THE HISTORY OI THE Protestant Reformation, IK , Germany and Switzerland, ADD IN England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and Northern Europe. In a Series of EssArs; Reviewing D'Atjbigne, Menzel, Hallam, Bishop Short, Prescott, Ranee, Fryxell, and Others. in two volumes Bt M. J. Spalding, D. D. Aechbishop of Baltimore. Vol. I. Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. Seventh Edition, Revised and Enlarged. BALTIMORE: Published by John Murphy & Co. 182 Baltimore Street. 1816. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year I860, by Rt. Rev. M. J. Srilirao, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Kentucky. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, oy JOHN MURPE T, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ©*3 S^yc :#; ¦ cfb Preface to Volume I. About twenty years ago I published a Review of D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. The edition having been soon exhausted, I was often called on by friends to issue a second one; but circumstances beyond my control long prevented me from acceding to their request. During the interval, several editions of D'Aubigne's work were published both in England and America, and two or more new volume's wore added, containing the history of tho German and Swiss Reformation, and commencing that of England. No notice, however, was taken by thp author, so far as I have been able to discover ,-of the facts and reasoning contained in the Review, though the latter was republished in Ireland, and pretty widely circulated. In preparing a second edition, I at first hesitated whether it would be worth while to pay any further attention to a writer, who is clearly so bitter a partisan, and so wholly unreliable as an historian. His pre tended history is, in fact, little better than a romance. He omits more than half tho facts, and either perverts or draws on his imagination for the remainder. This may seerii a strong accusation ; but it is amply borne out by the authorities and specifications contained in the Roviow. Having started out, it would seem, with the pro-dotormination to paint the German Reformers as saints, and the Reformation as the work of God, he makes every thing bend to his preconceived theory. Still, as his work continued to be read, and perhaps believed by a con siderable number of sincere persons, I decided to re-issue the Review in an amended and considerably enlarged form, in order that thoso, who really wished to discover the whole truth in regard to the Reformation, might have an opportunity to read at least some of tho facts on the other side. But, at the same time, I thought it better to enlarge the plan of the work, and to embrace in it' Essays on the rise and history of the Reformation in all the other principal countries of Europe. This is done in the second Volume, in which is furnished a summary of the principal facts connected with the rise and progress of the Rcfor- ¦ motion in England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and Horthern" Europe. These Essays aro mostly Reviews of different Protes tant works, and hence the style of the Reviewer, which has been adopted in tho original publication, has been preserved throughout both Volumes. The range of-the present publication is thus very wide ; and I feel that I havo not been able, in so brief a compass, to do full justice to a subject, upon which so may learned volumes have been written on both sides. Still I am conscious of haying honestly endeavored to do whatever I was ablOj to throw light upon a department of history so very important in itself and in its practical bearings, and so little understood among our separated brethren. iii IT PREFACE. My principal object has been, to condense within a brief space a con siderable amount of'facts and authorities, which, aro scattered over many works not easily accessible to the mass of readers. Seeking to be useful rather than original, I have preferred to let' others speak, whenever I thought their testimony would be likely to prove more weighty than my own words or reasoning. I have hence generally preferred Protestant to Catholic testimony; and the only merit I claim, besides that of an honest and earnest wish to promote the cause of truth, is that of some industry in collecting, and endeavoring to condense arid 'knit together Protestant authorities, in regard to the character of the Reformers and of the Reformation. The testimony of such witnesses is not likely to be undervalued or impeached by those who are outside the Catholic Church. Prefixed to the first Volume, will be found an Introductory Essay on the religious and moral condition of Europe before the Reformation ; and to the second, a similar one on England. during the centuries; which pre- coded the reign of Henry VIII. These general views are deemed import ant for a better understanding and a more correct appreciation of the Reformation itself, the champions of which are intho habit of justifying it on the ground of alleged abuses and corruptions running through many centuries, and deemed incurable by any other means than that of total separation from the Old Church of our fathers I have also added, at the end of each Volume, some Notes containing valuable documentary evidence. The work, thus enlarged in the second edition, soon passed to a third ; and now the fourth edition is presented, with honest intent to the Ameri can Public. If I shall succeed in bringing back even one honest inquirer from the mazes of error into "the One Fold of the One Shepherd," my labor will not have been wholly in vain. Baltimore, Easter Monday, 1865. Announcement, oe a New Edition. ' Archbishop Spalding had intended to issue a complete and uniform edition of all his works; and he was occupied with this task when his last illness came upon him. The new and revised edition of the History of the Reformation, the Evidences of Catholicity, and the Mis cellanea, which is now offered to the Public, was prepared by Archr bishop Spalding himself— -the corrections and additions being from his own hand. To the Evidences of Catholicity, as the reader will perceive, he has added his Pastoral Letter on the Infallibility of the Pope ; and to the History of the Reformation^ he has appended an Article entitled: Rome and Geneva. The Life of Bishop Flaget and the Sketches of Kentucky, whioh Archbishop Spalding Intended to re-write and publish in one volume, are not contained in the present edition of his works, since the corrections and additions, which it had been his purpose to make, are incomplete. Baltimore, Sept. 8, 1875. GENERAL DIVISION. INTRODUCTION. Pio«, View of Europe before the Reformation, ... .11 PART I. Character of the Reformers, 71 PART II. Causes and Manner of the Reformation, 102 PART III. Influence of the Reformation on Religion, .... 221 PART IV. < Influence of the Reformation on Society, 315 Contents of Volume I. INTRODUCTION. View op Europe before the Reformation, pp. 17-70. Utility of this retrospective view 17 Tho origin of European Governments 18 The Northmen 18 Rome the Civilizer 19 Protestant testimony 20 The Pope and the Emperor 21 Charlemagne : 21 Guelphs and Ghibellines 24 Temporal power of the Pope 24 Three great facts 25 Freedom of the Church 26 Election of Bishops 27 Catholic munificence in middle ages 28 The Truce of God 30 Question of Investitures 32 Horrible abuses 32 Gregory VII. and Henry IV 32 The Controversy settled 35 But its germs remain 36 Modern historic justice 38 Growth of Mam monism 39 Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 40 Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair 41 Faction and heresy , 44 The new Manicheans. 44 The Flagellants 45 The Great Schism 46 The Papacy comes out of it unscathed 47 Catholic Reformation 47 Overcoming Scandals 49 The Hussites..., 50 Preponderance of Good over Evil 51 The Monasteries 52 Dr. Maitland's testimony 52 Dr. Robertson convicted of gross misrepre sentations 53 Homily of St. Eligius 53 His warning against idolatry and superstition 50 A model mediaeval Homily 57 St. Bernard and St. Vincent Ferrer 59 The Pragmatic Sanction 61 Its mischievous tendency 61 fetter of Pope Pius II 62 Preparation for the Reformation 63 Revival of Learning.. 63 Art of Printing .-. 64 Italy leads the way 64 Testimony of Macaulay 64 The Humanists and Dominicans 66 The Pope and Liberty 66 Testimony of Laing 67 Summing up 67 Four conclusions reached 68 What we propose to examine and prove. 70 PART I. CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. CHAPTER I. Luther and the Other German Reformers, pp. 71-101. D'Aubigne's opinion 71 A reformed key 72 .Luther's parents 72 His early training. 73 A naughty boy 73 Conyents 74 Being " led to God," and " not led to1 God"... 74 He enters the Augustinian convent 74 Austerities 75 A "bread bag" 75 nis faith and scruples 75 His humility and zeal -. 76 Luther a reformer 76 Grows worse 77 Becomes reckless 78 His sincerity tested 79 Saying and unsaying 80 Misgivings 80 Tortuous windings 81 How to spite the Pope... 83 Curious incident 84 Melancthon and his mother 85 Luther's talents and eloquence 85 His taste 86 His courage and fawning 86 His violence and coarseness 87 Not excusable by the spirit of his age 89 His blasphemies 89 Recrimination 89 Christian compliments... .: 89 "Conference with the devil" «, 90 Which got the better of the argument 90 Luther's morality 91 Table-talk ¦¦ 91 His sermon on marriage ¦ 92 A Vixen 98 How to do "mischief to the Pope" 98 A striking contrast 98 How to fulfil vows 98 His marriage _ 98 Misgivings - " 98 Epigrams and satires .¦ 98 Curious incidents in his last sickness 99 Death-bed confession 100 His death 100 The reformed key used 101 Character of the other reformers 101 CONTENTS. PART IL CAUSES AND MANNER OF THE REFORMATION. CHAPTER II. Character of the Reformation — Theory of D'Aubigne Examined, pp. 102-109. The question stated j 102 D'Aubignfi's opinion 102 Mother and daughter 103 Argumentum ad hominem 103 Jumping at a conclusion 104 Second causes 105 Why Germany was converted 105 Why Italy and Spain were not,.... 106 Luther and Mohammed 107 Reasoning by contraries 107 Why France continued Catholic..., 108 CHAPTER III. Pretexts for the Reformation, pp. 110-128. Usual plea.... 110 Abuses greatly exaggerated 110 Three questions put and answered Ill Origin of abuses Ill Free-will unimpaired .". Ill Councils to extirpate abuses 112 Church thwarted by princes and the world.. 113 Controversy on Investitures .' 113 Extent of the evil , 113 Sale of indulgences 114 Sti Peter's Church 114 JohnTetzel 116 His errors greatly exaggerated 116 Public penance 117 License to sin .*. 118 Nature of indulgences....... 118 Tetzel rebuked and his conduct disavowed by Rome 118 Miltitz and Cardinal Cajetan.i 119 Kindness thrown away 119 Luther in tears 119 Efforts of Rome 120 Leo X. and Adrian VI 120 Their forbearance censured by Catholic - writers .*.... : 120 Their tardy severity justified by D'AubignG.. 121 Luther's real purpose '. 122 The proper remedy. ; 122 The real issue , 124 Nullification 125 "Curing and cutting a throat" 125 Luther's avowal , 126 Admissions of the confession of Augsburg and of Daille 127 Summing up 128 CHAPTER IV. The True Causes of the Reformation, and the Means by "which it was Effected, pp. 128-167. Saying of Frederick the Great 128 What we mean to prove 129 Testimony of Hallam 129 Doctrines of Luther .' 131 Justification without works...: 131 Its dreadful consequences avowed 131 The "slave-will" 133 Man, a beast.with two riders 134 Dissuasive from celibacy..... 134 An easy way to heaven 135 D'Aubigne's discreet silence 136 Testimony of the Diet of VformB on Lu ther's doctrines 136 An old lady emancipated 138 Protection of princes 138 Schlogel's testimony 139 The reformers flatter princes and pander to ' their vices 139 Remarkable avowals of Menzel 139 The Reformation and state policy 140 The princes become bishops 142 A reformed dispensation 142 Character of reformed princes 143 Their cupidity 143 Fed by Luther 143 Protestant restitution 143 Open violence and sacrilegious spoliation..! 144 The modus operandi of the Reformation.... 154 Schlegel again.... 156 Abuse of the press 158 Vituperation and calumny 159 Policy of Luther's marriage 163 Apostate monks 163 Recapitulation .' 164 A distinction 165 The Reformation " a reappearance of Chris tianity" 16G CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER V. The Reformation in Switzerland — Zurich, pp. 167-181. The Reformation in Switzerland more radi cal than that in Germany 168 Yet like it 168 Sows dissensions 168 Zuingle warlike and superstitious 169 Claims precedency over Luther 169 Black or white 170 Precursory disturbances...' 171 Aldermen deciding on faith 172 How the fortress was entrenched 172 Riot and conflagration : 172 Enlightenment 173 Protestant martyrs 173 Suppression of the Mass 174 Solwnwity of the, reformed worship 175 Downright paganism 175 The Reformation and matrimony 176 Zuingle's marriage and misgivings 177 Romance among nuns 177 How to get a husband 178 Perversion of Scripture 179 St.PaVil on celibacy 179 Recapitulation...., 180 CHAPTER VI. The Reformation in Switzerland — Berne, pp. 181-201. History by Louis De Haller 181 A standard authority 181 Berne tho centre of operations 182 De Haller's point of view. 182 His character as an historian ' 183 His authorities '. 183 Wavering of Berne 184 Tortuous policy 185 How she embraced the. reform 185 The bear and thenars 185 Treacherous perjury of Berne 186 Zuinglian council 186 Its decrees 186 Religious liberty crushed 1S7 Riot and sacrilege 187 Proceedings of Bernese commissioners 188 Downright tyranny 188 The minister Farel 189 His fiery zeal 189 An appalling picture 189 A parallel 190 Priests hunted down 191 Character of the ministers 192 Avowal of Capito 192 The glorious privilege of private judgment.. 192 How consistent! 193 Persecution of brother Protestants 194 Drowning the Anabaptists 194 Reformation in Geneva 194 Rapid summary of horrors '. 195 The Bernese army of invasion 195 The Bword and the Bible 195 Forbearance of Catholics 19G Affecting incident at Soleure 197 The war of Cappell 198 Points of resemblance 198 An armed apostle 199 A prophet quailing before danger 199 Battle of Cappell 200 Death of Zuingle 200 Triumph of Catholic cantons 200 Treaty of peace 200 CHAPTER VII. Reaction of Catholicity and Decline of Protestantism, pp. 201-220. Two parallel developments 202 The brave old ship 202 Modern Protestantism quite powerless 203 A "thorough godly reformation" needed.... 204 Qualities for a reformer 204 The three days' battle 204 The puzzle : 205 A thing doomed 205 Which gained the victory? 206 The French revolution 206 RankS and Hallam 208 The rush of waters stayed 208 Persecution 209 Protestant spice 209 The Council of Trent 210 Revival of piety : 210 The Jesuits ; 211 Leading causes and practical results 212 Decline of Protestantism 212 Apt comparison 213 What stemmed the current? 213 Thread of Ariadne 214 Divine Providence ; 214 Reaction of Catholicity. , 214 Casaubon and Grotius : 215 Why they were not converted 216 Ancient and modern Puseyism 216 Justus Lipsius and Cassander 216 The inference 217 , Splendid passage of Macaulay..., 217 Catholicity and enlightenment 219 Tho Church indestructible 219 General gravitation to Rome 220 The circle and its center 220 CONTENTS. PART III. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON RELIGION. CHAPTER VIII. Influence of the Reformation on Doctrinal Belief, pp. 221-244. The nature of Religion 221 A golden chain 221 Question stated 222 Private judgment^. •¦ 223 Church authority 223 As many religions as heads 224 D'Aubigne's theory 224 ItB poetic beauty 224 Fever of logmachy 226 "Sons of liberty" 227 The Bible dissected 227 A hydra-headed monster 228 Erasmus 229 "Curing a lame horse" 229 Luther puzzled 229 His plaint. 229 His inconsistency 230 Missions and miracles 231 Zuingle's inconsistency 232 Strange fanaticism..! 233 Storck 233 Miinzer... 233 Karlstadt, and John of Leyden 233 A new deluge 234 Retorting the argument 235 Discussion at the "Black Boar" 237 Luther and the cobbler. 238 Discussion at Marburg. 239 Luther's avowal..... 240 Breaking necks 241 Melancthon's lament. 241 The inference 241 Protestantism the mother of infidelity 242 Picture of modern Protestantism in Ger many by Schlegel .¦• 244 CHAPTER IX. Influence of the Reformation on Morals, pp. 245-274. Two methods of investigation 245 Connection of doctrine and morals 245 Salutary influence of Catholic doctrines 246 Of confession .- 246 Objections answered 246 Of celibacy 249 Its manifold advantages 250 Utility of the doctrines of satisfaction and indulgences 250 Of fasting 251 Of prayers for the dead , 252 Of communion of saints 252 Sanctity of marriage 253 Divorces 253 Influence of Protestant doctrines 254 Shocking disorders 255 Testimony of Erasmus 255 Bigamy and polygamy 256 Mohammedanism 257 Practical results 257 Testimonies of Luther, Bucer, Calvin, and Melancthon 258 The reformers testifying on their own work.. 259 Dbllinger's researches 260 Character of Erasmus'. 269 John Reuchlin '. 270 Present state of morals in Protestant coun tries 270 CHAPTER X. The Influence of the Reformation on Public Worship, pp. 274^-287. General influence of the Reformation on worship :. 274 Audin's picture of it 275 Luther rebukes violence 275 But wavers 276 Giving life to a skeleton 276 Taking a leap .' 277 Mutilating the sacraments 277 New system of Judaism 278 Chasing away the mists 278 Protestant inconsistencies .278 A dreary waste 279 No altars nor sacrifice 279 A land of mourning 279 Protestant plaints 280 And tribute to Catholic worship 286 A touching anecdote 281 Continual prayer 281 Vandalism rebuked 282 Grandeur of Catholic worship 282 Churches always open..... , 283 Protestant worship ¦• 283 The Sabbath d&y 284 Getting up a revival 285 Protestant music and prayer. 285 The' pew system 285 The fashionable, religion y. 286 The two forms of worship compared 286 St. Peter's church 286 The fine arts 28" CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XI. Influence op the Repobmatiosi on the Bible, ok Bible Reading, and Bibli cal Studies, pp. 288-314.- In Iceland 300 Syriac and Armenian versions 300 Summary and Inference. 300 Polyglots 3j)l Luther'B false assertion ; 302 Reading the Bible 303 Fourth rule of the index 301 A religious vertigo remedied 304 More harm than good 304 Present discipline 300 A common slander. 306 Protestant versions 306 Mutual compliments 307 Version of King James 308 The Douay and Vulgate Bibles 309 Private interpretation 311 German rationalism..... 311 Its blasphemies ; 312 Rationalism in Geneva ; , 314 Protestant boastings .....v 288 Theory of D'AubignG 289 Luther finds a Bible _ 289 How absurd! _ 290 The "chained Bible" 290 Maitland's triumphant refutation 290 Seckenorf versus D'Aubigne 292 Menzel's testimony 293 The Catholic Church and the Bible 293 The Latin language 293 Vernacular versions before Luther's 295 In Germany. 295 In Italy 297 In France 298 In Spain _ 298 In England _ _ _ 299 In Flanders 299 In Sclavonia. 300 In Sweden _ 300 PART IV. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON SOCIETY. CHAPTER XII. Influence op the Reformation on Religious Liberty, pp. 315-344. Stating the question 315 Two aspects — 316 Professions -...-* 316 D'Aubignfi's theory. 317 "Combating" ad libitum 318 Diversities and sects 320 Inconsistency 320 Early Protestant intolerance 321 The mother and her recreant daughter 322 Facts on persecution of each other by early Protestants 322 Of Karlstadt. — 323 Luther the cause of it « 323 Persecution of Anabaptists 325 Synod at Homburg. —™ 326 Luther's letter - 327 Zuingle. The drowned Jew Calvinistic intolerance Persecution of Catholics Diet of Spires Name of Protestant A stubborn truth Strange casuistry Convention at Smalkalde Testimony of Menzel Cujus Regio, ejus Religio Union of church and state A bear's embrace Hallam's testimony Parallel between Catholic and Protestant countries —-~ 330 330 330 831332 332 333 333 340341342 CHAPTER XIII. Influence of the Reformation on Civil Liberty, pp. 344-370. Boasting. 344 Theory of government - 345 Political liberty 345 Four things guarantied « 345 Pursuit of happiness «.. — .„. 346 The Popes and liberty 347 RightB of property 348 Use made of confiscated tJhurch property ... 349 The Attila of the Reformation. 350 Par nobile fratrum....; 350 Spoliation of Catholics -... 351 Contempt of testamentary dispositions 351 The jus manuale abolished 352 And restored 353 Disregard of life 353 And crushing of popular liberty. 354 The war of the peasants 354 Two charges made good 854 Grievances of the peasants - 355 Drowned in blood 355 Remarkable testimony of Menzel 355 Luther's agency therein 356 Halting between two extremes 356 Result 35J Absolute despotism..- 361 Swiss cantons 362 D'Aubigne" puzzled 363 Liberty, a mountain nymph -. 364 The old mother of republics 364 Security to character...—*. 365 Recapitulation..... *.— « »,« 366 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. "The Reformation at Geneva, and its Influence on Civil and Religious * Liberty, pp. 370-392. Character of Calvinism 370 Protestant historians...: 370 The " Registers" 371 Audin 372 Calvin's character...' 372 His activity 373 His heartlessness 373 Luther and Calvin compared 375 Early liberties of Geneva 376 The "Libertines" 378 Blue laws 379 Spy system 380 Persecution 380 Death of Gruet SS0 Burning of Servetus 381 Hallam's testimony 386 Morals of Calvin 388 His zeal......; : , 389 His complicated diseases 389 His last will 390 His awful dea"th and mysterious burial....... 390 A douceur 391 The inference 392 CHAPTER XV. Influence of the Reformation o:n Literature, pp. 393-428. Light1 and darkness 393 Boast of D'Aubigne : 393 Two sets of barbarians 394 Catholic and Protestant art 395 The "painter of the Reformation" 396 Two witnesses against D'Aubigne 396 Schlegel ;... 396 Hallam 396 "Bellowing in bad Latin" 399 Testimony of Erasmus 400 Destruction of monasteries 401 Literary drought 402 Luther's plaint 402 Awful desolation 403 An "iron padlock" 403 Early Protestant schools 404 D'Aubigne's omissions.; 404 Bwrning zeal 404 Light and flame 406 Zeal for ignorance 406 Burning of libraries 407 Rothman and Omar.. 407 Disputatious theology 407' Its practical results 408 Morbid taste 409 The Stagirite 410 Mutual distrust • 410 Case of Galileo 411 Liberty of the press. 413 Old and new style 414 Religious wars 414 Anecdote of Reuchlin ,....i 415 Italy pre-eminent 416 Plaint of Leibnitz 417 Revival of letters 417 A shallow sophism 418 A parallel 418 Great inventions 420 Literary ages 421 Protestant testimony...... 421 DSllinger's testimony of the reformers themselves ; 422 CHAPTER XVI. Influence of the Reformation on Civilization, pp. 428-449. Definition 428 Religion,, the basis 430 Reclaiming from barbarism 430 British East India possessions 431 Catholic Missions — Sandwich Islands 434 Catholic and Protestant conquests 435 The mother of civilization .' 435 The ark amid the deluge 435 Rome converts the nations 436 Early German civilization .'. 438 Mohammedanism 433 The Crusades 439 The Popes 439 Luther and the Turks 440 Luther retracts 441 Religious wars in Germany.... 443 Thirty Years' War 443 General peace 446 Disturbed by the Reformation 447 Comparison between Protestant and Catho lic countries 447 Tribunal of the Reformation 452 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. iNote A.— An. Historical Account of the Opinions that the First Reformers have Given of One Another, and of the Effects of Their Preaching.. 463 Note B.— Luther's Conference with the Devil 476 Note C. — Permission Granted to Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, by Luther and Other Re formers, to 'have two "Wives at Once 4£2 Note D.— Rome and Geneva '..,, ;.,, 495 THE REFORMATION IN . GERMANY ,AND SWITZERLAND. VIEW OF EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Utility of this retrospective view — The origin of European Governments— The Northmen — Rome the Civilizer — Protestant testimony — The Pope and the Emperor — Charlemagne — Guelphs and Ghihellines — Temporal power of the Pope — Three great facts — Freedom of the Church — Election of Bishops — Catholic munificence in middle ages — The Truce of God — Question of Investitures — Horrible abuses — Gregory VII. and Henry IV. — The Controversy settled — But its germs remain — Modern historic' justice — Growth of Mammonism— Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries — Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair — Faction and heresy — The new Mani- cheans — The Flagellants — The Great Schism — The Papacy comes out of it unscathed — Catholic Reformation — Overcoming Scandals — The Hussites — Preponderance of Good over Evil — The Monasteries — Dr. Maitland's testimony — Dr. Robertson convicted of gross misrepresentations — Homily of St. Eligius — His warning against idolatry and superstition — A model mediaeval Homily — St. Bernard and St. Vincent Ferrer — The Pragmatic Sanction — Its mischievous tendency — Letter of Pope Pius II. — Preparation for the Reformation- Revival of Learning — Art of Printing — Italy leads the way — Testimony of Macaulay — The Humanists and Dominicans — The Pope and Liberty— Testimony of Laing — Summing up— Four con clusions reached — What we propose to examine and prove. The rapidity with which the revolution, called by its friends ihe Reformation, succeeded throughout a considerable portion of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century, can scarcely be properly appreciated, or even fully understood, without referring to the m,oral .and religious condition of Europe during the preceding centuries. Hence we can not vol. i.— 2 C 17 i 18 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. probably furnish a more suitable introduction to our essays on the history of the Protestant Keformation in Germany, than by attempting to. present to our readers a rapid retro spective view of European society during the period usually called the' middle ages — extending from the fifth to the six teenth century. Our survey must necessarily be very brief and summary, and we shall confine ourselves to those events, or groups of facts, which may appear to have had the greatest influence on the coming religious revolution. While most of our remarks will be general, many of the facts we shall have to allege wills be specially connected with mediaeval German history, and with the repeated and occasionally, protracted struggles between the German emperors and the Popes. Without taking some such an historical retrospect, we will hardly be prepared to understand how the minds of Chris tians, especially in Germany, become so suddenly ripe for revolt against the time-honored authority of the old Church, 'and particularly against that of the sovereign pontifis, to whom they were so greatly indebted. The people who laid the foundations of almost all the modern European nations, and who shaped the great dynasties which have since resulted, after many vicissitudes, in the present settled — at least consolidated — governments of Europe, were mainly the descendants of the Northern hordes, who overran Europe in the fifth and following centuries. This is more particularly the case in regard to Germany, where the North men established, with but slight modifications, their own peculiar laws and customs. In France, Italy, and Spain, these peculiar Germanic customs were modified, to a greater or less extent, by pre-existing laws and usages ; some of which were retained when the original population had become amal gamated with their conquerors. • The Northmen, who thus shaped the destiny of modern Europe, were originally either downright heathens — lite the Huns-'-or else barbarians, with a slight tincture of Christi anity in the form of the Arian heresy — like a portion of the NORTHMEN — ROME THE CIVILIZER. 19 Goths and Vandals. Little could certainly be expected from such men for the benefit of civilization. Their destiny seemed to be to destroy, not to build up. They annihilated the old pagan civilization, which, under the shadow of the victorious Eoman eagles, had pervaded the greater portion of Europe ; — could it be reasonably expected that they would be able to build up, amidst its desolate ruins, with which they had strewn and cumbered the European soil, a newer and better condition of society ? They needed civilizing themselves ; — how could they hope to be capable of civilizing others ? In the deplorable state of wide-spread desolation and social anarchy which overspread Europe for two or three centuries, in consequence of the successive barbarian invasions and the fall of the Roman empire in the West, nothing that was merely Tiumam, could possibly have saved European society from utter and irretrievable ruin. All civilization seemed utterly hope less, and simply impossible. No merely human philosophy or legislation could have brought order out of such chaos, light out of such darkness. An element possessing more than earthly power and energy was imperatively needed; and fortunately for humanity and civilization, this element was provided by the Church of Christ. The Church, and the Church alone, saved European society, and thereby 'rendered all subsequent civilization not only possible, but certain. The Church founded by the Man-God, built upon a rock, having her foundation cemented by His blood, and firmly secured from falling away by His infallible promises, was alone able to meet the emergency, and to assure .the prosperous future of European society. The fierce barbarians had conquered pagan Eome, and had made the environs of its splendid capital a dreary marble wilderness, strewn with broken columns and shattered cor nices; but they could not conquer the Church, which had been established by the Son of the living God. On the con trary, the Church conquered them. The victorious Roman eagles now lay trailing in the dust, but the Cross — the noble 20 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. banner of the Church — was still erect and waving victoriously amidst the universal ruin and desolation. Nay, more; the Cross was carried in triumph from Christian Rome to the furthest fastnesses of the North, conquering the conquerors of pagan Rome, and thus becoming afterward their own cherished banner of victory. From the fifth to the twelfth century, an all-conquering and glorious, because bloodless and humanizing invasion, rolled from the South to the North, in compensatfon for the all-destroying invasion which had rolled from the North to the South. Thus Christian Rome nobly avenged the disasters which had overwhelmed the imperial city of the Caesars: she repaid evil with good, and scattered unutterable blessings among those Who had brought ruin to her hearth-stone, and her once pagan altars. No fact of history is better attested, than that the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church alone, Christianized, human ized, and civilized the various European nations, which now occupy the first place in civilization, and from whieh we in America are all descended. Intelligent and learned men of all shades of religious opinion have freely admitted this fact, without the acknowledgment of which, all modern history would, in truth, be wholly unintelligible, and would present a series of insolvable enigmas. This has been well understood and freely acknowledged by such men as Guizot, in France, Schlegel, Voigt, Hurter, Gorres, Mulier, Dollinger, and a host of others in Germany, Hallam, Roscoe, and Maitland, in England, and a multitude of other learned historians, who have laboriously investigated the subjectof mediaeval history, and have given to the world, during the last half century, the result of their researches. These researches have proved as important to the cause of historie truth, as they have been honorable to the Church, from whose brow no bne can now tear the laurel wreath of victory over barbarism, which has been placed upon it by the willing hands of her enemies themselves. The deliberate verdict of modern history is, that the Catholic Church has been the mother of civilization, and THE FOPE AND THE EMPEROR — CHARLEMAGNE. 21 it cannot be set aside by either self-glorifying ignorance, or partisan prejudice. The history of the Reformation in Germany, particularly. must be viewed in the light of this great fact. No portion of Europe, probably, owed a greater debt of gratitude to Rome, than Germany. It was Christian Rome which sent to her the missionary apostles, who, armed with commissions from the Popes, successively converted her people, and who subse quently labored with diligent and successful charity and zeal to soften their manners, to control their passions, to reform their legislation, and to raise them ultimately to that high degree of civilization to which they subsequently attained. The Germans were indebted to Rome, and chiefly to the Roman pontiffs, for all the principal elements of their civili zation, and for all that constituted their greatness as a people. How all this was lost sight of, or forgotten, at the period of the Reformation, and how the benefits of Rome were rt paid with insults and injury, we shall see in the sequel. Our present, purpose requires us to dwell more particularly on the manner in which the Church grew up and flourished, in vigor and holiness, throughout Germany and other European coun tries, and on the origin and history of the frequent conflicts which arose at different periods of the middle ages, between the Roman pontiffs and the different princes of Europe, par ticularly the German emperors. The relations between the Popes and the German emperors were, from an early period, manifold and intimate. The latter had been indebted to the former, not only for their title, but for tide much more extended powers with which this was accompanied. In solemnly crowning Charlemagne emperor of the Romans, in St. Peter's church, on Christmas day, A. D, 800, Pope Leo HI. had laid the foundations of the new Christian empire in the West, which was to take the place of the old pagan empire that had fallen. The very title of the newly- sreated, or newly-confirmed dynasty implied — what the facts oi mediaeval history more fully establish — that the Romar 2 , 22 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. pontiffs constituted an integral, if not an essential element of the new civil organization. It belonged to them not only to crown the new emperor, but to recognize and pass judgment upon his claim to the throne, whenever there were several rival aspirants for the honor. Their advice was sought, and their judgment invoked, in almost every great political emer gency, often by the emperors themselves, more frequently still by the people, whom the tyranny of the latter aggrieved or : oppressed. * Theirs was, in fact, the only voice which could make itself heard amidst the clamor of factions and the tur moil of society, so common throughout the middle ages — a stormy period of transition, in which Europe was preparing for the more consolidated and stable forms which her govern ments have since assumed. The original empire of Charlemagne embraced Germany, France, and a great portion of Europe. It was colossal' in its proportions^ and it was administered with rare vigor, genius, and ability, by its great founder. But genius is not hereditary, and his vast empire was divided, after his death, among his children and successors, who possessed but a small share of his eminent qualities, either of head or of heart. The French kings henceforth vied with the German emperors in their aspi rations to control the fortunes of continental Europe. But the emperors claimed a commanding influence over Italy, which they have retained, with some exceptions and vicissi tudes, almost down, to the present day.* This claim, and the disastrous consequences to Italy, which often resulted from its exaggerated or undue exercise, constituted the fruitful source * The recent war in Italy was undertaken under the pretense of securing Italian freedom, by .diminishing the influence of Austria in the peninsula The sequel has, however, proved that a much deeper game was intended to be played by "the Sphinx of the Tuilleries" — Napoleon III. The robbery of the Church and the spoliation of the Pope seem to have been the ultimate objects contemplated, under the specious pretext of Italian independence. Though the policy is not yet fully worked out, these appear, from the facts, to have been its leading elements from the very. commencement of the war. May the events of the future fail to fulfill the indications of the present ' SSn-* often has the name of Hberty been abused in the world's history ! TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPE. 23 of most of the contests between them and the Popes, who were the oldest as well as the best of the Italian sovereigns, and, as such, naturally felt a lively interest in all that con cerned the welfare of Italy. The Italians, oppressed and down-trodden by the German emperors, instinctively turned their eyes to the Roman pontiffs, and implored their powerful succor against the overwhelming forces brought against them by the imperial invaders Qf their independence and rights. They had no other resource left to them in their helplessness ; and their earnest appeals were seldom made in vain. The Popes were themselves comparatively weak and power less, as temporal sovereigns, but they were strong in the armor of God. When moral suasion failed, they hesitated not to hurl the thunder-bolt of excommunication at the head of the imperial tyrant who dared trample on the sacred rights of his people. The Lombard League of the twelfth century, in which the Italian cities of the North banded together to oppose the encroachments of the imperial tyrant Frederic Barbarossa, furnishes one out of many striking illustrations of this remark. Pope Alexander III. was unanimously chosen as the' head of this famous League, which, under his auspices, succeeded in expelling the tyrant, and establishing, for a time at least, Italian independence. The free cities and the repub lics of Northern and Central Italy grew up and flourished1 under the influence of this triumph of patriotism over foreign invasion, of Italian freedom over German despotism ; and the liberated and grateful Italians named their newly-founded city of Alexandria, after the illustrious and successful cham pion of their rights ; while the imperial tyrant was induced to expiate his cruelties by taking the cross, and marching as a crusader to the holy land. But though foiled in this attempt to crush Italian independ ence, the German emperors did not give up their claim to be the rulers — at least the arbiters — of Italy. They estalK lished and maintained for centuries in this beautiful country ii powerful party, wholly attached to tl eir interests. The 24 EUROPE BEOFRE THE REFORMATION. Ghibellines were imperialists, while the opposing party of the Guelphs were the advocates of Italian liberty. The struggles of these two parties for the ascendency was the fruitful source of troubles and of bloody civil feuds during all the latter half of the middle ages. These fratricidal strifes kept alive the flames of civil war, and deluged with blood the streets of the Italian cities, from the middle of the thirteenth to the middle of the fifteenth century. The overshadowing influence and the rich patronage of the German emperors, who lavished their wealth on the Ghibelline faction, kept alive this detest able party, and rendered its powerful members most danger ous elements of Italian society. ' It is almost needless to say, that the Popes, while endeavoring to soothe the angry passions of both 'parties, generally took sides with the- Guelphs, and that they did every thing in their power to heal the bloody feuds which were so very disastrous to Italian interests. But their efforts were not always successful, and they them selves were compelled frequently to bend to, the storm, and to feel in their own persons its desolating influence. They^ were sometimes driven frorn Rome by the triumphant im perialists ; and one cause of their long sojourn at Avignon was precisely this, that in consequence of the fearful condition to which Central and Northern Italy had been reduced by these truculent factions, Rome had become almost wholly uninhabitable. Whatever opinion may be entertained in reference to the origin and merits of the various successive contests which were carried on between the German emperors, and occasion ally the French kings, on the one, side, and the Roman pon tiffs on the other, and particularly in regard to the origin and grounds of the claim to temporal power set up by several of the pontiffs during the period in question, we think that no im partial man, who is well versed in the history of those times, will be disposed to deny any one of the three following propo sitions — each one of which could be substantiated by a volume of e-? idence : THREE GREAT FACTS. * 25 1. That the Popes were drawn into ue vortex jf tem poral affairs and political agitation by the train of circum stances — already alluded to — which originated European society, and which rendered it an imperative necessity that they should interpose, if they would arrest anarchy and seek to save society from utter ruin. 2. That when thus drawn into the vortex, their influence was generally highly beneficial to society, by being thrown on the side of virtue struggling, against vice, and of popular freedom battling against imperial or royal despotism. And, 3. That to their interposition mainly do we owe it, that the Church was enabled to preserve, to a great extent, her own independence and freedom of action, and was thus in a position to continue successfully her heavenly mission for humanizing and civilizing European society ; which without this influence would most certainly have relapsed into barbar ism — even if it had ever been able to emerge from barbarism. No other power than that of the Catholic Church, wielded by its chief executive — the Roman pontiffs — could ever have checked lawless and overwhelming tyranny, could ever have effectually shielded popular rights from oppression, could ever have successfully defended female chastity from imperial and royal licentiousness, by fully guarantying to all the sacred rights, and by defending the duties, of Christian marriage ; con.d ever, in one word, have arrested the torrent of mere brute force, which was sweeping over Europe 'and threatening it with destruction. Amidst the din of arms and the clamor of .the passions, no other voice could be heard than that which came from Rome ; and even this voice was not always heeded by those, whose headlong passions so blinded them to the promptings of faith as to render them not unfrequently deaf to its eloquent ex postulations or terrible menaces. If the middle ages were pre-eminently ages of faith, they were none the less ages of violence and of brute force". But wo to European civiliza tion, if there had not existed at the time a great moral and vol. i. — 3 26 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. 