ERASMUS'S DECLARATION-HIS ADVICE THE CONFESSIONAL. 157 tien so suddenly put to him, endeavoured at first to evade a reply. He screwed up his mouth, bit his lips, and remained silent. Hereupon the Elector raised his eye-brows, (as was his custom, Spalatin, tells us, when he meant to force an explicit answer from the person with whom he was conversing,) and looked Erasmus steadfastly in the face. The latter, at a loss how to extricate himself from the difficulty, replied at last, in a half-jocular tone; "Luther has committed two grievous sins; he has attacked the Pope's crown and the monks' bellies." The Elector smiled, but intimated to his visitor that he was in earnest Erasmus then, casting off his reserve, replied as follows: "The origin of all these dissensions is the hatred the monks bear to learning, and the fear that besets them of seeing their tyranny brought to an end. What are the weapons of their warfare against Luther! clamour, cabal, malice, and slander. The more virtuous a man is, and the more strongly attached to the doctrines of the Gospel, the less does he find to censure in Luther's proceedings. The severity of the bull has roused the indignation of all good men; for they find in it none of the gentleness that befits the Vicar of Christ. Two universities only, out of the whole number, have condemned Luther; and even they have condemned without having convicted him. Let them not deceive themselves; the danger is greater than some persons imagine. There are difficulties in their way which will not easily be surmounted. To begin the reign of Charles by so unpopular an act as Luther's imprisonment, would be an evil omen for the future. The world is thirsting for gospel truth: let us beware how we resist so holy a desire. Let the whole question be examined by dispassionate and competent judges; it is the only course that can be followed, consistently with the dignity of the Pope himself." Such was the language of Erasmus to the Elector. Its frankness may perhaps astonish us; but Erasmus well knew to whom he was speaking. Spalatin listened to it with delight. When Erasmus took his leave, he accompanied him the whole way to the house of Count von Nuenar, the provost of Cologne, where the illustrious scholar resided. The latter, obeying the impalse of the moment, when he found himself at home, sat down, committed to writing the substance of what he had said to the Elector, and gave the paper into Spalatin's hands. The fear of Aleander, however, soon took possession of his mind; the courage he had felt in the presence of the Elector and his chaplain forsook him, and he entreated Spalatin to let him have that unguarded paper back again, lest it should fall into the hands of the terrible Nuncio. But it was already too late. The Elector, feeling himself strengthened by the opinion of Erasmus, assumed a more decided tone in his communications with the Emperor. Erasmus himself, in several conferences, which (like those granted to Nicodemus of old,) were held at night,** laboured hard to persuade the Imperial counsellors that the whole affair might be referred to the judgment of an impartial tribunal. He probably hoped that he himself might be chosen to decide the controversy which Da sperret accep wahrlich mein gnadigst Herr seine Augen nur wohl auf ... (Spalatin Hist. MS. in Seckendorf, p. 291.) + Lutherus peccavit in duobus, nempe quod tetigit coronam pontificis et ventres monachorum. (See the first volume.) Cum optimus quisque et evangelicæ doctrinæ proximus dicatur minime offensus Luthero. (Axiomata Erasmi in L. Opp. lat. ii. 115.) Bullæ sevitia probos omnes offendit ut indigna mitissimo Christi vicario. (Ibid.) Urgent ardua negotia. Mundus sitit veritatem evangelicam. (Ibid.) **Sollicitatis per nocturnos congressus p. 87.) ... (Pallavicini, threatened to divide the Christian world. His vanity would have found ample gratification in such an office. But, at the same time, that he might not lose his credit at Rome, he wrote to Leo X. in the most submissive terms, and Leo answered his letters graciously; a circumstance which was the source of deep mortification to Aleander. In his devotion to the Pope's cause, the Nuncio would willingly have administered a severe reproof to the Pope himself; for Erasmus gave publicity to the Pontiff's letters, and made them subservient to the confirmation of his own credit. Aleander forwarded a remonstrance on this head to the Vatican. The reply he received was to this effect: "Do not appear to perceive the evil intentions of the man. Prudence forbids it. We must not close the door of repentance against him."