m:, WmvtPM ^ ■ r '^*/.'» ivlivl«M a^y, LIBRARY OF THE Theological Semin PRINCETON, N. J. )lv! f I'l 1 1 4 mm?i i«Jvrni- ■v^^ ^v* fat W WW y* m i.'ViUi, « v »l ■^V§5^».Wua«! »*». WW « Vfi .V I IStoU ^!:'.:-V-i"\-'l yvw iiWj^iw V^'l^Vl L ;WK 5 W;J, ,, ,iV^:„; wii •^;,wiHH ^ / 3i , 5^^ /L—3 g^j&tZr « V 1 K I -A THE LIFE OF LUTHER; Ijjnial %ifmmt to its (Burlier ^tmh OPENING SCENES THE REFORMATION. BY BARNAS SEARS, D.D. PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, No. 146 CHESTNUT STREET. KEIV rORK-No. 147 NASSAU ST BnsTO.V-No. 9 CORNHILL. LOUISVILLE — No. 103 FOURTH ST. /H-v . Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1S50, by the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. JtKg=» No hooks are published by the American Sundat-schooi, Union without the sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen members, from the following denominations of Christians, \\/,. Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same denomination, and no hook can he published to which any mem- ber of the Committee shall object. I. A hmead, printer. PREFACE. In an age so distinguished for historical research as the present, it would be remarkable if there were no demand for a Life of Luther founded upon new investigations. In the English language the want of such a work is much greater than in the German. In the latter, the facts newly dis- covered, though they lie 'scattered in many different publica- tions, are recorded; while, in the former, they are nearly or quite unknown. To say nothing of Luther's letters, edited by De Wette, and of Melancthon's, by Bretschneider, without which no good biography of Luther can be written, elaborate historical essays, almost without number, on points connected with the life of the Reformer have been published within a few years in Germany, of which hardly a trace can be found in English or American books. The year 1846, the third centennial of Luther's death, was, in this respect, unusually prolific. In the recent histories, too, of old towns and cities, in the publications of learned societies, in the later critical biographies of many of the associates and contemporaries of the Reformer, and in several special and general histories relating to the affairs of Germany in that period, important additions have been made to our knowledge of the life and times of Luther. About three years ago, the Committee of Publication of the American Sunday-school Union applied to the writer to pre- pare a life of Luther, to be published under the auspices of that society. Having, from the time of my temporary resi- dence in Germany, in the years 1834-5, when my historical studies, under the guidance of Neander, commenced, con- •1 PREFACE. tracted some familiarity with the writings of Luther, and with the history of his age, I was induced by my historical tastes, and my interest in the Reformer, some of whose minor works I had edited, no less than by the hope of doing a ser- vice to the young, to engage in the undertaking. During this interval of three years, nearly all the works, amounting to some hundreds of volumes, which cast new light on the subject in hand, have been carefully examined. Many new facts have been brought together, and many obscurities re- moved, while not a few apocryphal accounts have been dis- carded. Persons who are conversant wiih the sources of information will not complain that the admirable work of Jurgens on the youth of Luther should be followed, so far as it extends. No other single work, except Luther's letters, has been used so much as this. But from the year 1517, to Luther's death in 1546, no such explorer and guide could be found. Fortu- nately, from that date, Luther is his own best biographer. The five large volumes of his published letters, with the sup- plementary collections, embrace the history of this period of his life with remarkable fulness of detail. The fact that no •life of the Reformer had been written, in which was incorpo- rated the body of materials contained in his correspondence, determined the mind of the writer to make that correspondence a subject of particular study with reference to his object. The new coloring which would hereby be given to the narrative would, it was believed, render it both more truthful and more interesting. Luther would appear in his own dress. His thoughts, expressed in his own words, would reveal his true character as nothing else would. Never could such a plan be more justifiable than in the case of one so accustomed as he was, to give unreserved, freedom to his tongue and pen, and to speak out all that was in his heart. Indeed, so per- fectly does the character of the individual shine forth in his own utterances and actions that a separate portraiture of it has been omitted as superfluous. PREFACE. 5 It will, I trust, appear that the author has had no theory to establish, no secret purpose to answer, but has studiously laboured to set forth Luther in his real character. II is faults have not been concealed, nor his virtues wittingly overdrawn. It seemed irreverent to interrupt the solemn voice of history, and ill-advised to imitate the example of those who transfigure imperfect and erring men into pure saints, for the blind homage of the ignorant and credulous. In order to give full relief to the picture of Luther's youth and early manhood, for the benefit of the young reader, it was necessary to abridge the latter part of his life. This design was favoured by the consideration that Luther's later years were involved in controversies, which it would be improper to perpetuate in the publications of the Union. Indeed the biographical interest sensibly abates at the point where it begins to expand into general history, a circumstance which would of itself justify the limited plan of the present work. B. Sears. Newton Centre, Jan. 21, 1850. Jr.- ■* / * " a?- — ,-m.] CONTENTS. PART I. FROM LUTHER'S BIRTH TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION IN 1517. CHAPTER I. Tago Luther's Boyhood to the Fourteenth Year of his Age, when he left his Father's House 11 CHAPTER II. Luther at the Schools of Magdeburg and Eisenach, and at the University of Erfurt, from 1197 to 1505 47 CHAPTER III. Luther in the Cloister at Erfurt, from 1505 to 1508 ... 70 CHAPTER IV. Luther as Professor in Wittenberg, till the Beginning of the Reformation in 1517 12G 3 CONTENTS. PART II. FROM THE PUBLISHING OF THE THESES IN 1517, TO THE DEATH OF LUTHER IN 1546. CHAPTER I. Page. The Opening of the Reformation, 1517, till the Time of the Leipsic Disputation in 1518 194 CHAPTER II. The Leipsic Disputation 290 CHAPTER III. Luther and the Diet of Worms 326 CHAPTER IV. From Luther's Capture to the Close of the Peasants' "War, 1521—1525 353 CHAPTER V. Luther's Character as it appears in some particular Spheres of Action not included in the General Narrative . . . 406 CHAPTER VI. The Principal Events of Luther's Life, from his Marriage in 1525 to his Death in 1546 448 DESCRIPTION OF ENGRAVINGS. Page 5. The Augusteum, or University, on the left, and Me- lancthon's house towering high on the right. Page 11. Taken from a medal struck in Saxony, in the year 1617, the first Jubilee of the Reformation. It represents Luther taking a bushel from a lamp or candle — a symbol of the gospel, as is inti- mated by the open Bible at the side, and the name of Jehovah above, in Hebrew letters. Paffe 47. Taken from a medal struck by the city of Worms in 1617. It represents a burning candle standing upon an open Bible, with a serpent endeavouring to extinguish it, and a hand from the clouds pointing to it, and intimating that divine strength feeds the tlame. The medal itself has a Latin inscription — signifying, "0 Lord! let it shine on for ever." Page 51. Entrance to Luther's House in Wittenberg, with " 1540'' inscribed at the top. Page GO. Luther's House, or the Old Augustinian Cloister. His apartment was in the second story, connected with the second and third windows from the right. The entrance was at the door on the right of the tower and near by it. Page Gl. The Ninety-five Theses of Luther on Indulgences, posted up on the door of the Electoral Church at Wittenberg. The hammer is lying at his feet. Page 125. Luther's Monument, erected in 1817 — 1821, in the Market-place at Wittenberg. Page 120. Jubilee-medal struck in Saxony, in 1017, representing the Elector, Frederick the Wise, in his robes of office, holding a sword in his right hand, and pointing with his left to the name of Jehovah. By his side stands Luther, holding a burning light in his right hand, and with the left pointing to the Bible. On the table- cloth is seen the Elector's coat of arms. rage 193. A rear-view of the Parochial or City Church in Wit- tenberg, where Luther commonly preached. 9 10 DESCRIPTION OF ENGRAVINGS. Page 194. From a medal of the second Jubilee of the Reformation, in 1717, in Saxe-Weisenfels. It represents the Church founded upon a rock — the waves of the ocean dashing wildly around it. Page 289. Gate of the Church of All-Saints, or the Palace Church. Page 290. Luther's seal, described by himself, page 497. Page .118. Taken from a medal struck by the Ciry of Nuremberg, in 1717, representing a Bible open to the passage — "The word of the Lord endureth for ever." V. D. M. I. M. are the initials of the same words in Latin — " Verbum Dei Manet In iEternum." On the left of the Bible is a mason's plummet-rule or level, with reference to the passage (Gal. vi. 16): "As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy," &c. Page 325. The Electoral or All-saints' Church at Wittenberg, de- scribed on page 134. Page 32G. The Double-headed Eagle and Crown represent the German Empire. Page 352. The Yard or Court of the Elector's Castle at Wittenberg. Page 353. Taken from a medal struck in Saxony, in 1617, repre- senting a brick-kiln on the left; on the right, the brazen serpent, or serpent on the cross, and the name of Jehovah with a pillar of cloud between. The meaning is, that as Moses conducted the chil- dren of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, so did Luther conduct the people of God from papal captivity. Page 405. The Castle of the Elector at Wittenberg. Page 406. Taken from a medal struck at Halle, in Suabia, in 1617, resembling that on page 326; except that it has the city arms or seal. Page 447. Chapel Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), one of the oldest public buildings in Wittenberg. Page 448. From a medal of Saxe-Gotha, struck in 1717, repre- senting a palm-tree among thorns, and yet nourishing. Its emble- matical import, as applied to the church, is obvious. Upon the medal itself is inscribed a verse from Ovid — " Vixi annos bis centum, nunc tertia vivitur setas" — " I have lived two centuries, and am now liv- ing in the third." PART 1. FROM LUTHER'S BIRTH TILL THE BEGINNING OP THE REFORMATION IN 1517. CHAPTER I, luther's boyhood to the fourteenth year op his age, when he left his father's house. Section I. — Luther s Birth-place and Parentage. OME twenty-five miles north-west of c i Leipsic is situated the old town of Halle, on the Saale. From this town, the road running to the west, after crossing a fertile plain, leads to a romantic spot, at a distance of ten miles, where the hills of south-western Saxony begin to rise, and the flat lands extending all the way from the Baltic Sea reach their termination. Here the road, passing between two beautiful sheets of water, the one fresh and the other salt, enters a vale, with ranges of vine-clad hills on either side, which becomes wider and wider, till at the dis- tance of nearly ten miles it contracts again, and n jo LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. the heights that bounded it converge and form the varied and pleasant scenery of Eisleben, once the capital of the county of Mansfeld. As the traveller enters this town, he leaves, on the left, before proceeding very far, the house where Luther was born, now converted into an edifice for the accommodation of an orphan school. In the same quarter of the city, a few rods to the east, is St. Peter's Church, where, according to the custom of the times, the bo}^ was, on the very next day after his birth, baptized, and christened Martin, as that happened to be St. Martin's clay. This circumstance is highly characteristic of the religious sentiments of that age. The senses and the imagination were employed, more perhaps than the heart, in the service of religion. The infant child was to be brought at once, in imagi- nation at least, into connection with a saint ; and it was behoved that an association of the name would be adapted to awaken in him a correspond- ing association of ideas. The font which was used on that occasion is still shown to the curious traveller. Leaving these places and passing directly on, about half-way through the town, the visiter will reach the point where a broad street, coming from the left, meets at right-angles with the one he is in. Turning in that direction, he will see most of the city lying before him, on a rising eminence. At a little distance stands, on the left, the old and somewhal stately house in which Luther died. On the other side of the street, a few rods above, is to lie seen tlie church in which he preached his I!. I 13.] BIRTH-PLACE AND PARENTAGE. ];! last sermon, the very pulpit in which he stood being still preserved. Let us now look for that district in Thuringia, or Western Saxony, where the ancestors of Luther resided. We will imagine ourselves at the castle of Wartburg, about seventy-five miles south-west of Eislebcn, and about twenty-five west of Erfurt. Before us, as we face the east, we shall have Eisenach, in a valley, almost at our feet ; and along the hills and dales beyond, Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena, lying respectively at distances of about twelve or fourteen miles from each other. To the left, toward Eisleben, we look directly across four or five ranges of hills, which run parallel with the Thuringian Forest, with long narrow vales between them. To the right, or in a south-easterly direction, lies the Thuringian Forest itself — a romantic range of hills or mountains, extending about forty miles. Through all this tract of country were scattered different branches of the family which bore the name of Luther. Directly south from Wartburg, on the south- western declivity of the forest, on the way to Salzungen, lies the hamlet of Mora, where was the homestead of that branch of the family from which Martin Luther sprung. Here the grand- father, Heine Luther, had a small farm, which he seems to have left to his eldest son Heinz or Henry Luther, the uncle of Martin. While Heinz received the small estate and assumed the main- tenance of his parents, Hans or John, Martin Luther's father, appears to have been dependent 14 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. upon his own industry for his livelihood. The most probable opinion is, that not long after his marriage he removed to Eisleben, in order to en- gage in the business of mining. From the Hartz Mountains, lying to the north-west, between Eisle- ben and Hanover, there runs a vein of copper with a small ingredient of silver, passing through Mans- feld and extending to Eisleben. At this last place, Hans Luther, Martin's father, took up his first residence after leaving Mora; and during this residence Martin Luther was born, Novem- ber 10, 1483. The story to which Seckendorf gave currency, on the authority of a writer too late by a century to be a witness, namely, that Luther was born while his parents, yet residents of Mora, were at- tending a fair at Eisleben, is not only improbable in itself, as D'Aubigne well remarks, but has been proved to be untrue from the fact, that fairs were never held at Eisleben in the month of November. Melancthon, the best authority on this subject, says : " The parents of Luther first dwelt in the town of Eisleben, where Luther was born, and afterward they went to Mansfeld." This view is confirmed by Ratzeberger's Manuscript, which says : " Forasmuch as the mining business had for many years been in a prosperous state in the county of Mansfeld, Hans Luther, with his wife Margaret, betook himself to that place, and gave himself, according to his best ability, to mining, till he became owner of a share in the mines and of a foundry. There, in the town of Eisleben, in the year 1483, was his son Martin Luther born, M. 1-13.] BIRTH-PLACE AND PARENTAGE. 15 .... but the elder Luther, Hans, removed with his household to Mansfeld, and was, on account of his knowledge and industry in mining, much beloved of the old Count Gunther." The report that Luther's father fled to Eisleben in consequence of having killed a person at. Mora, was undoubtedly got up at a later period by the Papists, in order to throw discredit upon the Re- formation. Eisleben, which has now a population of about seven thousand, was, at that time, the largest town of the territory of the Counts of Mansfeld.* As Luther passed only about half a year of his earliest infancy in Eisleben, it was only the asso- ciations of his mind and subsequent connections with this place that could have any influence upon him. Indeed, it may be said that Eisleben owes more to Luther than Luther to Eisleben. He always cherished, an affection for the place, and had warm and intimate friends there; and the very last act of his life was, to make arrange- ments for establishing a Latin high-school in Eisle- ben, which soon numbered seven hundred pupils, and has not only existed, but flourished from that time to the present. After about six months' residence at Eisleben from the time of Luther's birth, his parents re- moved to Mansfeld, six miles to the north-west, of which the present population is about twelve * The independent county of Mansfeld was a small irregular tract, lying between Halle and Nordhausen, not extending forty miles in any direction ; and yet D'Auhigne says Mora was in it, whereas it was more than sixty miles from its nearest boundary. 16 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-M97. hundred and fifty. Though this was a much smaller place than the former, it was the resi- dence of the various branches of the family of the Counts of Mansfeld. The castle, now in ruins, stood upon a rocky eminence on the south, and overlooked the vale in which the town was situ- ated. The scenery, in and around the place where Luther spent the first thirteen years of his life, was rather wild and romantic. The country, though not mountainous, is elevated and hilly; partly cultivated, partly covered with pine forests, and partly a bald and sterile rock. The pits and slag lying on the surface indicate at once that it is a mining district. To the south-east, toward Eislcben, an extensive, varied and sniiling land- scape meets the eye. In the time of Luther's childhood, Mansfeld was a place of active busi- ness. Money, in considerable quantities, was coined from the silver ore ; and the copper worked in those mines led to commercial intercourse with the larger places of trade in the south of Ger- many, and with Venice. It was undoubtedly the prospect of doing better in his business that in- duced the miner, Hans Luther, to leave Eislebon, and settle at Mansfeld ; and the result justified his expectation. For we find him at a later period rising, if not to affluence, to a state of comfort and respectability. He became the owner of a house and two furnaces, and left, at his death, besides these, about one thousand dollars in money. He was so much esteemed, that he was made a mem- ber of the town council. IE. 1-13.] PARENTAGE. 17 Section II. — Character of Luther s Parent*, and their Con- dition during his Boyhood. Luther always spoke of himself and of his an- cestors as belonging to the peasantry. " I am a peasant's son. My father, my grandfather, and my forefathers were all true peasants. After- ward my father went to Mansfeld, and became an ore-digger." As it has been already intimated, Luther's father, after he became a miner, rose by industry and effort from the condition of a peasant to that of a burgher or free citizen. He com- menced his career at Mansfeld in penury, but with a force of character that could not leave him in that state. " My parents," says Luther, " were, in the beginning, right poor. My lather was a poor mine-digger,* and my mother did carry her wood on her shoulders; and after this sort did they support us, their children. They had a sharp, bitter experience of it; no one would do likewise now." It was not till about seventeen years afterward, when Luther was a member of the university, that his father had the means of paying the ex- penses of his education. t His honesty, good sense, energy and decision of character won for * Waiter, :i word which has often been misunderstood as meaning a wood-cutter. It is time this mistake was corrected in the English and American writers mi Luther. | Michelet is evidently in an error when he speaks of the parents being '• in the enjoyment of a small property, for which they were no doubt indebted t" their ion." The position of the father in society at Mansfeld, long before Luther's celebrity, the liberal sujijHirt which 18 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. him the respect of his fellow-citizens. He was open-hearted and frank, and was wont to follow the convictions of his understanding, fearless of consequences. His firmness was characterized by severity, sometimes approaching to obstinacy. In his actions which are known to us, he appears clear-headed and decided, going right forward to his object. His son's bold and unwavering course after committing himself to the work of reform, was just to his mind. In the very midst of the Peasants' War, which the enemies of Luther said was caused by him, his father advised him to take the bold, and, at that time, even hazardous step of trampling on the vow of celibacy, and, in that way, bearing his most decided testimony against the pretended sanctity of a monastic life. Hans Luther was strictly religious in his cha- racter, but, at the same time, had the good sense (so rare in that age) to distinguish religion from monasticism, upon which he looked with suspi- cion and aversion. Hence he was highly dis- pleased when his son became a monk, and it was two years before a reconciliation was effected, and even then his opinion remained unchanged. When Martin left the monastic life, as he afterward says, " My father was heartily glad, for that he well he is known to have given his son while at the university, his ap- pearance with an attendance of twenty horsemen at the time of .Martin's consecration as priest, the present of thirty guldens then mall', and Luther's own poverty up to the time of the father's death, all turbid such a conjecture. Besides, the early biographers of Lather, who were his intimate friends, testify directly to the contrary. JE. 1-13.] PARENTAGE. 19 knew the wicked cunning of the monks." Me- lancthon describes him as being "a magistrate at Mans (eld, beloved of all for the honesty of his character." Mathesius, who had lived in the family of Luther, represents the father as "pat- terning the widow of Sarepta, and training up his son in the fear of the Lord." Of the history of Luther's mother less is known. Her maiden name was Margaret Lindemann. She was born at Neustadt, a small town directly south of Eisenach, and west of Gotha. Her father, who had been a burgher there, had removed from that place to Eisenach. It was, no doubt, here that Luther's father formed an acquaintance with her. The circumstance that three of her brothers were liberally educated would seem to indicate that she belonged to an intelligent family. Melancthon says, " She had many virtues agreeing to her sex; and was especially notable for her chaste conversation, godly fear, and diligent prayer, in- somuch that other honourable women looked upon her as a model of virtue and honesty." That her piety was strongly tinged with the superstitions of the times, and had a monastic severity, is proved by a variety of incidental remarks found in the writings of Luther. On one occasion he says, " My mother's strait and rigorous carriage toward me served, afterward, to make me fly to a cloister and become a monk." As one of the most important objects aimed at in this biography, is i<» trace out the causes that operated in the formation of Luther's character ; and as the incidents of his early life have been 20 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. very sparingly handed down to us, it will be re- quisite to direct attention successively to the cha- racter of the various influences that acted upon him ; and then to collect from the scenes of com- mon life, in the time and places of his education, and from his own frequent allusion to them in his later writings, as many collateral rays of light as possible, and concentrate them on the points in question. In this way, we can, in no small de- gree, fill up the chasm which has so long existed in respect to his early history. Section III. — Luther s Domestic Education. Luther's parents bestowed great care upon his early training. In the strictest sense, he was brought up in the fear of God, and with reverence for the then existing institutions of religion. The intentions of his parents were of the most laud- able character ; the faults of their discipline were those of the age in which they lived. They were highly conscientious, earnest and zealous in the discharge of their parental duties. But the age was one of rudeness and severity, and they them- selves had more talent than culture, more force and sternness of character than skill in awakening and fostering the generous impulses of childhood. Their discipline was, almost exclusively, one of law and authority. The consequence was, that Martin, instead of feeling at ease and gamboling joyfully in their presence, became timid and shy, and was kept in a state of alarm, which closed up ili<' avenues of his warm and naturally confiding M. 1-13.] DOMESTIC EDUCATION. 21 heart. " Once," says he, " did my father beat me so sharply that I fled away from him, and was angry against him, till, by diligent endeavour, he gained me back." " Once did my mother, for a small nut, beat me till the blood came forth." " Their intent and purpose were of the best sort ; but they knew not how to put a difference between dispositions, and to order their discipline accord- ingly; for that it should be exercised in a way that the apple might be put with the rod." To this rigid domestic discipline is to be traced, in a measure, his being long subject to sudden alarms, or being harsh and violent when he rose above them. Though in later life he was fully aware that many errors had been committed in his domestic training, and though, as he himself says, he tried in vain to remove the ill effects of it upon his feelings and habits, still he found in it much more to approve than to condemn. Alluding to his own case, and that of others of his age, he says : " Children should not be entreated too ten- derly of their parents, but should be forced to order and to submission, as were their parents be- fore the///." The fact that, from three or four brothers, Mar- tin alone was designated for a liberal education, is sufficient proof that he gave some early indications of talent. It is also evident, that the father took a religious view of this subject, and desired lor his son something higher and better than mere worldly distinction. An early writer states, that he had , heard from the relations of Luther at Mansfeld, that the father was often known to pray earnestly 22 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. at the bedside of his son, that God would bless him and make him useful. Mathesius says, that Luther's father, not only for his own gratification, but especially for the benefit of his son, frequently invited the clergymen and school-teachers of the place to his house. Thus were domestic influ- ences brought in aid, in every suitable way, to form a taste for moral and intellectual culture. Well would it be for the world, if others, in more eligible circumstances and in more enlightened times, would bestow similar care and attention upon training up a son of special promise in such a way that he may become a public benefactor. This is what Monica did for Augustine ; Arethusa for Chrysostom, and Basil's and Gregory Nazian- zen's parents for them, and, through them, for the world. Section IV. — Luther in the School at Mans/eld. jYI ansfeld was situated in a narrow valley along the brook Thalbach, skirted by hills on both sides. From that part of the town where Luther's father resided, it was some distance to the school-house, which was situated on a hill. The house is still standing, and the first story of it remains unal- tered. One writer says, (on what authority we do not know,) that Luther commenced going to school at the age of seven. Certainly he was so young that he was carried thither by older j>er- sons. When forty-four years old, two years be- fore his death, he wrote on the blank leaf in the Bible of Nicholas Oeinlcr, who had married one of M. 1-13.] AT SCHOOL. 23 his sisters, the twenty-fourth verse of the four- teenth chapter of John, and under it : " To my good old friend, Nicholas Oemler, who did, more than once, carry me in his arms to school and back again, wheD 1 was a small lad, neither of us then knowing that one brother-in-law was carrying an- other in his arms." In this school, though its teachers were frequently guests at his father's house, he was brought under a much harsher dis- cipline than he had been subject to, at home. It was not without allusion to his own experience, that he afterward speaks of a class of teachers, " who hurt noble minds by their vehement storm- ing, beating and pounding, wherein they treat children as a jailer doth convicts." He some- where says, that he was once flogged fifteen times in a single forenoon at school. Again, he says, " I have seen, when I was a boy, divers teachers who found their pleasure in beating their pupils." " The schools were purgatories, and the teachers were tyrants and task-masters." The injurious manner in which such treatment acted upon his fears is illustrated by an anecdote related by Luther in his Commentary on Genesis. "When I was a lad, I was wont to go out witli my companions begging food for our sustentation while we were at the school. At Christmas, during divine service, we went around among the small villages, singing from house to house, in four parts as we were wont, the hymn on the child Jesus, born at Bethlehem. We came by chance before the hut of a peasant who lived apart at the end of the village; and when he heard us 'J-i LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. singing, he came out, and, after the coarse and harsh manner of the peasants, said, 'Where are you, boys?' at the same time bringing us a few sausages in his hand. But we were so terrified at these words, that we all scampered off, though we knew no good reason why, save that, from the daily threats and tyranny practised by the teachers toward their pupils at that time, we had learned to be timid." This incident, which has commonly been referred to the time when Luther was at Magdeburg, probably belongs to the period of his earlier childhood at Mansfeld; for it was when he Mas " a small boy," and Avas under severe teachers, which seems not to have been the case except at Mansfeld. The circumstance that Lu- ther was then living at his father's house will be no objection, if we consider the customs of the times and the poverty of the family at that early period. We are elsewhere informed that Luther was then accustomed to attend funeral processions as a singer, for which he received a groschen (about three cents) each time. The school at Mansfeld, at that time, was taught by one master, assisted by two members of the church choir, that is, two theological students, who, for a small stipend, attended on the daily ser- vices of the church. Here it becomes necessary to describe the character of the lower schools of Germany at the close of the fifteenth century. They were called "trivial schools," because ori- ginally the first three of the seven liberal arts, namely, grammar, rhetoric and logic, were taught in them. M. 1-13.] AT SCHOOL. 25 At this time, however, and particularly at Mans- field, a little monkish Latin, the pieces of music commonly sung at church, and the elements of arithmetic, constituted the studies of the lower schools. These schools were all taught by a master, assisted by theological students and candi- dates for some of the lower clerical offices. But as nearly all the offices of state at that time were in the hands of the clergy, there was a general rush to the schools on the part of all who were seeking to rise above the common walks of life. The great mass of the youth were wholly desti- tute of education. All the others, except a few from the sons of the rich, went through a clerical or ecclesiastical course of instruction. No mat- ter to what offices they were aspiring, they must study under the direction of the church, and under the tuition of monks and priests, or candi- dates for the priestly office. The character, how- ever, both of pupils and of teachers in these schools, was as unclerical as could well be con- ceived. The schools were properly in the charge either of the bishop and the canons of his chap- ter, or of the monks ; and hence they formed two classes, and were called cathedral and monastic schools. But these ecclesiastics and friars be- came indolent, and employed cheap substitutes as teachers, ar.d lived in ease and in plenty. " The drones," says Luther, when speaking on this point, " drove the honey-bees out of the hive ; and monk and canon divided the pay with the poor schoolmaster, as the beggar did, who pro- mised to share equally with the church the half 2Q LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. of what he received, and gave the outward half of nuts and the inner half of dates for pious uses, and consumed the residue himself." The arrangements of the schools were these : The teachers, and the pupils who were from abroad, occupied large buildings with gloomy cells. A sombre monastic dress distinguished them both from other persons. A large portion of the fore- noon of each day was devoted to the church. At high mass all must be present. The boys were educated to perform church ceremonies, while but little attention wTas given to what is now com- monly taught in schools. The assistant teachers, candidates for the clerical office, generally taught a few hours in the day, and performed, at the same time, some daily inferior church service, for both of which they received but a trifling reward. Thus the schools were but a part and parcel of the church. The assistants were commonly taken from those strolling young men who infested the country, going from place to place either as ad- vanced students, and changing their place at plea- sure, or seeking some subordinate employment in the schools or in the church. When they failed to find employ, they resorted to begging, and even to theft, to provide for their subsistence. The older students would generally seek out each a young boy as his ward, and initiate him into the mysteries of this vagrant mode of life, re- ceiving in turn his services in begging articles of food, and in performing other menial offices. We have a living picture of the manners and habits which prevailed in these schools, in the M. 1-13.] AT SCHOOL. 27 autobiography of Thomas Platter, a contempo- rary of Luther and a native of Switzerland. "At that time," that is, in his tenth year, he says in his biography, " came a cousin of mine, who had been at the schools [to become a priest] in Ulm and Munich in Bavaria. My friends spake to him of me, and he promised to take me with him to the schools in Germany; for I had learned of the village priest to sing a few of the church hymns. When Paul (for that wTas my cousin's name) was ready to go on his way, my uncle gave me a gulden, [sixty-three cents,] which I put into the hands of Paul. I must promise that I would do the begging, and give what I got to him, my bacchant, [protector,] for his disposal. We journeyed to Zurich, where Paul would wait till he should be joined by some companions. Then we determined to set out for Misnia, [in the present kingdom of Saxony.] Meanwhile I went a-begging, and thus furnished the sustentation of Paul. After tarrying eight or nine weeks, wTe left Zurich and went on our way to Misnia, in a com- pany of eight, whereof three of us were young schiitze, [wards ;] the rest were large bacchantes, as they are called. Of all the wards I was the youngest. When I was so weary that 1 could hardly go, my cousin Paul would go behind me and scourge me on my bare legs, for I had no hose and only poor shoes. While on the way, I heard the bacchantes tell how that in Misnia and Silesia the scholars wort; wont to steal geese and ducks and other things for food, and that no other notice was taken thereof, if one could but only 28 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1483-1497. escape from the owners. Then said I to my companions, ' When shall we come to Misnia, where I may go out stealing geese ?' They re- plied, ' We are already there.' We went to Halle in Saxony, and there we joined our- selves to the school of St. Ulrich. But as our bacchantes entreated us roughly, some of us com- muned on the matter with my cousin Paul, and we agreed together that we would run away from them, and depart to Dresden. Here we found no good school, and the houses, moreover, were infested with vermin. Wherefore we went from that place to Breslau. We suffered much in the way from hunger, having on certain days nothing to eat but raw onions with salt. We slept often- times in the open air, because we could not get an entrance into the houses, but were driven off, and sometimes the dogs were set upon us. When we came to Breslau we found abundant stores, and food was so cheap that some of our company surfeited themselves and fell sick. We went at the first into the school at the dome [cathedral] of the Holy Cross ; but learning that there were some Switzer youth in the parish of St. Elizabeth, we removed thither. The city of Breslau hath seven parishes, with a school in each. No scholar is suffered to go around singing in another parish ; and if any one taketh upon him to do so, he getteth a round beating. Sometimes, it is said, sundry thousands of scholars are found in Breslau, who get their living by begging. Some bacchantes ;il>iassed over the same ground when he first went abroad into the wide world. After indulging in the exquisite pleasures of home, as they are felt by a boy on returning from his first absence — for Mansfeld was directly on the way to Eisenach — he must have gone forth with moderated and yet pleasing expectations ; — mode- rated, because he had taken one sad lesson in the knowledge of the world ; and pleasing, because he was about to go, not among utter strangers, but among the kindred of his mother. What strange emotions would have filled the breast of the boy, had he then had a prophetic vision of the tragic events that should take place a quarter of a century after, in the places through which he was now to pass ! About twenty miles on his way from Mansfeld, he might see Allstedt, where Muncer was to become the leader in the bloody M. 13-21.] REMOVAL TO EISENACH. 53 Peasants' War. To the west is seen the river Helme, on whose beautiful banks is situated the Golden Meadow, (Goldene Aue,) extending more than thirty miles to the neighbourhood of Nord- hansen.* At a distance of about sixteen miles from Allstedt is Frankenhausen, where the decisive battle was fought, May 5, 1525, and Muncer and his party completely routed. Still farther on, toward Eisenach, lies Miihlhausen, which was the head-quarters of Muncer's army. Eisenach * This tract of enchanted land extends nearly the whole distance from Naumburg to Nordhausen. Memleben on the Unstrut, about ten miles south of Alstedt, was the favourite residence of the German emperors of the Saxon line. Here Matilda, royal consort of Henry the First, founded a nunnery. Here, probably, Henry the Fowler was busying himself with his falcons when it was announced to him that he was chosen emperor; and here, too, he breathed his last. Here his son, Otto the First, on his way to the diet of Merseburg, passed the season of Lent, and died immediately after the services. A little farther up the river, and on the opposite side, is Rossleben. Here was an ancient nunnery, afterward converted into an excellent cloister-school or gymnasium, in which Ernesti, Von Thummel and other eminent men received their elementary education. Passing another cloister-school, we come to the junction of the Helme and Unstrut. South is to be seen the Palace of lleldrungen, and, on the summit, the ruins of Sachsenburg. Ascending the Ilelme, west of Allstedt, we come to Wallhauscn, where Otto the Great built a palace and often resided, as did his son after him. In this vicinity the German emperors loved to pass their time. A little farther on, beyond Tilleda, another royal residence, to the left of the Golden Meadow, rises Kyffhausen with Frederic's tower. There are many legends respecting Frederic Barbarossa and this castle. It was here that Henry the Sixth and Henry the Lion became reconciled to each other, and checked for a time the feuds between Guclf and Ghibiline. West of this is the peak of Rothenberg, with another tower, whose history runs back to pagan times. 54 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. lies about twenty miles south of Miihlhausen. Between these two places is one of the largest of the five ranges of hills, which it is necessary to cross in taking this route. Just before reaching Eisenach we cross the most southerly range. As one enters the town from the north, he looks clown upon it, and sees it lying before him in a valley, under the castle of Wartburg towering on the right. Next to Wittenberg and Erfurt, this is the place richest in historical recollections in respect to Luther. Here he found the end of his sorrows arising from poverty. Here he first found sympa- thizing and skilful teachers, under whose influence he acquired a love of learning. Here his musical talent, his taste and imagination were first de- veloped, throwing their cheerful serenity over his sorrowful and beclouded mind. Here, too, he subsequently lived in his Patmos, or desert, as he playfully termed the Castle of Wartburg, in the character of Squire George, and passed his time sometimes in the chase on the mountains, but mostly in translating the New Testament. There were in Eisenach at this time three churches, to which were attached as many paro- chial schools. Only one of these, however, was a Latin school ; and that was at the church of St. George, a little east of the centre of the town. The name of the head master was Trebonius, the first skilful teacher under whose care Luther came, and to whom he felt a personal attachment. Though lie did not belong to the new school of classical scholars trained in Italy, his Latin was M 13-21.] REMOVAL TO EISENACH. 55 much purer than that of the monks and priests generally. His personal character, too, though perhaps a little eccentric, was such as to win the love of his pupils. In coining before them, he used to take off his hat and bow to them, and complained that his assistants were disinclined to do likewise. He said, with truth, and with a sense of responsibility which showed that he understood the true dignity of his office, "among these boys are burgomasters, chancellors, doctors and magistrates." Though he is called a poet, that is a writer of Latin verses, we must remem- ber that this was a trivial school, and that but little more than Latin hymns and prayers were read ; and that it excelled other schools only by having a better method, by employing in conver- sation a purer Latin, and by having exercises in Latin verse. It is a mistake to suppose that Luther studied Greek here, or even such Latin authors as Cicero, Virgil and Livy. He com- menced the study of the latter in Erfurt, and the former at a much later period in Wittenberg as professor. The following is Melancthon's account of Luther's studies at Eisenach: "After leaving Magdeburg, he attended in the school at Eisenach four years on the instructions of a teacher who taught him grammar (Latin) better than it was elsewhere taught. For I remember how Luther commended his talents. He was sent thither because his mother was descended from an hon- ourable and ancient family of that town. Here lie became master of grammar; and, because of his superior understanding and natural aptitude 56 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. for eloquence, he made more proficiency, and easily excelled his fellow-pupils, both in his powers of speech and in writing prose and verse." Here is the first intimation we have of the mani- festation of those remarkable powers which distin- guished him in after-life. His teacher undoubtedly knew how to draw out of him what had hitherto been suffered to lie dormant. Perhaps, too, this was the time in life when his mind came, by the course of nature, to develop itself. At such a crisis, the value of a wise and genial instructor is inestimable. It is precisely when the corn is shooting most rapidly from the earth that the weeds should be subdued, so that all the strength of the soil may be given to the growth of the future harvest. Luther, who had been driven from Magdeburg by poverty, removed to Eisenach in hopes of sympathy and support from his relatives in that place. In this his hopes were disappointed. He was still compelled to beg his bread, singing in a choir from door to door. His sufferings appear to have been even greater here than in Magdeburg. No doubt, the early indigence of Luther, and the fact of his feeling that he was thrown back upon his own resources, contributed to the strength of his character. He probably had his own case in view when he said, "The young should learn especially to endure suffering and want ; for such suffering doth them no harm. It cloth more harm for one to prosper without toil than it doth to endure suffering." "It is God's way, of beggars t<> make men of power, just as he made the world M. 13-21.] REMOVAL TO EISENACH. 57 out of nothing. Look upon the courts of kings and princes, upon cities and parishes. You will there find jurists, doctors, counsellors, secretaries and preachers, who were commonly poor, and alway such as have been students, and have risen and flown so high through the quill, that they are become lords." "I have been a beggar of crumbs, and have taken my bread at the door, especially in Eisenach, my favourite town, although afterward my dear father with all love and fidelity sustained me at school in Erfurt, and by his sweat and hard labour helped me to that whereunto I have attained. Nevertheless I have been a beg- gar of bread, and have prospered so far forth with the pen, that I would not exchange my art for all the wealth of the Turkish empire. Nay, I would not exchange it for all the wealth of the world many times over. And yet I should not have attained thereunto, had I not gone to school, and given myself to the business of writing. There- fore doubt not to put your boy to study; and if he must needs beg his bread, you neverthe- less give unto God a noble piece of timber whereof he will carve a great man. So it must always be; your son and mine, that is, the children of the common people, must govern the world both in the church and in the common- wealth." The pressure of poverty, on the other hand, may be too great, so as to depress the spirit instead of invigorating it. Luther is represented as having verged, while at Eisenach, to the very brink of despondency, and to have contemplated 58 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. relinquishing study altogether, and returning to the occupation of his father. It is difficult for us to suppress speculation as to what would have been the probable results of such a determination, — what his influence upon the destinies of mankind, and his place in the records of history. But Providence had other counsels than those the disheartened youth was almost ready to adopt; and an event, in itself trifling, decided a point on which were suspended interests of inconceivable magnitude. One day, as he and his companions were pass- ing through St. George street, not far from the school, their carols were unheeded, and, at three successive houses, the customary charity was withheld. With heavy hearts they passed on to Conrad Cotta's house, where they often received tokens of friendly regard. Madam Cotta had conceived an affection for young Luther, from the musical talents which he had displayed, and from the earnestness of his devotions at church. She invited him in, gave to him liberally, and after- ward received him into her house. Though probably not a relative of his, as some writers would have us believe, — he constantly called her his hostess, — she treated him as a son, and gave him support till he went to the university. It is pleasant to know that, though Madam Ursula <'<>tta herself died in 1511, Luther, after arriving at an eminence hardly second to that of any man of the age, remembered the debt of gratitude; and in the years L541 and 1542, only a few years before his death, received Henry Cotta, Ursula's M. 13-21.] REMOVAL TO EISENACH. 59 son, into his house in turn, and this act of kind- ness toward him as a student at Wittenberg is mentioned in Cotta's epitaph at Eisenach, where he died as burgomaster. The influence of this connection upon Luther's mind could hardly be otherwise than favourable. Both his heart and his intellect were rendered dark and gloomy by the exclusively monastic character of his training. The path of his life thus far had been cheerless. Even the music which he loved, and in which he indulged, was mostly pensive. Domestic life he had been taught to regard as impure and sinful; and to the pleasures of a cheerful home of his own he was forbidden, by his monastic superstition, to look. "When I was a boy," he afterward said, "I imagined I could not think of the married state without sin." In the family of Cotta, he acquired other and more correct views of life. Here he became sensible to the charms of refined society. Not only were the generous affections strengthened by exercise, but the taste was culti- vated in that family circle. The perversions of the monastic morality were sonic what checked, though not fully exposed and corrected. Madam Cotta vindicated the dignity and sanctity of mar- ried life, and taught Luther that his preconceived notions on this subject were false. "My hostess at Eisenach," he remarked, "said truly, when I was there at school, 'There is not on earth any thing more Lovely than an affection for females (conjugal affection) when it is in the fear of God.'" 60 UTE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. It was here that Luther learned to play on the flute. Some affirm that he at this time also learned to compose music and to touch the lute. Though he speaks of his voice as " slender and indistinct," he had in reality a fine alto voice, and Melancthon says "it could be heard at a great distance." Beneficial as were these gentle and bland in- fluences, and winning and inspiring as were the instructions of the head-master of the school, Eisenach itself was a priestly town, or, as the writers of that age call it, "a nest of priests," and all the religious associations of the place were adapted to nourish and strengthen the convictions with which Luther had grown up. There were nine monasteries and nunneries in and about the town, and an abundance of churches, priests and chaplains. There, too, lay the remains of the landgrave, Henry Raspe, at whose tomb the visit- ers on St. Julian's day could obtain two years' indulgence. , Here St. Elizabeth, that most bene- volent and religious of the Thuringian landgra- vines, had lived and laboured for the good of the poor, and monuments of her zealous but supersti- tious piety were everywhere to be seen. JE. 13-21.] IN THE UNIVERSITY. 61 SECTION III. — Luther in the University of Erfurt. ARLY on the 17th of Juty, in 1501, at r the opening of a new and great century, our student left the place " where," in his own language, " he had learned and enjoyed so much," and directed his steps toward the celebrated city and university which towered high above all the rest in influence in that part of* Germany. Fifteen miles distant was Gotha, then, as it is now, the beau- tiful capital of the duchy of the same name. Here lived Mutianus, the centre of the poetical club to which many of Luther's subsequent Erfurt friends (as Lange, Spalatin, and Crotus and others) be- longed. Here Luther preached in 1521, on his way to the diet of Worms. Proceeding as much farther, through a country appearing, as one ad- vances, more and more like the Saxon plains, he came to Erfurt, formerly the great mart of interior Germany. This city, though in the very heart of Thuringia, was never subject to the landgrave. It was once the place of an episcopal see, and when this was transferred to Mainz, the archbishop of 6 G2 LIFE OF LUTHER, [1107-1505. which was made primate of Germany, Erfurt was retained under his jurisdiction, and regarded as the second capital of his electoral territory. Mean- while the citizens of Erfurt were aiming to make it a free imperial city, and the emperor favoured the project. The result was, that in the disorders of that feudal age, wrhen rights wrere settled less by law than by physical power, the three con- tending parties, the Archbishop of Mainz, the citizens of Erfurt and the emperor, each had a share in the government of the city. In general, however, in the course of the struggle, the citi- zens acquired more and more power, and the city became more and more free. It was the citizens, and not the archbishop nor emperor, who founded the university, and consequently it had a practi- cal and liberal character which distinguished it very widely from that of Cologne. The Univer- sity of Erfurt had more than a thousand students, and Luther said that "it was so celebrated a seat of learning that others were but as grammar- schools compared with it." At the time Luther entered there, it had thirteen regular professors, besides the younger licentiates, or tutors, and there were several richly endowed colleges, or re- ligious foundations, where the professors and students lived together as distinct corporations. Theology and the canonical or ecclesiastical law took the highest rank among the studies pursued there. In the two other learned professions, law and medicine, the old Roman civilians and the Greek medical writers were chiefly studied. In the wide department of philosophy, a sort of en- M. 13-21.] IN THE UNIVERSITY. 63 cyclopaedia of the sciences, as contained in the ■writings of Aristotle, constituted the course of in- struction. The Bible was not studied, and none of the Greek authors above named were read in the original. Neither languages, except the Latin, nor history were taught after the manner which afterward prevailed in the universities. Every thing still wore the garb of the Middle Ages. There were no experiments or observations in natural philosophy, no accurate criticism in lan- guage or history. Learning was either a matter of memory, or it was a sort of gladiatorial exer- cise in the art of disputation. In one of the foun- dations at Erfurt, the beneficiaries were required to observe daily the seven canonical hours, as they are termed, or appointed seasons of saying prayers, to read the miserere, or supplication for the dead, and to hear a eulogy on the character of the Virgin Mary. The laws were very oppressive, from the minuteness of their details and the solemn oaths by which men bound themselves to obey them. Tins is what Luther called "an accursed method." "Everything," said he, "is secured by oaths and vows, and the wretched youth are cruelly and without necessity entangled as in a net." The university life of Luther, at Erfurt, forms a striking contrast with his abject and suffering con- dition while begging his bread at the doors of the charitable, and also with his monastic life imme- diately after leaving the university. lie now che- rished, though with great moderation, that more cheering view of human life with which he had been made familiar in the house of Madam Cotta. 64 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. He was furthermore stimulated by a natural love of acquisition in useful knowledge, now for the first time awakened into full activity. The study of classical literature, which had been revived in Italy and France, was beginning to be cultivated with enthusiasm in Germany. Of the young men who prosecuted these studies with zeal, there was a brilliant circle then at Erfurt. Without formal- ly uniting himself with this classical and poetical club, he took up the study of the best Latin wri- ters in prose and verse, with an earnestness that fully equalled theirs, and imprinted indelibly upon his memory those passages which were most strik- ing whether for the sentiment or the expression. Thus he was the friend, and in many respects the rival, of the poetical geniuses who sparkled at Erfurt, though the more earnest and practical character of his mind gave him a decided prefer- ence for solid and practical learning. Besides the Roman classics, the scholastic philosophy engaged much of his attention. This must not, as has often been the case with the biographers of Lu- ther, be confounded with the scholastic theology. It embraced logic, intellectual philosophy, and such a course of physical science as is found in the writings of Aristotle. Indeed, compends from Aristotle and comments upon his writings consti- tuted the sum and substance of the philosophy taught in the universities at this time. Luther was now in comparatively independent circumstances. His father had been so far pros- perous in his business as to be able to support him at Erfurt. Could we have seen Luther at this M. 13-21.] IN THE UNIVERSITY. 05 time, from the age of eighteen to that of twenty- two, full of vigour and activity, exulting in the consciousness of superior intellectual power, win- ning golden opinions by the rapid progress made in his studies, appearing, according to the usages of the age, with a sword at his side, now eagerly devouring the contents of Virgil and Cicero, now poring over the subtleties of the Aristotelian logic, — at one time overcoming his opponents with sur- passing ] tower in debate; at another, teaching the Aristotelian philosophy, while preparing for the Legal profession, — we can easily imagine the sen- sation it created in Erfurt, and the chagrin it gave his father, when it was announced that Luther had entered the Augustinian convent! During the first two years which he spent at Erfurt, (from 1501 to 1503,) he was chiefly en- gaged in the study of Roman literature and of philosophy, at the end of which period he took his first degree. The year in which he received this honour is supposed also to be the one in which the following occurrence took place. Early in the spring, he set out in company with a friend, equipped as usual with a sword, to visit his pa- rents. Within an hour after leaving Erfurt, he, by some accident, ran his sword into his loot and opened a main artery. A physician was called from the city, who succeeded, not without diffi- culty, in closing up the wound. An unusual swelling arising from the forced stoppage of the blood, and a rupture taking place during the fol- lowing night, Luther feared the accident would prove fatal, and, in immediate prospect of death, 66 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1497-1505. commended himself to the Virgin Mary. " Had I then died," he afterward said, " I should have died in the faith of the Virgin." It was during the same year that Luther had his second severe illness. His first was while he was at Magdeburg. In his extremity, and while despairing of life, he was visited by an aged priest, who spoke those memorable words which were afterward regarded by some as prophetic : " Be of good comfort, my brother ; you will not die at this time. God will yet make a great man of you, who shall comfort many others. Whom God lov- eth and purposeth to make a blessing, upon him he early layeth the cross, and in that school those wmo patiently endure learn much." Of two of Luther's principal teachers, Usingen and Jodocusof Eisenach, and of the subject-matter and manner of their teaching, we have the means of knowing more than is common in such cases. The works which they published between 1501 and 1514, containing undoubtedly the substance of the very lectures which Luther heard, suggest to the curious reader interesting trains of thought. A comparison of their teachings in the physical sciences with Avhat Luther, long after, interwove in his commentary on the beginning of Genesis, proves not only that these books are but little more than the printed lectures of their author, but also that Luther faithfully stored those in- structions away in his capacious and retentive memory for future use. Here we cannot sup- press the general remark, that the mass of the opinions which Luther afterward expresses, on M. 13-21.] IN THE UNIVERSITY. 67 these and other kindred subjects, are to be re- garded, not as originating with himself, but as coming to him through the lectures which he heard and the books which he read. Though the two teachers just named were more simple in their method and more just in their thoughts than most of their contemporaries, they are sufficiently prolix and dry to satisfy even a scholastic taste. Usingen belonged to the August inian monastery in Erfurt, and was, no doubt, Luther's teacher there in the scholastic theology, as he had been before in philosophy or dialectics. Jodocus of Eisenach, often called Trutvetter, was more eminent than Usingen. He was afterward associated with Luther at Wittenberg as professor of theology, and was one of those early friends of Luther who were grieved at his bold and decided measures as a reformer. Siisse, a very pious young man, who, later in life, openly espoused the evangelical cause, is by some represented as Luther's room-mate at the university. Others suppose he only occupied the same cell witli him in the convent. The inti- mate friendship, which subsisted through life be- tween Luther and Spalatin and Lange, was com- menced when they were all students in Erfurt. It was in 1505, two years after taking his first degree, that lie was made master of arts, which entitled him to teach in the university. He ac- tually entered upon the duties of this office, and taught the physics and logic of Aristotle. It was the wish of his father that he should cpialify himself for some civil office by studying law; and, at the same time that he was teacher, he 68 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1407-1505. commenced the study, which, though soon broken off by the events which led him to the cloister, m;is important to him, us enabling him to discuss those points in the canon law which were urged against the Reformation by his opponents. Section IV. — The Bible first seen by Luther in the Library of the University. We learn from Mathesius, what we might, in- deed, infer from Luther's subsequent character, that he was a young man of buoyant and cheer- ful feelings ; and, at the same time, that he began every day with prayer, and went daily to church service. Furthermore, " he neglected no univer- sity exercise, was wont to propound questions to his teachers, did often review his studies with his fellow-students, and whenever there were no ap- pointed exercises, he was in the library." " Upon a time," continues the same writer, " when he was carefully viewing the books one after another, to the end that he might know them that were good, he fell upon a Latin Bible, which he had never before seen in all his life. He mar- velled greatly as he noted that more text, or more epistles and gospels, were therein contained than were set forth and explained in the common pos- tils* and sermons preached in the churches. In turning over the leaves of the Old Testament, he ('••II upon the history of Samuel and of his mother Hannah. This did he quickly read through with hearty delight and joy; and because this was all ; Collections of Homilies. M. 13-21.] DISCOVERS THE BIBLE. 69 new to him, he began to wish from the bottom of his heart that our faithful God would one day be- stow upon him such a book for his own." Luther, who often alludes to this incident, once says that it occurred "when he was a young man and a bachelor of arts." At another time he says, " when I was twenty years old, I had never seen a Bible." In another place, he intimates that he saw the Bible only once while he was in the uni- versity, and that an interval of about two years intervened before he saw another copy in the cloister. "I was reading," he' says, "a place in Samuel; but it was time to go to lecture. I would fain have read the whole book through, but there was not opportunity then. I asked for a Bible as soon as I had entered the cloister." He became owner of a postil, which pleased him much, because it contained more of the Gospels than were commonly read during the year. The study of the Scriptures, therefore, seems, in the case of Luther, to have commenced rather in the cloister than in the university. It is natural, however, and almost necessary to suppose that the history of Samuel, who led a consecrated life in the temple, and in whom Luther became provi- dentially so deeply interested, was not without its influence in leading the mind of the latter to con- template a monastic life. 70 LIFE 6P LUTHER. [1505-1508. CHAPTER III. LUTHER IN THE CLOISTER AT ERFURT, FROM 1505 TO 1508 The origin of the Reformation, as a religious movement and as connected with the efforts of Luther, is to be traced chiefly to what he himself experienced in the convent at Erfurt. There he first made thorough trial of that outward and legal system of religion which had nearly banished the gospel of Christ from the church. There he groped his way through the mazes of papal error, and found the path that led to Christ as the sim- ple object of his faith and love. He went through all the process of overcoming the elements of a ceremonial, and of appropriating those of an evan- gelical religion, by the force of his individual cha- racter, and by the power of the word and the Spirit of God. He found himself standing almost soli- tary on the ground of justification by faith alone, and private judgment in interpreting the Scrip- tures. From the time of his going to Wittenberg to the year 1517, he was chiefly emplo}red in work- ing out these two ideas, reconciling his experience with well-established truths, and trying upon the minds of others, namely, of his pupils and some of the younger professors, the same experiment which he had unconsciously made upon himself. When lie came to foci the full strength of his founda- tion, and, with the Bible and the sober use of rea- JE. 21-25.] IN THE CLOISTER. 71 son as his weapons, prostrated the scholastic the- ology, and professor and student confessed their power, his conscience impelled him to seize upon the first and upon every public opportunity to pro- pagate these principles, that others might share with him so unspeakable a blessing. The study of Luther's religious experience has a two-fold interest, first, in itself as one of the most striking on record, and then as a key to the religious character of the Reformation. Until recently, the subject has been wrapt in such ob- scurity and confusion that it has appeared more as a romance than as a reality. To Jurgens belongs the honour of having first collected and arranged all the known facts of the case, in such a way as to furnish a pretty clear history of what was be- fore both imperfect and chaotic. Section I. — Luther becomes a Monk. The whole course of Luther's training tended to impress upon his mind the sanctity of the mo- nastio life. This, in his view, was the surest way of pleasing God, and of escaping the terrors of the world to come. Educated as he was to a legal view of religion, and conscious, at the same time, that ho had not fulfilled the law, nothing remained t<> him but to continue as he was. at the risk of his salvation, or to seek for a higher kind of piety by which the law of God might be satisfied. His prevailing feeling was to continue in his former course of life, but any sudden terror would re- vive the alarms of his conscience, and suggest the 72 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. thought of putting his anxious niind for ever at rest by fleeing to a cloister as a refuge for his soul. In this way was his mind finally deter- mined. In 1505, Alexius, a friend of Luther in the university, was assassinated. Soon after, about the first of July, as Luther was walking in a retired road between Erfurt and Stotterheim, probably on his way home to escape the epidemic then prevailing at Erfurt, he was overtaken by a violent thunder storm, and the lightning struck with terrific force near his feet. He was stunned, and exclaimed in his terror, "Help, beloved St. Anne, and I will straightway become a monk."* Besides the above-mentioned occurrences, there was an epidemic raging in the university; many of the teachers and pupils had fled, and it was very natural that Luther's mind should be in a very gloomy state. St. Anne was the reigning saint in Saxony at this time, having recently become an object of religious regard, to whose honour the Saxon town Annaberg was built, and who, for a time, was the successful rival even of the Virgin Mary. Hence, the invocation of this saint by Luther. Referring to this event, in a dedication of a work on Monastic Vows to his father, Luther says: "I did not become a monk joyfully and willingly, much less for the sake of obtaining a livelihood, but being miserable and encompassed * Such is the view in which the testimony of Luther, Melancthon, Mathesius ami other early witnesses is best united. The representa- tion of later writers that Alexius was killed by lightning is now abandoned by must historians. M. 21-25.] BECOMES A MONK. 73 with the terrors and anguish of death, I made a constrained and forced vow." He again says, " It was not done from the heart, nor willingly." These statements, taken in connection with seve- ral others where it is said that certain views of religion drove him to the monastery, make it plain that it required the force of excited fears to induce him to enter upon a life which he had always regarded as the most sacred, and as most surely leading to heaven. How much he then needed the instruction which Staupitz at a later period gave him ! Before executing his purpose, he took two weeks for reflection. It has been said, that dur- ing this interval, he regretted his rash vow. No doubt he had to pass through severe mental strug- gles ; that in his calmer moments opposite con- siderations would present themselves to his mind, and none with more power than that of having gone counter to the known wishes of his father, by whose toils he had been sustained at the uni- versity. In his Commentary on Genesis xlix. 13, he says, "When I had made a beginning in the study of the liberal arts and in philosophy, and comprehended and learned so much therein that I was made master, I might, after the example of others, have become teacher and instructor in turn, or have prosecuted my studies and made greater advancement 1 herein. But I forsook my parents and kindred, and betook myself, contrary to their will, to the cloister, and put on the cowl. For I had suffered myself to be persuaded that by entering into a religious order, and taking 74 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1605-1508 upon me such hard and rigorous labour, I should do God great service." Here may properly be introduced a few other sayings of Luther in respect to the motives which led him to take this step. In a manuscript pre- served at Gotha, he is represented as saying, "I went into the cloister and forsook the world be- cause I despaired of myself." "I made a vow for the salvation of my soul. For no other cause did I betake myself to a life in the cloister than that I might serve God and please him forever- more." " I thought God did not concern himself about me," he says in one of his sermons ; " if I get to heaven and be happy, it will depend mostly on myself. I knew no better than to think that by my own works I must rid myself of sin and death. For this cause I became a monk, and had a most bitter experience withal. Oh ! thought I, if I only go into a cloister and serve God in a cowl and with a shorn crown, he will reward me and bid me welcome." During the interval of two weeks, while he kept his design from his parents and from his fellow-students, the Gotha manuscript says that he communicated it to Andrew Staffelstein, as the head of the university, and to a few pious females. Staffelstein advised him to join the Franciscan order, whose monastery had just been rebuilt in Erfurt, and went immediately with him to the cloister, lest a change should take place in Lu- ther's mind. The teacher resorted also to flat- tery, no doubt with a good conscience, saying that of none of his pupils did he entertain higher IE. 21-25.] BECOMES A MONK. 75 hopes in respect to piety and goodness. "When they arrived at the cloister, the monks urged his connecting himself immediately with the order. Luther replied that he must first make known his intention to his parents. But Staffelstein and the friars rejoined that he must forsake father and mother, and steal away to the cross of Christ. Whosoever putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back is not worthy of the kingdom of God. In this " monstrous inhumanity," as Lu- ther calls it, " savouring more of the wolf and the tyrant than of the Christian and the man," the monks were only carrying out the principle which Jerome had taught them, and which was the more weighty, being sanctioned by his great name. As quoted by Luther, in his Commentary on Gen. xliii. 