter to Zwingle, ex- 
 pressed himself thus : " Support my cou- 
 rage by frequent letters. Learning and reli- 
 gion are now between the hammer and the 
 anvil. Luther has been condemned by the 
 universities of Louvain and Cologne. If ever 
 the Church was in imminent peril, she is so 
 at this hour!" 155 
 
 Capito quitted Bale for Mentz on the 28th 
 of April ; and Hedio succeeded him. Not 
 content with the public assemblies which 
 were held in the church, where he continued 
 the lectures on Saint Matthew, he resolved, 
 as he wrote to Luther, to institute, in the en- 
 suing month of June, private meetings in his 
 own house, that he might impart more fami- 
 liar instruction in the Gospel to such as 
 should desire it. This powerful method of 
 communicating religious knowledge, and awa- 
 kening the concern and affection of believers 
 for divine things, could not fail on this, as on 
 every occasion, to excite the concurrent oppo- 
 sition of worldly-minded laymen, and an ar- 
 rogant priesthood, classes which are equally 
 inimical, though on different grounds, to every 
 attempt to worship God anywhere but within 
 the enclosure of certain walls. But Hedio 
 was not to he driven from his purpose. 
 
 About the period when he conceived this 
 praiseworthy design at Bale, there arrived at 
 Zurich one of those characters, who, in revo- 
 lutionary times, are often thrown up like a 
 foul scurn upon the agitated surface of society. 
 
 The senator Grebel, a man highly respect- 
 ed at Zurich, had a son named Conrad, a 
 young man of remarkable talents, a deter- 
 mined enemy to ignorance and superstition, 
 which he assailed with the keenest satire; 
 vehement and overbearing in his manners, 
 
 i sarcastic and acrimonious in his speech, de- 
 ' stitute of natural affection, addicted to disso- 
 lute habits, frequent and loud in professions 
 of his own integrity, and unable to discover 
 anything but evil in the rest of mankind. We 
 mention him here because he was destined 
 afterwards to a melancholy celebrity. Just 
 at this time, Vadianus contracted a marriage 
 with one of Conrad's sisters. The latter, 
 who was then a student at Paris, where his 
 own misconduct prevented him from making 
 any progress, having a desire to be present 
 at the nuptials, suddenly appeared about the 
 beginning of June, in the midst of his family. 
 The prodigal son was welcomed by his poor 
 father with a gentle smile ; by his tender 
 mother with many tears. The tenderness of 
 his parents could not change that unnatural 
 heart. Some time afterwards, on the recovery 
 of his worthy but unfortunate mother from an 
 illness which had nearly proved fatal, Conrad 
 wrote to his brother-in-law Vadianus. " My 
 mother is well again; and has taken the 
 management of the house once more into her 
 own hands. She sleeps, rises, begins to 
 scold, breakfasts, scolds again, dines, re- 
 sumes her scolding, and never ceases to tor- 
 ment us from morning to night. She bustles 
 about, overlooking kettle and oven, gathering 
 and strewing, toils continually, wearies her- 
 self to death, and will soon have a relapse." 156 
 Such was the man who subsequently attempt- 
 ed to lord it over Zwingle, and who acquired 
 notoriety as the leader of the fanatical Ana- 
 baptists. Divine providence may have per- 
 mitted such characters to appear at the epoch 
 of the Reformation, in order that the contrast 
 furnished by their excesses might display 
 more conspicuously the wise, Christian, and 
 moderate spirit of the Reformers. 
 
 Every thing indicated that the struggle be- 
 tween the Gospel and the Papacy was about 
 to commence. u Let us stir up the waver- 
 ers," said Hedio, in a letter to Zwingle, 
 " there is an end to peace ; and let us fortify 
 our own hearts; we have implacable enemies 
 to encounter." 157 Myconius wrote in the same 
 strain ; but Ulric replied to these warlike ap- 
 peals with admirable mildness. " I could 
 wish," said he, " to conciliate those stubborn 
 men by kindness and gentleness of demeanour, 
 rather than to get the better of them in angry 
 controversy. 158 For if they call our doctrine 
 (though ours it is not) a doctrine of devils, 
 that is not to be wondered at ; I receive it as 
 a token that we are the ambassadors of God. 
 The devils cannot remain silent in Christ's 
 presence." 
 
 Desirous as he was to follow the path of 
 i peace, Zwingle was not idle. Since his ill- 
 ness his preaching had become more spiritual 
 and more fervent. More than two thousand 
 of the inhabitants of Zurich had received tho 
 word of God into their hearts, confessed the 
 evangelical doctrine, and were qualified to 
 assist in its propagation. 
 
 Zwingle's faith is the same as Luther's; 
 but it rests more upon argument than his. 
 Luther is carried forward by the internal iin- 
 
238 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 pulse, Zwingle by the attraction of the light 
 revealed to him. In Luther's writings we 
 find a deeply seated personal conviction of 
 the preciousness of the cross of Christ to his 
 own soul ; and this earnest, unfaltering con- 
 viction gives life and energy to all that he 
 says. The same thing, undoubtedly, is found 
 in the writings of Zwingle, but not in the 
 same degree. His contemplations have been 
 fixed rather on the Christian system as a 
 whole ; he reveres it for its surpassing beauty, 
 for the light which it sheds upon the soul of 
 man, for the everlasting life which it brings 
 into the world. In the one the affections are 
 the moving power, in the other the under- 
 standing; and hence it happens that persons 
 not experimentally acquainted with the faith 
 which animated these two distinguished dis- 
 ciples of the Lord, have fallen into a gross 
 error, and represented the one as a mystic, 
 the other as a rationalist. The one is more 
 pathetic, it may be, in the exposition of his 
 faith the other is more philosophic ; but the 
 same truths are embraced by both. Second- 
 ary questions, perhaps, they do not always 
 regard under the same aspect ; but that faith 
 which is one, that faith which renews and 
 justifies all who possess it, that faith which 
 no confession, no formulary of doctrine, can 
 ever adequately express, is the property of 
 each alike. The opinions of Zwingle have 
 often been so erroneously stated, that it seems 
 necessary to give a summary of the doctrine 
 which he then preached to the people who 
 flocked in crowds to hear him in the cathedral 
 of Zurich. 
 
 Zwingle beheld in the fall of the first man 
 a key to the entire history of the human race. 
 " Before the fall," said he, in one of his dis- 
 courses, " man had been created with a free 
 will, so that if he had been willing he might 
 have fulfilled the law ; his nature was pure ; 
 the disease of sin had not yet tainted it; his 
 life was in his own hands. But having de- 
 sired to be 4 as God,' he died ; and not he 
 alone, but all that are born of him. All men, 
 then, being dead in Adam, must ever remain 
 so, until the Spirit, which is God himself, 
 raises them out of death."* 
 
 The people of Zurich, who listened eagerly 
 to the impressive preacher, were overwhelmed 
 with sorrow when their eyes were first opened 
 to the sinful condition of mankind; but the 
 word of consolation was next administered, 
 and they were taught the remedy by which 
 the life of man is renewed. " Christ, very 
 man and very God," 159 said the eloquent de- 
 scendant of the shepherds of the Tockenburg, 
 " has purchased for us an everlasting delive- j 
 ranee. He who died for us is the eternal God : j 
 his passion, therefore, is an eternal sacrifice, ! 
 and has a perpetual efficacy; 100 it satisfies the 
 
 * These expressions and others which we have 
 already quoted, or shall proceed to quote, are ex- j 
 tracted from a work published by Zwingle in ' 
 1523, in which he reduced into a compendium the 
 doctrine which he had then been preaching for ' 
 several years. "Hie recensere coepi," he says, | 
 ' ; quae ex verbo Dei predicavi." 
 
 divine justice forever upon behalf of all who 
 rely upon it with a firm and unshaken faith." 
 " Where sin is," said the Reformer again, 
 "death must needs follow. But Christ had 
 no sin, neither was there guile found in his 
 mouth; nevertheless he suffered death. 
 Wherefore? but because he suffered it in Our 
 stead. He was content to die, that he might 
 restore us to life; 161 and forasmuch as he had no 
 sins of his own, the Father, in his infinite 
 mercy, laid upon him the iniquity of us all." 
 "The will of man," argued the Christian 
 orator, "had rebelled against the Most High; 
 it was necessary, therefore, for the re-establish- 
 ment of the eternal order of things, and the 
 salvation of man, that the human will should, 
 in Christ, give place to the divine." 162 It was a 
 frequent remark of his that the expiatory death 
 of Jesus Christ had taken place for the benefit 
 of the faithful, or the people of God. 163 
 
 The souls that hungered after salvation in 
 the city of Zurich found comfort in these good 
 tidings ; but there were some errors of ancient 
 growth which their minds still harboured, and 
 which it was needful to extirpate. Following 
 out the great truth that salvation is the gift of 
 God, Zwingle pleaded powerfully against the 
 pretended merit of human works. "Since 
 eternal salvation," said he, " proceeds solely 
 from the merits and the death of Christ, the 
 notion of merit in our works is no better than 
 vanity and folly, not to call it senseless im- 
 piety. 164 If we could have been saved by our 
 own works, Christ's death would have been 
 unnecessary. All who have ever come to 
 God have come to him by the death of Jesus." 155 
 
 Zwingle was not ignorant of the objections 
 which this doctrine excited amongst a portion 
 of his auditory. There were some who wait- 
 ed on him for the purpose of stating those ob- 
 jections. He answered them from the pulpit 
 thus : " Some persons, rather speculative than 
 pious, perhaps, object that this doctrine makes 
 men reckless and dissolute. But what need 
 we care for the objections and plans that may be 
 conjured up by the speculations of men. All 
 who believe in Christ are assured that whatever 
 comes from God is necessarily good. If then 
 the Gospel is of God, it is good. 166 And what 
 other power is there that could bring in righte- 
 ousness, truth, and love among the children 
 of men 1 ?" "0 God, most merciful, most 
 righteous, Father of all mercies !" cried he in 
 a transport of devotion, " with what marvel- 
 lous love hast thou embraced us, even us thy 
 enemies. 167 How great and how full is the hope 
 thou hast imparted to us, who merited no 
 other portion than despair 1 To what a height 
 of glory hast thou vouchsafed, in thy beloved 
 Son, to exalt our meanness and nothingness ! 
 Surely it is thy purpose by this unspeakable 
 Love, to constrain us to love thee in return." 
 
 Pursuing this idea, he next showed that 
 love to the Redeemer was a law more power- 
 fulthan the commandments. "The Christian," 
 said he, " being delivered from the law, de- 
 pends entirely on Christ. Christ is his rea- 
 son, his counsel, his righteousness, his 
 sanctification, his whole salvation. Christ 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 239 
 
 lives and moves in him. Christ alone leads 
 him pn his way, and he needs no other 
 guide." 168 Then making use of a comparison 
 well adapted to the comprehension of his hear- 
 ers, he added : " When a government forbids 
 its citizens, under pain of death, to receive 
 any pension or largess from the hands of fo- 
 reigners, how gentle and easy is that law to 
 those who, for the sake of their fatherland and 
 liberty, would, of their own accord, abstain 
 from so unworthy an act! But on the con- 
 trary, hovt harsh and oppressive does it ap- 
 pear to th ose who care for nothing but their 
 selfish gains! Even so it is that the righte- 
 ous man lives free and joyful in his love of 
 righteousness, while the unrighteous man 
 walks painfully under the burden of the law 
 that condemns him." 169 
 
 In the cathedral of Zurich, that day, there 
 were many old soldiers who could appreciate 
 the truth of these words ; and can we deny 
 that love is the most powerful of lawgivers ] 
 Are not all its requisitions immediately fulfill- 
 ed ? Does not the beloved object live in our 
 hearts, and there enforce obedience to all that 
 he has enjoined ? Accordingly Zwingle, as- 
 suming a still bolder tone as he proceeded, 
 testified to the people of Zurich that love to 
 the Redeemer was the only motive that could 
 impel man to the performance of actions ac- 
 ceptable to God. " Works done out of Christ 
 are worthless," said the Christian teacher, 
 "since every good work is done by him, in 
 him, and through him, what is there that we 
 can lay claim to for ourselves 1 Wheresoever 
 there is faith in God, there God himself abides, 
 and wheresoever God is, there is awakened 
 a zeal which urges and constrains men to good 
 works. 170 See to it, only, that Christ be in thee, 
 and thou in Christ, and fear not but he will 
 work in thee. Of a truth the life of a Chris- 
 tian man is but one continual good work, be- 
 gun and carried forward and brought to com- 
 pletionby God alone." 171 
 
 Deeply impressed with the greatness of that 
 love of God which is from everlasting, the 
 herald of grace adopted a strain of impassion- 
 ed earnestness in the invitations which he ad- 
 dressed to the irresolute and fearful. " How 
 is it," said he, " that you fear to draw nigh to 
 that tender Father who has chosen us 1 Why 
 has he chosen us of his free mercy ? Why 
 has he called us 1 ? Why has he drawn us to 
 himself? to this end only, think you, that we 
 should shrink from approaching him I" 172 
 
 Such was the doctrine put forth by Zwingle. 
 It was the doctrine preached by Jesus Christ 
 himself. "If Luther preaches Christ, he 
 does what I do," said the preacher of Zurich. 
 " He has led to Christ many more souls than 
 I: be it so. Yet will I bear no other name 
 than that of Christ, whose soldier I am, and 
 who alone is my head. Never has a single 
 line been addressed by me to Luther, or by 
 Luther to me. And why! that it might be 
 manifest to all how uniform is the testimony 
 of the Spirit of God, since we, who have had 
 no communication with each other, agree so 
 closely in the doctrine of Jesus Christ." 173 
 
 The success which attended on Zwingle's 
 preaching corresponded to its fidelity. 174 The 
 spacious cathedral was too small to contain 
 the multitude of his hearers. All believers 
 united in praising God for the new life which 
 had begun to quicken the inanimate body of 
 the Church. Many strangers from every can- 
 ton, who came to Zurich, either to attend the 
 Diet, or for other purposes, embraced the new 
 doctrines, and carried the precious seeds of 
 truth into all the valleys of Switzerland. 
 From populous cities and from hamlets hidden 
 in the glen, one cry of rejoicing gratitude arose 
 to heaven. "Switzerland," said Nicholas 
 Hageus, in a letter written from Lucerne, " has 
 heretofore given birth to many a Caesar, and 
 Scipio, and Brutus ; but scarcely could she 
 number among her offspring one or two to 
 whom Christ was truly known, and who had 
 learned to nourish souls with the divine word 
 instead of doubtful disputations. Now that 
 Divine Providence has given to Switzerland 
 Zwhigle for a preacher, and Oswald Myco- 
 nius for a professor, religion and sacred litera- 
 ture are reviving in the midst of us. happy 
 Helvetia, wouldst thou only rest from war, 
 satisfied with the glory thou hast already 
 won in arms, and cultivate in future that truer 
 glory which follows in the train of righteous- 
 ness and peace!" 175 " It was reported," said 
 Myconius, in a letter to Zwingle, " that thy 
 voice could not be heard at the distance of 
 three paces. But we find now how false a 
 tale it was; for thou art heard over all Swit- 
 zerland." 176 " It is a noble courage with which 
 thou hast armed thyself," said Hedio, writing 
 from Bale; "I will follow thee as far as I 
 have strength." 177 "I have listened to thy 
 teaching," wrote Sebastian Hofrneister of 
 Schaffhausen, in a letter dated from Con- 
 stance : " God grant that Zurich, the head 
 of our confederacy, may be healed of its dis- 
 ease, that so the whole body may be restored 
 to soundness. 178 
 
 But Zwingle met with adversaries as well 
 as admirers. " Wherefore," said some, " does 
 he concern himself with the political affairs 
 of Switzerland]" " Why," said others, 
 " does he repeat the same things so often in 
 his religious instructions 1" In the midst of 
 these conflicting judgments, the soul of 
 Zwingle was often overcome with dejection. 
 It seemed to him that a general confusion was 
 at hand, and that the fabric of society was on 
 the point of being overturned. 179 He began to 
 apprehend that it was impossible for good to 
 make its appearance in one quarter, but evil 
 must spring up to counteractit in another. lso lf 
 at one moment hope shone in his mind, it was 
 instantly succeeded by fear. But he soon re- 
 covered from his depression. " The life of 
 man here below is a warfare," said he ; " he 
 who would inherit glory must face the world 
 as an enemy, and, like David, force the 
 haughty Goliath, exulting in his strength, to 
 bite the dust." "The Church," said he 
 again, using the very expression which Lu- 
 ther had employed, " has been purchased by 
 blood, and by blood must it be restored. 181 The 
 x2 
 
240 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 more numerous are the stains that defile it, 
 the more numerous also must be the Hercu- 
 lean arms employed to cleanse away that 
 Augean filth. 182 ! fear little for Luther," added 
 he, " though he he assailed by the thunder- 
 bolts of the Romish Jupiter." 183 
 
 Zwingle had need of rest; he repaired to 
 the waters of Baden. The curate of the place, 
 who had been one of the Pope's body-guard, a 
 man of good character, but destitute of learn- 
 ing, had earned his benefice by carrying the 
 halberd. Tenacious of his military habits, he 
 passed the day and a portion of the night in 
 jovial company, while Staheli, his vicar, was 
 unwearied in performing all the duties of his 
 calling. 134 Zwingle sent for this young minis- 
 ter. " I have need," said he, " of helpers in 
 Switzerland ;" and from that moment, Sta- 
 heli became his fellow-labourer. Zwingle, Sta- 
 heli, and Luti, who was afterwards a pastor at 
 Winterthur, lived under the same roof. 
 
 Zwingle's self-devotion was not to miss its 
 reward. The word of Christ, which he 
 preached so diligently, was ordained to bring 
 forth fruit. Many of the Magistrates had been 
 converted ; they had found comfort and strength 
 in God's holy word. Grieved to observe 
 with what effrontery the priests, and especial- 
 ly the monks, in their addresses from the 
 pulpit, uttered anything that came uppermost 
 in their minds, the Council issued an ordi- 
 nance by which they were enjoined to " deliver 
 nothing in their discourses but what they 
 should have drawn from the sacred fountains 
 of the Old and New Testaments." 185 It was in 
 1520 that the civil power thus interfered for 
 the first time in the work of the Reformation, 
 fulfilling the duty of the Christian magis- 
 trate, as some affirm ; because the first duty 
 of a magistrate is to uphold religion, and to 
 protect the paramount and vital interests of 
 the community; depriving the Church of 
 its liberty, say others, bringing it under sub- 
 jection to the secular power, and opening the 
 xvay for that long train of calamities which 
 has since been engendered by the union of 
 Church and State. We will not here attempt 
 to decide that great controversy by which more 
 than one nation is agitated at the present day. 
 Let it suffice us to have marked its origin at 
 the epoch of the Reformation. But there is 
 that in the fact itself which we must also 
 mark ; the act of those magistrates was itself 
 an effect produced by the preaching of the 
 word of God. The Reformation in Switzer- 
 land was now emerging from the sphere of 
 individual conversions, and becoming a na- 
 tional work. It had first sprung up in the 
 hearts of a few priests and scholars; it was 
 now spreading abroad, and lifting itself oh 
 hicrh, and assuming a station of publicity. 
 Like the waters of the sea it rose by degrees, 
 until it had overspread a wide expanse. 
 
 The monks were confounded, they were 
 enjoined to preach only the word of God, and 
 that word the majority of them had never read ! 
 Opposition provokes opposition. This ordi- 
 nance became the signal for more violent at- 
 tacks against the Reformation. Plots were 
 
 now formed against the curate of Zurich, and 
 his life was in danger. One evening, when 
 Zwingle and his assistants were quietly con- 
 versing in their house, they were disturbed by 
 the hasty entrance of some burghers, who in- 
 quired: "Have you strong bolts on your 
 doors'?" and added, " Be on your guard to- 
 night." " We often had alarms of this kind," 
 adds Staheli, "but we were well armed, and 
 there was a watch set in the street for our 
 protection." 186 
 
 Elsewhere, however, measures of most atro- 
 cious violence were resorted to: an old inha- 
 bitant of Schaff hausen, named Gaster, a man 
 distinguished for his piety, and for an ardour 
 few, at his age, possess, having himself derived 
 much comfort from the light which he had 
 found in the Gospel, endeavoured to commu- 
 nicate it to his wife and children. In his zeal, 
 which perhaps was not duly tempered with 
 discretion, he openly attacked the relics, the 
 priestcraft, and the superstition with which that 
 canton abounded. He soon became an object 
 of hatred and terror even to his own family. 
 Perceiving at length that evil designs were 
 entertained against him, the old man fled, 
 broken-hearted, from his home, and betook 
 himself to the shelter of the neighbouring 
 forest. There he continued for some days, 
 sustaining life upon such scanty food as the 
 wilds afforded him, when suddenly, on the 
 last nig!*t of the year 1520, torches flashed 
 through the whole extent of the forest, while 
 yells of infuriated men, mingled with the cry 
 of savage hounds, echoed fearfully through its 
 deepest recesses. The Council had ordered 
 the woods to be scoured to discover hi3 re- 
 treat. The hounds caught scent of their prey, 
 and seized him. The unfortunate old man was 
 dragged before the magistrate, and summoned 
 to abjure his faith ; steadfastly refusing to do 
 so, he was beheaded.' 87 
 
 But a little while after the New Year's 
 day that witnessed this bloody execution, 
 Zwingle was visited at Zurich by a young 
 man about twenty-eight years of age, tall of 
 stature, and of an aspect which denoted can- 
 dour, simplicity, and diffidence, 18s He introduced 
 himself by the name of Berthold Haller. 
 Zwingle immediately recognised the celebra- 
 ted preacher of Berne, and embraced him with 
 that affability which rendered his address so 
 fascinating. 189 Haller, whose native place was 
 Aldingen, in W r urtemberg, had studied first at 
 Rotwell, under Rubellus, and subsequently at 
 Pforzheim, where he had Simler for his mas- 
 ter, and Melancthon for a fellow-pupil. The 
 Bernese about that time manifested a desire to 
 make their republic the seat of letters, as it 
 was already powerful in arms. Rubellus and 
 Haller, the latter of whom was then twenty- 
 one years of age, repaired to Berne accordingly 
 Haller soon became a canon there, and was 
 afterwards appointed a preacher of the cathe- 
 dral. The Gospel proclaimed by Zwingle 
 had found its way to Berne. Haller believed : 
 and from that time he felt a wish to have per- 
 sonal intercourse with the gifted man, whon- 
 he already revered as a father. His journey 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 241 
 
 to Zurich, undertaken with this view, had 
 been announced by Myconius. Such were 
 the circumstances of the meeting between 
 Haller and Zwingle. Haller, whose charac- 
 teristic was meekness of disposition, confided 
 to Zwingle the trials with which he was beset ; 
 and Zwingle who was eminently endowed 
 with fortitude, communicated to Haller a por- 
 tion of his own courage. " My spirit," said 
 Berthold, " is overwhelmed. I cannot endure 
 such harsh treatment. I am resolved to give up 
 my pulpit, seek a retreat with Wittembach, 
 at Bale, and employ myself for the future in 
 the private study of the Scriptures." " Alas !" 
 replied Zwingle, " a feeling of discouragement 
 often takes possession of me likewise, when I 
 am unjustly assailed. But Christ awakens 
 my conscience by the powerful stimulus of 
 his threatenings and promises. He rouses 
 my fears by declaring: Whosoever shall be 
 ashamed of me before men, of him will I be 
 ashamed before my Father , and then he gives 
 me comfort by adding: Whosoever shall <v>n- 
 fess me before men, him will I confess before 
 my Father. 0, my dear Berthold, be of good 
 cheer ! Our names are written above in charac- 
 ters that can never be effaced, as citizens of the 
 heavenly city. 190 For my part I am ready to die 
 for Christ. 191 Let those wild bears' cubs of 
 yours," he added, " only once give ear to the 
 doctrine of Jesus Christ, and you will see how 
 gentle they will become.* But you must ad- 
 dress yourself cautiously to the work, lest they 
 turn and rend you." Haller's courage rose 
 again. "My soul," said he to Zwingle, " has 
 cast off her slumber. I must needs preach 
 the Gospel. Christ must again be received 
 within those walls from which he has so long 
 been banished. 192 Thus was Berthold's lamp 
 kindled afresh by Ulric's, and the timid 
 Haller could now unshrinkingly encounter the 
 savage brood of bears " that gnashed their 
 teeth," says Zwinffle, " and lono-ed to devour 
 him." 
 
 But it was in another quarter that the per- 
 secution was to begin in Switzerland. The 
 warlike canton of Lucerne was about to take 
 the field, like a champion sheathed in mail, 
 and ready for the charge. The military spirit 
 had full sway in this canton, which was 
 much addicted to foreign alliances ; and the 
 great men of the city would knit their brows 
 if they heard so much as a pacific whisper 
 breathed to damp the martial ardour of their 
 country. It happened, however, that some of 
 Luther's writings found their way into the 
 city, and there were certain citizens who set 
 themselves to peruse them. With what hor- 
 ror they were seized as they read on ! It 
 seemed to them that none but an infernal hand 
 could have traced those lines; their imagina- 
 tion was excited, their senses were bewildered, 
 and they fancied that the room was filled with 
 devils gathering thickly round them, and gla- 
 ring on them with asardonic leer. 193 They shut j 
 the book, and cast it from them in affright. 
 
 * The reader is aware, that a bear is the armo- 
 rial device of the Canton of Berne. 
 
 | Oswald, who had heard these singular visions 
 related, never spoke of Luther except to his 
 most intimate friends; contenting himself with 
 simply setting forth the gospel of Christ. 
 The cry nevertheless was raised through the 
 whole city: "To the stake with Luther and 
 the schoolmaster (Myconius!") 194 "I am as- 
 sailed by my enemies," said Oswald to a 
 friend of his, " as a ship is beaten by the tem- 
 pest." 195 One day, early in the year 1520, he 
 was unexpectedly summoned to appear before 
 the Council. "You are strictly enjoined," 
 said the magistrates, "never to read Luther's 
 writings to your pupils, never to mention his 
 name in their hearing, never even to think 
 of him yourself." 196 The lords ofLucerne were 
 disposed, we- perceive,, to confine their juris- 
 diction within no narrow bounds. Shortly 
 after this, a preacher delivered a fierce philip- 
 pic against heresy from the pulpit. A power- 
 ful effect was produced upon the auditory ; all 
 eyes were turned upon Oswald, for against 
 whom else could the preacher have meant to 
 direct his discourse 1 Oswald remained quiet 
 in his se,at, as if the matter had not concerned 
 him. But when he and his friend, the canon 
 Xyloctect, amongst the rest of the congrega- 
 tion, were retiring from the church, one of the 
 councillors, came up to them, with an air that 
 betrayed his internal discomposure, and said 
 in an angry tone: " How now, ye disciples 
 of Luther, why do ye not defend your Mas- 
 ter?" They made no reply. "I live," said 
 Myconius, * 4 in the midst of savage wolves ; 
 but I have this consolation that the greater 
 part of them have lost their fangs. They would 
 bite if they could, and since they cannot bite 
 they howl." 
 
 The Senate was now convened, for the tu- 
 mult among the people was increasing. " He 
 is a Lutheran !" said one of the councillors. 
 
 He broaches new doctrines!" said another. 
 
 He is a seducer of youth!" said a third. 
 
 Let hirn appear! let him appear!" The 
 poor schoolmaster appeared accordingly, and 
 had to listen to fresh interdicts and threats. 
 His guileless spirit was wounded and depress- 
 ed. His gentle wife could only comfort him 
 by the tears of sympathy which she shed. 
 " Every one is against me," said he, in the 
 anguish of his heart. " Whether shall I turn 
 me in the storm, or how escape its fury ? 
 Were it not for the help that Christ gives me, 
 I should long since have sunk under this per- 
 secution." 197 " What matters it," said Doctor 
 Sebastine Hofmeister, writing to him from 
 Constance, " whether Lucerne will give you a 
 home or not? The earth is the Lord's. The 
 man whose heart is steadfast finds a home in 
 every land. Were we even the vilest of men, 
 our cause is righteous, for we teach the word 
 of Christ." 
 
 Whilst the truth was struggling against so 
 much opposition at Lucerne, it was gaining 
 ground at Zurich. Zwingle was unwearied 
 in his labours. Desirous of studying the 
 whole of the Scriptures in the original lan- 
 guages, he had applied himself diligently to 
 the acquisition of the Hebrew under the di 
 
'242 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 rection of John Boscherstein, a disciple of 
 Reuchlin. But in studying the Scriptures, 
 his object was to make their contents known. 
 The peasants who brought their produce on 
 Fridays to the market of Zurich showed great 
 eagerness to become acquainted with the word 
 of God. To meet their desire, Zwingle, in 
 December, 1520, had commenced the practice 
 of expounding every Friday a portion of the 
 Psalms, previously making that portion the 
 subject of his private meditations. The Re- 
 formers always connected deep study with la- 
 borious ministry; the ministry was the end, 
 the study was but the means. They were 
 equally diligent in the closet and the public 
 assembly. This union of learning with Chris- 
 tian love is one of the characteristics of the 
 period. In his Sunday exercises, Zwingle 
 after having commented on St. Mathew's nar- 
 rative of the life of our Saviour, proceeded to 
 show in a course of lectures on the Acts of 
 the Apostles, how the doctrine of Christ had 
 been published to the world. He next ex- 
 plained the rules of the Christian life, as they 
 are set forth in the Epistle to Timothy ; he 
 drew arguments for the refutation of errors in 
 the doctrine from the Epistle to the Galatians, 
 and to this he joined the two Epistles of 
 St. Peter, in order to prove to the despisers of 
 St. Paul, that one and the same spirit ani- 
 mated both the apostles; he ended with the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, that he might exhibit 
 in their full extent the benefits which flow 
 from the gift of Jesus Christ, as great high- 
 priest of believers. 
 
 But Zwingle devoted not his attention solely 
 to men of mature age; he laboured also to 
 kindle a holy fire in the bosom of the young. 
 One day in the same year, (1521,) as he sat 
 in his closet, occupied in studying the Fathers 
 of the Church, the most striking passages of 
 whose works he was collecting, and carefully 
 classing them in a large volume, the door was 
 opened by a young man, whose countenance 
 and mien strongly prepossessed him in his 
 favour. 198 This was Henry Bullinger, who had 
 come to visit him on his way home from Ger- 
 many, impelled by an earnest desire to form 
 an acquaintance with a teacher of his native 
 land, whose name was already celebrated in 
 Christendom. The comely youth fixed his 
 eyes by turns on the Reformer and his books; 
 it seemed as though he felt an instant call to 
 follow his example. Zwingle received him 
 with the cordiality that won the hearts of all 
 who accosted him. This first visit had a 
 powerful influence on the whole life of the 
 student after he returned to his father's roof. 
 Another young man had also attracted Zwin- 
 gle's reo-ard ; this was Gerold Meyer von 
 Knonau. His mother, Anna Reinhardt. who 
 afterwards filled an important part in Zwin- 
 gle's history, had been greatly admired for 
 her beauty, and was still distinguished for her 
 virtues. A youth of noble family, John Meyer 
 von Knonau, who had been brought up at the 
 court of the Bishop of Constance, his kinsman, 
 had conceived an ardent affection for Anna; 
 but she was of plebeian birth. The elder 
 
 Meyer von Knonau refused his consent to theu 
 union ; and when he found that it had taken 
 place, he disinherited his son. In 1513 Anna 
 I was left a widow with one son and two daugh- 
 jters; and the education of her poor orphans 
 | now became the sole object of her life. The 
 j grandfather was inexorable. One day, how- 
 ever, the widow's maid-servant having taken 
 out young Gerold, a graceful, lively child, 
 just three years old, and having stopped with 
 him in the fish-market, old Meyer, who was 
 sitting at the window,* happened to observe 
 him, followed his movements with his eyes, 
 and asked whose child it was, so fresh, and 
 beautiful, and joyous. " It is your own son's 
 child !" was the reply. The old man's heart 
 was moved ; its icy crust was melted in a 
 moment: the past was forgotten, and he has- 
 tened to clasp in his arms the bereaved wife 
 and children of his son. Zwingle felt a fa- 
 ther's love for the young, the noble, and cou- 
 rageous Gerold, whose destiny it was to perish 
 in his prime, at the Reformer's side, with his 
 hand upon his sword, and surrounded, alas! 
 by the dead bodies of his enemies. Thinking 
 that Gerold could not pursue his studies with 
 advantage at Zurich, Zwingle, in 1521, sent 
 him to Bnle. 
 
 The young von Knonau did not find Zwin- 
 gle's friend Hedio at the University. Capito, 
 being obliged to attend the Archbishop Albert 
 to the coronation of Charles V., had sent for 
 Hedio to take his place at Mentz. Bale had 
 thus within a brief space been deprived of its 
 two most faithful preachers; the church in 
 that city seemed to be left desolate; but other 
 men now came forward. The church of Wil- 
 liam Roubli, the curate of St. Albans, was 
 thronged by an auditory of four thousand per- 
 sons. He inveighed against the mass, pur- 
 gatory, and the invocation of saints ; but he 
 was a man of a contentious spirit, greedy of 
 popular admiration, the antagonist of error 
 rather than the champion of truth. On Cor- 
 pus Christi day he joined the great procession; 
 but, instead of the relics which it was the 
 practice to exhibit, a magnificently decorated 
 copy of the Holy Scriptures was carried before 
 him, bearing this inscription in large letters : 
 "THE BIBLE: this is the true relic; all the 
 rest are but dead men's bones." Courage 
 adorns the servant of God, but ostentation ill 
 befits him. The work of an Evangelist is to 
 preach the Bible, not to make a pompous 
 parade of it. The irritated priests laid a charge 
 against Roubli before the Council. A crowd 
 immediately assembled in the square of the 
 Cordeliers. " Protect our preacher," was the 
 cry of the burghers, addressing the Council. 
 Fifty ladies of distinction interceded in his 
 
 * Liiget dess Kindts grossvater zum fiinster 
 uss. und ersach das kind in der fischer briinten, 
 
 (Kuie.) so frach (frisch) und frolich sitzen 
 
 (Archives des Meyer von Knonau, quoted in a 
 biographical notice of Anna Reinhardt, Erlangen, 
 1835, by M. Gerold Meyer von Knonau.) I am 
 indebted to the kindness of this friend for the elu 
 cidation of several obscure passages in Zwingle's 
 history. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 243 
 
 behalf; but Ronbli was compelled to quit 
 Bale. At a later period he was implicated, 
 like Grebel, in the disorders of the Anabap- 
 tists. The Reformation, in the course of its 
 development, never failed to cast out the chaff 
 that was mingled with the good grain. 
 
 But now, in the lowliest of chapels, an 
 humble voice was heard, that distinctly pro- 
 claimed the truths of the Gospel. It was the 
 voice of the youthful Wolfgang Wissembur- 
 ger, the son of a counsellor of state, and chap- 
 lain to the hospital. Those of the inhabitants 
 of Bale whose eyes were opened to their own 
 spiritual necessities, were induced to gather 
 round the meek-tempered chaplain, rather than 
 the arrogant Roubli. Wolfgang began to read 
 the mass in German. The monks renewed 
 their clamours : but this time they failed, and 
 Wissemburger was left free to preach the 
 Gospel " because," says an old chronicler, 
 " he was a burgher, and his father was a coun- 
 sellor." 199 These early advantages, gained by 
 the Reformation at Bale, gave token of greater 
 success to follow. Moreover, they were of 
 the utmost importance, as they affected the 
 progress of the work throughout the whole of 
 the confederated cantons. Zurich no longer 
 stood alone. The enlightened city of Bale 
 had begun to listen to the new doctrine with 
 delight. The foundations of the renovated 
 temple were widening. The Reformation in 
 Switzerland had reached another stage of its 
 growth. 
 
 Zurich, however, was still the centre of the 
 movement. But, in the course of the year 
 1521, events of political importance occurred, 
 which brought bitter grief to the heart of 
 Zwingle, and in a measure distracted the at- 
 tention of his countrymen from the preaching 
 of the Gospel. Leo X. who had proffered 
 his alliance simultaneously to Charles V. and 
 to Francis I. had at length determined in 
 favour of the Emperor. The war between 
 the two rivals was about to break out in Italy. 
 "We shall leave the Pope nothing but his 
 ears," said the French general Lautrec. 200 This 
 sorry jest increased the anger of the Pontiff. 
 The King of France claimed the assistance 
 of the Swiss Cantons, which, with the excep- 
 tion of Zurich, were all in alliance with him ; 
 it was afforded at his call. The Pope con- 
 ceived the hope of engaging Zurich on his 
 side; and the Cardinal of Sion, ever ready for 
 intrigue, and relying on his own dexterity and 
 eloquence, immediately visited the city, to 
 procure a levy of soldiers for his master. But 
 he had to encounter a vigorous opposition from 
 his old friend Zwingle. The latter was indig- 
 nant at the thought of the Swiss selling their 
 blood to foreigners ; his imagination pictured 
 to him the Zurichers on the plains of Italy, 
 under the standard of the Pope and the Empe- 
 ror, rushing with levelled pikes against the 
 other confederates, who were gathered under 
 the banners of France; and in the contempla- 
 tion of that fratricidal scene, his patriotic and 
 Christian soul was filled with horror. He 
 lifted up his admonitory voice in the pulpit. 
 " Will you rend asunder and destroy the con- 
 32 
 
 federation ?" 2C1 cried he. "We give chase to 
 the wolves who ravage our flocks; but we set 
 no guard against such as prowl around us to 
 devour our brethren ! O ! there is good reason 
 why their robes and hats are red : if you only 
 twitch those garments of theirs, ducats and 
 crowns will fall out; but if you grasp them 
 tightly, you will find them dripping with the 
 blood of your brothers, your fathers, your sons, 
 your dearest friends." 202 In vain did Zwingle 
 record his energetic protest. The Cardinal 
 with his red hat prevailed, and two thousand 
 seven hundred Zurichers marched out under 
 the command of George Berguer. Zwingle 
 was deeply afflicted. His efforts, however, 
 were not wholly unproductive of good. A 
 long period was to elapse before the banners 
 of Zurich should again be unfurled and carried 
 through the city gates at the. call of a foreign 
 prince. 
 
 Mortified by the ill-success of the cause 
 which he had espoused as a citizen, Zwingle 
 devoted himself with renewed zeal to the 
 diffusion of the Gospel. He preached with 
 greater energy than ever. " I will never de- 
 sist," said he, " from my labours to restore 
 the primitive unity of the Church of Chris!." 203 
 He opened the year 1522 with the first of a 
 series of discourses in which he pointed out 
 the difference between the precepts of the 
 Gospel and those of men. When the season 
 of Lent arrived, his exhortations assumed a 
 still more impressive tone. Having laid the 
 foundations of the new edifice, he was soli- 
 citous to clear away the ruins of the old one. 
 " For the space of four years," said he to the 
 crowd assembled in the cathedral, " ye have 
 gladly received the holy doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel. The love of God has glowed within 
 your bosoms, ye have tasted the sweetness 
 of the heavenly manna, it is impossible that 
 ye should now find saveur or sustenance in 
 human traditions." 204 He proceeded to argue 
 against the obligation to abstain from flesh at 
 particular seasons. " There are some," he 
 cried in a strain of unstudied eloquence, " who 
 pretend that to eat flesh is a fault, nay, a 
 heinous sin, though God has never forbidden 
 it, but who yet regard it as no sin at all to 
 sell human flesh to the foreigner, and deliver 
 their brethren to be butchered !" 205 This bold 
 language could not fail to awaken the indig- 
 nation and anger of those among his auditory 
 who supported the military compacts with 
 foreign states ; they inwardly vowed that 
 they would never forget it. 
 
 While he preached thus fearlessly, Zwin- 
 gle still continued to say mass ; he observed 
 the rules established by the Church, and even 
 abstained from flesh on the appointed days. 
 He recognised the necessity of enlightening 
 the minds of the people in the first place. 
 But there were some turbulent spirits who 
 acted with less prudence. Roubli, who had 
 found an asylum at Zurich, allowed himself 
 to be hurried blindly along by the impulse of 
 an overcharged zeal. He, but lately the 
 curate of Saint Albans, a Bernese captain, 
 and Conrad Huber, a member of the Great 
 
244 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Council. were accustomed to meet together 
 at Huber's house, for the express purpose of 
 eating flesh on Fridays and Saturdays, an ex- 
 ploit in which they greatly prided themselves. 
 The question of abstinence began to engross 
 the public attention. A native of Lucerne, 
 who was on a visit in Zurich, said to a citi- 
 zen with whom he was familiar: "You do 
 wrong, you worthy confederates of Zurich, 
 to eat flesh during Lent." The Zuricher : 
 " But you also, good folks of Lucerne, take 
 the liberty of eating it on days when it is for- 
 bidden." The Lucernese : " We purchased 
 our license from the Pope." The Zuricher : 
 " And we ours from the butcher. 206 ... If 
 it is an affair of money, the one, surely, is as 
 good as the other." The Council having 
 been called upon to punish those who trans- 
 gressed the ecclesiastical ordinances, request- 
 ed the opinion of the curates on this matter. 
 Zwingle replied that the practice of eating 
 flesh on all days alike was in itself harmless ; 
 but that it was right to abstain from adopting 
 it, until the question should have been de- 
 cided by some competent authority. The 
 other members of the clerical body concurred 
 in the same opinion. 
 
 The enemies of the truth took advantage 
 of this fortunate circumstance. Their influ- 
 ence was fast declining, Zwingle's ascen- 
 dancy becoming paramount, it was neces- 
 sary to strike a prompt and vigorous blow. 
 They addressed an urgent appeal to the Bishop 
 of Constance. " Zwingle," cried they, " is the 
 destroyer, not the pastor, of theLord'sflock." 207 
 
 The ambitious Faber, Zwingle's former 
 friend, had recently undertaken a journey to 
 Rome, and returned full of zeal for the Pa- 
 pacy. To the notions which he had imbibed 
 during his sojourn in that imperious court, we 
 must ascribe the first outbreak of the religious 
 troubles in Switzerland. The time hadnow 
 arrived for a decisive struggle between gos- 
 pel-truth and the retainers of the Roman Pon- 
 tiff. Until the truth has been exposed to 
 hostile efforts, its innate power is never fully 
 elicited. It was under the cold shadow of 
 opposition and persecution that Christianity 
 in its earlier growth acquired the strength by 
 which its enemies were eventually discom- 
 fited. And at the epoch of the great revival 
 which forms the subject of this history, it 
 was the will of God that His truth should 
 march onward in the same rugged and thorny 
 track. The high-priests then, as in the days 
 of the Apostles, set themselves against the 
 new doctrine. But for these assaults, it 
 might, perhaps, have remained concealed in 
 the secret chamber of a few believing hearts. 
 But God's purpose was to manifest it to the 
 world. Opposition had the effect, of clearing 
 new avenues for its passage, launching it on 
 a new career, and fixing on it the eyes of the 
 entire nation. It operated like the gust of 
 wind that scatters the seed to a distance, 
 which otherwise, perhaps, might have lain 
 inert and unprofitable in the spot where it 
 fell. The tree under whose salutary foliage 
 the tribes of Helvetia were to find rest and 
 
 shelter had been planted, indeed, in the depths 
 of her valleys ; but the storm was needed to 
 give its roots a firmer hold of the soil, and to 
 enlarge the covert of its branches. The par- 
 tisans of the Papacy no sooner caught a 
 glimpse of the flame that had been kindled at 
 Zurich, than they hastened, while it was yet 
 smouldering, to stifle it ; but their efforts 
 served only to fan it into vigour. 
 
 On the 7th of April, 1522, in the after part 
 of the day, three ecclesiastics intrusted with 
 a mission from the Bishop of Constance, 
 entered the walls of Zurich. Two of them 
 had an austere and angry cast of countenance, 
 the third was of gentler aspect. These per- 
 sons were Melchior Battli, the bishop's coad- 
 jutor, Doctor Brendi, lastly John Vanner, the 
 preacher of the cathedral, a man of evangelic 
 piety, who was silent throughout the whole 
 affair.* It was already late in the evening 
 when Luti ran to Zwingle to tell him the 
 news. " Officers have arrived from the 
 bishop," said he, " some great blow is to be 
 struck ; all who favour the old customs are in 
 commotion. A notary is now going round to 
 give notice of an assembly of the clergy to be 
 held at an early hour to-morrow in the Chap- 
 ter-house." 
 
 The assembly was held accordingly on the 
 following morning ; when the Coadjutor rose 
 and delivered a speech, which his opponents 
 characterized as violentand arrogant; 208 hestu- 
 diously refrained, however, from mentioning 
 Zwingle by name. Some priests who had 
 lately been won over to the Gospel, and who 
 were yet weak in their faith, were overawed : 
 their paleness, their silence, their sighs tes- 
 tified that they had lost all courage. 209 Zwingle 
 stood up and delivered a speech which his ad- 
 versaries made no attempt to answer. At 
 Zurich, as in the other cantons, the most vio- 
 lent enemies of the new doctrine were to be 
 found in the smaller Council. The deputies 
 having been baffled in the meeting of the 
 clergy now carried their complaint before the 
 magistrates ; Zwingle was absent ; they had 
 therefore no reply to fear. The result appear- 
 ed decisive. The Gospel and its champion 
 were on the point of being condemned without 
 a hearing. Never was the Reformation in 
 Switzerland in more imminent peril. It 
 seemed destined to be smothered in its cradle. 
 In this emergency, the councillors who were 
 friendly to Zwingle appealed to the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Great Council, it was their only 
 remaining resource, and God was pleased to 
 make it availing for the preservation of the 
 Gospel. The Two Hundred were convened. 
 The partisans of the Papacy used every en- 
 deavour to exclude Zwingle from that assem- 
 bly. Zwingle struggled hard to obtain ad- 
 
 * (Zw. Opp. p. 8.)J. J. Hottinger (iii. 77.) 
 Ruchat (i. 134, 2d edition,) and others say, that 
 Faber was at the head of the deputation. Zwin- 
 gle gives the names of the three deputies, and 
 makes no mention of Faber. The authors first 
 cited have no doubt confounded two distinct ot- 
 fices of the Roman hierarchy, the coadjutor and 
 the vicar-general. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 245 
 
 mission. He knocked at every door, as ho 
 himself tells us, and left not a stone unturned; 210 
 but all in vain. *' It is impossible !" said 
 the Burgomasters : " The Council has signed 
 an order to the contrary." "Thereupon," 
 says Zwingle, "I desisted, and with heavy 
 sighs laid the matter before Him who hears 
 the groanings of the prisoner, beseeching him 
 to succour his Gospel."- 11 The patient and 
 submissive expectation of a servant of God is 
 never disappointed. 
 
 On the ninth of April the Two Hundred 
 were assembled. " We must have our pas- 
 tors here," said those members at once, who 
 were friendly to the Reformation. The smaller 
 Council objected ; but the great Council de- 
 termined that the pastors should be present at 
 the accusation, and might even reply to it, if 
 they should think fit. The deputies from 
 Constance were ushered in first, and then 
 the three curates of Zurich, Zwingle, Engel- 
 hard, and the aged Roeschli. 
 
 After the adverse parties who were thus 
 brought face to face had regarded each other 
 for a while with scrutinizing glances, the Co- 
 adjutor rose to speak. " If his heart and his 
 head had only been matched with his voice," 
 says Zwingle, " he would have excelled 
 Apollo and Orpheus in sweetness, and the 
 Gracchi and Demosthenes in power." 
 
 "The civil constitution," said the cham- 
 pion of the Papacy, "and the Christian reli- 
 gion itself are threatened with ruin. Men 
 have appeared amongst us teaching newly- 
 invented doctrines, that are equally abomina- 
 ble and seditious." He went on for some 
 time in the same strain, and then fixing his 
 eyes on the assembled senators before whom 
 he stood : " Continue in the Church," said 
 he, "continue in the Church. Out of the 
 Church none can be saved. The ceremonies 
 of the Church alone can bring unlearned 
 Christians to the knowledgeof salvation: 212 and 
 the pastors of the flock have nothing to do but 
 to explain the signification of these ceremo- 
 nies to the people." 
 
 When the Coadjutor had finished his speech 
 and resumed his seat for a moment, he again 
 rose, and was preparing with his colleagues 
 to leave the council-hall, when Zwingle earn- 
 estly addressed him. "Reverend Coadjutor!" 
 said he, "and you, Sirs, who bear him com- 
 pany ! I beseech you to stay until I have 
 answered this charge." 
 
 THE COADJUTOR. " It is not our commis- 
 sion to dispute with any one." 
 
 ZWINGLE. " I wish not to dispute, but to 
 state unreservedly what my doctrine lias been 
 up to this hour." 
 
 THE BOURGOMASTER ROUST, addressing the 
 deputies from Constance : " I pray you listen 
 to what the curate has to say in reply." 
 
 THE COADJUTOR. " I know too well the 
 man I have to deal with. Ulric Zwingle is 
 too violent for any discussion to be held with 
 him." 
 
 ZWINGLE. " Was there ever an instance 
 before of an innocent man being so vehemently 
 attacked, and then denied a hearing] In the 
 
 name of that faith which we all profess, in 
 the name of the baptism which each of us has 
 received, in the name of Christ, the author 
 | of salvation and eternal life, 2 - 3 ladjureyou to 
 listen to me! If you cannot as deputies, do 
 so, at least, as Christians !" 
 
 After having discharged her idle volley, 
 Rome was hastily retreating from the field of 
 battle. The Reformer was anxious only to 
 be heard ; the Papal envoys thought but of 
 escaping. A cause thus advocated was already 
 gained by the one party, and lost by the other. 
 The Two Hundred could no longer contain 
 their indignation; a murmur ran through the 
 whole assembly ; 214 again the Burgomaster re- 
 monstrated with the deputies. A last, abashed 
 and silenced, they returned to their seats. 
 Then Zwingle spoke as follows : 
 
 ** The Reverend Coadjutor talks of doc- 
 trines that are seditious and subversive of 
 civil authority. Let him learn that Zurich is 
 more tranquil and more obedient to the laws 
 than any city in Switzerland, a blessing 
 which all good Christians attribute to the 
 Gospel. What influence so powerful as that 
 of Christianity to maintain good order in a 
 community ] 215 As for ceremonies, what pur- 
 pose do they serve but to disfigure the linea- 
 ments of Christ and his followers] 2 ' 6 No, it 
 is not by vain observances like these that the 
 unlearned multitude can be brought to the 
 knowledge of the truth. There is another 
 and a better way. It is the way that Christ 
 and his apostles have marked out for us, 
 even the Gospel itself. Let us not he toid 
 that the people cannot understand the Gospel. 
 Whosoever believes must needs understand. 
 The people can believe ; therefore they can 
 understand. This is an operation of the 
 Holy Spirit, not of the human intellect. 217 
 With regard to abstinence, let him who thinks 
 forty days insufficient, fast, if he will, all the 
 year round : it concerns not me ! All that 
 I contend for is, that no one should be com- 
 pelled to fast; and that the Zurichers ought 
 not, for the neglect of this petty observance, 
 to be accused of withdrawing themselves 
 from the communion of Christians . . ." 
 
 " I never said that !" cried the Coadjutor. 
 " No !" said his colleague, Doctor Brendi, 
 " he did not say that." But the Senate 
 unanimously confirmed the assertion of Zwin- 
 gle. 
 
 " Worthy fellow-citizens," continued Zwin- 
 gle, " let not this accusation move you. The 
 foundation of the Church is the same rock, 
 the same Christ that gave Peter his name, 
 because he confessed him faithfully. In every 
 nation whosoever believes with all his heart 
 in the Lord Jesus is accepted of God. Here, 
 truly, is the Church, out of which no one can 
 be saved. 218 To explain the Gospel, and to obey 
 it, such is the sum of our duty as the minis- 
 ters of Christ." 
 
 "Let those who live upon ceremonies 
 make it their business to explain them !" 
 This was probing the wound to the quick. 
 
 A flush passed over the Coadjutor's face, 
 but he remained silent. The assembly of the 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Two Hundred broke up. On the same day 
 they came to the resolution, that the Pope and 
 the cardinals should be requested to explain 
 the controverted point, and that in the mean 
 time abstinence from flesh should be observed 
 during Lent. This was leaving the matter 
 as it stood, and meeting the bishop by an ex- 
 pedient to gain time. 
 
 The effect of this controversy was to for- 
 ward the work of the Reformation. The 
 champions of Rome, and those of the new 
 doctrines, had encountered each other, in the 
 presence, it might be said, of the whole peo- 
 ple, and the issue had not been to the advan- 
 tage of the former. This was the first con- 
 flict in a warfare which was destined to be 
 long and difficult, and marked by many vicis- 
 situdes of humiliation and rejoicing. But 
 victory won at the commencement of a contest 
 inspires an army with courage, and strikes 
 terror into the enemy. The Reformation had 
 gained a vantage-ground, from which it was 
 not to be dislodged. The Council, indeed, 
 found it necessary to proceed with caution ; 
 but the people loudly proclaimed the defeat 
 of Rome. " Never," said they, in the exulta- 
 tion of the moment, " never again can she 
 rally her scattered forces." 219 "You have shown 
 the spirit of St. Paul himself," said one of 
 Zwingle's correspondents, *' in this manful 
 attack on those whited walls, those false 
 apostles and their Ananias. The servants of 
 Antichrist can now only gnash their teeth 
 against you !" From the heart of Germany 
 there came voices that hailed him " the glo- 
 ry of regenerated theology I" 220 
 
 But in the mean time the enemies of the 
 truth were collecting all their strength. If the 
 Gospel was to be suppressed at all, there was 
 no time to be lost, for it would soon bid defi- 
 ance to their efforts. Hoffman impeached the 
 Reformer in a written discourse of great length, 
 which he addressed to the chapter. *' Even 
 though the curate," said he, "could bring for- 
 ward witnesses to prove that certain offences 
 or disorders had been committed by ecclesi- 
 astics in such and such a convent, or street, or 
 tavern, it would be a breach of duty to name 
 the delinquents! Why does he insinuate 
 (it is true I have scarcely ever heard him my- 
 self) that he alone derive's his doctrine from 
 the fountain-head, while others draw theirs 
 from puddles and kennels I 22! ls it not impos- 
 sible, seeing the difference of men's minds 
 that all preachers should preach alike 1 ?" 
 
 Zwingle defended himself in a full assem- 
 bly of the chapter, scattering his adversary's 
 charges, " as a bull with his horns scatters a 
 wisp of straw to the wind." 222 The affair which 
 had appeared so serious, ended in a peal of 
 laughter at the canon's expense. But Zwin- 
 gle did not stop here; on the 17th of April 
 he published a treatise "cm the free use of 
 
 The Reformer's unconquerable firmness was 
 a cause of rejoicing to all who loved the truth, 
 and particularly to the evangelical Christians 
 of Germany, afflicted as they were by the long 
 imprisonment at Wartburg, of that eminent 
 
 apostle who had first appeared in the bosom 
 of the Church. Already there were instances 
 of pastors and believing laymen who had been 
 driven into exile by the rigorous edict which 
 Charles, under the influence of the Papacy, 
 had issued at Worms, and who had found 
 an asylum at Zurich. " Oh, how it gladdens 
 my heart!" was the language of a letter writ- 
 ten to Zwingle by Nesse, the professor of 
 Frankfort, whom Luther had visited on his 
 way to the Diet : " how it gladdens my heart 
 to hear with what boldness you are preaching 
 Christ Jesus! Strengthen by your exhorta- 
 tions, I beseech you, those whom the cruelty 
 of unworthy prelates has banished from our 
 bereaved churches." 224 
 
 But it was not in Germany alone that the 
 friends of the Reformation were exposed to the 
 deadly machinations of their adversaries. Not 
 a day passed but secret meetings were held at 
 Zurich, to devise some method of getting rid 
 of Zwingle. 225 One day he received an anony- 
 mous letter, which he immediately communi- 
 cated to his two vicars. " You are beset with 
 snares on every side," said the writer; "a 
 potent poison has been prepared to deprive you 
 of life. 226 Partake of no food but in your own 
 house ; eat no bread but what your own cook 
 has baked. There are those within the walls 
 of Zurich who are leagued for your destruction. 
 The oracle which has revealed this to me, is 
 better entitled to credit than that of Delphi. 
 I am your friend ; my name you shall know 
 hereafter." 227 
 
 On the morning following the day on which 
 Zwingle received this mysterious epistle, just 
 as Staheli was entering the Water-church, a 
 chaplain stopped him and said " Leave 
 Zwingle's house with all speed ; a catastro- 
 phe is at hand !" Some unknown fanatics, 
 who despaired of seeing the Reformation 
 checked by words, had betaken themselves to 
 the dagger. When mighty revolutions are in 
 progress, and the foul dregs of society are 
 heaved upon its agitated surface, we often see 
 the assassin playing a conspicuous part. 
 Zwingle was preserved however, for God 
 watched over him. 
 
 But while the plots of the murderers were 
 baffled, the legitimate engines of the Papacy 
 were again put in motion. The bishop and 
 his counsellors we're determined to renew the 
 war. Tidings to this effect reached Zwingle 
 from every quarter. The Reformer, still lean- 
 ing on the word of God, replied with high- 
 minded intrepidity; "I fear them as a lofty 
 crag fears the roaring waves that dash against 
 
 ^" 228 " " 
 
 thebase" 228 . . avv tZ> ^9". " God being my 
 helper," added he. On the 2nd of May, the 
 Bishop of Constance issued a mandate, in 
 which, without any mention of Zurich, or of 
 Zwingle, he complained that evil-disposed 
 persons were reviving doctrines which had 
 long since been condemned, and that learned 
 and unlearned men were alike everywhere 
 irreverently discussing the most exalted mys- 
 teries. John Vanner, preacher of the cathe- 
 dral of Constance, was the first who was in- 
 dividually attacked. "I choose," said he, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 247 
 
 " rather to be a Christian, though I incur the 
 hatred of many, than to purchase the friend- 
 ship of the world by forsaking Christ!" 229 
 
 But it was at Zurich that the death-blow must 
 be dealt against the infant heresy. Faber and 
 the bishop knew that Zwingle had many ene- 
 mies among the canons. They resolved to take 
 advantage of this circumstance. Towards the 
 end of May a letter from the bishop was re- 
 ceived at Zurich, addressed to the principal 
 and chapter. "Sons of the Church," said 
 the prelate, "let those perish who will perish ! 
 but let none entice you to alandcntheChurch." 250 
 A.t the same time, the bishop charged the ca- 
 nons to prevent those pernicious doctrines 
 which were giving birth to dangerous sects 
 from being preached among them, or made 
 the subject of discussion either in private or 
 in public. When this letter was read in the 
 chapter, all eyes were turned upon Zwingle. 
 He could not but know what that look implied. 
 " You think," said he, " I perceive, that this 
 letter has reference to me; be pleased to de- 
 liver it to me then, and, by God's help, I will 
 answer it." 
 
 Zwingle's answer was imbodied in a work, 
 bearing the title of Jlrcheteles, which signifies 
 the "beginning and the end;" "for," said 
 he, " I hope that this my first reply will also 
 be my last." In this production, he speaks 
 in a very respectful manner of the bishop, and 
 ascribes all the hostility of which he had to 
 complain to the malevolence of a few design- 
 ing men. " What, after all, is my offence ?" 
 he asks. " I have endeavoured to open men's 
 eyes to the peril of their souls ; I have la- 
 boured to bring them to the knowledge of the 
 only true God, and Christ Jesus his Son. To 
 this end I have employed no subtle arguments, 
 but the word of truth and soberness, such as 
 my brethren of Switzerland could understand ." 
 Then exchanging his defensive posture for 
 that of an assailant, he significantly adds : 
 " Julius Caesar, when he felt that he had 
 received a mortal wound, exerted his remain- 
 ing strength to gather his robe around him, 
 that he might fall with dignity. The down- 
 fall of your ceremonies is at hand ; be it your 
 care to give their fate what decency you may, 
 and to speed the inevitable transition from 
 darkness to light," 231 
 
 This was all the effect produced by the 
 bishop's letter to the chapter of Zurich. Since 
 every milder expedient proved ineffectual, it 
 became necessary now to strike a vigorous 
 blow. Faber and Landenberg cast their eyes 
 around them, and fixed them at last on the 
 Diet, the Council of the Helvetic nation. 232 De- 
 puties from the bishop presented themselves 
 before that assembly ; they stated that their 
 master had issued a mandate forbidding the 
 priests of his diocese to attempt any innova- 
 tion in matters of doctrine ; that his injunction 
 had been set at naught ; and that he conse- 
 quently appealed to the heads of the Confede- 
 ration to aid him in reducing the rebels to 
 obedience, and in maintaining the true and 
 ancient faith. 2G3 The enemies of the Reforma- 
 tion had the ascendancy in this supreme as- 
 
 sembly of the nation. But a little before, it 
 had issued a decree by which all priests were 
 required to desist from preaching, on the 
 ground that their discourses tended to stir up 
 dissensions among the people. This decree 
 of the Diet, its first act of interference with 
 the Reformation, had not hitherto been en- 
 forced ; but now, being bent on rigorous mea- 
 sures, the assembly summoned before it Urban 
 W T eiss, the pastor of Fislispach, near Baden, 
 who was accused by public report of preach- 
 ing the new doctrine and rejecting the old. 
 The proceedings against Weiss were suspend- 
 ed for a while, at the intercession of a nume- 
 rous body of citizens, security having first 
 been exacted from him to the amount of a 
 hundred florins, which were collected by his 
 parishioners. 
 
 But the Diet had taken a side in the contest ; 
 this was evident, and the monks and priests 
 began to recover their courage. At Zurich 
 they had assumed a haughtier aspect imme- 
 diately on the promulgation of the first decree. 
 Several members of the Council were accus- 
 tomed to visit the three convents every morn- 
 ing and evening, and even to take their meals 
 there. The monks lectured their well-mean- 
 ing guests, and urged them to procure an or- 
 dinance from the government in their favour. 
 "If Zwingle will not hold his peace," said 
 they, " we will cry out louder than he." The 
 Diet had openly espoused the cause of the 
 oppressors: the Council of Zurich knew not 
 how to act. On the 7th of June it published 
 an ordinance forbidding any one to preach 
 against the monks; but no sooner had this 
 ordinance been voted, than " a sudden noise 
 was heard in the council-chamber," says Bul- 
 linger's Chronicle, " so that all present looked 
 at each other in dismay." 234 Tranquillity was 
 not restored ; on the contrary, the contest 
 which was carried on in the pulpits grew 
 warmer every day. The Council appointed 
 a committee before whom the pastors of Zu- 
 rich and the readers and preachers of the con- 
 vents were respectively summoned to appear 
 in the Principal's dwelling-house. After a 
 keen debate, the Burgomaster enjoined both 
 parties to refrain from preaching any thing 
 that might breed discord. " I cannot submit 
 to this injunction," said Zwingle; "I claim 
 the right of preaching the Gospel freely, with- 
 out any condition whatsoever, agreeably to the 
 former ordinance. I am bishop and pastor of 
 Zurich ; it is to me that the care of souls has 
 been confided. I am under the obligation of 
 an oath, from which the monks are exempt. 
 They are the party who ought to give way, 
 not I. If they preach what is false, I will 
 contradict them, were it even in the pulpit of 
 their own convent. If I myself preach any 
 doctrine contrary to the Holy Gospel, then I 
 desire to be rebuked, not only by the chapter, 
 but by any private citizen, and, moreover, to 
 be punished by the Council." 235 "And we," 
 said the monks, "on our part, demand permis- 
 sion to preach the doctrines of St. Thomas." 
 The committee of the Council, after mature 
 deliberation, determined " that Thomas Aqui 
 
248 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 nas, Scotus, and the other doctors should be 
 laid aside, and that preachers should confine 
 themselves to the Holy Gospel." Again, 
 therefore, the truth was triumphant. But the 
 anger of those who supported the Papacy was 
 inflamed to a higher pitch. The Italian ca- 
 nons could not conceal their fury. They cast 
 insulting glances at Zwingle in the chapter, 
 and seemed to be thirsting for his blood. 236 
 
 These tokens of hostility could not intimi- 
 date Zwingle. There was one place in Zurich 
 where, thanks to the Dominicans, no ray of 
 light had hitherto entered ; this was the nun- 
 nery of Oetenbach. The daughters of the first 
 families of Zurich were accustomed to take 
 the veil there. It seemed unjust that these 
 poor females, shut up within the walls of their 
 convent, should alone be debarred from hear- 
 ing the word of God. The Great Council 
 ordered Zwingle to visit them. The Reformer 
 accordingly mounted the pulpit which none 
 but the Dominicans had hitherto occupied, and 
 delivered a sermon "On the clearness and 
 certainty of the word of God." 2117 Heafterwards 
 published this remarkable discourse, which 
 produced a great effect, and still further con- 
 tributed to exasperate the monks. 
 
 An event now occurred which enlarged the 
 sphere of this religious animosity, and com- 
 municated it to many a heart which had as 
 yet been a stranger to its influence. The 
 Swiss, under the command of Stein and Win- 
 kelried, had suffered a bloody defeat at Bicocca. 
 They had made a gallant attack on the enemy ; 
 but the artillery of Pescara and the lanzknechts 
 of that same Freundsberg whom Luther had 
 encountered at the door of the Council-hall at 
 Worms, had overthrown officers and stand- 
 ards, and whole companies at once had been 
 mowed down and exterminated. Winkelried 
 and Stein, with many inferior chiefs, who bore 
 the illustrious names of Mulinen, and Dies- 
 bach, and Bonstetten, and Tschudi, and Pfyf- 
 fer, had been left on the field of battle. Schwitz, 
 in particular, had been bereft of the bravest of 
 her sons. The mangled remnant of that dis- 
 astrous conflict returned to Switzerland, car- 
 rying mourning in their train. A cry of un- 
 mingled lamentation resounded from the Alps 
 to the Jura, from the Rhone even to the Rhine. 
 
 But no one felt this calamity more keenly 
 than Zwingle. He immediately addressed a 
 letter to the canton of Schwitz, to dissuade the 
 citizens of that state from engaging again in 
 foreign service. *' Your ancestors," said he, 
 with all the warmth of a true-hearted Switzer, 
 "contended with their enemies in defence of 
 their liberties; but never did they imbrue their 
 hands in Christian blood. These foreign wars 
 bring upon our country incalculable evils. 
 The anger of God descends upon the States, 
 and Swiss liberty is almost lost between the 
 interested caresses and mortal hatred of foreign 
 Princes." 238 Zwingle gave the right hand to 
 Nicolas von Flue, and supported the appeal 
 of that friend of peace. This remonstrance, 
 being presented at a general assembly of the 
 people of Schwitz, produced such an impres- 
 sion, thatit was decreed that provisionally the 
 
 state would decline any alliance for the next 
 twenty-five years. But it was not long before 
 the French party procured the revocation of 
 this noble resolution; and from that time 
 Schwitz was, of all the cantons, the most op- 
 posed to Zwingle and his efforts. Even the 
 disgraces.that the same party drew upon their 
 country served but to increase their hatred of 
 the bold preacher who was striving to avert 
 them. A violent opposition was formed 
 against Zurich and Zwingle. The usages of 
 the Church, and the recruiting services, at- 
 tacked at the same moment, mutually sup- 
 ported each other against the rising w r irid 
 which threatened both w r ith downfall. Mean- 
 while enemies were multiplying from with- 
 out. It was no longer the Pope alone, but 
 the other foreign princes, who vowed irrecon- 
 cilable hatred to the Reformation. Its effect 
 went to deprive them of those Swiss halberds 
 which had added so many triumphs to their 
 ambition . . . On the side of the Gospel there 
 remained God and the excellent of the 
 earth : it was more than enough. Divine 
 Providence was besides bringing to its sup- 
 port men of different countries who were per- 
 secuted for their faith. 
 
 On Saturday the 12th of July, the inhabit- 
 ants of Zurich witnessed the arrival in their 
 streets of a monk, of tall, thin, and gaunt 
 stature, habited in the gray frock of the Cor- 
 deliers, of foreign appearance and mounted on 
 an ass; his bare feet almost touching the 
 ground. 239 In this manner he arrived from the 
 road leading to Avignon, not knowing a word 
 of German. However, by means of Latin he 
 contrived to make himself understood. Fran- 
 cis Lambert (for that was his name) inquired 
 for Zwingle, and handed to him a letter from 
 Berthold Haller : " The Franciscan father who 
 is the bearer of this," wrote the Bernese cu- 
 rate, " is no other than apostolic preacher to 
 the convent-general at Avignon. For the last 
 five years he has been teaching the true Chris- 
 tian doctrine ; he has preached in Latin to our 
 clergy at Geneva, at Lausanne, before the 
 bishop, at Friburg, and latterly at Berne, 
 touching the church, the priesthood, the sacra- 
 ment ofthe mass, the traditions of the Roman 
 bishops, and the superstitions of religious 
 orders. To me, such teaching from a Corde- 
 lier, and a Frenchman, (both characters that, 
 as you know, suppose a host of superstitions,) 
 seemed a thing unprecedented." 240 TheFrench- 
 man himself recounted to Zwingle that the 
 writings of Luther having been discovered in 
 his cell, he had been obliged to leave Avignon 
 at a moment's warning; how he had first 
 preached the Gospel in the city of Geneva, 
 and afterwards at Lausanne, on the banks of 
 the same lake. Zwingle, quite overjoyed, 
 threw open to him the church of our Lady, 
 assigning him a seat in the choir, before the 
 high altar. There Lambert delivered four ser- 
 mons, in which he attacked with vigour the 
 errors of Rome; but in his fourth discourse 
 he defended the invocation of the saints and 
 I of Mary. 
 
 " Brother 1 Brother ! you are mistaken," 241 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 249 
 
 pxclaimed a loud voice. It was Zwingle's. 
 Canons and chaplains leaped for joy on see- 
 ing a dispute arising between the Frenchman 
 and the heretical curate : " He has publicly 
 attacked you," said they to Lambert; "re- 
 quire of him a public discussion." The monk 
 of Avignon did so ; and on the 22d of July, 
 at ten o'clock, the two disputants met in the 
 conference-hall of the canons. Zwingle opened 
 the Old and New Testament in Greek and La- 
 tin. He discussed and expounded until two 
 o'clock, when the Frenchman, clasping his 
 hands together and raising them towards hea- 
 ven, broke forth in these words: 242 "I thank 
 thee, O God, that by this thy gifted minister, 
 thou hast granted to me so clear a discovery 
 of the truth." " Henceforth," he added, 
 turning to the assembly, " in all my trials I 
 will invoke none but God alone, and throw 
 aside my beads. To-morrow I purpose to 
 continue my journey. I am going to Bale to 
 see Erasmus of Rotterdam, and thence to 
 Wittemberg to see the Augustine Martin Lu- 
 ther." Accordingly he took his departure on 
 his ass. We shall meet with him again. 
 This man was the first who went forth from 
 France for the sake of the Gospel into Swit- 
 zerland and Germany; the humble forerunner 
 of many thousands. 
 
 Myconius had no such consolations. On 
 the contrary, it was his lot to see Sebastian 
 Hofmeister, who had come from Constance to 
 Lucerne, and had there preached the Gospel 
 boldly, compelled to quit the city. On this, 
 Oswald's melancholy increased a fever con- 
 sumed him ; the physicians gave their opinion 
 that if he did not remove he would die. " No- 
 where do I more wish to be than with you," 
 wrote he to Zwingle, " and nowhere have I 
 less wish to be than at Lucerne. Men torment 
 me, and the climate destroys me. People 
 say that my disease is the punishment of 
 my iniquity. It is in vain to speak or do any 
 
 thing, they turn every thing to poison 
 
 There is One above, on whom alone my hope 
 rests." 243 
 
 This hope was not delusive. It was about 
 the end of March, and Annunciation-day was 
 approaching. The day before its eve a solemn 
 fast was observed, in memory of a conflagra- 
 tion that in 1340 had reduced to ashes the 
 greater part of the city. A crowd of people 
 from the environs were collected together at 
 Lucerne, and several hundred priests were as- 
 sembled. A noted preacher usually preached; 
 and on this occasion Conrad Schmid, of Kus- 
 nacht, commander of the Johannites, arrived 
 to take the duty. A great crowd filled the 
 church, but what was their astonishment, 
 when the commander, abandoning the cus- 
 tomary Latin oration, spoke in plain German, 
 that all could understand; 244 declared with au- 
 thority and holy zeal the love of God in send- 
 ing His Son into the world, and eloquently 
 showed that our works cannot save us, and 
 that God's promises are in truth the essence 
 of the Gospel. " God forbid," cried the com- 
 mander, in the hearing of the astonished con- 
 gregation, " that we should i ;cognise a hand 
 
 so full of sin as the Roman bishop, and there- 
 by reject Jesus Christ. 24 ' If the Bishop of 
 Rome dispenses the bread of the Gospel, let 
 us acknowledge him as a pastor not as our 
 head; and if he does not dispense it, let us 
 in no way whatever recognise him." Oswald 
 could not restrain his joy. 
 
 " What a man !" he exclaimed, " What a 
 discourse ! what majesty and authority ! 
 how full of the spirit of Christ!" The effect 
 was almost universal. To the agitation which 
 pervaded the town succeeded a solemn si- 
 lence ; but all this was transient, if a nation 
 closes the ear to God's call, his calls are 
 every day less frequent, and ere long they are 
 altogether withdrawn. This was the fate of 
 Lucerne. 
 
 While truth was there proclaimed from the 
 pulpit, at Berne, the Papacy was assailed in 
 the festive meetings of the people. A layman 
 of reputation, Nicolas Manuel, famed for his 
 talents, and afterwards promoted to high of- 
 fice in the state, indignant at seeing his coun- 
 trymen mercilessly plundered by Sampson, 
 composed some carnival dramas, in which he 
 keenly satirized the extortion, haughtiness, 
 and pomp of the Pope and clergy. . . On the 
 mardi gras, or Shrove-Tuesday of their lord- 
 ships, (their lordships were then the clergy, 
 and the clergy usually began their Lent eight 
 days before 'other people,) nothing was talked 
 of in Berne but a drama or mystery, called 
 the Feeders upon the Dead, which some young 
 folks were to act in the Rue de la Croix. The 
 people flocked to the spot. As literary pro- 
 ductions, these dramatic sketches of the early 
 part of the sixteenth century possess some in- 
 terest, but it is in a very different point of 
 view that we recal them: we would prefer 
 doubtless not to have to adduce on the part 
 of the Reformation attacks of this nature ; as 
 truth triumphs by far different weapons : his- 
 tory, however, does not create, but faithfully 
 transmits what she finds. 
 
 And now the acting begins, much to the 
 satisfaction of the impatient crowd gathered 
 together in the Rue de la Croix. The Pope 
 appears, attired in splendid habiliments, and 
 seated on a throne. Around him stand his 
 courtiers and body-guard, and a mixed assem- 
 blage of dignified and inferior clergy; be- 
 yond them are nobles, laymen, and beggars. 
 Shortly after, a funeral procession appears; 
 it is a wealthy farmer whom they are carry- 
 ing to his grave. Two of his kinsmen walk 
 slowly in front of the coffin, with handker- 
 chiefs in their hands. The procession being 
 arrived in the Pope's presence, the bier is 
 lowered, the acting begins : 
 
 FIRST RELATIVE. 
 
 The noble army of saints, 
 Take pity on our lot ; 
 Alas ! our cousin is dead, 
 In the prime of his life. 
 
 ANOTHER RELATIVE. 
 
 No cost will we spare 
 For priests, friars, or nuns, 
 Though a hundred crowns we should drain; 
 
250 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Determined are we ; 
 His spirit to free, 
 From dire purgatorial pain. 246 
 
 The SACRISTAN coming out of the crowd near 
 the Pope, and hurrying to the curate, Robert 
 Ne'er-Enough: 
 
 My Lord curate, let me drink your health; 
 A rich farmer is just dead ! 
 
 THE CURATE. 
 
 One, say you. One is not enough. 
 One dead ! 'tis for ten that I call ; 
 The more die off, the more blithely we live, 
 This death is the best trick of all! 
 
 THE SACRISTAN. 
 
 Ah ! if I had but my heart's desire, 
 I'd pass my time in tolling of knells ; 
 For unlike field labour the dead never tire, 247 
 But pay well, and tell no tales. 
 
 THE CURATE. 
 
 If tolling a bell opes the gate of heaven, 
 
 I know not but what does that matter ? 
 
 It brings me in barbel, pike, salmon, and trout; 
 
 And my larder grows, day by day, fatter. 
 
 THE CURATE'S NIECE.* 
 
 'Tis all very well but I put in my claim, 
 
 And this soul must to-day me provide 
 
 With a comely new gown of white, black, pink, 
 
 or green, 
 And a neat pretty kerchief beside. 
 
 Cardinal LOFTYLOOK, wearing the red hat, 
 and standing near the Pope . 
 Did we not love the bloody prize of Death, 
 Would we have led to slaughter, in their prime, 
 Those armed trains, 
 On battle plains, 
 
 In wars our pride has kindled in our time ? 248 
 The blood of Christians yields to Rome her 
 
 wealth ! 
 
 Hence do I wear a hat of sanguine red, 
 Made fat with pomp and riches by the dead ! 
 
 BISHOP WOLFS-BELLY. 
 
 By papal right I mean to live and die. 
 
 I wear rich silks, and spend luxuriously ; 
 
 I lead in battle, or I hunt at will ! 
 
 If we in the first church were living still, 
 
 My cloak were what a peasantround him flings! 219 
 
 B ut we were shepherds then, and now we 're kings ! 
 
 Yet 'mongst the shepherds I to pass intend. 
 
 How so? 
 
 A VOICE. 
 
 BISHOP WOLFS-BELLY. 
 
 At the sheep-shearing time, my friend! 
 Shepherds and wolves are we to our fat flocks. 
 They must feed us, or fall beneath hard knocks. 
 Marriage to curates doth the Pope deny : 
 'Tis well : 'but who among them will comply ? 
 Not e'en the best of them. That's better still! 
 What matter scandals? Bribes my coffers fill. 
 Thus shall I better sport a princely train : 
 The smallest coin indeed I ne'er disdain. 
 A priest with money takes a wife discreetly : 
 Four florins yearly . . . seal my eyes completely. 
 Brings she him children, he must bleed again . . . 
 Two thousand florins in a year I gain : 
 If they were virtuous I should starve, be sure. 250 
 Thanks to the Pope! him kneeling I adore. 
 'Tis in his faith I'll live, his church defend, 
 And ask no other God till life shall end ! 
 
 * In the German the term is more gross, Pfaf- 
 fenmetze. 
 
 Men think that to a haughty priest 'tis given 
 I" unclose or shut at will the gate of heaven. 
 Preach well the conclave's chosen one's decree, 
 And we are kings and laymen slaves shall be : 
 3ut if the Gospel standard be displayed, 
 All's over with us! for 'tis nowhere said 
 
 That men should give their money to the priest. 
 Perhaps too, if the Gospel were obeyed, 
 We should pass life in poverty and shade . . . 
 Instead of these caparisoned proud steeds, 
 With these rich carriages my household needs, 
 
 My holiness would ride a duller beast. 251 
 No, We'll flnd means to guard the goodly gains 
 Our predecessors left, and quell rash aims. 
 'Tis ours to will, and the world's part to bow ; 
 To me as to a God its nations vow ; 
 Crushed by my weight when I ascend its throne, 
 I give its good things to my pack alone. 
 And unclean laymen must not touch our treasure ; 
 Three drops of holy water '11 fill his measure ! 
 
 We will not follow out this literal rendering 
 of Manuel's dramatic effusion. The vexation 
 of the clergy on learning these efforts of the 
 Reformers, their anger against those who 
 would thus put a stop to these disorders, is 
 painted in vivid colours. The dissoluteness 
 the mystery brought prominently forward was 
 too general for each one not to be struck by 
 the truth of the picture. The people were in 
 commotion. Many were the satirical jests of 
 the spectators as they broke up from the specta- 
 cle in the Rue de la Croix; but some were 
 more gravely affected, and these spoke of the 
 liberty of the Christian, and the Pope's des- 
 potism, contrasting the simplicity of the 
 Gospel with Romish pageantry. Rapidly the 
 popular contempt broke forth in the public 
 streets. On Ash-Wednesday the people pa- 
 raded the indulgences through the city, ac- 
 companying them with satirical songs. A 
 heavy blow had been struck, in Berne, and 
 throughout Switzerland, at the ancient edifice 
 of Popery. 
 
 Shortly after this dramatic representation, 
 another comedy took place at Berne; but in 
 this last invention had no share. The clergy, 
 the council, and the burghers, had assembled 
 before the upper gate, expecting the skull of 
 St. Ann, which the celebrated knight Albert 
 von Stein, had gone to fetch from Lyons. 
 After waiting some time, Stein arrived, bear- 
 ing the precious relic, wrapped in a covering 
 of silken stuff. On its passage through Lau- 
 sane, the bishop of that place had fallen on 
 his knees before it. The holy trophy was 
 carried in procession to the church of the Do- 
 minicans. Bells were rung, the procession 
 entered, and the skull of the Virgin's mother 
 was solemnly deposited on the altar dedicated 
 to her, beneath a screen of costly lattice- work. 
 But in the height of the rejoicing, came a let- 
 ter from the Abbot of the convent at Lyons, 
 (where the remains of the saint were pre- 
 served,) announcing that the monks had trick- 
 ed the knight, by imposing on him an unclean 
 skull picked up from among the bones of the 
 cemetery. This imposition on the celebrated 
 city of Berne deeply offended its inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 The Reformation was making progress in 
 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 251 
 
 other parts of Switzerland. In 1521, Walter 
 Klarer, a young man of Appenzel, returned 
 from the university of Paris to his own canton. 
 The writings of Luther fell into his hands, 
 and in 1522 he preached the Gospel with all 
 the fervour of a young Christian. An innkeep- 
 er named Rausberg, a member of the Council 
 of Appenzel, threw open his house to the 
 friends of truth. A famous captain Bartholo- 
 mew Berweger, who had fought in the ranks 
 for Julius II. and Leo X. being lately returned 
 from Rome, instantly set about persecuting 
 the new doctrine. But recollecting one day that 
 he had seen much that was wrong at Rome, 
 he began to read his Bible and hear the 
 preachers ; his eyes were opened, and he 
 embraced the Gospel. Observing that the 
 crowds that came could no longer find room 
 in the churches : " Why not preach in the 
 open fields and in the public squares 1" said 
 he in spite of much opposition, the hills, 
 meadows, and mountains of Appenzel, from 
 that time often resounded with the tidings of 
 salvation. 
 
 This doctrine, ascending the course of the 
 Rhine, even reached as far as ancient Rhetia. 
 One day a stranger coming from Zurich, 
 passed the river, and presented himself at the 
 door of a saddler of Flasch, the first town in 
 the Grisons. Christian Anhorn listened with 
 amazement to the conversation of his guest. 
 *' Preach then," said the whole village to the 
 stranger, whose name was James Burkli; 
 and Burkli took his stand before the altar. A 
 body of armed men, with Anhorn at their 
 head, surrounded him to protect him from any 
 sudden attack ; and thus he proclaimed the Gos- 
 pel. The report of his preaching spread abroad, 
 and on the next Sunday an immense crowd 
 assembled. Very soon a great number of the 
 inhabitants of that country desired to partake 
 of the Lord's supper, according to Christ's 
 appointment. But one day the tocsin was 
 suddenly heard in Mayenfield ; the people 
 ran together in alarm, the priests depicted the 
 dangers that threatened the Church, and fol- 
 lowed by this fanatic population, hurried to 
 Flasch. Anhorn, who was working in the 
 fields surprised by the ringing of bells at so 
 unusual an hour, returned home in haste, and 
 secreted Burkli in a deep pit that had been 
 dug in his cellar. The house was already 
 surrounded; the doors were burst open, and 
 strict search made for the heretical preacher; 
 but in vain. At length they left the place. 252 
 
 The word of God had spread through the 
 ten jurisdictions of the league. The curate of 
 Mayenfield, on returning from Rome, (whither 
 he had fled in indignation at the progress of 
 the Gospel,) exclaimed " Rome has made 
 an evangelist of me!" and became from that 
 time a zealous Reformer. Ere long, the Re- 
 formation extended itself in the league of what 
 was called "the house of God." "Oh, if 
 you could but see how the inhabitants of the 
 Rhetian Alps cast away from them the yoke 
 of Babylon !" wrote Salandronius to Vadian. 
 
 Revolting disorders hastened the day when 
 Zurich and its neighbouring country should 
 33 
 
 finally throw off the yoke. A married school- 
 master desiring to take priest's orders obtained 
 his wife's consent and was separated from her. 
 The new curate finding himself unable to ful- 
 fil his vow of celibacy quitted the place of his 
 wife's residence from regard to her, and set- 
 tling himself in the diocese of Constance, 
 there formed a criminal connection. His wife 
 hearing of it went to him. The poor priest 
 was melted at the sight of her, and dismissing 
 the woman who had usurped her rights, took 
 home his lawful wife. Instantly the procu- 
 rator-fiscal made out his report, the Vicar- 
 general was in motion, the councillors of the 
 consistory met in deliberation, and .... en- 
 joined the curate to renounce his wife, or his 
 benefice ! The poor wife left her husband's 
 house in tears ; her rival resumed her place in 
 triumph. The church was satisfied, and from 
 that moment left the adulterous priest undis- 
 turbed. 2 * 5 
 
 Shortly after a curate of Lucerne seduced a 
 married woman, and cohabited with her. The 
 husband repairing to Lucerne availed himself 
 of the opportunity afforded by the priest's ab- 
 sence to recover his wife. As he was return- 
 ing, the seducer met them in the way ; he in- 
 stantly fell upon the injured husband, and in- 
 flicted a wound, of which the latterdied. 254 All 
 good men saw the necessity of re-establishing 
 the law of God, which declares marriage 
 " honourable to all." (Heb. xiii. 4.) The 
 ministers of the Gospel had discovered that 
 the law of celibacy was altogether of human 
 authority, imposed by the Popes, contrary to 
 God's word, which in describing a faithful 
 bishop, represents him as a husband and a 
 father. (1 Tim. iii. 24.) They also saw 
 that of all the corruptions which had gained 
 a footing in the church, not one had led to 
 more profligacy and scandals. Hence they 
 not only thought it lawful, but even a part of 
 their duty to God to reject it. Several among 
 them at this period returned to the apostolic 
 usage. Xyloctect was already a husband. 
 Zwingle also married about this time. Among 
 the women of Zurich none was more respected 
 than Anna Reinhardt, widow of Meyer von 
 Knonau, mother of Gerold. From Zwingle's 
 coming among them, she had been constant 
 in her attendance on his ministry ; she lived 
 near him, and he had remarked her piety, 
 modesty, and maternal tenderness. Young 
 Gerold, who had become almost like a son to 
 him, contributed further to bring about an in- 
 timacy with his mother. The trials that had 
 already befallen this Christian woman, 
 whose fate it was to be, one day, more severe- 
 ly tried than any woman whose history is on 
 record, had formed her to a seriousness which 
 gave prominency to her Christian virtues. 253 
 She was then about thirty-five, and her whole 
 fortune consisted of 400 florins. It was on 
 her that Zwingle fixed his eyes for a compa- 
 nion for life. He felt the sacredness and inti- 
 mate sympathy of the marriage tie ; and term- 
 ed it "a most holy alliance." 256 "AsChrist," 
 said he, "died for those who are His, and 
 give himself entirely for them, so should those 
 Y2 
 
253 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 who are united together by marriage, do and 
 suffer all things one for the other." But 
 Zwingle, when he took Anna Reinhardt to 
 wife, did not make his marriage public. This 
 was beyond doubt a blameable weakness in 
 one who in other things was so resolute. The 
 light he and his friends possessed on the sub- 
 ject of celibacy was by no means general. 
 The weak might have been stumbled. He 
 feared lest his usefulness in the church might 
 be destroyed by makingknown his marriage,* 57 
 and he sacrificed much of his happiness to 
 these fears excusable, perhaps, but such as 
 he ought to have disregarded.* 
 
 Meanwhile, interests of a higher kind were 
 engaging the thoughts of the friends of truth. 
 The Diet, as we have seen, urged on by the 
 enemies of the Reformation, had enjoined the 
 preachers of the Gospel to abstain for the fu- 
 ture from preaching doctrines that disturbed 
 the people. Zwingle felt that the moment for 
 action had arrived, and with characteristic en- 
 ergy he invited such ministers of the Lord as 
 were favourable to the Gospel, to meet him at 
 Einsidlen. The strength of Christians is 
 neither in force of arms, flames, scaffold, party 
 policy, or man's power. It is found in a sim- 
 ple but unanimous and courageous confession 
 of the great truths which must one day pre- 
 vail over the world. Those who serve God 
 are specially called on to hold up these heaven- 
 ly truths, in presence of all the people, unawed 
 by the clamours of enemies. These truths 
 carry in themselves the assurance of their 
 triumph, and idols fall before them as before 
 the ark of God. The time had come when 
 God would have the great doctrine of salvation 
 
 * The most respectable biographers, and those 
 who have followed them, place Zwingle's mar- 
 riage two years later, namely, in April, 1524. 
 Without intending here to state all the reasons 
 which have satisfied me that this is an error, I will 
 notice the most conclusive. A letter from Zwin- 
 
 fle's intimate friend, Myconius, bearing date 22d 
 uly, 1522, has these words : Vale cum uxore quam 
 felicissime. Another letter from the same friend, 
 written toward ihe end of that year, has likewise 
 the words : Vale cum uxore. That the date of 
 these letters is quite correct is proved by the very 
 contents of them. But what is still stronger, a letter 
 written from Strasburg by Bucer at the moment 
 when Zwingle's marriage was made public, the 
 14th of April, 1524, (the date of the year is want- 
 ing, but it is evident that this letter is of that 
 year,) contains several passages which show 
 Zwingle to have been married a considerable time 
 before ; the following are some of these, besides 
 what is cited in the preceding note. Profess urn 
 palam te maritum legi. Unum hoc desiderabam 
 in te. Qua? multo facilius quamcoTznw&u tuicon- 
 fcssionem Antichristus posset ferre. Ayo^ov, ab 
 eo, quod cum fratribus . . . episcopo Constantiensi 
 congressus es, nullus credidi. Qua ratione id 
 tarn din celares . . . non dubitarim, rationibus hue 
 adductum, quae apud virum evangelicum non 
 queant omnino repudiari . . . &c. (Zw. Epp. 335.) 
 Zwingle, then, did not marry in 1524, but he then 
 made public his marriage contracted two years 
 before. The learned editors of Zwingle's letters 
 observe Num forte jam Zwinglius Annam Rein- j 
 hardam clandestine 'in matrimonio habebat ? (p. j 
 210,) which appears to me to be not a doubtful 
 point, but a fact sufficiently established. 
 
 thus confessed in Switzerland ; it was fit that 
 the gospel standard should be planted on an 
 elevated spot. Providence was on the point 
 of drawing forth from their unknown seclusion 
 humble but intrepid men, and causing them to 
 give a noble testimony in the face of the whole 
 nation. 
 
 Towards the end of June and beginning of 
 July, 1522, pious ministers were seen from 
 every side journeying to the famous cha, 
 of Einsidlen, on a new pilgrimage. 258 Fro 
 Art in the canton of Schwitz, came its curate, 
 Balthasar Trachsel ; from Weiningen near 
 Baden, the curate Staheli; from Zug, Wer- 
 ner Steiner; from Lucerne, the canon Kilch- 
 meyer ; from Uster, the curate Pfister ; from 
 Hongg, near Zurich, the curate Stumpff; 
 from Zurich itself, the canon Fabricius, the 
 chaplain Schmid, the preacher of the hospi- 
 tal, Grosmann, and Zwingle. Leo Juda, 
 curate of Einsidlen, joyfully received these 
 ministers of Christ into the ancient abbey. 
 Since Zwingle's residence, the place had be- 
 come a kind of citadel of truth, a refuge foi 
 the righteous. 259 So in the solitary field of 
 Gr.utli, two hundred and fifteen years before, 
 had gathered together three-and-thirty patriots, 
 fearlessly determined to burst asunder the 
 yoke of Austria. At Einsidlen the great aim 
 was to cast away the yoke of man's autho- 
 rity in the things of God ! Zwingle proposed 
 to his friends to address an urgent petition to 
 the cantons and the bishop ; claiming a free 
 preaching of the Gospel, and also the aboli- 
 tion of compulsory celibacy, the source of so 
 many disorders. All agreed in his sugges- 
 tions. 260 Ulric had himself prepared addresses. 
 That to the bishop was first read. It was on 
 the 2d of July, 1522. All signed it. A hearty 
 affection united the preachers of the Gospel. 
 Many others there -were who sympathized 
 with those who had met at Einsidlen ; such 
 were Haller, Myconius, Hedio, Capito, (Eco- 
 lampadius, Sebastian Meyer, Hoffmeister, 
 and Vanner. This brotherly unity is one of 
 the loveliest features of the Swiss Reforma- 
 tion. The excellent men we have mentioned 
 ever acted with one heart, and their mutual 
 affection lasted till death. 
 
 The men assembled at Einsidlen saw 
 plainly that nothing but the energy of faith 
 could combine in one work the members of 
 the confederation divided by the foreign capi- 
 tulations. But their views rose above this. 
 " The heavenly teaching, said they to their 
 ecclesiastical superior in their address, dated 
 2d July, "that truth which God the Creator 
 has made known in his Son to mankind im- 
 mersed in sin, has long been veiled from our 
 eyes by the ignorance, not to say the evil in- 
 tentions, of a handful of men. But Almighty 
 God has decreed to reinstate it in its primitive 
 purity. Join then with those who desire that 
 the great body of Christians should return to 
 their Head, that is Christ 261 . . . For onr 
 parts we are resolved to proclaim his Gospel 
 with unwearied perseverance, and yet with a 
 that shall leave no ground of com- 
 against us. 262 Favour this undertaking; 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 253 
 
 startling, perhaps, but not rash. Take your ] 
 stand like Moses, in the way, at the head of 
 the people getting up out of Egypt, and hy 
 your own hands overturn all obstacles to the 
 triumphant march of truth." 
 
 After this spirit-stirring appeal, the minis- 
 ters of the Gospel assembled at Einsidlen 
 came to the subject of celibacy. Zwingle 
 had for himself nothing to seek on that head : 
 he had as his partner such a minister's wife 
 as Saint Paul has sketched, "grave, sober, 
 faithful in all things." (1 Tim. iii. 2.) But 
 his thoughts were for those of his brethren 
 whose consciences were not, as his, set free 
 from human ordinances. He longed for that 
 time when those servants of God might live 
 openly and without fear in the circle of their 
 families, ''having their children in subjection 
 with all gravity." "You are not ignorant," 
 said the men of Einsidlen, "how deplorably 
 hitherto the laws of chastity have been vio- 
 lated by the clergy. When in the consecra- 
 tion of ministers to the Lord, the question is 
 put to him who speaks on behalf of the rest: 
 Are the persons you present to us righteous 
 men? he answers: They are righteous. 
 Are they well instructed 1 They are well 
 instructed. But when he is asked: are they 
 chaste? His answer is: As far as man's 
 weakness permits." 263 "TheNew Testament 
 everywhere condemns illicit intercourse, while 
 it everywhere sanctions marriage." Here 
 follow a great number of citations from Scrip- 
 ture. " It is for this reason we entreat you, 
 by the love of Christ, by the liberty he has 
 obtained for us, by the distress of weak and 
 unstable souls, by the wounds of so many 
 ulcerated consciences, by every motive, di- 
 vine and human, to consent that what has 
 been enacted in presumption may be annulled 
 in wisdom; lest the noble fabric of the Church 
 crumble into dust with frightful crash, spread- 
 ing ruin far and wide. 264 Look around you. 
 Behold how many storms threaten society. 
 If prudence does not come to our rescue, the 
 fate of the clergy is decided." 
 
 The petition addressed to the Confederation 
 was at greater length. 265 "Worthy Sirs !" thus 
 spoke the allies of Einsidlen: " We are all 
 Swiss, and acknowledge you as our fathers. 
 Some among us have given proof of our 
 fidelity in the field of battle, in pestilence, and 
 other calamities. It is in the name of chastity 
 that we address you. W 7 hich of you does 
 not know that we should better consult the 
 lust of the flesh by declining to subject our- 
 selves to the conditions of lawful wedlock. 
 But it is indispensable to put an end to the 
 scandals which afflict the Church of Christ. 
 If the tyranny of the Roman Pontiff should 
 
 persist in oppressing us, ! noble heroes, 
 fear nothing ! The authority of God's word, 
 
 the rights of Christian liberty, and the sove 
 reign power of grace, will encompass and 
 protect us. 266 We are of one land and of one 
 faith ; we are Swiss ; and the virtue of our 
 race h,as ever displayed its power in un- 
 flinching defence of all who are unjustly 
 oppressed." 
 
 Thus did Zwingle and his friends boldly 
 uplift the standard of the truth and freedom in 
 Einsidlen itself, that ancient bulwark of su- 
 perstition, which even in our days is still one 
 of the most noted sanctuaries of Roman obser- 
 vances. They appealed to the chiefs of the 
 State and of the Church. Like Luther, they 
 publicly placarded their theses; but it was 
 at the doors of the episcopal palace and of the 
 council of the nation, x The friends at Einsid- 
 len separated : calm, joyous, and full of con- 
 fidence in that God to whom they had com- 
 mitted their cause; and passing, some by the 
 way of the field of battle of Morgarten, others 
 over the chain of the Albis, and the rest by 
 other valleys or mountain paths, they re- 
 turned each one to his post. " Truly there 
 was something sublime for those times," says 
 Henry Bull inger, 267 "that these men should 
 have thus dared to step forward, and taking 
 their stand around the Gospel, expose them- 
 selves to every kind of danger. But God has 
 preserved them all, so that no evil has hap- 
 pened unto them, for God ever protects thoso 
 who are his." And in truth there was a sub- 
 limity in this proceeding. It was a decisive 
 step in the progress of the Reformation, one 
 of the most brilliant days of the religious re- 
 generation of Switzerland. A holy bond was 
 compacted at Einsidlen. Humble and brave 
 men had taken " the sword of the Spirit, 
 which is the word of God, and the shield of 
 faith." The gauntlet had been thrown down, 
 and the challenge given, not by one man 
 only, but by men of different cantons, pre- 
 pared to peril their lives on the issue. 
 
 The battle was evidently approaching. 
 Every thing betokened that it would be vigor- 
 ously contested. As early as the 7th of July, 
 the magistrate of Zurich, willing to do the 
 Romanists a pleasure, summoned before him 
 Conrad Grebel and Glaus Hottinger, two in- 
 temperate men, who seemed desirous to over- 
 pass the limit of a prudent reformation. " We 
 prohibit you," said the burgomaster Roust, 
 "from speaking against the monks, or on the 
 points in controversy." At that moment a 
 loud clap was heard in the room, says an old 
 chronicle. The work of God was so manifest 
 in events, that men saw in every thing the 
 sign of His intervention. Every one, in asto- 
 nishment, looked round the apartment, with- 
 out being able to discover the cause of the 
 mysterious sound. 268 
 
 But it was in the convents that indignation 
 was at its height. Every meeting held therein 
 for discussion or amusement witnessed some 
 new attack. One day, on occasion of a grand 
 festivity in the convent of Fraubrurm, the wine 
 mounting to the heads of the guests, they be- 
 gan to break out in bitter speeches against 
 
 the Gospel. 269 That which chiefly irritated 
 these friars and priests was the evangelic 
 doctrine, that in the Christian Church there 
 can properly be no priestly caste raised above 
 other believers. Among the guests, there 
 un- was but one who was a favourer of the Refor- 
 ; mation, and he was a layman named Macrin, 
 I schoolmaster of Soleure. At first he took no 
 
254 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 part in the discourse, but changed his seat 
 from one table to another. At, length, unable 
 to endure the shouts of the guests, he arose 
 and said aloud, "Well: all true Christians 
 art priests and sacrificers, according to that 
 word of St. Peter, (1 Pet. ii. 9. Rev. i. 6:) 
 ye are kings and priests." At this speech 
 the Dean of Burgdorff, one of the loudest in 
 company, a huge man of powerful lungs and 
 sonorous voice, burst into a loud laugh, and 
 mingling jest with insult, " So then," said 
 he, " you Greeklings and accidence-mongers 
 are the royal priesthood? . . . Noble sacri- 
 ficers!* beggar kings! . . . priests without 
 prebends or livings !" And all with one ac- 
 cord turned against the presumptuous lay- 
 man. 
 
 It was, however, at Lucerne that the bold 
 measure of the men at Einsidlen was to pro- 
 duce the greatest sensation. The Diet had 
 met in that town, and from all sides came 
 complaints against the over-zealous preachers 
 who obstructed the regular sale of Swiss 
 blood to foreign nations. On the 22d July, 
 1522, as Oswald Myconius sat at dinner in 
 his house in company with the canon Kilch- 
 meyer, and several favourers of the Gospel, a 
 young lad, sent by Zwingle, came to the door. 270 
 He was the bearer of the two famous petitions 
 of Einsidlen, together with a letter from 
 Zwingle, in which he desired Oswald to cir- 
 culate them in Lucerne. " My advice is," 
 added the Reformer, "that it should be done 
 quietly and gradually, rather than all at once, 
 for we need to learn every thing, even our 
 wives, for Christ's sake." 
 
 The critical moment for Lucerne was ap- 
 proaching; the bomb had fallen; the shell 
 was about to burst. The friends read the 
 petition, "May God bless this beginning!" 271 
 exclaimed Oswald, raising his eyes to hea- 
 ven. He then added: "This prayer should 
 from this moment be the constant burden of 
 our hearts." The petitions were forthwith 
 circulated, perhaps more actively than Zwin- 
 gle desired. But the moment was without 
 example. Eleven men, the elite of the clergy, 
 had placed themselves in the breach ; it was 
 requisite to enlighten men's minds, to decide 
 the wavering and carry with them the co-op- 
 eration of the most influential members of the 
 Diet. 
 
 Oswald, in the midst of his exertions, did 
 not forget his friend. The young messenger 
 had told of the attacks that Zwingle had to 
 endure from the monks of Zurich. " The 
 words of the Holy Ghost are invincible," 
 wrote Myconius in reply, the same day. 
 "Armed with the shield of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, you have overcome, not in one conflict 
 only, or in two, but in three; and now a 
 fourth is commencing. Hold fast those mighty 
 weapons, whose edge is harder than a dia- 
 
 * Estote ergo Groeculi ac Donatistae regale sa- 
 cerdotium . . . (Zw. Epp. 230.) Donatistce, from 
 Donatus, the author of the Latin Grammar then 
 in use in the schools. 
 
 mond. Christ needs for the defence of those 
 who are his, nothing but his word. Your 
 conflicts communicate unconquerable couracre 
 to all who have devoted themselves to Jesus 
 Christ."* 72 
 
 The two petitions did not produce the 
 effect expected from them in Lucerne. Some 
 men of piety approved them, but they were 
 few in number. Many, fearing to compromise 
 themselves, would neither commend nor blame 
 them. 273 Others said, "These people will 
 make nothing of it." The priests murmured 
 against them, and the populace broke forth in 
 open hostility. The passion for military ad- 
 venture had again shown itself in Lucerne, 
 after the bloody defeat of Bicocca, and no- 
 thing but war was thought of. 274 Oswald, who 
 attentively watched these varying impres- 
 sions, felt his resolution fail. The reign of 
 Gospel light in Lucerne and Switzerland, 
 which his hopes had dwelt upon with joy, 
 seemed to vanish. " Our countrymen are 
 blind as to heavenly things ;" said he, fetch- 
 ing a deep sigh, " there is nothing to be hoped 
 from the Swiss for the glory of Christ." 275 
 
 In the Council and at the Diet, exaspera- 
 tion was at its height. The Pope, France, 
 England, the Empire, were all in motion 
 round Switzerland, since the defeat of Bicocca, 
 and the retreat of the French under command 
 of Lautrec from Lombardy. Was it because 
 the political interests of the moment were not 
 sufficiently complicated that these eleven men 
 must bring forward their petitions, thereby 
 adding controversies of religion? The depu- 
 ties of Zurich alone inclined to favour the 
 Gospel. The canon Xyloctect, trembling for 
 the safety of himself and his wife, for he 
 had married into one of the chief families of 
 the neighbourhood, had with tears declined 
 the invitation to Einsidlen to sign the address. 
 The canon Kilchmeyer had evinced more 
 courage, and ere long he had need of it. 
 
 Sentence is impending over me," he wrote 
 on the 13th of August, to Zwingle. " I await 
 it with firmness . ." As he was writing, the 
 officer of the Council entered his apartment, 
 and delivered him a summons to appear on 
 the following morning. 276 " If I am cast into 
 prison," said he, continuing his letter, "I 
 claim your help ; but it will be easier to trans- 
 port a rock from our Alps, than to move me 
 as much as a hand's breadth from the word 
 of Jesus Christ." Regard to his family, and 
 the resolution that had been come to, that the 
 storm should be directed against Oswald, 
 saved the canon ! 
 
 Berthold Haller had not signed the peti- 
 tions, perhaps because he was not a Swiss by 
 birth. But, without flinching, he, as Zwin- 
 gle had done, expounded the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew. A great crowd thronged the cathe- 
 dral church of -Berne. The word of God 
 wrought more mightily than Manuel's dramas 
 had done on the people. Haller was sum- 
 moned to the town-hall, the people escorted 
 him thither, and continued collected in the 
 great square. Opinions were divided in the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 255 
 
 Council. " It is a matter that concerns the | 
 bishops," said the most influential persons; 
 " we must hand over the preacher to my Lord 
 Bishop of Lausanne." Haller's friends were 
 alarmed at these words, and sent him word to 
 retire with all possible despatch. The peo- 
 ple gathered round and bore him company, 
 and a considerable number of burghers re- 
 mained in arms in front of his dwelling, ready 
 to form a rampart for their humble pastor, 
 with their bodies. The Bishop and Council 
 drew back at the aspect of this bold demon- 
 stration, and Haller was saved ! But he was 
 not the only champion of truth at Berne. 
 Sebastian Meyer refuted the Bishop of Con- 
 stance's pastoral letter, and more especially 
 the charge that the disciples of the Gospel 
 taught a new doctrine, and that the ancient 
 only is the true. " To have gone wrong for 
 a thousand years," said he, " cannot make us 
 right for a single hour: otherwise it would 
 have been the duty of the heathen to continue 
 in their religion. And if the most ancient 
 doctrines are to be preferred, then fifteen hun- 
 dred years are more than five centuries, and 
 the Gospel is more ancient than the decrees 
 of the Popes." 277 
 
 At this time the magistrates of Friburg in- 
 tercepted certain letters addressed to Haller 
 and Meyer, by a canon of Friburg, named 
 John Hollard, a native of Orbe. They pro- 
 ceeded to throw him into prison, stripped him 
 of his appointment, and finally banished him. 
 One John Vannius, a chorister of the cathe- 
 dral, shortly after declared himself in favour 
 of the Gospel ; for in this war as soon as one 
 soldier falls, another steps forward to occupy 
 his place in the ranks. " How is it possi- 
 ble," asked Vannius, " that the muddy water 
 of the Tiber should flow side by side with 
 the pure stream that Luther has drawn from 
 St. Paul's source?" But the chorister also 
 had his mouth shut. " Among all the Swiss," 
 said Myconius, writing to Zwingle, " there 
 are hardly any more averse from sound doc- 
 trine than the people of Friburg." 278 
 
 There was nevertheless one exception, 
 namely, Lucerne, and Myconius experienced 
 this. He had not signed the celebrated peti- 
 tions; but if not A?, his friends did so; and 
 a victim was required. The ancient literature 
 of Greece and Rome, thanks to his efforts, 
 was beginning to shine upon Lucerne; from 
 various quarters, people resorted thither to 
 hear the learned professor ; and the peacefully 
 disposed listened with delight to softer sounds 
 than those of halberds, swords, and cuirasses, 
 which previous to this time had been the only 
 sounds in that warlike city. Oswald had 
 sacrificed every thing for his country ; he had 
 quitted Zurich and Zwingle; he had injured 
 his health ; his wife was infirm, and his son 
 of tender years; 279 if Lucerne should reject 
 him, nowhere could he hope for an asylum ! 
 But these considerations had no power over 
 the merciless spirit of party, and the things 
 that should have moved them to compassion, 
 inflamed their anger. Hurtenstein, burgo- 
 
 master of Lucerne, an old and brave soldier, 
 who had acquired distinction in the wars of 
 Suabia and Burgundy, urged the Council to 
 dismiss the schoolmaster from his post, and 
 wished, together with the master, to expel 
 his Greek and Latin, and his preaching, from 
 the canton. He succeeded. On leaving the 
 Council, in which it had been decided to dis- 
 miss Myconius, Hurtenstein encountered Ber- 
 ruer, the deputy of Zurich : " We send you 
 back your schoolmaster," said he, ironically ; 
 "get ready a comfortable lodging for him." 
 " We will not let him lie in the streets," in- 
 stantly replied the courageous deputy. 280 But 
 Berguer promised more than he could per- 
 form. 
 
 The words dropped by the burgomaster 
 were too true, and they were soon confirmed 
 to the distressed Myconius. He is deprived 
 of his occupation, banished : and the only 
 crime laid to his charge is that he is a disci- 
 ple of Luther. 281 He turns his eyes on the right 
 hand and on the left, and nowhere does he 
 discern shelter. He beholds himself and his 
 wife and child, weak and ailing, driven from 
 their home, and all around him, his country 
 rocked by a violent tempest that is rending and 
 destroying whatever ventures to stand against 
 it," Here," said he to Zwingle, " is your 
 poor Myconius discharged by the Council of 
 Lucerne. 2 - 2 Where shall I go 1 ? .... I know 
 not .... Assailed as you yourself are, how 
 can you shelter me 1 .... I look, therefore, 
 in my tribulation to God, as my only hope. 
 Ever abounding, ever merciful, he suffers none 
 who make their prayer to Him to go empty 
 away. May he supply my wants !" 
 
 So spake Oswald. He waited not long 
 before a word of consolation came to him. 
 There was one man in Switzerland who had 
 been schooled in trials of faith. Zwingle 
 hasted to raise and cheer his friend. "So 
 rude are the blows by which the enemy would 
 level God's house," said Zwingle, "and so 
 repeated the assaults, that it is no longer the 
 rains descending, and the wind blowing, ac- 
 cording to the Lord's prediction, (Matt. vii. 
 27,) but hail and thunder-storm. 283 If I did not 
 discern the Lord keeping the vessel, I should 
 long since have let go the -helm ; but I see 
 him in the height of the tempest, strengthen- 
 ing the cordage, shifting the yards, spreading 
 the sails, nay more, commanding the very 
 winds. Would it not then be the action of a 
 faint heart, and unworthy of a man, were I 
 to abandon my post and seek in flight a death 
 of shame] I commit myself entirely to his 
 sovereign goodness. Let him govern all, 
 let him remove impediments, let him appear 
 or delay, hasten or stay, rend, swallow up, 
 or plunge us to the bottom of the deep ; we will 
 not fear. 284 We are vessels that belong to Him. 
 He can make us to honour or to dishonour, 
 according to his pleasure!" After these 
 breathings of lively faith, Zwingle continued : 
 " My advice to you is to present yourself be- 
 fore the Council, and there pronounce a speech 
 worthy of Christ, and of yourself that is to 
 
256 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 say, suited to melt and not to irritate the : his struggles had passed the Santis, pene 
 hearers. Deny that you are a Lutheran, but | trated the Tockenburg, and reached the 
 profess yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ, j heights of Wildhaus. The family of herds- 
 Let your pupils accompany you, and speak for men from which he sprang were deeply 
 you: and if this does not prevail, come to moved by what they heard. Of Zwingle's 
 
 your friend, come to Zwingle, and look upo 
 our city as your own hearth." 
 
 Oswald, emboldened by these words, fol- 
 lowed the noble counsel of the Reformer; bu 
 all his efforts were fruitless. The witness for 
 truth was doomed to quit his country, and 
 they of Lucerne were so active in decrying 
 him, that everywhere the magistrates opposed 
 the offering him an asylum: "Nothing re- 
 mains for me," said the confessor of Jesus 
 Christ, heart-broken at the aspect of so much 
 enmity, " but to beg the support of my misera- 
 ble existence from door to door." 285 The day 
 soon arrived when the friend of Zwingle, and 
 his most effective fellow-labourer, the first 
 among the Swiss who united the office of in 
 structor in learning with the love of the Gos- 
 pel, the Reformer of Lucerne, and afterwards 
 one of the chiefs of the Helvetic church, was 
 compelled with his feeble partner, and infant 
 child, to leave that ungrateful city where, out 
 of all his family, only one of his sisters had 
 received the love of the Gospel. He passed 
 its ancient bridge. He caught sight of those 
 mountains which seemed to rise from the bo- 
 som of lake Waldstetten to the clouds. The 
 canons Xyloctect and Kilchmeyer, the only 
 friends the Reformation could as yet number 
 among his countrymen, followed close behind 
 him. And in the moment when this poor 
 man, in company with the helpless sufferers 
 dependent upon him for support, turned to- 
 wards the lake, and, shedding tears for his 
 infatuated country, bade adieu to the sublime 
 natural grandeur of his birthplace, the Gos- 
 pel itself departed from Lucerne, and there 
 Rome reigns unto this day. 
 
 The Diet itself, then sitting at Baden, 
 stimulated by the severity resorted to against 
 Myconius, irritated by the petitions from 
 Einsidlen, which, being printed and circulated, 
 produced everywhere a strong sensation, 
 and persuaded by the bishop of Constance, 
 who urged them to strike a final blow at their 
 innovators, had recourse to persecution, en- 
 joined the authorities of the baillages to 
 " give information against all, whether priests 
 or laymen, who should impugn the established 
 faith," and in blind haste proceeded to arrest 
 the preacher who happened to be nearest, 
 namely, Urban Weiss, pastor of Fislispach, 
 (who had before this been released on bail,) 
 and sent him to Constance, to the bishop, 
 who kept him a long while in confinement. 
 "In this manner," says Bullinger's Chroni- 
 cle, " began the confederate states' persecu- 
 tion of the Gospel, and all this happened at the 
 instigation of the clergy, who in all ages 
 have dragged Jesus Christ before the judg- 
 ment seats of Herod and Pilate." 286 
 
 Zwingle was not destined to escape trial, 
 
 five brothers some had not ceased to follow 
 their mountain occupations ; while others, to 
 the great grief of their brother, had at times 
 taken up arms, left their flocks, and served 
 foreign princes. All were in consternation at 
 the reports brought to their chalets. In ima- 
 gination they beheld their brother seized, 
 dragged before his bishop at Constance, and 
 a pile of fagots lighted for his destruction, 
 on the spot where John Huss had perished. 
 The high-spirited shepherds could ill brook 
 the thought of being called the brothers of a 
 heretic. They wrote to Ulric, communicating 
 their distress and alarm. Zwingle answered 
 them : " As long as God shall enable me, I 
 will perform the task that he has assigned 
 me, without fearing the world and its proud 
 tyrants. I know all that may befall me. 
 There is no danger, no evil, that I have not 
 long and carefully considered. My strength 
 is weakness itself, and I know the power of 
 my enemies; but I likewise know that I can 
 do all things through Christ that strengthen- 
 eth me. Were I to hold my peace, another 
 would be raised up and constrained to do what 
 God is doing by my means, while I should 
 be judged by God ! 0, my dear brethren, 
 banish far from your thoughts all these appre- 
 hensions. If I have a fear, it is that I have 
 been more gentle and tractable than suits the 
 times we live in. 287 * What shame,' say you, 
 
 will fall upon all our family, if you are 
 burnt or in any other way put to death ]' 28S O, 
 my beloved brethren, the Gospel derives from 
 the blood of Christ this wondrous property, 
 that the fiercest persecutions, far from arrest- 
 ing its progress, do but hasten its triumph ! 
 They alone are faithful soldiers of Christ who 
 are not afraid to bear in their own bodies the 
 wounds of their Master. All my efforts have 
 no other end than to make known to men the 
 treasures of blessedness that Christ has pur- 
 chased for us; that all men may turn to the 
 Father, through the death of his Son. If this 
 doctrine should offend you, your anger cannot 
 stop my testimony. You are my brothers, 
 yes, my own brothers, sons of my father, who 
 lave hung on the same breasts . . . but if you 
 were not my brethren in Christ, and in the 
 work of faith, then would my grief be so 
 overpowering that nothing would exceed it. 
 Farewell. I will never cease to be your at- 
 tached brother, if you will not cease to be the 
 brethren of Jesus Christ." 239 
 
 The confederated Swiss seemed to rise as 
 >ne man against the Gospel. The petitions 
 rom Einsidlen had been the signal of that 
 novement. Zwingle, affected at the fate of 
 iis beloved Myconius, saw, in his misfor- 
 unes, but the beginning of sorrows. Ene- 
 nies within and without the city, a man's 
 
 and he was at this time wounded in the ten- foes, 'those of his own house,' furious op- 
 derest point. A rumour of his doctrine and position from monks and priests, strong mea- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 257 
 
 suies of repression by the Diet and Councils, I against my will, thou hast never ceased to 
 riotous, perhaps murderous assaults, from impel me to the conflict. Therefore, do I 
 
 partisans of the foreign service, the upper 
 valleys of Switzerland, the cradle of the Con- 
 federation, pouring forth phalanxes of invinci- 
 ble soldiers, to reinstate Rome, and quench 
 the nascent revival of faith at the risk of their 
 lives ! Such was the prospect the prophetic 
 mind of the Reformer beheld with trembling. 
 And what a prospect ! was indeed this revival 
 to be crushed in its very beginning? Then it 
 was that Zwingle, anxious and troubled in 
 mind, spread before his God the deep anguish 
 of his soul. "0 Jesus," he exclaimed, 
 "thou seest how the wicked and the blas- 
 phemer stun thy people's ears with their cla- 
 mours. 290 Thou knowest how from my youtl 
 
 up I have abhorred controversy, and yet, | of his soul. 
 
 call upon Thee with confidence to finish what 
 thou hast begun ! If in any thing I have 
 I builded unwisely, let thy hand of power cast 
 1 it down. If I have laid any other foundation 
 beside Thee, let thy mighty arm overturn it. 291 
 O thou vine full of all sweetness to whom the 
 Father is the husbandman, and we are 
 branches, abandon not thy suckers. 292 Hast 
 thou not promised to be with us unto the end 
 of the world?" 
 
 It was on the 22d of August, 1522, that 
 Ulric Zwingle, the Swiss Reformer, beholding 
 the thunder-cloud descending from the moun- 
 tains on the frail bark of the Faith, thus 
 poured forth to God the troubles and desires 
 
258 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 Aspect of the Church Effects of Luther's Teaching Wisdom of God Agitation of the People- 
 Luther and Melancthon Tidings of Luther's Safety The Imperial Edict powerless? Th. 
 "Knight George" A safe Solitude Luther's Sickness Alarm of his Friends The Confession 
 al Luther's Health Feldkirchen's Marriage Marriage of Priests And of Friars Monkery- 
 Luther on Monastic Vows Dedication to his Father Sale of Indulgences resumed Luther's 
 Letter to Spalatin Luther to the Cardinal Elector Effect of the Reformer's Letter 'Albert to 
 Luther Joachim of Brandenburg " The Last shall be First" Luther's Fitness for the Work 
 Of Translating the Scriptures 'Luther and Satan Luther quits the Wartburg The Sorbonne 
 Luther's visit to Wittemberg Progress of the Reformation The Monk Gabriel Interference 
 of the Elector Frederic's Caution Attack on Monkery Thirteen Monks quit the Convent- 
 The Cordeliers threatened Decision of Monastic Vows Carlstadt's zeal The Lord's Supper- 
 Town Council of Wittemberg Errors of Popery Fanatics of Zwickau The new Prophet Ni 
 colas Hussman Melancthon and Stubner Melancthon' s Perplexity Carlstadt's Zeal Contempt 
 of Learning Occupations of the Elector Luther's Dejection His test of Inspiration Edict of 
 the Diet Luther leaves the Wartburg Primitive Church Two Swiss Students A strange 
 Knight Supper at the Inn Luther on his Journey Letter to the Elector Reception at Wittem- 
 berg Meditation Luther preaches Faith and Love God's Way Luther on the Lord's Sup- 
 per Effect of Luther's Sermons Luther's Moderation and Courage Stubner and Cellarius 
 Order restored Scripture and Faith The Visionary Pen Publication of the New Testament 
 Effects of Luther's Translation The " Loci Communes" Original Sin Free Will Knowledge 
 of Christ Effect of Melancthon' s Tract Henry VIII. Catherine of Arragon Bishop Fisher and 
 Sir Thomas More Cardinal Wolsey Henry VIII. writes against Luther Royal Theology 
 The King's Vanity Luther's Indignation His Reply to Henry VIII. Literary Courtesy More's 
 Attack upon Luther Henry's Attachment to More Henry's Letter Spread of the Reformation 
 The Augustine Monks The Franciscans The People and the Priests The new Preachers 
 Power of the Scriptures Religion and Literature The Press Spread of Luther's Writings 
 Luther at Zwickau Duke Henry Ibach at Rome Diffusion of the Light- University of Wit- 
 temberg Principles of the Reformation Transition State of the Church. 
 
 IT was now four years since the Church had 
 heard again proclaimed a Truth which had 
 formed part of her earliest teaching. The mighty 
 word of a Salvation by Grace, once " fully 
 preached" throughout Asia, Greece, and Italy, 
 by Paul and his companions, and discovered 
 many ages after, in the pages of the Bible, by 
 a monk of Wittemberg, had resounded from 
 the plains of Saxony, as far as Italy, France, 
 and England ; and the lofty mountains of 
 Switzerland had echoed its inspiring accents. 
 Tne springs of truth, liberty, and life were 
 again opened : multitudes had drunk gladly 
 of the water ; but those who had freely partaken 
 of them had retained the same external appear- 
 ance, and while all within was new, every 
 thing without remained unchanged. 
 
 The constitution of the Church, its ritual, 
 and its discipline had undergone no alteration. 
 In Saxony even at Wittemberg and wher- 
 ever the new opinions had spread, the papal 
 ceremonies held on their accustomed course ; 
 the priest before the altar offering the host to 
 God was believed to effect a mysterious tran- 
 substantiation ; friars and nuns continued to 
 present themselves at the convents to take 
 upon them the monastic vows ; pastors lived 
 single ; religious brotherhoods herded to- 
 gether; pilgrimages were undertaken; the 
 faithful suspended their votive offerings on 
 the pillars of the chapels ; and all the accus- 
 tomed ceremonies, down to the minutest ob- 
 servances, were celebrated as before. A voice 
 had been heard in the world, but as yet it was 
 not embodied forth in action. The language 
 of the priest accordingly presented the most 
 striking contrast with his ministrations. From 
 his pulpit he might be heard to thunder against 
 
 the mass as idolatrous, and then he might be 
 seen to come down to the altar, and go scru- 
 pulously through the prescribed form of the 
 service. On every side, the recently recover- 
 ed Gospel sounded in the midst of the ancient 
 rites. The officiating priest himself was un- 
 conscious of his inconsistency, and the popu- 
 lace, who listened with avidity to the bold dis- 
 courses of the new preachers, continued de- 
 voutly observant of their long established cus- 
 toms, as though they were never to abandon 
 them. All things continued unchanged at the 
 domestic hearth, and in the social circle, as in 
 the house of God. A new faith was abroad, 
 but new works were not yet seen. The vernal 
 sun had risen, but winter still bound the earth ; 
 neither flower, nor leaf, nor any sign of vege- 
 tation was visible. But this aspect of things 
 was deceptive ; a vigorous sap was secretly 
 circulating beneath the surface, and was about 
 to change the face of the world. 
 
 To this wisely-ordered progress, the Re- 
 formation may be indebted for its triumphs. 
 Every revolution should be wrought out in 
 men's minds before it takes the shape of 
 action. The contrast we have remarked did 
 not at first fix Luther's attention. He seemed 
 to expect that while men received his writings 
 with enthusiasm, they should continue devout 
 observers of the corruptions those writings 
 exposed. One might be tempted to believe 
 that he had planned his course beforehand, 
 and was resolved to change the opinions of 
 men before he ventured to remodel their forms 
 of worship. But this would be ascribing to 
 Luther a wisdom, the honour of which is due 
 to a higher Intelligence. He was the appoint- 
 ed instrument for a purpose he had no power 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 259 
 
 to conceive. At a later period he could dis- 
 cern and comprehend these things, but he did 
 not devise or arrange them. God led the way : 
 the part assigned to Luther was to follow. 
 
 If Luther had begun by external reforma- 
 tion if he had followed up his words by an 
 attempt to abolish monastic vows, the mass, 
 confession, the prescribed form of worship, 
 assuredly he would have encountered the 
 most formidable resistance. Mankind need 
 time to accommodate themselves to great 
 changes. But Luther was not the imprudent 
 and daring innovator that some historians* 
 have depicted. The people, seeing no change 
 in their daily devotions, followed undoubting- 
 ly their new leader wondering at the assaults 
 directed against a man who left unquestioned 
 their mass, their beads, and their confessor; 
 and disposed to ascribe such enmity to the 
 petty jealousy of secret rivals, or to the hard 
 injustice of powerful enemies. And yet the 
 opinions that Luther put forth fermented in 
 the minds of men, moulded their thoughts, 
 and so undermined the stronghold of preju- 
 dice that it, ere long, fell without being at- 
 tacked. Such influence is, indeed, gradual. 
 Opinions make their silent progress, like the 
 waters which trickle behind our rocks, and 
 loosen them from the mountains on which they 
 rest: suddenly the hidden operation is re- 
 vealed, and a single day suffices to lay bare 
 the work of years, if not of centuries. 
 
 A new era had dawned upon the Reforma- 
 tion : already truth was recovered in its teach- 
 ing; henceforward the teaching of the truth is 
 to work truth in the Church and in society. 
 The agitation was too great to allow of men's 
 minds remaining at their then point of attain- 
 ment ; on the general faith in the dogmas so 
 extensively undermined, customs had been 
 established which now began to be disregard- 
 ed, and were destined, with them, to pass 
 away. 
 
 There was a courage and vitality in that 
 age, which prevented its continuing silent in 
 presence of proved error. The sacraments, 
 public worship, the hierachy, vows, constitu- 
 tional forms, domestic and public life, all 
 were on the eve of undergoing modification. 
 The bark, slowly and laboriously constructed, 
 was on the point of being lowered from the 
 stocks, and launched on the open sea. It is 
 for us to follow its progress through many 
 shoals. 
 
 The captivity of Luther in the castle of 
 Wartburg separates these two periods. That 
 Divine Providence which was about to give a 
 mighty impulse to the Reformation, had pre- 
 pared the means of its progress, by leading 
 apart into profound seclusion the man chosen 
 to effect it. For a while, the work was as 
 much lost sight of as the instrument of it : but 
 the seed must be committed to the earth, if it 
 is to bring forth fruit; and from this captivity, 
 which might have seemed to close the Reform- 
 er's career, the Reformation was destined to go 
 
 Hume, &c. 
 34 
 
 brth to new conquests, and spread rapidly 
 hrough the world. 
 
 Until this period, the Reformation had in- 
 leed centered in the person of Luther. His 
 appearance before the Diet of Worms was un- 
 [uestionably the sublimest hour of his life, 
 character at that time seemed almost 
 without a blemish ; and this it is that has led 
 some to the remark, that if God, who hid the 
 Reformer for ten months within the walls of 
 ,he Wartburg, had at that moment forever re- 
 moved him from the eyes of men, his end 
 would have resembled an apotheosis. But 
 
 od designs no apotheosis for His servants, 
 and Luther was preserved to the Church, that 
 n him, and by his errors, the Church might 
 earn that the faith of Christians should rest 
 only on the word of God. He was hurried 
 away and placed at a distance from the stage 
 on which the great revolution of the sixteenth 
 century was going on. The truth which he 
 lad for years so energetically proclaimed, con 
 tinued to produce its effect upon Christendom ; 
 and the work of which he had been the weak 
 instrument, bore thenceforward the impress, 
 not of man but of God himself. 
 
 All Germany was moved by the news of 
 Luther's captivity. Rumours, the most con- 
 tradictory, were circulated in the provinces. 
 Men's minds were more agitated by the ab- 
 sence of the Reformer than they could possi- 
 bly have been by his presence. On one side, 
 it was affirmed that some of his friends, pass- 
 ing from the French territory, had carried him 
 off, and lodged him in safety beyond the 
 Rhine. 1 In another place, it was said that 
 assassins had taken his life. Even in the 
 smallest villages, inquiries were heard con- 
 cerning Luther. Travellers were questioned, 
 and groups of the curious assembled in the 
 market-places. Sometimes a stranger, pass- 
 ing through, recounted how the Reformer had 
 been carried off; depicting the brutal horse- 
 men hastily tying their prisoner's hands be- 
 hind him, dragging him after them on foot, 
 till his strength was spent, and deaf to his 
 cries, though the blood forced its way from 
 his fingers. 2 His body, said some, has been 
 seen pierced through and through. 3 Such 
 narratives drew forth exclamations of grief 
 and horror. Never more shall we behold 
 him !" said the gathered crowds ; " never 
 again shall we hear that bold man whose 
 voice stirred the depths of our hearts !" Lu- 
 ther's partisans, moved with indignation, 
 swore to avenge his death. Women and child- 
 ren, men of peace, and aged people, foreboded 
 new disturbances. The alarm of the Romish 
 party was altogether unexampled. The priests 
 and friars, who had been at first unable to con- 
 ceal their joy, believing their own triumph 
 secured by the death of one man, and had car- 
 ried themselves haughtily, would now will- 
 ingly have hid themselves from the threaten- 
 ing anger of the populace. 4 Those who had 
 given free vent to their rage, so long as Lu- 
 ther was at large, now trembled with alarm, 
 though Luther was in captivity. 5 Aleander, 
 especially, was as if thunderstruck. " The 
 Z 
 
260 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 only way of extricating ourselves," wrote a 
 Roman Catholic to the Archbishop of Mentz, 
 "is to light our torches, and go searching 
 through the earth for Luther, till we can re- 
 store him to the nation that will have him." 6 
 It might have been thought that the pallid 
 ghost of the Reformer, dragging his chain, 
 was spreading terror around, and calling for 
 vengeance. Luther's death, it was predicted, 
 would occasion the effusion of torrents of 
 human blood. 7 
 
 Nowhere was there a stronger feeling dis- 
 played than in Worms itself. Bold remon- 
 strances were heard both from nobles and 
 people. Ulric Hiitten and Hermann Busch 
 filled the air with their plaintive lamentations 
 and calls to war. Loud accusations were 
 brought against Charles V. and the Nuncios. 
 The entire nation had espoused the cause of 
 the monk whose energy of faith had made 
 him its leader. 
 
 At Wittemberg, his colleagues and friends, 
 and especially Melancthon, were at first lost 
 in sadness. Luther had been the means of 
 communicating to the young student the trea- 
 sures of that divine knowledge which from 
 that hour had taken possession of his whole 
 soul. It was Luther who had given sub- 
 stance and life to that intellectual culture 
 which Melancthon brought with him to Wit- 
 temberg. The depth of the Reformer's doc- 
 trine had impressed the young Grecian, and 
 his bold advocacy of the claims of the un- 
 changing Word against human traditions had 
 called forth his enthusiasm. He had asso- 
 ciated himself with him in his labours, and 
 taking up the pen, with that finished style 
 which he had imbibed in the study of ancient 
 literature, he had made the authority of 
 Fathers and of Councils to bend before the 
 sovereignty of God's Word. 
 
 The prompt decision that Luther displayed 
 in the trying occasions of life, Melancthon 
 manifested in his pursuit of learning. Never 
 were two men more strongly marked with di- 
 versity and agreement. " Scripture," said 
 Melancthon, " satisfies the soul with holy and 
 wondrous delight it is a heavenly ambrosia!" 8 
 "The word of God," exclaimed Luther, "is 
 a sword ah instrument of war and destruc- 
 tion, it falls on the children of Ephraim like 
 the lioness that darts from the forest." Thus 
 one saw in Scripture chiefly its power to com- 
 fort ;- and the other, a mighty energy opposed 
 to the corruption of the world. But to both 
 it was the sublimest of themes. In so far, 
 there was a perfect agreement in their judg- 
 ment. " Melancthon," observed Luther, " is 
 a miracle in the estimation of all who know 
 him. He is the most dreaded enemy of Satan 
 and the schoolmen, for he knows all their 
 ' foolishness, and he knows Christ as the 
 rock.' That young Grecian goes beyond me 
 even in divine learning, he will do you more 
 good than many Luthers !" And he went on 
 to say he was ready to give up an opinion if 
 Philip disapproved it. Melancthon, on his 
 part, full of admiration for Luther's know- 
 ledge of Scripture, ranked him far above the 
 
 Fathers. He took pleasure in excusing the 
 jesting which Luther was reproached for re- 
 sorting to, and would, on such occasions, 
 compare him to an earthen vase which holds 
 a precious treasure in an unsightly vessel. 
 " I would be careful how I blame him," said 
 he. 9 
 
 But behold the two friends so intimately 
 united in affection, now parted one from the 
 other. The two fellow-soldiers no longer 
 march side by side to the rescue of the Church. 
 Luther is absent, and lost perhaps forever! 
 The consternation at Wittemberg was ex- 
 treme: as that of an army, gloomy and 
 dejected, at sight of the bleeding corpse of 
 the general who was leading it on to victory. 
 
 Suddenly news arrived of a more cheering 
 character. "Our well-beloved father still 
 lives," 10 exclaimed Philip, exultingly, "take 
 courage and stand firm." But ere long me- 
 lancholy prognostications returned. Luther 
 was indeed living, but in close imprisonment. 
 The edict of Worms, with its menacing 
 proscriptions, 11 was circulated by thousands 
 throughout the empire, and even in the Tyro- 
 lese mountains. 12 Was not the Reformation 
 on the very eve of destruction by the iron 
 hand impending over it? The gentle spirit 
 of Melancthon recoiled with a thrill of horror. 
 
 But above the hand of man's power, a 
 mightier hand was making itself felt, and 
 God was rendering powerless that dreaded 
 edict. The German princes, who had long 
 sought occasion to reduce the authority which 
 Rome exercised in the empire, took alarm at 
 the alliance between the Emperor and the 
 Pope, lest it should work the ruin of their 
 liberty. Whilst, therefore, Charles, in jour- 
 neying in the Low Countries, might see with 
 a smile of irony the bonfires in which flatter- 
 ers and fanatics consumed the writings of 
 Luther in the public squares, those writings 
 were read in Germany with continually in- 
 creasing eagerness, and numerous pamphlets 
 in favour of the Reformation every day attack- 
 ed the papal authority. 
 
 The Nuncios could not control themselves 
 when they found that the edict, which it had 
 cost them so much to obtain, produced so 
 feeble an effect. " The ink of the signature," 
 said they, "has scarcely had time to dry, 
 when, behold, on all sides, the imperial de- 
 cree is torn to pieces." The populace were 
 more and more won to the cause of the extra- 
 ordinary man who, without heeding the thun- 
 derbolts of Charles and of the Pope, had made 
 confession of his faith with the courage of a 
 martyr. It was said, " Has he not offered to 
 retract if refuted ? and no one has had the 
 hardihood to undertake to refute him. Does 
 not that show that he has spoken the truth ?" 
 Thus it was that the first emotions of fear 
 were followed at Wittemberg and throughout 
 the empire by a movement of enthusiasm. 
 Even the Archbishop of Mentz, beholding the 
 burst of national sympathy, durst not give 
 permission to the Cordeliers to preach against 
 the Reformer. The university, which might 
 have been expected to yield to the storm, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 261 
 
 raised its head. The new doctrines had taken 
 too deep root to suffer by Luther's absence, 
 and the halls of the academies were crowded 
 with auditors. 13 
 
 Meanwhile, the Knight George, for this was 
 the name of Luther so long as he was in the 
 Wartburg, was living solitary and unknown. 
 " If you were to see me," wrote he to Melanc- 
 thon, "truly you would take me fora knight; 
 even you would scarcely know me again." 14 
 Luther, on his arrival, passed a short time in 
 repose enjoying a leisure which had not yet 
 been allowed him. He was at large within 
 the fortress ; but he was not permitted to pass 
 outside it. 13 All his wishes were complied 
 with, and he had never been better treated. 16 
 Many were the thoughts that occupied his mind, 
 but none of them had power to disturb him. 
 By turns he looked down upon the forests that 
 surrounded him, and raised his eyes to hea- 
 ven " Strange captivity !" he exclaimed, 
 " a prisoner by consent, and yet against my 
 will." 17 "Pray for me," he wrote to Spalatin : 
 "I want nothing save your prayers: don't 
 disturb me by what is said or thought of me 
 in the world. At last I am quiet." 18 This 
 letter, like many of that period, is dated from 
 the island of Patmos. Luther compared the 
 Wartburg to the island celebrated as the scene 
 of the banishment of St. John by the Emperor 
 Domitian. 
 
 After the stirring contests that had agitated 
 his soul, the Reformer enjoyed repose in the 
 heart of the gloomy forests of Thuringen. 
 There he studied evangelic truth, not for dis- 
 putation, but as the means of regeneration 
 and of life. The Reformation, in its begin- 
 ning, was of necessity polemic; other cir- 
 cumstances required new labours. After eradi- 
 cating with the hoe the thorns and brambles, 
 the time was arrived for peaceably sowing the 
 word of God in men's hearts. If Luther had 
 been all his life called to wage conflicts, he 
 would not have effected a lasting work in the 
 Church. By his captivity he escaped a dan- 
 ger which might have ruined the cause of the 
 Reformation, that of always attacking and 
 demolishing, without ever defending or build- 
 ing up. 
 
 This secluded retreat had one effect, per- 
 haps still more beneficial. Lifted by his na- 
 tion, like one raised upon a shield, he was but 
 a hand's breadth from the abyss beyond, and 
 the least degree of intoxication might have 
 precipitated him headlong. Some of the fore- 
 most promoters of the Reformation in Germa- 
 ny, as well as in Switzerland, had made ship- 
 wreck on the shoals of spiritual pride and 
 fanaticism. Luther was a man very subject 
 to the weaknesses of our nature; and, as it 
 was, he did not entirely escape these be- 
 setting dangers. Meanwhile, the hand of 
 the Almighty, for a while, preserved him 
 from them, by suddenly removing him from 
 the intoxication of success, and plunging him 
 in the depth of a retirement unknown to the 
 world ! There his soul gathered up itself to 
 God, there it was again tempered by adversi- 
 
 i ty ; his sufferings, his humiliation, obliged 
 
 j him to walk, at least, for a time, with the 
 
 humble; and the principles of the Christian 
 
 life thenceforward developed themselves in 
 
 his soul with fresh energy and freedom. 
 
 Luther's tranquillity was not of long dura- 
 tion. Seated in solitude on the walls of the 
 Wartburg, he passed whole days lost in medi- 
 tation. At times, the Church rose before his 
 vision, and spread out all her wretchedness; 19 
 at other times, lifting his eyes to heaven, he 
 would say, " Canst Thou have made all men 
 in vain ]" Then letting go his confidence, he 
 would add, dejectedly, " Alas ! there is no one 
 in this closing day of wrath to stand as a wall 
 before the Lord, and save Israel !" 
 
 Then recurring to his own lot, he dreaded 
 being charged with having deserted the field 
 of battle; 20 the thought was insupportable. 
 " Rather," exclaimed he, " would I be stretch- 
 ed on burning coals than stagnate here half 
 dead." 21 Transported in thought to Worms 
 to Wittemberg into the midst of his adver- 
 saries he regretted that, yielding to his 
 friends' entreaties, he had withdrawn himself 
 from the world. 22 "Ah," said he, "nothing 
 on earth do I more desire than to face my 
 cruel enemies." 23 
 
 Some gentler thoughts, however, brought a 
 truce to such complainings. Luther's state 
 of mind was not all tempest; his agitated 
 spirit recovered at times a degree of calm and 
 comfort. Next to the assurance of the Divine 
 protection, one thing consoled him in his grief 
 it was the recollection of Melancthon. " If 
 I perish," he wrote, "the Gospel will lose 
 nothing 24 you will succeed me as Elisha suc- 
 ceeded Elijah, with a double portion of my 
 spirit." But calling to mind the timidity of 
 Melancthon, he ejaculated " Minister of the 
 Word ! keep the walls and towers of Jerusa- 
 lem till our enemies shall strike you down. 
 We stand alone on the plain of battle ; after 
 me they will strike you down." 25 
 
 This thought of the final onset of Rome on 
 the infant Church threw him into renewed 
 anxieties. The poor monk, a prisoner and 
 alone, had many a struggle to pass through 
 in his solitude ; but suddenly he seemed to 
 get a glimpse of his deliverance. He thought 
 he could foresee that the assaults of the papal 
 power would rouse the nations of Germany ; and 
 that the soldiers of the Gospel, victorious over 
 its enemies, and gathered under the walls of 
 the Wartburg, would give liberty to its cap- 
 tive. " If the Pope," said he, " should stretch 
 forth his hand against all who are on my side, 
 there will be a violent commotion ; the more 
 he urges on our ruin, the sooner shall we see 
 an end of him and his adherents ! And as for 
 me .... I shall be restored to your arms. 26 
 God is awakening many, and He it is who 
 impels the nations. Only let our enemies 
 take up our affair and try to stifle it in their 
 arms, and it will grow by their pressure, 
 and come forth more formidable than ever." 
 
 But sickness brought him down from these 
 lofty heights to which his courage and faith 
 would at times rise. He had already, when 
 
262 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 at Worms, suffered much ; and his disorder 
 had increased in solitude. 27 The food of the 
 Wartburg was altogether unsuited to him ; it 
 was rather less ordinary in quality than that 
 of his convent, and it was found needful to 
 give him the poor diet to which he had been 
 accustomed. He passed whole nights with- 
 out sleep; anxieties of mind were added to 
 pain of body. No great work is accomplish- 
 ed without struggle and suffering. Luther, 
 alone on his rock, endured in his vigorous 
 frame a suffering that was needed, in order to 
 the emancipation of mankind. " Sitting, at 
 night, in my apartment," says he, " I utter- 
 ed cries like a woman in travail." 28 Then, 
 ceasing to complain, and touched with the 
 thought that what he was undergoing was 
 sent in mercy from God, he broke forth in ac- 
 cents of love: "Thanks to Thee, O Christ, 
 that thou wilt not leave me without the pre- 
 cious relics of thy holy cross !" 29 But soon, 
 feeling indignation against himself wrought in 
 his soul, he exclaimed, "Hardened fool that 
 I am ; wo is me ! my prayers are few ; I 
 wrestle but little with the Lord ; I bewail not 
 the state of the Church of God^instead of be- 
 ing fervent in spirit, my passions take fire : I 
 sink in sloth, in sleep, and in indolence." 
 Then not knowing to what to ascribe his feel- 
 ings, and accustomed to expect blessings 
 through the affectionate remembrance of his 
 friends, he exclaimed, in the bitterness of his 
 soul, " O, my friends, do you then forget to 
 pray for me! that God can thus leave me to 
 myself." 
 
 Those who were about him, as also his 
 Wittemberg friends, and those at the Elec- 
 tor's court, were anxious and alarmed at his 
 mental suffering. They trembled in the pros- 
 pect of the life that had been snatched from 
 the fires of the Pope, and the sword of Charles, 
 so sadly sinking and expiring. The Wart- 
 burg then would be Luther's tomb ! " I 
 fear," said Melancthon, "lest his grief for the 
 condition of the Church should bring him 
 down to the grave. He has lighted a candle 
 in Israel ; if he dies, what hope is left us? 
 Would that by the sacrifice of my worthless 
 life, I could retain in this world one who is 
 surely its brightest ornament. 31 0, what a 
 man!" he exclaimed, (as if already standing 
 beside his grave,) " surely we never valued 
 him as we ought." 
 
 W T hat Luther termed the shameful indo- 
 lence of his prison life was, in reality, dili- 
 gence beyond the strength of ordinary mortals. 
 " Here am I," said he, on the 14th of May, 
 " lapped in indolence and pleasures. [He 
 doubtless refers to the quality of his food, 
 which was at first less coarse than what he 
 had been used to.] I am going through the 
 Bible in Hebrew and Greek. I mean to 
 write a discourse in German, touching auri- 
 cular confession ; also to continue the trans- 
 lation of the Psalms, and to compose a col- 
 lection of sermons, as soon as I have received 
 what I want from Wittemberg. My pen is 
 never idle." 32 Even this was but a part of 
 Luther's labours. 
 
 His enemies thought that, if not dead, at 
 least he was effectually silenced; but their 
 exultation was short, and, ere long, no doubt 
 could exist that he still lived. A multitude 
 of tracts, composed in the Wartburg, followed 
 each other in rapid succession ; and every- 
 where the well-known voice of the Reformer 
 was enthusiastically responded to. Luther, 
 at the same moment, put forth such writings 
 as were adapted to build up the Church, and 
 controversial tracts which disturbed his oppo- 
 nents in their fancied security. For nearly a 
 whole year, he, by turns, instructed, exhorted, 
 rebuked, and thundered from his mountain 
 height, and his astonished adversaries might 
 well inquire whether indeed there was not 
 something supernatural in so prodigious an 
 activity " He could not have allowed him- 
 self any rest," 33 says Colchffius. But the solu- 
 tion of the whole mystery was to be found in 
 the rashness of the Romish party. They 
 were in haste to profit by the decree of 
 Worms, to put an end to the Reformation ; 
 and Luther, sentenced placed under the ban 
 of the empire, and a prisoner in the Wart- 
 burg, stood up in the cause of sound doctrine, 
 as if he were still at large and triumphant. 
 It was especially at the tribunal of penance 
 that the priests strove to rivet the fetters of 
 their deluded parishioners; hence it is the 
 Confessional that Luther first assails. " They 
 allege," says he, " that passage in St. Jarnes, 
 ' confess your sins to one another ;' a strange 
 confessor this; his name is 4 one another!' 
 Whence it would follow that the confessors 
 ought also to confess to their penitents ; that 
 every Christian should in his turn be pope, 
 bishop, and priest, and that the pope himself 
 should make confession before all." 34 
 
 Scarcely had Luther finished this tract, 
 when he commenced another. A divine of 
 Louvain, named Latomos, already known by 
 his opposition to Reuchlin and Erasmus, had 
 impugned the Reformer's statements. Twelve 
 days after, Luther's answer was ready, and 
 it is one of his masterpieces. He first defends 
 himself against the charge of want of modera- 
 tion. " The moderation of this age," says 
 he, " consists in bending the knee before sa- 
 crilegious pontiffs and impious sophists, and 
 saying, ' Gracious Lord, most worthy master.' 
 Then, having so done, you may persecute who 
 you will to the death; you may convulse the 
 world, all that, shall not hinder your being 
 a man of moderation ! Away with such mo- 
 deration, say I. Let me speak out, and del ude 
 no one. The shell may be rough, perhaps, 
 but the nut is soft and tender." 35 
 
 The health of Luther continued to decline ; 
 he began to think of leaving the Wartburg. 
 But what to do; to appear in open day at the 
 risk of his life! In the rear of the mountain 
 on which the fortress was built, the country 
 was intersected by numerous footpaths, bor- 
 dered by tufts of wild strawberries. The 
 massive gate of the castle was unclosed, and 
 the prisoner ventured, not without fear, to 
 gather some of the fruit. 36 Gradually, he be- 
 came more venturesome, and, clothed in his 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 263 
 
 disguise, and attended by a rough- 
 mannered but faithful guard from the castle, 
 he extended his excursions in the neighbour- 
 hood. One day, stopping to rest at an inn, 
 Luther laid aside his sword, which encum- 
 bered him, and took up some books that lay 
 near. His natural disposition got the better 
 of his prudence. His attendant took the 
 alarm lest an action so unusual in a man of 
 arms, should excite a suspicion that the doc- 
 tor was not really a knight. Another time, 
 the two companions descended the mountain, 
 and entered the convent of Reichardsbrunn, 
 in which, but a few months before, Luther 
 had rested for a night, on his way to Worms.* 
 Suddenly, one of the lay-brothers uttered an 
 exclamation of surprise Luther had been 
 recognised. His keeper, seeing how the 
 matter stood, hurried him away, and it was 
 not till they were galloping far from the 
 cloisters, that the monk recovered from his 
 astonishment. 
 
 The life of the Doctor of Wittemberg, in 
 his assumed character of knight, had, indeed, 
 at times, a something about it truly theologi- 
 cal. One day, the snares were made ready 
 the fortress gates thrown open the sporting 
 dogs let loose. Luther had expressed a wish 
 to partake of the pleasures of the chase. The 
 huntsmen were in high spirits; the dogs 
 scoured the hills, driving the hares from the 
 brushwood ; but as the tumult swelled around 
 him, the Knight George, motionless in the 
 midst of it, felt his soul fill with solemn 
 thoughts. Looking round him, his heart 
 heaved with sorrow. 37 * Is it not," said he, 
 " the very picture of the Devil, setting his 
 dogs, the bishops, those messengers of Anti- 
 christ, and sending them out to hunt down 
 poor souls'?" 38 A young leveret had been 
 snared: rejoicing to liberate it, Luther wrap- 
 ped it in his mantle, and deposited it in the 
 midst of a thicket ; but scarcely had he left the 
 spot, when the dogs scented it, and killed it. 
 Drawn to the place by its cry, Luther uttered 
 an exclamation of grief " O Pope ! and 
 thou, too, Satan ! it is thus that ye would 
 compass the destruction of the souls that have 
 been rescued from death !" 39 
 
 Whilst the Doctor of Wittemberg, dead to 
 the world, was seeking to recruit his spirits 
 by these occupations in the vicinity of the 
 Wartburg, the great work was progressing, as 
 if by its own power. The Reformation, in 
 fact, was beginning to take effect. It was no 
 longer limited to teaching; it now began to 
 affect and mould the life. 
 
 Bernard Feldkirchen, the pastor of Kem- 
 berg, and the first, under Luther's direction, 
 to expose the errors of Rome,f was also the 
 first to throw off the yoke of her institutions : 
 he married ! 
 
 There is, in the German character, a strong 
 love of family and domestic enjoyments : 
 hence, of all the injunctions of the Papal au- 
 thority, none had had more lamentable results 
 
 * See page 196, t p. 60. 
 
 than the imposition of celibacy. Made obli- 
 gatory on the heads of the clergy, this prac- 
 tice had prevented the fiefs of the church from 
 passing into hereditary possessions. But ex 
 tended by Gregory VII. to the inferior orders, 
 its effects had been indeed deplorable. Many 
 of the priests, in evading the obligation im- 
 posed upon them, by shameful disorders, had 
 drawn down hatred and contempt on their pro- 
 fession; while those who had submitted to 
 Hildebrand's law, were indignant that the 
 Church, which lavished power, riches, and 
 earthly possessions on its higher dignitaries, 
 should impose on its humbler ministers, who 
 were ever its most useful supporters, a denial 
 so opposed to the Gospel. 
 
 " Neither the Pope, nor the Councils," said 
 Feldkirchen, and another pastor, named Seid- 
 ler, who followed his example, " can have a 
 right to impose on the Church a command 
 that endangers soul and body. The obliga- 
 tion to observe God's law compels us to throw 
 aside traditions of men." 40 The re-establish- 
 ment of marriage was, in the sixteenth centu- 
 ry, a homage paid to the moral law. The 
 ecclesiastical power, in alarm, instantly issued 
 its mandates against the two priests. Seidler, 
 who lived in the territory of Duke George, 
 was given up to his superiors, and died in 
 prison. But the Elector Frederic refused to 
 surrender Feldkirchen to the Archbishop of 
 Magdeburg. " His Highness," said Spalatin, 
 " declines to act the part of a police-officer." 
 Feldkirchen, therefore, continued to preside 
 over his flock, though a husband and a father ! 
 
 The first emotion of the Reformer, on re- 
 ceiving intelligence of these events, was one 
 of joy. " I am all admiration," says he, " of 
 the new bridegroom of Kemberg, who moves 
 on fearlessly in the midst of all this hubbub." 
 Luther was satisfied that priests ought to 
 marry. But this question led directly to ano- 
 ther the marriage of friars and on this point 
 Luther had to pass through one of those in- 
 ternal struggles, of which his life was full ; 
 for every reform was of necessity to be wrought 
 out by a mental conflict. Melancthon and 
 Carlstadt, the one a layman, the other in 
 priest's orders, thought that the liberty of 
 contracting the marriage bond ought to be as 
 free to the friars as to the priests. Luther, 
 himself a monk, did not at first agree with 
 them in judgment. One day, when the com- 
 mandant of the W T artburg had brought him 
 some theses of Carlstadt, touching celibacy, 
 " Good Heaven !" he exclaimed, " will our 
 Wittemberg friends allow wives even to 
 monks 1" The thought overwhelmed him, 
 and disturbed his spirit. For himself, he put 
 far from him the liberty he claimed for others. 
 "Ah," said he indignantly, " at least they will 
 not make me take a wife." 41 This expression 
 is doubtless unknown to those who assert that 
 Luther's object in the Reformation was that 
 he might marry. Bent upon the truth, not 
 from any desire of self-pleasing, but with up- 
 right intentions, he undertook the defence of 
 that which appeared to him to be right, al- 
 though it might be at variance with the gene- 
 z 2 
 
264 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ral tendency of his doctrine. He worked his 
 way through a mingled crowd of truths and 
 errors, until the errors had altogether fallen, 
 and truth alone remained standing in his 
 nrnd. 
 
 There was indeed a broad distinction dis- 
 cernable between the two questions. The 
 marriage of priests did not draw after it the 
 downfall of the priesthood ; on the contrary, it 
 was of itself likely to win back popular respect 
 to the secular clergy: but the marriage of 
 friars involved the breaking up of the monastic 
 institutions. The question then really was, 
 whether it was right to disband the army that 
 acknowledged themselves the soldiery of the 
 Pope. " The priests," said Luther, writing 
 to Melancthon, "are ordained by God, and 
 therefore they are set above the command- 
 ments of men ; but the friars have of their 
 own accord chosen a life of celibacy, they 
 therefore are not at liberty to withdraw from 
 the obligation they have laid themselves 
 under." 42 
 
 The Reformer was destined to advance a 
 step further, and by a new struggle to carry 
 also this post of the enemy. Already he had 
 trampled under his feet many Romish corrup 
 tions ; nay, even the authority of Rome her 
 self. But monkery was still standing monk- 
 ery, which had in early times carried the spark 
 of life to many a desert spot, and, passing 
 through successive generations, now filled so 
 many cloisters with sloth and luxury, seemed 
 to find a voice and advocate in the castle of 
 Thuringen, and to depend for life or death 
 upon the agitated conscience of one man! 
 Luther struggled for a while : at one moment 
 on the point of rejecting it, at another dis- 
 posed to acknowledge it. At last, no longer 
 able to support the contest, he threw himself 
 in prayer at the feet of Christ, exclaiming, 
 " Do thou teach us do thou deliver us es- 
 tablish us with thy free spirit, in the liberty 
 thou hast given us! for surely we are thy 
 people J" 43 
 
 And truly there was no long tarrying ; a 
 great change took place in the Reformer's 
 thoughts, and again it was the great doctrine 
 of Justification by Faith which gave victory. 
 
 This weapon, which had put down indul- 
 gences, baffled Romish intrigues, and humbled 
 the Pope himself, dethroned monkery also 
 from the place it held in the mind of Luther 
 and of all Christendom. Luther was led to 
 see that the monastic institutions were in fla- 
 grant opposition to the doctrines of Free Grace, 
 and that the life led by the monks was entire- 
 ly grounded on the assertion of human merit. 
 Convinced, from that instant, that the glory of 
 Christ was at stake, his conscience incessant- 
 ly repeated " Monkery must yield." So long 
 as Justification by Faith is clearly held by the 
 Church, not one of her members will become 
 a monk. 44 This persuasion continued to gain 
 strength in his mind, and as early as the be- 
 ginning of December, he addressed to the 
 bishops and deacons of the Church of Wit- 
 temberg, the following theses his declara- 
 tions of war against monkery : 
 
 " Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin. Rom 
 xiv. 23. 
 
 " Whoever binds himself by a vow of cell 
 bacy, of chastity, of service to God without 
 faith vows, profanely and idolatrously,a vow 
 to the devil himself. 
 
 " To make such vows is worse than to be 
 priests of Cybele, or vestals of Pagan wor- 
 ship ; for the monks make their vows in the 
 thought that they shall be justified and saved 
 by them ; and that which should be ascribed 
 to the alone mercy of God is thus ascribed to 
 human deservings. Such convents ought to 
 be razed to the foundation, as being abodes of 
 the devil. There is but one Order that is 
 holy, and makes men holy, and that is 
 Christianity or Faith. 45 
 
 *' To make the religious houses really useful, 
 they should be converted into schools, where- 
 in children might be brought up to manhood; 
 instead of which, they are establishments 
 where grown men are reduced to second child- 
 hood for the rest of their lives." 
 
 We see that Luther at this period would 
 have tolerated the convents as houses of edu- 
 cation ; but, ere long, his attack upon them 
 became more unsparing. 
 
 The immorality and shameful practices that 
 disgraced the cloisters recurred forcibly to 
 his thoughts. " It is my great aim," he wrote 
 to Spalatin, on the llth of November, "to 
 rescue the young from the hellish fires of celi- 
 bacy;" 46 and he proceeded to compose a tract 
 against monastic vows, which he dedicated to 
 his father. "Do you desire," said he, in his 
 dedication to the old man at Mansfeld, "do 
 you still feel a desire to extricate me from a 
 monk's life 1 You have the right to do so, 
 for you are still my father, and I am still your 
 son. But it is not needed : God has been be- 
 forehand with you, and has himself delivered 
 me from it by his mighty arm. What does 
 it matter if I should lay aside the tonsure or 
 the cowl ? Is it the cowl, is it the tonsure 
 that constitutes a monk 1 ? 'All things are 
 yours,' said St. Paul, 'and you are Christ's.' 
 I belong not to the cowl, but the cowl to me ; 
 I am a monk, and yet no monk; I am a new 
 creature, not of the Pope, but of Jesus Christ! 
 Christ alone, and no mere go-between, is my 
 bishop, my abbot, my prior, my lord, my mas- 
 ter, and I acknowledge no other! What 
 matters it to me if the Pope should sentence 
 and put me to death; he cannot summon me 
 from the grave, and take my life a second time. 
 That great day is nigh when the kingdom of 
 abominations shall be overthrown. Would 
 to God the Pope would do his worst, and put 
 us all to death ; our blood would cry to hea- 
 ven against him, and bring down swift de- 
 struction on him and his adherents." 4 " 
 
 Luther himself was already transformed : 
 he felt himself no longer a friar. It was no 
 outward circumstances, no human passions, 
 no haste of the flesh that had brought about 
 the change. A struggle had been gone 
 through: Luther had at first sided with 
 monkery, but truth had descended into the 
 arena, and monkery was overthrown. The 
 

 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 265 
 
 mphs of human passion are short-lived, 
 but those of truth are decisive and durable. 
 
 Whilst Luther was thus preparing the way 
 for one of the greatest changes which the 
 Church was destined to pass through, and 
 the Reformation was beginning- to manifest 
 its effects on the lives of Christians, the 
 partisans of Rome, with that blind infatuation 
 common to those who have long held power, 
 were pleasing themselves with the thought, 
 that because Luther was in the Wartburg, 
 the Reformation was forever at an end. They 
 thought, therefore, quietly to resume their 
 former practices, which had been for an in- 
 stant interrupted by the monk of Wittemberg. 
 Albert, the Archbishop and Elector of Mentz, 
 was one of those weak persons who, when 
 things are nearly balanced, are found on the 
 side of truth ; but whenever their own interest 
 is concerned, are quite willing to take up with 
 error. His great aim was that his court should 
 equal in splendour that of any of the German 
 princes, that his equipages should be as rich, 
 and his table as well served : the trade in in- 
 dulgences was to him an admirable resource 
 for the promotion of his favourite object. Ac- 
 cordingly, no sooner was the decree against 
 Luther issued from the Imperial Chancellor's 
 court, than Albert, who was then at Halle, 
 attended by his courtiers, called together the 
 vendors of indulgences, whose activity had 
 been paralysed by the Reformer's preaching, 
 and endeavoured to encourage them by such 
 words as " Do not fear, we have silenced 
 him ; go shear the flock in peace ; the monk 
 is in prison, under bolts and bars ; and this 
 time he will be clever indeed if he disturbs us 
 at our work." The market was again opened, 
 the wares spread out for sale, and again the 
 churches of Halle resounded with the ha- 
 rangues of the mountebanks. 
 
 But Luther still lived; and his voice had 
 power to pass beyond the walls and gratings 
 behind which he was concealed. Nothing 
 could have roused him to a higher pitch of 
 indignation. "What!" thought he, "violent 
 discussions have taken place, I have braved 
 every danger, the truth has triumphed, and 
 now they dare to trample it in the dust, as if 
 it had been refuted. They shall again hear 
 that voice which arrested their guilty traffic." 
 " I will take no rest," wrote Luther to Spa- 
 latin, " till I have attacked the idol of Mentz, 
 and its whoredoms at Halle." 48 He went in- 
 stantly to work, caring little for the mystery 
 in which some sought to envelope his seclu- 
 sion in the Wartburg. He was like Elijah 
 in the desert, forging new thunderbolts to 
 hurl against the impious Ahab. On the 1st 
 of November, he completed a tract " Against 
 the new Idol of Halle." 
 
 The Archbishop had received information 
 of Luther's intentions. Urged by his appre- 
 hensions, he, toward the middle of December, 
 despatched two of his attendants, Capito and 
 Auerbach, to Wittemberg, to ward off the 
 blow. "It is indispensable," said they to 
 Melancthon, who received them courteously, 
 
 "it is quite indispensable that Luther should 
 moderate his impetuosity." But Melancthon, 
 though himself of gentler spirit, was not of 
 the number of those who imagine wisdom to 
 consist in perpetual concession, retracting, 
 and silence. " God is making use of him," 
 he replied, " and this age requires a bitter and 
 pungent salt." 49 On this, Capito, addressing 
 himself to Jonas, endeavoured, through him, 
 to influence the Elector's councils. 
 
 The report of Luther's design had already 
 spread thither, and produced great consterna- 
 tion. "What!" said the courtiers, "rekin- 
 dle the flame that it cost so much trouble to 
 subdue ! The only safety for Luther is to 
 withdraw into the shade; and see how he 
 exalts himself against the greatest prince in 
 the empire." "I will not surfer Luther to 
 write against the Archbishop of Mentz, to 
 the disturbance of the public tranquillity," 50 
 said the Elector. 
 
 When these words were reported to Luther, 
 he was indignant. It is not enough, then, to 
 confine his body, they would enchain his 
 spirit, and the truth itself. Do they imagine 
 he hides himself from fear? or that his retreat 
 is a confession of defeat ] On the contrary, 
 he contends that it is a victory gained. Who 
 then in Worms had dared to rise up against 
 him, in opposition to the truth ] Accordingly, 
 when the captive of the Wartburg had finished 
 reading Spalatin's letter, apprizing him of the 
 Elector's intention, he threw it aside, resolv- 
 ing to return no answer. But he could not 
 contain his feelings ; he again took it in hand. 
 " And so, the Elector will not suffer, &c. !" 
 wrote Luther in reply, "and I on my part 
 will not suffer that the Elector should not al- 
 low me to write. Rather will I be the utter 
 ruin of yourself, the Elector, and the whole 
 world. 51 If I have stood up against the Pope, 
 who created your Cardinal, is it fitting that I 
 should give way to his creature? Truly, it 
 is very fine to hear you say we ought not to 
 disturb the public peace, while you permit the 
 disturbance of the Peace that is from God. It 
 shall not be so, Spalatin! O Prince it shall 
 not stand ! 52 I send, with this, a tract I had 
 written against the Cardinal, before I re- 
 ceived your letter; please to hand it to Me- 
 lancthon." 
 
 The reading of this manuscript alarmed 
 Spalatin; he again urged on the Reformer 
 the imprudence of a publication that would 
 oblige the Imperial government to lay aside 
 its affected ignorance of what had become of 
 him, and to proceed to punish a prisoner who 
 assailed the chief dignitary of the Church 
 and Empire. If Luther persisted, the general 
 tranquillity would be disturbed, and the cause 
 of the Reformation endangered. Luther, 
 therefore, consented to delay the publication, 
 and even gave Melancthon leave to strike 
 out the more severe passages. 53 But growing 
 indignant at his friend's timidity, he wrote to 
 Spalatin, "The Lord still lives He reigns, 
 the Lord whom you counsellors of the court 
 cannot trust, unless He so shapes his work, 
 as that there be nothing left to trust Him in !" 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and he forthwith resolved to write direct to 
 the Cardinal. 
 
 It is the Episcopal authority itself that 
 Luther calls to the bar of judgment in the 
 person of the German primate. His words are 
 those of a bold man, burning with zeal in be- 
 half of truth, and feeling that he speaks in the 
 name of God himself. 
 
 " Your Electoral Highness," wrote he, 
 from the depth of his retirement, " has seen 
 fit again to set up at Halle the idol that en- 
 gulfs the treasure and the souls of poor Chris- 
 tians. You think, perhaps, that I am dis- 
 abled, and that the power of the Emperor 
 will easily silence the protest of a feeble monk. 
 .... But know this, I will fearlessly dis- 
 charge the duty that Christian charity lays 
 me under, dreading not the gates of hell ! 
 and much less, popes, bishops, or cardinals. 
 
 " Therefore, I humbly implore your Elec- 
 toral Highness to call to remembrance the 
 origin of this business, and how from one little 
 spark came so fearful a conflagration. Then 
 also, the world reposed in fancied security. 
 'That poor mendicant friar,' thought they, 
 * who, unaided, would attack the Pope, has 
 undertaken a task above his strength.' But 
 God interposed his arm, and gave the Pope 
 more disturbance and anxiety than he had 
 known since first he sat in the temple of God, 
 and lorded it over God's church. That same 
 God still lives let none doubt it. 54 He will 
 know how to bring to nothing the efforts of a 
 Cardinal of Mentz, though he should be back- 
 ed by four emperors for it is His pleasure to 
 bring down the lofty cedars, and humble the 
 pride of the Pharaohs. 
 
 " For this cause I apprize your Highness 
 that if the idol is not removed, it will be my 
 duty, in obedience to God's teaching, publicly 
 to rebuke your Highness, as I have done the 
 Pope himself. Let not your Highness neglect 
 this notice. I shall wait fourteen days for an 
 early and favourable answer. Given in my 
 wilderness retreat, on Sunday after St. Cathe- 
 rine's day, 1521. Your Highness' devoted 
 and humble, MARTIN LUTHER." 
 
 This letter was forwarded to Wittemberg, 
 and from thence to Halle, where the Cardinal 
 Elector was then resident; for no one dared 
 venture to intercept it, foreseeing the storm 
 such an act of audacity would have called 
 forth. But Melancthon accompanied it by a 
 letter to the prudent Capito, wherein he la- 
 boured to give a favourable turn to so unto- 
 ward a step. 
 
 It is not possible to describe the feelings of 
 the young and pusillanimous Archbishop on 
 the receipt of the Reformer's letter. The forth- 
 coming work against the idol of Halle was 
 like a sword suspended over his head. And 
 yet what must have been, at the same, the ir- 
 ritation produced by the insolence of the low- 
 born and excommunicated monk, who dared 
 address such language to a prince of the 
 house of Brandenburg, and a primate of the 
 German Church. Capito besought the Arch- 
 bishop to comply with Luther's advice. Fear, 
 pride, and conscience, which he could not sti- 
 
 fle, struggled long in Albert's soul. At length, 
 dread of the threatened writing, joined, per- 
 haps, to a feeling of remorse, prevailed. He 
 stooped to humble himself, and put together 
 such an answer as seemed likely to appease 
 the man of the Wartburg, and scarcely had the 
 fourteen days expired, when Luther received 
 the following letter, more surprising even than 
 his own terrifying epistle. 
 
 " My dear Doctor, 1 have received and read 
 your letter, and have taken it in good part, as 
 being well intended : but I think the cause 
 that has induced you to write to me in such a 
 strain has for a long time past had no exist- 
 ence. It is my desire, by God's help, to com- 
 port myself as a pious bishop, and a Christian 
 prince; and I confess that for this, God's 
 grace is necessary to me. I deny not that 1 
 am a sinful man, liable to sin, and apt to be led 
 astray, and even sinning and going astray 
 every day of my life. I know that, without 
 God's grace, I am but worthless and loath- 
 some mire, like others; if not worse. In re- 
 plying to your letter, I would not omit to ex- 
 press the favour I bear you ; for it is my most 
 earnest desire, for Christ's sake, to show you 
 all kindness and favour. I know how to re- 
 ceive the rebuke of a Christian and a brother. 
 By my own hand. ALBERT." 
 
 Such was the strain in which the Elector 
 Archbishop of Mentz and Magdeburg, com- 
 missioned to represent and maintain in Ger- 
 many the constitution of the Church, wrote to 
 the excommunicated prisoner of the Wart- 
 burg ! In thus replying, did Albert obey the 
 better dictates of his conscience, or was he 
 swayed by his fears'? On the former suppo- 
 sition, it is a noble letter; on the latter it is 
 contemptible. We would rather suppose it 
 to have proceeded from a right motive. How- 
 ever that may be, it at least shows the vast 
 superiority of the servant of God above the 
 greatness of this world. Whilst Luther, soli- 
 tary, a captive, and under sentence, derived 
 from his faith an unconquerable courage, the 
 Cardinal-archbishop, surrounded on all sides 
 with the power and favour of the world, trem- 
 bled in his chair. Again, and again, does this 
 reflection present itself, and it affords the solu- 
 tion of the strange enigma offered by the his- 
 tory of the Reformation. The Christian is not 
 called to calculate his resources, and count the 
 means of success. His one concern is to 
 know that his cause is the cause of God ; 
 and that he himself has no aim but his Mas- 
 ter's glory. Doubtless he has an inquiry to 
 make, but it has reference only to his motives ; 
 the Christian looks in upon his heart, not 
 upon his arm : he regards right, not strength. 
 And that question once well settled, his 
 path is clear. It is for him to go boldly for- 
 ward, though the world and all its armies 
 should withstand his progress ; in the firm 
 persuasion that God himself will fight against 
 the opposers. 
 