0 religious power, which was alone' respected by the masses of the population ; and which, if not always heeded in its warn ing, by those against whom its exercise was invoked, still made itself generally heard and respected. If right finally triumphed over might, and the passions had to yield at length in the struggle against reason and religion, we owe the result mainly to the beneficial influence of the Papacy. This is as' certain as any thing else in all history. This leads us to another department of the struggles be tween the Popes and the temporal princes of Europe, which is more nearly connected with our present purpose, and upon which we shall be pardoned for dwelling at somewhat greater length. We refer to the efforts of the Popes to secure free dom to the Church against the aggressions of the temporal power, to the various phases of their contests with emperors and kings for the attainment of this vital object, and to the final results of this great struggle, as developed on the eve of the Reformation itself The chief element of this important controversy between the spiritual and temporal power was this: that the German emperors and some other feudal sovereigns of Europe, often sought to enslave the Church, by making her nigher clergy wholly dependent upon themselves ; and that the Popes, on the contrary, sought to insure to- the clergy freedom of elec tion and freedom of action. In regard to the principle in volved, the Popes were manifestly in the right throughout the whole contest, while the claim set up by the temporal sove reigns was clearly an usurpation, as unfounded in reason, as it was mischievous in fact. The Church had clearly the right to appoint her own bishops and clergy, and to exercise over them such a super vision and control, as would render them fully responsible for their conduct to her own regularly constituted tribunals. She could not exercise this undoubted right, nor hold her own ministers to their proper responsibility, if the temporal sove reigns had, at the same time, a right to thrust on her such ELECTION OF BISHOPS. 27 spiritual officers as she disapproved of, and could not control. How could she properly guard the flock committed to her charge, if others, beyond her control, were permitted to thrust into its inclosure, as shepherds, " devouring wolves in sheep's clothing." The very idea of the Church, together with the primary objects for which the Church was established by Christ, necessarily carries with it the logical inference, that she should be free and independent of the temporal power in her own peculiar sphere of action, and especially in the ap pointment and control of her own officers or ministers. With out this freedom of action, she would be hampered at every step, and she would be rendered totally incapable of discharg ing her high mission for the conversion of the world, and the salvation of mankind. Accordingly, we find that, from the very beginning of the Church, this liberty was not only claimed, but openly exer cised, even in the midst of the most violent persecution from pagan, and of occasional opposition from Christian emperors. The canons enacted in various early and mediaeval councils, and approved by the Popes, fully provided for the mode to be adopted in the election of bishops and abbots, as well as the rules to be followed in the appointment of pastors of souls, and of other inferior ministers. The discipline varied some what at different times, and in different countries ; but every where and at all times the freedom of the Church in the elec tion or appointment of her ministers was strongly claimed and triumphantly vindicated, though not without occasional violent opposition from the temporal power. During the middle ages, the usual method of election for bishops and abbots, was that in which the cathedral and mo nastic chapters, composed of the higher clergy of the diocese, or the most distinguished among the monks, freely convened and freely selected the candidate whom they deemed best qualified for the vacant place. The Metropolitans, or Arch bishops, were authorized to exercise a general supervision over the proceedings, while the power of confirming or rejecting the 28 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. successful candidate rested with the sovereign pontiff, who, if he approved the choice, issued the necessary commission or bulls for the installment into office of the new incumbent. This was clearly as it should be ; and had this undoubted right of the Church been left untrammeled and unviolated, many scandals would have been prevented, and much evil avoided. The better to understand the motives or pretexts sometimes alleged by the temporal sovereigns of Europe, during the middle ages, for their claim to appoint men of their own choice to the important offices of bishops and abbots, we must go back to the period which immediately followed the occu pation of Europe by the Northmen — the fifth and following centuries. The various barbarous chieftains who parceled out Europe among their followers, were in general rude, but generous men. On their conversion to Christianity, their hearts, and those of their successors, swelled with gratitude toward the Church, which had called them from darkness to the light of the faith ; and their gratitude was fruitful in good works. They munificently endowed the bishoprics, and sub sequently the monasteries; they allotted to them large and rich domains ; they erected palaces and castles for the bishops, and extensive cloisters for the monks of St. Benedict, and for other religious orders which sprang up at a later period. They did more. Their generosity toward their spiritual benefactors seemed exhaustless, arid its spirit was communi cated by their example and exhortation to the entire mass of the population. All classes vied w'i^h one another in munifi cence toward the Church arid toward her ministers. Splen did churches, spacious hospitals, and palatial colleges and universities sprang up all over' Europe. Many of these noble edifices still remain, and they are, even at this day^ the admi ration of the world, which with all its boasted progress could scarcely produce any thing to equal, certainly nothing to sur pass them in grandeur. In those lands over which the storm of the Reformation has swept, many of those splendid struc- CATHOLIC MUNIFICENCE IN MIDDLE AGES. 29 fcures now lie in silent and solemn, but still imposing ruins, while others have been sadly diverted from their original des tination, and have become the palaces of worldly pride and pomp, instead of asylums for the poor of Christ. The Church of the middle ages more than repaid all this munificent bounty of her children. In return, she bestowed upon them her abundant spiritual treasures, and her rich and glorious civilization. Her cathedrals, monasteries, and col leges were oases in the mediaeval desert, inviting all to be refreshed by their perennial verdure, and to slake their thirst at the cooling fountains of religion and learning, which were there constantly flowing. To the oppressed vassal, fleeing from the anger of his all-powerful lord, she opened her peace ful sanctuary, 'where he was safe until the wrath of his ruth' less persecutor could be mollified by time, or appeased by her own mercy-breathing voice of expostulation. To the heart sick, and to those weary of the world's turmoil, and panting for something higher and more stable, she opened her holy cloisters, devoted to study and prayer ; in the sanctuary soli tude of which they might find rest and peace, might soar on the wings of heavenly contemplation to the throne of God, and might find time to pray, to read, and to labor for the en lightenment and salvation of others less favored. To the foot sore traveler, those monasteries were ever open inns for refreshment, where he was sure to meet a cordial welcome, and to receive, free of charge, and for the love of God, all the sweet offices of Christian hospitality ; while the neighbor ing poor might always confidently reckon on them, freely and bountifully to supply all their pressing wants. To the sick and the afflicted, of every class and condition, the Catholic hospitals and asylums of the middle ages were easily accessible, and therein they might be sure to find every comfort which munificent charity could provide, to solaee them in their bodily afflictions or mental sorrows. Finally — for we should never terminate were we to enume rate all the benefits bestowed on society by the Church of the 30 EUROPE BE: ORE THE REFORMATION. middle ages-^-what was so beautifully called, the Truce of God, which the Church proclaimed, accomplished more than perhaps any other single influence toward humanizing the European populations, by diminishing the frequency and miti gating the horrors of those petty civil wars which were so characteristic of the period in question. When, for the love of God, and out of reverence for the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, men, at the call of the Church, generally agreed to suspend all warfare during four days in each week — from Wednesday evening until the ensuing Mon day morning, we might naturally expect to fin$ their passions cooling down, and charity with a spirit of conciliation and for giveness, taking the place of vengeance and bloody civil feuds. And such, in effect, was. -the practical working* of the Truce of God on European society.; Happy would it have been, for Europe and the world, had this merciful and conciliatory spirit of the Church been pro perly met and duly, appreciated by the princes of the earth. The earth would have become a sort of elysium^ and the development of a sound Christian civilization would have been hastened by whole centuries. But unhappily, this was not always the case. So it is in all things human, where evil is generally found mixed with good, the tares with the good wheat. In return for their munificence toward the Church, the temporal princes not unfrequently claimed what the Church could not bestow, without surrendering her independence, and virtually resigning her divine commission to rebuke vice in high places, and freely to teach the world unto salvation. The feudal system had been introduced into Europe by the Northmen, and in her external relations with society the Church was necessarily brought, more or less, under its influ ence. The bishops and abbots, in virtue of the domains held by them, became feudal lords, who, like others similarly situ ated, were expected to do homage to their liege lords; or suzerains, for their own territory ; and though not compelled, or even expected, actually to engage in warfare themselves, INVESTITURES — HORRIBLE ABUSES. 31 they were held bound, on the call of their' liege lord, to m«- shall their retainers under his standard, 'to espouse his quarrel and fight his battles. This incidental connection of the Church with the State, while it undoubtedly tended to moder ate the fierceness of strife and to humanize the hearts of the people, Dy bringing the influence of the Church to bear directly on the. turmoil of the camp and the bloody scenes of the battle field, wus, at the same time, fruitful with danger to the spirit of the higher clergy. While thus descending into the arena of busy or fierce human passions, though they might hope to moderate strife and to prevent or diminish bloodshed, they were exposed to the peril of woridly-mindedness an'd to the consequent diminution or loss of the spiritual character so essential to their vocation and usefulness. This was the chief danger of the connection; its benefits to society we have already summarily indicated. In proportion as the higher clergy became wealthy and influ ential, the great feudal lords, and especially, the emperors of Germany, sought by every means in their power to win them over to their interests, and to make them subservient to their worldly purposes. And as they could not hope fully to con trol the action of those bishops and abbots, who were worthy of their high positions by being thoroughly imbued with the ecclesiastical spirit, they sought to thrust their own creatures into the principal vacant sees and abbeys. The chief merit of the candidate, in their eyes, was his courtly subserviency., In carrying out this wicked scheme for enslaving the Church, and virtually ruining it by foisting into its high places un worthy ministers, they encountered frequent and sturdy oppo sition from the bishops and abbots ; but whether these resisted the usurpation or not, the Popes, were sure to stand forth on such occasions as the uncompromising champions of the free dom and purity of election, and of the independence of the Church. From this source sprang many, if not most of the protracted struggles between the Popes and the German emperors during the middle ages. 32 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. • A prominent phase of this contest is exhibited in the con troversy concerning what were called Investitures. By super ficial or prejudiced writers this controversy has been regarded merely as a puerile dispute about petty rites and ceremonies, while the claims of the Popes have been represented by the same class of writers as an usurpation on the rights of the emperors. By those, on the contrary, who have penetrated beyond the surface of history, and have carefully studied the facts as interpreted by the spirit of the times, it has been justly looked upon as the vital question of the age — a ques tion of liberty or slavery, of life or death for the Church. Having founded and endowed the bishoprics and abbeys, the emperors claimed the right, not only of inducting into office and duly investing with its insignia the candidate who had been regularly and canonically elected by the episcopal or monastic Chapter, but, occasionally at least, of setting aside the election itself or reducing it to a mere lifeless form and a real mockery. This was clearly an usurpation on the time- honored and Undoubted right of the Church freely to' chose her own ministers. Its practical effect was, tp thrust into the high places of the Church unworthy men — mere creatures and parasites of the court, and thereby to entail a permanent scandal On Christendom. So far, in fact, was this pretension carried, that some of the German emperors claimed the right of investing the new incumbent with ring and crozier, the ordinary emblems of spiritual jurisdiction ; thereby giving to understand that the emperor was the fountain, not only of temporal, but of spiritual power! The evil seems to have reached its culmi nating point in the eleventh century, under the impious and debauched Henry IV. of Germany, with whom Pope St. Gregory VII. carried on his memorable struggle for the free dom and rights of the Church. This wicked emperor, ap propriately called by his contemporaries the Nero of the middle ages, and who probably has no parallel in Christian history except his namesake Henry VIII. of England, seems GREGORY VII. AND HENRY IV. 33 to have been the first who brought the controversy on Inves titures to a crisis. The abuses to which his usurpation gave rise were truly horrible. Had not the stern resolve and iron nerve of hie papal competitor checked them in time, the Church in Germany would, in all human probability, have been rendered utterly desolate and been brought to the very verge of ruin. Even as it was, the picture drawn of its moral condition by contemporary writers is frightful to con template. As the matter is so vital in its importance, we will be pardoned for alleging a "few passages from these writers. Says Matthew of Tyre: "A custom had Jong prevailed, especially in the empire (German), that on the decease of the prelates of the Church, the ring and pastoral crozier were sent to the lord emperor. Afterwards the emperor, selecting one of his own familiars or chaplains, and investing him with the insignia, sent him to the vacant church, without, waiting for the election by the clergy."* Ebbo, another contemporary, who lived in the very palace of Henry IV. employs similar language : "At this time the Church had not a free election; but whenever any one of the bishops had entered upon the way of all flesh,, immediately the cap tains of that city transmitted to the palace his ring and pastoral staff ; and thus the king or emperor, after consulting his council, selected a suitable pastor for the widowed flock."f How far the persons thus selected were suitable, the event * Inoleverat consuetudo, prEesertim in imperio, quod defungentibus Ecclesiae praelatis annulus et virga pastoralis ad dominum imperatorem dirigebantur. Unde postmodum unum quemdam de familiaribus et capellanis suis inves- tiens ad eeclesiam vacantem dirigebat, ut ibi pastoris fungeretur officio, non expectata cleri electione. (Sacri Belli Historia, lib. 1. c. 18. Apud Palma, Praslectiones Hist. Eccles., II. 138, Edit. Rome, 1848.) f Hoc tempore Ecclesia liberam electiorienmonhabebat;,sed cumquilibet antistes viam uriiversae carnis ingressus fuisset, mox Capitanei civitatis illius annulum et virgam pastoralem ad palatium transmittebant, sicque regia auctoritas, communicate cum aulicis consilio, orbatas plebi idoneum constituebat pastorem (In vita Othonis Bamberg. Episcopi, I. 1-8 and 9, A.pud Palma, Ibid.) 34 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. unfortunately proved but too well. The men Who were thus thrust into the vacant sees were, almost without exception, the mere subservient and unscrupulous creatures of the impe rial tyrant, ready, on all occasions to flatter his vices, and to do his bidding. Under the operation of this iniquitous sys tem, simony became prevalent throughout Germany and Northern Italy, wherever, in fact, the imperial influence ex tended. Bishoprics and benefices of all kinds were unblush- ingly bought and sold at the imperial court. The emperor often kept the sees long vacant, that he might seize on their revenues, which he squandered in shameless debauchery. The delay also had the effect of eliciting higher bids from the hungry aspirants, who hung about the court, and it thereby contributed still further to replenish the imperial coffers. This enormous evil could not be long endured by the Chureh. St. Peter Damia'n and other holy prelates of Italy and Germany, inveighed against it with their burning elo quence; and Pope St. Gregory VII., after frequent but vain expostulations with the imperial monster, drew forth from the armory of the Church the thunder-bolt of excommunication, and fearlessly hurled it at his guilty head. He, the dauntless " Hercules of the middle ages," was riot the man to quail be fore tyranny seated in high places, though the latter was armed with sufficient physical power to crush him at once to the earth. Let us again hear Matthew of Tyre, in reference to the bold attitude of the pontiff: » "Considering that this conduct was opposed to all justice, and that by it all ecclesiastical rights were trampled under foot, he admonished the same emperor once and again, even to the third time, that he would desist from so detestable a presumption; and when, after having thus sought to warn him with salutary counsel, he could not recall him to the path of duty, he bound him in the bonds of an excommunication."* * Contra omnem fieri honestatem considerans, et jura in eo facto concul- cari ecclesiastica perpendens, semel et tertio eundem imperatorem commonuit ut atamdetestabilidesisteretprsesumptione,quempr33ceptissalutaribuscom. monitum, cum revocare non posset, vinculo anathematis innodavit. Ibid. CONTROVERSY SETTLED — ITS GERMS REMAIN. 35 The intrepid pontiff did not stop with the mere excommuni cation of the emperor : he fulminated the sentence of depriva tion against all bishops and abbots who would dare receive their office ".from the hands of a layman ;" and he further declared that " such an intruder should by no means be reck oned among bishops and abbots, and that no audience should be granted to him in the capacity of bishop or abbot." "More over," he added, " we interdict to him the grace of St. Peter, and the entrance into the Church, until such time as he will freely resign the place, which, ( through ambition and disobe dience — which is the crime of idolatry — he has usurped. . . . Moreover, if any one of the emperors, dukes, marquisses, or counts shall presume to grant Investiture of a bishopric or any other ecclesiastical dignity, let him know that he is bound under the same bonds of excommunication."* This sentence was confirmed in the fifth and seventh of the Roman councils held under Gregory VII., and likewise in the Council of Benevento, held in 1087. In the great Council of Clermont, convened by Pope Urban II. in 1096, to organize the first crusade, it was again confirmed, and solemnly pro mulgated to all Christendom. It is true, that while greatly harassed and1 under duress, Pope Paschal II. allowed to Henry V., the successor of Henry IV., the privilege of investing the new incumbent with ring and crozier, provided full liberty of election had been pre viously secured, and all abuses eliminated; but this indul gence was greatly abused by the emperor, who took occasion from it' to thrust his own creatures into the vacant sees; * Insuper ei gratiam Sancti ^Petri et introitum ecclesise interdicimus, quoad usque locum quem sub crtmine tam ambitionis quam inobedientiae quod est scelus idolatriae coepit, deseruerit Item si quis Imperatorum, Ducum, Marchionum, Comitum Investituram episcopates vel alicujus Eccle siae dignitatis dare proesumpserit, ejusdem sententiae vinculo se adstrictem sciat. (Hugo, Laviniacensis Abbas, in Chronico Verdun, apud Novam Bib- lioth, Labbcei, Tom. I. Cf. Palma, ibid.) 36 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. and in consequence, Paschal revoked his decree in two coun cils, held in the years 1112 and 1116. The whole controversy was finally settled in 1122, in the Council of Worms, in which Pope Calixtus II. and the Emperor Henry V. entered into a solemn compact or Concordat — probably the first Concordat of ecclesiastical history — in which the emperor wholly gave ap the claim of investing with ring and crozier, and prom ised to guaranty full liberty of election, and also to make restitution of the church revenues, which had been usurped; and on the other side, the pontiff permitted the election to' take place in the presence of the emperor, but "without simony or any violence;" with the further stipulation, "'that if any discord should arise among the parties, the emperor should give his assent and aid to the sounder party, in accord ance with the counsel and judgment of the metropolitan and the provincial bishops ' and the person so chosen should be invested with the regalia by the seeptre?* The controversy was thus indeed settled, but its roots were not wholly removed. These continued to send forth their noxious shoots during the following centuries, down to the period of the Reformation. The oft-reiterated claim of the temporal sovereigns, to interfere, to a greater or less extent, . with the election to the bishoprics and higher benefices, and their too-often successful attempts to thrust unworthy men into the high places of the Church, was the monster evil of the middle ages. It was the fruitful source of grievous scan dals and abuses. — How could it be otherwise ? How could the * Absque simonia et aliqua violentia, ut si qua discordia inter partes emer- serit, metropolitan! et provincialium consilio et judicio saniori parti assensum et auxilium prosbeas. Electes autem Regalia per sceptrum a te recipiat, etc. Apud Palma, ibid. p. 139-40. By the RegaMawere understood the feudal rights of lordship acquired by being properly inducted into possession of the domain by the liege lord. The only suitable way of doing this was considered to be that in which the sceptre was employed, and not the crozier and ring, the emblems of spirit ual authority. MODERN HISTORIC JUSTICE. 37 Church be free from scandals, when, in spite of all her exer tions and protests, in Bpite of the repeated denunciations uttered by her Popes and her councils, bad men were thus violently or by covert intrigue, thrust upon her, to administer whole dio ceses or provinces of her spiritual domain ? The only wonder is, that the evil was not even greater and more wide-spread v and we owe it to the zeal and energy of the Popes that it was not so. If the Church was saved from utter ruin, it was, human ly-speaking, mainly by and through such men as St. Gregory VII., the Alexanders, and the Innocents', who, from the chair of Peter feared not boldly to hurl their anathemas at the heads of the ruthless tyrants, who sought for their own vile purposes, to degrade and enslave her ministers. It was in this noble cause of the, independence of the Church against the dangerous encroachments of the State, that the lives of many among these men of God, who loved God and feared not the face of kings, were spent and worn away. This was the true secret of many of their protracted struggles with the German emperors. As the candid Protestant biographer of St. Greg ory VII. — Voight — : freely admits, "the Holy See was the only tribunal which could set any limits to imperial despotism, as a second defender of humanity."* This is, in fact, the key to many portions of mediaeval history, without which the secrets of its real spirit cannot be unlocked, nor its leading facts be properly understood or fully appreciated. The controversy on Investitures was a contest between moral principle and brute force, — -between reason and passion, — between morals and licentiousness, — between religion and incipient infidelity. Though sometimes seemingly overcome by the fierce storms raised against them, ,the Popes were really the conquerors in the end, even in the midst of their apparent defeat. Gregory VII. was driven from Rome by the forces of Henry IV., and he died an exile at Salerno, in Southern Italy; but the victory of principle and virtue had been * Hist. Greg. VII, II. 98 ; Abbe Jager's translation. 3 38 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. already won, his noble soul was wholly unsubdued, and on his tomb might have been inscribed the epitaph which subse quently marked that of the heroic general Of the Knights of Rhodes : Foetuiuk Victeix Virtus — Virtue the Conqueeoe of Foetune. He bequeathed to his age and to his successors in the Papacy a legacy of countless price, in the noble prin ciple which had moulded his whole character and governed all his actions : that "it is better to be right, than to gain the whole world." Gregory embodied this principle in the follow ing passage contained in one of his epistles, which deserves to be written in letters of gold: "I would rather undergo death for your salvation, than obtain the whole world tO your sjriritual ruin. For I fear God, and therefore value but little the pride and pleasures of the world."* Now mark the justice of modern history. In any event or emergency, the Popes are sure to be blamed. If they oppose a German emperor, it is nothing but ambition which prompts their action. If they strive earnestly against the intrusion into episcopal sees of unworthy men, it is all through sinister motives, and that they may extend the circle of their own pOwer. If the men thus intruded, in spite of their sternest opposition, should give public scandal, still the Church and the Popes are ' in the wrong.— Why did not the Popes prevent it? Why did they allow scandals so enormous in the high places of the Church? In all these struggles, the Pope would seem to be never right, and the emperor never wrong ; or if the case be so glaring that no sophistry can resist or even dim the evidence, then the Pope is condemned with faint praise, and the emperor is absolved with faint censure. Such is, in general, the spirit, and such the fairness of what, in modern times, is called history. There are some honorable exceptions, indeed, but they rather confirm than weaken the rule. A few Protestant historians have the boldness to tell the truth without extenuation or * Epistolae, VI. I. Apud Voigt, ut sup. G'OWTH OF MAMMONISM. 39 partiality, while a far greater number tell it, if at all, timidly and by halves, mixing up much chaff of misrepresentation with a few grains of truth. Roscoe may be said, perhaps, to belong rather to the formei than to the latter class. He admits, what every one at all acquainted with history knows to be the fact, that " the Popes may, in general, be considered as superior to the age in which they lived."* An American Protestant writer bears the following honorable testimony to' the civilizing influence of t e ( hurch in the middle ages."f " Though seemingly enslaved, the Church was in reality the life of Europe. She was the refuge of the distressed, the friend of the slave, the helper of the injured, the only hope of learning. To her, chivalry owed its noble aspirations ; to her, art and agriculture looked for every improvement. The ruler from her learned some rude justice ; the ruled learned faith and obedi ence. Let us not cling to the superstition, which teaches that the Church has always upheld the cause of tyrants. Through the middle ages she was the only friend and advocate of the people, and of the rights of man. To her influence was it owing that, through all that strange era, the slaves of Europe were better protected by law than are now the free blacks of the United States by the national statutes." As time rolled on, and European society was gradually moulded into form and became consolidated, the dangers which threatened the Church, instead of diminishing, seemed rather to increase. In proportion as men became richer and more attached to the world, the brightness of the faith was dimmed in their hearts, and the temporal gained the ascend ant over the eternal. What chiefly distinguished the earlier portion of the middle ages, down to the close of the Crusades at the end of the thirteenth century, was the embodiment into the minds, hearts, and actions of the people, of the great truth, that the interests of eternity are paramount, and that those of time are as nothing in comparison therewith. That was the golden age of chivalry and the crusades, of noble * Life of Leo X., I. 53., quoted by Fredet. Modern History. t In the North American Review for July, 1845. 40 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. impulses and disinterested deeds. It was followed by the age of^ mammonism, in which' money and what money can procure were so highly prized as often to be preferred to all things else. And this spirit has gone on steadily increasing, even unto the present enlightened age. Beginning with the fourteenth century, we may trace its gradual development in each successive age down to our own, in which material interests threaten to absorb all others, and to swallow up every thing heavenly. A brilliant writer in the Dublin Review thinks that, in certain respects, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were pre-eminently the ages of darkness. He says : "Of course, if darkness is synonymous with ignorance, the ninth and tenth may fairly lay claim to the title ; but if we take into the account what may be called the moral effects of darkness, nam'ely confusion, perplexity, and dismay, the two centuries which immediately preceded the Reformation may well rival, if not outdo Jheir predecessors. The night pf the tenth century was one which came in its right place, and gave promise of the dawn. But the epoch of which we speak was an eclipse, a very Egyptian darkness, worse than Chaos or Erebus, black as the thick preternatural night under cover of which our Lord was crucified. All at once, when the mediaeval glory of the Church was at its zenith, a century opens with the audacious seizure of Boniface VIII. at Anagni, and closes with the great Schism "Evidently the middle ages, are gone or going. Cathedrals were still built, and Gregorian chants were sung. We are now in the very zenith of Gothic architecture and of Gothic music, but the real glory of mediaeval times is gone. That which constituted their real characteristic, that which separates them off from modern times was not the- outward form, but the inward spirit. Every breast in that rude feudal hierarchy, from the king aad noble down to the franklin and the serf, was animated with the persuasion that the Kingdom of Christ was supreme over every thing earthly. This was the public opinion of the time, the spirit of the age. But it was fast passing away, and the Church had now to rule as best she might over disaffected and disloyal subjects, who watched her every step with jealousy and dis trust. . . . . "Can any thing further be needed to prove that the fourteenth century was a time of fearful unsettlement ? The old landmarks were being re moved. Pool humanity was losing its simple faith in. the eternal lights BONIFACE VIII. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 41 which had hitherto guided it for many hundred years. It had embarked on a wide, illimitable ocean, and was beating about with an infinite void before it, and no star to guide its way."* In all this there is, no doubt, considerable rhetorical flourish and no little exaggeration, but there is, withal, much of his toric truth. It is certain, that the spirit of the Catholic middle ages underwent a great and most important change in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; that this period of transition was attended with much unsettledness of the popu lar mind, and with many storms of popular passion ; and that the result of all this ferrnent was to pave the way for the event called the Reformation; — which, in fact, was not a reformation but a revolution. This was truly "a, strange period and fruitful in storms ;" " an unfortunate period, when a spirit of boldness and violence agitated all classes of society, and produced in every direction sanguinary disorders."! We may apply to it, in a qualified sense, what the Roman his torian says of a certain disastrous period of Roman history : "It was fertile in vicissitudes, atrocious in wars, discordant in ^editions, fierce even in peace."J The Roman pontiffs had now to contend, not with the German emperors alone, but also with the French kings. Young, ardent, and ambitious, Philip the Fair of France, a grandson of St. Louis, but totally unlike his sainted ancestor, could not brook the just rebuke of his vices and tyranny administered by the determined pontiff, Boniface VIII.; who, true to the traditions of the Papacy, had sought in vain to mediate between him and the kings of England and Aragon, with whom he was at war ; and who had also justly repri- * Dublin Review for March, 1858, Article, — The German Mystics of the Fourteenth Century, — a very remarkable production, brilliant and pictur esque, but somewhat exaggerated. f The Reformers before the Reformation, by Emile be Bonnechose, ] vol. 8vo., Harpers, 1844, p. 37. \ Opimum casibus, atrox prceliis, discors seditionibus, ipsa etiam pace soevum. Tacitus, Lib. I., c. 2. VOL. I.- 42 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. manded him for debasing the currency of France, and for overburdening his people and oppressing the' Church with exorbitant taxation. The fiery monarch sent his emissaries to Anagni, where the Pope was then residing; and these, true to the spirit, if not to the letter of their instructions, heaped insults and outrages on the head of the venerable Boniface, and one of them, it is said, went so far as to add blows to insults. The aged pontiff, venerable no less for his learning and ability than for his virtues, sank under the cruel treatment thus inflicted on virtue by brute force, and he died soon afterward.* His sainted successor, the blessed Benedict XI., while preparing a bull of excommunication against the royal assassin, perished himself, probably from the effects of poison. j- His second successor, Clement V., was a French man, and he took up his abode at Avignon, in France ; where he and his successors remained for about seventy years— until 1378. Meantime, while the Popes resided at Avignon, Italy was in a ferment. The factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines were raging againsj each other with redoubled ferocity, and, * Baron Macaulay, a prejudiced and therefore unexceptionable witness, writes as follows in regard to Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair : "But some thing must bevattributed to the character and situation of individuals. The man who bpre the chief part in effecting this revolution was Philip the IV. of France, sumamed the Beautiful — a despot by position, a despot by temperament, stern, implacable, and unscrupulous, equally prepared for violence and for chicanery, and surrounded by a devoted band of men of the sword and of men of law. The fiercest and most high-minded of the Roman pontiffs, while bestowing kingdoms, and citing great princes to his judgment-seat, was seized in his palace by armed men, and so foully out raged that he died mad with rage and terror. 