30, the words of that ancient Fa- ther run thus : " Though thy father should lie before thy door weeping and lamenting, and thy mother should show the body that bore thee and the breasts that nursed thee, see that thou trample them under foot, and go onward straight- way to Christ." By such perversion of Scrip- ture and reason did the monks deprive many a parent of the society of his children. "That," .says Luther again, " is the teaching of antichrist, and* you may boldly tell him, he lieth. Next to obedience to himself, before all things and above all things, God require! h obedience to parents. . . . A son or a daughter runneth away from his father, and goeth into a cloister against his will. The pope with his party of Herodians approveth the act, and thus compelleth the people to tear in 76 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. pieces a command of God in order to worship God." "Hadst thou known," it is said in the above-mentioned dedicatory epistle of Luther to his father, "that I was then in thy power, wouldst thou not, from thine authority as a fa- ther, have plucked me out of my cowl ? Had I known it, I would not have essayed such a thing against thy will and knowledge, though I must suffer a thousand deaths." It seems, therefore, that Luther's mind was in a conflict between a sense of duty to his parents and a false persua- sion of duty to his own soul and to God. Even the father was somewhat puzzled by the spe- ciousness of the monastic logic. But the son made the former consideration yield to the lat- ter, which the father always maintained was an error. We must not be surprised that such scruples were entertained in respect to the filial obligation of one who was about twenty-two years of age ; for, not to mention that by law a son did not reach the age of majority till he was twenty-five years of age, filial obedience was, as in the patriarchal age, considered as due to an indefinite period of life. Luther, however, did not enter into the cloister of the Franciscans, but preferred that of the Au- gustinian eremites. Undoubtedly a regard for the literary and more elevated character of that order decided his choice. This took place, as Luther himself once said, on the 17th of July, L505. On the evening preceding, he invited his university friends to a social party. The hours passed away in lively conversation and song. M. 21-25.] BECOMES A MONK. 77 Until near the close of that evening, according to Melancthon, the guests had no intimation of what was to follow. When Luther announced his purpose to them, they endeavoured to dis- suade him from it. But it was all in vain. "To day," said he, "you see me; after this, you will sec me no more." The very same night, or early the following morning, he presented himself at the door of the convent, according to previous arrangement, and was admitted. His scholastic, classical and law hooks he gave to the booksellers; his master's ring, given when he took that degree, and his secular attire, he sent to his parents. The only books which he retained were the two Roman j loots, Virgil and Plautus, a circumstance that throws light upon the peculiarly susceptible and almost romantic character of his mind, no less than does the festive hour with which he had the resolution to close his secular career. He informed his other friends and his parents, by letter, of the important step he had taken. The former, lamenting that such a man should be buried alive, as it were, almost besieged the cloister, socking Cor two successive days an inter- view with their friend. But the cloister door was bolted against them, and he was not to be seen by them for a month. Luther's father probably did not come immediately to the cloister, (as some writers have asserted, confounding this oc- casion with that of his ordination as priest,) but replied to his son's letter in a manner which showed the highest displeasure, and withheld 78 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1503. the respectful form of address (1/ir) which, from the time the degree of master of arts was con- ferred, he had ever given him, and employed one ((/it) which was ordinarily given to children and servants. To human view, the course of Luther, in leav- ing the university and the study of the law, and in entering a cloister, seems a most unfortunate one. The best years of his life, one would think, were thrown away upon solemn trifles. But, if we consider that, after a public education, a se- cluded life often contributes most to true great- ness, by holding a man long at the very fountain- head of thought and reflection, (as was the case with Chrysostom, Augustine and many others,) and if, moreover, we consider that the false foun- dations of a system of error are often best under- stood by him who has made the most perfect trial of them, we shall conclude with Luther, " God ordered that I should become monk not without good reason, that, being taught by experience, I might take up my pen against the pope." Section II. — The Novitiate. 1505. The first act was that of assuming the vest- ments of the novitiate. The solemn ceremonies of that occasion were settled by the rules of the order. The transaction was to take place in the presence of the whole assembly. The prior pro- posed to the candidate the question, whether lie thought his strength was sufficient to bear the burdens about to be imposed upon him; at the M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 79 same time reminding him of the strictness of their discipline, and the renunciation which one must make of his own will, subjecting it to that of the order. lie referred to the plain living and clothing, the nightly vigils and daily toils, the mortifications of the flesh, the reproach attached to a state of poverty and mendicancy, the languor produced by fisting, and the tedium of solitude, and other similar things which awaited him. The candidate replied, that with the help of God he would make trial thereof. The prior said, " We receive you then on probation for one year; and may God, who hath begun a good work in you, carry it on unto perfection." The whole assembly then cried "Amen," and struck up the Magne pater Augustine, (Great Father Augustine.) Meanwhile the head was shorn, the secular robes laid aside, and the spiritual robes put on. The prior intimated to the individual that with these last he was also to put on the new man. He now kneeled down before the prior, antiphonies were sung, and the divine blessing invoked, thus: "May God, who hath converted this young man from the world and prepared for him a mansion in heaven, grant that his daily walk may be as becometh his call- ing, and that he may have cause to be thankful for this day's doings," &c. Then the procession moved on, singing responses again, till they reached the choir, where they all prostrated themselves in prayer. The candidate was next conducted to the common hall of the cloister, where he received from the prior and all the 80 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. brethren the fraternal kiss. He then bowed the knee again before the prior, who, after reminding him that he who persevereth to the end shall be saved, gave him over to the preceptor, whose duty it was to instruct him during his novitiate. The order of Augustinian eremites, which ori- ginated about the middle of the thirteenth cen- tury, was said to have nearly two thousand clois- ters, besides three hundred nunneries and more than thirty thousand monks. It was reformed and organized anew at the Council of Basle, in the fifteenth century. The celebrated Proles, who wTas at Magdeburg when Luther was there at school, was the second vicar after the re-organi- zation, and in 1503 Staupitz was the fourth, who, in the following year, that is, the year before Lu- ther entered the cloister at Erfurt, gave to the order a new constitution. The abler and better men of this order, such as Proles and Staupitz, were led, by the study of the writings of Augus- tine, to entertain his views of the doctrine of divine grace and of justification by faith. The Augustinian friars were generally more retiring, studious and contemplative than the ambitious, gross and bigoted Dominicans and Franciscans. Hence Luther's preference of the order. According to the new rules laid down by Stau- pitz, the prior was to give to each novice a pre- ceptor and guide, wlio should be learned, experi- enced and zealous for the interests of the order. Ii was the duty of this preceptor to initiate the novice into a knowledge of all the rules and regu- lations that had been established; to explain to M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 81 him the system of worship to be observed, and the signs by which directions were silently given ; to see that he was awakened by night to attend to all the vigils ; that he observed, at their proper limes and places, the prescribed inclinations, genu- flections and prostrations ; that he did not neglect the silent prayers and private confessions ; and that he made a proper use of the books, sacred utensils and garments. The novice was to con- verse with no one except in the presence of the preceptor or prior; never to dispute respecting the regulations ; to take no notice of visiters ; to drink only in a sitting posture, and holding the cup with both hands; to walk with downcast eye ; to bow low in receiving every gift, and to say, " The Lord be praised in his gifts ;" to love poverty, avoid pleasure, and subdue his own will ; to read the Scriptures diligently, and to listen to others eagerly and learn with avidity. Luther was so thoroughly drilled in all these practices that he retained some of them, as a matter of habit, through life. " The young monks," says he, in referring to one of these practices, " were taught, when they received any gift, if it were but a feather, to bow low and say, 'God be praised for every gift he bestoweth.' ': Trespasses were classified under the heads of small, great, greater, greatest. To the small belong the failing to go to church as soon as the sign is given, or forgetting to touch the ground instant- ly with the hand and to smite the breast, if in reading in the choir or in singing the least error is committed; looking about the house in time of 82 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. service ; making any disturbance in the dormitory or in the cell; desiring to sing or read otherwise than in the prescribed order; omitting prostration when giving thanks at the Annunciation or Christ- mas ; forgetting the benediction in going out or coming in ; neglecting to return books or garments to their proper places; dropping one's food, or spilling one's drink, or eating without saying grace, &c. &c. To great trespasses were reckoned contending with any one, reminding one of a for- mer fault, breaking the prescribed silence or fasts, looking at women, or talking with them, except at the confessional or in brief replies, &c. Luther was at once put into subjection to all these trivial and often senseless laws. The good monks seemed to delight in teaching lessons of humility. With his studies, in which he was al- ready too much distinguished for them, they were not at all pleased. He himself says, " As I came into the cloister, they said to me, ' It shall be with you as it was with us — sack on the neck.' " Again he says, " In Italy there is an order of Ignorants, who vow sacred ignorance. All orders might lay claim to that title, for that they give heed only to the words, but not to the sense, of what they read or repeat. They say, if thou understandest not the meaning of the Scriptures and the prayers, Satan doth and fleeth. The alpha and omega of the monks is to hate knowledge and study. If a brother is given to study, they straightway sur- mise that lie wishes to bear rule over them." The Erfurt monks were not all of the most spiritual character. Luther says of the monks in M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 83 general, that " For one fast they had three feasts. At the evening collation two cans of good beer and a little can of wine were given to each monk, be- sides spiced cakes and salted bread to quicken their thirst. The poor brethren appeared like fiery angels." That Luther had in mind the monks at Erfurt is pretty evident, from his saying that he had, in the papacy, never seen a proper fast ; that "abstinence from meat," signified only to have the best of fish, with the nicest seasoning and good wine ; besides, " They taught," says he, "that we should despise riches, vineyards and fields ; and yet they seek after them, most of all, and eat and drink the very best. One brother in the cloister could consume five biscuits, when one was enough for me." One doctor, in the cloister, had omitted the canonical hours for three months, so that he could not now make them all up. He therefore gave a few guldens to two brethren to help him to pray, that he might get through the sooner. Of the treatment which Luther received after entering upon his novitiate, it is not easy to judge. Was it according to the spirit of the order, and consequently a mode of treatment to which all without distinction were at first subject? or was the deportment of the monks toward Luther par- ticularly harsh and severe? Some considerations may be urged in favour of the former view. Lu- ther himself represents it as the vice of the sys- tem. " True obedience, that alone of which they boast, the monks seek to prove by requiring un- reasonable, childish and foolish things, all which 84 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. were to be cheerfully submitted to." He never complains of faring worse than others : but he does complain that no distinctions were made ac- cording to the physical constitution and mental state of individuals; that "every man's shoes were made on one and the same last, and that all were governed by one inflexible rule." "Augus- tine," he says, "acted more wisely, teaching that all men were not to be measured by the same rule." So much, however, seems to be true in regard to the members of the cloister of Erfurt, that they looked with jealousy upon the distinguished and learned novitiate, and felt a satisfaction in seeing him performing the menial offices of doorkeeper, sweep, and street-beggar in the very city where he had so many literary acquaintances to witness his humiliation. With what patience and acquiescence he sub- mitted to all the duties and tasks imposed upon him by his order, we learn from his own declara- tions. These are his words : "I was a monk with- out ever complaining; of that I can justly boast." " When I first became a monk, I stormed the very heavens." He speaks of having exposed himself in watchings, " till he nearly perished in the cold ;" of having afflicted and tortured his body, " so that he could not have endured it long;" and of having prayed, fasted, watched, and inflicted bodily pains, and so seriously "injured his head, that he had not recovered, and never should so long as he liv.-d." For the sake of the connection, we will intro- duce bere a passage Hint probably relates, in part M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 85 at least, to a somewhat later period: "I verily kept the rules of my order with great diligence and zeal. I often fasted till I was sick and well- nigh dead. Not only did I observe the rules straitly, but I took upon myself other tasks, and had a peculiar way by myself. My seniors strove against this, my singularity, and with good reason. I was a shameful persecutor and de- stroyer of my own body; for I fasted, prayed, watched, and made myself weary and languid beyond what I could endure." Connected with such a state of mind and such religious severities, Ave should naturally expect to see the greatest reverence for the papal hierarchy. It cannot be surprising, therefore, to hear him say, "I can with truth affirm, if there ever was one who held the papal laws and the traditions of the fathers in reverence, I was such." " I had an un- feigned veneration for the pope, not seeking after livings, or places, and such-like, but whatsoever 1 did, I did with singleness of heart, with upright zeal, and for the glory of God." " So great was the pope in my esteem, that I accounted the least de- viation from him a sin, deserving damnation; and this ungodly opinion made me to hold Huss as an accursed heretic, so much so that I esteemed it a sin only to think of him; and, to defend the pope's authority, I would have kindled the flames to burn the heretic, and should have believed that I was thereby showing the truest obedience to God." We have learned that Luther was driven to the cloister by a disquieted conscience and supersti- tious fears and hopes. It is natural to inquire 86 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. how far his conscience was quieted, his fears al- layed, and his hopes realized. Let him answer for himself: "When I was a monk, I was out- wardly much holier than now. I kept the vow I had taken with the greatest zeal and diligence by day and by night, and yet I found no rest, for all the consolations which I drew from my own right- eousness and works were ineffectual." " Doubts all the while cleaved to my conscience, and I thought within myself, Who knoweth whether this is pleasing and acceptable to God, or not." " Even when I was the most devout, I went as a doubter to the altar, and as a doubter I came away again. If I had made my confession, I was still in doubt ; if, upon that, I left off prayer, I was again in doubt; for we were wrapt in the conceit that we could not pray and should not be heard, unless we were wholly pure and without sin, like the saints in heaven." It is difficult for us to conceive of the anguish which a tender and delicate conscience would feel under the influence of the doctrines which were then taught in respect to confession. Who could be certain that he knew the nature and extent of all the sins he had committed ? What infallible rule had he by which he could judge rightly of all the acts and circumstances connected with sin ? Of his motives and inten- tions he might have a tolerably accurate know- ledge, but how was it with acts in themselves considered, which were the main thing in the ethics of the confessional ? Even of those sins which were defined and measured by the rules of the order, since they related to a thousand trifling M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 87 acts recurring almost every moment, few persons could retain a distinct consciousness or recollec- tion so as to be perfectly sure at each confession that nothing was omitted nor forgotten ; and yet one such omission vitiated the whole confession and rendered prayer useless. This was the scor- pion sting which Luther so keenly felt. He al- ways doubted the completeness of his confession. If he prayed, it might be of no use ; if he neg- lected prayer, his doubts were increased. "The confession was an intolerable burden laid upon the church. For there was no sorer trouble, as we all know by experience, than that every one should be compelled to make confession, or be guilty of a mortal sin. Moreover, confession was beset with so many difficulties, and the conscience distressed with the reckoning up of so many dif- ferent classes of sins, that no one could make his confession complete enough." "If the confession was not perfect, and done with exceeding particu- larity, the absolution was of none effect, nor were the sins forgiven. Therewith were the people so hard pressed, that there was no one but must de- spair of confessing so perfectly, (it was in very deed impossible;) and no conscience could abide the trial, nor have confidence in the absolution." "When I was a monk, I used oft-times to be very contrite for my sins, and to confess them all as much as was possible; and I performed the penance that was enjoined unto me as straitly and as rigorously as I could. Yet for all this, my con- science could never be tranquil and assured, but I was always in doubt, and said to myself, This or 88 LIFE OF LUTHEE. [1505-1508. that hast thou not done rightly; thou wast not sorrowful enough for thy sins ; this and that sin thou didst forget in thy confession." Though he " confessed every day, it was all in vain." " The smart and anguish of conscience," he elsewhere says, " were as great in the cowl as they were be- fore out of it." These declarations may easily he reconciled with others which represent him as feel- ing happy when he could say, " To-day I have done no wrong ; I have been obedient to my prior, have fasted and prayed, and God is gracious toward me." Such occasions were of rare occurrence, and were the results of that superficial feeling which the strongest and profoundest minds are liable to have, in those passive moments when they sur- render themselves to the influence of popular belief. But the chief current of Luther's feel- ings, in spite of all the violence he did to himself to prevent it, ran counter to that belief, so that in after-life, when reverting to these scenes, he could speak of the predominant state of his mind as though there had been no other. The effect of such a view of religion as he then entertained, and of such an experience as he had of a daily deviation from its precepts, is truthfully described in the following words, undoubtedly the utterance of his own heart : " He who thinketh that a Christian ought to be without any fault, and yet seeth many faults in himself, must needs be con- sumed at length with melancholy and despair." Not only did Luther suffer from the unexpected discovery of the real sinfulness of his heart, but he was scarcely less tormented with imaginary M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 89 sins and false scruples of conscience. " The devil," says he, "seizeth upon some trifling sin, and by thai casteth into the shade all the good works which thou hast thy life long done, so that thou dost sec nothing hut this one sin." "I speak from experience; I know his wiles and subtleties, how of one little mote he maketh many great beams, that is to say, of that which is the least sin, or no sin at all, he maketh a very hell, so that the wide world is too strait for one." The fiery imagination of Luther, which solitude served but to kindle into an intenser flame, the strength and depth of his religious passions, which found no such vent as they needed, and the be- wildered state of his mind in respect to the ele- mentary principles of Christianity, all conspired to give him an air of peculiarity which the monks could not comprehend. Too much of original character lay concealed beneath that demure yet singular deportment to be controlled even by the iron forms which the order laid upon all alike. Luther's mind had an individuality which sepa- rated him from the mass and heightened his soli- tude. In the mental processes through which lie passed, he was alone and without sympathy. lie was driven, at last, almost to phrensy. Often was his bodily frame overpowered by the inten- sity of his excited feelings, and there was no skilful physician of the soul at hand to prescribe for his case. Speaking on this point, he observes, "In my huge temptations, which consumed my body so that I well-nigh lost my breath, and hardly knew whether I had still any brain left or nut, 8* 90 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. there was no one to comfort nie." If he opened his heart to any one, the only reply he received was, "I know nothing about such temptations," and he was left to the gloomy conclusion, that he " was to be alone in this disconsolate state." But, as the melancholy mood here described only com- menced during his novitiate and extended through the second year of his life in the cloister, we must break off the narration for the present, and direct our attention to his other employments during the first year. " When I was received into the cloister," he said once to his friends, according to the Gotha manu- script, "I called for a Bible, and the brethren gave me one. It was bound in red morocco. I made myself so familiar with it that I knew on what page and in what place every passage stood. Had I kept it, I should have been an excellent textual theologian. No other study than that of the Holy Scriptures pleased me. I read therein zealously, and imprinted them on my memory. Many a time a single pregnant passage would abide the whole day long in my mind. On weighty words of the prophets, which even now I remember well, I cogitated again and again, although I could not apprehend the meaning thereof; as, for example, Ave read in Ezekiel, ' I desire not the death of the sinner.'" Again he says, "Not till after I had made myself acquainted with the Bible, did I study the writers." By "the writers," he must mean the scholastic theologians. For he himself says, in a preface to Bugenhagen's edition of Atha- nasius, that he "read the colloquy between Atha- M. 21-25.] THE NOVITIATE. 91 nasius and Arius with great interest, in the first year of his monastic life, at Erfurt." No doubt he also read at that time the legends of the saints, the Lives of the Fathers, (a favourite book with him,) and other works of a similar tendency. The new rules of the order prescribed, however, the diligent study of the Scriptures, and the probationary year appears to have been designated for biblical study. But we must guard against being misled by the fact that there was such a rule, and by the name that was given to the study. Neither the senti- ments nor the practice of the Erfurt monks coin- cided with the rule. Though they could not refuse to give a Bible to the novice who requested it, they discouraged the study of it. Besides, Luther's time was so much occupied with other useless and menial services that his progress in the study of the Scriptures must have been much impeded. He was, furthermore, destitute of suitable helps for studying them critically. He did not see the Bible in the original, nor had he then any know- ledge of the Greek or Hebrew. He had only the Latin Vulgate, with a most miserable com- mentary, called the Glossa Ordinaria, or Common Gloss. And, what is more than all, he brought to the study of the Bible a mind overborne with mo- nastic and papal prejudices. The method of what was called biblical studies, as then pursued in the monasteries and universities, was entirely different from that to which we, in the present age, are accustomed. The Bible was not stu- died as a whole, nor any of the sacred writers in a connected manner, so as to learn the scope and gene- 90 LTFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. ral design of the book. Of course, the author was not made his own interpreter, nor were any sound rules of interpretation observed. A text was, in the first place, taken out of its connection, and interpreted metaphysically, as if it were a scholastic maxim, and forced at once into an unnatural connection with dialectics, or used as a secondary and subsi- diary support of a doctrine which rested mainly on a metaphysical basis. In the next place, the literal sense was deserted at pleasure, and an allegorical one introduced to suit the object of the interpreter. The absurd conceits of Origen, Je- rome, and other early fathers of the church, were handed down by tradition, and the study of such traditionary interpretation, collected in compends, was called biblical study. The false interpreta- tions to be found in the papal bulls and decretals, and in the approved works of the scholastic wri- ters, would furnish a large chapter in the book of human follies. Luther was not only under these influences, but yielded to them. In a letter to Spalatin, June 29, 1518, he says, "I myself followed the doctrines and rules of the scholastic theology, and according to them did I desire to handle the Scriptures." In his Commentary on Genesis ix. he says, "I have often told you of what sort theology was when I first be- gai i the study thereof. The letter, said the}r, killeth. For this cause I was especially opposed to Lyra more than to all other teachers, because he cleaved so diligently to the text and abode by it. But now, for this selfsame reason, I prefer him before all other interpreters of Scripture." Again, he M. 21-25.] TAKING THE VOW. 93 says, "When I was young", I loved allegories to such a degree that I thought every thing must be turned into allegories. To this Origen and Je- rome gave occasion, -whom I esteemed as being the greatest theologians." Well, indeed, might he afterward say, "I did not learn all my the- ology at once." The beginning with him was feeble, and, the .sincerity of his heart excepted, was of a very unpromising character. Section III. — Talcing the Vow — Second Year in the Cloister. 150G. Such was Luther's year of probation; a year in which he experienced some gratification in the study, however defective, of the Scriptures which he loved ; but, on the other hand, was disappointed in respect to what was of the highest concern to him, namely, obtaining peace within himself. If it excite our wTonder that he did not, at this time, while it was in his power, and before taking the irrevocable vow, determine to abandon the monas- tic life, and return to the university, or seek some other occupation, there are other considerations which may remove our surprise. Luther's mind was of too determined a character to be turned from its course by any slight considerations, lie had been trained in. the school of adversity, and could courageously bear the privations and suffer- ings attendant on his present mode of life. The subject of religion interested him more than all others, and to this he could give his undivided attention here more easily than elsewhere. Here, 94 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. too, he found a few friends, such as Usingen, his former teacher, Lange, whom he assisted in study, and the excellent Siisse, who is said to have been his room-mate. If his mind had as yet found no rest, possibly a longer trial, after actually taking the vow, might prove more effectual. Certainly a return to the world would imply a want of firm- ness, and would, besides, promise no better results. Even if there had been no disgrace attached to leaving the cloister at the close of the novitiate, this would probably have made no difference with Luther, who seems to have made up his mind from the beginning. Speaking of the unsuccessful attempt of the friends who endeavoured to keep him from entering the monastery, he says, " Thus did I abide by my purpose, thinking never again to come out of the cloister." The rules of the order prescribed that the prior should, at the close of the year of probation, exa- mine the novice as to his being worthy of admis- sion. If the result was favourable, the bell was to be rung and the monks to assemble, and the prior to take his place before the steps at the altar, and to address the kneeling novice in the following words : " You have become acquainted with the severe life of our order, and must now decide whether you will return to the world, or be consecrated to the order." If the answer was in favour of the latter, the individual was directed to put off the garb of the novice, and the part of the service beginning with the words, " Our help is in the name of the Lord," was repeated, where- upon the prior laid the monk's apparel upon him, M. 21-25.] TAKING THE VOW. 95 and then the ceremonies were very similar to those of entering the novitiate, described above. The vow was taken, in connection with the impo- sition of the hands of the prior, in these words, as reported by Cochlaeus : " I, brother Martin, do make profession and promise obedience unto Al- mighty God, unto Mary always a virgin, and unto thee, my brother, the prior of this cloister, in the name and in the stead of the general prior of the order of the Eremites of St. Augustine, the bishop and of his regular successors, to live in poverty and chastity, after the rule of the said St. Au- gustine, until death." Then a burning taper was put into his hand, prayer was offered for him by the prior, and the brethren sung the hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus, " Come, Holy Spirit," after which the new brother was conducted by them to the choir of the church, and received of them the fraternal kiss. The most extravagant ideas were entertained of the effect of such a formal consecration to a monastic life. As baptism was supposed to take away all sin, so this monastic baptism, (as the initiation was called,) was said to be equally efficacious, and to have even a greater sanctity. Hence Luther was congratulated on the present occasion as being, by his own act, freed from sin and introduced into a state of primeval innocence. With this he felt flattered and pleased for the moment, but upon experiencing its utter futility, he came at length to regard it as " a pill of in- fernal poison, sugared over on the outside." In his brief reply to George, Duke of Saxon v, ho 96 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. said: ''That the monks likened their monastic life to Christian baptism, they cannot deny ; for thus have they taught and practised, throughout, in all the world. When I made my profession, I was congratulated by the prior, the convent and the confessor, that I was now innocent as a child which had just come forth pure from its baptism. And verily I could heartily rejoice over such a glorious deed, — that I was such an excellent one, who could, by his own works, without the blood of Christ, make himself so good and holy, and that too so easily and so quickly. But though I could hear with satisfaction such sweet praise and shining words concerning my own doings, and let myself pass for a wonder-worker, who could, in such a wanton manner, make himself holy and devour both death and the devil, yet would it fail when it came to the trial. For when only a small temptation of death or of sin came upon me, I fell away, and found no succour either in bap- tism or in the monastic state. Then was I the most miserable man on earth ; day and night there was nothing but lamentation and despair, from which no one could deliver me. So I was bathed and baptized in my monasticism, and verily had the sweating sickness." Luther was three years in the cloister at Erfurt. Of his employments and of his state of mind dur- ing the first year, or the year of his novitiate, we have already had an account. During the second year, with which we are now concerned, he was devoted to the study of the scholastic theology and to his preparation for the priesthood. His M. 21-25.] SECOND YEAR IN THE CLOISTER. 97 religious feelings continued of the same character, substantially, as in the first year, except that his anxieties and his sorrows increased. It was not till the third year, the year of his priesthood, that new views on the subject of works and of justification shed light upon his mind and joy upon his path, and not till after that change did he take up the study of the early Christian fathers. Here then we have the means of deciding, in most cases, to Avhich of these three periods his numerous allusions to his monastic life in Er- furt refer. If, in any passage, there be a refer- ence to the duties of the priestly office, saying mass, for example, or to the study of Augustine and other church fathers, or to more cheerful and confiding feelings in respect to God, as a loving father rather than as a stern revenger, and to Christ, as a compassionate saviour rather than as a dreaded judge, we may safely apply the pas- sage to the last year of Luther's residence in Erfurt. If a state of bodily and mental suffer- ing be alone referred to, it is doubtful whether Luther had the first or second year in mind. But if harsh treatment or the regular study of the Scriptures be mentioned in the same connec- tion, the first year is thereby indicated ; whereas if occupation with the scholastic theologians and with works which treat of the duties of the priest- hood be alluded to, the second year only can be meant. Of the personal appearance of Luther about the time of this second year, probably near its close, (this being the time of his most intense mental 98 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. anguish,) we have a representation in a portrait taken in 1572, preserved in a church at Weimar, when the artist had the means of ascertaining how Luther appeared at the time referred to. This is furthermore supported by a letter of Lu- ther's, in which he describes his features as they then were. The youthful flush had disappeared from his countenance. His black, piercing and fiery eye was now sunken. His small and plump face had become thin and spare, and with all his sadness and dejection there was a solemn earnest- ness in his mien, and his look bespoke a mind in conflict and yet determined. It was, no doubt, either during the latter part of the preceding year, or near the beginning of this, that Staupitz, general vicar or provincial of the order in Germany, on one of his visitations to examine into the state of the several cloisters under his care, first had his attention attracted to Luther. By the rules of the order, drawn up by himself, it was made his duty, as general vicar, to visit the convents for the purpose of seeing that a paternal discipline was maintained, and particularly to inquire in respect to the care taken of the sick, the instruction given to novices, and the observance of the fasts and other pre- scribed duties. Staupitz was a model which all provincials might well imitate. He made it his concern to promote the study of the Bible, though his efforts were not always seconded by others, and to seek out and encourage young men of la lent and of elevated religious character, and to inspire them, as far as possible, with a sincere JR. 21-25.] SECOND YEAR IN THE CLOISTER. 99 love of God and of man. Such a person as Lu- ther,— learned, able, ardent, perplexed, abused, and sinking both in health and in spirits, — could not escape his notice. His singular attachment to the Bible was no less gratifying than it was surprising to Staupitz. " The monks," says Lu- ther, "did not study the Scriptures-, save here and there one, who like myself took singular delig] it therein. Often did I read them in the cloister, to the great astonishment of Doctor Staupitz." Here commenced the most important acquaint- ance which Luther ever formed. Staupitz, at once, after knowing the character of the young monk, directed the prior to have more regard to his standing and previous habits, and to release him from those humiliating and onerous tasks which had been imposed upon him. He, at the same time, encouraged Luther to prosecute the study of the Scriptures with unabated zeal, till he should be able to turn readily to any passage that should be named. Luther now, for the first time, found a spiritual guide who was, in every essential respect, qualified to treat such critical cases as his, — one who, in his comprehensive view, recognised as well the laws of the physical and the mental constitution as the fundamental principles of the gospel. A varied order of liv- ing and new trains of thought, originating in sug- gestions respecting the true nature of Christian- ity, which were then as strange as those which were once made to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, were the beginnings of a healthful process, which ultimately wrought a complete re- 100 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. ligious revolution in Luther's mind, and laid, in his personal experience, the foundation for the Reformation. In a letter to Staupitz in 1523, he says, " I ought not to be unmindful or for- getful of you, through whom the light of the gos- pel first began to shine out of darkness into our hearts." John von Staupitz was descended from an an- cient noble family of Meissen or Misnia in the kingdom of Saxony. In order to gratify his love of study and pious meditation, he became an Au- gustinian monk, and in various universities went through an extended course of scholastic philoso- phy and theology. In 1497, he was made master of arts, lector or public reader of his order, and connected himself with the University of Tubin- gen, in the south of Germany. He rose rapidly to distinction; for in the following year he was appointed prior of the convent of Tubingen; in the next, he took the degree of biblical bachelor, or the first degree in theology, that of sententiary, or the second degree, and in 1500, that of doctor of divinity. Early disgusted with the dry and unprofita- ble speculations of the scholastic theologians, he turned his attention to what are called the mysti- cal theologians, or the spiritual and experimental Christians of that as;e. Bernard and Gerson were his favourite authors, men in whom a spirit not unlike that of the pious Thomas a, Kempis pre- vailed. The influence of some of the professors at Tubingen, especially of Sommerhard, united to that of the writers above named, led him to ap- M. 21-25.] SECOND YEAR IN THE CLOISTER. 101 predate the Bible more highly than any other book, and to look to that as his only safe guide in religion and the only sure foundation of Chris- tian theology. " It is needful for us," says Stau- pitz, "to study the Holy Scriptures with the greatest diligence and with all humility, and earnestly to pray that we fail not of the truth of the gospel." He regarded that principle of love which the Holy Spirit originates in us, and which produces a union with Christ by faith, as constituting the essence of religion. This is not produced by any good works of ours, but is itself the producer of all good works. Our piety, there- fore, does not depend on the performance of rites and ceremonies prescribed by the church, nor can it be estimated by such a standard; but it de- pends on the state of the heart and on the exer- cise of the spiritual affections. Our union with the church is not the cause of our union with Christ, but vice versa. "First, God giveth unto all the faithful one heart and one soul in him, and on this wise uniteth them together, and of this cometh the unity of the church.'' These are some of the characteristic features of the piety and faith of Staupitz; and in them we cannot fail to recognise the undeveloped germs of salvation by grace ami justification by faith in Christ, as afterward maintained by his greater disciple. Such a spirit was the very opposite of that which animated Tetzel in the sale of indulgences. When, in 1")02, the Elector Frederic of Saxony founded the University of Wittenberg, he em- 102 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. ployed Staupitz first as a counsellor and nego- tiator, and then as a dean or superintendent of the theological faculty. In the next year, the chapter of the order chose him general vicar; and it was in this capacity that he was brought into connection with Luther. His influence upon the cloisters under his charge was of the happiest kind; and his efforts to promote biblical studies, and to revive the spirituality of his brethren, no doubt prepared, in part, the way for multitudes of them to embrace the doctrines of Luther. The testimony of the latter to his worth may properly have place here : " He was an estima- ble man ; not only worthy to be listened to with reverence, as a scholar, in seats of learning and in the church; but also at the court of princes and in the society of the great, he was held in much estimation for his knowledge of the world." From the nature of the case, we could not sup- pose that the first interview of Staupitz with Lu- ther could produce any great and sudden change in the latter. At that time they were attached to opposite systems of theology, the mystic and the scholastic ; and Luther's views were so inter- woven with his entire character and previous training, that they could not be surrendered with- out many an inward struggle. Now we are ex- pressly informed by Melancthon that Luther's mind did not find relief till after he commenced the study of the Christian fathers ; and we learn elsewhere that this did not take place till the third year of his residence in the cloister of Er- furt, Consequently, there was an interval of M. 121-2--).] SECOND YEAR IN THE CLOISTER. 103 nearly a year at least, and, according to the com- mon view, (namely, that Staupitz saw Luther during his novitiate,) an interval of nearly two years between their first acquaintance and the conversion of Luther to the evangelical faith. From all the circumstances of the case, we are not allowed to suppose that Staupitz, at the first interview, did more than to gain some general information in respect to Luther's character and condition, and make a few suggestions and leave them to their effect. But though the general vicar was well grounded in the truth, and the young monk almost equally fortified in error, there was one point of strong sympathy between them, and that was the love of the Bible. But at this time the Bible was to Luther a very dark book. It came to him in his spiritual ignorance, almost buried under the rubbish of the papal glosses. The gospel itself was turned into law; Christ was but a second Moses, a stern legislator and judge, from whom the oppressed sinner fled in terror, because he had not a sufficient right- eousness of his own, and knew nothing of the justifying righteousness of Christ. Such was the state in which Staupitz found Luther. Instead of proceeding from a consciousness of the necessity of redemption and gratuitous justi- fication to the ascertainment of its reality and availableness, the benighted though learned young monk went back, in a contrary direction, to specu- late upon the origin and nature of evil, and upon the mysteries of Providence, over which lay a pall of still denser darkness. Thus he was some- 104 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. times subject to the keenest despair, and some- times to the most distressing thoughts. "Why," said Staupitz to him, " do you vex yourself with these speculations and high thoughts ? Look upon the wounds of Christ and upon the blood which he shed for you. From these will the counsels of God shine forth." That is, in the cross of Christ is the best solution of the mysteries of Providence in respect to the eternal destinies of men. This un- doubtedly took place at the first confession which Luther made to Staupitz as the general vicar. The scene, according to Luther, was equally surprising to both parties. Such a confession, going so deeply into the nature of sin as con- sisting not so much in single acts as in a moral state ; a confession of the doubts and daring spe- culations of a great mind abused in its religious training, and consequently in a perfectly chaotic state, Staupitz had never before heard. Luther knew no better what to make of the unexpected and strange directions given him by Staupitz. No name was more terrific to him than that of Christ, an avenger and a judge, to whom he did not dare to approach without first preparing the way by engaging in his behalf the more tender sympathies of the virgin mother, to soften the severities of her Divine Son. In a sermon of his, first published in 1547, Luther says, "Under the papacy I fled from Christ, and trembled at his name ; . . . for I looked upon him as a judge only ; and in this grievously erred. St. Bernard, otherwise a godly man, said : ' Behold, in all the gospel, how sharply Christ often rebuketh, up- M. 21-25.] SECOND YEAR IN THE CLOISTER. 105 braideth and condemneth the Pharisees, and flieth at them, while the Virgin Mary is ever gentle and kind, and never spoke or uttered one hard word.' From hence arose the opinion that Christ re- proacheth and rebuketh, while Mary is all sweet- ness and love." The first confession only created mutual sur- prise, and Luther was still left in his sadness. This we learn from an occurrence that seems to have taken place soon after. At table, Staupitz, seeing Luther still downcast and clouded with gloom, said to him, " Why are you in such heavi- ness, brother Martin?" "Alas!" replied Luther, " what then am I to do?" Staupitz rejoined, "I have never had knowledge nor experience of such temptations ; but so far forth as I can perceive, they are more needful for }^ou than your food and drink. You know not how salutary and ne- cessary they are for you. God bringeth them not upon you without a purpose. Without them, nothing good would come of you. You will yet see that God hath great things to accomplish through }rou." Numerous passages in Luther's later writings were evidently suggested by his own experience as here described. One will here suffice as a specimen: "When the heart of man is in great anguish, either the Spirit of God must needs give him gracious assurance, or there must be a godly friend to comfort him and take from him his doubts by the word of God/' But as we afterward find Luther in his former state of mind, and devoting himself with more zeal than ever to the study of the scholastic writers, we 106 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. must conclude that no great and permanent change was effected in his religious views during Stau- pitz's first visit. SECTION IV. — Luther studies the Scholastic Theology. The effect of Staupitz's influence was delayed by the fact that, according to the usages of the order which he could not think of setting aside, the monk who had finished his biblical studies, as they were improperly called, was to direct his chief attention next to the scholastic theology. Staupitz was not the man for energetic or vio- lent reform ; and Usingen, whose influence in the Erfurt convent was now great and who was pro- bably Luther's preceptor at this time, was a zeal- ous scholastic. Luther himself says, " When I had taken the vow, they took the Bible from me again and gave me the sophistical books. But as often as I could, I would hide myself in the library, and give my mind to the Bible." Luther, who never shrank from a task because it was hard or disagreeable, but, on the contrary, with a consciousness of his power, took pleasure in its full exercise, now studied with iron dili- gence the sentences of the Fathers, as collected into digests by the schoolmen. Biel and D'Ailly he is said to have learned by heart. With the writings of Occam, Aquinas and Scotus, he made himself very familiar. Here Ave find Luther in a new conflict — his own inclination and religious wants, together with the influence of Staupitz, leading him to the Bible; M. 21-25.] PREPARATION FOR THE PRIESTHOOD. 107 the influence of the convent and his occupation with the scholastic writers, on the other hand, strengthening the false impressions under which he had grown up. Both these contending ele- ments were having their effect upon Luther, and he was to be prepared for his great work by feel- ing the full power and coming to a complete know- ledge of each. Section V. — Luther s Preparation for the Priesthood. This also constituted a part of Luther's occu- pation during his second year in the monastery. Biel, the last of the scholastics, his favourite author, was the writer most studied on this sub- ject. In what follows, it will be made to appear that such employment, no less than the study of the scholastic writers in general, was adapted to carry him further and further from the Bible and the spiritualism of Staupitz, and to involve him more deeply than ever in the labyrinth of papal error. We find here a striking analogy to the mazes of error through which the great Augus- tine passed, when, half in despair and half in docile submission, he was conducted, step by step, through the hollow and deceitful system of the Manicheans. The church service with which the priest was concerned was a complicated system of symbolical acts, at the same time exercising the ingenuity and furnishing ample materials for exciting the imagination of the students. The central point in the system was the service of mass. To this the selected passages of Scrip- 108 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1.305-1508. ture, their arrangement, the prayers and the hymns all referred. The antiphonies and the priestly ornaments both relate to the sacrificial offering in the mass. The rites themselves were sacred mysteries, and the officiating priest a sacred person. Luther never lost the impres- sion which these imposing and solemn, though false, forms of worship made upon him. Christ was considered as daily repeating the offering up of himself. Biel had written an extended work on the mass-service, which was adopted as a text-book in the monasteries. He there teaches, that men must repair to the saints, through whose inter- cessions we are to be saved ; that the Father has given over one-half of his kingdom to the Virgin, the queen of heaven ; that of the two attributes of justice and mercy, he has surrendered the latter to her, while he retains the former. The priest is intercessor between God and man. He offers the sacrifice of Christ in the supper, and can extend its efficacy to others. This neither the Virgin Mary nor the angels can do. In another part of the work, Biel has several nice disquisitions on such questions as, whether the bread must always be made of wheat ; how much ought to be consecrated at a time ; what would be the effect of a grammatical blunder on the part of the priest in repeating the words. Thus Luther was trained by daily study to a system of practical religion which subsequently, when he was more enlightened, became abhorrent to all the feelings ol his heart. "Let any one," he says, M. 21-25.] PREPARATION FOR THE PRIESTHOOD. 109 "read Biel on the Canonical Constitutions con- cerning the mass, which is nevertheless the best book of the Papists on that matter, and see what execrable things are therein contained. That was once my book." Again: "Gabriel Biel wrote a book on the Canonical Constitutions, which was looked upon as the best in these times ; . . . when I read it, my heart did bleed," that is, was in an- guish from the scruples which it caused in respect to the duties of the priesthood. The rules laid down were carried to an astonish- ing minuteness of detail, and the least deviation from them was represented as highly sinful. Lu- ther was so conscious of his sinfulness, that he often despaired of ever being able to officiate wor- thily as a priest. We, in this age, cannot appre- ciate his feelings in this respect, unless we place ourselves, in imagination, precisely in his circum- stances, and learn with him to feel a creeping horror at the ghostly superstitions of the times. His own language will best transport us to the gloomy cell and its spiritual terrors, and to the chapel with its over-awing mysteries. "Those priests," he remarks, " who were right earnest in religion, were so terrified in pronouncing the words of Christ, delivered at the institution of the supper, that they trembled and quaked when they came to the clause, < This is my body ;' for they must repeat every word without the least error. He who stammered, or omitted a word, was guilty of a great sin. He was, moreover, to pronounce the words without any wandering thoughts." Again he says, " It was declared a 10 110 LIFE OF LUTHER, [1505-1508. mortal sin to leave out the word enim, (for,) or aeterni, (eternal.) If one had forgotten whether he had pronounced a certain word or not, he could not make the matter sure by repetition. . . . Here was distress and anguish. . . . How sorely were we vexed with the mass, especially with the signs of the cross!" About fifty of these and some hundreds of other prescribed motions of the body were to be punctiliously observed in the mass-ser- vice. Special rules were given as to what was to be done if a little of the wine were spilled. No- thing can give us a better impression of the awe which the idea of Christ's real presence inspired than an incident which occurred but four years before Luther's death. In the year 1542, during the celebration of the Eucharist, some drops of the wine were accidentally spilled. Luther, Bu- genhagen and the officiating minister sprang in- stantly and licked it up with their tongues ! If such were the feelings with which the reformer noticed any little irregularity in this service in his old age, what must they have been when he was timidly preparing himself to become a Catholic priest? In the mass itself, every thing is Jewish and legal. Christ's original sacrifice is regarded as atoning only for original sin; all other sins were to be atoned for in the mass. Through the inter- cession of the saints, the sacrament effects an ablution from all actual sin, a defence against all dangers, against all the evils incident to the body or the mind, against the assaults of Satan, and a remission of the sins of the dead as well as of the JE. 21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. HI living. How strangely is Christ here thrown into the back-ground, and saints and priests raised to an impious eminence ! How is the cross of Christ obscured, and an empty rite, a human invention, covered with the halo of a divine glory! SECTION VI. — Luther's Consecration as Priest in 1507. The day appointed for his ordination as priest, the 2d of May, 1507, at length arrived. Such a day was of too solemn interest, as it was observed at that time, to be allowed to pass without the presence of Luther's father, who had continued during nearly the whole period of two years to be alienated from the son in consequence of his entering the monastery. It is a mistake com- mitted by several biographers of Luther, to re- present the reconciliation, and even the visit of John Luther at the convent, as having taken place in 1505, a short time after Luther entered his novitiate. Martin was his father's favourite son. He had been sent to the university and supported there by the father's hard earnings, in order thai he might become a learned jurist and rise to dis- tinction. His brilliant career as a student, and then as a teacher, and his entrance, under favour- able circumstances, upon the study of the law, served only to give poignancy to a father's grief, when he saw that all his high hopes were to be disappointed. He was so chagrined that he re- fused to see his son. On the death of two other sons, who were carried off by the plague, and on the intelligence that Martin had also died of the 112 LIFE OF LUTHER. [150u~lo08. same, his heart began to relent. His friends took that opportunity to reason with him, and to con- vince him that he ought to be willing to make an offering to the Lord of whatever was dearest to him, even though it were his favourite child. To this reasoning he never assented, entertaining, as he always did, unfavourable views of monastic life; but he became so far reconciled as to accept the invitation to be present at the ordination. He came in the pomp required by the occasion, mounted on horseback with attendants, twenty in all, and honoured his son with a present of twenty guldens. It was "with a sad, reluctant will," as Luther says, that his father finally con- sented to his permanent connection with a reli- gious order. " Well, be it so," was his language, " God grant that it may turn out for good." When they were all seated at table, at the time of the ordination, Luther, trusting to the favourable im- pressions produced by the occasion, and to the influence of the company around him, ventured to touch upon the delicate subject with his father, in the following language: "Dear father, what was the reason of thy objecting to my desire to become a monk? Why wast thou then so dis- pleased; and perhaps not reconciled yet? It is such a peaceful and godty life to live." He went on to recount the alarming events which he con- strued as indications of the divine will, and was warmly supported in all he said by the monks at his side. The plain-spoken and honest miner, nnt withstanding the place and the occasion, boldly and tersely replied, "Didst thou never hear that .E. :U -25.] CONSECRATION AS PEIEST. 113 a son must be obedient to his parents? And you learned men, did you never read in the Scrip- tures, 'Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother?' . . . God grant that those signs may not prove to be lying wonders of Satan." "Never," said Luther afterward, " did words sink deeper into a man's heart than did these of my father into mine." The sentiments of the age, in respect to the ordination of a priest, must be kept in view, if we would understand Luther's history at this period, lie himself informs us that "a consecrated priest was as much above an ordinary Christian as the morning star was above a smoking taper." " It was a glorious thing to be a new priest, and to hold the first mass. Blessed the mother who had borne a priest. Father and mother and friends were filled with joy." The first mass was thought much of, and brought no little money, for the gifts and offerings came like drops of rain. The canonical hours were then observed with torch- lights. The young priest danced with his mother, if she was still living, and the bystanders, who looked on, wept for joy. If she was dead, he delivered her from purgatory. We learn from Luther, that the bishop at his ordination gave him the cup, and said to him, "Receive power to oiler sacrifice lor the living and the dead," and Luther adds, "It is a wonder that the ground did not open and swallow us both up." The words which Luther was then to em- ploy in the mass service, which immediately fol- lowed, were, "Accept, holy Father, this unble- 10* 114 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. mishcd sacrifice, which I, thine unworthy servant, offer unto thee, the true and living God, for my innumerable sins, offences and omissions, and for all who are here present, and for all believers liv- ing, and also for the dead, that it may be for our salvation." Luther was filled with trepidation and fear, and faltered in the service, and would have left the altar, which would have occasioned his excommunication, if his preceptor, who was standing by, had not stopped him. It was the idea of "standing before God without a medi- ator," as he had been taught to interpret the act, and other superstitious fears with which Bid's book had filled his head, — it was this that made him pause in terror when he came to the words, "the sacrifice which I offer unto thee." "From that time forth," says Luther, " I read mass with great fear." Still he became a very zealous and fanatical priest, as the following passages from his writings clearly show. We now find him going from vil- lage to village "begging cheese," and "saying mass" for the peasants, and sometimes -.."with difficulty refraining from laughter" at the blun- ders of the awkward country organists, who, as he says, would introduce the wrong piece in the midst of the service. How false the principles were upon which he then acted, he himself after- ward strongly testifies. "I was an unblushing Pharisee, When I had read mass and said my prayers, I put my trust and rested therein. I did not behold the sinner that lay hidden under that cloak, in my not trusting in the righteousness of M. 21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 115 God, but in my own; in not giving God thanks for the sacrament, but in thinking he must be thankful and well pleased that I offered up his Son to him, that is, reproached and blasphemed him. When we were about to hold mass, we were wont to say, 'Now I will go and be midwife to the Virgin.' " Did we not know that the worst of abuses can be practised without remorse when false principles in religion are adopted, we could scarcely believe that such representations as the following could be made in sober earnest by Lu- ther. " Some had mass in order to become rich, and to be prosperous in their worldly business. Some, because they thought if they heard mass in the morning, then would they be secure through all the day against every suffering and peril. Some, by reason of sickness, and some for yet more foolish and sinful causes ; and they could find abject priests, who, for money, would let them have their way. Furthermore, they have put a difference in the mass, making one better for this, another better for that occasion, by in- venting the seven-gulden mass.* The mass of the holy cross has a different virtue from the mass of the virgin. And everybody keeps still and lets the people go on, for the sake of the accursed lucre, flowing abundantly through the mass which has so many names and virtues." "Here, you yourselves know, my dear sirs," says Luther to his opponents in 1-320, '"what a scan- dalous trafficking and marketing you have made * A Saxon gulden in the 16th century was about sixty-two and a halt' cents. 116 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. with your sacrament. This hath been the regu- lar and every-day business of you all, buying and selling throughout all the world so many thousands of masses for money, some for a gros- chen, (three cents,) some for eight pfennigs, (two cents,) and some for six. There is no excusing nor denying it." " I also, when I was a monk, was wont daily to confess, to fast, to read, to pray, and to offer sacrifice, to the end that, from the vigils, mass and other works, I could impart and sell something (merit) to the laity. The monks bartered their merits away for corn and wine, as well as for money, and gave formal re- ceipts, as is shown by many copies still extant, which ran thus : ' In consideration of one bushel of wheat, Ave by this writing and contract make over to you the benefit of our fastings, watch- ings, mortifications, mass-services and such-like.' I, an arrant Papist, and much fiercer mass-monger than all the rest, could not distinguish between the mass and the sacrament any more than the common people. To me the mass and the sacra- ment upon the altar were one and the same thing, as they were to all of us at that time. .... I have lain sick in the infirmary, and viewed Christ in no other light than that of a severe judge, whom I must appease with my monastic works Therefore, my way and custom was, when I had finished my prayers or masSj always to conclude with such words as these : ' My dear Jesus, I come unto thee and entreat thee to be pleased with whatsoever I do and suffer in my order, and to accept it as a com- JR. 21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 117 position for my sins ? Twenty years ago, if any one desired mass, he should have come and pur- chased it of me; I cleaved to it with all my heart and worshipped it I held mass every day, and knew not but that I was going straight to heaven I chose for myself twenty-one saints, read mass every day, calling on three of them each day, so as to complete the circuit every week. Especially did I invoke the holy Virgin, as her womanly heart was more easily touched, that she might appease her Son." Again, he says, " I verily thought that by invok- ing three saints daily, and by letting my body waste a way with fastings and watchings, I should satisfy the law, and shield my conscience against the goad of the driver. But it all availed me nothing. The further I went on in this way, the more was I terrified, so that I should have given over in despair, had not Christ graciously re- garded me, and enlightened me with the light of his gospel." Need we any further proof that a long period intervened between his first conversations with Staupitz and the time that the true light of the gospel broke in upon his soul ? Here he repre- sents himself as in the grossest darkness and in the most wretched condition, long after he had entered upon the duties of the priesthood; and yet he was not ordained till May 2, L507. So much is certain; Staupitz was only occasionally at Erfurt, probably not more than twice or three times during Luther's residence in the cloister there. His first visit brought him in contact 118 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. with Luther, but had not the effect to extricate the latter from the scholastic errors in which he was completely entangled. It was at a later period, and probably after the second visit of Staupitz at Erfurt, that Luther wrote to him frequently on the subject of his wretchedness. " When I was a monk," said Luther once to his friends, " I wrote oft-times to Dr. Staupitz ; and once I wrote to him, exclaiming, ' Oh, my sins, my sins !' Then Staupitz gave me this reply : 'You would be without sin, and yet you have no proper sins. Christ forgives true sins, such as parricide, blasphemy, contempt of God, adul- tery, and such-like. These are sins indeed. You must have a register, in which stand veritable sins, if Christ is to help you.'" This paradoxi- cal language is explained in a letter of Luther to Spalatin, written in 1544. " Staupitz once comforted me in my sorrow, on this wise : You would be a painted sinner, and have a painted Christ as a Saviour. You must make up your mind that Christ is a very Saviour, and you a very sinner." The importance of these words to Luther, and their influence upon the character of Luther's subsequent religious views, as seen in all his writings, it will not be easy for the casual reader to apprehend. Luther was in serious error, and had great and incessant anguish on two points. He looked upon unintentional negligence or forgetfulness of the ar- bitrary rules of his order, which were as countless as they were foolish, as being a heinous sin against God; and then he supposed great sinfulness was a .33.21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 119 bar to forgiveness. On the former point, Staupitz used a little raillery ; and on the latter, he fur- nished Luther the cardinal doctrine of the Re- formation, that forgiveness did not depend at all upon the number or magnitude of one's sins, but simply and solely on penitence for them. This is what Luther means, where, hundreds of times in his sermons and other writings, he says that the Papists did not preach the gospel, which is the forgiveness of sins ; but the law, which is only the knowledge of sin, without a Saviour. We might fill the remainder of this chapter with passages from his works, which do nothing but re-echo the sentiment which he learned first from the lips of his spiritual counsellor, and then by an uncommonly deep and protracted experience. We must, therefore, not fail to notice, that in these very suggestions of Staupitz lie the true seeds of the Reformation. In proof of the above assertion, Ave will adduce but one passage. We will take it from the same letter to Spalatin just mentioned. " You have thus far been but a slender sinner; you reproach yourself with very trifling sins. Come and join yourself to us, real, great and daring sinners, that you may not make Christ of no account to us, who is a deliverer not from pretending and trifling sins, but from true, great, nay, the greatest of sins. Let me put you in mind of my own case, when I was tempted and tried like as yon now arc albeit I am now strong in Christ. Believe flic Script me. that Christ is come to destroy the works of the devil, of which this despondency is one." This joyful and confi- 120 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1oO.3-l.508. dent view of the infinite fulness of a Saviour's love, instead of that terrifying conception of him as a merciless judge and executioner, which he had hitherto entertained, constitutes the radical difference between the Catholic and the Protest- ant religion, as a matter of experience. In the one, good works are sought as a recommendation to Christ, and these, though imperfect, are gra- ciously accepted and rewarded, so that faith itself is nothing but a work of righteousness, beginning in the intellect and the outward act, and gradu- ally becoming spiritual; in the other, Christ meets the sinner as a sinner, and takes the load himself, shows his adaptedness to just such cases ; gives, of his own accord, a penitent and believing heart, and forgives gratuitously, and unites the soul to himself by faith, which is justifying only by virtue of this union. It was a long time before Luther's mind was clear on this subject. The theory of the scho- lastic divines and the practice of the church had grown up with him. The new tendency, which began to make its appearance, was suppressed and hemmed in on every side. No expression in the Bible was more terrific to him than that of "the righteousness of God." The Fathers had explained it as that attribute of jusJJiie_bv which r^nfl-^vpp^fpv; jrnlo-nirmt. " This interpretation," says Luther, "caused me distress and terror when I was a young theologian. For when I heard God called righteous, I ran back in my thoughts to that interpretation which had become fixed and rooted in me by long habit. ... So powerful and M. 21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 121 pestilent a thing is false and corrupt doctrine, when the heart has been polluted with it from youth up." Staupitz and an aged confessor, whose name is not given, taught him that " the righteousness of God," in Paul's epistles, had a very different meaning, namely, that righteous- ness which becomes the sinner's the moment he believes in Christ. Referring to this new ex- planation, he said : " Then I came to understand the matter, and learned to distinguish between the righteousness of the law and the righteous- ness of the gospel." " When I began," says he again, " to meditate more diligently upon the words 'righteous,' and ' righteousness of God,' which once made me fear when I heard them : and when I considered the passage in the second chapter of Ilabakkuk, ' The just shall live by faith,' and began to learn that the righteousness which is acceptable to God is revealed without the deeds of the law, from that very time how my feelings were changed ! — and I said to myself, if we are made righteous by faith ; if the right- eousness which availeth before God is saving to all who believe therein, then such declarations ought not to alarm the poor sinner and his timid conscience, but rather be to them a consolation." In another place he says, "I had the greatest longing to understand rightly the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, but was always stopped by the word 'righteousness,' in the 1st chapter and 19th verse, where Paul says, ' the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.' I felt very angry at the term, ' the righteousness of God ;' for, after ll 122 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. the manner of all the teachers, I was taught to understand it, in a philosophic sense, of that righteousness by which God is just and punish- eth the guilty. Though I had lived without re- proach, I felt myself a great sinner before God, and was of a very quick conscience, and had not confidence in a reconciliation with God, to be pro- duced by any work of satisfaction or merit of my own. For this cause I had in me no love of a righteous and angry God, but secretly hated him, and thought within myself, Is it not enough that God hath condemned us to everlasting death by Adam's sin, and that we must suffer so much trouble and misery in this life ? Over and above the terror and threatening of the law, must he needs increase, by the gospel, our misery and anguish ; and, by the preaching of the same, thunder against us his justice and fierce wrath ? My confused conscience oft-times did cast me into fits of anger, and I sought, day and night, to make out the meaning of Paul ; and, at last, I came to apprehend it thus : Through the gospel is re- vealed the righteousness which availeth with God, a righteousness by which God, in his mercy and compassion, justifieth us, as it is written, i The just shall live by faith.' Straightway I felt as if I were born anew ; it was as if I had found the door of Paradise thrown wide open. Now I saw the Scriptures in altogether a new light, ran through their whole contents, as far as my me- mory would serve, and compared them, and found that the righteousness was the more surely that by which he makes us righteous, because every M. 21-25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 123 thing agreed thereunto so well. . . . The expres- sion, ' the righteousness of God,' which I so much hated before, became now dear and pre- cious, my darling and most comforting word ; and that passage of Paul was to me the true door of Paradise." This long passage is one of the most interesting to be found in all Luther's writings. Though we are rarely able to state positively the moment of one's conversion, we may confidently affirm that this paragraph refers us distinctly to the time when the scales fell from Luther's eyes, and when he broke through that complicated and strong net-work of papal error which had hitherto held him captive. From this time Luther is a new man. He had a footing of his own, and felt the strength of his foundation. Although he had almost every thing to learn in respect to this new land of promise, he knew that he was in it. Again, we learn to a certainty here, that Luther's own mind laboured long and hard upon this point. Nothing can be more erroneous than the impres- sion received by many from the meagre accounts commonly given of this struggle, that a few short and simple words of Staupitz speedily set him right. The process was very protracted and com- plicated, and the fierce contention between two opposite elements was carried on long, and ex- tended through all the domain of monasticism, its habits and usages, its Scripture interpreta- tions, its dialectics, and the whole mass of its cumbrous theology. A gigantic effort of intellect was requisite in order that Luther should feel his 124 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1505-1508. way out, iii opposition to all the scholastic and monastic influences, not only without the aid of the original Scriptures, but with a version (the Vulgate) in which the key-word to this doctrine of justification was rendered by justitia, justice, which, with its false glosses, greatly increased the difficulty. But we should err, if we were to dilute this great change down to a mere intellectual process. Luther himself viewed it very differently, and always represented it as a spiritual transforma- tion, effected by the grace of God. He remarks on this subject, " Staupitz assisted me, or rather God through him. ... I lay wretchedly entangled in the papal net. ... I must have perished in the den of murderers, if God had not delivered me. . . . His grace transformed me, and kept me from going with the enemies of the gospel, and from joining them now in shedding innocent blood." Who can doubt that he spoke from his own expe- rience, when he said, "As soon as you receive the knowledge of Christ with sure faith, all anger, fear and trembling vanish in the twinkling of an eye, and nothing but pure compassion is seen in God ! Such knowledge quickeneth the heart and maketh it joyful and assured that God is not angry with us, but tenderly loveth us." The remainder of the time that Luther spent in Erfurt, that is, the latter part of his third year in the cloister, and the little of the fourth that was passed there before going to Wittenberg, was em- ployed in the study of the Christian Fathers, and especially the writings of Augustine, in connec- JE. -25.] CONSECRATION AS PRIEST. 