 Thus did the enemies of the Reformation 
 pass at once from the harshest measures to pi- 
 tiable weakness : they had done this at 
 Worms, and these sudden changes are con- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 267 
 
 tintially recurring in the conflict between I 
 truth and error. Every cause destined to sue- | 
 cumb, carries with it an internal malaise, j 
 which occasions it to stagger and fluctuate be- | 
 tween opposite extremes. Steadiness of pur- j 
 pose and energy could not sanctify a bad j 
 cause, but they might serve at least to gild its 
 fall with what the world calls glory. 
 
 Joachim I., Elector of Brandenburg, Al- 
 bert's brother, was an example of that decision 
 of character so rare in our own times. Im- 
 movable in his principles, decisive in action, 
 knowing when needful how to resist the en- 
 croachments of the Pope, he opposed an iron 
 hand to the progress of the Reformation. Long 
 before this, when at Worms, he had urged 
 that Luther should be refused a hearing, and 
 brought to punishment, notwithstanding the 
 safe-conduct with which he was furnished. 
 Scarcely was the edict of Worms issued, 
 when he directed that it should be rigorously 
 enforced in his states. Luther could appre- 
 ciate so decided a character, and, drawing a 
 distinction in favour of Joachim, when, speak- 
 ing of his other adversaries, remarked, "we 
 may still pray for the Elector cf Brandenburg.'" 53 
 This disposition inthe prince seemed to commu- 
 nicate itself to his people. Berlin and Branden- 
 burg long continued closed to the reformed doc- 
 trines. But that which isslowly received is firm- 
 ly held ; whilst countries, which then hailed the 
 Gospel with joy, as Belgium and Westphalia, 
 were ere long seen to abandon it. Branden- 
 burg, which was the latest of the German 
 states to enter on the way of faith, was des- 
 tined, at a later period, to stand foremost in 
 the cause of the Reformation. 56 
 
 Luther was not without suspicion that the 
 Cardinal's letter was dictated by some insi- 
 dious design suggested by Capito. He re- 
 turned no answer; he declared to the latter, 
 that so long as the Archbishop, unequal as he 
 was to the care of a petty parish, should hold 
 to his pretensions as Cardinal, and his episco- 
 pal state, instead of discharging the humble 
 duty of a minister of the Gospel, he could not 
 be in the way of salvation. 57 Meanwhile, and 
 at the very time that Luther contended against 
 error, as if he were still in the thick of the 
 conflict, he was at work in his retirement as 
 though regardless of all that was happening 
 outside its walls. The time had arrived when 
 the Reformation was to pass from the closet 
 of divines into the private life of nations ; and, 
 nevertheless, the great engine by which this 
 advance was to be effected was not yet brought 
 forth. This mighty and wonder-working en- 
 gine, from whence a storm of missiles was to 
 be discharged against Rome, battering down 
 its walls, this engine, which was to upheave 
 the burden under which the Papacy then 
 held down the almost stifled Church, and to 
 communicate to mankind an impulse which, 
 ages after, would still be felt, was ordained 
 to go forth from the old castle of the Wart- 
 burg, and enter, with the Reformer, on the 
 world's stage on the same day that closed his 
 captivity. 
 
 The further the Church was removed from 
 35 
 
 the days in which Jesus, its true light, walked 
 on this earth, the more did it need the candle 
 of God's word to transmit to after times the 
 unclouded knowledge of Jesus Christ. But 
 that Divine Word was unknown to that age. 
 Some fragments of translations from the Vul- 
 gate, made in 1477, 1490, and 1518, had been 
 but coldly received, and were almost unin* 
 telligible, as well as, from their high price, 
 beyond the reach of the common people. The 
 giving the Scriptures to the Church in Ger- 
 many in the vernacular tongue, had even been 
 prohibited. 53 Added to which, the number of 
 those who could read, became considerable, 
 only when there existed in the German lan- 
 guage a book of strong and general interest. 
 
 Luther was ordained to present his nation 
 with the written word. That same God who 
 had relegated St. John in Patmos, that he 
 might there write what he had seen, had shut 
 up Luther in the Wartburg, that he should 
 there translate his Word. The great labour, 
 which it would have been difficult for him to 
 take in hand in the distracting occupations of 
 Wittemberg, was to set the new edifice on 
 the solid rock, and, after the lapse of so many 
 ages, recall Christians from scholastic sub- 
 tleties to the pure and unadulterated fountains 
 of redemption and salvation. The wants of 
 the Church loudly called for this service, and 
 Luther's deep experience had fitted him to 
 render it. In truth, he had found, in the faith, 
 that rest for his own soul, which his fluctu- 
 ating conscience and monkish prejudice had 
 so long sought in merits and holiness of his 
 own. The ordinary teaching of the Church, 
 the theology of the schools knew nothing of the 
 consolations which faith gives: but the Scrip- 
 tures set them forth powerfully, and it was 
 in the Scriptures that he had discovered them. 
 Faith in God's word had given him liberty ! 
 By faith he felt himself freed from the dog- 
 matic authority of Church, hierarchy, tradi- 
 tion, the notions of the schools, the power of 
 prejudice, and commandments of men ! These 
 manifold bonds which had for ages chained 
 down and silenced all Christendom, were 
 burst asunder, and he could raise his head 
 freed from all authority save that of the Word. 
 This independence of man, this subjection 
 to God, which he had learned in the Holy 
 Scriptures, he was anxious to communicate 
 to the Church. But for this purpose it was 
 needful that he should give to it God's own 
 Revelations. There was a necessity that 
 some strong hand should unclose the portals 
 of that arsenal whence Luther had drawn his 
 weapons, and that its recesses, which had for 
 ages been unexplored, should be laid open to 
 all Christian people against the day of trial. 
 
 Luther had, before this time, translated 
 some fragments of the Holy Scripture. The 
 seven penitential psalms* had first occupied 
 his pen. John the Baptist, JESUS CHRIST, 
 and the Reformation alike commenced by 
 calling men to repentance. It is, indeed, the 
 principle of every regeneration in human na- 
 
 Ps. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 147. 
 
268 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ture. These earlier essays had been eagerly 
 bought up, and had awakened a general de- 
 mand for more ; and the desire on the part of 
 the people was by Luther regarded as a call 
 from God. He resolves to meet it. He was 
 a captive enclosed within lofty walls ; but 
 what of that! he would devote his leisure to 
 render the Word of God into the language of 
 his nation. Soon shall we see that Word 
 descending with him from the Wartburg 
 circulating among the families of Germany, 
 and enriching them with spiritual treasure, 
 that had hitherto been shut up within the 
 hearts of a few pious persons. " W T ould that 
 that book alone," he exclaimed, " were in all 
 languages before the eyes in the ears and 
 in the hearts of all." 59 Admirable words, 
 which a well-known society* engaged in 
 translating the Bible into the vernacular dia- 
 lect of every nation under heaven, has, after 
 a lapse of three centuries, undertaken to re- 
 alize. " Scripture," says he again, " Scrip- 
 ture 'without comment' is the sun whence all 
 teachers receive their light." 
 
 Such are the true principles of Christianity 
 and of the Reformation. Adopting these 
 memorable words, we are not to seek light 
 from the Fathers to interpret Scripture, but 
 to use Scripture to interpret the writings of 
 the Fathers. The Reformers, as also the 
 Apostles, hold forth the alone word of God as 
 light, whilst they exhalt the one offering of 
 Christ as the only righteousness. To mingle 
 commandments of men with this supreme au- 
 thority of God, or any righteousness of man's 
 own, with this perfect righteousness of Christ, 
 is to corrupt the two great fundamental truths 
 of the Gospel. Such were the two leading 
 heresies of Rome : and the doctrines that cer- 
 tain teachers would introduce into the bosom 
 of the Reformation, though not carried to 
 such a length, have the same tendencies. 
 
 Luther, taking up the Greek originals of the 
 inspired writers, entered on the difficult task 
 of rendering them into his native tongue. Im- 
 portant moment in the history of the Refor- 
 mation ! thenceforth it was no longer in the 
 hands of the Reformer. The Bible was 
 brought forward and Luther held a secondary 
 place. God showed himself; and man was 
 seen as nothing. The Reformer placed the 
 BOOK in the hands of his contemporaries : 
 thenceforward, each could hear God speaking 
 to him, and, as for himself, he mingled in 
 the crowd, placing himself among those who 
 came to dxaw from the common fountain of 
 light and life. 
 
 In translating the Holy Scriptures, Luther 
 had found that consolation and strength which 
 met his need. Weak in body solitary de- 
 pressed in spirit by the machinations of his 
 enemies, and sometimes by the indiscretions 
 of his friends and sensible that his life was 
 wasting in the gloom of the old castle, he 
 had, at times, to pass through awful strug- 
 gles. In those days, men were much disposed 
 to carry into the visible world the conflicts 
 
 * The Bible Society. 
 
 that the soul sustains with its spiritual ene 
 mies. Luther's vivid imagination easily gave 
 bodily shape to the emotions of his soul, and 
 the superstitions of the middle ages had still 
 some hold upon his mind, so that it might be 
 said of him, as was said of Calvin, in refer- 
 ence to his judgment in regard to heretics, 
 that he had in him the remains of Popery. 
 To Luther, Satan was not simply an invisi- 
 ble, though really existing, being ; he thought 
 that adversary of God was accustomed to 
 appear in bodily form to man, as he had ap- 
 peared to Jesus Christ. Although we may 
 more than doubt the authenticity of the de- 
 tails given on such topics in his Table Talk 
 and elsewhere,* history must yet record this 
 weakness in the Reformer. Never had these 
 gloomy imaginations such power over him as 
 in his seclusion in the Wartburg. At W T orms, 
 when in the days of his strength, he had 
 braved the power of the devil, but now, that 
 strength was broken, and his reputation tar- 
 nished. He was thrown aside : Satan had 
 his turn and in bitterness of soul, Luther 
 imagined he saw him rearing before him his 
 gigantic form lifting his finger as if in 
 threatening, grinning triumphantly, and grind- 
 ing his teeth in fearful rage. One day, in par- 
 ticular, as it is reported, whilst Luther was 
 engaged in translating the New Testament, 
 he thought he saw Satan, in detestation of his 
 work, tormenting and vexing him, and moving 
 round him like a lion ready to spring upon his 
 prey. Luther, alarmed and aroused, snatch- 
 ing up his inkstand, threw it at the head of 
 his enemy. The apparition vanished, and the 
 ink-bottle was dashed to pieces against the 
 wall.f 
 
 His stay at the Wartburg began now to be 
 insupportable to him. He was indignant at 
 the timidity of his protectors. Sometimes 
 he remained all day lost in silent and deep 
 meditation, and, awakening from it, he would 
 utter the exclamation " Ah ! would I were 
 at Wittemberg!" At length, he could no 
 longer restrain himself: " Enough," thought 
 he, "enough of policy." He must again see 
 his friends hear from their lips how things 
 were going on, and talk over all with them. 
 True, he risked falling into the power of his 
 enemies; but nothing could deter him. To- 
 ward the end of November, he secretly quitted 
 the Wartburg, and set out for Wittemberg. 63 
 
 A storm had just then burst forth against 
 him. The Sorbonne had at length spoken 
 out. This celebrated school of Paris next 
 in authority in the Church to the Pope him- 
 self the ancient and venerable source whence 
 theological teaching had gone forth, had just 
 issued its verdict against the Reformation. 
 The following were among the propositions 
 it condemned T Luther had said, " God ever 
 pardons sin freely, and requires nothing from 
 
 * M. Michelet, in his memoirs of Luther, de- 
 votes no less than thirty pages to the various ac- 
 counts of this incident. 
 
 t The keeper of the Wartburg regularly points 
 .t to travellers the mark made by Luther's ink- 
 
 out 
 stand. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 269 
 
 us in return, save that for the time to come we 
 live according to righteousness." He had 
 added "The most mortal of all mortal sins 
 is this : to wit, that a man should think that he 
 is not guilty of damnable and mortal sin in the 
 sight of God." He had also declared, that 
 the practice of burning heretics was contrary 
 to the will of the Holy Ghost. To these seve- 
 ral propositions, as well as to many others 
 which it quoted, the Faculty of Theology, in 
 Paris, had replied by the word, " Heresy let 
 it he accursed." 61 
 
 But there was a youth, a stripling of twen- 
 ty-four years of age, of diffident and retiring 
 manners, who ventured to take up the gaunt- 
 let that the first college in Europe had thrown 
 down. It was no secret at Wittemberg, what 
 was to be thought of those lofty censures: 
 it was known that Rome had allowed free 
 course to the machinations of the Dominicans, 
 and that the Sorbonne had been misled by the 
 influence of two or three fanatical teachers 
 who were designated in Paris by satirical 
 nicknames. 62 Accordingly, in his apology, 
 Melancthon did not confine himself to defend- 
 ing Luther, but with the fearlessness which 
 characterizes his writings, he carried the war 
 into his adversaries' camp. " You say, ' he 
 is a Manichean' 'he is a Montanist:' you 
 call for fire and fagot to repress his madness. 
 And who, I pray you, is Montanist ? Luther, 
 who would have men believe Scripture only ] 
 or yourselves, who would claim belief for the 
 thoughts of men rather than for the word of 
 God r 
 
 And truly the attaching more importance to 
 man's teaching than to God's word was in 
 substance the heresy of Montanus, as it is the 
 real character of the Pope, and, indeed, of all 
 who rank church authority or mystical im- 
 pulses above the plain words of the Sacred 
 Writings. Accordingly, the young master of 
 arts, who had been heard to say " I would 
 rather die than relinquish the faith of the Gos- 
 pel," 64 did not stop there. He charged the 
 doctors of the Sorbonne with having darkened 
 the light of the Gospel, put out the doctrine 
 of Faith, and substituted a vain philosophy 
 in place of true Christianity. 65 The publica- 
 tion of this writing of Melancthon changed the 
 position of the parties. He proved unanswera- 
 bly that the heresy was in Paris and in Rome, 
 and the Catholic truth at Wittemberg. 
 
 All this while, Luther, little regarding the 
 censures of the Sorbonne, was journeying in 
 his disguise as a knight toward the university 
 city. Various rumours reached him in his 
 journey, of a spirit of impatience and insubor- 
 dination having manifested itself among cer- 
 tain of his adherents. 66 He was deeply grieved 
 at it. 67 At last he arrived at Wittemberg vvith- 
 outhaving been recognised on the road thither, 
 and stopped at the door of Amsdorff. Imme- 
 diately his friends were secretly called to- 
 gether. Among the first was Melancthon, 
 who had so often said, "I would rather die 
 than be separated from him." 38 They met. 
 What an interview ! what joy ! The captive 
 of the Wartburg, surrounded by his friends, 
 
 1 enjoyed the sweets of Christian friendship. He 
 learned the spread of the Reformation, the 
 hopes of his brethren, and, delighted with 
 what he saw and heard, he kneeled down and 
 prayed, gave thanks, and then, with brief de- 
 lay, set forth and returned to the W T artburg. 69 
 
 His joy was well founded. The work of 
 the Reformation made, just then, a prodigious 
 advance. Feldkirchen, ever in the van, had 
 mounted the breach ; the whole body of those 
 who held the new doctrines were in motion, 
 and the energy which carried the Reforma- 
 tion from the range of teaching into the pub- 
 lic worship, to private life, and the constitu- 
 tion of the Church, revealed itself by another 
 explosion more threatening to the papal 
 power than that which had already happened. 
 
 Rome, having rid herself of the Reformer, 
 thought she had extinguished the new heresy ; 
 but it was not long before a great change took 
 place. Death removed the Pontiff who had 
 put Luther under ban. Troubles broke out in 
 Spain, and compelled Charles V. to recross 
 the Pyrenees. War was declared between 
 that prince and Francis the First; and (as if 
 this were not enough to engross the Empe- 
 ror's attention) Solyman invaded Hungary. 
 Charles, thus attacked on all sides, found him- 
 self compelled to leave unmolested the monk 
 of Worms and his religious novelties. 
 
 It was about this time, that the bark of the 
 Reformed Faith, which, driven in every di- 
 rection by the winds, had been well nigh 
 swamped, righted itself, and rode above the 
 waters. 
 
 It was in the convent of the Augustines, at 
 Wittemberg, that the Reformation showed 
 itself. We cannot wonder at this : the Re- 
 former, it is true, was not within its walls, but 
 no human power could expel from it the spirit 
 that had animated him. 
 
 Strange doctrines had for some time been 
 occasionally heard in the church where Lu- 
 ther had so often preached. A zealous monk, 
 who filled the office of college preacher, loud- 
 ly urged on his hearers the necessity of a Re- 
 formation. As if Luther, whose name was on 
 every one's lips, had reached too commanding 
 an elevation and esteem, God seemed to be 
 making choice of men no way known for any 
 strength of character or influence to bring in 
 the Reformation, for which the renowned doc- 
 tor had opened a way. " Christ," said the 
 preacher, " instituted the Sacrament of the 
 Altar, in remembrance of his death, and nf>t 
 to make it an object of worship. To bow down 
 to it is idolatry. The priest who communi- 
 cates alone or in private is guilty of a sin. No 
 prior has the right to require a monk to say 
 mass alone. Let one, two, or three officiate, 
 and all the rest receive the Lord's Sacrament 
 under both kinds." 70 
 
 Such was the change called for by the monk 
 Gabriel ; and his bold words were heard witli 
 approbation by his brother monks, particularly 
 those who came from the Low Countries. 71 As 
 disciples of the Gospel, why should they not 
 conform in everything to its directions ] Had 
 not Luther himself, in writing to Melanclhon, 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 in the month of August, remarked " Hence- 
 forth, I will say no more private masses?" 72 
 Thus the friars, the very soldiers of the hier- 
 archy, when made free by the Word of God, 
 boldly took part against Rome. 
 
 In Witternberg they encountered an unbend- 
 ing resistance from the Prior, and here they 
 yielded, at the same time protesting that to 
 support the mass was to oppose the Gospel of 
 God. 
 
 The Prior had carried the day. One man's 
 authority had prevailed over all the rest. It 
 might have been thought that this stir among 
 the Augustines was but a capricious act of in- 
 subordination, such as was often occurring in 
 the convents ; but in reality the Spirit of God 
 itself was then moving Christian hearts. A 
 single voice proceeding from the seclusion of 
 a monastery, found a thousand echoes ; and 
 that which men would have confined to the 
 knowledge of the inhabitants of the convent 
 spread beyond its walls, and began to show 
 itself in the heart of the city. 
 
 Rumours of the differences among the 
 monks were soon circulated in the town : the 
 burghers and students sided some with, and 
 others against the mass. The Elector's court 
 interposed. Frederic, in some surprise, de- 
 spatched his Chancellor, Pontanus, to Wit- 
 temberg, with orders to reduce the monks to 
 obedience, putting them, if necessary, upon 
 bread and water; 73 and on the 12th October, 
 a deputation of Professors, among whom was 
 Melancthon, repairing to the convent, exhort- 
 ed the monks to desist from all innovations, 
 or at least to wait the course of events. 74 This 
 did but rekindle their zeal ; and all, with ex- 
 ception of their Prior, being of one mind in 
 their faith, they appealed to Scripture, to the 
 spiritual discernment of believers, and to the 
 impartial judgment of divines, and two days 
 after handed in a declaration in writing. 
 
 The Professors proceeded to examine the 
 question more closely, and perceived that the 
 monks had truth on their side. Having come 
 to convince others, they were convinced them- 
 selves ! What was to be done 1 Conscience 
 pleaded their perplexity was continually in- 
 creasing; and at last, after long hesitation, 
 they came to a courageous decision. 
 
 On the 20th of October, the university re- 
 ported to the Elector, after setting forth the 
 abuses of the mass: " Let your Electoral 
 Highness," said they, " put an end to all cor- 
 ruptions; lest, in the day of judgment, Christ 
 should apply to us the rebukes he once pro- 
 nounced upon Capernaum." 
 
 Thus, it was no longer a handful of obscure 
 monks who spoke, it was the university, 
 accredited by the most judicious, as having, 
 for years past, been the great school of na- 
 tional instruction: and thus, the very agency 
 employed to quell the spirit of the Reforma- 
 tion was about to diffuse it far and wide. 
 
 Melancthon, with that decision which he 
 carried into learning, put forth fifty-five pro- 
 positions calculated to enlighten the minds of 
 inquirers. 
 
 "Just," said he, " as gazing on a cross is 
 
 [no good work, but the bare contemplation of 
 a sign that reminds us of Christ's death." 
 
 "Just as to behold the sun is not to do any 
 good work, but merely to look upon that 
 which reminds us of Christ and his Gospel." 
 
 "So, to partake of the Lord's Supper is 
 not to do a good work, but merely to make 
 use of a sign which recalls to remembrance 
 the grace bestowed upon us through Christ." 
 
 " But here is the difference; namely, that 
 the symbols invented by men do only remind 
 us of what they signify whilst the signs 
 given by God, not merely recall the things 
 themselves, but assure our hearts in the will 
 of God." 
 
 " As the sight of a cross does not justify, 
 so the mass cannot justify." 
 
 " As the gazing on a cross is no sacrifice 
 for our own or others' sins, just so the mass 
 is no sacrifice." 
 
 " There is but one sacrifice, but one satis- 
 faction, Jesus Christ. Beside him there is 
 none other." 
 
 " Let such bishops as do not withstand the 
 profanations of the mass be anathema." 75 
 
 Thus spake the pious and gentle-spiritedf 
 
 The Elector was astounded. His intention 
 had been to restore order among a few refrac- 
 tory friars, and lo! the entire university, with 
 Melancthon at their head, stand up to defend 
 them. To wait the course of events, was 
 ordinarily, in his view, the most eligible 
 course. He had no relish for abrupt changes, 
 and it was his wish that all opinions should 
 be left to work their own way. " Time 
 alone," thought he, "throws light upon all 
 things, and brings all to maturity." And 
 yet the Reformation was advancing in spite 
 of all his caution with rapid strides, and 
 threatened to carry all before it. Frederic 
 made indeed some efforts to arrest it. His 
 authority, the influence of his personal cha- 
 racter, and such arguments as appeared to 
 him most conclusive, were all called into ex- 
 ercise: "Do not be hasty," said he, to the 
 divines, " you are too few in number to effect 
 such a change. If it is well founded in Scrip- 
 ture, others will be led to see it, and you will 
 have the whole Church with you in putting 
 an end to these corruptions. Speak of these 
 things, discuss and preach them as much as 
 you will, but keep up the established ser- 
 vices." 
 
 Such was the war waged relative to the 
 mass. The monks had boldly mounted to the 
 assault; the divines, after a moment of in- 
 decision, had supported them. The prince 
 and his counsellors alone defended the citadel. 
 It has been said that the Reformation was 
 brought about by the power and authority of 
 the Elector; but so far from this being the 
 jase, we see the assailants drawing off their 
 forces, in deference to the voice of the revered 
 Frederic, and the mass, for a while, continu- 
 ing to hold its place. 
 
 The heat of battle was already beginning 
 to rage in another part of the field. The 
 monk Gabriel did not relax in his fervid ap- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 271 
 
 peals from the pulpit of the Augustines. It 
 was against the condition of monkery itself 
 he now dealt his powerful strokes; and if the 
 strength of Romish doctrines was principally 
 in the mass, the monastic order formed the 
 main support of her priestly hierarchy. Hence, 
 these two posts were the first to be stormed. 
 
 No one," exclaimed Gabriel, according to 
 the Prior's report, " not even a single inmate 
 a convent, keeps God's commandments." 
 
 "No one who wears a cowl can he saved. 76 
 Whoso enters a cloister enters into the ser- 
 vice of the Devil. Vows of chastity, poverty, 
 ind obedience to a superior, are contrary to 
 ,he spirit of the Gospel." 
 
 These strange expressions were reported to 
 he Prior, who took care not to be present in 
 ;hurch to hear them. 
 
 " Gabriel," said his informants, " Gabriel 
 nsists that every possible means should be 
 aken to clear out the cloisters; that when the 
 riars are met in the street, they should be 
 witched by the cloak, and pointed out to ridi- 
 :ule; and that if that does not rout them from 
 heir convent, they should be expelled by 
 nain force. He cries, ' Break open the mo- 
 lasteries, destroy them, raze them to their 
 bundations, that no trace of them may re- 
 nain, and that on the ground they cover not 
 ne stone may be left of walls that have shel- 
 ered such sloth and superstition.' " 77 
 
 The friars were astonished; their consci- 
 snces whispered that the charge brought 
 igainst them was but too true; that the life 
 if a monk was not agreeable to the will of 
 jJod ; and that no man could have a claim 
 
 their implicit and unlimited obedience. 
 
 In one day, thirteen Augustine monks 
 [uitted the convent, and throwing aside the 
 labit of their order, assumed the dress of the 
 aity. Such of them as had the advantage of 
 nstruction, continued their course of study, 
 n the hope of being one day useful to the 
 Church ; and such as had profited little by 
 tudy, sought a livelihood by working with 
 heir own hands, according to the precept of 
 he Apostle, and after the example of the 
 vorthy burghers of Wittemberg. 78 One, who 
 lad some knowledge of carpentry, applied for 
 he freedom of the city, resolving to marry 
 .nd settle. 
 
 .If Luther's entrance into the convent of the 
 lugustines at Erfurth had laid the seeds of 
 he Reformation, the departure of the thirteen 
 nonks from the convent of the Augustines of 
 A'lttemberg was the signal of its taking 
 ossession of the nations of Christendom, 
 ^or a period of thirty years, Erasmus had 
 ;xposed the unprofitableness, fatuity, and vices 
 >f the friars ; and all Europe had gone with 
 lim in his ridicule and contempt. Thirteen 
 nen of resolute character returned to their 
 place in society ; and there, in service to 
 Iheir fellow men, sought to fulfil God's com- 
 mandments. The marriage of Feldkirchen 
 was one of humiliation to the hierarchy ; ! 
 
 1 he emancipation of these thirteen Augustines 
 followed close upon it, as a second. Monkery, 
 which had established itself in the day when 
 
 the Church entered on her long period of 
 bondage and error, was doomed to fall when- 
 ever the time came which should restore 
 liberty and truth. 
 
 This bold step occasioned a general ferment 
 in Wittemberg. All marvelled at the men 
 who thus carne forward to share the labours 
 of the common people, and welcomed them 
 as brethren : at the same time, cries were 
 heard against those who obstinately clung to 
 their indolent seclusion within the walls of 
 their monastery. The monks, who adhered 
 to the prior, trembled in their cells, and the 
 prior himself, carried away by the general 
 feeling, suspended the performance of private 
 masses. 
 
 In a moment so critical, the least concession 
 necessarily precipitated the course of events. 
 The order issued by the prior caused a strong 
 sensation in the town and in the University, 
 and produced an unforeseen explosion. Among 
 the students and burghers of Wittemberg 
 were some of those turbulent spirits whom 
 the least excitement inflames, and urges to 
 criminal excesses. These men were indig- 
 nant that the same masses, which were sus- 
 pended by the devout Prior, should still be 
 performed in the parish church ; and on the 
 3d December, as mass was about to be chant- 
 ed, they suddenly made their way to the altar, 
 bore off the books, and compelled the officiat- 
 ing priests to seek safety in flight. The 
 Council and the University assembled to take 
 severe measures against the authors of these 
 disturbances. But the passions, once roused, 
 are not easily calmed. The Cordeliers had 
 taken no part in the Reformation that had be- 
 gun to show itself among the Augustines. 
 Next day the students affixed to the gates of 
 their monastery a threatening placard. Soon 
 after, forty of their number forced their way 
 into the chapel, and without proceeding to 
 violence, gave such free expression to their 
 ridicule, that the monks dared not to pro- 
 ceed with the mass. In the evening, notice 
 came advising the friars to be on their guard. 
 "The students," it was said, "have planned 
 to break into the monastery." The monks, in 
 alarm, and seeing no way of defence against 
 these real or supposed attacks, sent in haste 
 to ask protection of the Council. Soldiers 
 were placed on guard, but the enemy did not 
 make his appearance. The University arrest- 
 ed the students who had taken part in these 
 disturbances. They were found to be from 
 Erfurth, and already noted for their insubordi- 
 nation. 79 The penalty annexed to their offence 
 by the laws of the University was imposed 
 upon them. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was felt that a necessity 
 had arisen for a careful examination of the 
 lawfulness of monastic vows. A chapter, 
 composed of the Augustine monks of Thurin- 
 gen and Misnia assembled at Wittemberg in 
 December following. Luther's judgment was 
 acquiesced in. They declared, on the one 
 hand, that monastic vows were not sinful, but, 
 on the other hand, that they were not obliga- 
 tory. "In Christ," said they, "there is nei- 
 2 A 
 
273 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ther layman nor monk, each one is free to [ 
 leave the monastery or to abide in it. Let 
 whoever leaves it, beware how he abuses his 
 liberty; let him who abides in it, obey his su- 
 periors, but with the obedience of love ;" and 
 they proceeded to prohibit mendicity, and the 
 saying masses for money: they also determined 
 that the more instructed monks should devote 
 themselves to teaching the Word of God, and 
 that the rest should labour with their own 
 hands for the support of their brethren.* 
 
 Thus the question of Vows seemed to be 
 settled, but that of the Mass was still unde- 
 cided. The Elector continued to oppose the 
 stream, and to defend an institution which he 
 saw still standing in every nation where Chris- 
 tianity was professed. The moderation of 
 this mild sovereign could not, however, for 
 any length of time, hold in the public mind. 
 Carlstadt, above all, took part in the general 
 ferment. Zealous, upright, and fearless; 
 prompt, like Luther, to sacrifice every thing 
 for the truth ; he had not the Reformer's wis- 
 dom and moderation: he was not free from 
 vanity, and with a disposition that led him to 
 go deeply into every question, he yet had but 
 little power of judgment, and no great clear- 
 ness of ideas. Luther had delivered him from 
 the teaching of the schools, and had led him 
 to study the Scriptures ; but Carlstadt had 
 not had patience to acquire a knowledge of the 
 original languages, and had not, as his friend 
 had done, acknowledged the sufficiency of 
 God's word. Hence he was often taking up 
 with singular interpretations. As long as 
 Luther was at his side, the influence of the 
 master restrained the disciple within due 
 bounds; but Carlstadt was freed from this 
 wholesome restraint. In the university, in 
 the chapel, throughout Wittemberg, the 
 little tawny-complexioned Carlstadt, who had 
 never excelled in eloquence, gave utterance to 
 thoughts, at times, profound, but often enthu- 
 siastic and exaggerated. " What infatuated 
 folly !" he exclaimed, " for men to think that 
 the Reformation must be left to God's work- 
 ing. A new order of things is opening. The 
 strength of man must be brought in, and wo to 
 him who shall hold back instead of mounting 
 the breach in the cause of the mighty God !" 
 
 The Archdeacon's speech communicated 
 his own impatience to his auditory. " \Vhat- 
 ever the Pope has set up is impious," ex 
 claimed some men of sincere and upright 
 minds, under the influence of his harangues. 
 "Let us not make ourselves accomplices in 
 these abominations by allowing them to exist. 
 That which God's word condemns ought to be 
 swept from the face of Christendom, without 
 regarding the Commandments of men. If the 
 heads of the state and of the church will not 
 do their duty, let us at least do ours. Let us 
 leave thinking of negotiation, conferences, 
 theses, and discussions, and let us apply the 
 true remedy to so many evils. We want a se- 
 cond Elijah to throw down the altars of Baal !" 
 
 * Corp. Ref. i. p. 456. The editors assign to 
 this decree the date of October, before the monks 
 had forsaken their convent. 
 
 The restoration of the Supper of the Lord 
 in this moment of ferment and enthusiastic 
 excitement, could not, doubtless, wear that 
 character of solemnity and sacredness which 
 was given to it by the Son of God in his in- 
 stitution of it " the night that he was betrayed." 
 But if God was now using the weakness and 
 passions of men, it was, not the less, His own 
 hand which was engaged in re-establishing in 
 the midst of His church the feast of His own 
 love. 
 
 As early as the October previous, Carlstadt 
 had privately celebrated the Lord's Supper, 
 according to Christ's appointment, with 
 twelve of his friends. On the Sunday before 
 Christmas Day, he announced from the pulpit 
 that, on New Year's Day, he would distribute 
 the elements under the two kinds, bread and 
 wine, to all who should come to the altar; 
 that he intended to omit all unnecessary cere- 
 monies, and should perform the service with- 
 out cope or chasuble. 80 
 
 The Council, in perturbation, requested the 
 counsellor Bergen to interfere, and prevent so 
 disorderly a proceeding, whereupon Carlstadt 
 resolved not to wait the time fixed. On 
 Christmas Day, 1521, he preached, in the 
 parochial church, on the duty of abandoning 
 the mass, and receiving the sacrament under 
 both kinds. The sermon being ended, he 
 came down, took his place at the altar, and 
 after pronouncing, in German, the words of 
 institution, said solemnly, turning towards the 
 people, " If any one feels the burden of his 
 sins, and is hungering and thirsting for the 
 grace of God, let him draw near, and receive 
 the body and blood of the Lord." 81 Then, with- 
 out elevating the host, he distributed to each 
 one the bread and wine, saying, " This is the 
 cup of my blood, the blood of the new and 
 everlasting covenant." 
 
 Conflicting feelings reigned in the assembly. 
 Some, in the sense that a further grace of God 
 was given to the Church, drew near the altar 
 in silent emotion. Others, attracted princi- 
 pally by the novelty of the occasion, approach- 
 ed in some confusion, and with a kind of im- 
 patience. Not more than five communicants 
 had presented themselves in the confessional ; 
 the rest took part only in the public confession 
 of sins. Carlstadt gave to all the general 
 absolution, laying upon them no other penance 
 than this, "Sin no more." In conclusion, the 
 communicants sang the Agnus Dei. 32 
 
 Carlstadt met with no opposition. The 
 changes we are narrating had already ob- 
 tained general concurrence. The Archdeacon 
 administered the Lord's Supper again on New 
 Year's day, and also on the Sunday following, 
 and from that time the regular observance of 
 it was kept up. Einsidel, one of the Elector's 
 council, having rebuked Carlstadt for seeking 
 his own exaltation, rather than the salvation 
 of his hearers "Noble Sir," answered he, 
 " I would meet death in any form rather than 
 desist from following the Scripture. The 
 word has come to me so quick and powerful . . . 
 wo is me if I do not preach." 83 Soon after this, 
 Carlstadt married. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 273 
 
 In the month of January, the town-council 
 of Wittemberg issued regulations for the cele- 
 oration of the Supper according to the amend- 
 ed ritual. Steps were also taken to restore 
 the influence of religion upon public morals; 
 for it was the office of the Reformation to 
 re-establish, simultaneously, faith, Christian 
 worship, and general morality. It was decreed 
 that public beggars should be no longer tole- 
 rated, whether friars or others; and that in 
 each street some man, well reported of for 
 piety, should be commissioned to take care of 
 the poor, and to summon before the University 
 or Council such as were guilty of disorders. 84 
 So fell that grand bulwark of Romish do- 
 minion, the Mass. Thus it was that the Re- 
 formation passed beyond the sphere of teach- 
 ing, into that of public worship. For three 
 centuries the mass and the doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation had been regularly established.* 
 Throughout that long period, all things within 
 the Church had a new tendency impressed 
 upon them, and every thing conspired to favour 
 the pride of man and the honour paid to the 
 priest. The holy sacrament had been adored; 
 regular festivals had been instituted in honour 
 of the most stupendous of miracles; the wor- 
 ship of Mary had risen high in the scale of 
 public estimation; the priest, who, in the 
 consecration of the elements, was supposed 
 to receive mysterious power to change them 
 into the very body of Christ, had been sepa- 
 rated from the class of laity, and, to use the 
 words of Thomas Aquinas, had become a 
 "mediator between God and man;" 85 celibacy 
 had been proclaimed as an inviolable law; 
 auricular confession was enforced upon the 
 people, and the cup of blessing denied them ; 
 for how, indeed, should common people be 
 ranged on the same line with priests, honoured 
 with the most solemn of all ministrations. 
 The Mass cast reproach upon the Son of God ; 
 it was opposed to the perfect remission through 
 his cross, and the spotless glory of his ever- 
 lasting kingdom: but, whilst it disparaged 
 the glory of the Lord, it exalted the priest, 
 whom it invested with the inconceivable power 
 of reproducing, in hand, and at will, the So- 
 vereign Creator of all things! 86 Thenceforward 
 the Church seemed to exist not to preach the 
 Gospel, but only to reproduce Christ in the 
 flesh ! The Roman Pontiff, whose obedient 
 vassals, at their pleasure, created the body of 
 God himself, took his seat as God, in the tem- 
 ple of God, and asserted his claim to a spirit- 
 ual treasury, from whence to draw forth at 
 will indulgences for the pardon of men's 
 sins. 
 
 Such were the gross errors which, for a 
 period of three centuries, had established 
 themselves in the Church in connection with 
 the mass. The Reformation, by abolishing 
 this thing of man's setting up, swept away all 
 the abuses blended with it. The proceeding 
 of the Archdeacon was therefore full of im- 
 portant results. The costly shows that amused 
 the people, the worship of the Virgin, the pride 
 
 By the Council of Lateran, in 1215. 
 
 of the clergy, and the papal authority, were 
 all shaken. The glory was withdrawn from, 
 the priests, and returned to rest on JESUS, and 
 the Reformation advanced a step farther. 
 
 Nevertheless, prejudiced observers might 
 have seen nothing in all that was going on, 
 but what might be deemed the effect of pass- 
 ing enthusiasm. Facts were needed, that 
 should give proof of the contrary, and demon- 
 strate that there was a deep and broad distinc- 
 tion between a Reformation based on God's 
 word and any mere fanatical excitement. 
 
 Whenever a great ferment is working in 
 the Church, some impure elements are sure 
 to mingle with the testimony given to truth ; 
 and some one or more pretended reforms arise 
 out of man's imagination, and serve as evi- 
 dences or countersigns of some real reforma- 
 tion in progress. Thus, many false Messiahs, 
 in the first century of the Church, were an 
 evidence that the true Messiah had already 
 come. The Reformation of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury could not run its course without present- 
 ing the like phenomenon, and it was first ex- 
 hibited in the little village of Zwickau. 
 
 There were dwelling at Zwickau a few men, 
 who, being deeply moved by the events pass- 
 ing around them, looked for special and direct 
 revelations from the Deity, instead of desiring, 
 in meekness and simplicity, the sanctification 
 of their affections. These persons asserted 
 that they were commissioned to complete that 
 Reformation which, in their view, Luther had 
 but feebly begun. " What is the use," asked 
 they, ** of such application to the Bible ? No- 
 thing is heard of but the BIBLE. Can the 
 Bible preach to us ? Can it suffice for our 
 instruction "? If God had intended to instruct 
 us by a book, would he not have given us a 
 Bible direct from heaven 1 ? It is only the 
 SPIRIT that can enlighten! God himself 
 speaks to us, and shows us what to do and 
 say." Thus did these fanatics, playing into 
 the hands of Rome, impugn the fundamental 
 principle on which the whole Reformation is 
 based : namely, the perfect sufficiency of the 
 word of God. 
 
 Nicolas Storch, a weaver, publicly declared 
 that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him 
 by night, and after revealing to him matters 
 he was not allowed to divulge, had uttered the 
 words, "Thou shall sit on my throne!" 87 A 
 senior student of Wittemberg, named Mark 
 Stubner, joined Storch, and forthwith aban- 
 doned his studies ; for, according to his own 
 statement, he had received immediately from 
 God the ability to interpret Holy Scripture. 
 Mark Thomas, also a weaver, associated him- 
 self with them ; and another of the initiated, by 
 name Thomas Munzer, a man of fanatical turn 
 of mind, gave to the new sect a regular organ- 
 ization. Resolving to act according to the 
 example of Christ, Storch chose from among 
 his followers twelve apostles and seventy dis- 
 ciples. All these loudly proclaimed, as we 
 have lately heard it asserted by a sect of our 
 own days, that Apostles and Prophets wero 
 at last restored to the Church. 88 
 
 Ere long, the new prophets, in accordance 
 
274 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 with this plan of adhering to the example of I Himself; we have the knowledge of things 
 
 those of holy writ, began to declare their mis 
 sion. "Wo, wo '."they exclaimed; "a church 
 under human governors, corrupted like the 
 bishops, cannot be the church of Christ. The 
 ungodly rulers of Christendom will soon be 
 cast down. In five, six, or seven years, a 
 time of universal desolation will come upon 
 the earth. The Turk will get possession o 
 Germany; the clergy, not even excepting 
 those who have married, shall be slain. The 
 ungodly sinners shall all be destroyed; am 
 when the earth shall have been purified b] 
 blood, supreme power shall be given to Storch 
 to install the saints in the government of the 
 earth. 89 Then shall there be one Faith and on< 
 Baptism. The day of the Lord draweth niah 
 and the end of all things is at hand. Wo 
 wo ! wo !" Then publicly declaring that in 
 fant baptism was of no avail, the new prophets 
 called upon all to draw near, and receive a 
 their hands a true baptism, in token of thei 
 entrance into the new Church of God. 
 
 Such preaching made a deep impression on 
 the popular mind. Not a few devout persons 
 were startled by the thought that prophets 
 were again given to the Church, and those on 
 whom the love of the marvellous had mos 
 power, threw themselves into the open arms 
 of the eccentric preachers of Zwickau. 
 
 But scarcely had this heresy, which had 
 shown itself of old in the days of Montanism, 
 and again in the middle ages, drawn together 
 a handful of separatists, when it encountered 
 in the Reformation a strong opposing power. 
 Nicolas Haussman, to whom Luther gave that 
 noble testimony " What we 
 was at this time the pastor of Zwickau. This 
 good man was not led away by the pretensions 
 of the false prophets. Supported by his two 
 deacons, he successfully resisted the innova- 
 tions Storch and his followers were seeking to 
 introduce. The fanatics, repelled by the pas- 
 tors of the church, fell into another extrava- 
 gance : they formed meetings in which doc- 
 trines subversive of order were publicly 
 preached. The people caught the infection, 
 and disturbances were the consequence; a 
 priest, bearing the sacrament, was pelted with 
 stones, 91 and the civil authority interfering com- 
 mitted the most violent of the party to prison. 92 
 Indignant at this treatment, and intent upon 
 justifying themselves and obtaining redress, 
 Storch, Mark Thomas, and Stubner, repaired 
 to Witternberg. 93 
 
 They arrived on the 27th December, 1521. 
 Storch, leading the way with the port and 
 bearing of a Lanzkneclit, and Mark Thomas 
 and Stubner following behind. 94 The disorder 
 that reigned in Wittemberg was favourable to 
 their designs. The youth of the academies, 
 and the class of citizens already roused and 
 excited, were well prepared to give ear to the 
 new teachers. 
 
 Making sure of co-operation, they waited 
 upon the University Professors, to receive 
 their sanction : "We," said they, " are sent 
 by God to teach the people. The Lord has 
 favoured us with special communications from 
 
 which are coming upon the earth. 95 In a word, 
 we are Apostles and Prophets, and we appeal, 
 for the truth of what we say, to Doctor Lu- 
 ther." The Professors were amazed. 
 
 " Who commissioned you to preach ?" en- 
 quired Melancthon of Stubner, who had for- 
 merly studied under him, and whom he now 
 received at his table " The Lord our God." 
 " Have you committed anything to writ- 
 ing 1 ? "The Lord our God has forbidden me 
 to do so." Melancthon drew back, alarmed 
 and astonished. 
 
 " There are indeed spirits of no ordinary 
 kind in these men," said he; "but what 
 spirits ? . . . none but Luther can solve the 
 doubt. On the one hand let us beware of 
 quenching the Spirit of God, and on the other, 
 of being seduced by the spirit of the devil." 
 
 Storch, who was of a restless disposition, 
 soon left Wittemberg; Stubner remained be- 
 hind. Actuated by an ardent desire to make 
 proselytes, he went from house to house, con- 
 versing with one and another, and persuading 
 many to acknowledge him as a prophet of 
 God. He especially attached himself to Cel- 
 larius, a Suabian, a "friend of Melancthon, and 
 master of a school attended by a considerable 
 number of young persons. Cellarius admitted, 
 with blind confidence, the claims of the new 
 Apostles. 
 
 Melancthon's perplexity and uneasiness 
 continued to increase. It was not so much 
 the visions of the prophets of Zwickau, as 
 their doctrine concerning Baptism that dis- 
 turbed him. To him it seemed agreeable to 
 reason, and he thought it deserved to be ex- 
 amined into, " for," observed he, " nothing 
 should be lightly received or rejected." 96 
 
 Such was the spirit of the Reformation. In 
 this hesitation and struggle of Melancthon, 
 we have an evidence of his uprightness, which 
 does him more honour than a determined op- 
 position could have done. 
 
 The Elector himself, whom Melancthon 
 termed the light of Israel," had his doubts. 97 
 
 Prophets and Apostles in the electorate of 
 Saxony, as of old time in Jerusalem ! It is a 
 solemn question," said he, " and as a layman, 
 [ cannot decide it. But rather than fight against 
 Sod, 1 would take to my staff, and descend 
 Tom my throne !" 
 
 On reflection, he intimated by his counsel- 
 ors, that Wittemberg had quite sufficient 
 rouble in hand : that it was most likely the 
 ;laims of the men of Zwickau were a tempta- 
 ion of the devil, and that the wisest course 
 ippeared to be to allow the whole matter to 
 settle down, that nevertheless whenever his 
 Highness should clearly perceive what was 
 *od's will, he would not confer with flesh and 
 dood, but was ready to endure every thing in 
 he cause of truth. 98 
 
 Luther received in the Wartburg intelli- 
 gence of the ferment at the court of Wittem- 
 erg. His informants apprized him of 
 trange persons having made their appear- 
 nce, and that, as to their message, it was 
 ot known from whence it came. The 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 275 
 
 thought instantly occurred to him, that God 
 had permitted these deplorable events in order 
 to humble his servants, and to rouse them to 
 seek higher degrees of sanctification. " Your 
 Highness," said he, in a letter to the Elector, 
 "your Highness for many a year collect- 
 ed reliques far and wide ; God has heard 
 your prayers, and sent you, at no cost or trou- 
 ble of your own, a whole cross, with nails, 
 spears and scourges. God prosper the newly 
 acquired relic. Only let your Highness spread 
 out your arms, and endure the piercing of the 
 nails in your flesh. I always expected that 
 Satan would send us this plague." 
 
 Nevertheless, there was nothing, according 
 to his judgment, more urgent than to secure 
 to others the liberty he claimed for himself. 
 He would have no divers weights or measures : 
 " Pray, let them alone ; don't imprison them," 
 wrote he to Spalatin ; " let not our prince em- 
 brue his hands in the blood of the prophets 
 that have risen up." 99 Luther was far beyond 
 the age in which he lived, and even beyond 
 many of the Reformers in the matter of tolera- 
 tion. 
 
 Affairs were daily growing more serious in 
 Wittemberg. 100 
 
 Carlstadt did not receive many things taught 
 by the new teachers, and especially their 
 anabaptist doctrine ; but there is something 
 contagious in religious enthusiasm, which a 
 head like his could with difficulty withstand. 
 From the time the men of Zwickau arrived in 
 Wittemberg, Carlstadt had accelerated his 
 movements in the direction of violent changes : 
 " It is become necessary," cried he, " that we 
 should exterminate all the ungodly practices 
 around us. 101 He brought forward all the texts 
 against image worship, and with increased 
 vehemence declaimed against Romish idolatry 
 "People kneel," said he, "and crawl be- 
 fore those idols; burn tapers before their 
 shrines, and make offerings to them. Let us 
 arise, and drag the worshippers from their al- 
 tars!" 
 
 Such appeals were not lost upon the popu- 
 lace. They broke into churches, carried off 
 the images, breaking them in pieces, and 
 burning them. 102 Better would it have been to 
 have awaited their abolition by authority ; but 
 the cautious advances of the leaders of the 
 Reformation were thought to compromise its 
 security. 
 
 It was not long before one who listened to 
 these enthusiasts might have thought there 
 were no real Christians in all Wittemberg, 
 save only those who refused to come to con- 
 fession, persecuted the priests, and ate meat 
 on fast days. The bare suspicion that he 
 did not reject, one and all, the ceremonies of 
 the Church, as inventions of the devil, was 
 enough to subject a man to the charge of be- 
 ing a worshipper of Baal. " We must form 
 a church," they exclaimed, "that shall con- 
 sist of the Saints alone !" 
 
 The burghers of Wittemberg presented to 
 the Council certain regulations which it was 
 compelled to sanction. Several of these regu- 
 lations were conformable to Christian morals. 
 36 
 
 The closing of places of amusement was par- 
 ticularly insisted upon. 
 
 But soon after this, Carlstadt went still 
 greater lengths ; he began to pour contempt 
 upon human learning ; and the students heard 
 their aged tutor advising them, from his ros- 
 trum, to return to their homes, and resume the 
 spade, or follow the plough, and cultivate the 
 earth, because man was to eat bread in the 
 sweat of his brow ! George Mohr, master of 
 the boys' school of Wittemberg, carried away 
 by a similar madness, called from his win- 
 dow to the burghers outside to come and re- 
 move their children. Where, indeed, was the 
 use of their pursuing their studies, since Storch 
 and Stubner had never been at the University, 
 and yet were prophets? A mechanic was 
 just as well, nay perhaps better, qualified than 
 all the divines in the world to preach the 
 Gospel ! 
 
 Thus it was that doctrines were put forth 
 directly opposed to the Reformation. The re- 
 vival of letters had opened a way for the re- 
 formed opinions. Furnished with theological 
 learning, Luther had joined issue with Rome ; 
 and the Wittemberg enthusiasts, similar to 
 those fanatical monks exposed by Erasmus and 
 Reuchlin, pretended to trample under foot all 
 human learning! Only let Vandalism once 
 establish its sway, and the hopes of the world 
 were gone; and another irruption of barba- 
 rians would quench the light which God had 
 kindled among Christian people. 
 
 It was not long before the results of these 
 strange lessons began to show themselves. 
 Men's minds were diverted from the Gospel, 
 or prejudiced against it : the school was al- 
 most broken up, the demoralized students 
 burst the bands of discipline, and the states 
 of Germany recalled such as belonged to their 
 several jurisdictions. 103 Thus the men who 
 aimed at reforming and infusing new vigour 
 into every thing had brought all to the brink 
 of ruin. "One more effort," thought the 
 partisans of Rome,who, on all sides were again 
 lifting their heads, " and all will be ours !" 
 
 The prompt repression of these fanatical 
 excesses was the only means of saving the 
 Reformation. But who should undertake the 
 task ? Melancthon? He was too young, too 
 deficient in firmness, too much perplexed by 
 this strange conjuncture of circumstances. 
 The elector? He was the most pacific man 
 of his age. To build his castles of Alten- 
 burg, Weimar, Lochau, and Coburg, to adorn 
 the churches with fine pictures by Lucas Cra- 
 nach, to improve the chantings in his cha- 
 pels, to advance the prosperity of his uni- 
 versity, and promote the happiness of his sub- 
 jects ; to stop in his walks and distribute 
 little presents to playful children, such were 
 the tranquil occupations of his life ; and now, 
 in his declining years, to engage in conflict 
 with fanatics, and oppose violence to violence, 
 how could the gracious and pious Frederic 
 take such a step 1 
 
 The evil, therefore, was gaining ground, 
 and no one stept forward to arrest its progress. 
 Luther was absent far from Wittemberor. Con- 
 
276 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 fusion and ruin impended over the city. The 
 Reformation beheld, proceeding, as it were, 
 from its own bosom, an enemy more to be 
 dreaded than Popes and Emperors. It was as 
 if on the brink of an abyss. 
 
 "Luther! Luther !" was the cry from one 
 end of Wittemberg to the other. The burgh- 
 ers were clamorous for his reappearance. Di- 
 vines felt their need of the benefit of his judg- 
 ment; even the prophets appealed to him. 
 All -united in entreating him to return. 105 
 
 We may guess what was passing in the 
 Reformer's mind. The harsh usage of Rome 
 seemed nothing when compared with what 
 now wrung his heart. It is from the very 
 midst of the Reformation that its enemies have 
 gone forth. It is preying upon its own vitals ; 
 and that teaching, which, by its power, had 
 sufficed to restore peace to his troubled heart, 
 he beholds perverted into an occasion of fatal 
 dissensions in the Church. 
 
 " If I knew," said Luther, at an earlier pe- 
 riod, " that my doctrine had injured one human 
 being, however poor and unknown, which it 
 could not, for it is the very Gospel, I would 
 rather face death ten times over than not re- 
 tract it. 106 And lo ! now, a whole city, and that 
 city Wittemberg itself, is sinking fast into li- 
 centiousness." True, indeed, the doctrine he 
 had taught had not been the cause of all this 
 evil ; but from every quarter of Germany 
 voices were heard that accused him as the 
 author of it. Some of the bitterest feelings 
 he had ever known oppressed his spirit at this 
 juncture, and his trial was of a different kind. 
 Was this then, he asked himself, to be the 
 issue of the great work of Reformation 1 Im- 
 possible ! he utterly rejected the doubts that 
 presented themselves. God has begtm the 
 work God will fulfil it. I prostrate my- 
 self in deep abasement before the Eternal," 
 said he, "and I implore of Him that His 
 name may rest upon this work, and that if 
 any thing impure has mingled in the doing of 
 it, He will remember that I am but a sinful 
 man." 107 
 
 The letters written to Luther, conveying 
 reports of the inspiration of the pretended 
 prophets and their exalted communion with 
 the Lord, did not occasion a moment's hesita- 
 tion. He well knew the deep struggles and 
 prostrations of the spiritual life ; at Erfurth 
 and at Wittemberg, he had had experience of 
 the mighty power of God, which rendered him 
 but little disposed to credit the statement that 
 God had appeared visibly and discoursed with 
 his creature. 
 
 " Ask them," said he, in writing to Me- 
 lancthon, "if they have known those spiritual 
 heavings, those pangs of God's new creation, 
 those deaths and hells which accompany a 
 real regeneration. 108 And if they speak only 
 cf soft and tranquil impressions, piety, and 
 devotion as they phrase it, don't believe them ; 
 not even though they should assert that they 
 have been caught up into the third heaven ! In 
 order that Christ should enter into his glory, 
 it behoved him to pass through the suffering 
 of death : thus the believer must pass through 
 
 the tribulation of his sin before he enters into 
 his Peace. Would you learn when, where, 
 and how, God speaks to men 1 Listen to the 
 word. * As a lion He has broken all my bones, 
 I am cast out from before His face, and my life 
 is brought down to the gales of death. 1 No, no, 
 the Divine Majesty (as they term Him) does 
 not speak face to face with man, for ' no man? 
 says He, * can see my face and live.' " 
 
 But his firm conviction that the prophets 
 were under a delusion did but aggravate Lu- 
 ther's grief. The solemn truth of Salvation 
 by Grace seemed to have quickly lost its at- 
 traction, and men were turning aside after fa- 
 bles. He began to understand that the work 
 was not so easy as he had once fondly thought. 
 He stumbled at this first stone placed in his 
 path by the fickleness of the human heart. 
 Grief and anxiety weighed heavily on his spi- 
 rit. He desired, though at the hazard of his 
 life, to remove the stumbling-block out of the 
 way of the people, and he resolved to return 
 to Wittemberg. 
 
 It was a moment of considerable danger. 
 The enemies of the Reformation thought 
 themselves on the very eve of destroying it. 
 George of Saxony, who would neither con- 
 nect himself with Rome nor with Wittem- 
 berg, had written, as early as the 15th Octo- 
 ber, 1521, to Duke John, the Elector's brother, 
 to induce him to side with those who opposed 
 the progress of the Reformation. " Some," 
 wrote he, " deny the immortality of the soul, 
 others, and those friars too ! drag the relics 
 of St. Anthony through the streets, and throw 
 them into the gutters. 109 All this comes of Lu- 
 ther's teaching. Entreat your brother either 
 to make a public example of the impious 
 authors of these disorders, or, at least, pub- 
 licly to declare his opinion of them. Our 
 gray hairs warn us that we are near the end 
 of our course, and that we ought speedily to 
 put an end to such evils." 
 
 After this, George took his departure to be 
 present at the sittings of the Imperial Govern- 
 ment at Nuremberg. On arriving, he used 
 every means to procure the adoption of severe 
 measures. The result was, that, on the 21st 
 of January, the Diet published an edict, in 
 which they complained bitterly that the priests 
 were accustomed to say mass without being 
 habited in priest's garments, that they pro- 
 nounced the words of consecration in German, 
 administered it to such as had not confessed 
 themselves, passed it into the hands of lay- 
 men, without even troubling themselves to 
 ascertain whether the communicant came to 
 it fasting. 110 
 
 The Imperial Government directed the 
 Bishops, accordingly, to look after and punish 
 severely the innovators within their respect- 
 ive dioceses; and the Bishops were not slow- 
 in following these directions. 
 
 It was just at this moment that Luther de- 
 cided to appear again upon the stage. He 
 clearly saw the critical position of affairs, and 
 foreboded wide-spreading calamity. " A time 
 of trouble," said he, "is coming upon the 
 empire, which will sweep before it princes, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 277 
 
 magistrates, and bishops. People's eyes are j 
 opened ; they cannot be driven by main force; 
 Germany will be deluged with blood. 111 Let 
 us take our stand as a wall of defence to our 
 country in the day of God's anger." 
 
 So thought Luther: but lie perceived a 
 danger yet more imminent. At Wittemberg, 
 the fire, instead of expiring, was burning 
 every day more fiercely. From the summits 
 of the Wartburcr, Luther might discern in the 
 horizon the 'lurid glare that gives notice of 
 devastation flashing at intervals through the 
 gloom. Who but himself can apply a remedy 
 in the crisis'? What should prevent his 
 throwing himself into the heat of the confla- 
 gration, and exerting his influence to arrest 
 its progress] He foresees his enemies pre- 
 paring to strike him down, but his purpose is 
 not shaken. Nor is he deterred by the Elec- 
 tor's entreaty that he would keep w r ithin the 
 Warthurg, and there quietly prepare his jus- 
 tification at the approaching Diet. A more 
 urgent necessity is pressing upon his soul ; 
 and it is to justify the Gospel itself. "The 
 news from Wittemberg," wrote he, "is every 
 day becoming more alarming. I am on the 
 point of setting out. That state of things 
 absolutely requires it." 112 
 
 Accordingly, on the 3d of March, he finally 
 decided on leaving the Wartburg. He bade 
 farewell to its gray turrets and gloomy forests. 
 He passed beyond those walls, within which 
 the anathemas of Leo and the sword of 
 Charles were alike powerless. He trod the 
 path that wound to the foot of the mountain. 
 The world which lay stretched before him, 
 and on which he was once more about to 
 appear, would soon perhaps ring with the 
 clamours of those who sought his life. It 
 matters not. On he goes rejoicing; for it is 
 in the name of the Lord that he is bending his 
 steps towards the haunts of men. 113 
 
 Time had been busy. Luther was leaving 
 the Wartburg for another cause and in a dif- 
 ferent character from that in which he had 
 first entered it. He had arrived there as one 
 who had attacked the received tradition, and 
 its established teachers. He was quitting it 
 for the defence of the doctrine of the Apostles 
 against a new class of adversaries. He had 
 entered the Wartburg as an innovator who 
 had assailed the ancient hierarchy, he was 
 leaving it in the spirit of a conservator, that 
 he might defend the faith of Christians. Until 
 this period, Luther had seen in the success of 
 his efforts but the triumph of the great truth 
 of Justification by Faith; and, armed with 
 this single weapon, he had beat down long- 
 standing superstitions. But if there had been 
 a time for removing that which had encum- 
 bered the soil, a season must needs come for 
 building up. Hidden under the ruins with 
 which his assaults had strewed the plain, 
 behind discredited letters of indulgence, bro- 
 ken tiaras and trampled cowls, beneath the 
 many Romish errors and corruptions that his 
 mind surveyed as the slain upon a battle-field, 
 he discerned and brought forth to light the 
 primitive Catholic Church, reappearing still 
 
 the same, and, as it were, emerging from a 
 protracted struggle, with unchangeable doc- 
 trine and heavenly accents. He could appre- 
 ciate the vast difference between Rome and 
 that true Church which he hailed and em- 
 braced with joy. Luther wrought no new 
 thing on the earth, as has been falsely charged 
 upon him ; he did not build for his own age 
 an edifice that had no associations with the 
 past; he discerned and let i.n the light upon 
 those earlier foundations which were then 
 overrun with thorns and brambles ; while he 
 persevered in reconstructing the temple, he 
 did but build on the fundamental truths taught 
 by the Apostles. Luther was aware that the 
 ancient and primitive Apostolic Church must, 
 on one hand, be restored and opposed to that 
 papal power which had so long oppressed it, 
 and, on the other hand, be defended against 
 enthusiasts and unbelievers, who affected to 
 disown it, and were seeking to set up some 
 new thing, regardless of all that God had 
 done in past ages. Luther was, from that 
 hour, no longer the representative of a single 
 great truth that of Justification by Faith, 
 though, to the last, he gave to it the highest 
 place ; the whole theology of Christianity now 
 occupied his thoughts : and while he believ- 
 ed that, in its essence, the Church is the Con- 
 gregation of Saints, he was careful not to de- 
 spise the visible Church, and he therefore re- 
 cognised those who were outwardly called, 
 as constituting, in a certain sense, the king- 
 dom of God. Accordingly, a great change 
 took place in Luther, and in his entrance into 
 divine truth, and in that regenerative process 
 which God was carrying on in the world. 
 The hierarchy of Rome, acting upon him, 
 might have goaded the Reformer to one ex- 
 treme, had not the sects, which, at this time, 
 lifted their heads so daringly, recalled him to 
 just and moderate views. His residence in 
 the Wartburg divides these two periods of 
 the history of the Reformation. 
 
 Luther rode slowly on in the direction of 
 Wittemberg. It was Shrove Tuesday, and 
 the second day of his journey. Towards even- 
 ing, a terrific storm came on, and the roads 
 were flooded. Two young Swiss, who were 
 travelling the same way, were hastening for 
 shelter to the city of Jena. They had studied 
 at Bale, and were attracted to Wittemberg by 
 the renown of its university. Journeying on 
 foot, tired, and wet through, John Kessler, of 
 Saint Gall, and his comrade, quickened their 
 steps. The town was in all the bustle and 
 buffoonery of the carnival ; dances, masquer- 
 ades, and tumultuous feasting engrossed the 
 thoughts of the inhabitants ; and the two tra- 
 vellers, on arriving, could find no room in any 
 of the inns. After a while, they were directed 
 to the Black Bear, outside the city gate. Ha- 
 rassed and depressed, they repaired thither. 
 The landlord received them kindly. 114 Ashamed 
 of their appearance, they sat down near the 
 open door of the public room, unwilling to go 
 further. Seated at one of the tables, was a 
 solitary man in the habit of a knight, his head 
 covered with a red cap, and wearing small- 
 
278 
 
 HISTORY* OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 slothes, over which hung down the skirts of 
 his doublet. His right hand rested on the 
 pommel of his sword; his left grasped the 
 hilt; a book lay open before him, and he 
 seemed to be reading attentively. 115 At the 
 noise made by their entrance, the stranger 
 raised his head and saluted them courteously, 
 inviting them to approach and take a seat with 
 him at the table; then, offering them a glass 
 of beer, he said, alluding to their accent, 
 "You are Swiss, I perceive; but from which 
 of the Cantons ?"" From St. Gall." "If 
 you are going to Wittemberg, you will there 
 meet one of your countrymen, Doctor Schurff." 
 Encouraged by so much affability, they in- 
 quired, " Could you kindly inform us where 
 Martin Luther now is ?" " I know for certain," 
 answered the knight, " that Luther is not at 
 Wittemberg, but probably he will be there 
 shortly. Philip Melancthon is there. If 
 you'll be advised by me, apply yourselves to 
 the Greek and Hebrew, that you may under- 
 stand the Holy Scriptures." "If our lives 
 are spared," observed one of the Swiss, " we 
 will not return without seeing and hearing 
 Doctor Luther; it is for that purpose we have 
 made the journey. We hear he wants to abo- 
 lish the clergy and the mass; and as our pa- 
 rents always intended to bring us up to the 
 Church, we should like to know on what 
 grounds he is acting." The knight was silent 
 lor a moment, and then inquired, "Where 
 have you been studying hitherto?" "At 
 Bale."" Is Erasmus still there 1 What is 
 he doing?" They answered his questions, 
 and a pause ensued. The two Swiss knew 
 not what to make of their new acquaintance. 
 " How strange," thought they, " that the con- 
 versation of a knight should be all about 
 Schurff, Melancthon, and Erasmus, and the 
 advantage of knowing Greek and Hebrew !" 
 " Tell me, my friends," said the stranger, sud- 
 denly breaking silence, " what is said of Lu- 
 ther in Switzerland ?" " Sir," replied Kess- 
 ler, "opinions concerning him are greatly 
 divided, as is the case everywhere. Some 
 extol him, and others pronounce him an abo- 
 minable heretic." " Ay, ay, the priests, no 
 doubt," remarked the stranger. 
 
 The knight's cordiality had put the students 
 completely at their ease. Their curiosity was 
 excited to know what book he had been read- 
 ing when they came in. The knight had 
 closed the volume. Kessler's comrade ven- 
 tured to take it up ; what was his surprise at 
 finding it to be the Hebrew Psalter! Laying 
 it down, he said, as if to divert attention from 
 this freedom, " Gladly would I give my little 
 finger to understand that language." " You 
 will surely have your wish," was the stranger's 
 reply, " if you will take the pains to ac- 
 quire it." 
 
 A few minutes after, the landlord's voice 
 was heard calling Kessler. The poor Swiss 
 began to fear something was amiss; but the 
 host whispered, "I hear you want to see Lu- 
 ther; well.it is he who is "seated beside you." 
 Kessler's first thought was that he was jest- 
 ing. " You surely would not deceive me," 
 
 said he. "It is he himself," replied the land- 
 lord ; "but don't let him see that you know 
 him." Kessler made no answer ; but returned 
 to the room and resumed his seat, eager to 
 communicate the information to his companion. 
 To do this was not easy ; at last he leaned 
 forward, as if looking towards the door, and, 
 stooping close to his friend's ear, whispered, 
 " The landlord says it is Luther himself." 
 " Perhaps," returned his companion, "he said 
 Hiitten."" Probably so," said Kessler; "I 
 may have mistaken the one name for the other, 
 for they resemble each other in sound." 
 
 At that moment the trampling of horses' 
 feet was heard outside: two travelling mer- 
 chants, asking a night's lodging, entered the 
 room, laid aside their spurs, and threw off their 
 cloaks ; and one of them deposited near him, 
 on the table, an unbound book, which attracted 
 the knight's notice. " What book may that 
 be?" asked he. " It is a commentary on the 
 Gospels and Epistles, by Doctor Luther," 
 was the traveller's answer; " it has only just 
 appeared." " I shall get it shortly," remarked 
 the knight. 
 
 Conversation was interrupted by the land- 
 lord's announcing that supper was ready. 
 The two students, not wishing to incur the 
 expense of a meal in company with the knight 
 Ulric Hiitten and two thriving merchants, took 
 the landlord aside, and asked him to serve 
 them with something apart. " Come along, 
 my friends," said the innkeeper of the Black 
 Bear; "sit ye down beside this gentleman ; 
 I will let you off easy." "Come, come," 
 said the knight, " I'll pay the score." 
 
 During supper, the mysterious stranger made 
 many striking and instructive remarks. Both 
 merchants and students listened in silence, 
 more attentive to his words than to the dishes 
 before them. In the course of conversation, 
 one of the merchants exclaimed, " Luther must 
 be either an angel from heaven or a devil from 
 hell !" and he followed up his exclamation 
 by the remark, " I would give ten florins for 
 an opportunity of meeting him and confessing 
 to him." 
 
 Supper being over, the merchants rose from 
 their seats; the two Swiss remained in corn- 
 pan}'' with the knight, who, taking up a large 
 glass of beer, and raising it to his lips, said 
 gravely, after the custom of the country, 
 "Swiss, one glass more, for thanks." And 
 as Kessler was about to take the glass, the 
 stranger, replacing it, handed him one filled 
 with wine: "You are not used to beer," 
 said he. 
 
 This said, he rose from his seat, threw over 
 his shoulders a military cloak, and, extending 
 his hand to the students, said, " When you 
 reach Wittemberg, salute Doctor Jerome 
 SchurrT from me." " With pleasure," replied 
 they ; " but whose name shall we give ?" 
 " Do you tell him only, that he who is coming 
 sends him greeting." With these words he 
 departed, leaving them delighted with his 
 condescension and kindness. 
 
 Luther for he it was continued his jour- 
 ney. It will be remembered that he had been 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 279 
 
 placed under ban of the Empire ; whoever met 
 him might therefore seize his person. But in 
 that critical moment, engaged, as he was, in 
 an enterprise replete with dangers, he was 
 calm and serene, and conversed cheerfully 
 with those whom he met with on his way. 
 
 It was not that he deceived himself as to 
 immediate results. He saw the horizon black 
 with storms. " Satan," said he, " is enraged ; 
 and all around me are plotting death and de- 
 struction. 116 But I go forward to throw myself 
 in the way of the Emperor and the Pope, with 
 no protector but God above. Go where I will, 
 every man is at perfect liberty to put me to 
 death wherever he may find me. Christ is 
 Lord of all : if it be His will that my life 
 should be taken, even so let it be." 
 
 That same day, being Ash Wednesday, 
 Luther arrived at Borne, a small town in the 
 neighbourhood of Leipsic. He felt that it 
 became him to acquaint his prince with the 
 bold step he was about to take, and accord- 
 ingly wrote as follows, from the inn at which 
 he had alighted : 
 
 "Grace and peace from God our Father, 
 and from our Lord Jesus Christ ! Most serene 
 Elector, gracious Prince, the reproach brought 
 upon the Gospel by the events that have taken 
 place at Wittemberg have so deeply grieved 
 me, that I should have lost all hope, were I 
 not assured that our cause is that of the truth. 
 
 "Your Highness knows full well, or, if 
 not, be it known to you, I received the Gos- 
 pel, not from man, but from heaven, by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. It was not from any doubt 
 as to the truth, that I formerly requested pub- 
 lic discussions; I did so in humility, and in 
 the hope to win over others. But, since my 
 humility is taken advantage of, to the hinder- 
 ance of the Gospel, my conscience urges me, 
 at this time, to change my course of action. 
 I have sufficiently shown my deference to your 
 Highness, by withdrawing from the public 
 gaze for a whole year. Satan knows that it 
 was not from cowardice that I did so. I would 
 have entered Worms, though there had been 
 as many devils in the town as there were tiles 
 upon its roofs. Now, Duke George, whom 
 your Highness mentions as if to scare me, is 
 much less to be dreaded than a single devil. 
 If what is passing at Wittemberg were occur- 
 ring at Leipsic, (the Duke's usual place of 
 residence,) I would instantly mount my horse 
 and repair thither, even though your High- 
 ness will, I trust, pardon the expression it 
 should rain Dukes George for nine days toge- 
 ther, and every one should be nine times as 
 fierce as he ! W T hat can he be thinking of in 
 attacking me ? Does he suppose that Christ, 
 my Lord, is a man of straw! 117 May God avert 
 from him the awful judgment that hangs over 
 hirn ! 
 
 " Be it known to your Highness, that I am 
 repairing to Wittemberg, under a protection 
 more powerful than that of an Elector. I have 
 no thought of soliciting the aid of your High- 
 ness ; and am so far from desiring your pro- 
 tection, that it is rather my purpose to protect 
 your Highness. If I knew that your High- 
 
 ness could or would take up my defence, I 
 would not come to Wittemberg. No secular 
 sword can advance this cause: God must do 
 all, without the aid or co-operation of man. 
 He who has most faith is the most availing 
 defence; but, as it seems to me, your High- 
 ness is as yet very weak in faith. 
 
 " But since your Highness desires to know 
 what to do, I will humbly answer : Your 
 Electoral Highness has already done too much, 
 and should do nothing whatever; God neither 
 wants nor will endure that you or I should 
 take thought or part in the matter. Let your 
 Highness follow this advice. 
 
 "In regard to myself, your Highness must 
 remember your duty as an Elector, and allow 
 the instructions of his Imperial Majesty to be 
 carried into effect in your towns and districts, 
 offering no impediment to any who would 
 seize or kill me ; for none may contend against 
 the powers that be, save only He who has or- 
 dained them. 118 
 
 " Let your Highness accordingly leave the 
 gates open, and respect safe-conducts, if my 
 enemies in person, or by their envoys, should 
 come to search for me in your Highness's 
 states. Every thing may take its course, 
 without trouble or prejudice to your Highness. 
 
 " I write this in haste, that you may not 
 feel aggrieved by my coming. My business 
 is with another kind of person from Duke 
 George, one who knows me, and whom I know 
 well. 
 
 " Written at Borne, at the inn of the Guide, 
 on Ash Wednesday, 1522. 
 
 " Your Electoral Highness's 
 
 "Very humble servant, 
 
 " MARTIN LUTHER." 
 
 In this way, Luther made his approach to 
 Wittemberg : he wrote to his prince, but not, 
 as we have seen, to excuse the step he had 
 taken. An unshaken confidence animated his 
 heart. He saw God's hand engaged in the 
 cause, and that sufficed him. The heroism 
 of faith was perhaps never more fully acted 
 out. In one of the editions of Luther's works, 
 we read opposite this letter, the remark 
 "This is a wonderful writing of the third and 
 latest Elias." 119 
 
 It was on Friday, the 7th of March, that 
 Luther re-entered Wittemberg, having been 
 five days on his journey. Doctors, students, 
 burghers, broke forth in rejoicings, for they 
 had again among them the pilot who could 
 best extricate the vessel from the reefs by 
 which it was encompassed. 
 
 The Elector, who was then at Lochau, at- 
 tended by his court, was much affected by the 
 perusal of the Reformer's letter. In his desire 
 to exculpate him before the diet, he wrote to 
 Schurff : " Let Luther write to me, explain- 
 ing his reasons for returning to Wittemberg, 
 and introduce the statement that he came with- 
 out my consent." Luther complied. 
 
 " Behold me ready to bear your Highness's 
 
 disapprobation, and the anger of the whole 
 
 world. Are not the Wittembergers my own 
 
 heep 1 Has not God committed them to my 
 
 care "? and ought I not, if need be, to lay down 
 
280 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 my life for them 1 ? Besides, I dread lest we 
 should see, throughout Germany, a revolt by 
 which God shall punish our nation. Let your 
 Highness be well assured, the decrees of hea- 
 ven are not like those of Nuremberg."* This 
 letter was written on the same day that Lu- 
 ther reached Wittemberg. 
 
 The following day, being Easter Eve, Luther 
 visited Jerome Schurff. He found Melanc- 
 thon, Jonas, Amsdorff, Augustin Schurtf, 
 Jerome's brother, assembled. Luther put 
 many questions to them, and while they re- 
 counted all that had taken place in his ab- 
 sence, two foreigners entered the room. The 
 Swiss drew back timidly, on finding them- 
 selves in the midst of this company of learned 
 Doctors; but they soon recovered their self- 
 possession when they saw in the centre of the 
 group, the knight whom they had met at the 
 Black Bear. The latter, advancing, accosted 
 them as old friends, and said, smiling, as he 
 pointed to one of the company, " That is 
 Philip Melancthon, whom I mentioned to 
 you." The two Swiss spent that day in the 
 society of the assembled friends, on the strength 
 of the meeting at Jena. 
 
 One absorbing thought engrossed the Re- 
 former's mind, and damped the pleasure he 
 would otherwise have felt at finding himself 
 once more surrounded by his friends. Doubt- 
 less, the stage on which he had chosen to ap- 
 pear was an obscure one. He was about to 
 raise his voice in a petty town of Saxony ; and 
 yet his object was, in reality, so important as 
 to influence the destinies of the world, and be 
 felt in its effects by many nations and people. 
 The question to be decided was, whether 
 the teaching which he had derived from God's 
 Word, and which was destined to produce so 
 mighty an effect, would, in the trial, prove 
 stronger than those disorganizing principles 
 which threatened its extinction. It was now 
 to be seen whether it was possible to reform 
 without destroying, to open a way to new 
 developments without losing such as had 
 already been evolved. To reduce to silence 
 fanatics in the energy of the first bursts of 
 enthusiasm, to arrest the headlong course of 
 a thoughtless multitude, to calm their spirits, 
 and restore order, peace, and reason, to break 
 the force of the torrent that beat against the 
 as yet unsettled edifice of the Reformation, 
 such was the object of Luther's return to Wit- 
 temberg. But would his influence accomplish 
 all this 1 Time must show. 
 
 The Reformer's heart thrilled at the thought 
 of the struggle he was about to enter upon. 
 He raised his head, as the lion shakes his 
 brindled mane when roused to the fight. "The 
 hour," said he, "is arrived, when we must 
 trample under foot the power of Satan, and 
 contend against the spirit of darkness. If our 
 adversaries do not flee from us; Christ will 
 know how to compel them. We who put our 
 trust in the Lord of life and death are lords 
 both of life and of death]" 120 
 
 * L. Epp. ii. p. 143. Luther altered this ex- 
 pression at the Elector's request. 
 
 But at the same lime the impetuous Reform- 
 er, as if restrained by a higher power, refused 
 to employ the anathemas and thunders of the 
 Word, and set about his work in the spirit of 
 an humble pastor a tender shepherd of souls. 
 " It is with the Word we must contend," ob- 
 served he, " and by the Word we must refute 
 and expel what has gained a footing by vio- 
 lence. I would not resort to force against 
 such as are superstitious ; nor even against 
 unbelievers! Whosoever believeth let him 
 draw nigh, and whoso believeth not stand afar 
 off. Let there be no compulsion. Liberty is 
 of the very essence of Faith." 121 
 
 The next day was Sunday. That day the 
 Doctor, whom the lofty walls of the Wartburg 
 had for nearly a year hidden from the public 
 eye, is to appear in the pulpit of the church 
 of Wittemberg. " Luther is come back." 
 " Luther is to preach to-day." The news, re- 
 peated from one to another, had of itself no 
 slight effect in giving a turn to the thoughts 
 by which the multitude were deluded. Peo- 
 ple hurried to and fro in all directions; and 
 on Sunday morning the church was filled to 
 overflow with an attentive and impressed con- 
 gregation. 
 
 Luther could comprehend the disposition of 
 his hearers' minds. He ascended the pulpit. 
 Behold him surrounded by the flock which 
 had formerly followed him with one heart as 
 a docile sheep, but which has broken from 
 him in the spirit of an untamed heifer. His 
 address was simple and noble, energetic and 
 persuasive ; breathing the spirit of a tender 
 father returning to his children, and inquiring 
 into their conduct, while he communicates the 
 reports that have reached him concerning them. 
 He frankly commended their progress in the 
 faith, and having thus prepared and gathered 
 up their thoughts, he proceeded as follows : 
 
 " But we need a something beyond Faith ; 
 and that is Love. If a man who carries a 
 sword is alone, it matters not whether he draw 
 it or keep it sheathed; but if he is in a crowd 
 let him have a care lest he wound any of 
 those about him. 
 
 "Observe a mother with her babe. She 
 first gives it nothing but milk ; and then the 
 most easily digestible food. What would be 
 the consequence were she to begin by giving 
 it meat or wine 1 
 
 " In like manner should we act toward our 
 brother. Have you been long at the breast? 
 If so, well ; only let your brother suck as 
 long! 
 
 " Observe the Sun. He dispenses two gifts, 
 namely light and warmth. The mightiest 
 monarch cannot turn aside his rays : they 
 come straight on, arriving upon this earth by 
 a direct course. Meanwhile his warmth goes 
 out and diffuses itself in every direction. So 
 it is that Faith, like light, should ever be 
 simple and unbending; whilst Love, like 
 warmth, should beam forth on all sides, and 
 bend to every necessity of our brethren." 
 
 Having thus engaged his hearers' atten- 
 tion, he proceeded to press them more closely : 
 
 " It is agreeable to Scripture, say you, to 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 281 
 
 abolish the Mass. Be it so. But what order, 
 what decency have you observed ? It became 
 you to offer up earnest prayers to God ; to ap- 
 ply to the authorities ; then, indeed, every 
 one might have acknowledged that the thing 
 was of the Lord." 
 
 Thus spake Luther. The fearless man who, 
 at Worms, had stood forth against the princes 
 of this world, made a deep impression on 
 men's minds by these accents of wisdom and 
 peace. Carlstadt and the prophets of Zwickau, 
 from being extolled and all-powerful for a few 
 weeks, and ruling to the disturbance of the 
 public peace, had shrunk into insignificance 
 beside the prisoner escaped from the Wart- 
 burg. 
 
 " The Mass," he continued, " is a bad 
 thing. God is opposed to it. It ought to be 
 abolished, and I would that everywhere the 
 Supper of the Gospel were established in its 
 stead. But let none be torn from it by force. 
 We must leave results to God. It is not we 
 that must work, but His W T ORD. And why 
 so ? you will ask. Because the hearts of 
 men are not in my hand as clay in the hand 
 of the potter. We have a right to speak, but 
 none whatever to compel. Let us preach ; 
 the rest belongs to God. If I resort to force, 
 what shall I gain 1 Grimace, fair appearances, 
 apeings, cramped uniformity, and hypocrisy. 
 But there will be no hearty sincerity, no 
 faith, no love. Where these are wanting, 
 all is wanting ; and I would not give a straw 
 for suph a victory! 122 
 
 " Our first aim must be to win the heart ; 
 and to this end we must preach the Gospel. 
 Then we shall find the Word impressing one 
 to-day, another the next day ; and the result 
 will be, that each one will withdraw from the 
 Mass, and cease to receive it. God does more 
 by the simpler power of His word than you 
 and I and the whole world could effect by all 
 our efforts put together ! God arrests the 
 heart, and' that once taken, all is won ! 
 
 " I say not this that you should restore the 
 Mass. Since it is done away with, in God's 
 name, let it not be revived. But was it right 
 to go about it in such a manner 1 Paul, coming 
 one day to the famous city of Athens, found 
 there the altars of such as were no gods. He 
 passed on from one to the other, observing 
 them without touching one of them ; but he 
 made his way to the market-place, and testi- 
 fied to the people that all their gods were 
 naught but images, graven by art and man's 
 device. And that preached Word took pos- 
 session of their hearts, and the idols fell, with- 
 out his so much as touching them ! 
 
 " I am ready to preach, argue, write, but 
 I will not constrain any one: for faith is a 
 voluntary act. Call to mind what I have al- 
 ready done. I stood up against Pope, in- 
 dulgences, and Papists ; but without violence 
 or tumult. I brought forward God's Word ; 
 I preached and wrote, and there I stopped. 
 And whilst I laid me down and slept, or chat- 
 ted with Amsdorff and Melancthon over our 
 tankard of Wittemberg beer, the word I had 
 preached brought down the power of the Pope 
 
 to the ground, so that never prince or emperor 
 had dealt it such a blow. For rny part, I did 
 next to nothing: the power of the Word did 
 the whole business. Had I appealed to force, 
 Germany might have been deluged with blood. 
 But what would have been the consequence"? 
 Ruin and destruction of soul and body. Ac- 
 cordingly, I kept quiet, and let the Word run 
 through the length and breadth of the land. 
 Know you what the devil thinks when he 
 sees men resort to violence to spread the Gos- 
 pel through the world? Seated behind the 
 fire of hell, and folding his arms, with a ma- 
 lignant glance and horrid leer, Satan says, 
 * How good it is in yonder madmen to play 
 into my hands.' But only let him see the 
 Word of the Lord circulating, and working its 
 way unaided on the field of the world, and at 
 once he is disturbed at his work, his knees 
 smite each other, he trembles, and is ready to 
 die with fear." 
 
 On the Tuesday following, Luther again 
 ascended the pulpit, and his powerful exhorta- 
 tion was once more heard, in the midst of an 
 attentive audience. He preached again on 
 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and 
 Sunday. He took a review of the destruction 
 of images, the distinction of meats, the insti- 
 tution of the Supper, the restoration of the 
 cup to the laity, and the abolition of the con- 
 fessional. He showed that these points were 
 of much less consequence than the Mass, and 
 that the prime movers of the disorders of which 
 Wittemberg had been the scene, had grossly 
 abused their liberty. He passed by turns from 
 accents of true Christian charity to bursts of 
 holy indignation. 
 
 He especially declared himself against those 
 who ventured lightly to partake of the Supper 
 of the Lord. "It is not the mere pressing with 
 the teeth," said he, " it is the inward and spiritual 
 partaking realized by faith which makes us 
 Christians, and without which all outward 
 acts are but show and grimace. But that faith 
 consists in the firm belief that Jesus is the 
 Son of God ; that having himself borne our 
 sins and our iniquities on the cross, he is, him- 
 self, the alone and all-sufficient expiation ; 
 that he now appears continually in the pre- 
 sence of God, reconciling us to the Father; 
 and has given to us the sacrament of his body 
 for the strengthening of our faith in this un- 
 speakable mercy. Only let me believe this, 
 and God is my defence; with Him for my 
 buckler, I defy sin, death, hell, and devils : 
 they cannot harm me, nor even so much as 
 ruffle a hair of my head ! That spiritual bread 
 is comfort to the afflicted, health to the sick, 
 life to the dying, food to the hungry, and a 
 treasury for the poor! The man who does 
 not feel the burden of his sins, ought, there- 
 fore, to abstain from approaching^ the altar. 
 What can he have to do there 1 Ah ! let con- 
 science be heard; let our hearts be broken 
 with the sense of our sins, and we shall not 
 come to that holy sacrament in a spirit of pre- 
 sumption." 
 
 Crowds continually filled the church ; many 
 came even from the neighbouring towns and 
 
282 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 villages to hear this new Elijah. A mong others j publicly confessed he had been deceived 
 Capito passed two days at Wilternberg, and " He is quite a changed man,"said Lut.her. I2E 
 heard the doctor preach twice. Never before 
 
 had Luther and the cardinal's chaplain been 
 so entirely agreed. Melancthon, magistrates, 
 professors, and the whole population were 
 overjoyed. 1 ' Schurff, delighted with such a 
 termination of so unpromising a state of 
 things, hastened to communicate the intelli- 
 gence to the Elector. He wrote to him on 
 Friday, the 15th of March, after hearing Lu- 
 ther's sixth discourse. " Oh, what joy has 
 Doctor Martin's reappearance diffused among 
 us ! His words, through divine mercy, every 
 day bring back into the way of truth our poor, 
 deluded people. It is manifest that the Spirit 
 of God is with him, and that his coming to 
 Wittemherg is by His special providence." 124 
 
 In truth, these sermons are models of popu- 
 lar eloquence ; but not such as, in the days of 
 Demosthenes, or even in those of Savonarola, 
 had led captive the hearts of the people. The 
 task of the preacher of Wittemberg was one 
 of greater difficulty. It is far easier to rouse 
 the. fury of a wild beast than to charm it 
 down. What was needed was to soothe a fana- 
 tic multitude, and to tame unruly passions ; and 
 in this Luther succeeded. In his first eight 
 sermons, he allowed not a word to escape him 
 against the originators of these disorders; no 
 allusion likely to give pain, not so much as 
 a word by which their feelings could be 
 wounded. But his moderation was his 
 strength ; and the more tenderly he dealt 
 with the souls that had gone astray, the more 
 perfectly did he vindicate that truth that was 
 aggrieved. There was no withstanding the 
 power of his eloquence. Men usually ascribe 
 to timidity and cowardly compromise, exhor- 
 tations that inculcate moderation. Here, how 
 different was the case ! In publicly standing 
 forth before the inhabitants of Wittemberg, 
 Luther braved the Pope's excommunication 
 and the Emperor's proscription. He reap- 
 peared, notwithstanding the Elector's prohi- 
 bition, who had intimated that he could not 
 protect him. Even at Worms his courage 
 had not been so signally proved. He was 
 exposing himself to the most imminent dan- 
 gers ; and hence his call was responded to. 
 The man who braved the scaffold might 
 claim to be listened to when he inculcated 
 submission. None better qualified to urge on 
 his hearers the duty of obedience to God, than 
 he who, in order that he might himself render 
 such obedience, defied the most violent per- 
 secution of man. At Luther's appeal, dif- 
 ficulties disappeared tumult subsided se- 
 dition was silenced, and the burghers of 
 Wittemberg returned quietly to their dwell- 
 ings. 
 
 Gabriel Didymus who, of all the Augus- 
 tine monks, had manifested most enthusiasm, 
 hung upon the Reformer's words. " Don't 
 you think Luther a wonderful teacher ?" in- 
 quired one of his hearers, who was himself 
 deeply affected. * Ah !" replied he, " I seem 
 to be listening to the voice of an angel rather 
 than a man." 125 Didymus, soon after this, 
 
 It was not so at first with Carlstadt. 
 Abandoning his studies, and frequenting th 
 workshops of artisans, that he might there 
 receive the true interpretation of the Scrip 
 tures, he was mortified at beholding his party 
 losing ground on the reappearance of Luther. 127 
 In his view it was arresting the Reformation 
 in the midst of its career. Hence, his coun- 
 tenance wore a constant air of dejection, sad- 
 ness, and dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, he 
 sacrificed his self-love for the sake of peace, 
 restrained his desire to vindicate his doctrine, 
 was reconciled, at least in appearance, to his 
 colleague, and soon after resumed his studies 
 in the university. 128 
 
 The most noted of the prophets were not at 
 Wittemberg when Luther arrived there. Ni- 
 colas Storch was on a progress through the 
 country. Mark Stubner had quitted the hos- 
 pitable roof of Melancthon. Perhaps their 
 
 spirit of prophecy 
 voice or answer,' 
 
 had left them without 
 from the first tidings 
 
 brought them that the new Elijah was turn- 
 ing his steps toward their Mount Carmel. 
 Cellarius, the old schoolmaster, alone remain- 
 ed. Meanwhile, Stubner, hearing that his 
 sheep were scattered, returned in haste to 
 Wittemberg. Those who had remained faith- 
 ful to " the heavenly prophecy" gathered 
 round their master, repeated the substance of 
 Luther's sermons, and pressed him with anx- 
 ious inquiries as to what they ought Jo think 
 and do. 129 Stubner exhorted them to stand firm. 
 "Let him come forth," interposed Cellarius; 
 " let him give us the meeting; let him only 
 afford us opportunity to declare our doctrine, 
 and then we shall see ... ." 
 
 Luther had but little wish to meet them. 
 He knew them to be men of violent, hasty, 
 and haughty temper, who would not endure 
 even kind admonitions, but required that every 
 one should, at the very first summons, sub- 
 mit to them as to a supreme authority. 133 Such 
 are enthusiasts in every age. Nevertheless, 
 as an interview was requested, Luther could 
 not decline it. Besides, it might be doing 
 service to the weak of the flock to unmask 
 the imposture of the prophets. Accordingly 
 the meeting took place. Stubner opened the 
 conversation. He showed how he proposed 
 to restore the Church and reform the world. 
 Luther listened to him with greatcalmness. 131 
 " Of all you have been saying," replied he, 
 at last, gravely, " there is nothing that I see 
 to be based upon Scripture. It is a mere tis- 
 sue of fiction." At these words Cellarius 
 lost all self-possession. Raising his voice 
 like one out of his mind, he trembled from 
 head to foot, and striking the table with his 
 fist, in a violent passion, exclaimed against 
 Luther's speech as an insult offered to a man 
 of God. 132 On this Luther remarked, "Paul 
 declared that the signs of an apostle were 
 wrought among the Corinthians, in signs and 
 mighty deeds. Do you likewise prove your 
 apostleship by miracles." " We will do so," 
 rejoined the prophets, 133 "The God whom I 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 283 
 
 serve," answered Luther, " will know how to 1 
 bridle your gods." Stubner, who had hith- 
 erto preserved an imperturbable silence, now ] 
 fixing his eyes on the Reformer, said, in a 
 solemn tone, " Martin Luther, hear me while 
 I declare what is passing at this moment in 
 your soul. You are beginning to see that 
 my doctrine is true." Luther was silent for 
 a few moments, and then replied, " The Lord 
 rebuke thee, Satan." Instantly the prophets 
 lost all self-command. They shouted aloud, 
 "The Spirit, the Spirit." The answer of 
 Luther was marked by the cool contempt and 
 cutting homeliness of his expressions: "I 
 slap your spirit on the snout !" 134 said he. 
 Hereupon their outcries redoubled. Cellarius 
 was more violent than the rest. He stormed 
 till he foamedatthemouth, 135 -and their voices 
 were inaudible from the tumult. The result 
 was that the pretended prophets abandoned 
 the field, and that very day they left Wittem- 
 berg. 
 
 Thus did Luther achieve the object for 
 which he had left his retirement. He had 
 taken his stand against fanaticism, and ex- 
 pelled from the bosom of the church the 
 enthusiasm and disorder which had invaded 
 it. If the Reformation with one hand dashed 
 to the earth the dusty decretals of Rome, with 
 the other it put away from it the pretensions 
 of the mystics, and established on the terri- 
 tory it had acquired the living and sure Word 
 of God. The character of the Reformation 
 was thus distinctly seen. Its mission was to 
 keep constantly a middle course between 
 these extremes, remote alike from fanatical 
 distortions and from the death-like slumber 
 of the papal rule. 
 
 Here was an instance of a whole popula- 
 tion passionately excited, and misled to such 
 a degree as to have cast off all restraint, at 
 once listening to reason, recovering calmness, 
 and returning to their accustomed submis- 
 sion, so that the most perfect quiet again 
 reigned in that very city which, but a few days 
 before, had been like the troubled ocean. 
 
 The most absolute liberty was forthwith 
 established at Wittemberg. Luther continued 
 to reside in the convent, and to wear the mo- 
 nastic habit; but every one was free to lay it 
 aside. In coming to the Lord's Supper, per- 
 sons might either receive only the general 
 absolution or they might apply for a special 
 one. It was recognised as a principle to re- 
 ject nothing but what contradicted a clear 
 and express declaration of Scripture. 136 It was 
 no indifference that dictated this course. On 
 the contrary, religion was recaHed to its es- 
 sential principle. Piety only withdrew from 
 the accessary forms in which it had been 
 wellnigh lost, that it might rest on its true 
 basis. Thus was the Reformation itself pre- 
 served, and the church's teaching progres- 
 sively developed in love and truth. 
 
 No sooner was order re-established, when 
 the Reformer turned to his beloved Melanc- 
 thon, and requested his co-operation in the final 
 revision of the translation of the New Testa- 
 ment, which he had brought with him from 
 37 
 
 the Wartburg. 137 As early as the year 1519, 
 Melancthon had laid down the grand principle 
 that the Fathers must be explained conforma- 
 bly to the Scripture, and not Scripture accord- 
 ing to the Fathers. Meditating daily on the 
 books of the New Testament, he felt at once 
 charmed by their simplicity, and solemnly 
 impressed by the depth of their import. " In 
 them, and them only," affirmed this adept in 
 ancient philosophy, "do we find the true ' food 
 of the soul.' " Gladly, therefore, did he com- 
 ply with Luther's desire, and many were the 
 hours the two friends, from that time, spent 
 together, studying and translating the inspired 
 Word. Often would they pause in their la- 
 bours to give free expression to their wonder. 
 "If Reason could speak," said Luther, "it 
 would say, 0,that I could once hear the voice 
 of God ! I should think it worth a journey 
 to the very uttermost parts of the earth ! Give 
 ear, then, my fellow man God, the creator 
 of heaven and earth, now speaks to thee !" 
 
 The printing of the New Testament was 
 begun and carried on with an activity beyond 
 all example. 138 One might have thought the 
 very printers felt the importance of the work 
 in hand. Three presses were constantly em- 
 ployed, and ten thousand sheets were struck 
 off every day. 129 
 
 At last, on the 21st of September, appeared 
 the complete edition of three thousand copies 
 in two volumes, with the brief title, " The 
 New Testament in German ; at Wittem- 
 berg." It bore no name of man. From that 
 hour every German might obtain the Word 
 of God at a small pecuniary cost.* 
 
 The new translation, written in the tone 
 of the sacred books, in a language that was 
 as yet in its virgin simplicity, and now first 
 opening its full beauty, interested and de- 
 lighted all classes, from the highest to the 
 lowest. It was a national work the peo- 
 ple's book nay, much more, it was the book 
 of God. Even enemies could not withhold 
 their commendation of this wonderful pro- 
 duction, and there were some incautious par- 
 tisans of the Reformation so carried away by 
 the beauty of the new version, as to imagine 
 they could recognise in it a second inspira- 
 tion. It, indeed, served more than all Lu- 
 ther's own writings to diffuse a spirit of 
 Christian piety. The great work of the six- 
 teenth century was now placed on a rock 
 whence nothing could dislodge it. The Bible, 
 restored to the people, recalled the mind of 
 man, which had for ages wandered in the 
 endless labyrinths of scholastic teaching, to 
 the heavenly springs of salvation. Hence, 
 the success that attended this step was pro- 
 digious. All the copies were quickly dis- 
 posed of. In December following, a second 
 edition appeared; and by the year 1533, no 
 less than seventeen editions had issued from 
 the presses of Wittemberg ; thirteen from 
 Augsburg; twelve from Bale; one from Er- 
 furth ; one from Grimma ; one from Leipsic ; 
 thirteen from Strasburg. 140 
 
 * A florin and a half, about a half-crown. 
 2B 
 
284 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Even while the first edition of the New 
 Testament was passing through the press, 
 Luther was already at work on a translation 
 vi the Old Testament. This labour, begun 
 in 1522, was continued without intermission. 
 He issued it in detached portions, as he finish- 
 ed them, in order to gratify the impatience of 
 the public demand, and to make the purchase 
 easy to the poor. 
 
 From Scripture and Faith, two streams 
 issuing from one and the same spring, the life 
 of the Gospel has flowed, and still diffuses 
 itself through the world. They bore directly 
 against two established errors. Faith was 
 met by the opposing Pelagian tendency of 
 Catholicism. Scripture, in like manner, 
 found arrayed against it the theory of tradi- 
 tion and the authority of Rome. Scripture 
 led its reader to Faith, and Faith made him 
 the disciple of the Word. " Man can do no 
 meritorious work : the free grace of God, re- 
 ceived through faith in Christ, alone saves 
 him." Such was the doctrine proclaimed 
 throughout Christendom. But this teaching 
 must needs bring Christendom to the study of 
 the Scripture. In truth, if faith in Christ is 
 every thing in Christianity, and if the obser- 
 vances and ordinances of the Church are no- 
 thing, it is not to the Church's teaching, but 
 to Christ's word that we must adhere. The 
 bond that unites to Christ will be every thing 
 to the believing soul. What signifies the out- 
 ward link that connects him with a visible 
 church, enslaved by the commandments of 
 men ] . . Thus, as the doctrine of the Bible 
 had impelled Luther's contemporaries toward 
 Jesus Christ, their love for Jesus Christ, in 
 its turn, impelled them towards the Bible. It 
 was not, as some in our days have supposed, 
 from a philosophic necessity, or from doubt, 
 or a spirit of inquiry that they reverted to 
 Scripture, it was because they found there 
 the words of Him they loved. "You have 
 preached Christ," said they to the Reformer, 
 " let us now hear him himself" And they 
 caught at the sheets given to the world, as a 
 letter coming to them from heaven. 
 
 But if the Bible was thus joyfully wel- 
 comed by such as loved the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 it was scornfully rejected by such as preferred 
 the traditions and ordinances of men. This 
 publication by Luther was the signal of vio- 
 lent persecution. Rome trembled at the re- 
 port brought thither. The pen which tran- 
 scribed thesacred oracles was in truth that 
 visionary pen which Frederic had beheld in 
 his dream, reaching to the seven hills, and 
 discomposing the Pope's tiara. The monk 
 in his cell, the prince upon his throne, uttered 
 a cry of anger. The ignorant priests were 
 dismayed at the thought that burghers, and 
 even rustics would now be able freely to dis- 
 cuss with them the precepts of the Lord. 
 The King of England denounced the work to 
 the Elector Frederic and to Duke George of 
 Saxony. But before this, and as early as the 
 November previous, the Duke had commanded 
 all his subjects to deliver up every copy of 
 Luther's New Testament into the hands of 
 
 the magistrate. Bavaria, Brandenburg, Aus- 
 tria, and all the states in the interest of Rome 
 passed similar decrees. In some parts, a 
 sacrilegious bonfire, composed of the sacred 
 books, was lighted in the public squares. 141 
 Thus did Rome, in the sixteenth century, 
 renew the efforts by which heathenism had 
 attempted to uproot the religion of Jesus 
 Christ, at the period when the reins were 
 escaping from the hands of the Priests of Idol- 
 worship. But what power can stay the tri- 
 umphant progress of the Gospel? *'Even 
 after I had prohibited the sale," wrote Duke 
 George, " many thousand copies were sold 
 and read in my states." 
 
 God even used, for the purpose of making 
 known His word, the very hands that were 
 essaying to destroy it. The Romish divines, 
 seeing they could not stop the circulation of 
 the Reformer's work, themselves put forth a 
 translation of the New Testament. It was 
 no other than Luther's here and there altered 
 by the new editors. No hinderance was of- 
 fered to the reading of it. Rome had not yet 
 experienced that wherever the Word of God 
 took root, its own power began to totter. 
 Joachim of Brandenburg gave license to his 
 subjects to read any translation of the Bible, 
 in Latin or in German, provided it were not 
 from the presses of Wlttemberg. The Ger- 
 man nations, and more especially the people 
 of Brandenburg, made, in this way, a decided 
 advance in the knowledge of the truth. 
 
 The publication of the New Testament in 
 the vernacular tongue, is among the memo- 
 rable epochs of the Reformation. If the mar- 
 riage of Feldkirchen had been the first step 
 in the progress of its influence from the 
 sphere of teaching to that of social life ; if 
 the abolition of monastic vows had been the 
 second, and the establishment of the Supper 
 of the Lord a third stage of this transition, 
 the publication of the New Testament was, 
 perhaps, even more important than all the 
 rest. It wrought an entire change in the 
 aspect of society not alone in the priest's 
 presbytery not merely in the monk's cell 
 and the noble's closet, but more than this, 
 in the interior of the dwellings of the nobles, 
 citizens, and peasantry. When Christians 
 began to read the Bible in their families, Chris- 
 tianity itself underwent a palpable change. 
 Thence ensued changed habits, improved 
 morals, other conversations, in short, a 
 new life. With the publication of the New 
 Testament, it seemed as if the Reformation 
 passed the threshold of the College, and took 
 its proper place at the hearths of the people. 
 
 The effect that followed was incalculable. 
 The Christianity of the Primitive Church was, 
 by the publication of the Holy Scriptures, pre- 
 I sented full before the eyes of the nation, reco- 
 i vered from the oblivion in which for centuries 
 it had lain hid ; and the sight was, of itself, 
 enough to justify the charges that had been 
 brought against Rome. The least instructed, 
 provided they did but know how to read, wo- 
 men, artisans, (we are quoting from one of 
 that age who was bitterly opposed to the Re- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 formation,) studied the New Testament with 
 eager delight. 142 They carried it about with 
 them, learned portions by heart, and saw in 
 its precious pages the proof of the perfect ac- 
 cordance of that Reformation which was Lu- 
 ther's aim, with the revelation that God had 
 given. 
 
 Meanwhile, it was in detached portions 
 only that the teaching of the Bible and of the 
 Reformation had till then been set forth. A 
 certain truth had been declared in one tract 
 a certain error exposed in another. The field 
 of the Church presented the appearance of a 
 plain, on which, here and there, were seen, 
 without order or arrangement, the ruins of the 
 old, and the materials of a new structure ; but 
 as yet the new edifice was wanting. True it 
 is, that the publication of the New Testament 
 met this want. The Reformation might say, 
 with that book in its hand, " Behold my sys- 
 tem." But, as each individual may contend 
 that his system is none other than that of the 
 Bible, the Reformation seemed called to set 
 forth in order what it found in Holy Scripture. 
 This was a work Melancthon now contributed 
 in its name. 
 
 In the development of his theology, Melanc- 
 thon's steps had been deliberate; but they 
 were taken with firmness, and the result of 
 his inquiries was courageously made known 
 to all. As early as 1520, he had declared that 
 some of the seven sacraments were, in his 
 judgment, mere imitations of Jewish feasts; 
 and that he considered the asserted infallibi- 
 lity of the Pope as a proud pretension, directly 
 at variance with Scripture and sound judg- 
 ment. "We want more than a Hercules," 143 
 remarked he, " to make a stand against such 
 doctrines." Here we see that Melancthon 
 had been led to the same conclusion as Luther 
 by a more studious and calm process of con- 
 viction. The time had now come that he in 
 his turn should publicly confess his faith. 
 
 In 1521, during his friend's captivity in the 
 Wartburg, his celebrated "Loci Communes" 
 had presented to Christian Europe a body of 
 doctrine, based on solid grounds, and admira- 
 bly compacted. The tracings of a simple and 
 majestic outline appeared before the wonder- 
 ing minds of that generation. As the transla- 
 tion of the New Testament had justified the 
 Reformation to the people, so Melancthon's 
 Loci Communes served to justify it in the judg- 
 ment of the learned. 
 
 For fifteen centuries the Church had existed 
 on the earth without having seen such a work. 
 Relinquishing the common argumentation of 
 scholastic theology, the friend of Luther had 
 at last given to Christendom a system of di- 
 
 pharisaic tyranny of false teachers; 144 and while 
 he confessed that on some points he did not 
 agree with the author, he nevertheless added, 
 that, having always loved him, he had never 
 loved him so much as after reading this work. 
 "So beautiful is the proof that it affords," 
 said Calvin, when presenting it, at a subse- 
 quent period, to the French people, " that the 
 most perfect simplicity is the noblest method 
 of handling the Christian doctrine." 145 
 
 But no one experienced a finer joy than 
 Luther; to the last this work was to him a 
 theme of wonder. The occasional sounds his 
 trembling hand had drawn, in the deep emo- 
 tion of his soul, from the chords of prophets 
 and apostles, were here blended together in 
 entrancing harmony. Those solid masses of 
 truth which he had hewn from the quarry of 
 Holy Scripture, were here raised and com- 
 pacted together in one majestic edifice. He 
 was never tired of commending the work to 
 the attention of the youths who came to study 
 at Wittemberg. "If you would wish to be- 
 come divines," said he, "read Melancthon." 146 
 
 In Melancthon's judgment, a deep sense of 
 the wretched state to which man is reduced 
 by sin, is the foundation on which we must 
 build the teaching of Christian theology. This 
 universal evil is the primary fact, the leading 
 truth whence the science takes its departure; 
 and it is this which forms the peculiar distinc- 
 tion of theology from the sciences which work 
 their own advancement by the powers of 
 reason. 
 
 The Christian divine, diving into the heart 
 of man, revealed its laws and mysterious 
 motions, as the philosopher in later times has 
 disclosed the laws and attractions of material 
 bodies. " Original sin," said he, " is an in- 
 clination born with us an impulse which is 
 agreeable to us a certain influence which 
 leads us into the commission of sin, and Avhich. 
 has passed from Adam upon all his posterity. 
 Just as there is found in fire a native energy 
 which mounts upward ; just as in the load- 
 stone we observe a natural power of attracting 1 
 steel, just so do we find in man a primary im- 
 pulse impelling him to that which is evil. 
 I admit freely that in Socrates, Xenocrates, 
 Zeno, were seen temperance and chastity ; 
 these exterior virtues were found in men whose 
 hearts were unpurified, and they proceeded 
 out of the love of self; hence we should regard 
 them, in reality, notas virtues, butas vices." 147 
 Such language may sound harsh, but not so 
 if we enter into Melancthon's real meaning. 
 None more prompt than he to acknowledge 
 virtues in the great men of antiquity, which 
 entitled them to the esteem of men ; but he 
 
 vinity derived entirely from Scripture. In it laid down the solemn truth, that the highest 
 the reader was conscious of a breath of life, a law given by God to all his creatures is to 
 quickness of understanding, a force of convic- j love Him above, all things. If, then, man is 
 
 tion, and a simplicity of statement, which 
 strikingly contrasted with the subtle and pe- 
 dantic method of the schools. The coolest 
 
 doing that which God commands, does it, 
 not from love to God, but from love of self, 
 can we think that God will accept him, thus 
 
 judgments and the most exact divines were daring to substitute se/f in place .of His own 
 
 alike impressed with admiration. infinite Majesty? And must it not be enough 
 
 Erasmus designated this work a wondrous to vitiate any action, that it involves in it a 
 
 army, ranged in order of battle against the | direct rebellion against the sovereignty of God? 
 
286 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 The Wittemberg divine proceeded to show 
 how man is rescued from this wretched state. 
 " The Apostle," said he, "invites thee to con- 
 template, at the Father's right hand, the Son 
 of God, our great Mediator, ever living to make 
 intercession for us; 148 and he calls upon thee to 
 believe assuredly that thy sins are pardoned, 
 and thyself counted righteous and accepted by 
 the Father, for the sake of that Son who died 
 upon the cross." 
 
 A peculiar interest, attaches to this first edi- 
 tion of the Loci Communes, from the manner 
 in which the German divine speaks concern- 
 ing Free Will. We find him recognising, 
 even more clearly than had been done by Lu- 
 ther, (for he was more of a theologian,) that 
 this doctrine could not be separated from that 
 which constituted the very essence of the Re- 
 formation. Man's justification in the sight of 
 God is by FAITH ALONE, was the first point. 
 This faith wrought in man's heart by the 
 ALOXE GRACE OF GOD, was the second. Me- 
 lancthon saw clearly that to allow any ability 
 in the natural man to believe, would, in this 
 second point, entirely set aside that grand doc- 
 trine of Grace which is asserted in the first. 
 He was too discerning, too deeply instructed 
 in the Scriptures, to be misled on so important 
 a question. But he went too far : instead of 
 confining himself to the religious bearing of 
 the question, he entered upon metaphysics. 
 He laid down a sort of fatalism, which might 
 lead his readers to think of God as the author 
 of evil, and which consequently has no foun- 
 dation in Scripture. "Since whatever hap- 
 pens," said he, " happens by necessity, agree- 
 ably to the divine foreknowledge, it is plain 
 that our will hath no liberty whatever." 149 
 
 But the principal object Melancthon had in 
 view, was to present theology as a system of 
 devotion. The schools had so dried up the 
 generally received creed, as to leave it desti- 
 tute of life. The office of the Reformation 
 was to reanimate this lifeless creed. In suc- 
 ceeding editions, Melancthon felt the necessi- 
 ty for great clearnessin doctrinal statements. 150 
 In 1 521 , however, it was not so much the case. 
 "The knowledge of Christ," said he, "is 
 found in the knowledge of the blessings deriv- 
 ed through him. Paul, writing to the Ro- 
 mans, and desiring to sum up the Christian 
 doctrine, does not set about treating philoso- 
 phically of the Trinity, the Incarnation, Crea- 
 tion, active or passive. What, then, are his 
 themes 1 the Law, Sin, Grace. On our in- 
 struction in these, depends our knowledo-e of 
 Christ." 151 
 
 The publication of this treatise was of sin- 
 gular service to the cause of truth. Calumnies 
 stood refuted prejudices were dissipated. 
 Among the religious, the worldly, and the 
 learned, the genius of Melancthon was admi- 
 red, and his character esteemed and loved. 
 Even such as had no personal knowledge of 
 the author were conciliated to his creed by 
 this work. The vigour and occasional violence 
 of Luther's language had offended many ; but 
 in Melancthon, an elegance of composition, a 
 discriminating judgment, and a remarkable 
 
 clearness and arrangement were seen engaged 
 in the exposition of those mighty truths that 
 had aroused the slumbering world. The work 
 was rapidly bought up, and read with avidity. 
 His gentleness and modesty won all hearts, 
 while his elevation of thought commanded 
 their respect ; and the higher classes, who had 
 been hitherto so undecided, were captivated by 
 a wisdom which had at last found so noble an 
 utterance. 
 
 On the other hand, such of the opposers of 
 the truth as had not been humbled by the en- 
 ergy of Luther, were, for a while, silenced 
 and disconcerted by the appearance of Me- 
 lancthon's tract. They had found another 
 man as worthy as Luther to be a mark for their 
 hatred. " Alas !" they exclaimed, "alas, for 
 Germany ! to what new extremity shall we be 
 brought by this last birth !" !52 
 
 The Loci Communes passed through sixty- 
 seven editions between 1521 and 1595, with- 
 out including translations. Next to the Bible, 
 this work may have mainly contributed to the 
 establishment of the evangelical doctrine. 
 
 Whilst the " grammarian," Melancthon, 
 was by this happy co-operation aiding the 
 efforts of Luther, schemes of a violent charac- 
 ter were again planning by his formidable ene- 
 mies. At the news that he had effected his 
 escape from the W T artburg, and appeared again 
 on the world's stage, the rage of his former 
 adversaries returned. 
 
 Luther had been rather more than three 
 months at Wittemberg, when a rumour, re- 
 peated by common fame, brought him the in- 
 telligence that one of the greatest monarchs 
 of Christendom had risen up against him. 
 Henry VIII. head of the house of Tudor, a 
 prince descended from the families of York 
 and Lancaster, and in whom, after torrents of 
 bloodshed, the red and white roses were at 
 length united, the puissant king of England, 
 who boldly advanced the obsolete authority of 
 his crown over the continent, and more par- 
 ticularly over France had put forth an an- 
 swer to the poor monk of Wittemberg. " I 
 hear much commendation of a little treatise by 
 the king of England," wrote Luther to Lange, 
 on the 26th of June, 1522. 153 
 
 Henry the Eighth was then in his thirty- 
 first year, "tall, strong-built and proportion- 
 ed, and had an air of authority and empire," 154 
 and a countenance that expressed the vivacity 
 of his mind. Vehement in his temper, bear- 
 ing down whatever stood in the way of his 
 passions, and thirsting for distinctions, the 
 defects of his character, were, for a time, mis- 
 taken for the impetuosity of youth and there 
 was no lack of flatterers to confirm him in 
 them. Often would he resort, accompanied 
 by his favourite companions, to the house of 
 his chaplain, Thomas Wolsey, the son of a 
 butcher of Ipswich. This man, who was 
 gifted with great abilities, of excessive ambi- 
 tion, and unbounded audacity, being patroni- 
 sed by the Bishop of Winchester, the king's 
 chancellor, had rapidly risen in his master's 
 favour. He would often allure the young 
 prince to his residence by the attraction of 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 287 
 
 riotous pleasures,* in which he would not have 
 ventured to indulge within the walls of his 
 own palace. This is recorded by Polydore 
 Vergil, then sub-collector of the pope's reve- 
 nues in England. In these orgies, the chap- 
 lain outdid the licentiousness of the younger 
 courtiers. He sang, danced, laughed, played 
 the buffoon, took part in indecent conversation, 
 and fenced. 156 He soon attained the highest 
 seat at the council board, and the whole king- 
 ly power passing into his hands, he was ena- 
 bled to stipulate with foreign princes for are- 
 ward for his influence in affairs. 
 
 Henry passed whole days in balls, ban- 
 queting, and justing thus squandering the 
 treasure which the avarice of his father had 
 accumulated. Splendid tournaments succeed- 
 ed each other without intermission. On these 
 occasions, the king, who was easily distin- 
 guished from the other combatants by his 
 manly beauty, took the lead.f If the contest 
 seemed for a moment doubtful, his expertness 
 or strength, or else the skilful policy of his 
 antagonist decided the victory in his favour, 
 and the arena resounded with shouts of ap- 
 plause. Such easy triumphs inflated the 
 vanity of the young prince, and there was no 
 pinnacle of earthly grandeur to which he 
 would not have aspired. The Queen was 
 often present on such occasions. Her grave 
 deportment, melancholy look, and constrained 
 and depressed manner, presented a marked 
 contrast to the tumultuous glitter of such fes- 
 tivities. Henry VIII., soon after his acces- 
 sion, had, from political considerations, con- 
 tracted marriage with Catherine of Arragon, 
 five years older than himself, widow of his 
 brother Arthur, and aunt to Charles V. While 
 her husband followed his pleasures, the virtu- 
 ous Catherine, whose piety was such as Spain 
 has been noted for, was accustomed to leave 
 her bed in the dead of the night to take a silent 
 part in the prayers of the monks. 156 She would 
 kneel without cushion or carpet. At five, 
 after taking a little rest, she would again rise, 
 and assume the habit of St. Francis ; for she 
 had been admitted into the third order of that 
 saint. 157 Then, hastily throwing over her the 
 royal garments, she was in church at six, to 
 join in the holy offices. 
 
 Two beings, living in such different atmo- 
 spheres, could not long continue united. 
 
 Catherine, however, was not the only repre- 
 sentative of Romish devotion at the court of 
 
 * Domi suae voluptatum omnium sacrarium 
 fecit, quo regem frequenter ducebat. (Polyd. 
 Vergilius, Angl. Hist. Bale, 1570, fol. p. 633.) 
 Polydore Vergil seems to have been a sufferer by 
 Wolsey's pride, and to have been, perhaps, in- 
 clined, on that account, to exaggerate that minis- 
 ter's errors. 
 
 t Eximia corporis forma praeditus, in qua etiam 
 regise majestatis augusta quaedam species elucebat. 
 (Sanderus de Schismata Anglicano, p. 4.) The 
 work of Sanders, the Pope's Nuncio, must be 
 read with much suspicion, for unfounded and 
 calumnious statements are not wanting in it as 
 has been remarked by Cardinal Quirini and the 
 Roman Catholic doctor Lingard. (See the His- 
 tory of England, by this last, vol. vi. p. 173.) 
 
 Henry VIII. John Fisher, bishop of Ro- 
 chester, then nearly seventy years of age, and 
 distinguished alike for his learning and strict 
 morals, was the object of universal veneration. 
 He had been, for a long period, the oldest 
 counsellor of Henry VII., and the Duchess of 
 Richmond, grandmother to Henry VIII., had, 
 on her death-bed, confided to him the youth 
 and inexperience of her grandson. The king, 
 in the midst of his excesses, long continued 
 to revere the aged bishop as a father. 
 
 A much younger man than Fisher, a layman 
 and civilian, had, at this time, attracted gene- 
 ral attention by his genius and noble charac- 
 ter. His name was Thomas More. He was 
 the son of one of the judges of the Court of 
 King's Bench. In poor circumstances, of 
 temperate habits, and unwearied application, 
 he, at the age of twenty, had sought to mortify 
 the passions of youth by wearing a hair-shirt, 
 and by self-inflicted scourgings. One day, 
 when summoned to the presence of Henry 
 VIII., at a moment when he was attending 
 mass, he replied "The king's service must 
 give way to the service of God." Wolsey 
 introduced him to Henry, who employed him 
 in various embassies, and lavished on him, 
 much kindness. He would often send for 
 him to converse with him on astronomy, and 
 at other times concerning Wolsey, or on dis- 
 puted points of theology. 
 
 The king was, to say the truth, not alto- 
 gether unacquainted with the doctrines of 
 Rome. It even appears, that, had Prince 
 Arthur lived to ascend the throne, Henry was 
 destined to the archiepiscopal see of Can- 
 terbury. In his mind and life were strange- 
 ly blended Thomas Aquinas 158 St. Bonaven- 
 tura tournaments banquetings Elizabeth 
 Blount, and others of his mistresses. Masses 
 set to music by himself were chanted in his 
 chapel. 
 
 From the time Henry VIII. first heard of 
 Luther, his indignation broke forth ; and no 
 sooner did the decree of the Diet of Worms 
 reach England than he gave orders that the 
 Pontiff's bull against the Reformer's writings 
 should be carried into execution. 159 On the 12th 
 of May, 1521, Thomas Wolsey, who, together 
 with the rank of Chancellor of England, held 
 that of Cardinal and Roman Legate, repaired 
 in solemn procession to St. Paul's Church. 
 Swollen by excess of pride, he assumed to 
 rival the pomp of royalty itself. He was 
 accustomed to seat himself in a gold chair, 
 slept in a golden bed, and dined on a table 
 covered with cloth of gold. 160 On this occasion 
 he displayed his utmost state. His house- 
 hold, to the number of 800 persons, compris- 
 ing barons, knights, sons of the first families, 
 who had entered his service as a step towards 
 the service of the state, attended the haughty 
 prelate. His garments shone with gold and 
 silk, (he was the first ecclesiastic who had 
 ventured to assume such sumptuous apparel.) 101 
 Even the horse-cloths and harness were of the 
 like costly materials. Before him walked a 
 priest of lofty stature, bearing a silver pillar, 
 surmounted by a cross. Behind him, another 
 SB 2 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 stately ecclesiastic, holding in his hand the 
 archiepiscopal crozier of York ; a nobleman at 
 his side, carried his cardinal'shat. 162 Others of 
 the nobility the prelates the ambassadors 
 of the Pope and of the Emperor joined the 
 cavalcade, and were followed by a long line 
 of mules, bearing chests overhung with rich 
 and brilliant stuffs; and in this pompous pro- 
 cession the several parties that composed it 
 were carrying to the pile the writings of the 
 poor monk of Wittemberg. On reaching the 
 church, the proud priest deposited his cardi- 
 nal's hat on the altar itself. The virtuous 
 Bishop of Rochester took his place at the foot 
 of the cross, and with accents of strong emo- 
 tion, preached earnestly against heresy. After 
 this, the attendants drew near bearing the 
 writings of the heresiarch, and they were 
 devoutly consumed in the presence of a vast 
 concourse of spectators. Such was the first 
 public announcement of the Reformation to the 
 people of England. 
 
 Henry did not rest there. This prince, 
 "whose sword was ever uplifted against his 
 adversaries, his wives, and his favourites, 
 wrote to the Elector Palatine "Surely, it is 
 no other than the devil, who, by the agency 
 of Luther, has kindled this wide-spreading 
 conflagration. If Luther will not retract, let 
 himself and his writings be committed to the 
 flames." 163 
 
 But this was not all. Convinced that the 
 progress of heresy was mainly ascribable to 
 the extreme ignorance of the German princes, 
 Henry conceived that the moment had arrived 
 for the exhibition of his own learning. The 
 recollection of the triumphs of his battle-axe 
 did not permit him to "doubt of the victory he 
 should gain by his pen. But another passion, 
 vanity, ever large in little minds, spurred 
 on the royal purpose. He was mortified by 
 the circumstance, that he had no title to set 
 against that of Most Christian and Catholic, 
 borne by the kings of France and Spain, and 
 had for a long time solicited from the court of 
 Rome a similar distinction. What course 
 more likely to obtain it than an attack upon 
 heresy! Henry, then, laid aside his royal 
 dignity, and descended from his throne into 
 the arena of theological dispute. He pressed 
 into his service Thomas Aquinas, Peter Lom- 
 bard, Alaxander of Hale, and Bonaventura, 
 and gave to the world his " Defence of the 
 Seven Sacraments, against Martin Luther, by 
 the most Invincible King of England and of 
 France, Lord of Ireland, Henry, the Eighth 
 of that name." 
 
 "I will put myself in the forefront of the 
 Church, to save her," said the king of Eng- 
 land in this book "I will receive into my 
 bosom the poisoned darts of her assailant; 
 what I hear constrains me to this. 164 All the 
 servants of Jesus Christ, whatever be their 
 age, sex or rank, should rise up against the 
 common enemy of Christendom. 165 
 
 " Let us be doubly armed : with the hea- 
 venly armour to conquer with the arms of 
 truth, him who fights with those of error; 
 but also an earthly armour, so that, should he 
 
 show himself obstinate in malice, the hand of 
 the executioner may silence him; and thus, 
 for once at least, he may be useful to the 
 world, by the terrible exampleof his death. " 1(;6 
 
 Henry VIII. could not conceal the con- 
 tempt which he entertained for his feeble 
 adversary. "This man," says the royal 
 theologian, " seems to be in pains of labour ; 
 he travails in birth ; and lo ! he brings forth 
 but wind. Take away the audacious cover- 
 ing of proud words, with which he clothes 
 his absurdities, as an ape is clothed with 
 purple, and what remains ? a wretched and 
 empty sophism." 167 
 
 The king defends, successively, the mass, 
 penance, confirmation, marriage, orders, and 
 extreme unction. He is not sparing of hard 
 epithets towards his adversary; styling him 
 sometimes an infernal wolf, at others a vene- 
 mous serpent, or a limb of the devil, and even 
 casts doubts on Luther's sincerity. In short, 
 Henry VIII. crushes the mendicant monk 
 with his royal anger, "and writes," says 
 an historian, "as it were with his sceptre." 168 
 
 It must, however, be confessed, that the 
 book was not ill written, considering the au- 
 thor and the age in which he wrote. The 
 style is not altogether devoid of force. The 
 public of the day set no bounds to its praises. 
 The theological treatise of the powerful king 
 of England, was received with a profusion of 
 adulation. "The most learned work that 
 ever the sun saw," is the expression of some. 169 
 "It can only be compared with the works of 
 Saint Augustine," said others. " He is a 
 Constantine, a Charlemagne, nay more, " 
 echoed others, "he is a second Solomon." 
 
 These flattering reports soon reached the 
 continent. Henry had desired his ambassa- 
 dor at Rome, John Clarke, dean of Windsor, 
 to present his book to the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 Leo X. received the ambassador in full con- 
 sistory. Clarke presented the royal work to 
 him with these words, "The king my master 
 assures you, now that he has refuted the er- 
 rors of Luther with the pen, he is ready to 
 combat his adherents with the sword." Leo, 
 touched with this promise, answered, that the 
 king's book could not have been composed 
 but by the aid of the Holy Spirit, and con- 
 ferred upon Henry The title of "Defender of 
 the Faith" still borne by the Sovereigns of 
 England ! 
 
 The reception which the work met with at 
 Rome contributed not a little to attract the 
 general attention. In a few months, many 
 thousand copies, from different presses, got 
 into circulation; 170 so that,to use the words of 
 Cochlaeus, " the whole Christian world was 
 filled with wonder and joy." 171 
 
 Such extravagant praises served to augment 
 the already insufferable vanity of the head of 
 the race of Tudor. He seemed himself to en- 
 tertain no doubt, that he was inspired by the 
 Holy Spirit.* Henceforward he could not 
 endure contradiction. Papal authority was in 
 
 * He was brought to fancy it was written with 
 some degree of inspiration. (Burnet in prsef.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 289 
 
 his view, no longer at Rome, but at Green- 1 by d 
 wich, and infallibility was vested in his own me," 
 
 person. This proud assumption served great- 
 ly to promote, at a later period, the Reforma- 
 tion in England. 
 
 Luther read Henry's book with a smile, 
 mingled with disdain, impatience, and indig- 
 nation. The falsehoods and insults it con- 
 tained, but above all the air of pity and con- 
 tempt which the king affected, irritated the 
 doctor of Wittemberg to the highest degree. 
 The thought that the Pope had publicly ap- 
 proved the book, and that on all sides the en- 
 emies of the Gospel, were triumphing over the 
 Reformation and the Reformer, as already 
 overthrown, increased his indignation: and 
 why indeed, thought he, should he temporise 1 
 Was he not. contending in the cause of One 
 greater than all the kings of this earth] The 
 gentleness that the Gospel inculcates seemed 
 to him out of place. An eye for an eye, a 
 tooth for a tooth. And indeed he went be- 
 yond all bounds: persecuted, railed at, hunted 
 down, wounded, the furious lion turned upon 
 his pursuers, and set himself determinedly to 
 crush his enemy. The Elector, Spalatin, 
 Melancthon, Bugenhagen, essayed in vain to 
 appease him. They tried to dissuade him 
 from replying; but nothing could stop him. 
 " I won't be gentle toward the king of Eng- 
 land," said he : "I know it is useless to hum- 
 ble myself, to compromise, entreat and try 
 peaceful methods. I will show these wild 
 beasts, who are every day running at me with 
 their horns, how terrible I can be; I will turn 
 upon my pursuers, I will provoke, and exas- 
 perate my adversary, until exhausting all his 
 strength he falls and is for ever annihilated. 172 
 * If this heretic does not retract,' says the new 
 Thomas, Henry VIII., 'he must be burnt!' 
 Such are the weapons which are now employed 
 against me : the fury and the faggots of stu- 
 pid asses and hogs of the Thomas Aquinas 
 brood.* Well, then, be it so! Let these 
 swine come on, if they dare; aye, let them 
 even burn me here I am, awaiting them. 
 My ashes, after death, though cast into a thou- 
 sand seas, shall rise up in arms, and pursue, 
 and swallow up their abominable troop. Liv- 
 ing, I will be the enemy of the Papacy, and 
 burnt, I will be its ruin ! Go then, swine of 
 St. Thomas, do what you will. Ever will 
 you find Luther, like a bear upon your road, and 
 like a lion upon your path. He will fall upon 
 you from all sides, and give you no rest until 
 he shall have ground your iron brains, and 
 pulverized your brazen foreheads ! " 
 
 Luther begins by reproaching Henry VIII. 
 with having supported his statements merely 
 
 * Ignis et luror insulsissimorum asinorum et 
 Thomisticorum porcorum. (Contra Henricum 
 Regem, Opp. Lat. ii. p. 331.) There is some- 
 thing in this way of speaking which recalls to our 
 mind the language of the great agitator oflreland, 
 except that there is more force and nobility of 
 thought in the orator of the sixteenth century, than 
 in him of the nineteenth (See Revue BrUan- 
 nique, Nov. 1835 : ' The Reign of O'Connell ' 
 u Soaped swine of civilised society," &c. p. 30.) 
 
 says he, "I do not cease my cry of * The 
 Gospel ! the Gospel ! Christ ! Christ ! ' and 
 my enemies are as ready with their answer, 
 4 Custom ! custom ! Ordinances ! ordinances ! 
 Fathers ! fathers ! ' ' That your faith 
 should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in 
 the power of God? says St. Paul. And the 
 Apostle, by this thunder-clap from heaven, at 
 once overturns and disperses, as the wind 
 scatters the dust, all the foolish thoughts of 
 such a one as this Henry ! Alarmed and con- 
 founded, the Aquinases, Papists, Henrys, fall 
 prostrate before the power of those words." 173 
 
 He proceeds to refute in detail the king's 
 book, and exposes his arguments one after the 
 other, with remarkable clearness, energy, and 
 knowledge of the Scriptures, and of Church 
 history; but also with a boldness and con- 
 tempt, and at times a violence, which need 
 not surprise us. 
 
 Towards the end, Luther's indignation is 
 again aroused, that his adversary should only 
 have drawn his arguments from the Fathers; 
 for on them was made to turn the whole con- 
 troversy : "To all the decisions of Fathers, of 
 men, of angels, of devils, I oppose," says 
 he, ** not the antiquity of custom, not the hab- 
 its of the many, but the word of the Eternal 
 God, the Gospel, which they themselves 
 are obliged to admit. It is to this book that 
 I keep, upon it I rest, in it I make my 
 boast, in it I triumph, and exult over Papists, 
 Aquinases, Henrys, sophists, and all the swine 
 of hell. 174 The King of Heaven is on my side, 
 therefore I fear nothing, though even a thou- 
 sand Augustines, a thousand Cyprians, and a 
 thousand such churches as that of which this 
 Henry is Defender, should rise up against me. 
 It is a small matter that I should despise and 
 revile an earthly king, since he himself has 
 not feared, by his writings, to blaspheme the 
 King of Heaven, and profane his holy name 
 by the most daring lies." 175 
 
 "Papists!" he exclaims in conclusion, 
 "will you never have done with your vain at- 
 tempts 1 Do, then, what ye list. Notwith- 
 standing, it must still come to pass, that popes, 
 bishops, priests, monks, princes, devils, death, 
 sin, and all that is not Jesus Christ, or 
 in Jesus Christ, must fall and perish before 
 the power of this Gospel, which I, Martin 
 Luther, have preached." 176 
 
 Thus spake an unfriended monk. His vio- 
 lence certainly cannot be excused, if we judge 
 of it according to the rule to which he himself 
 was ever appealing, namely, God's Word. 
 It cannot even be justified, by pleading in ex- 
 tenuation, the grossness of the age, (for 
 Melancthon knew how to observe courtesy 
 of language in his writings,) nor can we 
 plead the energy of his character, if something 
 is allowed for this, more must be ascribed to 
 the violence of his passions. It is better, 
 then, that we should give our judgment against 
 it. Nevertheless, justice requires the remark, 
 that in the sixteenth century this extravagant 
 language was not so strange as it would be at 
 this time. The learned were, like the nobles, 
 
290 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 a kind of estate. Henry, in attacking Luther, I 
 had put himself in the rank of a man of let- 
 ters. Luther replied to him according to the ! 
 law which obtained in the republic of letters; . 
 viz. that the truth of what is stated is to be 
 considered, and not the condition in life of; 
 him who states it. Let it be added, also, 1 
 that when this same king turned against the 
 Pope, the insults heaped upon him by the Ro- 
 mish writers, and by the Pope himself, far ex- 
 ceeded all that Luther had ever fulminated 
 against him. 
 
 Besides. if Luther did call Doctor Eck an 
 ass, and Henry VIII. a hog, he indignantly 
 rejected the intervention of the secular arm ; 
 at the time that the former was writing a dis- 
 sertation to show that heretics ought to be 
 burned, and the latter was erecting scaffolds 
 that he might follow out the precepts of the 
 chancellor of Ingolstadt. 
 
 Great was the emotion at the king's court, 
 when Luther's reply arrived. Surrey, Wol- 
 sey, and the rest of the courtiers put a stop to 
 the fetes and pageantry at Greenwich, to vent 
 their indignation in sarcasms and abuse. The 
 aged Bishop of Rochester, who had looked on 
 with delight at the young prince, formerly 
 confided to his care, breaking a lance in de- 
 fence of the Church, was stung to the quick 
 by the monk's attack. He replied to it at the 
 moment. His words gave a good idea of the 
 age, and of the Church: " Take us the little 
 foxes that spoil the vines, says Christ in Sol- 
 omon's Song; from this we learn," said Fish- 
 er, " that we ought to lay hands upon heretics, 
 before they grow big. Luther is become a 
 large fox, so old, so cunning, so mischievous, 
 that it is very difficult to catch him. What 
 do I say, a fox] He is a mad dog, a raven- 
 ing wolf, a cruel she-bear; or rather, all these 
 put together, for the monster includes many 
 beasts within him." 177 
 
 Thomas More also descended into the arena 
 to engage with the monk of Wittemberg. 
 Although a laic, his zeal against the Refor- 
 mation amounted to fanaticism, if it would 
 not have led him even to the shedding of blood. 
 When young men of family take up the cause 
 of the Papacy, they often, in their violence, 
 outdo the clergy themselves. "Reverend 
 brother, father tippler, Luther, apostate of the 
 order of St. Augustine, (misshapen bacchana- 
 lian) of either faculty, unlearned doctor of sa- 
 cred theology." 178 Thus it is the Reformer is 
 addressed by one of the most illustrious men 
 of the age. Then he goes on to say, in ex- 
 planation of the way in which Luther had 
 composed his book against Henry VIII. : 
 " He assembled his companions, and bid them 
 go each his own way to pick up scurrilities 
 and insults. One frequented the public car- 
 riages and barges ; another the baths and gam- 
 bling houses; this one, the barber's shops and 
 low taverns ; that one, the manufactory and 
 the house of ill fame. They took down in 
 their pocket-books all that they heard of inso- 
 lence, of fillhiness, of infamy, and bringing 
 back all these insults and impurities, they 
 filled with them that dirty sink which is called 
 
 Luther's wit.' " Then he continues : " If he 
 retracts these lies and calumnies, if he puts 
 away these fooleries and this rage, if he swal- 
 lows down his excrements again, 179 . . . he 
 will find one who will soberly discuss with 
 him. But if he continues as he has begun, 
 joking, taunting, fooling, calumniating, vom- 
 iting out sinks and sewers 180 . . . let others do 
 what they choose; for ourselves we prefei 
 leaving the little man to his own anger and 
 dirtiness."* Thomas More would have done 
 better to restrain his own coarseness ; Luther 
 never descended to such a style, neither did 
 he return it any answer. 
 
 This work increased Henry's attachment to 
 More. He even used to go and visit him at 
 his humble residence at Chelsea. After din- 
 ner, his arm leaning on the shoulder of his 
 favourite, the king would walk round the gar- 
 den with him, while the astonished wife of his 
 flattered host, concealed behind a lattice, with 
 her children, could not but keep her eyes fixed 
 on them. After one of these walks, More, 
 who well knew the man he had to deal with, 
 said to his wife, " If my head, could gain for him 
 a single castle in France, he would not hesi 
 tate a moment to take it off"." 
 
 The king, thus defended by the Bishop of 
 Rochester, and by his future chancellor, need- 
 ed not any more to resume his pen. Con- 
 founded at the thought of being treated, in 
 the face of Europe, as any common writer, 
 Henry VIII. abandoned the dangerous posi- 
 tion he had taken, and laying aside the pen 
 of the theologian, had recourse to the more 
 effectual measures of diplomacy. 
 
 An ambassador was despatched from his 
 court at Greenwich, with a letter to the Elect- 
 or, and to the Dukes of Saxony. "The true 
 serpent cast down from heaven, even Luther," 
 says Henry, "casts out a flood of poison upon 
 the earth. He excites revolt in the Church 
 of Jesus Christ, he abolishes its laws, insults 
 the authorities, inflames the laity against the 
 priesthood, both of these against the Pope, 
 the people against kings, and asks nothing 
 better than to see Christians fighting against, 
 and destroying one another, and the enemies 
 of our faith enjoying, with a savage grin, the 
 scene of carnage. 181 
 
 ""What is this doctrine, which he calls 
 evangelical, other than the doctrine of Wick- 
 lif? Now, most honoured uncles, I know 
 how your ancestors have laboured to destroy 
 it; they pursued it, as a wild beast, in Bohe- 
 mia, and driving it, till it fell into a pit, they 
 shut it in there, and barricaded it. You will 
 not, I am sure, let it escape through your 
 negligence, lest, making its way into Saxony, 
 
 * Cum suis et stercorihus . . . relinqucre, 
 
 (Cochlseup, p. 63.) Cochlseus indeed glories in the 
 citation of these passages, choosing what, according 
 to his taste, he thinks the finest parts of the work or 
 Thomas More. M. Nisard, on the contrary, con- 
 fesses in his book on More, whose defence he 
 undertakes with so much warmth and learning 
 that, in this writing, the expressions dictated by 
 the anger of the Catholic are such that the, trans- 
 lation of them is impossible. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 291 
 
 it should become master of the whole of Ger- 
 many, and, with smoking nostrils, vomiting 
 forth the fire of hell, spread that conflagration 
 far and wide, which your nation has so often 
 wished to extinguish in its blood. 182 
 
 "Therefore it is, most worthy lords, J feel 
 obliged to exhort you, and even to beseech 
 you, by all that is most sacred, promptly to 
 extinguish the cursed sect of Luther. Shed 
 no blood, if it can be avoided; but if this 
 heretical doctrine lasts, shed it without hesi- 
 tation, in order that this abominable sect may 
 disappear from under the heaven." 183 
 
 The Elector and his brother referred the 
 king to the approaching council. Henry 
 VIII. was thus as far as ever from his object. 
 " So renowned a name mixed up in the dis- 
 pute," says Paolo Sarpi, " served to give it a 
 greater zest, and to conciliate general favour 
 towards Luther, as is usually the case in 
 combats and tournaments, where the spec- 
 tators have always a leaning to the weakest, 
 and delight to exaggerate the merit of his ac- 
 tions." 184 
 
 In fact, an immense movement was in 
 
 6 'ogress. The Reformation, which, after the 
 iet of Worms, had been thought to be con- 
 fined, together with its great teacher, in the 
 turret-chamber of a strong castle, was break- 
 ing forth on all sides in the empire, and even 
 throughout Christendom. The two parties, 
 until now, mixed up together, were beginning 
 to separate, and the partisans of a monk, who 
 had nothing on his side but the power of his 
 words, were fearlessly taking their stand in 
 the face of the followers of Charles V. and 
 Leo X. Luther had only just left the Wart- 
 burg, the Pope had excommunicated all 
 his adherents, the Imperial Diet had just 
 condemned his doctrine, the princes were 
 active in putting it down throughout the 
 greatest part of the German states, the Ro- 
 mish priests were setting the public against 
 it by their violent invective, foreign nations 
 were requiring that Germany should sacrifice 
 a man whose attacks were formidable even at 
 a distance, and yet, this new sect, few in 
 number, and among whose numbers there 
 was no organization, no acting in concert, 
 nothing, in short, of concentrated power, was 
 already, by the energy of the faith engaged 
 in it, and the rapidity of its conquests of the 
 minds of men, beginning to cause alarm to 
 the vast, ancient, and powerful sovereignty 
 of Rome. Everywhere was to be seen, as in 
 the first appearance of spring-time, the seed 
 bursting forth from the earth, spontaneously 
 and without effort. Every day some pro- 
 gress might be remarked. Individuals, vil- 
 lage populations, country towns, nay, large 
 cities, joined in this new confession of the 
 name of Jesus Christ. It was met by strong 
 opposition and fierce persecution, but the mys- 
 terious power which animated these people 
 was irresistible ; and, though persecuted, they 
 still went forward, facing the terrors of exile, 
 imprisonment, or the stake, and were every 
 where more than conquerors over their perse- 
 cutors. 
 
 38 
 
 The monastic orders, which Rome had 
 I planted over the whole of Christendom, like 
 ' nets for catching souls and retaining them in 
 their meshes, were among the first to burst 
 their fetters, and to propagate the new doc- 
 trine in every part of the Western Church. 
 The Augustines of Saxony had gone along 
 with Luther, and, like him, formed that inti- 
 mate acquaintance with the W T ord of Truth, 
 which, making God their portion, disabused 
 their minds from the delusions of Rome and 
 its lofty pretensions. But in other convents 
 of this' order, the light of the Gospel had 
 also shone forth : sometimes, among the aged, 
 who, like Staupitz, had preserved, in the midst 
 of a leavened Christianity, the sound doc- 
 trines of truth, and were now asking of God 
 that they might depart in peace, since their 
 eyes had seen his salvation ; sometimes, 
 among the young, among those who had 
 imbibed Luther's instructions with the cha- 
 racteristic eagerness of their years. At Nu- 
 remberg, Osnabruck, Dillingen, Ratisbon, in 
 Hesse, in Wirtemburg, at Strasburgh, at Ant- 
 werp, the convents of the Augustines were 
 returning to the faith of Christ, and by their 
 courageous confession exciting the indigna- 
 tion of Rome. 
 
 But the movement was not confined to 
 the Augustines. Men of decided character 
 among the other orders followed their exam- 
 ple; and, notwithstanding the clamours of 
 their fellow-monks, who were unwilling to 
 abandon their carnal observances, and unde- 
 terred by their anger and contempt, or by cen- 
 sure, discipline, and claustral imprisonment, 
 they fearlessly lifted up their voices in favour 
 of that holy arid precious truth, which, after 
 so many toilsome researches, so many dis- 
 tressing doubts, and inward conflicts, they 
 had at last found. In the majority of the 
 cloisters, the most spiritual, devout, and in- 
 structed monks declared themselves in favour 
 of the Reformation. Eberlin and Kettenbach 
 attacked, from the convents of the Franciscans 
 at Ulm, the service of bondage of monkery, and 
 the superstitious practices of the Church, with 
 an eloquence that might have drawn a whole 
 nation after it. They introduced in their pe- 
 tition, in the same sentence, a request for the 
 abolition of the houses of the monks, and of 
 those of prostitution. Another Franciscan, 
 Stephen Kempe, preached the Gospel at 
 Hamburg, and, though alone, set his face 
 like a flint against the hatred, envy, threats, 
 cunning, and violence of the priests, enraged 
 to see the congregations forsake their altars, 
 and flock with enthusiasm to his preachings. 183 
 
 Sometimes it was the superiors themselves 
 who were first won over to the Reformation. 
 The Priors at Halberstadt, at Neuenwerk, at 
 Halle, at Sagan, set the example, in this 
 respect, to those under their authority; at 
 least, they declared that if a monk felt his 
 conscience burdened by his monastic vows, 
 so far from insisting on his remaining in the 
 convent, they would themselves carry him 
 out on their shoulders. 186 
 
 In fact, in all parts of Germany might bo 
 
292 
 
 HISTOkY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 seen monks leaving, at the gates of their 
 monastery, their frock and cowl. Of these, 
 some had been expelled by the violence of 
 their fallows, or of their superiors ; others, of 
 a gentle and peaceable spirit, could no longer 
 endure the continually recurring disputes, in- 
 sults, recriminations, and animosities, which 
 pursued them from morning till night. Of 
 all these, the greater number were convinced 
 that the monastic vows were inconsistent 
 with the will of God and the Christian life. 
 Some had gradually been led to this convic- 
 tion ; others had reached it at once by consi- 
 dering a single text. The indolent, heavy 
 ignorance which generally marked the men- 
 dicant orders communicated a feeling of dis- 
 gust to men of more intelligent minds, who 
 could no longer endure the society of such 
 associates. A Franciscan, begging his way, 
 one day presented himself, box in hand, at a 
 blacksmith's shop, in Nuremberg. "Why 
 don't you get your bread by working with 
 your own hands'?" inquired the blacksmith. 
 Thus invited, the sturdy monk, tossing from 
 him his habit, lifted the'hammer, and brought 
 it down again with force upon the anvil. 
 Behold the useless mendicant transformed 
 into the industrious workman ! The box and 
 monk's gown were sent back to the monas- 
 tery. 187 
 
 It was not, however, the monks only, who 
 ranged themselves under the standard of evan- 
 gelical truth : a far greater number of priests 
 proclaimed the new doctrine. But it needed 
 not to be promulgated by human organs; it 
 often acted upon men's minds and aroused 
 them from their deep slumber, without the 
 instrumentality of a preacher. 
 
 Luther's writings were read in the bo- 
 roughs, cities, and hamlets; even the vil- 
 lage schoolmaster had his fire-side audience. 
 Some persons in each locality, impressed 
 with what they had heard, consulted the 
 Bible to relieve their uncertainty, and were 
 struck with the marked contrast between the 
 Christianity of Scripture and that which they 
 had imbibed. Fluctuating for a while be- 
 tween Romanism and Holy Writ, they ere 
 long took refuge in that living Word which 
 had beamed into their minds with such new 
 and cheering lustre. While these changes 
 were passing in their minds, an evangelical 
 preacher he might be a priest, or, perhaps, 
 a monk would appear. He speaks with 
 eloquence and authority, 183 proclaiming that 
 Christ has fully atoned for the sins of his 
 people and proves from the sacred Word the 
 vanity of human works and penance. Such 
 preaching excited terrible opposition; the 
 clergy, in numerous instances, aided by the 
 magistrates, used every effort to bring back 
 those whose souls were escaping from bond- 
 age. But there was in the new preaching an 
 accordance with Scripture, and a secret, but 
 irresistible energy, which won the heart and 
 subdued the most rebellious. Risking the 
 loss of property, and, if needful, the loss of 
 life itself, men deserted the barren fanatical 
 preachers of. the Papacy, and enrolled them- 
 
 selves under the Gospel banner. 199 Sometimes 
 the people, irritated at the thought how long 
 they had been duped, drove away the priests; 
 but more frequently these latter, forsaken by 
 their flocks, without tithes or offerings, went 
 off, with desponding hearts, to earn a liveli- 
 hood in distant places. 190 Whilst the defenders 
 of the ancient hierarchy withdrew in sullen 
 dejection, pronouncing maledictions as they 
 took leave of their former flocks, the people, 
 whom truth and liberty filled with transports 
 of joy, surrounded the new preachers with 
 acclamations, and in their eagerness to hear 
 the Word, bore them, as in triumph, into the 
 churches and pulpits. 191 
 
 A word of Power from God himself, was 
 remoulding society. In many instances, the 
 people, or the principal citizens, wrote to a 
 man whose faith they knew, urging him to 
 come and instruct them ; and he, for the love 
 of the truth, would, at their call, at once leave 
 his worldly interests, his family, friends, and 
 country. 19 - Persecution often compelled the 
 favourers of the Reformation to abandon their 
 dwellings; they arrive in a place where the 
 new doctrines have never yet been heard of; 
 they find there some hospitable roof, offering 
 shelter to houseless travellers ; there they 
 speak of the Gospel, and read a few pages to 
 the listening townsmen, and perhaps, by the 
 intercession of their new acquaintances, ob- 
 tain leave to preach a sermon in the church. 
 Immediately, the Word spreads like fire 
 through the town, and no efforts can stay its 
 progress. 193 If not permitted to preach in the 
 church, the preaching took place elsewhere, 
 and every place became a temple. At Husum 
 in Holstein, Herman Tast, then on his way 
 from Wittemberg, and to whom the parochial 
 clergy denied the use of the church, preached 
 to an immense multitude, under the shade of 
 two large trees adjoining the churchyard, not 
 far from the spot where, seven centuries be- 
 fore, Anschnr had first proclaimed the Gospel 
 to a Heathen auditory. At Armstadt, Gas- 
 pard Gittel, an Augustine friar, preached in 
 the market-place. At Dantzic, the Gospel 
 was proclaimed from an eminence outside the 
 city. At Gosslar, a student of Wittemberg 
 opened the new doctrines, in a plain planted 
 with lime-trees, from which circumstance the 
 evangelical Christians there obtained the ap- 
 pellation of the Lime-tree Brethren. 
 
 Whilst the priests were exposing, before 
 the eyes of the people, their sordid avidity, 
 the new preachers, in addressing them, said : 
 "Freely we have received freely do we 
 give." 194 The observation often dropt by the 
 new preachers in the pulpit, that Rome had 
 of old given to the nations a corrupted Gos- 
 pel, so that Germany now first heard the 
 Word of Christ in its divine and primitive 
 beauty, made a deep impression upon all; 195 
 and the grand thought of the equality of all 
 men in the universal brotherhood of Jesus 
 Christ, elevated the souls which had so long 
 borne the yoke of the feudality and papacy 
 of the middle ages. 196 
 
 Simple Christians were often seen with the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 293 
 
 New Testament in hand, offering to justify 
 the doctrine of the Reformation. The Catho- 
 lics, who adhered to Rome, drew back in dis- 
 may; for the study of Holy Scripture was 
 leserved to the priests and monks alone. 
 The latter being thus compelled to come 
 forward, discussion ensued; but the priests 
 und monks were soon overwhelmed with 
 the Scriptures quoted by the laity, and at a 
 loss how to meet them. 197 "Unhappily," says 
 Cochlaeus, " Luther had persuaded his fol- 
 lowers that their faith ought only to be given 
 to the oracles of Holy Writ." Often cla- 
 mours were heard in the crowd, denouncing 
 the shameful ignorance of the old theologians, 
 who had till then been regarded by their own 
 party as among the most eminentlylearned. 198 
 
 Men of the humblest capacity, and even 
 the weaker sex, by the help of the knowledge 
 of the Word, persuaded, and prevailed with 
 many. Extraordinary times produced extra- 
 ordinary actions. At Ingolstadt a young wea- 
 ver read the works of Luther to a crowded 
 congregation, in the very place where Doctor 
 Eck was residing. The university council of 
 the same town, having resolved to oblige a 
 disciple of Melancthon to retract, a woman, 
 named Argula de Staufen, volunteered to de- 
 fend him, and challenged the doctors to a 
 public disputation. Women, children, arti- 
 zans, and soldiers, had acquired a greater 
 knowledge of the Bible than learned doctors 
 ot surpliced priests. 
 
 Christianity was presented in two-fold ar- 
 ray, and under aspects strikingly contrasted. 
 Opposed to the old defenders of the hierarchy, 
 who had neglected the acquirement of the lan- 
 guages and the cultivation of literature, (we 
 have it on the authority of one of themselves) 
 were generous-minded youths, most of them 
 devoted to study and the investigation of the 
 Scriptures, and acquainted with the literary 
 treasures of an tiquity. 199 Gifted with quickness 
 of apprehension, elev*ation of soul, and intre- 
 pidity of heart, these youths soon attained 
 such proficiency that none could compete with 
 them. It was not only the vigour of their 
 faith which raised them above their contem- 
 poraries, but an elegance of style, a perfume 
 of antiquity, a sound philosophy, and a know- 
 ledge of the world, of which the theologians, 
 veleris farinas (as Cochlseus himself terms 
 them) were altogether destitute. So that on 
 public occasions, on which these youthful de- 
 tenders of the Reformation encountered the 
 Romish doctors, their assault was carried on 
 with an ease and confidence that embarrassed 
 the dulness of their adversaries, and exposed 
 them before all to deserved contempt. 
 
 The ancient structure of the Church was 
 thus tottering under the weight of superstition 
 and ignorance, while the new edifice was 
 rising from its foundations of faith and learn- 
 ing. The elements of a new life were diffused 
 amng the general body of the people. List- 
 less dulness was every where succeeded by 
 an inquiring disposition and a thirst for infor- 
 mation. An active, enlightened and living 
 faith, took the place of superstitious piety and 
 
 ascetic meditations. Works of true devoted- 
 ness, superseded mere outward observance 
 and penances. The pulpit prevailed over the 
 mummeries of the altar, and the ancient and 
 supreme authority of God's word, was at 
 length, re-established in the Church. 
 
 The art of printing, that mighty engine, the 
 discovery of which marks the fifteenth centu- 
 ry, came to the assistance of the efforts we are 
 now recording; and its weighty missiles were 
 continually discharged against the enemy's 
 walls. 
 
 The impulse which the Reformation gave 
 to popular literature, in Germany, was prodi- 
 gious. W T hilst the year 1513 saw only thirty- 
 five publications, and 1517 but thirty-seven, 
 the number of books increased with astonish- 
 ing rapidity after the appearance of Luther's 
 theses. We find, in 1518, seventy-one vari- 
 ous publications recorded; in 1519, one 
 hundred and eleven; in 1520, two hundred 
 and eight; in 1521, two hundred and eleven ; 
 in 1522, three hundred and forty-seven; and 
 in 1523, four hundred and ninety-eight. And 
 where were all these books published? Al- 
 most invariably at Wittemberg. And who 
 was the author of them ? For the most part, 
 Luther. The year 1522, saw one hundred 
 and thirty publications from the pen of the 
 Reformer alone; and the following year, one 
 hundred and eighty-three; whilst in this lat- 
 ter year, the total number of Roman Catholic 
 publications amounted to but twenty. 200 Thus, 
 the literature of Germany was formed in the 
 din of controversy, as its religion arose in the 
 midst of conflicts. Already it gave evidence 
 of that learned, profound^ bold, and stirring 
 spirit that latter times have seen in it. The 
 genius of the nation now, for the first time, 
 displayed itself without mixture, and in the 
 very hour of its birth it received a baptism of 
 fire from Christian enthusiasm. 
 
 Whatever Luther and his friends composed, 
 others disseminated far and wide. Monks, 
 who had been led to see the unlawfulness of 
 the monastic obligations, and desirous of ex- 
 changing a life of indolence for one of activity, 
 but too ignorant to be able themselves to pro- 
 claim the Word of God, traversed the pro- 
 vinces, and, visiting the hamlets and cottages, 
 sold the writings of Luther and his friends. 
 Germany was, ere long, overrun with these 
 enterprising colporteurs. 201 Printers and book- 
 sellers eagerly received whatever writings 
 were directed to the defence of the Reforma- 
 tion, hut would not look at those of the oppo- 
 site party, as savouring generally of ignorance 
 andbarbarism.^If any of these men, however, 
 ventured to sell a book in favour of Papacy, 
 or to offer it for sale at Frankfort, or elsewhere, 
 he drew upon himself a torrent of ridicule and 
 sarcasm from dealers,publishers,andscholars. 203 
 Vainly had the Emperor and the reigning 
 princes fulminated severe edicts against the 
 writings of the Reformers. As soon as an 
 inquisitorial visit was determined on, the deal- 
 ers, (who secretly obtained information of it) 
 would conceal the books which it was intended 
 to proscribe ; and the people, ever eager to pos- 
 
294 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 sess that of which authority would deprive 
 them, would afterwards buy them up, and read 
 them with redoubled ardour. It was not alone 
 Germany that was the theatre of such inci- 
 dents, the writings of Luther were translated 
 into French, Spanish, English, and Italian, 
 and were circulated among those nations. 
 
 If instruments so despised could yet inflict 
 such disaster on the power of Rome, what was 
 it when the monk of Wittemberg was heard 
 to raise his voice? Shortly after the discom- 
 fiture of the strange prophets, Luther traversed 
 the territory of Duke George, in a wagon, 
 attired in plain clothes. His gown was 
 carefully concealed, and the Reformer wore 
 the disguise of a countryman. Had he been 
 recognised, and so fallen into the hands of the 
 exasperated Duke, it had, perhaps, been all 
 over with him. He was on his way to preach 
 at Zwickau, the birth-place of the pretended 
 prophets. Scarcely was it known at Schne- 
 berg, Annaberg, and the neighbouring towns, 
 when numbers flocked to hear him. Fourteen 
 thousand persons arrived in the town, and as 
 there was no edifice which could contain so 
 great a multitude, Luther preached from the 
 balcony of the Town-hall to twenty-five thou- 
 sand auditors, who thronged the market-place, 
 and of whom several had climbed to the top 
 of some stones that lay heaped together near 
 the hall. 204 The servant of Jesus Christ was 
 expatiating with fervour on the election of 
 grace, when suddenly a shriek proceeded from 
 the midst of the rivetted auditory. An old 
 woman of haggard mien, who had stationed 
 herself on a large block of stones, was seen 
 motioning with he* lank arms as though she 
 would control the multitude just about to fall 
 prostrate at the feet of Jesus. Her wild yells 
 interrupted the preacher. "It was the devil," 
 says Seckendorf, "who took the form of an 
 old woman, in order to excite a tumult." 205 But 
 vain was the effort; the Reformer's word put 
 the evil spirit to silence ; an enthusiasm com- 
 municated itself from one to another, looks and 
 warm greetings were exchanged, the people 
 pressed each other by the hand, and the friars, 
 not knowing what to make of what they saw, 
 and unable to charm down the tempest, soon 
 found it necessary to take their departure from 
 Zwickau. 
 
 In the eastle of Freyberg resided Duke 
 Henry, brother of Duke George. His wife 
 the Princess of Mecklenburg, had, the prece- 
 ding year, presented him with a son, who was 
 christened Maurice. Duke Henry united the 
 bluntness and course manners of the soldier 
 to a passion for the pleasures of the table, 
 and the pursuits of dissipation. He was, 
 withal, pious after the manner of the age in 
 which he lived ; he had visited the Holy 
 Land, and had also gone on a pilgrimage 
 to the shrine of St. James at Compostella. 
 He would often say, "When I was at Com- 
 postella, I deposited a hundred golden florins 
 on the altar of the Saint, and I said to him, 
 4 O ! St. James, it is to gain your favour 1 have 
 made this journey. I make you a present of 
 this money ; but if those knaves (the priests) 
 
 steal it from you, I can't help it; so take you 
 care of it.' " 206 
 
 Two friars, (a Franciscan and a Dominican) 
 disciples of Luther, had been for some time 
 preaching the Gospel at Freyberg. The 
 Duchess, whose piety had inspired her with a 
 horror of heresy, attended their sermons, and 
 was all astonishment at discovering that what 
 ! she had been taught so much to dread, was 
 the gracious word of a Saviour. Gradually, 
 her eyes were opened ; and she found peace 
 in Jesus Christ. The moment Duke George 
 learned that the Gospel was preached at 
 Freyberg, he begged his brother to resist the 
 introduction of such novelties. The Chan- 
 cellor Stehelin and the canons seconded these 
 representations with their fanatical zeal. A 
 violent explosion took place at the court of 
 Freyberg. Duke Henry sternly reprimanded 
 and reproached his wife, and more than once 
 the pious Duchess was known to shed tears 
 over the cradle of her babe. By slow de- 
 grees, however, her gentle entreaties melted 
 the heart of her husband. This man, so 
 stern by nature, softened down. A sweet 
 harmony was established between them : at 
 length they were enabled to join in prayer 
 beside their infant son. Great and untold 
 destinies hovered above that son ; and from 
 that cradle, where the Christian mother had so 
 often poured out her sorrows, was to come 
 forth one whom God in his own time would 
 use as a defender of the Reformation. 
 
 The intrepidity of Luther had made a deep 
 impression on the inhabitants of Worms. 
 The Imperial Decree overawed the magis- 
 trates; the churches were all closed; but a 
 preacher, taking his stand on a rudely con- 
 structed pulpit, in a square thronged with an 
 immense multitude, proclaimed the glad ti- 
 dings with persuasive earnestness. If the 
 authorities snowed a disposition to interfere, 
 the people dispersed in an instant, hastily 
 carrying off their pulpit; but no sooner had 
 the officers of authority passed by, than they 
 again erected their pulpit in some more retired 
 spot, to which the multitude would again flock 
 together to hear more of the Word of Jesus 
 Christ. This temporary pulpit was every day 
 set up in one spot or another, and served as a 
 rallying point for the people who were still 
 under the influence of the emotions awakened 
 by the drama lately enacted in Worms. 207 
 
 At Frankfort on the Maine, one of the most 
 considerable free cities of the empire, all was 
 commotion. A courageous evangelist, Ibach, 
 preached salvation by Jesus Christ. The 
 clergy, among whom was Cochlseus, known 
 by his writings and his opposition to the Re- 
 formation, irritated by the daring intrusion of 
 such a colleague, denounced him to the Arch- 
 bishop of Mentz. The Council, though with 
 some timidity, nevertheless supported him; 
 but without avail. The clergy expelled the 
 evangelical minister, and obliged him to quit 
 Frankfort. Rome appeared triumphant; all 
 seemed lost; and private Christians began to 
 fear that they were for ever deprived of the 
 preaching of the W T ord : but at the very mo- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 295 
 
 ment when the citizens seemed disposed to 
 submit to the tyranny of their priests, certain 
 nobles suddenly declared themselves for the 
 Gospel. Max of Molnheim, Harmut of Cron- 
 berg, George of Stockheim, and Emeric of 
 Reiffenstein, whose estates lay near Frank- 
 fort wrote to the Council: "We are con- 
 strained to make a stand against those spirit- 
 ual wolves." And, in addressing the clergy, 
 they said : " Either embrace evangelical doc- 
 trines and recall Ibach, or we will pay no more 
 tithes." 
 
 The common people, who listened gladly 
 to the reformed opinions, emboldened by this 
 language of the nobles, showed symptoms of 
 agitation; and one day when Peter Mayer, 
 the persecutor of Ibach, and who of all the 
 priests was the most hostile to the new opin- 
 ions, was on the point of preaching against 
 heretics, a violent tumult broke forth, and 
 Mayer in alarm retreated from the pulpit. 
 This popular movement decided the deter- 
 mination of the Council. An ordinance was 
 published, enjoining all ministers to preach 
 the pure Word of God, or to quit the town. 
 
 The light which shone forth from Wittem- 
 berg, as from the heart of the nation, was thus 
 diffusing itself throughout the empire. In the 
 west, Berg, Cleves, Lippstadt, Munster, 
 Wesel, Miltenberg, Mentz, Deux Fonts, and 
 Strasburg, heard the 'joyful sound.' In the 
 south, Hof, Schlesstadt, Bamberg, Esslin- 
 gen, Hall (in Suabia), Heilbrunn, Augsburg, 
 Ulm, and many other places, welcomed it 
 with joy. In the east, the Duchy of Lieg- 
 nitz, Prussia and Pomerania, received it with 
 open arms. It the north, Brunswick, Hal- 
 berstadt, Gosslar, Zell, Friesland, Bremen, 
 Hamburg, Holstein, and even Denmark, and 
 other adjacent countries, moved at the sounds 
 of the new teaching. 
 
 The Elector had declared that he would give 
 full liberty to the bishops to preach in his 
 dominions; but that he would not deliver any 
 one into their hands. Accordingly, the evan- 
 gelical preachers, persecuted in other countries, 
 were soon driven to take refuge in Saxony. 
 Among these were Ibach, from Frankfort, 
 JEberlin, from Ulm, Kanadoif, from Mag- 
 deburg, Valentine Musteus, 208 whom the canons 
 of Halberstadt had horribly mutilated, and 
 other faithful ministers, from all parts of Ger- 
 many flocked to Wittemberg, as to the only 
 asylum of which they felt secure. Here they 
 could hold converse with the leading Reform- 
 ers, thereby strengthening themselves in the 
 faith, and at the same time communicating 
 the experience each one had gained, together 
 with the information he had acquired. It is 
 thus that the waters of our rivers return, borne 
 in the clouds from the vast expanse of ocean, 
 to feed the glaciers whence they first descend- 
 ed, to flow through the plain. 
 
 The work which was at this time develop 
 ing itself at Wittemberg, composed, as has 
 been seen, of various elements, became from 
 day to day increasingly the work of that na- 
 tion, of Europe, and of Christendom. The 
 school which Frederic had founded, and into 
 
 which Luther had introduced the Word of 
 Life was the centre of that wide-spreading 
 revolution which regenerated the Church ; and 
 Tom it the Reformation derived a true and a 
 iving unity, far above the semblance of unity 
 hat might be seen in Rome. The Bible was 
 the supreme authority at Wittemberg, and 
 there its doctrines were heard on all sides. 
 This academy, though the most recent of all 
 in its origin, r.ad acquired a rank and influ- 
 nce throughout Christendom which hitherto 
 had exclusively appertained to the ancient 
 University of Paris. The crow r ds of students 
 which resorted to Wittemberg, from all parts 
 of Europe, brought thither the report of the 
 wants of the Church and of the people, and in 
 quitting those walls, become sacred in their 
 esteem, they bore with them, to the Church 
 and people, that Word of Grace, which is for 
 the healing and salvation of the nations. 
 
 In contemplating these happy results, Lu- 
 ther felt his confidence increased. He had 
 seen a feeble effort, begun amidst so many 
 fears and struggles, change the face of the 
 Christian world ; and he himself was aston- 
 ished at a result which he never anticipated 
 when he first entered the lists against Tetzel. 
 Prostrate before the God whom he adored, he 
 confessed that the work was His ; and he re- 
 joiced in the assurance of victory which no 
 power cquld prevent. " Our enemies threaten 
 us with death," said he, to the Chevalier Har- 
 mut of Cronberg "if their wisdom were 
 equal to their folly, it is with life they would 
 threaten us. What an absurdity and insult it 
 is to affect to denounce death against Christ 
 and Christians, who are themselves the con- 
 querors of death! 209 It is as if I would seek to 
 affright a rider by saddling his courser, and 
 helping him to mount. Do they not know 
 that Christ is raised from the dead ? So far 
 as thay see, He is yet lying in the grave, nay 
 even in hell. Eut we know that He lives." 
 He was grieved whenever he thought that any 
 one should look upon him as the author of a 
 work, of which the most minute details dis- 
 closed to him the finger of God. " Some there 
 are," said he, " who believe because I believe. 
 But they only truly believe, who would con- 
 tinue faithful even though they should hear 
 (which may God forbid !) that I had denied 
 Christ. True disciples believe not in Lu- 
 ther but in Jesus Christ. Even I myself 
 care little for Luther. 210 Let him be counted a 
 saint or a cheat, what care 1 1 It is not him 
 that I preach; it is Christ. If the devil can 
 seize Luther, let him do so ! But let Christ 
 abide with us, and we shall abide also." 
 
 Surely it is idle to explain such a principle 
 as here speaks out, by the mere circumstances 
 of human affairs. Men of letters might sharp- 
 en their wits, and shoot their poisoned arrows 
 against pope and friars the gathering cry for 
 freedom, which Germany had so often sent 
 forth against Italian tyranny, might again echo 
 in the castles and provinces; the people 
 might again delight in the familiar voice of 
 the Wittemberg nightingale 211 heralding the 
 spring that was every where bursting forth;- . 
 2 C 
 
296 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 but it was no change in mere outward cir- 
 cumstances, like such as is the effect of a 
 craving for earthly liberty, that was then ac- 
 complishing. Those who assert that the Re- 
 formation was brought about by bribing the 
 reigning princes with the prospect of convent 
 treasure, the clergy, with the license of 
 marriage, or the people with the boon of 
 freedom, are strangely mistaken in its nature. 
 Doubtless, a profitable use of resources which 
 hitherto had maintained the monks in idle- 
 ness, doubtless, marriage and liberty, God's 
 gifts, might conduce to the progress of the 
 Reformation, but the moving power was not 
 in these things. An interior revolution was 
 going on in the deep privacy of men's hearts : 
 Christians were again learning to love and 
 
 forgive, to pray, to suffer affliction, and, if 
 need be, to die for the sake of that Truth 
 which yet held out no prospect of rest on this 
 side heaven ! The Church was in a state of 
 transition. Christianity was bursting the 
 shroud in which it had so long been veiled, 
 and resuming its place in a world which had 
 wellnigh forgotten its former power. He 
 who made the earth now "turned his hand," 
 and the gospel, emerging from eclipse, 
 went forward, notwithstanding the repeated 
 efforts of priests and of kings, like the 
 Ocean, which, when the hand of God presses 
 on its bosom, rises in majestic calmness along 
 its shores, so that no power of man is able 
 to resist its movement. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 Movement in Germany War between Francis I. and Charles V. Inigo Lopez de Reculde Siege 
 of Pampeluna Loyala's Armed Vigil Enters a Dominican Convent Mental Distress " Strong 
 Delusions" "Belief of a Lie" Amusement of the Pope Death of Leo X. Character of 
 Adrian VI. The Pope attempts a Reformation Opposition at Rome Designs against Luther- 
 Diet at Nuremberg Osiander at Nuremberg The Pope's Candour Resolution of the Diet 
 Grievances The Pope to the Elector The Pope's Brief The Princes fear the Pope "The 
 Fiery Trial" " The Failing Mines" The Augustine Convent Mirisch and Probst Persecu- 
 tion at Miltemburg The Inquisitors and the Confessors The Fate of Lambert Luther's Sym- 
 pathy Hymn on the Martyrs The Legate Carnpeggio Evasion of the Edict of Worms Alarm 
 of the Pope The Dukes of Bavaria Conference at Ratisbon Subtle Devices Results of the 
 Ratisbon League The Emperor's Edict Martyrdom of Gaspard Tauber Cruelties in Wiirtem- 
 berg Persecution in Bavaria Fanaticism in Holstein The Prior and the Regent Martyrdom 
 of Henry Zuphten Luther and Carlstadt Opinions on the Lord's Supper Carlstadt leaves 
 Wittemberg Luther at Jena Luther and Carlstadt Luther at Orlamund Interview at Orla- 
 mund On the Worship of Images Carlstadt banished Carlstadt retires to Strasburg Assem- 
 bly at Spires Abridgment of the Reformed Doctrine Albert of Brandenburg The Word of 
 God not bound All Saints' Church Abolition of the Mass Nature of Christianity Letter to 
 Councillors On the Use of Learning Religion and the Arts Essence of Christianity Music 
 and Poetry Abuses of Painting Insurrection of the Peasantry The Reformation and Revolt 
 Fanaticism "The Spirit" Mu'nzer preaches Revolt Liberty of Conscience Luther's View 
 of the Revolt Luther to the Peasantry Murder of Count Helfenstein Warlike Exhortation 
 Gotz of Berlichingen "Radical Reform" Defeat of the Rebels Munzer at Mulhausen 
 Anxieties at Wittemberg The Landgrave takes up Arms Defeat and Death of Munzer 
 Thirteenth Article Luther calumniated Rise of the New Church The Revolt and the Re- 
 formation The last Days of the Elector Frederic The Elector and the Reformer Duke 
 George's Confederacy The Nuns of Nimptsch Catherine Bora The deserted ConventLu- 
 ther's Thoughts on Matrimony Luther's Marriage Domestic Happiness The Elector John 
 The Landgrave Philip Poliander's Hymn New Ordination Diet at Augsburg League of 
 Torgau The Evangelic Union "The Rulers take Counsel together" The Emperor's Mes- 
 sage The Reformation and the Papacy. 
 