'Thus,' sang the great Florentine poet, 'was Christ in the person of his vicar, a second time seized by ruflians, a second time mocked, a second time drenched with the vinegar and the gall.' The seat of the Papal court was carried beyond the Alps, and the bishops of Rome became dependents of France. Then came tho Great Schism of the West." — Miscellanies, American Edit, p. 404. f So thinks the writer in the Dublin Review, sup. oit. FACTION ANfJ HERESY NEW MANICHEANS. 4.3 were making that beautiful land a fearful scene of chaos and bloodshed. The Ghibelline chiefs — the Villanis, the Castruccis and others — seized upon and ruled with a rod of iron Milan and the other chief cities of the North ; while the central Italian cities were filled with anarchy and bloody feuds by the rival factions struggling for and alternately ob taining the mastery. The ferocious struggle was relieved by the brilliant, but brief and evanescent attempt of " the Last of the Tribunes" — Rienzt — to rear the banner of popular free dom. in the ancient city of the Caesars. In the midst of all this confusion, a new actor appears upon the agitated and bloody arena. The Popes at Avignon are called upon to contend, not merely with the hydra of faction in Italy, but with the hosts of the weak and unprincipled Louis of Bavaria, whom the German diet had elected emperor. Reading his character aright — as the event proved — Pope John XXII., availed himself of his time-honored right as the pro tector of the " Holy Roman Empire," and refused to corifirm the election. Thus the Papacy had scarcely, emerged from the fiery contest with the French monarch, before it was hurried into another, if possible, even more bitter and pro tracted struggle with its hereditary adversary, the German emperor. Whether this contest 'was politic or not, or whether it could have been avoided without sacrificing principle, and especially without sacrificing the interests of Italy over which the Popes felt it a sacred duty to watch, we are scarcely able at this distance of time to determine. Certain it is, that the newly elected emperor, true to the policy of his predecessors, sought to subvert Italian independence, and that the leaders of the Ghibelline faction, which had always been the most deadly foe of Italian peace and liberty, openly took sides with him in the contest. The pontiff having refused to crown Louis, the latter set up an , anti-pope to perform this ceremony, which was still deemed essential. He marched his army into Italy, where the blood stained Ghibelline leaders gave him a hearty welcome. 44 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Whithersoever he went, his court an'd camp became the focus in which were concentrated all the elements of disaffec tion, discord, and heresy, which Were then floating over the surface of European society. " The intellect of Italy lent its, aid to the sword of Germany. Heretical canonists and apostate monks met Louis on his way. Marsilius of Padua broached theories such as those which afterward found favor in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth and James I. . Opinions, which hitherto had only scandal ized and agitated the schools and universities, were now backed by the Bwords of German' troopers. Jansenist war-cries and appeals to future councils, were anticipated in the camp, where Bavarian cavalry mingled with the men-at-arms of Milan and Lucca. Excommunicated bishops placed on the head of Louis the iron crown of Lombardy in^the basilica of St. Ambrose ; and in a few months, the whole mingled mass, made up of rival ambitions for the moment reconciled, national jealousies of long stand ing laid aside, and all sorts of discordant elements welded together by one common hatred of the Church, rolled on toward Rome."* ti The prestige which surrounded a German emperor, who thus, in spite of- the Pope, seized on the crown of Italy, flaunted his victorious banner in the face of the Papacy, and marched triumphant to the eternal city, brought to a head the mischievous factions and wild heresies which had hitherto, for more than a century, remained scattered, but had lain in a great measure hidden, over the different countries of Europe. The boiling cauldron of civil commotion and revolution al ways brings the dross and the scum to the surface of society. The remnants of the old Manichean heretics, whose ranks had been broken and scattered by the crusade, against the Albi- genses, nearly two centuries before, now came forth from their lurking places, openly preached their abominable doctrines, and unblushingly indulged in their licentious practices. They assumed different names in different places, but they were all marked with the general characteristics of that semi-pagan and ruinous heresy, which Manes had attempted to graft on the Christian system, as early as the third century. This de- * Dublin Review, Ibid. ¦ THE FLAGELLANTS — THE GREAT SCHISM. 45 testable heresy had infested different parts of Europe ever since the ninth century, traveling generally from East to West. Beguards, Paterins, Cathari, Fratricelli, Brethren of the Free Spirit, obscure and obscene Mystics of every hue and shade — from the openly obscene Fratricelli, to the more demure and decorous Waldenses — all were off-shoots from that impure root of Manicheism, which had produced the licentious and bloody Albigenses of the twelfth century. These restless sectaries overran a great portion of Europe in the fourteenth century. Along the banks of the Rhine, and in the interior cities of Germany and France, as well as in Northern Italy, marching in the train of the camp of Louis of Bavaria, they preached their wicked doctrines, and prac ticed their wild or obscene fanaticism. They everywhere agitated the popular mind, and made it ripe for innovation. There was danger that, amidst the fearful commotions of the time, wild fanaticism would take, the place of- sober faith, dan gerous mysticism, that of calm and enlightened piety. Says the writer, whom we have already quoted more than once : "After all this, we are not surprised to find among the1 Brethren of the Free Spirit, as they called themselves, still darker and more shameful errors ; and when the Black Death came down with all its horrors upon a popula tion already half-crazed with fanaticism, and thrown off their balance by the dissensions which raged between the Church and State, then the wild wail of the Flagellants was heard over all the hubbub -of sounds which mingled with the rushing waters of the Rhine. From all the villages around, and from scattered homes in sequestered valleys, thousands of men and women came in long procession through the streets of Strasburg and Cologne ; friars and priests forgot their dignity to join in the motley crowd under the com mand of the layman who marshaled the array, while sober citizens, with their wives and daughters, laid aside their costly robes, to bare their shoulders to the scourge, and chimed in with the melancholy chant wliich called on all to mingle their blood with that of Jesus, to obtain mercy of God."* It is almost needless to say, that all these ebullitions of fanati cism were almost as transitory as they were violent. Even that * Dublin Review, Ibid. 46 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. of the Flagellants, the most excusable of them all, as mingling with extravagance a deep faith, in the necessity of uniting our personal sufferings with the atoning blood of Christ, for the expiation of our sins, was openly condemned by the Church, on account of its dangerous tendency. The Popes and the bishops everywhere set the seal of their condemna,- tion on the doctrines and practices of the more dangerous fanatics ; while the persuasive eloquence of the gentle Tauler, and the pathetic appeals of the blessed Henry de Suso, gradr ually calmed down the extravagant enthusiasm or fanaticism of the German Mystics along the banks of the Rhine. The fearful storm passed away almost as rapidly as it had gathered, and the Catholic atmosphere was again comparatively ealm, if not unclouded. This danger had passed like a thousand others before, and the Church still stood in unimpaired vigor. Next came the Great Schism of the West, which lasted for nearly.forty years, at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. It was occasioned by the return of the Popes from Avignon to Rome in 1378, and it was perpet- . uated by the French cardinals, who were encouraged by the French court. ' As we have elsewhere spoken somewhat at length upon this deplorable epoch in Church History,* we shall not here dwell upon it, further than to remark on its in fluence on the minds of men in preparing them for the startling revolution of the sixteenth century.f- * In the paper on. the Great Schism, in the Miscellanea, p. 169, seq. f Macaulay speaks as follows of the manner in which the imminent dan ger threatened by the Great Schism was averted : " The Church, torn by schism, and fiercely assailed at once in England and the German empire, was in a situation scarcely less perilous than at the crisis which preceded the Albigensian crusade. But this danger also passed by. The civil power gave its strenuous support to the Church, and the Church made some show of reforming itself. The Council of Constance put an end to the schism. The whole Catholic world was again united under a single chief, and rules were laid down which seemed to make it im probable that the power of that chief would be grossly abused." — MiscelL Sup. cit. p. 405 IHE PAPACY UlNSCATHED. 47 There is but little doubt that the evils and abuses which then afflicted the Church were even greater and more deplorable than they became a century later, at the era of the Reforma tion. The minds of men were then, if possible, even more un settled, in consequence of the long-standing scandal of rival claimants to the Papacy contending for the tiara in the face of a shocked and startled Christendom. Yet in neither of the rival obediences, did Catholic faith waver for a moment. The Papacy passed through this fiery ordeal unscathed, and it emerged from it, shorn somewhat, indeed, of its temporal con sequence, but still as vigorous as ever in. its divine strength. Nay, more so ; for it was now thrown upon its own innate and inherent spirituality, in which lay the real source of its power, and the true secret of its divine vitality. The human element of the Papacy was useful in its day ; it was even necessary for the saving of society from barbarism and anarchy. But new social and political organizations had arisen under its fostering auspices, and its day for mingling actively in political events was already passed, or was fast -passing away. Catholics have, in all ages, accurately distin guished between the accidental appendages of the Papacy, and its inherent divine character. Even in the hight of the Great Schism, not a Catholic voice was raised against the Pa pacy itself — against its divine institution and vital necessity for the Church. The only controversy was a merely personal one : which of the rival claimants was fairly entitled to the place, or which was the true and lineal successor of St. Peter. Thus, in later days, our present illustrious pontiff was, to the full, as much respected and as reverently obeyed while an exile at Gaeta, as when seated in the Vatican. Though there were crying abuses during the continuance of the Schism and at its close, and though the good and great of the Church cried out " for a reformation in the head and in the members," yet no one then appears even to have thought of attempting this reformation by a revolution out side the Church, instead of a reformation within. Sensible 48 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. and considerate men knew full well, that the former was the part of true wisdom, while the latter would be sheer madne38, aggravating a hundred-fold the evil it was intended to heal. A sick man is not to be cured by abandoning him to his fate, with taunts and denunciation at his wickedness for being sick, but by remaining patiently with him, studying his symptoms, and applying the necessary remedies. " A sore throat may be healed by proper remedies, one that is cut, never," as an old writer quaintly remarks. The Church of- the fifteenth cen tury, with the proceedings of the reforming Council of Con stance and that of Basle, — even after the latter had degener ated into a schismatical conventicle, denouncing the Pope, and impiously setting up an anti-pope — might have taught the reformers of the sixteenth century a lesson of moderation ; for amidst all the excitement of the. former, and with all the excesses of the latter, not a man in either of those ecclesiasti cal conventions ever entertained a serious thought of severing the unity of the Church, by setting up a reformed communion outside its pale. The schism caused by the conventicle at Basle was based on no doctrinal difference, and it was soon healed by the love of unity which was re-awakened in the bosom of the anti-pope himself. The schism of the sixteenth century was permanent, and it was based on doctrinal issues all wrong in themselves — as their transparent Contradictions and perpetual variations abundantly proved — but what is more to our present purpose, all the more glaringly wrong, because outside of unity, and under the ban of the Church built on a rock, and secured from falling by the infallible promises of her divine Founder. F(ar from being appalled at the existence of abuses and scandals in the Church, or having their faith thereby weak ened, enlightened Catholics expect them almost as a matter of course ; considering human frailty, and the fact that God has made man a free agent, and will not infringe his liberty of action. The grace of God is indeed strong, but it may be, and often is, resisted. God will compel no one either to ac- A CATHOLIC REFORMATION — OVERCOMING SCANDALS. 49 cept His truth, or to be governed by His commandments. He will compel none into heaven against their own free will, or without their own co-operation. Christ foretold that scandals should come, and we naturally look for them. What would have been thought of the disciple of Christ who should have abandoned His holy standard, and set up one in opposition, because of the scandal resulting, under the very eyes of Christ himself, from the treason of Judas? Would he have been viewed as a sound Protestant, or simply as an unreasoning madman ? To our minds, one of the most persuasive, if not strongest evidences that the Catholic Church is in reality the Church of Christ — " the pillar and ground of the truth" — is precisely her continued triumph over accumulated scandals and abuses, which would have crushed any merely human institution. Had not the Church and the Papacy been divine in origin, and divine in energy, the torrent of evils which overflowed society in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries would have overwhelmed the former, and the Great Schism would have mined the latter. That, under such circumstances, witb the princes of the world so often arrayed against the Church, and the masses of the people stirred up everywhere by the storms of fanaticism — with almost all the elements of society seem ingly ripe for revolt, and prepared to rush in determined unison to the attack, she should still have conquered, and not only conquered, but become even stronger after, and seeming ly in consequence of having passed through disasters which are so frightful to contemplate, even after the lapse of nearly five centuries ; — this fact is, to our judgment, one of the most palpable and unanswerable arguments for establishing her superhuman origin, and her ever-enduring, because divine vitality. If the world, and the flesh, and the devil; all com bined together, could have conquered her, they would surely have done so centuries ago. In fact, the wonderful vitality of the Church was never perhaps more strikingly exhibited than it was precisely at the vol. i. — 5 50 EDROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. close of the Great Schism, in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. Then she put down the mischievous heresy of the Hussites, after having in the previous century put down the kindred or rather parent heresy of the Wicklifiites or Lollards in England. Her triumph in the fourteenth century over the numerous fanatical sects, to which we have already alluded, though truly wonderful, happening as it did during the con tinuance of the Schism or immediately before, was almost as nothing compared with her triumph over the truculent Hussite system, which, if successful, would have destroyed both society and religion in Europe, and throughout the world.* For this heresy was based on principles which were utterly subversive of all law and of all government; on principles which were not a mere speculation or destined to remain a dead letter. This is apparent from the civil wars which the Hussites stirred up throughout Bohemia, which covered that kingdom with ruins and stained its soil with the blood of its citizens, and which threatened to penetrate through Germany into Western Europe and to make the whole structure of European society a complete wreck. The fierce and trucu lent spirit of this pestilent heresy is embodied in the fearful bequest ot» the Hussite leader, Ziska, who, dying amidst bloody civil wars which he and his master had caused, left his skin to be used on a war drum, the very sound of which. might frighten his enemies ! f * The most prominent and dangerous principle of the heresies of both Wickliffe and Huss was that which declared, that no man who was in the state of mortal sin had any right to hold office, to govern, or to require obedi ence from others, whether in Church or State. This principle plainly opened the door to anarchy, both civil and religious, and it was a direct encourage ment and provocative to rebellion against constituted authority; for the rebel, whether in Church or State, had but to imagine and denounce his rulers as sinners before God — a very easy thing — and then his rebellion was fully justified. f We have elsewhere treated this subject at some length, in special essays -vn Huss and the Council of Constance. (Miscellanea.') We think that the HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH — THE MONASTERIES. 51 It is not to be supposed that during all these terrible struggles with the powers of the earth and the hosts of dark ness, and all these lamentable scandals, the sanctity of the Church was impaired. Very far from it. On the contrary, perhaps at no period of her history, before or since, has the holiness of the Church shone forth with greater lustre. Those scandals were but the shadows which served to bring out more clearly and prominently the lights in the picture of her sanctity. Her heavenly splendor gleamed forth the more brilliantly, precisely in consequence of the surrounding dark ness. Wo to the world, had that light been extinguished! Mankind would have been left in utter and hopeless darkness. During the very worst period of her history, while bloody commotions and turbulent heresy were threatening her from without, and protracted schism was dividing her strength from within, she manifested an energy and a holiness of pur pose, which baffled her enemies, encouraged her friends,' and proved to all her heavenly origin and divine power. Notwithstanding scandals and defections from her ranks, the great body of the clergy and laity remained sound and faithful, even during the worst times. The Popes were far in advance of their age, and were, in general, men of pure lives and upright conduct in their public administration. The monasteries, as in previous ages, continued to be the retreat of learned and pious men, who, after having become thor oughly imbued with the spirit of God in holy solitude and contemplation, went forth from their retreats to instruct the people and to scatter among them that heavenly fire which facts therein developed, fully refute the usual popular charges against the Council of Constance and the Catholic Church, and prove how pernicious and dangerous wer§ the maxims promulgated by Huss, and sought by him^and his disciples to be established by force. If Huss and Wickliffe were suitable forerunners of the German reformers, the latter certainly do not borrow any special lustre from the former. As we shall see, both sets of reformers were animated by the same unscrupulous and truculent spirit, and both succeeded in bringing about similar commotions in society. 52 EUROPE " BEFORE THE REFORMATION. was burning in' their own hearts.' As the candid Protestant, Dr. Maitland, well remarks : "Monasteries were beyond all price in those days of misrule and turbu lence, as places where (it may be imperfectly, but better than elsewhere) God was worshiped; as a quiet and religious refuge for helpless infancy and old age, a shelter, of respectful sympathy for the, orphan maideii and the desolate widow ; as central points whence agriculture was to spread over bleak hills and'barren downs and marshy plains, and deal bread to millions perishing with hunger and its pestilential train ; as repositories of the learn ing which theri was, and well-springs for the learning which was to be ; as nurseries of art and science, giving the stimulus, the means, and the reward to invention, and aggregating around them every head that could devise and, every hand that could execute ; as the .nucleus of the city, which, in after days of pride, should crown its palaces and bulwarks with the crowning » cross of its cathedral. This, I think, no man can deny. I believe it is true, and I love to think of it. I hope that I see the good hand of God in it, and the visible trace of His mercy that is above all His works. But if it is only a dream, however grateful, I shall be glad to be awakened from it ; not indeed by the yelling of illiterate agitators, but. by a quiet and sober proof that I have misunderstood the matter. In the meantime, let me thankfully believe that thousands of persons at whom Rohertson and Jortin, and other such very miserable second-hand writers have sneered, were men of enlarged minds, purified affections, and holy lives — that they were justly reverenced by men — and above all, favorably accepted by God,, and distinguished by the highest honor which He vouchsafes to those whom He has called into existence, that of being the channels of His love and mercy to their fellow- creatures."* . In the learned work from which this is a quotation, Dr. Maitland, original documents in hand, scatters to the winds the injurious statements made by Dr. Robertson in his View of Europe introductory to his widely circulated and much read history of Charles V. He convicts the Scotch 'historian of grevious misstatement at almost every step.. He shows * The Dark Ages. A series of essays intended to illustrate the state of > religion and literature in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. By the Rev. S. R. Maitland, D. D., F. R. S., and F. S. A., sometime librarian to the late Archbishp of Canterbury, and keeper of the MSS. at Lambeth. Third edition, London, 1853. Preface, iv, v. DR. MAITLAND AND ' DR. ROBERTSON. 53 also how Mosheim and McClaine,whom Robertson calls "his learned and judicious translator," were also guilty of frequent and unpardonable perversion and garbling of their authori ties, which they nevertheless, professed to quote from the original sources. The refutation is ample and it leaves noth ing to be desired, so far as it goes. Our limits will not per mit us to enter into many specifications ; yet we can not help referring to his well-merited castigation of Roberston in refer ence to the quotation made by the latter from the well-known Homily on the duty of a Christian, by St. Eligius or St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, in France, in the seventh century. This is a pretty fair specimen of the manner in which " such miser able second-hand writers" as Robertson land his numerous copyists, are wont to deal with the facts of history, whenevei* the Catholic Church is concerned. To prove his reckless assertion, that before the Reformation the whole duty of a Christian was regarded as being com prised in certain merely external observances, which " were' either so unmeaning as to be altogether unworthy of the Being to whose honor they were consecrated, or so observed as to be a disgrace to reason and humanity," Dr. Robertson, following Mosheim, alleges the Homily of St. Eligius. He culls here and there from the homily such extracts as suit his purpose, wholly orriitting others in the context itself which would have clearly proved the precise contrary of his propo sition! Mosheim had given the original extract from the homily, with marks indicating that passages had been omit ted ; while in the version as given by Robertson all such indications are carefully removed. White, in the Brampton Lectures ascribed to him, "goes a step further, and prints the Latin text without any break or hint of omission ;" while a previous writer— Jortin — had indicated in his translation but one out of at least seven such breaks in the text. Now what will be thought of Mosheim, Robertson, and all their imita tors, when it appears from the original homily itself — a large portion of which is translated by Dr. Maitland — that the 54 EUROPE BEFORE 'THE REFORMATION. holy Bishop spoke in it of almost all the duties of man toward God and his neighbor, of the solemn promises made by every Christian at his baptism, of the necessity of keep ing the commandments of God and of the Church, in order to be saved, of the obligation of guarding against pride, im purity, and the other deadly sins; and in general, of all those things which the most enlightened Christian preacher of the present day would consider as embraced in the " whole duty of a Christian ?" Such being the case, what judgment is to be formed of the miserable partisans, like Mosheim and his copyists, who, pretending to write history, pick , out a sentence here and a phrase there from a discourse, tear them rudely from their connection, omit the most important 'parts, and then wind up with a flourish, that they have con victed the mediaeval preacher of confining the whole duty of a Christian tc certain merely external observances, to which he had only incidentally referred in his homily ? As Dr. Maitland proves, the extract furnished does not embrace more than about a one-hundredth part of the homily, and it does not present two consecutive passages together. To show that we do not exaggerate, we will present a some what copious extract from the homily itself, which will serve the double purpose of convicting Dr. Robertson, Mosheim, Jortin, and many other Protestant writers, of the most griev ous misrepresentation, and of showing in what the "whole duty of a Christian" was deemed to consist in the middle ages. The garbled extracts of Dr. Robertson are printed in italics. ' "It is not enough, most dearly beloved, for you to have received the name of Christians, if you do not do Christian works. To be Called a Christian profits him who always retains in his mind, and fulfills in his actions, the commands of Christ ; that is, who does not commit theft, does not bear false witness, who neither tells lies nor swears falsely, who does not commit adul tery, who does not hate any body, but loves all men as himself, who does not render evil to his enemies, but rather prays for them, who does not stir up strife, but restores peace between those who are at variance. For these precepts Christ has deigned to give by his own mouth in the gospel; saying, HOMILY OF ST. ELIGIUS. ¦ 55 'Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not swear falsely, nor commit fraud ; Honor thy father and thy mother : and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself:' (Matt. xix. 18, 19.) And also, 'All things what soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the prophets.' (Matt. vii. 12.) "And he has given yet greater, but very strong and fruitful (valde fortia atque fructifera) commands, saying, 'Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,' and 'pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.' (Matt. v. 44.) Behold, this is a strong commandment, and to men it seems a hard one ; but it has a great reward ; hear what it is — 'That ye may be,' he saith, ' the children of your Father which is in heaven.' Oh, how great a grace ! Of ourselves we are not even worthy, servants ; and by loving our enemies we become sons of God. Therefore, my brethren, both love your friends in God, and your enemies for God ; for he that loveth his neighbor, as saith the apostle, hath fulfilled the law.' (Rom. xiii. 8.) For he who will be a true Christian, must needs keep these commandments ; because if he does not keep them, he deceives himself. He, therefore, is a good Christian, who puts faith in no charms or diabolical inventions, but places all his hope in Christ alone ; who receives strangers with joy, even as if it were Christ himself, because he will say — 'I was a stranger, and' ye took me in, and in asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' He, I say, is a good Christian, who washes the feet of strangers, and loves them as most dear relations ; who, according to his means, gives alms to the poor; who comes frequently to church : who presents the oblation which is offered to God upon the altar ; who doth not taste of his fruits before he has offered somewhat to Qod; who has not a false balance or deceitful measures ; who hath not given his money to usury ; who both lives chastely himself,' and teaches his sons and his neighbors to Hve chastely and in the fear of God ; and as often as the holy festivals occur, lives continently even with his own wife for some days previously; that he may, with safe con science, draw near to the altar of Qod ; finally, who can repeat the Creed or the Lord's Prayer, and teaches the same to his sons and servants. He who is such an one, is, without doubt, a true Christian, and Christ also dwelleth in him, who hath said, 'I and the Father will come and make our abode with him.' (John xiv. 23.) And, in hke manner, he saith by the prophet, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' (2 Cor. vi. 16.) " Behold, brethren, ye have heard what sort of persons are good Christians ; and therefore labor as much as you can, with God's assistance, that the Christian name may not be falsely applied to you ; but, in order that you may be true Christians, always meditate in your heart, on the commands of 56 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Christ, and fulfill them- in your practice; redeem your souls f tom punishment while you have the means in your power ; give alms according to your means maintain peace and charity, restore harmony among those who are at strife, avoid lying, abhor perjury, bear no false witness, commit no theft, offer obla tions and- gifts to churches, provide lights for sacred places according to your means, retain in your memory the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teach them to your sons. Moreover, teach and chastise those children for whom - you are sponsors, that they may always live with the fear of God. Know that you are sponsors for them with God. Come frequently also to church ; humbly seek the patronage of the saints ; keep the Lord's day in reverence of the resurrection of Christ, without any servile work ; celebrate the festivals of the saints with devout feeling ; love your neighbors as yourselves ; what you would desire to be done to you by others, that do to others ; what you would not have done to you,' do to no one ; before all things have charity, for 'charity covereth a multitude of sins ;' be hospitable, humble, casting all your care upon God, for he careth for you ; visit the sick, seek out the cap tives, receive strangers, feed the hungry, clothe the naked ; set at nought soothsayers and magicians ; let your weights and measures be fair, your bal ance just, your bushel and your pint fair; nor must you claim back more than you gave, nor exact from any one usury for money lent. Which, if you observe, coming with security before the tribunal of the eternal Judge, in ihe day of judgment, you may say, ' Give, Lord, for we have given ;' show mercy, , for we have shown mercy ; we have fulfilled what thou hast commanded, do thou give what thou hast promised.' "* ; ¦ ¦ — . , * Given by Dr. Maitland, in the work above quoted, p. Ill, seqq., where the greater portion of the homily is translated. It will be seen that he em ploys the words of the Protestant version in the scriptural, quotations. In another place, (p. 150() he furnishes an additional extract from the homily, in which the holy bishop warns his people against all superstition and idol atry, in the following impressive language : "Before all things, however, I declare and testify unto you, that you should observe none of the impious customs of the pagans ; neither sorcer ers, nor diviners, nor soothsayers, nor enchanters ; nor must you presume for any cause, or any sickness, to consult or inquire of them, for he who commits this sin immediately loses the sacrament of baptism. In like man ner, pay no attention to auguries, and' sneezings ; and, when you are on a journey, do not mind the singing of certain little birds. But, whether you are setting xiut on a journey, or beginning any other work, cross yourselves in'the name of Christ, and say the Creed and the Lord's Prayer with faith and devotion, and then the enemy can do you no harm. Let no Christian A MODEL MEDIAEVAL HOMILY. 57 While on the subject of mediaeval homilies, we cannot re frain from extracting one entire from Dr. Maitland.* It was delivered by the Foreman of the Goldsmith, the latter of whom had built a splendid monastery, and the former had been ordained priest, after having first become a monk. The people often visited his solitude to be edified by his vir tues, and to profit by the words of simple, but touching elo quence which fell from his lips. His homilies on such occa sions were short, and to the purpose. The following is the one to which we referred above : "Brethren, hear what I say, with attention, and sedulously meditate on it in your hearts. God the Father, and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His precious blood for us, you must love with all your soul, and with all your mind. Keep your hearts clean from wicked and impure thoughts; maintain brotherly love among yourselves ; and love not the things that are in the world. Do not think about what you have, but what you are. Do you desire to hear what you are ? The prophet tells you, saying, 'All flesh is grass, all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field.' (Isaiah xl. 6.) Consider how short the present hfe is ; always fearing, have the judgment of God before your eyes. While there is opportunity, redeem your sins by alms and good works." This, for its brevity and comprehensiveness, may be viewed as a model sermon. We doubt whether, even at the present more enlightened day, any one could say more good things better, in so few words, and with so much simplicity and unc tion. Probably the best possible vindication of our Catholic ancestors is that which is contained in their own words, so far as these have been preserved to us, and in such of their works — as, for instance, their noble cathedrals, hospitals, and monas- observe the day on which he leaves, or returns home, for God made all the days. Let none regulate the beginning of any piece of work by the day, or by the moon. Let none on the calends of January, join in the wicked and ridiculous things, the dressing hke old women, or like stags, or other fooler ies, nor make feasts lasting all night, nor keep up the custom of gifts and intemperate drinking." * Ibid, p. 93-4. 58 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. teries — as time and the Vandalism of the sixteenth century have spared to us. Digby and Maitland — the former a Cath olic and the latter a Protestant — have done much to give us an adequate idea of 'their usual trains of thought, and of their sometimes rude, but always earnest, simple, and eloquent man ner of expressing them. As Dr. Maitland clearly proves, by numerous examples, they not only were well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, but their very thoughts were wont to run in the channel of scriptural imagery, and their words were often little else but a tissue of scriptural quotations.* Take them all in all, they will compare most favorably with the> men of the preseht day ; and in faith, piety, and love of God and their neighbor, as well as in disinterestedness, they will certainly bear off the palm. Let it, then, be borne steadily in mind, that the evils and scandals to which we have referred above, and which we have not sought tO conceal or even to palliate, were exceptional ; and that even after the original simplicity and fervor of the middle ages had greatly diminished, and their disinterested and sim ple spirit of faith, as the all-moving and animating principle of action, had, in a great measure, passed away along with the age of chivalry and the crusades, there still remained in the great body of the Church — in the laity as well as in the clergy — the solid foundations of truth and virtue, which found forci ble expression in the general popular horror of heresy, and in the general detestation of the obscenities of vice so unblush- ingly exhibited in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Though sorely tried by wild, but fortunately transient here sies, and afflicted by grievous scandals during the two centu ries immediately preceding the Reformation, the Church was still sound, not only in her truth, which could jiever fail, but in the general faith and fervent piety of the great body of her clergy and members. This was clearly proved by the wonderful effects produced * Ibid, p 187, seqq., and p. 466, seqq. ST. VINCENT FERRER — THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION. 59 all over Europe, during this very period, by the preaching of that wonderful man of God — St. Vincent Ferrer — who came forth, like another John the Baptist from the wilderness, to preach penance, and to arouse into greater activity the faith and piety of the people. Whithersoever he went, vast multi- titudes hung upon his lips ; and the results of his preaching were most consoling to the afflicted Church. Such men as he, and his illustrious predecessor in the same career, St. Bernard of Clairvaux^— were real reformers according to' the true apos tolic type; such reformers as the Church has been blessed with in all ages, and as she has always delighted to honor. Even, the unscrupulous D'Aubigne, is compelled to do some measure of justice to the Catholic Church of the middle ages. He makes the following avowal ; which is invaluable, coming from so prejudiced a source :* "But first let us do honor to the Church of that middle period, which intervened between the age of the Apostles and the Reformers. The Church was still the Church, although fallen and more and more enslaved. In a word, she was at all times the most powerful friend of man. Her hands, though manacled, still dispensed blessings. Many eminent servants of Christ diffused during these ages a beneficent hght ; and in the humble convent— the sequestered parish — there were found poor monks and poor priests to alleviate bitter sufferings." But if the Church was still enabled, through the divine pro tection, to preserve pure the great body of her bishops and clergy, it was not surely from any aid which her pontiffs de rived for this purpose, from the princes of the worlds This good result was obtained, not in virtue of the co-operation of the latter, but often in spite of their untiring opposition. It seemed to have become an almost settled policy of the Ger man emperors, and subsequently of the French kings, to throw every possible obstacle in the way of the appointment of good, disinterested, and zealous bishops. They thwarted the Popes at almost every step in the continued and earnest endeavors of the latter to secure good pastors to the vacant sees. They * Vol. I, p. 40, Edit, of Carter, 1843. 