+ Charles himself adopted a system of equipoise, which consisted in flattering both the Pope and the Elector, and manifesting a disposition to lean alternately to the one side or the other, according to the shifting exigency of the moment. His ministers obscurely intimated to Aleander the plan which their master was inclined to follow. "The Emperor," said they, "will be regulated in his conduct toward the Pope, by the tenor of the Pope's conduct toward himself: he does not choose to increase the power of his rivals, particularly that of the king of France." these words, the arrogant Nuncio gave vent to his indignation: "What," he replied, "even though the Pope should relinquish his alliance with the Emperor, must the Emperor on that account relinquish his creed? If that be the way in which he means to avenge himself, bid him tremble-his faithlessness will be visited on his own head!" But the Imperial diplomatists were not to be intimidated by the Nuncio's threats. At Yet, though the Roman legates had failed to bend the great ones of this world to their will, the inferior agents of the Papacy succeeded in making some inpression on the lower ranks of men. The myrmidons of Rome had heard the command given by their chief. Many fanatical priests gladly took advantage of the bull to alarm the consciences of their hearers, and many well-meaning but ill-instructed ecclesiastics deemed it a sacred duty to obey the injunctions of the Pope. It. was in the confessional that the struggle against Rome had been begun by Luther; it was in the confessional that Rome now put forth her strength against the adherents of the Reformer. Denied all public recognition of its validity, the bull, nevertheless, became powerfully operative in these solitary tribunals. Have you read the writings of Luther?" was the question put by the confessor: "have you them in your posession? do you regard them as true or heretical?" And if the penitent hesitated to pronounce the prescribed anathema, the priest refused him absolution. The consciences of many were disturbed. Great agitation prevailed among the people. This dexterous expedient promised fair to bring multitudes once more under the papal yoke, who had but now been won over to the gospel. Well might Rome rejoice that six centu ries before she had created a tribunal so admirably adapted to secure to the priesthood a despotic sway over the conscience of every Christian. So long as that tribunal stands, her empire shall not be overthrown. Luther was speedily informed of what was going on. With none to aid him in baffling this device, how shall he act? The Word, the testimony of holy Writ, * Quæ malé torquebant Aleandrum. (Ibid.) Prudentis erat consilii hominis pravitatem dissimulare. (Pallavicini, p. 88.) Cæsarem ita se gesturum erga Pontificem uti se Fontifex erge Cæsarem gereret (Ibid. 91.) 6 See Vol. I. 288. In 1215, by the fourth Lateran Council, under Innocent the Third. 158 ON CONFESSION—ANTI-CHRIST—LUTHER'S CAUSE GAINS GROUND. From loudly and fearlessly proclaimed-this shall be his were continually flocking to the university, and from weapon of defence. The Word shall find access to five to six hundred disciples were statedly assembled those troubled consciences, those dismayed hearts-to listen to the lectures of Luther and Melancthon. and they shall be strengthened. A powerful impulse The convent chapel, and the city church, were both was needed, and powerfully was the voice of Luther too small for the eager crowd that hung on the lips of ifted up. He addressed the penitents in a tone of the reformer. The prior of the Augustines was in intrepid dignity, and high minded contempt, for all constant alarm, lest the buildings should give way secondary considerations. When you are asked," under the weight of the throngs that filled them.* said he, "whether or not you approve of my books, Nor was this excitement confined within the walls of let your answer be- You are a confessor, not an in-Wittemberg-all Germany partook of it. quisitor, nor a gaoler. It is my duty to confess princes, nobles, and scholars, in every quarter-Luwhatsoever my conscience prompts me to disclose, it ther received letters that spoke the language of enis yours to abstain from prying into the secrets of my couragement and of faith. More than thirty such heart. Give me absolution first, and then dispute with letters were shown by him to Spalatin.t Luther-with the pope-with whomsoever you please; On one occasion the Margrave of Brandenburg, acbut beware of turning the sacrament of penance into companied by several other princes, came to Witteman instrument of strife and debate.' And if the con-berg, to pay Luther a visit. They wanted to see the fessor should refuse to yield," said Luther, "I would man," as he expresses it. And of a truth, all wanted dispense with his absolution. Be not disquieted; if to see the man whose voice stirred the nations, and man absolves you not, God will absolve you. Rejoice, caused the pontiff of the west to totter on his throne. therefore, that you are absolved of God himself, and The enthusiasm of Luther's friends grew stronger come forward fearlessly to the sacrament of the altar. every day. "Oh, the unheard of folly of Emser!" The priest will have to answer at the last day for the cried Melancthon, "that he should presume to measure absolution he has