Tbos. J. Kiptart- 

CI C I M r< ATI, O. 




Presented to the 

LIBRARIES of the 
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 

by 

Nancy Kiphart Logan 

In memory of 
Her grandfather 
Thomas J. Kiphart 



J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNe' D.D. 



HISTORY 

OP 

THE REFORMATION 

OF 

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

BY J. H. MERLE D^A^UBIGNE, D. D., 

PRESIDENT OF THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF GENEVA, AND VICE- 
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCI^Tfi fiVANGELIQUE. 

TRANSLATED BY H. WHITE, B. A. 

TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE : M. A. AND PH. DR. HEIDELBERG. 

THE TRANSLATION CAREFULLY REVISED BY DR. D'aUBIGN^, WHO HAS 
ALSO MADE VARIOUS ADDITIONS NOT HITHERTO PUBLISHED. 

VOL. I. 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 



\ 



Messrs. OiiiVEK & Boyd, publishers in Edinburgh, having 
stereotyped a new edition of this work under the immediate super- 
vision of the author, a duplicate set of their stereotype plates, cast 
in Edinburgh, was procured from them and imported, from which, 
as revised by the author for the American Tract Society, the present 
edition is a reprint. Of Oliver & Boyd's edition the author says, 
" I have revised this translation line by hne, and word for word ; 
and I have restored the sense wherever I did not find it clearly ren- 
dered. It is the only one which I have corrected. I declare in 
consequence, that I acknowledge this translation as the only faitL 
fa\ expression of my thoughts in the English language, and I rec- 
ommend it as such to all my readers " 

The Publishing Committee, by issuing entire, a3 revised bv the 
author, this great historical record of the conflicts of truth with 
error, would not be understood to express their sanction of every 
fact or deed recorded, or of every argument adduced, or of the 
sense in which all theological terms were employed, as men were 
emerging from the darkness of Popery to the pure light of the 
gospel. 



J'appelle accessoire, I'estat des affaires de ceste vie caduque et tran«itoire. 
Pappelle principal, le gouvemement spirituel auquel reluit souverainemeni 
h, providence de Uieu. Theodore de Beze. 

By accessory, I mean the state of affairs in this frail tnd traisitcry life 
By prittcipal, the spiritual government in which G-od's providence rules su 
pieme. Theodore Bcza. 




CONTENTS. 



BOOK L 

STATE OF EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Christianity — Two distinctive principles — Rise of the Papacy — Early 
encroachments — Influence of Rome — Cooperation of the bishops 
and of the sects — Visible unity of the church — Invisible unity of 
the church — Primacy of St. Peter — Patriarchates — Cooperation 
of princes — Influence of the barbarians — Rome invokes the aid of 
the Franks — Secular power — Pepin and Charlemagne — The de- 
cretals — Disorders of Rome — The emperor, the pope's Suzerain — 
Hildebrand — His character — Celibacy — Struggle with the empire 
— Emancipation of the pope— Hildebrand's successors — The cru- 
sades — The empire — The church — - 33 

CHAPTER II. 

Grace — Dead faith — Works — Unity and duality — Pelagianism — Sal- 
vation at the hands of the priests — Penance — Flagellations — In- 
dulgences — Works of supererogation — Purgatory — The tariff — 
Jubilee — The Papacy and Christianity — State of Christendom-62 

CHAPTER III. 

Religion — Relics — Easter revels — Morals — Corruption — Disorders of 
the priests, bishops, and popes — A papal family — Alexander VI. 
— Caesar Borgia — Education — Ignorance — Ciceronians —61 

CHAPTER IV. 

Imperishable nature of Christianity — Two laws of God — Apparent 
strength of Rome — Secret opposition — Decline — Threefold oppo- 
sition — Kings and people — Transformation of the church — The 
pope judged in Italy — Discoveries of kings and their subjects — 
Frederick the Wise — Moderation and expectation 71 

CHAPTER V. 

Popular feeling — The empire — Providential preparations — Impulse 
of the Reformation — Peace — The commonalty — National charac- 
ter — Papal yoke — State of the empire — Opposition at Rome — 
Middle classes — Switzerland — Courage — Liberty — Smaller can- 
tons — Italy — Obstacles to the reform — Spain — Obstacles — Portu- 
gal — France — Preparations — Disappointment — The Low Coun- 
tries — England — Scotland — The North — Russia — Poland — Bohe- 
loia — Hungary - - 78 



4 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Roman theology — Remains of life — Justification by faith — Witnesses 
to the truth — Claudius — The Mystics — The Waldenses — Valdo — 
WicklifFe — Huss — Prediction — Protestantism before the Reforma- 
tion — Anselm — Arnoldi — Utenheim — Martin — New witnesses in 
the church — Thomas Conecte — The cardinal of Crayn — Institoris 
—Savonarola — Justification by faith — John Vitrarius — John Lal- 
lier — John of Wesalia — John of Goch — John Wessel — Protestant- 
ism before the Reformation — The Bohemian brethren^ — Prophecy 
of Proles — Prophecy of the Eisenach Franciscan 92 

CHAPTER VII. 

Third preparation — Letters — Revival — Recollections of antiquity in 
Italy — Influence of the Humanists — Christianity of Dante — Valla 
— Infidelity in Italy — Platonic philosophy — Commencement of 
learning in Germany — Young students — Printing— Characteris- 
tics of German literature — The learned and the schoolmen — A 
new world — Reuchlin — Reuchlin in Italy — His labors — His influ- 
ence in Germany — Mysticism — Contest with the Dominicans- 109 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Erasmus — Erasmus a canon — At Paris — His genius — His reputation 
— His influence — Popular attack — Praise of Folly — Gibes — 
Churchmen — Saints — ^Folly and the popes — Attack on science — 
Principles — Greek New Testament — His profession of faith — His 
labors and influence — His failings — Two parties — Reform with- 
out violence — Was such possible?— Unreformed church — His 
timidity — His indecision — Erasmus loses his influence with all 
parties 124 

CHAPTER IX. 

The nobility — Different motives — Hiitten — Literary league — Literae 
obscurorum virorum — Their efiect — Luther's opinion — Hiitten 
at Brussels — His letters — Sickengen — "War — His death — Cron- 
berg — Hans Sachs — General ferment 138 



BOOK II. 

THE YOUTH, CONVERSION, AND EARLY LABORS 
OF LUTHER. 
1483-1517. 

CHAPTER I. 

Luther's descent — His parents — His birth— His poverty — Paternal 
home — Severity — First knowledge — School of Magdeburg— 
Hardships — Eisenach — The Shunamite — House of Cotta — ^Arts- 
Recollections of these times— His studies — Trebonius — The uni- 
versity - 149 



CONTENTS. 



5 



CHAPTER II. 

The university — Scholastic divinity and the classics — Luther^s piety 
— Discovery of the Bible — Illness — Luther admitted M.A. — Con- 
science — Death of Alexis — The thunder-storm — Providence — 
Farewell — Luther enters a convent 161 



CHAPTER III. 

His father's anger — Pardon — Humiliations — The sack and the cell 
— Endurance — Luther's studies — St. Augustine — Peter d'Ailly — 
Occam — Gerson — The chained Bible — Lyra — Hebrew and Greek 
— Daily prayers — Asceticism — Mental struggles — Luther during 
mass — Useless observances — Luther in a fainting-fit 170 

CHAPTER IV. 

Pious monks — Staupitz — His piety — Visitation — Conversations — 
The grace of Christ — Repentance — Power of sin — Sweetness of 
repentance — Election — Providence — The Bible — The aged monk 
— Forgiveness of sins — Ordination — The dinner — Festival of Cor- 
pus Christi — Luther made professor at Wittemberg 181 

CHAPTER V. 

The university of Wittemberg — First instructions — Biblical lectures 
— Sensation — Luther preaches at Wittemberg — The old chapel — 
Impression produced by his sermons 194 

CHAPTER VI. 

Journey to Rome — Convent on the Po — Sickness at Bologna — Recol- 
lections of Rome — Julius II. — Superstitious devotion — Profanity 
of the clergy — Conversations — Roman scandals — Biblical studies 
— Pilate's staircase — Effects on Luther's faith and on the Refor- 
mation — Gate of Paradise — Luther's confession 199 



CHAPTER VII. 

Luther returns to Wittemberg — Made doctor of divinity — Carlstadt 
— Luther's oath — Principle of the Reformation — Luther's cour- 
age — Early views of reformation — The schoolmen — Spalatin — 
Reuchlin's quarrel with the monks 210 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Faith — Popular declamations — Academic teaching — Luther's purity 
of life — German theology or mysticism — The monk Spenlein — 
Justification by faith — Luther on Erasmus — Faith and works — 
Erasmus — Necessity of works — Luther's charity 219 

CHAPTER IX. 

Luther's first theses — The old Adam and grace — Visitation of the 
convents — Luther at Dresden and Erfurth — Tornator — Peace 
and the cross — Results of Luther's journey — His labors — The 
plague 229 



6 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. 

The relics — Relations of Luther with the elector — Advice to the 
chaplain — Duke George — His character — Luther's sermon before 
the court — Dinner at court — Evening with Emser 234 

CHAPTER XI. 

Return to Witt ember g — Theses — Freewill — Nature of man — Ration- 
alism — Proposal to the university of Erfurth — Eck — Urban Re- 
gius — Luther's modesty — Effect of the theses 240 



BOOK III. 

THE INDULGENCES AND THE THESES. 

1517 TO MAY, 1518. 

CHAPTER I. 

Procession — Tetzel — Tetzel's sermon — Confession — Four graces — 
Sale — Public penance — Letter of indulgence — Exceptions — 
Amusements and dissipation 249 

CHAPTER II. 

The Franciscan confessor — The soul in the burial-ground-r-The shoe- 
maker of Hagenau — The students — Myconius — Conversation with 
Tetzel — Trick of a nobleman — Remarks of the wise and of the 
people — A miner of Schneeberg - 260 

CHAPTER III. 

Leo X. — The pope's necessities — Albert — His character— Farming 
the indulgences — Franciscans and Dominicans--- 268 

CHAPTER IV. 

Tetzel approaches — Luther in the confessional — Tetzel's anger — 
Luther has no plan — Jealousy of orders — Luther's sermon — The 
elector's dream 272 



CHAPTER V. 

Festival of All Saints—Theses — Their strength — ^Moderation — Prov- 
idence — Letter to Albert — Indifference of the bishops — Dissemi- 
nation of the theses - 280 

CHAPTER VI. 

Reuchlin — Erasmus — Flek — Bibra— The emperor — The pope — My- 
conius — The monks — Apprehensions — Adelmann — An aged 
priest — The bishop — The elector — The townspeople of Erfurth— 
— Luther's answer — Disorder — Luther's mainspring 293 



CONTENTS. 



7 



CHAPTER VII. 

Tetzel'S attack — Luther -s reply — Good works — Luther and Spalatin 
— Study of Scripture — Scheurl and Luther — Doubts on the the- 
ses — Luther pleads for the people — A new coat 303 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Frankfort discussion — TetzePs theses — Menaces — Knipstrow'S oppo- 
sition — Luther's theses burned — The monks — Luther's peace — 
TetzePs theses burned — Grief of Luther 311 

CHAPTER IX. 

Prierio — System of Rome — Dialogue — System of reform — Answer to 
Prierio — The word — The pope and the church — Hochstraten — 
The monks — Luther replies — Eck — The scliool — The Obelisks — 
Luther's sentiments — The Asterisks — Rupture 321 

CHAPTER X. 

Popular writings — The Lord's prayer — Our Father — Who art in 
heaven — Hallowed be thy name — Thy kingdom come — Thy will 
be done — Our daily bread — Sermon on repentance — Remission 
of sins cometh from Christ 333 

CHAPTER XI. 

Apprehensions of his friends — Journey to Heidelberg — Bibra — Pala- 
tine palace — Rupture — The Paradoxes — Disputation — The audi- 
ence — Bucer — Brentz — Snepf — Conversations with Luther — La- 
bors of these young doctors — Efifects on Luther — The aged pro- 
fessor — The true light — Arrival 340 



BOOK IV. 

LUTHER BEFORE THE LEGATE. 
MAY TO DECEMBKE, 1518. 

CHAPTER I. 

The resolutions — Repentance — Papacy — Leo X. — Luther to his 
bishop — Luther to the pope — Luther to the vicar-general — Ro- 
vera to the elector — Sermon on excommunication — Influence and 
strength of Luther 351 

CHAPTER II. 

Diet at Augsburg — The emperor to the pope — The elector to Rove- 
ra — Luther summoned to Rome — Luther's peace — Intercession 
of the university — Papal brief— Luther's indignation — The pope 
to the elector - ' 362 



8 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

The armorer Schwartzerd — His wife — Philip — His genius and stud- 
ies — The Bible — Call to Wittemberg — Melancthon's dej)arture 
and journey — Leipsic — Mistake — Luther's joy — Parallel — Revo- 
lution in education — Study of Greek 371 

CHAPTER IV. 
Sentiments of Luther and Staupitz — Summons to appear — Alarm and 
courage — The elector with the legate — Departure for Augsburg 
—Sojourn at Weimar — Nuremberg — Arrival at Augsburg-- -380 

CHAPTER V. 

De Vio — His character — Serra Longa — Preliminary conversation — 
Visit of the councillors — Return of Serra Longa — The prior — 
Luther's discretion — Luther and Serra Longa — The safe-conduct 
— Luther to Melancthon 386 

CHAPTER VI. 

First appearance — First words — Conditions of Rome — Propositions 
to be retracted — Luther's answer — He withdraws — Impression 
on both parties — Arrival of Staupitz 39 C 

CHAPTER VII. 

Second interview — Luther's declaration — The legate's answer — His 
volubility — Luther's request - - 404 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Third interview — Treasure of indulgences — Faith — Humble petition 
— The legate's reply — Luther's answer — The legate's anger — Lu- 
ther withdraws — First defection- - - - 409 

CHAPTER IX. 

De Vio and Staupitz — Staupitz and Luther — Luther to Spalatin — 
Luther to Carlstadt — The communion — Link and De Vio — De- 
parture of Link and Staupitz — Luther to Cajetan — The cardinal'* 
silence — Luther's farewell — Departure — Appeal to Rome 415 

CHAPTER X. 
Luther's flight — Admiration — Luther's desire — ^The legate to the 
elector — The elector to the legate — Prosperity of the univer- 
sity - - , - 426 

CHAPTER XI. 

Thoughts on departure — Farewell to the church — Critical moment — 
Deliverance — Luther's courage — Dissatisfaction at Rome — Bull 
— Appeal to a council ~ 433 



TEE 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

FOR THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY'S EDITION. 



" The sixteenth century was the epoch of a great sep- 
aration ; the nineteenth, must be that of a great union." 

It is a long time since I expressed somewhere this 
sentiment, and I adhere to it. If Romish uniformity, 
which destroys all proper life, all spontaneous action, 
and changes the church into a dead body, is an evil, the 
separation of Protestant churches, the manner in which 
they continue estranged one from another, their mutual 
coldness, their intolerance, their differences, are certainly 
not a good. The church has in our days a great step to 
take. The various parts of which it is composed must 
not remain scattered members. The word of the Lord 
comes to us saying, " I will put breath in you." Ezek. 
31 : 6. Already a "noise" is heard, a " shaking" is felt ; 
the various members come "together." Verse 7. 

For a long time the necessity of an evangelical union 
has been felt. There have been attempts at political 
union, as that of 1608 under the Elector Palatine Frede- 
rick V. ; there have been attempts at ecclesiastical union, 
as at Charenton in 1631, at Thorn in 1645, at Cassel in 
1661, in Prussia both during the eighteenth century and 
in 1811 

All these attempts indicate a need, but without being 
able to supply it, because the time appointed by God was 
not yet come, and because a union was sought like that 
of the Romish church, external, and not internal, as the 
Lord designs. 

It is important to consider well what Christianity is, 



10 PEEFACE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITION. 



in order to see why there should be a Christian union, 
and how to proceed for its attainment. 

It follows from the nature of Christianity, that Chris^ 
tians are not simply individuals placed by the side of 
one another, but that they are a real and living unity. 

Christianity is neither an abstract doctrine, nor an 
external organization ; it is a life communicated to man- 
kind, or rather, to the church. " The Life was manifest- 
ed," says the beloved apostle ; we have seen it, and 
bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which 
was with the Father, and was manifested unto us," and 
by which we are passed from death unto life. 1 John. 

This new life given to redeemed man is contained 
essentially in the person of Jesus Christ. It was given 
him of the Father to have life in himself ;" but this life 
is given to all those who are united to Christ ; a union 
which is assured by believing in certain divine facts 
accomplished by him, in his humble incarnation, in his 
expiatory death, in his glorious resurrection. 

The eternal life which is communicated by Christian- 
ity being " in the Son," 1 John 5 : li, faith, by establish 
ing between the Son of God and the believer an intimate, 
real, mysterious union, becomes by this very act the 
source of religious life, or of eternal life in man. 

But from this intimate union of the Christian with 
Christ, there results necessarily an intimate union of the 
Christian with all who receive the life of Christ. The 
eternal life which is in J esus, and which flows for me, is 
the same which flows for my Presbyterian, Baptist, or 
Episcopal brother in London, Geneva, New York, Tahiti, 
Calcutta ; so that the life which is in me is identically 
the life which is in them. Christians are not then a mere 
plurality ; they are also, they are especially a living and 
or|>;anic unity. To deny plurality in regard to the exist* 
ence of Christians, would be folly ; but to deny unity ^ 
would be hardly less absurd. 

Now this unity, this organization, this body, all the 
members of which have but one head, one blood, one life, 
5s the evangelical union, the Christian society, the church. 

Just as all the members of my body have an intimate 



PEEPACE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITION. 



11 



and nndefinable relation with one another, because the 
same life animates them, the same head makes them 
move, so every Christian finds himself really and indis- 
solubly united to all other Christians by an identical 
relation with the same Saviour. This is what is called 
the " communion of saints." This communion is not only 
a system, a doctrine, it is a reality, a fact which exists in 
the world as certainly as the union of the members of 
the same body. 

There can be really no Christian union in the church, 
unless it proceed from the spiritual and internal fact 
which I have mentioned. Our part is not to moke a 
Christian union, but rather, to recognize it, to exhibit it, 
to take away the obstacles which hinder it from having 
free course. Christian union must proceed first of all 
from uniXy of spirit. The whole theory of Christian unity 
is found in these words of the beloved disciple : " Who- 
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God ; 
and every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him 
also that is begotten of him." 

We must admit too, that Christian union cannot be a 
purely spiritual fact : we might as well say that man is 
only a spirit. The church is the society of all Christians, 
but of Christians taken in their compound nature. As I 
remark in a passage of my History of the Reformation, 
omitted in the ordinary editions, but restored in this one. 
The church, which is first of all spiritual and invisible, 
must manifest itself outwardly, and become external and 
visible. 

But shall this external unity be a unity of organiza- 
tion ? Shall there be only one external church, hierarch- 
ically constituted, the faithful expression of the spiritual 
church, as the Romish church pretends ? No ; this never 
has been, and probably never will be. 

There are shades of nationality, there are preponder- 
ances of doctrines, there are diversities of ecclesiastical 
government, which may exist, may show themselves out- 
wardly, and long prevent an external uniformity, without 
aflecting injuriously the intimate and spiritual union. 

Farther, I cannot conceal my fear lest mere unity of 



12 PEEFACE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITION. 

form be unavoidably not the manifestation, but the sub- 
stitute of internal union. I fear that when much stress 
is laid on unity of ecclesiastical constitution, this unity 
may be obtained at the expense of the internal constitu- 
tion of vital Christianity. The Romish church is a sad 
and striking proof of the danger I point out. 

If external unity is not a unity of organization, what 
then is it ? 

Man expresses his inward thought in two ways — ^by 
ijoord and action. These two manifestations of the hu- 
man soul are also those which will serve to express, to 
strengthen, to propagate spiritual unity. It is idle to 
seek a third means : man has it not. 

The first manifestation of spiritual unity will be by 
WORD, or the mouth's confession of faith in the heart. 
Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to confess him 
before men. This is even essential to life : " With the 
mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. 10 : 10. 
And this word must not be isolated, the word of one oi 
of several ; it must be universal, the word of all. It is 
necessary " that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord." Phil. 2:11. Numerous passages establish one 
confession as necessary in Christian union. Thus in the 
epistle to the Romans, the apostle having prayed that 
they be like-minded, adds, " That ye may with one mind 
and one mouth glorify God." Rom. 16 : 6. In the first 
epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle beseeches all Chris- 
tians to have " the same mind and the same judgment f 
and insisting on this latter point, he urges in the same 
verse "that they all speak the same thing." 1 Cor. 1 : 10. 

The second manifestation of the human soul is action. 
I do not see nor hear the soul ; but when I hear a man 
speak, or when I see him act, the soul is indicated to me 
as clearly as if it were seen or heard. So also united 
action will not only indicate, but will also promote and 
strengthen spiritual unity. 

It is impossible that a man whose faculties are com* 
plete, should not show his spiritual being by word and 
action ; it is equally impossible that spiritual unity, if it 
is real, should not show itself in both of these ways 



PREFACE TO THE SOCIETY»S EDITION. 13 



Christian action must not be individual action only. 
There have always been Christians who have acted apart 
from others ; this is an anomaly, a sickly exception. No 
doubt the action of the believer should be individual : he 
who, by giving his name and his contribution to the la- 
bors of some society, should think this exempted him 
from a personal work, would be in a great error. But 
Christian action, which is primarily individual, must bo- 
come in the next place social. The action of the Chris- 
tian must necessarily have both characters, individuality 
and catholicity ; for while the Christian is an individual, 
he is an individual who is a member of a great commun- 
ion. When men form a society to promote any object, 
they understand that each member will combine his ac- 
tivity with that of the rest ; and it should be so in the 
most important of all societies. 

The individual element and the catholic element are 
necessary to Christian action. When Christ demands 
action of his disciples, he does not take them individual- 
ly, one after another ; he speaks to all of them together. 
It was to his assembled disciples that he said, Go, teach 
all nations." Matt. 28 : 19. And even in labors that are 
distinct, there must be, according to him, something com- 
mon. Thus he would that " he that soweth and he that 
reapeth may rejoice together." John 4:36. In the Acts 
of the Apostles, all shows us this community of action. 
It is the churches who send missionaries, 2 Cor. 8, and 
it is they who receive their reports. 

This community of action indeed is not wanting now 
All the Christian societies which have been formed in the 
great and glorious period which began with the founda- 
tion of the London Missionary Society, act conformably 
to this principle of the social activity of Christianity. 
But most of these institutions are confined to particular 
denominations. The time has come when all Christians 
of one city must recognize the duty of laboring together 
in the cause of Christ. They must do it, not only for the 
useful purpose of reaching a greater number of persons, 
but primarily in order to comply with the great law of 
Christian unity, and to exhibit and promote this unity. 



14 PEEFAOE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITIO]vr. 

If Christians should unite with other Christians in 
the same city, the cities would soon unite with other 
cities in the same country, and the countries with other 
countries in the same world, which God has honored and 
rescued from rebellion and death by the sacrifice of the 
cross ; and soon the earth would be filled with the know- 
ledge of the Lord. 

It cannot be denied, that Christian union has become 
a great demand, and even a great fact at the present 
day. In some countries this cause is more advanced 
than in others ; but everywhere it exists, it advances, 
and will still advance. 

For myself, I have not ceased for several years to 
appear everywhere the advocate of Christian union. In 
conjunction with my friend and colleague, Dr. Gaussen, 
I so avowed myself in the numerous meetings which 
were held in Geneva in 1838 and 1839. In 1844, 1 made 
on this subject at St. Gall, in the general meeting oi 
Swiss ministers, a proposition which is known ; and in 
1845, this thought was one on which I chiefly dwelt in 
addresses delivered by me in England and in Scotland. 
In Germany, at Stuttgart, Oct. 1845, after suggesting a 
motion on this subject in the general meeting of the Gus- 
tavus Adolphus Society, where were delegates from all 
Protestant continental Europe, I believed it my duty to 
insist on the true nature of this union. 

I look, then, with lively interest upon every institu- 
tion which can contribute to the realization of this 
thought ; and in this respect, I must express my entire 
sympathy with the American Tract Society, which in- 
cludes Christians of various denominations, Presbyteri- 
ans, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and 
others, strictly united in the truths necessary to salva- 
tion, and differing only on minor points. 

I respect, in the American Tract Society, not only its 
direct labors for the conversion and edification of souls, 
but also the influence of union which it must necessarily 
exert on the Christian community. I love to recognize 
in it primarily the spiritual unity which must be the ba- 
sis of the union, but also the two great manifestations 



PEEPACS TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITION. 



15 



which I have pointed out, that of word and that of action. 
The American Tract Society confesses the same Chris- 
tian doctrine by the writings which it publishes ; and it 
acts in accordance by its efficient labors, which carry 
light and life not only to the shores of the Atlantic, but 
into the great valley, to the coasts of the Pacific ocean, 
and to the most distant corners of the earth. I hope 
that this Society will daily increase its labors, and thus 
more and more exhibit the unity of the body of Christ, 
and the glory of its adorable Head. I feel happy, there- 
fore, in cooperating with it by preparing for it a new 
edition of my History. In doing this, I have restored 
some passages omitted from all the previous American 
editions, and corrected errors which had no doubt inad- 
vertently crept into them. I have also admitted some 
corrections, not numerous, as the use of denominational 
terms less frequently, in order to facilitate the reading 
of this work by every denomination of evangelical Chris- 
tians. I could never make the sacrifice of historical 
facts, or evangelical truths ; but I consider it a duty, 
when it is possible to do so without any compromise, to 
render this work as extensively useful as possible. 

On one point it seems necessary to guard against 
misapprehension. Some persons imagine that the Ana- 
baptists* of the times of the Reformation, and the Bap- 
tists of our day, are the same. But they are as different 
as possible : there is at least as wide a difierence be- 
tween them, as there was between the Episcopalians and 
the Baptists when the English Baptists separated, in the 
sixteenth century, from the Episcopal establishment. 
They did it without being at all influenced by the Anar 
baptists of the continent : the example of some of these 
had rather kept them together. So much for the histor- 
ical affinity. As to principles, it is enough to look at 
the social and political opinions of the Anabaptists, vol. 
8, p. 336, to see that the present Baptists reject such 
sentiments. The doctrine of the Mennonites themselves 
differs not essentially from that of other Protestant com- 
mmiions. See Historia Christianorum qui in Belgio fede- 
• See note, vol. 3, p. 361. 



16 PREFACE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITIOK. 



rate iiiter protestantes MennonitsB appellantur. Any 
sterdam, 1723. These are truths so well knowr^ that 
I am surprised there is need to repeat theiQ. A popular 
American work, Fessenden's Encyclopedia, states this 
difference. It says, article Anabaptist," " The English 
and Dutch Baptists do not consider the word as at all 
applicable to their sect." And farther on, "It is but 
justice to observe, that the Baptists in Holland, England, 
and the United States, are to be considered as entirely 
distinct from those seditious and fanatical individuals 
above mentioned ; as they profess an equal aversion to 
all principles of rebellion of the one, and enthusiasm of 
the other." 

Farther, there is a fact which we must never forget ; 
namely, that the reformers are not our masters : " One 
is our Master, even Christ." Luther held opinions which 
would shock the feelings of Episcopalians, or Baptists, or 
Presbyterians, or of all together : for example, his opin- 
ion on baptism, vol. 2, p. 133. The writings of Luther 
do not make part of the Bible ; and he declares himself 
that he does not wish men to believe in him, but only in 
Christ. We must understand the vast difference there 
is between the most eminent doctors, Augustine, Wick- 
liffe, Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and the word of God. 

]3ut it is time to close this preface. I will not do it, 
however, without rendering thanks to God for the suc- 
cess which he has given in America to my History of 
the Reformation. What I ask of the Sovereign Disposer 
is, that by this humble labor the Son of God may be 
glorified 

Eaux-Vives, Geneva, 31st October, 
The anniversary of Luther'' s Reformation. 



PREFACE. 



The history of one of the greatest revolutions that 
has ever been accomplished in human affairs — of a mighty 
impulse communicated to the world three centuries ago, 
and whose influence is still visible on every side — and 
not the history of a mere party, is the object of my pres- 
ent undertaking. The history of the Reformation is dis- 
tinct from that of Protestantism. In the former every 
thing bears the mark of a regeneration of the human 
race — of a religious and social change emanating from 
God himself. In the latter we too often witness a glar- 
ing degeneracy from first principles, the struggles of 
parties, a sectarian spirit, and the traces of petty indi- 
vidualities. The history of Protestantism may have an 
interest for Protestants only ; the history of the Refor- 
mation addresses itself to all Christians, or rather to all 
mankind. 

An historian may choose any subject in the wide field 
presented to his labors : he may describe the great events 
which have changed the aspect of a people or of the 
world ; or on the other hand, he may record that tranquil 
onward course of a nation, of the church, or of mankind, 
which usually succeeds every great social change. Both 
these departments of history are of vast importance ; 
yet public interest has ever been more strongly attracted 
to those epochs which, under the name of revolutions, 
have given fresh life to a nation, or created a new era 
for society in general. 

It is a transformation of the latter kind that, with 
very humble powers, I have undertaken to describe, not 
without a hope that the beaut}' of the subject may com- 
pensate for my own deficiencies The term " revolution," 
which I here apply to it, has of late fallen into discredit 
with many individuals, who almost confound it with 

2 



18 



PREFACE. 



revolt. But they are wrong : for a revolution is merely 
a change in the affairs of men — something new unfolded 
(revolutus) from the bosom of humanity ; and this very 
word, previous to the end of the last century was more 
frequently used in a good than in a bad sense : a happy, 
a wonderful revolution, were the terms employed. The 
Reformation was quite the opposite of a revolt ; it was 
the reestablishment of the principles of primitive Chris- 
tianity. It was a regenerative movement with respect to 
all that was destined to revive ; a conservative movement 
as regards all that will exist for ever. While Christian- 
ity and the Reformation established the great principle 
of the equality of souls in the eyes of God, and over- 
threw the usurpations of a haughty priesthood that as- 
sumed to place itself between the Creator and his crea- 
ture, they both laid down this fundamental rule of social 
order, that all power is derived from God, and called 
upon all men to "love the brotherhood, fear God, and 
honor the king." 

The Reformation is eminently distinguished from all 
the revolutions of antiquity, and from most of those of 
modern times. Political changes — the consolidation or 
the overthrow of the power of the one or of the many — 
were the object of the latter. The love of truth, of holi- 
ness, of immortality, was the simple yet mighty spring 
which set in motion that which I have to describe. It 
indicates a forward movement in Jiuman nature. In 
truth, man advances, he improves, whenever he aims at 
higher objects, and seeks for immaterial and imperish- 
able blessings, instead of pursuing material, temporal, 
and earthly advantages. The Reformation is one of the 
brightest days of this glorious progress. It is a guar- 
antee that the new struggle, which is receiving its ac- 
complishment under our own eyes, will terminate on the 
side of truth, in a purer, more spiritual, and still nobler 
triumph. 

Primitive Christianity and the Reformation are the 
two greatest revolutions in history. They were not lim- 
ited to one nation only, as were the various political 
movements that history records ; but their influence ex- 



PREFACE. 



19 



tended over many, and their effects are destined to be 
felt to the utmost limits of the world. 

Primitive Christianity and the Eeformation are one 
and the same revolution, brought about at different 
epochs and under different circumstances. Although 
not alike in their secondary features, they are identical 
in their primary and chief characteristics. One is a rep- 
etition of the other. The former put an end to the old 
world ; the latter began the new : between them lie 
the middle ages. One is the parent of the other ; and 
although the daughter may in some instances bear marks 
of inferiority, she has characters that are peculiarly her 
own. 

One of them is the rapidity of its action. The great 
revolutions that have led to the fall of a monarchy, or 
wrought an entire change in a political system, or which 
have launched the human mind on a new career of devel- 
opment, have been slowly and gradually prepared. The 
old established power has long been undermined ; one 
by one its chief supports have given way. This was 
the case at the introduction of Christianity. But the 
Reformation, at the first glance, seems to present a dif- 
ferent aspect. The church of Rome under Leo X. ap- 
pears in the height of its power and glory. A monk 
speaks — and in one half of Europe this mighty glory and 
power crumble into dust. In this revolution we are 
reminded of the words by which the Son of God foretells 
his second advent : " As the lightning cometh out of the 
east, and shineth even to the west, so shall the coming 
of the Son of man be.'' 

Such rapidity of action is inexplicable to those who 
see in this event nothing more than a reform ; who look 
upon it simply as an act of critical sagacity, which con- 
sisted in making a choice among various doctrines — 
rejecting some, preserving others, and arranging those 
which were retained so as to combine them into a new 
system. 

But how could a whole people, how could many na- 
tions have so promptly executed this laborious task I 
How could this critical examination have kindled the 



20 



fire and enthusiasm bo necessary for great, and above all, 
for sudden revolutions ? The Reformation, as its his- 
tory will show, was altogether different. It was a new 
outpouring of that life which Christianity brought into 
the world. It was the triumph of the greatest of its 
doctrines — of that which animates all who embrace it 
with the purest and most intense enthusiasm — the doc- 
trine of Faith, the doctrine of Grace. Had the Reforma- 
tion been what many Romanists and Protestants of our 
days imagine it, had it been that negative system of 
negative reason which, like a fretful child, rejects what- 
ever is displeasing to it, and disowns the grand truths 
and leading ideas of universal Christianity, it would 
never have crossed the threshold of the schools, or been 
known beyond the narrow limits of the cloister, or per- 
haps of the friar's cell. But with Protestantism, as 
many understand the word, it had no connection. Far 
from being an emaciated, an enervated body, it rose up 
like a man full of strength and energy. 

Two considerations will account for the suddenness 
and extent of this revolution. One must be sought in 
God ; the other among men. The impulse was given 
by an invisible and mighty hand : the change accom 
plished was the work of Omnipotence. An impartial 
and attentive observer, who looks beyond the surface, 
must necessarily be led to this conclusion. But as God 
works by second causes, another task remains for the 
historian. Many circumstances which have often passed 
unnoticed, gradually prepared the world for the great 
transformation of the sixteenth century, so that the hu- 
man mind was ripe when the hour of its emancipation 
arrived. 

It is the historian's duty to combine these two great 
elements in the picture he presents to his readers. This 
has been my endeavor in the following pages. I shall 
be easily understood so long as I am occupied in investi- 
gating the secondary causes that concurred in producing 
i-he revolution I have undertaken to describe Many 
perhaps will understand me less clearly, and will even 
be tempted to charge me with superstition, when I as 



PREFACE. 



21 



cribe the completion of the work to God. It is a convic- 
tion, however, that I fondly cherish. These volumes, as 
well as the motto I have prefixed to them, lay down in 
the chief and foremost place this simple and pregnant 
principle : God in Hisiory. But as it is a principle that 
has been generally neglected and sometimes disputed, it 
may be right for me to explain my views on this subject, 
and by this means justify the method I have adopted. 

History can no longer remain in our days that dead 
letter of events, to the detail of which the majority of 
earlier writers restricted themselves. It is now under- 
stood that in history, as in man, there are two elements — 
matter and spirit. Unwilling to resign themselves to 
the task of producing a simple recital of facts, which 
would have been but a barren chronicle, our great modern 
historians have sought for a vital principle to animate 
the materials of past ages. 

Some have borrowed this principle from the rules of 
art : they have aimed at being ingenuous, exact, and 
picturesque in description, and have endeavored to give 
life to their narrative by the characteristic details of the 
events themselves. 

Others have sought in philosophy the principle that 
should fertilize their labors. With the relation of events 
they have interwoven extended views, instructive les- 
sons, political and philosophical truths ; and have given 
animation to their narrative by the idea they have drawn 
from it, and by the theory they have been able to asso- 
ciate with it. 

Both these methods, undoubtedly, are good, and 
should be employed within certain limits. But thare is 
another source to which, above all, we must look for the 
intelligence, spirit, and life of past ages ; and this source 
is religion. History should live by that life which be- 
longs to it, and that life is God. In history God should 
be acknowledged and proclaimed. The history of the 
world should be set forth as the annals of the govern- 
ment of the sovereign King. 

I have gone down into the arena whither the recital* 



22 



PEEFACE 



of oar historians have invited me. There I have wit^ 
nessed the actions of men and of nations, developing 
themselves with energy, and contending in violent collis- 
ion. I have heard a strange dm of arms, but I have 
been nowhere shown the majestic countenance of the 
presiding Judge. 

And yet there is a living principle, emanating from 
God, in every national movement. God is ever present 
on that vast theatre where successive generations of men 
meet and struggle. It is true he is unseen ; but if the 
heedless multitude pass by without caring for him be- 
cause he is " a God that dwelleth in the thick darkness," 
thoughtful men, who yearn for the very principle of their 
existence, seek for him the more ardently, and are not 
satisfied until they lie prostrate at his feet. And their 
inquiries meet with a rich reward. For from the height 
to which they have been compelled to soar to meet their 
God, the history of the world, instead of presenting to 
their eyes a confused chaos, as it does to the ignorant 
crowd, appears as a majestic temple, on which the invis- 
ible hand of God himself is at work, and which rises to 
his glory upon the rock of humanity. 

Shall we not recognize the hand of God in those 
grand manifestations, those great men, those mighty 
nations, which arise, and start as it were from the dust 
of the earth, and communicate a fresh impulse, a new 
form and destiny to the human race ? Shall we not ac- 
knowledge him in those heroes who spring from soqiety 
at appointed epochs — ^who display a strength and activ- 
ity beyond the ordinary limits of humanity, and around 
whom, as around a superior and mysterious power, na- 
tions and individuals unhesitatingly gather ? Who has 
launched into the expanse of time those huge comets 
with their fiery trains, which appear but at distant inter- 
vals, scattering among the superstitious crowd abun- 
dance and joy, calamity and terror ? Who, if not God ? 
Alexander sought his origin in the abodes of the Divinity. 
And in the most irreligious age there has been no emi- 
nent glory that has not endeavored in some way or othef 
to connect itself with heaven. 



PREPAOB. 



23 



And do not those revolutions which hurl kings from 
their thrones and precipitate whole nations to the dust — 
do not those wide-spread ruins which the traveller meets 
with among the sands of the desert — do not those majes- 
tic relics which the field of humanity presents to our 
Tiew — do they not all declare aloud, A God in History ? 
Gibbon, seated among the ruins of the capitol, and con- 
templating its august remains, owned the intervention 
of a superior destiny. He saw it, he felt it : in vain 
would he avert his eyes. That shadow of a mysterious 
power started from behind every broken pillar : and he 
conceived the design of describing its influence in the 
History of the disorganization, decline, and corruption of 
that Roman dominion which had enslaved the world. 
Shall not we discern amidst the great ruins of humanity 
that almighty hand which a man of noble genius — one 
who had never bent the knee to Christ — perceived amid 
the scattered fVagments of the monuments of Romulus, 
the sculptured marbles of Aurelius, the busts of Cicero 
and Virgil, the statues of Caesar and Augustus, Pompey's 
horses, and the trophies of Trajan ; and shall we not 
confess it to be the hand of God ? 

What a startling fact^ that men brought up amid the 
elevated ideas of Christianity regard as mere supersti- 
tion that divine intervention in human affairs which the 
very heathens had admitted I 

The name given by ancient Greece to the sovereign 
Ruler shows it to have received primeval revelations of 
the great truth of a God, who is the principle of history 
and the life of nations. He was styled ^ews,* or the 
life-giver to all that lives — to nations as well as to indi- 
viduals. On his altars kings and people swore their 
solemn oaths ; and from his mysterious inspirations 
Minos and other legislators pretended to have received 
their laws. This is not all : this great truth is figured 
forth by one of the most beautiful fables of heathen an- 
tiquity. Even mythology might teach a lesson to the 
philosophers of our days ; and I may be allowed to estab- 
lish the fact, as perhaps there are readers who will feeJ 
♦ Zevct from ^cmj, I liye. 



PREFACE. 



less prejudice against the instructions of paganism than 
of Christianity itself. This Zeus, this supreme ruler, 
this eternal spirit, this life-giving principle, is the fathei 
of Clio, the muse of History, whose mother is Mnemosyne 
or Memory. Thus, according to the notions of antiquity, 
History combines a heavenly with an earthly nature 
She is the daughter of God and man ; but, alas, the pur 
blind philosophy of our proud age is far from having 
attained the lofty views of that heathen wisdom. Her 
divine paternity has been denied ; and the illegitimate 
child now wanders up and down the world like a shame- 
less adventurer, hardly knowing whence she comes or 
whither she is going. 

But this God of Pagan antiquity is only a faint re 
flection, a dim shadow of Jehovah — of the Eternal One. 
The true God whom the Hebrews worshipped, willing to 
impress on the minds of all nations that he reigns con- 
tinually upon earth, gave with this intent, if I may ven- 
ture the expression, a bodily form to this sovereignty in 
the midst of Israel. A visible theocracy was appointed 
to exist once upon the earth, that it might unceasingly 
remind us of that invisible theocracy which shall for 
ever govern the world. 

And see what lustre this great truth, God in history, 
receives under the Christian dispensation. What is 
Jesus Christ, if he be not God in history? It was this 
discovery of Jesus Christ which enabled John Miiller, 
the greatest of modern historians, fully to comprehend 
his subject. " The gospel," said he, " is the fulfilment 
of every hope, the perfection of all philosophy, the inter- 
preter of every revolution, the key to all the seeming 
contradictions in the physical and moral world : it is 
life and immortality. Since I have known t'le Saviour, 
every thing is clear to my eyes : with him there is no 
difificulty I cannot solve."* 

Thus wrote this eminent historian ; and is not this 
great truth, that God has appeared in human nature, in 
reality the keystone of the arch, the mysterious link 
which binds all earthly things together and connects 
Letter to Charles Bonnet 



PREFACE. 



26 



them with heaven ? History records a birth of God, and 
yet God has no part in history I Jesus Christ is the 
true God of man^s history: it is shown by the very 
meanness of his advent. When man would raise a shel- 
ter against the weather, a shade from the heat of the 
sun, what preparation of materials, what scaffolding 
and crowds of workmen, what trenches and heaps of 
rubbish ! but when God would do the same, he takes 
th3 smallest seed that a new-born child might clasp in 
its feeble hand, deposits it in the bosom of the earth, and 
from thai grain, scarcely distinguishable in its com- 
mencement, he produces the stately tree, under whose 
spreading branches the families of men may find a 
refuge. To effect great results by imperceptible means, 
such is the law of God. 

In Jesus Christ is found the most glorious fulfilment 
of this law. Christianity has now taken possession of 
the gates of every people. It reigns or hovers over all 
the tribes of the earth, from the rising to the setting 
sun ; and even a sceptical philosophy is compelled to 
acknowledge it as the social and spiritual law of the 
world. And yet what was the commencement of this 
religion, the noblest of all things under the vault of 
heaven, nay, in the "infinite immense" of creation? A 
child born in the smallest town of the most despised 
nation in the world ; a child whose mother had not what 
even the most indigent and wretched woman of our 
towns possesses, a room to shelter her in the hour of 
travail ; a child born in a stable and cradled in a man- 
ger 1 In this, 0 God, I acknowledge and adore thee. 

The Reformation recognized this divine law, and was 
conscious of fulfilling it. The idea that " God is in his- 
tory" was often put forth by the reformers. We find it 
particularly expressed by Luther in one of those homely 
and quaint, yet not undignified similitudes, which ho 
was fond of using that he might be understood by the 
people. The world," said he one day at table with his 
friends, is a vast and magnificent game of cards, made 
up of emperors, kings, princes, etc. The pope for many 
centuries beat the emperors, kings, and princes. Tboy 

Hla. RfiC 



29 



PEBFAOE 



yielded and fell before him. Then came our Lord God 
He dealt the cards: he took the lowest," Luther, *<for 
himself, and with it he beat the pope, that vanquisher 
of the kings of the earth. ... As Mary said, * He hath 
put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them 
of low degree.' 

The epoch whose history I am desirous of retracing 
is important for the present generation. When a man 
beco BOS sensible of his own weakness, he is generally 
inclined to look for support in the institutions he sees 
flourishing around him, or else in the bold devices of his 
imagination. The history of the Reformation shows that 
nothing new can be made out of things old ; and that if, 
according to our Saviour's expression, we require new 
bottles for new wine, we must also have new wine for 
new bottles. It directs man to God as the universal 
agent in history, and to that divine word, ever old by 
the eternal nature of the truths it contains, ever new by 
the regenerative influence that it exerts, which purified 
society three centuries ago, which restored faith in God 
to souls enfeebled by superstition, and which at every 
epoch in the history of man is the fountain whence flow- 
eth salvation. 

It is singular to witness a great number of men, 
agitated by a vague desire of believing in something 
fixed, addressing themselves in our days to the errone- 
ous Catholicism of Rome. In one sense this movement 
is natural : religion is so little known among them, that 
they think it can only be found where they see it in- 
scribed in large letters on a banner that time has ren- 
dered venerable. I do not say that all Catholicism is 
incapable of bestowing on man what he stands in need 
of. I think we should carefully distinguish between 
Catholicism and Popery. The latter, in my opinion, is 
an erroneous and destructive system ; but I am far from 
confounding it with Catholicism. How many worthy 
men, how many true Christians, has not the Catholic 
church contained within its bosom I What important 
• CoUoquia, or Tttble-tolk. 



PEEPACE 



87 



services were rendered by Catholicism to the existing 
states of Europe, at the moment of their formation — at 
a period when it was still deeply impregnated with the 
gospel, and when Popery was as yet only hovering over 
it like a faint shadow ! But we live no longer in those 
days. Strenuous endeavors are now making to reunite 
Catholicism with Popery ; and if Catholic and Christian 
truths are put forward, they are merely to serve as baits 
to draw us into the nets of the hierarchy. We have 
nothing, then, to hope for on that side. Has Popery 
renounced one of its observances, of its doctrines, or of 
its assumptions ? Will that religion which was insup- 
portable in former times, be less so in ours ? What le- 
generation has ever been known to emanate from Rome? 
Is it from a pontifical hierarchy, overflowing with earthly 
passions, that can proceed the spirit of faith, hope, and 
charity, which alone can save us ? Is it an exhausted 
system, that has no vitality for itself, which is every- 
where in the struggles of death, and which exists only 
by external aid, that can impart life to others, or animate 
Christian society with the heavenly inspiration that it 
requires ? 

Will this yearning of the heart and mind that begins 
to be felt by many of our contemporaries, lead others to 
apply to the new Protestantism which in many places 
has succeeded the powerful teaching of the apostles and 
reformers ? A great vagueness in doctrine prevails in 
many of those reformed churches whose first members 
sealed with their blood the clear and living faith that 
inspired them. Men distinguished for their information, 
and sensible to all the beauties which this world pre- 
sents, are carried away into strange aberrations. A 
general faith in the divinity of the gospel is the only 
standard they are willing to uphold. But what is this 
gospel ? that is the vital question ; and yet on this, 
either they are silent, or else every one answers it ac- 
cording to his own opinions. What avails it to know 
that God has placed in the midst of all nations a vessel 
containing a remedy for our souls, if we care not to 
know its contents, or if we do not strive to appropriate 



28 



PREFACE. 



them to ourselves ? This system cannot fill up the void 
of the present times. While the faith of the apostles 
and reformers appears everywhere active and effectual 
for the conversion of the world, this vague system does 
nothing, enlightens nothing, vivifies nothing. 

But let us not be without hope. Does not Roman- 
Catholicism confess the great doctrines of Christianity—^ 
God the Father, Son. and Holy Ghost — Creator, Saviour, 
and Sanctifier, who is the Truth? And does not this 
vague Protestantism hold in its hand the book of life, 
which is sufficient for doctrine, correction, and instruc- 
tion in righteousness ? And how many upright souls, 
honored in the eyes of men, lovely in the sight of God, 
are there not to be found among those subjected to these 
two systems ? How can we forbear loving them ? How 
not ardently desire their complete emancipation from 
human elements ? Charity is infinite : it embraces the 
most distant opinions, to draw them to the feet of Christ. 

Already there are indications that these two extreme 
opinions are moving nearer to Christ, who is the centre 
of truth. Are there not some Roman-catholic churches 
in which the reading of the Bible is recommended and 
practised ? And what steps has not Protestant ration- 
alism already made 1 It did not spring from the Refor- 
mation ; for the history of that great revolution will 
prove it to have been an epoch of faith. But may we 
not hope it is drawing nearer to it ? Will not the might 
of truth go forth to it from the word of God, and will 
not this rationalism be transformed by it ? Already we 
often witness in it a religious feeling, inadequate doublr 
less, but still it is a movement towards sound doctrine, 
and one which may lead us to hope for some definite 
progress. 

But the new Protestantism and the old Catholicism, 
are of themselves irrelevant and ineffectual. We re- 
quire something else to restore the saving power to the 
men of our days. We need something which is not of 
man, something that comes from God. Give me," said 
Archimedes, a point without the world, and I will lift 
it from its poles." True Christianity is this point which 



PREFACE. 



29 



raises the heart of man from its double pivot of selfish- 
ness and sensuality, and which will one day turn the 
whole world from its evil ways, and make it revolve on 
a new axis of righteousness and peace. 

Whenever religion has been under discussion, there 
have been three points to which our attention has been 
directed : God, man, and the priest. There can only be 
three kinds of religion upon earth, according as God, 
man, or the priest is its author and its head. I denom- 
inate that the religion of the priest, which is invented 
by the priest for the glory of the priest, and in which a 
sacerdotal caste is dominant. By the religion of man, I 
mean those various systems and opinions which human 
reason has framed, and which, being the offspring of 
haman infirmity, are consequently devoid of all healing 
power. The term divine religion I apply to the truth 
BQch as God gave it, the end and aim of which are the 
glory of God and the salvation of man. 

Hierarchism, or the religion of the priest — Christian- 
ity, or the religion of God — Rationalism, or the religion 
of man, are the three doctrines that divide Christendom 
in our days. There is no salvation, either for man or 
for society, in the first or in the last. Christianity alone 
can give life to the world ; and unhappily, of the three 
prevailing systems, it is not that which has the greatest 
number of followers. 

Some, however, it has. Christianity is operating its 
work of regeneration among many Catholics in Germa- 
ny, and no doubt in other countries also. It is accom- 
plishing its task with greater purity and vigor, in my 
opinion, among the evangelical Christians of Switzer- 
land, France, Great Britain, and the United Statea 
God be praised that these individual or social regenera- 
tions, produced by the gospel, are no longer such rari- 
ties as must be sought in ancient annals. 

It is tiie history of the Reformation in general that I 
desire to write. I purpose, tracing it among diffeient 
nations, to show that the same truths have e\'ery where 
produced the same results, and also to point out the 
diversities arising from the dissimilar characters of the 



80 



PREFACE. 



people. It is especially in Germany that we find the 
primitive type of this reform : there it presents the most 
organic developments ; there chiefly it bears the charac- 
ter of a revolution not limited to a particular nation, but 
which concerns the whole world. The reformation in 
Germany is the fundamental history of the reform, it is 
the primary planet ; the other reformations are secoi> 
dary planets, revolving with it, deriving light from the 
same source, forming part of the same system, but each 
having a separate existence, shedding each a different 
radiance, and always possessing a peculiar beauty. We 
may apply the language of St. Paul to these reforms of 
the sixteenth century : " There is one glory of the sun, 
and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars ; for one star differeth from another star in glory." 
I Cor. 15 : 41. The Swiss reformation occurred at the 
same time as the German, but was independent of it. 
It presented, at a later period especially, some of the 
great features observable in that of Germany. The 
reformation in Great Britain recommends itself in a 
very especial manner to our attention, from the power- 
ful influence which the churches of that country are ex- 
erting at the present day over all the world. But recol- 
lections of ancestry and of refuge, the remembrance of 
struggles, suffering, and exile, endured in the cause of 
the reformation in Prance, lend a particular attraction, 
in my eyes, to the French reform. Considered by itself, 
and with respect to the date of its origin, it presents 
beauties that are peculiarly its own. 

I believe the Keformation to be the work of God ; 
his hand is everywhere visible in it. Still, I hope to be 
impartial in retracing its history. I think I have spoken 
of the principal Roman-catholic actors in this great 
drama — of Leo X., Albert of Magdeburg, Charles V., 
and Doctor Eck, for instance, more favorably than the 
majority of historians have done. On the other hand, I 
have had no desire to conceal the faults and errors of 
the reformers. 

As early as the winter of 1831-32, I delivered a 
course of public lectures on the epoch of the Eeforma- 



PEEFACB. 



SI 



tion. I then published my opening discourse.* These 
lectures were a preparatory labor for the history I now 
lay before the public. 

This history is compiled from the original sources 
with which a long residence in Germany, the Nether- 
lands, and Switzerland, has rendered me familiar ; as 
well as from the study, in their original languages, of 
the documents relating to the religious history of Great 
Britain and other countries. As these sources will be 
pointed out in the course of the work, it will be unne- 
cessary to enumerate them here. 

I should have wished to authenticate the various 
portions of my work by many original notes ; but I 
feared that if they were long and frequent, they would 
prove a disagreeable interruption to my readers. I have 
therefore confined myself to such passages as seemed 
calculated to give them a clearer view of the history I 
have undertaken to write. 

I address this history to those who love to see past 
events exactly as they occurred, and not by the aid of 
that magic glass of genius which colors and magnifies, 
but which sometimes also diminishes and changes them. 
Neither the philosophy of the eighteenth nor the roman- 
ticism of the nineteenth century will guide my judg- 
ments or supply my colors. The history of the Reforma- 
tion is written in the spirit of the work itself. Princi- 
ples, it is said, have no modesty. It is their nature to 
rule, and they steadily assert their privilege. Do they 
encounter in their paths other principles that would dis- 
pute their empire, they give battle immediately. A 
principle never rests until it has gained the victory; 
and it cannot be otherwise — with it to reign is to live. 
If it does not reign supreme, it dies. Thus, at the same 
time that I declare my inability and unwillingness to 
entei into rivalry with other historians of the Reforma- 
fcion, I make an exception in favor of the principles on 
which this history is founded, and I firmly maintain their 
superiority. 

* Discours sur Titude de I'Histoire du Christianjsme, et son 
Utility pour I'J^poque actaelle. Paris, 1832, chez J. J . Einler. 



82 



PEEFACE. 



Up to this hour we do not possess, so far as I am 
aware, any complete history of the memorable epoch 
that is about to employ my pen. Nothing indicated 
that this deficiency would be supplied when I began 
this work. This is the only circumstance that could 
have induced me to undertake it, and I here put it for- 
ward as my justification. This deficiency still exists ; 
and I pray to Him from whom cometh every good and 
perfect gift, to grant that this humble work may not be 
profitless to my readers. 

BACX-Yrviss, near Geneva, AugiLst, 1836. 



fflSTORF OF THE REFORMATION. 



BOOK 1. 

STATE OF EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION 

CHAPTER I 

Christianity — Two distinctive principles — Rise of the Papacy — Early 
encroachments — Influence of Rome — Cooperation of the bishops 
and of the sects — Visible unity of the church — Invisible unity of 
the church — Primacy of St. Peter — Patriarchates — Cooperation 
of Princes — Influence of the barbarians — Rome invokes the aid of 
the Franks — Secular power — Pepin and Charlemagne — The De- 
cretals—Disorders of Rome — The Emperor, the Pope's Suze- 
rain— Hildebrand — His character — Celibacy — Struggle with the 
empire — Emancipation of ihe Pope — Hildebrand's successors — 
The crusades — The empire — The church. 

The enfeebled world was tottering on its foundations 
when Christianity appeared. The national religions 
which had satisfied the parents, no longer proved suffi- 
cient for their children. The new generations could not 
repose contented withi a the ancient forms. The gods of 
every nation, when transported to Eome, there lost their 
oracles, as the nations themselves had there lost their 
liberty. Brought face to face in the capitol, they had do* 
stroyed each other, and their divinity had vanished. A 
great void was occasioned in the religion of the world. 

A kind of deism, destitute alike of spirit and of life, 
floated for a time above the abyss in which the vigorous 
superstitions of antiquity had been engulfed. ^ But like 
all negative creeds, it had no power to reconstruct. 
National prepossessions disappeared with the fall of the 

3 



84 



EISTOEiT OF THE EEFORMATION. 



national gods. The various kingdoms melted one into 
the other. In Europe, Asia, and Africa, there was but 
one vast empire, and the human race began to feel its 
universality and unity. 

Then the Word was made flesh. 

God appeared among men, and as man, to save that 
which was lost. In Jesus of Nazareth dwelt all the ful- 
ness of the godhead bodily. 

This is the greatest event in the annals of the world. 
Former ages had prepared the way for it ; the latter 
ages flow from it. It is their centre and their bond of 
unity. 

Henceforward the popular superstitions had no mean- 
ing, and the slight fragments preserved from the general 
wreck of incredulity vanished before the majestic orb of 
eternal truth. 

The Son of man lived thirty-three years on earth, heal- 
ing the sick, converting sinners, not having where to lay 
his head, and displaying in the midst of this humiliation 
such greatness and holiness, such power and divinity, as 
the world had never witnessed before. He sufiered and 
died^ — he rose again and ascended into heaven. His dis- 
ciples, beginning at Jerusalem, travelled over the Ro- 
man empire and the world, everywhere proclaiming their 
Master as the author of everlasting life. From the midst 
of a people who despised all nations, came forth a mercy 
that invited and embraced all men. A great number of 
Asiatics, of Greeks, and of Romans, hitherto dragged by 
their priests to the feet of dumb idols, believed the Word. 
It suddenly enlightened the whole earth, like a beam of 
the sun.* A breath of life began to move over this wide 
field of death. A new people, a holy nation, was formed 
upon the earth ; and the astonished world beheld in the 
disciples of the Galilean a purity and self-denial, a charity 
and heroism, of which it had retained no idea. 

Two principles especially distinguished the new relig- 
ion from all the human systems that fled before it. One 
had reference to the ministers of its worship, the othsr 
to its doctrines. 

<^ Ota TM Uu>i> BoU. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. 2 :SL 



TWO DISTINCTIVE PEINOIPLES. 



35 



The ministers of paganism were almost the gods of 
these Imman religions. The priests of Egypt, Gaul, 
Dacia, Germany, Britain, and India, led the people, so 
long at least as their eyes were not opened. Jesus 
Christ indeed established a ministry, but he did not 
found a separate priesthood : he dethroned these living 
idols of the world, destroyed an overbearing hierarchy, 
took away from man what man had taken from God, and 
reestablished the soul in immediate connection with the 
divine fountain of truth, by proclaiming himself sole 
Master and sole Mediator. " One is your Master, even 
Christ ; and all ye are brethren.'^ Matt. 23 : 8. 

As regards doctrine, human systems had taught that 
salvation is of man : the religions of the earth had devised 
an earthly salvation. They had told men that heaven 
would be given to them as a reward : they had fixed its 
price ; and what a price ! The religion of God taught 
that salvation comes from him alone ; that it is a gift 
from heaven ; that it emanates from an amnesty, from 
the grace of the sovereign Ruler : " God hath given to 
us eternal life." 1 John 5:11. 

Undoubtedly Christianity cannot be summed up in 
these two points ; but they seem to govern the subject, 
as far as history is concerned. And as it is impossible 
for me to trace the opposition between truth and error 
in all its features, I have been compelled to select the 
most prominent. 

Such were the two constituent principles of the relig- 
ion that then took possession of the Roman empire and 
of the world. With these we are within the true limits 
of Christianity, and beyond them Christianity disappears. 
On their preservation or their loss depended its great- 
ness or its fall. They are closely connected : for we 
cannot exalt the priests of the church or the works of 
the faithful without lowering Christ in his twofold qual- 
ity of Mediator and Redeemer. One of these principles 
was to predominate in the history of the religion ; the 
other in its doctrine. They both reigned at the begin- 
ning. Let us inquire how they were lost ; and let us 
oommence by tracing the destiny of the former. 



36 



HISTORY OF THE E.E FORMATION. 



The church was in the beginning a community of 
Drethren, guided by a few of the brethren. All were 
taught of God, and each had the privilege of drawing 
for himself from the divine fountain of light. John 6 : 45. 
The epistles which then settled the great questions of 
doctrine did not bear the pompous title of a single man — 
of a ruler. We learn from the holy Scriptures, that they 
Ix^gan simply with these words : ^* The apostles and elders 
and brethren send greeting unto the brethren." Acts 
15 : 23. 

But these very writings of the apostles already fore- 
tell that from the midst of this brotherhood there shall 
arise a power that will destroy this simple and primitive 
order. 2 Thess. 2. 

Let us contemplate the formation, and trace the de* 
velopment of this power so alien to the church. 

Paul of Tarsus, one of the greatest apostles of the 
new religion, had arrived at Rome, the capital of the 
empire and of the world, preaching in bondage the sal- 
vation which cometh from God. A church was formed 
beside the throne of the Caesars. Composed at first of 
a few converted Jews, Greeks, and Roman citizens, it 
was rendered famous by the teaching and the dea^ of 
the apostle of the Gentiles. For a time it shone out 
brightly, a& a beacon upon a hill. Its faith was every- 
where celebrated ; but ere long it declined from its prim- 
itive condition. It was by small beginnings that both 
imperial and Christian Rome advanced to the usurped 
dominion of the world. 

The first pastors or bishops of Rome early employed 
themselves in converting the neighboring cities and 
towns. The necessity which the bishops and pastors of 
the Campagna felt of applying in cases of difficulty to 
an enlightened guide, and the gratitude they owed to 
the church of the metropolis, led them to maintain a close 
union with it. As it has always happened in analogous 
circumstances, this reasonable union soon degenerated 
into dependence. The bishops of Rome considered as a 
right that superiority which the surrounding churches 
had freely yielded. The encroachments of power form a 



INFLUENCE OF ROME. 



37 



great part of history ; as the resistance of those whose 
liberties are invaded forms the other portion. The eccle- 
siastical power could not escape the intoxication which 
impels? all who are lifted up to seek to mount still higher 
It obeyed this general law of human nature. 

Nevertheless the supremacy of the Roman bishopt 
was at thdt period limited to the superintendence of the 
churches within the civil jurisdiction of the prefect of 
Rome.* But the rank w^hich this imperial city held in 
the world offered a prospect of still greater destinies to 
the ambition of its chief pastor. The respect enjoyed by 
the various Christian bishops in the second century was 
proportionate to the rank of the city in which they re- 
sided. Now Rome was the largest, richest, and most 
powerful city in the world. It was the seat of empire, 
the mother of nations. All the inhabitants of the earth 
belong to her," said Julian ;f and Claudian declared her 
to be the fountain of laws." J 

If Rome is 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 nations be her children, and her authority 
their sovereign law ? It was easy for the ambitious 
heart of man to reason thus. Ambitious Rome did so. 

Thus, when pagan Rome fell, she bequeathed to the 
humble minister of the God of peace, sitting in the midst 
of her ruins, the proud titles which her invincible sword 
had won from the nations of the earth. 

The bishops of the different parts of the empire, fas- 
cinated by that charm which Rome had exercised for 
ages over all nations, followed the example of the Cam- 
pagna, and aided this work of usurpation. They felt a 
pleasure in yielding to the bishop of Rome some portion 
of that honor which was due to the queen of the world. 
There was originally no dependence implied in the honor 

• Suburbicaria loca. See the sixth canon of the Nicene Council 
thus quoted by Rufinus, Hist. Eccles. 10:6: Et ut apud Alexandrian 
et in urbe Roma, vetusta consuetudo servetur, ut vel ille ^gypti, 
?el hie suburbicariarum ecclesianim solicitudinem gerat, etc. 

t Julian. Orat. I. t Claudian in Paneg. Stilichonia, lib. 5 



38 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOIC. 



thus paid. They treated the Roman pastor as if thej 
were on a level with him.* But usurped power increases 
like an avalanche. Admonitions, at first simply frater- 
nal, soon became absolute commands in the mouth of 
the pontiff. A foremost place among equals appeared 
to him a throne. 

The western bishops favored this encroachment ol 
the Roman pastors, either from jealousy of the eastern 
bishops, or because they preferred submitting to the 
supremacy of a pope, rather than to the dominion of a 
temporal power. 

On the other hand, the theological sects that dis- 
tracted the East, strove, each for itself, to interest Rome 
in its favor ; they looked for victory in the support of 
the principal church of the West. 

Rome carefully enregistered these applications and 
intercessions, and smiled to see all nations voluntarily 
throwing themselves into her arms. She neglected no 
opportunity of increasing and extending her power. The 
praises and flattery, the exaggerated compliments and 
consultations of other churches, became in her eyes and 
in her hands the titles and documents of her authority. 
Such is man exalted to a throne : the incense of courts 
intoxicates him, his brain grows dizzy. What he pos- 
sesses becomes a motive for attaining still more. 

The doctrine of the church and the necessity of its 
visible unity, which had begun to gain ground in the 
third century, favored the pretensions of Rome. The 
church is, above all things, the assembly of " them that 
are sanctified in Christ Jesus,'' 1 Cor. 1 : 2 — " the assem- 
bly of the first-born, which are written in heaven," Heb. 
12 : 23. Yet the church of our Lord is not simply in 
ward and invisible ; it is necessary that it should be 
manifested, and it is with a view to this manifestation 
that the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper 
were instituted. The visible church has features differ- 
ent from those which distinguish it as an invisible church. 
The invisible church, which is the body of Christ, is 

• Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. L 5, c. 24 ; Socrat Hiat Eocles. e. %^ , 
P/priftn, ep. 59, 72, 75. 



VISIBLE UNITY OF THE CHTJROH. 



39 



necessarily and eternally one. The visible church no 
doubt partakes of the unity of the former ; but, consid- 
ered by itself, plurality is a characteristic already 
ascribed to it in the New Testament. While speaking 
of one church of God— 1 Cor. 15 : 9, 1 Tim. 3 : 15— it no 
sooner refers to its manifestation to the world, than it 
enumerates ^* the churches of Galatia, of Macedonia, ol 
Judea, all churches of the saints." 1 Cor. 16:1; 2 Cor, 
S : 1 ; Gal. 1 : 22 ; 1 Cor. 14 : 33. These churches may 
undoubtedly, to a certain extent, look for visible unity ; 
but if this union be wanting, they lose none of the es- 
sential qualities of the church of Christ. The strong 
bond which originally united the members of the church, 
was that living faith of the heart which connected them 
all with Christ as their common head. Different causes 
soon concurred to originate and develop the idea of a 
necessity for external union. Men accustomed to the 
political forms and associations of an earthly country 
carried their views and habits into the spiritual and 
eternal kingdom of Christ. Persecution, powerless to 
destroy or even to shake this new community, made it 
only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed 
it into a more compact body. To the errors that sprung 
up in the theosophic schools and in the various sects, 
was opposed the one and universal truth received from 
the apostles, and preserved in the church. This was 
well, so long as the invisible and spiritual church was 
identical with the visible and external church. But a 
great separation took place ere long ; the form and the 
life became disunited. The semblance of an identical 
and exterior organization was gradually substituted for 
that interior and spiritual communion which is the 
essence of the religion of God. Men forsook the pre- 
cious perfume of faith, and bowed down before the empty 
ressel that had contained it. They sought other bondi 
of union, for faith in the heart no longer connected the 
members of the church ; and they were united by means 
of bishops, archbishops, popes, mitres, canons, and cere- 
monies. The living church retiring gradually within 
the lonely sanctuary of a few solitary hearts, an exter* 



40 



HISTORY OF THE REFOilMATIOK. 



nal church was substituted in its place, and all its forms 
were declared to be of divine appointment. Salvation 
no longer flowing from the word, which was hencefor- 
ward put out of sight, the priests affirmed that it was 
conveyed by means of the forms they had themselves 
invented, and that no one could attain it except by these 
channels. No one, said they, can by his own faith ^ttaiII 
to everlasting life. Christ communicated to the apos- 
tles, and these to the bishops, the unction of the Holy 
Spirit ; and this Spirit is to be procured only in that 
order of succession I Originally, whoever possessed the 
spirit of Jesus Christ was a member of the church ; now 
the terms were inverted, and it was maintained that he 
only who was a member of the church could receive the 
Spirit.* 

As these ideas became established, the distinction 
between the people and the clergy was more strongly 
marked. The salvation of souls no longer depended en- 
tirely on faith in Christ, but also, and in a more especial 
manner, on union with the church. The representatives 
and heads of the church were made partakers of the 
trust that should be placed in Christ alone, and became 
the real mediators of their flocks. The idea of a universal 
Christian priesthood was gradually lost sight of; the 
servants of the church of Christ were compared to the 
priests of the old covenant ; and those who separated 
from the bishop were placed in the same rank with Ko- 
rah, Dathan, and Abiram I 

Prom a peculiar priesthood, such as was then formed 
in the church, to a sovereign priesthood, such as Eome 
claims, the transition was easy. 

In fact, no sooner was the erroneous notion of thk 
necessity for a visible unity of the church established, 
than another appeared — the necessity for an outward 
representation of that union. Although we find no traces 
in the gospel of Peter's superiority over the other apos- 
ties ; although the very idea of a primacy is opposed to 
the fraternal relations which united the brethren, and 

* Ubi ecclesia, ibi et SpirituB Dei. Ubi SpirituB Dei, illx5 eo 
clesla. Irenaeus. 



PATRIARCHATES 



41 



even to the spirit of the gospel dispensation, which on 
the contrary requires all the children of the Father to 
"minister one to another/' acknowledging only one 
Teacher and one Master ; although Christ had strongly 
rebuked his disciples, whenever ambitious desires of 
preeminence were conceived in their carnal hearts ; the 
primacy of St. Peter was invented and supported by 
texts wrongly interpreted, and men next acknowledged 
in this apostle, and in his self-styled successors at Rome, 
the visible representatives of visible unity— the heads of 
the universal church. 

The constitution of the patriarchate contributed in 
like manner to the exaltation of the Papacy. As early 
as the first three centuries the metropolitan churches 
had enjoyed peculiar honor. The council of Nice, in its 
sixth canon, mentions three cities, whose churches, ac- 
cording to it, exercised a long-established authority over 
those of the surrounding provinces . these were Alex- 
andria, Rome, and Antioch. The political origin of this 
distinction is indicated by the name which was at first 
given to the bishops of these cities : they were called 
exarchs, from the title of the civil governors.* Some- 
what later they received the more ecclesiastical appella- 
tion of patriarchs. We find this title first employed at 
the council of Constantinople, but in a different sense 
from that which it afterwards received. It was not until 
shortly before the council of Chalcedon that it was given 
exclusively to the great metropolitans. The second gen- 
eral council created a new patriarchate, that of Constan- 
tinople itself, the new Rome, the second capital of the 
empire. The church of Byzantium, so long obscure, en- 
joyed the same privileges, and was placed by the council 
of Chalcedon in the same rank as the church of Rome. 
Rome at that time shared the patriarchal supremacy 
with these three churches. But when the Mohammedan 
invasion had destroyed the sees of Alexandria and of 
Antioch, when the see of Constantinople fell away, and 
in later times even separated from the West, Rome 

* See Canon. Sardic. 6, and also the Council of Chalcedoni 
otnons 8 and 18, 6 h^apx^ ^Vf ^lotKjjoeiK* 



42 HISTORY OF THE REFORitAllON 



remained alone, and the circumstancee of the times gath- 
ered all the western churches around her see, which 
from that time has been without a rival. 

New and more powerful friends than all the rest 
soon came to her assistance. Ignorance and supersti- 
tion took possession of the church, and delivered it, fet- 
tered and blindfold, into the hands of Rome. 

Yet this bondage was not effected without a struggle. 
Frequently did the churches proclaim their independence ; 
and their courageous voices were especially heard from 
proconsular Africa and from the East.* 

But Rome found new allies to stifle the cries of the 
churches. Princes, whom those stormy times often 
shook upon their thrones, offered their protection if 
Rome would in its turn support them. They conceded to 
her the spiritual authority, provided she would make a 
return in secular power. They were lavish of the souls 
of men, in the hope that she would aid them against 
their enemies. The power of the hierarchy which was 
ascending, and the imperial power which was declining, 
leant thus one upon the other, and by this alliance accel- 
erated their twofold destiny. 

Rome could not lose by it. An edict of Theodosius 
II. and Valentinian III. proclaimed the Roman bishop 
"rector of the whole church."f Justinian published a 
similar decree. These edicts did not contain all that 
the popes pretended to see in them ; but in those times 

* Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, writes thus of Stephen, bishop ol 
Rome : Magis ac magis ejus errorem denotabis, qui haereticorum 
oausam contra Christianos et contra Ecclesiam Dei asserere cona- 
tur . . . qui unitatem et veritatem de divina lege venientem non 
tenens . . . Consuetudo sine veritate, vetustas erroris est. Epist. 74. 
Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, said also in the lattoi 
half of the third century : Eos autem qui Romae sunt, non ea in cm* 
nibus observare quae sunt ab origine tradita, et frustra auctoritatem 
ftpostolorum praetendere. . . . Ceterura nos (that is, the bishops of the 
Asiatic churches, which were mo^'e ancient than that of Rome) veri- 
tati et consuetudinem jungimus, et consuetudini Romanorum, con 
Buetudinem sed veritatis opponimus f ab initio hoc tenentes quod t 
Christo et ab apostolo traditum est. Cypr. Ep. 75. These are test^ 
monies of great importance. t Rector totius ecclesua. 



INFLUENCE OF THE BaRBAKIANS. 



43 



of ignorance it was easy for them to secure that inte^ 
pretation which was most favorable to themselves. The 
dominion of the emperors in Italy becoming daily more 
precarious, the bishops of Rome took advantage of this 
circumstance to free themselves from their dependence. 

But already had issued from the forests of the norti 
the most effectual promoters of the papal power. The 
barbarians who had invaded and settled in the west, 
after being satiated with blood and plunder, lowered 
their reeking swords before the intellectual power that 
met them face to face. Recently converted to Chris- 
tianity, ignorant of the spiritual character of the church, 
and feeling the want of a certain external pomp in relig- 
ion, they prostrated themselves, half savage and half 
heathen as they were, at the feet of the high-priest of 
Rome. With their aid the west was in his power. At 
first the Vandals, then the Ostrogoths, somewhat later 
the Burgundians and Alans, next the Visigoths, and 
lastly the Lombards and Anglo-Saxons, came and bent 
the knee to the Roman pontiff*. It was the sturdy shoul- 
ders of these children of the idolatrous north that suc- 
ceeded in placing on the supreme throne of Christendom 
a pastor on the banks of the Tiber. 

At the beginning of the seventh century these events 
were accomplishing in the west, precisely at the period 
when the power of Mahomet arose in the east, prepared 
to invade a.nother quarter of the world. 

From this time the evil continued to increase. In 
the eighth century we see the Roman bishops resisting 
on the one hand the Greek emperors, their lawful sove- 
reigns, and endeavoring to expel them from Italy, while 
with the other they court the mayors of the palace in 
France, begging from this new power, just beginning 
to rise in the west, a share in the wreck of the empire 
Rome founded her usurped authority between the east, 
which she repelled, and the west, which she summoned 
to her aid. She raised her throne between two revolts. 
Startled by the shouts of the Arabs, who had now become 
masters of Spain, and boasted that they would speedily 
wrive in Italy by the gates of the Pyrenees and Alp8, 



44 HISTOET OF THE REFOEKATIOH. 

and proclaim the name of Mohammed on the seven hills ; 
alarmed at the insolence of Astolphus, who at the head 
of his Lombards, roaring like a lion, and brandishing his 
Bword before the gates of the eternal city, threatened to 
put every Koman to death,* Rome, in the prospect of 
ruin, turned her frightened eyes around her, and threv/ 
herself into the arms of the Franks. The usurper Pepir 
demanded her pretended sanction of his new authority ; 
it was granted, and the Papacy obtained in return his 
promise to be the defender of the Republic of God." 
Pepin wrested from the Lombards the cities they had 
taken from the Greek emperor ; yet, instead of restoring 
them to that prince, he laid their keys on St. Peter^s alt£i.r, 
and swore with uplifted hands that he had not taken up 
arms for man, 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 ; the first time he ascends 
the stairs to the basilic of St. Peter, devoutly kissing 
each step. A second time he presents himself, lord of 
all the nations that formed the empire of the west, and 
of Rome itself. Leo III. thought fit to bestow the impe- 
rial title on him who already possessed the power ; and 
on Christmas-day, in the year 800, he placed the diadem 
of the Roman emperors on the brow of the son of Pepin.f 
From this time the pope belongs to the empire of the 
Franks : his connection with the east is ended. He 
broke off from a decayed and falling tree to graft himself 
upon a wild and vigorous sapling. A future elevation, 
to which he would have never dared aspire, awaits him 
among these German tribes with whom he now unites 
himself. 

Charlemagne bequeathed to his feeble successor* 

* Fremens ut leo .... asserens omnes uno gladio jugularl 
Anastasius, Bibl. Vit. Pontif. p. 83. 

t Visum est et ipsi Apostolico Leoni . . . . ut ipsum Carolum, im- 
peratorem nominare debuisset, qui ipsam Romam tenebat, ubi sem* 
per Csesares sedere soliti erant, et reliquas sedes .... Annalista 
Ijambecianus, ad an. SOL 



THE DECRETALS 



45 



only the wrecks of his power. In the ninth century 
disunion everywhere weakened the civil authority. Kome 
saw that this was the moment to exalt herself. When 
could the church hope for a more favorable opportunity 
of becoming independent of the state, than when the 
crown which Charles had worn was broken, and its frag 
ments lay scattered over his former empire ? 

Then appeared the false decretals of Isidore. In 
this collection of the pretended decrees of the popes, the 
most ancient bishops, who were contemporary with 
Tacitus and Quintillian, were made to speak the bar- 
barous Latin of the ninth century. The customs and 
constitutions of the Franks were seriously attributed to 
the Romans in the time of the emperors. Popes quoted 
the Bible in the Latin translation of 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. The im^jostor 
who had fabricated this collection endeavored to prove 
that all bishops derived their authority from the bishop 
of Rome, who held his own immediately from Christ. 
He not only recorded all the successive conquests of the 
pontiffs, but even carried them back to the earliest times. 
The popes were not ashamed to avail themselves of this 
contemptible imposture. As early as 865, Nicholas I. 
drew from its stores the weapons by which to combat 
princes and bishops.* This impudent invention was for 
ages the arsenal of Rome. 

Nevertheless, the vices and crimes of the pontiffs 
suspended for a time the effects of the decretals. The 
Papacy celebrated its admission to the table of kings by 
shameful orgies. She became intoxicated : her senses 
were lost in the midst of drunken revellings. It is about 
this period that tradition places upon the papal throne 
woman named Joan, who had taken refuge in Rome 
7?ith her lover, and whose sex was oetrayed by tne 
pangs of childbirth during a solemn procession. But 
let us not needlessly augment the shame of the pontifi^ 
cal court. Abandoned women at this time governed 
• See Ep. ad Univers. Episc. GalL Mand 15. 



46 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



Rome ; and that throne which pretended to rise auove 
the majesty of kings was sunk deep in the dregs of vice. 
Theodora and Marozia installed and deposed at theii 
pleasure the self-styled masters of the church of Christ, 
and placed their lovers, sons, and grandsons in St. 
Peter's chair. These scandals, which are but too well 
iiuthenticated, may perhaps have given rise to the tradi- 
tion of Pope Joan. 

Rome became one wide theatre of disorders, the pos- 
session of which was disputed by the most powerful 
families of Italy. The counts of Tuscany were gener- 
ally victorious. In 1033, this house dared to place on 
the pontifical throne, under the name of Benedict IX., a 
youth brought up in debauchery. This boy of twelve 
years old continued, when pope, the same horrible and 
degrading vices.* Another party chose Sylvester III. 
in his stead ; and Benedict, whose conscience was 
loaded with adulteries, and whose hands were stained 
with murder,f at last sold the Papacy to a Roman eccle- 
siastic. 

The emperors of Germany, filled with indignation at 
such enormities, purged Rome with the sword. The 
empire, asserting its paramount rights, drew the triple 
crown from the mire into which it had fallen, and saved 
the degraded papacy by giving it respectable men as 
its chiefs. Henry III. deposed tlnree popes in 1046, and 
his finger, decorated with the ring of the Roman patri- 
cians, pointed out the bishop to whom the keys of St. 
Peter should be confided. Four popes, all Germans, and 
nominated by the emperor, succeeded. When the Ro- 
man pontifi" died, the deputies of that church repaired to 
the imperial court, like the envoys of other dioceses, to 
solicit a new bishop. With joy the emperor beheld the 

* Cujus quidem post adeptum sacerdotium vita quam tiirpis, 
qukm foeda, quamque execranda exstiterit, horresoo referre. De- 
eiderius (abbot of Cassino, afterwards Pope Victor III.,) De Miraculifi 
a S. Benedicto, etc., lib. 3, init. 

t Theophylactus .... cum post multa adulteria et homicidia 
manibus suis perpetrata, etc. Bonizo (Bishop of Sutri, afterwards 
of Placenza,) Liber ad Amicum. 



HILDEBKAJSD. 



47 



popes reforming abuses, strengthening the church, hold' 
ing councils, installing and deposing prelates, in defi- 
ance of foreign monarchs : the Papacy by these preten- 
sions did but exalt the power of the emperor, its lorij 
paramount. But to allow of such practices was to ex- 
pose his own authority to great danger. The power 
which the popes thus gradually recovered might be 
turned suddenly against the emperor himself. When 
the reptile had gained strength, it might wound the 
bosom that had cherished it : and this result followed. 

And now begins a new era for the Papacy. It rises 
from its humiliation, and soon tramples the princes of 
the earth under foot. To exalt the Papacy is to exalt 
the church, to advance religion, to insure to the spirit 
the victory over the flesh, and to God the conquest of 
the world. Such are its maxims : in these ambition finds 
its advantage, and fanaticism its excuse. 

The whole of this new policy is personified in one 
man — Hildebrand. 

This pope, who has been by turns indiscreetly ex- 
alted or unjustly traduced, is the personification of the 
Roman pontificate in all its strength and glory. He is 
one of those normal characters in history which include 
within themselves a new order of things, similar to those 
presented in other spheres by Charlemagne, Luther, and 
Napoleon. 

This monk, the son of a carpenter of Savoy, waa 
brought up in a Roman convent, and had quitted Rome 
at the period when Henry III. had there deposed three 
popes, and taken refuge in France in the austere con- 
vent of Cluny. In 1048, Bruno, bishop of Toul, having 
been nominated pope by the emperor at Worms, who 
was holding the German Diet in that city, assumed the 
pontifical habits, and took the name of Leo IX. ; but 
Hildebrand, who had hastened thither, refused to recog- 
nize him, since it was, said he, from the secular power 
that he held the tiara.* Leo, yielding to the irresistible 

* Quia non secundum canonicam institutionem, sed per saecula- 
rem et regiam potestatem, Romanam ecclesiam arripere veils. Bruno 
^ Segni. Vita Leonis. Otho of Freyssingeii, an historian who li^ed 



48 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



power of a strong mind and of a deep conviction, imme' 
diately humbled himself, laid aside his sacerdotal orna- 
ments, and clad in the garb of a pilgrim, set out barefoot 
for Rome along with Hildebrand, says an historian, in 
order to be there legitimately elected by the clergy and 
the Roman people. From this time Hildebrand was the 
Goul of the Papacy, until he became pope himself. He 
iad governed the church under the name of several pon- 
tiffs, before he reigned in person as Gregory VII. One 
grand idea had taken possession of this great genius. 
He desired to establish a visible theocracy, of which the 
pope, as vicar of Jesus Christ, should be the head. The 
recollection of the universal dominion of heathen Rome 
haunted his imagination and animated his zeal. He 
wished to restore to papal Rome all that imperial Rome 
had lost. " What Marius and Caesar," said his flatterers, 
" could not effect by torrents of blood, thou hast accom- 
plished by a word." 

Gregory VII. was not directed by the spirit of the 
Lord. That spirit of truth, humility, and long-suffering 
was unknown to him. He sacrificed the truth whenever 
he judged it necessary to his policy. This he did par- 
ticularly in the case of Berenger, archdeacon of Angers. 
But a spirit far superior to that of the generality of pon- 
tiffs — a deep conviction of the justice of his cause — un- 
doubtedly animated him. He was bold, ambitious, per- 
severing in his designs, and at the same time skilful 
and politic in the use of the means that would insure 
success. 

His first task was to organize the militia of the 
church. It was necessary to gain strength before at- 
tacking the empire. A council held at Rome removed 
the pastors from their families, and compelled them to 
become the devoted adherents of the hierarchy. The 
law of celibacy, planned and carried out by popes who 
were themselves monks, changed the clergy into a sort 
of monastic order. Gregory VII. claimed the same 
power over all the bishops and priests of Christendom, 

a century later, places at Cluny this meeting of Leo and HildebrandL 
Thii is probably an error. 



CONTEST WITH THE EMPIRB. 



4d 



that an abbot of Cluny exercises in the order over which 
he presides. The legates of Hildebrand, who compared 
themselves to the proconsuls of ancient Rome, travelled 
through the provinces, depriving the pastors of their 
legitimate wives ; and if necessary, the pope himself 
raised the populace against the married clergy.* 

But chief of all, Gregory designed emancipating 
Rome from its subjection to the empire. Never would 
he have dared conceive so bold a scheme, if the troubles 
that afflicted the minority of Henry IV., and the revolt 
of the German princes against that young emperor, had 
not favored its execution. The pope was at this time 
one of the magnates of the empire. Making common 
cause with the other great vassals, he strengthened him- 
self by the aristocratic interest, and then forbade all 
ecclesiastics, under pain of excommunication, to receive 
investiture from the emperor. He broke the ancient ties 
that connected the churches and their pastors with the 
royal authority, but it was to bind them all to the pon- 
tifical throne. To this throne he undertook to chain 
priests, kings, and people, and to make the pope a uni- 
versal monarch. It was Rome alone that every priest 
should fear : it was in Rome alone that he should hope. 
The kingdoms and principalities of the earth are her 
domain. All kings were to tremble at the thunderbolts 
hurled by the Jupiter of modern Rome. Woe to him 
who resists I Subjects are released from their oaths of 
allegiance ; the whole country is placed under an inter- 
dict ; public worship ceases ; the churches are closed ; 
the bells are mute ; the sacraments are no longer admin- 
istered ; and the malediction extends even to the dead, 
to whom the earth, at the command of a haughty pontiff, 
denies the repose of the tomb. 

The pope, subordinate from the very beginning of his 
existence successively to the Roman, Frank, and German 
emperors, was now free, and he trod for the first time 

* Hi quocumque prodeunt, clamores insultantium, digitos osten- 
dentiiim, colaphos pulsantium, perferunt. Alii membris mutilati; 
alii per longos cruciatus superbe necati, etc. Maxtene and Duraad, 
Thesaurus Nov. Anecd. 1 : 231. 



60 pttlSTOET OF THE EEFORMATIOBT 

as their equal, if not their master. Yet Gregory VII 
was humbled in his turn : Rome was taken, and Hilde- 
brand compelled to flee. He died at Salerno, exclaim- 
ing, "I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, 
therefore do I die in exile."* Who shall dare charge 
with hypocrisy these words uttered on the very brinl 
of the grave ? 

The successors of Gregory, like soldiers arriving 
after a victory, threw themselves as conquerors on the 
enslaved churches. Spain rescued from Islamism, Prus- 
sia reclaimed from idolatry, fell into the arms of the 
crowned priest. The crusades, which were undertaken 
at his instigation, extended and confirmed his authority. 
The pious pilgrims, who in imagination had seen saints 
and angels leading their armed bands — who, entering 
humble and barefoot within the walls of Jerusalem, 
burnt the Jews in their synagogue, and watered with 
the blood of thousands of Saracens the places where 
they came to trace the sacred footsteps of the Prince of 
peace — carried into the East the name of the pope, who 
had been forgotten there since he had exchanged the 
supremacy of the Greeks for that of the Franks. 

In another quarter the power of the church effected 
what the arms of the republic and of the empire, had 
been unable to accomplish. The Germans laid at the 
feet of a bishop those tributes which their ancestors had 
refused to the most powerful generals. Their princes, 
on succeeding to the imperial dignity, imagined thej 
received a crown from the popes, but it was a yoke thai 
was placed upon their necks. The kingdoms of Chris- 
tendom, already subject to the spiritual authority ol 
Rome, now became her serfs and tributaries. 

Thus every thing was changed in the church. 

It was at first a community of brethren, and now an 
absolute monarchy was established in its bosom. All 
Christians were priests of the living God, 1 Peter 2 : 9, 
with humble pastors as their guides. But a haughty 
head is upraised in the midst of these pastors ; a myste- 

* Dilezi jastitiam et odivi iiii<^iLitatem, propterecL morior Us 
eadlio. 



A MONARCHY IN THE CHURCH. 51 



rions voice utters words full of pride ; an iron hand 
compels all men, great and small, rich and poor, bond 
and free, to wear the badge of his power. The holy 
and primitive equality of souls before God is lost sight 
of. At the voice of one man Christendom is divided into 
two unequal parties : on the one side is a separate caste 
of priests, daring to usurp the name of the church, and 
claiming to be invested with peculiar privileges in the 
eyes of the Lord ; and on the other, servile flocks re- 
iuced to a blind and passive submission — a people 
gagged and fettered, and given over to a haughty caste. 
Every tribe, language, and nation of Christendom bub- 
mits to the dominion of this spiritual king, who haft re- 
ceived power to conquer. 



63 HISTORY OF THE REF0RM.ATIOJI. 



CHAPTER II. 

Grace— Dead faith — Works — Unity and duality — Pelagianism — Sai 
vation at the hands of the priests — Penance — Flagellations — ^In- 
dulgences — Works of supererogation — Purgatory — The tariff- 
Jubilee — The Papacy and Christianity — State of Christendom. 

But side by side with the principle that should per- 
vade the history of Christianity, was found another that 
should preside over its doctrine. This was the great 
idea of Christianity — the idea of grace, of pardon, of am- 
nesty, of the gift of eternal life. This idea supposed in 
man an alienation from God, and an inability of return- 
ing by any power of his own into communion with that 
infinitely holy Being. The opposition between the true 
and the false doctrine undoubtedly cannot be entirely 
summed up in the question of salvation by faith or by 
works. Nevertheless it is its most striking characteris- 
tic. But further, salvation considered as coming from 
man, is the creative principle of every error and abuse. 
The excesses produced by this fundamental error led to 
the Reformation, and by the profession of the contrary 
principle it was carried out. This feature should there- 
fore be very prominent in an introduction to the history 
of that reform. 

Salvation by grace was the second characteristic 
which essentially distinguished the religion of God from 
all human systems. What had now become of it ? Had 
the church preserved, as a precious deposit, this great 
and primordial thought ? Let us trace its history. 

The inhabitants of Jerusalem, of Asia, of Greece, and 
of Rome, in the time of the first emperors, heard these 
glad tidings : "By grace are ye saved through faith ; 
and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God." Eph. 
2:8. At this proclamation of peace, at this joyful news, 
at this word of power, many guilty souls believed, and 
were drawn to Him who is the source of peace ; and 
numerous Christian churches were formed in the midst 
of the degenerate nations of that age. 



DEAD FAITH. 



53 



But a great mistake was soon made as to the nature 
of this saving faith. Faith, according to St. Paul, is the 
means by which the whole being of the believer — his 
understanding, heart, and will — enter into possession of 
the salvation purchased for him by the incarnation and 
death of the Son of God. Jesus Christ is apprehended 
by faith, and from that hour becomes all things to man 
and in man. He communicates a divine life to our hu- 
man nature ; and man thus renewed, and freed from 
the chains of sin and self, feels new affections and per- 
forms new works. Faith, says the theologian in order 
to express his ideas, is the subjective appropriation of 
the objective work of Christ. If faith be not an appro- 
priation of salvation, it is nothing ; all the Christian 
economy is thrown into confusion, the fountains of the 
new life are sealed, and Christianity is overturned from 
its foundations. 

And this is what did happen. This practical view 
of faith was gradually forgotten. Soon it became, what 
it still is to many persons, a simple act of the under- 
standing, a mere submission to a superior authority. 

From this first error there necessarily proceeded a 
second. Faith being thus stripped of its practical char- 
acter, it was impossible to say that it alone had power 
to save ; as works no longer were its fruits, they were 
of necessity placed side by side w^ith it, and the doctrine 
that man is justified by faith and by works prevailed in 
the church. In place of that Christian unity which com- 
prises in a single principle, justification and works, grace 
and the law, doctrine and duty, succeeded that melan- 
choly duality which regards religion and morality as 
two entirely distinct things — that fatal error which, by 
separating things that cannot live unless united, and by 
putting the soul on one side and the body on the other, 
is the cause of spiritual death. The words of the apos- 
tle, reechoing across the interval of ages, are, " Having 
begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the 
flesh ?" 

Another great error contributed still further to un- 
settle the doctrine of grace : this was Pelagianism 



54 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



Pelagius asserted that human nature is not fallen — that 
there is no hereditary corruption, and that man, having 
received the power to do good, has only to will in order 
to perform.* If good works consist only in external 
acts, Pelagius is right. But if we look to the motives 
whence these outward acts proceed, we find everywhere 
in man's nature selfishness, forgetfulness of God, pollu- 
tion, and impotency. The Pelagian doctrine, expelled 
by Augustine from the church when it had presented 
itself boldly, insinuated itself as demi-Pelagianism, and 
under the mask of the Augustine forms of expression. 
This error spread with astonishing rapidity throughout 
Christendom. The danger of the doctrine was particu- 
larly manifested in this — that by placing goodness with- 
out, and not within the heart, it set a great value on 
external actions, legal observances, and penitential 
works. The more these practices were observed, the 
more righteous man became : by them heaven was gain- 
ed ; and soon the extravagant idea prevailed that there 
are men who have advanced in holiness beyond what 
was required of them. 

While Pelagianism corrupted the Christian doctrine, 
it strengthened the hierarchy. The hand that lowered 
grace exalted the church ; for grace is God, the church 
is man. 

The more we feel the truth that all men are guilty 
before God, the more also shall we cling to Christ as the 
only source of grace. How could we then place the 
church in the same rank with Christ, since it is but an 
assembly of all those who are found in the same wretch- 
ed state by nature ? But so soon as we attribute to man 
a peculiar holiness, a personal merit, every thing is 
changed. The clergy and the monks are looked upon as 
the most natural channels through which to receive the 
grace of God. This was what happened often after the 
times of Pelagius. Salvation, taken from the hands of 
God, fell into those of the priests, who set themselves in 
the place of our Lord. Souls thirsting for pardon were 

• Velle et esse ad hominem referenda sunt, quia de arbitrii font* 
descendant. Pelagius in Aug. De Gratia Dei, cap. 4. 



PELAGHAKISM 



55 



no more to look to heaven, but to the church, and above 
all, to its pretended head. To these blinded souls the 
Roman pontiff was God. Hence, the greatness of the 
popes — hence, unutterable abuses. The evil spread still 
further. When Pelagianism laid down the doctrine that 
man could attain a state of perfect sanctification, it 
affirmed also that the merits of saints and martyrs might 
be applied to the church. A peculiar power was attrib- 
uted to their intercession. Prayers were made to them ; 
their aid was invoked m all the sorrows of life ; and a 
real idolatry thus supplanted the adoration of the living 
and true God. 

At the same time, Pelagianism multiplied rites and 
ceremonies. Man, imagining that he could and that he 
should by good works render himself deserving of grace, 
saw no fitter means of meriting it than acts of external 
worship. The ceremonial law became infinitely compli- 
cated, and was soon pat on a level, to say the least, with 
the moral law. Thus were the consciences of Christians 
burdened anew with a yoke that had been declared in- 
supportable in the times of the apostles. Acts 15 : 10. 

But it was especially by the system of penance, 
which flowed immediately from Pelagianism, that Chris- 
tianity was perverted. At first, penance had consisted 
in certain public expressions of repentance, required by 
the church from those who had been excluded on account 
of scandals, and who desired to be received again intc 
its bosom. 

By degrees penance was extended to every sin, even 
to the most secret, and was considered as a sort of pun- 
ishment to which it was necessary to submit, in order to 
obtain the forgiveness of God through the priest's abso* 
lution. 

Ecclesiastical penance was thus confounded with 
Christian repentance, without which there can be neither 
justification nor sanctification. 

Instead of looking to Christ for pardon through faith 
alone, it was sought for principally in the church through 
penitential works. 

Great importance was soon attached to extern&i 



56 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMAliOlf. 



marks of repentance — ^to tears, fasting, and mortification 
of the flesh ; and the inward regeneration of the heart, 
wWch alone constitutes a real conversion, was forgotten. 

As confession and penance are easier than the extir- 
pation of sin and the abandonment of vice, many ceased 
contending against the lusts of the flesh, and preferred 
gratifying them at the expense of a few mortifications. 

The penitential works thus substituted for the salva- 
tion of God, were multiplied in the church from Tertul- 
lian down to the thirteenth century. Men were required 
to fast, to go barefoot, to wear no linen, etc. ; to quit 
their homes and their native land for distant countries, or 
to renounce the world and embrace a monastic life. 

In the eleventh century voluntary flagellations were 
superadded to these practices : somewhat later they be- 
came quite a mania in Italy, which was then in a very 
disturbed state. Nobles and peasants, old and young, 
even children of five years of age, whose only covering 
was a cloth tied round the middle, went in pairs, by hun- 
dreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, through the 
towns and villages, visiting the churches in the depth of 
winter. Armed with scourges, they flogged each other 
without pity, and the streets resounded with cries and 
groans that drew tears from all who heard them. 

Still, long before the disease had reached such a 
height, the priest-ridden world had sighed for deliver- 
ance. The priests themselves had found out, that if they 
did not apply a remedy their usurped power would slip 
from their hands. They accordingly invented that sys- 
tem of barter celebrated under the title of Indulgences. 
They said to their penitents, "You cannot accomplish 
the tasks imposed on you. Well, we, the priests of God 
and your pastors, will take this heavy burden upon our- 
selves." " For a seven weeks' fast," said Regino, abbot 
of Prum, " you shall pay twenty pence, if you are rich 5 
ten, if less wealthy ; and three pence if you are poor ; 
and so on for other matters."* Courageous men raised 
their voices against this traffic, but in vain. 

The pope soon discovered what advantages could bo 
• Libri duo de Eoclesiasticis Disciplinis, 



WORKS OF SUPEREROaATIOir. 



57 



derived from these indulgences. Alexander Hales, *' the 
irrefragable doctor," invented in the thirteenth century 
a doctrine well calculated to secure these vast revenues 
to the Papacy. A bull of Clement VII. declared it an 
article of faith. Jesus Christ, it was said, had done 
much more than was necessary to reconcile God to man. 
One single drop of his blood would have been suflBcieEt. 
But he shed it copiously, in order to form a treasure for 
his church that eternity can never exhaust. The super- 
erogatory merits of the saints, the reward of the good 
works they had done beyond their obligation, have still 
further augmented this treasure. Its keeping and man* 
agement were confided to Christ's vicar upon earth. He 
applies to each sinner, for the sins committed after bap- 
tism,* these merits of Jesus Christ and of the saints, 
according to the measure and the quantity his sins 
require. Who would venture to attack a custom of such 
holy origin 1 

This inconceivable traffic was soon extended and com- 
plicated. The philosophers of Alexandria had spoken of 
a fire in which men were to be purified. Many ancient 
doctors had adopted this notion ; and Rome declared this 
philosophical opinion a tenet of the church. The pope 
by a bull annexed Purgatory to his domain. In that 
place, he declared, men would have to expiate the sins 
that could not be expiated here on earth ; but that in- 
dulgences would liberate their souls from that interme- 
diate state in which their sins would detain them. Thom- 
as Aquinas set forth this doctrine in his famous Summa 
Theologioe. No means were spared to fill the mind with 
terror. The priests depicted in horrible colors the tor- 
ments inflicted by this purifying fire on all who became 
its prey. In many Roman-catholic countries we may 
etiU see paintings exhibited in the churches and public 
places, wherein poor souls, from the midst of glowing 
flaiQcs, invoke with anguish some alleviation of their 
pain. Who could refuse the ransom which, falling into 
the treasury of Rome, would redeem the soul from such 
torments ? 