125 tion with the Scriptures and the doctrine of justi- fication. That it is a mistake to place the study of Augustine and others of the church Fathers, except the casual reading of them, at an earlier period, is evident from the account given by Melancthon, who says it took place after he had ascertained the doctrine of justification by faith. With the works of Augustine he became very familiar, and afterward he edited one of his trea- tises, to be used as a text-book in the Univer- sity of Wittenberg. In the preface he remarks, "I can safely affirm, from my own experience, that next to the Holy Scriptures there is no writer of the church who can be compared with Augustine in Christian learning." Another fa- vourite author with Luther at this time was Gerson, with whose moral writings he was par- ticularly pleased, "because he alone, of all the writers of the church, treated of spiritual trials and temptations." 11* 126 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. CHAPTER IV. LUTHER AS PROFESSOR IN WITTENBERG, TILL THE BEGIN- NING OF THE REFORMATION IN 1517. Section I. — Luther's Removal to Wittenberg. E now come to the close of an im- portant period of Luther's life. Du- ring a residence of a little more than seven years in Erfurt, from July 17, 1501, to the autumn of 1508, in which he had passed from youth to the state of manhood, both his intellectual and religious character under- went a great transformation. Four years of time, devoted with signal success to secular learning in the university; and nearly three and a half to experimental religion and to theology in the mo- nastery, changed the boy, who knew nothing of learning beyond the catechism and Latin gram- mar, and nothing of religion beyond a gloomy apprehension of it and a crude mass of super- stitions, into a mature scholar and theologian, to whom the young University of Wittenberg looked as to one likely to increase its usefulness and its M. 25.] WITTENBERG. 127 fame. The appointment was very peculiar. Such was his modesty, and his reluctance to appearing abroad in any public capacity, that Staupitz, as provincial of the order, peremptorily required him to repair to the monastery at Wittenberg, and to lecture there on philosoph}'-. The conscientious monk, who had learned nothing more perfectly than he had the duty of obedience, and who, no doubt, would have resisted any entreaty, and de- clined any appointment, hastened to comply with the order, not waiting even to take leave of his friends, and hardly providing himself with a change of apparel. Inasmuch as this event opens a new period in his life, in which an extraordinary development of character was wrought, and a transition made from the passive submission of the monk to the activity and control of one born to rule, it becomes necessary, at this point, to pause and take a survey of the new theatre of action upon which he was now entering, and of the widely different relations which he wTas hence- forth to sustain. WITTENBERG. Probably Luther never saw this place till he went to take his station there for life. And what a station was that! and how did he fill it! Pass- ing beyond Weimar, Naumburg and Leipsic, and directing his course toward Diiben. which is about midway between Leipsic and AVittenberg, he would see spread out before him a rich arable tract of country, dotted with countless small villages. Only Eilenburg on the right, and Delitsch on the left, 128 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. several miles distant, rise to the dignitj^ of towns. Near Diiben, pleasant woodland and fine meadows begin to appear, and extend far in both direc- tions along the banks of the Mulcle. A mile beyond that town, Luther, of course, entered the Diiben Heath, a desolate, sandy region, seven or eight miles in extent, covered with stunted trees, where an equally stunted race of wood-cutters, colliers and manufacturers of wooden-ware, led a boorish life. Near the entrance of the heath is a rock, called Dr. Luther's Rock, with the letters 1). M. L. inscribed upon it, because he is said to have made a pause here once when on a journey, and to have taken a repast upon it. To the right of the heath, near the Elbe, is Schmiedeberg, whither the university was sometimes temporarily removed in seasons of peril. Beyond the river is the castle of Lichtenberg, where Luther held an anxious interview with Spalatin, in 1518, to de- termine whether he should retire from Wittenberg or not. North of this are Annaburg, the occa- sional residence of the electors, and the Cloister Lochau, so often mentioned by Luther. Directly on his route lay Kemberg, which was also con- nected variously with the university. The last place he passed through was Prata, whose dis- tance from Wittenberg, he once said, would give an idea of the width of the Po. To the left lay Sagrena, Carlstadt's resoft, when he retired from the university, and lived as a peasant. Beyond this were seen the Elbe and the white sand hills which gave to Wittenberg its name. The town itself, containing then three hundred and fifty-six JE. 25.] WITTENBERG. 129 houses and about two thousand inhabitants, lay before him on the north side of the Elbe, and two hundred rods distant from it, in a long oval form, with the electoral church and palace at the west- ern extremity, the city church in the centre, and the Augusteum or university toward the Elster gate, at the eastern extremity. Though Witten- berg was the capital of the old electorate, its appearance was far from being splendid. On the north side arc seen plains broken by sand-hills and copses of wood; on the south, a low flat heath, behind which flowed the broad Elbe, fringed here and there with willow and oak shrubs. Many wretched hamlets were seen in the distance, and the city itself, if we except the public buildings, was but little more than a cluster of mean dwell- ings. The people were warlike, but so sensual that it was thought necessary to limit their con- vivialities by law. At betrothals, for example, nothing was allowed to be given to the guests, except cakes, bread, cheese, fruit and beer. The last article so abounded at Wittenberg, that it was said, "The cuckoo could be heard there in winter evenings ;" speaking, of course, through the throats of the bottles. There were one hundred and seventy-two breweries in t he city in 1513. Among the expenditures of the city, recorded in the treasurer's books, for the ten years preceding Lu- ther's arrival, are moneys paid for lire-arms; for race-grounds, where oxen were the prize won in the race; for paintings and masks used in plays; for garments, masks, rings, scaffolding, linen, dresses for Satan and his companions; for Judas 130 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. and the two thieves, all to be used in the amuse- ments of Passion-week. Luther rarely speaks in praise of the inhabitants in and about Wittenberg. At one time, he says, "The Saxons are neither agreeable nor civil;" at another time, " The Witten- bergers trouble themselves neither about honour, courtesy, nor religion ; they do not send their sons to school, though so many come here from abroad." There seems to have been an almost entire desti- tution of lower schools here at that time, and there was no Latin school till 1519. The first press at Wittenberg, for printing learned works, that is, in the Latin language with the Roman type, was established in the Augustinian cloister, the year after Luther became an inmate there; and a German press had existed there only five years before his arrival. What has just been said will find a sufficient explanation in the fact that Wittenberg was situ- ated on the north-eastern verge of German civili- zation, being a border-town, between the Wends on the east and the Saxons on the west, and being as yet but feebly influenced by the refinements of learning, which came from the south, and the west, from Italy and France. Cologne, Heidel- berg and Erfurt were the principal seats of learning, until Wittenberg, ten years from this time, came to eclipse them all, and to fix the source and centre of illumination far to the north. M. 25.] WITTENBERG. 131 THE UNIVERSITY. Wittenberg University had been in exist- ence six years when Luther was appointed pro- fessor. Until 1507, it was supported chiefly from the funds of the Elector Frederic, who now incor- porated with it the collegiate church, with all its sources of income, and the provostships of Kem- berg and Cloden, the parish of Orlamiinde, &c, the canons of the former becoming lecturers with- out cost or trouble, and the incumbents of the Li Iter providing vicars in their churches, and re- moving to the university, where they lived upon their incomes. The university was organized after the model of Tubingen, and bore resemblance to the University of Erfurt. All these were less under ecclesiastical control than the Universities of Louvain, Cologne, Ingoldstadt and Leipsic. The rector, who must be unmarried, and maintain his dignity by studied seclusion, and appear in public only in great pomp, — assisted by three reformers, whose duty it was to superintend the instruction, and the deans of the four faculties, constituted the Academic Senate. The univer- sity, contrary to the usual custom, was under the protection of the elector, and not of the pope, or a cardinal, or an archbishop, a circumstance which greatly favoured the Reformation. None, there- fore, but the elector could control the university from without, and none but the rector and his assistants, the reformers, could do it from within. These, however, had enough to do. In the very 132 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. year that Luther came there, the students had so insulted some of the court of the Bishop of Bran- denburg, that he put the whole city under the in- terdict, which was removed only on the payment of two thousand gulden. The year before, when Scheurl, a very energetic man, was rector, he checked the prevailing vice of intoxication among the students, and prohibited the practice of going armed with gun, sword and knife. Still, in 1512, another rector was assassinated by an expelled student; and Melancthon once barely escaped with his life. Paul and Augustine were the patron saints o£ the theological faculty, a clear intimation on the part of Staupitz, the organizer and first dean of this faculty, that the theological system which he had always taught was to be favoured here. Thus a place was from the beginning prepared for Lu- ther, who had studied Paul most of all the sacred writers, and Augustine most of all the ecclesias- tical. The whole university was to observe the festivals of the saints of each faculty. The facul- ties were the theological, in which there were four professors : the law, in which there were five : the medical, in which there were three : and the phi- losophical, including science and literature, in which there were ten. In the theological faculty were Staupitz, Pollich, (one of the founders of the university,) Truttvetter, Luther's teacher in Erfurt, and Henning. Amsdorf and Carlstadt were teachers of the scholastic philosophy. There was as yet no teacher in Greek, Hebrew, or mathe- matics. The number of students who entered M. 25.] WITTENBERG. 133 that year (1508) was one hundred and seventy- nine, and the whole number in the university could not have been more than four or five hun- dred, though it amounted in a few years to two thousand. As Luther passed rapidly through all the degrees conferred in theology, it becomes ne- cessary to explain their nature. The first was that of hibllcus, though the candidate ordinarily knew7 little of the Bible beyond a few papal glosses on favourite proof-texts : the second was that of sententiarius, who could lecture on the first two books of the Sentences of Peter Lombardus : the third was that of formatus, who could lecture on the last twro books of the same author: the fourth was that of licentiatus, one licensed to teach theology in general : the fifth was that of doctor of divinity. THE CHURCHES AND ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF WITTENBERG. Wittenberg belonged to the diocese of Branden- burg, of which Scultet was bishop, subject to the Archbishop of Magdeburg, who at that time and till 1513 was Ernest, brother of the Elector Frede- ric. He was succeeded by Albert, of the Branden- burg family, who retained the see of Magdeburg after he became Archbishop of Mainz, and, of course, primate of Germany. These, next after Staupitz, were Luther's ecclesiastical superiors. The Electoral Church (called also the Church of Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins, or All Saints') gave, on account of its innumerable relics and unprecedented indulgences, a very supersti- 134 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. tious air to the religious character of Wittenberg. In 1353, the elector, who had been rewarded for his faithful services to the King of France by a thorn from the crown worn by Christ, erected a chapel for the relic, and appointed seven chap- lains. This grew by degrees into an important collegiate church, being exempted from the bishop's jurisdiction, and exercising the right of patron- age over the other churches of the city. When vacancies occurred in the chapter, the canons, the number of whom were increased to eighty, were presented by the elector. All who worshipped here had forty days' indulgence. Every week occurred the anniversary of some saint, which was announced every Sunday, together with the relics to be shown. The electoral church, which occupied the place of that old chapel, was erected by the Elector Frederic, and finished nine years previous to Luther's removal to this place. Re- lics were now collected from every quarter, at great expense, the pope and foreign ecclesiastics aiding those who were engaged in the work. They were divided into eight classes, and shown in as many courses to superstitious worshippers. The number of the relics amounted to five thou- sand and five, which were enclosed in cases of wood, stone, glass, silver and gold, embossed with pearls. Most of them belonged to holy virgins, widows, confessors, martyrs, apostles and pro- phets; but the eighth class, containing three hun- dred and thirty-one, related to Christ, such as garments, teeth, hair in abundance, relics of the children slain by Herod, milk from the holy Vir- M. 25.] FREDERIC THE WISE. 135 gin, thread spun by her, straw from the manger in Bethlehem, and fragments from the cross and from Mount Sinai ! Every person, to whom all these and another collection of seventeen hun- dred relics should be shown, was entitled to four- teen hundred and forty-three years of indulgence ! equalled by no other place in Christendom except Assisi, the native place of St. Franciscus. In this single church, 9901 masses were said, and 35,570 pounds of wax consumed every year ! One of the first books printed at Wittenberg after Luther arrived there, was a "Description of the Venerable Relics," with one hundred and nine- teen wood-cuts. This was the church where Lu- ther sometimes preached, where the higher de- grees were conferred, and on whose doors the ninety-five theses were posted up. The city or parish church, where most of Luther's sermons were delivered, and of which Pontanus and Bu- genhagen were successive pastors, was in another part of the town. FREDERIC THE WISE — BORN 1463 — DIED 1525. The reigning Saxon family was divided into two branches, the Albertine and the Ernestine. From Albert, (whose ordinary residence was Dresden,) descended Duke George, Luther's bit- ter enemy, and to him succeeded first Henry and then Maurice. To Ernest, who resided sometimes at Torgau and sometimes at Witten- berg, Avere born four distinguished sons, the Elector Frederic the Wise, who in his birth preceded Luther twenty years, and in his death 136 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. twenty-one; Albert, who at the age of eighteen was Archbishop of Mainz, in 1482, but died in the same year ; Ernest, who, after being Admi- nistrator of Magdeburg for several years, was archbishop from 1489 to 1513 ; and John the Constant, now associated with Frederic in the government, and in 1525 his successor. If we bear in mind that the Archbishops of Magdeburg and Mainz had large territories under their civil government, and actually had more of the character of princes than of ecclesiastics, we shall not fail to perceive the great extent of the Saxon dominion at the time that the family oc- cupied all the places above named. Hence the jealousy between that house and the house of Brandenburg, when Albert, belonging to the lat- ter, was at the same time Archbishop both in Magdeburg and in Mainz. This explains the circumstance that Tetzel, Albert's agent in sell- ing indulgences, was coolly received in Saxony, but was favourably received in all the territories of the Brandenburg family. Frederic, like all his brothers, was well edu- cated, and could write and speak the Latin and French, besides the German. In the absence of the Emperor Maximilian, in 1507, he adminis- tered the affairs of the empire in the character of vicar. He had done the same before, and was called to do it once again at the important crisis in respect to the Reformation, during the interval between the death of Maximilian and the election of Charles V. in 1519. He attended thirty diets in all, in which he took frequently the most im- M. 25.] FREDERIC THE WISE. 137 portant, and never a .subordinate part. He was, for those times, an admirable ruler in his own territories; increasing steadily the power of the electorate, and commanding universal respect at home and abroad. Though surnamed the Wise, he was rather vir- tuous and prudent than great. If he did not regard the interests of Saxony too much, he re- garded those of Germany too little. He undoubt- edly contributed his share toward weakening and dividing the empire, by uniting with other elect- ors and princes in raising the states to sove- reignty and independence. His patriotism was narrower than that of Ulrich von Hutten, Francis von Sickingen, or even Philip of Hesse. i As he was a liberal patron of letters, those who have written his history were so much in- debted to him that their praises are to be re- ceived with some little caution. He was a great lover of peace ; and it is said, that during his reign blood never flowed in his dominions. His private virtue was not quite spotless. Luther complains that intoxication was too much in- dulged in at his court ; that taxes wTere some- times oppressive; and that the administration of justice and of other public affairs was often too long delayed. But he was remarkably upright and firm. When the imperial throne became va- cant, he refused all presents offered him as elector by the competitors ; declined the imperial crown when offered to him; and, though he favoured the election of Charles, he was active in limiting his authority by ;i capitulation to be previously signed. 12* 138 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1508. His cautious and hesitating course toward Lu- ther and the Reformation was undoubtedly fa- vourable ; inasmuch as it left the work to depend on spiritual resources, and thereby kept it from assuming the character of a political revolu- tion. He was originally a superstitious but not bigoted papist. He expended no less than two hundred thousand gulden on his favourite colle- giate church and its relics. He made a pilgrim- age to Jerusalem, accompanied by the painter Cranach and others. Of course there could, at first, be but little sympathy between him and Luther. SECTION II. — Luther's early Labours in Wittenberg. We are now prepared to follow Luther in the new scene of his labours. The precise time of his journey thither is not known, but, as we find his name entered as teacher in the winter seme- ster, or half-year term, of 1508-1509, we may infer that he was probably on the ground by November, to commence the term. Luther, who had so long resided in the large and beautiful city of Erfurt, and, before that, in Eisenach and Mag- deburg, sensibly felt the change when he came to a little, unattractive town, consisting mostly of a cluster of low houses, with mud walls and thatched roofs. "I wondered," said he, "that a university should be placed here." As monk, he found his new home in the Augustinian cloister, which the elector was then rebuilding. How little did Fre- deric, while preparing that apartment, which is M. 25.] EARLY LABOURS IN WITTENBERG. ]39 still preserved, or brother Martin, when taking up his residence there, which he never afterward changed, think that in this obscure place should be forged the weapons, and from it the missiles be showered forth which, in connection with other agencies, should put to flight the ranks of the enemy, and change the destinies of nearly all the north of Europe ! Parts of the building it was necessary to take dowm during Luther's lifetime, at which it was natural that he should feel sad. "If I should live another year," he remarked, with emotion, "I must behold the removal of my poor little room, from whence I have stormed the pope, for which cause it deserves to stand for ever." He commenced his labours by lecturing on the dialectics and physics of Aristotle, without salary or tuition fees. It is remarkable that he never received any thing from students for his labours, nor from booksellers for his writings.* After he laid aside the cowl, the elector gave him an allow- ance of two hundred gulden a year. From the change through which Luther's mind had recently passed, and from the fresh interest he now took in the study of the Bible and of theology, we might infer that the Aristotelian philosophy would have few attractions for him. It was indeed with reluctance that lie turned away from his favourite studies, and laid out * The publishers of his works offered him four hundred florins a year, if he would give them his manuscripts; but he refused "to make merchandise of the gifts with which God had endowed him." 140 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1509. all his strength in preparing for his philosophi- cal lectures. So entirely was he obliged to sur- render himself to his new occupation, that he could not find time to write to his most intimate friends. A letter which he wrote to his old ac- quaintance, Braun, in Eisenach, a week after he was transferred to the department of theology, unbosoms to us his feelings during the first few months of his residence at Wittenberg. " That I came off," he writes, March 17, 1509, "with- out saying a word unto you, you must not mar- vel. For so sudden was my departure that my choicest friends there hardly knew it. I would fain have written unto you, but could not then for lack of time, and could only but grieve that 1 was constrained to fly away in such haste, with- out bidding you farewell. But now, at God's command, or by his permission, I am here in Wittenberg. Would you know my state and condition, I would say it is, by God's favour, very good, saving that I must force myself unto my studies, especially philosophy, before which I preferred theology from the beginning. I mean that theology which seeketh for the inside of the nut, for the kernel of the wheat beneath the husk, for the marrow within the bone. But God is God, and man often, nay, always, erreth in his judgment. This is our God, and he shall guide us in his loving-kindness for ever/' The circumstance that within about four months he became lecturer, or elementary teacher, in theo- logy, renders it highly probable that Staupitz, and perhaps himself, considered his first appointment JE. 25.] EARLY LABOURS IN AVITTENBERG. ]41 as merely preparatory to the second. At any rate, the ninth of March was a joyful clay to him. In the university book, where his name is registered, we find the amusing remark: "On the ninth of March, master {i. e. A. M.) Martin was admitted to the Bible, (/. e. made biblicus,) but, being called away to Erfurt, hath not unto this time paid his fee." In the margin is added, in Luther's own hand, " And never will. I was then poor, and under the rule of monastic obedi- ence, and had nothing to give. Let Erfurt pay."' The biblical bachelors knew nothing of the ori- ginal languages of the Bible, nor did they in any respect resemble the modern professors of bibli- cal literature. They merely studied the inter- pretations, or select passages of Scripture, given by the fathers, the popes and the councils. The study was but a superficial and hasty prepara- tion for reading the books of sentences. Accord- ing to the laws of the Wittenberg University, the biblical teacher must promise to teach the Scrip- tures one year, or, if he was a monk, half a year. In the programme of lectures for the year 1007, the only one extant of that period, no lecturer of this kind is mentioned, and but little account was generally made of that office. Though Lu- ther could not now read the Scriptures in the original languages, nor t he Greek Fathers except through Latin translations, his present views of theology and his l<»ve of the Bible led him to enter upon his official duties with an unprece- dented earnestness and zeal. To this and the following period he refers in a work published 142 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1509. in 1539, in which, speaking of the assurance and yet the ignorance of his opponents, he says, " I have also read the Fathers, and that, too, before I set myself in such stiff opposition to the pope. I read them, too, with much more diligence than they have done who now bring them arrogantly and vauntingly against me. For I know that not one of them hath ever undertaken to lecture in the schools on a single book of the Bible, and make use of the writings of the Fathers as helps, as I have done. Let them take up a book of the Bible, and look for the glosses to be found in the Fathers, and it then will be with them as it was with me when I took up the Epistle to the He- brews, with the aid of Chrysostom's commen- tary; Titus and Galatians, with the aid of Je- rome ; Genesis, with the help of Ambrose and Augustine ; and the Psalms with all the helps that could be found; and so of other books." The impression, therefore, which his biblical lectures at first made, must have depended more on his having thrown his heart into it, and ex- hibited boldly and clearly some long forgotten doctrinal truths, than upon his mastery of bibli- cal studies. HIS RELUCTANCE TO PREACH. The monastic shyness and timidity which he had before manifested adhered to him still. Being called upon about this time, probably in the sum- mer of 1509, by Staupitz to preach, he mani- fested extreme reluctance. " It is no little matter," said he, "to appear in place of God be- JE. 25.] RELUCTANCE TO TltEACH. 143 fore the people, and to preach to them." As they were one day sitting in the cloister-garden, refreshing themselves in the shade of a certain pear-tree, which was a place of frequent resort, the case was long argued between them, and Lu- ther at length yielded. His own account of the interview is thus given in the Table-Talk: "I had fifteen arguments with which I purposed, under this pear-tree, to refuse my vocation ; but they could nothing avail. At the last I said, ' Dr. Staupitz, you will be the death of me, for I cannot live under it three months.' 'Very well, in God's name, go on ! Our Lord God hath many great things to do : he hath need of wise folks in heaven, too.' " He was, at the time he made this remark, sitting in the same place with his friend Antony Lauterbach, who was telling- how much difficulty, trial and weakness, he ex- perienced in preaching. " My dear sir," said Luther, " it hath gone even so with me. I had as great a dread and terror of the pulpit as you have ; yet was I compelled to go right onward. I was constrained to preach, and to make a begin- ning in the refectory with the brethren. Oh, what a horror I had of the pulpit !" The spot where Luther first preached is thus described by Myconius : "In the new Augustinian cloister at Wittenberg, the foundations of a chapel had indeed been laid, but the walls were raised no higher than to a level with the ground. Within them was yet standing a little old wooden chapel, about thirty feet long and twenty wide, the tim- bers thereof being laid in mortar, very much lean- 144 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1500. ing, and propped up on all sides. In it was a little half-gallery, old and smoky, in which twenty men might perhaps stand. By the wall on the south side was to be seen a pulpit of old rough- hewn planks, raised about an ell and a half from the floor. ... In this poor little chapel did God cause his holy gospel and his dear child Jesus to be born anew. It was no minster or great cathedral, though there were many thou- sands of them, that God chose for this purpose. But soon this chapel was too strait, and Luther was called to preach in the parish church." How Luther overcame his timidity in preaching, he himself informs us. "When a preacher for the first time goeth into the pulpit, no one would be- lieve how fearful he is, he seeth so many heads before him. When I go up into the pulpit, I do not look upon anyone. I think them to be only so many blocks before me, and I speak out the words of my God." Creuziger once said to Melancthon, "I do not like to see you at my lectures." "Nor do I," said Luther, " at mine, or at my pulpit discourses ; but I bring .the cross right before me, think Melanc- thon, Jonas, Pomeranus, &c, are not present, and count no one to be wiser in the pulpit than my- self." Of his character as preacher, we shall speak in another place. M. 26.] JOURNEY TO ROME. 145 Section III. — Journey to Rome. Luther's visit to Rome was of such consequence to him, that it demands our special attention. He travelled on foot with a brother, whose name is not mentioned, and, according to general usage, passed the nights in the various convents of his order that lay in his route. Travelling as a pilgrim to the holy apostolical see, with little intercourse, except with sequestered monks, he would not be likely to make all the observations upon the countries through which he passed, and their inhabitants, which would be expected of the curious traveller. The first resting-place, of which any account is preserved, on this journey, was at Heidelberg, whither he was accompanied by Staupitz. The chronicle of that city speaks of his visiting it "in 1510, when he was sent by the convent of the Augustinians to Rome." While there, he preached, and engaged, as was usual, with the learned monks, in public disputations. His journey now took a south-easterly direction through Suabia into Ba- varia. Tradition mentions Munich as one of the places at which he called as he proceeded on his way. The last point mentioned in Germany is Fiissen, at the Tyrol pass, and the first in Italy is Milan. He consequently took a south-westerly direction in crossing the Alps, and passed near to Lake Como. Some of his remarks on the character of the people and of the countries which fell under- his observation are not a little amusing. We will 13 146 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. quote his own words. "Were I to travel much, I would go nowhere of a readier will than into Suabia and Bavaria ; for there the people are kind- hearted and hospitable, and are forward to treat strangers and pilgrims charitably, and give them full their money's worth." "When, in 1510, I was journeying to Rome through Milan, I per- ceived that a different mass-service was used there, and was told I could not join in the cele- bration, because they were Ambrosians." He speaks of Lombardy, as "a goodly and pleasant country," as "a valley a hundred miles wide, on both sides of the Po, (which is as wide as from Wittenberg to Prata,) extending from the Alps to the Apennines." He adds, "In Lombardy, on the Po, is a very rich Benedictine cloister, with a yearly income of thirty-six thousand florins. Of eating and feasting there is no lack, for that twelve thousand florins are consumed upon guests, and as large a sum upon building. The residue goeth to the convent and the brethren. I was in that cloister, and was received and treated with honour." The air of Italy was so pestilential that it wTas necessary to exclude it entirely, during the night, by closing the windows. " That," said he, "did I and my brother experience. When we were in Italy, (near Padua,) on our way to Rome, we slept at one time till six in the morning with our windows open, and when we awoke, we found our heads so stopped with catarrh, and so heavy and void of sense, that we could travel that day but only five miles." At Bologna, he was taken so ill that he despaired of recovery. His mind re- M. 20. ] IN ROME. 147 verted in its anxiety to the cardinal doctrine of his newly adopted creed, the only point on which a clear light had begun to shine, and he drew consolation from those words which three years before gave new life to his soul, " The just shall live by faith." During all his journey, this me- morable passage would ever and anon occur to his memory. He speaks with admiration of the Foundling and other excellent hospitals which he saw at Florence, and gives evident signs of satis- faction at the honourable mention of the name of the Emperor Frederic, of Germany, whose sayings were still preserved among the people. At length he came in sight of Rome, whereupon, with the feelings of a pilgrim who has reached the hal- lowed spot of his most earnest longings, he fell prostrate to the ground, and raised his hands, and said, "Hail, sacred Rome, thrice sacred for the blood of the martyrs here shed !" LUTHER IN ROME. Cicero and Julius Csesar would hardly have recognised the ecclesiastical city which Luther has just greeted, and with scarcely less difficulty would he recognise the Rome of the present day. Its hills, indeed, are the same, and the same Tiber flows there still. But Alaric, Genseric, Ricimer, and Totila had been there, and desolation reigned on many of the seven hills. Another priesthood and a people of another faith were there; and instead of the temples of Jupiter Capitolinus, of Esculapius and of Apollo, were to be seen St. Peter's, the Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore. 148 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. Modern Rome was not yet in full existence. The residences of the great were still chiefly within the angle made by the curve of the Tiber, in the vicinity of the Campus Martius and the Circus. Luther entered the Porta del Popolo, its north- ern gate. Near it wTas the Augustinian monastery, where he is said to have taken his lodgings and to have held mass as soon as he entered the city. On his right, across the river, and beyond the castle of St. Angelo, was seen the half-finished St. Peter's, which had been begun and was now carried on by Pope Julius, that lover of war and of architecture. It was finished at a later period by Leo, who was equally fond of splendour, and who in the arts of peace was as heathenish as his predecessor was in the arts of war. As one enters the gate above mentioned, he finds himself in a square from which diverge three long streets, in nearly direct lines, the one on the right running to the Campus Martius and near to the Pantheon ; the one in front passing directly to the old Capitol and Forum ; the one on the left passing in a south- easterly direction across the Quirinal and Viminal hills, leaving the Diocletian Baths to the left, and extending to the Santa Maria Maggiore, which, with the Lateran, are next in splendour to St. Peter's. The Lateran, the proper parish church of the pope, and " the mother and head of all the churches of the world," is about half as much farther, and near the walls of the city. Directly south of this, and two miles beyond the walls, is St. Sebastian's church, built directly over the catacombs. West from the latter, near the bank M. 26.] IN ROME. 149 of the Tiber and a mile below the city, is St. Paul's, next in magnitude to St. Peter's. This introductory view will enable us to follow Luther in his frequent visits to the sacred places in Rome, and to perceive the full import of his casual observations. Fortunately, a guide-book for pilgrims — Mirabilia Romw, the Wonders of Home — had been prepared and was reprinted the very year of Luther's pilgrimage. Of the general appearance of the cit}r, he remarks, "Rome, as it now appeareth, is but a dead carcase compared with its ancient splendour. The houses now rest on ground as high as the roofs once stood, so deep are the ruins. This do we perceive at the banks of the Tiber, where the ruins reach perpendicularly to the length of two spears, such as are used by our troops." "Rome, where the most magnificent buildings once stood, Avas rased to the ground by the Goths. On the hill, and the Capitol, stands a Franciscan convent." " Rome, as I saw it, is full five miles in circumference. The vestiges where ancient Rome stood can scarcely be traced. The theatre and the Baths of Diocletian are still to be seen. . . . The erection of St. Peter's has lasted more than thirteen hundred years, (including the old building,) and upon it a huge sum of money has been expended." "In the Pantheon at Rome, now converted into a church, are representations in paintings of all the gods. . . . When I was there, I saw this church. It had no windows, but was one high vault, with an opening above to admit the light, It had large marble pillars, 13* 150 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. which could hardly be compassed by two men with their arms extended." Luther visited Rome as a pilgrim. Twice while in Erfurt had he vowed to make a pilgrimage to Rome ; and he himself affirms that he made the journey in consequence of his vows. This state- ment does not, however, stand in the way of his having other objects to accomplish at the same time. Rome was then regarded as second only to Jerusalem in sacredness. The soil was sup- posed to be hallowed, not only by the graves of thousands of martyrs, and many Roman bishops, but of the apostles Peter and Paul. Pilgrims came in multitudes, sometimes two hundred thou- sand at a time, to visit this sacred city. " The Wonders of Rome " (the guide-book already mentioned) describes the stations, the relics and the indulgences, especially those connected with the seven principal churches. The Lateran church had power to give as many days of indulgence as the drops of rain which would fall in three days and nights. Each chapel belonging to the group of the Lateran buildings, each altar and relic, had, moreover, its particular number of indulgences. Instructions are given how to deliver souls from purgatory by means of Pater nostcrs and Ave Marias. When Luther was there paying his de- votions, with frantic zeal like the rest of the in- fatuated multitude, he regretted, as he says, that his father and mother were both living, so desirous was he to release their souls from purgatory. He afterward alludes to this insane passion with bitter scorn and contempt, saying, "How gladly M. 26.] IN ROME. 151 would 1 then have made my mother happy, but was denied the opportunity, and must content my- self with a good dried herring !" " Such a foolish saint was I, running to all the churches and sepul- chres, and believing all the pitiable stories that were told me." According to the same book, one may obtain every day at the high altar of St. Peter's eighteen years' indulgence and eighteen carcnas, each carena being equal to seven years and forty days' fasting. All the past sins of every visitor who comes with good intention can be forgiven. He who devoutly goes up and down the stairway to St. Peter's, has a thousand years' indulgence in respect to penance imposed; and seven times as much if he look at the handkerchief of St. Veronica, containing the likeness of the Saviour. Luther went up those stairs on his knees to obtain the large indulgence promised; but while he was so doing, a voice like j thunder seemed to say to him, " The just shall live by faith." No wonder that his former expe- rience should come up like a spectre before him, and rebuke his idolatrous worship. His mind was then like a field overgrown with briers and thorns, in which, however, one good germ had taken root, that was soon to produce a great fruit- bearing tree — one which should overshadow all the rest and take up the strength of the soil. In regard to the pretended handkerchief which St. Veronica i< said to have given to Christ in his agony to wipe oil' his sweat, and upon which, when applied to his face, his likeness was miraculously impressed, Luther remarks, evidently from per- 152 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. sonal observation: "It is nothing but a black square board, with a cloth hung before it, and before that another, which is raised when the Veronica is shown. The poor besotted pilgrim can see nothing but a cloth before a black tablet. That is what they call seeing the Veronica; and with such low falsehoods are connected great de- votion and -large indulgences." There was never such a person as Veronica; and the name was unknown till the Middle Ages. It is the corrup- tion, as Mabillon and others have shown, of the two words vera and icon, a true image, which were inscribed beneath paintings of Christ's countenance upon cloth. Luther, while credulously gazing at such sacred relics in St. Peter's church, saw also the heads of the apostles Peter and Paul in the court before the church. " They boast at Rome of having the heads of Peter and Paul, and show them as sacred relics, though they are nothing but wooden heads, made by a bungling artist. I can boldly affirm, according to what I myself have seen and heard at Rome, that no one there knows where the bodies of St. Paul and Peter lie. . . . The popes show every year (on St. Peter and Paul's day) to the blind and silly populace two heads of Peter and Paul, carved in wood, and would fain make them believe that these are the veritable skulls of Peter and Paul; and on the altar where these heads are preserved, the palliums of the bishops are consecrated." Of the catacombs of Rome, which extended all along the eastern part of the city and the adja- JE. 20. J IX ROME. 153 cent country, from the church of St. Sebastian or St. Calixtus to that of St. Agnes without the walls, Luther speaks more than once. They evi- dently filled his imagination, as well they might, more completely than any thing else he saw at Rome. In early times, great excavations were made under the city to furnish stone and sand for building. In this complete net-work of subterra- nean passages, the Christians secreted themselves • luring the persecutions, buried all their dead there for two or three centuries, placing them in niches at the sides of the passages ; and built small chapels near the bodies of the martyrs, where they resorted for prayers and the commu- nion service. Thus, while pagan Rome was in the light of day above, riving in splendour and luxury, and putting the Christians to death, or driving them from the abodes of men, Christian Rome, beneath the surface of the earth, "the church in the ca- tacombs," as Maitland calls it, was preparing to come forth from her caverns and take possession of the city above. "At Rome," says Luther, "by the church of St. Calixtns (or St. Sebastian) lie in one vault, as is said, more than eight thou- sand martyrs, and that is a most sacred spot. Under the church, enclosed in sarcophagi, lie one hundred and sevent y-six thousand holy bodies, and forty-five popes who were martyrs. The place is called the Crypt. For full three hundred years did the persecutions rage; and they rose to such a pitch of fury that, as we learn from his- tory, seventy thousand martyrs were slain in the 154 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. empire in one day. There is still to be seen at Rome a burial-place, where, as it is said, eighty thousand martyrs and forty-six bishops lie." The exaggeration in these accounts which were given to Luther consists not so much in the numbers of the dead as in pronouncing them, on fallacious grounds, martyrs. These catacombs, which were closed in Luther's time, as they had been during all the Middle Ages, have since been opened, and their contents, containing a wonderful history in the inscriptions, placed in the Vatican. But Luther saw other things which shocked his feelings, though they did not then shake his faith. Afterward, when he came to understand the true character of the papacy, the recollections of what he had seen at Rome were constantly springing up in his mind as illustrations of the most shock- ing corruption of the church. "The pope," he observes, "moves as if making a triumphal entry, with beautiful and richly caparisoned horses be- fore him, and he himself bears the sacrament upon a splendid white palfrey." "At Rome, when they pronounce the ban of excommunica- tion, about twenty cardinals sit and throw from them burning torches, extinguishing them by the cast, thereby showing that the well-being and sal- vation of the persons so excommunicated will be extinguished in like manner. And (as a little bell was rung at the same time) this ceremony was called lighting and tinkling a man." Little did Luther think while learning such things at Rome that he was one day to be thus " lighted and tinkled." In another place he says, "I have 2E. 20.] IN ROME. 155 been in Rome, have held many mass-services there, and have seen others hold many in a way that filleth me with horror when I think thereupon." In the following, he seems to speak as one who had been an eye-witness : " What Christian can, without pain, observe that the pope, when he is to partake of the communion, sitteth still like a gracious Lord, and maketh a cardinal, with bended knee, reach to him the sacrament in a golden tube?" He speaks of the revolting licentiousness which prevailed even among the cardinals whom he saw, and pronounces the Roman court a brothel. He adds, " I myself have heard people say openly in the streets of Rome, if there be a hell, Rome is built upon it." He once said he would not take one hundred thousand florins for what he had seen at Rome ; " we speak of what we have seen." Still all these abominations did not alienate Luther from the Roman church. He revered her, in spite of the sins of pope and cardinal, monk and priest. As late as 1519, he could say, "The Roman church is honoured of God above all others. . . . There St. Peter and St. Paul, and forty-six popes and many thousand martyrs did shed their blood. . . . Though, alas ! it is not as it should be at Rome, notwithstanding there is, and can be, no reason for separating from it." 156 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. Section IV. — Luther at Wittenberg again. Of his return from Rome, and of his studies and occupations for the next succeeding year or two, but little is known. The first important event after that period is his promotion in the- ology, in 1512. He had taken the second degree, or that of sententiarius, during the interval, pro- bably in 1511, both at Wittenberg and at Erfurt. Of the singular dispute which afterward arose between him and the monks of Erfurt on this subject, mention will be made elsewhere. Staupitz, who had interested himself so deeply in Luther's welfare ever since his first acquaint- ance with him, and who, for the benefit of the church, had undertaken to guide his steps, was not disappointed in the hopes he had entertained of his young friend. He had already made him reader at table in the monastery, substituting the Scriptures in the place of Augustine's writings, which had hitherto been read to the monks during meal-times. He was raised to the rank of licen- tiate in theology, (the next degree above senten- tiarius,) the 4th of October, 1512, and finally to the degree of doctor of divinity, on the 19th of the same month. His reluctance to receive this honour, (or rather office as it then was.) appears to have been not less than that which he felt when it was proposed to make him preacher. It was manifested in a similar way, and overcome by similar arguments. In his letter of invitation to the Erfurt convent to attend the ceremony, he M. 128.] AT WITTENBERG. 157 says lie is to receive the degree " out of obedience to the fathers and the vicar." In a dedicatory epistle to the Elector Frederic, written several years after, he says, "At your expense was the doctor's hat placed upon my witless head, an honour at which I blush, but wThich I am con- strained to bear, because those whom it is my duty to obey would have it so." Among the letters of Luther is found the receipt which lie signed for the fifty florins furnished him by the elector for paying the costs of the degree. A doctor's ring of massive gold was presented to him by the elector at the same time, which is still to be seen in the library of Wolfenbiittel. On the 19th of October the ceremony was performed with great pomp, with solemn procession and the ringing of the great bell. This appointment — for it was not a mere honour — given him by the united voice of his religious superiors, his sove- reign and the university, he construed, and ever after regarded, as a Divine call to teach religion in the niosl public manner. "I was called," says he, "and forced to the office, and was obliged, from the duty of obedience, to be doctor contrary to my will, . . . and to promise with an oath to teach purel}' and sincerely according to the Scrip- tures." Tubingen and Wittenberg were the only universities wdiere such an oath was required. Under this oath, administered to him by Carl- stadt, Luther claimed the right to appeal to the Bible as the only ultimate authority, and thus formally did he plant himself upon the funda- mental principle of Protestantism. 14 158 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1512. At the time, both he and the highest authori- ties, secular and ecclesiastical, supposed there was a substantial agreement between the teachings of the church and those of the Bible. When he be- came thoroughly convinced of the contrary, he adhered to the letter of the oath, and turned it against the very power that had exacted it. He even burnt the papal bull, as he says, " because his title, office, station and oath required him to overthrow or ward off false, dangerous and un- christian doctrines !" Thus when his enemies as- sailed him as a disobedient son of the church, he availed himself of this defence. When Satan sorely pressed him with doubts and temptations in respect to the great commotion which he was the means of exciting in the Christian world, his heart found assurance and his conscience relief, in recurring to his public and formal call. In re- ference to this matter he remarks : " At the com- mand of the pope and of the emperor, (botli of whom had given to the university authority to confer degrees,) and in a regular and free uni- versity, (its freedom, too, had been conceded to the elector,) I began, as became a doctor who had taken an oath to that effect, to explain the Scrip- tures before the world, . . . and having begun thus to do, I had cause to continue, and cannot now with a good conscience go back or break off, even though pope and emperor should put me under the ban." Whether all his reasoning on the subject was strictly correct or not, he was evi- dently very conscientious about it. He affirms that he had limes of distress in relation to this M. 29.] AT WITTENBERG. 159 point, whcai he felt the perspiration start all over him. The period of about two years immediately fol- lowing the date above mentioned, appears to have been chiefly taken up in preparing for his lec- tures, and in acquiring the original languages of the Bible. The only events mentioned in con- nection with him during that time, are a dispu- tation, in 1512, by a candidate for the first degree in theology, and another in 1513, for the second degree, at both of wdiich he was the presiding officer. Such things were of frequent occurrence with him at a later period. Inasmuch as it is evident that Luther knew little of Greek or He- brew before the year 1513, whereas wre find him making use of both with some facility the next year, the inference is plain, that he must have studied them zealously about this time. Mathe- sius represents Luther as " spelling out the words of the Bible" after he commenced lecturing upon it. The first books on which he lectured were the Epistle to the Romans and the Psalms, which, the same biographer informs us, took place imme- diately after he was made doctor. How admi- rably would lecturing on thai epistle agree with the Ions: and hard struggle 'through which his mind had passed on the subject of justification ; and howT well was such an exercise adapted to prepare him for his great work as reformer! In the Psalms, too, so peculiarly a book of the heart, how much would a man of Luther's ardent, de- vout and poetical mind, discover to be just what his religious necessities called for ! Here we find 1G0 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1513. in part the secret of his great success as a uni- versity lecturer. He not only brought to light treasures of spiritual knowledge from an almost forgotten book, but treated of those subjects in which his whole soul felt a vital interest, and that, too, in the ardour of acquisition both as a scholar and as a Christian. " These writings," (the Epistle to the Ro- mans and the Psalms,) says Melancthon, "he explained after such a sort that, in the estima- tion of all pious and intelligent persons, a new day, succeeding a long night of darkness, was dawning upon the Christian doctrines." Plis earn- est discussions, in which he clearly distinguished between law and gospel, justification by works and justification by faith, opened a new world of ideas to the student. Still his interpretations, judged by a modern standard, must often ap- pear imperfect. Let us here pause a moment and contemplate the position he now held. He had fully adopted the two great Protestant principles of justifica- tion by faith in Christ, and the right of private judgment in interpreting the Scriptures ; but ho was by no means aware that these were the germs of a new order of things which could not be developed without separating him from the church. Meantime he was becoming a bold, strong and independent thinker, and beginning already, without directly intending it, to wield a commanding and renovating influence over his pupils and friends. Others, who had opposed the church, had fixed their e}re primarily on M. 29.] AT WITTENBERG. 161 certain evils, and begun, of set purpose, to ope- rate against them, using religion as a means only to that end, and thereby became but negative re- formers. Such were the promoters of classical learning, who were offended at the ignorance and stupidity of the clergy, and many of the actors at the councils of Constance and Basle, who were more anxious to crush the power of the pope and correct public abuses than to revive a spirit of primitive piety. But Luther first fed, for a long time, the flame of experimental religion in his own heart, and then spread the fire by his con- versations and lectures, and thus became the in- strument of a regenerating movement, by merely unfolding and expounding the religious elements which he brought with him from the convent of Erfurt. In the Wolfenbuttel library is preserved Lu- ther's copy of the Psalms in Hebrew^, printed on a quarto page, in the centre of which stands the Hebrew text, with wide spaces between the lines. On the broad margin and between the lines are to be seen the notes, in Latin, of his first lec- tures on this book, delivered probably in 1513. It is believed that he caused copies to be printed in this form for the greater convenience of the students in taking notes and connecting them with the words of the text. The great value of this singular book consists in the record it contains of Luther's religious and theological viewTs at that period. Jurgens, who has care- fully examined this earliest of Luther's Scrip- ture expositions which have been preserved — it 14* 162 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1513. exists only in manuscript, and in Luther's hand- writing— remarks : " It contains the clearest in- dications how little Luther had advanced in bibli- cal interpretation ; and yet it occasionally points to the way in which lie afterward became so eminent as an expositor of Scripture. We refer particularly to his disposition to go back to the original sources. But he appears still to be without a competent knowledge of the Hebrew. He makes use of a defective Latin translation, agreeing with the Vulgate, and adheres closely to it, though he knows the Hebrew text, and constantly refers to it as well as to the Greek version." We find him, as he is represented by these notes, still a perfect monk, filled with all the monastic notions and superstitions ; in his interpretation, given to allegory and conceits, except on two or three points where he becomes luminous, which circumstance gives to the whole the appearance of a morning twilight with its at- tendant indications of approaching day. We must constantly keep this in mind ; for with him, the dawning light approached slowly, and for ten years it was dark in the west after the east was streaked with reel. It is now time to notice more particularly his misunderstanding with the university at Erfurt. It seems that after he had taken his second de- gree in theology in Wittenberg, complaints were made from Erfurt, where he had received his education, and that he consequently postponed lecturing on those subjects for which that degree was regarded as a license, and went to Erfurt, M. 30.] AT WITTENBERG. 163 and with some difficulty obtained the degree there. Three or four years afterward, some monks of that city, who envied his growing re- putation, attempted to humble him by circulat- ing reports unfavourable to his integrity, and by going back to that old difficulty to rake up evidence against him. As the correspondence contains some of the earliest indications of the slumbering lion that was in him, it will be a matter of interest to glance at its character. The affair itself remains in great obscurity. Only two letters of Luther's are extant to give us any light on the subject ; and of these but one is published. The new complaint was, that Luther, in taking the degree of doctor in divinity at Wittenberg instead of Erfurt, had violated an oath he had taken when he received the degree of master in theology, or sententiarius, at the latter place. The accusation was made by a certain master Nathin, who was both an inmate of the convent and a teacher in the university. Luther's first letter on the subject is dated June 16, 1514, and is directed to the prior and seniors of the Erfurt convent. In this he refers to two preceding letters, now lost, in which he had refuted the charges falsely brought against him. There was, indeed, a law in the Erfurt University requiring that he who should receive the first degree in theology there, should take an oath to receive the second there also; and he who received the second was to do the same in regard to the degree of doctor of divinity. He 164 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1614. exculpated himself by saying that he never took the first degree at Erfurt, but at Wittenberg; and that, in taking the second, nothing was said or done about the oath. The irregularity, there- fore, was on the part of his accusers, and not on his. But let us hear his own words : " Although I have heard and read sundry evil reports spread by some of your convent which make against you, and more particularly against myself; yet, by the late letters of master John Nathin, written in the name of you all, by his falsehoods, his biting words, his bitter provoca- tions and reproaches, I was so disturbed that I came near pouring out, after the example of mas- ter Paltz, both upon him and upon the whole con- vent, the full vials of my wrath and indignation. For this cause I wrote unto you two foolish let- ters. I know not whether they came into your hands, and should soon have sent you the hidden mystery thereof, had not that slanderous tongue been silenced by your convocation. I am, there- fore, constrained to excuse many of you, nay, most of you. If, then, you were in any degree offended, or if some of you find yourselves men- tioned by name in those letters, take in good part what I have done, and reckon it all to the account of the bitter things which master Nathin did write. For my vehement indignation was just. But now do I hear what is yet worse, that this same man everywhere proclaimeth, I know not on what grounds, that I am a perjured and infamous person. I request you, since I fear you cannot stop his mouth, to avoid him, and JE. 30.] AT WITTENBERG. 1G5 warn others not to regard his speeches. I have violated no oath, for I was promoted in another place. Both the universities and you all know that I did not receive my biblical degree, wherein the oath is taken, at Erfurt. Nor am I conscious of ever having taken any oath in my whole course. My degree of sententiarius I did, in truth, take at Erfurt ; but no one, I trow, will affirm that I took any oath. But what master Nathin hath yet to hear from me, concerning the authority given unto me to teach and to govern, (when the degree was conferred,) will perhaps be seen at the proper time. I write these things, most excellent fathers, to the end that the Erfurt theologians may not look upon me as a despiser of their university ; to which, as to a mother, I attribute all that 1 have. I have not contemned them, nor will I ever, although my abode and pro- motion elsewhere have separated me from them. The convent could then, with a word, have pre- vented both of these events, if it had desired. But what it could then do, but would not, it cannot now do, if it would. Thus, it hath pleased God to bring to nought the dissensions and threat- enings of them that were asking for vengeance. But let them go on. I am at peace and recon- ciled unto you all, though I was offended. God hath singularly blessed me, unworthy as I am, so that I have cause only to rejoice, to love, and to do good to them that deserve the contrary of me, just as I receive of the Lord the contrary of what I deserve. I therefore pray }'ou to be resigned, and lay aside bitterness, if any remains, and not 1GG LIFE OF LUTHER. [1514. to be disturbed by my connection with another university, for so God would have it, and we cannot resist him." The other letter was written in January of 1515, and directed to the theological faculty of the university. It enters more into particulars, which we must pass over with the single remark that it states the fact of his having been called to Erfurt to be examined in respect to the degree of sententiarins, which he had received at Witten- berg, and which, after much difficulty, was con- firmed at Erfurt. Nathin, of course, had con- tinued his opposition, till the university was so far affected by his representations that it was necessary for Luther to exculpate himself before them. In the tone of these letters, we look in vain for the spirit of the once timid and submissive monk. He comes forward, single-handed, against a host, with a sense of his rights, and a consciousness not only of his innocence, but of his power. With a desire for peace, and the olive leaf in his hand, he, at the same time, gives no doubtful indications that he is prepared for war. Here we see the same Luther that could stand up alone at the diet of Worms, and speak without fear before emperor and princes and cardinals. Something more than the mere habit of lectur- ing had contributed to this result, in respect to his present boldness of character. His biogra- phers state that he had held frequent public dis- putations with his colleagues, and that in these he always came off triumphant. The reason of M. 30.] IN WITTENBERG. 167 his meeting so much opposition was, that he ad- vocated new and strange views; and the reason of his being victorious wras, as wTell that he was in the right, as that he knew how to maintain his ground. He openly assailed the authority of Aristotle in theology, on whom the sententiarists mainly relied. Carlstadt and Truttvetter, in par- ticular, disputed him. The point in debate wras fundamental. It re- lated, as Luther says, to first principles, namely, wdiether the doctrines of the schoolmen, who fol- lowed Aristotle, were to be received on the as- sumption that they were true, and argument to proceed from them as from well-settled principles ; or, whether these doctrines were themselves to be called in question, and examined anew in the light of Scripture and of reason. Both parties were well aware that on this hinge turned all the questions between the old and the new, the scho- lastic and the biblical views of theology. Luther fought out the battle with gigantic strength. He completely converted Carlstadt and the other young theologians to his biblical doctrines. Trutt- vetter, his old teacher, not being able to maintain his position, and not being willing to succumb to his own pupil, retired from the conflict, and went back to Erfurt in 1513. Luther afterward sup- posed he was the innocent cause of hastening the death of that sturdy old scholastic divine. In all this it is easy to find an explanation of the perfectly independent and decided tone with which Luther stood up and declared thai he could but just refrain from "pouring out the full vials 168 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1515. of his "wrath against the whole convent;" and, perhaps, the return of Truttvetter, under such circumstances, to the University of Erfurt, will suggest at least one reason why the calumny of Nathin should be listened to there, after it had been put down at the convent. The little information we have respecting Lu- ther from the beginning of 1515, to the beginning of 1516, may be regarded as indirect evidence that he was going steadily and prosperously on in the course he had begun, constantly accumulating that power and influence which was so soon to be put in requisition. The interest he felt in the controversy which was then raging between Reuchlin and the stupid Dominicans at Cologne, in respect to the utility of the study of the He- brew and Greek languages, and the advancement which he himself made in the knowledge of these languages about this time, put it beyond doubt that the lectures which he delivered on the vari- ous books of the Bible were founded, more and more, on the original Hebrew and Greek Scrip- tures. He also continued earnestly engaged in academic disputations, for, from some of the older professors, he still met with opposition. During this year, he was made dean of the theological faculty, and under him, according to the university records, a large number of Augustinian eremites received their degrees in theology. Odelkop, who heard his lectures, particularly those on the Epis- tle to the Romans, at this time, says Luther dili- gently prosecuted his studies and preached, and delivered lectures and held debates. In this year M. 32.] AT WITTENBERG. 169 were preached the first three discourses of* his which have been preserved. In these he mani- fests decided progress in the clearness and solidity of his religious views. In the first of those dis- courses, he strongly urges the doctrine, that piety consists not in outward works, but in an inward principle ; that an act, in itself good, becomes even sinful if the motive be sinful. Nothing could more clearly indicate that Luther was outgrowing the discipline and tuition of that church, whose reli- gion consisted chiefly in outward forms and cere- monies, and whose theology was as void of vitality as wTas its piety. 1516. m Not only is this an important year in the life of Luther, as a period of transition from a condi- tion of comparative retirement to one of great publicity, as forming the boundary line between Luther the learned and somewhat disputatious monk, and Luther the reformer; but here, for the first time, the mist of obscurity which has hitherto mantled his personal history is cleared away, and, from this period on, all the principal events of his life are so fully chronicled that we can follow his course with comparative ease. Of his published letters, only seven precede this date: one in 1507, inviting his friend Brown to his ordination as priest; one in 1509, to the same, excusing him- self for having come away from Erfurt without taking leave of him; one in 1510, to Spalatin, expressing a favourable opmion of Reuchlin, and censuring his opponents; two in 1512, the former 15 f 170 LIFE OF LUTHER. [151G. being an invitation to the convent at Erfurt to be present at his promotion to the rank of doctor of divinity, the latter being his receipt for fifty florins to defray the expenses of the ceremony; and two in 1514, the one, the bold letter already mentioned, relating to his difficulties with Erfurt ; the other a second letter to Spalatin, condemning the course of Ortuin, one of Reuchlin's opponents at Cologne. In this last, we perceive that vein of drollery and sarcasm with which his subsequent writings abound. He speaks of that "poetaster," as he calls him, in terms of derision and scorn, and allows himself to use language always objection- able, but less noticed then than at the present day. After applying to him several opprobrious epithets, he adds: "I think that he himself, in- structed by our Reuchlin, did feel his asinity, so to express myself, to such a degree that he medi- tated laying aside the ass and putting on the majesty of the lion, but unluckily, undertaking a metamorphosis beyond his strength, he took too short a leap, and fell into a wolf or crocodile." Though up to this period we have in all only seven or eight of his letters preserved, in the sin- gle year 1516 we have twenty, in the following year twenty-three, in 1518, fifty-six, and so on, to the amount, of five large octavo volumes. From these letters alone a tolerably full biography of Luther might be written. February 2, 151G, he writes to his intimate friend, John Lange, prior of the cloister at Erfurt, a letter which strikingly illustrates the state of his mind in respect to Hie Aristotelian philosophv, A.K M. 