 THE Reformation, which had taken its rise 
 in a few pious hearts, had worked its way 
 into the public worship and the private life 
 of the Church; it was to be expected that it 
 would, as it advanced, penetrate into civil 
 relationships. Its progress was constantly, 
 from within, outward. We are about to 
 contemplate this great change taking posses- 
 sion of the political life of nations. 
 
 For a period of nearly eight centuries, Eu- 
 rope had formed one vast sacerdotal state. Its 
 emperors and kings had been under the pa- 
 tronage of its popes. If France and Germany 
 had afforded examples of energetic resistance 
 to audacious pretensions, still Rome, in the 
 result, had prevailed, and the world had seen 
 temporal princes, consenting to act as exe- 
 cutioners of her terrible sentences, contend in 
 
 defence of her power against private Chris- 
 tians living under their rule, and shed, in 
 her cause, the blood of the children of their 
 people. 
 
 No infringement of this vast ecclesiastical 
 polity but must affect, in a greater or less de- 
 gree, established political relations. 
 
 Two leading desires then agitated the minds 
 of the Germans. On one hand, the people 
 aspired after a revival of the faith ; on the 
 other, they demanded a national government 
 wherein the German states might be repre- 
 sented, and which should serve as a counter- 
 poise to the Imperial power.* 
 
 The Elector Frederic had urged this de- 
 mand at the time of the election of Maximi- 
 
 * Robertson, Charles V. vol. iii. p. 114. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 297 
 
 lian's successor, and the youthful Charles had 
 consented. A national government had, in 
 consequence, been chosen, consisting of the 
 Imperial chief and representatives of the va- 
 rious electors and circles. 
 
 Thus while Luther was reforming" the 
 Church, Frederic was engaged in reforming 
 the State. 
 
 But when, simultaneously with a change 
 in religion, important modifications of poli- 
 tical relationships were introduced by the 
 authorities, it was to be apprehended that the 
 commonalty would exhibit a disposition to 
 revolt, thereby bringing into jeopardy the 
 Reformation both of Church and of State. 
 
 This violent and fanatical irruption of the 
 people, under certain chosen leaders, unavoid- 
 able where society is in a state of crisis, 
 did not fail to happen in the times we are re- 
 cording. 
 
 Other circumstances there were which 
 tended to these disorders. 
 
 The Emperor and the Pope had combined 
 against the Reformation, and it might appear 
 to be doomed to fall beneath the strokes of 
 such powerful enemies. Policy interest 
 ambition obliged Charles V. and Leo X. to 
 extirpate it. But such motives are feeble 
 defences against the power of Truth. A de- 
 voted assertion of a cause deemed sacred can 
 be conquered only by a like devotedness op- 
 posed to it. But the Romans, quick to catch 
 Leo's enthusiasm for a sonnet or a musical 
 composition, had no pulse to beat response to 
 the religion of Jesus Christ; or, if at times 
 some graver thoughts would intervene, instead 
 of their being such as might purify their 
 hearts, and imbue them with the Christianity 
 of the apostles, they turned upon alliances, 
 or conquests, or treaties that added new pro- 
 vinces to the Papal states ; and Rome, with 
 cold disdain, left to the Reformation to awaken 
 on all sides a religious enthusiasm, and to go 
 forward in triumphant progress to new victo- 
 ries. The foe that she had sworn to crush, 
 in the church of Worms, was before her in 
 the confidence of courage and strength. The 
 contest must be sharp : blood must flow. 
 
 Nevertheless, some of the dangers that 
 threatened the Reformation seemed, just then, 
 to be less pressing. The youthful Charles, 
 standing one day, a little before the publica- 
 tion of the edict of Worms, in a window of 
 his palace in conversation with his confessor, 
 had, it is true, said with emphasis, laying his 
 hand upon his heart, " I swear that I will 
 hang up before this window the first man 
 who, after the publication of my edict, shall 
 declare himself a Lutheran." 1 But it was not 
 Jong before his zeal cooled. His plan for re- 
 storing the ancient glory of the empire, or, in 
 other words, enlarging his own dominions, 
 was coldly received ; 2 and, taking umbrage 
 with his German subjects, he passed the 
 Rhine, and retired to the Low Countries, 
 availing himself of his sojourn there to afford 
 the friars some gratifications that he found 
 himself unable to give them in the empire. 
 At Ghent, Luther's writings were burned by 
 
 the public executioner with the utmost so- 
 lemnity. More than fifty thousand spectators 
 attended this auto-da-fe, and the presence of 
 the emperor himself marked his approval of 
 the proceedings. 3 
 
 Just at this time Francis the First, who 
 eagerly sought a pretext for attacking his 
 rival, had thrown down the gauntlet. Under 
 pretence of re-establishing in their patrimony 
 the children of John of Albret, king of Na- 
 varre, he had commenced a bloody contest, 
 destined to last all his life: sending an army 
 to invade that kingdom, under command of 
 Lesparra, who rapidly pushed his victorious 
 advance to the gates of Pampeluna. 
 
 On the walls of this fortress was to be en- 
 kindled an enthusiasm which, in after years, 
 should withstand the aggressive enthusiasm 
 of the Reformer, and breathe through the Pa- 
 pal system a new energy of devotedness and 
 control. Pampeluna was to be the cradle of 
 a rival to the Wittemberg monk. 
 
 The spirit of chivalry, which had so long 
 reigned in the Christian word, still survived 
 in Spain. The wars with the Moors, recently 
 terminated in that Peninsula, but continually 
 recurring in Africa and distant and adventu- 
 rous expeditions beyond sea, kept alive in the 
 Castilian youth the enthusiastic and simple 
 valour of which Amadis had been the ideal 
 exhibition. 
 
 Among the garrison of Pampeluna was a 
 young n.an named Don Inigo Lopez de Re- 
 calde, the youngest of a family of thirteen. 
 Recalde had been brought up at the court of 
 Ferdinand the Catholic. Remarkable for a 
 fine person, and expert in the use of sword 
 and lance, he was ardently ambitious of chival- 
 rous renown. 4 Clothed in dazzling armour, 
 and mounted on a prancing steed, he took de- 
 light in exposing himself to the glittering dan- 
 gers of the tournament, 5 engaging in hazardous 
 enterprises, taking part in the impassioned 
 struggles of opposing factions, 6 and manifest- 
 ing as much devotion to St. Peter as to his 
 lady-love. Such was the life led by the young 
 knight. 
 
 The governor of Navarre, having gone into 
 Spain to obtain succours, had left to Inigo and 
 a few nobles the charge of defending Pampe- 
 luna. These latter, learning the superior num- 
 bers of the French troops, decided on retiring. 
 Inigo entreated them to stand firm and resist 
 Lesparra ; but, not being able to prevail on 
 them, he indignantly reproached them with 
 their cowardice and perfidy, and then threw 
 himself into the citadel, resolved to defend it 
 at the sacrifice of his life. 7 
 
 When the French, who had been received 
 with enthusiasm in Pampeluna, proposed to 
 the commandant of the fortress to capitulate. 
 " Let us endure every thing," 8 boldly exclaim- 
 ed Inigo, "rather than surrender!" On this 
 the French began to batter the walls with their 
 formidable artillery, and in a short time they 
 attempted to storm it. The bravery and ex- 
 hortations of Inigo gave fresh courage to the 
 Spaniards; they drove back the assailants by 
 their arrows, swords, or halberds. Inigo led 
 
298 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 them on. Taking his stand on the ramparts, 
 with eyes flaming with rage, the young knight 
 brandished his sword, and felled the assailants 
 to the earth. Suddenly a ball struck the wall, 
 just where he stood ; a stone shivered from 
 the ramparts, wounded the knight severely in 
 the right leg, at the same moment as the ball, 
 rebounding from the violence of the shock, 
 broke his left. Inigo fell senseless. 9 The 
 garrison immediately surrendered; and the 
 French, admiring the courage of their youth- 
 ful adversary, bore him in a litter to his rela- 
 tives in the castle of Loyola. In this lordly 
 mansion, from which his name was afterwards 
 derived, Inigo had been born of one of the 
 most illustrious families of that country, eight 
 years after the birth of Luther. 
 
 A painful operation became necessary. In 
 the most acute suffering, Inigo firmly clenched 
 his hands but uttered no complaint. 10 
 
 Constrained to a repose which he could ill 
 endure, he found it needful to employ, in some 
 way, his ardent imagination. In the absence 
 of the romances which he had been accustom- 
 ed to devour, they gave him the Life of Christ, 
 and the Flores Sanctorum. The reading of 
 these works, in his state of solitude and sick- 
 ness, produced an extraordinary effect upon 
 his mind. The stirring life of tournaments 
 and battles, which had occupied his youth, to 
 the exclusion of every thing beside, seemed as 
 if receding and fading from view, while a 
 career of brighter glory appeared to open be- 
 fore him. The humble labours of the saints, 
 and their heroic patience were, all of a sudden, 
 seen to be far more worthy of praise than all 
 the high deeds of chivalry. Stretched upon 
 his couch, and still under the effects of fever, 
 he indulged in the most conflicting thoughts. 
 The world he was planning to renounce, and 
 that life of holy mortification which he con- 
 templated, both appeared before him the one 
 soliciting by its pleasures, the other by its 
 severities; and fearful was the struggle in 
 his conscience between these two opposing 
 worlds. " What," thought he, " if I. were to 
 act like St. Francis or St. Dominic 1" n But 
 the recollection of the lady to whom he had 
 pledged his love recurred to his mind. " She 
 is neither countess nor duchess," said he to 
 himself, with a kind of simple vanity, " she is 
 much more than either." 12 But thoughts like 
 these were sure to fill him with distress and 
 impatience, while the idea of imitating the ex- 
 ample of the saints caused his heart to over- 
 flow with peace and joy. 
 
 From this period his resolution was taken. 
 Scarcely had he risen from his sick-bed, when 
 he decided to retire from the world. As Lu- 
 ther had done, he once more invited to a re- 
 past his companions in arms, and then, with- 
 out divulging his design, set out unattended, 
 for the lonefy cells excavated by the Bene- 
 dictine monks, in the rocks of the mountains 
 of Montserrat. 13 Impelled, not by the sense of 
 his sin, or of his need of the grace of God, but 
 by the wish to become " knight of the Virgin 
 Mary," and to be renowned for mortifications 
 and works, after the example of the army of 
 
 saints, he confessed for three successive 
 days, gave away his costly attire to a mendi- 
 cant, clothed himself in sackcloth, and girded 
 himself with a rope. 14 Then, calling to mind 
 the armed vigil of Amadis of Gaul, he sus- 
 pended his sword at the shrine of Mary, pass- 
 ed the night in watching, in his new and 
 strange costume ; and sometimes on his knees, 
 and then standing, but ever absorbed in pray- 
 er, and with his pilgrim's staff in hand, went 
 through all the devout practices of which the 
 illustrious Amadis had set the example. 
 "Thus," remarks the Jesuit, Maffei, one of 
 the biographers of the saint, " while Satan 
 was stirring up Martin Luther to rebellion 
 against all laws, divine and human, and whilst 
 that heretic stood up at Worms, declaring im- 
 pious war against the Apostolic See, Christ, 
 by his heavenly providence, called forth this 
 new champion, and binding him by after vows 
 to obedience to the Roman Pontiff, opposed 
 him to the licentiousness and fury of heretical 
 perversity." 13 
 
 Loyola, who was still lame in one of his 
 legs, journeyed slowly by circuitous and se- 
 cluded paths till he arrived at Manresa. There 
 he entered a convent of Dominicans, resolving 
 in this retired spot to give himself up to the 
 most rigid penances. Like Luther, he daily 
 went from door to door begging his bread. 16 
 Seven hours he was on his knees, and thrice 
 every day did he flagellate himself. Again at 
 midnight he was accustomed to rise ancf pray. 
 He allowed his hair and nails to grow ; and 
 it would have been hard, indeed, to recognise 
 in the pale and lank visage of the monk of 
 Manresa, the young and brilliant knight of 
 Pampeluna. 
 
 Yet the moment had arrived when the ideas 
 of religion, which hitherto had been to Inigo 
 little more than a form of chivalric devotion, 
 were to reveal themselves to him as having an 
 importance, and exercising a power of which, 
 till then, he had been entirely unconscious. 
 Suddenly, without any thing that might give 
 intimation of an approaching change of feel- 
 ing, the joy he had experienced left him. 17 In 
 vain did he have recourse to prayer and chant- 
 ing psalms ; he could not rest. 18 His imagina- 
 tion ceased to present nothing but pleasing 
 illusions, he was alone with his conscience. 
 He did not know what to make of a state of 
 feeling so new to him ; and he shuddered as 
 he asked whether God could still be against 
 him, after all the sacrifices he had made. 
 Day and night, gloomy terrors disturbed him, 
 bitter were the tears he shed, and urgent 
 was his cry for that peace which he had lost 
 but all in vain. He again ran over the long 
 confession he had made at Montserrat. 19 "Pos- 
 sibly," thought he, *' I may have forgotten 
 something." But that confession did but ag- 
 gravate his distress of heart, for it revived the 
 thought of former transgressions. He wan- 
 dered about, melancholy and dejected, his con- 
 science accusing him of having, all his life, 
 done naught but heap sin upon sin, and the 
 wretched man a prey to overwhelming terrors 
 filled the cloisters with the sound of his sighs. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 299 
 
 Strange thoughts, at this crisis, found ac- 
 cess to his heart. Obtaining no relief in the 
 confessional, and the various ordinances of 
 the church, he began, as Luther had done, to 
 doubt their efficacy. 20 But, instead of turning 
 from man's works, and seeking to the finished 
 work of Christ, he considered whether he 
 should not once more plunge into the vanities 
 of the age. His soul panted eagerly for that 
 world that he had solemnly renounced; 21 but 
 instantly he recoiled, awe-struck. 
 
 And was there, at this moment, any differ- 
 ence between the monk of Manresa and the 
 monk of Erfurth? Doubtless, in secondary 
 points ; but their condition of soul was alike. 
 Both were deeply sensible of their sins; both 
 sought peace with God, and desired to have 
 the assurance of it in their hearts. If another 
 Staupitz, with the Bible in his hand, had 
 presented himself at the convent of Manresa, 
 perhaps Inigo might have been known to us 
 as the Luther of the Peninsula. These two 
 remarkable men of the sixteenth century, the 
 founders of two opposing spiritual empires, 
 which, for three centuries, have warred one 
 against the other, were, at this period, 
 brothers; and, perhaps, if they had been 
 thrown together, Luther and Loyola would 
 have rushed into each other's embrace, and 
 mingled their tears and their prayers. 
 
 But, from this moment, the two monks 
 were to take opposite courses. 
 
 Inigo, instead of regarding his remorse as 
 sent to urge him to the foot of the cross, de- 
 luded himself with the belief that his inward 
 compunctions were not from God, but the 
 mere suggestions of the devil ; and he re- 
 solved not to think any longer of his sins, but 
 to obliterate them forever from his memory ! 
 Luther looked to Christ 22 Loyola did but turn 
 inward on himself. 
 
 It was not long before visionary attestations 
 came in confirmation of Inigo's self-imposed 
 convictions. His own resolutions had been 
 to him in place of the Lord's grace, and he 
 had suffered the imaginations of his own 
 heart to take the place of God's word. He 
 had counted the voice of God, speaking to him 
 in his conscience, as the voice of the devil ; 
 and hence, we see him, in the remainder of 
 his history, the dupe of delusions of the 
 power of darkness. 
 
 One day, Loyola chanced to meet an old 
 woman ; as Luther, when his soul w r as under 
 trial and exercise, had received a visit from 
 an old man. But the Spanish crone, instead 
 of testifying of remission of sins to the 
 penitent of Manresa, predicted certain ap- 
 pearances of Jesus. This was the sort of 
 Christianity to which Loyola, like the pro- 
 phets of Zwickau, had recourse. Inigo did 
 not seek truth from the Holy Scriptures, but 
 invented in their place certain direct commu- 
 nications from the world of spirits. He soon 
 passed his whole time absorbed in ecstasy and 
 abstraction. 
 
 Once, when on his way to the church of 
 St. Paul, outside the city, he followed, lost in 
 thought, the course of the Llobreo-at, and 
 39 
 
 stopped, for a moment, to seat himself on its 
 bank. He fixed his eyes on the river which 
 rolled its deep waters in silence before him. 
 He soon lost all consciousness of surround- 
 ing objects. Of a sudden, he fell into an ec- 
 stasy. Things were revealed to his sight, 
 such as ordinary men comprehend only after 
 much reading and long watching, and study. 23 
 j He rose from his seat. As he stood by the 
 j bank of the river, he seemed to himself a new 
 man. He proceeded to throw himself on his 
 knees before a crucifix, erected near the spot, 
 decided to devote his life in service to that 
 cause, the mysteries of which had just been 
 revealed to his soul. 
 
 From this time, his visions were more fre- 
 quent. Sitting one day on the steps of St. 
 Dominic, at Manresa, singing hymns to the 
 Virgin, his thoughts were all of a sudden ar- 
 rested, and, w r rapt in ecstasy of motionless 
 abstraction, while the mystery of the Holy 
 Trinity was revealed before his vision, under 
 symbols of glory and magnificence. 24 His 
 tears flowed his bosom heaved with sobs of 
 emotion, and all that day he never ceased 
 speaking of that ineffable vision. 
 
 Such repeated apparitions had overcome 
 and dissipated all his doubts. He believed, 
 not as Luther, because the things of Faith 
 were written in the Word of God, but be- 
 cause of the visions he himself had had. 
 "Even though no Bible had existed," 25 say 
 his apologists, " even though those mysteries 
 should never have been revealed in Scripture, 
 he would have believed them, for God had 
 disclosed Himself to him." 26 Luther, become 
 a doctor of divinity, had pledged his oath to 
 the sacred Scriptures and the alone infalli- 
 ble rule of God's word was become the funda- 
 mental principle of the Reformation. Loyola, 
 at the time we are recording, bound himself 
 to dreams, and apparitions and visionary 
 delusions became the moving principles of 
 his life, and the grounds of his confidence. 
 
 Luther's sojourn in the convent of Erfurth, 
 and that of Loyola at Manresa explain to us 
 the principle of the Reformation, and the 
 character of modem Popery. We will not 
 follow, in his journey to Jerusalem, whither 
 he repaired on leaving the convent, the 
 monk who was to be a means of re-animat- 
 ing the expiring pow r er of Rome. We shall 
 meet with him again in the further progress 
 of this history. 
 
 Whilst-' these things were passing in Spain, 
 Rome herself appeared to wear a graver aspect. 
 The great patron of music, hunting, and feast- 
 ing was removed from the throne of the Pontiff, 
 and succeeded by a pious and grave monk. 
 
 Leo X. had been greatly pleased by the 
 intelligence of the edict of Worms, and of Lu- 
 ther's captivity ; and in sign of his triumph 
 had caused the Reformer to be publicly burnt 
 in effigy, together with his writings. 27 It was 
 the second or third time that the Papacy had 
 
 , indulged itself in this harmless satisfaction. 
 At the same time, Leo, to show his gratitude 
 
 i to the emperor, united his army with the Im- 
 2 c2 
 
300 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 perial forces. The French were compelled 
 to evacuate Parma, Placentia, and Milan; 
 and Cardinal Giulio de Medici, cousin to the 
 Pope, made a public entry into the latter city. 
 The Pope appeared on the point of attaining 
 the summit of human greatness. 
 
 The winter of the year 1521 was just com- 
 mencing. It was customary with' Leo X. to 
 spend the autumn in the country. At that 
 season he would leave Rome without surplice, 
 and also, what, remarks his master of the 
 ceremonies, was a yet greater impropriety, 
 wearing boots ! At Viterbo, he would amuse 
 himself with hawking; at Corneto, he 
 hunted ; the lake of Bolsena afforded him the 
 pleasures of fishing. Leaving these, he 
 would pass some time at his favourite resi- 
 dence, Malliana, in a round of festivities. 
 Musicians, improvisatori, and other Roman 
 artists, whose talents might add to the charms 
 of this delightful villa, there gathered round 
 the sovereign pontiff. He was residing there, 
 when news was brought him of the taking 
 of Milan. A tumult of joy ensued in the 
 town. The courtiers and officers could not 
 contain their exultation: the Swiss dis- 
 charged their carbines, and Leo incautiously 
 passed the night in walking backward and 
 forward in his chamber, and looking out of 
 the window at the rejoicings of the people. 
 He returned to Rome, exhausted in body, and 
 in the intoxication of success. Scarcely had 
 he re-entered the Vatican, when he was sud- 
 denly taken ill. " Pray for me," said he to 
 his attendants. He had not even time to re- 
 ceive the last sacraments, and died, in the 
 prime of life, at the age of forty-seven in a 
 moment of victory, and amid the sounds of 
 public joy. 
 
 The crowd that followed the hearse of the 
 Sovereign Pontiff gave utterance to curses. 
 They could not pardon his having died with- 
 out the sacraments, leaving behind him the 
 debts incurred by his vast expenditure. " Thou 
 didst win the pontificate like a fox heldst it 
 like a lion and hast left it like a dog," said 
 the Romans. 
 
 Such was the mourning with which Rome 
 honoured the Pope who excommunicated the 
 Reformation ; and one whose name yet serves 
 to designate a remarkable period in history. 
 
 Meanwhile a feeble reaction against the 
 temper of Leo and of Rome was already be- 
 ginning in Rome itself. A few men of piety 
 had opened a place of prayer in order to mu- 
 tual edification, not far from the- spot in 
 which tradition reports the first Christians of 
 Rome to have held their meetings. Contari- 
 ni, who had been present on Luther's appear- 
 ance at Worms, took the lead in these little 
 meetings. 28 Thus, almost at the same time as 
 at Wittemberg, a kind of movement toward a 
 reformation manifested itself at Rome. Truly 
 has it been remarked, that wherever there are 
 the seeds of 'love to God,' there are also the 
 germs of reformation. But these well-meant 
 efforts were soon to come to nothing. 
 
 In other times, the choice of a successor to 
 Leo X. would surely have fallen upon a Grego- 
 
 ry VII. or an Innocent III., if men like them had 
 been to be found ; but now the Imperial inter- 
 est was stronger than that of the Church, and 
 Charles V. required a Pope who should be 
 devoted to his interests. 
 
 The Cardinal de Medici, afterwards Cle- 
 ment VII., seeing that he had no chance of 
 obtaining the tiara, exclaimed aloud "Choose 
 the Cardinal Tortosa, an old man whom every 
 one regards as a saint." The result was, that 
 this prelate, who was a native of Utrecht, and 
 of humble birth, was actually chosen, and 
 reigned under the name of Adrian VI. He had 
 been professor at Louvain, and afterwards tutor 
 to Charles. In 1517, through the Emperor's in- 
 fluence, he had been invested with the Roman 
 purple. Cardinal de Vio supported his nomi- 
 nation. " Adrian," said he, " was very useful in 
 persuading the doctors of Louvain to put forth 
 their condemnation of Luther." 29 The conclave, 
 tired out and taken by surprise, nominated the 
 ultramontane Cardinal. " But soon coming 
 to their senses," observes an old chronicler, 
 4i they were ready to die with fear of the con- 
 sequences." The thought that the native of 
 the Netherlands might not accept of the tiara, 
 brought them temporary relief; but it was soon 
 dissipated. Pasquin represented the elect 
 Pontiff under the character of a schoolmaster, 
 and the Cardinals as boys under the discipline 
 of the rod. The irritation of the populace 
 was such that the members of the conclave 
 thought themselves fortunate to escape being 
 thrown into the river. 30 In Holland, it was a 
 subject of general rejoicing that they had given 
 a head to the Church. Inscribed on banners, 
 suspended from the houses, were the words, 
 "Utrecht plan ted Lou vain watered the Em- 
 peror gave the increase." One added under- 
 neath, the words, * and God had nothing to 
 do with it !" 
 
 Notwithstanding the dissatisfaction which 
 was at first manifested by the inhabitants of 
 Rome, Adrian VI. repaired thither in August, 
 1522, and was well received. It was whis- 
 pered from one to another that he had five 
 thousand benefices in his gift, and each reck- 
 oned on some advantage to himself. For a 
 long time, the Papal chair had not been filled 
 by such a man. He was upright, industrious, 
 learned, pious, sincere, irreproachable in mo- 
 rals, and neither misled by favouritism nor 
 blinded by passion. He brought with him to 
 the Vatican, his old house-keeper whom he 
 charged to continue to provide frugally for his 
 daily wants in that palace which Leo had filled 
 with luxury and dissipation. He was a 
 stranger to the tastes of his predecessor. When 
 they showed him the noble group of Laocoon, 
 discovered only a few years before, and pur- 
 chased by Julius II. at an enormous cost he 
 turned away, coolly observing, " They are the 
 idols of the heathens :" and in one of his let- 
 ters, he wrote, " I would far rather serve God 
 in my priory at Louvain than be pope at 
 Rome." 
 
 Adrian, alarmed by the danger to which the 
 religion, which had come down to them 
 through the middle ages, was exposed from 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 301 
 
 the spread of th.e Reformation ; and not, like 
 the Italians, fearing the discredit into which 
 Rome and her hierarchy were brought by it, 
 earnestly desired to oppose and arrest its pro- 
 gress ; and he judged that the best means to 
 that end was to be found in a reformation of 
 the Church by herself. "The Church," said 
 he, " stands in need of a reformation ; but we 
 must take one step at a time." " The Pope," 
 said Luther, " advises that a few centuries 
 should be permitted to intervene between the 
 first and the second step." In truth, the 
 Church had forages tended toward a reforma- 
 tion. It was now no time for temporizing. It 
 was necessary to act ! 
 
 Adhering to his plan, Adrian set about 
 banishing from the city the profane, the perju- 
 rers, and the usurers. It was no easy task, 
 for they composed a considerable proportion 
 of the population. 
 
 At first the Romans derided him, but ere 
 long they hated him. Priestly rule and the 
 vast gains it brought, the power and influence 
 of Rome, its games and its festivals, the luxu- 
 ry that everywhere reigned in it, all would be 
 irretrievably lost, if there were a return to apos- 
 tolic simplicity. 
 
 The restoration of discipline everywhere 
 encountered strong opposition. "To produce 
 the desired effect," said the chief Cardinal 
 Penitentiaria, "it would be necessary to be- 
 gin by reviving the ' first love' of Christians : 
 the remedy is more than the patient can bear ; 
 it will be death to him. Take care, lest in 
 your desire to preserve Germany you should 
 lose Italy." 31 And, indeed, it was not long be- 
 fore Adrian had even more to fear from Ro- 
 manism than Lutheranism itself. 
 
 Those about him attempted to lead him 
 back to the path he had abandoned. The old 
 and practised Cardinal Soderinus of Volterra, 
 the intimate friend of Alexander VI., of Julius 
 II., andofLeoX., 32 would often drop expressions 
 well suited to prepare him for that part, to 
 him so strange, which he was reserved to act. 
 " Heretics," observed he, " have in all ages, 
 declaimed against the morals of the Roman 
 Court : and yet the Popes have never changed 
 them. It has never been by reforms that he- 
 resies have been extinguished, but by cru- 
 sades." " Oh, how wretched is the position 
 of the Popes," replied the Pontiff, sighing 
 deeply, " since they have not even liberty to 
 do right." 33 
 
 On the 23d of March, 1522, and before 
 Adrian's entry into Rome, the Diet assembled 
 at Nuremberg. Already the bishops of Mers- 
 burg and Misnia had petitioned the Elector of 
 Saxony to allow a visitation of the convents 
 and churches in his states. Frederic, think- 
 ing that truth had nothing to fear, had con- 
 sented, and the visitation took place. The 
 bishops and doctors preached vehemently 
 against the new opinions, exhorting, alarm- 
 ing and entreating, but their arguments seemed 
 to have no effect; and when looking about 
 them for more effectual methods, they request- 
 ed the secular authorities to carry their direc- 
 tions into execution, the Elector's council re- 
 
 turned for answer, that the question was one 
 that required to be examined by the Word of 
 God, and that the Elector, at his advanced 
 age, could not engage in theological investi- 
 gation. These expedients of the bishops did 
 not reclaim a single soul to the fold of Rome ; 
 and Luther, who passed over the same ground, 
 shortly afterwards, preaching from place to 
 place, dispelled, by his powerful exhortation, 
 the slight impression that had here and there 
 been produced. 
 
 It was to be feared that the Archduke Fer- 
 dinand, brother to the Emperor, would do 
 what Frederic had declined doing. That 
 young prince, who presided at several sittings 
 of the Diet, gradually acquiring decision of 
 purpose, might, in his zeal, boldly unsheathe 
 the sword that his more prudent and politic 
 brother wisely left in the scabbard. In fact, 
 Ferdinand, in his hereditary states of Austria, 
 had already commenced a cruel persecution 
 against those who were favourable to the Re- 
 formation. But God, on various occasions, 
 made instrumental, in the deliverance of re- 
 viving Christianity, the very same agency 
 that had been employed for the destruction of 
 corrupt Christianity. The Crescent suddenly 
 appeared in the panic-struck provinces of 
 Hungary. On the 9th of August, after a 
 siege of six weeks, Belgrade, the advanced 
 post of that kingdom, and of the empire, was 
 taken by assault by Soliman. The followers 
 of Mahomet, after retiring from Spain, seemed 
 intent on re-entering Europe from the East. 
 The Diet of Nuremberg turned its attention 
 from the Monk of Worms to the Sultan of 
 Constantinople. But Charles V. kept both 
 antagonists in view. In writing to the Pope 
 from Valladolid, on the 31st October, he said, 
 " We must arrest the progress of the Turks, 
 and punish by the sword all who favour the 
 pestilent doctrines of Luther." 34 
 
 It was not long before the thunder clouds, 
 which had seemed to pass by and roll east- 
 ward, again gathered over the Reformer. His 
 reappearance and activity at Wlttemberg had 
 revived the bygone hatred. "Now that wo 
 know where to lay hands on him," said Duke 
 George, " why not carry into effect the sen- 
 tence of Worms'?" It was confidently af- 
 firmed in Germany, that Charles V. and 
 Adrian had in a meeting at Nuremberg con- 
 certed the measures to be adopted. 35 " Satan 
 feels the wound that has been inflicted on 
 him," said Luther, "and thence his rage. 
 But Christ has already put forth his power, 
 and will ere long trample him under foot, in 
 spite of the gates of hell." 36 
 
 In the month of December, 1522, the Diet 
 again assembled at Nuremberg. Everything 
 announced that, as Soliman had been the great 
 enemy that had fixed attention in the spring 
 session, Luther would be its principal object 
 during the winter sittings. Adrian VI., by 
 birth a German, hoped to find that favour from 
 his own nation which a Pope of Italian ori- 
 gin could not expect. 37 He, in consequence, 
 commissioned Chieregati, whom he had 
 known in Spain, to repair to Nuremberg. At 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the opening of the Diet, several of the princes 
 spoke strongly against Luther. The Cardi- 
 nal Archbishop of Salzburg, who was high 
 in the confidence of the Emperor, urged the 
 adoption of prompt and vigorous measures, 
 before the arrival of the Elector of Saxony. 
 The Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, in- 
 flexible in his purpose, and the Chancellor of 
 Troves, jointly insisted that the edict of 
 Worms should be carried into effect. The 
 rest of the princes were in great part unde- 
 cided, and divided in opinion. The dilemma 
 in which the church was placed, filled its 
 faithful adherents with anguish. " I would 
 give one of my fingers," exclaimed the Bish- 
 op of Strasburg, in an open assembly of the 
 Diet, "I would give one of my finders to be 
 no priest." 38 
 
 Chieregati, supported by the Cardinal of 
 Salzburg, insisted that Luther should be put 
 to death. " It is necessary," said he, speak- 
 ing in the Pope's name, and holding the 
 Pope's brief in his hand, " It is indispensable 
 that we should sever from the body that gan- 
 greened member. 39 Your forefathers punished 
 with death John Huss and Jerome of Prague, 
 at Constance, but both these are now risen 
 up in Luther. Follow the glorious example 
 of your ancestors, and by the help of God, 
 and of St. Peter, gain a signal victory over 
 this serpent of hell." 
 
 On hearing the brief of the pious and mild 
 Adrian read in the assembly, the majority of 
 the princes were not a little alarmed. 40 Many 
 began to see more in Luther's arguments ; 
 and they had hoped better things from the 
 Pope. Thus then Rome, though under the 
 presidency of Adrian, cannot be brought to 
 acknowledge her delinquency, but still hurls 
 her thunderbolts, and the fields of Germany 
 are again about to be deluged with blood. 
 Whilst the princes maintained a gloomy si- 
 lence, the prelates, and such members of the 
 Diet as were in the interest of Rome, tumult- 
 uously urged the adoption of a decision. " Let 
 him be put to death," 41 cried they, as we 
 learn from the Saxony envoy who was present 
 at this sitting. 
 
 Very different were the sounds heard in 
 the churches of Nuremberg. The chapel of 
 the hospital, and the churches of the Augus- 
 tines, St. Sebald and St. Lorenzo, were 
 crowded with multitudes flocking to hear the 
 preaching of the Gospel. Andrew Osiander 
 preached powerfully at St. Lorenzo's. Many 
 princes attended, especially Albert, Margrave 
 of Brandenburg who, in his quality of Grand 
 Master of the Teutonic order, took rank im- 
 mediately next to the archbishops. Monks, 
 abandoning the religious houses in the city, 
 applied themselves to learn various trades, in 
 order to gain their livelihood by their labour. 
 
 Chieregati could not endure such daring 
 disobedience. He insisted that the priests 
 and refractory monks should be imprisoned. '' 
 The Diet, notwithstanding the remonstrances 
 of the ambassadors of the Elector of Saxony 
 and the Margrave Casimir, decided to seize 
 the persons of the monks, but consented to 
 
 communicate previously to Osiander and his 
 colleagues the Nuncio's complaint. A com- 
 mittee, under the direction of the fanatical 
 Cardinal of Salzburg, was charged with the 
 matter. The danger was imminent the con- 
 flict was on the point of commencing, and it 
 was the great Council of the nation that pro- 
 voked it. 
 
 Yet the people interposed. Whilst the 
 Diet was engaged in deliberating what should 
 be done with these ministers, the town coun- 
 cil was considering what steps should be 
 taken in regard to the decision of the Diet. 
 The council came to a resolution which did 
 not overstep the limits assigned to it by the- 
 laws, that if force were employed to deprive 
 them of their preachers, recourse should be 
 had to force to set them at liberty. Such a 
 resolution was full of significance. The as- 
 tonished Diet returned an answer to the Nuncio 
 that it was not lawful to arrest the preachers 
 of the free city of Nuremberg without previ- 
 ously convicting them of heresy. 
 
 Chieregati was strangely disconcerted by 
 this fresh insult to the supreme authority of 
 the Papacy. " Very well," said he, haughtily 
 addressing himself to Ferdinand, "do you 
 then do nothing, leave me to act, I will 
 seize the preachers in the Pope's name." 42 
 When the Cardinal Archbishop Albert, of 
 Mentz, and the Margrave Casimir were ap- 
 prized of this startling determination, they 
 came in haste to the Legate, imploring him 
 to abandon his intention. The latter was, at 
 first, inflexible, affirming that, in the bosom 
 of Christendom, obedience to the Pope could 
 not be dispensed with. The two princes re- 
 tired ; "If you persist in your intention," 
 said they, " we require you to send us notice, 
 for we will quit the city before you venture to 
 lay hands on the preachers." 43 The Legate 
 abandoned his project. 
 
 Despairing of success by authoritative mea- 
 sures, he now decided to have recourse to ex- 
 pedients of another kind, and, with this pur- 
 pose, communicated to the Diet the Pontiff's 
 intentions and orders, which he had hitherto 
 kept private. 
 
 But the well-intentioned Adrian, little used 
 to the ways of the world, did injury even by 
 his candour to the cause he had at heart. 
 " We are well aware," said he, in the 'reso- 
 lutions' forwarded to his Legate, "that for 
 many years past, the holy city has been a 
 scene of many corruptions and abominations. 44 
 The infection has spread from the head 
 through the members, and has descended 
 from the Popes to the rest of the clergy. It 
 is our desire to reform that court of Rome, 
 whence so many evils are seen to flow, the 
 whole world desires it, and it is in order that 
 we may do this, that we consented to ascend 
 the throne of the pontiffs." 
 
 The supporters of Rome blushed to hear 
 these unlooked-for words. " They thought," 
 as Pallavicini says, " that such admissions 
 were too sincere." 45 The friends of the Re- 
 formation, on the contrary, rejoiced to hear 
 Rome herself proclaiming her corruption. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 303 
 
 Who could doubt that Luther had truth on 
 his side, now that the Pope declared it ! 
 
 The answer of the Diet showed how greatly 
 the authority of the chief Pontiff had lost 
 gi-ound in the Empire. Luther's spirit 
 seemed to have taken possession of the hearts 
 of the nation's representatives. The moment 
 was auspicious. Adrian's ear seemed open, 
 the Emperor was at a distance ; the Diet 
 resolved to enumerate in one document the 
 various wrongs that Germany had for centu- 
 ries endured from Rome, and to address their 
 memorial to the Pope. 
 
 The Legate was alarmed at this determina- 
 tion. He used threats and entreaties, but 
 both were unavailing. The secular states 
 adhered to their purpose, and the ecclesiastical 
 did not venture to offer opposition. Eighty 
 grievances were therefore set forth. The cor- 
 ruption and arts of the Popes and of the court 
 of Rome, in order to squeeze revenue from 
 Germany, the scandals and profanations of 
 the clerical orders, the disorders and simony 
 of the ecclesiastical courts, the encroach- 
 ments on the civil power to the restriction of 
 liberty of conscience, were detailed with 
 equal freedom and force. The states dis- 
 tinctly intimated that traditions of men were 
 the source of all this abuse, and they ended 
 by saying, " If these grievances are not 
 redressed within a limited time, we will con- 
 sult together, and seek some other means of 
 deliverance from our sufferings and our 
 wrongs." 46 Chieregati, having a presenti- 
 ment that the report the Diet would prepare 
 would be couched in strong language, hastily 
 took his departure from Nuremberg, thus 
 avoiding being himself the bearer of so disap- 
 pointing and insolent a communication. 
 
 After all, was it not still to be feared that 
 the Diet would endeavour to make some 
 amends for this bold measure, by the sacrifice 
 of Luther himself? At first, there were some 
 apprehensions of such a policy, but a spirit 
 of justice and sincerity had been breathed on 
 the assembly. Following the example of 
 Luther, it demanded the convocation of a free 
 Council in the Empire, and decreed that until 
 such Council should assemble, nothing 
 should be preached but the simple Gospef, 
 and nothing put forth in print, without the 
 sanction of a certain number of men of cha- 
 racter and learning. 47 These resolutions afford 
 us some means of estimating the vast advance 
 the Reformation had made since the Diet of 
 Worms, and yet the Saxon envoy, the 
 knight Frelitsch, recorded a formal protest 
 against the censorship prescribed by the Diet, 
 moderate as that censorship might seem. 
 The decree of the Diet was a first victory 
 gained by the Reformation, which was the 
 presage of future triumphs. Even the Swiss, 
 in the depths of their mountains, shared in 
 the general exultation. "The Roman Pon- 
 tiff has been defeated in Germany !" said 
 Zwingle; "All that remains to be done is to 
 deprive him of his armour. It is for this that 
 we must now fight, and the battle will be 
 fiercer than before. But we have Christ pre- 
 
 sent with us in the conflict." 48 Luther loudly 
 affirmed that the edict the Princes had put 
 forth was by inspiration of God himself. 49 
 
 Great was the indignation at the Vatican 
 among the Pope's council. " What ! it is 
 not enough to have to bear with a Pope who 
 disappoints the expectation of the Romans, in 
 whose palace no sound of song or amusement 
 is ever heard, but, in addition to this, secular 
 princes are to be suffered to hold a language 
 that Rome abhors, and refuse to deliver up the 
 monk of Wittemberg to the executioner ?" 
 
 Adrian himself was indignant at the events 
 in Germany, and it was on the head of the 
 Elector of Saxony that he now poured out his 
 anger. Never had the Roman Pontiffs 
 uttered a cry of alarm more energetic, more 
 sincere, or more affecting. 
 
 " We have waited long perhaps too long," 
 said the pious Adrian, in his brief addressed 
 to the Elector: "It was our desire to see 
 whether God would visit thy soul, so that 
 thou mightest at the last be delivered from 
 the snares of the devil. But where we had 
 hoped to gather grapes there have we found 
 nothing but wild grapes. The Spirit's 
 promptings have been despised ; thy wicked- 
 ness has not been subdued. Open thine eyes 
 to behold the greatness of thy fall ! 
 
 " If the unity of the Church is gone if the 
 simple have been turned out of the way of 
 that faith which they had sucked from their 
 mothers' breasts if the churches are deserted 
 if the people are without priests, and the 
 priests have not the honour due to them, if 
 Christians are without Christ, to whom is it 
 owing but to thee ? 50 .... If Christian 
 peace has forsaken the earth if, on every 
 side, discord, rebellion, pillage, violence, and 
 midnight conflagrations prevail if the cry of 
 war is heard from east to west if universal 
 conflict is at hand, it is thou thyself who 
 art the author of all these. 
 
 "Seest thou not that sacrilegious man, 
 (Luther,) how he rends with wicked hands, 
 and profanely tramples under foot, the pic- 
 tures of the saints, and even the holy cross 
 of Jesus ? . . . . Seest thou not how, in 
 his infamous rage, he incites the laity to shed 
 the blood of the priests, and overturn the 
 temples of the Lord. 
 
 " And what, if the priests he assails are 
 disorderly in conduct ? Has not the Lord 
 said, ' Wfiatsoever they bid you, that observe 
 and do, but do not after their works 1 thus 
 instructing us in the honour that belongs to 
 them, even though their lives should be dis- 
 orderly. 51 
 
 "Rebellious apostate! he does not blush 
 to defile vessels dedicated to God ; he forces 
 from the sanctuaries virgins consecrated to 
 Christ, delivering them over to the devil ; he 
 getteth into his power the priests of the 
 Lord, and gives them to abandoned women. 
 Awful profanation ! which even the heathen 
 would have reprobated in the priests of their 
 idol worship. 
 
 " What punishment, what infliction, dost 
 thou think we judge thee to deserve 1 Have 
 
304 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 pity on thyself, have pity on thy poor 
 ISaxons ; for surely, if thou dost not turn from 
 the evil of thy way, God will bring down his 
 vengeance upon thee. 
 
 " Jn the name of the Almighty God and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ, of whom I am 
 vicegerent on earth, I warn thee that thou 
 wilt be judged in this world, and be cast into 
 the lake of everlasting fire in that which is to 
 come. Repent and be converted. Both 
 swords are impending over thy head, the 
 sword of the Empire, and that of the Papal 
 authority." 
 
 The pious Frederic shuddered as he read 
 this menacing brief. A little before he had 
 written to the Emperor to say that his age 
 and bodily indisposition incapacitated him 
 for attending to such matters ; and the answer 
 returned was one of the most insolent letters 
 a reigning prince had ever received. Infirm 
 and aged as he was, his eyes rested upon the 
 sword he had received at the holy sepulchre 
 in the days of youthful vigour. A thought 
 crossed his mind that it might be necessary 
 to unsheathe it in defence of the conscience 
 of his subjects, and that, near as his life was 
 to its close, he should not descend to the 
 grave in peace. He forthwith wrote to Wit- 
 temberg to have the judgment of the fathers 
 of the Reformation as to what should be done. 
 
 There, also, forebodings of commotion and 
 persecution were rife. " What can I say," 
 exclaimed the mild Melancthon, "whither 
 can I turn f 52 Hatred presses us to the earth 
 the world is up in arms against us." Lu- 
 ther, Link, Melancthon, Bugenhagen and 
 Amsdorff, held a consultation on the answer 
 to be returned to the Elector. They drew up 
 a reply, each in terms nearly identical, and 
 the advice they gave is not a little remarkable. 
 
 " No prince," said they, " can undertake a 
 war without the consent of the people from 
 whose hands he has received his authority. 53 
 But the people have no heart to fight for the 
 Gospel, for they do not believe. Therefore, 
 let not princes take up arms ; they are rulers 
 of the nations, that is to say, of unbelievers." 
 Here we find the impetuous Luther soliciting 
 the discreet Frederic to restore his sword to 
 its scabbard. No better answer could be given 
 to the Pope's charge that he stirred up the 
 laity to embrue their hands in the blood of the 
 priests. Few characters have been more mis- 
 understood than his. The advice was dated 
 the 8th February, 1523. Frederic submitted 
 in silence. 
 
 It was not long before the effects of the 
 Pope's anger began to be seen. The princes 
 who had recapitulated their grievances, now 
 dreading the consequences, sought to make 
 amends by compliances. Some, there were, 
 who reflected that victory would probably de- 
 clare for the Pontiff, seeing that he, to all ap- 
 pearance, was the stronger of the two. " In 
 our days," observed Luther, " princes are con- 
 tent to say three times three make nine, or 
 twice seven makes fourteen, right, the coun 
 sel shall stand. Then the Lord our God arises 
 and speaks: 'What then do you allow for 
 
 My power!' .... It may be naught . . . 
 And immediately He confuses the figures, and 
 their calculations are proved false." 54 
 
 The stream of fire poured forth by the hum- 
 ble and gentle Adrian kindled a conflagration, 
 and the rising flame spread far and wide in 
 Christendom a deep agitation. Persecution, 
 which had slackened for a while, was now re- 
 newed. Luther trembled for Germany, and 
 sought to allay the tempest. " If the princes 
 make war against the truth," said he, "there 
 will be such confusion as will be the ruin of 
 princes, magistrates, clergy and people. I 
 tremble at the thought that all Germany may, 
 in a little while, be deluged with blood. 55 Let 
 us stand as a rampart for our country against 
 the wrath of our God. Nations are not now 
 as formerly. 56 The sword of civil war is im- 
 pending over kings : they are bent on destroy- 
 ing Luther but Luther is bent on saving 
 them ; Christ lives and reigns, and I shall reign 
 with him." 31 
 
 These words were spoken to the winds. 
 Rome was pressing forward to scaffolds and the 
 shedding of blood. The Reformation in this re- 
 sembled''^^ Christ, that it came not to send 
 peace on the earth, but a sword. Persecution 
 was necessary in the counsels of God. As cer- 
 tain substances are hardened in the fire that 
 they may be less liable to be affected by atmo- 
 spheric changes, so the fiery trial was design- 
 ed to arm and defend the truth of the Gospel 
 from the influence of the world. But that fiery 
 trial did yet more ; it served, as in the early 
 days of Christianity, to kindle in men's hearts 
 a universal enthusiasm for a cause against 
 which such rage was let loose. There is in 
 man, when first introduced to the knowledge 
 of the truth, a holy indignation against violence 
 and injustice. An instinct received from God 
 impels him to range himself on the side of the 
 oppressed ; and, at the same time, the faith of 
 the martyrs exalts, controls, and leads him to 
 that saving truth which gifts its followers 
 with so much courage and tranquillity. 
 
 Duke George openly took the lead in the 
 persecution. But he was not content to carry 
 it on among his own subjects; he desired, 
 above all, to see it extend itself to electoral 
 Saxony, the focus of heresy, and he laboured 
 hard to move the Elector Frederic and Duke 
 John. In writing to them from Nuremberg, 
 he observed, " Certain merchants, recently 
 from Saxony, bring reports from thence of 
 strange things, and such as are most opposed 
 to the honour of God, and the saints. It 
 seems, they take the holy sacrament in their 
 hands consecrate the bread and wine in the 
 common speech of the people pour the blood 
 of Christ into a common cup. It is said that 
 at Eulenberg, a man, who sought occasion to 
 insult the officiating priest, rode into the church 
 mounted on an ass. And what do we hear to 
 be the consequence 1 The mines, with which 
 God had enriched Saxony, are become less 
 productive ever since this preaching of Lu- 
 ther's innovations. Would to God that those 
 who boast that they have restored the Gospel 
 in the electorate had employed themselves in 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 305 
 
 Tarrying tr.e testimony of it to Constantino- 
 ple. Luther's speech is gentle and specious, 
 but it draws after it a sting which is sharper 
 than a scorpion's. Let us make ready our 
 hands to fight. Let us cast these apostate 
 monks and ungodly priests into prison ; let us 
 do so at once ; for the hairs of our heads are 
 turning as gray as our beards, and admonish 
 us that we have not long to live." 58 
 
 So wrote Duke George to the Elector. The 
 latter answered decidedly, yet mildly, that 
 whoever should commit any crime within his 
 state should not go unpunished ; but that, as 
 to matters of conscience, they must be left to 
 the judgment of God. 59 
 
 Failing in his endeavour to persuade Frede- 
 ric, George pressed his severities against such 
 as lay within his reach. He imprisoned the 
 monks and priests who were known to ad- 
 here to Luther's doctrines, recalled to their 
 families the students who had gone from his 
 states to pursue their studies in the universi- 
 ties to which the Reformation had extended, 
 and required his subjects to deliver up to the 
 magistrates all copies of the New Testament 
 in the vernacular tongue. Similar measures 
 were put in force in Austria, Wurtemberg, 
 and the Duchy of Brunswick. 
 
 But it was in the Low Countries, under the 
 immediate rule of Charles V., that the perse- 
 cution broke out with most violence. The 
 convent of the Augustines, at Antwerp, con- 
 tained within it monks who had hailed with 
 joy the truths of the Gospel. Several of the 
 brothers had passed some time at Wittem- 
 berg, and -ever since 1519, Salvation by 
 Grace had been preached in their church with 
 unusual power. Toward the close of the year 
 1521, James Probst, the prior, a man of ar- 
 dent temperament, and Melchior Mirisch, who 
 was remarkable for the opposite qualities of 
 experience and prudence, were arrested and 
 carried to Brussels. They were there brought 
 before Aleander, Glapio, and several other 
 prelates. Taken unawares, disconcerted, and 
 dreading consequences, Probst recanted. Mel- 
 chior Mirisch found means to appease his 
 judges ; and, while he avoided a recantation, 
 escaped condemnation. 
 
 These proceedings no way overawed the 
 monks who remained in the convent of 
 Antwerp. They continued to preach the gos- 
 pel with earnestness. The people crowded to 
 hear, and the church of the Augustines at 
 Antwerp was unable to contain the hearers, 
 as had been the case at Wittemberg. In Oc- 
 tober, 1522, the storm which had been ga- 
 thering over their heads suddenly burst forth. 
 The convent was closed, and the monks im- 
 prisoned and sentenced to die. 60 A few effected 
 their escape. Some women, roused into for- 
 getfulness of the natural timidity of their sex, 
 rescued one of them, by name Henry Zuphten, 
 from the hands of the executioners. 61 Three 
 of the younger monks, Henry Voe, John 
 Eesch, and Lambert Thorn, evaded for a time 
 the search of the inquisitors. The sacred 
 vessels of the convent were publicly sold, the 
 entrance to the church barricaded, the holy 
 
 sacrament was carried forth as if from a place 
 of pollution, and Margaret, who then govern- 
 ed the Low Countries, solemnly received it 
 into the church of the Holy Virgin. 62 An order 
 was given that not one stone should be left 
 upon another of that heretical monastery ; and 
 several private citizens and women who had 
 joyfully received the Gospel were thrown into 
 prison. 63 
 
 Luther was deeply grieved on receiving in- 
 telligence of these events. " The cause we 
 have in hand," said he, " is no longer a mere 
 trial of strength ; it demands the sacrifice of 
 our lives, and must be cemented by our 
 blood." 64 
 
 Mirisch and Probst were reserved for a very 
 different fate. The politic Mirisch soon be- 
 came the docile slave of Rome, and was em- 
 ployed in carrying into execution the Impe- 
 rial orders against the favourers of the Re- 
 formation. 65 Probst, on the contrary, escaping 
 out of the hands of the inquisitors, wept bit- 
 terly over his failure, retraced his recantation, 
 and boldly preached at Bruges in Flanders 
 the doctrine he had abjured. Being again 
 arrested and cast into prison at Brussels, 
 death seemed inevitable. 63 A Franciscan took 
 pity upon him, assisted him in his flight, and 
 Probst, "saved by a miracle of God," says 
 Luther, reached Wittemberg, where all hearts 
 were filled with joy at his second deli- 
 verance.* 
 
 On every side the priests of Rome were 
 under arms. The town of Miltenberg on the 
 Maine, in the jurisdiction of the Elector 
 Archbishop of Mentz, had, of all the towns 
 of Germany, received the Word of God with 
 most joy. The inhabitants were much at- 
 tached to their pastor, John Draco, one of the 
 most enlightened men of his time. He was 
 compelled to leave the city; but the Roman 
 clergy withdrew at the same time, dreading 
 the vengeance of the people. An evangelical 
 deacon remained behind, and comforted their 
 hearts. At the same time the soldiery of 
 Mentz were introduced and dispersed through 
 the city, vomiting blasphemies, brandishing 
 their swords, and giving themselves up to 
 debauchery. 67 
 
 Some of the evangelical Christians fell 
 victims to their violence,^ others were seized 
 and thrown into dungeons, the rites of Romish 
 worship was restored, the reading of the 
 Scriptures prohibited, and the inhabitants for- 
 
 * Jacobus, Dei miraculo liberatus qui nunc agit 
 nobiscum. (L. Epp. ii. p. 182.) This letter, which 
 is found in M. De Wette's collection, under the 
 date of April 14, must be subsequent to the month 
 of June, since, on the 26th of June, we find Lu- 
 ther saying that Probst has been again taken, and 
 was expected to be burnt. The supposition that 
 would solve the difficulty, by supposing Probst to 
 have been at Wittemberg between these two cap- 
 tures, is not admissible, for Luther would not have 
 aid of a Christian who had been saved from death 
 by his recantation, that he had been delivered by a 
 miracle of God. Perhaps we should read the date, 
 &c., of this letter, instead of ' in die S. Tiburlii' 
 ' in die Turiafi,' which would place it in July 
 13 the probable date, in my opinion. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 bidden to speak of the Gospel, even in their 
 family meetings. The deacon had taken 
 refuge with a poor widow, on the entrance of 
 the troops. Information was given to the 
 commanding officer, and a soldier despatched 
 to take him. The humble deacon, hearing 
 the steps of the soldier who sought his life, 
 advancing, quietly waited for him, and just 
 as the door of the chamber was abruptly 
 pushed open, he came forward, and, embrac- 
 ing him, said, " I bid you welcome, brother. 
 Here I am : plunge your sword in my bo- 
 som." 69 The stern soldier, in astonishment, 
 dropt his weapon, and contrived to save the 
 pious evangelist from further molestation. 
 
 Meanwhile, the inquisitors of the Low 
 Countries, thirsting for blood, scoured the 
 neighbouring country, searching everywhere 
 for the young Augustines, who had escaped 
 from the Antwerp persecution. Esch, Voes, 
 and Lambert, were at last discovered, put in 
 chains, and conducted to Brussels. Egmon- 
 danus, Hochstraten, and several other inqui- 
 sitors, summoned them to their presence. 
 "Do you retract your opinion," inquired 
 Hochstraten, " that the priest has no power 
 to forgive sins, but that that power belongs to 
 God alone!" and then he went on to enu- 
 merate the other Gospel truths which he re- 
 quired them to abjure. " No : we will retract 
 nothing," exclaimed Esch and Voes firmly ; 
 " we will not disown God's Word ; we will 
 rather die for the faith!" 
 
 THE INQUISITORS. " Confess that you 
 have been deceived by Luther." 
 
 THE YOUNG AUGUSTINES "As the apos- 
 tles were deceived by Jesus Christ." 
 
 THE INQUISITORS. " We declare you to be 
 heretics, worthy of being burnt alive; and 
 we deliver you over to the secular arm." 
 
 Lambert was silent. The prospect of death 
 terrified him : distress and uncertainty agi- 
 tated his heart. " I request four days' respite," 
 said he, in stifled emotion. He was taken 
 back to prison. As soon as this respite was 
 expired, Esch and Voes were degraded from 
 their priestly office, and handed over to the 
 council of the reigning governess of the Low 
 Countries. The council delivered them, 
 bound, to the executioner. Hochstraten and 
 three other inquisitors accompanied them to 
 the place of execution. 70 
 
 Arriving at the scaffold, the young martyrs 
 contemplated it with calmness. Their con- 
 stancy, their piety, and their youth drew 
 tears from the inquisitors themselves. When 
 they were bound to the stake, 71 the confessors 
 drew near, " Once more we ask you if you 
 will receive the Christian faith ?" 
 
 THE MARTYRS. " We believe in the 
 Christian Church, but not in your Church." 
 
 Half an hour elapsed. It was a pause of 
 hesitation. A hope had been cherished that 
 the near prospect of such a death would in- 
 timidate these youths. But alone tranquil of 
 all the crowd that thronged the square, they 
 began to sing psalms, stopping from time to 
 time to declare that they were resolved to die 
 for the name of Jesus Christ. 
 
 " Be converted be converted," cried the 
 inquisitors, " or you will die in the name of 
 the devil." " No," answered the martyrs ; 
 " we will die like Christians, and for the truth 
 of the Gospel." 
 
 The pile was then lighted. Whilst the 
 flame slowly ascended, a heavenly peace di- 
 lated their hearts ; and one of them could 
 even say, "I seem to be on a bedof roses." 72 
 The solemn hour was come death was at 
 hand. The two martyrs cried with a loud 
 voice, " O Lord Jesus, Son of David, have 
 mercy upon us !" and then they began to re- 
 cite their creed. 73 At last the flames reached 
 them; but the fire consumed the cords which 
 fastened them to the stake before their breath 
 was gone. One of them, feeling his liberty, 
 dropped upon his knees in the midst of the 
 flames, and then, in worship to his Lord, ex- 
 claimed, clasping his hands, "Lord Jesus, 
 Son of David, have mercy on us !" 74 
 
 Their bodies were quickly wrapped inflame; 
 they shouted " Te Deum laudamus." Soon 
 their voices were stifled, and their ashes 
 alone remained. 
 
 This execution had lasted four hours. It 
 was on the first of July, 1523, that the first 
 martyrs of the Reformation laid down their 
 lives for the gospel. 
 
 All good men shuddered when they heard 
 of these events. The future was big with 
 fearful anticipations. "The executions have 
 begun," said Erasmus. 75 "At length," ex- 
 claimed Luther, "Christ is gathering some 
 fruits of our preaching, and preparing new 
 martyrs." 
 
 But the joy of Luther in the constancy of 
 these young Christians was disturbed by the 
 thoughts of Lambert. Of the three, Lambert 
 possessed the most learning; he had been 
 chosen to fill the place of Probst, as preacher 
 at Antwerp. Finding no peace in his dun- 
 geon, he was terrified at the prospect of death ; 
 but still more by conscience, which reproach- 
 ed him with his cowardice, and urged him to 
 confess the Gospel. Delivered, ere long, from 
 his fears, he boldly proclaimed the truth, and 
 died like his brethren. 76 
 
 A noble harvest sprung up from the blood 
 of these martyrs. Brussels manifested a will- 
 ingness to receive the Gospel. 77 " Wherever 
 Aleander lights a pile," remarked Erasmus, 
 "there it seems as if he had sowed heretics." 7 * 
 
 " I am bound with your bonds," exclaimed 
 Luther: "your dungeons and your burnings 
 my soul takes part in. 79 All of us are with you 
 in spirit; and the Lord is above it all !" 
 
 He proceeded to compose a hymn* comme- 
 morative of the death of the young monks ; 
 
 * Die Asche will nicht lassen ab, 
 Sie staubt in alien Landen, 
 Hie hilft kein Bach, Loch, noch Grab. 
 
 (L. Opp. xviii. p. 484.) 
 
 Obligingly rendered by John Alex. Messenger 
 to whose friendly pen the publisher is indebted 
 for the touching hymns of Zwingle, (see p. 234, 
 235 ;) as well as for the translation of a portion of 
 the Volume, besides other assistance and many 
 valuable suggestions. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 307 
 
 and soon, in every direction, throughout Ger- 
 many and the Low Countries, in towns and 
 in villages, were heard accents of song which 
 communicated an enthusiasm for the faith of 
 *he martyrs. 
 
 Flung to the heedless winds, 
 Or on the waters cast, 
 
 Their ashes shall be watched, 
 And gathered at the last. 
 
 And from that scattered dust, 
 Around us and abroad, 
 
 Shall spring a plenteous seed 
 Of witnesses for God. 
 
 Jesus hath now received 
 Their latest living breath, 
 
 Yet vain is Satan's boast 
 Of victory in their death. 
 
 Still still though dead, they speak, 
 And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim 
 
 To many a wakening land, 
 The one availing Name. 
 Doubtless Adrian would have persisted in 
 these violent measures; the failure of his 
 ofTorts to arrest the progress of the Reforma- 
 tion his own orthodoxy his zeal his in- 
 flexibility even his conscientiousness would 
 have made him an unrelenting persecutor. 
 Providence ordained otherwise. He expired 
 on the 14th of September, 1523 ; and the Ro- 
 mans, overjoyed at being rid of the stern 
 foreigner, suspended a crown of flowers at 
 the door of his physician, with an inscrip- 
 tion " to the saviour of his country." 
 
 Julio de Medicis, cousin to Leo X., suc- 
 ceeded Adrian, under the name of Clement 
 VII. From the day of his election, all ideas 
 of religious reformation were at an end. The 
 new Pope, like many of his predecessors, 
 thought only of maintaining the privileges of 
 the Papacy, and employing its resources for 
 his own aggrandizement. 
 
 Anxious to repair the indiscretions of Adrian, 
 Clement despatched a legate of a character 
 resembling his own, Cardinal Campeggio, 
 the ablest prelate of his court, and a man of 
 large experience, well acquainted with most 
 of the German Princes. After a pompous re- 
 ception in his passage through the Italian ci- 
 ties, the Legate soon noticed the change that 
 had taken place in the Empire. On entering 
 Augsburg, he proposed, according to custom, 
 to give his benediction to the people; but 
 those to whom he spoke met the proposal by 
 a smile. The hint was enough ; and he en- 
 tered Nuremberg incognito, without repairing 
 to St. Sebalde's church, where the clergy 
 were waiting for him. No priests in sacer- 
 dotal vestments were seen advancing to greet 
 him ; no cross was borne in solemn state be- 
 fore him; but one might have thought a pri- 
 vate individual was taking his journey through 
 thecity. 80 Every thing indicated that the reign 
 of the Papacy was drawing to its close. 
 
 The Diet had met again in session, at Nu- 
 remberg, in January, 1525. A storm was im- 
 pending over the government of the nation, 
 owing to the firmness of Frederic. The Sua- 
 bian league, comprising the richest cities of 
 the empire, and, above all, Charles the Fifth, 
 had combined for his destruction. He was 
 charged with favouring the newly-broached 
 40 
 
 heresy. Accordingly, it was decided that the 
 executive powers should be so entirely changed 
 as not to retain one of the old members. Fre- 
 deric, overwhelmed with grief, instantly took 
 his departure from Nuremberg. 
 
 Easter drew nigh. Osiander and the gos- 
 pel preachers redoubled their activity. The 
 former preached publicly to the effect, that 
 Antichrist entered Rome the very day that 
 Constantine had quitted it to fix his residence 
 at Constantinople. The ceremony of Palm 
 Sunday and others were omitted ; four thou- 
 sand persons partook of the supper under both 
 kinds ; and the Queen of Denmark, sister to 
 the Emperor, publicly received it in like man- 
 ner at the Castle. " Oh," exclaimed the 
 Archduke Ferdinand, losing all self-command, 
 " would that you were not my sister." " The 
 same mother bore us," replied the Queen ; 
 " and 1 would give up every thing but God's 
 truth to serve you." 81 
 
 Campeggio trembled at witnessing such 
 audacity ; nevertheless affecting to despise the 
 jeers of the people, and the harangues of the 
 preachers, and relying on the authority of 
 the Emperor and of the Pope, he referred the 
 Diet to the edict of Worms, and demanded 
 that the Reformation should be put down by 
 force. On hearing this, some of the princes, 
 and deputies gave vent to their indignation. 
 " And pray," asked they, addressing Cam- 
 peggio, "what has become of the memorial of 
 grievances presented to the Pope by the peo- 
 
 Kle of Germany ]" The Legate, acting upon 
 is instructions, assumed an air of bland sur- 
 prise : " Three versions of that memorial have 
 been received in Rome," said he; " but it has 
 never been officially communicated ; and I 
 could never believe that so unseemly a paper 
 could have emanated from your Highnesses." 
 
 The Diet was stung by this reply. If this 
 be the spirit in which the Pope receives their 
 representations, they also know what recep- 
 tion to give to such as he should address to 
 them. Several deputies remarked that such 
 was the eagerness of the people for the Word 
 of God, that the attempt to deprive them of 
 it would occasion torrents of bloodshed. 
 
 The Diet straightway set about preparing 
 an answer to the Pope. As it was not possi- 
 ble to get rid of the edict of Worms, a clause 
 was added to it, which had the effect of ren- 
 dering it null. "We require," said they, 
 " that all should conform to it so far as ispos- 
 sz'6/e." 82 But several of the states had declared 
 that it was impossible to enforce it. At the same 
 time calling to mind the unwelcome remem- 
 brance of the Councils of Constance and of 
 Bale, the Diet demanded the convocation in 
 Germany of a General Council of Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 The friends of the Reformation did not 
 stop here. What could they look for from a 
 Council which might perhaps never be called 
 together, and which, in any case, would be 
 sure to be composed of bishops of all nations? 
 Will Germany humble her anti-Roman incli- 
 nations in deference to prelates assembled 
 from Spain, France, England, and Italy 1 
 2 D 
 
308 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The government of the nation has been already 
 set aside. It is necessary that in its place 
 should be a " national assembly" charged with 
 the defence of the popular interest. 
 
 Vainly did Hannart, the Spanish envoy of 
 Charles, supported by the adherents of Rome 
 and of the Emperor, oppose the suggestion ; 
 the majority of the Diet were unshaken. It 
 was arranged that a diet or secular assembly 
 should meet in November at Spires, to regu- 
 late all questions of religion, and that the 
 States should invite their divines to prepare a 
 list of controverted points to be laid before 
 that august assembly. 
 
 No time was lost. Each province pre- 
 pared its memorial, and never had Rome rea- 
 son to apprehend so great an explosion. 
 Franconia, Brandenburg, Henneberg, Wind- 
 sheim, Wertheim, Nuremberg, declared for 
 the truth of the Gospel as opposed to the seven 
 sacraments, the corruptions of the mass, the 
 worship of the saints, and the Pope's supre- 
 macy. " There is coin for you of the genuine 
 stamp," said Luther. Not one of the ques- 
 tions which engaged the popular mind seemed 
 likely to be passed over in silence, in that 
 council of the nation. The majority would 
 make a stand for general measures. The 
 unity of Germany, its independence, and its 
 reformation, would yet be safe ! 
 
 When news of what was passing reached 
 the Pope, he could not restrain his anger. 
 What ! do any presume to set up a secular 
 tribunal to decide questions of religion in con- 
 tempt of his authority ? 83 If this unprecedented 
 step be taken, doubtless Germany will be 
 saved, but Rome is ruined ! A consistory 
 was nastily called together, and one who 
 watched the dismay of the senators might 
 have thought the Germans were in full march 
 upon the Capitol. " As to the Elector Fre- 
 deric," exclaimed Aleander, " we must take 
 off his head ;" and another Cardinal gave 
 counsel that the kings of England and of Spain 
 should overawe the free cities by threatening 
 to break off all commercial intercourse with 
 them. In conclusion, the consistory came to 
 the decision that the only way of safety lay 
 in moving heaven and earth to prevent the 
 proposed assembly at Spires. 
 
 The Pope wrote directly to the Emperor : 
 " If I am called to be foremost in making 
 head against the storm, it is not because I am 
 the only one threatened by the tempest, but 
 because I am at the helm. The Imperial 
 authority is yet more invaded than even the 
 dignity of the court of Rome." 
 
 Whilst the Pope was sending this letter to 
 Castile, he was seeking to strengthen him- 
 self by alliances in Germany. It was not 
 long before he gained over one of the most 
 powerful reigning families of the Empire, the 
 Dukes of Bavaria. The edict of Worms had 
 been as much a dead letter there as elsewhere ; 
 and the doctrine of the Gospel had made its 
 way extensively. But subsequent to the close 
 of 1521, the princes of the country, urged on 
 by Doctor Eck, who was chancellor in their 
 university of Ingolstadt, had again made ad- 
 
 vances towards Rome, and passed a law 
 enjoining their subjects to adhere faithful to 
 the religion of their forefathers. 84 
 
 The Bavarian bishops showed some signa 
 of alarm at this intervention of the secular 
 authority. Eck set out immediately for Rome 
 to solicit from the Pope an extension of the 
 authority lodged in the princes. The Pope 
 granted all their desires, and even went so far 
 as to make over to them a fifth of the revenues 
 of the church in their country. 
 
 Here we see Roman Catholicism, at a time 
 when the Reformation had no regular settle- 
 ment, resorting to established institutions for 
 support, and Catholic princes, aided by the 
 Pope, seizing the revenues of the Church 
 long before the Reformation had ventured to 
 touch them. W T hat then must be thought of 
 the oft-repeated charges of Catholics on this 
 head! 
 
 Clement VII. was secure of the assistance 
 of Bavaria in quelling the dreaded assembly 
 of Spires. It was not long before the Arch- 
 duke Ferdinand, the Archbishop of Salzburg, 
 and others of the princes were likewise gain- 
 ed over. 
 
 But Campeggio was bent on something 
 more. His aim was to divide Germany into 
 two hostile camps; Germans were to be 
 opposed to Germans. 
 
 During a previous residence at Stutgard, 
 the Legate had concerted with Ferdinand the 
 project of a league against the Reformation. 
 " There is no telling what may be the result 
 of an assembly in which the voice of the peo- 
 ple will be heard," observed he: "The Diet 
 of Spires may be the ruin of Rome and the 
 salvation of Wittemberg. Let us close our 
 ranks and be prepared for the onset." 85 It was 
 settled that Ratisbon should be the point of 
 rendezvous. 
 
 Prevailing over the jealousies that estranged 
 the reigning houses of Bavaria and Austria, 
 Campeggio contrived to assemble in that city, 
 toward the end of 1524, the Duke of Bavaria 
 and the Archduke Ferdinand. The Arch- 
 bishop of Salzburg and the Bishops of Trent 
 and of Ratisbon joined them. The Bishops 
 of Spires, Bamberg, Augsburg, Strasburg, 
 Bale, Constance, Freesingen, Passau, and 
 Brixen, sent deputies to the assembly. 
 
 The Legate opened the subject of the meet- 
 ng, depicting in moving language the dan- 
 gers resulting from the Reformation both to 
 )rinces and the clergy, and concluded by call- 
 ng upon them to extirpate heresy and rescue 
 he Church. 
 
 For fifteen days the conferences were con- 
 inued in the town-hall of Ratisbon. At the 
 ixpiration of that time, a ball, which con- 
 inued till daybreak, served as a relaxation to 
 he first Catholic assembly convened by the 
 3 apacy to resist the infant Reformation, 86 
 ind, after this, measures were agreed upon for 
 he destruction of the heretics. 
 
 The Princes and Bishops bound themselves 
 o enforce the edicts of Worms and Nurem- 
 >erg to allow of no innovations in public 
 worship to tolerate no married priest to re- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 309 
 
 call the students of their states who might be 
 resident in Wittemberg, and to employ ail the 
 means in their power for the extirpation of 
 heresy. They enjoined the preachers to take 
 for their guides, in interpreting difficult scrip- 
 tures, the Latin Fathers, Ambrose, Jerome, 
 Augustine, and Gregory. Not daring, in the 
 face of the Reformation, to invoke again the 
 authority of the Schools, they contented them- 
 selves with laying the foundations of Roman 
 orthodoxy. 
 
 But, not able to close their eyes against the 
 scandals and profligate morals of the clergy, 87 
 they agreed on a programme of reform, in 
 which they studiously selected such grie- 
 vances of the Germans as least involved or 
 affected the court of Rome. They prohibited 
 priests from dealings in the way of barter, 
 from frequenting taverns, being present "at 
 dances," and disputing over their bottle about 
 points of faith ! 
 
 This was the issue of the confederation of 
 Ratisbon. 88 In the very act of taking up arms 
 against the Reformation, Rome yet conceded 
 a something ; and we discern in these regu- 
 lations the earliest influence of the Reforma- 
 tion, i inducing an interior renovation in 
 Catholicism itself. Wherever the Gospel 
 developes its resources, its enemies are sure to 
 have their counterfeits at hand. Emser had 
 produced a translation of the Bible to coun- 
 teract that by Luther. Eck, in like manner, 
 put forth his Loci Communes in opposition to 
 Melancthon's, 89 --and then it was that Rome 
 began to oppose to the Reformation those par- 
 tial changes which have given to Roman Ca- 
 tholicism its present aspect. But, in truth, 
 these expedients were but subtle devices to 
 escape impending dangers. Branches, pluck- 
 ed indeed from the tree of the Reformation, 
 but set in a soil which doomed them to decay : 
 the principle of life, was wanting, and thus it 
 will ever be with all similar attempts. 
 
 Another fact is here presented to us. The 
 Romanist party, by the league which they 
 formed at Ratisbon, were the first to violate 
 the unity of Germany. It was in the Pope's 
 camp that the signal of battle was given. 
 Ratisbon was the birthplace of that schism 
 and political rending of their country which 
 so many of the Germans to this hour deplore. 
 The national assembly of Spires was called 
 to ensure the unity of the Empire by sanc- 
 tioning and extending the Reformation of the 
 Church. The conventicle of separatists that 
 met at Ratisbon forever divided the nation in 
 two parties. 90 Yet the schemes of Campeggio 
 were not at first attended with the results an- 
 ticipated. But few of the chiefs responded 
 to the call. The most decided opponents of 
 Luther, Duke George of Saxony, the elector 
 Joachim of Brandenburg, the ecclesiastical 
 Electors, and the imperial cities, declined 
 taking any part. An opinion prevailed that 
 the Pope's legate was forming a Romanist 
 faction opposed to the national mind. The 
 popular sympathies counterbalanced the anti- 
 pathies of religion ; and it was not long before 
 the Ratisbon Reformation was an object of 
 
 public ridicule. But a first step had been 
 taken, an example had been set. It was 
 expected that, with a little pains, it would be 
 easy eventually to confirm and enlarge this 
 Roman league. Those who then hesitated 
 would be decided by the course of events. 
 To the legate, Campeggio, is ascribed the 
 glory of having laid the train which was to 
 bring little less than destruction upon the 
 liberties of Germany, and the safety of the 
 Empire, and the Reformation. From that 
 hour the cause of Luther was no longer of a 
 nature purely religious ; and the contest with 
 the Wittemberg monk ranked among the po- 
 litical events of Europe. Luther, in this new 
 sphere, would pass under eclipse, and Charles 
 V., the Pope, and the reigning Princes, 
 would be the chief actors on the stage where 
 the grand drama of the sixteenth century was 
 to be performed. 
 
 But the prospect of the assembly at Spires 
 was continually present to the minds of the 
 people. Its measures might remedy the mis- 
 chiefs that Campeggio had occasioned at 
 Ratisbon. Accordingly, Rome strained every 
 nerve to prevent its assembling. " What !" 
 exclaimed the Pope's deputies to Charles V., 
 as also to his ally, Henry VIII., and other 
 princes, "will these presumptuous Germans 
 pretend to decide points of faith in a national 
 assembly ! They seem to expect that kings, 
 the Imperial authority, all Christendom, and 
 the whole world, are to bend to their deci- 
 sions." 
 
 The moment was not ill chosen for influ- 
 encing the Emperor. The war between that 
 prince and Francis the First was at its height. 
 Pescara and the Constable of Bourbon had 
 left Italy, and entering France in the month 
 of May, laid siege to Marseilles. The Pope, 
 who looked with an evil eye on this attack, 
 might effect a powerful diversion in the rear 
 of the Imperial forces. Charles, who, under 
 these circumstances, must have feared to give 
 umbrage to his Holiness, did not hesitate to 
 sacrifice the independence of the Empire, 
 that he might purchase the favour of Rome, 
 and humble his rival the king of France. 
 
 On the 15th July, Charles issued an edict, 
 dated at Burgos in Castile, "in which he 
 haughtily and angrily declared that to the 
 Pope alone belonged the right to convoke a 
 Council, and to the Emperor that of demand- V 
 
 "ng one: that the meeting appointed to be 
 held at Spires neither ought to be, nor could / 
 be allowed : that it was strange that the 
 German people should undertake to do that, 
 which all the nations of the earth, with the 
 Pope at their head, could not lawfully do : 
 and that it was necessary, without delay, to 
 carry into effect the decree of Worms against 
 the Modern Mahomet." 
 
 Thus it was from Spain and Italy the blow 
 was struck which arrested the development 
 of the Gospel among the people of Germany. 
 Charles was not satisfied with this. In 1519 
 tie had offered to duke John, the Elector's 
 brother, to give his sister, the Archduchess 
 Catharine, in marriage to his son, John Fre- 
 
310 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 deric, heir to the electorate. But was not ! Lord's name. " Blood follows blood," cried 
 
 that reigning house of Saxony the grand sup- 
 port of those principles of religious and poli- 
 tical independence which Charles detested 1 ? 
 He decided to break off all intercourse with 
 the troublesome and guilty champion of Gos- 
 pel principles and the nation's wishes, and 
 accordingly gave his sister in marriage to 
 John III. King of Portugal. Frederic, who 
 in 1519 had manifested some indifference to 
 the overtures of the king of Spain, was 
 enabled, in 1524, to suppress his indignati 
 at this conduct of the Emperor. But Duke 
 John haughtily intimated his feeling of the 
 affront put upon him. 
 
 Thus, an observer might have distinguish- 
 ed, as they fell slowly into the line, the rival 
 hosts by whose struggle for mastery the 
 Empire was to be so long convulsed. 
 
 The Romanists went a step further. The 
 compact of Ratisbon was to be no empty 
 form; it was necessary that it should be 
 sealed with blood. Ferdinand and Cam- 
 peggio descended the Danube from Ratisbon 
 to Vienna, and, during their journey, mutually 
 pledged themselves to cruel measures. In- 
 stantly a persecution was set on foot in the 
 Austrian provinces. 
 
 A citizen of Vienna, by name Gaspard 
 Tauber, had circulated Luther's writings, 
 and had himself written against the invoca- 
 tion of saints, purgatory, and transubstantia- 
 tion. 91 Being thrown into prison, he was 
 required by his judges, both divines and 
 jurisconsuls, to retract his errors. It was 
 believed that he had given way, and every 
 preparation was made in Vienna to gratify 
 the populace with the solemn spectacle of his 
 recantation. On St. Mary's day, two pulpits 
 were erected over the cemetery of St. Ste- 
 phen's, the one for the leader of the choir, 
 whose office was to chant the heretic's re- 
 pentance, the other for Tauber himself. The 
 formula of his recantation was put into his 
 hands. 92 The people, the choristers, and the 
 priests were in silent expectation. Whether 
 it was that Tauber had given no promise to 
 recant, or whether, in the appointed moment 
 of abjuration, he suddenly received fresh 
 energy of faith, he exclaimed aloud, "lam 
 not convinced, and I appeal to the holy Ro- 
 man Empire." Ecclesiastics, choristers, and 
 bystanders, were struck with astonishment 
 and dismay. But Tauber continued calling 
 for death rather than that he should deny the 
 Gospel. He was beheaded, his body 
 burned: 93 and his firmness left an indelible 
 impression on the memory of the citizens of 
 Vienna. 
 
 At Buda, in Hungary, a bookseller, named 
 John, who had received the truth in the love 
 of it, had distributed copies of the New Tes- 
 
 Luther, when he heard of this martyrdom. 94 
 " but that innocent blood that Rome delights 
 to shed, will one day choke the Pope, with 
 his kings and their kingdoms." 95 
 
 The zeal of the fanatics burnt every day 
 more fiercely. Gospel preachers were ex- 
 pelled, magistrates banished, and sometimes 
 the most horrible torments were inflicted. In 
 Wurtemberg an inquisitor, named Reichler, 
 caused the Lutherans, especially their 
 preachers, to be hanged upon the trees. 
 Monsters were found, who deliberately msiled 
 by their tongues to the stake the ministers of 
 God's word, so that the sufferers, tearing 
 themselves in their agony from the wood to 
 which they were fastened, endured a frightful 
 mutilation in their efforts to liberate them- 
 selves, and were thus deprived of that gift 
 of speech which they had long used in the 
 preaching of the Gospel. 96 
 
 The same persecutions were set on foot in 
 the other states of the Catholic League. In 
 the neighbourhood of Salzburg, a minister 
 of the Gospel, who had been sentenced to 
 imprisonment for life, was on his way to 
 the prison; whilst the constables wJio had 
 charge of him were stopping to drink at 
 a house by the wayside, two country youths, 
 moved with compassion, contrived, by 
 eluding their vigilance, to favour the escape 
 of the pastor. The rage of the Archbishop 
 broke forth against these poor people, and 
 
 without so much 
 he commanded that 
 
 any form of trial, 
 they should be be- 
 
 headed. They were secretly taken outside 
 the town at an early hour. Coming to the 
 plain where they were to die, the execution- 
 er's heart failed him : " For," said he, " they 
 have not beeft condemned." " Do your duty," 
 said the Archbishop's emissary, sternly, " and 
 leave to the Prince to answer for it:" and the 
 heads of the youths were immediately struekoff. 97 
 The persecution raged with most violence 
 in the states of the Duke of Bavaria. Priests 
 were degraded; nobles expelled from their 
 castles ; spies traversed the country ; and 
 suspicion and terror filled the hearts of all. 
 Bernard Fichtel, a magistrate, was on his 
 way to Nuremberg, called thither by the 
 Duke's affairs; on the road, he was joined 
 by Francis Bourkard, a professor, from Ingol- 
 stadt, and a friend of Eck. Bourkard accosted 
 him, and they travelled in company. After 
 supping together, the professor began to speak 
 on matters of religion. Fichtel having some 
 knowledge of his company, reminded him 
 that the recent edict prohibited such topics 
 of conversation. " Between us," answered 
 Bourkard, "there is nothing to fear." On 
 this Fichtel remarked, "I don't think the 
 edict can be enforced;" and he went on to 
 
 tament, and also some of Luther's writings, express himself in a tone of doubt respecting 
 The persecutors bound him to a stake, and ' purgatory, observing, " that it was a dreadful 
 then forming a pile of his books, so as to thing to visit religious differences with death." 
 enclose him within them, set fire to the At hearing this, Bourkard could not control 
 whole. The poor man manifested an un- himself. "What more just," exclaimed he, 
 shaken courage, rejoicing, amidst the flames, | "than to strike off the heads of all those 
 lhat he was counted worthy to suffer for his .' scoundrel Lutherans?" He soon took a kind 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 311 
 
 eave of Fichtel ; but hastened to lodge in- 
 brmation against him. Fichtel was thrown 
 nto prison, and the unhappy man, who had 
 10 desire of the martyr's crown his religious 
 convictions not being at all deep escaped 
 leath only by a shameful recantation. Con- 
 idence was at an end ; and no one was safe. 
 
 But that death which Fichtel avoided, 
 Dthers met. It was in vain that the Gospel 
 was now only privately preached. 98 The Duke 
 urged on its pursuers, following it even in the 
 darkness, in secret places, in private dwell- 
 ings, and mountain recesses. 
 
 "The cross and persecution are in full 
 career in Bavaria," said Luther : " those 
 wild beasts are carrying all before them." 99 
 
 Even the north 'of Germany was not ex- 
 empted from these atrocities. Bogislas, Duke 
 of Pomerania, dying, his son, who had been 
 brought up in the court of Duke George, set 
 on foot a persecution of the Gospel. Suaven 
 and Knipstrow were compelled to seek refuge 
 in flight. 
 
 But it was in Holstein that one of the 
 most memorable instances of fanaticism oc- 
 curred. 
 
 Henry Zuphten, who, as has been seen, 
 had escaped from the convent at Antwerp, 
 was engaged in preaching the Gospel at Bre- 
 men. Nicholas Boye, pastor a^Mehldorf, in 
 the country of the Dittmarches, and several 
 devout persons of the neighbouring districts, 
 having invited him to come over and declare 
 Jesus Christ, he complied. Immediately, the 
 prior of the Dominicans and the vicar of the 
 official of Hamburg concerted measures. " If 
 he is allowed to preach, and the people give 
 ear," said they, " we are undone." The prior 
 passed a disturbed night; and, rising early 
 in the morning, repaired to the wild and bar- 
 ren heath on which the forty-eight regents 
 of the country are accustomed to hold their 
 meetings. " The monk from Bremen is come 
 amongst us," said he, addressing them, " and 
 will bring ruin on the Dittmarches." Those 
 forty-eight simple-minded and unlearned men, 
 deceived into the belief that they would earn 
 imperishable renown by delivering the world 
 from the heretical monk, decided on putting 
 him to death without so much as giving him 
 a hearing. 
 
 It was Saturday and the prior was bent 
 on preventing Henry's preaching on the fol- 
 lowing Sunday. In the middle of the night 
 he knocked at the door of the pastor Boye, 
 armed with the mandate of the forty-eight 
 regents. "If it be the will of God that I 
 should die among the Dittmarches," said 
 Henry Zuphten, " Heaven is as easily reach- 
 ed from thence as from anywhere else. 100 I 
 will preach." 
 
 He ascended the pulpit and spoke with 
 earnestness. His hearers, moved and roused 
 by his Christian eloquence, had scarcely quit- 
 ted the church, when the prior delivered to 
 them the mandate of the forty-eigrht regents 
 forbidding the monk to preach. They imme- 
 diately sent a deputation to the heath, and 
 the Dittmarches, after long discussion, agreed 
 
 that, considering their total ignorance, further 
 measures should be deferred till Easter. But 
 the prior, irritated at this, approached certain 
 of the regents, and stirred up their zeal afresh. 
 " We will write to him," said they. " Have 
 nothing to do with him," replied the prior; 
 " if he begins to speak, we shall not be able 
 to withstand him. We must seize him during 
 the night, and burn him without giving him 
 time to open his lips." 
 
 Every thing w r as arranged accordingly. 
 The day after Conception day, at night! all, 
 Jlvt Maria was rung. At the signal, all the 
 peasants of the adjacent villages assembled, 
 to the number of live hundred, and their 
 leaders having broached three butts of Ham- 
 burg beer, by this means stimulated their 
 resolution. The hour of midnight struck as 
 the party entered Mehldorf; the peasants 
 were under arms ; the monks carried torches ; 
 all went forward in disorder, exchanging 
 shouts of fury. Arrived at the village, there 
 was a deep silence, lest Henry, receiving in- 
 timation of danger, should effect his escape. 
 
 Of a sudden, the gates of the parsonage 
 were burst open ; the drunken peasantry 
 rushed within, striking every thing in their 
 way, tossing pell-mell, dishes, kettles, cups, 
 and articles of apparel. They seized any mo- 
 ney that they could find, and then rushing on 
 the poor pastor, they struck him down, slfout- 
 ing, " Kill him ! kill him !" and then threw 
 him into the mud. But Henry was their 
 chief object in the attack. They pulled him 
 out of bed, tied his hands behind him, and 
 dragged him after them, naked as he was, in 
 the piercing cold. " What are you come here 
 for"?" cried they; and as Henry answered 
 meekly, they exclaimed, " Down with him ! 
 down with him ! if we listen to him we shall 
 become heretics like himself." They had 
 dragged him naked over ice and snow, his 
 feet were bleeding profusely, and he begged 
 to be set on horseback. " A fine thing truly," 
 said they, " for us to furnish horses for here- 
 tics ! On, on !" and they continued dragging 
 him behind them till they arrived at the heath. 
 A woman, who stood at the door of the house 
 just as the servant of God was passing, burst 
 into tears. " My good woman," said Henry, 
 " weep not for me." The bailiff pronounced 
 his sentence. Then one of his ferocious es- 
 cort, with a sword, smote the preacher of 
 Jesus Christ on the head. Another struck 
 him with a club. A monk was ordered to 
 approach, and receive his confession. " My 
 brother," said Henry, " have I done you any 
 wrong 1 ?" "None," replied the monk. "Then," 
 returned Henry, " I have nothing to confess 
 to you, and you have nothing to forgive." 
 The monk retired in confusion. Many at- 
 tempts were made to set fire to the pile ; but 
 the wood would not catch. For two hours 
 the martyr stood thus in presence of the infu- 
 riated peasantry calm, and lifting his eyes 
 to heaven. While they were binding him, 
 that they might cast him into the flame, he 
 began to confess his faith. "First burn," 
 said a countryman, dealino- him a blow with 
 2 D2 
 
312 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 his fist on the mouth; "burn, and after that 
 speak." They threw him on the pile, but he 
 rolled down on one side. John Holme, seiz- 
 ing a club, struck him upon the breast, and 
 laid him dead upon the burning coals. " Such 
 is the true story of the sufferings of that holy 
 martyr, Henry Zuphten." 101 
 
 Whilst the Romanists were, on all sides, un- 
 sheathing the sword against the Reformation, 
 the work itself was passing through new 
 stages of development. Not to Zurich no 
 Geneva, but to Wittemberg, the focus of Lu 
 ther's revival, must we go to find the begin 
 nings of that Reformed Church, of which Cal 
 vin ranks as the most distinguished doctor 
 There was a time when these two great fami 
 lies of believers slept in the same cradle. Con 
 cord ought to have crowned their maturec 
 age ; but when once the question of the Sup 
 per was raised, Luther threw away the proper 
 element of the Reformation, and took his stanc 
 for himself and his church in an exclusive 
 Lutheranism. The mortification he experi- 
 enced from this rival teaching was shown in 
 his loss of much of that kindness of manner 
 which was so natural to him, and communi- 
 cated in its stead a mistrust, an habitual dis- 
 satisfaction, and an irritability which he had 
 never before manifested. 
 
 It was between the two early friends the 
 two champions who, at Leipsic, had fought 
 side by side against Rome, between Carl 
 stadt and Luther that the controversy broke 
 forth. Their attachment to contrary views 
 was the result, with each of them, of a turn 
 of mind that has its value. Indeed, there are 
 two extremes in religious views ; the one tends 
 to materialize all things ; the other to spirit- 
 ualize every thing. The former characterized 
 Rome ; the latter is seen in the Mystics. Re- 
 ligion resembles man himself in this namely, 
 that it consists of a body and a soul ; pure 
 idealists, equally with materialists in questions 
 of religion, as of philosophy both err. 
 
 This was the great question which lay hid 
 in the dispute concerning the supper. Whilst 
 a superficial observer sees in it nothing but a 
 paltry strife about words, a deeper observation 
 
 discerns in it one of the most important con- 
 troversies that can engage the mind of man. 
 
 Here the Reformers diverge, and form two 
 camps ; but each camp carries away a por- 
 tion of the truth. Luther, with his adherents, 
 think they are resisting an exaggerated spirit- 
 ualism. Carlstadt, and those of the reformed 
 opinion, believe they are opposing a detesta- 
 ble materialism. Each turns against the er- 
 ror which, to his mind, seems most noxious, 
 and in assailing it, goes it may be beyond 
 the truth. But this being admitted, it is still 
 true that both are right in the prevailing turn 
 of their thoughts, and though ranking in differ- 
 ent hosts, the two great teachers are neverthe- 
 less found under the same standard that of 
 Jesus Christ, who alone is TRUTH in the full 
 import of that word. 
 
 Carlstadt was of opinion that nothing could 
 be more prejudicial to genuine piety than to 
 
 lean upon outward observances, and a sort of 
 mysterious efficacy in the sacraments. " The 
 outward participation in the Supper brings 
 Salvation," had been the language of Rome; 
 and that doctrine had sufficed to materialize 
 religion. Carlstadt saw no better course for 
 again exalting its spiritual character than to 
 deny all presence of Christ's body; and he 
 taught that the Supper was simply a pledge 
 to believers of their redemption. 
 
 As to Luther, he now took an exactly oppo- 
 site direction. He had at first contended for 
 the sense we have endeavoured to open. In 
 his tract on the Mass, published in 1520, he 
 thus expressed himself: "I can every day 
 enjoy the advantages of the Sacraments, if 1 
 do but call to mind the word and promise of 
 Christ, and with them feed and strengthen 
 my faith." Neither Carlstadt, nor Zwingle, 
 nor Calvin have said any thing more strong 
 than this. It appears, indeed, that at that 
 period the thought would often occur to him, 
 that a symbolical explanation of the Supper 
 would be the mightiest engine to overturn the 
 Papal system; for, in 1525, we find him say- 
 ing that five years before, he had gone through 
 much trial of mind on accountof thisdoctrine; 1 * 2 
 and that any one who could then have proved 
 to him that there is only the bread and wine 
 in the Supper ^would have done him the great- 
 est service. 
 
 But new circumstances arose, and threw 
 lim into a position in which he was led to op- 
 pose, and sometimes with much heat, opinions 
 o which he had made so near an approach. 
 The fanaticism of the Anabaptists may account 
 br the turn which Luther then took. These 
 enthusiasts were not content with disparaging 
 what they termed the outward Word that is, 
 he Bible, and setting up a claim to special 
 communications of the Holy Spirit, they went 
 so far as to despise the Sacrament of the Sup- 
 >er as an external act, and to speak of the in- 
 ward as the only true communion. From that 
 ime, in every attempt to exhibit the symboli- \ 
 al import of the Supper, Luther saw only 
 he danger of weakening the authority of the 
 Scriptures, and of admitting, instead of their 
 rue meaning, mere arbitrary allegories spirit- 
 
 ualizing all religion, and making it consist, 
 not in the gifts of God, but in man's impres- 
 sions ; and by this means, substituting, in 
 place of genuine Christianity, a mystic doc- 
 trine, or theosophy, or fanaticism which would 
 be sure to be its grave. It must be confessed, 
 that, but for the energetic resistance of Luther, 
 this tendency to mysticism (enthusiastic and 
 subjective in its character) might have rapidly 
 extended itself, and turned back the tide of 
 blessings which the Reformation was to pour 
 upon the world. 
 
 Carlstadt, impatient at finding himself hin- 
 dered from opening his views without reserve 
 in Wittemberg; and having no rest in his 
 spirit, from his desire to combat a system 
 which, in his view, "lowered the value of 
 Christ's death, and set aside his righteous- 
 ness," resolved "to give a public testimony 
 for the advantage of poor deluded Christians." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 313 
 
 lie left Wittemberg, in the beginning of the 
 year 1524, without previous intimation of his 
 intention to the university or the chapter, and 
 repaired to the small town of Orlamund, the 
 church of which was placed under his super- 
 intendance. Dismissing; the vicar, he pro- 
 cured himself to be appointed its pastor, and 
 in opposition to the wishes of the chapter of 
 the university, and of the Elector, established 
 himself in his new office. 
 
 He soon began to disseminate his doctrines : 
 " It is not possible," said he, " to name any 
 advantage derived from the real presence, which 
 does not already flow from faith it is, there- 
 fore, useless." To explain Christ's words in 
 the institution of the Supper, he resorted to 
 an interpretation which is not received in the 
 Reformed churches. Luther, during the dis- 
 cussion at Leipsic, had explained the words 
 " Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build 
 my church" separating the two propositions, 
 and applying the latter to the person of the 
 Saviour. "Just so," said Carlstadt, " ' take 
 eaf was spoken in reference to the bread ; but 
 'this is my body' is to be understood of Jesus 
 Christ, who then pointed to himself, and 
 intimated by the symbol of the broken bread, 
 that that body was about to be broken." 
 
 Carlstadt did not stop there. Scarce had 
 he emancipated himself from Luther's over- 
 sight, when he felt his zeal revive against the 
 use of images. His bold addresses and en- 
 thusiastic appeals were but too likely to madden 
 the minds of men in these agitated times. The 
 people, thinking they heard a second Elijah, 
 proceeded to throw down the idols of Baal. 
 The excitement soon spread to the neighbour- 
 ing villages. The Elector interfered ; but the 
 peasants answered that it was right to obey 
 God rather than men. On this, the Prince 
 decided to despatch Luther to Orlamund, to 
 restore tranquillity. Luther looked upon Carl- 
 stadt as a man urged on by a love of notoriety ; 
 a fanatic who would even go the length of 
 raising war against Christ himself. 103 Perhaps 
 Frederic might have made a wiser choice. 
 Luther, however, set forth ; and Carlstadt saw 
 his troublesome rival once more appear in 
 order to baffle his projects of reform and arrest 
 his impetuosity. 
 
 Jena lay in the road to Orlamund. Arriv- 
 ing in that town, on the 23d August, Luther 
 ascended the pulpit on the 24th, at seven in 
 the morning. He preached an hour and a 
 half to a numerous auditory against fanatics, 
 rebels, the breakers of images, and the de- 
 spisers of the real presence, protesting with 
 vehemence against the innovations at Orla- 
 mund. He did not refer to Carlstadt byname, 
 but every one understood whom he had in his 
 eye. 
 
 Either by accident or design, Carlstadt was 
 then at Jena, and among the crowd of Lu- 
 ther's hearers. He lost no time in calling the 
 preacher to account. Luther was at dinner 
 with the prior of Wittemberg, the burgomas- 
 ter, the secretary, the pastor of Jena, and se- 
 veral officers in the service of the Emperor , 
 
 and of the Margrave, when a letter was 
 handed to him from Carlstadt, requesting an 
 interview. He passed it to those near him, 
 and returned a message by the bearer : " If 
 Doctor Carlstadt wishes to see me, let him 
 come in ; if not, I have no wish to see him." 
 Carlstadt entered. His appearance produced 
 a lively sensation in the whole assembly. 
 The majority, eager to see the two lions en- 
 counter one another, suspended their repast, 
 and were all eyes, while the more timid turned 
 pale with apprehension. 
 
 Carlstadt, at Luther's invitation, tok a 
 seat opposite to him, and then said, "Doctor, 
 you have in your sermon of this day classed 
 me with those who inculcate revolt and as- 
 sassination. I declare that such a charge is 
 false." 
 
 LUTHER. " I did not name you ; but since 
 the cap fits, you may wear it." 
 
 A momentary pause ensued. Carlstadt re- 
 sumed : " I am prepared to show that in the 
 doctrine of the sacrament you have contra- 
 dicted yourself, and that from the days of the 
 apostles no one has preached that doctrine so 
 purely as I have done." 
 
 LUTHER. "Write then establish your 
 point. ' 
 
 CARLSTADT. "I offer you a public discus- 
 sion at Wittemberg or at Erfurth, if you pro- 
 mise ine a safe-conduct." 
 
 LUTHER. " Never fear, Doctor !" 
 
 CARLSTADT. " You bind me hand and foot, 
 and when you have deprived me of the power 
 to defend myself you strike." 104 
 
 Silence ensued. Luther resumed : 
 
 " Write against me but openly and not 
 in secret." 
 
 CARLSTADT. " If I were but assured you 
 were in earnest in what you say, I would 
 so do." 
 
 LUTHER. " Set about it; here take this 
 florin." 
 
 CARLSTADT. "Where is it"? I accept the 
 challenge." 
 
 At these words, Luther thrust his hands in 
 his pocket, and producing a gold florin, said, 
 as he gave it to Carlstadt, " Take it, and at- 
 tack me like a man." 
 
 Carlstadt, holding the gold florin in his 
 
 hand, and turning to the assembly, said, 
 
 Dear brethren, this is to me arabo, a pledge 
 
 that I have authority to write against Luther; 
 
 I call you all to witness this." 
 
 Then bending the florin, that he might know 
 t again, he put it into his purse, and held out 
 his hand to Luther. The latter pledged him. 
 Darlstadt returned his civility. "The more 
 vigorous your attacks, the better I shall like 
 hem," resumed Luther. 
 
 "If I fail," answered Carlstadt, "the fault 
 will be mine." 
 
 They once more shook each other by the 
 land, and Carlstadt returned to his lodg- 
 "ng. 
 
 Thus, says an historian, as from a single 
 spark a fire often originates which consumes 
 n its progress the vast forest, so, from this 
 
314 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 small beginning, a great division in the 
 Church took its rise.* 
 
 Luther set forward for Orlamund, and ar- 
 rived there but indifferently prepared by the 
 scene at Jena. He assembled the council 
 and the Church, and said, " Neither the Elec- 
 tor nor the University will acknowledge 
 Carlstadt as your pastor." " If Carlstadt is 
 not our pastor," replied the treasurer of the 
 town-council, "why then, St. Paul is a false 
 teacher, and your writings are mere false- 
 hood, for we have chosen him."f 
 
 As%e said this, Carlstadt entered the room. 
 Some of those who happened to be next to 
 Luther, made signs to him to be seated, but 
 Carlstadt, going straight up to Luther, said, 
 " Dear Doctor, if you will allow me, I will 
 give you induction." 
 
 LUTHER. "You are my antagonist. I 
 have fixed you by the pledge of a florin." 
 
 CARLSTADT. "I will be your antagonist 
 so long as you are opposed to God and his 
 truth." 
 
 LUTHER. " Leave the room ; I cannot al- 
 low of your being present." 
 
 * Sicut una scintilla saepe totam sylvam com- 
 burit. (M. Adam, Vit. Carlst. p. 83.) Our ac- 
 count is chiefly derived from the Acts ofReinhard, 
 pastor of Jena, an eye-witness, but a friend of 
 Carlstadt, and taxed with inaccuracy by Luther. 
 
 t How remarkable is this incident ! On this 
 passage the translator had made a note which he 
 will here insert for the confirmation of those who, 
 though only "two or three" in any one place, are 
 acting in confidence in the sufficiency of " God 
 and the word of his grace," to "build them up." 
 
 If the conference had been really carried on in 
 the reverential sense of the presence of the Spirit, 
 (Acts i. 24, Eph. ii. 22,) it might have been asked, 
 and so have come down to us, on what passage in 
 St. Paul these persons grounded their choosing 
 of their pastor. 
 
 But would not the recognition of His presence 
 have led to the acknowledgment of His "divid- 
 ing" gifts to the mutually dependent members, 
 (1 Cor. xii. 25 ; xiv. 31,) "according to His own 
 will ?" (1 Cor. xii. 11,) and so have prevented the 
 assertion of a right on their part to elect, much 
 less to elect to exclusive pastorship ? 
 
 Luther was a brother, and one not meanly 
 gifted for service to the body ; might it not have 
 been expected that Carlstadt, calling to mind 
 Romans xii. and 1 Cor. xiv. 3, 31, would have 
 welcomed the word of Luther in the little church 
 of Orlamund, and that that word would have 
 been just the very corrective, or rather comple- 
 ment, needed by the peculiarity of Carlstadt's 
 teaching, for as M. D'Aubigne has observed, 
 the turn of mind of each had its value. 
 
 Instead of this, we find the Great Reformer 
 saying, " The Elector and the University will not 
 acknowledge Carlstadt as your pastor;" and the 
 church of Orlamund replying, " We have chosen 
 him ;" the two forms of disobedient limiting of 
 the teaching of the Spirit, with which Christians 
 have become so familiar, and which, in their 
 want of faith, almost all are helping to perpe- 
 tuate. 
 
 See the reflections at the opening of the Xlth 
 Book of this history. The heart that is exercised 
 by these things should consider John xiv. 16, 26 ; 
 xvi. 7; xvii. 21; Acts v. 3 ; Rom. viii. 9 ; 1 Cor. 
 xi. 2; xiv. 37; Eph. iv. 16 ; 1 Th. iv. 18; v. 11 ; 
 Heb. iii. 13. 
 
 CARLSTADT. "This is an open meeting, 
 if your cause is good, why fear me!" 
 
 LUTHER, to his attendant: "Go, put the 
 horses to : I have nothing to say here to 
 Carlstadt ; and since he will not leave, I 
 shall go." 105 Luther rose from his seat, upon 
 which Carlstadt withdrew. 
 
 After a moment's silence, Luther resumed : 
 " Only prove from the Scripture that it is our 
 duty to destroy images." 
 
 ONE OF THE TOWN ^COUNCIL. "Doctor, 
 you will allow, I suppose, that Moses was 
 acquainted with God's commandments." 
 This said, he opened his Bible. "Well, 
 here are his words, * Thou shall not make 
 to ihyself any graven image, nor any like 
 ness,' " &c. 
 
 LUTHER. "The passage refers only t( 
 images for idolatrous worship. If I hang up, 
 in my chamber, a crucifix, and do not worship 
 it; what harm can it do me!" 
 
 A SHOEMAKER. "I have often touched my 
 hat before an image which was in my room, 
 or on my mantelpiece. It is an act of idola- 
 try which robs God of the glory due to Him 
 alone." 
 
 LUTHER. " Would you think it necessary, 
 then, because they are abused, to put your 
 women to death, and pour your wine into the 
 gutter?" 106 
 
 ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE CHURCH. 
 " No : they are God's creatures, which we are 
 not commanded to destroy." 
 
 The conference had lasted some time. Lu- 
 ther and his attendant returned to their car- 
 riage, astonished at the scene they had wit- 
 nessed, and having failed to convince the 
 inhabitants, who claimed for themselves the 
 right of interpreting and freely expounding 
 the Scripture. Agitation reigned in Orla- 
 mund. The people insulted Luther; and 
 some even called after him, "Begone! in 
 the name of all the devils; and may you 
 break your neck before you are out of our 
 town."* Never had the Reformer had to un- 
 dergo such contemptuous treatment. 
 
 He repaired thence to Kale, the pastor of 
 which place had also embraced the views of 
 Carlstadt. He resolved to preach a sermon 
 there ; but on entering the pulpit, he found 
 the broken fragments of a crucifix. At first, 
 his emotion overcame him; but recovering 
 himself, he gathered up the pieces into one 
 corner of the pulpit, and delivered a discourse 
 in which he made no allusion to the circum- 
 stance. " I determined," said he, speaking 
 of it in after life, " to revenge myself on the 
 devil by this contempt for him" 
 
 The nearer the Elector's life drew to a 
 close, the more did he appear to dread lest 
 men should go too far in the work of Reform- 
 ation. He issued orders to deprive Carlstadt 
 of his appointments, and banished him, not 
 
 * Two of the most distinguished living histori- 
 ans of Germany add, that Luther was pelted by 
 the inhabitants ; but Luther tells us the contrary : 
 " Dass ich nit mit Steinen und Dreck ausge- 
 worffen ward." (L. Epp. ii. p. 579.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 315 
 
 only from Orlamund, but from the states of the 
 Electorate. It was in vain that the church 
 of Orlamund interceded in his behalf, in 
 vain did they petition that he might be per- 
 mitted to reside among them as a private citi- 
 zen, with leave occasionally to preach, in 
 vain did they represent that the word of God 
 was dearer to them than the whole world, or 
 even a thousand worlds. 107 Frederic was deaf 
 to their entreaties, and he even went the 
 length of refusing. the unhappy Carlstadt the 
 funds necessarily required for his journey. 
 Luther had nothing to do with this sternness 
 on the part of the prince : it was foreign 
 to his disposition, and this he afterwards 
 proved. But Carlstadt looked at him as the 
 author of his disgrace, and filled Germany 
 with his complaints and lamentations. He 
 wrote a farewell letter to his friends at Orla- 
 mund. The bells were tolled, and the letter 
 read in presence of the sorrowing church. 108 It 
 was signed "Andrew Bodenstein, expelled 
 by Luther, unconvicted, and without even a 
 hearing." 
 
 It is impossible not to feel a pain at con- 
 templating these two men, once friends, and 
 both worthy of our esteem, thus angrily op- 
 posed. Sadness took possession of the souls 
 of the disciples of the Reformation. What 
 would be the end of it, when thus its bravest 
 defenders turned one against another 1 ? Lu- 
 ther could discern these fears, and endea- 
 voured to allay them. " Let us contend," 
 said he, " as those who fight for another. It 
 is God's cause: 109 the care of it belongs to 
 God, the work, the victory, and the glory, 
 ell are His. He will fight for it, and prevail, 
 though we should stand still. Whatever He 
 decrees should fall, let it fall, whatever He 
 wills should stand, let that stand. It is no 
 cause of our own that is at stake ; and we 
 seek not our own glory." 
 
 Carlstadt sought refuge at Strasburg, 
 where he published several writings. " He 
 was well acquainted," says Doctor Scheur, 
 "with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew;" and Lu- 
 ther acknowledged him to be his superior in 
 learning. Endowed with great powers of 
 mind, he sacrificed to his convictions fame, 
 station, country, and even his bread. At a 
 later period of his life he visited Switzerland. 
 There, it might seem, he ought to have com- 
 menced his teaching. The independence of 
 his spirit needed the free air breathed by the 
 (Ecolampadiuses and Zwingles/ His instruc- 
 tions soon attracted an attention nearly equal 
 to that which had been excited by the earliest 
 theses put forth by Luther. Switzerland 
 seemed almost gained over to his doctrine. 
 Bucer and Capito also appeared to adopt his 
 views. 
 
 Then it was that Luther's indignation rose 
 to its height; and he put forth one of the 
 most powerful but also most outrageous 
 of his controversial writings, his book 
 "Against the Celestial Prophets." 
 
 Thus the Reformation, hunted down by the 
 Pope, the Emperor, and the Princes, began 
 to tear its own vitals. It seemed to be sink- 
 41 
 
 ing under accumulated evils ; and surely it 
 would have been lost if it had been a work 
 of man. But soon, from the very brink of 
 ruin it rose again in renewed energy. 
 
 The Catholic League of Ratisbon, and the 
 persecutions that followed close upon it, cre- 
 ated a powerful popular re-action. The Ger- 
 mans w r ere not disposed to surrender that 
 word of God of which they had recovered 
 possession ; and when orders to that eifect 
 came to them from Charles V., though 
 backed by papal bulls and the fagots of 
 Ferdinand, and other Catholic princes, they 
 returned for an answer, "We will not give 
 it up." 
 
 No sooner had the members of the League 
 taken their departure from Ratisbon, when 
 the deputies of the towns whose bishops had 
 taken part in that alliance, surprised and 
 indignant, assembled at Spires, and passed a 
 law, that, notwithstanding the episcopal pro- 
 hibitions, their preachers should confine them- 
 selves to the proclamation of the gospel, and 
 the Gospel only, according to the doctrine of 
 the apostles and prophets. They proceeded 
 to prepare a report, couched in firm and con- 
 sistent terms, to be presented to the assembly 
 of their nation. 
 
 The Emperor's letter, dated from Burgos, 
 came unseasonably to disturb their plans. 
 Nevertheless, toward the close of that year, 
 the deputies of the towns and many nobles 
 assembling at Ulm, bound themselves by 
 solemn oath to assist one another, in case of 
 an attack. 
 
 Thus the free cities opposed to the camp 
 that had been formed by Austria, Bavaria, 
 and the bishops, another, in which the stand- 
 ard of the Gospel and of the national liberties 
 was unfurled. 
 
 Whilst the cities were placing themselves 
 in the van of the Reformation, several princes 
 were, about the same time, gained over to its 
 ranks. In the beginning of June, 1524, Me- 
 lancthon was returning, on horseback, from a 
 visit to his mother, in company with Came- 
 rarius and some other friends, when, ap- 
 proaching Frankfort, he met a brilliant 
 ! retinue; it Was Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, 
 I who, three years previously, had visited Lu- 
 ther at Worms, and was now on his way to 
 I the games of Heidelberg, where most of the 
 princes of Germany were expected to be 
 present. 
 
 Thus did Providence bring Philip succes- 
 sively in contact with the two leading Re- 
 formers. It was known that the celebrated 
 Doctor was gone on a journey to his birth- 
 place. One of the horsemen who accom- 
 panied the Landgrave remarked, "It is 
 | Melancthon, I think." Immediately the 
 | young Prince put spurs to his horse, and 
 j coming up with the Doctor, inquired, "Is 
 your name Philip?" "It is," replied he, 
 I drawing back timidly, and preparing respect- 
 fully to alight. 110 " Keep your saddle," said 
 the Prince, "turn your horse's head, and 
 come stay one night with me ; there are some 
 things I want to speak with you about. 
 
316 
 
 HISTaRY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Fear nothing." "What can I fear from a 
 prince like yourself!" rejoined the Doctor. 
 "Ah, ah!" said the Landgrave, laughing, 
 "if I were only to carry you off, and hand 
 you over to Campeggio, he would not be a 
 little pleased, I suspect." The two Philips 
 rode onward, side by side, the Prince asking 
 questions and the Doctor answering; and the 
 Landgrave delighted with the clear and im- 
 pressive views that were opened before him. 
 At length, Melancthon entreating him to per- 
 mit him to continue his journey, Philip re- 
 luctantly parted with him, "On one condi- 
 tion," said he, "and that is, that, on your 
 return home, you should treat fully the ques- 
 tions we have discussed, and send me your 
 thoughts in writing." 111 Melancthon promised. 
 "Go, then," said Philip, "and pass freely 
 through my states." 
 
 Melancthon, with his accustomed talent, 
 prepared an Abridgment of the Reformed Doc- 
 trim of Christianity^ and this tract, remarka- 
 ble for its conciseness and force of argument, 
 made a decided impression upon the mind of 
 the Landgrave. Shortly after his return from 
 the Heidelberg games, this Prince issued an 
 edict, in which, without connecting himself 
 with the free towns, he opposed the League 
 of Ratisbon, and directed that the Gospel 
 should be preached in all its purity. He 
 embraced it himself, with the energy that 
 marked his character. " Rather," exclaimed 
 he, " would I sacrifice my body, my life, my 
 estates, and my subjects, than the word of 
 God !" A Franciscan friar, named Ferber, 
 perceiving this inclination of the Prince in 
 favour of the Reformation, wrote him a letter 
 filled with reproaches and entreaties to con- 
 tinue faithful to Rome. "I am resolved," 
 answered Philip, "to be faithful to the an- 
 cient doctrine, but as I find it set forth in 
 the Scriptures :" and he proceeded to prove, 
 with much clearness of statement, that man 
 is justified by faith alone. The monk, con- 
 founded, made no reply. 113 The Landgrave 
 was commonly spoken of as " the disciple of 
 Melancthon." 114 
 
 Other Princes followed the same course. 
 The Elector Palatine refused to countenance 
 the slightest persecution ; the Duke of Lune- 
 burg, nephew of the Elector of Saxony, began 
 the Reformation in his dominions ; and the 
 King of Denmark gave orders that, throughout 
 Sleswick and Hoi stein, every one should beat, 
 liberty to worship God according as his con- 
 science dictated. 
 
 The Reformation gained a victory yet more 
 important. A Prince, whose conversion to 
 Gospel truth involved consequences most mo- 
 mentous to our own times, now evinced a dis- 
 position to withdraw from Rome. One day, 
 towards the end of June, shortly after the re- 
 turn of Melancthon to Wittemberg, Albert, 
 Margrave of Brandenburg, and Grand Master 
 of the Teutonic Order, entered Luther's apart- 
 ment. This chief of the monastic knights 
 of Germany, who then governed Prussia, 
 had repaired to the Diet of Nuremburg, to 
 invoke the aid of the Empire against Po- 
 
 land. He returned broken in spirit. On one 
 hand, Osiander's preaching, and the reading 
 of the New Testament, had convinced him 
 that his monk's vow was contrary to the word 
 of God ; on the other, the suppression of the 
 national government in Germany had deprived 
 him of all hope of obtaining the assistance 
 which he had come to solicit. What was tc 
 be done . . . . ! The Saxon councillor, De 
 Planitz, in whose company he had left Nu- 
 remberg, proposed to him to seek an interview 
 with the Reformer. " What think you," said 
 the anxious and agitated Prince to Luther, "of 
 the rule of our order!" Luther did not hesi- 
 tate; he saw that a course of conduct in 
 conformity with the Gospel was, also, the 
 only means of saving Prussia. " Look to God 
 for assistance," said he, to the Grand Mas 
 ter, "and reject the senseless and inconsistent 
 rule of your order ; put an end to your detesta- 
 ble hermaphrodite principality, neither reli- 
 gious nor secular; 115 away with mere pretended 
 chastity, and seek that which is the true. 
 Take a wife and become the founder of a 
 legitimate empire, in the place of that anoma- 
 lous monster." 116 Thesewords set clearly before 
 the mind of the Grand Master a state of things 
 which he had as yet seen but indistinctly. A 
 smile lighted up his countenance ; but he was 
 too prudent to give utterance tohislhoughts. 117 
 Melancthon, who was present, spoke to the 
 same effect as Luther, and the Prince set out 
 to return to his dominions, leaving the Reform- 
 ers in the confident hope that the seed which 
 they had sown would sink down into his heart, 
 and one day bring forth fruit. 
 
 Thus, as we have seen, Charles the Fifth 
 and the Pope had opposed the national assem- 
 bly at Spires, fearing lest the Word of God 
 should win over all present ; but the Word of 
 God was not bound. It was denied a hearing 
 in a hall of a town of the Lower Palatinate. 
 But what then] it burst forth and spread 
 throughout the provinces, stirring the hearts 
 of the people, enlightening the Princes and 
 developing that Divine power, of which neither 
 Bulls nor Ordinances can ever divest it. 
 
 W 7 hilst nations and their rulers were thus 
 coming to the light, the Reformers were en- 
 deavouring to remould every thing by the in- 
 fusion of the true principles of Christianity. 
 Public worship first engaged their attention. 
 The moment, anticipated by the Reformer, 
 when returning from the Wartburg, had ar- 
 rived : " Now," said he, " that hearts have 
 been fortified by Divine Grace, we must put 
 away those things which defile the Lord's 
 kingdom, and attempt to do something in the 
 Name of Jesus." He required that the com- 
 munion should be taken under both kinds ; 
 that the Supper should be cleared of every 
 thing which gave to it the character of a sa- 
 crifice; 118 thatChristians should never assemble 
 themselves together without having the word 
 of God preached to them; 119 thattheflock, or at 
 least the priests and students, should meet 
 every morning at four or five o'clock, to read 
 the Old Testament, and every evening at five 
 or six o'clock, to read the New Testament; 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 317 
 
 that on Sundays the whole church should 
 meet together, morning and afternoon, and 
 that the great object of the services should be 
 to sound abroad the Word of God. 120 
 
 The church of All Saints, at Wittemberg, 
 especially called forth his indignation. In it, 
 (to quote the words of Seckendorf,) 9,901 
 masses were annually celebrated, and 35,570 
 Ibs. of wax annually consumed. Luther called 
 it " the sacrilege of Tophet." " There are," 
 said he, " only three or four lazy monks who 
 still worship this shameful Mammon ; and if 
 I had not restrained the people, this abode of 
 all Saints, or rather of all Devils, would have 
 been brought down with a crash such as the 
 world has never yet heard." 
 
 It was in connection with this church that 
 the conflict began. It resembled those ancient 
 sanctuaries of heathen worship in Egypt, 
 Gaul, and Germany, which were ordained to 
 fall, that Christianity might be established in 
 their place. 
 
 Luther, earnestly desiring that the mass 
 shou Id be abolished in this cathed ral , ad d ressed 
 to the chapter on the 1st March, 1523, a re- 
 quisition to that effect, following it up by a 
 second letter dated the llth July. 121 The canons 
 having pleaded the Elector's orders, " What, 
 in this case, have we to do with the prince's 
 orders 1" remarked Luther : * he is but a se- 
 cular prince ; his business is to bear the sword, 
 and not to interfere in the ministry of the Gos- 
 pel." 122 Lutherhere clearly marks the distinction 
 between the State and the Church. "There 
 is," said he again, " but one sacrifice to put 
 away sins, Christ, who has offered himself 
 once for all ; and we are partakers thereof, not 
 by any works or sacrifices of ours, but sole- 
 ly through belief of the word of God." 
 
 The Elector, feeling his end approaching, 
 was averse from further change. 
 
 But entreaties from other quarters came in 
 aid of those of Luther. " It is high time to 
 act," wrote the cathedral provost, Jonas, to the 
 Elector : " such a shining forth of Gospel 
 truth, as that which we have at this hour, 
 does not ordinarily last longer than a sunbeam. 
 Let us then lose no time." 123 
 
 This letter of Jonas not having changed the 
 Elector's views, Luther became impatient ; 
 he judged that the time had come to strike the 
 final blow, and he addressed a letter of me- 
 nace to the chapter. "I beg of you, as a 
 friend ; I desire and seriously urge it upon 
 you to put an end to this sectarian worship. 
 If you refuse to do so, you shall, God help- 
 ing, receive the punishment which you will 
 have deserved. I say this for your guidance, 
 and 1 request an immediate reply yes, or no 
 before Sunday next, in order that I may 
 consider what I have to do. God give you 
 grace to follow His light. 134 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER, 
 " Preacher at Wittemberg." 
 
 " Thursday, Dec. 8tk, 1524." 
 
 At this juncture the rector, two burgomas 
 ters, and ten councillors, waited upon the 
 Degin, and begged him, in the name of the 
 university, of the council, and of the commune 
 
 of Wittemberg, " to abolish the great and hor- 
 ible impiety committed against the majesty 
 if God, in the celebration of mass." 
 
 The chapter found it necessary to give way, 
 md declared that, enlightened by the word of 
 God, they acknowledged the abuses which 
 had been denounced, and published a new 
 order of service, which began to be observed 
 on Christmas Day, 1524. 125 
 
 Thus fell the Mass, in this renowned sanc- 
 tuary, where it had so long held out against 
 the reiterated attacks of the Reformers. The 
 Elector Frederic, suffering from gout, and 
 drawing near his end, could not, by any 
 ffforts of his, retard this great triumph of the 
 Reformation. He saw in it the will of God, 
 and submitted to it. The cessation of Ro- 
 mish observances, in the church of All Saints, 
 hastened their abolition in many of the 
 churches of Christendom. In all quarters 
 there was similar resistance, but also the like 
 victory. Vainly did priests, and even princes, 
 in many places, try to interpose obstacles; 
 they could effect nothing. 
 
 It was not alone in public worship that 
 the Reformation was ordained to work a 
 change. Education was very early asso- 
 ciated with the Reformed Church, and these 
 two institutions, in their power to regenerate 
 mankind, were alike invigorated by its influ- 
 ence. It was in intimate alliance with 
 letters that the Reformation had made its 
 appearance in the world ; and, in the hour of 
 its triumph, it did not forget its ally. 
 
 Christianity is not a mere expansion of 
 Judaism ; its great end is not again to envelope 
 man, as the Papacy seeks to do, in tho 
 swaddling bands of outward ordinances and 
 man's teaching. Christianity is a new crea 
 tion ; it takes possession of the inward man, 
 and transforms him in the innermost princi- 
 ples of his nature ; so that he needeth not 
 human teaching, but, by God's help, is able, 
 of himself, and by himself, to discern that 
 which is true, and to do that which is right." 
 Heb. viii. 11. 
 
 To bring man to that maturity which 
 Christ has purchased for him, and to eman- 
 cipate him from the tutelage in w r hich Rome 
 had so long held him bound, the Reformation 
 must needs develope the whole man; and, 
 while by the Word of God it regenerated his 
 heart and will, it enlightened his understand- 
 ing by the study of sacred and profane litera- 
 ture. 
 
 Luther understood this ; he felt that to conso- 
 lidate the Reformation, he must work on the 
 minds of the rising generation, remodel the 
 schools, and propagate throughout Christen- 
 dom the knowledge necessary for a deep 
 study of the Holy Scriptures. This, there- 
 fore, was one of the objects of his life. He 
 was especially impressed with this convic- 
 tion, at this period of his history, and, accord- 
 ingly, he addressed a letter to the councillors 
 of all the towns in Germany, urging them to 
 found Christian schools. " Dear sirs," said 
 he, "so much money is annually expended 
 in arquebuses, making roads, and construct- 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ing dykes, how is it that a little is not ex- 
 pended in paying one or two schoolmasters 
 to instruct our poor children 1 ? God stands 
 at the door, and knocks ; blessed are we if 
 we open to Him ! Now-a-days, there is no 
 famine of God's word. My dear country- 
 men, buy, buy, whilst the market is opened 
 before your dwellings. The Word of God 
 and His grace resembles a shower which 
 falls and passes on. It fell among the Jews ; 
 but it passed away, and now they have it no 
 longer. Paul bore it with him to Greece; 
 but there also it is passed, and Mahometan- 
 ism prevails in its place. It came to Rome 
 and the Latin territories ; but from thence it 
 likewise departed, and now Rome has the 
 Pope. 1;Z6 ! Germans, think not that you will 
 never have that Word taken away from you. 
 The little value you put upon it will cause it 
 to be withdrawn. Therefore, he who would 
 have it, must lay hold upon and keep it. 
 
 "Let our youth be the objects of your 
 care," he continued, addressing the magis- 
 trates, " for many parents are like the ostrich, 
 their hearts are hardened against their young, 
 and, satisfied with having laid the egg, they 
 give themselves no further trouble about it. 
 The prosperity of a town does not consist in 
 amassing wealth, erecting walls, building 
 mansions, and the possession of arms. If 
 attacked by a party of madmen, its ruin and 
 devastation would only be the more terrible. 
 The true well-being of a town, its security, 
 its strength, is to number within it many 
 learned, serious, kind, and well-educated 
 citizens. And who is to blame that there 
 are found, in our days, so few of this stamp, 
 but you, magistrates, who have suffered our 
 youth to grow up like the neglected growth 
 of the forest?" 
 
 Luther especially insisted on the necessity 
 for the study of literature and languages : 
 " We are asked," says he, "what is the use 
 of learning Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, when 
 we can read the Bible in German ] But, for 
 languages," he replied, "we should never 
 have received the Gospel . . Languages are 
 the scabbard in which the sword of the Spirit 
 is found; 127 they are the casket which holds 
 the jewels ; they are the vessels which con- 
 tain the new wine ; they are the baskets in 
 which are kept the loaves and fishes which 
 are to feed the multitude. If we cease to 
 study languages, we shall not only lose the 
 Gospel, but, eventually, we shall be unable 
 either to speak or write in Latin or in Ger- 
 man. From the hour we throw them aside, 
 Christianity may date its decline, even to 
 falling again under the dominion of the Pope. 
 But now that languages are once more held 
 in estimation, they diffuse such light that all 
 mankind are astonished and that every one 
 may see that the Gospel we preach is almost 
 as pure as that of the Apostles themselves. 
 The holy Fathers of other days, made many 
 mistakes by reason of their ignorance of lan- 
 guages; in our tim, some, like the Vaudois 
 of Piedmont, do not attach value to the study 
 of them ; but though their doctrine may be 
 
 sound, they often fail of the real meaning of 
 the Sacred Text; they are without a safe- 
 guard against error, and I much fear that 
 their faith will not continue pure. 128 If a 
 knowledge of languages had not given me 
 tUe certainty of the true sense of the Word, I 
 might nave been a pious monk, quietly 
 preaching the Truth in the obscurity of the 
 cloister; but I should have left Pope, so- 
 phists, and their anti-christian power in the 
 ascendant." 129 
 
 But Luther's attention was not limited to 
 the education of ecclesiastics ; he was desi- 
 rous that learning should no longer be con- 
 fined to the Church alone ; and proposed to 
 extend it to the laity, who had hitherto been 
 debarred from it. He suggested the esta- 
 blishment of libraries, not limited merely to 
 works and commentaries of scholastic divines 
 and Fathers of the Church, but furnished 
 with the productions of orators and poets, 
 even though heathens, as also with books of 
 literature, law, medicine, and history. " Such 
 writings," said he, "are of use to make 
 known the wonderful works of God." 
 
 This effort of Luther is one of the most 
 important the Reformation produced. It 
 wrested learning from the hands of the 
 priests, who had monopolized it, like those 
 of Egypt in ancient times, and rendered it 
 accessible to all. From this impulse, derived 
 from the Reformation, some of the greatest 
 developments of later ages have proceeded. 
 Literary men, and scholars of the laity, who 
 now-a-days decry the Reformation, forget 
 that they are themselves its offspring; and 
 that, but for its influence, they would at this 
 hour be like half-educated children, subject 
 to the tyrannical authority of the clergy 
 The Reformation recognised the intimate 
 connection of all branches of learning, re- 
 ceiving all to learn, and opening all the 
 avenues to learning. "They who despise 
 general literature," said Melancthon, " make 
 no more account of sacred theology. Their 
 affected contempt is but a pretext to conceal 
 their indolence." 130 
 
 The Reformation not only communicated a 
 mighty impulse to literature, but served to 
 elevate the Arts, although Protestantism has 
 often been reproached as their enemy. Ma- 
 ny Protestants have willingly taken up and 
 borne this reproach. We will not examine 
 whether or not the Reformation ought to 
 glory in it; but will merely remark, that im- 
 partial history does not confirm the premises 
 on which the clergy rests. Let Roman Ca- 
 tholicism pride itself in being more favourable 
 than Protestantism to the arts. Be it so: 
 Paganism was even more so ; while Protes- 
 tantism hath somewhat else to glory in. 
 There are some religions in which the dispo- 
 sition in man to a taste for the fine arts has a 
 place assigned it above that given to his 
 moral nature. Christianity is distinguished 
 from these, by the fact that the moral element 
 is its essence. Christian principle manifests 
 itself, not in productions of the fine arts, but 
 in the fruits of a Christian life. Every sect 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 319 
 
 that forgets this bearing of Christianity upon 
 morals, forfeits its claim to the name of 
 Christian. Rome has not entirely renounced 
 this essential characteristic, but Protestant- 
 ism cherishes it in far greater purity. It 
 takes pleasure in deep acquaintance with 
 morals, discriminating religious actions not 
 by their outward appearance and effect upon 
 the imagination, but according to their inhe- 
 rent worth, and their bearing upon the con- 
 science ; so that, if the Papacy is strongly 
 marked as an esthetic system, as has been 
 proved by an able writer, Protestantism is 
 equally characterized as a moral system. 131 
 
 Nevertheless, the Reformation, while pri- 
 marily appealing to the moral sense, addressed 
 the whole man. We have seen how it spoke 
 to his understanding, and what it did for lite- 
 rature : it spoke also to his sensibility and 
 imagination, and thereby contributed to the 
 development of the Arts. The Church was 
 no longer composed exclusively of priests and 
 friars ; it was the assembly of the faithful ; 
 all were to take part in the worship ; and con- 
 gregational singing was to take the place of 
 the priests' chanting. Luther, in translating 
 the Psalms, had in view their adaptation to 
 be sung in the churches. Thus a taste for 
 Music was disseminated throughout the nation. 
 
 " Next to theology," said Luther, " it is to 
 Music that I give the highest place and the 
 greatest honour. 132 A schoolmaster," he added, 
 "ought to know how to sing; without this 
 qualification I would htve nothing to do with 
 him." 
 
 One day, when some fine music was per- 
 forming, he exclaimed in transport, " If our 
 Lord God has shed forth such wondrous gifts 
 on this earth, which is no better than a dark 
 nook, what may we not expect in that eternal 
 life in which we shall be perfected 1" From 
 the days of Luther, the congregated worship- 
 pers have taken part in the singing; the Bible 
 has been the great theme of their songs, and 
 the impulse communicated at that period of 
 the Reformation, has more recently produced 
 those noble Oratorios, which have carried the 
 art to its highest point of attainment. 
 
 Poetry participated in the movement. In 
 singing the praises of God, Christians were 
 not willing to restrict themselves to simple 
 renderings of ancient hymns. The souls of 
 Luther and his contemporaries, elevated by 
 faith to the most sublime contemplations, 
 roused to enthusiasm by the dangers and 
 struggles which incessantly threatened the 
 infant Church, inspired by the poetry of the 
 Old and the hope of the New Testament, 
 soon began to pour out their feelings in reli- 
 gious songs, in which poetry and music joined, 
 and blended their most heavenly accents; and 
 thus were heard reviving, in the sixteenth 
 century, the hymns which, in the first century, 
 soothed the sufferings of the martyrs. In 
 1523, Luther, as we have already said, conse- 
 crated it to commemorate the martyrs of Brus- 
 sels ; others of the children of the Reforma- 
 tion followed his example. Many were the 
 iposed. and rapidly circulated 
 
 among the people, and greatly did they con- 
 tribute to arouse their slumbering minds. It 
 was in this same year Hans Sach composed 
 the " Nightingale of Willemberg" It repre- 
 sented the teaching that had been current in 
 the Church for four centuries as a moonlight 
 time of wandering in the deserts. But the 
 nightingale proclaimed the dawn, and soaring 
 above the morning mist, sang the praise of day. 
 
 Whilst lyric poesy was thus deriving from 
 the Reformation its loftiest inspiration, satiri- 
 cal verses and dramas, from the pen of Hut- 
 ten, Murner, and Manuel, were attacking the 
 most flagrant corruptions. 
 
 It is to the Reformation that the great poets 
 of England, Germany, and perhaps of France, 
 are indebted for the highest flights of their 
 muse. 
 
 Painting was, of all the arts, the least af- 
 fected by the Reformation. This, neverthe- 
 less, was renovated, and, as it were, hallowed 
 by that universal movement which was then 
 communicated to all the powers of man. The 
 great master of that age, Lucas Cranach, set- 
 tled at Wittemberg, and became the painter 
 of the Reformation. We have seen how he 
 represented the points of contrast between 
 Christ and Antichrist, (the Pope,) and was 
 thus among the most influential instruments 
 in that change by which the nation was trans- 
 formed. As soon as he had received new 
 convictions, he devoted his chastened pencil 
 solely to paintings in harmony with the 
 thoughts of a Christian, and gave to groups 
 of children, represented as blessed by the Sa- 
 viour, that peculiar grace with which he had 
 previously invested legendary saints. 
 
 Albert Durer was one of those who were 
 attracted by the Word of Truth, and from- that 
 time a new impulse was given to his genius. 
 His master-pieces were produced subsequent- 
 ly to conversion. It might have been dis- 
 cerned, from the style in which he thencefor- 
 ward depicted the Evangelists and Apostles, 
 that the Bible had been restored to the people, 
 and that the painter derived thence a depth, 
 power, life, and dignity, which he never would 
 have found within himself. 133 
 
 It must, however, be admitted, that, of all 
 the arts, Painting is that one whose influence 
 upon religion is most open to well-founded and 
 strong objection. We see it continually con- 
 nected with grievous immorality or pernicious 
 error; and those who have studied history, or 
 visited Italy, will look for nothing in this art 
 of benefit to human-kind. Our general re- 
 mark holds good, however, notwithstanding 
 this exception. 
 
 Thus every thing progressed, arts, litera- 
 ture, purity of worship and the minds of 
 prince and people. But this glorious harmo- 
 ny, which the Gospel, in its revival, every- 
 where produced, was on the eve of being dis- 
 turbed. The melody of the Wittemberg 
 Nightingale was broken in upon by the howl- 
 ing of the tempest and the roaring of lions. 
 In a moment a cloud overspread Germany, and 
 a brilliant day was succeeded by a night of 
 profound darkness. 
 
 2E 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 A political ferment, very different from that 
 which the Gospel brings with it, had long- 
 been secretly working in the Empire. Sink- 
 ing under secular and ecclesiastical oppression, 
 and, in some of the states, forming part of the 
 seigneurial property and liable to sale with it, 
 the people began to threaten to rise in insur- 
 rection, and burst their fetters. This spirit of 
 resistance had shown itself long before the 
 Reformation, by various symptoms; and even 
 at that time a feeling of religion had mingled 
 with the political elements of resistance. It 
 was impossible, in the sixteenth century, to 
 keep asunder two principles so intimately as- 
 sociated with the existence of nations. In 
 Holland, at the close of the preceding centu- 
 ry, the peasantry had made an insurrection, 
 representing on their banners a loaf of bread 
 and a cheese, the two staple articles of their 
 poor country. The " alliance of the shoes," 
 showed itself first in the neighbourhood of 
 Spires, in 1503; and in 1513, being encou- 
 raged by the priests, it was re-acted at Bris- 
 gau. In 1514, Wurtemburg was the scene of 
 "the league of poor Conrad," which had for 
 its Object to sustain, by the revolt, " the right 
 of God." In 1515, Carinthia and Hungary 
 had been the theatre of terrible commotions. 
 These seditious movements had been arrested 
 by torrents of blood ; but no relief had been 
 afforded to the people. A political reform 
 was, therefore, not less evidently needed than 
 religious reform. In this the people were 
 right ; but it must be admitted, that they were 
 not ripe for its enjoyment. 
 
 Since the commencement of the Reforma- 
 tion these popular ferments had not been re- 
 peated ; men's minds were absorbed with 
 other thoughts. Luther, whose penetrating 
 eye had discerned the condition of the people's 
 minds, had, from his tower in the Wartburg, 
 addressed to them some serious exhortations, 
 of a nature to pacify their agitated feelings : 
 
 " Rebellion," he observed, "never obtains 
 for us the benefit we seek, and God condemns 
 it. What is rebellion? is it not to revenge 
 oneself? The devil tries hard to stir up to 
 rebellion such as embrace the Gospel, that it 
 may be covered with reproach ; but they who 
 have rightly received the truths I ha* r c preach- 
 ed, will not be found in rebellion." 134 
 
 The aspect of things gave cause to fear that 
 the popular ferment could not be much longer 
 restrained. The government which Frederic 
 of Saxony had taken pains to form, and which 
 possessed the nation's confidence, was broken 
 up. The Emperor, whose energy would per- 
 haps have supplied the place of the influence 
 of the national administration, was absent; 
 the princes, whose union had always consti- 
 tuted the strength of Germany, were at vari- 
 ance ; and the new manifestos of Charles the 
 Fifth against Luther, by excluding all hope 
 of a future reconciliation, deprived the Re- 
 former of much of the moral influence, by 
 which, in 1522, he had succeeded in calming 
 the tempest. The barrier, which had hitherto 
 withstood the torrent, being swept away, its 
 fury could no longer be restrained. 
 
 The religious movement did not give birth 
 to the political agitation; but in some quar- 
 ters it was drawn into, and went along with 
 its swelling tide. We might perhaps, go far- 
 ther, and acknowledge that the movement 
 which the Reformation communicated to the 
 popular mind, added strength to the discon- 
 tent which was everywhere fermenting. The 
 vehemence of Luther's writings, his bold 
 words and actions, and the stern truth he 
 spake, not only to the Pope and the prelates, 
 but even to the nobles, must needs have con- 
 tributed to inflame minds that were already 
 in a state of considerable excitement. Thus 
 Erasmus failed not to remind him, " We are 
 now gathering the fruits of your teaching." 1 ^ 
 Moreover, the animating truths of the Gos- 
 pel, now fully brought to light, stirred all 
 bosoms, and filled them with hopeful antici- 
 pations. But there were many unrenewed 
 hearts which were not prepared by a change 
 of thought for the faith and liberty of a Chris- 
 tian. They were quite willing to cast off the 
 yoke of Rome, but they had no desire to take 
 upon them the yoke of Christ. Thus, when 
 the Princes who espoused the cause of Rome 
 endeavoured, in their anger, to crush the Re- 
 formation, those who were really Christians 
 were enabled patiently to endure those cruel 
 persecutions ; while the majority were roused 
 to resistance, and broke forth in tumults ; and, 
 finding their desires opposed in one direction r 
 they sought vent for them in another. " Why 
 is it," said they, " wfcen the Church invites 
 all men to a glorious liberty, that servitude is 
 perpetuated in the state f When the Gospel 
 inculcates nothing but gentleness, why should 
 Governments rule only by force ]" Unhap- 
 pily, at the very period when a reformation 
 of religion was hailed with joy, alike by 
 nobles and people, a political reformation, on 
 the contrary, encountered the opposition of 
 the most powerful of the nation. And whilst 
 the former had the Gospel for its rule and 
 basis, the latter had ere long no principles 
 or motives but violence and insubjection. 
 Hence, while the one was kept within the 
 bounds of truth, the other rapidly overpassed 
 all bounds, like an impetuous torrent bursting 
 its banks. But to deny that the Reformation 
 exerted an indirect influence on the commo- 
 tions which then disturbed the Empire, would 
 subject the historian to the charge of partiality. 
 A fire had been lighted up in Germany by re- 
 ligious discussions, from which it was scarcely 
 possible but that some sparks should escape 
 which were likely to inflame the popular 
 minds. 
 
 The pretensions of a handful of fanatics 
 to Divine inspiration added to the danger. 
 Whilst the Reformation constantly appealed 
 from the authority claimed by the Church to 
 the real authority of the Sacred Word, those 
 enthusiasts rejected, not only the authority 
 of the Church, but that of Scripture also; 
 they began to speak only of an inward Word, 
 an internal revelation from God ; and, un- 
 mindful of the natural corruption of their 
 hearts, they abandoned themselves to the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 321 
 
 intoxication of spiritual pride, and imagined 
 themselves to be saints. 
 
 "The Sacred Writings," said Luther, 
 "were treated by them as a dead letter, and 
 their cry was, The Spirit ! the Spirit !' But 
 assuredly, I, for one, will not follow whither 
 heir spirit is leading them! May God, in 
 His mercy, preserve me from a Church in 
 which there are only such saints. 136 1 wish to 
 he in fellowship with the humble, the weak, 
 the sick, who know and feel their sin, and 
 sigh and cry continually to God from the 
 bottom of their hearts to obtain comfort and 
 deliverance." These words of Luther have 
 a depth of meaning, and indicate the change 
 which his views were undergoing as to the 
 nature of the Church. They at the same 
 time show how opposed the religious prin- 
 ciples of the rebels were to the religious 
 principles of the Reformation. 
 
 The most noted of these enthusiasts was 
 Thomas Miinzer : he was not without talent, 
 had read his Bible, was of a zealous tempera- 
 ment, and might have done good if he had 
 been able to gather up his agitated thoughts, 
 and attain to settled peace of conscience. 
 But with little knowledge of his own heart, 
 and wanting in true humility, he was taken 
 up with the desire of reforming the world, 
 and, like the generality of enthusiasts, forgot 
 that it was with himself he should begin. 
 Certain mystical writings which he had read 
 in his youth, had given a false direction to 
 his thoughts. He made his first appearance 
 in public at Zwickau; quitted Wittemberg 
 on Luther's return thither, not satisfied to 
 hold a secondary place in the general esteem, 
 and became pastor of the small town of Al- 
 stadt, in Thuringia. Here he could not long 
 remain quiet, but publicly charged the Re- 
 formers with establishing by their adherence 
 to the written Word, a species of Popery, and 
 with forming churches which were not pure 
 and holy. 
 
 "Luther," said he, "has liberated men's 
 consciences from the Papal yoke ; but he has 
 left them in a carnal liberty, and has not led 
 them forward in spirit towards God." 137 
 
 He considered himself as called of God to 
 remedy this great evil. The revelations of 
 the Spirit, according to him, were the means 
 by which the Reformation he was charged 
 with should be effected. " He who hath the 
 Spirit," said he, "hath true faith, although 
 he should never once in all his life see the 
 Holy Scriptures. The heathen and the Turks 
 are better prepared to receive the Spirit than 
 many of those Christians who call us enthu- 
 siasts." This remark was directed against 
 Luther. "In order to receive the Spirit," 
 continued he, "we must mortify the flesh; 
 wear sackcloth; neglect the body; be of a 
 sad countenance; keep silence; 138 forsake the 
 haunts of men; and implore God to vouch- 
 safe to us an assurance of his favour. Then 
 it is that God will come unto us, and talk 
 with us, as he did of old with Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob. If He were not to do so, 
 41 
 
 he would not deserve our regard.* I have 
 received from God the commission to gather 
 together His elect in a holy and eternal 
 union." 
 
 The agitation and ferment which were 
 working in men's minds were not a little 
 favourable to the spread of these enthusiastic 
 ideas. Men love the marvellous and what- 
 ever flatters their pride. Miinzer, having 
 inoculated with his own views a portion of 
 his flock, abolished the practice of chanting 
 and all the other ceremonies annexed to pub- 
 lic worship. He maintained that to obey 
 princes " devoid of understanding," was to 
 serve, at one and the same time, God and 
 Belial ; and then setting off at the head of 
 his parishioners to a chapel in the neighbour- 
 hood of Alstadt, to which pilgrims were ac- 
 customed to resort from all quarters, he total- 
 ly demolished it. After this exploit, being 
 obliged to leave the country, he wandered 
 from place to place in Germany, and came as 
 far as Switzerland, everywhere carrying with 
 him, and communicating to all who gave ear 
 to him, the project of a general revolution. 
 Wherever he went he found men's minds 
 prepared. His words were like gunpowder 
 cast upon burning coals, and a violent explo- 
 sion quickly ensued. 
 
 Luther, who had rejected the warlike en- 
 terprises of Sickingen,f could not be led 
 away by the tumultuous movements of the 
 peasantry. Happily for social order, the 
 Gospel kept him from falling into this error; 
 for what would have been the consequences, 
 had he cast his extensive influence into the 
 scale? ... He resolutely maintained the 
 distinction between spiritual and secular 
 matters ; constantly affirming that it was to 
 immortal souls that Christ gave liberty by 
 His word ; and while, on the one hand, he im- 
 pugned the authority of the Church, he, on 
 the other, with equal courage, stood up for 
 the power of rulers. "A Christian," said he, 
 "ought to suffer a hundred deaths rather 
 than be mixed up in the least degree with 
 the revolted peasantry." He wrote to the 
 Elector : " It gives me indescribable satisfac- 
 tion that these enthusiasts themselves boast, 
 to all who will give ear to them, that they do 
 not belong to us. ' It is,' say they, * the Spi- 
 rit which impels us ;' to which I reply, ' that 
 it must be an evil spirit, that bears no other 
 fruits than the pillage of convents and 
 churches ;' the greatest robbers on this earth 
 might easily do as much as that." 
 
 At the same time, Luther, who desired for 
 others the liberty that he claimed for himself, 
 was dissuading the Prince from resorting to 
 severe measures. " Let them preach what 
 they will, and against whom they please," 
 said he, "for it is the Word of God alone 
 which must go forth and give them battle. 
 
 * The expression used by Miinzer is low and 
 irreverent : Er wollt in Gott scheissen wenn er 
 nicht mit ihm redet, wie mil Abraham. (Hist, of 
 Miinzer, by Melancthon.) 
 
 t Book I. p. 35. 
 
322 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 If the spirit in them be the true Spirit, any 
 severities of ours will be unavailing; but if 
 our Spirit be the true, He will not fear their 
 violence ! Let us leave the Spirits to struggle 
 and contend. 139 A few, perhaps, may be se- 
 duced. In every battle there are some 
 wounded ; but he who is faithful in the fight 
 shall receive the crown. Nevertheless, if 
 they have recourse to the sword, let your 
 Highness prohibit it, and command them to 
 quit your dominions." 
 
 The insurrection commenced in the districts 
 of the Black Forest, near the sources of the 
 Danube, a country that had been often the 
 theatre of popular commotions. On the 19th 
 July, 1524, the Thurgovian peasantry rose 
 against the Abbot of Reichenau, who had re- 
 fused to appoint over them an evangelical 
 preacher. Shortly after this, several thou- 
 sand of them collected round the small town 
 of Tenger, their object being to liberate an 
 ecclesiastic who was there imprisoned. The 
 insurrection spread, with inconceivable rapi- 
 dity, from Suabia as far as the Rhenish pro- 
 vinces, Franconia, Thuringia, and Saxony. 
 In January, 1525, all these countries were in 
 a state of open insurrection. 
 
 Towards the close of that month, the pea- 
 santry put forth a declaration in twelve 
 articles, wherein they claimed the liberty of 
 choosing their own pastors, the abolition of 
 small tithes, servitude, and the taxes on in- 
 heritance ; the right to hunt, fish, cut wood, 
 &c. Each demand was backed by a passage 
 from the Bible : and they concluded with the 
 words, " If we are wrong, let Luther set us 
 right by the Scriptures." 
 
 They requested to have the opinion of the 
 divines of Wittemberg. Melancthon and 
 Luther each gave his judgment separately ; 
 and the decision of each reminds us of the 
 difference that marked their characters. Me- 
 lancthon, who regarded any disturbance as a 
 serious crime, overstepped the limits of his 
 habitual mildness, and seemed to labour to 
 express the strength of his indignation. Ac- 
 cording to him, the peasantry were public 
 criminals, on whom he invoked all laws, 
 divine and human. If amicable communica- 
 tions should fail of effect, he would have the 
 magistrates to pursue them, as they would 
 robbers and assassins. " Nevertheless," adds 
 he, (and some one feature, at least, we need 
 to find, that shall remind us of Melancthon,) 
 " think of the orphans before you have 
 recourse to capital punishment!" 
 
 Luther took the same view of the revolt as 
 Melancthon; but he had a heart which 
 deeply felt for the miseries of the people. 
 He manifested, on this occasion, a noble im- 
 partiality, and frankly spoke truth to both 
 parties. He first addressed the princes, 
 and more particularly the bishops : 
 
 " It is you," said he, " who have caused 
 the revolt; it is your declamations against 
 the Gospel, it is your guilty oppression of the 
 poor of the flock, which have driven the 
 people to despair. My dear Lords, it is not 
 the peasants who have risen against you, it 
 
 is God himself who is opposing your mad- 
 ness. 140 The peasants are but instruments he 
 is employing to humble you. Think not you 
 can escape the punishment reserved for you. 
 Even though you should succeed in extermi- 
 nating all the peasantry, God could from 
 these stones raise up others to chastise your 
 pride. If I were bent on avenging my own 
 wrongs, 1 might lau^li in my sleeve, and 
 quietly look on, while the peasantry were 
 acting, or even inflame their rage, but the 
 Lord keep me from it ! My dear Lords, for 
 the love of God ! calm your irritation ; grant 
 reasonable conditions to these poor people, 
 as frenzied and misled persons ; appease 
 these commotions by gentle methods, lest 
 they give birth to a conflagration which shall 
 set all Germany in a flame. Some of their 
 twelve articles contain just and reasonable 
 demands." 
 
 Such an exordium was calculated to gain 
 for Luther the confidence of the peasantry, 
 and to induce them to listen to the truths 
 which he was about to press upon them. 
 After admitting that some of their demands 
 were founded in justice, he declared that re- 
 bellion was the act of heathens : that Chris^ 
 tians were called to suffer, not to fight : that 
 if they persisted in their revolt in the name 
 of the Gospel, but contrary to the very pre- 
 cepts of the Gospel, he should consider them 
 as worse enemies than the Pope. "The 
 Pope and the Emperor," continued he, "com- 
 bined against me ; but the more the Emperor 
 and the Pope stormed, the more did the Gos- 
 pel make its way. Why was this 1 Because 
 I neither took up the sword, nor called for 
 vengeance, nor had recourse to tumult or 
 revolt ; I committed all to God, and waited 
 for him to interpose by his mighty power. 
 The Christian conflict is not to be carried on 
 by sword or arquebuss, but by endurance and 
 the cross. Christ, their Captain, would not 
 have his servants smite with the sword, he 
 was hanged upon a tree." 
 
 But in vain did Luther inculcate these 
 Christian precepts. The people, under the 
 influence of the inflammatory harangues of 
 the leaders of the revolt, were deaf to the 
 words of the Reformer. " He is playing the 
 hjpocrite," said they, "and flatters the 
 nobles : he has himself made war against 
 the Pope, and yet expects that we should 
 submit to our oppressors." 
 
 Instead of subsiding, the insurrection grew 
 more formidable. At Weinsberg, Count 
 Louis of Helfenstein, and the seventy men 
 under his command, were doomed to death. 
 A bodv of peasantry drew up in close ranks, 
 with advanced pikes, whilst others drove the 
 Count and his retainers against the points of 
 this forest of weapons. 141 The wife of the ill- 
 fated Helfenstein, a natural daughter of the 
 Emperor Maximilian, holding her infant in 
 her arms, implored them, on bended knees, to 
 spare the life of her husband, and vainly 
 endeavoured to avert this barbarous murder. 
 A lad who had served under the Count, and 
 had afterwards joined the rebels, gamboled 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 323 
 
 in mockery before him, and played the dead 
 march upon his fife, as if he had been leading 
 his victims in a dance. All perished; the 
 infant was wounded in its mother's arms, and 
 she herself thrown upon a dung-cart, and 
 thus conveyed to Heilbronn. 
 
 At the news of these atrocities, a cry of 
 horror was uttered by the friends of the Re- 
 formation, and Luther's feeling heart was 
 violently agitated. On one hand, the pea- 
 santry, ridiculing his counsel, asserted that 
 they had a revelation from Heaven, impi- 
 ously perverted the threatnings contained in 
 the Old Testament, proclaimed an equality 
 of conditions, and a community of goods, 
 defended their cause with fire and sword, and 
 rioted in barbarous executions. On the other 
 hand, the enemies of the Reformation, with 
 malicious sneer, inquired if the Reformer did 
 not know that it was easier to kindle a fire 
 than to extinguish it. Indignant at these 
 excesses, and alarmed at the thought that 
 they might check the progress of the Gospel, 
 Luther no longer hesitated ; he laid aside his 
 former forbearance, and denounced the rebels 
 with all the energy of his character, over- 
 passing, perhaps, the just bounds within 
 which he should have contained himself. 
 
 "The peasantry," said he, "are guilty of 
 three horrible crimes against God and men; 
 and thus deserve both the death of the body 
 and that of the soul. In the first place, they 
 rebel against their rulers, to whom they have 
 sworn allegiance; next, they rob and plunder 
 convents and castles; and, to crown all, they 
 cloak their crimes under the profession of the 
 Gospel ! If you neglect to shoot a mad dog, 
 yourself and all your neighbours will perish. 
 He who dies in the cause of the magistrates 
 will be a true martyr, provided he fight with 
 a good conscience." 
 
 Luther then proceeds to comment severely 
 upon the guilty violence of the peasantry, in 
 compelling simple and peaceable men to join 
 their ranks, and thus bringing them into the 
 same condemnation. He then proceeds: "On 
 this account, my dear Lords, I conjure you to 
 interpose for the deliverance of these poor peo- 
 ple. I say to him who can bear arms, strike, 
 and kill. If thou shouldst fall, thou canst 
 not have a more blessed end ; for thou meet- 
 est death in the service of God, and to save 
 thy neighbour from hell.' 142 
 
 Neither gentle nor violent measures could 
 arrest the popular torrent. The church bells 
 were rung no longer for divine worship. 
 Whenever their deep and prolonged sounds 
 were heard in country places, it was known 
 as the tocsin, and all flew to arms. 
 
 The people of the Black Forest had enrol- 
 led themselves under John Muller of Bulgen- 
 baeh. With an imposing aspect, wrapped in 
 a red cloak, and wearing a red cap, this chief 
 daringly proceeded from .village to village, 
 followed by his peasantry. Behind him, on 
 a wagon, decorated with boughs and ribands, 
 was exhibited a tri-coloured flag, black, red, 
 and white, the standard of revolt. A he- 
 
 r decorated, read aloud the twelve 
 24 
 
 articles, and invited the people to join in the 
 insurrection. Whoever refused to do so, was 
 banished from the community. 
 
 Their progress, which at first was pacific, 
 became more and more alarming. "We 
 must," they exclaimed, "compel the lords of 
 the soil to submit to our conditions" and by 
 way of bringing them to compliance they 
 proceeded to break open the granaries, empty 
 the cellars, draw the fish-ponds, demolish the 
 castles of the nobles, and set fire to the con- 
 vents. Opposition had inflamed to frenzy 
 these misguided men: Equality could no 
 longer satisfy them; they thirsted for blood ; 
 and swore to make every man who wore a 
 spur bite the dust. 
 
 At the approach of the peasantry, those 
 towns which were incapable of withstanding 
 a siege opened their gates, and made common 
 cause with them. In every place they en- 
 tered, the images of the saints were defaced 
 the crucifixes broken to pieces, while wo- 
 men, armed with weapons, passed through the 
 streets threatening the lives of the monks. 
 Beaten and repulsed in one place, they re- 
 assembled in another, and braved the most 
 formidable regular troops. 
 
 A committee chosen by the peasants sta- 
 tioned themselves at Heilbrun. The Counts 
 of Lowenstein were captured, stript, and 
 clothed in common blouse, a white staff was 
 placed in their hands, and they were com- 
 pelled to swear adhesion to the twelve articles. 
 "Brother George, and you, brother Albert," 
 said a brazier to the Counts of Hohenlohe, 
 who visited their camp, "swear to us to act 
 the part of brothers for yourselves are now 
 peasants and no longer lords." Equality of 
 ranks, that dream of democrats, was esta- 
 blished in aristocratic Germany. 
 
 Many persons of the upper classes, some 
 from fear, and some from motives of ambi- 
 tion, joined the insurrection. The celebrated 
 Gotz of Berlichingen finding himself unable 
 to maintain his authority over his vassals, 
 prepared to seek a refuge in the states of the 
 Elector of Saxony, but his wife, who was 
 then in child-bed, wishing to keep him at 
 home, concealed from him the Elector's letter, 
 Gotz, hemmed in on all sides, was compelled 
 to put himself at the head of the rebel forces. 
 On the 7th of May, the peasants entered 
 Wurtzburg, where they were received with 
 acclamations. The troops of the princes and 
 of the knights of Suabia and Franconia, who 
 were stationed in that city, evacuated it, and 
 withdrew in confusion within the citadel, 
 the last refuge of the nobility. 
 
 But already had the commotion spread to 
 other parts of Germany. Spires, the Palati- 
 nate, Alsace, Hesse, had adopted the twelve 
 articles, and the peasants threatened Bavaria, 
 Westphalia, the Tyrol, Saxony, and Lorraine. 
 The Margrave of Baden, having scornfully 
 rejected the articles, was compelled to seek 
 refuge in flight. The Coadjutor of Fulda 
 acceded to them with a laugh. The smaller 
 towns submitted, alleging that they had no 
 spears to resist the insurgents. Mentz, Treves, 
 2 E 2 
 
324 
 
 HISTOHY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Frankfort, obtained the immunities on which 
 they had insisted. 
 
 Throughout the Empire, a wide-spreading 
 revolution was in full career. The ecclesias- 
 tical and secular privileges, which bore so 
 heavily on the peasantry, were to be sup- 
 pressed ; church property was to be diverted 
 to secular uses, to indemnify the chiefs, and 
 meet the exigencies of the state ; taxes were 
 to be abolished, with exception of a tribute 
 payable every ten years ; the power of the 
 Emperor, as recognised by the New Testa- 
 ment, was to be maintained supreme ; all other 
 reigning princes were to come down to the 
 level of citizens ; sixty-four free courts were 
 to be instituted, and men of all ranks to be 
 eligible as judges; all conditions were tore- 
 turn to their primitive positions ; the clergy 
 were to be restricted to the pastorship of their 
 several churches; princes and knights were 
 to be defenders of the weak; uniform weights 
 and measures were to be introduced ; and one 
 coin to be struck, and be the only currency 
 of the whole Empire. 
 
 Meanwhile, the nobles were recovering 
 from their first stupor, and George Truchsess, 
 commander-in-chief of the Imperial forces, 
 advanced in the direction of the lake of Con- 
 stance. On the 7th of May, he drove back 
 the peasants at Beblingen, and directed his 
 march upon the town of Weinsberg, where 
 the unfortunate Count of Helfenstein had lost 
 his life. He set fire to it, and burned it to 
 the ground, giving orders that its ruins should 
 he left as a lasting memorial of the treason 
 of its inhabitants. At Furfeld, he effected a 
 junction with the Elector Palatine and the 
 Elector of Treves, and the combined army 
 advanced upon Franconia. 
 
 The Frauenburg, the citadel of Wurtzburg, 
 had held out for the cause of the nobles, and 
 the main army of the peasants still lay before 
 its walls. On receiving intelligence of the 
 approach of Truchsess, they resolved on an 
 assault, and on the 15th of May, at nine in 
 the evening, the trumpets sounded, the tri- 
 colour flag was unfurled, and the peasants 
 rushed to the assault with frightful shouts. 
 Sebastian Rotenhan, one of the stanchest 
 partisans of the Reformation, was command- 
 ant in the castle. He had organized the 
 means of defence on an efficient footing, and 
 when he harangued the soldiers and exhorted 
 them to repel the attack, they had all sworn 
 to do so, raising their three fingers towards 
 heaven. A fierce struggle ensued. The reck- 
 less and despairing efforts of the peasants 
 were answered from the walls of the fortress 
 by petards and showers of sulphur and boil- 
 ing pitch, and discharges of cannon. The 
 peasants, thus struck by their unseen enemy 
 from behind the ramparts, for an instant fal- 
 tered, but their fury rose above it all. Night 
 closed in, and the contest still raged. The 
 fortress, lighted up by a thousand battle-fires, 
 seemed, in the darkness of the night, to re- 
 semble a towering giant pouring forth flames, 
 and contending in the midst of bursts of 
 
 thunder for the salvation of the Empire from 
 the savage bravery of infuriated hordes. At 
 two in the morning, the peasants, failing in 
 all their efforts, at last retreated. 
 
 They tried to open negotiations with the 
 garrison, on the one side, and with Truchsess, 
 who was approaching at the head of his army, 
 on the other. But negotiation was not their 
 forte. Violence and conquest offered their 
 only chance of safety. After some hesitation, 
 they decided to advance against the Imperial 
 forces; but the cannon and charges of the 
 Imperial cavalry made fearful havoc in their 
 ranks. On reaching Konigshofen, they were 
 completely routed. Then it was that the 
 princes, nobles, and bishops, cruelly abusing 
 their victory, gave loose to unheard-of cruel- 
 ties. Those who were taken prisoners were 
 hanged at the road-side. The bishop of 
 Wurtzburg, who had taken flight, returning 
 to his diocese, passed over it, attended by ex- 
 ecutioners, who shed, without distinction, the 
 blood of rebels, and of such as were living 
 quietly in subjection to God's word. Gotz 
 de Berlichingen was sentenced to imprison- 
 ment for life. The Margrave Casimir of 
 Anspach, deprived of their sight no less than 
 eighty peasants, who, in the rebellion, had 
 declared with an oath that their eyes should 
 never look upon that prince, casting the vic- 
 tims of his cruelty on the wide world, blind, 
 and holding each other by the hand, to grope 
 their way, and beg their bread. The unfor- 
 tunate youth who had played, on his fife, the 
 death-march of Helfenstein, was chained to 
 a stake, and a fire lighted round him, the 
 knights being present, and laughing at his 
 horrid contortions. 
 
 Everywhere, public worship was restored, 
 under its ancient forms. In the most flourish 
 ing and populous districts of the Empire, the 
 traveller was horror-struck with the sight of 
 heaps of dead bodies and smoking ruins. 
 Fifty thousand had perished; and almost 
 everywhere the people lost what little liberty 
 they had previously possessed. Such, in 
 Southern Germany, was the dreadful result 
 of the Revolt. 
 
 But the evil was not confined to the south 
 and west of Germany. Miinzer, after travers- 
 ing part of Switzerland, Alsace, and Suabia, 
 had again turned his steps towards Saxony. 
 Some townsmen of Mulhausen, in Thuringia, 
 invited him to their town and elected him as 
 their pastor. The Town-council having of- 
 fered resistance, Miinzer degraded it, appoint- 
 ing another in its stead, composed of his own 
 friends, and presided over by himself. Con- 
 temning the Christ full of grace, whom Lu- 
 ther preached, and resolved on recourse to 
 violent means, his cry was, " We must ex- 
 terminate with the sword, like Joshua, the 
 Canaanitish nations." He set on foot a com- 
 munity of goods, and piilagedtheconvents. 143 
 " Miinzer," wrote Luther to Amsdorf, on the 
 llth of April, 1525, "Miinzer is king and 
 emperor of Mulhausen, and no longer its pas- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 325 
 
 tor." The lowest classes ceased to work. | 
 If any one wanted a piece of cloth, or a sup- 
 ply of corn, he asked his richer neighbour : 
 if the latter refused, the penalty was hanging. 
 Mulhausen being a free town, Miinzer exer- 
 cised his power, unmolested, for nearly a year. 
 The revolt of Southern Germany led him to 
 imagine that the time was come to extend his 
 new kingdom. He cast some large guns in 
 the convent of the Franciscans, and exerted 
 himself to raise the peasantry and miners of 
 Mansfeld. " When will you shake off your 
 slumbers," said he, in a fanatical address: 
 "Arise, and fight the battle of the Lord! 
 The time is come France, Germany, and 
 Italy, are up and doing. Forward, Forward, 
 Forward! Dran, Dran, Bran! Heed not 
 the cries of the ungodly. They will weep 
 like children, but be you pitiless Dran, 
 Dran, Dran! Fire burns; let your swords 
 be ever tinged with blood! 144 Dran, Dran, 
 Dran! Work while it is day." The letter 
 was signed " Miinzer, God's servant against 
 the ungodly." 
 
 The country people, eager for plunder, 
 flocked in crowds to his standard. Through- 
 out the districts of Mansfeld, Stolberg, 
 Schwarzburg, Hesse, and Brunswick, the 
 peasantry rose en masse. The convents of 
 Michelstein, Ilsenburg, Walkenried, Rossle- 
 ben, and many others in the neighbourhood 
 of the Hartz mountains, or in the plains of 
 Thuringia were plundered. At Reinhards- 
 brunn, the place which Luther had once visit- 
 ed, the tombs of the ancient landgraves were 
 violated, and the library destroyed. 
 
 Terror spread far and wide. Even at W T it- 
 temberg, some anxiety began to be felt. The 
 Doctors who had not feared Emperors nor 
 Pope felt themselves tremble in presence of a 
 madman. Curiosity was all alive to the ac- 
 counts of what was going on, and watched 
 every step in the progress of the insurrection. 
 Melancthon wrote " We are here in immi- 
 nent danger. If Munzer be successful, it is 
 all over with us ; unless Christ should appear 
 for our deliverance. Munzer's progress is 
 marked by more than Scythian cruel ty. 145 H is 
 threats are more dreadful than I can tell you." 
 
 The pious Elector had hesitated long what 
 steps he should take. Munzer had exhorted 
 him, as well as the other reigning princes, to 
 be converted: "For," said he, "their lime is 
 come :" and he had signed his letters " M'un- 
 zer, armed with the sword of Gideon." It 
 was Frederic's earnest desire to try gentle 
 methods for reclaiming these deluded men. 
 Dangerously ill, he had written on the 14th 
 of April, to his brother John " Possibly more 
 than one cause for insurrection has been 
 given to these wretched people. Oh, in many 
 ways are the poor oppressed by their tempo- 
 ral as well as by their spiritual rulers!" 
 And when his councillors adverted to the hu- 
 miliations, confusions, and dangers to which j 
 he would expose himself by neglecting to 
 stifle the rebellion in its infancy, he made an- 
 swer "In my time, I have been a potent 
 Elector, with horses and chariots in great 
 
 abundance, if, at this time, God will take 
 them away, I will go on foot." 146 
 
 Philip, the young Landgrave of Hesse, was 
 the first of the reigning princes who took up 
 arms. His knights and retainers swore to live 
 or die with him. Having put the aifairs of his 
 states in order, he moved towards Saxony. 
 On their side, Duke John, the Elector's bro- 
 ther, Duke George of Saxony, and Duke 
 Henry of Brunswick, advancing, effected a 
 junction with the Hessian troops. As the 
 combined force came into sight, the peasants, 
 in alarm, took their station on a hill, and, 
 without observing any discipline, set about 
 constructing a sort of rampart, composed of 
 their wagons. Munzer had not even provided 
 powder for his immense guns. No help ap- 
 peared the troops hemmed them in, and a 
 panic spread through the rebel host. The 
 princes from motives of humanity proposed 
 to them to capitulate and they showed 
 signs of willingness to do so. Then it was, 
 that Munzer had recourse to the most power- 
 ful lever of enthusiasm: "This day," said 
 he, " this day we shall behold the mighty arm 
 of God, and destruction shall fall upon our 
 enemies !" Just at that moment a rainbow 
 was seen in the clouds and the fanatic mul- 
 titude, whose standard bore the representation 
 of a rainbow, beheld in it a sure omen of the 
 Divine protection. Munzer took advantage of 
 it: "Never fear," said he, to the burghers 
 and peasantry; "I will receive all their balls 
 in my sleeve :" 147 and at the same moment, he 
 gave direction that a young gentleman, Ma- 
 ternus Geholfen, an envoy from the princes, 
 should be cruelly put to death, in order that 
 the rebels might thus know themselves be- 
 yond the hope of pardon. 
 