* See note p. 16L 



68 HISTOEY OF THE EEFOEMATIOK 



Somewhat later, in order to reduce this traflSc to a 
Bystem, they invented — probably under John XXII. — the 
celebrated and scandalous Tariff of Indulgences, which 
has gone through more than forty editions. The least 
delicate ears would be offended by an enumeration of all 
the horrors it contains. Incest, if not detected, was to 
cost five groats ; and six, if it was known. There was 
a stated price for murder, infani;icide, adultery, perjury, 
burglary, etc. " 0 disgrace of Eome I'' exclaims Claude 
d'Espence, a Roman divine ; and we may add, 0 disgrace 
of human nature I for we can utter no reproach against 
Rome that does not recoil on man himself. Rome is 
human nature exalted in some of its worst propensities 
We say this that we may speak the truth ; we say it 
also, that we may be just. 

Boniface VIII., the most daring and ambitious pontifl 
after Gregory VII., was enabled to effect still more than 
his predecessors. 

In the year 1300, he published a bull, in which he 
declared to the church that every hundred years all who 
made a pilgrimage to Rome should receive a plenary 
indulgence. From all parts, from Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, 
Corsica, France, Spain, Germany, and Hungary, people 
flocked in crowds. Old men of sixty and seventy under- 
took the journey, and in one month two hundred thou- 
sand pilgrims visited Rome. All these strangers brought 
rich offerings ; and the pope and the Romans saw their 
coffers replenished. 

Roman avarice soon fixed each jubilee at fifty, then 
at thirty-three, and lastly at twenty-five years' interval. 
Then, for the greater convenience of purchasers, and the 
greater profit of the sellers, both the jubilee and its in- 
dulgences were transported from Rome to every market- 
place in Christendom. It was no longer necessary to 
leave one's home. What others had gone in search of 
b(iyond the Alps, each man could now buy at his own 
door. 

The evil could not become groater. 

Then the Reformer appeared. 

We have seen what had become of the principle lliat 



POPERY ANr OHRXSTIAIIITT. 



fi9 



was destined to govern the history of Christianity ; we 
have seen also what became of that which should have 
pervaded its doctrines : both were lost. 

To set up a mediatorial caste between God and man ; 
to obtain by works, by penance, and by money the sal- 
vation which is the free gift of God — such is Popery. 

To open to all, through Jesus Christ, without any 
human mediator, without that power which calls itself 
the church, free access to the great boon of eternal life 
which God olfers to man — such is Christianity and the 
Reformation. 

Popery is a lofty barrier erected by the labor of ages 
between God and man. If any one desires to scale it, 
he must pay or he must suffer ; and even then he will 
not surmount it. 

The Reformation is the power that has overthrown 
this barrier, that has restored Christ to man, and has 
thus opened a level path by which he may reach his 
Creator. 

Popery interposes the church between God and man. 
Primitive Christianity and the Reformation bring God 
and man face to face. 

Popery separates them — the gospel unites them. 

After having thus traced the history of the decline 
and fall of the two great principles that were to distin- 
guish the religion of God from all human systems, let us 
see what were some of the consequences of this immense 
transformation. 

But first let us pay due honor to the church of the 
middle ages, which succeeded that of the apostles and 
of the fathers, and which preceded that of the reformers. 
The church was still the church, although fallen, and 
daily more and more enslaved ; that is to say, she was 
always the greatest friend of man. Her hands, though 
bound, could still be raised to bless. Eminent servants 
of Jesus Christ, who were true Protestants as regards 
the essential doctrines of Christianity, diffused a cheer- 
ing light during the dark ages ; and in the humblest 
convent, in the remotest parish, might be found poor 



60 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOIT 



monks and poor priests to alleviate great sufferings. 
The Catholic church was not the Papacy. The latter 
was the oppressor, the former was the oppressed. The 
Eeformation, which declared war against the one, came 
to deliver the other. And it must be confessed that the 
Papacy itself became at times in the hands of God, who 
brings good out of evil, a necessary counterpoise to the 
power and ambition of princes. 



STATE OF THE CHaEOH. 



SI 



CHAPTER III. 

Religion — Relics — Easter revels — Morals- Corruption — Disorders of 
the Priests, Bishops, and Popes — A Papal family — Alexander 
VI. — Caesar Borgia — Education — Ignorance — Ciceronians. 

Let us now see what was the state of the church 
previous to the Reformation. 

The nations of Christendom no longer looked to a 
holy and living God for the free gift of eternal life To 
obtain it, they were obliged to have recourse to all the 
means that a superstitious, fearful, and alarmed imagi- 
nation could devise. Heaven was filled with saints and 
mediators, whose duty it was to solicit this mercy. 
Earth was filled with pious works, sacrifices, observ- 
ances, and ceremonies, by which it was to be obtained. - 
Here is a picture of the religion of this period transmit 
ted to us by one who was long a monk, and afterwarda 
a fellow-laborer of Luther's — by Myconius : 

"The sufferings and merits of Christ were looked 
upon as an idle tale, or as the fictions of Homer. There 
was no thought of the faith by which we become partak- 
ers of the Saviour's righteousness and of the heritage 
of eternal life. Christ was looked upon as a severe 
judge, prepared to condemn all who should not have re- 
course to the intercession of the saints, or to the papal 
indulgences. Other intercessors appeared in his place : 
rirst the Virgin Mary, like the Diana of paganism, and 
then the saints, whose numbers were continually aug- 
mented by the popes. These mediators granted their 
intercession only to such applicants as had deserved 
well of the orders founded by them. For this it was 
necessary to do, not what God had commanded in his 
word, but to perform a number of works invented by 
monks and priests, and which brought money to the 
treasury. These works were Ave Marias, the prayers 
of Saint Ursula, and of Saint Bridget : they must chant 



63 flISTOEY OF THE REFORMATIOJI. 



and cry night and day. There were as many resorts for 
pilgrims as there were mountains, forests, and valleys. 
But these penances might be compounded for with money. 
The people therefore brought to the convents, and to 
the priests, money and every thing that had any value — 
fowls, ducks, geese, eggs, wax, straw, butter, and cheese 
Then the hymns resounded, the bells rang, incense filled 
the sanctuary, sacrifices were ofiered up, the larders 
i)verflowed, the glasses went round, and masses termi- 
aated and concealed these pious orgies. The bishops 
no longer preached, but they consecrated priests, bells, 
monks, churches, chapels, images, books, and cemeteries ; 
and all this brought in a large revenue. Bones, arms, 
and feet were preserved in gold and silver boxes ; they 
were given out during mass for the faithful to kiss, and 
this too was a source of great profit. 

" All these people maintained that the pope, ' sitting 
as God in the temple of God,' 2 Thess. 2 : 4, could not 
err, and they would not suffer any contradiction."* 

In the church of All Saints at Wittemberg was shown 
a fragment of Noah's ark, some soot from the furnace of 
the three children, a piece of wood from the cradle of 
Jesus Christ, some hair from the beard of St. Christo- 
pher, and nineteen thousand other relics of greater or 
less value. At Shaflfhausen was exhibited the breath of 
St. Joseph that Nicodemus had received in his glove. 
In Wurtemberg you might meet a seller of indulgences 
vending his merchandise, his head adorned with a large 
feather plucked from the wing of St. Michael.f But it 
was not necessary to travel far in search of these pre- 
cious treasures. Men who farmed the relics traversed 
the whole country, hawking them about the rural dis- 
tricts — as has since been the case with the holy Scrip 
tures — and carrying them to the houses of the faithful, 
to spare them the trouble and expense of a pilgrimage. 
They were exhibited with pomp in the churches. These 
wandering hawkers paid a stipulated sum to the owners 
of the relics — a percentage on their profits. The king- 

* Myconius, History of the Reformation ; and Seckendorf, Bl» 
tory of Lutheranism. f MiiUer's Reliquien, vol. 3^ p. 2^ 



LOW STATE OF MOEALB. 



63 



dom of heaven had disappeared, and in its place a market 
of abominations had been opened upon earth. 

Thus a spirit of profanity had invaded religion ; and 
the holiest recollections of the church, the seasons which 
more particularly summoned the faithful to holy medita- 
tion and love, were disgraced by buffoonery and hear 
thenish profanation. The " revels of Easter" held a 
distinguished place in the records of the church. As 
the festival of the resurrection of Christ ought to be cel- 
ebrated with joy, the preachers studied in their sermons 
every thing that might raise a laugh among their hear- 
ers. One imitated the note of a cuckoo ; another hissed 
like a goose. One dragged to the altar a layman robed 
in a monk's frock ; a second related the most indecent 
stories ; and a third recounted the tricks of St. Peter, 
and among others, how in a tavern he had cheated his 
host by not paying his reckoning.* The lower clergy 
took advantage of this opportunity to ridicule their supe- 
riors. The churches were converted into a mere stage 
for mountebanks, and the priests into buffoons. 

K such was the state of religion, what must have 
been the state of morals ? 

Undoubtedly the corruption was not at that time 
universal. Justice requires that this should not be for- 
gotten. The Reformation elicited numerous examples 
of piety, righteousness, and strength of mind. The 
spontaneous action of God's power was the cause ; but 
how can we deny that he had beforehand deposited the 
seeds of this new life in the bosom of the church ? If in 
our days we should bring together all the immoralities, 
all the turpitudes committed in a single country, the 
mass of corruption would doubtless shock us still. Nev- 
ertheless, the evil at this period wore a character and 
universality that it has not borne subsequently. And 
above all, **the mystery of iniquity" desolated the holy 
places as it has not been permitted to do since the days 
of the Reformation. 

Morality had declined with the decline of faith. The 
tidings of the gift of eternal life is the power of God to 

* QBcolampad., De Bisu Pasohali. 



64 HISTO£Y OF THE EEFOEMATIOIT. 



regenerate man. Take away the salvation which God 
has given, and you take away sanctification and good 
works. And this result followed. 

The doctrine and the sale of indulgences were power- 
ful incentives to evil among an ignorant people. True, 
according to the church, indulgences could benefit those 
only who promised to amend their lives, and who kept 
their word. But what could be expected from a tenet 
invented solely with a view to the profit that might be 
derived from it ? The venders of indulgences were nat- 
urally tempted, for the better sale of their merchandise, 
to present their wares to the people in the most attrao 
tive and seducing aspect. The learned themselves did 
not fully understand the doctrine. All that the multi- 
tude saw in them was, that they permitted men to sin *, 
and the merchants were not overeager to dissipate an 
error so favorable to their sale. 

What disorders and crimes were committed in these 
dark ages, when impunity was to be purchased by money I 
What had man to fear, when a small contribution tow- 
ards building a church secured him from the fear of 
punishment in the world to come ? What hope could 
there be of revival when all communication between God 
and man was cut ofi*, and man, an alien from God whc 
is the spirit and the life, moved only in a round of paltry 
ceremonies and sensual observances in an atmosphere 
of death ? 

The priests were the first who yielded to this cor- 
rupting influence. By desiring to exalt themselves, they 
became abased. They had aimed at robbing God of a 
ray of his glory, and placing it in their own bosoms ; 
but their attempt had proved vain, and they had only 
hidden there a leaven of corruption stolen from the power 
of evil. The history of the age swarms with scandals. 
In many places, the people were delighted at seeing a 
priest keep a mistress, that the married women might 
be safe from his seductions.* What humiliating scenes 
did the house of a pastor in those days present 1 The 
wretched man supported the woman, and the children 

♦ Nicol. De Clemangis, de Pnesulib. Simoniacis. 



X>1S0IIDERS OF THE PRIESTS 



66 



she had borne him, with the tithes and offerings* His 
conscience was troubled ; he blushed in the presence of 
the people, before his domestics, and before God. The 
mother, fearing to come to want if the priest should die, 
made provision against it beforehand, and robbed her 
own house. Her honor was lost. Her children were 
ever a living accusation against her. Despised by all, 
tliey plunged into quarrels and debauchery. Such was 
the family of the priest 1 . . . . These were frightful scenes, 
by which the people knew how to profit.f 

The rural districts were the scene of numerous dis- 
orders. The abodes of the clergy were often dens of 
corruption. Corneille Adrian at Bruges,;}: the abbot 
Trinkler at Cappel,§ imitated the manners of the East, 
and had their harems. Priests, consorting with dissolute 
characters, frequented the taverns, played at dice, and 
crowned their orgies with quarrels and blasphemy. || 

The council of Schaffhausen forbade the priests to 
dance in public, except at marriages, and to carry more 
than one kind of arms : they decreed also that all who 
were found in houses of ill fame should be unfrocked.^f 
In the archbishopric of Mentz, they scaled the walls by 
night, and created all kinds of disorder and confusion in 
the inns and taverns, and broke the doors and locks.** 
In many places the priest paid the bishop a regular tax 
for the woman with whom he lived, and for each child 
he had by her. A German bishop said publicly one day, 
at a great entertainment, that in one year eleven thou- 
sand priests had presented themselves before him for 
that purpose. It is Erasmus who relates this.f f 

If we go higher in the hierarchical order, we find the 
corruption not less great. The dignitaries of the church 
preferred the tumult of camps to the hymns of the altar, 

• The words of Seb. Stor., pastor of Lichstall in 1524. 

t Fiisslin Beytraege, 2. 224. t Metern. Nederl. Hist. 8. 

§ Hottinger, Hist. Eccles. 9. 305. 

II Mandate of Hugo, bishop of Constance, 3d March, 1517. 
^ Miiller, Rel., 3. 251. ** Steubing, Gesch. derNass. Oran. Lande. 
ft Uno anno ad se delata undecim millia sacerdotum palam coD- 
OuWnariorum. Erasmi 0pp. 9. 401. 

5 



66 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



To be able, lance in hand, to reduce his neighbors to 
obedience, was one of the chief qualifications of a bishop. 
Baldwin, archbishop of Treves, was continually at war 
with his neighbors and his vassals : he demolished their 
castles, built strong-holds, and thought of nothing but 
the extension of his territory. A certain bishop of Eich- 
Btadt, when administering justice, wore a coat of mail 
under his robes, and held a large sword in his hand. He 
used to say he was not afraid of five Bavarians, pro- 
vided they did but attack him in fair fight.* Every- 
where the bishops were continually at war with their 
towns. The citizens demanded liberty, the bishops re- 
quired implicit obedience. If the latter gained the vic- 
tory, they punished the revolters by sacrificing numerous 
victims to their vengeance ; but the flame of insurrection 
burst 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 times immediately preceding the Reforma- 
tion I Rome, it must be acknowledged, had seldom 
witnessed so much infamy. 

Rodrigo Borgia, after having lived with a Roman lady, 
had continued the same illicit connection with one of her 
daughters, named Rosa Vanozza, by whom he had five 
children. He was a cardinal and archbishop, living at 
Rome with Yanozza and other women, visiting the 
churches and the hospitals, when the death of Innocent 
VIII. created a vacancy in the pontifical chair. He suc- 
ceeded in obtaining it by bribing each cardinal at a 
stipulated price. Four mules laden with silver publicly 
entered the palace of Sforza, one of the most influential 
of the cardinals. Borgia became pope under the namo 
of Alexander VI., and rejoiced in thus attaining the sum- 
mit of earthly felicity. 

On the day of his coronation, his son Caesar, a youth 
of ferocious and dissolute manners, was created arch- 
bishop of Valencia and bishop of Pampeluna. He next 
celebrated in the Vatican the marriage of his daughter 
Lucretia by festivities, at which his mistress, Julia Bella, 

• Sclimidt, Gresch. der Peutschen, vol. 5. 



C^SAR BORaiA. 



67 



was present, and which were enlivened by licentious 
plays and songs. All the clergy," says an historian,* 
"kept mistresses, and all the convents of the capital 
were houses of ill fame." Caesar Borgia espoused the 
cause of the Guelfs ; and when by their assistance he 
had destroyed the Ghibellines, he turned upon the Guelfa 
and crushed them in their turn. But he desired to share 
alone in all these spoils. In 1497, Alexander gave the 
duchy of Benevento to his eldest son. The duke sud- 
denly disappeared. A faggot-dealer on the banks of 
the Tiber, one George Schiavoni, had seen a dead body 
thrown into the stream during the night ; but he said 
nothing of it, as being a common occurrence. The body 
of the duke was found. His brother Caesar had been the 
instigator of his death.f This was not enough. His 
brother-in-law stood in his way : one day Caesar caused 
him to be stabbed on the very stairs of the pontifical 
palace. He was carried bleeding to his own apart- 
ments. His wife and sister did not leave him ; and 
fearful that Caesar would employ poison, they prepared 
his meals with their own hands. Alexander set a guard 
on the doors ; but Caesar ridiculed these precautions, and 
remarked, as the pope was about to pay a visit to his 
son-in-law, What is not done at dinner, will be done at 
supper." Accordingly one day he gained admittance to 
the chamber of the convalescent, turned out the wife 
and sister, and calling in his executioner Michilotto, the 
only man in whom he placed any confidence, ordered his 
brother-in-law to be strangled before his eyes.J Alex- 
ander had a favorite, Perotto, whose influence also 
ofiended the young duke. He rushed upon him : Perot- 
to took refuge under the pontifical mantle, and clasped 
ih ) pope in his arms. C^sar stabbed him, and the blood 
df his victim spirted in the face of the pontiff.§ " The 
pope," adds a contemporary and eye-witness of these 

• Infessura. | Amazzo il fratello ducha di Gandia e lo fa 
batar nel Tevere. MS. of Capello, ambassador at Rome in 1500, 
extracted by Ranke. t Intro in camera . . . fe ussir la moglie o 
sorella . . . estrangolo dito zovene. MS. of Capello, Ranke. 

% Adeo il sangue li salto in la faza del papa. Ibid 



68 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



8ccne9, " loves the duke his son, and lives in great feaJ 
of him." 

Caesar was the handsomest and strongest man of his 
age. Six wild bulls fell easily beneath his blows Id 
single combat. Every morning some new victim was 
found, who had been assassinated during the night in 
the Roman streets. Poison carried off those whom the 
dagger could not reach. No one dared move or breathe 
in Rome, for fear that his turn should come next. Caesar 
Borgia was the hero of crime. That spot of earth in 
which iniquity had attained such a height was the throne 
of the pontiffs. When man gives himself up to the 
powers of evil, the higher he claims to be exalted before 
God, the lower he sinks into the abyss of hell. The 
dissolute entertainments given by the pope, his son 
Oassar, and his daughter Lucretia, in the pontifical pal- 
ace, cannot be described or even thought of without 
shuddering. The impure groves of antiquity saw noth- 
ing like them. Historians have accused Alexander and 
Lucretia of incest ; but this charge does not appear 
suflBciently established. The pope had prepared poison 
in a box of sweetmeats that was to be served up after 
a sumptuous repast : the cardinal for whom it was in- 
tended being forewarned, gained over the attendant, and 
the poisoned box was set before Alexander.* He ate 
of it and died. " The whole city ran together, and could 
not satiate their eyes with gazing on this dead viper.^f 

Such was the man who filled the papal chair at the 
beginning of the century in which the Reformation burst 
forth. 

Thus had the clergy brought not only themselves but 
religion into disrepute. Well might a powerful voice 
exclaim, "The ecclesiastical order is opposed to God 
and to his glory. The people know it well ; and this is 
but too plainly shown by the many songs, proverbs, and 
jokes against the priests, that are current among the 
commonalty, and all those caricatures of monks and 
priests on every wall, and even on the playing-cards. 

* E messe la scutola venenata avante 11 papa. Sana^ou 
f Gordon, Tumasi, Infessura, Guicciardini, etc. 



lONORANOJS. 



69 



Every one feeio a loathing on seeing or hearing a priest 
in the distance." It is Luther who speaks thus.* 

The evil had spread through all ranks : " a strong 
delusion" had been sent among men, 2 Thes. 2:11; the 
corruption of manners corresponded with the corruption 
of faith. A mystery of iniquity oppressed the enslaved 
church of Christ. 

Another consequence necessarily flowed from the 
neglect into which the fundamental doctrine of the gos- 
pel had fallen. Ignorance of the understanding accom- 
panied the corruption of the heart. The priests having 
taken into their hands the distribution of a salvation 
that belongs only to God, had secured a sufficient title 
to the respect of the people. What need had they to 
study sacred learning ? It was no longer a question of 
explaining the Scriptures, but of granting letters of in- 
dulgence ; and for this ministry it was not necessary to 
have acquired much learning. 

In country places, they chose for preachers, says 
Wimpheling, "miserable wretches whom they had pre- 
viously raised from beggary, and who had been cooks, 
musicians, huntsmen, stable-boys, and even worse.^f 

The superior clergy themselves were often sunk in 
great ignorance. A bishop of Dunfeld congratulated 
himself on having never learnt either Greek or Hebrew. 
The monks asserted that all heresies arose from those 
two languages, and particularly from the Greek. " The 
New Testament," said one of them, "is a book full of 
serpents and thorns. Greek," continued he, " is a new 
and recently invented language, and we must be upon 
our guard against it. As for Hebrew, my dear brethren, 
it is certain that all who learn it immediately become 
Jews." Heresbach, a friend of Erasmus, and a respecta- 
ble author, reports these expressions. Thomas Linacer, 
a learned and celebrated ecclesiastic, had never read the 
New Testament. In his latter days, in 1524, he called 
for a copy, but quickly threw it away from him with an 

* Da man an alle Wande, auf allerley Zeddel, zuletzt auch aul 
den Kartenspielen, Pfajffen und Monche malete. Luth. Epp. 2. ^71 
t Apologia pro Rep. Christ. 



70 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



oath, because on opening it his eyes had glanced upon 
these words : " But I say unto you, Sweai not at all.'' 
No\\ he was a great swearer. " Either this is not the 
gospel,'' said he, or else we are not Christians."* Even 
the fariiity of theology at Paris scrupled not to declaie 
to parliament, "Religion is ruined, if you permit the 
study of Greek and Hebrew." 

If any learning was found here and there among the 
clergy, it was not in sacred literature. The Ciceronians 
of Italy affected a great contempt for the Bible on ac- 
count of its style. Pretended priests of the church of 
Christ translated the writings of holy men, inspired by 
the Spirit of God, in the style of Virgil and of Horace, 
to accommodate their language to the ears of good so- 
ciety. Cardinal Bembo, instead of the Holy Ghosty used 
to write the breath of the heavenly zephyr ; for the expres- 
sion to forgive sins — to bend the manes and the sovereign 
gods; and for Christy the Son of God — Minerva sprung 
from the head of Jupiter. Finding one day the worthy 
Sadolet engaged in translating the epistle to the Ro- 
mans, he said to him, " Leave these childish matters : 
such fooleries do not become a sensible man."f 

These were some of the consequences of the system 
that then oppressed Christendom. This picture undoubt- 
edly demonstrates the corruption of the church, and the 
necessity for a reformation. Such was our design in 
writing this sketch. The vital doctrines of Christianity 
had almost entirely disappeared, and with them the life 
and light that constitute the essence of the religion of 
God. The material strength of the church was gone. 
It lay an exhausted, enfeebled, and almost lifeless body, 
extended over that part of the world which the Roman 
empire had occupied. 

♦ Mfxllcr's Keliq. 3. 263. * Felleri, Mon. ined. p. 400. 



CHRISTIANITY IMPEUISHABLB. 71 



CHAPTER IV 

Imperfshable natnre of Christianity — Two laws of God — Apparent 
strength of Rome — Secret opposition — Decline— Threefold oppo- 
sition— Kings and people — Transformation of the church — The 
Pope judged in Italy — Discoveries of kings and their subjects — 
Frederick the Wise — Moderation and expectation. 

The evils which thus afflicted Christendom — super- 
stition, unbelief, ignorance, vain speculations, and cor- 
ruption of morals — the natural fruits of the heart of 
man, were not new upon the earth. Often had they 
appeared in the history of nations. They had invaded, 
especially in the East, the different religious systems 
that had seen their day of glory. Those enervated sys- 
tems had sunk under these evils, had fallen under their 
attack, and not one of them had ever risen again. 

Was Christianity now to undergo the same fate? 
Would it be lost like these old national religions ? 
Would the blow that had caused their death be suffi* 
cient to deprive it of life ? Could nothing save it ? 
Will these hostile powers that overwhelm it, and which 
have already overthrown so many various systems of 
worship, be able to seat themselves without resistance 
on the ruins of the church of Jesus Christ ? 

No ; there is in Christianity what none of these na- 
tional systems possessed. It does not, like them, pre- 
sent certain general ideas mingled with tradition and 
fable, destined to fall soonjr or later under the assault 
of reason : it contains a pure and undefiled truth, founded 
on facts capable of bearing tne examination of every 
upright and enlightened mind. Christianity does nol 
propose merely to excite in man certain vague religious 
feelings, whose charm once lost can never be recovered : 
its object is to satisfy, and it does really satisfy all the 
religious wants of human nature, whatever may be the 
degree of development which it has attained. It is not 
the work of man, whose labors pass away and are for- 
gotten : it is the work of God, who upholds what he h»8 



72 



HISTORY OF THE ^JiFORMATIOJBr. 



created ; and it has the promise of its divine Head aa 
the pledge of its duration. 

It is impossible for human nature ever to rise supe- 
rior to Christianity. And if for a time man thought he 
could do without it, it soon appeared to him with fresh 
youth and a new life, as the only remedy for souls. The 
iegenerate nations then returned with new ardor tow- 
ards those ancient, simple, and powerful truths, which 
In the hour of their infatuation they had despised. 

In fact, Christiaiiity manifested in the sixteenth cen- 
tury the same regenerative power that it had exercised 
at first. After fifteen centuries the same truths pro- 
duced the same effects. In the day of the Reformation, 
as in the time of Peter and Paul, the gospel overthrew 
mighty obstacles with irresistible force. Its sovereign 
power displayed its efficacy from north to south among 
nations the most dissimilar in manners, character, and 
intellectual development. Then, as in the times of Ste- 
phen and James, it kindled the fire of enthusiasm and 
devotedness in the lifeless nations, and elevated them 
to the height of martyrdom. 

How was this revival of the church accomplished? 

We observe here two laws by which God governs 
the church in all times. 

First he prepares slowly and from afar that which he 
designs to accomplish. He has ages in which to work. 

Then, when the time is come, he effects the greatest 
results by the smallest means. It is thus he acts in 
nature and in history. When he wishes to produce a 
majestic tree, he deposits a small seed in the bosom of 
the earth ; when he wishes to renovate his church, he 
employs the meanest instruments to accomplish what em^ 
perors and learned and distinguished men in the church 
could not effect. We shall soon go in search of, and we 
shall discover that small seed which a divine hand placed 
in the earth in the days of the Reformation. But wo 
must here distinguish and recognize the different means 
by which God prepared the way for this great revolution. 

At the period when the Reformation was about to 
burst forth, Rome appeared in peace and security. One 



APPARENT STRENaTH OF ROME 



73 



might have said that nothing could ever disturb her in 
her triumph : great victories had been achieved by her 
Tho general councils — those upper and lower chambers 
of Catholicism — had been subdued. The Waldenses 
and the Hussites had been crushed. No university, ex- 
cept perhaps that of Paris, which sometimes raised its 
voice at the signal of its kings, doubted the infallibility 
of the oracles of Rome. Every one seemed to have 
taken his own share of its power. The higher orders 
of the clergy preferred giving to a distant chief the 
tithe of their revenues, and tranquilly to consume the 
remainder, to risking all for an independence that would 
cost them dear and would bring them little profit. The 
inferior clergy, attracted by the prospect of brilliant 
stations, which their ambition painted and discovered 
in the distance, willingly purchased by a little slavery 
the flattering hopes they cherished. Besides, they were 
everywhere so oppressed by the chiefs of the hierarchy, 
that they could scarcely stir under their powerful handa, 
and much less raise themselves and make head against 
them. The people bent the knee before the Roman altar ; 
and even kings themselves, who began in secret to de- 
spise the bishop of Rome, would not have dared lay hands 
»ipon his power for fear of the imputation of sacrilege. 

But if external opposition appeared to have subsided, 
or even to have entirely ceased, when the Reformation 
broke out, its internal strength had increased. If we 
take a nearer view of the edifice, we discover more than 
one symptom that foreboded its destruction. The cessa- 
tion of the general councils had scattered their princi- 
ples throughout the church, and carried disunion into 
the camp of their opponents. The defenders of the hie- 
rarchy were divided into two parties : those who main- 
tained the system of absobi^^e papal dominion, according 
to the maxims of Hildebrand ; and those who desired a 
constitutional papal government, offering securities and 
liberty to the several churches. 

And more than this, in both parties faith in the infal 
libility of the Roman bishop had been rudely shaken. If 
no voice was raised to attack it, it was because every 



74 HISTOEY OF THE EEFORMATION. 



one felt anxious rather to preserve the little faith he 
still possessed. They dreaded the slightest shock, hist 
it should overthrow the whole edifice. Christendom 
held its breath ; but it was to prevent a calamity in 
which it feared to perish. From the moment that man 
Dre-fibles to abandon a long- worshipped persuasion, he 
pccsesses it no more. And he will not much longer keep 
tip the appearance that he wishes to maintain. 

The Reformation had been gradually prepared by 
God's providence in three different spheres — the politi- 
cal, the ecclesiastical, and the literary. Princes and 
their subjects, Christians and divines, the learned and 
the wise, contributed to bring about this revolution of 
the sixteenth century. Let us pass in review this triple 
classification, finishing with that of literature, which 
was perhaps the most powerful in the times immediately 
preceding the reform. 

And firstly, Rome had lost much of her ancient credit 
in the eyes of nations and of kings. Of this the church it- 
self was the primary cause. The errors and superstitions 
which she had introduced into Christianity were not, 
properly speaking, what had inflicted the mortal wound. 
The Christian world must have been raised above the 
clergy in intellectual and religious development, to have 
been able to judge of it in this point of view. But there 
was an order of things within the comprehension of the 
laity, and by this the church was judged. It had be- 
come altogether earthly. That sacerdotal dominion 
which lorded over the nations, and which could not 
exist except by the delusion of its subjects and by the 
halo that encircled it, had forgotten its nature, left 
heaven and its spheres of light and glory to mingle in 
the vulgar interests of citizens and princes. The priests, 
born to be the representatives of the Spirit, had bar^ 
tered it away for the flesh. They had abandoned ahe 
treasures of science, and the spiritual power of the 
wcrd, for the brute force and false glory of the age. 

This happened naturally enough. It was in truth 
the spiritual order which the church had at first under* 
taken to defend. But to protect it against the resist* 



E.lNaS AND PEOPLE 



76 



ance and attacks of the people, she had recourse to 
earthly means, to vulgar arms, which a false policy had 
induced her to take up. When once the church had be- 
gun to handle such weapons, her spirituality was at an 
end. Her arm could not become temporal and her heart 
not become temporal also. Ere long was seen appar- 
ently the reverse of what had been at first. After re- 
solving to employ earth to defend heaven, she made use 
of heaven to defend the earth. Theocratic forms became 
in her hands the means of accomplishing worldly enter- 
prises. The offerings which the people laid at the feet 
of the sovereign pontiff of Christendom were employed 
in maintaining the splendor of his court and in paying 
his armies. His spiritual power served as steps by 
which to place the kings and nations of the earth under 
his feet. The charm ceased, and the power of the church 
was lost so soon as the men of those days could say, 
She is become as one of us. 

The great were the first to scrutinize the titles of 
this imaginary power.* This very examination might 
perhaps have been sufficient for the overthrow of Rome. 
But fortunately for her the education of the princes was 
everywhere in the hands of her adepts, who inspired 
their august pupils with sentiments of veneration tow- 
ards the Roman pontiff. The rulers of the people grew 
up in the sanctuary of the church. Princes of ordinary 
capacity never entirely got beyond it : many longed 
only to return to it at the hour of death. They preferred 
dying in a friars cowl to dying beneath a crown. 

Italy — that European apple of discord — contributed 
perhaps more than any thing else to open the eyes of 
kingfl. They had to contract alliances with the pope 
which had reference to the temporal prince of the states 
of the church, and not to the bishop of bishops. Kings 
were astonished at seeing the popes ready to sacrifice 
the rights belonging to the pontiff, in order that they 
might preserve some advantage to the prince. They 
perceived that these pretended organs of the truth had 

• Adrien Baillet, Hist, des D^mel^s de Boniface VIIL avoo Phi- 
lippe lo BeL Paris, 1708, 



t6 HISTOHr OF THE RBPORlffATION. 

recourse to all the paltry wiles of policy — to deceit, dis- 
eimulation, and perjury.* Then fell off the bandage 
which education had bound over the eyes of princes. 
Then the artful Ferdinand of Aragon played stratagem 
against stratagem. Then the impetuous Louis XII. 'iiad 
a medal struck, with the inscription, Perdam Babylonie 
Nomen.f And the good Maximilian of Austria, grieved 
at hearing of the treachery of Leo X., said openly, "Thie 
pope also, in my opinion, is a scoundrel. Now may I 
Bay, that never in my life has any pope kept his faith ur 

his word with me I hope, God willing, this will 

be the last of them.";}: 

Kings and people then began to feel impatient under 
the heavy burden the popes had laid upon them. They 
demanded that Rome should relieve them from tithes, 
tributes, and annates, which exhausted their resources. 
Already had France opposed Rome with ''the pragmatic 
sanction," and the chiefs of the empire claimed the like 
immunity. The emperor was present in person at the 
council of Pisa in 1511, and even for a time entertained 
the idea of securing the Papacy to himself. But of all 
these leaders, none was so useful to the Reformation as 
he in whose states it was destined to commence. 

Frederick of Saxony, surnamed the Wise, was at that 
t'me the most powerful of all the electors. Coming to 
the government of the hereditary states of his family in 
1487, he had received the electoral dignity from the 
emperor ; and in 1493, having gone on a pilgrimage to 
Jerusalem, he was there made a knight of the holy sep- 
ulchre. The influence he exercised, his wealth and lib- 
erality, raised him above his equals. God chose him to 
serve as a tree under whose shelter the seeds of trutt 
might put forth their first shoots, without being uproot- 
ed by the tempests around them.§ 

No one was better adapted for this noble ministry. 
Frederick possessed the e^^teem of all, and enjoyed the 

* Guiociardini, Storia d'ltali*^ f " I will destroy the name 
of Babylon." J Scultet. A^.aal. ad ann. 1520. 

§ Qui pr» raultis pollebat pr^ -xcipibns aliis, auctoritate, opibob 
potentia, liberalitate et magnificei^tia. Cochloeus, Acta L., p. 2. 



MODERATION AND EXPECTATION. 



77 



full confidence of the emperor He even supplied hia 
place when Maximilian was absent from Germany. His 
wisdom did not consist in the skilful exercise of a crafty 
policy, but in an enlightened, far-seeing prudence j the 
first principle of which was never from inten^sted mo- 
tives to infringe the laws of honor and of religion. 

At the same time, he felt the power of God's word 
in his heart. One day, when the vicar-general Staupitz 
was with him, the conversation turned on those who 
were in the habit of delivering empty declamations from 
the pulpit. " All discourses," said the elector, that are 
filled only with subtleties and human traditions, are 
wonderfully cold and unimpressive ; since no subtlety 
can be advanced that another subtlety cannot over- 
throw. The holy Scriptures alone are clothed with such 
power and majesty, that, destroying all our learned 
reasoning-machines, they press us close, and compel us 
to say. Never man spake like this man." Staupitz hav- 
ing expressed himself entirely of that opinion, the elec- 
tor shook him cordially by the hand, and said, Promise 
me that you will always think the same."* 

Frederick was precisely the prince required at the 
beginning of the Reformation. Too much weakness on 
the part of the friends of this work would have allowed 
of its being crushed. Too much precipitation would 
have made the storm burst forth sooner, which from its 
very commencement began to gather in secret against 
it. Frederick was moderate, but firm. He possessed 
that virtue which God requires at all times in those who 
love his ways : he waited for God. He put in practice 
the wise counsel of Gamaliel : If this work be of men, 
it will come to naught ; but if it be of God, ye cannot 
overthrow it." Acts 5 : 38, 39. Things are come to 
such a pass," said this prince to Spongier of Nurem- 
berg, one of the most enlightened men of his day, "that 
man can do no more ; God alone must act. For this 
reason we place in his powerful hands these mighty 
works that are too difficult for us." Providence claims 
our admiration in the choice it made of such a ruler to 
protect its rising work. 

• Luth. Epp. 



78 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOH. 



CHAPTER V. 

Popular feeling — The empire — Providential preparations— ImpnJao 
of the Reformation — Peace — The commonalty — National char- 
acter — Papal yoke — State of the empire — Opposition at Rome — 
Middle classes — Switzerland — Courage — Liberty — Smaller can- 
tons — Italy — Obstacles to the reform — Spain — Obstacles — Por- 
tugal — ^France — Preparations — Disappointment — The Low Coun- 
tries — England — Scotland — The North— Russia — Poland — ^Bohe- 
mia — Hungary. 

We have seen God's preparations among the princes 
for the work he was about to accomplish : let us now 
consider what they were among their subjects. It would 
have been of less importance for the chiefs to have been 
ready, if the nations themselves had not been so. The 
discoveries made by the kings had acted gradually upon 
the people. The wisest of them began to grow accus- 
tomed to the idea that the bishop of Rome was a mere 
man, and sometimes even a very bad man. The people 
in general began to suspect that he was not much holier 
than their own bishops, whose reputation was very equiv- 
ocal. The licentiousness of the popes excited the indig- 
nation of Christendom, and a hatred of the Roman name 
was deeply seated in the hearts of nations.* 

Numerous causes at the same time facilitated the 
emancipation of the various countries of the West. Let 
us cast a glance over their condition at this period. 

The empire was a confederation of different states, 
having an emperor at their head, and each possessing 
sovereignty within its own territories. The Imperial 
Diet, composed of all the princes or sovereign states, 
exercised the legislative power for all the Germanic 
body It was the emperor's duty \o ratify the laws, 
decrees, and recesses of this assembly, and he had the 
charge of applying them and putting them into execu- 

* Odium Romani nominis penitus infixum esse multarum gen- 
tium animis opinor, ob ea, quae vulgo de moribus ejus urbis jactao' 
tur. Erasm. Epp., lib. 12, p. 634. 



PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATIONS. 79 



tion. The seven most powf.rfiil princes, under the title 
of electors, had the privilege of conferring the imperial 
crown. 

The north of Germany, inhabited principally by the 
ancient Saxon race, had acquired the greatest portion 
of liberty. The emperor, whose hereditary possessions 
were continually harassed by the Turks, was compelled 
to keep on good terms with these princes and their 
couiageous subjects, who were at that time necessary 
to him. Several free cities in the north, west, and south 
of the empire, had by their commerce, manufactures, and 
industry, attained a high degree of prosperity, and con- 
sequently of independence. The powerful house of Aus- 
tria, which wore the imperial ciuwn, held most of the 
states of southern Germany in its power, and narrowly 
watched every movement. It was preparing to extend 
its dominion over the whole of the empire, and even be- 
yond it, when the Reformation raised a powerful barrier 
against its encroachments, and saved the independence 
of Europe. 

As Judea, when Christianity first appeared, was in 
the centre of the old world, so Germany was the centre 
of Christendom. It touched, at the same time, on the 
Low Countries, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, 
Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, and all the North. 
It was in the very heart of Europe that this principle of 
life was destined to be developed, and its pulsations 
were to circulate through the arteries of this great body 
the generous blood that was appointed to vivify all its 
members. 

The particular form of constitution which the empire 
had received, conformably with the dispensations of 
Providence, favored 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 sufiiced to check for a while the progress of 
the gospel. But it was a confederation. The truth, 
opposed in one state, might be received with favor in 
imother. 

The internal peace that Md,ximilian had secured to 



80 HISTORY OF THE EE FORMAT 10J» . 



the empire was no less favorable to the Reformation 
For a long time the numerous members of the Germanic 
body seemed to have taken a pleasure in tearing each 
other to pieces. Nothing had been seen but confusion, 
discord, and wars incessantly renewed. Neighbors were 
against neighbors, town against town, nobles against 
cobles. Maximilian had laid a firm foundation of public 
order in the Imperial Chamber, an institution appointed 
to decide all differences between the various states 
The German nations, after so many disorders and anxie 
ties, saw the beginning of a new era of security and 
repose. Nevertheless Germany, when Luther appeared, 
still presented to the eye of the observer that motion 
which agitates the sea after a storm of long continuance. 
The calm was yet uncertain. The first breeze might 
make the tempest burst forth anew. Of this we shall 
see more than one example. The Reformation, by com- 
municating a new impulse to the German race, for ever 
destroyed the old causes of agitation. It put an end to 
the barbarous system that had hitherto prevailed, and 
gave a new one to Europe. 

Meanwhile the religion of Jesus Christ had exerted 
on Germany its appropriate influence. The third estate, 
the commonalty, had rapidly advanced. In the different 
parts of the empire, particularly in the free cities, nu- 
merous institutions arose calculated to develop this 
imposing mass of the people. There the arts flourished : 
the burghers devoted themselves in security to the tran- 
quil labors and sweet relations of social life. They be- 
came more and more accessible to information. Thus 
they daily acquired greater respect and influence. It 
was not magistrates, who are often compelled to adapt 
their conduct to the political exigencies, of the times ; 
or nobles, passionately fond of military glory above all 
things ; or an ambitious and greedy priesthood, trading 
with religion as its peculiar property, that were to found 
the reformation in Germany. It was to be the work of 
the middle classes — of the people — of the whole nation. 

The peculiar character of the Germans seemed espe- 
•sially favorable to a religious reformation. They had 



STATE OF aEEMANr. 



8) 



not been enervated by a false civilization. The preciouai 
seeds that the fear of God deposits among a people 
had not been scattered to the winds. Ancient mannerei 
still survived. In Germany was found that upriglitness, 
fidelity, and industry — that perseverance and religious 
disposition, which still flourish there, and which promise 
greater success to the gospel than the fickle, scornful, 
And sensual character of other European nations. 

The Germans had received from Rome that great 
element of modern civilization — the faith. Instruction, 
knowledge, legislation, all except their courage and 
their arms, had come to them from the sacerdotal city 
Strong ties had from that time connected Germany with 
the Papacy. The former was a spiritual conquest of the 
latter ; and we know to what use Rome has always ap- 
plied her conquests. Other nations, who had possessed 
the faith and civilization before the Roman pontiff exist- 
ed, had maintained a greater independence with respect 
to it. But this subjection of the Germans was destined 
only to make the reaction more powerful at the moment 
of awakening. When the eyes of Germany should be 
opened, she would tear away the trammels in which she 
had so long been held captive. The slavery she had 
endured would give her a greater longing for deliver- 
ance and liberty, and the hardy champions of truth 
would go forth from that prison of restraint and disci- 
pline in which for ages her people had been confined. 

There was at that time in Germany something very 
nearly resembling what in the political language of our 
days is termed "a see-saw system." When the head of 
the empire was of an energetic character, his power in- 
creased ; when on the contrary he possessed little abil- 
ity, the influence and authority of the princes and eleo- 
tors were augmented. Never had the latter felt more 
independent of their chief, than under Maximilian at the 
period of the Reformation. And their leader having 
taken part against it, it is easy to understand how that 
very circumstance was favorable to the propagation of 
the gospel. 

In addition to this, Germany was weary of what 
0 



89 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



Rome contemptuously denominated "the patience of the 
Germans/' The latter had in truth shown much patience 
since the time of Louis of Bavaria. From that period 
the emperors had laid down their arms, and the tiara 
had been placed without resistance above the crown ol 
the Caesars. But the strife had only changed Us Bcem 
t)f action. It had descended to lower ground. Those 
name struggles, of which popes and emperors had se"^ 
the world an example, were soon renewed on a smaller 
scale in every city of Germany, between the bishops and 
the magistrates. The burghers had taken up the sword 
which the chiefs of the empire had let fall. As early as 
1329, the citizens of Frankfort-on-the-Oder had resisted 
with intrepidity all their ecclesiastical superiors. Hav- 
ing been excommunicated for their fidelity to the Mar- 
grave Louis, they had remained for twenty-eight years 
without masses, baptism,* marriage ceremonies, or fu- 
neral rites. The return of the priests and monks was 
greeted with laughter, like a cojaedy or farce. A deplor- 
able error, no doubt, but the priests themselves were 
the cause of it. At the period of the Reformation these 
oppositions between the magistrates and the ecclesias- 
tics had increased. Every hour the privileges and tem- 
poral assumptions of the clergy brought these two bod- 
ies into collision. 

But it was not only among the burgomasters, coun- 
cillors, and secretaries of the cities that Rome and her 
clergy found opponents. About the same time the in- 
dignation was at work among the populace. It broke 
out in 1493, and later in 1502, in the Rhenish provinces : 
the peasants, exasperated at the heavy yoke imposed 
upon them by their ecclesiastical sovereigns, formed 
among themselves what has been called the " League 
of the Shoes." They began to assemble by night in Al- 
sace, repairing by unfrequented paths to isolated hills, 
where they swore to pay in future no taxes but such as 
they had freely consented to, to abolish all tolls and 
jalage^ll to limit the power of the priests, and to plunder 
the Jews. Then placing a peasant's shoe on the end ol 
• Page 161, bot. f A seignorial duty od wine sold by retim 



SWITZERLAND. 



89 



a pole by way of standard, they marched against the 
town of Schlettstadt, proposing to call to their assist- 
ance the free confederation of the Swiss : but they were 
soon dispersed. This was only one of the symptoms of 
the general fermentation that agitated the castles, towns, 
and rural districts of the empire. 

Thus everywhere, from high to low, was heard a hol- 
low murmur, forerunner of the thunderbolt that was soon 
to fall. Germany appeared ripe for the appointed task 
of the sixteenth century. Providence in its slow prog- 
ress had prepared every thing ; and even the passions 
which God condemns, were directed by his almighty 
hand to the accomplishment of his designs. 

Let us take a glance at the other nations of Europe. 

Thirteen small republics, placed with their allies in 
the centre of Europe, among mountains which seemed 
to form its citadel, composed a simple and brave nation. 
Who would have looked in those sequestered valleys for 
the men whom God would choose to be the liberators of 
the church conjointly with the children of the Germans? 
Who would have thought that small unknown cities — 
scarcely raised above barbarism, hidden behind inacces- 
sible mountains, on the shores of lakes that had found 
no name in history — would surpass, as regards Chris- 
tianity, even Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, and 
Rome ? Nevertheless such was the will of Him who 
"causeth it to rain upon one piece of land, and the piece 
of land whereupon it raineth not, withereth." Amos 4 : t. 

Other circumstances besides seemed destined to op- 
pose numerous obstacles to the progress of the Refor- 
mation in the bosom of the Helvetic population. If the 
obstructions of power were to be dreaded in a monarchy, 
the precipitancy of the people was to be feared in a de- 
mocracy. 

But in Switzerland also the way had been prepared 
for the truth. It was a wild but generous stock, that 
had been sheltered in her deep valleys, to be grafted 
one day with a fruit of great value. Providence had 
scattered among these new people principles of courage, 
independence, and li^^erty, that^were to be developed in 



84 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



all their majesty, so soon as the day of battle againat 
Rome should arrive. The pope had conferred upon the 
Swiss the title of Protectors of the Liberty of the church. 
But they seem to have understood this honorable appel- 
lation in a sense somewhat different from the pontiff. 
If their soldiers guarded the pope beneath the shadow 
of the ancient capitol, their citizens carefully protected 
in the bosom of the Alps their own religious liberties 
against the assaults of the pope and of the clergy. The 
ecclesiastics were forbidden to have recourse to any 
foreign jurisdiction. The "Letter of the Priests" — 
Pfaffenbrief, 1370 — was a strong protest of Swiss inde- 
pendence against the abuses and power of the clergy 
Zurich was distinguished among all the states by its 
courageous resistance to the claims of Rome. Geneva, 
at the other extremity of Switzerland, was contending 
with its bishop. These two cities distinguished them- 
selves above all the others in the great struggle that 
we have undertaken to describe. 

But if the Helvetian towns, accessible to every amel- 
ioration, were to be drawn into the reform movement, 
this was not to be the case with the inhabitants of the 
mountains. Knowledge had not yet reached them. 
These cantons, the founders of Swiss liberty, proud of 
the part they had taken in the great struggle for inde- 
pendence, were not easily induced to imitate their youn- 
ger brothers of the plain. Why should they change that 
faith under which they had expelled the Austrian, and 
which had consecrated by altars all the scenes of their 
triumphs ? Their priests were the only CHlightened 
guides to whom they could have recourse: their wor- 
ship and their festivals relieved the monotony of their 
tranquil hours, and agreeably disturbed the siience of 
their peaceful homes. They remained steadfast against 
all religious innovations. 

Passing the Alps, we find ourselves in that Italy 
which was in the eyes of the majority the holy land of 
Christendom. Whence could Europe have looked for 
the good of the church, if not from Italy — if not from 
Rome ? Might not that power which raised successively 



obstacjles to refoem. 



85 



BO many different characters to the pontifical chair, some 
day place in it a pontiff who would become an instru- 
ment of blessing to the heritage of the Lord ? Even if 
there was no hope in the pontiffs, were there not bishopa 
and councils that might reform the church? Nothing 
good can come out of Nazareth : but from Jerusalem — 
from Rome I . . . Such might have been the ideas of men ; 
but God^s thoughts are not as our thoughts. He said, 
"He that is filthy, let him be filthy still," Eev. 22 : 11 ; 
and abandoned Italy to her unrighteousness. That land 
of ancient renown was by turns the victim of intestine 
war and of foreign invasion. The stratagems of policy, 
the violence of factions, the strife of arms, seemed alone 
destined to prevail there, and to banish for a long season 
the peace of the gospel. 

Italy, broken to pieces, dismembered, and without 
unity, appeared but little suited to receive one general 
impulse. Each frontier was a new barrier where the 
truth would be stopped. 

And if the truth was destined to come from the north, 
how could the Italians, with so refined a taste, and with 
social habits so delicate in their own eyes, condescend 
to receive any thing from the barbarous Germans ? 
Were the men who bestowed more admiration on the 
regular cadence of a sonnet than on the majesty and 
simplicity of the Scriptures, a proper soil for the seed ot 
the word of God ? A false civilization is, of all the va- 
rious conditions of a nation, that which is most repug- 
nant to the gospel. 

Finally, whatever might be the state of affairs, Rome 
was always Rome to Italy. The temporal power of the 
popes not only led the different Italian states to court 
their alliance and their favor at any cost, but the uni- 
versal dominion of Rome offered more than one induce- 
ment to the avarice and vanity of the ultra-montane 
states. As soon as it became a question of emancipat- 
ing the rest of the world from Rome, Italy would be- 
come Italy again ; domestic quarrels would not prevail 
to the advantage of a foreign system ; and attacks aimed 
against the chief of the peninsular fan ily would be suflS 



rt6 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

cient to awaken common interests and affections from 
their long slumber. 

The Reformation had thus little prospect of success 
on that side of the Alps. Nevertheless, there were found 
beyond these mountains souls prepared to receive the 
light of the gospel, and Italy was not at that hour en- 
tirely disinherited. 

Spain possessed what Italy did not, a serious, noble- 
minded, and religiously disposed population. In every 
age this people has reckoned pious and learned men 
among the members of its clergy, and it was sufficiently 
remote from Rome to be able to throw off its yoke with- 
out difficulty. There are few nations in which we might 
have more reasonably hoped for a revival of that primi- 
tive Christianity which Spain had received perhaps from 
the hands of St. Paul himself. And yet Spain did not 
rise up among the nations. She was to fulfil this proph- 
ecy of divine wisdom : The first shall he last. Various 
circumstances led to this mournful result. 

Spain, considering its isolated position and distance 
from Germany, would be affected only in a slight degree 
by the shocks of that great earthquake which so violent- 
ly agitated the empire. It was occupied, besides, with 
very different treasures from those which the word of 
God was then offering to the nations. The new world 
eclipsed the eternal world. A virgin soil, which seemed 
to consist of gold and silver, inflamed the imaginations 
of all. An eager thirst for wealth left no room in the 
Spanish heart for nobler thoughts. A powerful clergy, 
having scaffolds and treasures at its disposal, ruled in 
the peninsula. Spain willingly rendered a servile obe- 
dience to her priests, which by releasing her from every 
spiritual anxiety, left her free to give way to her paa- 
sions — to go in pursuit of riches, discoveries, and new 
continents. Victorious over the Moors, she had, at the 
cost of her noblest blood, torn the crescent from the 
walls of Granada and many other cities, and planted the 
cross of Christ in its place. This great zeal for Chrii*- 
tianity, which appeared destined to afford the liveliest 
expectations, turned against the truth. How could 



PORTUaAL-FBANCE— ITALY. 87 



Catholic Spain, which had crushed infidelity, fail to op« 
pose heresy? How could those who had driven Ma- 
homet from their beautiful country allow Luther to 
penetrate into it ? Their kings did even more : they 
equipped fleets against the Reformation, and went to 
Holland and to England in search of it, that they might 
Bubdue it. But these attacks elevated the nations as^ 
•ailed ; and ere long Spain was crushed by their united 
power. Thus, in consequence of the Reformation, did 
this Catholic country lose that temporal prosperity 
which had made it at first reject the spiritual liberty of 
the gospel. Nevertheless, the dwellers beyond the Pyre- 
nees were a brave and generous race. Many of its 
noble children, with the same ardor, but with more 
knowledge than those whose blood had stained the 
Moorish swords, came and laid down their lives as a 
sacrifice on the burning piles of the Inquisition. 

The case was nearly the same in Portugal as in 
Spain. Emanuel the Fortunate gave it a " golden age,'' 
which unfitted it for the self-denial required by the gos- 
pel. The Portuguese thronged the newly discovered 
roads to the East Indies and Brazil, and turned their 
backs on Europe and the Reformation. 

Few countries seemed better disposed for the recep- 
tion of the evangelical doctrines than France. In that 
country almost all the intellectual and spiritual life of 
the middle ages had been concentrated. One might 
have been led to say, that paths had been opened in 
every direction for a great manifestation of the truth. 
Men of the most opposite characters, and whose influ- 
ence had been most extensive over the French nation, 
were found to have some affinity with the Reformation. 
St. Bernard had given an example of that faith of the 
heart, of that inward piety, which is the noblest feature 
of the Reformation. Abelard had carried into the study 
of theology that rational principle which, incapable of 
building up what is true, is powerful to destroy what is 
false. Numerous pretended heretics had rekindled the 
flames of the word of God in the provinces. The uni- 
versity of Paris had stood up against the church, and 



88 



HISTORY OF THE EEFOEHATIOK. 



nad not feared to oppose it. At the commencement oi 
the fifteenth century the Clemangis and the Gersons had 
spoken out with boldness. The pragmatic sanction" had 
been a great act of independence, and seemed destined 
to be the palladium of the Gallican liberties. The French 
nobles, so numerous and so jealous of their preeminence, 
and who at this period had seen their privileges grad- 
ually taken away to augment the kingly power, must 
have been favorably disposed to a religious revolution 
that might have restored some portion of the independ- 
ence they had lost. The people, quick, intelligent, and 
susceptible of generous emotions, were as accessible to 
the truth as any other, if not more so. The reformation 
in this country seemed likely to crown the long travail 
of many centuries. But the chariot of France, which 
appeared for so many generations to be hastening on- 
wards in the same direction, suddenly turned aside at 
the epoch of the Reformation, and took quite a contrary 
course. Such was the will of Him who is the guide of 
nations and of their rulers. The prince who was then 
seated in the chariot and held the reins, and who, as a 
patron of literature, seemed of all the chiefs of Roman- 
catholicism likely to be the foremost in promoting the 
Reformation, threw his subjects into another path. The 
symptoms of many centuries proved fallacious, and the 
impulse given to France was unavailing against the 
ambition and fanaticism of her kings. The house of 
Valois deprived her of that which should have belonged 
to her. Perhaps, had she received the gospel, she would 
have become too powerful. It was God's will to select 
weaker nations — nations just rising into existence, to 
be the depositories of his truth. France, after having 
been almost entirely reformed, found herself Roman- 
catholic in the end. The sword of her princes thrown 
into the balance made it incline towards Rome. Alas, 
another sword, that of the reformers themselves, com- 
pleted the destruction of the Reformation. Hands that 
had been used to wield the sword, ceased to be raised 
to heaven in prayer. It is by the blood of its confessors, 
and not of its adversaries, that the gospel triumphs. 



THE NETHERLANDS. 



89 



At the era of the Reformation the Netherlands was 
one of the most flourishing countries of Europe. Its 
people were industrious, enlightened in consequence of 
the numerous relations they mail tained with the differ- 
ent parts of the world, full of courage, and enthusiastic 
in the cause of their independence, privileges, and liber- 
ties. Situated at the very gates of Germany, it would 
be one of the first to hear the report of the Reformation. 
Two very distinct parties composed its population. The 
more southern portion, that overflowed with wealth, 
gave way. How could all these manufactures carried 
to the highest degree of perfection, this immense com- 
merce by land and sea, Bruges that great mart of the 
northern trade, Antwerp the queen of merchant cities, 
how could all these resign themselves to a long and 
bloody struggle about questions of faith ? On the con- 
trary, the northern provinces, defended by their sand- 
hills, the sea, and their canals, and still more by the 
simplicity of their manners, and their determination to 
lose every thing rather than the gospel, not only pre- 
served their freedom, their privileges, and their faith, 
but even achieved their independence and a glorious 
nationality. 

England gave but little promise of what she after- 
wards became. Driven out of the Continent, where she 
had long and obstinately attempted the conquest of 
France, she began to turn her eyes towards the sea, as 
to a kingdom destined to be the real object of her con- 
quests, and whose inheritance was reserved for her. 
Twice converted to Christianity, once under the ancient 
Britons and again under the Anglo-Saxons, she paid with 
great devotion the annual tribute of St. Peter's pence. 
Yet high destinies were in reserve for her. Mistress of 
tlie ocean^ and touching at once upon all quarters of the 
globe, she was to become one day, with the nation to 
which she should give birth, the hand of God to scatter 
the seeds of life in the most distant islands and over the 
widest continents. Already there were a few circum* 
stances foreboding her mighty destiny : great learning 
had shone in the British islands, and some glimmerings 



90 HISTOKY OF this: EEFORMATION 

of it still remained. A crowd of foreign artists, me^ 
chants, and artisans, coming from the Low Countries, 
Germany, and other places, filled their cities and their 
havens. The new religious ideas would thus easily be 
carried thither. Finally, England had then for king an 
eccentric prince, who, endowed with some information 
and great courage, changed his projects and his ideas 
overy hour, and turned from one side to the other accord- 
ing to the direction in which his violent passions drove 
him. It was possible that one of the Eighth Henry's 
caprices might some day be favorable to the Reformation. 

Scotland was at this time distracted by factions. A 
king of five years old, a queen-regent, ambitious nobles, 
and an influential clergy, harassed this courageous peo- 
ple in every direction. They were destined, however, 
ere long to shine in the first rank among those who 
should receive the Reformation. 

The three kingdoms of the north, Denmark, Sweden, 
and Norway, were united under a common sceptre. 
These rude and warlike people seemed to have little con- 
uection with the doctrine of love and peace. Yet by 
their very energy they were perhaps better disposed 
than the nations of the south to receive the power of 
the gospel. But these sons of warriors and of pirates 
brought, methinks, too warlike a character into that 
Protestant cause, which their swords in later times so 
heroically defended. 

Russia, driven into the extremity of Europe, had but 
few relations with the other states. Besides, she be- 
longed to the Greek communion; and the reformation 
eflfected in the Western, exerted little or no influence on 
the Eastern church. 

Poland seemed well prepared for a reform. The 
neighborhood of the Bohemian and Moravian Christians 
had disposed it to receive the evangelical impulse, which 
by its vicinity to Germany was likely to be promptly 
communicated. As early as 1500 the nobility of Great 
Poland had demanded that the cup should be given to 
the laity, by appealing to the customs of the primitive 
church. The liberty enjoyed in its cities, the independ- 



BOHEMIA— HUNOARY. 



91 



ence of its nobles, made it a secure asylum for all Chris- 
tians who had been persecuted in their own country, 
The truth they carried with them was joyfully received 
by a great number of the inhabitants. Yet it is one of 
the countries which, in our days, possesses the fewest 
confessors. 

The flame of the Reformation, which had long burnt 
brightly in Bohemia, had been nearly extinguished in 
blood. Nevertheless, some precious remnants, escaped 
from the slaughter, were still alive to see the day which 
Huss had foretold. 

Hungary had been torn in pieces by intestine wars 
under the government of princes without ability or ex- 
perience, and who had eventually bound the fate of their 
subjects to Austria, by enrolling this powerful family 
among the heirs to their crown. 

Such was the state of Europe at the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, which was destined to produce so 
great a transformation in Christian society. 



92 HISTOHY OF THE JEtEFOEMATIOH. 



CHAPTER VI. 

RomaD theology — Bemains of life — Justification by faith — ^Witneeseia 
to the truth — Claudius — The Mystics — The Waldenses — Valdo — 
Wickliffe—Huss— Prediction — Protestantism before the Refor- 
mation — Anselm— Arnoldi — Utenheim — Martin — New witnesses 
in the church — Thomas CJonecte — The cardinal of Crayn — Insti- 
toris — Savonarola — Justification by faith — John Vitrarius — John 
Lallier — John of Wesalia — John of Goch — John Wessel — Prot- 
estantism before the Reformation — The Bohemian brethren — 
Prophecy of Proles — Prophecy of the Eisenach Franciscan. 

Having described the condition of the nations and 
princes of Europe, we now proceed to the preparations 
for the great reform which existed in theology and in 
the church. 

The singular system of theology that was established 
in the church, was destined to contribute powerfully to 
open the eyes of the new generation. Formed for an age 
of darkness, as if that age would last for ever, that sys- 
tem was to be left behind, and to be rent in every direc- 
tion, so soon as the age grew in understanding. This 
was the result. The popes had added now this and now 
that to the Christian doctrines. They had neither chang- 
ed nor removed any thing, unless it would not square 
with their hierarchical system ; what was not contrary 
to their plans might remain until further orders. It con- 
tained certain true doctrines, such as redemption and the 
power of the Holy Ghost, of which a skilful divine, if 
there was one to be found at that time, might Lave 
availed himself to combat and overthrow all the others. 
The pure gold mingled with the base alloy in the treas- 
ures of the Vatican, might have easily led to the discov- 
ery of the fraud. It is true, that if any courageous ad' 
versary turned his attention towards it, the winnowing- 
fan of Rome immediately swept away this pure grain. 
But these very condemnations only served to augment 
the confusion. 

Thib confusion was immense, and the pretended unity 



SCHOLASTIC THEOLOar. 



93 



was but one wide 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 prov- 
inces. In the latter too, this diversity was infinite. 
There was the faith of the princes, of the people, and of 
the religious orders. There was a distinction between 
the opinions of this convent and of that district, of this 
doctor and of that monk. 

In order that the truth might exist peaceably in the 
ages when Rome would have crushed her with its iron 
sceptre, she had followed the example of the insect that 
weaves a chrysalis of its threads in which to shelter 
itself during the inclement season. And strange to say, 
the instruments employed by divine truth to this end 
were the so much decried schoolmen. These industrious 
artisans of thought had unravelled every theological 
idea, and of all their threads had woven a web, under 
which it would have been difficult for more skilful per- 
sons than their contemporaries to recognize the truth in 
its pristine purity. We may regret that the insect, so 
full of life, and glowing with the brightest colors, should 
enclose itself, to all appearance dead, in its dark cell ; 
but in this covering is its safety. The case was the 
same with truth. If the interested and suspicious policy 
of Rome, in the day of its power, had seen her unveiled, 
it would have crushed her, or at least endeavored so to 
do. Disguised as she was by the theologians of the 
time, under endless subtleties and distinctions, the popes 
did not recognize her, or saw that in this condition she 
could not injure them. They took the work and the 
workmen under their protection. But the season might 
come in which this hidden truth would raise her head, 
and throw off the toils that had covered her. Having 
gained new strength in her apparent tomb, she would 
be seen in the day of her resurrection gaining the vic- 
tory over Rome and its errors. The spring-time arrived. 
At the very period when these absurd coverings of the 
schoolmen were falling one after another, under the skil- 
ful attacks and the sneers of the new generation, the 
truth issued from them, blooming in youth and beauty 



94 HISTORY OF THE UE FORMATION. 



It was not alone from the writings of the schc olmen 
that powerful testimony was given to the truth Ghrigh 
tianity had everywhere mingled something of its own 
life with the life of the people. The church of Christ 
was a dilapidated building ; but in digging around it, a 
portion of the living rock on which it had been originally 
built was discovered among its foundations. Numeroas 
institutions dating from the pure ages of the church still 
existed, and could not fail to awaken in many souls 
evangelical sentiments opposed to the prevailing super- 
stition. Inspired men, the old doctors of the church, 
whose writings were deposited in various libraries, 
raised here and there a solitary voice. We may hope 
that it was listened to in silence by many an attentive 
ear. Let us not doubt that the Christians — and how 
pleasing is the thought — ^had many brethren and sisters 
in those monasteries, where we too easily discover little 
else than hypocrisy and licentiousness. 

The church had fallen, because the great doctrine of 
justification by faith in the Saviour had been taken away 
from her. It was necessary, therefore, before she could 
rise again, that this doctrine should be restored to her 
As soon as this fundamental truth should be refe'stab 
lished in Christendom, all the errors and observances 
that had taken its place — all that multitude of saints, 
of works, penances, masses, indulgences, etc., would dis- 
appear. As soon as the one only Mediator and his only 
sacrifice were acknowledged, all other mediators and 
sacrifices would vanish. "This article of justification," 
says a man whom we may consider enlightened on the 
matter,* "is what creates the church, nourishes it, edi- 
fies it, preserves and defends it : no one can teach worthi- 
ly in the church, or oppose an adversary with success, if 
he does not adhere to this truth. This," adds the writer 
whom we quote, in allusion to the earliest prophecy, "is 
the heel that shall bruise the head of the serpenf 

God, who was preparing his work, raised up during 
the course of ages a long line of witnesses to the truthl 
But of this truth to which these generous men bore wit* 
• Luther to Breutius. 



THB MYBTICS-THE WALDENSES. 95 

ness, they had not a suflScienfly clear knowledge, or at 
least, were not able to set it forth with adequate dis- 
tinctness. Unable to accomplish this task, they were 
all that they should have been to prepare the way for it. 
Let us add, however, that if they were not ready for the 
work, the work was not ready for them. The measure 
was not yet full : the ages had not yet accomplished 
their prescribed course ; the need of the true remedy 
was not as yet generally felt. 

Scarcely had Rome usurped her power, before a 
strong opposition was formed against her, which was 
continued during the middle ages. 

Archbishop Claudius of Turin, in the ninth century ; 
Pierre de Bruys, his disciple Henry, and Arnold of Bres- 
cia, in the twelfth century, in France and in Italy, la- 
bored to refe'stablish the worship of God in spirit and in 
truth ; but for the most part they looked for this wor- 
ship too much in the absence of images and of outward 
observances. 

The Mystics, who have existed in almost every age, 
seeking in silence for holiness of heart, righteousness of 
life, and tranquil communion with God, beheld with sor- 
sow and affright the abominations of the church. They 
carefully abstained from the quarrels of the schools and 
from the useless discussions under which real piety had 
been buried. They endeavored to withdraw men from 
the vain formality of external worship, from the noise 
and pomp of ceremonies, to lead them to that inward 
repose of a soul which looks to God for all its happi- 
ness. They could not do this without coming into col- 
lision on every side with the received opinions, and with- 
out laying bare the wounds of the church. But at the 
same time they had not a clear notion of the doctrine of 
Justification by faith. 

The Waldenses, far superior to the Mystics in purity 
of doctrine, compose a long line of witnesses to the 
truth. Men more unfettered than the rest of the church 
seem from the most distant times to have inhabited the 
summits of the Piedmontese Alps ; their number was 
aujpnented and their doctrine purified by the disciples 



96 HISTOEY OP THE EEPORMATIOJST 



of Valdo. From their mountain-heights the Waldcnses 
protested during a long series of ages against the su- 
perstitions of Rome.* "They contend for the lively 
hope which they have in God through Christ ; for the 
regeneration and interior revival by faith, hope, and 
charity ; for the merits of Jesus Christ, and the all-suflS- 
siency of his grace and righteousness."f 

Yet this primal truth of the justification of sinners — 
this main doctrine, that should have risen from the midst 
of all the rest like Mont Blanc from the bosom of the 
Alps — was not suflSciently prominent in their system. 
Its summit was not yet raised high enough. 

Pierre Yaud or Valdo, a rich merchant of Lyons — 
1110 — sold all his goods and gave them to the poor. 
He and his friends appear to have aimed at refe'stablish- 
ing the perfection of primitive Christianity in the com- 
mon affairs of life. He therefore began also with the 
branches, and not with the roots. Nevertheless his 
preaching was powerful because he appealed to Scrip- 
ture, and it shook the Roman hierarchy to its very foun- 
dations. 

Wickliffe arose in England in 1360, and appealed 
from the pope to the word of God ; but the real internal 
wound in the body of the church was, in his eyes, only 
one of the numerous symptoms of the disease. 

John Huss preached in Bohemia a century before 
Luther preached in Saxony. He seems to have pene- 
trated deeper than his predecessors into the essence of 
Christian truth. He prayed to Christ for grace to glory 
only in his cross and in the inestimable humiliation of 
his suiBferings. But his attacks were directed less against 
the errors of the Romish church than the scandalous 
lives of the clergy. Yet he was, if we may be allowed 
the expression, the John Baptist of the Reformation. 
The flames of his pile kindled a fire in the church that 
cast a brilliant light into the surrounding darkness, and 
whose glimmerings were not to be so readily extin- 
guished. 

* Nobla Ley 9011. f Treatise on Antichrist, a work oontem 
porary with the Nobla Ley^on, 



/ 



PREDICTION. 



9? 



John Huss did more : prophetic words issued from 
the depths of his dungeon. He foresaw that a real ref- 
ormation of the church was at hand. When driven out 
of Prague, and compelled to wander through the fields 
of Bohemia, where an immense crowd followed his steps 
and hung upon his words, he had cried out, " The wicked 
have begun by preparing a treacherous snare for the 
goose.* But if even the goose, which is only a domes- 
tic bird, a peaceful animal, and whose flight is not very 
high in the air, has nevertheless broken through their 
toils, other birds, soaring more boldly towards the sky, 
will break through them with still greater force. In- 
stead of a feeble goose, the truth will send forth eagles 
and keen-eyed vultures.^f This prediction was fulfilled 
by the reformers. 

When the venerable priest had been summoned by 
Sigismund's order before the council of Constance, and 
had been thrown into prison, the chapel of Bethlehem, 
in which he had proclaimed the gospel and the future 
triumphs of Christ, occupied his mind much more than 
his own defence. One night the holy martyr saw in im- 
agination, from the depths of his dungeon, the pictures 
of Christ that he had painted on the walls of his oratory, 
effaced by the pope and his bishops. This vision dis- 
tressed him : but on the next day he saw many painters 
occupied in restoring these figures in greater number 
and in brighter colors. As soon as their task was end- 
ed, the painters, who were surrounded by an immense 
crowd, exclaimed, "Now let the popes and bishops 
come ; they shall never efface them more !" And many 
people rejoiced in Bethlehem, and I with them, adds 
John Huss. " Busy yourself with your defence rather 
than with your dreams," said his faithful friend the 
knight of Chlum, to whom he had communicated this 
vision. "I am no dreamer," replied Huss, "but I main- 
tain this for certain, that the image of Christ will nevei 
be effaced. They have wished to destroy it, but it shall 
be painted afresh in all hearts by much better preachers 

* Huss in the Bohemian language eignifles goose, 

t Epist. J. Huss, tempore anathematis scripts. 



98 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



than myself. The nation that loves Christ will rejoice a1 
this. And I, awaking from among the dead, and rising, 
80 to speak, from my grave, shall leap with great joy."* 

A century passed away ; and the torch of the go»- 
pel, lighted up anew by the reformers, illuminated in- 
deed many nations that rejoiced in its brightness. 

Bat it was not only among those whom the chur ch 
of Rome looks upon as her adversaries that the word of 
life was heard during these ages. Catholicism itself — 
let us say it for our consolation — counts numerous wit- 
nesses to the truth within its pale. The primitive build- 
ing had been consumed, but a generous fire smouldered 
beneath its ashes, and from time to time sent forth many 
brilliant sparks. 

It is an error to believe that Christianity did not ex- 
ist before the Reformation, save under the Roman-cath- 
olic form, and that it was not till then that a section of 
the church assumed the form of Protestantism. 

Among the doctors who flourished prior to the six- 
teenth century, a great number no doubt had a leaning 
towards the system which the Council of Trent put forth 
in 1562 ; but many also inclined towards the doctrines 
professed at Augsburg by the Protestants in 1530 ; and 
the majority perhaps oscillated between these two poles. 

Anselm of Canterbury laid down as the very essence 
of Christianity the doctrines of the incarnation and atone- 
ment ;f and in a work in which he teaches us how to 
die, he says to the departing soul, " Look only to the 
merits of Jesus Christ." St. Bernard proclaimed with a 
powerful voice the mysteries of redemption. If my 
sin Cometh from another," says he, why should not my 
righteousness be granted me in the same manner? As- 
suredly it is better for me that it should be given me, 
than that it should be innate."^ Many schoolmen, and 
in later times the Chancellor Gerson, vigorously attack 
ed the errors and abuses of the church. 

But l3t us reflect above all on the thousands of souls, 

* Hu6S, Epp. sub temp, concilii scrip tae. f Cur Deus homol 
X Et san^ mlhi tutlor donata quam ionata. De Erroribx]}^ Ab/e* 
lardi, cap. 6. 



tTTENHEIM—MARTIN. 



99 



obscure and unknown to the world, who have neverthe* 
less been partakers of the real life of Christ. 

A monk named Arnoldi every day offered up this 
fervent ejaculation in his quiet cell : "0 Lord Jesus 
Christ, I believe that thou alone art my redemption and 
my righteousness."* 

Christopher of Utenheim, a pious bishop of Basle, 
iad his name inscribed on a picture painted on glass, 
which is still in that city, and surrounded it with this 
motto, which he desired to have continually before his 
eyes : " My hope is in the cross of Christ ; I seek grace, 
and not works."f 

A poor Carthusian friar named Martin wrote a touch- 
ing confession, in which he says, " 0 most merciful God, 
I know that I cannot be saved and satisfy thy righteous- 
ness otherwise than by the merits, by the most innocent 
passion, and by the death of thy dearly beloved Son . . 
Holy Jesus, all my salvation is in thy hands. Thou 
canst not turn away from me the hands of thy love, foi 
they have created me, formed me, and redeemed me. 
Thou hast written my name with an iron pen, in great 
mercy and in an indelible manner, on thy side, on thy 
hands, and on thy feet." Then the good Carthusian 
placed his confession in a wooden box, and enclosed it 
in a hole he made in the wall of his cell. J 

The piety of brother Martin would never have been 
known, if the box had not been discovered on Decem- 
ber 21, 1776, as some workmen were pulling down an 
old building that had formed part of the Carthusian con- 
vent at Basle. How many convents may not have con- 
cealed such treasures I 

But these holy men possessed this touching faith for 
themselves alone, and knew not how to communicate it 
to others. Living in retirement, they could say more or 

* Credo quod tu mi Domine Jesu Christe, solus es mea justitia 
et rcdemptlo. Leibnitz, script. Brunsw. 3. 396. 

t Spes mea crux Christi ; gratiam, non opera quaero. 

X Sciens posse me allter non salvari, et tibi satlsfacere nisi per 
merltum, etc. For these and s'milar quotations, see Flacius, CataL 
Tept Veritatis ; Wolfii Lect. Memorabiles ; Miiller's Reliquien, eto. 



100 HISTOEY OF THE EEFORMATION. 



less wliat brother Martin confided to his box : "And if 
I cannot confess these things with my mouth, I confess 
them at least with my pen and with my heart."* The 
word of truth was in the sanctuary of a few pious souls ; 
but, to use the language of the gospel, it had not " free 
course " in the world. 

However, if they did not always confess aloud the 
doctrine of salvation, they were not afraid at least to 
protest openly, even in the bosom of the church of Rome, 
against the abuses that disgraced it. 

Scarcely had the councils of Constance and Basle, in 
which Huss and his disciples had been condemned, ter- 
minated their sittings, when this noble line of witnesses 
against Rome which we have pointed out, recommenced 
with greater brilliancy. Men of generous dispositions, 
shocked at the abominations of the papacy, arose like 
the Old Testament prophets, whose fate they also shared, 
and uttered like them their denunciations in a voice of 
thunder. Their blood stained the scaffolds, and their 
ashes were scattered to the winds. 

Thomas Conecte, a Carmelite friar, appeared in Flan- 
ders. He declared that "the grossest abominations 
were practised at Rome, that the church required a re- 
form, and that so long as we served God, we should not 
fear the pope's excommunication s."f All the country 
listened with enthusiasm ; Rome condemned him to the 
stake in 1432, and his contemporaries declared that he 
had been translated to heaven.J 

Cardinal Andrew, archbishop of Crayn, being sent to 
Rome as the emperor's ambassador, was struck with 
dismay at discovering that the papal sanctity, in which 
he had devoutly believed, was a mere fiction ; and in 
his simplicity he addressed Sixtus lY. in the language 
of evangelical remonstrance. Mockery and persecution 
"were his only answer. Upon this he endeavored, in 
1482, to assemble a new council at Basle. " The whole 

* Et si haec praedicta confiteri non possum lingua, confiteor tamec 
corde et scrlpto. f Bertrand d'Argentre, Hlstolre de Bretaigne, 
p. 788. Paris, 1618. t Hie summo vivit Olympo. Baptista 

Mantuanus, De Beata vita, in fine. 



SAVONAROLA. 



10; 



church," said he, " is shaken by divisions, heresies, sins, 
rices, unrighteousness, errors, and countless evils, so 
as to be nigh swallowed up by the devouring abyss of 
damnatioD.* For this reason we proclaim a general 
council for the reformation of the Catholic faith and the 
purification of morals." The archbishop was thrown 
into prison at Basle, where he died. The inquisitor, 
Henry Institoris, who was the first to oppose him, ut- 
tered these remarkable words : " All the world cries out 
and demands a council ; but there is no human power 
that can reform the church by a council. The Most 
High will find other means, which are at present un- 
known to us, although they may be at our very doors, 
to bring back the church to its pristine condition."f This 
remarkable prophecy, delivered by an inquisitor at the 
very period of Luther^s birth, is the best justification of 
the Reformation. 

Jerome Savonarola, shortly after entering the Domin- 
ican order at Bologna in 1475, devoted himself to con- 
tinual prayers, fasting, and mortification, and cried, 
" Thou, 0 God, art good, and in thy goodness teach me 
thy righteousness."! He preached with energy in Flor- 
ence, to which city he had removed in 1489. His voice 
carried conviction ; his countenance was lit up with en- 
thusiasm, and his action possessed enchanting grace. 
" We must regenerate the church," said he ; and he pro- 
fessed the great principle that alone could effect this 
regeneration. God," he exclaimed, " remits the sins 
of men, and justifies them by his mercy. There are as 
many compassions in heaven as there are justified men 
upon earth ; for none are saved by their own works. 
No man can boast of himself ; and if, in the presence of 
God, we could ask all these justified sinners, Have you 

* A sorbente gurgite damnationis Bubtrahi. J. H. Hottingeri 
Hist. Eccl. Saecul., 15. 347. f Alium modum Altissimus pro- 

curab't, nobis qu-dem pro nunc incognitum, licet heu ! prae foribus 
existat, ut ad pristinum statum ecclesia redeat. J. H. Hotting. Hist 
Eccl. Saec. 15. p. 413. { Bonus es tu, et in bonitate tua, doce 

me justificationes tuas. Batesius, Vitae Selectorum Virorum, p. 112. 
Lond. 1681, 



102 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



been saved by your own strength ? all would reply as 
with one voice, * Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us ; but 
to thy name be the glory.' Therefore, 0 God, do I seek 
thy mercy, and I bring not unto thee my own righteous- 
ness J but when by thy grace thou justifiest me, then 
thy righteousness belongs unto me ; for grace is the 
righteousness of God. So long, 0 man, so long as thou 
believest not, thou art, because of thy sin, destitute of 
grace. 0 God, save me by thy righteousness, that is to 
say, in thy Son, who alone among men was found with- 
out sin."* Thus did the grand and holy doctrine of 
justification by faith gladden Savonarola's heart. In 
vain did the presidents of the churches oppose him ;f he 
knew that the oracles of God were far above the visible 
church, and that he must proclaim these oracles with 
the aid of the church, without it, or even in spite of it. 
" Ply," cried he, " fly far from Babylon I" and it was 
Rome that he thus designated, and Rome ere long re- 
plied in her usual manner. In 149T, the infamous Alex- 
ander VI. issued a brief against him ; and in 1498, tor- 
ture and the stake terminated this reformer's life. 

John Vitrarius, a Franciscan monk of Tournay, whose 
monastic spirit does not appear to have been of a very 
lofty range, vigorously attacked the corruptions of the 
church. "It is better to cut a child's throat," he said, 
" than to place him in a religious order that is not re- 
formed. J If thy curate, or any other priest, detains a 
woman in his house, you should go and drag the woman 
by force or otherwise out of the house. There are some 
who repeat certain prayers to the virgin Mary, that they 
may see her at the hour of death. But thou shalt see the 
devil, and not the virgin." A recantation was required, 
and the monk gave way in 1498. 

John Lallier, doctor of the Sarbonne, stood forth in 
1484 against the tyrannical dominion of the hierarchy, 
"All the clergy," said he, "have received equal power 

* Meditationes in Psalmos ; Prediche sopra U Salmo, Quam 1h»- 
nu8 Israel, etc. ; Sermones supra Archam Noe, etc. f Inter omnea 
Tero persecutores, potisslmum Ecclesiae praesides. Batesius, p. lid. 

X D'Argentre, CoUectio Judiciorum de Novis Erroribus, 2 840. 



JOHN OF WESALIA. 



103 



jfrom Christ. The Roman church is not the head of other 
churches. You should keep the commandments of God 
and of the apostles ; and as for the commandments of 
bishops and all the other lords of the church, .... they 
are but straw. They have ruined the church by their 
crafty devices.* The priests of the Eastern church sia 
not by marrying, and I believe that in the Western 
church we should not sin were we also to marry. Since 
the time of Sylvester, the Romish church is no longer 
the church of Christ, but a state-church, a money-getting 
church. We are not bound to believe in the legends of 
the saints, any more than in the chronicles of France." 

John of Wesalia, doctor of divinity at Erfurth, a man 
distinguished for his energy and talents, attacked the 
errors on which the hierarchy was founded, and pro- 
claimed the holy Scriptures as the only source of faith. 
" It is not religion," by which he meant a monastic life, 
" that saves us," said he to the monks ; "it is the grace 
of God. God from all eternity has established a book 
in which he has written the names of all his elect. 
Whoever is not inscribed therein, will never be so ; and 
T^hoever is therein inscribed, will never see his name 
blotted out. It is by the grace of God alone that the 
elect are saved. He whom God is willing to save by 
the gift of his grace, will be saved, though all the 
priests in the world should wish to condemn and excom- 
municate him. And he whom God will condemn, though 
all should wish to save him, will nevertheless be con- 
demned.f By what audacity do the successors of the 
apostles enjoin, not what Christ has prescribed in his 
holy books, but what they themselves have devised, car- 
ried away, as they are, by thirst for gold and by the 
desire of ruling ? I despise the pope, the church, and 
the councils, and I give Christ the glory." Wesalia, 
Laving arrived gradually at these convictions, professed 
them boldly from the pulpit, and entered into communi- 
cation with the delegates from the Hussites. Feeble, 

• D*Argentr^, Collectio Judiciorum de Novis Erroribus, 2. 840. 
t Et quem Deus vult damnare, si omnes vellent hunc salvare, 
adhuc isto damnaretur. Paradoxa Damnata, etc., 1840. Mogontias. 



104 



HISTORY OF THE REF ORMATIOK 



and bending under the weight of years, a prey to sick- 
ness and leaning upon his staff, this courageous old 
man appeared with tottering steps before the inquisi- 
tion, and perished in its dungeons in 1482. 

John of Goch, prior of Malines, about the same period 
extolled Christian liberty as the essence of every virtue. 
He charged the prevailing doctrines with Pelagianism, 
and denominated Thomas Aquinas " the prince of error 
" The canonical Scriptures alone," said he, are entitled 
to a sure confidence, and have an undeniable authority 
The writings of the ancient fathers have no authority, 
but so far as they are conformable with canonical truth."* 
The common proverb says truly, "Satan would be 
ashamed to think of what a monk dares undertake." 

But the most remarkable of these forerunners of the 
Reformation was undoubtedly John Wessel, surnamed 
"the light of the world," a man full of courage and of 
love for the truth, who was doctor in divinity succes- 
sively at Cologne, Louvain, Paris, Heidelberg, and Gron- 
ingen, and of whom Luther says, " Had I read his works 
sooner, my enemies might have thought I had derived 
every thing from Wessel, so much are we of one mind."f 
" St. Paul and St. James," says Wessel, " preach differ- 
ent, but not contrary doctrines. Both maintain that ' the 
just shall live by faith,' but by a faith working by char- 
ity. He who, at the sound of the gospel, believes, de- 
sires, hopes, trusts in the glad tidings, and loves Him 
who justifies and blesses him, forthwith yields himsell 
up entirely to Him whom he loves, and attributes no 
merit to himself, since he knows that of himself he has 
nothing.^ The sheep must discern the things on which 
he feeds, and avoid a corrupted nutriment, even when 
presented by the shepherd himself. The people should 

* Antiquorum patrum scripla tantum habent auctoritatis, quao- 
tnm canonlcae verltati sunt couformia. Epist. Apologet. Ant* 
werp, 1521. 

t Adeo spiritus utriusque concordat. Farrago Wosseli, in praef. 

t Extentus totus et propensus in eum quern amat, a quo credit, 
oupit, sperat, confidit, justificatur, nihil sibi ipsi tribuit, qui scit nihil 
habere ex se. De Magnit. Passionis, cap. 46. Opera, p. 553, 



JOHN WESSEL. 



105 



follow the shepherd into the pastures ; but when he 
ceases to lead them into the pastures, he is no longer a 
shepherd, and then, since he does not fulfil his duty, the 
flock is not bound to follow him. Nothing is more effec- 
tual to the destruction of the church than a corrupted 
clergy. All Christians, even the humblest and most 
simple, are bound to resist those who are destroying the 
church.* We must obey the precepts of doctors and of 
prelates only according to the measure laid down by 
St. Paul, 1 Thess. 6 : 21 ; that is to say, so far as, * sit- 
ting in Moses^ seat,' they teach according to Moses. 
We are God^s servants, and not the pope's, as it is said, 
'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
flhalt thou serve.' The Holy Spirit has reserved to him- 
self the work of renewing, vivifying, preserving, and in- 
creasing the unity of the church, and has not abandoned 
it to the Roman pontiff, who frequently cares nothing 
about it. Even her sex does not present a woman, if 
she is faithful and prudent, and if she has charity shed 
abroad in her heart, from being able to feel, judge, ap- 
prove, and decide by a judgment that God will ratify." 

Thus, in proportion as the Reformation drew nigh, 
were the voices multiplied that proclaimed the truth 
We might be led to say, that the church intended show- 
ing by these means that the Reformation existed before 
Luther. Protestantism arose in the church on the very 
day in which the germs of Popery showed themselves ; 
as, in the political world, conservative principles have 
existed from the very moment when the despotism of 
nobles or the disorders of factions have raised their 
heads. Protestantism was sometimes even stronger than 
the Papacy in the centuries immediately preceding the 
Reformation. What could Rome oppose to all the wit- 
nesses we have just heard, at the time when their voices 
reechoed through the earth? A few monks withcmt 
either learning or piety. 

To this we may add, that the Reformation had taken 

* Nemo magis Ecclesiam destruit, quam corruptus clenis. De- 
struentibus Ecclesiam omnes Christiani tenentur resistere. De Potee 
tftte Ecclea. 0pp., p. 769 



106 



HISTORY OF THE UEFORMATION. 



root not only among the doctors of the church, but also 
among the people. The opinions of Wickliffe, issuing 
from Oxford, had spread over all Christendom, and had 
found adherents in Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, and 
Prussia. In Bohemia from the very bosom of discord 
and of war, had come forth at last a peaceful and Chris- 
tian community, reminding the world of the primitive 
church, and giving powerful testimony to the grand 
principle of gospel opposition, that Christ, and not 
Peter and his successors, is the rock on which the church 
is founded." Belonging equally to the German and Scla- 
vonic races, these simple Christians had sent forth mis- 
sionaries into the midst of the various nations who spoke 
their language, noiselessly to gain over followers to their 
opinions. Nicholas Kuss, who was twice visited by 
them at Eostock, began in 1511 to preach openly against 
the pope.* 

It is important to notice this state of affairs. When 
the Wisdom from on high shall utter his lessons in a 
Btill louder voice, there will be minds and hearts every- 
where to listen to them. When the Husbandman, who 
nas been continually traversing his church, shall go 
forth to a new and to a greater sowing, the soil will be 
prepared to receive the grain. When the trumpet of 
the Angel of the covenant, that has never ceased to be 
heard in the world, shall send forth a louder peal, num- 
bers will gird themselves to the battle. 

The church already had a presentiment that the hour 
of combat was approaching. If more than one philoso- 
pher announced in some measure, during the last cen- 
tury, the revolution in which it closed, shall we be 
astonished that many doctors at the end of the fifteenth 
century had foreseen the approaching change that would 
regenerate the church ? 

Andrew Proles, provincial of the Augustines, who 
for nearly half a century presided over that congiega- 
tion, and v/ho, with unshaken firmness, maintained in 
his order the doctrines of St. Augustine, being assem- 
bled with his brethren in the convent of Himmelspforte, 
• Wolfii Lect. Memorab., 2. p. 27 



PEKDICTION OF PROLES— 0> HILTEN. 107 

near Wernigerode, used often to stop them while read- 
ing the word of God, and say, ''My brethren, ye hear 
the testimony of the holy Scriptures. They declare that 
by grace we are what we are, and that by it alone we 
hold all that we possess. Whence then proceed so much 

darkness and such horrible superstitions ? Oh, my 

brethren, Christianity needs a bold and a great reform, 
and methinks I see it already approaching." Then 
would the monks cry out, Why do you not begin this 
reform yourself, and oppose such a cloud of errors?" 
"You see, my brethren," replied the aged provincial, 
"that I am bent with the weight of years, and weak in 
body, and that I have not the learning, ability, and elo- 
quence that so great an undertaking requires. But God 
will raise up a hero, who by his age, strength, talents, 
learning, genius, and eloquence, shall hold the foremost 
place. He will begin the Reformation ; he will oppose 
error, and God will give him boldness to resist the 
mighty ones of the earth."* An old monk of Himmels- 
pforte, who had often heard these words, communicated 
them to Flacius. It was in the very order of which 
Proles was provincial, that the Christian hero he fore- 
told was to appear. 

A monk named John Hilten was an inmate of the 
Franciscan convent at Eisenach in Thuringia. The 
prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation of St. John were 
his especial study. He even tv rote a commentary on 
these works, and censured the most flagrant abuses of 
the monastic life. The exasperated monks threw him 
into prison. His advanced age and the filthiness of his 
dungeon brought on a dangerous illness : he asked for 
the superior, and the latter had scarcely arrived before 
he burst into a violent passion, and without listening to 
the prisoner's complaints, bitterly abused his doctrine, 
that was opposed, adds the chronicle, to the mcnks^ 
kitchen. The Franciscan, forgetting his malady, and 
groaning heavily, replied, "I bear your insults calmly 
for the love of Christ ; for I have said nothing that caa 

• Excitabit Dominus heroem, setate, viribus. Flacii Catal. Tes 
fcium Yeritatis, p. 843. 



108 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



endanger the monastic state : I have only censured its 
most crying abuses. But," continued he — according to 
what Melancthon records in his Apology for the Augs- 
burg Confession of Faith — another man will arise in 
the year of our Lord 1516 : he will destroy you, and 
you shall not be able to resist him."* John Hilten, who 
had prophesied that the end of the world would come in 
1651, was less mistaken in pointing out the year when 
the future reformer would appear. Not long after, he 
was born in a small village at a little distance from the 
monk's dungeon : in this very town of Eisenach he com- 
menced his studies, and only one year later than the im- 
prisoned friar had stated, he publicly entered upon the 
Reformation. 



THIED PREPARATION. 



109 



CHAPTER VII 

Third preparation — Letters^— Revival — Recollections of antiquity 
in Italy — Influence of the Humanists — Christianity of Dante — 
Valla — Infidelity in Italy — Platonic philosophy — Commencement 
of learning in Germany — Young students — Printing — Charao- 
teristics of German literature — The learned and the schoolmen — 
A new world — Reuchlin — Reuchlin in Italy — His labors — His in- 
fluence in Germany — Mysticism — Contest with the Dominicans. 

Thus princes and people, living members of the 
church and theolog"ians, were laboring each in their 
sphere to prepare the work which the sixteenth century 
was to accomplish. But the Reformation was destined 
to find another auxiliary in learning. The human mind 
was gaining strength. This circumstance alone would 
have wrought its emancipation. Let but a small seed 
fall near a time-eaten wall, and as the tree grows up, 
the wall will be overthrown. 

The Roman pontiff had constituted himself the guar- 
dian of the people, and his superior intelligence rendered 
this an easy task. For a long time he had kept them in 
a state of pupilage, but now they were breaking bounds 
on every side. This venerable guardianship, which de- 
rived its origin from the princi[)les of eternal life and 
civilization that Rome had communicated to the barbar- 
ous nations, could no longer be exercised without oppo- 
sition. A formidable antagonist had taken up his posi- 
tion against it in order to control it. The natural ten- 
dency of the human mind to expand, to examine, to learn, 
had given birth to this new power. Men's eyes were 
opened : they demanded a reason for each step taken by 
this long-venerated guide, under whose direction they 
had walked in silence, so long as their eyes were closed. 
The nations of modern Europe had passed the age of 
infancy ; their manhood was beginning. Their artless 
and credulous simplicity had given way to an inquiring 
spirit, to a reason impatient to fathom things to the very 
bottom. They asked what had been God's object in 



no 



HISTORY 01? THE REFORMATION. 



making a revelation to the world, and whether men had 
a right to set themselves up as mediators between God 
and their brethren. 

One thing only could have saved the church ; this 
was to elevate itself still higher than the people. To be 
on a level with them was not sufficient. But men soon 
found, on the contrary, that she was much below them. 
She began to take a downward course at the very time 
that they were ascending. When men began to soar 
towards the regions of intelligence, the priesthood was 
found engrossed in earthly pursuits and human inter- 
ests. It is a phenomenon that has often been renewed 
in history. The eaglet^s wings had grown ; and there 
was no man whose hand could reach it and stay its 
flight. 

It was in Italy that the human mind first began to 
soar above the earth. 

The doctrines of the schoolmen and romantic poetry 
had never reigned undisturbed in that peninsula. Some 
faint recollections of antiquity had always remained in 
Italy, recollections that were revived in great strength 
towards the end of the middle ages, and which ere long 
communicated a fresh impulse to the human mind. 

Already in the fourteenth century had Dante and 
Petrarch revived the credit of the ancient Roman poets ; 
at the same time the former placed the mightiest popes 
in his " Inferno," and the second called with boldness 
for the primitive constitution of the church. At the 
beginning of the fifteenth century John of Ravenna 
taught the Latin literature with great renown at Padua 
and Florence ; and Chrysoloras interpreted the master- 
pieces of Greece at Florence and at Pavia. 

While learning was thus issuing from the prisons in 
which it had been held captive in Europe, the East im- 
parted fresh light to the West. The standard of Mo- 
hammed, planted on the walls of Constantinople in 1453, 
had driven its learned men into exile. They had carried 
the learning of Greece with them into Italy. The torch 
of the ancients rekindled the minds that had been for 
ages quenched in darkness. George of Trebizond, At- 



INFLUENCE OF THE HUMA NISTS— DANTE. Ill 



gyropolos, Bessarion, Lascaris, Chalcondyi'as, and many 
others, inspired the west with their own love for Greece 
and its noble works of genius. The patriotism of the 
Italians was awakened ; and there arose in Italy a great 
number of learned men, among whom shone Gasparino, 
Auiispa, Aretino, Poggio, and Valla, who endeavored in 
3ike manner to restore the writers of ancient Rome to 
the honor they merited. There was at that period a 
^eat burst of light, and Rome was doomed to suflfer 
by it. ^ ^ 

This passion for antiquity which took possession of 
the humanists^ shook in the most elevated minds their 
attachment to the church, for "no man can serve two 
masters." At the same time, the studies to which they 
devoted themselves placed at the disposition of these 
learned men a method entirely new and unknown to the 
schoolmen, of examining and judging the teaching of 
the church. Finding in the Bible, much more than in 
the works of theologians, the beauties that charmed 
them in the classic authors, the humanists were fully 
inclined to place the Bible above the doctors. They 
reformed the taste, and thus prepared the way for the 
reformation of the faith. 

These scholars, it is true, loudly protested that their 
studies did not strike at the faith of the church ; yet 
they attacked the schoolmen long before the reformers 
did, and turned into ridicule those barbarians, those 
Teutons," who had existed, but not lived.* Some even 
proclaimed the doctrines of the gospel, and laid hands 
on what Rome held most dear. Dante, although adher- 
ing to many Romish doctrines, had already proclaimed 
the power of faith, as did the reformers. It is true 
faith that renders us citizens of heaven," said he.f 
" Faith according to the gospel is the principle of life ; 
it is the spark that, spreading daily more and more, be- 
comes a living flame, and shines on us like a star in 
heaven. Without faith there is no good work, nor up- 
right life, that can avail us. However great be the sin, 

* Qui ne vivpntes quidem vivebant. Politiaoi Epp. 9. 8. 
t Parad. 24. 44. 



112 



HISTORY OF THE EEFOEMATION 



the arms of divine grace are wider still, and embrace all 
who turn to God.* The soul is not lost through the 
anathemas of the pontiff; and eternal love can still 
reach it, so long as hope retains her verdant blossom. f 
From God, from God alone, cometh our righteousness 
by faith." And speaking of the church, Dante exclaims, 
0 my bark, how deeply art thou laden ! 0 Constan- 
iinC; what mischief has been engendered, I will not say 
by thy conversion, but by that offering which the wealthy 
father then received from thee I" 

Somewhat later, Laurentius Yalla applied the study 
of antiquity to the opinions of the church : he denied the 
authenticity of the correspondence between Christ and 
King Abgar ; he rejected the tradition of the drawing 
up of the Apostles' Creed ; and sapped the foundation on 
which reposed the pretended donation of Constan tine. J 

Still, this great light which the study of antiquity 
threw out in the fifteenth century, was calculated only 
to destroy : it could not build up. Neither Homer noi 
Virgil could save the church. The revival of learning, 
sciences, and arts, was not the principle of the Reforma- 
tion. The paganism of the poets, as it reappeared in 
Italy, rather confirmed the paganism of the heart. The 
scepticism of the' followers of Aristotle, and the con- 
tempt for every thing that did not appertain to philology; 
took possession of many literary men, and engendered 
an incredulity which, even while affecting submission to 
the church, attacked the most important truths of relig- 
ion. Peter Pomponatius, the most distinguished repre- 
sentative of this impious tendency, publicly taught at 
Bologna and Padua that the immortality of the soul and 
the doctrine of providence were mere philosophical prol> 

* Orribil furon 11 peccati miei ; 

Ma la bonta infinita ha si gran braccia, 

Che prende cio che si rivolve a lei. Purgator. 3. 121>12i. 
t Per lor maladizion si non si perde, 

Che non possa tornar Peterno amore, 

Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde. lb. 3. 134-136. 
X De ementita Constan tin! donatione declamatio ad PapaiD 
0pp. Ba^il, 1543. 



PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY. 



113 



lems.* John Francis Pico, nephew of Pico of Mirandola, 
speaks of one pope who did not believe in God ;f and of 
another who, having acknowledged to a friend his dis- 
belief in the immortality of the soul, appeared to hiro 
one night after death, and said, "Alas, the eternal fire 
that is now consuming me makes me feel but too senst 
bly the immortality of that soul which I had thought 
would die with the body." This may remind us of those 
remarkable words spoken, it is asserted, by Leo X. to 
his secretary Bembo : Every age knows how useful 
this fable of Christ has been to us and ours."J Con- 
temptible superstitions were attacked, but incredulity 
with its disdainful and mocking sneer was set up in 
their place. To laugh at every thing, even at what was 
most holy, was the fashion and the badge of a free- 
thinker. Religion was considered only as a means of 
governing the world. "I fear," said Erasmus in 1516, 
"that with the study of ancient literature, the olden 
paganism will reappear." 

It is true that then, as after the ridicule of the An- 
gustan age, and as even in our days, after the sneers of 
the last century, a new Platonism arose and attacked 
this rash scepticism, and sought, like the philosophy of 
the present times, to inspire a certain degree of respect 
for Christianity, and to rekindle a religious feeling in the 
heart. The Medici at Florence encouraged these efforts 
of the Platonists. But no merely philosophical religion 
can ever regenerate the church or the world. It may 
lose its strength in a kind of mystical enthusiasm ; but 
as it is supercilious, and despises the preaching of the 
cross of Christ, pretending to see in the gospel doctrines 
little else but figures and symbols, incomprehensible to 
the majority of mankind, it will ever be powerless to 
reform and save. 

What then would have been the result, had real 
Christianity not reappeared in the world, and if faith 
had not once more filled all hearts with its own strength 

* De Immortalitate Animse, De Praedestinatione et Providentia, 
etc. t Qui nullum Deum credens. J. F. Pici de Fide, 0pp. 2. 
820. X Ea de Christo fabula. Mornaei Hist Papatus, p. 820. 

8 



114 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



and holiness ? The Reformation preserved both religion 
and society. If the church of Rome had had God's glory 
and the welfare of the people at heart, she would have 
welcomed the Reformation with joy. But what was this 
to a Leo the Tenth ? 

And yet a torch could not be lighted in Italy without 
its rays shining beyond the Alps. The affairs of the 
church kept up a continual intercourse between this 
peninsula and the other parts of Christendom. The 6ar- 
harians felt ere long the superiority and superciliousness 
of the Italians, and began to be ashamed of their defects 
of language and of style. A few young noblemen, such 
as Dalberg, Langen, and Spiegelberg, burning with the 
desire of knowledge, visited Italy, and brought back to 
Germany and imparted to their friends the learning, the 
grammar, and the classic authors they so much desired.* 
Soon there appeared a man of distinguished talents, Ro- 
dolph Agricola, whose learning and genius won for him 
as great veneration as if he had lived in the age of Au- 
gustus or of Pericles. The ardor of his mind and the 
fatigues of the school wore him out in a few years ; but 
in the intercourse of private life he had trained up noble 
disciples, who carried their master's zeal over all Ger- 
many. Often when assembled around him had they de- 
plored the darkness of the church, and asked why St. 
Paul so frequently repeats that men are justified by 
faith, and not by works.f At the feet of these new 
teachers was soon gathered a youthful but rude band 
of scholars, living upon alms, studying without books ; 
and who, divided into societies of priests of Bacchus, 
arquebusiers, and others, passed in disorderly troops 
from town to town, and from school to school. No mat- 
ter ; these strange companies were the beginning of a 
literary public. Gradually the masterpieces of antiquity 
issued from the German presses and supplanted the 
schoolmen ; and the art of printing, discovered at Mentz 
in 1440, multiplied the voices that boldly remonstrated 

• Hamelmann, Relatio Hist. This first impulse has been errona* 
ouBly ascribed to Thomas a Kempls. Delprat over G. Groote, p. 
?30. t Fide justos esse. Melancth. Peel. 1. 60^. 



LITERATURE AND THE SCHOOLMEN 116 



against the corruptions of the church, and those not les8 
powerful which invited the human mind into new paths 
of inquiry. 

The study of ancient literature produced very differ- 
ent effects in Germany from those which followed it in 
Italy and in France : it was there combined with faith. 
The Germans immediately looked for the advantage that 
might accrue to religion from these new literary pur- 
suits. What had produced in Italian minds little more 
than a minute and barren refinement of the understand- 
ing, pervaded the whole being of the Germans, warmed 
their hearts, and prepared them for a brighter light. 
The first restorers of learning in Italy and in France 
were remarkable for their levity, and frequently also for 
their immorality. Their successors in Germany, ani- 
mated by a serious feeling, zealously went in search of 
truth. Italy, offering up her incense to literature and 
profane learning, beheld the rise of a sceptical opposi- 
tion. Germany, occupied with deep theological ques- 
tions, and thrown back upon herself, saw the rise of an 
opposition based on faith. In the one country the foun- 
dations of the church were undermined ; in the other, 
they were reestablished on their true basis. A remark- 
able society was formed in the empire, composed of lib- 
eral, generous-minded, and learned men, who counted 
princes among their number, and who endeavored to 
make learning profitable to religion. Some brought to 
their studies the humble faith of children ; others, an 
enlightened and penetrating intellect, inclined perhaps 
to overstep the bounds of legitimate freedom and criti- 
cism ; yet both contributed to clear the entrance of the 
temple from the superstitions that had encumbered it. 

The monkish theologians perceived their danger, and 
began to clamor against these very studies which they 
had tolerated in Italy and France, because they had 
there gone hand in hand with frivolity and profligacy. 
A. conspiracy was formed among them against literature 
and science, for behind them faith was seen advancing. 
A monk, cautioning a person against the heresies of 
Erasmus, was asked in what they consisted. He ao* 



116 HISTORY OF THE REPOUMATION. 



knowledged that he had not read the work of which he 
was speaking, and could only say that " it was written 
in too pure Latinity." 

The disciples of learning and the scholastic divines 
soon came to open war. The latter beheld with alarm 
the movement that was taking place in the realms of 
intellect, and thought that immobility and darkness 
would be the surest guardians of the church. It was to 
save Rome that they opposed the revival of letters ; but 
in this they contributed to its fall. Rome herself had a 
great share in producing this result. Momentarily led 
astray under the pontificate of Leo X., she deserted her 
old friends, and clasped her young adversaries in her 
arms. Popery and learning formed an alliance that 
seemed likely to dissolve the union between the monas- 
tic orders and the hierarchy. The popes did not at the 
first glance perceive that what they had taken for a 
plaything, was in reality a sword that might cause their 
death. In like manner, during the last century, princes 
were seen welcoming to their courts political and philo- 
sophical principles which, had they yielded to all their 
influences, would have overturned their thrones. Such 
an alliance was not of long duration. Learning went 
forward, without a care as to what might endanger the 
power of its patron. The monks and schoolmen were 
well aware that to desert the pope would be to abandon 
themselves ; and the pope, notwithstanding the brier 
patronage he accorded to the fine arts, was not less 
active, when he saw the danger, in taking measures the 
most contrary to the spirit of the times. 

The universities defended themselves as best they 
could against the intrusion of this new light. Rhagius 
was expelled from Cologne, Celtes from Leipsic, and 
Hermann von dem Busch from Rostok. Still, the new 
doctors, and the ancient classics with them, gradually 
established themselves, and frequently with the aid of 
the ruling princes, in these superior academies. In de- 
spite of the schoolmen, societies of grammarians and of 
poets were soon formed in them. Every thing was to 
be converted into Greek and Latin, even to their very 



JL KEW WORLD— KEUCHLIN.. 



117 



names. How could the admirers of Sophocles and of 
Virgil be known by such barbarous appellations as 
Krachenberger or Schwarzerd ? At the same time a 
spirit of independence spread through the universities 
The students were no longer seen in seminarist fashion^ 
with their books under their arms, walking demurely, 
respectfully, and with downcast eyes, behind their mas- 
ters. The petulance of Martial and of Ovid had passed 
into these new disciples of the Muses. They hailed with 
transport the ridicule heaped on the dialectic theolo- 
gians ; and the heads of the literary movement were 
sometimes accused of favoring, and even of exciting the 
disorderly proceedings of the scholars. 

Thus a new world, sprung out of antiquity, had 
arisen in the midst of the world of the middle ages. The 
two parties could not avoid coming to blows : a strug- 
gle was at hand. It was the mildest champion of liter- 
ature, an old man drawing near the close of his peaceful 
career, who was to begin the conflict. 

In order that the truth might prove triumphant, it 
was necessary first that the weapons by which she was 
to conquer should be brought forth from the arsenals 
where they had lain buried for ages. These weapons 
were the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. 
It was necessary to revive in Christendom the love and 
the study of sacred Greek and Hebrew learning. The 
man whom the providence of God selected for this task 
was named John Reuchlin. 

The sweet voice of a child had been remarked in the 
choir of the church at Pforzheim, and had attracted the 
notice of the margrave of Baden. It was that of John 
Eeuchlin, a boy of agreeable manners and lively dispo- 
sition, the son of a worthy burgess of that town. The 
margrave soon showed him especial favor, and made 
choice of him in 1413 to accompany his son Frederick to 
the university of Paris. 

The son of the usher of Pforzheim, in transports of 
joy, arrived with the prince at this school, then the most 
celebrated of the west. Here he found the Spartan Her- 
monymos and John Wessel, "the light of the world,^ 



118 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



and had now an opportunity of studying Greek and He- 
brew under able masters, of which languages there was 
at that time no professor in Germany, and of which ho 
was one day to be the restorer in the home of the Refor- 
mation. The young and indigent German transcribed for 
richer students the rhapsodies of Homer and the orations 
of lacerates, gaining thus the means of prosecuting his 
own studies and of purchasing books. 

But he heard other things from the mouth of Wessel 
that made a deep impression on his mind. " The popes 
may err. All human satisfactions are blasphemy against 
Christ, who has reconciled and completely justified the 
human race. To God alone belongs the power of giving 
plenary absolution. It is not necessary to confess our 
sins to the priest. There is no purgatory unless it be 
God himself, who is a devouring fire, and who cleanseth 
from all impurity.'' 

Reuchlin had barely attained the age of twenty years, 
when he taught philosophy and Greek and Latin at Basle; 
and what then passed for a miracle, a German was heard 
speaking Greek. 

The partisans of Rome began to feel uneasy when 
they saw these generous spirits searching into the an- 
cient treasures. " The Romans make wry faces," said 
Reuchlin, " and cry out, pretending that all these liter- 
ary pursuits are contrary to the Romish piety, because 
the Greeks are schismatics. Oh, what toil and suffering 
must be undergone to restore wisdom and learning to 
Germany 1" 

Not long after, Eberhard of Wurtemburg invited 
Reuchlin to Tubingen to adorn that rising university. 
In 1483, he took him with him into Italy. Chalcondylas, 
Aurispa, and John Pico of Mirandola were his friends and 
companions at Florence. At Rome, when Eberhard had a 
soliemn audience of the pope, surrounded by his cardinals, 
Reuchlin delivered an address in such pure and elegant 
Latinity, that the assembly, who expected nothing of the 
kind from a barbarous German, was filled with astonish- 
ment, and the pontiff exclaimed, "This man certainly de- 
serves to rank with the best orators of France and Italy." 



REUCHLIN IN ITALT. 



119 



Ten years later Reuchlin was corapelled to take ref- 
age at Heidelberg, at the court of the Elector Philip, to 
escape the vengeance of Eberhard's successor. Philip, 
in conjunction with John of Dalberg, bishop of Worms, 
his friend and chancellor, endeavored to diffuse the light 
that was beginning to dawn in every part of Germany. 
Dalberg had founded a library, which was open to all the 
learned. On this new stage Reuchlin made great efforts 
to destroy the barbarism of his countrymen. 

Having been sent by the elector in 1498 on an im- 
portant mission to Rome, he employed all the time and 
money he could spare either in improving himself in the 
Hebrew language under the learned Israelite Abdias 
Sphorna, or in purchasing all the Greek and Hebrew 
manuscripts he could find, with a view of employing 
them as so many torches to increase in his own country 
the light which was already beginning to appear. 

Argyropolos, an illustrious Greek, was then at Rome 
explaining to a numerous auditory the ancient marvels 
of his national literature. The learned ambassador pro- 
ceeded with his attendants to the hall where this doctor 
was lecturing, and on his entrance saluted the master, 
and deplored the misfortunes of Greece, then expiring 
under the blows of the Ottomans. The astonished 
scholar asked his visitor, "Where do you come from, 
and do you understand Greek?" Reuchlin answered, "I 
am a German, and I am not entirely ignorant of your 
language." At the request of Argyropolos, he read and 
explained a passage from Thucydides, which the profes- 
sor happened to have before him. Upon this, Argyrop- 
olos, struck with astonishment and grief, exclaimed, 
Alas, alas, the fugitive and exiled Greece has gone to 
aide herself beyond the Alps !" 

It was thus that the sons of barbarous Germany and 
of ancient and learned Greece met in the palaces of 
Rome ; thus the East and the West embraced in this 
resort of the world, and the one poured into the lap of 
the other those intellectual treasures which it had snatch^ 
ed from the barbarism of the Ottomans. God, whenever 
hid plans require it, brings together in an instant, bj 



120 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



eome great catastrophe, the things which seemed dea 
tined to remain for ever separated. 

Reuchlin, on his return to Germany, was able to take 
up his residence again at Wurtemberg. It was at this 
time he accomplished those labors that were so useful to 
Luther and to the Reformation. This man, who as Count 
Palatine occupied a distinguished place in the empire, 
and who as philosopher contributed to lower Aristotle 
and exalt Plato, drew up a Latin dictionary which super- 
seded those of the schoolmen ; wrote a Greek grammar 
which greatly facilitated the study of that language ; 
translated and explained the penitential Psalms ; cor- 
rected the Vulgate ; and which is his chief merit and 
glory, was the first to publish in Germany a Hebrew 
grammar and dictionary. Reuchlin by this labor re- 
opened the long-sealed books of the old covenant, and 
thus raised, as he says himself, "a monument more 
durable than brass." 

But Reuchlin endeavored to promote the cause of 
truth as much by his life as by his writings. By his 
lofty stature, his commanding person, and his engaging 
address, he immediately gained the confidence of all with 
whom he had to deal. His thirst for knowledge was 
only equalled by his zeal in communicating what he had 
learned. He spared neither money nor labor to intro- 
duce into Germany the editions of the classic writers as 
they issued from the Italian presses ; and thus the ush- 
er's son did more to enlighten his fellow-countrymen 
than rich corporations or mighty princes. His influence 
over youth was very extensive ; and who can estimate 
all that the Reformation owes to him in that respect? 
We will mention only one instance. His cousin, a 
young man, the son of a skilful and celebrated armorer 
named Schwarzerd, came to reside with his sister Elis* 
abeth, in order to study under his direction. Reuchlin, 
delighted at beholding the genius and industry of his 
youthful scholar, adopted him as his son. Good advice, 
presents of books, example — nothing was spared to 
make his relative useful to the church and to his coun- 
try. He was charmed at seeing: the work prosper under 



CONTEST WITH THE DOMINICANS. 121 



his eyes ; and finding the German name of Schwarzerd 
too harsh, he translated it into Greek, according to the 
fashion of the .times, and named the young student Me- 
lancthon. This was the illustrious friend of Luther. 

But grammatical studies could not satisfy Reuchlin. 
Imitating his Jewish teachers, he began to study the 
mystic meaning of the Word. **God is a spirit," said 
he, "the Word is a breath, man breathes, God is the 
Word. The names which he has given to himself are 
an echo of eternity."* He thought with the cabalists 
that man can ascend from symbol to symbol, and from 
form to form to the last and purest of all forms, to that 
which regulates the kingdom of the spirit.f 

While Reuchlin was bewildering himself in these 
peaceful and abstract researches, the hostility of the 
schoolmen, suddenly and very much against his will, 
forced him into a violent contest that was one of the 
preludes to the Reformation. 

There dwelt at Cologne one Pfefferkorn, a baptized^ 
rabbi, and intimately connected with the inqmsitor Hoch- 
straten. This man and the Dominicans solicited and ob- 
tained from the Emperor Maximilian — perhaps with very 
good intentions — an order by virtue of which the Jews 
were to bring all their Hebrew books — the Bible only 
excepted — ^to the town-hall of the place in which they 
resided. Here these writings were to be burnt. The 
motive put forward was, that they were full of blasphe- 
mies against Jesus Christ. It must be acknowledged 
that they were at least full of absurdities, and that tne 
Jews themselves would have been no great losers by 
the proposed measure. 

The emperor invited Reuchlin to give his ojanion 
upon these works. The learned doctor particularly sin- 
gled out the books written against Christianity, leaving 
them to their destined fate ; but he endeavored to save 
the rest. "The best way to convert the Israelites,^ 
added he, "would be to establish two professors of the 
Hebrew language in each university, who should teach 

* De Verbo Mirifico. t J^e Arte CabaliBticiL 

t See page 151, bot. 

BIfltofRcf. 



123 HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATIQIT 



the theologians to read the Bible in Hebrew, and thua 
to refute the Jewish doctors." In consequence of thia 
advice the Jews had their books restored to them. 

The proselyte and the inquisitor, like hungry ravens 
who see their prey escaping them, raised a furious 
clamor. They picked out different passages from Reuch- 
lin s work, perverted their meaning, declared the author 
a heretic, accused him of a secret inclination to Judaism, 
and threatened him with the dungeons of the Inquisition. 
Reuchlin at first gave way to alarm ; but as these men 
became daily more insolent, and prescribed disgraceful 
conditions, he published, in 1613, a defence against his 
Cologne slanderers, in which he described the whole 
party in the liveliest colors. 

The Dominicans swore to be revenged, and hoped by 
a stroke of authority to uphold their tottering power. 
Hochstraten had a tribunal formed at Mentz against 
Reuchlin, and the writings of this learned man were 
committed to the flames. Then the innovators, the mas- 
ters and disciples of the new school, feeling themselves 
all attacked in the person of Reuchlin, rose up like one 
man. The times were changed : 'Germany and literature 
were not Spain and the Inquisition. This great literary 
movement had called a public opinion into existence. 
Even the superior clergy were almost entirely gained 
over to it. Reuchlin appealed to Leo X. This pope, 
who was no friend to the ignorant and fanatical monks, 
referred the whole matter to the bishop of Spires, who 
declared Reuchlin innocent, and condemned the monks 
to pay the expenses of the investigation. The Domini- 
cans, those stanch supporters of the Papacy, had re- 
course in their exasperation to the infallible decrees of 
Rome ; and Leo X., not knowing how to act between 
these two hostile powers, issued a mandate de svperae- 
dendo. 

This union of learning with faith is one of the fear 
tures of the Reformation, and distinguishes it both from 
the establishment of Christianity and from the religious 
revivals of the present day. The Christians contempo- 
rary with the apostles had against them all the refine- 



CONTEST WITH THE DOMINICANS. 128 



ment of their age ; and with very few exceptions, it is 
the same with those of our times. The majority of 
learned men were with the reformers. Even public 
opinion was favorable to them. The work thus gained 
in extent, but perhaps it lost in depth. 

Luther, acknowledging all that Reuchlin had done, 
wrote to him shortly after his victory over the Domini- 
cans : " The Lord has been at work in you, that the 
light of holy Scripture might begin to shine in that Ger- 
many where for so many ages, alas, it was not only 
stifled, but entirely extinct."* 

* Mai V'ca J Reuchlin. Francf. 1687. Majerhoff, J. Reuchlin 
ruad eeine Zeit. Berlin, 1830. 



4 



124 



HISTOEY OF THE REFUJiM A^TIOM 



CHAPTEK VIII 

EraemTis — Erasmus a canon — At Paris — His genius — His reputa- 
tion — His influence — Popular attack — Praise of folly — Gibes— 
Churchmen — Saints — Folly and the popes — Attack on science- 
Principles — Greek New Testament — His profession of faith — His 
labors and influence — His failings — Two parties — Reform with- 
out dolence — "Was such possible? — Unreformed church — Hia 
timidity — His indecision — Erasmus loses his influence with all 
parties. 

One man — ^the great writer of the opposition at the 
beginning of the sixteenth century — had already ap- 
peared, who considered it as the grand affair of his life 
to attack the doctrines of the schools and of the con- 
vents. 

Eeuchlin was not twelve years old when this grea'^ 
genius of the age was born. A man of no small vivacity 
and wit, named Gerard, a native of Gouda in the Low 
Countries, loved a physician's daughter. The principles 
of Christianity did not govern his life, or at least his 
passions silenced them. His parents and his nine broth- 
ers urged him to embrace a monastic life. He fled from 
his home, leaving the object of his affections on the 
point of becoming a mother, and repaired to Rome. The 
frail Margaret gave birth to a son. Gerard was not in- 
formed of it ; and some time after, he received from his 
parents the intelligence that she whom he had loved was 
no more. Overwhelmed with grief, he entered the priest- 
hood, and devoted himself entirely to the service of God. 
He returned to Holland : Margaret was still living ! She 
would not marry another, and Gerard remained faithful 
to his sacerdotal vows. Their affection was conceih 
trated on their son. His mother had taken the tenderest 
care of him : the father, after his return, sent him to 
school, although he was only four years old. He was 
not yet thirteen when his teacher, Sinthemius of Devon- 
ter, one day embraced him with rapture, exclaiming 
"This child will attain the highest pinnacle of leaiD- 
Ing.^ It was Erasmus of Rotterdam. 



ERASMUS AT PARIS— HIS aENlUS 



125 



About this time his mother died, and not xong after 
his broken-hearted father followed her to the grave. 

The youthful Erasmus* was now alone. He enter- 
tained the greatest dislike for a monastic life, which his 
guardians urged him to embrace, but to which, from his 
very birth we might say, he had been opposed. At last 
he was persuaded to enter a convent of canons regular, 
and scarcely had he done so when he felt himself op- 
pressed by the weight of his vows. He recovered a 
little liberty, and we soon find him at the court of the 
archbishop of Cambray, and somewhat later at the uni- 
versity of Paris. He there pursued his studies in ex- 
treme poverty, but with the most indefatigable industry. 
As soon as he could procure any money, he employed it 
in purchasing first Greek works, and then clothes. Fre- 
quently did the indigent Hollander solicit in vain the 
generosity of his protectors ; and hence, in after-life, it 
was his greatest delight to furnish the means of support 
to youthful but poor students. Engaged without inter- 
mission in the pursuit of truth and of knowledge, he re- 
luctantly assisted in the scholastic disputes, and shrank 
from the study of theology, lest he should discover any 
errors in it, and be in consequence denounced as a 
heretic. 

It was at this period that Erasmus became conscious 
of his powers. In the study of the ancients he acquired 
a correctness and elegance of style that placed him far 
above the most eminent scholars of Paris. He began to 
teach, and thus gained powerful friends. He published 
some writings, and was rewarded by admiration and 
applause. He knew the public taste, and shaking off 
the last ties of the schools and of the cloister, he devoted 
himself entirely to literature, displaying in all his wiit- 
ings those shrewd observations, that clear, lively, and 
enlightened wit which at once amuse and instruct. 

The habit of application which he contracted at this 
period, clung to him all his life : even in his journeys, 

* His name was properly Gerard, like his father's. This Dutch 
aame he translated into Latin, Desiderius, well-beloved, and into 
Greek, Erasmus, 



126 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



which were usually on horseback, he was not idle. He 
ased to compose on the road while riding across the 
country, and as soon as he reached the inn, committed 
his thoughts to writing. It was thus he composed his 
celebrated Praise of Folly, in a journey from Italy to 
England.* 

Erasmus early acquired a great reputation among the 
•earned ; but the exasperated monks vowed deadly von 
geance against him. Courted by princes, he was inex- 
haustible in finding excuses to escape from their invita- 
tions. He preferred gaining his living with the printer 
Frobenius by correcting books, to living surrounded 
with luxury and favors in the splendid courts of Charles 
v., Henry VIII., or Francis I., or to encircling his head 
with the cardinal's hat that was offered him.f 

Henry the Eighth having ascended the throne in 1609, 
Lord Mountjoy invited Erasmus, who had already been 
in England, to come and cultivate literature under the 
sceptre of their " Octavius." In 1610 he lectured at 
Cambridge, maintaining with Archbishop Warham, John 
Colet, and Sir Thomas More, those friendly relations 
which continued until their death. In 1616 he visited 
Basle, where he took up his abode in 1621. 

What was his influence on the Reformation ? 

It has been overrated by one party, and depreciated 
by another. Erasmus never was, and never could have 
been a reformer; but he prepared the way for others. 
Not only did he diffuse over his age a love of learning 
and a spirit of inquiry and examination that led others 
much further than he went himself, but still more, under 
the protection of great prelates and powerful princes, he 
was able to unveil and combat the vices of the church 
by the most cutting satires. 

Erasmus in fact attacked the monks and the prevail* 
ing abuses in two ways. He first adopted a popular 
method. This fair little man, whose half-closed blue 
eyes keenly observed all that was passing, on whose 

* ^EyKu/uov ficjptac. Seven editions of this work were SDld in a 
few months. f A principibus facile mihi contingeret fortunai 

tiifli mihi nimium dulcis esset Hbertas. Epist. ad Pirclf. 



PEAISE OF FOLLI. 



127 



HpB was ever a slight sarcastic smile, whose manner was 
timid and embarrassed, and whom it seemed that a puff 
of wind would blow down, scattered in every direction 
his elegant and biting sarcasms against the theology 
and devotion of his age. His natural character and the 
events of his life had rendered this disposition habitual 
Even in those writings where we should have least ex- 
pected it, his sarcastic humor suddenly breaks out, and 
he immolated, as with needle points, those schoolmen 
and those ignorant monks against whom he had declared 
war. There are many points of resemblance between 
Voltaire and Erasmus. Preceding authors had already 
popularized the idea of that element of folly which has 
crept into all the opinions and actions of human life. 
Erasmus seized upon it, and introduced Folly in her own 
person, Moria^ daughter of Plutus, born in the Fortunate 
isles, fed on drunkenness and impertinence, and queen 
of a powerful empire. She gives a description of it. 
She depicts successively all the states in the world that 
belong to her, but she dwells particularly on the church- 
men, who will not acknowledge her benefits, though she 
loads them with her favors. She overwhelms with her 
gibes and sarcasms that labyrinth of dialectics in which 
the theologians had bewildered themselves, and those 
extravagant syllogisms, by which they pretended to sup- 
port the church. She unveils the disorders, ignorance, 
filthy habits, and absurdities of the monks. 

"They all belong to me," says she, "those folks 
whose greatest pleasure is in relating miracles, or lis- 
tening to marvellous lies, and who make use of them in 
an especial manner to beguile the dulness of others, and 
to fill their own purses ; I speak particularly of priests 
and preachers. In the same catc gory are those who en- 
joy the foolish but sweet persuabion that if they chance 
to see a piece of wood or a picture representing Polyphe- 
mus or Christopher, they will not die that day " 

" Alas, what follies," continues Moria ; " I am almost 
ashamed of them myself Do we not see every country 
claiming its peculiar saint? Each trouble has its saint, 
and every saint his candle. This cures the toothache j 



128 HISTOEr OP THE REFORMATIOIT. 



that assists women in childbed ; a third restores what a 
thief has stolen ; a fourth preserves you in shipwreck ; 
and a fifth protects your flocks. There are some who 
have many virtues at once, and especially the virgin- 
mother of God, in whom the people place more confi- 
dence than in her Son.* If in the midst of all 

these mummeries some wise man should rise and give 
utterance to these harsh truths, *You shall not perish 
miserably if you live like Christians ;f you shall redeem 
your sins, if to your alms you add repentance, tears, 
watchings, prayer, fasting, and a complete change in 
your way of life ; this saint will protect you, if you imi- 
tate his conduct if, I say, some wise man should char- 
itably utter these things in their ears, 0, of what happi- 
ness would he not rob their souls, and into what trouble, 

what distress would he not plunge them 1 The 

mind of man is so constituted that imposture has more 
hold upon it than truth. J If there is one saint more 
apocryphal than another, a St. George, St. Christopher, 
or St. Barbara, you will see him worshipped with greater 
fervency than St. Peter, St. Paul, or even than Christ 
himself."§ 

But Moria does not stop here ; she attacks the bish- 
ops " who run more after gold than after souls, and who 
think they have done enough for Jesus Christ when they 
take their seats complacently and with theatrical pomp, 
like holy fathers to whom adoration belongs, and utter 
blessings or anathemas." The daughter of the Fortu- 
nate isles even ventures to attack the court of Rome 
and the pope himself, who, passing his time in amuse- 
ments, leaves the duties of his ministry to St. Peter and 
St. Paul. " Can there be any greater enemies to the 
church than these unholy pontiffs, who by their silence 
allow Jesus Christ to be forgotten ; who bind him by 
their mercenary regulations ; who falsify his doctrine by 

* Prsecipu^ Deipara Virgo, cui vulgus hominum plus prope tri- 
buit quam Filio. Encomium Moriae, 0pp. 4. 444. f Non mal^ 
peribis, si bene vixeris. Ibid. J Sic sculp tus est hominis ani- 
mus, ut longe magis fucis quam verls capiatuir. Ibid* 450., 

§ Aut ipsum Christum Ibid- 



ATTACK ON SCIENCE 



129 



forced interpretations ; and crucify him a second time 
by their scandalous lives ?"* 

Holbein added the most grotesque illustrations to 
the Praise of Folly, in which the pope figured with his 
triple crown. Perhaps no work has ever been so thor 
oughly adapted to the wants of the age. It is impossi- 
ble to describe the impression this little book produced 
throughout Christendom. Twenty-seven editions appear- 
ed in the lifetime of Erasmus : it was translated into ev- 
ery European language, and contributed more than any 
other to confirm the antisacerdotal tendency of the age. 

But to the popular attack of sarcasm Erasmus united 
Bcience and learning. The study of Greek and Latin lit- 
erature had opened a new prospect to the modern genius 
that was beginning to awaken from its slumber in Eu 
rope. Erasmus eagerly embraced the idea of the Ital- 
ians that the sciences ought to be studied in the schools 
of the ancients, and that, laying aside the inadequate 
and absurd works that had hitherto been in use, men 
should study geography in Strabo, medicine in Hippoc- 
rates, philosophy in Plato, mythology in Ovid, and nat- 
ural history in Pliny. But he went a step further, and 
it was the step of a giant, and must necessarily have 
led to the discovery of a new world of greater impor- 
tance to the interests of humanity than that which Co- 
lumbus had recently added to the old. Erasmus, follow- 
ing out his principle, required that men should no longer 
study theology in Scotus and Aquinas, but go and learn 
it in the writings of the fathers of the church, and above 
all, in the New Testament. He showed that they must 
not even rest contented with the Vulgate, which swarm- 
ed with errors ; and he rendered an incalculable service 
to truth by publishing his critical edition of the Greek 
text of the New Testament, a text as little known in the 
West as if it had never existed. This work appeared at 
Basle in 1516, one year before the Reformation. Eras- 

* Quasi sint illi hostes ecclesiae perniciores quam impii ponlifices, 
qui et silentio Christum sinunt abolescere, et quaestuariis legibua 
alligant, et coactis interpretationibus adulterant, et pestilente vita 
fugulant Enc. M-OxIsr^ 0pp. 4. 460. 

9 



130 



HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 



mu8 thus did for the New Testament what Reuchlin had 
done for the Old. Henceforward divines were able to 
read the word of God in the original languages, and at 
a later period to recognize the purity of the reformed 
doctrines. 

" It is my desire," said Erasmus, on publishing hi^ 
New Testament, "to lead back that cold disputer of 
words, styled theology, to its real fountain. Would to 
God that this work may bear as much fruit to Christian- 
ity as it has cost me toil and application." This wish 
was realized. In vain did the monks cry out, He pre- 
sumes to correct the Holy Ghost." The New Testament 
of, Erasmus gave out a bright flash of light. His para- 
phrases or* the epistles, and on the gospels of St. Mat- 
thew and St. John ; his editions of Cyprian and Jerome ; 
his translations of Origen, Athanasius, and Chrysostom ; 
his Principles of True Theology ;* his Preacher,f and 
his commentaries on various psalms, contributed power- 
fully to diffuse a taste for the word of God and for pure 
theology. The result of his labors even went beyond 
his intentions. Reuchlin and Erasmus gave the Bible to 
the learned ; Luther, to the people. 

Erasmus did still more : b}^ his restoration of the 
New Testament, he restored what that revelation taught. 
" The most exalted aim in the revival of philosophical 
studies," said he, " will be to obtain a knowledge of the 
pure and simple Christianity of the Bible." A noble sen- 
timent ; and would to God that the organs of our mod- 
ern philosophy understood their mission as well as he 
did. " I am firmly resolved," said he again, " to die in 
the study of the Scriptures ; in them are all my joy and 
all my peace."J " The sum of all Christian philosophy," 
said he on another occasion, " amounts to this : to place 
all our hopes in God alone, who by his free grace, with- 
out any merit of our own, gives us every thing through 
Christ Jesus ; to know that we are redeemed by the 
death of his Son ; to be dead to worldly lusts ; and to 
walk in conformity with his doctrine and example, not 
* Ratio Yerae Theologise. f Ecclesiasticus, seu de Eationa 
Ooncionandi } Ad Servatium. 



HIS INFLUENCE. 



13} 



only injuring no man, but doing good to all ; to support 
our trials patiently in the hope of a future reward ; and 
Gnally, to claim no merit to ourselves on account of our 
virtues, but to give thanks to God for all our strength 
and for all our works. This is what should be instilled 
ij to man, until it becomes a second nature."* 

Then raising his voice against that mass of church 
fegulations about dress, fasting, feast-days, vows, mar- 
riage, and confession, which oppressed the people and 
enriched the priests, Erasmus exclaims, In the churches 
they scarcely ever think of explaining the gospel.f The 
greater part of their sermons must be drawn up to please 
the commissaries of indulgences. The most holy doc- 
trine of Christ must be suppressed or perverted to their 
profit. There is no longer any hope of cure, unless 
Christ himself should turn the hearts of rulers and of 
pontiffs, and excite them to seek for real piety." 

The writings of Erasmus followed one another in 
rapid succession. He labored unceasingly, and his 
works were read just as they came from his pen. This 
animation, this native energy, this intellect so rich and 
so delicate, so witty and so bold, that was poured with- 
out any reserve in such copious streams upon his con- 
temporaries, led away and enchanted the immense public 
who devoured the works of the philosc pher of Rotterdam. 
He soon became the most influentia. man in Christen- 
dom, and crowns and pensions were siiowered upon him 
from every side. 

If we cast our eyes on the grea\ revolution that 
somewhat later renewed the church, we cannot help ac- 
knowledging that Erasmus served as a bridge to many 
minds. Numbers who would have been alarmed by the 
evangelical truths presented in all their strength and 
purity, allowed themselves to be drawn along by him, 
and ultimately became the most zealous partisans of the 
Eeformation 

• Ad Joh. Slechtam, 1519. Hsec sunt animis hominun meal- 
oanda, sic> ut velut in naturam transeant. Er. Epp. 1. 680. 

t In templis vix vacat Evangelium interpretari. Annot. ad 
Matth. 11. 30 ; Jugum meiun suave." 



132 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOK. 

But the very circumstances that fitted him for the 
work of preparation, disqualified him for its accomplish- 
ment. Erasmus is very capable of exposing error," 
said Luther, ''but he knows not how to teach the truth." 
The gospel of Christ was not the fire at which he kindled 
and sustained his energy, the centre w^hence his activity 
radiated. He was in an eminent degree a man of learn* 
mg, and only in consequence of that was he a Christian. 
He was too much the slave of vanity to acquire a de- 
cided influence over his age. He anxiously calculated 
the result that each step he took might have upon his 
reputation. There was nothing he liked better than to 
talk about himself and his fame. " The pope," wrote he 
with childish vanity to an intimate friend, at the period 
when he declared himself the opponent of Luther, " the 
pope has sent me a diploma full of kindness and honor- 
able testimonials. His secretary declares that this is 
an unprecedented honor, and that the pope dictated 
every word himself." 

Erasmus and Luther, viewed in connection with the 
Reformation, are the representatives of two great ideas^ 
of two great parties in their age, and indeed in every 
age. The one is composed of men of timid prudence ; 
the other, of men of resolution and courage. These two 
parties were in existence at that epoch, and they are 
personified in their illustrious chiefs. The men of pru« 
dence thought that the study of theological science would 
gradually bring about a reformation of the church, and 
that too without violence. The men of action thought 
that the diffusion of more correct ideas among the learn- 
ed would not put an end to the superstitions of the peo- 
ple, and that the correction of this or of that abuse, so 
long as the whole life of the church was not renewed, 
woul i be of little effect. 

"A disadvantageous peace," Erasmus used to say, 
"is better than the most righteous war."* He thought— 
and how many Erasmuses have lived since, and are liv- 
ing even in our own days — he thought that a reforma- 
* Malo hunc, qualisqualis est, rerum humanarum statum quam 
QipvQS eiwitari tunuiltus, said he on another occasion. Epp. 1 D63 



A REFORM WITHOUT VIOLENCE. 



i33 



tion which might shake the church would endanger its 
overthrow ; he witnessed with alarm men^s passions 
aroused into activity ; evil everywhere mixed up with 
the little good that might be effected ; existing institu- 
tions destroyed without the possibility of others being 
set up in their place ; and the vessel of the church, leak- 
ing on every side, at last swallowed up by the tempest 
" Those who bring the sea into new beds," said he, often 
attempt a work that deceives their expectations ; for the 
terrible element, once let in, does not go where they 
would wish it, but rushes whithersoever it pleases, and 
causes great devastation."* Be that as it may," added 
he, let troubles be everywhere avoided. It is better to 
put up with ungodly princes than to increase the evil by 
any change."f 

But the courageous portion of his contemporaries 
were prepared with an answer. History had sufficiently 
proved that a free exposition of the truth and a decided 
struggle against falsehood could alone insure the vic- 
tory. If they had temporized, the artifices of policy and 
the wiles of the papal court would have extinguished 
the truth in its first glimmerings. Had not conciliatory 
measures been employed for ages ? Had not council 
after council been convoked to reform the church ? All 
had been unavailing. Why now pretend to repeat an 
experiment that had so often failed ? 

Undoubtedly a thorough reform could not be accom- 
plished without violence. But when has any thing good 
or great ever appeared among men without causing some 
agitation ? Would not this fear of seeing evil mingled 
with good, even had it been reasonable, have checked the 
noblest and the holiest undertakings ? We must not fear 
the evil that may arise out of a great agitation, but we 
must take courage to resist and to overcome it. 

Is there not besides an essential difference between 
the commotion originating in human passions, and that 
which emanates from the Spirit of God ? One shakes 

* Semel adraissum non ea fertur, qua destinarat admissor 

Er. Epp. 1. 953. f Prae«tat ferre principes impios. quam novatU 
rebus gravius malum accersere Ad. Matth. 11. 30 



134 



HISTOUy OF THE RE t OUMATIO^T. 



society, the other strengthens it. What an error to im- 
agine with Erasmus that in the then existing state- of 
Christendom, with that mixture of contrary elements, of 
truth and falsehood, life and death, a violent collision 
could be prevented. As well strive to close the crater 
of Vesuvius when the angry elements are already war- 
ring in its bosom. The middle ages had seen more than 
one violent commotion when the sky was less threaten- 
ing with storms than at the time of the Reformation. 
Men had not then to think of checking and repressing, 
but of directing and guiding. 

Who can tell what frightful ruin might not have oc- 
curred if the Reformation had not burst forth ? Society, 
the prey of a thousand elements of destruction, desti- 
Uite of any regenerating or conservative qualities, would 
iiave been terribly convulsed. Certainly this would have 
really been a reform in Erasmus' fashion, and such as 
many moderate but timid men of our days still dream of, 
which would have overturned Christian society. The 
people, wanting that knowledge and that piety which 
the Reformation brought down even to the lowest ranks, 
abandoned to their violent passions and to a restless 
spirit of revolt, would have been let loose, like a furious 
and exasperated wild beast, whose rage no chains can 
any longer control. 

The Reformation was no other than an interposition 
of the Spirit of God among men, a regulating principle 
that God sent upon earth. It is true that it might stir 
up the fermenting elements hidden in the heart of man ; 
but God overruled them. The evangelical doctrines, the 
truth of God, penetrating the masses of the people, de- 
stroyed what was destined to perish, but everywhere 
strengthened what ought to be maintained. The effect 
of the Reformation on society was to reconstruct ; prej- 
udice alone could say that it was an instrument of de- 
struction. It has been said with reason, with reference 
to the work of reform, that " the ploughshare might as 
well think that it injures the earth it breaks up, while it 
is only fertilizing it." 

The leading principle of Erasmus was, " Give light. 



TIMIDITY OF ERASMUS. 



135 



and the darkness will disappear of itself." This princi- 
ple is good, and Luther acted upon it. But when the 
enemies of the light endeavor to extinguish it, or to 
wrest the torch from the hand of him who bears it, must 
we for the sake of peace allow him to do so ? mubt we 
not resist the wicked ? 

Erasmus was deficient in courage. Now that qual- 
ity is as indispensable to effect a reformation as to take 
a town. There was much timidity in his character. 
From his early youth he trembled at the name of death. 
He took the most extraordinary care of his health. He 
spared no sacrifice to remove from a place in which a 
contagious malady was reigning. The desire of enjoy- 
ing the comforts of life exceeded even his vanity, and 
this was his motive for rejecting more than one brilliant 
offer. 

He had therefore no claims to the character of a re- 
former. " If the corrupted morals of the court of Rome 
call for a prompt and vigorous remedy, that is no busi- 
ness of mine," said he, nor of those who are like me."* 
He had not that strength of faith which animated Lu- 
ther. While the latter was ever prepared to lay down 
his life for the truth, Erasmus candidly observed, " Let 
others aspire to martyrdom : as for me, I do not think 
myself worthy of such an honor. f I fear that if any 
disturbance were to arise, I should imitate Peter in his 
fall.'' 

By his conversation and by his writings Erasmus 
nad prepared the way for the Reformation more than 
any other man ; and yet he trembled when he saw the 
approach of that very tempest which he himself had 
raised. He would have given any thing to restore the 
calm of former times, even with all its dense vapors. 
But it was too late : the dike was broken. It was no 
longer in man^s power to arrest the flood that was at 
once to cleanse and fertilize the world. Erasmus was 
powerful as God^s instrument ; when he ceased to be 
that, he was nothing. 

* Ingens aliquod et praesens remedium certe meum non est. Er. 
Epp. 1. 653. t Ejro me non arbitror hoc honcvre dignum. Ibid 



136 HISTORY OF THE REFOUMATIOW. 

Ultimately Erasmus knew not what party to adopt, 
None pleased him, and he feared all. It is dangerous 
to speak," said he, " and it is dangerous to be silent/' 
In every great religious movement there will be found 
these wavering characters, who are respectable on many 
accounts, but injurious to the truth, and who, from theii 
unwillingness to displease any, offend all. 

What would have become of the truth, had not God 
raised up more courageous champions than Erasmus ? 
Listen to the advice he gives Viglius Zuichem, who v/as 
afterwards president of the supreme court at BrusseliJ, 
as to the manner in which he should behave towards the 
sectarians — for thus he had already begun to denomi- 
nate the reformers : " My friendship for you leads me to 
desire that you will keep aloof from the contagion of the 
sects, and that you will give them no opportunity of say- 
ing, Zuichem is become one of us. If you approve of 
their teaching, you should at least dissemble, and above 
all, avoid discussions with them. A lawyer should finesse 
with these people, as the dying man did with the devil, 
who asked him. What do you believe ? The poor man, 
fearful of being caught in some heresy if he should make 
a confession of his faith, replied, * What the church be- 
lieves.' The devil demanded. And what does the church 
believe ? ' What I believe.' Once more he was ques- 
tioned. What do you believe ? and the expiring man slix- 
swered once more, ' What the church believes.' Thu^» 
Duke George of Saxony, Luther's mortal enemy, having 
received an equivocal answer to a question he had put 
to Erasmus, said to him, "My dear Erasmus, wash me 
the fur without wetting it." Secundus Curio, in one of 
his works, describes two heavens, the papal and the 
Christian. He found Erasmus in neither, but discovered 
him revolving between both in never-ending orbits. 

Such was Erasmus. He needed that inward emanci- 
pation which alone gives perfect liberty. How difterent 
would he have been had he abandoned self, and sacri- 
ficed all for truth. But after having endeavored to effect 
certain reforms with the approbation of the heads of the 
* Erasm. Epp. 274. Append. Edit. Lugd. Bat, 



HE OFFENDS BOTH PARTIES. 131 



church ; after having deserted the Reformation for Rome, 
wheQ he saw that these two things could not go hand in 
hand, he lost ground with all paities. On the one side, 
his recantations could not repress the anger of the fanat- 
ical partisans of the Papacy : they felt all the evil he 
had done them, and would not pardon him. Furious 
monks loaded him with abuse from the pulpits : they 
called him a second Lucian, a fox that had laid waste 
the Lord^s vineyard. A doctor of Constance hung the 
portrait of Erasmus in his study, that he might be able 
at any moment to spit in his face. But on the other 
hand, Erasmus, deserting the standard of the gospel, lost 
the affection and esteem of the noblest men of the age in 
which he lived, and was forced to renounce, there can be 
little doubt, those heavenly consolations which God sheds 
in the heart of those who act as good soldiers of Christ. 
This at least seems to be indicated by those bitter tears, 
those painful vigils, that broken sleep, that tasteless 
food, that loathing of the study of the muses — formerly 
his only consolation — those saddened features, that pale 
%ce, those sorrowful and downcast eyes, that hatred of 
existence which he calls " a cruel life," and those long- 
ings after death, which he describes to his friends.* 
Unhappy Erasmus ! 

The enemies of Erasmus went, in my opinion, a little 
beyond the truth when they exclaimed, on Luther's ap- 
pearance, ''Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther hatched 
it."t 

* Vigilise molests, somnus irrequietus, cibus insipidus omnia, 

ipsum quoque musarum studium ipsa frontis meae moestitia, 

vultus pallor, oculorum subtristis dejectio. Erasm. Epp. 1. 1380. 

t The works of Erasmus were published by John Le Glare, at 
Liege, 1703, in ten vols, folio. For his life, consult Burigny, Vie 
D^Erasme, Paris, 1757 ; A. Miiller, Leben des Erasmus, Hamb. 1828; 
and the Biography inserted by Le Clerc in his Bibliotheque Cho.'sie. 
See also the beautiful and impartial essay of M. Nisard — Revue dee 
Deux Mondes — who seems to me, however, to be mistaken la his 
98tiiaat« of Erasmus and Luther 



138 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The nobility — Different motives — Hiitten — Literary league- -Li ter^j 
obscurorum virorum — Their effect — Luther's opinion — Hiitten a1 
Brussels— His letters — Sickingen — ^War — His death — Cronberg— 
Hans Sachs — General ferment. 

The same symptoms of regeneration that we have 
seen among princes, bishops, and learned men, were 
also found among men of the world, among nobles, 
knights, and warriors. The German nobility played an 
important part in the Reformation. Several of the most 
illustrious sons of Germany formed a close alliance with 
the men of letters, and inflamed by an ardent, frequently 
by an excessive zeal, they strove to deliver their coun- 
try from the Roman yoke. 

Various causes contributed to raise up friends to the 
Reformation among the ranks of the nobles. Some hav- 
ing frequented the universities, had there received into 
their bosoms the fire with which the learned were ani- 
mated. Others, brought up in generous sentiments, had 
hearts predisposed to receive the glorious lessons of the 
gospel. Many discovered in the Reformation a certain 
chivalrous character that fascinated them and carried 
them along with it. And others, we must freely ac- 
knowledge, were offended with the clergy who, in the 
reign of Maximilian, had powerfully contributed to de- 
prive them of their ancient independence, and bring them 
under subjection to their princes. They were full of en- 
thusiasm, and looked upon the Reformation as the pre* 
lude to a great political renovation ; they saw in imagi- 
nation the empire emerging with new splendor from this 
crisis, and hailed a better state, brilliant with the purest 
glory, that was on the eve of being established in the 
world, not less by the swords of the knights than by 
the word of God.* 

* Animus ingens et ferox, viribus pollens. Nam si consilia et 
eonatus Hiitteni non defecissent, quasi nervi copiarum atque poten- 
ti«, jam mutatio omnium rerum exstitisset, et quasi orbis statat 
public! fuisset conversus. Camer. Vita Melancthonis. 



TJLRICH OF HUTTEN. 



139 



Dlrich of Hiitten, who has been called the German 
Demosthenes on account of his philippics against the 
Papacy, forms as it were the link that unites the knights 
with the men of letters. He distinguished himself by 
his writings not less than by his sword. Descended 
from an ancient Franconian family, he was sent at the 
age of eleven years to the convent of Foulda, in which 
he was to become a monk. But Ulrich, who felt no in 
clination for this profession, ran away from the convent 
at sixteen, and repaired to the university of Cologne, 
where he devoted himself to the study of languages and 
poetry. Somewhat later he led a wandering life, and 
was present as a common soldier at the siege of Padua, 
in 1513, beheld Rome and all her scandalous abuses, and 
there sharpened those arrows which he afterwards dis- 
charged against her. 

On his return to Germany, Hiitten composed a trea- 
tise against Rome, entitled The Roman Trinity.'' In 
^his work he unveils the disorders of the papal court, 
and points out the necessity of putting an end to her 
tyranny by force. " There are three things," says a 
traveller named Vadiscus, who figures in the treatise — 
there are three things that are usually brought away 
from Rome : a bad conscience, a disordered stomach, 
and an empty purse. There are three things in which 
Rome does not believe : the immortality of the soul, the 
resurrection of the dead, and hell. There are three 
things in which Rome traffics : the grace of Christ, ec- 
clesiastical dignities, and women." The publication of 
this work compelled Hiitten to leave the court of the 
archbishop of Mentz, where he had composed it. 

Reuchlin's afi*air with the Dominicans was the signal 
that brought together all the men of letters, magistrates, 
and nobles, who were opposed to the monks. The de- 
feat of the inquisitors, who it was said had escaped a 
definite and absolute condemnation only by means of 
bribery and intrigue, had emboldened their adversaries. 
Councillors of the empire ; patricians of the most con- 
siderable cities — Pickheimer of Nuremberg, Peutinger of 
Augsburg, and Stuss of Cologne ; distinguished preach- 



140 HISTORY OF THE REPORMATIOir. 



era, such as Capito and (Ecolampadius ; doctors of modi 
cine and historians ; all the literary men, orators, and po- 
ets, at whose head shone Ulrich of Hiitten, composed that 
" army of Reuchlinists," of which a list was even pub- 
lished.* The most remarkable production of this learned 
league was the famous popular satire, entitled ''Thf 
Letters of Obscure M^n^ The principal authors of thife 
work were Hiitten and Crotus Robianus, one of his col- 
lege friends ; but it is hard to say which of them first 
conceived the idea, even if it did not originate with the 
learned printer Angst, and if Hiitten took any share in 
the first part of the work. Several humanists^ assembled 
in the fortress of Ebernburg, appear to have contributed 
to the second. It is a bold sketch, a caricature often 
too rudely colored, but full of truth and strength, of 
striking resemblance, and in characters of fire. Its 
effect was prodigious. The monks, the adversaries of 
Reuchlin, the supposed writers of these letters, discuss 
the affairs of the day and theological matters after their 
own fashion and in barbarous Latinity. They address 
the silliest and most useless questions to their corre- 
spondent Ortuin Gratius, professor at Cologne, and a 
friend of Pfeflerkorn. With the most artless simplicity 
they betray their gross ignorance, incredulity, and su- 
perstition ; their low and vulgar spirit ; the coarse glut- 
tony by which they make a god of their bellies ; and at 
the same time their pride, and fanatical, persecuting 
zeal. They relate many of their droll adventures, oi 
their excesses and profligacy, with various scandalous 
incidents in the lives of Hochstraten, Pfeflerkorn, and 
other chiefs of their party. The tone of these letters, at 
one time hypocritical, at another quite childish, gives 
them a very comic effect ; and yet the whole is so natu- 
ral, that the English Dominicans and Franciscans re- 
ceived the work with the greatest approbation, and 
thought it really composed on the principles and in the 
defence of their orders. A certain prior of Brabant, in 
his credulous simplicity, even purchased a great number 

♦ "Exercitus Reucnlinistarum," at the head of the coUection ol 
letterfl addressed to Reachlin on this subject 



HUTTEN AT BRUSSELS. 



141 



of copies, and sent them as presents to the most distin* 
gnished Dominicans. The monks, more and more exas- 
perated, applied to the pope for a severe bull against all 
who should dare to read these letters ; but Leo X. would 
not grant their request. They were forced to bear with 
the general ridicule, and to smother their anger. No 
work ever inflicted a more terrible blow on these sup- 
porters of the Papacy. But it was not by satire and by 
jests that the gospel was to triumph. Had men con- 
tinued walking in this path — had the Reformation had 
recourse to the jeering spirit of the world, instead of 
attacking error with the arms of God, its cause would 
have been lost. Luther boldly condemned these satires. 
One of his friends having sent him " The Tenor of Pas- 
quin's Supplication,^' he replied, " The nonsense you 
have forwarded me seems to have been composed by an 
ill-regulated mind. I have communicated it to a circle 
of friends, and all have come to the same conclusion."* 
And speaking of the same work, he writes to another 
correspondent: *'This Supplication appears to me to 
have been written by the author of the Letters of Ob- 
scure Men. I approve of his design, but not of his 
work, since he cannot refrain from insults and abuse."f 
This judgment is severe, but it shows Luther's disposi- 
tion, and how superior he was to his contemporaries. 
We must add, however, that he did not always follow 
such wise maxims. 

Ulrich having been compelled to resign the protec- 
tion of the archbishop of Mentz, sought that of Charles 
v., who was then at variance with the pope. He ac- 
cordingly repaired to Brussels, where the emperor was 
holding his court. But far from obtaining any thing, he 
learned that the pope had called upon Charles to send 
him bound hand and foot to Rome. The inquisitor Hoch- 
straten, Reuchlin's persecutor, was one of those whom 
lico X. had charged to bring him to trial. Ulrich quit- 
ted Brabant in indignation at such a request having 
been made to the emperor. He had scarcely left Brus- 
sels, when he met Hochstraten on the high-road. The 
♦ Luth. Epp. 1. 37. t Ibid. 38. 



142 HISTORY OF THE REFOUMATION. 



terrified inquisitor fell on his knees, and commended biti 
Boul to God and the saints. " No," said the knight, " I 
will not soil my weapon with thy blood." He gave him 
a few strokes with the flat of his sword, and allowed 
him to proceed in peace. 

Hiitten took refuge in the castle of Ebernburg, where 
Francis of Sickingen offered an asylum to all who were 
persecuted by the ultramontanists. It was here that 
his burning zeal for the emancipation of his country dic- 
tated those remarkable letters which he addressed to 
Charles V., to the Elector Frederick of Saxony, to Albert, 
archbishop of Mentz, and to the princes and nobles — let- 
ters that place him in the foremost ranks of authorship. 
Here too he composed all those works intended to be 
read and understood by the people, and which inspired 
all the German states with horror of Kome, and with 
the love of liberty. Ardently devoted to the cause of 
the Reformation, his design was to lead the nobles to 
take up arms in favor of the gospel, and to fall with the 
sword upon that Eome which Luther aimed at destroy- 
ing solely by the word of God and by the invincible 
power of the truth. 

Yet amid all this warlike enthusiasm, we are charmed 
at finding in Hiitten mild and delicate sentiments. On 
the death of his parents, he made over to his brothers 
all the family property, although he was the eldest 
son, and even begged them not tu write to him or send 
him any money, lest, notwithstanding their innocence, 
they should be exposed to suffer by the malice of his 
enemies, and fall with him into the pit. 

If Truth cannot acknowledge Hiitten as one of her 
children, for her walk is ever with holiness of life and 
charity of heart, she will at least accord him honorable 
mention as one of the most formidable antagonists oi 
error.* 

The same may be said of Francis of Sickingen, his 
illustrious friend and protector. This noble kright, 
whom many of his contemporaries judged worthy of the 
* Hiitten's Works were published at Berlin by Muncheii, 1822- 
1825, in 5 vols. diro. 



FRANCIS OF SICKINaEN. 



143 



imperial crown, shines in the first rank among those 
warriors who were the adversaries of Rome. "Although 
delighting in the uproar of battle, he was filled with an 
ardeiit love of learning and with veneration for its pro- 
fessors. When at the head of an army that menaced 
Wuitemberg, he gave orders that, in case Stuttgard 
should be taken by assault, the house and property of 
that great scholar, John Reuchlin, should be spared, 
Sickingen afterwards invited him to his camp, and em- 
bracing him, offered to support him in his quarrel with 
the monks of Cologne. For a long time chivalry had 
prided itself on despising literature. The epoch whose 
history we are retracing presents to us a new spectacle. 
Under the weighty cuirasses of the Hiittens and Sickin- 
gens we perceive that intellectual movement which was 
beginning to make itself felt in every quarter. The first 
fruits that the Reformation gave to the world were war- 
riors that were the friends of the peaceful arts. 

Hiitten, who on his return from Brussels had taken 
refuge in the castle of Sickingen, invited the worthy 
knight to study the evangelical doctrines, and explained 
to him the foundations on which they rest. "And is 
there any man," asked he in astonishment, who dares 
attempt to overthrow such an edifice ? Who could do 

it r 

Many individuals who were afterwards celebrated as 
reformers, found an asylum in his castle : among others, 
Martin Bucer, Aquila, Schwebel, and (Ecolampadius ; so 
that Hiitten with justice used to call Ebernburg "the 
resting-place of the righteous." It was the duty of (Eco- 
lampadius to preach daily in the castle. The warriors 
who were there assembled, at last grew weary of hear- 
ing so much said about the meek virtues of Christianity : 
the sermons appeared to them too long, however brief 
(Ecolampadius endeavored to be. They repaired, it is 
ti'ue, almost every day to the church, but it was for little 
else than to hear the benediction and to repeat a short 
prayer, so that (Ecolampadius used to exclaim, " Alas, 
the word of God is sown here upon stony ground 1" 

Ere long Sickingen, wishing to serve the cause of 



144 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOiN . 



truth after his own fashion, declared war against the 
archbishop of Treves, in order," as he said, " to open 
a door for the gospel." In vain did Luther, who had 
already appeared, strive to dissuade him from it : he 
attacked Treves with 5,000 horse and 1,000 foot. The 
courageous archbishop, with the aid of the Elector Pal- 
itine and the landgrave of Hesse, compelled him to re* 
dre. In the following spring the allied princes attacked 
bim in his castle of Landstein. After a bloody assault, 
Sickingen was obliged to surrender : he had been mor- 
tally wounded. The three princes entered the fortress, 
and after searching through it, discovered the stout- 
hearted knight in a vault, lying on his bed of death. 
He stretched out his hand to the Elector Palatine, with- 
out seeming to notice the princes who accompanied him ; 
but these overwhelmed him with questions and reproach- 
08 : " Leave me in repose," said he, "for I must now 
prepare to answer a more powerful lord than you." 
When Luther heard of his death, he exclaimed, The 
Lord is righteous, and greatly to be praised ! It is not 
by the sword that he will have his gospel propagated." 

Such was the melancholy end of a warrior who, as 
elector or emperor, might perhaps have raised Germany 
to a high degree of glory ; but who, confined within a 
narrow circle, wasted the great powers with which he 
had been endowed. But it was not in the tumultuous 
bosoms of these warriors that the divine truth, coming 
down from heaven, was to take up her abode. It was 
not by their arms that she was to prevail ; and God, by 
bringing to naught Sickingen's mad projects, confirmed 
anew the testimony of St. Paul : The weapons of out 
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God." 2 Cor. 
10:4. 

Another knight, Harmut of Oronberg, a friend of Hiit- 
ten and Sickingen, appears to have had more wisdom 
and a deeper knowledge of the truth. He wrote with 
great modesty to Leo X., exhorting him to restore his 
temporal power to its rightful owner, namely, the em* 
peror. Addressing his subjects as a father, he endeav- 
ored to explain to them the doctrines of the gospel, and 



CRONBEEa. 



145 



exhorted them to faith, obedience, and trust in Jesus 
Christ, **who is the Lord of all," added he. He resigned 
into the emperor^s hand a pension of two hundred duc- 
ats, " because he would no longer serve one who lent 
his ear to the enemies of the truth." We find an expres- 
sion of his recorded that seems to place him far above 
Hiitten and Sickingen : " Our heavenly teacher, the 
Holy Ghost, can, whenever he pleases, teach in one hour 
more of the faith that is in Christ Jesus, than could be 
learned at the university of Paris in ten years." 

Those who look for the friends of the Reformation 
only on the steps of thrones,* or in cathedrals and in 
colleges, and who maintain that it had no friends among 
the people, are greatly mistaken. God, who was pre- 
paring the hearts of the wise and the powerful, was also 
preparing in the homes of the people many simple and 
humble-minded men, who were one day to become the 
ministers of his word. The history of the period shows 
the ferment then agitating the lower orders. The ten- 
dency of popular literature before the Reformation was 
in direct opposition to the prevailing spirit of the church. 
In the Eulenspiegel — the buffoon — a celebrated popular 
poem of the times, there is a perpetual current of ridi- 
cule against brutal and gluttonous priests, who were 
fond of pretty housekeepers, fine horses, and a well-filled 
larder. In the Reynard Reineke — Reineke the fox — the 
priests' houses with their families of little children are a 
prominent feature ; another popular writer thunders with 
all his might against those ministers of Christ who ride 
spirited horses, but who will not fight against the infi- 
dels ; and John Rosenblut, in one of his carnival plays, 
introduces the Grand Turk in person to deliver a season* 
able address to the states of Christendom. 

It was in reality in the bosoms of the people that the 
revolution so soon to break forth was violently ferment- 
ing. Not only do we see youths issuing from their ranks 
and seizing upon the highest stations in the church, but 
there are those who remained all their lives engaged in 
the humblest occupations, and yet powerfully contribut- 
* See Chateaubriand's Etudes Historiques. 



146 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 



ing to the great revival of Christendom. We proceed 
to recall a few features in the life of one of these indi- 
viduals. 

Hans Sachs, son of a tailor of Nuremberg, was borr 
on the 6th of November, 1494. He was named Hans — 
John — after his father, and had made some little prog^ 
ress in learning, when a severe malady compelled him 
to renounce his studies and take up the business of a 
shoemaker. Young Hans profited by the liberty which 
this humble trade allowed to his mind, to penetrate into 
that higher world in which his soul delighted. The songs 
that had ceased to be heard in the castles of the nobles, 
sought and found an asylum among the inhabitants olf 
the merry towns of Germany. A singing school was 
held in the church of Nuremberg. These exercises, in 
which Hans used to join, opened his heart to religious 
impressions, and helped to awaken in him a taste for 
poetry and music. But the young man's genius could 
not long remain confined within the walls of his work- 
shop. He wished to see with his own eyes that world 
of which he had read so much in books, of which his 
comrades related so many stories, and which his imagi- 
nation peopled with wonders. In 1511, with a small 
bundle of necessaries, he sets out and directs his steps 
towards the south. Ere long the youthful traveller, who 
had met with jovial companions, students roaming from 
town to town, and with many dangerous temptations, 
feels a terrible struggle beginning within him. The 
lusts of life and his holy resolutions are contending for 
the mastery. Trembling for the result, he takes flight 
and hides himself in the small town of Wels in Austria, 
1513, where he lived in retirement, devoting himself tc 
the cultivation of the fine arts. The Emperor Maximil* 
ian chanced to pass through this town with a brilliant 
retinue, and the young poet allowed himself to be car- 
ried away by the splendor of the court. The prince 
placed him in his hunting-train, and in the noisy halls of 
the palace of Inspruck Hans again forgot all his resolu- 
tions. But his conscience once more cried aloud. Im* 
mediately the young huntsman lays aside his brilli^ijt 



HANS SACHS 



147 



livery, quits the court, and repairs to Schwatz, and after^ 
wards to Munich. It was in the latter town that, at the 
age of twenty years, 1514, he composed his first hyran 
" in honor of God" to a remarkable air. He was covered 
with applause. During his travels he had had many op- 
portunities of observing the numerous and melancholy 
proofs of the abuses under which religion was buried. 

On his return to Nuremberg, Hans settled, married, 
and became a father. When the Reformation broke out, 
he lent an attentive ear. He clung to the holy Scrip- 
tures, which were already dear to him as a poet, but in 
which he no longer sought merely for images and songs, 
but for the light of truth. To this truth ere long he con- 
secrated his lyre, and from a humble workshop, near the 
gates of the imperial city of Nuremberg, issued -tones 
that reechoed throughout Germany, preparing men's 
minds for a new era, and everywhere endearing to the 
people the mighty revolution that was going forward. 
The spiritual songs of Hans Sachs and his Bible in verse 
were a powerful help to this great work. It would per- 
haps be hard to decide which did the most for it — the 
prince-elector of Saxony, administrator of the empire, or 
the Nuremberg shoemaker. 

Thus, then, was there in every class something that 
announced the Reformation. Warnings appeared on ev- 
ery side, and events were hastening on which threatened 
to destroy the work of ages of darkness, and to ''make 
all things new." The hierarchical form, which the efforts 
of many centuries had stamped upon the world, was 
shaken, and its fall was nigh. The light that had been 
just discovered spread a multitude of new ideas through 
every country with inconceivable rapidity. In every 
grade of society a new life was in motion. " What an 
age 1" exclaimed Hiitten ; " studies flourish, minds are 
awakening ; it is a joy merely to be alive." Minds that 
nad lain dormant for so many generations, seemed de- 
sirous of redeeming by their activity the time they had 
lost. To leave them unemployed, and without food, or 
to present them only with such as had long supported 



148 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



their languishing existence, would have betrayed igno 
rauce of man's nature. Already did the human mind 
clearly perceive what was and what should be, and sur- 
veyed with a daring glance the immense gulf which 
separated these two worlds. Great princes filled the 
thrones ; the time-worn colossus of Rome was tottering 
under its own weight ; the ancient spirit of chivalry 
was dead, and its place supplied by a new spirit wliich 
breathed at once from the sanctuaries of learning and 
from the homes of the lowly. The printed word had 
taken wings that carried it, as the wind wafts the light 
seed, even to the most distant places. The discovery of 
the two Indies extended the boundaries of the world. 
Every thing announced a great revolution. 

But whence is to proceed the blow that shall throw 
down the ancient building, and raise a new one from its 
ruins ? No one knew. Who possessed greater wisdom 
than Frederick, greater learning than Reuchlin, greater 
talents than Erasmus, more wit and energy than Hiit- 
ten, more valor than Sickingen, or was more virtuous 
than Cronberg ? And yet it was not from Frederick, or 
Reuchlin, or Erasmus, or Hiitten, or Sickingen, or Cron- 
berg. Learned men, princes, warriors, nay, the church 
itself, all had undermined some of the foundations ; but 
there they had stopped. In no direction could be seen 
the powerful hand that was to be the instrument of God. 

And yet all men had a presentiment that it would 
soon appear. Some pretended to have discovered in the 
stars unerring indications of its approach. Some, as 
they looked upon the miserable state of religion, fore- 
told the near coming of antichrist. Others, on the con- 
trary, predicted a reformation to be close at hand. The 
world waited in expectation. Luther appeared. 



LUTHER'S DESCENT. 



149 



BOOK 11. 

THE YOUTH, CONVERSION, AND EARLY LABORS 

OF LUTHER. 

1483-1517. 

CHAPTER I. 

Lnther's descent — His parents — His birth — His poverty — ^PatemaJ 
home —Severity — First knowledge — School of Magdeburg — Hard- 
ships — Eisenach— The Shunamite — House of Gotta — Arts — Recol 
lections of these times — His studies — Trebonius — The university. 

All was ready. God, who prepares his work through 
ages, accomplishes it by the weakest instruments when 
his time is come. To effect great results by the small- 
est means, such is the law of God. This law, which 
prevails everywhere in nature, is found also in history. 
God selected the reformers of the church from the same 
class whence he had taken the apostles. He chose them 
from among that lower rank, which, although not the 
meanest, does not reach the level of the middle classes 
Every thing was thus intended to manifest to the world 
that the work was not of man, but of God. The reformer 
Zuingle emerged from an Alpine shepherd^s hut; .Me- 
lancthon, the theologian of the Reformation, from an 
armorer^s shop ; and Luther from the cottage of a poor 
miner. 

The first period in man's life, that in which he is 
formed and moulded under the hand of God, is always 
important. It is eminently so in the career of Luther. 
The whole of the Reformation is included in it. The dif- 
ferent phases of this work succeeded one another in the 
soul of him who was to be the instrument for effecting 
it, before they were accomplished in the world. The 
knowledge of the change that took place in Luther's 
heart can alone furnish the key to the reformation of the 
church. It is only by studying the particulars that we 



/ 



15e HISTORY- OF THE REFORMATION 

can understand the general work. Those who neglect 
the former will be ignorant of the latter except in its 
outward appearance. They may acquire a knowledge 
of certain events and certain results, but they will 
never comprehend the intrinsic nature of that revival, 
because the principle of life, that was its very soul, re- 
mains unknown to them. Let us therefore study the 
Reformation in Luther himself, before we proceed to the 
events that changed the face of Christendom. 

In the village of Mora, near the Thuringian forests, 
and not far from the spot where Boniface, the apostle of 
Germany, began to proclaim the gospel, had dwelt, 
doubtless for many centuries, an ancient and numerous 
family of the name of Luther.* As was customary with 
the Thuringian peasants, the eldest son always inher- 
ited the dwelling and the paternal fields, while the other 
children departed elsewhere in quest of a livelihood. 
One of these, by name John Luther, married Margaret 
Lindemann, the daughter of an inhabitant of Neustadt, 
in the see of Wurzburg. The married pair quitted the 
plains of Eisenach, and went to settle in the little town 
of Eisleben, in Saxony, to earn their bread by the sweat 
of their brows. 

Seckendorf relates, on the testimony of Rebhan, su- 
perintendent at Eisenach in 1601, that Luther's mother, 
thinking her time still distant, had gone to the fair of 
Eisleben, and that contrary to her expectation she there 
gave birth to a son. Notwithstanding the credit that is 
due to Seckendorf, this account does not appear to be 
correct : in fact, none of the oldest of Luther's histo* 
rians mention it ; and besides, it is about twenty-four 
leagues from Mora to Eisleben, and in the condition of 
Luther's mother at that time, people do not readily make 
up their minds to travel such a distance to see a fair ; 
and lastly, the evidence of Luther himself appears in 
direct opposition to this assertion.f 

* Vetus familia est et latd propagata mediocrium hoirinnm. 
Melancth. Vita Luth. f natus sum in Eisleben, baptisa- 
tusque apud Sanctum-Petrum ibidem. Parentes mel de propc 
Isenaco illuc migrarunt. Luth. Epp. 1. 390. 



BIRTH OF LUTHER. 



161 



John Luther wap an upright man, diligent in busi- 
ness, frank, and carrying the firmness of his character 
even to obstinacy. With a more cultivated mind than 
that of most men of his class, he used to read much. 
Books were then rare ; but John omitted no opportunity 
of procuring them. They formed his relaxation in the 
intervals of repose snatched from his severe and con- 
Btant labors. Margaret possessed all the virtues that 
can adorn a good and pious woman. Her modesty, her 
fear of God, and her prayerful spirit, were particularly 
remarked. She was looked upon by the matrons of the 
neighborhood as a model whom they should strive to 
imitate.* 

It is not precisely known how long the married pair 
had been living at Eisleben when, on the 10th of No- 
vember, one hour before midnight, Margaret gave birth 
to a son. Melancthon often questioned his friend^s mother 
as to the period of his birth. " I well remember the day 
and the hour," replied she, " but I am not certain about 
the year." But Luther^s brother James, an honest and 
upright man, has recorded, that in the opinion of the 
whole family the future reformer was born on St. Mar- 
tin's eve, 10th of November, 1483. f And Luther him- 
self wrote on a Hebrew Psalter which is still in exist- 
ence, **I was born in the year 1483."J The first thought 
of his pious parents was to dedicate to God, according 
to the faith they professed, the child that he had given 
them. On the morrow, which happened to be Tuesday, 
the father carried his son to St. Peter's church, where he 
received the rite of infant baptism, and was called Mar- 
tin, in commemoration of the day.§ 

The child was not six months old, when his parents 
quitted Eisleben to repair to Mansfeldt, which is only 
five leagues distant. The mines of that neighborhood 

* Intuebanturque in earn caeterse honestae mulieren, ut in exem- 
plar virtutum. Melancth. Vita Lutheri. f Ibid. 
i Anno 1483, natiis ego. Psalter in the Dantzic library 
§ It is well known that the Baptist denomination regard the im- 
aersion of believers in Christ as the only scriptural baptism. See 
p. 2. Pub. Com. 



152 HISTOEY OP THE REPORMATIOIT. 



were then very celebrated. John Lnther, who was a 
hard-working man, feeling that perhaps he would be 
called upon to bring up a numerous family, hoped to 
gain a better livelihood for himself and his children in 
that town. It was here that the understanding and 
strength of young Luther received their first develop- 
ment ; here his activity began to display itself, and here 
his character was declared in his words and in his ao- 
tioiiis. The plains of Mansfeldt, the banks of the Wip- 
per, were the theatre of his first sports with the chil- 
dren of the neighborhood. 

The first period of their abode at Mansfeldt was full 
of difficulty to the worthy John and his wife. At firwt 
they lived in great poverty. " My parents," said the 
Eeformer, "were very poor. My father was a poor 
wood-cutter, and my mother has often carried wood 
upon her back, that she might procure the means of 
bringing up her children. They endured the severest 
labor for our sakes." The example of the parents whom 
he revered, the habits they inspired in him, early accus- 
tomed Luther to labor and frugality. How many times, 
doubtless, he accompanied his mother to the wood, there 
to gather up his little faggot ! 

There are promises of blessing on the labor of the 
righteous, and John Luther experienced their realiza- 
tion. Having attained somewhat easier circumstances, 
he established two smelting furnaces at Mansfeldt. Be- 
side these furnaces little Martin grew in strength, and 
with the produce of this labor his father afterwards pro- 
vided for his studies. "It was from a miner's family," 
says the good Mathesius, " that the spiritual founder of 
Christendom was to go forth : an image of what God 
would do in purifying the sons of Levi through him, 
and refining them like gold in his furnaces."* Respected 
by all for his integrity, for his spotless life, and good 
sense, John Luther was made councillor of Mansfeldt, 
capital of the earldom of that name. Excessive misery 
might have crushed the child's spirit : the competence 

* Barum musste dieser geistliche Schmelzer. Mathesius, Histo- 
rian, 1665, p. 3. 



SEVERE DISCIPLINE. 



153 



of his paternal home expanded his heart and elevated his 
character. 

John took advantage of his new position to court the 
society which he preferred. He had a great esteem for 
learned men, and often invited to his table the clergy 
and schoolmasters of the place. His house offered a 
picture of those social meetings of his fellow-citizens, 
which did honor to Germany at the commencement of 
the sixteenth century. It was a mirror in which were 
reflected the numerous images that followed one anothei 
on the agitated scene of the times. The child profited 
by them. No doubt the sight of these men, to whom so 
much respect was shown in his father^s house, excited 
more than once in little Martin's heart the ambitious 
desire of becoming himself one day a schoolmaster or a 
learned man. 

As soon as he was old enough to receive instruction, 
his parents endeavored to impart to him the knowledge 
of God, to train him up in his fear, and to mould him to 
Christian virtues. They exerted all their care in this 
earliest domestic education.* The father would often 
kneel at the child's bedside, and fervently pray aloud, 
begging the Lord that his son might remember his name, 
and one day contribute to the propagation of the truth.f 
The parent's prayer was most graciously listened to. 
And yet his tender solicitude was not confined to this. 

His father, anxious to see him acquire the elements 
of that learning for which he himself had so much es 
teem, invoked God's blessing upon him, and sent him to 
school. Martin was still very young. His father, or 
Nicholas Emler, a young man of Mansfeldt, often carried 
him in their arms to the house of George Emilius, and 
afterwards returned to fetch him home. Emler in after- 
years married one of Luther's sisters. 

His parents' piety, their activity and austere virtue, 
gave the boy a happy impulse, and formed in him an 
attentive and serious disposition. The system of educa* 

* Ad agnitionem et timorem Dei domestica institutione 

diligent^r assuefecerunt. Melancth. Vita Luth. 

t Conrad Schliisselburg, Orat. de Vita et Morte Lutheri. 



154 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



tion which then prevailed made use of chastisement and 
fear as the principal incentives to study. Margaret, 
although sometimes approving the too great severity of 
her husband, frequently opened her maternal arms to 
her son to console him in his tears. Yet even she her 
self overstepped the limits of that wise precept : " He 
that loveth his son, chasteneth him betimes." Martin's 
impetuous character gave frequent occasion for punish- 
ment and reprimand. "My parents," said Luther in 
after-life, " treated me harshly, so that I became very 
timid. My mother one day chastised me so severely 
about a nut, that the blood came. They seriously 
thought that they were doing right ; but they could not 
distinguish character, which however is very necessary, 
in order to know when or where or how chastisement 
should be inflicted. It is necessary to punish ; but the 
apple should be placed beside the rod."* 

At school the poor child met with treatment no less 
severe. His master flogged him fifteen times succes- 
sively in one morning. We must," said Luther, when 
relating this circumstance, "we must whip children, but 
we must at the same time love them." With such an 
education Luther learned early to despise the charms of 
a merely sensual life. "What is to become great, should 
begin small," justly observes one of his oldest biogra- 
phers ; " and if children are brought up too delicately 
and with too much kindness from their youth, they are 
injured for life."f 

Martin learned something at school. He was taught 
the heads of his catechism, the ten commandments, the 
apostles' creed, the Lord's prayer, some hymns, some 
forms of prayer, and a Latin grammar written in the 
fourth century by Donatus, who was St. Jerome's mas- 
ter, and which, improved in the eleventh century by one 
Remigius, a French monk, was long held in great repute 
in every school. He further studied the calendar of Cisio 
Janus, a very singular work, composed in the tenth or 

* Sed uon poterant discernere ingenia, secundum quae essent tern- 
porandae correctiones. L. 0pp. W. 22. p. 1785. f Was groflfl 

soil werden, muss klein angehen. Mathesius, Hist. p. 3. 



LUTHER AT MAaBEBURGh. 



155 



eleventh century : in fine, he learned all that could be 
taught in the Latin school of Mansfeldt. 

But the child's thoughts do not appear to have been 
there directed to God. The only religious sentiment 
that could then be discovered in him was fear. Every 
time he heard Jesus Christ spoken of, he turned pale 
with affright; for the Saviour had only been represented 
to him as an offended judge. This servile fear, so alien 
to true religion, may perhaps have prepared him for the 
glad tidings of the gospel, and for that joy which he 
afterwards felt, when he learned to know Him who is 
meek and lowly in heart. 

John Luther wished to make his son a scholar. The 
day that was everywhere beginning to dawn, had pene- 
trated even into the house of the Mansfeldt miner, and 
there awakened ambitious thoughts. The remarkable 
disposition, the persevering application of his son, made 
John conceive the liveliest expectations. Accordingly, 
in 1497, when Martin had attained the age of fourteen 
years, his father resolved to part with him, and send him 
to the Franciscan school at Magdeburg. His mother 
was forced to consent, and Martin prepared to quit the 
paternal roof. 

Magdeburg was like a new world to Martin. In the 
midst of numerous privations, for he scarcely had enough 
to live upon, he inquired, he listened. Andrew Proles, 
provincial of the Augustine order, was at that time 
warmly advocating the necessity of reforming religion 
and the church. It was not he, however, who deposited 
in the young man's heart the first germ of the ideas that 
were afterwards developed there. 

This was a rude apprenticeship for Luther. Thrown 
upon the world at the age of fourteen, without friends 
or protectors, he trembled in the presence of his mas- 
ters, and in the hours of recreation he painfully begged 
his bread in company with children poorer than himself. 
" I used to beg with my companions for a little food,'' 
said he, ''that we might have the means of providing 
for our wants. One day, at the time the church cele- 
brates tlie festival of Christ's nativity, we were wandei> 



156 HlfeTORY OF THE REFOKMATION. 



ing together through the neighboring villages, going 
from house to house, and singing in four parts the usual 
carols on the infant Jesus, born at Bethlehem. We stop- 
ped before a peasant's house that stood by itself at the 
extremity of the village. The farmer, hearing us sing 
our Christmas hymns, came out with some victuals 
which he intended to give us, and called out in a high 
voice and with a harsh tone. Boys, where are you? 
Frightened at these words, we ran off as fast as our 
legs would carry us. We had no reason to be alarmed, 
for the farmer offered us assistance with great kind- 
ness ; but our hearts no doubt were rendered timorous 
by the menaces and tyranny with which the teachers 
were then accustomed to rule over their pupils, so that 
a sudden panic had seized us. At last, however, as the 
farmer continued calling after us, we stopped, forgot 
our fears, ran back to him, and received from his hands 
the food intended for us. It is thus," adds Luther, 
" that we are accustomed to tremble and flee when our 
conscience is guilty and alarmed. In such a case we 
are afraid even of the assistance that is offered us, and 
of those who are our friends, and who would willingly 
do us every good."* 

A year had scarcely passed away, when John and 
Margaret, hearing what difficulty their son found in sup- 
porting himself at Magdeburg, sent him to Eisenach, 
w-here there was a celebrated school, and in which town 
they had many relatives.f They had other children ; 
and although their means had increased, they could not 
maintain their son in a place where he was unknown 
The furnaces and the industry of John Luther did little 
more than provide for the support of his family. He 
hoped that when Martin arrived at Eisenach, he would 
more easily find th^ means of subsistence ; but he was 
not more fortunate in this town. His relations who 
dwelt there took no care about him, or perhaps, being 
very poor themselves, they could not give him any as- 
sistance. 

♦ Lutheri Opera — Walch.— 2. 2347. f Isenacum ecim pend 
totam parentelam meam habet. L. Epp. 1. 390. 



THE SHUNAMITE. 



157 



Wlien the young scholar was pinched by hunger, he 
was compelled, as at Magdeburg, to join with his school- 
folic ws in singing from door to door to obtain a morsel 
of bread. This custom of Luther^s days is still pre- 
served in many German cities : sometimes the voices of 
the youths form a harmonious concert. Often, instead 
i')f food, the poor and modest Martin received nothing 
but harsh words. Then, overwhelmed with sorrow, he 
shed many tears in secret, and thought with anxiety of 
the future. 

One day in particular he had already been repulsed 
from three houses, and was preparing to return fasting 
to his lodgings, when, having reached the square of St 
George, he stopped motionless, plunged in melancholy 
reflections, before the house of a worthy citizen. Must 
he for want of bread renounce his studies, and return to 
labor with his father in the mines of Mansfeldt ? Sud- 
denly a door opens, a woman appears on the threshold : 
it is Ursula, the wife of Conrad Gotta, and daughter of 
the burgomaster of Ilefeld.* The Eisenach chronicles 
style her " the pious Shunamite," in remembrance of her 
who so earnestly constrained the prophet Elisha to stay 
and eat bread with her. The Christian Shunamite had 
already more than once remarked the youthful Martin in 
the assemblies of the faithful ; she had been affected by 
the sweetness of his voice and by his devotion.f She 
had heard the harsh words that had been addressed to 
the poor scholar, and seeing him stand thus sadly before 
her door, she came to his aid, beckoned him to enter, 
and gave him food to appease his hunger. 

Conrad approved of his wife^s benevolence : he even 
found so much pleasure in the boy's society, that a few 
days after he took him to live entirely with him. Hence- 
forward his studies were secured. He is not obliged to 
return to the mines of Mansfeldt, and bury the talents 
that God has intrusted to him. At a time when he 
knew not what would become of him, God opened the 
heart and the house of a Christian family. This event 
* Lingk'a Reisegesch. Luth. f Dieweil sie um seinea Sin 

gons and herzlichen Grebets willen. Mathesius, p. 3. 



158 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



disposed his soul to that confidence in God which the 
severest trials could not afterwards shake. 

Luther passed in Cottars house a very different kind 
of life from that which he had hitherto known. His ex- 
istence glided away calmly, exempt from want and care : 
his mind became more serene, his character more cheer- 
ful, and his heart more open. All his faculties awoke 
at the mild rays of charity, and he began to exult with 
life, joy, and happiness. His prayers were more fer- 
vent, his thirst for knowledge greater, and his progress 
in study more rapid. 

To literature and science he added the charms of the 
fine arts ; for they also were advancing in Germany. 
The men whom God destines to act upon their contem- 
poraries, are themselves at first influenced and carried 
away by all the tendencies of the age in which they live. 
Luther learned to play on the flute and on the lute. 
With this latter instrument he used often to accompany 
his fine alto voice, and thus cheered his heart in the 
hours of sadness. He took delight in testifying by his 
melody his lively gratitude towards his adoptive mother, ' 
who was passionately fond of music. He himself loved 
the art even to old age, and composed the words and 
airs of some of the finest hymns that Germany possesses. 
Many have even passed into our language. 

These were happy times for young Luther : he could 
never think of them without emotion. One of Conrad's 
sons coming many years after to study at Wittemberg, 
when the poor scholar of Eisenach had become the first 
doctor of the age, was received with joy at his table and 
under his roof. He wished to make some return to the 
son for the kindness he had received from the parents. 
It was in remembrance of this Christian woman who 
had fed him when all the world repulsed him, that he 
gave utterance to this beautiful thought : There is 
nothing sweeter on earth than the heart of a woman in 
which piety dwells." 

Luther was never ashamed of these days in which, 
oppressed by hunger, he used in sadness to beg tho 
bread necessary for his studies and his livelihood. Far 



LUTHEB'S STUDIES— TREBONIUS. 159 



from that, he used to reflect with gratitude on the ex- 
treme poverty of his youth. He looked upon it as one 
of the means that God had employed to make him what 
he afterwards became, and he accordingly thanked him 
for it. The poor children who were obliged to follow 
the same kind of life, touched his heart. "Do not de- 
epise,'' said he, " the boys who go singing through the 
streets, begging a little bread for the love of God ; I 
also have done the same. It is true that somewhat later 
my father supported me with much love and kindness at 
the university at Erfurth, maintaining me by the sweat 
of his brow ; yet I have been a poor beggar. And now, 
by means of my pen, I have risen so high, that I would 
not change lots with the Grand Turk himself. Nay 
more, should all the riches of the earth be heaped one 
upon another, I would not take them in exchange for 
what I possess. And yet I should not be where I am, if 
I had not gone to school, if I had not learned to write.'' 
Thus did this great man see in these his first humble 
beginnings the origin of all his glory. He feared not to 
recall to mind that the voice whose accents thrilled the 
empire and the world, once used to beg for a morsel of 
bread in the streets of a small town. The Christian 
finds a pleasure in such recollections, because they re- 
mind him that it is in God alone he should glory. 

The strength of his understanding, the liveliness of 
his imagination, the excellence of his memory, soon car- 
ried him beyond all his school-fellows.* He made rapid 
progress, especially in Latin, in eloquence, and in poetry. 
He wrote speeches and composed verses. As he was 
cheerful, obliging, and had what is called " a good 
heart," he was beloved by his masters and by his school- 
fellows. 

Among the professors he attached himself particu- 
larly to John Trebonius, a learned man, of an agreeable 
address, and who had all that regard for youth which is 
80 well calculated to encourage them. Martin had na 

* Cumque et vis ingenii acerrima esset, et imprimis ad eloquen- 
tiam idonea, celerit^r 8e<5^ualibus suis praecurrit. Melancth. Vita 
Latti. 



160 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATIOK. 



ticed that whenever Trebonius entered the schoolroom, 
he raised his cap to salute the pupils. A great ccmde^ 
scension in those pedantic times. This had delighted 
the young man. He saw that he was something. The 
respect of the master had elevated the scholar in his 
own estimation. The colleagues of Trebonius, who did 
not adopt the same custom, having one day expressed 
tlieir astonishment at his extreme condescension, he re- 
plied, and his answer did not the less strike the youthful 
Luther, " There are among these boys men of whom God 
will one day make burgomasters, chancellors, doctors, 
and magistrates. Although you do not yet see them 
with the badges of their dignity, it is right that you 
should treat them with respect." Doubtless the young 
scholar listened with pleasure to these words, and per- 
haps imagined himself already with the doctor's c^p 
upon his head. 



THE UNIVER81TT 



161 



CHAPTER II. 

rhe univerpity — Scholastic divinity and the classics — Lather's piety 
— Discovery of the Bible — Illness — Luther admitted M. A.---Coa- 
Bcience — Death of Alexis — The thunder-storm — Providence — 
Farewell — Luther enters a convent. 

Luther had now reached his eighteenth year. He 
had tasted the sweets of literature ; he burned with a 
desire of knowledge ; he sighed for a university educa- 
tion, and wished to repair to one of those fountains of 
learning where he could slake his thirst for letters.* 
His father required him to study the law. Full of hope 
in the talents of his son, he wished that he should culti- 
vate them and make them generally known. He already 
pictured him discharging the most honorable functions 
among his fellow-citizens, gaining the favor of princes, 
and shining on the theatre of the world. It was deter- 
mined that the young man should go to Erfurth. 

Luther arrived at this university in 1501. Jodocus, 
Bumamed the Doctor of Eisenach, was teaching there 
the scholastic philosophy with great success. Melanc- 
thon regrets that at that time nothing was taught at 
Erfurth but a system of dialectics bristling with difficul- 
ties. He thinks that if Luther had met with other pro- 
fessors, if they had taught him the milder and calmer 
discipline of true philosophy, the violence of his nature 
might have been moderated and softened.f The new 
disciple applied himself to study the philosophy of the 
middle ages in the works of Occam, Scotus, Bonaven- 
ture, and Thomas Aquinas. In later times all this scho- 
lastic divinity was his aversion. He trembled with 
indignation whenever Aristotle's name was pronounced 
in his presence, and he went so far as to say that if 

* Degnstata igitur literarum dulcedine, natura flagrans cupidl- 
li^i^ ^flcendi appetit academiam. Mel. Yit. Luth. 

t £t fortassis ad leniendam vehementiam nators mitiora etudla 
raw philoaophiffi. Mel. Vith. Luth. 

II 



162 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOH 



Aristotle had not been a man, he should not have hesi 
tated to take him for the devil. But a mind so eager for 
learning as his required other aliments ; he began to 
study the masterpieces of antiquity, the writings of 
Cicero, Virgil, and other classic authors. He was not 
content, like the majority of students, with learning 
their productions by heart : he endeavored to fathom 
their thoughts, to imbibe the spirit which animated 
them, to appropriate their wisdom to himself, to com- 
prehend the object of their writings, and to enrich his 
mind with their pregnant sentences and brilliant im- 
ages. He often addressed questions to his professors, 
and soon outstripped all his fellow-students.* Blessed 
with a retentive memory and a strong imagination, all 
that he read or heard remained constantly present to his 
mind ; it was as if he had seen it himself. " Thus shone 
Luther in his early years. The whole university,'' says 
Melancthon, " admired his genius."f 

But even at this period the young man of eighteen 
did not study merely to cultivate his intellect: he had 
those serious thoughts, that heart directed heavenwardw, 
which God gives to those of whom he resolves to make 
his most zealous ministers. Luther was sensible of his 
entire dependence upon God — simple and powerful con- 
viction, which is at once the cause of deep humility and 
of great actions. He fervently invoked the divine bless- 
ing upon his labors. Every morning he began the day 
with prayer ; he then went to church, and afterwards 
applied to his studies, losing not a moment in the whole 
course of the day. " To pray well," he was in the habit 
of saying, " is the better half of study." J 

The young student passed in the university library 
all the time he could snatch from his academical pur- 
suits. Books were as yet rare, and it was a great priv- 
ilege for him to profit by the treasures brought together 

• Et quidem inter primes, ut ingenio studioque multos coseqaa- 
Uum antecellebat. Cochloeus, Acta Lutheri, p. 1. f Sic igitui 
In juventute emiaebat, ut loti acadomiae Lutheri ingenium admira- 
tioni eBsct. Vita Luth. { Flelssig gebet, ist iiber di9 Helm 

f^6ki^ M»theB. 8 



DISCOVERY OF THE BIBLE. 



163 



In this vast collection. One day — ^he had then been two 
years at Erfurth, and was twenty years old — ^he opengi 
many books in the library one after another, to learn 
their writers^ names. One volume that he comes to at- 
tracts his attention. He has never until this hour seen 
its like. He reads the title ; it is a Bible, a rare book, 
unknown in those times.* His interest is greatly ex- 
cited ; he is filled with astonishment at finding other 
matters than those fragments of the gospels and epistles 
that the church has selected to be read to the people 
during public worship every Sunday throughout the 
year. Until this day he had imagined that they com- 
posed the whole word of God. And now he sees so 
many pages, so many chapters, so many books of which 
he had no idea. His heart beats as he holds the divinely 
inspired volume in his hand. With eagerness and with 
indescribable emotion he turns over these leaves from 
God. The first page on which he fixes his attention nar- 
rates the story of Hannah and of the young Samuel. He 
reads, and his soul can hardly contain the joy it feels. 
This child, whom his parents lend to the Lord as long as 
he liveth ; the song of Hannah, in which she declares 
that Jehovah raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and 
lift^th the beggar from the dung-hill, to set them among 
princes this child who grew up in the temple in the 
presence of the Lord ; those sacrificers, the sons of Eli, 
who are wicked men, who live in debauchery, and ^'make 
the Lord^s people to transgress f all this history, all this 
revelation that he has just discovered, excites feelings 
till then unknown. He returns home with a full heart. 
" 0 that God would give me such a book for myself," 
thought he.f Luther was as yet ignorant both of Greek 
and Hebrew. It is scarcely probable that he had stud- 
ied these languages during the first two or three years 
of his residence at the university. The Bible that had 
filled him with such transports was in Latin. He soon 

* Auf eine Zeit, wie er die Biicher fein nacheinander besieht 
komm er uber die lateiaische Biblia. Mathes. 3. 

t Avid^ percurrit, coepitque optare ut olim talem libnim et ipse 
aanoieci posset. M. Adami Vit. Luth. p. 103. 



164 HI8T0ET OF THE EBFORMATIOK. 



returned to the library to pore over his treasure. He 
read it again and again, and then, in his astonishment 
and joy, he returned to read it once more. The first 
glimmerings of a new truth were then beginning to 
dawn upon his mind. 

Thus had God led him to the discovery of his word, 
of that book of which he was one day to give his fellow* 
countrymen that admirable translation in which Ger- 
many has for three centuries perused the oracles of God. 
Perhaps for the first time this precious volume has now 
been taken down from the place it occupied in the 
library of Erfurth. This book, deposited upon the un- 
known shelves of a gloomy hall, is about to become the 
book of life to a whole nation. In that Bible the Refor- 
mation lay hid. 

It was in the same year that Luther took his first 
academical degree, that of bachelor. 

The excessive labor to which he had devoted himself 
in order to pass his examination, occasioned a dangerous 
illness. Death seemed approaching him ; serious reflec- 
tions occupied his mind. He thought that his earthly 
existence was drawing to an end. The young man ex- 
cited general interest. " It is a pity," they thought, "to 
see so many expectations so early blighted." Many 
friends came to visit him on his bed of sickness. Among 
their number was a venerable and aged priest, who had 
watched with interest the student of Mansfeldt in his 
labors and in his academic career. Luther could not 
conceal the thoughts that occupied his mind. " Soon," 
said he, " 1 shall be called away from this world." But 
the old man kindly replied, " My dear bacbolor, take 
courage ; you will not die of this illness. Our God will 
yet make of you a man who, in turn, shall console 
many.* For God layeth his cross upon those whom he 
loveth, and they who bear it patiently acquire much 
wisdom." These words struck the young invalid. It 
was when he was so near death that he heard the voice 
of a priest remind him that God, as Samuel's mother 
* Dens U vimm faciei qui alios moltos iterto oooiolabiUir. 11 
Adimi Vii hnit. p. :0S 



▲DXITTBD KASTSR OF A&T8. 165 



said, raiseth up the miserable. The old man had poured 
Bweet consolation into his heart, had revived his spirits ; 
never will he forget it. " This was the first prediction 
that the worthy doctor heard," says Mathesius, Luther's 
friend, who records the fact, " and he often used to call 
it to mind." We may easily comprehend in what sense 
Mathesius calls these words a prediction. 

When Luther recovered, there was a great change 
in him. The Bible, his illness, the words of the aged 
priest, seem to have made a new appeal to him ; but as 
yet there was nothing decided in his mind. Another 
circumstance awakened serious thoughts within him. It 
was the festival of Easter, probably in the year 1603 
Luther was going to pass a short time with his family, 
and wore a sword according to the custom of the age. 
He struck against it with his foot, the blade fell out, and 
cut one of the principal arteries. Luther, whose only 
companion had run off in haste to seek for assistance, 
finding himself alone, and seeing the blood flowing co- 
piously without being able to check it, lay down on his 
back, and put his finger on the wound ; but the blood 
escaped in despite of his exertions, and Luther, feeling the 
approach of death, cried out, " 0 Mary, help me I" At 
last a surgeon arrived from Erfurth, who bound up the 
cut. The wound opened in the night, and Luther faint- 
ed, again calling loudly upon the Virgin. "At that 
time," said he in after-years, " I should have died relying 
upon Mary." Ere long he abandoned that superstition, 
and invoked a more powerful Saviour. He continued 
his studies. In 1505 he was admitted master of arts, 
and doctor of philosophy. The university of Erfurth was 
then the most celebrated in all Germany. The others 
were but inferior schools in comparison with it. The 
ceremony was conducted, as usual, with great pomp. 
A procession by torchlight came to pay honor to Lu- 
ther.* The festival was magnificent. It was a general 
rejoicing. Luther, encouraged perhaps by these honors, 
felt disposed to apply himself entirely to the law, in coxy 
formity with his father's wishes. 

• Luth. 0pp. W. 22. D. 222». 



166 



HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 



But the will of God was different. While Luther 
was occupied with various studies, and beginning to 
teach the physics and ethics of Aristotle, with other 
branches of philosophy, his heart ceased not from cry- 
ing to him that religion was the one thing needful, and 
that above all things he should secure his salvation. He 
knew the displeasure that God manifests against sin ; he 
called to mind the penalties that his word denounces 
against the sinner ; and he asked himself, with appre- 
hension, whether he was sure of possessing the divine 
favor. His conscience answered. No. His character 
was prompt and decided : he resolved to do all that 
might insure him a firm hope of immortality. Two 
events occurred, one after the other, to disturb his soul, 
and to hasten his resolution. 

Among his university friends was one named Alexis, 
with whom he lived in the closest intimacy. One morn- 
ing a report was spread in Erfurth that Alexis had been 
assassinated. Luther hastens to ascertain the truth of 
this rumor. This sudden loss of his friend agitated him, 
and the question he asked himself, What would become 
of me, if I were thus called away without warning? 
fills his mind with the keenest terrors.* 

It was in the summer of the year 1505 that Luther, 
whom the ordinary university vacations left at liberty, 
resolved to go to Mansfeldt, to revisit the dear scenes 
of his childhood and to embrace his parents. Perhaps 
also he wished to open his heart to his father, to sound 
him on the plan that he was forming in his mind, and 
obtain his permission to engage in another profession. 
He foresaw all the difficulties that awaited him. The 
idle life of the majority of priests was displeasing to 
the active miner of Mansfeldt. Besides, the ecclesiastics 
were but little esteemed in the world ; for the most part 
their revenues were scanty ; and the father, who had 
made great sacrifices to maintain his son at the univer- 
sity, ard who now saw him teaching publicly in a cele- 
brated school, although only in his twentieth year, was 
not likely to renounce the proud hopes he haii cherished 
* Interitu sodalis sui contristatus. CochloBUS, X. 