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 171 and the scholastic theology founded upon it ; and also the relations of his old teachers, Truttvetter, or Jodocus of Eisenach, as he generally calls him, and Usingen, both to scholasticism and to himself. He writes : " I send the accompanying letter, reve- rend father, to the excellent Jodocus of Eisenach, full of positions against [the Aristotelian] logic, philosophy and theology, that is, full of blasphe- mies and maledictions against Aristotle, Porphyry and the sententiarists, the pernicious study of this our age. . . . See that these be put into his hands, and take pains to find out what he and all the rest think of me in this matter, and let me know. I have no other more eager desire than to make known to many, and, if I have time, to show to all, how ignominiously that old actor, under his Greek mask, playeth and maketh pastime with the church. . . . My greatest sorrow is, that 1 am constrained to see brethren of good parts and of gifts qualifying them for study, spend their time and waste their lives in such vain pursuits, while the universities cease not to burn and to condemn good books, and then make, or rather dream out, new ones in their room. I wish Usin- gen as wTell as Truttvetter would leave off these studies, or at least be more moderate therein. My shelves are stored with weapons against their writings, which I perceive to be utterly useless ; and all others would see the same, were they not bound to a more than Pythagorean silence." Thus we see Luther hating Aristotle, because the scholastic theologians gerversely put him in the place of the prophets find apostles; entertain- 172 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1516. ing a feeling of respect for his two principal university teachers, and yet doubtful whether what he wrote to thern would not rather offend than enlighten them; impatient to expose the monstrous abuse, pitying the hapless youth who must be perplexed with these tedious studies only to be misled; indignant at those birds of night at Cologne, who scream out, "Heresy!" at what they have not sense enough to comprehend ; confident that he possesses the means of exploding the whole system ; but sighing over the timidity of those who would easily be convinced but for their fear of giving offence. Nothing but time and circumstances were wanting to call him out, even at this early period. But there was another element of character combined with this, that gave depth and a re- generating power to Luther's influence. In a letter dated April, 1516, we learn that his mind was, in reference to that particular feature, under- going a most favourable development. Our meaning will be apparent by the language of the letter itself. After a few words relating to a certain economical transaction, he writes to Spenlein, a monk of Memmingen, a little south of Ulm: "But I desire to know how it is with your soul ; whether, weary of your own righte- ousness, you have learned to refresh yourself with, and put your trust in, the righteousness of Christ. For in our times presuming of ourselves is the chief temptation, especially in them that are striving with all their might to be righteous and good. Being ignorant of the righteousness M. 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 173 of God, which is abundantly and freely given to us in Christ, they seek continually to perform good works of themselves until they can have confidence to stand before God adorned in their own good works and merits, which is impossible. When you were with us [in the cloister at Er- furt ?] you were of this opinion, or rather in this error, and so was I. I still have to fight against this error in myself, and have not yet altogether overcome it. Therefore, my dear brother, ac- quaint yourself with Christ and him crucified; learn to praise him; despairing of yourself, say to him, 'Lord Jesus, thou art my righteousness, and I am thy sin : thou hast taken to thyself what is mine, and given me what is thine ; thou hast assumed what thou wast not, and given to me what I was not.' Beware of aspiring to such purity as to be unwilling to appear, and also to be in very deed, a sinner. For Christ chvelleth only in sinners. For this cause Christ descended from heaven, where he dwelleth in the righteous, to the end that he might dwell also in sinners. Meditate upon this love of his, and you will find therein his most sweet consolations. For if by our toils and conflicts wo could obtain peace of conscience, why should he die ? Therefore you will not find peace save in him, by utterly despairing of your- self and of your owyn works. Learn then of him, as he received you and made your sins his owm, so to make his righteousness yours. "If you steadfastly believe this as you ought, (and cursed is he who believeth it not,) then re- ceive your brethren, who have been refractory and 15* 174 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510. gone astray, and patiently carry them along and make their sins yours ; and if you have any thing good, let it be theirs, as the apostle saith, ' Receive one another, even as Christ hath received you to the glory of God ;' and again, ' Let the same mind he in you which was in Christ Jesus, who, when he was in the form of God, emptied himself,' &c. So you, if you seem to yourself to be better, do not look upon it as a plunder, as if it were yours alone; but empty yourself, and forget what you are, and be as one of them, and bear them in your arms. His is an unhappy righteousness which maketh him unwilling to support others who ap- pear worse in comparison, and maketh him flee and retreat when he ought to be present and succour them by his patience and prayers and example. This is burying the Lord's talent, and not giving to his fellow-servants what is their due. If then you will be a lily and a rose of Christ, know that you must be among thorns. Only be careful that by impatience, hasty judg- ment, or secret pride, you do not yourself become a thorn. The kingdom of Christ is in the midst of his enemies, as the Psalm saith. Why then do you think of it as in the midst of his friends ? In whatsoever therefore you are deficient, seek the supply, prostrate before the Lord Jesus. He will teach you all things. Only consider what he hath done for you and for all, that you may learn what you ought to do for others. If he had wished to live only among the good and to die for his friends alone, for whom, I ask, would he have died, or with whom would he ever have lived? Thus do, je 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 175 my brother, and pray for me, and the Lord be with you." We have presented the whole of this letter, ex- cept the introductory paragraph, in order that the reader may see into the heart of Luther as he was at this period, and form some conception of the power of his religious influence, as exerted upon numerous brethren by a mass of letters of similar import, which have not been preserved. Mathe- sius informs us that he wrote many such during the first four years of his doctorate. One other letter of similar tendency, and written in the same month, is still extant. A brother Leiffer in Erfurt " was agitated by the tempests and billows of temptation." After affirming, "from his own experience, as well as that of his brother, nay, from the experience of all, that our worldly wisdom is the cause of all our disquiet," and that his own exceedingly depraved reason, or "vicious eye," as he terms it, had vexed him with extreme wretchedness, and continued to do so still, he proceeds: "The cross of Christ is distributed throughout all the world, and to each one is always given his portion. Do not you, therefore, cast it away, but rather receive it as a most sacred relic, and place it away, not in a gold or silver casket, but in a golden heart, that is, a heart imbued with gentle charity. For if the wood of the cross was consecrated by contact with the flesh and blood of Christ, so that fragments of it should be trea- sured up as the choicest relics, how much more should the injuries, persecutions, passions and hatred of men, whether of the righteous or of the 176 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1510- wicked, be regarded as most sacred relics, which, not indeed by contact with Christ's flesh, but by the love of his most anguished heart and of his Divine will, have been embraced, kissed and blessed, and more than consecrated, inasmuch as cursing is turned into blessing, injury into equity, suffering into glory, and the cross into rejoicing. Farewell, dear father and brother, and pray for me." How characteristic ! Written in the very midst of the sumptuous collection of sacred relics in the Electoral Church, which to his spiritual mind served no other purpose than to furnish imagery for deeper truths, this letter leads us back to Erfurt, to those scenes where Luther first found the true cross of Christ, and then along the path of his subsequent experience, where, like Bunyan's pilgrim, he is seen, as a sort of religious mirror, reflecting the whole interior of the Chris- tian life. In both these letters we see the intensity and fervour of his religious feeling, showing a depth and maturity of character as great as in those vigorous assaults made by him upon the scholastic theology — spiritual health within, and a bold ac- tivity without. Not far from the date of the foregoing letters, Staupitz was sent into the Netherlands to collect relics for the Elector Frederic. What strange in- congruities meet us just at the moment that the night of superstition is passing away ! In conse- quence of this singular embassy, Luther was made vicar of the order in Saxony and Thuringia, in place of Staupitz, for about a year and a half, or JE. 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 177 from April, 1516, to about November of 15] 7. "This," as Jiirgens well remarks, "was a sign of great confidence on the part of Staupitz, — a sign of Luther's high standing already in the order. Staupitz could not have committed his own office to so young a man, unless the intellectual supe- riority of the latter was universally acknow- ledged, or at least felt. Otherwise, how could Luther venture to appear as overseer of the very cloister where not many years before he had been misused in his novitiate, where his singularities had been witnessed, but hardly approved, and where until very recently an unfriendly feeling had been cherished against him in respect to his degree, or whatever else was the cause of the misunderstanding ? There were distinguished and celebrated men there, such as Lange, Link and Usingen." It is remarkable that, in his accepting this office, we find no traces of that shrinking timidity which he manifested in 1509, when he was ap- pointed preacher, and in 1512, when he was made doctor of divinity. In a religious point of view, he had passed to a joyful and confident state of mind. In his theology, he had come to feel strong in the Bible, and anxious to open to others, as widely as possible, those living fountains of truth by which he himself had been so refreshed. In practical life, he had, as lecturer and debater and principal professor, acquired meat skill and power, and seemed to feel like a young hero pant- ing to engage in some worthy enterprise. He entered upon his duties with eagerness, and with 178 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1616. a firm hand. To the decorous but unhesitating- tone of authority which he assumed, the cloister of Erfurt never uttered a murmur. On the contrary, his correspondence with Lange, the prior, implies the highest degree of confidence and cordiality. Luther, immediately after his appointment, set out upon a journey of visitation, and passed the last of April, all of May and the beginning of June in going from cloister to cloister in his pro- vince, regulating discipline, encouraging education and the study of the Bible in particular, dismiss- ing unskilful priors and appointing others in their place. The faithful discharge of the duties of this office made him intimately acquainted with the moral condition of the monks of his order, and the knowledge thus acquired was invaluable to him at a future period. The first monastery he visited was that of Grimma, near Leipsic, and still nearer the nun- nery of Nimptschen, where Catharine von Bora, Luther's future wife, then a girl of sixteen, was nun. As Staupitz and Link accompanied Luther to this place, and as the former performed in this instance the duties of visitation, it would seem that Luther was here practically initiated into his new calling. While they were thus engaged at Grimma, Tetzel made his appearance in the adja- cent town of Wurtzen, and practised his arts in selling indulgences so shamelessly as to arouse the indignation of both Luther and Staupitz. This is the time when the former resolved to ex- pose the traffic, and threatened " to make a hole in Tetzel's drum." M. 82.] IN WITTENBERG. 179 We next find him in Dresden, examining the state of the monastery of the Augustinians in that place. Here he writes a letter, May 1, to the prior in Mainz, requesting him to send back to Dresden a runaway monk, " For," says he, " that lost sheep belongcth to me. It is my duty to find him and bring him back from his wander- ings, if so it please the Lord Jesus. I entreat you therefore, reverend father, by our common faith in Christ, and by our profession, to send him unto me, if in your kindness you can, either at Dres- den or Wittenberg, or rather persuade him, and affectionately and kindly move him to come of his own accord. I will meet him with open arms, if he will but return. He need not fear that he has offended me. I know full wTell that offences must come ; nor is it strange that a man should fall. It is rather strange that he should rise again and stand. Peter fell, that he might know he was but a man. At the present day also, the cedars of Lebanon, whose summits reach the skies, fall. The angels fell in heaven, and Adam in Paradise. Is it then strange that a reed should quiver in the breeze, and the smoking lamp be put out ?" This is the first letter in which he signs his name as " Vicar of the Augustinian Eremites in Misnia and Thuringia." His next letter, (and we give all in their order which are written in 1516,) is dated May 29, after he had nearly finished his tour. He had been in Erfurf and was then in Grotha, which he was un- willing to leave without paying his respects in some way to Mutianus, a great classical and belles- 180 LIFE OF LUTHER. [151G. lettres scholar, who, as long ago as when Luther was a student at Erfurt, was at the head of a lite- rary club, to which many of the university friends of Luther belonged. Luther addresses him thus : " That I have not visited you, most learned and accomplished Mutianus, nor invited you to visit me, is owing first to my haste and the stress of my business, and, secondly, to my high opinion and true veneration of you. Our friendship is of too short a standing to justify me in humbling your excellence so far as to request you to visit me. I must now go where my duty calleth me, but not without first saluting you, though, from a sense of my ignorance and uncouth style, I shrink from it. But my affection for you overcometh my modesty; and that rustic Corydon, Martin, barba- rous and accustomed only to cackle among the geese, saluteth you, the scholar, the man of the most polished erudition. Yet I am sure, or cer- tainly presume, that Mutianus valueth the heart above tongue or pen; and my heart is sufficiently erudite, for it is sufficiently devoted to you. Fare- well, most excellent father in the Lord Jesus, and be not forgetful of me." Postscript. " One thing I wish you to know : father John Lange, whom you have known as a Greek and Latin scholar, and what is more, as a man of a pure heart, hath now lately been made prior of the Erfurt convent by me. Unto man commend him by a friendly word, and unto God by your prayers." The same day he wrote another letter from Langensalza, a little north of Gotha, to Lange himself, instructing him how to proceed in his M. 32.] IX WITTEXBERG. 181 official station. lie says at the close: "I have not found in this district any convents in so good a state as here and in Gottern," [between Langen- salza and Miihlhausen.] "I have despatched my business here in one hour, and think I shall do the same there in two. By the blessing of God, I hope to proceed toward Nordhausen to-morrow, trusting that in these two places God will work without me both in spiritual and temporal things, though the devil is unwilling." On the 8th of June, he is again in Wittenberg, and writes to Spalatin, Frederic's secretary, dis- suading the elector from his purpose of making Staupitz bishop. "These are not times to be happy, or even comfortable in ruling as bishop, i. e. in being given up to carousals, sodomy and Roman corruption." Though he is "free from such vices," he ought not to be involved "in the whirl- pools and violent tempests of the bishops' courts." On the 22d, he writes to Dressel, prior of the monastery at Neustadt, a little south of Jena, who had some difficulty with the monks, endeavouring to comfort him in his afflictions. lie was obliged afterward to depose him, for want of skill rather than of good intention, and to permit the convent to choose another. In the former letter, he says : "You seek and strive for peace, but in a wrong way. You seek it as the world giveth it, not as Christ giveth. . . . You cry, with Israel, 'Peace, peace,' and yet there is no peace. Cry rather with Christ, ' The cross, the cross,' and yet there is no cross. The cross ceaseth to be such as soon as you can say, ' Blessed cross; among all the kinds 1G 182 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1516. of wood, there is nothing like unto it.' Behold, then, how kindly the Lord inviteth you unto true peace, when he besetteth you all around with such crosses." In the latter, he addresses Dressel and the chapter thus : " I hear with grief, as I well deserve, excellent fathers and brethren, that you are living void of peace and unity, and though you are in one house, you are not of one way; neither are you, according to the rule, of one heart and one mind. This miserable and unprofitable kind of life cometh either from your lack of hu- mility— for where humility is there is peace — or from my negligence, or at least from your fault and mine, in not beseeching the Lord that made us, and praying that he would direct our way in his sight, and lead us in his righteousness. He erreth, he erreth, he erreth, who presumeth to direct him- •self, not to say others, by his own counsel." He then lays the blame chiefly on the brethren for not submitting to the prior, but, with kind words, requires the prior to resign, at the same time pro- nouncing him a well-meaning, upright man. But there must be peace and concord. The brethren are to choose their own prior, and then pray and strive for union. The remaining letters of this year are those written to his particular friends Lange and Spala- tin. They give an interesting view of his occu- pations and cares. To the former, under date of June 30, he says: "I wrote to you from Sanger- hausen, [north of Erfurt and near Eisleben,] most excellent father, that if you had any insubordinate brother, you might send him thither by way of cor- M. 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 183 rection. I now write unto you again from Witten- berg, not only desiring but beseeching you to send George of Schleusingen or William Fischer to the brethren at Eislcben, or at least allow them to go till the reverend father [Staupitz] shall return. Rigorous necessity requireth it. Say to that brother, and to all, that this is done by me not from violence, but because we are all bound, and I especially, to maintain the honour of the vicariate everywhere, and particularly that of our reverend vicar. These same fathers [at Eisleben] sent me a brother who came near introducing the plague into that young conventual house. Brother Caspar, a senior there, lieth dead. Reader Antony is dead. Father Bacalaureus is in Leipsic. Twc others are abroad, as you know, begging money for the building. The brother before mentioned is now here with me. You yourself see how we need succour. Neither you nor others need be afraid, the plague doth not prevail there. Fare- well, and say farewTell to the fathers, masters, the- reader and others, not in my name, but the Lord's." The reader here mentioned is his friend George LeifFer, to wdiom the letter of April 15th was addressed. The next letter, written August 30th, to Lange, is accompanied with Luther's oration de- livered to the convent at Gottern, wishing him to show it or send it to Braun of Eisenach, Wigand of Walthershausen, and reader George Leiiler, or any wrho should wish to see it. The remainder of the letter relates to difficulties ex- perienced in maintaining study in the cloisters 184 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1516. "You need not send brethren who are students to me, first, for that we have too many [in the cloister] already; and secondly, because the plague hath broken out vehemently here." October 5th, he writes again to the same: "Just as if we [at Wittenberg] were in such abundance here, that those which you, [at Erfurt,] who are rich, cannot maintain, we in our poverty could. We shall have [in the cloister] thirty-six here this winter, unless the plague prevent, and forty, if all whose names are entered should come. You seem to have drunken in the Erfurt spirit of distrust, as though God could not feed even the ungrateful, and preserve even those that do not desire it. Then you make this monastery so much your own, that you call other monks strangers, and ask me to come to the aid of my mother, [the Erfurt monastery.] Take care that you continue to walk according to your Tauler, and remain free [from all particular interests,] and common for all things, as becometh the son of a common God and of a common church. Brother John Metzel I will send you as soon as I learn that he can be spared from Eisleben. " Touching my theses, or rather Bartholomew Feldkirk's, there is no cause why your Gabrielists [followers of Gabriel Biel] should marvel, albeit ours here continually do the same. The theses were not written by me, but were gotten up by Feldkirk, because of the cackling of my enemies against my lectures. This he did, to the end that these things might be publicly debated, under my presiding, in order to stop the mouths of the -E. 32.] IN WITTENBERG. 185 garrulous, or to learn the opinions of others.* . . . I will keep a few days the brethren whom you sent unto me, and see what I can do, or how it shall turn out with the plague, which has begun. I should be sorry to send them back again, for they are apt for study. And yet I am urged by want; but the Lord liveth and reigneth." The large number of these inmates of the Augustinian cloisters who were sent to Wittenberg to study in the university and live in the monastery, without expense, will account for the fact that so many of the students who took their degrees in theology at Wittenberg about this time, and of those monks who first embraced the doctrines of the Refor- mation, were Augustinians. How admirably was Luther, all this time, sowing the seed for a future harvest, as well by directing the studies of nearly all the promising young men of his order, as by securing, through his diligence and energy, an entire ascendency in the monasteries of his pro- vince ! During the month of August he made several journeys on business connected with the duties of his office. After a letter on matters of local interest, written from Kemberg, whither the pro- fessors and students often fled in the time of the plague, we find another, in which there is an amusing account of Luther's accumulated labours. "I have need, almost," he writes again to Lange, * It is these theses on the freedom of the will, written and de- fended by Feldkirk, but in reality emanating from Luther, that were the occasion of the sparring between Corlstadt and Eck, which ter- minated in the Leipsic disputation. 10* 186 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1516. "of two scribes or secretaries. I do hardly any thing, through the whole day, but write letters. I therefore cannot tell whether I do always write the same things or no. See for yourself. I am the preacher of the cloister; I am reader at the table; I am required every day to be parish- preacher; I am director of the studies of the brethren ; I am vicar, that is, eleven times prior ; I am inspector of the fish-ponds in Litzkau; I am advocate for the Hertzebergers in Torgau; I am lecturer on Paul; I am commentator on the Psalms ; and, as I have said, the greater part of my time is occupied in writing letters. I seldom have time for the canonical hours and for the mass, to say nothing of the temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil. You see what a man of leisure I am. Concerning brother John Metzel, I think my opinion and reply have already reached you. Nevertheless, I will see what I can do. How du you suppose I can find a place for all your Sar- danapaluses and sybarites [easy monks] ? If you have trained them up wrong, you must support them after thus training them. I have useless brethren enough everywhere, if any can be useless to a patient mind. I am satisfied that the useless can be made of more use than the most useful. Support them, therefore, for the present. In re- spect of the brethren you sent to me, I think (but I am not sure) I lately wrote unto 3rou. The convert,*1' with the young men, I sent to master Spangenberg, as they desired, to the end that '■ One who becomes monk lute in life. M. 33.] IN WITTENBERG. 187 they might escape from breathing this pestilential air. Two I have kept here, with two others from Cologne, in whose good parts I felt so deep a con- cern that I chose rather to keep them, at no little cost, than send them away. There are now twenty- two priests and twrelve youths, forty-one persons in all, who live upon our more than most scanty stores. But the Lord will provide. You say you began yesterday [to lecture] upon the second part of Lombard's Sentences. To-morrowr, I shall be- gin on the Epistle to the Galatians. Albeit, I fear the plague will not suffer me to go on. It taketh away twro or three each several day. A son of our neighbour, Faber, opposite, who was well yes- terday, is carried to his burial to-da}^ Another son lieth infected. What shall I say? It is already here, and hath begun to rage suddenly and vehemently — especially with the young. You ask me and Bartholomew [Feldkirk] to flee with you. Whither shall I flee? I hope the world will not fall to pieces, if brother Martin do fall. The brethren I shall disperse throughout all the country, if the pestilence should prevail. But I am placed here, and my duty of obedience will not allow me to flee, until the authority which commanded me hither shall command me away." Who can fail, in this letter, to see Luther with almost every trait of his character? How frank and agreeable his manner with Lange, and how sportive his rebukes ! Yet how sensible and earnest in respect to useless monks; and how ready to turn the evil to a spiritual account ! 188 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1516. How strong his sympathy with young students of enterprise, and how prompt to aid them ! What fidelity in maintaining his post in time of danger, and in securing all but himself! Death was a trifle to him, compared with unfaithfulness! So we see him here, (just one year and five days be- fore the ninety-five theses on indulgences were published,) like a stream, broad and deep, and ever growing broader and deeper as it advances. No character was ever more steadily progressive than his, from 1507 to 1517. The only remaining letter to Lange, during the year 1516, is but a note, in which he commands that the three obstreperous monks, of wThom re- peated complaints had been made, should be sent to Sangerhausen ; which seems to have been fre- quently honoured in this way. The letters to Spalatin speak with disapprobation of the way in which Erasmus explains "the righteousness of the law;" returns thanks to the Elector Frederic, "for the present of a garment of too fine cloth for a monk's habit, did it not come from a prince ;" gives an account of the success of Staupitz in collecting relics along the cities of the Rhine; and explains why Luther is not yet prepared to publish his notes on the Psalms. We have now reached the year 1517, so cele- brated as the one from which the great Reforma- tion of the sixteenth century takes its date. But there are yet ten months to the 31st of October, the day on which Luther posted up his theses against Tetzel. We cannot do better than follow him through this brief period in his correspond- /!'. ::;J,.] IX WITTENBERG. 189 ence. January 27th, he writes to his old ac- quaintance and colleague Scheurl, a jurist, then at Niirenberg, acknowledging the receipt of his letter, which is " to me," he says, " most pleasant and yet most sad. But why do you wrinkle your brow ? For what could you write more pleasant than the merited eulogy of our reverend father, the vicar, or, rather, Christ in him ? No- thing more grateful to me could be said than that the word of Christ [through Staupitz] is preached, heard, received ; nay, rather lived and felt and understood. On the other side, you could write nothing more bitter than the courting of my friendship and the honouring me with so many vain titles." And in this strain of unaffected modesty the whole letter is written. In a letter to Lange, dated March 1, after mentioning that he sends Didymus, " who is still ignorant of the usages of the order," to Erfurt, and that he is about to publish his translation and exposition of the Penitential Psalms, he proceeds to say : " I am reading our Erasmus, and my esteem for him groweth less every day. . . . With him, what is of man pre- vailed over what is of God. Though I am loth to judge him, I must admonish you not to read his works; or, rather, not to receive all he saith without examination. These are dangerous times, and I perceive that a man is not to be esteemed truly wrise because he understandeth Greek and Hebrew; seeing that St. Jerome, with his five languages, did not match Augustine with one — though to Erasmus it may seem otherwise. . . . 190 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517; This opinion of him I keep hid, lest I should strengthen the opposition of his enemies, [the monks and priests.] Perhaps the Lord, in due time, will give him understanding. Farewell. Salute the fathers, the masters and the reader; and inquire whether Dr. Jodocus [Truttvetter] will reply to me." In two notes to Spalatin, (April 3d and 9th,) Luther begs a stipend for a poor student; and, in reply to a previous request, recommends the read- ing of certain works of Augustine, Ambrose and Cyprian. On the 6th of May, he writes again to Scheurl, as follows : " First, I thank you, most excellent man, for the present of the treatises of Staupitz, but lament that my trifles should be spread among you by the reverend father. They were not written for your delicate and polite Niirembergers, but for the rude Saxons. . . . Upon your requesting me to write familiarly to Eck, I wrote as carefully as I could. . . . The propositions hereunto joined, I send to you, and" through you to master Wenceslaus [Link,] and to any others who are entertained with such things. They are not the paradoxes of Cicero, [who wrote a book under this title,] but of our Carl- stadt, or rather of St. Augustine. These para- doxes will expose the carelessness or ignorance of all those that looked upon them as more paradox than orthodox."* The next succeeding letter, giving a provost * These propositions, in connection with those of Feldkirk, men- tioned above, led to the disputation which, in the following year, ensued at Leipsic between Eck and the 'Wittenberg theologians. m. 33.] IN WITTENBERG. 191 instructions how to treat a fallen monk, may be passed over. May 15, Luther sends a few lines to Lange, in which he says, " The reverend vicar writeth that he shall soon return to us. Our theo- logy and St. Augustine go on prosperously by God's help, and reign in our university. Aristotle is sinking by little and little, and verging toward a fall from which he will never more rise. The scholastic lectures have wonderfully lost their savour; and no one can expect to have hearers, unless he consent to lecture on the Bible, or on St. Augustine, or some writer which has church authority." Thus completely had Luther revolu- tionized the university, and given a new direction to its studies. Omitting two unimportant letters to Lange, we come to the one bearing date September 4, in wdiich he says, " I send you by master Otto, my propositions [against the scholastic theology,] and my exposition of the ten commandments. . . . I wait with much, with very great, with stupen- dous anxiety, to learn what you think of these paradoxes of mine. I suppose that to your theo- logians these paradoxes will appear heterodox ; though to us they cannot be otherwise than ortho- dox. Let me know as quick as you can ; and say, in my name, to my masters and reverend fathers of the theological faculty and others, that I am fully prepared to come and discuss these subjects with them, either in the university or in the monastery. Let them not suppose that I wish to whisper these things in a corner, if our university is still so insignificant as to seem to be 192 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. a corner." How evidently are things tending to a crisis ! On the 11th of the same month, he wrote a let- ter to Scheurl, the last from which we shall quote, the three which remain being but casual notes. It well illustrates what is indeed everywhere ob- vious, how perfectly Luther adapted himself in tone and manner to the various characters of his correspondents. He writes thus : " Although, my dearest Christojmer, I have no occasion to write to you sufficient to justify me in writing to such a man, yet this is a sufficient one for me, namely, the desire to write to a friend, (setting aside all the titles and dignities with which you are adorned,) to a friend who is pure and most upright and urbane, and, what is most to the point, lately known and acquired. If silence is ever to be esteemed a fault, the silence of friend toward friend is particularly so, since playful- ness and trifles, not less than weighty matters strengthen, not to say perfect, friendship. St. Jerome exacted this of his friend, that he should write and inform him that he had nothing to write. Thus I determined to write trifles rather than to be silent toward a friend. But what will that brother Martin, falsely called the theologian, ever write besides trifles ? — who, amid the creaking and pell-mell of syllogisms, hath made no profi- ciency in polite literature ; or, if he ever had any taste of learning and eloquence, it hath been kept back in a state of stammering infancy by long practice and use in that other style of writing. But my preface is long enough, and JE. 33.] IN WITTENBERG. m too long, if I am not to write a volume instead of a letter, that is, doubly to unbend in trifles and nonsense, when to do it once is more than enough for a theologian. The aim of my letter is to let you know how high an opinion I have formed of you and of your fidelity But it cometh to mind that you sent, by Ulrich Pindar, the small treatises of our reverend father the vicar, about twTo florins' worth, a part wThereof I have sold, and a part given awray to good friends of the re- verend father. The money received I have given to the poor, as }rou required, that is, to myself and the brethren, for I could find no one poorer than myself. ... I send you my propositions, or paradoxes, or heterodoxies, as many regard them. You can show them to our learned and ingenious Eck, that I may know what he thinketh of them." We have now concluded what has generally been treated as an almost unknown period of Luther's life, and what most biographers have de- spatched in a few pages. Henceforth, the career of the great Reformer is of the most public cha- racter, attracting the attention of the religious world more than that of any other individual in Christendom. 104 LIFE OF LUTHER. [151/ PAET II. FROM THE PUBLISHING OF THE THESES IN 1517, TO THE DEATH OF LUTHER IN 1546. CHAPTER I. THE OPENING OP THE REFORMATION IN 1517, TILL THE TIME OF THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION IN 1518. Section I. — Inthdgcnces. HOUGH much yet ; remained for Luther P'-jgat to learn, and many and great changes in his opinions were 3 yet to take place, we may consider the ground-work of his ^^SPl''>--< IBiJi character as harms; ^^SSWI^^pP^Sf f I jl^been already firmly "''-"^^^g^^^^^".,;, ^ ^fi1 ';l'('- tn tracing his internal history, and searching out all the influ- ences which the social and religious institutions of his times exerted upon him in the formation of his character, we have incidentally brought before us many scenes which strikingly illustrate the fallen and corrupt state of the church. To this, in its contrariety to the religious character and aspirations of Luther, as represented in the M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 195 foregoing statements, it is now necessary to direct particular attention. The reformer stands before us in all his leading peculiarities. It would be well as distinctly to see the church in all those deformities which called so loudly for a reforma- tion. The limits of this work, however, make it necessary to confine our attention to that class of abuses which the j^eceding account has not exhibited, — the abuses practised under the name Of INDULGENCES. The tendency of the Catholic church to de- grade religion from its high spiritual character to a mere round of outward forms and ceremo- nies, reached its height in the practical workings of the system of confessions, penances and indul- gences. As the most marked peculiarities of Lu- ther's reform consisted in making every thing in religion depend on Christ, rather than on human mediators, whether on earth or in heaven; and our connection with Christ to depend on the spiritual affections of each individual's heart, rather than on outward rites and ecclesiastical relations, it was perfectly natural that a colli- sion should take place just where it did, namely, at those points of the two opposite systems which related to the removal of sin. In the one system, the agent was the church; in the other, it was Christ. In the one, the sinner was to be re- formed by penances, from which he might pur- chase release; in the other, he was to exercise godly sorrow for sin and t;iitli in Christ. The one was external and sacramental j the other was internal and spiritual. 19G LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. How could such a perversion of the New Tes- tament doctrine of repentance and remission of sin ever make its way into a nominally Chris- tian community? To this inquiry there is a de- cisive historical reply; but the process is long, and the answer complicated. Like the forma- tion of a coral island, the perversion was one of gradual accumulation. It had small beginnings, and went on for fifteen centuries, keeping even pace with the intellectual and moral character of the age. First, outward mortifications were injudiciously, but with good intentions, imposed by the church upon members under ecclesiastical censure, as signs of repentance. Next, the priest enjoined similar things, privately, upon those members who, in consequence of certain sins, were sup- posed to be unprepared for the communion. Then the priest, who had already assumed a false posi- tion in the church, as mediator between God and his people, became lord of the individual con- science, examined every one before the commu- nion, decided, as an infallible judge, upon the exact amount of each one's sin, and affixed a corresponding penance. Repentance itself, in- stead of being regarded as a duty always to be performed, was made a part of an ordinance of only periodical recurrence. At those stated times, the individual was to feel contrition, to confess to the priest, and to make satisfaction by submitting to the penances imposed. The first of these three parts of the ordinance, namely, contrition, was lightly passed over. The second, the confession, M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 197 was accepted on condition of its being full and complete. The third, satisfaction, was to be at- tended to afterward ; and with reference to this, too, absolution was conditionally pronounced by the priest, and the penitent was then admitted to the communion. In theory, those three suc- cessive acts must be faithfully performed by the penitent, or the absolution was of no efficacy. But how was one to know that his penitence was sufficient? How would he be sure that no indi- vidual sin was omitted in the confession? Why should absolution be pronounced before the con- ditions were all fulfilled, before satisfaction was known to be made ? These were the questions which tortured the mind of Luther when he was a conscientious monk. The theological objections to the whole system are, that the third part is without foun- dation, a mere human invention ; that the second is in no sense necessary, and arose from a false interpretation of two or three passages of Scrip- fcure ; is founded on an absurd view of the nature of sin, as a measurable quantity, and is, more- over, utterly impracticable, as no mortal has the means of searching the heart and ascertaining I he precise amount of a man's sins. The first part is the only one which has any value or au- thority, and this is perverted by being so far limited to a particular lime and place. But the worst of all is, that the practice fell far short of the theory, miserable as thai was, and contrition, the only shadow of a virtue that remained, was just the part which the poor ignorant people least 198 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. regarded. Luther attacked the practice; his op- ponents defended the thewy, and there the mat- ter stands to this day. The theory of the treasure of the church, con- sisting of the superabundant merits of Christ and of his folloAvers, especially the martyrs, on which the Bishop of Rome could make drafts at plea- sure, was a mere scholastic invention, made at a late period, for the purpose of propping up a system which had long existed in practice. On this there was no agreement among the scho- lastic theologians ; Alexander of Hales maintain- ing one view, Albert the Great another, and Tho- mas Aquinas a third. Luther did not fail to take advantage of this circumstance, and triumphantly maintained, that in attacking these modern indi- vidual opinions, he by no means attacked the doctrines of the ancient universal church. Indulgences relate only to the third part of the sacrament of penitence, and consist in substitut- ing, in the place of satisfaction, or the endurance of the penance imposed by the priest, pilgrimages to sacred places, crusades against the infidels, or pecuniary contributions for certain religious pur- poses. The last were, in theory, a substitute for the others, or for ecclesiastical penalties ; but, in practice, a tax for sins. Indeed, it is said, that the modern system of taxation is borrowed from the church practice. Plenary indulgence could proceed only from the pope, and was granted to those who went on a pil- grimage to the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. The indulgences given by archbishops and bishops M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 199 were restricted to their own dioceses, and could not extend beyond forty days. When the cru- sades had lost their novelty, pilgrimages to Rome were accepted as a substitute. There, at certain sacred places, were stations for prayer, Avhich were resorted to by pilgrims. Most of all were indul- gences given at St. Peter's, on Christmas eve. As Boniface VIII. happened to be elected on such an occasion, he appointed a jubilee in 1300, after the manner of the old Roman secular games, and promised plenary indulgence to all who should daily visit St. Peter's and St. Paul's for thirty successive days. Strangers who came to Rome as pilgrims were required to spend but half that length of time in visiting those places. The income of that single jubilee has been esti- mated at fifteen millions of florins. Hence, Lu- ther said, it was " truly a golden year." Because men could not live long enough to see the close of another century, Clement VI. appointed an- other jubilee, to take place at the end of fifty years, and added the Lateran church as a third station or place of sacred resort. Even this period, one has observed, seemed an eternity to Urban V 1. He, therefore, caused the next to be held after thirty-three years, the period of the Saviour's life, and appointed St. Mary Maggiore as a fourth place of pilgrimage. These four churches had each a golden door, opened only on the year of jubilee. The money, which the pilgrims must not forget, was received by priests at these four churches, and afterward at three others also. Just before the year of jubilee, preachers of ju- 200 LIFE OF LUTHER, [1517. bilee and of indulgence were sent into various countries, calling the attention of the people to the approaching year of grace. In 1400, the King of France prohibited his subjects from visit- ing Rome at the jubilee. In 1450, the Duke of Bavaria did the same, the council of Basle hav- ing passed a decree against the practice. This last year of jubilee seems not to have been so profitable to the successor of St. Peter as the preceding had been, for after it had passed, he sent a legate, Nicholas of Cusa, into all the dio- ceses of Germany, to receive the change from those who had not found it convenient to visit Borne ! But it was found that money for building and repairing churches and bridges could be most con- veniently raised by selling indulgences. Thomas Aquinas had taught that indulgences could be given in consideration of any act performed for the glory of God and the good of the church, "such as building of churches and bridges, per- forming pilgrimages and giving alms." In 1319, John XXII. granted forty days' indulgence to those who should aid in building a bridge across the Elbe at Dresden. In 1484, the papal legate promised the same to all who should contribute toward rebuilding a church destroyed by fire at Freiberg, in Saxony, and a hundred days to those who should do so for another church in the same city. In 1491, Innocent VIII. granted to the inhabitants of Saxony a dispensation from the quarterly fasts for a period of twenty years, on condition that each person would pay M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 201 the twentieth part of a Romish florin annually toward building a bridge and chapel at Torgau, and the collegiate church at Freiberg. One-fourth, however, of the whole sum was to go to Rome, for building St. Peter's. This ordinance was re- sisted by the faculty of law in Leipsic, and the Bishop of Meissen refused to publish the bull in his see. In 1496, Alexander VI. endeavoured to allay the opposition, by promising that when the twenty years were expired, this kind of indulgences should not be repeated in Saxony. But his successor, Julius II., paid no regard to that promise, for in 1509, the year before Luther went to Rome, he revived the indulgences for twenty years there- after. In 1512, the year of Luther's doctorate, when he took the oath by which he felt himself authorized to oppose Tetzel's doctrines, Julius enlarged and extended the system of indulgences in an unheard-of manner, in order to prosecute the enterprise in which he had been engaged six years, of erecting the magnificent structure of St. Peter's. Leo X. followed in his steps, and in 1514, 1515, and, most of all, in 1516, sent his agents into Germany, to sell indulgences for this purpose. At this point, an extraordinary character pre- sents himself, to whom we have before alluded, and whose name is, for all time, so fatally con- nected with Luther's that it cannot be passed over in silence. It is Tetzel, the notorious preacher and vender of indulgences. Born in Leipsic, not far from 1460, he studied in the 202 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. gymnasium of Iris native city, and then entered the university in 1482, one year before Luther was born. After a protracted course of study, particularly under the celebrated Professor Wim- pina, he took his degree in 1487, and ranked as the sixth student in a class of fifty-five. As he excelled in oratory, his friends were surprised at his entering, two years afterward, the Dominican monastery, then called the Paulinum, and now known as a university building under that name. He was soon made priest, and was sent to Zwickau, where, by his ready and showy eloquence, he ac- quired considerable popularity as a preacher. But here, also, he furnished the first proof of his worth- less character. On a certain day, he proposed to be the sexton's guest, who excused himself, saying, he was too poor to furnish suitable entertainment for so dis- tinguished a man. "No matter," was the ready reply, "we will easily provide ourselves with the money. Look at the calendar, and see what saint's-day it is to-morrow." It happened to be the day of Juvenal, and the sexton regretted that the saint was so little known. " We will make him known," said Tetzel. " To- morrow, ring the church-bell, as at all high festi- vals, and we will hold high mass." His orders were obeyed, and the mass was accordingly held. When the ceremony was ended, Tetzel ascended the pulpit, and said, " Dear people, I have some- thing to say unto you. If I should withhold it, your salvation would be in peril. You know, we have long prayed to one saint and another, JE. 33.] INDULGENCES. of)3 but they have become old, and are tired of attend- ing to us and aiding us. To-day is the festival of Juvenal, and though he hath not yet been known to you, it is all the better. He is a new saint, and will hear us the more patiently. Juvenal was a holy martyr, who shed his innocent blood for the truth. If you would enjoy the benefit of his innocence, lay something, each one of you, upon the altar, on this day of high mass. You, that are noble and rich, go forward and give to the rest a good example." He received the col- lection, placed a part of it upon the altar, and took the remainder himself, and said with a smile to the sexton, "Now, we have enough for our evening cups." Such is the account of the old Zwickau Chronicle, and it can hardly be supposed to be a pure fiction. In 1502, he was selected as papal agent and preacher, offering indulgences for the jubilee that had just passed, to the multitudes in Niirenberg, Leipsic, Magdeburg, and other German cities who did not visit Rome. Next, we find him on the Vistula, similarly employed, and raising money for a crusade by the Teutonic Knights against the Russians and Tartars. From 1507 to 1513, he was itinerating again in the cities and towns of Saxony. For two years he made Annaberg, a new mining town considerably to the south of Leipsic, his head-quarters. "The surrounding mountains," said he, "would be turned into sil- ver, if the people would only purchase indul- gences." In the summer of 1510, while in Annaberg, at 204 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. St. Anne's, with the red cross raised, as usual, be- fore the altar, he said : " Three days more, and the cross will be taken clown and the door of heaven closed." Never again would the time return when eternal life and forgiveness of sins would be had so cheap, nor would the liberality of the pope to Germany ever be so great again! "Now," said he, " is the accepted time, now is the day of sal- vation." At Gorlitz, where the city council wished to raise money for indulgences to put a copper-roof upon the principal church, Tetzel was employed, and was aided by the parish preacher, the peni- tentiary priests, the confessors, the rector of the school and his assistants, and the Franciscan monks, and they succeeded in collecting forty- five thousand rix dollars ! Of the many anecdotes recorded of him, only one more can find a place here. Whether true or not, it is perfectly characteristic. Wishing, on a certain occasion, to quicken the devotions of the people, he promised to show them, the next day, a feather which the devil plucked from the wing of the arch- angel Michael. But, during the night, some rogues made their way into his room, found the box of relics, took out the feather and put some coals in its place. Next morning he proceeded to the church with his box, without having opened it, and spoke at large of the virtues of this celestial feather, and, opening the box, behold there was nothing but some black coals! Not at all disconcerted, he exclaimed, "No marvel that, with such a trea- sure of relics, I have chanced to take the wrong M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 205 box," and went right on to explain the value of these coals, which were the remains of the burnt body of St. Laurentius ! Nothing better illustrates the childish character and spirit of those times than such original anecdotes, whether true or false. Tetzel afterward went to Innspruck, where he was detected in the grossest immorality and lewd- ness, and at the intercession of powerful friends, instead of being enclosed in a sack and cast into the river, according to the sentence passed against hi in, was only imprisoned. Before we proceed further with our narrative, we must introduce another new personage, though of a very different order, — Albert, the accomplished but worldly and ambitious Archbishop of Mainz, a young prince now twenty-eight years old. He was the youngest brother of Joachim I., Elector of Brandenburg, (Prussia.) He had been care- fully educated under Eitelwolf von Stein, an ar- dent lover of classical literature, and one of the founders of the Frankfurt University on the Oder. The young prince attached himself to the liberal party, and favoured the cause of Reuchlin, Eras- mus and Von Ilutten. Being destined for the church, he was, while a boy, made canon at Magdeburg, Mainz and Treves. At the age of twenty-four, he was made Archbishop of Magde- burg, and ten days later, Administrator of llal- berstadt, and, in live months from that time, Archbishop and Elector of Mainz, thus holding, at the same time, three of the large and wealthy sees of Germany. For the see of Magdeburg, he had obtained from Home the pallium, (the arch 18 206 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. bishop's badge of office,) at great expense. He was not sufficiently in funds to procure, at his own expense, another for the see of Mainz, and yet, at his election, it was expressly stipulated that he, and not the people, should be at that ex- pense. Albert being the third archbishop elected at Mainz within a period of eight years, the see, if it paid for his pallium thirty thousand florins, the usual sum given, would, during that short pe- riod, be at the enormous expense of ninety thou- sand florins for that white strip of cloth.* Albert was obliged to borrow the money of Jacob Fug- ger, the rich broker, the Rothschild of Augsburg. To get out of his pecuniary embarrassments, he applied to the pope for the appointment of com- missary of indulgences in his own three dioceses and in the Mark of Brandenburg, for a period of three years. The appointment was given him on the condition that he was to retain half of all the money that should be collected, and pay the re- mainder to the pope, as usual, for building St. Peter's. The appointment was afterward con- firmed and extended. Meanwhile Tetzel had got released from prison, with the understanding that he should proceed to Rome and obtain absolution from the pope. He went by way of Mainz, and desired Albert to use his good offices in recommending him to the papal favour, promising his services in turn, if success- ful, in raising the thirty thousand florins. With * It was made of lamb's wool, spun and woven by nuns, and consecrated at the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul. JE. 33.] INDULGENCES. 207 a letter of recommendation from the archbishop, he went to Home and applied to Leo, who was not very nice in matters of morality, and not only obtained absolution, but was made sub-commis- sary for disposing of indulgences under Arcim- boldi, general commissary for Germany. In April, 1516, Tetzel was in Wurzen practising his old art, to which most of his public life was de- Aoted, and this was the time that Luther and Staupitz came in near contact with him, when they were at Grimma. Arcimboldi resigning his office near the end of the same year, Albert was raised to the post of nuncio and general commis- sary; and Tetzel went immediately to Halle, the favourite residence of Albert, and entered into his service. Of this last connection, Luther was ignorant; and very innocently wrote to Albert, as his ecclesiastical superior, requesting him to put a stop to the shameful traffic ! In the Archbishop Albert, and in Pope Leo, Luther found himself disappointed even more than in Erasmus. They were all enlightened and liberal men, but their interest overruled their bet- ter judgment, and they all became the personal enemies of the reformer, whom they respected and feared; and whom, in the main points in question, they knew to be in the right. It was about the beginning of the year 1517 that Tetzel entered the service of Albert, and well did he redeem the pledge given when on his way to Rome; for, during the year, he succeeded in collecting one hundred thousand florins, in nominal value sixty-two thousand five hundred 208 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. dollars, but in real value vastly more. In the Saxon territories, Tetzel was not very popular. The Saxon house was, moreover, jealous of the house of Brandenburg, and did not care to have their lands drained to fill Albert's coffers. Tetzel, therefore, found the best reception either in Al- bert's territories, the sees of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, or in those of his brother, Joachim of Brandenburg. From February to June, we find him at Halle, (which belonged to the diocese of Magdeburg,) at Annaberg, and once at Leipsic. In September, he went north to Berlin, was a short time at Zerbst, and finally came to Jiiter- boch, in a detached district of Magdeburg, about eighteen miles to the north-east of Wittenberg, and there he was the means of calling out Luther. The house of a certain Tupitz, in which Tetzel then lodged, is still shown to visitors. It was reported to Luther that Tetzel made the following declarations in his sermons, viz : That he had such grace and power from the pope, that though one had corrupted the Holy Virgin Mary, the mother of God, he could grant forgiveness — provided the individual should put into the box the proper amount of mone}r; that the red cross of indulgence, with the papal coat of arms, when erected in the church, had as much efficacy as the cross of Christ; that, if St. Peter were present, he could not have greater grace and power than he himself had; that he would not divide with St. Peter in heaven, for he had redeemed more souls with his indulgences than Peter had with his preaching; that when one puts money into the M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 209 box for a soul in purgatory, such soul escaped to heaven as soon as the money tinkled in the box; that the grace of indulgences was the very grace by which a man was reconciled to God; and that if one obtained indulgences, or a certificate of indulgence, there was no need of contrition, nor sorrow, nor repentance. Some of these statements, particularly those more offensive to Papal than to Protestant ears, may be exaggerated. At any rate, Tetzel pro- cured two certificates from the clergy and authori- ties in Halle, where the first statement was said to have been made, testifying to the contrary. Those certificates were first discovered and pub- lished in 1844. But that the reports were for the most part true, is evident, not only from what Luther says, but from Tetzel's own words. In his published instructions to the priests, he said, " Let the people consider that Rome is here. God and St. Peter call you. Give your mind, then, to the obtaining of such great grace, both for the salvation of your own souls and those of 3'our deceased friends. They that impede this work arc thereby excommunicated by the pope, and are under the indignation of Almighty God, and of St. Peter and Paul." In his printed sermons he said, "Let your sheep [an ominous word] know that on these letters are imprinted and inscribed all the ministries of the suffering of Christ. For every mortal sin a man must needs endure seven years' penance, either in this life or in purgatory. But with these letters of pardon you can at one time, and for all cases, have plenary indulgence 18* 210 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. from all penalties due unto that time; and, after- ward, throughout all your lives, whensoever you shall wish to confess, you can have a like remis- sion ; and, last of all, in the article of death, plenary indulgence from all penalties and sins." In order to be prepared to estimate rightly the work of Luther, one must understand not only what his character and views were, and what the corruptions and abuses of the church were, but also what others before his time had thought and said on the same subject. But not every kind of opposition which was made to the papal hierarchy can claim to be a reformation. A reformation, in the proper sense of the term, is not merely the reaction of reason and philosophy against stupidity and folly, as some modern rationalists would have it ; nor of classical education and refinement against ignorance and barbarism, such as was manifested by many in Italy, France and Germany at the revival of learning ; nor of civil liberty and national independence against the tyranny of a foreign ecclesiastic, for in this many German emperors, princes and statesmen were far from being defi- cient; but it is the reaction of a pure and spiritual Christianity, resting solely on the Bible, against the degeneracy, corruption, false authority and traditions of the church of Rome; a sort of Chris- tianized Boodhism, which had subjugated the masses of the people to an almost unheard-of superstition and spiritual despotism. To this monstrous system of abuses, men of profound piety and of great hearts had offered M. 33.] INDULGENCES. 211 resistance in the form of religious and theological objections, long before the time of Luther. To say nothing of such men as Wielif and IIuss, out of Germany, or of the many in Germany who had uttered their unavailing lamentations and transient murmurs, we may mention three men, whose thea- tre of action was a lung the middle and lower Rhine, who were, theoretically, far in advance of Luther at the time of publishing his well-k,nown theses; namely, John of Goch, whose public life covered the interval from 1450 to 1475; John of Wesel, professor of theology at Erfurt from the year 1440 to 14 GO, and then, for about twenty years, preacher at Mainz and Worms ; and John Wessel, a disciple of Thomas a Kempis, and, from 1451 to 1479, professor in Cologne, Paris and Heidelberg. What these men did, for about the last quarter of a century before Luther's birth, in undermining the foundations of the papal hierar- chy, was certainly not without its effect upon the community; preparing it for Luther's influence, though he himself was formed for his great enter- prise independently of them. The first of the three theologians here named, who regarded the Bible as the only authority in matters of religion, and Christ as the only media- tor and helper, treated, in his writings, largely of grace and works, and is even an abler and clearer writer on this subject than Luther. Of the last of the three, Luther himself says, "If I had formerly read his works, Luther might have appeared to his enemies as having derived every thing from Wessel, so perfectly is the spirit of •21-2 LIFE OF LUTIIEE. [1517. both the same. This coincidence giveth me new joy and strength." The second, John of Wesel, took up the subject of indulgences in particular, and was more mature and more decided than Luther was at the com- mencement. The very title of his book, which was not "On Indulgences," but "Against Indul- gences," is indicative of his position. Among other things, he says: "We read the discourses of Christ, containing, perhaps, all that is neces- sary to salvation, but we find in them nothing touching indulgences. Afterward the apostles wrote epistles and preached, but in them there is no mention made of indulgences. Finally, the distinguished teachers Gregory of Nazianzum, Ba- sil, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine wrote many works, approved by the church, and yet they contain nothing about indulgences." " That any priest, or even the pope, can give indulgences by which a man may be re- leased from all the punishments imposed by God, is not taught in the Scriptures." " Some say, and this is the common opinion, that Christ gave to the church the keys of jurisdiction, and that in- dulgences rest on this power. They say so, but do not prove it. Neither the Old Testament nor the New saith any thing about the keys of juris- diction. Jurisdiction, as it is now in the church, was brought in by men." " One may affirm that indulgences are a pious deception of believers, and so many priests have said. They are a pious deception, because believers are thereby moved to make pilgrimages to holy places; to give JE. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 213 alms for pious uses; to build churches; and to raise armies against the infidels. They believe they shall thereby be delivered from the punish- ment due to their sins, and from suffering in pur- gatory. In this they are deceived." Enough, perhaps, has been said to indicate what is important in the circumstances under which Luther entered publicly upon what may, without a licet at ion, be called his "mission." Section II. — Luther's Collision with Tetzel, and the Publica- tion of the N'uicty-jice Theses. For a year and a half before the controversy broke out between Luther and Tetzel, the former had directed his attention to the abuses practised in the sale of indulgences. His exposition of the decalogue, delivered as lectures, as early as 1516, and afterward published, may be referred to as evidence. A sermon against indulgences, as then dispensed, delivered July 17, 1517, in the pre- sence of the elector, who had, but little more than a year before, procured the right of granting in- dulgences in the very same church where the preacher now stood, was not much relished by the prince. When Luther perceived that half of the population of Wittenberg were resorting to Juter- bock and Zerbst. where Tetzel and his colleague Ranch were practising their ails upon the igno- rant populace, he warned his hearers, in a dis- course held in the little old cloister-chapel, againsl the deception. " It would be better/' said he, "to give alms In the poor, according to the command of 214 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. Christ, than to buy with money such uncertain grace. He that repenteth during all his life, and turneth to God with all his heart, receiveth heavenly grace, and the forgiveness of all his sins; which Christ, by his sacrifice and blood, hath obtained for us, and oflereth us without money, from pure grace." Meanwhile, Luther perceived that some of his congregation, who had purchased indulgences, relied upon their certificates, and consequently did not come to the confessional, nor seek ab- solution before the communion. He, therefore, refused to administer to them the supper, un- less they would first make to him confession of their sins, and submit to the penances he should impose. This they refused to do, and referred to their certificates of indulgence, in which they were pronounced absolved from the grossest crimes — not only past, but those yet to be committed; and that without penitence or satisfaction. Luther adhered to his resolution; and said, to the great surprise and consternation of the individuals con- cerned, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Some of them went back to Tetzel, com- plained that Luther would not receive the certifi- cates, and demanded their money again, but to no ] impose. Tetzel, who was also inquisitor, was thrown into a rage of passion ; and, in his sermons, poured out curses upon the heretics ; and, to give emphasis to his denunciations, he caused, at dif- ferent times, piles of fagots to be kindled in the public squares, as signals of what awaited the heretic who should dare utter a word against the papal indulgences. M. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 215 There are three stages of the doctrine of indul- gences, which, in the case of Luther, must ho dis- tinguished from each other. The first is that of the ancient church, in which indulgence is the mere relaxation or removal of ecclesiastical, that is, human penalties, in respect to penitents who confess their faults and feel contrition. The second is that which prevailed in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when penance had become a sacrament ; and the indulgence was a spiritual grace, securing the forgiveness of sin; but true repentance was a condition <»f pardon. The third A\as the same system, except that the condition of repentance was but little regarded, and in some cases declared not to be necessary; as in some of the later papal bulls, and in the instructions and public declarations of Tetzel. In the first of these, Luther was still a sincere believer. The third he openly assailed, without knowing that either Leo or Albert were implicated. In respect to the second, he spoke doubtfully, and by way of dis cussion, ready to adopt whatever should be proved Luther, in these circumstances, felt it his dut> to write to Albert, his metropolitan, as Archbisho] of Magdeburg, and Jerome Scultet, Bishop of Brandenburg, to whose see Wittenberg belonged, informing them of the disorders and aliases against which he had already preached; and calling upon them to interpose their episcopal and metropolitan authority, and put a stop to the evil. But Albert had good reasons for paying no regard to the request. Scultet replied, indeed, bui timidly am! unsatisfactorily. Luther then wrote to the Bishops 216 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. of Meissen and of Merseburg and of Naumburg, but with what effect is not known. None of the above-mentioned letters have been preserved. Perceiving that nothing was to result from the application he had made to his ecclesiastical supe- riors, he felt bound in conscience to perform his duty as preacher in the city parish, where he was assistant of Pontanus, and accordingly preached anew on the subject there. Nor was he content with his efforts to check the evil in a practical way before the common people, where it began, but he resolved to bring forward the subject of in- dulgences as a matter of public debate before the learned, and before the theologians as such. The Electoral Church, on account of its many sacred relics, and the indulgences which could be pro- cured there on certain days, attracted many pil- grims ; particularly on the first of November, the anniversary of the dedication, and All Saints' day. Luther took the occasion of that solemn celebra- tion for a disputation; and, on the day before,, viz. Saturday, October 31, at twelve o'clock, posted up, on the doors of that church, his ninety-five propo- sitions respecting the power of papal indulgences, inviting any and all persons to discuss the subject with him. These theses have a very remarkable character and history. They show that the mind of their author was drifting on a current in a direction of which lie himself was hardly aware. An expres- sion of abject submission to the authority of the church and of the pope, — still a part of his reli- gion,— and then a startling declaration, or a sar- M. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 217 casm that shocked the servile sons of the church and servants of the pope; and, to finish the medley, some doubts, thrown out to elicit discussion — these are the three ingredients of propositions, which acted with the velocity of lightning, and threw all the centre of Europe into a ferment. Though designed only for the learned, and pro- posed only as a sketch of the topics for debate, they were translated and circulated by thousands among all classes. Luther, perceiving that an un- expected and uncxtinguishable fire was kindled in the popular mind, and that the propositions, by their abstruse, scholastic and querying, rather than affirmatory character, were ill adapted for the common people, published a sermon in the ver- nacular tongue, the substance of discourses pre- viously delivered to the people, in which he first struck upon that popular tone of plain and ener- getic eloquence for which he was ever afterward distinguished. From the latter part of this ser- mon, as better adapted than the theses to give a plain and simple view of Luther's opinions at that time, we shall here make a few extracts. After laying down eleven propositions, he pro- ceeds to say: "12. We are told, indeed, that for the residue of the punishment, the sinner should be referred to purgatory, or to indulgences. But many other things are also said without reason or evidence. "13. It is a great error for one to think to make satisfaction for his sins, in that God always (brgiveth gratuitously and from his boundless grace, requiring therefor nothing but honest liv- 19 ojg LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. ing. The church cloth indeed require somewhat, [penance, as a sign of sorrow,] but it may and should mitigate its demands, and ought, moreover, never to lay upon men any thing too grievous and intolerable. "14. Indulgence is granted unto weak and slothful Christians, that will not manfully exercise themselves in good works, or endure mortifications. For indulgences carry no one forward in godliness, but rather bear with and wink at his backward- ness. For this cause no one ought to speak against indulgences, nor ought any one to be per- suaded to them. "15. One would act much more safely, and do far better, to give purely for God's sake and the building of St. Peter, or unto any other object, than to take indulgences for it. For it is not safe to give, in such matters, moved by indulgences rather than by the love of God. "16. Far better is a deed of charity done to the poor than a tribute for building churches, or than indulgences granted for the same. For, as before said, one good deed performed is better than many omitted. Indulgence is a relaxing of the requirement of many good works; otherwise no indulgence would be given. . . . My will, desire, entreaty and counsel are, that no one obtain in- dulgences. Let loitering and drowsy Christians do after this manner; but do thou go thine own way. "17. Indulgences are not things required, or even recommended; but pertain to those things which are only permitted or allowed. There- M. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 219 fore it is not a work of obedience, nor meritorious, but a drawing away from obedience. Therefore, though wre may not forbid men to obtain indulgence, we ought to dissuade all Christians therefrom, and exhort and move them to do those works and suf- fer those pains which are remitted in indulgence. "18. Whether souls be delivered from purgatory by indulgency or no, is more than I can tell ; but I do not hold to that opinion yet. Certain modern teachers hold and maintain it, but they cannot prove it ; neither hath the church established it as true. It is therefore much safer that thou thyself shouldest pray and act for them. For this is more sure and certain. " 19. On these questions I make no doubt. They are sufficiently settled in the Scriptures. You, there- fore, should not doubt, but let the scholastic teachers be scholastic teachers. All of them together can- not give authority to a doctrine with their opinions. "20. If some, to whose coffers such truth is not of advantage, shall cry out and call me a heretic, I shall little heed their clamour, inasmuch as it will be made only by those cloudy heads that have had no taste of the Bible, that have never studied the Christian doctrines, that have never understood their own teachers, but in their ragged and tattered opinions have gone well-nigh to de- cay. For had they understood them, they had known that no man is to be condemned until he has been heard and confuted." At a later period, Luther, looking back upon his first efforts at reform, speaks thus: "By these theses [then published anew] will be publicly set 2'20 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. forth my shame, that is, my great weakness and. ignorance, which, at first, made me begin the work with great fear and trembling. I was alone ; and plunged myself into the business without foresight; and now that I could not go back, 1 not only gave place to many weighty articles of the pope, but sincerely and earnestly reverenced him. . . . What and how my heart endured and suffered the first and second year; into what hu- mility, not false and feigned, but real, nay into what despondency I sunk, the unmolested actors of these peaceful times know little. ... I, who braved the danger alone, was not so easy, confi- dent and sure of my cause. I was then ignorant of much that I now, thank God, know. I only debated the matter, and was ready to be in- structed With great earnestness and vene- ration I held the church of the pope to be the true church." No one had appeared, at the time appointed, to debate with Luther on the subjects embraced in his theses. On the festival day, he had preached before the multitude, though with great modera- tion, on the subject of indulgences. A few days after, probably within a week, he published the sermon above mentioned. As there had been no free and extended discussion of these topics, and as his brief intimations in the theses were liable to be misunderstood, especially by the common people, for whom they were not designed, he wished to publish an extended explanation of his views, and for this purpose wrote his work enti- tled " Proofs or Solutions of the Theses." But M. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 221 his bishop objected to their publication, as we learn from the following letter to Spalatin, dated Nov. 1517: "Yesterday the Abbot of Lenin [a rich abbey situated nearly midway between Wit- tenberg and Brandenburg] was here. In the name and in behalf of the Bishop of Brandenburg did he come, bringing a letter from him, and likewise saying to me, by our bishop's order, that he, the bishop, desired and entreated me to put off the publishing of my Proofs and other similar writings. He was sorely grieved that I had put forth the sermon on Indulgences, and desired that it should not be published again or sold any fur- ther. Overcome with modesty that so high a prelate should humble himself to send unto me such an abbot, I said on this behalf alone, 'Very well, I would rather obey than do miracles.' . . . Although, in his esteem, nothing heretical was to be found in those writings, but every thing was orthodox, and though he himself did condemn those indiscreet declarations (as they are called) on the power of indulgences, yet, to avoid offence, he thought it best to remain silent for a season and delay publishing." To J. Lange of Erfurt, he wrote under date of Nov. 11, 1517, sending at the same time a copy of his theses : " If your theologians should be offended at these, and say (as all the world doth of me) that I declare my opinions and im- pugn other mens rashly and arrogantly, . . . say to them, in my name, that I commend their ripe modesty and grave moderation, so that they reduce their principles to practice. . . . But 19* 222 LIFE OF LUTHER. 1517. why do they not use moderation in their judg- ment of me ? Why do they not modestly wait for the issue of the controversy?" He signs himself, "Martinus Eleutherias, (freeman,) or rather servant and captive at Wittenberg." In a letter of the same date to Spalatin, he ac- knowledges the receipt of a piece of cloth, and thanks the prince for the present. In another letter of but five lines, written in November, to the same, he says, " To be short, I will do all that you ask in your letter. The bishop has made answer and released me from my promise. Only I do not know whether I can preach these three following days. Nevertheless I wTill see ; if not, Amsdorf can come to my aid." In these few words we see the busy and busi- ness-like man, who was beginning to attract that universal attention which was never afterward withdrawn from him. His relations to the elec- tor at this period are also apparent from his fa- miliar letters. " My theses," he writes in the same month again to Spalatin, " I did not wish to have fallen into the hands of our illustrious prince or any of his court, till after they had seen them that may find themselves touched therein, lest these persons should think that I, by the command or will of the elector, had sent them forth against the Bishop of Magdeburg, (Albert,) as I hear say many already imagine. But we can now swear that they were brought to the light without the knowledge of the Elec- tor Frederic. More at another time, for I am now very busy." In a postscript he says: "You M. 33.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 223 said in your letter that the prince had promised me a garment. I would fain know to whose charge he has committed the business." This is not the same present mentioned in a previous letter. Luther recurs to the subject in another letter, addressed a few days after to the elector himself, in such a manner as to give us a peep into court life, as well as a view of the character of both the elector and of the reformer. "Most gracious lord and prince," he writes, "inasmuch as your grace formerly promised, through the Hirs- felder, to give me a new garment, I now beg leave to put you in mind of the same. But I must ask, as I did before, that if Pfeffinger is to fulfil the promise, he do it by deed, and not by soft words. He knoweth how to spice up fine dis- course, but that never maketh good cloth." After endeavouring to reconcile him to Stau- pitz, who had been misrepresented and maligned, Luther proceeds to say, " To give proof of my fidelity, and to render myself worthy of my court garment, I will say, that I have heard your grace intendeth after the present taxing to lay another and perhaps heavier one upon his subjects. If your grace will not despise a poor beggar's petition, I entreat you in God's name not to let that be done, for it grieveth me, as it doth many of your grace's friends, to learn that this last taxation hath derogated much from your good name." It is time to notice the various annoyances which Luther experienced in consequence of the publication of his theses, and the many petty 224 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1517. strifes in which his enemies engaged with him. Here we shall see the reformer appearing in all the qualities of his mind and heart, profoundly sincere and honest, entirely religious and con- scientious, though still held in bondage to many errors and superstitions ; more and more deeply convinced of the justness and importance of his biblical views of theology and religion, and of the corruption of the church, of the ignorance and stupidity that reigned in the monasteries and the schools, and finally undeceived in re- spect to the character of Pope Leo, the Arch- bishop Albert, and other high dignitaries of the church. Sometimes we shall see him sighing over these evils ; sometimes reasoning with Her- culean strength in order to convince the wise and the good ; sometimes, when assailed by ma- lignant foes with the vilest arts, either indignant and blasting them as by a thunderbolt, or comi- cal and making them appear superlatively ridi- culous. Before the close of the year 1517, Tetzel sought to elevate himself to an equality with Luther by taking, at the University of Frankfurt on the Oder, the degree of doctor of divinity, and, on that occasion, he brought forward and defended a set of theses directed against those of Luther. Not only was he obliged to resort to Professor Wimpina, a distinguished man, formerly of Leip- sic, but now of Frankfurt, who was jealous of the fame of the Wittenberg theologians, to draw up those theses in tolerable Latin, but he had the mortification to be beaten in the argument 2E. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 225 by a young student, by the name of Knipstrov. Though the latter, for so daring a crime, was confined in a monastic prison, he was afterward professor of theology and vice-chancellor of the University of Grreifswald. At the close of the following spring, Tetzel pub- lished a reply to Luther's sermon on Indulgences, pointing out twenty alleged heretical doctrines in it. Luther did not let this ridiculous cry of heresy and menace of the (lames pass unanswered. He said it would be more in keeping with the cha- racter and habits of Tetzel, if, instead of appeal- ing to "water and fire," he had appealed to "the juice of the grape and the flames over which fowls were roasted." After rebuking the levity witli which a man, guilty of almost every crime named in the Decalogue, himself not fearing the fires of hell and eternal death, attempted to frighten Christian teachers, as though they were children, by means of fire and sword, he goes on to say, comically enough : "Inasmuch as this matter doth not pertain to faith and to salvation, nor is one of necessity or of command, and since these per- sons are so very godly and abundant in charity that they are eager to burn Christians for things indifferent and devoid of heresy, may my gra- cious God and Father forgive me, that, setting aside all honour, as a thing alien from you, I should bid defiance to my l>aalites. Here am I at Wittenberg, Dr. Martin Luther, and if there be any inquisitor who thinketh he can eat iron and rend rocks, I hereby give him to understand that he shall have safe conduct, open doors, free 1>26 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. lodgings and living to boot, at the expense of our excellent prince, Duke Frederic, the Elector of Saxony." Silvester Prierias, a monk of the same order with Tetzel, and master of the sacred palace or chief censor of books at Rome, replied to Lu- ther's theses as early as January, 1518, and con- sequently was the first writer who published a work against the doctrines of Luther. It was a dialogue, in which the positions of Luther con- stituted one part, and the replies of Prierias the other. The sole aim of this weak and supercil- ious production was to exalt the church of Rome, and to maintain the supremacy of the pope. The discussion which Luther had with the theologians, at the general meeting of his order at Heidelberg, in which he developed his views on the great questions of the day, was attend- ed with the happiest consequences. While his arguments were such that the aged men, who disliked them, could not answer them, he made converts to his doctrine among young men of the highest promise. To these belonged Bucer, afterward the reformer in Strassburg and in England, Brentz and Schnepf, the reformers of Suabia. With Eck also, with whom he had lived on terms of friendship, he was led into a controversy which ended in the Leipsic disputation. And, finally, he was obliged to defend himself against the Bishop of Rome. These remarks will enable the reader to understand without difficulty most of Hie letters of Luther, written during the IE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 227 period immediately following the publication of the theses. To Spalatin he writes this hasty note, under date of January 7, 1518: "The schedule, "which you demand, my dear Spalatin, is not with me. I will see whether it be in Wittenberg or no, and, if it be, will send it unto you. But I send you the late phantoms of Silvester [Pricrias] from the city [of Rome,] which have just come to hand through Nuremberg. When you shall have read them, do }rour diligence to send them back to Wittenberg, that I may commune with my friends whether to answrer them, or let them go unan- swered. I have no other but this one copy." On the 14th of the same month, he wrote to him another long letter, from which we take the fol- lowing : " Do not think it strange, my dear Spala- tin, that certain persons should declare that I was overcome while at a supper in Dresden. They say, and have long been used to say, whatsoever they please. I was verily at the house of Jerome Emser with Lange and the Dresden prior, having been not so much invited as forced to a supper. Though I thought myself among friends, speedily I found a snare was laid for me. There was a paltry master there, who had dipped a little into Aquinas, and thought himself wrondrous wise. He, burning with anger at inc. first entreated mo kindly, but when a discussion arose, he inveighed against me bitterly and clamorously. In the mean season there was standing without the door a cer- tain mendicant friar, who listened unto all I said, (as I afterward learned,) and who declared he was 228 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. in anguish of spirit, and could hardly keep from coming forth and spitting in my face, and calling me by every evil name ; so vexing was it to the poor man that I should confute that little master, the Thomist. This is the man that everywhere boasteth, even until now, that I was so beaten that I could not say a word either in Latin or in German. Because we spoke in Latin and German commingled, he gave out that I did not know a word of Latin." In another letter to the same, he gives his friend advice and instruction, as to the best way of prosecuting the study of the Bible; and in a third, dated February 15, 1518, he replies to in- quiries in respect to good works and indulgences. "As touching indulgences," he remarks, "the mat- ter is still in dispute, and my propositions are drifting along in the waves of calumny. Two things, however, I dare say; the first unto you alone and my other friends, until the matter shall be known and come to the light, namely, that in- dulgences look to me to be nothing but a delusion, and of no profit, save to such as are drowsy and sluggish in the way of Christ. Albeit Carlstadt doth not hold the same opinion, I make no doubt he esteemeth them lightly. To pluck away this delusion, I, for the love of the truth, have cast myself into a dangerous labyrinth of disputation, and have stirred up against me a thousand cen- taurs. Secondly, .... I counsel you to buy no indulgences, till you can no longer find a poor neighbour to give the money to. I doubt he will bring upon himself wrath who neglecteth JE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 229 the poor and buyeth indulgences. But, God will- ing, you shall see more on this matter when the Proofs of my Propositions come out. To this measure am I forced by men more ferocious than ferocity itself, who, in all their discourses, pro- nounce me a heretic; and their wrath goeth to such a length that, for my sake, they arraign the University of Wittenberg, and stigmatize it as heretical. They are so ignorant of things, both divine and human, that it is a reproach to have a controversy with them; and yet their ignorance giveth them incredible audacity, and a front of more than brass. . . . They clamorously give out that what I have in hand took its rise with our illustrious prince, out of enmity to the Archbishop of Magdeburg (and Mainz.) I pray you, there- fore, to consider what must be done, whether the matter should be laid before the prince or no. I cannot abide that he should be brought under suspicion for my sake ; and I shudder with fear and horror at the thought of being the cause of dissension between such princes." To Dr. Scheurl, advocate in Nuremberg, he writes, March 5 : " I have received from you, most excellent and learned Christopher, two letters at the same time, one in Lai in, the other in German, together with ;i gift from the famous Albert Diirer, (the painter,) and also my theses in Latin and in German. You marvel that I did not send you a copy. I make answer, that it was not my pur- pose nor will tli.it they should be published, but that they should be examined by some persons in our own neighbourhood, and afterward, according 20 230 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. to their opinion, be condemned and abolished, or be approved and published. But they have been printed and spread abroad beyond all expectation, so that I repent of having sent forth this foetus, not because I am unwilling the common people should know the truth, for that is what I most desire, but the manner and form of it is ill adapted for the instruction of the people. Some things therein contained are to myself doubtful ; others I would have declared after a different and more positive sort, or left out, had I seen the end from the beginning. Though, from this manner and degree of their dispersion, I know what men think in respect of indulgences, nevertheless they do it secretly, for 'fear of the Jews.' I am, there- fore, constrained to prepare proofs and explanations of the theses, though the Bishop of Brandenburg, with whom I have taken counsel, being much troubled in this matter, hath caused me so long to delay the publishing of them. Nay, if the Lord give me opportunity, I desire to bring out, in Ger- man, a treatise on the power of indulgences, and thus to suppress those theses which are so dis- persed." March 21, 1518, he writes toLange, in Erfurt; "Wonderfully do the indulgence-mongers fulmi- nate against me from the pulpit. Not content with the portentous names they have given unto me, they add threats, some prophesying that within two weeks, others that within one month, I shall assuredly be burned by the people. Against my theses they now set forth others, so that 1 fear they may burst for the greatness and vehe- M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 231 mence of their anger. Finally, I am besought by everybody not to go to Heidelberg, lest I be de- spatched by fraud, if I cannot be by violence. But I shall fulfil my duty of obedience, [as a monk to attend the general meeting,] and shall journey on foot, and pass through Erfurt, if God permit. Albeit do not tarry for me, for I shall not set out till the 13th of April. Our prince, moved by great zeal for solid learning, hath, without our ask- ing, undertaken earnestly to defend me and Carl- stadt, and will not suffer me to be dragged to Rome, which torments my enemies here, who are not ignorant of his will toward me. " To the end that 3011 may know the truth, if the report of the burning of Tetzel's theses should come to your ears, and that nothing, as is wront to be the case, may be added to the tale, I will cer- tify you of the matter. The students, holding in odium the old sophistical studies, and being in- clined to the Scriptures, and perhaps to me, when they had learned that a man, sent by Tetzel, the author, had come hither, went forthwith to him, to terrify him for having the audacity to bring such things hither. Some of them did buy a few^ copies, but others plucked away the eight hundred which remained and burnt them, having already given notice that, if any desired to see the funeral pile of Tetzel's theses burned, to be at the place at two o'clock. This was done without the know- ledge of the elector, of the academical senate, of the rector, or of any of us." In a letter to Egran, preacher at Zwickau, writ- ten March 24th, he says, "Some obelisks have of 232 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. late been written against my theses by a man of true learning and of excellent parts, and, what gricveth me more, by one for whom I had not long ago conceived a warm friendship, Dr. John Eck, vice-chancellor of the University of Ingol- stadt, already a noted man and well known by his published works. Did I not know the devices of Satan, I should wonder what fury influenced him to break those new and pleasant bonds of friend- ship, without giving me any warning, or taking leave of me. ... As for myself, I desired to swallow patiently this cake, worthy of Cerberus. But my friends compel me to reply, though I shall do it privately. Blessed be the Lord Jesus ! to him alone be glory. Confusion may deservedly cover us. Rejoice, my brother, rejoice, and be not terrified by those flying sheets, nor cease to teach as you have begun, but, like the palm in Cadiz, rise under the weight that is laid upon you. The more they rage, the more I go on. I leave for- mer things behind for them to bark at, and go on to those that are before, that they may have more to bark at." On the 31st of March, he writes to Staupitz: " Being very busy, my father in the Lord, I can write unto you but little. First, I firmly believe that with many my name is in ill odour. So much do the good men lay to my charge because I have condemned rosaries, crowns, psalteries, and other prayers, and indeed all good works. So St. Paul was accused of saying 'Let us do evil that good may come.' But I have followed the theology of Tauler and of that work [the German Theology] M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 233 which you have lately caused to be printed by Aurifaber, and teach that men must put their trust in nothing else but Jesus Christ alone, neither in their prayers and merits, nor in their good works. For, not by our running, but by God showing mercy, are we saved. From such teachings do those men draw forth the poison which you see them scatter abroad. But as I did not begin, so neither will 1 give over either for glory or for infamy." Several of the letters next succeeding relate to his journey to Heidelberg, where the monks of his order were to meet in convention. The story of the incidents connected with that occasion is best told by himself. From Coburg, nearly two-thirds of the distance, he wrote to Spalatin, April 15th: "From Pfcffinger I suppose you have learned all that wre talked about, when I met him at the vil- lage of Judenbach, [a few miles before reaching Coburg.] Among other things, I rejoiced at this, that an opportunity was given unto me to make that rich man poorer by some shillings. For he paid not only for my dinner, but for that of two other companions. And now, if I could, I would make our prince's officer here at Coburg pay for us. But if he is not willing, still we shall live at the elector's cost. . . . All things go well with us, except that I sinned, I confess, in setting out on in v journey on foot. But for this sin, as the con- trition is perfect, and a full penance hath been imposed and borne, there is no need of indulgence. 1 was very much wearied, [the distance was more than one hundred and forty miles.] and could not 20* 234 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518 get convej^ed, and so there was abundance, enough and more than enough of contrition, penance and satisfaction. I was unknown to all, except as the presence of Pfeffinger made me known. But at Weissenfels, the parish priest, though a stranger to me, knew me and treated me with great kind- ness. He was a Wittenberg master." His next letter to the same is dated Wurzburg, April 19. "We at length arrived at Wurzburg on the 17th, and, on the evening of the same clay, presented our letters to the illustrious prince [Bi- bra, the excellent Bishop of Wurzburg.] . . . The reverend bishop, on receiving them, called for me, communed with me, and desired to give me, at his own charges, another messenger to accompany me all the way to Heidelberg. But as I found here many of my order, and especially Lange, the Erfurt prior, I thanked the kind-hearted prince, saving it was not necessary to provide me with a messenger. I wished, moreover, to ride with them, being exhausted with fatigue. Only one thing did I ask of him, and that was a safe-con- duct, which I have just received. ... If some- thing more can be paid to my messenger Urban, I think he deserveth it ; for he was delayed in the journey on my account. I would bring this to pass if I could see our Hirsfelcl. The man is worthy of it for his fidelity and honesty. Do you also plead his cause. I am poor, as I am bound to be, and therefore could give him but little." On his return to Wittenberg, he gave an account of the remainder of his journey, to Spalatin. May 18th : "At length, by the favour of Christ, I have M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 035 returned to my home, dear Spalatm, and arrived at Wittenberg the Sabbath after Ascension-day. Though I went on foot, I returned in a carriage. For I was compelled by my superiors to ride with the Niirembergers toWurzburg; thence with the Erfurt brethren to that place; and from Erfurt with the brethren from Eisleben, who, at their own charges, and with their own horses, conveyed me to Wittenberg. I was quite well all the way, my food agreeing with me marvellously, so that some think I have grown more fat and corpulent. " The Count Palatine (at Heidelberg) and Sim- ler, and Hase, masters of the palace, received me with great honour. The count invited us, that is, Staupitz, Lange, now provincial vicar, and my- self, to his palace, where we rejoiced and were made merry in each other's company, eating and drinking and seeing all the adornments and wea- pons of war which beautify that regal and truly noble castle. Simler could not enough extol the letter of our prince given for me, saying, i Those are most precious credentials which you have.' Indeed, nothing of humanity was wanting. " The learned doctors willingly suffered my dis- putation, and disputed with me so courteously as to make themselves very dear to me. Although my theology seemed strange to them, they argued against it honourably and acutely ; save one young doctor, who made the whole audience shout with laughter when he said, ' If the peasantry should hear that, they would stone thee to death.' "To the Erfuri doctors my theology was a bit- ter pill, especially to Jodocus of Eisenach. ... I 036 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. had a conference with him, and made him to un- derstand at least as much as this, that he could never establish his own positions, nor confute mine. . . . With Doctor Usingen, as I rode with him, I laboured more than with all the rest, in order to convince him, but know not whether it had any effect. I left him cogitating and won- dering." These two men, it will be recollected, were Lu- ther's principal teachers at the university. In a preAdous letter to Lange, he sent a friendly salu- tation not only to father Usingen, but to father Nathin, his former enemy, and the chief agent in producing the misunderstanding between Luther and the University of Erfurt. This magnanimity and love of brotherly concord are noble traits in the character of the bold and stern reformer. In the midst of all these cares and tumults, Luther was active in raising the literary charac- ter of the university. He at first introduced the study of the Bible ; next he endeavoured to ba- nish the scholastic philosophy. Now he was active in introducing the study of Hebrew and Greek, and promoting the Latin. He looked out new professors, laid new plans of study before the elector through Spalatin, and counteracted the parsimonious views of Pfeffinger, the financial minister of state. Leipsic, espousing warmly the cause of Tetzel and of the pope, was more than ever the jealous rival of Wittenberg. "Our stu- dies," says Luther, March 21, "are advanced so much thai we expect soon to have lectures in both languages, [Latin and lireek,] or rather in three, JE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 237 [by adding the Hebrew,] in Pliny, in mathematics, in Quintilian and some others of the best sort, giving up the puerile lectures on Peter of Spain, T.-ii laretus [of France] and Aristotle. The elector hath already signified his approval, and the council have the subject under consideration." On the 18th of May, he writes to Spalatin : " I hope and pray you will not be unmindful of 'our university, that is, that you wrill be zealous in establishing a Greek and a Hebrew professorship. I suppose you have seen the programme of lec- tures at Leipsic, our rival as ever. Many are there pompously announced which I do not be- lieve will ever be delivered." The measures here referred to led first to a negotiation with Mosel- lanus, and then, that failing, to the appointment of young Melancthon, as professor of Greek. On the 30th of May, 1518, Luther wrote two letters of great historical value, the one to Stau- pitz, the other to Leo X. ; the former giving an account of the gradual change his mind under- went on the subject of indulgences; the other slating the rise, character and progress of the outward controversy. In the letter to Staupitz, he says: "I remember, reverend father, that among those most delightful and profitable con- versations of yours wherewith the Lord Jesus used wonderfully to comfort me, mention once happened to be made of the word repentance. Be- ing distressed for the consciences of many, hy reason of the manner wherein those murderers of the conscience taught the duty of confession, by countless and intolerable precepts, I heard from 238 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. you, as if by a voice from heaven, the declara- tion that ' there is no true repentance, save that which beginneth with the love of righteousness and of God ; that what these men make the end and completion of repentance, is rather the be- ginning thereof.' Those words of yours stuck to me like a sharp arrow of a strong archer. I afterward compared them with those passages of Scripture which teach repentance, and how sweetly did they all play in and agree with this opinion ! Formerly there was in all the Bible scarcely a word more bitter to me ; now none sounds more sweetly or agreeably to my ears than the word repentance. At a later time, I learned, by the help of those scholars who made us acquainted with Greek and Hebrew, that the Greek word for repentance signified ' thinking of a fault after it was done,' . . . and, as I proceeded farther in the knowledge of the Greek tongue, I perceived that it also signified 'a change of mind.' . . . Being confirmed in these opinions, I made bold to consider those as false teachers who im- puted so much of repentance to [outward] works, making it of little account beyond certain satis- factions and scrupulous confessions. . . . When my mind was kindling into a blaze with these medi- tations, behold, all of a sudden, a new trumpet of indulgences and of pardons was sounded, or rather rung with a loud clangour in our ears, whereby we were not summoned to war, but .... these heralds proclaimed, with great pomp and in a man- ner unheard of before, not repentance, nor even the weakest part thereof, satisfactions, but the JE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 239 remission of this weakest part. Moreover did they teach ungodly, false and heretical doctrines with such authority, (I should say, audacity,) that if any one muttered a word against it, he was straightway a heretic, devoted to the flames, and worthy of eternal malediction. Not able to sus- tain their fury, I determined to dissent from them modestly, and to call into doubt their opinions, standing upon the doctrine of all the teachers of the whole church, viz. that it is better that the satisfactions be performed than that they be re- mitted, that is, released by indulgence. Nor did any one ever teach otherwise. Thus I took up the disputation, that is, stirred up against my un- lucky head every thing, top, bottom and midst, so far as it was in the power of these persons, who are so zealous for money, or, as they wTill have it, for souls. These gentle creatures, resorting to base sleights, inasmuch as they could not dispute what I had said, set up the pretence that the power of the pope was impugned in my disputa- tions. This, reverend father, is the cause of my now coming unhappily before the people. I always wished rather to be in a corner, and would now much sooner look at the august spectacle of the great men of our age than become myself an ob- ject of the public gaze. But I see it is needful for the chick-weed to be with the pot-herbs, and the dark colour with the light, to set off the charm by contraries. I pray you, therefore, re- ceive these trifles of mine, and send them forward as speedily as may be to Leo X., thai they may appear there as my defence against my malignani 240 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. foes. Not that I wish to draw you into my perils. I desire that the perils be mine alone. Christ will know whether these things which I have said are his or mine. ... As to those threats, I have no- thing to reply to my friends but the words of Reuchlin, t He that is poor hath nothing to fear, for he hath nothing to lose.' I have nothing, and I desire nothing. If I enjoyed any good name or honour, this they are now fast destroying. But one thing remains, that is, my frail body, already weak and decayed by constant sufferings. If, by the will of God, they should destroy this by vio- lence or fraud, why, they will only make me poorer by a few hours of my life. Enough for me is my sweet Redeemer and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his praises will I sing as long as I live. If any one will not sing with me, what is that to me ? Let him bark, if he please, by himself. The Lord Jesus Christ preserve you evermore, my dearest father." The letter addressed to Leo, at the same time with the above, accompanying the Proofs and Ex- planations of the Theses, is important as deter- mining Luther's views of the papacy and of Leo at this period, views which he soon had occa- sion to change. " I have heard," says he, "the worst account, most blessed father, touching my- self, namely, that certain friends have made 1113^ name most odious to you and yours, as of one who was labouring to diminish the authority and power of the keys and of the supreme pontiff; and that I am called a heretic, an apostate, a traitor, and a thousand other ignominious names. M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 241 These things shock and amaze me; one thing only sustains me, a sense of innocence. But this is nothing new. Even here in my own country I am honoured with such tokens by these men of honour and truth, I mean these conscience- smitten men, who strive to heap their monstrous crimes upon me, and, by my ignominy, to cover i heir own. But, most blessed father, condescend to hear the whole matter from me, a child and rude though I be. The jubilee of apostolic in- dulgences began to be proclaimed here not long ago, and was carried on in such a sort, that the preachers thereof, employing the terror of your name, thought there were no bounds to their license, and presumed to teach openly things the most blasphemous and heretical, to the great scandal and contempt of ecclesiastical authority, as if the decretals touching the abuses practised by preachers of indulgences had nothing to do with them. Not satisfied with scattering their poison by their licentious tongues, they published tracts and dispersed them among the people, in which, to say nothing of the insatiable and unex- ampled avarice flowing forth at every letter and point, they repeated those blasphemous and here- tical declarations, and bound the confessors with an oath to enjoin the same most faithfully and earnestly upon the people. 1 speak nothing but the pure truth, which cannot he concealed from the light. The books themselves are extant, and they cannot deny these things. They have car- ried on their business with great effect, and with their false promises they have drained the 21 242 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. purses of the people, and, as the prophet saith, ' plucked the flesh from their bones,' themselves the meanwhile faring most sumptuously. " To stay the public scandal, they have re- sorted to the terror of your name, to the menace of the flames, and to the ignominy of heresy. It is incredible how bent they are on using these weapons, wheresoever their opinions, even in the very least matters, are called in question. This, however, is not so much quenching public scandal as it is stirring up schisms and seditions by deeds of tyranny. At the same time, tales concerning the avarice of the priests, and detrac- tion in respect of the power of the keys and of the supreme pontiff, were going from mouth to mouth in the taverns, as the voice of the whole land giveth witness. I burned, I confess, with zeal for Christ, as it seemed to me, or with youth- ful heat, if any one please; but perceived that it did not belong to me to do or decide any thing in this matter. Accordingly, I admonished pri- vately a few of the dignitaries of our church. Some received what I said, some did ridicule ; some one thing, and some another ; for they were terrified by the use made of your name, and by the threat of the Inquisition. At length, when I saw I could do nothing else, I thought it best to arraign them gently, that is, to make their dogmas a matter of doubt and of debate. Therefore, did I publish a disputation, inviting only the learned to discuss the subject with me, if they chose. This my enemies may know, as it standeth in the prefatory words at the head of the propositions. JE.M.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 243 "Behold, this is the conflagration whereof the ■whole world complain, indignant, perhaps, that I, a master of theology by your authority, should, after the custom of all the universities and of the whole church, have the right to dispute in a pub- lic school, not only on indulgences, but .... on incomparably greater things By what un- lucky chance it is, that these particular proposi- tions of mine, more than all others, either of my own or of any teacher, should go forth into nearly all the earth, I am at a loss to know. They wTere set forth here for our use alone, and how they should come to everybody's knowledge is incredi- ble to me. They are not doctrines or dogmas, but matters of debate, stated, according to cus- tom, obscurely and enigmatically. Could I have foreseen the result, I would assuredly have taken care to make them more plain and clear. But what shall I. do? Recall them I cannot; and yet I see that their notoriety bringeth upon me great odium. ... In order, then, to soften my adversaries, and to gratify many friends, I send forth these trifles, [Proofs, &c] to explain my theses. For the greater safety, I let them go forth, most blessed father, under your name, and under the shadow of your protection. Here, all who will may see howr sincerely I honour the ecclesiastical power and reverence the keys ; and also how basely I am reproached and belied by my enemies. If I were such as the}r would make me to be, if those things were not all proposed for the sake of debate, it would be impossible that the illustrious elector should allow such a 244 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518 pestilent thing in his university, — being, as he is, a vehement lover of the catholic and apostoli- cal doctrine, — or that I should be borne with, by the acute and zealous teachers in our univer- sity. But I speak to no purpose ; for these gentle spirits do not stick at covering with the like in- famy the elector and the university. Wherefore, most blessed father, I cast myself, with all I am and have, prostrate at your feet. Save or slay, call or recall, approve or disapprove, as it shall best please you ; I will acknowledge your voice as the voice of Christ presiding and speaking in you. If I am worthy of death, I refuse not to die ; for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; blessed be his name, and may he keep you evermore. Amen." A course of events was rapidly hastening on which was destined to shake Luther's confidence, both in the bishop and in the church of Rome. Eck had circulated extensively, though privately, his manuscript comments, or " Obelisks," on Lu- ther's theses. The latter sent his "Asterisks," also privately, as a reply. Carlstadt, in the mean time, made a public answer. Eck professed to re- gret the course things were taking, and Scheurl, a friend of both, undertook to mediate between him and Luther. The following is Luther's re- ply : " What you desire in behalf of our Eck, my dearest Christopher, would not have needed the mediation of such a friend, if the matter were still open, and he had been beforehand with you in writing of his letters. My suspicion that Eck's heart was turned away from me, is much in- M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 245 creased for the reason, that, after all the oppro- brious words heaped upon me by him, though privately, he never communicated with me on the subject, either in writing or by word of mouth. Now. as Carlstadt's Positions are already pub- lished, though without my consent or knowledge, I know not what can be done by either of them. Sure I am, that I hold the man's good parts in groat esteem, and his learning in admiration; and what lias taken place, I testify to you, moves me to grief, rather than to anger. On my part, I have written him the kind and friendly letter which you will herewith receive and can read. Not only for your sake am I reconciled, but on account of the confession made by him, though not to me, that his notes have been sent forth by the fraud or malice of others. Therefore, both you and he have me in your power in this mat tor. Only see that he do not answer our Carlstadt too sharply. Let him remember that it was his fault that these evils should spring up among friends. As my Asterisks were given out only privately, there is no need of his answering them if he do not choose. But if he desires to rejoin. I stand ready for either event, though I should choose peace." Before advancing to the correspondence relating to Luther's citation to appear for trial at Rome, ami his actual appearance at Augsburg for that purpose, it will be convenient to advert to some other particulars connected with his present situa- tion and occupations, equally illustrative of his cha- racter and of his feelings at the present juncture. 21* 24G LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. June 4, he wrote to Spalatin: "I pray you, rny dear Spalatin, to take it patiently that I am so slack and negligent in writing to you. I am not able to perforin half the business which is unex- pectedly and fast increasing upon my hands. Peter Mosellanus was here not long ago, and is content to accept the conditions and begin his du- ties [at Wittenberg] as professor of Greek; and he desired me to write unto you to that effect. I promised to write, which I now do, not knowing whether there had been any negotiating between you. It will remain for you to do in this matter as God shall give you knowledge and ability. . . . John Tetzel has written against my German dis- course a treatise in German, a singular witness and herald of his ignorance. I will hold the light to it, so that all may see what it is." For reasons not known, the negotiations with Mosellanus were broken off, and Reuchlin was consulted, who recommended Melancthon as pro- fessor of Greek; and in August he was on the ground, thenceforward the second great pillar of the Reformation. June 29, he writes again to the same: "I am not angry, most excellent Spalatin, that those men say the worst things of me, or that they give out that the Proofs and Conclusions owe their origin to the elector. I only fear that this will be the occasion of stirring up enmity between such princes, especially, if the Elector of Brandenburg should alloAV, by way of requital, any thing to take place like unto what we lately heard of him. "You ask me, how far I think dialectics useful .!•;. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 2il to a theologian. I see not how they can be other- wise but hurtful. In the training and exercising the minds of the young, they may have their use ; but in sacred learning, where faith and heavenly illumination alone are sought after, they ought to be left behind, as Abraham, about to offer sacrifice, left the servants and asses behind." To his most intimate friend, Link, now in Nu- remberg, who, together with Scheurl, kept Luther informed of all that was going on in the south of Germany for or against the Reformation, Luther writes, July 10: "I should have sent you, reve- rend father,* the Proofs of my Theses, but for the slackness of our printer, who himself feels ashamed of it. Eighteen of the conclusions [about one- third of the book] were already printed, which I have endeavoured to have sent to you immediate- ly. .. . Our vicar, John Lange, [chosen at the late meeting at Heidelberg,] who is here to-day, saith, he hath been warned by a letter from Count Albert of Mansfeld, to suffer me by no means to go from Wittenberg [to Augsburg,] because sonic nameless persons of power are lying in wait to han- me or drown me. I am plainly that man of contention and discord mentioned in Jeremiah, and do daily vex the Pharisees witli now doctrines, as they are called, though 1 am conscious of teaching nothing but the purest theology. I have all along known that I should present an offence to the sanctimonious Jews, and folly to the most wise Greeks. But I hope that I am a debtor to Jesus :; Title as monk and theologian. 248 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. Christ, who saith to me also, I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. For, if he doth not say this, why hath he made me invincible in the ministry of this word ? Why hath he not taught otherwise than I preach ? Such was his holy will. The more men are enraged, the more confidence will I have. My wife and children are provided for, [he was then unmarried.] My lands, houses, and goods are all set in order, [he was still a monk, and owned nothing.] My reputation and name are already torn and man- gled, and only a frail body remaineth. . . I know that the word of Christ from the beginning of the world hath been of such a sort, that he who would maintain it must, with the apostles, forsake and renounce all things, and stand in waiting for death every hour. If it were not so, it would not be the word of Christ. It was purchased with death ; it was promulgated with death ; it hath been main- tained with death, and must be hereafter. Thus, our enlisting was to us an enlisting to blood. Pray that the Lord Jesus may increase and preserve this spirit in his faithful poor sinner." "I have lately preached before the people on the power of excommunication, wherein I have taken occasion to chastise the tyranny and igno- rance of that most sordid horde of officials, com- missaries and vicars. All cry out with wonder that they never heard such-like things. We are all aware what ills this will bring upon me ; a new fire will be kindled. But so the word of truth is made a sign everywhere spoken against. I had desired to debate these matters in a public ^E. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 249 disputation, but behold public rumour prevented, and stirred up so many of the great, that my Brandenburg bishop desired, through a noted messenger, that I would put off the disputation; which I have done, especially as my friends also advised it. Behold what a monster I am, whose every endeavour is intolerable ! Doctor Jodocus of Eisenach hath sent me a letter, running over with the greatest zeal, (for so must I mention with honour the most impassioned passion of this man,) far more bitter than that which you heard read before the chapter. He said the same things openly to me in Erfurt. It excruciates even to madness these men that they must become fools in Christ; that our most eminent masters in all the world must be considered as having erred for so long a time." On the 7th of August, 1518, Luther received a formal citation to appear within sixty days at Rome for trial. Prierias, his opponent and bitter enemy, wras appointed one of the judges by whom he was to be tried. All Luther's friends readily perceived that this was but a Romish trick to se- cure his destruction. At that time the German diet was in session at Augsburg ; the one at which Ulrich von Iluttcn published his attack upon Rome; the last which the Emperor Maxi- milian ever attended. The Elector Frederic, with his secretary and counsellors, was there. On the following day, August 8th, Luther wrote thus to Spalatin : " Now, my dear Spalatin, I greatly need your succour; or, rather, the honour of almost the entire university requireth it with 250 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. me. What is wanted is, that you should use your power with the illustrious prince (the elector) and Pfeffinger, that he, the prince, and his ma- jesty the emperor, procure a release for me, or permission to have my cause tried in Germany, as I have written to the elector. For I see how craftily and maliciously those murderous preach- ers are plotting my destruction. I would fain have written to Pfeffinger that he might, by his good offices and those of his friends, seek the same favour for me from the emperor and the elector. But this must be done without delay, for only a short time is allowed me, as you will see in this monster of a summons. Read it, with its hydra heads and portents. If you love me and hate iniquity, obtain the counsel and succour of the elector as speedily as possible ; and, when you have done so, signify it to me, or rather to our reverend father Staupitz, who is either already with you at Augsburg, or will be there soon. ... I beg you not to be anxious or cast down on my account. The Lord will, with the temptation, make a way of escape. To the dialogue of Silvester [Prie- rias,] which is indeed silvan and rustic, I am now making a reply. You shall have it entire as soon as it is ready. This same sweet creature, my ad- versary, is also to be my judge, as you will see in the summons." On the 20th, he writes again : " The messen- ger whom I sent to our illustrious Prince Frederic hath not yet returned. I am, therefore, still wait- ing to learn what the Lord intended! through you to do in my case. I have heard that the reverend JE. 31.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 251 Cardinal Cajetan is specially charged by the pope to use his endeavours to imbitter the emperor and the elector against me. [Happily the effort did not succeed.] So timid is the conscience of great pontiffs; or rather such is the insufferable power of truth over deeds done in darkness. And yet I, as you know, my dear Spalatin, have no fear in all these things. Even if their flatteries or their authority should have the effect to render me odious unto all, I have this left in my heart and conscience, that I know and confess that whatsoever I hold and they impugn, I have from God, to whom I cheer- fully refer all and offer all. If he take them away, let them be taken away; if he preserve them, let them be preserved ; and let his name be hallowed and blessed for ever : Amen. I do not yet well see how I can escape that ecclesiastical censure which is purposed, unless the prince shall come to my aid. And, on the other hand, I would much rather be under perpetual censure, than have the prince suffer in his good name on my account. As I have before offered myself, so be- lieve and be assured I still hold myself ready for any thing you should wish, or think best. A heretic I never will be ; err I may in disputation. But I wish to decide no doctrine ; only, 1 am not willing to be the slave of the opinions of men. It seemeth best to our learned and prudent friends' here that I should ask our prince, Frederic, for a safe-conduct through his dominions, and that he should refuse it, as I know he would, and that this should be urged as nry reason and excuse for my not appearing in Rome." 050 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. It was in the very midst of these transactions, and before any thing was agreed upon between the elector, the emperor, the cardinal and the pojDe, in respect to Luther's trial, that the latter was cheered by the accession of a brilliant young man to the university and to the circle of his par- ticular friends; who, from that time, enjoyed his confidence and supported him in his great work more than any other individual. Nothing could have been more advantageous or more opportune than this event. At the time when the timidity of Staupitz was beginning to cause him to with- draw from Luther, and when the mature and learned Carlstadt began to betray a want of tact in the management of affairs, Melancthon was sent by Providence, with his winning and amiable character; with his varied, elegant and profound learning ; with his clear, philosophic views, his sincere piety and warm friendship, to take his stand b}r the side of Luther, and join him as his truest and ablest associate in fighting out the battle of truth. When the negotiations with Mosellanus, in re- spect to the Greek professorship, were broken off, in July, 1518, the elector applied to Reuchlin, then residing at Stuttgarcl, to recommend two professors, one for the Greek and one for the He- brew language. Reuchlin recommended Melanc- thon for the former, and (Ecolampadius for the latter. Melancthon was at that time twenty-one years of age, and was temporarily occupying the chair of rhetoric at the University of Tubingen, but a few miles from Rcuchlin's house. Being *f l> ^"i^ff^A M r ^ *.vf*\?) M. 31.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 253 the grandson of Rcuchlin's sister, the young Me- lancthon had been carefully educated under his direction. lie distinguished himself by his rapid acquisitions in the Latin school of Simler at Pforz- heim. At Heidelberg, where he entered the uni- versity at the age of twelve, he acquired the reputation of being the best Greek scholar. At Tubingen, to which, at the end of twro years after having taken his first degree, he resorted, and where he spent six years in laborious study, he made such extensive and various acquisitions in learning as to stand prominent above all the youths of the university. Destined, as he was, to be the "preceptor of Germany," it was well that his range of study at Tubingen was very wide. Proceeding from the Latin and Greek, as from a common centre, he extended his studies to history, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, philosophy, theology, law, and even to the leading medical writers, and attended lectures on all these sub- jects. He not only warmly espoused the cause of Reuchlin, as the representative of Greek and Hebrew literature, and its persecuted but victo- rious defender against the ignorant Dominican monks of Cologne, but he made himself familiar, even from boyhood, with the New Testament in the original — a copy of which, received as a pre- sent from Reuchlin, he always carried about his person. Reuchlin, in his reply to the elector, said he knew of no German who was Melancthon's superior, except it be Erasmus of Rotterdam. July 24, 1518, Reuchlin wrote to his young kins- man : " I have received a letter from the elector, 22 254 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. offering you a place and a salary; and I will apply to you the promise of God made to Abraham: 'Get thee out of thy country, &c.; and I will make thee a great nation ; and I will bless thee, and make thee a great name, and thou shalt be blessed.' So I prophesy of thee, my dear Philip, who art my care and my comfort." Pie went by way of Augsburg, in order to see the elector there before he should leave the diet, then in session. On leaving Augsburg, Melanc- thon proceeded to Nuremberg, where he made the acquaintance of Pirkheimer and Scheurl, and then pursued his way to Leipsic, where he saw the young Greek professor Mosellanus, and on the 25th of August, 1518, reached Wittenberg. Lu- ther's joy, on learning what an acquisition was made to Wittenberg in this remarkable young man, was great; and never had he occasion to abate his admiration. In the very next letter after the one last quoted from him, under date of August 31, he writes to Spalatin, still in Augs- burg with the elector: "As touching our Philip Melancthon, be assured all is done, or shall be, which you desire in your letter. He pronounced an [inaugural] oration on the fourth day after his arrival here, [in which he set forth the new method of study in contrast with the old scholas- tic method,] full of learning and force, meeting with such favour and admiration in all, that you may now leave off all anxiety in commending him unto us. We soon lost the feeling produced by his [small] stature and [his weak bodily] frame; and now we do wonder and rejoice at that which M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 255 we find in him, and thank the illustrious prince and yourself for what you have done. You have need, rather, to inquire in what study he may render himself most acceptable to our prince. With his consent and approval, I would choose that Philip be made Greek professor. I only have fears that his feeble health will not abide the severity of our climate. I hear, furthermore, that he receiveth too small a stipend, so that the men at Leipsic are hoping to get him away from us. He was beset by them on his way to this place." September 2, he writes to the same, informing him that the students, now eagerly pursuing the new studies, and hearing, by way of preference, lectures on the Bible and the ancient languages, complain that, before receiving their degrees, they are required to attend useless courses of lectures on scholastic theology. Luther and his friends desired that those studies be made optional, and that persons be admitted to the degrees in theo- logy on passing a regular examination on the new branches of study introduced by him, Melancthon and others. He closes by saying, " I commend unto you heartily the most Attic, the most erudite, the most elegant Melancthon. His lecture-room is full, and more than full. lie inflameth all our theologians, highest, lowest and midst, with a love of Greek." On the 9th of the same month, he writes to Lange: "The very learned and most Grecian Philip Melancthon is professor of Greek here, a mere boy or stripling if you regard his age, but 256 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. one of us if you consider the abundance of his learning and his knowledge of almost all books. He is not only skilled in both languages, [Latin and Greek, then a rare thing,] but is learned in each. Nor is he wholly ignorant of Hebrew." After going to Augsburg, whither he resorted for reasons soon to be given, he wrote to Melancthon himself, under date of Oct. 11 : "There is nothing- new or strange here, saving that the whole city is filled with the rumour of my name, and everybody is eager to see the new Herostratus that has kindled such a conflagration. Concerning yourself, go on in your manly course, as you have begun. Teach the youth right things. I give myself up to be sacrificed for them and for you, if it be the will of God. I will sooner perish, and, what is most grievous, for ever lose your delightful converse, than recall what hath been rightly said, and be- come the occasion of extinguishing good learning. Italy is covered with Egyptian darkness, together with those sottish and yet savage enemies of let- ters and of study. They neither know Christ nor the things of Christ; and yet they are our lords and masters both in matters of faith and of morals." We must now resume our narrative in respect to Luther's summons and trial. So far was Lu- ther from being terrified at the threatening aspect things were beginning to wear at Rome, that he published a bold reply to Prierias. At the close, he says, "Behold the answer I make }'Ou, hastily and within the space of two days, because what IE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 257 you have brought forward against me appeared so trifling. ... If you wish to rejoin, see that you bring your Thomas upon the arena a little better equipped; otherwise you will not get off so easy as you have this time. I have put myself in check, lest I should render evil for evil." Such language did he venture to hold to an adversary now his judge! The nature and extent of his Christian courage are well portrayed in a letter to Staupitz, Sept. 1. "Do not doubt," he writes, "my reverend father, that I shall maintain my freedom in examining and expounding the Scrip- tures. Neither the summons nor the threats given out shall move me. I suffer, as you know, incomparably worse things, [spiritual conflicts,] which make me regard those temporal and mo- mentary thunderings as trifles. Still, I sincerely regard ecclesiastical authority. ... If Silvester [Prierias,] that silvan sophist, shall go on, and provoke me further with his scribblings, I si mil not play with him again, but, giving loose reins to my mind and pen, will show' him that there are in Germany men who understand his Roman arts. ... I see that attempts are made at Rome that the kingdom of truth, i. e. of Chris! . lie no longer the kingdom of truth. They continually ply their rage to hinder truth from being heard and enter- tained in its own proper kingdom. But I desire to belong to this kingdom, if not truly, as I should, in life, truly at least with my tongue and heart, renewed, albeit, and making true confession. I Learn from experience that the people are sigh- ing for the voice of their Shepherd, Christ, and 22* 258 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. the youth arc burning with wonderful zeal for the sacred oracles. A beginning is made with us in reading of Greek. We are all giving our- selves to the Greek for the better understand- ing of the Bible. We are expecting a Hebrew teacher, and the elector hath the business in hand." Meanwhile the elector, still at Augsburg, was using his influence with the emperor and with the papal legate, that Luther might receive his trial in Germany. Sept. 9, Luther writes to Lange : " The illustrious prince hath written unto me, that he hath persuaded the legate, Cajetan, to write to Rome, asking that my cause may be tried within the country ; and that I must wait for the answer. I have hopes, therefore, that the ecclesiastical censure will be withholden. But I am offensive to many, more, most." Nevertheless the cardinal, without waiting for any new instructions from Rome, agreed that Luther should appear before him at Augsburg, at the close of the diet. Of the character and conditions of that trial, how- ever, nothing was decided. The elector and many other members of the diet had left the place before Luther's arrival. The latter, happy to learn that he was released from the obligation to appear at Rome, readily complied with the re- quest to present himself before the papal legate at Augsburg. He set out on foot, availing him- self of the hospitality of the cloisters that lay in his route. He reached Weimar, Sept. 28, and on the following day, which was a great festival, he preached in the chapel attached to the palace, and M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 259 touched upon the character of the bishops, who, instead of appearing in the form of servants of the church, acted I he part of lords and tyrants. The treasurer of the monks at Weimar, by the name of John Kestner, approached Luther, and ex- pressed great solicitude in respect to the result of the step lie was about to take. "Oh, my dear doctor," said he, "the Italians are very learned people. I fear you will not be able to gain your cause with them, and they will put you to the flames." Luther replied, "With nettles I could bear; but with fire it would be rather too hot. Dear friend, pray to our Lord God in heaven with a paternoster for me and for his dear Son, whose is my cause, that he would show mercy. If he will maintain my cause, let it be maintained ; if he has not a mind to maintain it, then I will not maintain it; I will let him see to that." From this place he was sent forward by the elector, who furnished him witli many important letters to those who were to be his counsellors and protec- tors at Augsburg. A few miles before reaching the place, he was so exhausted that lie was obliged to take a carriage. He had also borrowed a robe of his Nuremberg friend Link, that he might ap- pear the more respectably before the great men at Augsburg. Three days after his arrival, he wrote to Spa- latin : "I arrived, my dear Spalatin, at Augsburg on St. Mark's day, Oct, 7. We were very much wearied; I especially was almost consumed by the journey, being exhausted from a disordered stomach. But I have recovered. This is the 2G0 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518 third day since my arrival, and I have not yet seen the most reverend legate. I sent to him, on the first day, Doctor Link and another to announce my arrival. In the mean while, my good friends here have been diligent in procuring for me a safe- conduct from the emperor and the senate [of Augsburg.] By the authority of our illustrious prince, they are all very kind unto me and careful of my wants. Although the reverend cardinal legate promiseth to use all lenity, [he had made such a promise to the elector,] yet my friends are not willing that I should put any trust in him. They take upon themselves to exercise their own prudence and diligence in this matter. For they know that, whatsoever he pretendeth outwardly, he is inwardly very bitter against me. I have had the same thing hinted, in no obscure manner, from other quarters. To-day I shall go unto him, and seek my first audience, and see him face to face. What will be the issue, I know not. Some think it a good omen for my cause that the Car- dinal Gurk is absent; others, that the emperor himself is absent, though the latter is not far away, [engaged in the chase,] and his return is daily expected. The Bishop of Augsburg is also absent from the city. Yesterday I dined with Dr. Conrad Peutinger, and a better citizen and man I have never seen. He is most of all en- gaged in my interest, and other senators are scarcely less so. Whether the reverend legate is afraid of me, or is cherishing a monster,* I do not know. Yesterday he sent unto me the orator of * Secretly favouring a bad cause. M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 2G1 Montferrat, who told me not to visit the legate without first having a conference witli himself. It is thought by all, that he came by the legate's order. With many words, and, as he saith, 'judi- cious counsels,' he endeavoured to persuade me to submit forthwith to the legate, and to return to the church by recanting my hard speeches, at the same time proposing to me the example of Joa- chim, Abbot of Florence, who, by such means, though he had said heretical things, escaped from being a heretic. Then the sweet creature wished me to abstain from giving the reasons for what I had said. ' Dost thou wish to break a lance ?' said he. To be short, he is an Italian, and will always be an Italian. . . . He wTent on to make the most absurd declarations, and acknowledged openly that it was right to preach what was false for the sake of a good profit, as he called it, and filling the purse. . . . But I dismissed this Sinon, [who deceived the Trojans in regard to the wooden horse,] who had so little of the Grecian cunning, and he wrent his ways. Thus I am in suspense between hope and fear ; for this unapt mediator hath inspired me with no little confidence." Luther goes on to mention that he had engaged Rossenstein, of Ingolstadt, as professor of He- brew, and provided for his travelling expenses to Wittenberg; that Staupitz had written that he would be at Augsburg as soon as he should know that Luther was there ; that the orator of France had leff Augsburg, but not without leaving a sig- nal proof of his regard for him ; thai the gulden rose was sent to the elector by the pope, and "salutes 2G2 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. all his Wittenberg friends, and wishes them pros- perity, whether he returns to them or not." The letter to Melancthon, written about the same time, has been already given above. October 15, he wrote again to Spalatin: "I am not minded, my dear Spalatin, to write to our illustrious prince. You, therefore, who are familiar with him, receive my communication, and signify it to him. The legate hath treated with me, or rather against me, now for the space of four days; having before promised our illustrious prince that he would act a kind and fatherly part, but, in truth, doing every thing by inflexible power alone. He was loath to have me debate the mat- ters in dispute with him publicly; nor was he willing to discuss them with me privately. His replies were all of this one tenor : ' Recant ; ac- knowledge your error; the pope will have it so, and not otherwise, whether you will or not,' and such-like. ... At length, overcome by the entrea- ties of many, he consented that I should give my reasons in writing ; which I have done this day, in the presence of the elector's minister, Felitzsch, who brought to mind the prince's request. At length the paper was rejected with disdain, and my revocation loudly demanded ; and, with a long rehearsal from the fables of Aquinas, he seemed to conquer and silence me. I essayed a dozen times to say a word, and he chopped in upon me as many times with thundering tones, and reigned alone." Luther finally said to him, "If you will prove }rour point even from tho.^e papal decrees you have been reading, I will revoke as you de- M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 0(33 sire." "And now such airs and such laughter! He suddenly seized the book, read eagerly and out of breath/' till he came to a certain passage, when Luther stopped him, and said, "This ex- pression teacheth just the contrary of what you assert. My conclusion is, therefore, right," " He being contused, and yet not wishing to appear so, prudently dashed off upon another matter. But I eagerly and not very reverently interrupted him, and said: 'Let not your reverence suppose that the Germans arc ignorant of grammar, too.' . . . His confidence deserted him ; and, as he cried out, 'Recant,' I left him, he meanwhile say- ing, 'Go, and return not to me till thou art will- ing to recant.' ' What is here thrown together took place at different times, as will appear from the following. Luther had received the imperial safe-conduct on Monday, the 11th of October. On Tuesday, in company with Frosch, prior of the Carmelite convent, with whom he lodged, two other breth- ren of the same order, and Link, and another Augustinian monk, he had proceeded to the legate, with whom he found the apostolical nuncio and the orator Urban, above mentioned. Accordin--- to instructions previously received, Luther pros- trated himself upon his face before the legato. When the latter bade him rise, he rose first upon his knees, and afterward upon his feet. Mean- while, a throng of curious Italians had crowded into the room, in order to see the fearless monk. After acknowledging thai lie was the author of the theses, and saying that he was willing to be 264 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. instructed if he had erred, the legate required him to confess his errors, and promise to drop them, and no more trouble the church. The errors were chiefly two, the denial that the merits and sufferings of Christ are the treasure of the church, and the assertion that faith was necessary in order to partake of the holy communion. Here ensued the discussion mentioned in the foregoing letter. On returning to his lodgings at night, he found Staupitz there, having just arrived from Salzburg, his present residence. On Wednesday, Luther proceeded again to the cardinal's house, accompanied by Staupitz, the three imperial coun- sellors, Auerbach, Peutinger and Langenmantel, and by Felitzsch, and desired permission to reply, in writing, to any errors which might be imputed to him ; and this, after a long discussion, in which Staupitz took part, was granted. On Thursday, he came again witli Felitzsch, the elector's minis- ter, and Dr. Riihel, and presented a full reply in writing, in which he resolutely maintained the two positions complained of, and showed the heresy of the contrary view. This was the paper which the legate threw aside in contempt; and then it was that he was reduced to silence by Luther, who turned against him the very passage the legate was reading to prove his point. In the afternoon, the legate sent for Staupitz, and requested him to undertake the work of persuad- ing Luther to renounce his heresy. But Staupitz replied that he could not do it, as Luther was too strong for him in the Scriptures. He finally made the attempt; but, when Luther brought forward M. 84.