withheld. They may deny us the his strength with our Hercules, overlooking the finger sacrament, but they cannot deprive us of the strength of God in what has been done by Luther, even as the and grace which God has attached to it. It is not king of Egypt overlooked it in the acts of Moses." their will, nor any power of theirs, but our own faith, The mild Melancthon employed the most energetic that the Lord has made essential to our salvation. language to urge forward such as appeared to him to The sacrament-the altar-the priest-the church-be falling back, or pausing in their course. Luther we may pass them all by; that word of God which has arisen to defend the truth," said he, addressing the bull condemned is more than all these things! John Hesse, "and dost thou keep silence? He The soul may dispense with the sacrament, but it cannot live without the Word. Christ, the true Bishop, will himself supply your spiritual feast."* breathes still-aye, and prospers-in spite of all the wrath and fury of Pope Leo. Remember that it is impossible for Romish impiety to give a sanction to the gospel. In this unhappy age how can we hope that a Judas, or a Caiaphas-a Pilate, or a Herod, will ever be wanting to uphold the evil cause? Stand forth, then, to resist such adversaries, in the might of God's holy word." Such was the strain of Luther's exhortation. That animating voice pierced the recesses of every dwelling -of every troubled bosom-and courage and faith were everywhere awakened by its echoes. But it was not enough for him to stand on the defensive-he felt that he must become the assailant, and return blow Besides this, caustic satires against the most confor blow. A book had been written against him by a spicuous of the Italian agents of the pope were circuRoman theologian, named Ambrosius Catharinus. "Ilated through all the provinces of the empire. Ulrich will rouse the choler of that Italian beast, said Luther. He kept his word. In his answer, he proved by the revelations of Daniel and St. John, by the epistles of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Jude, that the kingdom of Anti-Christ, predicted and described in the Bible, was no other than the Papacy. "I know for certain," said he, in conclusion, "that our Lord Jesus Christ liveth and reigneth. In the strength of that assurance, I could face ten thousand popes, and never shrink. May God visit us at length according to his infinite power, and hasten the day of the glorious coming of his Son, in which he shall destroy that man of sin. And let all the people say, Amen."‡ And all the people did say, Amen! A sacred dread took possession of every mind. The image of AntiChrist, seated on the Pontifical throne, was present to every imagination. This new idea, so startingly displayed by Luther to his contemporaries in the glowing colours of prophetic delineation, gave a fearful shock to the power of Rome. Faith in the divine Word succeeded to that unqualified submission which had hitherto been rendered to the Church; and the pope's authority, so long regarded with the deepest reverence, was now the object of general detestation and terror. Germany replied to the papal bull by saluting Luther with redoubled acclamations. The plague had made its appearance in Wittemberg, yet new students Und wird dich der rechte Bischopp Christus selber speisen. (L. Opp. lxvii., 563.) Italicæ bestiæ bilem movebo. (L. Epp. ii. 570) Ostendat illum diem adventus gloriæ Filii sui quo destruatur iniquus ist. (L. Opp. lat. ii. 162.) Von Hütten, was indefatigible in his exertions. He addressed letters to Luther, to the Legates, to all the most considerable personages of Germany. I tell thee-once and again I tell thee, O Marinus!" said he, in an epistle to the legate, Carraciola, "that those deceitful mists, with which you blinded our eyes, are scattered for ever; the gospel is preached, the truth is made known, the absurdities of Rome are given up to contempt-your decrees are unheeded, and null-our deliverance is at hand."¶ Not content with the use of prose, Hütten had recourse also to verse. He published his "Outcry on the Fire raised by Luther."** Appealing in his poem 282.), ab || Non posse Evangelium Romanæ impictati probari. (Corp Quo tu oculos, pie Christe, tuos, frontisque severe (In Incendium Lutheranum Exclamatio Ulrich 159 VON HUTTEN-CARNIVAL AT WITTEMBERG-STAUPITZ ALARMED. to Christ himself, he besought him to rebuke in his | judge, you will seem to renounce me and the doctrines fiery displeasure all who dared to deny his authority. which I have maintained. If Christ loves you, he Hutten was not inclined to stop at words-he was will constrain you to retract your letter. Christ is eager to draw his sword in the struggle. Luther re- rejected, stripped, blasphemed: this is not the time to proved his rash designs. "I would not have the gospel shrink back, but to sound the onset.