60 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. unscrupulously charged on the Popes the very crime of which they were themselves openly guilty— an avaricious grasping after the goods of the Church. When calumny failed, they had recourse to secret fraud and open violence; and they were always sure to find aiders and abettors among the higher clergy, several of whom their wicked and dangerous policy had already partially tainted. This unfortunate spirit was strikingly exhibited in the adop tion of -what was called the Pragmatic Sanction, by the French king, Charles VII., in the year 1438,,and in the persistent efforts made by the French Parliaments and German Diets to carry out its mischievous provisions for more than a cen tury , and all this in spite of the earnest protests and eloquent appeals of the pontiffs. The provisions of this instrument vir tually annihilated the primacy of the Pope in France and wherever else they were adopted and acted on. ¦ While pro fessing great reverence for the chair of Peter, and promising obedience to the Pope as his successor, the French monarch, Charles VII., more than 'two centuries in advance of le Grand Monarque, Louis XIV.,— ^adopted a code of Gallican liberties, probably far more mischievous in their tendency than those contained in the subsequent Declaration of the Gallican clergy in 1682. And like Louis, Charles was backed in his war with the Pope, by a large body of the higher clergy of France ; who should surely have already seen and felt enough of the dangers of court influence, to beware how they contributed to increase its patronage. But a species of vertigo had seized on many minds in consequence of the late schism ; and this feeling of distrust of the Pope found ex pression in the schismatical proceedings of the conventicle at Basle, which dared continue its sessions after the papal pro hibition, in 1433, and even after it had been dissolved, in 1437, by the undoubted Pope Eugenius IV.* In spite of all * Eugenius issued a bull dissolving the Council, and ordering the bishops - to convene again at Ferrara. ITS MISCHIEVOUS TENDENCY — LETTER OF PIUS II. 61 canonical law, a schismatical remnant of the bishops still con tinued to hold their sessions, and even went to the extreme length of attempting to depose the Pope, and thereby to origi nate another fearful schism. The Pragmatic Sanction was nominally abrogated by the French king, Louis XL, in 1461 ; but this feeble or diplomatic monarch showed little disposition to compel his Parliament to repeal their previous enactments in its favor. Thus the evil went on almost unchecked for more than fifty years longer ; until the Sanction was finally annulled by the General Coun cil of Lateran, in a session held in 1515. Its final abrogation was fully agreed to by the French king, Francis I., in a con ference held in the same year at Bologna, between him and Pope Leo X. How very mischievous this parliamentary enactment was, and how many evils it must have entailed on the Church in France, especially in the way of foisting unworthy, or worldly- minded and courtly bishops into many of its sees, may be in ferred from the fact, that it gave to the French monarch and his Parliament almost unlimited control over all such appoint ments,, and forbade any interference therewith on the part of the Pope without their own previous consent. The king and his Parliament would be sure to appoint, not the best and the most holy men, but such as would be most likely to subserve their own worldly views, and to stand by them in their con tests with the Pope. The spirit of the Pragmatic Sanction, with its manifold evils, extended also to Germany, and, to a greater or less extent, throughout all Christendom ; and we have not a doubt that it contributed as much perhaps, as any 'Other single agency, to prepare the minds of men for the sub sequent religious revolution of the sixteenth century. To exhibit still more clearly the true spirit and real tendency of the Pragmatic Sanction, we will here give an extract from a letter written on the subject by the renowned pontiff, Pius IL, previously well known in the world of letters as ^Eneas Sylvius : — 62 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. "We ardently desire to see the nation of the -Franks holy and withonl blemish ; but this cannot be, unless this stain or wrinkle of the Sanction be removed, the manner of the introduction of which you all know. It was certainly not received on the authority of a general council, nor by a decree of the Roman pontiffs, though no enactment on ecclesiastical matters can stand as valid without the consent of the Roman See. . . . . We do not at tach so much importance to the hearing of causes, the bestowal of benefices, and many other things which we are thought to value. This it is which fills us with anguish, that we witness the perdition and ruin of souls, and that the glory of a most noble king is thereby tarnished. For how can it be tolerated, that laymen should become the judges of the clergy ? That the sheep should hear and decide on the causes of their shepherds? Is it for this that we are 'a royal and priestly race' ? We will not, for the sake of your honor, explain how greatly the sacerdatol authority has been impaired in France. This is well1 known by the bishops, who, at the beck of the secular power now draw, now sheathe the spiritual sword. But the Roman bishop, whose parish is the world, whose ecclesiastical territory is not bound ed even by the ocean, has, in the kingdom of France, only so much jurisdic tion as the Parliament may be pleased graciously to assign to him ! He is hot permitted to punish the sacrilegious, the parricide, the heretic, though an ecclesiastic, unless with the previous consent of the Parliament, whose authority is so great in the opinion of some, as to shut the door against our ecclesiastical censures. -Thus the Roman pontiff, the judge of judges,, is sub ject to the judgment of Parliament. If we admit this, we make the Church a monster, we introduce a hydra with many heads, and thereby totally ex tinguish unity. This is a dangerous matter, venerable brethren, which would bring confusion into the whole hierarchy."* * Giesler. Text Book of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. III., p. 223-4, note. This prejudiced Protestant or irifidel historian furnishes the original of the Letter to the French Bishops,' as follows : "Cupimus sanctam esse Francorum gentem et omni carere macula : at hoc fieri non potest, nisi haec Sanctionis macula seu' ruga deponatur, qu£e que- modo introducta sit ipsi nostis. Certe non auctoritate generalis synodi nee Romanorum decreto pontificum recepta est, quamvis de causis ecclesiasticis tractates absque placito Romanse Sedis stare non possit. .... Non pon- deramus causarum auditionem, non beneficiorum collationem, non alia multa quaj curare putamur. Ulud nos angit, quod animarum perditionem ruinam- que cernimus, et nobilissimi regis gloriam labefactari. Nam quo pacto tole- randum est clericorum judices laicos esse factos? Pastorum causas ores cognoscere ? Siccine regale genus et sacerdotale sumus ? Non explicabimus, OTHER AGENCIES- -THE POPE AND LIBERTY. 63 Though abrogated by Francis I., the spirit and the sting of the Pragmatic Sanction still remained. As we shall see here after, its spirit strongly influenced or rather infected the policy, and contributed to the misfortunes of this brilliant, but frivolous French monarch ; it subsequently led, step by step, to the bloody civil wars brought upon France by the Hu guenots ; and finally its evil germs produced the poisonous tree of infidelity, which diffused its fatal and upas-like influ ence over France in the awful revolution of 1792-3. The French monarchs sowed the seeds of Gallicanism — first under Charles VII. in 1438, and then under Louis XIV. in 1682 — and they reaped the final harvest of anarchy and revolution in 1792 ! History has.its logic as well as philosophy. Besides the spirit of disunion and distrust of the Papacy, which -had been kept alive for centuries, chiefly by the princes of the earth, other agencies also more immediately contributed to prepare the way for the Reformation in the sixteenth cen tury, and to facilitate its success. The revival of learning, and the invention of the art of printing, afforded incidental aids to the spread of the new gospel. The former came from Italy; the latter ,from Germany. The active Italian mind originated the intellectual movement, the more practical German mind seized on it, and scattered its thoughts over the earth on the wings of the press. Both the revival of honoris causa, quantum diminuta est in. Gallia sacerdotalis auctoritas. Epis copi norunt qui pro nutru ssecularis potestatis spiritualem gladium nunc exercent, nunc recludunt. Prsesul vero Romanus, cujus parochia orbis est, cujus provincia nee oceano clauditur, in regno Francise tantum juri^dictionis habet, quantum placet Parlamente. Non sacrilegum, non paricidam, non haejeticum punire permittitur, quamvis ecclesiasticum, nisi Parlamenti con sensus adsit, cujus tantam esse auctoritatem nonnulli existimant, ut censuris etiam nostris prsecludere aditumpossit. Sicjudex judicum Romanus pontifex judicio Parlamenti subjectus est. Si hoc admittimus, monstruosam eeclesiam facimus, et hydram multorum capitum introducimus, et unitatem prorsus •Mctinguimus. Periculosa res h-ec est, venerabiles fratres, quse hierarchiam omnem confunderet." 64 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. letters and the art of printing were of Catholic origin ; they were both- abused, and treacherously turned, as ' powerful batteries, against the Church. That Europe was indebted to Italy for the preservation of the ancient learning in the middle ages, and for the revival of letters in the fifteenth century ; and that Italy, under the auspices of the Popes, was, during all those centuries, very far in advance of all other European nations, is freely admitted by such prejudiced English writers as Hallam and Macaulay. The latter writes as follows on this important historical fact ; and we feel confident that the length of the extract will be pardoned on account of the interest which attaches to the subject: "During the gloomy and disastrous centuries which followed the down fall of the Roman Empire, Italy had preserved, in a far greater degree than any other part of Western Europe, the traces of ancient civilization. The night Which descended upon her, was the night of an Arctic summer : — the dawn began to reappear before the last reflection of the preceding sunset had faded from the horizon. It was in the time of the French, Merovingians, and of the Saxon Heptarchy, that ignorance and ferocity seemed to have done their worst. Yet even then the Neapolitan provinces; recognizing the authority of the Eastern Empire, preserved something of Eastern knowledge and refinement. Rome, protected by thei sacred character of its pontiffs, enjoyed at least comparative security and repose. Even in those regions where the sanguinary Lombards had fixed their monarchy, there was incom parably more of wealth, of information, of physical comfort, and of social order, than could be found in Gaul, Brittain, or Germany." Under the auspices of the pontiffs, liberty, manufactures, and commercial prosperity were inaugurated; for Macaulay adds: j "Thus liberty, partially, indeed, and transiently revisited Italy; and with liberty came commerce and empire, science and taste, all the comforts and all 'the ornaments of life. The crusades, from which the inhabitants of other countries gained nothing but relics and wounds, brought the rising commonwealths of the Adriatic and Tyrrhene ' seas a large increase of wealth, dominion, and knowledge. Their moral and their geographical position enabled them to profit alike by the barbarism of the West and the civilization of the East. Their ships covered every sea. Their factories ITALY AM) THE POPES — MACAULAY. 65 rose on every shore. Their money changers set their tables in every city. Manufactures flourished. Banks were established. The operations of the commercial machine were facilitated by many useful and beautiful inventions. We doubt whether any country of Europe, our own perhaps excepted, have at the present time reached so high a point of wealth and civilization as some parts of Italy had attained four hundred years ago." . . . "Fortunately John Villani has given us an ample and precise account of the state of Florence in the earlier part of the fourteenth century. The revenue of the republic amounted to three hundred thousand florins, a sum which, allowing for the depreciation of the precious metals, was at least equivalent to six hundred thousand pounds sterling ; a larger sum than England and Ireland, two centuries ago, yielded annually to Elizabeth — a larger sum than, according to any computation which we have seen, the Grand-duke of Tuscany now derives from a territory of much greater extent. The manufacture of wool alone employed two hundred factories and thirty thousand workmen. The cloth annually, produced sold, at an average, for twelve hundred thousand florins ; a sum fairly equal, in exchangeable value, to'two millions and a half of our money. Four hundred thousand florins were annually coined. Eighty banks conducted the commercial operations, not of Florence only, but of all Europe. The transactions of these establish ments were sometimes of a magnitude which may surprise even the con temporaries of the Barings and the Rothchilds. Two houses advanced to Edward III, of England, upwards of three hundred thousand marks, at a time when the mark contained more silver than fifty shillings of the present day, and when the value of silver was, more than quadruple of what it now is. The city and its environs contained a hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants. In the various schools about ten thousand children were taught to read ; twelve hundred studied arithmetic ; six hundred received a learned education. The progress of elegant literature and of the fine arts was pro portioned to that of the public prosperity. .... No tongue ever furnished more gorgeous and vivid tints to poetry ; nor was it long before a poet appeared who knew how to employ them. Early in the fourteenth century came forth the Divine Comedy, beyond comparison the greatest work of imagination which had appeared since the poems of Homer. The following generation produced, indeed, no second Dante ; but it was eminently dis tinguished by general intellectual activity. The studv of the Latin writers had never been wholly neglected in Italy."* The literary sect of the Humanists arose in Italy about the middle of the fifteenth century. These new men of letters * Miscell. Am. Edit, p. 21 seqq. Review of the Works of Macchiayelli. VOL. I. — 6 66 EUROPE BEFORE THE REWRMATION. sought to revive Greek literature, and the Platonian phi losophy in opposition to that of Aristotle, which had long obtained a firm foothold in the schools. They disparaged all barbarisms in style, and they valued a finely turned sentence conveying a sneer against the clergy more highly than a sound and orthodox sentiment conveyed in the more homely language of the school-men. The Dominicans were their special aversion, for two principal reasons : first, their theo logians were usually more or less barbarous in their Latin ; and secondly, they had been appointed censors of books, and, in virtue of their office, they were compelled often to condemn the works of the Humanists, in spite of their elegant Latinity. This last fact has special significance, when we reflect that Tetzel, the preacher of- the Indulgences in Germany, was a Dominican; and that Erasmus, the leader of the German,, Humanists, united with Luther in hurling at the devoted head of the Dominicans his polished but envemoned shaft of ridi cule and invective: The early progress of the German Reformation was also facilitated by the' over-indulgence, if not negligence of the Italian Humanists, who, with their great and munificent patron, Leo X., were at first inclined to look upon the contro versy between the Augustinian monk Luther, and the Domi nican monk Tetzel, as a mere "monkish squabble." Soon, indeed, they discovered their mistake ; but it was too late fully to check the evil. It was not a merely local or transient rebellion against Church authority which was at hand, but a mighty revolution, which was to shake Christendom to its very centre; and to endure, with its long and pestilent train of evils, with its Babel-like sound and confusion of tongues, with its first incipient and then developed infidelity, probably to the end of the world ! Another weapon which the German reformers wielded with terrible effect against the Church, was their impassioned and reiterated declaration, that the Primacy of the Pope was sub- > versive of all German liberty. All the contests between the TESTIMONY OF LAING SUMMING DP. 67 German emperors and the Popes during' the middle ages were brought up again, exaggerated and distorted by passion,before the public mind, and the Germans were told that they must throw off the yoke of the Pope, if they would preserve their ancient franchises. This appeal to national prejudices was as successful as the basis on which it rested was wholly unfounded in the facts of history. The truth is, that the Germans owed almost every thing, their liberties included, to the interposition of the Popes checking the usurpations and despotism of their emperors. This is apparent from the fact, that they were really less free after than they had been before the Refor mation. This we hope to prove hereafter. In the mean time,, we invite attention to the following testimony on this subject, furnished by the Scotch Presbyterian writer, Samuel Laing, surely an unexceptionable witness. He is speaking of the past and present condition of Germany ; in reference precisely to the influence exercised by the Papacy on its liberty : '' The principle that the civil government, or State, or Church and State united, of a country is entitled to regulate its religious belief, has more of intellectual thraldom in it than the power of the popish Church ever exer cised in the darkest ages ; for it had no civil power joined to its religious power. It only worked through the civil power of each country. The Church of Rome was an independent, distinct, and often an opposing power in every country to the civil power ; a circumstance in the social economy OF THE MIDDLE AGES, TO WHIOH, PERHAPS, EUROPE IS INDEBTED FOR HER civilization and Freedom — for not being in the state of barbarism and slavery of the east, and of every country, ancient and modern, in which the civil and rehgious power have been united in one government. Civil liberty is closely connected with religious liberty — with the Church being independ ent of the State In Germany the seven Catholic sovereigns have 12,074,700 Catholic subjects, and 2,541,000 Protestant subjects. The twenty-nine Protestant sovereigns, including the four free cities, have 12,113,000 Protestant subjects, and 4,966,000 Catholic. Of these popu lations in Germany, those which have their point of spiritual government without their States, and independent of them—as the Catholics have at Rome — enjoy certainly more spiritual independence, are less exposed to the intermeddling of the hand of civil power with their religious concerns, 68 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. than the Protestant populations, which, since the Reformation, have had Church and State united in one government, and in which each autocratic sovereign is de facto a home-pope. The Church affairs of Prussia in this half century, those of Saxony, Bavaria, and the smaller principahties, such as Anhalt Kothen, in all of which the State has assumed and exercised power inconsistently with the principles, doctrines, observances, and privi leges of the Protestant religion, clearly show that the Protestant church or the confcinep.t, as a power, has become an administrative body of clerical functionaries, acting under the orders of the civil power or Stajfi."* From the foregoing summary view of the events affecting religion in Europe, during the centuries which preceded the Reformation, we draw the following conclusions, in the sound ness of which we believe that every well-informed and impar tial man will be disposed to concur with us : 1. That the amount and extent of the scandals and abuses complain ed of during this period have been greatly exaggerated ; and that the good more than counterbalanced the evil. Evil always excites more attention and makes more noise in, the world than good; and what contemporary writers, even if they were otherwise good men, say of abuses, and of the per sons to whom they are to be ascribed, will generally be found to be highly colored ; especially if the writers, as is often the case, have their feelings enlisted as partisans on one side or the other. Feeling must be calmed down, excitement must pass away, and affairs must fully work themselves out, before a correct and reliable judgment can be formed on any series of events. 2. That these abuses and scandals generally originated in the world and its princes, not in the Church and its chief pastors ; most of them being due to the fact, that bad men were thrust into the high places of the Church by worldly * Notes of a Traveler on the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, Switzerland, Italy, and other parts of Europe, during the present century. By Samuel Lairig, Esq., author of "A Journal of a Residence in Norway" and "A Tour in Sweden." From the second London edition. Philadelphia. Cary & Hart, 1846. 1 vol. 8vo. p. 194. FOUR CONCLUSIONS REACHED. 69 mitded and avaricious princes in spite of the Popes, whose settled policy it was to protest with all their might against a line of conduct so very ruinous to the best interests of re ligion. And such being clearly the case, it is most unjust to charge those scandals on the Church or on the pontifls. If the princes of the earth could have ruined the Church, they would have done so by their iniquitous and oppressive enact ments. That they did not succeed in inflicting on her more than occasional and temporary wounds, we owe it to the divine vitality of the Church, and to the noble and dauntless oppo sition of the Popes. y 3. That there was a lawful and efficacious remedy for all such evils, which consisted in removing their obvious cause, and giving to the Popes their due power and influence in the nomination of bishops, and in the deliberations of general ecclesiastical councils, the judgments of which had hitherto been always viewed as final : that, in one word, reformation within the Church, and not revolution outside of it, was the only proper, lawful, and efficacious remedy for existing evils, and the one which had always been invoked by the wise and the good in all previous ages of Christianity. 4. Finally, that the fact of Christians having at length felt prepared to resort to the desperate and totally wrong remedy of ^revolution, was owing to a train of circumstances which had caused faith to wane and grow cold, and which now ap pealed more to the passions than to reason, more to human considerations than to the principles of divine faith1 and the interests of eternity. That the drama was strictly in accordance with its pro gramme, and that the Protestant Reformation throughout Europe, both in its inception and in its consummation, was rather the working out of the three great concupiscences referred to by an inspired apostle, than of a sincere and earn est love of truth, and of a real desire of reformation, will, unless we are greatly mistaken, sufficiently appear from the facts contained in the following pages, In regard to Germany 5 70 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. and Switzerland, we propose, in the first volume, to examine the following questions : 1. Whether the men who brought about the Reformation in Germany were such as God could or would have employed to do His work ? 2. Whether the motives which prompted, and the means which were employed to accomplish that revolution, were such as God could sanction ? 3. Whether the Reformation really effected a reform m religion and in morals ? And 4, whether its influence was beneficial to society, by developing the principles of free government, and promoting literature and civilization ? PART I. CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. CHAPTER I. LUTHER AND THE OTHER GERMAN REFORMERS. D'Aubigne's opinion — A reformed key — Luther's parents — His early train- ing — A naughty boy — Convents — Being "led to God," and "not led to. God" — He enters the Augustinian convent — Austerities — A "bread bag" — His faith and scruples — His humility and zeal — Luther a reformei — Grows worse — becomes reckless — His sincerity tested — Saying anJ unsaying — Misgivings — Tortuous windings — How to spite the Pope — Curious incident — Melancthon and his mother — Luther's talents and elo quence — His taste — His courage and fawning — His violence and coarse ness — Not excusable by the spirit of his age — His blasphemies — Recrim ination — Christian compliments—" Conference with the devil" — Which, got the better of the argument — Luther's morality — Table-talk — His ser mon on marriage — A Vixen — How to do "mischief to the Pope" — A striking contrast — How to fulfill vows — His marriage — Misgivings — Epi grams and satires — Curious incidents in his last sickness — Death-bed confession — His death — The reformed key used — Character of, the other reformers. D 'Ar/BiGNE compares the reformers to the Apostles ;* and his favorite theory is, that the Reformation itself was but " the reappearance of Christianity ."f Speaking of the life and character of Luther, he says "the whole Reformation was there."J " The different phases of this work succeeded each other in the mind of him who was to be the instrument for it, before it was publicly accomplished in the world. The knowledge of the Reformation effected in the heart of Luther * B. ii, p. 118, vol. i. Our quotations from D'Aubigne are from the first American edition, in three volumes 12mo, to which two others have been since added, to which we l^ay refer hereafter. \ Pref. iv. % Vol. i, p. 118. (71) 72 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. himself is, in truth, the key to the Reformation of the Church."* We will abide by this test. We will examine for a brief space the external form, and the internal structure — the many tortuous turnings and intricate wards of this ' " key" of the Protestant Reformation ; and we will be enabled to estimate the character of the latter, — which, as we hope to show, was a " lock on the understanding" — from the properties of the for mer. Dropping the figure, we will compare the character of Luther while he continued a Catholic, during the first thirty- four years of ins life, with what it subsequently became after he had turned reformer, or foi the last twenty-nine years of his life — from 1517 to 1546.. If we ascertain that his own character underwent a change greatly for the worse during the latter period, we will be compelled, by D'Aubigne's own rule, to admit that the general tendency of the Reformation was evil. To facilitate the understanding of our remarks, and to obviate repetition, we here state that Luther was born at Eis leben, in Saxony, on the 10th of November,- 1483 ; that he attended successively th& schools of Mansfeld, Magdeburg, and Eisenach, and completed his education in the university of Erfurth ; that he was ordained priest in 1506, turned re former in 1517, was married in 1525, and died on the 17tL of February, 1546, in the sixty-third year of his age. While under the influence of the Catholic Church, he was probably a moderately good man ; he was certamly a very bad one after he left its communion. His parents were poor, but they seem to have. been pious, especially his mother. From an early age, they labored to train him up in senti ments of piety, as well as to imbue his mind with the ele ments of learning. "As soon as he was old enough to receive instruction," says D'Anbigne, "his parents endeavored to communicate to him the knowledge of God, to train him in * D'Aubigne, voL i, p. 118. MARTIN LUTHER. 73 His fear, and to form him to the practice of the Christian virtues. They applied the utmost care to his earliest domestic education.* He was taught the heads of the catechism, the ten commandments, the Apostles' creed, the Lord's prayer, some hymns, some forms of prayer, a Latin grammar com posed in the fourth century by Donatus ; in a word, all that was studied in the Latin school of Mansfeld."f — In the good old Catholic times, then, parents knew their duty to their children, and people were not so stupidly ignorant after all ! Luther seems to have been a very naughty boy ; for while at school in Mansfeld, "his master flogged him fifteen times in. one day ;"J and, in his after-life, he was wont to complain of the cruel treatment he received from his parents. " My parents treated me cruelly, so that I became very timid : one day, for a mere trifle, my mother whipped me till the blood came. They truly thought they were doing right; but they had no discernment of character, which is yet absolutely necessary, that we may know when, on whom, and how, pun ishment should be inflicted."^— His parents probably acted on the old maxim, "spare the rod and spoil the child;" and if he was subsequently so much spoiled, even with all the previous training of the rod, what would he have been with out its salutary restraint? Though "it appears that the child was not yet led to God,"|| still he evinced a great fund of piety. " But even at this early age, the young man of eighteen did not study merely with a view of cultivating his understanding ; there was within him a serious thoughtfulness, a heart looking up wards, which God gives to those whom He designs to make His most zealous servants. Luther felt that he depended entirely, on God, — a simple and powerful conviction, which is at once a principle of deep humility, and an incentive to great undertakings. He fervently invoked the Divine bless- * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 122. f Ibid. p. 123. J Ibid. } Luth. Opp. Wittemb. xxii, 1785. || DAubigne, voL i, p. 123. VOL. I. — 7 74 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ing upon his labors. Every' morning he began the day with prayer; then he went to church; afterwards he commenced his studies, and he never lost a moment in the course of the day. ' To pray well,' he was wont to say, ' was the better half of study."'*— This looked a little like being "led to God." On the 17th of August, 1505, he entered into the Augus- tinian convent at Erfurth, being then in the 22d year of his age. He was induced to take this important step by a vow he had made to consecrate himself entirely to God, in case of his deliverance from a terrific storm^ by which he was overtaken near Erfurth, and in which, according to one account,f his friend Alexis was stricken dead by lightning at his side. "At length he is with God," says D'Aubign6. " His soul ia safe. He is now to obtain that holiness he so ardently desired.";];— The monasteries were then not so bad as Protestants wOuld fain represent them. " They often con tained Christian virtues "-—D'Aubigne' himself tells us— "which grew up beneath the shelter of a salutary retire ment; and which if they had been brought forth to view, would have been the admiration of the world. They who possessed these virtues, living only with each other and with God, drew no attention from without, and were often unknown even to the small convent in which they were inclosed — their life was known only to God."§ Luther, it would seem, entered the convent with the purest motives, and labored in it to overcome himself by mortifica tion and self-denial, and to acquire humility and all the Christian virtues. "But .it was not to gain the credit of being a great genius that he entered the cloister ; it was to find the aliments of piety to God."j| The monks " imposed du him the meanest offices. They perhaps wished to humble * Mathesius, 3, apud D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 130. . f Discredited, perhaps with reason, by D'Aubigne (ibid., p. 135, note.) t Ibid., p. 136. 5 Ibid., p. 146-7. || Ibid., p. 141. HIS EARLY LIFE. 75 the doctor of philosophy, and to teach him that his learning did not raise him above his brethren The former master of arts was obliged to perform the functions of door-keeper, to open and shut the gates, to wind up the clock, to sweep the church, to clean the rooms. Then, when th"e poor monk, who was at once porter, sexton, and servant of the cloister, had finished his work — 'cum sacco per civitatem' — 'with your bag through the town !' cried the brothers ; and, loaded with his bread-bag, he was obliged to go through the streets of Erfurth, begging from house to house, and perhaps at the doors of those very persons who had been either his friends or his inferiors. But he bore it all. Inclined from his natu ral disposition to devote himself heartily to whatever he undertook, it was with his whole soul that he had become a monk. Besides, could he wish to spare the body ? To regard the satisfying of the flesh ? Not thus could he acquire the humility, the holiness he had come to seek within the walls of a cloister."* How strongly does not this spirit of self-denial contrast with the gross self-indulgence of his subsequent life, when he had thrown off all those wholesome but now anti quated restraints! Well does his panegyrist remark, that " there was then in Luther little of that which made him in after-life the reformer of the church."f As we shall see, this remark is strikingly true. The change which was wrought in his own life and conduct, by the principles he subsequently broached and carried out in practice, was indeed striking and radical, but certainly greatly for the worse. He received ordination with fear and trembling at his own unworthiness. So great was his awe of the holy sacrament, that in a procession at Eisleben, on the feast of Corpus Christi, he almost fainted through overpowering' reverence for Christ truly present.J He was scrupulous to a fault. He frequently gave way to fits of despondency and melancholy, • D'AuMgne, voLi, p. 139. f Ibid, p. 138. X lb"*-. P- 157- 76 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. which were with difficulty removed. As a panacea for his troubled mind, an aged monk called his attention to that article of the Apostles' creed in which we profess to believe "in the forgiveness of sins."* \The humble confidence in our forgiveness through God's mercy, which this article is so well calculated to inspire, was afterwards reduced by the reformer to an absolute and infallible certainty, that .his own sins were forgiven. So apt are men to run into extremes, especially those who are addicted to scruples! When these are re moved — as was unhappily the case with Luther — they too often are exchanged for the opposite extreme of wanton reck lessness. This remark may furnish a key to the reformer's whole subsequent life. His deep humility, we are further informed, caused him to shrink from the office of preaching. It was with great diffi culty that Staupitz, his superior, could overcome this reluct ance. "In vain Staupitz entreated him: 'No, no,' replied he, 'it is no light thing to speak to men in God's stead.'" " An affecting instance of humility in this great reformer of the church,"f adds D'AubigneV He unhappily gave no evidence of any such spirit, after he had turned reformer, as we shall see presently. Had he always preserved this humble and truly Christian spirit, the peace of the Church would in all probability never have been disturbed. In 1516, but one year before the commencement of the Reformation, Staupitz directed him to make the visitation of the forty convents belonging, to the Augustinian Order in Germany.} He discharged this difficult office with singular prudence and zeal. He labored to reform abuses, gave salutary counsels, and animated the monks to the practice .of every virtue. A little later, he gave additional evidence of Christian humility. Having received a new gown from the elector Frederick of Saxony, he thus wrote to Spalatin, the elector's secretary : " It would be too fine, if it were not a * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 154. f Ibid, p. 161. J Ibid, p. 191, seqq. AS A UATHOLIC. 77 prince's gift. I am not worthy that any man should think of me, much less a prince, and so noble a prince. Those are most useful to me who think worst of me. Present my thanks to our prince for his favor, but know that I desire neither the praises of thyself nor of others : all the praise of man is vain, the praise that cometh from God being alone true."* During this period of his Catholic life, it would appear . from the testimony of his eulogist, that he was no less zealous and devoted than he was humble. When the plague broke out in Wittenburg, in 1516, his friends advised him to fly from a malady which swept off whole multitudes. Luther answered : " You advise me to flee — but whither shall I flee ? I hope the world will not go to pieces, if brother Martin should fall. If the plague spreads, I will send the brethren away in all directions ; but for my part, I am placed here : obe dience does not allow me to leave the spot, until He who called me hither, shall call me away."f He did not behave thus courageously, when the pest again visited Wittenburg, after he had left the Church. When the blessed light of the new gOspel had broken upon his beclouded spirit, he was not so well prepared to meet death in order to succor his suffering brethren, but he Openly proclaimed the narrow and selfish doctrine, that the minister of God fulfilled his duty, if he administered the sacrament to his flock four times in the year ; and that it was an intolerable burden to be under the obligation to do more, especially in time of plague ! J Such was Luther before he began the Reformation in 1517. How changed, alas ! was he after this period — heu ! quantum mutatus ab illo! He is no longer the humble monk, the scrupulous priest, the fervent Christian, that he was before! * LutheriEpistolae,edit.De'Wetto,i,p.45,46: apudD'Aub. vol. i, p. 195. t Epist. i, p. 42. 