 The Landgrave harangued his soldiers 
 " I well know," said he, " that we princes are 
 often to blame for we are but men ; but it is 
 God's will that the powers that be should be 
 respected. Let us save our wives and children 
 from the fury of these murderers. The Lord will 
 give us the victory, for hath He not said, ' He 
 that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordi- 
 nance of God.' " Philip then gave the sig- 
 nal for the attack. It w r as the 15th of May, 
 1525. The army put itself in motion but 
 the crowd of peasants, standing still, struck 
 up the hymn, " Come, Holy Spirit," expect- 
 ing Heaven to interpose in their behalf. But 
 the artillery soon opened a breach in their 
 rude fortification, and scattered confusion and 
 death in their midst. On this, their fanata- 
 cism and resolution at once forsook them ; a 
 panic spread throughout their host, and break- 
 ing from their ranks they fled in the utmost 
 disorder. Five thousand were slain in the 
 pursuit. After the battle the princes and their 
 victorious troops entered Frankenhausen. A 
 soldier, who bad mounted to the loft of the 
 house in which he was quartered, perceived 
 a man crouching in concealment. 148 " Who are 
 you?" demanded he; "are you one of the 
 rebels'?" then catching sight of a writing- 
 case, he opened it, and ^found therein letters 
 addressed to Thomas Munzer " Is that your 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 name?" inquired the trooper "No," an- 
 swered the sick man. But the soldier, utter- 
 ing dreadful threats, Miinzer for he it was 
 confessed he was the man. " You are my 
 prisoner," rejoined the other. Being taken 
 before Duke George and the Landgrave, Miin- 
 zer persisted in maintaining that he was justi- 
 fied in chastising the nobles, since they were 
 opposers of the Gospel. "Wretch!" said 
 they, " think of those whose death thou hast 
 occasioned." But he made answer, smiling 
 in the midst of his anguish, "They would 
 have it so." He took the sacrament under 
 one kind, and was beheaded on the same 
 day as his Lieutenant Pfeiffer. Mulhausen 
 was taken, and the peasants loaded with 
 chains. 
 
 One of the nobles, who had remarked in 
 the crowd of prisoners a peasant whose ap- 
 pearance interested him, drew near, and said, 
 " Well, my boy, what government is most 
 to your mind, the peasants or the princes 1" 
 The poor youth, sighing deeply, replied, 
 " Ah, my dear lord, no edge of sword inflicts 
 such suffering as the rule of a peasant over 
 his fellow." 149 
 
 What remained of the rebellion was quench- 
 ed in blood : Duke George was particularly 
 inflexible. In the states of the Elector, there 
 were neither executions r.or punishments; 150 
 God's word, preached in its purity, had been 
 proved sufficient to control the tumultuous 
 passions of the people. 
 
 In truth, Luther had, from its very begin- 
 ning, withstood the rebellion ; which to him 
 appeared the forerunner of final judgments. 
 He had spared neither advice, entreaties, nor 
 irony. To the twelve articles which the re- 
 bels had drawn up at Erfurth, he had sub- 
 joined as a thirteenth : "//em, the following 
 article omitted above. From this day forth 
 the honourable Council shall be powerless, 
 its functions shall be to do nothing, it shall 
 sit as an idol or as a log, thecommune shall 
 chew its meat for it, and it shall govern bound 
 hand and foot. From this day, the wagon 
 shall guide the horses, the horses shall hold 
 the reins, and all shall go on prosperously, in 
 conformity with the glorious system set forth 
 in the foregoing articles." 
 
 Luther was not satisfied with using his 
 pen. Just when the confusion was at its 
 height, he left Wittemberg, and traversed 
 some of the districts where the agitation was 
 greatest. He preached, he laboured to soften 
 the hearts of his hearers, and being strength- 
 ened from above in his work, he guided, 
 quieted, and brought back into their accus- 
 tomed channels, the impetuous and overflow- 
 ing torrents. 
 
 The reformed teachers everywhere exerted 
 a similar influence. At Halle, Brentz, by the 
 power of the divine promises, revived the 
 drooping spirits of its inhabitants, and four 
 thousand of the peasants fled before six hun- 
 dred of its citizens. 151 At Ichterhausen, where 
 a body of peasants had met, intending to de- 
 molish certain castles, and put their owners 
 to death, Frederic Myconius ventured alone 
 
 among them, and such was the power of his 
 eloquence, that they at once abandoned their 
 purpose. 152 
 
 Such was the part taken by the Reformers 
 and the Reformation during the continuance 
 of the Revolt. They contended, as far as 
 they were enabled, by the sword of the Word, 
 and boldly asserted the principles which alone 
 have power at all times to preserve order and 
 subjection among nations. Hence we find 
 Luther asserting that if the wholesome influ- 
 ence of sound doctrine had not withstood the 
 madness of the people, the revolt would have 
 extended its ravages far more widely, and 
 would everywhere have overturned both 
 Church and State. Every thing inclines 
 us to believe that this melancholy anticipa- 
 tion would have been realized. 
 
 If, as we have seen, the Reformers stood 
 up against sedition, they nevertheless did not 
 escape without being wounded. That moral 
 agony which Luther had first undergone in 
 his cell at Erfurth, was perhaps at its height 
 after the revolt of the peasants. On the side 
 of the princes it was repeated, and in many 
 quarters believed, that Luther's teaching had 
 been the cause of the rebellion; and ground- 
 less as was the charge, the Reformer could 
 not but feel deeply affected by the credit at- 
 tached to it. On the side of the people, 
 Miinzer and all the leaders of the sedition re- 
 presented him as a vile hypocrite and flat- 
 terer of the great, and their calumnies easily 
 obtained belief. 153 The strength with which 
 Luther had declared against the rebels, had 
 given offence even to men of moderate opi- 
 nions. The partisans of Rome exulted; 154 all 
 seemed against him, and he bore the indigna- 
 tion of that generation : but what most grieved 
 him was that the work of Heaven should be 
 thus degraded by being classed with the 
 dreams of fanatics. He contemplated the 
 bitter cup presented to him, and foreseeing 
 that ere long he would be forsaken by all, he 
 exclaimed, " Soon shall I also have to say, 
 * All ye shall be offended because of me in 
 that night!'" 
 
 Yet, in the midst of this bitter experience, 
 his faith was unshaken. " He," said he, 
 "who has enabled me to tread the enemy 
 under foot when he came against me as a 
 roaring lion, will not suffer that enemy to 
 crush me, now that he approaches with the 
 treacherous leer of the basilisk. 155 ! mourn over 
 the late calamities. Again and again have I 
 asked myself whether it might not have been 
 better to have allowed the Papacy to pursue 
 its course unmolested, rather than be a wit- 
 ness to the breaking out of such commotions. 
 But no ; it is better to have extricated a few 
 from the jaws of the devil, than that all should 
 be left under his murderous fans." 15 
 
 At this period we must note the completion 
 of that change in Luther's views which had 
 commenced at the time of his return from the 
 Wartburg. A principle of internal life no 
 longer satisfied him : the Church and her 
 institutions assumed a high importance in his 
 estimate. The fearlessness with which he 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 327 
 
 had thrown down all that stood in the way of 
 his reforms, drew back in the prospect of a 
 work of destruction, far more radical and 
 sweeping : he felt the necessity for preserv- 
 ing, ruling, building up, and it was in the 
 centre of the blood-watered ruins with which 
 the war of the peasants had covered Germany, 
 that the structure of the new Church rose 
 slowly from its foundations. 
 
 The troubles we have been narrating left a 
 deep and enduring impression on the minds 
 of that age. Nations were struck with con- 
 sternation. The masses who had sought in 
 the Reformation nothing but political freedom, 
 withdrew from it of their own accord, when 
 they saw that spiritual liberty was the only 
 liberty it offered. Luther's opposition to the 
 peasants involved the renunciation of the in- 
 constant favour of the people. It was not 
 long before a seeming tranquillity was re- 
 stored, and the silence of terror succeeded to 
 the outbreaks of enthusiasm and sedition. 157 
 
 Thus the popular passions, the cause of 
 revolution, and radical equality, were quelled 
 and passed away ; but the Reformation did 
 not pass away. The two movements, by 
 many confounded with each other, were ex- 
 hibited in the distinctness of their character 
 by the diversity of their results. The revolt 
 was a thing of earthly origin, the Reforma- 
 tion was from above some cannon and sol- 
 diers sufficed to put down the former, but the 
 latter never ceased to grow and strengthen, in 
 spite of the reiterated assaults of the imperial 
 or ecclesiastical powers. 
 
 And yet the cause of the Reformation itself 
 seemed likely to perish in the gulf in which 
 the liberties of the people were lost. A me- 
 lancholy event appeared likely to hasten its 
 ruin. At the time the princes were in full 
 march against Miinzer, and ten days before 
 the final defeat of the peasants, the aged Elec- 
 tor of Saxony, the man whom God had raised 
 up to defend the Reformation against external 
 dangers, descended to the tomb. 
 
 His strength had been daily declining; and 
 his feeling heart was wrung by the atrocities 
 which stained the progress of the war of the 
 peasants. "Oh!" cried he, with a deep 
 sigh, " if it were the will of God, I would 
 gladly be released from this life. I see no- 
 thing left, neither love, truth, nor faith, or any 
 thing good upon this earth." 158 
 
 Turning from the thought of the confusions 
 that prevailed throughout Germany, the pious 
 prince quietly prepared himself to depart. He 
 had taken up his abode in his castle of Lochau. 
 On the fourth of May, he asked for his chap- 
 lain, the faithful Spalatin; "You do well to 
 visit me," said he to him as he entered the 
 room, " for it is well to visit the sick." Then 
 directing that his couch should be moved to- 
 ward the table where Spalatin was seated, he 
 desired his attendants to leave the room, and 
 affectionately taking his friend's hand, spoke 
 to him familiarly of Luther, of the peasants, 
 and of his approaching end. At eight that 
 same evening Spalatin returned; the aged 
 
 prince opened his mind to him, and confessed 
 his sins, in the presence of God. The next 
 morning, the 5th, he received the communion 
 under both kinds. No member of his family 
 was present: his brother and his nephew had 
 both left with the army ; but, according to the 
 ancient custom of those times, his domestics 
 stood round the bed gazing in tears upon the 
 venerable prince whom it had been their sweet 
 privilege to serve: 159 " My little children," said 
 he, tenderly, "if I have offended any one of 
 you, forgive me for the love of God ; for we 
 princes often offend against such little ones, 
 and it ought not so to be." In this way did 
 Frederic conform himself to the apostle's di- 
 rection that the rich humble himself when he 
 is brought low, " because as the flower of the 
 grass he shall pass away." James i. 10. 
 
 Spalatin never left him. He set before him 
 with glowing earnestness the glorious pro- 
 mises of the Gospel ; and the pious Elector 
 drank in its strong consolations with unspeak- 
 able peace. That evangelic doctrine was then 
 to his soul no longer a sword, turned against 
 false teaching, searching it in all its refuges 
 of lies, and triumphing over it at every turn: 
 it was a shower a gentle dew, distilling on 
 his heart, and causing it to overflow with hope 
 and joy. God and eternity were alone pre- 
 sent to his thought. 
 
 Feeling his death rapidly drawing nigh, he 
 destroyed a will he had made some years be- 
 fore, in which he had commended his soul to 
 "the Mother of God," and dictated another, 
 in which he cast himself on the spotless and 
 availing merit of Jesus Christ "for the for- 
 giveness of his sins," and expressed his firm 
 assurance that " he was redeemed by the pre- 
 cious blood of his beloved Saviour." 160 This 
 done, he added, " My strength fails me, I 
 can say no more ;" and at five the same even- 
 ing he "fell asleep." "He was a son of 
 Peace," remarked his physician, " and in peace 
 he is departed."" Oh," said Luther, " how 
 bitter to his survivors was that death." 161 
 
 It is remarkable that Luther, who just at 
 that time was on a mission of peace, trying to 
 allay the excitement left, by recent events, on 
 the minds of the people of Thuringia, had 
 never seen the Elector, but at a distance, as 
 at Worms, when the latter was seated beside 
 Charles the Fifth. But from the moment the 
 Reformation appeared, these two remarkable 
 men had been together in spirit. Frederic in 
 quest of the national interest and independence, 
 Luther in quest of truth and reformation. 
 It cannot be doubted that the Reformation was, 
 in principle, a work of the Spirit; but, in or- 
 der to its gaining footing on the earth, it was, 
 perhaps, necessary that it should be linked 
 with a something connected with the interests 
 of the nation. Hence, no sooner had Luther 
 stood up against indulgences, than the alliance 
 between the Monk and the Prince was tacitly 
 concluded, an alliance in its nature simply 
 moral, without form of contract, without writ- 
 ing, without even verbal communication, an 
 alliance in which the stronger lent no aid to the 
 weaker party, but that which consisted in 
 
328 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 leaving him unmolested to his work. But 
 now that the mighty oak, under the shelter of 
 which the Reformation had grown up, was 
 felled to the dust, now that the opposers of 
 the Gospel -gave more free expression to their 
 hatred, and its supporters were obliged to re- 
 tire or to be silent, it seemed as if nothing was 
 left to defend it against the sword of those who 
 were pursuing it. 
 
 The confederates of Ratisbon, after the com- 
 plete defeat of the peasants of the southern 
 and western provinces, proceeded to vent their 
 their revenge on the Reformation, as well as 
 on those who had taken part in the revolt. At 
 Wurtzburg, at Bamberg, inoffensive citizens 
 were put to death, including some who had 
 even opposed themselves to the peasants. " It 
 matters not," it was openly said, " they were 
 of the Gospellers," and they werebeheaded. 162 
 
 Duke George sought occasionally to infuse 
 into the minds of the Landgrave and Duke John 
 his own prejudices and antipathies. " See," 
 said he, after the rout of the peasants, pointing 
 to the field of carnage, " see what miseries 
 Luther has occasioned." John and Philip 
 showed signs of acquiescence. "Duke 
 George," remarked the Reformer, " flatters 
 himself he shall succeed, now that Frederic 
 is dead ; hut Christ still reigns in the midst 
 of his enemies. Gnash their teeth as they 
 will, the desire of them shall perish." 163 
 
 George lost no time in forming, in northern 
 Germany, a confederacy similar to that of 
 Ratisbon. The Electors of Mentz and Bran- 
 denburg, Dukes Henry, Eric, and George, 
 assembled at Dessau, and there concluded a 
 treaty of alliance in the interest of Rome. 164 In 
 the month of July, George urged the new 
 Elector and his son-in-law, the Landgrave, 
 to accede to it. Then, as if to give intimation 
 of the objects of the confederation, he behead- 
 ed two citizens of Leipsic, who had been 
 proved to have in their possession the Re- 
 former's writings. 
 
 Just at this time letters from Charles the 
 Fifth, dated from Toledo, reached Germany, 
 by which another Diet was convoked at Augs- 
 burg. Charles wished to give the Empire 
 such a constitution as would allow him to dis- 
 pose, at will, of the military force of Germany. 
 The divisions in religion favoured his design. 
 He had but to let loose the Catholics against 
 the Gospellers; and when both should have 
 exhausted their strength, he might gain an 
 easy victory over both. " Away with the 
 Lutherans," was therefore the cry of the Em- 
 peror. 165 
 
 Thus, all conspired against the Reforma- 
 tion. Never could Luther's spirit have been 
 bowed down by such manifold apprehensions. 
 The surviving sectaries of Miinzer had vowed 
 to take his life. His sole protector was no 
 more. "Duke George," wrote some, "in- 
 tended to arrest him in Wittemberg itself. 166 
 The Princes who could have defended him, 
 one after another bowed before the storm, and 
 seemed to be abandoning the cause of the 
 Gospel. The University, already lowered in 
 credit by the recent confusions, was, according 
 
 to rumour, on the point of being suppressed by 
 the new Elector. Charles, after his victory 
 at Pavia, had just convoked another Diet, that 
 a finishing blow might be dealt against the 
 Reformation, What dangers, then, must he 
 not have foreseen? The anxious mental 
 struggles that had so often drawn sobs from 
 his bosom again wrung his heart. How should 
 he bear up against such multiplied enemies'? 
 In the very crisis of this agitation, with all 
 these accumulated dangers staring him in the 
 face, the corpse of Frederic scarcely cold, 
 and the plains of Germany still strewed with 
 the unburied bodies of the peasants Luther, 
 none surely could have imagined such a 
 thing, Luther married ! 
 
 In the monastery of Nimptsch, near Grim- 
 ma, in Saxony, resided, in the year 1523, 
 nine nuns, who had devoted themselves to the 
 reading of God's word, and had discerned the 
 contrast that existed between the Christian 
 life and the daily routine of their cloister. The 
 names of these nuns were Magdalene Staupitz, 
 Elisa Canitz, Ave Grossn, Ave and Margaret 
 Schonfeld, Laneta Golis, Margaret and Cathe- 
 rine Zeschau, and Catherine Bora. The first 
 step taken by these young women, after their 
 minds were delivered from the superstitions of 
 their monastery, was to write to their relations. 
 "Our continuance in a cloister," said they, "is 
 incompatible withthesalvationofoursouls." 167 
 Their parents dreading the trouble such a re- 
 solution was likely to occasion to themselves, 
 repelled with harshness the entreaties of their 
 children. The poor nuns were overwhelmed 
 with distress. How to leave their nunnery ! 
 their timidity took alarm at so desperate a de- 
 cision. At last their horror of the Papal ser- 
 vices prevailed, and they mutually promised 
 not to part company, but together to find their 
 way to some respectable quarter with decency 
 and order. 168 Two respected and pious citizens 
 of Torgau, Leonard Koppe and Wolff To- 
 mitzch, tendered their assistance 169 they wel- 
 comed it as of God's sending, and quitted the 
 convent of Nimptsch without any hinderance 
 being interposed, as if the hand of the Lord 
 had set open its gates. 170 Koppe and Tomitzch 
 were in waiting to receive them in their wa- 
 gon and on the 7th of April, the nine nuns, 
 amazed at their own boldness, drew up in 
 deep emotion at the gate of the old convent of 
 the Augustines where Luther resided. 
 
 " This is not my doing," said Luther, as he 
 received them, " but would to God I could, in 
 this way, give liberty to enslaved consciences, 
 and empty the cloisters of their tenants. A 
 breach is made, however." 171 Several persons 
 proposed to the doctor to receive the nuns into 
 their houses, and Catherine Bora found a 
 welcome in the family of the burgomaster of 
 Wittemberg. 
 
 If Luther had then before him the prospect 
 of any solemn event, it was that he should be 
 called to ascend the scaffold, not the steps of 
 the altar. Many months after this, he answer- 
 ed those who spoke of marriage " God may 
 change my purpose, if such be his pleasure ; 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 329 
 
 but at present I have no thought of taking a 
 wife; not that I am insensible to the charms 
 of a married life ; I am neither wood nor 
 stone ; but I every day expect death and the 
 punishment of a heretic." 172 
 
 And yet all was moving onward in the 
 church. The habits of monastic life, invent- 
 ed by man, were on all sides giving place to 
 the habits of domestic life, instituted by God. 
 On Sunday, the 9th of October, Luther, on 
 rising, laid aside his monk's gown, assumed 
 the garb of a secular priest, and then made 
 his appearance in the church, where this trans- 
 formation caused a lively satisfaction. Chris- 
 tianity, in its renewed youth, hailed with 
 transport every thing that announced that the 
 old things were passed away. 
 
 It was not long before the last monk quitted 
 the convent. Luther remained behind ; his 
 footsteps alone re-echoed in its long corridors 
 he sat silent and alone in the refectory, so 
 lately vocal with the babble of the monks. 
 A speaking silence ! attesting the triumph of 
 the Word of God. The convent had, indeed, 
 ceased to have any existence. Luther, to- 
 wards the end of December, 1524, transmitted 
 to the Elector the keys of the monastery, to- 
 gether with a message, that himself would see 
 where it might be God's will to feed him. 173 
 The elector made over the convent to the uni- 
 versity, and desired Luther to continue to re- 
 side in it. The abode of the monks was, ere 
 long, to become the home of a Christian 
 family. 
 
 Luther, who had a heart happily constituted 
 for relishing the sweetness of domestic life, 
 honoured and loved the marriage state. It is 
 even likely that he had some preference for 
 Catherine Bora. For a long while, his scru- 
 ples and the thought of the calumnies which 
 such a step would occasion, had hindered his 
 thinking or her; and he had offered the hand 
 of poor Catherine first to Baumgartner of Nu- 
 remberg, and afterwards to Doctor Glatz, of 
 Orlamund. 174 But when Baumgartner declined, 
 and Catherine herself refused Glatz, he began 
 more seriously to consider whether he himself 
 ought not to think of making her his wife. 
 
 His aged father, who had been so much 
 grieved when he first took upon him the pro- 
 fession of an ecclesiastic, urged him to marry. 175 
 But one thought above all was present in 
 much power to the conscience of Luther. 
 Marriage is God's appointment celibacy is 
 man's. He abhorred whatever bore the stamp 
 of Rome. " I desire," said he, to his friends, 
 "to have nothing left of my papistic life. 176 
 Night and day he besought the Lord to put an 
 end to his uncertainty. At last a thought 
 came to break the last ties which held him 
 back. To all the considerations of consistency 
 and personal obedience which taught him to 
 apply to nimself that word of God It is not 
 good that man should be alone (Gen. ii. 18) 
 was added a higher and more powerful mo- 
 tive. He recognised that if as a man he was 
 called to the marriage state, he was also call- 
 ed to it as a Reformer. This thought decided 
 him. 
 
 "If that monk marries," said his friena 
 Schurff the jurisconsult, "he will cause men 
 and devils to shout with laughter, and bring 
 ruin upon all that he has hitherto effected." 177 
 This remark had upon Luther an effect the 
 very reverse of what might have been expect- 
 ed. To brave the world, the devil, and his 
 enemies, and, by an act in man's judgment 
 the most likely to ruin the Reformation, make 
 it evident that its triumph was not to be as- 
 cribed to him, was the very thing he most of 
 all desired. Accordingly, lifting up his head, 
 he boldly replied, " I'll do it! I will play 
 this trick to the world and the devil! -I'll 
 content my father and marry Catherine!" 
 Luther, by his marriage, broke even more ir- 
 revocably with the institutions of the Papacy. 
 He sealed his doctrine by his own example, 
 and emboldened the timid to an entire renun- 
 ciation of their delusions. 178 Rome had seem- 
 ed to be here and there recovering the ground 
 she had lost, and might have been indulging 
 in dreams of victory; but here was a loud 
 explosion that carried wonder and terror into 
 her ranks, and discovered, more clearly than 
 ever, the courage of the enemy she had pic- 
 tured to herself defeated and depressed. "I 
 am determined," said Luther, "to bear wit- 
 ness to the Gospel, not by my words alone, 
 but by my actions. I am determined, in the 
 face of my enemies, who already are triumph- 
 ing and exulting over me, to marry a nun, 
 that they may know that they have not con- 
 quered me. 179 1 do not take a wife that I may 
 live long with her; but, seeing people and 
 princes letting loose their fury against me, 
 in the prospect of death, and of their again 
 trampling my doctrine under foot, I am re- 
 solved to edify the weak, by leaving on record 
 a striking confirmation of the truth of what I 
 have taught." 180 
 
 On the llth of June, Luther repaired to the 
 house of his friend and colleague Amsdorff. 
 He requested Pomeranus, whom he dignified 
 with the special character of the Pastor, to 
 give them the nuptial benediction. Lucas 
 Cranach and Doctor John Apelles witnessed 
 their marriage. Melancthon was not present. 
 
 No sooner had Luther's marriage taken 
 place than all Christendom was roused by the 
 report of it. On all sides accusations and 
 calumnies were heaped upon him. " It is in- 
 cest," exclaimed Henry the Eighth. "A 
 monk has married a vestal!" 181 said some. 
 " Antichrist must be the fruit of such a union," 
 said others : " for it has been predicted that he 
 will be the offspring of a monk and a nun." 
 To which Erasmus made answer, with mali- 
 cious sneer, " If that prophecy be true, what 
 thousands of Antichrists the world has before 
 now seen." 182 But while these attacks were 
 directed against Luther, some prudent and 
 moderate men, in the communion of the 
 Church of Rome, undertook his defence. 
 " Luther," said Erasmus, " has taken to wife 
 a female of the noble house of Bora, but 
 she brought him no dowry." 183 One whose tes- 
 timony carries still more weight, bore witness 
 in his favour. Philip Melancthon, the ho- 
 
330 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 noured teacher of Germany, who had at first 
 been alarmed by so bold a step, now remarked 
 with that grave conscientiousness which com- 
 manded respect even from his enemies : " If 
 it is asserted that there has been any thing 
 unbecoming in the affair of Luther's marriage, 
 it is a false slander. 184 It is my opinion, that, 
 in marrying, he must have done violence to 
 his inclination. The marriage state, I allow, 
 is one of humility, but it is also one of sanc- 
 tity if there be any sanctity in this world ; 
 and the Scriptures everywhere speak of it as 
 honourable in God's sight." 
 
 At first Luther was disturbed by the re- 
 proaches and indignities showered upon him. 
 Melancthon showed more than his usual kind- 
 ness and affection towards him: 185 and it was not 
 long before the Reformer was enabled to dis- 
 cern, in men's opposition, one mark of God's 
 approval. " If the world were not scanda- 
 lized by what I have done," said he, "I should 
 have reason to fear that it was not according 
 to God's mind." 186 
 
 Eight years had elapsed between the period 
 when Luther first preached against indul- 
 gences, and the time of his union with Cathe- 
 rine Bora. It would be difficult to attribute, 
 as is sometimes done, his zeal against the cor- 
 ruptions of the Church to an eager desire to 
 enter into the marriage state. He was already 
 turned forty-two ; and Catherine had passed 
 two years at Wittemberg since leaving the 
 convent. 
 
 Luther's marriage was a happy one : " The 
 greatest of earthly blessings," said he, " is a 
 pious and amiable wife, who fears God and 
 loves her family, one with whom a man may 
 live in peace and in whom he may repose per- 
 fect confidence." 
 
 Some time after, in writing to one of his 
 friends, he intimated that his Catherine might 
 soon present him with a child ; 187 and, in fact, 
 just one year after their marriage, Catherine 
 was delivered of a boy. 188 The charms of do- 
 mestic life soon dispelled the dark clouds 
 raised around him by the wrath of his adver- 
 saries. His Ketha, as he called her, manifest- 
 ed towards him the tenderest affection, com- 
 forting him, when cast down, by reciting pas- 
 sages of the Bible, relieving him from the 
 cares of the household, sitting by him in his 
 intervals of leisure, while she worked his por- 
 trait in embroidery, or reminded him of the 
 friends he had neglected to write to, and 
 amused him by the simplicity of her ques- 
 tions. A sort of dignity seems to have mark- 
 ed her deportment, for Luther occasionally 
 spoke of her as "My Lord Catherine." On 
 one occasion he said jesting^ that if ever he 
 had to marry again, he would chisel an obe- 
 dient wife in stone, for, added he, " there 
 is no possibility -of finding a real one." His 
 letters were full of tenderness for Cathe- 
 rine, whom he styled, "his dear and gra- 
 cious wife" " his dear and amiable Ketha" 
 Luther's manner acquired more playfulness 
 from the society of his Catherine ; and that 
 happy flow of spirits continued from that time, 
 
 and was never lost even in the most trying 
 circumstances. 
 
 Such was the almost universal corruption 
 of the clergy, that the priestly office had fallen 
 into almost general disrepute : the isolated 
 virtue of a few faithful servants of God had not 
 sufficed to redeem it from contempt. Family 
 peace and conjugal fidelity were continually 
 being disturbed, both in towns and rural dis- 
 tricts, by the gross passions of priests and 
 monks ; none were safe from their seductions. 
 The free access allowed them to families, and 
 sometimes even the confidence of the confes- 
 sional, was basely perverted into an opportu- 
 nity of instilling deadly poison, that they 
 might gratify their guilty desires. The Re- 
 formation, by abolishing the celibacy of the 
 ecclesiastics, restored the sanctity of wedlock. 
 The marriage of the clergy put an end to an 
 untold amount of secret profligacy. The Re- 
 formers became examples to their flocks in 
 the most endearing and important of all hu- 
 man relationships, and it was not long be- 
 fore the people rejoiced to see the ministers 
 of religion in the character of husbands and 
 fathers. 
 
 On a hasty view, Luther's marriage had 
 indeed seemed to multiply the difficulties in 
 the way of the Reformation. It was still suf- 
 fering from the effects of the revolt of the 
 peasants ; the sword of the Emperor and of 
 the princes was unsheathed against it; and its 
 friends, the Landgrave Philip, and the new 
 Elector John, appeared discouraged and si- 
 lenced. 
 
 Nevertheless, this state of things was of no 
 long duration. The young Landgrave, ere 
 long, boldly raised his head. Ardent and fear- 
 less as Luther, the manly spirit of the Re- 
 former had won his emulation. He threw 
 himself with youthful daring into the ranks of 
 the Reformation, while he at the same time 
 studied its character with the grave intelli- 
 gence of a thoughtful mind. 
 
 In Saxony, the loss of Frederic's prudence 
 and influence was but ill supplied by his suc- 
 cessor ; but the Elector's brother, Duke John, 
 instead of confining himself to the office of a 
 protector, intervened directly and courageously 
 in matters affecting religion : " I desire," said 
 he, in a speech communicated to the assem- 
 bled clergy, on the 16th of August, 1525, as 
 he was on the point of quitting Weimar, " that 
 you will in future preach the pure word of 
 God, apart from those things which man has 
 added." Some of the older clergy, not know- 
 ing how to set about obeying his direction, 
 answered with simplicity, " But we are not 
 forbidden to say mass for the dead, or to bless 
 the water and salt ?" " Every thing, no 
 matter what," replied the Elector, "must 
 be conformed to God's word." 
 
 Soon after, the young Landgrave conceived 
 the romantic hope of converting Duke George, 
 his father-in-law. Sometimes he would de- 
 monstrate the sufficiency of the Scriptures 
 another time he would expose the Mass, the 
 Papacy, and compulsory vows. His letters 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 331 
 
 followed quick upon each other, and the va- 
 rious testimony of God's word was all brought 
 to hear upon the old Duke's faith. 189 
 
 These efforts were not without results. 
 Duke George's son was won to the new opi- 
 nions. But Philip failed with the father. " A 
 hundred years hence," said the latter, " and 
 you will see who is right." " Aw'ful speech !" 
 observed the Elector of Saxony : " What can 
 be the worth, I pray you, of a faith that needs 
 so much previous reflection 1 ? 190 Poor Duke! he 
 will hold back long I fear God has hardened 
 his heart, as Pharaoh's, in old time." 
 
 In Philip, the friends of the Gospel possess- 
 ed a leader, at once bold, intelligent, and ca- 
 pable of making head against the formidable 
 assaults its enemies were planning. But is it 
 not sad to think, that from this moment the 
 leader of the Reformation should be a soldier, 
 and not simply a disciple of God's word 1 
 Man's part in the work was seen in due ex- 
 pansion, and its spiritual element was propor- 
 tionably contracted. The work itself suffered 
 in consequence, for every work should be per- 
 mitted to develope itself, according to the laws 
 of its own nature, and the Reformation was 
 of a nature essentially spiritual. 
 
 God was multiplying external supports. 
 Already a powerful state on the German fron- 
 tier Prussia unfurled with joy the standard 
 of the Gospel. The chivalrous and religious 
 spirit that had founded the Teutonic order, 
 had gradually become extinct with the memo- 
 ry of the ages in which it arose. The knights, 
 intent only upon their private interests, had 
 given dissatisfaction to the people over whom 
 they presided. Poland had seized the oppor- 
 tunity to impose her suzerainty on the order. 
 People, knights, grand master, and Polish in- 
 fluence, were so many different interests con- 
 tinually conflicting, and rendering the pros- 
 perity of the country impossible. 
 
 In this state of things, the Reformation 
 found them, and all men saw in it the only 
 \vay of deliverance for that unfortunate peo- 
 ple. Brisman, Speratus, Poliander, (who 
 had been secretary to Eck, at the time of the 
 Leipsic discussion,) and others besides, 
 preached the Gospel in Prussia. 
 
 One day a beggar, coming from the lands 
 under the rule of the Teutonic knights, ar- 
 rived in Wittemberg; and, stopping before 
 the residence of Luther, sang slowly that 
 noble hymn of Poliander's, 
 
 " At length redemption's come." 191 
 
 The Reformer, who had never heard this 
 Christian hymn, listened, rapt in astonish- 
 ment. The foreign accent of the singer 
 heightened his joy. " Again, again," cried 
 he, when the beggar had ended. Afterwards 
 he inquired where he had learned that hymn, 
 and tears filled his eyes, when he heard from 
 the poor man that it was from the shores of 
 the Baltic that this shout of deliverance was 
 sounding as far as Wittemberg: then, clasp- 
 ing his hands, he gave thanks to God. 192 
 
 In truth Redemption was come even thither! 
 
 " Take compassion on our weakness," said 
 43 
 
 the people of Prussia to the Grand Master, 
 "and send us preachers who may proclaim 
 the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ." Albert at 
 first gave no answer, but he entered into par- 
 ley with Sigismund king of Poland, his uncle 
 and suzerain lord. 
 
 The latter acknowledged him as hereditary 
 Duke of Prussia, and the new prince made his 
 entry into his capital of Konigsberg, amidst 
 the ringing of bells, and acclamations of the 
 inhabitants, who had decorated their houses, 
 and strewed their streets withflowers. 193 "There 
 is but One religious order," said Albert, " and 
 it is as comprehensive as Christianity itself!" 
 The monastic orders vanished, and that di- 
 vinely appointed order was restored. 
 
 The bishops surrendered their secular rights 
 to the new Duke; the convents were con- 
 verted into hospitals; and the Gospel car- 
 ried into the poorest villages; and in the year 
 following, Albert married Dorothy, daughter 
 of the king of Denmark, whose faith in the 
 one Saviour was unshaken. 
 
 The Pope called upon the Emperor to take 
 measures against the "apostate" rnonk ; 
 and Charles placed Albert under interdict. 
 
 Another prince of the house of Branden- 
 burg, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Mentz, was 
 just then on the point of following his rela- 
 tion's example. The revolt of the peasants 
 was especially menacing in its aspect toward 
 the ecclesiastical principalities ; the Elector, 
 Luther, and all Germany thought a great re- 
 volution was at hand. The Archbishop see- 
 ing no better way to preserve his principality 
 than to render it secular, privately requested 
 Luther to sound the minds of the people pre- 
 paratory to so decided a step, 194 which Luther 
 accordingly did, in a letter written with a 
 view to its being made public, wherein he 
 said that the hand of God was heavy on the 
 clergy, and that nothing could save them. 195 
 However the War of the peasants having 
 been brought to an earlier termination than 
 had been looked for : the Cardinal retained 
 possession of his temporalities his uneasi- 
 ness subsided, and all thoughts of secularizing 
 his position were dismissed ! 
 
 Whilst John of Saxony, Philip of Hesse, 
 and Albert of Prussia, were openly taking 
 part with the Reformation, and thus, in place 
 of the cautious Frederic, three princes of bold 
 and decided character were standing forward 
 in its support, the blessed word was working 
 its way in the Church, and among the nations. 
 Luther besought the Elector to establish gene- 
 rally the preaching of the Gospel in place of 
 the ministrations of Romish priests, and to 
 direct a general visitation of the churches. 1 ' 6 
 About the same time at Wittemberg they be- 
 gan to exercise the episcopal function, and 
 ordain ministers ; " Let not the Pope, the 
 bishops, or the monks, exclaim against us," 
 said Melancthon, " we are the Church ; he 
 who separates from us separates himself from 
 the Church. There is no other Church save 
 the assembly of those who have the word of 
 God, and who are purified by it." 197 
 
 All this could not be said and done without 
 2F 
 
332 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 occasioning a strong reaction. Rome had 
 thought the Reformation extinguished in the 
 blood of the rebel peasants but in all quar- 
 ters its flame was rising more bright and pow- 
 erful than ever. She decided on making one 
 more effort. The Pope and the Emperor 
 wrote menacing letters, the former from Rome, 
 the latter from Spain. The Imperial govern- 
 ment took measures for restoring the ancient 
 order of things, and preparations were made 
 for finally crushing the Reformation at the ap- 
 proaching Diet. 
 
 The Electoral Prince of Saxony, and the 
 Landgrave, in some alarm, met on the 7th of 
 November, in the castle of Friedewalt, and 
 came to an agreement that their deputies at 
 the Diet should act in concert. Thus in the 
 forest of Sullingen arose the earliest elements 
 of an evangelical association in opposition to 
 the leagues of Ratisbon and Dessau. 
 
 The Diet opened on the llth of December, 
 at Augsburg. The princes favourable to the 
 Gospel were not present, but the deputies 
 from Saxony and Hesse spoke out .fearlessly : 
 " The rising of the peasants," said they, 
 " was the effect of impolitic and harsh usage. 
 God's truth is not to be torn from the heart by 
 fire and sword : if you are bent on resorting 
 to violence against the reformed opinions, you 
 will bring down upon us calamities more ter- 
 rible than those from which we have but just 
 escaped." 
 
 It was felt that the resolution of the Diet 
 must be most important in its results. Every 
 one desired, by postponing the decisive mo- 
 ment, to gain time to strengthen his own 
 position. It was accordingly resolved, that 
 the Diet should reassemble at Spires in the 
 month of May following ; and in the mean 
 while the rescript of Nuremberg was to con- 
 tinue in force. " When the Diet meet again," 
 said they, "we will go fully into the ques- 
 tions of ' the holy faith, public rights, and 
 f he general peace.' " 
 
 The Landgrave pursued his plan. Toward 
 the end of February, 1526, he had a confer- 
 ence with the Elector at Gotha. The two 
 princes came to an understanding, that if at- 
 tacked on account of the word of God, they 
 would unite their forces to resist their adver- 
 saries. This alliance was formally ratified at 
 Torgau, and was destined to be fruitful in 
 important consequences. 
 
 However, the alliance he had concluded 
 was of itself not enough to satisfy the Land- 
 grave. Convinced that Charles was at work 
 to compact a league "against Christ and his 
 holy word," he addressed letter after letter to 
 the Elector, urging upon him the necessity of 
 uniting with other states: "For myself," 
 said he, " rather would I die than deny the 
 word of God, and allow myself to be driven 
 from my throne." 188 
 
 At the Elector's court much uncertainty 
 prevailed. In fact, a serious difficulty stood 
 in the way of union between the princes fa- 
 vourable to the Gospel; and this difficulty 
 originated with Luther and Melancthon. Lu- 
 ther insisted that the doctrine of the Gospel 
 
 should be defended by God alone. Ho 
 thought that the less man meddled in the 
 work, the more striking would be God's inter- 
 vention in its behalf. All the politic precau- 
 tions suggested were in his view attributable 
 to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust. Me- 
 lancthon dreaded lest an alliance between the 
 evangelical princes should hasten that very 
 struggle which it was their object to avert. 
 
 The Landgrave was not to be deterred by 
 such considerations, and laboured to gain 
 over the neighbouring states to the alliance, 
 but he failed in his endeavours. The Elec- 
 tor of Treves abandoned the ranks of the op- 
 position, and accepted a pension from the 
 Emperor. Even the Elector Palatine, whose 
 disposition was known to be favourable to the 
 Gospel, declined Philip's advances. 
 
 Thus, in the direction of the Rhine, the 
 Landgrave had completely failed; but the 
 Elector, in opposition to the advice of the 
 reformed divines, opened negotiations with 
 the princes who had in all times gathered 
 round the standard of the powerful chief of 
 Saxony. On the l'2th day of June, the 
 Elector and his son, the Dukes Philip, Ernest, 
 Otho, and Francis of Brunswick and Lunen- 
 burg, Duke Henry of Mecklenburg, Prince 
 Wolf of Anhalt, Counts Albert and Gebhard 
 of Mansfeld, assembled at Magdeburg, and 
 there, under the presidence of the Elector, 
 they contracted an alliance similar to that of 
 Torgau. 
 
 "Almighty God," said the princes, "hav- 
 ing in his unspeakable mercy again brought 
 forward among men his holy and eternal 
 word, the food of our souls, and our richest 
 treasure on this earth, and great efforts 
 being made by the clergy and their adherents 
 to suppress and extirpate it, we, being 
 well assured that He who has sent it forth to 
 glorify his name upon earth, will know how 
 to maintain it, mutually engage to preserve 
 that blessed word to our people, and to em- 
 ploy for this end our goods and our lives, the 
 resources of our states and the arms of our 
 subjects, and all that we have, putting our 
 trust not in our armies, but solely in the 
 almighty power of the Lord, of whom we 
 desire to be but the instruments." 1 " So spoke 
 the princes. 
 
 Two days after, the city of Magdeburg 
 was received into the alliance, and Albert of 
 Brandenburg, the new Duke of Prussia, 
 acceded to it by a separate convention. 
 
 The Evangelic Union was formed ; but the 
 dangers it was destined to ward off seemed 
 every day to become more threatening. The 
 priests, and such of the princes as adhered to 
 the Romish party, had seen the Reformation, 
 which they had thought stifled, suddenly 
 growing up before them to a formidable 
 height. Already the partisans of the Re- 
 formation were nearly as numerous as those 
 of the Pope. If they should form a majority 
 in the Diet, the consequences to the ecclesi- 
 astical states might be imagined. Now or 
 never! It was no longer a heresy to be 
 refuted, but a powerful party to be withstood. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 333 
 
 Victories of a different kind from those of 
 Eck were needed on this occasion. 
 
 Vigorous measures had been already taken. 
 The metropolitan chapter of the church of | 
 Mentz had convoked an assembly of its suf- 
 fragans, and adopted the resolution to send a 
 deputation to the Emperor and the Pope, en- 
 treating them to interpose for the deliverance 
 of the Church. 
 
 At the same time, Duke George of Saxony, 
 Duke Henry of Brunswick, and the Cardinal- 
 Elector Albert, had met at Halle, and ad- 
 dressed a memorial to Charles. "The 
 detestable doctrine of Luther," said they, 
 "is making extensive progress; every day 
 attempts are made to seduce ourselves, and, 
 failing to persuade us, they seek to compel 
 us by exciting our subjects to revolt. We 
 implore the Emperor's intervention." 200 Onthe 
 breaking up of this conference, Brunswick 
 himself set out for Spain to induce Charles 
 to take the decisive step. 
 
 He could not have arrived at a more favour- 
 able juncture: the Emperor had just con- 
 cluded with France the famous peace of 
 Madrid. He seemed to have nothing left to 
 apprehend from that quarter, and his un- 
 divided attention was now directed to the 
 affairs of Germany. Francis the First had 
 offered to defray half the expenses of a war 
 either against the heretics or against the 
 Turks ! 
 
 The Emperor was at Seville ; he was on 
 the eve of marriage with a princess of Portu- 
 gal, and the banks of the Guadalquiver re- 
 sounded with joyous festivity. A dazzling 
 train of nobles and vast crowds of people 
 thronged the ancient capital of the Moors. 
 The pomp and ceremonies of the Church 
 were displayed under the roofs of its noble 
 cathedral. A Legate from the Pope offici- 
 ated ; and never before, even under Arabian 
 rule, had Andalusia witnessed a spectacle of 
 more magnificence and solemnity. 
 
 Just at that time, Henry of Brunswick 
 arrived from Germany, and solicited Charles 
 to save the Church and the Empire from the 
 attacks of the monk of Wittemberg. His 
 request was immediately taken into consi- 
 deration, and the Emperor resolved on vigor- 
 ous measures. 
 
 On the 23d of March, 1526, he addressed 
 letters to several of the princes and free cities 
 that still adhered to Rome. He also specially 
 commissioned the Duke of Brunswick to 
 communicate to them that he had learned 
 with grief that the continued progress of Lu- 
 ther's heresy threatened to fill Germany with 
 sacrilege, havoc, and bloodshed; and at the 
 same time, to express the great pleasure he 
 felt in the fidelity of the majority of the 
 States, and to acquaint them that, laying 
 aside all other business, he was about to 
 
 leave Spain and repair to Rome, to conceit 
 measures with the Pope, and from thence to 
 pass into Germany, and there oppose that 
 abominable Wittemberg pest; adding, that it 
 behoved them to continue steadfast in their 
 faith, and in the event of the Lutherans 
 seeking to seduce or oblige them to a renun- 
 ciation of it, to repel their attempts by a 
 united and courageous resistance : that he 
 himself would shortly be among them and 
 support them with all his power. 201 
 
 When Brunswick returned into Germany, 
 the Catholic party joyfully lifted up their 
 heads. The Dukes of Brunswick, Pornerania, 
 Albert of Mecklenburg, John of Juliers, 
 George of Saxony, the Dukes of Bavaria, and 
 ail the dignitaries of the Church, on reading 
 the menacing letters of the conqueror of 
 Francis the First, thought their triumph se- 
 cure. It was decided they should attend the 
 approaching Diet, and humble the heretical 
 princes ; and in the event of the latter resist- 
 ing, quell them with the sword. " I may be 
 Elector of Saxony any day I please " 202 was an 
 expression ascribed by report to Duke George 
 words to which he afterwards endeavoured 
 to attach another meaning. " The Lutheran 
 party cannot long hold together," said his 
 Chancellor to the Duke, in a tone of exulta- 
 tion ; " let them mind what they are about :" 
 and truly Luther was on his guard, though 
 not in the sense their words conveyed. He 
 attentively observed the designs of the op- 
 posers of God's word : he, like Melancthon, 
 expected that thousands of swords would ere 
 long be unsheathed against the Gospel. But 
 he sought a strength far above the strength 
 of men. Writing to Frederic Myconius, he 
 observed, " Satan is raging: ungodly priests 
 take council together, and we are threatened 
 with war. Exhort the people to contend 
 earnestly before the throne of the Lord, by 
 faith and prayer, that our adversaries, being 
 overcome by the Spirit of God, may be con- 
 strained to peace. The most urgent of our 
 wants the very first thing we have to do, is 
 to pray .- let the people know that they are at 
 this hour exposed to the edge of the sword 
 and the rage of the devil : let them pray." 203 
 
 Thus every thing indicated a decisive con- 
 flict. The Reformation had on its side the 
 prayers of Christians, the sympathy of the 
 people, and an ascendant in men's minds 
 that no power could stay. The Papacy had 
 with it the established order, the force of 
 early habit, the zeal and hatred of powerful 
 princes, and the authority of an Emperor 
 whose dominion extended over both hemi- 
 spheres, and who had just before deeply 
 humbled the pride of Francis the First. 
 
 Such was the condition of affairs when the 
 Diet of Spires was opened. Let us now turn 
 our attention to Switzerland. 
 
334 
 
 HISTORY* OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 BOOK XL 
 
 Spiritual Slavery Christian Liberty Effect of the Gospel on Zwingle Leo Judah at Zurich 
 The Challenge Zwingle and Faber Zwingle Tempted by the Pope " Zwingle's Passion" 
 Tract against Images Wooden Idols The Unterwalders Public Meeting Hoffman's Defence 
 of the Pope The Mass Schmidt of Kussnacht Results of the Conference Oswald Myconius at 
 Zurich Thomas Plater The Swiss Aroused Hottinger arrested His Martyrdom Persecution 
 Invoked Swiss and German Reformations The Jewish and Pagan Elements Zwingle's and 
 Luther's Tasks The Council and the People Abduction of CExlin Riot and Conflagration 
 The Wirths arrested The Prisoners Surrendered A Spectacle to the World " Cruel 
 Mockings" " Faithful unto Death" Father and Son on the Scaffold Abolition of the Mass 
 The Lord's Supper Brotherly Love Zwingle on Original Sin Attack upon Zwingle The 
 Gospel at Berne Heim and Haller Ordinance of the Government St. Michael's Nunnery 
 The Convent of Konigsfield Margaret Watteville's Letter Liberation of the Nuns Pretended 
 Letter of Zwingle Clara May and Nicolas Watteville The Seat of Learning CEcolampadiua 
 Flight from the Convent CEcolampadius at Basle Jealousy of Erasmus Hiitten and 
 Erasmus Death of Hiitten Vacillation and Decision Erasmus's Quatrain Luther's Letter to 
 Erasmus Motives of Erasmus in Opposing the ReformatioivLamentations of Erasmus Argu- 
 ments for Free Will Premature Exultation A Test God's Working Jansenism The 
 Bible and Philosophy The Three Days' Battle Character of False Systems Conrad Grebel 
 Extravagances " The Little Jerusalerii" The Anabaptist Feast Horrible Tragedy Discussion 
 on Baptism Opinions not Punishable Popish Immobility Zwingle and Luther Zwingle on 
 the Lord's Supper Consubstantiation Luther's Great Principle Carlstadt's Writings pro- 
 hibited Zwingle's Commentary The Suabian Syngramma Need of Union in Adversity 
 Struggles of the Reformation Tumult in the Tockenburg Meeting at Ilantz Commander's 
 Defence Doctrine of the Sacrament Proposed Public Discussion Decision of theDiet Zwingle 
 in Danger The Disputants at Baden Contrast of theParties Eck and CEcolampadius Zwin- 
 gle's Share in the Contest Murner of Lucerne Haller and the Council of Berne Reformation 
 in St. Gall Conrad Pelican The Mountaineers Alliance with Austria Farel appears. 
 
 WE are about to contemplate the diversi- 
 ties, or, as they have been since called, varia- 
 tions of the Reformation. These diversities 
 are among its most essential characters. 
 
 Unity in diversity, and diversity in unity 
 is a law of Nature, and also of the Church. 
 
 Truth may be compared to the light of the 
 Sun. The light comes from heaven colour- 
 less, and ever the same; and yet it takes dif- 
 ferent hues on earth, varying according to the 
 objects on which it falls. Thus different for- 
 mularies may sometimes express the same 
 Christian Truth, viewed under different as- 
 pects. 
 
 How dull would be this visible creation, if 
 all its boundless variety of shape and colour 
 were to give place to an unbroken uniformity ! 
 And may we not add how melancholy would 
 be its aspect, if all created beings did but com- 
 pose a solitary and vast Unity I 
 
 The unity which comes from Heaven 
 doubtless has its place, but the diversity of 
 human nature has its proper place also. In re- 
 ligion we must neither leave out God nor man. 
 Without unity your religion cannot be of God, 
 without diversity, it cannot be the religion 
 of man. And it ought to be of both. Would 
 you banish from creation a law that its Di- 
 vine Author has imposed upon it, namely, 
 that of boundless diversity 1 " Things with- 
 out life giving sound," said Paul, " whether 
 pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in 
 the sounds, how shall it be known what is 
 piped or harped 1" ( 1 Cor. xiv. 7.) But, if in 
 religion there is a diversity, the result of dis- 
 tinction of individuality, and which, by con- 
 sequence, must subsist even in heaven, 
 there is a diversity which is the fruit of man's 
 
 rebellion, and this last is indeed a serious 
 evil. 
 
 There are two opposite tendencies which 
 may equally mislead us. The one consists 
 in the exaggeration of diversity > the other, in 
 extending the unity. The great doctrines of 
 man's salvation are as a line of demarcation 
 between these two errors. To require more 
 than the reception of those doctrines, is to dis- 
 allow the diversity : to require any thing less, 
 is to infringe the unity. 
 
 This latter departure is that of rash and 
 unruly minds looking beyond, or out of Jesus 
 Christ, in the desire to aet up systems and 
 doctrines of men. 
 
 The former appears in various exclusive 
 sects and is more especially seen in that of 
 Rome. 
 
 It is the duty of the Church to reject Error 
 from her bosom. If this be neglected, Chris- 
 tianity can not be upheld ; but, pushed to an 
 extreme, it would follow that the Church 
 should take proceedings against the smallest 
 deviations, and intervene in mere disputes 
 about words ; faith would be silenced, and 
 Christian feeling reduced to slavery. Not 
 such was the condition of the Church in those 
 times of real Catholicity, the first ages. It 
 cast out the sects which impugned the funda- 
 mental truths of the Gospel, but where these 
 were received, it left full liberty to faith. 
 Rome soon departed from these wise prece- 
 dents, and, in proportion as an authoritative 
 teaching of man established itself within the 
 Church, there appeared a Unity of man's im- 
 posing. 
 
 A system of human appointment being once 
 devised, rigour went on increasing from age 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 335 
 
 to age. Christian liberty, respected by the 
 catholicity of the earliest ages, was first 
 limited, then chained, and finally stifled. 
 Conviction, which, by the laws of our nature, 
 as well as of God's word, should be freely 
 formed in the heart and understanding, was 
 imposed by external authority, ready framed 
 and squared by the masters of mankind. 
 Thought, will, and feeling, all those faculties 
 of our nature, which, once subjected to the 
 Word and Spirit of God, should be left free 
 in their working, were hindered of their proper 
 liberty, and compelled to find vent in forms 
 that had been previously settled. The mind 
 of man became a sort of mirror wherein im- 
 pressions to which it was a stranger were 
 reproduced, but which, of itself, presented 
 nothing! Doubtless there were those who 
 were taught of God, but the great majority 
 of Christians received the convictions of other 
 men ; a personal faith was a thing of rare 
 occurrence : the Reformation it was that re- 
 stored this treasure to the Church. 
 
 And yet there was, for a while, a space 
 within which the human mind was permitted 
 to move at large, certain opinions, at least, 
 which Christians were at liberty to receive or 
 reject at will. But, as a besieging army, day 
 by day, contracts its lines, compelling the gar- 
 rison to confine their movements within the 
 narrow enclosure of the fortress, and, at last, 
 obliging it to surrender at discretion, just so, 
 the hierarchy, from age to age, and almost 
 from year to year, has gone on restricting the 
 liberty allowed for a time to the human mind, 
 until, at last, by successive encroachments, 
 there remained no liberty at all. That which 
 was to be believed, loved, or done, was 
 regulated and decreed in the courts of the Ro- 
 man chancery. The faithful were relieved 
 from the trouble of examining, reflecting, and 
 combating; all they had to do was to repeat 
 the formularies that had been taught them ! 
 
 From that period, whenever, in the bosom 
 of Roman Catholicism, a man has appeared 
 inheriting the Catholicity of apostolic times, 
 such a one, feeling his inability to act out the 
 life imparted to him, in the bonds in which he 
 is held, has been led to burst those bonds, and 
 give to the astonished world another example 
 of a Christian walking at liberty in the ac- 
 knowledgment of no law but the law of God. 
 The Reformation, in restoring liberty to the 
 Church, must therefore restore to it its original 
 diversity, and people it with families united 
 by the great features of resemblance derived 
 from their common head, but varying in se- 
 condary features, and reminding us of the 
 varieties inherent in human nature. Perhaps 
 it might have been desirable that this diversity 
 should have been allowed to subsist in the 
 Universal Church without leading to sectarian 
 divisions, and yet we must remember that 
 Srcts are only the expression of this diversity. 
 Switzerland, and Germany, which had till 
 now developed themselves independently, 
 came in contact with each other in the years 
 we are about to retrace, and they afforded an 
 example of that diversity of which we have 
 
 spoken, and which was to be one of the char- 
 acteristics of Protestanism. We shall have 
 occasion to behold men perfectly agreeing in 
 the great doctrines of the Faith yet differing 
 on certain secondary questions. True it is 
 that human passion found an entrance into 
 these discussions, but while deploring such 
 minglings of evil, Protestantism, far from 
 seeking to disguise the diversity, publishes 
 and proclaims it. Its path to unity is indeed 
 long and difficult, but the unity it proposes is 
 real. 
 
 Zwingle was advancing in the Christian life. 
 Whilst the Gospel had to Luther brought de- 
 liverance from the deep melancholy in which 
 he had been plunged when in the convent of 
 Erfurth, and developed in him a cheerfulness 
 which often amounted to gaiety, and of which, 
 from that time, the Reformer gave such re- 
 peated evidence even when exposed to the 
 greatest dangers, Christianity had had quite 
 a contrary effect on the joyous child of the 
 mountains of the Tockenburg. Reclaiming 
 Zwingle from his thoughtless and worldly 
 career, it had stamped upon his character a 
 seriousness which was not natural to him. 
 This seriousness was indeed most needed. 
 We have seen how, toward the close of 1522, 
 numerous enemies appeared to rise against the 
 Reformation.* From all sides reproaches were 
 heaped upon Zwingle, and contentions would 
 at times take place even in the churches. 
 
 Leo Juda, who, to adopt the words of an 
 historian, 1 was a man of small stature, with a 
 heart full of love for the poor, and zeal against 
 false teachers, had arrived in Zurich about the 
 end of 1522, to take the duty of pastor of St. 
 Peter's church. He had been replaced at 
 Einsidlen by Oswald Myconius. 2 His coming 
 was a valuable acquisition to Zwingle and the 
 Reformation. 
 
 One day, soon after his arrival, being at 
 church, he heard an Augustine monk preach- 
 ing with great earnestness that man was com- 
 petent by his own strength to satisfy the 
 righteousness of God. "Reverend father 
 Prior," exclaimed Leo, "listen to me for an 
 instant; and you, my dear fellow -citizens, 
 keep your seats, I will speak as becomes a 
 Christian:" and he proceeded to show the 
 unscriptural character of the teaching he had 
 just been listening to. 3 A great disturbance 
 ensued in the church. Instantly several per- 
 sons angrily attacked the " little priest" from 
 Einsidlen. Zwingle, repairing to the Council, 
 presented himself before them, and requested 
 permission to give an account of his doctrine, 
 n presence of the bishop's deputies ; and the 
 Council desiring to terminate the dissensions, 
 convoked a conference for the 29th of January . 
 The news spread rapidly throughout Switzer- 
 and. " A vagabond diet," observed his mor- 
 tified adversaries, "is to be held at Zurich. 
 All the vagrants from the high-road will be 
 here." 
 
 Wishing to prepare for the struggle, Zwingle 
 put forth sixty-seven theses. In them the 
 
 * Book VIII, to the end. 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 mountaineer of theTockenburg boldly assailed 
 
 the Pope, in the face of all Switzerland. 
 "They," said he, "who assert that the 
 
 Gospel is nothing until confirmed to us by the 
 
 Church, blaspheme God." 
 "Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation 
 
 for all who have been, are, or shall be." 
 "Christians are all the brethren of Christ, 
 
 and of one another ; and they have no * fathers,' 
 
 upon earth ; away, therefore, with religious 
 
 orders, sects, and parties." 
 
 " No compulsion should be employed in the 
 
 case of such as do not acknowledge their 
 
 error, unless by their seditious conduct they 
 
 disturb the peace of others." 
 
 Such were some of the propositions put 
 forth by Zwingle. 
 
 On the morning of Thursday, the 29th Ja- 
 nuary, more than six hundred persons were 
 collected in the hall of the Great Council, at 
 Zurich. Many from the neighbouring cantons, 
 as well as Zurichers, the learned, the higher 
 classes, and the clergy, had responded to the 
 call of the Council. " What will be the end 
 of all this?" was the question asked. 4 None 
 ventured to answer; but the breathless atten- 
 tion, deep feeling, and agitation, which reigned 
 in the meeting, sufficiently showed that im- 
 portant results were looked for. 
 
 The burgomaster Roust, who had fought in 
 the battle of Marignan, presided at the confer- 
 ence. The knight James Anwyl, grand master 
 of the bishop's court at Constance, Faber the 
 vicar-general, and several doctors of divinity, 
 attended on the part of the bishop. Schaff- 
 hausen had deputed Doctor Sebastian Hof- 
 meister; he was the only deputy from the 
 cantons, so weak, as yet, was the Reforma- 
 tion in Switzerland. On a table in the 
 centre, of the hall was deposited a Bible, and 
 seated before it was Zwingle. " I am driven 
 and beset on all sides," he had said, " yet I 
 stand firm, leaning on no strength of my own, 
 but on Christ, the rock, by whose help I can 
 do all things." 5 
 
 Zwingle stood up. "I have proclaimed," 
 said he, "that salvation is to be found in 
 Christ alone; and it is for this that, through- 
 out Switzerland, I am charged with being a 
 heretic, a seducer, and rebellious man. Here, 
 then, I stand in God's name !" 6 
 
 On this, all eyes were turned to Faber, who, 
 rising from his seat, thus replied : " I am not 
 sent to dispute, but to report." The assem- 
 bly in surprise, began to smile. "The Diet 
 of Nuremberg," continued Faber, "has pro- 
 mised a Council within one year: we must 
 wait for its assembling." 
 
 " What !" said Zwingle, " is not this large 
 and intelligent meeting as competent as a 
 Council ]" then turning to those who presided, 
 he added," Gracious Lords; defend the word ' 
 of God." 
 
 A solemn silence ensued on this appeal. 
 At last it was interrupted by the burgomaster. 
 " If any one present has anything to say," 
 said he, " let him say on." Still all were 
 silent. " I implore all those who have accused 
 me, and I know that some are here present," 
 
 i said Zwingle, " to come forward and rebuke 
 I me for the truth's sake." Not a word ! Again 
 and again Zwingle repeated his request, but 
 to no purpose. Faber, thus brought to close 
 quarters, lost sight, for an instant, of the re- 
 i serve he had imposed on himself, and stated 
 I that he had convicted of his error the pastor 
 'of Filispach, who was at that time in durance; 
 I but, having said this, he again relapsed into 
 silence. It was all in vain that he was urged 
 to bring forward the arguments by which he 
 had convinced that pastor; he would give no 
 answer. This silence on the part of the Ro- 
 mish doctors mortified the impatience of the 
 assembly. A voice from the further end of 
 the hall was heard exclaiming, "Where 
 have they got to those braggarts, whose 
 voices are so loud in our streets.* Come 
 forward : there's the man you want." On 
 jthis the burgomaster observed, smiling, "It 
 I seems that the sharp-edged sword that suc- 
 ceeded against the pastor of Filispach is fast 
 fixed in its scabbard:" and he proceeded to 
 break up the meeting. 
 
 In the afternoon, the parties being again 
 assembled, the Council resolved that master 
 Ulric Zwingle, not being reproved by any one, 
 was at liberty to continue to preach the Gos- 
 pel ; and that the rest of the clergy of the 
 canton should be enjoined to advance nothing 
 but what they could establish by the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 "Thanks be to God, who will cause his 
 word to prevail in heaven and earth !" ex- 
 claimed Zwingle. On this Faber could not 
 suppress his indignation. "The theses of 
 master Ulric," said he, " are incompatible 
 with the honor due to the Church, and opposed 
 to the doctrine of Christ, and I can prove it."' 
 "Do so," retorted Zwingle. But Faber de- 
 clined, except it should be in Paris, Cologne, 
 or Friburg. "I acknowledge no authority 
 but that of the Gospel," said Zwingle: "Be- 
 fore you can shake one word of that, the earth 
 itself will open before you." 7 " That's always 
 the cry," remarked Faber; "the Gospel, 
 nothing but the Gospel ! Men might lead 
 holy lives in peace and charity if there were 
 no Gospel!" 8 At these words the auditors 
 indignantly rose from their seats, and the 
 meeting finally broke up. 
 
 The Reformation was gaining ground. It 
 was at this period called to new conquests. 
 After the skirmish at Zurich, in which the 
 ablest champions of the Papacy had kept 
 silence, who would be so bold as to oppose 
 the new doctrines? But methods of another 
 kind were tried. The firmness of Zwingle, 
 and the republican freedom of his bearing, 
 overawed his enemies. Accordingly, recourse 
 was had to suitable methods for subduing him. 
 Whilst Rome was pursuing Luther with 
 anathemas, she laboured to win the Reformer 
 of Zurich by persuasions. Scarcely was the 
 conference closed over, when Zwingle was 
 surprised by a visit from the captain of the 
 
 * t. e. the monks. Wo sind num die grossen 
 Hansen .... (Zw. Opp. i. p. 124.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 337 
 
 Pope's guards the son of the burgomaster 
 Roust, accompanied by Einsius the legate, 
 who was the bearer of a brief from the Pon- 
 tiff, in which Adrian addressed Zwingle as 
 his " well-beloved son," and assured him of 
 his special favour. At the same time the Pope 
 net others upon urging Zink to influence 
 Zwingle. 9 "And what," enquired Oswald 
 Myconius, "does the Pope authorise you to 
 offer him ?" " Every thing short of the Pon- 
 tiff's chair," answered Zink, earnestly. 10 
 
 There was nothing, whether mitre, crozier, 
 or cardinal's hat, which the Pope would not 
 have given to buy over the Reformer of Zu- 
 rich. But Rome altogether mistook her man 
 and vain were all her advances. In Zwin- 
 gle, the Church of Rome had a foe even more 
 determined than Luther. He had less regard 
 for the long established notions and the cere- 
 monies of former ages it was enough to 
 draw down his hostility that a custom, inno- 
 cent in itself had been connected with some 
 existing abuses. In his judgment the word 
 of God alone was to be exalted. 
 
 But if Rome had so little understanding of 
 the events then in progress in Christendom 
 she wanted not for counsellors to give her the 
 needful information. 
 
 Faber, irritated at the Pope's thus hum- 
 bling himself Defore hie adversary lost no 
 time in advising him. A courtier, dressed in 
 smiles, with honied words upon his tongue v 
 those who listened to him might have thought 
 him friendly toward all, and even to those 
 whom he charged with heresy, but his ha- 
 tred was mortal. Luther, playing on his 
 name (Faber,) was accustomed to say " The 
 vicar of Constance is a blacksmith .... of 
 lies. Let him take up arms like a man, and 
 see how Christ defends us." 11 
 
 These words were no uncalled for bravado 
 for all the while that the Pope in his com- 
 munications with Zwingle was complimenting 
 him on his distinguished virtues, and the spe^ 
 cial confidence he reposed in him, the Reform- 
 er's enemies were multiplying throughout 
 Switzerland. The veteran soldiers, the higher ' 
 families, and the herdsmen of the mountains, 
 were combined in aversion to a doctrine which 
 ran counter to all their inclinations. At Lu- 
 cerne, public notice was given of the perform- 
 ance of Zwingle's passion; and the people 
 dragged about an effigy of the Reformer, shout- 
 ing that they were going to put the heretic to 
 death ; and laying violent hands on some 
 Zurichers who were then at Lucerne, com- 
 pelled them to be spectators of this mock exe- 
 cution. "They shall not disturb my peace," 
 observed Zwingle; "Christ will never fail 
 those who are his." Even in the Diet threats 
 against him were heard. 12 " Beloved Confed- 
 erates," said the Councillor of Mullinen, ad- 
 dressing the cantons, "make a stand against 
 Lutheranism while there is yet time. At 1 
 Zurich no man is master in his own house." 
 
 This agitation in the enemies' ranks pro- 
 claimed, more loudly than any thing else 
 eould have done, what was passing in Zurich. 
 In truth victory was already bearing fruits, 
 
 the victorious party were gradually taking 
 possession of the country ; and every day the 
 Gospel made some new progress. Twenty- 
 four canons, and a considerable number of 
 the chaplains came of their own accord to 
 petition the Council for a reform of their 
 statutes. It was decided to replace those 
 sluggish priests by men of learning and piety, 
 whose duty it should be to instruct the youth 
 of Zurich, and to establish, instead of their 
 vespers and Latin masses, a daily exposition 
 of a chapter in the Bible, from the Hebrew, 
 and Greek texts, first for the learned, and then 
 for the people. 
 
 Unhappily there are found in every army 
 ungovernable spirits, who leave their ranks, 
 and make onset too early, on points which it 
 would be better fora while to leave unattacked. 
 Louis Ketzer, a young priest, having put forth, 
 a tract in German, entitled the Judgment of 
 God against Images, a great sensation was 
 produced, and a portion of the people could 
 think of nothing else. It is ever to the injury 
 of essentials that the mind of man is pre-oc- 
 cupied with secondary matters. Outside one 
 of the city gates, at a place called Stadel- 
 hofen, was stationed a crucifix elaborately 
 carved, and richly ornamented. The more 
 ardent of the Reformed, provoked at the super- 
 stitious veneration still paid this image, could 
 not suppress their indignation whenever they 
 had occasion to pass that way. A citizen, 
 by name Claudius Hottinger, "a man of 
 family," says Bullinger, "and well acquainted 
 with the Scriptures," meeting the miller of 
 Stadelhofen, to whom the crucifix belonged, 
 inquired when he meant to take away his 
 idols. " No one requires you to worship 
 them," was the miller's reply. " But do you 
 not know," retorted Hottinger, "that God's 
 word forbids us to have graven images?" 
 " Very well," replied the miller, "if you are 
 empowered to remove them, I leave you to do 
 so." Hottinger thought himself authorized 
 to act, and he was soon after seen to leave the 
 city, accompanied by a number of the citizens. 
 On arriving at the crucifix, they deliberately 
 dug around the image until, yielding to their 
 efforts, it came down with a loud crash to the 
 earth. 
 
 This daring action spread alarm far and 
 wide. One might have thought religion it- 
 self had been overturned with the crucifix of 
 Stadelhofen. "They are sacrilegious distur- 
 bers, they are worthy of death," exclaimed 
 the partisans of Rome. The council caused 
 the iconoclasts to be arrested. 
 
 " No," exclaimed Zwingle, speaking from 
 his pulpit, " Hottinger and his friends have 
 not sinned against God, nor are they deserv- 
 ing of death* but they may be' justly pun- 
 ished for having resorted to violence without 
 the sanction of the magistrates." 13 
 
 Meanwhile acts of a similar kind were con- 
 tinually recurring. A vicar of St. Peter's one 
 
 Thesaraepnnciplesareseeninihespeeches 
 
338 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 day observing before the porch of that church [rity of the hierarchy and its councils, he laid 
 
 a number of poor persons ill clad and famished, 
 remarked to one of his colleagues, as he 
 glanced at the images of the saints decked in 
 costly attire "I should like to strip those 
 wooden idols and clothe those poor members 
 of Jesus Christ." A few days after, at three 
 o'clock in the morning, the saints and their 
 fine trappings were missing. The Council 
 sent the vicar to prison, although he protested 
 that he had no hand in removing them. "Is 
 it these blocks of wood," exclaimed the peo- 
 ple, "that Jesus enjoined us to clothe? Is it 
 of such images as these that he will say to the 
 righteous * I was naked, and ye clothed Me ?' " 
 . . . Thus the Reformation, when resisted, 
 rose to a greater height; and the more it was 
 compressed, with the more force did it break 
 forth and threaten to carry all before it. 
 
 These excesses conduced to some beneficial 
 results. Another struggle was needed to issue 
 in further progress for in spiritual things as 
 in the affairs of earthly kingdoms, there can 
 be no conquest without a struggle and since 
 the adherents of Rome were inert, events were 
 so ordered that the conflict was begun by the 
 irregular soldiery of the Reformation. In fact, 
 the magistrates were perplexed and unde- 
 cided : they felt the need of more light in the 
 matter; and for this end they resolved on ap- 
 pointing a second public meeting, to discuss 
 in German, and on grounds of Scripture, the 
 question as to images. 
 
 The bishops of Coira, Constance, and Bale, 
 the university of the latter city, and the twelve 
 cantons, were accordingly requested to send 
 deputies to Zurich. But the bishops declined 
 compliance, recollecting the little credit their 
 deputies had brought them on occasion of the 
 first meeting, and having no wish for a repe- 
 tition of so humiliating a scene. Let the 
 Gospel party discuss if they will but let it 
 be among themselves. On the former occa- 
 sion, silence had been their policy on this 
 they will not even add importance to the 
 meeting by their presence. Rome thought 
 perhaps that the combat would pass over for 
 want of combatants. The bishops were not 
 alone in refusing to attend. The men of Un- 
 tervvald returned for answer that they had no 
 philosophers among them but kind and pious 
 priests alone who would persevere in ex- 
 plaining the Gospel as their fathers had done; 
 that they accordingly must decline sending a 
 deputy to Zwingle and the like of him; but 
 that only let him fall into their hands, and 
 they would handle him after a fashion to cure 
 him of his inclination for such irregularities. 
 The only cantons that sent representatives 
 were SchafThausen and Saint Gall. 14 
 
 On Monday, the 26th of October, more than 
 nine hundred persons among whom were the 
 members of the Grand Council and no less 
 than three hundred and fifty priests, were 
 assembled after sermon in the large room of 
 the Town Hall. Zwingle and Leo Juda were 
 seated at a table on which lay the Old and 
 New Testaments in the originals. Zwingle 
 spoke first, and soon disposing of the autho- 
 
 down the rights of every Christian church, 
 and claimed the liberty of the first ages, when 
 the church had as yet no council either 
 ecumenical or provincial. " The Universal 
 Church," said he, " is diffused throughout the 
 world, wherever faith in Jesus Christ has 
 spread : in India as well as in Zurich . . . 
 And as to particular churches, we have them 
 at Berne, at SchafThausen, and even here. 
 But the Popes, with their cardinals and coun- 
 cils, are neither the Universal Church nor a 
 particular Church. 15 This assembly which, 
 hears me," exclaimed he, with energy, " is 
 the church of Zurich it desires to hear the 
 word of God, and can rightfully decree what- 
 ever it shall see to be" conformable to the 
 Scriptures." 
 
 Here we see Zwingle relying on the 
 Church but on the true Church, not on 
 the clergy, but on the assembly of believers. 
 He applied to particular churches all those 
 passages of Scripture that speak of the 
 Church Catholic. He could not allow that 
 a church that listened with docility to God's 
 word could fall into error. The Church was, 
 in his judgment, represented both politically 
 and ecclesiastically by the Great Council. 16 
 He began by explaining each subject from 
 the pulpit; and when the minds of his hear- 
 ers were convinced, he proposed the different 
 questions to the Council, who, in conformity 
 with the ministers of the Church, recorded 
 such decisions as they called for. 17 
 
 In the absence of the bishop's deputies^ 
 Conrad Hoffman, an aged canon, undertook 
 to defend the Pope. He maintained that 
 the Church, the flock, the " third estate," 
 was not authorized to discuss such matters. 
 " I resided," said he, " for no less than 
 twelve years at Heidelberg in the house of a 
 man of extensive learning, named Doctor 
 Joss a kind and pious man with whom I 
 boarded and lived quietly for a long time, but 
 then he always said that it was not proper 
 to make such matters a subject of discussion ; 
 you see, therefore !" . . On this every one 
 began to laugh. " Thus," continued 'Hoff- 
 man, "let us wait for a Council at present 
 I shall decline taking part in any discussion 
 whatever, but shall act according to the 
 bishop's orders, even though he himself were 
 a knave !" 
 
 'Wait for a Council!" interrupted Zwin- 
 gle, "and who, think you, will attend a 
 Council"? the Pope and some sleepy and 
 ill-taught bishops, who will do nothing but 
 what pleases them. No, that is not the 
 Church : Hong and Kussnacht (two villages 
 in the neighbourhood of Zurich,) are more 
 of a Church than all the bishops and popes 
 put together." 
 
 Thus did Zwingle assert the rights of 
 Christians in general, whom Rome had stript 
 of their inheritance. The assembly he ad- 
 dressed was in his view not so much the 
 church of Zurich as its earliest representa- 
 tive. Here we see the beginnings of the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 339 
 
 Presbyterian system. Zwingle was engaged 
 in delivering Zurich from the jurisdiction of 
 the bishops of Constance he was likewise 
 detaching it from the hierarchy of Rome ; 
 and on this thought of the flock, and the as- 
 sembly of believers, he was laying the foun- 
 dations of a new church order, to which other 
 countries would afterwards adhere. 
 
 The discussion was continued. Several 
 priests having defended the use of images, 
 without deriving their arguments from Scrip- 
 ture, Zwingle, and the rest of the Reformers, 
 refuted them by passages from the Bible. 
 " If," said one of the presidents, "no one 
 defends the images by the Scriptures, we 
 shall call upon some of their advocates by 
 name." No one coming forward, the curate 
 of Wadischwyl was called. " He is asleep," 
 exclaimed one of the crowd. The curate of 
 Horgen was next called. " He has sent me 
 in his stead," said his vicar, "but I cannot 
 answer for him." It was plain that the 
 power of the word of God was felt in the as- 
 sembly. The partisans of the Reformation 
 were buoyant with liberty and joy; their ad- 
 versaries, on the contrary, were silent, un- 
 easy, and depressed. The curates of Laufen, 
 Glattfelden, and Wetzikon, the rector and 
 curate of Pfaffikon, the dean of Elgg, the 
 curate of Baretschwyl, the Dominicans and 
 Cordeliers, known for their preaching in de- 
 fence of image worship and the saints, were 
 one after another, invited to stand forward. 
 They all made answer that they had nothing 
 to say in their defence, and that, in future, 
 they would apply themselves to the study of 
 the truth. "Until to-day," said one, "I 
 have put my faith in the ancient doctors, but 
 now 1 will transfer my faith to the new." 
 " It is not us" interrupted Zwingle, " that 
 you should believe. It is God's word. It is 
 only the Scriptures of God that never can 
 mislead us." The sitting had been pro- 
 tracted, night was closing in. The presi- 
 dent, Hcffmeisier of Schaffhausen, rose and 
 said: "Blessed be God the Almighty and 
 Eternal, who, in all things, giveth us the 
 victory," and he ended by exhorting the 
 Town-Council of Zurich to abolish the wor- 
 ship of images. 
 
 On Tuesday, the assembly again met, 
 Vadian being president, to discuss the doc- 
 trine of the Mass. " My brethren in Christ," 
 said Zwingle, " far from us be the thought 
 that there is any thing unreal in the body 
 and blood of Christ. 18 Our only aim is to 
 prove that the Mass is not a sacrifice that 
 can be offered to God by one man for his 
 fellow, unless indeed any will be bold enough 
 to say that a man can eat and drink for his 
 friend." 
 
 Vadian having twice inquired if any of 
 those present had any thing to say in defence 
 of the doctrine impugned, and no one com- 
 ing forward, the canons of Zurich, the chap- 
 lains, and several ecclesiastics declared 
 themselves of Zwingle's opinion. 
 
 But scarcely had the Reformers overcome 
 44 
 
 the partisans of the ancient doctrines, when 
 they were called to contend against the im- 
 patient spirits of men clamorously demand- 
 ing abrupt and violent changes, instead of 
 prudent and gradual reformation. The un- 
 fortunate Conrad Grebel rose, and said : " It 
 is not sufficient that we should talk about the 
 Mass; it is our duty to do away with the 
 abuses of it." " The Council," answered 
 Zwingle, "will put forth an edict on the 
 subject." On this, Simon Stumpf exclaimed, 
 "The Spirit of God has already decided, 
 why then refer the matter to the Council's 
 decision?" 19 
 
 The commandant Schmidt, of Kussnacht, 
 rose gravely, and, in a speech marked by 
 much wisdom, said, " Let us teach Chris- 
 tians to receive Christ into their hearts. 20 
 Until this hour you have all been led away 
 after idols. The dwellers in the plain have 
 made pilgrimages to the hills, those of the 
 hill country have gone on pilgrimage to the 
 plain; the French have made journeys into 
 Germany, and the Germans into France. 
 You now know whither you ought to go. 
 God has lodged all things in Christ. Worthy 
 Zurichers, go to the true source, and let 
 Jesus Christ re-enter your territory, and re- 
 sume his ancient authority." 
 
 This speech made a deep impression, and 
 no one standing up to oppose it, Zwingle 
 rose with emotion, and spoke as follows : 
 " My gracious lords, God is with us, He 
 will defend His own cause. Now then, in 
 the name of our God, let us go forward." 
 Here Zwingle's feelings overcame him ; he 
 wept, and many of those near him also shed 
 tears. 
 
 Thus ended the conference. The presi- 
 dent rose; the burgomaster thanked them, 
 and the veteran, turning to the Council, said 
 in a grave tone, with that voice that had 
 been so often heard in the field of batile, 
 "Now then, let us take in hand the sword 
 of the Word .... and may God prosper his 
 own work!" 
 
 This dispute, which took place in the 
 month of October, 1523, was decisive in its 
 consequences. The greater number of the 
 priests, who were present at it, returned full 
 of zeal to their stations in different parts of 
 the canton; antf the effect of those memora- 
 ble days was felt in every corner of Switzer- 
 land. The church of Zurich, which, in its 
 connexion with the see of Constance, had 
 always maintained a certain measure of in- 
 dependence was now completely emanci- 
 pated. Instead of resting, through the bishop, 
 on the Pope, it rested henceforth, through 
 the people, on the Word of God. Zurich 
 had recovered the rights of which Rome had 
 deprived her. The city and its rural terri- 
 tory vied with each other in zeal for the work 
 of the Reformation, and the Great Council 
 merely obeyed the impulse of the people at 
 large. On every important occasion, the 
 city and the villages signified the result of 
 their separate deliberations. Luther had 
 
340 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 restored the Bible to the Christian comma-] his care; but by degrees he gathered courage, 
 nity, Zvvingle went further he restored and it was not long before he distinguished 
 
 their rights. This is a characteristic feature 
 of the Reformation in Switzerland. The 
 maintenance of sound doctrine was entrusted, 
 under God, to the people ; and recent events 
 have shown that the people can discharge 
 that trust better than priests or pontiffs. 
 
 Zwingle did not allow himself to be elated 
 by victory ; on the contrary, the Reforma- 
 tion under his guidance, was carried on with 
 much moderation. " God knows my heart," 
 said he, when the Council demanded his 
 opinion, " He knows that I am inclined to 
 build up, and not to cast down. There are 
 timid spirits whom it is needful to treat ten- 
 derly; let the mass, therefore, for some time 
 longer, be read on Sundays in the churches, 
 and let those who celebrate it be carefully 
 protected from insult." 21 
 
 The Council issued a decree to this effect. 
 Hottinger and Hochrutiner, one of his 
 friends, were banished from the canton for 
 two years, and forbidden to return without 
 an express permission. 
 
 The Reformation at Zurich proceeded thus 
 in a steady and Christian course. Raising 
 the city day by day to a higher pitch of moral 
 elevation, it cast a glory round her in the 
 eyes of all who loved the word of God. 
 Throughout Switzerland, therefore, those 
 who welcomed the day-spring which had 
 visited the Church, felt themselves power- 
 fully attracted to Zurich. Oswald Myco- 
 nius, after his expulsion from Lucerne, had 
 spent six months in the valley of Einsidlen, 
 when, returning one day, wearied and over- 
 powered by the heat of the weather, from a 
 journey to Glaris, he was met on the road 
 by his young son, Felix, who had run out 
 to bring him tidings of his having been in- 
 vited to Zurich, to take charge of one of the 
 schools there. 22 Oswald could hardly credit 
 the happy intelligence, and hesitated for a 
 while between hope and fear. 23 '* I am 
 thine," was the reply which, at length, he 
 addressed to Zwingle. Geroldsek dismissed 
 him with regret, for gloomy thoughts had 
 taken possession of his mind. " Ah !" said 
 he, "all who confess Christ are flocking to 
 Zurich : I fear that one day we shall all pe- 
 rish there together." 24 A melancholy fore- 
 boding, which was but too fully realized when 
 Geroldsek, and so many other friends of the 
 Gospel lost their lives on the plain of Cappel. 
 
 At Zurich, Myconius had at last found a 
 secure retreat. His predecessor, nicknamed 
 at Paris, on account of his stature, " the tall 
 devil," had neglected his duty. Oswald de- 
 voted his whole heart and his whole strength 
 to the fulfilment of his. He explained the 
 Greek and Latin classics ; he taught rhetoric 
 and logic ; and the youth of the city listened 
 to him with delight. 25 Myconius was to be- 
 come, to the rising generation, all that Zwin- 
 gle was already to those of maturer years 
 
 At first Myconius felt some alarm at the 
 number of full-grown scholars committed to 
 
 among his pupils a young man of four-and- 
 wenty, whose intelligent looks gave suffi- 
 lient indication of his love of study. This 
 /oung man, whose name was Thomas 
 Plater, was a native of the Valais. In that 
 )eautiful valley, through which the torrent 
 of the Viege rolls its tumultuous waters, 
 after escaping from the sea of glaciers and 
 mow that encircles Mount Rosa, seated 
 Between St. Nicholas and Standen, upon the 
 lill that rises on the right of the river, is still 
 to be seen the village of Grachen. This 
 was Plater's birth-place. From under the 
 shadow of those colossal Alps emerged one 
 of the most remarkable of all the characters 
 hat figured in the great drama of the six- 
 ;eenth century. At the age of nine he had 
 aeen consigned to the care of a curate, a 
 vinsman of his own, by whom the little 
 rustic was often so severely beaten, that his 
 cries, he tells us himself, were like those of 
 a kid under the hands of the butcher. One 
 of his cousins took him along with him to 
 visit the schools of Germany. But remov- 
 ing in this way from school to school, when 
 tie had reached the age of twenty, he scarcely 
 knew how to read!* On his arrival at Zu- 
 rich, he made it his fixed determination that 
 lie would be ignorant no longer, took his 
 post at a desk in one corner of the school 
 over which Myconius presided, and said to 
 himself, "Here thou shalt learn, or here 
 thou shalt die." The light of the Gospel 
 quickly found its way to his heart. One 
 morning, when it was very cold, and fuel 
 was wanting to heat the school-room stove, 
 which it was his office to lend, he said to 
 himself, " Why need I be at a loss for wood, 
 when there are so many idols in the church ?" 
 The church was then empty, though Zwin- 
 gle was expected to preach, and the bells 
 were already ringing to summon the congre- 
 gation. Plater entered with a noiseless step, 
 grappled an image of Saint John, which 
 stood over one of the altars, carried it off, 
 and thrust it into the stove, saying, as he did 
 so, 4< Down with thee, for in thou must 
 go." Certainly neither Myconius nor Zwin- 
 gle would have applauded such an act. 
 
 It was by other and better means that un- 
 belief and superstition were to be driven from 
 the field. Zwingle and his colleagues had 
 stretched out the hand of fellowship to My- 
 conius ; and the latter now expounded the 
 New Testament in the Church of the Virgin, 
 to a numerous and eager auditory. 28 Ano- 
 ther public disputation, held on the 13th and 
 14th January, 1524, terminated in renewed 
 discomfiture to the cause of Rome; and the 
 appeal of the canon Koch, who exclaimed, 
 "Popes, cardinals, bishops, councils, these 
 are the church for me!" awakened no sym- 
 pathetic response. 
 
 Every thing was moving forward at Zu- 
 
 See his Autobiography. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 341 
 
 rich; men's minds were becoming more en- 
 lightened, their hearts more stedfast. The 
 Reformation was gaining strength. Zurich 
 was a fortress in which the new doctrine had 
 entrenched itself, and from within whose en- 
 closure it was ready to pour itself abroad 
 over the whole confederation. 
 
 The enemies were aware of this. They 
 felt that they must no longer delay to strike 
 a vigorous blow. They had remained quiet 
 long enough. The strong men of Switzer- 
 land, her iron-sheathed warriors, were up 
 at last, and stirring; and who could doubt, 
 when they were once aroused, that the strug- 
 gle must end in blood? 
 
 The Diet was assembled at Lucerne. The 
 priests made a strenuous effort to engage 
 that great council of the nation in their 
 favour. Friburg and the Forest Cantons 
 proved themselves their docile instruments. 
 Berne, Basle, Soleure, Glari*, and Appen- 
 zel, hung doubtfully in the balance. Schaff- 
 hausen was almost decided for the Gospel ; 
 but Zurich alone assumed a determined atti- 
 tude as its defender. The partisans of Rome 
 urged the assembly to yield to their preten- 
 sions and adopt their prejudices. "Let an 
 edict be issued," said they, "enjoining all 
 persons to refrain from inculcating or repeat- 
 ing any new or Lutheran doctrine, either 
 secretly or in public ; and from talking or 
 disputing on such matters in taverns, or 
 over their wine." 27 Such was the new ec- 
 clesiastical law which it was attempted to 
 establish throughout the confederation. 
 
 Nineteen articles to this effect were drawn 
 up in due form, ratified, on the 26th January, 
 1523, by all the states Zurich excepted, and 
 transmitted to all the bailiffs, with injunctions 
 that they should be strictly enforced, " which 
 caused," says Bulling-er, "great joy am on a- 
 the priests, and great grief among the faithful ." 
 A persecution, regularly organized by the 
 supreme authority of the confederation, was 
 thus set on foot. 
 
 One of the first who received the mandate 
 of the Diet was Henry Flackenstein of Lu- 
 cerne, the bailiff of Baden. It was to his 
 district that Hotting-er had retired when 
 banished from Zurich, after having overthrown 
 the crucifix at Stadelhofen; and he had here 
 given free utterance to his sentiments. One 
 day, when he was dining at the Angel Tavern, 
 at Zurzach, he had said that the priests ex- 
 pounded Holy Scriptures amiss, and that trust 
 ought to be reposed in none but God alone. 28 
 The host, who was frequently coming into the 
 room to bring bread or wine, lent an attentive 
 ear to what seemed to him very strange dis- 
 course. On another occasion, when Hottinger 
 was paying a visit to one of his friends 
 John Sehulz of Schneyssingen, "Tell me," 
 said Schutz, after they had finished their re- 
 past, "what is this new religion that, the 
 priests of Zurich are preaching?" "They 
 preach," replied Hottinger, " that Christ has 
 offered himself up once only for all believers, 
 and by that one sacrifice has purified them and 
 
 redeemed them from all iniquity; and they 
 prove by Holy Scripture that the Mass is a 
 mere delusion." 
 
 Hottinger had afterwards (in February, 
 1523,) quitted Switzerland, and repaired on 
 some occasion of business, to Waldshut, on 
 the other side of the Rhine. In the mean- 
 while, measures had been taken to secure his 
 person ; and when the poor Zuricher, suspect- 
 ing- no danger, recrossed the Rhine about the 
 end of February, he had no sooner reached 
 Coblentz, a village on the left bank of the 
 river, than he was arrested. He was con- 
 veyed to Klingenau, and as he there fearlessly 
 confessed his belief, Flackenstein said, in an 
 angry tone, " 1 will take you to a place where 
 you shall meet with those who will give you. 
 a fitting answer." Accordingly the bailiff 
 dragged his prisoner first before the magis- 
 trates of Klingenau, next before the superior 
 tribunal of Baden, and ultimately, since he 
 could not elsewhere obtain a sentence of con- 
 demnation against him, before the diet assem- 
 bled at Lucerne. He was resolved that in 
 one quarter or another he would find judges 
 to pronounce him guilty. 
 
 The Diet was prompt in its proceedings, 
 and condemned Hottinger to lose his head. 
 When this sentence was communicated to 
 him, he gave glory to Jesus Christ. " Enough, 
 enough," cried JacobTrogeroneof the judges, 
 " we do not sit here to listen to sermons thou 
 shall babble some other time." " He must 
 have his head taken off for this once," said 
 the bailiff Am-Ort, with a laugh, "but if he 
 should recover it again, we will all embrace 
 lis creed," " May God forgive those who 
 lave condemned me !" exclaimed the prisoner ; 
 and when a monk presented a crucifix to his 
 ips, "It is the heart," said he, pushing it 
 away, "that must receive Jesus Christ." 
 
 When he was led forth to death, there 
 were many among the spectators who could 
 not restrain their tears. He turned towards 
 ;hem, and said, " I am going to everlasting 
 lappiness." On reaching the place of execu- 
 tion, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, saying, 
 
 Oh, my Redeemer, into thy hands I com- 
 mend my spirit !" and a moment after, his 
 lead rolled upon the scaffold. 
 
 No sooner had the blood of Hottinger been 
 shed than the enemies of the Reformation 
 seized the opportunity of inflaming the anger 
 of the confederates to a higher pitch. It was 
 "n Zurich that the root of the mischief must be 
 ;rushed. So terrible an example as that 
 which had now been set, could not fail to in- 
 timidate Zwingle and his followers. One 
 vigorous effort more, and the Reformation 
 tself would share the fate of Hottinger. The 
 Diet immediately resolved that a deputation 
 should be sent to Zurich, to call on the coun- 
 cils and the citizens to renounce their new 
 faith. 
 
 The deputies were admitted to an audience 
 on the 21st of March. "The ancient unity 
 of the Christian Church is broken," said 
 they; "the evil is gaining ground; the clergy 
 
342 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of the four Forest Cantons have already inti- 
 mated to the magistrates that aid must be 
 afforded them, or their functions mast cease. 
 Confederates of Zurich ! join your efforts to 
 OUTS; root out this new religion; 29 dismiss 
 Zwingle and his disciples; and then let us 
 all unite to remedy the abuses which have 
 arisen from the encroachments of popes and 
 their courtiers." 
 
 Such was the language of the adversary. 
 How would the men of Zurich now demean 
 themselves 1 ? Would their hearts fail them? 
 Had their courage ebbed away with the blood 
 of their fellow-citizens? 
 
 The men of Zurich left neither friends nor 
 enemies long in suspense. The reply of the 
 Council was calm and dignified. They 
 could make no concessions in what concerned 
 the word of God. And their very next act 
 was a reply more emphatic still. 
 
 It had been the custom ever since the year 
 1351, that, on Whit Monday, a numerous 
 company of pilgrims, each bearing a cross, 
 should go in procession to Einsidlen, to wor- 
 ship the Virgin. This festival, instituted in 
 commemoration of the battle of Tatwyll, was 
 commonly attended with great disorders. 30 It 
 would fall, this year, on the 7th May. At 
 the instance of the three pastors, it was now 
 abolished, and all the other customary proces- 
 sions were successively brought under due 
 regulation. 
 
 Nor did the council stop here. The relics, 
 which had given occasion to so many supersti- 
 tions, were honourably interred. 31 And then, 
 on the further requisition of the three pastors, 
 an edict was issued, decreeing that, inasmuch 
 as God alone ought to be honoured, the images 
 should be removed from all the churches of 
 the canton, and their ornaments applied to 
 the relief of the poor. Accordingly, twelve 
 councillors, one for each tribe, the three 
 pastors, and the city architect, with some 
 smiths, carpenters, and masons, visited the 
 several churches ; and having first closed the 
 doors, took down the crosses, obliterated the 
 paintings, whitewashed the walls, and car- 
 ried away the images, to the great joy of the 
 faithful, who regarded this proceeding, Bul- 
 Hnger tells us, as a glorious act of homage to 
 the true God. In some of the country parishes, 
 the ornaments of the churches were committed 
 to the flames, "to the honour and glory of 
 God." Soon after this, the organs were sup- 
 pressed, on account of their connection with 
 many superstitious observances; and a new 
 form of baptism was established, from which 
 every thing unscriptural was carefully ex- 
 cluded. 32 
 
 The triumph of the Reformation threw a 
 joyful radiance over the last hours of the 
 burgomaster Roust and his colleague. They 
 had lived long enough ; and they both died 
 within a few days after the restoration of a 
 purer mode of worship. 
 
 The Swiss Reformation here presents itself 
 to us under an aspect rather different from 
 that assumed by the Reformation in Germany. 
 
 Luther had severely rebuked the excesses of 
 those who broke down the images in the 
 churches of Wittemberg ; and here we be- 
 hold Zwingle, presiding in person over the re- 
 moval of images from the temples of Zurich. 
 The difference is explained by the different 
 light in which the two Reformers viewed the 
 same object. Luther was desirous of retain- 
 ing in the Church all that was not expressly 
 contradicted by Scripture, while Zwingle 
 was intent on abolishing all that could not be 
 proved by Scripture. The German Reformer 
 wished to remain united to the Church of all 
 preceding ages, and sought only to purify it 
 from every thing that was repugnant to the 
 word of God. The Reformer of Zurich passed 
 back over every intervening age till he reached 
 the times of the apostles; and, subjecting the 
 Church to an entire transformation, laboured 
 to restore it to its primitive condition. 
 
 Zwingle's Reformation, therefore, was the 
 more complete. The work which Divine 
 Providence had entrusted to Luther, the re- 
 establishment of the doctrine of Justification 
 by Faith, was undoubtedly the great work of 
 the Refoimation ; but when this was accom- 
 plished, other ends, of real if not of primary 
 importance, remained to be achieved; and to 
 these, the efforts of Zwingle were more espe- 
 cially devoted. 
 
 Two mighty tasks, in fact, had been assigned 
 to the Reformers. Christian Catholicism 
 taking its rise amidst Jewish Pharisaism, on 
 the one hand, and the Paganism of Greece, 
 on the other, had, by degrees, contracted 
 something of the spirit of each of those sys- 
 tems, and had thus been transformed into 
 Roman Catholicism. The Reformation, there- 
 fore, whose mission it was to purify the church, 
 had to clear it alike from the Jewish and the 
 Pagan element. 
 
 The Jewish element had incorporated itself 
 chiefly with that portion of Christian doctrine 
 which relates to man. Catholicism had bor- 
 rowed from Judaism the pharisaic notions of 
 inherent righteousness, and salvation obtain- 
 able by human strength or works. 
 
 The Pagan element had allied itself prin- 
 cipally with that other portion of Christian 
 doctrine which relates to God. Paganism 
 had corrupted the catholic notion of an infinite 
 Deity, whose power, being absolutely all- 
 sufficient, acts every where and at every mo- 
 ment. It had set up in the church the do- 
 minion of symbols, images, and ceremonies; 
 and the saints had become the demi-gods of 
 Popery. 
 
 The Reformation, in the hands of Luther, 
 was directed essentially against the Jewish 
 element. With this he had been compelled 
 to struggle at the outset, when an audacious 
 monk, on behalf of the Pope, was bartering 
 the salvation of souls for paltry coin. 
 
 The Reformation, as conducted by Zwingle, 
 was directed mainly against the Pagan ele- 
 ment. It was this that he had first encountered, 
 in the chapel of the Virgin at Einsidlen, when 
 crowds of worshippers, benighted as those of 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 343 
 
 old who thronged the temple of Ephesian 
 Diana, were gathered from every side to cast 
 themselves down before a gilded idol. 
 
 The Reformer of Germany proclaimed the 
 great doctrine of justification by faith, and, 
 in so doing, inflicted a death blow on the 
 pharisaic righteousness of Rome. The Swiss 
 Reformer, undoubtedly, did the same. The 
 inability of man to save himself is the funda- 
 mental truth on which all reformers have 
 taken their stand. But Zwingle did some- 
 thing more. He brought forward, as practical 
 principles, the existence of God, and His 
 sovereign, universal, and exclusive agency; 
 and by the working out of these principles, 
 Rome was utterly bereft of all the props that 
 had supported her paganized worship. 
 
 Roman Catholicism had exalted man and 
 degraded God. Luther reduced man to his 
 proper level of abasement ; and Zwingle re- 
 stored God, (if we may so speak,) to his un- 
 limited and undivided supremacy. 
 
 Of these two distinct tasks, which were 
 specially, though not exclusively, allotted to 
 the two Reformers, each was necessary to the 
 completion of the other. It was Luther's 
 part to lay the foundation of the edifice 
 Zwingle's to rear the superstructure. 
 
 To an intellect gifted with a still more 
 capacious grasp, was the office reserved of 
 developing on the shores of the Leman, the 
 peculiar characters of the Swiss and the Ger- 
 man Reformation, blending them together 
 and imprinting them thus combined, on the 
 Reformation as a whole. 33 
 
 But while Zwingle was thus carrying on 
 the great work, the disposition of the cantons 
 was daily becoming more hostile. The go- 
 vernment of Zurich felt how necessary it was 
 to assure itself of the support of the people. 
 The people, moreover, that is to say, " the 
 assembly of believers," was, according to 
 Zwingle's principles, the highest earthly au- 
 thority to which an appeal could be made. 
 The Council resolved, therefore, to test the 
 state of public opinion, and instructed the 
 bailiffs to demand of all the townships, whether 
 they were ready to endure every thing for the 
 sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, "who shed 
 his precious blood," said the Council, "for us 
 poor sinners." 34 The whole canton followed 
 close upon the city in the career of Reforma- 
 tion, and, in many places, the houses of the 
 peasants had become schools of Christian in- 
 struction, in which the Holy Scriptures were 
 constantly read. 
 
 The proclamation of the Council was re- 
 ceived by all the townships with enthusiasm: 
 "Only let our magistrates hold fast and fear- 
 lessly to the word of God," answered they, "we 
 will help to maintain it; 25 and, if any should 
 seek to molest them, we will come like brave 
 and loyal citizens to their aid." The peasan- 
 try of Zurich showed, on that occasion, as they 
 havtf recently shown again, that the strength 
 of the Church is in the Christian people. 
 But the people we're not alone. The man 
 
 whom God had placed at their head, answered 
 worthily to their call. Zwingle seemed to 
 multiply himself for the service of God. Who- 
 soever, in any of the cantons of Switzerland, 
 suffered persecution for the Gospel's sake, 
 addressed himself to him. 36 The weight of 
 business, the care of the churches, the solici- 
 tude inspired by that glorious struggle which 
 was now beginning to be waged in every 
 valley of his native land 37 all pressed heavily 
 on the Evangelist of Zurich. At Wittemberg, 
 the tidings of his courageous deportment were 
 received with joy. Luther and Zwingle were 
 the two great luminaries of Upper and Lower 
 Germany ; and the doctrine of salvation, which 
 they proclaimed so powerfully, was fast dif- 
 fusing itself over all those vast tracts of country 
 that stretch from the summit of the Alps to 
 the shores of the Baltic and the German Ocean. 
 While the word of God was pursuing its 
 victorious course over these spacious regions, 
 we cannot wonder that the Pope in his palace, 
 the inferior clergy in their presbyteries, the 
 magistrates of Switzerland in their councils, 
 should have viewed its triumphs with alarm 
 and indignation. Their consternation increased 
 every day. The people had been consulted ; 
 the Christian people had again become some- 
 thing in the Christian Church ; their sympa- 
 thies and their faith were now appealed to, 
 instead of the decrees of the Romish chancery. 
 An attack so formidable as this must be met 
 by a resistance more formidable still. On the 
 18th April, the Pope addressed a brief to the 
 Confederates; and, in the month of July, the 
 Diet assembled at Zug, yielding to the urgent 
 exhortations of the Pontiff, sent a deputation 
 to Zurich, Schaffhausen, and Appenzel, to 
 notify to those states their fixed determination 
 that the new doctrine should be entirely sup- 
 pressed, and its adherents subjected to the 
 forfeiture of property, honours, and even life 
 itself. Such an announcement could not fail 
 to excite a strong sensation at Zurich ; but a 
 resolute answer was returned from that can- 
 ton, that in matters of faith, the word of God 
 alone must be obeyed. When this reply was 
 communicated to the assembly, the liveliest 
 resentment was manifested on the part of Lu- 
 cerne, Schwitz, Uri, Unterwalden, Friburg, 
 and Zug, and, forgetting the reputation and 
 the strength which the accession of Zurich 
 had formerly imparted to the infant Confede- 
 ration, forgetting the precedence which had 
 been assigned to her, the simple and solemn 
 oaths of fidelity by which they were bound to 
 her, the many victories and reverses they had 
 shared with her, these states declared that 
 they would no longer sit with Zurich in the 
 Diet. In Switzerland, therefore, as well as 
 in Germany, the partisans of Rome were the 
 first to rend asunder the federal union. But 
 threats and breaches of alliance were not 
 enough. The fanaticism of the cantons was 
 clamorous for blood ; and it soon appeared 
 what were the weapons which Popery intended 
 to wield against the word of God. 
 2G 
 
344 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The excellent CExlin,* a friend of Zwingle, 
 was the pastor of Burg, a village in the vicinity 
 of Stein, upon the Rhine. The bailiff Am- 
 Berg, who had previously appeared to favour 
 the cause of the Gospel, being anxious to ob- 
 tain that bailiwick, had pledged himself to the 
 leading men of the canton of Schwitz, that he 
 would put down the new religion. 38 CExlin, 
 though not resident within his jurisdiction, 
 was the first object of his persecution. 
 
 On the night of the 7th July, 1524, near 
 midnight, a loud knocking was heard at the 
 pastor's door; it was opened ; they were the 
 soldiers of the bailiff. They seized him and 
 dragged him away prisoner, in spite of his 
 cries. OExlin, believing that they meant to 
 put him to death, shrieked out " Murder !" 
 The inhabitants rose from their beds in af- 
 fright, and the whole village immediately 
 became a scene of tumult, the noise of which 
 was heard as far as Stein. The sentinel 
 posted at the castle of Hohenklingen fired the 
 alarm gun, the tocsin was sounded, and the 
 inhabitants of Stein, Stammheim, and the ad- 
 jacent places, were shortly all a-foot and 
 clustering together in the dark, to ask each 
 other what was the matter. 
 
 Stammheim was the residence of the deputy- 
 bailiff Wirth, whose two eldest sons, Adrian 
 and John, young priests full of piety and cou- 
 rage, were zealously engaged in preaching the 
 Gospel. John especially was gifted with a 
 fervent faith, and stood prepared to offer up 
 his life in the cause of his Saviour. It was 
 a household of the patriarchal cast. Anna, 
 the mother, who had brought the bailiff a 
 numerous family, and reared them up in the 
 fear of God, was revered for her virtues through 
 the whole country round. At the sound of 
 the tumult in Burg, the father and his two 
 sons came abroad like their neighbours. The 
 father was incensed when he found that the 
 bailiff of Frauenfeld had exercised his autho- 
 rity in a manner repugnant to the laws of his 
 country. The sons were grieved by the tidings 
 that their friend and brother, whose good ex- 
 ample they delighted to follow, had been car- 
 ried off like a criminal. Each of the three 
 seized a halberd, and regardless of the fears of 
 a tender wife and mother, father and sons 
 joined the troop of townspeople who had 
 sallied out from Stein with the resolute pur- 
 pose of setting their pastor at liberty. Un- 
 fortunately, a band of those ill-disposed per- 
 sons who never fail to make their appearance 
 in a moment of disorder, had mingled with 
 the burghers in their march. The bailiff's 
 Serjeants were hotly followed ; but warned by 
 the tocsin and the shouts of alarm which 
 echoed on every side, they redoubled their 
 speed, dragging their prisoner along with 
 them, and in a little time the Thur was inter- 
 posed between them and their pursuers. 
 
 When the people of Stein and Stammheim 
 reached the bank of the river and found no 
 means of crossing it, they halted on the spot, 
 
 See page 224. 
 
 and resolved to send a deputation to Frauen- 
 feld. "Oh!" said the bailiff Wirth, "the 
 pastor of Stein is so dear to us that I would 
 willinglysacrifice all I possess, my liberty, 
 my very heart's blood, for his sake." 39 The 
 rabble, meanwhile, finding themselves in the 
 neighbourhood of the convent of Ittinoen, 
 occupied by a community of Carthusians, 
 who were generally believed to have encou- 
 raged the bailiff Am-Berg in his tyranny, 
 entered the building and took possession of 
 the refectory. They immediately gave them- 
 selves up to excess, and a scene of riot ensued. 
 In vain did Wirth entreat them to quit the 
 place; he was in danger of personal ill treat- 
 ment among them. 40 His son Adrian had 
 remained outside of the monastery; John 
 entered it, but shocked by what he beheld 
 within, came out again immediately. 41 The 
 inebriated peasants proceeded to pillage the 
 cellars and granaries, to break the furniture to 
 pieces, and to burn the books. 
 
 As soon as the news of these disorders 
 reached Zurich, the deputies of the Council 
 were summoned in haste, and orders issued 
 for all persons belonging to the canton who 
 had left their homes to return to them imme- 
 diately. These orders were obeyed. But a 
 crowd of Thurgovians, drawn together by the 
 tumult, now established themselves in the 
 convent for the sake of the good cheer which 
 they found there. A fire suddenly broke out, 
 no one could tell how, and the edifice was 
 reduced to ashes. . 
 
 Five days after, the deputies of the cantons 
 were convened at Zug. Nothing was heard 
 in this assembly but threats of vengeance and 
 death. "Let us march," said they, "with 
 our banners spread, against Stein and Stamm- 
 heim, and put the inhabitants to the sword." 
 The deputy-bailiff and his two sons had long 
 been objects of especial dislike on account of 
 their faith. "If any one is guilty," said the 
 deputy from Zurich, "he must be punished ; 
 but let it be by the rules of justice, not by 
 violence." Vadian, the deputy from St. Gall, 
 spoke to the same effect. Hereupon the 
 avoyer John Hug of Lucerne, unable any 
 longer to contain himself, broke out into 
 frightful imprecations. 42 " The heretic Zwingle 
 is the father of all these rebellions ; and you, 
 Doctor of St. Gall, you favour his hateful 
 cause, and labour for its advancement. You 
 shal I sit here with us no longer !" The deputy 
 for Zug endeavoured to restore order, but in 
 vain. Vadian retired; and knowing that his 
 life was in danger from some of the lower 
 order of the people, secretly left the town, and, 
 by a circuitous road, reached the convent of 
 Cappel in safety. 
 
 The magistrates of Zurich, intent upon re- 
 pressing all commotion, resolved upon a pro- 
 visional arrest of the individuals against whom 
 the anger of the confederates had been more 
 particularly manifested. Wirth and his^ons 
 were living quietly at Stammheim. " Never," 
 said Adrian Wirth from the pulpit, "can the 
 friends of God have any thing to fear from 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 345 
 
 His enemies." The father was warned of 
 the fate that awaited him, and advised to make 
 his escape along with his sons. "No," he 
 replied, "I put my trust in God, and will 
 wait for the Serjeants here." When at length 
 a party of soldiers presented themselves at his 
 door " Their worships of Zurich," said he, 
 " might have spared themselves this trouble ; 
 had they only sent a child to fetch me, I would 
 have obeyed their bidding. v43 The three Wirths 
 were carried to Zurich and lodged in the 
 prison. Rutiman, the bailiff of Nussbaun, 
 shared their confinement. They underwent a 
 rigid examination; but the conduct they were 
 proved to have held furnished no ground of 
 complaint against them. 
 
 As soon as the deputies of the cantons were 
 apprized of the imprisonment of these four 
 citizens, they demanded that they should be 
 sent to Baden, and decreed that, in case of a 
 refusal, an armed power should march upon 
 Zurich, and carry them off by force. " It 
 belongs of right to Zurich," replied the depu- 
 ties of that canton, "to determine whether 
 these men are guilty or not, and we find no 
 fault in them." Hereupon, the deputies of 
 the cantons cried out, " Will you surrender 
 them to us, or not 1 answer yes or no in a 
 single word." Two of the deputies of Zurich 
 mounted their horses at once, and repaired 
 with all speed to their constituents. 
 
 Their arrival threw the whole town into the 
 utmost agitation. If the authorities of Zurich 
 should refuse to give up the prisoners, the 
 confederates would soon appear in arms at 
 their gates, and, on the other hand, to give 
 them up, was, in effect, to consent to their 
 death. Opinions were divided. Zwingle in- 
 sisted on a refusal. " Zurich," said he, " must 
 remain faithful to its ancient laws." At last 
 a kind of compromise was suggested. ** We 
 will deliver up the prisoners," said they to the 
 Diet, "but on this condition, that you shall 
 examine them regarding the affair of Ittingen 
 alone, and not with reference to their faith." 
 The Diet agreed to this proposition; and on 
 the Friday before St. Bartholomew's day, 
 (August, 1524,) the three Wirths and their 
 friends took their departure from Zurich under 
 the escort of four Councillors of State and a 
 few soldiers. 
 
 The deepest concern was manifested on 
 this occasion by the whole body of the people. 
 The fate which awaited the two old men 
 and the two brothers was distinctly foreseen. 
 Nothing but sobs was heard as they passed 
 along. "Alas!" exclaims a contemporary 
 writer, "what a woeful journey was that!" 44 
 The churches were all thronged. " God will 
 punish us," cried Zwingle, " He will surely 
 punish us. Let us at least beseech Him to 
 visit those poor prisoners with comfort, and 
 strengthen them in the true faith." 45 
 
 On the Friday evening, the prisoners arrived 
 at Baden, where an immense crowd was 
 awaiting to receive them. They were taken 
 first to an inn, and afterwards to the jail. 
 The people pressed so closely round to see 
 
 them that they could scarcely move. The 
 father who walked first, turned round towards 
 his sons, and meekly said," See, my dear 
 children, we are like those of whom the 
 Apostle speaks, men appointed to death, a 
 spectacle to the world, to angels and to men." 
 (1 Cor. iv. 9.) Just then he chanced to ob- 
 serve, among the crowd, the bailiff Am-Berg, 
 his mortal enemy, and the prime author of all 
 his misfortunes. He went up to him, held 
 out his hand, and grasping Am-Berg's, 
 though the bailiff would have turned away, 
 said, with much composure, "There is a God 
 above us, and He knows all things." 
 
 The examination began the next morning, 
 Wirth, the father, was the first who was 
 brought before the tribunal. Without the 
 least consideration for his character or for his 
 age, he was put to the torture; but he per- 
 sisted in declaring that he was innocent both 
 of the pillage and the burning of Ittingen. A 
 charge was then brought against him of having 
 destroyed an image representing St. Anne. 
 As to the other prisoners, nothing could be 
 substantiated against them, except that Adrian 
 Wirth was married, and that he was accus- 
 tomed to preach after the manner of Zwingle 
 and Luther; and that John Wirth had given 
 the holy sacrament to a sick man \vithout 
 candle or bell ! 46 
 
 But the more conclusively their innocence 
 was established, the more furious became the 
 excitement of their adversaries. From morn- 
 ing till noon of that day, the old man was 
 made to endure all the severity of torture. 
 His tears were of no avail to soften the hearts 
 of his judges. John Wirth was still more 
 cruelly tormented. "Tell us," said they, in 
 the midst of his agonies, "from whom didst 
 thou learn thy heretical creed 1 Was it 
 Zwingle, or who else, that taught it thee !" 
 And when he was heard to exclaim, " O 
 merciful and everlasting God ! grant me help 
 and comfort!" "Aha!" said one of the 
 deputies, "where is your Christ now?" 
 When Adrian was brought forward, Sebastian 
 von Stein, a deputy of Berne, addressing him 
 thus : " Young man, tell us the truth, for if 
 you refuse to do so, I swear by my knighthood, 
 the knighthood I received on the very spot 
 where God suffered martyrdom, we will 
 open all the veins in your body, one by one." 
 The young man was then hoisted up by a cord, 
 and while he was swinging in the air, " Young 
 master," said Stein, with a fiendish smile, 
 "this is our wedding gifi ;" 47 alluding to the 
 marriage which the youthful ecclesiastic had 
 recently contracted. 
 
 The examination being now concluded, the 
 deputies returned to their several cantons to 
 make their report, and did not assemble again 
 until four weeks had expired. The bailiff's 
 wife, the mother of the two young priests, 
 repaired to Baden, carrying a child in her 
 arms, to appeal to the compassion of the 
 judges. John Escher, of Zurich, accom- 
 panied her as her advocate. The latter re- 
 cognized among the judges Jerome S locker, 
 
346 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the landamman, of Zug, who had twice been 
 bailiff of Frauenfeld. "Landamman," said 
 he, accosting him, " you remember the bailiff 
 Wirth ; you know that he has always been 
 an honest man." " It is most true, my good 
 friend Escher," replied Stocker; "he never did 
 any one an injury : countrymen and strangers 
 alike were sure to find a hearty welcome at 
 his table ; his house was a convent, inn, 
 hospital, all in one. 48 And knowing this, as I 
 do, had he committed a robbery or a murder, 
 I would have spared no effort to obtain his 
 pardon ; since he has burned St. Anne, the 
 grandmother of Christ, it is but right that he 
 should die !" "Then God take pity on us!" 
 ejaculated Escher. 
 
 The gates were now shut, (this was on the 
 28th of September,) and the deputies of Berne, 
 Lucerne, Uri, Schwitz, Underwald, Zug, 
 Glaris, Friburg, and Soleure, having pro- 
 ceeded agreeably to usage, to deliberate on 
 their judgment with closed doors sentence of 
 death was passed upon the bailiff Wirth, his 
 son John, who, of all the accused, was the 
 firmest in his faith, and who appeared to have 
 gained over the others, and the bailiff Rutiman. 
 They spared the life of Adrian, the younger of 
 Wirth's sons, as a boon to his weeping mother. 
 
 The- prisoners were now brought forth from 
 the tower in which they had been confined. 
 " My son," said the father to Adrian, " we 
 die an undeserved death, but never do thou 
 think of avenging it." Adrian wept bitterly. 
 " My brother," said John, " where Christ's 
 word comes his cross must follow." 49 
 
 After the sentence had been read to them, the 
 three Christian sufferers were led back to 
 prison; John Wirth walking first, the two 
 bailiffs next, and a vicar behind them. As 
 they crossed the castle bridge, on which there 
 was a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, the 
 vicai called out to the two old men "Fall on 
 your knees and invoke the saints." At these 
 words, John Wirth, turning round, said, 
 " Father, be firm ! You know there is but 
 one Mediator between God and man Christ 
 Jesus." " Assuredly, my son," replied the 
 old man, " and by the help of His grace I 
 will continue faithful to Him, even to the 
 end." On this, they all three began to re- 
 peat the Lord's Prayer, " Our Father who art 
 in heaven" . . . And so they crossed the bridge. 
 
 They were next conducted to the scaffold. 
 John Wirth, whose heart was filled with the 
 tenderest solicitude for his father, bade him a 
 solemn farewell. " My beloved father," said 
 he, " henceforth thou art my father no longer, 
 and I am no longer thy son ; but we are 
 brothers still in Christ our Lord, for whose 
 name's sake we are doomed to suffer death, 50 
 So now, if such be God's will, my beloved 
 brother, let us depart to be with Him who is 
 the father of us all. Fear nothing !" 
 " Amen !" answered the old man, " and may 
 God Almighty bless thee, my beloved son 
 and brother in Christ." 
 
 Thus, on the threshold of eternity did father 
 and son take their leave of each other, with 
 
 joyful anticipations of that unseen state in 
 which they should be united anew by imper- 
 ishable ties. There were but few among the 
 multitude around whose tears did not flow 
 profusely. The bailiff Rutiman prayed in 
 silence. 51 All three then knelt down " in 
 Christ's name," and their heads were se- 
 vered from their bodies. 
 
 The crowd, observing the marks of torture 
 on their persons, uttered loud expressions of 
 grief. The two bailiffs left behind them 
 twenty-two children, and forty-five grand- 
 children. Anna was obliged to pay twelve 
 golden crowns to the executioner by whom 
 her husband and son had been deprived of life. 
 
 Now at length blood had been spilt inno- 
 cent blood. Switzerland and the Reforma- 
 tion were baptized with the blood of the mar- 
 tyrs. The great enemy of the Gospel had 
 effected his purpose; but in effecting it he 
 had struck a mortal blow against his own 
 power. The death of the Wirths was an ap- 
 pointed means of hastening the triumph of 
 the Reformation. 
 
 The Reformers of Zurich had abstained 
 from abolishing the mass when they suppressed 
 the use of images; but the moment for doing 
 so seemed now to have arrived. 
 
 Not only had the light of the Gospel been 
 diffused among the people but the violence 
 of the enemy called upon the friends of God's 
 word to reply by some striking demonstration 
 of their unshaken constancy. As often as 
 Rome shall erect a scaffold, and heads shall 
 drop upon it, so often shall the Reformation 
 exalt the Lord's holy W T ord, and crush some 
 hitherto untouched corruption. When Hottin- 
 ger was executed, Zurich put down the worship 
 of images, and now that the Wirths have been 
 sacrificed, Zurich shall reply by the abolition 
 of the Mass. While Rome fills up the mea- 
 sure of her severities, the Reformation shall be 
 conscious of a perpetual accession of strength. 
 
 On the llth of August, 1525, the three pas- 
 tors of Zurich, accompanied by Megander, and 
 Oswald and Myconius, presented themselves 
 before the Great Council, and demanded the 
 re-establishment of the Lord's Supper. Their 
 discourse was a weighty one, and was listened 
 to with the deepest attention;" 2 every one felt 
 how important was the decision which the 
 Council was called upon to pronounce. The 
 mass that mysterious rite which for three 
 successive centuries had constituted the ani- 
 mating principle in the worship of the Latin 
 Church was now to be abrogated, the cor- 
 poreal presence of Christ was to be declared 
 an illusion, and of that illusion, the minds of 
 the people were to be dispossessed ; some 
 courage was needed for such a resolution as 
 this, and there were individuals in the Coun- 
 cil who shuddered at the contemplation of so 
 audacious a design. Joachim Am-Grut, the 
 under-secretary of state, was alarmed by the 
 demand of the pastors, and opposed it with all 
 his might. "The words, This is my body" 
 said he, "prove beyond all dispute that the 
 bread is the very body of Christ himself." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 
 
 347 
 
 Zwingle argued that there is no other word 
 in the Greek language than s art. (is) to express 
 signifies, and he quoted several instances of 
 the employment of that word in a figurative 
 sense. The Great Council was convinced by 
 his reasoning, and hesitated no longer. The 
 evangelical doctrine had sunk deep into every 
 heart, and moreover, since a separation from 
 the Church of Rome had taken place, there 
 was a kind of satisfaction felt in making that 
 separation as complete as possible, and dig- 
 ging a gulf as it were between the Reforma- 
 tion and her. The Council decreed therefore 
 that the mass should be abolished, and it was 
 determined that on the following day, which 
 was Maunday Thursday, the Lord's Supper 
 should he celebrated in conformity to the apos- 
 tolic model. 
 
 Zwingle's mind had been deeply engaged 
 in these proceedings ; and at night, when he 
 closed his eyes, he was still searching for ar- 
 guments with which to confront his adversa- 
 ries. The subject that had occupied him du- 
 ring the day, presented itself to him again in 
 a dream. He thought that he was disputing 
 with Am-Griit, and could not find an answer 
 to his principal objection. Suddenly some 
 one stood before him in his dream and said, 
 " Why dost not thou quote the llth verse of 
 the 12th chapter of Exodus: Ye shall eat the 
 Lamb in haste; it is the Lord's Passover?" 
 Zwingle awoke, rose from his bed, took up 
 the Septuagint translation, and turning to the 
 verse found the same word soti, (is) whose 
 import in that passage, by universal admis- 
 sion, can be no other than signifies. 
 
 Here then, in the very constitution of the 
 paschal feast under the old covenant, was the 
 phrase employed in that identical sense which 
 Zwingle assigned to it who could resist the 
 conclusion that the two passages are parallel 1 
 
 On the following day, Zwingle took the 
 verse just mentioned as the text of his dis- 
 course, and reasoned so forcibly from it that 
 the doubts of his hearers were dispelled. 
 
 The incident which has now been related, 
 and which is so naturally explained and the 
 particular expression* used by Zwingle to inti- 
 mate that he had no recollection of the aspect 
 of the person whom he saw in his dream, have 
 given rise to the assertion that the doctrine 
 promulgated by tl^e Reformer was delivered 
 to him by the devil ! 
 
 The altars disappeared; some plain tables, 
 covered with the sacramental bread and wine, 
 occupied their places, and a crowd of eager 
 communicants was gathered round them. 
 There was something exceedingly solemn in 
 that assemblage. Our Lord's death was com- 
 memorated on three different days, by differ- 
 ent portions of the community: on Maunday 
 Thursday, by the young people; on Good 
 Friday, the day of his passion, by those who 
 had reached the middle stage of life; on 
 Easter Sunday, by the aged. 53 
 
 * Ater fuerit an albus nihil memini, somnlum 
 enim narro. 
 
 45 
 
 After the deacons had read aloud such passa- 
 ges of Scripture as relate to this sacrament, the 
 pastors addressed their flock in the language 
 of pressing admonition, charging all those 
 whose wilful indulgence in sin would bring 
 dishonour on the body of Christ to withdraw 
 from that holy feast. The people then fell on 
 their knees; the bread was carried round on 
 large wooden dishes or platters, and every one 
 broke off a morsel for himself; the wine was 
 distributed in wooden drinking cups; the re- 
 semblance to the primitive Supper was thought 
 to be the closer. The hearts of those who 
 celebrated this ordinance were affected with 
 alternate emotions of wonder and joy. 54 
 
 Such was the progress of the Reformation at 
 Zurich. The simple commemoration of our 
 Lord's death caused a fresh overflow in the 
 Church, of love to God, and love to the bre- 
 thren. The words of Jesus Christ were once 
 more proved to be 'spirit and life.' Whereas 
 the different orders and sections of the Church 
 of Rome had kept up incessant disputes among 
 themselves, the first effect of the Gospel, on 
 its re-appearance in the Church, was the re- 
 vival of brotherly charity. The Love which 
 had glowed so brightly in the first ages of 
 Christianity, was now kindled anew. Men, 
 who had before been at variance, were found 
 renouncing their long cherished enmity, and 
 cordially embracing each other t after having 
 broken bread together at the table of the Lord. 
 Zwingle rejoiced at these affecting manifesta- 
 tions of grace, and returned thanks to God that 
 the Lord's Supper was again working those 
 miracles of charity, which had long since 
 ceased to be displayed in connection with the 
 sacrifice of the mass. 55 
 
 "Our city," said he, "continues at peace. 
 There is no fraud, no dissension, no envy, no 
 wrangling among us. Where shall we dis- 
 cover the cause of this agreement except in 
 the Lord's good pleasure, and the harmless- 
 ness and meekness of the doctrine we profess!-" 56 
 
 Charity and unity were there but not uni- 
 formity. Zwingle, in his "Commentary on 
 true and false religion" 5 * which he dedicated 
 to Francis the First, in March, 1525, the year 
 of the battle of Pavia, had stated some truths 
 in a manner that seemed adapted to recom- 
 mend them to human reason, following in that 
 respect the example of several of the most dis- 
 tinguished among the scholastic theologians. 
 In this way he had attached to original cor- 
 ruption the appellation of a disease, reserving 
 the name of sin for the actual violation of law , 5S 
 But these statements, though they gave rise 
 to some objections, yet occasioned no breach 
 of brotherly charity; for Zwingle, while he 
 persisted in calling original sin a disease, 
 added, by that disease, all men were ruined, 
 and that the sole remedy was in Jesus Christ. 59 
 Here then was no taint of Pelagian error. 
 
 But whilst in Zurich the celebration of the 
 sacrament was followed by the re-establish- 
 ment of Christian brotherhood, Zwingle and 
 his friends had to sustain a harder struggle 
 than ever against their adversaries without. 
 
348 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Zwingle was not only a Christian teacher, he 
 was a true patriot also; and we know how 
 zealously he always opposed the capitulations, 
 and foreign pensions, and alliances. He was 
 persuaded that this extraneous influence was 
 destructive to piety, contributed to the mainte- 
 nance of error, and was a fruitful source of civil 
 discord. But his courageous protests on this 
 head were destined to impede the progress of 
 the Reformation. In almost every canton, the 
 leading men, who received the foreign pen- 
 sions, and the officers under whose command 
 the youth of Switzerland were led out to battle, 
 were knit together in powerful factions and 
 oligarchies, which attacked the Reformation, 
 not so much in the spirit of religious animosity, 
 as in the belief that its success would be de- 
 trimental to their own pecuniary and political 
 interests. They had already gained a triumph 
 in Schwitz, and that canton, in which Zwin- 
 gle, Leo Juda, and Oswald Myconius had 
 preached the truth, and which seemed disposed 
 to follow the example of Zurich, had, on a 
 sudden, renewed the mercenary capitulations, 
 and closed the door against the Gospel. 
 
 In Zurich itself, a few worthless persons, 
 instigated to mischief by foreign agency, 
 made an attack upon Zwingle, in the middle 
 of the night, throwing stones at his house, 
 breaking the windows, and calling aloud for 
 "red haired Uli, the vulture of Claris," so 
 that Zwingle started from his sleep, and 
 caught up his sword. 60 The action is charac- 
 teristic of the man. 
 
 But these desultory assaults could not 
 counteract the impulse by which Zurich was 
 carried onward, and which was beginning to 
 vibrate throughout the whole of Switzerland. 
 They were like pebbles thrown to check the 
 course of a torrent. The waters of the tor- 
 rent meanwhile were swelling, and the 
 mightiest of its obstacles were likely soon to 
 be swept away. 
 
 The people of Berne having intimated to 
 the citizens of Zurich, that several of the 
 cantoris had refused to sit with them any 
 longer in the Diet: "Well,' 1 replied the 
 men of Zurich, with calm dignity, raising 
 (as in times past the men of Rutli had done] 
 their hands towards heaven, "we are per- 
 suaded that God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, in whose name the Confederation has 
 been formed, will not forsake us, and will, a 
 last, in his mercy, make us to sit at the right 
 hand of His majesty." 61 
 
 With such a faithful spirit, there was 
 nothing to fear for the Reformation. Bu 
 would it make similar progress in the other 
 states of the Confederation ? Might not Zu- 
 rich be single on the side of the word of 
 God? Berne, Basle, and other cantons 
 would they remain in their subjection to 
 Rome? It is this we are now to see. Le 
 us then turn towards Berne, and contem 
 plate the march of the Reformation in the 
 most influential of the confederated states. 
 
 No where was the contest likely to be so 
 sharp as at Berne, for the Gospel had there 
 
 both powerful friends and determined oppo- 
 nents. At the head of the reforming party 
 ;vas the bannaret John Weingarten, Bar- 
 holomew May, member of the lesser Coun- 
 cil, his sons, Wolfgang and Claudius, his 
 grandsons, James and Benedict, and, above 
 
 , the family of the Wattevilles. James 
 Watteville, the magistrate, who, since 1512, 
 lad presided over the republic, had read the 
 writings of Luther and Zwingle, at the time 
 of their publication, and had often conversed 
 concerning the Gospel with John Haller, 
 castor at Anseltingen, whom, he had pro- 
 ected from his persecutors. 
 
 His son, Nicholas, then thirty-one years 
 )f age, had, for two years, filled the office of 
 Drovost in the church of Berne; and, as such, 
 )y virtue of papal ordinances, enjoyed dis- 
 inguished privileges ; so that, Berthold Hal- 
 er, in speaking of him, would call him " oui 
 Bishop." 62 
 
 The prelates and the Pope used every ef- 
 r brt to bind him to the interests of Rome, 63 
 and the circumstances in which he was 
 placed, seemed likely to keep him from the 
 knowledge of the Gospel; but the workings 
 of God's Spirit were more powerful than the 
 flatteries of man. " Watteville," says Zwin- 
 gle, 64 " was turned from darkness to the sweet 
 fight of the Gospel." As the friend of Ber- 
 thold Haller, he was accustomed to read the 
 letters which he received from Zwingle, for 
 whom he expressed the highest admiration. 65 
 
 It was natural to suppose that the influence 
 of the two Wattevilles, the one being at the 
 head of the state, and the other of the church, 
 would draw after it the republic over which 
 they presided. But the opposite party was 
 scarcely less powerful. 
 
 Among its chiefs were the schultheiss of 
 Erlach, the banneret Willading, and many 
 persons of high family, whose interests were 
 identified with those of the convents placed 
 under their administration. Backing these 
 influential leaders was an ignorant and cor- 
 rupted clergy, who went the length of calling 
 Gospel truth, " an invention of hell." " Be- 
 loved colleagues," said the counsellor of 
 Mullinen, at a full conference, held in the 
 month of July, "be on your guard, lest this 
 Reformation should creep in upon us. There 
 is no safety at Zurich in tme's own house: 
 people are obliged to have soldiers to guard 
 them." In consequence, they invited to 
 Berne the lecturer of the Dominicans at 
 Mentz, John Heim, who, taking his stand in 
 the pulpit, poured forth all the eloquence of St. 
 Thomas Aquinas against the Reformation. 66 
 
 Thus, then, the two parties were in 
 presence of each other ; a struggle seemed 
 inevitable, but already there were indications 
 with whom the victory would remain. In 
 fact, a common faith united a part of the 
 people to those distinguished families who 
 espoused the Reformation. Berthold Haller 
 exclaimed, full of confidence in the future, 
 "Unless, indeed, the wrath of God should 
 show itself against us, it is not possible that 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 349 
 
 the word of the Lord should be banished 
 from the city, for the Bernese are hungering 
 afier it." 67 
 
 Two acts of the government soon appeared 
 to incline the balance in favor of the new 
 opinions. The Bishop of Lausanne had 
 given notice of an episcopal visitation; the 
 Council sent a message to him by the pro- 
 vost, Watteville, desiring him to abstain 
 from it. 68 And, in the meantime, the govern- 
 ment put forth an ordinance, which, whilst 
 in appearance it left the enemies of the truth 
 in possession of some of their advantages, at 
 the same time sanctioned the principles on 
 which the Reformation was founded. They 
 directed that the ministers should preach, 
 clear of all additions, freely and openly, 
 ihe Gospel and the doctrine of God, as it is 
 found in the books of the Old and New Tes- 
 taments; and that they should not allude to 
 any doctrine, disputation, or writing coming 
 from Luther or other teachers. 69 
 
 Great was the surprise of the enemies of 
 the truth, when they saAV the ministers of 
 the Gospel appealing with confidence to this 
 decree. This ordinance, which was to fur- 
 nish the ground for all those that succeeded, 
 was, legally speaking, the commencement 
 of the Reformation at Berne. From that 
 time, there was more decision in the progress 
 of this canton ; and Zwingle, who attentively 
 observed all that was passing in Switzerland, 
 was able to write to the provost de Watte- 
 ville, " Christians are all exulting on account 
 of the faith which the pious city of Berne 
 has just received." 70 '"The cause is that of 
 Christ," exclaimed the friends of the Gospel, 
 and they exerted themselves to advance it 
 with increased confidence. 71 The enemies of 
 the Reformation, alarmed at these first ad- 
 vantages, closed their ranks, and resolved on 
 striking a blow which should ensure victory 
 on their side. They conceived the project 
 of getting rid of those ministers whose bold 
 preaching was turning all the ancient cus- 
 toms upside down ; and a favorable occasion 
 was not long wanting. There was, at Berne, 
 in the place where now stands the hospital de 
 P lie, a convent of nuns of the Dominican or- 
 der, consecrated to St. Michael. St. Michael's 
 day, (29th of September,) was always a so- 
 lemn festival to the inmates of the nunnery. 
 On this anniversary, many of the clergy 
 were present, and, among others, Wittem-- 
 bach de Bienne, Sebastian Meyer, and Ber- 
 thold Haller. This Litter, having entered 
 into conversation with the nuns, among 
 whom was Clara, the daughter of Claudius 
 May, (one of those who maintained the new 
 doctrines,) he remarked to her, in the presence 
 of her grandmother, " the merits of the mo- 
 jiastic state are but imaginary, whilst marriage 
 is honourable, and instituted by God himself." 
 Some nuns, to whom Clara related this con- 
 versation of Berthold, received it with out- 
 cries. It was soon rumoured in the city that 
 Haller had asserted that " the nuns were all 
 
 children of the devil." The opportunity that 
 the enemies of the Reformation had waited 
 for, was now arrived, and they presented 
 themselves before the lesser Council. Re- 
 ferring to an ancient law, which enacted that 
 whosoever should carry off a nun from her 
 convent should lose his head, they proposed 
 that the " sentence should be mitigated" so 
 far, as that, without hearing the three ac- 
 cused ministers in their defence, they should 
 be banished for life ! The lesser Council 
 granted the petition, and the matter was im- 
 mediately carried to the grand Council. 
 
 Thus, then, Berne was threatened with the 
 loss of her Reformers. The intrigues of the 
 Popish party seemed successful. But Rome, 
 triumphant when she played her game with 
 the higher orders, was beaten when she had 
 to do with the people or their representatives. 
 Hardly were the names of Haller, of Meyer, 
 of Wittembach those names held in venera- 
 tion by all the Swiss, pronounced in the 
 grand Council, before an energetic opposition 
 was manifested against the lesser Council and 
 the clergy. "We cannot," said Tillman, 
 "condemn the accused unheard! . . . Surely 
 their own testimony may be received against 
 that of a few women." The ministers were 
 called up. There seemed no way of settling 
 matters. "Let us admit the statements of 
 both parties," said John VVeingarten. They 
 did so, and discharged the accused ministers, 
 at the same time desiring them to confine 
 themselves to the duties of their pulpits, and 
 not to trouble themselves concerning the 
 cloisters. But the pulpit was all they wanted : 
 their accusers had taken nothing by their 
 motion. It was counted a great victory gainea 
 by the Reforming party, insomuch that one of 
 the leading men exclaimed, "It is all over 
 now Luther's work must go forward." 72 
 
 And go forward it did, and that in places 
 where it could least have been expected. At 
 Konigsfield upon the river Aar, near the castle 
 of Hapsburcr, stood a monastery adorned with, 
 all the magnificence of the middle ages, and in 
 which reposed the ashes of many of that illus- 
 trious house which had so often given an 
 Emperor to Germany. To this place tho 
 noble families of Switzerland and of Suabia 
 used to send their daughters to take the veil. 
 It was in the neighbourhood of this convent 
 that the Emperor Albert had fallen by the 
 hand of his nephew, John of Suabia, on the 
 1st of May, 1308; and the beautiful stained 
 windows of the church at Konigsfeld repre- 
 sented the horrible tortures which had been 
 inflicted upon the relations and dependants of 
 the perpetrators of the murder. Catherine of 
 Waldburg-Truohses, abbess of the convent at 
 the period of the Reformation, numbered 
 among her nuns Beatrice Landenberg, sister 
 of the Bishop of Constance, Agnes Mullinen, 
 Catherine Bonnstetten, and Margaret Watte- 
 ville, sister of the provost. The liberty en- 
 joyed in this convent, a liberty which in 
 earlier times had given occasion to scandalous 
 disorders, had favoured the introduction not 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 only of the Bible, but of the writings of Luther 
 and Zwingle; and soon a new spring of life 
 and joy changed the aspect of its interior. 
 Nigh to that cell to which Queen Agnes, 
 daughter of Albert, had retired, after bathing 
 in torrents of blood " as in Maydews ;" and 
 where, dividing her time between spinning 
 wool and embroidering tapestry for the church, 
 she had mingled thoughts of vengeance with 
 devotional exercises, Margaret Watteville 
 had only thoughts of peace, read the Scrip- 
 tures, and found time, in her spare moments, 
 to compound, of certain salutary ingredients, 
 an excellent electuary. Retiring to her cell, 
 the youthful nun took courage to write to the 
 Reformer of Switzerland . Her letter discovers 
 to us, better than any reflections could do, the 
 Christian spirit which existed among those 
 pious women, still, even in our days, so 
 much calumniated. 
 
 " Grace and peace, in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 be given and multiplied towards you always, 
 by God our heavenly Father," was the lan- 
 guage of the nun of Konigsfeld to Zwingle : 
 " Very learned, reverend, and most dear Sir, 
 I pray you to take in good part this letter 
 which I now address to you. The love of 
 Christ constrains me; especially since I 
 have learned >,hat the doctrines of grace are 
 spreading fr:oi day to day through your 
 preaching of the word of God. For this 
 cause I give thanks to the Eternal God, for 
 that he has enlightened us anew, and has sent 
 us, by His Holy Spirit, so many heralds of 
 His blessed word ; and at the same time I 
 present before Him my earnest prayers, that 
 He will be pleased to clothe with His strength, 
 both you and all those who publish His glad 
 tidings, and that arming you against all 
 enemies of the truth, He will cause His 
 Divine Word to grow in all men. Most 
 learned Sir, I take the liberty of sending to 
 your reverence this little mark of my affection ; 
 I pray you do not despise it, for it is an offering 
 of Christian love. If this electuary shoulid 
 be useful to you, and you should wish to have 
 more, pray let me know, for it would be a joy 
 to my heart to do any thing that would be 
 agreeable to you. I am writing not my own 
 feelings only, but those of all in our convent 
 of Konigsfeld who love the Gospel. They 
 salute you in Jesus Christ, and we together 
 cease not to commend you to His Almighty 
 protection. 73 
 
 "Saturday before Lcelare, 1523." 
 
 Such was the pious letter which the nun of 
 Konigsfeld wrote to the Reformer of Switzer- 
 land. 
 
 A convent into which the light of the Gos- 
 pel had penetrated in such power, could not 
 Jong continue to adhere to monastic observ- 
 ances. Margaret Watteville and her sisters, 
 persuaded that they should better serve God 
 in their families than in a cloister, solicited 
 permission to leave it. The Council of Berne, 
 in some alarm, took measures to bring the 
 nuns to reason, and the provincial and abbess 
 alternately tried promises and threats, but the 
 
 sisters, Margaret, Agnes, and Catherine, and 
 their friends, could not be dissuaded. On 
 this, the discipline of the convent was re- 
 laxed. the nuns being exempted from fasting 
 and matins, and their allowance increased. 
 " We desire," said they, in reply to the Coun- 
 cil, " not the liberty of the flesh? but that of 
 the spirit. We, your poor, unoffending pri- 
 soners, beseech you to take compassion on us." 
 " Our prisoners ! our prisoners," exclaimed 
 the banneret, Krauchthaler ; " / have no wish 
 to detain them prisoners !" This speech, com- 
 ing from a firm defender of the convents, 
 decided the Council. The gates were open- 
 ed ; and in a short time afterwards Catherine 
 Bonnstetten married William von Diesbach. 
 Nevertheless, Berne, instead of openly 
 taking part with the Reformation, did but hold 
 a middle course, and pursue a system of vacil- 
 lation. An incident soon occurred which 
 made this apparent. Sebastian Meyer, lec- 
 turer of the Franciscans, put forth a recanta- 
 tion of Romish errors, which produced an 
 immense sensation; and, in which, depicting 
 the condition of the inmates of convents, he 
 said, "The living in them is more impure, 
 the falls more frequent, the recoveries more 
 tardy, the habitual walk more unsteady, the 
 moral slumber in them more dangerous, the 
 grace toward offenders more rare, and the 
 cleansing from sin more slow, the death more 
 despairing, and the condemnation more se- 
 vere." 74 At the very time when Meyer was 
 thus declaring himself against the cloisters, 
 John Heim, lecturer of the Dominicans, ex- 
 claimed from the pulpit, " JVo/ Christ has not, 
 as the Evangelicals tells us, made satisfaction 
 once for a//, to his Father. God must still 
 further every day be reconciled to men by 
 good works and the sacrifice of the mass." 
 Two burghers, who happened to be in the 
 church, interrupted him with the words, 
 " That's not true." The interruption caused 
 a great disturbance in the church ; and Heim 
 remained silent. Some pressed him to go on ; 
 but he left, the pulpit without finishing his 
 sermon. The next day the Grand Council 
 struck a blow at once against Rome and the 
 Reformation ! They banished from the city 
 the two leading controversialists, Meyer and 
 Heim. It was remarked of the Bernese, 
 " They are neither clear nor muddy," 75 taking 
 in a double sense the name of Luther, which 
 in old German signified clear.* 
 
 * Romish writers, and particularly M. de Haller, 
 have mentioned, following Salat and Tschudi, 
 enemies of the Reformation, a pretended letter of 
 Zwingle, addressed, at this juncture, to Kolb at 
 Berne. It is as follows : " Health and blessing 
 from God our Saviour. Dear Francis, move 
 gently in the matter. At first only throw one 
 sour pear to the bear, amongst a great many 
 sweet ones ; afterwards two, then three ; and as 
 soon as he begins to eat them, throw more and 
 more, sweet and bitter all together. Empty the 
 sack entirely. Soft, hard, sweet, bitter, he will 
 eat them all, and will no longer allow either that 
 they be taken, or he driven away. Zurich, Mon- 
 day before St. George, 1525. 
 
 " Your servant in Christ, ULRICH ZWINGLE." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 351 
 
 But it was in vain to attempt to smother of Konigsfeld, was, about the same time 
 
 !-/ , TI_- T. . _ t _ li_j *_ T : rii i . _r/^i =t 
 
 the Reformation at Berne. It made progress 
 on all sides. The nuns of the convent de 
 Tile had not forgotten Mailer's visit. Clara 
 May, and many of her friends, pressed in 
 their consciences to know what to do, wrote 
 to the learned Henry Bullinger. In answer, 
 he said, "Saint Paul enjoins young women 
 not to take upon them vows, but to marry, 
 instead of living in idleness, under a false 
 show of piety. (1 Tim. v. 13, 14.) Follow 
 Jesus in humility, charity, patience, purity, 
 and kindness." 76 Clara, looking to heaven for 
 guidance, resolved to act on the advice, and 
 renounce a manner of life at variance with the 
 word of God, of man's invention, and beset 
 with snares. Her grandfather Bartholomew, 
 who had served for fifty years in the field and 
 the council-hall, heard with joy of the resolu- 
 tion she had formed. Clara quitted the con- 
 vent. 
 
 The provost, Nicholas Watteville, con- 
 nected by strong ties of interest to the Roman 
 hierarchy, and who was to have been nomi- 
 nated to the first vacant bishopric in Switzer- 
 land, also gave up his titles, revenues, and 
 expectations, that he might keep a clear con- 
 science ; and, breaking through all the en- 
 tanglements in which the popes had sought 
 to bind him, he too entered into that state, 
 which had been, from the beginning, instituted 
 by God. Nicholas Watteville took to wife 
 Clara May; and }iis sister Margaret, the nun 
 
 We can oppose convincing arguments against 
 the authenticity of this letter. First, In 1525, 
 Kolb was pastor at Wertheimer. He did not 
 come to Berne until 1527. (See Zw. Epp. 526.) 
 M. de Haller substitutes, indeed, but quite arbi- 
 trarily, 1527 for 1525. This correction, doubtless, 
 had its object; but, unfortunately, in making it, 
 M. de Haller puts himself in direct contradiction 
 of Salat and Tschudi, who, though they do not 
 agree as to the day on which this letter was men- 
 tioned in the diet, agree as the year, which, with 
 both, is clearly 1525. Secondly, There is no 
 agreement as to the way in which the letter itself 
 got abroad. According to one account, it was 
 intercepted ; another version tells us that Kolb's 
 parishioners communicated it to an inhabitant of 
 the small cantons, who happened to be at Berne. 
 Thirdly, The original is in German. Now 
 Zwingle wrote always in Latin to his friends who 
 could understand that language : moreover, he 
 used to salue them as brother, and not as servant. 
 Fourthly, In reading Zwingle' s correspondence 
 it is impossible not to perceive that his style is 
 quite different from that of the pretended letter. 
 Zwingle never would have written a letter to say 
 BO little. His letters in general are long and full 
 of news. To call the little jeu d'esprit picked up 
 by Salat a letter, is but trifling. Fifthly, Salat 
 deserves but little confidence as an historian ; and 
 Tschudi appears to have copied him, with a few 
 variations. Possibly a man of the small can- 
 tons may have had communication, from some 
 inhabitant of Berne, of the letter from Zwingle 
 to Haller, which we have before mentioned, 
 wherein Zwingle employs, with a good deal of 
 dignity, the comparison of the bears, which is 
 found in all authors of that age. This may have 
 given the idea to some wit to invent this letter, 
 which has been supposed to have passed from 
 Zwingle to Kolb. 
 
 united to Lucius Tscharner of Coira. 
 
 Every thing gave intimation of the victory 
 which the Reformation would soon obtain at 
 Berne. A city not less important, and which 
 then ranked as the Athens of Switzerland 
 Basle, was also beginning to take part in 
 the memorable struggle of the sixteenth cen- 
 ury. 
 
 Each of the cities of the Confederation had 
 ts own peculiar character. Berne was dis- 
 tinguished as the place of residence of the 
 hief families ; and the question was one that 
 seemed likely to be decided by the part taken, 
 ay certain of the leading nobles. At Zurich, 
 the ministers of the Word, such men as 
 Zwingle, Leo Juda, Myconius, and Schmidt, 
 exercised a commanding influence over a 
 powerful middle class of society. Lucerne 
 was the city of arms, a centre of military 
 organization. Basle was the seat of learning, 
 and its accompaniment, printing-presses. 
 Erasmus, the acknowledged head of the re- 
 public of letters in the sixteenth century, had 
 there fixed his residence, and, preferring the 
 liberty it afforded him to the flattering invita- 
 tions of popes and kings, he had become a 
 centre of attraction to a concourse of men of 
 learning. 
 
 However, a man inferior to Erasmus in natu- 
 ral genius, but humble, gentle, and pious, was, 
 ere long, to exercise, in that very city, an in- 
 fluence more powerful than that possessed by 
 this prince of scholars. Christopher von 
 Utenheim, bishop of Basle, who agreed in 
 judgment with Erasmus, sought to surround 
 himself with men disposed to co-operate in a 
 
 With this 
 Capito and 
 
 sort of half-way Reformation, 
 view he had called to his aid 
 
 (Ecolampadius. The latter had a something 
 savouring of monkery in his habit of mind, 
 and this often clashed with the views of the 
 philosopher. CEcolampadius, however, on 
 his part, soon became enthusiastically at- 
 tached to Erasmus ; and it is probable he 
 would have lost all independence of mind in 
 this intimacy, if Providence had not separated 
 him from his idol. He returned, in 1517, to 
 his native city, Weinsberg. Here he was 
 disgusted with the disorders and the profanity 
 which prevailed among the priests; and he 
 has left a noble record of the serious spirit 
 which from that time actuated him, in his 
 work entitled "The Humours of Easter," 
 which appears to have been written about this 
 period. 77 
 
 Called to Augsburg, towards the end of 
 1518, to fill the post of preacher in its cathe- 
 dral, he found that city still under the effects 
 of the memorable discussion which had been 
 held there, in the previous May, between 
 Luther and the Pope's legate. It was neces- 
 sary that he should choose his side, and 
 (Ecolampadius did not hesitate to declare 
 
 * Zw. Epp. annotatio, p. 451. It is from this 
 union that the Tscharners of Berne derive their 
 descent. 
 
352 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 himself on the side of the Reformer. Snch 
 candour on his part soon drew down upon him 
 .much opposition, and being convinced that his 
 natural timidity, and the feehleness of his 
 voice, rendered it impossible for him to suc- 
 ceed in public, he looked around him for a 
 place of retreat, and his thoughts rested on a 
 convent of monks of Saint Bridget, near Augs- 
 burg, renowned for the piety, as well as for 
 the profound and liberal studies of its monks. 
 Feeling the need of repose, of leisure, and, 
 at the same time, of quiet occupation and 
 prayer, he addressed himself to this commu- 
 nity, and inquired, " Can I live in your con- 
 vent according to the word of God" 1 ?" The 
 answer being in the affirmative, CEcolampa- 
 dius entered its gates on the 23d April, 1520, 
 having expressly stipulated that he should be 
 free, if ever the ministry of the word of God 
 should require his service elsewhere. 
 
 It was well that the Reformer of Basle 
 should, like Luther, become acquainted with 
 that monastic life, which presented the fullest 
 exhibition of the working of Roman Catholi- 
 cism. But rest was what he could not find 
 there ; his friends blamed the step ; and he 
 himself declared frankly that Luther was 
 nearer to the truth than his adversaries. No 
 wonder, therefore that Eck and other Romish 
 doctors pursued him with menaces even in 
 this his quiet retreat. 
 
 At the time we are recording, (Ecolampa- 
 dius was neither one of the Reformed, nor yet 
 a blind follower of Rome; what he most de- 
 sired was a sort of purified Catholicism, 
 \vhich is no where to be found in history, ! 
 but the idea of which has, to many, served as 
 a bridge of passage to better things. He set 
 himself to correct, by reference to the word 
 of God, the statutes of his order. " I conjure 
 you," said he, to the confraternity, "not to 
 think more highly of your statutes, than of 
 the ordinances and commandments of the 
 Lord." " We have no wish," replied his 
 brethren, "for other rules than those of the 
 Saviour. Take our books, and mark, as in the 
 presence of Christ himself, whatever you find 
 therein contrary to his word." (Ecolarnpa- 
 dius began the task imposed; but he was 
 almost wearied by it. " O Almighty God !" 
 he exclaimed, " what abominations has not 
 Rome sanctioned in these statutes." 
 
 Hardly had he pointed out some of them, 
 when the anger of the fraternity was aroused. 
 u Thou heretic thou apostate," was their cry, 
 "thou deservest to be thrown into a lonesome 
 dungeon for the rest of thy days." They would 
 not allow him to come to prayers. Meanwhile, 
 outside the walls, still greater danger awaited 
 him. Eck, and his party, had not relinquish- 
 ed their schemes. " In three days," it was 
 told him, "they will be here to arrest you." 
 44 Do you intend," asked he, "to deliver me up 
 to assassins'?" The monks were silent and 
 irresolute . . . ; neither willing to save him, 
 lior yet to give him up. At this juncture, some 
 friends of CEcolampadius approached the con- 
 vent, bringing with them horses to conduct 
 
 him to a place of safety. At the news, the 
 monks decided to allow the departure of one 
 who had brought the seeds of trouble into 
 their convent. " Farewell" said he. Be- 
 hold him at liberty ! 
 
 He had remained nearly two years in the 
 convent of Saint Bridget. 
 
 CEcolampadius was saved he began to 
 breathe. " I have sacrificed the monk,'* said 
 he, writing to a friend, " and have regained 
 the Christian." But his flight from the con- 
 vent, and his heretical writings were every 
 where proclaimed. People on all sides drew 
 back at his approach. He knew not which 
 way to turn, when Sickingen offered him an 
 asylum. This was in the spring of the year 
 1522. He accepted it. 
 
 His mind, oppressed during his confine- 
 ment within the monastery, recovered its 
 elasticity amongst the noble warriors of 
 Ebernburg. "Christ is our liberty !" burst 
 from his lips, "and that which men consider 
 as their greatest misfortune, death itself, 
 is for us a real gain." He directly com- 
 menced reading to the people the Gospel's 
 and Epistle's in German. "No sooner will 
 these trumpets sound abroad," said he, " than 
 the walls of Jericho will crumble to the 
 ground." 
 
 Thus the most humble man of his time was 
 preparing, in a fortress on the banks of the 
 Rhine, in the midst of unpolished warriors, 
 for that change of worship which Christianity 
 was shortly to undergo. Nevertheless, Ebern- 
 burg was not a field large enough for his 
 plans ; besides, he felt the need of other so- 
 ciety than such as he was in the midst of. 
 Cratander, the bookseller, invited him to take 
 up his abode at Basle ; Sickingen offered no 
 impediment; and GEcolampadius, glad at the 
 thought of seeing his old friends, arrived there 
 on the 16th November, 1522. After having 
 lived there some time, simply as a man of 
 learning, without any public vocation, he was 
 nominated vicar of the church of St. Mar- 
 tin, and his acceptance of this humble en- 
 gagement perhaps decided the Reformation 
 at Basle. 78 Whenever CEcolampadius was to 
 preach, a great crowd filled the church. 79 At 
 the same time, the public lectures given by 
 him, and by Pelican, were crowned with so 
 much success, that Erasmus himself felt 
 constrained to exclaim, " CEcolampadius 
 triumphs I" 80 
 
 " In fact, this gentle, and firm man," says 
 Zwingle, " diffused, all around him, the sweet 
 savour of Christ; and all who assembled 
 about him grew in the truth." 81 Often a re- 
 port prevailed that he was on the point of 
 being obliged to quit Basle, and begin again 
 his hazardous flights. On these occasions 
 his friends, and above all Zwingle, would 
 be in consternation ; but then came tidings of 
 fresh advantages gained by (Ecolampadius, 
 dissipating their fears, and raising their hopes. 
 The renown of his labours spread even to 
 Wittemberg, and rejoiced Luther, who would 
 often talk with Melancthon concerning him. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 353 
 
 But the Saxon Reformer was not without 
 anxiety on his account. Erasmus was at 
 Basle, and Erasmus was the friend of (Eco- 
 lampadius . . . Luther thought it his duty to 
 put one whom he loved on his guard. "I 
 tear much," wrote he, " that, like Moses, 
 Erasmus will die in the country of Moah, and 
 never lead us into the land of promise." 82 
 
 Erasmus had retired to Basle, as to a quiet 
 city, situated in the centre of the intellectual 
 activity of the age, from whence, by means 
 of the printing-press of Frobenius, he could 
 act upon France, Germany, Switzerland, 
 Italy, and England. But'he liked not to be 
 interfered with; and if the neighbourhood of 
 CEcolampadius was not entirely agreeable to 
 him, another man there was whose presence 
 inspired him with still more apprehension. 
 Ulric Hutten had followed (Ecolampadius 
 to Basle. For some time he had been at- 
 tacking the Pope, as one knight tilts with 
 another. *' The axe," said he, " is already 
 laid at the root of the tree. Faint not, my 
 countrymen, in the heat of the battle: the 
 lot is cast; the charge is begun . . . Hurrah 
 for liberty!" He laid aside the Latin, and 
 now wrote only in German; for his object 
 was to get at the hearts of the people. 
 
 His views were grand and generous. Ac- 
 cording to his plan, there was to be a yearly 
 meeting of bishops, to regulate the interests 
 of the church. Christian institutions, and 
 above all, a Christian spirit, was to go forth 
 from Germany, as formerly from Judea, and 
 spread through the whole world. Charles 
 V. was the young hero destined to realise 
 this golden age; but Hutten's hopes having 
 been" blasted in that quarter, he turned to- 
 wards Sickingen, and sought from knight- 
 hood that which the Imperial authority 
 refused him. 
 
 Sickingen, as a leading chieftain, had 
 acted a distinguished part in Germany ; but 
 soon after the nobles had besieged him in the 
 castle of Landstein, and the ancient walls 
 of that fortress had yielded to the strange 
 power of cannon and musketry, then only 
 recently invented. The taking of Landstein 
 had been the final defeat of the power of the 
 knights, the triumph of the art of modern 
 warfare over that of the middle ages. Thus, 
 the last exploits of the knights had been on 
 the side of the Reformation, while the ear- 
 liest use of the newly-invented engines was 
 against it. The steel-clad warriors, whose 
 bodies fell beneath the unlooked-for storm of 
 balls, made way for other soldiery. Other 
 conflicts were opening. A spiritual knight- 
 hood was taking the place of the Du Gues- 
 clins and Bayards ; and those battered ram- 
 parts, broken walls, and expiring warriors, 
 told, more plainly than Luther had been 
 able to do, that it was not by such allies or 
 such weapons that the Gospel of the Prince 
 of Peace was destined to prevail. 
 
 The hopes of Hutten had died with the 
 fall of Landstein, and the ruin of the power 
 of the knights As he stood by the corpse 
 
 of his friend Sickingen, he bade adieu to his 
 dream of brighter days to come, and losing 
 j all confidence in men," he sought only for re- 
 tirement and repose. In quest of these, he 
 visited Erasmus in Switzerland. An early 
 friendship had subsisted between them ; but 
 the rough and overbearing knight, regardless 
 of the opinions of others, quick to grasp the 
 sword, and dealing his blows on all sides, 
 wherever he came, could scarcely be ex- 
 pected to " walk together" with the fastidi- 
 ous and timid Erasmus, with all his refine- 
 ment, politeness, love of praise, his readiness 
 to sacrifice all for the sake of it, and his fear, 
 above all, of controversy. 
 
 On his arrival at Basle, Hutten, poor, suf- 
 fering in bodily health, and a fugitive, im 
 mediately sought out his old friend. But 
 Erasmus shrunk from the thought of re- 
 ceiving at his table a man who was placed 
 under ban by the Pope and the Emperor, & 
 a man who, in his conversation, would 
 spare no one, and, besides borrowing money 
 of him, would no doubt be followed by others 
 of the " Gospel party," whom Erasmus 
 dreaded more and more. He declined to 
 see him, and the magistrates of Basle de- 
 sired Hutten to leave the city. Wounded to 
 the quick, and irritated by the timid pru- 
 dence of his friend, Hutten repaired to Mul- 
 hausen, and there circulated a violent diatribe 
 against Erasmus, to which the latter put 
 forth a reply replete with talent. The knight 
 had, as it were, with both hands, seized his 
 sword, and felled his adversary to the earth; 
 the philosopher, recovering his feet, had re- 
 plied to the strokes of his adversary by peck- 
 ings with his beak. 84 
 
 Hutten was again compelled to flight. 
 He reached Zurich, and there found a kind 
 reception at the hospitable hearth of Zwin- 
 gle. Intrigues again obliged him to quit that 
 city; and after passing some time at the 
 baths of Pfeffers, he repaired, provided with 
 a letter from the Swiss Reformer, to the 
 pastor, John Schnapp, who resided in the 
 little island of Uffhan, on the lake of Zurich. 
 That humble minister of God's word received 
 the sick and homeless knight with the ten- 
 derest charity. And in that tranquil and 
 unknown seclusion, Ulric Hutten, one of 
 the most remarkable men of his age, expired 
 about the end of August, after an agitated 
 life, in the course of which he had been ex- 
 pelled by one party, persecuted by another, 
 and deserted by nearly all; having all his 
 life contended against superstition, without, 
 as it would seem, ever arriving at the know- 
 ledge of the truth. The poor minister, who 
 had gained some experience in the healing 
 art, had bestowed upon him the utmost at- 
 tention. He had left behind him neither 
 money nor furniture, nor books, nothing, 
 save his pen. 85 So broken was that steel-clad 
 arm that he dared to put forward to sup- 
 port the ark of God. 
 
 But there was one man in Germany more 
 formidable in the eyes of Erasmus than the 
 
354 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ill-fated knight, and that man was Luther. 
 The time had come when the two great 
 combatants of the age were to measure their 
 strength in the lists. They were the leaders 
 of two very different reformations. Whilst 
 Luther was bent on a complete reformation, 
 Erasmus, as the advocate of a middle course, 
 was seeking certain concessions from the 
 hierarchy, that might have the effect of con- 
 ciliating the opposing parties. Luther was 
 disgusted with the vacillation and inconsis- 
 tency of Erasmus. " You are trying to walk 
 on eggs without breaking them," said he. 86 
 
 At the same time, he met these vacilla- 
 tions of Erasmus with the most entire and 
 unfaltering decision. " We Christians," said 
 he, " ought to be well persuaded of what we 
 teach, and to be able to say yes or no. To 
 object to our affirming with full conviction 
 what we believe, is to strip us of our faith 
 itself. The Holy Spirit is no spirit of doubt. 87 
 And he has written in our hearts a firm and 
 peaceful assurance, which makes us as sure 
 of the object of faith as we are of our exis- 
 tence." 
 
 These words suffice to show on which 
 side strength was to be found. To effect a 
 change in religion, there is need of firm and 
 living faith. A salutary revolution in the 
 Church is never to be derived from philoso- 
 phic views and thoughts of man. To restore 
 fertility to the earth after a long drought, the 
 lightning must strike the cloud, and the 
 windows of heaven must be opened. Criti- 
 cal acuteness, philosophy, and even history, 
 may prepare the ground for a true faith, but 
 .never can they fill its place. Vainly would 
 you cleanse the aqueduct or build up your 
 embankments, so long as the rain cometh 
 not down from heaven. The learning of 
 man without faith is but as the dry chan- 
 nel. 
 
 Much and essentially as Luther and Eras- 
 mus differed one from the other, a hope was 
 long cherished by Luther's friends, and even 
 by himself, that both would one day be united 
 in resistance of Rome. Expressions, dropt 
 in his caustic humour, were commonly re- 
 ported, which showed the philosopher dis- 
 senting, in his opinion, from the most devoted 
 adherents of Catholicism. For instance, it 
 is related, that, when in England, he was 
 one day in earnest conversation with Thomas 
 More on the subject of transubstantiation. 
 " Only believe," said More, " that you re- 
 ceive the body of Christ, and you really have 
 it." Erasmus was silent. Shortly after this, 
 when Erasmus was leaving England, More 
 lent him a horse to convey him to the port 
 where he was to embark; but Erasmus took 
 it abroad with him. When More heard of 
 it, he reproached him with much warmth; 
 but the only answer Erasmus gave him was 
 in the following quatrain : * 
 
 * There is surely profanity as well as levity in 
 this. May the reader be preserved from any sym- 
 pathy with such a way of dealing with a belief 
 which, right or wrong, is reverential. TR. 
 
 " Only believe thou sharest Christ's feast, say you. 
 And never doubt the fact is therefore true : 
 So write I of thy horse ; if thou art able 
 But to believe it, he is in thy stable." 88 
 
 Erasmus's sentiments having got wind, not 
 only in Germany and England, but in other 
 countries, it was said at Paris that "Luther 
 wanted to force open the door, of which, 
 Erasmus had already picked the lock." 89 
 
 The position taken by Erasmus was a dif- 
 ficult one. " I will not be unfaithful to the 
 cause of Christ," wrote he to Zwingle, "at 
 least so far as the times will allow." 50 Just 
 in proportion as he saw Rome rising up 
 against the favourers of the Reformation, he 
 prudently drew back from them. All par- 
 ties looked to him. Pope, emperor, kings, 
 nobles, men of learning, and even his most 
 intimate friends, entreated him to take up 
 his pen against the Reformer. 91 " You can- 
 not possibly undertake a work more accept- 
 able to God and more worthy of your ge 
 nius," wrote the Pope. 92 
 
 Erasmus for a long time held out against 
 these solicitations. He could not conceal 
 from himself that the cause of the Reforma 
 lion was that of Religion as well as of Learn 
 ing. Moreover, Luther was an adversary 
 he dreaded to find himself opposed to. " It 
 is an easy thing for you to say, Write against 
 Luther," said lie to a Romish divine, " but 
 the matter is full of hazard." 93 He knew not 
 which way to move. 
 
 This hesitation on the part of Erasmus 
 drew upon him the most violent of both par- 
 ties. Luther himself scarcely knew how to 
 make his respect for Erasmus's learning 
 consist with the indignation his timid policy 
 awakened in him. He resolved to break 
 through the painful restraint he had hitherto 
 imposed on himself, and wrote to him, in 
 April, 1524, a letter which he commissioned 
 Camerarius to deliver to him. 
 
 " You have not yet received from the Lord 
 the courage requisite for marching side by 
 side with us against the Papists. We bear 
 with your weakness. If learning prospers, 
 and if, by its means, the treasury of Scripture 
 is unlocked to all comers, it is a gift which 
 God has given us by you a noble gift, for 
 which our praise ascends to heaven. But 
 do not desert the post assigned you, to take 
 up your quarters in our camp. No doubt 
 your eloquence and genius might be useful 
 to us; but, since your courage fails you, re- 
 main where you are. If I could have my 
 will, those who are acting with me should 
 leave your old age in peace, to fall asleep in 
 the Lord. The greatness of our cause has 
 long ago surpassed your strength. But then, 
 dear Erasmus, cease, I pray you, to scatter, 
 with open hands, the biting satire you are so 
 skilled to clothe in flowery rhetoric, for the 
 slightest stroke of your pen inflicts more 
 pain than the being ground to powder by all 
 the Papists put together. Be satisfied to be 
 a spectator of our tragedy: 94 only abstain from 
 writing against me, and I will not attack you ." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 355 
 
 Here we see Luther, whose spirit breath 
 ed the breath of conflict, asking for peace 
 and amity ! Erasmus, the man of peace 
 broke it. 
 
 This communication of the Re former was 
 received by Erasmus as the keenest of in- 
 sults, and if he had not previously resolved 
 on publishing against Luther, it is probable 
 that resolution was then taken. " Perhaps, 
 was his reply, " perhaps Erasmus will better 
 serve the Gospel by writing against you, than 
 certain senseless writers on your own side, 
 whose doctrines do not allow me to be any 
 longer a mere spectator of the tragedy." 95 
 
 But other motives were not wanting. 
 Henry VIII. and the leading nobility of 
 England, pressed him to declare himself 
 openly against the Reformation, and Eras- 
 mus, in a moment of more than usual bold- 
 ness, gave a promise to that effect. His 
 questionable position had, besides, become a 
 source of continual trouble to him; he loved 
 ease, and the necessity he was continually 
 brought under of vindicating his conduct 
 was a constant disturbance. He loved the 
 praise of men, and he heard himself charged 
 with fearing Luther, and being unable to 
 answer him he clung to the uppermost 
 seat, and the plain monk of Wittemberg 
 had dethroned the powerful Erasmus from 
 his pre-eminence. It was his aim, by a bold 
 step, to regain the place he had lost. The 
 established Christianity of his age, with one 
 voice, invited him to the attempt. A man 
 of large capacity, and of the highest reputa- 
 tion in that age, was wanted to oppose to 
 the Reformation. Erasmus gave himself to 
 the work. 
 
 But with what weapons will he arm for 
 the encounter ? Will he call forth the former 
 thunders of the Vatican? Will he under- 
 take the vindication of the corruptions which 
 are the disgrace of the Papacy! Erasmus 
 could not act such a part. The grand move- 
 ment which then swelled all hearts, after the 
 death-like stupor of so many centuries, filled 
 him with joy, and he would have shrunk 
 from shackling its progress. Unable to be 
 the champion of Roman Catholicism in that 
 which it has added to Christianity, he under- 
 took the defence of it in the particulars 
 wherein it has taken away from it. Erasmus 
 chose for the ground of his attack upon 
 Luther, that point wherein Catholicism 
 makes common cause with Rationalism, the 
 doctrine of Free Will, or the power of man 
 by nature. Accordingly, although under- 
 taking thus to defend the Church, Erasmus 
 was also gratifying the men of this world ; 
 and, although fighting the battle on behalf 
 of the Pope, he was also contending on the 
 side of the philosophic party. It has been 
 said that he acted injudiciously in thus re- 
 stricting himself loan intricate and unprofit- 
 able question.* Luther, the Reformers 
 
 "It is humbling to mankind," says M. 
 Nisard see Revue des deux mondes, iii. p. 411, 
 " to contemplate men capable of grasping eternal 
 46 
 
 generally, and, indeed, that age were of a 
 different opinion; and we agree with them. 
 "1 must acknowledge," said Luther, "that, 
 in this great controversy, you alone have 
 taken the bull by the horns. I thank you 
 with all my heart, for I prefer to be occupied 
 with that theme rather than such secondary 
 questions as Pope, purgatory, and indul- 
 gences, with which the enemies of the Gos- 
 pel have hitherto dogged my steps." 96 
 
 His own experience, and the attentive 
 study of the Holy Scriptures, and of St. 
 Augustine, had convinced Luther that the 
 powers of man's nature are so strongly in- 
 clined to evil, that, in his own strength, he 
 can attain no more than an outward decency, 
 of no value or sufficiency in the sight of God.. 
 He had, at the same time, recognised that it 
 was God, who, by his Holy Spirit, bestow- 
 ing freely on man the gift of 'faith,' com- 
 municated to him a real righteousness. 
 This doctrine had become the vital principle 
 of his religion, the predominant tenet of his 
 theology, and the pivot on which the entire 
 Reformation turned. 
 
 Whilst Luther maintained that every thing 
 good in man came down from God, Erasmus 
 sided with those who thought that this good 
 came out from man himself. God or man 
 good or evil these are no unimportant 
 themes ; and if there is ' triviality,' it is as- 
 suredly not in such solemn questions. 
 