* You exhort supported by violence and carnage," said he : "I have me to be humble: I, on the other hand, exhort you written to Hütten to tell him so. "'* to be firm for you have too much humility, as I have The celebrated painter, Lucas Cranach, published a too much pride. I shall be called a proud man-I set of prints under the title of Christ's Passion and know-a covetous man, an adulterer, a homicide, an Anti-Christ: representing on one side the glory and anti-pope, a wretch guilty of every crime. It matters magnificence of the pope; on the other, the humilia- little, so that no one can charge me with having impition and sufferings of the Redeemer. Luther comously kept silence, while the Lord was complaining: posed the inscriptions for these prints. They produced" I looked on my right hand, and beheld; but there was an unexampled effect. The people renounced their no man that would know me." The word of Christ is attachment to a church which appeared in every parti- a word, not of peace, but of the sword. If you will cular so directly opposed to the example of its founder. not follow Christ, let me advance alone. I will press "It is an excellent work," said Luther, "for the forward, and the prize of the high calling shall be laity."+ mine."t In some instances those who attacked the papacy employed weapons ill suited to the sanctity of the Christian character. Emser had answered Luther's work, addressed "To the Goat of Leipsic ;" by another, inscribed "To the Bull of Wittemberg" the appellation was not ill chosen. But at Magdeburgh, Eiser's book was hung to the gallows, with this inscription, "The Book is worthy of its place," and a rod was hung under it to denote the punishment due to the author. At Doeblin there was written under the pope's bull, in derision of its impotent fury, Thé nest is here, but the birds are flown." The Students of Wittemberg, taking advantage of the carnival, dressed up one of their own number in garments resembling those worn by the pope, and carried him in pompous procession, though in a manner somewhat too ludicrous, as Luther remarks, through the streets of the city. When they reached the great square beside the river, some of them, feigning a mutiny, made a sudden attempt to throw the pope into the water. His holiness, unwilling to submit to the immersion, took to his heels; his cardinals, his bishops, and familiars of every degree, did the same; the students chased them from street to street, and every corner of Wittemberg enjoyed the spectacle of some Romish dignitary pursued by the jeers and shouts of the excited populace. "The enemy of Christ," says Luther, "who mocks at kings, and at Christ himself, meets but a just requital, when he also is turned into mockery." Here, in our judgment, he errs; the spotless dignity of truth ought not to be so profaned. In the conflicts she is called upon to wage, she needs not such auxiliaries as songs, or the caricatures, or mummeries of a carnival. It may be, indeed, that, without these popular demonstrations, her success would be less apparent: but it would be purer, and, consequently, more durable. It was not all exultation, and defiance, however, with the reformner. Behind his triumphal chariot, drawn joyously along by enthusiastic and devoted adherents, there stood the slave, to remind him of impending evil. Some of his friends, at this time, seemed disposed to retrace their steps. Staupitz, whom he called his father, appeared to be wavering. The pope had accused him, and Staupitz had declared himself ready to submit to the judgment of his holiness. fear," said Luther, "that, by accepting the pope as your * Nollem vi et cæde pro Evangelio certari; ita scripsi ad hominum. (L. Epp. i. 243 ) Bonus et pro laicis liber. (Ibid. 571.) In publico infamiæ loco affixus. (Ibid. 560.) "I Das Nest is hie. die Vögel sind ausgeflogen. (Ibid 570.) Nimis ludicrè Papam personatum circumvenerunt sublimem et pompaticum. ... (Ibid. 561) Fugitivum cum Cardinalibus, Episcopis, famulisque suis in diversas partes oppidi disperserunt et insecuti sunt. (L. Epp. i. 561. 17 Feb. 1521.) Luther thus, like a consummate general, kept a watchful eye on the face of the battle; and, while fresh combatants were continually rushing forward at his bidding, into the thickest of the fight, he failed not to mark where any of his followers were beginning to give ground; nor was he slow to rally them again, beneath their adopted standard. His warning voice resounded far and wide. Letter followed letter in rapid succession. Three printing presses were incessantly employed in multiplying the copies of his various writings. His discourses passed from hand to hand through the whole nation-supporting the agitated penitent in the confessional-giving courage to the faltering convert in the cloister, and asserting the claims of evangelic truth, even in the abodes of princes. "Amid the storms that assailed me," he wrote to the elector," I always hoped that I should be permitted to enjoy repose at last. But I now see that this was one of the thoughts of man. Day after day the waves are