26 Oct. 1516. Apud D'Aub. vol. i, p. 194. X Apud Audin, Life of Luther, American translation, p. 27. He quotes Michelet's Memoires de Luther. This is the edition of Audin from which we shall usually quote 78 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. Amidst the storm which he excited, he gradually suffered Bhipwreck of almost every virtue, and became reckless and depraved ; the mere creature of impulse, the child of pride, the victim of violent and degrading passion. We trust to make all this appear from certain and undoubted facts, which no one can deny. And the result of our reasoning will be the irresistible conclusion, that for him at least, the Reforma tion was a down-hill business : and, according to D'Aubigne's test, that this was its general tendency. His own deterioration, and the work of the Reformation were both . gradual ; and they went hand in hand. He did not at first seem to aim at any change in the doctrines and institutions of the Catholic Church ; this thought was devel oped only afterwards. In the 38th, 67th, and 7lst of his famous ninety-five theses published against Tetzel on the 1st of Nov. 1517, he expressly maintained the authority of the Pope, and the Catholic doctrine on indulgences. He professed only to aim at the correction of abuses. It is a mooted question, whether jealousy of the Dominican order, which had been intrusted with the preaching of the in dulgences, to the exclusion of his. own rival order of the Au- gustinians, influenced him in his first attack on Tetzel. Such seems to have been the opinion of the enlightened Pontiff, Leo X., who, when the controversy was first reported to him, remarked, smiling, " that it was all a mere monkish squabble originating in jealousy." * Sucli also was the opinion of many other ancient writers. Certain it is that this jealousy, if it did not originate, at least fed ana maintained the discussion. Luther's order, with its principal members-— Staupitz, Link, Lange, and others — were his warmest advocates ; while the Dominicans— Cajetan, Hochstraet, Eck, and Prierias — were his chief opponents. The Dominican order continued faithful * Che coteste erano invidie fratesche. Brandelli, a contemporary Domini can writer. Hist. Trag. pars 3. HE TURNS REFORMER. 79 to the church ; the Augustinians of Germany abandoned it almost without an exception.* Had he paused at the proper time, had he continued to leave untouched the venerable landmarks of Catholic faith, and confined himself to the correction of local disorders, all Catho lics would have applauded his zeal. Instead of being reck oned with Arius, Pelagius, Wicliffe, and other heresiarchs, he would then have found a niche in the temple of Catholic fame, with an Ambrose, a Gregory VII., and a Bernard ! His great talents, properly regulated, might have been immensely bene ficial to the Church of God. But, standing on the brink of a precipice, he became dizzy, and fell ; and, like Lucifer of old, he drew after' him one-third of the stars of God's kingdom on earth. The old Catholic tree bore some evil fruits of abuses — generally local and unauthorized, as we shall see in the proper place — and, instead of pruning it- discreetly and nurturing its growth, he recklessly lopped off all its branches, and even at tempted to tear it up by the roots, under the pretext, forsooth, of making it bear fruit ! The question has often been asked, was Luther sincere ? We have no doubt of his sincerity nor much of his- piety, until he turned reformer. Perhaps, too, he might have been, to a certain extent, sincere during the first year of his reform ative career. God only can judge the human heart ; and it would be rash in us to attempt to fathom what only He can search with unerring accuracy. Still we have some facts whereon to base a judgment in the particular case of the Gerr man reformer. There is little doubt that he had some misgivings at first. He himself tells us that " he trembled to find himself alone against the whole Church." f He testifies on this subject as * Several of the members, however, seem to have subsequently returned to the communion of the Church, and among them Staupitz, the superior. + " Solus primo eram." Opp. in Proef. Edit. Wittenb. Quoted by D'Au bigne. 80 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. follows ; " How often has my conscience disturbed me ! How often have I said to myself: dost thou imagine thyself wiser than all the rest of mankind? Darest thou imagine that all mankind have been in error for so long a series of years." * And again : " I am not so bold as to assert that I have been guided in this affair by God ; upon this point I would .not wish to undergo the judgment of God."f He regretted at first that his Theses had become so public, and had made so great a stir among the people. " My de sign," says he " was not to make them so public. I wished to discuss the various points comprised in them with some of our associates and neighbors. If they had condemned them, I would have destroyed them ; if they had approved of them, I would have published them." J " He was disturbed and dejected at the thought" — of standing alone against the Church — " doubts, which he thought he had overcome, returned to his mind with fresh force. He trembled to think that he had the whole authority of the Church against him. To withdraw himself from that authority — to resist that voice which nations and ages had humbly obeyed — to set himself in opposition to that Church which he had been accustomed from his infancy to revere as the mother of the faithful : he, a despicable monk — it was an effort beyond human power." § Luther himself tells us how he struggled against this feel ing ; how he lulled to rest that still small voice of conscience within his bosom. " After having triumphed, by means of the Scripture§, over all opposing arguments, I at last over came, by the grace of Christ (!) with much anguish, labor, and great difficulty, the only argument that still stopped me, namely, ' that I must hear the Church ;' for, from my heart, I honored the Church of the Pope as the true Church," etc.j] * Opp. Lutheri. Germ. Edit. Geneva, vol. ii, fol. 9. t Ibid, vol. i, p. 364. X Epist. Collect. De Wette, vol. i, p. 95. { D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 257. || Luth. Opp. Lat. i, 49. Ibid, i, 258. .WAS HE SINCERE? 81 He foresaw the dreadful commotions of which he would be the author, and trembled at the thought ! "I tremble — I shudder at the thought, that I may be an occasion of discord to such mighty princes."* — Still he recklessly persevered! But these scruples were but "a remnant of popery:" soon he succeeded in lulling his conscience into a fatal security. An awful calm succeeded the storm. The pride of being at the head of a strong party ; the praises of the students and professors of the Wittenburg university; the flattery of friends, and the smiles of the powerful elector of Saxony ; soon quieted the rising qualms of conscience. The following facts, selected almost at random from a mass of evidence of the same kind, may contribute to throw additional light on the question of his sincerity. On the 30th of May, 1518, which was Trinity Sunday, he wrote a letter to Pope Leo X., of which ¦ the following is the concluding passage: " Therefore, most holy father, I throw myself at the feet of your holiness, and submit myself to you with all that I have and all that I am. Destroy my cause or espouse it ; pronounce either for or against me ; take my life or restore it, as you please : I will receive your voice as that of Christ him self, who presides and speaks through you. If I have deserved death, I refuse not to die : the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. May He be praised for ever and ever. May He maintain you to all eternity! Amen."f The sequel tested the sincerity of this declaration. But even while he was penning it, or very shortly afterwards, he preached from the pulpit of Wittenburg against the powei of the Pope to fulminate excommunication, and he was en gaged in circulating ii*nammatory tracts breathing the same spirit.J * "Inter tantos principes dissidii origo esse valde horreo et timeo." Ep. i, 93. f Luth. Epist. vol. i, p. 121. Edit. De Wette. X "Habui nuper sermonem ad populumde virtute excommunicationis, ubi taxavi obiter tyrannidem et inscitiam sordidissimi illius vulgi omcialium comtui&sariorum vicariorum," etc. — Epist. ad Wencesl. Link, Julii, 1518. 82 REFORMATION IN GERMANY.. In 1519 he had a conference with Miltitz, the papal envoy, to whose perfect satisfaction he arranged every thing, prom ising to keep silence in future as to the questions in contro versy. The good nuncio embraced him, wept with joy, and invited him to a banquet, at which he loaded him with caresses. While this affecting scene was enacted, Luther, in a private letter to a friend, called him "a deceiver, a liar, who parted from him with a Judas-like kiss and crocodile tears ;"* and, in another letter, to Spalatin, he wrote : " Let me 'whisper in your ear; I do not know whether the Pope is Antichrist, or only his apostle,"f etc. And yet, in less than a month after this very time, on the 3d of March, 1519, he wrote to the Pope in these words of reverence and submission : " Most holy father, I declare it in the presence of God, and of all the world, I never have sought, nor will I ever seek, to weaken by force or arti fice the power of the Boman church or of your holiness. I confess .that there is nothing in heaven or earth that should be preferred above that church, save only Jesus Christ the Lord of all." J The same man who wrote this, impugned the Primacy of the Pope the very same year in the famous discussion with Doctor Eck at Leipsic! Was he — could he be sincere in all this ? But, further, when on the 3d of October, 1520, he became acquainted with the bull of Leo X., by which his doctrines were condemned, he wrote these remarkable words : "I will treat it as a forgery, though I believe it to be genuine."^ ' The following evidence will greatly aid us in judging of the motives wliich guided Luther in pushing forward the work of the Reformation. What those motives were he surely was the best judge. Let us then see what^himse'lf tells us on this subject. In his famous harangue against Karlstadt and the image breakers, delivered from the pulpit of the church of All * Epist. Sylvio Egrano, 2 Feb, 1519. ¦f Epist. Spalatino, 12 Feb, 1519. See Audin, Life of Luther, p. 91, and D Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 15-16. X Epist. i, p. 234. $ D'Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 128. HIS MOTIVES. 83 Saints at Wittenberg, he plainly says that, if his recreant disciples will not take his advice, "he will not hesitate to retract every thing he had either taught or written, and leave them ;" and he adds emphatically : " This I tell you once for all."* In an abridged confession of faith, which he drew up for his partisans, he says in a vaunting- tone : " I abolished the elevation of the host, to spite the Pope ; and I had retained it so long to spite Karlstadt."f In the new form of service, which he composed as a substitute for the Mass, he says in a similar spirit : " If a council were to order the communion to be taken in both kinds, he and his would only take it in one or none ; and would, moreover, curse all those who should, in conformity with this decree of the council, communicate in both kinds."J — Could the man be sincere who openly boasted of being governed by such motives ? We might continue- to discuss the question of his sincerity, by showing how he said one thing to Cardinal Cajetan, and in the diet of Worms in 1521, and other things precisely con tradictory to his friends, at the same time : how, before Caje tan, he appealed first to the universities,§ then to the Pope, better informed,|| and subsequently to a general council :Tf and how, when all these tribunals had decided against him, he would abide by none of their decisions, his reiterated solemn promises to the contrary notwithstanding ! Did the Spirit of God direct liim in all these tortuous windings Of artful policy ? Do they manifest aught of the uprightness of a boasted apostle ? Do they not rather bespeak the wily heresiarch — an Arius, a Nestorius, or a Pelagius ? We say nothing at present of his consistency : we speak only of his sincerity and common honesty. No one has ever yet been found to praise his consistency. He was, confess- * " Non dubitabo funem reducere, et omnium quse aut scripsi aut docui palinodiam canere : hoc vobis dictum esto." Sermo docens abusus non niani- bus, etc. t Confessio Parva. X Forma Missas. { D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 357. || Ibid, vol. i, p. 376. If Ibid.; vol. i, p. 389, and again, vol. ii, p. 134. 84 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. edly, a mere' creature of impulse and of passion, constant in nothing but in his hatred of the Pope and of the Catholic Church. His inconsistencies would fill a volume, and a mere enumeration of' them would swell this chapter to an unwar rantable length.* But there is one incident in the private life of Luther too curious to be passed over in silence. We give it in the words of M. Audin, with his references to contemporary historians : '4 "After the labors of the day, he would walk with Catharine" — the nun whom he had sacrilegiously wedded — " in the little garden of the convent, near the ponds in which colored fish were disporting ; and he loved to explain to her the wonders of the creation, and the goodness of Him who had made it with His hands. One evening the stars sparkled with unwonted bright ness, and the heavens appeared to be on fire. ' Behold what splendor those luminous points emit,' said Catharine to Luther. Luther raised his eyes. 'What glorious light,' said he: 'it shines not fok us.' 'Why not?' re plied Bora ; ' have we lost our title to the kingdom of heaven ?' Luther sighed — 'Perhaps so,' said he, 'because we have abandoned our state. > ' We ought to return to it, then,' said Catharine. ' It is too late — the cab is sunk too deeply,' added the doctor. The conversation dropped."f We may here be pardoned for making a digression, to relate a somewhat analogous incident of Melancthon, Luther's bosom friend and cherished disciple. Luther was wont to flatter him immoderately, and the grateful disciple repaid him with interest in the same gilded coin. When the latter had finished his Scholia — or short commentaries — on the Epistles of St- Paul, Luther said to .him, after having read the work: "What matter is it whether it pleases you or not, if it pleases me? I tell you that the commentaries of Origen and Jerome, compared with yours, are nothing but absurdities."! Melancthon, too, had his misgivings. * Those who may be curious to investigate this subject still further will find abundant facts in Audin's Life of Luther. We direct the attention of such to the following pages : 81, 82, 85, 94, 95, 102, 110, 238, 239, 240, 291, 312, 354, 397, 398, 410, 430, 472, 511, etc, etc. t Georg Joanneck — Norma Vitse. Kraus — Ovicul. part ii, fol. 39. Apud Audin, p. 382. X Apud Audin, p. 445. HIS BOLDNESS AND ELOQUENCE. 85 "He recalled to his mind the image of his old father, George Schwartzerde,f the smith, whose lively faith made him rise often at night to offer up his prayer to God. He thought of the last prayer of. his dying mother, who, raising her hands towards him, said : ' My son, it is for the last time you see your mother. I am about to die : your turn will one day( come, when you must render an account of your actions to your Judge. You know that I was a Catholic, and that you have induced me to abandon the religion of my fathers. Tell me now, for God's sake, in what religion I ought to die.' Melancthon answered: 'Mother, the new doctrine is the more convenient; the otlier is the more secure.' "f But the gentle and wavering Melancthon was kept in error by the fascination of his imperious master Luther, who, serpent-like, had coiled himself around his very heart strings, and held him captive. Luther's intellectual attainments were of a high order. As a popular orator, few surpassed him whether in ancient or in modern times. Nothing could withstand the foamy torrent of his eloquence, or resist the effect of his withering invective : "When he preached, the people listened with trembling expectation tc the words which fell from his lips. His eye, which seemed to ¦ revolve in a fiery orbit — his large and seer-like forehead — his animated figure, especially when much excited^— his threatening gesture, his loud voice which thun dered on the ear — the spirit of inspiration with which he seemed possessed — all awakened either terror, or ecstatic admiration in his auditory."}. i An excellent judge, the great Frederick Von Schlegel, passes the following opinion on his mental powers. " In the first place, it is^evident of itself that a man who accomplished so mighty a revolution in the human mind, and in his age, could have been endowed with no common powers of intellect, and no ordinary strength of character. Even his writings display an astonishing boldness and energy of thought, united with a spirit of impetuous, passionate, and convulsive * Schwarzerde means literally blade earth. j iEgidius Albertinus im 4. Theil des Deutschen Lust-Hauses, vol. v p, 143. — Apud Audin, p. 447, note. } Audin, p. 225. 6 86 REFORMATION' IN GERMANY. enthusiasm. The latter qualities are indeed not very compatible with a prudent, enlightened, and dispassionate judgment."* His indefatigable industry and untiring energy brought out all his mental resources. He was restless and uneasy in mind and heart : his spirit could never be still, after it had lost the peace it once possessed in the bosom of the Catholic Church. His mind was not elevated or refined ; it could not appreciate the beauties of art in Rome, which he visited during the splendid pontificate of Leo X. He seems to have gleaned nothing else from his journey to the eternal city but a few " house-wife stories or mendacious anecdotes."-f Much has been said of his courage, and of his utter disre gard of danger. That he was bold and daring, we do not pre tend to deny. It however required but little courage to be bold in his interview with Cardinal Cajetan, or at the diet of Worms in 1521. With the safe-conduct of the emperor, and the cer tain protection of the powerful elector of Saxony, he had little to apprehend. Besides, any man might become courageous, at least at times, who had a powerful party to sustain him in every thing. Luther was certainly most courageous where there was least danger. He is altogether a different charac ter at the diet of Worms, and at Wittenberg. He could hurl defiance at Popes, emperors, and princes, when these were far off, and he was put Of their reach : but if he had any thing to fear from them, the scene changed altogether. He then became as obsequious and crouching, as he had before been bold and reckless. How meanly, sycophantic was he on all occasions to the elector of Saxony ! We will give one instance of this. When Henry YIIL, of England, complained to the elector of Luther's outrageous insults to his royal majesty, the elector barely inti mated the fact in a very mild and indirect way to the reformer, without even insinuating the propriety of the latter making any * Philosophy of History, voL ii, p. 204. + See Audin, p. 135, for facts under this head. HIS SUBSERVIENCY TO PRINCES. 87 reparation. Luther at once seized his pen, and indited the fol lowing singular amende honorable. " Most serene king ! most illustrious prince ! I should be afraid to address your majesty, when I remember how much I must have offended you in the book which, under the influence of bad advice, rather than of my own feelings, I published against you, through pride and vanity. . . '. . I blush now, and scarcely dare to raise my eyes to you — I, who, by means of these workers of iniquity, have not feared to insult so great a prince — I, who am a worm and corruption, and who only merit contempt and dis dain If your majesty thinks proper that, in another work, I should recall my words, and glorify your name, vouch safe to transmit to me your orders. I am ready and full of good will,"* etc.. In fact, as we shall hereafter prove, Luther was indebted, in a great measure, to his sycophancy to princes for the success of his pretended Reformationf. His passions were violent, and he seems to have made little effort to govern them. His violence, in fact, often drove him to the very verge of insanity. His cherished disciple, Melanc thon, deplored his furious outbursts of temper. " I tremble when I think of the passions of Luther : they yield not in violence to the passions of Hercules."J The weak and timid disciple had reason to tremble; for he testifies that Luther occasionally inflicted on him personal chastisement.^ If he thus treated his most intimate friends, what are we to suppose his conduct was towards his opponents and enemies ? * Opp. Lutheri, Tom. ix, p. 234. Cochlaeus, p. 156, Ulenberg, p. 502, See Audin, p. 300. f Mr. Hallam, speaking of this letter of apology addressed by Luther to Henry VIII, says : "Among the many strange things which Luther said and wrote, I know not one more extravagant than this letter, which almost justi fies the supposition that there was a vein of insanity in his very remarkable character." — Constitutional History of England, Harper's edition, 1857; p. 45, note. X Melancthon' Epist. ad Theodorum. { "Ab ipso colaphos accepi." — Epist. ad eundem. 88 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. In his conferences with Cajetan and Miltitz, and in his letter- to Leo X., as well as in his famous speech at Worms, he acknowledged the violence of his writings : Still, instead of correcting this fault, it seems to have grown with his growth,- Witness the manner in which he replies to Tetzel. " It seems to me, at the sound of these invectives, that I hear a great ass braying at me. I rejoice at it, and should be sorry that such people should call me a good Christian."* He exhausts all the epithets of the coarsest ribaldry against his opponents, no matter how respectable these may have been. We can not pollute our pages with a tithe of his foul language. Behold the spirit that breathes in the following passage, in which he speaks of his theological antagonist Emser : " After a little time I will pray against him ; I will beseech God to render to him according to his works : it is. better that he should perish, than that he should continue to blaspheme Chris£. I do not wish you to pray for this wretch ; pray for us alone."f. His adversaries are full of devils : if they die, the devil has strangled them ; " one foams at the mouth ; another has the horns and tail of Satan. This one is clad as Antichrist ; that, man changed into a block. Oftentimes the same personage, in the same page, is travestied as a mule, a camel, ah owl, and a mole."J What, are we to think, for instance, of thp spirit of the following language, addressed to an assembly of his own disciples! "My brethren, be submissive, and communicate only under one kind. If you do what I say to you, I will be to you a good master ; I will be to you a father, brother, friend. I will obtain graces and privileges from his majesty for you. If you disobey me, I declare that I will become your enemy, and do. all the mischief possible to this city." J Volumes might be filled with extracts from Luther's writ ings, replete with the coarsest vulgarity and , the grossest * Lutli. Opp. Leipsic, xvii, 132. f Epist. ad Nicholas Hausman, 26 April, 1520. I Audin, p. 118, , $ Table Talk, p. 376. HIS COARSENESS. 89 obscenity : the specimens we have given are among the mild est and least objectionable.* It is usual to excuse this coarseness of Luther by the spirit of the age in which he lived. This is scarcely a valid apology for one, who set himself up as a reformer of religion and of morals, and who claimed a divine commission to establish a new system of doctrine. Besides, we look in vain for any such examples of vulgarity among his chief opponents in the Catholic Church: Emser, Eck, Cajetan, Erasmus, and the great Leo X., were far too refined to employ any such vulgar ' weapons. The reformers seemed to claim a special privilege in this way. Let us exhibit a few specimens of the manner in which some of those rival champions of reform, who dif fered from Luther in their doctrinal views, spoke of the Saxon reformer. They returned railing for railing.f "This man," says one of his contemporary reformers, "is absolutely mad. He never ceases to combat truth against all justice, even against the cry of his own conscience.";]; "He is puffed up," says another, "with pride and arro gance, and is seduced by Satan."§ " Yes," re-echoes ahother, "the devil is master of Luther to such a degree as to make one believe that he wishes to gain entire possession of him." || The same brother reformer adds: "that he was possessed not by one, but by a whole troop of devils ;"1T and that " he wrote all his works by the impulse and the dictation of the ~r : ~ * For more instances consult the following pages( of Audin, 136, 163, 235, 237, 239, 240, 248, 273, 285, 287, 288, 299, etc, etc. f It was well for such men as these to turn reformers, and to cry out against the holy Catholic Church ! There was certainly 'great need of refor mation, not of the Church, but of the coarse hypocrites who, reeking with vice and impurity, lifted up their voices to calumniate better men than them selves — a device to avert suspicion from their own conduct ! X Hospinian. J OScolampadius. || Zuingle. If Non obsessum ab uno spiritu, sed occupatum a caterva dsemonum. — Jontra Lutherum. Apud Audin, p. 188. VOL. I. — 8 90 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. devil, with whom he had dealings, and who in the struggle seemed to have thrown him by victorious arguments."* This last charge was not without foundation. , Luther him self relates his "conference with the devil" in full, and acknowledges, at the close of it, that he was unable to answer the arguments of Satan ! f The devil, as was quite natural, argued against the lawfulness of private Masses, which Luther feebly defended : and so convincing were the reasons of his satanical majesty, that Luther wrote to his intimate friend • Melancthon immediately after: "I will not again celebrate private Masses fore ^er." J And he faithfully kept his prom ise ! It was a favorite saying of his that, " unless we have the devil hanging about our necks, we are but pitiful specula; tive theologians !"§ Can we wonder, then, at this compliment paid him by his brother Protestants of the church of Zurich: "But how strangely does this fellow let himself be carried away by his devils! , How disgusting is his language, and how full are his words of the devil of hell!"|| If these sayings are hard, it is surely not our fault ; Luther bore similar testimony of himself, and of his brother Protest ants, who- happened to differ from him ; and , these did but retort on him similar compliments ! We are but the humble witnesses and historians of the conflict. The reformers are certainly unexceptionable witnesses of the characters of one : / . * Contra Confessionem Lutheri, p. 61.. For more testimonies of the kind, see Note A. at the end of .this volume. f In his treatise De Missa private. See also Note B. at the end qf the present volume, where we will give the Satanic interview in full. It is a document as .curious as it is important, in forming an estimate of Luther's character. X " Sed et ego amplius non faciam missam privatam in seternum." — Ad Melaneth. Aug. 1, 1521. J "Nisi diabolum habemus collo affixum, nihil nisi speculativi theologi sumus." — Colloquia Mensalia, fol. 23. Apud Audin, i, 366. Turnbull's translation, two vols. 8vo, London. || Church of Zurich — Contra Confess. Lutheri. HIS MORALITY. 91 another. Is it likely that God selected such instruments tc reform His church ? Luther's standard of morality was about as high as that of his good breeding. St. Paul tells us that a Christian's "conversation is in heaven;"* Luther's, on the contrary, was not only earthly, but often immoral and revolting in the' ex treme. He discussed, in all their most disgusting details, subjects which St. Paul would not have so much as " named - among Christians."! His famous " Table Talk" is full of such specimens of the new gospel decency. Wine and women, the Pope and the devil, are the principal subjects of which the reformer liked to treat, when alone with his intimate friends, in private and unreserved conversation. For fifteen years — from 1525 to 1540; — he usually passed the evenings at the Black Eagle tavern of Wittenburg, where he met and conversed, over the ale-jug, with his bosom friends, Melanc thon, Amsdorf, Aurifaber, Justus Jonas, Lange, Link, and Staupitz. His disciples carefully collected and published these con versations of their " beloved master," as so many precious oracles from heaven, delivered by the mouth of the new apostle. Erasmus Albert, one of them, tells us, in a work against Karlstadt, that " these table discourses of the doctor are better than any sermons ;" and Frederick Mecum, another early Lutheran, calls them "affecting conversations, which ought to be diffused among the people." J The first editions of the work were published in German and in Latin, by Mathesius, Peter Rebstock, and Aurifaber, all' zealous disci ples of the reformer.^ If there was any indiscretion in thus revealing to the world the secret conversations of this " ale- pope of the Black Eagle" with his boon companions, their . * Philippians, iii.: 20. \ Ephes. v : 3. X Apud Audin, p. 386. 5 The first edition was that of Eisleben, Luther's birth-place, in 1566, twenty years after his death. It was speedily followed by others, at Frank fort on the Oder in 1567 and 1571 ; at Jena in 1591 ; at Leipsic in 1603 and 1700 ; at Dresden and again at Leipsic in 1723. 92 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. zeal is alone to blame for the exposure. The Table Talk, 01 Tisch Reden, as it is called in German, revealing as. it does the heart Of Luther in his most unguarded moments, is per haps the best key to his real character.* We will not soil our pages with extracts from the Table Talk, revealing the moral turpitude of Luther. Those who may doubt the truth of the picture we have drawn, or who may feel a curiosity in such matters, are referred to the work itself — a ponderous folio of 1350 pages, besides an index,' which alone would make a volume Of considerable size.f Luther's immorality was ' not, however, confined to private conversations at the Black Eagle: he uiiblushingly and sacri legiously exhibited it in the very sanctuary of God's holy temple. His Sermon on Matrimony, 'delivered in the German language, from the pulpit of the public church of All Saints at Wittenburg, enters into the most revolting details upon a most delicate subject. The perusal of that sermon, even in the French language — under the veil of which the translator of M. Audin has wisely thought proper to leave it partially concealed — is enough to raise a blush on the cheek of mod esty! He preached this sermon in 1521, immediately after his return from the Castle of the Wartburg, where he had held his famous " conference with the devil ;" and it is worthy of such a master, if indeed the demon himself, who is said to have little taste for such matters, would not have blushed at the obscenity of his wanton disciple ! * Never, perhaps, was there a better or more striking illustration of the old Latin adage, in vino Veritas — in wine there is truth — than in these un guarded and confidential conversations between Luther and his intimate friends. Though concealment was no characteristic element of Luther's character, even in his more sober moments, yet the whole depths of his heart were more fully unveiled over his cups, in which he appears to have indulged more and more as he advanced in years. Verily, he had now fully given up all those practices of penitential austerity concerning which he had been so scrupulous while a Catholic ! f M. Audin publisnes copious extracts from the work, p. 387, seqq. HIS TABLE TALK. 93 We may as well remark here, that it was in this same church, about the same time, that Luther delivered the wither ing invective against Karlstadt and some other ultra reform ers, who had torn down or defaced the statues and paintings of the church, during his absence at the Wartburg. The fol lowing extract from this oration contains a boast characteristic of Luther: "I have done more mischief to the Pope, even while I slept, or was drinking beer with Philip and Amsdorf. than all the princes and emperors put together !"* We shudder while we record the following horrid bias phemies, taken from his Table Talk ; and we should have refrained from publishing them, had he not set himself up as a reformer of God's Church, and in that garb seduced many from the faith. "May the name of the Pope be d d: may his reign be abolished ; may his will be restrained ! If I thought that God did not hear my prayer, I would address the devil."f Again : " I owe more to my dear Catharine and to Philip, than to God himself."J Finally : " God has made many mistakes. I would have given him good advice had I assisted at the creation. I would have made the sun shine incessantly ; the day would have been without end."§ Could human wickedness or temerity have gone further than this ? || * Opp. Lutheri, Tom. vii. Chytr. Chron. Sax. p. 247. t Table Talk, p. 213, Edit. Eisleben. X Ibid, p. 124. 5 Id. Ed. Frank." part ii, fol. 20. || In his Standard Library, Bohn publishes (in one volume 12mo, pp. 374, London, 1857,) what purports to be Luther's Table Talk. We are indebted for a copy of this production to our friend James Sleyin, Esq, of Phila delphia. It is said to be a reproduction of a translation made about the middle of the seventeenth century by one Captain Henry Bell, an English man, who tells us a most marvellous story concerning "the miraculous preserving of Dr. Martin Luther's book, entitled Colloquia Mensalia, or his Divine Discourses at his Table, etc." According to the account of this gal lant romancer, he by chance found in Germany a copy of the precious book hidden away in a deep hole in the ground, this being the only copy that was left, all the rest having been burned by order of the Pope and the emperor! He reverently carried the book to England; and when he was dilatory in the translation, a nocturnal apparition frightened him into com 94 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. It is not a litttle remarkable, that from the .date of his con ference with the devil, Luther's, moral career was constantly downward; until at last he reached the lowest grade of io famy, and became utterly steeped in vice. How strongly doe's his reckless conduct, after this period, contrast with his vigils, long prayers, and fasts, while ari humble monk in the Catholic Church! He himself draws the contrast in his own forcible manner. He& tells us that while a Catholic, "he passed his life in austerities, in watchings, in fasts and praying, in poverty, chastity and obedience."* When he had abandoned Catho licity, he says of himself, that he was no longer able to- resist the vilest propensities,! and that, " as it did not depend upon him not to be a man, so neither did it depend upon him to be without a woman."J His immorality was generally known, and he himself often acknowledged it. " He was," says Slei- dan, a Protestant historian of the time, " so well aware of his immorality, as we are informed by his favorite disciple (Melancthon,) that he wished they would remove him • from the office of preaching."§ In his Table Talk, he often avowed mencing the task, causing him "to fall into an extreme sweat!" See his narrative in full, prefixed to Bohn's edition. He -does not choose to tell us whether the apparition was "white or black" — a question which had seriously puzzled more than one reformer. Verily,, some people are prepared to believe almost any absurdity, provided it only tally with their prejudices, and almost any marvel, provided it do not point in the direction of the truth. We have never seen a more stupid or clumsy imposture than this whole attempt to palm off on the public tho dreams of a miserable, and it would seem, disreputable adventurer ; and we are surprised that such a man as William Hazlitt should have lent it his countenance. The book itself is a bad abridgment of Luther's Table, Talk, with the more objectionable portions carefully left out. Only think of pub lishing the immense folio of 1350 pages in a small 12mo volume ! Yet there is no indication of its abridgment. * Tom. v, Opp. Commentar. in c. i ad Galatas v, 14. f " Oarnis meae indomitse uror magnis ignibus, came, libidine." Apud Audin, p. 355. X Opp. Tom. v, fol. 119. Sermo de Matrimonio. 5 Sleidan, B. ii, An. 1520. HIS MARRIAGE. 95 the base passions which raged within him ; but in language much too gross for our pages. He sometimes complained, that "the Wittenbergers who supply all the monks with wives, wilF not give me one."* Though he had made a solemn vow of chastity; and though the Holy Scriptures command us to fulfill our vows ;•)¦ yet he married Catharine Bora, a nun bound by similar sacred engagements 1J He, hesitated long before he took this step, and had some conscientious twitchings even while taking it: his conscience did not become wholly seared, until some time afterwards! While at the Wartburg in 1521 — a little before his satanical interview — he uttered the following exclamation of horror, on being shown some theses of his recreant dis- * See Meyer— Ehren Gedachtniss, fol. 26. f Psalm lxxv : 12. X The Protestant historian of Germany, Wolfgang Menzel, speaking of Luther's marriage, says : " Luther, in defiance of the ancient prophecy, that antichrist would spring from the union of a monk and nun, wedded (A. D. 1525,) the beautiful young nun Catharine Von Bora, who brought him sev eral children." Vol. ii, p. 249, edit. Bohn, London, 1853. He was not the first apostate priest who married at the period of the Beformatipn ; Karl- stadt, Bernhard, and others had preceded him in the reformatory race mat rimonial. Ibid, p. 232. As we shall have occasion to quote Menzel frequently hereafter, we may as well remark here, that though occasionally candid in his statement of facts, he takes little pains to disguise his prejudice against the Catholic Church ; which circumstance renders his testimony the ' more unexception able whenever it is favorable to the Church. One can hardly have patience while reading the flippant and stupid calumnies, which he heaps together on p. 218, seqq, of this second volume, in reference to the character of the Popes who preceded Leo X, the sale of indulgences, and the first move ments of the Reformation in Germany. He assigns no authority whatever for his calumnious and almost incredible statements. Among other things, for instance, he says that the ignorance of the clergy "was cbuntenanced by the Popes, who expressly decreed that out of ten ecclesiastics only one was to study !" P. 220. The Popes had always decreed precisely the contrary, as every one' knows who has read history. This very Pontiff, Leo X, had enacted, that "thenceforth none should be raised to the priesthood but men of ripe years, of exemplary conduct, and who had gone through a long course of study." See Audin, vol. i, p. 79, London edition. 96 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ciple, Karlstadt, in which this man allowed wives to priesta and monks — "Good heaven! will our Wittenburg friends allow wives even to monks ! Ah ! at least they will not make me take a wife."