PROVIDENCE. 



167 



We are ignorant of what passed during Luther's 
stay at Mansfeldt. Perhaps the decided wish of his fa- 
ther made him fear to open his heart to him. He again 
quitted his father^s house to take his seat on the benches 
of the academy. He was already within a short distance 
of Erfurth, when he was overtaken by a violent storm, 
such as often occurs in these mountains. The lightning 
flashed, the bolt fell at his feet. Luther threw himself 
upon his knees His hour, perhaps, is come. Death, the 
judgment, and eternity summon him with all their ter- 
rors, and he hears a voice that he can no longer resist. 
"Encompassed with the anguish and terror of death,'' as 
he says himself,* he makes a vow, if the Lord delivers 
him from this danger, to abandon the world, and devote 
himself entirely to God. After rising from the ground, 
having still present to him that death which must one 
day overtake him, he examines himself seriously, and 
asks what he ought to do.f The thoughts that once 
agitated him now return with greater force. He has 
endeavored, it is true, to fulfil all his duties, but what 
is the state of his soul ? Can he appear before the tri- 
bunal of a terrible God with an impure heart ? He 
must become holy. He has now as great a thirst for 
holiness, as he had formerly for knowledge. But where 
can he find it, or how can he attain it ? The university 
provided him with the means of satisfying his first de- 
sires. Who shall calm that anguish ; who shall quench 
the fire that now consumes him ? To what school of 
holiness shall he direct his steps ? He will enter a 
cloister : the monastic life will save him. Oftentimes 
has he heard speak of its power to transform the heart, 
to sanctify the sinner, to make man perfect. He will 
enter a monastic order. He will there become holy : 
thus will he secure eternal life.J 

Such was the event that changed the call'ng, the 

• Mit Erschrecken und Angst des Todes umgeben. L. Epp. 2. 
101. t ^^Da esset in campo, fulminis ictu territus. Cochloeus, 1. 

J Occasio autem fuit ingrediendi illud vitae genus, quod pietatj 
9t rudils doctrinse de Deo, ezistimavit esse convenientiua. Mdl 
W LuUl 



168 



HISTORY OF THE REP ORMATIOK. 



whole destiny of Luther. In this we perceive the finger 
of God. It was his powerful hand that on the highway 
cast down the young master of arts, the candidate for 
the bar, the future lawyer, to give an entirely new direc- 
tion to his life. Rubianus, one of Luther's friends at the 
university of Erfurth, wrote thus to him in after-life : 
" Divine Providence looked at what you were one day to 
become, when on your return from your parents, the fire 
from heaven threw you to the ground, like another Paul, 
near the city of Erfurth, and withdrawing you from our 
society, drove you into the Augustine order.'' Analo* 
gous circumstances have marked the conversion of the 
two greatest instruments that divine Providence has 
made use of in the two greatest revolutions that hav« 
been effected upon the earth — St. Paul and Luther.* 

Luther reenters Erfurth. His resolution is unalter- 
able. Still, it is not without a pang that he prepares to 
break the ties so dear to him. He communicates hia 
intention to no one. But one evening he invites his uni- 
versity friends to a cheerful, but frugal supper. Music 
once more enlivens their social meeting. It is Luther's 
farewell to the world. Henceforth, instead of these ami- 
able companions of his pleasures and his studies, he will 
have monks ; instead of this gay and witty conversa- 
tion, the silence of the cloister ; and for these merry 
songs, the solemn strains of the quiet chapel. God calla 
him, and he must sacrifice every thing. Still, for the 
last time, let him share in the joys of his youth. The 
repast excites his friends : Luther himself is the soul of 
the party. But at the very moment that they are giv* 
ing way without restraint to their gayety, the young 
man can no longer control the serious thoughts that fill 
his mind. He speaks, he makes known his intention to 
his astonished friends. They endeavor to shake it, but 
In vain. And that very night, Luther, fearful perhaps of 

* Some historians record that Alexis was killed by the thunder- 
bolt that alarmed Luther ; but two of his contemporaries, Math^ 
siuS; p. 4, and Selneccer, in Orat. de Luth., distinguish between 
these two events ; we may even add the testimony of Melancthon t# 
thoirs : he says, <<Sodalem nescio quo casu interfectum." Yit, Lntb 



THE CONVENT 



169 



their importunate solicitations, quits his lodgings. He 
leaves behind him all his clothes and books, taking with 
him only Virgil and Plautus ; he had no Bible as yet. 
Virgil and Plautus ; an epic poem and comedies I — strik- 
ing picture of Luther's mind. There had in effect taken 
place in him a whole epic, a beautiful, grand, and sub- 
lime poem ; but as he had a disposition inclined to gay- 
ety, wit, and humor, he combined more than one familiar 
feature with the serious and stately groundwork of hia 
life. 

Provided with these two books, he repairs alone, in 
the darkness of night, to the convent of the hermits of 
St. Augustine. He asks admittance. The gate opens, 
and closes again. Behold him separated for ever from 
his parents, from the companions of his studies, and from 
the world. It was the 17th of August, 1505 : Luthei 
was then twenty-one years and nine months old. 



170 HISTOEY OF THE REFOEMATlON. 



CHAPTER III. 

Wk fiLther's anger — Pardon — Humiliations — The sack and the cell — 
Endurance — Luther^s studies — St. Augustine — Peter d'Ailly— - 
Occam — Gerson — The chained Bible — Lyra — Hebrew and Greek 
— Daily prayers — Asceticism — Mental struggles — Luther during 
mas&--Useles3 observances — Luther in a fainting-fit. 

Luther was with God at last. His soul was in safe- 
fcy. He was now about to find that holiness which he 
so much desired. The monks were astonished at the 
Bight of the youthful doctor, and extolled his courage 
and his contempt of the world.* He did not, however, 
forget his friends. He wrote to them, bidding farewell 
to them and to the world ; and on the next day he sent 
these letters, with the clothes he had worn till then, and 
returned to the university his ring of master of arts, 
that nothing might remind him of the world he had 
renounced. 

His friends at Erfurth were struck with astonish- 
ment. Must so eminent a genius go and hide himself 
in that monastic state, which is a partial death ?f Pilled 
with the liveliest sorrow, they hastily repair to the con- 
vent, in the hope of inducing Luther to retrace so afflict- 
ing a step ; but all was useless. For two whole days 
they surrounded the convent and almost besieged it, in 
the hope of seeing Luther come forth. But the gates 
remained closely shut and barred. A month elapsed 
without any one being able to see or speak to the new 
monk. 

Luther had also hastened to communicate to his par* 
ents the great change that had taken place in his life. 
His father was amazed- He trembled for his son, as 
Luther himself tells us in the dedication of his work on 
monastic vows addressed to his father. His weakness, 

• Hiyus mundi contemptu, ingressus est repents maltis admi- 
raatibus monasterium. Cochloeus, 1. 

t In vita semimortua. Melch Adami Y. L. p. 102. 



HIS FATHER'S ANG-ER 



171 



his youth, the violence of his passions, all led John Lu- 
ther to fear that when the first moment of enthusiasm 
was over, the idle habits of the cloister would make the 
young man fall either into despair or into some great 
sin. He knew that this kind of life had already been 
the destruction of many. Besides, the councillor-miner 
of Mansfeldt had formed very different plans for his son. 
He had hoped that he would contract a rich and honor- 
able marriage. And now all his ambitious projects are 
overthrown in one night by this imprudent step. 

John wrote a very angry letter to his son, in which 
he spoke to him in a contemptuous tone, as Luther in- 
forms us, while he had addressed him always in a friend- 
ly manner after he had taken his master-of-arts degree. 
He withdrew all his favor, and declared him disinherited 
from his paternal affection. In vain did his father's 
friends, and doubtless his wife, endeavor to soften him ; 
in vain did they say, **If you would offer a sacrifice to 
God, let it be what you hold best and dearest, even your 
son, your Isaac." The inexorable councillor of Mansfeldt 
would listen to nothing. 

Not long after, however, as Luther tells us in a ser- 
mon preached at Wittemberg the 20th of January, 1644, 
the plague appeared, and deprived John Luther of two 
of his sons. About this time some one came and told 
the bereaved father, The monk of Erfurth is dead also. 
His friends seized the opportunity of reconciling the 
father to the youhg novice. '*If it should be a false 
alarm," said they to him, " at least sanctify your afflic- 
tion by cordially consenting to your son's becoming a 
monk." Well, so be it," replied John Luther, with a 
heart bruised, yet still half rebellious, " and God grant 
he may prosper." Some time after this, when Luther, 
who had been reconciled to his father, related to him the 
event that had induced him to enter a monastic order — 
"God grant," replied the worthy miner, "that you may 
not have taken for a sign from heaven what was merely 
a delusion of the devil."* 

* GrOtt geb dass es nicht ein Betrug and teafliscli Geepenst Mjl 
L. Epp. 2. IQh 



172 HISTORY OF THE aEFORMATIOH. 



There was not then in Luther that which was afte^ 
wards to make him the reformer of the church. Of thia 
his entrance into the convent is a strong proof. It waa 
a proceeding in conformity with the tendencies oi the 
age, from which he was soon to contribute his endeavcra 
to liberate the church. He who was destined to become 
the great teacher of the world, was as yet its slavish 
imitator. A new stone had been added to the edifice of 
superstition by the very man who was ere long to de- 
stroy it. Luther looked to himself for salvation, to hu- 
man works and observances. He knew not that salva- 
tion Cometh wholly from God. He sought after his own 
glory and righteousness, unmindful of the righteousness 
and glory of the Lord. But what he was ignorant of as 
yet, he learned soon after. It was in the cloister of 
Erfurth that this immense transformation was brought 
about, which substituted in his heart God and His wis- 
dom for the world and> its traditions, and that prepared 
the mighty revolution of which he was to be the most 
illustrious instrument. 

When Martin Luther entered the convent, he changed 
his name, and assumed that of Augustine. 

The monks had received him with joy. It was no 
slight gratification to their vanity to see one of the most 
esteemed doctors of the age abandon the university for 
a house belonging to their order. Nevertheless, they 
treated him harshly, and imposed on him the meanest 
occupations. They wished to humble the doctor of phi- 
losophy, and to teach him that his learning did not raise 
him above his brethren. They imagined, besides, by this 
means to prevent him from devoting himself so much to 
his studies, from which the convent could reap no ad- 
vantage. The former master of arts had to perform the 
offices of porter, to open and shut the gates, to wind up 
the clock, to sweep the church, and to clean out the 
cells.* Then, when the poor monk, who was at once 
doorkeeper, sexton, and menial servant of the cloister, 
had finished his work. Cum sacco per civitatemi Away 
* Loca immunda purgare coactus est. M. Adami Vita Lath. ^ 

loa. 



THE SACK AND THE CELL. 



173 



with your wallet through the town 1 cried the friars ; 
ftnd laden with his bread-bag, he wandered through all 
the streets of Erfurth, begging from house to house, 
obliged perhaps to present himself at the doors of those 
who had once been his friends or his inferiors. On his 
return, he had either to shut himself up in a low and 
narrow cell, whence he could see nothing but a small 
garden a few feet square, or recommence his humble 
tasks. But he put up with all. Naturally disposed to 
devote himself entirely to whatever he undertook, he 
had become a monk with all his soul. Besides, how 
could he have a thought of sparing his body, or have 
had any regard for what might please the flesh ? It was 
not thus that he could acquire the humility, the sanctity 
which he had come to seek within the walls of the 
cloister. 

The poor monk, oppressed with toil, hastened to em- 
ploy in study all the moments that he could steal from 
these mean occupations. He voluntarily withdrew from 
the society of the brethren to give himself up to his 
beloved pursuits ; but they soon found it out, and sur- 
rounding him with murmurs, tore him from his books, 
exclaiming, "Come, come ; it is not by studying, but by 
begging bread, corn, eggs, fish, meat, and money, that 
a monk renders himself useful to the cloister !"* Luther 
submitted : he laid aside his books, and took up his bag 
again. Far from repenting at having taken upon him- 
self such a yoke, he is willing to go through with his 
task. It was then that the inflexible perseverance with 
which he always carried out the resolutions he had once 
formed, began to be developed in his mind. The resist- 
ance he made to these rude assaults gave a stronger 
temper to his will. God tried him in small things, that 
he might learn to remain unshaken in great ones. Be- 
sides, to be able to deliver his age from the miserable 
superstitions under which it groaned, it was necessary 
for him first to feel their weight. To drain the cup, he 
must drink it to the very dregs. 

This severe apprenticeship did not however last so 
* Selxieeoeri Orai d9 Luth. Mathesios, p. 6. 



174 



HISTORr OF THE REFORMATION. 



long as Luther might have feared. The prior of the covt 
vent, at the intercession of the university to which Lu- 
ther belonged, freed him from the humiliating duties that 
had been laid upon him. The youthful monk then re- 
turned to his studies with new zeal. The works of the 
fathers of the church, especially of St. Augustine, at- 
tracted his attention. The exposition of the Psalms by 
this illustrious doctor, and his book ^* On the Letter and 
the Spirit," were his favorite study. Nothing struck 
him more than the sentiments of this father on the cor- 
ruption of man's will, and on divine grace. He felt by 
his own experience the reality of that corruption, and the 
necessity for that grace. The words of St. Augustine 
corresponded with the sentiments of his heart. If he 
could have belonged to any other school than that of 
Jesus Christ, it would undoubtedly have been to that of 
the doctor of Hippo. He almost knew by rote the works 
of Peter d'Ailly and of Gabriel Biel. He was much taken 
with a saying of the former, that, if the church had not 
decided to the contrary, it would have been preferable 
to concede that the bread and wine were really taken in 
the Lord's supper, and not mere accidents. 

He also carefully studied the theologians Occam and 
Gerson, who both express themselves so freely on the 
authority of the popes. To this course of reading he 
added other exercises. He was heard in the public dis- 
cussions unravelling the most complicated trains of rea- 
soning, and extricating himself from a labyrinth whence 
none but he could have found an outlet. All his audi- 
tors were filled with astonishment.* 

But he had not entered the cloister to acquire the 
reputation of a great genius : it was to seek food for 
his piety.f He therefore regarded these labors as mere 
digressions. 

He loved above all things to draw wisdom from the 
pure source of the word of God. He found in the con- 

* In disputationibus publicis labyrinthos aliis inextricablies, 
diserte multis admirantibus expllcabat. Melancth. Vita Luth. 

t In eo vita9 genere non fanxam ingenil, sed alimenta jfietatia 
qnflfirebat. Ibid. 



THE CHAINED BIBLE. 



17? 



7ent a Bible fastened by a chain, and to this chained 
Bible he was continnally returning. He had but little 
understanding of the word, yet was it his most pleasing 
study. It sometimes happened that he passed a whole 
day meditating upon a single passage. At other times 
he learned fragments of the prophets by heart. He es- 
pecially desired to acquire from the writings of the 
prophets and of the apostles a perfect knowledge of 
God^s will ; to grow up in greater fear of his name ; 
and to nourish his faith by the sure testimony of the 
word.* 

It would appear that about this time he began to 
study the Scriptures in their original languages, and to 
lay the foundation of the most perfect and most useful 
of his labors, the translation of the Bible. He made use 
of Reuchlin^s Hebrew Lexicon, that had just appeared. 
John Lange, one of the friars of the convent, a man 
skilled in Greek and Hebrew, and with whom he always 
remained closely connected, probably was his first in- 
structor.f He also made much use of the learned com- 
mentaries of Nicholas Lyra, who died in 1340. It was 
from this circumstance that Pflug, afterwards bishop of 
Naumburg, said, " Si Lyra non lyrasset, Lutherus non 
saltasset."J 

The young monk studied with such industry and zeal, 
that it often happened that he did not repeat the daily 
prayers for three or four weeks together. But he soon 
grew alarmed at the thought that he had transgressed 
the rules of his order. He then shut himself up to re- 
pair his negligence, and began to repeat conscientiously 
all the prayers he had omitted, without a thought of 
either eating or drinking. Once even, for seven weeks 
together, he scarcely closed his eyes in sleep. 

Burning with desire to attain that holiness in qucfet 
of which he had entered the cloister, Luther gave way 
to all the rigor of an ascetic life. He endeavored to 
crucify the flesh by fastings, mortifications, and watch- 

• Et firmis testimoniis aleret timorem et fidem. Melancth. Vita 
Lnth. t Gesch. d. deutsch. Bibeliibersetzung. 

X If Lyra had act touched hie lyre, Luther had never danced. 



176 HISTORY OP THE REPORMATIOIT. 



iags.* Shut up in his cell, as in a prison, he struggled 
unceasingly against the deceitful thoughts and the evil 
inclinations of his heart. A little bread and a small 
herring were often his only food. Besides, he was nat- 
urally of very abstemious habits. Thus he was fro* 
quently seen by his friends, long after he had ceased to 
think of purchasing heaven by his abstinence, content 
jiimself with the poorest viands, and remain even four 
days in succession without eating or drinking.f This 
we have on the testimony of Melancthon, a witness in 
every respect worthy of credit. We may judge from 
this circumstance of the little value we ought to attach 
to the fables that ignorance and prejudice have circu- 
lated as to Luther's intemperance. At the period of 
which we are speaking, nothing was too great a sacri- 
fice that might enable him to become a saint, to acquire 
heaven. Never did the Romish church possess a more 
pious monk. Never did cloister witness more severe or 
indefatigable exertions to purchase eternal happiness.^ 
When Luther had become a reformer, and had declared 
that heaven w as not to be obtained by such means as 
these, he knew very well what he was saying. " I wafl 
indeed a pious monk," wrote he to Duke George of Sax- 
ony, " and followed the rules of my order more strictly 
lhan I can express. If ever monk could obtain heaven 
by his monkish works, I should certainly have been en- 
titled to it. Of this all the friars who have known me 
can testify. If it had continued much longer, I should 
have carried my mortifications even to death, by means 
of my watchings, prayers, reading, and other labors."§ 

We are approaching the epoch which made Luthet 
a new man, and which, by revealing to him the infinity 

• Summa disciplinae severitate se ipse regit, et omDibus ezercV 
tiis lectionum, disputationum, jejuniorum, precum, omnes long^ 
guperat. Melancth. Yit. Lutb. f Erat enim natura vald^ 

siodlci cibi et potus; vidi continuis quatuor diebus, cum quidem 
recte valeret, prorsus nihil edentem aut bibentem. Ibid. 

X Strenu^ in stadiis et exercitiis spiritoalibuB, miliiatit ibi Dm 
«aiiii8 quatuor. Cocbloeus, 1. 

i L. 0pp. W. 19. 22d9. 



of God's love, put him in a condition to declare it to the 
world. 

Luther did not find in the tranquillity of the cloister 
and in monkish perfection that peace of mind wnich he 
had looked for there. He wished to have the assurance 
of his salvation : this was the great want of his soul. 
Without it, there was no repose for him. But the fears 
that had agitated him in the world pursued him to his 
cell. Nay, they were increased. The faintest cry of 
his heart refe'choed loud beneath the silent arches of the 
cloister. God had led him thither, that he might learn 
to know himself, and to despair of his own strength and 
virtue. His conscience, enlightened by the divine word, 
told him what it was to be holy ; but he was filled with 
terror at finding neither in his heart nor in his life that 
image of holiness which he had contemplated with ad- 
miration in the word of God. A sad discovery, and one 
that is made by every sincere man. No righteousness 
within, no righteousness without ; all was omission, sin, 
impurity. The more ardent the character of Luther, the 
stronger was that secret and constant resistance which 
man's nature opposes to good ; and it plunged him into 
despair. 

The monks and divines of the day encouraged him 
to satisfy the divine righteousness by meritorious works. 
But what works, thought he, can come from a heart like 
mine ? How can I stand before the holiness of my Judge 
with works polluted in their very source ? "I saw that 
I was a great sinner in the eyes of God," said he, and 
I did not think it possible for me to propitiate him by 
my own merits." 

He was agitated and yet dejected, avoiding the tri- 
fling and stupid conversation of the monks. The latter, 
unable to comprehend the storms that tossed his soul, 
looked upon him with surprise,* and reproached him for 
his silence and his gloomy air. One day, Cochloeus tells 
us, as they were saying mass in the chapel, Luther had 
carried thither all his anxiety, and was in the choir in 

* Visas est fratribus non nihU singularitatis habere Ooob- 

la 



178 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOIC 



the midst of the brethren, sad and heart-stricken. Al- 
ready the priest had prostrated himself, the incense had 
been burnt before the altar, the Gloria sung, and they 
were reading the gospel, when the poor monk, unable 
any longer to repress his anguish, cried out in a mourn- 
ful tone, as he fell on his knees, " It is not I ; it is uo< 
I."* All were thunderstruck ; and the ceremony waa 
interrupted for a moment. Perhaps Luther thought he 
heard some reproach of which he knew himself inno- 
cent ; perhaps he declared his unworthiness of being 
one of those to whom Christ's death had brought the 
gift of eternal life. Cochloeus says, they were then 
reading the story of the dumb man's cry from whom 
Christ expelled a devil. It is possible that this cry of 
Luther, if the account be true, had reference to this cir- 
cumstance, and that, although speechless like the dumb 
man, he protested by such an exclamation, that his si- 
lence came from other causes than demoniacal posses- 
sion. Indeed, Cochloeus tells us that the monks some- 
times attributed the sufferings of their brother to a 
secret intercourse with the devil, and this writer him- 
self entertained that opinion.f 

A tender conscience inclined Luther to regard the 
slightest fault as a great sin. He had hardly discov- 
ered it, before he endeavored to expiate it by the sever- 
est mortifications, which only served to point out to 
him the inutility of all human remedies. *'I tortured 
myself almost to death,'' said he, " in order to procure 
peace with God for my troubled heart and agitated con- 
science ; but surrounded with thick darkness, I found 
peace nowhere." 

The practices of monastic holiness, which had lulled 
so many consciences to sleep, and to which Luther him- 
self had had recourse in his distress, soon appeared to 
him the unavailing remedies of an empirical and decep- 
tive religion. " While I was yet a monk, I no sooner 
felt assailed by any temptation, than I cried out, I am 

* Cum repents ceciderit vociferans, "Non siiml non 

earn I" Cochloeos, 1. f occulto allquo onm dasmoiie C0Q> 

meroio. XbiO. 



USELESS OBSERVANCES. 



179 



lost I Immediately I had recourse to a thousand metb- 
ods to stifle the cries of my conscience. I went every 
day to confession, but that was of no use to me. Then 
bowed down by sorrow, I tortured myself by the mul- 
titude of my thoughts. Look, exclaimed I ; thou art 
still envious, impatient, passionate. It profiteth thee 
nothing, 0 wretched man, to have entered this sacred 
order." 

And yet Luther, imbued with the prejudices of his 
time, had from early youth considered the observances, 
whose worthlessness he had now discovered, as a cer- 
tain remedy for diseased souls. What can he think of 
the strange discovery he has just made in the solitude 
of the cloister ? It is possible, then, to dwell witliin 
the sanctuary, and yet bear in one^s bosom a man of 
sin. He has received another garment, but not another 
heart. His expectations are disappointed. Where can 
he stop ? Can all these rules and observances be mere 
human inventions ? Such a supposition appears to him, 
at one time, a temptation of the devil, and at another, 
an irresistible truth. By turns contending with the 
holy voice that spoke to his heart, and with the vener- 
able institutions that time had sanctioned, Luther passed 
his life in a continual struggle. The young monk crept 
like a shadow through the long galleries of the cloister, 
that refe'choed with his sorrowful meanings. His body 
wasted away ; his strength began to fail him ; it some- 
times happened that he remained like one dead.* 

On one occasion, overwhelmed with sorrow, he shut 
himself up in his cell, and for several days and nights 
allowed no one to approach him. One of his friends, 
Lucas Edemberger, feeling anxious about the unhappy 
monk, and having a presentiment of the condition in 
which he was, took with him some boys who were 
in the habit of singing in the choirs, and knocked at 
the door of the cell. No one opens ; no one answers.^ 
The good Edemberger, still more alarmed, breaks open 

* Saep^ eum cogitantem attentius de ira Dei, aut de mirandia 
pcenarum exemplis, sublto tanti terrores concutlebaut, ut pene ej- 
ftuimaretur. Melancth. Vita Luth 



180 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMJLTIOH 



the door. Luther lies upon the floor inseusitle, mud 
giving no signs of life. His friend strives in vain to 
recall him to his senses : he is still motionless. Then 
the choristers begin to sing a sweet hymn. Their clear 
voices act like a charm on the poor monk, to whom 
music was ever one of his greatest pleasures : gradu- 
ally he recovers his strength, his consciousness, and 
life.* But if music could restore his serenity for a few 
moments, he requires another and a stronger remedy to 
heal him thoroughly: he needs that mild and subtle 
sound of the gospel which is the voice of God him- 
self. 1 Kings 19 : 12. He knew it well. And there- 
fore his troubles and his terrors led him to study with 
fresh zeal the writings of the prophets and of the apoa* 
tles.J 

* Seckend* $3. f Hoc stadium at magis ezpeteret, fllhi 
soifl doIoriboB et pavoribos movebatiir. Melancth. Yita Lutk 



191 



CHAPTER IV 

Ploai monks — Stftupits — His piety — Visitation — Conyenation*— 

The grace of Christ— Repentance — Power of sin — Sweetneai of 
repentance— Election — ^Providence — The Bible — The aged monk 
— Forgiveness of sins — Ordination — The dinner — ^Festival of Cor- 
pus Christi — Luther made professor at Wittemberg. 

Luther was not the first monk who had undergone 
such trials. The gloomy walls of the cloisters often 
concealed the most abominable vices, that would have 
made every upright mind shudder, had they been re- 
vealed ; but often also they hid Christian virtues that 
expanded there in silence, and which, had they been 
exposed to the eyes of the world, would have excited 
universal admiration. The possessors of these virtues, 
living only with themselves and with God, attracted no 
attention, and were often unknown to the mod3st con- 
vent in which they were enclosed : their lives were 
known only to God. Sometimes these humble solita* 
ries fell into that mystic theology, sad disease of the 
noblest minds, which in earlier ages had been the de- 
light of the first monks on the banks of the Nile, and 
which unprofitably consumes the souls of those who 
become its victims. 

Yet if one of these men was called to some high sta- 
tion, he there displayed virtues whose salutary influence 
was long and widely felt. The candle was set on a can- 
dlestick, and it illumined the whole house. Many were 
awakened by this light. Thus from generation to gen* 
eration were these pious souls propagated ; they were 
seen shining like isolated torches at the very times when 
the cloisters were often little other than impure recepta^ 
cles of the deepest darkness. 

A young man had been thus distinguished in one of 
the German convents. His name was John Staupitz, 
and be was descended from a noble Misnian family. 
From his tenderest youth he had had a taste for know* 



182 HISTORY" OF THE REFORMATION. 



ledge and a love of virtue.* He felt the need of retire- 
ment to devote himself to letters. He soon discovered 
that philosophy and the study of nature could not do 
much towards eternal salvation. He therefore began 
to learn divinity ; but especially endeavored to unite 
practice with knowledge. " For," says one of his biog- 
raphers, " it is in vain that we assume the name of di- 
vine, if we do not confirm that noble title by our lives."f 
The study of the Bible and of the Augustine theology, 
the knowledge of himself, the battles that he, like Lu- 
ther, had had to fight against the deceits and lusts of 
his heart, led him to the Redeemer. He found peace to 
his soul in faith in Christ. The doctrine of election by • 
grace had taken strong hold of his mind. The integrity 
of his life, the extent of his knowledge, the eloquence ol 
his speech, not less than a striking exterior and digni- 
fied manners,! recommended him to his contemporaries. 
Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, made him his 
friend, employed him in various embassies^ and founded 
the university of Wittemberg under his direction. This 
disciple of St. Paul and St. Augustine was the first dean 
of the theological faculty of that school whence the light 
was one day to issue to illumine the schools and church- 
es of so many nations. He was present at the Lateran 
council as proxy of the archbishop of Saltzburg, became 
provincial of his order in Thuringia and Saxony, and 
afterwards vicar-general of the Augustines for all Ger- 
many. 

Staupitz was grieved at the corruption of morals 
and the errors of doctrine that were devastating the 
church. His writings on the love of God, on Christian 
faith, and on conformity with the death of Christ, and 
the testimony of Luther, confirm this. But he consid- 
ered the former evil of more importance than the latter. 
Besides the mildness and indecision of his character, his 
desire not to go beyond the sphere of action he thought 

* A teneris unguiculis, generoso animi impetu, ad virtutem et 
eruditam doctrinam contendit. Melch. Adam. Vita Stauplzii. 

t Ibid. X Corporis forma atque statura conspicuus. Godv 
keoB, 3. 



THE VISITATION. 



183 



aflsigned to him, made him fitter to be the restorer of a 
convent -than the reformer of the church. He would 
have wished to raise none but distinguished men to im- 
portant offices ; but not finding them, he submitted to 
employ others. **We must plough," said he, "with 
such horses as we can find ; and with oxen, if there are 
no horses."* 

We have witnessed the anguish and the internal 
struggles to which Luther was a prey in the convent of 
Erfurth. At this period a visitation of the vicar-general 
was announced. In fact Staupitz came to make his 
usual inspection. This friend of Frederick, the founder 
of the university of Wittembcrg, and chief of the Au- 
gustines, exhibited much kindness to those monks who 
were under his authority. One of these brothers soon 
attracted his attention. He was a young man of mida^e 
height, whom study, fasting, and prolonged vigils had 
so wasted away that all his bones might be counted.f 
His eyes, that in after-years were compared to a fal- 
con's, were sunken ; his manner was dejected ; his coun- 
tenance betrayed an agitated mind, the prey of a thou- 
sand struggles, but yet strong and resolute. His whole 
appearance was grave, melancholy, and solemn. Stau- 
pitz, whose discernment had been exercised by long ex- 
perience, easily discovered what was passing in his mind, 
and distinguished the youthful monk above all who sur- 
rounded him. He felt drawn towards him, had a pre- 
sentiment of his great destiny, and entertained quite a 
paternal interest for his inferior. He had had to strug- 
gle like Luther, and therefore he could understand him. 
Above all, he could point out to him the road to peace 
which he himself had found. What he learned of the 
circumstances that had brought the young Augustine 
into the convent, still more increased his sympathy. He 
requested the prior to treat him with greater mildness, 
and took advantage of the opportunities afforded by his 
station to win the confidence of the youthful brother. 
Approaching him with affection, he endeavored by every 
means to dispel his timidity, which was increased by ibid 

• L. 0pp. W. 6. 2819. ♦ P Mosellani Epist. 



184 HISTORY 0? THK REFORMATIOlf. 



respoct and fear that a man of such exalted rank ai 

Staupitz must necessarily inspire. 

Luther's heart, which harsh treatment had closed til! 
then, opened at last and expanded under the mild beamg 
of charity. " As in water face angwereth to face, so the 
heart of man to man." Luther's heart found an echo in 
that of Staupitz. The vicar-general understood him, and 
the monk felt a confidence towards him that he had as 
yet experienced for none. He unbosomed to him the 
cause of his dejection, described the horrible thoughts 
that perplexed him, and then began in the cloister of 
Erfurth those conversations so full of wisdom and of 
instruction. Up to this time no one had understood 
Luther. One day, when at table in the refectory, the 
young monk, dejected and silent, scarcely touched his 
food. Staupitz, who looked earnestly at him, said at 
last, "Why are you so sad, brother Martin?'' "Ah,'' 
replied he, with a deep sigh, " I do not know what will 
become of me." "These temptations," resumed Stau- 
pitz, " are more necessary to you than eating and drink- 
ing." These two men did not stop there ; and ere long, 
in the silence of the cloister, took place that intimate 
intercourse which powerfully contributed to lead forth 
the future reformer from his state of darkness. 

" It is in vain," said Luther despondingly to Stau- 
pitz, " that I make promises to God : sin is ever the 
strongest." 

"0 my friend," replied the vicar-general, looking 
back on his own experience, "more than a thousand 
times have I sworn to our holy God to live piously, and 
I have never kept my vows. Now I swear no longer, 
for I know I cannot keep my solemn promises. If God 
will not be merciful towards me for the love of Christ, 
and grant me a happy departure when I must quit this 
world, I shall never, with the aid of all my vows and all 
my good works, stand before him. I must perish."* 

The young monk is terrified at the thought of divine 
justice. He lays open all his fears to the vicar-general. 
He is alarmed at the unspeakable holiness of God and 
• L. 0pp. W. 8. 2726. 



&EPEKTAKCE. 16B 

his sovereign majesty. "Who may abide the day of 
hip coming ? and who shall stand when he appeareth 
Mai 3 : 2. 

Staiipitz resumes : he knows where he had found 
peace, and he will point it out to the young man. 
"Why," said he, "do you torment yourself with all 
these speculations and these high thoughts ? Look at 
the wounds of Jesus Christ, to the blood that he has 
shed for you : it is there that the grace of God will ap- 
pear to you. Instead of torturing yourself on account 
of your sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer's arms. 
Trust in him, in the righteousness of his life, in the 
atonement of his death. Do not shrink back ; God is 
not angry with you, it is you who are angry with God. 
Listen to the Son of God. He became man to give you 
the assurance of divine favor. He says to you. You are 
my sheep ; you hear my voice ; no man shall pluck you 
out of my hand.''* 

But Luther does not find in himself the repentance 
which he thinks necessary for salvation : he replies, and 
it is the usual answer of distressed and timid minds, 
" How can I dare believe in the favor of God, so long as 
there is no real conversion in me ? I must be changed, 
before he will accept me.'' 

His venerable guide shows him that there can be no 
real conversion, so long as man fears God as a severe 
judge. " What will you say then,'' asks Luther, " to so 
many consciences to which a thousand insupportable 
tasks are prescribed in order that they may gain heaven?" 

Then he hears this reply of the vicar-general, or 
rather, he does not believe that it comes from man : it 
seems to him like a voice from heaven.f There is no 
real repentance except that which begins with the love 
of God and of righteousness. J What others imagine to 
be tlie end and accomplishment of repentance, is on the 
contrary only its beginning. In order that you may be 

• L. 0pp. W. 2. 264. t Te velut e coelo sonantem accept 

mns. L. Epp. 1. 115, ad Staupltzium, 30 May, 1518. 

t Poenitentia verd noa est, nisi qiue ab amore justitisB ei Del 
Inoipit, %io. Ibid. 



186 HISTORY OF THE REFOUMATIOH 



filled with the love of what is good, you must first be 
filled with love for God. If you desire to be converted, 
do not be curious about all these mortifications and all 
these tortures. Love Him who first loved you." 

Luther listens ; he listens again. These consolations 
fill him with joy till then unknown, and impart new light. 

It is Jesus Christ," thinks he in his heart ; yes, it is 
Jesus 'Christ himself who so wonderfully consoles me by 
these sweet and healing words."* 

These words indeed penetrated to the bottom of the 
young monk^s heart, like the sharp arrow of a strong 
man.f In order to repent, we must love God. Guided 
by this new light, he begins to compare the Scriptures. 
He looks out all the passages that treat of repentance 
and conversion. These words, till then so dreaded, to 
use his own expression, " are become to him an agree- 
able pastime, and the sweetest of recreations. All the 
passages of Scripture that used to alarm him, seem now 
to run to him from every part, to smile and sport around 
him."J 

" Hitherto," exclaims he, " although I carefully dis- 
sembled the state of my soul before God, and endeav- 
ored to express towards him a love which was a mere 
constraint and a fiction, there was no expression in 
Scripture so bitter to me as that of repentance. But 
now there is none so sweet, or more acceptable. 0 how 
delightful are all God's precepts when we read them, 
not only in books, but also in our Saviour's precious 
wounds !"§ 

Although Luther had been consoled by Staupitz's 
words, he nevertheless fell sometimes into despondency 

* Memini inter jucundissimas et salutares fabulas tuas, quibus 
me solet Dominus Jesus mirifice consolari. L. Epp. 1. 115, ad Stau- 
pitzium, 30 May, 1518. f Haesit hoc verbum tuum in me, sicut 
Bagitta potentis acuta. Ibid. % ^^cce jucundissimum ludum ; 

verba undique mihi colludebant, planeque huic sententiae arridebant 
et assultabant. L. Epp. 1. 115. § Nunc nihil dulcius aut gra- 
tiu8 mihi sonet quam pa3nitent'a,etc. Ita enim dulcescunt preecepta 
Dei, quando non in libris tantum, sed in vulneribus dulcisfiimi Sal* 
vatoris legenda inteliigimus. Ibid. 



hLECTION 



187 



Sia was again felt in his timid conscience, and then all 
his previous despair banished the joy of salvation. " 0 
my sin, my sin, my sin cried the young monk one day 
in the presence of the vicar-general, with a tone of pro- 
found anguish. " Well, would you only be a sinner in 
appearance," replied the latter, and have also a Sav- 
iour only in appearance ? Then," added Staupitz with 
authority, " know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour even 
of those who are great, real sinners, and deserving of 
utter condemnation." 

It was not alone the sin he discovered in his heart 
that agitated Luther ; the troubles of his conscience 
were augmented by those of reason. If the holy pre- 
cepts of the Bible alarmed him, some of the doctrines of 
that divine book still more increased his tortures. The 
truth, which is the great medium by which God confers 
peace on man, must necessarily begin by taking away 
from him the false security that destroys him. The doc- 
trine of election particularly disturbed the young man, 
and launched him into a boundless field of inquiry 
Must he believe that it was man who first chose God for 
his portion, or that God first elected man ? The Bible, 
history, daily experience, the works of Augustine, all 
had shown him that we must always and in every case 
ascend to that first cause, to that sovereign will by 
which every thing exists, and on which every thing 
depends. But his ardent spirit would have desired to 
go still further ; he would have wished to penetrate into 
the secret counsels of God, unveiled his mysteries, seen 
the invisible, and comprehended the incomprehensible. 
Staupitz checked him. He told him not to presume to 
fathom the hidden God, but to confine himself to what 
he has manifested to us in Jesus Christ. Look at 
Christ's wounds," said he, " and then will you see God's 
counsel towards man shine brightly forth. We cannot 
understand God out of Jesus Christ. In him, the Lord 
has said, you will find what I am, and what I require. 
Nowhere else, neither in heaven nor in earth, will yon 
discover it"* 

♦ L. 0pp. W. 22, m. 



188 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



The vicar-general did still more. He showed Luthei 
the paternal designs of Providence in permitting these 
temptations and these various struggles that his soul 
was to undergo. He made him view them in a light 
well calculated to revive his courage. By such trials 
God prepares for himself the souls that he destines for 
some important work. We must prove the vessel be- 
fore we launch it into the wide sea. If there is an edu- 
cation necessary for every man, there is a particular 
one for those who are destined to act upon their gener- 
ation. This is what Staupitz represented to the monk 
of Erfurth. " It is not in vain," said he to him, " that 
God exercises you in so many conflicts : you will see 
that he will employ you, as his servant, for great pur- 
poses." 

These words, to which Luther listened with astonish- 
ment and humility, inspired him with courage, and led 
him to discover strength in himself which he had not 
even suspected. The wisdom and prudence of an en- 
lightened friend gradually revealed the strong man to 
himself. Staupitz went further : he gave him many val- 
uable directions for his studies, exhorting him, hencefor- 
ward, to derive all his theology from the Bible, and to 
put away the systems of the schools. " Let the study 
of the Scriptures," said he, be your favorite occupa- 
tion." Never was good advice better followed out. 
What particularly delighted Luther, was the present 
Staupitz made him of a Bible : but it was not that Latin 
one, bound in red leather, the property of the convent, 
and which it was all his desire to possess, and to be able 
to carry about with him, because he was so familiar 
with its pages, and knew where to find each passage.* 
Nevertheless, at length he is master of the treasure of 
God. Henceforward he studies the Scriptures, and es- 
pecially the epistles of St. Paul, with ever-increasing 
zeal. To these he adds the works of St. Augustino 
alone. All that he reads is imprinted deeply in his mini 
His struggles have prepared his heart to understand the 
word. The soil has been ploughed deep : the incorrupt- 
* Seckend. p. 52. 



THE AGED MONK. 



Ib9 



Ible seed sinks into it with power. When Staupitz quit^ 
ted Erfurth, a new dawn had risen upon Luther. 

But the work was not yet finished. The vicar-gon- 
eral had prepared the way : God reserved its accom- 
plishment for a humbler instrument. The conscience of 
the young Augustine had not yet found repose. His 
body gave way at last under the conflict and the tension 
of his soul. He was attacked by an illness that brought 
him to the brink of the grave. This was in the second 
year of his abode in the convent. All his distresses and 
all his fears were aroused at the approach of death. His 
own impurity and the holiness of God again disturbed 
his mind. One day, as he lay overwhelmed with despair, 
an aged monk entered his cell, and addressed a few 
words of comfort to him. Luther opened his heart to 
him, and made known the fears by which he was tor- 
mented. The venerable old man was incapable of fol- 
lowing up that soul in all its doubts, as Staupitz had 
done ; but he knew his Credo, and had found in it much 
consolation to his heart. He will therefore apply the 
same remedy to his young brother. Leading him back 
to that apostles' creed which Luther had learned in early 
childhood at the school of Mansfeldt, the aged monk re- 
peated this article with kind good-nature : believe in 
the forgiveness of sins." These simple words, which the 
pious brother pronounced with sincerity in this decisive 
moment, diflFused great consolation in Luther's heart. 
" I believe," he repeated to himself ere long on his bed 
of sickness, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." 
''Ah," said the monk, "you must believe not only in the 
forgiveness of David's and of Peter's sins, for this even 
the devils believe. It is God's command that we believe 
our own sins are forgiven us."* How delightful did 
this commandment seem to poor Luther 1 Hear what 
St. Bernard says in his discourse on the Annunciation,^^ 
added the aged brother : " ' The testimony of the Holy 
Qhost in thy heart is this : Thy sins are forgiven thee.' " 
From this moment light sprung up in the heart of 

* Davidi aat Petro, sed mandatum Dei esse, ut singoU 

hominM nobis rexnitti peccata credamua. Melancth. Vita Luth. 



190 HISTORY OF THE EEFOILMATION. 



the young monk of Erfurth. The word of grace had 
been pronounced : he had believed in it. He disclaims 
all merit of salvation, and resigns himself confidingly to 
the grace of God in Jesus Christ. He does not at first 
perceive the consequences of the principle he has admit- 
ted ; he is still sincere in his attachment to the church, 
and yet he has no further need of her ; for he has re» 
ceived salvation immediately from God himself, and 
henceforth Roman-catholicism is virtually destroyed in 
him. He advances, he seeks in the writings of the 
apostles and prophets for all that can strengthen the 
hope which fills his heart. Each day he invokes sup 
port from on high, and each day also the light increaser 
in his soul. 

Luther's mental health restored that of his body, and 
he soon rose from his bed of sickness. He had received 
a new life in a twofold sense The festival of Christ- 
mas, that soon came, gave him an opportunity of abun- 
dantly tasting all the consolations of faith. He took 
part in these holy solemnities with sweet emotion ; and 
when in the ceremonial of the day he had to chant these 
words, " 0 beata culpa, qudd talem meruisti Redempto- 
rcm I"* his whole being responded Amen, and thrilled 
with joy. 

Luther had been two years in the cloister, and was 
to be ordained priest. He had received much, and saw 
with delight the prospect afforded by the sacerdotal 
oflSce of freely distributing what he had freely received. 
He wished to take advantage of the ceremony that was 
about to take place to become thoroughly reconciled 
with his father. He invited him to be present, and even 
requested him to fix the day. John Luther, who was 
not yet entirely pacified with regard to his son, never- 
theless accepted the invitation, and named Sunday, May 
2, 150t. 

Among the number of Luther's friends was the vicar 
of Eisenach, John Braun, who had been a faithful coun- 
sellor to him during his residence in that city. Luther 
* O blessed fault, that has merited such a Redeemer I Matii^ 



OEDINATION--THE DINNEE. 



191 



wrote to him on April 22. This is the oldest letter of 
the reformer, and it bears the following address : " To 
John Braun, holy and venerable priest of Christ and of 
Mary." It is only in Luther's earliest letters that the 
name of Mary is thus found. 

" God, who is glorious and holy in all his works,*^ 
Bays the candidate for the priesthood, "having most 
graciously condescended to raise me up — me, a wretch- 
ed and in all respects unworlhy sinner, and to call me 
by his sole and most free mercy to hia sublime ministry ; 
I ought, in order to testify my gratitude for such divine 
and magnificent goodness, as far at least as mere dust 
and ashes can do it, to fulfil with my whole heart the 
duties of the office intrusted to me." 

At last the day arrived. The miner of Mai^sfeldt did 
not fail to be present at his son's ordination. He gave 
him indeed no unequivocal mark of his affect^'on and of 
his generosity by presenting him on this occasion with 
twenty florins. 

The ceremony took place. Hieronymus, bishop of 
Brandenburg, officiated. At the moment of conferring 
on Luther the power of celebrating mass, he placed the 
chalice in his hands, and uttered these solemn words : 
" Accipe potestatem sacrificandi pro vivis et mortuis" — 
Receive the power of sacrificing for the quick and the 
dead. Luther at that time listened calmly to these 
words, which conferred on him the power of doing the 
work of the Son of God ; but he shuddered at them in 
after-years. " If the earth did not then open and swal- 
low us both up," said he, " it was owing to the great 
patience and long-suffering of the Lord."* 

The father afterwards dined at the convent with his 
son, the young priest's friends, and the monks. The 
conversation fell on Martin's entrance into the monas- 
tery. The brothers loudly extolled it as a most merito* 
rious work ; upon which the inflexible John, turning to 
Lis son, asked him, "Have you not read in Scripture, 
that you should obey your father and mother ?"f These 
* 0pp. 16. W. 1144. t Ei, hast du nicht gehort, dass inap 

Elteni soil gehorsam seyn. L. Epp. 2. lOJi. 



192 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOir 



words struck Luther ; they presented in quite a netl 
aspect the action that had brought him into the bosom 
of the convent, and they long refechoed in his heart. 

Shortly after his ordination, Luther, by the advice of 
Staupitz, made little excursions on foot into the neigh- 
boring parishes and convents, either to divert his mind 
and give his body the necessary exercise, or to accustom 
him to preaching. 

The festival of Corpus Christi was to be celebrated 
with great pomp at Eisleben. The vicar-general would 
be present, and Luther repaired there also. He had still 
need of Staupitz, and sought every opportunity of meet- 
ing this enlightened guide who directed his soul into the 
path of life. The procession was numerous and brill- 
iant. Staupitz himself bore the consecrated host, Lu- 
ther following in his sacerdotal robes. The thought 
that it was Jesus Christ himself whom the vicar-general 
carried, the idea that the Saviour was there in person 
before him, suddenly struck Luther's imagination, and 
filled him with such terror that he could scarcely pro- 
ceed. The perspiration fell drop by drop from his face ; 
he staggered, and thought he should die of anguish and 
affright. At length the procession was over ; the host, 
that had awakened all the fears of the monk, was sol- 
emnly deposited in the sanctuary ; and Luther, finding 
himself alone with Staupitz, fell into his arms and con- 
fessed his dread. Then the good vicar-general, who had 
long known that gentle Saviour, who does not break 
the bruised reed, said to him mildly, " It was not Jesus 
Christ, my brother ; he does not alarm, he gives conso- 
lation only."* 

Luther was not destined to remain hidden in an ob- 
scure convent. The time was come for his removal to a 
wider stage. Staupitz, with whom he always remained 
in close communication, saw clearly that the young 
monk's disposition was too active to be confined within 
so narrow a circle. He spoke of him to the Elector 
Frederick of Saxony ; and this enlightened prince in- 

* Es ist nicht Christus, denn ChrlBtus schreckt moht, ioodeni 
Mftet nur. L. 0pp. W. 22. pp. 513, 724. 



INVITATION TO WITTEMBEEO. 



193 



viteJ Luther in 1508, probably about the end of the 
year, to become professor at the university of Wittem- 
berg. This was the field on which he was to fight many 
hard battles. Luther felt that his true vocation was 
there. He was requested to repair to his new post with 
all speed : he replied to the call without delay, and in 
the hurry of his removal he had not time to write to him 
whom he styled his master and well-beloved father, John 
Braun, curate of Eisenach. He did so, however, a few 
months later. My departure was so hasty," said he, 
" that those with whom I was living were almost igno- 
rant of it. I am farther away, I confess ; but the better 
part of me remains with you."* Luther had been three 
years in Uie cloister at Erfurth. 

• L. Bpp. 1. p. 6. March 17, 1609. 



B.W. Of 



^3 



194 



HISTORY OP THE REFOKMATXOK 



CHAPTER V 

TbQ imiversity of Wittemberg — First instructions — Biblical leo 
tores —Sensation — Luther preaches at Wittemberg — The old 
chapel — Impression produced by his sermons. 

In the year 1502, Frederick the Elector founded a 
new university at Wittemberg. He declared in the 
charter confirming the privileges of this high school, 
that he and his people would look to it as to an oracle. 
At that time he had little thought in how remarkable a 
manner this language would be verified. Two men be- 
longing to the opposition that had been formed against 
the scholastic system — Pollich of Mellerstadt, doctoi of 
medicine, law, and philosophy, and Staupitz — had had 
great influence in the establishment of this academy, 
The university declared that it selected St. Augustine 
for its patron, a choice that was very significant. This 
new institution, which possessed great liberty, and 
which was considered as a court of final appeal in all 
cases of difficulty, was admirably fitted to become the 
cradle of the Reformation, and it powerfully contributed 
to the development of Luther and of Luther's work. 

On his arrival at Wittemberg, he repaired to the 
^LUgustine convent, where a cell was allotted to him 
for though a professor, he did not cease to be a monk 
He had been called to teach physics and dialectics. In 
assigning him this duty, regard had probably been paid 
to the philosophical studies he had pursued at Erfurth, 
and to the degree of master of arts which he had taken. 
Thus Luther, who hungered and thirsted after the word 
of God, was compelled to devote himself almost exclu- 
sively to the study of the Aristotelian scholastic philos- 
ophy. He had need of that bread of life which God 
gives to the world, and yet he must occupy himself with 
human subtleties. What a restraint, and what sighs it 
called forth 1 " By God's grace, I am well," wrote he to 
Braun, "except that I have to study philosophy with all 



BIBLICAL LECTURES. 



105 



my might. From the first moment of my arrival at Witp 
temberg, I was earnestly desirous of exchanging it for 
that of theology ; but/' added he, lest it should be sup- 
posed he meant the theology of the day, " it is of a the- 
ology which seeks the kernel in the nut, the wheat in 
the husk, the marrow in the bones, that I am speaking.* 
Be that as it may, God is God," continues he with that 
confidence which was the soul of his life ; *'man is almost 
always mistaken in his judgments, but this is our God. 
He will lead us with goodness for ever and ever." The 
studies that Luther was then obliged to pursue were of 
great service to him, in enabling him in after-years to 
combat the errors of the schoolmen. 

But he could not stop there. The desire of his heart 
was about to be accomplished. That same power which 
somfe years before had driven Luther from the bar into 
a monastic life, was now impelling him from philosophy 
towards the Bible. He zealously applied himself to the 
acquisition of the ancient languages, and particularly of 
Greek and Hebrew, in order to draw knowledge and 
learning from the very springs whence they gushed 
forth. He was all his life indefatigable in labor.f A 
few months after his arrival at the university, he solic- 
ited the degree of bachelor of divinity. He obtained it 
at the end of March, 1509, with the particular summons 
to devote himself to biblical theology, ad Biblia." 

Every day, at one in the afternoon, Luther was called 
to lecture on the Bible : a precious hour both for the 
professor and his pupils, and one which led them deeper 
and deeper into the divine meaning of those revelations 
so long lost to the people and to the schools. 

He began his course by explaining the Psalms, and 
thence passed to the epistle to the Romans. It was 
more particularly while meditating on this portion of 
Scripture, that the light of truth penetrated his heart. 
In the retirement of his quiet cell, he used to consecrate 
whole hours to the study of the divine word, this epistle 

* Theologia quae nucleum nucis, et medullam triticl, et medul- 
lam oesium gcrutatnr. L. Epp. 1. 6. f In studiis literarum, 

corpore ac mente Indefessus. PaUavicinii Hist. Cono. Trid , 1. 16^ 



196 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOH. 



of St. Paul lying open before him. On one occasion 
having reached the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, 
he read this passage from the prophet Habakkuk : "The 
just shall live by faith." This precept struck him. There 
is then for the just a life different from that of other 
men ; and this life is the gift of faith. This promise^ 
which he received into his heart as if God himself had 
placed it there, unveils to him the mystery of the Chris- 
tian life, and increases this life in him. Years after, in 
the midst of his numerous occupations, he imagined he 
still heard these words : " The just shall live by faith."* 

Luther's lectures thus prepared had little similarity 
to what had been heard till then. It was not an elo- 
quent rhetorician or a pedantic schoolman that spoke, 
but a Christian who had felt the power of revealed truths, 
who drew them forth from the Bible, poured them* out 
from the treasures of his heart, and presented them all 
full of life to his astonished hearers. It was not the 
teaching of a man, but of God. 

This entirely new method of expounding the truth 
made a great noise ; the news of it spread far and wide, 
and attracted to the newly established university a 
crowd of youthful foreign students. Even many profes- 
sors attended Luther's lectures ; and among others Mel- 
lerstadt, frequently styled *'the light of the world," first 
rector of the university, who already at Leipsic had ear- 
nestly combated the ridiculous instructions of scholasti- 
cism, had denied that "the light created on the first day 
was theology," and had maintained that the study of lit- 
erature should be the foundation of that science. " This 
monk," said he, " will put all the doctors to shame ; he 
will bring in a new doctrine, and reform the whole 
church ; for he builds upon the word of Christ, and no 
one in the world can either resist or overthrow that word, 
even should he attack it with all the arms of philosophy, 
of the Sophists, Scotists, Albertists, Thomists, and with 
all the Tartaretus."f 

• Seckond. p. 55. f Melch. Adam. Vita Lutheri, 104. The 
TartaretuB, Sermones Diecipnli, and Dormi secur^, were favorite 
works with the scholastic divines in the middle ages. 



PREACHES AT WITTEMBEHa 197 



Staupitz, who was the mstriiment of God to develop 
all the gifts and treasures hidden in Luther, requested 
him to preach in the church of the Augustines. The 
young professor shrunk from this proposal. He desired 
to confine himself to his academical duties, he trembled 
at the thought of increasing them by those of the minis- 
try. In vain did Staupitz solicit him : " No, no," replied 
he ; " it is no slight thing to speak before men in the 
place of 6od."f What affecting humility in this great 
reformer of the church I Staupitz persisted ; but the 
ingenious Luther, says one of his biographers, found fif- 
teen arguments, pretexts, and evasions to defend himself 
against this invitation. At length, the chief of the Au- 
gustines persevering in his attack, Luther said, "Ah, 
doctor, by doing this you deprive me of life. I shall not 
be a*ble to hold out three months." " Well, so be it, in 
God's name," replied the vicar-general, "for our Lord 
God has also need on high of devoted and skilful men." 
Luther was forced to yield. 

In the middle of the square at Wittomberg stood an 
ancient wooden chapel, thirty feet long and twenty wide, 
whose walls, propped up on all sides, were falling into 
ruin. An old pulpit made of planks, and three feet high, 
received the preacher. It was in this wretched place 
that the preaching of the Reformation began. It was 
God's will that that which was to restore his glory 
should have the humblest beginnings. The foundations 
of the new Augustine church had just been laid, and in 
the mean while this miserable place of worship was 
made use of " This building," adds Myconius, one of 
Luther's contemporaries, who records these circum- 
stances, " may well be compared to the stable in which 
Christ was born. It was in this wretched enclosure that 
God willed, so to speak, that his well-beloved Son should 
l'»e born a second time. Among those thousands of car 
tlujdrals and parish churches with which the world is 
filled, there was not one at that time which God chose 
for the glorious preaching of eternal life." 

Luther preaches : every thing is striking in the nevs 
* Fabrlcius ceutifol Luth. 33. Math. 6 



198 HISTORY OP THE EEPOEltATION 

minister. His expressive countenance, his noble air, hia 
clear and sonorous voice, captivate all his hearers. Be- 
fore his time, the majority of preachers had sought rather 
what might amuse their congregations, than what would 
convert them. The great seriousness that pervaded all 
Luther's sermons, and the joy with which the knowledge 
of the gospel had filled his heart, imparted to his elo- 
quence an authority, a warmth, and an unction, that his 
predecessors had not possessed. " Endowed with a 
ready and lively genius," says one of his opponents,* 
" with a good memory, and employing his mother tongue 
with wonderful facility, Luther was inferior to none of 
his contemporaries in eloquence. Speaking from the 
pulpit as if he were agitated by some violent emotion, 
suiting the action to his words, he afiected his hearers' 
minds in a surprising manner, and carried them like a 
torrent wherever he pleased. So much strength, grace, 
and eloquence are rarely found in these children of the 
north." " He had," says Bossuet, " a lively and impetu- 
ous eloquence, that charmed and led away the people."* 

Soon the little chapel could not hold the hearers who 
crowded to it. The council of Wittemberg then nomi- 
nated Luther their chaplain, and invited him to preach in 
the city church. The impression he there produced was 
greater still. The energy of his genius, the eloquence 
of his style, and the excellency of the doctrines that he 
proclaimed, equally astonished his hearers. His reputa- 
tion extended far and wide, and Frederick the Wise him- 
self came once to Wittemberg to hear him. 

This was the beginning of a new life for Luther. Thf 
slothfulness of the cloister had been succeeded by great 
activity. Freedom, labor, the earnest and constant ac- 
tion to which he could now devote himself at Wittem- 
berg, succeeded in reestablishing harmony and peace 
within him. Now he was in his place, and the work ol 
Qod was soon to display its majestic progress. 

* Florimond Raymond, Hist. Hasres. cap. 6. 
f Hist, des Variations. 1. 



JOUKNEY TO ROMB. 



199 



CHAPTER VI. 

Journey to Rome — Convent on the Po — Sickness at Bologna— Reo- 
oUectious of Rome — Julius II. — Superstitious devotion — Profan- 
ity of the clergy — Conversations — Roman scandals — Biblical 
studies — Pilate's staircase — Effects on Luther's faith and on the 
Reformation— Gate of Paradise — Luther's confession. 

Luther was teaching both in the academical hall and 
in the church, when he was interrupted in his labors. 
In 1510, or according to others in 1511 or 1512, he was 
sent to Rome. Seven convents of his order were at 
variance on certain points with the vicar-general.* The 
acuteness of Luther's mind, his powerful language, and 
his talents for discussion, were the cause of his selection 
as agent for these seven monasteries before the pope.f 
This divine dispensation was necessary for Luther. It 
was requisite that he should know Rome. Full of the 
prejudices and delusions of the cloister, he had always 
imagined it to be the abode of sanctity. 

He set out and crossed the Alps. But he had scarce 
ly descended into the plains of the rich and voluptuous 
Italy, before he found at every step subjects of astonish- 
ment and scandal. The poor German monk was enter- 
tained ia a wealthy convent of the Benedictines on the 
banks of the Po, in Lombardy. The revenues of this 
monastery amounted to 36,000 ducats ; 12,000 were de- 
voted to the table, 12,000 were set apart for the build- 
ings, and the remainder for the wants of the monks. J 
The splendor of the apartments, the richness of their 
dress, and the delicacy of their food, confounded Luther. 
Marble, silk, luxury in all its forms — what a novel sight 
for the humble brother of the poor convent of Wittem* 
berg I He was astonished and was silent ; but when 

* Quod septem conventus a vicario in quibusdam dissentirent 
Cochloeus, 2. f Qnod esset acer ingenio et ad oontradicendum 
ftudax et vehemens. Ibid. J L 0pp. W. 22. 1468, 



200 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

Friday came, what was his surprise at seeing the Ben^ 
dictine table groaning under a load of meat. Upon this 
he resolved to speak. The church and the pope," said 
be, "forbid such things." The Benedictines were irri- 
tated at this reprimand of the unpolished German. But 
Luther having persisted, and perhaps threatened to make 
tteir irregularities known, some thought the simplest 
course would be to get rid of their importunate guest. 
The porter of the convent forewarned him of the danger 
he incurred by a longer stay. He accordingly quitted 
this epicurean monastery, and reached Bologna, where 
he fell dangerously ill.* Some have attributed this to 
the effects of poison ; but it is more reasonable to sup* 
pose that the change of diet affected the frugal monk of 
Wittemberg, whose usual food was bread and herrings. 
This sickness was not to be unto death, but to the glory 
of God. He again relapsed into the sorrow and dejec- 
tion so natural to him. To die thus, far from Germany, 
under this burning sky, and in a foreign land — what a 
sad fate. The distress of mind that he had felt at Erfurth 
returned with fresh force. The sense of his sinfulness 
troubled him ; the prospect of God's judgment filled him 
with dread. But at the very moment that these terrors 
had reached their highest pitch, the words of St. Paul, 
that had already struck him at Wittemberg, " The just 
shall live by faith," recurred forcibly to his memory, and 
enlightened his soul like a ray from heaven. Thus re- 
stored and comforted, he soon regained his health, and 
resumed his journey towards Rome, expecting to find 
there a very different manner of life from that of the 
Lombard convents, and impatient to efface, by the sight 
of Roman holiness, the melancholy impressions left on 
his mind by his sojourn on the banks of the Po. 

At length, after a toilsome journey under a burning 
Italian sun, at the beginning of summer, he drew near 
the seven-hilled city. His heart was moved within him : 
his eyes sought after the queen of the world and of the 
church. As soon as he discovered the eternal city in the 
distance, the city of St. Peter and St. Paul, the metrop- 
* Matth. Dresser. Hist. Lutheri. 



LUTHER IN HOME. 



201 



olis of Catholicism, he fell on his knees, exclaiming, 
** Holy Rome, I salute thee !" 

Luther is in Rome : the Wittemberg professor stands 
in the midst of the eloquent ruins of consular and imperial 
RomC; of the Rome of so many martyrs and confessors 
of Jtsus Christ. Here had lived that Plautus and that 
Virgil whose works he had carried with him into the 
cloister, and all those great men at whose history his 
heart had so often beat with emotion. He beholds their 
statues, the ruins of the monuments that bear witness 
to their glory. But all that glory, all that power has 
fled ; his feet trample on tlieir dust. At each step he 
calls to mind the sad presentiments of Scipio shedding 
tears as he looked upon the ruins, the burning palaces, 
and tottering walls of Carthage, and exclaimed, " Thus 
will it one day be with Rome !" " And in truth," said 
Luther, "the Rome of the Scipios and Caesars has be- 
come a corpse. There are such heaps of rubbish that the 
f jundations of the hous'BS are now where once stood the 
roofs. It is there," added he, as he threw a melancholy 
glance over these ruins, it is there that once the riches 
and the treasures of the world were gathered together."* 
All these fragments, against which his feet stumble at 
every step, proclaim to Luther within the very walls of 
Romt, that what is strongest in the eyes of man may be 
easily destroyed by the breath of the Lord. 

But with these profane ashes are mingled other and 
holier ones : he recalls them to mind. The burial-place 
of the martyrs is not far from that of the generals of 
Rome and of her conquerors. Christian Rome with its 
sufferings has more power over the heart of the Saxon 
monk than pagan Rome with all its glory. Here that 
letter arrived in which Paul wrote, " The just shall live 
by faith." He is not far from Appii Forum and the Three 
Taverns. Here is the house of Narcissus ; there the 
palace of Caesar, where the Lord delivered the apostle 
from the jaws of the lion. Oh, how these recollections 
strengthen the heart of the monk of Wittemberg 1 

But Rome at this time presented a very difierent as- 
• L. 0pp. W. 22. 2374, 2377. 



202 HIStORY OP THE REFOHMAtlOlf . 



pect. The warlike Julius II. filled the papal chair, and 
not Leo X., as some distinguished German historians 
have said, doubtless through inattention. Luther has 
often related a trait in the character of this pope. When 
the news reached him that his army had been defeated 
by the French before Ravenna, he was repeating his 
daily prayers : he flung away the book, exclaiming with 
a terrible oath, "And thou too art become a Frenchman, 
..... Is it thus thou dost protect thy church Then 
turning in the direction of the country to whose arms he 
thought to have recourse, he added, Saint Switzer, pray 
for us.''* Ignorance, levity, and dissolute manners, a 
profane spirit, a contempt for all that is sacred, a scan- 
dalous traffic in divine things — such was the spectacle 
afforded by this unhappy city. Yet the pious monk 
remained for some time longer in his delusions. 

Having arrived about the period of the feast of St. 
John, he heard the Romans repeating around him a 
proverb current among them : " Happy the mother 
whose son performs mass on St. John's eve." "Oh, 
how should I rejoice to render my mother happy,'' said 
Luther to himself. Margaret's pious son endeavored to 
repeat a mass on that day ; but he could not, the throng 
was too great.f 

Fervent and meek, he visited all the churches and 
chapels ; he believed in all the falsehoods that were told 
him ; he devoutly performed all the holy practices that 
were required there, happy in being able to execute so 
many good works from which his fellow-countrymen 
were debarred. " Oh, how I regret," said the pious Ger- 
man to himself, " that my father and mother are still 
alive. What pleasure I should have in delivering them 
from the fire of purgatory by my masses, my prayers, 
and by so many other admirable works I"J He had 
found the light ; but the darkness was far from being 
entirely expelled from his understanding. His heart was 
converted ; his mind was not yet enlightened ; he had 
faitli and love, but he wanted knowledge It was no 
* L. 0pp. W. 22. 1314, 1332. f L. 0pp. W. Dedication ol 

Pi. 117, vol. 6, L. g. t Ibid. 



PROFAITITY OF THE CLERO-Y 



203 



trifling matter to emerge from that thick night which 
had covered the earth for so many centuries. 

Luther several times repeated mass at Rome. He 
oflBciated with all the unction and dignity that such an 
action appeared to him to require. But what affliction 
seized the heart of the Saxon monk at witnessing the 
sad and profane mechanism of the Roman priests, as 
they celebrated the sacrament of the altar. These on 
their part laughed at his simplicity. One day when he 
was officiating, he found that the priests at an adjoining 
altar had already repeated seven masses before he had 
finished one. Quick, quick," cried one of them, " send 
our Lady back her Son making an impious allusion to 
the transubstantiation of the bread into the body and 
blood of Jesus Christ. At another time Luther had only 
just reached the gospel, when the priest at his side had 
already terminated the mass. " Passa, passa I'' cried the 
latter to him, **make haste ; have done with it at once I"* 

His astonishment was still greater, when he found 
in the dignitaries of the papacy what he had already 
observed in the inferior clergy. He had hoped better 
things of them. 

It was the fashion at the papal court to attack Chris- 
tianity, and you could not pass for a well-bred man, un- 
less you entertained some erroneous or heretical opinion 
on the doctrines of the church.f They had endeavored 
to convince Erasmus, by means of certain extracts from 
Pliny, that there was no difference between the souls of 
men and of beasts ;J and some of the pope^s youthful 
courtiers maintained that the orthodox faith was the 
result of the crafty devices of a few saints. § 

Luther's quality of envoy from the German Augu»» 

* L. 0pp. W. 19, von der Winkelmesse. Mathesius, p. 6. 

t In quel tempo non pareva fosse galantuomo e buon cortegianc 
oolui che de' dogmi della chiesa non aveva qualche opinion erronea 
ed heretica. Caracciola, Vit. MS. Paul IV., quoted by Ranke 

t Burigny, Vie d'Erasme, 1. 139. 

§ E medio Romanae curiae, sectam juvenum qui asserebant, 

noetram fidem ortliodoxam potius quibusdam sanctorum astutiia 
sabflistere. Paul Canensius, Vita Pauli II. 



204 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 



tines procured him invitations to numerous meetings of 
distinguished ecclesiastics. One day, in particular, he 
was at table with several prelates, who displayed openly 
before him their buffoonery and impious conversation, 
and did not scruple to utter in his presence a thousand 
mockeries, thinking no doubt that he was of the same 
mind as themselves. Among other things, they related 
before the monk, laughing and priding themselves upon 
it, how, when they were repeating mass at the altar, 
instead of the sacramental words that were to transform 
the bread and wine into the flesh and blood of our Sav- 
iour, they pronounced over the elements this derisive 
expression : " Panis es, et panis manebis ; vinum es, et 
vinum manebis."* Then, continued they, we elevate 
the host, and all the people bow down and worship it. 
Luther could hardly believe his ears. His disposition, 
although full of animation and even gayety in the soci- 
ety of friends, was remarkably serious whenever sacred 
matters were concerned. The mockeries of Rome were 
a stumbling-block to him. '*I was," said he, a thought- 
ful and pious young monk. Such language grieved me 
bitterly. If 'tis thus they speak at Rome, freely and 
publicly at the dinner-table, thought I to myself, what 
would it be if their actions corresponded to their words I 
and if all, pope, cardinals, and courtiers, thus repeat the 
mass 1 And how they must have deceived me, who have 
heard them read devoutly so great a number."f 

Luther often mixed with the monks and citizens of 
Rome. If some few extolled the pope and his party, the 
majority gave a free course to their complaints and to 
their sarcasms. What stories had they not to tell about 
the reigning pope, or Alexander VI., or about so many 
others I One day his Roman friends related how Csesar 
Borgia, having fled from Rome, was taken in Spain. As 
they were going to try him, he called for mercy, and 
asked for a confessor to visit him in his prison. A monk 
was sent to him, whom he slew, put on his hood, and 

* Bread thou art, and bread thou shalt remain ; wine thon act, 
and wine thou shalt remain. 

\ Luth. 0pp. W. 19, von der Winkelmesse. 



CONVEESATIONS. 



escaped. " I heard that at Rome ; and it is a positive 
fact," says Luther.* Another day, passing down a wide 
street leading to St. Peter's, he halted in astonishment 
before a stone statue, representing a pope under the 
figure of a woman, holding a sceptre, clothed in the 
papal mantle, and carrying a child in her arms. It is a 
young woman of Mentz, he was told, whom the cardi- 
nals elected pope, and who was delivered of a child 
opposite this place. No pope, therefore, passes along 
that street. " I am surprised," says Luther, that the 
popes allow such a statue to remain."f 

Luther had thought to find the edifice of the church 
encompassed with splendor and strength ; but its doors 
were broken down, and the walls damaged by fire. He 
witnessed the desolation of the sanctuary, and drew 
back with horror. All his dreams had been of holiness ; 
he had discovered naught but profanation. 

The disorders without tiio churches were not less 
shocking to him. *' The police of Rome is very strict 
and severe," said he. "The judge or captain patrols the 
city every night on horseback with three hundred follow- 
ers ; he arrests every one that is found in the streets : if 
they meet an armed man, he is hung, or thrown into the 
Tiber. And yet the city is filled with disorder and mur- 
der ; while in those places where the word of God is 
preached uprightly and in purity, peace and order pre- 
vail, without calling for the severity of the law."J " No 
one can imagine what sins and infamous actions are 
committed in Rome," said he at another time ; " they 
must be seen and heard to be believed. Thus, they are 
in the habit of saying, If there is a hell, Rome is built 
over it : it is an abyss whence issues every kind of sin."§ 

This spectacle made a deep impression even then 
upon Luther's mind ; it was increased ere long. " The 
nearer we approach Rome, the greater number of bad 
Christians we meet with," said he, many years after. 

• Das habe ich zu Rom fur gewiss gehort. Luth. 0pp. W. 22. 
1322. t Es nimmt mich wunder, dass die Pabste solches Bild 

leiden konnen. Ibid. 1320. i Ibid. 2376. § Ist ixgend 
tine HfleUe, so muss Rom darauf gebaut seyn. Ibid. 2377. 



206 HISTORY OF THE EEFOEMATIO». 



There is a vulgar proverb, that he who goes to Rome 
the first time, looks out for a knave ; the second time, 
he finds him ; and the third, he brings him away with 
him. But people are now become so clever, that they 
make these three journeys in one."* Machiavelli, one 
of the most profound geniuses of Italy, but also one of 
unenviable notoriety, who was living at Florence when 
Luther passed through that city on his way to Rome, 
has made the same remark : "The strongest symptoms,'' 
said he, "of the approaching ruin of Christianity" — ^by 
which he means Roman-catholicism — "is, that the nearer 
people approach the capital of Christendom, the less 
Christian spirit is found in them. The scandalous exam- 
ples and the crimes of the court of Rome are the cause 
why Italy has lost every principle of piety and all relig- 
ious feeling. We Italians," continues this great histo- 
rian, "are indebted principally to the church and the 
priests for having become impious and immoral."f Lu- 
ther, somewhat later, was sensible of the very great 
importance of this journey. " If they would give me one 
hundred thousand florins," said he, " I would not have 
missed seeing Rome."J 

This visit was also very advantageous to him in re- 
gard to learning. Like Reuchlin, Luther took advantage 
of his residence in Italy to penetrate deeper into the 
meaning of the holy Scriptures. He took lessons in He- 
brew from a celebrated rabbi, named Elias Levita. It 
was at Rome that he partly acquired that knowledge of 
the divine word, under the attacks of which Rome was 
destined to fall. 

But this journey was most important to Luther in 
another respect. Not only was the veil withdrawn, and 
the sardonic sneer, the mocking incredulity which lay 
concealed behind the Romish superstitions revealed to 
the future reformer, but the living faith that God had 
implanted in him was there powerfully strengthened. 

We have seen how he at first gave himself up to all 

* Address to the Christian nobles of Germany. f Dissert 

on the first Dec of Livy. t 100.000 gulden. L. 0pp. W. %% 

2374. 



PILATE'S STAIUCASE. 



207 



tho vain observances which the church enjoined for the 
expiation of sin. One day, among others, wishing to 
obtain an indulgence promised by the pope to all who 
should ascend on their knees what is called Pilate^s 
Staircase, the poor Saxon monk was humbly creeping 
up those steps, which he was told had been miraculously 
transported from Jerusalem to Rome. But while he was 
performing this meritorious act, he thought he heard a 
voice of thunder crying from the bottom of his heart, as 
at Wittemberg and Bologna, "The just shall live by 
faith." These words, that twice before had struck him 
like the voice of an angel from God, resounded unceas- 
ingly and powerfully within him. He rises in amaze- 
ment from the steps up which he was dragging his 
body : he shudders at himself ; he is ashamed of seeing 
to what a depth superstition had plunged him. He flies 
far from the scene of his folly.* 

This powerful text has a mysterious influence on the 
life of Luther. It was a creative sentence both for the 
reformer and for the Reformation. It was in these words 
God then said. Let there be light ; and there was light. 

It is frequently necessary for a truth to be presented 
many times to our minds in order that it may produce 
the due effect. Luther had profoundly studied the epis- 
tle to the Romans, and yet the doctrine of justification 
by faith there taught had never appeared so clear to him. 
Now he comprehends that righteousness which alone can 
stand before God ; now he receives for himself from the 
hand of Christ that obedience which God of his free gift 
imputes to the sinner, as soon as he raises his eyes with 
humility to the crucified Son of man. This was the de- 
cisive epoch of Luther's inner life. That faith which had 
saved him from the terrors of death, became the very soul 
of his theology, his strong-hold in every danger ; the prin- 
ciple which gave energy to his preaching, and strength 
to his charity ; the foundation of his peace, the encoiur 
agement to his labors, his comfort in life and in death. 

But this great doctrine of a salvation proceeding 
bom God and not from man, was not only the power ^ 
• Seckendon^ p. 66. 



208 



HISTUlL"i: OF THE EEFORMATlOJl 



God to save Luther's soul, it became in a still greatei 
degree the power of God to reform the church ; an ef- 
fectual weapon wielded by the apostles ; a weapon too 
long" neglected, but taken at last, in all its primitive 
brightness, from the arsenal of the omnipotent God. At 
the very moment when Luther uprose from his knees cn 
Pilate's staircase, in agitation and amazement at those 
words which Paul had addressed fifteen centuries before 
to the inhabitants of that metropolis, Truth, till then a 
melancholy captive, and fettered in the church, uprose 
also to fall no more. 

We should here listen to what Luther himself says 
on the matter. Although I was a holy and blameless 
monk, my conscience was nevertheless full of trouble 
and anguish. I could not endure those words, * The 
righteousness of God.' I had no love for that holy and 
just God who punishes sinners. I was filled with secret 
anger against him : I hated him, because, not content 
with frightening by the law and the miseries of life us 
wretched sinners, already ruined by original sin, he still 
further increased our tortures by the gospel. But when, 
by the Spirit of God, I understood these words, when I 
learned how the justification of the sinner proceeds from 
the free mercy of our Lord through faith,* then I felt 
born again like a new man ; I entered through the open 
doors into the very paradise of God.f Henceforward, 
also, I saw the beloved and holy Scriptures with othei 
eyes. I perused the Bible ; I brought together a great 
number of passages that taught me the nature of God's 
work. And as previously I had detested with all my 
heart these words, * The righteousness of God/ I began 
from that hour to value them and to love them as the 
sweetest and most consoling words in the Bible. In 
very truth, this language of St. Paul was to me the true 
gate of paradise." 

Thus when he was called on solemn occasions to con- 
fess this doctrine, Luther always recovered his entbusi- 

* Qua vos Deus miserlcors justificat per fidem L. 0pp. 

Lat. in praef. f Hie me prorsus renatum esse sensi, et aperib 

portis ia ipsum paradisum intrasse. Ibid. 



LUTHEE'S CONFESSION. 



209 



asm and rough energy. " I see," observed he at an im- 
portant moment,* " that the devil is continually attack- 
ing this fundamental article by means of his doctors, and 
that in this respect he can never cease or take any re- 
pose. Well then, I, Doctor Martin Luther, unworthy 
herald of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, confess 
this article, that faith done without works justifies before 
Ood; and I declare that it shall stand and remain for 
ever in despite of the emperor of the Romans, the em- 
peror of the Turks, the emperor of the Tartars, the em- 
peror of the Persians ; in spite of the pope and all the 
cardinals, with the bishops, priests, monks, and nuns ; 
in spite of kings, princes, and nobles ; and in spite of 
all the world, and of the devils themselves ; and that if 
they endeavor to fight against this truth, they will draw 
the fires of hell upon their heads. This is the true and 
holy gospel, and the declaration of me. Doctor Luther, 
according to the teaching of the Holy Ghost. There is 
no one," continues he, " who has died for our sins, if not 
Jesus Christ the Son of God. I say it once again, should 
all the world and all the devils tear each other to pieces 
and burst with rage, that it is not the less true. And 
if it is He alone that taketh away our sins, it cannot be 
ourselves and our own works. But good works follow 
redemption, as the fruit grows on the tree. That is our 
doctrine ; that is what is taught by the Holy Ghost, and 
by all the communion of saints. We hold fast to it in 
the name of God. Amen." 

It was thus Luther found what had been overlooked, 
at least to a certain degree, by all doctors and reformers, 
even by the most illustrious of them. It was in Rome 
that God gave him this clear view of the fundamental 
doctrine of Christianity. He had gone to the city of the 
pontiffs for the solution of certain difficulties concerning 
a monastic order : he brought away from it in his heart 
the reformation of the church. 

• Comment oo the Imperial Edict, 1531. L. Opp, L. vol 20, 



14 



310 HISTOEY OF THE EEFOEMATIO*. 



CHAPTER VII 

Lather returns to Wittemberg — ^Made doctor of divinity — Carlstadi 
— Luther^s oath — ^Principle of the Reformation — Luther^B coui^ 
age — Earlj views of reformation — The schoolmen — Spalatin— 
Beuchlin's quarrel with the monks. 

Luther quitted Rome, and returned to Wittemberg . 
his heart was full of sorrow and indignation. Turning 
his eyes with disgust from the pontifical city, he directed 
them with hope to the holy Scriptures — to that new life 
which the word of God seemed then to promise to the 
world. This word increased in his heart by all that the 
church lost. He separated from the one to cling to the 
other. The whole of the Reformation was in that one 
movement. It set God in the place of the priest. 

Staupitz and the elector did not lose sight of the 
monk whom they had called to the university of Wittem- 
berg. It appears as if the vicar-general had a presenti- 
ment of the work that was to be done in the world, and 
that, finding it too difficult for himself, he wished to urge 
Luther towards it. There is nothing more remarkable, 
nothing perhaps more mysterious than this person, who 
is seen everywhere urging forward Luther in the path 
where God calls him, and then going to end his daya 
sadly in a cloister. The preaching of the young profes- 
sor had made a deep impression on the prince ; he had 
admired the strength of his understanding, the forcible- 
ness of his eloquence, and the excellency of the matters 
that he expounded * The elector and his friend, desirous 
of advancing a man of such great promise, resolved that 
he should take the high degree of doctor of divinity. 
Staupitz repaired to the convent, and took Luther into 
the garden, where, alone with him under a tree that Lu- 
ther in after-years delighted to point out to his disci- 

* Vim ingenii, nervos orationis, ac rerum bonitatem ezpositanUB 
la ooncionibue admiratus fuerat Melanpth. Vita Lutb. 



DOCTOE OF DIVINITT. 



211 



pies,* the veuerable father said to him, "My friend, you 
must now become doctor of the holy Scriptures Lu- 
ther shrunk at the very thought ; this eminent honoj 
startled him. " Seek a more worthy person," replied he. 
" As for me, I cannot consent to it." The vicar-genera] 
persisted : " Our Lord God has much to do in the church : 
he has need at this time of young and vigorous doctors.'^ 
These words, adds Melancthon, were perhaps said play- 
fully, yet the event corresponded with them ; for gener* 
ally many omens precede all great revolutions.f It is 
not necessary to suppose that Melancthon here speaks 
of miraculous prophecies. The most incredulous age^ 
that which preceded the present one, saw an exemplifi- 
cation of this remark. How many presages, without 
there being any thing miraculous in them, announced 
the revolution in which it closed. 

" But I am weak and sickly," replied Luther. " I 
have not long to live. Look out for some strong man." 
" The Lord has work in heaven as well as on earth," 
replied the vicar-general : " dead or alive, he has need 
of you in his council." J 

" It is the Holy Ghost alone that can make a doctor 
of divinity,"§ then urged the monk, still more alarmed. 
" Do what your convent requires," said Staupitz, " and 
what I, your vicar-general, command ; for you have 
promised to obey us." "But my poverty," resumed the 
brother : " I have no means of defraying the expenses 
incidental to such a promotion." "Do not be uneasy 
about that," replied his friend ; "the prince has done 
you the favor to take all the charges upon himself." 
Pressed on every side, Luther thought it his duty to 
give way. 

It was about the end of the summer of 1512 that 
Luther set out for Leipsic to receive from the elector's 
treasurers the money necessary for his promotion. But 

* Unter einem Baum, den er mir und andern gezeigt. Math. p. ft 
t Multa praecedunt mutationes praesagia. Vita Luth. 
X Ihr lebet nun oder sterbet, so bedarf euch Grott in seinenj 
Rathe. Mathes. p. 6. § Neminem nisi Splritum Sanctum ere 

are posse doctorem theologise. Weismanni Hist. Eccl. 1. 1404. 



212 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



according to court custom, the money did not arrira 
The brother growing impatient wished to depart, but 
monastic obedience detained him. At length, on Octo- 
ber 4, he received fifty florins from Pfeffinger and John 
Doltzig. In the receipt which he gave them, he employs 
no otlier title than that of monk. " I, Martin," wrote he, 
" brother of the order of Hermits."* Luther hastened to 
return to Wittemberg. 

Andrew Bodenstein of the city of Carlstadt was at 
that time dean of the theological faculty, and it is by 
the name of Carlstadt that this doctor is generally 
known. He was also called the A. B. C. Melancthon 
first gave him this designation on account of the three 
initials of his name. Bodenstein acquired in his native 
country the first elements of learning. He was of a 
serious and gloomy character, perhaps inclined to jeal- 
ousy, and of a restless temper, but full of desire for 
knowledge, and of great capacity. He frequented sev- 
eral universities to augment his stores of learning, and 
studied theology at Rome. On his return from Italy, he 
settled at Wittemberg, and became doctor of divinity, 
" At this time," he said afterwards, " I had not yet read 
the holy Scriptures."f This remark gives us a very cor- 
rect idea of what theology then was. Carlstadt, besides 
his functions of professor, was canon and archdeacon. 
Such was the man who in after-years was destined to 
create a schism in the Eeformation. At this time he 
saw in Luther only an inferior ; but the Augustine ere 
long became an object of jealousy to him. " I will not 
be less great than Luther," said he one day.| Very far 
from anticipating at that period the great destinies of 
the young professor, Carlstadt conferred on his futuie 
rival the highest dignity of the university. 

On the 18th October, 1512, Luther was received 
licentiate in divinity, and took the following oath : "I 
swear to defend the evangelical truth with all my 
inight."§ On the day following, Bodenstein solemnly 

* L. Epp. I. 11. t Weismann, Hist. Eccl. p. 1416. 

t Ibid. ^ Juro me yeritatem evangelicam viriUter d^feii- 



LUTHER'S OATH. 



218 



conferred on him, in the presence of a numerous assem- 
bly, the insignia of doctor of divinity. He was made a 
biblical doctor, and not a doctor of sentences ; and was 
thus called to devote himself to the study of the Bible, 
and not to that of human traditions.* He then pledged 
himself by an oath, as he himself relates,f to his well- 
beloved and holy Scriptures. He promised to preach 
them faithfully, to teach them with purity, to study them 
all his life, and to defend them, both in disputation and 
in writing, against all false teachers, so far as God 
should give him ability. 

This solemn oath was Luther's call to the Reforma- 
tion. By imposing on his conscience the holy obligation 
of searching freely and boldly proclaiming the Christian 
truth, this oath raised the new doctor above the narrow 
limits to which his monastic vow would perhaps have 
confined him. Called by the university, by his sove- 
reign, in the name of the imperial majesty and of the 
see of Rome itself, and bound before God by the most 
solemn oath, he became from that hour the most in- 
trepid herald of the word of life. On that memorable 
day Luther was armed champion of the Bible. 

We may accordingly look upon this oath, sworn to 
the holy Scriptures, as one of the causes of the revival 
of the church. The sole and infallible authority of the 
word of God was the primary and fundamental principle 
of the Reformation. Every reform in detail that was 
afterwards carried out in the doctrine, morals, or govern- 
ment of the church, and in its worship, was but a conse- 
quence of this first principle. In these days we can 
scarcely imagine the sensation produced by this elemen- 
tary and simple, but long neglected truth. A few men 
of more enlarged views than the common, alone foresaw 
its immense consequences. Ere long the courageous 
voices of all the reformers proclaimed this mighty prin- 
ciple, at the sound of which Rome shall crumble into 
dust : *^ Christians receive no other doctrines than those 
founded on the express words of Jesus Christ, of the 

• Doctor biblicus, and not sententiarius. Melancth, 

t L. 0pp. W. 16. 2061. Mathesiufi, p. 7. 



214 HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 



apostles, and of the prophets. No man, no assembly oi 
doctors has a right to prescribe new ones." 

Luther's position was changed. The summons that 
he had received became to the reformer as one of those 
extraordinary calls which the Lord addressed to the 
prophets under the old covenant, and to the apostles 
under the new. The solemn engagement that he made 
produced so deep an impression upon his soul, that the 
recollection of'this oath was sufficient, in after-years, to 
console him in the midst of the greatest dangers and of 
the fiercest conflicts. And when he saw all Europe agi- 
tated and shaken by the word that he had proclaimed ; 
when the accusations of Rome, the reproaches of many 
pious men, the doubts and fears of his own too sensible 
heart, seemed likely to make him hesitate, fear, and fall 
into despair, he called to mind the oath that he had 
taken, and remained steadfast, calm, and full of joy. 
" I have gone forward in the Lord's name," said he in a 
critical moment, " and I have placed myself in his hands. 
His will be done. Who prayed him to make me a doc- 
tor ? If it was he who created me such, let him sup- 
port me ; or else, if he repent of what he has done, let 
him deprive me of my office. This tribulation therefore 
alarms me not. I seek one thing only, which is, to pre- 
serve the favor of God in all that he has called me to do 
with him." At another time he said, "He who under- 
takes any thing without a divine call, seeks his own 
glory. But I, Doctor Martin Luther, was forced to be- 
come a doctor. Popery desired to stop me in the per- 
formance of my duty ; but you see what has happened 
to it, and worse still will befall it. They cannot defend 
themselves against me. I am determined, in God's 
name, to tread upon the lions, to trample dragons and 
serpents under foot. This will begin during my life, 
and will be accomplished after my death."* 

From the period of his oath, Luther no longer sought 
the truth for himself alone : he sought it also for the 
church. Still full of the recollections of Rome, he saw 
confusedly before him a path in which he had promised 
• L. 0pp. W. 21. 2061. 



EARLY OP REFORMATION. 218 



to walk with all the energy .of his soul. The spiritual 
life that had hitherto been manifested only within him, 
now extended itself without. This was the third epoch 
of his development. His entrance into the cloister had 
turned his thoughts towards God ; the knowledge of 
the remission of sins, and of the righteo usness of faith, 
had emancipated his soul ; his doctor's oath gave him 
that baptism of fire by which he became a reformer of 
the church. 

His ideas were soon directed in a general manner 
towards the Reformation. In an address that he had 
written, as it would seem, to be delivered by the pro- 
vost of Lietzkau at the Lateran council, he declared that 
the corruption of the world originated in the priests' 
teaching so many fables and traditions, instead of preach- 
ing the pure word of God. The word of life, in his view, 
alone had the power of effecting the spiritual regenera- 
tion of man. Thus then already he made the salvation 
of the world depend upon the refe'stablishment of sound , 
doctrine, and not upon a mere reformation of manners. 
Yet Luther was not entirely consistent with himself ; 
he still entertained contradictory opinions : but a spirit 
of power beamed from all his writings ; he Coursr 
geously broke the bonds with which the systems of the 
schools had fettered the thoughts of men ; he everywhere 
passed beyond the limits within which previous ages 
had so closely confined him, and opened up new paths, 
God was with him. 

The first adversaries that he attacked were those 
famous schoolmen, whom he had himself so much stud- 
ied, and who then reigned supreme in all the academies. 
He accused them of Pelagianism, and forcibly inveigh* 
ing against Aristotle, the father of the schools, and 
against Thomas Aquinas, he undertook to hurl them 
both from the throne whence they governed, the one 
philosophy, and the other theology,* 

"Aristotle, Porphyry, the sententiary divines the 
schoolmen — he wrote to Lange, "are useless studies in 

• Aristotelem m philosophicis, Sanctum Thomam in theologiclfly 
«vertendos susceperat. Pallavicini, 1. 16. 



816 HISTORY OF THE REPORMATlOK. 



our days. I desire nothing more earnestly than to tm* 
veil to the world that comedian who has deceived the 
church by assuming a Greek mask, and to show his 
deformity to all.* In every public discussion he was 
heard repeating, "The writings of the apostles and 
prophets are surer and more sublime than all the soph- 
isms and all the divinity of the schools.'' Such language 
was new, but men gradually became used to it. About 
a year after he was able to write with exultation, " God 
is at work. Our theology and St. Augustine advance 
admirably, and prevail in our university. Aristotle is 
declining ; he is tottering towards his eternal ruin that 
is near at hand. The lectures on the Sentences produce 
nothing but weariness. No one can hope for hearers, 
unless he professes the biblical theology."f Happy the 
university of which such testimony can be given. 

At the same time that Luther was attacking Aris- 
totle, he took the side of Erasmus and Reuchlin against 
their enemies. He entered into communication with 
these great men and with other scholars, such as Pirck- 
heimer, Mutianus, and Hiitten, who belonged more or 
less to the same party. He also, about this period, 
formed another friendship that was of great importance 
through the whole course of his life. 

There was at that time at the elector's court a per- 
son remarkable for his wisdom and his candor : this was 
George Spalatin. He was born at Spalatus or Spalt in 
the bishopric of Eichstadt, and had been originally cu- 
rate of the village of Hohenkirch, near the Thuringian 
forests. He was afterwards chosen by Frederick the 
Wise to be his secretary, chaplain, and tutor to his 
nephew John Frederick, who was one day to wear the 
electoral crown. Spalatin was a simple-hearted man in 
the midst of the court : he appeared timid in the pres- 
ence of great events ; circumspect and prudent, like his 
master,! before the ardent Luther, with whom he corre- 
sponded daily. Like Staupitz, he was better suited for 

• Perdita studia nostri saeculi. Epp. 1. 16. Feb. 8, 1516. 
t Epp. 1. 67. May 18, 1617. 

X Secundum genium heri sui. Weismann, Hist EccL 1. ] 484 



sPALATiK. an 

peaceful times. Such men are necessary : they are like 
those delicate substances in which jewels and crystal 
are wrapped to secure them from the injuries of trans- 
port. They seem useless ; and yet without them all 
these precious objects would be broken and lost. Spa- 
latin was not a man to effect great undertakings ; but 
he faithfully and noiselessly performed the task imposed 
upon him.* He was at first one of the principal aids of 
his master in collecting those relics of saints, of which 
Frederick was so long a great admirer. But he, as well 
as the prince, turned by degrees towards the truth. The 
faith, which then reappeared in the church, did not lay 
such violent hold upon him as upon Luther : it guided 
him by slower methods. He became Luther^s friend at 
court ; the minister through whom passed all matters 
between the reformer and the princes ; the mediator 
between the church and the state. The elector honored 
Spalatin with great intimacy : they always travelled 
together in the same carriage.f Nevertheless, the at- 
mosphere of the court oppressed the good chaplain : he 
was affected by profound melancholy ; he could have 
desired to quit all these honors, and become once more 
a simple pastor in the forests of Thuringia. But Luther 
consoled him, and exhorted him to remain firm at his 
post. Spalatin acquired general esteem : princes and 
learned men showed him the most sincere regard. Eras- 
mus used to say, inscribe Spalatin's name not only 
among those of my principal friends, but still further, 
among those of my most honored protectors ; and that 
not upon paper, but on my heart."J 

Reuchlin's quarrel with the monks was then making 
a great noise in Germany. The most pious men were 
often undecided what part they should take ; for the 
monks were eager to destroy the Hebrew books in which 
blasphemies against Christ were to be found. The elec- 
tor commissioned his chaplain to consult the doctor of 
Wittemberg on this matter, as his reputation was al- 

* Fideliter et sine strepitu fungens. Weismann, Hist. Eccl. !• 
1434, t Qui cum principe in rheda sive lectico solitus est ferrL 
Corpus Reformatorum, 1. 33. t Melch. Ad. Vita Spalat. p. 100. 



318 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 



ready great. Here is Luther's answer : it is the first 
letter he addressed to the court-preacher : 

"What shall I say? These monks pretend to cast 
out Beelzebub, but it is not by the finger of God. I 
cease not from groaning and lamenting over it. We 
Christians are beginning to be wise outwardly, and mad 
inwardly.'^ There are in every part of our Jerusalem 
blasphemies a hundred times worse than those of the 
Jews, and all there are filled with spiritual idols. It is 
our duty with holy zeal to carry out and destroy these 
internal enemies. But we neglect that which is most 
urgent ; and the devil himself persuades us to abandon 
what belongs to us, at the same time that he preventa 
ao from correcting what belongs to others." 

* Foris sapere, et domi desipere. L. Epp. 1. & 



FAITH-POPULAR DECLAIIATIOXB. 219 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Faith — Popular declamations — Academic teaching — Luther's purity 

of life — German theology or mysticism — The monk Spenlein— 
Justification by faith — Luther on Erasmus — Faith and works- 
Erasmus — Necessity of works — Luther's charity. 

Luther did not lose himself in this quarrel. A living 
faith in Christ filled his heart and his life. "Within my 
heart," said he, reigns alone — and it ought thus to 
reign alone — faith in my Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
beginning, middle, and end of all the thoughts that occu- 
py my mind by day and night."* 

All his hearers listened with admiration as he spoke, 
whether from the professor's chair or from the pulpit, of 
that faith in Jesus Christ. His teaching diffused great 
light. Men were astonished that they had not earlier 
acknowledged truths that appeared so evident in his 
mouth. " The desire of self-justification," said he, " is 
the cause of all the distresses of the heart. But he who 
receives Jesus Christ as a Saviour, enjoys peace; and 
not only peace, but purity of heart. All sanctification 
of the heart is a fruit of faith. For faith is a divine 
work in us, which changes us and gives us a new birth, 
emanating from God himself. It kills the old Adam in 
us ; and by the Holy Ghost which is communicated to 
us, it gives us a new heart and makes us new men. It 
is not by empty speculations," he again exclaimed, "but 
hy this practical method, that we can obtain a saving 
knowledge of Jesus Christ."*}* 

It was at this time that Luther preached those dis- 
courses on the ten commandments that have come down 
to us under the title of " Popular Declamations." They 
contain errors no doubt ; Luther became enlightened 
only by degrees. " The path of the just is as the shin- 
ing light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect 

* Praef. ad Galat. f Non per speculationem, sed per haa 

viom practicam. 



820 HISTORY OP THE UEFORMATIOK. 



day.'' Prov. 4 : 18. But what truth, simplicity, and el 
oquence are found in these discourses. How well can 
we understand the effect that the new preacher must 
have produced upon his audience and upon his age. 
We will quote but one passage taken from the begin- 
ning. 

Luther ascends the pulpit of Wittemberg, and reads 
these words : " Thou shalt have no other gods before 
me." Exoi 20 : 3. Then turning to the people who 
crowded the sanctuary, he says, " All the sons of Adam 
iire idolaters, and have sinned against this first com- 
mandment."* 

Doubtless this strange assertion startled his hearers. 
He proceeds to justify it, and the speaker continues : 
" There are two kinds of idolatry ; one external, the 
other internal. 

"The external, in which man bows down to wood 
and stone, to beasts, and to the heavenly host. 

** The internal, in which man, fearful of punishment, 
or seeking his own pleasure, does not worship the crea- 
ture, but loves him in his heart, and trusts in him. 

" What kind of religion is this ? You do not bend 
the knee before riches and honors, but you offer them 
your heart, the noblest portion of yourselves. . . . Alas, 
you worship God in body, but the creature in spirit. 

" This idolatry prevails in every man until he is heal- 
ed by the free gift of the faith that is in Christ Jesus. 

" And how shall this cure be accomplished ? 

" Listen. Faith in Christ takes away from you all 
trust in your own wisdom, righteousness, and strength ; 
it teaches you that if Christ had not died for you, and 
had not thus saved you, neither you nor any other crea- 
ture would have been able to do it.f Then you learn to 
despise all those things that are unavailing to you. 

* Omnes filii AdaB sunt idololatrae. Decern Praecepta Witteml?er* 
gensi populo praedicata per R. P. D. Martinum Lutherum, Aug. anno 
1616. These discourses were preached in German; the quotations 
are from the Latin edition, 1. 1. f Nisi ipse pro te mortuus 

esset, teque fiervaret,nec tu, nec omnia creatura tibi posset prodeaseb 
Ibid. 



ACADEMIC TEACHIKO. 



221 



"Nothing now remains to you but Jesus Christ, 
Christ alone, Christ all-sufficient for your soul. Hoping 
for nothing from any creature, you have only Christ, 
from whom you hope for every thing, and whom you 
love above every thing. 

" Now Christ is the one sole and true God. When 
you have him for your God, you have no other gods 

It is in this manner Luther shows how the soul is 
brought back to God, his sovereign good, by the gospel, 
according to the words of Jesus Christ : " I am the way ; 
no man cometh unto the Father but by me." The man 
who speaks thus to his age aims at something more than 
the correction of a few abuses ; he is earnest above all 
things to establish true religion. His work is not merely 
negative ; it is primarily positive. 

Luther afterwards turns his discourse against the 
superstitions which then filled Christendom ; the signs 
and mysterious characters, the observance of certain 
days and months, familiar spirits, phantoms, the influ- 
ence of the stars, witchcraft, metamorphoses, incubi and 
succubi, the patronage of saints, etc. ; one after another 
he attacks these idols, and with vigorous arm overthrows 
all these false gods. 