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 265 his passages of Scripture, and asked Staupitz to give any other interpretation of them, he con- fessed he could not, and concluded by saying to Luther : " Remember, dear brother, that thou hast taken this matter up in the name of Jesus." The cardinal then agreed with Staupitz that he would point out the particular articles which Luther should retract. But the articles did not come, and Luther sent his friend Link to request that the points in dispute might be adjusted. The legate appeared friendly, said he did not regard Luther as a heretic, and that he would not ex- communicate him, unless he should receive further command so to do from Rome, whither he had just sent a special messenger with Luther's reply. If Luther would but admit the single article on indulgences, he continued, the case might easily be disposed of, for the article on faith might ad- mit of some explanation. "A clear proof this," said Staupitz, on hearing it, "that Rome hath more care for money than for faith and salvation." It was the opinion of the various friends of Luther, that Staupitz and Link should leave Augsburg, and put no further confidence in these wily Italians; and consequently they both went, though by different routes, to Nuremberg the same day. Luther remained all day, Saturday, without hearing from the legate; also the following Sun- day, when he sent a very humble communication to Cajetan, saying, he had. in his excitement, been too violent and disrespectful toward the pope; that it would have been better to have been more temperate, and not to have answered a fool ac- OQQ LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. cording' to his folly; that he would be silent in respect to indulgences, if the other party should he made to do the same. He would furthermore gladly renounce whatever his conscience would allow; but at no one's command, nor to please any one, could he violate his conscience. Having received no word in reply, he wrote again on Monday, saying, he was not conscious of neglect- ing any thing which belonged to him as a faithful son of the church; he could not waste his time, nor be longer burdensome to the Carmelite mo- nastery. Besides, the legate had forbidden him to appear again without a revocation. His friends had advised him to appeal from the pope misin- formed, to the pope better to be informed. Eccle- siastical censure he had not deserved; neither did he stand in fear of it, By the grace of God he had reached to that point, that he feared excom- munication less than he feared error. The legate, he hoped, would, before the pope, put a kind con- struction upon his departure and upon his appeal. Luther remained Monday and Tuesday, and as he heard nothing from the cardinal, his friends thought such silence no good omen, and, accord- ing to their advice, Luther left Augsburg, Wed- nesday, the 20th, on a horse which Staupitz had provided for him, and with a guide furnished him by the council. Langenmantel led him out of the city through a small gate by night. Luther, with- out suitable garments, that is, in a monk's robe, without boots, rode about forty miles the first day, and when he alighted from his horse at the stable at night, he was unable to stand, and fell down M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 2G7 on the straw. In Grrafenthal, half-way between Coburg and Jena, Count Albert of Mnnsfeld found him, and laughed heartily at the bare- footed and bare-legged rider, and made him his guest. Luther felt thankful for his safe return, respect- ing which he had been apprehensive. To Carlstadt he had written: "But whether I come back to you without injury or separation, or be banished to some other place, may you prosper and adhere to Christ, and exalt him without dismay or dis- couragement." Still, with a single word, (revoco, I revoke,) he might, he assures us, have rendered himself most acceptable and beloved. " But," says he, " sooner than renounce that doctrine which has made me a Christian, will I die, be burned, banished and cursed." The very day he reached "Wittenberg, Oct. 31, precisely twelve months from the time he came out with his theses, he wrote to Spalatin: "To- day, my dear Spalatin, have I come, by the grace of God, safely to Wittenberg, not knowing, how- ever, how long I shall abide here, for I am in a state of uncertainty between hope and fear." After saying, that if his first appeal is without effect, he will make another to a general council, he adds, "I am full of joy and peace, so much so as to marvel that this my trial should appear a great matter to many notable men." At Nurem- berg, on his way home, he saw7, for the first time, the papal brief and other instructions given to Cajetan, by which it appeared he was already condemned, unless he renounced his errors. He 268 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. was greatly incensed at this " apostolical, or rather diabolical brief." " It is incredible that a thing so monstrous should come from the chief pontiff, especially from Leo X. . . . If, in truth, it did come forth from the Roman court," he continues, "then I will show them their most licentious temerity and their most ungodly ignorance." He did, indeed, afterward publish that brief, with a cutting running commentary, in which, among other things, he says, "The best of all is, that the brief is dated August 23, and my citation was given August 7, leaving a space of but sixteen days. . . . What, then, becometh of the sixty days spoken of in my summons ? — [within which he was to appear for trial.] Is this the fashion and custom of the Roman court, to cite, warn, ac- cuse, judge, condemn and give sentence all on one and the same day ; and that, too, when the person indicted is so far from Rome as to know nothing thereof? What answer will they make to this? Peradventure they forgot to clear their brain with hellebore before entering upon these acts of decep- tion and fraud." In the same letter, quoted above, Luther men- tions that Frosch, prior of the Carmelite monas- tery at Augsburg, who had treated him "with incredible liberality and kindness" during his stay there, was about to apply for the degree of doc- tor of divinity at Wittenberg. " He is worthy on sundry accounts," says Luther, "to be requited with a favour from us. By promise of the elec- tor, as he saith, he expectcth a public dinner to be given unto him on occasion of that solemnity. M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 2G9 I may resl well assured it will be so, if the elec- tor hath promised it. All needful preparations will, without doubt, be made. See to it, then. that his expectation be fulfilled on our part with due honour." The elector seems either not to have had a distinct recollection of the promise, or to have found some difficulty in fulfilling it. Luther observes, not without chagrin, in a sub- sequent letter : " Lest a man so worthy of being honoured be dismissed without honour, we have had recourse to our own monastery, and shall provide the dinner at our own trouble. . . . But we are very poor, and there is already a multi- tude of us, so that we cannot, without difficulty, be at that expense. I pray you, therefore, to see that the prince furnish us with the wild fowl and venison." On the 18th of November, Luther, as dean of the theological faculty, conferred the de- gree. But Melancthon, the young Greek profes- sor, whom the heroic reformer had as yet seen but a few times, did not come to the dinner. Luther wrote him the same day the following facetious note, inviting him to supper: "To-day, you have despised me and the new doctor, which may the muses and Apollo forgive you. And I, though the affair was not altogether mine, myself forgive you. But unless yon appear this time to meet Dr. Carlstadt, licentiate Amsdorf, and espe- cially the rector, neither your Greek learning, nor little brother Martin, as Cajetancalleth me, will ex- cuse yon. The new doctor jocosely saith he sup- poseth he, as a barbarian, is lightly esteemed by the Greek. Be careful what you do, for 1 have 23* 270 ™FE OF LUTHEE. [1518. promised that you will assuredly be present this time." As early as the 25th of October, Cajetan wrote to the Elector Frederic, complaining of Luther, and affirming that his teachings were contrary to those of the Roman see, and deserving to be condemned. " Your grace," he continues, " may believe me, for I speak the truth, from what I certainly know, and not from mere opinion." He then begs and exhorts the elector either to send Luther to Rome, or to banish him from the coun- try. This letter was put into the hands of Lu- ther, with the request that he would indicate what reply ought to be given. Luther took this opportunity to rehearse the whole course of the transactions with Cajetan ; to expose the unfair- ness of them, and to open the eyes of the prince more fully in respect to the chicanery practised by the Roman court. In this letter he says to the elector : " In order that no evil may accrue to your grace on my account, a thing which I least of all desire, I purpose to forsake your do- minions, and go wheresoever my gracious God will have me, and submit myself to his divine will, whatsoever may come." He wrote to Spa- latin that he should regret to be arrested in his course at Wittenberg, not so much on his own account as on that of the university, and the many excellent young men who were there, burning with zeal for a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. If he should be silenced, the turn would next come to Carlstadt and to the whole theological faculty. The university wrote to the M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 271 elector, entreating him to interest himself espe- cially in the cause of Luther. To his congrega- tion Luther said, " I am, in these times, as you Avell know, an irregular preacher, having often gone away without taking leave of you. Should that ever take place again, I will now say fare- well, in case I should not return." As Frederic wTas very reserved in regard to his opinion of Luther's course, and as the latter was desirous not only not to involve his prince in the controversy, but to enjoy more freedom for dis- cussion than he supposed could be allowTed him in Saxony, he seriously purposed retiring from his post, and seeking some other place of abode. Paris seemed to be the place of his choice, as he vainly imagined the defenders of the liberties of the Gallican church would sympathize wdth him. There was much consultation wTith Spalatin and other friends about the place and manner of re- tirement, and all things were arranged by Luther for a speedy departure, when suddenly, on the 1st of December, a letter came to him from the secretary Spalatin, which prevented the execu- tion of the plan. December 2, he wTrites : " Had your letter not been received yesterday, my dear Spalatin, I had taken measures for my departure, and I still hold myself ready either to go or to remain. The con- cern my friends feel for me maketh me marvel, and is more than I can endure. Some have urged with great earnest! loss thai I should give myself up as a captive to the elector, in order that he might take possession of me and keep me in 272 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. custody, and then write to the legate that I was detained in safe keeping until I should render an account of my doings. What opinion ought to be entertained of this advice, I leave to be decided by your wisdom. I am in the hands of God and of my friends. " It is certain that the elector is believed to be on my side. This I learn from a man who would assuredly not deceive me. At the court of the Bishop of Brandenburg, the question was lately moved what my confidence was, in wdiose support I trusted. One replied, ' In Erasmus, Capito, and other learned men.' ' No/ said the bishop, 1 these would have no weight with the pope. It is the University of Wittenberg and the Duke of Saxony that uphold him.' Thus I clearly see that the elector is thought to be with me, and this displeaseth me. The suspicion he stands in, as being joined with me, will constrain me to withdraw, if any thing can have that effect; al- though the elector might say in his reply, that he is a layman, and doth not take upon him to judge in such matters ; and the more so, because he seeth that the university, which hath the ap- proval of the church, is not against me. But you have no need of these my cogitations. If I re- main here, I shall be hindered from saying and writing many things ; if I go away, I shall open my whole mind, and oiler up my life unto Christ." The pope resorted to another expedient in order to accomplish his purpose in respect to Luther. He appointed Miltitz, a Saxon by birth, now agent of the elector at Rome, as a nuncio to M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 973 Germany, and fitted him out with a golden rose, a token of friendship given only to princes who were the pope's favourites. Miltitz was to unite with this flattering office that of making good what had been lost by Cajetan toward effecting a reconciliation. This undertaking of Miltitz, which from various causes was an entire failure, was a sort of interlude. The nuncio acted a shrewd part, and, but for Eck and other zea- lots, would probably have been successful. He avoided connection with Cajetan, who had be- come generally odious by his arrogance, and as- sociated himself closely with Pfeffinger, the elec- tor's minister. He demeaned himself as a subject of Frederic, admitted the justness of Luther's complaints against indulgences, and treated Lu- ther with great consideration and tenderness. For a long time, he was received and treated with suspicion. Luther did not trust him. Still he induced Luther to make many important con- cessions, all that could possibly be made by him with a good conscience. When, in the beginning of the year 1519, the imperial throne became vacant, the pontiff was interested to exclude the house of Austria, already too powerful, from the succession, and secure the election of the King of France. iMvderic's position, as one of the most influential of the electors and as vicar of the empire, now rendered it necessary for the Roman see to change its haughty tone toward liini. and consequently Luther was left for seve- ral months comparatively free. On the 9th of December, 1518, Luther wrote 274 LIFE OF LUTIIEll. [1518. two letters to Spalatin, one in which he proposes a moderate reform in the university, by dropping one or two courses of lectures in the scholastic philosophy $ the other in which he speaks thus: "That which you, my dear Spalatin, direct me not to do [the publishing of his account of the interview with Cajetan at Augsburg] hath been already done. My rehearsal of those doings has been published, and I have used great liberty therein, and yet have come short of the whole truth. Herein, as well as in all other matters, I perceive that I must act without any delay. Yes- terday I was given to understand from Nurem- berg that Charles von Miltitz was on his way hither with three papal briefs, as it is on good au- thority said, for apprehending me and delivering me up to the pope. The Eisleben doctor, who, with Felitzsch, was present when I stood before the legate, hath given me warning through our prior to be on my guard. ... I have heard many such- like things which, whether they be true, or only given out in order to terrify me, must not, I think, go unheeded. Therefore, to the end they may not come upon me unawares and despatch me, nor, on the other hand, cast me down and overcome me by means of judgments jmssed against me, I hold myself in readiness for any event, and so await the will of God. I have made my appeal to a future council. The more they rage and have recourse to violence, so much the less am I terri- fied. I will one day be yet more bold against those Roman hydras. That which 3^011 have heard, namely, that I have taken leave of the M. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 275 people of Wittenberg, is not so. I only said, . . . 'If I should ever again suddenly leave you, I wish now to say farewell, in case I should not return.' " On the 11th of the same month, he wrote to his friend Link in Nuremberg : " The report touching the three apostolical briefs, given unto Miltitz against me, hath come to my ears. Casper, [Aquila,] who had learned this from your letter, informed me of the same by a special messenger, in his over-anxiety for me. I send you my Trans- actions, written with more sharpness than the legate would like to see published. But my pen is already producing still weightier things. I know not whence these cogitations arise. This matter hath in my esteem hardly a beginning yet, so for is it from the end, which the great ones of Rome are looking for. I will send unto you my trifles, that you may see whether I rightly inter- pret the words of Paul in respect of antichrist, as referring to the court of Rome. I think I can plainly show that the Romans are even now worse than the Turks. ... I live in expectation of the attempts of my murderers, whether from Rome or from any other quarter. I marvel that the excommunication tarries so long. . . . Our studies are going actively on, and we are as busy as bees. Farewell. Greet all my friends, especially the preacher Sebaldinus, and the other master, but most of all Pirkheimer, Albert Diirer, and Chris- topher Scheurl, [the most influential men in Nu- remberg.] Eck writeth that he is not altogether pleased nor altogether displeased with my reply 276 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. to Prierias ; but he addeth a very sagacious and true clause, namely, that he well knoweth his opinion will not weigh much with me." Two days later, he wrote to Staupitz, then in Salzburg, mentioning his safe return from Augs- burg, and then proceeding to say: "The elector dissuaded me altogether from bringing out my account of the Augsburg Transactions; but at length he hath given his consent, and they are now in course of printing. In the mean season, the legate wrote [to him,] bitterly accusing me and you and my associates, as he calleth them, complaining that I departed secretly from Augs- burg, and that it was done in guile. He then counselleth the elector to send me bound to Rome, or to banish me from his dominions, in order that he bring not a foul spot upon his name for the sake of one little monk. He saith the cause will be sustained and prosecuted at Rome; that he himself hath written to the city, giving an account of my fraud, and that he hath washed his hands of the fault. The elector desired me to reply to that letter, in order that he might put my an- swer with his own, and send both to the legate. This have I done, and, as I think, in a satisfactory manner. The elector manifests much concern for me, but would choose I were somewhere else. He ordered Spalatin to call me to Lichtenburg, and to confer fully with me on the matter there. I told him, that if the excommunication should come, I would not continue here. He entreated me not to think of going to France. I am still waiting to learn his final decision. As for you, my be- jE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 277 loved father, farewell. Commend to Christ my soul alone. I see that these men have determined on in v death; but Christ determineth not to yield in me. Let, yea, let his holy and blessed will be done. Pray for me. . . . Our studies prosper well, save that there is a lack of time for our best lectures." To Reuchlin, the very next day, December 11 tli, Luther wrote the following spirited and magnificent letter: "The Lord be with you, most courageous man: I rejoice in the goodness of God which is manifested in you, most erudite and most excel lent sir, in that you have been able to stop the mouths of evil-speakers. Surely you were an instrument of the Divine will, though not knowing- it yourself, yet longed for by all the lovers of a pure theology. Quite other things are accom- plished by God than that which seemeth out- wardly to be done through you. Of those who desired to be joined with you, I was one; but I had no opportunity. Yet was I always most pre- sent with you in my prayers and wishes. But now, that which was denied me when I would fain have been your fellow-labourer, is abundantly granted me as your successor. The teeth of that behemoth are nowr gnashing upon me, to repair, if possible, the dishonour received through you. I meet these men with much less of ability and learning, but not with less confidence, than that wherewith you met and overcame them. They abstain from contending with me. They refuse to reply unto me, and have recourse to nothing else but force and violence. But Christ liveth, 24 278 LIFE OF 'LUTHER. [1518. ajjid I can lose nothing, because I possess nothing* By your firmness the horns of those bulls are not a little broken. This doth the Lord accomplish through you to the end that the sophistical tyrants may learn to be a little more tardy and moderate in resisting the truth; that Germany may draw breath again, and the teaching of the Scriptures be revived, which, alas ! have for so many centu- ries been not only kept down, but extinguished." He excused himself for writing so familiarly, by saying that his affection for him, and his know- ledge of him, both through common fame and through his books, together with Melancthon's assurance that it would be kindly received, em- boldened him thus to write. Reuchlin's dispute with the Dominican monks of Cologne was at first personal, and related to the value of Hebrew and Greek literature; but it ended in dividing Ger- many into two great parties, henceforth to be represented by Luther and his opponents. In a letter to Spalatin, December 20, on the subject of the electors letter to Cajetan, Luther, among other things, says : " I have seen the ex- cellent letter of our illustrious prince to the reve- rend legate. With what joy did I read that let- ter over and over again, which so aboundeth in Christian confidence, and is yet so wonderfully meek. I do only but fear that the Italians will not understand how much is meant under that humble attitude and form. They are a people, whose custom and use it is, both in their doings and in their writings, to set every thing forth with great ostentation and show. But they will, at IE. 34.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 279 least, see so much as this, that nothing which they have put their hands to seemeth to prosper. It cannot be otherwise hut that they will be greatly displeased. Wherefore, I entreat you in the Lord, to thank the prince on my behalf, and show unto him how joyful and grateful I am. It hath all turned out well that he, [Cajetan,] who, a little while before, was but a poor monk like myself, did not fear to draw near to great po- tentates, [such as Frederic,] without showing them any honour or reverence, and to threaten them, to command them, and to treat them as haughtily as he pleased. He may now know, though late, that the civil power is of God, and that the honours thereof may not be trodden in the dust, especially by one who hath received his own authority from only a man, [the pope.] It pleaseth me much, that in this matter the prince hath shown an impatience so patient and prudent. The Lord own and acknowledge all this, whatso- ever it be, as his." On the 27th of December, Miltitz reached Al- tcnburg, his head-quarters while in Saxony. Hav- ing learned the vile practices of Tetzel, and espe- cially his squandering habits, he wrote to Leipsic, only twenty-seven miles distant, where that monk passed the remaining few months of his life, ordering him to appear at Altenburg, to give an account of his doings. We have the reply of Tet- zel, preserved in full. Under date of December 31, 1-318, he begins his letter thus: "Your ex- cellency hath given me notice, that I am required to come to Altenburg, to hear somewhat in par- 280 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1518. ticular from you. Now, I would willingly under- take the labour of such journey, if I could, with- out peril of life, go out of Leipsic. For the Auirustinian monk, Martin Luther, hath stirred up not only all the German estates, but even the kingdoms of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland against me, so that I am nowhere in safety." He complains of Luther's hostility and false accusations, particularly as made in the account which the latter had recently given of the transac- tions at Augsburg, "in which all the blame was cast upon Tetzel and his abettors;" and closes by say- ing, that he has already suffered very much for his fidelity to the pope, but will nevertheless con- tinue to be faithful until death. He died not long after, in such wretchedness as to excite Luther's compassion, and draw forth from him a letter of Christian consolation. His death occurred during the Leipsic disputation, on the 4th of July, the very day that Luther, but a few rods distant from Tetzel's retreat, began his debate with Eck. Meanwhile, Luther had an interview with Mil- titz, at Altenburg, the first week in January, 1519. On the second da}r, he writes without date to the elector : " It is quite too much that 3'our electoral and princely grace should be so entangled in my affairs and troubles ; but, as it is a thing of necessity, which God hath so ordered, I pray you accept it graciously. Yesterday, Charles von Miltitz set forth very earnestly the discredit and dishonour done through me to the Roman see, and I promised to do, with all humility, what I could to make reparation. . . . JE. 35.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 281 First, I agreed to drop the matter, and let it die of itself, on condition that my adversaries do the same. For I think if they had let my writings pass, all should have been still, and the song- ended, and the people weary of it long ago. Furthermore, I fear, if this course be not taken, but the strife go on either by violence or by dis- putation, something ill will come of it, and the play will turn out to be too much in earnest. Therefore, I think it best to let the matter end where it is. Secondly, I have promised to write to his holiness the pope, submitting myself hum- bly to him, and acknowledging that I have been too heated and violent, though I did not intend thereby to harm the holy Roman church, but rather, as a true son of the church, to set myself against blasphemous preaching, which brought the Roman church into contempt and reproach among the people. Thirdly, I consented to put forth an address, exhorting all to follow7, obey and honour the Roman church, and to interpret my writings, not to the discredit, but to the honour of that church ; and I promised to confess, in the same, that I have been too warm, and, perchance, out of season, in what I have said. . . . Fourthly, Master Spalatin, at the instance of Fabian, pro- posed to lav the matter in dispute before the most reverend Archbishop of Salzburg, by whose deci- sion, to be made after consultation with learned men, I must abide, unless I may choose to appeal from it to a future council. Perhaps the jar may thus be stayed, and made quietly to pass away. But I fear the pope will not allow a judge, [to de- 24* 282 LIFE OF LUTHER, [1519. cide between him and me,] and I certainly will not allow the pope's authority. If, therefore, the first plan doth not work well, the play will be, that the pope will give the text, and I make the commentary. But that is not a thing to be wished. I have conferred with Miltitz thereon, who doubteth this will not be enough ; and yet did he not demand a recantation from me, but will take the proposal into consideration. If your grace thinketh I can do more, condescend, for the Lord's sake, graciously to show it unto me ; for all pains taken to draw from me a retractation will nothing avail." To many it seems difficult to interpret these concessions in a manner that shall be honourable to Luther. His firmness seems almost to have deserted him. But we must remember that his case, at that time, appeared nearly desperate. He was unwilling to stand in such relations of depend- ence to the elector, or to involve him in the con- troversy. The result was very uncertain. The papal nuncio treated him with great kindness, and conceded nearly all that he had asserted, so that Luther would come off quite as well as the pope would. Besides, the concessions of Luther related to the Roman church, in the abstract, apart from the abuses of unworthy functionaries ; and for this church, so viewed, he never lost his reverence, nor did he ever adopt the theory of separation. Luther was always, and more particularly in the earlier and later parts of his life, a churchman, and therefore he could take the ground he did in this letter. Finally, he refused to retract, and would JE. 35.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 283 confess little, except indiscretion in the manner he had written. And, after all, what if Luther was 1 1 ui nan, and was not always equally the saint or the hero? What if the transactions with the nuncio betrayed a weak point in the reformer in an hour of despondency and gloom ? Luther was not perfect, was not always consistent, nor always right either in his opinions or in his feelings. Far from it. The interview on Luther's part was somewhat of a diplomatic character. He distrusted the Roman courtier, though a Saxon by birth. He doubted whether the court of Rome would go so far as the nuncio believed. He wished to have it appear, in case of failure, that the fault was not his. And, moreover, he all the while entertained views and feelings which he thought it not best to betray either to the nuncio, or to the elector. He was dealing with men of the court. In the freedom of confidential correspondence, Luther, in letters to various friends, unbosoms all his feelings and transient impressions. But with wonderful variety and adaptation to character, he imparts to his several correspondents only what their peculiarities would enable them to appre- ciate, and what would meet with their sympathy. To the elector he writes witli reserve, but in a way adapted to win his confidence and affection, and speaks of transactions as they would be likely to affect his policy. To Spa la tin. lie writes as to a friend and a theologian more fully and freely, but with the evident expectation that it will, indirectly and on the most fitting occasions, and 284 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. with suitable accompaniments, reach the elector's ear. To Scheurl, he writes as to an intelligent statesman and warm friend, whom he highly respects, and whose influence in Nuremberg is of great importance to him. Through him, he is virtually addressing the south of Germany, and he does not forget this in the tone of his letters. To Egran, an independent and bold innovator or reformer in Zwickau, he writes as to a kindred spirit, and speaks right out without reserve. To Staupitz, he writes with affection and a deli- cate regard to his character and position, as a timid friend, whom he wishes to draw forth from his papal connections and sympathies. All these things must be taken into the account, if we would rightly understand his letters. To Scheurl he writes, January 13, 1519: "I have stolen from myself and from my labours this hour, and write, at last, to the intent that I may not seem unthankful for so many letters from you, or unwilling to reply. I, in all sincerity, thank you for the pure and true friendship whereby you lend me your counsels and show your solicitude for me. Gladly would I see the end of this tur- bulence, if my enemies wTere of the same mind. But they purpose, as I see, to compass their work, not by gentleness, but by power and violence. Hence, they daily stir up against themselves the more oppositions, and bring nothing to pass. That the upstir can never be put down by naked force, I well know. The trifles of Sylvester [Prierias,] if they are indeed his, seem not to deserve a reply from me: they are puerile and woman^, jE. 35.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 285 nothing but the moanings of his grief. With Charles [Miltitz,] I have had a very friendly meeting, and it has been agreed, first, that utter silence on this subject shall be observed on both parts ; and, secondly, that b}r order of the supreme pontiff, some German bishop shall point out the errors which I shall retract. But, except God in- terpose, nothing will be brought to pass, especially if they shall take in hand to force me with that new decretal, the which I have not yet seen. I have heard that it asserts the plenitude of [the papal] power, without bringing forward any sup- port either from the Scriptures or from the canons. But this I would never grant to any decretal, even the most ancient. Who can tell what God intends to raise up through these monsters? As touching myself, I am neither terrified nor desirous to hush the matter. I have in store many things, which could touch the Roman hydra, and which I wTould fain bring forth, if suffered to do so. But if God will not that I should have the liberty, the will of the Lord be done." In the dubious state of things then existing, what could be said more adapted in any event to secure the confidence and continued respect of the friend who had evidently been advising him to a peaceful course? How different the tone of his letter to Egran, who had already broken, on his own account, with the Papists, or rather with the monks who had assailed Luther. It was written February 2, and begins thus : " Accept a brief notice, my dear Egran, of the present state of my affairs. Charles von Miltitz was sent unto 28G LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. our prince, armed with more than seventy apos- tolical briefs, given to this end, that he should bring me alive and bound to Rome, that murder- ous Jerusalem. But being laid prostrate by the Lord on the way, that is, being terrified by the multitude of those who favour me, after he had most carefully noted the estimation in which the people held me, he turned his violence into friendship, which was nothing but a pretence, and treated with me a long while to j3ersuade me, for the honour of the church, to retract what I had said. To which I replied after this sort: i Let the manner of retracting be determined, and the grounds of the error pointed out in such a manner that they would appear plain both to the common people and to the learned, lest a wrong re- tractation should stir up still greater hatred against Rome.' It was at length agreed by us, that the Bishops of Salzburg and Treves should be chosen, and that unto one of them the case should be re- ferred for decision; and thus we parted as friends with a [Judas] kiss. For in his entreaties he shed tears. I, for my part, feigned not to understand those crocodile tears. Thus far hath the matter proceeded. What is now doing at Rome, I know not, Charles [Miltitz] said, there had not for a century been a cause which had given more trou- ble to that most odious herd- of cardinals, and of Romanizing Romanists; that they would sooner give ten thousand ducats, than allow this matter to go on as it had begun." Here we perceive clearly, that Luther had no confidence in the nuncio's sincerity, but still thought it best to treat M. 35.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 287 with him without appearing to comprehend his policy. In this way, Luther would either induce him to eiFect a relaxation of the severity of the pope, or make it appear to all the world that he himself was not in fault if the reconciliation was not effected. The following letter to Staupitz, written Feb- ruary 20th, will serve not only to illustrate the foregoing, but to throw light upon Luther's pre- sent relations to Staupitz, and upon the view they took of the course of events. " Though you are far from me, [at Salzburg, near the west- ern boundary of Austria,] reverend father, and keep silence, not writing to me as I had expected and desired, I nevertheless will break the silence. I and all others are desirous to see you here in these regions. I suppose you have received my Transactions, that is, the ire and indignation of Rome. God hurries and forces me on instead of leading me. I am not master of myself. While I desire to be quiet, I am driven into the midst of tumults. Charles Miltitz has seen me at Al- tcnburg, and complained that I had drawn all the world away from the pope unto myself; that he had, on his journey, made observation, and found that scarcely two or three out of five held with the Roman party. He was armed with seventy apostolical briefs for the purpose of car- rying me captive to that murderous Jerusalem, that Babylon in purple, as I afterward learned from the court of the elector. When that device was given up in despair, he undertook to per- suade me to retract, and thus to restore what I ogg LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. had taken away. On my asking to be instructed as to what I should retract, it was agreed that the cause should be carried before certain bishops. I made mention of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Treves, and Freisingen. At evening I complied with an invitation to sup with him, and we had a pleasant season together, and when we parted, he kissed me. I made as though I did not understand this Italian dissimulation. He also summoned and censured Tetzel. Afterward, at Leipsic, he convicted him of receiving, as wages, ninety florins a month, besides three horsemen and a carriage, and all his charges to boot. Tet- zel himself hath now disappeared, no one, save perhaps the fathers of his order, knowing whither he hath gone. Eck, a man of guile, draweth me, as you here see [from his theses,] into new dis- putes. Thus the Lord taketh care that I be not idle. But, by the will of Christ, this [Leipsic] disputation shall turn out ill for those Roman laws and customs on which Eck leaneth for sup- port. . . . The Leipsic professors have given their consent to have the disputation with Eck held in their universit}^ and accuse me of rashness in saying that they refused, and ask me to take back what I said. But I learned with certainty from Duke George that they had refused him ; and I have twice replied that their dean had refused me, as in truth he did, when I requested permission. Thus craftily do these men strive to stifle this disputation, but Duke George urgeth it forward." By being " driven on and kept from idleness," JE. 35.] COLLISION WITH TETZEL. 289 Luther means that Eck's propositions and chal- lenges frustrated the plans of Miltitz for effecting a reconciliation. For if the papal party should renew the discussion, Luther was, by the terms of the agreement, left free to reply. Tetzel did not leave Leipsic, as was supposed, but secluded himself there after his disgrace, and remained in the cloister, called the Paulinum, till his death, a few months after. Luther expresses his feelings, in respect to that humiliation and disgrace, in another letter thus : " I am sorry that Tetzel is reduced to such necessity in respect to his safet}^ and that his doings have been exposed to the light, I wTould much rather, if it were possible, that, by a reformation on his part, he should escape with honour. As 1 lost nothing by his glory, so I should gain nothing by his ignominy. I cannot sufficiently marvel that he should dare to take such a large amount of money from poor peo- ple for his own use, enough to support a bishop, nay, an apostle." L>5 290 LIFE OF LUTHER, [1519. CHAPTER II. THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. SECTION I. — Preliminary Correspondence. PUBLIC debate, held from June 27 to July 8, 1519, at Leipsic, between ^yy^\ Eck on the one hand, and Carlstadt on the other, to which Lu- ther was, with some difficulty, finally ad- mitted, derives its interest partly from the topics discussed — chiefly the liberty of the will, the power of the pope and indulgences — and partly from the scene of the transactions, and the peculiar relations of Leipsic to Wittenberg. The Duchy of Saxony, with Duke George at its head, Dresden for its capital, and Leipsic as its chief seat of theological learning, was strongly papal, and continued to be so for twenty years from this time, or till 1539. The Electorate of Saxony, belonging to the other line of Saxon princes, with Frederic, cousin of George, for its reigning sove- reign, and Wittenberg for its capital and its centre of theological influence, was the head-quarters of the Reformation. M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 291 Eck chose Leipsic as the place for holding the disputation, both for the favour which he expected there from the sympathies of the people and of the judges, and for the glory he hoped to acquire from the university and the court of George by a victory over the two champions of reform. Eck was perhaps the most learned, certainly the most celebrated Catholic theologian of Germany. He was then Vice-chancellor of the University of In- golstadt. He owed his great reputation princi- pally to his shrewdness and practised art as a debater. It was neither greatness of mind, nor depth and solidity of learning, but varied know- ledge, self-possession and skill in studying the passions and prejudices of men and turning them effectively to his account, — it was this that made him a formidable antagonist. And in this he suc- ceeded at Leipsic, though those who could esti- mate arguments by their intrinsic worth gave the victory to the other party. Eck, as it appears in the accounts already given of him, had been, for some little time, an acquaint- ance and personal friend to Luther, having been introduced to him by Scheurl of Augsburg. A little sparring between them had occurred in the Obelisks, or notes of the former, on the ninety- five Theses, and in the Asterisks, or reply of the latter. But at Augsburg, in 1518, they had met on friendly terms ; and the proposal of Luther that a disputation should be held between Eck and Carlstadl on the subjects embraced in cer- tain propositions which the latter had recently published, was agreed to, and Eck was allowed 292 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. to choose between Leipsic and Erfurt as the place for the discussion. But when Eck came to pub- lish his counter-propositions, setting forth the points which he was to maintain, he not only put himself in opposition to Carlstadt's proposi- tions, but also to Luther's theses and other writ- ings, thereby covertly drawing Luther also into the debate. It was this disingenuous act which discharged Luther from the obligations he had entered into with Miltitz, according to which he was to remain silent, provided his opponents should do the same. The breach of the truce came, therefore, from the papal side ; and Eck's intemperate zeal was far more wounding to the feelings of Miltitz than to those of Luther. In the letter of Feb. 2, to Egran, quoted above in part, is the following paragraph : " Our Eck, who was besought by me, when at Augsburg, to meet Carlstadt in debate at Leipsic, in order to bring the controversy to an end, hath at last ac- cepted the advice. But behold the character of the man, of what sort it is. He hath [in his Propositions] fallen upon my theses, and vehe- mently assailed them, and hath passed by him [Carlstadt] with whom he is in controversy. You would think he was playing pranks at carnival. Therefore, in order to defend what I have said on indulgences, I am forced to enter the lists with him. He is a pitiable animalcula of fame." In a letter of congratulation to Lange, on the occasion of his receiving the degree of doctor of divinity, written Feb. 3, Luther observes: "Our Eck goeth about to stir up a new war against me ; M. 35.] LEirSIC DISPUTATION. 293 and the thing which I have long meditated will now, with the favour of Christ, be put in execu- tion ; that is, the bringing out before the public some work directed in good earnest against the hydras of Rome. Hitherto I have but sported and played in the case, though my adversaries grieve dolefully as over a serious and insuffer- able matter." To Spalatin he writes, under date of Feb. 7th, " Our Eck, an insect of fame, hath published his propositions against Carlstadt, to be debated at Lcipsic, after Easter. This per- verse man, after long making me the object of his hate, hath made an assault both upon me and my writings. While he nameth one antagonist, he aimeth his arrows at another. This stupid sycophancy of his doth ill please me, and there- fore have I published counter-propositions, as you will see in the accompanying papers. Eck will, peradventure, be the mean of turning what hath been but play into serious work, which will do poor service to the Roman tyranny." That the reader may understand what other subjects were, at this period, occupying Luther's thoughts, it may here be stated, by the way, that he wrote, according to promise, a very sub- missive letter, under date of March 3d, to Pope Leo X., in which he made great concessions, — greater than one would suppose possible under such circumstances. A few days previously, he had published an address to the common people, designed to conciliate them with the church of Rome. Referring to this address, in a letter to Spalatin, written March 5th, he says: "Twice, 25* 294 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. iny clear Spalatin, have you requested me to speak of faith, of good works, and of obedience to the Roman church, in my Defence which was to appear in German. This I think I have al- ready clone ; but it was published before your letter was written. Never was it my purpose to separate from the apostolical see of Rome. I am content that the Roman bishop should bear any title, even that of lord, if he please. What doth that concern me, who know that the rule of the very Turks is to be honoured, and submitted to, because it is an existing and an established power? For sure I am that, as Peter saith, there is no power but by the will of God. But thus much do I at all times require, on the ground of my faith in Christ, namely, that they wrest not at their pleasure and corrupt the word of God. Let the Roman decretals but leave me the gos- pel pure and uncorrupt, and they may take away all else ; I will not move a hair. What more than this should I, or can I do? I, then, will, on my part, strive for peace, as we have cove- nanted ; and will go about no new thing. The disputation will, I hope, be nothing else but a disputation, and be listened to by the learned only, [being held in Latin;] the common people may employ their own language." These state- ments serve to explain why Luther went so far — undoubtedly too far — in his concessions, and to confirm what is otherwise abundantly proved, namely, that he desired a reformation which should consist in spirit rather than in forms, in pious feeling rather than in social privileges and M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 295 immunities. In respect to a rupture with Rome, there is an apparent inconsistency in Luther at this time, which finds its explanation in the fact, that he was in reality the subject of an inward struggle between two contending forces, drawing him alternately in opposite directions. The preliminaries to the disputation were ex- ceedingly complicated, consisting not only of the printed propositions and counter-propositions al- ready mentioned, but of Eck's correspondence with Duke George and with the Leipsic profes- sors ; of that between these professors and Bishop Adolphus of Merseburg; between the bishop and Duke George ; between the latter and the Elec- tor Frederic ; between Frederic and Luther, and between Luther and the Leipsic professors. In reply to a letter of Frederic's secretary, in which the terms of reconciliation, as proposed by Miltitz, were alluded to, Luther wrote to the elector himself, on the 13th of March, the follow- ing, among other things : " God knoweth that it wUs my solemn purpose, as it was also my hope and joy, that this game, so far as in me lay, should be played no farther; and so strict was I in keeping the agreement [made with Miltitz] that I gave no heed to the answer of Prierias, though I had good cause to reply. I let the con- tempt and contumely of my adversaries pass, and, contrary to the advice of my friends, kept silence. The agreement was, as Charles [Miltitz] well knoweth, that I was to hold my peace, if my adversaries should do the same. But now Dr. Eck, without giving me any warning, hath made 296 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. such an assault upon me, that it is plain he seeketh to bring both me and the whole univer- sity into discredit and disrepute; and many honest-minded men think he hath been suborned to do the same. I looked upon it as wrong to give no heed to an assault so perfidious, and to allow the truth to be forsaken in such dishonour." The elector consented that Luther should take part in the disputation, if Eck would really debate with him, and not with Carlstadt alone. The Leipsic professors and the Bishop of Merseburg made very extraordinary efforts to prevent the discussion. The letter of the former to Luther on the subject is still extant, and serves to throw a clear light upon their relation to the parties. It is dated Leipsic, February 19, 1519, and runs thus : " Not many days ago, dear doctor, while we were celebrating Christinas, the excellent John Eck, doctor of the Holy Scriptures, wrote to his illus- trious highness Prince George, to this university and to the doctors of divinity, appointing the theological faculty to sit in judgment, and to de- cide on the dispute and controversy which is to ensue, and earnestly requesting that we would permit him to debate with Carlstadt in our cele- brated university. . . . Because it seemeth to you that he hath [in his Propositions] made an assault upon you, and you are not minded to yield unto him, you have, in a printed document, challenged him in turn to a disputation. We greatly marvel that, contrary to our veritable decision, you have publicly said, that we refused his request in respect to the disputation, [they JE. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 297 having granted it as a debate between Eck and Carlstadt, but refused it if Luther was to be a party.] Contrariwise, we marvel that you have given out that such a disputation, [in which Luther was to take part,] wdiereof we know nothing, would be held in our university, you having received no permission [to participate in the debate] either from us, or from our illustrious prince and gracious sovereign. Therefore, seeing this act of yours hath the appearance of lightness, upon which you are bound to look with abhorrence, we earnestly entreat you not to bring us, contrary to our will, into trouble, [i. c. to render them odious to the pope, by allowing his supremacy to be made a subject of debate in the university;] but, if it be agreeable to you, either to renounce your doc- trines, or in a reply to us, which we earnestly desire, to sound a retreat, until you shall obtain leave from us." Duke George was indignant at this opposition to a disputation to which he had given his consent. The professors said they were bound to the pope, and wrere moreover prohibited by their superior, the Bishop of Merseburg. The duke, therefore, addressed a letter of withering reproach to the bishop, which has been preserved. After expressing his "surprise that the bishop should set up an opposition to the custom handed down from the fathers, of making free inquiry after the truth in matters of religion." and saying, that '"the question newly started deserved to be earnestly considered and the arguments on either side carefully weighed ; whether, for example, as soon as the price dropped into the box, the souls 298 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. of the dead were released from purgatory and as- cended to heaven, by which imposition the silly peo- ple were robbed of their money," he adds, "it ap- pears as though the bishop wished to show favour to useless, bladder-puffed persons, who, like cow- ardly soldiers, boast of their courage when out of the conflict, but flee as soon as the trumpet is blown." If those men, who glory in their titles, and claim the first place in assemblies and feasts, shall show themselves unwilling to earn their titles by de- fending and maintaining the truth, as their office requireth, "it would be cheaper and more useful to maintain old women and young children, who would do more good, and be more obedient, than ■such theologians. Nay, the old women would be of some service by their spinning and sewing, or at least they could give pleasant pastime to the people by their voices." He closes by saying, that if the professors still persist in their refusal, he will issue a proclamation, from which it shaD be known before God and all the world, that he desired the truth to be brought to light, but that the clergy, in their lack of knowledge and skill, could not abide a discussion, and therefore op- posed it. The Leipsic professors wrote also to the bishop, saying, that the duke commanded them to permit the disputation to be held, and that the bishop's opposition would be of no avail. The bishop replied to them, that he had not with- out good reason prohibited them from allowing the debate ; but that he would, nevertheless, sub- mit to the will of the duke. Eck was immediately informed both by the M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISrUTATION. 299 duke and by the university of the result, and hastened to write to Luther the following, dated Ingolstadt, February 19 : "That the learned men of the community should refuse the burden of hearing our debate, was very grievous to me, and I hardly knew what to do. But at length, the most gracious prince, Duke George, at my in- stance, hath prevailed on the university to yield their assent, as I this day learn by letters from him, from the university and the [theological] faculty. I have therefore appointed the 27th clay of June for the beginning of the disputation. We shall, howbeit, meet the theological faculty on the 26th, to determine who shall speak first in the dis- cussion. Since that Carlstadt is only an accessory of yours, and you the principal, through whom those dogmas, which, to my small and slender judgment, appear heretical and false, have been spread through Germany, it is meet that you should be present, and stand by your positions and impugn mine. But how earnestly do I desire you to change your mind, and show yourself obedient in all things to the apostolical see, and listen to Leo X., vicar of Christ, not seeking for singularity, but descending to the common opinions of the doctors of the church, being well assured that Christ hath not, as you vainly imagine, left his church to their errors for four centuries. Ynu will see from my schedule of articles for debate, that I have laid down propositions, not so much againsl Carlstadt as against your doctrines. Fare- well, then, my Martin, and let us pray for each other that we may be enlightened." 300 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. Meanwhile, Luther was active as a negotiator, professor, commentator, student of Hebrew, and popular and controversial writer. A single letter of his, addressed to Lange, April 13, is all that can be presented on these various topics in this connection. In this we see the living, energetic and cheerful man, whose spirit was electrifying the whole continent of Europe. "I rejoice and congratulate you, reverend fa- ther, that you also are one of those in whom the cross of Christ worketh. Be of good courage ; this is the way in which one goeth, or rather is carried to heaven. For your presents I give you my thanks. But the reason of my not coming to your public celebration, [when Lange was made doctor of divinity,] you already know; my si- lence in respect to it is not a fault of mine so much as it is of the bad state of the roads, which hinclereth persons from going, except now and then, to your place. That Hebrew teacher whom you recommend, I pray you send hither with all possible haste ; the more so, since that Bossen- stein of ours, professedly a Christian, but in effect nothing else but a Jew, hath, to the reproach of our university, withdrawn himself. I add, as another reason, that you yourself are somewhat indebted to our studies. We will see that he be honourably supported in Christ, and received on proper terms, both because we all ought to en- courage zealously a new convert, and because it is our duty to provide a suitable support for each. Eckhathdetermined upon the 27th of June for our future disputation. It will be between him and M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 301 me, as you will see from this document. For Carl- stadt will not debate those matters with him, partly because they were asserted by me, and not by him, and partly because that wily sophist [Eck] hath, with the design of entrapping him, started the question concerning the power of the pope, which a prebendary* cannot safely debate ; and thus would, without combat or victory, terrify the latter into silence. . . . All are alarmed for me that I shall not come off well with my twelfth proposition, [in which the supremacy of the pope is declared to be a modern doctrine, founded on the miserable decretals of the popes themselves.] But though I do not expect to catch that slippery, clamorous and haughty sophist, I will, with the help of Christ, make good my own declarations. They were made in their present form, in order to give me occasion to bring out before the public the trivialness of those most senseless and un- godly decretals by which Christians are needlessly terrified ; for they are full of falsehoods, sup- ported only by the authority of the church of Rome. Christ will strip off the mask. . . . Mean- while, the theologians lacerate me, especially that bull, ox [Professor Oxenfurth, of Leipsic] and ass, who knoweth not his owner, but eateth the straw. They cry out unto the people of Leipsic, not to join the new heretics, hoping that we may be avoided on account of the hatred of the peo- ple, and from fear of the pope. It is reported * Carlstadt was a canon, supported by the funds of the colle- giate church at Wittcnburg. 26 302 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. that Tetzel said, when he learned that the de- bate was to be held, ' The devil is in it.' . . . Car- dinal Cajetan, who formerly wrote silly things about me to our illustrious prince, hath now writ- ten like a madman. I rejoice to see this Italian stolidity made known to our laymen. "Frobenius, [the celebrated printer and book- seller,] of Bale, hath written me, highly extolling my freedom of speech, and saying, his Paris friends have written to him, that my works are acceptable to many persons there, and that they are read by the doctors of the Sorbonne. Fur- thermore, he inform eth me that the copies [print eel by him] are all distributed and spread through out Italy, Spain, England, France and the Nether lands. I rejoice that the truth, though spoken in a barbarous and unlearned manner, findeth such favour. I send you 'The Wagon' by Carlstadt,* which showeth forth the folly of the theologians. There is a tumultuous opposition to it in Leipsic. One preacher tore it in pieces with his hands in the pulpit. Another examined the young people when they came to the confessional whether they indulged in laughter at the 'Wagon,' or kept about them any of Martin's tracts. If they pleaded guilty, they were punished with severe penalties. So Andrew Camitian writeth to me. Behold what darkness, what madness ! These are theologians ! I think you have already received the beginning of my Commentary on the Psalms. * A print of two vehicles, the one going the true and straight •way to heaven, the other the false and tortuous way of the scholas- tic theologians. &. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 303 I send }rou another copy, whereby you can cor- rect yours. You see that our Emser [Luther's opponent at Leipsic, but in this case printer or proof-reader] errs even when printing the truth. I send you the [Hebrew] Grammar of Kimchi, until you can obtain another. I am also publish- ing a Commentary on the Galatians at Leipsic. If two sermons of mine have come into your hands, the one in Latin, on a Two-fold Righteous- ness, the other in German, on Matrimony, let jus- tice be done me. They were taken surreptitiously and published without my knowledge. ... I also send you the Lord's Prayer revised. . . . Have you seen my little works against Silvester [Prie- rias,] published at Bale ? — that in the title-page they have, rather by design than mistake, called him magirum PaMii [cook of the Palace] instead of magistrum Palatii [master of the Palace ;] and that many other ludicrous typographical errors are made in the margin ? It is reported that Car- dinal Cajetan is put in prison at Mainz by the ministers of Charles [V.] of Spain, for using all his authority in favour of the faction of the French king. Philip [Melancthon] and I have written to Erasmus. Here you have every thing you asked for. The reverend vicar [Staupitz] bath quite forgotten me, so that he doth not write al all. Kindly salute Father Usingen, and also John N.ithin, [formerly Luther's bitter enemy.] Finally, I put you in mind of that Hebrew teacher, that we may help those excellent young men who are prosperously studying theology, and burning with a love of good learning. Farewell, 304 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. 3rou and jour cross, [some trouble of which Lange had complained,] if it be the will of Christ." As, on the one hand, we must keep in mind the buoyancy of Luther's spirit, which gave a certain easy play to his great and varied activity, so, on the other hand, we must never forget the gravity and religious earnestness which lay beneath all this, as the deep ocean lies beneath the play of its waves; and the great fears and anxieties which never ceased to agitate the minds of his truest and firmest friends. Like every heroic man in the crisis of his affairs, he was left alone, to sus- tain his courage from his confidence in God, in truth and the right, and from his willingness to perish, if need be, and leave behind him a mar- tyr's testimony for the benefit and instruction of coming generations. Nor this alone ; he was obliged to sustain his friends and supporters by infusing into them his own spirit. A letter of his, written some time in May to Spaktin, will illustrate these remarks. He writes thus : " I beseech you, my dear Spalatin, yield not unduly to fear, nor utterly slay your heart with human cogitations. Know that, unless Christ moved me on and my affairs, I should have de- stroyed myself even in my first Disputation on Indulgences : then in my sermon on the subject in the vernacular tongue ; later in my Proofs and Illustrations and in my reply to Silvester ; and, last of all, in my Account of the Transactions at Augsburg, and especially in my journey thither. For what mortal did not cither fear or hope that any one of these perils alone would prove my M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 305 ruin ? Finally, Olsnitzer hath lately written from the city to the chancellor of our Duke of Pome- rania that I have so stirred up all Rome by my Proofs and my Dialogue [Reply to Prierias] that they know not how to restore quiet. Yet they have determined to assail me, not by the way of the law, but by Italian practices," (these are his words.) By that I understand poisoning or assas- sinating. "Many things which, if I were elsewhere, I should pour forth against Rome, or rather Baby- lon, that devastator of the Scriptures and of the church, I repress and restrain, for the sake of the elector and of the university. The truth of Holy Writ and of the church cannot, my dear Spalatin, be discussed without offending this wild beast. You must not, therefore, expect me to be unmolested or secure unless I renounce theology altogether. Let my friends then think I am beside myself. This matter, if it be of God, shall not have an end, except that, as the disciples and friends of Christ forsook him, so all my friends forsake me ; and the truth too, — which saves with its own right hand, not mine, nor yours, nor that of any other man, — shall be left to itself alone ; and that time I have been expecting from the beginning. That this twelfth proposition was extorted from me by Eck, and that the pope will have plenty of patrons in the approaching disputation, ought not, I think, to appear so evil, especially if we remem- ber the license given to such disputations. In fine, if /perish, nothing will perish with me. By the grace of God, the Wittenbergers have made ■20* 306 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. such proficiency that they do not need me any longer. But what shall I say ? I am unhappy, because I fear I am not worthy to suffer and be put to death for such a cause. That felicity will be reserved for better men, not for such a vile sinner as I am. I have told you that I am at all times ready to withdraw, if my tarrying here seem to draw the illustrious prince into any dan- ger. Death will certainly come at some time. Still, in the Apology already published in Ger- many, I have sufficiently flattered the Roman church and pontiff, if that can any thing avail." To quiet Spalatin, he was obliged to lay before him the plan of his part of the discussion, and specify the particular arguments by which he should fortify himself in respect to the twelfth proposition on the supremacy of the pope. " I pray you," he says somewhat impatiently, " per- mit us to debate the matter, and be not of that class of men who, not understanding the counsels of God, immediately despair for that they do not see by their own counsels how a thing can be accomplished. ... Do not ask that I reveal my whole plan, which would be but destroying it, but rather pray that Christ may make us seek his glory." Before this disputation came on, Luther re- ceived, through the Bishop of Brandenburg, a condemnatory document, drawn up by the Fran- ciscan monks of Saxony, at their late meeting in Juterbok, in which they pointed out fifteen al- leged errors of Luther. These Minorite brethren of the " stricter observance," as they were called, M. 35.] LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 307 and who vowed ignorance as one of their virtues, Luther exposed in his brief but terrible reply, as having poorly observed the rules of Christ in not admonishing a brother privately before publicly condemning him, but as having given good proof that they had sacredly kept the vow of ignorance. " But, not to return evil for evil," he adds, " I will give you your choice, either to retract your rash declarations and restore to me my good name, or let me go forward and publish your document with notes setting forth your ignorance, which will not turn out for the honour of }rour order." After refuting their slanderous declarations, he closes by saying, " I await }rour speedy answer, that I may know whether you choose to incline your necks, or to hold them aloft and set your- selves against the truth. Be assured I will treat you nobly and show unto all men your wonderful ignorance. Fare ye well, and the Lord give you to be wise and to will what is right. If you wish to be friends, I will be friendly; but if not, do what you have to do, and, believe me, I will not be lacking to my name and to the word of Christ." The Franciscans wisely preferred peace, and kept silence. On the 16th of May, Luther writes both to Spal.it in and to Lange respecting Miltitz. In the letter to the latter he says: "Charles Miltitz hath cited me to Coblentz to appear before the Arch- bishop of Treves, in the presence of the legate Cajetan. Sweet creature ! He confesseth that he hath not yet received any authority from Borne, and thinketh me stupid enough to come, 308 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. though cited only by his rashness. Yon see that everywhere, and from every quarter, and in every manner, they seek my life." To the former he says : " That ridiculous block of a Miltitz [notice the prudence with which he always speaks to Spalatin] confesseth that he hath not yet received any command from Rome, and yet he citeth me. He citeth me, not the archbishop; and then I must appear before the cardinal ! Are not the men insane ?" In this last letter he complains of the injustice and duplicity of the Duke of Saxo- ny, saying : " Duke George hath twice replied to me, and will not admit me to the disputation, though I have given him assurance that Eck com- pelleth me, both in his private letters and in his published propositions, to reply to him. Why should he exact so much of me as to require that Eck should write in my behalf, when he did not refuse to yield to Eck, nor require any thing of Carlstadt ? How monstrous ! I send you both of his letters. I am now writing to him a third time. Tell me, I pray you, what you think it best to do." In the midst of all this turmoil, the studies of the University of Wittenberg were moving briskly on, and the number of students rapidly increas- ing. Luther requests Spalatin, May 22d, before taking his journey with the elector, to ascertain the views of the latter in respect to the Hebrew professorship. Cellarius, professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg, was at Leipsic, waiting for an answer from Luther, ready to accept the place, if the elector would give him a suitable salary. "A M. 35.] COURSE OF THE DEBATE. • 309 great number of students," he continues, "and notable ones, too, are flowing together here. . . . Our town will scarcely hold them, for lack of houses to serve them." Section II. — Course of the Debate. At length the time for the debate drew near. The duke ordered his palace, called the Pleissen- burg, to be prepared for the accommodation of the assembly. In the great hall he caused two desks, facing each other, to be erected for the disputants, the one adorned with a picture of St. Martin, the other with a picture of St. George. Seats for the audience and tables for the clerks were also prepared and embellished with tapestry. Eck arrived on the 22d of June, the day before the festival of Corpus Christ!, and took part in the celebration, joining the procession, pompously ar- rayed in a mass vestment and chasuble. Several monks and theologians from Ingolstadt and Erfurt accompanied him to Leipsic. He was treated with great distinction by the theological faculty and the city council, with whom he feasted lustily. In a letter, he highly commended their hospitality, as well as the beauty of the Leipsic ladies, for whom Charles V. said he had too great a fondness. On Friday, the 24th, the day after the festival, the Wittenbergers arrived, — a numerous company. In the first carriage sat Carlstadt, as the chief disputant; in the second, Prince Barnim of Pome- ran ia, then a student, and also, according to ancient usage, rector of the university; in the third, Luther and Melancthon. About two hundred students on 310 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. foot, with spears and halberds, according to Eck's statement, accompanied their professors. Lange, Amsdorf, and several doctors of laws and masters, were in the company. As they were near the Grimma gate of the city of Leipsic, and opposite the Panliniim, where Tetzel then was, Carlstadt had the misfortune to have one of the wheels of his carriage break, and to be thrown out, which some interpreted as an ill omen. The duke from Dresden, and Emser, and the three commissaries of the duke, Pflug, Riihel, and Wiedebach, were present as early as Saturday. Emser called on the masters in the university and urged them to stand by Eck, and escort him to the palace on Sunday, that a favourable impression might be made upon the duke. Here the commissaries and the parties, after much discussion, came to an un- derstanding in respect to the manner of procedure in the debate. Each of the parties was to choose a secretary. Luther chose J. Agricola of Eisle- ben; Eck chose J. Poliander, who, by the way, was converted to Luther's views by the debate, and went directly to Wittenberg. More than thirty others also took notes of the discussion. From the decision, to be made by certain uni- versities, either party might appeal to a general council. On Monday morning, (June 27th,) the time set for the commencement of the disputation, a civic guard was sent, with music and flags, to the palace Pleissenburg to preserve order. At seven o'clock in the morning, the disputants met in the Princes' college, where an address was made by Pistoris, M. 35.] COURSE OF THE DEBATE. 311 of the law faculty. Thence the assembly moved in procession, two by two, a Wittenberg and a Leipsic master together, quite across the city from north to south to St. Thomas's church, where the duke and two princes were awaiting them. Here mass was held, and the assembly proceeded to the palace, (a few rods to the east,) where Mosellanus, the professor of Greek, and the friend of Melanc- thon and Luther, delivered an oration in the name of the duke, admonishing the disputants to be gentle and courteous, and to seek for truth rather than victory. After singing the Veni Sancti Spiritus, (Come, Holy Spirit,) the meeting was adjourned for dinner. In the afternoon, after both parties had promised to debate with sin- cerity and love, — Luther meanwhile expressing his astonishment that of the Dominicans, (with whom the whole affair of indulgences arose,) none were present to take part, — Eck and Carlstadt commenced the debate on free-will, which lasted a week, or till July 4. Never was there a more unequal match; Carlstadt, learned, modest, slow, confined to notes, and opening books and giving his authorities with exactness; Eck, self-pos- sessed, quick of memory, imposing, but loose, boisterous and ostentatious. The former accused the latter of quoting falsely, the latter laughed al the poor memory and tediousness of the former. From the 4th of July, the day of Tetzel's death, to the 8th, Luther debated with Eck on the su- premacy of the pope, and now the discussion grew animated, two practised debaters having come together, each of whom was accustomed 312 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. always to bear off the palm. Luther proposed to close the discussion there, but the duke urged him to go on and debate on the subjects of indul- gences, purgatory and the power of the keys, in which Eck hardly made a show of resistance. He wished to return to his first antagonist, and consequently resumed the discussion with Carl- stadt on the 15th. But as the duke needed his palace, the disputation was closed, on the 16th, by an oration from a Dr. Lange, of Leipsic, in which he meted out to each disputant his share of praise ; the most to Luther, not a little to Eck, and to Carls tadt what was his due. Eck and his Leipsic friends claimed the victory; and if popular favour is to be the standard of judgment, the claim must be admitted. But learned men decided other- wise. Let us now hear Luther's account of the matter, as related by him in a letter to Spalatin, dated July 20, 1519. " Concerning that famous debate, I would have written you a long time ago, had I been able. The matter is thus : There are certain men at Leipsic, not over candid and upright, who triumph with Eck; and have, by their garrulity and vaunting, got a certain kind of glory. But the facts them- selves will, in due time, speak and bring all things to light. The selfsame hour that we arrived in Leipsic, before we had alighted from our carriages, a prohibition of the proceedings by the Bishop of Merseburg was posted up, on the doors of the churches. But, by order of the senate, the indi- vidual who posted it up was sent to the dungeon for doing it without their knowledge. Accom- &. 