* And again he says: "The friars have of their own accord chosen a life of celibacy ; they are therefore not at liberty to withdraw from the obligations they have laid themselves under "f Three years later, in 1524^ he said : " God may change my purpose, if such be his pleasure ; but at present I have no thought of taking a wife." J And yet, but a few short weeks elapsed before he espoused Catharine Bora ! That he had some misgivings on the occa sion, would appear from these words of his letter to an inti mate friend, Wenceslaus Link — " Away with your scruples : let the Lord be glorified. I have my little Catharine. I belong to Bora, and am dead, to the world "§ — and to con science. To Koeppe, another boon companion, he wrote: " You know well what has happened to me. I am caught in | the snares of a woman. God must have been angry with me and with the world." || Luther at first felt the degradation to 'which he had stooped, in violating his sacred vows. In a letter to his intimate friend Spalatin, immediately after his marriage, he says: "That he had made himself so vile and contemptible by: these nuptials, that he hopes all the angels will laugh, and all the demons weep !"TJ Still this feeling soon gave way to a conviction, which he expressed in a con fidential letter tp another friend, "That God himself had inspired him with the thought, of marrying that nun, Catha rine de Bora ! !"** Could inconsistency and infatuation go further than this ? * At mihi non obtrudent uxorem. Lib. Epist. ii, p. 40. D'Aubigne iii, 26. Audin, vol. i, p. 337. f Ibid, p. 34; D'Aubigne, ib,p. 26, 27. X Epist. ii, p. 570, 30th Nov, 1524. x 5 Epist. Tom. ii, p. 245. Wittenb. edit. Seckendorf, 1. i, s. 63, clxxxii. || Ibid. Tom. ii, p. 903. Edit. Altenb. ' T Epistola Spalatino. " Sic me vilem et contemptum his nuptiis feci, ut angelos ridere, et dsemones Here sperem." ** Epist. Wenceslao Link. HIS MARRIAGE. 97 The whole world was astounded, or at least greatly shocked at this conduct of the Saxon reformer. The Catholics viewed it as open sacrilege: many Protestants were saddened and scandalized. Among these was Melancthon, who deplored this conduct of his master in a letter to Camerarius ; but with singular inconsistency adds: "Wo, however, to him who would reject the doctrine, on account of the sins of the teacher !" The accomplished, but wavering Erasmus, viewed it but as another proof of his caustic remark, " That the tra gedy of the Reformation ever terminated in the comedy of marriage." In a letter written on the occasion, he says: " This is a singular occurrence ; Luther has thrown off the philosopher's cloak, and has just married a young woman of twenty-six — handsome, well-made, and of a good family, but who has no dowry, and who for some time had ceasedw to be a vestal. The nuptials were most auspicious ; for a few days f after the hymeneal songs were sung, the bride 'was delivered! Luther revels, while a hundred thousand peasants descend to the tomb !"* The scandalous circumstance here developed may perhaps explain Luther's haste in the matter. All Germany was aroused by the tidings of Luther's mar riage. His opponents, as well as those who were indifferent, 9 * Epist. Danieli Manchis TJlmensi. Oct. 6, 1525. This letter of Erasmus has given rise to an animated controversy between the friends and opponents of Luther. Those who may wish to see both sides, are referred to Audin, p. 362, seqq. There seems to be little doubt, that the caustic censure of Erasmus had a basis in truth. See also Bayle's Dictionary, article Luther. The alleged retraction by Erasmus is believed by many to have been a for gery. If Froben, who collected and published the Epistles of Erasmus, omitted the original passage in his letter to Daniel Ulm criminating Luther, he would scarcely have scrupled to interpolate this passage containing the alleged retraction. Besides, Luther's immorality was well known, and not concealed even by himself. His conversation was habitually such as to indi cate a corrupt heart. He had, moreover, a son Andrew, as he testifies in his Table Talk, though his name is not given in the list of his children fur nished elsewhere, which is very suspicious. Finally, he speaks of an ille gitimate child of his wife Catharine. See Audin, Ibid. VOL. I. — 9 98 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. laughed at his expense through all the notes of tne gamut. Sonnets, epigrams, satires, epithalamia, and caricatures, poured in on his devoted head, like a hail storm, from every quarter. Among these, the best perhaps were those of Doc tors Emser and Wimpina. The former extemporized a nuptial ' song, or epithalamium, in Latin verse, and set it to music : " Farewell ! cowl, prior, guardian, abbot : adieu to all vows : adieu to matins and prayers, fear and shame : adieu to conscience !"* The latter, in a wood-cut caricature, exhibited, in withering and ludicrous contrast, the marriage of Luther and the divine injunction : " Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God" — Vovete, et reddite' Domino Deo tuo.f Luther seems to have retired for a time from the pitiless peltings of the storm — "dead to the world, with his little Catharine" — but he again emerged from solitude, more reck less and violent than ever. As Erasmus remarked, "mar riage had not tamed him !" Indeed, it would seem that " his little Catharine" gave him no little trouble and annoyance. She sometimes played the part, of the scold and the vixen. He used to call ber — after the honey-moon, of course — "my master -Ketha." J — Poor man ! Before he left the Catholic Church, he was temperate and abstemious : during the last twenty-one years of his life — from his marriage in 1525 to his death in 1546 — he was much given to the luxuries of the table, and drank beer copi ously, if not to excess. Maimbourg and others tell us, that * Cuculla, vale, capa ! Vale, prior, custos, abba ! Cum obedientia, Cum jubilo. Ite vota, preces, horse, Vale timor cum pudore : Vale conscientia ! CoMaus in Act. Lutheri, fol. 118. f Psalm lxxv: 12 ; Prot. vers, lxxvi: 12. The only answer Luther made to Wimpina, was this : " Let the sow grunt ! " | " Dominus meus Ketha." HIS DEATH — BEFORE AND AFTER. 99 he lost the use of reason at many of the sumptuous banquets, in which he was wont to revel with his intimate friends ; and Seckendorf, his warmest admirer, admits that " he used food and drink joyfully, and indulged in jokes,"* even on the eve of his death. In fact, so little was he in the habit of re straining his passions, or of concealing his vices, that they all stood out in bold relief, — strong even in death ! His death was in every respect worthy of the life he had habitually led since he had turned reformer. His last words contained a refusal to retract his errors, and a declaration that he wished to die as he had lived ! We will give a few incidents connected with his last moments. "I am ready to die," he said, " whenever it shall please God my Saviour ; but I would wish to live till Pentecost, that I might stigma tize before the whole world this Roman beast, whom they call the Pope, and with him his kingdom." His pains be coming very acute, he said one day to his nurse: "I wish there was a Turk here to kill me." Hear how he prays, while suffering : " My sins — death, the devil — give me no rest ! What other consolation have I but thy grace, O God ! Ah ! let it not abandon the most miserable of men, the greatest of sinners !" Witness again the spirit of the following charac teristic prayer, in which the supplication for mercy is blended with hatred of his enemies : " 0 my God ! how I would wish that Erasmus and the Sacramentarians did for a moment experience the pains that I suffer : then I would become a prophet and foretell their conversion."! After the sumptuous feast alluded to above, he gave vent to his humor in the following strain, the subject of which is' the devil — his usual hobby : " My dear friends; we can not die, till we have caught hold of Lucifer by the tail ! I saw his back yesterday from the castle turrets."! * " Cibo et potu hilariter usus est ; et facetiis indulsit." Seckendorf, Com- mentar. de Lutheranismo. f For more facts of a similar kind, see Audin, p. 482, seqq. t Bareburgius, in his MS. Seckendorf, lib. iii, § 36, cxxxiv. 100 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. The discourse subsequently turned on. the study of the Scriptures, and Luther made the following declaration, which is valuable as a death-bed confession., "It is no trifle to understand the Scriptures. Five years' hard labor will be required to understand Virgil's Georgics : twenty years' expe rience to be master of Cicero's Epistles: and a hundred years' intercourse with the prophets Elias, Eliseus, John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles, to know the Scriptures ! — Alas ! poor human nature !"* And yet the last twenty-nine years of his life had been devoted to the promulgation of the cardinal principle of his new religion, that every one was competent to understand the Scriptures by his own private judgment! Well may we exclaim—" Alas ! poor human , nature !" Such was, or rather became, Martin Luther, after he had left the holy Catholic Church ! Compare his character then with what it was before that event ; and then apply D 'Au- bigne's test given above, and the conclusion is irresistible : that.he was not a chosen instrument in the hands of God for reforming the Church, which " He had purchased with His blood." f Before he left the Church, he was, as we have seen, humble, patient, pious, devoted, chaste, scrupulous; after wards, he was, in every one of these particulars, directly the reverse. Does God choose such instruments to do his work ? Was Moses, was Aaron, were the apostles such characters? - Luther, like the apostles, forsooth! They were humble, chaste, patient, temperate,, and modest: he was proud, im moral, impatient, and wholly shameless. They had a mission from God, and proved it by mirales: he had not the one, nor did he claim the other; though challenged on the subject, both by theZuinglians and by the Anabaptists.! Therefore * Florimond Eemond, b. iii, c. ii, fol. 287. Laign, vita Lutheri, fol. 4. f Acts xx : 28. X See Audin, p. 239. Stiibner, an Anabaptist, asked him to produce his. miracles. He was silent, though a little before, he had made the very same challenge to Karlstadt, an 1 renewed it afterwards to the Zuinglians ! CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. 101 God did not send him — and all of D'Aubigne's canting theory falls of itself to the ground. What must the lock of the Reformation be, if Luther's personal character be the key, which suits its internal structure ? It would be easy to show, by unquestionable evidence, that the other reformers were not a whit better than Luther. We have seen already, what testimony they mutually bore to the character of one another ; and we shall probably have occa sion to recur to the subject in the sequel of our essay : " The historian, Hume, has truly characterized the reformers as ' fanatics and/bigots;' but with no less justice might he have 'added, that they were (with one exception perhaps')* the coarsest hypocrites :f men, who, while professing the most high-flown sanctity in their writings, were in their con duct, brutal, selfish, and unrestrainable ; who, though pretending, in matters of faith, to adopt reason as their guide, were in all things else, the slaves of the most vulgar superstition ; and who, with the boasted right of private judgment forever on their lips, passed their lives in a course of mutual re crimination and persecution ; and transmitted the same warfare as an heir loom to their descendants. Vet, ' these be thy Gods,' 0 Protestantism ! — these the coarse idols which heresy has set up in the niches of the saints and fathers of old, and whose names, like those of all former such idols, are worn like brands upon the foreheads of their worshipers.":): Whoever will read attentively the veridical history of the Reformation, will admit the truth of this picture drawn by the great Irish bard. * Melancthon. f Bucer admits the justice of this reproach. Epist, ad Calvin. X " Travels of an Irish Gentleman," etc, p. 200, 201. Doyle, New York, 1835. 7 PART II. CAUSES AND MANNER OF THE REFORMATION. CHAPTER II. CHARACTER OF THE REFORMATION— THEORY OF D'AUBIGNE EXAMINED. The question stated — D'Aubigne's opinion — Mother and daughter— Argu- mentum ad hominem — Jumping at a conclusion — Second causes — Why Germany was converted — Why Italy and Spain were not — Luther and Mohammed — Reasoning by contraries— Why France continued Catholic. We have seen what was the character of the chief instru ments who brought about the Reformation in Germany ; we are now to examine what was the character of the work itself, and how it was accomplished. Were the reasons which were assigned, as the principal motives for this alleged reform in religion, sufficient to justify it, according to the judgment of impartial men ? Were the means employed for bringing it about such as would lead us to believe, that it was really a change for the better; and were they such as God would or could have approved and sanctioned? Finally, weighing these motives and these means, and making all due allow ance for the condition of the times, was there any thing very remarkable in the rapid progress of the Reformation itself? We will endeavor to answer these questions in the following chapters. D'Aubigne\ and those who, concur with him, profess to believe, or at least endeavor to make others believe, that the Reformation was not only sanctioned by God, but that it was directly His work. He says : " Christianity and the Reformation are, indeed, the same revolution, but working at different periods, and in dissimilar circumstances. They differ in secondary features — they are alike in their first lines, and leading charac- (102) ITS RAPID DIFFUSION. 103 teristics. The one is the reappearance of the other. The former closes the old order of things — the latter begins the new." Between them is the middle ags. One is the parent of the other ; and if the daughter is in some respects inferior, she has, in others, characters altogether peculiar to herself"* In opposition to this flattering theory, we will endeavor to prove that the Reformation differs from Christianity, not only "in secondary features," but also " in its first lines and leading characteristics ;" and that, if the former was the daughter of the latter, she was a most recreant and degenerate daughter truly, with scarcely one lineament in common with her parent/ Verily, she had "characters altogether peculiar to herself," and she was not only " in some respects," but in almost every thing, not only "inferior" to, but the direct opposite, of her alleged parent ! According to our author, one of these " characters of the Reformation peculiar to itself," was " the suddenness of its action." ' He illustrates the rapidity with which the Reforma tion was established, by the figure employed by our blessed Saviour to denote the suddenness of His second coming : "As the lightning cometh forth from the west and shineth to the east, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." " Christianity," he says, " was one of those revolutions, which was slowly and gradually prepared ;" the Reformation, on the contrary, was instantaneous in its effect : — " A monk speaks, and in half of Europe the power and glory [of the Church of Rome] crumbles in the dust!"f This rapidity he views as a certain evidence, that the Reformation was assuredly the work of God. For " how could an entire people — how could so many nations, have so rapidly performed so difficult a work? .How could such an act of critical judgment [on the necessity and measure of the reform] kindle the enthusiasm indispensable to great, and especially to sudden revolutions ? But the Reformation was a work of a very different kind ; and this, its history will prove. It was the pouring forth anew of that life which Christianity had brought into the world." J * D'Aubinge, Preface, p. iv. f Ibid. t Tbkl 104 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. We trust to make it appear in the sequel, that the rapidity with which the Reformation was diffused, was the result of the pouring forth of a different spirit altogether. Meantime we would beg leave to ask D'Aubigne to answer this plain argument, specially adapted to the case as he puts it: if the suddenness of the Reformation be a proof that it was brought about by the "pouring forth anew of that life which Christi anity had brought into the world ;" would not the contrary feature of Christianity — its gradual operation* — be a conclu sive evidence, that this latter system was not the work of God? And if this argument be not valid, what truth is there in D'Aubigne's'entire theory? Would not his reason ing, if reduced to the strict laws of logic, rather prove, on the contrary, if it proved any thing, that the Reformation, differing " avowedly as it does in an essential feature from Christianity, was not effected by the agency of. the Holy Spirit, but was the mere result of violent human passions, which usually bring about sudden revolutions, both in the religious and in the social system? It is curious to trace the further development o^ his favor ite theory. " Two considerations will account for the rapidity and extent of this revolution. One of these must be sought in God, the other among men. The impulse was given by an unseen hand of power, and the change which took place was the work of God. This will be \he conclusion arrived at by every one who considers the subject with impartiality and attention, and does not rest in a superficial view. But the historian has a further office to perform — God acts by second causes. Many circumstances, which have often escaped observation, gradually prepared men for the great transforma tion of the sixteenth century, so that the human mind was ripe when the hour of its emancipation arrived."! Now, we have given no little attention to the subject, and we claim at least as much impartiality as our historian of " the great Reformation ;" and yet, with the facts of history before us, we can, arrive at no such conclusion, but have * This we merely suppose with D'Aubigne, who assumes that such is the fact. t D'Aubigne, Preface, p. v. WHY ITALY WAS NOT CONVERTED. 105 reached one precisely contrary. And the reason which have forced us to draw this latter inference are so many and so cogent, that we are even under the conviction, that no. one who will "consider the subject with impartiality and atten tion, and does not rest in a superficial view," can fail to agree with us. In examining, the secondary causes, by which God " gradu ally prepared men for the great transformation of the sixteenth century," our historian assigns a prominent place to the cen tral and commanding position of Germany. " As Judea, the birth-place of our religion, lay in the centre of the ancient world, so Germany was situate in the midst pf Christian nations. She looked upon the Netherlands, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hun gary, Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, and the whole of the north. It was fit that the principle of life should develop itself in the heart of Europe, that its pulses might circulate through all the arteries of the body the generous blood designed to vivify its members."* He alleges the following most singular .reasons why Ger many was prepared for embracing the Reformation : " The Germans had received from Rome that element of modern civiliza tion, the faith. Instruction, legislation — all, save their courage and their weapons, had come to them from the sacerdotal' city. Strong ties had from that time attached Germany to the Papacy."f — Therefore was she " ripe " for a rupture with Rome ! This connexion with Rome " made the reaction more powerful at the moment of awakening."}: » Again : " The gospel had never been offered to Germany in its primitive purity; the first missionaries who visited the country gave to it a religion already vitiated in more than one particular. It was a law of the Church, a spiritual discipline, that Boniface and his successors carried to the Frisons, the Saxons, and other German nations. Faith in the ' good tid- ¦ngs,' that faith which rejoices the heart and makes it free indeed, had remained unknown to them." §— Therefore,"1 when Luther and his brother reformers announced these "good * D'Aubigne Book i, p. 76. f Ibid., pp. 78, 79. X Ibid, p. 79. $ Ibid, p. 78. 106 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. tidings" in all their purity for the first time — fraught too with ' endless variations and contradictions — The Germans were prepared for the " awakening." and received the gospel with enthusiasm!! Truly, our, fanciful and romantic historian loves to reason by contraries, and to startle his readers by palpable absurdities ! ' No less curious is his reason for explaining why the Italians did not receive the new gospel : "And^ if the truth was destined to come from the north, how could the Italians, so enlightened, of so refined a taste and social habits, so delicate in their own eyes, condescend' to receive any thing at the hands of the barba-^ rous Germans ? Their pride, in fact, raised between the Reformation and , themselves a barrier higheV than the Alps. But the very nature of their mental culture was a still greater obstacle than the presumption of their hearts. Could men, who admired the elegance of a well cadenced sonnet more than the majestic simplicity of the Scriptures, be a propitious soil for the seed of God's word? A false Civilization is, of all conditions of a nation, that which is most repugnant to the gospel."* Those who have read Roscoe's " Life and Pontificate of Leo X.," will greatly question the accuracy of this picture of Italian civilization. We shall prove in the sequel, that, both before and during the time of the Reformation, Italy did much more than Germany, to evidence her admiration " for the majestic simplicity of the Scriptures." At present we will barely remark, that the gist of D'Aubigne's theory consists in the assertion, that Italy was too enlightened, too refined in taste, and social habits, too delicate in her own eyes, and conse quently too proud and presumptuous to receive the new gos pel ; while Germany, being on the contrary, less enlightened, less refined, and more corrupt in doctrine and morals, was a more genial soil — just the one, in fact, which was most " ripe" for its reception, and most likely to foster its growth ! We most cheerfully award to him the entire benefit of this novel and marvelous speculation on the most, suitable means of dis posing men's minds for the willing reception of gospel truth: * D'Aubigne, Book i, p. 84. WHY, SPAIN WAS NOT CONVERTED. 107 To confirm this singular theory still further, he thus accounts for the singular fact that Spain did not embrace Protestantism : " Spain possessed, what Italy did not — a serious and noble people, whosa religious mind has resisted even the stern trial of the eighteenth century, and of the revolution (French), and maintained itself to our own days" In every age, this people has had among its clergy men of piety and learning, and it was sufficiently remote from Rome to throw off without difficulty her yoke. There are few nations wherein one might more reasonably have hoped for a revival of that primitive Christianity, which Spain had probably received from St. Paul himself. And yet Spain did not then stand up among the nations. She was destined to be an example of that word of the divine wisdom, ' the first shall be last.' "* What a pity! We have little doubt ourselves, that these were precisely some of the principal reasons, why Spain did not stand up among the nations who revolted against Catho licity in the sixteenth century: and her having passed un scathed through this fiery ordeal of reckless innovation, may also serve to explain to us, how she was enabled " to resist even the stern trial of the eighteenth century, and of the revolution." Her people were too " serious and too noble," their mind was too " religious," and their clergy had too much " piety and learning," to allow them to be carried away by the novel vagaries of Protestantism. Among the " various circumstances which conduced to the deplorable result" — of her remaining Catholic, D'Aubigne mentions her "remoteness from Germany," the "heart"- of Europe — "an eager desire after riches" in the new world — the influence of her "powerful clergy" — and her military glory, which had just risen to its zenith, after the conquest of Grenada and the expulsion of the Moors. In reference to this last cause, he asks emphatically: "How could a people who had expelled Mohammed from their noble country, allow Luther to make way in it ?"f — This question is at least charac teristic! Was there then, in the ideas of the serious and noble Spaniards, so little difference between Luther and Mo- * D'Aubigne, Book i,.p. 85. \ Ibid, p. 86. 108 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. hammed ? And is our philosophic historian half inclined him self to think, that they were not so very far out in their logic i "Few countries," he says, "seemed likely to be better disposed than France for the reception of the evangelical doctrines. Almost all the intellectual and spiritual life of the middle ages was concentrated in her. It might have been said, that the paths were everywhere trodden for a grand manifestation of the truth."* — Perhaps this very pre servation of the intellectual and spiritual life of the middle ages, was a principal reason why France continued Catholic. A little farther on,f he continues : " The (French) people, of quick feeling, intelligent, and susceptible of generous emotions, were as open, or even more so than other nations, to the truth. .It seemed as if the Reformation must be, among them, the birth which should crown the travail of several centuries. But the chariot of France, which seemed for so many generations to be advancing to the same goal, suddenly turned at the mo ment of the Reformation; and took a contrary direction. Such was the will of Him, who rules nations and their kings." — We greatly admire his pious resignation to the will of God ! This sentiment may perhaps console him for his disappointment; " that the augury of ages was deceived," in regard to France.J He adds, in the same pious strain: "Perhaps, if she had received the gospel, she might have become too powerful!" He winds up his affecting Jeremiad over France with these and similar passages : " France, after having been almost reformed, found herself, in the result, Roman Catholic. The sword of her princes, cast into the scale, caused it to incline in favor of Rome. Alas ! another sword, that of the reformers themselves, in sured the failure of the effort for reformation. The hands that had been accustomed to warlike weapons, ceased to be lifted up in prayer. It is by the blood of its confessors, not by that of its adversaries, that the gospel triumphs. Blood * D'Aubigne, Book i, p. 86. f Ibid, p. 87. J Ibid. FAILURE OF REFORM IN FRANCE. 109 shed by its defenders, extinguishes and smothers it."* — That is, the Reformation . sought to establish itself in France by violence and by force, and it signally failed !f Elsewhere, as we shall see, it was more successful in the employment of such carnal weapons. But Protestantism obtained sufficient foot hold in France to do incredible mischief for a century and a half; and it sowed upon her beautiful soil the fatal seeds which, twO centuries and a half later, produced the bitter fruits of anarchy, infidelity, and bloodshed, during the dread ful " reign of terror ! " Such is the theory of D ' Aubigne- in regard to what we may perhaps designate the philosophy of the Reformation ; and we now proceed to its refutation ; — which is no difficult task, as in fact it sufficiently refutes itself. * D Aubigne, Book i. p. 87. f In our second volume, we shall have occasion to prove, we trust by abundant evidence, that this is strikingly true, and that D'Aubigne is not far wrong in his appreciation of the unsuccessful effort to thrust the Refor mation on France. 110 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. CHAPTER III. PRETEXTS FOR THE REFORMATION. Usual plea — Abuses greatly exaggerated — Three questions put and an swered — Origin of abuses — Free-will unimpaired — Councils to extirpate abuses — Church thwarted by princes and the world — Controversy on In- - vestitures — Extent of the evil — Sale of indulgences — St. Peters Church — John Tetzel — His 'errors greatly exaggerated — Public penance — License to sin — Nature of indulgences — Tetzel rebuked and his conduct disavowed by Rome — Miltitz and Cardinal Cajetan — Kindness thrown away— Luther in tears — Efforts of Rome — Leo X. and Adrian VI. — Their forbearance censured by Catholic writers — Their tardy severity justified by D'Aubigne — Luther's real purpose — The proper remedy — The real issue — Nullifica tion — " Curing and cutting a throat " — Luther's avowal — Admissions of the confession of Augsburg and of Daille — Summing up. Thje usual plea for the Reformation is, that it was necessary for the correction of the flagrant abuses which had crept into the Catholic Church. These are, of course, greatly exaggera ted and are painted in the most glowing colors, by D'Aubigne^ and by other writers favorable to the Reformation. He dwells with evident pomplacency on the vices of one or two Popes, and of some of tha Catholic bishops and clergy, both secular and regular, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He represents the whole Church as thoroughly corrupt, and states that, but for the efforts of the reformers, religion would have perished entirely from the face of the earth. We have al ready seen how he compared the reformers, preaching up their new-fangled doctrines among the benighted Roman Catholics of the sixteenth century, to the apostles preaching the gospel to the pagans of their day ! And how coolly he as sured us that the " Reformation was but the re-appearance of Christianity ! " We beg to record our solemn protest against the gross injustice of this entire view of the subject. But we are asked: — What? do you deny the existence of abuses in the Catholic Church? Do you deny, that those (110) ORIGIN OF ABUSES. Ill abuses were great and wide spread ? Do you deny, that it was proper, and even necessary to correct them? — We deny none of these things : except that there is an implied exagger-* ation in the second question.' We admit the existence of the evil complained of, especially about the beginning of the six teenth century ; and we deplore it, as sincerely at least, as do the opponents of the Catholic Church. A good cause can never suffer from candidly avowing the truth, and the whole truth. Let genuine history pronounce its verdict as to the real facts of the case ; and we at once bow to the decision. But what was the origin of the abuses complained of? what was their extent? and what was the adequate and proper remedy for them ? We will endeavor briefly to answer these three questions, which, we apprehend, go to the root of the matter under discussion. 1. It was not the intention of Christ, nor was it the design of the Christian religion wholly to prevent the possibility of abuses. He willed, indeed, that all men should embrace His religion, and reduce its holy principles to practice; in which case, there would have been no disorders nor abuses on the face of the earth, and the world would have been an earthly paradise, free from all stain of sin. But this state of perfec tion could not have been effectually brought about, without offering violence to man's free will, which God, in His moral government of the world, has ever wished to leave unimpaired. Religion was freely offered to mankind, with all its saving truths, its holy maxims, its purifying institutions, and its powerful sanctions of rewards and. punishments in an after life. Sufficient grace was also bounteously proffered to all, . to enable them to learn and believe its doctrines, and to observe its commandments. But no one was compelled to do either. Even among the twelve chosen apostles, who were trained under the immediate eye of Christ, there was one " devil." Christ himself foresaw and distinctly foretold that scandals would come ; but He contented himself with pronouncing a 112 REFORMATION TN GERMANY. * " woe on that man by whom the scandal cometh."* In His spiritual kingdom, the Church, there was to be. cockle, as well as the good wheat, and He willed " that both should grow until the harvest "f of the general judgment; in which only the final separation of the good and evil will take place. Noth ing is more foreign to the nature of Christ's Church, than the proposition that it was intended only1 to comprise the elect and the just. The struggle between good and evil — between truth and error — between the powers of heaven and the " gates of hell" — is to go on until the consummation of the world: but Christ has pledged His solemn word, that " the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church ; "J and that He will be with the body of His pastors and teachers " all days even to the consummation of the world."§ Abuses are accordingly known to have existed in all ages of the Church, even during her palmiest days. The writings of the earliest fathers — of St. Cyprian, of Tertullian, of St. Ambrose, and St. John Chrysostom — paint them in the most glowing colors. The Church never approved Of them — she could not do so even for a day; for Christ had solemnly promised to guard her, His own beloved and glorious Spouse, " without spot Or wrinkle," from falling away from her fidel ity by lapsing into or sanctioning error. She bore her con stant testimony against them, and labored without intermission for their removal. Her eighteen general councils, one for each dentury,- and her local ecclesiastical assemblies, almost with out number— diocesan, provincial, and national, — what are they all but evidences of this her constant solicitude, and re cords of her noble and repeated struggles for .the extirpation of error and vice ? There is not an error that she has not. proscribed ; not a vice nor an abuse upon which she has not set the seal of her condemnation. She was divinely commis sioned for this purpose : and well and fully has she discharged the sacred commission. * Math, xviii : 7. t Ibid, xiii : 30. X Math, xvi : 18. { Boid, xxviii : 20. INVESTITURES EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 113 Whenever she was not opposed nor thwarted in her heav enly purpose by the wicked ones of the earth, error and vice disappeared before her, like the mist before the rising sun. But she had at all times to contend with numerous, and some times, from the human point of view, with seemingly insur mountable obstacles. This was particularly the case during , the middle ages. The princes of the earth, especially in Ger many, sought, during that whole period, to enslave the Church, and to niake the bishops the mere subservient instruments of their worldly purposes and earthly ambition. This they en deavored to effect by making them their vassals, and by claiming a right to confer on them even the insignia of their spiritual office. The effect of this last claim was to render the appointment of bishops and of the higher clergy, as well as the exercise of their spiritual jurisdiction, but too often de pendent on the corrupt policy or mischievous whims of the secular power. The Roman Pontiffs maintained an arduous contest, for centuries, with the emperors of Germany and with other princes, against this glaring and wicked usurpa tion, fraught as it was with countless evils to the Church, which it attacked in the very fountains of her spiritual power. The question of Investitures was one of vital consequence, of liberty or slavery for the Church. After a protracted struggle the Pontiffs succeeded ; but their suc cess was neither so complete nor so permanent as the friends of the Church could have wished. Emperors, kings, and princes, especially those of the Germanic body, had still far too much power in the nomination of bishops and of the clergy.* II. The consequences were most disastrous for the Church. Unworthy bishops were often intruded by the German empe rors and princes into the principal sees. The example and the influence of these were frequently "baneful to the charac- * This, we think, we have already sufficiently established in the Intro ductory chapter to the present volume. VOL. I. — 10 114 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ter of the inferior clergy. Owing to the operation of these causes, the bishops and clergy of Germany, many of them, had greatly degenerated, about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Still there were many brilliant exceptions. The . evil was by no means so general or so wide-spread as it is usually represented. We are yet free to avow that it is difficult to explain how such large bodies of the clergy abandoned the Church in many countries of Europe, in any other supposition than that they had sadly degenerated from primitive fervor. At the bidding of their prince, or at the prompting of their own self-interest, they, in an evil hour, abandoned that Church which they had promised to defend, and at whose- altars they had been solemnly consecrated ! The abuse and alleged sale of indulgences afforded the principal pretext for. the first movements of the Reformation. The Church had always maintained her power to grant indul gences : she never sanctioned, in her official capacity, the abuses which, at some times and in some places, grew out of the exercise of this power. In the early centuries the canons imposed long and painful public penances on certain grievous transgressions. A canon of the general Council of Nice, in 325, had given to the bishops a discretionary power to remit the whole or a part of those penances, when the penitent manifested special fervor. Other councils made similar enact ments. During the middle ages the rigor of the ancient peni tential system was greatly softened down : and the penances themselves were often commuted into alms or other pious works. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, Leo X. de termined to push forward to completion a project conceived by his predecessor Julius IL, of erecting in Rome a. Christian temple, which should far surpass, in dimensions and magnifi cence, any thing that the world had ever yet seen. The origination of the plan of vSt. Peter's church was an idea worthy the mind of these magnificent Pontiffs; and its erec tion, which 'hey commenced, is one among the noblest monu- INDULGENCES. 115 ments to their fame.* To promote an object so splendid, Leo promulgated a bull, in which he promised ample indulgences to all ,who would contribute to so laudable an undertaking. And, if there were no other proof of the utility of indulgences, the erection of that splendid temple, mainly due to them, is a monument which would go far towards removing every cavil on the subject. No one can enter that church without being forcibly impressed with the majesty of God and the" gran deur of the Christian religion. To borrow the idea of a modern poet, his soul, on passing its portals and casting a glance at its immense and almost sublime proportions and marvelous symmetry, becomes " as colossal as the build ing itself!" Albert, archbishop of Mayence and Magdeburg, was ap pointed by the Pontiff to carry out the intentions of the bull * Of Julius II. and Leo X. much has been written which is favorable, and much also that is unfavorable tp their character as Pontiffs, if not as men. By some they have been represented as worldly-minded, and as being too much guided by earthly policy. Few, if any writers of respectability, no matter how prejudiced, have ventured a word against their moral character. Both were distinguished patrons of learning ; both were men of enlarged minds and liberal, views. Even the prejudiced Menzel says of Leo, that "he was free from personal vices." — (Vol. ii, p. 219.) The eulogy pronounced on him by Roscoe, the liberal minded English Protestant historian of his pontificate, is well known. Of Julius II. this same writer says : " His vigor ous and active mind corresponded with the restless spirit of the times, his ambition was not the passion of a groveling mind, nor were the advantages he sought of a temporary or personal nature. To establish the authority of the Holy See throughout Europe, to recover the dominions of the Church, to expel all foreign powers from Italy, and to restore that country to the dominion of its native princes, were the vast objects of his comprehensive mind. And these objects he lived to a great degree to accomplish." — (Ros coe, Life, etc., of Leo X, p. 291 ; quoted in Dublin Review, for September, 1855.) If as a temporal prince he went to war, contrary to the example set him by his predecessors, it was for high and noble purposes ; to drive the foreign intruder from Italy, and to establish, along with Italian independence, the rights of his See and throne. It is refreshing to see Protestant writers hke Roscoe and "I'oigt stepping forth to defend the Roman Pontiffs. 