rolling higher, and on every side the ocean hems me in. Fiercely, indeed, is the tempest raging, ye I still grasp the sword with one hand, while with the other I build up the walls of Zion." His former ties are now broken; the arm that levelled the thunders of excommunication against him, has severed them for ever. Being excommunicated by the bull," said he, "I am released from the authority of the pope, and the monastic laws. I embrace my deliverance with joy. Yet I relinquish not the habit of my order; nor do I leave the convent." And still, in the midst of all this commotion, he recalls to mind the dangers to which his own soul is exposed in the struggle. He feels the necessity of watching over himself. "Thou dost well to pray for me," he wrote to Pellican, who was residing at Basle; "I cannot give myself up as I ought to holy exercises; life is a cross to me. dost well in exhorting me to moderation; I feel the need of it; but I am not master of myself: an impulse of, I know not what nature, hurries me away. I bear enmity to no man ;** but I am so beset with enemies, myself, that I cannot be sufficiently on my guard against the seductions of Satan. Pray for me, then. Thou Thus it was, that both the reformer and the reformNon enim hic tempus timendi sed clamandi. (Ibid. 557.) + Quod si tu non vis sequi, sine me ire et rapi. (L. Epp. i. 559.) Cum tria prælia solus ego occupare cogar. Ibid) Videns rem tumultuosissimo tumultu tumultuantem. (Ibid. 546.) Unna manu gladium apprehendens et alterâ murum ædi ficaturus. (Ib. 565.) Ab ordinis et Papæ legibus solutus.. quod gaudeo et amplector. (L. Epp. i. 569.) Compos mei non sum, rapior nescio quo spiritû, cum nemini me male veile conscius sim. (Ibid. 555.) 160 66 PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION-DIFFICULTIES. ation were led forward on the way which God had marked out for them. The agitation was still spreading more widely. Persons, who might have been expected to prove the stanchest adherents of the hierarchy, began now to share in the general movement. Those, even," says Eck, with considerable candour, "on whom the pope has conferred the best benefices, and the richest prebends, are as mute as so many senseless stocks. There are many of them, even, who extol Luther, as a man filled with the spirit of God, and call the defenders of the pope sophists and flatterers." The church, apparently in full vigour, supported by the treasures, the power, the armed array of the world-but, in reality, exhausted, enfeebled, destitute of the love of God, of Christian vitality, of devotion to the truth-found herself, in this condition, opposed to a company of simple-minded, but courageous men, who had learned that God is with them who contend for his word, and, therefore, never doubted of their victory. In all ages it has been seen how great is the power of any predominant idea to work upon the inert mass of mankind, to rouse the spirit of a nation, and to urge its votaries by thousands, if need be, into the field of battle, and the very jaws of death. But if an idea, whose origin is earthly, has a potency so great-what limit shall we set to the power of one communicated from above, when God, himself, has opened men's hearts to receive it? Not often, indeed, in the world's history, has such a power been exerted; it was displayed, however, in the infancy of Christianity-at the period of the reformation it was exhibited again—and it shall be witnessed once more in the latter days. Men who despised the riches and the grandeur of the world, and were content to lead a life of poverty and privation, began now to bestir themselves for the sake of that most precious of all treasures, the doctrine of truth and grace. All the elements of religious feelings were fermenting in the agitated bosom of society, and a glowing enthusiasm was kindled in men's souls, which forced them by an irresistible impulse, into that glorious career opened by the providence of God for the moral renovation of their race. BOOK VII. THE DIET OF WORMS-1521-JANUARY TO MAY. important a part in the Reformation, arrived at Worms about the middle of January, with a train of six hundred cavaliers, many of them highly distinguished for their military prowess. THE Reformation engendered by the solitary strug-| grave, Philip, of Hesse, who was afterward to play so gles of a broken and contrite spirit, in a cell of the convent at Erfurth, had been gaining strength from the moment of its birth. A man of humble station, holding in his hand the word of life, had stood erect in the presence of earthly dignities, and they had A more powerful motive, however, had actuated the quailed before him. Armed with that word alone, he electors, the dukes, the archbishops, the landgraves, the had encountered first Tetzel and his numerous host, margraves, the bishops, the counts, the barons, and lords of and, after brief resistance, those greedy traffickers had the empire, as well as the deputies of the free cities been