35.] COURSE OF THE DEBATE. 313 plishing nothing in this way, these men next resorted to another sleight, and, at Eck's request, laboured hard with Carlstadt privately to induce him to consent that the discussion proceed with- out any secretaries to record the arguments. For he hoped to succeed, as he had long been accus- tomed to do, by dint of voice and gesticulation. But Carlstadt would not consent. As that con- dition had been agreed upon, he said he should hold them to their stipulation. ... At length, to make the matter sure, he was under the necessity of consenting that the records be not published until the judges shall have given in their decision. A new dispute arose concerning the selection of the judges; and Carlstadt found it necessary to yield so far as to allow the judges to be appointed after the debate should be ended. Otherwise the opposite party said they should not proceed. Thus were we brought into a dilemma, and must either stop the proceedings or submit to partial judges. So you see the paltry practices whereby they wrested from us the promised freedom of dis- cussion. For we know full well that the univer- sities and the Roman pontiff will either not determine the question at all, or else they will decide it against us; and that is what our oppo- nents desired. "The next day I was called aside, and the same thing was propounded unto me. But, not trust- ing the pope, and being, moreover, dissuaded by my friends, I refused all these conditions. Then they proposed to leave out the pope, and named other universities. 1 still demanded the promised 314 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. freedom, [in respect to the disputation,] and since they would not allow it, I refused to take part in the discussion. Now it was rumoured abroad that I was afraid to debate, and, what was yet more untrue, that I would not consent to have any judges. These things were odiously and maliciously repeated, till all our friends were carried away with the rest, and our university was in danger of being brought into reproach. I finally yielded to the advice of friends, and ac- cepted, though not without indignation, the pro- posals ; with this condition, however, that I might appeal from the decision ; that my cause should not be prejudged, and that the court of Rome should not be included among the judges. " At first the disputation was begun with Carl- stadt, and continued for a week, on the subject of the freedom of the will. He brought forward his authorities, and, with God's help, he stated and maintained his arguments exceedingly well and abundantly. When it came his turn to be assailant, Eck refused [to be respondent,] unless Carlstadt would promise to leave his books at home. He had produced them in order to prove that his quotations from the Scriptures and from the Fathers were correct, and that he did not wrest them, as Eck was found to do. Here a dispute arose, and it was finally determined that the books should be left at home. But who doth not perceive, that, if they were in quest of truth, they would desire rather to have all the books at hand ? Never did envy and ambition show them- selves more openly. At the close, the double- JE. 35.] COURSE OF THE DEBATE. 315 faced man conceded every tiling, though at first he had contended earnestly to the contrary. lie feigned that he agreed in every thing perfectly, glorying that he had brought Carlstadt over to his side ! " The second week he disputed with me. First we closed with each other right earnestly con- cerning the primacy of the Roman pontiff . . . Then, toward the end, great stress was laid by Eck upon the Council of Constance, which con- demned the opinion of Huss, namely, that the papacy was the creature of the emperor. . . . He also alleged that I was a heretic, and an abettor of the Bohemian doctrines. This sophist is as impudent as he is bold. With that accusation, the people of Leipsic were marvellously pleased, more than with the disputation itself. On my part, I brought forward the case of the Greek church for a period of a thousand years, and of the early fathers, none of whom were ever sub- ject to the Roman pontiff. I did not deny, how- ever, that he was first in honour. I declared openly, and proved by direct and clear passages, that several articles, taught by Augustine, Paul, and by Christ himself, had been condemned. . . . " The third week we disputed touching repent- ance, purgatory, indulgences, and the power of ab- solution by the priest. For he was not minded to debate with Carlstadt, but directed his aim only at me. Indulgences foil to the ground at once, as Eck gave up almost every thing. Though they were to have been the principal subject of debate, he attempted to maintain them only by way of 316 LIFE OF LUTHEK. [1519. sport and of jest. It is reported that he said, if I had not denied the power of the pope, he could easily have agreed with me in every thing. . . . He maintained one opinion in the hall and gave out another in the church; and, when he was questioned by Carlstadt, why he was so changeable in his teachings, he replied without shame, that what is here discussed ought not to be taught unto the people. " When I was through with him, he took up the debate anew with Carlstadt for the last three days, in which he again yielded up and consented to every thing. Thus, in the whole disputation, nothing hath been worthily discussed, save my twelfth proposition. The people of Leipsic nei- ther saluted us, nor visited us ; but treated us as enemies ; while they thronged about Eck, clung fast to him, feasted with him, invited him to their houses, made him presents of a tunic and a camlet robe, and rode out with him. To be short, they did whatsoever they could to injure us. . . . Those who were friendly to us came to us privately. But Auerbach, a man of excellent genius, and the younger Pistoris, invited me to their houses. Duke George himself invited all three of us to his residence together." It is here interesting to perceive that Luther was a guest with that very Auerbach whose cel- lar has become so celebrated in connection with the name of Faust. The Leipsic disputation was chiefly useful to the cause of the Reformation, in opening the eyes of Luther himself on the whole subject of the M. 35.] COURSE OF THE DEBATE. 317 authority of the Roman pontiff, and in drawing public attention to this point. It led to the over- throw of another pillar of the papacy. A few individuals of the papal party were won to the side of Luther ; but most of the people of Leip- sic, and of the duke's dominions, manifested, from this time, a deadlier hatred than ever to Luther's doctrines. Many of the vexations which Luther experienced for a year or two thereafter, were caused by men who were under the Leipsic in- fluence. Of the many broils and disputes which grew out of this debate, as they were mostly of a per- sonal character, no particular account can be given in a brief biography. They are described in most of the histories of the Reformation, and to them the reader is referred. These disputes were with Emser, of the court of Dresden, with Duke George, with the Bishop of Meissen, with the Francis- can monk Alveld, and with men at Cologne and at Rome. Luther was almost everywhere de- nounced as a heretic. Even at the court of the elector, there was much displeasure with him. In these circumstances, the Prince of Dessau. and afterward the Franconian knight Sehaum- burg, and Francis von Sickingen, through Von lint ten, offered him protection, and invited him to their courts or castles. Luther wrote concilia- tory letters to the new emperor, Charles V., to the Archbishop of Mainz, and to the Bishop of Mcrscburg. In Nuremberg, Spongier, a member of the city council, took up the defence of Lu- ther. (Ecolampadius wrote an anonymous work 318 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1519. directed against Eck and Emser, which did ad- mirable execution. Feldkirch and Melancthon joined in the defence, and all together prepared the way for Luther's address to the German no- bility, which he wrote about this time, and which was the most magnificent and effective appeal which he ever made to the German nation. It united to his own religious spirit the glowing patriotism of Hutten. A finer specimen of popular eloquence is scarcely to be found in the language. Section III. — Various Works of Luther on Practical Reli- gion; and his Perilous Situation after the Disputation. IDST storms of controversy, where the polemic writer, situated as Luther was, must use that adroitness, point and wit which are likely to affect the popular mind, there is danger of losing the spirit of humi- lity and charity. Luther was not always superior to such temptations. But as his polemical writings were but occasional productions, and his works on practical religion, commentaries, sermons, and cate- chetical writings were very numerous, we should be liable to do injustice to his piety, were we to over- look the latter class of his works, and judge of him exclusively from the former class. Although, in respect to the great controversy, his heart, as JE. 86.] WORKS ON PRACTICAL RELIGION. 319 he often says, was full of the matter, and he had only to open his mouth, and it would stream forth spontaneously; still he took greater satisfaction in writing works purely religious, for the spiritual improvement of the people. At that period of his life of which we are now treating, he was very active in this kind of labour. The study of the Psalms afforded him very great delight. He had twice delivered a course of lectures on them in the university, and had now recently published, on the first twenty-two Psalms, what he modestly called Labours on the Psalms, not presuming to pronounce it a commen- tary. Labours indeed they wTere. 'You would not believe," he writes to Spalatin, " how much labour a single verse often makes me." It had been reported to him by Spalatin that the elector once said that sermons full of subtilty and human opinions wrere very cold and weak, but that the Scriptures had such a majesty and power as to overcome all the arts of disputation. In the de- dication to Frederic, he refers to this incident, and says that the elector had thereby entirely wTon his heart ; that he could not help loving the lovers of the Bible, and hating its enemies. He could not presume to understand and explain all the Psalms. It was much to understand a few, and these only in part. The Holy Spirit reserves much to itself, wishing to retain us in the charac- ter of pupils. In the same year, (1519,) in September, ap- peared his great work, the Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, in which he laid himself 320 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1520. out to show, under every possible variety of form, the difference between the righteousness of the law and that of faith by which we are justified. This is the chief work in which the fundamental principles of the Reformation are carefully laid down, a work fully proving that his views were incomparably more scriptural than those of his opponents, but also showing that his own system was disfigured with some excrescences. He next wrote a deeply religious work for the consolation of the elector in his sickness, enti- tled Tesscradecas, because it consisted of fourteen chapters, seven images or views of affliction, and seven of blessings. Erasmus said this produc- tion was highly approved even by those who were violently opposed to the doctrines of the Refor- mation. He also wrote, in the early part of 1520, a ser- mon or popular treatise on Good Works, showing that outward acts of devotion, as prayers, fast- ings, almsgivings and mortifications, were of no avail, if they were performed without a living faith in Christ. " The Christian's faith and assu- rance makes every thing precious in the sight of God, which, in others, would be the most hurt- ful." He wrote another work in October of the same year, dedicated to Leo X., on Christian Liberty, in which he maintains and illustrates the state- ment that " a Christian is a free man, lord over all and subject to no one ; and yet is servant of all and subject to every one;" containing, (para- doxical as it may sound,) the great truth that M. 30. ] WORKS ON PRACTICAL RELIGION. 321 Christ has set us free, allowing no man to be lord any longer over our conscience ; and yet that the love of God leads us spontaneously to do good to all, and to be the servants of all. In the dedica- tory epistle, Luther fulfilled, in his peculiar way, the promise made September 12th to Miltitz and others, that he would write once more to the pope, assuring him that the assaults he had made upon the papacy were not directed against his person. " Though I have been forced," he says, " by some of thy unchristian flatterers, to appeal in my affairs from thy seat and tribunal to a Christian and free council, yet has my mind never been so alienated from thee that I have not wished well to thee and to thy Roman see. ... I have indeed fallen severely upon certain unchristian teachings, and been pretty nipping against my adversaries, not because of their evil lives, but because of their unchristian doctrines. Of this I do not re- pent, nor shall I leave off. . . . True it is, I have boldly impugned the Roman see, called the Ro- man court, which neither thou nor any other one can deny to be worse and more scandalous than Sodom, Gomorrah, or Babylon ever was; and, so far as I see, there is no help nor remedy for it. . . . For it cannot be concealed from thee that, for many years gone by, from Rome nothing hath gone forth but perdition of soul and body and goods. . . . Thou sittest, holy Father Leo, like a sheep among wolves, like Daniel among the lions, like Ezekiel among the scorpions. ... It were indeed thy proper business and that of the cardi- nals to stay this evil, but the disease mocketh at 3-22 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1520. the remedy; the steed and the chariot give no heed to the driver. . . . Behold, the reason and ground of my setting myself so stiffly against this pestilential see. . . . Were I to retract, it would do no good. He who shall attempt to con- strain me to do it, will only make bad worse. Besides, I must have no rule and measure laid upon me for interpreting the Scriptures : for the word of God, that teacheth freedom, must not be bound." The tone of this epistle finds its explanation in the fact, that Luther had already gone so far in condemning the court of Rome, that he could not now either consistently or conscientiously speak of it in gentle terms. He had, about a week before, published his work entitled the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, in which he retracted the concessions he had formerly made in respect to the papacy, and declared it to be " the kingdom of Babylon, and the power of Nim- rod, the mighty hunter," alluding to the booty or prey taken by Tetzel and other "mighty hunt- ers." If any thing more were wanting to com- plete the rupture, it was supplied by the publica- tion of the bull which Eck had procured at Rome against Luther. October 11, Luther wrote to Spalatin : " The Roman bull, brought by Eck, hath at length come to hand. ... I hold it in contempt. . . . Not only at Leipsic, but everywhere, both the bull and Eck are despised. ... I rejoice with my whole heart that I am made a sufferer for the best of causes, though I am not worthy of a suffering so sacred. M. 30.] WORKS ON PRACTICAL RELIGION. 323 I am now more free than before, and I now feel assured that the pope is antichrist." Although he regarded the bull as genuine, he lie; i ted it as if it were spurious, and wrote a work " On the new Bulls and Lies of Eck," and an- other "Against the Execrable Bull of Antichrist," and a third, called "Defence of all the Articles condemned in the recent Bull of Leo X." A still bolder step was that of burning the bull, decretals and other books, in the presence of the students, before the Elster or eastern gate of the town. Luther announced the occurrence to Spalatin in the following manner, as though he were a news- paper chronicler of the events of the week. "In the year 1520, the 10th day of December, at nine o'clock a. m., were burnt at Wittenberg, with- out the eastern gate, near the Holy Cross, all the books of the pope, the decree, the decretals, the recent bull of Leo X.," and several other works, as Eck's, and Emser's, " in order that the incen- diary papists may see that it requireth no great power to burn books which they cannot refute." Notwithstanding Luther's progress and increas- ing confidence in the truth, and the diffusion of his sentiments among the educated and intelligent classes, storms of still greater violence from with- out seemed to be fast gathering against him. The mild and candid Emperor Maximilian had died ; the interregnum during which Frederic was vicar of the empire had also passed away, and the new emperor, Charles V., who was elected the second day of the Leipsic disputation, and whose protec- tion Luther sought in a patriotic but humble 324 LIFE OF LUTIIER. [1520. letter, showed signs of displeasure and hostility. Duke George of Saxony, the Bishops of Bran- denburg, Meissen, Merseburg, and the Universi- ties of Leipsic, Cologne, Louvain, and even Paris, became Luther's bitter enemies ; and now the pope had excommunicated him, and called on kings and princes to treat him as a heretic, and deliver him up to the papal emissaries. While these perils were coming on, Luther found new and unex- pected support in the old chivalric spirit of cer- tain Franconian knights. As early as May 13, 1520, he wrote to Spalatin : "Day before yester- day, I received a message from Silvester von Schaumburg, a Franconian nobleman, . . . offering me protection, if in any way the elector is endan- gered on my account. Though I do not despise this, yet will I rely on no protector but Christ, who hath, perhaps, put this into his mind." The knight hoped he would not think of going to Bo- hemia for safety, "For," he adds, "I, myself, and about a hundred other nobles, whom, with God's permission, I will gather around me, will honour- ably maintain you and defend you against all danger." Francis von Sickingen, the magnanimous and powerful leader of the Franconian knights, re- peatedly sent similar messages to Luther, inviting him to one of his castles a little south of Mainz. I I rich von Hutten also, that fiery spirit, who kin- dled such a popular hatred against the Roman court and Roman tyranny, openly espoused Lu- ther's cause. Luther wished the elector to let the cardinal, who had written to him, know, " that M. 35-36.] WORKS ON PRACTICAL RELIGION. 325 even should they succeed in their abominable measures to drive him from Wittenberg; they would accomplish nothing, save to make bad worse ; for not only in Bohemia, but in the very heart of Germany, are to be found those who can and will, despite their malice, protect me against all their fulminations. . . . With me the die is cast; I despise alike the fro wirings and fawnings of Rome. I will never be reconciled with them, nor have part with them, let them condemn and burn my writings as they will." But Luther did not approve of appealing to the sword. He wrote in 1521 to Spalatin: "What Hutten hath in mind you see. I desire not that the gospel be made to prevail by violence and bloodshed, and so I have replied to him. The world hath been overcome by the word ; by the word the church hath been sustained." '■ - 28 326 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1520. CHAPTER III. LUTHER AND THE DIET OF WORMS. SECTION I. — Luther summoned to appear at Worms ; and Ms Journey thither. HE new emperor, Charles V., who was in Spain at the time of his election, did not reach Germany till toward the close of 1520. Early in 1521 he held his first diet at Worms. No business that was to occupy the attention of the diet was beset with so many difficulties as that which related to the claims of the church of Rome. Not only were the religious sentiments of many changed by the writings of Luther, but the Ger- man princes and statesmen had long felt the gall- ing yoke of Roman tyranny, and were desirous of freeing themselves both from ecclesiastical rule and from the enormous tribute paid under various forms to the church of Rome. The papal legate Aleander, and others in the interests of the pope, used their utmost influence M. 37.] SUMMONED TO WORMS. 307 to have the books of Luther burned by authority of the emperor. The latter had Learned thai the Elector of Saxony was no1 pleased with this pro- cedure,— that he pronounced it unjust to condemn books to the flames which had not yet been proved to be false or heretical. On the 28th of Novem- ber, 1520, therefore, Charles wrote to the elector, requesting him to bring Luther with him to the diet of Worms, that he might cause him to be examined before learned and able judges. At the same time, the elector was requested to see that Luther should write nothing against his holiness the pope, or the church of Rome. Frederic replied, December 20, that while Lu- ther's books, without being first refuted, had been burnt at Cologne and Mainz, Luther himself might have done something, [burnt the pope's bull and the decretals,] so that it would be difficult for him to appear at Worms. At the same time, however, the elector directed his secretary, Spalatin, to write to Luther, inquiring whether he would be willing to go, in case the emperor should insist on it. Luther replied, December 21: "If I shall be summoned, I will, so far as it dependeth on me, he carried there sick, in case I be not well, sooner than refuse; for, without doubt, I am called of Grod, if called by the emperor. If they intend to settle these matters by bare authority alone as it seemeth, (for they have not probably produced this summons with a, view to convince me,) then must the case be commended unto Grod. lie still liveth and nilcth who preserved the three men in the fiery furnace. If he will not keep me, then 328 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. my head is of little account, compared with the ignominious death of Christ, which was an offence to all, and the falling of many. For here we must have no regard to danger or safety, but rather see that we do not betray the gospel, which we have once received, and give it over to the contempt of the wicked, and our enemies have occasion to say, that we are afraid to ac- knowledge what we teach, and to shed our blood therefor, which disgrace on our part, and proud boasting on theirs, may God avert. . . . We can- not tell whether by our life, or by our death, more or less danger may accrue to the gospel. You know that divine truth is a rock of offence, set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. Let it be our only care to pray unto God that the commencement of our emperor's reign be not stained with my blood, or that of airy other man, in order to defend wickedness. As I have often said, I would rather perish by the hands of the Romanists, than that the emperor and his court should be involved in such an act." The Roman party were strongly opposed to Luther's examination before the diet, as it would imply that one already condemned by the pope might still have a trial before a secular tribunal. They had procured a second bull from Rome, in which Luther was unconditionally excommuni- cated, and they made use of this as an argument to divert the emperor from his purpose, and suc- ceeded so far as to induce him to write again to the Elector Frederic, and say to him, that, unless Luther was prepared to retract, he need not come, M. 37.] SUMMONED TO WORMS. 329 and at any rate, that he might come no farther than to Frankfurt, and there await further orders. But the elector prudently replied, that he himself was already on his way to Worms, and that he would there confer with the emperor on the whole matter. Meanwhile, he wrote to Luther, direct- ing him to say how far he could comply with the emperor's orders. The emperor viewed every thing through a political medium; truth and justice yielded to con- siderations of advantage. J I is advisers wished to moderate Luther, in order to make use of him in their negotiations with Rome. The two Roman nuncios, particularly Aleander, an intriguing man, resorted to bribery and every low art, in order to engage the emperor in their interest and secure his power against Luther. The emperor saw here the means of forcing the pope to support his policy against France, and determined to sacrifice Luther, but not without first securing every possible ad- vantage. The princes did not enter into these views of Charles, but added their complaints to Luther's in respect to Roman tyranny, and there- fore checked the emperor, though they were al- together disinclined to favour Luther's religious doctrines. The transactions at Worms ;ill grew out of these conflicting interests, and form a singu- lar series of intrigues and manoeuvres, in order to reconcile and adjust them so as to secure the ends contemplated in the emperor's policy. Hence, the movements, counter-movements and suspensions, which checker and confuse the proceedings of the diet. 330 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. During all these negotiations, in which Luther's safety was involved, he was labouring on, at Wit- tenberg, as zealously and as laboriously as if there were nothing to disturb his mind. He said in a letter to his friend Pellican, at Basle, who was superintending the printing of some of his books published there, "I am exceedingly occu- pied with business. I preach twice every day; I am engaged in writing my Commentary on the Psalms ; I am working on the postils ; I am fight- ing against the papal bull both in German and Latin, and defending myself against attacks ; not to mention the letters I must write to my friends, and the conferences which I hold at home and elsewhere." When the citation and the safe-con- duct from the emperor were brought to Luther by a herald sent to accompany him, Luther was in the very midst of those labours. Hence he apolo- gized to Prince John Frederic, to whom he dedi- cated his commentary on the song of Mary at the annunciation, for sending him only a part of it, saying, " The remainder must be put off till my return; for you see that, being summoned to the imperial diet, I must drop every thing." Various expressions of his, both at this time and after- ward, show that he expected his fate would, in all probability, be like that of Huss, and that he should never return alive to Wittenberg. Still he was not without hope. The straight-forward and honest, the bold and yet skilful movements of Lu- ther, the prudence and increasing solicitude of the elector, the jealousy of the diet against the Roman nuncios and Italian intrigue, and the hesi- M. 37.] SUMMONED TO WORMS. 331 tancy of the emperor, a mere political calculator, to commit himself openly to the pope at the risk of of- fending the Elector of Saxony and his friends, these were the chief means employed by Providence for the presentation of Luther at this critical juncture. The imperial herald, Caspar Sturm of Oppen- heim, reached Wittenberg, March 2Gth, and Lu- ther commenced his journey about the 2d of April, the council of Wittenberg providing a conveyance for him. Amsdorf, Scheurl, and two or three other friends accompanied him. At Leipsic, he was merely treated to wine by the authorities, which was regarded as a cold recep- tion, the same which he received at the Leipsic disputation. At Naumburg, the burgomaster en- tertained him and the herald; and a priest sent him a likeness of Savonarola, an Italian reformer and martyr, and exhorted him to stand firmly by the truth, for God would be with him and uphold him. At Weimar, he wras hospitably received by Duke John Frederic, brother and afterward suc- cessor of the elector. Here he received intelli- gence that his books had been already condemned at Worms, and saw the messengers who wTere to publish the imperial mandate in the cities. The condemnation of Luther, to which tin4 emperor had once assented, wras, at the remonstrance of the German princes, put off, and only the seizure of his books was insisted on then. The herald asked him if he wished still to proceed, to which Luther re- plied in the affirmative. Prince John furnished him witli money to defray the expenses of his journey. At Erfurt, Luther was welcomed with great 332 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. pomp and ceremony. Crotus, then rector of the university, and the poet Eoban Hess, and others, to the number of forty, on horseback, and a great multitude on foot, came out eight miles from the city to escort him in. The streets of the city were thronged when he entered ; and, at the request of many, he consented to preach in the Augustinian cloister, where he had once suffered so much. Here Justus Jonas, formerly a student at Wittenberg, but now professor at Erfurt, joined Luther and his party. At Gotha, also, he yielded to the urgency of the people and preached. At Eisenach he was taken very ill, and did not en- tirely recover till after he reached Frankfurt, from which place he wrote to Spalatin, April 14th: "We have arrived here, my clear Spala- tin, although Satan hath endeavoured to hinder me by more diseases than one. For all the way from Eisenach I was sick, and am still so, more than I ever was before. I hear the mandate of Charles is published for the purpose of terrif}ring me. But Christ liveth, and I will enter Worms in spite of all the gates of hell and the powers of the air." Many undertook to dissuade him from his purpose ; his friends did it out of regard to his safety ; his enemies to avoid discussion before the diet. It was said to him at one time that he would be burned to powder, as Huss was at Con- stance; to which he answered: "Though they kindle a fire all the way between Wittenberg and Worms that shall reach unto the heavens, I will, in the name of the Lord, appear, inasmuch as I am summoned, and come between the great teeth M. 37.] SUMMONED TO WORMS. 333 of the behemoth and confess Christ, and let him rule." At the special instance of the emperor's confes- sor, who still, perhaps for good political reasons, hoped to effect a reconciliation, Bucer was sent by Francis von Sickingen from his castle at Ebern- burg, inviting him to meet at that retired place such men as Charles should send to confer with him. But Luther, determined not to be turned aside by frowns or flatteries, and knowing that the time of his safe-conduct would soon expire, replied coolly, "If the emperor's confessor hath any thing to say unto me, he can say it at Worms," and proceeded on his way. At Oppenheim, toward Worms, he received a warning from Spa- latin, who was with the elector at Worms, not to venture into the city ; to which he made the well- known reply : " If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would still go thither." Just before the close of his life, referring to this courageous state of feeling, he said : " I was then intrepid, and feared nothing. God can make one as it were beside himself. 1 do not know7 that I should be so confident now." " To-day," p. e. April 1G,] says an eye-witness, "came Doctor .Martin hither, in an open Saxon vehicle, in company with three other persons, namely, a brother* of his, Nicholas * This was his brother Jacob Luther, who was with him also when lie was seized and curried to Wartburg. Seckendorf, by an un- happy conjecture, explained the word brother as meaning a monk, and other writers have blindly followed him. So, too, have these writers made Von Suaven (Latinized, Suabenius) a Danish, instead of a Pomeranian nobleman. 334 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. Amsdorf, and a Pomeranian nobleman by the name of Von Suaven. Before the carriage rode the im- perial herald, on horseback and in livery with the imperial escutcheon, attended by his servant. Justus Jonas and his servant followed next to Luther. Many nobles and courtiers went out to meet him. At ten o'clock he entered the city, and more than two thousand persons escorted him to his quarters." He stopped at a hotel called " The German Court," where the elector had pro- vided lodgings for him. Two Saxon nobles of Frederic's court, and Pappenheim, the imperial marshal, lodged at the same place with Luther. Section II. — Luther "before the Diet; his Return and Capture. Early the next morning, the marshal Pappen- heim and the herald were sent with an order from the emperor, requiring Luther to appear before him and the diet, at four o'clock in the afternoon, to answer to the matters that should then be pre- sented. The interval of several hours was one of intense anxiety ; and it was on that occasion that he made the memorable prayer which has been recorded, and is to be found in the histories of the Reformation. In order to understand Luther's position before the diet at Worms, we must glance at what had been done there previous to his arrival. Janu- ary 1G, just three months before Luther's entrance into the city, the elector wrote from Worms to M. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 335 his brother John, thus : " Every day as I am informed, consultations are held against Doctor Martin, to put him under the ban of excommu- nication and outlawry, and to persecute him to the utmost. This, they of the red hat and the Romans with their party, do labour at. But there are many who regard him with favour." Leo X. wrote to Charles V. a letter dated Rome, January 18, but which did not come before the diet till February 13, in which he says, that as Luther had failed to appear at Rome to answer to his summons, he, the pope, had declared him a notorious heretic. Having learned through his nuncio that his imperial majesty was inclined to maintain the Catholic faith, he now implored him to issue a general edict that Luther, unless he retract his errors, suffer the penalties due to a heretic. February 13, the nuncio, Aleander, pre- sented the apostolical brief above mentioned, and seconded its suggestions by an elaborate but haughty speech against Luther, beseeching the diet not to bear with the man, who was calling- back from hell IIuss and Jerome of Prague, who had been condemned and burnt. Glapio, confes- sor of the emperor, had several interviews with Pontanus, the elector's chancellor, during the month of February, seeking to effect a rcconci- liation by inducing Luther to renounce the errors and hard sayings contained in his work on the Babylonian Captivity. These errors he pointed out, to the number of thirty-two. Glapio admit- ted that the Roman party daily belaboured the emperor to carry into effect the suggestions of 336 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. the papal brief, but that he had thus far mani- fested an unwillingness to do so. Still we find a draft of an imperial edict against Luther's writ- ings, and against his person, unless he should re- tract, as early as the 10th of February. This draft was laid before the diet, together with the three following questions: 1. Whether Luther should be called to have a hearing — to Worms, or to some other place in the vicinity? 2. Whether his books, being full of heresy, ought not forth- with to be burned and destroyed? 3. Whether, in case he should choose not to appear, or, ap- pearing, would not renounce his errors, he should then be punished as a heretic? The diet, near the beginning of March, replied that, having taken the edict and questions laid before them into consideration, 1. They must warn the emperor of the dangers of attempting by a new edict to quell the excitement produced by Luther's preaching and writings; and, 2. They approve of citing Luther to appear at Worms under a safe-conduct, not however to discuss the points at issue, but simply to reply to the questions whether he would retract or not. When Luther was informed by Spalatin of these counsels, he replied that he would not go to Worms for such a purpose as that; he could as well answer the question in Wittenberg as in Worms ; and that he would never retract. The emperor informed the diet that he should proceed according to their advice. After all this, and after Luther had (March 26) received his citation and safe-conduct, (dated M. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 337 March 6,) the emperor, nevertheless, issued his edict against Luther's books, omitting that part which related to his person. This unjust and violent procedure, designed to prejudice the popular mind and to terrify the friends ol Luther, induced the latter, and particularly Spalatin and the elector, to dissuade Luther from presenting himself for trial after his books were already condemned by the emperor. We learn the state of feeling among Luther's friends, from a document of Pontanus, in which he recounts the considerations on both sides in respect to the safety of Luther's presenting him- self under these circumstances. The chief objec- tions were, that the cause was virtually prejudged, and that his safe-conduct would be no security, if he should refuse to retract, and should therefore be declared a heretic. There were in fact princes who were not ashamed to say that the emperor was not bound to keep his word with a heretic. But the house of Saxony and others rejected such a suggestion with scorn and with threats. The reasons urged by Pontanus in favour of Lu- ther's coming were, that the edict itself, though it stated that Luther was cited to answer to the question whether he would retract what he had written or not, still expressly speaks of the safe- conduct to Worms (aid bad; again, without condi- tions or any reference to the kind of answer that should be given; and that Luther's enemies would desire nothing better than to be able to say that he had not confidence to appear for trial. Lu- ther knew the whole case perfectly, pud decided 29 338 LIFE OF LUTIIEE.. [1521. with wisdom as consummate as his courage. It was here at "Worms that he opened the eyes of many of the rulers of Germany, and actually drove a wedge which split the diet into two reli- gious parties, not for many centuries to he again united. The scene which was opened at Worms did not close till the end of the Thirty Years' War, when the Protestants wrung from the Ca- tholics a political equality. When the hour arrived, Ulrich von Pappen- heim and Caspar Sturm came and conducted him first to the Swan, the quarters of the Elector of the Palatinate, whence he was conveyed through secret passages to the Guild-hall, to avoid the concourse which had thronged the way from Lu- ther's lodgings to the emperor's quarters. Many had climbed upon the house-tops to see Dr. Martin as he passed. As he was about to enter the hall, Freundsberg, a celebrated military commander, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Monk! monk ! thou art about to make a passage and occupy a post more perilous than any which I and many other commanders ever knew in the bloodiest battle-fields. If thou art in the right and sure of your ground, go on in God's name and fear not ; God will not forsake thee." Even after he had entered the hall, where, according to the account of George Vogler, an eye-witness, not less than five thousand were assembled, in- cluding those in the galleries and windows and about the doors, many persons ventured to ap- proach him and speak to him words of encourage- ment, saying to him, "Speak manfully, and be not M. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 339 afraid of them who kill the body, but have no power over the soul." He was instructed by Pappenheim to say nothing but when he was called upon. Now the imperial orator, Dr. John Eck, (not the theologian, but the official or secular agent of the Archbishop of Treves,) addressed him, at the emperor's order, in Latin, and then in Ger- man, saying that he had been called before the imperial diet to answer to these two questions: " First, whether you acknowledge these books [a large pile of which lay on the table] to be your's or not; secondly, whether you will retract them and their contents, or whether you Avill adhere to them still." Before Luther replied, Schurf, his counsellor, said, " Let the titles of the books be read." Then the official read over the titles, among which were, Exposition of certain Psalms, Treatise on Good Works, Explanation of the Lord's Prayer, and others which were not of a polemical character. Luther then answered, both in Latin and in German, " First, I must acknowledge the books just named to be mine, and can never deny them. But touching the next point, whether I will main- tain all these, or retract them, seeing it is a ques- tion of faith and of one's salvation and of the word of God, which is the greatest treasure in heaven and earth, and deserving at all times our highest reverence, it would be rash and perilous for me to speak inconsiderately, and affirm, without re- flection, either more or less than is consistent with truth ; for in either case I should fall under 340 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. the sentence of Christ, ' He that clenieth me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven.' Therefore I beg of your imperial majesty time for reflection, that I may be able to reply to the question proposed with- out prejudice to the word of God, or to my own salvation." Hereupon the diet consulted, and returned a reply through the official, " That although thou mightest have known from the imperial summons for what purpose thou wast cited, and dost not deserve the grant of further time for considera- tion, yet his imperial clemency granteth thee one more day." Whether we consider the serious nature of the transaction, or the impression to be made upon such a national assembly, we shall perceive that Luther judged wisely in making such a request. The solemn suspense only heightened the solici- tude of the multitude to hear the result. As he was conducted to his quarters, he re- ceived many benedictions from the people, and nobles came to his lodgings and encouraged him. What his feelings were at this moment, we learn from a letter to Cuspinian, in which he says, " I have this very hour been standing before the em- peror and his brother Ferdinand, and been asked whether I would retract my writings. I an- swered, ' The books laid before me are mine ; but concerning the revocation, I will say what I will do to-morrow.' This is all the time I asked for deli- beration, and all that they would give. But, Christ being gracious to me, I will not retract an iota." M. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 341 About this time he received letters of encou- ragement from Ulrich von Hutten, the warrior- poet and patriot. He addressed a letter from Ebernburg, April 15, "to his holy friend, the in- vincible theologian and evangelist. Fight cou- rageously for Christ," he says, "and yield not to wrong, but go forth confidently to meet it. En- dure as a good soldier of Jesus, and suffer that the gift which is in you may be called out, and be assured that He on whom you have believed can preserve what you have committed to him till that day. I also will take strong hold of the work ; but there is this difference in our under- takings, that mine is human, while you, far more perfect, cleave wholly to divine things." On the following day, Thursday, the 18th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the herald called again for Luther, and conducted him to the empe- ror's court, where, on account of the engagements of the princes, he was obliged to stand waiting until six o'clock, with an immense crowd, which was gathered to hear his answer. The lamps were already lighted in the council hall. When the princes were ready to hear him, and Luther was standing before them, the official called on him to answer to the questions laid before him the previous day. Luther made his statement and defence in German, with modesty and calm- ness, but, at the same time, with a confidence and firmness that surprised those who expected no- thing but a recantation. After bespeaking the indulgence of the diet, if, from his monastic and retired habits, he should fail in respect to any of 29* 342 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521 the customary proprieties of courtly address, he observed that his published works were not all of the same character. In some he had treated of faith and works of piety with such plainness and Christian simplicity that even his enemies were obliged to confess their harmlessness, usefulness and worth. To retract these would be to con- demn the truth which all parties confessed. The second class of his works were directed against the papacy and the Papists, as corrupting with their teaching and example all Christendom, both in body and soul. No one can deny nor conceal that by the papal laws and teachings of man, the consciences of Christians are held in bondage, burdened and tormented, and that goods and pos- sessions, especially in Germany, are devoured by their incredible tyranny. They themselves have ordained in their own decrees, that the laws and doctrines of the pope which are contrary to the gospel and the teachings of the Fathers be re- garded as erroneous. Were he to revoke this class of his books, he would but contribute to the strength of tyranny, and leave open, not only a window, but a door and a gate to wickedness, wider than ever ; and by his testimony, espe- cially if extorted by his imperial majesty and the whole German nation, their unchecked tyrannical rule would be strengthened in its foundations. The third class of his books were personal, and written against those who undertook the defence of Roman tyranny and the overthrow of the di- vine doctrines which he had inculcated. Against these he had, he confessed, been more violent iE. 87.] BEFORE THE DIET. 343 than was becoming. lie did not set himself up for a saint, and disputed with his opponents not about his own life, but about the doctrines of Christ. But even these books he could not re- voke, because he would thereby give his influence in favour of Roman tyranny, which would tram- ple on the people's rights more mercilessly than ever. But as he was a man, and not God, he could not do for his books othenvise than Christ did for his doctrines, who, when questioned in re- spect to them by Annas, and smitten on his cheek by the servant, said, "If I have spoken wrong, then show it to be wrong." " Therefore," said he, "by the mercy of God, I beg your imperial majesty, or any one else who can, whoever he may be, to bring forward proof against me, and overcome me by the writings of the apostles and prophets. And then, if I am shown to be in error, I will be ready and willing to retract, and will be the first to cast my books into the fire." But we cannot attempt to present even an outline of this address. When it was ended, he was requested, for the sake of the emperor and his Spanish court and others who did not understand German, to repeat it in Latin. Though exhausted with the effort he had made, he consented to go over the ground again and rehearse the whole mat tor in Latin. When he had finished, the imperial orator ac- cused him of evading the point in question, and demanded that, instead of debating on articles which the councils had long ago settled, he should 344 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. give a plain and direct answer, whether he would retract or not. To this Luther replied: "Since your imperial majesty and lordships desire a direct answer, I will give one, which has neither horns nor teeth ; and it is this : Unless I shall be con- vinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by clear and plain argument, (for I do not believe either in the pope or in the councils alone, because it is plain and evident they have often erred and con- tradicted each other,) I am held by those pas- sages which I have cited, and am bound by my conscience and by the word of God, and therefore I may not — cannot retract, inasmuch as it is nei- ther safe nor right to violate my conscience. Here I stand, and cannot do otherwise, God be my help, Amen." The electors and other members of the diet took the reply into consideration, whereupon Eck, the official of the Archbishop of Treves, took upon him to refute Luther, and to rebuke his immo- desty. Luther rejoined, reaffirming and main- taining his positions, and entreated the emperor not to force a man to violate his conscience which was held bound by the authority of Scripture. The next day, Friday, April 19, the emperor sent a written communication to the council of state, saying, that as Luther would not yield nor move a finger's breadth from his errors, he, the emperor, must follow in the footsteps of his pre- decessors, and maintain and protect the Catholic religion, and inflict the penalty upon Luther if he should choose to come under the ban. But, as a safe-conduct had been granted him, this must not /K. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 345 be violated, lie must first be allowed to return to his home. The remainder of that day and the whole of the following Saturday were consumed by the diet in deliberating upon this declaration of the emperor. In the mean time placards were stuck up, intimating that not less than four hun- dred knights had leagued together for the protec- tion of Luther. Von Hutten and Von Sickingen were supposed to be the leaders. Monday, the 22d, early in the morning, the Archbishop of Treves sent for Luther to come to his quarters and meet several princes there, in a friendly conference. It was done, but all to no effect, both parties adhering to their principles. A private interview, which immediately suc- ceeded, between the archbishop, Eck and Coch- heus on the one hand, and Luther, Schurf and Amsdorf on the other, was attended with no bet- ter success. Several other similar attempts were made to move Luther from his purpose, but with- out effect; and finally he was dismissed by the emperor with a safe-conduct extending to twenty days, with directions to refrain from agitating the minds of the people cither by preaching or by writing. Luther submitted to the order without opposition, except that he claimed the right freely to confess and to teach the word of God. The Elector Frederic was not displeased with the manner in which Luther acquitted himself on this extraordinary occasion. He had, even before Luther's arrival in Worms, expressed a desire to do something to protect him from unreasonable treatment. After Luther's address before the 346 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. diet, the elector said to Spalatin, "The father, Dr. Martin, hath spoken well in Latin and Ger- man before the emperor, the princes and the estates. It was a bold step he took." "If it were in my power," he said afterward, " I would gladly procure justice for him." Such feelings led to the project of concealing him in the castle of Wartburg, and putting him under the protec- tion of the commander of that place. The plan of a friendly capture was communicated to Luther the evening before he left Worms, and to his com- panion Amsdorf, though the time and place were unknown to them. A graphic outline of the transactions at Worms is given by Luther in a letter to Albert of Mansfeld, written May 3, at Eisenach, the day before he was taken and carried to Wartburg. After the usual salutation, and an allusion to the count's request that Luther would send by a spe- cial messenger an account of the proceedings respecting him, he says, "First, my arrival at Worms was altogether unexpected. Therefore a prohibition was sent, and I, while under the im- perial safe-conduct, was condemned before I came to the place or had a hearing. Afterward, that 1 might be quickly disposed of, I was asked whe- ther I would cleave to my books or renounce them. Whereupon I replied as your grace hath, no doubt, already heard. Immediately the em- peror, imbittered against me, issued a severe man- date and sent it to the estates of the empire. . . . Then certain persons were chosen out of the diet to admonish me, in a gracious and friendly way, ."!•;. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 347 to submit my books to the judgment of the em- peror and of the diet. They were the Bishop of Treves, Margrave Joachim [of Brandenburg,] Duke George of Saxony, the Bishop of Augsburg, the Teutonic Master, the Bishop of Brandenburg, ( !ount George of Wertheim and two deputies from the free cities. Then a doctor [Vehus,] chan- cellor of the Margrave of Baden, arose and gave unto me such a fine and well-arranged admonition, that I must confess the official of Treves, who spoke before the emperor, cannot hold a candle to him. . . . When they failed to produce any effect upon me, the Archbishop of Treves called me, Dr. Schurf and Ainsdorf, and also his official and Cochlseus, before him apart. But it was an un- profitable dispute, and led to no good result. . . . Afterward the Chancellor [Vehus] of Baden and Peutinger were sent to me to persuade me to submit my books unconditionally to the emperor. ... I put it to their consciences whether they could advise me to commit myself wholly to the emperor and others who had already condemned me and burnt my books. . . . After this, the Archbishop of Treves sent for me to see him alone. He showed himself in this affair very kind and more than gracious, and would gladly have quelled the difficulty. He set the matter again before me, and T answered as before, for I could not do otherwise, and so lie dismissed me. Soon after came the official, with a count, the im- perial chancellor, as a notary, saying to me in the emperor's name, thai inasmuch as I did not recede from my purpose, I must return with twenty days 348 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1621. safe-conduct, and his imperial majesty would after- ward do with me what was proper. I thanked his majesty, and said, 'As it hath pleased the Lord, so it is done. Blessed be the name of the Lord.' They enjoined it upon me not to preach or write by the way. I replied, 'I will do all that his majesty pleases, but the word of God I will have unbound, as St. Paul says.' Thus I parted with them, and am now at Eisenach." Several days before, April 28, while at Frank- furt, he wrote to his friend Cranach, the painter: "I shall suffer myself to be taken and concealed, I do not myself know where. And though I would rather suffer death from the tyrants, espe- cially from the furious Duke George, nevertheless I must not despise the counsel of good friends, but must wait for the proper time. " My arrival at Worms was unexpected ; and how the safe-conduct was observed you all know from the prohibition which met me on the way. I had supposed his imperial majesty would have assembled about fifty doctors, and in a fair way have confuted the monk. But only thus much was done. 'Are these books yours?' 'Yes.' 'Will you retract them or not?' 'No.' 'Away with you then.' 0 blind Germans that we are ! How childishly we act and suffer the Romanists so miserably to make us play the ape and the fool. . . . Greet [professor and burgomaster] Beyer and his wife, and express my warm thanks to the council [of Wittenberg] for my conveyance [to Worms.] . . . Farewell. I commend you all to God, and may he keep the understanding and •;'K't' Wan burg Castle, and tha seizure of Luther on his way from Worms. p. 3411. JE. 37.] BEFORE THE DIET. 349 faith of you all in Christ from the Roman wolves and dragons and their rabble." Luther left Worms, Friday, April 26th, at ten o'clock in the morning, and was overtaken at Op- penheim by the herald, who followed after him. The second day he went as far as Frankfurt, where, the next morning, he wrote the above- mentioned letter to Cranaeh. The third day he reached Friedberg, whence he sent one communi- cation to the emperor and another to the diet by the herald, whose company, in view of the elec- tor's project, was desired no farther. The fourth day he arrived at Griinberg, and the fifth at Hirs- feld, where he was received with great pomp. The sixth day, at night, he entered Eisenach, where, the next morning, he dismissed Schurf and his other travelling companions, except Amsdorf; while he himself and Amsdorf, after remaining another day, turned aside and went to Mora, on the other side of the Thuringian Forest, to visit his uncle and other relatives. The day following, a little beyond Altenstein, he was seized with feigned violence, and conveyed to Wartburg. He might easily have gone to this place when at Eisenach, but that would have divulged the secret. In the church records at Schweina, a little south of Altenstein, is found the following entry: "Saturday, May 4, 1521, between (bin- and five o'clock in the afternoon, Dr. M. Luther passed through this place on his way from Worms, and was taken captive about a mile beyond Altenstein, near Luther's Fountain, on the road to Waltcrs- 350 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. hausen, and carried to Wartburg." This is the most romantic part of the Thuringian Forest. Luther had followed the winding mountain road southward to Schweina, and was passing through a sandy hollow at the bend of the road south-east of Altenstein, when the commander of that place, the Knight von Ilund, and Berlepsch, the com- mander of Wartburg, seized him, according to a preconcerted plan. As it was not yet sunset, and as the utmost secrecy was necessary, they left the road and wandered about the forest to the north and west, till they came to a spring and a beech tree in a narrow glen, about a hundred and twenty rods from the castle of Altenstein. Here they sat down and rested, and refreshed themselves with the pure water. The spring is still called Lidhers- brunn, and the beech, (now six feet in diameter,) Luthersbuche. A centennial celebration was held there in 1817. In a letter to Spalatin, dated on the Mountain, [Wartburg,] May 14th, after speaking of "the papal yoke, which the people will no longer bear," and of his leisure time and his studies, he goes on to say : " The Abbot of Hirsfeld received me with a kindness which you would hardly believe. He sent his chancellor and his lord of the exchequer out five miles to meet me. He himself received me at his castle with a cavalcade, and accom- panied me into the town. Within the Avails we were received by the senate. The abbot enter- tained us [Luther and his companions] sumptu- ously in the monastery, and put me into his own chamber. The next morning they compelled me to picach. It was in vain that 1 objected, on the M. 37.] CArTURED NEAR ALTENSTEIN. 351 ground that it might cost the abbot his regalia, inasmuch as the imperial party might say that it was a violation of public faith, they having for- bidden me 1o preach on the way. I indeed told him 1 did not consent that the word of God should be bound, and this was true. "I preached also at Eisenach; but the timid parson was present with a notary and witnesses, protesting against it, and then excusing himself humbly, saving he did it out of fear of the tyrants which were over him. Perhaps you may hear at Worms [where Spalatin still remained] that I have herein not kept good faith; but it is not so. That the word of God should be bound was a condition wherein I had nothing to do, nor did I make any such promise ; and even if I had done so, inas- much as it is contrary to the will of God to make such promise, I should not be bound to keep it. The day following, the abbot accompanied us as far as to the [Thuringian] forest, and sent his chancellor forward to Berka to prepare a dinner for us. "At length we entered Eisenach at evening, under the escort of the people, [among whom were many of Luther's youthful acquaintances,] who came out on foot to meet us. In the morning, Schurf and all my other companions [except Amsdorf] went on their way. 1 went across the mountain to visit my kindred, who inhabit that region. Leaving them and proceeding toward Waltershausen, soon after passing the castle of Altenstein, 1 was seized. Amsdorf necessarily 352 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. knew that some one was to take me, but was ignorant of the place of my custody. " My brother, seeing the knights in season, leaped from the carriage, and, without taking leave of me, went on foot to Waltershausen, which he is said to have reached in the even- ing, [followed, at length, by Amsdorf and the affrighted driver with the carriage.] So here I am, my own attire being laid aside, and that of a knight being put upon me, with long hair [as monk, he wore his hair shorn in the form of a crown of thorns] and long beard, so that you would hardly know me. Indeed, I have not for some time known myself. Here I enjoy Chris- tian liberty, being set free from all the laws of that tyrant, though I would choose rather, if it were the will of God I should suffer for his word, that this Dresden swine [Duke George] should be thought worthy to put me to death for preaching publicly. The will of the Lord be done." m. AT WARTBURG. 353 CHAPTER IV. from luther's capture to the close of tiie peasants' M'Ar— 1521-1525. Section I. — Luther at Wartfatrg, May 4, 1521, to March 4, 1522. T was more than a week before Lu- ther ventured to write any letters to his friends. On the 12th of May, he wrote one letter to Melancthon and another to Ams- dorf. The one last tStPjgP'KuW^ quoted, giving an account of his capture, was written two days later. To Amsdorf lie says, "I wrote lately to you all, my dear Amsdorf, but, on listening to a better counsellor, I tore the letters in pieces, be- cause it was not yet safe to send them. . . . The Lord now visiteth me with severe illness, [arising from costiveness.] Bui pray for nie. as I always pray for }rou, that God may strengthen your heart. Be courageous, therefore; and, as you have opportunity, speak the word of God with boldness. Write to me how it was with you in your journey, [from Altenstein to Wittenberg,] 30* 354 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. and what you heard and saw in Erfurt, [where a great excitement was created by the attentions paid to Luther on his way to Worms.] With Melancthon you will learn what Spalatin [still at Worms] hath written to me, [concerning the violent proceedings against me.] The day I was torn away from you, I, a new knight, weary from the length of the ride, [about eight miles,] came in the dark, nearly eleven o'clock at night, to this mansion. And now I am here in a state of leisure, like one set at large among captives. Be- ware of the Dresden Rehoboam [Duke George] avid of Benhadad of Damascus, [the Elector of Brandenburg,] your neighbour. For a severe edict hath been issued against us. But the Lord shall hold them in derision." The Elector Frederic, in order to evade the questions with which the imperial and papal party would be likely to press him, kept himself igno- rant for a time of the particular place where Spa- latin, by his order, kept Luther in custody. We see, from the foregoing letter, that his keepers dis- suaded him from writing so soon to his friends, lest the secret in respect to his place of residence should be betrayed. To Spalatin he wrote, some time after: "I have with difficulty made out to send you this letter, such is the fear entertained that it will be found out where I am. Therefore, if you think it will be for the honour of Christ, let it not be known whether I am in the keeping of friend or foe ; for it is not necessary that any besides yourself and Amsdorf should know any thing more than that I am alive." M. 37.] AT WARTBURG. 355 This design of concealment ex plains the inch 'fi- nite and amusing manner in which he dated his letters. The above letter to Amsdorf is dated "In the Regions of the Air;" that written to Melancthon the same day, " In the Regions of the Birds;" others, "From my Hermitage;" "From the Isle of Patmos ;" "Among the birds, which sing sweetly in the trees, and praise God with all their might, night and day." As late as the 10th of June, he wrote to Spala- tin : "It is the will of our gracious prince that my place of abode he not yet made known. Therefore, I do not write to him at all." Coch- laeus and others of the Catholic party supposed that Allstedt was the place of his concealment. A few of Luther's intimate friends had learned where he was ; but, in a letter written Septem- ber 10, we find him saying: "'Duke John, the elder, at length knows where I am, but did not know before. My host privately made it known to him. But he will doubtless keep it to himself." Luther poured out his whole heart in his first letter to Melancthon, May 12, probably the very first letter written from Wartburg. It is particu- larly interesting as revealing the state of his mind in that singular posture of public affairs. He writes thus : "And what, my dear Philip, are you meanwhile doing? Are you not praying that this withdrawal of myself, to which I have unwillingly given my assent, may turn out for the furtherance of the glory of God? I greatly desire to know how it pleaseth yon. I fear I shall be accounted as deserting the field of battle, and yet I could find 356 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. no way to resist those who desired and advised this course. I desire nothing more than to bare my breast to the fury of my enemies. Here I sit the whole day, with the visage of the church ever before me, and the passage, Psalm lxxxix. 47 : 'Why hast thou made all the sons of men in vain ?' How horrible a form of God's anger is that abominable kingdom of the Roman antichrist ! I abhor my own hardness of heart that I am not dissolved in tears, and that I do not weep foun- tains of tears for the slain sons of my people. But there is no one to arise and cleave to God, and make himself a wall for the house of Israel in this last day of his wrath. 0, kingdom of the pope ! worthy of the end and dregs of the world. God have mercy on us. Wherefore, be thou meanwhile instant as a minister of the word, and fortify the walls and towers of Jerusalem, till they shall assail thee. You know your calling and gifts. I pray earnestly for you, if, as I doubt not, my prayer can be of any avail. Do thou the same for me, and let us mutually bear this burden. Thus far I alone have stood in the front of battle. They will next seek for your life." In another letter to the same, written May 26, he mentions, that, " having composed his mind to quiet studies, he had reluctantly replied to Jacob Latomus," a sophistical theologian of Lou vain, who had written in defence of the burning of Lu- ther's books ; that he had seen what his friends Faber, CEcolampadius, Huttcn and others, had written against his opponents ; that he was him- self surprised at the boldness of Feldkirch, pro- JE. 37.] AT WARTBURG. 357 vost of Kemberg, in venturing at such a time to show his opposition to the celibacy of the clergy by actually entering into wedlock. lie is gene- rally represented as the first evangelical or Pro- testant clergyman who took this step; but two others preceded him in Saxony, and were impri- soned for their temerity. Luther, though his personal situation was agree- able, proceeds to say : "Yet, for the glory of God, and for the confirmation of myself and others, I would sooner be burnt over live coals than decay alone half dead, not to say quite dead. But who knoweth whether, in this as in other cases, Christ will by such means effect a greater good ? We have always been talking about faith and hope in things not seen. Come, then, let us for once make some little trial, especially since it is of God's appointing, and not of our seeking. Even if I perish, the gospel will not perish, in which you are now my superior, and Elisha succeedeth Elias with a double measure of the Spirit, which may the Lord Jesus in mercy grant you. Amen. Therefore, be not sad, but sing unto the Lord songs in the night season, and I will join with you. . . . Let the men of Leipsic glory, for this is their hour. We must go out from our country, from our kindred, and from our father's house, and for a time sojourn in a strange land. ... I have not given up the hope of returning unto you, though I leave it to God to do what is good in his own eyes. " If the pope shall fall upon all those who think and feel with me, there will be no want of 358 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. tumult in Germany. The sooner he does it, the sooner will he and his perish, and I return. God so arouseth the spirit of many and the hearts even of the multitude, that it seemeth not likely to me that the thing can be put down by power ; or, if it be put down, it will rise again with ten-fold force." The remainder of the letter, full of special references to the circumstances of his Wittenberg friends, though of the greatest interest to the historian, must be omitted here. In another letter he says : "A certain Roman- ist hath written to the man of a red hat at Mainz : ' We have lost Luther, as we desired ; but the people are so excited that I suspect we shall not save our lives, unless we seek for him everywhere with lighted candles, and bring him back.' He indeed joketh ; but what if the joke should turn out to be a serious matter ?" The situation of Luther during the ten months of his residence at Wartburg is of a highly ro- mantic character. The heroism he had lately shown, the perilous condition he was in when he left Worms, the mystery which hung about his present place of abode, all acted with visible effect upon the minds of the people. And now that we are let behind the curtain, his secluded life appears no less extraordinary than the won- derful missiles which, from his unknown retreat, he continually sent forth to the consternation of his adversaries. At one time we find him wan- dering for amusement, or picking wild berries, along the hill-sides and ravines east of the castle. toward St. George's gate, or the south gate of M. 37.], AT WARTBURG. 359 the city. Again, we see him out on a two-days' chase, busying himself with dogs and traps ; but finding, in the hare caught by himself, and wrapt in a garment to preserve him from the dogs — which nevertheless seized and destroyed him — an image of souls which others had endeavoured to save, but which Satan and the pope were seek- ing to murder. Now he rides in disguise, under the direction of a wary knight, to the neighbour- ing towns and villages, to Gotha, Erfurt, Rein- hardsbrunn and Marksuhl. At the last-mentioned place, about five miles to the south-west of Wart- burg, he saw his friends ; but knight George, as he was then called, was not recognised in his knight's dress and long beard and hair. AtRein- hardsbrunn, between Altenstein and Gotha, he was conducted hastily away by his guardian, when the latter perceived that his ward was known to the people. The state of Luther s mind, at this time, was as peculiar as were his external circumstances. He was like a vessel that had outridden the storm, and was now moored by a desolate island. The waves had not so far subsided but that they still rocked his bark with some degree of violence. Partly from over-excitement and exhaustion, partly from unwonted inactivity, and too good living for one of his monastic habits, he sull'ered painful ill- ness. It is not strange that he should, at times, be very much dejected. He complained of temp- tations sorer than he had ever experienced. This might all be so. But, when ho tells of the devil's making such disturbance and noise about the pre- 360 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. mises that it was necessary to speak to him, we may well suppose that a little medical treatment and the poisoning of the rats would have aided es- sentially in giving him quiet nights. It can hardly be doubted that his present seclu- sion was favourable to his character, both as a Christian and as a reformer. He needed time for reflection. Ever since he left the Erfurt con- vent, he had been very active, and often much excited by controversy. It was well that he could now commune with himself and with his God, and calmly contemplate the scene without. He had necessarily been much occupied with tearing down and destroying what was false ; he now had an opportunity to direct his mind steadily to what was true. The work of building up, which was soon to follow, was even more diffi- cult than that of destroying. At Wartburg, Luther, by translating the New Testament, made the best preparation for future usefulness. Not only did he hereby put the mightiest of Protestant weapons into the hands of all the people, and in that way do immense service to the Reformation, but, what was of no less importance, he obtained that familiarity with the whole of the New Testament, that thorough acquaintance with biblical Christianity, which made it possible for him to escape so many errors, and to incorporate so much truth into his theological system. It is true, indeed, that on the subject of religious liberty his mind under- went a change. After his return to Wittenberg, and especially after the Peasants' War, he was less JE. 37.] AT WAHTBURG. 