 It was in the autumn of 1524, that Erasmus 
 published his famous tract, entitled " Diatribe 
 on the Freedom of the Will," and as soon as 
 it saw the light, the philosopher could hardly 
 credit his own boldness. With his eyes 
 rivetted on the arena, he watched, with trem- 
 bling, the gauntlet he had flung to his adver- 
 sary. "The die is cast," he wrote to Henry 
 VIII., with emotion ; " the book on free will 
 is published. I have done a bold thing, 
 believe me. I expect nothing less than to be 
 stoned for it. But I take comfort from your 
 majesty's example, whom the rage of these 
 people has not spared." 97 
 
 His alarm soon increased to such a degree, 
 that he bitterly lamented the step he had 
 taken. " Why," he ejaculated, " why was I 
 not permitted to grow old in the mount of the 
 Muses ! Here am I, at. sixty years of age, 
 forcibly thrust forward into the arena, and I 
 am throwing the cestus and the net, instead of 
 handling the lyre! I am aware," said he to 
 the Bishop of Rochester, " that in writing 
 upon free will, I was going out of my sphere; 
 you congratulate me on my triumphs. Ah ! 
 I do not know over whom. The faction (the 
 Reformation) gathers strength daily. 98 Was 
 it then my fate, at my time of life, to pass 
 from my place as a friend of the Muses, to 
 hat of a miserable gladiator!" 
 
 Doubtless it was no small matter for the 
 timid Erasmus to have stood forth against 
 Luther; nevertheless, he had not spoken out 
 with any extraordinary boldness. He seems, 
 
 ruths, fencing and debating in such trivialities, 
 like gladiators fighting with flies." 
 2H 
 
366 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 in his book, to ascribe but little to man's will, 
 and to leave to grace the greater part of the 
 work; but then he chooses his arguments so 
 as to make it seern as if man did every thing, 
 and God nothing. Not daring openly to ex- 
 press his opinions, he seems to affirm one 
 thing, and to prove another; so that one may 
 be allowed to suppose that he believed what 
 he proved, not what he asserted. 
 
 He distinguishes three several sentiments 
 opposed to different degrees of Pelagianism : 
 " Some think," said he, " that man can 
 neither will, nor begin, still less perform any 
 thing good, without the special and constant 
 aid of Divine grace; and this opinion seems 
 probable enough. Others teach that the will 
 of man has no power but for evil, and that it 
 is grace alone that works any good in us; 
 and, lastly, there are some who assert that 
 there never has been any free will, either in 
 angels, or in Adam, or in us, whether before 
 or after grace received ; but that God works 
 in man whether it be good or evil, and that 
 every thing that happens, happens from an 
 absolute necessity." 99 
 
 Erasmus, whilst seeming to admit the first 
 of these opinions, uses arguments that are 
 opposed to it, and which might be employed 
 by the most determined Pelagian. It. is thus 
 that, quoting the passages of Scripture, in 
 which God offers to man the choice between 
 good and evil, he adds: "Man then must 
 needs have a power to will and to choose; for 
 it would be folly to say to any one, Choose! 
 were it not in his power to do so 1" 
 
 Luther feared nothing from Erasmus: 
 "Truth," said he, " is more powerful than 
 words. The victory will remain with him 
 who with stammering lips shall teach the 
 truth, and not to him who eloquently puts 
 forward a lie." 100 But when he received Eras- 
 mus' book in the month of October, 1524, he 
 considered it to be so feebly argued, that he 
 hesitated whether to answer it. "What!" 
 he exclaimed, " all this eloquence in so bad a 
 cause ! It is as if a man should serve up mud 
 on gold and silver dishes. 101 One cannot get 
 any hold upon you. You are like an eel that 
 slips through one's fingers ; or, like the fabled 
 Proteus, who changes his form when in the 
 very arms of him who would strangle him." 
 
 Luther making no reply, the monks and 
 theologians of the schools broke forth in exul- 
 tation : " Well, where is your Luther now 1 
 Where is the great Maccabeus 1 Let him 
 enter 'be lists ! let him come forward ! Ah ! 
 ah ! b-3 has at last found his match ! He has 
 had 9. lesson to keep in the back ground ! he 
 h?s '.earnt to be silent. n02 
 
 J. -other saw that he must answer Erasmus; 
 but t was not till the end of the year 1525 
 that he prepared to do so; and Melancthon 
 having told Erasmus that Luther would write 
 with moderation, the philosopher was greatly 
 alarmed. " If I write with moderation," said 
 he, "it is my natural character; but there is 
 in Luther's character the indignation of the 
 son of Peleus. And how can it be otherwise ? 
 
 The vessel that braves such a storm as that 
 which rages round Luther, needs anchor, 
 ballast, and rudder to keep it from bearing 
 down out of its course If therefore he should 
 answer more temperately than suits his char- 
 acter the sycophants will exclaim that we 
 understand one another." We shall see that 
 Erasmus was soon relieved from this last fear. 
 
 The doctrine of God's election as the sole 
 cause of man's salvation, had long been dear 
 to the Reformer: but hitherto he had only 
 considered its practical influence. In his 
 answer to Erasmus he investigated it especi- 
 ally in a speculative point of view, and 
 laboured to establish, by such arguments as 
 seemed to him most conclusive, that God 
 works every thing in man's conversion, and 
 that our heart is so alienated from the love of 
 God, that it can only have a sincere desire 
 after righteousness by the regenerating action 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 "To call our will a Free will," said he, 
 " is to imitate those princes who accumulate 
 long titles, styling themselves sovereigns of 
 this or that kingdom, principality, and distant 
 island, (of Rhodes, Cyprus, and Jerusalem,) 
 over which they do not exercise the least 
 authority." Nevertheless, Luther here makes 
 an important distinction which shows that he 
 by no means participated in the third opinion 
 which Erasmus had raised to notoriety by 
 attributing it to him. " Man's will," said he, 
 " may indeed be said to be free, not indeed in 
 relation to what is above him, that is, to 
 God, but in relation to what is beneath 
 him, that is, to the things of this world. In 
 any matter affecting my property, rny lands, 
 my house, or my farm, I find myself able to 
 act, do, and manage freely ; but in every thing 
 that has reference to his salvation, man is a 
 captive; he is subject to the will of God, or 
 rather to that of the devil. 103 Show me," cries 
 he, "only one among all those who teach the 
 doctrine of free will, who has been able in 
 himself to find strength to endure a slight 
 insult, a passionate assault, nay, even the 
 hostile look of his enemy, and that joyfully, 
 and without so. much as asking whether he is 
 willing to give up his body, his life, his 
 goods, his honor, and all that he has, I will 
 acknowledge that you have gained your 
 cause." 104 
 
 Luther had too much penetration not to 
 discern the contradictions into which his ad- 
 versary had fallen. He, therefore, in his 
 answer, laboured to enclose the philosopher 
 in the net in which he had entangled himself. 
 " If the passages you quote," said he, " estab- 
 lish the principle that it is easy for us to do 
 good, wherefore is it that we are disputing 1 ? 
 And what need can we have of Christ or the 
 Holy Spirit? Christ would then have shed 
 his blood without necessity to obtain for us a 
 power which we already had in our own 
 nature." In truth the passages quoted by 
 Erasmus are to be understood in quite a dif- 
 ferent sense. This much debated question is 
 more simple than it at first sight appears. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 357 
 
 When the'Bible says to man, * Choose,' it is 
 because it assumes the assistance of God's 
 grace, by which alone he can obey the com- 
 mand. God, in giving the commandment 
 gives also the strength to fulfil it. If Christ 
 said to Lazarus, ' Come forth,' it was not that 
 Lazarus could restore himself to life, but that 
 Christ, in commanding- him to come forth, 
 gave him the ability to do so, and accom- 
 panied his word with his creative power. 
 He speaks, and it is done. Moreover it is 
 quite true that the man to whom God speaks, 
 must will to do; it is he himself, and not 
 another, that must will ; he can receive this 
 will from none but God ; but surely in him 
 it must be; and the very command which 
 God brings to him, and which, according to 
 Erasmus,proves the power to be in man, 
 is so perfectly reconcilable with Gcd's work- 
 ing, that it is, in fact, the very means by 
 which that work of God is wrought out. It 
 is by saying to the man " Be converted," 
 that God converts him. 
 
 But the idea which Luther especially 
 kept in view in his answer is, that the pas- 
 sages quoted by Erasmus are designed not 
 to make known to men this pretended power 
 which is attributed to them, but to show 
 them their duty, and their total inability to 
 
 fulfil it. 
 Luther, 
 
 How often does it happen," says 
 that a father calls to him his feeble 
 
 child, saying, 'Will you come, my son? 
 come then,' in order that the child may 
 learn to call for his assistance and allow 
 himself to be carried." 105 
 
 After having combated Erasmus's argu- 
 ments in favour of free will, Luther defends 
 his own against the attacks of his oppo- 
 nent. " Dear Diatribe," says he, ironically, 
 " mighty heroine, you who pride yourself 
 on having explained away those words of 
 our Lord in St. John's Gospel/ Without me 
 yc, can do NOTHING,' although you acknow- 
 ledge their force and call them. Luther's 
 Achilles, listen to me Unless you prove 
 that this word nothing not only may, but 
 must signify a little, all your sounding 
 words, all your famous examples, have no 
 more effect than if a man were to attempt to 
 oppose a mighty conflagration with a hand- 
 ful of straw. What matter to us such as- 
 sertions as, This may mean, this may be 
 thus understood, whilst you ought to prove 
 to us that it must be so understood. Unless 
 you do this we take the declaration in its 
 literal meaning, and laugh at all your exam- 
 ples, your fine exordiums, and self-compla- 
 cent boastings." 106 
 
 Subsequently, Luther shows, still from the 
 Scriptures, that the grace of God does all in 
 Conversion. He concludes thus: ' In short, 
 since the Scripture every where contrasts 
 Christ with that which has not the spirit of 
 Christ; since it declares that everything 
 which is not Christ, and in Christ, is under 
 the power of delusion, darkness, the devil, 
 death, sin, and the wraih of God ; it follows 
 
 of Christ is against your doctrine of free 
 will. Now such passages are innumerable, 
 the Holy Scriptures are full of them." 107 
 
 We perceive that the discussion which 
 arose between Luther and Erasmus, is the 
 same as that which occurred a century later 
 between the Jansenists and Jesuits, be- 
 tween Pascal and Molina.* Wherefore, 
 then, while the Reformation has had such 
 immense results, did Jansenism, though 
 adorned by the finest geniuses, go out in 
 weakness T It is because Jansenism went 
 back to St. Augustine, and rested for support 
 on the Fathers; whilst the Reformation went 
 back to THE BIBLE, and was based on the 
 word of God; because Jansenism made a 
 compromise with Rome, and would have 
 pursued a middle course between truth and 
 error; whereas, the Reformation, relying on 
 God alone, cleared the soil, swept away the 
 incrustations of past ages, and laid bare the 
 primitive rock. To stop half way in any 
 work is useless ; in every undertaking we 
 must go through. Hence, while Jansenism 
 has passed away, Evangelical Christianity 
 presides over the destinies of the world. 
 
 After having energetically refuted the er- 
 rors of Erasmus, Luther, renders a high 
 sounding, but perhaps somewhat malicious, 
 homage to his genius. "I confess," says 
 he, " that you are a great man : in whom 
 have we ever beheld more learning, intelli- 
 gence, or readiness, both in speaking and 
 writing? As to me, 1 possess none of these 
 qualities; in one thing only can I glory I 
 am a Christian. May God raise you infi- 
 nitely above me in the knowledge of His Gos- 
 pel, so that you may surpass me in that respect 
 as much as you already do in every other." 103 
 
 Erasmus was incensed beyond measure 
 by the perusal of Luther's answer, and 
 looked upon his encomiums as the honey of 
 a poisoned cup, or the embrace of a serpent 
 at the moment he fixes his deadly fang. He 
 immediately wrote to the Elector of Saxony, 
 demanding justice ; and, when Luther wished 
 to appease him, he lost his usual temper, 
 and, in the words of one of his most zealous 
 apologists, began " to pour forth invectives 
 in a feeble voice and with hoary hairs." 109 
 
 Erasmus was conquered. Moderation 
 had, till this occasion, been his strength ; 
 and now this left him. Anger was the only 
 weapon he could oppose to Luther's energy. 
 The wisdom of the philosopher, on this oc- 
 casion, failed him. He replied, publicly, in 
 his Hyperapistes, in which he accuses the 
 Reformer of barbarism, falsehood, and blas- 
 phemy. The philosopher even ventured on 
 prophecy: "I predict," said he, " that no 
 name under heaven will hereafter be more 
 execrated than Luther's." The jubilee of 
 1817 has replied to this prophecy, after a 
 lapse of three centuries, by the enthusiasm 
 
 * It is scarcely necessary to say that I do not 
 speak of personal discussions between these two 
 men, of whom, the one died in 1600, and the 
 
 that every passage in the Bible which speaks i other was not born till 1623. 
 
359 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and acclamations of the entire Protestant 
 world. 
 
 Thus, while Luther, with the Bible in his 
 hand, was placing himself in the van of his 
 age, Erasmus, in opposition to him, sought 
 that station for himself and philosophy. Of 
 these two chiefs, which has been followed? 
 Both, undoubtedly. Nevertheless, Luther's 
 influence on the nations of Christendom has 
 been infinitely greater than that of Erasmus. 
 Even those who did not well comprehend 
 the matter in dispute, seeing the full con- 
 viction of one antagonist, and the doubts of 
 the other, could not refrain from believing 
 that the former had truth on his side, and 
 that the latter was in the wrong. It has 
 been said that the three last centuries, the 
 16th, 17th and 18th. may be considered as a 
 protracted battle of three days' duration. 110 
 We willingly adopt the comparison, but not 
 the part that is allotted to each of these days. 
 The same struggle, it is said, marked the 
 sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries. On 
 the first day, as on the last, we are told that 
 it was philosophy that broke the ranks. The 
 sixteenth century philosophical! Strange 
 mistake! No, each of those days had its 
 marked and peculiar characteristic. On the 
 first, the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ 
 triumphed, and Rome was defeated; and 
 Philosophy, in the person of Erasmus, and 
 her other champions, shared in the defeat. 
 On the second, we admit that Rome, her au- 
 thority, her discipline, and her doctrine, are 
 again seen on the point of obtaining the vic- 
 tory, through the intrigues of a far-famed 
 society, and the power of the scaffold, aided 
 by certain leaders of eminent character, and 
 others of lofty genius. The third day, human 
 Philosophy arises in all its pride, and finding 
 the battle field occupied, not by the Gospel, 
 but by Rome, it quickly storms every en- 
 trenchment, and gains an easy conquest. 
 The first day's battle was for God, the second 
 for the Priest, the third for Reason what 
 shall the fourth be? . . . . The confused 
 struggle, the hard fought conflict, as we be- 
 lieve, of all these powers together, which 
 will end in the triumph of Him to whom 
 triumph belongs. 
 
 But the battle which the Reformation 
 fought in the great day of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury was not one and single, but manifold. 
 The Reformation had to combat at once 
 several enemies ; and after having protested 
 against the decretals and the sovereignty of 
 the Popes, then against the cold apoph- 
 thegms of rationalists, philosophers, and 
 school-men, it took the field against the 
 reveries of enthusiasm and the hallucinations 
 of mysticism ; opposing alike to these three 
 powers the sword and the buckler of God's 
 Holy Revelation. 
 
 We cannot but discern a great resem- 
 blance, a striking unity, between these 
 three powerful adversaries. The false sys- 
 tems which, in every age, have been the most 
 adverse to evangelical Christianity, have ever 
 
 been distinguished by their making- religions 
 knowledge to emanate from man himself. 
 Rationalism makes it proceed from reason; 
 Mysticism from a certain internal illumina- 
 tion ; Roman Catholicism from an illumina- 
 tion derived from the Pope. These three 
 errors look for truth in man; Evangelical 
 Christianity looks for it in God alone: and 
 while Rationalism, Mysticism, and Roman 
 Catholicism acknowledge a permanent inspi- 
 ration in men like ourselves, and thus make 
 room for every species of extravagance anc 
 schism, Evangelical Christianity recognises 
 this inspiration only in the writings of the 
 Apostles and Prophets, and alone presents 
 that great, noble, and living unity which con- 
 tinues to exist unchanged throughout all ages 
 
 The office of the Reformation has been tc 
 re-establish the rights of the word of God, i 
 opposition, not only to Roman Catholicism 
 but also to Rationalism and Mysticism. 
 
 The fanaticism of the Anabaptists, which 
 had been extinguished in Germany, by Lu- 
 ther's return to Wittemberg, re-appeared in 
 vigour in Switzerland, where it threatened 
 the edifice which Zwingle, Haller, and 
 QEcolampadius had erected on the foundation 
 of the word of God. Thomas Miinzer, obliged 
 to quit Saxony in 1521, had reached the fron- 
 tiers of Switzerland. Conrad Grebel, whose 
 ardentand restless disposition we have already 
 remarked, had joined him, as had also Felix 
 Mantz, a canon's son, and several other natives 
 of Zurich. Grebel endeavoured to gain over 
 Zwingle. It was in vain that the latter had 
 gone further than Luther; he saw a party 
 spring up which desired to proceed to yet 
 greater lengths. " Let us," said Grebel, 
 " form a community of true believers; for it 
 is to them alone that the promise belongs ; 
 and let us establish a church, which shall be 
 without sin.'* 111 " It is not possible," replied 
 Zwingrle, "to make a heaven upon earth; 
 and Christ has taught us to let the tares grow 
 among the wheat." 112 
 
 Grebel, unsuccessful with the Reformer, 
 wished to appeal from him to the people. 
 "The whole community of Zurich," said he, 
 "is entitled to decide finally in all matters of 
 faith." But Zwingle dreaded the influence 
 which violent enthusiasts might exercise in a 
 popular assembly. He believed that, except 
 on some extraordinary occasions, where the 
 people might be called on to give their sup- 
 port, it was more desirable to confide the 
 interests of religion to a college, which might 
 be considered the chosen representatives of 
 the church. Consequently, the Council of 
 Two Hundred, which then exercised the 
 supreme political authority in Zurich, was 
 also entrusted with the ecclesiastical power, 
 on the express condition that it should con- 
 form, in all things, to the rule of the Holy 
 Scriptures. Undoubtedly it would have been 
 preferable to have organised the church com- 
 plete, and called on it to name representatives, 
 ,to whom no interests save the religious 
 I interests of the people should be confided ; 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 359 
 
 for he who is qualified for affairs of state, may 
 be very unskilful in administering those of 
 the church, just as the reverse of this is also 
 true. Nevertheless, the inconvenience was 
 not then so serious as it would be in our days, 
 for the members of the Grand Council had 
 heartily embarked in the religious movement. 
 However this may be, Zwingle, in his appeal 
 to the church, would not bring it too promi- 
 nently forward ; and preferred a system of re- 
 presentation to the active sovereignty of the 
 general body. It is the same policy which, 
 after three centuries, the states of Europe have 
 adopted, in reference to earthly politics. 
 
 Meeting with a repulse from Zwingle, Gre- 
 bel turned in another direction. Roubli, an 
 aged minister of Basle, Brodtlein, minister at 
 Zollikon, and Lewis Herzer, welcomed his 
 advances. They resolved on forming an in- 
 dependent body in the centre of the general 
 community, a church within the church. A 
 new baptism was to be their instrument for 
 gathering their congregation, which was to 
 consist exclusively of true believers. "The 
 baptism of infants," said they, "is a hor- 
 rible abomination, a flagrant impiety, in- 
 vented by the evil spirit and by Pope Nicho- 
 las II." 113 . 
 
 The Council of Zurich, in some alarm, 
 directed that a public discussion should be 
 held ; and as the Anabaptists still refused to 
 relinquish their errors, some of them, who 
 were natives of Zurich, were imprisoned, and 
 others, who were foreigners, were banished. 
 But persecution only inflamed their zeal. "It 
 is not by words alone," cried they, "but by 
 our blood, that we are ready to bear testimony 
 to the truth of our cause." Some of them, 
 girding themselves with ropes or rods of osier, 
 ran through the streets, crying, " Yet a few 
 days and Zurich will be destroyed ! Woe to 
 thee, Zurich! woe! woe!" Several there 
 were who uttered blasphemies: "Baptism," 
 said they, "is but the washing of a dog. To 
 baptize a child is of no more use than baptiz- 
 ing a cat." 114 Fourteen men, including Felix 
 Mantz, and seven women, were arrested, and, 
 in spite of Zwingle's entreaties, imprisoned, 
 on an allowance of bread and water, in the 
 heretics' tower. After a fortnight's confine- 
 ment they managed, by removing some planks 
 in the floor, to effect their escape during the 
 night. " An angel," they said, " had opened 
 their prison doors, and set them free." 116 
 
 They were joined by George Jacob of 
 Coria, a monk, who had absconded from his 
 convent, and who was surnamed Blaurock, as 
 it would seem from his constantly wearing a 
 blue dress. His eloquence had obtained for 
 him the appellation of a second Paul. This 
 intrepid monk travelled from place to place, 
 constraining many, by the fervour of his ap- 
 peals, to receive his baptism. One Sunday, 
 at Zollikon, whilst the deacon was preaching, 
 the impetuous Anabaptist, suddenly interrupt- 
 ing him, exclaimed in a voice of thunder, 
 *' It is written, My house, is a house of prayer, 
 but ye have made it a den of thieves," Then, 
 
 raising the staff he carried in his hand, he 
 struck it four times violently on the ground. 
 
 " I am a door," exclaimed he ; " by me if 
 any man enter in he shall find pasture. I am 
 a good shepherd. My body I give to the 
 prison ; my life to the sword, the axe, and the 
 wheel. 1 am the beginning of the baptism 
 and of the bread of the Lord." 116 
 
 While Zwingle was attempting to stem the 
 torrent of Anabaptism at Zurich, it quickly 
 inundated St. Gall. Grebel arrived there, 
 and was received by the brethren with accla- 
 mations; and on Palm Sunday he proceeded 
 to the banks of the Sitter, attended by a great 
 number of his adherents, whom he there 
 baptized. 
 
 The news soon spread through the neigh- 
 bouring cantons, and a great multitude from 
 Zurich, Appenzell, and various other places, 
 flocked to " the little Jerusalem." 
 
 Zwingle was deeply afflicted by this agita- 
 tion. He saw a storm descending on the 
 land where the seeds of the gospel had as yet 
 scarcely begun to take root. 117 Resolving to 
 oppose these disorders, he composed a tract 
 "on Baptism," which the Council of St. 
 Gall, to whom he dedicated it, caused to be 
 read in the churchinthe hearingof the people. 118 
 
 " Dearbrethren in the Lord," said Zwingle, 
 " the waters of the torrents which rush from 
 our rocks hurry with them every thing within 
 their reach. At first, small stones only are 
 put in motion, but these are driven violently 
 against larger ones, until the torrent acquires 
 such strength that it carries away every thing 
 it encounters in its course, leaving behind 
 lamentations, vain regrets, and fertile meadows 
 changed into a wilderness. The spirit of dis- 
 putation and self-righteousness acts in a simi- 
 lar manner, it occasions disturbances, banishes 
 charity, and where it found fair and pros- 
 perous churches, leaves behind it nothing but 
 mourning and desolate flocks." 
 
 Thus wrote Zwingle the child of the 
 mountains of the Tockenburg. " Give us the 
 word of God," exclaimed an Anabaptist who 
 was present in church, "and not the word of 
 Zwingle." Immediately confused voices 
 arose : " Away with the book ! away with 
 the book !" cried the Anabaptists. Then 
 rising, they quitted the church, exclaiming, 
 "Do you keep the doctrine of Zwingle; as 
 for us, we will keep the word of God." 119 
 
 Then it was that this fanaticism broke forth 
 in lamentable disorders. Alledging, in excuse, 
 that the Saviour had exhorted us to become as 
 little children, these poor creatures began to 
 go dancing through the streets, clapping their 
 hands, footing it in a circle, seating themselves 
 on the ground together, and tumbling each 
 other in the sand. Some there were who 
 threw the New Testament into the fire, ex- 
 claiming, " The letter killeth,the spirit giveth 
 life ;" and several, falling into convulsions, 
 pretended to have revelations from the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 In a solitary house situated on theMullegg, 
 near St. Gall, lived an aged farmer, John, 
 2H2 
 
360 
 
 HISTOflY OP THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Schucker, with his five sons. The whole 
 family, including the servants, had received 
 the new baptism ; and two of the sons, 
 Thomas and Leonard, were distinguished for 
 their fanaticism. On the 7th of February, 
 1526, being Shrove Tuesday, they invited a 
 large party of Anabaptists to their house, and 
 the father had a calf killed for the feast. The 
 good cheer, the wine, and their numbers alto- 
 gether, heated their imaginations; and they 
 spent the whole night in fanatical excitement, 
 convulsions, visions, and revelations. 120 
 
 In the morning, Thomas, still agitated by 
 that night of disorder, and having even, -as 
 it would seem, lost his senses, took the 
 calf's bladder, and placing part of the gall in 
 it, in imitation of the symbolical language of 
 the prophets, approached his brother Leonard, 
 and said to him gloomily, "Thus bitter is the 
 death thou art to suffer!" Then he added, 
 " Brother Leonard, fall on thy knees ;" Leo- 
 nard knelt down ; presently, " Brother Leo- 
 nard, arise !" Leonard arose. Their father, 
 brothers, and the other Anababtists, looked on 
 with astonishment, asking themselves what 
 God would do. Soon Thomas resumed : 
 "Leonard, kneel down again!" Leonard 
 obeyed. The spectators, terrified at the 
 gloomy countenance of the wretched Thomas, 
 said to him, " Reflect on what thou art about 
 to do; take care that no mischief happens." 
 " Fear not," answered Thomas, " nothing 
 will happen without the will of the Father." 
 At the same moment he hastily snatched a 
 sword, and bringing it down with all his force 
 on the neck of his brother, who was kneeling 
 before him, like a criminal before the execu- 
 tioner, he severed his head from his body, 
 crying out, " Now is the will of the Father 
 accomplished!" The bystanders recoiled in 
 horror; the farm resounded with shrieks and 
 lamentations. Thomas, who had nothing on 
 him but his shirt and drawers, rushed out of 
 the house bare-footed, and with his head un- 
 covered, and running towards St. Gall with 
 frenzied gestures, entered the house of the 
 burgomaster, Joachim Vadain, with haggard 
 looks, shouting, " I proclaim to thee theday 
 of the. Lord." The dreadful tidings spread 
 throughout St. Gall " He has killed his bro- 
 ther as Cain killed Abel," said thecrowd. 121 The 
 criminal was seized. "True," he repeated 
 continually, "I did it, but it was God who did 
 it by my hand." On the 16th of February, the 
 unhappy wretch was beheaded by the execu- 
 tioner. Fanaticism had run its course to the 
 utmost. Men's eyes were opened, and, to 
 adopt the words of an early historian, " the 
 same blow took off the head of Thomas 
 Schucker, and of Anabaptism in St. Gall." 
 
 At Zurich, however, it still prevailed. On 
 the 6th of November, in the preceding year, a 
 public discussion had taken place, in order to 
 content the Anabaptists, who were constantly 
 complaining that the innocent were con- 
 demned unheard. The three following theses 
 were put forth by Zwing-le arid his friends, 
 as subjects of the conference, and trium- 
 
 phantly maintained by them in the Council 
 hall. 
 
 "The children of believing parents are 
 children of God, even as those who were 
 born under the Old Testament ; and conse- 
 quently they may receive Baptism." 
 
 " Baptism is, under the New Testament, 
 what Circumcision was under the Old. Con- 
 sequently, Baptism is now to be administered 
 to children, as Circumcision was formerly." 
 
 " The custom of repeating Baptism cannot 
 be justified either by examples, precepts, or 
 arguments drawn from Scripture : and those 
 who are re-baptised, crucify Jesus Christ 
 afresh." 
 
 But the Anabaptists did not confine them- 
 selves to questions purely religious ; they de- 
 manded the abolition of tithes, "since," said 
 they, * they are not of divine appointment." 
 Zwingle replied that the tithes were neces- 
 sary for the maintenance of the churches and 
 schools. He desired a complete religious re- 
 formation, but he was resolved not to allow 
 the least invasion of public order or political 
 institutions. This was the limit at which he 
 discerned, written by the hand of God, that 
 word from heaven, " Thus far shalt thou go, 
 and no farther." (Jobxxxviii.il*) Some- 
 i where, it was necessary to make a stand ; and 
 it was at this point that Zwingle and the Re- 
 formers took their stand, in spite of the efforts 
 made by rash and impetuous men to hurry 
 them beyond it. 
 
 But when the Reformers themselves stop- 
 ped, they could not stop the enthusiasts, who 
 seem as if brought into contact with them in 
 order to set off by contrast their wisdom and 
 sober-mindedness. It was not enough for the 
 Anabaptists to have formed their church ; - 
 in their eyes that church was itself the State. 
 Did any one summon them before the tri- 
 bunals, they refused to recognise the civil 
 authority, maintaining that it was a remnant 
 of Paganism, and that they would obey no 
 power but that of God! They taught that 
 it was unlawful for Christians to fill public 
 offices or bear the sword, and, resembling in 
 another respect certain irreligious enthusiasts 
 of our own days, they esteemed "a commu- 
 nity of goods" as the perfection of humanity. 123 
 
 Thus the evil was increasing; Civil So- 
 ciety was endangered. It arose to cast out 
 from its bosom those elements that threatened 
 it with destruction. The Government, in its 
 alarm, suffered itself to be hurried into strange 
 measures. Resolved on making an example, 
 they condemned Maniz to be drowned. On 
 the 5th January, 1527, he was put into a boat ; 
 his mother, (the aged concubine of his father, 
 the canon,) together with his brother, mingled 
 in the crowd which accompanied him to the 
 water's edge. " Be faithful unto death," 
 was their exhortation. At the moment when 
 the executioner prepared to throw Mantz into 
 the lake, his brother burst into tears ; but his 
 mother, calm and undaunted, witnessed, with 
 eyes dry and flashing fire, the martyrdom of 
 her son. 124 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 361 
 
 The same day, Blaurock was scourged 
 with rods. As he was led outside the city, 
 he shook his blue dress, and the dust from off 
 his feet, against it. 123 This unhappy man was, 
 it would appear, burnt alive two years after 
 this by the Roman Catholics of the Tyrol. 
 
 Undoubtedly, a spirit of rebellion existed 
 among the Anabaptists; undoubtedly, the 
 ancient ecclesiastical law, which condemned 
 heretics to capital punishments, was still in 
 force, and the Reformation could not, in the 
 space of one or two years, reform every thing ; 
 nor can we doubt that the Catholic states 
 would have accused their Protestant neigh- 
 bours of encouraging insubjection, if the latter 
 had not resorted to severe measures against 
 these enthusiasts ; but though such conside- 
 rations serve to account for the rigour of the 
 magistrate, they never can justify it. Mea- 
 sures might be taken against an infringement 
 of the civil constitution, but religious errors, 
 being combated by the teachers of religion, 
 should be altogether exempt from the jurisdic- 
 tion of civil tribunals. Such opinions are not 
 to be expelled by whippings, nor are they 
 drowned in the waters into which those who 
 profess them may be cast : they again come 
 forth from. the depth of the abyss ; and the 
 fire but serves to kindle in those who adhere 
 to them a fiercer enthusiasm, and thirst for 
 martyrdom. Zwingle, whose sentiments on 
 this subject we have already seen, took no 
 part in these severities. 126 
 
 But it was not only on the subject of bap- 
 tism that dissensions were to arise; yet more 
 serious differences appeared, touching the doc- 
 trine of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 The human mind, freed from the yoke 
 which had so long weighed it down, made use 
 of its liberty; and, if Romanism is hemmed 
 in by the shoals of despotic authority, Pro- 
 testanism has to steer clear of those of anar- 
 chy. One characteristic distinction of Pro- 
 testanism is progress, while that of Romanism 
 is immobility. 
 
 Roman Catholicism, possessing in the 
 papal authority a means of, at any time, estab- 
 lishing new doctrines, appears, at first view, to 
 have in it a principle eminently favourable to 
 change. It has, indeed, largely availed itself 
 of this power, and, century after century, we 
 see Rome bringing forward, or confirming new 
 dogmas. But its system once completed, Ro- 
 man Catholicism has declared itself the cham- 
 pion of immobility. Therein lies its safety . 
 it resembles a shaky building, from which 
 nothing can be taken without bringing the 
 whole down to the ground. Permit the priests 
 to marry, or strike a blow against the doctrine 
 of transubstantiation, and the whole system 
 totters the entire edifice falls to pieces. 
 
 It is not thus with Evangelical Christianity. 
 Its principle is much less favourable to change, 
 much more so to progress and life. On the 
 one hand, it recognises no other fountain of 
 truth than Scripture, one and immutably the 
 same, from the very beginning of the Church 
 to the end of time; how, then, should it vary, 
 
 as Popery has varied] But, on the other 
 hand, every individual Christian is to draw 
 foi himself from this fountain; and hence 
 spring progress and liberty. Accordingly, 
 Evangelical Christianity, although in the 
 nineteenth century the same that it was in 
 the sixteenth, and in the first, is, at all 
 times, full of spontaneity and action; and is, 
 at this moment, filling the wide world with 
 its researches and its labours, its Bibles 
 and its missionaries, with light, salvation, 
 and life ! 
 
 It is a gross error which would class to- 
 gether, and almost confound, rationalism and 
 mysticism with Christianity, and, in so doing, 
 charge upon it the extravagances of both. 
 Progress belongs to the nature of Christian 
 Protestantism : it has nothing in common with 
 immobility and a state of deadness ; but its 
 movement is that of healthful vitality, and not 
 the aberration of madmen, or the restlessness 
 of disease. We shall see this character mani- 
 festing itself in relation to the doctrine of the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 What ensued might have been expected. 
 This doctrine had been understood in very va- 
 rious ways in the early ages of the Church : 
 and the difference of opinion continued up to 
 the time when the doctrine of transubstantia- 
 tion and the scholastic theology began, at 
 about the same pericd, their reign over the 
 mind of the middle at,?s. But that dominion 
 was now shaken to its base, and the former 
 differences were again to appear. 
 
 Zwingle and Luther, who had at first gone 
 forward, each in his separate course, the one 
 in Switzerland the other in Saxony, were 
 one day to find themselves brought, as it were, 
 face to face. The same mind, and, in many 
 respects, the same character, might be dis- 
 cerned in them. Both were full of love for 
 truth and hatred of injustice; both were na- 
 turally violent; and in both that violence was 
 tempered by sincere piety. But there was 
 one feature in the character of Zwingle which 
 tended to carry him beyond Luther. He loved 
 liberty, not only as a man, but as a republican, 
 and the fellow-countryman of Tell. Accus- 
 tomed to the decision of a free state, he was 
 not stopped by considerations before which 
 Luther drew back. He had, moreover, given 
 less time to the study of the theology of the 
 schools, and found himself, in consequence, 
 less shackled in his modes of thinking. Both 
 ardently attached to their own convictions, 
 both resolute in defending them, and little 
 accustomed to bend to the convictions of 
 others, they were now to come in contact, like 
 two proud chargers rushing from opposite 
 ranks encountering on the field of battle. 
 
 A practical tendency predominated in the 
 character of Zwingle and of the Reformation 
 which he had begun, and this tendency was 
 directed to two great ends simplicity in wor- 
 ship and sanctification in life. To adapt the 
 form of worship to the wants of the soul, 
 seeking not outward ceremonies, but things 
 invisible, was Zwingle's first object. The 
 
36*2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 idea of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, I tiori, the glorified body of Christ' exists in 
 
 which had given rise to so many ceremonies 
 and superstitions in the Church, must, there- 
 fore, be abolished. But the other great desire 
 of the Swiss Reformer led him directly to the 
 same result. He judged that the Romish 
 doctrine respecting the Supper, and even that 
 held by Luther, implied a belief of a certain 
 mystical influence, which belief, he thought, 
 stood in the way of sanctification ; he feared 
 lest the Christian, thinking that he received 
 Christ in the consecrated bread, should no 
 longer earnestly seek to be united to him by 
 faith in the heart. " Faith," said he, " is not 
 knowledge, opinion, imagination; it is a 
 reality . 127 It involves in it a real participation 
 in divine things." Thus, whatever the ad- 
 versaries of Zwingle may have asserted, it was 
 no leaning towards rationalism, but a deep re- 
 ligious view of the subject which conducted 
 him to the doctrines he maintained. 
 
 The result of Zwingle's studies were in ac- 
 cordance with these tendencies. In studying 
 the Scriptures, not only in detached passages, 
 but as a whole, and having recourse to clas- 
 sical antiquity to solve the difficulties of lan- 
 guage, he arrived at the conviction, that the 
 word " is" in the words of institution of this 
 sacrament, should be taken in the sense of 
 *' signifies ," and, as early as the year 1523, 
 he wrote to a friend, that the bread and wine 
 in the Lord's Supper are exactly what the 
 water is in baptism. 123 "In vain," added he, 
 " would you plunge a thousand times under 
 the water a man who does not believe. Faith 
 is the one thing needful." 
 
 Luther, at first, set out from principles 
 nearly similar to those of the Reformer of Zu- 
 rich. "It is not the sacrament which sancti- 
 fies," said he, "it is faith in the sacrament." 
 But the extravagances of the Anabaptists, 
 whose mysticism spiritualzied every thing, 
 produced a great change in his views. When 
 he saw enthusiasts, who pretended to inspira- 
 tion, destroying images, rejecting baptism, 
 and denying the presence of Christ in the 
 Eucharist, he was affrighted ; he had a kind 
 of prophetic presentiment of the dangers which 
 would threaten the Church if this tendency 
 to over-spiritualize, should gain the ascendant ; 
 hence he took a totally different course, like 
 the boatman, who, to restore the balance of 
 his foundering skiff, throws all his weight on 
 the side opposed to the storm. 
 
 Thenceforward, Luther assigned to the sac- 
 raments a higher importance. He maintained 
 they were not only signs by which Christians 
 were outwardly distinguished, but evidences 
 of the Divine will, adapted to strengthen our 
 faith. He went farther: Christ, according to 
 him, desired to give to believers a full assur- 
 ance of salvation, and, in order to seal this 
 promise to them with most effect, had added 
 thereto his real body in the bread and wine. 
 "Just," continued he, "as iron and fire, 
 though two different substances, meet and are 
 blended in a red hot bar, so that in every part 
 
 every part of the bread." 
 
 Thus, at this period of his career, Luther 
 made, perhaps, a partial return to the scho- 
 lastic theology. He had openly divorced 
 himself from il on the doctrine of jusification 
 by faith ,- but on the doctrine of this Sacra- 
 ment, he gave up but one point, viz. Iran- 
 substantiation, and retained the other, the 
 eal presence. He even went so far as to say 
 that he would rather receive the mere blood 
 with the Pope, than the mere wine with 
 Zwingle. 
 
 Luther's great principle was never to de- 
 part from the doctrines or customs of the 
 Church, unless the words of Scripture abso- 
 lutely required him to do so. " Where has 
 Christ commanded us to elevate the host, 
 
 and exhibit it to the 
 Carlstadt's question. 
 
 people?" had been 
 1 Where has he for- 
 
 bidden it 1 ?" was Luther's reply. Herein 
 lies the difference of the two Reformations 
 we are considering. The traditions of the 
 Church were dear to the Saxon Reformer. 
 If he separated from them on many points, 
 it was not till after much conflict of mind, 
 and because, above all, he saw the necessity 
 of obeying the word of God. But wherever 
 the letter of God's word appeared to him in 
 accordance with the tradition and practice of 
 the Church, he adhered to it with unaltera- 
 ble resolution. Now this was the case in the 
 question concerning the Lord's Supper. He 
 did not deny that the word "is" might be 
 taken in the sense ascribed to it by Zwingle. 
 He admitted, for example, that it must be 
 so understood in the passage, " That rock 
 was Christ," (1 Cor. x. 4 ;) but what he did 
 deny was that the word should be taken in 
 this sense in the institution of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 In one of the later schoolmen Occam, 129 
 whom he preferred to all others, he found 
 an opinion which he embraced. With Oc- 
 cam, he gave up the continually repeated 
 miracle, in virtue whereof, according to the 
 Romish Church, the body and blood take the 
 place of the bread and wine after every act 
 of consecration by the priest, and with 
 Occam, substituted for it a universal miracle, 
 wrought once for all, that is, the ubiquity 
 or omnipresence of Christ's body. "Christ," 
 said he, "is present in the bread and wine, 
 because he is present every where, and in 
 an especial manner where he wills to be." 13 
 
 The inclination of Zwingle was the reverse 
 of Luther's. He attached less importance 
 to the preserving a union, in a certain sense, 
 with the universal church, and thus main- 
 taining our hold upon the tradition of past 
 ages. As a theologian, he looked to Scrip- 
 ture alone ; and thence only would he freely, 
 and without any intermediary channel, de- 
 rive his faith ; not stopping to trouble himself 
 with what others had in former times be- 
 lieved. As a republican, he looked to the 
 
 of it there is at once iron and fire ; so, d for- \ commune of Zurich. His mind was occu- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 363 
 
 pied with the idea of the church of his own 
 time, not with that of other days. He re- 
 lied especially on the words of St. Paul, 
 " Because there is but one bread, we being 
 many are One body;* and he saw in the 
 supper the sign of a spiritual communion 
 between Christ and all Christians. " Who- 
 ever," said he, " acts unworthily, is guilty 
 of sin against the body of Christ, of which he 
 is a member." Such a thought had a great 
 practical power over the minds of commu- 
 nicants; and the effects it wrought in the 
 lives of many, was to Zwingle the confirma- 
 tion of it. 
 
 Thus Luther and Zwingle had insensibly 
 separated from one another. Nevertheless 
 peace, perhaps, might have continued be- 
 tween them, if the turbulent Carlstadt, who 
 spent some time in passing to and fro be- 
 tween Germany and Switzerland, had not 
 inflamed their conflicting opinions. 
 
 A step, taken with a view to preserve 
 peace, led to the explosion. The Council 
 of Zurich, wishing to put a stop to contro- 
 versy, prohibited the sale of Carlstadt's wri- 
 tings. Zwingle, though he disapproved the 
 violence of Carlstadt, and blamed his mystic 
 and obscure expressions, 131 upon this, thought 
 it right to defend his doctrine, both from the 
 pulpit and before the Council; and soon af- 
 terwards he wrote a letter to the minister, 
 Albert of Reutlingen, in which he said: 
 " Whether or not Christ is speaking of the 
 sacrament in the sixth chapter of St. John's 
 gospel, it is, at least, evident, that he therein 
 teaches a mode of eating his flesh and drink- 
 ing his blood, in which there is nothing cor- 
 poreal." 132 He then endeavoured to prove 
 that the Supper of the Lord, by reminding 
 the faithful, according to Christ's design, of 
 his body which ' was broken' for them, is 
 the procuring cause of that spiritual-mandu- 
 cation, which is alone truly beneficial to 
 them. 
 
 Nevertheless, Zwingle still shrunk from a 
 rupture with Luther. He trembled at the 
 thought that distressing discussions would 
 rend asunder the little company of believers 
 forming in the midst of effete Christendom. 
 Not so with Luther. He did not hesitate to 
 include Zwingle in the ranks of those en- 
 thusiasts with whom he had already broken 
 so many lances. He did not reflect that if 
 images had been removed from the churches 
 of Zurich, it had been done legally, and by 
 public authority. Accustomed to the forms 
 of the German principalities, he knew but 
 little of the manner of proceeding in the 
 Swiss republics; and he declared against the 
 grave Swiss divines, just as he had done 
 against the Miintzers and the Carlstadts. 
 
 Luther having put forth his discourse 
 "against celestial prophets," Zwingle's re- 
 solution was taken ; and he published almost 
 
 * The passage referred to is 1 Cor. x. 17, and 
 the original stands thus : 'On e7j aprog, ?v troy 
 jroXXoi ia^v. (Tr.) 
 
 47 
 
 immediately after, his Letter to Albert, and 
 his Commentary on true and false Religion, 
 dedicated to Francis I. In it he said, "Since 
 Christ, in the sixth of John, attributes to 
 faith the power of communicating eternal 
 life, and uniting the believer to him in the 
 most intimate of all unions, what more can 
 we need ? Why should we think that he 
 would afterwards attribute that efficacy to 
 His flesh, when He himself declares that the 
 flesh profiteth nothing? So far as the suf- 
 fering death for us, the flesh of Christ is of 
 unspeakable benefit to us, for it saves us 
 from perdition ; but as being eaten by us, it 
 is altogether useless.' 7 
 
 The contest began. Pomeranus. Luther's 
 friend, took the field, and attacked the Evan- 
 gelist of Zurich somewhat too contemptu- 
 ously. Then it was that (Ecolampadius 
 began to blush that he had so long struggled 
 with his doubts, and preached doctrines 
 which were already giving way in his owa 
 mind. Taking courage, he wrote from 
 Basle to Zwingle. "The dogma of the 
 ' real presence' is the fortress and stronghold 
 of their impiety; so long as they cleave to 
 this idol, none can overcome them." After 
 this, he, too, entered the lists, by publishing 
 a tract on the import of the Lord's words, 
 " This is my body."* 
 
 The bare fact that (Ecolampadius had 
 joined the Reformer of Zurich, excited an 
 immense sensation, not only at Basle, but 
 throughout all Germany. Luther was deeply 
 affected by it. Brentz, Schnepff, and twelve 
 other ministers in Suabia, to whom (Eco- 
 lampadius had dedicated his tract, and who 
 had almost all been disciples under him, 
 testified the most lively sorrow. In taking 
 up the pen to answer him, Brentz said, 
 '< Even at this moment, when I am separa- 
 ting from him for just reasons, I honour and 
 admire him as much as it is possible to do. 
 The tie of love is not severed because we 
 differ in judgment." And he proceeded, in 
 concert with his friends, to publish the cele- 
 brated Suabian Syngramma, in which he 
 replied to the arguments of (Ecolampadius 
 with boldness, but with respect and affec- 
 tion. " If an emperor," say the authors of 
 the Syngramma, " were to give a baton or a 
 wand to a judge, saying, 'Take this is the 
 power of judging :' the wand, no doubt, is 
 a mere sign ; but, the words being added 
 thereto, the judge has not merely the sign of 
 the power, he has the power itself." 
 
 The true children of the Reformation 
 might admit this illustration. The Syn- 
 gramma was received with acclamations, 
 and its authors were looked upon as the de- 
 fenders of the truth. Several divines, and 
 even some laymen, in their desire to share in 
 their glory, undertook the defence of the doc- 
 trine that was assailed, and wrote against 
 (Ecolampadius. 
 
 * He retained the usual signification of the word 
 is, but he understood, by body, a sign of the body 
 
364 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Then it was Strasburg interposed, and 
 sought to mediate between Switzerland and 
 Germany. Capito and Bucer were disposed 
 for peace ; and, in their view, the question 
 under discussion was of secondary import- 
 ance. Accordingly stepping between the two 
 parties, they sent George Cassel, one of their 
 colleagues, to Luther, to conjure him not to 
 snap the link of brotherhood which united 
 him with the Swiss divines. 
 
 No where does Luther's character display 
 itself more strikingly than in this controversy 
 on the Lord's Supper. Never did it more 
 clearly appear with what firmness he main- 
 tained the convictions he believed to be those 
 of a Christian, with what faithfulness he 
 established them on the authority of Scrip- 
 ture alone, his sagacity in defending them, 
 and his animated, eloquent, and often over- 
 powering argumentation. But, on the other 
 hand, never was there a more abundant exhi- 
 bition of the obstinacy with which he brought 
 up every argument for his own opinion, the 
 little attention he gave to his opponents' rea- 
 soning, and the uncharitable haste with which 
 he attributed their errors to the wickedness of 
 their hearts, and the machinations of the 
 devil. To the mediator of Strasburg he 
 said, "Either the one party or the other, 
 either the Swiss or we, must be ministers of 
 Satan." 
 
 Such were what Capito termed "the furies 
 of the Saxon Orestes ;" and these furies were 
 succeeded by exhaustion. Luther's health 
 suffered. One day he fainted in the arms of 
 his wife and friends ; and, for a whole week, 
 he was as if "in death and hell." 133 He had 
 lost Jesus Christ, he said, and was driven 
 hither and thither by tempests of despair. 
 The world was about to pass away, and prodi- 
 gies announced that the last day was at hand. 
 
 But these divisions among the friends of 
 the Reformation were to have after conse- 
 quences yet more to be deplored. The Ro- 
 mish divines in Switzerland especially boasted 
 of being able to oppose Luther to Zwingle. 
 And yet, if, now that three centuries have 
 passed away, the recollection of these divi- 
 sions should teach Evangelical Christians the 
 precious lesson of Unity in diversity, and 
 Love in liberty, they will not have happened 
 in vain. Even at the time, the Reformers, 
 by thus opposing one another, proved that 
 they were not governed by blind hatred of 
 Rome, but that Truth was the great object of 
 their hearts. It must be admitted that there 
 is something generous in such conduct; and 
 its disinterestedness did not fail to produce 
 some fruit, and extort from enemies them- 
 selves a tribute of interest and esteem. 
 
 But we may go further, and here again we 
 discern the Sovereign hand which governs all 
 events, and allows nothing to happen but 
 what makes part of its own wise plan. Not- 
 withstanding his opposition to the Papacy, 
 Luther had a strong conservative instinct. 
 Zwingle, on the contrary, was predisposed to 
 radical reforms. Both these divergent tenden- 
 
 cies were needed. If Luther and his follow- 
 ers had been alone in the work, it would have 
 stopped short in its progress; and the princi- 
 ciple of Reformation would not have wrought 
 its destined effect. If, on the other hand, 
 Zwingle had been alone, the thread would 
 have been snapped too abruptly, and the Re- 
 formation would have found itself isolated 
 from the ages which had gone before. 
 
 These two tendencies, which, on a superfi- 
 cial view, might seem present only to conflict 
 together, were, on the contrary, ordained to 
 be the complement of each other, and now 
 that three centuries have passed away, we 
 can say that they have fulfilled their mission. 
 
 Thus, on all sides, the Reformation had to 
 encounter resistance; and, after combating 
 the rationalist philosophy of Erasmus, and 
 the fanatical enthusiasm of the Anabaptists, 
 it had, in addition, to settle matters at home. 
 But its great and lasting struggle was against 
 the Papacy ; and the assault, commenced in 
 the cities of the plain, was now carried to the 
 most distant mountains. 
 
 The summits of Tockenburg had heard the 
 sound of the Gospel, and three ecclesiastics 
 were prosecuted by order of the bishop, as 
 tainted with heresy. " Only convince us by 
 the word of God," said Militus, Doring, and 
 Farer, "and we will humble ourselves, not 
 only before the chapter, but before the very 
 least of the brethren of Jesus Christ. Other- 
 wise, we will obey no one ; not even the 
 greatest among men." 134 
 
 The genuine spirit of Zwingle and of the 
 Reformation speaks out in these words. It 
 was not long before a new incident occurred 
 to inflame the minds of the mountaineers. A 
 meeting of the people took place on St. Ca- 
 therine's day; the townsmen gathered in 
 groups, and two men of Schwitz, whose busi- 
 ness had called them to the Tockenburg, were 
 seated together at one of the tables. They 
 entered into conversation: "Ulric Zwin- 
 gle," exclaimed ore of them, " is a heretic 
 and a robber." The Secretary Steiger de- 
 fended the Reformation. Their loud voices 
 attracted the attention of the meeting. George 
 Bruggman, uncle to Zwingle, who was seated 
 at an adjoining table, angrily left his seat, 
 exclaiming, "Surely they are speaking of 
 Master Ulric;" on which the guests all rose 
 up and followed, apprehending a disturbance. 135 
 The tumult increased ; the bailiff hastily col- 
 ected the Town-council in the open street, 
 and Bruggman was requested, for the sake of 
 jeace, to content himself with saying, "If 
 pou do not retract your words, it is yourselves 
 who are liars and thieves." " Recollect what 
 you have just said," answered the men of 
 Schwitz, " we will not forget it." This said, 
 they mounted their horses, and set forward at 
 full speed for Schwitz.' 36 
 
 The government of Schwitz addressed to 
 the inhabitants of the Tockenburg, a letter, 
 which spread terror wherever it came. " Stand 
 firm and fear nothing," 137 wrote Zwingle to the 
 Council of his native place: "Let not the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 335 
 
 lies they circulate concerning me disturb you. ' 
 There is no brawler but has the power to call 
 me heretic ; but do you avoid all insulting 
 language, tumults, excesses, and mercenary 
 war. Relieve the poor; espouse the cause 
 of the oppressed ; and whatever insults may 
 be heaped upon you, hold fast your confidence 
 in Almighty God."* 
 
 Zwingle's exhortations had the desired 
 effect. The Council were still hesitating; 
 but the people gathering together in their 
 several parishes, unanimously resolved that 
 the Mass should be abolished and the word of 
 God adhered to. 138 
 
 The progress of the work was not less 
 marked in Rhetia, from whence Salandronius 
 had been compelled to take his departure, but 
 where Comander was preaching with much 
 boldness. It is true that the Anabaptists, by 
 their fanatical preachings in the country of 
 the Grisons, had at first been a great hind- 
 rance to the progress of the Reformation. 
 The people had split into three parties. Some 
 had embraced the doctrines of those pretended 
 prophets : others in silent astonishment me- 
 ditated with anxiety on the schism that had 
 declared itself. And, lastly, the partisans of 
 Rome were loud in their exultations. 139 
 
 A meeting was held at Ilantz, in the 
 Grison league, for the purpose of a discus- 
 sion. The supporters of the Papacy, on one 
 hand, the favourers of the Reformation on 
 the o! her, collected their forces. , The bishop's 
 vicar at first laboured to avoid the dispute. 
 " Such disputations are attended with consi- 
 derable expenses," said he; " I am ready to 
 put down ten thousand florins, in order to 
 defray them, but I expect the opposite party 
 to do as much." " If the bishop has ten 
 thousand florins at his disposal," exclaimed 
 the rough voice of a countryman in the crowd, 
 "it is from us he has extorted them; to give 
 such poor priests as much more would be a 
 little too bad." " We are a poor set of peo- 
 ple," said Comander, the pastor of Coira, 
 " we can scarcely pay for our soup, where 
 then can we raise ten thousand florins." 14 
 Every one laughed at this stratagem, and the 
 business proceeded. 
 
 Among those present were Sebastian Hof- 
 meister and James Amman of Zurich. They 
 held in their hands the Holy Scriptures, in 
 Hebrew and Greek. The bishop's vicar 
 moved that strangers be desired to withdraw. 
 Hofmeister understood this to be directed 
 against him. "We have come provided," 
 said he, "with a Hebrew and Greek Bible, 
 in order that none may in any way do violence 
 to the Scripture. However, sooner than stand 
 in the way of the conference we are willing 
 to retire." " Ah !" cried the curate of Dint- 
 
 * Verbis diris abstinete .... opem ferte egenis 
 .... spem certissimam in Deo reponatis omnipo- 
 tente. (Ibid.) Either the date of one of the let- 
 ters, 14th and 23d of 1524, must be a mistake, or 
 one letter from Zwingle to his fellow-countrymen 
 of the Tockenburg must be lost. 
 
 zen, as he glanced at the books the two Zu- 
 rich ers held in their hands, "if the Hebrew 
 and Greek languages had never obtained 
 entrance into our country, there would be 
 fewer heresies among us." 141 "St. Jerome," 
 observed another, " has translated the Bible 
 or us, and we don't want the Jewish books." 
 'If the Zurichers are excluded," said the 
 banneret of Ilantz, the commune will move in 
 the affair." "Well," replied the others, 
 let them listen, but let them be silent." The 
 Zurichers were accordingly allowed to remain, 
 and their Bible with them. 
 
 Comander, rising in his place, read from 
 he first of his published theses " The Chris- 
 tian Church is born of the word of God. Its 
 duty is to hold fast that W T ord, and not to 
 ive ear to any other voice." He proceeded 
 to establish what he advanced by numerous 
 jassages from the Scriptures. "He went 
 soldly forward," says an eye-witness, "plant- 
 no- his foot, at every step, with the firmness 
 ofan ox's tread." 142 '" This will last all day," 
 said the vicar. "When he is at table with 
 friends, listening to those who play the 
 flute, he does not grudge the time," remarked 
 Hofmeister. 143 
 
 Just then one of the spectators left his seat, 
 and elbowing his passage through the crowd, 
 forced his way up to Comander, waving his 
 arms, scowling on the Reformer, and knitting 
 bis brows. He seemed like one beside him- 
 self; and as he bustled up to Comander, 
 many thought he was going to strike him. 144 
 He was a schoolmaster of Coira. " I have 
 written down various questions for you to 
 answer," said he to Comander: "answer 
 them directly." "I stand here," said the 
 Reformer of the Grisons, " to defend my 
 teaching. Do you attack it, and I will answer 
 you ; or, if not, go back to your place. I 
 will reply to you when I have done." The 
 schoolmaster deliberated for an instant. 
 "Well," said he, at last, and returned to 
 his seat. 
 
 It was proposed to proceed to consider the 
 doctrine of the Sacrament. The abbot of St. 
 Luke's declared that it was not without awe 
 that he approached such a subject; and the 
 vicar devoutly crossed himself in fear. 
 
 The schoolmaster of Coira, who had before 
 showed his readiness to attack Comander, 
 with much volubility began to argue for the 
 received doctrine of the Sacrament, grounding 
 what he said on the words, " This is my 
 body." "My dear Berre," said Comander 
 to him, "how do you understand these 
 words, John is Elias V "I understand," 
 replied Berre, who saw Comander's object in 
 the question, " I understand that he was truly 
 and essentially Elias." " And why then," 
 continued Comandpr, "did John the Baptist 
 himself say to the Pharisees that he was not 
 Elias?" The schoolmaster was silent; and 
 at last ejaculated, " It is true." All laughed, 
 even the friends who had urged him to 
 speak. 
 
 The abbot of Saint Luke's spoke at much 
 
366 
 
 HISTOR-Y OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 length on the Supper ; and the conference was 
 finally closed. Seven priests embraced the 
 Gospel. The most perfect religious liberty 
 \vas proclaimed ; and in several of the churches 
 the Romish worship was abolished. "Christ," 
 to use the words of Salandronius, "grew up 
 eveiy where in the mountains, like the tender 
 grass of the spring, and his ministers were 
 like living fountains, watering those Alpine 
 pastures." 145 
 
 The Reformation was advancing, with yet 
 more rapid strides, in Zurich. Dominicans, 
 Augustines, Capucins, so long opposed to 
 each other, were reduced to the necessity of 
 living together; an anticipated purgatory 
 for these poor monks. In place of those de- 
 generated institutions were founded schools, 
 an hospital, a theological seminary. Learn- 
 ing and charity every where took the place 
 of sloth and selfishness. 
 
 These triumphs of the Reformation could 
 not escape notice. The monks, the priests, 
 and their prelates, not knowing how to move, 
 every where felt that the ground was passing 
 from under their feet; and that the Church 
 was on the point of sinking under its unpre- 
 cedented dangers. The oligarchs of the can- 
 tons, the hired supporters of foreign capitu- 
 lations, perceived there was no time to be 
 lost, if they wished to preserve their own 
 privileges; and at the moment when the 
 Church, in her terror, was sinking into the 
 earth, they again tendered her the support of 
 their arms bristling with steel. A John Faber 
 was reinforced by a Stein or John Hug of 
 Lucerne, and the civil authority came forward 
 to assist that power of the hierarchy which 
 opens his mouth to blaspheme and makes war 
 against the saints. Rev. xiii. 
 
 Public opinion had for a long while de- 
 manded a conference. No other way appeared 
 of quelling the people. 146 " Only convince us 
 from the Scriptures," said the Council of 
 Zurich to the Diet, "and we will fall in with 
 your desires." "The Zurichers," said the 
 people, "have given you their promise; if 
 you are able to refute them from the Scriptures, 
 why not do it? And if not able, why not 
 yourselves conform to the Bible?" 
 
 The conferences at Zurich had had a mighty 
 influence ; it seemed politic to oppose to them 
 a conference held in a city in the interest of 
 Rome; taking at the same time all necessary 
 precautions to secure the victory to the Pope's 
 party. 
 
 It is true that the same party had declared 
 such discussions unlawful, but a door of 
 evasion was found to escape that difficulty; 
 for, said they, all that it is proposed to do is 
 to declare and condemn the pestilent doctrine 
 of Zwingle.* This difficulty obviated, they 
 looked about them for a sturdy disputant and 
 Doctor Eck offered himself. He had no fear 
 of the issue. "Zwingle, no doubt, has more 
 knowledge of cows than of books," observed 
 he, as Hofmeister reports. 147 
 
 * Diet of Lucerne, 13th of March, 1526. 
 
 The Grand Council of Zurich despatched 
 a safe-conduct for Eck to repair direct to 
 Zurich ; but Eck answered that he would 
 await the answer of the Confederation. 
 Zwingle, on this, proposed to dispute at St. 
 Gall, or at Schaffhausen, but the Council, 
 grounding its decision on an article in the 
 federal compact, which provided that any 
 person accused of misdemeanor should be tried 
 in the place of his abode, enjoined Zwingle to 
 retract his offer. 
 
 The Diet at length came to the decision 
 that a conference should take place at Baden, 
 and appointed the 16th of May, 1526. This 
 meeting promised important consequences; 
 for it was the result and the seal of that alliance 
 that had just been concluded between the 
 power of the Church and the aristocrats of 
 the Confederation. "See," said Zwingle to 
 Vadian, " what these oligarchs and Faber are 
 daring enough to attempt." 148 
 
 Accordingly, the decision <to be expected 
 from the Diet was a question of deep interest 
 in Switzerland. None could doubt that a 
 conference held under such auspices would be 
 any thing but auspicious to the Reformation. 
 Were not the five cantons most devoted to 
 the Pope's views paramount in influence in 
 Baden? Had they not already condemned 
 Zwingle's doctrine, and pursued it with fire 
 and sword ? At Lucerne had he not been 
 burnt in effigy with every expression of con- 
 tempt ? At Friburg had not his writings been 
 consigned to the flames? Throughout the 
 five cantons was not his death demanded by 
 popular clamour ? The cantons that exercised 
 a sort of suzerainty in Baden, had they not 
 declared that Zwingle should be seized if he 
 set foot on any part of their territory ? 149 Had 
 not Uberlinger, one of their chiefs, declared 
 that he only wished he had him in his power 
 that he might hang him, though he should be 
 called an executioner as long as he lived? 150 
 And Doctor Eck himself, had he not for years 
 past called for fire and sword as the only 
 methods to be resorted to against heretics? 
 What then must be the end of this conference, 
 and what result can it have but the death of 
 the Reformer? 
 
 Such were the fears that agitated the com- 
 mission appointed at Zurich, to examine into 
 the matter. Zwingle, beholding their agita- 
 tion rose and said, "You know what happen- 
 ed at Baden to the valiant men of Stammheim, 
 and how the blood of the Wirths stained the 
 scaffold and yet we are summoned to -the 
 very place of their execution ! Let Zurich, 
 Berne, Saint Gall, or, if they will, Basle, 
 Constance, or Schaffhausen be chosen for 
 the conference; let it be agreed that none but 
 essential points shall be discussed, that the 
 word of God shall be the only standard of 
 authority which nothing shall be allowed to 
 supersede, and then I am ready to come for- 
 ward." 151 
 
 Meanwhile, fanaticism was already aroused 
 and was striking down her victims. On the 
 10th of May, 1526, that is, about a week be- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 367 
 
 fore the discussion at Baden, a consistory, 
 headed by the same Faber who challenged 
 Zwingle, condemned to the flames, as a here- 
 tic, an evangelical minister named John 
 Hiigle, pastor of Lindau, who sang the Te 
 JDeum while walking to the place of execu- 
 tion. 152 At the same time, another minister, 
 named Peter Spengler was drowned at Fri- 
 burg, by order of the bishop of Constance. 
 
 Gloomy tidings reached Zwingle from all 
 sides. His brother-in-law, Leonard Tremp, 
 wrote to him from Berne: " Iconjureyou as you 
 value your life, not to repair to Baden. I know 
 that they will not respect yoursafe conduct." 153 
 
 It was confidently asserted that a project 
 had been formed to seize, gag, and throw him 
 into a boat which should carry him off to 
 some secret place. 154 Taking into consideration 
 these threats of danger and death, the Council 
 of Zurich resolved that Zwingle should not go 
 to Baden. 155 
 
 The day for the discussion being fixed for 
 the 19th of May, the disputants and represen- 
 tatives of the cantons and bishops slowly col- 
 lected. First, on the side of the Roman Ca- 
 tholics, appeared the pompous and boastful 
 Eck ; on the Protestant side, the modest and 
 gentle CEcolampadius. The latter was fully 
 sensible of the perils attending this discus- 
 sion: "Long had he hesitated," says an 
 ancient historian, "like a timid stag, worried 
 by furious dogs;" at length he decided on 
 proceeding to Baden ; first making this solemn 
 protestation " I recognise no other rule of 
 judgment than the word of God." He had, 
 at first, much wished that Zwingle should 
 share his perils ; 15e but he soon saw reason to 
 believe that if the intrepid doctor had shown 
 himself in that fanatical city, the anger of the 
 Roman Catholics, kindling at the sight of 
 him, would have involved them both in de- 
 struction. 
 
 The first step was to determine the laws 
 which should regulate the controversy. Eck 
 proposed that the deputies of the Forest Can- 
 tons should be authorised to pronounce the 
 final judgment, a proposal which, if it had 
 been adopted, would have decided beforehand 
 the condemnation of the reformed doctrines. 
 Thomas Plater, who had come from Zurich 
 to attend the conference, was despatched by 
 OEcolampadius to ask Zwingle's advice. Ar- 
 riving at night, he was with difficulty ad- 
 mitted into the Reformer's house. Zwingle, 
 waking up and rubbing his eyes, exclaimed, 
 " You are an unseasonable visitant, what 
 news do you bring? For these six weeks 
 past I have had no rest ; thanks to this dis- 
 pute." 157 Plater stated what Eck required 
 "And how," replied Zwingle, "can those 
 peasants be made to understand such matters] 
 they would be much more at home in milking 
 their cows." 158 
 
 On the 2Tst of May the conference began. 
 Eck and Faber, accompanied by prelates, 
 magistrates, and doctors, robed in damask and 
 silk, and bedizened with rings, chains, and 
 crosses, repaired to thechurch. 159 Eck haughtily 
 
 ascended a pulpit superbly decorated, whilst 
 the humble CEcolampadius, meanly clad, sat 
 facing his adversary upon a rudely construct- 
 ed platform. "During the .whole time the 
 conference lasted," says the chronicler Bul- 
 inger, " Eck and his party were lodged in the 
 >arsonage house of Baden, faring sumptuous- 
 y, living gaily and disorderly, drinking freely 
 he wine with which they were supplied by 
 he abbot of Wettingen. 1GO Eck, it was said, 
 takes the baths of Baden, but it is in wine 
 hat he bathes. The Reformers, on the con- 
 rary, made but a sorry appearance, and were 
 scoffed at as a troop of mendicants. Their 
 manner of life afforded a striking contrast to 
 that of the Pope's champions. The landlord 
 of the Pike^ the inn at which CEcolampadius 
 odged, curious to see how the latter spent his 
 time in his room, reported that whenever he 
 ooked in on him, he found him either reading 
 or praying. It must be confessed, said he, 
 that he is a very pious heretic." 
 
 The discussion lasted eighteen days; and 
 every morning the clergy of Baden went in 
 olemn procession, chaunting litanies, in order 
 to ensure victory. Eck was the only one who 
 spoke in defence of the Romish doctrines. 
 He was at Baden exactly what he was at 
 Leipsic, with the same German twang, the 
 same broad shoulders and sonorous voice, re- 
 minding one of a town crier, and in appear- 
 ance more like a butcher than a divine. He 
 was vehement in disputing, according to his 
 usual custom; trying to wound his opponents 
 insulting language, and even now and then, 
 breaking out in an oath.' 61 The president nevei 
 called him to order 
 
 Eck stamps his feet, and claps his hands, 
 
 He raves, he swears, he scolds ; 
 " I do," cries he, " what Rome commands, 
 
 And teach what'er she holds." 162 
 
 CEcolampadius, on the contrary, with his 
 serene countenance, his noble and patriarchal 
 air, spoke with so much mildness, but at the 
 same time with so much ability and courage, 
 that even his antagonists, affected and im- 
 pressed, whispered to one another, " Oh that 
 the tall sallow man were on our side.'" 163 
 Sometimes, indeed, he was moved at behold- 
 ing the hatred and violence of his auditors : 
 "Oh," said he, "with what impatience do 
 they listen to me ; but God will not forego His 
 glory, and it is that only that we seek." 164 
 
 CEcolampadius having combated Eck's first 
 thesis, which turned on the real presence, 
 Haller, who had reached Baden, after the 
 commencement of the discussion, entered the 
 lists against the second. Little used to such 
 discussions constitutionally timid, fettered 
 by the instructions of his government, and 
 embarrassed by the presence of its chief ma 
 gistrate, Gaspard Mullinen, a bitter enemy of 
 the Reformation, Haller had none of the con- 
 fident bearing of his antagonist ; but he had 
 more real strength. When Haller had con- 
 cluded, CEcolampadius again entered the lists, 
 and pressed Eck so closely, that the lattet 
 2 1 
 
3G8 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was compelled to fall back upon the custom 
 of the church. " In our Switzerland," an- 
 swered (Ecolampadius, "custom is of no 
 force unless it be according to the constitu- 
 tion; now, in all matters of faith, the Bible 
 is our constitution." 
 
 The third thesis, regarding invocation of 
 saints; the fourth, on images; the fifth, on 
 purgatory, were successively discussed. No 
 one came forward to dispute the two last 
 theses, which bore reference to original sin 
 and baptism. 
 
 Zwingle took an important part in the 
 whole of the discussion. The Catholic party 
 had appointed four secretaries, and prohi- 
 bited all other persons from taking notes on 
 pain of death. 165 Nevertheless, a student from 
 the Valais, named Jerome Walsch. gifted 
 with a retentive memory, carefully impressed 
 upon his mind all that he heard, and upon 
 leaving the assembly privately committed his 
 recollections lo writing. Thomas Plater, and 
 Zimmermann of Winterthur, carried these 
 notes to Zwingle every day, as also letters 
 from (Ecolampadius, and brought back the 
 Reformer's answers. The gates of Baden 
 were guarded by halberdiers, and it was 
 only by inventing different excuses that the 
 two messengers could evade the questions 
 of the soldiers, who were at a loss to com- 
 prehend why these youths so frequently en- 
 tered and quitted the city.* Thus Zwingle, 
 though absent from Baden in bodily pre- 
 sence, was with them in spirit. 
 
 He advised and strengthened his friends, 
 and refuted his adversaries. "Zwingle," 
 says Oswald Myconius, " has laboured more 
 in meditating upon and watching the con- 
 test, and transmitting his advice to Baden, 
 than he could have done by disputing in 
 person in the midst of his enemies." 166 
 
 During the whole time of the conference 
 the Roman Catholics were in a ferment, 
 publishing abroad the report of advantages 
 gained by them. "(Ecolampadius," cried 
 they, " vanquished by Eck, lies prostrate on 
 the field, and sues for quarter ; 167 the Pope's 
 authority will be every where restored." 168 
 These statements were industriously circu- 
 lated throughout the cantons, and the many, 
 prompt to believe every rumour, gave credit 
 to these vauntings of the partisans of Rome. 
 
 The discussion being concluded, the monk 
 Murner of Lucerne, nicknamed the " tom- 
 cat," came forward and read forty articles 
 of accusation against Zwingle. " I thought," 
 said he, " that the dastard would appear and 
 answer for himself, but he has not done so : 
 I am therefore justified by every law, both 
 human and divine, in declaring forty times 
 over, that the tyrant of Zurich and all his 
 
 * When I was asked, " What are you going to 
 do?" I replied, "I am carrying chickens to sell 
 to the gentlemen who are come to the baths :" 
 the chickens were given me at Zurich, and the 
 guards could not understand how it was that I 
 always got them so fresh, and in so short -a time. 
 ^Plater's Autobiography.) 
 
 partisans are rebels, liars, perjured persons, 
 adulterers, infidels, thieves, robbers of tem- 
 ples, fit only for the gallows; and that any 
 honest man must disgrace himself if he hold 
 any intercourse with them, of what kind so- 
 ever." Such was the opprobrious language 
 which, at that time, was honoured with the 
 name of "Christian controversy," by divines 
 whom the Church of Rome herself might 
 well blush to acknowledge. 
 
 Great agitation prevailed at Baden ; the 
 general feeling was that the Reformers were 
 overcome not by force of arguments, but by 
 power of lungs. 169 Only (Ecolampadius and 
 ten of his friends signed a protest against the 
 theses of Eck, whilst they were adopted by 
 no less than eighty persons, including those 
 who had presided at the discussion, and all 
 the monks of Wittengen. Haller had left 
 Baden before the termination of the con- 
 ference. 
 
 The majority of the Diet then decreed, 
 that as Zwingle, the leader in these perni- 
 cious doctrines, refused to appear, and as 
 the ministers who had come to Baden har- 
 dened themselves against conviction, both 
 the one and the others were in consequence 
 cast out from the bosom of the church. 170 
 
 But this celebrated contest, which had ori- 
 ginated in the zeal of the oligarchs and the 
 clergy, was yet in its effects to be fatal to 
 both. Those who had contended for the 
 Gospel, returning to their homes, infused 
 into their fellow-citizens an enthusiasm for 
 the cause they had defended ; and Berne and 
 Basle, two of the most influential cantons of 
 the Helvetic confederation, began thence- 
 forth to fall away from the ranks of the 
 Papacy. 
 
 It was to be expected that (Ecolampadius 
 would be the first to suffer, the rather as he 
 was not a native of Switzerland; and it was 
 not without some fear that he returned to 
 Basle. But his alarm was quickly dissipated. 
 His gentle words had sunk deeply into those 
 unprejudiced minds which had been closed 
 against the vociferations of Eck; and he was 
 received with acclamations by all men of 
 piety. His adversaries, it is true, used all 
 their efforts to exclude him from the pulpit, 
 but in vain: he taught and preached with 
 greater energy than before, and never had 
 the people manifested a more ardent thirst 
 for the word of the Lord. 171 
 
 The course of events at Berne was of a 
 similar character. The conference at Baden, 
 which it had been hoped would stifle the 
 Reformation, gave to it a new impulse in 
 this the most powerful of the Swiss cantons. 
 No sooner had Haller arrived in the capital, 
 than the inferior council summoned him be- 
 fore them, and commanded him to celebrate 
 mass. Haller asked leave to answer before 
 the Grand Council; and the people came 
 together, thinking it behoved them to defend 
 their pastor. Haller, in alarm, declared that 
 he would rather quit the city than be the 
 innocent occasion of disorders. Upon this, 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 369 
 
 tranquillity being restored, "If," said the [dove so long 1 denied entrance, but which has 
 Reformer, "I am required to perform mass never ceased to watch for the hour when she 
 
 I must resign my office : the honour of Go( 
 and the truth of His holy Word lie nearer to 
 my heart than any care what ' I shall eat, o 
 wherewithal I shall be clothed.' " Haller 
 uttered these words with much emotion; the 
 members of the Council were affected; even 
 some of his opponents were moved to tears. 172 
 Once more was moderation found to be 
 strength. To meet in some measure the re- 
 quirements of Rome, Haller was removed 
 from his office of canon, but appointed 
 preacher. His most violent enemies, Lewis 
 and Anthony von Diesbach and Anthony 
 von Erlach, indignant at this decision, imme- 
 diately withdrew from the Council and the 
 city, and threw up their rank as citizens. 
 "Berne stumbled," said Haller, "but she 
 has risen up in greater strength than ever. 
 This firmness of the Bernese made a power- 
 ful impression in Switzerland. 173 
 
 But the effects of the conference of Baden 
 were not confined to Berne and Basle. 
 While these events were occurring in those 
 powerful cities, a movement more or less of 
 the same character was in progress in seve- 
 ral other states of the Confederation. The 
 preachers of St. Gall, on their return from 
 Baden, proclaimed the Gospel. 174 At the con- 
 clusion of a public meeting, the images were 
 removed from the parish church of St. Law- 
 rence, and the inhabitants parted with their 
 costly dresses, jewels, rings, and gold chains, 
 that they might employ the money in works 
 of charity. The Reformation did, it is true, 
 strip men of their possessions, but it was in 
 order that the poor might be clothed ; and 
 the only wordly goods it claimed the sur- 
 render of were those of the Reformed them- 
 selves. 175 
 
 At Mulhausen the preaching was continued 
 with unwearied boldness. Thurgovia and the 
 Rhenish provinces daily drew nearer to the 
 doctrine held in Zurich. Immediately after 
 the conference, Zurzach abolished the use of 
 images in its churches, and almost the whole 
 district of Baden received the Gospel. 
 
 Nothing can show more clearly than such 
 facts as these which party had really triumph- 
 ed. Hence we find Zwingle, contemplating 
 what was passing around him, giving thanks 
 to God : " Manifold are their attacks," said 
 
 he, 
 ings 
 
 but the Lord is above all their threaten- 
 and all their violence; a wonderful 
 
 unanimity in behalf of the Gospel prevails in 
 the city and canton of Zurich we shall over- 
 come all things by the prayer of faith." 176 
 Shortly afterwards, writing to Haller, he ex- 
 pressed himself thus: "Every thing here 
 below follows its appointed course : after the 
 rude northern blast comes the gentle breeze. 
 The scorching heat of summer is succeeded by 
 the treasures of autumn. And now after stern 
 contests, the Creator of all things, whom we 
 serve, has opened for us a passage into the 
 enemy's camp. We are at last permitted to 
 receive among us the Christian doctrine, that 
 
 might return. Be thou the Noah to receive 
 and shelter her." 
 
 This same year Zurich made an important 
 acquisition. Conrad Pellican, superior of the 
 Franciscan convent at Basle, professor of the- 
 ology when only twenty-four years of age, 
 had, through the interest of Zwingle, been 
 chosen to fill the office of Hebrew professor 
 at Zurich. On his arrival he said, "I have 
 long since renounced the Pope, and desired to 
 live to Christ." 177 Pellican's critical talents 
 rendered him one of the most useful labourers 
 in the great work of the Reformation. 
 
 Early in 1527, Zurich, still excluded from 
 the Diet by the Romish cantons, and wishing 
 to take advantage of the more favourable dis- 
 position manifested by some of the confede- 
 rates, convened an assembly within her own 
 walls. It was attended by deputies from 
 Berne, Basle, Schaffhausen, Appenzell and 
 Saint Gall. " We require," said the deputies 
 of Zurich, "that God's word, which alone 
 leads us to Christ crucified, be the one thing 
 preached, taught and exalted. We renounce 
 all doctrines of men, whatever may have been 
 the custom of our forefathers; being well 
 assured that if they had been visited by this 
 divine light of the World, which we enjoy, 
 they would have embraced it with more re- 
 verence than we, their unworthy descendants." 178 
 The deputies present promised to take into 
 consideration the representations made by 
 their brethren of Zurich. 
 
 Thus the breach in the walls of Rome was 
 svery day widened. The Baden conference 
 t was hoped would have repaired it ; but, on 
 the contrary, from that time forward the can- 
 tons that had hitherto been only doubtful ap- 
 peared willing to make common cause with 
 Zurich. The Reformation was already spread- 
 ng among the inhabitants of the plain, and 
 Beginning to ascend the sides of the moun- 
 tains; and the more ancient cantons, which 
 had been as the cradle and are still the citadel 
 f Switzerland seemed in their alpine inclo- 
 sures alone to adhere faithfully to the religion 
 f their fathers. These mountaineers, con- 
 tantly exposed to violent storms, avalanches, 
 nd overflowing torrents, are all their lives 
 obliged to struggle againstthese formidable ene- 
 mies, and to sacrifice every thing for the preser- 
 ation of the pastures where their flocks graze, 
 nd' the roofs which shelter them from the 
 tempest, and which at any moment may be 
 swept away by an inundation. Hence a con- 
 servative principle is strikingly developed 
 among them, and has been transmitted from 
 generation to generation. With these children 
 of the mountains, wisdom consists in preserv- 
 ing what they have inherited from their 
 fathers. 
 
 At the period we are recording these rude 
 Helvetians struggled against the Reformation 
 that came to change their faith and worship, 
 as at this very hour they contend against the . 
 roaring waters which tumble from their snow- 
 
370 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 clad hills, or against those modern notions and 
 politics which have established themselves 
 in the adjoining cantons. They will probably 
 be the very last to lay down their arms before 
 that twofold power which has already planted 
 its standard on the adjacent hills, and is 
 steadily gaining ground upon these conserva- 
 tive communities. 
 
 Accordingly, these cantons, yet more irri- 
 tated against Berne than against Zurich, and 
 trembling lest that powerful state should de- 
 sert their interests, assembled their deputies 
 in Rerne itself, eight days after the conference 
 at Zurich. They called on the Council to de- 
 prive the innovating teachers of their office, to 
 proscribe their doctrines, and to maintain the 
 ancient and true Christian faith, as confirmed 
 by past ages and sealed by the blood of mar- 
 tyrs. " Convene all the bailiwicks of the 
 canton," added they, " if you refuse to do this, 
 we will take it upon ourselves." The Ber- 
 nese were irritated, and replied, " We require 
 no assistance in the directing of those who hold 
 authority under us." 
 
 This answer only inflamed the anger of the 
 Forest Cantons ; and those very cantons, 
 which had been the cradle of the political 
 liberty of Switzerland, affrighted at the pro- 
 gress of religious liberty, began to seek even 
 foreign alliances in order to destroy it. In 
 opposing the enemies of the capitulations it 
 seemed to them reasonable to seek the aid of 
 capitulations ; and if the oligarchs of Switzer- 
 land were not sufficiently powerful, it was 
 natural to have recourse to the princes their 
 allies. Austria, who had found it impossible 
 to maintain her own authority in the Con- 
 federation, was ready to interfere to strengthen 
 the power of Rome. Berne learnt with terror 
 that Ferdinand, brother of Charles V., was 
 preparing to march against Zurich, and all 
 those who took part with the Reformation. 179 
 
 Circumstances were becoming more trying. 
 A succession of events, more or less adverse, 
 
 such as the excesses of the Anabaptists, the 
 disputes with Luther concerning the Lord's 
 Supper, and other causes, seemed to have 
 compromised the prospects of the Reformation 
 in Switzerland. The conference at Baden 
 had disappointed the hopes of the Papists, and 
 the sword which they had brandished against 
 their opponents had been shivered in their 
 hands; but their animosity and rage did but 
 increase, and they began to prepare for a fresh 
 effort. The Imperial power was in motion ; 
 and the Austrian bands, which had been com- 
 pelled to shameful flight from the defiles of 
 Morgarten and the heights of Sempach, stood 
 ready to enter Switzerland with flying ban- 
 ners, to confirm the tottering authority of 
 Rome. The moment was critical : it was no 
 longer possible to halt between two opinions ; 
 to be "neither clear nor muddy." Berne 
 and other cantons which had so long hesitated 
 were reduced to the necessity of decision, 
 either to return without loss of time to the 
 Papal ranks, or to take their stand with bold- 
 ness on the side of Christ. 
 
 Just then William Farel, a Frenchman 
 from the mountains of Dauphiny, communi- 
 cated a powerful impulse to Switzerland, 
 decided the reformation of the western cantons, 
 hitherto sunk in a profound slumber, and so 
 caused the balance to incline in favour of the 
 new doctrines throughout the Confederation. 
 Farel's coming resembled the arrival of those 
 fresh troops, who just when the battle hangs 
 doubtfully, appear upon the field, throw them- 
 selves into the thick of the fight and decide 
 the victory. He led the way in Switzerland 
 for another Frenchman, whose austere faith 
 and commanding genius were ordained to 
 terminate the Reformation, atid render the 
 work complete. In the persons of these dis- 
 tinguished men France took her part in that 
 vast commotion which agitated Christendom. 
 It is therefore time that we should turn our 
 attention to France. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 371 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AT a period when increased attention is everywhere drawn to those original documents 
 which form the basis of Modern History, I gladly add my mite to the general stock. 
 
 In the former portion of this work, my attention was not confined to the historians of the 
 time, but I judged it right to compare the testimony of the witnesses, letters, and earliest 
 accounts; and had recourse to the authority of manuscripts, particularly one by Bullinger, 
 which has since been printed. 
 
 But the necessity for recourse to unpublished documents became more urgent when I 
 approached the Reformation in France. The printed materials for a history of the Reformed 
 opinions in that country are few and scanty, owing to the state of continued trial in which 
 the Reformed congregations have existed. 
 
 In the spring of 1838, 1 examined the various public libraries of Paris, and it will be seen 
 that a manuscript preserved in the Royal Library, and never (as I believe,) before consulted, 
 throws much light on the commencement of the Reformation. 
 
 In the autumn of 1839, 1 consulted the manuscripts in the library of the conclave of 
 pastors of Neufchatel, a collection exceedingly rich in materials for the history of that age, 
 since it includes the manuscripts of Farel's library. I am indebted to the kindness of the 
 lord of the manor of Meuron, for the use of a manuscript life of Farel, written by Choupard, 
 in which most of these documents are introduced. These materials have enabled me to 
 reconstruct an entire phase of the Reformation in France. In addition to the above helps, 
 and those supplied by the Library of Geneva, an appeal inserted by me in the columns of 
 the Archives du Christianisme, led to other communications from private individuals, to 
 whom I here return my grateful acknowledgments, and especially to M. Ladevese, pastor 
 at Meaux. 
 
 It may be thought that I have treated at too much detail the early progress of the Reformed 
 opinions in France : but those particulars are in truth very little known. The entire period 
 occupying my Twelfth Book has but four pages allotted to it by Beza ; and other historians 
 have done little more than record the political progress of the nation. 
 
 Many causes have combined to postpone the appearance of the present volume. Twice 
 has heavy affliction interrupted the labour of its composition, and gathered my affections 
 and my thoughts at the graves of beloved children. The reflection that it was my duty to 
 glorify that adorable Master, who was dealing with me by such moving appeals, and at the 
 same time ministering to me of His heavenly consolations, could alone inspire me with the 
 courage required for its completion. 
 
 JLux Eaux Vives 
 pres Geneve. 
 
 48 2 i 2 
 
372 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 THE FRENCH. 
 
 15001526. 
 
 The Reformation in France Persecution of the Vaudois Birthplace of Farel La Saint Croix- - 
 The Priest's Wizard Farel's Superstitious Faith The Chevalier Bayard Louis XII The 
 Two Valois Lefevre His Devotion Farel's Reverence for the Pope Farel and the Bible 
 Gleams of Light Lefevre Turns to St. Paul Lefevre on Works University Amusements 
 Faith and Works Paradoxical Truth Farel and the Saints Allman Refutes De Vio Pierre 
 Olivetan Hap_py Change in Farel Independence and Priority Of the Reformation in France 
 Francis of Angoul&me Two Classes of Combatants Margaret of yalois Talents of the Queen 
 of Navarre The Bishop and the Bible Francis Encourages Learning Margaret Embraces the 
 Gospel Poetical Effusions Of the Duchess of Alencon Margaret's Danger Violence of Beda 
 Louis Berquin Opposition to the Gospel The Concordat The Concordat Resisted Fanati- 
 cism and Timidity The Three Maries Beda and the University The King and the Sorbonne 
 Briconnet in His Diocese The Bishop and the Curates Martial Mazurier Margaret's Sorrows 
 Strength Under Trial Death of Philibert of Nemours Alone, Not Lonely The Wandering 
 Sheep Briconnet's Hope and Prayer Sufficiency of the Scriptures Lefevre's French Bible 
 The People "Turned Aside" Church of Landouzy The Gospel and the French Court 
 Margaret's Lamentations Briconnet Preaches Against the Monks Two Despotisms Briconnet 
 Draws Back Leclerc the Wool-Comber Leclerc's Zeal and Sufferings A Mother's Faith and 
 Love Secret Meetings for Worship Berquin Imprisoned by the Parliament Charges Against 
 Berquin Liberated by the King Pavanne's Recantation and Remorse Zeal of Leclerc and 
 Chatelain Peter Toussaint Leclerc Breaks the Images Uproar among the People Martyrdom 
 of Leclerc and Chatelain The Gospel Expelled from Gap Anemond's Zeal Farel Preaches to 
 His Countrymen Pierre De Sebville Anemond Visits Luther Luther's Letter to the Duke of 
 Savoy Farel's Arrival in Switzerland QEcolampadius and Farel Cowardice of Erasmus- 
 French Frankness "Balaam" Farel's Propositions Faith and Scripture The Reformation 
 Defended Visits Strasburg Ordination of Farel Apostolical Succession Farel at Montbeli- 
 ard The Gospel at Lyons Anthony Papillon Sebville Persecuted Secret Meetings at Greno- 
 ble Effects of the Battle of Pavia Trial and Arrest of Maigret Evangelical Association Need 
 of Unity Christian Patriotism Influence of Tracts The New Testament in French Bible 
 and Tract Societies Farel at Montbeliard Oil and Wine Toussaint's Trials Farel and Ane- 
 mond The Image of Saint Anthony Death of Anemond Defeat and Captivity of Francis I 
 Consternation of the French Opposers of the Faith The Queen-Mother and the Sorbonne 
 Cry for " Heretical" Blood Parliament Establishes the Inquisition Charges Against Briconnet 
 1 Cited Before the Inquisition Dismay of the Bishop Refused a Trial by His Peers Bricon- 
 net's Temptation and Fall Retractation of Briconnet Compared with Lefevre Beda Attacks 
 Lefevre Lefevre at Strasburg Meets Farel Berquin Imprisoned Erasmus Attacked by the 
 Monks and the Sorbonne Appeals to the Parliament and the King More Victims in Lorraine 
 Bonaventure Rennel Courage of Pastor Schuch Martyrdom of Schuch Peter Caroli and 
 Beda The Martyrdom of James Pavanne The Hermit of Livry Seized and Condemned 
 Resources of Providence John Calvin The Family of Mommor Calvin's Parentage Calvin's 
 Childhood His Devotion to Study Infant Ecclesiastics Calvin Proceeds to Paris Reforma- 
 tion of Language Protestant France System of Terror The "Babylonish Captivity" Tous- 
 saint Goes to Paris Toussaint in Prison " Not Accepting Deliverance" Spread of Persecution 
 Project of Margaret For the Deliverance of Francis Margaret's Resolution She Sails for Spain. 
 
 ONE essential character of Christianity, is 
 ivs Universality. Very different in this re- 
 spect are the religions of particular countries 
 that men have invented. Adapting them- 
 selves to this or that nation, and the point of 
 progress which it has reached, they hold it 
 fixed and motionless at that point or if from 
 any extraordinary cause the people are carried 
 forward, their religion is left behind, and so 
 becomes useless to them. 
 
 There has been a religion of Egypt of 
 Greece of Rome, and even of Judea. Chris- 
 tianity is the only religion of Mankind. 
 
 It has for its origin in man Sin; and this 
 is a character that appertains not merely to 
 one race, but which is the inheritance of all 
 mankind. Hence, as meeting the highest 
 necessities of our common nature, the Gospel 
 is received as from God, at once by the most 
 barbarous nations, and the most civilized com- 
 
 munities. Without deifying national pecu- 
 liarities, like the religions of antiquity, it 
 nevertheless does not destroy them, as modern 
 cosmopolism aims to do. It does better, for 
 it sanctifies, ennobles, and raises them to a 
 holy oneness, by the new and living principle 
 it communicates to them. 
 
 The introduction of the Christian religion 
 into the world has produced an incalculable 
 change in history. There had previously 
 been only a history of nations, there is now 
 a history of mankind ; and the idea of an 
 education of human nature as a whole, an 
 education, the work of Jesus Christ himself, 
 is become like a compass for the historian, 
 the key of history, and the hope of nations. 
 
 But the effects of the Christian religion are 
 seen not merely among all nations, but in all 
 the successive periods of tbeir progress. 
 
 When it first appeared, the world resem- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 373 
 
 bled a torch about to expire in darkness, and 
 Christianity called forth anew a heavenly 
 flame. 
 
 In a later age, the barbarian nations had 
 rushed upon the Roman territories, carrying 
 havoc and confusion wherever they came ; 
 and Christianity, holding up the cross against 
 the desolating torrent, had subdued, by its in- 
 fluence, the half-savage children of the north, 
 and moulded society anew. 
 
 Yet an element of corruption lay hidden in 
 the religion carried by devoted missionaries 
 among these rude populations. Their faith 
 had come to them almost as much from Rome 
 as from the Bible. Ere long that element ex- 
 panded ; man every where usurped the place 
 of God, the distinguishing character of the 
 church of Rome; and a revival of religion be- 
 came necessary. This Christianity gave to 
 man in the age of which we are treating. 
 
 The progress of the Reformation in the 
 countries we have hitherto surveyed has 
 shown us the new teaching rejecting the 
 excesses of the Anabaptists, and the newly 
 arisen prophets : but it is the shallows of 
 Incredulity which it especially encountered 
 in the country to which we are now to turn 
 our attention. Nowhere had bolder protests 
 been heard against the superstitions and 
 abuses of the Church. Nowhere had there 
 been a more striking exhibition of that love 
 of learning, apart from, or independent of, 
 Christianity, which often leads to irreliirion. 
 France bore within it at once two reforma- 
 tions, the one of man, the other of God. 
 "Two nations were in her womb, and two 
 manner of people were to be separated from 
 her bowels." Gen. xxv. 23. 
 
 In France not only had the Reformation to 
 combat incredulity as well as superstition, it 
 found a third antagonist which it had not en- 
 countered, at least in so much strength, among 
 the Germanic population, and this was immo- 
 rality. Profligacy in the church was great. 
 Debauchery sat upon the throne of Francis 
 the First and Catharine de Medicis ; and the 
 rigid virtues of the Reformers provoked the 
 anger of the Sardanapaluses. 1 Wherever it 
 came, doubtless, but especially in France 
 the Reformation was necessarily not only 
 dogmatic and ecclesiastical, but, moreover, 
 moral. 
 
 These violent opposing influences, which 
 the Reformation encountered at one and the 
 Same moment among the French people, 
 gave to it a character altogether peculiar. 
 Nowhere did it so often have its dwelling in 
 dungeons, or bear so marked a resemblance 
 to the Christianity of the first ages in faith 
 and love, and in the number of its martyrs. 
 If in those countries of which we have here- 
 tofore spoken the Reformation was more illus- 
 trated by its triumphs, in those we are about 
 to speak of it was more glorious in its re- 
 verses ! If elsewhere it might point to more 
 thrones and council chambers, here it could 
 appeal to more scaffolds and hill-side meet- 
 ings. Whoever knows in what consists the 
 real glory of Christianity upon earth, and the | 
 
 features that assimilate it to its Author, will 
 study with a deep feeling of veneration and 
 affection the history, often marked with blood, 
 which we are now to recount. 
 
 Of those who have afterwards shone on the 
 stage of life, the greater number have been 
 born and have grown up in the provinces. 
 Paris is like a tree which spreads out to view 
 its flowers and its fruit, but of which the roots 
 draw from a distance and from hidden depths 
 of the soil the nutritive juices which they trans- 
 form. The Reformation followed this law. 
 
 The Alps, which had witnessed the rise of 
 fearless Christian men in every canton, and 
 almost in every valley of Switzerland, were 
 destined in France also to shelter, with their 
 lengthened shadows, the infancy of some of 
 the earliest Reformers. For ages they had 
 preserved their treasure more or less pure in 
 their lofty valleys, among the inhabitants of 
 the Piedmontese districts of Luzerne, An- 
 grogne, and Peyrouse. The truth, which 
 Rome had not been able to wrest from them, 
 had spread from the heights to the hollows 
 and base of the mountains in Provence and in 
 Dauphiny. 
 
 The year after the accession of Charles 
 VIII., the son of Louis XI. and a youth of 
 feeble health and timid character, Innocent 
 VIII. had been invested with the Pontiff's 
 tiara. (1484.) He had seven or eight sons 
 by different women : hence, according to an 
 epigram of that age, the Romans unanimously 
 gave him the name of Father? 
 
 There was, at this time, on the southern 
 declivities of the Alps of Dauphiny and along 
 the banks of the Durance, an after-growth of 
 the ancient Vaudois opinions. "The roots," 
 says an old chronicler, " were continually 
 putting forth fresh shoots in all directions." 3 
 Bold men were heard to designate the Church 
 of Rome the 'church of evil spirits/ and to 
 maintain that it was quite as profitable to 
 pray in a stable as in a church. 
 
 The clergy, the bishops, and the Roman 
 legates were loud in their outcries, and on the 
 5th of May, 1487, Innocent VIII. the 'Father' 
 of the Romans, issued a bull against these 
 humble Christians. "To arms," said the 
 Pontiff, "to arms! and trample those here- 
 tics under your feet as you would crush the 
 venomous serpent." 4 
 
 At the approach of the Legate, at the head 
 of an army of eighteen thousand men, and a 
 host of voluntaries, drawn together by the 
 hope of sharing in the plunder of the Vaudois, 
 the latter abandoned their dwellings and re- 
 tired to the mountains, caverns, and clefts of 
 the rocks, as the birds flee for shelter when 
 a storm is rising. Not a valley, a thicket, 
 or a rock escaped their persecutors' search. 
 Throughout the adjacent Alps, and especially 
 on the side of Italy, these defenceless disci- 
 ples of Christ were tracked like hunted deer. 
 At last the Pope's satellites were worn out 
 with the pursuit; their strength was exhaust- 
 ed, their feet could no longer scale the inac- 
 cessible retreats of the "heretics," and their 
 arms refused their office. 
 21 
 
374 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 In these Alpine solitudes, then disturbed 
 by Roman fanaticism, three leagues from the 
 ancient town of Gap,* in the direction of 
 Grenoble, not far from the flowery turf that 
 clothes the table land of Bayard's mountain, 
 at the foot of the Mont de 1'Aiguille, and near 
 to the Col de Glaize, toward the source of the 
 Buzon, stood, and still stands, a group of 
 houses, half hidden by surrounding trees, and 
 known by the name of Farel, or, in patois, 
 Fareau. 5 On an extended plain above the 
 neighbouring cottages, stood a house of the 
 class to which, in France, the appellation 
 of " gentilhommiere" is attached, a country 
 gentleman's habitation.f It was surrounded 
 by an orchard, which formed an avenue to 
 the village. Here, in those troublous times, 
 lived a family bearing the name of Farel, of 
 long-established reputation for piety, and, as 
 it would seem, of noble descent.^ In the 
 year 1489, at a time when Dauphiny was 
 groaning under a weight of papal oppression, 
 exceeding what it had ever before endured, 
 a son was born in this modest mansion, 
 who received the name of William. Three 
 brothers, Daniel, Walter, and Claude, and a 
 sister, grew up with William, and shared his 
 sports on the banks of the Buzon, and at the 
 foot of Mount Bayard. 
 
 His infancy and boyhood were passed on 
 the same spot. His parents were among the 
 most submissive thralls of Popery. "My 
 father and mother believed every thing," he 
 tells us himself; and accordingly they brought 
 up their children in the strictest observances 
 of Romish devotion. 6 
 
 God had endowed William Farel with ma- 
 ny exalted qualities, fitted to give him an 
 ascendancy over his fellow-men. Gifted at 
 once with a penetrating judgment, and a 
 lively imagination, sincere and upright in 
 his deportment, characterised by a loftiness 
 of soul which never, under any temptation, 
 allowed him to dissemble the convictions of 
 his heart; he was still more remarkable for 
 the earnestness, the ardour, the unflinching 
 courage which bore him up and carried him 
 forward in spite of every hindrance. But, 
 at the same time, he had the faults allied to 
 these noble qualities, and his parents found 
 frequent occasion to repress the violence of 
 his disposition. 
 
 William threw himself with his whole soul 
 
 *Principal town of the High Alps. 
 
 tGrenoble to Gap, distant a quarter of an hour's 
 journey from the last posthouse, and a stone's 
 throw to the right from the hi^h road is the vil- 
 lage of the Farels. The site of the house which 
 belonged to the father of the Farels is still pointed 
 out. Though it is now occupied by a cottage 
 only, its dimensions are sufficient to prove that 
 the original structure must have been a dwelling 
 of a superior order. The present inhabitant of 
 the cottage bears the name of Farel. For these 
 particulars I am indebted to M. Blanc, the pastor 
 of Mens. 
 
 tGulielmum Farellum Delphinatum, nobili fa- 
 milie ortum. (Bezae Icones.) Calvin, writing to 
 Cardinal Sadolet, dwells upon the disinterested- 
 ness of Farel, a man of such noble birth. (Opus- 
 cala, p. 148.) 
 
 into the same superstitious course which his 
 credulous family had followed before him. 
 "I am horror struck," said he, at a later pe- 
 riod, " when I think on the hours, the prayers, 
 the divine honours, which I have offered my- 
 self, and caused others to offer, to the cross, 
 and such like vanities." 7 
 
 Four leagues distant from Gap, to the south, 
 near Tallard, on a hill which overlooks the 
 impetuous waters of the Durance, was a place 
 in high repute at that time, called La Sainte 
 Croix. William was but seven or eight years 
 old when his parents thought fit to take him 
 thither on a pilgrimage. 8 " The cross you will 
 see there," said they, "is made of the wood 
 of the very cross on which Jesus Christ was 
 crucified." 
 
 The family set forth on their journey, and, 
 on reaching the object of their veneration, cast 
 themselves prostrate before it. After they had 
 gazed awhile on the holy wood of the cross, 
 and the copper appertaining to it, the latter, 
 as the priest told them, " made of the basin 
 in which our Saviour washed the feet of his 
 disciples," the pilgrims cast their eyes on a 
 little crucifix which was attached to the cross. 
 "When the devils send us hail and thunder," 
 resumed the priest, " this crucifix moves so 
 violently, that one would think it wanted to 
 get loose from the cross to put the devils to 
 flight, and all the while it keeps throwing out 
 sparks of fire against the storm ; were it not for 
 this, the whole country would be swept bare." 9 
 
 These pious pilgrims were greatly affected 
 at the recital of such prodigies. " Nobody," 
 continued the priest, " sees or knows any 
 thing of these things, except myself and this 
 man here . . . ." The pilgrims turned their 
 heads, and saw a strange looking man stand- 
 ing beside them. "It would have frightened 
 you to look at him," says Farel : " the pupils 
 of both his eyes seemed to be covered with 
 white specks ; whether they were so in reality, 
 or that Satan gave them that appearance." 10 
 This uncouth looking man, whom the unbe- 
 lieving called the "priest's wizard," on being 
 appealed to by the latter, bore testimony at 
 once to the truth of the miracle. 11 
 
 A new episode was now accidentally intro- 
 duced to complete the picture, and mingle 
 suggestions of guilty excess with the dreams 
 of superstition. " Up comes a young woman 
 on some errand very different from devotion to 
 the cross, carrying a little child wrapped in a 
 cloak. And, behold, the priest goes to meet 
 her, and takes hold of her and the child, and 
 carries them straight into the chapel : never, 
 believe me, did couple in a dance amble off 
 more lovingly than did these two. But so 
 blinded were we that we took no heed of their 
 gestures or their glances, and even had their 
 behaviour been still more unseemly, we should 
 have deemed it altogether right and reverent: 
 of a truth, both the damsel and the priest 
 understood the miracle thoroughly, and how 
 to turn a pilgrim-visit to fair account."* 
 
 ^*Du vray usage de la croux, par Guillaume 
 Farel, p. 235. Some phrases of this narrative have 
 been a little softened. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 375 
 
 the commencement of the Reformation. Mo- 
 rals and belief had alike been vitiated, and 
 each stood in need of a thorough renovation. 
 In proportion as a higher value was attached 
 to outward rites, the sanctification of the heart 
 nad become less and less an object of con- 
 cern ; dead ordinances had every where 
 usurped the place of a Christian life ; and, by 
 a revolting yet natural alliance, the most scan- 
 dalous debauchery had been combined with 
 the most superstitious devotion. Instances 
 are on record of theft committed at the altar 
 seduction practised in the confessional, poi- 
 son mingled with the eucharist, adultery 
 perpetrated at the foot of a cross ! Supersti- 
 tion, while ruining Christian doctrine, had 
 ruined morality also. 
 
 There were, however, numerous exceptions 
 to this pitiable state of things in the Christiani- 
 ty of the middle ages. Even a superstitious 
 faith may be a sincere one. William Farel is 
 an example of this. The same zeal which 
 afterwards urged him to travel incessantly 
 from place to place, that he might spread the 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ, then incited him 
 to visit every spot where the church exhibited 
 a miracle, or exacted a tribute of adoration. 
 Dauphiny could boast of her seven wonders, 
 which had long been sanctified in the imagi- 
 nation of the people.* But the beauties of 
 nature, by which he was surrounded, had also 
 their influence in raising his thoughts to the 
 Creator. 
 
 The magnificent chain of the Alps, the 
 pinnacles covered with eternal snow, the 
 enormous rocks, 
 pointed summits 
 
 stretching their naked ridges on-and-on above 
 the level clouds, and presenting the appear- 
 ance of an island suspended in the air, all 
 these wonders of creation, which even then, 
 were dilating the soul of Ulric Zwingle, in the 
 Tockenburg, spoke with equal force to the 
 heart of William Farel, among the mountains 
 of Dauphiny. He thirsted for life, for 
 knowledge for light ; he aspired to be some- 
 thing great : he asked permission to study. 
 
 It was an unwelcome surprise to his father, 
 who thought that a young noble should know 
 nothing beyond his rosary and his sword. 
 The universal theme of conversation at that 
 time was the prowess of a young countryman 
 of William's, a native of Dauphiny, like him- 
 self, named Du Terrail, but better known by 
 the name of Bayard, who had recently per- 
 formed astonishing feats of valour in the battle 
 of Tar, on the other side of the Alps. " Such 
 sons as he," it was currently remarked, "are 
 like arrows in the hand of a mighty man. 
 Blessed is the man who has his quiver full of 
 them ! " Accordingly, Farel's father resisted 
 his wish to become a scholar. But the youth's 
 resolution was not to be shaken. God de- 
 signed him for nobler conquests than any that 
 are to be achieved by such as Bayard. He 
 
 Here we are presented with a faithful pic- 1 urged his request with repeated importunity, 
 ture of the religion and manners of France at ' and the old gentleman at length gave way. 12 
 
 Farel immediately applied himself to study 
 with surprising ardour. The masters whom 
 he found in Dauphiny were of little service to 
 him; and he had to contend with all the dis- 
 advantages of imperfect methods of tuition and 
 incapable teachers. 13 But difficulties stimula- 
 ted instead of discouraging him; and he soon 
 surmounted these impediments. His brothers 
 followed his example. Daniel subsequently 
 entered on the career of politics, and was em- 
 ployed on some important negociations con- 
 cerning religion.* Walter was admitted into 
 the confidence of the Count of Furstemberg. 
 
 Farel, ever eager in the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, having learned all that was to be learned 
 in his native province, turned his eyes else- 
 where. The fame of the university of Paris 
 had long resounded through the Christian 
 world. He was anxious to see "this mother 
 of all the sciences, this true luminary of the 
 Church, which never knew eclipses, this 
 pure and polished mirror of the faith, dimmed 
 by no cloud, sullied by no foul touch. 14 He ob- 
 tained permission from his parents, and set out 
 for the capital of France. 
 
 In the course of the year 1510, or shortly 
 after the close of that year, the young Dau- 
 phinese arrived in Paris. His native province 
 had sent him forth a devoted adherent of the 
 Papacy, the capital was to convert him into 
 something far different. In France the Re- 
 formation was not destined, as in Germany, to 
 take its rise in a petty city. By whatever 
 movement the population of the former country 
 may at any time be agitated, the impulse is 
 always to be traced to the metropolis. A con- 
 currence of providential circumstances had 
 made Paris, at the commencement of the six- 
 teenth century, the focus from which a spark 
 of vivifying fire might easily be emitted. 
 The stranger from the neighbourhood of Gap, 
 who had just found his way to the great city, 
 an obscure and ill-instructed youth, was to re- 
 ceive that spark into his bosom, and to share 
 it with many around him. 
 
 Louis XII., the father of his people, had 
 just convened an assembly of the representa- 
 tives of the French clergy at Tours. This 
 prince seems to have anticipated the times of 
 the Reformation, so that if that great revolu- 
 tion had taken place during his reign, all 
 France, probably, would have become Protest- 
 ant. The assembly at Tours had declared 
 that the King had a' right to make war against 
 the Pope, and to carry into effect the decrees 
 of the Council of Basle. These decisions 
 were the subject of general conversation in the 
 colleges, as well as in the city, and at the 
 court, and they could not fail to make a deep 
 impression on the mind of young Farel. 
 
 Two children of royal blood were then grow- 
 ing up in the court of Louis. The one was a 
 young prince of tall stature, and striking cast 
 of features, who evinced little moderation of 
 character, and yielded himself unreflectingly 
 
 sometimes rearing their 
 to the sky, sometimes 
 
 * The boiling spring, the cisterns of Sasscnage, 
 the manner of Briancon, &c. 
 
 Life of Farel, MS. at Geneva. 
 
376 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 to the mastery of his passions, so that the king 
 was often heard to say, "That great boy will 
 spoil all."* This was Francis of Angouleme, 
 Duke of Valois, the king's cousin. Boisy, his 
 governor, had taught him, however, to show 
 great respect to letters. 
 
 The companion of Francis was his sister 
 Margaret, who was two years older than him- 
 self. " A princess," says Brantome, " of vig- 
 orous understanding, and great talents, both 
 natural and acquired." 15 Accordingly, Louis 
 had spared no pains in her education, and 
 the most learned men in the kingdom were 
 prepared to acknowledge Margaret as their 
 patroness. 
 
 Already, indeed, a group of illustrious men 
 was collected round the two Valois. William 
 Bude who, in his youth, had given himself 
 up to self-indulgence of every kind, and espe- 
 cially to the enjoyment of the chase, living 
 among his hawks, and horses, and hounds ; 
 and who, at the age of twenty-three, had sud- 
 denly altered his course of life, sold off his 
 equipage, and applied himself to study with 
 all the eagerness he had formerly displayed 
 when cheering on his pack to follow the scent 
 through field and forest,f Cop, the physician, 
 Francis Vatable, whose proficiency in He- 
 brew learning was admired by the Jewish 
 doctors themselves, James Tusan, the cele- 
 brated Hellenist; these and other men of 
 letters besides, encouraged by Stephen Pon- 
 cher, the bishop of Paris, Louis Ruze, the 
 " Lieutenant-Civil," and Francis de Luynes, 
 and already protected by the two young Va- 
 lois, maintained their ground against the vio- 
 lent attacks of the Sorbonne, who regarded the 
 study of Greek and Hebrew as the most fearful 
 heresy. At Paris, as in Germany and Swit- 
 zerland, the restoration of religious truth was 
 preceded by the revival of letters. But in 
 France the hands that prepared the materials 
 were not appointed to construct the edifice. 
 
 Among all the doctors who then adorned 
 the French metropolis, one of the most re- 
 markable was a man of diminutive stature, of 
 mean appearance and humble birth; 16 whose 
 wit, erudition, and eloquence had an indescri- 
 bable charm for all who approached him. 
 The name of this doctor was Lefevre ; he was 
 born in 1455 at Etaples, a little town in Pi- 
 cardy. He had received only an indifferent 
 education, a barbarous one, Theodore Beza 
 calls it; but his genius had supplied the want 
 of masters; and his piety, his learning, and 
 the nobility of his soul shone with a lustre so 
 much the brighter. He had been a great 
 traveller, it would even appear that his de- 
 sire to acquire knowledge had led him into 
 Asia and Africa.:): So early as the year 1493, 
 Lefevre, being then a doctor of theology, oc. 
 cupied the station of a professor in the Uni- 
 
 * Mezeray, vol. iv. p. 127. 
 
 t His wife and sons came to Geneva in 1540, 
 after his death. 
 
 t In the 2nd chapter of his Commentary on the 
 Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is a curious 
 story regarding Mecca and the temple there, which 
 he relates in the style of a traveller. 
 
 versity of Paris. He immediately assumed a 
 distinguished place among his colleagues, and 
 in the estimation of Erasmus ranked above 
 them all. 17 
 
 Lefevre soon discovered that he had a pe- 
 culiar task to fulfil. Though attached to the 
 practices of the Romish church, he conceived 
 a desire to reform the barbarous system which 
 then prevailed in the University; 18 he accord- 
 ingly began to teach the various branches of 
 philosophy with a precision hitherto unknown. 
 He laboured to revive the study of languages 
 and classical antiquities. He went further 
 than this; he perceived that when a mental 
 regeneration is aimed at, philosophy and litera- 
 ture are insufficient instruments. Abandon- 
 ing, therefore, the scholastic theology, which 
 for so many ages had held an undisputed sway 
 in the seats of learning, he applied himself to 
 the Bible, and again introduced the study of 
 the Holy Scriptures and evangelical science. 
 They were no barren researches to which he 
 addicted himself; he went straight to the 
 heart of the Bible. His eloquence, his can- 
 dour, his affability, captivated every hrnrt. 
 Earnest and fervent in the pulpit, in his pri- 
 vate intercourse with his pupils he conde- 
 scended to the most engaging familiarity. 
 " He loves me exceedingly," was the language 
 of Glareanus, one of the number, when wri- 
 ting to his friend Zwingle ; " he is all frankness 
 and kindness, he sings, he plays, he disputes, 
 and then laughs with me. 19 Accordingly, a 
 great number of disciples from every country 
 were gathered around his chair. 
 
 This man, learned as he was, submitted 
 himself all the while, with childlike sim- 
 plicity, to the ordinances of the church. He 
 passed as much time in the churches as in his 
 closet, so that a sympathetic union seemed 
 established beforehand between the old doctor 
 of Picardy and the young student of Dauphi- 
 ny. When two natures, so congenial as these, 
 are brought within the same sphere, though it 
 be the wide and agitated circle of a capital 
 city, their reciprocal attraction must at laSt 
 place them in contact with each other. In his 
 pious pilgrimages, young Farel soon observed 
 an old man, by whose devotion he was greatly 
 interested. He remarked how he fell on his 
 knees before the images, how long he remain- 
 ed in that posture, how fervently he seemed to 
 pray, and how devoutly he repeated his hours. 
 " Never," says Farel, " had I heard a chanter 
 chant the mass more reverently." 20 This was 
 Lefevre. Farel immediately felt a strong de- 
 sire to become acquainted with him ; and 
 great, indeed, was his joy when the venerable 
 man met his approaches with kindness. He 
 had now found what he had come to the capi- 
 tal to seek. Henceforth his chief delight was 
 to converse with the doctor of Etaples, to 
 listen to his instructions, to practise his admi- 
 rable precepts, and to kneel with him in pious 
 ! adoration at the same shrine. Often were the 
 I aged Lefevre and his youthful disciple seen 
 j assisting each other to adorn the image of the 
 Virgin with flowers, while far removed from 
 Paris, far removed from the throng of the col 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 377 
 
 legiate hall, they murmured in concert their 
 earnest prayers to the blessed Mary. 21 
 
 The attachment of Farel to Lefevre was 
 generally noticed, and the respect inspired by 
 the old doctor was reflected on his pupil. This 
 illustrious connection was the means of with- 
 drawing the young Dauphinese from his 
 obscurity. He soon acquired a reputation for 
 his zeal ; and many pious persons of the 
 wealthier order entrusted him with sums of 
 money, to be applied to the support of poor 
 students.* 
 
 Some time elapsed before Lefevre and his 
 disciple attained to a clear perception of the 
 truth. It was neither the hope of a rich bene- 
 fice, nor any propensity to an irregular life, 
 that bound Farel so firmly to the cause of 
 Popery : a spirit like his was not to be influ- 
 enced by motives so sordid. The Pope, in 
 his eyes, was the visible chief of the church, 
 a sort of divinity, at whose bidding, souls were 
 rescued from perdition. If any one, in his 
 hearing, presumed to say a word against the 
 f venerable Pontiff, he gnashed his teeth like a 
 ! raging wolf, and, if he could, would have called 
 down thunder from heaven to overwhelm the 
 guilty wretch in ruin and confusion. " I be- 
 lieve," he said, " in the cross, in pilgrimages, 
 in images, in vows, in relics. What the 
 priest holds in his hands, shuts up in the box, 
 eats himself, and gives to be eaten by others, 
 that is my only true God, and to me there 
 is no God beside, in heaven or on earth!" 22 
 " Satan," he says afterwards, " had lodged the 
 Pope, and Popery, and all that is of himself, 
 so deeply in my heart, that, even in the Pope's 
 own hea'rt, they could have sunk no deeper." 
 And thus it was, that while Farel seemed 
 to be seeking God, his piety decayed, and 
 superstition gathered strength in his soul. He 
 has himself, in forcible language, described 
 his condition at that time. 23 " Oh !" says he, 
 " how I shudder at myself and my sins, when 
 I think on it all ; and how great and wonder- 
 ful a work of God it is, that man should ever 
 be delivered from such an abyss !" 
 
 The deliverance in his own case was 
 wrought by little and little. In the course of 
 his reading, his attention had at first been en- 
 gaged by profane authors; but, finding no 
 food for his piety in these, he had set himself 
 to study the lives of the saints : infatuation 
 had led him to these legends, and he quitted 
 them more miserably infatuatedstill. 24 He then 
 addressed himself to several of the celebrated 
 doctors of the age; but these, instead of im- 
 parting tranquillity to his mind, only aggra- 
 vated his wretchedness. He next resolved to 
 study the ancient philosophers, and attempted 
 to learn Christianity from Aristotle; but again 
 his hopes were frustrated. Books, images, 
 relics, Aristotle, the Virgin, and the saints, 
 all were unavailing. His eager spirit wan- 
 dered from one broken cistern of human wis- 
 dom to another, and turned away from each in 
 succession, unrelieved of the thirst that con- 
 sumed it. 
 
 * Manuscript at Geneva. 
 
 At. last, remembering that the Pope allowed 
 the writings of the Old and New Testament 
 to be called the "Holy Bible," Farel betook 
 himself to the perusal of these, as Luther, in 
 the cloister of Erfurth had done before him ; 
 and then, to his dismay, he found that the 
 existing state of things was such as could in 
 no way be reconciled with the rule of Scrip- 
 ture. He was now, we might think, on the 
 very point of coming at the truth, when, all at 
 once, the darkness rolled back upon him with 
 redoubled weight, and the depths closed over 
 him again. " Satan," says he, " started up 
 in haste, that he might not lose his possession, j 
 and wrought in me as he was wont." 25 A ter- 
 rible struggle between the word of God and 
 the word of the Church now ensued in his 
 heart. If he fell in with any passage of Scrip- 
 ture opposed to the practice of the Romish 
 Church, he cast down his eyes in perplexity, 
 not daring to credit what he read. 26 "Ah!" 
 he would say, shrinking away from the Bible, 
 "I do not well understand these things; I 
 must put a different construction on these pas- 
 sages from that which they seem to me to 
 bear. 1 must hold to the interpretation of the 
 Church, or rather, of the Pope!" 
 
 One day, when he was reading the Bible, 
 a doctor, who chanced to come in, rebuked 
 him sharply. " No one," said he, " ought to 
 read the Holy Scriptures until he has studied 
 philosophy, and taken his degree in arts." 
 This was a preparation the Apostles never re- 
 quired; but Farel believed him. "I was 
 the most unhappy of men," he tells us, " for 1 
 turned away my eyes from the light." 27 v/ 
 
 The young Dauphinese was now visited 
 with a fresh paroxysm of Romish fervour. 
 His imagination was inflamed by the legends 
 of the saints. The severities of monastic dis- 
 cipline were to him a powerful attraction. 
 There was a cluster of gloomy cells in a 
 wood not far distant from Paris, occupied by 
 an establishment of Carthusians: hither he 
 often repaired as an humble visitor, and took 
 part in the austerities of the monks. " I was 
 busied day and night," he says, " in serving 
 the devil after the fashion of the Pope that 
 man of sin. I had my Pantheon in my heart, 
 and so many intercessors, so many saviours, 
 so many gods, that I might well have passed 
 for a Popish register." 
 
 The darkness could never grow thicker, 
 but now the morning star was to arise ; and 
 the voice of Lefevre was to give the signal of 
 its appearance. The Doctor of Etaples had 
 already caught some gleams of light: an in- 
 ward conviction assured him that the Church 
 could not remain in the state in which she then 
 was; and often on his way homeward, after 
 chanting the mass, or paying adoration to an 
 image, the old man would turn to his youthful 
 disciple, and say in a solemn tone, as he 
 grasped him by the hand : " My dear Wil- 
 liam, God will change the face of the world 
 and you will see it !" 28 Farel did not properly 
 conceive his meaning. But Lefevre did not 
 stop at these mysterious words; and the 
 
378 
 
 HISTO.RY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 great change which was wrought in his mind 
 about this time was appointed to produce a 
 similar change in the mind of his pupil. 
 
 The old Doctor had undertaken a task of 
 immense labour; he was carefully collecting 
 the legends of the saints and martyrs, and ar- 
 ranging them in the order in which their names 
 are inserted in the calendar. Two months had 
 already been printed, when one of those rays 
 of light that come from on high flashed on a 
 sudden into his soul. He could no longer 
 overcome the disgust which superstitions so 
 puerile must ever excite in a Christian heart. 
 The grandeur of the word of God made him 
 perceive the wretched folly of such fables. 
 They now appeared to him but as " brimstone, 
 fit only to kindle the fire of idolatry." 29 He 
 abandoned his work, and, casting aside all 
 these legends, turned affectionately to the 
 Holy Scriptures. At that moment, when Le- 
 fevre, forsaking the marvellous histories of the 
 saints, laid his hand on the word of God, a 
 new era opened in France, and the Reforma- 
 tion commenced its course. 
 
 Weaned, as we have seen, from the fictions 
 of the Breviary, Lefevre began to study the 
 Epistles of St. Paul : the light grew rapidly 
 in his heart, and he soon communicated to his 
 disciples that knowledge of the truth, which 
 we find in his Commentaries.* Those were 
 strange doctrines for the schools and for the 
 world around him, which were then first heard 
 in Paris, and disseminated by printing presses 
 through all Christendom. We may imagine 
 that the young students who listened were 
 aroused, impressed, and changed ; and that in 
 this way the aurora of a brighter day had 
 dawned upon France prior to the year 1512. 
 
 The great truth of Justification by Faith, 
 which at once overturns the subtilties of the 
 schools and the Popish doctrine of the efficacy 
 of works, was boldly proclaimed in the very 
 bosom of Sorbonne itself. " It is God alone," 
 said the teacher, (and it might have seemed 
 as if the very roofs of the university would 
 cry out against such new sounds,) " It is God 
 alone, who by His grace justifies unto eternal 
 life. 30 There is a righteousness of our own 
 works, and a righteousness which is of grace, 
 the one a thing of man's invention, the other 
 coming from God, the one earthly and pass- 
 ing away, the other divine and everlasting, 
 the one the shadow and semblance, the other 
 the light and the truth, the one discovering 
 sin and bringing the fear of death the other 
 revealing grace for the attainment of life ! " 31 
 
 " What will you then say 1 " inquired the 
 hearers, to whom such sounds appeared to 
 contradict the teaching of four centuries, " will 
 you say that any one man was ever justified 
 
 * The first edition of his Commentary on the 
 Epistles of St. Paul bears the date, if I mistake 
 not, of 1512. There is a copy of it in the Royal 
 Library at Paris. The second edition is that to 
 which my citations refer. The learned Simon, in 
 his observations on the New Testament, says, 
 " James Lefevre must be ranked among the most 
 able commentators of his age." 
 
 without works?" "One, do you Bsk 1 ?" re- 
 turned Lefevre, " why they are innumerable. 
 How" many shameful sinners have eagerly 
 asked to be baptized, having nothing but faith 
 in Christ alone, and who, if they died the mo- 
 ment after, entered into the life of the blessed 
 without works." "If, then, we are not justi- 
 fied by works, it is in vain that we should do 
 them," replied some. To this the Doctor 
 made answer, and possibly the other Refor- 
 mers might not have altogether gone with him 
 in his reply : " Quite the contrary, it is not 
 in vain. If I hold up a mirror to the Sun, it 
 receives in it his image : the more I polish and 
 clean the mirror, the brighter does the reflec- 
 tion of the sun shine in it; but if I suffer it to 
 tarnish and dull, the solar brilliancy is lost. 
 So it is with justification in those who lead an 
 unholy life." In this passage, Lefevre, like 
 St. Augustin, in several parts of his writings, 
 does not perhaps sufficiently mark the distinc- 
 tion between justification and sanctification. 
 The Doctor of Etaples often reminds us of him 
 of Hippone. Those who lead an unholy life 
 have never received justification, hence such 
 cannot lose it. But Lefevre perhaps intended 
 to say that the Christian, when he falls into 
 any sin, loses the assurance of his salvation, 
 and not his salvation itself.* To this way 
 of stating it there would be nothing to ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Thus a new life and character of teaching 
 had penetrated within the University of Paris. 
 The doctrine of Faith, which in the first ages 
 had been preached in Gaul by Potinus and 
 Irenaeus, was again heard. Thenceforward 
 there were two different parties and two dif- 
 ferent people in that celebrated school. The 
 instructions given by Lefevre, the zeal of his 
 disciples, formed a striking contrast to the dry 
 teaching of the majority of its doctor?, and the 
 frivolous conversation of the generality of the 
 students. In the colleges, more time was lost 
 in committing to memory different parts in 
 comedies, masquerading, and mountebank 
 farces, than was given to the study of God ? s 
 word. In such farces it not unfrequently 
 happened that the respect due to the higher 
 classes, the nobility, and even royalty itself, 
 was forgotten. At the very time we are wri- 
 ting of, the Parliament intervened, and sum- 
 moning before them the principals of several 
 of the colleges, prohibited those indulgent tu- 
 tors from suffering such comedies to be acted 
 in their houses. 32 
 
 But a mightier intervention than the man- 
 dates of Parliament came to the correction of 
 these disorders in the University: CHRIST 
 was preached among its inmates. Great was 
 the commotion on its benches; and the minds 
 
 * The believer may well bless God for this 
 truth, namely, that he may lose the ('sentiment') 
 assurance of his salvation without his salvation 
 being endangered. The cloud may, and it is be- 
 lieved often has, involved the vessel during the 
 greater part of her course, which is not the less ad- 
 vancing unto the haven she would be. Is Christ 
 in the vessel 1 is that which concerns us. Tr. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 379 
 
 of the students were almost as generally oc- 
 cupied with discussions of the doctrines of the 
 Gospel, as in scholastic suhtilties or theatrical 
 exhibitions. Some of those whose lives were 
 least able to bear the light, were yet heard 
 taking the part of works, and feeling instinc- 
 tively that the doctrine of Faith condemned 
 the licentiousness of their lives, they main- 
 tained that St. James, in his epistle, was at 
 variance with the writings of St. Paul. Le- 
 fevre, resolving to stand by and protect the 
 treasure he had found, showed how the two 
 Apostles agreed : " Does not St. James say," 
 asked he " that every good and perfect gift 
 cometh down/rom above, and who will con- 
 test that justification is the perfect gift, the 
 excellent grace 1 ... If we see a man moving, 
 the breathing we see in him is to us the sign 
 of life. Thus works are necessary, but only 
 as signs of that living faith which is accom- 
 panied by justification. 33 Is it the eye-salve or 
 lotion which gives light to the eye 1 ? No; it 
 is the light of the sun. Just so our works are 
 but as eye-salves and lotions; the beam that 
 the sun sends forth from above is justification 
 itself. 1 ' 34 
 
 Farel hung upon these sounds with intense 
 interest. Instantly this word of a Salvation 
 by Grace had upon his soul an unspeakable 
 power of attraction. Every objection fell, 
 every difficulty vanished. Scarcely had Le- 
 fevre brought forward this doctrine, when 
 Farel embraced it with all his heart and mind. 
 He had known enough of labour and conflict 
 to be convinced that he had no power to save 
 himself; therefore, when he saw in God's 
 word that God saves FREELY, he believed 
 God. "Lefevre," exclaimed he, "extricated 
 me from the delusive thought of human deser- 
 vings, and taught me how that all is of Grace, 
 which I believed as soon as it was spoken." 35 
 Thus was gained to the faith by a conversion 
 as prompt and decisive as that of St. Paul 
 himself, that Farel who, to use the words of 
 Theodore Beza, undismayed by threatening, 
 despising the shame and enduring his cross, 
 won for Christ, Montbelliard, Neufchatel, 
 Lausanne, Aigle, and at last Geneva itself. 36 
 
 Meanwhile Lefevre, following up his teach- 
 ing, and taking delight in employ ing contrasts 
 and paradoxes, embodying weighty truths, 
 extolled the sublime mysteries of redemp- 
 tion. " Oh !" he exclaimed, " the unspeakable 
 greatness of that exchange, the sinless One 
 is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free, 
 the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed 
 is brought into blessing, the Life dies, and 
 the dead live, the Glory is whelmed in dark- 
 ness, and he who knew nothing but confusion 
 of face is clothed with glory." 37 The pious 
 teacher, going yet deeper into his theme, re- 
 cognised that all salvation emanates from the 
 sovereignly of God's love: "They who are 
 saved," said he, " are saved by the electing 
 grace and will of God, not by their own will. 
 Our eleciton, our will, our working is all in 
 vain ; the alone election of God ia.all power- 
 ful ! When we are converted, it is not our 
 49 
 
 conversion which makes us the elect of God, 
 hut it is the grace, will, and election of God 
 which work our conversion." 38 
 
 But Lefevre did not stop short in doctrines; 
 if he gave to God the glory, he turned to 
 man for " the obedience," and urged the obli- 
 gations flowing from the exceeding privileges 
 of the Christian. " If thou art a member of 
 Christ's church," said he, "thou art a mem- 
 ber of his body ; if thou art of his body, then 
 thou art full of the divine nature, for the 'ful- 
 ness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily.' 
 Oh ! if men could but enter into the under- 
 standing of this privilege, how purely, chaste- 
 ly, and holily would they live, and how 
 contemptible, when compared with the glory 
 within them, that glory which the eye of 
 flesh cannot see, would they deem all the 
 glory of this world." 39 
 
 Lefevre felt that the office of a teacher in 
 heavenly things was a high distinction: he 
 discharged that office with unvarying fidelity. 
 The dissolute morals of the age, and more 
 especially of the clergy, roused his indigna- 
 tion, and was the theme of many a stern 
 rebuke: "What a reproach," said he, "to 
 hear a bishop asking persons to drink with 
 him, gambling, shaking the dice, and spend- 
 ing his whole time in hawking, sporting, 
 hunting, hallooing in the chase of wild beasts, 
 and sometimes with his feet in houses of ill- 
 fame. 40 . . O men worthy of a more signal re- 
 tribution than Sardanapalus himself!" 
 
 Such was the preaching of Lefevre. Farel 
 listened, trembling with emotion, received 
 all into his soul, and went forward in that 
 new path now suddenly made plain before 
 him. Nevertheless there was one article of 
 his former creed which he could not as yet 
 entirely relinquish; it was the invocation of 
 the saints. The noblest minds have often 
 these lingering remains of darkness after the 
 light has broken in upon them. Farel heard 
 with astonishment the teacher declare that 
 Christ alone should be invoked : " Our reli- 
 gion," said Lefevre, "has only one founda- 
 tion, one object, one head, Jesus Christ, 
 blessed for ever! He hath trodden the wine- 
 press alone. Let us not then take the name 
 of Paul, of Apollos, or of Peter. The cross 
 of Christ alone opens heaven, and shuts the 
 gate of hell." These words wakened a strug- 
 gle in the soul of Farel. On the one hand he 
 beheld the whole army of saints with the 
 Church, on the other, Jesus Christ and His 
 preacher. One moment he inclined to the 
 one side, the next to the other. It was the 
 last hold of ancient error, and his final strug- 
 gle. He hesitated ; still clinging to those 
 venerated names before which Rome bends 
 adoringly. At last the decisive blow was 
 struck from above; the scales fell from his 
 eyes; Jesus was seen by him as the only ob 
 ject of adoration. "From that moment," 
 said he, "the Papacy was dethroned from my 
 mind. I began to abhor it as devilish, and 
 the holy word of God held the supreme place 
 in my heart." 41 
 
 2K 
 
380 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Events in the great world accelerated the 
 advance of Farel and his friends. Thomas 
 De Vio, who was subsequently opposed at 
 Augsburg against Luther, having contended 
 in a printed work that the Pope was absolute 
 monarch of the Church, Louis XII. called the 
 attention of the University of Paris to the 
 work in February, 1512. James Allman, one 
 of the youngest of its doctors, a man of rare 
 genius and unwearied application, read at one 
 of the meetings of the faculty of theology a 
 refutation of the Cardinal's arguments, which 
 drew forth the plaudits of the assembly. 42 
 
 What must have been the effect of such 
 discussions on the young disciples of Lefevre? 
 Could they hesitate when the university itself 
 manifested an impatience of the Papal yoke 1 
 If the main body were in motion, should not 
 they be skirmishing at the advanced posts 1 
 " It was necessary," said Farel, " that the Pa- 
 pal authority should be very gradually expel- 
 led from my mind, for the first shock did not 
 bring it down." 43 He contemplated the abyss 
 of superstitions in which he had been 
 plunged ; standing on its brink, he again sur- 
 veyed its gloomy depths, and drew back with 
 a feeling of terror: "Oh!" ejaculated he, 
 " what horror do I feel for myself and my 
 sins when I think of the past. 44 Lord," he 
 continued, "would that my soul served Thee 
 with living faith after the example of thy faith- 
 ful servants! Would that I had sought after 
 and honoured Thee as I have yielded my 
 heart to the mass and served that magic wa- 
 fer, giving all honour to that!" Grieving 
 over his past life, he with tears repeated those 
 words of St. Augustine, " I have come too 
 late to the knowledge of Thee ! too late have 
 I begun to love Thee!" 
 
 Farel had found Christ; and safe in har- 
 bour he reposed in peace after the storm. 45 
 " Now," said he, " every thing appears to me 
 to wear a different aspect. 46 Scripture is eluci- 
 dated, prophecy is opened, and the epistles 
 carry wonderful light into my soul. 47 A voice 
 before unknown the voice of Christ, my 
 shepherd and my teacher, speaks to me with 
 power." 48 So great was the change in him 
 that " instead of the murderous heart of a ra- 
 vening wolf," he came back, as he himself 
 tells us, " like a gentle and harmless lamb, 
 with his heart entirely withdrawn from the 
 Pope and given to Jesus Christ." 49 
 
 Escaped from so great an evil, he turned 
 toward the Bible, 50 andapplied himself zealous- 
 ly to the acquirement of Greek and Hebrew.* 
 He was unremitting in his study of the Holy 
 Scriptures, esteeming them more and more, 
 and daily receiving more light. He continued 
 to resort to the churches of the established 
 worship but what did he there hear] Re- 
 sponses and chantings innumerable, words 
 spoken without understanding. 51 Often, when 
 standing among the throno that gathered round 
 an image or an altar, he would exclaim, 
 "Thou alone art God ! Thou alone art wise ! 
 Thou alone art good ! 52 Nothing should be 
 
 * Life of Farel. MSS. of Geneva and of Choupard. 
 
 taken away nothing added to thy holy law 
 ' for Thou only art the Lord, and it is Thou 
 alone who claimest and hast a right to OUT 
 obedience." 
 
 Thus all human teachers were brought down 
 from the height to which his imagination had 
 raised them, and he recognised no authority 
 but God and his word. The doctors of Paris, 
 by their persecution of Lefevre, had long 
 since lost all place in his esteem ; but ere 
 long Lefevre himself, his well-beloved guide 
 and counsellor, was no more to him than 
 his fellow-man: beloved and venerated him 
 as long as he lived but God alone was be- 
 come his teacher. 
 
 Of all the Reformers, Farel and Luther are 
 the two best known to us in their early spi- 
 ritual history, and most memorable for the 
 struggles they had to pass through. Earnest 
 and energetic, men of conflict and strife, they 
 bore the brunt of many an onset before they 
 were permitted to be at peace. Farel is the 
 pioneer of the Reformation in Switzerland and 
 in France. He threw himself into the wood, 
 and with his axe cleared a passage through a 
 forest of abuses. Calvin followed, as Luther 
 was followed by Melancthon, resembling him 
 in his office of theologian and " master- 
 builder." These two men, who bear some 
 resemblance to the legislators of antiquity, 
 the one in its graceful, the other in its severer 
 style, settle, establish, and give laws to the 
 territory w r on by the two former. Arid yet if 
 Farel reminds us of Luther, we must allow 
 that it is only in one aspect of the latter that 
 we are reminded of him. Luther, besides his 
 superior genius, had, in all that concerned the 
 Church, a moderation and prudence, an ac- 
 quaintance with past experience, a compre- 
 hensive judgment, and even a power of order, 
 which was not found in an equal degree in 
 the Reformer of Dauphiny. 
 
 Farel was not the only young Frenchman 
 into whose soul a new light was, at this time, 
 introduced. The doctrines which flowed from 
 the lips of the far-famed doctor of Etaples 
 fermented among the crowd of his hearers ; 
 and in his school were formed and trained the 
 bold men who were ordained to struggle, even 
 to the very foot of the scaffold. They listen- 
 ed, compared, discussed, and argued with cha- 
 racteristic vivacity. It is a probable conjec- 
 ture, that we may number among the handful 
 of scholars who then espoused the Truth, 
 young Pierre Olivetan, born at Noyon, at the 
 end of the fifteenth century, who afterwards 
 revised Lefevre's translation of the Bible into 
 French, and seems to have been the first who 
 so presented the doctrine of the Gospel as to 
 draw the attention of a youth of his family, 
 also a native of Noyon, who became the most 
 distinguished of all the leaders of the Re- 
 formation. 53 
 
 Thus, before 1512, at a time when Luther 
 had made no impression on the world, but was 
 taking a journey to Rome on some business 
 touching the interests of some monks, and 
 when Zwingle had not even begun to apply 
 himself in earnest to Biblical studies, but waa 
 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 381 
 
 traversing the Alps, in company with the 
 confederated forces, to fight under the Pope's 
 banner, Paris and France heard the sound 
 of those life-giving truths, whence the Re- 
 formation was destined to come forth and 
 there were found souls prepared to propagate 
 those sounds, who received them with holy 
 affection. Accordingly, Theodore Beza, in 
 speaking of Lefevre of Etaples. observes that 
 " it was he who boldly began the revival of 
 the holy religion of Jesus Christ:" 54 and he 
 remarks that, " as in ancient times, the school 
 of Isocrates had the reputation of furnishing 
 the best orators, so, from the lecture-rooms of 
 the doctor of Etaples, went forth many of the 
 best men of the age and of the Church." 55 
 
 The Reformation was not, therefore, in 
 France, an importation from strangers ; it took 
 its birth on the French territory. Its seed 
 germinated in Paris its earliests shoots were 
 struck in the University itself, that ranked se- 
 cond in power in Romanized Christendom. 
 God deposited the first principles of the work 
 in the kindly hearts of some inhabitants of 
 Picardy and Dauphiny, before it had begun in 
 any other country of the globe. The Swiss 
 Reformation was, as we have seen,* inde- 
 pendent of that of Germany ; the French Re- 
 formation was, in like manner, independent 
 of that of Switzerland and that of Germany. 
 The work sprung up in these different coun- 
 tries at one and the same time, without com- 
 munication betw r een them, as in a field of bat- 
 tle, the various divisions that compose the 
 army are seen in motion at the same instant, 
 although the order to advance has not passed 
 from one to the other, but all have heard the 
 word of command proceeding from a higher 
 authority. The time had come the nations 
 were ripe, and God was everywhere begin- 
 ning the revival of His Church. 
 
 If we regard dates, we must then confess 
 that neither to Switzerland nor to Germany 
 belongs the honour of having been first in the 
 work, although, hitherto, only those countries 
 have contended for it. That honour belongs 
 to France. This is a fact that we are the 
 more careful to establish, because it has pos- 
 sibly, until now, been overlooked. Without 
 dwelling upon the influence exercised by 
 Lefevre, directly or indirectly, on many per- 
 sons, and especially on Calvin, let us con- 
 sider that which he had on one of his disci- 
 ples, Farel himself, and the energy of action 
 which that servant of God from that hour ! 
 manifested. Can we, after that, withhold j 
 our conviction, that even though Zwingle \ 
 and Luther should never have been born, 
 there would still have been a movement of 
 Reformation in France! It is, of course, 
 impossible to estimate how far it might have 
 extended : we must even acknowledge that 
 the report of what was passing on the other 
 side of the Rhine and the Jura, afterwards 
 accelerated and animated the progress of the 
 Reformers of France. But it was they who 
 were first awakened by the voice of that 
 
 See page 214. 
 
 trumpet which sounded from heaven in the 
 sixteenth century, and who were earliest in 
 the field, on foot, and under arms. 
 
 Nevertheless, Luther is the great workman 
 of the sixteenth century, and, in the fullest 
 import of the term, the first Reformer. Le- 
 fevre is not as complete as Calvin, Farel, or 
 Luther. There is about him that which 
 reminds us of Wittemberg of Geneva but 
 a something besides that tells of the Sor- 
 bonne; he is the foremost Catholic in the 
 Reformation movement, and the latest of the 
 Reformers in the Catholic movement. To 
 the last, he continues a go-between, a me- 
 diator, not well understood; reminding us 
 that there is some connection between the 
 old things and the new, which might seem 
 forever separated as by a great gulf. Re- 
 pulsed and persecuted by Rome, he yet holds 
 to Rome, by a slender thread which he is 
 unwilling to sever. Lefevre of Etaples has 
 a place to himself in the theology of the six- 
 teenth century : he is the connecting link be- 
 tween ancient and modern times, and the 
 man in whom the theology of the middle 
 ages passed into the theology of the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 Thus, in the University, the truth was 
 already working. But the Reformation was 
 not to be an affair of college life. It was to 
 establish its power among the great ones of 
 the earth, and to have some witnesses even 
 at the King's court. 
 
 The young Francis of Angouleme, cousin- 
 german and son-in-law to Louis XII., suc- 
 ceeded him on the throne. His manly beauty 
 and address, his courage, and his love of 
 pleasure, rendered him the most accomplish- 
 ed knight of his time. His ambition, how- 
 ever, rose higher; it was his aim to be a 
 great and even a gracious prince ; provided, 
 only, that all should bend before his so- 
 vereign authority. Valour, taste for litera- 
 ture, and gallantry, are three words that well 
 express the genius of Francis, and of the age 
 in which he figured. At a somewhat later 
 period, the like features appear in Henry IV. 
 and Louis XIV; These princes wanted that 
 which the Gospel communicates ; and, al- 
 though there has been no time when the 
 nation did not contain in it the elements of 
 sanctity and of Christian elevation, it may 
 be said that these great monarchs of modern 
 France have, in a measure, stamped upon 
 that people the impress of their own charac- 
 ters, if it be not more correct to say that they 
 themselves were the faithful expression of 
 the character of the nation over which they * 
 presided. If the evangelic doctrine had en- 
 tered France under the auspices of the most 
 famed of the Valois princes, it might have 
 brought with it to the nation that which 
 France has not, a spiritual turn of mind, a 
 Christian purity, and an intelligence in hea- 
 venly things, which would have been the 
 completion of the national character in what 
 most contributes to the strength and great- 
 ness of a people. 
 
 It was under the rule of Francis I. that 
 
382 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Europe, as well as France, passed from the 
 middle ages to the range of modern history. 
 It was then that that new world which was 
 bursting forth on all sides when that prince 
 ascended the throne, grew and entered upon 
 possession. Two different classes of men 
 exercised an influence in moulding the new 
 order of society. On the one hand were the 
 men of faith, who were also men of wisdom 
 and moral purity, and close to them, the 
 writers of the court, the friends of this 
 world and its profligacy, who, by their 
 licentious principles, contributed to the de- 
 pravation of morals as much as the former 
 served to reform them. 
 
 If, in the days of Francis the First, Europe 
 had not witnessed the rise of the Reformers, 
 but had been given up by God's righteous 
 judgment to the uncontrolled influence of 
 unbelieving innovators, her fate and that of 
 Christianity had been decided. The danger 
 seemed great. For a considerable time, the 
 two classes of combatants, the opposers of the 
 Pope, and those who opposed the Gospel, 
 were mixed up together ; and as both claimed 
 liberty, they seemed to resort to the same 
 arms against the same enemies. In the 
 cloud of dust raised on the field, an unprac- 
 tised eye could not distinguish between them. 
 If the former had allowed themselves to be 
 led away by the latter all would have been 
 lost. Those who assailed the hierarchy 
 passed quickly into extremes of impiety, 
 urging on the people to a frightful catastrophe. 
 The Papacy itself contributed to bring about 
 that catastrophe, accelerating by its ambition 
 and disorders the extinction of any truth and 
 life still left in the Church. 
 
 But God called forth the Reformation, 
 and Christianity was preserved. The Re- 
 formers, who had shouted for liberty, were, 
 ere long, heard calling to obedience. The 
 very men who had cast down that throne 
 whence the Roman Pontiff issued his oracles, 
 
 E rostrated themselves before the "word of the 
 ord." Then was seen a clear and definite 
 separation, and war was declared between 
 the two divisions of the assailants. The one 
 party had desired liberty only that themselves 
 might be free, the others had claimed it for 
 the word of God. The Reformation became 
 the most formidable antagonist of that incre- 
 dulity to which Rome can show leniency. 
 Having restored liberty to the Church, the 
 Reformers restored religion to society; and 
 this last was, of the two, the gift most 
 needed. 
 
 The votaries of incredulity, for a while, 
 hoped to reckon among their number Margaret 
 of Valois, Duchess of Alenc. on, whom Francis 
 loved with especial tenderness, and, as Bran- 
 tome informs us, used to call his "darling." 56 
 The same tastes and general information 
 distinguished both brother and sister. Of 
 fine person like Francis, Margaret united to 
 those eminent qualities, which in their com- 
 bination constitutes remarkable characters, 
 these gentler virtues which win the affection. 
 In the gay world, the festive entertainment, 
 
 the royal, the imperial court, she shone in 
 queenly splendour, charming and captivating 
 all hearts. Passionately fond of literature, 
 and gifted with no ordinary genius, it was 
 her delight to shut herself in her apartment, 
 and there indulge in the pleasures of reflec- 
 tion, study, and meditation. But her ruling 
 desire was to do good and prevent evil. 
 When ambassadors from foreign countries 
 had presented themselves before the king, 
 they were accustomed afterwards to pay their 
 respects to Margaret, and " they were greatly 
 pleased with her," observes Brantome, "and 
 returning to their homes, noised abroad the 
 fame of her:" and he adds that "the king 
 would often hand over to her matters of im- 
 portance, leaving them for her to decide." 57 
 
 This celebrated princess was through life 
 distinguished by her strict morals; but 
 whilst many who carry austerity on their 
 lips, indulge laxity in conduct, the very 
 reverse of this was seen in Margaret. 
 Blameless in conduct, she was not altogether 
 irreproachable in the use of her pen. Far 
 from wondering at this, we might rather 
 wonder that a woman dissolute as was 
 Louisa of Savoy, should have a daughter so 
 pure as Margaret. Attending the court, in 
 its progress through the provinces, she em- 
 ployed herself in describing the manners of 
 the time, and especially those of the priests 
 and monks. "On these occasions," says 
 Brantome, " I often used to hear her recount 
 stories to my grandmother, who constantly 
 accompanied her in her litter, as dame 
 d'konneur, and had charge of her writing 
 desk." 57 According to some, we have here 
 the origin of the Heptameron; but more 
 recent and esteemed critics have satisfied 
 themselves that Margaret had no hand in 
 forming that collection, in some parts charge- 
 able with worse than levity, but that it was 
 the work of Desperiers, her gentleman of the 
 chamber.* 
 
 This Margaret, so charming, so full of wit, 
 and living in so polluted an atmosphere, was 
 to be one of the first won over by the religious 
 impulse just then communicated to France. 
 
 * This is proved by one of the most distinguish- 
 ed critics of the age, M. Ch. Nodier, in the Re- 
 vue des Deux Mondes, t.xx. wherein he observes, 
 p. 350 " Desperiers is in reality and almost ex- 
 clusively author of the Heptameron. I scruple 
 not to say I have no doubt of this, and entirely 
 coincide in the opinion of Bouistuan, who, solely 
 on this account, omitted and withheld the name 
 of the Queen of Navarre." If, as I think, Mar- 
 garet did compose some tales, doubtless the most 
 harmless of those in the Heptameron, it must 
 have been in her youth -just after her marriage 
 with the Duke of Alenc,on, (1509.) The circum- 
 stances mentioned by Brantome, p. 346, that the 
 king's mother and Madame de Savoy "being 
 young," wished to "imitate" Margaret, is a 
 j proof of this. To this may be added the evidence 
 of De Thou, who says, ' ' Si tempora et juvenilem 
 j aetatem in qua scriptum est respicias, non prorsus 
 j damnandum, certe gravitate tantae heroinae et 
 extrema vita minus dignum." (Thuanus, t. vi. 
 p. 117.) Brantome and De Thou are two unob- 
 jectionable witnesses. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ss: 
 
 But how, in. the centre of so profane a court, 
 and amid the sounds of its licentious gossip, 
 was the Duchess of Alencon to be reached 
 by the Reformation ? Her soul, led to look 
 to Heaven, was conscious of wants that the 
 Gospel alone could meet. Grace can act in 
 every place, and Christianity, which, even 
 before an apostle had appeared in Rome, had 
 some followers among the household of Nar- 
 cissus, and in the palace of Nero,* in the 
 day of its revival rapidly made its way to 
 the court of Francis the First. There were 
 ladies and lords who spoke to that princess 
 concerning the things of faith, and the sun 
 which was then rising on France sent forth 
 one of its earliest beams on a man of emi- 
 nent station, by whom its light was immedi- 
 ately reflected on the Duchess of Alencon. 
 
 Among the most distinguished lords of the 
 court was Count William of Month run, a son 
 of Cardinal Briconnet of St. Malo, who had 
 entered the church on his being left a widower. 
 Count William, devoted to studious pursuits, 
 himself also took orders, and was bishop, first 
 of Lodeva, and afterwards of Meaux. Al- 
 though twice sent on an embassy to Rome, 
 he returned to Paris unseduced by the attrac- 
 tions and splendours of Leo X. 
 
 At the period of his return to France, a fer- 
 ment was beginning to manifest itself. Farel, 
 as Master of Arts, was lecturing in the col- 
 lege of Cardinal Lemoine, one of the four 
 leading establishments of the faculty of theolo- 
 gy at Paris, ranking equal with the Sorbonne. 
 Two countrymen of Lefevre, Arnaud, and 
 Gerard Roussel, and some others, enlarged 
 this little circle of free and noble spirits. 
 Briconnet, who had so recently quitted the 
 festivals of Rome, was all amazement at what 
 had been doing in Paris during his absence. 
 Thirsting after the truth, he renewed his for- 
 mer intercourse with Lefevre, and soon passed 
 precious hours in company with the Doctor 
 of the Sorbonne, Farel, the two Roussels, and 
 theirfriends. 58 Fullof humility, the illustrious 
 prelate sought instruction from the very hum- 
 blest, but ^above all, he sought it of the 
 Lord himself. "/ am all dark," said he, 
 " waiting for the grace of the divine favour, 
 from which my sins have banished me." His 
 mind was, as if dazzled by the glory of the 
 Gospel. His eyelids sank under its unheard- 
 of brightness. "The eyes of all mankind," 
 exclaimed he, " cannot take in the whole 
 light of that sun!"f 
 
 Lefevre had commended the Bishop to the 
 Bible, he had pointed to it as that guiding 
 clue which ever brings us back to the original 
 truth of Christianity, such as it existed before 
 all schools, sects, ordinances, and traditions, 
 and as that mighty agent by means of which 
 
 * Romans xvi. 11. Phil. iv. 22 . 
 
 t These expressions of Bri?onnet are from a 
 manuscript in the Royal Library at Paris enti- 
 tled Letters of Margaret Queen of Navarre, and 
 which is marked S. F. 337. I shall more than | 
 once have occasion to quote this manuscript, j 
 which I found not easy to decipher. I quote the 
 language d:' the time. 
 
 the religion of Jesus Christ is renewed in 
 power. Briconnet read the Scriptures. " Such 
 is the sweetness of that heavenly manna," said 
 he, " that it never cloys ; the more we taste of it, 
 the more we long for it." The simple and pre- 
 vailing truth of SALVATION filled him witli ]oy ; 
 he had found Christ, he had found God Him- 
 self. " What vessel," he exclaimed, " is ca- 
 pable of receiving into it such vast and inex- 
 haustible grace. But the mansion expands 
 with our desire to lodge the good guest. 
 FAITH is the quartermaster who alone can 
 find room for him, or rather -who alone can 
 enable us to dwell in hint." But, at the same 
 time, the excellent bishop grieved to see that 
 living word which the Reformation gave to 
 the world so slighted at court, in the city, and 
 among the people ; and he exclaimed, " Singu- 
 lar innovation, so worthy of acceptation, and 
 yet so ill received !" 
 
 Thus did evangelical truth open itself a 
 way into the midst of the frivolous, dissolute, 
 and literary court of Francis I. Several of 
 those who composed it and enjoyed the unli- 
 mited confidence of that prince, as John du 
 Bellay, du Bude, Cop, the court physician, 
 and even Petit, the king's confessor, seemed 
 favourable to the views of Briconnet and Le- 
 fevre. Francis, who loved learning, and in- 
 vited to his court scholars " suspected " of 
 Lutheranism, "in the thought," observes 
 Erasmus, " that he should, in that way, adorn 
 and illustrate his reign better than he could 
 do by trophies, pyramids, or buildings," 
 was himself persuaded by his sister, by Bri- 
 connet, and the learned of his court and col- 
 leges. He was present at the discussions of 
 the learned, enjoyed listening to their dis- 
 course at table, and would call them "his 
 children." He assisted to prepare the way 
 for the word of God, by founding professor- 
 ships of Hebrew and Greek, accordingly, 
 Theodore Beza thus speaks, when placing 
 his portrait at the head of the Reformers, 
 " Pious Reader! do not shudder at the sight 
 of this adversary. Ought not he to have his 
 part in this honour who banished barbarism 
 from society, and with firm hand established 
 in its place the cultivation of three languages 
 and profitable studies that should serve as the 
 portals of that new structure that was shortly 
 to arise." 59 
 
 But there was at the court of Francis I. one 
 soul which seemed prepared for the reception 
 of the evangelic doctrines of the teachers of 
 Etaples and of Meaux. Margaret, hesitating, 
 and not knowing on what to lean in the midst 
 of the profligate society that surrounded her, 
 sought somewhat on which her soul might 
 rest, and found it in the Gospel. She turned 
 toward that fresh breath of life which was 
 then reviving the world, and inhaled it with 
 delight as coming from Heaven. She gathered 
 from some of the ladies cf her court the 
 teaching of the new preachers. Some there 
 were who lent her their writings, and certain 
 little books, called, in the language of the 
 time "tracts;" they spoke of "the primi- 
 tive church, of the pure word of God, of a 
 2 K 2 
 
384 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 worship 'in spirit and truth,' of a Christian 
 liberty that rejected the yoke of human tradi- 
 tions and superstitions, that it might adhere 
 singly to God." 6 ? It was not long before this 
 princess sought interviews with Lefevre, Fa- 
 rel, and Roussel. Their zeal, piety, and walk, 
 and all she saw of them, impressed her, but 
 it was her old friend, the bishop of Meaux, 
 who was her guide in the path of faith. 
 
 Thus, at the glittering court of Francis I. 
 and in the dissolute house of Louisa of Sa- 
 voy, was wrought one of those conversions 
 of the heart which in every age are the work 
 of the word of God. Margaret subsequently 
 recorded in her poetical eftusions the various 
 emotions of her soul at this important period 
 of her life, and we may there trace the course 
 by which she was lead. We see that the 
 sense of sin had taken strong hold upon her, 
 and that she bewailed the levity with which 
 she had once viewed the scandals of the 
 court. 
 
 Is there in the abyss's lowest depth 
 A punishment that equals e'en the tenth 
 Of all my sin. 
 
 The corruption which she had so long over- 
 looked, now that her eyes were opened, was 
 seen in every thing about her- 
 Surely in me there dwells that evil root 
 That putteth forth in others branch and fruit.* 
 
 But amid all the horror she felt at her own 
 state of heart, she yet acknowledged that a 
 God of Peace had manifested himself to her 
 soul 
 
 Thou, O my God, hast in Thy Grace come down 
 To me, a worm of earth, who strength had none. 61 
 
 And soon a sense of the love of God in 
 Christ was shed abroad in her heart: 
 
 ftly Father, then, but what a Father Thou, 
 Unseen, that changes! not, endless of days, 
 
 Who graciously forgivest all my sins. 
 Dear Lord, Emanuel, behold me fall 
 Low at Thy sacred feet, a criminal ! 
 
 Pity me, Father, perfect in Thy love ! 
 Thou art the sacrifice, and mercy-seat, 
 And Thou hast made for us an offering meet, 
 
 Well pleasing unto Thee, oh God above. 62 
 
 Margaret had found the faith, and her soul 
 in its joy gave free expression to holy delight, 
 
 Oh ! Saviour Jesus oh most holy Word ! 
 
 Only begotten of Thy Father God, 
 
 The First the Last for whom all things were 
 
 made 
 
 Bishop and King, set over all as Head, 
 Through death, from fear of death, Thou sett'st 
 
 us free ! 
 
 Making us children by our faith in Thee, 
 Righteous and pure and good by faith to be. 
 Faith plants our souls in innocence again, 
 Faith makes us kings with Christ as kings to reign, 
 Faith gives us all things in our Head to gain. 6;} 
 
 * Marguerites de la Marguerite des princesses 
 (Lyon 1547), tome ler, Miroir de Fame pecheresse, 
 p. 15. The copy I have used seems to have be- 
 longed to the Queen of Navarre herself, and some 
 notes appearing in it are, it is said, in her hand- 
 writing. It is now in the possession of a friend. 
 
 From that time a great change was seen in 
 the Duchess of Alenpon 
 
 Though poor, untaught, and weak I be, 
 Yet feel I rich, wise, strong in Thee. 64 
 
 However, the power of sin was not yet sub- 
 dued Her soul was still conscious of a want 
 of blessed harmony, and of a degree of inward 
 struggle that perplexed her 
 
 By spirit noble, yet by nature serf, 
 Of heavenly seed, begotten here on earth; 
 God's temple, wherein things unclean find room; 
 Immortal, and yet hastening to the tomb; 
 Though fed by God in earthly pastures roving; 
 Shrinking from ill, yet sinful pleasures loving ; 
 Cherishing truth yet not to truth conformed ; 
 Long as my days on earth prolonged are, 
 Life can have nought for me but constant war. 63 
 
 Margaret, seeking in nature symbols that 
 might express the felt want and desire of her 
 soul, chose for her emblem, says Brantome, the 
 marigold, " which in its flower and leaf has the 
 most resemblance to the sun, and, turning, fol- 
 lows it in its course." 66 She added this device, 
 Non inferiora secutus I seek not things below 
 " signifying," continues the annalist of the 
 court, " that her actions, thoughts, purposes, 
 and desires were directed to that exalted Sun, 
 namely God, whereupon it was suspected 
 that she had imbibed the religionof Luther." 67 
 In fact, the princess shortly after experienced 
 the truth of that word, "M that will live godly 
 in Jesus Christ shall suffer persecution" The 
 new opinions of Margaret were the subject of 
 conversation at court, and great was the sen- 
 sation ; What ! could the king's sister be one 
 of those people 1 For a moment it might have 
 been feared that Margaret's disgrace was cer- 
 tain. But the king, who loved his sister, af- 
 fected to disregard the rumour of the court. 
 The conduct of Margaret gradually dissipated 
 the opposition ; " Every one loved her, for," 
 says Brantome, "she was very kind, gentle, 
 condescending, and charitable, very easy of 
 access, giving away much in alms, overlook- 
 ng no one, but winning all hearts by her gra- 
 :ious deportment." 68 
 
 In the midst of the corruption and frivolity 
 of that age, the mind may joyfully contemplate 
 this elect soul, which the grace of God ga- 
 ,hered from beneath all its pomps and vanities. 
 But her feminine character held her back. If 
 Francis the First had had the convictions of 
 lis sister, we can hardly doubt he would have 
 followed them out. The fearful heart of the 
 princess trembled at the thought of facing the 
 anger of her king. She continued to fluctuate 
 between her brother and her Saviour, unwilling 
 to give up either one or the other. We do 
 not recognise in her the Christian who has at- 
 tained to the perfect liberty of God's children, 
 but the exact type of those souls at all times 
 so numerous, and especially among her sex, 
 who, drawn powerfully to look to heaven, 
 have not strength sufficient to disengage 
 themselves entirely from the bondage of earth. 
 Nevertheless, such as she is here seen, her 
 appearance is a touching vision on the stage 
 of history. Neither Germany nor England 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 385 
 
 presents such a picture as Margaret of Valois. 
 She is a star, slightly clouded, doubtless, but 
 shedding a peculiarly soft light. And at the 
 period \ve are contemplating, her light even 
 shines forth with much radiance. Not till 
 afterwards, when the angry glance of Francis 
 the First denounces a mortal hatred of the 
 Gospel, will his sister spread a veil over her 
 holy faith. But at this period she is seen 
 erect in the midst of a degraded court, and 
 moving in it as the bride of Jesus Christ. 
 The respect paid to her, the high opinion en- 
 tertained of her understanding and character, 
 pleads, more persuasively than any preacher, 
 the cause of the Gospel at the court of France, 
 and the power of this gentle female influence 
 gains admission for the new doctrines. Per- 
 haps it is to this period we may trace the dis- 
 position of the noblesse to embrace Protestant- 
 ism. If Francis had followed in the steps of 
 his sister, if the entire nation had opened its 
 arms to Christianity, the conversion of Mar- 
 garet might have been the channel of salvation 
 to France. But whilst the nobles welcomed 
 the Gospel, the throne and the people adhered 
 faithful to Rome, and a day came when it 
 was a source of heavy misfortune to the Re- 
 formation to have numbered in its ranks the 
 names of Navarre and Conde. 
 
 Thus already had the Gospel made converts 
 in France. Lefevre, Briconnet, Farel, Marga- 
 ret, in Paris, joyfully followed in the direction 
 of the movement. It seemed, as if Francis 
 himself were more attracted by the light of 
 learning than repelled by the purity of the 
 Gospel. The friends of God's word encour- 
 aged the most hopeful anticipations, and were 
 pleasing themselves with the thought that the 
 heavenly doctrine would spread, unresisted, 
 through their country, when suddenly a pow- 
 erful opposition was concocted in the Sorbonne, 
 and at the court. France, which was to sig- 
 nalize herself among Roman Catholic states 
 by three centuries of persecution of the Re- 
 formed opinions, arose against the Reforma- 
 tion with pitiless sternness. If the seventeenth 
 century was, in France, an age of bloody 
 persecution, the sixteenth was that of cruel 
 struggle. In no country, perhaps, have 
 those who professed the reformed faith met 
 with more merciless opposers on the very 
 spots where they brought the Gospel. In 
 Germany, the anger of the enemy came upon 
 them from other states, where the storm had 
 been gathering. In Switzerland, it fell upon 
 them from the neighbouring cantons ; but in 
 France it everywhere met them face to face. 
 A dissolute woman and a rapacious minister 
 then took the lead in the long line of enemies 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 Louisa of Savoy, mother of the king and of j 
 Margaret, notorious for her gallantries, of over- J 
 bearing temper, and surrounded by ladies of 
 honour, whose licentiousness was the begin- j 
 rang of a long train of immorality and infamy j 
 at the court of France, naturally ranged her- ' 
 self on the side of the opposers of God's 
 word. What rendered her more formidable j 
 was the almost unbounded influence she pos- j 
 
 1 sessed over her son. But the Gospel encoun~ 
 
 tered a still more formidable enemy in Anthony 
 | Duprat, Louisa's favourite, and, by her influ- 
 
 ence, elevated to the rank of chancellor of the 
 j kingdom. This man, whom a contemporary 
 j historian has designated as the most vicious 69 
 
 of bipeds, was yet more noted for avarice than 
 Louisa for her dissolute life. Having begun 
 ! with enriching himself by perverting justice, 
 he sought to add to his wealth at the cost of 
 religion; and took orders with a view to get 
 possession of the richest benefices. 
 
 Luxury and avarice thus characterized these 
 two persons, who, being both devoted to the 
 Pope, sought to cover the infamy of their lives 
 by the shedding the blood of heretics. 70 
 
 One of their first steps was to hand over 
 the kingdom to the ecclesiastical supremacy 
 of the Pope. The king, after the battle of 
 Marignan, had a meeting with Leo X. at Bo- 
 logna, and in that place was concluded the 
 memorable Concordat, in virtue of which those 
 two princes divided between them the spoils 
 of the Church. They annulled the supre- 
 macy of Councils to ascribe supremacy to the 
 Pope, and took from the respective churches 
 the power of nominating to bishoprics, to give 
 that power to the king. After this, Francis 
 the First, supporting the Pontiff's train, re- 
 paired publicly to the cathedral church of 
 Bologna to ratify the treaty. Sensible of the 
 iniquity of the Concordat, he turned to Du- 
 prat, and whispered in his ear, " There is 
 enough in this to damn us both." 71 But what 
 signified to him salvation 1 ? money and the 
 Pope's alliance was what he sought. 
 
 The Parliament met the Concordat with a 
 vigorous resistance. The king, after keeping 
 its deputies waiting for some weeks at An> 
 boise, sent for them one day into his presence, 
 upon rising from table, and said : " There is 
 a king in France, and I don't at all under- 
 stand that any men should form a senate after 
 the manner of Venice." He then ordered 
 them to depart before sunset. From such a 
 prince, Gospel liberty had nothing to hope. 
 Three days afterwards, the Grand Chamber- 
 lain la Tremouille appeared in Parliament, 
 and directed that the Concordat should be 
 enregistered. 
 
 On this, the University was in motion. 
 On the 18th of March, 1518, a solemn pro- 
 cession, at which were present the whole body 
 of students and bachelors in their corps, re- 
 paired to the church of St. Catherine of 
 Scholars, to implore God to preserve the 
 liberties of the Church and kingdom. 72 "The 
 'rails of the different colleges were closed ; 
 strong bodies of students went armed through 
 the streets, threatening and in some instances 
 maltreating consequential persons, engaged 
 pursuant to the king's directions, in making 
 known the Concordat, and carrying it into 
 effect." 73 However, in the result, the Univer- 
 sity allowed the compact to be fulfilled, but 
 without, rescinding the resolutions in which 
 their opposition to it was declared ; and " from 
 that time," says the Venetian ambassador 
 Correro, "the king began to give away 
 
386 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 bishoprics at the solicitation of the ladies of 
 the court, and to bestow abbey lands on his 
 soldiers, so that at the French court bishoprics 
 and abbeys were counted merchandise, just 
 as among the Venetians they trade in pepper 
 and cinnamon." 74 
 
 Whilst Louisa and Duprat were taking 
 their measures to root up the Gospel by the 
 destruction of the Gallican Church, a power- 
 ful party of fanatics were gathering together 
 against the Bible. The truth of the Gospel 
 has ever had two great adversaries, the pro- 
 fligacy of the world, and the fanaticism of the 
 priests. The scholastic Sorbonne and a shame- 
 less court were now about to go forward hand 
 in hand against the confessors of Jesus Christ. 
 The unbelieving Sadducees, and the hypocri- 
 tical Pharisees, in the early days of the Gospel, 
 were the fiercest enemies of Christianity, and 
 they are alike in every age. At their head 
 stood Noel Bedier, commonly called Beda, a 
 native of Picardy, syndic of the Sorbonne, 
 who had the reputation of the first blusterer 
 and most factious disturber of his time. Edft^ 
 cated in the dry maxims of scholastic mo- 
 rality, he had grown up in the constant hearing 
 of the theses and antitheses of his college, and 
 had more veneration for the hair-breadlh dis- 
 tinctions of the school than for God's word, 
 so that his anger was readily excited when- 
 ever any one ventured to give utterance to 
 other thoughts. Of a restless disposition, 
 that required continually to be engaged 
 in pursuit of new objects, he was a tor- 
 ment to all about him ; his very element 
 was trouble; he seemed born for contention; 
 and when adversaries were not at hand, he 
 would fall upon his friends. Boastful and 
 impetuous, he filled the city and the university 
 with the noise of his disputation, with his 
 invectives against learning and the innova- 
 tions of that age, as also against those, who, 
 in his opinion, did not sufficiently oppose 
 them. Some laughed, others gave ear to the 
 fierce talker, and in the Sorbonne his violence 
 gave him the mastery. He seemed to be ever 
 seeking some opponent, or some victim to 
 drag to the scaffold hence, before the "here- 
 tics" began to show themselves, his imagina- 
 tion had created them, and he had required 
 that the vicar-general of Paris, Merlin, should 
 be brought to the stake, on the charge of hav- 
 ing defended Origen. But when he caught 
 sight of the new teachers, he bounded like a 
 wild beast that suddenly comes within view 
 of its unsuspecting prey. "There are three 
 thousand monks in one Beda," remarked the 
 wary Erasmus. 75 
 
 Yet his violence injured the cause he la- 
 boured to advance. " What ! can the Romish 
 Church rest for her support on such an Atlas 
 as that I 73 Whence all this commotion but 
 from the insane violence of Bedal" was the 
 reflection of the wisest. 
 
 In truth the invectives that terrified the 
 weak, revolted nobler minds. At the court 
 of Francis the First, was a gentleman of 
 Artois, by name Louis Berquin, about thirty 
 years of age, who was never married. The 
 
 purity of his life, 77 his accurate knowledge, 
 which had won him the appellation of "most 
 | learned among the noble, " 78 hisingenuousness, 
 ' compasshon for the poor, and unbounded at- 
 tachment to his friends, distinguished him 
 above his equals. 79 The rites of the Church, 
 its fasts, festivals, and masses, had not a 
 more devout observer, and he held in especial 
 horror every thing heretical. 80 His devotion 
 was indeed the wonder of the whole court. 
 