But it was particularly in his lecture-room, before 
an enlightened and youthful audience, hungering for the 
truth, that he displayed all the treasures of God's word, 
"He explained Scripture in such a manner," says his 
illustrious friend Melancthon, " that, in the judgment of 
all pious and well-informed men, it was as if a new morn 
had risen upon the doctrine, after a long night of dark- 
ness. He showed the difference that existed between 
the law and the gospel. He refuted the then prevalent 
error of the churches and of the schools, that men by 
their works merit the remission of sins, and become 
righteous before God by an outward discipline. He thus 
led men's hearts back to the Son of God.f Like Johr 
the Baptist, he pointed to the Lamb of God that hai 

• At Jesus est veris, unus, solus Deus, quern cum habes, non ha 
bes alienum deum. Decern Praec. 1. 1. t Revocavit igitur La 
theruB hominum meutes ad Filium Dei. Melauctb. Vita Lutb. 



222 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



taken away tlie sins of the world ; he explained how em 
is freely pardoned on account of the Son of God, and 
that man receives this blessing through faith. He made 
no change in the ceremonies. On the contrary, the es- 
tablished discipline had not in his order a more faithful 
observer and defender. But he endeavored more and 
more to make all understand these grand and essential 
doctrines of conversion, of the remission of sins,- of faith, 
and of the true consolation that is to be found in the 
cross. Pious minds were struck and penetrated by the 
sweetness of this doctrine ; the learned received it with 
joy.* One might have said that Christ, the apostles, 
and the prophets were now issuing from the obscurity 
of some impure dungeon."f 

The firmness with which Luther relied on the holy 
Scriptures imparted great authority to his teaching. But 
other circumstances added still more to his strength. In 
him every action of his life corresponded with his words. 
It was known that these discourses did not proceed 
merely from his lips : J they had their source in his heart, 
and were practised in all his works. And when, some- 
what later, the Eeformation burst forth, many influential 
men, who saw with regret these divisions in the church, 
won over beforehand by the holiness of the reformer's 
life and by the beauty of his genius, not only did not 
oppose him, but further still, embraced that doctrine to 
which he gave testimony by his works. § The more men 
loved Christian virtues, the more they inclined to the 
reformer. All honest divines were in his favor. [| This 
is what was said by those who knew him, and particu- 
larly by the wisest man of his age, Melancthon, and by 
Erasmus, the illustrious opponent of Luther. Envy and 
prejudice have dared to speak of his disorderly life 

• Hujus doctrinae dulcedine pii omnes valde capiebantur, et em- 
ditis gratum erat. Melancth. Yita Luth. f Quasi ex tenebris, 

caicere, squalore, educi Christum, prophetas, apostolos. Ibid. 

t Oratio non in labris nasci, sed in pectore. Ib d. § Eiqne 
propter auctoritatem, quam sanctitate morum antea pepererat, ad- 
Benserunt. Ibid. || Futo et hodie theologos onmes probos 

vQre Lutliero. Erasmi Epp. 1. 65^. 



aEEMAN THEOLOay OR MYSTICISM. 223 



Wittemberg was changed by this preaching of faith, and 
that city became the focus of a light that was soon to 
Qlumine all Germany, and to shine on all the church. 

It was in 1516 that Luther published the work of an 
anonymous mystic theologian — probably Ebland, priest 
at Frankfort — entitled, " German Theology,'' in which the 
author shows how man may attain perfection by the three 
methods of purification, illumination, and communion. 
Luther never gave himself up to the mystic theology, 
but he received from it a salutary impression. It con- 
firmed him in his disgust for the dry teaching of the 
schoolmen, in his contempt for the works and observ- 
ances so much trumpeted by the church, in the con- 
viction that he felt of man's spiritual helplessness and 
of the necessity of grace, and in his attachment to the 
Bible. " I prefer," wrote he to Staupitz, " the mystics 
and the Bible to all the schoolmen thus placing the 
former teachers in the next rank to the sacred writers. 
Perhaps also the ''German Theology" aided him inform- 
ing a sounder idea on the sacraments, and above all on 
the mass ; for the author maintains that the eucharist 
gives Christ to man, and does not offer up Christ to God. 
Luther accompanied this publication by a preface, in 
which he declared that, next to the Bible and St. Augus- 
tine, he had never met with a book in which he had 
learned more of God, Christ, man, and of all things. 
Already many doctors began to speak ill of the Wittem- 
berg professors, and accused them of innovation. " One 
would say," continues Luther, ''that there had never 
lived men before us who taught as we teach. Yes, in 
truth, there have been many. But the anger of God, 
which our sins have deserved, has prevented us from 
seeing and hearing them. For a long time the univer- 
sities have banished the word of God into a corner. Let 
them read this book, and then let them say whether our 
theology is new, for this is not a new book."*]" 

But if Luther derived from the mystic divinity what- 
ever good it contained, he did not take the bad also. 

* nils praefero mysticos et Biblia. L. Epp. 1. 107. 

i Pie Deutsche Theologie. Strasburg, 1519. Preface. 



224 HISTORY OF THE EEFOEMATIOK. 



The great error of mysticism is to overlook the free gift 
of salvation. We are about to notice a remarkable ex- 
ample of the purity of his faith. 

Luther had an affectionate and tender heart, and de- 
sired to see those whom he loved in possession of that 
light which had guided him into the paths of peace. He 
took advantage of every opportunity that occurred, as 
professor, preacher, or monk, and also of his extensive 
correspondence, to communicate his treasure to others. 
One of his former brethren in the convent of Erfurth, the 
monk George Spenlein, was then residing in the convent 
of Memmingen, perhaps after having spent a short time 
at Wittemberg. Spenlein had commissioned the doctor 
to sell various articles that he had left with him — a tunic 
of Brussels cloth, a work by an Eisenach doctor, and a 
hood. Luther carefully discharged this commission. He 
received, says he in a letter to Spenlein, dated April 7, 
1516, one florin for the tunic, half a florin for the book, 
and a florin for the hood, and had remitted the amount 
to the father- vicar, to whom Spenlein owed three florins. 
But Luther quickly passes from this account of a monk's 
wardrobe to a more important subject. 

" I should be very glad to know," wrote he to friar 
George, " what is the state of your soul Is it not tired 
of its own righteousness ? does it not breathe freely at 
last, and does it not confide in the righteousness of 
Christ? In our days, pride seduces many, and espe- 
cially those who labor with all their might to become 
righteous. Not understanding the righteousness of God 
that is given to us freely in Christ Jesus, they wish to 
stand before him on their own merits. But that can- 
not be. When you were living with me, you were in 
that error, and so was I. I am yet struggling unceas- 
ingly against it, and I have not yet entirely triumphed 
over it. 

"Oh, my dear brother, learn to know Christ, and 
him crucified. Learn to sing unto him a new song, to 
despair of yourself, and to say to him, * Thou, Lord Jesus 
Christ, art my righteousness, and I am thy sin. Thou 
hast taken what was mine, and ha^t given me what was 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 



225 



thine.* What thou wast not, thou didst become, in 
order that I might become what I was not.' Beware, 
my dear George, of pretending to such purity as no 
longer to confess yourself a sinner ; for Christ dwells 
only with sinners. He came down from heaven, where 
he was living among the righteous, in order to live also 
among sinners. Meditate carefully upon this love of 
Christ, and you will taste all its unspeakable consola- 
tion. If our labors and afflictions could give peace to 
the conscience, why should Christ have died ? You will 
not find peace, save in him, by despairing of yourself 
and of your works, and in learning with what love he 
opens his arms to you, taking all your sins upon him- 
self, and giving thee all his righteousness." 

Thus the powerful doctrine that had already saved 
the world in the apostolic age, and which was destined 
to save it a second time in the days of the Reformation, 
was clearly and forcibly explained by Luther. Passing 
over the many ages of ignorance and superstition that 
had intervened, in this he gave his hand to St. Paul. 

Spenlein was not the only man whom he sought to 
instruct in this fundp^mental doctrine. The little truth 
that he found in this respect in the writings of Erasmus, 
made him uneasy. It was of great importance to en- 
lighten a man whose authority was so great, and whose 
genius was so admirable. But how was he to do it ? 
His court friend, the elector's chaplain, was much re- 
spected by Erasmus : it is to him that Luther applies. 

What displeases me in Erasmus, who is a man of such 
extensive learning, is, my dear Spalatin," wrote Luthor, 
** that by the righteousness of works and of the law, of 
which the apostle speaks, he understands the fulfilling 
rj{ the ceremonial law. The righteousness of the law 
consists not only in ceremonies, but in all the works of 
the decalogue. Even if these works should be accom- 
plished without faith in Christ, they may, it is true, pro- 
duce a Fabricius, a Regulus, and other men perfectly 
upright in the eyes of the world ; but they then deserve 
* Tu, Domine Jesu, es justitia inea ; ego autem sum peccatum 
taiun ; tu aasumpslBti meum, et dedisti mihi tuum. L. Epp. 1. 17« 

IS 



226 



HISTOEY OF THE RE FOEMATIOB . 



as little to be styled righteousness y as the fruit of the 
medlar to be called a fig. For we do not become right* 
eous, as Aristotle maintains, by performing righteous 
works ; but when we are become righteous, then we per- 
form such works.* The man must first be changed, a.id 
afterwards the works. Abel was first accepted by Gcd, 
and then his sacrifice." Luther continues: "Fulfil, 
beseech you, the duty of a friend and of a Christian by 
communicating these matters to Erasmus." This letter 
is thus dated : " In haste, from the corner of our con- 
vent, 19th October, 1516." It places in its true light 
the relation between Luther and Erasmus. It shows 
the sincere interest he felt in what he thought would bo 
really beneficial to this illustrious writer. Undoubt- 
edly the opposition shown by Erasmus to the truth com- 
pelled Luther somewhat later to combat him openly ; 
but he did not do so until he had sought to enlighten his 
antagonist. 

At last then were heard explained ideas at once clear 
and deep on the nature of goodness. Then was declared 
the principle, that what constitutes the real goodness of 
an action is not its outward appearance, but the spirit 
in which it is performed. This was aiming a deadly 
blow at all those superstitious observances which for 
ages had oppressed the church, and prevented Christian 
vu'tues from growing up and flo^irishing within it. 

"I am reading Erasmus," says Luther on anothet 
occasion, "but he daily loses his credit with me. I like 
to see him rebuke with so much firmness and learning 
the grovelling ignorance of the priests and monks ; but 
I fear that be does not render great service to the doc- 
trine of Jesus Christ. What is of man is dearer to him 
than what is of God.f We are living in dangerous 
times. A man is not a good and judicious Christian 
because he understands Greek and Hebrew. Jerome, 
who knew five languages, is inferior to Augustine^ whc 
understood but one ; although Erasmus thinks the cod? 

* Non enim jasta agendo justi efficimor; sed jusii fiendo et 
esaendo operamur justa. L. Epp. 1. 22. 

t Humana praevalent in eo plusquam divina. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 



227 



trary I very carefully conceal my opinions concerning 
Erasmus, through fear of giving advantage to his adver- 
saries. Perhaps the Lord will give him understanding 
in his time."* 

The helplessness of man, the omnipotence of God, 
were the two truths that Luther desired to refestablisL 
That is but a sad religion and a wretched philosophy 
by which man is directed to his own natural strength. 
Ages have tried in vain this so much boasted strength ; 
and while man has, by his own natural powers, arrived 
at great excellence in all that concerns his earthly ex- 
istence, he has never been able to scatter the darkness 
that conceals from his soul the knowledge of the true 
God, or to change a single inclination of his heart. The 
highest degree of wisdom attained by ambitious minds, 
or by souls thirsting with the desire of perfection, has 
been to despair of themselves.f It is therefore a gen- 
erous, a comforting, and supremely true doctrine which 
unveils our own impotency in order to proclaim a power 
from God by which we can do all things. That truly is 
a great reformation which vindicates on earth the glory 
of heaven, and which pleads before man the rights of 
the Almighty God. 

No one knew better than Luther the intimate and 
indissoluble bond that unites the gratuitous salvation of 
God with the free works of man. No one showed more 
plainly than he, that it is only by receiving all from 
Christ, that man can impart much to his brethren. He 
always represented these two actions, that of God and 
that of man, in the same picture. And thus it is, that 
after explaining to the friar Spenlein what is meant by 
saving righteousness, he adds, " If thou firmly believest 
those things, as is thy duty — for cursed is he who does 
not believe them — receive thy brethren who are still ig 
norant and in error, as Jesus Christ has received thee 
Bear with them patiently. Make their sins thine own j 

* Dabit ei Dominus intellectum suo forte tempore. L. Epp. 1.22. 

t Ti ovv ; dwarbv avajuipTTjTov eivai ffdrj ; " What, is it possible to 
be without sin?'^ asked Epictetus, 4. 12, 19. ^Afjaixo!^* *'Impo» 
able/' replied he. 



228 HISTOEY OF THE EEFORMATIOH. 



and if thou hast any good thing, impart it to them. 
*Keceive ye one another/ says the apostle, 'as Christ 
also received us, to the glory of God.' Rom. 15 : 7. It 
is a deplorable righteousness that cannot bear with oth- 
srs because it finds them wicked, and which thinks only 
of seeking the solitude of the desert, instead of doing 
them good by long-suffering, prayer, and example. If 
thou art the lily and the rose of Christ, know that thy 
dwelling-place is among thorns. Only take care lest, by 
thy impatience, by thy rash judgments, and thy secret 
pride, thou dost thyself become a thorn. Christ reigns 
in the midst of his enemies. If he had desired to live 
only among the good, and to die for those only who 
loved him, for whom, I pray, would he have died, and 
among whom would he have lived ?" 

It is affecting to see how Luther practised these char- 
itable precepts. An Augustine monk of Erfurth, George 
Leiffer, was exposed to many trials. Luther became 
informed of this, and within a week after writing the 
preceding letter to Spenlein, he came to him with words 
of comfort. " I learn that you are agitated by many 
tempests, and that your soul is tossed to and fro by the 
waves. The cross of Christ is divided among all the 
world, and each man has his share. You should not 
therefore reject that which has fallen to you. Eeceive 
it rather as a holy relic, not in a vessel of silver or of 
gold, but in what is far better, in a heart of gold, in a 
heart full of meekness. If the wood of the cross has 
been so sanctified by the body and blood of Christ that 
we consider it as the most venerable relic, how much more 
should the wrongs, persecutions, sufferings, and hatred 
of men be holy relics unto us, since they have not only 
been touched by Christ's flesh, but have been embraced, 
kissed, and blessed by his infinite charity."* 

* SanctissimsB reliquiae. . . . delficae voluntatis suae chari^Ate aror 
plexflB, osculatse. L. Epp. L 18. 



LUTHER'S FIRST THESES. 



229 



CHAPTER IX 

Lttther^s first theses — The old Adam and grace — Visitation of thfl 
convents — Luther at Dresden and Erfurth — Tornator — Peace and 
the cross — Results of Luther^s journey — His labors — The plague, 

Luther's teaching produced its natural fruits. Many 
of his disciples already felt themselves impelled to pro- 
fess publicly the truths which their master's lessons had 
revealed to them. Among his hearers was a young 
scholar, Bernard of Feldkirchen, professor of Aristotle's 
physics in the university, and who five years later was 
the first of the evangelical ecclesiastics who entered into 
the bonds of matrimony. 

It was Luther's wish that Feldkirchen should main- 
tain, under his presidence, certain theses or propositions 
in which his principles were laid down. The doctrines 
professed by Luther thus gained additional publicity. 
The disputation took place in 1616. 

This was Luther's first attack upon the dominion of 
the sophists and upon the Papacy, as he himself charac- 
terizes it. Weak as it was, it caused him some uneaai- 
ness. " I allow these propositions to be printed," said 
he many years after, when publishing them in his works, 
"principally that the greatness of my cause, and the 
success with which God has crowned it, may not make 
me vain. For they fully manifest my humiliation, that 
is to say, the infirmity and ignorance, the fear and trem- 
bling with, which I began this conflict. I was alone : I 
had thrown myself imprudently into this business. Un- 
able to retract, I conceded many important points to tho 
pope, and I even adored him."* 

Some of the propositions were as follows :f 

" The old Adam is the vanity of vanities ; he is the 
universal vanity ; and he renders all other creatures 
vain, however good they may be. 

" The old Adam is called * the flesh,' not only because 

* Sed etiam ultro adorabam. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 50. 

\ L. 0pp. L, 17. 142, and in the Latin edition, vol. 1. 61. 



230 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



he is led by the lusts of the flesh, but further, becansOi 
even if he be chaste, prudent, and upright, he is not 
born again of God by the Holy Ghost. 

" A man who has no part in the grace of God, can- 
not keep the commandments of God, or prepare himself, 
either wholly or in part, to receive grace ; but he rests 
of necessity under the power of sin. 

" The will of man without grace is not free, but is 
enslaved, and that too with his own consent. 

"Jesus Christ, our strength and our righteousness, 
he who trieth the heart and reins, is the only discerner 
and judge of our merits. 

" Since all is possible, by Christ, to the believer, it is 
superstitious to seek for other help, either in man's will 
or in the saints."* 

This disputation made a great noise, and has been 
considered as the beginning of the Reformation. 

The hour drew nigh in which the Reformation was to 
burst forth. God hastened to prepare the instrument 
that he had determined to employ. The elector, having 
built a new church at Wittemberg, to which he gave the 
name of All Saints, sent Staupitz into the Low Countries 
to collect relics for the ornament of the new edifice. The 
vicar-general commissioned Luther to replace him dur- 
ing his absence, and in particular to make a visitation 
of the forty monasteries of Misnia and Thuringia. 

Luther repaired first to Grimma, and thence to Dres- 
den. Everywhere he endeavored to establish the truths 
that he had discovered, and to enlighten the members of 
his order. " Do not bind yourselves to Aristotle or to 
any other teacher of a deceitful philosophy," said he to 
the monks, " but read the word of God with diligence. 
Do not look for salvation in your own strength or in 
your good works, but in the merits of Christ and in 
God^s grace."f 

An Augustine monk of Dresden had fled from his 

• Cum credenti omnia sint, auctore Christo, possibilia, super^ti- 
tlosum est, humano arbitrlo, aliis Sanctis, alia deputari aimlia L. 
0pp. L. 17. 142. 

f HilscherV Luther's Anwesenheit in Alt-Dresden, 1728. 



LUTHER'S VISITATION. 



231 



convent, and was at Mentz, where the prior of the An* 
gnstines had received him. Luther wrote to the latter,* 
begging him to send back the stray sheep, and added 
these words so full of charity and truth : I know that 
offences must needs come. It is no marvel that man 
falls ; but it is so that he rises again and stands up^ 
right. Peter fell, that he might know he was but a man. 
Even in our days the cedars of Lebanon are seen to fall. 
The very angels — a thing that exceeds all imagination — 
have fallen in heaven, and Adam in paradise. Why then 
should we be surprised if a reed is shaken by the whirl- 
wind, or if a smoking taper is extinguished ?" 

From Dresden Luther proceeded to Erfurth, and re- 
appeared to discharge the functions of vicar-general in 
that very convent where, eleven years before, he had 
wound up the clock, opened the gates, and swept out 
the church. He nominated to the priorship of the con- 
vent his friend the bachelor John Lange, a learned and 
pious, but severe man : he exhorted him to affability and 
patience. " Put on," wrote he to him shortly after, ''put 
on a spirit of meekness towards the prior of Nuremberg ]^ 
this is but proper, seeing that he has assumed a spirit 
of bitterness and harshness. Bitterness is not expelled 
by bitterness, that is to say, the devil by the devil ; but 
sweetness dispels bitterness, that is to say, the finger of 
God casts out the evil spirit.^f We must perhaps re- 
gret that Luther did not on various occasions remember 
this excellent advice. 

At Neustadt on the Orla there was nothing but dis- 
union. Dissensions and quarrels reigned in the convent, 
and all the monks were at war with their prior. They 
assailed Luther with their complaints. The prior, Mi- 
chael Dressel, or Tornator, as Luther calls him, translat- 
ing his name into Latin, on his side, laid all his troubles 
before the doctor. " Peace, peace,'' said he. " You seek 
peace," replied Luther ; "but it is the peace of the world, 
and not the peace of Christ that you seek. Do you not 

* Epp. 1. 20, dated May 1, 1516. f Non enim asper aspe- 

ram, id est non dlabolus diabolum ; sed suavis asperum, id est digi- 
tOB Dei ejicit dsemonia. L. Epp. 1. 36. 



232 mSTORl OF THF REFORMATIOlff. 



know that our God has set his peace in the midst of 
war ? He whom no one disturbs has not peace. But 
he who, troubled by all men and by the things of this 
life, bears all with tranquillity and joy, he possesses 
the true peace. You say with Israel, Peace, peace ; and 
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 as soon as we can say with love, 0 blessed 
cross, there is no wood like thine 1"* On his return to 
Wittemberg, Luther, desiring to put an end to these dis- 
sensionSy permitted the monks to elect another prior. 

Luther returned to Wittemberg after an absence of 
six weeks. He was afflicted at all that he had seen ; 
but the journey gave him a better knowledge of the 
church and of the world, increased his confidence in his 
intercourse with society, and afforded him many oppor- 
tunities of founding schools, of pressing this fundamen- 
tal truth, that " holy Scripture alone shows us the way 
to heaven," and of exhorting the brethren to live togeth- 
er in holiness, chastity, and peace.f There is no doubt 
that much good seed was sown in the different Augus- 
tine convents during this journey of the reformer. The 
monastic orders, which had long been the support of 
Rome, did perhaps more for the Reformation than against 
it. This is true in particular of the Augustines. Almost 
all the pious men of liberal and elevated mind who were 
living in the cloisters, turned towards the gospel. A 
new and generous blood ere long circulated through 
these orders, which were, so to speak, the arteries of the 
German church. As yet nothing was known in the world 
of the new ideas of the Wittemberg Augustine, while 
they were already the chief topic of conversation in the 
chapters and monasteries. Many a cloister thus became 
a nursery of reformers. As soon as the great struggle 
took place, pious and able men issued from their obscu- 
rity, and abandoned the seclusion of a monastic life for 
the active career of ministers of God's word. At the 

* Tarn cito enim crux cessat esse crux, quam cito laetus dixeris! 
Crux benedlctal inter ligna nullum tale. Epp. 1. 27. 
t Heiliglich, friedlich und ziichtig. Math. p. 10, 



THE PLAaUE. 



233 



period of this inspection of 1516, Luther awakened many 
drowsy souls by his words. Hence this year bas been 
named "the morning star of the gospel day." 

Luther resumed his usual occupation. He was at 
this perioi overwhelmed with labor : it was not enough 
that he was professor, preacher, and confessor ; he was 
burdened still further by many temporal occupations 
having reference to his order and his convent. " I have 
need almost continually," writes he, "of two secreta- 
ries ; for I do nothing else all the day long but wi'ite 
letters. I am preacher to the convent, I read the pray- 
ers at table, I am pastor and parish minister, director 
of studies, the prior's vicar — that is to say, prior eleven 
times over — inspector of the fish-ponds at Litzkau, coun- 
sel to the inns of Herzberg at Torgau, lecturer on St. 
Paul, and commentator on the Psalms. I have rarely 
time to repeat the daily prayers and to sing a hymn ; 
without speaking of my struggles with flesh and blood, 
with the devil and the world. Learn from this what an 
idle man I am."* 

About this time the plague broke out in Wittemberg. 
A great number of the students and teachers quitted the 
city. Luther remained. " I am not certain," wrote he 
to his friend at Erfurth, " if the plague will let me finish 
the epistle to the Galatians. Its attacks are sudden and 
violent : it is making great ravages among the young 
in particular. You advise me to fly. Whither shall I 
fly ? I hope that the world will not come tv^ an end, if 
brother Martin dies.f If the pestilence spreads, I shall 
disperse the brothers in every direction ; but as for me, 
my place is here ; duty does not permit me to desert 
my post, until He who has called me shall summon me 
away. Not that I have no fear of death, for I am not 
Paul, I am only his commentator ; but I hope the Lord 
will deliver me from fear." Such was the resolution of 
the Wittemberg doctor. Shall he whom the pestilence 
vould not force to retire a single step, shrink before 
Kome ? Shall he yield through fear of the scaffold ? 

• Letter to Lange, Oct. 26, 1516. Epp. 1. 41. f Quo fugiam? 
^pero qaod aon corruet orbis, ruente fratre Martino. Ibid. 42. 



234 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATIO!! 



CHAPTER X 

The relics — Relations of Luther with the elector — ^Advice to tHe 
chaplain— Duke George — His character — Luther's sermon before 
the court — Dinner at court — Evening with Emser. 

Luther displayed the same courage before the mighty 
of this world, that he had shown amidst the most formi- 
dable evils. The elector was much pleased with the 
vicar -general, who had made a rich harvest of relics in 
the Low Countries. Luther gives an account of them to 
Spalatin ; and this affair of the relics, occurring at the 
very moment when the Reformation is about to begin, is 
a singular circumstance. Most certainly the reformers 
had little idea to what point they were tending. A bish- 
opric appeared to the elector the only recompense wor- 
thy the services of the vicar-general. Luther, to whom 
Spalatin wrote on the subject, strongly disapproved of 
such an idea. " There are many things which please 
your prince," replied he, " and which, nevertheless, are 
displeasing to God.* I do not deny that he is skilful in 
the matters of this world ; but in what concerns God 
and the salvation of souls, I account him, as well as his 
councillor Pfeffinger, sevenfold blind. I do not say this 
behind their backs, like a slanderer ; do not conceal it 
from them, for I am ready myself and on all occasions 
to tell it them both to their faces. Why would you,'' 
continues he, "surround this man," Staupitz, "with all 
the whirlwinds and tempests of episcopal cares ?" 

The elector was not offended with Luther's frankness. 
"The prince," wrote Spalatin, "often speaks of you, and 
in honorable terms." Frederick sent the monk some very 
fine cloth for a gown. " It would be too fine," said Lu- 
ther, " 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 great a prince as he. Those are my best fri jnda 
* Malta placeat priucipi tuo, quffi Deo displiceat. L £)pp> 
1.26. 



DUKE O-EORaE OF SAXONT. 



235 



who think the worst of me.* Thank our prince for hig 
kindness to me ; but I cannot allow myself to be praised 
either by you or by any man ; for all praise of man is 
vain, and only that which comes from God is true." 

The excellent chaplain was unwilling to confine him< 
self to his court functions. He wished to make himseli 
useful to the people ; but like many individuals in eveiy 
age, he desired to do it without offence and without irri^ 
tation, by conciliating the general favor. " Point out/' 
wrote he to Luther, some work that I may translate 
into our mother tongue ; one that shall give general 
satisfaction, and at the same time be useful." Agree- 
able and useful !" replied Luther ; "such a question is 
beyond my ability. The better things are, the less they 
please.f What is more salutary than Jesus Christ? and 
yet he is to the majority a savor of death. You will tell 
me that you wish to be useful only to those who love 
what is good. In that case make them hear the voice 
of Jesus Christ : you will be useful and agreeable, de- 
pend upon it, to a very small number only ; for the sheep 
are rare in this region of wolves." 

Luther, however, recommended to his friend the ser- 
mons of the Dominican Tauler. I have never read/' 
said he, " either in Latin or in our own language, a the- 
ology sounder, or more in conformity with the gospel. 
Taste, then, and see how sweet the Lord is, but not till 
after you have first tasted and felt how bitter is every 
thing that we are ourselves."J 

It was in the course of the year 15n that Luther en- 
tered into communication with Duke George of Saxony. 
The house of Saxony had at that time two chiefs. Two 
princes, Ernest and Albert, carried off in their youth 
from the castle of Altenburg by Kunz of Kaufungen, 
had, by the treaty of Leipsic, become the founders of the 
two houses which still bear their names. The Elector 
Frederick, son of Ernest, was, at the period we are de- 
scribing, the head of the Ernestine branch ; and his 
* li mihi maxime prosunt, qui mei pessime meminerint. L. Epp. 
I. 45. t Quo sunt aliqua salubriora, eo minus placeat. Ibid. 46 
t Quam amarum est, quicquid nos sumus. Ibid. 



236 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIO!! 



coTisin Duke George, of the Albertine. Dresden and 
Leipsic were both situated in the states of this duke, 
whose residence was in the former of these cities. His 
mother, Sidonia, was daughter of George Podiebrad, king 
of Bohemia. The long struggle that Bohemia had main- 
tained with Rome, since the time of John Huss, had not 
been without influence on the prince of Saxony. He had 
often manifested a desire for a reformation. "He has 
imbibed it with his mother's milk," said the priests ; "he 
is by birth an enemy of the clergy."* He annoyed the 
bishops, abbots, canons and monks in many ways ; and 
his cousin the Elector Frederick, was compelled more 
than once to interfere in their behalf. It seemed that 
Duke George would be one of the warmest partisans of 
a reformation. The devout Frederick, on the other hand, 
who had in former years worn the spurs of Godfrey in 
the holy sepulchre, and girding himself with the long 
and heavy sword of the conqueror of Jerusalem, had 
made oath to fight for the church, like that ancient and 
valiant knight, appeared destined to be the most ardent 
champion of Rome. But in all that concerns the gospel, 
the anticipations of human wisdom are frequently disap 
pointed. The reverse of what we might have supposed 
took place. The duke would have been delighted to hu- 
miliate the church and the clergy, to humble the bishops, 
whose princely retinue far surpassed his own ; but it 
was another thing to receive into his heart the evangel- 
ical doctrine that would humble it, to acknowledge him- 
self a guilty sinner, incapable of being saved, except 
by grace alone. He would willingly have reformed oth- 
ers, but he cared not to reform himself He would per- 
haps have set his hand to the task of compelling the 
bishop of Mentz to be contented with a single bishopric, 
and to keep no .more than fourteen horses in his stables, 
as he said more than once ;f but when he saw another 
than himself step forward as a reformer, when he beheld 
a simple monk undertake this work, and the Reforma- 
tion gaining numerous partisans among the people, the 
haughty grandson of the Hussite king became the most 
• Luth 0pp. W. 22. 1849. t Ibid, 



SERMON AT COURT. 



237 



violent adversary of the reform to w^hich ne had before 
Bhown himself favorable. 

In the month of July, 1517, Duke George requested 
Staupitz to send him an eloquent and learned preacher. 
Luther was recommended to him as a man of extensive 
learning and irreproachable conduct. The prince invited 
him to preach at Dresden in the castle-chapel, on the feast 
of St. James the elder. 

The day arrived. The duke and his court repaired 
to the chapel to hear the Wittemberg preacher. Luther 
joyfully seized this opportunity of testifying to the truth 
before such an assemblage. He selected his text from 
the gospel of the day : ''Then came to him the mother 
of Zebedee^s children with her sons," etc. Matt. 20 : 20- 
23. He preached on the unreasonable desires and pray- 
ers of men ; and then spoke emphatically on the as- 
surance of salvation. He established it on this foun- 
dation, that those who receive the word of God with 
fi*^*^ are the true disciples of Jesus Christ, elected to 
eiiivml life. He next treated of gratuitous election, and 
showed that this doctrine, if presented in union with the 
work of Christ, has great power to dispel the terrors of 
conscience ; so that men, instead of flying far from the 
righteous God, at the sight of their own unworthiness, 
are gently led to seek their refuge* in him. In conclu- 
sion, he related an allegory of three virgins, from which 
hp deduced edifying instructions. 

The word of truth made a deep impression on his 
hearers. Two of them in particular seemed to pay very 
great attention to the sermon of the Wittemberg monk. 
The first was a lady of respectable appearance, who was 
seated on the court benches, and on whose features a 
profound emotion might be traced. It was Madame de 
la Sale, first lady to the duchess. The other was a licen- 
tiate in canon law, Jerome Emser, councillor and secre- 
tary to the duke. Emser possessed great talents and 
extensive information. A courtier and skilful politician, 
he would have desired to be on good terms with the two 
contending parties ; to pass at Rome for a defender of 
Hie Papacy, and at the same time shine in Germany 



238 



HISTORX" OF THE REFORMATIOB. 



among the learned men of the age. But under this pli- 
ant mind was concealed a violent character. It was in 
the palace-chapel at Dresden that Luther and Emser first 
met ; they were afterwards to break more than one lance 
together. 

The dinner hour arrived for the inhabitants of the 
palace, and in a short time the ducal fam'ly and the per- 
Gons attached to the court were assembled at table. The 
convf^rsation naturally fell on the preacher of the morn- 
ing. " How were you pleased with the sermon said 
the duke to Madame de la Sale. If I could hear but 
one more like it," replied she, " I should die in peace." 
"And I," replied George angrily, ''would rather give a 
large sum not to have heard it ; for such discourses are 
only calculated to make people sin with assurance." 

The master having thus made known his opinion, the 
courtiers gave way uncontrolled to their dissatisfaction. 
Each one had his censure ready. Some maintained that 
in his allegory of the three virgins, Luther had in view 
three ladies of the court ; on which there arose intermi- 
nable babbling. They rallied the three ladies whom the 
monk of Wittemberg had thus, they said, publicly point- 
ed out.* He is an ignorant fellow, said some ; he is a 
proud monk, said others. Each one made his comment 
on the sermon, and put what he pleased in the preach- 
er's mouth. The truth had fallen in the midst of a court 
that was little prepared to receive it. Every one man 
gled it after his own fashion. But while the word oi 
God was thus an occasion of stumbling to many, it was 
for the first lady a stone of uprising. Falling sick a 
month after, she confidently embraced the grace of the 
Saviour, and died with joy.f 

As for the duke, it was not perhaps in vain that he 
heard this testimony to the truth. Whatever may have 
been his opposition to the Reformation during his life, 
we know that at his death he declared that he had no 
hope save in the merits of Jesus Christ. 

It was natural that Emser should do the honors to 
• Has tres postea in aula principis a me notatas garrierunt I* 
iUpp. 1. 85. t Keith, Leb. Luth. p. 32. 



EMSER'S SUPPER 



239 



Luther in his master^s name. He invited him to supper. 
Luther refused ; but Emser persisted, and prevailed on 
him to come. Luther thought he should only meet a 
few friends ; but he soon perceived that a trap had been 
laid for him.* A master of arts from Leipsic and sev- 
eral Dominicans were with the prince's secretary. The 
master of arts, having no mean opinion of himself, and 
full of hatred towards Luther, addressed him in a friend- 
ly and honied manner ; but he soon got into a passion, 
and began to shout with all his might.f The combat 
began. The dispute turned, says Luther, on the trum- 
pery of Aristotle and St. Thomas. J At last Luther defied 
the master of arts to define with all the learning of the 
Thomists what is the fulfilling of God's commandments. 
The embarrassed disputant put a good face on the mat- 
ter. " Pay me my fee," said he, holding out his hand, 
da pastumJ^ One would have said that he wished to 
give a regular lesson, taking his fellow-guests for his 
pupils. " At this foolish reply," adds the reformer, we 
all burst into laughter, and then we parted." 

During this conversation a Dominican was listening 
at the door. He longed to enter and spit in Luther's 
face ;§ but he checked himself, and boasted of it after- 
wards. Emser, charmed at seeing his guests disputing, 
and appearing himself to preserve a due moderation, 
was earnest in excuses to Luther for the manner in 
which the evening had passed. || The latter returned to 
Wittemberg. 

* Inter medias me insidias conjectum. L. Epp. 1. 85. 

t In me acriter et clamose invectus est. Ibid. J Super Ari»- 
totelis et Thomae nugis. Ibid. § Ne prodiret et in faciem meam 
spueret. Ibid. || Knixe sese excusavit Ibid. 



240 HISTORY OF THE EEF0EMAT103I. 



CHAPTER XI 

Return to Wittemberg — Theses — ^Free will — Nature of man — ^Ration 
alism — Proposal to the university of Erfurth — Eck — Urban Re 
gi'as — ^Luther's modesty — Effect of the theses. 

Luther returned zealously to work. He was pre- 
paring six or seven young theologians who were shortly 
to undergo an examination for a license to teach. What 
rejoiced him most of all was, that their promotion would 
tend to the discredit of Aristotle. "I could desire to 
multiply the number of his enemies as soon as possible/' 
said he.* With this intent he published certain theses 
about that time which merit our attention. 

Free will was the great subject treated of. He had 
already touched upon it in the Feldkirchen theses ; he 
now went deeper into the question. There had been, 
from the very commencement of Christianity, a struggle 
more or less keen between the two doctrines of man's 
liberty and his enslavement. Some schoolmen had taught, 
like Pelagius and other doctors, that man possessed ol 
himself the liberty or the power of loving God and ol 
performing good works. Luther denied this liberty ; 
not to deprive man of it, but in order that he might ob- 
tain it. The struggle in this great question is not there- 
fore, as is generally said, between liberty and slavery : it 
is between a liberty proceeding from man, and one that 
comes from God. Those who style themselves the par- 
tisans of liberty say to man, " Thou hast the power of 
performing good works ; thou hast no need of greater 
liberty." The others, who are called the partisans of 
servitude, say, on the contrary, True liberty is what 
thou needest, and God offers it thee in his gospel.'' 
On the one side, they speak of liberty, to perpetuate 
slavery ; on the other, they speak of slavery, to give 
liberty. Such was the contest in the times of St Paul, 
of St. Augustine, and of Luther. Those who say, 
• Cujus vellem hostes cito quamplurimos fieri. L. Epp. 1. 69. 



THESES. 



241 



" Change nothing/' are the champions of slavery : the 
others who say, "Let your fetters fall off," are the cham- 
pions of liberty. 

But we should deceive ourselves were we to sum up 
all the Keformation in that particular question. It is 
one of the numerous doctrines maintained by the Wit- 
tomberg doctor, and that is all. It would be indulging 
fa^ a strange delusion to pretend that the Reformation 
was a fatalism, an opposition to liberty. It was a noble 
emancipation of the human mind. Snapping the numer- 
ous bonds with which the hierarchy had bound men's 
minds — restoring the ideas of liberty, of right, of free 
examination, it set free its own age, ourselves, and the 
remotest posterity. Let it not be said that the Kefor- 
mation delivered man from every human despotism, but 
made him a slave by proclaiming the sovereignty of 
grace. It desired, no doubt, to lead back the human 
will, to confound it with and render it entirely subject 
to the divine will ; but what kind of philosophy is that 
which does not know that an entire conformity with 
the will of God is the sole, supreme, and perfect liber- 
ty ; and that man will be really free, only when sove- 
reign righteousness and eternal truth alone have domin- 
ion over him ? 

The following are some of the ninety-nine proposi- 
tions that Luther put forth in the church against the 
Pelagian rationalism of the scholastic theology : 

V It is true that man, who has become a corrupt tree, 
can will or do naught but evil. 

" It is false that the will, left to itself, can do good 
as well as evil ; for it is not free, but in bondage. 

" It is not in the power of man's will to choose or 
reject whatever is offered to it. 

** Man cannot of his own nature will God to be God. 
He would prefer to be God himself, and that God were 
not God. 

"The excellent, infallible, and sole preparation for 
grace, is the eternal election and predestination of God.* 
• Optima et infallibilis ad gratiam praeparatio et unica difipositi<^ 
est eterna Dei electio et prsedestinatio. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 56. 

HSgLQiVid. i6 



243 



HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATlOlf. 



" It is false to say that if man does all that he can, 
he removes the obstacles to grace. 

" In a word, nature possesses neither a pure reasoD 
nor a good will.* 

" On the side of man there is nothing that goes be* 
fore grace, unless it be impotency and even rebellion. 

" There is no moral virtue without pride or without 
sorrow, that is to say, without sin. 

" From beginning to end, we are not masters of our 
actions, but their slaves. 

"We do not become righteous by doing what is 
righteous ; but having become righteous, we do what 
is righteous. 

*^ He who says that a divine who is not a logician 
is a heretic and an empiric, maintains an empirical and 
heretical proposition. 

" There is no form of reasoning (of syllogism) that 
holds with the *things of God.f 

" If the form of the syllogism could be applied to 
divine things, we should have knowledge and not hdief 
of the article of the holy Trinity. 

" In a word, Aristotle is to divinity as darkness to 
light. 

" Man is a greater enemy to the grace of God than 
he is to the law itself. 

" He who is without God's grace sins continually, 
even should he neither rob, murder, nor commit adul- 
tery. 

" He sins, in that he does not fulfil the law spirit- 
ually. 

" Not to kill, not to commit adultery, externally only 
and with regard to the actions, is the righteousness of 
hypocrites. 

" The law of God and the will of man are two ad- 
versaries, that without the grace of God can never be 
reconciled. I 

* Bre viler, nec rectum dictamen habet natura, nec bonam vo* 
luntatem. L 0pp. Lat. 1. 66. f Nulla forma syllogistica 

tenet in terminis divinis. Ibid. X Lex et voluntas sunt ad* 

7ersarii duo, sine ^atia Dei implacabileft. Ibid. ^7, 



THESES. 



243 



"What the law commands, the will never wishes, 
except as through fear or love it puts on the appearance 
of willing. 

"The law is the taskmaster of the will, who is not 
overcome but by the Child that is born unto us. Isa. 
9 : 6.* 

" The law makes sin abound, for it exasperates and 
repels the will. 

" But the grace of God makes righteousness abound 
through Jesus Christ, who causes us to love the law. 

" Every work of the law appears good outwardly, 
but inwardly it is sin. 

" The will, when it turns towards the law without 
the grace of God, does so in its own interest alone. 

" Cursed are all those who perform the works of the 
law. 

"Blessed are all those who perform the works of 
God's grace. 

" 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. Rom. 6:5. 

" Grace is not given in order that the work may be 
done more frequently and more easily, but because with- 
out grace there can be no work of love. 

"To love God is to hate one's self, and to know 
nothing out of God.^'f 

Thus Luther ascribes to God all the good that man 
can do. There is no question of repairing, of patching 
up, if we may use the expression, man's will : an en- 
tirely new one must be given him. God has only been 
able to say this, because God alone can accomplish it. 
This is one of the greatest and most important truth? 
that the human mind can conceive. 

But while Luther proclaimed the powerlessness of 
man, he did not fall into the other extreme. He says in 
the eighth thesis, " It does not hence follow that the 

• Lex est exactor voluntatis, qui non superatur nisi per Parvii' 
lorn qui natus est nobis. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 57. 
t Xi. 0pp. Lips. 17. 143, and 0pp. Lat. I. 



244 HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 



will is naturally depraved ; that is to say, that its na- 
ture is that of evil itself, as the Manichees have taught.''* 
Originally man's nature was essentially good : it has 
turned away from the good, which is God, and inclined 
towards evil. Yet its holy and glorious origin still re- 
mains ; and it is capable, by the power of God, of recov- 
ering this origin. It is the business of Christianity to 
restore it to him. It is true that the gospel displays 
man in a state of humiliation and impotency, but be- 
tween two glories and two grandeurs : a past glory 
from which he has been precipitated, and a future glory 
to which he is called. There lies the truth: man is 
aware of it, and if he reflects ever so little, he easily 
discovers that all which is told him of his present puri- 
ty, power, and glory, is but a fiction with which to lull 
and soothe his pride. 

Luther in his theses protested not only against the 
pretended goodness of man's will, but still more against 
the pretended light of his understanding in respect to 
divine things. In truth, scholasticism had exalted man's 
reason as well as his will. This theology, as some of 
its doctors have represented it, was at bottom nothing 
but a kind of rationalism. This is indicated by the 
propositions we have cited. One might fancy them di- 
rected against the rationalism of our days. In the the- 
ses that were the signal of the Reformation, Luther 
censures the church and the popular superstitions which 
had added indulgences, purgatory, and so many other 
abuses to the gospel. In those we have just quot- 
ed, he assailed the schools and rationalism, which had 
taken away from that very gospel the doctrine of the 
sovereignty of God, of his revelation, and of his grace. 
The Reformation attacked rationalism before it turned 
against superstition. It proclaimed the rights of God^ 
before it cut off the excrescences of man. It was posi- 
tive before it became negative. This has not been suf- 
ficiently observed ; and yet if we do not notice it, we 

* Nec ideo sequitur quod sit naturaliter mala, id est natura 
mali, gecundum Manichoos. L. 0pp. Lips. 17, 143, and Opp» 
Ut I. 



RATIONALISH 



245 



cannot Justly appreciate that religious revolution and 
its true nature. 

However this may be, the truths that Luther nad 
just enunciated with so much energy were very novel. 
It would have been an p.asy matter to support these 
propositions at Wittemberg ; for there his influence 
predominated. But it might have been said that he had 
chosen a field where he knew that no combatant wouid 
dare appear. By offering battle in another university, 
he would give them greater publicity ; and it was by 
publicity that the Reformation was effected. He turned 
his eyes to Erfurth, whose theologians had shown them- 
selves so irritated against him. 

He therefore transmitted these propositions to John 
Lange, prior of Erfurth, and wrote to him, "My sus- 
pense as to your decision upon these paradoxes is great, 
extreme, too great perhaps, and full of anxiety. I 
strongly suspect that your theologians will consider aa 
paradoxical, and even as Icakodoxical* what is in my 
opinion very orthodox. Pray inform me, as soon as 
possible, of your sentiments upon them. Have the 
goodness to declare to the faculty of theology, and to 
all, that I am prepared to visit you, and to maintain 
these propositions publicly, either in the university or 
in the monastery." It does not appear that Luther's 
challeuge was accepted. The monks of Erfurth were 
contented to let him know that these propositions had 
greatly displeased them. 

But he desired to send them also into another quar- 
ter of Germany. For this purpose he turned his eyes 
on an individual who plays a great part in the history 
of the Reformation, and whom we must learn to know. 

A distinguished professor, by name John Meyer, was 
tlien teaching at the university of Ingolstadt in Bava- 
ria. He was born at Eck, a village in Sw^abia, and was 
commonly styled Doctor Eck. He was a friend of Lu- 
ther, who esteemed his talents and his information. He 
was full of intelligence, had read much, and possessed 

* Im6 cacodoxa — unsound doctrine — videri suspicor. L. Epp. 
I. 60. 



246 HISTORY OP THE REFORMLATION. 



an excellent memory. He united learning with elo« 
qnence. His gestures and his voice expressed the vi- 
vacity of his genius. Eck, as regards talent, was in 
the south of Germany what Luther was in the north. 
They were the two most remarkable theologians of that 
epoch, although having very different tendencies. In- 
golstadt was almost the rival of Wittemberg. The 
reputation of these two doctors attracted from every 
quarter, to the universities where they taught, a crowd 
of students eager to listen to their teaching. Their 
personal qualities, not less than their learning, endeared 
them to their disciples. The character of Dr. Eck has 
been attacked ; but one trait of his life will show that, 
at this period at least, his heart was not closed against 
generous impulses. 

Among the students whom his reputation had at- 
tracted to Ingolstadt, was a young man named Urban 
Eegius, born on the shores of an Alpine lake. He had 
studied first at the university of Friburg in Brisgau. 
On his arrival at Ingolstadt, Urban followed the philo- 
sophical courses, and gained the professor's favor. 
Compelled to provide for his own wants, he was obliged 
to undertake the charge of some young noblemen. He 
had not only to watch over their conduct and their 
studies, but even to provide with his own money the 
books and clothing that they stood in need of. These 
youths dressed with elegance, and were fond of good 
living. Eegius, in his embarrassed condition, entreated 
the parents to withdraw their sons. " Take courage," 
was their reply. His debts increased ; his creditors 
became pressing : he knew not what to do. The em- 
peror was at that time collecting an army against the 
Turks. Recruiting parties arrived at Ingolstadt, and 
in his despair Urban enlisted. Dressed in his military 
aniform, he appeared in the ranks at their final review 
previous to leaving the town. At that moment Dr. Eck 
came into the square with several of his colleagues. 
To his great surprise he recognized his pupil among 
the recruits. " Urban Regius," said he, fixing on him 
a piercing glance. " Here," replied the young soldier 



LUTHER'S PROPOSITIOKS. 



247 



" Pray, what is the cause of this change V The young 
man told his story. " I will take the matter upon my 
self," replied Eck, who then took away his halberd, and 
bought him off. The parents, threatened by the doctor 
with their princess displeasure, sent the money neces- 
sary to pay their children's expenses. Urban Regius 
was saved, and became somewhat later one of the bul- 
warks of the Reformation. 

It was through Dr. Eck that Luther thought cf 
making his propositions on Pelagianism and scholastic 
rationalism known in the south of the empire. He did 
not, however, send them direct to the Ingolstadt pro- 
fessor, but forwarded them to a common friend, the 
excellent Christopher Scheurl, secretary to the city of 
Nuremberg, begging him to transmit them to Eck at 
Ingolstadt, which was not far from Nuremberg. " I 
forward you," said he, " my propositions, which are al- 
together paradoxical, and even kakistodoxical — kokuj' 
Todo^ac — as it would appear to many. Communicate 
them to our dear Eck, that most learned and ingenious 
man, in order that I may see and hear what he thinks 
of them."* It was thus Luther spoke at that time of 
Dr. Eck : such was the friendship that united them. It 
was not Luther that broke it off. 

But it was not on this field that the battle was to be 
fought. These propositions turned on doctrines of per- 
haps greater importance than those which two months 
later set the church in flames ; and yet, in despite of 
Luther's challenges, they passed unnoticed. At most, 
they were read within the walls of the schools, and cre- 
ated no sensation beyond them. It was because they 
were only university propositions, or theological doc- 
trines ; while the theses which followed had reference to 
an evil that had grown up among the people, and which 
was then breaking bounds on every side throughout Ger- 
many. So long as Luther was content to reviv(i forgot- 
ten doctrines, men were silent ; but when he pointed out 
abuses that injured all the world, everybody listened. 

* Eccio nostro, eruditissimo et ingeQiosissimo viro exhibete, ut 
aadiam et videam quid vocet illas. L. Epp. 1. 63. 



248 HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 

And yet in neither case did Luther propose more 
than to excite one of those theological discussiona so 
frequent in the universities. This was the circle to 
which his thoughts were restricted. He had no idea of 
becoming a reformer. He was humble, and his humility 
bordered on distrust and anxiety. Considering my ig- 
norance," said he, I deserve only to be hidden in some 
corner, without being known to any one under the sun."* 
But a mighty hand drew him from this corner in which 
he would have desired to remain unknown to the world. 
A circumstance independent of Luther^s will threw him 
into the field of battle, and the war began. It is this 
providential circumstance which the course of eventfl 
now calls upon us to relate. 

♦ L. 0pp. W. 18. lOiL 



SALS OF INDULaENOSS. 



249 



BOOK m. 

THE INDULGENCES AND THE THESES. 
1517 — MAY, 1518. 

CHAPTER I 

Procession — Tetzel — TetzePs sermon — Confession — Four graoee— 
Sale — Public penance — Letter of indulgence — Exceptions — 
Amusements and dissipation. 

A GREAT agitation prevailed at that time among the 
German people. The church had opened a vast market 
upon earth. From the crowds of purchasers, and the 
shouts and jokes of the sellers, it might have been called 
a fair, but a fair conducted by monks. The merchandise 
that they were extolling, and which they offered at a 
reduced price, was, said they, the salvation of souls. 

These dealers traversed the country in a handsome 
carriage, accompanied by three horsemen, living in great 
state, and spending freely. One might have thought it 
some archbishop on a progress through his diocese, with 
his retinue and officers, and not a common chapman or 
a begging monk. When the procession approached a 
town, a deputy waited on the magistrate, and said, "The 
grace of God and of the holy father is at your gates.'' 
Instantly every thing was in motion in the place. The 
clergy, the priests and nuns, the council, the school 
masters and their pupils, the trades with their banners 
men and women, young and old, went out to meet these 
merchants, bearing lighted tapers in their hands, and 
advancing to the sound of music and of all the bells, 
" so that they could not have received God himself with 
greater honor," says a historian. The salutations being 
exchanged, the procession moved towards the church. 
The pontiff's bull of grace was carried in front on a vet 



250 



HISTORY OF THE REFOUMATIOlf . 



vet cushion, or on cloth of gold. The chief of the indul- 
gence-merchants came next, holding a large red wooden 
cross in his hand. All the procession thus moved along 
amid singing, prayers, and the smoke of incense. The 
Bouni of the organ and loud music welcomed the mer- 
chant-monk and his attendants into the temple. The 
cross that he had carried was placed in front of the 
altar : on it were suspended the arms of the pope, and 
60 long as it remained there, the clergy of the place, 
the penitentiaries, and the under-commissaries with white 
wands, came daily, after vespers, or before the salutation, 
to render it homage.* This great affair excited a lively 
sensation in the quiet cities of Germany. 

One person in particular attracted the attention of 
the spectators at these sales. It was he who carried 
the red cross, and who played the chief part. He was 
robed in the Dominican dress, and moved with an air of 
arrogance. His voice was sonorous, and seemed in its 
full strength, although he had already attained his sixty- 
third year.f This man, the son of a Leipsic goldsmith 
named Diez, was known as John Diezel, or Tetzel. He 
had studied in his native city, had taken the degree of 
bachelor in 1487, and two years after had entered the 
Dominican order. Numerous honors had been heaped 
upon his head. Bachelor of divinity, prior of the Do- 
minicans, apostolic commissary, inquisitor — hoereticce 
pravitatis inquisitor — he had, from the year 1502, uninter- 
ruptedly filled the office of dealer in indulgences. The 
skill that he had acquired as subordinate had soon pro- 
cured him the nomination as chief commissary. He re- 
ceived eighty florins a month ; all his expenses were 
paid ; a carriage and three horses were at his disposal ; 
but his subsidiary profits, as may be easily imagined, 
far exceeded his stipend. In 1507 he gained at Friburg 
two thousand florins in two days. If he had the office 
of a mountebank, he possessed the manners also. Con- 
victed at Inspruck of adultery and infamous conduct; 

* Mit weissea Staeblein. Instructions of the Archbishop of Meatz 
to the Under-commissaries of Indulgences, etc. Art. 8. 
t Ingealo ferox et corpore robustus. Cochl. 5* 



TETZEL. 



251 



his vices had nearly caused his death. The Emperor 
Maximilian had ordered him to be put in a sack and 
thrown into the river. The Elector Frederick of Sax- 
ony interfered and obtained his pardon.* But the les- 
son that he had received had not taught him modesty. 
He led two of his children about with him. Miltitz, the 
pope's legate, mentions this fact in one of his letters.f 
It would have been difficult to find in all the convents 
of Germany a man better qualified than Tetzel for the 
business with which he was charged. To the theology 
of a monk, to the zeal and spirit of an inquisitor, be 
united the greatest effrontery ; and the circumstance 
that most especially facilitated his task, was his skill in 
inventing those extravagant stories by which the peo- 
ple's minds are captivated. To him all means were 
good that filled his chest. Raising his voice and dis- 
playing the eloquence of a mountebank, he offered his 
indulgences to all comers, and knew better than any 
tradesman how to extol his wares. J 

When the cross had been erected, and the arms ol 
the pope suspended from it, Tetzel went into the pulpit, 
and with a tone of assurance began to extol the value 
of indulgences, in the presence of a crowd whom the 
ceremony had attracted to the holy place. The people 
listened and stared as they heard of the admirable vir- 
tues that he announced. A Jesuit historian, speaking 
of the Dominican monks whom Tetzel had taken with 
him, says, ^* Some of these preachers failed not, as 
usual, to go beyond the matter they were treating of, 
and so far to exaggerate the worth of indulgences, that 
they gave the people cause to believe that they were 
assured of their salvation, and of the deliverance of souls 
from purgatory, so soon as they had given their money 
If such were the disciples, we may easily imagine what 

* Welchen Churfiirst Friederich vom Sack zu Inspruck erbeten 
hatte. Mathes. 10. f L. 0pp. W. 15. 862. 

i Circumferuntur venales indulgentiae in his regionibus a Tecelio 
Dominicano impudentissimo sycophanta, Melanctli. Yica Luth. 

§ Hist, du Lutheramsme par le P. M^imbourg, de U compagnia 
de J^us, 1681, p. 21. 



252 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOIT. 



the master must have been. Let us listen to one of the 
harangues he delivered after the elevation of the cross. 

"Indulgences/^ said he, "are the most precious and 
the most noble of God^s gifts. 

"This cross" — ^pointing to the red cross — "has as 
much efficacy as the very cross of Jesus Christ.* 

" Come, and I will give you letters, all properly 
sealed, by which even the sins that you intend to com- 
mit may be pardoned. 

" I would not change my privileges for those of St. 
Peter in heaven ; for I have saved more souls by my in- 
dulgences than the apostle by his sermons. 

" There is no sin so great that an indulgence cannot 
remit ; and even if any one — which is doubtless impos- 
sible — ^had offered violence to the blessed Virgin Mary, 
mother of God, let him pay — only let him pay well, and 
all will be forgiven him.f 

" Reflect then, that for every mortal sin you must, 
after contrition and confession, do penance for seven 
years, either in this life or in purgatory : now, how 
many mortal sins are there not committed in a day, how 
many in a week, how many in a month, how many in a 
year, how many in a whole life 1| Alas, these sins are 
almost infinite, and they entail an infinite penalty in the 
fires of purgatory. And now, by means of these letters 
of indulgence, you can once in your life, in every case 
except four, which are reserved for the apostolic see, and 
afterwards in the article of death, obtain a plenary re- 
mission of all your penalties and all your sins." 

Tetzel even entered into financial calculations. "Do 
you not know," said he, "that if any one desires to visit 
Rome, or any country where travellers incur danger, he 

• L. 0pp. W. 22. 1393. f Tetzel defends and maintains thii 
assertion in his Anti- theses, published the same year. Th. 99, 100, 
and 101. " Sub-commissariis insuper ac praedicatoribus veniarum 
imponere, ut si quis per impossibile Dei genetricem semper virginem 
violasset, quod eundem indulgentiarum vigore absolvere possent, 
luce clarius est." Positiones fratris J. Tezelii quibus defendit in- 
dulgentias contra Lutherum. t Quot peccata mortalia commit^- 
tontor in die Loscher's Reformations, Act. I. 418 



TETZEL'S SEEMOU 



253 



Bends his money to the bank, and for every hundred 
florins that he wishes to have, he gives five or six or ten 
more, that by means of the letters of this bank he may 
be safely repaid his money at Rome or elsewhere. And 
you, for a quarter of a florin, will not receive these let* 
ters of indulgence, by means of which you may intro- 
duce into paradise, not a vile metal, but a divine and 
immortal soul, without its running any risk."* 

Tetzel then passed to another subject. 

"But more than this," said he ; indulgences avail 
not only for the living, but for the dead. 

" For that, not even repentance is necessary. 

"Priest, noble, merchant, wife, youth, maiden, do 
you not hear your parents and your other friends who 
are dead, and who cry from the bottom of the abyss, 
We are sufiering horrible torments ; a trifling alms 
would deliver us ; you can give it, and you will not I" 

All shuddered at these words uttered by the thun- 
dering voice of the impostor-monk. 

" At the very instant," continued Tetzel, " that the 
money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul es- 
capes from purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven.f 

" 0 stupid and brutish people, who do not understand 
the grace ^o richly ofiered 1 Now heaven is everywhere 
opened. Do you refuse to enter now ? When, then, will 
you enter ? Now you can ransom so many souls. Stiff- 
necked and thoughtless man, with twelve groats you can 
deliver your father from purgatory, and you are ungrate- 
ful enough not to save him. I shall be justified in the 
day of judgment ; but you, you will be punished so 
much the more severely for having neglected so great 
salvation. I declare to you, though you should have but 
a single coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, in or* 
der to obtain this grace. The Lord our God no longer 
reigns. He has resigned all power to the pope." 

* Si contingat aliquem ire Romam, vel ad alias periculosas par- 
tes, mittat pecunias suas in banco, et iUe proquolibet centum dat 
quinque aut sex, auf decern, etc. Loscher's Ref. Act. 1. 418. 

t Thesis 56, Positiones fratris J. Tezelii quibus defendit indul 
i;entias contra Lutherum. 



2M HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



TheD seeking to make use of other arms besides, be 
added, " Do you know why our most holy Lord distrib* 
utes so rich a grace ? It is to restore the ruined church 
of St. Peter and St. Paul, so that it may not have its 
equal in the world. This church contains the bodies of 
the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and those of a multi 
tude of martyrs. These saintly bodies, through the prca 
ent state of the building, are now, alas, beaten upon, in- 
undated, polluted, dishonored, reduced to rottenness by 
the rain and the hail. Alas, shall these sacred ashes re- 
main longer in the mire and in degradation 

This description failed not to produce an impression 
on many, who burned with a -desire to come to the aid of 
poor Leo X., who had not the means of sheltering the 
bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul from the weather. 

The orator next turned against the cavillers and 
traitors who opposed his work : " I declare them excom- 
municated I" exclaimed he. 

Then addressing the docile souls, and making an im 
pious application of Scripture, he exclaimed, Blessed 
are the eyes which see the things that ye see : for I tell 
you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see 
those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and 
to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard 
them !" And in conclusion, pointing to the strong box 
in which the money was received, he generally finished 
his pathetic discourse by three appeals to his auditory : 
" Bring, bring, bring !" " He used to shout these words 
with such a horrible bellowing," wrote Luther, " that 
one would have said it was a mad bull rushing on the 
people and goring them with his horns.^f When his 
speech was ended, he left the pulpit, ran towards the 
money-box, and in sight of all the people flung into it a 
piece of money, taking care that it should rattle loud ly. J 

Such were the discourses that Germany listened to 
with astonishment in the days when God was preparing 
Luther. 

* Instr. of the Archbishop of Mentz, etc. t Resol, on thesis 32. 
X Tentzel, Reformat! onsgesch. Myconius, Ref. Hist. Instr. oJ 
Alchbishop of Mentz to the ynder-commiss^ies. Luther's Theses* 



CONFESSION. 



25& 



The speech being concluded, the indulgence was con- 
sidered as "having established its throne in the place 
with due solemnity." Confessionals decorated with the 
pope's arms were ranged about : the under-commissaries 
and the confessors whom they selected were considered 
the representatives of the apostolic penitentiaries of 
Rome at the time of a great jubilee ; and on each of 
their confessionals were posted in large characters their 
names, surnames, and titles.* 

Then thronged the crowd around the confessors. 
Each came with a piece of money in his hand. Men, 
women, and children, the poor, and even those who lived 
on alms, all found money. The penitentiaries, after hav- 
ing explained anew to each individual privately the great- 
ness of the indulgence, addressed this question to the 
penitents : How much money can you conscientiously 
spare to obtain so complete a remission The demand, 
said the Instructions of the Archbishop of Mentz to the 
Commissaries, should be made at this moment, in order 
that the penitents might be better disposed to contribute. 

Four precious graces were promised to those who 
should aid in building the basilic of St. Peter. "The first 
grace that we announce to you," said the commissaries, 
in accordance with the letter of their instructions, "is the 
full pardon of every sin."f Next followed three other 
graces : first, the right of choosing a confessor, who, 
whenever the hour of death appeared at hand, should 
give absolution from all sin, and even from the greatest 
crimes reserved for the apostolic see ;J secondly, a par- 
ticipation in all the blessings, works, and merits of the 
catholic church, prayers, fasts, alms, and pilgrimages ;§ 
thirdly, redemption of the souls that are in purgatory 

To obtain the first of these graces, it was requisite to 
have contrition of heart and confession of mouth, or at 
least an intention of confessing. But as for the three oth- 
ers, they might be obtained without contrition, without 
confession, simply by paying. Christopher Columbus, 
extolling the value of gold, had said ere this with great 
seriousness, " Whoever possesses it can introduce souls 
♦ Instr., etc., 6, 69. f Ibid. 19. t Ibid. 30. § Ibid. 9^. 



256 HISTOEY OF THE EEFOEMATIOH 



into paradise." Such was the doctrine taught by tihe 
archbishop of Mentz and by the papal commissaries. 

"As for those," said they, " who wish to deliver souls 
from purgatory and procure the pardon of all their of- 
fences, let them put money into the chest ; contrition of 
heart or confession of mouth is not necessary.* Let them 
only hasten to bring their money ; for thus will they 
perform a work most useful to the souls of the dead, and 
to the building of the church of St. Peter." Greater 
blessings could not be offered at a lower rate. 

The confession over, and that was soon done, the 
faithful hastened to the vendor. One alone was charged 
with the sale. His stall was near the cross. He cast 
inquiring looks on those who approached him. He exam- 
ined their manner, their gait, their dress, and he required 
a sum proportionate to the appearance of the individual 
who presented himself. Kings, queens, princes, arch- 
bishops, bishops, were, according to the scale, to pay 
twenty-five ducats for an ordinary indulgence. Abbots, 
counts, and barons, ten. The other nobles, the rectors, 
and all those who possessed an income of five hundred 
florins, paid six. Those who had two hundred florins a 
year paid one ; and others, only a half. Moreover, if this 
tariff could not be carried out to the letter, full powers 
were given the apostolical commissionary ; and all was 
to be arranged according to the data of " sound reason," 
and the generosity of the donor.f For particular sins, 
Tetzel had a particular tax. For polygamy it was six 
ducats ; for sacrilege and perjury, nine ducats ; for mur- 
der, eight ducats ; for witchcraft, two ducats. Samson, 
who exercised the same trade in Switzerland as Tetzel 
in Germany, had a somewhat different scale. For infan* 
ticide he required four livres tournois; and for parricide 
or fratricide, one ducat.^ 

• Auch noch ist nicht nothig dass sie in dem Herzen zerknirscht 
sind, und mit dem Mund gebeichtet haben. Instr. 38. f N&cb 
den Satzen der gesunden Yernunft, nach ihrer Magnificens und Frei- 
gebigkeit. lb. 26. f Muller's Reliq. 3. 264. The livre tour* 

nais, or sterling, to use a synonymous English expression, is worth 
about niuQ and a half pence, and is now replaced by the franc* 



PUBLIC PENANCE. 



257 



The apostolical commissaries sometimes met with 
diflSculties in their trade. It frequently happened, both 
in towns and villages, that the men were opposed to 
this traflBc, and forbade their wives to give any thing to 
these merchants What could their pious spouses do? 

Have you not your dowry or other property at your 
3wn disposal ?" asked the vendors. In that case you 
3an dispose of it for so holy a work, against the wiU of 
your husbands."* 

The hand that had given the indulgence could not 
receive the money ; this was forbidden under the sever- 
est penalties : there were good reasons to fear lest that 
hand should prove unfaithful. The penitent was himself 
to drop the price of his pardon into the chest.f They 
showed an angry countenance against all who daringly 
kept their purses closed. J 

If among the crowd of those who thronged the con- 
fessionals there should be found a man whose crime had 
been public, though it was one that the civil laws could 
not reach, he was to begin by doing public penance 
They first led him into a chapel or the vestry ; there 
they stripped off his garm^ents, took off his shoes, and 
left him nothing but his shirt. They crossed his arms 
over his bosom : placed a taper in one hand, and a rod 
in the other. The penitent then walked at the head of a 
procession to the red cross. Here he remained kneeling 
until the chants and the offertory were over. After this 
the commissary struck up the psalm, Miserere Mei! The 
confessors immediately drew near the penitent, and con- 
ducted him through the station towards the commissary, 
who, taking the rod and striking him thrice gently on the 
back,§ said to him, God have pity on thee, and pardon 
thy sin." He then began to sing the Kyrie eleison:^ the 
penitent was led to the front of the cross, where the con- 
fessor gave him the apostolical absolution, and declared 
him reinstated in the communion of the faithful. Sad 

• Instr. 27. Wider den Willen ihres Marines. f lb. 87, 90, 91. 

{ L. 0pp. L. 17. 79. § Dreimal gelind auf den Rdcken. 

Instr. II Lord have mercy upon us. The name of a penitential 
11711m Iq the Roman ritual. 

17 



258 



HlSTOEY OF THE REFORMATION. 



mummery, concluded by the words of holy Scriptare, 
that, in such a moment, were mere profanity. 

We give one of these letters of absolution. It is 
worth while learning the contents of these diplomas 
which led to the reformation of the church. 

"May our Lord Jesus Christ have pity on thee, N. 
N., and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy pas- 
sion. And I, in virtue of the apostolical power that lias 
been confided to me, absolve thee from all ecclesiastical 
censures, judgments, and penalties which thou mayest 
have incurred ; moreover, from all excesses, sins, and 
crimes that thou mayest have committed, however great 
and enormous they may be, and from whatsoever cause, 
were they even reserved for our most holy father the 
pope and for the apostolic see. I blot out all the stains 
of inability and all marks of infamy that thou mayest 
have drawn upon thyself on this occasion. I remit the 
penalties that thou shouldst have endured in purgatory. 
I restore thee anew to participation in the sacraments of 
the church. I incorporate thee afresh in the communion 
of saints, and reestablish thee in the purity and inno- 
cence which thou hadst at thy baptism. So that in the 
hour of death, the gate by which sinners enter the place 
of torments and punishment shall be closed against thee, 
and, on the contrary, the gate leading to the paradise of 
joy shall be open. And if thou shoaldst not die for long 
years, this grace will remain unalterable until thy last 
hour shall arrive. 

" In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost- 
Amen. 

"Friar John Tetzel, commissary, has signed this 
with his own hand." 

With what skill are presumptuous and lying words 
here foisted in between holy and Christian expres- 
sions ! 

All the believers were required to confess in the place 
where the red cross was set up. None were excepted 
but the sick and aged, and pregnant women. If, how- 
ever, there chanced to be in the neighborhood some 
noble in his castle, some great personage in his palace, 



RELAXATION AND DEbAUCHERT. 259 



there was also an exemption for him,* as he would not 
like to be mixed up with this crowd, and his money was 
well worth the pains of fetching from his mansion. 

Was there any convent whose chiefs, opposed to Tet- 
zePs commerce, forbade their monks to visit the places 
where the indulgence had set up its throne, they found 
means of remedying the evil by sending them confes- 
sois, who were empowered to absolve them contrary to 
the rules of their order and the will of their superiors.f 
There was no vein in the gold mine that they did not 
find the means of working. 

Then came what was the end and aim of the whole 
business : the reckoning of the money. For greater se- 
curity, the chest had three keys : one was in TetzePs 
keeping ; the second in that of a treasurer delegated by 
the house of Fugger of Augsburg, to whom this vast 
enterprise had been consigned ; the third was confided 
to the civil authority. When the time was come, the 
money-boxes were opened before a public notary, and 
the contents were duly counted and registered. Must 
not Christ arise and drive out these profane money- 
changers from the sanctuary ? 

When the mission was over, the dealers relaxed from 
their toils. The instructions of the commissary-general 
forbade them, it is true, to frequent taverns and places 
of bad repute,! but they cared little for this prohibition 
Sin could have but few terrors for those who made so 
easy a traffic in it. " The collectors led a disorderly 
life," says a Romanist historian; ''they squandered in 
taverns, gambling-houses, and places of ill-fame, all that 
the people had saved frc/m their necessities."§ It has 
even been asserted, that when they were in the taverns 
they would often stake the salvation of souls on a throw 
of the dice. II 

♦ Instructions 9. f Ibid. 69. J Ibid. 4. 

i garpi, Council of Trent 6. [j Schrock, K. G. v. d. E. 1. 11& 



260 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



CHAPTER II. 

Tbs Franciscan confessor — The soul in the burial-ground — The slioo^ 
maker of Hagenau — The students — Myconius-— Conversation with 
Tetzel — Trick of a nobleman — Remarks of the wise and of the 
people — A miner of Schneeberg. 

But now let us turn to the scenes which this sale of 
the pardon of sins at that time gave rise to in Germany. 
There are characteristics which, of themselves alone, de- 
pict the times. We prefer using the language of the men 
whose history we are narrating. 

At Magdeburg, Tetzel refused to absolve a rich lady, 
unless, as he declared to her, she would pay one hun- 
dred florins in advance. She requested the advice of 
her usual confessor, who was a Franciscan: God grants 
the remission of sins gratuitously," replied the monk ; 
' he does not sell it." He begged her, however, not to 
communicate to Tetzel the counsel she had received from 
him. But this merchant having notwithstanding heard 
a report of this opinion so contrary to his interests, ex- 
claimed, " Such a counsellor deserves to be banished or 
to be burned."* 

Tetzel rarely found men enlightened enough, and still 
more rarely men who were bold enough to resist him. 
In general he easily managed the superstitious crowd. 
He had set up the red cross of the indulgences at Zwick- 
au, and the worthy parishioners had hastened to drop 
into his strong-box the money that would deliver them. 
He was about to leave with a well-stored purse, when, 
on the eve of his departure, the chaplains and their aco- 
lytes asked him for a farewell supper. The request was 
just. But how contrive it? the money was already 
counted and sealed up. On the morrow he caused the 
great bell to be tolled. The crowd rushed into the 
church ; each one imagined something extraordinary 
* Scultet. Annal. Evangel, i. 



THE HAaENAU SHOEMAKER. 261 



had happened, seeing that the business was over. '*! 
had resolved/' said he, " to depart this morning ; but 
last night I was awakened by groans. I listened atten. 
tively ; they came from the cemetery. Alas, it was some 
poor soul calling upon me and earnestly entreating me 
to deliver it from the torments by which it is consumed. 
I shall stay, therefore, one day longer, in order to move 
the compassion of all Christian hearts in favor of this 
unhappy soul. I myself will be the first to give, and he 
that does not follow my example will merit condemna- 
tion." What heart would not have replied to this ap- 
peal ? Who knows, besides, what soul it is thus crying 
from the cemetery f The offerings were abundant, and 
Tetzel entertained the chaplains and their acolytes with 
a joyous repast, the expense of which was defrayed by 
the offerings given in behalf of the soul of Zwickau.* 

The indulgence-merchants had visited Hagenau in 
1517. The wife of a shoemaker, taking advantage of 
the authorization given in the commissary-generaPs in- 
structions, had procured a letter of indulgence, contrary 
to her husband's will, and had paid a gold florin. She 
died shortly after. As the husband had not caused a 
mass to be said for the repose of her soul, the priest 
charged him with contempt of religion, and the magis- 
trate of Hagenau summoned him to appear in court. 
The shoemaker put his wife's indulgence in his pocket, 
and went to answer the accusation. "Is your wife 
dead asked the magistrate. "Yes," replied he. "What 
have you done for her ?" " I have buried her body, and 
commended her soul to God." " But have you had a 
mass said for the repose of her soul ?" " I have not : it 
was of no use ; she entered heaven at the moment of 
her death." " How do you know that ?" " Here is the 
proof." As he said these words, he drew the indulgence 
from his pocket, and the magistrate, in presence of the 
priest, read in so many words, that, at the moment of 
her death, the woman who had received it would not go 
into purgatory, but would at once enter into heaven 
** If the reverend gentleman maintains that a mass is 
• Loflcher'i Eef. Act 1. 404. L. 0pp. 16 443, etc 



263 HISTORY OF THE REFOHMA nOlff 



still necessary," added the widower, " my wife Las been 
deceiv^ed by our most holy father the pope ; if she has 
not been, it is the priest who deceives me." There was 
no reply to this, and the shoemaker was acquitted. 
Thus did the plain sense of the people condemn these 
pious frauds.* 

One day as Tetzel was preaching at Leipsic, and 
mingling with his sermon some of these stories of which 
we have given a specimen, two students quitted the 
church in indignation, exclaiming, " It is impossible for 
us to listen any longer to this monk's jokes and puerili- 
ties."f One of them, are informed, was the youthful 
Camerarius, who afterwards became Melancthon's inti- 
mate friend and biographer. 

But of all the young men of the age, the one on whom 
Tetzel made the deepest impression was doubtless My- 
conius, afterwards celebrated as a reformer and histo- 
rian of the Reformation. He had received a Christian 
education. " My son," his father, a pious Pranconian, 
would often say to him, " pray frequently ; for all things 
are given to us gratuitously from God alone. The blood 
of Christ," added he, is the only ransom for the sins of 
the whole world. 0 my son, though three men only 
should be saved by Christ's blood, believe, and believe 
with assurance, that thou art one of those three men.J 
It is an insult to the Saviour's blood to doubt that he 
can save." And then, cautioning his son against the 
traffic that was now beginning to be established in Ger 
many, " Roman indulgences," said he again, " are nets 
to catch silver, and which serve to deceive the simple- 
minded. Remission of sins and eternal life are not to 
be purchased with money." 

At tlie age of thirteen, Frederick was sent to the 
school at Annaberg to finish his studies. Tetzel arrived 
in this city shortly after, and remained there two years. 
The people flocked in crowds to hear his sermons 

* Musculi Loci Communes, 362. f Hoffman's Reformationft^ 
gesch. V. Leipzig, 32. { Si tantum tres homines essent salvandi 
per san^uinem Christi, certo statueret unum se esse ex tribus 
Mo'ch. Adam. Vita Mjconii. 



MYCONIUS. 



263 



There is no other means of obtaining eternal life,'' 
cried Tetzel in a voice of thunder, than the satisfac- 
tion of works. But this batisfaction is impossible for 
man. He can therefore only purchase it from the Ro- 
man pontiff.^^* 

When Tetzel was about to quit Annaberg, his ser- 
mons became more earnest. " Soon," cried he in threat- 
sning accents, " I shall take down the cross, shut the 
gates of heaven, f and extinguish the brightness of the 
sun of grace that beams before your eyes." And then 
assuming a tender tone of exhortation, Now is the 
accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
Again raising his voice, the priestly Stentor,| who was 
addressing the inhabitants of a country whose wealth 
consisted in its mines, shouted out, ''Bring your money, 
citizens of Annaberg ; contribute bounteously in favor 
of indulgences, and jonr mines and your mountains 
shall be filled with pure silver." Finally, at Whitsun- 
tide, he declared that he would distribute his letters to 
the poor gratuitously, and for the love of God. 

The youthful Myconius was one of TetzePs hearers. 
He felt an ardent desire to take advantage of this offer. 
"I am a poor sinner," said he to the commissaries in 
Latin, " and I have need of a gratuitous pardon.'' 
** Those alone," replied the merchants, "can have part 
in Christ's merits who lend a helping hand to the church, 
that is to say, who give money." '* What is the mean- 
ing, then," asked Myconius, '' of those promises of a free 
gift posted on the gates and walls of the churches ?" 
" Give at least a groat," said TetzePs people, aftf^r hav- 
ing vainly interceded with their master in favor of the 
young man. I cannot." '' Only six deniers." I am 
not worth so many." The Dominicans began to fear 
that he came on purpose to entrap them. "Listen,* 
said they, " we will make you a present of the six do* 
niers.''^ The young man replied indignantly, "I will 
have no bought indulgences. If 1 desired to buy them| 

• Si nummis redimatur a pontifice Romano. Melch. Adazxk 
t Clausurum ianuam coeli. Ibid, 
i Stentor ponti^cius. Ibid. 



U4 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



I should only have to sell one of my school-bc^oks. I 
desire a gratuitous pardon, and for the love of God 
alone. You will render an account to God for having 
allowed a soul to be lost for six deniers." " Who sent 
you to entrap us ?" exclaimed the vendors. " Nothing 
but the desire of receiving God's pardon could have 
made me appear before such great gentlemen," replied 
the young man, as he withdrew. 

" I was very sad at being thus sent away unpitied. 
But I felt, however, a comforter within me, who said 
that there was a God in heaven who pardons repentant 
souls without money and without price, for the love of 
his Son Jesus Christ. As I took leave of these folks, 
the Holy Spirit touched my heart. I burst into tears, 
and prayed to the Lord with anguish : 0 God, cried I, 
since these men have refused to remit my sins, because 
I wanted money to pay them, do thou. Lord, have pity 
on me, and pardon them of thy pure grace. I repaired 
to my chamber, I prayed to my crucifix which was lying 
on my desk ; I put it on a chair, and fell down before it. 
I cannot describe to you what I experienced. I begged 
God to be a father to me, and to do with me whatever 
he pleased. I felt my nature changed, converted, trans- 
formed. What had delighted me before, now became an 
object of disgust. To live with God and to please him 
was my earnest, my sole desire."* 

Thus did Tetzel himself prepare the Reformation. By 
flagrant abuses, he cleared the way for a purer doctrine ; 
and the indignation he aroused in a generous youth was 
one day to burst forth with power. We may form some 
idea of this by the following anecdote. 

A Saxon nobleman, who had heard Tetzel at Leipsic, 
was much displeased by his falsehoods. Approaching 
the monk, he asked him if he had the power of pardon- 
ing sins that men have an intention of committing. 

Most assuredly," replied Tetzel, " I have received full 
powers from his holiness for that purpose." "Well, 
then," answered the knight, " I am desirous of taking a 

* Myconius' Letter to Eberus in Hechtii Vita Tezelii, WittemU 
114. J 



OPINIONS OF THE PEOPLB. 



265 



slight revenge on one of my enemies, without endanger- 
ing his life. I will give you ten crowns if you will give 
me a letter of indulgence that shall fully justify me." 
Tetzel made some objections ; they came, however, to an 
arrangement by the aid of thirty crowns. The monk 
quitted Leipsic shortly after. The nobleman and his 
attendants lay in wait for him in a wood between Jiit» 
terbock and Treblin ; they fell upon him, gave him a 
slight beating, and took away the well-stored indul- 
gence-chest the inquisitor was carrying with him. Tet- 
zel made a violent outcry, and carried his complaint 
before the courts. But the nobleman showed the letter 
which Tetzel had signed himself, and which exempted 
him beforehand from every penalty. Duke George, 
whom this action had at first exceedingly exasperated, 
no sooner read the document than he ordered the ac- 
cused to be acquitted.* 

This traffic everywhere occupied men^s thoughts, and 
was everywhere talked of It was the topic of conver- 
sation in castles, in academies, and in the burghers' 
houses, as well as in taverns, inns, and all places of 
public resort.f Opinions were divided ; some believed, 
others felt indignant. As for the sensible part of the 
nation, they rejected with disgust the system of indul- 
gences. This doctrine was so opposed to the holy 
Scriptures and to morality, that every man who had 
any knowledge of the Bible or any natural light, inter- 
nally condemned it, and only waited for a signal to op- 
pose it. On the other hand, the scoffers found ample 
food for raillery. The people, whom the dissolute lives 
of the priests had irritated for many years, and whom 
the fear of punishment still kept within certain bounds, 
gave vent to all their hatred. Complaints and sarcasms 
might everywhere be heard on the love of money that 
iovoured the clergy. 

They did not stop there. They attacked the power 
of the keys and the authority of the sovereign pontiff 
Why," said they, does not the pope deliver at once 
• Albinus, Meissn. Chronik. L. W., W. 15. 446, etc., Hechtius in 
Vlt. Tezelii. f L. 0pp. Leipz. 17. Ill, 116. 



266 HISTORY OF THE REFOUMATIOJS . 

all the souls from purgatory by a holy charity and ob 
account of their great wretchedness, since he delivers 
so many for love of perishable money and of the cathe- 
dral of St. Peter ? Why are they always celebrating 
festivals and anniversaries for the dead? Why does 
not the pope restore or permit the resumption of the 
benefices and prebends founded in favor of the dead, 
since it is now useless and even reprehensible to pray 
for those whom the indulgences have delivered for ever ? 
What means this new holiness of God and of the pope, 
that for love of money they grant to an impious man, 
and an enemy of God, to deliver from purgatory a pious 
soul, the beloved of the Lord, rather than deliver it them- 
selves gratuitously through love, and because of its 
great misery ?"* 

Stories were told of the gross and immoral conduct 
of the traffickers in indulgences. To pay their bills to 
the carriers who transported them and their merchan- 
dise, the inn-keepers with whom they lodged, or who- 
ever had done them any service, they gave a letter of 
indulgence for four souls, for five, or for any number 
according to circumstances. Thus these certificates of 
salvation circulated in the inns and markets like bank- 
notes or other paper money. " Pay, pay,'' said the peo- 
ple, " that is the head, belly, tail, and all the contents of 
their sermons."f 

A miner of Schneeberg met a seller of indulgences. 
"Must we credit," asked he, "what you have so often 
told us of the power of indulgences and of the papal 
authority, and believe that we can, by throwing a penny 
into the chest, ransom a soul from purgatory ?" The 
merchant affirmed it was so. "Ah," resumed the miner, 
" what a merciless man, then, the pope must be, since 
for want of a wretched penny he leaves a poor soul cry- 
ing in the flames so long. If he has no ready money, 
let him store up some hundred thousand crowns, and 
deliver all these souls at once. We poor people would 
very readily repay him both interest and capita.l.'' 
* Luther, Theses oe Indulgences, 82, 83, 84. 
f X4. 0pp. Leips. 17. 79, 



GERMANY IN SUSPENSE. 



267 



The Germans were wearied with this scandalous 
traffic that was carried on in the midst of them. They 
could not longer endure the impositions of these mas- 
ter-cheats of Rome, as Luther called them.* No bishop, 
no theologian, however, dared oppose their quackery 
and their frauds. All minds were in suspense. Men 
asked one another if God would not raise up somo 
mighty man for the work that was to be done ; but 
nowhere did he appear. 

* Fessi erant Germani omnes, ferendis explicationibuB, nundina 
tionibus, et infiuitis imposturis Romanensium nebulojiimL L. Opp^ 
Lat. Pr«f, 



268 



HISTORY OF THE ftEFOEMATIOH. / 



CHAPTER III. 

Leo X.— The pope's necessities — Albert — ^His character— Farming 
the indulgences — Franciscans and Dominicans. 

The pope who then sat in St. Peter's chair was not 
a Borgia, but Leo X. of the illustrious family of the 
Medici. He was clever, sincere, full of gentleness and 
meekness. His manners were affable, his liberality 
unbounded, his morals superior to those of his court ; 
Cardinal Pallavicini, however, acknowledges that they 
were not beyond reproach. To this amiable character 
he united many of the qualities of a great prince. He 
was a friend of the arts and sciences. In his presence 
were represented the first Italian comedies ; and there 
were few of his time that he had not seen performed 
He was passionately fond of music ; every day his pal- 
ace reechoed with the sound of instruments, and he was 
frequently heard humming the airs that had been exe- 
cuted before him. He loved magnificence, he spared no 
expense in festivals, sports, theatres, presents, or re- 
wards. No court surpassed in splendor and in luxury 
that of the sovereign pontiff. Hence, when it was known 
that Julian Medici thought of taking up his abode at 
Rome with his young wife, " Thank God !" exclaimed 
Cardinal Bibliena, the most influential of Leo's council- 
lors ; "for nothing was wanting but a court of ladies."* 
A court of ladies was the necessary complement of the 
court of the pope. But to religious feelings Leo was 
quite a stranger. "He possessed such charming man- 
ners," said Sarpijf " that he would have been a perfect 
man, if he had had some knowledge of religion and 
greater inclination to piety, about which he never troub- 
led himself." 

Leo required large sums of money. He had to pro- 
• Ranke, Roemische Paebste, 1. 71. f Council of Trent, 4. 

Pallavicini, while endeavoring to confute Sarpi, confirms and even 
heightens his testimony : Suo plane officio defuit — Leo . . . venatio- 
vm, facetias, pompas adeo frequentes Cone. Trid. Hist. l,S,9. 



LEO THE TENTH 



269 



vide for his great expenses, find means for his extensive 
liberality, fill the purse of gold which he flung daily 
among the people, keep up the licentious shows of the 
Vatican, satisfy the numerous calls of his relatives and 
of his courtiers, who were addicted to pleasures, endow 
his sister who had married Prince Cibo, natural son of 
Pope Innocent VIIL, and defray the cost of his taste for 
literature, the arts, and luxury. His cousin. Cardinal 
Pucci, who was as skilful in the science of amassing as 
Leo in that of squandering money, advised him to have 
recourse to indulgences. The pope therefore published 
a bull, announcing a general indulgence, the produce ol 
which should be applied, said he, to the building of St. 
Peter's, that monument of sacerdotal magnificence. In a 
letter given at Rome, under the seal of the Fisherman, in 
November, 1517, Leo requires of his commissary of in- 
dulgences 147 gold ducats, to purchase a manuscript of 
the thirty-third book of Livy. Of all the uses to which 
he applied the money of the Germans, this was undoubt- 
edly the best. Yet it was a strange thing to deliver 
souls from purgatory to procure the means of purchas- 
ing a manuscript of the history of the Roman wars. 

There was at that time in Germany a youthful prince 
who in many respects was the very image of Leo X. : 
this was Albert, younger brother of the Elector Joachim 
of Brandenburg. This young man, at the age of twenty- 
four years, had been created archbishop and elector of 
Mentz and of Magdeburg ; two years later he was made 
cardinal. Albert had neither the virtues nor the vices 
that are often met with in the superior dignitaries of the 
church. Young, frivolous, and worldly, but not without 
generous sentiments, he saw clearly many of the abuses 
of Romanism, and cared little for the fanatical monks 
who surrounded him. His equity inclined him to ac- 
knowledge, in part at least, the justice of the demands 
of the friends of the gospel. At the bottom of his heart 
he was not violently opposed to Luther. Capito, one of 
the most distinguished reformers, was long his chaplain^ 
his counsellor, and his intimate confidant. Albert regu* 
larly attended at his sermons- He did not despise the 



270 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOK. 



gospel," said Capito ; " on the contrary, he highly es« 
teemed it, and for a long time prevented the monks from 
attacking Luther." But he would have desired the lat- 
ter not to compromise him, and that, while pointing out 
doctrinal errors and the vices of the inferior clergy, he 
should beware of exposing the failings of bishops and oi 
princes. Above all, he feared to see his name mixed up 
in the matter. " Consider," said the confiding Capito to 
Luther, deceiving himself as many have done in similar 
circumstances, "consider the example of Jesus Christ and 
of the apostles : they blamed the Pharisees and the in- 
cestuous Corinthians ; but they never named the offend- 
ers. You do not know what is passing in the hearts ol 
the bishops. There is much more good in them than 
perhaps you imagine." But Albert^s profane and frivo- 
lous disposition, much more than the susceptibilities and 
fears of his self-love, was destined to alienate him from 
the Reformation. Affable, witty, handsome, sumptuous, 
extravagant, delighting in the luxuries of the table, in 
costly equipages, in magnificent buildings, in licentious 
pleasures, and in the society of literary men, this young 
archbishop-elector was in Germany what Leo X. was in 
Eome. His court was one of the most magnificent in 
the empire. He was ready to sacrifice to pleasure and 
to greatness all the presentiments of truth that might 
have stolen into his heart. Nevertheless, even to the 
last, he evinced a certain resistance and better convic- 
tions ; more than once he gave proofs of his moderation 
and of his equity. 

Albert, like Leo, had need of money. Some rich mer- 
chants of Augsburg, named Fugger, had made him ad- 
vances. He was called upon to pay his debts. Besides, 
although he had monopolized two archbishoprics and one 
bishopric, he had not the means of paying for his pallium. 
This ornament, made of white wool, besprinkled with 
black crosses, and blessed by the pope, who sent it to 
the archbishops as an emblem of their dignity, cost them 
26,000, or according to some accounts, 30,000 florins. 
Albert very naturally formed the project of resorting to 
the same means as the pontiff to obtain money. He 



PARMINa OF INDULGENCES. 



271 



solicited the general farming of indulgences, or "of the 
sins of the Germans," as they said at Rome. 

Sometimes the popes themselves worked them ; at 
other times they farmed them, as some governments still 
farm gambling-houses. Albert proposed sharing the 
profits of this business with Leo. The pope, in accept^ 
ing the terms, exacted immediate payment of the price 
of the pallium. Albert, who was reckoning on the indul- 
gences to meet this demand, again applied to the Fug- 
gers, who thinking it a safe speculation, made the re- 
quired advance on certain conditions, and were named 
treasurers of this undertaking. They were the royal 
bankers of this epoch : they were afterwards created 
counts for the services they had rendered. 

The pope and the archbishop having thus divided 
beforehand the spoils of the good souls of Germany, it 
was next a question who should be commissioned to re- 
alize the investment. It was at first offered to the Fran- 
ciscans, and their superior was associated with Albert. 
But these monks wished to have no share in it, for it 
was already in bad odor among all good people. The 
Augustines, who were more enlightened than the other 
religious orders, cared still less about it. The Francis- 
cans, however, feared to displease the pope, who had just 
sent a cardinaPs hat to their general Forli, a hat that 
had cost this poor mendicant order 30,000 florins. The 
superior judged it more prudent not to refuse openly ; 
but he made all kinds of objections to Albert. They 
could never come to an understanding ; and accordingly 
the elector joyfully accepted the proposition to take the 
whole matter to himself. The Dominicans, on their part, 
coveted a share in the general enterprise about to be set 
on foot. Tetzel, who had already acquired great repu- 
tation in this trade, hastened to Mentz, and offers his 
services to the elector. They called to mind the ability 
he had shown in publishing the indulgences for the 
knights of the Teutonic order of Prussia and Livonia ; 
his proposals were accepted, and thus the whole traffio 
passed into the hands of his order.* 
* Seckeadorf, 42. 



272 UISIOEY OF THE EEFOEMATIOX 



CHAPTER IV. 

Tetzel approaches— Luther in the confessional — TetzePs onger^ 
Luther has no plan — Jealousy of orders — Luther's sermon-- Th8 
elector's dream. 

Luther, as far as we are acquainted, heard of Tetzel 
for the first time at Grimma in 1516, just as he was 
commencing his visitation of the churches. It was re- 
ported to Staupitz, who was still with Luther, that there 
was a seller of indulgences at Wiirzen named Tetzel, 
who was making a great noise. Some of his extrava- 
gant expressions were quoted, and Luther exclaimed 
with indignation, " If God permit, I will make a hole in 
his drum."* 

Tetzel was returning from Berlin, where he had met 
with the most friendly reception from the Elector Joa- 
chim, the farmer-generaPs brother, when he took his sta- 
tion at Jiiterbock. Staupitz, availing himself of the 
confidence the Elector Frederick placed in him, had often 
called his attention to the abuses of the indulgences and 
the scandalous lives of the vendors.f The princes of 
Saxony, indignant at this disgraceful traffic, had forbid- 
den the merchant to enter their provinces. He was 
therefore compelled to remain in the territories of his 
patron the archbishop of Magdeburg ; but he approached 
Saxony as near as he could. Jiiterbock was only four 
miles from Wittemberg. This great purse-thresher,'' 
said Luther, " began to thresh J bravely throughout the 
country, so that the money began to leap and fall tink- 
ling into the box." The people flocked in crowds from 
Wittemberg to the indulgence-market of Jiiterbock. 

At this period Luther was still full of respect for the 
church and the pope. " I was at that time," said he, "a 
monk, and a most furious papist ; so intoxicated, nay, 

• Lingke, Reisegesch. Luthers, 27. f Instillans ^us pectoii 
frequentes indulgentiarum abusus. CochloBUs, 4. 
t Dreechen. Luth 0pp. 17. 



LUTHEE IN THE CONFESSIONAL. 



273 



BO drowned in the Roman doctrines, that I would have 
willingly aided, if I could, in killing any one who should 
have had the audacity to refuse the slightest obedience 
to the pope.* I was a very Saul, as there are many 
still." But at the same time his heart was ready to 
catch fire for every thing that he recognized as truth, 
and against every thing he believed to be error. I 
was a young doctor fresh from the forge, ardent and 
rejoicing in the word of the Lord."f 

Luther was one day seated in the confessional at 
Wittemberg. Many of the townspeople came succes- 
sively, and confessed themselves guilty of great excess- 
es. Adultery, licentiousness, usury, ill-gotten gains — 
such are the crimes acknowledged to the minister of the 
word by those souls of which he will one day have to 
give an account. He reprimands, corrects, and instructs. 
But what is his astonishment when these individuals 
reply that they will not abandon their sins. Greatly 
shocked, the pious monk declares that since they will 
not promise to change their lives, he cannot absolve 
them. The unhappy creatures then appeal to their let- 
ters of indulgence ; they show them, and maintain their 
efficacy. But Luther replies that he has nothing to do 
with these papers, and adds, "Except ye repent, ye 
shall all likewise perish." They cry out and protest ; 
but the doctor is immovable. They must cease to do 
evil, and learn to do well, or else there is no absolution. 
"Have a care," added he, "how you listen to the clam- 
ors of these indulgence-merchants : you have better 
things to do than buy these licenses which they sell at 
so vile a price."J 

The inhabitants of Wittemberg, in great alarm, hast- 
ily returned to Tetzel : they told him that an Augustine 
monk had treated his letters with contempt. The Domini- 
can at this intelligence bellowed with anger. He stormed 

• In Prsef. 0pp. Witt. 1. Monachum, et papistam insanissimum, 
ita ebrium, imo submersum in dogmatibus papae, etc 
t L. 0pp. W. 22. 

t Coepi dissuadere populis et eos dehortari ne indulgentiarioruin 
Clamoribus aurem praeberent. L. 0pp. Lat. in Prsaf, 

T ^ 

lo 



274 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



from the pulpit, employing insults and curses and to 
strike the people with greater terror, he had a fire light- 
ed several times in the market-place, declaring that he 
had received an order from the pope to burn all heretics 
who presumed to oppose his most holy indulgences. 

Such is the fact that was, not the cause, but the first 
occasion of the Reformation. A pastor, seeing the sheep 
of his fold in a course in which they must perish, seeks 
to withdraw them from it. As yet he has no thought of 
reforming the church and the world. He has seen Rome 
and her corruptions ; but still he does not rise up against 
her. He has a presentiment of some of the abuses under 
which Christendom groans, but he does not think of cor- 
recting them. He does not desire to become a reformer.^ 
He has no more plan for the reformation of the church 
than he had had for the reformation of himself. God 
wills a reform, and elects Luther to be its instrument. 
The same remedy which had been so efiBcacious in heal- 
ing his own wounds, the hand of God will apply by him 
to the sores of Christendom. He remains tranquil in the 
sphere that is assigned to him. He walks simply wher- 
ever his Master calls him. He fulfils at Wittemberg the 
duties of professor, preacher, and pastor. He is seated 
in the temple where the members of his church come 
and open their hearts to him. It is there, on that field, 
that the evil attacks him, and error seeks him out. They 
would prevent him from executing his office. His con- 
science, bound to the word of God, revolts. Is it not 
God who calls him ? To resist is a duty : it is therefore 
a right. He must speak. Thus, says Mathesius, were 
the events ordained by that God who desired to restore 
Christendom by means of the forgemaster's son, and to 
pass through his furnaces the impure doctrine of the 
church, in order to purify it.J 

It is not requisite, after this statement, to refute a 

• Wiitet, schilt und maledeit graeulich auf dem Predigtstahl. 
Myconius, Reformationsgesch. t Haec initia fuerunt hujus coi> 

troversiae, in qua Lutherus, nihil adhuc suspicans aut somaiana do 
futura mutatione rituum. Mel. Vit. Luth. 

X Die verseurte Lehr durch den Ofen gehen, JQ. 



EXPLANATION OF MOTIVES 



275 



lying imputation invented by some of Luther's enemies, 
but not till after his death. It has been said that the 
jealousy peculiar to religious orders, that vexation at 
seeing a disgraceful and reprobated traffic confided to 
the Dominicans rather than to the Augustines who had 
hitherto possessed it, led the Wittemberg professor to 
attack Tetzel and his doctrines. The well-established 
fact, that this speculation had been first offered to the 
Franciscans, who would have nothing to do with it, is 
suflBcient to refute this fable repeated by writers who have 
copied one another. Cardinal Fallavicini himself affirms 
that the Augustines had never held this commission.* 
Besides, we have witnessed the travail of Luther's soul. 
His conduct needs no other interpretation. It was nec- 
essary for him to confess aloud the doctrine to which he 
owed his happiness. In Christianity, when a man has 
found a treasure for himself, he desires to impart it to 
others. In our days we should give up these puerile 
and unworthy explanations of the great revolution of 
the sixteenth century. It requires a more powerful lever 
to raise the world. The Reformation was not in Luther 
only ; his age must have given it birth. 

Luther, who was impelled equally by obedience to 
the word of God and charity towards men, ascended the 
pulpit. He forearmed his hearers, but with gentleness, 
as he says himself.f His prince had obtained from the 
pope special indulgences for the castle-chapel at Wit- 
temberg. Some of the blows that he was aiming at the 
inquisitor's indulgences might fall on those of the elec- 
tor. It matters not ; he will hazard disgrace. If he 
sought to please men, he would not be Christ^s servant. 