116 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. in Germany. He nominated John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, to be the chief preacher of the indulgences. We have no mission to defend the extravagances imputed to this man. To us it appears that much injustice has been done him, and that his errors have been greatly exaggerated by his enemies. He seems to have been in the main a good man, with perhaps not an over stock of prudence or discretion. The magnificent terms "in which he set forth the utility and efficacy of the in dulgences should have been explained, in common justice, according to the well known doctrine and practice of the Church on the subject.* One thing is certain, that the abuses of which he is accused were not authorized by the Church or the Pontiff. Even D'Aubigne, surely an unexceptionable witness,' tells us as much. He admits that, " in the Pope's bull, something was said of the repentance of the heart and the confession of the lips :" but he adds that " Tetzel and his companions cautiously abstained from all mention of these, otherwise their coffers might have remained empty ;"f and that this omission was in consequence of instructions from Archbishop Albert, " who forbade them even to mention conversion or contrition ."J And yet, on the same page, he acknowledges that confession, which necessarily presupposes conversion and contrition of heart, was a prerequisite to the granting of the indulgence ! * Menzel says, that he carried about a money box, on which was written what has been elegantly done into English as follows : "As the money in you pop, The souls from Purgatory hop." Ibid. p. 221. This retailing of vulgar gossip in doggerel verse, and without any sufficient authority, is unworthy a. grave historian. The contribution of alms for a religious orcharitable purpose was a usual condition for gaining Indulgences, which might profit not only the. one who fulfilled all the conditions, but also, by way of suffrage or prayer, the souls suffering in purgatory.! It is highly probable that Tetzel did not go further than this, and that most of the clamor against him, was raised by his enemies. f D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 214. % Ibid, p. 215. TETZEL. 117 " Confession being gone through (and it was soon dispatched), the faithful hastened to the vender."* We have strong reason to object to this term vender: the granting of the indulgence, even according to the avowedly unauthorized practice of Tetzel,f did not justify the idea of a sale or traffic, properly so called. The offering made on the occasion was entirely free: those who were unable to con tribute any thing, still obtained the coveted boon ; and those who were able, contributed according to their ability or will, no fixed amount being determined. All that even D'Aubigne' asserts on this subject is, that " an angry look was cast on those who dared to close their purses."J When Protestant preachers take up collections at the close of their sermons, for the support of themselves, and of their wives and children, can it be said with propriety, that they sell their sermons for the amounts thus contributed, even should it happen that those sums more than equaled the value received, and that they cast angry looks on those who do not bestow ? But the questors of indulgences did not go thus far, even according to the showing of our. very prejudiced historian. He tell us, " that the hand that delivered the indulgence could not receive the money: that was forbidden under the severest penalties."^ He even admits, that, notwithstanding the boasted efficacy of the indulgences, public penance was still enjoined by Tetzel and his associates, for offenses which had given public scandal. " If, among those who pressed into the confession als, there came one whose crimes had been public, and yet untouched by the civil laws, such person was obliged, first of all, to do public penance."[| — Did this look like patronizing vice ? Was it not rather a salutary restraint on guilt, imposed * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 215. f If such was really his practice, which is doubtful. X D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 216. \ Ibid. || Ibid. True, he calls this a " wretched mummery," because Protestants can not, or will not understand or appreciate those works of penance! 118 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. as a condition for obtaining the indulgence? The vtiy nature of the indulgence itself, and the conditions always required ,, to obtain it, and clearly set forth in this very bull of Leo X., far from favoring sin, or being an incentive to its commission, necessarily operated as a powerful curb to passion and a stimulant to repentance and piety: its blessed effects being promised only to those who were truly penitent, and were desirous at least of becoming fervent. An indulgence is merely a sequel to the sacrament of penance : it removes only the temporal penalty, which may remain due, after the sin itself and the eternal punishment due to it have been already remitted : and, according to its very nature, it can not take effect, until all grievous sin has been already pardoned through sincere repentance and the sacrament of penance. ( It offers then, essentially, a most powerful inducement to re pentance and amendment of Hfe ; it gives no encouragement to lukewarmness. The acts of Tetzel Were officially disavowed by the repre sentative of the Roman court. In 1519, Charles Miltitz, the papal envoy, openly rebuked him for his conduct in the affair of the indulgences ; and even charged him with having been the occasion of most of .the troubles which during the pre vious two years had afflicted Germany.* He, however, con demned the friar unheard, relying chiefly upon the exagger ated representations of his enemies. He would not even allow the Dominican to defend himself against the grievous charges brought against him by Luther, f Among these was the accusation, that he had uttered horrid blasphemies against the Blessed "Virgin Mary. In a letter to Miltitz, Tetzel indig nantly repelled this charge : but the spirit of the monk was broken ; and he died soon after, most probably of chagrin. Most writers Of impartiality blame the conduct of the papal These are not in accordance with their refined taste and exquisite sense of the amenities scattered along the way of salvation ! * D'Aubingne, vol. ii, p. '16. f See Audin, "Life of Luther," p. .89, 90. LUTHERUS INSINCERITY. 119 envoy, who immoderately flattered Luther on the oi. » hand, and sacrificed Tetzel on the other.* His motive, ' however, was a good one : to conciliate Luther by removing all reason able causes of complaint, and thus to heal the schism with which the refractory monk menaced the Church of God. But Miltitz did not know his man. All conciliation was entirely thrown away on him. The learned and amiable Car dinal Cajetan, a year before, had made the attempt to win him by kindness, in the interview they had at Augsburg. Luther was affected even unto tears by this goodness ; and, at the close of the conference, he addressed the cardinal nuncio in the following strain : " I return to you, my father ! . . . . I am moved. I have no more fear: my fear is changed into love and filial respect ; you might have employed force, but you have chosen persuasion and charity. Yes, I avow it now ; I have been violent and hostile, and have spoken irreverently of the Pope. I was provoked to these excesses ; but I should have been more guarded on so serious a question, and, in an swering a fool, I should have avoided imitating his folly. I am affected and penitent, and ask for pardon. I will acknowl edge my repentance to whoever wishes to hear it declared. For the future, I promise you, father, to speak and act other wise than I have done : God will assist me ; I will speak no more of indulgences, provided you impose silence on all those who have involved me in these difficulties."! He concludes this letter with the following sentence : " I beseech you then, with all humility, to report this whole affair to our holy father, Pope Leo X., that the Church may decide on what is to be believed, and what is to be rejected.";]; And yet, but a few weeks later, he published an inflammatory tract, in which he complained bitterly of the severity of Cajetan, spoke harshly of the Pope, and appealed to a general council.^ We have already seen how, while he promised every thing to Miltitz, * See Audin, " Life of Luther," p. 89, 90. f Apud Audin, ibid, p. 81. X Ibid. J Lutheri Opera, Tom, i, fol. 217. Audin, p. 85, seqq. 120 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. » he laughed, in letters to his private friends, at the " crocodile tears" and "Judas-like kiss" of that weak and duped nuncio! ' The reformation of abuses in the matter of indulgences was but a pretext : the real motives of Luther and his parti sans were very different, as the result proved. The Pope, through his legates, had done every thing that could have been reasonably asked for the removal of the evils complained of. If the court of Rome was guilty of any fault, it was that of excessive leniency to Luther, and of too great a spirit of conciliation towards his partisans.* This was especially true of the good Adrian YL, who succeeded Leo X. in the pontifi cate, early in the year. 1522.f He immediately set about the work of reform with great zeal, both at Rome and in Ger many. He took from the questors the power of distributing indulgences. In the diet of Nuremberg, in 1522, he offered, through his legate, Cheregat, to reform every abuse.J How were his advances met? They were repaid by * Pallavicino censures Leo X. for his excessive forbearance with Luther, and for having commissioned Doctor Eck to publish the bull against him in ' Germany, (Storia del Cone, di Trento cap. xxv.) Muratori joins in the censures: "Papa Leone, che ruminando alti pensieri di gloria moiidana, e piu che agli affari della religione agonizante in Germania pensando all' in- grandimento della chiesa temporale." (Annali, vol. x, p. 2J:5.) Audin ably defends the Pontiff, p. 115. t Adrian was a Fleming, and he had been preceptor of Charles V, who had been elected emperor of Germany but a short time previously. The fifth general Council of Lateran, held under his predecessor Leo, had already done much towards eradicating abuses, of which i its various canons are a satisfactory evidence. The assembled fathers with the Pontiff had the sagacity to discover and the boldness to strike at the very root of almost all the then existing disorders'; namely the usurpation by the temporal power of the sacred rights of the Church to appoint her own bishops and clergy. In condemning the principles of the Pragmatic Sanction, they laid the axe at the root of the fatal tree, which had produced fruit so very poisonous to the atmosphere of the Church. But this was not the kind of reformation which the princes of the earth sought or aimed at ! J "Neuere Geschichte der Deutschen, von Karl Ad.'Menzel," a Protest ant. T. i. Apud A -.din, p. 280. PRETEXT TO GAIN TIME. 121 triumphant insult and indignity. The diet, under Lutheran influence, drew up an inflammatory paper containing the famous Centum Gravamina — or "hundred grievances" — fraught with unfounded and highly exaggerated charges against Rome. And yet the good Pontiff did not return railing for railing. He still promised to do every thing in his power to remove all causes of reasonable complaint. This saintly Pontiff, " who thought not of evil, and of whom the world was not worthy," according to the testimony of a Pro testant historian,* died of a broken heart after the return of Cheregat. All the poor of Rome followed his hearse, and bewailed him: they said, "our father is dead!" While it passed, the people knelt down and burst into tears. Never had funeral pomp called forth so deep a feeling, f What, in fact, could Rome have done, which she did not do, to redress every reasonable grievance, and to carry out every .necessary measure of reform? Did the reformers ask for forbearance? Rome was perhaps too forbearing. Did they wish for a spirit of conciliation ? Rome descended from her lofty dignity, and met them half way ; and then they rudely repulsed her advances ! Even D'Aubigne" praises the forbearance of- Leo X., and the "equity of the Romish synod," which prepared the bull against Luther. J He adds : " In fact, Rome was brought into the necessity of having recourse to measures of stern severity. The gauntlet was thrown down, the combat must be to the death. It was not the abuses of the Pontiff's authority, that Luther had attacked. At his bidding, the Pope was required to descend meekly from his throne, and become again a simple pastor or bishop on the banks of the Tiber ! " } Had Luther sought only the truth, why did he so often consent to preserve silence, if the same obligation were im posed on his adversaries? Was this conduct worthy the apostle of reform, and the boasted champion of the gospel * Adolph Menzel, supra. Tom. i, p. 3. Apud Audin, p. 282- f Audin, ibid. x X D'Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 101, • J Ibid, p. 97. This is a most significant avowal. VOL. I. 11 122 REFORMATION IN 3ERMANY. in its. purity ? If he sought only truth, why djd he not abide by the decisions of those numerous tribunals, to whose author ity he himself had voluntarily appealed; as the most suit able and final arbiters of the matters in dispute ? Why after wards abuse them so intemperately, for having decided against him ? The truth is, the love of truth and the reform of abuses were but shallow pretexts ; the successive appeals just alluded to, were but crafty expedients to gain time : — the real object was separation from the Church, and the form ing of a schismatical party, of which he would be the leader ; while his own immediate sovereign, the elector of Saxony, and the other German princes and nobles, would be enriched from the abundant spoils of the old' Chureh, which was to be destroyed to make way for the new. As we shall show a little further on, all the facts of history point to this, as the .jpnly rational method of accounting for the movement and ex plaining its success. III. One of those tribunals to which Luther had appealed— the general Council of Trent — subsequently adopted every possible measure, that discreet zeal could have asked, for the reformation of abuses. By far the larger portion of its decrees are devoted to the work of reformation.* On the subject of indulgences, the council employs this emphatic language : " Wishing to correct and amend the abuses which have crept into them, and on occasion of which, this signal name of indulgences is blasphemed by heretics, the holy synod enjoins, in general by the present decree, that all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has been the fruitful cause of many abuses among the Christian people, should be wholly abolished."! The same decree recommends great * They are headed, de Reformatione, and make up, perhaps, more than three fourths of the whole matter of the council. f Sessio xxv. Decret. de tndulg. " Abusus vero, qui in his irrepserunt, et quorum occasione insigne hoc Indulgentiarum nomen ab hsereticis blas- phematur, emendates et correctos cupiens, praesenti decreto generaliter sta tuit, pravos qusestus omnes pro his consequendis, unde plurima in Chrisfiano populo abusuum causa fiuxitj omnino abolendos esse." HOW TO REFORM THE CHURCH. 123 moderation in the granting of indulgences, and directs the bishops throughout the world diligently to inquire into and to refer all local abuses in this matter to provincial councils, which were to be thenceforth held every three years, and were to "report their decisions to the Roman Pontiff. Could any wiser or more effectual measure of reform have been reasonably demanded ? Mr. Hallam, a witness whose authority will not be bus pected, bears ample testimony to the learning and merit of the Tridentine fathers. After having refuted at some length "a strange notion that has been started of late years in Eng land, that the Council of Trent made important innovations in the previously established doctrines of the western Church : an hypothesis," he says, " so paradoxical in respect to public opinion, and, it must be added, so prodigiously at variance with the known facts of ecclesiastical history, that we can not but admire the facility with which it has been taken up;" he thus continues : "No council ever contained so many persons of eminent learning and ability as that of Trent ; nor is there ground for believing that any other ever investigated the questions before it with so much patience, acuteness, temper, and desire of truth. The early councils, unless they are greatly belied (as is very probably the case,) would not bear comparison in these char acteristics. Impartiality and freedom from prejudice no Protestant will attribute to the fathers of Trent ; but where will he produce these qualities in an ecclesiastical synod ? But it may be said, that they had but one lead ing prejudice, that of determining theological faith according to the tradition of the Catholic Church, as handed down to their own age. This one point of authority conceded, I am not aware that they can be proved to have decided wrong, or, at least, against all reasonable evidence. Let those who have imbibed a different opinion ask themselves, whether they have read Sarpi through with any attention, especially as to those sessions of the Tri dentine council which preceded its suspension in 1547." * The history of the Council of Trent by Cardinal Pallavicino, which Hallam acknowledges he never read, would greatly confirm this conclusion. All previous councils, both general * Introduction to the History of Literature, vol. i, p. 277, note. 124 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and local, had adopted measures for reform, marked with similar wisdom and zeal. Many of the decrees of the general Council of Constance, in the beginning of the fifteenth cen tury, as well as those of the Council of Basle,* towards the middle of the same century, had been distinguishes by the same earnest solicitude for the correction of abuses. D'Au bigne is forced to admit this. " Had not gentler means been tried for ages ? Had they not seen council after council con voked with the intention of reforming the Church !"f True, he adds, without however even the shadow of proof, that "ail had been in vain."J He also asserts against all evidence, that Martin Y., who was chosen Pontiff at the Council of Constance, A. D. 1418, with the express stipulation, that he should carry out the measures of reform commenced by the council, subsequently refused to redeem his pledge.§ But did not this Pontiff convoke councils for the purpose successively at Pavia, Sienna, and Basle ? And was it his fault that his intentions were not fully carried out ? Was it not rather the fault of those, who, while always clamoring for reformation, were really averse to its being brought about in the only con servative and effectual manner ? Unless all history is false, this is certainly the case. The controversy, in fact, did not turn so much on the neces sity of reform, as on the means best calculated to bring it about. There were two ways of reforming abuses in the Church; the one from within, the other from without; the one by gentle and legal means, the other by lawless violence.' The Catholics were in favor of the former, the Protestants of the latter mode. The -former wished to re-, main in the Church, which Christ had commanded them to hear, and to labor therein for the extirpation' of abuses ; the latter separated from . the Church, and- covered it * Before it degenerated into a schismatical conventicle, during the last sessions, especially after the tenth. f 'D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 104 \ Ibid. $ Ibid. p. 56. ltjther's avowal. 125 with obloquy, against the solemn injunction of its divine Founder. Were not the Catholics right in urging this, as the only safe and effectual method of reforming the Church ? Had they not clearly the sanction of all previous ages, which, following the precedent set them by the inspired Apostles themselves in the council at Jerusalem, had ever sought to proscribe error and to correct abuses, by legal enactments in general or particular councils ? And did not the Protestants, on the contrary, fol low the precedent set them by the separatists and heretics of every age of the Church ? What real difference is there, in the principle, between the Lutherans protesting against the decisions of the Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, and the Arians, against those of the Council of Nice, in the fourth ? Besides, were not reason and logic clearly on the side of the Catholics ? Which is the proper way to cure a sick pa tient ; to remain with him, and to administer to him medicine, or to separate from him, and to denounce him for his malady ? Which is the preferable way to repair an edifice ; to remain within or near it, and to labor patiently- to re-establish it in its former strength and beauty, or to leave it and bedaub its walls with mud and slime ? Finally, which would be the better patriot : he who would remain faithful to the republic, and patiently await the progress of legal enactments for the redress of grievances, or he who, would nullify the union under pretext of those grievances? Let the seal of public reprobation set upon a recent attempt of the kind — in which the principle of disorganization was precisely the same as that which urged the reformers to nullify the unity of the Church — answer this .question. An old Protestant divine of the Church of England, illustrates the evil of separation from the Church, under pretext of reforming it, by the following quaint comparison : " You may cure a throat when it is sore, but not when it is cut."* * South— Sermons ; vol. v, p. 946. Edit. London, 1737, quoted in tha Amicable Discussion, by Bishop Trevern. 126 reformation in Germany. Luther himself avowed the correctness of these principles about two years after he had commenced his pretended Ref ormation. "That the Roman Church," he says, "is more honored by God than all others, is not to be doubted. St. Peter, St. Paul, forty-six popes, some hun dreds of thousands of martyrs, have laid down their lives in its communion, having overcome hell and the world ; so that the eyes of God rest on the Roman Church with special favor. Though now-a-days every thing is in a wretched state, it is no ground for separating from it. On the contrary, the worse things are going, the more should we hold close to it ; for it is not by separation from it that we can make it better. We must not separate from God on account of any work of the devil, nor cease to have fellowship with the children of God, who are still abiding in the pale of Rome, on account of the multitude of the ungodly. There is no sin, no amount of evil, which should be permitted to dissolve the bond of charity, or break the unity of the body. For love can do all things, and nothing is difficult to those who are united."* Sentiments almost worthy of a Gregory YIL, or of a Ber nard! Had he persevered in them — had he not, with his accustomed duplicity or fickleness, substituted, almost imme diately afterwards, a principle Of hatred for that principle of love " which can do all things," the world might never have been cursed with the countless evils of schism and heresy. The sentiments of Luther just given were re-echoed even in the confession of Augsburg, the official expositor' of Lu theran doctrines.f In the conclusion of its exposition of * Lutheri Opera Lat. tom. xvii, p. 224. Apud D 'Aubigne, ii, 18, .19. f In the conference at Augsburg, a large portion of the Lutherans, under the leadership of Melancthon, sought for a return to unity through a recon ciliation with the Holy See. Their efforts were, however, sternly opposed and rendered wholly abortive by Luther, who would hear of no reunion with Rome. When Melancthon urged the measure, by alleging the endless contradictions into which the champions of the new doctrines would other wise fall, and by even venturing timidly to point out the doctrinal varia tions and inconsistencies of Luther himself, his imperious master answered in the following characteristic strain : " My adversaries quote my contradictions to make a parade of their learn ing ; blockheads that they are ! How can they judge of the contradictions sf our doctrines, who do not understand the texts which clash with each LUTHERAN TESTIMONY. 127 faith, it is freely admitted, that the Roman Catholic Church had retained every article of doctrine essential to salvation, and that the abuses which had crept in were unauthorized, and afforded no sufficient cause for separation. " Such is the abridgment pf our faith, in which nothing will be found con trary to Scripture, or to the Catholic Church, or even to the Roman Church, as far as we can know it from its writers. The dispute turns upon some few abuses, which have been introduced into the churches without any certain authority ; and should there be found some difference, that should be borne with, since it is not necessary that the rites >of the Church should be everywhere the same."* Even the Calvin- ist minister of Charenton, Daille, much as he hated the Cath olic Church, makes a similar avowal. After having euume- rated those articles of his belief, which he is pleased to call fundamental, he says : " Rome does not call in question the articles which we believe ; it even professes to believe them. Who can deny, even in our day, that Rome admits the neces sary articles ?"f — Why then separate from her ? Hitherto we have treated of the origin and extent of the evils which afforded the reformers a pretext for the Reforma tion ; and we have also endeavored to point out the only ef fectual and proper means for correcting abuses, and for pre serving the Church in that purity which the promises of Christ have guarantied to her, and to show what was the only other ? How can our doctrine appear to them otherwise than embarrassed with contradictions, when it demands and condemns works, rejects and authorizes the necessity of rites, honors and censures the magistracy, affirms and denies sin ? But why carry water to the sea ? Cum simul exigat et damnet opera, simul tollat et restituat ritus, simul magistratum colat et ar- guat, simul peecata asserat et neget? Sed quid' aquas in mare?" Apud Audin, in loco. Epist. Melancthoni, 20 Jul. 1520. How, indeed, could any one be expected to reconcile these palpable con tradictions of the arch-reformer ! * Art. xxi. Anno Dom. 1530. Confessio Augustana. See also Audin, vol. ii, p. 337, London edition, Turnbull's translation. f " Institut. Chr6tiennes," 1. iv, ch. ii, and " La Loi fondee, part. iii. 128 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. true method of solving the great problem of the sixteenth century. We will now proceed to examine the means really adopted by the reformers for that alleged purpose, as well to exhibit the true motives which prompted and guided their action ; and through these we will endeavor to account for the rapidity with which the Reformation was diffused over a large portion of Europe. CHAPTER IY. THE TRUE CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION, AND THE MEANS. BY WHICH IT WAS EFFECTED. Saying Of Frederick the Great — What we mean to prove — Testimony of "Hallam — Doctrines of Luther — Justification without works — Its dreadful consequences avowed — The " slave-will " — Man, a beast with two riders — Dissuasive from celibacy — An easy way to heaven — D'Aubigne's discreet silence — Testimony of the Diet of Worms on Luther's, doctrines — An old lady emancipated — Protection of princes — Schlegel's testimony — The reformers flatter princes and pander to their vices — Remarkable avowals of Menzel — The Reformation and state policy — The princes become bishops — A reformed dispensation — Character of reformed princes — Their cupidity — Fed by Luther — Protestant restitution — Open violence and ¦ sacrilegious spoliation — The modus operandi of the Reformation — Schlegel again — Abuse of the press — Vituperation and calumny — Policy of Lu ther's marriage — Apostate monks — Recapitulation — A distinction — The Reformation "a reappearance of Christianity." We believe it was Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was the author of the well-known saying : " That pride and ava rice had caused the Reformation in Germany, lawless love in England, and the love of novelty in France." Perhaps the greatest severity of this remark, is its strict historic truth. It, of course, was intended merely to designate the first and most prominent among a variety of other causes. William Cobbett has proved — and whatever may have been said by his opponents of his character and reliability as a witness, no one TESTIMONY OF HALLAM. 129 has yet disputed his facts or answered his arguments — that in England,' the first cause alluded to above, was powerfully aided by cupidity, which fattened on the rich spoils of the Church, and by the reckless pride of ascendency, which rev eled in, and was cemented by the blood of vast numbers of innocent victims, whose only crime was their conscientious adherence to the religion of their fathers. We will present a mass of evidence to prove, that in Ger many, the Reformation, which was commenced in the pride of revolt, was fed and kept alivex by avarice and licentious ness, was propagated by calumny, by violence, and by pan dering to the worst passions, and was consummated and ren dered permanent by the fostering fare of secular princes, without whose protection it would have died away and come to naught. This is strong language ; but it is more than jus tified by the facts of history : not indeed as those facts have been travestied, miscolored, and perverted by such partial writers as D'Aubigne ; but, as they are clearly set forth by contemporary historians, and as they appear in the original documents. We shall allege only such facts as are undoubted and clearly established from these sources. But before we adduce this evidence, let us see what a very learned and enlightened modern Protestant historian thinks on this subject, to the investigation of which he has devoted much time and labor. Mr. Hallam gives us the result of his researches in the following passages, which we quote from his latest work : " Whatever may be the bias of our minds as to the truth of Luther's doc trines, we should be careful, in considering the Reformation as a part of the history of mankind, not to be misled by the superficial and ungrounded representations which we sometimes find in modern writers (D'Aubigne for example). Such is this, that Luther, struck by the absurdity of the pre vailing superstitions, was desirous of introducing a more rational system of religion ; or, that he contended for freedom of inquiry, and the boundless privileges of individual judgment ; or, what others have been pleased to suggest, that his zeal for learning and ancient philosophy led him to attack the ignorance of the monks and the crafty policy of the church, which with- 130 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. stood all liberal studies. These notions are merely fallacious refinements^ as every man of plain understanding (except, perhaps, D'Aubigne) who is acquainted with the writings of the early reformers, or has considered their history, must acknowledge."* In another place, the same candid Protestant historian has this remarkable passage : " The adherents to the Church of Rome have never failed, to cast two reproaches on those who left them : one, that the reform was brought about by intemperate and caluminous abuse, by outrages of an excited populace, or by the tyranny of princes ; the other, that, after stimulating the most ignorant to reject the authority of their Church, it instantly withdrew this liberty of judgment, and devoted all who presumed to swerve from the line drawn by law to virulent obloquy, and sometimes to bonds and death. These reproaches, it may be a shame^o us to own, can be uttered and can not be refuted." f After making this painful avowal, he enters upon a labored argument to prove that the Reformation could have succeeded • by no other means !J The reformers, as we have seen, were not content with clamoring for the reform of abuses : they laid violent hands- on the sacred deposit of the faith itself. Like Oza of old, they put forth their hands to the ark of God, mindless of Oza's awful fate!§ Under the plea that the Catholic Church had fallen into numerous 'and fatal doctrinal errors, and that the Reformation could not be thorough with out the removal of these, they rejected many doctrines which the whole world had hitherto revered as the revelation of God ; and they substituted in their place new tenets, which they professed to find more conformable to the word of God: This is not the place to examine whether these new doctrines are true ; all that our plan calls for at present, is to inquire the first day of November, 1517, were drawn up with consummate art ; and without boldly attacking the doctrine itself, they appealed with much tact to the passions of the German people, and to their old-time prejudices against the Holy See on the subject of money. Among them, for example, were these : " Why does not the Pope, who is richer than Croesus, build St. Peter's with his own money, rather than with that of poor Christians?"- — "Christians should, be taught that he who gives to the poor, or assists the needy, does better than he who purchases indulgences."! Such propositions as these comprised precisely the topics which would be the best calcu lated to excite popular interest and arouse popular feeling. They were also the very points which were most likely to prove acceptable to the elector, who had already refused to receive Tetzel, who strongly opposed every scheme which would in any manner cause money to go out of his territory, especially if it were directed towards Rome, and who panted himself after' the rich spoils of the Church — which he, in fact, shortly afterwards sacrilegiously grasped. One who will be regarded by Protestants as an unexcep tionable witness, Wolfgang Menzel, fully confirms tl e view which we have here presented. He says : * Ranke tells us that, " an alliance had been formed between the monk of Wittenberg and the sovereign of Saxony." History of the Reformation, f A. D. 1517. f Apud Audin, in loco. 144 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. "The old emperor Maximilian had, exactly at that period (A. D. 1518,) opened a diet at Augsburg, at which several of the princes and cities com plained of the sale of indulgences and of other ecclesiastical disorders ; and the emperor, deeming it politic to make use of Luther as a means of hum bling the Pontiff, and of compelling him to retract s6me of his inordinate (!) demands, refused to deliver him up, although he had been cited to appear at Rome."* The same prejudiced writer, in a single sentence, furnishes us with a key to all of Luther's movements, as also to explain the favor with which they were regarded by many of the princes of the German empire. He says, that Luther "cher ished an almost biblical reverence for the anointed of the Lord, by whose aid he hoped to succeed in reforming the Church."f This, translated into popular language, simply means, that he was devoted to the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and consequently opposed to all those modern ideas of popular freedom, of which he has- been usually heralded forth as the champion. Never was there a greater popular delusion than that which holds that Luther was the advocate of popular liberty; as we hope to show by incontestable evi dence in the proper place. For the present, suffice it to say, that he relied for success, not on theipeople, but on the strong arm of the princes ; and that the latter warmly sedonded his views,"«vhich were so evidentlyto their own advantage. Menzel, in fact, tells us as much, when he writes : "To the numerous nobility of the empire in Swabia, Franconia, and the Rhenish provinces, the opening Reformation presented a favorable opportu nity for improving their circumscribed political position, seizing the rich lands belonging to the Church, and raising themselves to an equality with, if not deposing the temporal princes.":]: Again ; speaking of the failure of the attempt made by Melancthon to bring about a reunion with the Catholic Church at the diet of Augsburg, and of the reason of the failure, he writes : * History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, 226. t Ibid., p. 233. } Ibid., p. 234. TESTIMONY OF MENZEL. 145 "A last attempt, made by Melancthon, and supported by Luthor,* to bring about a general reformation in the Church by means of the Pope, with the view of securing the Church from the temporal princes, failed, owing to the extreme demoralization of the clergy, f and Luther was speedily reduced to silence by the princes intent upon the secularization of the Ushoprics."X — That is, upon seizing by violence the property which supported the bishop rics and appropriating it to secular, or what was the same thing, to their own uses. We must furnish one more extract from Menzel on this subject, which is more remarkable than any thing we have so far presented from his pages ; as it candidly avows the carnal, and wicked motives which prompted the princes of the earth to side with Luther and to oppose the Church of _ God, not only in Germany but elsewhere ; and as it dissi pates 'forever- the usually received and popular idea, that Luther was a champion of freedom. He is speaking of the period which immediately followed the suppression of the popular insurrections in Germany, usually called the war of the peasants — -of which we shall treat more fully in a subse quent chapter. " The defeat of the nobility and peasantry had crushed the. revolutionary spirit in the people ; and the Reformation, stripped of its terrors, began to be regarded as advantageous by the princes. Luther also appeared, not as a dangerous innovator, but in the light of a zealous upholder of princely •power, the divine right of which lie even made an article of faith ; and thus, through Luther's well meant policy, the Reformation, the cause of the peo ple (!), naturally became that of the princes, and consequently instead of being the 'aim, was converted into a means' of their policy. In England, Henry VIII. favored the Reformation for the sake of becoming pope in his own dominions, and of giving unrestrained license to tyranny and caprice. * He is here egregiously mistaken. Luther strongly opposed the recon ciliation, as we have already shown. See his angry correspondence on the subject with Melancthon and others in Audin. With his subserviency to princes, Luther would not have dared thwart them in their darling project of robbing the Church. f Brought about precisely by the corrupt usurpation of church patronage by the secular princes, as we have shown. See Introduction. X History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, p. 251. VOL. I. 13 146 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. In Sweden, Gustavus Wasa embraced the Lutheran faith, as a wider mark of distinction between the Swedes and Danes, whose king Christiern he had driven out of Sweden. His example was followed (A. D.