 Tt seemed as if nothing 1 could have given 
 this man a turn in favour of the Reformation; 
 nevertheless, some points of his character 
 disposed him toward the Gospel. He had a 
 horror of all dissimulation, and having him- 
 self no ill-will to any, he could not endure 
 injustice in others. The overbearing violence 
 of Beda and other fanatics, their shuffling and 
 persecutions disgusted his generous heart, 
 and, as he was accustomed in every thing to 
 go heartily to work, he, ere long, wherever 
 he came, in the city and at court, even in the 
 first circles, 81 was heard vehemently protesting 
 against the tyranny of those doctors, and pur- 
 suing into their very holes the pestilent hor- 
 nets who then kept the world in fear." 2 
 
 But this was not all : for his opposition to 
 injustice led Berquin to inquire after the 
 truth. He resolved on knowing more of that 
 Holy Scripture so dear to the men against 
 whom Beda and his party were conspiring; 
 and scarcely had he begun to study it, than 
 his heart was won by it. Berquin imme- 
 diately sought the intimacy of Margaret, 
 Briconnet, Lefevre, and those who loved the 
 truth ; and in their society tasted of the purest 
 delight. He became sensible that he had 
 something else to do than to stand up against 
 the Sorbonne, and gladly would he have 
 communicated to all France the new convic- 
 tions of his soul. With this view he sat 
 down to compose and translate into French 
 certain Christian writings. To him it seemed 
 as if every one must confess and embrace the 
 truth as promptly as he himself had done. 
 The impatient zeal that Beda brought to the 
 service of traditions of men, Berquin em- 
 ployed in the cause of God's truth. Some- 
 what younger than the syndic of the Sorbonne, 
 less wary, less acute, he had in his favour the 
 noble incentive of a love of truth. Berquin 
 had a higher object than victory over his an- 
 tagonist when he stood up against Beda. It 
 was his aim to let loose the flood of truth 
 among his countrymen. On this account, 
 Theodore Beza observes, " that if Francis the 
 First had been another Elector, Berquin might 
 have come down to us as another Luther." 33 
 
 Many were the obstacles in his way. Fa- 
 naticism finds disciples everywhere; it is a 
 contagious infection. The monks and igno- 
 rant priests sided with the syndic of the Sor- 
 bonne. An esprit de corps pervaded their 
 whole company, governed by a few intriguing 
 and fanatical leaders, who knew how to work 
 upon the credulity and vanity of their col- 
 leagues, and by that means communicate to 
 them their own animosities. At all their 
 meetings these persons took the lead, lording 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 387 
 
 it over others, and reducing to silence the 
 timid and moderate of their body. Hardly 
 could they prop ^se any thing, when this party 
 exclaimed, in an overbearing tone, " Now we 
 shall see who are of Luther's faction." 84 If 
 the latter offered any reasonable suggestion 
 instantly a shudder passed from Beda to Le 
 couturier, Duchesne, and the rest, and all ex> 
 claimed, " Why, they are worse than Luther.' 
 The manoeuvre answe-ed their purpose, anc 
 the timid, who prefer quiet to disputation, and 
 are willing to give up their own opinion for 
 their own ease, those who do not understanc 
 the very simplest questions, and, lastly, such 
 as are easily turned round by mere clamour 
 were led away by Beda and his followers 
 Some silently, and some assenting aloud 
 submitted to the influence exercised over ordi- 
 nary spirits by one proud and tyrannical mind 
 Such was the state of this association, regard- 
 ed as venerable, and which, at this time, was 
 found among the most determined opposers 
 of the Christianity of the Gospel. Often 
 would one glance within the interior of such 
 bodies suffice to enable us to estimate at its 
 true value the war they wage against truth. 
 
 Thus the University which, under Louis 
 XII., had applauded the first inklings of in 
 dependence in Allman, abruptly plunged once 
 more, under the guidance of Duprat and Loui- 
 sa of Savoy, into fanaticism and servility. If 
 we except the Jansenists, and a few others, 
 nowhere in the Gallican clergy do we find a 
 noble and genuine independence. It has done 
 no more than vibrate between servility to the 
 court and servility to the Pope. If, under 
 Louis XII. or Louis XIV. we notice some 
 faint semblance of liberty, it is because its 
 master in Paris was at strife with its master 
 in Rome. Herein we have the solution of the 
 change we have noticed. The University and 
 the Bishops forgot their rights and obliga- 
 tions the moment the King ceased to enjoin 
 the assertion of them ! 
 
 Beda had long cherished ill-will against 
 Lefevre. The renown of the doctor of Picar- 
 dy irritated and ruffled the pride of his coun- 
 tryman, who would gladly have silenced him. 
 Once before, Beda had attacked the doctor of 
 Etaples, and, having as yet but little discern- 
 ment of the true point of the evangelic doc- 
 trines, he had assailed his colleague on a 
 point which, strange as it must to us appear, 
 was very near sending Lefevre to the scaf- 
 fold. 85 The doctor had asserted that Mary the 
 sister of Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, and the 
 woman who was a sinner, (mentioned by 
 Luke in his seventh chapter,) were three dis- 
 tinct persons. The Greek fathers had con- 
 sidered them as distinct, but the fathers of 
 the Latin Church had spoken of them as one 
 and the same. This shocking heresy, in re- 
 lation to the three Marys, set Beda and all 
 his clique in motion. Christendom itself was 
 roused. Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and one 
 of the most eminent prelates of the age, wrote 
 against Lefevre, and the whole Church de- 
 clared against a judgment that is now uni- 
 versally received among Roman Catholics 
 50 
 
 themselves. Already, Lefevre, condemned 
 by the Sorbonne, was prosecuted by the Par,* 
 liament on the charge of heresy, when Fran 
 cis I., not sorry to have an opportunity of 
 striking a blow at the Sorbonne, and hum 
 bling the monks, interfered, and rescued him 
 from the hands of his persecutors. 
 
 Beda, enraged at seeing his victim thus 
 snatched from his grasp, resolved on taking 
 his next measures more cunningly. The 
 name of Luther was beginning to be noised 
 in France. The Reformer, after disputing 
 against Eck at Leipsic, had agreed to ac- 
 knowledge the universities of Erfurth and of 
 Paris as his judges. The zeal displayed by 
 the University against the Concordat doubt- 
 less led him to expect an impartial verdict. 
 But a change had taken place, and the more 
 decided their opposition to the encroachments 
 of Rome, the more did the members of the 
 University seem to have it at heart to make 
 proof of their orthodoxy. Beda, accordingly, 
 found them quite disposed to enter into all 
 his views. 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1520, the questor 
 of France purchased twenty copies of Lu- 
 ther's conference with Eck, to distribute 
 them among the members of the commission 
 charged to make its report on the matter. 
 More than a year was taken up in the inves- 
 tigation. The German Reformation was be- 
 ginning to produce a strong sensation in 
 France. The several universities, then truly 
 Catholic institutions, resorted to from all 
 parts of Christendom, maintained a more di- 
 rect and intimate intercourse, on topics of 
 theology and philosophy, between Germany, 
 France, and England, than exists in our own 
 day. The report, brought to Paris, of Lu- 
 ther's labours and success, strengthened the 
 hands of such men as Lefevre, Bric,onnet, 
 and Farel. Some of the divines of the Sor- 
 bonne were struck by the truths they saw in 
 the writings of the Wittemberg monk. Now 
 and then a bold confession was heard ; but 
 there w r ere also fierce opposers. " Europe," 
 says Crevier, "was all expectation of the 
 decision of the University of Paris." The 
 issue seemed doubtful ; but Beda finally tri- 
 umphed. In April, 1521, the University de- 
 creed that the writings of Luther should be 
 publicly committed to the flames, and that 
 the author should be compelled to retract. 
 
 Further measures were resolved on. Lu- 
 her's disciples had crossed the Rhine, even 
 Before his writings. Maimbourg tells us that 
 the University was quickly filled with foreign- 
 ers, who, having obtained a reputation on the 
 strength of some knowledge of Hebrew, and 
 more of Greek, crept into the houses of per- 
 sons of distinction, and took upon them the 
 iberty of explaining the Scriptures. 86 The 
 'acuity, therefore, sent a deputation to the 
 dng to call attention to these disorders. 
 
 Francis the First, caring little for theolo- 
 gical dissensions, was then pursuing the 
 career of his pleasures. Passing from one 
 chateau to another, in company with his gen- 
 lemen and the ladies of his mother's and his 
 
388 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 sister's court, he indulged in every species of 
 dissolute excess, out of the range of the trou- 
 blesome observation of his capital. In this 
 way he passed through Brittany, Anjou, Gui- 
 enne, Angoumois, Poitou ; requiring, in vil- 
 lages and forests, the same attention and 
 luxury as if he had been in the Chateau des 
 Tournelles at Paris. Nothing was heard of 
 but tournaments, single combats, masquer- 
 ades, shows, and feastings, "such," says 
 Brantome, " that Lucullus himself never saw 
 the like.'"* 
 
 Suspending for a moment the course of his 
 pleasures, he gave audience to the grave de- 
 puties of the Sorbonne; but he saw only men 
 of learning in those whom the faculty desig- 
 nated as heretics ; and should a prince, who 
 boasts of having eclipsed and put hors de page 
 the kings of France, stoop to humour a clique 
 of fanatical doctors ? " I command you," was 
 his answer, "not to molest those people. To 
 persecute those who teach us, would prevent 
 able scholars from settling in our country." 88 
 
 The deputation quitted the royal presence 
 in a rage. What then is to be the conse- 
 quence? The danger is everyday greater, 
 already the heretical sentiments are counted 
 as those of the best informed classes, the 
 devouring flame is circulating between the 
 rafters, the conflagration will presently burst 
 forth, and the structure of the established faith 
 will fall, with sudden crash, to the earth. 
 
 Beda and his party, failing to obtain the 
 king's permission to resort to scaffolds, had 
 recourse to more quiet persecution. There 
 was no kind of annoyance to which the evan- 
 gelic teachers were not subjected. Every 
 day brought with it new rumours and new 
 charges. The aged Lefevre, wearied out by 
 these ignorant zealots, panted for quiet. The 
 pious Briconnet, who was unremitting in his 
 attentions to the Doctor of Etaples, offered 
 him an asylum. 89 Lefevre, therefore, took 
 leave of Paris, and repaired to Meaux. It 
 was a first advantage gained by the enemies 
 of the Gospel, and thenceforth it was seen 
 that if the party cannot enlist the civil power 
 on its side, it has ever a secret and fanatical 
 police, which it knows how to use, so as to 
 ensure the attainment of its ends. 
 
 Thus Paris was beginning to rise against 
 the Reformation, and to trace, as it were, the 
 first lines of that enclosure which, for three 
 centuries, was to bar the entrance of the Re- 
 formation. God had appointed that in Paris 
 itself its first glimmering should appear; but 
 men arose who hastily extinguished it ; the 
 spirit of the sixteen chiefs was already work- 
 ing, and other cities in the kingdom were 
 about to receive that light which the capital 
 itself rejected. 
 
 Brigonnet, on returning to his diocese, 
 there manifested the zeal of a Christian and 
 of a bishop. He visited all the parishes, and 
 having called together the deans, curates, vi- 
 cars, church-wardens, and principal parish- 
 ioners, he made inquiries respecting the teach- 
 ing and manner of life of the preachers. " At 
 the time of the gathering," they replied, " the 
 
 j Franciscans of Meaux sally forth ; a single 
 
 I preacher goes over four or five parishes in one 
 
 j day ; repeating as many times the same ser- 
 
 i mon, not to feed the souls of his hearers, but 
 
 I to fill his belly, and enrich his convent. 90 The 
 
 scrip once replenished, the object is answered ; 
 
 the preaching is at an end, and the monks are 
 
 not seen again in the churches until begging 
 
 time comes round again. The only thing 
 
 these shepherds attend to is the shearing of 
 
 their flocks." 91 
 
 The majority of the curates lived upon their 
 incomes at Paris. " Oh !" exclaimed the 
 pious bishop, on finding the presbytery he 
 had come to visit deserted, " must we not re- 
 gard those who thus forsake the service of 
 Christ, traitors to him I" 92 Briconnet resolved 
 to apply a remedy to these evils, and con- 
 voked a synod of all his clergy for the 13th 
 of October, 1519. But these worldly priests, 
 who gave but little heed to the remonstrances 
 of their bishop, and for whom Paris pos- 
 sessed so many attractions, took advantage 
 of a custom, by virtue of which they were 
 allowed to substitute one or more vicars to 
 look after their flocks in their absence. Out 
 of a hundred and twenty-seven vicars, Bri- 
 Qonnet, upon examination, found only four- 
 teen whom he could approve. 
 
 Earthly-minded curates, imbecile vicars, 
 monks whose God was their belly, such, then, 
 was the state of the church. Briconnet forbade 
 the pulpit to the Franciscans, 93 and, being per- 
 suaded that the only method of supplying able 
 ministers in his diocese was himself to train 
 them, he determined to found a school of 
 theology at Meaux, under the superintendence 
 of pious and learned doctors. It became ne- 
 cessary to look around for such persons. 
 Beda, however, supplied him with them. 
 
 This fanatic and his troop continued their 
 efforts, and complaining bitterly against the 
 government for tolerating the new teachers, 
 declared they would wage war against their 
 doctrines without, and even against its orders. 
 Lefevre had indeed quitted the capital, but 
 were not Farel and his friends still there. 
 Farel, it is true, did not preach, for he was 
 not in priest's orders ; but in the university, 
 in the city, with professors, priests, students, 
 and citizens, he boldly maintained the cause 
 of the Reformation. Others, emboldened by 
 his example, circulated more freely the word 
 of God. Martial Mazurier, president of St. 
 Michael's college, and distinguished as a 
 preacher, unsparingly depicted the disorders 
 of the time, in the darkest and yet the truest 
 colours, and it seemed scarce possible to with- 
 stand the force of his eloquence. 94 The rage 
 of Beda, and those divines who acted with 
 him, was at its height. "If we suffer these 
 innovators," said Beda, " they will spread 
 through our whole company, and there will 
 be an end of our teaching and tradition, as 
 well as of our places, and the respect France 
 and all Christendom have hitherto paid us." 
 
 The doctors of the Sorbonne were the 
 stronger party. Farel, Mazurier, Gerard 
 Roussel, and his brother Arnaud, soon found 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 389 
 
 beir active service everywhere counteracted. 
 The Bishop of Meaux pressed his friends to 
 rejoin Lefevre, and these worthy men, per- 
 secuted and hunted by the Sorbonne, and 
 hoping to form with Briconnet a sacred pha- 
 lanx for the triumph of truth, accepted the 
 bishop's invitation, and repaired to Meaux.' 
 Thus, the light of the Gospel was gradually 
 withdrawn from the capital where Providence 
 had kindled its first sparks. " This is the 
 condemnation, that light is come into the world, 
 and men love darkness rather than light, be- 
 cause their deeds are evil," (St. John iii. 19.) 
 It is impossible not to discern that Paris 
 then drew down upon it that judgment of 
 God which is here conveyed in the words of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Margaret of Valois, successively deprived 
 of Briconnet, Lefevre, and their friends, found 
 herself alone in the centre of Paris, and of the 
 dissolute court of Francis I. A young prin- 
 cess, sister to her mother, Philibertof Savoy, 
 lived on intimacy with her. Philibert, whom 
 the king of France had given in marriage to 
 Julian the Magnificent, brother of Leo X., in 
 confirmation of the Concordat, had, after her 
 nuptials, repaired to Rome, where the Pope, 
 delighted with so illustrious an alliance, had 
 expended no less than 150,000 ducats in fes- 
 tive entertainments on the occasion. 93 In 1516, 
 Julian, who then commanded the Papal forces, 
 died, leaving his widow only eighteen. She 
 attached herself to Margaret, being attracted 
 by the influence which the character and vir- 
 tues of that princess gave her over all about 
 her. The grief of Philibert unclosed her 
 heart to the voice of religion. Margaret im- 
 parted to her the fruit of her reading, and the 
 widow of the lieutenant-general of the Church 
 began to taste the sweetness of the saving 
 truth. But Philibert had as yet too little ex- 
 perience to be a support to her friend, and 
 often did Margaret tremble at the thought of 
 her own extreme weakness. If the love she 
 bore her king, and her fear of offending him, 
 led her to any action contrary to her con- 
 science, instantly her soul was troubled, and, 
 turning in sorrow to the Lord, she found in 
 him a master and brother more gracious and 
 sweet to her heart than Francis himself. It 
 was in such a season she breathed forth those 
 feelings : 
 
 Sweet Brother, who, in place of chastenings meet, 
 Lead'st gently home thy wandering sister's feet, 
 Giving thy Grace and Love hi recompense 
 Of murmurings, presumption, and offence. 
 Too much, my Brother, too much hast thoudone: 
 The blessing is too vast for such an one. 96 
 
 When she saw all her friends retiring to 
 Meaux, Margaret turned after them a look of 
 sorrow from the midst of the festivities of the 
 court. She seemed deserted of all, her hus- 
 band the Duke of Alencon was setting out for 
 the arnoy, her young aunt Philibert was re- 
 turning to Savoy. The Duchess wrote to 
 Briconnet, as follows : 
 
 * It was the persecution which arose against 
 them in Paris, in 1521, which compelled them to 
 leave that city. (Vie de Farel, par Chaupard,) 
 
 "Monsieur de Meaux, Knowing that God is 
 all-sufficient, I apply to you to ask your prayers 
 that He will conduct in safety, according to 
 His holy will, M. d'Alengon, who is about 
 to take his departure, by order of the king, as 
 lieutenant-general of his army, which I appre- 
 hend will not break up without a war; and, 
 thinking that, besides the public good of the 
 kingdom, you have an interest in all that con- 
 cerns his and my salvation, I request your 
 spiritual aid. To-morrow, rny aunt leaves 
 Nemours for Savoy. I must be mixed up 
 with many things which I dread. Therefore, 
 if you should know that master Michael could 
 make a journey hither, it would be a comfort 
 to me, which I desire only for the honour of . 
 God." 97 
 
 Michael Arand, whose counsel Margaret 
 desired, was one of the members of the evan- 
 gelic assembly at Meaux, who, at a later pe- 
 riod, exposed himself to many dangers in 
 preaching the Gospel. 
 
 The pious princess trembled to see an oppo- 
 sition gathering strength against the truth. 
 Duprat and the retainers of the government, 
 Beda and those who adhered to the Universi- 
 ty, inspired her with terror. Briconnet wrote 
 cheeringly It is the war which the gentle 
 Jesus said he was come to send upon earth, 
 the fire, the fierce fire which transforms earth- 
 liness into that which is heavenly. With all 
 my heart do I desire to help you, Madam ; but 
 do not expect from my weakness any more 
 than the will to serve you. Whoever has 
 faith, hope, love, has all that is necessary, and 
 needeth not any other help or protection. God 
 will be all, and out of Him we can hope for 
 nothing. Take with you into the conflict that 
 mighty giant, unconquerable Love. The war 
 is led on by Love. Jesus requires to have our 
 hearts in his presence : wo befalls the Chris- 
 ian who parts company from Him. He who 
 is present ip person in the battle is sure of 
 victory ; but if the battle is fought out of His 
 own presence, he will often lose ground." 98 
 
 The Bishop of Meaux was then beginning 
 to experience what it is to contend for the 
 word of God. The theologians and monks, 
 rritated by the shelter he had afforded to the 
 friends of the Reformation, vehemently accu- 
 sed him, so that his brother, the Bishop of St. 
 Malo, came to Paris to inquire into the 
 charges brought against him. 99 Hence Marga- 
 ret was the more touched by the comfortings 
 which BriQonnet addressed to her ; and she 
 nswered by offering him her assistance. 
 
 " If in any thing," wrote she, " you think 
 that I can be of service to you or your's, be 
 assured that I shall find comfort in doing all I 
 can. Everlasting Peace be given to you after 
 ,he long struggles you have waged for the 
 'aith in the which cause pray that you may 
 ive and die. 
 
 " Your devoted daughter, MARGARET." IO 
 
 Happy would it have been if Briconnet had 
 died while contending for the truth. Yet was 
 he still full of zeal. Philibert of Nemours, 
 universally respected for her piety, charity, 
 and blameless life, read with increasing in- 
 
390 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 terest the evangelical writings sent her from 
 time to time by the Bishop of Meaux. " I 
 have received all the tracts you forwarded, 
 wrote Margaret to Brie, onnet, " of which my 
 aunt of Nemours has taken some, and I mean 
 to send her the last, for she is now in Savoy, 
 called thither by her brother's marriage. Her 
 absence is no small loss to me; think of my 
 loneliness in your prayers." Unhappily, 
 Philibert did not live to declare herself openly 
 in favour of the Reformation. She died, in 
 1524, at the castle of Vireu le Grand in Bugey, 
 at the age of twenty-six. 101 Margaret was 
 deeply sensible of the loss of one who was to 
 her a friend a sister ; one who could, indeed, 
 enter into her thoughts. Perhaps no loss by 
 death was the occasion of more sorrow to her, 
 if we except that of her brother. 
 
 Alas ! nor earth nor heaven above appears 
 
 To my sad eyes, so ceaseless are the tears 
 
 That from them flow. 102 
 
 Margaret, feeling her own weakness to bear 
 up under her grief, and against the seductions 
 of the court, applied to Brie, onnet to exhort her 
 to the love of God : " The gentle and gra- 
 cious Jesus, who wills, and who alone is able 
 to work that which he wills, in his infinite 
 mercy, visit your heart, and lead it to love 
 him with an undivided love. None but He, 
 Madam, hath power to do this, and we must 
 not seek light from darkness, nor warmth from 
 cold. When he draws, he kindles, and by the 
 warmth draws us after him, enlarging our 
 hearts. You write to me to pity you because 
 you are alone ; I do not understand that word. 
 The heart that is in the world, and resting in 
 it, is indeed lonely, for many and evil are 
 they who compass it about. But she whose 
 heart is closed against the world and awake 
 to the gentle and gracious Jesus, her true and 
 faithful spouse, is really alone, living on sup- 
 plies from One who is all to her, and yet not 
 alone, because never left by Him who replen 
 ishes and preserves all. I cannot and ought 
 not to pity such solitude as this, which is more 
 to be prized than the whole world around us, 
 from which I am confident that God hath in 
 his love delivered you, so that you are no 
 longer its child. Continue, Madam, alone, 
 abiding in Him who is your all, and who 
 humbled himself to a painful and ignominious 
 death. 
 
 " In commending myself to your favour, I 
 humbly entreat you not to use the words of 
 your last letters. You are the daughter and 
 the spouse of God only. No other father 
 hath any claim upon you. I exhort and ad- 
 monish you to be to Him such and so good 
 daughter as He is to you a Father ; and since 
 you cannot attain to this, by reason that finite 
 cannot compare with infinite, I pray Him to 
 strengthen you, that you may love and serve 
 Him with all your heart." 103 
 
 Notwithstanding these counsels, Margaret 
 was not yet comforted. She grieved over the 
 loss of those spiritual guides who had been 
 removed from her. The new pastors set over 
 her to reclaim her, did not possess her confi- 
 dence ; and notwithstanding what the bishop 
 
 had said, she felt alone amidst the court, and 
 around her seemed like a desolate wilder- 
 53. She wrote to Brigonnet as follows : 
 " As a sheep wandering in a strange land, 
 and turning from her pasture in distrust of her 
 new shepherds, naturally lifts her head to 
 catch the breeze from that quarter of the field 
 where the chief shepherd once led her to the 
 tender grass, just so I am constrained to im- 
 plore your love. Come down from your moun- 
 tain, and look in pity on the blindest of all 
 your fold, astray among a people living in 
 darkness. 
 
 (Signed) MARGUERITE." IM 
 
 The Bishop of Meaux, in his reply, taking 
 up the comparison of a wandering sheep, 
 under which Margaret had pictured herself, 
 uses it to depict the mysteries of Salvation 
 under the figure of a wood. "The sheep," 
 says he, " on entering this wood under the 
 guidance of the Holy Spirit, is at once charm- 
 ed by the goodness, beauty, height, length, 
 breadth, depth, and refreshing odours of the fo- 
 rest, and looking round about sees only Him in 
 all, and all in Him ; and hastening onward 
 through its gieen alleys, finds it so sweet that 
 the way becomes life, joy, and consolation." 105 
 The bishop then describes the sheep trying m 
 vain to penetrate to the bounds of the forest, (as 
 a soul would fathom the deep things of God,) 
 meeting with mountains which it in vain en- 
 deavours to ascend, being stopped on all sides 
 by "inaccessible heights." He then shows 
 the way by which the soul, inquiring after 
 God, surmounts the difficulties, and how the 
 sheep, among all the hirelings, finds out " the 
 Chief Shepherd's nook," and " enters on the 
 wing of meditation by faith ;" then all is 
 made plain and easy, and she begins to sing, 
 "I have found him whom my soul loveth." 
 
 Thus wrote the Bishop of Meaux. In 
 the fervour of his zeal he would at this time 
 have rejoiced to see France regenerated by 
 the Gospel. 106 Often would he dwell especially 
 on those three individuals who seemed called 
 to preside over the destinies of his country ; 
 namely, the king, his mother, and his sister. 
 He thought that if the royal family were but 
 enlightened, the whole nation would be so ; 
 and that the clergy, aroused to emulation, 
 would awake from their deathlike stupor. 
 " Madam," wrote he to Margaret, " I humbly 
 pray God that He will please, in His good- 
 ness, to kindle a fire in the hearts of the 
 king, his mother, and yourself, so that from 
 you three a flame may go forth through the 
 nation, and reanimate especially that class, 
 which, by its coldness, chills all the others." 
 
 Margaret did not share in these hopes. 
 She says nothing of her mother, nor yet of 
 her brother. These were themes she did not 
 dare to touch; but in her answer to the 
 bishop, in January, 1522, oppressed at heart 
 by the indifference and worldliness all around 
 her, she said, " The times are so cold, the 
 heart so frozen up ;" and she signed herself 
 " Your cold-hearted, hungering and thirsting 
 daughter, MARGARET." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 391 
 
 This letter did not discourage Briconnet, 
 but it put him upon reflection; and feeling 
 how much he who sought to reanimate others 
 required to be reanimated himself, he asked 
 the prayers of Margaret and of Madame de 
 Nemours. "Madam," said he, with perfect 
 simplicity, "I pray you to re-awaken by 
 your prayers the poor drowsy one." 107 
 
 And such, in 1521, were the expressions 
 interchanged at the court of France. Strange 
 words, doubtless; and which now, after a 
 lapse of above three centuries, a manuscript 
 in the Royal Library reveals to us. Was 
 this influence in high places favourable to the 
 Reformation, or adverse to it 1 ? The spur of 
 truth was felt indeed at the court, but perhaps 
 did not arouse the slumbering beast, excit- 
 ing him to rage, and causing him to dart 
 more furiously on the weak ones of the flock. 
 
 In truth, the time was drawing nigh when 
 the storm was to burst upon the Reformation ; 
 but first it was destined to scatter some seeds 
 and gather in some sheaves. This city of 
 Meaux which a century and a half later was 
 to be honoured by the residence of the noble 
 defender of the Gallican church against the 
 claims of Rome, was called to be the first 
 town in France, wherein regenerated Chris- 
 tianity should establish its hold. It was at 
 this time the field on which the labourers 
 profusely scattered their seed, and into which 
 they had already put the sickle. Bri^onnet, 
 less given to slumber than he had said, 
 cheered, watched, and directed every thing. 
 His fortune was equal to his zeal. Never 
 did any one make a more noble use of his 
 means and never did so noble a devotion 
 promise at first to yield such abundant fruit. 
 Assembled at Meaux, the pious teachers took 
 their measures thenceforward with more 
 liberty. The word of God was not bound; 
 and the Reformation made a great advance 
 in France. Lefevre, with unwonted energy, 
 proclaimed that Gospel with which he would 
 gladly have filled the world "Kings, 
 princes, nobles, the people, and all nations," 
 he exclaimed, "ought to think and aspire 
 only after Jesus Christ. 108 Every priest should 
 resemble that angel seen by John in the 
 Apocalypse, flying th rough the air, having in 
 his hand the everlasting Gospel, to preach to 
 every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
 people. Draw near ye pontiffs, kings, and 
 generous hearts. Awake, ye nations, to the 
 light of the Gospel, ^nd receive the breath of 
 eternal life. 109 Sufficient is the word of God!" 110 
 
 Such, in truth, was the motto of the new 
 school: sufficient is the word of God. The 
 whole Reformation is imbodied in that truth. 
 "To know Christ and his word," said Le- 
 fevre, Roussel, Farel, "is the only true, 
 living, and universal Theology. He who 
 knows that, knows every thing." 111 
 
 The truth produced a deep impression at 
 Meaux. At first private meetings took place, 
 then conferences, and lastly the Gospel was 
 proclaimed in the churches. But a yet more 
 formidable blow was struck against the au- 
 thority of Rome. 
 
 Lefevre resolved to put it in the power of 
 the Christians of France to read the Scrip- 
 tures. On the 30th of October he published 
 the French translation of the four Gospels ; 
 on the 6th of November the remaining books 
 | of the New Testament; and on the 12th of 
 November, 1524, the whole of these collected 
 in one volume at Meaux; and in 1525 a 
 French version of the Psalms. 112 Thus, in 
 France, and almost at the same time as in 
 Germany, we have the commencement of that 
 publication of the Scriptures, in the vernacu- 
 lar tongue, which, after a lapse of three cen- 
 turies, was to receive such wonderful deve- 
 lopment. In France, as in the countries be- 
 yond the Rhine, the Bible produced a decided 
 effect. Many there were who had learned 
 by experience that when they sought the 
 knowledge of divine things, darkness and 
 doubt encompassed them on all sides. How 
 many were the passing moments, perhaps 
 even years, in which they had been tempted 
 to regard the most certain truths as mere illu- 
 sions. We want a ray from heaven to en- 
 lighten our darkness. Such was the longing 
 desire of many souls at the period of the Re- 
 formation. With feelings of this sort many 
 received the Scriptures from the hands of 
 Lefevre. They read them in their families 
 and in private. The Bible became increas- 
 ingly the subject of conversation. Christ 
 appeared to these souls, so long misled, as . 
 the sun and centre of all discovery. No 
 longer did they want evidence that Scripture 
 was of the Lord : they knew it, for it had de- 
 livered them from darkness into "light. 
 
 Such was the course by which some re- 
 markable persons in France were at this 
 time brought to know God. But there were 
 yet humbler and more ordinary steps by which 
 many of the poorer sort arrived at the know- 
 ledge of the truth. The city of Meaux was 
 almost entirely peopled with artisans and 
 dealers in woollen cloth. "Many," says a 
 chronicler of the sixteenth century, "were 
 taken with so ardent a desire to know the 
 way of salvation, that artisans, carders, ful- 
 lers, and combers, while at work with their 
 hands, had their thoughts engaged in conver- 
 sation on the word of God, and getting com- 
 fort from thence. On Sunday and on festi- 
 vals, especially, they employed themselves 
 in reading the Scriptures and inquiring into 
 the good pleasure of the Lord." 113 
 
 Briconnet rejoiced to see true piety take 
 the place of superstition in his diocese. 
 " Lefevre, availing himself of his great repu- 
 tation for learning," 114 observesacontemporary, 
 (Fontaine,) " managed so to cajole and impose 
 upon Messire Guillaume Bri^onnet by his 
 specious words, that he turned him aside into 
 gross error, so that it has been found impossi- 
 ble to cleanse the town and diocese of Meaux 
 from that wicked doctrine from that time to 
 this, when it has marvellously spread abroad. 
 The subverting of that good bishop was a 
 sad event, for he had, before that, been very 
 devout in his service to God and the Virgin 
 Mary." However, not all had been so 
 2 L 
 
392 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 grossly " turned aside," to adopt the expres- 
 sion of the Franciscan. The townspeople 
 were divided in two parties. On one side 
 were the Franciscan monks, and the partisans 
 of Romanism : on the other, Briconnet, Le- 
 fevre, Farel, and those who loved the new 
 preaching. A man of low station, named 
 Leclerc was one of the most servile adherents 
 of the monks ; but his wife and his two sons, 
 Peter and John, had joyfully received the 
 Gospel ; and John, who was by trade a wool- 
 carder, soon attracted notice among the infant 
 congregations. James Pavanne, a native of 
 Picardy, a young man of open and upright 
 character evinced an ardent zeal for the Re- 
 formed opinions. Meaux was become a 
 focus of light. Persons called thither by 
 business, and who there heard the Gospel, 
 returning, bore it with them to their respective 
 homes. It was not merely in the city that 
 the Scripture was the subject of inquiry ; 
 " many of the adjacent villages were awaken- 
 ed," says a chronicler, " so that in that 
 diocese seemed to shine forth a sort of image 
 of the regenerated church." 
 
 The environs of Meaux were, in autumn, 
 clothed with rich harvests, and a crowd of 
 labouring people resorted thither from the sur- 
 rounding countries. Resting themselves, in 
 the heat of the day, they would talk with the 
 people of those parts of a seed-time and har- 
 vest of another kind. Certain peasantry, who 
 had come from the Thierachia, and more par- 
 ticularly from Landouzy, after their return 
 home continued in the doctrine they had heard, 
 and, ere long, an evangelic church was formed 
 in this latter place,* a church, which is 
 among the most ancient in the kingdom. 
 44 The report of this unspeakable blessing 
 spread through France, says the chronicler. 115 
 Briconnet himself preached the Gospel from 
 the pulpit, and laboured to diffuse, far and 
 wide, that free, gracious, true, and clear light, 
 which dazzles and illuminates every creature 
 capable of receiving it ; and, while it enlight- 
 ens him, raises him by adoption to the dignity 
 of a child of God. f He besought his hearers 
 not to listen to those who would turn them 
 aside from the Word. "Though an angel 
 from heaven," exclaimed he, " should preach 
 any other Gospel, do not give ear to him 
 At times melancholy thoughts presented them- 
 selves to his mind. He did not feel confident 
 in his own steadfastness, arid he recoiled from 
 the thought .of the fatal consequences that 
 might result from any failure of faith on his 
 part. Forewarning his hearers, he would say, 
 "Though I, your bishop, should change my 
 voice and doctrine, take heed that you change 
 not with me." 116 At that moment nothing fore- 
 boded such a calamity. " Not only," says 
 the chronicler, " the word of God was preach- 
 ed, but it was practised : all kinds of works 
 of charity and love were visible; the morals 
 
 * These facts are derived from old and much 
 damaged papers discovered in the church of Lan 
 douzy-la-Ville (Aisne), by M. Colany, during the 
 time he filled the office of pastor in that town. 
 
 t MS. in the Royal Library, S. F. No. 337. 
 
 of the city were reformed, and its supersti- 
 tions disappeared." 117 
 
 Still indulging in the thought of gaining 
 over the king and his mother, the bishop sent 
 to Margaret a translation of St. Paul's Epis- 
 tles, richly illuminated, humbly soliciting her 
 to present it to the king, " which, corning 
 through your hands," added he, " cannot fail to 
 be acceptable. They make a truly royal dish," 
 continued the worthy bishop, "of a fatness 
 that never corrupts, and having a power to 
 restore from all manner of sickness. The 
 more we taste them the more we hunger after 
 them, with desires that are ever fed and never 
 cloyed."* 
 
 What dearer commission could Margaret 
 receive . . . . ? The moment seemed auspi- 
 cious. Michel d'Arande was at Paris, de- 
 tained there by command of the king's mother, 
 for whom he was translating portions of the 
 Scriptures. 118 But Margaret would have pre- 
 ferred that Briconnet should himself present 
 St. Paul to her brother : " You would do well 
 to come," wrote she, " for you know the con- 
 fidence the king andhismotherhaveinyou." 119 
 
 Thus at this time (in 1522 and 1523) was 
 God's word placed before the eyes of Francis 
 the First and Louisa of Savoy. They were 
 thus brought in contact with that Gospel of 
 which they were afterwards to be the persecu- 
 tors. We see nothing to indicate that that 
 Word made on them any saving impression ; 
 curiosity led them to unclose that Bible which 
 was the subject of so much discussion ; but 
 they soon closed it again as they had opened it. 
 
 Margaret herself with difficulty struggled 
 against the worldliness which surrounded her. 
 Her tender regard for her brother, respect for 
 her mother, the flattery of the court, all con- 
 spired against the love she had vowed to Jesus 
 Christ. Many indeed were her temptations. 
 At times, the soul of Margaret, assailed by so 
 many enemies, and dizzy with the tumult of 
 life, turned aside from her Lord. Then be- 
 coming conscious of her sin, the princess shut 
 herself in her apartments, and gave vent to her 
 grief in sounds very different from those with 
 which Francis and the young lords, who were 
 the companions of his pleasures, filled the 
 royal palaces in their carousings : 
 
 I have forsaken thee, for pleasure erring; 
 
 In place of thee, my evil choice preferring ; 
 
 And from thee wandering, whither am I come? 
 
 Among the cursed, to the place of doom. 
 
 I have forsaken thee, oh Friend sincere ; 
 
 And from thy love, the better to get free, 
 
 Have clung to things most contrary to thee. 120 
 
 After this, Margaret, turning in the direc- 
 tion of Meaux, wrote, in her distress, " I 
 again turn toward you, Mons. ' Fabry,' and 
 your companions, desiring you in your pray- 
 ers to entreat of the unspeakable mercy an 
 alarum that shall rouse the unwatchful weak 
 one from her heavy and deathlike slumbers."* 
 
 The friends of the Reformation were be- 
 ginning to indulge in cheering anticipations. 
 Who would be able to resist the Gospel if the 
 authority of Francis the First should open the 
 
 MS. in the Royal Library, S. F. No. 337. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 393 
 
 way for it. The corrupting influence of the 
 court would be succeeded by a sanctifying ex- 
 ample, and France would acquire a moral 
 power which would constitute her the bene- 
 factress of nations. 
 
 But the Romish party on their side had caught 
 the alarm. One of their party at Meaux, was 
 a Jacobin monk, of the name of Roma. One 
 day, when Lefevre, Farel, and their friends 
 were in conversation with him, and certain 
 other partisans of the Papacy, Lefevre incau- 
 tiously gave utterance to his hopes : "Alrea- 
 dy," said he, " the Gospel is winning the 
 hearts of the nobles and the common people, 
 and ere long we shall see it spreading through- 
 out France, and casting down the inventions 
 that men have set up." The aged doctor was 
 warmed by his theme, his eyes sparkled, and 
 his feeble voice seemed to put forth new pow- 
 er, resembling the aged Simeon giving thanks 
 to the Lord because his eyes had seen His 
 salvation. Lefevre's friends partook of his 
 emotion; the opposers were amazed and si- 
 lent .... Suddenly Roma rose from his seat, 
 exclaiming, " Then I and all the monks will 
 preach a crusade we will raise the people, 
 and if the king suffers the preaching of your 
 Gospel, we will expel him from his kingdom 
 by his own subjects." 121 Thus did a monk ven- 
 ture to stand up against the knightly monarch. 
 The Franciscans applauded his boldness. It 
 was necessary to prevent the fulfilment of the 
 aged doctor's predictions. Already the men- 
 dicant friars found their daily gatherings fall 
 off. The Franciscans in alarm distributed 
 themselves in private families. "Those new 
 teachers are heretics," said they, " they call 
 in question the holiest practices, and deny the 
 most sacred mysteries." Then, growing 
 bolder, the more violent of the party, sallying 
 forth from their cloister, presented themselves 
 at the bishop's residence, and being ad- 
 mitted, " Make haste," said they, " to crush 
 this heresy, or the pestilence which now afflicts 
 Meaux will extend its ravages through the 
 kingdom." 
 
 Bri<jonnet was roused, and for a moment 
 disturbed by this invasion of his privacy; but 
 he did not give way. Despising the interest- 
 ed clamour of a set of ignorant monks, he 
 ascended the pulpit and preached in vindica- 
 tion of Lefevre, designating the monks as 
 Pharisees and hypocrites. Still this opposi- 
 tion from without had already awakened 
 anxiety and conflict in his soul. He tried to 
 quiet his fears by persuading himself that it 
 was necessary to pass through such spiritual 
 struggles. "By such conflict," said he, in 
 expressions that sound mystical to our ears, 
 "we are brought to a death that ushers into 
 life, and, while ever mortifying life, living 
 we die, and dying live."* The way had been 
 more sure, if, turning to the Saviour, as the 
 apostles, when "driven by the winds and 
 tossed," he had cried out, "Lord! save us, 
 or we perish." 
 
 The monks of Meaux, enraged at this re- 
 
 * MS. in the Royal Library, S. F. No. 337. 
 
 pulse, resolved to carry their complaint before 
 a higher tribunal. An appeal lay open to 
 them; and if the bishop should be contuma- 
 cious, he may be reduced to compliance. 
 Their leaders set forth for Paris, and concerted 
 measures with Bed a and Duchesne. They 
 presented themselves before the Parliament, 
 and lodged information against the bishop and 
 the heretical teachers. "The town," said 
 they, "and all the neighbouring country, is 
 infected with heresy, and the muddy waters 
 go forth from the bishop's palace." 
 
 Thus France began to hear the cry of per- 
 secution raised against the Gospel. The 
 priestly and the civil power, the Sorbonne 
 and the Parliament laid their hands upon the 
 sword, and that sword was destined to be 
 stained with blood. Christianity had taught 
 men that there are duties anterior to all civil 
 relationships; it had emancipated the religious 
 mind, laid the foundations of liberty of con- 
 science, and wrought an important change in 
 society ; for Antiquity, everywhere recognis- 
 ing the citizen and nowhere the man, had 
 made of religion a matter of mere state regu- 
 lation. But scarcely had these ideas of liberty 
 been given to the world when the Papacy 
 corrupted them. In place of the despotism 
 of the prince, it substituted that of the priest. 
 Often, indeed, had both prince and priest been 
 by it stirred up against the Christian f eople, 
 A new emancipation was needed : the six- 
 teenth century produced it. Wherever the 
 Reformation established itself, the yoke of 
 Rome was thrown off, and liberty of con- 
 science restored. Yet is there such a prone- 
 ness in man to exalt himself above the truth, 
 that even among many Protestant nations of 
 our own time, the Church, freed from the 
 arbitrary power of the priest, is near falling 
 again into subserviency to the civil authority ; 
 thus, like its divine Founder, bandied from 
 one despotism to another ; still passing from 
 Caiaphas to Pilate, and from Pilate to Caia- 
 phas! 
 
 Briconnet, who enjoyed a high reputation 
 at Paris, easily cleared himself. But in vain 
 did he seek to defend his friends; the monks 
 were resolved not to return to Meaux empty- 
 handed. If the bishop would escape, he must 
 sacrifice his brethren. Of a character natu- 
 rally timid, and but little prepared for " Christ's 
 sake" to give up his possessions and stand- 
 ing, alarmed, agitated, and desponding, he 
 was still further misled by treacherous ad- 
 visers: "If the evangelical divines should 
 leave Meaux," said some, "they will carry 
 the Reformation elsewhere." His heart was 
 torn by a painful struggle. At length the 
 wisdom of this world prevailed : on the 12th 
 of April, 1523, he published an ordonnance 
 by which he deprived those pious teachers of 
 their license to preach. This was the first 
 step in Bric^onnet's downward career. 
 
 Lefevre was the chief object of enmity. 
 His commentary on the four Gospels, and es- 
 pecially the epistle " to Christian readers," 
 which he had prefixed to it, inflamed the 
 wrath of Beda and nis fellows. They de- 
 
394 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 nounced the work to the faculty " Has he 
 not ventured," said the fiery syndic, "to re- 
 commend to all the faithful the reading of the 
 Holy Scriptures! Does he not affirm that 
 whosoever loves not the word of Christ is no 
 Christian; and again, that the word of God 
 is sufficient of itself to lead us to eternal 
 lifer' 122 
 
 But Francis I. saw nothing more in this 
 accusation than a theological squabble. He 
 appointed a commission, before which Lefevre 
 successfully defended himself, and was ho- 
 nourably acquitted. 
 
 Farel, who had fewer protectors at court, 
 found himself obliged to qui-t Meaux. It 
 appears that he at first repaired to Paris, 123 and 
 that having there unsparingly assailed the 
 errors of Rome, he again found himself obliged 
 to remove, and left that city, retiring to Dau- 
 phiny, whither he was desirous of carrying 
 the Gospel. 
 
 To have intimidated Lefevre, and caused 
 Briconnet to draw back, and Farel to seek 
 refuge in flight, was a victory gained, so that 
 the Sorbonne already believed they had mas- 
 tered the movement. Monks and doctors ex- 
 changed congratulations; but enough was not 
 done in their opinion, blood had not flowed. 
 They went, therefore, again to their work, and 
 blood, since they were bent on shedding it, 
 was now to slake the thirst of Roman fana- 
 ticism. 
 
 The evangelical Christians of Meaux, see- 
 ing their pastors dispersed, sought to edify 
 one another. 124 A wool-carder, John Leclerc, 
 who had imbibed the true Christian doctrine 
 from the instructions of the divines, the read- 
 ing of the Bible, and some tracts, distin- 
 guished himself by his zeal and his expound- 
 ing of the Scripture. He was one of those 
 men whom the Spirit of God inspires with 
 courage, and places in the foremost rank of a 
 religious movement. 125 The Church of Meaux 
 soon came to regard him as its minister. 
 
 The idea of one universal priesthood, known 
 in such living power to the first Christians 
 had been revived by Luther* in the sixteenth 
 century. But this idea seems then to have 
 dwelt only in theory in the Lutheran Church, 
 and was really acted out only among the con- 
 gregations of the Reformed Churches. The 
 Lutheran congregations (agreeing in this point 
 with the Anglican Church) took, it seems, a 
 middle course between the Romish and the 
 Reformed Churches. Among the Lutherans, 
 every thing proceeded from the pastor or 
 priest; and nothing was counted valid in the 
 Church but what was regularly conveyed 
 through its rulers. But the Reformed 
 Churches, while they maintained the divine 
 appointment of the ministry, by some sects 
 denied, approached nearer to the primitive 
 condition of the apostolical communities. 
 From this time forward, they recognised and 
 proclaimed that the flock are not to rest satis- 
 fied with receiving what the priest gives out; 
 that, since the Bible is in the hands of every 
 
 * See pp. 154, 155. 
 
 one, the members of the Church, as well as 
 those who take the lead, possess the key of 
 that treasury whence the latter derive their 
 instructions ; that the gifts of God, the spirit 
 of faith, of wisdom, of consolation, and of 
 knowledge are not imparted to the minister 
 alone ; but that each is called upon to employ 
 for the good of all whatever gift he has re- 
 ceived : and that it may often happen that 
 some gift needful for the edification of the 
 Church may be denied to the pastor, and 
 granted to some member of his flock. Thus 
 the mere passive state of the Churches was 
 changed into one of general activity ; and it 
 was in France especially that this transforma- 
 tion took place. In other countries, the Re- 
 formers are found almost exclusively among 
 the ministers and doctors ; but in France, the 
 men who had read or studied had for fellow- 
 labourers men of the lowest class. Among 
 God's chosen servants in that country we 
 have a doctor of the Sorbonne and a wool- 
 comber. 
 
 Leclerc began to visit from house to house, 
 strengthening and confirming the disciples in 
 their faith. But not resting satisfied with 
 these ordinary labours, he longed to see the 
 papal edifice overthrown, and France coming 
 forward to embrace the Gospel. His ungo- 
 vernable zeal was such as to remind an ob- 
 server of Hottinger at Zurich, and Carlstadt 
 at Wittemberg. He wrote a proclamation 
 against the Antichrist of Rome, in which he 
 announced that the Lord was about to con- 
 sume that wicked one with the spirit of his 
 mouth, and proceeded boldly to post his pla- 
 card at the very door of the cathedral. 126 Soon 
 all was confusion in the neighbourhood of the 
 ancient edifice. The faithful were amazed, 
 the priests enraged. What! shall a base 
 wool-comber be allowed to assail the Pope? 
 The Franciscans were furious. They insisted 
 that at least on this occasion a terrible ex- 
 ample should be made, Leclerc was thrown 
 into prison. 
 
 His trial took place in the presence of 
 Briconnet himself, who was now to witness 
 and endure all that was done. The wool- 
 comber was condemned to be publicly whip- 
 ped through the city, three successive days, 
 and on the third day to be branded on the 
 forehead. The mournful spectacle began. 
 Leclerc was led through the streets, his 
 hands bound, his back bare, and receiving 
 from the executioners the blows he had drawn 
 upon himself by his opposition to the bishop 
 of Rome. A great crowd followed the mar- 
 tyr's progress, which was marked by his 
 blood : some pursued the heretic with yells : 
 others, by their silence, gave no doubtful 
 signs of sympathy with him ; and one woman 
 encouraged the martyr by her looks and 
 words she was his mother. 
 
 At length, on the third day, when the 
 bloody procession was over, Leclerc was 
 made to stop at the usual place of execution. 
 The executioner prepared the fire, heated the 
 iron which was to sear the flesh of the minis- 
 ter of the Gospel, and approaching him 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 395 
 
 branded him as a heretic on his forehead. 
 Just then a shriek was uttered hut it came 
 not from the martyr. His mother, a witness 
 of the dreadful sight, wrung with anguish, 
 endured a violent struggle between the en- 
 thusiasm of faith and maternal feelings; but 
 her faith overcame, and she exclaimed in a 
 voice that made the adversaries tremble, 
 " Glory be to Jesus Christ and his witnesses." 127 
 Thus did this Frenchwoman of the sixteenth 
 century have respect to that word of the Son 
 of God, "Whosoever loveth his son more 
 than me is not worthy of me." So daring a 
 courage at such a moment might have seemed 
 to demand instant punishment; but that 
 Christian mother had struck powerless the 
 hearts of the priests and soldiers. Their 
 fury was restrained by a mightier arm than 
 theirs. The crowd falling back and making- 
 way for her, allowed the mother to regain, 
 with faltering step, her humble dwelling. 
 Monks, and even the town-serjeants them- 
 selves, gazed on her without moving; "not 
 one of her enemies," says Theodore Beza, 
 " dared put forth his hand against her." 
 After this punishment, Leclerc, being set at 
 liberty, withdrew, first to Rosay en Eric, a 
 tow r n six leagues from Meaux, and subse- 
 quently to Metz, where we shall again meet 
 with him. 
 
 The enemy was triumphant. " The Cor- 
 deliers having regained possession of the 
 pulpit, propagated their accustomed false- 
 hoods and absurdities." 128 But the poor work- 
 ing-people of Meaux, no longer permitted to 
 hear the word of God in regular assemblies, 
 began to hold their meetings in private, " imi- 
 tating," says the chronicler, " the sons of 
 the prophets in the days of Ahab, and the 
 Christians of the early church ; assembling, 
 as opportunity offered, at one time in a house, 
 at another in a cavern, and at times in a 
 vineyard or a wood. On such occasions, he 
 among them who was most conversant with 
 the Holy Scriptures exhorted the rest; and 
 this being done, they all prayed together with 
 much fervency, cheered by the hope that the 
 Gospel would be received in France, and the 
 tyranny of Antichrist be at an end." 129 Where 
 is the power can arrest the progress of truth 1 
 
 One victim, however, did not satisfy the 
 persecutors ; and if the first against whom 
 their anger w r as let loose was but a wool- 
 comber, the second was a gentleman of the 
 court. It was become necessary to overawe 
 the nobles as well as the people. The Sor- 
 bonne of Paris was unwilling to be outstrip- 
 ped by the Franciscans of Meaux. Berquin, 
 " the most learned among the nobles," con- 
 tinuing to gather more confidence from the 
 Scriptures, had composed certain epigrams 
 against the " drones of the Sorbonne ;" and 
 had afterwards gone so far as to charge them 
 with impiety. 130 
 
 Beda and Duchesne, who had not ventured 
 any reply in their usual style to the witticisms 
 of a gentleman of the court, adopted a dif- 
 ferent line of conduct when they discerned 
 that serious convictions were at the bottom 
 
 51 
 
 of these attacks. Berquin had become a 
 Christian ; his ruin was therefore decided on. 
 Beda and Duchesne having seized some of 
 his translations, found in them sufficient to 
 bring more than one heretic to the stake : 
 "He asserts," they exclaimed, "that it is 
 wrong to invoke the Virgin Mary in place of 
 the Holy Spirit, and to call her the source 
 of all grace! 151 He declares himself against the 
 custom of speaking of her as our hope and our 
 life, and says that these titles belong only to 
 the Son of God." There were other charges 
 against Berquin ; his closet was as it were 
 a library, whence the supposed tainted Avorks 
 were diffused through the kingdom. Above 
 all, Melancthon's Loci Communes served to 
 stagger the more learned. The man of piety, 
 entrenched amid his folios and tracts, had, in 
 his Christian love, made himself translator, 
 
 corrector, printer, and bookseller It 
 
 seemed indispensable to stop the stream at its 
 source. 
 
 Accordingly, one day, while Berquin was 
 quietly engaged in his studies, the house was 
 of a sudden surrounded by armed men, de- 
 manding admittance. The Sorbonne and its 
 agents, armed with authority from the Par- 
 liament, were at his door. Beda, the dreaded 
 syndic, was at their head, and never did 
 inquisitor more perfectly perform his func- 
 tion. Followed by his satellites, he made 
 his way to Berquin's study, communicated 
 the object of his mission, and desiring his 
 followers to keep an eye upon him, com- 
 menced his search. Not a volume escaped 
 his notice, and an exact inventory was made 
 under his direction. Here lay a treatise by 
 Melancthon ; there a pamphlet by Carlstadt : 
 farther on a work of Luther's ; here ' hereti- 
 cal' books which Berquin had translated 
 from Latin into French ; there others of his 
 own composition. With two exceptions, all 
 the books seized abounded with Lutheran 
 doctrine, and Beda quitted the house, carrying 
 away his booty, and more elated than a ge- 
 neral laden with the spoil of conquered 
 nations. 132 
 
 Berquin perceived that a violent storm had 
 burst upon his head, but his courage did not 
 falter: he had too much contempt for his 
 adversaries to fear them. Meanwhile, Beda 
 lost no time. On the 31st of May, 1523, the 
 Parliament decreed that all the books seized 
 at Berquin's house should be laid before the 
 faculty of theology. Its decision was soon 
 made known, and on the 25th of June, it con- 
 demned all the works, except the two already 
 mentioned, to be burnt as heretical; and 
 enjoined that Berquin should be required to 
 abjure his errors. The Parliament ratified 
 the decision. Berquin appeared at the bar 
 of this formidable body : he knew that the 
 next step beyond it might be to the scaffold ; 
 but, like Luther at Worms, he stood firm. It 
 was in vain that the Parliament insisted on 
 his retracting ; he was not of those who fall 
 away after being made partakers of the Holy 
 Ghost. He that is begotten of God keepeth 
 himself^ and that wicked one touched him not. 
 
396 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Hebrews vi. 4. 1 John v. 18. Every such 
 fall proves that conversion has either been 
 only apparent, or else partial ;* now Ber- 
 quin's was a real conversion. He answered 
 the court before which he stood with decision ; 
 and the Parliament, using more severity than 
 the Diet of Worms, directed its officers to 
 take the accused into custody, and lead him 
 away to prison. This took place on the 1st 
 of August, 1523. On the 5th, the Parlia- 
 ment handed over the heretic to the Bishop 
 of Paris, in order that that prelate might take 
 cognisance of the affair, and, jointly with the 
 doctors and counsellors, pass sentence on the 
 culprit. Berquin was forthwith transferred 
 to the official prison. 133 
 
 Bed a, Duchesne, and their companions 
 had their victim in their clutches; but the 
 court bore no favour to the Sorbonne, and 
 Francis was more powerful than Beda. A 
 feeling of indignation spread among the 
 nobles : what do those monks and priests 
 mean, not to respect the rank of a gentleman 1 
 What charge do they bring against him ? 
 was the question asked in the presence of 
 Francis. Is it that he blames the practice of 
 invoking the Virgin instead of the Holy Spi- 
 rit 1 ? But Erasmus and many more have 
 censured it. Is it on such frivolous charges 
 they go the length of imprisoning an officer 
 of the king] 134 This attack of theirs is a blow 
 struck against knowledge and true religion ; 
 an insult to nobles, knights, and royalty 
 itself. The king decided on again making 
 the Sorbonne feel the weight of his authority. 
 He issued letters summoning the parties in 
 the cause before his council, and on the 8th 
 of August a messenger presented himself at 
 the official prison, bearing a royal mandate 
 enjoining that Berquin should be at liberty. 
 
 It seemed at first doubtful whether the 
 monks would yield compliance. Francis had 
 anticipated some difficulty, and, in charging 
 the messenger wiih the execution of his or- 
 ders, had added, "If you meet with any 
 resistance, I authorize you to break open the 
 doors." There was no misunderstanding 
 these words. The monks and the Sorbonne 
 submitted to the affront put upon them ; and 
 Berquin, released from durance, appeared be- 
 fore the king's council, and was there ac- 
 quitted. 135 
 
 Thus did Francis I. humble the ecclesias- 
 tical power. Under his reign Berquin fondly 
 hoped that France might free herself from 
 the Papal yoke ; and he began to meditate a 
 renewal of hostilities. With this intent, he 
 opened communications with Erasmus, who 
 at once acknowledged his right intentions. 136 
 But the philosopher, ever timid and tempo- 
 rizing, replied, "Remember to avoid irri- 
 tating the drones; and pursue your studies 
 in peace. 137 Above all, do not implicate me in 
 your affairs, for that will be of no service to 
 either of us." 138 
 
 * This is believed to be a faithful rendering of 
 the original. The interpretation and the applica- 
 tion may be open to question. (Tr.) 
 
 Berquin was not discouraged. If the great 
 genius of the age draws back, he will put his 
 trust in God, who never deserts His work. 
 God's work will be effected, either by hum 
 ble instrumentality, or without it. Erasmus 
 himself acknowledged that Berquin, like the 
 palm tree, rose in renewed vigour from every 
 new gust of persecution that assailed him. 139 
 
 Not such were all who had embraced the 
 Evangelical doctrines. Martial Mazurier had 
 be-en one of the most zealous of preachers. 
 He was accused of having advocated very 
 erroneous opinions; 140 andeven of having com- 
 mitted, while at Meaux, certain acts of vio- 
 lence. "This Martial Mazurier, being at 
 Meaux," such are the words of a manu- 
 script preserved in that city, and which we 
 have already had occasion to quote," enter- 
 ing the church of the reverend Fathers, the 
 Cordeliers, and seeing the statue of St. Fran- 
 cis, in high relief, outside the door of the con- 
 vent, where that of St. Roche is now placed, 
 struck it down and broke it." Mazurier was 
 arrested and thrown into prison, where he at 
 once fell back upon his own reflections and 
 the keenest perplexity. 111 It was the Gospel 
 rule of morals, rather than its great doctrines, 
 that had won him over to the ranks of the 
 Reformers* and that rule, taken alone, 
 brought with it no strength. Terrified at the 
 prospect of the stake awaiting him, and be- 
 lieving that, in France, the victory would be 
 sure to remain with Rome, he easily per- 
 suaded himself that he should have more 
 influence and honour by going back to the 
 Papacy. Accordingly, he recanted his former 
 teaching, and directed that doctrines altoge- 
 ther opposed to those ascribed to him should 
 be preached in his parish; 142 and uniting, at a 
 later period, with the most fanatical of the 
 Romish party, and particularly with the cele- 
 brated Ignatius Loyola, he became thence- 
 forward the most zealous supporter of the 
 Papal cause. 143 From the days of the Emperor 
 Julian, apostates have ever been among the 
 sternest enemies of the doctrines which they 
 once professed. 
 
 An occasion soon offered for Mazurier to 
 make proof of his zeal. The youthful James 
 Pavanne had also been thrown into prison. 
 Martial hoped to cover his own shame by in- 
 volving another in the like fall. The youth, 
 the amiable disposition, the learning, and the 
 integrity of Pavanne, created a general inte- 
 rest in his favour ; and Mazurier imagined 
 that he himself should be deemed less culpa- 
 ble if he could but persuade Master James to 
 a similar course. Visiting him in his cell, he 
 began by pretending that he had advanced 
 further in inquiry into the truth than Pavanne 
 had done. " You are under a mistake, James," 
 he often repeated to him : " You have not 
 gone deep into these matters ; you have made 
 acquaintance only with the agitated surface 
 of them." 144 Sophisms, promises, threats, were 
 freely resorted to. The unfortunate youth, 
 deceived, disturbed, and perplexed, yielded 
 to these perfidious advances; and on the mor- 
 row of Christmas day, 1524, he publicly ab- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 397 
 
 jured his pretended errors. But from that 
 hour a spirit of melancholy and remorse, sent 
 by the Almighty, weighed heavy on his soul. 
 Deep sadness consumed him, and his sighs 
 were unceasing. "Ah!" he repeated, '-for 
 me life has nothing left but bitterness." 
 Such are the mournful consequences of apos- 
 tasy. 
 
 Nevertheless, among those Frenchmen who 
 had received the word of God were found men 
 of more intrepid hearts than Pavanne and 
 Mazurier. Towards the end of 1523, Leclerc 
 settled at Metz, in Lorraine, "and there," 
 says Theodore Beza, "he acted on the ex- 
 ample of St. Paul, who, while labouring at 
 Corinth as a tent-maker, persuaded both the 
 Jews and the Greeks." 145 Leclerc, while pur- 
 suing his industry as a wool-comber, instruct- 
 ed those of his own condition; and among 
 these last there had been several instances of 
 real conversion. Thus did this humble arti- 
 san lay the foundations of a church which 
 afterwards became celebrated. 
 
 But at Metz, Leclerc did not stand alone. 
 Among the ecclesiastics of that city was one 
 John Chatelam, an Augustine monk of Tour- 
 nay, and doctor of theology, who had been 
 brought to the knowledge of God through his 
 acquaintance with the Augustines of Antwerp. 146 
 Chatelain had gained* the reverence of the 
 people by the strictness of his morals; 147 and 
 the doctrine of Christ, wheji preached by 
 him, attired in cope and stole, appeared less 
 strange to the inhabitants of Metz than when 
 it proceeded from the lips of a poor artisan, 
 laying aside the comb with which he carded 
 his wool, to take up and explain a French 
 version of the Gospels. 
 
 By the active zeal of these two men, the 
 light of evangelical truth began to be diffused 
 throughout the city. A very devout woman 
 named Toussaint, one of the middle class of 
 the people, had a son called Peter, with 
 whom, in the hours of his childish sports, 
 she would often speak of serious things. 
 Every one, even to the humblest, lived then 
 in expectation of some extraordinary event. 
 One day the child was amusing himself in 
 riding on a stick, in a room where his mother 
 was conversing with some friends on the 
 things of God, when she said, in a voice of 
 emotion, "Antichrist will soon come with 
 great power, and will destroy such as shall 
 have been converted by the preaching of 
 Elias." 148 These words being frequently re- 
 peated, arrested the attention of the child, 
 and he afterwards recalled them. At the 
 time when the doctor of theology and the 
 wool-comber were engaged in preaching the 
 Gospel at Metz, Peter Toussaint was grown 
 up. His relations and friends, wondering at 
 his precocious genius, conceived the hope of 
 seeing him in an exalted station in the 
 Church. An uncle on his father's side was 
 prinn'cicr, or head of the chapter of Metz. 149 
 The cardinal John of Lorraine, son of Duke 
 Rene, who kept a large establishment, ex- 
 pressed much regard for the primider and his 
 
 i nephew, the latter of whom, notwithstanding 
 j his youth, had just before obtained a prebend, 
 when his attention was drawn to the study of 
 the Gospel. Why may not the preaching of 
 Chatalain and Leclerc be that of Ellas'? It is 
 true, Antichrist is everywhere arming against 
 it. But what matter! "Let us," said he, 
 " lift up our heads, looking to the Lord, who 
 will come and will not tarry." 150 The light of 
 truth w r as beginning to find entrance among 
 the principal families of Metz. The knight 
 Esch, an intimate friend of the primicier, or 
 dean, and much respected, had been recently 
 converted. 151 The friends of the Gospel were 
 rejoicing in this event: Pierre was accus- 
 tomed to term him " our worthy master the 
 knight;" adding with noble candour, "if we 
 may be allowed to call any man master on 
 earth." 152 
 
 Thus Metz was about to become a focus 
 of light when the rash zeal of Leclerc ab- 
 ruptly arrested its slow but sure progress, and 
 excited a commotion which threatened ruin 
 to the infant church. The populace of Metz 
 had continued to observe their accustomed su- 
 perstitions, and Leclerc's spirit was stirred 
 within him at the sight of the city almost 
 wholly given to idolatry. One of their high 
 festivals drew nigh. About a league distant 
 from the city stood a chapel enclosing statues 
 of the Virgin and of the most venerated saints 
 of the surrounding country, whither the peo- 
 ple of Metz were in the habit of resorting in 
 pilgrimage on a certain day in the year, to 
 worship these images and obtain the pardon 
 of their sims. 
 
 On the eve of this festival the pious and 
 the courageous spirit of Leclerc was deeply 
 agitated. Had not God said " Thou shall 
 not bow down 1o their gods, but thou shall utter- 
 ly overthrow them, ar.d quite break down Iheir 
 images" 1 Exodus xx. 4 ; xxiii. 24. Leclerc 
 understood the words as addressed to himself, 
 and vithout conferring with Chutelain, Esch, 
 or any of those whom he may have expected 
 would dissuade him, quitted the city, and ap- 
 Droached the chapel. There he collected his 
 .noughts as he sat silently before these sta- 
 :ues. As yet the way was open to him to re- 
 ire ; but to-morrow in a few hours the en- 
 ire population of a city, which ought to be 
 worshipping God alone, will be bowing be- 
 fore these blocks of wood and stone. A strug- 
 gle ensued in the heart of the humble wool- 
 arder, similar to that which was so often en- 
 dured in the hearts of the early Christians. 
 What signified the difference, that here it 
 w r as the images of the saints of the neigh- 
 jouring country, and not of heathen gods 
 md goddesses did not the worship rendered 
 o these images belong of right to God alone ? 
 jike Polyeucte before the idols of the temple, 
 lis heart shuddered and his courage was 
 oused : 
 
 Ne perdons plus le temps, le sacrifice est pret, 
 Ailonsy du vrai Dien soutenir I'interet ; 
 Allons fouler aux pieds ce foudre ridicule 
 Dont arme un bois pourri ce peuple trop credule; 
 
398 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Aliens en eclairer 1'aveuglement fatal, 
 Allons briser ces dieux de pierre et de metal ; 
 Abandonnons nos jours, a cette ardeur celeste 
 Faisuns triompher Dieu; qu'il dispose du reste. 
 Corneitle, Polyeucte.* 
 
 Leclerc accordingly rose from his seat, and 
 approaching the images, removed them, and 
 broke them, in his holy indignation scattering 
 the fragments before the altar. He did not 
 doubt that this action was by special inspira- 
 tion of the spirit of the Lord, and Theodore 
 Beza was of the same judgment. 153 This done 
 Leclerc returned to Metz, re-entering it at 
 day-break, and noticed only a few persons at 
 the moment of his passing the gate of the 
 city.'" 
 
 Meanwhile all Were in motion in the ancient 
 city of Metz. The bells rang, the various 
 religious bodies mustered, and the entire popu- 
 lation, headed by the priests and monks, left 
 the city, reciting prayers and chanting hymns 
 to the saints whom they were on their way to 
 worship. Crosses and banners went forward 
 in orderly procession, and drums and instru- 
 ments of music mingled with the hymns of 
 the faithful. After an hour's march, the pro- 
 cession reached the place of pilgrimage. But 
 what was the astonishment of the priests, 
 when advancing with censers in hand, they 
 beheld the images they had come to worship 
 mutilated, and their fragments strewed upon 
 the earth. They drew back appalled, and 
 announced to the crowd of worshippers the 
 sacrilege that had been committed. Instantly 
 the hymns were hushed the music stopped 
 the banners were lowered, and agitation 
 pervaded the assembled multitude. Canons, 
 curates, and monks, laboured still further to 
 inflame their anger and excited them to search 
 out the guilty person, and require that he 
 should be put to death. 155 A shout was raised 
 on all sides. " Death Death to the sacri 
 legious wretch." They returned in haste and 
 disorder to the city 
 
 Leclerc was known to all; several times 
 he had been heard to call the images idols ; 
 moreover he had been observed at day-break 
 returning from the direction of the chapel. 
 He was apprehended, and at once confessed 
 the fact, at the same time conjuring the peo- 
 ple to worship God alone. But his appea 
 only the more inflamed the rage of the multi- 
 tude, who would have dragged him to instan 
 execution. Placed before his judges, he 
 
 ! of monks and people. They began by cut- 
 ing off his right hand ; then taking up the 
 ed-hot pincers, they tore away his nose ; af 
 er this, with the same instrument they lace 
 rated his arms, and having thus mangled him 
 n many places, they ended by applying the 
 urnings to his breasts. 156 All the while that 
 lie cruelty of his enemies was venting itself 
 on his body, his soul was kept in perfect 
 peace. He ejaculated solemnly, 157 "Their 
 dols are silver and gold, the work of men's 
 hands. They have mouths, but they speak not : 
 eyes have they, but they see not : they have ears, 
 but they htar not: noses have they, but they 
 smell not : they have hands, but they handle not . 
 feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak 
 they through their throat. They that make them 
 are like unto them : so is every one that trusteth 
 in them. Israel, trust thnu in the Lord: he 
 is their help and (heir shield." The enemies 
 
 were awed by the sight of so much compo- 
 sure, believers were confirmed in their faith, 158 
 and the people, whose indignation had vented 
 itself in the first burst of anger, were astonished 
 and affected. 159 After undergoing these tortures, 
 Leclerc was burned by a slow fire in conform- 
 ity to the sentence. Such was the death of 
 the first martyr of the Gospel in France. 
 
 But the priests of Metz did not rest there : 
 in vain had they laboured to shake the 
 fidelity of Chatelain- " He is like the deaf 
 adder," said they, "he refuses to hear the 
 truth." 160 He was arrested by the servants of 
 the Cardinal of Lorraine, and transferred to 
 the castle of Nommeny. 
 
 After this he was degraded by the officers 
 of the bishop, who stripped him of his vest- 
 ments, and scraped the tips of his fingers with 
 a piece of broken glass, saying, "Thus do we 
 take away the power to sacrifice, consecrate, 
 and bless, which thou didst formerly receive 
 by the anointing of thy hands." 161 Then throwing 
 over him the habit of a layman, they handed 
 him over to the secular power, which doomed 
 him to be burnt alive. The fire was quickly 
 lighted, and the servant of Christ consumed 
 in the flames. " Nevertheless," observe the 
 historians of the Gallician Church, who, in 
 other respects, are loud in commendation of 
 
 these acts of rigour, "Lutheranism 
 through all the district of Metz." 
 
 From the moment this storm had descended 
 on the church of Metz, distress and alarm had 
 prevailed in the household of Toussaint. His 
 
 courageous!) 7 " declared that Jesus Christ God | uncle, the dean, without taking an active part 
 manifest in the flesh ought to be the sole in the measures resorted to against Leclerc 
 
 object of their worship ; and was sentenced 
 to be burnt alive! He was conducted to the 
 place of execution. 
 
 Here an awful scene awaited him: his 
 persecutors had been devising all that could 
 render his sufferings more dreadful. At the 
 scaffold they were engaged heating pincers, 
 as instruments of their cruelty. Leclerc 
 heard with calm composure the savage yells 
 
 * Polyeucte, by P. Corneille. What many ad- 
 mire in poetry, they pass condemnation on in his- 
 tory. 
 
 and Chatelain, shuddered at the thought that 
 his nephew was one among those people. His 
 mother's fears were still more aroused : not a 
 moment was to be lost: all who had given ear 
 to the evangelic doctrine felt their liberty and 
 lives to be in danger. The blood shed by the 
 inquisitors had but increased their thirst for 
 more. New scaffolds would ere long be erect- 
 ed : Pierre Toussaint, the knight Esch, and 
 others besides, hastily quitted Metz, and 
 sought refuge at Basle. 
 
 Thus violently did the storm of persecution 
 rage at Meaux and at Metz. Repulsed from 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 399 
 
 the northern provinces, the Gospel for a while 
 seemed to give way ; but the Reformation did 
 but change its ground, and the south-eastern 
 provinces became the basis and theatre of the 
 movement. 
 
 Farel, who had retired to the foot of the 
 Alps, was labouring actively in his work. It 
 was a small thing to him to enjoy in the bo- 
 som of his family the sweets of domestic life. 
 The report of the events that had taken place 
 at Meaux and at Paris had communicated a 
 degree of terror to his brothers ; but a secret 
 influence attracted them toward those new and 
 wondrous truths which their brother William 
 was in the habit of dwelling upon. The latter, 
 with all the earnestness of his character, be- 
 sought them to be converted to the Gospel; 162 
 and Daniel, Walter, and Claude were at length 
 won over to that God whom their brother de- 
 clared to them. They did not at first relin- 
 quish the worship of their forefathers, but 
 when persecution arose, they boldly suffered 
 the loss of friends, property, and country, for 
 the liberty to worship Christ. 163 
 
 The brothers of Luther and Zwingle do not 
 appear to have been so decidedly converted to 
 the Gospel. The Reformation in France had 
 from its outset a peculiarly domestic charac- 
 ter. 
 
 Farel's exhortations were not confined to 
 his brothers. He made known the truth to 
 his relatives and friends at Gap and its vicini- 
 ty. It would even appear, if we give credit 
 to one manuscript, that, availing himself of 
 the friendship of certain ecclesiastics, he be- 
 gan to preach the Gospel in some of the 
 churches; but other authorities affirm that he 
 did not at this time occupy the pulpit. 164 How- 
 ever that may be, the opinions he professed 
 were noised abroad, and both priests and peo- 
 ple insisted that he should be silenced : 
 * What new and strange heresy is this ]" said 
 they ; " how can we think that all the prac- 
 tices of devotion are useless 1 The man is 
 neither monk nor priest : he has no business 
 to preach." 1135 
 
 It was not long before the whole of the 
 authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, were com- 
 bined against Farel. It was sufficiently evi- 
 dent that he was acting with that sect which 
 was everywhere spoken against. " Let us 
 cast out from amongst us," cried they, " this 
 firebrand of discord." Farel was summoned 
 before the judges, roughly handled, and forci- 
 bly expelled the city." 166 
 
 Yet he did not. forsake his country, the 
 open plains and villages, the banks of the 
 Durance, of the Guisanne, of the Isere, 
 vras there not many a soul in those localities 
 that stood in need of the Gospel ? and if he 
 should run any risk, were not those forests, 
 caverns, and steep rocks, which had been the 
 familiar haunts of his childhood, at hand to 
 afford him their shelter! He began therefore 
 to traverse the country, preaching in private 
 dwellings and secluded meadows, and retiring 
 for shelter to the woods and overhanging tor- 
 rents. 167 It was a training by which God was 
 preparing him for other trials : " Crosses, per- 
 
 secutions, and the lying-in-wait of Satan, of 
 which I had intimation, were not wanting," 
 said he; " they were even much more than I 
 could have borne in my own strength, but God 
 is my father: He has ministered, and will 
 for ever minister tomeall needful strength." 163 
 Very many of the inhabitants of these coun- 
 tries received the truth from his lips ; and 
 thus the same persecution that drove Farel 
 from Paris and Meaux was the means of dif- 
 fusing the Reformation in the countries of the 
 Saone, the Rhone, and the Alps. In all ages, 
 it has been found that they who have been 
 scattered abroad, have gone everywhere preach- 
 ing the word of GOG?." (Acts viii.) 
 
 Among the Frenchmen who were at this 
 time gained over to the Gospel, was a Dauphin- 
 ese gentleman, the Knight Anemond de Coct, 
 the younger son of the auditor of Coct, the 
 lord of Chatelard. Active, ardent, truly pious, 
 and opposed to the generally received venera- 
 tion of relics, processions and clergy, Ane- 
 mond readily received the evangelic doctrine, 
 and was soon entirely devoted to it. He could 
 not patiently endure the formality that reign- 
 ed around him, and it was his wish to see all 
 the ceremonies of the Church abolished. The 
 religion of the heart, the inward worship of 
 the Spirit, was everything in his estimation: 
 "Never," said he, " has my mind found any 
 rest in externals. The sum of Christianity 
 is in that text, 'John truly baptized with, 
 water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
 Ghost.' We must become'newcreatures.'" 169 
 
 Coct, endued with the vivacity of his nation, 
 spoke and wrote one day in French, the next 
 in Latin. He read and quoted Donatus, 
 Thomas Aquinas, Juvenal, and the Bible ! 
 His style was brief, and marked by abrupt 
 transitions. Ever restless, he would present 
 himself wherever a door seemed to be open to 
 the Gospel, or a famous teacher was to be 
 heard. His cordiality won the affection of 
 all his acquaintances. " He is a man of dis- 
 tinction, both for his birth and his learning," 
 observed Zwingle, at a later period, *' but yet 
 more distinguished for his piety and obliging 
 disposition." 170 Anemond is a sort of type of 
 many Frenchmen of the Reformed opinions : 
 vivacity, simplicity, a zeal which passes 
 readily into imprudence, such are the quali- 
 ties often recurring among those of his coun- 
 trymen who have embraced the Gospel. But 
 at the very opposite extreme of the French 
 character, we behold the grave aspect of Cal- 
 vin, serving as a weighty counterpoise to the 
 light step of Coct. Calvin and Anemond are 
 as the two poles between whom the religious 
 world of France revolves. 
 
 No sooner had Anemond received from 
 Farel the knowledge of Jesus Christ than he 
 set about winning souls to that doctrine of 
 "spirit and life." 171 His father was no more. 
 His elder brother, of a stern and haughty 
 temper, disdainfully repulsed his advances. 
 Laurent, the youngest of the family, and af- 
 fectionately attached to him, seemed but 
 half to enter into the understanding of his 
 words, and Anemond, disappointed in his 
 
400 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 own family, turned his activity in another di- [ 
 rection. 
 
 Hitherto it was among the laity only that [ 
 this awakening in Dauphiny had been known, j 
 Fare!, Anemond, and their friends, wished j 
 much to see a priest taking the lead in the j 
 movement, which promised to make itself 
 felt throughout the Alps. There dwelt at 
 Grenoble a curate, a minorite, by name 
 Pierre de Sebville, famed for the eloquence of 
 his preaching, right-minded and simple, 
 "conferring not with flesh and blood," and 
 whom God, by gradual process, was drawing 
 to the knowledge of Himself. 172 It was not 
 long before Sebville was brought to the ac- 
 knowledgment that there is no unerring 
 Teacher save the word of the Lord ; and, re- 
 linquishing such teaching as rests only on the 
 witness of men, he determined in his heart to 
 preach a Gospel, at once " clear, pure, and 
 holy." 173 These three words exhibit the com- 
 plete character of the Reformation. Coct and 
 Farel rejoiced to hear this new preacher of 
 Grace raising his powerful voice in their 
 country; and they concluded that their own 
 presence would thenceforth be less neces- 
 sary. 
 
 The more the awakening spread, the more 
 violently did opposition arise. Anemond, 
 longing to- know more of Luther, Zwingle, 
 and of the countries which had been the birth- 
 place of the Reformation, and indignant at 
 finding the Gospel rejected by his own coun- 
 trymen, resolved to bid farewell to his coun- 
 try and family. He made his will, settling 
 his property, then in the hands of his elder 
 brother, the lord of Chatelard, on his brother 
 Laurent.* This done, he quitted Dauphiny 
 and France, and passing over, with impetu- 
 ous haste, countries which were then not tra- 
 versed without much difficulty, he went 
 through Switzerland, and scarcely stopping 
 at Basle, arrived at Wittemberg, where Lu- 
 ther then was. It was shortly after the second 
 diet at Nuremberg. The French gentleman 
 accosted the Saxon Doctor with his accus- 
 tomed vivacity, spoke with enthusiastic 
 warmth concerning the Gospel, and dwelt 
 largely on the plans he had formed for the 
 propagation of the truth. The grave Saxon 
 smiled as he listened to the southern imagi- 
 nation of the speaker; and Luther, who had 
 some prejudices against the national character 
 of the French, 174 was won and carried away 
 by Anemond. The thought that this gentle- 
 man had made the journey from France to 
 Wittemberg, for the Gospel's sake, affected 
 him. 175 "Certainly," remarked the Reformer 
 to his friends. " that French knight is an ex- 
 cellent man, and both learned and pious:" 176 
 and Zwingle formed a similar opinion of him. 
 
 Anemond having seen what had been ef- 
 fected by the agency of Luther and Zwingle, 
 imagined that if they would but take in hand 
 France and Savoy, nothing could stand against 
 
 * -'My brother Anemond Coct, when setting 
 forth from this country, made me his heir." (MS. 
 Letters in the Library at Neufchatel.) 
 
 them ; and accordingly, failing to persuade 
 them to remove thither, he earnestly desired 
 of them that, at least, they would write. He 
 particularly besought Luther to address a let- 
 ter to Charles Duke of Savoy, brother of 
 Louisa and of Philibert, and uncle to Francis 
 the First and Margaret. "That prince," ob- 
 served he to Luther, " is much drawn to piety 
 and true religion, and he takes pleasure in 
 conversing concerning the Reformation with 
 certain persons at his court. 177 He is just the 
 one to enter into your views, for his motto 
 is, ' Nihil deest limeniibus Deum ,-'* and that 
 is your own maxim. Assailed alternately by 
 the Empire and by France, humbled, broken 
 in spirit, and continually in danger, his heart 
 knows its need of God and His grace: all he 
 wants is to be impelled to action: once gain- 
 ed over to the Gospel, his influence would be 
 immense in Switzerland, Savoy, and France. 
 Pray write to him." 
 
 Luther was a thorough German, and would 
 not have been at ease beyond the frontier of 
 his own nation. Yet, in true catholicity of 
 heart, his hand was immediately put out 
 where he recognised brethren ; and wherever 
 a word might be spoken with effect, he took 
 care to make it heard. Sometimes on the 
 same day he would write letters to countries 
 separated by the widest distances, as the 
 Netherlands, Savoy, Livonia. 
 
 "Assuredly," he answered Anemond, " a 
 love for the Gospel is a rare and inestimable 
 jewel in a prince's crown. " 17d And he pro- 
 ceeded to write to the Duke a letter which 
 Anemond probably carried with him as far as 
 Switzerland. 
 
 " 1 beg your Highness's pardon," wrote 
 Luther, " if I, a poor and unfriended monk, 
 venture to address you; or rather I would 
 ask of your Highness to ascribe this boldness 
 of mine to the glory of the Gospel, for I can- 
 not see that glorious light arise and shine in 
 any quarter, without exulting at the sight. . . . 
 My hope is, that my Lord Jesus Christ may 
 win over many souls by the power of your 
 Serene Highness's example. Therefore it is 
 I desire to instruct you in our teaching. We 
 believe that the very beginning of salvation 
 and the sum of Christianity consists in faith 
 in Christ, who, by his blood alone, and not 
 by any works of ours, has put away Sin, 
 and destroyed the power of death. We be- 
 lieve that this faith is God's gift, formed in 
 our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and not at- 
 tained by any effort of our own; for faith is 
 a principle of life, begetting man spiritually, 
 and making him a new creature." 17 
 
 Luther passed thence to the effects of faith, 
 and showed that it was not possible to be 
 possessed of that faith without the superstruc- 
 ture of false doctrine and human merits, 
 built up so laboriously by the Church, being 
 at once swept away. ' If Grace," said he, 
 " is the purchase of Christ's blood, it follows 
 
 * "They that fear God shall want no good 
 thing." (Hist. Gen. de la Maison de Savoie par 
 Guichenon, ii. p. 228.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 401 
 
 that it is not the purchase of works of ours. 
 Hence the whole train of works of all the 
 cloisters in the world are, for this pur.pose, 
 useless ; and such institutions should be 
 abolished, as opposed to the blood of Jesus 
 Christ, and as leading men to trust in their 
 own good works. Ingrafted in Christ, no- 
 thing remains for us but to do good ; because 
 being become good trees, we ought to give 
 proof of it by bearing good fruits. 
 
 *' Gracious Prince and Lord," said Luther, 
 in conclusion : " May your Highness, having 
 made so happy a beginning, help to spread 
 this doctrine, not by the sword, which would 
 be a hinderance to the Gospel, but by inviting 
 to your states teachers who preach the Word. 
 It is by the breath of His mouth that Jesus 
 will destroy Antichrist; so that, as Daniel 
 describes, he may be broken without hand. 
 Therefore, most Serene Prince, let your High- 
 ness cherish that spark that has been kindled 
 in your heart. Let a flame go forth from the 
 house of Savoy, as once from the house of 
 Joseph. 130 May all France be as stubble before 
 that fire. May it burn, blaze, purify, that 
 so that renowned kingdom may truly take the 
 title of 'Most Christian? which it has hith- 
 erto received only in reward of blood shed in 
 the cause of Antichrist." 
 
 Thus did Luther endeavour to diffuse the 
 Gospel in France. We have no means of 
 knowing the effect of this letter on the Prince ; 
 but we do not find that he ever gave signs of 
 a wish to detach himself from Rome. In 
 1523, he requested Adrian VI. to be god- 
 father to his first-born son ; and at a later 
 period, we find the Pope promising him a 
 cardinal's hat for his second son. Anemond, 
 after making an effort to be admitted to see 
 the court and Elector of Saxony, 181 and, for this 
 purpose, providing himself with a letter from 
 Luther, returned to Basle, more than ever re- 
 solved to risk his life in the cause of the Gos- 
 pel. In the ardour of his purpose he would 
 have roused the entire nation. " All that I 
 am, or ever can be," said he, " All I have or 
 ever can have, it is my earnest desire to de- 
 vote to the glory of God." 182 
 
 At Basle, Anemond found his countryman 
 Farel. The letters of Anemond had excited 
 in him a great desire to be personally ac- 
 quainted with the Swiss and German Re- 
 formers. Moreover, Farel felt the need of a 
 sphere in which his activity might be more 
 freely put forth. He accordingly quitted 
 France, which already offered only the scaf- 
 fold to the preachers of a pure Gospel 
 Taking by-paths, and hiding in the woods 
 he with difficulty escaped out of the hands 
 of his enemies. Often had he mistaken 
 the direction in which his route lay. "God," 
 observes he, " designs, by my helpless- 
 ness in these little matters, to teach me 
 how helpless I am in greater things." 183 At 
 length he entered Switzerland, in the begin- 
 ning of 1524. There he was destined to 
 spend his life in the service of the Gospel : 
 and then it was that France began to pour 
 into Switzerland those noble heralds of the 
 
 Gospel who were to seat the Reformation in 
 Romane Switzerland, and communicate to it 
 a new and powerful impulse throughout and 
 far beyond the limits of the confederated 
 cantons. 
 
 The catholicity of the Reformation is a 
 beautiful character in its history. The Ger- 
 mans pass into Switzerland the French into 
 ermany and, at a somewhat later period, 
 we see the English and the Scotch passing to 
 he Continent, and the Continental teachers 
 to Great Britain. The Reformations of the 
 several countries take their rise independently 
 of each other ; but as soon as they look around 
 them, their hands are held out to each other. 
 To them there is one Faith, one Spirit, one 
 Lord. It is an error to treat the history of 
 the Reformation in connection with any sin- 
 gle country : the work was one and the same 
 in all lands ; and the Protestant Churches 
 were from the very beginning, a "whole 
 body fitly joined together." Eph. iv. 16. 
 
 Certain persons who had fled from France 
 and Lorraine, at this time, formed in the city 
 of Basle a French Church, whose members 
 had escaped from the scaffold. These per- 
 sons had spread the report of Lefevre, Farel, 
 and the events that had occurred at Meaux ; 
 and when Farel entered Switzerland he was 
 already known as one of the m.ost fearless 
 heralds of the truth. 
 
 He was immediately introduced to CEco- 
 lampadius, who, some time before this, had 
 returned to Basle. Seldom does it happen 
 that two characters more opposite are brought 
 together. (Ecolampadius charmed by his gen- 
 tleness ; Farel carried away his hearers by his 
 earnestness ; but from the moment they met, 
 these two men felt themselves one in heart. 134 
 It resembled the first meeting of Luther and 
 Melancthon. (Ecolampadius bade him wel- 
 come, gave him an apartment in his house, 
 received him at his table, and introduced him 
 to his friends ; and it was not long before the 
 learning, piety, and courage of the young 
 Frenchman won the hearts of his new friends. 
 Pellican, Imelia, Wolf hard, and others of the 
 preachers of Basle, were fortified in their faith 
 by the energy of his exhortations. (Ecolam- 
 padius w r as just then suffering under depres- 
 sion of spirits : " Alas," he wrote to Zwin- 
 gle, " it is in vain I preach ; I see no hope of 
 any effect being produced. Perhaps among 
 the Turks 1 might succeed better." 185 " Oh," 
 added he, sighing, "I ascribe the failure to 
 myself alone." But the more he saw of Fa- 
 rel, the more his heart felt encouragement; 
 and the courage he derived from the French- 
 man laid the ground of an undying affection. 
 "Dear Farel," s^id he to him, "I trust the 
 Lord will make '-ours a friendship for all eter- 
 I nity ; and if we are parted below, our joy will 
 i only be the greater when we shall be gathered 
 ! in presence/of Christ in the heavens]" 186 Pious 
 I and affecting thoughts. The coming of Farel 
 ! was evidently help from above. 
 
 But whilst the Frenchman took delight in 
 
 i the society of (Ecolampadias, he drew back 
 
 with cool independence from a man at whose 
 
402 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 feet the principal nations of Christendom paid 
 homage. The prince of scholars, the man 
 whose smile and words were objects of gene- 
 ral ambition, the teacher of that age Eras- 
 mus, was passed over by Farel. The young 
 Dauphinese had declined to pay his respects 
 to the venerated philosopher of Rotterdam 
 having no relish for those who are never more 
 than half-hearted for truth, and who in the 
 clear understanding of the consequences of 
 error, are nevertheless full of allowances for 
 those who propagate it. Accordingly, we 
 have in Farel that decision which has become 
 one of the distinguishing characters of the 
 Reformation in France, and in those cantons 
 of Switzerland bordering on France charac- 
 ters which have been by some deemed stiff- 
 ness, exclusiveness, and intolerance. A con- 
 troversy had commenced between Erasmus 
 and Lefevre, arising out of the commentaries 
 put forth by the latter ; and in all companies, 
 parties were divided for the one and against 
 the other. 187 Farel had unhesitatingly ranged 
 himself on the side of his teacher. But that 
 which chiefly roused his indignation was the 
 cowardly course pursued by the philosopher 
 toward the evangelical party; Erasmus's 
 doors were closed against them. That being 
 the case, Farel will not enter them ! To him, 
 this was felt to be no loss ; convinced as he 
 was that the very ground of a true theology, 
 the piety of the heart, was wanting to Eras- 
 mus. " Frobenius's wife knows more of the- 
 ology than he does," remarked Farel ; and 
 stung by the intelligence that Erasmus had 
 written to the Pope, advising him how to set 
 about "extinguishing the spread of Luther- 
 anism," 188 hepublicly declared that Erasmus 
 was endeavouring to stifle the Gospel. 
 
 This independence of young Farel disturb- 
 ed the composure of the man of learning. 
 Princes, kings, learned men, bishops, priests, 
 and men of the world, all were ready to offer 
 him the tribute of their admiration. Luther 
 himself had treated him with respect, so far 
 as he was personally mixed up in this con- 
 troversy; and this Dauphinese, a nameless 
 refugee, ventured to brave his power. So 
 insolent a freedom caused Erasmus more an- 
 noyance than the homage of the world at 
 large could give him joy ; and hence he lost 
 no opportunity of venting his spite against 
 Farel. Moreover, in assailing him, he con- 
 tributed to clear himself, in the judgment of 
 the Roman Catholics, of the suspicion of he- 
 resy. " I never met with such a liar, such a 
 restless seditious spiritasthatman, "'^observ- 
 ed he; "his heart is full of vanity, and his 
 tongue charged with malice." 190 But the anger 
 of Erasmus did not stop at Farel ; it was di- 
 rected against all the Frenchmen who had 
 sought refuge at Basle, and whose frankness 
 and decision were an offence to him. They 
 paid evidently no respect to persons; and 
 wherever the truth was not frankly confessed, 
 they took no notice of the man, how great 
 soever his genius might be. Wanting, per- 
 haps, in the graciousness of the Gospel, there 
 was in their faithfulness that which reminds 
 
 one of the prophets of old : and it is truly de- 
 lightful to contemplate men who stand erect 
 before that to which the world bows down. 
 Erasmus, astonished by this lofty disdain, 
 complained of it in all companies. "What 
 mean we," wrote he to Melancthon, " to re- 
 ject pontiffs and bishops, only to submit to 
 the insolence of more cruel ragamuffin tyrants 
 and madmen ; for such it is that France has 
 given us." 191 "There are some Frenchmen," 
 he wrote to the Pope's secretary, (at the same 
 time sending him his book on Free Will,) 
 " who are even more insane then the Ger- 
 mans themselves. They have ever on their 
 lips these five words : Gospel, Word of God, 
 Faith, Christ, Holy Spirit; and yet I doubt 
 not but that it is the spirit of Satan that urges 
 them on." 192 Inplace of Farellus he often wrote 
 Fallicus, thus designating as a cheat and de- 
 ceiver one of the most frank-hearted men of 
 his age. 
 
 The rage and anger of Erasmus were at 
 their height, when information arrived that 
 Farel had termed him a Balaam. Farel 
 thought that Erasmus, like that prophet, was 
 (perhaps unconsciously) swayed by gifts to 
 curse the people of God. The man of learn- 
 ing, no longer able to restrain himself, resolved 
 to chastise the daring Dauphinese : and one 
 day, when Farel was discussing certain topics 
 of Christian doctrine with some friends, in 
 the presence of Erasmus, the latter rudely in- 
 terrupted him with the question, "On what 
 ground do you call me Balaam T" 93 Farel, who 
 was at first disconcerted by the abruptness of 
 the question, soon recovered himself, and made 
 answer that it was not he who had given him 
 that name. Being pressed to say who it was, 
 he mentioned Du Blet of Lyons, who like him- 
 self had sought refuge at Basle. 194 "Perhaps 
 he may have made use of the expression," re- 
 plied Erasmus, " but it is yourself who taught 
 it him." Then ashamed to have lost his tem- 
 per, he hastily changed the subject: " Why 
 is it," asked he, " that you assert that we are 
 not to invoke the saints? Is it because Holy 
 Scripture does not enjoin the practice f" " It 
 is," answered the Frenchman. " Well," said 
 the man of learning, " I call on you to show 
 from Scripture that we should invoke the Holy 
 Ghost 1 ?" Farel gave this clear and solid an- 
 swer : " If He be God, we must invoke Him." 193 
 "I dropt the conversation," said Erasmus, 
 " for the night was closing in."* From that 
 time, whenever Farel's name came under his 
 pen, the opportunity was taken to represent 
 him as a hateful person, on every account to 
 be shunned. The Reformer's letters are, on 
 the contrary, marked by moderation as regards 
 Erasmus. Even in those most constitution- 
 ally hasty, the Gospel is a more gracious thing 
 than Philosophy. 
 
 The Evangelic doctrine had already many 
 friends in Basle, in the town-council, and 
 among the people ; but the Doctors and tho 
 
 * Omissa disputatione, nam imminebat nox. 
 (Ibid.) We have only Erasmus's account of this 
 conversation ; he himself reports that Fare! gave 
 a very different account of it. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 403 
 
 University opposed it to the utmost of thei 
 power. CEcolampadius and Stor, pastor a 
 Liestal, had maintained certain theses agains 
 them. Farel thought it well to assert in 
 Switzerland also the great maxim of the Evan- 
 gelic school of Pans and of Meaux, God's 
 Word is all-sufficient. He requested permis- 
 sion of the University to maintain some theses, 
 "the rather," he modestly added, "to he 
 reproved if I am in error, than to teach others." 19 
 But the University refused its permission. 
 
 Farel then appealed to the Council, and the 
 Council issued public notice, that a Christian 
 man, by name William Farel, having, by 
 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prepared 
 certain articles conformable to the Gospel, 
 leave was given him to maintain the same in 
 Latin. 197 The University forbade all priests 
 and students to be present at the conference, 
 and the Council met the prohibition by one of 
 an opposite tenor. 
 
 The following are some of the thirteen pro- 
 positions that Farel put forth : 
 
 " Christ has left us the most perfect rule of 
 life ; no one can lawfully take away, or add 
 any thing thereto." 
 
 " To shape our lives by any other precepts 
 than those of Christ leads directly to im- 
 piety." 
 
 " The true ministry of priests is to attend 
 only to the ministry of the Word; and for 
 them there is no higher dignity." 
 
 " To take from the certainty of the Gospel 
 of Christ is to destroy it." 
 
 " He who thinks to be justified by any 
 strength or merits of his own, and not by/at'/A, 
 juts himself in the place of God." 
 
 "Jesus Christ, who is head overall things, 
 is our polar star, and the only guide we ought 
 to follow." 198 
 
 Thus did this native of France stand up at 
 JBasle. 199 A child of the mountains of Dauphiny, 
 brought up at Paris, at the feet of Lefevre, 
 thus boldly proclaimed in the celeb rated Swiss 
 University, and in presence of Erasmus, the 
 great principles of the Reformation. Two 
 leading ideas pervaded Farel's theses, the 
 one involved a return to the Scripture, the 
 other a return to the Faith, two movements 
 distinctly condemned by the Papacy at the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century as here- 
 tical and impious, in the celebrated constitu- 
 tion Unigenitus, and which, ever closely con- 
 nected with each other, in reality overturn the 
 whole of the Papal system. If Faith in Christ 
 is the beginning and end of Christianity, the 
 word of Christ, and not the voice of the Church 
 is that to which we must adhere. Nor is this 
 all ; for if Faith unites in one the souls of be- 
 lievers, what signifies an external bond ] Can 
 that holy union depend for its existence on 
 croziers, bulls, or tiaras? Faith knits to- 
 gether in spiritual and true oneness all those 
 in whose hearts it has taken up its abode. 
 Thus at one blow disappeared the triple de- 
 lusion of human deservings, traditions of men, 
 and simulated unity. And these compose the 
 sum of Roman Catholicism. 
 
 The discussion was opened in Latin. 200 Farel 
 52 
 
 and CEcolampadius stated and established 
 their articles, calling repeatedly upon those 
 who differed from them to make answer; but 
 none answered to the call. The sophists, as 
 CEcolampadius terms them, boldly denied 
 them, 201 -but from their skulking corners. The 
 people, therefore, began to look with contempt 
 upon the cowardice of their priests, and learn- 
 ed to despise their tyranny. 202 
 
 Thus did Farel take his stand among the 
 defenders of the Reformation. So much learn- 
 ing and piety rejoiced the hearts of observers, 
 and already more signal victories were looked 
 forward to. " He is singly more than a match 
 for all the Sorbonne put together," 203 saidthey. 
 His openness, sincerity, and candour, charmed 
 all. 204 But in the very height of his activity he 
 did not forget that every mission must begin 
 at our own souls. The mild CEcolampadius 
 made with the earnest-hearted Farel an agree- 
 ment, by which they mutually engaged to ex- 
 ercise themselves in humility and gentleness 
 in their familiar intercourse. Thus on the 
 very field of contention were these courageous 
 men engaged in composing their souls to peace. 
 The impetuous zeal of Luther and of Farel 
 were not unfrequently necessary virtues ; for 
 a degree of effort is required to move society 
 and recast the Church. In our days we are 
 very apt to forget this truth, which then was 
 acknowledged by men of the mildest charac- 
 ter. " Some there are," said CEcolampadius to 
 Luther, in introducing Farel to him, "who 
 would moderate his zeal against the opposers 
 of the truth ; but I cannot help discerning in 
 that same zeal a wonderful virtue, and which, 
 if but well directed, is not less needed than 
 gentleness itself." 205 Posterity has ratified the 
 judgment of CEcolampadius. 
 
 In the month of May, 1524, Farel, with 
 some friends from Lyons, repaired to Schaff- 
 hausen, Zurich, and Constance. Zwingle 
 and Myconius welcomed with the liveliest 
 joy the French refugee, and Farel never forgot 
 the kindness of that welcome. But on his 
 return to Basle he found Erasmus and others 
 of his enemies at work, and received an order 
 to quit the city. His friends loudly express- 
 ed their displeasure at this stretch of autho- 
 rity but in vain, and he was driven from that 
 Swiss territory which was even then regarded 
 as an asylum for signal misfortunes. " Such 
 s our hospitality !" ejaculated (Ecolampadius 
 n indignation : " We are a people like unto 
 Sodom." 206 
 
 At Basle, Farel had contracted a close 
 'riendship with the knight D'Esch the latter 
 resolved to bear him company, and they set 
 'brth, provided by CEcolampadius with letters 
 "or Capito and Luther, to whom the doctor of 
 Basle commended Farel as the same William 
 who had laboured so abundantly in the work 
 of God. 207 At Strasburg, Farel formed an inti- 
 macy with Capito, Bucer, and Hedio but 
 we have no account of his having gone to 
 Wittemberg. 
 
 When God withdraws his servants from 
 he field of combat, it is commonly that they 
 may be again brought forward in increased 
 2M 
 
404 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 strength and more completely armed for the 
 conflict. Farel and his companions from 
 Meaux, from Metz, from Lyons, and from 
 Dauphiny, driven by persecution from France, 
 had been tempered with new firmness in 
 Switzerland and in Germany, in the society 
 of the early Reformers ; and now, like sol- 
 diers scattered by the first charge of the enemy, 
 but instantly collecting again their force, they 
 were about to turn round and go forward in 
 the name of the Lord. Not only on the 
 frontiers, but in the interior of France, the 
 friends of the Gospel were beginning to take 
 courage. The signal was made the com- 
 batants were arming for the assault the word 
 was given. " Jesus, his truth and grace" 
 a word of more power than the clang of arms 
 in the tug of war, filled all hearts with enthu- 
 siasm, and all gave omen of a campaign 
 pregnant with new victories and new and 
 more wide-spreading calamities. 
 
 Montbeliard at this time stood in need of a 
 labourer in the Gospel. Duke Ulric of Wur- 
 temberg young, impetuous and cruel hav- 
 ing been dispossessed of his hereditary states 
 in 1519 by the Suabian league, had retired to 
 that province, his last remaining possession. 
 In Switzerland he became acquainted with 
 the Reformers. His misfortunes had a whole- 
 some effect, and he listened to the truth. 298 
 (Ecolampadius apprized Farel that a door 
 was opened at Montbeliard, and the latter 
 secretl}' repaired to Basle. 
 
 Farel had not regularly entered on the mi- 
 nistry of the word ; but at this period of his 
 life we see in him all the qualifications of a 
 servant of the Lord. 209 It was not lightly or 
 rashly that he entered the service of the 
 Church. "If I considered my own qualifi- 
 cations," said he, " I would not have pre- 
 sumed to preach, but would have preferred to 
 wait till the Lord should send more gifted 
 persons." But he received at this time three 
 several calls. No sooner had he reached 
 Basle than CEcolampadius, moved by the 
 wants of France, besought him to give him- 
 self to the work there. " Consider," said he, 
 " how little Jesus is made known in their 
 language will you not teach them a little in 
 their own dialect, to enable them to under- 
 stand the Scriptures." 210 At the same time the 
 inhabitants of Montbeliard invited him among 
 them, and lastly, the prince of that country 
 gave his assent to the invitation, 211 Was not 
 this a thrice repeated call from God 1" . . " I 
 did not see," said he, " how I could refuse to 
 act upon it. 212 It was in obedience to God that 
 I complied with it." Concealed in the house 
 of CEcolampadius, little disposed to take the 
 responsible post offered to him, and yet con- 
 strained to yield to so manifest an indica- 
 tion of God's will, Farel undertook the task 
 and (Ecolampadius, calling upon the Lord, 
 ordained him, 213 giving him at the same time 
 some wise counsels." The more you find 
 yourselves inclined to vehemence," said he, 
 *' the more must you exercise yourself to 
 maintain a gentle bearing; temper your lion 
 
 heart with the softness of the dove." 214 The 
 soul of Farel responded to such an appeal. 
 
 Thus Farel, once the devoted adherent of 
 the ancient Church, was about to enter on 
 the life of a servant of God, and of the Church 
 in its renewed youth. If, in order to a valid 
 ordination, Rome requires the imposition of 
 the hands of a bishop deriving uninterrupted 
 succession and descent from the Apostles, 
 she does so because she sets the tradition 
 of men above the authority of the word of 
 God. Every church in which the supremacy 
 of the Word is not acknowledged, must needs 
 seek authority from some other source ; and 
 then what more natural than to turn to the 
 most revered servants of God, and ask of 
 them what we do not know that we have in 
 God himself? If we do not speak in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, is it not at least some- 
 thing gained to be able to speak in the name 
 of St. John or of St. Paul 1 One who has 
 with him the voice of antiquity is indeed 
 more than a match for the rationalist, who 
 speaks only his own thought. But Christ's 
 minister has yet a higher authority. He 
 preaches, not because he is the successor of 
 St. Chrysostom or St. Peter but because the 
 Word which he proclaims is from God. Suc- 
 cessional authority, venerable as it may ap- 
 pear, is yet no more than a thing of man's 
 invention, in place of God's appointment. In 
 Farel's ordination, we see nothing of succes- 
 sionally derived sanction. Nay, more, we do 
 not see in it that which becomes the congre- 
 gations of the Lord, among whom every thing 
 should be done '* decently and in order" and 
 whose God is "not the God of confusion." In 
 his case there was no setting apart by the 
 Church; but then extraordinary emergencies 
 justify extraordinary measures. At this 
 eventful period, God himself was interposing, 
 and Himself ordaining, by marvellous dis- 
 pensations, those whom he called to bear a 
 part in the regeneration of society ; and that 
 was an ordination that abundantly compen- 
 sated for the absence of the Church's seal. 
 In Farel's ordination we see the unchanging 
 word of God, intrusted to a man of God, to 
 bear it to the world ; the calling of God and 
 of the people, and the consecration of the 
 heart. And perhaps no minister of Rome or 
 of Geneva was ever more lawfully ordained 
 for that holy ministry. Farel took his de- 
 parture for Montbeliard, in company with the 
 kniorht D'Esch. 
 
 Thus did Farel find himself occupying an 
 advanced post. Behind him were Basle and 
 Strasburg, assisting him by their advice and 
 by the productions of their printing presses. 
 Before him lay the provinces of Franchecomte, 
 Burgundy, Lorraine, Lyons, and other dis- 
 tricts of France ; wherein men of God were 
 beginning to stand up against error, in the 
 thick darkness. He set himself immediately 
 to preach Christ, exhorting believers not to 
 suffer themselves to be turned aside from the 
 Holy Scriptures, either by threatenings or 
 artifice. Taking the part long afterwards 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 405 
 
 taken by Calvin on a grander scale, Farel, at 
 Montbeliard, was like a general stationed on 
 a height, surveying, with searching vigilance, 
 the field of battle, cheering those who were 
 actively engaged, rallying those whom the 
 enemy's charge had forced to give way, and 
 by his courage animating those who hung 
 back.* Erasmus wrote directly to his Ro- 
 man Catholic friends, informing them that a 
 Frenchman, escaped out of France, was mak- 
 ing a great noise in these regions. 215 
 
 The efforts of Farel were not without 
 effect. People wrote to him : " On all sides 
 seem to multiply men who devote their lives 
 to the extension of Christ's kingdom. " 216 The 
 friends of the Gospel gave thanks to God for 
 the daily increasing brilliancy in which the 
 Gospel shone in France. 217 Gainsayers were 
 confounded, and Erasmus, writing to the 
 bishop of Rochester, observed, "The fac- 
 tion is every day spreading, and has pene- 
 trated into Savoy, Lorraine, and France." 218 
 
 For a considerable time Lyons seemed the 
 centre of the Evangelic movement in the 
 interior, as Basle was of that beyond the 
 frontiers. Francis the First, called to the 
 south, on an expedition against Charles V., 
 arrived in those countries, attended by his 
 mother and sister, and by his court. Marga- 
 ret had with her, in her company, certain 
 men who had embraced the Gospel. " The 
 rest of her people she left behind," remarks 
 a letter written at the time. 219 Whilst under 
 the eyes of Francis, 14,000 Swiss, 6,000 
 Frenchmen, and 1,500 noble knights, were 
 defiling through Lyons, on their w r ay to repel 
 the Imperial army that had invaded Provence, 
 and that great city resounded with the clang 
 of arms, the tramp of cavalry, and the sound 
 of trumpets, the friends of the Gospel were 
 on their way to the more peaceful triumphs. 
 They were intent on attempting, at Lyons, 
 what they had not been able to realize at 
 Paris. Remote from the Sorbonne and the 
 Parliament, a freer course might be open to 
 God's word. Perhaps the second city of the 
 kingdom was destined to be the first wherein 
 the Gospel should be received. Was it not 
 there that the excellent Peter Waldo had 
 begun to make known the divine Word 1 In 
 that earlier age he had roused the national 
 mind. Now that God had made all things 
 ready to emancipate His church, was there 
 not ground to hope for more extensive and 
 decisive results 1 Accordingly, the Lyonese, 
 who in general were not, it must be confess- 
 ed, " poor men," began to handle, with more 
 confidence, the " sword of the Spirit, which 
 is the word of God." . 
 
 Among those about Margaret's person, 
 was her almoner, Michel d'Arande. The 
 Duchess gave direction that the Gospel 
 should be publicly preached in Lyons, and 
 
 * The comparison is in the words of a friend 
 who was acquainted with Farel, during his abode 
 at Montbeliard : Strenuum et oculatum impera- 
 toretn, qui iis eiiam animum facias qui in acie 
 versantur. (Tossanus Farello, MS. de Neuf- 
 chatel, 2d Sept. 1524.) 
 
 master Michel boldly proclaimed the pure word 
 
 ; of God to a numerous auditory, attracted 
 
 | partly by the good tidings, and partly by the 
 
 favour with which the preacher and his preach- 
 
 | ing were regarded by the sister of their king. 220 
 
 Anthony Papillon, a man of cultivated 
 mind, an accomplished Latinist, a friend of 
 Erasmus, the earliest of his countrymen 
 thoroughly instructed in the Gospel, accom- 
 panied the Princess. 221 At Margaret's request 
 he had translated Luther's tract on the monk's 
 vows, " on which account he was often called 
 in question by that vermin of the city of Pa- 
 ris," remarks Sebville.^But Margaret had 
 protected the scholar from the enmity of the 
 Sorbonne, and had obtained for him the ap- 
 pointment of chief master of requests to the 
 Dauphin, with a seat in the council. 223 He 
 was almost equally useful to the Gospel by 
 the sacrifices he made for its cause as by his 
 great prudence. Vaugris, a merchant, and 
 Anthony Du Blet, a gentleman, and a friend 
 of Farel, were the principal persons who 
 took part with the Reformation at Lyons. 
 The latter, whose activity was untiring, 
 served as a sort of connecting link between 
 the Christians scattered throughout those 
 countries, and was the medium of their inter- 
 course with Basle. The armed bands of 
 Francis the First had done no more than tra- 
 verse Lyons, whilst the spiritual soldiery of 
 Jesus Christ had paused within it, and leav- 
 ing the former to carry war into Provence, 
 they commenced the " fight of faith" in the 
 city of Lyons itself. 
 
 But their efforts were not confined to Ly- 
 ons. Casting their eyes over the surround- 
 ing country, their operations were carried on, 
 at one and the same time, at different points ; 
 and the Christians of Lyons supported and 
 encouraged the confessors of Christ in the 
 adjacent provinces, and bore His name where 
 as yet it was not known. The new teaching 
 reascended the banks of the Saone, and the 
 voice of one "bringing the glad tidings" was 
 heard in the narrow and irregular streets of 
 Macon. Michel d'Arande, the almoner of 
 the king's sister, himself visited that place 
 in 1524, and, by Margaret's intercession, ob- 
 tained license to preach in a town which was 
 afterwards deluged with blood, and became 
 forever memorable for its sauteries.* 3 * 
 
 After extending their travels in the direc- 
 tion of the Saone, the Christians of Lyons, 
 ever looking for an open door, reascended the 
 acclivities of the Alps. There was, at Ly- 
 ons, a Dominican named Maigret, who had 
 been expelled from Dauphiny, where he had 
 preached the new doctrine with singular 
 boldness, and who earnestly requested that 
 some one would go over and help his brethren 
 of Grenoble and Gap. Papillon and Du 
 Blet repaired thither.* A violent storm had 
 
 * II y a eu deux grands personages a Grenoble. 
 (Coct a Farel, Dec. 1524, MS. de Neufchatel., 
 The title Messire is given to Du Blet, indicating 
 a person of rank. I incline to think that that of 
 negotiator, elsewhere given him, refers to his 
 activity : yet he might be a merchant of Lyons. 
 
406 
 
 HISTCfRY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 just broken out there against Sebville and 
 his preaching. The Dominicans moved hea- 
 ven and earth, and, in their rage at the escape 
 of Farel, Anemond, Maigret, and the other 
 preachers, sought to crush such as were 
 within their clutches. 225 They, therefore, in- 
 sisted that Sebville should be arrested. 226 
 
 The friends of the Gospel at Grenoble 
 caught the alarm. Was Sebville, also, on 
 the eve of being lost to them? Margaret 
 interceded with her brother. Some persons 
 of distinction at Grenoble, including the 
 king's advocate, either secretly or avowedly 
 favourable to the Gospel, exerted themselves 
 in his behalf; and he was happily rescued 
 from the fury of his enemies. 227 
 
 His life was indeed saved, but his mouth 
 was stopped. "Remain silent," said his 
 friends, " or you will be brought to the 
 scaffold." " Only think what it is," wrote 
 he to De Coct, "to have silence imposed 
 upon me, under pain of death." 228 Some, 
 whose firmness had been most relied on, 
 were overawed by these threatenings. The 
 king's advocate, nd others, exhibited mark- 
 ed coldness, 229 and many returned to the Roman 
 Catholic communion, alleging that they 
 would still offer to God a spiritual worship 
 in the privacy of their hearts, and give to the 
 outward observances of Catholicism a spirit- 
 ual interpretation : a melancholy snare, and 
 one that leads men from one act of unfaith- 
 fulness to another. There is no false system 
 adhesion to which may not in this way be 
 justified. The unbeliever, taking up with 
 fancied myths and allegories, will preach 
 Christ from the pulpit: and the follower of 
 a superstition held in abhorrence among the 
 heathen, will, by a moderate exercise of in- 
 genuity, trace in it the symbol of a pure and 
 elevated thought. In religion the very first 
 essential is truth. There were, however, 
 some of the Christians of Grenoble, and 
 among them Amedee Galbert and a cousin of 
 Anemond, who held fast to their faith. 230 
 These men of piety were accustomed secretly 
 to meet together with Sebville at each other's 
 houses, and thus "spake often one to an- 
 other." Their place of meeting was chosen 
 for the sake of its retirement; they met at 
 night in the apartment of a brother, with 
 closed doors, to pray to Christ, as if they 
 had been robbers meeting for some guilty 
 purpose ! Rumour would often follow them 
 to their humble meeting with some ground- 
 less alarm. Their enemies winked at such 
 secret conventicles, but they had inwardly 
 doomed to the stake any one who should 
 venture to open his lips in public to speak 
 the word of God. 231 
 
 It was at this juncture that Dvi Blet and 
 Papillon arrived in Grenoble. Finding that 
 Sebville had been silenced, they exhorted 
 him to go to Lyons, and there preach Christ. 
 The following Lent promised to afford him 
 the favourable opportunity of a vast crowd of 
 hearers. Michel d'Arande, Maigret, and 
 Sebville agreed together to put themselves in 
 front of the battle, and thus all was arranged 
 
 j for an impressive testimony to the truth in 
 the second city of the kingdom. The rumour 
 
 | of the approaching Lent spread into Switzer- 
 
 ' land : " Sebville is at large, and is purposing 
 to preach at Lyons, in the church of St. 
 Paul," wrote Anemond to Farel. 232 But dis- 
 asters, bringing with them confusion through- 
 out France, intervened, and prevented the 
 spiritual contest. It is in periods of tran- 
 quillity that the Gospel achieves its blessed 
 conquests. The battle of Pavia, \vhich took 
 place in the month of February, disconcerted 
 the bold project of the Reformers. 
 
 Meanwhile, without waiting for Sebville, 
 Maigret, amidst much opposition from the 
 clergy and the monks, had from the begin- 
 ning of the winter been preaching at Lyons, 
 Salvation by Christ alone.^In his sermons, 
 he passed over the worship of the creature, 
 the saints, the Virgin, and the power of 
 the priesthood. The great mystery of Godli- 
 ness, " God manifest in the flesh," was 
 the one great doctrine exalted by him. " The 
 early heresies of the Poor Men of Lyons were 
 again showing themselves under a more dan- 
 gerous form than ever," it was remarked. In 
 spite of opposers, Maigret continued his 
 preaching : the faith that animated him found 
 utterance in emphatic words; it is in the 
 very nature of Truth to embolden the heart 
 that receives it. Nevertheless, it was de- 
 creed that at Lyons, as at Grenoble, Rome 
 should get the upper hand. Under the very 
 eyes of Margaret, the preacher was arrested, 
 dragged through the streets, and committed 
 to prison. Vaugris, a merchant who was 
 just then leaving the town on l}is way to 
 Switzerland, carried with him the news of 
 what had happened. One thought cheered 
 the melancholy tfcese tidings diffused among 
 the friends of the Reformation, "Maigret is 
 seized," said they, "but thanks be to God, 
 Madame ri'Jllenpon is on the spot." 234 
 
 Their hopes soon left them. The Sor- 
 bonne had formally condemned certain pro- 
 positions maintained by the faithful preacher; 235 
 Margaret, whose position was every day be- 
 coming more embarrassing, beheld the daring 
 of the Reformers and the hatred of those in 
 power both rising at the same moment. 
 Francis the First was beginning to lose pa- 
 tience at the restless zeal of the preachers, 
 and to regard them as fanatics whom it was 
 good policy to reduce to submission. Mar- 
 garet, therefore, fluctuating between her 
 desires to serve her brethren in Christ, and 
 the failure of her ability to preserve them, 
 sent them word that they were to abstain 
 from jushing into new difficulties, seeing that 
 she could not again make application to the 
 king in their behalf. The friends of the 
 Gospel believed that this resolution could not 
 be irrevocable : " God give her grace," said 
 they "to say and write only what is needful 
 to poor souls." 236 But even if they should lose 
 this help of man, Christ was with them, 
 and it seemed well that the soul should be 
 stripped of other dependence, that it might 
 
 ] lean upon God alone. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 407 
 
 The friends of the Gospel had lost their 
 power, and the powerful were declaring 
 against it. Margaret was alarmed. Soon 
 heavy news, received from heyond the Alps, 
 was to plunge the whole kingdom into 
 mourninor, absorbing attention in the one 
 object of saving France and her king. But 
 if the Christians of Lyons were motionless, 
 did not Basle contain within its walls soldiers 
 escaped from the battle, and ready to renew 
 it '? The exiles from France have never for- 
 gotten her: banished for three centuries by 
 Koman fanaticism, we see their last descend- 
 ants carrying to the towns and plains of their 
 father-land, the treasure of which the Pope 
 deprives them. At the crisis, when the good 
 soldiers of Christ in France dejectedly threw 
 away their arms, we see the refugees at 
 Basle preparing for renewed efforts. With 
 the example before their eyes of the sceptre 
 of St. Louis and of Charlemagne falling from 
 the grasp of a Francis the First, should they 
 not be incited to lay hold on a "kingdom 
 which cannot be moved?" Heb. xii. 28. 
 
 Farel, Anemond, Esch, Toussaint, and 
 their friends in Switzerland, composed an 
 Evangelical Association, having for its object 
 the deliverance of their country from spiritual 
 darkness. Intelligence reached them from 
 all sides, that there was an increasing thirst 
 after God's word in France; 237 it was desirable 
 to take advantage of it, and to water and sow 
 the seed while yet it was seed-time. (Eco- 
 lampadius, Oswald Myconius, and Zwingle, 
 continually encouraged them to this. The 
 Swiss teacher, Myconius, wrote thus in 
 January, 1525, to De Coct: " Exiled as you 
 are from your country by the tyranny of Anti- 
 christ, your presence amongst us is the proof 
 that you have courageously stood forth in the 
 cause of Truth. The oppressions of Christian 
 Bishops will lead the people to regard them 
 as no better than deceivers. Stand fast ; the 
 time is not distant when we shall arrive in 
 the wished-for haven, whether we be struck 
 down by the oppressors or they themselves 
 be cast down, and all will then be well with 
 us, if we do but continue faithful to Jesus 
 Christ." 238 
 
 These cheering words were precious indeed 
 to the French refugees ; but just then, a blow 
 struck by those very Christians of Switzer- 
 land, and of Germany, who sought to cheer 
 them, carried grief to their hearts. In the 
 feeling of their recent escape from the fires 
 of persecution, they, at this time, beheld with 
 dismay the evangelical Christians beyond 
 the Rhine disturbing their repose by their 
 deplorable differences. The controversy, in 
 relation to the Lord's Supper, had begun. 
 Deeply affected, and feeling the need of mu- 
 tual love, the French Reformers would have 
 made any sacrifice to conciliate the divergent 
 parties. It became the great object of their 
 desire. None more than they felt from the 
 outset the need of Christian unity. At a 
 later period, Calvin afforded proof of this. 
 "Would to God," said Peter Toussaint, 
 " that, by my worthless blood, I could pur- 
 
 chase peace, concord, and union in Christ 
 Jesus." 239 The French, gifted with quick dis- 
 cernment, saw, from the very beginning, how 
 the rising dissensions would stand in the way 
 of the Reformation. " All would go favour- 
 ably beyond our hopes, if we were but agreed 
 among ourselves. Many there are who would 
 gladly come to the light, but they are pre- 
 vented by seeing such divisions among the 
 learned." 240 
 
 The French were the first to suggest con- 
 ciliatory advances : " Why," wrote they from 
 Strasburg, " why not send Bucer or some 
 other man of learning to confer with Luther ? 
 The more we delay the wider will our dif- 
 ferences become." These fears seemed every 
 day more founded. 211 
 
 Failing in their endeavours, these Chris- 
 tians turned their eyes towards France, and 
 the conversion of their own country to the faith 
 thenceforth exclusively engaged the hearts 
 of these generous men, whom history, so 
 loud in praise of men who have sought only 
 their own glory, has, for three centuries, 
 scarcely mentioned. Cast upon a foreign 
 soil, they threw themselves on their knees, 
 and, daily in their solitude, called down bless- 
 ings from God upon their fatherland. 242 Prcyer 
 was the great instrument by which the Gos- 
 pel spread through the kingdom, and the great 
 engine by which the conquests of the Re- 
 formation were achieved. 
 
 But there were other men of prayer besides 
 these. Never, perhaps, have the ranks of the 
 Gospel comprised combatants more prompt to 
 suffer in the hour of conflict. They felt the 
 importance of scattering the Scriptures and 
 pious writings in their country, which was 
 still overclouded with the thick darkness of 
 superstition. A spirit of inquiry was dawn- 
 ing in their nation, and it seemed necessary 
 on all sides to unfurl the sails to the wind. 
 Anemond, ever prompt in action, and Michel 
 Bentin, another refugee, resolved to employ, 
 in concert, their zeal and talents. Bentin de- 
 cided to establish a printing-press at Basle, 
 and the knight to turn to account the little he 
 knew of German, by translating out of that lan- 
 guage the more striking tracts written by the 
 Reformers. " Oh !" exclaimed they, rejoicing 
 in their project; "would to God that France 
 were so supplied with Gospel writings that 
 in cottages, and in palaces, in cloisters, and 
 in presbyteries, and in the inner sanctuary of 
 all hearts, a powerful witness might be borna 
 for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." 243 
 
 For such an undertaking funds were neces- 
 sary, and the refugees were destitute of 
 funds. Vaugris was then at Basle. Ane- 
 mond, on parting with him, gave him a letter 
 to the brethren of Lyons, some of whom had 
 considerable possessions in lands, and, not- 
 withstanding they were oppressed, remained 
 faithful to the Gospel. In his letter, he asked 
 their assistance ; but that could not at all meet 
 the extent of the need. 244 The Frenchmen re- 
 solved to establish several presses at Basle, 
 that should be worked day and night, so as to 
 inundate all France with God's word. 245 At 
 
408 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Meaux, Metz, and other places, there were 
 those rich enough to contribute to this work ; 
 and as no one could appeal to Frenchmen with 
 more authority than Farel, it was to him that 
 Anemond made application. 246 
 
 We do not find that the scheme of Anemond 
 was realized ; but the work was carried out 
 by others. The presses of Basle were inces- 
 santly employed in printing French works, 
 which were forwarded to Farel, and by him 
 introduced into France. One of the earliest 
 of the issues of this Religious Tract Society- 
 was Luther's Exposition of the Lord's Prayer. 
 " We sell the Paier at four deniers de Bale to 
 private persons," wrote Vaugris " but to the 
 wholesale dealer, we supply copies at the rate 
 of 200 for two florins, which is something less." 247 
 
 Anemond was accustomed to transmit from 
 Bale to Farel any profitable books published 
 or received in that city at one time a tract on 
 ordination, at another, an essay on the educa- 
 tion of children. 243 Farel looked through them, 
 composing, translating, and seeming, at one 
 and the same time, all activity, and yet all 
 meditation. Anemond urged on and superin- 
 tended the printing, and these letters, requests, 
 and books, all these little single sheets, were 
 among the instruments of regeneration to that 
 age. While dissoluteness and profligacy de- 
 scended from the throne to the lower orders, 
 and darkness spread from the very steps of 
 the altar, these writings, so inconsiderable and 
 unnoticed, alone diffused the beams of light 
 and the seeds of holiness. 
 
 But it was especially God's word that the 
 evangelic merchant of Lyons required for his 
 fellow-countrymen. That generation of the 
 sixteenth century, so eager for all that could 
 satisfy the re-awakened intellect, was to 
 receive in its vernacular tongue those early 
 records of the first ages, redolent with the 
 young breath of human nature, and those 
 holy oracles of apostolic times, bright with 
 the fulness of the revelation of Christ. Vau- 
 gris wrote to Farel " Pray, see if it be not 
 possible to have the New Testament trans- 
 lated by some competent hand ; it would be 
 a great blessing to France, Burgundy, and 
 Savoy. And if you should not be already 
 provided with the proper types, I would order 
 some from Paris or Lyons but if we have 
 the types at Basle, it would be all the better." 
 
 Lefevre had previously published at Meaux, 
 but by detached portions, the books of the 
 New Testament in the French language. 
 Vaugris wished some one to undertake a re- 
 vision of the whole for a new edition. Lefe- 
 vre undertook to do so, and, as we have alrea- 
 dy related, published the entire volume on the 
 12th October, 1534. Conrad, an uncle of 
 Vangris, who had also sought an asylum in 
 Basle, sent for a copy. De Coct, happening 
 to be in company with a friend on the 18th 
 November, first saw the book, and was over- 
 joyed. "Lose no time in going to press 
 again," said he, "for T clonht not a vast num- 
 ber of copies will be called for."* 
 
 MS. of the Conclave of Neufchatel. 
 
 Thus was the word of God offered to France 
 side by side with those traditions of the 
 I Church which Rome is still continually pre- 
 senting to her. " How can we discern," 
 asked the Reformers, " between what is of 
 man in your traditions and that which is of 
 God, save only by the Scriptures of truth"? 
 The maxims of the Fathers, the decretals of 
 the Church, cannot be the rule of faith : they 
 show us what was the judgment of those 
 earlier divines, but only from the Word can 
 we gather the thoughts of God. Every thing 
 must be tested by Scripture." 
 
 In this manner, for the most part, these 
 printed works were circulated. Farel and his 
 friends transmitted the sacred books to certain 
 dealers or colporteurs poor men of good cha- 
 racter for piety, who. bearing their precious 
 burden, went through towns and villages 
 from house to house in Franchecomte, Bur- 
 gundy, and the neighbouring districts, knock- 
 ing at every door. The books were sold to 
 them at a low price, that the interest they had 
 in the sale might make them the more indus- 
 trious in disposing of them. 249 Thus as early 
 as 1524 there existed in Basle, and having 
 France for the field of their operations, a Bi- 
 ble society an association of colporteurs 
 and a religious tract society. It is, then, a mis- 
 take to conceive that such efforts date only 
 from our own age ; they go back, at least in 
 the identity of the objects they propose, not 
 merely to the days of the Reformation, but 
 still further, to the first ages of the Church. 
 
 The attention which Farel bestowed on 
 France did not cause him to neglect the places 
 where he resided. Arriving at Montbeliard, 
 towards the end of July, 1524, he had no 
 sooner sown the seed, than, to use the lan- 
 guage of (Ecolampadius, the first-fruits of the 
 harvest began to appear. Farel, exulting, 
 communicated his success to his friend. "It 
 is easy," replied the doctor of Basle, "to in- 
 stil a few dogmas into the ears of our audi- 
 tors ; butGodalonecanchangetheirhearts." 2 ' 
 
 De Coct, overjoyed with this intelligence, 
 hurried to Peter Toussaint's house. "To- 
 morrow," said he, with his usual vivacity, "I 
 set off to visit Farel." Toussaint, more 
 calm, was then writing to the evangelist of 
 Montbeliard : " Have a care," wrote he ; " the 
 cause you have taken in hand is of solemn 
 importance, and should not be contaminated 
 by the counsels of men. The great ones may 
 promise you their favour, assistance, ay, and 
 heaps of gold but to put put confidence in 
 these things is to forsake Jesus Christ, and 
 to walk in"darkness." 251 Toussaint was in the 
 act of closing his letter when De Coct enter- , 
 ed ; and the latter, taking charge of it, set 
 off for Montbeliard. 
 
 He found all the city in commotion. Seve- \ 
 ral of the nobles, in alarm, and casting a look 
 of contempt on Farel, exclaimed, " What can ; 
 this poor wretch want with us 1 Would that 
 he had never come amongst us. He must not 
 remain here, or he will bring ruin upon us as j 
 well as upon himself." These nobles, who 
 had retired to Montbeliard in company' with 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 409 
 
 the duke for shelter, feared lest the stir which 
 everywhere accompanied the spread of the Re- 
 formation, should by drawing upon them the 
 notice of Charles V. and Ferdinand, lead to 
 their being driven from their only remaining 
 asylum. But the ecclesiastics were Farel's 
 bitterest opponents. The superior of the 
 Franciscans at Besancon hastened to Montbe- 
 liard, and concocted defensive measures with 
 the clergy of that place. The following Sun- 
 day Farel had scarcely begun to preach when 
 he was interrupted, and called a liar and a 
 heretic. Immediately the whole assembly 
 was in an uproar. The audience rose, and 
 called for silence. The duke hastened to the 
 spot, put both the superior and Farel under ar- 
 rest, and insisted that the former should prove 
 his charges, or else retract them. The supe- 
 rior chose the latter course, and an official re- 
 port was published of the transaction. 252 
 
 This attack only rendered Farel more zeal- 
 ous than before : thenceforward he believed it 
 his duty fearlessly to unmask these interested 
 priests ; and, drawing the sword of the Word, 
 he applied it unsparingly. He was now more 
 than ever led to imitate Jesus, rather in his 
 character as the purifier of the temple, driving 
 but thence the traffickers and money-changers, 
 and overthrowing their tables than as the 
 one of whom prophecy declared, " He shall not 
 strive nor cry, neither shall his voice be heard in 
 the streets." (Ecolampadius was affrighted. 
 These two men were the perfect types of two 
 charac'ers diametrically opposite, and yet both 
 worthy of our admiration. "Your mission," 
 wrote (Ecolampadius to Farel, "is gently to 
 draw men to the truth, not to drag them with 
 violence ; to preach the Gospel, not to pro- 
 nounce maledictions. Physicians resort to 
 amputation, only when external applications 
 have failed. Act the part of the physician, not 
 of the executioner. In my judgment, it is 
 not enough that you are gentle towards the 
 friends of the Truth. You must likewise win 
 over the adversaries. Or if the wolves are to 
 be driven from the fold, at least let the sheep 
 hear the voice of the shepherd. Pour oil and 
 wine into the wounded heart 253 -and be the he- 
 rald of glad tidings, not a judge or tyrant." 
 The report of these things spread both in 
 France and Lorraine, and this gathering to- 
 gether of refugees in Basle and Montbeliard 
 began to alarm the Sorbonne and the Cardi- 
 nal. Gladly would they have broken up so 
 ominous an alliance ; for error knows no greater 
 triumph than the enlisting a renegade in its 
 ranks. Already had Martial Mazurier and 
 others given the papal party in France an op- 
 portunity of rejoicing over shameful deser- 
 tions; but if they could only succeed in se- 
 ducing one of those confessors of Christ who 
 had fled for safety to the banks of the Rhine, 
 one who had suffered much for the name of 
 the Lord, that were indeed a victory for the 
 hierarchy. Measures were concerted and di- 
 rected in the first instance against the young- 
 est. 
 
 The Dean, the Cardinal of Lorraine,' and all 
 the circle which assembled at the prelate's 
 
 house, deplored the sad fate of Peter Tous- 
 saint, once the object of so many hopes. He 
 is at Basle, s.aid they, living in the very house 
 of (Ecolampadius, in close intercourse with 
 that leader in this heresy. They wrote to 
 him movingly, as though his salvation was at 
 stake. These letters were the more distress- 
 ing to the poor young man, because they bore 
 evident marks of sincere affection. 254 One of 
 his relations, probably the Dean himself, 
 urged him to remove to Paris, Metz, or what- 
 ever place he pleased, provided it were but ata 
 distance from the Lutherans. This relation, 
 bearing in mind how much Toussaint was in- 
 debted to him, doubted not his immediate 
 compliance with the injunction ; when there- 
 fore he found his efforts unavailing, his affec- 
 tion was succeeded by violent hatred. This 
 resistance, on the part of the young refugee, 
 exasperated against him all his family and 
 friends. Recourse was had to his mother, who 
 was entirely under the influence of the monks: 255 
 the priests came about her, frightening her, and 
 persuading her that her son had been guilty 
 of crimes which could not be named without 
 shuddering. On this the distressed parent 
 wrote to her son an affecting letter, "full of 
 tears," as he says, in which she described her 
 misery in heart-rending terms. " Oh ! wretch- 
 ed mother," said she, "Oh! unnatural son! 
 Cursed be the breasts that suckled thee, 
 cursed be the knees that bare thee." 256 
 
 Poor Toussaint was overwhelmed with con- 
 sternation. What was he to do 1 ? Return to 
 France he could not. To leave Basle and 
 proceed to Zurich or Wittemberg, beyond the 
 reach of his kindred, would only have added 
 to their distress. (Ecolampadius suggested 
 a middle course. " Leave rny house," said 
 he. 257 With a sorrowful heart Toussaint com- 
 plied, and went to lodge with a priest, both 
 ignorant and obscure, and so well fitted to 
 quiet the fears of his relations. 258 W T hat a change 
 for him ! He had no intercourse with his host 
 except at meals. At such times they were 
 continually differing on matters of faith, but 
 no sooner was his meal ended, than Tous- 
 saint hastened to shut himself in his chamber; 
 where, undisturbed by noise and controversy, 
 he carefully studied the word of God. " The 
 Lord is my witness," said he, " that in this 
 valley of tears, I have but one desire, and that 
 is, to see Christ's kingdom extend itself, that 
 all with one mouth rnay glorify God." 259 
 
 One incident took place and cheered Tous- 
 saint. The enemies of the Gospel at Metz 
 were becoming more and more powerful. At 
 his entreaty, the Chevalier d'Esch undertook 
 a journey, in July, 1525, to strengthen the 
 evangelical Christians of that city. He tra- 
 versed the forests of Vosges, and reached the 
 place where Leclerc had'laid down his life, 
 bringing with him several books with which 
 Farel had supplied him. 260 
 
 But the French exiles did not confine their 
 attention to Lorraine. De Coct received let- 
 ters from one of Farel's brothers, depicting, 
 in gloomy colours, the condition of Dauphiny. 
 He carefully avoided showing them, lest he 
 
410 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 should alarm the faint-hearted, but bore them 
 on his heart before God in fervent prayer, for j 
 His all-powerful aid. 261 In December, 1524, 
 one Peter Verrier, a messenger from Dauphmy, 
 intrusted with commissions for Farel and 
 Anemond, arrived on horseback at Montbe- 
 liard. The knight, with his usual impetuosi- 
 ty, immediately resolved on returning into 
 France. " If the said Peter has brought mo- 
 ney," wrote he to Farel, "do you take it: if 
 he has brought letters, open them, take copies, 
 and send them to me. Do not however sell 
 the horse, but keep it, since I may perhaps 
 need it. I am minded to enter France se- 
 cretly, and visit Jacobus Faber (Lefevre) and 
 Arandius. Write me your opinion of this 
 plan." 2 - 5 
 
 Such was the unreserved confidence which 
 existed among these refugees. De Coct, it is 
 true, was already indebted thirty-six crowns 
 to Farel, whose purse was ever at the service 
 of his friends. The knight's plan of return- 
 ing to France was one of more zeal than wis- 
 dom. His habitual want of caution would 
 have exposed him to certain death. This 
 Farel doubtless explained to him. Leaving 
 Basle he withdrew to a small town, having, 
 as he said, " great hopes of acquiring the 
 German tongue, God willing." 263 
 
 Farel continued to preach the Gospel at 
 Montbeliard. His spirit was grieved within 
 him, beholding the great body of the people 
 of that place wholly given to the worship of 
 images. In his opinion it was no better than 
 a return to heathen idolatry. 
 
 Nevertheless the exhortations of (Ecolam- 
 padius, and the fear of compromising the 
 truth, would, perhaps, have long restrained 
 them, but for an unforeseen circumstance. 
 One day, towards the end of February, (it 
 was the feast of St. Anthony,) Farel was 
 walking near the banks of a little river that 
 runs through the town, below the lofty rock 
 on which stands the citadel, when, as he 
 reached the bridge, he met a procession re- 
 citing prayers to St. Anthony, and headed by 
 two priests bearing the image of that saint. 
 He thus found himself suddenly brought into 
 contact with these superstitions. A violent 
 struggle took place in his soul ; shall he be 
 silent, or conceal himself? would it not be a 
 cowardly want of faith ? These dumb idols, 
 borne on the shoulders of ignorant priests, 
 made his blood boil. He boldly advanced, 
 snatched from the priests' arms the shrine of 
 the holy hermit, and threw it from the bridge 
 into the stream. Then, turning toward the 
 astonished crowd, he exclaimed aloud, " Poor 
 idolaters, will ye never put away your 
 idols?" 264 
 
 The priests and people were motionless in 
 astonishment. A holy fear for a while para- 
 lyzed them ; but soon recovering, they ex- 
 claimed, " The image is sinking," and their 
 motionless silence was succeeded by trans- 
 ports of rage. The crowd would have rushed 
 upon the sacrilegious wretch who had hurled 
 into the river the object of their adoration; 
 
 but Farel, we know not how, escaped thei 
 
 fury.* 
 
 Many may regret that the Reformer allow- 
 ed himself to be hurried into an act which 
 tended to check the progress of the truth. 
 We can enter into their feelings. Let no man 
 think himself authorized to attack with vio- 
 lence an institution which has the public sanc- 
 tion. Yet is there in this zeal of the Refor- 
 mer a something more noble than that cold 
 prudence so common in the world, and which 
 shrinks from incurring the smallest danger or 
 making the most trifling sacrifice for the ad- 
 vancement of God's kingdom. Farel well 
 knew that by this act he was exposing him- 
 self to the death which Leclerc had suffered. 
 But his own conscience bore testimony that 
 he desired only to promote the glory of God, 
 and this elevated him above all fear. 
 
 After this incident of the bridge, in which 
 we discern his natural character, Farel was 
 obliged to conceal himself, and soon after- 
 wards to quit the city. He took refuge with 
 (Ecolampadius at Basle ; but he ever retained 
 that attachment to Montbeliard, which a ser- 
 vant of God never ceases to cherish for the 
 scene of the first-fruits of his ministry. 265 
 
 At Basle, sad tidings awaited him. Him- 
 self a fugitive, he now learned that Anemond 
 de Coct was dangerously ill. Farel imme- 
 diately remitted to him four gold crowns : but 
 on the 25th of March, a letter from Oswald 
 Myconius brought him intelligence of the 
 knight's death. " Let us so live," wrote Os- 
 wald, " that we may enter into that rest which 
 we trust the soul of Anemond has now entered 
 upon." 266 
 
 Thus prematurely died Anemond ; still 
 young, full of activity and energy, in him- 
 self a host, ready to undertake every labour, 
 and brave every danger in the hope of evan- 
 gelizing France. God's ways are not our 
 ways. Not long before, and near Zurich too, 
 another noble, Ulric von Hiitten, had breathed 
 his last. Points of resemblance are not want- 
 ing between the two ; but the piety and Chris- 
 tian virtues of the native of Dauphiny en- 
 title him to rank far above the level of the 
 witty and intrepid enemy of the Pope and 
 monks. 
 
 Shortly after Anemond's death, Farel, find- 
 ing it impossible to remain at Basle whence 
 he had already been expelled, joined his 
 friends Capito and Bucer at Strasburg. 
 
 Thus at Montbeliard and at Basle, as well 
 as at Lyons, the ranks of the Reformers were 
 thinned. Of those who most zealously con- 
 tended for the faith, some had been removed 
 by death others were scattered by persecu- 
 tion, and in exile. In vain did the combatants 
 turn their efforts in every direction. On all 
 
 * M. Kirchhoffer, in his Life of Farel, gives 
 this circumstance as an uncertain tradition : but 
 it is related by Protestant writers, and besides 
 seems to be perfectly consistent with the charac- 
 ter of Farel and the fears of (Ecolampadius. It 
 is our duty to admit the weaknesses of the Re- 
 formation. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 411 
 
 sides they were repulsed. But though the 
 forces concentrated first at Meaux, then at 
 Lyons, and lastly at Basle, had been suc- 
 cessively broken up, there remained here and 
 there, in Lorraine, at Meaux, and even in 
 Paris, good soldiers, who struggled, more or 
 less openly, in support of God's word in 
 France. Though the Reformation saw its 
 ranks broken, it still had its single cham 
 pions. Against these the Sorbonne and the 
 Parliament now turned their anger. The re- 
 solution was taken to exterminate from the 
 soil of France the devoted men who had un- 
 dertaken to plant thereon the standard of 
 Jesus Christ; and unprecedented misfor- 
 tunes seemed at this season to conspire with 
 the enemies of the Reformation to favour the 
 attainment of their purpose. 
 
 During the latter part of Farel's stay at 
 Montbeliard, great events had indeed taken 
 place on the theatre of the world. Lannoy, 
 and Pescara, Charles's generals, having quit- 
 ted France on the approach of Francis I., that 
 Prince crossed the Alps, and blockaded Pa- 
 via. On the 24th of February, 1525, Pescara 
 attacked him. Bonnivet, la Tremouille, la 
 Palisse, and Lescure died fighting by his side. 
 The Duke of Alencon, the first prince of the 
 blood and husband of Margaret, fled, carrying 
 with him the rear-guard, and died of shame 
 and grief at Lyons. Francis himself, thrown 
 from his horse, surrendered his sword to 
 Charles de Lannoy, viceroy of Naples, who 
 received it kneeling on one knee. The King 
 of France was the Emperor's prisoner ! His 
 captivity seemed to be the greatest of all mis- 
 fortunes. "Nothing is left me but honour 
 and life," wrote that Prince to his mother. 
 But to none was this event more affecting 
 than to Margaret. The glory of her country 
 overclouded, France without a monarch, and 
 exposed to accumulated dangers, her beloved 
 brother the captive of his haughty foe, her 
 husband dishonoured and dead, what an 
 overflowing cup of bitterness ! But she had 
 a Comforter: and whilst her brother sought 
 to comfort himself by repeating, " Tout est 
 perdu, fors Fhonneur /" (All is lost save ho- 
 nour !) . . She was able to say, " Fors Jesus 
 seul, monfrere,Jils de Dieu," " Save Christ 
 alone, my brother, Son of God !" 267 
 
 All France, nobles, parliament, and people, 
 were overwhelmed in consternation. Ere 
 long, as in the first three, centuries of the 
 Church the calamity which had overtaken 
 the state was charged upon the Christians, 
 and the cry of fanatics on all sides demanded 
 their blood as the means of averting further 
 misfortunes. The moment, therefore, was 
 favourable to the opposers of the truth ; it 
 was not enough to have dislodged the evan- 
 gelical Christians from the three strong posi- 
 tions they had taken up, it was necessary to 
 profit by the popular panic to strike while the 
 iron was hot, and utterly to extirpate a power 
 which was becoming so formidable to the 
 Papacy. 
 
 At the head of this conspiracy, and loudest 
 in these clamours, were Beda, Duchesne, and 
 53 
 
 Lecouturier. These irreconcilable enemies of 
 the Gospel flattered themselves that they 
 might easily obtain, from public terror, the 
 victims hitherto refused. They went imme- 
 diately to work, employing fanatical ha- 
 rangues, lamentations, threats, and libels, to 
 arouse the angry passions of the nation and 
 its governors, vomiting fire and flame against 
 their adversaries, and heaping insults upon 
 them. 268 
 
 They stopped at nothing; dishonestly 
 quoting their words, without reference to any 
 explanatory context, substituting expressions 
 of their own in place of those used by the 
 teachers they wished to inculpate, and omit- 
 ting or adding according as was necessary to 
 blacken the character of their opponents- 269 
 Such is the testimony of Erasmus himself. 
 
 Nothing so much excited their anger as 
 the doctrine of Salvation by Free Grace, 
 the corner-stone of Christianity and of the 
 Reformation. * When I contemplate," said 
 Beda, " these three men, Lefevre, Erasmus, 
 and Luther, in other respects gifted with so 
 penetrating a genius, leagued together in a 
 conspiracy against meritorious works, and 
 resting all the weight of salvation on faith 
 alone, I am no longer astonished that thou- 
 sands, led away by such teaching, begin to 
 say, * Why should" I fast and mortify my 
 body]' 270 Let us banish from France this 
 hateful doctrine of grace. This neglect of 
 Sfood works is a fatal snare of the devil." 
 
 Thus did the syndic of the Sorbonne fight 
 against the faith. He would naturally find 
 supporters in a profligate court, and likewise 
 in another class of people, more respectable, 
 but not less opposed to the Gospel; we 
 mean those grave men, and rigid moralists, 
 who, devoted to the study of laws and judi- 
 cial forms, discern in Christianity no more 
 than a system of laws, and in the Church 
 only a sort of moral police, and who, unable 
 ;o make the doctrines of man's spiritual help- 
 lessness, the new birth, and justification by 
 faith, square with the legal habit of their 
 minds, are induced to regard them as fanciful 
 imaginations, dangerous to public morals and 
 to national prosperity. This aversion to the 
 doctrine of free grace manifested itself in the 
 sixteenth century under two widely different 
 ^orms. In Italy and in Poland it took the 
 form of Socinianism, so called from its ori- 
 ginator, who was descended from a celebrated 
 'amily of jurists at Sienna ; while in France, 
 t showed itself in the stem decrees and 
 >urnings of the Parliament. 
 
 Contemning the great truths of the Gospel, 
 as promulgated by the Reformers, and think- 
 ng it necessary to do something at this 
 season of overwhelming calamity, the Par- 
 iament presented an address to Louisa of 
 Savoy, remonstrating strongly on the conduct 
 f the government towards the new teaching : 
 Heresy," said they, " has raised its head 
 amongst us, and the king, by his neo-lecting 
 to bring the heretics to the scaffold, has 
 drawn down upon us the wrath of heaven." 
 
 At the same time the pulpits resounded 
 
412 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 with lamentations, threatenings, and male- 
 dictions ; and prompt and signal punishments 
 were loudly demanded. Martial Mazurier 
 took a prominent part among the preachers 
 of Paris, and endeavouring by his violence 
 to efface the recollection of his former con- 
 nection with the partisans of the Reforma- 
 tion, inveighed against such as were " secretly 
 the disciples of Luther." "Know you," 
 cried he, " the rapid progress of this poison 1 
 Know you its strength] It acts with incon- 
 ceivable rapidity; in a moment it may de- 
 stroy tens of thousands of souls. Ah ! well 
 may we tremble for France." 271 
 
 It was not difficult to excite the Queen- 
 mother against the favourers of the Reforma- 
 tion. Her daughter Margaret, the chief per- 
 sonages of the court, she herself, Louisa of 
 Savoy, who had ever been devoted to the 
 Roman Pontiff, had been by certain of the 
 fanatics charged with countenancing Lefevre, 
 Berquin, and the other innovators. Had she 
 not been known, insinuated her accusers, to 
 read their tracts and translations of the Bible 1 
 The Queen-mother was not unwilling to 
 clear herself of such dishonouring suspicions. 
 Already she had despatched her confessor to 
 the Sorbonne to inquire of that body as to the 
 best method of extirpating this heresy. " The 
 detestable doctrine of Luther," said she in 
 her message to the faculty, "every day gains 
 new adherents." The faculty smiled on the 
 receipt of this message. The time had been 
 when the representations they had made 
 were dismissed without so much as a hear- 
 ing ; but now their advice was humbly soli- 
 cited in the matter. At length they held 
 within their grasp that heresy which they 
 had so long desired to stifle. They deputed 
 Noel Beda to return an immediate answer to 
 the Queen-regent. " Since," said the fana- 
 tical syndic, " the sermons, discussions, and 
 books, with which we have so often opposed 
 heresy, have failed to arrest its progress, a 
 proclamation ought to be put forth, prohibit- 
 ing the circulation of the writings of the 
 heretics and if these measures should prove 
 insufficient, force and restraint should be 
 employed against the persons of the false 
 teachers ; for they who resist the light must 
 be subdued by punishments and terror" 2 
 
 But Louisa had not even waited for their 
 answer. Scarcely had Francis fallen into 
 the hands of Charles V., when she wrote to 
 the Pope, consulting him as to his wishes 
 with respect to heretics. It was important 
 to Louisa's policy to secure to herself the 
 favour of a pontiff who had power to raise 
 all Italy against the conqueror of Pavia; and 
 she did not think that favour would be too 
 dearly bought at the cost of some French 
 blood. The Pope, delighted at the opportu- 
 nity of letting loose his vengeance in the 
 "most Christian kingdom," against a heresy 
 of which he had failed to arrest the progress 
 either in Switzerland or Germany, gave 
 instant directions for the establishment of the 
 Inquisition in France, and despatched a bull 
 to that effect to the Parliament. At the same 
 
 time Duprat, whom the Pontiff had created a 
 cardinal, at the same time bestowing upon 
 him the archbishopric of Sens and a rich 
 abbey, laboured to testify his gratitude for 
 these favours, by his indefatigable opposition 
 to the heretics. Thus the Pope, the Regent, 
 the doctors of the Sorbonne and the Parlia- 
 ment, the Chancellor and the fanatics, were 
 now combining to ruin the Gospel and put 
 its confessors to death. 
 
 The Parliament was first in motion. The 
 time had arrived, when it was necessary that 
 the first body in the state should take steps 
 against the new doctrine : moreover, it might 
 seem called to act, inasmuch as the public 
 tranquillity was at stake. Accordingly, the 
 Parliament, "under the impulse of a holy 
 zeal against the innovations," issued an 
 edict, " that the Bishop of Paris, and certain 
 other bishops, should be held responsible to 
 M. Philippe Pott, president of requests, and 
 Andrew Verjus, its counsellor, and to Mes- 
 sires William Duchesne, and Nicolas Le- 
 clerc, doctors of divinity, to institute and 
 conduct the trial of persons tainted with the 
 Lutheran doctrine." 273 
 
 " And with a purpose of making it appear 
 that those persons were acting rather under 
 the authority of the Church than of the Par- 
 liament, it pleased his Holiness, the Pope, to 
 forward a brief, dated 20th May, 1525, in 
 which he approved the commissioners that 
 had been named." 
 
 " Accordingly, in pursuance of these mea- 
 sures, all who, being called before these 
 deputies, were by the bishop or by the eccle- 
 siastical judges, pronounced Lutherans, were 
 handed over to the secular arm, that is, to 
 the said Parliament, who forthwith condemn- 
 ed them to the flames."* We quote the very 
 words of a manuscript of that age. 
 
 Such was the dreadful court of Inquisition, 
 appointed, during the captivity of Francis I., 
 to take cognisance of the charge against the 
 evangelic Christians of France, as dangerous 
 to the state. Its members were two laymen 
 and two ecclesiastics : and one of these latter 
 was Duchesne, next to Beda the most fana- 
 tical of the adverse party. Shame had pre- 
 vented their placing Beda himself in the 
 commission, but his influence was only the 
 more secured by the precaution. 
 
 Thus the machinery was set up, its various 
 springs in order, and every one of its blows 
 likely to be mortal. It was an important 
 point to settle against whom its first proceed- 
 ings should be taken. Beda, Duchesne, and 
 Leclerc, M. Philip Pott, the president, and 
 Andrew Verjus, the counsellor, met to delibe- 
 rate on this point. Was there not the Count 
 of Montbrun, the old friend of- Louis XII.,' 
 and the former ambassador at the court of 
 Rome, Briconnet, then Bishop of Meaux? 
 This committee of public safety, of 1525, 
 
 * The MS. of the Library of St. Genevieve, 
 whence I have derived this fragment, bears the 
 name of Lezeau, but in the catalogue that of 
 Lefebre. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 413 
 
 thought that by singling out its object from an 
 elevated station, it should strike terror through 
 all hearts. This consideration seems to have 
 decided them ; and the venerable bishop re- 
 ceived notice of trial. 
 
 Far from quailing before the persecution 
 of 1523, Briconnet had persisted, in conjunc- 
 tion with Lefevre, in opposing the popular 
 superstitions. The more eminent his station 
 in the Church and in the State, the more fatal 
 did the effect of his example appear, and the 
 more did his enemies judge it necessary to 
 extort from him a public recantation, or to 
 bring him to a yet more public retribution. 
 The court of Inquisition lost no time in col- 
 lecting and preparing the evidence against 
 him. He was charged with harbouring the 
 teachers of the new heresy: it was alleged 
 that a week after the superior of the Corde- 
 liers had preached in St. Martin's church at 
 Meaux, by direction of the Sorbonne, to re- 
 store sound doctrine, Briconnet had himself 
 occupied the pulpit, and, in publicly refuting 
 Kim, had designated the preacher and his 
 brother Cordeliers impostors, false prophets, 
 and hypocrites ; and that, not satisfied with 
 that, he had, through his official, summoned 
 the superior to appear personally to answer 
 to him. 274 
 
 It would even seem, if we may trust to one 
 manuscript of the time, that the Bishop had 
 gone much further, and that he in person, at- 
 tended by Lefevre, had in the autumn of 1524, 
 gone over his diocese, committing to the 
 flames, wherever he came, all images, the 
 crucifix alone excepted. So daring a conduct, 
 which would go to prove so much decision, 
 combined with much timidity in the charac- 
 ter of Briconnet if we give credit to the fact 
 would not fix upon him the blame visited 
 on other iconoclasts ; for he was at the head 
 of that Church whose superstitions he then 
 sought to reform, and was therefore acting at 
 least in the sphere of his rights and duties.* 
 
 However we may regard it, in the eyes of 
 the enemies of the Gospel the charge against 
 Briconnet was of a very aggravated character. 
 He had not merely impugned the Church's 
 authority, he had erected himself against the 
 Sorbonne itself, that society, all the energies 
 of which were directed to the perpetuation of 
 its own greatness. Great, therefore, was the 
 joy in the society at the intelligence that its 
 
 * In the library of the pastors of Neufchatel is 
 a letter of Sebville, in which the following pas- 
 sage occurs: " Je te notifie que 1'eveque de 
 Meaux en Brie pres Paris cum Jacolio Fabro sfapu- 
 lensi, depuis trois mois, en visitant 1'eveche ont 
 brule actu tous les images, reserve le crucifix, et 
 sont personellement ajournes a Paris a ce mois de 
 mars venant pour repondre coram suprema curia et 
 univcrsitate." I am rather disposed to think the 
 fact truly stated, though Sebville was not on the 
 spot. Mezeray, Daniel, and Maimbourg make no 
 mention of it. These Roman Catholic writers, 
 who are not very circumstantial, may have had 
 motives for passing over the fact in silence, con- 
 sidering the issue of the trial ; and moreover, the 
 report of Sebville agrees with all the known facts. 
 However, the matter is open to question. 
 
 adversary was to stand a trial before the In- 
 quisition, and John Bochart, one of the lead- 
 ing lawyers of the time, pleading before the 
 Parliament against Briconnet, exclaimed 
 aloud, "Neither the Bishop nor any sin- 
 gle individual can lawfully exalt himself 
 or open his mouth against the faculty. 
 Neither is the faculty called to discuss or give 
 its reasons at the bar of the said Bishop, 
 whose duty it is to offer no opposition to the 
 wisdom of that holy society, but to esteem it 
 as under the guidance of God himself." 275 
 
 In conformity with this representation, the 
 Parliament put forth an edict on the 3d Octo- 
 ber, 1525, wherein, after authorizing the ar- 
 rest of all those who had been informed 
 against, it gave orders that the bishop should 
 be examined by Master James Menager and 
 Andrew Verjus, counsellors of the court, 
 touching the matters charged against him. 276 
 
 The order of the Parliament struck terror 
 to the Bishop's heart. Briconnet, twice 
 honoured with the post of ambassador at 
 Rome, Bri(;onnet, a bishop, a noble, the in- 
 timate friend of Louis XII. and Francis I., . 
 to undergo an interrogatory by two counsel- 
 lors of the court He who had fondly 
 
 dreamed that God would kindle in the hearts 
 of the king, his mother, and his sister, a flame 
 that would run through the kingdom, now be- 
 held that kingdom turning against him in the 
 endeavour to quench that fire which it had re- 
 ceived from heaven. The king was a captive ; 
 his mother was placing herself at the head of 
 the enemy's force ; and Margaret, dismayed 
 by the misfortunes of her country, no longer 
 dared to avert the blow directed against her 
 dearest friends, and falling first on the spirit- 
 ual father who had so often cheered and com- 
 forted her. Not long before this, she had 
 written to Briconnet a letter full of pious emo- 
 tions. " Oh," she had said, " that this poor 
 languid heart might experience some warmth 
 of that love with which I would that it were 
 burnt to ashes." 277 But the time had arrived 
 when the question was one of literal burn- 
 ings. Such mystical expressions were not 
 now in season; and one who resolved to con- 
 fess the faith must brave the scaffold ! The 
 poor Bishop, who had been so sanguine in 
 the hope to see the Reformation gradually 
 and gently winning its way in men's minds, 
 trembled in dismay, when he found, that, at 
 the eleventh hour, it must be purchased, at 
 the sacrifice of life itself. It is possible such 
 a thought may never before have occurred 
 to him, and he recoiled from it in an agony of 
 fear. 
 
 One hope, however, remained for Bricon- 
 net; and that was, that he might be allowed 
 to appear before the Chambers of Parliament 
 in general assembly, agreeably to the privilege 
 belonging, by custom, to his rank. Doubt- 
 less, in that august and numerous assembly, 
 some generous hearts would respond to his 
 appeal and espouse his cause. Accordingly, 
 he humbly petitioned the court to grant him 
 this indulgence ; but his enemies had equally 
 with himself calculated the possible issue ol 
 
414 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 such a hearing. Had they not learned a les- 
 son when Luther, in presence of the Germanic 
 Diet, at Worms, had shaken the resolution of 
 those who had previously seemed most decid- 
 ed 1 Carefully closing every avenue of escape, 
 they had exerted themselves with such effect, 
 that the Parliament, on the 25th October, 
 15*25, in an edict affirming that previously is- 
 sued, refused Brie, ormet the favour he had pe- 
 titioned for. 278 
 
 Behold the Bishop of Meaux, placed like 
 a common priest of the lowest order before 
 Masters James Menager and Andrew Verjus. 
 Those two jurisconsults, the obedient tools 
 of the Sorbonne, were not likely to be swayed 
 by those higher considerations to which the 
 Chambers of Parliament might be accessible ; 
 they were men of facts : was it, or was it 
 not, a fact that the Bishop had set himself in 
 opposition to the society ] With them, this 
 was the only question. Accordingly, Bri- 
 connet's conviction was secured. 
 
 Whilst the sword was thus impending over 
 the head of the Bishop, the monks, priests, 
 and doctors made the best use of their time ; 
 they saw plainly that if Briconnet could be 
 persuaded to retract, their interests would be 
 better served than by his martyrdom. His 
 death would but inflame the zeal of those 
 who were united with him in their faith, 
 while his apostasy would plunge them in the 
 deepest, discouragement. They accordingly 
 went to work. They visited him, and pressed 
 him with their entreaties. Martial Mazurier 
 especially strained every nerve to urge him 
 to a fall, as he himself had fallen. Arguments 
 were not wanting, which might, to Briconnet, 
 seem specious. Would he then take the con- 
 sequence, and be rejected from his office ? If 
 he remained in the church, might not he use 
 his influence with the king and the court to 
 an extent of good which it was not easy to 
 estimate ? What would become of his friends 
 when his power was at an end ] Was not his 
 resistance likely to compromise the success 
 of a Reformation which, to be salutary and 
 lasting, ought to be carried into effect by the 
 legitimate "influence of the clergy ? How 
 many would be stumbled by his persisting in 
 opposition to the Church; and, on the other 
 hand, how many would be won over by his 
 concessions] His advisers pretended that 
 they, too, were anxious for a Reformation; 
 " All is going on by insensible steps," said 
 they ; " both at the court, in the city, and in 
 the provinces, things are progressing and 
 would he, in the mere lightness of his heart, 
 dash the fair prospect in view ! After all, he 
 was not asked to relinquish what he had 
 taught, but merely to comply with the estab- 
 lished order of the Church. Could it be 
 well, at a time when France was suffering 
 under the pressure of so many reverses, to 
 stir up new confusions 1 " In the name of 
 religion, country, friends nay, even of the 
 Reformation itself consent /" said they. Such 
 are the sophisms that are the ruin of many a 
 noble enterprise. 
 
 Yet every one of these considerations had 
 
 its influence on the Bishop's mind. The 
 Tempter, who came to Jesns in the wilder- 
 ness, presented himself to Briconnet in fair 
 and specious colours; and instead of saying, 
 with his Master, " Get thee behind me, Sa- 
 tan!" he heard, listened, and considered his 
 suggestions. . . . Thenceforward his faith ful- 
 ness was at an end. 
 
 Briconnet had never been embarked, with 
 all his heart, like Farel or Luther in the move- 
 ment which was then remoulding the Church. 
 There was in him a sort of mystical tendency, 
 which enfeebles the souls in which it gains 
 place, and takes from them the firmness and 
 confidence which are derived from a Faith 
 that rests simply on the word of God. The 
 cross he was called to take up, that he might 
 follow Christ, was too heavy forhim. 279 Shaken 
 in resolution, alarmed, dizzy, and not know- 
 ing which way to turn, he faltered, and 
 stumbled against the stone that had been art- 
 fully laid in his path 280 . . he fell ; and, in- 
 stead of throwing himself into the arms of 
 Christ, he cast himself at the feet of Mazurier, 281 
 and by a shameful recantation, brought a dark 
 cloud upon the glory of a noble fidelity. 282 
 
 Thus fell Briconnet, the friend of Lefevre 
 and of Margaret ; and thus the earliest pro- 
 tector of the Gospel in France, denied that 
 good news of Grace, in the criminal thought 
 that his abiding faithful would compromise 
 his influence in the Church, at the court, and 
 in the kingdom. But what his enemies repre- 
 sented as the saving of his country, was, per- 
 haps, the greatest of its misfortunes. What 
 might not have been the consequence, if Bri- 
 connet had possessed the courage of Luther 1 
 If one of the most eminent of the French 
 bishops, enjoying the respect of the king and 
 the love of the people, had ascended the 
 scaffold, and there, like " the poor of this 
 world," sealed, by a courageous confession 
 and a Christian death, the truth of the Gos- 
 pel, would not France herself have been 
 put upon reflection? Would not the blood 
 of the Bishop of Meaux have served, like 
 that of Polycarp and Cyprian, as seed of the 
 Church; and should we not have seen those 
 provinces, so famed for many recollections, 
 emancipating themselves, in the sixteenth 
 century, from the spiritual darkness in which 
 they are still enveloped 1 
 
 Briconnet underwent the form of an inter- 
 rogatory, in presence of Masters James 
 Menager and Andrew Verjus, who declared 
 that he had sufficiently vindicated himself 
 from the crime charged against him. He 
 was then put under penance, and convened a 
 synod, at which he condemned the writings 
 of Luther, retracted whatever he had taught 
 at variance with the Church's teaching, re- 
 stored the custom of invocation of saints, 
 aersuading such as had left the rites of the 
 Church to return to them; and, as if desiring 
 to leave no doubt as to his reconciliation with 
 the Pope and the Sorbonne, kept a solemn 
 fast on All-saints-eve, and issued orders 
 for pompous processions, in which he ap- 
 peared personally, evidencing still further 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 415 
 
 his faith hy his largesses and apparent de- 
 votion.* 
 
 The fall of Briconnet is perhaps the most 
 memorable of all those recorded of that period. 
 There is no like example of one so deeply 
 engaged in the work of the Reformation so 
 abruptly turning against it; yet must we 
 carefully consider both his character and his 
 fall. Briconnet stood relatively to Rome as 
 Lefevre stood in relation to the Reformation. 
 Both represented a sort of juste milieu, ap- 
 pertaining, in strictness of speech, to neither 
 party, as it were, one on the right and the 
 other on the left centre. The Doctor of Eta- 
 pies leans towards the Word ; the Bishop in- 
 clines towards the Hierarchy ; and when 
 these men, who touch each other, are driven 
 to decision, we see the one range himself on 
 the side of Christ, and the other on the side 
 of Rome. We may add, that it is not pos- 
 sible to think that Brigonnet can have entirely 
 laid aside the convictions of his faith ; and at 
 no time did the Roman doctors put confidence 
 in him ; not even after he had retracted. But 
 he did, as did afterwards the Bishop of Cam- 
 bray, whom he in some points resembled ; he 
 flattered himself he might outwardly submit 
 to the Pope's authority, while he in his heart 
 continued subject to the divine Word. Such 
 weakness is incompatible with the principle 
 of the Reformation. Briconnet was one of 
 the most distinguished of the quietist or 
 mystic school ; and it is well known that one 
 of the leading maxims of that school has 
 ever been to settle down in, and adapt itself 
 to, the church in which it exists, whatever 
 that church may be. 
 
 The mournful fall of Briconnet was felt as 
 a shock to the hearts of his former friends, 
 and was the sad forerunner of those deplor- 
 able apostasies to which the friendship of the 
 world so often led, in another age of French 
 history. The man who seemed to hold the 
 reins of the movement was abruptly precipi- 
 tated from his seat, and the Reformation was, 
 in that country, thenceforth to pursue its 
 course without a leader or guide, in loneliness 
 and secrecy. But the disciples of the Gospel 
 from that time lifted up their eyes, regarding, 
 with more fixedness of faith, their Head in 
 heaven, whose unchanging faithfulness their 
 souls had known. 
 
 The Sorbonne was triumphant. A great 
 advance toward the final ruin of the Reforma- 
 tion in France had been made, and it was 
 important to follow up their success. Lefevre 
 stood next after Brigonnet, and Beda had, 
 therefore, without loss of time, turned his 
 hostility against him, publishing a tract 
 against the celebrated doctor, full of such 
 gross calumnies, that we have Erasmus's 
 judgment of them, that "even cobblers and 
 smiths could lay their finger on the falsehood 
 of them." What seemed above all to enrage 
 him was that doctrine of Justification by Faith, 
 which Lefevre had proclaimed in the ears of 
 
 . * Mezeray. ii. p. 981 ; Daniel, v. p. 644 ; Mo- 
 reri, article Brionnet. 
 
 Christians. To this Beda continually re- 
 curred as an article which, according to him, 
 overturned the Church. "What?" he ex- 
 claimed, " Lefevre affirms that whoever as- 
 cribes to himself the power to save himself 
 will be lost, whilst whosoever, laying aside 
 all strength of his own, casts himself into 
 
 the arms of Christ, shall be saved Oh, 
 
 what heresy ! thus to teach the uselessness 
 of meritorious works What hellish doc- 
 trine ! what delusion of the devil ! Let us 
 oppose it with all our power." 25 
 
 Instantly that engine of persecution, which 
 took effect in the recantation or in the death, 
 of its victims, was turned against Lefevre; 
 and already hopes were entertained that he 
 would share the fate of Leclerc the wool- 
 comber, or that of the Bishop Bric.onnet. 
 His trial was quickly gone through ; and a 
 decree of Parliament condemned nine propo- 
 sitions extracted from his commentaries on 
 the Gospels, and placed his translation of the 
 Scriptures in the list of prohibited works. 284 
 
 These measures were felt by Lefevre to be 
 only the prelude of others. From the first 
 intimation of the approaching persecution he 
 had clearly perceived, that in the absence of 
 Francis the First he would not be able to 
 bear up under his enemies' attacks, and that 
 the time had arrived to act on the direction, 
 " When they persecute you in one city, Jlee ye 
 unto another." Matt. x. 1423. Lefevre 
 quitted Meaux, where, ever since the bishop's 
 apostasy, he had experienced nothing but 
 bitterness of soul, and had found his efforts 
 paralyzed ; and as he looked back upon his 
 persecutors, he shook off the dust from his 
 feet, "not to call down evil upon them, but 
 in testimony of the evils that were coming 
 upon them : for," says he, " as that dust is 
 shaken from off our feet, just so are they cast 
 off from the favour andpresenceoftheLord." 285 
 
 The persecutors beheld their victim at 
 large ; but they derived comfort from the 
 thought that, at least, France was delivered 
 from this father of heresy. 
 