361 inclined than before to the freedom of the indi- vidual conscience in the interpretation of the Bible. Still, the progress he made in biblical knowledge and in digesting and arranging his various doc- trines, as they had been disconnectedly thrown out in his controversial and other writings, seems to have been almost indispensable to him at this time. Though Luther was so occupied with inward struggles and temptations, and with the labours of studying the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, lie did not withdraw his interest or his view from the fortunes and the transactions of the re- ligious party of which he had become the leader. With his friends and former associates he kept up a diligent correspondence. He requested them to communicate to him all that was going on. He was accurately informed of the excitement that prevailed among the nobles; of the disaffection of the common people toward their ecclesiastical rulers ; of the progress of his doctrines at home and abroad, and of the designs and plots of his enemies. In these circumstances, he was the constant counsellor of his Wittenberg and other friends, giving them instructions how to proceed in spreading the truth, and in warding oil' the attacks of the hostile party, lie instructed Ams- dorf how to reply to Emser. He is consulted about the best manner of organizing the Witten- berg Gymnasium, or (Jrammar-school. He urges Spalatin to compel Melancthon to preach, saying, " How 1 wish Philip would preach to the people in the German language! [he did not refuse to 362 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. lecture on the Sabbath to the students, in Latin.] . . . Since he is called of God, what matters it that he has not been called by the tyrannical bishops ? . . . But I know the temper and spirit of the man, that he will not yield to my entrea- ties. Therefore he must be compelled by the urgent demand of the whole [Wittenberg] church. Were I at Wittenberg, I should, as I think, move the senate and people to call on him to preach to them in German ; and I greatly desire you should take the matter in hand. You can carry the measure in the senate through the influence of Cranach and Bayer." He urged Justus Jonas, who, while at Worms with him, was made professor of canonical law at Wittenberg in place of Pollich deceased, to labour for the overthrow of the authority of the decretals, or laws of the pope. " Be an Aaron," he says to him, " clothed with sacred vestments, i. e. armed with the sacred Scriptures. Take the censer of prayer and go out to meet this destroyer. Place yourself in the very midst of the conflagration of the world, kindled by Rome, but soon to be ex- tinguished by the coming of our Saviour whom we expect. Teach your pupils, my brother, that those things which it is your office to teach [the canon law] are to be unlearned ; that whatsoever the pope and the papists enact and establish is to be avoided as a deadly poison. Since we are not able to remove this great evil by direct power, :iiid are obliged to perform official service in these sacrilegious Babylonish provinces, it only reniain- eth for us to regard them as the devastators and M. 37.] AT WARTBURG. 303 plunderers of our Jerusalem." He advised Spa- latin to favour the utter abrogation of the canon law. His host, Berlepsch, at Wartburg, had done well, he said, in treating this law as antiquated, and in prohibiting ecclesiastical jurisdiction. If the elector and other princes were not prepared to do as much, " let them, at least, take no notice of the courts and judges when they disregard the papal laws, for so will the abuse be insensibly cor- rected." Luther's writings during this period were both numerous and important. The principal are those against Latomus, a learned theologian of Louvain, and this was one of Luther's best productions ; against the University of Paris, which had given a judgment adverse to his cause ; and against Emser; besides treatises on auricular confession, on the celibacy of the clergy, on private mass, on the abolition of cloisters, and on communion in both kinds, Commentaries on certain Psalms, and Pos- tils on the Gospels. Perhaps the most charac- teristic of the productions of his pen during this period is the well known letter which he ad- dressed to Albert, Archbishop of Mainz. That prelate, as if triumphing in the decision of the diet of Worms and in the retirement of Luther from the scene of conflict, renewed the sale of indulgences at Halle, his favourite residence. Lu- ther, who was fully informed of what was done, felt his blood boil within him as in L517, when Tel /el was the direct object of his attack. He set himself to compose a tract which should fall like a thunderbolt upon the head of the arch- 304 UF& OF LUTHER. [1521. bishop. But Spalatin and Melancthon, who had been visited on the subject, in a friendly way, by two distinguished individuals from Albert's court, thought it too bold for the circumstances, and Frederic feared it would disturb his relations with the emperor and the Catholic princes; and the work was not, at that time, printed. Luther reluctantly submitted, but, in place of publishing the pamphlet, he wrote the private letter above mentioned to the archbishop. If he, the archbishop, thought himself secure because Luther had retired from the scene, and supposed that, by the aid of the imperial authority, he could put down the monk, he would find himself mistaken. He himself would not fail to do what Christian love demanded, in spite of the gates of hell, not to mention popes, cardinals and bishops ; and therefore requested him to cease from deceiv- ing and plundering the people, and to act the part of a bishop, and not of a wolf; for it was noto- rious that indulgences were nothing but sheer knavery and fraud. The prelate would do well to remember what a great fire had been kindled by a little, insignificant spark; how a despised monk had given the pope himself enough to do; and, contrary to all expectation, carried his point so far, that what had been lost could never be retrieved, but, on the contrary, became worse and worse every day, so that God's hand must be re- cognised in the work. The same God still lives, and can resist and overcome a Cardinal of Mainz, though four emperors should undertake to protect him. That Divine hand took delight in breaking JE. 37-] AT WARTBURG. 365 down the cedars of Lebanon, and humbling the proud and hardened Pharaohs. The bishop had better be cautious about despising and provoking that invisible power. "Let not your highness think," he goes on to say, "that Luther is dead. lie will still joyfully trust in the God who hath humbled the pope, and will play a game with the Cardinal of Mainz, which few would expect. . . . I give you notice, that, unless the idol be re- moved, I shall feel bound, out of regard to divine truth and the salvation of souls, to assail your grace as I did the pope, and to speak plainly to a high dignitary, and to place all the abominations practised by Tetzel at the doors of the Bishop of Mainz, and to point out to all the world the dif- ference between a bishop and a wolf. Your grace can hereby know what to do, and how to conduct. ... I await your decision, and expect an answer within two weeks. If within that period none comes, then my book 'Against the Idol at Halle' will go to the public." Strange as it may seem, a mild and submissive reply was received, in which the archbishop pro- mised to stop the abuse. Ee did not care to be immortalized as Tetzel had been. He shrunk from a controversy which would be so little to his credit. The charm of indulgences had been broken; the e}^es of the people had been opened, and the public sentiment fixed for ever in opposi- tion to a practice so vile and contemptible. 31* 3G6 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. Section II. — Troubles at Wittenberg, and Luther 's Return. Meanwhile sentiments and principles were springing up among the friends and followers of Luther which were destined to make him great trouble. He had broken the bands by which the human mind had been so long fettered, and now men began everywhere to exercise freedom of opinion and of speech. Luther himself had not fully considered how difficult it would be to stay the current after he had loosened the foundations and removed a portion of the dam which had hitherto restrained it. How is this freedom to be controlled? Shall men be free to differ from the reformer himself? Is there to be no subjec- tion to authority in matters of religion? Shall differences of opinion, when they exist, be ad- justed by learned disputations, with chosen judges to sit in arbitration? or shall the church be made again the ultimate authority? or shall the civil power be brought in as the protector of the true faith? It is not strange that so difficult a pro- blem should not have been solved by the reform- ers, and that, drifting along on the current of events, they should sometimes be carried in a wrong direction. There were two classes of subjects on which serious differences of opinion arose, the one relat- ing to what is true, the other to what is expe- dient. Luther often agreed with his opponents in respect to the former, and differed only in respect to the latter. The majority of the Augustinian JE. 37.] AT WARTBURG. 367 monks of Wittenberg agreed, in the absence of Luther, to disband. The step was a little too bold even for Luther, though he himself had given the lesson. Many would be shocked at such a wholesale violation of the monastic vow. The monks would rush into wedlock, without either an income or a knowledge of business suf- ficient to support their households. The elector and all his ministers, and the uni- versity and the chapter, after innumerable consul- tations, found it difficult to settle this matter, and still more difficult to manage the monks and others who, in the exercise of their new freedom, had abolished the mass service about the same time. Finally, the subject of church ceremonies and church ornaments, altars and images, led to a con- troversy which ended in open tumult. On all these and kindred points, Carlstadt, who had joined the party of the monk Gabriel Didymus, took a dilFerent view from Luther. He insisted on bringing all things back to the pattern of the primitive church, without regard to men's preju- dices or to consequences. This controversy be- tween Luther and Carlstadt is a delicate subject for the historian to dispose of. Men of equal in- telligence and piety come to different conclusions in respect to it. So much, however, may safely be said, that Carlstadt, though a learned and un- doubtedly a conscientious man, had neither the ability nor the discretion of Luther. Ee was excitable, somewhat changeable and fanatical, and perhaps ambitious. That his views of reform carried him at times to excess is undeniable. 368 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. But if, in respect to means and measures, lie was too violent, and sometimes erred even when his principles were otherwise right, Luther was sometimes wrong in his principles. If the former laid too great stress on the reformation of exter- nal abuses, and did not rely sufficiently on well settled principles to work out their own results in due time, the latter went to the other extreme of undervaluing outward conformity to primitive Christianity, and of regarding the ceremonies introduced into the church in later times as a matter of comparative indifference. In this last respect, he differed widely from the Swiss reform- ers. Carlstadt was successively connected with two very different parties, both of which were at variance with the Lutheran church, namely, the Anabaptists and the Zwinglians. We are now concerned with the former only. The name by which Luther and his associates designated these men was that of " Celestial Pro- phets," or " Zwickau Prophets," a clear indication that their leading characteristic was fanaticism, and that their peculiar views of baptism were re- garded as subordinate or incidental. This inference is supported by the fact that, for the first three or four years, they made no innovations in respect to this rite as practised by the church, or, at most, in but a few individual cases. The first clear in- stance on record of re-baptism by them was in Swilzerland, in 1524, whereas the Zwickau Pro- phets commenced their movement near the middle of the year 1521. Muncer himself did not re- M. 38.] TROUBLES AT WITTENBERG. :;r,'.i baptize, nor did his followers generally, during his lifetime. Nor was there any dispute at that time about the mode of baptism, for the Anabaptists not only made no complaints of the practice of the church in that respect, but themselves ordinarily prac- tised aspersion or pouring, and rarely immersion. When, therefore, the men of Zwickau appeared at Wittenberg, in December of 1521, and con- founded and alarmed Melancthon and Amsdorf, and, for a time, carried away with their persua- sions Carlstadt and others connected with the uni- versity, their main doctrine was, that the people of God should follow an inward light ; that they themselves possessed the spirit of prophecy, and spoke by immediate revelation; that the vain show and ceremonies of the church were all to be abrogated or changed, and the church restored to its apostolical simplicity. They professed to establish a spiritual church, regarding the Catho- lic church as carnal and corrupt, so that neither baptism, ordination, nor any thing else coining from it, could be recognised by a Christian. Va- rious extravagances were connected with these views, of which none was more important than their radicalism in respect to civil government. Melancthon, Amsdorf and others represented I lie perilous state of things at Wittenberg to the Elector Frederic, saying they were upon the very verge of a violent insurrection, and. as Luther's authority was appealed to by the insurgents, none but Luther could have power with them. Their proposal to recall Luther did not meet the elector's 370 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. views. He said lie had purposely caused Lu- ther to be conveyed to an unknown place, and kept securely in secret, so that he could truly say to the emperor, if required to deliver him up, that he knew not where he was. Should Luther now make his appearance openly at Wittenberg, he might be seized by his enemies, and he himself, as elector, was subject to the imperial authority, and could do nothing in opposition to it for Lu- ther's protection. Luther, who was informed of all these things, resolved to make the bold experi- ment of going unprotected to the place of dan- ger, informing the elector of his purpose, but giving him no time to prevent the step. No wonder that Luther was willing to risk his life and his credit with Frederic, in order to allay the tempest which he saw rising. He feared that these disorders, springing up in the head-quarters of reform, would bring the whole movement, with which he was now identified, into discredit, and prove more fatal to the Reformation than all the opposition of the Papists. It must be conceded that, in his general view of the case, he was sub- stantially in the right. Whether a little more s}rmpathy with the people in their longing for freedom, a little more relaxation on points either debatable or comparatively unimportant, would have secured union, (except with a few,) as well as victory, and saved the people from the terrible catastrophe into which Muncer plunged them, is a question which no one can decide with certainty. But of this there can be no doubt, that Luther's abilities were equal to the exigency, JE. 38.] TROUBLES AT WITTENBERG. 371 and that ho never manifested more consummate skill in management and discussion, nor a clearer insight into human nature, than on this occasion. An incident occurred when lie was at Jena, on his way to Wittenberg, which is too characteristic of Ids humour and of his social nature to be omitted. We have the account in the words of Kessler, of Saint Gall, one of the individuals concerned in the amusing scene. We will ([note his language. " Though it may seem trifling and childish, I cannot omit mentioning how Martin met me and my companion, when he was riding from the place of his captivity toward Wittenberg. As we were journeying toward Wittenberg, for the sake of studjdng the Holy Scriptures — and the Lord knowrs what a furious tempest there was — we came to Jena in Thuringia, where we could not, with all our inquiry in the town, find or hear of any place to lodge for the night, but were every- where refused, for it was carnival, during which little heed is given to pilgrims or strangers. We, therefore, left the town again, to proceed farther on our way, thinking we might perhaps find a, hamlet where we could pass the night. At the gate of the city we met a respectable man, who accosted us in a friendly manner, and asked us where we were going so late. . . . He then asked us whether we had inquired at the Black Bear hotel. . . . He pointed it out to us a little distance without the city. . . . The innkeeper met us at the door and received us, and led us into the room. Here we found a man at the table, sitting alone, with a small book lying before him, who greeted 372 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. us kindly, and invited us to take a seat with him at the table; for our shoes were so muddy that avc were ashamed to enter the room, and therefore slunk away upon a bench behind the door. . . . We took him to be no other than a knight, as he had on, according to the custom of the country, a red cap, small clothes and a doublet, and a sword at his side, on which he leaned, with one hand on the pommel and the other on the hilt. He asked us whence we were, but immediately answered himself, ' You are Swiss ; from what part of Swit- zerland are you?' We replied, ' St. Gall.' He then said, ' If, as I suppose, you are on your way to Wittenberg, you will find good countrymen of yours there, namely, Jerome Schurf and his bro- ther Augustine.' Whereupon we said, 'We have letters to them.' We now asked him, in turn, if he could give us any information about Martin Luther — whether he is now at Wittenberg or else- where. He said, 'I have certain knowledge that he is not now at Wittenberg, but will soon be there. But Philip Melancthon is there, as teacher of Greek, and others teach Hebrew.' He recom- mended to us to study both languages, as neces- sary, above all things, to understand the Scrip- tures. We said, ' Thank God, we shall then see and hear the man [Luther] on whose account we have undertaken this journey.' . . . He then asked us where we had formerly studied ; and, as we replied at Basle, he inquired how things were going on there, and what Erasmus was doing. ' Erasmus is still there, but what he is about no one knowcth, for he keepeth himself very quiet M. 38.] RETURN TO WITTENBERG. 373 and secluded.' We were much surprised at the kniffht, thai he should know the Schurfs, Melanc- th.ui and Erasmus, and that lie should speak of the necessity of studying Greek and Hebrew. At times, too, he made use of Latin words, so that we began to think he was something more than a common knight. "'Sir,' said he, 'what do men in Switzerland think of Luther?' We replied, 'Variously, as everywhere else. Some cannot sufficiently bless and praise Grod that he hath, through this man, made known his truth and exposed error; others condemn him as an intolerable heretic.' 'Es- pecially the clergy,' interrupted he; 'I doubt not these are the priests.' By this conversation we were made to feel ourselves quite at home, and my companion [Reutiner] took the book that lay before him, and looked into it, and found it was a Eebrew psalter. He soon laid it down again, and the knight took it. This increased our curiosity to know who he was. When the day declined and it grew dark, our host, knowing our desire, and longing after Luther, came to the table and said, ' Friends, had you been here two days ago, 3rou could have had your desire, for he sat here at this table,' pointing to the seat. We were provoked with ourselves that we were too late, and poured out our displeasure against the bad roads which had hindered us. After a little while, the host called me to the door, and said, ■Since you manifest, so earnest a desire to see Luther, you must know that it is he who is seated by you.' I took these words as spoken 82 374 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1521. in jest, and said, 'You, to please me, give me a false joy at seeing Luther.' 'It is indeed lie,' replied my host, 'but make as if you did not know it.' I went back into the room and to the table, and desired to tell my companion what I had heard, and turned to him and said in a whisper, ' Our host hath told me that this is Lu- ther.' He, like myself, was incredulous. ' Per- haps he said Hutten, and you misunderstood him.' As now the knight's dress comported better with the character of Hutten than with that of a monk, I was persuaded that he said it was Hutten. [Two merchants now came in, and they all supped together.] Our host came, meanwhile, to us, and said in a whisper, 'Don't be concerned about the cost, for Martin hath paid the bill.' We rejoiced, not so much for the gift or the supper, as for the honour of being entertained by such a man. After supper the merchants went to the stable to see to their horses, and Martin remained with us in the room. We thanked him for the honour shown us, and gave him to understand that we took him for Ulrich von Hutten. But he said, ' I am not he.' Just then came in our host, and Martin said to him, 'I have become a nobleman to-night, for these Swiss hold me to be Ulrich von Hutten.' The host replied, 'You are not he, but Martin Luther.' He laughed, and said joeosery, ' They hold me to be Hutten, and you say I am Luther ; I shall next be Marcolfus,' [a notorious character in the monkish legends.] Afterward he took up a large beer-glass, and said, ' Swiss, now drink me a health ;' and then arose, threw around him his JE. 38.] AT WITTENBERG AGAIN. :;;;, mantle, and, giving us his hand, took leave of us, saying, ' When you come to Wittenberg, greet Dr. Jerome Schurf for me.' ' Very gladly,' said we ; • but whom shall we call you, that he may under- stand us?' lie replied, ' Say only this, he who is to come, scndeth you greeting,' and he will under- stand it. . . . On Saturday, we went to the house of Schurf to present our letters ; and when we were conducted into the room, behold we found Martin there as at Jena, and with him Melanc- thon, Justus Jonas, Nicholas Amsdorf, and Dr. Augustine Schurf, rehearsing to him what had taken place at Wittenberg during his absence. lie greeted us, and, smiling, said, ' This is Philip Melancthon, of whom we spoke.' Melancthon turned to us and asked us many questions, to which we replied as well as we could. So we spent the day with them with great delight and gratification on our part." Section III. — Luther at Wittenberg again, resseth, and God urgeth and calleth ; it must and will be so ; and so be it in the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord over life and death. . . . The first reason is, that I received from the church at Wittenberg a written request, beseeching and begging me to come. Now, as no one can deny that the work was begun by me, and as I am bound to hold my- self as the obedient servant of that church to which God hath called me, I could in no way refuse, without renouncing Christian love, fidelity and service. . . . " The second reason is, that during my absence from Wittenberg, Satan hath broken in upon my flock, and hath, as all the world exclaimeth — and with truth — done mischief which I cannot by writing arrest, but must manage by personal presence, with living voice and ear. My con- science would allow no longer hesitation or delay. On this account, I was obliged to disregard your grace's pleasure or displeasure, and all the world's wrath or favour. For they are my flock, com- M. 88.] AT WITTENBERG AGAIN. 381 mitted to me of God ; thc}r are my children in Christ ; and there was no longer doubt whether I should come or not. I am bound to suffer death Cor them, which, with God's grace, I will cheerfully and joyfully do, as Christ requireth in the tenth chapter of John. . . . "The third reason is, that I greatly fear, and alas ! am but too certain, that a wide-spread in- surrection will break out in Germany, wherewith God will punish this nation. For we see that the gospel pleaseth the people much, and they turn it to a carnal account; they see that it is true, and yet will not make a right use of it. To this end do those contribute who ought to quell such in- surrection. They seek to quench the light, but do not consider that they thereby imbitter men's hearts, and drive them to rebellion, so that they act as if they would destroy themselves, or, at least, their children, [the next generation, by civil war,] which God no doubt sendeth as a judgment upon us. For the spiritual tyranny is weakened, for whose downfall alone I laboured, but now I perceive God will go further with it, and over- throw both the spiritual and the civil rule, as in Jerusalem. I have lately seen that not only the spiritual, but the temporal power must give way before the gospel, whether it be by consent or by constraint, as is clearly taught in all Bible history. Nowt, God requireth in Ezekiel, that we should set up ourselves in defence, as a wall, for the peo- ple. Therefore, I have thought it necessary to consult with my friends, to see if we could not ward off, or delay God's judgment. " 382 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1522. To Spalatin he wrote the same day : " Satan hath attempted to do much mischief here in my fold, in such a way that it will he difficult to meet the case without offence to both parties. See to it that no innovation he allowed to be made either by common consent or by violence. By the word alone must error be assaulted, dislodged, over- thrown and done away, which our friends here, impelled by Satan, have, in their first zeal, at- tempted to carry by storm. I condemn as an abo- mination the papal mass, which is made a sacrifice and a good work, whereby a man is restored to favour with God. But I will not, therefore, resort to force, or persuade one who is without faith, much less compel him, to do it away with vio- lence. Only through the word will I condemn the abuse of the mass. Whosoever will believe, let him believe, and follow unconstrained; and whosoever will not believe, let him disbelieve and go his way; for no one should be forced to faith, or to any thing pertaining to the faith, but should be drawn to it and won by the word. Then, who- soever believeth without constraint will freely fol- low. I also reject the images which men wor- ship ; but I do it through the word, not urging men to burn them up, but rather not to put their trust in them, as others have done, -and still do. The images will fall of themselves, if the people are instructed through the word, and learn that they are nothing before God. So likewise do I condemn the papal laws about auricular confes- sion, going at stated times to the holy sacrament, praying to saints and fasting; but I do it through M. 38.] AT WITTENBERG AGAIN. 383 the word to free the conscience from these shackles. When that is done, then they can either continue to use theni on account of the weak who are still entangled with them, or they can do those observances away, if others are already strong. Thus, charity may prevail in these outward works and laws. Now7, I am most displeased with our people, (and the populace wTho are drawn with them,) that they let the word and faith and charity go, and glory that they are Christians, simply because they (not without offence to the weak) can eat meat, eggs, milk, &c, lay hold of the eucharist with their own hands, and omit the fastings and prayers." Luther went further, however, than to censure violence instead of persuasion in matters of reli* gion. He condemned the removal of images from the churches, the omission of the mass ceremo- nies, of the prescribed fastings and prayers, and the touching of the bread and wine, on the part of the laity, with their owm hands, because such things, though innocent in themselves, shocked the feelings of many pious persons. If, in these respects, we grant that Luther acted as he did, not wholly without reason, we must also concede that the new practice which he censured in the other party, was neither unnatural, nor altogether unreasonable. High authority could have been pleaded on the other side, as in fact it was pleaded. 384 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1522. Section IV. — General Narrative of Events from 1522 to 1525. He who is accustomed to recognise the pre- sence of a superintending Providence in human affairs, will not fail to perceive the hand of God in the peculiar direction given to public events in Germany about the time of Luther's return to Wittenberg. Luther himself was defenceless, and both the papal and imperial authority was arrayed against him and employed to put in exe- cution the severe edict of Worms. The cause of the Reformation seemed, moreover, to be weak- ened by the disorders prevailing at Wittenberg and in several other towns, and destroying the confidence of men in respect to the tendencies of Luther's great enterprise. George, Duke of Saxony, and the Elector of Brandenburg, were ready to execute that bloody edict, and seize Luther and his associates; but the great influence of the Elector Frederic, his caution and wisdom had hitherto preserved Lu- ther from a violent death. And now, when the elector's plans were all baffled by what seemed to him the imprudence and rashness of the reformer, and when lie could find no plausible ground for refusing, if the pope and the emperor should de- mand that Luther be delivered into their hands, behold Leo X. was removed by death, in Decem- ber of 1521, and was succeeded by Hadrian VI., who for nearly two years continued to maintain a new policy, entirely against the views of his court; and Charles V. was, meanwhile, so occu- ^E. 38.J NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. . 385 pied in his war with France as not to be able to visit Germany, but was obliged to intrust its go- vernment to his brother Ferdinand. Under these remarkable circumstances, Frederic was relieved from his embarrassment, and Luther could go on undisturbed in his work. Though the edict was still nominally in force, yet in most of the middle of Germany the senti- ments of the intelligent and virtuous were so on the side of truth and justice that the edict was disregarded. This period, therefore, was the very one in which the public mind was enlisted in the cause of the Reformation. The unjust and cruel, Itut unsuccessful attempts of the Catholic princes, instead of terrifying men into submission to their authority, had the contrary effect, and aroused the indignation which always follows an attempt to do violence to the moral sense of the people. From this time onward, Luther's labours, at home and abroad, were greater than ever. Wher- ever a town or even an individual manifested a Love for the evangelical doctrines, there Luther was either personally presenl to aid by public preaching and private conversation, or sent let- ters of encouragement, consolation and counsel. Wherever the radical party spread their doctrines and made disturbance, there none but Luther could appear cither with safety, or with any hope of success, to quell the difficulty. Wherever the Catholics made an attack or exercised cruelty against the converts to the doctrines of the Re- formation, there Luther, as the bishop of all such 386 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1522. flocks and individuals, was quick to show his sympathy and extend his powerful aid. In April, 1522, he went to Zwickau, and was obliged to pass through the dominions of Duke George, at no small hazard, to reduce to order the excited population of that town, where Muncer and his colleagues made their first attempts to revolutionize the church and the state. On the way thither, he preached at Borna, and at Alten- burg.* He lodged in Zwickau with the burgo- master, and preached in the town-hall, in the castle, and in one of the churches. It was said that twenty-five thousand people from the adjoin- ing towns came to see and hear him. On his return, he preached twice at Borna, and then pro- ceeded to Eilenburg, and thence to Wittenberg. For similar reasons, he made a journey to Er- furt in October of the same year. The same spirit of speedy, if not violent reform, in respect to doing away with images, mass and the invoca- tion of saints, which had manifested itself at Wittenberg, was early active in Erfurt. After several letters on the subject, Luther, in company with Melancthon, Agricola and two others, visited the place in person. The day before reaching it, he preached at Weimar. On approaching Erfurt, Luther descended from the carriage, and passed through the gate privately, in order to avoid the crowd which came out to welcome him or to see him. In the evening, which was passed * Borna is fifteen miles, Altenburg twenty-five, and Zwickau forty-five south of Lcipsic. Eilenburg is fifteen mile3 north-east of Leipsic. M. 38.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 387 at the parsonage of one of the churches, he was visited by multitudes of persons. He preached there three times the two following days, and then returned to Weimar, where he remained some time, preaching every day. Of his numerous writings published in 1522, no particular account can be expected here. Be- sides writing the interesting letter to the knight Von Kronberg, son-in-law of Von Sickingen, he had a very violent controversy with Duke George and Henry VIII. of England, or rather with Sir Thomas Afore. Though these potentates, who undertook to dabble in theology and to instruct Luther therein, deserved no better treatment than they received from his hands, Luther himself suf- fered in the estimation of many wise and good men from the intemperate violence, and even ribaldry, in which tic freely indulged. The history of the diet of Nuremberg, which was in session (luring the whole winter of 1523, while it is too complicated to find a place in a brief biography, is too important and too closely connected with Luther's fortunes to be omitted altogether. The Turks had broken in upon Hungary, and were approaching the frontiers of the German empire. Charles V., who had undertaken to check them, was obliged to hasten to Spain to put down the insurrections which had sprung up there during his residence in Germany. His bro- ther Ferdinand, whom he had appointed vicar of the empire, called the diet above mentioned, in the emperor's name, to engage the estates in a 388 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1523. war of defence and reprisal. The emperor, in a letter from Valladolid, endeavoured to persuade the pope to contribute from the ecclesiastical fluids to support the war, adding, as a special inducement, that the same military power might, before being disbanded, be employed to destroy the Lutheran sect by the sword. Hadrian paid little regard to the emperor's chief object; but resolved to make use of the diet to further his own ends in eradicating the Lutheran heresy. After taking the preliminary measures, and inviting the co-operation of the princes — and even threatening the Elector Frederic, if he should refuse to unite — the pope, through his legate, urged the diet no longer to suffer the edict of Worms to remain without effect, but to crush the heresy of Luther by the arm of the civil power, if milder measures did not succeed. To give new weight to his arguments, which met with opposi- tion, he confessed the corruption not only of the priests and prelates, but of the cardinals and popes themselves; and promised (with all sincerity) to institute a reformation which should, in a proper manner, accomplish all that Luther undertook to effect in an improper manner. This concession and promise, so far from promoting his object, served only to defeat it. The Roman courtiers and prelates desired no such reform. The party which sympathized with Luther turned the con- fessions to a good account. A committee was appointed to draft a statement in reply to a com- munication of the legate, and John of Schwart- zenburgj ;i man of learning and talent, and warmly M. 39.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 389 in the interest of the evangelical party, was chair- man of the committee. With great moderation and judgment was that document prepared, which stated, thai it was impossible to put in execution the edict of Worms, in respect to Luther, so long as the court of Home, which Luther had justly exposed to contempt, remained in its corruption, and unreformed. It recommended referring the whole matter to a general council, the preachers moan while adhering to the doctrines of the ancient church, and Luther and his friends refraining from writing and publishing. With slight modifica- tions, advocated by the Archbishop of Mainz and others, the draft prepared was adopted by the diet, to the great mortification and indignation of the legate. Plaunitz, the deputy of the Elector of Saxony, who was not present, was the chief diplomatist in the interest of Luther, and well did he and Schwartzenburg concert their measures lor baffling the papal counsels. Felitzsch, the ambassador of Frederic, would not yield so much as his associates did, and protest oil. in the name of his prince, against the prohibition laid upon Luther in respect to publishing his opinions. Lu- ther himself, however, was very well satisfied with the main features of the order passed by the diet, pronouncing it '"remarkably liberal and ac- ceptable." Inasmuch as the enemies of Luther interpreted this recess, as it is called, so as to make it appear condemnatory of the cause of tie' Reformation, and confirmatory of the decision passed at the diet of Worms, Luther addressed a public Letter to the vicar and government of the 390 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1523. empire, in which lie gave a different interpreta- tion. Tims the plans and schemes of the pope and his ministers, to engage the German diet in a crusade against the new heresy, failed utterly of their object. The Protestant writers, who com- plain of the doings of the diet, do not, perhaps, sufficiently consider how many chances there were of coming to a result incomparably worse, and how much skill and effort it required, in a few, to take such advantage of the circumstances to ward off the evil. The result above mentioned was merely nega- tive. Luther and his friends were in the same state of insecurity as before. The elector was often alarmed, and it required all the ability and boldness of Luther to inspire him with confidence. In such a state of things, it was to be expected that the followers of Luther, in Catholic terri- tories, should be bitterly and cruelly persecuted. To this class of sufferers Luther directed his par- ticular attention. Three ladies had been dismissed from the court of Henry, Duke of Saxony, for having read the writings of Luther. Henry himself, who then re- sided at Freiberg, was favourably disposed toward Luther; but he was forced to this measure by his brother George, the reigning duke. Luther, though a stranger to these ladies, addressed to them (June IS, 1523) a consolatory letter, urging them to Christian fortitude and patience. " Sub- mit patiently," he says, "and let Christ work. He will abundantly avenge you of your wrong, and raise you higher than you could wish, if you M. 39.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 391 will only leave the matter, and commit it all to him." In July of the same year, he writes to his friend Crotus : "k Two brethren have already been burnt at Brussels, and a third has been degraded (as they call it) and sent into some unknown Assyria or Babylon. The papal priests rage with incredi- ble madness against Christ. Some of them write accursed and blasphemous things. This is their obedience to the imperial [Nuremberg] edict, re- ferring our dispute to a future council. Thus far I have kept quiet, [as the edict required :] but, if they go on thus, I too shall bid adieu to the edict — not to burn, imprison, or do any vio- lence— for this is not the part of Christians — but to defend, by word of mouth and by writing, the glory of the Scriptures, and to expose still further the abominations of the papacy." He addressed a letter, worthy of Tertullian or of Cyprian, to the Christians in Holland, Brabant and Flanders, congratulating them " that God is causing his marvellous light to shine again, and that the voice of the turtle-dove is heard, and the flowers appear on the earth." The correspond- ence of Luther, in the years lo'2'2 and L523, is very rich in such specimens of Christian sym- pathy; the instances in which he intercedes for the poor, the afflicted and the outcast, being al- most innumerable. At one time, he asks of the elector charity for an aged and feeble monk, who, from conscientious scruples, has abandoned his cell; at another, for nine nuns, who were aban- doned by their relations for having laid aside the 392 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1520. veil. Now, he takes the part of a pious preacher, who has been driven from his post for having preached evangelical doctrines, or having taken a wife ; and now, he writes letters of encourage- ment to the handful of believers wTho venture to confess Christ, in various towns and cities. Be- sides, his opinions were asked on so many ques- tions, laid before him by princes and nobles, by magistrates and town-councils, by scholars and theologians, by ecclesiastics, monks and nuns, on all points connected with the change he intro- duced in respect to man's ecclesiastical and social relations, that he was often obliged to excuse himself for want of time, and refer them to his writings, to other religious teachers, and to the Bible. Hadrian VI., the reforming but narrow-minded pope, lived less than two years after his acces- sion to the apostolical chair. He was succeeded (Nov. 19, 1523) by Clement VII., a wily politi- cian of the family of the Medici, whose intriguing policy better pleased the corrupt Roman court. At the next German diet, held in the begin- ning of 1524, Campegius, the papal legate, and Haunart, the orator sent from Spain by the em- peror to represent his views, acted in concert against Luther, as Charles at that time felt the need of the pope's assistance in his war with France. Though their councils prevailed in part in the diet, the resistance of the Elector Frederic and some others was so decided thai the danger of Luther was but slightly increased. So far was he from being terrified by the new Niiremburg M. 39. J NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 393 edict, which enforced the edict of Worms, while il provided for the settlement of the religious differences at the next diet to be held at Spire, that he published the two edicts together, with satirical comments, under the title of "Two Irre- concilable and Contradictory Imperial Orders re- specting Luther." In the preface, lie says, "It is scandalous that the emperor and the princes deal openly in falsehood, and, what is more scan- dalous still, issue contradictory commands, as you here see. lam to be seized and punished accord- ing to the decision made at the diet of Worms; and yet, at a future diet, to be held at Spire, my teachings are to be examined. So I am at one and the same time condemned and referred to a future trial; and my countrymen are to treat me as an outlaw, and then wait to see me con- demned." Of the controversies in which Luther was en- gaged at the close of this period, or from 1523 to L525, we will mention only those which tended to check the progress of the Reformation, namely. his controversies with Erasmus on the freedom of the will; with Carlstadl on the real presence in the eucharisl ; and with Muncer and the peasants on civil government. The controversy with Erasmus derived its im- mediate importance from his great personal influ- ence, and from the support lie had indirectly given to the cause of the Reformation. Doth parties had been eager to claim him, and il was long doubtful which side he would espouse. But, from our point of view, we are led to attach still 394 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1523. greater importance to the remoter consequences, those which are connected with the subject of the controversy ; for, at a subsequent period, both Melancthon and the Lutheran church aban- doned the predestinarian view maintained by Lu- ther, and became converts, in part, to the doctrine advocated by Erasmus. Luther had long been suspicious of Erasmus, and, in a letter to (Ecolampadius, (June 20, 1523,) he gave utterance to his impressions of him in these words : " Although I here and there feel his sharp arrows, yet, as he pretendeth not to be my enemy, so I pretend not to understand his manoeuvres, though I see through him better than he supposeth. He hath accomplished that to which he was called. He hath introduced the languages, and recalled men from their impious studies. Perhaps, with Moses, he is to die in the land of Moab, for, to better studies, which pertain to piety, he doth not advance. I could most earnestly desire that he would abstain from treating of the Scriptures and from his para- phrases ; for he is not equal to this task, and only impedeth his readers in a knowledge of the Scriptures. It is enough for him to have pointed out what is evil ; to reveal what is good, and to lend to the land of promise, is, as I now see, more than he can do." A letter of his, written in May, 1522, had been injudiciously published, in which ho had said: "I knew before that Mosellanus agreed with Erasmus mi predestination. But I think Erasmus knoweth less of predestination than the sophistical scholas- M. 89.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 395 tics know. Nor do I fear thai T shall fall, if I do not change my sentiments. Erasmus is not for- midable in this matter, nor is he generally in what pertaineth to Christianity. . . . T will not provoke him to combat, nor, if he provoke me once and again, will I immediately resent. Nevertheless it seemeth to me not good for him to try the powers of his eloquence on me. ... If, however, he will have a hand in the game, he shall sec that Christ is afraid neither of the gates of hell, nor of the powers of the air; and I, though a stammerer, will boldly meet the eloquent Erasmus without regard to his authority, name, or favour. . . . Salute Mosellanus in my name. I am not estranged from him because he followeth Erasmus rather than me. Tell him to be a lusty Erasmian. The time will come when he will think otherwise." Referring to these two letters, he says, (Oct. 1, 1523:) "My private letter concerning Erasmus, and another written to (Ecolampadius, have been published, which he taketh very ill. Although I have not a single word to take back, if called to defend myself, I am nevertheless not well pleased that letters, written in confidence to intimate friends, should be made public by informers. But the writings of Erasmus will not harm me, if directed against me; neither will they give me confidence, if they support me. I have one who will defend my cause, though all the world rage against what Erasmus calleth my pertinacity. . . . I am resolved not to defend my manner of life and character, but the cause only. Let whoso- ever will, mangle my character as heretofore. . . . 396 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1524. I am sorrowful and afraid when I am praised, and joyful when reproached and maligned. If this seemeth strange to Erasmus, I do not wonder. Let him learn Christ, and bid adieu to human wisdom. The Lord enlighten him and make another man of him." Luther knew that the Papists, and particularly the pope himself, had urged Erasmus to come out against him. He was long kept in painful sus- pense, expecting either an open attack or a private expostulation, and yet receiving neither. lie finally broke the silence in a letter to Erasmus, holding out the olive of peace, but in a way that did not flatter the vanity of the man who had long been regarded as an oracle. " I have long kept silence," he writes, (April 1524,) "that you, as the greater and older, might break it. But, having waited so long in vain, Christian charity, I think, compelleth me to make the beginning. First, I will not complain that you have stood aloof from me, in order to be on better and safer terms with the Papists, my ene- mies. Nor do I take it ill that you have, in some passages in your published works, for the sake of securing their favour or mitigating their wrath, used some bitter and biting expressions relating to me ; for I perceive that the Lord hath not yd given you the fortitude and courage to join me in cheerfully and boldly meeting those monsters with which I have to contend. I am not one to exact of you what is above your powers and your measure. But I tolerate your weakness, and honour the measure of the gifts bestowed on you of God. JE. 40.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 397 The whole world must own that it is a great gift of God in you, and one for which we ought to be thankful, thai through you letters have been made to flourish and prevail, to the manifest aid of the study of the Bible. It was never my desire that you should desert or neglect your gift, and mingle in my combats, wherein your genius and eloquence would, indeed, avail much. But, as you lack the courage, it is safer for you to cultivate your own gift. 1 have only feared this, that my adversaries would persuade you to assail my doctrines, which would compel me to resist you to the face. . . . So much did I wish to say, as evidence of my candid feelings toward you ; and I desire that a spirit may be given you of the Lord, worthy of your name. But if it should not yet be given you, I beg you, if you can do nothing more, to be a mere spectator of my tragedy, and not join my adversaries with your troops, and especially to publish no books against me, as I will publish none against you." That so sensitive a man as Erasmus should feel keenly on the reception of this Letter is what might be anticipated. He replied with evident emotion, repelling the charge of timidity and dissimulation, and claiming to have served the gospel far better than many infatuated writers who make themselves important under its abused name. The influence of Henry VIII., his patron, being added to that of the papal court, prevailed; and in September, L524, Erasmus opened his batteries upon Luther, who replied with unsparing severity. Whatever be the merits of this controversy — and it was 34 308 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1524. conducted with distinguished learning on the one side, and distinguished ability on the other — Eras- mus confesses that he was influenced not wholly by a love of truth, but also by the fear of his ene- mies, the monks, who were exciting against him, as a secret favourer of Luther's doctrines, the ill- will of the court of Rome and of several poten- tates, whose protection and patronage he could not consent to lose. Here, as everywhere, the otherwise virtuous and well-disposed Erasmus cal- culated nicely his own personal interest. Thus these two great and, for the most part, good men, became inveterate enemies of each other. Luther never loved those who taught differently from himself. Carlstadt, Erasmus and Zwingle, when they opposed any of his views, were no less he- retical than Muncer. This was a fault in Luther's character. A few words from Luther's letter to a friend (March 30, 1522) will be sufficient to remind us of his relations to Carlstadt at that time. He there remarks : " I have offended Carlstadt, be- cause I have put a stop to his measures, though I did not condemn his doctrines, except that I did not approve of his labouring so for mere ceremo- nies and external forms, while the true Christian teaching, that of faith and charity, is neglected. For, by his foolish manner of preaching, the people were led to think they were Christians from the sole consideration (which is nothing at all) that, in the communion, they partook both of the bread and the wine ; that they handled them ; that they did not go to confession ; and that they M. 40.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 399 broke down the images. Behold Satan's malice, in resorting to this new expedient to destroy the gospel !" Carlstadt had explained his position thus : "That we are sometimes at variance, is because we do not stand by the word of God, and think we may, by our reason, devise something that will please him. On this wise arc we disagreed on the article of confession. For my part, I have followed the Scriptures, and appeal to my candid hearers. I have also requested the magistrates to forbid, under a severe penalty, preaching any thing which the Scriptures do not contain and teach. Death itself shall not drive me away from the Scriptures. For I know that nothing pleaseth God but what doth conform to his holy word. . . . Therefore I shall build exclusively on the word of God, not regarding what others teach. I know that I shall offend only those who are not Chris- tians." These words have been pronounced, by historians, haughty and insolent. Had Luther uttered them, they would have been pronounced heroic. If Carlstadt did not act according to this stand- ard— if he was fanatical, envious, or unkind in his opposition to Luther — that is quite another mat- ter. Carlstadt was at first compelled by the elector to promise not to preach to the people in the way he had done. After restraining himself about three months, till April, 15_!2, he resolved to publish his views in opposition to Luther. The latter writes, (April 21,) "I have this day suppliantly entreated Carlstadt in private not to 400 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1524. publish any thing against me, for, in that case, I should he obliged to contend with him earnestly. He solemnly affirmed that he would write nothing against me, though the six sheets now in the hands of the rector and judges for examination speak otherwise. Certainly I will not so disre- gard public scandal as to pass over what he hath written. They are endeavouring to persuade him to retract or to suppress what he hath written; I shall not urge it." Mclancthon writes to Spalatin a few days afterward, " It hath been decided that Carlstadt's book shall be suppressed." It would appear that the intimation made by Luther against Carlstadt's good faith was not at this time justified by the result, for the latter returned to the ordinary discharge of his duties, much to the satisfaction of the former. In Janu- ary, 1523, Luther speaks of Carlstadt's lectures in most flattering terms. For three centuries, Carlstadt's moral character has been treated somewhat as Luther's would have been, if only Catholic testimony had been heard. The party interested has been both witness and judge. What, if we were to judge of Zwingle's Christian character by Luther's representations? The truth is, Carlstadt hardly showed a worse spirit, or employed more abusive terms toward Luther, than Luther did toward him. Carlstadt knew that in many things the truth was on his side; and yet, in these, no less than in others, he was crushed by the civil power, which was on the side of Luther. Luther was so zealous to main- tain the doctrine of justification by faith, that he M. 40.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 401 was prepared even to call in question the authority of some portions of Scripture, which seemed to him not to be reconcileable with it. To the Epistle of James, especially, his expressions indicate the strongest repugnance. Indeed, so intemperate was his language in reference to this subject, that Ave cease to wonder why Carlstadt should complain of " the audacity, the unreasonable severity, the violence, the false reasoning, the immodesty and shameless decisions of his friends." "Still," says he, " I will challenge no one, but if I am chal- lenged for the defence of the canon of the Scrip- tures, though I cannot do it as it should be done, I will contend with all my might." He had so far restored the sacrament of the Lord's supper as to distribute the wine as well as the bread to the laity. Luther, "in order not to offend weak consciences," insisted on distributing the bread only, and prevailed. He rejected the practice of elevating and adoring the host, Lu- ther allowed it, and introduced it again. Carl- stadt maintained, that "we should not, in things pertaining to God, regard what the multitude say or think, but look simply to the word of God. Others," he adds, " say that, on account of the weak, wo should not hasten to keep the commands of God; but wait till they become wise and strong." In regard to the ceremonies introduced into the church, he judged as the S\vis< reformers did. that all were to be rejected which had not a warrant in the Bible. "It is sufficiently against the Scriptures if you can find no ground for it in them." Luther asserted, on the contrary, "What- 402 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1524. ever is not against the Scriptures is for the Scrip- tures, and the Scriptures for it. Though Christ hath not commanded adoring of the host, so neither hath he forbidden it." "Not so," said Carlstadt, k- we are bound to the Bible, and no one may decide after the thoughts of his own heart." Carlstadt differed essentially from Luther in re- gard to the use to be made of the Old Testament. With him, the law of Moses was still binding. Luther, on the contrary, had a strong aversion to what he calls a legal and Judaizing religion. Carl- stadt held to the divine authority of the Sabbath from the Old Testament ; Luther believed Chris- tians were free to observe any day as a Sabbath, provided they be uniform in observing it. But Carlstadt was also a mystic, following an inward light. Hence his sympathy with the Zwickau Prophets. He was a singular compound of Zwin- glian, Lutheran and Anabaptist ingredients. The most important difference between him and Luther, and that which most imbittered the latter against him, related to the Lord's supper. He opposed not only transubstantiation, but consub- stantiation, the real presence, and the elevation and adoration of the host, Luther rejected the first, asserted the second and third, and allowed the other two. In regard to the real presence, he says : " In the sacrament is the real body of Christ and the real blood of Christ, so that even the unworthy and ungodly partake of it; ;n u I "partake of it corporally,' too, and not spi- ritually as Carlstadt will have it." After Carl- JE. 40.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 403 stadt had been compelled to keep silence, from 1522 to 1524, and to submit to the superior power and authority of Luther, he could contain himself no longer. lie, therefore, left Witten- berg, and established a press at Jena, through which he could, in a series of publications, give vent to his convictions, so long pent up. lie also preached in several places in that neighbourhood, but chiefly at Orlamunde, a little above Jena, on the Saale. A furious controversy ensued. Both parties exceeded the bounds of Christian propriety and moderation. Carlstadt was now in the vicinity of the Ana- baptist tumults, excited by Muncer. He sympa- thized with them in some things, but disapproved of their disorders. Luther made the most of tins. The work which he wrote against him, he entitled "The Book against the Celestial Prophets."' This was uncandid ; for the controversy related chiefly to the sacrament of the supper. In the south of Germany and in Switzerland, Carlstadt found more adherents than Luther. Banished as an Anabaptist, he was received as a Zwinglian. No doubt this circumstance did much toward producing that intolerant spirit which Luther ever afterward manifested toward Zwingle and his as- sociates. It is not for us to decide the doctrinal question. It is enough to say that those men were as much entitled to the respect and charity of Luther as lie was to their's. We pas> over this whole controversy, and the numerous collo- quies and debates growing out of it, as inappro- priate to the design of this work. 404 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1524. Against the peasants, who, on the one hand, were driven to desperation by the oppression of their rulers, and, on the other, were intoxicated with the new ideas of liberty that had just begun to be proclaimed, Luther wrote and spoke in terms of unmitigated severity. He was a better theo- logian than politician. He held to the divine right of kings, and, consequently, to the doctrine of passive obedience on the part of their subjects. He was justly alarmed lest the fair name of the Reformation should be stained by deeds of vio- lence and blood. In Thuringia, particularly, and under Muncer's influence, the political movements were linked in with fanaticism which led to the wildest disor- ders ; though in the south-west of Germany the insurgents acted more wisely and intelligently. That Luther should, in these circumstances, em- ploy his pen, and even travel from city to city, to allay the excitement and put down the peasants, is not strange. But that he should proclaim doc- trines subversive of all principles of freedom, and be the means of riveting more firmly the already galling chains of despotism, and exciting the des- pots to a bloody revenge, is a matter of regret, if not of wonder. The recent revolutions of Germany are very similar to those attempted in the sixteenth cen- tury. The cause was as sacred then as it is now : we do not say that the means were justifiable. Certainly the theories of government were extra- vagant and grotesque. The failure of the under- taking of Von Sickingen and Von Hut ten, the JE. 38-42.] NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 405 tragic scenes of Alstedt, Frankenhausen and Mtihlhausen, and the counter-revolution in Sua- bia, and the character given to the Reformation as hostile to all political revolutions, retarded the cause of liberty for three centuries. Perhaps it is well that it was so. Perhaps there was not, in that age, a sufficient preparation for the enjoyment and preservation of freedom ; and so the want of enlarged, rational and philo- sophic views of the nature and functions of civil government, which we observe in Luther, is the less to be regretted. To be, at the same time, a religious and a political reformer, is more than can reasonably be demanded of one individual. Of the strict integrity and high moral principles of Luther, in all his transactions, both with princes and with peasants, during these unhappy times, there can be no question. 406 LIFE OF LUTHER. CHAPTER V. LUTHER S CHARACTER AS IT APPEARS IN SOME PARTICULAR SPHERES OF ACTION NOT INCLUDED IN THE GENERAL NAR- RATIVE. Section I. — Luther's Marriage and Domestic Life. 0 fully convinced had Luther been for a long time that a monastic life was an evil, that he pub- lished a tract, show- ing that nuns who had taken the veil, could with a good conscience before God lay it aside again. The monks and it was to be expected that many nuns, who had, hy parental influence or authority, taken the rash vow in their early youth, would feel the tedium of their mo- notonous life and the fetters which robbed them of their liberty, and, consequently, eagerly read those writings which aimed at restoring them to their natural rights, and introducing them unto those social and domestic relations for which nature designed them. A little to the south of were beginning to disband MARRIAGE. 407 Grimma and not very far from Lcipsic was the Cistercian nunnery of Nimptschen, whoso inmates were of noble birth. Luther was at Grimma, with Staupitz and Link, in 151G; and again he spent some time there in L519. The next year the Reformation was introduced into Grimma. Thus the light that was bei>'innin(' consolation, so that we had 44* 522 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1530-1546. all our joys and sorrows in common, and bitter indeed is the separation. I had hoped she would survive me, as the best and first comforter among women for my wife and children." In 1545, the }^ear before his death, Luther be- came dissatisfied, as he had often been before, with the people of Wittenberg for their luxury and wanton pleasures. He even resolved to leave the place and spend the remnant of his days else- where; and in May actually forsook Wittenberg, and went first to Leibnitz to his friend Ernest von Schonfeld; then to Leipsic to see a mercantile friend by the name of Scherle ; afterward to Merseburg to the provost, Prince George of An- halt ; and finally, to Zeitz to visit Amsdorf, now bishop. But the entreaties of a deputation from the elector and from the university induced him to return. His last work was the completion of his Commentary on Genesis, on which he had laboured diligently ten years. The closing words are : " I am weak, and can do no more. Pray God that he may grant me a peaceful, happy death." The Counts of Mansfeld had been for several years at variance with some of their subjects, whom they wished to deprive of their furnaces. Luther's brother-in-law, Mackenrot, was in danger of losing his. Luther had written to Count Al- bert on the subject in 1540 and in 1542, and also to the other two counts, Philip and George. These counts were in controversy also with each other, in respect to what is called the right of patronage. Luther, who had advised them to settle the matter by a reference, was himself re- M. 47-63 ] AT EISLEBEN. 523 quested to be one of the referees, and gave his consent. Though it was contrary to his custom to intermeddle in secular disputes, he yielded in this case, because he was a native of Mansfeld, and owed it a service. He left Wittenberg, Jan- uary 23, 154G, with his three sons, John, Martin and Paul. On the 25th he reached Halle, and stopped with Jonas the three following days, on account of the flood in the river Saale. From this place he wrote to his wife : " Dear Katy, We came hither at eleven o'clock, but did not proceed to Eisleben : for a great Anabaptist met us with his waves and blocks of ice. We could not return on account of the river Mulda. There- fore we were forced to remain at Halle between two floods, not that we were thirsting for these waters, for we have good Torgau beer and Rhenish wine, and indulged in these till the wrath of the Saale should cool off'." On the 28th, Luther, his three sons and Jonas, crossed the river in a boat, not without danger, that they might proceed to Eisleben. No sooner had they reached the boundaries of the county of Mansfeld, than the counts met them with an escort of one hundred and thirteen horsemen. Before reaching Eisleben, Luther was very ill, but re- covered after being rubbed with warm cloths. From January 29th to February 17th, he was engaged every day at Eisleben, with the counts, in settling their difficulties. He became impatient at his apparent want of success, and often wished himself at homo again. February G, he wrote as follows: "To the pro- 524 LIFE OF LUTHER. [1530-1540. foundry learned lady, Catharine Luther, my gra- cious housewife at Wittenberg. Dear Katy, We continue here in a state of vexation, and wish our- selves away ; but that cannot be, I think, within a week. You may tell Melancthon to correct his Postil, for he did not understand why the Lord called riches thorns. This is a school for learning to understand that. . . . Your sons are at Mans- feld. We have enough to eat and to drink, and should have good times, were it not for these dis- agreeable transactions." While at Eisleben, his native place, he com- muned twice, ordained two priests, and preached four times. Three days before his death, he preached in the pulpit, which is still standing, his last sermon, from Matt. xi. 25-30, and closed by saying : " This, and much more, may be said from the passage, but I am too weak, and here we will stop." During his stay at Eisleben, his conversation was unusually rich and impressive, both on religious and other subjects. lie experienced all that ex- hilaration which an old man is wont to have in visiting the place of his birth. Every evening, for those twenty-one clays, he retired, about eight o'clock, from the great hall, where the company transacted their business and took their meals, to his private apartment, and, standing by the win- dow, prayed for a long time so earnestly that Dr. Jonas, M. Coelius, preacher at Mansfeld, his ser- vant Ambrose, and Aurifaber of Weimar, often overheard him. On Wednesday, the 17th of February, the Princes of Anhalt and Count Albert of Mansfeld M. 47-63.] DEATH-SCENE. 525 and his friends generally entreated him not to enter the great hall during the business in the forenoon, but to take repose in his own room. He did so, lying a part of the time upon his leathern couch, walking the room a part of the time, and going to the window at times, and praying so that Jonas and Coelius, who were with him in the room, could hear him. At noon he left his own apart- ment, and dined in the great hall with the com- pany. At table he was heard to say: "If I could only reconcile the rulers of my native place with one another, and then, with God's permission, make the journey, I would go home, and lay my- self down to sleep in my grave, and let the worms devour my body." In the afternoon, before supper, he complained of a painful pressure at the breast, and requested that he might, according to his cus- tom, be rubbed with warm cloths. He experienced a little relief, and was able to take his supper in the hall. His conversation at this time, which is recorded, related to death, eternity and the recog- oition of friends in a future state. As he arose Iron) supper, he went to his room, accompanied by his two sons, Martin and Paul, then fourteen and thirteen years of age respectively, and Coelius. Soon the latter left the room, and Aurifaber en- tered. Luther now complained of a pain in the breast, as before. Jonas and Coelius were imme- diately called, who rubbed him with warm cloths, and Count Albert, who brought with him the shavings from the tooth of a sea-unicorn, a fa- vourite medicine in those days, and Luther took it. He sl.pt till ten o'clock in the evening, and 52G LIFE OF LUTHER. [1530-154G. Jonas, Coelius, his host Albrecht, and his wife, Ambrose and Luther's two sons watched with him. At ten he arose, and attempted to walk, but was obliged to return to his bed. He after- ward slept till one o'clock, and when he awoke he requested Ambrose to make more fire, although the room had been kept very warm. As Jonas asked him whether he felt weak, he replied : " Oh ! how I suffer. Oh ! my dear Jonas, I think I shall die here at Eisleben, where I was born and bap- tized." The friends were awaked and called in. When Jonas spoke encouragingly of his profuse sweat, Luther said, " It is a cold death-sweat ; I must yield up my spirit, for my malady increas- eth." He then prayed fervently, and commended his soul confidently to God. After taking a little medicine, and assuring his friends that he should die, he repeated three times quickly the words : " Father, into thy hands do I commend my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, thou faithful God." He then became quiet. The attendants shook him, rubbed him, and spoke to him, but he closed his eyes and made no reply. Jonas and Coelius then spoke very loud, and said, " Venerable father, do you die trusting in Christ and in the doctrine which you have preached ?" and he answered dis- tinctly, "Yes," and turned upon his right side and seemed to sleep for nearly a quarter of an hour. His friends were encouraged, but the physician told them that it was no favourable symptom. A light was brought near his face, and it was evi- dently turning pale ; and his forehead, lace and feet were becoming cold. After one gentle breath M. 47-63.] FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 527 and sigh, with folded hands, he quietly died, on Thursday, the 18th of February, 1546, between two and three o'clock in the morning, at the age of sixty-two years, three months and eight days, lie was laid out upon a bed till a lead coffin could be cast ; and two painters were employed to take his likeness. On the 19th of February, at two o'clock, a funeral discourse was preached by Justus Jonas before a large audience at St. Andrew's church, which stands nearly opposite the house where Luther died. The corpse remained over night in the church, guarded by ten men. The Counts of Mansfeld desired that he might be buried at Eisle- ben, where he was born and where he died. But the Elector of Saxony was desirous that' his re- mains should be brought to Wittenberg, and depo- sited in the collegiate or electoral church, and the counts yielded to his wishes. Another funeral discourse, however, was pronounced by Michael Coelius, of Mansfeld, before the body was removed from Eisleben. The same day, between twelve and one o'clock, the corpse was removed, a great company follow- ing it to the gate of the city, and the Counts of Mansfeld, with about fifty-five horsemen, proceed- ing with it to Wittenberg. As they passed along the way to Halle, the bells were tolled in the vil- Lages and many people came to express their grief. At five o'clock, as they approached Halle, the clergy, civil authorities, citizens, schools, matrons. virgins and children in great multitudes came out in mourning, and singing funeral hymns to meet 528 EIFE OF LUTHER. [1530-1546. the procession. At one of the churches, to which the body was conveyed at seven o'clock in the evening, one of Luther's hymns was sung amid a flood of tears, and then a watch was stationed there for the night. The next morning, which was Sunday, the procession left the city in the same manner in which they entered it, and reached Bitterfield at noon, where they were received with becoming ceremony. Here they were met by the delegation from Wittenberg sent by the elector. They came as far as Kemberg, and it was even- ing. The next morning, they approached the eastern gate of Wittenberg, and were joined by the widow and sons of the deceased, and a great multitude from the university and the city, and passed amid crowds of people to the church at the other end of the town. Here the funeral cere- monies took r)lace, and a funeral sermon was preached by Bugenhagen, and an address was delivered by Melancthon, after which the remains of Luther were deposited near the pulpit in which he had preached, where they still lie, to attract the attention of the thousands who, after three centuries, still continue to visit Wittenberg, the SEAT OF THE REFORMATION. THE END. y » < v " \j '«Mft WM j mm m Wi vw, mm *'MS : .. ' >£ --rki4:--viiiyw W3*& BW2220.S43c.3 The life of Luther; with special Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Librar 1 1012 00030 7035