driven from the field-then the Roman leagate at and the ambassadors of the various foreign sovereigns, Augsburg, and the legate, in confusion, had suffered whose gorgeous retinues were now pouring from every his prey to escape-then, again, the learned divines quarter into the city of Worms. Intimation had been in the halls of Leipsic, and the astonished theologians, given, that the Diet would be occupied with the nomihad seen the weapons of their scholastic logic shivered nation of a Council of Regency, to administer the goin their hands-lastly, when the pope, himself, had vernment in the emperor's absence, with the question started from his slumbers, to launch his fiercest light-regarding the jurisdiction of the Imperial Chamber, and nings at the head of the offending monk-that same with other weighty matters; but the public attention word had again been the safeguard of him who trusted was chiefly fixed upon a subject distinct from all these, in it, and the arm of the spiritual despot had been but which the emperor had also mentioned in his letters stricken with palsy. One struggle more was yet to of convocation-namely, the Reformation. The great be endured; for the word was destined to triumph political interests of state faded into insignificance when over the emperor of the west, over the kings and contrasted with the cause of the monk of Wittemberg. princes of many lands, and at length, having humbled This was the main topic of discourse among the dig all earthly opposition, to be exalted in the church, and nified personages who were assembled in Worms. there to reign supreme as the very word of the living God. Everything indicated that the Diet would be a difficult and boisterous one. Charles, at this early period, A solemn diet was about to be convened-the first had not yet adopted a decided line of policy; his tutor assembly of the German states since the accession of and first minister died while the assembly was sitting Charles. Nuremberg, the city in which, by virtue of many ambitious designs were on foot-many conthe golden bull, it ought to have been held, was at this flicting passions at work-the Spaniards and the Fletime afflicted by the plague; it was therefore sum-mings were striving hard, to exclude each other from moned to meet at Worms, on the 6th of January, 1521. Never, before, had so many princes been present at the Diet; on this occasion all were desirous of taking a part in the first act of the young emperor's government; all were ambitious of displaying their own grandeur. Among the rest the young Land Reynald, Epist. J. Eckii ad Cardinal Contarenum. ↑ Sleiden, vol. i. 80. the confidence of their youthful Sovereign-the Nuncios were busily pursuing their artful schemes-the German princes had assumed a tone of independence. It was easy to foresce that a struggle was at hand, in which, all the subtleties of party intrigue would find ample exercise.* Es gieng aber auf diesem Reichstag gar schlüpferig zu (Seckend., p. 326.) LUTHER SUMMONED TO WORMS-PUBLIC OPINION. 161 How was Charles to act, between the papal nuncio | jeopardy." The elector alluded to the burning of the on the one hand, and the elector, to whom he was in- pope's bull. debted for his crown, on the other? How avoid giving offence, either to Aleander or to Frederic? The former was continually urging the emperor to execute the pope's bull; the latter as perseveringly entreated him to take no steps against the monk, until he should have allowed him a hearing. Desirous of satisfying both these contending parties, the young prince, during a temporary residence at Oppenheim, had written to the elector to bring Luther to the Diet, on the assurance that no injustice should be practised against him, that he should be protected from all violence, and that a free conference should be allowed him, with men qualified to discuss the disputed point. But the report of Luther's intended appearance had already been circulated at Worms. The seekers after novelty heard it with joy-the Imperial courtiers with alarm-but by none was it received with so indignant a feeling as by the Papal Legate. Aleander, on his way to the Diet, had had opportunities of seeing to what extent the Gospel, proclaimed by Luther, had found acceptance in every class of society. Academicians, lawyers, nobles, the inferior clergy, many even of the monks, and vast numbers of the common people, had embraced the Reformation. The adherents of the new doctrines showed a fearless front, their language was frank and firm-and, on the contrary, an unconquerable terror paralysed the partisans of Rome. The Papacy was standing yet, but those who were regarded as its pillars began to stagger, for their ears had already caught the presages of approaching ruin-presages resembling that faint and dubious sound, which alone gives brief warning when a mountain totters to its fall.