No one can prove by Scripture that the righteous* 
ness of God requires a penalty or satisfaction from the 
sinner " said the faithful minister of the word to the peo- 
ple of Wittemberg. " The only duty it imposes is a true 
repentance, a sincere conversion, a resolution to bear the 
cross of Christ, and to perform good works. It is a great 
error to pretend of one's self to make satisfaction for our 

* Falsum est consuevisse hoc munus iujungi Eremitcmis S. 
gaitini, li. f Sauberllcl^. 



276 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMATIOM 

sins to God's righteousness ; God pardons them gratai 
tously by his inestimable grace. 

" The Christian church, it is true, requires something 
of the sinner, and which consequently can be remitted. 

But that is all Yet farther, these indulgences o^ 

the church are tolerated only because of the idle and 
imperfect Christians who will not zealously perform good 
works ; for they move no one to sanctification, but leave 
each man in his imperfection.'' 

Next attacking the pretences under which indul 
gences are published, he continued : " They would do 
much better to contribute for love of God to the build- 
ing of St. Peter's, than to buy indulgences with this in- 
tention. But, say you, shall we then never purchase 
any ? I have already told you, and I repeat it, my ad- 
vice is, that no one should buy them. Leave them for 
drowsy Christians ; but you should walk apart and for 
yourselves. We must turn the faithful aside from in- 
dulgences, and exhort them to the works which they 
neglect." 

Finally, glancing at his adversaries, Luther conclude 
ed in these words : " And should any cry out that I am 
a heretic, for the truth I preach is very prejudicial to 
their strong box, I care but little for their clamors. 
They are gloomy and sick brains, men who have never 
tasted the Bible, never read the Christian doctrine, never 
comprehended their own doctors, and who lie rotting in 
the rags and tatters of their own vain opinions.* May 
God grant both them and us a sound understanding. 
Amen." After these words the doctor quitted the pulpit, 
leaving his hearers in great emotion at such daring lan- 
guage. 

This sermon was printed, and made a profound im- 
pression on all who read it. Tetzel replied to it, and 
Luther answered again ; but these discussions did not 
take place till the year 1518. 

The festival of All Saints was approaching. The 
chronicles of the time relate a circumstance which, al- 
* Sondern in ihren locherichen und zerrissenen Opinien vie] mUie 
vejn^esen. L. 0pp. 17. 119. 



THE ELECTOR^S DREAM. 



271 



though of little importance to the history of this period, 
may still serve to characterize it. It is a dream of the 
elector's, the essence of which is no doubt true, although 
some circumstances may have been added by those vrho 
related it. A respectable writer observes, that the fear 
of giving his adversaries an opportunity of saying that 
Luther's doctrine was founded on dreams, has no doubt 
tiindered many historians from mentioning it.* 

The Elector Frederick of Saxony, say the chronicles 
of the time, was at his palace of Schweinitz, six leagues 
from Wittemberg, when, on the 31st of October, early in 
the morning, 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, " I must tell 
you of a dream, brother, which I had last night, and of 
which I should like to know the meaning. It is so firmly 
graven in my memory that I should never forget it, even 
were I to live a thousand years ; for it came three times, 
and always with new circumstances." 

Duke John. " Was it a good or a bad dream 

The Elector. " I cannot tell : God knows." 

Duke John. " Do not be uneasy about it : let mo 
hear it." 

The Elector. "Having gone to bed last night tired 
and dispirited, I soon fell asleep after saying my pray- 
ers, and slept calmly for about two hours and a half. 1 
then awoke, and all kinds of thoughts occupied me till 
midnight. I reflected how I should keep the festival of 
All Saints ; I prayed for the wretched souls in purga- 
tory, and begged that God would direct me, my councils, 
and my people, according to the truth. I then fell asleep 
again, and dreamed that the Almighty sent me a monk, 
who was a true son of Paul the apostle. He was accom- 
panied by all the saints, in obedience to God's command, 

* Seckendorf. It will be found in Loscher, 1 46, etc. ; TenzePa 
Anf. und Fortg. der Ref. j Junker's Ehrenged. 148; Lehmann's 
Beshr. d. Meissn Erzgeb. etc.; and in a MS. among the Weimar 
state papers, taken down from Spalatin's mouth. Our account of 
the dream is from this MS., published at the last jubilee of the JBef- 
ormatioQ, 1817. 



278 HISTORY OF THE REFORliATIOlf. 



to bear him testimony, and to assure me that he did not 
come with any fraudulent design, but that all he should 
do was conformable to the will of God. They asked my 
gracious permission to let him write something on the 
doors of the palace-chapel at Wittemberg, which I con- 
ceded through my chancellor. Upon this, the monk re- 
paired thither and began to write ; so large were the 
characters that I could read from Schweinitz what he 
was writing. The pen he used was so long that its ex- 
tremity reached as far as Rome, where it pierced the 
ears of a lion* which lay there, and shook the triple 
crown on the pope's head. All the cardinals and princes 
ran up hastily and endeavored to support it. You and I 
both tendered our assistance : I stretched out my arm 

that moment I awoke with my arm extended, in 

great alarm and very angry with this monk, who could 
not guide his pen better. I recovered myself a little ; it 
was only a dream. 

" I was still half asleep, and once more closed my 
eyes. The dream came again. The lion, still disturbed 
by the pen, began to roar with all his might, until the 
whole city of Rome, and all the states of the holy empire, 
ran up to know what was the matter. The pope called 
upon us to oppose this monk, and addressed himself 
particularly to me, because the friar was living in my 
dominions. I again awoke, repeated the Lord's prayer, 
entreated God to preserve his holiness, and fell asleep. 

" I then dreamed that all the princes of the empire, 
and we along with them, hastened to Rome, and endeav- 
ored one after another to break this pen ; but the greater 
our exertions, the stronger it became : it crackled as ii 
it had been made of iron : we gave it up as hopeless. I 
then asked the monk — ^for I was now at Rome, now at 
Wittemberg — where he had got that pen, and how it 
came to be so strong. * This pen,' replied he, * belonged 
^0 a Bohemian goose a hundred years old.f I had it 
from one of my old schoolmasters. It is so strong, be- 

* Leo X. t John Huss. This circumstance may have 

been added later, in allusion to the words of Huss we haye quoted 
above, page 97. 



THE ELECTOR'S DREAM. 



279 



cause no one can take the pith out of it, and I am myself 
quite astonished at it/ On a sudden I heard a loud cry : 
from the monk^s long pen had issued a host of other pens. 
J awoke a third time ; it was daylight." 

Duke John. " What is your opinion, Mr. Chancellor ? 
Would that we had here a Joseph, or a Daniel, taught 
rf God." 

The Chancellor. " Your highnesses know the vulgar 
proverb, that the dreams of young women, wise men, 
and great lords, have generally some hidden meaning. 
But we shall not learn the signification of this for some 
time, until the events have come to pass to which it 
relates. For this reason, confide its accomplishment to 
God, and commit all things into his hands." 

Duke John. My opinion is the same as yours, Mr. 
Chancellor ; it is not proper for us to rack our brains to 
discover the interpretation of this dream : God will di- 
rect every thing to his own glory." 

The Elector. '*May our faithful God do even so. 
Still I shall never forget this dream. I have thought of 
one interpretation, but I shall keep it to myself. Time 
will show, perhaps, whether I have conjectured rightly." 

Thus, according to the Weimar manuscript, passed 
the morning of Oct. 31 at Schweinitz ; let us see how 
the evening was spent at Wittemberg. We are now 
returning entirely to the domain of history. 



280 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOH. 



CHAPTER V. 

Festival of All Sainta— Theses — Their strength— Moderation—Pw 
idence — Letter to Albert — Indifference of the bishops — Disseml* 
nation of the theses. 

Luther's words had produced little effect. Tetzel 
continued his traffic and his impious discourses without 
disturbing himself.* Will Luther resign himself to these 
crying abuses, and will he keep silence ? As pastor, he 
has earnestly exhorted those who had recourse to his 
services ; as preacher, he has uttered a warning voice 
from the pulpit. It still remains for him to speak as a 
theologian ; he has yet to address not merely a few 
souls in the confessional, not merely the assembly of 
the faithful at Wittemberg, but all those who are, like 
himself, teachers of the word of God. His resolution is 
taken. 

It is not the church he thinks of attacking ; it is not 
the pope he is bringing to the bar : on the contrary, it 
is his respect for the pope that will not allow him to be 
silent longer on the monstrous claims by which the pon- 
tiff is discredited. He must take the pope's part against 
those impudent men who dare mingle up his venerable 
name with their scandalous traffic. Par from thinking 
of a revolution which should overthrow the primacy of 
Rome, Luther believes he has the pope and Catholicism 
for his allies against these barefaced monks.f 

The festival of All Saints was a very important day 
for Wittemberg, and abov^ all, for the church the eleo* 
tor had built there, and which he had jfilled with relics. 
On that day the priests used to bring out these relics, 
ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones, and 

* Cujus impiis et nefariis concionibus incitatus Lutherus, studio 
pietatis ardens edidit proposltiones de indulgentiis. Melancth. Vita 
Luth. t Et in iis certus mihi videbar, me habiturum patronom 
papam, cujus fiducia tunc fortiter nitebar. L. 0pp. Lat. in Prsot 



THE THESES 



281 



eJiibit them before the people, who were astonished and 
dazzled at such magnificence.* Whoever visited the 
church on that festival and made confession, obtained a 
rich indulgence. Accordingly, on this great anniver- 
sary, pilgrims came to Wittemberg in crowds. 

On the 31st of October, 1517, at noon on the day 
preceding the festival, f Luther, who had already made 
up his mind, walks boldly towards the church, to which 
a superstitious crowd of pilgrims was repairing, and 
p(»sts upon the door ninety-five theses or propositions 
against the doctrine of indulgences. Neither the elec- 
tor, nor Staupitz, nor Spalatin, nor any even of his most 
intimate friends, had been made acquainted with his 
intentions.^ 

Luther therein declares, in a kind of preface, that he 
has written these theses with the express desire of set- 
ting the truth in the full light of day. He declares him- 
self ready to defend them on the morrow, in the univer- 
'sity, against all opponents. Great was the attention 
they excited : they were read, and passed from mouth to 
mouth. Ere long the pilgrims, the university, and the 
whole city were in commotion. 

We give some of these propositions, written with the 
pen of the monk, and posted on the door of the church of 
Wittemberg : 

1. "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ says 
repentf he means that the whole life of believers upon 
earth, should be a constant and perpetual repentance. 

2. This word cannot be understood of the sacrar 
ment of penance — that is, confession and satisfaction — 
as administered by the priest. 

3 " Still the Lord does not mean to speak in this 
place solely of internal repentance ; internal repentance 
is null, if it produce not externally every kind of morti* 
ficatiou of the flesh. 

4. Repentance and sorrow — ^that is, true penance— 

* Quas magnifico apparatu publice popiilis ostendi curavit 
Cochlceus, 4. f Curaeus, Schles. Chronikon. 1. 241. 

X Cum hujus disputationis nullus etiam intimorum amioonun 
fUerit oonscius. L. Epp. 1. 186. 



282 



HISTOHr OF THE REFORMATION 



endure as long as a man is displeased with himself— 
that is, until he passes from this life into eternity. 

5. " The pope is unable and desires not to remit any 
other penalty than that which he has imposed of his owb 
good pleasure, or conformably to the canons — thai is, 
the papal ordinances. 

6. "The pope cannot remit any condemnation, but 
only declare and confirm the remission of God, except in 
tJie cases that appertain to himself. If he does other- 
m&e, the condemnation remains entirely the same. 

8. " The laws of ecclesiastical penance ought to be 
imposed solely on the living, and have no regard to the 
dead. 

21. "The commissaries of indulgences are in en or 
when they say, that by the papal indulgence a man is 
delivered from every punishment, and is saved. 

25. "The same power that the pope has over pur- 
gatory throughout the church, each bishop possesses 
individually in his own diocese, and each priest in his 
own parish. 

27. " They preach mere human follies who maintain 
that as soon as the money rattles in the strong-box, the 
soul flies out of purgatory. 

28. " This is certain, that as soon as the money tin- 
kles, avarice and love of gain arrive, increase, and mul- 
tiply. But the support and prayers of the church depend 
solely on God's will and good pleasure. 

32. " Those who fancy themselves sure of salvation 
by indulgences will go to perdition along with those 
who teach them so. 

35. "They are teachers of antichristian doctrines 
who pretend that to deliver a soul from purgatory, or 
to buy an indulgence, there is no need of either sorrow 
or repentance. 

36. " Every Christian who truly repents of his sins, 
enjoys an entire remission both of the penalty and of the 
guilt, without any need of indulgences. 

31 " Every true Christian, whether dead or alive, par- 
ticipates in all the blessings of Christ or of the churchp 
by God's gift, and without a letter of indulgence. 



THE THESES 



283 



88. " Still we should not contemn the papal dispen- 
sation and pardon ; for this pardon is a declaration of 
the pardon of God. 

40. " True repentance and sorrow seek and love the 
punishment ; but the mildness of indulgence absolves 
from the punishment, and begets hatred against it. 

42. " We should teach Christians that the pope has 
no thought or desire of comparing in any respect the act 
of buying indulgences with any work of mercy. 

43. " We should teach Christians that he who gives 
to the poor, or lends to the needy, does better than he 
who purchases an indulgence. 

44. " For the work of charity increaseth charity, and 
renders a man more pious ; whereas the indulgence does 
not make him better, but only renders him more self* 
confident, and more secure from punishment. 

46. " We should teach Christians that whoever sees 
his neighbor in want, and yet buys an indulgence, does 
not buy the pope^s indulgence, but incurs God's anger. 

46. " We should teach Christians that if they have 
no superfluity, they are bound to keep for their own 
households the means of procuring necessaries, and 
ought not to squander their money in indulgences. 

47. "We should teach Christians that the purchase 
of an indulgence is a matter of free choice, and not of 
commandment. 

48. " We should teach Christians that the pope, hav- 
ing more need of prayers offered up in faith than of 
money, desires prayer more than money when he dis- 
penses indulgences. 

49. We should teach Christians that the pope's in- 
dulgence is good, if we put no confidence in it ; but that 
nothing is more hurtful, if it diminishes our piety. 

60. "We should teach Christians that if the pope 
knew of the extortions of the preachers of indulgences, 
he would rather the mother-church of St. Peter were 
burned and reduced to ashes, than see it built up with 
the skin, the flesh, and the bones of his flock. 

61. "We should teach Christians that the pope — as 
it is his duty — would distribute his own money to the 



284 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 

poor whom the indulgence-sellers are now stripping of 
their last farthing, even were he compelled to sell the 
mother-church of St. Peter. 

62. To hope to be saved by indulgences is a lying 
and an empty hope, although even the commissary of 
indulgences, nay, farther, the pope himself, should pledge 
their souls to guarantee it. 

53. " They are the enemies of the pope and of JesuB 
Christ, wh^ by reason of the preaching of indulgences, 
forbid the preaching of the word of God. 

65. The pope can have no other thought than this : 
If the indulgence, which is a lesser matter, be celebrated 
with ringing of a bell, with pomp and ceremony, much 
more should we honor and celebrate the gospel, which 
is a greater thing, with a hundred bells, and with a hun- 
dred pomps and ceremonies. 

62. " The true and precious treasure of the church ia 
the holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. 

65. " The treasures of the gospel are nets in which 
in former times the rich and those in easy circumstances 
were caught. 

66. "But the treasures of the indulgence are nets 
with which they now catch the riches of the people. 

6t. " It is the duty of bishops and pastors to receive 
the commissaries of the apostolical indulgences with 
every mark of respect. 

68. " But it is still more their duty to ascertain with 
their eyes and ears that the said commissaries do not 
preach the dreams of their own imagination, instead of 
the orders of the pope. 

"Cursed be he who speaks against the indul- 
gence of the pope. 

*r2. "But blessed be he who speaks against the foolish 
and impudent language of the preachers of indulgences, 

16. "The indulgence of the pope cannot take away 
the smallest daily sin, as far as regards the guilt or the 
offence. 

79. "It is blasphemy to say that the cross adorned 
with the arms of the pope is as effectual as the cross of 
Christ 



THEIR STEENGTH. 



285 



80. " The bishops, pastors, and theologians who per- 
mit such things to be told the people, will have to ren- 
der an account of them. 

81. This shameless preaching, these impudent com- 
mendations of indulgences, make it difficult for the 
learned to defend the dignity and honor of the pope 
against the calumnies of the preachers, and the subtle 
and crafty questions of the common people. 

86. Why, say they, does not the pope, who is richei 
tnan the richest Croesus, build the mother-church of St. 
Peter with his own money, rather than with that of poor 
Christians ? 

92. " Would that we were quit of all these preachers 
who say to the church, Peace, peace, and there is no 
peace. 

94. **We should exhort Christians to diligence in 
following Christ, their head, through crosses, death, and 
hell. 

95. " For it is far better to enter into the kingdom of 
heaven through much tribulation, than to acquire a car- 
nal security by the consolations of a false peace." 

Such was the commencement of the work. The germs 
of the Reformation were contained in these propositions 
of Luther. The abuses of indulgences were attacked 
therein, and "this is their most striking feature ; but be- 
neath these attacks there was a principle which, although 
attracting the attention of the multitude in a less degree, 
was one day to overthrow the edifice of popery. The 
evangelical doctrine of a free and gratuitous remission 
of sins was there for the first time publicly professed. 
The work must now increase in strength. It was evi- 
dent, indeed, that whoever had this faith in the remission 
of sins, announced by the Wittemberg doctor — that who- 
ever had this repentance, this conversion, and this sanc- 
tification, the necessity of which he so earnestly incul- 
cated would no longer care for human ordinances, would 
escape from the toils and swaddling-bands of Rome, and 
would acquire the liberty of the children of God. All 
errors would fall down before this truth. By it light 
had begun to enter Luther's mind ; by it, also, the light 



286 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMATIOH 



would be diffused over the church. A clear knowledge 
of this truth is what preceding reformers had wanted ; 
and hence the unfruitfulness of their exertions. Luther 
himself acknowledged afterwards, that in proclaiming 
justification by faith, he had laid the axe at the root of 
the tree. " It is doctrine we attack in the adherents uf 
the Papacy," said he. " Huss and Wickliffe only attack- 
ed their lives ; but in attacking their doctrine, we take 
the goose by the neck.* Every thing depends on the 
word, which the pope has taken from us and falsified. I 
have vanquished the pope, because my doctrine is of 
God, and his is of the devil." 

In our own days too, we have forgotten this main 
doctrine of justification by faith, although in a sense op- 
posed to that of our fathers. In the time of Luther," 
observes one of our contemporaries,f " the remission of 
sins cost money at least; but in our days, each man 
supplies himself gratis." There is a great similarity 
between these two errors. There is perhaps more for- 
getfulness of God in ours, than in that of the sixteenth 
century. The principle of justification by the grace of 
God, which brought the church out of so much darkness 
at the period of the Reformation, can alone renew our 
generation, put an end to its doubts and waverings, de- 
stroy the selfishness that preys upon it, establish right- 
eousness and morality among the nations, and, in short, 
reunite the world to God from whom it has been dis- 
severed. 

But if Luther's theses were strong by the strength of 
the truth they proclaimed, they were not the less so by 
the faith of their champion. He had boldly drawn the 
sword of the word : he had done so in reliance on the 
power of truth. He had felt that by leaning on God's 
promises, he could afibrd to risk something, to use the 
language of the world. " Let him who desires to begin 
a good work," said he when speaking of this daring 
attack, undertake it with confidence in the goodness of 
his cause, and not, which God forbid, expecting the sup* 
* Wenn man die Lehre angreift, so wird die Gans am Kragen 
ge^iiiSeii. L. 0pp. W. 22. 1369 t Harms of KI^^L 



MODEEATION-PROVIDENCE 



287 



port and consolation of the world. Moreover, let him 
have no fear of man, or of the whole world ; for these 
words will never lie : It is good to trust in the Lord, 
and assuredly he that trusteth in the Lord shall not be 
confounded. But let him that will not or who cannot 
risk something with confidence in God, take heed how 
he undertakes any thing."* Luther, after having posted 
his theses on the gate of All Saints' church, retired, no 
doubt, to his tranquil cell, full of the peace and joy that 
spring from an action done in the Lord's name, and for 
the sake of eternal truth. 

Whatever be the boldness that prevails in these prop- 
ositions, they still bespeak the monk who refuses to ad- 
mit a single doubt on the authority of the see of Rome. 
But while attacking the doctrine of indulgences, Luther 
had unwittingly touched on certain errors, whose dis- 
covery could not be agreeable to the pope, seeing that 
sooner or later they would call his supremacy in ques- 
tion. Luther was not so far-sighted ; but he was sensi- 
ble of the extreme boldness of the step he had just taken, 
and consequently thought it his duty to soften down 
their audacity, as far as he could in conformity with the 
truth. He therefore set forth these theses as doubtful 
propositions on which he solicited the information of the 
learned ; and appended to them, conformably with the 
established usage, a solemn declaration that he did not 
mean to affirm or say any thing contrary to the holy 
Scriptures, the fathers of the church, and the rights and 
decretals of the Roman see. 

Frequently, in after-years, as he contemplated the 
immense and unexpected consequences of this coura- 
geous attack, Luther was astonished at himself, and 
could not understand how he had ventured to make it* 
An invisible and mightier hand than his held the clue, 
and led the herald of truth along a path that was still 
hidden from him, and from the difficulties (f which he 
would perhaps have shrunk, if he had foreseen them, 
and if he had advanced alone and of his own accord. " I 
entered into this controversy," said he, "without any 
* L, 0pp. Leips. 6. 518. 



288 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOK 



definite plan, without knowledge or inclination ; I was 
taken quite unawares, and I call God, the searcher of 
hearts, to witness/'* 

Luther had become acquainted with the source of 
these abuses. Some one brought him a little book 
adorned with the arms of the archbishop of Mentz and 
Magdeburg, which contained the regulations to be fol- 
lowed in the sale of indulgences. It was this young 
prelate, then, this graceful prince, who had prescribed, 
or at least sanctioned all this quackery. In him Luther 
saw only a superior whom he should fear and respect.f 
Not wishing to beat the air at hazard, but rather to ad- 
dress those who are charged with the government of the 
church, Luther sent him a letter abounding at once in 
frankness and humility. It was on the very day he post- 
ed up the theses that the doctor wrote to Albert : 

" Pardon me, most reverend father in Christ, and most 
illustrious prince," said he, " if I, who am but the dregs 
of men,| have the presumption to write to your sublime 
highness. The Lord Jesus Christ is my witness that, 
feeling how small and despicable I am, I have long put 
off doing it. May your highness condescend to cast a 
single glance on a grain of dust, and of your episcopal 
mildness graciously receive my petition. 

"Certain individuals are hawking the papal indul- 
gences up and down the country, in your grace's name. 
I am unwilling so much to blame the clamors of these 
preachers — for I have not heard them — as the false ideas 
of the simple and ignorant people, who, in purchasing 
indulgences, fancy themselves assured of salvation. 

"The souls intrusted to your care, most excellent 
father, are taught, not unto life, but unto death. The 
severe and just account that will be required of you in- 
creases from day to day. I could no longer be silent. 
No, man is not saved by the work or the office of his 

* Casu enim, non voluntate nec studio, in has turbas incidi, 
Deum ipsum tester. L. 0pp. Lat. in Praef. f Domino buo et 

pastori in Christo venerabiliter metuendo — the address on the letter. 
To his reverently to be feared lord and pastor iu Christ. Epp. 1. 6& 

X F«x hominum. I]5id, 



LETTER TO ALBERT. 



289 



bishop. Even the righteous are saved with difficulty, 
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. Where- 
fore, then, do these preachers of indulgences by their 
empty fables inspire the people with a carnal security? 

Indulgences alone, to hear them, ought to be pro- 
claimed and extolled. What, is it not the principal, the 
sole duty of the bishops to instruct the people in the 
gospel, and in the charity of Christ Jesus ?* Christ him- 
self has nowhere ordained the preaching of indulgences ; 
but he has forcibly commanded the preaching of the gos- 
pel.f How dreadful, then, and how dangerous, for a 
bishop to allow the gospel to be silent, and that the 
noise of indulgences alone should reecho incessantly in 
the ears of his flock. 

" Most worthy father in God, in the instructions to 
the commissaries, which have been published in your 
grace's name, no doubt without your knowledge, it is 
said that the indulgences are the most precious treasure, 
that by them man is reconciled to God, and that repent- 
ance is not necessary to tliose who purchase them. 

" What can I, what ought I to do, most worthy bish- 
op, most serene prince ? I beg your highness, in the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to cast a look of paternal 
vigilance on this affair, to suppress the book entirely, 
and to order the preachers to deliver other sermons be- 
fore the people. If you do not so, fear lest you should 
one day heai some voice uplifted in refutation of these 
preachers, to the great dishonor of your most serene 
highness." 

Luther at the same time forwarded his theses to the 
archbishop, and added a postscript inviting him to read 
them, in order to convince himself on how slight a foun- 
dation the doctrine of indulgences was based. 

Thus Luther's whole desire was for the sentinels of 
the church to awaken and resolve to put an end to the 
evils that were laying it waste. Nothing could be more 
noble and moie respectful than this letter from a monk 
to one of the greatest prince*? of the church and of the 
* Ut pbpulus E^angelium discat atque charltatem Christl Epjk 
I. 68. f Vehementer prapcipit. FbicL 

m «f iu£ 1 9 



290 HISTORY OF THE REFOaMATlON. 

empire. Never did man act more in accordance with 
this precept of Christ, Render to Caesar the things that 
are Ca^sar^s, and to God the things that are God's. This 
is not the course of those fiery revolutionists who " de- 
spise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." It is the 
cry of a Christian conscience, of a priest who gives honor 
to all, but who fears God above every thing. All his 
prayers, all his entreaties were unavailing. The youth- 
ful Albert, engrossed by pleasures and ambitious de- 
signs, made no reply to so solemn an appeal. The bishop 
of Brandenburg, Luther's ordinary, a learned and pious 
man, to whom he sent his theses, replied that he was 
attacking the power of the church ; that he would bring 
upon himself much trouble and vexation ; that the thing 
was above his strength ; and he earnestly advised him 
to keep quiet.* The princes of the church stopped their 
ears against the voice of God, which was manifested 
with such energy and tenderness through the mouth of 
Luther. They would not understand the signs of the 
times ; they were struck with that blindness which has 
caused the ruin of so many powers and dignities. " They 
both thought," said Luther afterwards, " that the pope 
would be too strong for a poor mendicant friar like me." 

But Luther could judge better than the bishops of 
the disastrous effects of indulgences on the manners and 
lives of the people, for he was in direct communication 
with them. He saw continually and near at hand what 
the bishops knew only through unfaithful reports. Al- 
though the bishops failed him, God did not. The Head 
of the church, who sitteth in the heavens, and to whom 
all power is given upon earth, had himself prepared the 
soil and deposited the seed in the hands of his minister j 
he gave wings to the seeds of truth, and he scattered it 
in an instant throughout the length and breadth of his 
church. 

No one appeared next day at the university to attack 
Luther's propositions. The Tetzel traffic was too much 
decried, and too shameful for any* one but himself or his 
followers to dare take up the glove. But these theses 

* Er 8ollte still halten ; es ware eine groeee Sache. Math. 13. 



CIRCULATION OF THE THESES. 291 

were destined to be heard elsewhere than under the 
arched roof of an academic hall. Scarcely had they 
been nailed to the church door of Wittemberg, than the 
feeble sounds of the hammer were followed throughout 
all Germany by a mighty blow that reached even the 
foundations of haughty Rome, threatening with sudden 
ruin the walls, the gates, and pillars of Popery, stunning 
and terrifying her champions, and at the same time 
awakening thousands from the sleep of error.* 

These theses spread with the rapidity of lightning, 
A month had not elapsed before they were at Rome. 
" In a fortnight," says a contemporary historian, they 
were in every part of Germany, and in four weeks they 
had traversed nearly the whole of Christendom, as if the 
very angels had been their messengers, and had placed 
thorn before the eyes of all men. No one can believe the 
noise they made."f Somewhat later they were trans- 
lated into Dutch and Spanish, and a traveller sold them 
in Jerusalem. "Every one," said Luther, " complained 
of the indulgences ; and as all the bishops and doctors 
had kept silence, and nobody was willing to bell the cat, 
poor Luther became a famous doctor, because, as they 
said, there came one at last who ventured to do it. But 
I did not like this glory, and the tune was n(,Arly too 
high for my voice."J 

Many of the pilgrims, who had thronged to Wittem- 
berg from every quarter for the feast of All SaLjts, car- 
ried back with them, instead of indulgences, the famous 
theses of the Augustine monk. By this means they con- 
tributed to their circulation. Every one read them, med- 
itated and commented on them. Men conversed about 
them in all the convents and in all the universities. § The 
pious monks who had entered the cloisters to save their 
Buuls, all upright and honorable men, were delighted at 
this simple and striking confession of the truth, and 
heartily desired that Luther would continue the work he 
had begun. At length one man had found courage to 

• Walther, Nachr. 5. Luther, p. 45. f Myconius, Hist. Ref. p 23 
t Das Lied wollte meiner Stimme zu hoch werden. L. Opp 
§ In al)e hohe Sohalen und Kloster Math. 13. 



292 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



undertake the perilous struggle. This was a reparation 
accorded to Christendom : the public conscience was sat- 
isfied. Piety saw in these theses a blow aimed at every 
superstition ; the new theology hailed in it the defeat of 
the scholastic dogmas ; princes and magistrates consid- 
ered them as a barrier raised against the invasions of 
the ecclesiastical power ; and the nation rejoiced at see- 
ing so positive a veto opposed by this monk to the cupid- 
ity of the Roman chancery. "When Luther attacked 
this fable," remarked to Duke George of Saxony a man 
very worthy of belief, and one of the principal rivals of 
the reformer, namely Erasmus, the whole world ap- 
plauded, and there was a general assent." " I observe," 
said he at another time to Cardinal Campeggio, "that 
the greater their evangelical piety and the purer their 
morals, the less are men opposed to Luther. His life is 
praised even by those who cannot endure his faith. The 
world was weary of a doctrine so full of puerile fables 
and human ordinances, and thirsted for that living, pure, 
and hidden water which springs from the veins of the 
evangelists and apostles. Luther^s genius was fitted to 
accomplish these things, and his zeal would naturally 
catch fire at so glorious an enterprise."* 

* Ad hoc prsestandum mihi videbatur ille, et natura coinpoaltiis 
H aocensoB studio. Erasm. Epp. Campegio Cardinally 1. 650. 



&EUCHLIN— £KASKU8 



293 



CHAPTER VI. 

Beachlin — Erasmus — Flek— Bibra — The emperor — The pop^— My- 
conius — The monks — Apprehensions — Adelmann — An aged priest 
— The bishop — The elector — The townspeople of Erfurth — Ln 
ther's answer — Disorder — Luther's mainspring. 

We must follow these propositions into whatever 
place they penetrated, into the studies of the learned, 
the cells of the monks, and the halls of princes, to form 
an idea of the various, but prodigious effects they pro- 
duced in Germany. 

Reuchlin received them. He was wearied of the rude 
combat he had to fight against the monks. The strength 
displayed by the new combatant in his theses reanimated 
the dispirited champion of literature, and restored joy to 
his desponding heart. " Thanks be to God 1" exclaimed 
he, after reading them ; at last they have found a man 
who will give them so much to do, that they will be com- 
pelled to let my old age end in peace." 

The cautious Erasmus was in the Low Countries 
when these propositions reached him. He internally 
rejoiced at witnessing his secret wishes for the rectify- 
ing of abuses expressed with so much courage : he ap- 
proved of the author, exhorting him only to greater mod- 
eration and prudence. Nevertheless, when some one 
reproached Luther^s violence in his presence, " God," 
said he, "has given men a physician who cuts deep into 
the flesh, because the malady would otherwise be incur- 
able." And when a little later the elector of Saxony 
asked his opinion on Luther's business, he replied with 
a smile, " I am not at all surprised that it has made so 
much noise ; for he has committed two unpardonable 
crimes : he has attacked the pope's tiara and the monks' 
bellies."* 

Doctor Flek, prior of the monastery of SteinUusitz, 
* Muller's Denkw. 4. 266. 



294 HISTORY OF THE RiiFORllATIOK. 



had long discontinued reading the Mass, but without 
telling any one the real cause. One day he found Lu- 
ther's theses posted up in the refectory : he went up to 
them, began to read, and had cnly perused a few, when, 
unable to contain his joy, he exclaimed, " Ah, ah, he 
whom we have so long expected is come at last, and he 
will show you monks a trick or two 1" Then looking 
into the future, says Mathesius, and playing on the mean- 
ing of the name Wittemberg, " All the world,'' said he, 
" will go and seek wisdom on that mountain, and will 
find it."* He wrote to the doctor to continue the glo- 
rious struggle with boldness. Luther styles him a man 
full of joy and consolation. 

The ancient and renowned episcopal see of Wurz- 
burg was filled at that time by Lorenzo de Bibra, a 
pious, wise, and worthy man, according to the testimony 
of his contemporaries. When a gentleman came and 
informed him that he intended placing his daughter in a 
convent, "Rather give her a husband," said he. And 
then he added, " If you require money for her dowry, I 
will lend it you." The emperor and all the princes held 
him in the highest esteem. He mourned over the disor- 
ders of the church, and above all, over those of the con- 
vents. The theses reached his palace also : he read 
them with great joy, and publicly declared that he ap- 
proved of Luther. Somewhat later, he wrote to the 
Elector Frederick, " Do not let the pious Poctor Martin 
go, for they do him wrong." The elector was delighted 
at this testimony, and communicated it to the reformer 
with his own hand. 

The Emperor Maximilian, predecessor of Charles the 
Fifth, read and admired the theses of the monk of Wit- 
temberg ; he perceived his ability, and foresaw that this 
obscure Augustine might one day become a powerful 
ally for Germany in her struggle against Rome. He 
accordingly said to the elector of Saxony through his 
envoy, "Take great care of the monk Luther, for the 

* Alle Welt von diessem Weissenberg' Weissheit holen und be- 
kommen, p. 13. Wittemberg, or Weissenberg, signifies the moaa- 
tain of wisdom. 



MTCONIUS. 



295 



time may come when we shall have need of him.'^* And 
shortly after, being in diet with Pfeffinger, the elector's 
privy councillor, he said to him, Well, what is your Au- 
gustine doing ? In truth his propositions are not con- 
temptible. He will play the monks a pretty game."f 

At Rome, even in the Vatican, these theses were not 
80 badly received as might have been imagined. Leo X. 
judged rather as a patron of letters than as pope. The 
amusement they gave him made him forget the severe 
truths they contained ; and as Sylvester Prierio, the 
master of the sacred palace, who had the charge of ex- 
amining the books, requested him to treat Luther as a 
heretic, he replied, "Brother Martin Luther is a very fine 
genius, and all that is said against him is mere monkish 
jealousy."! 

There were few men on whom Luther's theses pro- 
duced a deeper impression than the scholar of Annaberg, 
whom Tetzel had so mercilessly repulsed. Myconius 
had entered a convent. On the very night of his arrival 
he dreamed he saw immense fields of wheat all glisten- 
ing with ripe ears. Cut," said the voice of his guide ; 
and when he alleged his want of skill, his conductor 
showed him a reaper working with inconceivable activ- 
ity. " Follow him, and do as he does," said the guide.§ 
Myconius, as eager after holiness as Luther had been, 
devoted himself while in the monastery to all the vigils, 
fasts, mortifications, and practices invented by men. But 
at last he despaired of ever attaining his object by his 
own exertions. He neglected his studies, and employed 
himself in manual labors only. At one time he would 
bind books ; at another, work at the turner^s lathe, or 
any laborious occupation. This outward activity was 
unable to quiet his troubled conscience. God had spo- 
ken to him, and he could no longer fall back into his 
previous lethargy. This state of anguish endured sev- 

* Dass er uns den Monch Luther fleiaslg bewahre. Math. 15. 

t Schmidt, Brand. Reformationsgesch. p. 124. i Che frate 
Martino Luthero haveva un bellissimo ingegno, e che coteste erano 
inridie fratesche. Brandelli, Leo's contemporary and a Dominlcaa, 
Hist, trag para 3, § Melch A d ami Vita Mycooii. 



296 HISTOHY OP THE REF0EMAT105. 



oral years. It has been sometimes imagined that the 
paths of the reformers were smooth, and that when they 
had renounced the observances of the church, nothing 
but pleasure and comfort awaited them. It is not con- 
sidered that they arrived at the truth through internal 
struggles a thousand times more painful than the obser- 
vances to which slavish minds easily submitted. 

At length the year 1517 arrived ; Luther^s theses 
were published ; they were circulated through Christen- 
dom, and penetrated also into the monastery where the 
scholar of Annaberg was concealed. He hid himself in 
a corner of the cloister with another monk, John Voigt, 
that he might read them at his ease.* Here were the 
selfsame truths he had heard from his father : his eyes 
were opened ; he felt a voice within him responding to 
that which was then reechoing through Germany, and 
great consolation filled his heart. " I see plainly," said 
he, "that Martin Luther is the reaper I saw in my 
dream, and who taught me to gather the ears." He be- 
gan immediately to profess the doctrine that Luther had 
proclaimed. The monks grew alarmed, as they heard 
him ; they argued with him, and declared against Lu- 
ther and against his convent. " This convent," replied 
Myconius, " is like our Lord^s sepulchre : they wish to 
prevent Christ's resurrection, but they will fail." At 
last his superiors, finding they could not convince him, 
interdicted him for a year and a half from all inter- 
course with the world, permitting him neither to write 
nor receive letters, and threatening him with imprison- 
ment for life. But the hour of his deliverance was at 
hand. Being afterwards nominated pastor of Zwickau, 
he was the first who declared against the Papacy in the 
churches of Thuringia. "Then," said he, "was I en- 
abled to labor with my venerable father Luther in the 
gospel-harvest." Jonas describes him as a man capable 
of doing every thing he undertook.f 

No doubt there were others besides to whose souls 
Luther's propositions were a signal of life. They kindled 
* Legit tunc cum Joanne Voito in angulum abditus, libellos La- 
then. Melch. Adam. f Qui potult quod yoliiit 



tH£ CAKON ADELMANK. 



297 



a new flame in many cells, cottages, and palaces. While 
those who had entered the convents in quest of good 
cheer, an idle life, or respect and honors, says Mathe- 
eius, began to load the name of Luther with reproaches, 
the monks who lived in prayer, fasting, and mortification, 
returned thanks to God, as soon as they heard the cry of 
that eagle whom Huss had announced a century before.* 
Even the common people, who did not clearly under- 
stand the theological question, but who only knew that 
this man assailed the empire of the lazy and mendicant 
monks, welcomed him with bursts of acclamation. An 
immense sensation was produced in Germany by these 
daring propositions. Some of the reformer's contempo- 
raries, however, foresaw the serious consequences to 
which they might lead, and the numerous obstacles they 
would encounter. They expressed their fears aloud, and 
rejoiced with trembling. 

"I am much afraid," wrote the excellent canon of 
Augsburg, Bernard Adelmann, to his friend Pirckhei- 
mer, "that the worthy man must give way at last before 
the avarice and power of the partisans of indulgences. 
His representations have produced so little effect, that 
the bishop of Augsburg, our primate and metropolitan,^ 
has just ordered, in the pope's name, fresh indulgences 
for St. Peter's at Rome. Let him haste to secure the aid 
of princes ; let him beware of tempting God ; for he must 
be void of common-sense if he overlooks the imminent 
peril he incurs.'' Adelmann was delighted on hearing it 
rumored that Henry VIIL had invited Luther to England. 
" In that country,'' thought the canon, " he will be able 
to teach the truth in peace." Many thus imagined that 
the doctrine of the gospel required the support of the 
civil power. They knew not that it advances without 
this power, and is often trammelled and enfeebled by it. 

Albert Kranz, the famous historian, was at Hamburg 
on his death-bed, when Luther's theses were brought to 
him : " Thou art right, brother Martin," said he ; " but 

• Darvon Magister Johann Huss geweissaget. Math. 13. 
t Totque uxorum vir — and the husband of so many wives — added 
be Heomanl Documenta litt. 167. 



298 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



thou wilt not succeed. Poor monk, go to thy cell and 
cry, Lord, have mercy upon me."* 

An aged priest of Hexter, in Westphalia, having re- 
ceived and read the theses in his parsonage, shook his 
head, and said in Low German, " Dear brother Martin, if 
you succeed in overthrowing this purgatory and all these 
paper-dealers, you will be a fine fellow indeed." Erbe- 
nius, who lived a century later, wrote the following dog^ 
gerel under these words : 

What would the worthy parson say, 
If he were living at this day ?"t 

Not only did a great number of Luther's friends 
entertain fears as to this proceeding, but many even 
expressed their disapprobation. 

The bishop of Brandenburg, grieved at seeing so vi* 
olent a quarrel break out in his diocese, would have de 
sired to stifle it. He resolved to effect this by mildness. 
"In your theses on indulgences," said he to Luther, 
through the abbot of Lenin, " I see nothing opposed to 
the catholic truth ; I myself condemn these indiscreet 
proclamations ; but for the love of peace, and for regard 
to your bishop, discontinue writing upon this subject." 
Luther was confounded at being addressed with such 
humility by so great a dignitary. Led away by the first 
impulse of his heart, he replied with emotion, " I con- 
sent : I would rather obey than perform miracles, if that 
were possible."^ 

The elector beheld with regret the commencement of 
a combat that was justifiable no doubt, but the results 
of which could not be foreseen. No prince was more 
desirous of maintaining the public peace than Frederick. 
Yet what an immense conflagration might not be kin- 
dled by this spark. What violent discord, what rending 
of nations, might not this monkish quarrel produce. The 

* Frater, abi in cellam, et die : Miserere mei. Lindner in Lu- 
ther's Leben, 93. 

t Quid vero nunc si viveret 
Bonus iste clericus diceret. 
{ Ben^ sum contentus: malo obedire quam miracula &oerQ^ 
Qtiam si possem. Epp. 1. 71. 



TliE MONKS OJ ERFURTH 



29f> 



elector gave Luther frequent intimations of the uneasi- 
ness he felt.* 

Even in his own order, and in his own convent at 
Wittemberg, Luther met with disapprobation. The prior 
and subprior were terrified at the outcry made by Tetzel 
and his companions. They repaired trembling and alarm- 
ed to brother Martinis cell, and said, ''Pray do not bring 
disgrace upon our order. The other orders, and espe- 
cially the Dominicans, are already overjoyed to think 
that they will not be alone in their shame." Luther was 
moved at these words ; but he soon recovered, and re- 
plied, "Dear fathers, if this work be not of God, it will 
come to naught ; but if it be, let it go forward." The 
prior and subprior made no answer. '' The work is still 
going forward," added Luther, after recounting this 
anecdote, " and, God willing, it will go on better and 
better unto the end. Amen."f 

Luther had many other attacks to endure. At Erfurth, 
he was blamed for the violent and haughty manner in 
which he condemned the opinions of others : this is the 
reproach usually made against those men who possess 
that strength of conviction which proceeds from the word 
of God. He was also accused of precipitation and levity. 

" They require moderation in me," answered Luther, 
and they trample it under foot in the judgment they 

pass on me We can always see the mote in our 

brother's eye, and we overlook the beam in our own. . . . 
Truth will not gain more by my moderation, than it will 
lose by my rashness. I desire to know," continues he, 
addressing Lange, *'what errors you and your theolo- 
gians have found in my theses? Who does not know 
that a man rarely puts forth any new idea without hav- 
ing some appearance of pride, and without being accused 
of exciting quarrels ? If humility herself should under- 
take something new, her opponents would accuse her of 
pride. I Why were Christ and all the martyrs put to 

* Suumque dolorem sjepe significavit, metuens discordias msyo 
res. Melancth. Vita Luth. f L. 0pp. L. 6. 518. 

X Finge enim ipsam humilitatem nova conari, statim superbiw 
sabjioietiu: ab iis qui aliter sapiunt. L. Epp. 1. 73. 



Boo HISTOET OP THE REFORMATIOK. 



death ? Because they seemed to be proud contemners 
of the wisdom of the time, and because they advanced 
novelties, without having first humbly taken counsel of 
the oracles of the ancient opinions. 

" Do not let the wise of our days expect from me hu- 
mility, or rather, hypocrisy enough to ask their advice^ 
before publishing what duty compels me to say. What- 
ever I do will be done, not by the prudence of men, but 
by the counsel of God. If the work be of God, who shall 
stop it ? if it be not, who can forward it? Not my will, 
nor theirs, nor ours ; but thy will, 0 holy Father, which 
art in heaven." What courage, what noble enthusiasm, 
what confidence in God, and above all, what truth in 
these words, and what truth for all ages. 

The reproaches and accusations which were showered 
upon Luther from every quarter, could not fail, however, 
to produce some impression on his mind. He had been 
deceived in his hopes. He had expected to see the heada 
of the church and the most distinguished scholars in the 
nation publicly unite with him ; but the case was far oth- 
erwise. A word of approbation which escaped in the first 
moment of astonishment was all the best disposed ac- 
corded him ; on the contrary, many whom he had hith- 
erto respected the most, were loudest in their censure. 
He felt himself alone in the church, alone against Eome, 
alone at the foot of that ancient and formidable building 
whose foundations penetrated to the centre of the earth, 
whose walls soared to the clouds, and against which he 
had aimed so daring a blow.* He was troubled and dis- 
pirited. Doubts, which he fancied he had overcome, re- 
turned to his mind with fresh force. He trembled at the 
thought that he had the whole authority of the church 
against him : to withdraw from that authority, to be deaf 
to that voice which people had obeyed for centuries, to 
Bet himself in opposition to that church which he had 
been accustomed from his infancy to venerate as the 
mother of the faithful — he, an insignificant monk — was 
an effort too great for human power.f No step coat him 

• Solus primo eram. L. 0pp. Lat. in Praef. 

t ConBillum immanlB audaciae plenum. Pallavlcini, 1. 17. 



LUTHER'S ANXIETY 



301 



dearer than this. And it was this, accordingly, which 
decided the Reformation. 

No one can paint better than himself the combat in 
his own soul: began this business," said he, "with 
great fear and trembling. Who was I then, I a poor, 
wretched, contemptible friar, more like a corpse than a 
man* — who was I to oppose the majesty of the pope, be- 
fore whom not only the kings of the earth and the whole 
woild trembled, but even, if I may so speak, heaven and 
hell were constrained to obey the signal of his eyes ? 
No one can know what my heart suffered during these 
first two years, and into what despondency, I may say 
into what despair, I was sunk. Those haughty spirits 
who have since attacked the pope with such great hardi- 
hood can form no idea of it, although with all their skill 
they would have been unable to do him the least harm, 
if Jesus. Christ had not already inliicted through me, his 
weak and unworthy instrument, a wound that shall nevei 
be healed. But while they were content to look on and 
leave me alone in the danger, I was not so cheerful, so 
tranquil, nor so confident ; for at that time I was igno- 
rant of many things which now, thank God, I know. 
There were, it is true, many pious Christians who were 
pleased with my propositions, and valued them highly ; 
but I could not acknowledge them and consider them as 
the instruments of the Holy Ghost ; I looked only to the 
pope, to the cardinals, bishops, theologians, lawyers, 
monks, and priests. It was from them I expected to 
witness the influence of the Spirit. However, after 
gaining the victory over all their arguments by Scrip- 
ture, I at last surmounted through Christ^s grace, but 
with great anguish, toil, and pain, the only argument 
that still checked me, namely, that I should * listen to 
the church ;'f for, from the bottom of my heart, I rever- 
enced the pope's church as the true church ; and I did 
80 with far more sincerity and veneration than all those 

• Miserrimus tunc fraterculus, cadaveri similior quam homini. L. 
0pp. L. 1. 49. t Et cum omnia argumenta superassem per serip- 
turas, hoc unum cum summa difficultate et angustia, tandem Christc 
&veQt6, viz superayi : eccleslam scilicet esse audieudam. Ibid. 



302 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



scandalous and infamous corrupters who, to oppose me, 
now extol it so mightily. If I had despised the pope, as 
those men really despise him in their hearts who praisf 
bim so much with their lips, I should have trembled les- 
the earth should have instantly opened and swallowoc 
me up alive like Korah and his company." 

How honorable are these combats to Luthei. Whal 
sincerity, what uprightness of mind, they display ; and 
by these painful assaults which he had to sustain from 
irithin and from without, he is rendered more worthy of 
our esteem than he would have been by an intrepidity 
unaccompanied by any such struggles. This travail of 
his soul clearly demonstrates the truth and divinity of 
his work. We see that the cause and the principle were 
both in heaven. Who will dare assert, after all the fea- 
tures we have pointed out, that the Reformation was a 
political affair ? No ; it was not the effect of man's pol- 
icy, but of God's power. If Luther had been urged for 
ward solely by human passions, he would have sunk 
under his fears ; his errors, his scruples would have 
smothered the fire kindled in his soul ; and he would 
have shed upon the church a mere passing ray, as many 
zealous and pious men have done whose names have 
been handed down to us. But now God's time was 
come ; the work could not be stopped ; the emancipa- 
tion of the church must be accomplished. Luther was 
^pointed at least to prepare the way for that complete 
enfranchisement and those extensive developments which 
are promised to the reign of Jesus Christ. He experi- 
enced, accordingly, the truth of that glorious promise, 
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the 
young men shall utterly fall : but they that wait upon 
the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount 
up with wings as eagles." That divine power which 
filled the heart of the Wittemberg doctor, and which had 
impelled him to the combat, soon restored to him all Mb 
early resolution 



TETZEL'S ATTACK. 



303 



CHAPTER YII. 

Tetzel'8 attack—Luther's reply— Good works— Luther and Spala- 
tin — Study of Scr pture — Scheurl and Luther — Doubts on the 
theses — Luther pleads for the people — A new coat. 

The reproaches, the timidity, and the silence of his 
friends had discouraged Luther ; the attacks of his ene- 
mies produced a contrary effect : this is a case of fre- 
quent occurrence. The adversaries of the truth, who 
hope by their violence to do their own work, are doing 
that of God himself.* Tetzel took up the gauntlet, but 
with a feeble hand. Luther's sermon, which had been 
for the people what the theses had been for the learned, 
was the object of his first reply. He refuted this dis- 
course point by point, after his own fashion ; he then 
announced that he was preparing to meet his adversary 
more fully in certain theses which he would maintain at 
the university of Frankfort-on-the-Oder. ^' Then," said 
he, replying to the conclusion of Luther's sermon, " each 
man will be able to judge who is the heresiarch, here- 
tic, schismatic — who is mistaken, rash, and slanderous. 
Then it will be clear to the eyes of all who it is that has 
a dull brain, that has never felt the Bible, never read the 
Christian doctrines, never understood his own doctors. 
In support of the propositions I advance, I am ready to 
suffer all things — prisons, scourging, drowning, and the 
stake.'' 

One thing strikes us, as we read TetzePs reply ; the 
difference between the German employed by him and 
that of Luther. One might say they were several ages 
apart. A foreigner, in particular, sometimes finds it dif- 
ficult to understand Tetzel, while Luther's language is 
almost entirely that of our own days. A comparison of 
their writings is suflScient to show that Luther is the 

• Hi furores Tezelii et ejus satellitum imponunt uecessitatem 
Lnthero, de rebus iisdem copiosius disserendi et tuendae Teritatia 
Velaiicth. Yita Lath. 



^04 



HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATIOK. 



creator of the German language. This is, no doubt, one 
of his least merits, but still it is one. 

Luther replied without naming Tetzel ; Tetzel had 
not named him. But there was no one in Germany who 
could not write at the head of their publications the 
names they thought proper to conceal. Tetzel, in order 
to set a higher value upon his indulgences, endeavored 
fco confound the repentance required by God with the 
penance imposed by the church. Luther sought to clear 
up this point. 

"To save words," said he, in his picturesque lan- 
guage, " I throw to the winds — which, besides, have 
more leisure than I — his other remarks, which are mere 
artificial flowers and dry leaves, and will content myself 
with examining the foundations of his edifice of burs. 

" The penance imposed by the holy father cannot be - 
that required by Christ, for what the holy father imposes 
he can dispense with ; and if these two penances were one 
and the same thing, it would follow that the pope takes 
away what Christ imposes, and destroys the command- 
ment of God. Well, if he likes it, let him abuse me," 
continues Luther, after quoting other erroneous interpre- 
tations by Tetzel, " let him call me heretic, schismatic, 
slanderer, and whatever he pleases : I shall not be his 
enemy for that, and I shall pray for him as for a friend. 
But I cannot suffer him to treat the holy Scriptures, our 
consolation, Rom. 15 : 4, as a sow treats a sack of oats."* 

We must accustom ourselves to find Luther some- 
times making use of coarse expressions, and such as are 
too familiar for our age : it was the fashion of the times ; 
and there will generally be found under these words, 
which would now shock the conventional usages of lan- 
guage, a strength and propriety which redeem their vul- 
garity. He thus continues : 

" He who purchases indulgences, repeat our adversa- 
ries, does better than he who gives alms to a poor man 
who is not reduced to the last extremity. Now, should 
we hear the news that the Turks are profaning our church- 
* Dass er die Schrift, unsern Trost, nicht anders behandelt wie 
die Saa einea Habersack. 



aOOD WORKS 



306 



68 and our crosses, we could hear it without shuddering ; 
foi' we have in the midst of us the worst of Turks, who 
profane and annihilate the only real sanctuary, the word 
of God, that sanctifieth all things. Let him who desires 
to follow this precept, beware of feeding the hungry, or 
of clothing the naked, before they die, and consequently 
have no more need of assistance." 

It is important to compare Luther's zeal for good 
works with what he says on justification by faith. The 
man that has any experience and any knowledge of 
Christianity, does not require this new proof of a truth, 
the evidence of which he has himself felt : namely, the 
more we are attached to justification by faith, the more 
we see the necessity of works, and the more we become 
attached to their practice ; while any laxity with regard 
to the doctrine of faith necessarily brings with it laxity 
of morals. Luther, and St. Paul before him and Howard 
after him, are proofs of the first assertion ; every man 
without faith, and there are many such in the world, is 
a proof of the second. 

When Luther comes to Tetzel's invectives, he answers 
them in this manner : " When I hear these invectives, I 
fancy it is an ass braying at me. I am delighted with 
them, and I should be very sorry were such people to 
call me a good Christian." We must represent Luther as 
he was, with all his weaknesses. A turn for jesting, and 
even for coarse jesting, was one of them. The reformer 
was a great man, a man of God, no doubt ; but he was 
still a man and not an angel, and he was not even a per- 
fect man. Who has the right to require perfection in him ? 

"Finally," added he, challenging his adversary to 
battle, " although it is not usual to burn heretics for 
such matters, here am I at Wittemberg, I Doctor Martin 
Luther. Is there any inquisitor who is determined to 
chew iron and to blow up rocks ? I beg to inform him 
that he has a safe-conduct to come hither, open gates, 
bed and board secured to him, and all by the gracious 
cares of our worthy prince Duke Frederick, elector of 
Saxony, who will never protect heresy."* 

We see that Luther was not wanting in courage He 
• Luth. 0pp. L. 17. 132. 
20 



306 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



relied upon the word of God ; and it is a rock that nevei 
fails ns in the storm. But God in his faithfulness afford- 
ed him other assistance. The burst of joy by which the 
multitude welcomed Luther's theses, had been soon fol- 
lowed by a gloomy silence. The learned had timidly 
retreat-ed before the calumnies and abuse of Tetzel and 
the Dominicans. The bishops, who had previously ex- 
claimed against the abuse of indulgences, seeing them 
attacked at last, had not failed, by a contradiction that 
is by no means rare, to discover that the attack was un- 
seasopable. The greater portion of the reformer's frienas 
were alarmed. Many had fled away. But when the lirst 
terror was over, a contrary movement took place in their 
minds. The monk of Wittemberg, who for some time 
had been almost alone in the midst of the church, soon 
gathered around him again a numerous body of friends 
and admirers. 

There was one who, although timid, yet remained 
faithful during this crisis, and whose friendship was his 
consolation and support. This was Spalatin. Their cor- 
respondence was not interrupted. I thank you," said 
Luther, speaking of a particular mark of friendship that 
he had received, "but what am I not indebted to you?"* 
It was on Nov. 11, 1517, eleven days after the publica- 
tion of the theses, and consequently at the very time 
when the fermentation of men's minds was greatest, that 
Luther delighted thus to pour out his gratitude into his 
friend's heart. It is interesting to witness in this very 
letter to Spalatin, this strong man, who had just per- 
formed the bravest action, declaring whence all his 
strength was derived. *'We can do nothing of our- 
selves : we can do every thing by God's grace. All ig- 
norance is invincible for us : no ignorance is invincible 
for the grace of God. The more we endeavor, of our- 
selves, to attain wisdom, the nearer we approach to folly.'f' 
It is untrue that this invincible ignorance excuses the 
sinner ; otherwise there would be no sin in the world." 

* Tibi gratias ago: imo quid tibi non debeo? L. Epp. 1. 74. 
t Qiianto magis conamur ex nobis ad sapientiam, tantd ampliito 
appropinquamus msipientise. Ibid. 



STUDY OF SCRIPTUEB. 



307 



Lnther had not sent his propositions either to the 
prince or to any of his court. It would appear that the 
chaplain expressed some astonishment to his friend in 
consequence. "I was unwilling," replied Luther, "that 
my theses should reach our most illustrious prince, or 
any of his court, before they had been received by those 
who think themselves especially designated in them, for 
fear they should believe I had published them by the 
prince's order, or to conciliate his favor, and from oppo- 
sition to the bishop of Mentz. I understand there are 
many persons who dream such things. But now I can 
safely swear, that my theses were published without the 
knowledge of Duke Frederick."* 

If Spalatin consoled his friend and supported him by 
his influence, Luther, on his part, endeavored to answer 
the questions put to him by the unassuming chaplain. 
Among others, the latter asked one that has been often 
proposed in our days : " What is the best method of 
studying Scripture ?" 

"As yet, most excellent Spalatin," Luther replied, 
" you have only asked me things that were in my power 
But to direct you in the study of the holy Scriptures is 
beyond my ability. If, however, you absolutely wish to 
know my method, I will not conceal it from you. 

"It is very certain that we cannot attain to the un- 
derstanding of Scripture either by study or by the intel- 
lect. Your first duty is to begin by prayer.f Entreat 
the Lord to grant you, of his great mercy, the true un- 
derstanding of his word. There is no other interpreter 
of the word of God than the author of this word, as he 
himself has said : * They shall be all taught of God.' 
Hope for nothing from your own labors, from your own 
understanding : trust solely in God, and in the influence 
of his Spirit. Believe this on the word of a man who 
has had experience."! We here see how Luther arrived 

• Sed salvum est nunc etiam jurare, quod sine scitu Duels Frede- 
rlci exierint. L. Epp. 1.76. f Primum id certissimum est, sacraa 
literas non posse vel studio vel ingenio penetrari. Ideo primum 
officium est, ut ab oratione incipias. 

f I^tor de tuo studio desperes oportet omnino, simul et ingenio. 



308 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION 



at the possession of the truth which he preached. It waa 
not, as some pretend, by trusting to a presumptuous rea' 
son ; it was not, as others maintain, by giving way to 
malignant passions. The purest, the sublimest, the ho- 
liest source, God himself, consulted in humility, confi- 
dence, and prayer, was that at which he drank. But in 
our days he has found few imitators, and hence it is 
there are not many who understand him. To every 
serious mind these words of Luther are of themselves a 
justification of the Reformation. 

Luther found further consolation in the friendship of 
respectable laymen. Christopher Scheurl, the excellent 
secretary of the imperial city of Nuremberg, gave him the 
most affecting marks of his regard.* We know how dear 
are the expressions of sympathy to a man's heart when 
he sees himself attacked on every side. The secretary 
of Nuremberg did still more : he desired to increase the 
number of Luther's friends, and with this intent request- 
ed him to dedicate one of his works to Jerome Ebner, a 
celebrated Nuremberg lawyer. "You entertain a high 
opinion of my studies," modestly answered the reformer ; 
" but I have a very mean one of them. Nevertheless, I 
have desired to conform with your wishes. I have sought ; 
but among all my stores, that I have never found so pal- 
try before, nothing presented itself that did not appear 
utterly unworthy of being dedicated to so great a man 
by 30 mean a person as myself." Affecting humility. It 
is Luther who speaks, and it is to Doctor Ebner, whose 
name is unknown to us, that he compares himself. Pos- 
terity has not ratified this decision. 

Luther, who had done little to circulate his theses, 
had not sent them to Scheurl any more than to the elec- 
tor and his court. The secretary of Nuremberg express- 
ed his astonishment at this. "My design," answered 

Deo autem soli confidas et influxui Spiritus. Experto crede ista. L. 
Epp.l. 88, dated Jan. 18. * Literae tuae animum tuum erga meam 
parvitatem candidum et longe ultra merita benevolentissimum pro- 
baverunt. L. Epp. 1. 79. Your letters," wrote Luther on Dec. 
11,1517, "have shown the candor of your mind, and your omnerltfiCl 
benevolence towards my low estate " 



^OHEUILL AND ALBERT DUEEE. 



309 



Lnthei, 'was not to give my theses such publicity. I 
only desired to confer on their contents with some of 
those who remain with us or near us.* If they had been 
condemned, I would have destroyed them. If they had 
been approved of, I purposed publishing them. But they 
have now been printed over and over again, and circu- 
lated so far beyond all my hopes, that I repent of my 
offspring ;f not because I fear the truth should be made 
known to the people, 't was this alone I sought ; but that 
is not the way to instruct them. They contain questions 
that are still doubtful to me, and if I had thought my the- 
ses would have created such a sensation, there are some 
things I should have omitted, and others I should have 
asserted with greater confidence." In after-years Luther 
thought differently. Far from fearing he had said too 
much, he declared that he ought to have said much more. 
But the apprehensions he manifested to Scheurl do honor 
to his sincerity. They show that he had no premeditated 
plan, no party spirit, no self-conceit, and that he sought 
for truth alone. When he had discovered it fully, he 
changed his tone. "You will find in my earlier writings,'' 
said he many years after, "that I very humbly conceded 
many things to the pope, and even important things, 
that now I regard and detest as abominable and bias- 
phemous."J 

Scheurl was not the only respectable layman who, 
at this time, gave testimony of his friendship for Luther. 
The celebrated painter, Albert Durer, sent him a present, 
perhaps one of his pictures, and the doctor warmly ex- 
pressed his gratitude for the kindness. § 

Thus Luther practically experienced the truth of these 
words of divine wisdom : " A friend loveth at all times ; 
and a brother is born for adversity." But he remembered 
them also for others, and pleaded the cause of the whole 

• Non fuit consilium neque votum eas evulgari, sed cum paucia 
apnd et circum nos habitantibus primum super ipsis conferri. L. 
Epp. 1. 95. t Ut me poeniteai hujus fcetarae. Ibid. 

X Quae istis temporibus pro summa blasphemia et abominatione 
habeo et execror. L. 0pp. L. W. in Praef. § Accepi simul 

donum inaignis viri Alberti Durer. L Epp. 1. 95. 



310 HISTORY OF THE REFORliATION 



nation. The elector had just imposed one tax, and there 
was a talk of another, probably by the advice of his 
counsellor Pfeffinger, against whom Luther often vented 
his biting sarcasms. The doctor boldly placed himself 
in the breach : *^Let not your highness despise the prayer 
of a poor beggar," said he. " I beseech you, in God's 
name, not to impose a new tax. My heart was bruised, 
as well as the hearts of many of those who are most do- 
voted to you, when they saw how far the last had in- 
jured your good fame, and the popularity your highness 
enjoyed. It is true that the Lord has given you an ex- 
alted understanding, so that you can see into these mat- 
ters farther than I or your subjects can. But perhaps it 
is God^s will that a mean understanding should instruct 
a greater, in order that no one should trust to himself, 
but solely in the Lord our God, whom I pray to preserve 
your health of body for our good, and your soul for eter- 
nal blessedness. Amen." Thus it is that the gospel, 
which calls upon us to honor kings, makes us also plead 
the cause of the people. To a nation it proclaims its 
duties ; and reminds the prince of his subjects' rights. 
The voice of a Christian like Luther, resounding in the 
cabinet of a sovereign, might often supply the place of 
a whole assembly of legislators. 

In this same letter, in which Luther addresses a se- 
vere lesson to the elector, he does not fear to make a 
request, or rather to remind him of a promise to give 
him a new coat. This freedom of Luther, at a time when 
he might fear he had displeased Frederick, does equal 
honor to the prince and to the reformer. "But if it ii 
Pfeffinger who has charge of it," added he, " let him give 
it me in reality, not in protestations of friendship. He 
knows how to spin fine speeches, but they never pro- 
duce good cloth." Luther imagined that by the faithful 
counsel he had given his prince, he had well earned his 
court-dress.* But however that may be, he had not 
received it two years after, and he asked for it again.| 
This seems to indicate that Frederick was not so much 
influenced by Luther as has been supposed 

• Mein Hofkleid verdienen. Epp. L. 1. 77, 78. f lb. 288, 



fEANKPORT DTSPUTATIOH. 



811 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Frankfort discussion — TetzePs theses — Menaces — Knipstrow's oppo* 
flition — Luther's theses burned — The monks — Luther's peao©— 
TetzePs theses burned — Grief of Luther. 

Men's minds had thus recovered a little from their 
first alarm. Luther himself felt inclined to declare that 
his theses had not the scope attributed to them. New 
events might turn aside the general attention, and this 
blow aimed at the Romish doctrine be lost in air like so 
many others. But the partisans of Rome prevented the 
aflfair from ending thus. They fanned the flame instead 
of quenching it. 

Tetzel and the Dominicans replied with insolence to 
the attack that had been made on them. Burning with 
the desire of crushing the impudent monk who had dared 
to trouble their commerce, and of conciliating the favor 
of the Roman pontiff, they uttered a cry of rage ; they 
maintained that to attack the indulgence ordained by 
the pope, was to attack the pope himself, and they sum- 
moned to their aid all the monks and divines of their 
school.* Tetzel indeed felt that an adversary like Lu- 
ther was too much for him alone. Greatly disconcerted 
at the doctor's attack, and exasperated to the highest 
degree, he quitted the vicinity of Wittemberg, and re-' 
paired to Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where he arrived in the 
month of November, 1517. The university of this city, 
like that of Wittemberg, was of recent date ; but it had 
been founded by the opposite party. Conrad Wimpina, 
an eloquent man, the ancient rival of Pollich of Meller- 
Btadt, and one of the most distinguished theologians of 
the age, was a professor there. Wimpina cast an envi- 
ous glance on the doctor and university of Wittemberg, 
Their reputation galled him. Tetzel requested him to 
answer Luther^s theses, and Wimpina wrote two lists 

• Suum senatum convocat : monachos aliquot et theologoa sut 
sopbistlca utcunque tinctos. Mel. Vita Luth. 



812 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMLATION. 



of antitheses, the object of the first being to defend the 
doctrine of indulgences, and the second the authority of 
the pope. 

On the 20th of January, 1518, took place that dispu- 
tation prepared so long beforehand, announced with so 
much pomp, and on which Tetzel founded such great 
hopes> On every side he had beaten up for recruits. 
Monks had been sent from all the cloisters in the neigh- 
borhood, and they met to the number of about three hun- 
dred. Tetzel read his theses. They even contained this 
declaration, that " whoever says that the soul does not 
escape out of purgatory as soon as the money tinkles in 
the chest, is in error."* 

But above all, he put forward propositions according 
to which the pope seemed actually seated as God in the 
temple of God, according to the apostle's expression. It 
was convenient for this shameless trafficker to take shel- 
ter, with all his disorders and scandals, under the man- 
tle of the pope. 

He declared himself ready to maintain the following 
propositions before the numerous assembly by which he 
was surrounded : 

3. "We should teach Christians that the pope, by 
the greatness of his power, is above the whole univer- 
sal church, and superior to the councils, and that we 
should implicitly obey his decrees. 

4. " We should teach Christians that the pope alone 
has the right of deciding in all matters of Christian 
faith ; that he alone and no one besides him has powei 
to interpret the meaning of Scripture according to his 
own views, and to approve or condemn all the words or 
writings of other men. 

5. "We should teach Christians that the judgment of 
the pope cannot err in matters concerning the Christian 
faith, or which are necessary to the salvation of the hu^ 
man race. 

6. " We should teach Christians that, in matters of 

• Quisquis ergo dicit, non citius posse animam volare, quam in 
fbndo clstae denarius possit tionire, errat. Positiones fraais Jok 
Tczelii, pos. 66» L. 0pp. 1. 94. 



TETZEL'S THESES. 



313 



faith, we should rely and repose more on the pope's sen- 
timents, as made known by his decisions, than on the 
opinions of all the learned, which are derived merely 
from Scripture. 

8. "We should teach Christians that those who in- 
jure the honor or dignity of the pope, are guilty of high- 
treason, and deserve to be accursed. 

17. " We should teach Christians that there are many 
things which the church regards as indisputable articles 
of universal truth, although they are not to be found in 
the canon of the Bible or in the writings of the ancient 
doctors. 

44. " We should teach Christians to regard as obsti- 
nate heretics all who declare by their words, acts, or 
writings, that they will not retract their heretical prop- 
ositions, even should excommunication after excommu- 
nication fall upon them like hail or rain. 

48. "We should teach Christians that those who 
protect the errors of heretics, and who, by their author- 
ity prevent them from being brought before the judge 
who has a right to hear them, are excommunicated ; that 
if in the space of a year they do not change their con- 
duct, they will be declared infamous, and cruelly pun- 
ished with divers chastisements, according to the law, 
and for a warning to other men.* 

50. "We should teach Christians that those who 
scribble so many books and waste so much paper, who 
dispute and preach publicly and wickedly about oral 
confession, the satisfaction of works, the rich and great 
indulgences of the bishop of Rome, and his power ; that 
the persons who take part with those who preach or 
write such things, who are pleased with their writings, 
and circulate them among the people and over the 
world ; that those who speak in private of these things 
In a contemptuous and shameless manner — should ex- 
pect to incur the penalties before mentioned, and to pre- 
cipitate themselves, and others with them, into eternal 

* Pro infamibus sunt tenendi, qui etlam per juris capitula tend- 
biliter multis plectentur poenis in omnium hominum terrorem. Po 
dtiones fratris Joh. Tezelii, pos. 56. L. 0pp. 1. 98, 

HkiofReC 



314 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



condemnation of the judgment-day, and into merited dis- 
grace even in this world. For * if so much as a beast 
touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.' " 

We see that Tetzel did not attack Luther only. He 
probably had the elector of Saxony in view in his forty- 
eighth thesis. These propositions, besides, savor strong* 
ly of the Dominican. To threaten every contradictor 
w'th cruel punishments, was the argument of an inquis- 
itor, to which there were no means of replying. The 
three hundred monks whom Tetzel had collected stared 
and listened with admiration to what he had said. The 
theologians of the university were too fearful of being 
ranked with the abettors of heresy, or else were too 
strongly attached to Wimpina's principles, openly to 
attack the astonishing theses that had just been read. 

All this affair, about which there had been so much 
noise, seemed then destined to be a mere sham fight; 
but among the crowd of students present at the dispu 
tation, was a youth about twenty years of age named 
John Knipstrow. He had read Luther's theses, and had 
found them conformable to the doctrines of Scripture. 
Indignant at beholding the truth publicly trodden under 
foot, without any one appearing in its defence, this young 
man raised his voice, to the great astonishment of all 
the assembly, and attacked the presumptuous Tetzel. 
The poor Dominican, who had not reckoned on any oppo- 
sition, was quite confused. After a few exertions, he 
deserted the field of battle, and gave way to Wimpina 
The latter resisted more vigorously ; but Knipstrow 
pressed him so closely, that, to finish a struggle so un* 
becoming in his eyes, the president, Wimpina himself, 
declared the disputation over, and immediately proceed- 
ed to confer the degree of doctor upon Tetzel in recom- 
pense of this glorious combat. In order to get rid of 
the young orator, Wimpina had him sent to the convent 
of Pyritz in Pomerania, with an order that he should be 
strictly watched. But this dawning light was removed 
from the banks of the Oder only to diffuse not long after 
a greater brilliancy throughout Pomerania.* When 
• Spicker, Gesch. Dr. M. Lutliers. Beckmani Notitia Univ. 8. eta 



LUTHER^S THESES BURNED. 



315 



God thinks fit, he employs even learners to confound the 
teachers. 

Tetzel, wishing to retrieve the check he had experi- 
enced, had recourse to the ultima ratio of Rome and of 
the inquisitors, to fire. He caused a pulpit and a scaf 
fold to be erected in one of the public walks in the envi- 
rons of Frankfort. Thither he repaired in solemn pro- 
cession, with his insignia of inquisitor of the faith. He 
gave vent to all his violence from the pulpit. He hurled 
thunderbolts, and exclaimed with his stentorian voice, 
that the heretic Luther deserved to suffer death at the 
stake. Next, placing the doctor^s propositions and ser- 
mon on the scaffold, he burned them.* He knew better 
how to do this than to maintain theses. At this time he 
met with no gainsayers : his victory was complete. The 
impudent Dominican reentered Frankfort in triumph. 
When powerful parties are vanquished, they have re- 
course to certain demonstrations, which we may well 
accord to them as some consolation for their disgrace. 

These second theses of TetzePs form an important 
epoch in the Reformation. They changed the ground of 
dispute ; they transported it from the indulgence-mar- 
kets to the halls of the Vatican, and diverted it from 
Tetzel to the pope. In the place of that despicable 
broker whom Luther had so firmly grasped, they substi- 
tuted the sacred person of the head of the church. Lu- 
ther was filled with astonishment. It is probable that 
he would ere long have taken this step himself ; but his 
enemies spared him the trouble. It was henceforward 
no question of a discredited trafiBc, but of Rome itself; 
and the blow by which a daring hand had tried to demol- 
ish TetzePs shop, shook the very foundations of the pon- 
tifical throne. 

TetzePs theses served as a rallying cry to the troops 
of Rome. An uproar against Luther broke out among 
the monks, infuriate at the appearance of a more formi- 
dable adversary than either Reuchlin or Erasmus. Lu* 

♦ Fulmina in Lutherum torquet : vociferatur ubique hunc hereti- 
cum igni peidendum esse : propositiones etiam Lutheri et coDcionem 
do iadulgentiis publlcA conjicit in flammas. Melanctli. Vita Lath. 



816 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



ther's name resounded everywhere from the pulpits of 
the Dominicans, who addressed themselves to the pas- 
sions of the people. They called the bold doctor a mad- 
man, a seducer, and a demoniac. His doctrine was cried 
down as the most horrible heresy. Only wait a fort- 
night, or a month at most," said they, " and this noto- 
rious heretic will be burned." If it had depended solely 
on the Dominicans, the fate of Jerome and of Huss would 
soon have been that of the Saxon doctor also ; but God 
was watching over him. His life was destined to ac- 
complish what the ashes of the Bohemian reformer had 
begun ; for each does the work of God, one by his death, 
the other by his life. Many began already to exclaim 
that the whole university of Wittemberg was deeplji 
tainted with heresy, and pronounced it infamous.* "Let 
us drive out that villain and all his partisans," continued 
they. In many places these cries succeeded in exciting 
the passions of the multitude. The public attention was 
directed against those who shared Luther's opinions ; 
and wherever the monks were the strongest, the friends 
of the gospel experienced the effects of their hatred. It 
was thus, with regard to the Reformation, that our Sav- 
iour's prophecy began to be accomplished : " Men will 
revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner oi 
evil against you falsely, for my sake." In every age 
this is the recompense bestowed by the world on the 
decided friends of the gospel. 

When Luther was informed of TetzePs theses, and of 
the general attack of which they were the signal, his 
courage immediately took fire. He felt the necessity of 
opposing such adversaries face to face ; and his intrepid 
Boul had no difficulty in coming to such a decision. But 
at the same time their weakness revealed to him his 
own strength, and inspired him with the consciousness 
of what he really was. 

He did not, however, give way to those sentiments 
of pride so natural to man's heart. " I have more diffi- 
culty to refrain from despising my adversaries," wrote 
• E6 furunt usque, ut Universitatem Wittembergensem proptei 
me iDfamem conautur facere et hserctlcam. L Epp. 1. 92. 



LUTHEE'S COMPOSURE 



317 



He about this time to Spalatin, " and from sinning in this 
way against Jesus Christ, than I should have in con- 
quering them. They are so ignorant of human and di- 
vine things, tliat it is disgraceful to have to fight against 
them. And yet it is this very ignorance which gives 
them their inconceivable arrogance and their brazen 
face."* But the ScTongest encouragement to his heart, 
in the midst of this general hostility, was the intimate 
conviction that his cause was that of truth. " Do not 
be surprised," wrote he to Spalatin at the beginning ol 
1518, "that I am so grossly insulted. I listen to their 
abuse with joy. If they did not curse me, we could not 
be so firmly assured that the cause I have undertaken is 
that of God himself.f Christ has been set up for a sign 
to be spoken against." "I know," said he on another 
occasion, " that from the very beginning of the world, 
the word of God has been of such a nature, that who- 
ever desired to publish it to the world has been compel- 
led, like the apostles, to abandon all things, and to ex- 
pect death. If it were not so, it would not be the word 
of Jesus Christ."^ This peace in the midst of agitation 
is a thing unknown to the heroes of the world. We see 
men who are at the head of a government, or of a polit- 
ical party, sink under their toils and vexations. The 
Christian generally acquires new vigor in his struggle. 
It is because he possesses a mysterious source of repose 
and of courage unknown to him whose eyes are closed 
against the gospel. 

One thing, however, sometimes agitated Luther ; 
the thought of the dissensions his courageous opposition 
might produce He knew that a single word might set 
the world on fire. At times his imagination beheld 
prince arrayed against prince, and perhaps people 

* Epp. Luth. 1. 92. t Nisi maledicerer, non crederem ex Deo 
esse quae tracto. L. Epp. 1. 85. J " The word of God was pur- 
chased by death," continues he in his energetic language, pro- 
claimed by death, preserved by death, and by death must it be pre- 
served and published." Morte emptum est — verbum Dei — mortibua 
vulgatum, mortibus servatum, mortibus quoque servandum aut re- 
fer«adum est. 



318 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 



against people. His patriotic heart was saddened ; his 
Christian charity alarmed. He would have desired 
peace ; and yet he must speak, for such was the Lord's 
will. " I tremble," said he, " I shudder at the idea that 
I may be an occasion of discord between such mighty 
princes."* 

He still kept silence with regard to TetzePs proposi- 
tions concerning the pope. Had he been carried away 
by passion, he would, no doubt, have instantly fallen 
upon that astonishing doctrine, under the shelter of 
which his adversary sought to protect himself. But he 
did not ; and in his delay, his reserve and silence, there 
is something grave and solemn, which sufficiently reveals 
the spirit that animated him. He waited, but not from 
weakness, for the blow was all the stronger. 

Tetzel, after his auto-da-fe at Frankfort, had hastened 
to send his theses into Saxony. They will serve as an 
antidote, thought he, against Luther's. A man from 
Halle, commissioned by the inquisitor to circulate his 
theses, arrived at Wittemberg. The students of the 
university, still indignant that Tetzel should have burn- 
ed their master's propositions, had scarcely heard of his 
arrival, before they sought him out, surrounded him, 
mobbed and frightened him. " How can you dare bring 
such things here?" said they. Some of them bought 
part of the copies he had with him, others seized the 
remainder. They thus became masters of his whole 
stock, amounting to eight hundred copies ; and then, 
unknown to the elector, the senate, the rector, Luther, 
and all the professors,f they posted the following worda 
on the university boards : Whoever desires to be pres- 
ent at the burning and funeral of Tetzel's theses, musi 
come to the market-place at two o'clock." 

Crowds assembled at the appointed hour, and the 
Dominican's propositions were consigned to the flames 
in the midst of noisy acclamations. One copy escaped 
the conflagration, which Luther sent afterwards to his 

* Inter tantos principes dissidii origo esse, valde horreo. L» 
Epp. I. 93. t Hsec iascio priucipe, seaatu, rectore, deuique omt 
Dibus nobii, Ibi4. 99- 



TBTZEL'S THESES. 



319 



friend Lange of Erfurth. These generous but impru- 
dent youths followed the precept of the ancients, eye for 
eye, and tooth for tooth, and not that of Jesus Christ. 
But when doctors and professors set the example at 
Frankfort, can we be astonished that it was followed by 
young students at Wittemberg ? The news of this aca- 
demical execution soon spread through all Germany, and 
made a great noise.* Luther was deeply pained at it. 

" I am surprised," wrote he to his old master, Jodo- 
cus, at Erfurth, "you should have believed I allowed 
TetzePs theses to be burned. Do you think I have so 
taken leave of my senses ? But what could I do ? 
When I am concerned, every body believes whatever is 
told of me.f Can I stop the mouths of the whole world ? 
Well, let them say, hear, and believe whatever they like 
concerning me. I shall work so long as God gives me 
strength, and with his help I shall fear nothing." 

What will come of it," said he to Lange, "I know not, 
except that the peril in which I am involved becomes 
greater on this very account."^ This act shows how 
the hearts of the young already glowed for the cause 
which Luther defended. This was a sign of great im- 
portance ; for a movement which has taken place among 
the youth is soon of necessity propagated throughout 
the whole nation. 

The theses of Tetzel and of Wimpina, although little 
esteemed, produced a certain effect. They aggravated 
the dispute ; they widened the rent in the mantle of the 
church ; they brought questions of the highest interest 
into the controversy. The chiefs of the church began, 
accordingly, to take a nearer view of the matter, and to 
declare strongly against the reformer. " Truly, I do not 
know on whom Luther relies," said the bishop of Bran- 
denburg, " since he thus ventures to attack the power 
of the bishops." Perceiving that this new conjuncture 
called for new measures, the bishop came himself to 
Wittemberg. But he found Luther animated with that 
interior joy which springs from a good conscience, and 

• Fit ex ea re ingens undique fabula. L. Epp. 1. 99. 

I 0xx^le8 omnibus omnia credunt de me. lb. 109. f lb. 99. 



320 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATIOlf. 



determined to give battle. The bishop saw that the 
Augustine monk obeyed a power superior to his own, 
and returned in anger to Brandenburg. One day during 
the winter of 1518, as he was seated before the fire, he 
said, turning to those who surrounded him, " I will not 
lay my head down in peace, until I have thrown Martin 
into the fire, like this brand and he flung the billet 
into the flames. The revolution of the sixteenth century 
was not destined to be accomplished by the heads of the 
church, any more than that of the first century had beon 
by the sanhedrim and by the synagogue. The chiefs of 
the clergy in the sixteenth century were opposed to Lu- 
ther, to the Reformation, and to its ministers ; as thcjy 
had been to Jesus Christ, to the gospel, to his apostles, 
and, as too frequently happens in every age, to the truth. 
"The bishops," said Luther, speaking of the visit the 
prelate of Brandenburg had paid him, "begin to per- 
ceive that they ought to have done what I am doing, 
and they are ashamed of it. They call me proud and 
arrogant : I will not deny that I am so ; but they are 
not the people to know either what God is, or what we 
are.^'* 

• Quid vel Deas vel ipsi sumus. L. Epp. L 22A 



CHAPTER IX. 

Prierio — System of Rome — Dialogue — System of reform — Answer to 
Prierio — The word — The pope and the church -Hochstraten — 
The monks — Luther replies — Eck — The school— The Obelisk&~ 
Luther's sentiments — The Asterisks — Rupture. 

A MORE formidable resistance than that made by Tet- 
zel was already opposed to Luther. Rome had answered. 
A reply had gone forth from the walls of the sacred pal- 
ace. It was not Leo X. who had condescended to speak 
of theolog;y • "Tis a mere monkish squabble/' he said 
one day ; " tiie best way is not to meddle with it." And 
at a»other time he observed, "It is a drunken German 
that has written these theses ; when the fumes have 
passed off, he will talk very differently."* A Roman 
Dominican, Sylvester Mazzolini of Prierio or Prierias, 
master of the sacred palace, filled the office of censor, 
and it was in this capacity that he first became acquaint- 
ed with the theses of the Saxon monk. 

A Romish censor and Luther's theses ; what a con- 
trast 1 Freedom of speech, freedom of inquiry, freedom 
of belief, come into collision in the city of Rome with 
that power which claims to hold in its hands the monop- 
oly of intelligence, and to open and shut at pleasure the 
mouth of Christendom. The struggle of Christian liberty 
which engenders children of God, vsdth pontifical despot- 
ism which produces slaves of Rome, is typified, as it 
were, in the first days of the Reformation, in the encoun- 
ter of Luther and Prierio. 

The Roman censor, prior-general of the Dominicans, 
empowered to decide on what Christendom should pro- 
fess or conceal, and on what it ought to know or be ig- 
norant of, hastened to reply. He published a writing, 
which he dedicated to Leo X. In it he spoke contemp- 
tuously of the German monk, and declared with Romish 
assurance, that **he should like to know whether this 
• Bift voller trunkener Deutscher. L. 0pp. W. 1337. 
21 



322 HISTORY 0? THE REFORMATIOHT 

Martin had an iron nose or a brazen head, which cannot 
be broken."* And. then, under the form of a dialogue, 
he attacked Luther's theses, employing by turns ridi- 
cule, insult, and menaces. 

This combat between the Augustine of Wittemberg 
and the Dominican of Rome was waged on the very 
question that is the principle of the Reformation, name- 
ly, "What is the sole infallible authority for Christ ians?" 
Here is the system of the church, as set forth by its most 
independent organs :f 

The letter of the written word is dead without the 
spirit of interpretation, which alone reveals its hidden 
meaning. Now this spirit is not given to every Chris- 
tian, but to the church — that is, to the priests. It is 
great presumption to say, that He who promised the 
ijhurch 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 constitu- 
tion of the church are no longer such as we find them in 
the sacred oracles. Undoubtedly ; but this change is 
only in appearance ; it extends only to the form, and not 
to the substance. We may go further : this change is 
progression. The vivifying power of the divine Spirit 
has given a reality to what in Scripture was merely an 
idea ; it has filled up the outline of the word ; it has put 
a finishing touch to its rude sketches ; it has completed 
the worK of which the Bible only gave the first rough 
draft. We must therefore understand the sense of the 
holy Scriptures as settled by the church, under the guid- 
ance of the Holy Spirit. From this point the catholic 
doctors diveif.e. General councils, said some — and Ger 
son was one of them- — are the representatives of the 
church. The pupe, said others, is the depositary ( f the 
spirit of interprefcation, and no one has a right to under- 
stand the Scriptures otherwise than as decreed by the 
Roman pontiff. This was the opinion of Prierio. 

Such was the doctrine opposed by the master of the 

* An ferreum nasum aut caput aeneam gerat iste Lutherius, ut 
cifringi non possit. Sjlv. Prieratis Dialogus. f See John Ger* 
8on^3 Propositiones de Sensn Litterali S. Scriptur©. 0pp. torn 1 



PAPAL PRINCIPLES. 



333 



sacred palace to the infant Reformation. He put toT- 
ward propositions on the power of the church and of the 
pope, at which the most shameless flatterers of the church 
of Rome would have blushed. Here is one of the prin- 
ciples he advanced at the head of his writing : Who- 
ever relies not on the teaching of the Roman church, and 
of the Roman pontiff, as the infallible rule of faith, from 
which the holy Scriptures themselves derive their strength 
and their authority, is a heretic."* 

Then, in a dialogue in which Luther and Sylvester 
are the speakers, the latter seeks to refute the doctor's 
propositions The opinions of the Saxon monk were 
altogether strange to a Roman censor ; and according- 
ly, Prierio shows that he understood neither the emo- 
tions of his heart, nor the springs of his conduct. He 
measured the doctor of the truth by the petty standard 
of the servants of Rome. " My dear Luther," said he, 
" if you were to receive from our lord the pope a good 
bishopric and a plenary indulgence for repairing your 
church, you would sing in a softer strain, and you would 
extol the indulgences you are now disparaging." The 
Italian, so proud of his elegant manners, occasionally 
assumes the most scurrilous tone : If it is the nature 
of dogs to bite," said he to Luther, " I fear you had a 
dog for your father."f The Dominican at last wonders 
at his own condescension in speaking to the rebellious 
monk ; and ends by showing his adversary the cruel 
teeth of an inquisitor. " The Roman church," says he, 
" the apex of whose spiritual and temporal power is in 
the pope, may constrain by the secular arm those who, 
having once received the faith, afterwards go astray. 
It is not bound to employ reason to combat and van- 
quish rebels."! 

These words, traced by the pen of a dignitary of the 
Roman court, were very significant. Still, they did not 

• A qua etiam Saora Scriptura robur trahit et auctoritatem, h»« 
reticus est. Fundamentum tertium. f Si mordere canum est 

proprium, vereor ne tibi pater canis fuerit. Sylv. Prier. Dial. 

t Secular! brachio potest eos compeecere, nec tenetur ratioaiboa 
oertar9 ad Tincendos protervientes Ibid. 



324 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



frigliten Luther. He believed, or feigned to believe^ 
that this dialogue was not written by Prierio, but by 
Ulric Hiitten, or by another of the contributors to the 
" Letters of some Obscure Men," who, said he in his sa- 
tirical humor, and in order to excite Luther against Pri- 
erio, had compiled this mass of absurdities.* He had no 
desire to behold the see of Rome excited against him. 
However, after having kept silence for some time, his 
doubts, if he had any, were dispelled : he set to work, 
and his answer was ready in two days.f 

The Bible had moulded the reformer and begun the 
Reformation. Luther needed not the testimony of the 
church in order to believe. His faith had come from the 
Bible itself ; from within, and not from without. He 
was so intimately convinced that the evangelical doc- 
trine was immovably founded on the word of God, that 
in his eyes all external authority was useless. This ex- 
periment made by Luther opened a new futurity to the 
church. The living source that had welled forth for the 
monk of Wittemberg was to become a river to slake the 
thirst of nations. 

In order that we may comprehend the word, the Spirit 
of God must give understanding, said the church ; and 
it was right so far. But its error had been in consider 
ing the Holy Spirit as a monopoly accorded to a certain 
class, and supposing that it could be confined exclusively 
within assemblies or colleges, in a city or in a conclave. 
" The wind bloweth where it listeth," had said the Son 
of God, speaking of God's Spirit ; in another place, 
" They shall all be taught of God." The corruption ot 
the church, the ambition of the pontiflfs, the passions of 
the councils, the quarrels of the clergy, the pomp of the 
prelates, had banished far from the sacerdotal abodes 
that Holy Ghost, that spirit of humility and peace. It 
had deserted the assemblies of the proud, the palaces of 
the mighty ones of the church, and had taken up its 
dwelling with simple Christians and humble priests. It 

• Convenit inter nos, esse personatum aliquem Sylvestrum ex ol^ 
tcuris viris, qui tantas ineptias in hominem luserit ad provocandam 
me adversuB eum. Epp. 1. p. 87, Jan. 14. f T I W Lat., p. 17a 



REPLY TO PRIfiEIO. 



had fled from a domineering hierarchy, that had often 
trampled under foot and shed the blood of the poor ; 
from a proud and ignorant clergy, whose chiefs were 
better skilled in using the sword than the Bible ; and 
dwelt at one time with despised sects, and at another 
with men of intelligence and learning. The holy cloud, 
that had departed from the sumptuous basilics and pr')ud 
cathedrals, had descended into the obscure abodes of the 
humble, or into the quiet studies, those tranquil wit- 
nesses of a conscientious inquiry. The church, degraded 
by its love of power and of riches, dishonored in the eyes 
of the people by the venal use it made of the doctrine of 
life — the church, which sold salvation to replenish the 
treasuries drained by its haughtiness and debauchery, 
had forfeited all respect, and sensible men no longer 
attached any value to her testimony. Despising so de- 
based an authority, they joyfully turned towards the di- 
vine word, and to its infallible authority, as toward the 
only refuge remaining to them in such a general disorder. 

The age, therefore, was prepared. The bold move- 
ment by which Luther changed the resting-place of the 
sublimest hopes of the humarn heart, and with a hand oi 
power transported them from the walls of the Vatican 
to the rock of the word of God, was saluted with enthu- 
siasm. This is the work that the reformer had in view 
in his reply to Prierio. 

He passes over the principles which the Dominicap 
had set forth in the beginning of his work : "But," said 
he, " following your example, I will also lay down cer- 
tain fundamental principles. 

" The first is this expression of St. Paul : * Though 
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, 
let him be accursed.' 

" The second is this passage from St. Augustine to 
St, Jerome : * I have learned to render to the canonical 
books alone the honor of believing most firmly that none 
of them has erred ; as for the others, I do not believe iii 
what they teach, simply because it is they who teach 
them.'* 



326 HISTORY OP THE REFOEMATION. 



Here we see Luther laying down with a firm hand 
the essential principles of the Reformation : the word of 
God, the whole word of God, nothing but the word of 
God. " If you clearly understand these points,*' contin- 
ues he, " you will also understand that your Dialogue is 
wholly overturned by them ; for you have only brought 
forward the expressions and opinions of St. Thomas.^' 
Then, attacking his adversary's axioms, he frankly de- 
clares that he believes popes and councils can err. He 
complains of the flatteries of the Roman courtiers, who 
ascribe both temporal and spiritual power to the pope. 
He declares that the church exists virtually in Christ 
alone, and representatively in the councils.* And then 
coming to Prierio's insinuation, " No doubt you judge of 
me after yourself," said he ; " but if I aspired to an epis- 
copal station, of a surety I should not use the language 
that is so grating to your ears. Do you imagine I am 
ignorant how bishoprics and the priesthood are obtained 
at Rome ? Do not the very children sing in the streets 
these well-known words :f 

"* Of all foul spots the world around, 
The foulest spot in Rome is found.' " 

Such songs as these had been current at Rome before 
the election of one of the latter popes. Nevertheless, 
Luther speaks of Leo with respect : " I know," said he, 
" that we may compare him to Daniel in Babylon ; his 
innocence has often endangered his life." He concludes 
by a few words in reply to Prierio's threats : " Finally, 
you say that the pope is at once pontiff and emperor, 
and that he is mighty to compel obedience by the secu- 
lar arm. Do you thirst for blood ? I protest that you 
will not frighten me either by your rhodomontades or 
by the threatening noise of your words. If I am put to 
death, Christ lives, Christ my Lord and the Lord of all, 
blessed for evermore. Amen."J 

• Ego ecclesiam virtualiter non scio nisi in Christo, representa- 
tive non nisi in concilio. L. 0pp. Lat. 174. f Pueri in omnibui 
plateis urbis cantant : Denique nunc facta est foedisslma Roma. lb. 
183. t 6i ocoidor, vivit ChriAtos, Dominus meus et omnitUD* 

186. 



KOCHSTRATEN. 



327 



Thus, with a firm hand, Luther erects against the 
infidel altar of the Papacy the altar of the only infalli- 
ble and holy word of God, before which he would have 
every knee to bow, and on which he declares himself 
ready to ofifer up his life. 

Prierio published an answer, and cnen a third book, 
" On the Irrefragable Truth of the Church and of the 
Roman Pontiff," in which, relying upon the ecclesiasti- 
cal law, he asserted, that although the pope should 
make the whole world go with him to hell, he could 
neither be condemned nor deposed.* The pope was at 
last obliged to impose silence on Prierio. 

A new adversary ere long entered the lists ; he also 
was a Dominican. James Hochstraten, inquisitor at 
Cologne, whom we have already seen opposing Reuchlin 
and the friends of letters, shuddered at Luther^s bold- 
ness. It was necessary for monkish darkness and fanat- 
icism to come in contact with him who was destined to 
give them a mortal blow. Monachism had sprung up 
as the primitive truth began to disappear. Since then, 
monks and errors had grown up side by side. The man 
had now appeared who was to accelerate their ruin ; but 
these robust champions could not abandon the field of 
battle without a struggle. It lasted all the reformer's 
life ; but in Hochstraten this combat is singularly per- 
sonified : Hochstraten and Luther ; the free and coura- 
geous Christian with the impetuous slave of monkish 
superstitions. Hochstraten lost his temper, grew furi- 
ous, and called loudly for the heretic's death. It was by 
the stake he wished to secure the triumph of Rome. "It 
is high-treason against the church," exclaimed he, "to 
allow so horrible a heretic to live one hour longer. Let 
the scaffold be instantly erected for him 1" This mur- 
derous advice was, alas, but too effectually carried out 
in many countries ; the voices of numerous martyrs, as 
in the primitive times of the church, gave testimony to 
the truth, even in the midst of flames. But in vain were 
the sword and the stake invoked against Luther. The 
• De Jundica et Irrefragabili Veritate RomanaB Ecclesie, lib 
tertius, cap. 12. 



328 HlSTOEY OF TfiS tt^lFOUMATlON 



Angel of the Lord kept watch continually around hinij 
and preserved him. 

Luther answered Hochstraten in few words, but 
with great energy : " Go," said he in conclusion, " go, 
thou raving murderer, who criest for the blood of thy 
brethrer ; it is my earnest desire that thou forbear to 
call me Christian and faithful, and that thou continue^ 
on the contrary, to decry me as a heretic. Understand- 
est tliou these things, bloodthirsty man, enemy of the 
truth ? and if thy mad rage should hurry thee to under- 
take any thing against me, take care to act with circum- 
spection, and to choose thy time well. God knows what 
is my purpose, if he grant me life. My hope and my 
expectation, God willing, will not deceive me.''* Hoch- 
straten was silent. 

A more painful attack awaited the reformer. Doctor 
Eck, the celebrated professor of Ingolstadt, the deliverer 
of Urban Regius, and Luther's friend, had received the 
famous theses. Eck was not a man to defend the abuse 
of indulgences, but he was a doctor of the schools, and 
not of the Bible ; well versed in the scholastic writings, 
but not in the word of God. If Prierio had represented 
Rome, if Hochstraten had represented the monks, Eek 
represented the schoolmen. The schools, which for five 
centuries past had domineered over Christendom, far 
from giving way at the first blow of the reformer, rose 
up haughtily to crush the man who dared pour out upon 
them the floods of his contempt. Eck and Luther, the 
school and the word, had more than one struggle ; but 
it was now that the combat began. 

Eck could not but find errors in many of Luther's 
positions. Nothing leads us to doubt the sincerity of 
his convictions. He as enthusiastically maintained the 
scholastic opinions, as Luther did the declarations of the 
word of God. We may even suppose that he felt no 
little pain when he found himself obliged to oppose hia 
old friend ; it would seem, however, from the manner oi 
his attack, that passion and jealousy had some share iu 
his motives. 

* li. 0pp. Leips. 17. 140. 



t^i^ OBELISKS. 



329 



He gave the name of "Obelisks" to his remaika 
against Luther's theses. Desirous at first of saving ap- 
pearances, he did not publish his work, but was satisfied 
with communicating it confidentially to his ordinary, the 
bishop of Eichstadt. But the Obelisks were soon exten- 
sively circulated, either through the indiscretion of the 
bishop or by the doctor himself. A copy fell into the 
hands of Link, a friend of Luther and preacher at Nu- 
remberg. The latter hastened to send it to the reformer 
Eck was a far more formidable adversary than Tetzel, 
Prierio, or Hochstraten : the more his work surpassed 
theirs in learning and in subtlety, the more dangerous it 
was. He assumed a tone of compassion towards his 
" feeble adversary," being well aware that pity inflicts 
more harm than anger. He insinuated that Luther's 
propositions circulated the Bohemian poison, that they 
savored of Bohemia ; and by these malicious allusions, 
he drew upon Luther the unpopularity and hatred at- 
tached in Germany to the name of Huss and to the schis- 
matics of his country. 