 Lefevre, a fugitive from his enemies, ar- 
 rived at Strasburg under an assumed name. 
 There he was immediately introduced to the 
 friends of the Reformation; and what must 
 have been his joy, to hear publicly taught 
 that same Gospel of which he had caught the 
 first gleams in the Church ; why, it was just 
 his own faith! It was exactly what he had 
 intended to express ! It was as if he had 
 been a second time born to the Christian life. 
 Gerard Roussel, one of those Evangelical 
 Christians, who, nevertheless, like the Doc- 
 tor of Etaples, attained not to complete en- 
 franchisement, had been likewise compelled 
 to quit France. Both together attended the 
 lectures ofCapitoandBucer, 286 and met in pri- 
 vate intercourse with those faithful teachers. 287 
 It was even rumoured that they had been 
 commissioned to do so by Margaret, the 
 king's sister. 288 Buttheadoring contemplation 
 of the ways of God, rather than polemical 
 questions, engaged Lefevre's attention. Cast- 
 ing a glance upon the state of Christendom, 
 2 N 
 
416 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and filled with wonder at what he beheld 
 passing on its stage, moved with feelings of 
 gratitude, and full of hopeful anticipation, he 
 threw himself on his knees, and prayed to the 
 Lord " to perfect that which he saw then be- 
 ginning." 239 
 
 At Strasburg one especially agreeable sur- 
 prise awaited him : his pupil, " his son in the 
 faith," Farel, from whom he had been parted 
 by persecution for nearly three years, had 
 arrived there just before. The aged doctor 
 of the Sorbonne found, in his young pupil, a 
 man in the vigour of life, a Christian " strong 
 in the faith;" and Farel grasped with affec- 
 tionate respect the shrivelled hand which had 
 guided its earliest steps, conscious of the 
 liveliest joy at thus recovering his spiritual 
 father in the society of faithful men, and in a 
 city that had received the truth. They at- 
 tended in company the pure teaching of emi- 
 nent teachers; broke bread together in the 
 supper of the Lord, according to Christ's in- 
 stitution, and received touching proofs of the 
 love of the brethren. " Do you recollect," 
 said Farel to Lefevre, "an expression you 
 once let fall to me, when we were both as yet 
 in darkness? 'William, God will renew the 
 world ,- and you will live to see it /' See here 
 the beginning of what you then foretold." 
 " Yes," answered the pious old man, " God 
 is renewing the world. . . . O, my son, con- 
 tinue to preach boldly the holy Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ." 290 
 
 Lefevre, from an excess of prudence, doubt- 
 less, chose to remain incognito at Strasburg, 
 and took the name of Anthony Peregrinus, 
 whilst Roussel chose that of Sulnin. But the 
 celebrated doctor could not elude notice ; and 
 soon the whole city, even to the very child- 
 ren, saluted him with marks of respect. 291 He 
 did not dwell by himself, but lodged in the 
 same house with Capito, Farel, Roussel, and 
 Vedastus, (known and loved for his retiring 
 diffidence,) and a certain converted Jew named 
 Simon. The houses of Capito, (Ecolampa- 
 dius, Zwingle, and Luther, offered a kind of 
 open table and lodging. Such, in those days, 
 was the attraction of " brotherly love." Many 
 Frenchmen, besides, were residing in this 
 city on the banks of the Rhine, and there 
 composed a church in which Farel often 
 preached the doctrine of Salvation. Such 
 Christian communion soothed the feeling of 
 banishment from their native land. 
 
 Whilst these brethren were thus enjoying 
 the asylum afforded them by brotherly love, 
 those in Paris and other parts of France were 
 exposed to great danger. Briconnet had re- 
 canted ; Lefevre was beyond the frontier : all 
 this was something gained, but the Sorbonne 
 was still without those public examples of 
 punishment which it had advised. .Beda and 
 his followers were without victims. One man 
 there was who gave them more annoyance 
 than either Briconnet or Lefevre, and he was 
 Louis Berquin. The gentleman of Artois, 
 more fearless than his tutors, allowed no op- 
 portunity to pass of teasing the monks and 
 theologians, and unmasking their fanaticism. 
 
 Passing from the capital to the provinces, he 
 would collect the writings of Erasmus and of 
 Luther. 252 These he would translate; at other 
 times himself composing controversial tracts, 
 and defending and disseminating the new 
 teaching with the zeal of a young convert. 
 Louis Berquin was denounced by the bishop 
 of Amiens, Beda seconded the accusation, 
 and the Parliament committed him to prison. 
 "This one," said the enemy, "shall not es- 
 cape so easily as Briconnet or Lefevre." But 
 their bolts and bars had no effect on Berquin. 
 In vain did the superior of the Carthusians 
 and other persons labour to persuade him to 
 apologize ; he declared he would not retract 
 an iota. " It seemed then," says a chronicler, 
 " that no way remained but to send him to 
 the stake." 293 
 
 Margaret, in consternation at what had 
 happened to Briconnet, dreaded to see Ber- 
 quin dragged to that scaffold which the 
 bishop had so shamefully eluded. Not 
 daring to visit him in his prison, she en- 
 deavoured to convey a few words of consola- 
 tion to him and he may have been upon 
 her heart when the princess composed that 
 touching complaint in which a prisoner thus 
 addresses the Lord : 
 
 O refuge free to all who feel distress ! 
 Their help and stay ' Judge of the fatherless ! 
 Exhaustless treasure of consoling grace ! 
 The iron doors, the moat, the massive wall 
 Keep far from me, a lone, forgotten thrall 
 Friend, kinsman, brother, each familiar face : 
 Yet mercy meets even this extremity ; 
 For iron doors can never shut out Thee ! 
 Thou, Lord ! art with me here here in this dis- 
 mal place. 294 
 
 But Margaret did not rest there, she imme- 
 diately wrote to her brother to solicit a pardon 
 for her attendant. Fortunate might she deem 
 herself if her efforts were not too late to rescue 
 him from the hatred of his enemies. 
 
 While awaiting this victim, Beda resolved 
 to strike terror into the adversaries of the Sor- 
 bonne and monks, by crushing the most cele- 
 brated man among them. Erasmus had de- 
 clared himself against Luther : But this mat- 
 tered little; if the ruin of Erasmus could be 
 accomplished, then heyond all doubt the de- 
 struction of Farel, of Luther, and their associ- 
 ates would be sealed. The surest way of 
 reaching our mark is to aim beyond it. Let 
 the ecclesiastical power only set its heel on 
 the neck of the philosopher of Rotterdam, and 
 where was the heretical doctor who could hope 
 to escape the vengeance of Rome 1 ? The at- 
 tack had already been commenced by Lecou- 
 tnrier, better known by his Latin name of 
 Sutor, who, from the solitude of a Carthusian 
 cell, launched against Erasmus a publication 
 of the most violent character, in which he 
 called his adversaries, theologasters and 
 miserable apes, and charged them with scan- 
 dalous offences, with heresy and blasphemy. 
 Handling subjects which he did not under- 
 stand, he reminded his readers, as Erasmus 
 sarcastically remarks, of the old proverb : 
 " Ne sutor ultra crepidam." 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 417 
 
 Beda hastened to the assistance of his con- 
 federate. He ordered Erasmus to write no 
 more; 295 and himself taking up the pen, which 
 he had enjoined the greatest tvriter of the age 
 to lay down, he made a selection of all the 
 calumnies which the monks had invented 
 against the philosopher, translated them into 
 French, and formed them into a book which 
 he circulated at court and in the city, in the 
 hope that all France would join in the outcry 
 he was raising. 296 This book was the signal 
 for a general onset; the enemies of Erasmus 
 started up on every side. Nicolas D'Ecmond, 
 an old Carmelite of Louvain, used to exclaim, 
 as often as he mounted the pulpit, "There is 
 no difference between Erasmus and Luther, 
 unless it be that Erasmus is the greater here- 
 tic of the two;" 297 and wherever the Carmelite 
 might be, at the table or on a journey, on 
 the land or on the water, he was raving 
 against Erasmus, the heresiarch and forger. 298 
 The faculty of Paris, excited by these cla- 
 mours, drew up a decree of censure against 
 the illustrious writer. 
 
 Erasmus was astounded. Was this, then, 
 the fruit of all his politic forbearance, was it 
 for this that he had even engaged in hostilities 
 against Luther? He with an intrepidity which 
 no one else had displayed, had flung himself 
 into the breach, and was he now to be tram- 
 pled down only that the common enemy might 
 be reached more safely over his prostrate body ? 
 His indignation is raised at the thought, he 
 turns sharply round, and while yet warm from 
 his attack upon Luther, deals his retributive 
 blows on the fanatical doctors who have as- 
 sailed him in the rear. Never was his corres- 
 pondence more active than now. He takes a 
 survey of his position, and his piercing eye 
 immediately discovers in whose hands rests 
 the balance of his fate. He hesitates not an 
 instant; he will at once lay his complaint 
 and his protest at the feet of the Sorbonne, 
 of the Parliament, of the King, of the Em- 
 peror himself. " How was this fearful flame 
 of Lutheranism kindled ?" says he, writing 
 to those among the divines of the Sorbonne in 
 whose impartiality he still reposed some con- 
 fidence : " How has it been fanned into fury, 
 except by such outrages as these which Beda 
 has committed'? 299 In war, a soldier who has 
 done his duty receives a reward from his gene- 
 rals, but the only reward that you, the 
 generals in this war, have to bestow upon 
 me, is to deliver me up to the calumnies of 
 Beda and Lecouturier!" 
 
 " What," he exclaims, addressing the Par- 
 liament of Paris, "when I had these Luther- 
 ans on my hands, when, under the auspices 
 of the Emperor, the Pope and the other princes, 
 I was struggling against them, even at the 
 peril of my life, must I be assailed behind my 
 back by the foul libels of Lecouturier and Beda? 
 Ah, if evil fortune had not deprived us of 
 King Francis, I might have appealed to that 
 avenger of the muses against these insults of 
 the barbarians. 300 But now it rests with you to 
 restrain their malignity." 
 
 No sooner did an opportunity present itself 
 
 of conveying a letter to the King, than he wrote 
 to him also. His penetrating glance detected 
 in these fanatical doctors of the Sorbonne, the 
 germs of the League, the precursor of the 
 three Priests, who at a later period were to set 
 up the sixteen against the last of the race of 
 Valois; his genius enabled him to warn the 
 King of future crimes and miseries which the 
 experience of his successors would but too 
 fully realize. "Religion," said he, "is their 
 pretext, but their true aim is despotic power, 
 to be exercised even over princes. They are 
 moving onward with a steady step, though 
 their path lies under ground. Should the 
 sovereign not be inclined to submit himself in 
 all things to their guidance, they will imme- 
 diately declare that he may be deposed by the 
 Church; that is to say, by a few false monks, 
 and a few false divines conspiring together 
 against the public peace." 301 Erasmus, when 
 writing to Francis the First, could not have 
 touched a more sensitive string. 
 
 Finally, that he might still more effectually 
 secure himself against the malice of his ene- 
 mies, Erasmus invoked the protection of 
 Charles the Fifth himself. " Invincible Em- 
 peror," said he, " a horrible outcry has been 
 raised against me, by men who, under the 
 pretence of religion, are labouring to establish 
 their own tyrannical power, and to gratify 
 their own sensual appetites. 302 ! am fighting 
 under your banner, and under the standard of 
 Jesus Christ. It is by your wisdom and your 
 authority that peace must be restored to the 
 Christian world." 
 
 It was in language like this that the prince 
 of literature addressed himself to the rulers of 
 the age. The danger which impended over 
 his head was averted ; the secular power in- 
 terposed, and the vultures were compelled to 
 abandon the prey which in fancy they had al- 
 ready clutched. They then turned their eyes 
 elsewhere in search of other victims, and they 
 were soon found. 
 
 It was in Lorraine first that blood was ap- 
 pointed to flow afresh. From the earliest days 
 of the Reformation, there had been an alliance 
 in fanaticism between Paris and the country 
 of the Guises. If Paris was at peace for a 
 while, Lorraine took up the work, and then 
 Paris began, again, to give time for Nancy 
 and Metz to recruit their strength. The first 
 blow, apparently, was destined to fall upon an 
 excellent man, one of the refugees of Basle, a 
 friend of Farel and Toussaint. The Cheva- 
 lier d'Esch, while residing at Metz, had not 
 been able to screen himself from the suspicions 
 of the priests. It was ascertained that he car- 
 ried on a correspondence with Christians of the 
 Evangelic Faith, and on that discovery he 
 was thrown into prison at Pont-a-Mousson, a 
 place situated five miles from Metz, on the 
 banks of the Moselle. 303 The tidings filled the 
 French refugees, and the Swiss themselves, 
 with the deepest concern. " Alas ! for that 
 innocent heart !" exclaimed CEcolampadius : 
 "I have full confidence in the Lord," added 
 he, "that he will preserve this man to us, 
 either in life as a preacher of righteousness, 
 
418 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 to make known His name ; or in death to con- 
 fess Him as a martyr." 304 But at the same time 
 (Ecolampadius censured the thoughtlessness, 
 the precipitancy, and what he termed the 
 imprudent zeal for which the French refugees 
 were distinguished. " I wish," said he, " that 
 my dear friends, the worthy gentlemen of 
 France, would not be so eager to return to 
 their own country, until they have made all 
 due inquiries beforehand ; for the devil lays 
 his snares everywhere. Nevertheless, let 
 them obey the Spirit of Christ, and may that 
 Spirit never forsake them. 305 
 
 There was reason, indeed, to tremble for 
 the fate of the chevalier. The rancour of the 
 enemy had broken out in Lorraine with re- 
 doubled fury. Brother Bonaventure Renel, 
 the principal of the Cordeliers, and the confes- 
 sor of Duke Anthony the Good, a man of an 
 audacious temper, and of very questionable 
 moral character, allowed that weak prince, 
 who reigned from 1508 to 1544, a large mea- 
 sure of license in his pleasures ; and persuaded 
 him, on the other hand, by way of atonement, 
 as it were, to exercise a merciless severity 
 against all innovators. " It is quite sufficient 
 for any one," said the prince, profiting by the 
 able instructions of Renel, " if he can repeat 
 the Pater and the Jive-Maria t the greatest 
 doctors are those who occasion the greatest 
 disorders." 306 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1524, informa- 
 tion was conveyed to the Duke's court, that a 
 pastor, named Schuch, was preaching a new 
 kind of doctrine in the town of Saint Hippo- 
 lyte, at the foot of the Vosages. " Let them 
 return to their duty," said Anthony the Good, 
 " or I will march against the town, and lay 
 it waste with fire and sword !" 307 
 
 Hereupon the faithful pastor resolved to de- 
 vote himself for hfs flock: he repaired to 
 Nancy, where the prince resided. Imme- 
 diately on his arrival, he was lodged in a 
 noisome prison, under the custody of brutal 
 and cruel men : and now at last brother Bona- 
 venture had the heretic in his power. It was he 
 who presided at the tribunal before which he 
 was examined. "Heretic!" cried headdressing 
 the prisoner, " Judas ! Devil !" Schuch, pre- 
 serving the utmost tranquillity and composure, 
 made no reply to these insults ; but holding 
 in his hand a little Bible, all covered with 
 notes which he had written in it, he meekly 
 and earnestly confessed Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified ! On a sudden, he assumed a more 
 animated mein, stood up boldly, raised his 
 voice as if moved by the Spirit from on high, 
 and, looking his judges in the face, de- 
 nounced against them the fearful judgments 
 of God. 
 
 Brother Bonaventure and his companions, 
 inwardly appalled, yet agitated with rage, 
 rushed upon him at once with vehement cries, 
 snatched away the Bible, from which he read 
 those menacing words, and "raging like 
 so many mad dogs," says the chronicler, 
 ' because they could not wreak their fury on 
 the doctrine, carried the book to their convent, 
 and burnt it there." 308 
 
 The whole court of Lorraine resounded with 
 the obstinacy and presumption of the minis- 
 ter of St. Hippolyte; and the prince, impelled 
 by curiosity to hear the heretic, resolved to 
 be present at his final examination, se- 
 cretly, however, and concealed from the 
 view of the spectators. But as the interro- 
 gatory was conducted in Latin, he could not 
 understand it: only he was struck with the 
 steadfast aspect of the minister, who seemed to 
 be neither vanquished nor abashed. Indignant 
 at this obstinacy, Anthony the Good started 
 from his seat, and said as he retired, "Why 
 dispute any longer 1 He denies the sacrament 
 of the mass ; let them proceed to execution 
 against him." 309 Schuch was immediately con- 
 demned to be burnt alive. When the sen- 
 tence was communicated to him, he lifted up 
 his eyes to heaven, and mildly made answer; 
 " I was glad when they said unto me, Let us 
 go into the house of the Lord." (Psalm 
 cxxii. 1.) 
 
 On the 19th of August, 1525, the whole 
 city of Nancy was in motion. The bells 
 gave notice of the death of a heretic. The 
 mournful procession set out. It must pass 
 before the convent of the Cordeliers, and 
 there the whole fraternity were gathered in 
 joyful expectation before the door. As soon 
 as Schuch made his appearance, Father Bona- 
 venture, pointing to the carved images over 
 the convent gateway, cried out, " Heretic, pay 
 honour to God, his mother, and the saints !" 
 " O hypocrites !" replied Schuch, standing 
 erect before those pieces of wood and stone, 
 " God will destroy you, and bring your de- 
 ceits to light!" 
 
 When the martyr reached the place of exe- 
 cution, his books were first burnt in his pre- 
 sence, and then he was called upon to recant ; 
 but he refused, saying, "Thou, God, hast 
 called me, and thou wilt strengthen me to the 
 end;" 310 and immediately he began, with a 
 loud voice, to repeat the 51st Psalm, " Have 
 mercy upon me, O God ! according to thy 
 loving-kindness !" Having mounted the pile, 
 he continued to recite the psalm until the 
 smoke and flames stifled his voice. 
 
 Thus did the persecutors in France and 
 Lorraine behold a renewal of their triumphs, 
 their counsels had at length been followed. 
 At Nancy the ashes of a heretic had been 
 scattered to the winds : this seemed a chal- 
 lenge addressed to the capital of France. 
 What! should Beda and Lecourturier be the 
 last to show their zeal for the Pope? Rather 
 let one blazing pile serve as the signal for 
 another, and heresy, swept from the soil of 
 France, would soon be driven back beyond 
 the Rhine. 
 
 But Beda was not to pursue his successful 
 career, until a contest, half serious, half ludi- 
 crous, had taken place between him and one 
 of those men with whom the struggle against 
 Popery was only a capricious effort of the 
 intellect, not the solemn engagement and 
 willing duty of the heart. 
 
 Among the learned men whom Briconnet 
 had allured to his diocese was a doctor of the 
 
 
HISTORY -OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 419 
 
 Sorbonne, named Peter Caroli, a man of a 
 vain and frivolous cast of mind, and as quar- 
 relsome and litigious as Beda himself. Caroli 
 viewed the new doctrine as the means of 
 making an impression, and of thwarting Beda, 
 whose ascendancy he could not endure. 
 Accordingly, on his return from Meaux to 
 Paris he caused a great sensation, by intro- 
 ducing into every pulpit what was called 
 " the new way of preaching." Then began 
 a pernicious strife between the two doctors ; 
 it was blow for blow and trick for trick. 
 Beda cites Caroli before the Sorbonne, and 
 Caroli summons him before the episcopal 
 court to answer for an infringement of privi- 
 lege. The Sorbonne proceeds with the 
 inquiry, and Caroli gives intimation of an 
 appeal to the Parliament. A provisional 
 sentence excludes him from the pulpit, and 
 still he goes on preaching in all the churches 
 of Paris. Being absolutely forbidden to 
 preach in any pulpit, he takes to publicly 
 expounding the Psalms in the college of 
 Cambray. The Sorbonne prohibits him from 
 continuing that practice, but he asks permis- 
 sion to conclude the exposition of the twenty- 
 second Psalm which he has begun. Finally, 
 on this petition being rejected, he posts the 
 following placard on the college-gates: 
 "Peter Caroli, being desirous to obey the injunc- 
 tions of the sacred faculty, has ceased to teach , 
 he will resume his lectures, whenever it shall 
 please God, at the verse tvhere he left off.- 
 
 1 TlIEY HAVE PIERCED MY HANDS AND MY 
 
 FEET.' " Thus had Beda at length found an 
 opponent with whom he w r as fairly matched. 
 If Caroli had defended the truth in right 
 earnest, the stake would have been his re- 
 ward ; but he was of too carnal a spirit to 
 expose himself to the risk of death. How 
 could capital punishment be inflicted on a 
 man who laughed his judges out of counte- 
 nance 1 Neither the episcopal court, nor the 
 parliament, nor the council, could ever pro- 
 ceed to a definitive judgment in his cause. 
 I Two such men as Caroli would have wearied 
 out the activity of Beda himself; but two 
 like him the Reformation did not produce. 311 
 This troublesome contest concluded, Beda 
 | applied himself to matters of more serious 
 i concern. Happily for the syndic of the Sor- 
 bonne, there were men who gave persecution 
 a better hold of them than Caroli. Briconnet, 
 indeed, and Erasmus, and Lefevre, and Ber- 
 quin had escaped him ; but since he cannot 
 reach these distinguished personages, he will 
 content himself with meaner victims. The 
 poor youth, James Pavanne, ever since his 
 abjuration at Christmas, 1524, had done no- 
 thing but weep and sigh. He was constantly 
 seen with a gloomy brow, his eyes fixed on 
 the ground, groaning inwardly, and muttering 
 reproaches against himself for having denied 
 his Lord and Saviour. 312 
 
 Pavanne undoubtedly was the most retiring 
 and the most inoffensive of men ; but what 
 of that"? he had been at Meaux, and this, in 
 those days, was sufficient. " Pavanne has 
 relapsed!" was the cry: "the dog has re- 
 54 
 
 turned to his vomit, and the swine that was 
 washed to his wallowing in the mire." He 
 was seized immediately, cast into prison, 
 and after a while brought before the judges. 
 This was all that young Pavanne desired. 
 He felt his mind relieved as soon as the fet- 
 ters were fastened on his limbs, and recovered 
 all his energy in the open confession of Jesus 
 Christ! 313 The persecutors smiled when they^ 
 saw that this time nothing could disappoint 
 them of their victim, no recantation, no 
 flight, no intervention of a powerful protec- 
 tion. The meekness of the youth, his candour, 
 his courage, were altogether unavailing to ap- 
 pease the malice of his enemies. He, on the 
 contrary, looked on them with affection, for 
 by loading him with chains, they had restored 
 his peace of mind and his joy, but that 
 benevolent look of his only hardened their 
 hearts the more. The proceedings against 
 him were conducted with all despatch, and a 
 very short time had elapsed before a pile was 
 erected in the Place de Greve, on which 
 Pavanne made a joyful end, strengthening 
 by his example all who in that great city had 
 openly or secretly embraced the Gospel of 
 Christ. 
 
 But this was not enough for the Sorbonne. 
 If men of mean condition only are to be 
 sacrificed, their number at least must make 
 amends for their want of rank. The flames 
 in the Place de Greve have struck terror into 
 Paris and into the whole of France; but an- 
 other pile, kindled on some other spot, will re- 
 double that terror. It will be the subject of 
 conversation at the court, in the colleges, in 
 the workshop of the artisan : and tokens like 
 these, better than all the edicts that can be 
 issued, will prove that Louisa of Savoy, the 
 Sorbonne, and the Parliament, are determined 
 to sacrifice the very last heretic to the anathe- 
 mas of Rome. 
 
 In the forest of Livry, three leagues distant 
 from Paris, and not far from the site of an an- 
 cient abbey of the order of St. Augustin, 
 lived a hermit, who, having chanced in his 
 wanderings to fall in with some of the men of 
 Meaux, had received the truth of the Gospel 
 into his heart. 314 The poor hermit had felt 
 himself rich indeed that day in his solitary re- 
 treat, when, along with the scanty dole of 
 broad which public charity had afforded him, 
 he brought home Jesus Christ and his grace. 
 He understood from that time how much bet- 
 ter it is to give than to receive. He went 
 from cottage to cottage in the villages around, 
 and as soon as he crossed the threshold, be- 
 gan to speak to the poor peasants of the Gos- 
 pel, and the free pardon which it offers to 
 every burdened soul, a pardon infinitely more 
 precious than any priestly absolution. 315 The 
 good hermit of Livry was soon widely known 
 in the neighbourhood of Paris ; many came to 
 visit him at his poor hermitage, and he dis- 
 charged the office of a kind and faithful mis- 
 sionary to the simple-minded in all the adja- 
 cent districts. 
 
 It was not long before intelligence of what 
 was doing by the new evangelist reached the 
 2N2 
 
420 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ears of the Sorbonne, and the magistrates of 
 Paris. The hermit was seized, dragged 
 from his hermitage from his forest from 
 the fields he had daily traversed, thrown 
 into a dungeon in that great city which he 
 had always shunned, brought to judgment, 
 convicted, and sentenced to " the exem- 
 plary punishment of being burnt by a slow 
 fire." 316 
 
 In order to render the example the more 
 striking, it was determined that he should be 
 burnt in the close of Notre Dame ; before that 
 celebrated cathedral, which typifies the ma- 
 jesty of the Roman Catholic Church. The 
 whole of the clergy were convened, and a 
 degree of pomp was displayed equal to that 
 of the most solemn festivals. 317 A desire was 
 shown to attract all Paris, if possible, to the 
 place of execution. "The great bell of the 
 church of Notre Dame swinging heavily," 
 says an historian, "to rouse the people all 
 over Paris." And accordingly from every 
 surrounding avenue, the people came flocking 
 to the spot. The deep-toned reverberations 
 of the bell made the workman quit his task, 
 the student cast aside his books, the shop- 
 keeper forsake his traffic, the soldier start 
 from the guard-room bench, and already the 
 close was filled with a dense crowd, which 
 was continually increasing. 318 The hermit, at- 
 tired in the robes appropriated to obstinate 
 heretics, bareheaded, and with bare feet, was 
 led out before the doors of the cathedral. 
 Tranquil, firm, and collected, he replied to 
 the exhortations of the confessors, who pre- 
 sented him with the crucifix, only by declar- 
 ing that his hope rested solely on the mercy 
 of God. The doctors of the Sorbonne, who 
 stood in the front rank of the spectators, ob- 
 serving his constancy, and the effect it pro- 
 duced upon the people, cried aloud " He is 
 a man foredoomed to the fires of hell." 3l9 The 
 clang of the great bell, which all this while 
 was^rung with a rolling stroke, while it 
 stunned the ears of the multitude, served to 
 heighten the solemnity of that mournful spec- 
 tacle. At length the bell was silent, and 
 the martyr having answered the last interro- 
 gatory of his adversaries by saying that he 
 was resolved to die in the faith of his Lord 
 Jesus Christ, underwent his sentence of be- 
 ing " burnt by a slow fire." And so, in the 
 cathedral close of Notre Dame, beneath the 
 stately towers erected by the piety of Louis 
 the younger, amidst the cries and tumultuous 
 excitement of a vast population, died peace- 
 ably, a man whose name history has not deign- 
 ed to transmit to us, "the hermit of Livry." 
 While men were thus engaged in destroying 
 the first confessors of Jesus Christ in France, 
 God was raising up others gifted with ampler 
 powers for his service. A modest student 
 a humble hermit might be dragged to the 
 stake, and Beda might almost persuade him- 
 self that the doctrine they proclaimed would 
 perish with them. But Providence has re- 
 sources which the world knows not of. The 
 Gospel, like the fabled bird of antiquity, con- 
 tains within itself a principle of life which the 
 
 flames can never reach, and from the ashes in 
 which it seemed to lie extinguished, it springs 
 afresh, pure and vigorous as ever. Often, 
 when the storm is at its height, when the 
 fiery bolt of persecution appears to have laid 
 the truth prostrate, and enduring, impenetra- 
 ble darkness to have closed over it, even at 
 that moment there comes a gleam of light, 
 and announces a great deliverance at hand 
 So, when all earthly powers were leagued 
 together in France to effect the ruin of the Re- 
 formation, God was preparing an instrument, 
 apparently feeble, to maintain His rights at 
 a future day, and with more than human in- 
 trepidity to defend His cause. Averting our 
 eyes from the persecutions and cruelties which 
 have succeeded each other so rapidly since 
 Francis I. became the prisoner of Charles, 
 let us turn them on a child who shall here- 
 after be called forth to take his station as a 
 leader of a mighty host in the holy warfare 
 of Israel. 
 
 Among the inhabitants of the city and uni- 
 versity of Paris who listened to the sound of 
 the great bell, was a young scholar of sixteen, 
 a native of Noyon, in Picardy, of middle sta- 
 ture, and pale, and somewhat dark complexion, 
 whose powerful and sagacious mind was in- 
 dicated by the keenness and peculiar bright- 
 ness of his eye, and the animated expression 
 of his countenance. 320 His dress, which was 
 extremely neat, but perfectly unostentatious, 
 corresponded to the modesty and decorum of 
 his character 321 This young man, whose name 
 was John Cauvin or Calvin, was a student at 
 the college of La Marche, of which Mathurin 
 Cordier, a man celebrated for his integrity, 
 learning, and peculiar skill in the instruction 
 of youth, was at that time the regent. Edu- 
 cated in all the superstitions of Popery, the 
 student of Noyon was blindly submissive to 
 the Church, dutifully observant of all the prac- 
 tices she enjoined, and fully persuaded that 
 heretics well deserved the flames to which 
 they were delivered. 322 The blood which was 
 then flowing in Paris was, in his eyes, an 
 additional aggravation of the crime of heresy. 
 But, although by natural disposition timid, 
 and, to use his own words, soft and pusillani- 
 mous, he was endowed with that uprightness 
 of mind, and that generosity of heart which 
 induce men to sacrifice everything to the con- 
 victions of their conscience. 323 Vainly, there- 
 fore, were those appalling spectacles presented 
 to him in his youth; vain was the example 
 of the murderous flames kindled in the Place 
 de Greve and in the close of Notre Dame, for 
 the destruction of the faithful followers of the 
 Gospel. The remembrance of such horrors 
 could not, afterwards, deter him from entering 
 on that "new way" which seemed to lead 
 only to the dungeon and the scaffold. In 
 other respects the character of the youthful 
 Calvin afforded indications of what he was 
 hereafter to become. The austerity of his 
 morals was the precursor of equal austerity 
 in his doctrine, and the scholar of sixteen 
 already gave promise of a man who would 
 take up in earnest all that should be imparted 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 421 
 
 to him, and would rigidly exact from others had married a young woman from Cambray, 
 what, in his own case, he felt it so much a named Jane Lefranq, remarkable for her beau- 
 matter of course to perform. Silent and grave ty, and worthy of esteem for her humble piety, 
 while attending on the college lectures, taking, by whom he had already had a son called 
 no pleasure in the sports and idle frolics which j Charles, when on the 10th of July, 1509, she 
 others pursued duringthehoursof recreation; 324 j gave birth to a second son, who received the 
 
 ame of John, and was baptized in the church 
 
 shrinking in disgust from all participation 
 in vice, he sometimes censured the disorders 
 of his fellow-pupils with severity with a 
 measure, even, of acrimony. 325 Accordingly, 
 a canon of Noyon assures us that his com- 
 panions had surnamedhim the "accusafo've." 826 
 He stood among them as the representative 
 of conscience and duty, so far was he from 
 being in reality what some calumniators en- 
 deavoured to make him. The pale aspect, the 
 piercing eye of a student of sixteen already 
 inspired his associates with more respect than 
 the black gowns of their masters; and this 
 boy from Picardy, low in stature, and timid 
 in demeanour, who came day by day to take 
 his seat on the benches of the college of La 
 Marche, was, even then, by the seriousness 
 of his conversation and sobriety of his life 
 unconsciously discharging the office of a min- 
 ister and a Reformer. 
 
 Nor was it in these particulars alone that 
 the stripling of Noyon evinced his superiority 
 to his compeers. His extreme timidity some- 
 times restrained him from manifesting the an- 
 tipathy he felt to vanity and to vice ; but in 
 his studies he was already exerting all the 
 force of his genius, and all the intensity of 
 his will, and any one who observed him, 
 might have predicted that his life would be 
 consumed in labour. The facility of his com- 
 prehension was wonderful, while his class- 
 ; fellows were advancing by painful steps, he 
 was bounding lightly over the course, and 
 he knowledge which others were long in 
 acquiring superficially, was instantaneously 
 eized by his youthful genius, and perma- 
 nently impressed on his memory. His mas- 
 ers, therefore, were obliged to withdraw him 
 Tom the ranks, and introduce him singly to 
 the higher branches of learning. 327 
 
 Among his fellow-students were the young 
 men of the family of Mommor, a house reck- 
 oned among the first nobility of Picardy 
 John Calvin was intimately connected with 
 these young noblemen, especially with Claude, 
 who at a later period was abbot of St. Eloi 
 and to whom he dedicated his Commentary 
 on Seneca. It was in their company that hi 
 had come to Paris. His father, Gerard Cal 
 vin, notary apostolic, and procurator-fiscal of 
 the county of Noyon, secretary of the diocese 
 and proctor of thechapter, 328 vvasa man of judg 
 ment and ability, whose talents had raisec 
 him to offices which were sought after by the 
 best families; and all the noblesse of the pro 
 vince, but particularly the illustrious familj 
 of Mommor, entertained the highest esteerr 
 for him. 323 Gerard, who resided at Noyon,* 
 
 f St. Godebert.* A third son, named An- 
 tony, who died young, and two daughters, 
 lade up the entire family of the procurator- 
 seal of Noyon. 
 
 Gerard Calvin, living in habits of familiar 
 ntercourse with the ecclesiastical dignitaries 
 nd chief men of the province, was desirous 
 hat his children should receive the same edu- 
 ation as those of the highest rank. John, in 
 whom he had perceived an early development 
 f talent, was brought up with the children of 
 he family of Mommor : he lived in the house 
 as one of themselves, and shared in the les- 
 ons of the young Claude. The effect of early 
 discipline and culture in such a family was to 
 "mpart to his intellectual character a degree 
 )f refinement which otherwise it could scarce- 
 y have acquired. 330 He was afterwards sent to 
 he college of Capettes, an establishment 
 within the city of Noyon. 331 The child had but 
 ew recreations. That severity, which was 
 one feature in the character of the son, Tound 
 i place likewise in the temperament of the 
 ather. Gerard brought him up rigidly, 
 rom his earliest years he was obliged to bend 
 o the inflexible rule of duty, which after a 
 ittle while became habitual to him, and thus 
 the influence of the father counteracted that 
 of the family of Mommor. Timid by nature, 
 with something, as he tells us himself, of 
 rustic bashfulness in his disposition, 332 and 
 rendered still more diffident by his father's se- 
 verity, John would often escape from the 
 splendid mansion of his protectors, to bury 
 himself in solitude and obscurity. 333 Tn hours 
 of seclusion like this, his youthful spirit grew 
 familiar with lofty conceptions. It appears 
 that he sometimes went to the neighbouring 
 village of Pont 1'Eveque, where his grand- 
 father inhabited a cottage,f and where other 
 relatives also, who at a later period changed 
 their name through hatred of the heresiarch, 
 
 * The calumnious and extravagant tales which 
 have been circulated in regard to the person of 
 Calvin, may be traced to a very early origin. 
 J. Levasseur, who was afterwards dean of the 
 chapter of Noyon, relates that when his mother 
 brought him into the world, the birth of the child 
 was preceded by the preternatural appearance of 
 a swarm of large flies. "a sure presage that he 
 would be an evil speaker and slanderer." (An- 
 nales de la Cathedrale de Noyon, p. 115.) These 
 absurdities, and others of the same stamp, which 
 have been invented to the prejudice of the Re- 
 former may be safely left to refute themselves 
 without any effort on our part. In our own day, 
 those among the Romish doctors who are not 
 ashamed to employ the weapons of calumny, 
 make a selection of these coarse and ridiculous 
 stories, not daring to repeat them all ; yet they 
 
 * "On the spot where now stands a house, dis 
 
 tinguished by the sign of the Stag." (Desmay, ! are all of equal value. 
 
 Doct. de la Sorbonne. Vit. de Jean Calvin, | t " It is reported that his grandfather was a 
 heresiarque, p. 30. Levasseur, Ann. de Noyon, cooper." (Drelincourt, p. 36. Levasseurann.de 
 p. 1157.) | Noyon, p. 1151.) 
 
422 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 then offered a kindly welcome to the Son of 
 the procurator-fiscal. But it was to study, 
 chiefly, that young Calvin devoted his days. 
 W r hile Luther, who was to act upon the mass 
 of the people, was brought up at first as a 
 peasant's son, Calvin, ordained to act chiefly 
 as a theologian and a reasoner, and -to become 
 the legislator of the renovated Church, re- 
 ceived, even in his childhood, a more liberal 
 education. 334 
 
 A spirit of piety evinced itself betimes in 
 the child's heart. One of his biographers 
 tells us that he was taught, while yet young, 
 to pray in the open air, under the vault of 
 heaven, a practice which helped to awaken 
 within his soul the sentiment of an omni- 
 present Deity.* But although Calvin may, 
 even in his earliest years, have heard the voice 
 of God addressed to his heart, no one in the 
 city of Noyon was more exact than he in the 
 observance of every rule established by the 
 Church. Gerard, therefore, remarking the 
 bent of his mind, conceived the design of de- 
 voting his son to theology. 335 The knowledge 
 of his destination contributed undoubtedly to 
 impress upon his mind that serious and theo- 
 logical cast by which it was afterwards dis- 
 tingujshed. His intellect was formed by na- 
 ture to take a decided bias from the first, and 
 to nourish the most elevated thoughts at an 
 early age. The report that he was a chorister 
 boy at this time is admitted by his adversaries 
 themselves to be destitute of foundation ; but 
 they confidently affirm that while yet a child, 
 he was seen in religious processions carrying, 
 instead of a cross, a sword with a cross-shaped 
 hilt. 336 " A presage," they add, "of what he 
 was one day to become." "The Lord has 
 made my mouth like a sharp sword," says 
 the servant of the Lord, in Isaiah. The same 
 may be said of Calvin. 
 
 Gerard was poor: the education of his son 
 was burthensome to him, and he wished to 
 attach him irrevocably to the church. The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine had been appointed co- 
 adjutor to the Bishop of Metz, when only four 
 years old. It was then a common practice to 
 bestow ecclesiastical titles and revenues upon 
 children. Alphonso of Portugal was created 
 a cardinal by Leo the Tenth, at the age of 
 eight: Odet de Chatillon received the same 
 dignity from Clement the Seventh at the age 
 of eleven ; and at a later period, the celebrated 
 Mother Angelica, of Port Royal, was made 
 coadjutrix of that convent at the age of seven. 
 Gerard, who died a faithful Catholic, was re- 
 garded with favour by Charles de Hangest, 
 bishop of Noyon, and his vicars-general. Ac- 
 cordingly, the chaplaincy of La Gesine having 
 become vacant by the resignation of the in- 
 cumbent, the bishop, on the 15th May, 1521, 
 bestowed that benefice on John Calvin, whose 
 age was then nearly twelve. He was inducted 
 by the chapter a week after. On the eve of 
 Corpus Christi, the bishop solemnly cut the 
 
 * Calvin's Leben von Fisher, Leipzig, 1794. 
 The author does not quote the authority on which 
 he relates this fact. 
 
 child's hair; 337 and by this ceremony of tonsure 
 John was invested with the clerical character, 
 and became capable of entering into sacred 
 orders, and holding a benefice without residing 
 on the spot. 
 
 Thus was it ordered that Calvin, in his 
 childhood, should have personal experience 
 of the abuses of the Church of Rome. There 
 was not a tonsured head in the kingdom more 
 sincerely pious than the chaplain of La Ge- 
 sine, and the thoughtful child was himself 
 perhaps a little astonished at the operation 
 performed by the bishop and his vicars-gene- 
 ral. But in the simplicity of his heart, he 
 revered those exalted personages too highly 
 to harbour the least suspicion regarding the 
 lawfulness of his tonsure. He had enjoyed 
 the distinction about two years, when Noyon 
 was visited with a terrible pestilence. Seve- 
 ral of the canons petitioned the chapter that 
 they might be allowed to quit the city. Al- 
 ready many of the inhabitants had been struck 
 by the " great death ;" and Gerard began to 
 reflect with alarm that his son John, the hope 
 of his age, might, in a moment, be snatched 
 from his tenderness by this scourge of God. 
 The children of the Mommor family were 
 going to Paris to continue their studies. This 
 was the very opportunity that the procurator- 
 fiscal had always desired for his son. Why 
 should he separate John from his fellow-pupils? 
 On the 15th August, 1823, therefore, he pre. 
 sented to the chapter a petition that the young 
 chaplain might have " liberty to go whither- 
 soever he would, during the continuance of 
 the plague, without losing his allowances; 
 which was granted accordingly, until the feast 
 of St. Remigius."* Thus it was that John 
 Calvin, at the age of fourteen, quitted his 
 paternal home. Calumny must be intrepid 
 indeed, to attribute his departure to other 
 causes, and, in sheer wantonness, provoke 
 that disgrace which justly recoils on all who 
 give currency to evil reports, after their false- 
 hood has been demonstrated. It would ap- 
 pear, that on his arrival in Paris, Calvin was 
 received into the house of one of his uncles, 
 Richard Calvin, who lived near the church of 
 St. Germain 1'Auxerois. "And so, while flying 
 from the plague," says the canon of Noyon, 
 "he encountered a more fatal pestilence." 
 
 A new world opened itself to the young 
 man in this metropolis of literature. He de- 
 termined to profit by his fortune, applied him- 
 self to study, and made great progress in 
 latinity. He became intimately acquainted j 
 with the writings of Cicero, and learned from i 
 that great master to employ the language of j 
 the Romans with an ease, a purity, an idioma- 
 tic grace which excited the admiration of his 
 enemies themselves. But he also discovered 
 
 * The particulars here given rest on the testi- 
 mony of the priest, and vicar-general Desmay, 
 (Jean Calvin, heresiarque. p. 32,) arid the canon 
 Levasseu, (Ann. de Noyon, p. 11GO,) who found 
 them, as they assure us, in the registers of the 
 chapter of Noyon. These Romish authors, there- 
 fore, refute the inventions or mistakes of Riche- 
 lieu and other writers. See the preface. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 423 
 
 in that language a store of wealth which he \ 
 was afterwards to transfer into his own. 
 
 Hitherto the latin had been the sole lan- 
 guage of literature. It was, and even to our 
 own days it has continued, the language of 
 the Romish church. The modern tongues of 
 Europe were created, at least they were 
 emancipated, by the Reformation. The ex- 
 clusive agency of the priests was now at an 
 end ; the people were called upon to learn and 
 to know for themselves. In this single fact 
 was involved the abrogation of the language 
 of the priests, the inauguration of the lan- 
 guage of the people. It is not to the Sorbonne 
 alone, it is not to a few monks, a few 
 divines, a few men of letters, that the new 
 doctrine is to be addressed ; it is to the noble, 
 to the burgher, to the artisan, all men now 
 are to be preached to : nay, more, all men 
 now are to become preachers ; wool-combers 
 and knights no less than curates and doctors. 
 A new language, therefore, is wanted, or, at 
 any rate, the ordinary language of the people 
 must undergo a mighty transformation, 
 must experience a happy deliverance from its 
 shackles: drawn from the common uses of 
 ife, it must be indebted to a renovated 
 Christianity for its patent of nobility. The 
 Gospel, so long laid to sleep, is now awake 
 again: it appeals to the nation at large ; it 
 kindles the most generous affections of the 
 soul ; it opens the treasures of heaven to a 
 veneration whose thoughts were all confined 
 within the petty circle of the world below ; it 
 agitates the masses; it speaks to them of God, 
 of man, of good and evil, of the Pope, of the 
 Bible, of a crown in heaven, it may be, also, 
 of a scaffold upon earth. The popular idiom, 
 which hitherto had been employed only by 
 chronicler and the minstrel, was summoned, 
 by the Reformation, to act a new part, and 
 consequently to receive a new development. 
 Society finds a new world rising up around it ; 
 and for this new world there must needs be new 
 languages. The Reformation freed the French 
 language from the swaddling bands in which it 
 had hitherto been confined, and reared it to a 
 speedy and vigorous maturity. Since then, 
 that language has had full possession of all the 
 exalted privileges that belong to a dialect con- 
 versant with the operations of mind and the 
 great concerns of heaven, privileges which, 
 under the tutelage of Rome, it had never en- 
 joyed. True it is that the people form their 
 own language ; they, and they alone, invent 
 those happy words, those figurative and 
 energetic phrases, which give colouring and 
 animation to human speech. But there are 
 latent powers in language which they know 
 not how to elicit, and which men of cultivated 
 intellect can alone call into action. When the 
 time arrived for Calvin to engage in discus- 
 sion and controversy, he was forced, by the 
 exigency of the case to enrich his native 
 tongue with modes of expression hitherto 
 unknown to it, indicating the dependence,the 
 connection, the minute diversity of ideas, the 
 transition from one to another, and the various 
 steps in the process of logical deductions. 
 
 The elements of all this were already work- 
 ing in the brain of the young student of the 
 college of La Marche. This child, who was 
 to exert so powerful a mastery over the hu- 
 man heart, was destined to exhibit equal 
 power in bending and moulding to his will the 
 idiom which was to serve as his instrument. 
 The French of Calvin eventually became the 
 language of Protestant France, and when we 
 speak of Protestant France, we speak of the 
 most cultivated portion of the French nation; 
 since out of that portion arose those families 
 of scholars and dignified magistrates, who 
 contributed so much to the refinement of the 
 national character out of that portion arose 
 also the society of Port Royal,* one of the 
 great agents by which the prose and even the 
 poetry of France have been modelled, a so- 
 ciety which aimed at introducing into the 
 Catholicism of the Gallican Church both the 
 doctrine and the language of the Reformation, 
 and failing in one of these objects, succeeded 
 in the other ; for who can deny that Roman 
 Catholic France had to learn from her anta- 
 gonists among the Jansenists and Reformers 
 how to handle those weapons of style, without 
 which it would have been impossible for her 
 to maintain her ground against them?f 
 
 In the mean time, while the future Reformer 
 of religion and of language, was ripening in 
 the college of La Marche, all was in commo- 
 tion around that young and thoughtful scholar, 
 without his being at all affected by the mighty 
 movement which agitated society. The flames 
 that consumed the hermit and Pavanne, shed 
 dismay over Paris. But the persecutors were 
 not satisfied ; a system of terror was set on 
 foot throughout the whole of France. The 
 friends of the Reformation no longer dared to 
 correspond with each other, lest their letters 
 should be intercepted, and so betray to the 
 vengeance of the tribunals, not. only those who 
 had written them, but those also to whom they 
 were addressed.^: One man, however, was 
 bold enough to undertake the office of convey- 
 ing intelligence of what was passing in Paris 
 and in France, to the refugees at Basle, by 
 means of an unsigned letter sewed up in his 
 doublet. He escaped the scattered parties of 
 arquebusiers, the marechaussee of the dif- 
 ferent districts, the strict examinations of the 
 provosts and their lieutenants, and arrived at 
 Basle with the doublet on his back and its 
 hidden deposit untouched. The tidings of 
 which he was the bearer, struck terror into the 
 hearts of Toussaint and his friends. "It is 
 piteous to hear of the cruelties they are com- 
 mitting yonder ! "|J exclaims Toussaint. A 
 
 * M. A. Arnauld, the grandfather of Mother 
 Angelica and of all the Arnaulds of Port Royal, 
 was a Protestant, see "Port Royal, par M. 
 Sainte-Beuve." 
 
 t Etudes Liter, sur Calvin, par M. A. Sayers, 
 Geneve, 1 1839, art. iv. This work has been fol- 
 lowed by similar inquiries regarding Farel, Viret, 
 and Beza. 
 
 t " Not a person dares to write to me." (Tons- 
 saint to Farel, 4th September, 1525. MS. of Neufc 
 ehatel.) 
 
 I! Toussaint to Farel, 4th Sept. 1525. 
 
424 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 little before this, two Franciscan friars had ar- 
 rived at Basle closely pursued by the officers 
 of justice. One of these friars, named John 
 Prevost, had preached at Meaux, and had af- 
 terwards been thrown into prison in Paris.* 
 The accounts they brought from the capital, 
 as well as from Lyons, through which city 
 they had passed on their way. excited the 
 deepest compassion in the minds of the refu- 
 gees : " May our Lord visit them with his 
 grace!" said Toussaint, writing to Farel; 
 " believe me when I tell you that at times I 
 am in great anxiety and tribulation." 
 
 These excellent men did not lose heart, 
 however. In vain were all the Parliaments 
 on the watch ; in vain did the spies of the Sor- 
 bonne and the monks creep into churches and 
 colleges, and even into private families, to 
 catch up any word of Evangelic doctrine that 
 might be dropped there; in vain did the king's 
 gens d'armes patrol the highways to intercept 
 everything that seemed to bear the impress of 
 the Reformation; these Frenchmen, thus 
 hunted and trodden on by Rome and her myr- 
 midons, had faith in better days to come; and 
 even now, the termination of what they called 
 the Babylonish captivity was greeted by them 
 afar. " Atlength," said they, " the seventieth 
 year will arrive the year of deliverance, and 
 liberty of spirit and conscience will be ours." 338 
 But the seventy years were to be extended to 
 nearly three centuries, and unheard-of calami- 
 ties were to be endured before these hopes 
 should be realized. It was not in man, how- 
 ever, that the refugees put their trust. " They 
 who have begun the dance," said Toussaint, 
 "will not stop short in the middle of it." - 
 But they believed that the Lord "knew those 
 whom he had chosen, and would accomplish 
 the deliverance of His people by the hand of 
 His power." 339 
 
 The Chevalier d'Esch had actually tasted 
 the mercy of deliverance. Being dismissed 
 from the prison of Pont-ii-Mousson, he had 
 hastened to Strasburg; but his stay there 
 was short. For "the honour of God," wrote 
 Toussaint to Fare), "immediately prevail on 
 our worthy master, the Chevalier, to return 
 as quickly as possible, for our other brethren 
 have need of such a leader." 340 In fact, the 
 French refugees had now fresh cause of alarm. 
 They were apprehensive that the dispute re- 
 specting the Lord's Supper, which had afflict- 
 ed them so grievously in Germany, would find 
 its way across the Rhine, and prove the source 
 of new troubles in France. Francis Lam- 
 bert, the monk of Avignon, after visiting Zu- 
 rich and Wittemberg, had arrived at Metz, 
 where he was regarded with a measure of 
 distrust, for it was feared that he might 
 introduce the sentiments of Luther, and by 
 fruitless, and, as Toussaint calls them, "mon- 
 strous" controversies, impede the progress of 
 the Reformation. 341 Esch, therefore, returned 
 to Lorraine, to be again exposed to great dan- 
 gers, "in common with all in that region who 
 were seeking the glory of Christ." 342 
 
 * Toussaint to Farel, 21st July, 1525. 
 
 But Toussaint was not the man who \7ould 
 invite others to join the battle, while he him- 
 self kept aloof from it. Deprived of the com- 
 fort of daily intercourse with (Ecolampadius, 
 reduced to the society of an ill-nurtured priest, 
 he had sought more communion with Christ, 
 and had gained an accession of courage. If 
 he could not return to Metz, might he not at 
 least go to Paris'? True, the smoke that 
 ascended from the piles on which Pavanne 
 and the hermit of Livry had been sacrificed 
 was scarcely yet cleared away, and its dark 
 shadow might seem to repel from the capital 
 all whose faith bore any resemblance to their's. 
 But if, as he had heard, the terror that pre- 
 vailed in the colleges of Paris and amidst her 
 streets was such, that none dared even to 
 name the Gospel or the Reformation, was 
 not this a reason why he should repair 
 thither] Toussaint quitted Basle, and took 
 up his abode within those perilous walls, 
 heretofore the seat of revelry and licentious 
 pleasure, now the stronghold of fanaticism. 
 His desire was to pursue his studies in Chris- 
 tian literature, and at the same time to form 
 a connection with the brethren who were in 
 the colleges, particularly with those who 
 were in the college of Cardinal Lemoine, 
 where Lefevre and Farel had taught. 343 But 
 he was not long left at liberty to prosecute 
 his design. The tyranny of the parliamen- 
 tary commissaries and the doctors of the Sor- 
 bonne now reigned supreme over the capital, 
 and whosoever was obnoxious to these was 
 sure to be accused of heresy , M4 A duke and 
 an abbot, whose names are not upon record, 
 denounced Toussaint as a heretic; and, one 
 day, the king's sergeants arrested the young 
 Lorrainer, and threw him into prison. Sepa- 
 rated from all his friends, and treated as a 
 criminal, Toussaint felt his helplessness more 
 as a sinner than a captive. " O Lord !" cried 
 he, " withdraw not thy Spirit from me, for 
 without that Holy Spirit I am altogether car- 
 nal, and a sink of iniquity." While his body 
 was held in chains, his heart turned for solace 
 to the remembrance of those who were still at 
 large to struggle for the Gospel. There was 
 CEcolampadius, his father, "whose work," 
 says he, "we are in the Lord."* There was 
 Lefevre, whom (obviously on account of his 
 age,) he deemed "unmeet to bear the bur- 
 then of the Gospel;" 345 there was Roussel, " by 
 whom he trusted that the Lord would do great 
 things;" 346 and Vaugris,who had manifested all 
 the zeal "of the most affectionate brother," in 
 his efforts to rescue him from the power of his 
 enemies. 347 There was Farel also, to whom he 
 wrote " I entreat your prayers on my behalf, 
 that 1 may not faint in this conflict." 348 How 
 effectual must he have found the repetition of 
 those beloved names in awakening thoughts 
 which mitigated the bitterness of his captivity 
 for he showed no signs of fainting. Death, 
 it is true, seemed to be impending over his 
 
 * This letter is without a date, but it appears to 
 have been written shortly after the liberation of 
 Toiissaint, and it shows the thoughts which occu- 
 pied him at that period. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 425 
 
 head, in a city where the blood of multitudes 
 of his brethren was afterwards to be poured 
 out like water; 349 and, on the other hand, offers 
 of the most lavish kind were made by the 
 friends of his mother, and of his uncle the 
 dean of Metz, as well as by the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine, to induce him to recant. 350 But his 
 reply to such offers was "I despise them 
 all. I know that God is now putting me to 
 the trial. I would rather endure hunger I 
 would rather be a very abject in the house of 
 the Lord, than dwell with great riches in the 
 palaces of the ungodly." 351 At the same time 
 he made a clear and open confession of his 
 faith : " I glory," he said, " in being called a 
 heretic by those whose lives and doctrine T 
 see to be directly opposite to those of Christ." 352 
 And the young man subscribed himself, " Pe- 
 ter Toussaint, unworthy of his name of Chris- 
 tian." 
 
 Thus, in the absence of the monarch, new 
 attacks were levelled against the Reformation. 
 Berquin, Toussaint, and many others were in 
 bonds; Schuch, Pavanne, and the hermit of 
 Livry had been put to death ; Farel, Lefevre, 
 Roussel, and many other defenders of sound 
 doctrine were in exile; and the tongues of 
 the most eloquent were chained. The light 
 of the Gospel waxed dim ; the storm roared 
 around, bending, and shaking as if it would 
 uproot that tree which the hand of God had 
 so recently planted on the French soil. 
 
 To those humbler victims who had already 
 fallen, others of more note were now to suc- 
 ceed. The enemy, failing in their efforts 
 when directed against persons of distinction, 
 had submitted to work from beneath upwards ; 
 hoping gradually to bring to bear on the more 
 eminent in station the sentence of condemna- 
 tion and death. It was a sort of countermarch 
 which answered the purpose they had in view. 
 Scarcely had the wind scattered the ashes with 
 which persecution strewed the Place de Greve 
 and the close of Notre Dame, when further 
 blows were struck. The excellent Messire 
 Anthony Du Blet, the " negociateur" of Lyons, 
 sunk under the persecutions of the enemies of 
 the truth ; as did also another disciple, Francis 
 Moulin. No detailed account of their deaths 
 has come down to us.* Not stopping there, 
 the persecutors proceeded to take a higher 
 aim. One there was whose eminent rank 
 placed her beyond their leach but who 
 might yet be stricken in the persons of 
 those dear to her. This was the Duchess 
 of Alen^on. Michel d'Arende, her chaplain, 
 for the sake of whom Margaret had dis- 
 missed her other preachers, and who was 
 accustomed in her presence to publish a pure 
 Gospel, was singled out for attack, and 
 threatened with imprisonment and death. 353 
 About the same time Anthony Papillon, for 
 whom the princess had obtained the office of 
 Chief Master of Requests to the Dauphin, 
 
 * Periit Franciscus Molinus ac Dubletus. 
 (Erasm. Epp. p. 1109.) Erasmus in his letter 
 addressed to Francis I., in July, lo^fi, name? 
 all those who, during the captivity of that prince, 
 fell victims to the Romish fanatics. 
 
 died suddenly, and a report, generally preva- 
 lent even among the enemies, ascribed his 
 death to poison. 354 
 
 The persecution was spreading through the 
 kingdom, and drawing nearer to the person of 
 Margaret. The isolated champions of truth 
 were, one after another, stretched upon the 
 field. A few more such victories, and the 
 soil of France would be purged from heresy. 
 Underhand contrivances and secret practices 
 took the place of clamour and the stake. The 
 war was conducted in open day ; but it was 
 decided that it should also be carried on 
 darkly and in secrecy. If, in dealing with the 
 common people, fanaticism employs the tribu- 
 nal and the scaffold, it has in reserve poison 
 and the dagger for those of more note. The 
 doctors of a celebrated school are but too well 
 known for having patronized the use of such 
 means; and kings themselves have fallen 
 victims to the 'steel of the assassins. But if 
 France has had in every age its Seides, it has 
 also had its Vincents de Paul and its Fene- 
 lons. Strokes failing in darkness and silence 
 were well fitted to spread terror on all sides ; 
 and to this perfidious policy and these fanati- 
 cal persecutions, in the interior of the kingdom, 
 were now added the fatal reverses experienced 
 beyond the frontier. A dark cloud was spread 
 over the whole nation. Not a family, espe- 
 cially among the higher classes, but was 
 either mourning for a father, a husband, or a 
 son, who had fallen on the plains of Italy, or 
 trembling for the liberty or life of one of its 
 members. 355 The signal misfortunes which had 
 burst upon the nation diffused everywhere a 
 leaven of hatred against the heretics. The 
 people, the parliament, the Church, and even 
 the throne, were joined hand in hand. 
 
 Was there not enough to bow the heart of 
 Margaret in the defeat at Pavia, the death of 
 her husband, and the captivity of her brother l , 
 Was she doomed to view the final extinction 
 of that soft light of the Gospel in which her 
 heart had found such joy 1 News arrived 
 from Spain which added to the general dis- 
 tress. Mortification and sickness had reduced 
 the haughty Francis to the brink of the grave. 
 If the king should continue a captive, or die, 
 and the regency of his mother be protracted 
 for some years, there was apparently an end 
 of all prospect of a Reformation. " But when 
 all seems lost," observed, at a later period, 
 the young scholar of Noyon, " God interposes 
 to deliver and guard His church in His own 
 wondrous way." 356 The Church of France 
 which was as if travailing in birth, was to 
 have a brief interval of ease before its pains 
 returned upon it; and God made use of a 
 weak woman, one who never openly de- 
 clared for the Gospel, in order to give to the 
 Church this season of rest. Margaret herself, 
 at this time, thought more of saving the king 
 and the kingdom, than of delivering the com- 
 paratively unknown Christians, who were yet 
 resting many hopes upon her interference. 357 
 But under the dazzling surface of human 
 affairs, God often hides the mysterious ways 
 in which He rules His people. A generous 
 
426 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 project was suggested to the mind of the 
 Duchess of Aler^on; it was, to cross the sea, 
 or traverse the Pyrenees, and rescue Francis 
 I. from the power of Charles V. Such was 
 the object to which her thoughts were hence- 
 forth directed. 
 
 Margaret announced her intention, and 
 France hailed it with grateful acclamation. 
 Her genius, her great reputation, and the 
 attachment existing between herself and her 
 brother, helped much to counterbalance, in the 
 eyes of Louisa and of Duprat, her partiality 
 for the new doctrines. All eyes were turned 
 upon her, as the only person capable of extri- 
 cating the nation from its perilous position. 
 Let Margaret in person make an appeal to the 
 powerful emperor and his ministers, and em- 
 ploy the admirable genius with which she was 
 gifted, in the effort to give liberty to her bro- 
 ther and her king. 
 
 Yet very various feelings existed among 
 the nobility and the people in the prospect of 
 the Duchess trusting herself in the centre of 
 the enemies' councils, and among the stern 
 soldiery of the Catholic king. All admired, 
 but without sharing in her confidence and 
 devotedness: her friends had fears for her, 
 which, in the result, were but too near being 
 realized : but the evangelical party were full 
 of hope. The king's captivity had been to 
 them the occasion of hitherto unprecedented 
 severities his restoration to liberty they ex- 
 pected would put a period to those rigours. 
 Let the king once find himself beyond the 
 Spanish frontier, and the gates of those 
 prison houses and castles, wherein the ser- 
 vants of God's word were immured, would 
 instantly be set open. Margaret was more 
 and more confirmed in a project to which she 
 felt herself drawn by so many various motives. 
 
 My heart is fixed ; and not the heavens above 
 From its firm purpose can my spirit move ; 
 
 Nor hell, with all its powers, my course withstand 
 For Jesus holds its keys within his hand. 358 
 
 Her woman's heart was strengthened with 
 that faith which overcomes the world, and her 
 resolution was irrevocably settled. Prepara- 
 tion was accordingly made for her journey. 
 
 The archbishop of Emburn, afterwards car- 
 dinal of Tournon, and the president of Selves, 
 had already repaired to Madrid to treat for the 
 ransom of the king. They were placed under 
 the direction of Margaret, as was also the 
 bishop of Tarbes, afterwards cardinal of 
 Grammont; full powers being given to the 
 Princess. At the same time Montmorency, 
 afterwards so hostile to the Reformation, was 
 despatched in haste to Spain to solicit a safe- 
 conduct for the king's sister. 359 The Emperor 
 at first hesitated, alleging that it was for his 
 ministers to arrange terms. " One hour's con- 
 ference between your majesty, the king my 
 master, and Madame d'Alenson," remarked 
 Selves, "would forward matters more than a 
 month's discussion between the diplomatists." 368 
 Margaret, impatient to attain her object, set 
 out unprovided with a safe-conduct, accompa- 
 nied by a splendid retinue. 361 She took leave 
 of the court and passed through Lyons, taking 
 the direction of the Mediterranean; but on her 
 road she was joined by Montmorency, who 
 was the bearer of letters from Charles, auar- 
 anteeing her liberty for a period of Three 
 months. She reached Aigues-Mortes, and at 
 that port the sister of Francis the First em- 
 barked on board a vessel prepared for her. 362 
 Led by Providence into Spain rather for the 
 deliverance of nameless and oppressed Chris- 
 tians, than for the liberation of the powerful 
 monarch of France, Margaret committed her- 
 self to that sea whose waves had borne her 
 brother when taken prisoner after the fatal 
 battle of Pavia. 
 
NOTES, 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 1 Suburbicaria loca. See the sixth canon of 
 the Council of Nice, cited by Rufinus as follows : 
 Et ut apud Alexandriam et in urbe Roma vetusta 
 consuetude servetur ut vel ille ^Egypti vel hie 
 suburbicariarum ecclesiarum sollicitudinem gerat, 
 &c. Hist. Eccles. 
 
 2 Julian Oral. I. 
 
 3 Claud, in Paneg. Stilic. lib. 3. 
 
 4 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. 5, c. 24. Socrat. 
 Hist. Eccles. c. 21. Cyprian, ep. 59, 72, 75. 
 
 5 See the Council of Chalcedon, canons 8 and 
 18, b l^a(>\og TJj 6wiKfiff0)s. 
 
 6 Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, speaking of 
 Stephen, bishop of Rome, has these words: 
 " Magis ac magis ejus errorem denotabis qui 
 haereticorum causam contra Christianos et contra 
 Ecdesiam Dei asserere conatur. . . . . qui 
 unitatem et veritatem de divina lege venientem 
 
 non tenens Consuetudo sine veritate 
 
 vetustas erroris est." (Ep. 74.) Firmilian, 
 bishop of Cesarea in Cappadocia, writing in the 
 latter part of the third century, observes, " Eos 
 auteni qui Roma? sunt non ea. in omnibus obser- 
 vare quae sunt ab origine tradita et frustra aucto- 
 ritatem apostolorum praetendere. . . . Caete- 
 rum nos (the bishops of the churches of Asia, 
 more ancient than the Roman church) veritati et 
 consuetudinem jungimus, et consuetudini Roma- 
 norum consuetudinem sed veritalis opponimus ; 
 ab initio hoc tenentes quod a Christo et ab apos- 
 tolo traditum est." (Cypr. Ep. 75.) These testi- 
 monies are of high importance. 
 
 7 Fremens ut leo . . . asserens omnes uno 
 gladio jugulari. (Anastasius, Bibl. Vit. Pontif. 
 p. 83.) 
 
 8 Visum est et ipsi Apostolico Leoni . . . ut 
 ipsum Carolum imperatorem nominare debuisset, 
 qui ipsam Romam tenebat ubi semper Caasares 
 sedere soliti erant et reliquas sedes .... (An- 
 nalista Lambecianus ad an. 801.) 
 
 9 See Ep. ad Univ. Epi. sc. Gall. (Mansi XV.) 
 
 10 " Cujus quidem post adeptum sacerdotium 
 vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda 
 exsiiterit, horresco referre." (DESIDERIUS abbot 
 of Cassino, afterwards Pope Victor III. de mira- 
 culis S. Benedicto, etc. lib. 3, init.) 
 
 11 Theophylactus .... cum post multa adul- 
 teria et hpmicidia manibus suis perpetrata, etc. 
 (BoNizo bishop of Sutri, afterwards of Plaisance, 
 liber ad amicum.) 
 
 12 Hi quocurnque prodeunt, clamores insultan- 
 tium, digitos ostendentium, colaphos pulsantium, 
 perferunt. Alii membris mutilati ; alii per longos 
 cruciatus superbe necati, &c. Martene et Du- 
 rand. Thes. Nov. Anecd. 1. 231. 
 
 13 Velle et esse ad hominem referenda sunt, 
 quia de arbitrii fonte descendant. (Pelag. in Aug. 
 de Gratia Dei, cap. iv.) 
 
 14 Tertull. de Pcenit. 
 
 15 Libri duo de ecclesiasticis disciplinis. 
 
 16 Hottinger, Hist. Eccles. V. 
 
 17 Myconius' History of the Reformation ; and 
 Seckendorf s Hist, of Lutheranism. 
 
 55 
 
 ] 18 Muller, Reliquien, vol. iii. p. 22. 
 19 CEcolamp. de risu paschali. 
 30 Nicol. De Clemangis de prasulib. simo- 
 niacis. 
 
 21 The words of Seb. Stor, pastor of Lichstall 
 in 1524. 
 
 22 FUsslin, Beytrage, ii. 224. 
 
 23 Metern. Nederl. hist. viii. 
 
 24 Hottinger, Hist. Eccles. ix. 305. 
 
 25 Mandement de Hugo eveque de Constance, 
 Mar. 3, 1517. 
 
 26 Muller's Reliq. iii. 251. 
 
 27 Steubing, Gesch. der Nass. Oran. Lande. 
 
 28 Uno anno ad se delata undecim millia sacer- 
 dotum palam concubinariorum. Erasmi Op. torn, 
 ix. p. 401. (This citation has been verified ; yet 
 there seems to be some mistake in these figures. 
 2V.) 
 
 29 Schmidt, Gesch. der Deutschen, torn. iv. 
 
 30 Infessura. 
 
 81 Amazz6 il fratello ducha di Gandia e lo fa 
 butar nel Tevere. (M. S. C. of Capello, ambas- 
 sador at Rome in 1500 extracted by Rancke.) 
 
 32 Gordon, Tommasi, Infessura, Guicciardini, 
 Eccard, &,c. 
 
 33 Letter to the Cardinal- Elector of Mentz, 
 1525. 
 
 34 Apologia pro Rep. Christ. 
 
 35 Muller's Reliq. torn. 3, p. 253. 
 
 36 Falleri Monum. ined. p. 400. 
 
 37 Pope Hildebrand himself relates the event in 
 these words:" Tandem rex ad oppidum Canu- 
 sii, in quo morati sumus, cum paucis advenit, 
 ibique per triduum ante portam, deposito omni 
 regio cultu miserabiliter utpote discalceatus et 
 laniis inductus, persistens, non prius cum multo 
 fletu apostolicas miserationis auxilium et consola- 
 tionem implorare destitit quam omnes qui ibi ade- 
 rant ad tantam pietatem et compassionis miseri- 
 cordiam movit ut, pro eo nmltis precibus et lacry- 
 misintercedentes, omnes quidem insolitam nostra3 
 mentis duritiam mirarentur, nonnulli vero non 
 apostolicse severitatis gravitatem sed quasi tyran- 
 nica3 feritatis crudelitatem esse clamarent." (Lib. 
 iv. ep. 12, ad Germanos.) 
 
 38 Adrien Baillet, Hist, des demeles de Boniface 
 VIII. avec Philippe le Bel. Paris, 1708. 
 
 39 Guicciardini. 
 
 40 Scultet. Annal. ad an. 1520. 
 
 41 Odium Romani nominis penitus infixum esse 
 multarum gentium animis opinor, ob ea qua? vulgo 
 de moribus ejus urbis jactantur. (Erasmi Epist. 
 lib. xii. p. 634.) 
 
 42 Nobla Leycon. 
 
 43 Treatise on Antichrist, a work contempo- 
 rary with the Nobla Leycon. 
 
 44 Epist. J. Huss tempore anathematis script. 
 
 45 Huss, epp. sub tempus concilii scripts. 
 
 46 Credo quod tu, mi Domine, Jesu Christe 
 solus es mea justitia et redemptio. Leibnitz 
 script. Brunsw. iii. 369. 
 
 20 427 
 
428 
 
 NOTESBOOKS I. II. 
 
 47 Spes mea crux Christi; gratiam non opera 
 quaero. 
 
 48 Sciens posse me aliter non salvari et tibi 
 satisfacere nisi per meritum, etc. See for the 
 citations, and many others, Flaccius Catal. Test. 
 Veritatis; Wolfii Lect. Memorabiles; Muller's 
 Reliquien, etc. etc. 
 
 49 Qui prae multis pollebat principibus aliis, 
 auctoritate, opibus, potentia, liberalitate et mag- 
 nificentia. (Cochlaeus, Acta Lutheri, p. 3.) 
 
 50 Luther, epp. 
 
 61 Lutheri, epp. i. p. 524. 
 
 62 Mai Vita J. Reuchlin (Francof. 1687.) 
 Mayerhoff J. Reuchlin und seine Zeit. (Berlin, 
 1830.) 
 
 63 EyKw/itoj/ pwptaj. Seven editions of this book 
 were sold in a few months. 
 
 54 A principibus facile mihi contingeret fortuna, 
 nisi mihi nimium dulcis esset libertas. (Epist. ad 
 Pirck.) 
 
 55 Ad Servatium. 
 
 56 Ad Joh. Slechtam, 1519. Haec sunt animis 
 hominum inculcanda, sic, ut velut in naturam 
 transeant. (Er. Epp. i. p. 680.) 
 
 57 " Malo hunc, qualis qualis est, rerum huma- 
 narum statum quam novos excitari tumultus," 
 said Erasmus. 
 
 58 Semel admissum non ea fertur, qua destina- 
 rat admissor. (Erasm. Epp. i. p. 953.) 
 
 59 Ingens aliquod et praesens remedium, certe 
 meum non est. (Er. Epp. i. p. 653.) 
 
 60 Ego me non arbitror hoc honore dignum. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 61 Erasmi Epist. 374. 
 
 62 Vigilise molestse, somnus irrequietus, cibus 
 insipidus omnis, ipsum quoque musarum studiurn 
 
 ipsa frontis meae maestitia, vultus 
 
 palor, oculorum subtristis dejectio 
 
 (Erasm. Epp. l,p. 1380.) 
 
 63 The works of Erasmus were edited by John 
 Leclerc, at Liege, in 1703, in 10 vols. folio. For 
 his life, consult Burigny Vie d'Erasme, Paris, 
 1757. A Muller Leben des Erasmus Harnb. 
 1828; and the life inserted by Leclerc in his 
 " Bibliotheque Choisie" See also the able and 
 impartial performance of M. Nisard (Revue des 
 deux mondes) yet M. Nisard seems to me to 
 be mistaken in his estimate of Luther and Eras- 
 mus. 
 
 64 Animus ingens et ferox, viribus pollens. 
 Nam si consilia et conatus Hutteni non defecis- 
 sent, quasi nervi copiarum, atque potentiae, jam 
 mutatio omnium rerum extitisset, et quasi orbis 
 status publici fuisset conversus. Gamer. Vita 
 Melanclhonis* 
 
 65 Lutheri Epp. i. p. 37, 38. 
 
 66 Hiitten's works have been published at Ber- 
 lin by Munchen, 1822 to 1825, in 5 vols. 8vo. 
 
 67 See Chateaubriand, Etudes Historiques. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 1 Vestus familia est et late propagata medio- 
 crium horninum. (Melanc. Vit. Luth.) 
 
 2 Ego natus sum in Eisleben baptizatusque 
 apud Sanctum Petrum ibidem. Parentes mei de 
 prope Isenaco illuc migrarunt. (L. Epp. i. p. 390.) 
 
 3 Intuebanturque in earn caster honestae mu- 
 lieres, ut in exemplar virtutum. (Melancthon 
 Vita Lutheri.) 
 
 4 Melancth. Vita Lutheri. 
 
 5 Drumb musste dieser geistliche Schmelzer. 
 . . . (Mathesius, 1565, p. 3.) 
 
 6 Ad agnitionem et timorem Dei .... 
 domestica institutione diligenter adsuefecerunt. 
 (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 7 Walthers Nachrichten. 
 
 8 Sed non poterant discernere ingenia secundum 
 quae essent temperandae correctiones. (L. Opp. 
 W. xxii. p. 1785.) 
 
 9 Mathesius. 
 
 1 Lutheri Opera (Walch.) ii. 2347. 
 
 11 Isenacum enim pene totam parentelam meam 
 habet. (L. Epp. i. p. 390.) 
 
 12 Lingk's Reisegesch. Luth. 
 
 " Dieweil, sie umb seines Singen und herz- 
 lichen Gebets willen. (Mathesius, p. 3.) 
 
 14 Cumque et vis ingenii acerrima esset, et im- 
 primis ad eloquentiam idonea, celeriter Eequalibus 
 suis praecurrit. (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 15 Degustata igitur litterarum dulcedine, natura 
 flagrans cupiditate discendi appedt academiam. 
 (Mel. Vit. Luth.) 
 
 16 Et fortassis ad leniendam vehementiam na- 
 turae mitiora studia verae philosophiae. (Ibid.) 
 
 17 Et quidem inter primos, ut ingenio studioque 
 multos coasqualium antecellebat. (Cochlaeus, 
 Acta Lutheri, p. 1.) 
 
 18 Sic igitur in juventute eminebat ut toti aca- 
 
 demiae Lutheri ingenium admiration! esset. (Vita 
 Luth.) 
 
 19 Fleissig gebet, ist Uber die Helfft studert. 
 (Mathes. 3.) 
 
 20 Auff ein Zeyt, wie er die Biicher fein nach- 
 einander besieht .... kombt er uber die 
 lateinische Biblia. . . . (Mathes. 3.) 
 
 21 Ayide percurrit, ccepitque optare ut olim 
 talem librum et ipse nancisci posset. (M. Adami 
 Vit. Luth. p. 103.) 
 
 22 Deus te virum faciet qui alios multos iterum 
 consolabitur. (M. Adami Vit. Luth. p. 103.) 
 
 23 L. Opp. W. xxii. p. 2229. 
 
 24 Interitu sodalis sui contristatus. (Cochlaeus, 
 p. 1.) 
 
 25 Mit Erschrecken und Angst des Todes um- 
 geben. (L. Epp. ii. 101.) 
 
 26 Cum esset in campo, fulminis ictu territus. 
 (Cochlaeus, 1.) 
 
 27 Occasio autem fuit ingrediendi illud vitae 
 genus quod pietati et studiis doctrinae de Deo ex- 
 istimavit esse convenientius. (Mel. Vit. Luth.) 
 
 28 Hujus mundi contemptu, ingressus est re- 
 
 pente, multis admirantibus, monasterium 
 
 (Cochlaeus, 1.) 
 
 29 In vit& semimortua. (Melch. Adami V. L. 
 p. 102. 
 
 30 Gott geb dass es nicht ein Betrug und teuf- 
 lisch Gespenst sey. (L. Epp. ii. p. 101.) 
 
 31 On Genesis xxxiv. 3. 
 
 32 Loca imrnunda purgare coactus fuit. (M. 
 Adami Vit. Luth. p. 103.) 
 
 33 Selnecceri Orat. de Luth. 
 
 34 In disputationibus publicis labyrinthos aliis 
 inextricabiles, diserte multis admirantibus expli- 
 cabat. (Melancth. Vit. Luth.) 
 
NOTESBOOK II. 
 
 429 
 
 35 In eo vitae genere non famam ingenii, sed 
 alimenta pietatis quaerebat. (Melancth. Vit. Luth.) 
 
 36 Ut firmis testimoniis aleret timorem et fidem. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 37 Gesch. d. deutsch. Bibeliibersetzung. 
 
 38 Summa disciplines severitate se ipse regit, et 
 omnibus exercitiis lectionum, disputationum, jeju- 
 niorum , precura, omnes longe superat. (Melancth. 
 Vita Luth.) 
 
 39 Erat enim naturS. valde modici cibi et potus ; 
 vidi continuis quatuor diebus, cum quidem recte 
 valeret, prorsus nihil edentem aut bibentem. 
 (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 40 Strenue in studiis et exercitiis spiritualibus 
 militavit ibi Deo annis quatuor. (Cochlaeus, 1.) 
 
 41 L. Opp. (W.) xix. 2299. 
 
 42 Visus est fratribus non nihil singularitatis 
 habere. (Cochlaeus, 1.) 
 
 43 Cum .... repente ceciderit vocife- 
 rans: Non sum ! non sum! (Cochlaeus,!.) 
 
 44 Ex occulto aliquo cum sermone cominario. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 45 Saepe eum cogitantem attentius de ira Dei, 
 aut de mirandis pcenarum exemplis, subito tanti 
 terrores concutiebant, ut pene exanimaretur. 
 (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 ifi Seckend. p. 53. 
 
 47 Hoc studium ut magis expeteret, illis suis 
 doloribus et pavoribus movebatur. (Melancth. 
 Vita Luth.) 
 
 48 A teneris unguiculis generoso animi impetu 
 ad virtutem et eruditam doctrinarn contendit. 
 (Melch. Adam. Vita Staupizii.) 
 
 49 Corporis forma atque statura conspicuus. 
 (Cochl. 3.) 
 
 so L. Opp. (W.) v. 2189. 
 51 P. Mossellani Epist. 
 62 L. Opp. (W.) viii. 2725. 
 53 L. Opp. (W.) ii. 264. 
 
 64 Te velut e ccelo sonantem accepimus. (L. 
 Epp. i. 115, ad Staupitium, 30 Maii, 1518.) 
 
 55 Pfflnitentia vero non est, nisi quae ab amore 
 justitiae et Dei incipit, &c. (Ibid.) 
 
 56 Memini inter jucundissimas et salutares fabu- 
 las tuas, quibus me solet Dominus Jesus mirifice 
 consolari. Ibid.) 
 
 67 Haesit hoc verbum tuum in me, sicut sagitta 
 potentis acuta. (Ibid.) 
 
 58 Ecce jucundissimum ludum ; verba undique 
 .mini colludebant planeque huic sententiae arride- 
 bant et assultabant. (L. Epp. i. 115, ad Staupi- 
 tium, 30 Maii, 1518.) 
 
 69 Nunc nihil dulcius aut gratius mihi sonat 
 quam pcenitentia, &c. (Ibid.) 
 
 60 Ita enim dulcescunt praecepta Dei, quando 
 non in libris tantum, sed in vulneribus dulcissimi 
 Salvatoris legenda intelligimus. (Ibid.) 
 
 61 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 489. 
 
 62 Davidi aut Petro .... Sed mandatum 
 Dei esse, ut singuli homines nobisremitti peccata 
 credamus. (Melanc. Vit. L.) 
 
 63 Keil, p. 16. 
 
 64 L. Opp. xvi. (W.) 1144. 
 
 65 Es ist nicht Christus, denn Christus schreckt 
 nicht, sondern trostet nur. (L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 
 p. 513 & 724.) 
 
 66 Epp. i. p. 5. 17th March, 1509. 
 
 57 Theologia qua 3 , nucleum nucis et medullam 
 tritici et medullam ossium scrutatur. (L. Epp. 
 i. 6.) 
 
 68 In studiis litterarum corpore ac mente inde- 
 fessus. (Pallavicini Hist. Coiicil. Trid. 1. p. 16.) 
 
 69 Seckend. p. 55. 
 
 70 Melch. Adam. Vita Lutheri, p. 104. 
 
 71 Fabricius, Centifolium Lutheri, p. 33. (Ma- 
 thesius, p. 6.) 
 
 72 Myconius. 
 
 73 Florimond Raymond, Hist, haeres. cap. 5. 
 
 74 Bossuet, Hist, des Variations, 1. 1. 
 
 75 Quod septem conventus a vicario in quibus- 
 dam dissemirent. (Cochloaus, 2.) 
 
 76 Quod esset acer ingenio et ad contradicendum 
 audax et vehemens. (Ibid.) 
 
 77 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 1468. 
 
 78 Matth. Dresser, Hist. Lutheri. 
 
 79 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 2374, 2377. 
 
 80 Sancte Swizere ! ora pro nobis. (L. Opp. 
 (W.) xxii. 1314, 1332.) 
 
 81 L. Opp. (W.) Dedication of the 117 Psm. VI. 
 vol. L. g. 
 
 82 Ibid. 
 
 83 L. Opp. (W.) xix. von der Winkelnesse, &c. 
 
 84 In quel tempo non pareva fosse galantuomo 
 e buon cortegiano colui che de dogmi della chiesa 
 non aveva qualche opinion erronea ed heretica. 
 (Caracciola Vit. MS. Paul IV.) cited by Rancke. 
 
 85 Das habe ich zu Rom fur gewiss gehort. 
 (Table Talk, p. 1322.) 
 
 86 Es nimmt mich Wunder, dass die Pabste 
 solches Bild leiden konnen ! (Ibid. p. 1320.) 
 
 87 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 2376. 
 
 88 Address to the Christian Nobles of Germany. 
 
 89 Ist irgend eine Holle, so muss Rom darauf 
 gebaut seyn. (Ib. 2377.) 
 
 90 Diss. on the 1st Decade of Livy. 
 
 91 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 2374. 
 
 92 Seek. p. 56. 
 
 93 Qua vos Deus misericors justificat per fidem. 
 (L. Opp. lat.) 
 
 94 Hie me prorsus renatum esse sensi et apertia 
 portis in ipsum paradisum intrasse. (Ibid.) 
 
 95 Gloss on the Imperial Edict, 1531. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) torn, xx.) 
 
 96 Vim ingenii, nervos orationis, ac rerum boni- 
 tatem expositarum in concionibus admiratus fuerat. 
 (Melancthon, Vita Luth.) 
 
 97 Unter einem Baum, den er mir und andern 
 gezeigt. (Math. 6.) 
 
 98 Multa praecedunt mutationes praesagia. (Vita 
 Luth.) 
 
 99 Ihr lebet nun oder sterbet, so darffeuch Gott 
 in seinem Rathe. (Math. 6.) 
 
 100 Neminem nisi Spiritum Sanctum creare posse 
 doctorum theologiae. (Weismanni Hist. Eccles. i. 
 p. 1404.) 
 
 101 L. Epp. i. 11. 
 
 102 Weismann. Hist. Eccles. p. 1416. 
 
 103 Ibid. 
 
 101 Juro me veritatem evangelicarn viriliter de- 
 fensurum. 
 
 105 Doctor biblicus wow sententiarius. (Melanc.) 
 
 106 L. Opp. (W.) xvi. p. 2061. (Mathesius, p. 7.) 
 
 107 L. Opp. (W.) xxi. 2061. 
 
 108 Aristotelem in philosophicis, Sanctum Tho- 
 mam in theologicis, evertendos, susceperat. (Pal- 
 lav, i. 16.) 
 
 109 Perdita studia nostri saeculi. (Epp. i. 15. 
 8 Feb. 1516.) 
 
 110 Ep. i. 57. May 18, 1517. 
 
430 
 
 NOTES BOOKS II. III. 
 
 111 Secundum genium heri sui. (Weismann. 
 Hist. Eccles. p. 1434.) 
 
 112 Fideliter et sine strepitu fungens. (Weis- 
 mann. Hist. Eccles. p. 1434.) 
 
 113 Qui cum principe in rheda sive lectico solitus 
 est ferri. (Corp. Ref. i. 33.) 
 
 "* Melch. Ad. Vita Spalat. p. 100. 
 115 Foris sapere et domi desipere. (L. Epp. i. 
 p. 8.) 
 "6 Pref. ad Gal. 
 
 117 Non per speculationem sed per hanc viam 
 practicam. 
 
 118 Omnes filii Adae sunt idolatrae. Decem 
 Praecepta Wittembergensi populo prasdicata per 
 R. P. D. Martinum Lutherum, Aug. anno 1516. 
 (They were preached in German. The quotation 
 is from the Latin edition, i. p. 1.) 
 
 119 Nisi ipse pro te mortuus esset teque servaret, 
 nee tu, nee omnis creatura tibi posset prodesse. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 120 At Jesus est verus, unus, solus Deus, quern 
 eum habes, non habes alienum Deum. (Ibid.) 
 
 121 Revocavit igitur Lutherus hominum mentes 
 ad filium Dei. (Melancthon, Vit. Luth.) 
 
 122 Hujus doctrinae dulcedine pit omnes valde 
 capiebantur et eruditis gratum erat. (Ibid.) 
 
 123 Quasi ex tenebris, carcere, squalore educi 
 Christum, prophetas, apostolos. (Ibid.) 
 
 124 Orationes non e labris nasci, sed in pectore. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 125 Eique, propter auctoritatem quam sanctitate 
 morum antea pepererat, adsenserunt. (Ibid.) 
 
 126 Puto et hodie theologos omnes probos favere 
 Luthero. (Erasm. Epp. i. 652.) 
 
 127 Du Domine Jesu es justitia mea ; egoautem 
 sum peccatum tuum ; tu assumpsisti meum, et de- 
 disti mihi tuum. (L. Ep. i. p. 17.) 
 
 128 Non enim juste agendo justi efficimur: sed 
 justi fiendo et essendo operamur justa. (L. Ep. i. 
 p. 22.) 
 
 129 Humana prevalent in eo plusquam divina. 
 
 130 Dabit ei Dominus intellectum suo forte tern- 
 pore. (L. Epp. i. p. 52.) 
 
 131 TI ow ; 6wardv dvapaprfiTOv sivai rttrj ; What ! 
 is it possible to help sinning? asks Epictetus, iv. 
 12, 19. Apvcavov. Impossible ! he answers. 
 
 132 .... Sanctissimae reliquiae . . .' deifies vo- 
 luntatis suae charitate amplexae, osculatae. (L. 
 Epp. i. 18.) 
 
 133 Sed etiam ultro adorabam. (L. Opp. lat. i. 
 p. 50.) 
 
 134 L. W. (L.) xviii. p. 142, and in the Latin 
 works. Tom. i. p. 51. 
 
 135 Cum credent! omnia sint, auctore Christo, 
 possibilia, superstitiosum est, humano arbitrio, aliis 
 sanctis, alia deputari auxilia. (Ibid.) 
 
 136 Hilscher, Luthers Anwesenheit in Alt-Dres- 
 den, 1728. 
 
 M 1 May, 1516. Epp. i. p. 20. 
 
 138 L. Epp. i. p. 36. Non enim asper asperum, 
 id est non diabolus diabolum, sed suavis asperum, 
 id est digitus Dei ejicit daemonia. 
 
 139 Tarn cito enim crux cessat esse crux quam 
 cito laetus dixeris : Crux benedicta ! inter ligna 
 nullum tale. (Epp. i. 27.) 
 
 140 Heiliglich, friedlich und zuchtig. (Math. p. 
 10.) 
 
 141 Epp. i. p. 41 to Lange, 26 Oct. 1516. 
 
 142 Quo fugiam ? spero quod non corruet orbis 
 ruente fratre Martino. (Epp. i. p. 42, 26 Oct. 
 1516.) 
 
 143 Multa placent principi tuo, quaa Deo displi- 
 cent. (L. Epp. i. p. 25.) 
 
 144 Si mihi maxime prosunt que mei pessime 
 meminerint. (L. Epp. i. p. 45.) 
 
 145 Quo sunt aliqua salubriora, eo minus placent. 
 (L. Epp. i. p. 46.) 
 
 146 Quam amarum est, quicquid nos sumus. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 147 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 1849. 
 i Ibid. 
 
 149 Has tres postea in aula principis, a me nota- 
 tas garrierunt. (L. Epp. i. p. 85.) 
 
 150 Keith, Leben Luthers, p. 32. 
 
 151 Inter medias me insidias conjectum. (L. Epp. 
 i. 85.) 
 
 152 In me acriter et clamose invectus est. (Ibid.) 
 
 153 Super Aristotelis et Thomas nugis. (Ibid.) 
 
 154 Ne prodiret et in faciem mei spueret. (Ibid.) 
 i" Enixe sese excusavit. 
 
 156 Cujus vellem hostes cito quamplurimos fieri. 
 (Epp. i. 59.) 
 
 157 Optima et infallibilis ad gratiam preparatio et 
 unica dispositio est aeterna Dei electio et praedesti- 
 natio. (L. Opp. lat. i. 56.) 
 
 158 Breviter nee rectum dictamen habet natura 
 nee bonam voluntatem. (Ibid.) 
 
 15 9 Nulla forma syllogistica tenet in terminis 
 divinis. (L. Opp. lat. i. 56.) 
 
 160 Lex et voluntas sunt adversarii duo sine 
 gratia Dei implacabiles. (Ib. p. 57.) 
 
 161 Lex est exactor voluntatis, qui non supera- 
 tur nisi per Parvulum qui natus est nobis. (L. 
 Opp. lat. i. 57.) 
 
 162 L. Opp. Lips. xvii. p. 143 ; and Opp. lat. i. 
 
 163 Nee igitur sequitur quod sit naturaliter 
 mala, id est natura mali, secundum Manichasos. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 164 Imo cacodoxa videri. (L. Epp. i. 60.) 
 
 165 Eccio nostro eruditissimo^et ingeniosissimo 
 viro exhibete, ut audiam et videam quid vocet 
 illas. (L. Epp. i. p 63.) 
 
 1 66 L. Opp. (W.) xviii. 1944. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 1 Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz to 
 the sub-commissioners of the indulgence, &c., 
 art. 8. 
 
 2 Ingenio ferox et corpore robustus. (Cochl. 5.) 
 
 3 Welchen Chnrfurst Friederich vom Sack zu 
 Inspruck er beten Hatte. (Mathes. x.) 
 
 4 L. Opp, (W.) xv. 862. 
 
 5 Circumferuntur venales indulgentiae in hia 
 regionibus a Tecelio, Dominicano impudentissimo 
 sycophanta. (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 6 Hist, de Lutheranisme par le P. Maimbourg 
 de la compagnie de Jesus. 1681, p. 21. 
 
 7 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1393. 
 
 8 Tetzel defended and maintained this assertion 
 
NOTES BOOK III. 
 
 431 
 
 in his antitheses, published the same year. (Th. 
 99, 100, 101.) Sub-commissariis, insuper ac prae- 
 dicatoribus veniarum imponere, ut si quis per im- 
 possibile Dei genetricem semper virginem violas- 
 set, quod eundem indulgentiarum vigore absolyere 
 possent, luce clarior est. (Positiones fratris 1. 
 Tezelii quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lu- 
 therum.) 
 
 9 Th. 56. (Ibid.) 
 
 10 Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz, &c. 
 
 11 Resolut. on the 32d Thesis. 
 
 12 Teutzel, Reformationgesch. Myconii Ref. 
 Hist. Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz 
 to the Sub-commissioners of the Indulgence. 
 Theses of Luther. 
 
 13 Instruction, etc., 5, 69. 
 
 14 Die erste Gnade ist die vollkommene Verge- 
 bung aller Siinden, &c. (Instruction, 19.) 
 
 15 Nur den Beichtbrief zu kaufen. (Ibid. 36.) 
 
 16 Auch ist nicht nothig dass sie in dem Herzen 
 zerknirscht sind, und mit dem Mund gebeichtet 
 haben. (Ibid. 38.) 
 
 17 Nach den Satzen der gesunden Vernunft, 
 nach ihrer Magnificenz und Freigebigkeit. (In- 
 struction, &c., 26.) 
 
 18 Muller's Reliq. iii. p. 264. 
 
 19 Wider den Willen ihres Mannes. (Instruc- 
 tion, 27.) 
 
 20 Ibid. 87,90, 91. 
 
 21 Luth. Opp. Leipz. xvii. 79. 
 
 22 Dreimal gelind auf den Riicken. (Instruc- 
 tion.) 
 
 23 Instruction, 9. 
 Ibid. 69. 
 
 25 Ibid. 4. 
 
 26 Sarpi, Concile de Trente, p. 5. 
 Schrock, K. G. v. d. R. 1. 116. 
 
 28 Schultet. Annal. Evangel, p. iv. 
 
 29 Loschers, Ref. Acta, I. 404. L. Opp. xv. 
 443, &c. 
 
 30 Musculi Loci communes, p. 362. 
 
 31 Hoffmanns Reformationgesch. v. Leipz. 
 p. 32. 
 
 32 Si tantum tres homines esset salvanda per 
 sanguinem Christi, certo statueret unum se esse 
 ox tribus illis. (Melch. Adam. Vita Mycon.) 
 
 33 Si nummis redimatur a Pontifice Romano, 
 (Melch. Adam.) 
 
 34 Clausurum januam coeli. (Melch. Adam.) 
 
 35 Stentor pontificius. (Ibid.) 
 
 36 Letter of Myconius to Eberus in Hechtii 
 Vita Tezelii, Wittemb. i. p. 14. 
 
 37 Albinus Meissn. Chronik. L. W. (W.) xv. 
 446, &c. Hechtius in Vit& Tezelii. 
 
 38 L. Opp. (Leipz.) xvii. p. Ill, 116. 
 
 39 Luther's Theses on the Indulgences. (Th. 
 82, 83, 84.) 
 
 4 L. Opp. (Leipz.) xvii. 79. 
 
 41 Fessi erant Germani omnes, ferendis expli- 
 cationibus, nundinationibus, et infinitis imposturis 
 Romanensium nebulonum. (L. Opp. Lat. in 
 praef.) 
 
 12 Sarpi, Concile de Trente, p. 4. Pallavicini, 
 though labouring to refute Sarpi, confirms and 
 even aggravates the charge : suo plane officio 
 defuit (Leo) .... venationes, facetias, pompas 
 adeo frequentes .... (Council. Trid. Hist. i. 
 p. 8, 9.) 
 
 Seckendorf, 42. 
 
 44 Lingke, Reisegesch. Luthers, p. 27. 
 
 45 Instillans ejus pectori frequentes indulgentia- 
 rum abusus. (Cochlseus, 4.) 
 
 46 Monachum, et papistam insanissimum, ita 
 ebrium, imo submersum in dogmatibus papse, &c. 
 In praf. Opp. Witt. I. 
 
 47 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 
 
 48 Coepi dissuadere populis et eos dehortari ne 
 indulgentiarum clamoribus aures praeberent. (L. 
 Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 49 Wiitet, schilt, und maledeiet graulich auf 
 dem Predigtstuhl. (Myconius, Reformationgesch.) 
 
 50 Haec initia fuerunt hujus controversial, in 
 qua Lutherus nihil suspicans aut somnians de 
 futura mutatione rituum, &c. (Melancth. Vita 
 Luth.) 
 
 51 Mathesius. Die verseurte Lehr durch den 
 Ofen gehen. (p. 10.) 
 
 52 Falsum est consuevisse hoc munus injungi 
 Eremitanis S. Augustini ... (p. 14.) 
 
 53 " Saiiberlich." 
 
 64 Sondern in ihren 16'chreichen und zerrissenen 
 Opinien viel nahe verwesen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 
 p. 119.) 
 
 55 It is found in Loscher, i. 46, &c. Teutzels 
 Anf. und Fortg. der Ref. Siinkers Ehrenged. 
 p.148. Lehmanns Beschr. Meissen. Erzgeb., &c., 
 and in a manuscript of the Archives of Weimar, 
 written from the dictation of Spalatin. It is from 
 this manuscript, published at the last jubilee of the 
 Reformation, (1817,) that we take the account of 
 this dream. 
 
 56 Cujus impiis et nefariis concionibus incitatus 
 Lutherus studio pietatis ardens edidit propositiones 
 de indulgentiis. (Melancth. Vita Luth.) 
 
 57 Et in iis certus mihi videbar, me habiturum 
 patronum papam cujus fiducia tune fortiter nitebar. 
 (L. Opp. Lat. in praef.) 
 
 58 .... Quas magnifico apparatu publice po- 
 pulis ostendi curavit. (Cochlaeus, 4.) 
 
 59 Cum hujus disputationis nullus etiam intimo- 
 rum amicorum fuerit conscius. (L. Epp. i. 186.) 
 
 60 Wenn man die Lehre angreifft, so wird die 
 Gans am Krage gegriffen. (L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 
 p. 1369.) 
 
 61 Harms de Kiel. 
 
 62 L. Opp. Leipz. vi. p. 518. 
 
 63 Casu enim, non voluntate nee studio, in has 
 turbas incidi ; Deum ipsum testor. (L. Opp. lat. 
 in prasf.) 
 
 64 Domino suo et pastori in Christo venerabili- 
 ter metuendo. (Epp. i. p. 68.) 
 
 65 Fex hominum. (Epp. i. p. 68.) 
 
 66 Ut populus Evangelium discat atque charita- 
 tem Christi. (Epp. i. p. 68.) 
 
 67 Er sollte still halten ; es ware eine grosse 
 Sache. (Math. 13.) 
 
 es Walther, Nachr. v. Luther, p. 45. 
 
 69 Myconius, Hist. Ref. p. 23. 
 
 70 Das Lied wollte meiner Stimme zu hoch 
 werden. (L. Opp.) 
 
 71 In alle hohe Schulen und Closter. (Math. 
 13.) 
 
 72 Ad hoc prasstandum mihi videbatur ille, ut 
 natura compositus et accensus studio. (Erasm. 
 Epp. Campegio Cardinali, 1. p. 650.) 
 
 73 Muller's Denkw. iv. 256. 
 
 74 Alle Welt von diesem Weissenberg, Weiss- 
 heit holen und bekommen. (p. 13.) 
 
 75 Dass er uns den Munch Luther fleissig be- 
 ware. (Math. 15.) 
 
 76 Schmidt, Brand. Reformationgesch. p. 124. 
 
 77 Che frate Martino Luthero haveva un bel- 
 lissimo ingegno, e che coteste erano invidie fra- 
 tesche. (Brandelli, a contemporary of Leo and a 
 Dominican. Hist. Trag. pars 3.) 
 
432 
 
 NOTES BOOK III. 
 
 78 Melch. Adami Vita Myconii. 
 
 79 Legit tune, cum Johanne Voitio, in angulum 
 abditus, libellos Lutheri. (Mel.) 
 
 80 Qui potuit quod voluit. 
 
 81 Darvon Magister Johann. Huss geweissaget. 
 (Math. 13.) 
 
 82 " Totque uxorum vir," adds he. Heumanni 
 Documenta litt. p. 167. 
 
 83 F rater, abi in cellam, et die, Miserere mei. 
 (Lindner in Luthers Leben, p. 93.) 
 
 84 Bene sum contentus : malo obedire quam 
 miracula facere, etiamsi possem. (Epp. i. 71.) 
 
 85 Suumque dolorem saepe significavit metuens 
 discordias majores. (Melanc. Vita Luth.) 
 
 86 L. Opp. (L.) vi. p. 518. 
 
 87 Finge enim ipsam humilitatem nova conari, 
 statim superbias subjicietur ab iis qui aliter sa- 
 piunt. (L. Epp. i. p. 73.) 
 
 88 Solus primo eram. (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 89 Concilium immanis audaciae plenum. (Pallav. 
 i. p. 17.) 
 
 90 Miserrimus tune fraterculus cadaveri similior 
 quam homini. (L. Opp. lat. i. p. 49.) 
 
 91 Et cum omnia argumenta superassem per 
 scripturas, hoc unum cum summa difficultate et 
 angustia, tandem Christo favente, vix superavi, 
 Ecclesiam scilicet audiendam. (L. Opp. lat. i. 
 p. 49.) 
 
 92 Hi furores Tezelii et ejus satellitum impo- 
 nunt necessitatem Luthero de rebus iisdem copio- 
 sius disserendi et tuendae veritatis. (Melancth. 
 Vita Luth.) 
 
 93 Das er die Schrift, unsern Trost, nicht anders 
 behandelt wie die Sau einen Habersack. 
 
 94 L. Opp. Leips. xvii. 132. 
 
 95 Tibi gratias ago : im6 quid tibi non debeo ? 
 (L. Epp. i. p. 74.) 
 
 96 Quanto magisconamurexnobisadsapientiam, 
 tanto amplius appropinquamus insipientiae. (L. 
 Epp. i. p. 74.) 
 
 97 Sed salvum est nunc etiam jurare, quod sine 
 scitu ducis Frederici exierint. (Ibid. p. 76.) 
 
 98 Primum id certissimum est, sacras litteras 
 non posse vel studio, vel ingenio penetrari. Ideo 
 primum officium est ut ab oratione incipias. 
 
 99 Igitur de tuo studio desperes oportet omnino, 
 simul et ingenio. Deo autem soli confidas et in- 
 fluxui spiritiis. Experto crede ista. (L. Epp. i. 
 p. 88, 18 Jan.) 
 
 100 " Liters tuae," wrote Luther to him, on the 
 llth of December, 1517, animum tuum erga 
 meam parvitatem candidum et longe ultra merita 
 benevolentissimum probaverunt." (L. Epp. i. 
 p. 79.) 
 
 101 Non fuit consilium neque votum eas evul- 
 gari, sed cum paucis apud et circum nos habitan- 
 tibus primum super ipsis conferri. (L. Epp. i. 
 p. 95.) 
 
 102 Ut me pceniteat hujus fceturae. (Ibid.) 
 
 103 Quae istis temporibus pro summa blasphemia 
 et abominatione habeo et execror. (L. Opp. Lat. 
 Witt, in praef.) 
 
 104 Accepi .... simul et donum insignis 
 viri Alberti Durer. (L. Epp. i. p. 95.) 
 
 i5 Mein Hofkleid verdienen. (Epp. L. i. 77, 78.) 
 ice Epp. L. i. p. 293. 
 
 107 Suum senatum convocat ; monachos aliquot 
 et theologos sua sophistica utcumque tinctos. 
 (Melancth. Vita Luth. 106.) 
 
 108 Quisquis ergo dicet, non citius posse animam 
 volare quam in f'undo cistse denarius possit tinnire, 
 errat. (Positiones fratris Joh. Tezelii, Pos. 66. 
 L. Opp. i. p. 94.) 
 
 109 Pro infamibus sunt tenendi, qui etiam per 
 
 juris capitula terribiliter multis plectentur pcenisin 
 omnium hominum terrorem. (Positiones fratris 
 Joh. Tezelii. 56, L. Opp. i. p. 98.) 
 
 110 Fulmina in Lutherum torquet : vociferatur 
 ubique hunc haBreticum igni perdendum esse ; pro- 
 positiones etiam Lutheri et concionem de indul- 
 gentiis publice conjicit in flammas. (Melancth. 
 Vita Luth.) 
 
 111 E6 furunt usque ut universitatem Wittem- 
 bergensem propter me infamem conantur facere 
 et haBreticam. (L. Epp. i. p. 92.) 
 
 112 Epp. Luth. i. p. 62. 
 
 113 Nisi Maledicerer non crederem ex Deo esse 
 quae tracto. (L. Epp. i. p. 85.) 
 
 114 "Morte emptum est, (verbum Dei.) con- 
 tinues he, in deeply energetic language, " morti- 
 bus vulgatum, mortibus servatum, mortibus quo- 
 que servandum aut referendum est." 
 
 115 Inter tantos principes dissidii origo esse valde 
 horreo et timeo. (L. Epp. i. p. 93.) 
 
 116 Haecinscio principe, senatu, rectore, denique 
 omnibus nobis. (L. Epp. i. p. 99.) 
 
 117 Fit ex ea re ingens undique fabula. (L. 
 Epp. i. p. 99.) 
 
 118 Omnes omnibus omnia credunt de me. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 119 L. Epp. i. p. 98. 
 
 120 Quid vel Deus vel ipsi sumus. (L. Epp. i. 
 224.) 
 
 121 Ein voller trunkener Deutscher. (L. Opp. 
 (W.) xxii. 1337.) 
 
 122 An ferreum nasum aut caput asneum gerat 
 iste Lutherus, ut effringi non possit. (Sylv. Prie- 
 ratis Dialogus.) 
 
 123 See "Joh. Gersonis Propositiones de sensu 
 litterali S. Scriptures." (Opp. torn, i.) 
 
 124 A qua etiam Sacra Scriptura, robur trahit et 
 auctoritatem, haereticus est. (Fundamentum ter- 
 tium.) 
 
 125 Si mordere canum est proprium, vereor ne 
 tibi pater canis fuerit. (Sylv. Prier. Dial.) 
 
 126 Seculari brachio potest eos compescere, nee 
 tenetur rationibus certare ad vincendos proter- 
 vientes. (Ibid.) 
 
 127 Convenit inter nos esse perspnatum aliquem 
 Sylvestrem ex obscuris viris, qui tantas ineptias 
 in hominem luserit ad provocandum me adversus 
 eum. (Epp. i. p. 87, 14 Jan.) 
 
 128 T. i. Witt Lat. p. 170. 
 
 129 Ego ecclesiam virtualiter non scio nisi in 
 Christo, representative non nisi in concilio. (L. 
 Opp. lat. p. 174.) 
 
 130 Quando hanc pueri in omnibus plateis urbis 
 cantant : Denique nunc facta est foedissima Ro- 
 ma. (Ibid. p. 183.) 
 
 131 L. Opp. Leips. xvii. p. 140. 
 
 132 Et quod magis urit, antea mihi magna re- 
 centerque contracta amicitia conjunctus. (L. 
 Epp. i. p. 100.; 
 
 133 Quo furore ille amicitias recentissimas et 
 jucundissimas solveret. (L. Epp. i. p. 100.) 
 
 134 Volui tamen hanc offam Cerbero dignara 
 absorbere patientia. (L. Epp. i. p. 100.) 
 
 135 Omnia scholasticissima, opiniosissima, me- 
 raque somnia. (Ast. Opp. L. lat. i. 145.) 
 
 136 Indignor rei et misereor hominis. (Ast. 
 Opp. L. lat. i. 150.) 
 
 137 Homo est summus Pontifex, falli potest. 
 Sed veritas est Deus, qui falli non potest. (Ibid. 
 155.) 
 
 138 Longe ergo impudentissima omnium temeri- 
 tas est, aliquid in ecclesia asserere, et inter chris- 
 tianos, quod non docuit Christus. (Ast. Opp. 
 L. lat. i. 156.) 
 
NOTES BOOKS III. IV. 
 
 433 
 
 139 Cum privatim dederim Astericos meos, fit 
 ei respondendi necessitas. (L. Epp. p. 126.) 
 
 140 Diligimus hominis ingenium et admiramur 
 eruditionem. (L. Epp. ad Scheurlum, 15 Jun. 
 1518, i. p. 125.) 
 
 141 Nihil neque literarum neque verborum me 
 participem fecit. (Ibid.) 
 
 142 L. Opp. Leips. vii. p. 1086. 
 
 143 Nicht die Werke treiben die Siinde aus ; 
 sondern die Austreibung der Siinde thut gute 
 Werke. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 162.) 
 
 114 Christus dein Gott wird dir nicht liigen, 
 noch wanken. (Ibid.) 
 
 146 Ob es schon ein Weib oder ein kind ware. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 146 Also siehst du dass die ganze Kirche voll 
 von Vergebung der Siinden ist. (Ibid.) 
 
 147 Und Hauptmann im Felde bleibe. (Ibid.) 
 L. Epp. i. p. 98. 
 
 149 Pedester veniam. (Ibid.) 
 
 1 50 L. Epp. i. p. 105. 
 
 151 L. Epp. i. p. 104. 
 
 152 L. Epp. i. p. 106. 
 
 153 Ihr habt, bei Gott, einen kostlichen Credenz. 
 (L. Epp. 1. ii.) 
 
 1 54 L. Epp. 1. iii. 
 
 155 Justorum opera essent mortalia, nisi pio Dei 
 timore ab ipsismet justis ut mortalia timerentur. 
 (L. Opp. lat. i. 55.) 
 
 156 Lex iram Dei operatur, occidit, maledicit, 
 reum facit, judicat, daninat, quicquid non est in 
 Christo. (Ibid.) 
 
 137 Lex dicit : Fac ! et nunquam fit. Gratia 
 dicit: Crede in hunc, et jam facta sunt omnia. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 158 Amor Dei non invenit sed creat suum dili- 
 gibile ; amor hominis fit a suo diligibili. 
 
 159 Bucer in Schultetet. Annal. Evang. reno- 
 vat. p. 22. 
 
 160 Si rustic! haec audirent, certe lapidibus vos 
 obruerent et interficerent. (L. Epp. i. p. 111.) 
 
 161 Prudentioribus monachis spem de se prae- 
 claram excitavit. (Melch. Adam. Vit. Buceri, 
 p. 211.) 
 
 162 Cum doctrinam in eis traditam cum sacris 
 literis contulisset, quaedam in pontificia religione 
 suspecta habere ccepit. (Ibid.) 
 
 163 Prirnam lucem purioris sententiae de justi- 
 ficatione in suo pectore sensit. (Ibid.) . 
 
 164 Ingens Dei beneficium laetus Brentius agno- 
 vit, et grata mente amplexus est. (Ibid.) 
 
 163 Crebris interpellationibus cum voti quod de 
 nato ipsa fecerat admoneret, et a studio juris ad 
 theologiam quasi conviciis avocaret. (Melch. 
 Adami Sneprfii Vita.) 
 
 166 Gerdesius, Monument. Antiq., &c. 
 
 1 67 L. Epp. i. p. 412. 
 
 1 68 L. Epp. i. p. 112. 
 
 169 Veni autem curru qui ieram pedester. (L. 
 Epp. i. p. 110.) 
 
 170 Omnibus placitis meis nigrum theta praefigit. 
 (Ibid. p. 111.) 
 
 L. Epp. i. p. 111. 
 
 172 Nisi dictamine rationis naturalis, quod apud 
 nos idem est quod chaos tenebratum, qui non 
 praedicamus aliam lucem quam Christum Jesum 
 lucem veram et solam. (L. Epp. i. p. 111.) 
 
 173 Ita ut nonnullis videar factus habilior et 
 corpulentior. (Ibid.) 
 
 1 Non ut disputabilia sed asserta acciperentur. 
 (L. Epp. i. 114.) 
 
 2 Ineptias. 
 
 3 " Sed cogit necessitas me anserem strepere 
 inter oleres,," adds Luther. (L. Epp. i. 121.) 
 
 4 Quam pure simpliciterque ecclesiasticam 
 potestatem et reverentiam clavium quaesierim et 
 coluerim. (Ibid.) 
 
 5 Quare, beatissime Pater, prostratum me 
 pedibus tuae Beatitudinis offero, cum omnibus 
 quae sum et habeo ; vivifica, occide ; voca, re- 
 voca ; approba, reproba, ut placuerit. Vocem 
 tuam vocern Christi in te praesidentis et loquentis 
 agnoscam. Si mortem merui, mori non recusabo. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 6 Qui pauper est nihil timet, nihil potest per- 
 dere. (L. Epp. i. p. 118.) 
 
 7 L. Opp. (W.)xv. p. 339. 
 
 8 Rarescebant manus largentium. 
 lasus, 7.) 
 
 9 Luthero autem contra augebatur auctoritas, 
 favor, fides, sestimatio. 
 
 10 Schrock, K. Gesch. n. d. R. I. p. 156. 
 
 11 Defensores et patronos etiam potentes quos 
 dictus frater consecutus est. (Raynald. ad an. 
 1518.) 
 
 ' 2 L. Opp. lat. xvii. p. 169. 
 
 13 Uterus Rebeccae est ; parvulos in eo collidi 
 necesse est, etiam usque ad periculum matris. 
 (L. Epp. i. p. 138.) 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 14 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 173. 
 
 15 L. Opp. (lat.) i. 183. 184. L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 
 171, 172. 
 
 16 Dictum Lutherum haereticum per praedictum 
 auditorem jani declaratum. (Breve Leonis ad 
 Thomam.) 
 
 17 Brachio cogas atque compellas, et eo in po- 
 testate tua redacto eum sub fideli custodia retineas, 
 ut coram nobis sistatur. (Ibid.) 
 
 18 Infamiae et inhabilitatis ad omnes actus legi- 
 timos, ecclesiasticae sepulturae, privationis quoque 
 feudorum. (Ibid.) 
 
 19 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 176. 
 
 20 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 173. 
 
 21 Almosen geben armt nicht, &c. Wer mehr 
 will verzehren, etc. (Miiller's Reliquien.) 
 
 22 Dilexit me ut filium, et ego eum ut patrem ; 
 et conveniemus, spero, in vita aeterna. (Melancth. 
 Expl. Evang.) 
 
 23 Quiescere non poterat, sed quaerebat ubique 
 aliquem cum quo de auditis disputaret. (Came- 
 rarius, Vita Melancth. p. 7.) 
 
 24 Camerar. Vita Philip. Melancthonis, p. 16. 
 
 25 Erasmi Epist. i. p. 405. 
 
 26 Horresco quando cogito quomodo ipse acces- 
 serim ad statuas in papatu. (Explicat. Evang.) 
 
 27 Meum opus et meum solatium. (Corp. Ref. 
 i. 33.) 
 
 28 Des Wegs urid der Orte unbekannt. (Corp 
 Ref. 30.) 
 
 (Coch- 
 
434 
 
 NOTES BOOK IV. 
 
 29 Camer. Vita Mel. 26. 
 
 30 Puer et adolescentulus, si aetatem consideres 
 (L. Epp. i. 141.) 
 
 31 L. Epp. i. 135. 
 
 32 Summos cum mediis et infimis studiosos fac: 
 graecitatis. (L. Epp. i. 140.) 
 
 33 Martinum, si omnino in rebus humanis quid 
 quam, vehementissime diligo, et animo integer 
 rimo complector. (Mel. Epp. i. 411.) 
 
 34 Calvin, writing to Sleidan, observes: "Do 
 minus eum fortiore spiritu instruat, ne gravem e; 
 ejus timiditate jacturam sentiat posteritas. 
 
 35 Plank. 
 
 36 L. Epp. i. p. 139. 
 
 37 Jen. Aug. i. p. 384. 
 
 38 (Contra omnium amicorum consilium com 
 parui.) 
 
 39 Epp. i. 61. 
 
 40 Ut vel stranguler, vel baptizer ad mortem 
 (L. Epp. i. 120.) 
 
 41 Uxor mea et liberi mei provisi sunt. (L 
 Epp. i. 129.) He had none. 
 
 42 Sic enim sponsus noster sponsus sanguinum 
 nobis est. (L Epp. ; see Exodus, iv. 25.) 
 
 43 Veni igitur pedester et pauper Augustam. . 
 (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 44 Ibi Myconius primum vidit Lutherum : sec 
 ab accessu et colloquio ejus tune est prohibitus 
 (M. Adami Vita Myconii, p. 176.) 
 
 45 Profecto in ignem te conjicient, et flammis 
 exurent. (Melch. Adam. Vita Myconii, p. 176, 
 
 Ref. Hist. p. 30.) 
 
 46 Vivat Christus ; moriatur Martinus .... 
 (Weismanni, Hist. Sacr. Noyi Test. p. 1465.) 
 Weismann had read this letter in manuscript. It 
 is not in the collection of M. de Wette. 
 
 47 E. Epp. i. p. 144. 
 
 48 The Pope's Bull. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 174.) 
 
 49 Et nutu solo omnia abrogare, etiam ea quae 
 fidei assent. (L. Epp. i. 144.) 
 
 60 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 179. 
 
 51 Hunc Sinonem parum consulte instructum 
 arte pelasga. (L. Epp. i. p. 144 : see Virgil's 
 JEneid, Book 2.) 
 
 52 Mediator ineptus. (Ibid.) 
 
 63 Sciunt enim eum in me exacerbatissimum 
 intus, quicquid simulet foris. . . . (L. Epp. i. 
 p. 143.) 
 
 54 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 201. 
 
 65 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 203. 
 
 56 Seckendorf, p. 144. 
 
 67 Seckendorf, p. 130. 
 
 58 L. Opp. (L.) 179. 
 
 59 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 205. 
 
 60 Et ubi manebis? . . . Respondi: Sub 
 Ccelo. (L. Opp. in prasf.) 
 
 61 Ego pro illis et vobis vado immolari. (L. 
 Epp. i. 146.) 
 
 62 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 113. 
 
 63 Tuesday, llth of October. 
 
 64 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 180. 
 
 65 Salva Scriptura. 
 
 66 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 180. 
 
 67 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 180, 183, 206, &c. 
 
 68 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 209. 
 
 69 L. Epp. 1. 173. 
 
 70 Darinn ihn Staupitz von dem Kloster-Ge- 
 horsam absolvirt. (Math. 15.) 
 
 71 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 201. 
 
 72 Seckend.p. 137. 
 
 73 Loscher, ii. 463. 
 
 74 L. Opp. (L.)xvii. 181, 209. 
 
 75 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 181, 209. Decies fere 
 coepi ut loquerer, toties rursus tonabat et solus 
 regnabat. 
 
 76 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 186. 
 
 77 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 185. 
 
 78 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 187. 
 
 79 Ostendit in materia fidei non modo generate 
 concilium esse super papam sed etiam quemlibet 
 fidelium, si melioribus nitatur auctoritate et ra- 
 tione quam papa. (L. Opp. lat. i. p. 209.) 
 
 80 Ps. cxliii. 2. 
 
 81 Confess, ix. 
 
 82 Justitia justi et vita ejus, est fides ejus. (L. 
 Opp. lat. i. p. 211.) 
 
 83 Legit fervens et anhelans. (L. Epp. i. p. 145.) 
 
 84 Acquisivit. (Ibid.) 
 
 85 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 197. 
 
 86 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1331. 
 
 87 Revoca aut non revertere. (L. Opp. (L.) 
 xvii. 202.) 
 
 88 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 210. 
 
 89 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 204. 
 
 90 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 185. 
 
 91 Ego nolo amplius cum hac bestisi disputare. 
 Habet enim profundos oculos et mirabiles specu- 
 ationes in capite suo. (Myconius, p. 33.) 
 
 92 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 120. 
 
 93 L. Epp. i. 149. 
 
 94 L. Epp. i. 159. 
 
 95 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 178. 
 
 96 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 182. 
 
 97 L. Opp. (L.) 198. 
 
 98 Bossuet, Hist, des Variations. (Liv. i. p. 
 25, &c.) 
 
 99 Ut follis ille ventosa elatione distantus .... 
 p. 40.) 
 
 100 Melius informandum. (L.Opp. lat. i. p. 219.) 
 
 101 Weissman, Hist. Eccles. i. p. 237. 
 
 102 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 202. 
 
 103 L. Epp. i. p. 166. 
 
 104 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 183. 
 
 105 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 203. 
 
 ice Eg en i m ubicumque ero gentium, illustris- 
 imae Dominationis tuas nunquam non ero memor. 
 L. Epp. i. 187.) 
 
 107 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 244. 
 
 108 L. Epp. i. p. 198. 
 
 1 09 Scultet. Annal. i. p. 17. 
 
 110 Studium nostrum more formioarum fervet. 
 L. Opp. i. p. 193.) 
 
 111 Quia Deus ubique. (L. Opp. i. p. 188.) 
 
 112 Ut principi me in captivitatem darem. (L. 
 pp. i. p. 189.) 
 
 113 Si iero, totum effundam, et vitam offeram 
 Christo. (L. Epp. i. p. 100.) 
 
 114 Deo rem committerent. (Luth. Epp. i. 
 .191.) 
 
 115 Vater und mutter verlassen mich, aber der 
 [err nimmt mich auf. 
 
 11 6 L. Opp. xv. 824. 
 
 117 Ne tarn cit6 in Galliam irem. (L. Epp. i. 
 195.) 
 
 118 Firmat Christus propositum non cedendi in 
 ne. (Ibid.) 
 
 119 Res ista necdum habet initium suum, meo 
 dicio. (L. Epp. i. p. 193.) 
 
 120 Qu6 illi magis furunt et yi affectant viam e6 
 inus ego terreor. (L. Epp. i. p. 191.) 
 
 121 Sarpi, Concile de Trente, p. 8. 
 
 122 Loscher, Ref. Act. 
 
NOTES BOOK V. 
 
 435 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 1 Letter from the Elector to his envoy at Rome. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 298.) 
 
 2 Rationem agendi prorsus oppositam inire sta- 
 tuit. (Card. Pallavicini, Hist. Concil. Trid. vol. 
 iv. p. 51.) 
 
 3 Nee ab usu immoderato vini abstinuit. (Pal- 
 lavicini, vol. i. p. 69.) 
 
 4 Sciscitatus per viam Mitilius quanam esset in 
 aestimatione Lutherus .... sensit de eo cum 
 admiratione homines loqui. (Pallavicini, torn. i. 
 p. 51.) 
 
 5 Ecce ubi unum pro papa stare inveni tres pro 
 te contra papam stabant. (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 6 Quid nos scire possumus quales vos Romas 
 habeatis sellas, ligneasne an lapideas? (L. Opp. 
 lat. in prsef.) 
 
 7 Martinus noster, Deo gratias, adhuc spirat. 
 (Corpus Reformatorum edidit Bretschneider, i. 
 p. 61.) 
 
 8 Expecto consilium Dei. (L. Epp. i. p. 191.) 
 
 9 Per singula oppida affigeret unum, et ita tutus 
 me perduceret Romam. (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 10 Tune desiit paululum sasvire tempestas. . . . 
 (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 " Loscher, ii. 567. 
 
 12 Sed per yiam a Domino prostratus . . . . 
 mutavit violentiam in benevolentiam fallacissime 
 simulatam. (L. Epp. 1. 206.) 
 
 13 Marline, ego credebam te esse senem ali- 
 quem theologum, qui post fornacem sedens. . . . 
 (L. Opp. lat. in prsef.) 
 
 14 Quod orbem totum mihi conjunxerim et papae 
 abstraxerim. (L. Epp. 1. 231.) 
 
 15 Si haberem 25 millia armatorum, non con- 
 fiderem te posse a me Romam perduci. (L. Opp. 
 in praef.) 
 
 w L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 
 
 17 Profusis lacrymis ipsum oravit, ne tam per- 
 rticiosam Christiano generi tempestatem cieret. 
 (Pallavicini, 1. 52.) 
 
 18 Non evasisset res in tantum tumultum. (L. 
 Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 9 Und die Sache sich zu Tode bluten. (L. 
 Epp. i. 207.) 
 
 20 L. Epp. i. p. 209. 
 
 21 Ab integro jam saeculo nullum negotiurn Ec- 
 clesiae contigisse quod majorem illi solicitudinem 
 incussisset. (Pallav. t. i. p. 52.) 
 
 22 Ego dissimulabam has crocodili lacrymas a 
 me intelligi. (L. Epp. i. p. 216.) 
 
 23 Atque vesperi, me accepto, convivio laetati 
 sumus. (L. Epp. i. p. 231.) 
 
 24 Sic amice discessimus etiam cum osculo, 
 (Judae scilicet.) (L. Epp. i. p. 216.) 
 
 23 Has Italitates. (L. Epp. i. p. 231.) 
 
 26 Verbis minisque pontificis ita fregit hominem, 
 hactenus terribilem cunctis et imperterritum sten- 
 torem. (L. Opp. in praef.) 
 
 27 Doleo Totzelium . . . . (L. Epp. i. p. 223.) 
 
 28 Sed conscientia indignati Papae forte occu- 
 buit. (L. Opp. in praef.) 
 
 29 Praeter unum Jesum Christum Dominum 
 omnium. (L. Epp. i. p. 234.) 
 
 30 Nescio au Papa sit. Antichristus ipse vel 
 apostolus ejus. (L. Epp. i. p. 239.) 
 
 31 L. Opp. L. xvii. p. 224. 
 
 !2 Video ubique, undique, quocumque modo, 
 animam meam quaeri. (L. Epp. i. p. 274, 16 May.) 
 56 
 
 33 Sicut aqua inundans. (L. Epp. i. p. 278, 279.) 
 
 34 Nullo sermone consequi queam, quos tra- 
 gcedias hie excitarint tui libelli . . . (Erasm. Epp. 
 vi. 4.) 
 
 35 Maurorum stirpe prognatis. (Pallavicini, 
 i. 91.) 
 
 36 In his id guadeo, quod veritas, tam barbare 
 et indocte loquens, adeo placet. (L. Epp. i. 255.) 
 
 37 Dominus evigilavit et stat ad judicandos po- 
 pulos. (L. Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 38 Deus rapit, pellit, nedum ducit me ; non 
 sum compos mei ; volo esse quietus, et rapior in 
 medios tumultos. (L. Epp. i. 231.) 
 
 39 Nihil cupiebat ardentius, quam sui specimen 
 prasbere in solemn! disputatione cum ffimulo. 
 (Pallavicini, torn. i. p. 55.) 
 
 40 Defensio adversus Eckii monomachiam. 
 
 41 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 242. 
 
 42 Sed Deus in medio horum; ipse novit quid 
 ex ea tragedia deducere voluerit. (L. Epp. i. 230, 
 222.) 
 
 43 See page 108. 
 
 44 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. p. 245. 
 
 45 L. Epp. i. 237. 
 
 46 Gaudens et videns posthabeo istorum mea 
 seria ludo. (L. Epp. i. 251.) 
 
 47 Esto vir fortis et accingere gladio tuo super 
 femur tuum, potentissime ! (Ibid.) 
 
 48 Ac si voles semper Augustus saluteris in 
 aeternum. (Ibid.) 
 
 49 Et sola sit veritas, quas salvet se dextera sua, 
 non mea, non tua, non ullius hominis. . . . (L. 
 Epp. i. 261.) 
 
 50 Expecto furorem illorum. (L. Epp. i. 280, 
 of the 30th May, 1519.) 
 
 51 Totus orbis nutat et movetur, tam corpore 
 quam anima. (L. Epp. i. 261.) 
 
 52 Ternis literis, a duce Georgio non potui cer- 
 tum obtinere responsum. (L. Epp. i. 282.) 
 
 53 Ita ut non disputator sed spectator futurus 
 Lipsiam ingrederer. (L. Opp. in praf.) 
 
 54 Principis nostri verbo firmatus. (L. Epp. i. 
 255.) 
 
 56 Schneider, Lips. Chr. iv. 168. 
 
 56 Theplogi interim ne proscindunt . . . popu- 
 lum Lipsiffi inclamant. (L. Epp. i. 255.) 
 
 5 7 Das wait der Teufel ! (Ibid.) 
 
 58 Seckendorf, 201. 
 
 59 Malim te plus operae sumere in asserendis 
 bonis litteris, quam in sectandis harum hostibus. 
 (Corpus Reform, ed. Bretschneider, i. 78, April 
 22, 1519.) 
 
 60 Martinus, Domini miles, hanc camarinam 
 movit. (Corp. Ref. i. 82.) 
 
 61 Nee cum carne et sanguine diu contulit, sed 
 statim palam ad alios fidei confessionem constan- 
 ter edidit. (M. Adami Vita Amsdorff.) 
 
 62 Weismann, Hist. Eccl. i. 1444. 
 
 63 Seb. FroschelvomPriesterthum. (Wittenb. 
 1585, in praef.) 
 
 64 L. Opp. L. xvii. 245. 
 
 65 See page 113. 
 
 66 Seckend. p. 190. 
 
 67 Si tecum non licet disputare neque cum 
 Carlstatio volo ; propter te enim hue veni. (L. 
 Opp. in prasf.) 
 
 68 Melancth. Opp. i. 139. (Koethe ed.) 
 
436 
 
 NOTES BOOK V. 
 
 69 Aiebat, ad universes mortales pertinere judi- 
 cium, hoc est ad tribunal cujus cplligendis calcu- 
 lis nulla urna satis capax. (Pallavicini, torn. i. 55.) 
 
 70 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 245. 
 
 71 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 246. 
 
 72 Seckend. p. 209. 
 
 73 Seine Gelehrsamkeit aber und Verstand in 
 heiliger Schrift ist unvergleichlich, so dass er fast 
 alles im Griff hat. (Mosellanus in Seckend. 206.) 
 
 74 Das Maul, Augen und ganze Gesicht, pre- 
 sentirt ehe einen Fleischer oder Soldaten, als 
 einen Theologum. (Ibid.) 
 
 75 Praetexit- tamen et hie Adam ille folium fici 
 pulcherrimum. (L. Epp. i. 294.) 
 
 76 Pallavicini, i. 65. 
 
 77 Philippians ii. 13. 
 
 78 Meritum congruum. 
 
 79 Planck, i. 176. 
 
 80 Quanquam totum opus Dei sit, non tamen 
 totaliter a Deo esse, quemadmodum totum po- 
 rnum efficitur a sole, sed non a sole totaliter et 
 sine plants efficentia. (Pallavicini, t. i. 58.) 
 
 81 Motionem seu inspirationem preyenientem 
 esse a solo Deo ; et ibi liber urn arbitrium habet 
 se passive. 
 
 82 Partim a Deo, partim a libero arbitrio. 
 
 8 s Consentit homo, sed consensus est donum 
 Dei. Consentire non est agere. 
 
 84 Ut serra in manu hominis trahentis. 
 
 85 Seckendorf, p. 192. 
 
 86 Lipsicae pugnas ociosus spectator in reliquo 
 vulgo sedi. (Corpus Reformatorum, i. 111.) 
 
 87 Tace tu, Philippe, ac tua studia cura, ne 
 me perturba. (Corpus Reformatorum, i. 149.) 
 
 88 Melancth. Opp. p. 134. 
 
 89 Relictis signis, desertorem exercitus et trans- 
 fugam factum. (L. Epp. i. 265.) 
 
 80 Mich verklagen, schelten und schmahen. . . . 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 247.) 
 si Loscher, iii. 278. 
 
 92 Faciebat hoc Eccius quia certam sibi gloriam 
 propositam cernebat, propter propositionem meam, 
 in qua negabam Papam esse jure divino caput 
 Ecclesiee : hie patuit ei campus magnus. (L. Opp. 
 in praef.) 
 
 93 Nam quod monstrum esset, Ecclesiam esse 
 acephalam ! (L. Opp. lat. i. 243.) 
 
 94 1 Cor. xv. 25. 
 
 95 Prorsus audiendi non sunt qui Christum 
 extra Ecclesiam militaiitem tendiint in triumphan- 
 tem, cum sit regnum Jidei. Caput nostrum non 
 videmus ; tamen habemus. (L. Opp. lat. i. 243.) 
 
 S6 Unde sacerdotalis unitas exorta est. (Ibid.) 
 
 97 Haec est matrix proprie omnium ecclesiarum. 
 (L. Opp. lat. i. 244.) 
 
 98 Cui si non exors quaedam et ab omnibus emi- 
 nens detur potestas. (L. Opp. lat. i. 243.) 
 
 99 Detur, inquit, hoc est jure humano, posse 
 fieri, consentientibus caeteris omnibus fidelibus. 
 (L. Opp. lat. i. 244.) 
 
 100 Ejusdem meriti et ejusdem sacerdoti est. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 101 Primus inter pares. 
 
 102 Non episcopus universalis, sed universalis 
 Ecclesiae Episcopus. (L. Opp. lat. i. 246.) 
 
 103 Ego gloriar me tot expensis non frustra. . . . 
 (L. Opp. i. 299.) 
 
 104 Resistam eis ego unus, auctoritate Apostoli 
 id est, divino jure. (L. Opp. lat. i. 237.) 
 
 UK i Cor. iii. 11. 
 i6 1 Peter ii. 4, 5. 
 
 107 The Church is built upon that confession 
 of faith. (L. Opp. lat. i. 254.) 
 
 108 Et, ut fama est, de hoc plurimum gratulan- 
 tur. (L. Opp. lat. i. 250.) 
 
 109 Nunquam mihi placuit, nee in aeternum 
 placebit quodcumque schisma . . . Cum supre- 
 mum jus divinum sit Charitas et Unitas Spiritus. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 110 Das wait die Sucht ! 
 
 111 Nam adhuc erat dux Georgius mihi non ini- 
 micus, quod sciebam certo. (L. Opp. in przef.) 
 
 112 Nee potest fidelis Christianus cogi ultra 
 sacram Scripturam, qua? est proprie jus divinum. 
 (L. Opp. lat. i. 252.) 
 
 113 At Rev. Pater arlis coquinarias minus in- 
 structus, commiscet sanctos graecos cum schisma- 
 ticis et hereticis, ut fuco sanctitatis Patrum, hasre- 
 ticorum tueatur perfidiam. (Ibid.) 
 
 114 L. Opp. W. xv. 1440. 2 Loscher, iii. 281. 
 
 115 Ita ut ipse dux Georgius inter prandendum 
 ad Eccium et me dicat: " Sive sit jure humano, 
 sive sit jure divino, papa ; ipse est papa. (L. Opp. 
 in praef.) 
 
 116 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 246. 
 
 117 So wollt'er fast einig mit mir gewest seyn. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 118 Videtur fugere a facie Scripturarum, sicut 
 diabolus crucem. Quare, salvis reyerentiis Pa- 
 trum, praefero ego auctoritatem Scripturae, quod 
 commendojudicibus futuris. (L. Opp. lat. i. 291.) 
 
 119 Ad exitum certaminis, uti solet, nulla prodiit 
 decisio. (Pallavicini, i. 65.) 
 
 120 Totam istam conclusionum cohortem multo 
 acrius et validius nostri Wittembergenses . . . 
 oppugnaverunt et ita examinaverunt ut ossa 
 eorum numerare licuerit, quas Eccius vix in facie 
 cutis leviter perstrinxit. (L. Epp. i. 291.) 
 
 121 Verum in multis me obruerunt. (Corpus 
 Reform, i. 83.) 
 
 122 Eccius triumphat ubique. (L. Epp. i. 299.) 
 
 123 Novam quamdam Iliada et ^Eneida illos 
 cantare. . . . (L. Epp. i. 305.) 
 
 124 Lutheri Sieg sey um so viel weniger be- 
 riihmt, weil der Gelehrten, Verstandigen, und 
 derer die sich selbst nicht hoch ruhmen, wenig 
 seyen. (Seckendorf, 207.) 
 
 L. Opp. (W.) xv. 1440. 
 
 126 A Deo petivit, flecti pectus suum ad verita- 
 tem, ac lacrymans saspe haec verba repetivit. . . . 
 (M. Adami, Vita Georgii Anhalt, p. 248.) 
 
 *27 " O/jo<Of Sia iravrMv iykvtro ayaBos Je TJV, KOI ov&iv 
 rrpoaTToiriTov ix *'-" (Vid. Melch. Adam. p. 255.) 
 
 128 Peifer Histor. Lipsiensis, 356. 
 
 129 Et cogitabundus et saepe in medios sodalitios 
 quovis peregrinante animo. (Melch. Adami Vita 
 Crucigeri, p. 193.) 
 
 130 Christus suis non deerit. (Corpus Reform, 
 i. 104.) 
 
 "i L. Opp. (W.) xv. 200. 
 
 132 Quam difficile sit eluctari et emergere ex 
 erroribus, totius orbis exemplo firmans. . . . (L. 
 Opp. lat. in praef.) 
 
 133 Per septem annos, ita ut memoriter pene 
 omnia tenerem. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 134 Quod enim ex Deo non est, necesse est ex 
 diabolo esse. (Ibid.) 
 
 135 Cum ego tot annis sacra legens diligentis- 
 sime, tamen ita haesi tenaciter. (Ibid.) 
 
 136 Proscidit, post abitum nostrum, Martinum 
 inhumanissime. (Melancthon Corp. Refor. i. 106.) 
 
 137 Ehe das Ungeziffer uberhand nehme. (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xvii. 271.) 
 
 138 Eccius ob varias et insignes ingenii dotes. 
 . . . (L. Opp. lat. i. 337.) 
 
 139 Ausus est grammaticus Wittembergensia, 
 
NOTES BOOKS V. VI. 
 
 437 
 
 Grace et Latine sane non indoctus, epistolam 
 edere. . . . (L. Opp. lat. i. 338.) 
 
 140 Una est Scriptura, coelestis spiritus, pura, 
 et per omnia verax. (Contra Eckium Defensio, 
 Corp. Reform, i. 115.) 
 
 141 Quid igitur ? Ipsi secum pugnant ! quid 
 mirum ? (Ibid.) 
 
 142 Quern collatis Scripturis e filo ductuque 
 orationis licet assequi. (Contra Eckium Defen- 
 sio, Corp. Reform, i. p. 1]4.) 
 
 143 Ut hominum sententias, decretaque ad ipsas, 
 cou ad Lydium lapidem exigamus. (Ibid.) 
 
 144 Praesens male judicat aetas ; judicium melius 
 posteritatis erit. (L. Opp. Lat. i. 310.) 
 
 145 L. Opp. Lat. i. 252. 
 
 146 Ego super te, sicut ablactatus super matre 
 sua, tristissimus hac die fui. (L. Epp. i. 342.) 
 
 147 Rosam quam vocant auream nullo honore 
 dignatus est ; imo pro ridiculo habuit. (L. Opp. 
 lat. in praef.) 
 
 148 Intellexit princeps artes Romanae curias et 
 eos (legates) digne tractare novit. (Ibid.) 
 
 9 L. Opp. (L.) x. 461. 
 
 150 Defensio contra malignum Eccii judicium. 
 (I. lat. 356.) 
 
 151 Canonizet quisque quantum volet. (I. lat. 
 367.) 
 
 152 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 272. 
 >53 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 281. 
 
 154 Si quis dixerit per ipsa nova? legis sacra- 
 menta ex opere operato non conferri gratiam, sed 
 solam fidem divinae promissionis, ad gratiam con- 
 sequendam sufficere, anathema sit. (Concil. 
 Trident. Sess. 7, can. 8.) 
 
 155 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 281. 
 
 156 Caeteram ego natus sum in Eisleben. (Luth. 
 Epp. i. 389.) 
 
 157 Cum quo heri ego et Philippus certavimus, 
 splendide invitati. (Luth. Epp. i. 396.) 
 
 158 Verbum Dei gladius est, bellum est, ruina 
 est, scandalum est, perditio est, venenum est ... 
 (Luth. Epp. i. 417.) 
 
 159 Ego n ihil quaere : est, qui quaerat. Stet 
 ergo, sive cadat : ego nihil lucror, aut amitto. 
 (Luth. Epp. i. 418.) 
 
 160 Melior est aperta criminatio, quam iste sub 
 sepe morsus. (L. Epp. i. 426.) 
 
 161 Deum crederes omnipotentem loqui. (L. 
 Epp. i. 380.) 
 
 162 Cogor rem Deo committere, data flatibus 
 et fluctibus nave ; Bellum Domini est. (L. Epp. 
 i. 425.) 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 1 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1869. 
 
 2 Memoires de Du Bellay, i. 45. 
 
 3 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1874. 
 < L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1858. 
 
 5 Is vero heroica plane moderatione animi mag- 
 nifice repudiavit. . . . (Pallavicini, i. 79.) 
 
 6 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1880. 
 
 7 Causam ipsam veritatis. (L. Epp. i. 392, 
 Jan. 15, 1520.) 
 
 8 Ut sine peccato esse cum censebant qui me 
 interfecerit. (L. Epp. i. 383.) 
 
 9 Wass kann mir ein Mensch thun ? (Keith, 
 L. Umstande, 89.) 
 
 10 Tenzel Hist. Ber. ii. 168. 
 
 11 Da er viel freyer und sicherer schreiben und 
 
 handeln mochte was er wollte (L. Opp. 
 
 (L.) i. 298.) 
 
 12 Schreckliche, grausame, schadliche und 
 verderbliche Emporungen erregen. (Ibid.) 
 
 13 Semper quiescere paratus, modo veritatem 
 evangelicam non jubeant quiescere. (L. Epp. i. 
 462.) 
 
 14 Si salutis viam Christianis permittant esse 
 liberam, hoc unum peto ab illis, ac praeterea nihil. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 15 Nolo eis reconciliari nee communicare in 
 perpetuum. (L. Epp. i. 466, July 10th, 1520.) 
 
 16 Emori mallim, quam ab hoc viro avelli. 
 (Corpus Reform, i. 160, 163.) 
 
 17 Martinus noster spirat, atque utinam diu . . . 
 (Corpus Reform, i. 190, 208.) 
 
 18 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 392. 
 
 19 Denn ich, und hundert von Adel, die ich 
 (ob Gott will) aufbringen will, euch redlich an- 
 halten. . . . (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 381.) 
 
 20 " Equitum Germaniae rarurn decus," says 
 Melancthon on the occasion. (Corp. Reform, i. 
 201.) 
 
 21 Et ob id invisus illis. (Corp. Reform, i. 132.) 
 
 22 Nolo nisi Christo protectore niti. (L. Epp. 
 i. 148.) 
 
 23 Mea humana sunt : tu perfection jam totus 
 ex divinis pendes. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 175.) 
 
 24 Viam facturus libertati (cod. Bavar. veritati) 
 per maximos principes. (Corp. Ref. i. 201.) 
 
 25 Ita fluctuat navis mea ; nunc spes, nunc 
 timor regnat. (L. Epp. i. 443.) 
 
 26 Dominus regnat, ut palpare possimus. (L. 
 Epp. i. 451.) 
 
 27 Saevius in Romanenses grassaturus. . . . (L. 
 Epp. i. 465.) 
 
 28 Scriptarum sacram nolim alicujus nomini 
 nisi Dei servire. (L. Epp. i. 431.) 
 
 29 Das erste und hochste, alleredelste gute 
 Werck ist der Glaube in Christum. . . . (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xvii. 394.) 
 
 30 Siehe, also musst du Christum in dich bilden, 
 und sehen wie in Ihm Gott seine Barmherzig- 
 keit dir furhalt und arbeut. (L. Opp. (L.) 398.) 
 
 31 Erit, meo judicio, omnium quae ediderim opti- 
 mum ; quanquam scio quae mini mea placent, hoc 
 ipso fermento infecta, non solera aliis placere. 
 (L. Epp. i. 431.) 
 
 32 Quo ad Pauli ppiritum nemo proprius ac- 
 cessit. (Corp. Ref. i. 202.) 
 
 33 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 447" to 502. 
 
 34 Gott hat uns ein junges edles Blut zura 
 Haupt gegeben. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 457.) 
 
 35 Ihm die Biblien und Betbucher dafiir anzei- 
 gen und er predige und bete. (L. Opp. xvii. 
 472.) 
 
 36 Nun liess er ehe die Welt untergehen, ehe 
 er ein Haar-breit seiner vermessenen Gevvalt 
 liese abbrechen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 483.) 
 
 37 Es muss verderben, alles was nicht Gottes 
 Wort ohn Unterlass treibt. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 
 486.) 
 
 38 Quae nostro sasculo quiete tractantur, mox 
 cadere in oblivionem. (L. Epp. i. 479.) 
 
438 
 
 NOTES BOOK VI. 
 
 39 Quae nostro saeculo quiete tractantur, mo 
 cadere in oblivionem. (L. Epp. i. 479.) 
 
 40 E sopra tutto musico eccellentissimo, 
 quando el canta con qualche uno, li far dona 
 cento e piu ducati. (Zorsi M.S.C.) 
 
 41 Sarpi Hist, du Concile de Trente. 
 
 42 Stetimus nuper, papa, duo cardinales e 
 ego per quinque horas in deliberatione. . 
 (Eckii Epistola, 3 Maii. L. Opp. lat. ii. 48.) 
 
 43 Impetraturus abyssos abyssorum succen 
 surus saltum Libani. (L. Epp. i. 421, 429.) 
 
 44 Bonum fait me venisse hoc tempore Romam 
 (Epist. Eckii.) 
 
 45 Hoc unum Christum obtestans, ut mascul 
 omnia pectore ferre donet, et me figulinum suum 
 rumpat aut firmet, ut illi placitum sit. (Zwingli 
 Epistola?, curant. Schulero et Schulthessio, p 
 144.) 
 
 46 Ut pontificem admoneat, ne excommunica 
 tionem ferat. (Ibid.) 
 
 47 Nam si feratur, auguror Germanos cum ex 
 communicatione, pontificem quoque contemptu 
 ros. (Ibid.) 
 
 48 Sarpi Hist, du Concile de Trente, i. 12. 
 
 49 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 305, et Opp. lat. i. 32. 
 
 50 Sub praadictis pcenis, praefatum Lutherum 
 complices adhaerentes, receptatores et fautores 
 personaliter capiant et ad nos mittant. (Bulla 
 Leonis, loc. cit.) 
 
 51 Uxor enim datur mihi non dico quam fri- 
 genti. (Corp. Ref. i. 211.) 
 
 52 Ese meis studiis, mea me voluptate fraudo 
 (Corp.^Ref. i. 265.) 
 
 53 Parentes mei cum sproribus nuptias honora- 
 runt Philippi. (L. Epp. i. 528.) 
 
 54 Videres in aedibus illis perpetuo accedentes 
 et introeuntes et discedentes atque exeuntes ali- 
 quos. (Camerar. Vita Melancth. p. 40.) 
 
 65 Ea domus disciplina erat, ut nihil cuiquam 
 negaretur. (Ibid.) 
 
 56 Sed dedisse nihilominus illos. (Camerar. 
 Vita Melancth. p. 43.) 
 
 57 Surgebat mox aut non longo intervallo post 
 mediam noctem. (Camerar. p. 56.) 
 
 58 Religionem, mores, humana divinaque omnia 
 labefactat literarum inscitia. (Corp. Ref. i. 207, 
 July 22, 1520.) 
 
 59 Urit me ista confusio academiae nostrae. (L. 
 Epp. i. 467.) 
 
 60 Commendans potestatem magistratuum. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 61 Nee prudentia nee armis, sed humili 
 
 oratione et forti fide, quibus obtineamus Christum 
 pro nobis. (L. Epp. i. 469.) 
 
 62 Si viyos libros, hoc est concionatores posse- 
 mus multiplicare. (L. Epp. i. 491.) 
 
 63 L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 490. 
 
 64 L. Opp. lat. ii. 63, et Leips. xvii. 511. 
 
 65 Papal us est robusta venatio Romani episcopi. 
 (L. Opp. lat. ii. 64.) - 
 
 66 Sicut enim verbum Dei potens est dum 
 sonat, etiam impii cor immutare, quod non minus 
 surdum et incapax quam ullus parvulus, ita per 
 orationem Ecclesiae offerentis et credentis, parvu- 
 lus fide infusa mutatur, mundatur et renovatur. 
 (L. Opp. lat. ii. 77.) 
 
 67 Dico itaque, neque papa, neque episcopus, 
 neque ullus hominum habet jus unius syllabae 
 constituendae super Christianum hominem, nisi id 
 fiat ejusdem consensu ; quidquid aliter fit, tyran- 
 nico spiritu fit. (Ibid.) 
 
 68 Generali edicto tollere vota abunde enim 
 vovimus in baptismo, et plus quam possimus im- 
 piere. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 78.) 
 
 69 Opera quantum libet sacra et ardua religio- 
 sorum et sacerdotum, in oculis Dei prorsus nihil 
 distare ab operibus rustici in agro laborantis aut 
 mulieris in domo sua curantis. (Ibid.) 
 
 70 Nondum tot pressus difficultatibus animum 
 desponderat Miltitius dignus profecto non medi- 
 ocri laude. (Pallavicini, i. 68.) 
 
 71 Der Bischof entriistet, der Official gefluchet, 
 er aber gelachet habe. (Seckend. p. 266.) 
 
 72 Oraiionem habuit italica pronuntiatione ves- 
 titam. (L. Epp. i. 483.) 
 
 73 Petens consilium super me compescendo. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 74 Nihil me in personam suam fuisse molitum. 
 (L. Epp. i. 484.) 
 
 75 Quibus omnibus causa rnea non displicet. 
 (L. Epp. i. 486.) 
 
 76 Aspergetur tamen sale suo. (Ibid.) 
 
 77 Des Pabst's Nepoten, zwei oder drei Chur- 
 fiirstliche Gold und Silberstiicke, zu verehren. 
 (Seckend. p. 267.) 
 
 78 Sicut princeps ordinavit. (L. Epp. i. 455.) 
 
 79 Invito praBceptore (Melancthon) nescio quanta 
 metuente. (Ibid.) 
 
 80 Jener von mehr als dreissig, dieser aber 
 kaum mit vier Pferden begleitet. (Seckend. p. 
 268.) 
 
 81 Totum pondus in Eccium versurus. (L. 
 Epp. i. 496.) 
 
 82 Ut nihil videar omittere quod in me ad pacem 
 quoquo modo facere possit. (Ibid.) 
 
 83 Seckend. p. 268. 
 
 84 Ut non totis viribus, sedulis atque quantum 
 n me fuit gemebundis precibus apud Deum quee- 
 aierim. (L. Epp. i. 498.) 
 
 85 Quid proderit sal, si non mordeat ? Quid os 
 gladii, si non coadat ? (L. Epp. i. 499.) 
 
 1 Verbum deserere et negare nee possum, nee 
 rolo. (Ibid.) 
 
 87 Facta est spelunca latrqnum licentiosissima, 
 upanar omnium impudentissimum regnum, pec- 
 ati, mortis et inferni. (L. Epp. i. 500.) 
 
 88 Actum est de Romana curia: pervenit in 
 am ira Dei usque in finem. (Ibid.) 
 
 89 Jeremiah, li. 9. 
 
 90 Leges interpretandi verbi Dei non patior, 
 um oporteat verbum, Dei esse non alligatum, 
 uod libertatem docet. (L. Epp. i. 504.) 
 
 91 Leges interpretandi verbi Dei non patior, 
 um oporteat verbum, Dei esse non alligatum, 
 uod libertatem docet, (Ibid.) 
 
 92 1st nun das nicht eine frohliche Wirthschaft, 
 
 a der reiche, edle, fromme Brautigam Christus ' 
 as arme, verachtete, bose Huhrlein zur Ehe 
 immt. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 385.) 
 
 93 Non tanquam a securi legitimi lictoris, sed i 
 ilo infensissimi hostis. (Pallavicini, i. 74.) 
 
 94 Nachdem (writes Miltitz) er nun tapfer ge- j 
 unlcen hatte, fieng er gleich an trefHich von i 
 
 einer Ordre zu prahlen, &c. (Seckend. p. 238.) a 
 Longe aliam faciem et mentem Lipsias eum I 
 avenire quam sperasset. (L. Epp. i. 492.) 
 
 96 Nollem eum occidi, quanquam optem ejus I 
 onsilia irrita fieri. (Ibid.) 
 
 97 A studiosis discerpta et in aquam projecta, i 
 centibus : Bulla est, in aquam natet ! (L. Epp. 
 520.) 
 
 98 Mit viel Miihe, Arbeit, und Kosten. (L. 
 pp. (L.) xvii. 317.) 
 
 99 Consilium cujusdam ex animo cupientis esse 
 onsultum et ppntificis dignitati, et Christiana 
 
 ligionis tranquillitati. (Zwinglii Opera, curant. 
 chulero et Schulthessio, iii. 1 5.) 
 
 100 Multum degenerasse ab ilia sincera Christi 
 
NOTES BOOK VI. 
 
 439 
 
 evangelica doctrina, adeo ut nemo non fateatur 
 opus esse publica aliqua et insigni legum ac mo- 
 rum instauratione. (Zwinglii Opera, curant. 
 Schulero et Schulthessio, iii. 3.) 
 
 101 Nemo non fatetur se ex illius libris factum 
 esse meliorem. (Zwinglii Opera, curant. Schu- 
 lero et Schulthessio, iii. 4.) 
 
 102 Parum est nos pro verbo mori, cum ipsum 
 incarnatum pro nobis prius mortuum sit. (Ep. i. 
 490.) 
 
 103 Venisse cum barbatum, bullatum, numma- 
 tum Ridebo et ego bullam sive ampullam. (Ep. 
 i. 488.) 
 
 104 Utinam Carolus vir esset, et pro Christo 
 hos Satanas aggrederetur. (Ep. i. 494.) 
 
 105 Pickheimeri Opp. Francof. 
 
 106 Oder nicht ein Haarbreit geben. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xvii. 323.) 
 
 107 So ist Bvicher verbrennen so leicht, dass es 
 auch Kinder konnen, schweig denn der heilige 
 Vater Pabst. . . . (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 324.) 
 
 108 In Biblien zu fiihren, dass man derselben 
 Verstand erlangte, und denn meine Buchlein 
 verschwinden Hess. (Ibid.) 
 
 109 Ut Wittemberga pellerer. (L. Epp. i. 519.) 
 
 110 Id quod in manum Dei refero. (L. Epp. i. 
 520.) 
 
 111 A ministris pontificiis mature praeoccupatus, 
 declaravit se velle vetcrem fidem tutari. (Palla- 
 vicini, i. 80.) 
 
 "2 Seckend. p. 289. 
 
 113 Es ist in vierhundert Jahren ein christlicher 
 Mann aufgestanden, den will der Pabst todt 
 haben. (Seckend. p. 288.) 
 
 114 In bullosis illis tumultibus. (L. Epp. i. 519.) 
 
 115 Rem totam Deo committerem. (L. Epp. i. 
 521.) 
 
 116 Christus ista coepit, ista perficiet, etiam me 
 sive extincte, sive fugato. (L. Epp. i. 526.) 
 
 117 Ut meam conscientiam redimam. (L. Epp. 
 i. 522.) 
 
 118 Oppressore totius Sacrse Scripturae. (L. 
 Opp. lat. ii. 50.) See also L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 332. 
 
 119 Et papae, impio homini, plus quam Deo obe- 
 diant. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 332.) 
 
 12 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 14934495. 
 
 121 Muss ewig in jenem Leben verlohren seyn. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 333.) 
 
 122 Lutherum esse Dei viventis angelum qui 
 palabundas Christi oves pascat. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 
 123.) 
 
 1 23 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1313. 
 
 124 Und ein jeglich Wort eine Donneraxt ware. 
 (L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1350.) 
 
 123 Quid obstat quominus papae quod dedimus 
 jus adimamus ? (Corp. Reform, i. 337.) 
 
 136 Ut extinguaris illam multo tetriorem Baalis 
 idololatria Romanam superstitionem. (Ibid.) 
 
 127 Tumultus egregie tumultuatur, ut nisi ex- 
 tremo die sedari mini posse non videatur. (L. 
 Epp. i. 541.) 
 
 128 Omnin6 aliquid portenti prae foribus est. (L. 
 Epp. i. 543.) What a presentiment of the fu- 
 ture ! 
 
 129 ... primum trepidus et orans, sed nunc 
 lastior quam ullo totius vitae meae facto. (Ibid.) 
 
 130 Ego fluctibus his rapior et volvor. (Ibid.) 
 
 131 Sed tamen in Ecclesia necesse est anteferri 
 mandatum Dei omnibus rebus humanis. (Me- 
 lancth. vit. Lutheri.) 
 
 132 \y er we j ss ob mich Gott dazu berufen und 
 erwahlt hat. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 338.) 
 
 133 Ich sage nicht dass Ich ein Prophet sey. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 338.) 
 
 134 Und sollten's eitel Kinder in der Wiege 
 seyn. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 339.) 
 
 135 Wahrheit hat allezeit rumort. (L. Opp. (L.) 
 xvii. 340.) 
 
 136 Man soil zuvor Christum in seine Wunden 
 sehen, und aus denselben seine Liebe gegen uns. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 351.) 
 
 137 Studium flagrantissimum religionis, ardor 
 idolis . . . incredibile quanta solertia. (Pallavi- 
 cini, i. 84.) 
 
 iss Er w ird iibel als ein gebohrner Jude und 
 schandlicher Epicurer beschrieben. (Seckend. 
 288.) Integritas vitse qua prsenoscebatur. (Pal- 
 lavicini, i. 84.) 
 
 139 Cui tola solicitudo insisteret nascentis hsere- 
 sis evellendae. (Pallavicini, i. 83.) 
 
 140 Altiusque insculptam in mentibus universse 
 fere Germanise. (Pallavicini, i. 88.) 
 
 141 In vi innumerabilium gladiorum qui infini- 
 tum populum trucidarent. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 142 Non satis ad expurgandum aerem Germa- 
 nise jam tabificum. (Pallavicini, i. 89.) 
 
 143 Caesaris edictum in caput .... Lutheri. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 144 Audiamus antea hac in re patrem nostrum 
 Fredericum. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 117.) 
 
 143 Cui ita loquenti de improviso sese addit 
 Aleander . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 146 Non posse cum Lutherp cpnjungi quinse- 
 jungeretur a Christo. (Pallavicini, i. 86.) 
 
 147 Ut de ep supplicium sumeret, vel captum 
 potifici transmitteret. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 117.) 
 
 148 Spnderliche Gunst und Gnade zu mir un- 
 wiirdiglich und den grossen Willen und Lust zu 
 der heiligen gottlichen Wahrheit . . . (L. Epp. 
 548, to John Frederic, 30th October, 1520.) 
 
 149 Assiduo flabello ministrorum illi jugiter sua- 
 dentium ne Lutherum desereret. (Pallavicini, i. 
 86.) 
 
 150 Evangelium si tale esset quod potentatibus 
 mundi aut propagaretur aut servaretur, non illud 
 piscatoribus Deus demandasset. (L. Epp. i. 
 521.) 
 
 151 Ut ingens vis populi doctorum et rudium, 
 sacrorum et profanorum, sese conjunxerint. . . . 
 (L. Opp. lat. ii. 116.) 
 
 152 Quo audito Marinus et Aleander seorsim 
 cum suis locuti sunt. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 117.) 
 
 153 Homerica appellatione murum Germanic. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. 272.) 
 
 154 Et futurum erat . . . ut tandem prorsus 
 extingueretur ilia scintilla Christiana? pietatis ; 
 haec moverunt animum Lutheri ... qui nee 
 honores ambit nee pecuniam cupit. (Erasm. Epp. 
 Lond. 1642, p. 586.) 
 
 155 Favent vero ferme boni omnes. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. 205.) 
 
 ise Er will von mir ungenennt seyn. (L. Epp. 
 i. 255.) 
 
 157 Nam ea res me gravat et Lutherum non 
 sublevat. (Corp. Ref. i. 206.) 
 
 158 Da sperret accep wahrlich mein gnadigst 
 Herr seine Augen nur wohl auf . . . (Spalatin 
 Hist. MS. in Seckendorf, p. 291.) 
 
 159 Lutherus peccavit in duobus, nempe quod 
 tetigit coronam pontificis et ventres monachoram. 
 
 160 Cum optimus quisque et evangelicae doc- 
 trinae proximus dicatur minime offensus Luthero. 
 (Axiomata Erasmi in L. Opp. lat. ii. 115.) 
 
 161 Bullae sevitia probos omnes offendit ut in 
 digna mitissimo Christi vicario. (Ibid.) 
 
 162 Urgent ardua negotia. 
 
440 
 
 NOTES BOOKS VI. VII. 
 
 163 Mundus sitit veritatem eyangelicam. (Axio- 
 mata Erasmi in L. Opp. lat. ii. 115.) 
 
 164 Splicitatis per nocturnes congressus. . . . 
 (Pallavicini, p. 87.) 
 
 165 Quae male torquebant Aleandrum. (Ibid.) 
 
 166 Prudentis erat cpnsilii hominis pravitatem 
 dissimulare. (Pallavicini, p. 88.) 
 
 167 Caesarem ita se gesturum erga Pontificem 
 wti se Fontifex erga Caesarem gereret. . . . (Pal- 
 lavicini, p. 91.) 
 
 168 Und wird dich der rechte Bischopp Christus 
 sclber speisen. (L. Opp. Ixvii. 563.) 
 
 169 Italicae bestiae bilem movebo. (L. Epp. i. 570.) 
 
 170 Ostendat ilium diem adventus glorias Filii 
 sui quo destruatur iniquus isle. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 
 162.) 
 
 171 Es mochte noch gar die Kirche und Ca- 
 pelle um der menge willen einfallen. (Spalatin 
 in Seckend. p. 295.) 
 
 172 Mehr als dreyssig Briefe von Fiirsten. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 173 Videre enim hominem voluerunt. (L. Epp. 
 i. 544, 16 Jan., 1521.) 
 
 174 ... Dei digitum esse quae a Martino fiant. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. 282.) 
 
 175 Non posse Evapgelium Romanae impietati 
 probari. (Corp. Ref. i. 280.) 
 
 176 Ablata ilia est a yobis inducta olim nostris 
 oculis caligo . . . praedicatur Evangelium . . . 
 spes est hbertatis. (Ulric ab Hiitten Eques. 
 Mar. Carrac. L. Opp. lat. ii. 176.) 
 
 177 ... Quo tu oculos, pie Christe, tuos, fron- 
 
 tisque severae 
 Tende supercilium, teque esse ostende ne- 
 
 ganti. 
 
 Qui te contemnunt igitur mediumque tonanti 
 Ostendunt dignitum, tandem Us te ostende 
 
 potentem 
 
 Te videat ferus ille Leo, te tota malorum 
 Sentiat illuvies, scelerataque Roma tremiscat 
 TJltprem scelerum discant te vivere saltern 
 Qui regnare negant. 
 
 (In Incendium Lutheranum Exclamatio 
 Ulrichi Hiitteni Equitis, Ibid.) 
 
 178 Nollem vi et ccede pro Evangelio certari ; 
 ita scripsi ad hominum. (L. Epp. i. 243.) 
 
 179 Bonus et pro laicis liber. (L. Epp. i. 571.) 
 
 180 In publico infamiae loco affixus. (L. Epp. i. 
 
 181 Das Nest ist hie ; die Vogel sind ausgeflogen. 
 (L. Epp. i. 570.) 
 
 182 Nimis ludicre Papam personatum circum- 
 venerunt sublimem et pompaticum. . . . (L. Epp. 
 i. 561.) 
 
 183 ... Fugitivum cum Cardinalibus, Episco- 
 pis, famulisque suis in diversas partes pppidi dis- 
 perserunt et insecuti sunt. (L. Epp. i. 561, 17 
 Feb., 1521.) 
 
 184 Non enim hie tempus timendi sed clamandi. 
 (L. Epp. i. 557.) 
 
 185 Quod si tu non vis sequi, sine me ire et 
 rapi. (L. Epp. i. 558.) 
 
 196 Cum tria praelia solus ego occupare cogar. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 187 Videns rem tumultuosissimo tumultu tu- 
 multuantem. (L. Epp. i. 546.) 
 
 188 Unn manu gladium apprehendens et altera 
 murum aedificaturus. (L. Epp. i. 565.) 
 
 189 Ab ordinis et Papae legibus solutus .... 
 quod gaudeo et amplector. (L. Epp. i. 568.) 
 
 190 ... Compos mei non sum, rapior nescio 
 quo spiritu, cum nemini me male veile conscius 
 sim. (L. Epp. i. 555.) 
 
 1 91 Reynald, Epist. J. Eckii ad Cardinal Con- 
 tarenum. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 1 Sleidan, vol. i. 80. 
 
 2 Es gjeng aber auf diesem Reichstag gar 
 schliipferig zu. (Seckend. p. 326.) 
 
 3 Adversaries omnia moliri ad maturandum id 
 negotii. (L. Epp. i. 534.) 
 
 4 Omnia de me praesumas praeter fugam et pa- 
 linodiam. (L. Epp. i. 536.) 
 
 5 Multitude . . . turba pauperum nobilium . . . 
 grammatici . . . causidici . . . inferipres eccle- 
 siastici . . . factio multorum regularium. . . . 
 (Pallavicini, i. 93.) 
 
 6 Hae omnes cpnditiones petulanter grassantium 
 . . . metum cuilibet incutiebant. (Ibid.) 
 
 7 Neminem nactus qui auderet ipsum excipere 
 advilia sordidaque hospitia aegre divertit. (Ibid.) 
 
 8 Legati Romani nolunt ut audiatur homo 
 haereticus. Minantur multa. (Zw. Epp. p. 157.) 
 
 9 Cum dolore legi novissimas Caroli litteras. 
 (L. Epp. i. 542.) 
 
 1 Vehementibus suis orationibus parum pro- 
 movit. (Cochlaeus.) 
 
 " Nee pecunia ad varies pro eadem sumptus. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 12 Periculum denique amittendaa Germaniae ex 
 parsimonia monetae cujusdam. (Ibid.) 
 
 13 Decet Romanum pontificem, &c. (Roman. 
 Bullarium.) 
 
 14 Exodus, xxvi. 7, 14. 
 
 15 So regete sich der Christus, dass sie so fest 
 
 wurden, dass der Teufel fliehen musste. (L. 
 Opp. ix. 613, on John vi. 56.) 
 
 16 Causam quae, Christo teste, Dei, christiani 
 orbis, ecclesiae catholics et totius Germanica? 
 nationis, et non unius et privati est hominis. (L. 
 Epp. i. 511.) 
 
 17 Clanculum tentent et experiantur 
 
 (Corp. Reform, i. 281, 3 Feb.) 
 
 18 Benignis officiis recens a Pontifice delinitus. 
 . . . (Pallavicini, i. 90.) 
 
 19 Et sane in eo toto negotio singulare probita- 
 tis ardorisque specimen dedit. (Ibid.) 
 
 20 Es haben dessen Biicher Ihro Majestat. . . . 
 um etwas gefallen. (Archives of Weimar. 
 Seckend. p. 315.) 
 
 21 Der andern das Hertz zu vielem Guten 
 erorTnet. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 22 Es sey nicht zu zweifeln, dass Lutherus in 
 vielen Artickeln werde den Sieg davon tragen. 
 . . . (Seckend. p. 319.) 
 
 23 Dass Gott diesen Mann gesandt . . . dass 
 er eine Geissel seye um der Siinden willen. 
 (Weimar Archiv. Seckend. p. 320.) 
 
 24 Glapio that hierauf einen tiefen Seufzer, und 
 rufte Gott zum Zeugen. . . . (Weimar Archiv. 
 Seckend. p. 221.) 
 
 25 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1655.) 
 
 Und niemals dem Papst allein geglaubt. 
 (Seckend. p. 323.) 
 
NOTES BOOK VII. 
 
 441 
 
 27 Spalatinus scribit tantum favoris Evangelic 
 esse istic ut me inauditum et inconvictum dam- 
 nari non speret. (L. Epp. i. 556, 9 Feb.) 
 
 28 Hinc aqua manabat, quae succensae pietatis 
 sestum restinguebat. (Pallavicini, i. 96.) 
 
 29 Mandata, pecunias et diplomata. (Pallavi- 
 cini, i. 95.) 
 
 30 Triplici hac industria nunc Aleander. . . . 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 31 Das thun die in rothen Hiiten prangen. 
 (Seckend. 364.) 
 
 32 Miro furore Papistse moliunter mihi mala. 
 (L. Epp. i. 556.) 
 
 33 Nuntius apostaticus (playing on the word 
 "apostolical,") agit summis viribus. (L. Epp. i. 
 569.) 
 
 34 Ut mutuis caedibus absumpti vestro cruore 
 pereatis. (L. Epp. i. 556.) 
 
 35 Libenter etiam morte sua Evangelii gloriam 
 et profectum emerit. (Corp. Ref. i. 285.) 
 
 36 Non ferro, sed consiliis et edictis. (L. Epp. 
 i. 56. 
 
 37 ... Pugnis ejus pectori admotis repulerit. 
 (Pallavicini, i. 112.) 
 
 38 Baptismum nerninem justificare, sed fidem 
 in verbum promissionis cui additur Baptismus. 
 (Cochlaeus, Act. Luth. 28.) 
 
 39 Weil er verbiete jemand mit Todes-Strafe 
 zu belegen, der nicht eine Todsiinde begangen. 
 (Seckend. p. 333.) 
 
 40 ... Muhos ut quadantenus reos, nonnullos 
 (dicam ingenue) ut scelestos. (Pallavicini, i. 101.) 
 
 41 Linguarum vituperation! dum vivunt, histo- 
 riarum infamiae post mortem. (Ibid.) 
 
 42 Quod idem erat ac revinctis legati brachiis 
 et lingua solum soluta. (Pallavicini, i. 109.) 
 
 43 Das 100,000 Ketzer ihrenthalben verbrannt 
 werden. (Seckend. p. 332.) 
 
 44 Vehementer exterriti atque commoti alter 
 alterum intuebantur atque in Lutherum ejusque 
 fautores murmurare pergunt. (Cochlaeus, p. 28.) 
 
 45 Lutheranam hasresin esse funditus evellen- 
 dam. (Pallavicini ; also Roscoe's Life of Leo X. 
 vol. iv.) 
 
 46 Sondern dass er es bald wieder begehe und 
 mehr Geld erlegen miisse. (Archives of Wei- 
 mar Seckend. p. 328.) 
 
 47 Dass sie Weibesbilder unter mancherley 
 Schein beschicken, selbige sodann mit Drohungen 
 und Geschenken zu fallen suchen, oder in einen 
 bosen Verdacht bringen. (Weimar. Archiv. 
 Seckend. p. 330.) 
 
