AN eye-witness, Veit de Warbeck, in a letter to the elector John, thus describes the doctor's entrance into Worms.

"To-day, the 16th of April, Luther has arrived at Worms along with a monk of his order, and a Danish nobleman, Suaven. Before the carriage marched the imperial herald, in full costume, with the eagle on his wrist. Justus Jonas and his servant came behind. A great number of persons had come to meet the monk; there were Bernard of Hirschfeld, John Schotte, Albert of Lindenau mounted on horseback, and many others besides. At ten o'clock he made his entry into the town in sight of many thousands of citizens, who accompanied him to his lodging, near the Swan, where several of the Saxon counsellors had put up."

* * * *

Luther passed almost the whole night at the window of his abode; now looking trustfully up to heaven, now playing an air on the flute which he had brought to amuse himself on the journey.

Next day the noble master of the horse and marshal of the empire, Ulrich von Pappenheim, sought out Luther, preceded by the herald, Sturm, and ordered him, in the name of the emperor, to appear at four o'clock in the afternoon, before his Majesty, the princes, the electors, the generals, and the heads of the Orders of the empire. The monk replied: "God's will be done; I will obey." It was about eight o'clock in the morning; Luther was on his knees in prayer. Mathesius has preserved for us these aspirations of the monk, of which here are some fragments.

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God, God, O my God, come my aid, and protect my cause against the wisdom of the world. Hear me; Thou only art able to grant my prayer! It is Thy cause, my God, and not mine; it is not for me, but for Thee, to defend me against the lords of the earth. It is Thy cause; the cause of justice and of eternity. God of all ages, come to my aid; man can give me no succour. That which

stumbles and falls. O my God, hast Thou not ears? wilt Thou not hear me? art Thou dead? No, Thou canst not die! My God, help me, in the name of Thy wellbeloved Son, Jesus Christ, my strength and my stay, my citadel and my defence. Where art Thou, my God, where art Thou? Come, come; I am ready to give my life like a lamb. It is the cause of justice; it is Thy cause; and I will not be parted from Thee. The world cannot prevail; and though it should be a prey to a greater legion of devils, even though the work of Thy hands is to fall, and the earth to open its abysses under my feet, my soul is Thine, it dwells with Thee through eternity. Amen. God, help me! Amen."

My

At the hour named, Ulrich von Pappenheim returned with the herald Sturm. That the crowd, spread throughout the streets and especially round the emperor's palace, should not inconvenience the monk, it was arranged that he should pass through the gardens and enter by a private door. But it was all the guards could do to keep back the gurgling masses of people who pressed at all openings to see the doctor; the roofs of the houses were covered with spectators.

At

Charles the Fifth was on his throne. He wore the Spanish dress; an ermine hood, a cap ornamented with ostrich feathers, close fitting hose, wide, high shoes, a ruffled collar, and a necklace of fine pearls, from which hung the order of the Golden Fleece. Below the throne sat the two papal nuntios on great crimson velvet chairs; Cardinal Caraccioli in a red cassock, Aleander in a violet robe, both wearing their beards pointed, as had been the custom at the court of Julius the Second. the right hand of the emperor were the two ecclesiastical electors, the Archbishop of Mentz, Albert, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and the Archbishop of Trèves; on the left, the four lay electors in velvet mantles bordered with ermine; at Charles' side, John of Eck, the imperial orator, and procurator of the Archbishop of Trèves, was turning over some pamphlets of different sizes which lay on a small table. By his shorn head and by the long rope round his waist, might be recognised

surmounted by the Latin cross. Mingled through the hall could be seen knights from every district of Germany, in their steel cuirasses ; monks in the various frocks of their orders; Spaniards of the prince's retinue, almost all in coats of yellow silk; bare heads and helmeted heads; lawyers with their books of the imperial constitution in their hands; bishops exhibiting the pope's bull; magistrates and theologians.

The weather was splendid. Through the great windows of the hall, the sun poured dazzling streams of light on the assemblage. When the steps of Luther were heard, there fell one of those profound silences when all men hold their breath and the beating of the heart alone is heard. The eyes of that brilliant gathering were turned from the emperor and fixed on the monk. At the sight of Luther, every one rose, regardless of the sovereign's presence. A confused noise was heard, which appeared to trouble the monk, for he passed his hand before his face, as if to dispel a cloud. At that moment some eager spectators drew near, and murmured in his ear, "Courage, brother! Fear not those who can kill the body, but rather Him who is able to destroy soul and body in eternal flames." A knight spoke out loud: "Do not think what you are to say; the Lord will inspire thee." Luther turned round, and his eye, lit up with sudden animation, showed that the words had reached his ear.

Then John of Eck, not the theologian of Ingoldstadt, that hero of the Leipsic discussion, but the lawyer, the Archbishop of Trèves' procurator, rose, and thus commenced to interrogate Luther, first in Latin, then in German.