The malice that pervaded this treatise exasperated 
Luther ; but the thought that this blow came from an 
old friend grieved him still more. Is it then at the cost 
of his friend's affections that he must uphold the truth ? 
Luther poured out the deep sorrow of his heart in a let- 
ter to Egranus, pastor at Zwickau. " In the Obelisks I 
am styled a venomous man, a Bohemian, a heretic, a 
seditious, insolent, rash person. I pass by the milder 
insults, such as drowsy-headed, stupid, ignorant, con- 
temner of the sovereign pontiff, etc. This book is brim- 
ful of the blackest outrages. Yet he who penned them 
is a distinguished man, with a spirit full of learning, 
and a learning full of spirit ; and what causes me the 
deepest vexation, he is a man who was united to me by 
a great and recently contracted friendship :* it is John 
Eck, doctor of divinity, chancellor of Ingolstadt, a man 
celebrated and illustrious by his writings. If I did not 
know Satan's thoughts, I should be astonished at the 
* Et quod magis urit, antea mihi magna recenterque contract^ 
unicitia coojuuctus. L. Epp. 1. 100. 



330 EISTOBY OP THE REFORMATION. 

fury wliich has led this man to break off so sweet and so 
new a friendship,* and that too without warning me, 
without writing to me, without saying a single word/' 

But if Luther's hear.t was wounded, his courage was 
not cast down. On the contrary, he rose up invigorated 
for the contest. " Rejoice, my brother," said he to Egra- 
BUS, whom a violent enemy had likewise attacked, " re- 
joice, and do not let these flying leaves affright thee. 
The more my adversaries give way to their fury, the far- 
ther I advance. I le^-ve the things that are behind me, 
in order that they may bay at them, and I pursue what 
lies before me, that they may bay at them in their turn." 

Eck was sensible how disgraceful his conduct had 
been, and endeavored to vindicate himself in a letter to 
Carlstadt. In it he styled Luther "their common friend," 
and cast all the blame on the bishop of Eichstadt, at 
whose solicitation he pretended to have written his work 
He said that it had not been his intention to publish the 
Obelisks ; that he would have felt more regard for the 
bonds of friendship that united him to Luther ; and de- 
manded, in conclusion, that Luther, instead of disputing 
publicly with him, should turn hi« weapons against the 
Frankfort divines. The professor of Ingolstadt, who had 
not feared to strike the first blow, bega/i to be alarmed 
when he reflected on the strength of that adversary 
whom he had so imprudently attacked. Willingly would 
he have eluded the struggle ; but it was too late. 

All these fine phrases did not persuade Luther, who 
was yet inclined to remain silent. " I will swallow pa- 
tiently," said he, " this sop, worthy of Cerberus."f But 
his friends differed from him : they solicited, they even 
constrained him to answer. He therefore replied to the 
Obelisks by his Asterisks, opposing — as he said, play- 
ing on the words — to the rust and livid hue of the In- 
golstadt doctor's Obelisks, the light and dazzling bright- 
ness of the stars of heaven. In this work he treated his 
adversary with less severity than he had shown his pre- 
• Quo furore ille amicitias recentissimas et jucundissimas solves 
ret. L. £pp. 1. 100. f Yolui tamer, banc ofiam Cerbero dig 

nam absorbere patientiH. Ibid. 



THE ASTERISKS. 331 

doQfl antagonists ; but his indignation pierced through 
his words. 

He showed that in these chaotic Obelisks there was 
nothing from the holy Scriptures, nothing from the fa- 
thers of the church, nothing from the ecclesiastical 
canons ; that they were filled with scholastic glosses, 
opinions, mere opinions and empty dreams ;* in a word, 
the very things that Luther had attacked. The Aster- 
isks are full of life and animation. The author is indig- 
nant at the errors of his friend^s book ; but he pities the 
man.f He professes anew the fundamental principle 
which he laid down in his answer to Prierio : " The su- 
preme pontiff is a man, and may be led into error ; but 
God is truth, and cannot err."J Further on, employing 
the argumentum ad hominem against the scholastic doc- 
tor, he says to him, " It would be great impudence as- 
suredly for any one to teach in the philosophy of Aris- 
totle, what he cannot prove by the authority of that 
ancient author. You grant it. It is, a fortiori^ the most 
impudent of all impudence to aflSrm in the church and 
among Christians what Christ himself has not taught. § 
Now, where is it found in the Bible that the treasure of 
Christ's merits is in the hands of the pope ?" 

He adds further, "As for the malicious reproach of 
Bohemian heresy, I bear this calumny with patience 
through love of Christ. I live in a celebrated univer- 
sity, in a well-famed city, in a respectable bishopric, in 
a powerful duchy, where all are orthodox, and where, 
undoubtedly, so wicked a heretic would not be tolerated 

Luther did not publish the Asterisks ; he communi- 
cated them solely to his friends. They were not given 
to the public till long after. || 

* Omnia scbolasticissima, opiniosissima, meraque somnia. Afite- 
rici, 0pp. L. Lat. 1. 145. f Indignor rei et misereor hominis. 

Ibid. p. 150. t Homo est summus pontifex, falli potest. Sed 

Veritas est Deus, qui falli noa potest. Ib.d. p. 155. § Longd 

ergo impudentissima omnium temeritas est, aliquid in ecclesia asse- 
rere, et inter Christianos, quod non docuit Cbristus. Ibid. p. 156. 

II Cum privatim dederim Asteriscos meos non fit ei res]K>ndendi 
neoessitas. Ibid. p. 126. 



332 



HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION 



This nipture between the two doctors of Ingolstadl 
and Wittemberg made a great sensation in Germany. 
They had many friends in common. Scheurl especially, 
who appears to have been the man by whom the two 
doctors had been connected, was alarmed. He was one 
of those who desired to see a thorough reform in the 
German church by means of its most distinguished or- 
gans. But if, at the very outset, the most eminent the- 
ologians of the day should fall to blows — if, while 
Luther came forward with novelties, Eck became the 
representative of antiquity, what disruption might not 
be feared. Would not numerous partisans rally round 
each of these two chiefs, and would not two hostile 
camps be formed in the bosom of the empire ? 

Scheurl endeavored therefore to reconcile Eck and 
Luther. The latter declared his willingness to forget 
every thing ; that he loved the genius, that he admired 
the learning of Dr. Eck,* and that what his old friend 
had done had caused him more pain than anger. "I am 
ready," said he to Scheurl, " for peace and for war ; but 
I prefei' peace. Apply yourself to the task ; grieve with 
us that tiie devil has thrown among us this beginning of 
discord, and afterwards rejoice that Christ in his mercy 
has crushed it." About the same time he wrote Eck a 
letter full of affection :f but Eck made no reply ; he did 
not even send him any message.^ It was no longer a 
season for reconciliation. The contest daily grew warm- 
er. Eck'e pride and implacable spirit soon broke entirely 
the last ties of that friendship which every day grew 
weaker. 

* Diligimas hominis ingenium et admiramur eruditionenL L. 
Epp. ad Scheurmm. June 15, 1518, vol. 1. 125. f Quod ad ma 
attinet, scripsi ad eum ipsum has, ut vides, amicissimas et plenaa 
litterag humanit&te erga eum. Ibid. t Nihil ueque lltteramm 
neqn^ feiMtorum mc participem fecit Ibid. 



POPULAE WaiTINOS. 



33a 



CHAPTER X 

Popular writings — The Lord^s prayer — Our Father — Who art in 
heaven — Hallowed be thy name — Thy kingdom come — Thy will 
be done — Our daily bread — Sermon on repentance — Remiaeion 
of Bins cometh from Christ 

Such were the struggles that the champion of the 
word of God had to sustain at the very entrance of his 
career. But these contests with the leaders of society, 
these academical disputes, are of little account to the 
Christian. Human teachers imagine they have gained 
the noblest triumph, when they succeed in filling a few 
journals or a few drawing-rooms with the noise of their 
systems. Since it is with them a mere question of self- 
love or of party, rather than of the welfare of humanity, 
they are satisfied with this worldly success. Their la- 
bors are accordingly like smoke, which, after blinding 
the eyes, passes away, leaving no trace behind. They 
have neglected depositing the fire among the masses ; 
they have but skimmed the surface of human society. 

It is not so with the Christian ; he thinks not of a 
party, or of academical success, but of the salvation of 
souls. He therefore willingly neglects the brilliant con- 
test in which he might engage at his ease with the cham- 
pions of the world, and prefers the obscure labors which 
carry light and life to the cottages and homes of the peo- 
ple. This was what Luther did, or rather, following the 
precept of his divine Master, he did this, and left not 
other things undone. At the time he was combating 
with inquisitors, university chancellors, and masters of 
the sacred palace, he endeavored to diffuse sound know- 
ledge on religious subjects among the multitude. This 
is the aim of many of the popular works he published 
about this time, such as his " Sermons on the Ten Com- 
mandments," delivered two years before in the church of 
Wittemberg, and of which we have already spoken, and 



334 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



his " Explanation of the Lord^s Prayer for simple and 
ignorant Laymen."* Who would not be pleased to know 
how the reformer addressed the people at this period f 
We will therefore quote some of the expressions that he 
put forth "to run through the land," as he says in the 
preface to the latter work. 

Prayer, that interior act of the heart, will undoubt- 
etlly ever be one of the points by which a true and vital 
reformation will begin ; Luther accordingly occupied 
himself on this subject without delay. It is impossible 
to translate his energetic style, and the strength of that 
language which grew, so to speak, under his pen, as he 
wrote ; we will, however, make the attempt. 

" When thou prayest," said he, " let thy words be 
few, but thy thoughts and affections many, and above 
all, let them be profound. The less thou speakest, the 
better thou prayest. Few words and many thoughts 
is Christian ; many words and few thoughts is hea- 
thenish. 

" External and bodily prayer is that buzzing of the 
lips, that outward babble which is gone through without 
any attention, and which strikes the eyes and the ears 
of men ; but prayer in spirit and in truth is the inward 
desire, the motions, the sighs, which issue from the 
depths of the heart. The former is the prayer of hypo- 
crites, and of all those who trust in themselves ; the 
latter is the prayer of the children of God, who walk in 
his fear." 

Then passing on to the first words of the Lord's 
prayer, " Our Father," he expresses himself thus : 

"There is no name among all names which more 
inclines us towards God, than the name of Father. Wo 
should not feel so much happiness and consolation in 
calling him our Lord, or God, or Judge. By this word 
Father the bowels of the Lord are moved ; for there is 
no voice more lovely or more endearing to a father than 
that of his child. 

" * Who art in heaven.' He who confesses that he 
has a Father in heaven, acknowledges himself a btran 
♦ 0pp. Leips. 7. 1086. 



THE LORD'S PRATER. 



33d 



ger upon earth. Hence there arises an ardtnt longing 
in his heart, like that of a child who dwells fai from his 
father's country, among strangers, in wretchedness and 
in mourning. It is as if he said, Alas, my Father, thou 
art in heaven, and I, thy unhappy child, am on the earth, 
far from thee, in the midst of danger, necessity, and trib- 
ulation. 

" * Hallowed be thy name.' He who is passionate, 
envious, an evil-speaker, a calumniator, dishonors that 
name of God in which he was baptized.* Putting to au 
impious use the vessel that God hath consecrated to 
himself, he is like a priest who would take the holy cup 
and with it give drink to a sow, or gather dung. 

" * Thy kingdom come.' Those who amass wealth, 
vvho build sumptuous houses, who seek all that the 
world can give, and pronounce this prayer with their 
lips, resemble large organ-pipes, which peal loudly and 
incessantly in the churches, without either speech, feel- 
ing, or reason." 

Further on Luther attacks the then very popular 
error of pilgrimages : " One goes to Rome, another to 
St. James ; this man builds a chapel, that one endows a 
religious foundation, in order to attain the kingdom of 
God ; but all neglect the essential point, which is, to 
become His kingdom themselves. Why goest thou be- 
yond the seas in search of God's kingdom ? It is in 
thine own heart that it should be found. 

" It is a terrible thing," continues he, " to hear this 
prayer offered up : * Thy will be done.' Where in the 
church do we see this will of God performed ? One 
bishop rises up against another bishop, one church 
against another church. Priests, monks, and nuns quar- 
rel, fight, and battle. In every place there is naught 
but discord. And yet each party exclaim that their 
meaning is good, their intention upright ; and thus to 
tlie honor and glory of God they all together perform 
a work of the devil. 

" Wherefore do we say, * Our bread V " continues he 
in explanation of the words, " Give us this day oui 
• See page 151, bot. 



336 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMA TIOK. 



daily bread." " Because we pray not to have the ord> 
nary bread that pagans eat, and which God gives to aP 
men, but for our bread, ours, who are children of the 
heavenly Father. 

" And what, then, is this bread of God ? It is Jesus 
Christ our Lord ! ^ I am the living bread which cometh 
4own from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.' For 
lliis reason — and let us not deceive ourselves — all ser- 
mons and all instructions that do not set Jesus Christ 
before us and teach us to know him, cannot be the daily 
bread and the nourishment of our souls. 

" To what use will such bread have been prepared 
for us, if it is not offered to us, and so we cannot taste 
it? It is as if a magnificent banquet had been pre- 
pared, and there was no one to serve the bread, to hand 
round the dishes, to pour out the wine, so that the 
guests must feed themselves on the sight and smell of 
the viands. For this cause we must preach Jesus 
Christ alone. 

" But what is it, then, to know Jesus Christ, sayest 
thou, and what advantage is derived from it ? I reply, 
To learn and to know Jesus Christ is to understand 
what the apostle says : * Christ is made unto us of God, 
wisdom, and rigL ^eousness, and sanctification, and re- 
demption.' Now this you understand, if you acknow- 
ledge all your wisdom to be a condemnable folly, your 
own righteousness a condemnable iniquity, your own 
holiness a condemnable impurity, your own redemption 
a miserable condemnation ; if you feel that you are 
really before God and before all creatures a fool, a sin- 
ner, an impure, a condemned man, and if you show, not 
only by your woi'ds, but from the bottom of your heart, 
and by your works, that you have no consolation and no 
salvation remaining except in Jesus Christ. To believe 
is none other than to eat this bread from heaven." 

Thus did Luther remain faithful to his resolution of 
opening the eyes of a blind people whom the priests 
were leading at their pleasure. His writings^ circu- 
lating rapidly through all Germany, called up a new 
Hght, and scattered abundantly the seeds of truth in a 



RSIdlBSIOK OF 8IKS. 



337 



soil well prepared for it. But while thinking of those 
who were afar oflF, he did not forget those who were 
near at hand. 

From every pulpit the Dominicans condemned the 
infamous heretic. Luther, the man of the people, and 
who, had he been willing, might with a few words have 
aroused the popular waves, always disdained such tri- 
umphs, and thought only of instructing his hearers. 

His reputation, which extended more and more, and 
the courage with which he raised the banner of Christ 
in the midst of the enslaved church, caused his ser- 
mons to be listened to with ever increasing interest. 
Never had the crowd of hearers been so great. Luther 
went straight to the mark. One day, having gone into 
the pulpit at Wittemberg, he undertook to establish the 
doctrine of repentance, and on this occasion he deliv 
ered a sermon which afterwards became very celebrated, 
and in which he laid many of the foundations of the 
evangelical doctrine. 

He first contrasts the pardon of men with the par- 
don of heaven. " There are two kinds of remission," 
said he, "remission of the penalty, and remission of 
the sin. The first reconciles man externally with the 
Christian church. The second, which is the heavenly 
indulgence, reconciles man to God. If a man does not 
experience within himself that peace of conscience, 
that joy of heart which proceeds from the remission of 
God, there are no indulgences that can aid him, even 
should he purchase all that have ever been offered upon 
earth." 

He continues thus : " They desire to do good works 
before their sins are forgiven, while it is necessary for 
sin to be forgiven before men can perform good works. 
It is not the works that expel sin ; but the sin once 
expelled, good works will follow.* For good works 
must be performed with a joyful heart, with a good 
conscience towards God ; that is, with remission of 
sins." 

• Nicnt die Werke treiben die Siinde aus ; sondera die A^lstre^ 
bung der Siind© thut gut* Werke. L. 0pp. L. 17. 162, 



338 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



Tie then comes to the principal object of his sermon 
and it was also the great aim of the entire Refornmtion. 
The church had been set in the place of God and of his 
word ; he challenges this claim, and makes every thing 
depend on faith in the word of God. 

" The remission of sin is in the power neither of the 
pope, nor of the bishop, nor of the priest, not of any 
other man, but reposes solely on the word of Christ, 
and on your own faith. For Christ designed not to 
build our consolation, our salvation, on the word or on 
the work of man, but solely on himself, on his work and 
on his word. Thy repentance and thy works may de- 
ceive thee ; but Christ thy God will not deceive thee, 
he will not falter, and the devil shall not overthrow his 
words.* 

" A pope or a bishop has no more power than the 
lowliest priest, as regards remission of sins. And even 
were there no priest, each Christian, even a woman or 
a child, f can do the same thing. For if a simple Chris- 
tian says to you, *God pardons sin in the name of Je- 
sus Christ,' and you receive this word with a firm faith, 
and as if God himself were addressing you, you are 
absolved. 

" If you do not believe your sins are forgiven, yoD 
make God a liar, and you put more confidence in your 
own vain thoughts, than in God and his word. 

" Under the Old Testament, neither prophet, priest, 
nor king had the power of proclaiming remission oi 
sins. But under the New, each believer has this power. 
The church is overflowing with remission of sins.J H 
a pious Christian consoles thy conscience with the word 
of the cross, let it be man or woman, young or old, 
receive this consolation with such faith as rather to die 
many deaths than to doubt that it will be so before 
God. Repent, do all the works in thy power ; but let 
the faith thou hast in pardon through Jesus Christ be 

♦ Christus dein Gott wird dir nicht liigen, noch wanken. L. 
0pp. L. 17. 162. t Ob es schon ein Weib oder ein Kind war«». 
Ibid. t Also siehst du dass die ganze Kircbe voU von Vergo- 

bung; der Siinden ist. Xbid. 



EEllISSION OP SINB. 



339 



in the foremost rank, and command alone on the field of 
battle.'^* 

Thus spoke Luther to his astonished and enraptured 
hearers. All the scaffolding that impudent priests had 
raised to their profit between God and the soul of man, 
was thrown down, and man was brought face to face 
with his God. The word of forgiveness descended pure 
from on high, without passing through a thousand cor- 
rupting channels. In order that the testimony of God 
should be efficacious, it was no longer necessary for 
men to set their delusive seal to it. The monopoly of 
the sacerdotal caste was abolished ; the church was 
emancipated. 

* Und Hcuptmann im Felde bleibe. L. 0pp. L. 17. 



340 HISTOEY OF THE EEFOEMiLTIOir. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Apprehensions of his friends — Journey to Heidelberg — ^Bilira— Pal* 
atine palace— Rupture — The paradoxes — Disputation — ^The audi- 
ence — Bucer — Brentz — Snepf — Conversations with Luther — La- 
bors of these young doctors — Effects on Luther — The aged pro- 
fessor — ^The true light — ^Arrival. 

Meanwhile it had become necessary for the fire that 
had been lighted at Wittemberg to be kindled in other 
places. Luther, not content with announcing the gos- 
pel truth in the place of his residence, both to the stu- 
dents of the academy and to the people, was desirous of 
scattering elsewhere the seed of sound doctrine. In the 
spring of 1518, a general chapter of the Augustine 
order was to be held at Heidelberg. Luther was sum- 
moned to it as one of the most distinguished men of the 
order. His friends did all they could to dissuade him 
from undertaking this journey. In truth, the monks 
had endeavored to render Luther's name odious in all 
the places through which he would have to pass. To 
insults they added menaces. It would require but little 
to excite a popular tumult on his journey, of which he 
might be the victim. " Or else," said his friends, "they 
will effect by fraud and stratagem, what they dare not 
do by violence."* But Luther never suffered himself to 
be hindered in the accomplishment of a duty by the fear 
of danger, however imminent. He therefore closed his 
ears to the timid observations of his friends : he pointed 
to Him in whom he trusted, and under whose guardian- 
ship he was ready to undertake so formidable a journey. 
Immediately after the festival of Easter, he set out calm- 
ly on foot,t the 13th of April, 1618. 

He took with him a guide named Urban, who carried 
his little baggage, and who was to accompany him as 
far as Wurtzburg. What thoughts must have crowded 
into the heart of this servant of the Lord during his 

^ L. £^p. 1. 99. t Pedesier yeaiam. Jbi4. 



JOUENEr TO HEIDELBERa. 341 



journey 1 At Weissenfels, the pastor, whom he did not 
know, immediately recognized him as the Wittemberg 
doctor, and gave him a hearty welcome.* At Erfurth, 
two other brothers of the Augustine order joined him. 
At Judenbach, they fell in with the elector's privy coun- 
cillor, Degenhard Pfeffinger, who entertained them at 
the inn where they had found him. " I had the pleas- 
ure," wrote Luther to Spalatin, of making this rich lord 
a few groats poorer ; you know how I like on every op- 
portunity to levy contributions on the rich for the benefit 
of the poor, especially if the rich are my friends.^f He 
reached Coburg overwhelmed with fatigue. " All goes 
well, by God's grace," wrote he, except that I acknow- 
ledge having sinned in undertaking this journey on foot. 
But for that sin I have no need, I think, of the remission 
of indulgences ; for my contrition is perfect, and the sat- 
isfaction plenary. I am overcome with fatigue, and all 
the conveyances are full. Is not this enough, and more 
than enough, of penance, contrition, and satisfaction ?"J 

The reformer of Germany, unable to find room in the 
public conveyances, and no one being willing to give up 
his place, was compelled, notwithstanding his weariness, 
to leave Coburg the next morning humbly on foot. He 
reached Wurtzburg the second Sunday after Easter, tow- 
ards evening. Here he sent back his guide. 

In this city resided the bishop of Bibra, who had re- 
ceived his theses with so much approbation. Luther 
was the bearer of a letter to him from the elector of 
Saxony. The bishop, delighted at the opportunity of 
becoming personally acquainted with this bold champion 
of the truth, immediately invited him to the episcopal 
palace. He went and met him at the door, conversed 
afiectionately with him, and offered to provide him with 
a guide to Heidelberg. But at Wurtzburg Luther had 
met his two friends, the vicar -general Staupitz, and 
Lange, the prior of Erfurth, who had offered him a place 
in their carriage. He therefore thanked Bibra for his 
kindness ; and on the morrow the three friends quitted 
Wurtzburg. They thus travelled together for three days, 
• L. Epp. 1. 105. t Ibid. 104. f Ibid. 106. 



842 HISTOBT OF THE BEPOEHATIOK 



conversing with one another. On the 2l8t of April they 
arrived at Heidelberg. Luther went and lodged at the 
Augustine convent. 

The elector of Saxony had given him a letter for the 
Count Palatine Wolfgang, duke of Bavaria. Luther re» 
paired to his magnificent castle, the situation of which 
excites, even to this day, the admiration of strangers. 
The monk from the plains of Saxony had a heart to ad- 
mire the situation of Heidelberg, where the two beautiful 
valleys of the Rhine and the Neckar unite. He deliv- 
ered his letter to James Simler, steward of the house- 
hold. The latter on reading it observed, " In truth, you 
have here a valuable letter of credit."* The count pala- 
tine received Luther with much kindness, and frequently 
invited him to his table, together with Lange and Stau- 
pitz. So friendly a reception was a source of great com- 
fort to Luther. " We were very happy, and amused one 
another with agreeable and pleasant conversation,'^ said 
he ; "eating and drmking, examining all the beauties of 
the palatine palace, admiring the ornaments, arms, cui- 
rasses — ^in fine, every thing remarkable contained in this 
celebrated and truly regal castle."f 

But Luther had another task to perform. He must 
work while it is yet day. Having arrived at a univer- 
sity which exercised great influence over the west and 
south of Germany, he was there to strike a blow that 
should shake the churches of these countries. He began, 
therefore, to write some theses which he purposed main- 
taining in a public disputation. Such discussions were 
pot unusual ; but Luther felt that this one, to be useful, 
(should lay forcible hold upon men's minds. His disposi- 
tion, besides, naturally led him to present truth under a 
^paradoxical form. The professors of the university would 
not permit the discussion to take place in their large 
theatre, and Luther was obliged to take a hall in the 
Augustine convent. The 26th of April was the day ap- 
|)ointed for the disputation. 

Heidelberg, at a later period, received the evangel 

* Ihr habt bei Grott einen kostlichen Credenc. L. Epp. 1. 111. 

t Ibid. 



THE PARADOXES 



843 



leal doctrine : those who were present at the conference 
in the convent might have foreseen that it would one 
day bear fruit, 

Luther's reputation attracted a large audience ; pro- 
fessors, students, courtiers, citizens, came in crowds. 
The following are some of the doctor's taradoxes; for 
so he designated his theses. Perhaps even in our days 
they would still bear this name; it would, however, be 
easy to translate them into obvious propositions. 

1. " 'I he law of God is a salutary doctrine of life. 
Nevertheless, it cannot aid man in attaining to right- 
eousness; on the contrary, it impedes him. 

3. ''Man's works, however fair and good they may be, 
are, however, to all appearance, notliing but deadly sins. 

4. ''God's works, however unsightly and bad they 
may appear, have however an everlasting merit. 

7. "The works of the righteous themselves would be 
mortal sins unless, being filled with a holy reverence 
for the Lord, they feared that their works might in truth 
be mortal sins.* 

9. " To say that works done out of Christ are truly 
dead, but not deadly, is a dangerous forgetfulness of 
the fear of God. 

13. *' Since the fall of man, free-will is but an idle 
word ; and if man does all he can, he still sins mortally. 

16. " A man who imagines to arrive at grace by 
doing all that he is able to do, adds sin to sin, and is 
doubly guilty. 

18. " It is certain that man must altogether despair 
of himself, in order to be made capable of receiving 
Christ's grace. 

21. "A theologian of the world calls evil good, and 
good evil ; but a theologian of the cross teaches aright 
on the matter. 

22. " The wisdom which endeavors to learn the invis- 
ible perfections of God in his works, puffs up, hardens, 
and binds a man. 

23. " The law calls forth God's anger, kills, curses, 

* Justoram opera essent mortalia, nisi pio Dei timore ab ipsis 
met justis ut moitalia timerentur. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 55. 



344 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOM. 



accuses, judges, and condemns whatsoever is not ill 
Christ* 

24. "Yet this wisdom (§ 22) is not evil ; and the 
law (§ 23) is not to be rejected ; but the man who stud- 
ies not the knowledge of God under the cross, turns to 
evil whatever is good. 

25. " That man is not justified who performs manj 
works ; but he who, without works, has much faith in 
Christ. 

26. " The law says. Do this ; and what it commands 
is never done. Grace says. Believe in Him ; and imme- 
diately all things are done.f 

28. " The love of God finds nothing in man, but cre- 
ates in him what he loves. The love of man proceeds 
from his well-beloved."J 

Five doctors of divinity attacked these theses. They 
had read them with all the astonishment that novelty 
excites. Such theology appeared very extravagant ; 
and yet they discussed these points, according to Lu- 
ther's own testimony, with a courtesy that inspired him 
with much esteem for them, but at the same time with 
earnestness and discernment. Luther, on his side, dis- 
played wonderful mildness in his replies, unrivalled pa- 
tience in listening to the objections of his adversaries, 
and all the quickness of St. Paul in solving the difficul- 
ties opposed to him. His replies were short, but full ot 
the word of God, and excited the admiration of his hear- 
ers. " He is in all respects lil^e Erasmus," said many ; 
"but surpasses him in one thing: he openly professes 
what Erasmus is content merely to insinuate "§ 

The disputation was drawing to an end. Luther's 
adversaries had retired with honor from the field ; the 
youngest of them. Doctor George Niger, alone continued 
the struggle with the powerful champion. Alarmed at 

• hex iram Dei operatur, occidlt, maledicit, reum facit, judicat, 
damnat, quicquid non est in Christo. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 65. f Lex 
dicit: Fac hoc! et nunquam fit. Gratia d clt: Crede in huncl ei 
jam facta sunt omnia. Ibid. { Amor Dei non invenit, sed creat 
Buum diligibile ; amor hominis fit a suo dil gibili. ftid. § Bucer, 
in Scultet's Annal. Evang. Reno vat. p. 22. ' 



MAHTIN BUCER. 



345 



the daring propositions of the monk, and not knowing 
what farther arguments to have recourse to, he exclaim- 
ed, with an accent of fear, If our peasants heard such 
things, they would stone you to death 1"* At these 
words the whole auditory burst into a loud laugh. 

Never had an assembly listened with so much atten- 
tion to a theological discussion. The first words of the 
teformer had aroused their minds. Questions which 
shortly before would have been treated with indiffer- 
ence, were now full of interest. On the countenances 
of many of the hearers a looker-on might have seen re- 
flected the new ideas which the bold -'assertions of the 
Saxon doctor had awakened in their minds. 

Three young men in particular were deeply moved. 
One of them, Martin Bucer by name, was a Dominican, 
twenty-seven years of age, who, notwithstanding the 
prejudices of his order, appeared unwilling to lose one 
of the doctor's words. He was born in a small town of 
Alsace, and had entered a convent at sixteen. He soon 
displayed such capacity that the most enlightened monks 
entertained the highest expectations of him :f He will 
one day be the ornament of our order," said they. His 
superiors had sent him to Heidelberg to study philoso- 
phy, theology, Greek, and Hebrew. At that period Eras- 
mus published several of his works, which Bucer read 
with avidity. 

Soon appeared the earliest writings of Luther. The 
Alsacian student hastened to compare the reformer's 
doctrines with the holy Scriptures. Some misgivings 
as to the truth of the popish religion arose in his mind. J 
It was thus that the light was diffused in those days 
The elector-palatine took particular notice of the young 
man. His strong and sonorous voice, his graceful man- 
ners and eloquent language, the freedom with which he 
attacked the vices of the day, made him a distinguished 

• Si mstici haec audirent, certe lapidibus vos obruerent et inter- 
ficerent. L. Epp. 1. 111. f Prudentioribus monachis spem de 
Be praeclaram excitavit. Melch. Adam. Vit. Baceri, p. 211. 

X Cum doctrinam in eis traditam cum sacrls litteri? coatullififiei^ 
qiuedam in pontificia religione suspecta habere c<£pit Ibid. 



346 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



preacher. He was appointed chaplain to the court, and 
was fulfilling his functions when Luther's journey to 
Heiiielberg was announced. What joy for Bucer ! No 
one repaired with greater eagerness to the hall of the 
Augustine convent. He took with him paper, pens, and 
!nk, intending to take down what the doctor said. But 
^hile his hand was swiftly tracing Luther's words, the 
anger of God, in more indelible characters, wrote on his 
Heart the great truths he heard. The first gleams of the 
doctrine of grace were diffused through his soul during 
this memorable hour.* The Dominican was gained ovei 
to Christ. 

Not far from Bucer stood John Brentz or Brentius, 
then nineteen years of age. He was the son of a magis- 
trate in a city of Swabia, and at thirteen had been en- 
tered as student at Heidelberg. None manifested great- 
er application. He rose at midnight and began to study. 
This habit became so confirmed, that during his whole 
life he could not sleep after that hour. In later years he 
consecrated these tranquil moments to meditation on the 
Scriptures. Brentz was one of the first to perceive the 
new light then dawning on Germany. He welcomed it 
with a heart abounding in love.f He eagerly perused 
Luther's works. But what was his delight when he 
could hear the writer himself at Heidelberg ! One of 
the doctor's propositions more especially startled the 
youthful scholar ; it was this : " That man is not justi- 
fied before God who performs many works ; but he who, 
without works, has much faith in Jesus Christ." 

A pious woman of Heilbronn on the Neckar, wife of 
a senator of that town, named Snepf, had imitated Han- 
nah's example, and consecrated her first-born son to the 
Lord, with a fervent desire to see him devote himself to 
tJie study of theology. This young man, who was born 
in 1495, made rapid progress in learning ; but either 
from taste, or from ambition, or in compliance with his 
fathei's wishes, he applied to the study of jurisprudence. 

* Primam lucem purioris sententise de justificatione in suo peo* 
tore sensit. Melch. Adam.Vit. Buceri, p. 211. f Ingens Dei beii& 
flolum latuB Brentius agnovit, et grata mente amplexus est. Ibid 



C0irVERSATI0N8 WITH LUTHER 347 



The pious mother was grieved to behold her child, her 
Ehrhard, pursuing another career than that to which she 
had consecrated him. She admonished him, entreated 
him, prayed him continually to remember the vow she 
had made on the day of his birth,* Overcome at last by 
his mother's perseverance, Ehrhard Snepf gave way. Ere 
long he felt such a taste for his new studies, that noth- 
ing in the world could have diverted him from them. 

He was very intimate with Bucer and Brentz, and they 
were friends until death ; for," says one of their biog- 
raphers, ** friendships based on the love of letters and of 
virtue never fail." He was present with his two friends 
at the Heidelberg discussion. The Paradoxes and cour- 
age of the Wittemberg doctor gave him a new impulse. 
Rejecting the vain opinion of human merits, he embraced 
the doctrine of the free justification of the sinner. 

The next day Bucer went to Luther. " I had a fa- 
miliar and private conversation with him," said Bucer, 
"a most exquisite repast, not of dainties, but of truths 
that were set before me. To whatever objec^^ion I made, 
the doctor had a reply, and explained every thing with 
the greatest clearness. Oh, would to God that I had 
time to write more I"f Luther himself was touched 
with Bucer's sentiments. " He is the only brother of his 
order," wrote he to Spalatin, " who is sincere ; he is a 
young man of great promise. He received me with sim- 
plicity, and conversed with me very earnestly. He is 
worthy of our confidence and love."J 

Brentz, Snepf, and many others, excited by the new 
truths that began to dawn upon their minds, also visited 
Luther ; they talked and conferred with him ; they beg- 
ged for explanations on what they did not understand. 
The reformer replied, strengthening his arguments by 
the word of God. Each sentence imparted fresh light to 
their minds. A new world was opening before them. 

After Luther's departure, these noble-minded men 

* Crebris interpellationibus eum voti quod de nato ipso fecerat, 
admoneret ; et a studk) juris ad theologlam quasi couviciis avocaret. 
Melch. Ajiam. Snepfii Vit;^. t Gerdesios, Monument Antiq., otc 

\ L.£pp. 1. 412. 



348 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 

began to teach at Heidelberg. They felt it their duty 
to continue what the man of God had begun, anrt not 
allow the flame to expire which he had lighted up. The 
scholars will speak, when the teachers are silent. Brentz, 
although still so young, explained the gospel of St. Mat- 
thew, at first in his own room, and afterwards, when the 
chamber became too small, in the theatre of philosophy 
The theologians, envious at the crowd of hearers this 
young man drew around him, became irritated. Brentz 
then took orders, and transferred his lectures to the col- 
lege of the Canons of the Holy Ghost. Thus the fire al- 
ready kindled up in Saxony now glowed in Heidelberg. 
The centres of light increased in number. This period 
has been denominated the seed-time of the Palatinate. 

But it was not the Palatinate akne that reaped the 
fruits of the Heidelberg disputation. These courageous 
friends of the truth soon became shining lights in the 
church. They all attained to exalted stations, and took 
part in many of the debates which the Reformation occa^ 
sioned. Strasburg, and England a little later, were in 
debted to Bucer for a purer knowledge of the truth 
Snepf first declared it at Marburg, then at Stuttgard 
Tubingen, and Jena. Brentz, after having taught at 
Heidelberg, continued his labors for a long period at 
Tubingen, and at Halle in Swabia. We shall meet with 
these three men again in the course of our history. 

This disputation carried forward Luther himself. He 
increased daily in the knowledge of the truth. "I be- 
long to those," said he, " who improve by writing and 
by teaching others, and not to those who from nothing 
become on a sudden great and learned doctors." 

He was overjoyed at seeing with what avidity the 
students of the schools received the dawning truth, and 
this consoled him when he found the old doctors so deep- 
rootf»d in their opinions. "I have the glorious hope," 
said he, "that as Christ, when rejected by the Jews, 
turned to the Gentiles, we shall now also behold the 
new theology, that has been rejected by these gray- 
beards with their empty and fantastical notions, wel 
corned by the rising generation."* 
• L. Epp. 1. 112. 



LUTHEE'S OLD TEACHBE. 



349 



The chapter being ended, Luther thought of return- 
ing to Wittemberg. The count palatine gave him a let- 
ter for the elector, dated May 1, in which he said that 
" Luther had shown so much skill in the disputation, as 
greatly to contribute to the renown of the university of 
Wittemberg." He was not allowed lo return on foot* 
rhe Nuremberg Augustines conducted him as far as 
Wurtzburg, from whence he proceeded to Erfurth with 
the friars from that city. As soon as he arrived he re- 
paired to the house of his old teacher Jodocus. The aged 
professor, much grieved and scandalized at the path his 
disciple had taken, was in the habit of placing before all 
Luther's proposition a theta^ the letter employed by the 
Greeks to denote condemnation,f He had written to the 
young doctor in terms of reproach, and the latter desired 
to reply in person to these letters. Not having been ad- 
mitted, he wrote to Jodocus, " All the university, with 
the exception of one licentiate, think as I do. More than 
this, the prince, the bishop, many other prelates, and all 
our most enlightened citizens, declare with one voice, 
that up to the present time they had neither known nor 
understood Jesus Christ and his gospel. I am ready to 
receive your corrections ; and although they should be 
severe, they will appear to me very gentle. Open your 
heart, therefore, without fear ; unburden your anger. I 
will not and I cannot be vexed with you. God and my 
conscience are my witnesses.''^ 

The old doctor was moved by these expressions of 
his former pupil. He was willing to try if there were 
no means of removing the damnatory theta. They con- 
versed on the matter, but the result was unfavorable. 
" I made him understand at least," said Luther, ** that all 
their sentences were like that beast which is said to de- 
vour itself. But talking to a deaf man is labor in vain. 
These doctors obstinately cling to their petty distinc- 
tions, although they confess there is nothing to confirm 

• Veni autem cumi, qui ieram pedester. L. Epp. 1. 110. 

t Omnibus placitis meis nigrum theta praefigit. Ibid. til. The 
Greeks used to place the initial letter of the word ^dvaroc, death* 
opposite the names of oriminals condemned to die. | Ibid. 



350 HISTORY OP THE EEFOEHATION. 



them but the light of natural reason, as they call it-Hi 
dark chaos truly to us who preach no other light than 
Jesus Christ, the true and only light."* 

Luther quitted Erfurth in the carriage belonging to 
the convent, which took him to Eisleben. From thence, 
the Augustines of the place, proud of a doctor who had 
shed such glory on their order and on their city, his n^ 
tive place, conveyed him to Wittemberg with their own 
horses and at their own expense. Every one desired to 
bestow some mark of affection and esteem on this extra- 
ordinary man, whose fame was constantly increasing. 

He arrived on the Saturday after Ascension-day. The 
journey had done him good, and his friends thought him 
improved in appearance, and stronger than before his 
departure.f They were delighted at all he had to tell 
them. Luther rested some time after the fatigues of his 
journey and his dispute at Heidelberg ; but this rest 
was only a preparation for severer toils. 

* Nisi dictamlne rationis naturalis, quod apud nos idem est quod 
chaos teaebratum, qui non praedicamus aliam lucem quam Christum 
Jesum, lucem veram et solam. L. Epp. 1. 111. \ liA at non- 
nullifl videar factus habitior et corpulentior. Ibid. 



fHE E£80LUTIO»8 



361 



BOOK lY. 

LUTHER BEFORE THE LEGATB. 

MAY TO DECEMBER, 1518. 

CHAPTER I. 

The reflolutions— Repentance — Papacy — Leo X. — ^Luthei to his biah* 
op— Luther to the pope — Luther to the vicar-general — Rovera to 
the elector— Sermon on excooimunication — ^Influence and strength 
of Luther. 

Truth at last had raised her head in the midst of 
Christendom. Victorious over the inferior ministers of 
the papacy, she was now to enter upon a struggle with 
its chief in person. We are about to contemplate Lu" 
ther contending with Rome. 

It was after his return from Heidelberg that he took 
this bold step. His early theses on the indulgences had 
been misunderstood. He determined to explain their 
meaning with greater clearness. From the clamors that 
a blind hatred extorted from his enemies, he had learned 
how important it was to win over the most enlightened 
part of the nation to the truth : he therefore resolved to 
appeal to its judgment, by setting forth the basis on 
which his new convictions were founded. It was requi- 
site at once to challenge the decision of Rome : he did 
not hesitate to send his explanations thither. While he 
presented them with one hand to the enlightened and im- 
partial readers of his nation, with the other he laid them 
before the throne of the sovereign pontiff. 

These explanations of his theses, which he styled 
Resolutions^^ were written in a very moderate tone. Lu- 
ther endeavored to soften down the passages that had 
occasioned the greatest irritation, and thus give proof 
• Luth. 0pp. Leips. 17. 29-113. 



352 HISTORY OF THE EEFOEMATION . 



of geaaine humility. But at the same time he showed 
himself to be unshaken in his convictions, and coura- 
geously defended all the propositions which truth obliged 
him to maintain. He repeated once more, that every 
truly penitent Christian possesses remission of sins with- 
out papal indulgences ; that the pope, like the meanest 
priest, can do no more than simply declare what God has 
already pardoned ; that the treasury of the merits of the 
saints, administered by the pope, was a pure chimera, 
and that the holy Scriptures were the sole rule of faith. 
But let us hear his own statement on some of these 
points. 

He begins by establishing the nature of real repent- 
ance, and contrasts that act of God which regenerates 
man with the mummeries of the church of Eome. " The 
Greek word fieravoelre^'^ said he, " signifies, to put on a new 
spirit, a new mind, take a new nature, so that ceasing to 
be earthly, you may become heavenly. Christ is a teach- 
er of the spirit, and not of the letter, and his words are 
spirit and life. He teaches therefore a repentance in 
spirit and in truth, and not those outward penances that 
can be performed by the proudest sinners without humil- 
iation ; he wills a repentance that can be effected in 
every situation of life, under the kingly purple, under 
the priest's cassock, under the prince's hat, in the midst 
of those pomps of Babylon where a Daniel lived, as well 
as under the monk's '.rock and the beggar's rags."* 

Further on we meet with this bold language : " I care 
not for what pleases or displeases the pope. He is a 
man like other men. There have been many popes who 
loved not only errors and vices, but still more extraordi- 
nary things. I listen to the pope as pope ; that is to 
say, when he speaks in the canons according to the can- 
ons, or when he decrees some article in conjunction with 
a council, but not when he speaks after his own ideas. 
Were I to do otherwise, ought I not to say with those 
who know not Christ, that the horrible massacres of 
Christians by which Julian II. was stained, were the 
good deeds of a gentle shepherd towards Christ's flock ?f 
* On the first thesis^ t Thevis 



THE PAPACY-LEO X. 



35 



"I cannot help wondering," continues Luther, "at 
the simplicity of those who have asserted that the two 
swords of the gospel represent, one the spiritual, the 
other the secular power. Yes, the pope wields a sword 
of iron ; it is thus he exhibits himself to Christendom, 
not as a tender father, but as a formidable tyrant. Alas, 
an angry God has given us the sword we longed for, and 
taken away that which we despised. In no part of the 
world have there been more terrible wars than among 
Christians. Why did not tha^ acute mind which discov- 
ered this fine commentary, interpret in the same subtle 
manner the history of the two keys intrusted to St. Pe- 
ter, and lay it down as a doctrine of the church, that one 
key serves to open the treasures of heaven, the other the 
treasures of the earth ?"* 

"It is impossible," says Luther in another place, "for 
a man to be a Christian without having Christ : and if 
he has Christ, he possesses at the same time all that 
belongs to Christ. What gives peace to our consciences 
is this : by faith our sins are no loLger ours, but Christ's, 
on whom God has laid them all ; and on the other hand, 
all Christ's righteousness belongs to us, to whom God 
has given it. Christ lays his hand on us ai^J we are heal- 
ed. He casts his mantle over us, and we are sheltered ; 
for he is the glorious Saviour, blessed for evermore "i*' 

With such views of the riches of salvation by Jebus 
Christ, there was no longer any need of indulgences 

While Luther attacks the Papacy, he speaks honor- 
ably of Leo X. "The times in which we live are so 
evil," said he, " that even the most exalted individuals 
have no power to help the church. We have at present 
a very good pope in Leo X. His sincerity, his learning, 
inspire us with joy. But what can be done by this 0113 
man, amiable and gracious as he is ? He was worthy of 
b(dng pope in better days. In our age we deserve none 
but such men as Julius II, and Alexander VI." 

He then comes to the point : " I will say what 1 n>ean 
boldly and briefly : the church needs a reformation. And 
this cannot be the work either of a single man, as the 
^ Thesis 80. \ Thesis 87. 

23 



354 HISTORY OP THE REFORHATIOK 



pope, or of many men, as the cardinals and councils ; 
but it must be that of the whole world, or rather, it is a 
work that belongs to God alone. As for the time in 
which such a reformation should begin. He alone knows 
who has created all time. The dike is broken, and it is 
no longer in our power to restrain the impetuous and 
overwhelming billows." 

This is a sample of the declarations and ideas which 
Luther addressed to his enlightened fellow-countrymen 
The festival of Whitsuntide was approaching ; and at 
the same period in which the apostles gave to the risen 
Saviour the first testimony of their faith, Luther, the new 
apostle, published this spirit-stirring book, in which he 
ardently called for a resurrection of the church. On 
Saturday, May 22, 1518, the eve of Pentecost, he sent 
the work to his ordinary the bishop of Brandenburg with 
the following letter : 

Most worthy father in God. It is now some time 
nince a new and unheard-of doctrine touching the apos- 
tolic indulgences began to make a noise in this country ; 
the learned and the ignorant were troubled by it ; and 
many persons, some known, some personally unknown 
to me, begged me to declare by sermon or by writing 
what I thought of the novelty, I will not say the impu- 
dence of this doctrine. At first I was silent, and kept in 
the background. But at last things came to such a pass, 
that the pope^s holiness was compromised. 

" What could I do ? I thought it my duty neither to 
approve nor condemn these doctrines, but to originate 
a discussion on this important subject, until the holy 
church should decide. 

"As no one accepted the challenge I had given to 
the whole world, and since my theses have been consid- 
ered, not as matters for discussion, but as positive asser- 
tions,* I find myself compelled to publish an explanation 
of them. Condescend therefore to receive these trifles, f 
which I present to you, most merciful bishop. And that 
all the world may see that I do not act presumptuously, 
I entreat your reverence to take pen and ink, and blot 
* Non ut disputabilia sed a^fterta. L. Epp. 1. 114. \ Ineptiaa 



LUTHER TO THE PCPE 



355 



ont, or even throw into the fire and burn, any thing that 
may offend you. I know that Jesus Christ needs neither 
my labors nor my services, and that he will know how 
to proclaim his ^glad tidings to the church without my 
aid. Not that the bulls and the threats of my enemies 
alarm me ; quite the contrary. If they were not so im- 
pudent, so shameless, no one should hear of me ; I would 
hide myself in a corner, and there study alone for my 
own good. If this affair is not God's, it certainly shall 
no longer be mine or any other man's, but a thing of 
naught. Let the honor and the glory be his to whom 
alone they belong." 

Luther was still filled with respect for the head of the 
church. He supposed Leo to be a just man and a sincere 
lover of the truth. He resolved, therefore, to write to 
him. A week after, on Trinity Sunday, May 30, i518, he 
penned a letter, of which we give a few specimens. 

" To the most blessed Father Leo X. sovereign bish- 
op, Martin Luther, an Augustine friar, wishes eternal 
salvation. 

I am informed, most holy father, that wicked reports 
are in circulation about me, and that my name is in bad 
odor with your holiness. I am called a heretic, apostate, 
traitor, and a thousand other insulting names. What 
I see fills me with surprise, what I learn fills me with 
alarm. But the only foundation of my tranquillity re- 
mains, a pure and peaceful conscience. Deign to listen 
to me, most holy father, to me who am but a child and 
unlearned." 

After relating the origin of the whole matter, Luther 
thus continues : 

"In all the taverna nothing was heard but com- 
plaints against the avarice of the priests, and attacks 
against the power of the keys and of the sovereign 
bishop. Of this the whole of Germany is a witness. 
When I was informed of these things, my zeal was 
aroused for the glory of Christ, as it appeared to me ; 
or, if another explanation be sought, my young and 
warm blood was inflamed. 

" I forewarned several princes of the church ; but 



356 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



some laughed at me, and others turned a deaf ear. The 
terror of your name seemed to restrain every one. I 
then published my disputation. 

" And behold, most holy father, the conflagration that 
Is reported to have set the whole world on fire. 

" Now what shall I do ? I cannot retract, and I see 
that this publication draws down upon me an inconci»iv« 
able hatred from every side. I have no wish to appear 
before the world ; for I have no learning, no genius, and 
am far too little for such^ great matters ; above all, in 
this illustrious age, in which Cicero himself, were he liv- 
ing, would be compelled to hide himself in some dark 
corner.* 

" But in order to quiet my adversaries, and to reply 
to the solicitations of many friends, I here publish my 
thoughts. I publish them, holy father, that I may be in 
greater safety under the shadow of your wings. All 
those who desire it will thus understand with what sim- 
plicity of heart I have called upon the ecclesiastical au- 
thority to instruct me, and what respect I have shown 
to the power of the keys.f If I had not behaved with 
propriety, it would have been impossible for the most 
serene Lord Frederick, duke and elector of Saxony, who 
shines among the friends of the apostolic and Christian 
truth, to have ever endured in his university of Wittem- 
berg a man so dangerous as I am asserted to be. 

" For this reason, most holy father, I fall at the feet 
of your holiness, and submit myself to you, with all that 
I have and with all that I am. Destroy my cause, or 
espouse it ; declare me right or wrong ; take away my 
life, or restore it, as you please. I shall acknowledge 
your voice as the voice of Jesus Christ, who presides 
and speaks through you. If I have merited death, I 
shall not refuse to die ;J the earth is the Lord's, and all 

* Luther adds, But necessity compels me to cackle like a goose 
among swans. Sed cogit necessitas me anserem strepere inter olo 
res. L. Epp. 1. 121. f Quara pure simpliciterque ecclesiasti- 
cam potestatem et reverentiam clavium quaeslerim et coluerim. lb. 

X Quare, beatiss'me Pater, prostratum me pedibus tuae beatitudi' 
cif offero, cum omnibus guse sum et habeo : vivifica, occide ; vocai 



LUTHER TO STAUPITZ. 357 

that is therein. May he be praised through all eternity. 
Ainen. May he uphold you for ever. Amen. 

" Written the day of the Holy Trinity, in the year 
16.8. 

"MARTIN LUTHER, Augustine Friar." 
What humility and truth in Luther's fear, or rather 
in the avowal he makes that his warm young blood was 
perhaps too hastily inflamed. In this we behold the sin- 
cerity of a man who, presuming not on himself, dreads 
the influence of his passions in the very acts most in 
conformity with the word of God. This language is 
widely different from that of a proud fanatic. We be- 
hold in Luther an earnest desire to gain over Leo to the 
cause of truth, to prevent all schism, and to cause the 
reformation, the necessity of which he proclaims, to pro- 
ceed from the head of the church. Assuredly it is not 
he who should be accused of destroying that unity in the 
Western church which so many persons of all parties 
have since regretted. He sacrificed every thing to main- 
tain it — every thing except the truth. It was not he, it 
was his adversaries, who, by refusing to acknowledge 
the fulness and sufficiency of the salvation wrought by 
Jesus Christ, rent our Saviour's vesture, even at the 
foot of the cross. 

After writing this letter, and on the veiy same day, 
Luther wrote to his friend Staupitz, vicar-general of his 
order. It was by his instrumentality that he desired the 
Solutions and letter should reach Leo. 

" I beg of you," says he, " to accept with kindness 
these trifles* that I send you, and to forward them to 
the excellent Pope Leo X. Not that I desire by this to 
draw you into the? peril in which I am involved ; I am 
determined to encounter the danger alone. Jesus Christ 
will see if what I have said proceeds from him or from 
me — Jesus Christ, without whose will the pope's tongue 
cannot move, and the hearts of kings cannot decide. 

" As to those who threaten me, I reply in the words 

revoca ; approba, reproba, ut placuerit. Vocem tuam, vocem Christi 
in te praesideutis et loquentis agnoscam. Si mortem merui, mori nou 
••^cusaba L. Epp. 1, 121. * His Solutioos* 



358 HISTOUY OF THE REFORMATIOK. 

of Reuchlin : *He who is poor has nothing to fear, since 
he has nothing to lose.'* I have neither property nor 
money, and I do not desire any. If formerly I possessed 
any honor, any reputation, let Him who has begun to 
deprive me of them complete his task. All that is left 
to me is a wretched body, weakened by many trials. 
Should they kill me by stratagem or by force, to God be 
the glory. They will thus, perhaps, shorten my life by an 
hour or two. It is enough for me that I have a precious 
Redeemer, a powerful High-priest, Jesus Christ my Lord. 
As long as I live will I praise him. If another will not 
unite with me in these praises, what is that to me ?" 

In these words we read Luther's inmost heart. 

While he was thus looking with confidence towards 
Rome, Rome already entertained thoughts of vengeance 
against him. As early as the 3d of April, Cardinal Ra- 
phael of Rovera had written to the Elector Frederick, in 
the pope's name, intimating that his orthodoxy was sus- 
pected, and cautioning him against protecting Luther. 
" Cardinal Raphael," said the latter, " would have had 
great pleasure in seeing me burned by Frederick."f 
Thus was Rome beginning to sharpen her weapons 
against Luther. It was through his protector's mind 
that she resolved to aim the first blow. K she suc- 
ceeded in destroying that shelter under which the monk 
of Wittemberg was reposing, he would become an easy 
prey to her. 

The German princes were very tenacious of theii 
reputation for orthodoxy. The slightest suspicion of 
heresy filled them with alarm. The court of Rome had 
skilfully taken advantage of this disposition. Frederick, 
moreover, had always been attached to the religion of 
his forefathers, and hence Raphael's letter made a deep 
impression on his mind. But it was a rule with the elector 
never to act precipitately. He knew that truth was not 
always on the side of the strongest. The disputes be- 
tween the empire and Rome had taught him to mistrust 
the interested views of that court. He had found out 

• Qui pauper est nihil timet, nihil potest perdere. L. Epp. 1 
118. t L. 0pp. W. 15. 339. 



SEHMOK ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 359 

that to be a Christian prince, it was not necessary to be 
the pope^s slave. 

He was not one of those profane persons," said Me- 
lancthon, " who order all changes to be arrested at their 
very commencement.* Frederick submitted himself to 
God He carefully perused the writings that appeared, 
wid did not allow that to be destroyed which he believed 
to be true."f It was not from want of power ; for, be- 
Bides being sovereign in his own states, he enjoyed in 
the empire a respect very little inferior to that which 
was paid to the emperor himself. 

It is probable that Luther gained some information 
of this letter of Cardinal Raphael's, transmitted to the 
elector on the 7th of July. Perhaps it was the prospect 
of excommunication which this Roman missive seemed 
to forebode, that induced him to enter the pulpit of Wit- 
temberg on the fifteenth of the same month, and to de- 
liver a sermon on that subject, which made a deep im- 
pression. He drew a distinction between external and 
internal excommunication ; the former excluding only 
from the services of the church, the latter from commun- 
ion with God. " No one," said he, " can reconcile the 
fallen sinner with God, except the Eternal One. No one 
can separate man from God, except man himself by his 
own sins. Blessed is he who dies under an unjust ex- 
communication. While he suffers a grievous punish- 
ment at the hands of men for righteousness' sake, he 
receives from the hand of God the crown of everlasting 
happiness." 

Some of the hearers loudly commended this bold lan- 
guage ; others were still more exasperated by it. 

But Luther no longer stood alone ; and although his 
faith required no other support than that of God, a pha- 
lanx which defended him against his enemies had grown 
up around him. The German people had heard the voice 
of the reformer. From his sermons and writings issued 
those flashes of light which aroused and illumined his 

* Nec profana judicia sequens quae tenera initia omnium muta- 
tionum celerrim^ opprimi jubent. Mel. Vit. Luth. f cessiti 
et ea quae vera esse judicavit, deleri non volult. Ibid. 



360 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



conlemp(/rarie8. The energy of his faith poured forth in 
torrents of fire on their frozen hearts. The life that God 
had placed in this extraordinary mind communicated it- 
self to the dead body of the church. Christendom, mo- 
tionless for so many centuries, became animated with 
religious enthusiasm. The people's attachment to the 
Romish superstitions diminished day by day ; there were 
always fewer hands that offered money to purchase for- 
giveness and at the same time Luther's reputation 
continued to increase. The people turned towards him, 
and saluted him with love and respect, as the intrepid 
defender of truth and liberty.f Undoubtedly all men 
did not see the depth of the doctrines he proclaimed. 
For the greater number it was sufficient to know that 
he stood up against the pope, and that the dominion of 
the priests and monks was shaken by the might of his 
word. In their eyes, Luther's attack was like those bea- 
con fires kindled on the mountains, which announce to a 
whole nation that the time to burst their chains has ar- 
rived. The reformer was not aware of what he had done, 
until the noble-minded portion of the nation had already 
hailed him as their leader. But for a great number also, 
Luther's coming was something more than this. The 
word of God, which he so skilfully wielded, pierced their 
hearts like a two-edged sword. In many bosoms wasf 
kindled an earnest desire of obtaining the assurance of 
pardon and eternal life. Since the primitive ages, the 
church had never witnessed such hungering and thirst- 
ing after righteousness. If the eloquence of Peter the 
Hermit and of St. Bernard had inspired the people of the 
middle ages to assume a perishable cross, the eloquence 
of Luther prevailed on those of his day to take up the 
real cross, the truth which saves. The scaffolding which 
then encumbered the church had stifled every thing ; the 
form had destroyed the life. The powerful language 
given to this man diffused a quickening breath over the 
soil of Christendom. At the first outburst, Luther's 

* Rarescebant manus largentium. Cochlceus, 7. f Luthero 
autem contra augebatur auctoritas, favor, fides, existimatio, fama: 
qaod tain liber acerque videretur vfiritatis assertor. Ibid. 



LUTHER'S INFLQENCE. 



361 



Stings had carried away believers and unbelievers 
alike : the unbelievers, because the positive doctrines 
that were afterwards to be settled had not been as yet 
fully developed ; the believers, because their germs were 
found in that living faith which his writings proclaimed 
witli so much power. Accordingly, the influence of these 
writings was immense ; they filled in an instant Ger- 
many and the world. Everywhere prevailed a secret 
conviction that men were about to witness, not the es- 
tablishment of a sect, but a new birth of the church and 
of society. Those who were then born of the breath of 
the Holy Ghost rallied around him who was its organ. 
Christendom was divided into two parties : the one con- 
tended with the spirit against the form, and the other 
with the form against the spirit. On the side of the 
form were, it is true, all the appearances of strength 
and grandeur ; on the side of the spirit were helpless- 
ness and insignificance. But form, void of spirit, is but 
a feeble body, which the first breath of wind may throw 
down Its apparent power serves but to excite hostility, 
and to precipitate its destruction. Thus the simple w 
of truth had raised a powerful army for Luther. 



362 HISTOEY OP THE REFOEMATIOM. 



CHAPTER II. 

Diet at Augsburg — The emperor to the pope — The elector to Roto- 
ra — Luther summoned to Rome — Luther^s peace — Intercession 
of the university — ^Papal brief — Luther^s indignation — The pope 
to the elector. 

This army was very necessary, for the nobles began 
to be alarmed, and the empire and the church were al- 
ready uniting their power to get rid of this troublesome 
monk. If a strong and courageous prince had then filled 
the imperial throne, he might have taken advantage of 
this religious agitation, and in reliance upon the word of 
God and upon the nation, have given a fresh impulse to 
the ancient opposition against the Papacy. But Maxi- 
milian was too old, and he had determined, besides, on 
making every sacrifice in order to attain the great ob- 
ject of his life, the aggrandizement of his house, and 
consequently the elevation of his grandson. The em- 
peror was at that time holding an imperial diet at Augs- 
burg. Six electors had gone thither in person at his 
summons. All the Germanic states were there repre- 
sented. The kings of France, Hungary, and Poland had 
sent their ambassadors. These princes and envoys dis- 
played great magnificence. The Turkish war was one 
of the causes for which the diet had been assembled. 
The legate of Leo X. earnestly urged the meeting on this 
point. The states, learning wisdom from the bad use 
that had formerly been made of their contributions, and 
wisely counselled by the Elector Frederick, were satis- 
fied with declaring they would refler~t on the matter, 
and at the same time produced fresh complaints against 
Rome. A Latin discourse, published during the diet, 
boldly pointed out the real danger to the German princes. 
" You desire to put the Turk to flight," said the author. 
" This is well ; but I am very much afraid that you are 
mistaken in the person. You should look for him in 
Italy, and not in Asia."* 

* S^hrcck, K. G^ch n. d. R. 1. 16^ 



THE EMPEROR TO tHE 1*0I^E 



363 



Another affair of no less importance was to occupy 
the diet. Maximilian desired to have his grandson 
Charles, already king of Spain and Naples, proclaimed 
king of the Romans, and his successor in the imperial 
dignity. The pope knew his own interests too well to 
desire to see the imperial throne filled by a prince whose 
power in Italy might be dangerous to himself. The em- 
peror imagined he had already won over most of the 
electors and of the states ; but he met with a vigorous 
resistance from Frederick. All solicitations provjed un- 
availing ; in vain did the ministers and the best friends 
of the elector unite their entreaties to those of the em- 
peror ; he was immovable, and showed on this occasion, 
as it has been remarked, that he had firmness of mind 
not to swerve from a resolution which he had once ac- 
knowledged to be just. The emperor^s design failed. 

Henceforward this prince sought to gain the good- 
will of the pope, in order to render him favorable to his 
plans ; and to give more striking proof of his attach- 
ment, he wrote to him as follows, on the 5th of August : 
Most holy father, we have learned these few days since 
that a friar of the Augustine order, named Martin Luther, 
has presumed to maintain certain propositions on the 
traffic of indulgences ; a matter that displeases us the 
more because this friar has found many protectors, 
among whom are persons of exalted station.* If your 
holiness, and the very reverend fathers of the church — 
that is, the cardinals — do not soon exert your authority 
to put an end to these scandals, these pernicious teach- 
ers will not only seduce the simple people, but they will 
involve great princes in their destruction. We will take 
care that whatever your holiness may decree in this 
matter for the glory of God Almighty, shall be enforced 
throughout the whole empire.'' 

This letter must have been written immediately after 
some warm discussion between Maximilian and Frede- 
rick. On the same day, the elector wrote to Raphael of 
Rovera. He had learned, no doubt, that the emperor 

* Defenscrefi et patronos etiam potentes quos dictus Irater con 
secutus est. Raynald ad an. 1518. 



36'i HISTORY OF THE REPLRMATIOK. 



was writing to the Roman pontiflf, and to parry the blow^ 
he put himself in communication with Rome. 

" I shall never have any other desire," says he, " than 
to show my submission to the universal church. 

" Accordingly, I have never defended either the writ- 
ings or the sermons of Doctor Martin Luther. I learOj 
besides, that he has always offered to appear, under a 
safe-conduct, before impartial, learned, and Christian 
judges, in order to defend his doctrine, and to submit, 
in case he should be convicted of error by the Scripture? 
themselves."* 

Leo X., who up to this time had let the business fol- 
low its natural course, aroused by the clamors of the 
theologians and monks, nominated an ecclesiastical com- 
mission at Rome empowered to try Luther, and in which 
Sylvester Prierio, the reformer's great enemy, was at 
once accuser and judge. The case was soon prepared, 
and the court summoned Luther to appear before it in 
person within sixty days. 

Luther was tranquilly awaiting at Wittemberg the 
good effects that he imagined his submissive letter to 
the pope would produce, when on the tth of August, two 
days only after the letters of Maximilian and of Frede- 
rick were sent off, he received the summons of the Ro- 
man tribunal. " At* the very moment I was expecting a 
blessing," said he, "I saw the thunderbolt fall upon me. 
I was the lamb that troubled the water the wolf was 
drinking. Tetzel escaped, and I was to permit myself 
to be devoured." 

This summons caused general alarm in Wittemberg ; 
for whatever course Luther might take, he could not es- 
cape danger. If he went to Rome, he would there be- 
come the victim of his enemies. If he refused to appear, 
he would be condemned for contumacy, as was usual, 
without the power of escaping ; for it was known that 
the legate had received orders to do every thing he could 
tc exasperate the emperor and the German princes 
against the doctor. His friends were filled with conster- 
nation. Shall the preacher of truth risk his life in tlm< 
• h. 0pp. L. 17. 169. 



THE UNlv liHSITY INTERCEDES. 



365 



great city " drunk with the blood of the saints and of the 
martyrs of Jesus ?" Shall a head be raised in the midst 
of enslaved Christendom, only to fall ? Shall this man 
also be struck down, this man whom God appears to 
have formed to withstand a power that hitherto nothing 
had been able to resist ? Luther himself saw that no one 
could save him but the elector ; yet he woul I rather die 
than compromise his prince. At last his friends agreed 
on an expedient that would not endanger Frederick. Let 
him refuse Luther a safe-conduct, and then the reformer 
would have a legitimate excuse for not appearing at 
Rome. 

On the 8th of August, Luther wrote to Spalatin beg- 
ging him to employ his influence with the elector to 
have his cause heard in Germany. " See what snares 
they are laying for me," wrote he also to Staupitz, " and 
how I am surrounded with thorns. But Christ lives and 
reigns, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. My 
conscience assures me that I have been teaching the 
truth, although it appears still more odious because 1 
teach it. The church is the womb of Rebecca. The 
children must struggle together, even to the risk of the 
mother's life.* As for the rest, pray the Lord that I 
feel not too much joy in this trial. May God not lay 
this sin to their charge." 

Luther's friends did not confine themselves to consul- 
tations and complaints. Spalatin wrote, on the part ol 
the elector, to Renner the emperor's secretary, " Doctor 
Martin Luther willingly consents to be judged by all 
the universities of Germany, except Leipsic, Erfurth, 
and Frankfort-on-the-Oder, which have shown them- 
selves partial. It is impossible for him to appear at 
Rome in person."f 

The university of Wittemberg wrote a letter of inter- 
cession to the pope : " The weakness of his frame," they 
said, speaking of Luther, and the dangers of the jour- 
ney, render it difficult and even impossible for him to 
obey the order of your holiness. His distress and his 

• Uterus Rebeccae est ; parvnlos in eo coUidi n^cesse est. etiam 
vflque ad pericalum matris. L. £pp. 1. 138. f L 0pp. L. 17. 173 



366 



HISTOHr OF THE REFORMATIOJJT 



prayers incline us to sympathize with him. We therefore 
entreat you, most holy father, as obedient children, to 
look upon him as a man who has never been tainted with 
doctrines opposed to the tenets of the Roman church." 

The university, in its solicitude, wrote the same day 
to Charles of Miltitz, a Saxon gentleman and the pope's 
chamberlain, in high estimation with Leo X. In this 
letter they gave Luther a more decided testimony than 
they had ventured to insert in the first. " The reverend 
father Martin Luther, an Augustine," it ran, is the no- 
blest and most distinguished member of our university. 
For many years we have seen and known his talents, 
his learning, his profound acquaintance with the arts 
and literature, his irreproachable morals, and his truly 
Christian behavior."* 

This active charity shown by all who surrounded 
Luther is his noblest panegyric. 

While men were anxiously looking for the result of 
this affair, it was terminated more easily than might 
have been expected. The legate De Vio, mortified at 
his ill success in the commission he had received to ex- 
cite a general war against the Turks, wished to exalt 
and give lustre to his embassy in Germany by some 
other brilliant act He thought that if he could extin- 
guish heresy he should return to Rome with honor. He 
therefore entreated the pope to intrust this business to 
him. Leo for his part was highly pleased with Fred- 
erick for his strong opposition to the election of the 
youthful Charles. He felt that he might yet stand in 
need of his support. Without further reference to the 
summons, he commissioned the legate, by a brief dated 
August 23, to investigate the affair in Germany. The 
pope would lose nothing by this course of proceeding 5 
and even if Luther could not be prevailed on to retract, 
the noise and scandal that his presence at Rome must 
have occasioned would be avoided. 

" We charge you," said Leo, to summon personally 
before you, to prosecute and constrain without any de- 
Ihjf and as soon as you shall have received this paper 
• L, 0pp. Lat. 1. 183, 184. L, 0pp. L. 17. 171, 172. 



THE POPE'S BRIEF. 



367 



from us, the said Luther, who has already been declared 
a heretic by our dear brother Jerome, bishop of AscolL"* 

The pope then pioceeded to utter the severest threats 
against Luther : 

" Invoke for this purpose the arm and the aid of oui 
very dear son in Christ, Maximilian, and of the other 
princes of Germany, and of all the communities, univer- 
sities, and potentates, ecclesiastic or secular. And if 
you get possession of his person, keep him in safe cus 
tody, that he may be brought before us."f 

We see that this indulgent concession from the pope 
was only a surer way of inveigling Luther to Rome. 
Next followed milder measures : 

" If he return to his duty, and beg forgiveness for so 
great a misdeed, of his own accord and without solicita- 
tion, we give you power to receive him into the unity of 
our holy mother the church." 

The pope soon returned to his maledictions : 

" If he persist in his obstinacy, and you cannot se- 
cure his person, we authorize you to proscribe him in 
every part of Germany ; to banish, curse, and excommu- 
nicate all those who are attached to him ; and to order 
all Christians to flee from their presence." 

Still this was not enough : 

" And in order that this contagious disease may be 
the more effectually eradicated," continued the pope, 
" you will excommunicate all prelates, religious orders, 
universities, communities, counts, dukes, and potentates, 
the Emperor Maximilian always excepted, who shall not 
aid in seizing the aforesaid Martin Luther and his adher- 
ents, and send them to you under good and safe guard. 
And if, which God forbid, the said princes, communities, 
universities, and potentates, or any belonging to them, 
shall in any manner offer an asylum to the said Martin 
and his adherents, give him privately or publicly, by 
themselves or by others, succor and counsel, we lay 

* Dictum Lutherum haereticum per praedictum auditorem jam 
declaratum. Breve Leonis X. ad Thomam. f Brachio coga? 

atque compellas, et eo iu potestate tua redacto eum sub fideli ousto 
^'a retineas ut coram nobis sistatur. Ibid. 



368 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 



under interdict all these princes, communities, universi- 
ties, and potentates, with their cities, towns, countries, 
and villages, as well as the cities, towns, countries, 
and villages in which the said Martin may take refuge, 
so long as he shall remain there, and three days after he 
shall have quitted them." 

This audacious see, which claims to be the earthly 
representative of Him who said, " God sent not his Son 
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
through him might be saved," continues its anathemas ^ 
and after pronouncing the penalties against ecclesias- 
tics, goes on to say, 

" As for the laymen, if they do not immediately obey 
your orders without delay or opposition, we declare them 
infamous, the most worthy emperor always excepted, in- 
capable of performing any lawful act, deprived of Chris- 
tian burial, and stripped of all the fiefs they may hold 
either from the apostolic see, or from any lord whatso- 
ever."* 

Such was the fate destined for Luther. The monarch 
of Rome has invoked every thing for his destruction. 
Nothing was spared, not even the quiet of the grave. 
His ruin appears certain. How can he escape from this 
vast conspiracy ? But Rome was deceived ; the move- 
ment, begun by the Spirit of God, cannot be checked by 
the decrees of her chancery. 

The pope had not even preserved the appearances of 
a just and impartial examination. Luther had been de- 
clared a heretic, not only before he had been heard, but 
even before the expiration of the time allowed for his 
appearance. The passions — and never do they show 
themselves more violently than in religious discussions — 
overleap all forms of justice. It is not only in the Ro- 
man church, but in the Protestant churches that have 
turned aside from the gospel, and wherever the truth is 
not found, that we meet with such strange proceedings 
in this respect. Every thing is lawful against the gos- 

* Infamise et inhabilitatis ad omnes actus legitimos, ecclesiasti- 
cs sepulturse, privationis quoque feudorum. Breve Leonls X ad 
Thomam. 



LUTHER'S INDKjrJMATlON. 



369 



pel. We frequently see men who in every other case 
would scruple to commit the least injustice, not fearing 
to trample under foot all rule and law, whenever Chris- 
tianity, or the testimony that is paid to it, is concerned. 

When Luther became acquainted with this brief, he 
thus expressed his indignation : " This is the most re- 
markable part of the affair : the brief was issued on the 
23d of August, I was summoned on the 7th, so that be- 
tween the brief and the summons sixteen days elapsed. 
Now make the calculation, and you will find that my 
Lord Jerome, bishop of Ascoli, proceeded against me, 
pronounced judgment, condemned me, and deciared me 
a heretic, before the summons reached me, or at the most 
within sixteen days after it had been forwarded to me. 
Now where are the sixty days accorded me in the sum- 
mons ? They began on the tth of August, they should 
end on the 7th of October. Is this the style and fashion 
of the Roman court, which on the same day summons, 
exhorts, accuses, judges, condemns, and declares a man 
guilty who is so far from Rome, and who knows nothing 
of all these things ? What reply can they make to this ? 
No doubt they forgot to clear their brains with hellebore 
before having recourse to such trickery."* 

But while Rome secretly deposited her thunders in 
the hands of her legate, she sought by sweet and flat- 
tering words to detach from Luther^s cause the princ») 
whose power she dreaded most. On the same day, Au- 
gust 23, 1518, the pope wrote to the elector of Saxony. 
He had recourse to the wiles of that ancient policy 
which we have already noticed, and endeavored to flat- 
ter the prince's vanity. 

"Dear son," wi'ote the pontiff, "when we think of 
your noble and worthy family ; of you who are its orna- 
ment and head ; when we call to mind how you and 
your ancestors have always desired to uphold the Chris- 
tian faith, and the honor and dignity of the holy see, we 
cannot believe that a man who abandons the faith can 
rely upon your highness' favor, and daringly give the 
rein to his wickedness. Yet it is reported to us from 
• Luth. 0pp. L. 17. 176. 
24 



370 HISTOEY OF THE REFORMATIOIf . 



every quarter that a certain friar, Martin Luther, hermit 
of the order of St. Augustine, has forgotten, like a child 
of the evil one and despiser of God, his habit and his 
order, which consist in humility and obedience, and that 
he boasts of fearing neither the authority nor the pun- 
ishment of any man, being assured of your favor ^ad 
protection. 

"But as we know that he is deceived, we have thought 
fit to write to your highness, and to exhort you in tho 
Lcrd to watch over the honor of your name, as a Chris- 
tian prince, the ornament, glory, and sweet savor of 
your noble family ; to defend yourself from these calum- 
nies ; and to guard yourself not only from so serious a 
crime as that imputed to you, but still further, even from 
the suspicion that the rash presumption of this friai 
tends to bring upon you." 

Leo X. at the same time informed the elector that he 
had commissioned the cardinal of St. Sixtus to investi- 
gate the matter, and requested him to deliver Luther 
into the legate's hands, for fear," added he, still return- 
ing to his first argument, the pious people of our own 
or of future times should one day lament and say. The 
most pernicious heresy with which the church of God 
has been afflicted sprung up under the favor and sup- 
port of that high and worthy family."* 

Thus had Rome taken her measures. With one hand 
she scattered the intoxicating incense of flattery ; in ibo 
other, she held concealed her terrors and revenge. 

All the powers of the earth, emperor, pope, princes, 
and legates, began to rise up against this humble friar 
of Erfurth, whose internal struggles we have already 
witnessed. " The kings of the earth set thei iselve», ulsO 
the rulers take counsel together against the Lcrc, tour- 
against his Anointed." 

• Luth. 0pp. L. 17. 17a. 



IHB AEMOEEE SCHWAETZSAD. 871 



CHAPTER III. 

'She armorer Schwartzerd — His wife — ^Philip — His genius and stud- 
ies — The Bible — Call to Wittemberg — Melancthon's departmv 
and journey — Leipsic — Mistake — Luther^s joy — Parallel — Revo- 
lution in education — Study of Greek. 

Before this letter and the brief had reached Germany, 
and while Luther was still afraid of being compelled to 
appear at Rome, a fortunate event brought consolation 
to his heart. He needed a friend into whose bosom he 
could pour out his sorrows, and whose faithful affection 
would comfort him in his hours of dejection. God gave 
him such a friend in Melancthon. 

George Schwartzerd was a skilful master-armorer of 
Bretten, a small town in the palatinate. On the 14th of 
February, 1497, his wife bore him a son, who was named 
Philip, and who became famous in after-years under the 
name of Melancthon. George, who was highly esteem- 
ed by the palatine princes, and by those of Bavaria and 
Saxony, was a man of perfect integrity. Frequently 
he would refuse from purchasers the price they offered 
him ; and if he found they were poor, would compel 
them to take back their money. It was his habit to 
leave his bed at midnight, and offer a fervent prayer 
upon his knees. If the morning came without his hav- 
ing performed this pious duty, he was dissatisfied with 
himself all the rest of the day. His wife Barbara was 
the daughter of a respectable magistrate named John 
Reuter. She possessed a tender disposition, rathex* in- 
clined to superstition, but in other respects discreet and 
prudent. To her we are indebted for these well-known 
German rhymes : 

Almsgiving impoverisheth not. 
Church-going hindereth not. 
To grease the car delayeth not. 
Ill-gotten wealth profiteth not 
Crod's bopk deceiveth not 



372 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOH 



And the following rhymes also : 

Those who love to squander 
More than their fields render, 
Will surely come to ruin, 
Or a rope be their undoing.* 

Philip was not eleven years old when his father diea 
Two days before he expired, George called his son to hia 
bedside, and exhorted him to have the fear of God con- 
stantly before his eyes. "I foresee," said the dying 
armorer, " that terrible tempests are about to shake the 
world. I have witnessed great things, but greater still 
are preparing. May God direct and guide thee." After 
Philip had received his father's blessing, he was sent to 
Spire, that he might not be present at his parent's death. 
He departed weeping bitterly. 

The lad's grandfather, the worthy bailiff Renter, who 
himself had a son, performed a father's duty to Philip, 
and took him and his brother George into his own house. 
Shortly after this he engaged John Hungarus to teach 
the three boys. The tutor was an excellent man, and 
in after-years proclaimed the gospel with great energy, 
even to an advanced age. He overlooked nothing in 
the young man. He punished him for every fault, but 
with discretion : " It is thus," said Melancthon in 1554, 
" that he made a scholar of me. He loved me as a son, 
I loved him as a father ; and we shall meet, I hope, in 
heaven."f 

Philip was remarkable for the excellence of his un- 
derstanding, and his facility in learning and explaining 
what he had learned. He could not remain idle, and was 
always looking for some one to discuss with him the 
things he had heard.| It frequently happened that well- 
educated foreigners passed through Bretten and visited 
Renter. Immediately the bailiff's grandson would go up 
to them, enter into conversation, and press them so hard 

♦ Almosen geben armt nicht, etc. Wer mehr will verzehren, 
etc. Miiiler's Reliquien. f Dilexit me ut filium, et ego eum ut 
patrem ; et conveniemus, spero, in vita aeterna. Melancth. Expli- 
cat. Evang. { Quiescere non poterat, sed quaerebat ubique ali 
^uem cum q^ao de auditis disputaret. Gamer. Yit. KeL p. 7* 



ICELANCTHOH. 



37^ 



in the discussion that the hearers were filled with admi- 
ration. With strength of genius he united great gentle^ 
ness, and thus won the favor of all. He stammered ; but 
like the illustrious Grecian orator, he so diligently set 
about correcting this defect, that in after-life no traces 
of it could be perceived. 

On the death of his grandfather, the youthful Philip, 
with his brother and his young uncle John, was sent to 
the school at Pforzheim. These lads resided with one of 
their relations, sister to the famous Reuchlin. Eager in 
the pursuit of knowledge, Philip, under the tuition of 
George Simmler, made rapid progress in learning, and 
particularly in Greek, of which he was passionately fond 
Reuchlin frequently came to Pforzheim. At his sister's 
house he became acquainted with her young boarders, 
and was soon struck with Philip^s replies. He present- 
ed him with a Greek grammar and a Bible. These two 
books were to be the study of his whole life. 

When Reuchlin returned from his second journey to 
Italy, his young relative, then twelve years old, cele- 
brated the day of his arrival by representing before him, 
with the aid of some friends, a Latin comedy which he 
had himself composed. Reuchlin, charmed with the 
young man's talents, tenderly embraced him, called him 
his dear son, and placed sportively upon his head the 
red hat he had received when he had been made doctor. 
It was at this time that Reuchlin changed the name of 
Schwartzerd into that of Melancthon ; both words, the 
one in German and the other in Greek, signifying black 
earth. Most of the learned men of that age thus trans- 
lated their names into Greek or Latin. 

Melancthon, at twelve years of age, went to the uni' 
versity of Heidelberg, and here he began to slake his 
ardent thirst for knowledge. He took his bachelor's de* 
gree at fourteen. In 1512, Reuchlin invited him to Tu- 
bingen, where many learned men were assembled. He 
attended by turns the lectures of the theologians, doc- 
tors, and lawyers. There was no branch of knowledge 
that he deemed unworthy his study. Praise was not hia 
object, but the possession and the fruits of learning. 



374 HISTORY OP THE EEPORMATION. 



The holy Scriptures especially engaged his attention 
Those who frequented the church of Tubingen had re- 
marked that he frequently held a book in his hands, 
which he was occupied in reading between the services. 
This unknown volume appeared larger than the prayer 
books, and a report was circulated that Philip used to 
read profane authors during those intervals. But the 
guspected book proved to be a copy of the holy Scrip- 
tures, printed shortly before at Basle by John Frobenius. 
All his life he continued this study with the most unceas- 
ing application. He always carried this precious volume 
with him, even to the public assemblies to which he was 
invited.* Rejecting the empty systems of the school- 
men, he adhered to the plain word of the gospel. I 
entertain the most distinguished and splendid expecta- 
tions of Melancthon,'' wrote Erasmus to (Ecolampadius 
about this time ; God grant that this young man may 
long survive us. He will entirely eclipse Erasmus."f 
Nevertheless, Melancthon shared in the errors of his age. 
" I shudder," he observed at an advanced period of his 
life, " when I think of the honor I paid to images, while I 
was yet a Papist."^ 

In 1614 he was made doctor of philosophy, and then 
began to teach. He was seventeen years old. The grace 
and charm that he imparted to his lessons, formed the 
most striking contrast to the tasteless method which the 
doctors, and above all, the monks, had pursued till then. 
He took an active part in the struggle in which Reuchlin 
was engaged with the learning-haters of the day. Agree- 
able in conversation, mild and elegant in his manners, 
beloved by all who knew him, he soon acquired great 
authority and solid reputation in the learned world. 

It was at this time that the elector formed the design 
of inviting some distinguished scholar to the university 
of Wittemberg, as professor of the ancient languages. 
,He applied to Reuchlin, who recommended Melancthon 
^Frederick foresaw the celebrity that this young man 

* Camer. Vita Phil. Mel. p. 16. f Is prorsuB obscurabit Era^- 
mum. Er. Epp. 1. 405. i Cohorresco quando cogito quomodo 
Ipse accesserlm ad statuas in papato. Explio. Erangel. 



MELANCTHON AT LEIPSIC 



375 



would confer on an institution so dear to him, and Reuch- 
lin, charmed at beholding so noble a career opening be- 
fore his young friend, wrote to him these words of the 
Almighty to Abraham : " * Get thee out of thy country, 
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, and 
I will make thy name great, and thou shalt be a bless* 
ing.' Yea," continued the old man, I hope that it will 
be so with thee, my dear Philip, my handiwork and my 
consolation."* In this invitation Melancthon acknow- 
ledged a call from God. At his departure the university 
was filled with sorrow ; yet it contained individuals who 
were jealous and envious of him. He left his native 
place, exclaiming, " The Lord's will be done 1" He was 
then twenty-one years of age. 

Melancthon travelled on horseback, in company with 
several Saxon merchants, as a traveller joins a caravan 
in the deserts ; for, says Reuchlin, he was unacquainted 
both with the roads and the country.f He presented his 
respects to the elector, whom he found at Augsburg. 
At Nuremberg he saw the excellent Pirckheimer, whom 
he had known before ; at Leipsic he formed an acquaint- 
ance with the learned hellenist Mosellanus. The univer- 
sity of this last city gave a banquet in his honor. The 
repast was academical. The dishes succeeded one an- 
other in great variety, and at each new dish one of the 
professors rose and addressed Melancthon in a Latin 
speech he had prepared beforehand. The latter imme- 
diately replied extemporaneously. At last, wearied with 
so much eloquence, he said, *'Most illustrious men, per- 
mit me to reply to your harangues once for all ; for 
being unprepared, I cannot put such varieties into my 
answers as you have done in your addresses." After 
this the dishes were brought in without the accompani- 
ment of a speech. J 

Reuchlin's youthful relative arrived in 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. 

• Meum opus et meum solatium. Corp. Ref. 1. 33 f Des 

Wegg und der Orte anbekaaiit. lb. 30. t Camer. Vita Mel 26, 



376 HISTORT OF THE REFORMATION. 

The Wittemberg professors did not receive Melano 
thon so favorably as those of Leipsic had done The 
first impression he made on them did not correspond 
with their expectations. They saw a young man, who 
appeared younger than he really was, of small stature, 
and with a feeble and timid air. Was this the illustri- 
ous doctor whom Erasmus and Reuchlin, the greatest 
men of the day, extolled so highly? Neither Luther, 
with whom he first became acquainted, nor his col- 
leagues, entertained any great hopes of him when they 
saw his youth, his shyness, and his diffident manners. 

On the 29th of August, four days after his arrival, he 
delivered his inaugural discourse. All the university 
was assembled. This lad, as Luther calls him,* spoke 
in such elegant Latinity, and showed so much learning, 
an understanding so cultivated, and a judgment so sound, 
that all his hearers were struck with admiration. 

When the speech was finished, all crowded round him 
with congratulations ; but no one felt more joy than Lu- 
ther. He hastened to impart to his friends the senti- 
ments that filled his heart. " Melancthon," wrote he to 
Spalatin on the 31st of August, "delivered, four days 
after his arrival, so learned and so beautiful a discourse, 
that every one listened with astonishment and admira- 
tion. We soon recovered from the prejudices excited 
by his stature and appearance ; we now praise and ad- 
mire his eloquence ; we return our thanks to you and to 
the prince for the service you have done us. I ask for 
no other Greek master. But I fear that his delicate 
frame will be unable to support our mode of living, and 
that we shall be unable to keep him long on account of 
the smallness of his salary. I hear that the Leipsic peo- 
ple are already boasting of their power to take him from 
us. 0 my dear Spalatin, beware of despising his age 
and his personal appearance. He is a man worthy of 
every honor."f 

Melancthon began immediately to lecture on Homer 
and the epistle of St. Paul to Titus. He was full of 
* Puer et adolescentulus, si ffitatem considered. L. Epp. 1. 141 
t Ibid. 135. 



LUTHER AND MELANCTHON 



377 



ttrdor. "T will make every effort," wrote he to Spalatin, 
" to conciliate the favor of all those in Wittemberg who 
love learning and virtue."* Four days after his inaugu- 
ration, Luther wrote again to Spalatin, " I most particu- 
larly recommend to you the very learned and very ami- 
able Grecian, Philip. His lecture-room is always full. 
All the theologians in particular go to hear him. He is 
making every class, upper, lower, and middle, begin to 
read Greek."f 

Melancthon was able to respond to Luther^s affection. 
He soon found in him a kindness of disposition, a strength 
of mind, a courage, a discretion, that he had never found 
till then in any man. He venerated^ he loved him. "If 
there is any one," said he, " whom I dearly love, and whom 
I embrace with my whole heart, it is Martin Luther."J 

Thus did Luther and Melancthon meet ; they were 
friends until death. We cannot too much admire the 
goodness and wisdom of God, in bringing together two 
men so different, and yet so necessary to one another. 
Luther possessed warmth, vigor, and strength ; Melanc- 
thon, clearness, discretion, and mildness. Luther gave 
energy to Melancthon, Melancthon moderated Luther. 
They were like substances in a state of positive and 
negative electricity, which mutually act upon each other. 
If Luther had been without Melancthon, perhaps the tor- 
rent would have overflowed its banks ; Melancthon, when 
Luther was taken from him by death, hesitated and gave 
way, even where he should not have yielded. § Luther 
did much by power ; Melancthon perhaps did no less by 
following a gentler and more tranquil method. Both 
were upright, open-hearted, generous ; both ardently 
loved the word of eternal life, and obeyed it with a fidel- 
ity and devotion that governed their whole lives. 

• Ut Wittembergam literatis ac bonis omnibus conciliem. Corp. 
Ref. 1. 51. t Summos cum mediis et infimis, studiosos facit Gr»» 
citatis L. Epp. 1. 140. J Martinum, si omnlno in rebus humanis 
quidquam, vehementissime diligo, et animo integerrimo complector. 
Mel. Epp. 1. 411. § Calvin writes to Sleidan, Dominus eum for- 
tiore spiritu instruat, ne gravem ex ejus timiditate jacturam sentiat 
poeteritas. May the Lord give him a more determined spirit, le#t 
through his timidity our posterity suffer a serious injury. 



378 HISTORY OF THE UEFORKATION 



Melancthon's arrival at Wittemberg effected a revo- 
lution not only in that university, but in the whole ol 
Germany and in all the learned world. The attention 
he had bestowed on the Greek and Latin classics and on 
philosophy had given a regularity, clearness, and precis- 
ion to his ideas, which shed a new light and an inde- 
Bcri])able beauty on every subject that he took in hand. 
The mild spirit of the gospel fertilized and animated his 
meditations, and in his lectures the driest pursuits were 
clothed with a surpassing grace that captivated all hear- 
ers. The barrenness that scholasticism had cast over 
eduiiation was at an end. A new manner of teaching 
and of studying began with Melancthon. "Thanks to 
him," says an illu^sirious German historian,* "Wittem- 
berg became the school of the nation." 

It was indeed highly important that a man who knew 
Greek thoroughly should teach in that university, where 
the new developments of theology called upon masters 
and pupils to study in their original language the earliest 
documents of the Christian faith. From this time Luther 
zealously applied to the task. He had already found that 
the right understanding of a Greek word, which he had 
previously misunderstood, might suddenly clear up his 
theological ideas. What consolation and what joy had 
he not felt, for instance, when he saw that the Greek 
word fierdvoia, which, according to the Latin church, sig- 
nifies a penance^ a satisfaction required by the church, a 
human expiation, really meant in Greek a transformation 
or conversion of the heart. A thick mist was suddenly 
rolled away from before his eyes. The two significa- 
tions given to this word suffice of themselves to charac- 
terize the two churches. 

The impulse Melancthon gave to Luther in the trans 
lation of the Bible is one of the most remarkable circum- 
stances of the friendship between these two great men. 
As early as 1517, Luther had made some attempts at 
translation. He had procured as many Greek and Latin 
books as were within his reach. And now, with the aid 
rf his dear Philip, he applied to his task with fresh enr 
* Planck. 



STUDY OF GREEK. 



379 



ergy. Luther compelled Melancthon to share in his re- 
searches ; consulted him on the difficult passages : and 
the work, which was destined to be one of the great 
labors of the reformer, advanced more safely and more 
speedily. 

Melancthon, on his side, became acquainted with the 
new theology. The beautiful and profound doctrine of 
justification by faith filled him with astonishment and 
joy ; but he received with independence the system 
taught by Luther, and moulded it to the peculiar form 
of his mind ; for, although he was only twenty-one years 
old, he was one of those precocious geniuses who attain 
early to a full possession of all their powers, and who 
think for themselves from the very first. 

The zeal of the teachers was soon communicated to 
the disciples. It was decided to reform the method of 
instruction. With the elector's consent, certain courses 
that possessed a merely scholastic importance were sup- 
pressed ; at the same time the study of the classics re- 
ceived a fresh impulse. The school of Wittemberg was 
transformed, and the contrast with other universities be- 
came daily more striking. All this, however, took place 
within the limits of the church, and none suspected they 
were on the eve of a great contest with the pope. 



J80 HISTOEY OF THE REFOEJIATIOIT. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Sentiments of Luther and Staupitz — Summons to appear — Alarm 
and courage — The elector with the legate — Departure for Augs- 
burg — Sojourn at Weimar — Nuremberg — ^Arrival at Augsburg. 

No doubt Melancthon's arrival at a moment so criti- 
cal brought a pleasing change to the current of Luther's 
thoughts ; no doubt, in the sweet outpourings of a dawn- 
ing friendship, and in the midst of the biblical labors to 
which he devoted himself with fresh zeal, he sometimea 
forgot Rome, Prierio, Leo, and the ecclesiastical court 
before which he was to appear. Yet these were but 
fugitive moments, and his thoughts always returned to 
that formidable tribunal before which his implacable en- 
emies had summoned him. With what terror would not 
such thoughts have filled a soul whose object had been 
any thing else than the truth I But Luther did not trem- 
ble ; confident in the faithfulness and power of God, he 
remained firm, and was ready to expose himself alone to 
the anger of enemies more terrible than those who had 
kindled John Huss' pile. 

A few days after Melancthon's arrival, and before the 
resolution of the pope transferring Luther's citation from 
Rome to Augsburg could be known, the latter wrote 
thus to Spalatin : "I do not require that our sovereign 
should do the least thing in defence of my theses ; I am 
willing to be given up and thrown into the hands of my 
adversaries. Let him permit all the storm to burst upon 
me. What I have undertaken to defend, I hope to be 
able to maintain, with the help of Christ. As for vio- 
lence, we must needs yield to that, but without aban- 
doning the truth."* 

Luther's courage was infectious : the mildest and 
most timid men, as they beheld the danger that threat- 
ened this witness to the truth, found language full of 
energy and indignation. The prudent, the pacific Stau- 
• L. Epp, 1. 139. 



8EKTIMENTS OF STAUPITZ. 



38] 



pitz wrote to Spalatin on the ^th of September : " Do not 
cease to exhort the prince, your master and mine, not 
to allow himself to be frightened by the roaring of the 
lions. Let him defend the truth, without anxiety either 
about Luther, Staupitz, or the order. Let there be one 
place at least where men may speak freely and without 
fear. I know that the plague of Babylon, I was nearly 
saying of Rome, is let loose against whoever attacks the 
abuses of those who sell Jesus Christ. I have myself 
seen a preacher thrown from the pulpit for teaching the 
truth ; I saw him, although it was a festival, bound and 
dragged to prison. Others iiave witnessed still more cruel 
sights. For this reason, dearest Spalatin, prevail upon 
his highness to continue in his present sentiments."* 

At last the order to appear before the cardinal-legate 
at Augsburg arrived. It was now with one of the princes 
of the Roman church that Luther had to deal. All his 
friends entreated him not to set out.f They feared that 
even during the journey snares might be laid for his life. 
Some busied themselves in finding an asylum for him. 
Staupitz himself, the timid Staupitz, was moved at the 
thought of the dangers to which brother Martin would 
be exposed, that brother whom he had dragged from the 
seclusion of the cloister, and whom he had launched on 
that agitated sea in which his life was now endangered. 
Alas, would it not have been better for the poor brother 
to have remained for ever unknown? It was too late. 
At least, he would do every thing in his power to save 
him. Accordingly, he wrote from his convent at Salz- 
burg, on the 15th of September, soliciting Luther to flee, 
and seek an asylum with him. It appears to me," said 
he, "that the whole world is enraged and combined 
against the truth. The crucified Jesus was hated in like 
manner. I do not see that you have any thing else to 
expect but persecution. Ere long no one will be able 
without the pope's permission to search the Scriptures, 
and therein look for Jesus Christ, which Jesus Christ 
however commands. You have but few friends : I would 

* Jen. Aug. 1, 384 t Contra omnium amicorum oonBlliaiii 
oompttroi. 



382 HISTORY OP THE REFOEMATIOH. 



to God that fear of your adversaries did not prevent those 
few from declaring themselves in your favor. The wisest 
course is for you to abandon Wittemberg for a season, 
and come to me. Then we shall live and die together. 
This is also the prince's opinion," adds Staupitz.* 

From different quarters Luther received the most 
alarming intelligence. Count Albert of Mansfeldt bade 
him . beware of undertaking the journey, for several pow- 
erful lords had sworn to seize his person, and strangle 
or drown him.f But nothing could frighten him. He 
had no intention of profiting by the vicar-generaPs offer. 
He will not go and conceal himself in the obscurity oi 
a convent at Salzburg ; he will remain faithfully on that 
stormy scene where the hand of God has placed him. It 
is by his persevering in despite of his adversaries, and 
proclaiming the truth aloud in the midst of the world, 
that the reign of this truth advances. Why then should 
he flee ? He is not one of those who draw back to per- 
ish, but of those who keep the faith to the saving of their 
souls. This expression of the Master whom he desires 
to serve, and whom he loves more than life, reechoes 
incessantly in his heart : " Whosoever shall confess me 
before men, him will I also confess before my Father 
who is in heaven." At all times do we find in Luther 
and in the Reformation this intrepid courage, this exalt- 
ed morality, this infinite charity, which the first advent 
of Christianity had already made known to the world. 
" I am like Jeremiah," says Luther at the time of which 
we are speaking, " a man of strife and contention ; but 
the more their threats increase, the more my joy is mul- 
tiplied. My wife and my children are well provided for ; 
my fields, my houses, and my goods are in order. J They 
have already destroyed my honor and my reputation. 
One single thing remains ; it is my wretched body : let 
them take it ; they will thus shorten my life by a few 
hours. But as for my soul, they cannot take that. He 
who desires to proclaim the word of Christ to the world, 

• Epp. 1. 61. t tJt vel strangular, vel baptizer ad mortem. 
L. Epp. 1. 129. X Uxor mea et liberi mei pruvisi sont. Ibid. 
buid neither wife nor children at this %me, 



LUTHEE»S COURAaE. 



383 



must expect death at every moment ; for our husband is 
a bloody husbiind to us."* 

The elector was then at Augsburg. Shortly before 
quitting the diet in that city, he had paid the legate a 
visit. The cardinal, highly flattered with this conde- 
scension from so illustrious a prince, promised Frede- 
rick, that if the monk appeared before him, he would 
listen to him in a paternal manner and dismiss him 
kindly. Spalatin, by the princess order, wrote to his 
friend, that the pope had appointed a commission to heai 
him in Germany ; that the elector would not permit him 
to be dragged to Rome ; and that he must prepare for 
his journey to Augsburg. Luther resolved to obey. The 
notice he had received from the count of Mansfeldt in- 
duced him to ask a safe-conduct from Frederick. The 
latter replied that it was unnecessary, and sent him only 
letters of recommendation to some of the most distin- 
guished councillors of Augsburg. He also provided him 
with money for the journey ; and the poor defenceless 
reformer set out on foot to place himself in the hands of 
his enemies.f 

What must have been his feelings as he quitted Wit- 
temberg and took the road to Augsburg, where the pope's 
legate awaited him. The object of this journey was not 
like that to Heidelberg, a friendly meeting : he was about 
to appear before the Roman delegate without a safe-con- 
duct ; perhaps he was going to death. But his faith was 
not one of mere outward show ; with him it was a reality. 
Hence it gave him peace, and he could advance without 
fear, in the name of the Lord of hosts, to bear his testi- 
mony to the gospel. 

He arrived at Weimar on the 28th of September, and 
lodged in the Cordeliers' monastery. One of the monks 
could not take his eyes off him ; it was Myconius. He 
then saw Luther for the first time ; he wished to ap- 
proach him, to say that he was indebted to liim for peace 
of mind, and that his whole desire was to labor with him. 