 48 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 748, 752. 
 
 49 Seckend. Vorrede von Frick. 
 
 50 Bucksenmeistern, Falknern, Pfistern, Esel- 
 treibern, Stallknechten, Trabanten . . . Kapps 
 Nachlese niitzl. (Ref. Urkunden, iii. 262.) 
 
 51 Dass eine Besserung und gemeine Reforma- 
 tion geschehe. (Ref. Urkunden, iii. 275.) 
 
 52 L. Opp. (L.) xxii. 567. 
 
 53 Quam ob rem sedu!6 cpntestatus est apud 
 Caesaris administros. (Pallavicini, i. 113.) 
 
 54 Lingua promptus, adore vultus et oris spiritu 
 ad concitandam seditionem. (Ibid.) 
 
 53 Haud certe fidem publicam illi praebendam. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 66 Alba? dux videbatur aliquando furentibus 
 modis agitari. (Ibid.) 
 
 57 Utinam Deus redimat nostro sanguine salu- 
 tem Christiani populi. (Corp. Ref. i. 362.) 
 
 55 Magnificat. (L. Opp. Wittemb. Deutsch. 
 Ausg. iii. 11, &c.) 
 
 59 Er zieht seine Kraft heraus und lasst sie von 
 eigener Kraft sich auf blasen. (L. Opp. Wittemb. 
 Deutsch. Ausg. iii. 11, &c.) 
 
 60 Si ad me occidendum deinceps vocare velit 
 . . . offeram me venturum. (L. Epp. i. 574.) 
 
 61 Tanquam perfido haeretico nulla sit servanda 
 fides. (Cochlaeus, p. 28.) 
 
 62 Longa consultatio difficilisque disceptatio. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 63 Cum autem grandis ubique per Germaniani 
 fere totam excitata esset . . . animorum commo- 
 tio. (Ibid.) 
 
 Lucas Cranachs Stammbuch, &.C., heraus- 
 gegebenv. (Chr. v. Mecheln. p. 12.) 
 
 65 Die Cardinale und Bischofe sind ihm hart 
 zuwider. (Seckend. p. 365.) 
 
 66 See, for the Pope's bull and Luther's com- 
 mentary, "Die Bulla vom Abendfreesen." (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xviii. 1.) 
 
 67 Gleichvvie ein Hund urns Beines willen. (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xviii. 12.) 
 
 68 Damnatum et perditum. (L. Epp. i. 556.) 
 
 69 .... ut hos Satanae ministros et contem- 
 nam vivens et vicam moriens. (L. Epp. i. 579.) 
 
 70 ... Quod mire quam gaudeam. (L. Epp. 
 i. 567.) 
 
 71 Venit Wittembergam pau!6 ante her Lu- 
 theri ad comitia Wormatise indicia. (Melch. 
 Adam, vita Bugenhagii, p. 314.) 
 
 72 Sacerdotes cives et scholasticos in vincula 
 coniecit. (Melch. Adam, vita Bugenhagii, p. 
 313.) 
 
 73 Precesque adjunxit quibus divinitus se re hac 
 doceri petivit. (Melch. Adam, vita Bugenhagii, 
 p. 312.) 
 
 74 In Cimmeriis tenebris versatur : hie yirunus 
 et solus verum videt. (Melch. Adam, vita Bu- 
 genhagii, p. 313.) 
 
 75 A superstitionibus ad unicum Christi meri- 
 tum traduce re. (Ibid.) 
 
 7< 5 Corp. Ref. i. 361. 
 
 77 Quern quoties contemplor, se ipso subinde 
 majorem judico. (Corp. Ref. i. 264.) 
 
 78 Utinam licuisset mihi una proficisci. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. 365.) 
 
 79 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 2067, 1819. 
 
 80 Neque enim quam lata est Germania, ulli 
 boni sunt. ... (L. Opp. lat. ii. 182.) 
 
 81 Due nos in manifestum potius periculum, 
 due in ferrum, due in ignes. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 183.) 
 
 82 Omnen nunc Germaniam quasi ad genua 
 provolutam tibi. . . . (L. Opp. lat. ii. 584.) 
 
 83 L. Epp. i. 580. 
 
 84 Terrorem hunc a Sathana sibi dixit adferri. 
 . . . (Melch. Adam. p. 117.) 
 
 85 Er wolle bey der erkandten Wahrheyt mit 
 breytem Fuss aushalten . . . (Mathesius, p. 23 
 first edition, 1566.) 
 
 86 Nisi periculum sit Erfordiam ingredi. (L. 
 Epp. i. 580.) 
 
 87 Hos inter, qui nos praevenerant, ibat Jonas, 
 Ille decus nostri, primaque fama Chori. 
 
 (Eob. Hessi. Elegia secunda.) 
 
 88 Velut organum quoddam electum ad illus- 
 trandam filii sui Jesu gloriam. (Erasmi Epp. v. 
 27.) 
 
 89 Vir est quern oportuit multo pretio emptum 
 et servatum in terra. (Weismann. i. 1436.) 
 
 90 Pomeranus est grammaticus, ego sum dia- 
 
 lecticus, Jonas est orator. 
 Lutherus vero nobit omnibus antecellit. 
 
 (Knapp Narrat. de J. Jona. p. 581.) 
 
 91 Agnosco insidias, hostis acerbe, tuas. (Hessi 
 Eleg. tertia.) 
 
442 
 
 NOTES BOOK VII. 
 
 92 L. Opp. (L.) xii. 485. 
 
 93 Iter facienti occurrebant populi. (Pallavi- 
 cini Hist. C. Tr. i. 114.) 
 
 94 Quacunque Her faciebant, frequens erat con- 
 cursus hominum, vidend. Lutheri studio. (Coch- 
 
 IffiUS, p. 29.) 
 
 93 Ein Feuer das bis an den Himmel reichte. 
 . . . (Keil, i. 90.) 
 
 96 Nun habt Ihr einen grossern Herrn, denn 
 Ich. (Keil, i. 90.) 
 
 97 In diversoriis multa propinatio, laeta compo- 
 tatio, musices quoque gaudia ; adeo ut Lutherus 
 ipse alicubi sonora testudine ludens. omnium in 
 se oculos converteret, velut Orpheus quidem, sed 
 rasus adhuc et cuculatus eoque mirabilior. (Coch- 
 laeus, p. 29.) 
 
 98 Intrabimus Wormatiam, invitis omnibus por- 
 tis inferni et potentatibus sens. (L. Epp. i. 987.) 
 
 99 Ich hoffe dass du der Verheissene. . . . 
 (Cypt. Hilar. Ev. p. 608.) 
 
 100 Lutherum iliac transeuntem subsequutus, ut 
 pro honore ecclesiae vitam suam . . . exponeret. 
 (Cochteus, p. 36.) 
 
 101 Dass der Keyser seinen Beichtvater und 
 Ihrer Majest. Ober-Kammerling, zu Sickengen 
 schickt. (L. Opp. xvii. 587.) 
 
 102 Condoce faciebat TO. dvay/<aia a probabilius 
 distinguere, ut scirent quae retinenda. . . . (M. 
 Adam. Vit. Buceri, p. 223.) 
 
 103 Dass er sollte den Luther zu sich fodern. 
 (L. Opp. xvii. 587.) 
 
 m Da kam Bucer zu, mit etlichen Reutern. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 105 Und wollte mir uberreden zu Sickengen 
 gen Ebernburg zu kommen. (Ibid.) 
 
 ice Wenn so viel Teufel zu Worms waren, als 
 Ziegel auf den Dachern doch wollt Ich hinein ! 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 587.) 
 
 107 So wachst das Herz im Leibe . . . (Math, 
 p. 24.) 
 
 108 Deus stabit pro me. (Pallavicini, i. 114.) 
 
 109 L. Opp. xvii. 587. 
 
 110 ... Dass Ihre Majestat den Luther aufs 
 
 erste beyseit thate und umbringen liess 
 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 111 Astutia plusquam vulpina yehementer calli- 
 dum . . . Lutherum versutissime dissimulabat. 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 36.) 
 
 112 Evangelium audiunt avidissime, verbum 
 Dei alligatum non est . . . (Caspar Hedio Zw. 
 Epp. p. 157.) 
 
 113 Lutherus in hoc districtu dudum esset com- 
 bustus, Lutherani tbromwiywyoi, nisi Capito aliter 
 persuasisset principi. (Caspar Hedio Zw. Epp. 
 p. 148.) 
 
 114 Hie (Capito) ilium (Cochlaeum) insinuavit 
 Hieronymo Aleandro, nuncio Leonis X. (Coch- 
 laeus, p. 36.) 
 
 115 Eadem die tota civitas solicite confluxit. . . . 
 (Pallavicini, i. 114.) 
 
 116 Nescio quid divinum suspicabantur ; ex ad- 
 verso alii malo da?mone obsessum existimabant. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 117 Servet te Christus. (L. Opp. ii. 175.) 
 
 118 Bucerus eodem venit. (M. Adam. Vit. 
 Buceri, p. 212.) 
 
 119 Also sollen wir den Sohn Gottes als Gorgo- 
 nis Haupt . . . (L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1659.) 
 
 120 L. Opp. (L.) Xvii. 598. 
 
 121 Die Glocke ist schon gegossen. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xvii. 589.) 
 
 122 Und ward also durch heimliche Gange ge- 
 iuhrt. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 544.) 
 
 123 Doch lief das Volk haufig zu, und stieg 
 sogar auf Dacher. (Seckend. 348.) 
 
 124 Munchlein, Miinchlein, du gehest jetzt einen 
 Gang, einen solchen Stand zu thun, dergleichen 
 Ich und mancher Obrister, auch in unser aller- 
 ernstesten Schlacht-Ordnung nicht gethan ha- 
 ben. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 125 Einige aus denen Reichs-Gliedern sprachen 
 Ihm einen Muth, mit Christi Worten, ein . . . 
 (Matt. x. 20, 28. Seckendorf, p. 348.) 
 
 126 Legantur tituii librorum. (L. Opp. (L.) 
 xvii. 588.) 
 
 127 Weil dies eine Frage vom Glauben und der 
 Seelen Seligkeit ist und Gottes Wort belanget. 
 . . . (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 573.) 
 
 128 Hie certe nunquam efficeret ut haereticus 
 evaderem." (Pallavicini, i. 115.) 
 
 129 -wig g en t's ? man sagt, sie wollen euch ver- 
 brennen. . . , (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 588.) 
 
 130 Hac hora coram Caasare et fratre Romano 
 constiti. (L. Epp. i. 587.) 
 
 131 Verum ego ne apicem quidem revocabo. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 132 Kappens Ref. Urkunden, ii. 448. 
 
 133 Des Getummels und Wesens war Ich gar 
 nicht gewohnt. (L. Opp. xvii. 588, 535.) 
 
 134 Schreyt nicht sehr, noch heftig, sondern 
 redet fein, sittich, ziichtig und bescheiden. . . . 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 576.) 
 
 135 Nicht allein die Fenster, sondern auch Thur 
 und Thor aufthate. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 573.) 
 
 136 Non clamose at modeste, non tamen sine 
 Christiana animositate et. constantia. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xvii. 165.) 
 
 137 See L. Opp. lat. ii. 165167. 
 
 138 Dabo illud neque dentatum, neque cornu- 
 tum. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 166.) 
 
 139 Hier stehe ich : Ich kann nicht anders ; Gott 
 helfe mir ! Amen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 580.) 
 
 140 Der Monch redet unerschrocken, mit ge- 
 trostem Muth ! (Seckendorf, p. 350.) 
 
 141 L. Opp. (W.) xv. 2235. 
 
 142 Subsannatione hominem Die et longo rugitu 
 prosecuti sunt. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 166.) 
 
 143 Also gedencke seiner unser Herr Christus 
 n seinem letzten Kampff. (Seckend. p. 354.) 
 
 144 O wie schon hat Pater Martinus geredet. 
 Seckend. p. 355.) 
 
 145 Guicciardini, L. xiv. 175. Dumont Corp. 
 Dipl. torn. iv. 96. Dicesi del papa Leone, die 
 quando 1'aveva fatto lega con alcuno, prima so- 
 "eva dir che pero non si dovea restar de tratar 
 :um lo altro principe opposto. (Suriano, Vene- 
 ian Ambassador at Rome, MS. archives of Ve- 
 nice.) 
 
 146 Autographum in lingua Bnrgundica ab ipso- 
 met exaratum. (Cochlaeus, p. 32.) 
 
 147 Regna, thesauros, amicos, corpus, sangui- 
 nem, vitam, spiritumque profundere. (Pallavi- 
 cini, i. 118.) 
 
 148 Und andern Wegen sie zu vertilgen. (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xvii. 581.) 
 
 149 Dass Luthero das sichere Geleit nicht 
 mochte gehalten werden. (Seckend. p. 357.) 
 
 150 Eum esse puerum, qui nutu et blanditiis 
 Papistarum et Episcoporum trahatur quocunque 
 velint. (Cochlasus, p. 33.) 
 
 151 Verum etiam in longinquis Germanise civi- 
 atibus, motus et murrnura plebium. (Ibid.) 
 
 152 Es ware ein Aufruhr daraus worden, says 
 Luther. 
 
 153 Carlo si excuso di non poter procedere piu 
 oltre, rispetto al salvocondotto, ma la verita fu 
 che conoscendo che il Papa temeva molto di 
 
NOTES BOOKS VII. VIII. 
 
 443 
 
 questa dpctrina di Luthero, lo voile tenere con 
 questo freno. (Vettori, Istoria d'ltalia MSC. 
 Biblioth. Corsini at Rome, extracted by Ranke.) 
 
 154 Qui pio magis animo erat quam forti. (Pal- 
 lavicini, p. 118.) 
 
 155 Quibus privatim exhortari hominem possent. 
 (Pallavicini, i. 119.) 
 
 156 \y under horen werden. (Seckend. 365.) 
 
 157 Und konnten nicht satt werden ihn zu 
 sehen. (L. Opp. xvii. 581.) 
 
 158 \vi e eine holdselige Person er ist. (Meuzel 
 Magaz. i. 207.) 
 
 159 War noch nicht auf meiner Seite. (L. Opp. 
 xvii. 589.) 
 
 160 Aleander, mane hora quarta vocaverit ad se 
 
 Cochlaeum, jubens ut . . . audiret solum 
 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 36.) 
 
 161 Dass das Wort Gottes, welches so lange 
 unter dem Scheffel verborgen gesteckt, heller 
 scheine. . . . (Seckend. 364.) 
 
 162 Und aus dem Reich verstossen. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xvii. 582. Sleidan, i. 97.) 
 
 163 Agnosco enim me homuneionem, longe 
 viliorem esse, quam ut a tantis Principibus. . . . 
 (L. Opp. lat. p. 167.) 
 
 164 Ecclesia Christi est universitas preedestina- 
 torum. (Ibid.) 
 
 165 Sie wollten sein Gewissen, das mit Gottes 
 Wort und heiliger Schrifft gebunden und gefan- 
 gen ware, nicht dringen. (Math. p. 57.) 
 
 166 Ja darauf stehe Ich. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 
 558.) 
 
 167 Ein Christenmensch muss zusehen und 
 richten. . . . (L. Epp. i. 604.) 
 
 168 De iis Aleander acerrime conquestus est. 
 (Pallavicini, i. 120.) 
 
 "9 Peracto prandio. (Cochlaeus, p. 36.) 
 
 170 Und wollte mit mir disputiren, ich sollte 
 allein das Geleit aufsagen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 
 589.) 
 
 171 Atque ita traderat eum carnificinse. (Coch- 
 laeus, p. 36.) 
 
 172 Das Ihm das Blut liber den Kopff gelaufen 
 ware, wo man nicht gewehret hatte. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xvii. 589.) 
 
 ITS Er wollte ehe das Geleit aufsagen 
 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 m E r wollte kurtzrum Menschen iiber Gottes 
 Wort nicht erkennen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 583.) 
 
 173 Das dariiber aus der heiligen Schrifft ge- 
 sprochen. (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 584.) 
 
 176 Ganz gut und mehr denn gnadig. (L. 
 Epp. i. 604.) 
 
 177 Simulque conspiciliorum omnium usum ne- 
 gare. (L. Epp. i. 110.) 
 
 178 Ehe Stumpf und Stiel fahren lassen. . . . 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 584.) 
 
 179 Totum imperium ad se conversum specta- 
 bat. (Pallavicini, i. 120.) 
 
 180 Salutatis patronis et amicis qui eum fre- 
 quentissimi convenerunt. ... (L. Opp. lat. ii. 
 168.) 
 
 181 Seine Freunde gesegnet. (Mathesius, p. 27.) 
 
 182 Aber Christus macht ein Loch derein. (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xvii. 589.) 
 
 183 Diss ist der herrlichen grossen Tag einer 
 vorm Ende der Welt. (P. 28.) 
 
 184 Nam ea fides et submissio proprie est vera 
 ilia latria et adoratio Dei. . . . (L. Epp. i. 592.) 
 
 185 Per chalcographos multiplicata et in populos 
 dispersa est ea epistola . . . Csesari autem et 
 clericis odium populare, &c. (Cochlaeus, p. 38.) 
 
 186 Senatus intra portas nos excepit. (L. Epp. 
 ii. 6.) 
 
 187 Humiliter tamen excusante . . . ob metum 
 tyrannorum suorum. (Ibid.) 
 
 188 Cum Caesar in templo adesset . . . pro- 
 cessit illi obviam Aleander. (Pallavicini, i. 122.) 
 
 189 Festivissimo vultu. (Ibid.) 
 
 190 Et undique pervulgata. (Ibid.) 
 
 191 Ihre Hande in der Priester Blut zu waschen. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xvii. 598.) 
 
 182 Nicht ein Mensch, sondern als der bose 
 Feind in Gestalt eines Menschen mit angenom- 
 mener Monchshiitten. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 193 Non finem sed initium. (P. Martyris Epp. 
 p. 412.) 
 
 194 Ad carnem meam trans sylvam profectus. 
 (L. Epp. ii. 7.) 
 
 195 Dejectoque in solum auriga et verberato. 
 (Pallav. i. 122.) 
 
 196 Longo itinere, novus eques, fessus. (L. 
 Epp. ii. 3.) 
 
 197 Hora ferme undecima ad mansionem noctis 
 perveni in tenebris. (Ibid.) 
 
 198 Exutus vestibus meis et equestribus indutus, 
 comam et barbam nutriens .... (L. Epp. 
 ii. 7.) 
 
 199 Cum ipse me jamdudum non noverim. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 20 Seckendorf, p. 365. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 1 ... 1516, eo scilicet tempore, quum Lutheri 
 nomen in nostris regionibus inauditum adhuc erat 
 . . . doctrinam Christi non a Luthero, sed ex 
 verbo Dei didici. (Zwinglii Opera curant. Schu- 
 lero et Schulthessio, Turici, vol. i. 273, 276.) 
 
 2 Wirz, Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte, iii. 
 201. 
 
 3 Sodomitis melius erit in die judicii, quam 
 rerum vel honoris ablatoribus. (Hemmerlin, de 
 anno jubilaeo.) 
 
 4 Tockenburg. 
 
 5 Schuler's, Zwingli'sBildungs-Gesch. p. 290. 
 
 6 Diss Geschlacht der Zwinglinen, wass in 
 guter Achtung diesser Landen, als ein gut alt 
 ehrlich Geschlacht. (H. Bullinger Hist. Be- 
 
 57 
 
 schreibung der Eidg. Geschichten.) This pre- 
 cious work exists only in manuscript. I am in- 
 debted for the communication of it to the kindness 
 of M. J. G. Hess. The orthography of the 
 manuscript is preserved. It is now in course of 
 publication. 
 
 7 Ein Verrumbter Mann. (Ibid.) 
 
 8 " Quadragesimum octavum agimus." Zwin- 
 gle to Vadian, 17th Sept., 1531. 
 
 9 Clarus fuit pater ob spectatam vitae sanctimo- 
 niam. (Oswald Myconius Vita Zwinglii.) 
 
 10 Divinitatis nonnihil ccelo propriorem con- 
 traxisse. (Ibid.) 
 
 11 Schuler's Zw. Bildung. p. 291. 
 
 12 Tenerimum adhuc ad fratrem sacrificura 
 
444 
 
 NOTES BOOK VIII. 
 
 adduxit, ut ingenii ejus periculum faceret. (Melch. 
 Ad. Zw. p. 25.) 
 
 13 Und in Ihm erschinen merkliche Zeichen 
 eines edlen Gemiiths. (Bullinger's MS.) 
 
 14 In disputationibus, qua? pro more turn erant 
 inter pueros usitatae victoriam semper reportavit. 
 (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 15 Ab eo in adyta classicorum scriptorum intro- 
 ductus. (Ibid.) 
 
 16 Und alss er wol singen kondt lokten Ihn die 
 prediger Monchen in dass Kloster. (Bullinger, 
 MSC) 
 
 17 Wirz, Helvetische Kirchen- Gesch. vol. iii. 
 387. Anshelms Cronik, iii. and iv. No event 
 of that age gave occasion to more publications. 
 See Mailer's Biblioth. der Schw. Gech. iii. 
 
 18 Ne diutius ab exercitio literarum cessaret. 
 (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 19 Ich habe auch. nie von Keinem gehort, der in 
 der Kunst Musica .... so erfahren gewesen. 
 (B. Weysen, Fiisslin Beytrage zur Re?. Gesch. 
 iv. 35.) 
 
 20 Ut ingenium seriis defatigatum recrearetur 
 et paratius ad solita studia redderetur . . . (Melch. 
 Ad. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 21 Ingenio amoenus, et ore jucundus, supra 
 quam dici possit, erat. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 22 Et doctrinam Ecclesiae veterem . . . instau- 
 rari oporteat. (Gualterus, Misc. Tig. iii. 102.) 
 
 23 Der Tod Christi sey die einige Bezahlung 
 fiir unsere Siinde. . . . (Fuslin Beyr. ii. 268.) 
 
 24 Quum a tanto viro semina quaedam . . . 
 Zwingliano pectori injecta essent. (Leo Jud. in 
 Pnfif. ad. Ann. Zw. in N. T.) 
 
 25 Sic reverentia pudoris, imprimis autem ofRcii 
 divini, perpetuo cavit. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 26 Helvet. Kirch. Gesch. von Wirz, iii. 214. 
 
 27 Wellches er an die Biicher verwandet. 
 (Bullinger, MSC.) 
 
 28 Dass wir die hollschen wiitterinn'n 
 Mogend denken abbrochen syn. 
 
 (Zw. Opp. ed. Schiller et Schulthess, ii. 
 part ii. 250.) 
 
 29 Fabelgedicht vom Ochsen und etlichen 
 Thieren, iez loufender dinge begriffenlich. (Zw. 
 Opp. ed Schuler et Schulthess, ii. part ii. 257.) 
 
 30 De Gestis inter Gallos et Helvetios, relatio 
 H. Zwinglii. 
 
 31 Ante decem annos, operam dedi graecis 
 literis, ut ex fontibus doctrinam Christi haurire 
 posssem. (Zw. Opp. 1. 274. Explan. Article, 
 1523.) 
 
 32 Ich hab' gracae konnen, ehe ich ni nut von 
 Luther gehort hab. (Salat. Chronicle, MSC.) 
 
 33 Nihil sublimius de evangelio sentiunt, quam 
 quod, quidquid eorum rationi non est consenta- 
 neum, hoc iniquum, vanum et frivolum existi- 
 mant. (Zw. Opp. i. 202.) 
 
 34 Nee posse evangelium ad sensum et inter- 
 pretationem hominum redigi. (Zw. Opp. i. 215.) 
 
 35 In crelum suspexit, doctorem quaerens spiri- 
 tmn. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 36 Scripta contulit et obscura Claris elucidavit. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 37 In summa er macht im, die H. Schrifft, In- 
 sonders dass N. T. gantz gemein. (Bullinger, 
 MSC.) 
 
 38 Ut nemo non videret Spirifum doctorem, 
 non hominem. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 39 Scriptura canonica, seu Lydio lapide proban- 
 dos. (Ibid.) 
 
 40 Spiritus ille crelestis non solam Palaestinam 
 vel creaverat vel fovebat, sed mundum universum 
 . . . (CEcol. et Zw. Epp. p. 9.) 
 
 41 Nisi religiosi nunquam fuissent magnanimi. 
 ((Ecol. et Zw. Epp. p. 9.) 
 
 42 Nam qui sit acrioris in enodandis autoribus 
 judicii, vidi neminem. (Zw. Epp. p. 13.) 
 
 43 Ut nee decem mulierculae . . . uni sophistae 
 adaequari queant. (Zw. Epp. p. 45.) 
 
 44 Tu, tuique similes optimis etiam studiis ac 
 moribus et expolietis et nobilitabitis. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 10.) 
 
 45 Et corpusculo hoc tuo minuto, verum minime 
 inconcinno, urbanissime gestientem videre videar. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 46 Erasmi, Laus Stultiliae, cum annot. My- 
 conii. 
 
 47 Equidem humi repere didici hactenus, et est 
 natura nescio quid humile vel a cunabulis in me. 
 (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 48 Ingenio miti et tranquillo, pacis et concordiae 
 studiosissimus. (M. Ad. Vit. CEc. p. 58.) 
 
 49 Flectente et vocante Deo, qui eo in domo 
 sua pro lampade usurus erat. (M. Ad. Vit. (Ec. 
 p. 46.) 
 
 50 Omnium vere spiritualium et eruditorum 
 admiratione Christum predicavit. (Ibid.) 
 
 51 Nihil in sacris literis praeter Christum quae- 
 rendum. (Erasmi, Epp. p. 403.) 
 
 52 Justitiam avitam per hunc olim restitutum 
 iri. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 53 In dem Heerlager hat er Flyssig geprediget. 
 (Bullinger, MSC.) 
 
 54 ... In den Schlachten sich redlich und dap- 
 fer gestellt mit Rathen, Worten und Thaten. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 55 Domine orator, vederemo quel fara il re 
 Christmo semetteremo in le so man dimandando 
 misericordia. (Zorsi Relatione MS.) 
 
 56 Bellissimo parlador: (Leo X.) prometea assa 
 ma non atendea . . . (Relatione MSC. di Grade- 
 nigo, venuto orator di Roma.) 
 
 57 Non hominum commends, sed sola scriptu- 
 rarum biblicarum collatione. (Zw. Opp. i. 273.) 
 
 58 Sondern auch mit predigen, dorrinen er helf- 
 tig wass. (Bullinger's MS.) 
 
 59 Volebat veritatem cognitam, in cordibus au- 
 ditorum, agere suum officium. (Osw. Myc. Vit. 
 Zw.) 
 
 60 Detur Eucharistiaa sacramentum, similiter 
 poculum sanguinis. (Zw. Opp. i. 266.) 
 
 61 Cessa, cessa frater, divinifus capella conse- 
 crata est. (Hartm. Annal. Einsidl. p. 51.) 
 
 62 Locum mutavimus non cupidinis aut cnpidi- 
 tatis moti stimulis, verum Gallorum technis. 
 (Zw. Epp. 24.) 
 
 63 Christum et ejus veritatem in regiones et 
 varias et remotas divulgari tarn felici opportuni- 
 tate. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 64 Quid enim Glareanae nostrae tristius accidere 
 poterat, tanto videlicet privari viro. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 16.) 
 
 65 For two years after this, Zwingle still signed 
 himself, Pastor Glarbnae, Minister Eremi. (Ibid.) 
 
 66 Wirz, K. Gesch. iii. 363. Zwinglis Bildung 
 v. Schuler, p. 174. Miscell. Tigur. iii. 28. 
 
 67 Fore, idque brevi, Deo sic juvante, ut neque 
 Hieronymus neque casteri, sed sola scriptura di- 
 virii apud Christianos in praetio sit futura. (Zw. 
 Opp. i. 273.) 
 
 68 Vestis oblonga et plicis plena, muli auro 
 ornati . . . Cor vero interim procul a Deo est. 
 (Zw. Opp. i. 236.) 
 
 69 Christus qui s>ese semel in mice obtulit, 
 hostia est et victima satisfaciens in aeternum, pro 
 peccatis omnium fidelium. (Zw. Opp. i. 263.) 
 
, 
 
 NOTES BOOK VIII. 
 
 445 
 
 (Zw. Epp. 
 
 Is sermo ita me inflammavit 
 p. 90) 
 
 71 Elegans ille, doctus, gravis, copiosus, pene- 
 trans et evangelicus. . . . (Zw. Epp. p. 89.) 
 
 72 Ut inciperem Zwinglium arctissime com- 
 plecti, suscipere at admirari. (Ibid.) 
 
 73 Sicque abequitavi, non sine molestia, quam 
 tamen ipse mihi pepereram. (Zw. Epp. p. 90.) 
 
 74 Dass das ganz papstum einen schlechten 
 grund habe. (Zw. Opp. ii. pars i. 7.) 
 
 75 Oder aber sy werdind mit grosser unruw 
 umfallen. (Ibid.) 
 
 76 Frustra sperari me vel verbulum de veritate 
 deminuturum esse, pecuniae gratia. (Zw. Opp. i. 
 365.) 
 
 77 Romam curre ! redime literas indulgentia- 
 rum ! da tantumdem monachis ! offer sacerdoti- 
 bus, &c. (Zw. Opp. i. 222.) 
 
 78 Christus una est oblatio, unum sacrificium, 
 una via. (Zw. Opp. i. 201.) 
 
 79 Ut mea3, meorumque liberorum inediae cor- 
 porali subveniretis. (Zw. Epp. 284.) 
 
 80 Largas mihi quotidie suppetias tulistis. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 81 Caritatem ingenerat Deus, consilium, pro- 
 positum et opus. Quidquid boni prastat Justus, 
 hoc Deus sua virtute prasstat. (Zw. Opp. i. 226.) 
 
 82 Dan Zwingli vom lyb ein hubscher man 
 wass. (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 83 Und als imme sein gestalt und geschiklich- 
 keit wol gefiel, gab er Im syn stimm. (Ibid.) 
 
 84 Qui dies et noctes laborarent ut vir ille sub- 
 rogaretur. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 85 Scio vulgi acclamationes et illud blandum 
 Euge ! Euge ! (Zw. Epp. p. 53.) 
 
 86 Fabula manebit fabula ; quern domini mei 
 acceperunt sex pueris esse patrem . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 87 Neminem tamen, qui tuam doctrinam non 
 ad ccelum feral . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 88 Non esse qui vigesimum annum excessit, 
 nee virginem tetigerit. (Zw. Epp. p. 57.) 
 
 89 Reprimo hrec pro viribus, imo et repress!. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 54.) 
 
 90 Quippe neminem habens, comitem hujus 
 instituti, scandalizantes vero non paucos, heu ! 
 cecidi et factus sum canis ad vomitum. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 55.) 
 
 91 En cum verecundia (Deus novit!) magna 
 ha3c ex pectoris specubus depromsi, apud eum 
 scilicet cum quo etiam coram minus quam cum 
 ullo ferme mortalium confiteri vererer. (Ibid.) 
 
 92 Ea ratio nobis perpetuo fuit, nee alienum 
 thorum conscendere, nee virginem vitiare. (Ibid.) 
 
 93 Testes invoco cunctos, quibuscum vixi. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 94 Reverende, perdecte, admodum gratiose 
 domine ac bone amice. (Zw. Epp. p. 60.) 
 
 95 Omnes ade6 quotquot ex Helvetiis adsunt 
 juvenes fremere et gaudere. (Zw. Epp. p. 64.) 
 
 96 Quantum invidisa tibi inter istos eruditio tua 
 conflabit. (Ibid.) 
 
 97 Do er ehrlich und wol empfangen ward. 
 (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 99 Schulers Zwingli's Bildung, p. 227. 
 
 99 Absque humanis commentationibus, ex solis 
 fontibus Scripturae sacrae. (Zw. Opp. i. 273.) 
 
 100 Sed men'te spiritus, quam diligenti Scriptu- 
 rarum collatione, precibusque ex corde fusis, se 
 nacturum. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 101 Alles Gott und seinen einigen Sohn zu Lob 
 und Ehren und zu rechten Heil der Seelen, zur 
 Underrichtung im rechten Glauben. (Bullinger, 
 MS.) 
 
 102 Quibus auditis, moeror simul et hetitia. 
 (Osw. Myc.) 
 
 103 Dessgleichen wie jederman redt, nie gehort 
 worden war. (B. Weise, a contemporary of 
 Zwingle's, Fusslin Beytrage, iv. 36.) 
 
 104 Nam ita simplices asqualiter cum prudentis- 
 simis et acutissimis quibusque proficiebant. (Osw. 
 Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 105 j n vvelchem er Gott den Vater prysset und 
 alle Menschen allein uff Jessum Christum, als 
 den einigen Heiland verthrauwen lehrte. (Bullin- 
 ger, MS.) 
 
 106 All sein Trost stuhnd allein mit frolichem 
 Gemuth zu Gott. . . . (B. Weise Fusslin Beytr. 
 iv. 36.) 
 
 107 Do ward bald ein gross gelaiiff yon allerley 
 menschen, Innsonders von dem gerneinen Mann. 
 . . . (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 108 Und unser Moses seyn der uns aus Egypten 
 fiihrt. (Ibid.) 
 
 109 Werden die Glaser, Miiller, Hafner, Gies- 
 ser, Schuhmacher und Schneider lehren. (Mull. 
 Reliq. iii. 185.) 
 
 110 Nobis apostolici illius sasculi virum reprs- 
 sentas. (Zw. Epp. p. 74.) 
 
 111 Obganniunt quidam, rident, minantur, petu- 
 lanter incessunt . . . at tu vere, Christiana pati- 
 entia, suffers omnia. (Zw. Epp. p. 74, 7lh May, 
 1519.) 
 
 " 2 Connivendum ad multa ei qui velit malos 
 Christo lucri facere. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 113 Dass der Rath gemeldete Bauern besucht. 
 . . . (Salat's Chronik. p. 155.) 
 
 114 Der Lauthenschlager und evangelischer 
 pfyffer. (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 s Dass kombt mir ja wol die kind zu ge- 
 schweigen. (Ibid.) 
 
 116 War allwegen trostlichen Gemiiths und 
 tapferer Red. (B. Weisse Fiissl. Beytr. iv. 36.) 
 
 117 Certas studiis vindicans horas, quas etiam 
 non omisit, nisi seriis coactus. (Osw. Myc. Vit. 
 Zw.) 
 
 118 ... Oppidatim, municipatim, vicatim, imo 
 domesticatim per Helvetios circumferat. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 81.) 
 
 119 Um einem Kuttgrowen Hengst. (Anshelm, 
 v. 335 ; J. J. Hotting. Helv K. Gesch. iii. 29.) 
 
 120 A quovis perjurio. (Muller's Reliq. iv. 403.) 
 
 121 Dessen viel luth gnug lachten. (Bullinger, 
 MS.) 
 
 122 Bulling. Epp. Franz's Merkw. Zuge, p. 19. 
 > Du freche Bestie . . &c. (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 124 Ich predgete streng wider des Pabsts Ablass 
 . . . (Zw. Opp. 2, 1st part, p. 7.) 
 
 125 Und hat mich darin gestarkt : er welle mir 
 mit aller triiw byston. (Ibid.) 
 
 126 Christus est innocentia tua ; Christus est 
 justitia et puritas tua; Christus est salus tua; tu 
 nihil es, tu nihil potes ; Christus est A et SI; 
 Christus est prora et puppis ; Christus est omnia 
 . . . (Zw. Opp. i. 207.) 
 
 127 Nisi Christus Jesus, verus Deus et verus 
 homo . . . (Zw. Opp. i. 412.) 
 
 128 Und fiihrt mit ihm ein threspendiger Schatz 
 an gelt den er arrnen lu'then abgelogen hat. 
 (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 129 Etiamsi mihi sint lingufe centum, sintoraque 
 centum, ferrea vox, ut Virgilius ait, aut potius 
 Ciceroniana eloquentia. (Zw. Epp. p. 84.) 
 
 130 Illic turn comitatem tuam e sinu uberrimo 
 profluentem non injucunde sum expertus. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 119.) 
 
 31 Der Grosse Tod. (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
446 
 
 NOTES BOOK VIII. 
 
 132 Plurirnum gaudeo te inter tot jactus telorum 
 versantem illaesum hactenus evasisse. (Bullin- 
 ger, MS.) 
 
 133 Ich mein der Tod, 
 Syg an der Thiir. 
 
 (Zw. Opp. 2, 2d part. p. 270.) 
 
 1 34 Willt du dann glych 
 Tod haben mich 
 
 In mitts der Tagen min 
 So soil's willig sin. (Ibid.) 
 
 135 Nun ist es um 
 
 Min Zung ist stumm 
 
 Darum ist Zyt 
 Das du min stryt. 
 
 136 Alle glaubige rufften Gott treuwillich an, 
 dass er ihren getreuwen Hirten weider uirichte. 
 (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 137 Nicolas vero germano nostro etiam obiit 
 servus suus, attamen non in aadibus suis. (Zw. 
 Epp. 88.) 
 
 138 Quis enim non dpleat publicam patrias salu- 
 tem, tubam Evangelii, magrianimum veritatis 
 
 buccinaiorem languere, intercidere (Zw. 
 
 Epp. 90.) 
 
 139 Heu quantum luctus fatis Zwinglium con- 
 cessisse importunus ille rumor suo vehementi 
 impetu divulgavit. (Zw. Epp. 91.) 
 
 140 Inspectis tuis litteris incredibilis quidam 
 sestus laetitiae pectus meum subiit. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 88.) 
 
 111 Ejulatum et luctum plusquam icemineum. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 155.) 
 
 142 QJ, T Q EO I ipiXsovffi veaviffKOg rsXevrd. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 90.) 
 
 143 E diris te mortis faucibus feliciter ereptum 
 negotiator quidam tigurinus. (Zw. Epp. p. 91.) 
 
 144 Als die Pestilenz im Jahre 1519, in dieser 
 Gegend grassirte, viele neigten sich zu einem 
 bessern Leben. (Georg. Vogelin. Ref. Hist. 
 Fiisslin Beytr. iv. 174.) 
 
 145 Patriam cole, suadeo et obsecro, et si hoc 
 possum jubeo. (Xyloctect Myconio.) 
 
 146 Nam res mess, te abeunte, non sunt minus 
 accisas quam si exercitui in procinctu stanti altera 
 alarum abstergatur. (Zw. Epp. p. 98.) 
 
 147 Zw. Epp. p. 103 and 111. 
 
 148 Morum tuorum elegantia, suavitasque in- 
 credibilis, qua omnes tibi devincis, etiam lapides, 
 ut sic dixerim. (Zw. Epp. p. 133.) 
 
 149 Renascent! Christianismo mirurn quam fa- 
 veant. (Zw. Epp. p. 120.) 
 
 150 Cardinalis illic invitavit amplissimis condi- 
 tionibus. (Ibid.) 
 
 151 Tumultus exoritur et maxima indignatio 
 vulgi erga lcpd$. (Ibid.) 
 
 152 Auriculas teneras mordaci radere vero non 
 usque adeo tutum est. (Ibid.) 
 
 153 Scotum plus profuisse rei Christianas quam 
 ipsum Paulum . . . quicquid eruditum furatum 
 ex Scoto. (Ibid.) 
 
 154 Cum pestilentissimis monstris. (Ibid.) 
 
 155 Si unquamimminebat periculum, jam immi- 
 net. (Zw. Epp. p. 120, 17th March, 1520.) 
 
 156 Sic regiert das Haus, schlaft, steht auf, 
 zankt, frtihstuckt, keift. . . . (Simml. Samml. 
 4 Wirz, i. 76.) 
 
 157 Armemus pectora nostra! pugnandum erit 
 contra teterrimos hostes. (Zw. Epp. p. 101.) 
 
 158 Benevolentia honestoque obsequip potius 
 allici quam animosa oppugnatione trahi. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 103.) 
 
 159 Christ us verus homo et verus Deus 
 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 206.) 
 
 160 Deus enim aeternus quum sit qui pro nobis 
 moritur, passionem ejus aeternam et perpetu6 
 salutarem esse oportet. (Zw. Epp. p. 206.) 
 
 161 Mori voluit ut nos vita restitueret 
 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 204.) 
 
 162 Necesse fuit ut voluntas humana in Christo 
 se divinae submitteret. (Ibid.) 
 
 163 Hostia est et victirna satisfaciens in asternum 
 pro peccatis omnium fidelium. (Zw. Opp. i. 253.) 
 Expurgata peccata multitudinis, hoc est, fidelis 
 populi. (Zw. Opp. i. 264.) 
 
 164 Sequitur meritum nostrprum operum nihil 
 esse quam vanitatem et stuhitiam, ne dieam im- 
 pietatem et ignorantem impudentiam. (Zw. Opp. 
 i. 290.) 
 
 165 Quotquot ad Deum venerunt unquam per 
 mortem Christi ad Deum venisse. (Ibid.) 
 
 166 Certus est quod quidquid ex Deo est bonum 
 sit. Si ergo Evangelium ex Deo bonum est. 
 (Zw. Opp. i. 208.) 
 
 167 Quanta caritate nos fures et perduelles. 
 
 168 Turn enim totus a Christo pendet. Christus 
 est ei ratio, consilium, justitia, innocentia et tota 
 salus. Christus in eo vivit, in eo agit. (Zw. 
 Opp. i. 233.) 
 
 169 Bonus vir in amore justitiaa liber et ketus 
 vivit. (Zw. Opp. i. 284.) 
 
 170 Ubi Deus, illic cura est et studium ad opera 
 bona urgens et impellens. (Zw. Opp. i. 213.) 
 
 171 Vita ergo pii hominis nihil aliud est nisi per- 
 petua quaedam et indefessa boni operatic quam 
 Deus incipit, ducit et absolvit. (Zw. Opp. i. 295.) 
 
 172 Quum ergo Deus pater nos elegit ex gratia 
 sua, traxitque et vocavit, cur ad eum accedere 
 non auderernus ? (Zw. Opp. i. 287.) 
 
 173 Quam concors sit spiriius Dei, dum nos tarn 
 procul dissiti, nihil colludentes, tam concorditer 
 Christi doctrinam docemus. (Zw. Opp. i. 276.) 
 
 174 Quam fortis sis in Christi praedicando. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 160.) 
 
 175 O Helvetian! longe feliciorem, si tandem 
 iceat te a bellis conquiescere ! (Zw. Epp. p. 
 128.) 
 
 176 At video mendacium esse, cum audiaris per 
 totam Helvetiam. (Zw. Epp. p. 135.) 
 
 177 Sequar te quoad potero. . . . (Zw. Epp. p. 
 134.) 
 
 178 Ut capite felicis patriae nostraa a morbo 
 erepto, sanitas tandem in reliqua membra reci- 
 peretur. (Zw. Epp. p. 147.) 
 
 179 Omniasursum deorsumque moventur. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 142.) 
 
 180 Ut nihil proferre caput queat, cujus non con- 
 rarium e regione emergat. (Ibid.) 
 
 181 Ecclesiam puto, ut sanguine parta est, ita 
 sanguine instaurari. (Zw. Epp. p. 143.) 
 
 182 Eo plures armabis Hercules qui fimum tot 
 lactenus bourn efferent. (Zw. Epp. p. 144.) 
 
 183 Etiamsi fulmine Jovis istius fulminetur. 
 Ibid.) 
 
 )S4 Misc. Mig. iii. 679 696. Wirz, i. 79, 78.) 
 185 Vetuit eos Senatus quicquam praedicare 
 quod non ex sacrarum literarum utriusque Testa- 
 menti fontibus hausissent. (Zw. Opp. iii. 28.) 
 
 6 \vi r wareil a ber gut geriistet. (Misc. Tig. 
 i. 681. Wirz, i. 334.) 
 
 187 Wirz, i. 510. Sebast. Wagner, von Kirch- 
 lofer, p. 18. 
 
 188 Animi tui candorem simplicern et simplicita- 
 em candidissimam, hue tua pusilla quidem epis- 
 ola. . . . (Zw. Epp. p. 186.) 
 
 189 Ita ipse in literis manuscriptis. (J. J. Hott. 
 iii. 54.) 
 
NOTES BOOK VIII. 
 
 447 
 
 190 Scripta tamen habeatur in fastis supernorum 
 civium. (Zw. Epp. p. 186.) 
 
 191 Ut mori pro Christo non usque adeo de- 
 trectem apud me. (Zw. Epp. p. 187.) 
 
 192 Donee Christum, cucullatis nugis longe a 
 nobis exulem pro virili restituerim. (Ibid.) 
 
 93 Dum Lutherum semel legerint, ut putarent 
 
 stubellam suam plenam esse dsemonibus 
 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 137.) 
 
 94 Clamatur hie per totam civitatem : Luthe- 
 rum comburendum et ludi magistrum. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 153.) 
 
 195 Non aliter me impellunt quam procellae ma- 
 rinae navem aliquam. (Zw. Epp. p. 159.) 
 
 196 Im6 ne in mentem eum admitterem. (Ibid.) 
 
 197 Si Christus non esset, jam olim defecissem. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 160.) 
 
 198 Ich hab by Im ein gross Buch gesehen, 
 Locorum communium, als ich by Ihm wass, a. 
 1521, dorinnen er Sententias und dogmata Pa- 
 trum, flyssig jedes an seinem ort verzeichnet. 
 (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 199 Dieweil er ein Burger war und sein Vater 
 des Raths. (Fridolin Ryff's Chronik.) 
 
 M Disse che M. di Lutrech et M. de 1'Escu 
 havia ditto che'l voleva che ie recchia del Papa 
 fusse la major parte restasse di la so persona. 
 (Gradenigo, the Venetian Ambassador at Rome, 
 MS. 1523.) 
 
 201 Sagt wie es ein fromme Eidtgnosseschafft 
 zertrennen und umbkehren wiirde. (Bullino-er, 
 MS.) 
 
 202 Sie tragen billig rothe hilt und mantel, dan 
 schulte man sie, so fallen cronen und Duggaten 
 heraus, winde man sie, so runt deines Bruders, 
 Vaters, Sohns und guten Freunds Blut heraus. 
 (Ibid) 
 
 203 Ego veterem Christi ecclesiae unitatem in- 
 staurare non desinam. (Zw. Opp. iii. 47.) 
 
 104 Gustum non aliquis humanarum traditionum 
 cibus vobis arridere potuerit. (Zw. Opp. i. 2.) 
 
 205 Aber menschenfleisch verkoufen un ze Tod 
 schlahen. . . . (Zw. Opp. ii. 2d part, 301.) 
 
 206 So haben wirs von dem Metzger erkaufFt. 
 . . . (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 207 Ovilis dominici populator esse, non custos 
 aut pastor. (Zw. Opp. iii.) 
 
 208 Erat tota oratio vehemens et stomachi su- 
 percilique plena. (Zw. Opp. 3, 8.) 
 
 209 Infirmos quosdam nuper Christo lucrifactos 
 sacerdotes ofTensos ea sentirem ex tacitis pallori- 
 bus ac suspiriis. (Zw. Opp. 9.) 
 
 . 21 Frustra diu movi omnem lapidem. (Ibid.) 
 
 211 Ibi ego quiescere ac suspiriis rem agere 
 coepi apud eum qui audit gemitum compeditorum. 
 (Zw. Opp. 3, 9.) 
 
 212 Unicas esse per quas simplices Christiani ad 
 agnitionem salutis inducerentur. (Zw. Opp. 
 10.) 
 
 213 Ob communem fidem, ob communem bap- 
 tismum, ob Christum vitas salutisque auctorem. 
 (Zw. Opp. 3, 11.) 
 
 214 Coepit murmur audiri civium indignantium. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 215 Imo Christianismum ad communem justi- 
 tiam servandam esse potentissimum. (Zw. Opp. 
 iii. 13.) 
 
 216 Ceremonias hand quicquam aliud agere 
 quam et Christo et ejus fidelibus os oblinere. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 217 Quidquid hie agitur divino fit afflatu, non 
 humano ratiocinio. (Ibid.) 
 
 218 Extra illam neminem salvari. (Zw. Opp. iii. 
 3, 15.) 
 
 219 Ut, vulgo jactatum sit, nunquam ultra co- 
 pias sarturos. (Zw. Epp. 203.) 
 
 220 Vale renascentis Theologiae decus. (Letter 
 of Urban Regius. Zw. Epp. 205.) 
 
 221 Die andern aber aus Rinnen und Pfiitzen. 
 (Simml. Samml. Wirz, I. 244.) 
 
 222 Ut cornu vehemens taurus aristas. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 203.) 
 
 223 De deluctu et libero ciborum usu. (Zw. 
 Opp. i. 1.) 
 
 224 Et ut iis qui ob malorum episcoporum sae- 
 vitiam a nobis submoventur prodesse velis. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 208.) 
 
 225 Nulla praeterierat hora, in qua non fierent 
 . . . consultationes insidiosissimae. (Osw. Myc. 
 Vit. Zw.) 
 
 226 "Ero^a $c%/a*a Xuypa. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw. 
 199.) 
 
 227 Zof Eifti; agnosces me postea. (Ibid.) 
 
 228 Quos ita metuo ut litus ahum fluctuum un- 
 das minacium. (Zw. Epp. 203.) 
 
 229 Malo esse Christianus cum multorum in- 
 vidia quarn relinquere Christum propter munda- 
 norum amicitiarn. (Zw. Epp. 200, 22d May.) 
 
 230 Nemo vos filios ecclesiae de ecclesia tollat. 
 (Zw. Opp. 3, 35.) 
 
 231 In umbrarum locum lux quam ocissime in- 
 ducatur. (Zw. Opp. 3, 69.) 
 
 232 Nam er oin anderen Weg an die Hand ; 
 schike seine Boten . . . &c. (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 233 Und den Wahren alten Glauben erhallten. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 234 Liess die Rathstuben einen grossen Knall. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 235 Sondern von einim jedem Burger wyssen. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 236 Oculos in me procacius torquent, ut cujus 
 caput peti gauderent. (Zw. Opp. iii. 29.) 
 
 237 De claritate et certitudine verbi Dei. (Zw. 
 Opp. i. 66.) 
 
 238 Ein gottlich Vermanung an die ersamen, 
 &c., eidgnossen zt. Schwyz. (Zw. Opp. ii. 2d 
 part, 206.) 
 
 239 ... Kam ein langer, gerader, barfusser 
 Monch . . . ritte auf einer Eselin. (Fiisslin 
 Beytrage, iv. 39.) 
 
 240 A tali Franciscano, Gallo, quae omniae marc 
 superstitionum confluere faciunt, inaudita. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 207.) 
 
 241 Bruder da irrest du. (Fiisslin Beytr. iv. 40.) 
 
 242 Dass er beyde Hande zusammen hob. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 243 Quicquid facio venenum est illis. Sed est 
 in quern omnis spes mea reclinat. (Zw. Epp. 192.) 
 
 244 Wolt er keine pracht tryben mit latein 
 schwatzen, sondern gut teutsch reden. (Bullin- 
 ger, MSC.) 
 
 245 Absit a grege Christiano, ut caput tarn lutu- 
 lentum et peccatis plenum acceptans, Christum 
 abjiciat. (Zw. Epp. p. 195.) 
 
 246 Kein kosten soil uns dauern dran, 
 
 Wo wir Monch und Priester mogen ha'n, 
 Und sollt'es kosten hundert kronen . . . 
 
 (Bern. Mausol. iv. Wirz, K. 
 Gesch, i. 383.) 
 
 217 Je mehr je besser ! Kamen doch noch 
 
 Zehn ! (Ibid.) 
 
 218 "Wenn mir nicht war' mit Todten wohl, 
 So lag nicht mancher Acker voll, etc. 
 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 249 Wenn es stiind, wie im Anfang der Kilchen, 
 Ich triige vielleicht grobes Tuch und 
 Zwilchen. (Ibid.) 
 
448 
 
 NOTES BOOKS VIII. IX. 
 
 250 The German is very expressive. So bin 
 Teh auf gut Deutsch ein Hurenwirth. (Bern. 
 Mausol. iv. Wirz, K. Gesch. i. 383.) 
 
 251 Wir mochten fast kaum ein Eselein ha'n. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 252 Anhorn, Wiedergeburt der Ev. Kirchen in 
 den 3 Biindten. (Chur. 1680. Wirz, i. 557.) 
 
 253 Simml. Samml. vi. Wirz, K. Gesch. i. 
 275. 
 
 234 Hinc cum scorto redeuntem in itinere de- 
 prehendit, adgreditur, lethiferoque vulnere caedit 
 et tandem moritur. (Zw. Epp. p. 206.) 
 
 255 Anna Reinhardt, von Gerold Meyer von 
 Knonau, p. 25. 
 
 256 Ein hochheiliges Biindniss. (Ibid.) 
 
 257 Qui veritus sis, te marito non tarn feliciter 
 usurum Christum in negotio verbi sui. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 335.) 
 
 258 Thaten sich zusamrnen etliche priester. 
 (Bullinger, MS.) 
 
 259 Zu Einsidlen hatten sie alle Sicherheit dahin 
 zu gehen und dort zu wohnen. (J. J. Hottinger 
 Helv. K. Gesch. iii. 86.) 
 
 260 Und wurden eins an den Bischoff zu Con- 
 stantz und gmein Eidtgnossen ein Supplication zu 
 stellen. (Bullinger, MSC.) 
 
 261 Et universa Christianorum multitudo ad 
 caput suum, quod Christus est, redeat. (Suppli- 
 catio quorundam apud Helvetios Evangelistarum. 
 (Zw. Opp. iii. 18.) 
 
 262 Evangelium irremisso tenore promulgare 
 statuimus. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 363 Suntne casti ? reddidit : Quatenus humana 
 imbecillitas permittit. (Zw. Opp. i. III. 21.) 
 
 264 N e quando moles ista non ex patris ccelestis 
 sententia constructa, cum fragore longe pernicio- 
 siore corruat. (Zw. Opp. iii. 24.) 
 
 265 Arnica et pia paranesis ad communem Hel- 
 vetiorum civitatem scripta, ne evangelicpe doc- 
 trina? cursum impediant, &c. (Zw. Opp. i. 39.) 
 
 "66 Divini enim verbi auctoritatem, libertatis 
 christianae et divinae gratis prassidium nobis adesse 
 conspicietis. (Zw. Opp. i. 63.) 
 
 267 Es wass zwahren gross zudenen Zyten. . . . 
 (Bullinger, MSC.) 
 
 263 Da liess die Stube einen grossen Knall. 
 (Fiisslin Beytr. iv. 39.) 
 
 269 Cum invalescente Baccho, disputationes, 
 imo verius jurgia. . . . (Zw. Epp. 230.) 
 
 270 Venit puer, quern misisti, inter prandendum 
 . . . (Zw. Epp. 209.) 
 
 271 Deus ccepta fortunet ! (Ibid.) 
 
 272 Is permaneas, qui es, in Christo Jesu. . 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 210.) 
 
 273 Boni qui pauci sunt, commendant libellos 
 vestros ; alii non laudant nee vituperant. (Ibid.) 
 
 274 Belli furor occupat omnia. (Ibid.) 
 
 275 Nihil ob id apud Helvetios agendum de 
 iis rebus quae Christi gloriam possunt augere. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 276 Tu vero audi. Haec dum scriberem, irruit 
 praeco, a Senatoribus missus. . . . (Zw. Epp. p. 
 
 277 Simml. Samml. vi. 
 
 278 Hoc audio vix alios esse per Helvetiam, qui 
 pejus velint sanae doctrinse. (Zw. Epp. p. 226.) 
 
 279 Conjux infirma. (Zw. Epp. p. 192.) 
 
 280 Veniat ! efficiemus enim ne dormiendum sit 
 ei sub dio. (Zw. Epp. p. 216.) 
 
 281 Nil exprobarunt nisi quod sim Lutheranus. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 282 Expellitur ecce miser Myconius a Senatu 
 Lucernano. (Zw. Epp. p. 215.) 
 
 283 Nee ventos esse, nee imbres, sed grandines et 
 fulmina. (Zw. Epp. p. 217.) 
 
 284 Regat, vehat, festinet, maneat, acceleret, 
 moretur, mergat. (Ibid.) 
 
 285 Osteatim quaerere quod edam. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 245.) 
 
 286 Uss anstifften der geistlichen, Die zu alien 
 Zyten, Christum Pilate und Herodi viirstellen. 
 (MSC.) 
 
 287 Plus enim metuo ne forte lenior mitiorque 
 fuerim. (De semper casta Virgine Maria, Zw. 
 Opp. i. 104.) 
 
 288 Si vel ignis vel alio quodam supplicii genere 
 tollaris e medio. (Ibid.) 
 
 289 Frater vester germanus nunquam desinam, 
 si modo vos fratres Christi esse perrexeritis. 
 (Zw. Opp. i. 107.) 
 
 290 Vides enim, piissime Jesu, aures eorum 
 septas esse nequissimis susurronibus, sycophantis, 
 lucrionibus. . . . (Zw. Opp. iii. 74.) 
 
 291 Si fundamentum aliud praater te jecero, de- 
 moliaris ! (Ibid.) 
 
 292 O suavissima vitis, cujus vinitor Pater, pal- 
 mites vere nos sumus; sationem tuam ne de- 
 seras. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 1 Hie . . . inyalescit opinio, me esse ab amicis 
 captum e Francia missis. (L. Epp. ii. 5.) 
 
 2 Et iter festinantes cursu equites ipsum pedes- 
 trem raptim tractum fuisse ut sanguis e digitis 
 erumperet. (Cochlaeus, p. 39.) 
 
 3 Fuit qui testatus sit, visum a se Lutheri cada- 
 ver transfossum. . . . (Pallavicini Hist. Cone. 
 Trid. i. p. 122.) 
 
 4 Molem vulgi imminentis ferre non possunt. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 13.) 
 
 5 Qui me libero insanierunt, nunc me captivo 
 ita formidant ut incipiant mitigare. (Ibid.) 
 
 6 Nos vitam vix redempturos, nisi accensis 
 candelis undique eum requiramus. (Ibid.) 
 
 7 Gerbelii Ep. in M. S. C. Heckelianis. Lind- 
 ner, Leb. Luth. p. 244. 
 
 8 Mirabilis in iis voluptas, immo ambrosia quae- 
 dam Cffilestis. (Corp. Ref. i. 128.) 
 
 9 Spiritum Martini nolim temere in hac causa 
 interpellare. (Corp. Ret. i. 211.) 
 
 10 Pater noster charissimus vivit. (Corp. Ref. 
 i. 389.) 
 
 11 Dicitur parari proscriptio horrenda. (Ibid.) 
 
 12 Dicuntur signatse chartse proscriptionis bis 
 mille missae quoque ad Insbruck. (Ibid.) 
 
 13 Scholastic! quorum supra millia ibi tune fue- 
 runt. (Spalantini Annales, 1521, October.) 
 
 14 Equitem videres ac ipse vix agnosceres. (L. 
 Epp. ii. 11.) 
 
 15 Nunc sum hie otiosus, sicut inter captives 
 liber. (L. Epp. p. 3, 12 May.) 
 
 16 Quanquam et hilariter et libenter omnia mihi 
 ministret. (L. Epp. ii. p. 13, 15 August.) 
 
NOTES BOOK IX. 
 
 449 
 
 17 Ego mirabilis captivus qui et volens et nolens 
 nic sedeo. (L. Epp. ii. p. 4, 12 May.) 
 
 18 Tu fac ut pro me ores : hac una re opus mihi 
 est. Quicquid de me fit in publico, nihil mceror; 
 ego in quiete tandem sedeo. (L. Epp. ii. p. 4, 
 10 June, 1521.) 
 
 19 Ego hie sedens tota die faciem Ecclesiae ante 
 me constituo. (L. Epp. ii. 1.) 
 
 20 Verebar ego ne aciem deserere viderer. 
 Jbid.) 
 
 21 Mallern inter carbones vivos ardere, quam 
 olus semivivus, atque utinam non mortuus pu- 
 tere. (L. Epp. ii. 10.) 
 
 22 Cervicem esse objectandam publico furori. 
 ,L. Epp. ii. 89.) 
 
 23 Nihil magis opto, quam furoribus adversari- 
 orum occurrere, objecto jugulo. (L. Epp. ii. 1.) 
 
 24 Etiam si peream, nihil peribit Evangelic. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 10.) 
 
 25 Nos soli adhuc stamus in acie : te quaerent 
 post me. (L. Epp. ii. p. 2.) 
 
 26 Quo citus id tentaverit hoc citius et ipse et 
 sui peribunt, et ego revertar. (L. Epp. ii. p. 10.) 
 
 27 Auctum est malum, quo Wormatia3 labora- 
 bam. (L. Epp. ii. p. 17.) 
 
 28 Sedeo dolens, sicut puerpera, lacer et sau- 
 cius et cruentus. (L. Epp. ii. p. 50, 9 Sept.) 
 
 29 Gratias Christo, qui me sine reliquiis sanctas 
 Crucis non dere linquit. (Ibid.) 
 
 30 Nihil gemens pro ecclesia Dei. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 22, 13 July.) 
 
 31 Utinam hac vili anima mea ipsius vitam 
 emere queam. (Corp. Ref. 415, 6 July.) 
 
 32 Sine intermissione scribo. (L. Epp. ii. 6 
 and 16.) 
 
 33 Cum quiescere non posset. (Cochlaeus, 
 Acta Lutheri, p. 39.) 
 
 34 Und der Papst miisse ihm beichten., (L. 
 Opp. xvi. p. 701.) 
 
 35 Cortex meus esse potest durior, sed nucleus 
 meus mollis et dulcis est. (L. Opp. xvii. Lat ii 
 p. 213.) 
 
 36 Zu zeiten gehet er inn die Erdbeer am 
 Schlossberg. (Mathesius, p. 33.) 
 
 37 Theologisabar etiam ibi inter retia et canes 
 . . . tantum misericordiae et doloris miscuit mys- 
 terium. (L. Epp. ii. p. 43.) 
 
 38 Quid enim ista imago, nisi Diabolum signifi- 
 cat per insidias suas et impios magistros canes 
 suos. (Ibid.) 
 
 39 Sic saevit Papa et Satan ut servatas etiam 
 animas perdat. (L. Epp. ii. p. 44.) 
 
 40 Coegit me ergo et humanas traditiones viola- 
 rem, necessitas servandi juris divini. (Corp. Ref. 
 i. p. 441.) 
 
 41 At mihi non obtrudent uxorem. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 40.) 
 
 42 Me enim vehementer movet, quod sacerdo- 
 tum ordo, a Deo institutus, est liber, non autem 
 monachorum qui sua sponte statum eligerunt. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 34.) 
 
 43 Domirms Jesus erudiat et liberet nos, per 
 misericordiam suarn, in libertatem nostram. (Me- 
 lancthon on Celibacy, 6th Aug.. 1521. L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 40.) 
 
 44 L. Opp. (W.) xxii. p. 1466. 
 
 45 Es ist nicht mehr denn eine einige Geist- 
 lichkHt, die da heilig ist, und heilig macht. . . . 
 (L. Opp. xvii. p. 718.) 
 
 46 Adolescentes liberare ex isto inferno cceliba- 
 tus. (L. Opp. ii. p. 95.) 
 
 47 Dass unser Blut mocht schreien, und dringen 
 
 sein Gericht, dass sein bald ein Ende wu'rde. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 105.) 
 
 48 Non continebor quin idolum Moguntinum 
 invadam, cum suo lupanari Hallensi. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 59, 7th October.) 
 
 49 Huic seculo opus esse acerrimo sale. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. 463.) 
 
 50 Non passurum principem, scribi in Mogunti- 
 num. (L. Epp. ii. 94.) 
 
 51 Potius te et principem ipsum perdam et om- 
 nem creaturam. (L. Epp. ii. p. 94.) 
 
 62 Non sic, Spalatine, non sic, princeps. (Ibid.) 
 
 53 Ut acerbiora tradat. (L. Epp. ii. p. 110,) 
 doubtless radial, 
 
 54 Derselbig Gott lebet noch, da zweifel nur 
 niemand an ... (L. Epp. ii. p. 113 ) 
 
 55 Helwing, Gesch. der Brandeb. ii. p. 605. 
 
 56 Hoc enim proprium est illorum hominum (ex 
 March. Brandeburg) ut quam semel in religione 
 sententiam approbaverint, non facile deserant. 
 (Leutingeri Opp. i. 41.) 
 
 57 Larvam cardinalatus et pompam episcopalem 
 ablegare. (L. Epp. ii. p. 132.) 
 
 58 Codex Diplom. Ecclesiae Mogunt. iv. p. 460. 
 
 59 Et solus hie liber omnium lingua, manu, 
 oculis, auribus, cordibus, versaretur. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 116.) 
 
 60 Machete er sich heimlich aus seiner Patmo 
 auf. (L. Opp. xviii. 238.) 
 
 61 Determinatio theologorum Parisiensium su- 
 per doctrina Lutherana. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 366 to 
 388.) 
 
 62 Damnarunt triumviri Beda, Quercus, et 
 Christophoros. Nomina sunt horum monstrorum 
 etiam vulgo nunc nota Belua, Stercus, Christo- 
 tomus. (Zwinglii Epp. i. p. 176.) 
 
 63 Corp. Ref. i. p. 396. 
 
 61 Scias me positurum animam citius quam 
 fidem. (Ibid.) 
 
 65 Evangelium obscuratum est ... fides ex- 
 tincta ... Ex Christianismo, contra omnem 
 sensurn spiritus, facta est quaedam philosophica 
 vivendi ratio. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 400.) 
 
 66 Per viam vexatus rumore vario de nostrorum 
 quorumdam importunitate. (L. Epp. ii. p. 109.) 
 
 67 Liess in der Stille seine Freunde fodern. 
 (L. Opp. xviii. p. 238.) 
 
 63 Quo si mihi carendum est, mortem fortius 
 tulero. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 453455.) 
 
 69 Omnia vehementer placent quae video et 
 audio. (L. Epp. ii. p. 109.) 
 
 70 Einem 2 oder 3 befehlen Mess zu halten und 
 die andern 12 von denen das Sacrament sub 
 utraque specie mil empfahen. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 
 460.) 
 
 71 Der meiste Theil jener Parthasi Niederlasnder 
 seyn. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 476.) 
 
 72 Sed et ego amplius non faciam missam priva- 
 tim in aeternum. (L. Epp. ii. p. 36.) 
 
 73 Wollen die Mo'nche nicht Mess halten, sie 
 werden's bald in der Kiichen und Keller emp- 
 finden. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 461.) 
 
 74 Mit dem Messhalten keine Neuerung ma- 
 chen. (Ibid.) 
 
 75 Signa ab hominibus reperta admonent tan- 
 tum ; signa a Deo tradita, proaterquarn quod ad- 
 moneut, certificanf etiam cor de voluntate Dei. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 478.) 
 
 70 Kein Mb'nch werde in der Kappe selig. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 433.) 
 
 77 Dass man nidit oben Stuck von einem 
 Kloster da sey gestanden, merken moge. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. p. 483.) 
 
450 
 
 NOTES BOOK IX. 
 
 78 "Etliche unter den Burgern, etliche unter 
 den Studenten," said the Prior, in his address to 
 the Elector. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 483.) 
 
 79 In summa es sollen die Aufruhr etliche Stu- 
 denten von Erfi'urth erwerckt haben. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. p. 490.) 
 
 80 Und die anderen ScJdrymstege alle aussen 
 lassen. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 512.) 
 
 81 Wer mit Siinden beschwert und nach der 
 Gnade Gottes hungrig und durstig. (Corp. Ref. 
 i. p. 540.) 
 
 82 Wenn man communicirt hat, so singt man : 
 Agnus Dei carmen. (Ibid.) 
 
 83 Mir ist das Wort fast in grosser Geschwin- 
 digkeit eingefallen. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 545.) 
 
 84 Keinen offenbaren Sunder zu dulden 
 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 540.) 
 
 85 Sacerdos constituitur medius inter Deum et 
 populum. (Th. Aquin. Summa iii. p. 22.) 
 
 86 Perfectio hujus sacramenti non est in usu 
 fidelium, sed in consecratione materiae. (Th. 
 Aquin. Summa, Quest. 80.) 
 
 87 Advolasse Gabrielem Angelum. (Camerarii 
 Vita Melancthonis, p. 48.) 
 
 88 Breviter, de sese praedicant, viros esse pro- 
 pheticos et apostolicos. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 514.) 
 
 89 Ut rerum potiatur et instauret sacra et res- 
 publicas tradat sanctis viris tenendas. (Camerar. 
 Vit. Mel. p. 45.) 
 
 90 Quod nos docemus, ille facit. 
 
 91 Einen Priester der das Venerabile getragen 
 mit Steinen geworfen. (Seek. p. 482.) 
 
 92 Sunt et illic in vincula conjecti. (Mel. Corp. 
 Ref. i. p. 513.) 
 
 93 Hue advolarunt tres viri, duo lanifices, lite- 
 rarum rudes, literatus tertius est. (Ibid.) 
 
 94 Incedens more et habitu militum istorum 
 quos Lanzknecht dicimus. (L. Epp. ii. p. 245.) 
 
 95 Esse sibi cum Deo familiaria colloquia, videre 
 futura .... (Mel. Electori, 27th Dec., 1521. 
 Corp. Ref. i. p. 514.) 
 
 96 Censebat enim neque admittendum neque 
 rejiciendum quicquam temere. (Gamer. Vit. Mel. 
 p. 49.) 
 
 97 Electori lucernae Israel. (Camer. Vit. Mel. 
 p. 513.) 
 
 98 Dariiber auch leiden was S. C. G. leiden 
 sollt. (Camer. Vit. Mel. p. 537.) 
 
 99 Ne princeps manus cruentet in prophetis. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 135.) 
 
 i Ubi fiebant omnia in dies difficiliora. (Ga- 
 mer. Vit. Mel. p. 49.) 
 
 101 Irruendum et demoliendum statim. (Ibid.) 
 
 102 Die Bilder zu stiirmen und aus den Kirchen 
 zu werfen. (Math. p. 31.) 
 
 103 Etliche Fiirsten ihre Bewandten abgefordert. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 560.) 
 
 i4 Perdita et funditus diruta. (Cam. Vit. Mel. 
 p. 52.) 
 
 105 Lutherum revocavimus ex heremo suo mag- 
 nis de causis. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 566.) 
 
 106 Mochte ich ehe zehn Tode leyden. (Wieder 
 Emser, L. Opp. xviii. p. 613.) 
 
 107 Ich krieche zu seiner Gnaden. (L. Opp. 
 xviii. p. 615.) 
 
 1 08 Quasras num experti sint spirituals illas 
 angustias et nativitates divinas, mortes infernos- 
 que. (L. Epp. ii. p. 215.) 
 
 109 Mit Schweinen und Schellen ... in Koth 
 geworfen. (Weyn. Ann Seek. p. 482.) 
 
 11 In ihre la'i'sche Hande reiche. (L. Opp. 
 xviii. p. 285.) 
 
 111 Germaniam in sanguine natare. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 157.) 
 
 112 Ita enim res postulat ipsa. (L. Epp. ii. p. 135.) 
 
 113 So machte er sich rnit unglaublicher Freu- 
 digkeit des Geistes, im Nahmen Gottes auf den 
 Weg. (Seek. p. 458.) 
 
 114 See the narrative of Kessler, with its details, 
 in the simple language of that age, in Bernet, 
 Johann. Kessler, p. 27. Hahnhard Erzahlungen, 
 iii. p. 300, and Marheinecke Gesch. der Ref. ii, 
 p. 321, 2d edit. 
 
 115 In einem rothen Schlopli, in blossen Hosen 
 und Wamms. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 116 Furit Satanas ; et fremunt vicini undique, 
 nescio quot mortibus et infernis. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 153.) 
 
 117 Er halt meinen Herrn Christum fur ein 
 Mann aus Stroh geflochten. (L. Epp. ii. p. 139.) 
 
 118 Und ja nicht wehren ... so sie mich fahen 
 oder todten will. (L. Epp. p. 140.) 
 
 119 Der wahre, dritte und lezte Elias. . . . (L. 
 Opp. (L.) xviii. p. 271.) 
 
 120 Domini enim sumus vitas et mortis. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 150.) 
 
 121 Non enim ad fidem et ad ea quae fidei sunt, 
 ullus cogendus est. ... (L. Epp. ii. p. 151.) 
 
 122 Ich wollte nicht einen Birnstiel drauf geben. 
 (L. Opp. (L.) xviii. p. 255.) 
 
 123 Grosse Freude und Frohlocken unter Ge- 
 lahrten und Ungelahrten. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 266.) 
 
 124 Aus sonderlicher Schickung des Allmach- 
 tigen. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 125 Imo, inquit, angeli, non hominis vocem mini 
 audisse videor. (Camerarius, p. 12.) 
 
 126 In alium virum mutatus est. 'L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 156.) 
 
 127 Ego Carlstadium offendi, quod ordinationes 
 suas cessavi.- (L. Epp. ii. p. 177.) 
 
 128 Philippi et Carlstadii lectiones, ut sunt op- 
 timae. . . . (L. Epp. ii. p. 284.) 
 
 129 Rursum ad ipsum confluere . . . (Came- 
 rar. p. 52.) 
 
 130 Vehementer superbus et impatiens .... 
 credi vult plena auctoritate, ad primam vocem 
 . . . (L. Epp. ii. p. 179.) 
 
 131 Audivit Lutherus placide . . . (Camerar. 
 p. 52.) 
 
 132 Cum et solum pedibus et propositam men- 
 sulam manibus feriret. (Ibid.) 
 
 133 Quid pollicentes de mirabilibus affectioni- 
 bus. (Camerar. p. 53.) 
 
 134 Ihren Geist haue er uber die Schnauze. 
 (L. Opp. Altenburg. Augs. iii. p. 137.) 
 
 135 Spumabat et fremebat et furebat. (L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 179.) 
 
 136 Ganz klare und griindliche Schrift. 
 
 137 Verum omnia nunc elimare ccepimus Phi- 
 lippus et ego. (L. Epp. ii. p. 176.) 
 
 138 Ingenti labore et studio. (L. Epp. p. 236.) 
 
 139 Singulis diebus decies millia chartarum sub 
 tribus prelis. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 140 Gesch d. deutsch. Bibel Uebersetz. 
 
 141 Qui et alicubi in unum congest! rogum pub- 
 lice combusti sunt. 
 
 142 ... mulieres, et quilibet idiotae . . . avi- 
 dissime legerent. (Cochlaeus, p. 50.) 
 
 143 Adversus quas non uno nobis, ut ita dicam, 
 Hercule opus est. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 137.) 
 
 144 Video dogmatum aciem pulchre instructam 
 adversus tyrannidem pharisaicam. (Er. Epp. 
 p. 949.) 
 
 145 La Sorame de Theologie, par Philippe Me- 
 
NOTES BOOK IX. 
 
 451 
 
 lancthon. (Geneve, 1551. Jehan Calvin aux 
 
 lecteurs.) 
 
 146 "Librum invictum," said he another time, 
 " non sojum immortalitate sed et canone eccle- 
 siastico dignum." (De servo arbitrio.) 
 
 147 Loci communes theologici. Bale, 1521, p. 
 35, a rare edition. See for the subsequent revi- 
 sions, that of Erlangen, 1828, a reprint of that of 
 Bale, 1561. 
 
 148 Vult te intueri Filium Dei sedentem ad dex- 
 teram Patris, mediatorem interpellantem pro no- 
 bis. (Ibid.) 
 
 149 Quandoquidem ornnia quae eveniunt, neces- 
 sario eveniunt juxta divinam praedestinationem, 
 nulla est voluntatis nostrae libertas. Loci comm. 
 theol. Bale, 1521, p. 35. 
 
 150 See the edition of 1561, reprinted in 1829, 
 pages 14 to 44, the several chapters, De tribus 
 personis ; De divinitate Filii ; De duabus natu- 
 ris in Christo ; Testimonia quod Filius sit per- 
 sona ; testimonia refutantia Arianos ; De discer- 
 nendis proprietatibus humanae et divinse naturae 
 Christi ; De Spiritu sancto, &c. &c. 
 
 151 Hoc est Christum cognoscere, beneficia ejus 
 cognoscere, &c. (Ibid.) 
 
 152 Heu ! infelicem hoc novo partu Germaniam ! 
 (Cochl.) 
 
 153 Jactant libellutn regis Angliae ; sed leum 
 ilium suspicor sub pelle tectum an allusion to 
 Lee, Henry the Eighth's chaplain, punning on 
 his name. (L. Epp. ii. p. 213.) 
 
 154 He was tall, strong-built, and proportioned, 
 and had an air of authority and empire. (Col- 
 lier's Eccles. Hist, of Great Britain, fol. ii. 1.) 
 
 155 Cum illis adolescentibus una psallebat, sal- 
 tabat, sermones leporis plenos habebat, ridebat, 
 jocabatur. (Polyd. Vergilius, Angl. Hist. Bale, 
 1570, fol. p. 633.) 
 
 156 Surgebat media nocte ut nocturnis religioso- 
 rum precibus interesset. (Sanders, p. 5.) 
 
 157 Sub regio vestitu Divi Francisci habitu 
 utebatur. (Ibid.) 
 
 158 Legebat studiose libros divi Thomae Aqui- 
 natis. (Polyd. Vergil, p. 634.) 
 
 159 Primum libros Lutheranos, quorum magnus 
 jam numerus per venerat in manus suorum An- 
 glorum, comburendos curavit. (Polyd. Vergil, 
 p. 664.) a 
 
 160 Uti sella aurea, uti pulvino aureo, uti velo 
 aureo ad mensam. (Ibid.) 
 
 161 Primus episcoporum et cardinalium, vesti- 
 tum exteriorem sericum sibi induit. (Polyd. Ver- 
 gil, p. 633.) 
 
 162 Galerum cardinalium, ordinis insignem, sub- 
 lime a ministro praeferebat . . . super altare col 
 locabat. . . . (Polyd. Vergil, p. 645.) 
 
 163 Knapp's Nachlese, ii. p. 458. 
 
 164 Meque adversus venenata jacula hostis earn 
 oppugnantis objicerem. (Assertio seplem sacra 
 menlorum adv. M. Lutherum in prologo.) 
 
 165 Omnis Christi servus, omnis aetas. omnis 
 sexus, omnis ordo consurgat. (Ibid.) 
 
 166 Et qui nocuit verbo malitiae, supplicii prosi 
 cxemplo. (Ibid.) 
 
 167 Minim est quanto nixu parturiens, quam 
 nihil peperit, nisi merum ventum. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 Collier, Eccl. Hist. Gr. Br. p. 17. 
 
 1 69 Burnet, Hist, of the Ref. of England, i. p. 30 
 
 170 Intra paucos menses, liber ejus a multis 
 chalcographis in multa millia multiplicatus. 
 (Cochleeus, p. 44.) 
 
 171 Ut totum orbem christianum et gaudio et 
 admirarione repleverit. 
 
 172 (L. Epp. ii. p. 236.) Mea in ipsos exercebo 
 
 58 
 
 cornua, irritaturus Satanam, donee effusis viribus 
 et cornatibus corruat in se ipso. 
 
 173 Confusi et prostrati jacent a facie verborum 
 stius tonitrui. (Contra Henricum regem. Opp. 
 
 Lat. ii. p. 336.) 
 
 174 Hie sto, hie sedeo, hie maneo, hie glorior, 
 lie triumpho, hie insulto papistis . . . (Contra 
 Henricum regem. Opp. Lat. ii. p. 342.) 
 
 175 Nee magnum si ego regern terra contemno. 
 [Contra Henricum regem. p. 344, verso.) 
 
 176 3 L. Opp. Leipz. xviii. p. 209. 
 
 177 Canem dixissem rabidum, imo lupum rapa- 
 cissimum, aut sasvissimam quamdam ursam. 
 
 Cochlaeus, p. 60.) 
 
 178 Reverendus frater, pater, potator, Lutherus. 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 61.) 
 
 179 Si ... suas resorbeat et sua relingat ster- 
 cora. (Cochlaeus, p. 62.) 
 
 180 Sentinas, cloacas, latrinas . . . stercora. 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 63.) 
 
 181 So ergiest er, gleichwie eine Schlang vom 
 Himmel geworfen. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 212.) The 
 original is in Latin Velut a coalo dejectus ser- 
 pens, virus effundit in terras. 
 
 182 Und durch sein schadlich Anblasen das 
 hollische Feuer ausspriihe. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 213.) 
 
 183 Oder aber auch mit Blut vergiessen. (Ibid.) 
 
 184 Hist, of the Council of Trent, p. 15, 16. 
 
 Ig 5 Der iibrigen Prediger Feindschafft, Neid, 
 Nachstellungen, Praticken und Schrecken. 
 (Seckendorf, p. 559.) 
 
 186 Seckendorf, p. 811. Stentzel. Script. Rer 
 Siles, I. p. 45. 
 
 187 Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, ii. p. 70. 
 
 188 Eaque omnia prompte, alacriter, eloquenter. 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 52.) 
 
 189 Populo odibiles catholici concionatores. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 190 Ad extremam redacti inopiam, aliunde sibi 
 victum quaerere cogerentur. (Cochlaeus, p. 53.) 
 
 191 Triumphantibus novis praedicatoribus qui 
 sequacem populum verbo novi Evangelii sui duce- 
 bant. (Ibid.) 
 
 192 ]Vtulti, omissa re doniestica, in speciem veri 
 Evangelii, parentes et amicos relinquebant. (Ibid.) 
 
 193 Ubi vero aliquos nacti fuissent amicos in ea 
 civitate. . . . (Cochlaeus, p. 54.) 
 
 194 Mira eis erat liberalitas. (Ibid.) 
 
 195 Earn usque diem nunquam germane prae- 
 dicatam. (Cochlseus, p. 53.) 
 
 196 Omnesaequalesetfratres in Christo. (Ibid.) 
 
 197 A laicis lutheranis, plures scripture locos, 
 quam a monachis et praesbyteris. (Cochlaeus, 
 p. 54.) 
 
 198 Reputabantur catholici ab illis ignari Scrip- 
 turarum. (Ibid.) 
 
 199 Totam vero juventutem, eloquentiae litteris, 
 linguarumque studio deditam ... in partem 
 suam traxit. (Ibid.) 
 
 200 Panzer's Annalen der Deutsch Litt. 
 Ranke's Deutsch Gesch. ii. p. 79. 
 
 201 Apostatarum, monasteries relictis, infinitus 
 jam erat numerus, in speciem bibliopolarum. 
 (Cochlaeus, p. 54.) 
 
 202 Catholicorum, velut indocta et veteris bar- 
 barici trivialia scripta, contemnebant. (Ibid.) 
 
 203 In publicis mercatibus Francofordiae et alibi, 
 vexabantur ac ridebuntur. (Ibid.) 
 
 204 Von dem Rathhaus unter einem Zulauf von 
 25,000 Menschen. (Seek. p. 539.) 
 
 205 Der Teufel indem er sich in Gestalt 
 alten Weibes. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 2Q 
 
452 
 
 NOTES BOOKS IX. X. 
 
 206 Lasst du dir's die Buben nehmen . . . (Seek. 
 p. 430.) 
 
 207 So liessen sie eine Canzel machen, die man 
 von einem Ort zum andern. . . . (Seek. p. 436.) 
 
 208 Aliquot ministri canonicorum capiunt D. 
 Valentinum Mustasum et vinctum manibus pedi- 
 busque, injecto in ejus os freno, deferunt per 
 trabes in inferiores coanobii partes, ibique in cella 
 
 cerevisiaria eum castrant. (Hamelmann, Hist, 
 renati Evangelii, p. 880.) 
 
 209 Herren und Siegmanner des Todes. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 164.) 
 
 210 Ich kenne auch selbst nicht den Luther. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 211 Wittemberger Nachtigall, poem of Hans 
 Sachs, 1523.) 
 
 BOOK X, 
 
 1 Sancte juro . . . eum ex hac fenestrS. meo 
 jussu suspensum iri. (Pallavicini, i. p. 130.) 
 
 2 Essendo tomato dalla Dieta che sua Maesta 
 haveva fatta in Wprmatia, escluso d'ogni con- 
 clusion buona d'ajuti e di favori che si fussi pro- 
 posto d'ottenere in essa. (Instruttione al card. 
 Farnese. Manuscript of the Bibl.Corsini, published 
 by Ranke.) 
 
 3 Ipso Caesare, ore subridenti, spectaculo plau- 
 sit. (Pallavicini, i. p. 130.) 
 
 4 Cum esset in corporis ornatu elegantissimus. 
 (MafTei, Vita Loyola?, 1586, p. 3.) 
 
 5 Equorumque et armorum usu praecelleret. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 6 Partim in factionum rixarumque periculis, 
 partitn in amatoria vesania . . . tempus consu- 
 meret. (Ibid.) 
 
 7 Ardentibus oculis, detestatus ignaviam per- 
 fidiamque spectantibus omnibus, in arcem solus 
 introit. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolae, 1586, p. 6.) 
 
 8 Tarn acri ac vehement! oratione commilitoni- 
 bus dissuasit. (Ibid.) 
 
 9 Ut e vestigio semianimis alienata mente cor- 
 ruerit. (Marian, Vita Loyolae, 1586, p. 7.) 
 
 10 Nullum aliud indicium dedit doloris, nisi ut 
 coactus in pugnum digitos valde constringeret. 
 (Maffaei, Vita Loyola, 1586, p. 8.) 
 
 11 Quid si ego hoc agerem quod fecit b. Fran- 
 ciscus, quid si hoc quod b. Dominicus? (Acta 
 Sanctorum, vii. p. 634.) 
 
 12 Non era condessa, ni duquessa, mas era su 
 estado mas alto. . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 13 Ibi duce amicisque ita salutatis, ut arcana 
 consiliorum suorum quam accuratissime tegeret. 
 (Maffei, Vita Loyola?, 1586, p. 16.) 
 
 14 Pretiosa vestimenta quibus erat ornatus. 
 pannoso cuidam largirus sacco sese alacer indirit 
 ac tune praecinxit. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolaa, 1586, 
 p. 20.) 
 
 15 Furori ac libidini hecrelicoa pravitatis oppone- 
 ret. (MafTaBi, Vita Loyolaa, 1586, p. 21.) 
 
 16 Victum osteatim precibus, infimis emendi- 
 care quotidie. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolae, 1586, p. 23.) 
 
 17 Tune subito nulla pracedente significatione 
 prorsus exui nudarique se omni gaudio sentiret. 
 (Maffaei, Vita Loyola?, 1586, p. 27.) 
 
 18 Nee jam in precibus, neque in psalmis . . . 
 ullam inveniret delectationem aut requiem. (Ibid.) 
 
 19 Vanis agitari terroribus, dies noctesque fleti- 
 bus jungere. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolae, 1586, p. 28.) 
 
 20 Ut nulla jam res mirigare dolorem posse 
 videreiur. (Maffgei, Vita Loyolae, 1586, p. 29.) 
 
 21 Et S83culi commodis repetendis magno quo- 
 dam impetu cogitaverit. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolae, 
 1586, p. 30.) 
 
 22 Sine ulla dubitatione constituit prasteritffl vitas 
 labes perpetua oblivione conterere. (Maffaei, Vita 
 Loyolaa, 1586, p. 31.) 
 
 23 Quae vix demum solent homines intelligen- 
 
 tia comprehendere. (Maffaei, Vita Loyolae, 1586, 
 p. 32.) 
 
 24 En figuras de tres teclas. 
 
 25 Quod etsi nulla scriptura, mysteria ilia fidei 
 doceret. (Acta Sanct.) 
 
 26 Quae Deo sibi aperiente cognoverat. (Maffaei, 
 Vita Loyola?, 1586, p. 34.) 
 
 27 Comburi jussit alteram vultus in ejus statua, 
 alteram animiejusin libris. (Pallavicini, i. p. 128.) 
 
 28 Si unirono in un oratorio, chiamato del divino 
 amore, circa sessanta di loro. (Caracciolo Vita 
 da Paolo IV. MSC. Ranke.) 
 
 29 Doctores Lovanienses accepisse consilium a 
 tarn conspicuo alumno. (Pallavicini, p. 136.) 
 
 30 Sleidan. Hist, de la Ref. i. p. 124. 
 
 31 Sarpi Histoire du Concile de Trente, p. 20. 
 
 32 Per longa esperienza delle cose del mundo, 
 molto prudente e accorto. (Nardi. Hist. Fior., 
 lib. 7.) 
 
 33 Sarpi Hist, du Cone, de Tr., p. 21. 
 
 34 Dassman die Nachfolger derselben vergiften 
 Lehre, mit dem Schwert strafen mag. (L. Opp. 
 xvii. p. 321.) 
 
 35 Cumfama sit fortis et Caesarem et Papara 
 Nurnbergam conventuros. (L. Epp. ii. p. 214.) 
 
 36 Sed Christus qui coepit conteret eum. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 215.) ' 
 
 37 Quod ex ea regione venirent, unde nobis 
 secundum carnem origo est. (See the Pope's 
 brief L. Opp. lat. ii. p. 352.) 
 
 38 Er wollte einen Finger drum geben. (Seek, 
 p. 568.) 
 
 39 Resecandos uti membra jam putrida a sano 
 corpore. (Pallavicini, i. 158.) 
 
 40 Einen grossen Schrecken eingejagt. (Seek. 
 p. 552.) 
 
 41 Nicht anders geschrien denn : Crucifige! 
 Crucifige! (L. Opp. xviii. p. 367.) 
 
 42 Sese auctoritate pontifica curaturum ut isti 
 caperentur. (Corp. Ref. 5. p. 606.) 
 
 43 Priusquam illi caperentur, se urbe cessu- 
 rosesse. (Ibid.) 
 
 44 In earn sedem aliquot jam annos quaedam 
 vitia irrepsisse, abusus in rebus sacris, in legibus 
 violationes, in cunctis denique perversionem. 
 (Pallavicini, i. p. 160. See also Sarpi, p. 25. L. 
 Opp. xviii. p. 329, &c.) 
 
 45 Liberioris tamen quam par erat, sinceritatis 
 fui?se visum est, ea conventui patefacere. (Pal- 
 lavicini, i. p. 162.) 
 
 <6 Wie sie solcher Beschwerung und Drangsal 
 entladen werden. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 354.) 
 
 47 Ut pie placideque purum Evangelium praedi- 
 caretur. (Pallavicini, i. p. 166. Sleidan, i. p. 135.) 
 
 48 Victus est ac ferme profligatus e Germania 
 romanus pontifex. (Zw. Epp. 313, llth Oct., 
 1523.) 
 
 49 Gott habe solches E. G. eingeben. (L. Opp, 
 xviii. 476.) 
 
NOTES BOOK X 
 
 453 
 
 50 Dass die Kirchen ohne Volk sind, dass die 
 Volker ohne Priester sind, dass die Priester ohne 
 Ehre sind, und dass die Christen ohne Christo 
 sind. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 371.) 
 
 51 Wenn sie gleich eines verdammten Lebens 
 sind. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 379.) 
 
 52 Quid dicam ? quo me vertam ? (Corp. Ref. 
 i. p. 627.) 
 
 53 Principi nullum licet suscipere bellum, nisi 
 consentiente popu^o, a quo accepit imperium. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 601.) 
 
 54 So kehrt er ihnen auch die Rechnung gar 
 urn. (L. Opp. xxii. 1831.) 
 
 55 Ut videar mihi videre Germaniam in san- 
 guine natare. (L. Epp. ii. p. 156.) 
 
 56 Cogitent populos non esse tales modo, 
 quales hactenus fuerunt. (L. Epp. ii. p. 157.) 
 
 57 Christus meus vivit et regnat, et ego vivam 
 et regnabo. (L. Epp. ii. p. 158.) 
 
 58 Wie ihre Bart und Haare ausweisen. (Seek. 
 p. 482.) 
 
 59 Miisse man solche Dinge Gott iiberlassen. 
 (Seek. p. 485.) 
 
 60 Zum Tode verurtheilet. (Seek. p. 548.) 
 
 61 Quomodo mulieres vi Henricum liberarint. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 265.) 
 
 62 Susceptum honorifice a domina Margareta. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 63 Gives aliquos, et mulieres vexatae et punitae. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 64 Et vitam exiget et sanguinem. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 181.) 
 
 65 Est executor Caesaris contra nostros. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 207.) 
 
 66 Domo cap turn, exustum credimus. (L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 214.) 
 
 91 So sie doch schandlicher leben denn Huren 
 
 und Buben. (L. Epp. ii. p. 482.) 
 68 Schlug etliche todt. (Seek. p. 604.) 
 68 Sey gegriisst, rnein Bruder. (Scultet. ann. 
 
 i. p. 173.) 
 
 70 Facta est hsec res Bruxellae in publico foro. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 361.) 
 
 71 Nondum triginta annorum. (Ibid.) 
 
 72 Dit schijnen mij als roosen te zijn. (Brandt 
 Hist, der Retormatie, i. p. 79.) 
 
 73 Admoto igni, canere cceperunt symbolum 
 fidei, says Erasmus. (Epp. i. p. 1278.) 
 
 74 Da ist der eine im Feuer auf die Knie gefallen. 
 (L. Opp. xviii. p. 481.) 
 
 ' 75 Ccepta est carnificina. (Epp. i. p. 129.) 
 
 76 Quarta post exustus est tertius frater Lam- 
 bertus. (L. Epp. ii. p. 361.) 
 
 77 Ea mors multos fecit lutheranos. (Er. Epp. 
 p. 952.) Turn demum ccepit civitas favere Lu- 
 thero. (Er. Epp. p. 1676. Erasmus to Duke 
 George.) Ea civitas antea purissima. (Er. Epp. 
 p. 1430.) 
 
 78 Ubicumque fumos excitavit nuntius, ibi di- 
 ceres fuisse factam haereseon sementem. (Ibid.) 
 
 79 Vestra vincula mea sunt, vestri carceres et 
 ignes mei sunt. (L. Epp. ii. p. 464.) 
 
 80 Communi habitu quod per sylvas et campos 
 ierat, per mediam urbem . . . sine clero, sine 
 praevia cruce. (Cochl. p. 82.) 
 
 8' Wolle sich des Worres Gottes halten. (Seek. 
 p. 613.) 
 
 82 Quantum eis possibile sit ... (Cochl. p. 84.) 
 
 83 Pontifex aegerrime tulit . . . intelligens no- 
 yum de religione tribunal eo pacto excitari citra 
 ipsius auctoritatem. (Pallav. i. p. 182.) 
 
 84 Erstes baierisches Religions Mandat. (Win- 
 ter, Gesch. der Evang. Lehre in Baiern, i. p. 310.) 
 
 85 Winter, Geach. der Evang. Lehre in Baiern, 
 i. p. 156. 
 
 86 Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. p. 159. 
 
 87 Improbis clericorum abusibus et perditis mo- 
 ribus. (Cochl. p. 91.) 
 
 88 Ut Lutheranae factioni efficacius resistere 
 possint, ultronea confederatione sese constrixe- 
 runt. (Ibid.) 
 
 89 Enchiridion, seu loci communes contra hasre- 
 ticos. 
 
 90 Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. p. 163. 
 
 91 Atque etiam proprios ipse tractatus perscrip- 
 serim. (Cochl. p. 92, verso.) 
 
 92 See Cochl., Ib. Cum igitur ego Casparua 
 Tauber, etc. 
 
 93 Credo te vidisse Casparis Tauber historian! 
 martyris novi Viennae, quem caesum capite scri- 
 bunt et igne exustum pro verbo Dei. (Luther to 
 Hausmann, 12 Nov. 1524, ii. p. 563.) 
 
 94 Idem accidit Budae in Ungaria bibliopola? 
 cuidam Johanni, simul cum libris circa eum po- 
 sitis exusto, fortissimeque passo pro Domino. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 95 Sanguis sanguinem tangit, qui suffocabit pa- 
 pam cum regibus et regnis suis. (Ibid.) 
 
 96 Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. p. 174. 
 
 97 Zauner, Salzburger Chronik IV. p. 381. 
 
 98 Verbi non palam seminati. (L. Epp. ii. p. 
 559. 
 
 99 In Bavaria multum regnat crux et persecutio 
 . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 100 Der Himmel ware da so nahe als anderswo. 
 (L. Opp. xix. 330.) 
 
 ii Das ist die wahre Historic, etc. (L. Opp. 
 (L.) xix. p. 333.) 
 
 102 Ich habe wohl so harte Anfechtungen da 
 erlitten. (L. Epp. ii. p. 577.) 
 
 103 Hue perpulit eum insana gloriae et laudis 
 libido. (L. Epp. ii. p. 551.) 
 
 104 Ihr bandet mir Hande et Fiisse, darnach 
 schlugt Ihr mich. (L. Opp. xix. p. 150.) 
 
 105 Spann an, spann an." (L. Opp. xix. p. 154.) 
 
 106 So muss du des Missbrauchs halber auch. 
 (L. Opp. xix. p. 155.) 
 
 107 Hoher als tausend Welten. (Seek. p. 628.) 
 
 108 Quae publice vocatis per campanas lectse 
 sunt omnibus simul flentibus. (L. Epp. ii. 558.) 
 
 109 Causa Dei est, cura Dei est, opus Dei est, 
 victoria Dei est, gloria Dei est. (L. Epp. ii. p. 
 556.) 
 
 110 Honoris causa de equo descensurus. (Ca- 
 merarius, p. 94.) 
 
 111 Ut de quaestionibus quas audiisset moveri, 
 aliquid diligenter conscriptum curaret. (Ibid.) 
 
 112 Epitome renovatae ecclesiastics doctrinae. 
 us Seckendorf, p. 738. 
 
 114 Princeps ille discipulus Philippi fuit a qui- 
 busdam appellatus. (Camerarius, p. 95.) 
 
 115 Ut loco illius abominabilis principatus, qui 
 hermaphrodita quidam. (L. Epp. ii. p. 527.) 
 
 116 Ut contempta ista stulta confusaque regula, 
 uxorem duceret. (Ibid.) 
 
 117 Ille turn arrisit, sed nihil respondit. (Ibid.) 
 us Weise christliche Messe zu halten. (L. 
 
 Opp. (L.) xxii. p. 232.) 
 
 119 Die christliche Gemeine nimmer soil zusam- 
 men kommen, es werde denn daselbst Gottes 
 Wort geprediget. (L. Opp. xxii. 226.) 
 
 120 Dass das Wort im Schwange gehe. (Ibid.) 
 
 121 L. Epp. ii. p. 308, and 854. 
 
 122 Welchem gebiihrt das Schwerd, nicht das 
 
454 
 
 NOTES BOOK X. 
 
 Predigtamt zu versorgen. (L. Opp. xviii. p. 
 
 123 Corp. Ref. i. p. 636. 
 
 124 L. Epp. ii. p. 565. 
 
 125 Durch das Licht des heiligen gottlichen 
 Wortes . . . (L. Opp. xviii. p. 502.) 
 
 126 Aber bin ist hin ; sie haben nun den Papst. 
 (L. Opp. W. x. 535.) 
 
 127 Die Sprachen sind die Scheide, darinnen 
 dies Messer des Geistes stecket. (Ibid.) 
 
 128 Es sey oder werde nicht lauter bleiben. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 129 Ich hatte wohl auch konnen fromm seyn 
 und in der Stille rechte predigen. (Ibid.) 
 
 130 Hunc titulum ignaviae suae praetextunt. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. p. 613.) 
 
 131 Chateaubriand, Genie du Christianisme. 
 
 132 Ich gebe nach der Theologie, der Musica 
 den nahesten Locum und hochste Ehre. (L. Opp. 
 W. xxii. p. 2253.) 
 
 133 Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, ii. p. 85. 
 
 134 Luther's treue Ermahnung an alle Christen 
 sich vor Aufruhr und Emporung zu hiiten. (Opp. 
 xviii. p. 288.) 
 
 135 Habemus fructum tui spiritus. (Erasm. 
 Hyperasp. B. 4.) 
 
 136 Der barmherzige Gott behiite rnich ja fiir 
 der christlichen Kirche, daren eitel heilige sind. 
 (Upon John i. 2. L. Opp. (W.) vii. p. 1469.) 
 
 137 Fiihrete sie nicht weiter in Geist und zu 
 Gott. (L. Opp. xix. 294.) 
 
 138 Saur sehen, den Bart nicht abschneiden. 
 Jbid.) 
 
 139 Man lasse die Geister auf einander platzen 
 und treffen. (L. Epp. ii. p. 547.) 
 
 140 Gott ist's selber der setzt sich wider euch. 
 (L. Opp. xix. p. 254.) 
 
 141 Und jechten ein Grassen durch die Spiesse. 
 (Mathesius, p. 46.) 
 
 142 Deinen Nehesten zu retten aus der Holle. 
 (L. Opp. xix. p. 266.) 
 
 143 Omnia simul comlmunia. (L. Opp. xix. 292.) 
 
 144 Lasset euer Schwerdt nicht kalt werden 
 von Blut. (L. Opp. xix. 289.) 
 
 145 Moncerus plus quam Scythicam crudelita- 
 tem pree se fert. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 741.) 
 
 146 So wolle er hinkiinftig zu fuss gehen. (Seek. 
 p. 685.) 
 
 147 Ihr sollt sehen dass ich alle Biichsensteine 
 in Ermel fassen will. (L. Opp. xix. p. 297.) 
 
 148 So findet er einen am Bett. 
 
 149 Kein Messer scherpfer schirrt denn wenn 
 ein Baur des andern Herr wird. (Mathesius, p. 48. ) 
 
 150 Hie nulla carnificina, nullum supplicium. 
 (Corp. Ref. i. p. 752.) 
 
 151 Eorum animos fractos et perturbatos verbo 
 Dei erexit. (M. Adam. Vit. Brentii, p. 441.) 
 
 152 Agmen rusticorum qui convenerant ad de- 
 moliendas arces, unica oratione sic compescuit. 
 (M. Adam. Vit. Fred. Myconii, p. 178.) 
 
 153 Quod adulator principum vocer. (L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 671.) 
 
 154 Gaudent papists de nostro dissidio. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 612.) 
 
 155 Qui cum toties hactenus sub pedibus meis 
 calcavit et contrivit leonem et draconem, non 
 sinet etiam basiliscum super me calcare. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 671.) 
 
 156 Es ist besser einige aus dem Rachen des 
 Teufels herausreissen. (L. Opp. ii. Ed. ix. p. 961.) 
 
 157 Ea res incussit . . . vulgo terrorem, ut nihil 
 usquam moveatur. (Corp. Ref. i. p. 752.) 
 
 158 Noch etwas gutes mehr in der Welt. (Seek, 
 p. 702.) 
 
 159 Dass alle Umstehende zum weinen bewegt. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 l0 Durch das theure Blut meines allerliebsten 
 Heylandes erloset. (Seek. p. 703.) 
 
 161 O mors amara ! (L. Epp. ii. p. 659.) 
 
 162 Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. p. 226. 
 
 163 Dux Gorgius, mortuo Frederico, putat se 
 omnia posse. (L. Epp. hi. p. 62.) 
 
 164 Habito conciliabulo conjuraverunt restituros 
 sese esse omnia . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 165 Sleidan. Hist de la Ref. i. p. 214. 
 
 166 Keil. Luther's Leben, p. 160. 
 
 167 Der Seelen Seligkeit halber. (L. Epp. ii. 
 
 168 Mit aller Zucht und Ehre an redliche Statte 
 und Orte kommen. (L. Epp. ii. p. 322.) 
 
 169 Per honestos cives Torgavienses adducta?. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 319.) 
 
 170 Mirabiliter evaserunt. (Ibid.) 
 
 171 Und alle Kloster ledig machen. (L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 322.) 
 
 172 Cum expectam quotidie mortem et meritum 
 haeretici supplicium. (L. Epp. ii. p. 570, 30th 
 Nov. 1524.) 
 
 173 Muss und will Ich sehen wo mich Gott 
 ernahret. (L. Epp. ii. p. 582.) 
 
 174 Si vis Ketam tuam a Bora tenere. (L. Epp. 
 ii. p. 553.) 
 
 175 Aus Begehren meines lieben Vaters. (L. 
 Epp. iii. p. 2.) 
 
 176 L. Epp. iii. p. 1. 
 
 177 Risuros mundum universum et diabolum 
 ipsum. (M. Ad. Vit. Luth. p. 130.) 
 
 178 Ut confirmem facto quas docui, tarn multos 
 invenio pusillanimes in tanta luce Evangelii. 
 (L. Epp. iii. p. 13.) 
 
 179 Nonna ducta uxore in despectum trium- 
 phantium et clamamium Jo ! Jo ! hostium. 
 (L. Epp. iii. p. 21.) 
 
 180 Non duxi uxorem ut diu viverem, sed quod 
 nunc propiorem finem meum suspicarer. (L. 
 Epp. iii. p. 32.) 
 
 181 Monachus cum vestali copularetur. (M. Ad. 
 Vit. Luth. p. 131.) 
 
 182 Quot Antichristorum millia jam olim habet 
 mundus. (Er. Epp. p. 789.) 
 
 183 Erasmus adds : Partu maturo sponsse vanus 
 erat rumor. (Er. Epp. p. 780, 789.) 
 
 184 'On ipcwfoj TOVTO KOI faafldXfi am. (Corp. Ref. 
 i. p. 753 ad Cam.) 
 
 185 Hao-a (nrou<5<} KOI ewoia. (Ibid.) 
 
 186 Offenditur etiam in came ipsius divinitatis et 
 creatoris, he adds. (L. Epp. iii. p. 32.) 
 
 187 21st Oct., 1525. Catena mea simulat vel 
 vere implet illud Genes 3. Tu dolore gravida eris. 
 (L. Epp. iii. p. 35.) 
 
 188 Mir meine liebe Kethe einen Hansen Luther 
 bracht hat, gestern um zwei. (8th June, 1526. 
 L. Epp. iii, p. 119.) 
 
 189 Rommels Urkundenbuch. I. p. 2. 
 
 190 Was das fiir ein Glaube sey, der eine solche 
 Erfahrung erfordert. (Seek. p. 739.) 
 
 191 Es ist das Heyl uns kommen her. 
 
 132 Dankte Gott mit Freuden. (Seek. p. 668.) 
 Sleidan, Hist, de la Ref. p. 220. 
 
 1 94 Seckendorf, p. 712. 
 
 195 Er muss herunter. (L. Epp. ii. p. 674.) 
 
 1 96 L. Epp. iii. p. 28, 38, 51, &c. 
 
 197 Dass Kirche sey allein diejenige, so Gottes 
 
NOTES BOOKS X. XL 
 
 455 
 
 Wort haben und damit gereiniget werden. (Corp. 
 Ref. i. p. 766.) 
 
 I* Seckendorf, p. 768. 
 
 i" Allein auf Gott den Allmachtigen, als des- 
 sen Werkzeuge sie handeln. (Hortleber, Ur- 
 sache des deutschen Krieges, i. p. 1490.) 
 
 200 Schmidt, Deutsche Gesch. viii. p. 202. 
 
 20 1 Archives of Weimar. (Seek. p. 768.) 
 
 202 Ranke, Deutsch Gesch. ii. p. 349. Rom- 
 mel, Urkunden, p. 22. 
 
 203 Ut in mediis gladiis et furoribus Satance 
 posito et periclitanti. (L. Epp. iii. p. 100.) 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 1 Er war ein kurzer Mann. (Fiisslin Bey- 
 trage, iv. p. 44.) 
 
 2 Ut post abitum Leonis, monachis aliquid 
 legam. (Zw. Epp. p. 253.) 
 
 3 J. J. Hottinger, Helw. Kirch. Gesch. iii. p. 
 105. 
 
 4 Ein grosses Verwunderen, was doch uss der 
 Sach werden wollte. (Bullinger, Chron. i. p. 97.) 
 
 5 Immotus tamen maneo, non meis nervis 
 nixus, sed petra Christo, in quo omnia possum. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 261.) 
 
 6 Nun wohlan in dem Namen Gottes, hie bin 
 ich. (Bullinger, Chron. p. 98.) 
 
 7 Ee muss das Erdrych brechen. (Zw. Opp. 
 i. p. 148.) 
 
 8 Man mocht denocht friintlich, fridlich und 
 tugendlich laben, wenn glich kein Evangelium 
 were. (Bull. Chron. p. 107. Zw. Opp. i. p. 152.) 
 
 9 Cum de tua egregia virtute specialiter nobis 
 sit cognitum. (Zw. Epp. p. 266.) 
 
 10 Serio respondit : Omnia certe prater sedem 
 papalem. (Vit. Zwingli per Osw. Myc.) 
 
 11 Prodeant volo, palamque arma capiant .... 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 292.) 
 
 12 Christum suis nunquam defecturum. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 278.) 
 
 13 Dorum habend ir unser Herren kein racht 
 zuinen, sy zu toden. (Bull. Chr. p. 127.) 
 
 14 So wollten wir Ihm den Lohn geben, dass 
 er's nimmer mehr thate. (Simmler Samml. 
 M.S.C. ix.) 
 
 15 Der Pabste, Cardinale und BischofTe Con- 
 cilia sind nicht die christliche Kirche. (Fiissl. 
 Beytr. III. p. 20.) 
 
 16 Diacosion Senatus summa est potestas Ec- 
 clesise vice. (Zw. Opp. III. p. 339.) 
 
 17 Ante omnia multitudinem de quaestione 
 probe docere ita factum est, ut quidquid diacosi 
 (the grand council,) cum verbi ministris ordinarent, 
 jamdudum in animis fidelium ordinatum esset 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 18 Dacs einigerly Betrug oder Falsch syg in 
 dem reinen Blut und Fleisch Christi. (Zw. Opp, 
 i. p. 498.) 
 
 19 Der Geist Gottes urtheilet. (Zw. Opp. i. p 
 529.) 
 
 Wie sy Christum in iren Herzen sollind 
 bilden und machen. (Zw. Opp. i. p. 534.) 
 
 21 Ohne dass jemand sich unterstehe die Mess 
 priester zu beschimpfen. (Wirtz H. K. G. v. p 
 208.) 
 
 22 Inesperato nuntio excepit me filius redeun 
 tern ex Glareana. (Zw. Epp. p. 322.) 
 
 23 Inter spem ac metum. (Ibid.) 
 
 u Ac deinde omnes simul pereamus. (Zw 
 Epp. p. 323.) 
 
 25 Fuventus ilium lubens audit, (Zw. Epp. p 
 264.) 
 
 26 Weise Fusslin Beytr. iv. p. 66. 
 
 27 Es soil nieman in den Wirtzhuseren ode 
 
 unst hinter dem Wyn von Lutherischen oder 
 icwen Sachen uzid reden. (Bull. Chr. p. 144.) 
 
 28 Wie wir unser pitt HofFnung undTrost allein 
 f Gott. (Bull. Chr. p. 146.) 
 
 29 Zurich selbigen ausreuten und untertrucken 
 iclfe. (Holt Helv. K.,G. iii. p. 170.) 
 
 30 Uff einen creitzgang sieben unehelicher kin- 
 en iiberkommen wurdend. (Bull. Chr. p. 160.) 
 
 31 Und es eerlich bestattet hat. (Bull. Chr. p. 
 61.) 
 
 32 Habend die nach inen zu beschlossen. 
 
 33 Litterarischer Anzeiger, 1840, No. 27. 
 
 34 Der sin rosenfarw bliit alein fur uns arme 
 sunder vergossen hat. (Bull. Chr! p. 180.) 
 
 33 Meine Herrn sollten auch nur dapfer bey 
 dem Gottsworte verbleiben. (Fiissl. Beytr. iv. p. 
 ;07, where the answer given by each township is 
 ecorded.) 
 
 36 Scribunt e Helvetiis ferme omnes qui propter 
 Christum premuntur. (Zw. Epp. p. 348.) 
 
 37 Negotiorum strepitus et ecclesiarum curae 
 ta me undique quatiunt. (Ibid.) 
 
 38 Der war anfangs dem Evangelio gunstig. 
 [Bull. Chr. p. 180.) 
 
 39 Sunder die kuttlen in Buch fur In wagen. 
 [Bull. Chr. p. 193.) 
 
 40 Undbadt sy um Gottes willen uss dem Klos- 
 ter zu gand. (Bull. Chr. p. 183.) 
 
 11 Dan es im leid was. (Bull. Chr. p. 195.) 
 
 42 Mit fluchen und wiiten. (Bull. Chr. p. 184.) 
 
 43 Dann hattind sy mir ein kind geschikt. (Bull. 
 Chr. p. 186.) 
 
 44 O weh ! was elender Fahrt war das ! (Bern. 
 Weyss. Fiissl. Beyt. iv. p. 56.) 
 
 45 Sy troste und in warem glouben starckte. 
 (Bull. Chr. p. 188.) 
 
 "6 On Kerzen, schellen und anders so bisshar 
 geupt ist. (Bull. Chr. p. 196.) 
 
 47 Alls man inn am folter seyl uffzog, sagt der 
 zum Stein : Herrli, das ist die gaab diewer iich, 
 zu iiwer Hussfrowen schanckend. (Bull. Chr. 
 p. 190.) 
 
 48 Sin huss ist allwey gsin wie ein Kloster, 
 wirtshuss und Spitall. (Bull. Chr. p. 198.) 
 
 49 Doch allwag das criitz darbey. (Ibid.) 
 
 50 Furohin bist du nitt me min Vatter und ich 
 din sun, sondern wir sind briidern in Christo. 
 (Bull. Chr. p. 204.) 
 
 5' Des gnadens weyneten vil Luthen herzlich. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 52 Und vermantend die ernstlich. (Bull. Chr. 
 p. 263.) 
 
 53 Fiisslin Beytr. iv. p. 64. 
 
 54 Mit grossem verwundern viler Luthen und 
 noch mit vil grossern frouden der gloubigen. 
 (Bull. Chr. p. 264.) 
 
 55 Expositio fidei. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 241.) 
 
 56 Ut tranquillitatis et innocentia? studiosos rcd- 
 dat. (Zw. Epp. p. 390.) 
 
 2 Q 2 
 
456 
 
 NOTES BOOK XI. 
 
 57 De vera et falsa religione commentarius. 
 (Zw. Opp. iii. p. 145, 325.) 
 
 68 Peccatum ergo morbus est cognatus nobis, 
 quo fugimus aspera et gravia, sectamur jucunda 
 et voluptuosa ; secundo loco accipitur peccatum 
 pro eo quod contra legem fit. (Zw. Opp. iii. p. 
 204.) 
 
 59 Originali morbo perdimur omnes ; remedio 
 vero quod contra ipsum invenit Deus, incolumi- 
 tati restituimur. (De peccato original! declaratio 
 ad Urbanum Rhegium. Zw. Opp. iii. p. 632.) 
 
 60 Interea surgere Zuinglius ad ensem suum. 
 (Zw. Opp. iii. p. 411.) 
 
 61 Bey ihm zuletzt sitzen. (Kirchhofer. Ref. v. 
 Bern. p. 55.) 
 
 62 Episcopus noster Vadivillius. (Zw. Epp. p. 
 285.) 
 
 63 Tantum favoris et amicitiae qua tibi cum 
 tanto summorum pontificum et potentissimorum 
 episcoporum coetu hactenus intercessit. (Zw. 
 Opp. i. ed. lat. p. 305.) 
 
 64 Ex obscuris ignorantiae tenebris in amoenam 
 Evangelii lucem productum. (Ibid.) 
 
 65 Epistolas tuae et eruditionis et humanitatis 
 testes locupletissimas. (Zw, Epp. p. 287.) 
 
 66 Suo Thomistico Marte omnia invertere. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 67 Famem verbi Bernates habent. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 295.) 
 
 68 Ut nee oppidum, nee pagos Bernatum visi- 
 tare preetendat omnino. (Ibid.) 
 
 69 Aleim das heilig Evangelium und die leer 
 Gottes frey, offentlich und unverborgen. (Bull. 
 Chr. p. 111.) 
 
 70 Alle Christen sich allenthalben froiiwend 
 des Glaubens . . . (Zw. Opp. i. p. 426.) 
 
 71 Christi negotiutn agitur, (Zw. Epp. 9th 
 May, 1523.) 
 
 72 Es ist nun gethan. Der Lutherische Handel 
 muss vorgehen. (Anshelm. Wirtz. K. G. V. 290.) 
 
 73 Cujus pnesidio auxilioque preesentissimo, nos 
 vestram dignitatem assidue commendamus. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 280.) 
 
 74 Langsamer gereiniget, verzweifelter stirbt, 
 harter verdammet. (Kirchhofer Reform, v. Bern, 
 p. 48.) 
 
 75 Dass sie weder luther noch triib seyen. 
 (Kirchhofer Reform, v. Bern. p. 50.) 
 
 76 Euerem Herrn Jesu nachfolget in Demuth. 
 (Kirchhofer Reform, v. Bern. p. 60.) 
 
 Herzog. Studien und Kritiken, 1840, p. 334. 
 
 78 Meis sumtibus non sine contemptu et invidia. 
 (CEcol. ad Pirckh. de Eucharistia.) 
 
 79 Dass er kein Predigt thate, er hatte ein 
 machtig Volk darinn, says Peter Ryf, his con- 
 temporary. (Wirtz. v. 350.) 
 
 80 CEcolampadius apud nos triumphal. (Eras, 
 ad Zwing. Zw. Epp. p. 312.) 
 
 81 Illi magis ac magis in omni bono augescunt. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 82 Et in terram promissionis ducere non potest. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 353.) 
 
 83 Ille egens et omnibus rebus destitutus quae- 
 rebat nidum aliquem ubi moveretur. Erat rnihi 
 gloriosus ille miles cum sua scabie in sedes recipi- 
 endus, simulque recipiendus ille chorus titulo 
 Evangelicorum, writes Erasmus to Melancthon in 
 a letter in which he seeks to excuse himself. (Er. 
 Epp. p. 949.) 
 
 84 Expostulatio Hutteni. Erasmi spongia. 
 
 85 Libros nullos habuit, supellectilem nullam, 
 prater calamum. (Zw. Epp. p. 313.) 
 
 86 Auf Eyern gehen und keines zutreten. (L. 
 Opp. xix. p. 11.) 
 
 87 Der heilige Geist ist kein Scepticus. (L. 
 Opp. xix. p. 8.) 
 
 88 " Quod mihi dixisti nuper de corpore Christi: 
 
 Crede quod habes et habes ; 
 Hoc tibi rescribo tantum de tuo caballo ; 
 Crede quod habes et habes." 
 
 (Palavicini, Singularia, p. 71.) 
 
 89 Histoire Cathol. denotre temps, par S. Fon- 
 taine, de 1'ordre de St. Francois, Paris, 1562. 
 
 90 Quantum hoc seculum patitur. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 221.) 
 
 91 A Pontifice, a Caesare, a regibus et princi- 
 pus, a doctissimis etiam et carissimis amicis hue 
 provocor. (Erasm. Zw. Epp. p. 308.) 
 
 92 Nulla te et ingenio, eruditiqne, eloquentiaque 
 tua dignior esse potest. (Adrianus Papa, Epp. 
 Er. p. 1202.) 
 
 93 Res est periculi plena. (Er. Epp. p. 758.) 
 
 94 Spectator tantum sis tragoedias nostrae. (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 501.) 
 
 95 Quidam stolidi scribentes pro te. (Unschul- 
 dige Nachricht, p. 545.) 
 
 96 L. Opp. xix. p. 146. 
 
 97 Jacta est alea . . . audax, mihi crede, faci- 
 nus . . . expecto lapidationem. (Er. Epp. p. 811.) 
 
 98 Quomodo triumphans nescio . . . Factio 
 crescit in dies latius. (Er. Epp. p. 809.) 
 
 99 De libero arbitrio Atarp^>j. (Erasmi Opp. 
 ix. p. 1215, sq.) 
 
 100 Victoria est penes balbutientem veritatem, 
 non apud mendacem eloquentiam. (L. Epp. ii. 
 p. 200.) 
 
 101 A Is wenn einer in silbern oder guldern 
 Schiisseln wolte mist und Unflath Auftragen. (L. 
 Opp. xix. p. 4.) 
 
 102 Sehet, sehet nun da zu ! wo ist nun Luther. 
 (L. Opp. xix. p. 3.) 
 
 108 L. Opp. xix. p. 33. 
 
 104 L. Opp. xix. p. 33. 
 
 105 L. Opp. xix. p. 55. 
 * L. Opp. xix. p. 116. 
 w L. Opp. xix. p. 143. 
 
 108 L. Opp. xix. p. 146, 147. 
 
 109 M. Nisard. Erasme, p. 419. 
 
 110 Port Royal, par Sainte Beuve, vol. i. p. 20. 
 
 111 Vermeintend ein Kirchen zu versammlen 
 die one Siind war. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 231.) 
 
 112 Zw. Opp. iii. p. 362. 
 
 113 Impietatem manifestissimam, a caco dae- 
 mone, a Nicolao II. esse. (Hottinger, iii. p. 219.) 
 
 114 Nutzete eben so viel als wenn man eine 
 Katze taufet. (Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 243.) 
 
 us Wie die Apostel von dem Engel Gottes 
 gelediget. (Bull. Chr. p. 261.) 
 
 116 Ich bin ein Anfanger der Taufe und des 
 Herrn Erodes. (Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 264.) 
 
 117 Mich beduret seer das ungewitter. (Zw. to 
 the Council of St. Gall, ii. p. 230.) 
 
 118 Vom Touf, vom Widertouf, und vom Kin- 
 dertouf. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 230.) 
 
 i' 9 So wollen wir Gottes Wort haben. (Zw. 
 Opp. ii. p. 237.) 
 
 120 Mit wunderbaren geperden und gesprachen, 
 verzucken, gesichten, und offenbarungen. (Bul- 
 ling. Chr. i. p. 324.) 
 
 2 i Glych wie Kain den Abel sinen bruder 
 ermort hat ! (Ibid.) 
 
 2 3 Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 229258 ; ii. p. 263. 
 
 24 Ohne das er oder die Mntter, sondern Hin- 
 der Bruder geweinet. (Hott. Helv. K. Gesch. iii. 
 p. 385.) 
 
 Und schuttlet sinen blanen rock und sine 
 schiih iiber die Statt Zurich. (Bull. Chr. i. p. 382.) 
 
 
NOTES BOOK XI. 
 
 457 
 
 126 Quod homines seditiosi, rei-publicae turba- 
 tores, magistratuum hostes, justa Senatus senten- 
 tia, damnati sunt, num id Zwinglio fraudi esse 
 poterit ? (Rod. Gualtheri Epist. ad lectorem, 
 Opp. 1544, ii.) 
 
 127 Fidem rem esse, non scientiam, opinionem 
 vel imaginationem. (Comment de vera relig. 
 Zw. Opp. iii. p. 230.) 
 
 128 Haud aliter hie panem et vinum esse puto 
 quam aqua est in baptismo. (Ad Wittenbachium 
 Epp. 15th June, 1523.) 
 
 129 Diu multumque legit scripta Occam cujus 
 acumen anteferebat Thomae et Scoto. (Melancth. 
 Vita Luth.) 
 
 130 Occam und Luther. Studien und Kritiken. 
 1839, p. 69. 
 
 131 Quod morosior est (Carlstadius) in caeremo- 
 niis non ferendis, non admodum probo. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 369.) 
 
 132 A manducatione cibi, qui ventrem implet, 
 transiit ad verbi manducationem, quam cibum 
 vocat coelestem, qui mundum vivificet. (Zw. Opp. 
 iii. p. 573.) 
 
 133 In morte et in inferno jactatus. (L. Epp. iii. 
 p. 132.) 
 
 134 Ne potentissimo quidem, sed soli Deo ejus- 
 que verbo. (Zw. Epp. p. 370.) 
 
 135 Totumque convivium sequi, grandem con- 
 flictum timentes. (Zw. Epp. p. 371.) 
 
 136 Auf solches, ritten sie wieder heim. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 374.) 
 
 137 Macti animo este et interriti. (Zw. Epp. p. 
 351.) 
 
 138 Parochiae uno consensu statuerunt in verbo 
 Dei manere. (Zw. Epp. p. 423.) 
 
 139 Pars tertia papistarum est in immensum 
 
 Sloriantium de schismate inter nos facto. (Zw. 
 pp. p. 400.) 
 
 140 Sie waren gute arme Gesellen mil lehren 
 Secklen. (Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 358.) 
 
 141 Ware die Griechische und Hebraische spra- 
 che nicht in das Land gekommen. (Fiissl. Beytr. 
 i. p. 360.) 
 
 142 Satzte den Fuss wie em milder Ochs. 
 (Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 362.) 
 
 143 Den Pfeiffern zuzuhoren, die ... wie den 
 Fiirsten hofierlen. (Ibid.) 
 
 144 Blintzete mit den Augen, rumpfete die 
 Stirne. (Fiissl. Beytr. i. p. 368.) 
 
 145 Vita, moribus et doctrina herbescenti Christo 
 apud Rhostos fons irrigans. (Zw. Epp. p. 485.) 
 
 146 Dass der gmein man, one eine offne disputa- 
 tion, nitt zu stillen war. (Bulling. Chr. i. p. 
 331.) 
 
 147 Er habe wohl mehr Kiihe gemolken als 
 Biicher gelesen. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 405.) 
 
 148 Vide nunc quid audeant oligarchi atque Fa- 
 ber. (Zw. Epp. p. 484.) 
 
 149 Zwingli in ihrem Gebiet, wo er betreten 
 werde, geiangen zu nehmen. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 
 422.) 
 
 150 Da wollte er gern all sein Lebtag ein Henker 
 genannt werden. (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 454.) 
 
 isi Wellend wir ganz geneigt syn ze erschynen. 
 (Zw. Opp. ii. p. 423.) 
 
 152 Hunc hominem haereticum damnamus, pro 
 jicimus et conculcamus. (Hotting. Helv. K. 
 Gesch. iii. p. 300.) 
 
 153 Caveatis per caput vestrum. (Zw. Epp. p. 
 483.) 
 
 154 Navigjo captum, ore mox obturato, clam 
 fuisse deportandum. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) 
 
 155 Zwinglium Senatus Tigurinus Badenam 
 dimittere recusavit. (Ibid.) 
 
 156 Si periclitaberis, periclitabimur omnes tecum. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 312.) 
 
 157 Ich bin in 6 Wochen nie in das Beth Kom- 
 men. (Plater's Leben. p. 263.) 
 
 158 Sie verstunden sich bas auf Kuh m'alken. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 159 Mit Syden, Damast und Sammet bekleydet. 
 (Bull. Chr. i. p. 351.) 
 
 160 Verbruchten vil wyn. (Ibid.) 
 
 161 So entwuscht imrn ettwan ein Schiir. (Bull. 
 Chr. i. p. 381.) 
 
 162 Egg zablet mit fussen und henden 
 Fing an schelken und schenden, etc. 
 
 (Contemporaneous Poems of Nicholas 
 Manuel of Berne.) 
 
 163 O were der lange gal man uff unser syten. 
 (Bull. Chr. i. p. 353.) 
 
 164 Domino suam gloriam, quam salvam cupi- 
 mus ne utiquam desertuor. (Zw. Epp. p. 511.) 
 
 165 Man sollte einem ohne aller weiter Urthei- 
 len, den Kopf abhauen. (Thorn. Platerl. Lebens 
 Beschrcib. p. 262.) 
 
 166 Quam laborasset disputando vel inter me- 
 dios hostes. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.) See the 
 various writings composed by Zwingle relative to 
 the Baden conference. (Opp. ii. p. 398, 520.) 
 
 167 CEcolampadius victus jacet in arena prostra- 
 tus ab Eccio, herbam porrexit. (Zw. Epp. p. 
 514.) 
 
 168 Spem concipiunt leetem fore ut regnum ipso- 
 rum restituatur. (Zw. Epp. p. 513.) 
 
 169 Die Evangelische weren wol uberscliryen, 
 nicht aber uberdisputierl worden. (Hotting. Helv. 
 K. Gesch. iii. p. 320.) 
 
 170 Von gemeiner Kylchen ussgestossen. (Bull. 
 Chr. p. 355.) 
 
 171 Plebe Verbi Domini admodum sitiente. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 518.) 
 
 172 Tillier, Gesch. v. Bern. iii. p. 242. 
 
 173 Profuit hie nobis Bernates tarn dexfre in 
 servando Berchtoldo suo egisse. (Ecol. ad Zw. 
 Epp. p. 518.) 
 
 174 San Gallenses officiis suis restitutes. (Ibid.) 
 
 175 Kostbare Kleider, Kleinodien, Ring, Ketten, 
 etc., freywillig verkauft. (Hott. iii. p. 338.) 
 
 176 Fideli enim oratione omnia superabimus. 
 (Zw. Epp. p. 519.) 
 
 177 Jamdudum papae renuntiavi et Christo vi- 
 vere concupivi. (Zw. Epp. p. 455.) 
 
 178 Mit hoherem Werth und mehr Dankbarkeit 
 dann wir angenommen. (Zurich Archiv. Absch. 
 Sonntag nach Lichtmesse.) 
 
 179 Berne k Zurich, le lundi apres Misericorde. 
 (Kirchoff. B. Haller. p. 85.) 
 
458 
 
 NOTES BOOK XII. 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 I Sardanapalus (Henry II.) inter sct>rta. (Cal- 
 vini Epp. M.S.) 
 
 Hunc merito poterit dicere Roma Patrem. 
 
 3 In Ebredunensi archiepiscopatu veteres Wal- 
 densium haereticorum fibra repullularunt. (Ray- 
 nald. Annales Ecclesiast. ad ann. 1487.) 
 
 4 Armis insurgant, eosque veluti aspides vene- 
 nosos . . . conculcent. (Bull, of Innocent VIII. 
 preserved at Cambridge. Leger Histoire des 
 Eglises Vaudoises, ii. p. 8.) 
 
 5 Revue du Dauphine, July, 1837, p. 35. 
 
 6 Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume 
 Farel, p. 237. 
 
 7 Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume 
 Farel, p. 232. 
 
 8 J'estoye fort petit et a peine je savoye lire. 
 (Ibid. p. 237.) Le premier pelerinage auquel j'ai 
 este a este a la saincte croix. (Ibid. p. 233.) 
 
 9 Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume Fa- 
 rel, p. 235239. 
 
 10 Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume 
 Farel, p. 237. 
 
 II Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume 
 Farel, p. 238. 
 
 12 Cum a parentibus vix impetrassem ad litteras 
 concessum. (Farel Natali Galeoto, 1527, MS. 
 Letters of the conclave of Neuchatel.) 
 
 13 A prseceptoribus prfecipue in Latina lingua 
 ineptissimis institutus. (Farelli Epist.) 
 
 14 Universitatem Parisiensem matrem omnium 
 scientarium . . . speculum fidei tersumet politum 
 . . . (Prima Apellat Universit. an. 1396, Bulceus, 
 iv. p. 806.) 
 
 15 Brant. Dames Illustres, p. 331. 
 
 16 Homunculi unius neque genere insignis. 
 (BezaB Icones.) 
 
 17 Fabro, viro quo vix in multis millibus repe- 
 rias vel integriorem vel humaniorem, says Eras- 
 mus. (Er. Epp. p. 174.) 
 
 18 Barbariem nobilissimas academic . . . in- 
 cumbentem detrudi. (Bezae Icones.) 
 
 19 Supra modum me amat totus integer et can- 
 didus, mecum cautillat ludit, disputat, ridet me- 
 cum. (Zw. Epp. p. 26.) 
 
 20 Ep. de Farel k tous seigneurs, peuples et 
 pasteurs. 
 
 21 Floribus jubebat Marianum idolum, dumuna 
 soli murmuraremus preces Marianas ad idolum, 
 ornari. (Farellus Pellicano, an 1556.) 
 
 22 Ep. de Farel, & tous seigneurs, peuples et 
 pasteurs. 
 
 23 Quo plus pergere et promovere adnitebar, eo 
 amplms retrocedebam. (Far. Galeoto, MS. Let- 
 ters at Neuchatel.) 
 
 24 Quce de sanctis conscripta offendebam, ve- 
 rum ex stulto insanum faciebant. (Ibid.) 
 
 25 Farel k tous seigneurs. 
 
 26 Oculos demittens, visis non credebam. (Fa- 
 rel Natali Galeoto.) 
 
 27 Oculos a luce avertebam. 
 
 A tous seigneurs. See also his letter to Pel- 
 lican. Ante annos plus minus quadraginta, me 
 manu apprehensum ita alloquebatur : " Guil- 
 lelme, oportet orbem immutari et tu videbis ! ' 
 
 29 A tous seigneurs, peuples et pasteurs. 
 
 so Solus enim Deus est qui hanc justitiam per 
 
 fidem tradit, qui sola gratia ad vitam justificat 
 seternam. (Fabri Comm. in Epp. Pauli, p. 70.) 
 
 31 Ilia umbratile vestigium atque signum, haec 
 lux et veritas est. (Ibid.) 
 
 32 Crevier Hist, de rUniversite", V. p. 95. 
 
 33 Opera signa vivas fidei, quam justificatio se- 
 quitur. (Fabri Comm. in Epp. Pauli, p. 73.) 
 
 34 Sed radius desuper a sole vibratus, justifica- 
 tio est. (Ibid.) 
 
 35 Farel, A tous seigneurs. 
 
 36 Nullis difficultatibus fractus, nullis minis, 
 convitiis, verberibus denique inflictis territus. 
 (Bezas Icones.) 
 
 37 O ineffabile commercium ! . . . . (Fabri 
 Comm. 145 verso.) 
 
 38 Inefiicax est ad hoc ipsum nostra yoluntas, 
 nostra electio ; Dei autem electio efficacissima et 
 potentissima, &c. (Fabri Comm. p. 89 verso.) 
 
 39 Si de corpore Christi, divinitate repletus est. 
 (Fabri Comm. p. 176 verso.} 
 
 40 Et virgunculas gremio tenentem, cum suaviis 
 sermones miscentem. (Fabri Comm. p. 208.) 
 
 41 Farel. A tous seigneurs. 
 
 42 Crevier Hist, de 1'Universite de Paris, v. 
 p. 81. 
 
 43 Farel. A tous seigneurs. 
 
 44 Farel. A tous seigneurs. 
 
 45 Animus per varia jactatus, verum nactus 
 portum, soli hresit. (Farel Galeoto.) 
 
 46 Jam rerum nova facies. (Ibid.) 
 
 47 Notior scriptura, apertiores prophets, luci- 
 diores apostoli. (Ibid.) 
 
 48 Agnita pastoris, magistri et preceptoris 
 Christi vox. (Ibid.) 
 
 49 Farel. A tous seigneurs. 
 
 50 Lego sacra ut causam inveniam. (Farel 
 Galeoto.) 
 
 61 Clamores multi, cantiones innumerae. (Fa- 
 rel Galeoto, MSS. of Neufchatel.) 
 
 52 Vere tu solus Deus ! (Ibid.) 
 
 53 Biographic Universelle, Article Olivetan. 
 Histoire du Calvinisme, par Maimbourg, 53. 
 
 54 Et purioris religionis instaurationem fortiter 
 agressus. (Beza3 Icones.) 
 
 55 Sic ex Stap ulensis auditorio pra3stantissimi 
 viri plurimi prodierint. (Ibid.) 
 
 56 Vie des Dames Illustres, p. 333, Haye, 1740. 
 
 57 Vie des Dames Illustres, p. 337, 346. 
 
 58 Histoire de la Revocat. de 1'edit de Nantes, 
 vol. i. p. 7. Maimbourg, Hist, du Calv. p. 12. 
 
 59 Neque rex potentissime pudeat . . . quasi 
 atrienses hujus sedis futuras. (Bezae Icones.) 
 Disputatipnibus eorum ipse interfuit. (Flor. 
 Rsemundi, Hist, de ortu haaresum, vii. p. 2.) 
 
 60 Maimbourg, Hist, du Calvinisme, p. 16. 
 
 61 Maimbourg, Hist, du Calvinisme, p. 18, 19. 
 
 62 Maimbourg, Hist, du Calvinisme. Oraison 
 k J. C., p. 143. 
 
 63 Marguerites de la Marguerite des princesses, 
 (Lyon, 1547,) tome ler, Miroir de 1'ame peche- 
 resse, p. 15. Discord de 1'Esprit et de la chair, 
 
 p. 73. 
 
 64 Ibid. 
 
 Ibid. 
 p. 71. 
 
 Miroir de 1'ame, p. 22. 
 
 Discord de 1' Esprit et de la chair, 
 
NOTES BOOK XII. 
 
 459 
 
 66 Vies des Femmes Illustres, p. 33. 
 
 67 Vies des Femmes Illustres, p. 33. 
 
 68 Vies des Femmes Illustres, p. 341. 
 
 69 Bipedum omnium nequissimus. (Belcarius, 
 xv. p. 435.) 
 
 70 Sismondi, Hist, des Francais, xvi. p. 387. 
 
 71 Mathieu, i. p. 16. 
 
 72 Crevier, v. p. 110. 
 
 73 Fontaine, Hist. Cathol. Paris, 1562, p. 16. 
 
 74 Raumer, Gesch. Europ. i. p. 270. 
 
 "5 In uno Beda sunt tria millia monachorum. 
 (Erasmi Epp. p. 373.) 
 
 76 Talibus Atlantibus nititur Ecclesia romana. 
 (Erasmi Epp. p. 113.) 
 
 77 Ut ne rumusculus quidem impudicitiae sit 
 unquam in ilium exortus. (Erasmi Epp. p. 
 1278.) 
 
 78 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois ler. 
 
 79 Mirere benignus in egenos et amicos. (Er. 
 Epp. p. 1238.) 
 
 so Constitutionum ac rituum ecclesiasticorum 
 observantissimus . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 81 Actes des Martyrs de Crespin, p. 103. 
 
 82 Ut maxime omnium tune metuendos era- 
 bones in ipsis eorum cavis . . . (Bezae Icones.) 
 
 83 Gallia fortassis alterum esset Lutherum 
 nacta. (Ibid.) 
 
 84 Hie inquiunt, apparebit qui sint Lutherans 
 factionis. (Er. Epp. p. 889.) 
 
 85 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois ler, iv. p. 228. 
 
 86 Histoire du Caivinisme, p. 10. 
 
 87 Vie des Hommes Illustres, i. p. 326. 
 
 88 Maimbourg, p. 11. 
 
 89 Pro innumeris beneficiis, pro tantis ad studia 
 commodis. (Epist. dedicatoria Epp. Pauli.) 
 
 90 Eo solum doceri qua? ad coenobium illorum ac 
 ventrem explendum pertinerent. (Acta Mart. p. 
 334.) 
 
 91 MS. de Meaux. I am indebted to M. Lade- 
 veze, pastor of Meaux, for the communication of 
 a copy of this MS. preserved in that city. 
 
 92 MS. de Meaux. 
 
 93 Eis in universa diocesi sua praedicationem in- 
 terdixit. (Act. Mart. p. 334.) 
 
 94 Frequentissimas de reformandis hominum 
 moribus conciones habuit. (Lannoi, Navarrae 
 gymnasii Hist. p. 261.) 
 
 95 Guichemon. Hist. gen. de Savoie, ii. p. 180. 
 & Miroir de Tame pecheresse. Marguerites de 
 
 la Marguerite, &c., i. p. 36. 
 
 97 Lettres de Marguerite, reine de Navarre. 
 (Bibl. Royale Manuscript, S. F. 337, 1521.) 
 
 98 Lettres de Marguerite, reine de Navarre. 
 (Bibl. Royale Manuscript, S. F. 337, 12th June, 
 1521.) 
 
 se MS. de Meaux. 
 
 io MS. S. F. 227, de la Bibl. royale. 
 
 101 Guichemon. Hist, de la maison de Savoie, 
 ii. p. 181. 
 
 102 Chanson spirituelle apres la moit du Roi. 
 (Marguerites, i. p. 473.) 
 
 "03 MSC., S. F. 337, de la Bibl. royale, 10th 
 July. 
 
 i 4 MSC., S. F. 337, de la Bibl. royale, 10th 
 July. 
 
 * MSC., S. F. 337, de la Bibl. royale, 10th 
 July. 
 
 106 Studio veritatis aliis declarandae inflamma- 
 tus. (Act. Martyrum, p. 334.) 
 
 " MSC. de la Bibl. royale. 
 59 
 
 108 Reges, principes, magnates omnes et su- 
 binde omnium nationum populi, ut nihil aliud co- 
 gitent . . . ac Christum . . . (Fabri Comment, 
 in Evang. praefat.) 
 
 109 Ubivis gentium expergiscimini ad Evangelii 
 lucem . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 110 Verbum Dei sufficit. (Ibid.) 
 
 111 HBBC est universa et sola vivifica Theologia 
 . . . Christum et verbum ejus esse omnia. (Ibid, 
 in Ev. Johan. p. 271.) 
 
 112 Le Long. Biblioth. sacre"e, 2 edit. p. 42. 
 3 Act. des Mart. p. 182. 
 
 114 Hist. Cathol. de notre temps, par Fontaine, 
 de 1'ordre de Saint Francois. Paris, 1562. 
 
 115 Actes des Mart. p. 182. 
 
 116 Hist. Cathol. de Fontaine. 
 
 117 Actes des Mart. p. 182. 
 
 118 Par le commandement de Madame a quy il a 
 lyvre quelque chose de la saincte Escripture 
 qu'elle desire parfaire. (MS. in the Royal Library, 
 S. F. No. 337.) 
 
 " 9 MS. in the Royal Library, S. F. No. 337. 
 
 120 Les Marguerites, i. p. 40. 
 
 121 Farel, Epitre au Due de Lorraine. Gen. 
 1634. 
 
 122 Qui verbum ejus hoc modo non diligunt, 
 quo pacto hi Christiani essent. (Praef. Comm. in 
 Evang.) 
 
 123 Farel, apres avoir subsiste tant qu'il put a 
 Paris." (Bezre Hist. Eccles. i. 6.) 
 
 124 Aliis pauculis libellis diligenter lectis. (Beza3 
 Icones.) 
 
 125 Animosae fidei plenus. (Ibid.) 
 
 126 Get heretique ecrivit des pancartes qu'il 
 attacha aux portes de la grande eglise de Meaux. 
 (MS. de Meaux.) See also Bezae Icones, Cres- 
 pin, Actes des Martyrs, &c. 
 
 127 Hist. Eccles. de Th. de Bezae, p. 4. Hist, 
 des Martyrs de Crespin, p. 92. 
 
 128 Actes des Martyrs, p. 183. 
 
 129 Actes des Martyrs, p. 183. 
 
 130 Impietatis etiam accusatos, turn voce, turn 
 scriptis. (Bezae Icones.) 
 
 131 Incongrue beatam Virginem invocari pro 
 Spiritu Sancto. (Erasmi Epp. 1279.) 
 
 1 32 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois I. iv. 241. Cre- 
 vier, Univ. de Paris, v. p. 171. 
 
 133 Ductus est in carcerem, reus haereseos pe- 
 riclitatus. (Erasmi Epp. 1279. Crevier, Gail- 
 lard, loc. cit.) 
 
 134 Ob hujusmodi no3nias. (Erasm. Epp. 1279.) 
 
 135 At judices, ubi viderunt causam esse nullius 
 momenti, absolverunt homiriem. (Ibid.) 
 
 136 Ex epistola visus est mihi vir bonus. (Ibid.) 
 
 137 Sineret crabrones et suis se studiis oblecta- 
 ret. (Erasmi Epp. 1279.) 
 
 138 Deinde ne me involveret suae causae. (Ibid.) 
 
 139 Ille, ut habebat quiddam cum palma com- 
 mune, adversus deterrentem tollebat animos. 
 (Ibid.) There is probably an allusion to Pliny, 
 Hist. Naturalis, xvi. 42. 
 
 140 Histoire 1'Universite par Crevier, v. p. 203. 
 
 141 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois I. v. p. 234. 
 
 142 " Comme il etait horn me adroit, il esquiva 
 la condamnation," says Crevier, v. p. 203. 
 
 143 Cum Ignatio Loyola init amicitiam. (Launoi 
 Navarraa gymnasii historia, p. 621.) 
 
 1 44 Actes des Martyrs, p. 99. 
 
 145 Acts of the Apostles, xviii. 3, 4. Apostoli 
 apud Corinthios exemplum secutus. (Bezae 
 Icones.) 
 
460 
 
 NOTES BOOK XII. 
 
 146 Vocatus ad cognitionem Dei. (Act. Mart. 
 180.) 
 
 147 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois I. v. p. 232. 
 
 148 Cum equitabam in arundine longa, memini 
 saspe audisse me a matre, venturum Antichristum 
 cum potentia magna perditurumque eos qui essent 
 ad Ellas pnedicationem conversi. (Tossanus Fa- 
 rello, 4th Sept. 1525, from a manuscript of the 
 conclave of Neufchatel.) 
 
 "9 Tossanus Farello, 21st July, 1525. 
 
 a> Tossanus Farello, 4th Sept., 1525. 
 
 151 Clarissimum ilium equitem . . . cui mul- 
 tum familiaritae et amicitiae, cum primicerio Me- 
 tensi, patruo meo. (Toss. Farello, 2d Aug., 
 1524.) 
 
 W2 Toss. Farello, 21st July, 1525. MS. of 
 Neufchatel. 
 
 153 Divini spiritus afflatu impulsus. (Bezse 
 Icones.) 
 
 154 Mane apud urbis portam deprehensus. 
 
 155 Totam civitatem concitarunt ad auctorem 
 ejus facinoris quaerendum. (Act. Mart. lat. p. 
 189.) 
 
 156 Naso candentibus fprcipibus abrepto, iisdem- 
 que brachia utroque, ipsis que mammis crudelis- 
 sime perustis. (Bezre Icones.) MS. of Meaux ; 
 Crespin, &c. 
 
 157 Altissima voce recitans. (Bezae Icones.) 
 Psalm cxv. 49. 
 
 158 Adversariis territis, piis magnopere confir- 
 matis. (Ibid.) 
 
 159 Nemo qui non commoveretur, attonitus. 
 (Act. Mart. lat. p. 189.) 
 
 160 Instar aspidis serpentis aures omni surditate 
 affectas. (Act. Mart. lat. p. 183.) 
 
 161 Utriusque manus digitos lamina vitrea era- 
 sit. (Act. Mart. lat. p. 66.) 
 
 / i 62 MS. of Choupard. 
 
 J / 163 Farel, says a French MS. preserved at 
 v / Geneva, was a gentleman in station, of ample 
 V fortune, which he gave up for the sake of his re- 
 ligion, as did also three of his brothers. 
 
 164 II precha 1'Evangile publiquement avec une 
 grand liberte. (MS. of Choupard.) 
 i* Ibid. Hist, des Eveq. de Nismes, 1738. 
 
 166 II fut chasse, voire fort rudement, tant par 
 Teveque que par ceux de la ville. (MS. of Chou- 
 pard.) 
 
 167 Olim errabundus in sylvis, in nemoribus, in 
 aquis vagatus sum. (Farel ad Capit. de Bucer. 
 Basil, 25th Oct. 1526. MS. of Neufchatel.) 
 
 168 Non defuere crux, persecutio et Satanae 
 machinamenta . . . (Farel Galeoto.) 
 
 169 Nunquam in externis quievit spiritus rneus. 
 (Coctus Farello, MS. of the conclave of Neuf- 
 chatel. 
 
 no Virum est genere, doctrinaque clarum. ita 
 pietate humanitateque longe clariorem. (Zw. Epp. 
 p. 319.) 
 
 171 In a letter to Farel, he signs : Filius tuus 
 Tiumilis. (2 Sept. 1524.) 
 
 172 Pater ccelestis animum sic tuum ad se traxit. 
 (Zwinglius Sebvillae, Epp. p. 320.) 
 
 173 Nitide, pure, sancteque prasdicare in animum 
 inducis. (Ibid.) 
 
 174 < Mire ardens in Evangelium," said Luther 
 to Spalatin. (Epp. ii. p. 340.) " Sehr briinstig 
 in der Herrlichkeit des Evangelii," said he to 
 the Duke of Savoy. (Epp. ii. p. 401.) 
 
 175 Evangelii gratia hue profectus e Gallia. (L 
 Epp. ii. p. 340.) 
 
 176 Hie Gallus eques . . . ootimus vir est, eru- 
 ditus ac pius. (Ibid.) 
 
 177 Ein grosser Liebhaber der wahren Religion 
 und Gottseligkeit. (L. Epp. ii. p. 401.) 
 
 178 Eine selfsame Gabe und hohes Kleinod un- 
 ter den Fiirsten. (Ibid.) 
 
 179 Der Glaube ist ein lebendig Ding . . . (L. 
 Epp. ii. p. 502.) The Latin is wanting. 
 
 180 Dass ein Feuer von dem Hause Sophoy aus- 
 gehe. (L. Epp. ii. p. 406.) 
 
 181 Vult videre aulam et faciem Principis nostri. 
 (L. Epp. ii. p. 340.) 
 
 182 Quidquid sum, habeo, ero, habebove, ad 
 Dei gloriam insumere mens est. (Coct. Epp. 
 MS. of Neufchatel.) 
 
 83 Voluit Dominus per infirma haec, docere 
 quid possit homo in majoribus. (Farel Capitoni. 
 Ibid.) 
 
 184 Amicum semper habui a primo colloquio. 
 (Farel ad Bulling. 27th May, 1556.) 
 
 iss Fortasse in mediis Turcis felicius docuis- 
 sem. (Zw. et Ecol. Epp. p. 200.) 
 
 86 Mi Farelle, spero Dominum conservaturum 
 amicitiam nostram immortalem ; et si hie con- 
 jungi nequimus, tanto beatius alibi apud Christum 
 erit contubernium. (Zw. et CEcol. Epp. p. 201.) 
 
 187 Nullum est pene convivium . . (Er. Epp. 
 p. 179.) 
 
 188 Consilium quo sic extin^uatur incendium 
 Lutheranum. (Ibid.) 
 
 189 Quo nihil vidi mendacius, virulentius, et se- 
 ditiosius. (Er. Epp. p. 798.) 
 
 190 Addas linguae et vanissimus. (Er. Epp. p. 
 2129.) 
 
 191 Scabiosos . . . rabiosos . . . nam nuper 
 nobis misit Gallia. (Er. Epp. p. 350.) 
 
 192 Non duitem quin agantur spiritu Satanae. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 193 Diremi disputationem .... (Er. Epp. p. 
 804.) 
 
 194 Utdiceret negotiatorem quemdamDupletum 
 hoc dixisse. (Er. Epp. p. 2129.) 
 
 195 Si Deus est, inquit, invocandus est. (Er. 
 Epp. p. 804.) 
 
 196 Damit er gelehrt werde, ober irre. (Fussli 
 Beytr. iv. p. 244.) 
 
 197 Aus Eingiessung des heiligen Geistes ein 
 christlicher Mensch und Bruder. (Ibid.) 
 
 198 Gtilielmus Farellus Christianis lectoribus, 
 die Martis post Reminiscere. (Fussli Beytr. iv. 
 p. 247.) Fussli does not give the Latin text. 
 
 199 Schedam conclusionum a Gallo illo. (Zw. 
 Epp. p. 333.) 
 
 200 Schedam conclusionum latine apud nos dis- 
 putatam. (Ibid.) 
 
 201 Agunt tamen magnos interim thrasones, sed 
 in angulis lucifugae. (Ibid.) 
 
 202 Incipit tamen plebs paulatim illorum ignaviam 
 et tyrannidem verbo Dei agnoscere. (Ibid.) 
 
 203 Ad totam Sorbonicam affligendam si non et 
 perdendam. (CEcol. Luthero, Epp. p. 200.) 
 
 204 Farello nihil candidius est. (Ibid.) 
 
 205 Verum ego virtutem illam admirabilem et 
 non minus placiditate, si tempestive fuerit, neces- 
 sariam. (Ibid.) 
 
 200 Adeo hospitum habemus rationem, veri So- 
 domitse. (Zw. Epp. p. 434.) 
 
 207 Gulielmus ille qui tarn probe navavit ope- 
 ram. (Zw. et CEcol. Epp. p. 175.) 
 
 208 Le prince qui avoit cognoissance de 1'Evan- 
 gile. (Farel. Summaire.) 
 
 209 Summaire c'est k dire, brieve declaration de 
 G. Farel, dans 1'epilogue. 
 
 210 Summaire c'est a dire, brieve declaration 
 de G. Farel, dans 1'epijogue. 
 
NOTES BOOK XII. 
 
 461 
 
 211 Etant requis et demande du peuple et du 
 consentement du prince. (Farel, Summaire.) 
 
 212 Summaire, c'est a dire, brieve declaration 
 de G. Farel, dans 1'epilogue. 
 
 213 Avec 1'invocation du nom de Dieu. (Farel. 
 Summaire.) 
 
 214 Leoninam magnanimitatem columbina mo- 
 destia frangas. (CEcol. Epp. p. 198.) 
 
 215 ... Tumuhuatur et Burgundia nobis prox- 
 ima, per Phalucum quemdam Gallum qui e Gal- 
 lia profugus. (Er. Epp. p. 809.) 
 
 216 Suppullulare qui omnes conatus adferant, 
 quo possit Christi regnum quam latissime patere. 
 (MS. de Neufchatel, 2d August, 1524.) 
 
 217 Quod in Galliis omnibus sacrosanctum Dei 
 verbum in dies magis ac magis elucescat. (Ibid.) 
 
 218 Factio crescit in dies latius, propagata in 
 Sabaudiam, Lothoringiam, Franciam. (Er. Epp. 
 p. 809.) 
 
 2 *9 De Sebville a Coct du 28th Dec., 1524. 
 (MS. du Conclave de Neufchatel.) 
 
 220 Elle a une docteur de Paris appele maitre 
 Michel Eleymosinarius, lequel ne prfeche devant 
 elle que purement I'Evangile. (Sebville k Coct 
 MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 22 > MS. de Neufchatel. 222 Ibid. 223 Ibid. 
 
 224 Arandius preche a Mascon. (Coct a Farel, 
 Dec., 1524, MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 225 Conjicere pot.es ut post Macretum et me in 
 Sebivillam exarserint. (Anemond k Farel, 7th 
 Sept., 1524, MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 226 Les Thomistes ont voulu proceder contre 
 moi par inquisition et caption de personne. (Let- 
 tre de Sebville. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 227 Si ce ne fut certains amis secrets, je estois 
 mis entre les mains des Pharisiens. (Lettre de 
 Sebville, MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 228 MS. de Neufchatel. 
 
 229 Non solum tepedi sed frigidi. (MS. de 
 Neufchatel.) 
 
 230 Tuocognato, Amedeo Galbertoexceptis. (Ib.) 
 
 231 Mais de en parler publiquement, il n'y pend 
 que le feu. (Ibid.) 
 
 232 Le samedi des Quatre-Temps. (Dec., 
 1524. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 233 Pour vray Maigret a preche a Lion^maulgre 
 les pretres et moines. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 234 MS. de Neufchatel. 
 
 235 Hist, de Francois I. par Gaillard, iv. p. 233. 
 
 236 Pierre Toussaint a Farel, Basle, 17 Dec., 
 1524. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 237 Gallis verborem Dei sitientibus. (Coctus 
 Farello. 2 Sept., 1524. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 238 Non longe abest enim, quo in portum tran- 
 quillum pervenlimus . . . (Oswald Myconius v 
 Anemond de Coct. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 239 21st December, 1525. (MS. du Conclave 
 de Neufchatel.) 
 
 ^ MS. du Conclave de Neufchatel. 
 
 241 Multis jam christianis Gallis dolet, quod 
 Zwinglii aliorumque de Eucharistia sententia, dis- 
 sentiat Lutherus. (Tossanus Farello, 14th July, 
 1525.) 
 
 2 ^ Quam sollicite quotidianis precibus com- 
 mendem. (Tossanus Farello, 2d Sept., 1524 
 MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 243 Opto enim Galliam Evangelicis voluminibus 
 abundare. (Coctus Farello, MS. de Neufchatel.; 
 
 244 Ut pecuniae aliquid ad me mittant. (Ibid.) 
 215 Ut praela multa erigere possimus. (Ibid.) 
 246 An censes inveniri posse Lugduni, Meldae, au 
 
 alibi in Galliis qui nos ad haec juvare velint. (Ibid. 
 2 " Vausris a Farel. (Bale, 29th Aug., 1524. 
 MS. de N'eufchatel.) 
 
 248 Mitto tibi librum de instituendis ministris 
 Ecclesiae cum libro de instituendis pueris. (Coctus 
 Farello, 2d Sept., 1524. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 249 Vaugris k Farel. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 250 Animum autem immutare, divinum opus 
 est. ((Ecol. Epp. p. 200.) 
 
 251 ... A quibus si pendemus, jam a Christo 
 defecimus. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 252 Der Christliche Handel zu Miimpelgard, 
 erloffen mit griindlichen Wahrheit. 
 
 253 Quod Evangelistam, non tyrannicum legis- 
 atorem praestes. (CEcol. Epp. p. 206.) 
 
 254 Me in dies divexari legendis amicorum lit- 
 eris qui me . . . ab institute remorari nituntur. 
 Toss. Farel., 2d Sept., 1524. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 255 Jam capulo proxima. (MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 256 Litteras ad me dedit plenas lacrymis quibus 
 maledicit et uberibus quae me lactarunt, &c. (Ibid.) 
 
 257 Visum est CEcolampadio consultum .... 
 ut a se secederem. (Ibid.) 
 
 258 Utor domo cujusdam sacrificuli. (Ibid.) 
 
 259 Ut Christi regnum quam latissime pateat. 
 MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 260 Quil s'en retourne a Metz, Ik ou les enne- 
 mis de Dieu s'elevent journellement contre 
 
 'Evangile. (Tossanus Farello ; 17th Dec., 
 1524. MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 261 Accepi ante horam a fratre tuo epistolam 
 quam hie nulli manifestavi ; terrentur enim in- 
 firmi. (Coctus Farello, 2d Sept., 1524.) 
 
 2 2 Coct a Farel, Dec., 1524. MS. de Neufchatel. 
 
 263 Coct a Farel, Jan., 1525. MS. de Neufchatel. 
 
 264 Revue du Dauphine, torn. ii. p. 38. MS. 
 de Choupard. 
 
 265 Ingens affectus, qui me cogit Mumpelgar- 
 dum amare. (Farelii Epp.) 
 
 266 Quo Anemundi spiritum jam pervenissejspe- 
 ramus. (Myconius Farello, MS. de Neufchatel.) 
 
 267 Les Marguerites de la Marguerite, p. 29. 
 
 268 Plus quam scurrilibus conviciis debacchan- 
 tes. . . . (Er. Francisco Regi, p. 1108.) 
 
 269 Pro meis verbis supponit sua, praetermittit, 
 addit. (Er. Francisco Regi, p. 887.) 
 
 270 Cum itaque cerneram tres istos . . . uno 
 animo in opera meritoria conspirasse. (Natalis 
 Bedae Apologia adversus clandestinos Lutheranos, 
 fol. 41.) 
 
 271 Mazurius contra occultos Lutheri discipuli 
 os declamat, ac recentis veneni celeritatem vim- 
 que denunciat. (Lannoi, regii NavarraB gymnasii 
 historia, p. 621.) 
 
 272 Histoire de 1'Universite, par Crevier, v. p. 196. 
 
 273 De la religion catholique en France, par de 
 Lezeau. MS. de la bibliotheque de Sainte-Ge- 
 nevieve a Paris. 
 
 274 Hist, de 1'Universite, par Crevier, v. p. 204. 
 
 275 Hist, de 1'Universite, par Crevier, v. p. 204. 
 
 276 Maimbourg, Hist, du Calv. p. 14. 
 
 277 MS. de la Biblioth. Royale, S. F. No. 337. 
 
 278 Maimbourg, Hist, du Calv. p. 15. 
 
 279 Crucis statim oblatas terrore perculsus. 
 (Bezae Icones.) 
 
 280 Dementatus. (Ibid.) 
 
 281 Ut Episcopus etiam desisteret suisconsiliis ef- 
 fecit. (Launoi, regii Navarrce gymnasii hist, p.621.) 
 
 282 Nisi turpi palinodia gloriam hanc omnem 
 ipse sibi invidisset. (Bezae Icones.) 
 
 2 3 Perpendens perniciosissimam demonis fal- 
 laciam. . . . Occurri quantum valui. (Nat. Beds 
 Apolog. adv. Lutheranos, fol. 42.) 
 
 284 I. Lelong Biblioth. sacree, 2d part, p. 44. 
 
 285 Quod excussi sunt a facie Domini sicut 
 pulvis ille excussus est a pedibus. (Faber in Ev. 
 Matth. p. 40.) 
 
 286 Faber stapulensis et Gerardus Rufus, clam e 
 Gallia profecti, Capitonem et Bucerum audierunt. 
 (Melch. Adam. Vita Capitonis, p. 90.) 
 
 387 De omnibus doctrinae praecipuis locis cum 
 ipsis disseruerint. (Ibid.) 
 
 388 Missi a Margaretha regis Francisci sorore. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 289 Farel k tous seigneurs, peuples et pasteurs. 
 
 290 Quod et pius senex fatebatur ; meque horta- 
 baturi pergerem in annuntiatione sacri Evangelii. 
 (Farellus Pellicano Hotting. H. L. vi. p. 17.) 
 
462 
 
 NOTES BOOK XII. 
 
 291 Nam latere cupiunt et tamen pueris noti 
 sunt. (Capito Zwing. Epp. p. 439.) 
 
 292 Erasmi Ep. p. 923. 
 
 293 Actes des Martyrs, p. 103. 
 
 294 Marguerites de la Marguerite des Princesses, 
 1, p. 445. 
 
 295 Primumjubet ut desinam scribere. (Erasm. 
 Epp. p. 921.) 
 
 26(5 Ut totam Galliam in me concitaret. (Erasm. 
 Epp. p. 886.) 
 
 297 Nisi quod Erasmus esset major hasreticus. 
 (Erasm. Epp. p. 915.) 
 
 298 Quoties in conviciis, in vehiculis, in navi- 
 bus . . . (Ibid.) 
 
 299 Hoc gravissimum Lutheri incendium, unde 
 natum, unde hue progressum, nisi ex Beddaicis 
 intemperiis. (Erasm. Epp. p. 887.) 
 
 300 Musarum vindicem adversus barbarorum in- 
 cursienes. (Erasm. Epp. p. 2070.) 
 
 301 Nisi princeps ipsorum volurrtati per omnia 
 paruerit, dicetur fautor hasreticorum et destitui 
 poterit per ecclesiarn. (Er. Epp. p. 1108.) 
 
 302 Simulate religionis praetextu, ventris tyran- 
 nidisque suas, negotium agentes. (Er. Epp. p. 962.) 
 
 303 Noster captus detinetur in Bundamosa 
 quinque millibus a Metis. (CEcol. Farello Epp. 
 p. 201.) 
 
 301 y e j vivum confessorem, vel mortuum mar- 
 tyrem servabit. (Ibid.) 
 
 305 Nollem carissimos dominos meos Gallos 
 properare in Galliam. (Ibid.) 
 
 306 Actes des Martyrs, p. 97. 
 807 Actes des Martyrs, p. 95. 
 
 30S Actes des Martyrs, recueillis par Crespin, 
 en fr. p. 97. 
 
 3 Hist, de Francois I., par Gaillard, iv. p. 233. 
 
 310 Eum auctorem vocationis suas atque conser- 
 vatorum ad extremum usque spiritum recognovit. 
 (Acta Mart. p. 202.) 
 
 311 Gerdesius, Historia saeculi xvi. renovati p. 
 52. D'Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum de novis 
 erroribus ii. p. 21. Gaillard, Hist, de Francois I. 
 torn. iv. p. 233. 
 
 312 Animi factum suum detestantis dolorem, 
 saspe declaraverit. (Acta Mart. p. 203.) 
 
 313 Puram religionis ChristianaB confessionem 
 addit. (Ibid.) 
 
 314 Cette semence de Faber et de ses disciples, 
 prise au grenier de Luther, germa dans le sot 
 esprit d'un ermite qui se tenait pres la ville de 
 Paris. (Hist. Catholique de notre temps, par S. 
 Fontaine, Paris, 1562.) 
 
 315 Lequel par les villages qu'il frequentait, sous 
 couleur de faire ses quetes, tenait propos here- 
 tiques. (Ibid.) 
 
 316 Hist. Catholique de notre temps, par Fontaine. 
 
 317 Avec une grande ceremonie. (Histoire des 
 Egl. Ref. par Theod. de Beze, i. p. 4.) 
 
 318 Histoire des Egl. Ref. par Theod. de Beze, 
 i. p. 4. 
 
 319 Histoire des Egl. Ref. par Theod. de Beze, 
 i. p. 4. 
 
 320 Statura fuit mediocri, colore sub pallido et 
 nigricante, oculis ad mortem usque limpidis, 
 quique ingenii sagacitatem testarentur. (Bezae 
 Vita Calvini.) 
 
 321 Cultu corporis neque culto neque sordido 
 sed qui singularem modestiam deceret. (Ibid.) 
 
 322 Primo quidem qumn superstitionibus Papatus 
 magis pertinaciter addictus essem. (Calv. Praef. 
 ad Psalm.) 
 
 323 Eg q u j natura timido, molli et pusillo animo 
 me esse fateor. (Ibid.) 
 
 324 Summam in moribus affectabat gravitatem 
 et paucorum horninum consuetudine utebatur. 
 (Rcpmundi Hist. Hacres. vii. 10.) 
 
 325 Severus omnium in suis sodalibus censor. 
 BezaB Vita Calv.) 
 
 326 Annales de 1'Eglise de Noyon, par Levas- 
 seur, Chanoine, p. 1158. 
 
 THE 
 
 327 Exculto ipsius ingenio quod ei jam turn erat 
 acerrimum, ita profecit ut caeteris sodalibus in 
 grammatices curriculo relictis ad dialecticos et 
 aliarum quas vocant artium studium promovere- 
 tur. (Beza.) 
 
 328 Levasseur, docteur de la Sorbonne, annales 
 de 1'Eglise Cathedrale de Noyon, p. 1151. Dre- 
 lincourt, Defense de Calvin, p. 193. 
 
 329 Erat is Gerardus non parvi judicii et consilii 
 homo, ideoque nobilibus ejus regionis plerisque 
 carus. (Beza.) 
 
 330 Domi vestrae puer educatus, iisdem tecum 
 studiis initiatus primam vitae et literarum disci- 
 plinam familise vestras nobilissimas acceptam re- 
 fero. (Calv. PraBf. in Senecam ad Claudium.) 
 
 331 Desmay, Remarques, p. 31. (Drelincourt, 
 Defense, p.' 158.) 
 
 332 Ego qui natura subrusticus. (Preef. ad Ps.) 
 
 333 Umbram et otium semper amavi . . . late- 
 bras catare. (Ibid.) 
 
 334 Henry, das Leben Calvins, p. 29. 
 
 335 Destinarat autem eum pater ab initio theolo- 
 giaB studiis, quod in ilia etiam tenera state mirum 
 in modum religiosus esset. (Bezag, Vita Calv.) 
 
 16 Levasseur, ann. de Noyon, pp. 1159, 1173. 
 
 337 Vie de Calvin, par Desmay, p. 31 ; Levas- 
 seur, p. 1158. 
 
 338 Sane venit annus septuagesimus, et tempus 
 appetit ut tandem vindicemur in libertatem spiritus 
 et conscientias. (Ibid.) 
 
 339 Sed novit Dominus quos elegerit. (Tous- 
 saint to Farel, 21 July, 1525.) 
 
 340 " Si nos magistrum in terris habere deceat." 
 he adds. (Tossanus Farello, MS. of Neufchatel.) 
 
 341 Vereor ne aliquid monstri alat. (Tossanus 
 Farello, MS. of Neufchatel, 27 Sept. 1525.) 
 
 342 Audio etiam equitem periclitari, simul et 
 omnes qui illic Christi glorias favent. (Tossanus 
 Farello, MS. of Neufchatel, 27 Dec. 1525.) 
 
 343 Fratres qui in collegio Cardinalis Monachi 
 sunt te salutant. (Tossanus Farello, MS. of 
 Neufchatel.) 
 
 344 Regnante hie tyrannide commissariorum et 
 theologorum. (Ibid.) 
 
 345 Faber estimpar oneri evangelico ferendo. (Ib.) 
 
 346 Per Rufum magna operabitur Dominus. (Ib.) 
 
 347 Fidelissimi fratris officio functum. (Tossa- 
 nus Farello, MS. of Neufchatel.) 
 
 348 Cornmendo me vestris precibus, ne succum- 
 bam in hac militia. (Ibid.) 
 
 349 Me periclitari de vita. (Ibid.) 
 
 350 Offerebantur hie mihi conditiones amplis- 
 simae. (Ibid.) 
 
 351 Malo esurire et abjectus esse in domo 
 Domini. (Ibid.) 
 
 352 Hagc, haec gloria mea quod habeor haareticus 
 ab his quorum vitam et doctrinam video pugnare 
 cum Christp. (Ibid.) 
 
 353 Periclitatus est Michael Arantius. (Ibid.) 
 
 354 " Periit Papilio non sine gravi suspicione 
 veneni," says Erasmus. (Ibid.) 
 
 355 Gaillard, Hist, de Francois ler,tom. 2, p. 255. 
 366 Nam habet Detis modum, quo electos suos 
 
 mirabiliter custodiat. ubi omnia perdita videntur. 
 (Calvinus in Ep. ad Rom. xi. 2.) 
 
 357 ... Beneficio illustrissimae Ducus Alan- 
 conia?. (Toussaint a Fare].) 
 
 358 Marguerites de la Marguerite des princesses, 
 torn. i. p. 125. 
 
 19 Memoires de Du Bellay, p. 124. 
 
 360 Histoire de France, par Gamier, torn. xxiv. 
 
 361 Pour taster au vif la volunte de 1'esleu 
 empereur . . . madame Marguerite, duchesse 
 d'Alengon, tres-notablement accompaignee de 
 plusieurs ambassadeurs .... (Les gestes de 
 Francoise de Valois, par E. Dolet, 1540.) 
 
 362 Jam in itinere erat Margarita, Erancisci 
 soror . . . e fossis Marianis solvens, Barcinonem 
 prinnim, deinde Caspar Augvistum appulerat. 
 (Belcarius, Rerum Gallicarum Comment, p. 565.) 
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