"Martin Luther, his sacred and invincible Majesty, after the advice of the Orders of the empire, summons you here to answer two questions which I am about to put to you. Do you confess yourself the author of the writings published under your name, which are produced in the court, and do you consent to retract some of the doctrines which are taught in them?"

Luther was about to answer, when his adviser, the lawyer Jerome Schurf, demanded that the titles of the works should be * * * * read.

The procurator rose and said that Luther had not answered the question, that it was not necessary to discuss doctrines already condemned by the councils of the Church, but that he demanded a reply straight and simple, if he would or would not retract.

Luther replied with still greater boldness:

"Since your sacred Majesty and your highnesses demand a simple answer, I will give you one; it shall have neither horns nor teeth, and here it is. Unless I can be convinced of error by the witness of the Scriptures or by evidence (for I do not believe in the sole authority of pope and councils, who have so often erred or contradicted each other, and I recognise

The Orders retired to deliberate; then the procurator again said,

"Martin Luther, you have spoken in a style which does not become such a man as you, and you have not answered the question. Without doubt you are the author of certain writings, of which some cannot be visited with any censure. If you had disavowed the books in which your errors are inculcated, his Majesty, of his infinite goodness, would not have allowed those to be prosecuted in which nothing but pure doctrines are taught. You have resuscitated dogmas condemned by the council of Constance, and you demand to be convinced of them by the Scriptures. But if any one had the liberty of disputing on these points, decided so many centuries ago by the Church and the councils, there would be no more doctrine nor dogmas, nothing any longer certain or fixed, no more belief which men must hold under the pain of eternal damnation. For you who to-day reject the authority of the council of Constance, will to-morrow proscribe all councils, then the fathers and the doctors, then all authority except this private judgment which you call to witness, and which we also appeal to. Therefore his Majesty demands an answer, simple and precise, affirm

Luther here asked that his Majesty should allow him to be true to his conscience, bound as it was by the Holy Scriptures. A categorical answer had been required of him; he had given one. He could only repeat what he had already declared, that, unless it could be proved to him by irresistible arguments that he had erred, he would not retreat a single foot; that what councils had taught were not articles of faith, that they had often been mistaken and contradictory, that therefore their witness was not convincing; that he could not disavow what was written in the inspired books.

The procurator answered that he could not show that the councils had erred. The doctor engaged to prove it.

As it was now late, the diet broke up its meeting. As he retired, the man of God was pursued by the mockeries of certain Spaniards, who amused themselves by tearing some of the doctor's books which they had taken off the shelves of the library.

Luther, repeating in Latin what he had first said in German, had spoken for upwards of two hours. The perspiration streamed down his brow; his face looked worn; he had need of rest. On his return to his lodgings he found a can of Eimbeck beer which some one had sent him. He took it off

owe this present?" "To Duke Eric of Brunswick," replied Amsdorf. "Ah," said Luther, "as Duke Eric has thought of me today, so may God think one day of him!"

Two days after, the princeelectors, the grand officers, and the Orders of the empire, being assembled again, a message from the emperor was announced. All the Orders rose in sign of respect, and the secretary of the diet, in a loud voice, read the imperial rescript, couched in these terms :

"Our ancestors the Kings of Spain, the Archdukes of Austria, the Dukes of Burgundy, protectors and defenders of the Catholic faith, have defended its integrity by their blood and their swords, at the same time that they have made it their care that due obedience should be rendered to the decrees of the Church. We shall not lose sight of these good examples; we shall walk in the footsteps of our ancestors, and shall protect with all our strength this faith which we have received as an inheritance. And as there is found a monk who dares to attack at once the dogmas of the Church and the chief of catholicity, defending with obstinacy the errors into which he has fallen, and refusing to retract them, we have judged that the progress of these disorders must be opposed, even at the peril of our blood, our possessions, our rank, of the fortune of the empire, that Germany may not be dis

Luther, whose inflexible obstinacy the princes have learned to know, and we order that he depart under the faith of the promise we have given him, and return without preaching or exciting tumults on his way."

Nevertheless Luther was visited by a great number of princes, counts, barons, knights, gentry, prelates and laymen. The imperial palace was besieged by a multitude which was never tired of looking at the Augustine monk.

The

"The doctor's little chamber cannot contain all the visitors," writes Spalatin. "I recognised the Landgrave, Phillip of Hesse, Duke William of Brunswick, Count William of Henneberg." Elector Frederic, trembling lest Luther should give way before the diet, had been so astonished at the courage of his protégé, that in the evening he sent for Spalatin to his bedroom, and taking his hand, exclaimed, "How well he spoke, both in German and in Latin, this Father Martin!"

It happened that on the palace wall was fixed a manuscript placard, bearing these words :— "Against you, papists, against you, Archbishop of Mentz, four hundred knights have sworn war to the death, under an oath, because you have desired to oppress the just of the Lord. Beware! we shall soon be eight thousandBUNDSCHUCH." "This was," says Luther, "a piece of wickedness contrived by my enemies to furnish