+ Aleander, in the course of his journey to Worms, was often subjected to the severest mortification. When he had occasion to halt in any spot for refreshment or repose, neither collegians, nor nobles, nor priests, even among those believed to be favourable to the pope's This letter from Charles, which was accompanied by others from his minister, Chievres, and the Count of Nassau, threw the elector into great perplexity. He well knew that, at any moment, an alliance with the pope might become necessary to the young and ambitious emperor, and that Luther, in that case, would be lost. If he carried the Reformer to Worms, he might probably be conducting him to the scaffold. And yet the emperor's orders were peremptory. The elector desired Spalatin to inform Luther of the directions he had received. "Our enemies," observed the chaplain, "are straining every nerve to accomplish their design."*cause, would venture to receive him, and the haughty The friends of Luther trembled, but he himself par- Nuncio was obliged to seek shelter in the meanest took not of their fears. His health, at that time, was inns.t Alarmed by these symptoms, Aleander convery weak; but this he heeded not. "If I cannot per- cluded that his life was in danger. He arrived at form the journey to Worms as a man in good health,”| Worms with that idea uppermost in his mind, and his said he, in his answer to the elector, "I will be carried Roman fanaticism assumed additional bitterness from thither in a litter. For since the emperor has sum- the sense of personal injury. He had immediate remoned me, I can regard it only as the call of God. If course to every means within his reach to prevent the they intend to use violence against me, as they proba- audacious appearance of the formidable Luther.bly do, for assuredly it is with no view of gaining in-"Would it not be a scandal," said he, "to see laymen formation, that they require me to appear before them; instituting a fresh enquiry into a cause, in which the I commit the matter into the hands of God. He still pope has already pronounced a sentence of condemnalives and reigns, who preserved the three Israelites in tion?" To a Roman courtier, nothing could be so unthe fiery furnace. If it be not His will to save me, my welcome as an enquiry-and, moreover, this was to life is little worth. Let us only take care that the Gos- have taken place in Germany, not at Rome, a circumpel be not exposed to the insults of the ungodly, and stance in itself deeply affronting, even on the suppolet us shed our blood in its defence, rather than allow sition of Luther being eventually condemned without them to triumph. Who shall say, whether my life or a dissentient voice; but such result of the trial was my death would contribute most to the salvation of my uncertain. Might it not be feared that the man, whose brethren! It is not for us to decide. Let us only pray powerful eloquence had already done such deadly misGod, that our young Emperor may not begin his reign chief, might draw aside many of the princes and lords by imbruing his hands in my blood. I would rather into the path of perdition? Aleander's remonstrances perish by the sword of Rome. You remember the with Charles were of the most urgent character; he judgments with which the Emperor Sigismund was entreated, he threatened, he spoke in the lofty tone of visited, after the murder of John Huss. Expect anyone who represented the Head of the Church. Charles thing from me but flight or recantation. † Fly I cannot, still less can I recant." 46 Before Luther's letter reached him, the elector had formed his resolution. This prince, whose acquaintance with the Gospel was daily increasing, began now to adopt a more decided course. He was sensible that the conference at Worms could lead to no advantageous result. It seems to me," he wrote to the emperor," that to bring Luther with me to Worms, would be an undertaking of much difficulty. I beg to be relieved from it. Moreover, it has never been my desire to favour his doctrines, but only to prevent him from being condemned unheard. The Legates, without waiting for your sanction, took measures which were injurious both to Luther's honour, and to mine; and I have reason to fear, that he has been provoked to an act of imprudent retaliation, which, in the event of his appearance at Worms, might place him in extreme Adversarios omnia moliri ad maturandum id negotii. (L. gave way, and wrote to the elector, that, inasmuch as the time allowed to Luther had expired, he was now in the condition of a man actually excommunicated by the pope, and consequently, if he would not retract what he had written, Frederic must leave him at Witternberg. But that prince had already commenced his journey without him. "I beseech the Lord," said Melancthon, when the elector took his departure, "to deal graciously with our sovereign. On him rest all our hopes for the revival of Christianity. His enemies will stop at nothing, kai távra divov kivnooμέvoi,|| but God will bring to nought the devices of Achitophel. As for us, let us perform our part in the conflict |