* Sio eoim sponsus noster, spousus sanguiQum nobis est. L. 
Epp. 1. 129. See Exod. 4 : 25. f Veal igitur pedester et pfH>* 
per Aa^astam. L. 0pp. Lat. m Fresf, 



384 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



But Myconius was too strictly watched by his superiors 
he was not allowed to speak to Luther.* 

The elector of Saxony was then holding his court ai 
Weimar, and it is on this account probably that the Cov- 
deliers gave the doctor a welcome. The day following 
his arrival was the festival of St. Michael. Luther said 
maBS, and was invited to preach in the palace chapel. 
This was a mark of favor his prince loved to confer on 
iim. He preached extempore, in the presence of the 
court, selecting his text, Matt. 18 : 1-11, from the gospel 
of the day. He spoke forcibly against hypocrites, and 
those who boast of their own righteousness. But he 
said not a word about angels, although such was the 
custom on St. Michael's day. 

The courage of the Wittemberg doctor, who was 
going quietly and on foot to answer a summons which 
had terminated in death to so many of his predecessors, 
astonished all who saw him. Interest, admiration, and 
sympathy prevailed by turns in their hearts. John Kest- 
ner, purveyor to the Cordeliers, struck with apprehen- 
sion at the thought of the dangers which awaited his 
guest, said to him, " Brother, in Augsburg you will meet 
with Italians, who are learned men and subtle antago- 
nists, and who 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 their flames will consume 
you.^'f Luther solemnly replied, " Dear friend, pray to 
our Lord God who is in heaven, and put up a paternoster 
for me and for his dear Son Jesus, whose cause is mine, 
that he may be favorable to him. K He maintain his 
cause, mine is maintained ; but if he will not maintain 
it, of a truth it is not I who can maintain it, and it is he 
who will bear the dishonor." 

Luther continued his journey on foot, and arrived at 
Nuremberg. As he was about to present himself before 
a prince of the church, he wished to appear in a becom- 

• Ibi Myconius primum videt Lutherum : sed ab accessu et coUo 
quio ejus tunc est prohibitus. M. Adami Vita Myconii, p. 176. 

t Profecto in ignem te conjicient et flammis exurent M Adam 
Vli Myc p. 176. Myconis Ref. Hist p. SO 



ARRIVAL AT AUaSBUR^>. 3B5 



hig dress. His own was old, and all the worse for the 
journey. He therefore borrowed a frock from his faith- 
ful friend Wenceslas Link, preaclier at Nuremberg. 

Luther doubtless did not confine his visits to Link ; 
he saw in like manner his other Nuremberg friends, 
Scheurl the town-clerk, the illustrious painter Albert 
Durer — to whose memory that city has recently erected 
^ statue — and others besides. He derived strength from 
the conversation of these excellent ones of the earth, 
while many monks and laymen felt alarm at his journey, 
and endeavored to shake his resolution, beseeching him 
to retrace his steps. The letters he wrote from this city 
show the spirit which then animated him : have met," 
said he, "with pusillanimous men who wish to persuade 
me not to go to Augsburg ; but I am resolved to proceed. 
The Lord's will be done. Even at Augsburg, even in the 
midst of his enemies, Christ reigns. Let Christ live ; let 
Luther die,* and every sinner, according as it is written. 
May the God of my salvation be exalted. Farewell ; per- 
severe, stand fast ; for it is necessary to be rejected either 
b-y God or by man : but God is true, and man is a liar." 

Link and an Augustine monk named Leonard could 
not make up their minds to permit Luther to go alone to 
face the dangers that threatened him. They knew his 
disposition, and were aware that, abounding as he did 
in determination and courage, he would probably be 
wanting in prudence. They therefore accompanied him. 
When they were about five leagues from Augsburg, Lu- 
ther, whom the fatigues of the journey and the various 
agitations of his mind had probably exhausted, was seiz- 
ed with violent pains in the stomach. He thought he 
should die. His two friends in great alarm hired a wagon, 
in which they placed the doctor. On the evening of the 
7th of October they reached Augsburg, and alighted at 
the Augustine convent. Luther was very tired ; but ho 
soon recovered. No doubt his faith and the vivacity of 
his mind speedily recruited his weakened body. 

• Vivat Christus, moriatur Martinus. Weismanai, Hist. Sacr, 
Nov. Test. p. 1465. Weismann had read this letter in manuscript, 
It is not to be found in the co] lection of Do Wette. 



386 



HISTOEY OF THE REFORIIATION 



CHAPTER V 

De Vio — His character — Serra Longa — Preliminary convereatloa- - 

Visit of the councillors — Return of Serra Longa — The prior- - 
Luther's discretion— Luther and Serra Longa — The safe-con 
duct — Luther to Melancthon. 

Immediately on his arrival, and before seeing any one, 
Luther, desirous of showing the legate all due respect, 
begged Link to go and announce his presence. Link did 
so, and respectfully informed the cardinal, on the part 
of the Wittemberg doctor, that the latter was ready to 
appear before him whenever he should give the order. 
The legate was delighted at this news. At last he had 
this impetuous heretic within his reach, and promised 
himself that the reformer should not quit the walls of 
Augsburg as he had entered them. At the same time 
that Link waited upon the legate, the monk Leonard 
went to inform Staupitz of Lutb^r^s arrival. The vicar- 
general had written to the doctor that he would cer- 
tainly come and see him as soon as he knew that he had 
reached Augsburg. Luther was unwilling to lose a 
minute in informing him of his presence.* 

The diet was over. The emperor and the electors 
had already separated. The emperor, it is true, had not 
yet quitted the place, but was hunting in the neighbor- 
hood. The ambassador of Rome remained alone in Augs- 
burg. If Luther had gone thither during the diet, he 
would have met with powerful supporters ; but evei-y 
thing now seemed destined to bend beneath the weight 
of the papal authority. 

The name of the judge before whom Luther was to 
appear was not calculated to encourage him. Thomaa 
de Vio, surnamed Cajetan, from the town of Gaeta, in the 
kingdom of Naples, where he was born in 1469, had 
given great promise from his youth. At sixteen, he had 
entered the Dominican order, contrary to the express 
will of hia parents. He had afterwards become general 
* L. Epp. 1. 144. 



DE no. 



387 



of his order, and cardinal of the Roman church. But 
what was worse for Luther, this learned doctor was one 
of the most zealous defenders of that scholastic theology 
which the reformer had always treated so unmercifully. 
His mother, we are informed, had dreamed during her 
pregnancy that St. Thomas in person would instruct tlie 
ohild to which she was about to give birth, and would 
introduce him into heaven. Accordingly De Vio, when 
he became a Dominican, had changed his name from 
James to Thomas. He had zealously defended the pre- 
rogatives of the Papacy, and the doctrines of Thomas 
Aquinas, whom he looked upon as the pearl of theolo- 
gians.* Fond of pageantry and show, he construed 
almost seriously the Roman maxim, that legates are 
above kings, and surrounded himself with a brilliant 
train. On the 1st of August, he had performed a solemn 
mass in the cathedral of Augsburg, and, in presence of 
all the princes of the empire, had placed the cardinaPs 
hat on the head of the archbishop of Mentz, who knelt 
before him, and had delivered to the emperor himself the 
hat and sword which the pope had consecrated. Such 
was the man before whom the Wittemberg monk was 
about to appear, dressed in a frock that did not belong 
to him. Further, the legatees learning, the austerity of 
his disposition, and the purity of his morals, insured 
him an influence and authority in Germany that other 
Roman courtiers would not easily have obtained. It 
was no doubt to this reputation for sanctity that he 
owed this mission. Rome perceived that it would ad- 
mirably forward her designs. Thus even the good qual- 
ities of Cajetan rendered him still more formidable. Be- 
sides, the affair intrusted to him was by no means com- 
plicated Luther was already declared a heretic K he 
would not retract, the legate must send him to prison ; 
and if he escaped, whoever should give him an asylum 
was to be excommunicated. This was what the digni- 
tary of the churcn, before whom Luther was summoned, 
had to perform on behalf of Rome.f 

• Divi Thomae Summa cum Commentariis Thomae de Vio. Lug* 
4mu, 1687. f The pope's bull. L. 0pp. L. 17. 174. 



38tt HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOK. 



Luther had recovered his strength during the night. 
On Saturday morning, Oct. 8, being already reinvigo- 
rated after his journey, he began to consider bis strange 
position. He was resigned, and awaited the manifesta- 
tion of God's will by the course of events. He had not 
long to wait. A person unknown to him sent to say- 
as if entirely devoted to him— that he was about to pay 
him a visit, and that Luther should avoid appearing be- 
fore the legate until after this interview. The message 
proceeded from an Italian courtier named Urban of Serra 
Longa, who had often visited Germany as envoy from 
the margrave of Montferrat. He had known the elector 
of Saxony, to whom he had been accredited, and after 
the margrave's death, he had attached himself to the 
Cardinal de Yio. 

The art and address of this individual presented the 
most striking contrast with the noble frankness and gen- 
erous integrity of Luther. The Italian soon arrived at 
the Augustine monastery. The cardinal had sent him to 
sound the reformer, and prepare him for the recantation 
expected from him. Serra Longa imagined that his so- 
journ in Germany had given him a great advantage over 
the other courtiers in the legate's train ; he hoped to 
make short work with this German monk. He arrived 
attended by two domestics, and professed to have come 
of his own accord, from friendship towards a favorite of 
the elector of Saxony, and from attachment to the holy 
church. After having most cordially saluted Luther, the 
diplomatist added in an affectionate manner : 

" I am come to offer you good advice. Be wise, and 
become reconciled to the church. Submit to the cardinal 
without reserve. Retract your offensive language. Re- 
member the Abbot Joachim of Florence : lie had pub- 
lished, as you know, many heretical things, and yet ht? 
5iras declared no heretic because he retracted his errors.'' 

Upon this Luther spoke of justifying what he had 
done. 

Serra Longa. Beware of that. Would you enter ihe 
lists against the legate of his holiness ? 

Luther. If they convince me of having taught any 



/ 



PRELIMINART CONVERSATION 389 



thing contrary to the Roman church, T shall be my own 
judge, and immediately retract. The essential point will 
be to know whether the legate relies on the authority of 
St. Thomas more than the faith will sanction. If he doea 
83, I will not yield. 

Serra Longa. Oh, oh, you intend to break a lance^ 
thon. 

The Italian then began to use language which Luther 
styles horrible. He argued that one might maintain false 
propositions, provided they brought in money and filled 
the treasury ; that all discussion in the universities 
against the pope's authority must be avoided ; that, on 
the contrary, it should be asserted that the pope could, 
by a single nod, change or suppress articles of faith ;* 
and so he ran on, in a similar strain. But the wily Ital- 
ian soon perceived that he was forgetting himself ; and 
returning to his mild language, he endeavored to per- 
suade Luther to submit to the legate in all things, and 
to retract his doctrine, his oaths, and his theses. 

The doctor, who was at first disposed to credit the 
fair professions of the orator Urban, as he calls him in 
his narrative, was now convinced that they were of little 
worth, and that he was much more on the legate's side 
than on his. He consequently became less communica- 
tive, and was content to say that he was disposed to 
show all humility, to give proofs of his obedience, and 
render satisfaction in those things in which he might 
have erred. At these words Serra Longa exclaimed joy- 
fully, " I shall hasten to the legate ; you will follow me 
presently. Every thing will go well, and all will soon 
be settled."! 

He went away. The Saxon monk, who had more dis- 
cernment than the Roman courtier, thought to himself, 
"This crafty Sinon has been badly taught and trained 
by his Greeks." J Luther was in suspense between hope 
and fear ; yet hope prevailed. The visit and the strange 

* Nutu solo omnia abrogare, etiam ea quae fidei essent. L. Epp, 
1. 144. t L. 0pp. L. 17. 179. t Hunc Sinonem parum con* 
talte instructum arte pelasga. L. Epp. 1. 144. See Virgil's ^ueid, 
book 2. 



39D HISIOHY OF THE REFORMATION. 



professions of Serra Longa, whom he afterwards called a 
bungling mediator,* revived his courage. 

The councillors and other inhabitants of Augsburg, 
to whom the elector had recommended Luther, were all 
eager to see the monk whose name already resounded 
throughout Germany. Peutinger, the imperial council- 
lor, one of the most eminent patricians of the city, who 
frequently invited Luther to his table ; the councillor 
Langemantel ; Doctor Auerbach of Leipsic ; the two 
brothers Adelmann, both canons, and many more, re- 
paired to the Augustine convent. They cordially salut- 
ed this extraordinary man, who had undertaken so long 
a journey to place himself in the hands of the Roman 
agents. " Have you a safe-conduct asked they. " No," 
replied the intrepid monk. What boldness I" they all 
exclaimed. " It was a polite expression," says Luther, 
** to designate my rashness and folly." All unanimously 
entreated him not to visit the legate before obtaining a 
safe-conduct from the emperor himself. It is probable 
the public had already heard something of the pope's 
brief, of which the legate was the bearer. 

"But," replied Luther, "I set out for Augsburg with- 
out a safe-conduct, and have arrived safely." 

" The elector has recommended you to us ; you ought 
therefore to obey us, and do all that we tell you," an- 
swered Langemantel affectionately, but firmly. 

Doctor Auerbach coincided with these views, and 
added, " We know that at the bottom of his heart the 
cardinal is exceedingly irritated against you.f One 
cannot trust these Italians."^ 

The canon Adelmann urged the same thing : " Ton 
have been sent without protection, and they have forgot^ 
ten to provide you with that which you needed most."§ 

His friends undertook to obtain the requisite safe- 
conduct from the emperor. They then told Luther how 
many persons, even in elevated rank, had a leaning in 
his favor. "The minister of France himself, who left 

• Mediator ineptus. L. Epp. 1. 1 44. f Sciunt enim eum Id 
me ezacerbatissimum intus, quicquid simulet foris. U Epp 1 I43i 
X h. 0pp. L. 17. 201. § Ibid. 203. 



SLRUA LOWaA RETURNS. 



391 



Augsburg a few days ago, has spoken of you in the most 
honorable manner."* This remark struck Luther, and 
he remembered it afterwards. Thus several of the most 
respectable citizens in one of the first cities of the em- 
pire were already gained over to the Reformation. 

The conversation had reached this point when Serra 
Longa returned. " Come," said he to Luther, " the car- 
dinal is waiting for you. I will myself conduct you to 
him. But you must first learn how to appear in his 
presence : when you enter the room in which he is, you 
will prostrate yourself with your face to the ground ; 
when he tells you to rise, you will kneel before him ; 
and you will wait bis further orders before you stand 
up f Remember you are about to appear before a prince 
of the church. As for the rest, fear nothing : all will 
speedily be settled without difficulty." 

Luther, who had promised to follow this Italian as 
soon as he was invited, found himself in a dilemma. 
However, he did not hesitate to inform him of the advice 
of his Augsburg friends, and spoke of a safe-conduct. 

" Beware of asking for any thing of the kind," imme- 
diately replied Serra Longa ; " you do not require one. 
The legate is kindly disposed towards you, and ready to 
end this business in a friendly manner. If you ask for 
a safe-conduct, you will ruin every thing."| 

« My gracious lord, the elector of Saxony," replied 
Luther, recommended me to several honorable men in 
this city. They advise me to undertake nothing without 
a safe-conduct : I ought to follow their advice. For if I 
did not, and any thing should happen, they will write to 
the elector, my master, that I would not listen to them." 

Luther persisted in his determination, and Serra 
Longa was compelled to return to his chief, and an- 
nounce the shoal on which his mission had struck, at 
the very moment he flattered himself with success. 

Thus terminated the conferences of that day with the 
orator of Montferrat. 

Another invitation was sent to Luther, but with a 
Tery different view. John Frosch, prior of the Carmelites, 
• Seckend. p. U4. t Ibid. 180. J L. 0pp. L. 179, 



392 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMATION. 



was an old friend. Two years before, as licentiate in 
theology, he had defended some theses, under the presi- 
dence of Luther. He came to see him, and begged him 
earnestly to come and stay with him. He claimed the 
honor of entertaining the doctor of Germany as his guest. 
Already men did not fear to pay him homage even in the 
face of Rome ; already the weak had become the strong- 
er. Luther accepted the invitation, and left the convent 
of the Augustines for that of the Carmelites. 

The day did not close without serious reflections. 
Serra Longa's eagerness and the fears of the councillors 
alike pointed out the difficulties of Luther's position. 
Nevertheless, he had God in heaven for his protector ; 
guarded by him, he could sleep without fear. 

The next day was Sunday,* on which he obtained a 
little more repose. Yet he had to endure fatigues of 
another kind. All the talk in the city was about Doctor 
Luther, and everybody desired to see, as he wrote to 
Melancthon, " this new Erostratus, who had caused so 
vast a conflagration."*}* They crowded round him in his 
walks, and the good doctor smiled, no doubt, at this sin- 
gular excitement. 

But he had to undergo importunities of another kind. 
If the people were desirous of seeing him, they had a 
still greater wish to hear him. He was requested on all 
sides to preach. Luther had no greater joy than to pro- 
claim the gospel. It would have delighted him to preach 
Jesus Christ in this large city, and in the solemn cir- 
cumstances in which he was placed. But he evinced on 
this occasion, as on many others, a just sentiment ol 
propriety, and great respect for his superiors. He re- 
fused to preach, for fear the legate should think he did 
it to annoy and to brave him. This moderation and this 
discretion were assuredly as good as a sermon. 

The cardinaPs people, however, did not permit him 
to remain quiet. They renewed their persuasions. "The 
cardinal," said they, " gives you assurances of his grace 
and favor : what are you afraid of?" They employed a 
* Oct. 9. t Omnes cupiunt videre hominem, taiiti inrendii 
Herostratum. L. £pp. 1. 146. 



LtTTHBR AJUD SERRA LONaA. 



393 



thousand reasons to persuade him to wait upon De Yio 
He is a very merciful father," said one of these envoys. 
But another approached and whispered in his ear, *Do 
not believe what they tell you. He never keeps his 
word."* Luther persisted in his resolution. 

On Monday morning, Oct. 10, Serra Longa again re- 
turned to the charge. The courtier had made it a point 
of honor to succeed in his negotiation. He had scarcely 
arrived when he said in Latin, " Why do you not wait 
upon the cardinal ? He is expecting you most indul- 
gently : the whole matter lies in six letters : Revoca, 
retract. Come, you have nothing to fear." 

Luther thought to himself that these six letters were 
very important ones ; but without entering into any dis- 
cussion on the merits of the things to be retracted, he 
replied, "I will appear as soon as I have a safe-con* 
duct." 

Serra Longa lost his temper on hearing these words. 
He insisted, he made fresh representations ; but Luther 
was immovable. Becoming still more angry, he exclaim- 
ed, You imagine, no doubt, that the elector will take up 
arms in your defence, and for yonr sake run the risk ot 
losing the territories he received from his forefathers I" 

Luther. God forbid. 

Serra Longa. When all forsake you, where will yon 
take refuge ? 

Luther, looking to heaven with cm eye of faith. Under 
heaven.f 

Serra Longa was silent for a moment, struck with the 
sublimity of this unexpected answer. He then resumed 
the conversation : 

" What would you do if you held the legate, pope, 
and cardinals in your hands, as they have you now in 
theirs ?" 

Luther. I would show them all possible honor and 
respect. But with me, the word of God is ibefore every 
thing. 

Serra Longa, smiling^ and snapping his fingers m the 
• L. 0pp. L. 17. 205. t Et ubi manebis? .... Respondi : 
Bnb cobIo. L. 0pp. in Pr«f. 



394 HISTOHY OF THE REFORMATION 



manner of the Italians: Eh, eh ; all honor. I do not 
believe a word of it. 

He then went out, sprung into his saddle, and disap- 
peared. 

Serra Longa did not return to Luther ; but he long 
remembered the resistance he had met with from the 
reformer, and that which his master was soon after to 
experience in person. We shall find him at a later 
period loudly calling for Luther's blood. 

Serra Longa had not long quitted the doctor when 
the safe-conduct arrived. Luther's friends bad obtained 
it from the imperial councillors. It is probable that the 
latter had consulted the emperor on the subject, as he 
was not far from Augsburg. It would even appear from 
what the cardinal said afterwards, that from unwilling- 
ness to displease him, his consent also had been asked. 
Perhaps this was the reason why Serra Longa was set 
to work upon Luther ; for open opposition to the secu- 
rity of a safe-conduct would have disclosed intentions that 
it was desirable to keep secret. It was a safer plan to 
induce Luther himself to desist from the demand. But 
they soon found out that the Saxon monk was not a man 
to give way. 

Luther was now to appear. In demanding a safe- 
conduct, he did not lean upon an arm of flesh ; for he 
was fully aware that an imperial safe-conduct had not 
preserved John Huss from the stake. He only wished 
to do his duty by submitting to the advice of his mas- 
ter's friends. The Lord will decide his fate. If God 
should require his life, he is ready joyfully to resign it. 
At this solemn moment he felt the need of communing 
once again with his friends, above all with Melancthon, 
who was so dear to his heart, and he took advantage of 
a few moments of leisure to write to him. 

" Show yourself a man," said he, " as you do at all 
times. Teach our beloved youths what is upright and 
acceptable to God. As far me, I am going to be sacri- 
ficed for you and for them, if such is the Lord's will.* I 
would rather die, and even — which would be my greatest 
* Ego pro illis et vobis vado immolari. L. Epp. 1. 14$, 



LtJTHER TO MELANCTHON. 366 



misfortune — be for ever deprived of your sweet society, 
than retract what I felt it my duty to teach, and thus 
ruin perhaps by my own fault the excellent studies to 
which we are now devoting ourselves. 

" Italy, like Egypt in times of old, is plunged in dark- 
ness so thick that it may be felt. No one in that country 
knows any thing of Christ, or of what belongs to him ; 
and yet they are our lords and our masters in faith and 
in morals. Thus the wrath of God is fulfilled among us, 
as the prophet saith : * 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 anger by pure and 
fervent pray^.'' 

The legate, being informed that Luther would appear 
before him on the morrow, assembled the Italians and 
Germans in whom he had the greatest confidence, in or- 
der to concert with them the method he should pursue 
with the Saxon monk. Their opinions were divided. 
We must compel him to retract, said one ; we must 
seize him and put him in prison, said another ; it would 
be better to put him out of the way, thought a third ; 
they should try to win him over by gentleness and mild- 
ness, was the opinion of a fourth. The cardinal seeme 
to have resolved on beginning with the last method.* 
• L. 0pp. L. 17. 183. 



398 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMATIOir 



CHAPTER VI. 

First appearance — ^First words — Conditions of Rome — Propositions 
to be retracted — Luther's answer — He withdraws — Impression 
on both parties — Arrival of Staupitz. 

The day fixed for the interview arrived at last.* The 
legate, knowing that Luther had declared himself willing 
to retract every thing that could be proved contrary to 
the truth, was full of hope ; he doubted not that it would 
be easy for a man of his rank and learning to reclaim 
this monk to obedience to the church. 

Luther repaired to the legate's residence, accompa- 
nied by the prior of the Carmelites, his host and his 
friend ; by two friars of the same convent ; by Doctoi 
Link and an Augustine, probably the one that had come 
from Nuremberg with him. He had scarcely entered the 
legate's palace, when all the Italians who formed the 
train of this prince of the church crowded round him ; 
every one desired to see the famous doctor, and they 
thronged him so much that he could with difficulty pro- 
ceed. Luther found the apostolic nuncio and Serra 
Longa in the hall where the cardinal was waiting for 
him. His reception was cold, but civil, and conformable 
with Roman etiquette. Luther, in accordance with the 
advice he had received from Serra Longa, prostrated 
himself before the cardinal ; when the latter told him to 
rise, he remained on his knees ; and at a fresh order 
from the legate, he stood up. Many of the most distin- 
guished Italians in the legate's court found their way 
into the hall in order to be present during the interview ; 
they particularly desired to see the German monk hum- 
ble himself before the pope's representative. 

The legate remained silent. He hated Luther as an 
adversary of the theological supremacy of St. Thomas, 
and as the chief of a new, active, and hostile party in a 
rising university, whose first steps had disquieted the 
♦ Tuesday, Oct. 11. 



PEOPOSITlOi^b- TO RETRACT. 



397 



Thomists. He was pleased at seeing Luther fall dowu 
before him, and thought, as a contemporary observes, 
that he was about to recant. The doctor on his part 
humbly waited for the prince to address him i but as he 
did not speak, Luther understood this silence as an invi- 
tation to begin, and he did so in these words : 

" Most worthy father, in obedience to the summoas 
of his papal holiness, and in compliance with the orders 
of my gracious lord the elector of Saxony, I appear be- 
fore you as a submissive and dutiful son of the holy 
Christian church, and acknowledge that I have published 
the propositions and theses ascribed to me. I am ready 
to listen most obediently to my accusation, and if I have 
erred, to submit to instruction in the truth." 

The cardinal, who had determined to assume the ap- 
pearance of a tender and compassionate father towards 
an erring child, then adopted the most friendly tone ; he 
praised and expressed his delight at Luther^s humility, 
and said to him, My dear son, you have disturbed all 
Germany by your dispute on indulgences. I under- 
stand that you are a very learned doctor in the holy 
Scriptures, and that you have many followers. For this 
reason, if you desire to be a member of the church, and 
to find a gracious father in the pope, listen to me." 

After this prelude, the legate did not hesitate to de- 
clare at once what he expected of him, so confident was 
he of Luther's submission. " Here are three articles," 
Said he, which, by the command of our holy father, 
Pope Leo X., I have set before you. First, you must 
bethink yourself, own your faults, and retract your er- 
rors, propositions, and sermons ; secondly, you must 
promise to abstain in future from propagating your 
opinions ; and thirdly, bind yourself to behave with 
greater moderation, and avoid every thing that msny 
grieve or disturb the church." 

Luther. Most holy father, I beg you will show me 
the pope's brief, by virtue of which you have received 
full powers to treat of this matter. 

Serra Longa and the other Italians opened their eyes 
with astonishment at this demand, and although the 6ei> 



398 HISTORY OF THE REFOEMATION. 



maD monk had already appeared to them a very strange 
kind of man, they could not conceal their amazement at 
such a daring request. Christians, accustomed to ideas 
of justice, desire that justice should be observed towards 
others and towards themselves ; but those who act ha- 
bitually in an arbitrary manner, are surprised when they 
are called upon to proceed according to the usual rules, 
formalities, and laws. 

De Vic. This request, my dear son, cannot be grant- 
ed. You must confess your errors, keep a strict watch 
upon your words for the future, and not return like a 
dog to his vomit, so that we may sleep without aaxiety 
or disturbance ; then, in accordance with the order and 
authorization of our most holy father the pope, I will 
arrange the whole business. 

Luther. Condescend, then, to inform me in what 1 
have erred. 

At this new request, the Italian courtiers, who had 
expected to see the poor German fall down on his knees 
and beg pardon, were still more astonished than before. 
None of them would have deigned to reply to so imper- 
tinent a question. But De Vio, who thought it ungener- 
ous to crush this petty monk with the weight of his au- 
thority, and who, besides, trusted to gain an easy victory 
by his learning, consented to tell Luther of what he was 
accused, and even to enter into discussion with him. 
We must do justice to the general of the Dominicans. 
We must acknowledge that he showed more equity, a 
greater sense of propriety, and less passion, than have 
been often shown in similar matters since. He replied 
in a condescending tone : 

" Most dear son, here are two propositions that you 
have advanced, and which you must retract before all : 
1. The treasure of indulgences does not consist of the 
sufferings and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 2. The 
man who receives the holy sacrament must have faith in 
the grace that is presented to him." 

Each of these propositions, in truth, struck a mortal 
blow at the Romish commerce. If the pope had not the 
power of dispensing at his pleasure the merits of the 



DK VIO'S REFUTATION. 



399 



Savnour ; if, in receiving the drafts which the brokers of 
the church negotiated, men did not receive a portion of 
this infinite righteousness, this paper money would lose 
its value, and would be as worthless as a heap oi rags 
It was the same with the sacraments. Indulgences were 
more or less an extraordinary branch of Roman com- 
merce ; the sacraments were a staple commodity. The 
revenue they produced was of no small amount. To 
assert that faith was necessary before they could confer 
a real benefit on the soul of a Christian, took away all 
their charms in the eyes of the people ; for it is not the 
pope who gives faith : it is beyond his province ; it pro- 
ceeds from God alone. To declare its necessity was 
therefore depriving Kome both of the speculation and 
the profit. By attacking these two doctrines, Luthei 
had imitated Jesus Christ, who at the very beginning 
of his ministry had overthrown the tables of the money- 
changers, and driven the dealers out of the temple. 
" Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise," 
he had said. 

In confuting your errors," said Cajetan, I will not 
appeal to the authority of St. Thomas and other doctors 
of the schools ; I will rely entirely on holy Scripture, 
and talk with you in all friendliness." 

But De Vio had scarcely begun to bring forward his 
proofs before he departed from the rule he had declared 
that he would follow.* He combated Luther's first 
proposition by an Extravagance'\ of Pope Clement, and 
the second by all sorts of opinions from the schoolmen. 
The discussion turned first on this papal constitution in 
favor of indulgences. Luther, indignant at hearing 
what authority the legate ascribed to a decree of Rome, 
exclaimed, 

I cannot receive such constitutions as sufficient 
proofs on matters so important. For they pervert the 
holy Scriptures, and never quote them to the purpose." 

De Vio. The pope has power and authority over all 
things. 

* L. 0pp. L. 17. 180. t name applied to certain papal 

constitutions collected and subjoined to the body of the canon law. 



iOO HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOH. 



Luther, quickly. Except Scripture.* 

De Vio, sneering. Except Scripture I Do jou not 
know that the pope is above councils ? he has recently 
condemned and punished the council of Basle. 

Luther. The university of Paris has appealed from 
this sentence. 

De Yio. These Paris gentlemen will receive theii 
deserts. 

The dispute between the cardinal and Luther then 
turned upon the second point, namely, the faith that 
Luther declared necessary for the efficacy of the sacra- 
ments. Luther, according to his custom, quoted various 
passages of Scripture in favor of the opinion he main- 
tained ; but the legate treated them with ridicule. " It 
is of faith in general that you are speaking," said he. 

No," replied Luther. One of the Italians, the legate's 
master of the ceremonies, irritated at Luther's resistance 
and replies, was burning with the desire to speak. He 
continually endeavored to put in a word, but the legate 
imposed silence on him. At last he was compelled to 
reprimand him so sharply, that the master of the cere- 
monies quitted the hall in confusion. f 

" As for indulgences," said Luther to the legate, " if 
it can be shown that I am mistaken, I am very ready to 
receive instruction. We may pass over that, and yet be 
good Christians. But as to the article of faith, if I made 
the slightest concession, I should renounce Jesus Christ. 
I cannot, I will not yield on this point, and with God's 
grace I will never yield." 

De Vio, growing angry. Whether you will, or wheth- 
er you will not, you must retract that article this very 
day, or upon that article alone I shall reject and con- 
demn your whole doctrine. 

Luther. I have no will but the Lord's. Let him do 
with me as seemeth good to him. But if I had four hun- 
dred heads, I would rather lose them all than retract 
the testimony which I have borne to the holy Christian 
faith. 

Db Vio. I did not come here to dispute with you 
* Salva Scripture. f L. 0pp. L. 17. 180. 



LUTHER RETIRES. 



401 



Retract, or prepare to suffer the penalty yon have de- 
served.* 

Luther saw clearly that it was impossible to put an 
end to the subject by a conference. His opponent sat 
before him as if he were himself pope, and pretended 
that he would receive humbly and submissively all that 
was said to him ; and yet he listened to Luther's reph'os, 
even when they were founded on holy Scripture, with 
shrugging of shoulders, and every mark of irony and 
contempt. He thought the wiser plan would be to an- 
swer the cardinal in writing. This means, thought he, 
gives at least one consolation to the oppressed. Others 
will be able to jud^e of the matter, and the unjust adver- 
sary, who by his clamors remains master of the field of 
battle, may be frightened at the consequences.f 

liuther having shown a disposition to retire, the le- 
gate said, " Do you wish me to give you a safe-conduct 
to go to Rome ?" 

Nothing would have pleased Cajetan better than the 
acceptance of this offer. He would thus have been freed 
from a task of which he now began to perceive the diflS- 
culties ; and Luther with his heresy would have fallen 
into hands that would soon have arranged every thing 
But the reformer, who saw the dangers that surrounded 
him even in Augsburg, took care not to accept an offei 
that would have delivered him up, bound hand and foot 
to the vengeance of his enemies. He therefore rejected 
it as often as De Vio proposed it ; and he did so very 
frequently. The legate dissembled his vexation at Lu- 
ther's refusal ; he took refuge in his dignity, and dismiss- 
ed the monk with a compassionate smile, under which 
he endeavored to conceal his disappointment, and at the 
same time with the politeness of a man who hopes for 
better success another time. 

Luther had scarcely reached the court of the palace, 
before that babbling Italian, the master of the ceremo- 
nies, whom his lord's reprimands had compelled to quit 
the hall of conference, overjoyed at being able to speak 
without being observed by Cajetan, and burning with 

• L. 0pp. L. 17 180, 183, 206, etc. f 209. 

26 



402 HISTORY OF THE EEFORMATIOIT. 



desire to confound the abominable heretic with his lumi- 
nous reasonings, ran after him, and began, as he walked 
along, to deal out his sophisms. But Luther, disgusted 
with this foolish individual, replied to him by one ol 
those sarcasms which he had so much at command, and 
the poor master slunk away abashed, and returned in 
confusion to the cardinaPs palace. 

Luther did not carry away a very exalted opinion of 
his adversary. He had heard from him, as he wrote 
afterwards to Spalatin, propositions quite opposed to 
sound theology, and which in the mouth of another would 
have been considered archheresies. And yet De Vio 
was reckoned the most learned of the Dominicans. Next 
after him was Prierio. " We may conclude from this," 
says Luther, " what they must be who are in the tenth 
or the hundredth rank."* 

On the other hand, the noble and decided bearing of 
the Wittemberg doctor had greatly surprised the cardi- 
nal and his courtiers. Instead of a poor monk asking 
pardon as a favor, they had found a man of indepen- 
dence, a firm Christian, an enlightened doctor, who re- 
quired that unjust accusations should be supported by 
proofs, and who victoriously defended his own doctrine. 
Every one in Cajetan's palace cried out against the pride, 
obstinacy, and effrontery of the heretic. Luther and De 
Vio had learned to know each other, and both prepared 
for their second interview. 

A very agreeable surprise awaited Luther on his re- 
turn to the Carmelite convent. The vicar-general of the 
Augustine order, his friend and father, Staupitz, had ar- 
rived at Augsburg. Unable to prevent Luther's journey 
to that city, Staupitz gave his friend a new and touching 
proof of his attachment by going thither himself in the 
hope of being useful to him. This excellent man fore- 
saw that the conference with the legate might hav^^ the 
most serious consequences. He was equally agitated 
by his fears and by his friendship for Luther. After so 
painful an interview, it was a great comfort to the doc- 
tor to embrace so dear a friend. He told him how ivQ 
♦ hvLth. Epp. 1. 173. 



LUTHER RELEASED FROM HIS VOWS. 403 



possible it had been to obtain an answer of any value, 
and how the cardinal had insisted solely upon a recanta- 
tion, without having essayed to convince him. " You 
must positively," said Staupitz, " reply to the legate in 
writing." 

After what he had learned of the first interview, Stau- 
pitz entertained but little hopes from another. He there- 
fore resolved upon an act which he now thought neces- 
sary ; he determined to release Luther from the obliga- 
tions of his order. By this means Staupitz thought to 
attain two objects : if, as every thing seemed to fore- 
bode, Luther should fail in this undertaking, he would 
thus prevent the disgrace of his condemnation from be- 
ing reflected on the whole order ; and if the cardinal 
should order him to force Luther to be silent or to re- 
tract, he would have an excuse for not doing so.* The 
ceremony was performed with the usual formalities. 
Luther saw clearly what he must now expect. His soul 
was deeply moved at the breaking of those bonds which 
he had taken upon him in the enthusiasm of youth. The 
order he had chosen rejects him ; his natural protectors 
forsake him. He is already become a stranger among 
his brethren. But although his heart was filled with 
sadness at the thought, all his joy returned when he 
directed his eyes to the promises of a faithful God, who 
has said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 

The emperor's councillors having informed the legate, 
through the bishop of Trent, that Luther was provided 
with an imperial safe-conduct, and having at the same 
time enjoined him to take no proceedings against the 
doctor, De Vio lost his temper, and abruptly answered 
in this truly Romish language : " It is well ; but I will 
execute the pope's orders."f We know what they were, 

* Daritin ihn Dr. Staupitz von dem Kloster-Gehorsam absolvirt 
fiHath. 16. t L. 0pp. L. 17. 201. 



404 HISTORY OF THE EEFORHAIIOK. 



CHAPTEE VII, 

Second interview—Luther's declaration — The legate's answer — His 
volubility — Luther's request. 

The next day* both parties prepared for a second 
interview, which it seemed would be decisive. Luther's 
friends, who were resolved to accompany him to the 
legate's palace, went to the Carmelite convent. Peutin- 
ger and the dean of Trent, both imperial councillors, and 
Staupitz, arrived successively. Shortly after, the doctor 
had the pleasure of seeing them joined by the knight 
Philip of Feilitzsch and Doctor Ruhel, councillors of the 
elector, who had received their master's order to be pres- 
ent at the conferences, and to protect Luther's liberty. 
They had reached Augsburg the previous evening. They 
were to keep close to him, says Mathesius, as the knight 
of Chlum stood by John Huss at Constance. The doctor 
moreover took a notary, and accompanied by all his 
friends, he repaired to the legate's palace. 

At this moment Staupitz approached him : he fully 
comprehended Luther's position ; he knew that unless 
his eyes were fixed on the Lord, who is the deliverer of 
his people, he must fall. " My dear brother," said he, 
seriously, " bear constantly in mind that you have be- 
gun these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."f 
Thus did God environ his humble servant with consola- 
tion and encouragement. 

When Luther arrived at the cardinal's, he found a 
new adversary : this was the prior of the Dominicans of 
Augsburg, who sat beside his chief. Luther, conforma- 
bly with the resolution he had taken, had written his 
answer. The customary salutations being finished, he 
read the following declaration with a loud voice : 

" I declare that I honor the holy Roman church, and 
that I shall continue to honor her. I have sought after 
truth in my public disputations, and every thing that I 

♦ Wednesday, Oct. 12. ♦ Secl^end. p. 137. 



THE LEGATE'S REPLY. 



405 



have said I still consider as right, true, and Christian 
Yet I am but a man, and may be deceived. I am there- 
fore willing to receive instruction and correction in those 
things wherein I may have erred. I declare myself 
ready to reply orally or in writing to all the objections 
and charges that the lord legate may bring against me. 
I declare myself ready to submit my theses to the four 
universities of Basle, Friburg in Brisgau, Louvain, and 
Paris, and retract whatever they shall declare erroneous. 
In a word, I am ready to do all that can be required of 
a Christian. But I solemnly protest against the method 
that has been pursued in this affair, and against the 
strange pretension of compelling me to retract without 
having refuted me."* 

Undoubtedly nothing could be more reasonable than 
these propositions of Luther's, and they must have 
greatly embarrassed a judge who had been tutored be- 
forehand as to the judgment he should pronounce. The 
legate, who had not expected this protest, endeavored to 
hide his confusion by affecting to smile at it, and by as- 
suming an appearance of mildness. " This protest," said 
he to Luther, with a smile, " is unnecessary ; I have no 
desire to dispute with you either privately or publicly ; 
but I propose arranging this matter with the kindness 
of a parent." The sum of the cardinal's policy consisted 
in laying aside the stricter forms of justice, which pro- 
tect the accused, and treating the whole affair as one of 
mere administration between a superior and an inferior : 
a convenient method, that opens a wider field for arbi- 
trary proceedings. 

Continuing with the most affectionate air, De Vio 
said, " My dear friend, abandon, I beseech you, so use- 
less an undertaking ; bethink yourself, acknowledge the 
truth, and I am prepared to reconcile you with the church 
and the sovereign bishop. Retract, my friend, retract ; 
such is the pope's wish. Whether you will, or whether 
you will not, is of little consequence. It would be a 
hard matter for you to kick against the pricks." 

Luther, who saw himself treated as if he were al* 
* LoBoher, 2 463; L. 0pp. L. 17 181, 209. 



406 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOH. 



ready a rebellious child and an outcast from the church, 
exclaimed, " I cannot retract ; but I offer to reply, and 
that too in writing. We had debating enough yester- 
day/* 

De Vio was irritated at this expression, which re- 
minded him that he had not acted with sufficient pru- 
dence ; but he recovered himself, and said with a smile, 
" Debated 1 my dear son, I have not debated with you ; 
besides, I have no wish to debate ; but to please the 
most serene Elector Frederick, I am ready to listen to 
you, and to exhort you in a friendly and paternal man- 
ner." 

Luther could not understand why the legate was so 
much scandalized at the term he had employed ; for, 
thought he, if I had not wished to speak with polite- 
ness, I ought to have said, not debased, but disputed and 
wrangledf for that is what we really did yesterday. 

De Vio, who felt that in the presence of the respect- 
able witnesses who attended this conference, he must at 
least appear anxious to convince Luther, reverted to the 
two propositions which he had pointed out as funda- 
mental errors, being firmly resolved to permit the re- 
former to speak as little as possible. Availing himself 
of his Italian volubility, he overwhelmed the doctor with 
objections, without waiting for any reply. At one time 
he jeered, at another scolded ; he declaimed with pas- 
sionate warmth ; mingled together the most heterogene- 
ous matters ; quoted St. Thomas and Aristotle ; clam- 
ored, stormed against all who thought differently from 
himself ; and apostrophized Luther. More than ten 
times did the latter try to speak ; but the legate imme- 
diately interrupted him and overwhelmed him with 
threats. Retract, retract, this was all that was required 
of him. He raved, he domineered, he alone was permit- 
ted to speak.f Staupitz took upon himself to check the 
legate. Pray, allow brother Martin time to reply to 
you," said he. But De Vio began again ; he quoted the 

♦ Digladiatum, battled." L. Epp. 1. 18i. f DtHsies fert 

coepi ut loquerer ; toties rursas tonabat et solus regDabat. L. Opp 
L. 17. 181, 209. 



liITTHER S REQUEST. 



407 



Extravagances and the opinions of St. Thomas ; he had 
resolved to have all the talk to himself during this inter- 
view. If he could not convince, and if he dared not 
strike, he would do his best to stun by his violence. 

Luther and Staupitz saw very clearly that they must 
renounce all hope not only of enlightening De Vio by 
discussion, but still more of making any useful confes- 
sion of faith. Luther therefore reverted to the request 
he had made at the beginning of the sitting, and which 
the cardinal had then eluded. Since he was not permit- 
ted to speak, he begged that he might at least be per- 
mitted to transmit a written reply to the legate. Stau- 
pitz seconded this petition : several of the spectators 
joined their entreaties to his, and Cajetan, notwithstand- 
ing his repugnance to every thing that was written, for 
he remembered that such writings are lasting — scripta 
manent — at length consented. The meeting broke up. 
The hopes that had been entertained of seeing the mat- 
ter arranged at this interview were deferred ; they must 
wait and see the issue of the next conference. 

The permission which the general of the Dominicans 
had given Luther to take time for his reply, and to write 
his answer to the two distinct accusations touching in- 
dulgences and faith, was no more than strict justice re- 
quired, and yet we must give De Vio credit for this mark 
of moderation and impartiality. 

Luther quitted the cardinal, delighted that his request 
had been granted. On his way to Cajetan, and on his 
return, he was the object of public attention. All en- 
lightened men were as much interested in this affair as 
if they were to be tried themselves. It was felt that the 
cause of the gospel, of justice, and of liberty, was then 
pleading at Augsburg. The lower classes alone held 
with Cajetan, and they no doubt gave the reformer some 
significant proofs of their sentiments, for he took notice 
of them.* 

It became more evident every day that the legate 
would hear no other words from Luther than these, " I 
retract,*^ and Luther was resolved not to pronounce 
♦ L. 0pp. L. 17. 188, 



408 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

them. What will be the issue of so unequal a struggle? 
How can it be imagined that all the power of Rome 
matched against a single man should fail to crush him 7 
Luther sees this ; he feels the weight of that terrible 
hand under which he has voluntarily placed himself ; he 
loses all hope of returning to Wittemberg, of seeing his 
dear Philip again, of mingling once more with those gen- 
erous youths in whose hearts he so delighted to scatter 
the seeds of life. He beholds the sentence of excommu- 
nication suspended over his head, and doubts not that it 
will soon fall upon him.* These prospects afflict his 
soul, but he is not cast down. His trust in God is not 
shaken. God can break the instrument he has been 
pleased to make use of until this hour ; but he will up- 
hold the truth. Happen what may, Luther must defend 
it to the last. He therefore begins to prepare the pro- 
test that he intends presenting to the legate. It would 
appear that he devoted part of the 13th of October tx3 
this task. 

• L. 0pp. L. 17. 185. 



THIRD INTERVIEW 



400 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Thiid interview — Treasure of indulgences — Faith — Humble petition 
— The legate's reply — Luther's answer — The legate's anger — Lu- 
ther withdraws — First defection. 

On Friday, Oct. 14, Luther returned to the cardinal, 
accompanied hj the elector's councillors. The Italians 
crowded around him as usual, and were present at the 
conference in great numbers. Luther advanced and 
presented his protest to the cardinal. His courtiers 
regarded this paper with astonishment, a paper so pre- 
sumptuous in their eyes. This is what the Wittemberg 
doctor declared to their master :* 

" You attack me on two points. First, you oppose 
to me the constitution of Pope Clement VI., in which it 
is said that the treasure of indulgences is the merit of 
the Lord Jesus Christ and of the saints, which I deny in 
my theses. 

" Panormitanusf declares in his first book, that in 
whatever concerns the holy faith, not only a general 
council, but still ftirther, each believer is above the pope, 
if he can bring forward the declarations of Scripture, 
and allege better reasons than the pope.J The voice of 
our Lord Jesus Christ is far above the voice of all men, 
whatever be the names they bear. 

** My greatest cause of grief and of serious reflection 
is, that this constitution contains doctrines entirely at 
variance with the truth. It declares that the merits of 
the saints are a treasure, while the whole of Scripture 
bears witness that God rewards us far more richly than 
we deserve. The prophet exclaims, * Enter not into 

• L. 0pp. L. 17. 187. t By Panormitanus Luther indicate! 
Ives, author of the famous collection of ecclesiastical law entitled 
Panormia, and bishop of Chartres towards the close of the eleventh 
century. X Ostendit in materia fidei, non modo generale concil- 
ium esse super papam, sed etiam quemlibet fidelium, si melioribai 
Qitatur auctoritate et ratione quam papa. L. 0pp. Lat. 1. 209* 



410 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION. 



judgment with thy servant, 0 Lord ; for in thy sight 
shall no man living be justified.' Psa. 143 : 2. * Woe be 
to men, however honorable and however praiseworthy 
their lives may have been/ says Augustine, * if a judg- 
ment from which mercy was excluded should be pro- 
nounced upon them.'* 

" Thus the saints are not saved by their merits, but 
solely by God's mercy, as I have declared. I maintain 
this, and in it I stand fast. The words of holy Scrip- 
ture, which declare that the saints have not merit enough, 
must be set above the words of men, which affirm that 
they have an excess. For the pope is not above the word 
of God, but below it." 

Luther does not stop here : he shows that if indul- 
gences cannot be the merits of the saints, they cannot 
any the more be the merits of Christ. He proves that 
indulgences are barren and fruitless, since their only 
effect is to exempt men from performing good works, 
such as prayer and almsgiving. "No," exclaims he, 
" the merits of Jesus Christ are not a treasure of indul- 
gence exempting man from good works, but a treasure 
of grace which quickeneth. The merits of Christ are 
applied to the believer without indulgences, without the 
keys, by the Holy Ghost alone, and not by the pope. If 
any one has an opinion better founded than mine," adds 
he, terminating what referred to this first point, "let 
him make it known to me, and then will I retract." 

"I affirm," said he, coming to the second article, 
" that no man can be justified before God if he has not 
faith ; so that it is necessary for a man to believe with 
a perfect assurance that he has obtained grace. To 
doubt of this grace is to reject it. The faith of the 
righteous is his righteousness and his life."f 

Luther proves his proposition by a multitude of dec- 
larations from Scripture. 

'♦Condescend, therefore, to intercede for me with our 
most holy father the pope," adds he, " in order that he 
may not treat me with such harshness. My soul is 

* Confess. 9. f Justitia josti et vita ejus, est Mo* ejwL L. 
0pp. Lat 1. 211. 



THE LKaATE»S REPLY 



411 



seeking for the light of truth. I am not so proud or so 
vainglorious as to be ashamed of retracting, if I have 
taught false doctrines. My greatest joy will be to wit- 
ness the triumph of what is according to God's word. 
Only let not men force me to do any thing that is 
against the voice of my conscience." 

The legate took the declaration from Luther's hands. 
After glancing over it, he said coldly, "You have in- 
dulged in useless verbiage ; you have penned many idle 
words ; you have replied in a foolish manner to the two 
articles, and have blackened your paper with a great 
number of passages from Scripture that have no connec- 
tion with the subject." Then, with an air of contempt, 
De Vio flung Luther's protest aside, as if it were of no 
value, and recommencing in the tone which had been so 
successful in the previous interview, he began to ex- 
claim with all his might that Luther ought to retract. 
The latter was immovable. "Brother, brother," then 
cried De Vio in Italian, " on the last occasion you were 
very tractable, but now you are very obstinate." The 
cardinal then began a long speech, extracted from the 
writings of St. Thomas ; he again extolled the constitu- 
tion of Clement VL, and persisted in maintaining that 
by virtue of this constitution it is the very merits of 
Jesus Christ that are dispensed to the believer by means 
of indulgences. He thought he had reduced Luther to 
silence : the latter sometimes interrupted him ; but De 
Vio raved and stormed without intermission, and claim- 
ed, as on the previous day, the sole right of speaking. 

This method had partially succeeded the first time ; 
but Luther was not the man to submit to it on a second 
occasion. His indignation burst out at last ; it is his 
turn to astonish the spectators, who believe him already 
conquered by the prelate's volubility. He raises liis 
sonorous voice, seizes upon the cardinal's favorite objeo 
tion, and makes him pay dearly for his rashness in ven- 
turing to enter into discussion with him. " Retract, re- 
tract," repeated De Vio, pointing to the papal constitu- 
tion. " Well, if it can be proved by this constitution," 
said Luther, "that the treasure of indulgences is thQ 



il2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATIOH. 



very merits of Jesus Chiist, I consent to retract, accord* 
ing to your eminence's good will and pleasure 

The Italians, who had expected nothing of the kind, 
opened their eyes in astonishment at these words, and 
could not contain their joy at seeing their adversary 
caught in the net. As for the cardinal, he was beside 
himself ; he laughed aloud, but with a laugh in which 
anger and indignation were mingled ; he sprang for- 
ward, seized the book which contained this famous con- 
stitution ; looked for it, found it, and exulting in the vic- 
tory he thought certain, read the passage aloud with 
panting eagerness.* The Italians were elated ; the 
elector's councillors were uneasy and embarrassed ; Lu- 
ther was waiting for his adversary. At last, when the 
cardinal came to these words, "The Lord Jesus Christ 
has acquired this treasure by his sufferings," Luther 
stopped him : " Most worthy father," said he, " pray 
meditate and weigh these words carefully : He has ao 
quired,^ Christ has acquired a treasure by his merits ; 
the merits, therefore, are not the treasure ; for, to speak 
philosophically, the cause and effect are very different 
matters. The merits of Jesus Christ have acquired for 
the pope the power of giving certain indulgences to the 
people ; but it is not the very merits of our Lord that 
the hand of the pontiff distributes. Thus, then, my con- 
clusion is the true one, and this constitution, which you 
invoke with so much noise, testifies with me to the truth 
I proclaim." 

De Vio still held the book in his hands, his eyes rest- 
ing on the fatal passage ; he could make no reply. He 
was caught in the very snare he had laid, and Luther 
held him there with a strong hand, to the inexpressible 
astonishment of the Italian courtiers around him. The 
legate would have eluded the difficulty, but had not the 
means : he had long abandoned the testimony of Scrip- 
ture and of the fathers ; he had taken refuge in this 
Extravagance of Clement VI., and lo, he was caught. 
Yet he was too cunning to betray his confusion. De- 

* Legit fenrens et anhelans. L. £pp. 1. 145 t Aoquifliyit 



THE LEGATE'S THEEAT8. 



413 



blrouB of concealing his disgrace, the prince of the church 
Buddenly quitted this subject, and violently attacked 
other articles. Luther, who perceived this skilful ma- 
noeuvre, did not permit him to escape ; he tightened and 
closed on every side the net in which he had taken the 
cardinal, and rendered all escape impossible. " Most 
reverend father,'' said he, with an ironical, yet very re- 
jfpectful tone, *^ your eminence cannot, however, imagine 
that we Germans are ignorant of grammar : to be a 
treasure, and to acquire a treasure, are two very differ- 
ent things." 

" Retract," said De Vio, " retract ; or if you do not, 
I shall send you to Rome to appear before judges com- 
missioned to take cognizance of your affair. I shall ex- 
communicate you with all your partisans, and all who 
are or who may be favorable to you, and reject them 
from the church. All power has been given me in this 
respect by the holy apostolic see.* Think you that your 
protectors will stop me ? Do you imagine that the pope 
cares any thing for Germany ? The pope's little finger 
is stronger than all the German princes put together."f 

"Deign," replies Luther, "to forward to Pope Leo 
X., with my humble prayers, the answer which I have 
transmitted you in writing." 

At these words, the legate, highly pleased at finding 
a moment's release, again assumed an air of dignity, and 
said to Luther with pride and anger, 

" Retract, or return no more." J 

These words struck Luther. This time he will reply 
in another way than by speeches : he bowed and left the 
hall, followed by the elector's councillors. The cardinal 
and the Italians, remaining alone, looked at one another 
in confusion at such a result. 

Thus the Dominican system, covered with the brill- 
iancy of the Roman purple, had haughtily dismissed its 
humble adversary. But Luther was conscious that there 
was a power — the Christian doctrine, the truth — that no 
secular or spiritual authority could ever subdue. Of the 
♦ L. 0pp. L. 17. 197. t Ibid. W. 22 1331. J Revoca, aut 
noQ reyertere. Ibid. L. 17. 202. 



414 HISTOEY OF THE EEFOEMAtlON. 



two combatants, he who withdrew remained master of 
the field of battle. 

This is the first step by which the church separated 
from the Papacy. 

Luther and De Vio did not meet again ; but the re- 
former had made a deep impression on the legate, which 
was never efiaced. What Luther had said about faith, 
what De Vio read in the subsequent writings of the Wit^ 
temberg doctor, greatly modified the cardinal's opinions. 
The theologians of Rome beheld with surprise and dis- 
content the sentiments he advanced on justification in 
his commentary on the epistle to the Romans. The Ref- 
ormation did not recede, did not retract ; but its judge, 
he who had not ceased from crying, Retract, retract, 
changed his views, and indirectly retracted his errors. 
Thus was crowned the unshaken fidelity of the reformer 

Luther returned to the monastery where he had been 
entertained. He had stood fast ; he had given testimony 
to the truth ; he had done his duty. God will perform 
the rest. His heart overflowed with peace and loy. 



DB VIO AND STAUPITZ. 



CHAPTER IX. 

De Vio and Staupitz — Staupitz and Luther — Luther to Spalatin— 
Luther to Carlstadt — The communioQ — Link and De Vio — De- 
parture of Link and Staupitz — Luther to Cajetan — The cardinals 
ailence — Luther's farewell — Departure— Appeal to Rome. 

Yet the rumors that reached him were not very en- 
couraging : it was reported in the city, that if he did 
not retract, he was to be seized and thrown into a dun- 
geon. The vicar-general of his order, Staupitz himself, 
it was affirmed, had given his consent.* Luther cannot 
believe what is said of his friend. No, Staupitz will not 
deceive him. As for the cardinaPs designs, to judge 
from his words, there could be no doubt about them. 
Yet he will not flee from the danger ; his life, like the 
truth itself, is in powerful hands, and despite the threat- 
ening peril, he is resolved not to quit Augsburg. 

The legate soon repented of his violence ; he felt 
that he had gone beyond his part, and endeavored to 
retrace his steps. Staupitz had scarcely finished his 
dinner — on the morning of the interview, and the din- 
ner-hour was noon — before he received a message from 
the cardinal, inviting him to his palace. Staupitz went 
thither attended by Wenceslas Link.f The vicar-gen- 
eral found the legate alone with Serra Longa. De Vio 
immediately approached Staupitz, and addressed him in 
the mildest language. Endeavor," said he, "to pre- 
vail upon your monk, and induce him to retract. Really, 
in other respects, I am well pleased with him, and he 
has no better friend than myself."^ 

Staupftz. I have already done so, and I will again 
advise liim to submit to the church in all humility. 

De Vio. You will have to reply to the arguments he 
derives from the holy Scriptures. 

Staupftz. I must confess, my lord, that is a task be- 
yond my abilities ; for Doctor Martin Luther is supenoi 

• L. 0pp. L. 17. 210. t Ibid. 204. J Ibid. 186, 



416 



HISTOKY OF xHE EE FORMATION. 



to me both in genius and knowledge of the holy Scrip 
tures. 

The cardinal smiled, no doubt at the vicar-generaPs 
frankness. Besides, he knew himself how difficult it 
would be to convince Luther. Bte continued, addressing 
both Staupitz and Link : 

"Are you aware that, as partisans of a heretical 
doctrine, you are yourselves liable to the penalties of 
the church ?" 

SiAUPrrz. Condescend to resume the conference with 
Luther, and order a public discussion on the contro- 
verted points. 

De Vio, alarmed at the very thought, I will no longer 
dispute with that beast, for it has deep eyes and won- 
derful speculations in its head.* 

Staupitz at length prevailed on the cardinal to trans- 
mit to Luther in writing what he was required to re- 
tract. 

The vicar-general returned to Luther. Staggered by 
the representations of the cardinal, he endeavored to per- 
suade him to come to an arrangement. " Refute, then," 
said Luther, " the declarations of Scripture that I have 
advanced." "It is beyond my ability," said Staupitz. 
"Well, then," replied Luther, "it is against my con- 
science to retract, so long as these passages of Scrip- 
ture are not explained differently. What I" continued 
he, " the cardinal professes, as you inform me, that he is 
desirous of arranging this affair without any disgrace 
or detriment to me. Ah, these are Roman expressions, 
which signify in good German that it will be my eternal 
shame and ruin. What else can he expect who, through 
fear of men and against the voice of his conscience, 
denies the truth ?"f 

Staupitz did not persist ; he only informed Luther 
that the cardinal had consented to transmit to him in 
writing the points which he would be required to retract 
He then no doubt informed him also of his intention of 

* Ego nolo amplius cum hac bestia disputare. Habet enim p^^o- 
fiiiidos oculos et mirabiles speculationes in capite fiuo. Mycon«*M^ 
83. i L. 0pp. L. 17. 210, 



LUTHER 10 OARLSTADT. 



417 



quittiDg Augsburg, where he had no longer any thing 
to do. Luther communicated to him a plan he had 
formed for comforting and strengthening their souls 
Staupitz promised to return, and they separated for a 
short time- 
Alone in his cell, Luther turned his thoughts towards 
the friends dearest to his heart. His ideas wandered to 
Weimar and to Wittemberg. He desired to inform the 
elector of what was passing ; and fearful of being indis- 
creet by addressing the prince himself, he wrote to Spal- 
atin, and begged the chaplain to inform his master of the 
state of affairs. He detailed the whole transaction, even 
to the promise given by the legate to send him the con- 
troverted points in writing, and finished by saying, 
" This is the posture of afiairs ; but I have neither hope 
nor confidence in the legate. I will not retract a sylla- 
ble. I will publish the reply I gave him, in order that, 
if he should proceed to violence, he may be covered with 
shame in all Christendom."* 

The doctor then profited by the few moments that 
still remained to write to his Wittemberg friends. 

** Peace and happiness," wrote he to Doctor Carlstadt. 
" Accept these few words as if they were a long letter, 
for time and events are pressing. At a better opportu- 
nity I will write to you and others more fully. Three 
days my business has been in hand, and matters are now 
at such a point that I have no longer any hope of return* 
ing to you, and I have nothing to look for but excommu- 
nication. The legate positively will not allow me to 
dispute either publicly or privately. He desires not to 
be a judge, says he, but a father to me ; and yet he 
will hear no other words from me than these : * I re- 
tract, and acknowledge my error.^ And these I will not 
utter. 

The dangers of my cause are so much the greater 
that its judges are not only implacable enemies, but, 
still further, men incapable of understanding it. Yet 
the Lord God lives and reigns : to his protection I com- 
mit xoys^lf, and I doubt not that, in answer to the pray 
• L. Epp. 1. 149. 
27 



418 HlSlOiiy OF THE REFORMATION 



era of a few pious souls, he will send me deliverance ; I 
imagine I feel them praying for me. 

Either I shall return to you without having suf- 
fered any harm, or else, struck with excommunication, I 
shall have to seek a refuge elsewhere. 

" However that may be, conduct yourself valiantly, 
stand fast, and glorify Christ boldly and joyfully. 

"The cardinal always styles me his dear son. I 
know how much I must believe of that. I am neverthe- 
less persuaded that I should be the most acceptable and 
dearest man to him in the world, if I would pronounce 
the single word Bevoco, I retract. But I will not be- 
come a heretic by renouncing the faith by which I be- 
came a Christian. I would rather be exiled, accursedj 
and burned to death. 

" Farewell, my dear doctor ; show this letter to our 
theologians, to Amsdorff, to Philip, to Otten, and the 
rest, in order that you may pray for me, and also for 
yourselves ; for it is your cause that I am pleading 
here. It is that of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
in the grace of God."* 

Sweet thought, which ever fills with consolation and 
with peace all those who have borne witness to Jesus 
Christ, to his divinity, to his grace, when the world pours 
upon them from every side its judgments, its exclusions, 
and its disgrace : " Our cause is that of faith in the 
Lord." And what sweetness also in the conviction ex- 
pressed by the reformer : "I feel that they are praying 
for me." The Reformation was the work of piety and 
prayer. The struggle between Luther and De Vio was 
that of a religious element which reappeared full of life, 
with the expiring relics of the wordy dialectics of ttie 
middle ages. 

Thus did Luther converse with his absent friends. 
Staupitz soon returned ; Doctor Ruhel and the knight of 
Feilitzsch, both envoys from the elector, also called upon 
Luther after taking leave of the cardinal. Some other 
friends of the gospel joined them. Luiher, seeing thug 
assembled these generous men, who were on the point 
• L. Epp. 1. 159. 



DE VIO'S COKCESSION. 



419 



of separatiug, and from whom he was perhaps to part 
for ever, proposed that they should celebrate the Lord's 
supper together. They agreed, and this little baud of 
faithful men communicated in the body and blood of 
Jesus Christ. What feelings swelled the hearts of the 
reformer's friends at the moment when, celebrating the 
Eucharist with him, they thought it was perhaps the last 
time they would be permitted to do so. What joy, what 
love animated Luther's heart, as he beheld himself so 
graciously accepted by his Master at the very moment 
that men rejected him. How solemn must have been 
that communion ! How holy that evening I"* 

The next dayf Luther waited for the articles the 
legate was to send him ; but not receiving any message, 
he begged his friend Wenceslas Link to go to the cardi- 
nal. De Vio received Link in the most affable manner, 
and assured him that he had no desire but to act like a 
friend. He said, I no longer regard Luther as a here- 
tic. I will not excommunicate him this time, unless I 
receive further orders from Rome. I have sent his reply 
to the pope by an express." And then, to show his 
friendly intentions, he added, " If Doctor Luther would 
only retract what concerns indulgences, the matter 
would soon be finished ; for, as to what concerns faith 
in the sacraments, it is an article that each one may 
understand and interpret in his own fashion." Spalatin, 
who records these words, adds this shrewd but just 
remark : "It follows clearly that Rome looks to money, 
rather than to the holy faith and the salvation of souls." j 

Link returned to Luther : he found Staupitz with him, 
and gave them an account of his visit. When he came 
to the unexpected concession of the legate, It would 
have been well," said Staupitz, "if Doctor Wenceslas 
had had a notary and witnesses with him to take down 
these words in writing ; for if such a proposal were made 
known, it would be very prejudicial to the Romans." 

However, in proportion to the mildness of the pre* 
late's language, the less confidence did these worthy 

• L. 0pp. L. 17. 178. t Saturday, Oct. 15. J J.. Oppi 
L. 17. 182. 



420 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



Germans place in hirn. Many of the good men to whom 
Luther had been recommended held counsel together : 
**The legate," said they, "is preparing some mischief 
by this courier of whom he speaks, and it is very much 
to be feared that you will all be seized and thrown into 
prison." 

Staupitz and Wenceslas therefore resolved to quit 
the city ; they embraced Luther, who persisted iu re- 
maining at Augsburg, and departed hastily for Nurem- 
berg by two different roads, not without much anxiety 
respecting the fate of the courageous witness they were 
leaving behind them. 

Sunday passed off quietly enough. But Luther in 
vain waited for the legate's message : the latter sent 
none. At last he determined to write. Staupitz and 
Link, before setting out, had begged him to treat the 
cardinal with all possible respect. Luther had not yet 
made trial of Rome and of her envoys : this is his first 
experiment. If deference did not succeed, he would take 
a warning from it. Now at least he must make the at- 
tempt. For his own part, not a day passed in which he 
did not condemn himself, and groan over his facility 'in 
giving utterance to expressions stronger than the occa- 
sion required : why should he not confess to the cardinal 
what he confessed daily to God ? Besides, Luther's heart 
was easily moved, and he suspected no evil. He took 
up his pen, and with a sentiment of the most respectful 
good will, wrote to the cardinal as follows :* 

"Most worthy father in God, once more I approach 
you, not in person, but by letter, entreating your pater- 
nal goodness to listen to me graciously. The reverend 
Dr. Staupitz, my very dear father in Christ, has called 
upon me to humble myself, to renounce my own senti- 
ments, and to submit my opinions to the judgment of 
pious and impartial men. He has also praised your 
fatherly kindness, and has thoroughly convinced me of 
your favorable disposition towards me. This news has 
filled me with joy. 

** Now, therefore, most worthy father, I confess, as I 
• This letter is dated Oct 17. 



LUTHER TO DE VIO 



421 



have already done before, that I have not shown- -as has 
been reported — suflficient modesty, meekness, or respect 
for the name of the sovereign pontiff ; and although I 
have been greatly provoked, I see that it would have 
been better for me to have conducted my cause with 
greater humility, mildness, and reverence, and not to 
have answered a fool according to his folly, lest I should 
be like unto him. 

" This grieves me very much, and I ask forgiveness. 
I will publicly confess it to the people from the pulpit, 
as indeed I have often done before. I will endeavor, 
by God's grace, to speak differently. Nay more, I am 
ready to promise, freely and of my own accord, not to 
utter another word on the subject of indulgences, if this 
business is arranged. But also, let those who made me 
begin, be compelled on their part to be more moderate 
henceforth in their sermons, or to be silent. 

" As for the truth of my doctrine, the authority of St. 
Thomas and other doctors cannot satisfy me. I must 
hear — if I am worthy to do so — the voice of the bride, 
which is the church. For it is certain that she hears the 
voice of the Bridegroom, which is Christ. 

"In all humility and submission, I therefore entreat 
your paternal love to refer all this business, so unsettled 
up to this day, to our most holy lord Leo X., in order 
that the church may decide, pronounce, and ordain, and 
that I may retract with a good conscience, or believe 
with sincerity."* 

As we read this letter, another reflection occurs to 
us. We see that Luther was not acting on a precon- 
ceived plan, but solely by virtue of convictions impress- 
ed successively on his mind and on his heart. Far from 
having any settled system, any well-arranged opposi- 
tion, he frequently and unsuspectingly contradicted him- 
self. Old convictions still reigned in his mind, although 
opposite convictions had already entered it. And yet it 
is in these marks of sincerity and truth that men have 
Bought for arguments against the Reformation ; it is 
because it followed the necessary laws of progresflion 
• L. 0pp. L. p. 198. 



422 HISTORY OP THEi REFOHMATIOH 



which are imposed upon all things in the human mind, 
that some have written the history of its variations ; it 
is in these very features, that show its sincerity, and 
which consequently make it honorable, that one of the 
most eminent Christian geniuses has found his strong- 
est objections.f Inconceivable perversity of the human 
mind I 

Luther received no answer to his letter. Cajetan 
and his courtiers, after being so violently agitated, had 
suddenly become motionless. What could be the rea- 
son ? Might it not be the calm that precedes the storm ? 
Some persons were of Pallavicini's opinion: "The cardi- 
nal was waiting," he observes, until this proud monk, 
like an inflated bellows, should gradually lose the wind 
that filled him, and become thoroughly humble."f Oth- 
ers, imagining they understood the ways of Rome better, 
felt sure that the legate intended to arrest Luther, but 
that, not daring to proceed to such extremities on his 
own account, because of the imperial safe-conduct, he 
was waiting a reply from Rome to his message. Others 
could not believe that the cardinal would delay so long. 
The Emperor Maximilian, said they — and this may really 
be the truth — will have no more scruple to deliver Lu- 
ther over to the judgment of the church, notwithstanding 
the safe-conduct, than Sigismund had to surrender Huss 
to the council of Constance. The legate is perhaps even 
now negotiating with the emperor. Maximilian's author- 
ization may arrive every minute. The more he was op- 
posed to the pope before, the more will he seem to flatr 
ter him now, until the imperial crown encircle his grand- 
child's head. There is not a moment to be lost. " Draw 
up an appeal to the pope," said the noble-minded men 
who surrounded Luther, **and quit Augsburg without 
delay." 

Luthei, whose presence in this city had been useless 
during the last four days, and who had sufficiently proved, 
by his remaining after the departure of the Saxon coun- 
cillors sent by the elector to watch over his safety, th.at 

* Bossuet's Histoire des Variations. Liv. 1. 25, etc. t 
follis ille ventosa elatione distentas, p. 40. 



LUTHER'S FAREWELL. 



423 



he feared nothing, and that he was ready to answer any 
charge, yielded at length to his friends' solicitations. 
But first he resolved to inform De Yio of his intention : 
he wrote to him on Tuesday, the eve of his departure. 
This second letter is in a firmer tone than the other. It 
would appear that Luther, seeing all his advances were 
unavailing, began to lift up his head in the conscious- 
ness of his integrity and of the injustice of his enemies. 

" Most worthy father in God," wrote he to De Vio, 
your paternal kindness has witnessed — I repeat it, wit- 
nessed and sufficiently acknowledged my obedience. I 
have undertaken a long journey, through great dangers, 
in great weakness of body, and despite of my extreme 
poverty ; at the command of our most holy lord Leo X., 
I have appeared in person before your eminence ; lastly, 
I have thrown myself at the feet of his holiness, and I 
now wait his good pleasure, ready to submit to his judg- 
ment, whether he should condemn or acquit me. I there- 
fore feel that I have omitted nothing which it becomes 
an obedient child of the church to do. 

" I think, consequently, that I ought not uselessly to 
prolong my sojourn in this town ; besides, it would be 
impossible ; my resources are failing me ; and your pa- 
ternal goodness has loudly forbidden me to appear before 
you again, unless I will retract. 

" I therefore depart in the name of the Lord, desiring, 
if possible, to find some spot where I may dwell in peace. 
Many persons of greater importance than myself have 
requested me to appeal from your paternal kindness, and 
even from our most holy lord Leo X., ill informed, to the 
pope when better informed.* Although I know that such 
an appeal will be far more acceptable to our most serene 
highness the elector than a retractation, nevertheless, if 
I had consulted my own feelings only, I should not have 
done so. I have committed no fault ; I ought therefore 
to fear nothing." 

Luther having written this letter, which was not 
given to the legate until after his departure, prepared 
• Ut a R. P. tua, immo a Sanctiselmo Domino nostro Leone X 
maU iuformato ad melius ioformandum appellem. L. £pp. 1. 16L 



424 HISTORY OF THE REPORMATIOr. 



to quit Augsburg. God had preserved bim till tbis bour, 
and he praised the Lord for it with all his heart ; but be 
must not tempt God. He embraced his friends Peutiii' 
ger, Langemantel, the Adelmanns, Auerbach, and the 
prior of the Carmelites, who had shown him such CbnV 
tian hospitality. On Wednesday, before daybreak, be 
was up and ready to set out. His friends had recom- 
mended him to take every precaution, for fear that be 
should be prevented if his intentions were known. He 
followed their advice as far as possible. A pony, that 
Staupitz had left for him, was brought to the door of the 
convent. Once more he bids bis brethren adieu ; he then 
mounts and sets off, without a bridle for his horse, with- 
out boots or spurs, and unarmed. The magistrate of the 
city had sent him as a guide one of the horse-police who 
was well acquainted with the roads. This servant con- 
ducts him in the dark through the silent streets of Augs- 
burg. They direct their course to a small gate in the 
wall of the city. One of the councillors, Langemantel, 
had given orders that it should be opened. He is still 
in the power of the legate. The hand of Rome may 
grasp him yet. No doubt if the Italians knew their prey 
was escaping them, they would utter a cry of rage. Who 
can say that the intrepid adversary of Rome will not yet 
be seized and thrown into a dungeon ? At length Luther 
and his guide arrive at the little gate ; they pass through. 
They are out of Augsburg ; and soon they put their horses 
to a gallop, and ride speedily away. 

Luther, on his departure, had left bis appeal to the 
pope in the hands of the prior of Pomesaw. His friends 
had recommended that it should not be transmitted to 
the legate. The prior was commissioned to have it 
posted upon the cathedral gates two or three days after 
the doctor's departure, in the presence of a notary and 
witnesses. This was done. 

In this paper, Luther declares that be appeals from 
the most holy father the pope, ill informed, to the most 
holy lord and father in Christ, Leo X. of that name, by 
the grace of God, better informed.* This appeal had 
* Melius informandum. L. 0pp. liat. 1. 219. 



VEXATION OF DE VIO. 



425 



been drawu np in the customary form and style, by aid 
of the imperial notary, Gall of Herbrachtingen, in pres- 
ence of two Augustine monks, Bartholomew Utzmair aud 
Wenzel Steinbies. It was dated Oct. 16. 

When the cardinal was informed of Luther's depar- 
tuie, he was thunderstruck, and even frightened and 
alarmed, as he assured the elector in his letter. Indeed, 
there was good cause to be annoyed. This departure, 
which so abruptly terminated the negotiations, discon- 
certed the hopes with which he had so long flattered his 
pride. He had been ambitious of the honor of healing 
the wounds of the church, of restoring the tottering in- 
fluence of the pope in Germany ; and the heretic had 
escaped not only unpunished, but even without being 
humbled. The conference had served only to exhibit in 
a stronger light, on the one hand, Luther's simplicity, 
integrity, and firmness ; and on the other, the imperious 
and unreasonable proceedings of the pope and his am- 
bassador. Since Rome had gained nothing, she had lost ; 
her authority, not having been strengthened, had receiv- 
ed a fresh check. What will they say in the Vatican ? 
What messages will be received from Rome ? The diffi- 
culties of his position will be forgotten ; the unlucky 
issue of this affair will be attributed to his want of skill. 
Serra Longa and the Italians were furious at seeing 
themselves, with all their dexterity, outwitted by a Ger- 
man monk. De Vio could hardly conceal his iiTitation. 
Such an insult called for vengeance, and we shall soon 
witness him breathing out his wrath in a letter to the 



426 HISTORY OF THE REFOEUATION. 



CHAPTER X. 

Luther' i flight — Admiration — Luther's desire — The legate to the 
elee^r — The elector to the legate — Prosperity of the nniver- 
sity, 

Luther and his guide continued their flight far from 
the walls of Augsburg. He spurred his horse, and gal- 
loped as fast as the poor animaPs strength would per* 
mit. He called to mind the real or supposed flight of 
John Huss, the manner in which he was caught, and the 
assertion of his adversaries, who pretended that Huss 
having by his flight annulled the emperor's safe-conduct, 
they had the right of condemning him to the flame«.* 
These anxious thoughts, however, did not long occupy 
Luther's mind. Having escaped from a city in which he 
had passed ten days under the terrible hand of Rome, 
which had already crushed so many thousand witnesses 
to the truth, and sprinkled all around it with blood, now 
that he is free, now that he inhales the fresh breezes of 
the country, traverses the villages and rural districts, 
and beholds himself wonderfully delivered by the arm of 
the Lord, his whole being returns thanks to the Almighty. 
It is truly he who can now say, " Our soul is escaped as 
a bird out of the snare of the fowlers ; the snare is brok- 
en, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the 
Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psa. 124 : 7, Thus 
was Luther's heart overflowing with joy. Bn+ hig 
thoughts were turned on De Vio also : The cardinal 
would have liked to have me in his hands to send me to 
Rome. He is vexed, no doubt, at my escape. He im- 
agined I was in his power at Augsburg ; he thought he 
had me ; but he was holding an eel by the tail. Is it 
not disgraceful that these people set so high a value 
upon me ? They would give a heap of crowns to have 
me in their clutches, while our Lord Jesus Christ waa 
sold for thirty pieces of silver."f 

• Weissmann, Hist. Eccles. 1. 1237. f L. 0pp. L. 17. 202. 



LUTHER'S UETURK 



427 



The first day he travelled fourteen leagues. When 
he reached the inn where he was to pass the night, he 
was so fatigued — ^his horse was a very hard trotter, a 
historian tells us — that, when he dismounted, he could 
not stand upright, and lay down upon a bundle of straw. 
He nevertheless obtained some repose. On the morrow 
he continued his journey. At Nuremberg he met with 
Staupitz, who was visiting the convents of his order. It 
was in this city that he first saw the brief sent by the 
pope to Cajetan about him. He was indignant at it, and 
it is very probable that if he had seen this brief before 
leaving Wittemberg, he would have never gone to the 
cardinal. " It is impossible to believe,^' said he, " that 
any thing so monstrous could have proceeded from any 
sovereign pontiff."* 

All along the road Luther was an object of general 
interest. He had not yet yielded in any one point. Such 
a victory, gained by a mendicant monk over the repre- 
sentative of Rome, filled every heart with admiration. 
Germany seemed avenged of the contempt of Italy. The 
eternal word had received more nonor than the word of 
the pope. This vast power, which for so many centu- 
ries tyrannized over the world, had received a formida- 
ble check. Luther's journey was like a triumph. Men 
rejoiced at the obstinacy of Rome, in the hope that it 
would lead to her destruction. If she had not insisted 
on preserving her shameful gains ; if she had been wise 
enough not to despise the Germans ; if she had reformed 
crying abuses, perhaps, according to human views, all 
would have returned to that deathlike state from which 
Luther had awakened. But the Papacy will not yield ; 
and the doctor will see himself compelled to bring to 
light many other errors, and to go forward in the know- 
ledge and manifestation of the truth. 

On the 26th of October Luther reached Grsefenthal, 
on the verge of the Thuringian forests. Here he met 
with Count Albert of Mansfddt, the same person who 
had so strongly dissuaded him from going to Augs])urg. 
The count, laughing heartily at his singular equipage, 

^ Tale quid monstri a summo Pontifice egredi. L. £pp. 1 166. 



428 HISTORY OP THE REPOEMATIOK 



compelled him to stop and be his guest. Luther BOon 
resumed his journey. 

He hastened forward, desiring to be at Wittemberg 
on the 31st of October, under the impression that the 
elector would be there for the festival of All Saints, and 
that he should see him. The brief which he had read at 
Nuremberg had disclosed to him all the perils of his sit- 
uation. In fact, being already condemned at Rome, he 
could not hope either to stay at Wittemberg, to obtain 
an asylum in a convent, or to find peace and security in 
any other place. The elector's protection might perhaps 
be able to defend him ; but he was far from being sure 
of it. He could no longer expect any thing from the 
two friends whom he had possessed hitherto at the court 
of this prince. Staupitz had lost the favor he had so 
long enjoyed, and was quitting Saxony. Spalatin was 
beloved by Frederick, but had not much influence over 
him. The elector himself was not sufficiently acquainted 
with the doctrine of the gospel to encounter manifest 
danger for its sake. Luther thought, however, that he 
could not do better than to return to Wittemberg, and 
there await what the eternal and merciful God would do 
with him. If, as many expected, he were left unmolest- 
ed, he resolved to devote himself entirely to study and 
to the education of youth.* 

Luther reentered Wittemberg on the 30th of October. 
All his expedition had been to no purpose. Neither the 
elector nor Spalatin had come to the feast. His friends 
were overjoyed at seeing him again among them. He 
hastened to inform Spalatin of his arrival. " I returned 
to Wittemberg to-day safe and sound, by the grace of 
God," said he, " but how long I shall stay here I do not 
know. I am filled with joy and peace, and can hardly 
conceive that the trial which I endure can appear so 
great to so many distinguished personages." 

De Vio had not waited long after Luther's departure 
to pour forth all his indignation to the elector. His let- 
ter breathes vengeance. He gives Frederick an account 
af the conference with an air of assurance. "Since 
♦ L. Opp L. 17. 183. 



LUTHER TO THE ELECTOB 



429 



brother Martin," says he in conclusion, " cannot be in- 
duced by paternal measures to acknowledge his error, 
and remain faithful to the Catholic church, I beg your 
highness will send him to Rome, or expel him from your 
states. Be assured that this difficult, mischievous, and 
envenomed business cannot be protracted much longer ; 
for so soon as I have informed our most holy lord of all 
this artifice and wickedness, it will be brought to an 
end." In a postscript, written with his own hand, the 
cardinal entreats the elector not to tarnish his honor and 
that of his illustrious ancestors for the sake of a miser- 
able little friar.* 

Never perhaps did Luther's soul feel a nobler indig- 
nation than when he read the copy of this letter for- 
warded to him by the elector. The thought of the suf 
feriugs he is destined to undergo, the value of the truth 
for which he is contending, contempt inspired by the 
conduct of the Roman legate, all agitated his heart to- 
gether. His reply, written in the midst of this agitation, 
is full of that courage, sublimity, and faith which he 
always displayed in the most trying circumstances of 
his life. He gives, in his turn, an account of the Augs- 
burg conference ; and after describing the cardinaPs 
behavior, he continues thus : 

" I should like to answer the legate in the place of 
the elector : 

" * Prove that you speak of what you understand,' I 
would say to him ; * let the whole matter be committed 
to writing : then I will send brother Martin to Rome, or 
else I will myself seize him, and put him to death. I 
will take care of my conscience and of my honor, and 
will permit no stain to tarnish my glory. But so long 
as your positive knowledge shuns the light, and is made 
known by its clamors only, I can put no faith in dark- 
ness.' 

" It is thus I would reply, most excellent prince. 

" Let the reverend legate, or the pope himself, specify 
my errors in writing ; let them give their reasons ; let 
tbem instruct me, for I am a man who desires instruc 
• L. Oh?. L. 17. 203. 



430 HISTORY OF THE K£ FORMATION . 

tion, who begs and longs for it, so that even a Turk 
would not refuse to grant it. If I do not retract and 
condemn myself, when they have proved that the pas- 
sages which I have cited ought to be understood in a 
different sense from mine, then, most excellent elector, 
let your highness be the first to prosecute and expel me 5 
let the university reject me, and overwhelm me with its 
anger. Nay, more, and I call heaven and earth to wit- 
ness, may the Lord Jesus Christ cast me out and con- 
demn me. The words that I utter are not dictated by 
vain presumption, but by an unshaken conviction. I am 
willing that the Lord God withdraw his grace from me, 
and that every one of God's creatures refuse me his coun- 
tenance, if, when a better doctrine has been shown me, 
I do not embrace it. 

" If they despise me on account of my low estate, me 
a poor little mendicant friar, and if they refuse to instruct 
me in the way of truth, then let your highness entreat 
the legate to inform you in writing wherein I have erred ; 
and if they refuse even your highness this favor, let them 
write their views either to his imperial majesty, or to 
some archbishop of Germany What can I, or what ought 
I to say more ? 

" Let your highness listen to the voice of your con- 
science and of your honor, and not send me to Rome. 
No man can require you to do so, for it is impossible I 
can be safe in Rome. The pope himself is not safe there. 
It would be commanding you to betray Christian blood. 
They have paper, pens, and ink : they have also notaries 
without number. It is easy for them to write wherein 
and wherefore I have erred. It will cost them less to 
instruct me when absent by writing, than to put me to 
death by stratagem when among them. 

" I resign myself to banishment. My adversaries are 
laying their snares on every side, so that I can nowhere 
live in security. In order that no evil 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 according to his pleasure. 

Thus then, most serene elector, I reverently bid yon 



THE ELECTOR TO THE LEOATB. 



431 



farewell. I commend you to the everlasting God, and 
give you eternal thanks for all your kindness towards 
me. Whatever be the people among whom I shall dwell 
in future, I shall ever remember you, and pray contin- 
ually and gratefully for the happiness of yourself and of 
your family.* I am still, thanks be to God, full of joy, 
and praise him because Christ, the Son of God, thinks 
me worthy to suffer in such a cause. May he ever pro- 
tect your illustrious highness. Amen." 

This letter, so abounding in truth, made a deep im- 
pression on the elector. " He was shaken by a very elo- 
quent letter," says Maimbourg. Never could he have 
thought of surrendering an innocent man to the hands 
of Rome ; perhaps he would have desired Luther to con- 
ceal himself for a time, but he resolved not to appear to 
yield in any manner to the legate's menaces. He wrote 
to his councillor PfefiSnger, who was at the emperor's 
court, telling him to inform this prince of the real state 
of affairs, and to beg him to write to Rome, so that the 
business might be concluded, or at least, that it might bp 
settled in Germany by impartial judges.f 

A few da3's after, the elector replied to the legate « 
" Since Doctor Martin has appeared before you at Augs- 
burg, you should be satisfied. We did not expect that 
you would endeavor to make him retract, without having 
convinced him of his errors. None of the learned men 
in our principality have informed me that Martin's doc- 
trine is impious, antichristian, or heretical." The prince 
refused, moreover, to send Luther to Rome, or to expel 
him from his states. 

This letter, which was communicated to Luther, filled 
him with joy. Gracious God," wrote he to Spalatin, 
" with what delight I have read it again and again 1 I 
know what confidence may be put in these words, at 
once so forcible and moderate. 1 fear that the Romans 
will not understand their full bearing ; but they will at 
least understand that what they think already finished 

* Ego enim ubicumque ero gentium, illustrissimae Domiuationii 
tuffi nunquam non erg memor. L. £pp. 1. 187. f L. 0pp. L 

17. 244. 



432 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



is as yet hardly begun. Pray return my thanks to the 
prince. It is strange that he — De Vio — who, a short 
time ago, was a mendicant monk like myself, does not 
fear to address the mightiest princes disrespectfully, to 
call them to account, to threaten, to command them, and 
to treat them with such inconceivable haughtiness. Let 
Mm learn that the temporal power is of God, and that 
its glory may not be trampled under foot."* 

What had doubtless encouraged the elector to reply 
fco the legate in a tone the latter had not expected, was 
a letter addressed to him by the university of Wittem- 
berg. It had good reason to declare in the doctor's 
favor ; for it flourished daily more and more, and was 
eclipsing all the other schools. A crowd of students 
flocked thither from all parts of Germany to hear this 
extraordinary man, whose teaching appeared to open a 
new era to religion and learning. These youths, who 
came from every province, halted as soon as they dis- 
covered the steeples of Wittemberg in the distance ; 
they raised their hands to heaven, and praised God for 
having caused the light of truth to shine forth from this 
city, as from Zion in times of old, and whence it spread 
even to the most distant countries.f A life and activity 
till then unknown animated the university. " Our stu- 
dents here are as busy as ants," wrote Luther.J 

* Et 6U0S non licere honores conculcari. L. Epp. 1. 198. 
t Scultet. Annal. 1. 17. t Stadium nostrum more fbrmioa 
rum ferret, h Bpp. 1. 193. 



THOUaHXS ON DEPAKTUEB 



433 



CHAPTER XI. 

fhoughts on departure — Farewell to the church — Critical moment- 
Deliverance — Luther^s courage — Dissatisfaction at Rome — Bull — 
Appeal to a council. 

Luther, imagining he might soon be expelled from 
Germany, was engaged in publishing a report of the 
Augsburg conference. He desired that it should remain 
as a testimony of the struggle between him and Rome. 
He saw the storm ready to burst, but did not fear it. 
He waited from day to day for the anathemas that were 
to be sent from Italy ; and he put every thing in (vrder, 
that he might be prepared when they arrived. " Hav- 
ing tucked up my robe, and girt my loins," said he, "/ 
am ready to depart, like Abraham, without knowing 
whither 1 go ; or rather, well knowing, since God is 
everywhere."* He intended leaving a farewell letter 
behind him. "Be bold enough," wrote he to Spalatin, 
" to read the letter of an accursed and excommunicated 
man." 

His friends felt great anxiety and fear on his account. 
They entreated him to deliver up himself as a prisoner 
into the elector's hands, in order that this prince might 
keep him somewhere in security.f 

His enemies could not understand whence he derived 
his confidence. One day as the conversation turned upon 
him at the court of the bishop of Brandenburg, and it 
was asked on what support he could rely, " On Eras- 
mus," said some ; "on Capito, and other learned men 
who are in his confidence." " No, no," replied the bish- 
op, " the pope would care very little about those folks. 
It is in the university of Wittemberg and the duke of 
Saxony that he trusts." Thus both parties wore igno- 
rant of the strong-hold in which the reformer had taken 
refuge. 

Thoughts of departure passed through Luther^s mind. 

• Quia Dens ubique. L. Epp. 1. 188, f Ut principi me is 

saptivitatem darem. Ibid. 189. 
^tofRer. 28 



434 HISTORY OP THE REFORHATIOH. 



They did not originate in fear of danger, but in foresight 

of the continually increasing obstacles that a free con- 
fession of the truth would meet with in Germany. " If 
I remain here," said he, **the liberty of speaking and 
writing many things will be torn from me. If I depart, 
I shall freely pour forth the thoughts of my heart, and 
devote my life to Christ."* 

France was the country where Luther hoped to have 
the power of announcing the truth without opposition. 
The liberty enjoyed by the doctors and university of 
Paris, appeared to him worthy of envy. Besides, he 
agreed with them on many points. What would have 
happened, had he been removed from Wittemberg to 
France ? Would the Reformation have been established 
there, as in Germany ? Would the power of Rome have 
been dethroned there ; and would France, which was 
destined to see the hierarchical principles of Rome and 
the destructive principles of an irreligious philosophy 
long contend within her bosom, have become a great 
centre of evangelical light ? It is useless to indulge in 
vain conjectures on this subject ; but perhaps Luther at 
Paris might have changed in some degree the destinies 
of Europe and of France. 

Luther's soul was deeply moved. He used to preach 
frequently in the city church, in the room of Simon 
Heyens Pontanus, pastor of Wittemberg, who was al- 
most always sick. He thought it his duty, at all events, 
to take leave of that congregation to whom he had so 
frequently announced salvation. He said in the pulpit 
one day, " I am a very unstable and uncertain preacher 
How often already have I not left you without bidding 
you farewell. If this case should happen again, and 
that I cannot return, accept my farewell now." Then, 
after adding a few words, he concluded by saying with 
moderation and gentleness, " Finally, I warn you not to 
be alarmed, should the papal censures be discharged upon 
me. Do not blame the pope, or bear any ill-will, either to 
him or to any other man ; but trust all to 6od."f 

* Si iero, totum effundam et vitam ofFeram Christo. L, Epp, I 
190. t Deo rem coiiimitterent Ibi(J. 191. 



DBLIVERANCB. 



435 



The moment seemed to have come at last. The prmoo 
Informed Luther that he desired him to leave Wittem- 
berg. The wishes of the elector were too sacred for him 
not to hasten to comply with them. He therefore made 
preparations for his departure, without well knowing 
whither he should direct his steps. He desired however 
to see his friends once more around him, and with this 
intent prepared a farewell repast. Seated at the same 
table with them, he still enjoys their sweet conversation, 
their tender and anxious friendship. A letter is brought 
to him. It comes from the court. He opens it and reads ; 
his heart sinks ; it contains a fresh order for his depart- 
ure. The prince inquires, " why he delays so long." 
His soul was overwhelmed with sadness. Yet he re- 
sumed his courage, and raising his head, said firmly and 
joyfully, as he turned his eyes on those about him, "Fa- 
ther and mother abandon me, but the Lord takes me 
up."* Leave he must. His friends were deeply moved. 
What would become of him ? If Luther^s protector re- 
jects him, who will receive him ? And the gospel, the 
truth, and this admirable work, all will doubtless perish 
with its illustrious witness. The Reformation seems to 
hang upon a thread, and at the moment Luther quits the 
walls of Wittemberg, will not this thread break ? Lu- 
ther and his friends said little. Struck with the blow 
that had fallen upon their brother, tears roll down their 
cheeks. But shortly after, a new messenger arrives. 
Luther opens the letter, not doubting that it contains a 
fresh order. But, 0 powerful hand of the Lord, for a 
time he is saved. Every thing is changed. "Since the 
pope's new envoy hopes that all may be arranged by a 
conference, remain for the present."f How important 
was this hour ; and what would have happened if Lu- 
ther, ever anxious to obey his sovereign's will, had left 
Wittemberg immediately on receiving the first letter? 
Never were Luther and the cause of the Reformation 
lower than at this moment. It appeared that their fate 
was decided : an instant sufficed to change it. Having 

* Yator and Matter verlassen mich, aber ier Herr nimmt miob 
ftUf. t L. 0pp. 15. 824. 



436 HlSTOHr OF THE EEFORMATIOK 



reached the lowest degree of his career, the Wittemberg 
doctor rose rapidly, and his influence frona this time con- 
tinued increasing. The Almighty commands — in the 
language of the prophet — and his servants go down to 
the depths, and mount up again to heaven. 

By Frederick's order, Spalatin summoned Luther to 
liichtemberg, to have an interview with him. They con- 
versed a long time on the situation of affairs. If the 
censures arrive from Rome,'' said Luther, " certainly 1 
shall not stay at Wittemberg." " Beware," said Spala- 
tin, " of being too precipitate in going to France."* He 
left him, telling him to wait for further orders. " Only 
commend my soul to Christ," said Luther to his friends. 
" I see that my adversaries are still more determined in 
their designs to ruin me ; but meanwhile Christ strength- 
ens me in my resolution to concede nothing."f 

Luther now published his " Report of the Conference 
at Augsburg." Spalatin had written to him, on the part 
of the elector, not to do so ; but the letter came too late. 
As soon as the publication had taken place, the prince 
gave his sanction. Great God," said Luther in his 
preface, "what a new, what an amazing crime to seek 
for light and truth, and above all, in the church ; that is 
to say, in the kingdom of truth." " I send you my Re- 
port," wrote he to Link: "it is keener no doubt than the 
legate expects ; but my pen is ready to produce much 
greater things. I do not know myself whence these 
thoughts arise. In my opinion, the work is not yet be- 
gun,! so far are the great ones at Rome mistaken in 
looking for the end. I will send you what I have writ- 
ten, in order that you may judge whether I have guessed 
rightly that the antichrist of whom St. Paul speaks now 
reigns in the court of Rome. I think I shall be able to 
Bhow that he is worse nowadays than the Turks them- 
eelves." 

Sinister reports reached Luther from every side. One 
of his friends wrote to him that the new eovoy from 

* Ne tarn cito in Galliam irem. L. Epp 1. 195. + Firmat 
Christus propositum non cedendi in me. Ibid. t 
dpin habet initium Buum meo judioio. Ibid. 19Sk 



DISComENT AT ROME. 



437 



Ron e had received an order to lay hold of him and de- 
liver him up to the pope. Another related, that while 
travelling he had met with a courtier, and that the con- 
versation turning on the matters that were now occupy- 
ing all Germany, the latter declared that he had under- 
taken to deliver Luther into the hands of the sovereign 
pontiff. "But the more their fury and their violence 
increase," wrote the reformer, " the less I tremble."* 

At Rome they were much displeased with Cajetan. 
The vexation felt at the ill-success of this business was 
at first vented on him. The Roman courtiers thought 
they had reason to reproach him for having been defi- 
cient in that prudence and address which, if we must 
believe them, were the chief qualities in a legate, and 
for not having relaxed, on so important an occasion, the 
strictness of his scholastic theology. It is all his fault, 
said they. His clumsy pedantry spoiled all. Why did 
he exasperate Luther by insults and threats, instead of 
alluring him by the promise of a rich bishopric, or even 
of a cardinaPs hat ?f These mercenaries judged of the 
reformer by themselves. Still the failure must be re- 
trieved. On the one hand, Rome must declare herself ; 
on the other, she must conciliate the elector, who might 
be very serviceable to her in the choice they would soon 
have to make of an emperor. As it was impossible for 
Roman ecclesiastics to suspect whence Luther derived 
his courage and his strength, they imagined that the 
elector was implicated more deeply in the affair than he 
really was. The pope therefore resolved to pursue an- 
other course. He caused a bull to be published in Ger- 
many by his legate, in which he confirmed the doctrine 
of indulgences, precisely in the points attacked, but in 
which he made no mention either of Luther or of the 
elector. As the reformer had always declared that he 
would submit to the decision of the Roman church, the 
pope imagined that ne would now either keep his word, 
or exhibit himself openly as a disturber of the peace of 
the church, and a contemner of the holy apostolic see. 

• Quo illi magis furunt, et vi affectant viam, eo minus ego iea^ 
reor. L. Epp. 1. 191. f Sarpi, Council of Trent, p. S 



438 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

In either case the pope could not but gain ; no advau* 
tage, however, is derived by obstinately opposing the 
truth. In vain had the pope threatened with excommu- 
nication whoever should teach otherwise than he or- 
dained ; the light is not stopped by such orders. It 
would have been wiser to moderate by certain restric- 
tions the pretensions of the sellers of indulgences. This 
decree from Rome was therefore a new fault. By legal- 
izing crying abuses, it irritated all wise men, and render- 
ed Luther's reconciliation impossible. " It was thought,'' 
Bays a Roman-catholic historian, a great enemy to the 
Reformation,* " that this bull had been issued solely for 
the benefit of the pope and the begging friars, who began 
to find that no one would purchase their indulgences." 

Cardinal De Vio published the decree at Lintz, in 
Austria, on the 13th of December, 1518 ; but Luther had 
already placed himself beyond its reach. On the 28th 
of November he had appealed, in the chapel of Corpus 
Ohristi, at Wittemberg, from the pope to a general coun- 
cil of the church. He foresaw the storm that was about 
to burst upon him ; he knew that God alone could dis- 
perse it ; but he did what it was his duty to do. He 
must, no doubt, quit Wittemberg, if only on the elector's 
account, as soon as the Roman anathemas arrive : he 
would not, however, leave Saxony and Germany without 
a striking protest. He therefore drew one up, and that 
it might be ready for circulation as soon as the Roman 
thunders reached him, as he expresses it, he had it print- 
ed under the express condition that the bookseller should 
deposit all the copies with him. But this man, covetous 
of gain, sold almost every one, while Luther was calmly 
waiting to receive them. The doctor was vexed, but the 
thing was done. This bold protest was soon circulated 
everywhere. In it Luther declared anew that he had no 
intention of saying any thing against the holy church or 
the authority of the apostolic see, and of the pope when 
well-advised. But," continues he, " seeing that the pope, 
who is God's vicar upon earth, may, like any other man, 
err, sin, and lie, and that an appeal to a general council 
* Maimbourg, p. 38. 



APPEAL TO A COtTNCiL 



439 



is die only raeans of safety against that injustice which 
It is impossible to resist, I am obliged to have recourse 
to this step."* 

Here we see the Reformation launched on a new ca- 
reer. It is no longer made dependent on the pope and 
on his resolutions, but on a general council. Luther 
addresses the whole church, and the voice that proc^eeds 
from the chapel of Corpus Christi must be heard thrcugh- 
out all the Lord's fold. The reformer is not wanting in 
courage ; of this he has just given a new proof. Will 
God be wanting to him ? This we shall learn from the 
different periods of the Reformation that still remain to 
be displayed before our eyes. 

• Losoher. Ref. Act 