% 1527) by the grand-master Albert of Prussia, who hoped by this means to render that country an hereditary possession in his family. His cousin, the detestable Casimir Von Culmback, sought to wipe out the memory of his parricide by his confession of the new faith."* Thus, according to the open avowal of even the bigoted Menzel, the great German Reformation dwindles down into a mere affair of groveling avarice and of worldly ambition on the part of the princes ; and Luther, the arch-reformer, the bold adversary of the Pope, and the vaunted champipn of liberty, sinks down into the position of a mere crouching and subservient tool of rapacious and unprincipled men, who' sought only their own interests, and who wished to lord it over their subjects with supreme pOwer both in church and in state ! In casting off the yoke of Rome, the German peo ple had another riveted on their necks, which was infinitely more galling ; and they have had to bear it ever since ! We have already seen how meanly subservient Luther was on all occasions to his immediate sovereign, the elector of Saxony. This prince was the most powerful protector of the Reformation, and, as we shall see, he reaped a golden harvest for his protection. But he had another motive for defending Luther and his partisans. Luther and Melancthon were the principal professors in his newly founded and warmly cher ished university of Wittenberg; and their varied learning and shining talents had attracted to it vast numbers of youth from all parts of Germany. At the period of the Reforma tion, this university became the focus of the new doctrines, and the rendezvous of all who favored them. The attractive novelty, the stirring interest, the startling boldness of the newly broached theories of religion, together with the rude but overpowering eloquence of Luther, and the winning graces and versatile genius of Melancthon, rendered this new Seat * History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, p. 248. ,ii LANDGRAVE OF HESSE 147 of learning famous throughout Germany. The powerful elec tor could not but look with complacency on the men who shed such lustre on an institution which he had erected, and the prosperity of which was identified with his own glory. This was one of the reasons which first inclined him to favor Lu ther. It is not a little remarkable, too, that this same univer sity of Wittenberg was erected chiefly from the proceeds of those very indulgences, the inveighing against which was the first movement of the Reformation ! A remarkable instance of Luther's mean subserviency to princes, is the permission which he and his chief partisans gave to Philip, landgrave of Hesse, to have two wives at once ! This fact is as astounding as it is undoubted. Philip had been married for sixteen years to Christiana, daughter of George, duke of Saxony ; and he had already been blessed with several children. According to Adolph Menzel, a Prot estant historian, he was "violent and passionate, unfaithful and superstitious."* But he- was a good Lutheran, nay, one of the most powerful friends of the Reformation ; and he read his Bible incessantly. He became enamored of Margaret Saal, a maid of honor to his sister Elizabeth. She proved inexorable, and the landgrave lost his appetite, and was seized with a fit of despondency. In this distress, he had recourse to his Bible : he opened it at the fifth chapter of Genesis, and, finding that Lamech had two wives at once, he resolved to imitate his example ! He, however, thought it advisable to seek counsel on a subject of so much importance— particularly to himself — from the principal reformers. Through Martin Bucer, a learned reformed theologian, and a devoted cOurtier and tool of himself, he proposed his case of conscience to the new apostles at Wit tenberg. He stated his sad case very roundly and very simply, as became so godly and scrupulous a champion of the new gospel : " That he could not abstain from fornication, and that * Adolf Menzel, Neure Geschichte der Deutehen, tom. i. 148 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. he must expect eternal damnation unless he changed his life : that, when he espoused Christiana, it was not through inclina tion or love : that the officers of his court and her maids of honor might be examined regarding her temper, her charms, and her love of wine : that he had read in the Old Testament how many holy personages, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon, had many wives, and yet pleased God : and that, finally, he had resolved to renounce his licentious habits, which 'he could not do, unless he could get Margaret for his wife. He therefore asked Luther and Philip (Melancthon) to grant him what he requested." The case was plainly and fully stated ; and the answer was no less direct. It was divided into twenty-four articles, and was signed by the eight principal reformers of Wittenberg; Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, Anthony Corvin, Adam, I. Len- ingen, J. Yinfert, and D. Melanther. The twenty-first article runs as follows : " If your highness is resolved to marry a second wife, we judge that it should be done privately, as we have said when speaking of the dispensation you have asked for. There should be no one present, but the bride and a few witnesses who are aware of the circumstance, and who would be bound to secrecy, as if under.the seal of confession. Thus all opposition and great scandal will be avoided ; for it is not unusual for princes to have concubines, and although the people take scandal at it, the more enlightened will suspect the* truth. We ought not to be very anxious about what the world will say, provided the conscience be at rest. Thus we approve of it. Tour highness has then, in this writing, our approbation in all the exigencies that may occur, as also the reflections we have made on them." The marriage took place on the 3d of March, 1540, in the presence of Melancthon, Bucer, and other theologians. The marriage contract was drawn up by a Lutheran doctor, and duly signed by a notary public. In this instrument Philip declares, " that he does not take Margaret lightly, or through contempt of the civil law ; but solely for other considerations, and because, without a second wife, he could not live godly, or merit heaven !"* Was there ever a more startling instance * See the Instrumentum Copulationis Philippi landgrave et Margaritas de JOHN, OF SAXONY. 149 ol utter depravity and of unprincipled sycophancy! Here, then, is a Protestant indulgence, in the very worst sense attached to the term by Protestant writers ! And yet these men claimed to be sent by God to reform the Church ! !* By such unhallowed means as these did the reformers secure the protection of princes. What was the character of such of the latter as espoused the Reformation? Were they men whose lives reflected honor on the new religion, and gave a pledge of the purity of the motives which had led to its adoption ? Let us see. We have already glanced at the character of some of these men, in company with Wolfgang Menzel. We will now speak of others. In the first place, there was John, elector of Saxony, who, according to Menzel, f was one of the most gluttonous princes of his age, fond of wine and of good cheer, and whose stomach, overcharged with excessive feeding, was supported by an iron circle. " He had enriched his sideboard — the best furnished in all Qermany — with ves sels of all sorts taken from -the refectories of the monasteries, or the sacristies, of the churches ."J He accordingly embraced Saal, given in full by Bossuet, Variations, vol. i. See also Ad. Menzel, a Protestant, .tom. ii, p. 179, 192 ; and Audin, p. 479. * Those who wish to see all the documents Connected with this disgrace ful proceeding, are referred to Bossuet's Variations, book vi, and to Bayle's Dictionary, art. Luther. They were kept hidden for a long time, until . Charles Lewis, the elector palatine, published them to the world. There is no doubt whatever as to their genuineness. Hallam fully admits this, in his Constitutional History of England. Bayle twits the reformers on their mean subserviency to the landgrave ; who, he shrewdly suspects, had thrown out " certain menaces " in case of their refusal to grant the asked for dispensation, and had made them certain munificent promises in case of their compliance. The latter he fully redeemed ; for after the death of Frederick, the elector of Saxony, in 1525, he became the great Ajax of the Reformation party in Germany. D'Aubigne admits this. We consider the documents connected with this disgraceful affair of suffi cient importance in a history of the Reformation, to authorize their being republished in full, which- we do accordingly in note C. at the end of the present volume. t Ad. Menzel,. Neuere Geschichte, torn, i, fol. 338. J Audin, p. 424. 10 150 REFORMATION IN GERM.WY. with eagerness a religion which had abolished fasting, and which permitted him to indulge his favorite appetite without restraint. Then came the pious and scrupulous Philip, land grave of Hesse, whose troubled conscience was soothed, by the panacea to which we have just alluded. This second great pillar of the Reformation had inscribed on the clothes of the domestics who served him at table, the initials V. D. M. I. M., signifying Verbum Domini manet in seternum — "the word 'of the Lord remaineth forever!" Lastly came Wolf gang, prince of Anhalt, whose stupid ignorance was prover bial: and finally " Ernest and Francis Lunenberg, who did not trouble their vassals to pillage the churches, but with their own hands despoiled the tabernacles of their sacred vessels."* Such were the princes to whose' patronage ¦ the Reformation was indebted for its first success and subsequent permanency ! To secure their ^cooperation and protection, which were essential to the triumph of his cause, Luther left no • means untried. He recklessly appealed to the worst passions which sway the human bosom. He held out to them, as baits, the rich booty of the Catholic churches and monasteries. , He said to them, in a publication entitled Argyrophilax ;f " You will find out, within a few months, how many hundred thou sand gold pieces the monks and that class of men possess within a small portion of your territory.";]; He acknowl edged, in one of his sermons, " that the church ostensories made many converts to the new gospel."§ And M. Audin is entirely correct in his caustic remark: "That the con vent spoils resembled the martyrs' blood, mentioned by * Audin, p. 425. + " Guardian of the Treasury." X " Experiemini intra paucos menses, quot centum aureorum millia unius exiguse ditionis vestrse monachi et id genus hominum possideant." — Cf. Cochlaeus, p. 149. } " Viele sind noch gut evangelisch, weil es noch Catholische monstranzen gibt." Luther, Prsed. xii, apud Jak. Marx., p. 174, and Ad. Menzel, torn. i, pp. 371-9. Apud Audin. THE SPOILS OF THE CHURCH. 15 J Tertullian, and brought forth daily new disciples to the Reformation."* It was cupidity, as we have already shown from W. Menzel, that induced Albert of Brandenburg to apostatize from the Catholic Church, " that he might plunder, with a safe con science, the country of Prussia, which belonged to the Teu-, tonic order" — of which order he was superior general — " and which he erected into a hereditary principality ."f Francis Yon Sickengen was another of these spoilers, who, at the head of twelve thousand men, "invaded the archbishopric of Treves, tracking his path by the blood he shed, the churches he pillaged, and the licentious excesses of his soldiery." J He was but one of those powerful church robbers who, according to the testimony of an ancient historian, then converted Ger many, once so powerful and noble, into a den of sacrilegious thieves.§ The candid Melancthon " avowed that in the tri umph of the Reformation the princes looked not to the purity of doctrine, or the propagation of light, to the triumph of a creed, or the improvement of morals, but only regarded the profane and miserable interests of this world."|| The rich spoils of the Catholic Church and of the monas teries not only induced many princes of the. Germanic body to embrace the Reformation, but also caused them to perse vere in the cause they had thus espoused. In the famous diet of Augsburg, in 1530, the conciliatory course of Melancthon, who there represented the reformed party, bade fair to heal the rupture, by reconciling the Protestants to the Catholic Church. But the Catholic theologians insisted on two things : that the married priests should abandon their wives, and that the Protestant princes should restore the goods of the Church * Audin, p. 345. f Rotteck, p. 93. Apud Audin. Ibid. J Ibid. 5 " Potentissima Germania et nobilissima, sed ea tota nunc unum latro- cinium est, et ille inter nobiles gloriosior qui rapacior."^Campanus ad Preher-Script. German., tom. ii, p. 294, 295. || " Sie hecummerten sich gar nicht um die lehre, es sie ihnen blosz am die freiheit, und die herrschaft zu thun." — Apud Audin, p. 343. 152 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. upon which they had seized. The former condition would probably have been complied with ; but, as Erasmus remarks. "the Lutheran princes would not hear any thing about resti tution."* The same insurmountable difficulty interposed when, five years later, Rome made her last effort towards bringing back the Protestant party to the bosom of the Catho-. lie Church. The benevolent labors of Cardinal Yerger, legate of Paul III., ih 1535, might not have proved wholly abortive, but fdr the indomitable insolence of Luther,f and the refusal of the princes of his party to disgorge their ill-gotten plunder. After all this, we can * scarcely restrain a smile, on hearing the lamentations of Luther over' the rapacity of the princes of his party, whom he himself had excited to the unholy work of spoliation. " To the d — 1," he cried out in a rage, "with senators, manor lords, princes, and mighty nobles, who do not leave for the preachers, the priests, the servants of the gospel, wherewith to support their wives and children ! "J They were, it seems, more rapacious than even he could have desired. " They gave, with admirable gener osity, the sacred vessels of the secularized monastery to, the parish priest, provided, however, he had adopted Lutheran ism. The rest went to their mistresses, their courtiers, their dogs, and their horses. Some, who were as greedy as the landgrave of Hesse, kept even the habits and sacerdotal vest ments, the tapestries, the chased silver vases, and the vessels of the sanctuary ."§ They would not abide by Luther's seem ingly reasonable rules for the partition of the confiscated property :|| and hence the enkindled wrath of the reformer! He, indeed, occasionally condemned this rapacity in a voice }f thunder : he sometimes even clothed himself in the garb * "Res propemodum ad concordiam deducta est, nisi quod Lutherani principes nihil audire voluerunt de restituendo." — Erasm. Ep., p. 998. This confirms the statement given above on the authority of Wolfgang Menzel. f For an account of the outrageous conduct of Luther to the legate, and of the whole negotiation, see Audin, p. 474, seqq. t Table Talk, citec by Jak. Marx, p. 175. 5 Audin, p. 346. || Ibid, OPEN VIOLENCE AND SPOLIATION. 153 of a messenger of peace, and bewailed the lawless violence and other sad disorders which he had himself occasioned, and even caused, by his frequent appeals to the lowest and most groveling passions. But he could not arrest the course of the turbid torrent of passion, which he himself had in the first instance caused to flow. As well might he have labored to turn back the waters of the Rhine. ! Had he not, in one. of his inflammatory appeals to the princes of the empire, used the following language ? — " There is Rome, Romagna, and the duclry of Urbino : there is Bologna, and the states of the Church; take them: they belong to you: take, in God's name, what is your own?"* Had he not threatened them with the wrath pf heaven, in case they did not seize on the property of the monasteries ?f Had he nqt, on almost every page of his works, made "a brutal appeal against the priests, a maddening shout against the convents ; in a word, had he not preached up the sanctification of robbery, the canoniza tion of rapine? "J Erasmus bears abundant evidence to the violence which almost everywhere marked the progress of the Reformation in Germany. We will give an extract from one of his writ ings, premising the remark that he was an eye-witness Of what he relates, and not at least a violent enemy of the reformers : " I hke to hear Luther say, that he does not wish to take their revenues from the priests and monks, who have not any other means of support. This is the case prdbably at Strasburg. But is it so elsewhere ? Truly it is laughable to say : ' we will give food to those who apostatize ; let others starve if they please. Still more laughable to hear them protest that they do not wish to harm any one. What ! is it no injury to drive away canons from their churches, monks from their monasteries, and to plunder bishops and abbots? — But 'we do not kill!' — Why not? Because your victims take the prudent precaution of running away. — 'We let our enemies live peaceably among us.' — Who are your enemies ? Are all Catholics ? Do our bishops and priests regard themselves as secure in the midst of you ? If you * Opp. edit. Jense, tom. viii, fol. 209-248. A. D. 1545. Apud Audin. f " Gottloss seyen dienigen die diese giiter nicht an sich zogeh, und sie bessel verwendeten, als die monchtj. \ Audin, p. 349. 154 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. are so mild and tolerant, wherefore these emigrations, and these n. ultiplied complaints addressed to the throne ? . . . But then, why destroy the churches which they built?"* It is curious to mark the mode of operating adopted by the pious reformers, while doing their godly work of violence and spoliation. We will furnish a few instances, out of many. • " At Bremen, during Lent, the citizens got up a masquerade, in which the Popes, the cardinals, and nuns were represented. On the place of public execution they raised a pile, on'which all these personifications of Catholicity were thrown, and burnt, amidst shouts of joy. The remainder o fthe day was spent in celebrating, by large libations, the downfall of popery.' "f " At Zwickau, on Shrove Tuesday, hare-nets were laid on the market-place ; and monks and nuns, hunted by the stu dents, fell into them, and were caught. At a short distance was the statue of St. Francis, tarred and feathered !" Tobias Schmidt, the cotemporary historian of this outrage, here ex claims : " Thus fell, at Zwickau, ' popery,' and thus rose there the pure light of the gospel ! "J He assures us, in the same place, that "a band of citizens attacked the convent, whose gates they broke, and, when they had pillaged the chests and the treasures, threw the books about and broke the windows : ''§ the town authorities, meantime, standing looking on, with their arms crossed, in perfect composure, without even affect ing indignation! Similar scenes were enacted elsewhere. " At Elemberg, the pastor's house was given up for several hours to pillage ; and one of the students, who was a con spicuous actor in this scene, wliich excited the laughter of the mob, clothed himself in priests' vestments, and made his entry on an ass into the church."|| * "In Pseudo-Evangelicos." Epist. 47, lib. xxxi. London, Elesher. f Arnold, 1. c. th. 2, bd. 16, kap. 6, s. 60. Apud Audin, p. 347. X "Also ist das Pabsthum abgeschafft und hingegen die evangelische reina lehre fortgeplanzt worden." Tob. Schmidt, p. 386.. Ibid. 5 Ibid., p. 374. Apud Adin, p. 348. || See "Das resultat meinei wanderungen," etc. Von Julius Honinghaus, p. 339 ; and Audin, ibid. A LUTHERAN VISITATION. 155 We must also briefly state the tactics of Luther's second great patron, John, elector of Saxony, while gallantly attack ing a monastery of poor monks, or a convent of defenceless women. The noble elector, who had succeeded Frederick, did not seek to stain his victory with blood ; he sought rather the spoils of war! M. Audin compares him. very appropri ately to Verres, the rapacious Roman proconsul of Sicily, whom Cicero lashed with his withering invective. " The proconsul of Sicily was not more ingenious than Duke John of Saxony in plundering a monastery. Some days before opening the cam paign, he was accustomed to send and demand the register of the house, and then he set out with a brisk detachment of soldiers. They surrounded the monastery ; the abbot was summoned, and the prince, holding the reg istry in his hand, caused every thing contained in it to be delivered."* Wolfgang Menzel writes as follows of the "visitation" made by John of Saxony : ' " The elector John, Luther's most zealous partisan, immediately on his accession to the government of Saxony, on the death of Frederick the Wise, empowered Luther to undertake a church visitation throughout his dominions, and to arrange ecclesiastical affairs according to the spirit of the doctrine he taught. His example was followed by the rest of the Lutheran princes ; and this measure necessarily led to a separation from, instead of a thorough Reformation of the Church. The first step was the abolition of monasteries, and the confiscation of their wealth by the state, by which a portion was set apart for the extension of academies and schools. The monks and nuns were absolved from their vows, compelled to marry and follow a profession, etc."t This illustrious example was duly followed up by the civil authorities at Rosteck, Torgau, and other places. An old chronicle of Torgau, printed in 1524, minutely describes the revolting particulars of a nocturnal excursion made to the Franciscan convent of the city, by Leonard Koeppe and some other young students, who made an open boast of their cruelty * Arnold, loc. cit. th. 2. Bd. 16, kap. 6, 568, cited by Honinghaua supra. • f History Germany, sup. cit. ii, 248. 156 REFORMATION^ IN GERMANY. and profligacy on the occasion.* At Magdeburg the magis trates resolved to act more, humanely. They put a stop to the work of plunder, and allowed the monks to remain quietly in their cells during the rest of their lives; "Pro vided, however, they laid aside the religious habit, and em braced the Reformation :"f and many of them, alas ! preferred apostasy to starvation ! Such as would not apostatize were, in most places, driven from their convents, " were reduced to beg their bread, and were the victims of heartless calumny. They seemed aban doned by all. Art was as ungrateful as mankind ; it forgot that it owed its progress to their labors. The people laughed when they saw them, pass half naked, and had no word of pity, no sigh of compassion, for so many unfortunate crea tures. Whither could they go ? The roads were not safe ; in those tirnes there were knights who scoured the high-ways and hunted after monks, whom they took pleasure"' — in making eunuchs — " for the greater glory of God !"J With all these facts before our eyes, can we wonder at the testimony borne by the diet of Worms, quoted above, as to t the character, and tendency of the Lutheran doctrines ? Even Protestants have acknowledged, that the Reformation was indebted mainly to this violence for its successful establish ment in Germany and the countries of the north. We have already seen the testimony of Melancthon. Jurieu, the fa mous Calvinist minister, acknowledges " that Geneva, Switz-' erland, the republics and the free cities, the electors, and the German princes, England, Scotland, Sweden, and Denmark, got rid of ' popery,' and established the Reformation, by the aid of the civil power."§ A sweeping admission, truly, as candid as it is clearly founded on the facts of history ! The great Frederick Yon Schlegel has well observed, that * Arnold, ut supra. f Marcheineke, th. 2, s. 41. Audin, ibid. f Ulrich Hutten boasts of this.. Epist. ad Lutherum, part ii, p. 128. Cf. Audin, p. 200. § Cf. Jak. Marx. "Die Ursachen der Schnellen ver- TESTIMONY OF SCHLEGEL. 157 " Protestantism was the work of man ; and that it appears in no other light, even in the history which its own disciples have drawn of its origin. The partisans of the Reformation proclaimed, indeed, at the outset, that, if it were more than a human work, it would endure, and that its duration would serve as a proof of itsi divine origin. But surely no one will consider this an adequate proof, when he reflects that the great Mohammedan heresy, which, more than any other, de stroys and obliterates the divine image stamped on the human soul, has stood its ground for full twelve hundred years; though this religion [imposture], if it proceed from no worse Bource, is at best a human work."* He says also : " That the Reformation was established in Denmark chiefly, though not exclusively, as in Sweden, by the sovereign power : in Iceland its establishment was almost the work of violence."! True, he indicates the opinion that Protestantism was introduced into other German countries " by the torrent of popular opinion :"J but we have already seen what kind of a torrent this was ; what ruins it left in its course ; how its turbid waters were swollen by the storm of the rude eloquence of Luther and his partisans, and how its maddening current was lashed into fury by the lawless pas sions of the princes who espoused the cause of the Reforma tion, and fattened on its spoils. We must again quote Wolfgang Menzel in regard to the practical operation of the new church, as organized in Ger many, and the influence of the princes therein : "The whole system of the church was simplified. The sequestrated bishoprics were provisionally administered, and* the affairs of the Lutheran church controlled by commissioners selected from among the reformers, and by the councils of the princes, Luther incessantly promulgating ihe doctrine of the right of temporal sovereigns to decide all ecclesiastical questions. His inten- breitung der Reformation," p. 164 ; apud Audin, p. 343. The testimony of Jurieu is found quoted, with several others of the same kind, in Alzog's Church History. * "Philosophy of History," ii, 218. f Ibid-, P- 225. J Ibid., 224. 158 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. tion was, the creation of a counterpoise to ecclesiastical authority, and he was probably far from imagining that religion might eventually be deprived of her dignity and liberty by temporal despotism. Episcopal authority passed entirely into the hands of the 'princes."* Our summary of the means employed to promote the suc cess of the Reformation would be incomplete, without advert ing to one other cause which contributed, perhaps as much as any one of those already named, to produce this effect. We allude to the flagrant abuse of the press,~which, during that period, poured forth a torrent of ridicule, invective, abuse, misrepresentation, and calumny against the Catholics, flooding all Germany with pestiferous publications. The vio lence of the pulpit powerfully seconded that of the press. Luther himself thundered incessantly from the pulpit of All Saints at Wittenberg, as well as from those of the other prin cipal cities of Saxony. , He lashed, with his burning invec tives, Popes, bishops, priests, and monks : wherever his words fell they were as a consuming fire. Indefatigable in his exer tions, he published book after book, inflammatory pamphlet after inflammatory pamphlet, against the pretended abomina tions of Rome. His books were eagerly sought after, and greedily devoured by the great and increasing numbers who had a prurient curiosity in such novelties, which to many were attractive, precisely in proportion to their novelty, and the startling boldness with which they were proclaimed. That " On the Captivity of Babylon," in which he painted the Pope as Antichrist, went rapidly through ten editions. The annual book-fairs at Leipsic and Frankfort never before presented so animated a spectacle, or drove so brisk a busi ness. The works of the champions of Catholicity — of Eck, Em ser, Prierias, and Hochstraet — found not so ready a sale. They had not the overweening charm of novelty ; they dealt not in such rude denunciations ; they were not so replete with * History of Germany, ii, p. 249. THE BOOKSELLERS. 159 ridicule or vulgar conceits ! Even the veteran Erasmus, who had been not long before styled " the prince of letters," " the star of Germany," " the high-priest of polite literature ;'1 even the witty, and polished, and classical Erasmus could scarcely find purchasers for his Hyperaspides and other works which he published, after he had at length consented to enter the lists with Luther. His glory suddenly faded, and the book-publishers for the first time complained of having to keep his works on hand unsold ! Many causes contributed to this result. In that period of maddening excitement, nothing whatever seemed to suit the popular palate which was not new and startling. The calm and dignified defence of truth — alas ! now grown antiquated and obsolete — could not cope with the exciting character and versatile graces of error. It has been ever so. Perverse hu man nature has at all times been inclined to relish most what is most agreeable to its passions. It more readily believes what is evil than what is good, especially when the former is served up with the winning graces of rhetoric, and seasoned with sarcasm, ridicule, and denunciation. Besides, the press sent forth the works of the reformers neatly and correctly printed ; whereas those of the Catholics were often so clumsily executed as to excite ridicule and disgust. The principal booksellers had joined the reform party, and many of the apostate monks had exchanged their former occupation of transcribing manuscripts, for that of type-compositors and proof-readers in the principal printing establishments. The press thus became almost wholly subservient to the Protest ant party ; and the rebellious monks, treading in the footsteps of Luther, became the most zealous champions of the new opinions.. A Catholic book which passed through the hands of the Protestant printers was generally mutilated, or at least print ed with great negligence. Cochlaeus and others complain of this injustice. He says, that the works of Catholics were often so badly printed, that they did more service to the La- 160 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. theran party than to their own cause ; and that the Frankfort merchants openly laughed at their clumsy execution.* Froben, the great bookseller1 of Basle, made a splendid for v tune by selling the works of Luther, which he reproduced in every form, and published at the cheapest rates. In a letter to the reformer, he chuckles with delight over his success: " All your works are bought up; I have, not ten copies on hand: never did books sell so well."f Erasmus, in. a letter to Henry VIII. of England, complains that " he could find no printer who would dare publish any thing against Luther. Were it against the Pope," he adds; " there would be no dif ficulty."! The great Cardinal Bellarmine, who, towards the close of the sixteenth century, undertook the herculean task of refut ing the works of the reformers — a task which he executed in a most masterly and triumphant manner — assures us, " that there were few among the Protestant party who did not write something, and that their books not only spread like a can cer, but that they were diffused over the land, like swarms of locusts."§ Books of every size, from the ponderous folio to the humbler pamphlet, were scattered through Germany on the wings of the press. And what were the weapons which these productions wield ed with so great and deadly effect ? Were they those of sober truth and of sound argument ? Or were they those of low abuse, scurrilous misrepresentation, and open calumny ? . If there is any truth in history, the latter were put in requi- * " Ea tamen neglectim, ita festinanter et vitiose imprimebant, ut majorem gratiam eo obsequio referrent Lutheranis quam Catholicis. Si quis eorum justiorem Catholicis operam impenderent, hi a cseteris in publicis mercati- bus Prankofordise ac alibi vexabantur et ridebantur, velut papistse et sacer- dotum servi." — Cochl. p. 58, 59. Apud Audin. f Opp. Lutheri, tom. i, p. 388, 389. Ibid. X Epist. Erasmi, p. 752. For further particulars, see Audin. p. 337, seqq. { " Rari sunt apud adversaries qui non aliquid scribunt, quorum libri non jam ut cancer serpunt, sed velut agmina locustarum volitant." — Opp. torn, i, 4le Controv. in Praefat. LOW CARICATURE AND RIDICULE. 161 s'ition much oftener than the former. Catholic doctrines travestied and misrepresented, Catholic practices ridiculed and caricatured, Catholic bishops and priests vilified and openly calumniated; these were the means which the reformers employed with so murderous an effect.* And though all the sins of these first champions of the pre tended reform should not in justice be, visited on their chil dren in the faith, yet truth compels the avowal that, in these respects at least, the latter have not proved recreant disciples. This is still the panoply of Protestant warfare. We wish from our hearts it were otherwise ! The poet's remark is true both of the first ^reformers and of their modern disciples, in the most of their writings against the Catholic Church : " A hideous figure of their face they drew, Nor hues, nor looks, nor colors true : And this grotesque design exposed to public view."f We shall here offer a few specifications, to prove that we have not done injustice to the character of the writings pub lished by the early reformers. One means of attacking the character of the Catholics, was that of the Dialogue, invented by Ulrich von Huttenj one of the most unscrupulous writers * To calumny might be added forgery, which was not uncommon in the palmy days of the Reformation. In fact, Whitaker, a Protestant parson, 3ays, in substance, that this was almost peculiar to the reformed party. We will allude to one notorious instance in Germany. Otho Pack, vice-chan cellor of Duke George of Saxony, forged a pretended Catholic plot, which he professed to have learned by prying into the secrets of the duke. His forgery caused the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse to take up arms, which they however laid down when the falsehoods of this wretch were de tected. Still the forgery, though thus exposed, was greedily seized up, and published all over Germany ; and there are j'et several writers who speak of the conspiracy it had fabricated as the league of Passau ! Titus Oates had a predecessor, it seems, in Germany, though he far surpassed him in wickedness. We must refer our readers to the pages of Audin for an ac count of this curious affair ; vol. ii, p. 125, Turnbull's translation, London edition. t Dryden. VOL. I —14 162 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. of th* reform party. It consisted in introducing, with dra matic effect, the various distinguished men of both sides, tho Catholic and the Protestant, and pretending to let them speak- out their own respective sentiments. These dialogues were often acted on the stage, with great effect among tiie popu lace. The Catholics were travestied, and made to appear in the most ridiculous light ; while their adversaries were always victorious. Two of these principal scenic representations ¦were designed to ridicule two of the chief champions of Catho licity in Germany, Doctors Hochstraet and Eck. The lowest humor — with certain specimens of which we will not dare sully our pages — was employed against these distinguished divines.* The result was, that they became objects of con tempt throughout Germany. This was one way to answer their arguments, which it might have been difficult to answer in any other! Every one, who has glanced at the history of those turbu lent times, is 'familiar with the vulgar legends of the " Pope- Ass and Monk-Calf," published by Melancthon and Luther, and circulated with prodigious effect among the ignorant populace. The " Pope-Ass " was extracted from the bottom of the Tiber in 1494 ; and the " Monk-Calf," was discovered at Friburg, in Misnia, in 1523.J- Lucas Kranach, a painter of the time, sculptured this vulgar conceit on wood ; and this illustration accompanied the description of the two non-des- cript monsters. What surprises us most is, that the tem perate Melancthon should have lent himself to this low rib aldry, which then passed current for wit. Erasmus and other cotemporary writers openly accused the reformers of gross calumny. The former alleged many palpa ble facts to justify his charge. * The curious are referred, for copious extracts from these " dialogues," to Audin, p. 196, seqq. f " Interpretatio duorum horribilium monstrorum," etc., per Philippum Melancthonem et Martinum Lutherum — inter Opp. Luth. tom. ii, p. 302. THE APOSTATE MONKS. 163 " Those people are prcfuse of calumnies. They circulated a report of a canon, who complained of not finding Zurich as moral after the preaching of Zuinglius as before. ... In the same spirit of candor they have accused an other priest of libertinism, whom J, and all other persons acquainted with him, know to be pure in word and action. They have calumniated the canon because he hates sectaries ; and the priest, because, after having mani fested an inclination to their doctrines, he suddenly abandoned them."* We might fill a volume with specimens of the seurrilous abuse and wicked calumnies of Luther against the Popes, bishops, monks, and the Catholic priesthood! We consult brevity, and furnish but one or two instances from bis Table Talk, wliich abounds with such specimens of decency. " The monks are lineal descendants of Satan. When you wish to paint the devil, muffle him up in a monk's habit."f Else where he says, '" that the devil strangled Eraser,"!; and other Catholic clergymen. Luther's marriage was not merely a sacrilegious violation of his solemn vows; it was also a master-stroke of policy. Through its influence, he secured the adherence and the per severing aid of a whole army of apostate monks, who eagerly followed bis example. Until he took this decisive step, mar riage among the clergy and monks was viewed with ridicule, if not with abhorrence by the people. After his marriage, it became, on the contrary, a matter of boast. Priests, monks, and nuns hastened to " the ale-pope of the Black Eagle," to obtain this strange absolution from their vows plighted to heaven: and he received them with open arms, and granted them an Indulgence, which never Pope had granted before ! Sacrilegious impurity stalked abroad with shameless front throughout Germany. The married priests became the most untiring friends of the reform, to which they were indebted for their emancipation * "In Psendo-Evangelicos," Epist lib. xxxi, 47. London, ETesher. f " Table Talk," p. 109, where he adds : " What a roar of laughter there must be in hell when a monk goes down to it!" Was he thinking of him- grK? -See Audin, p. 305, and also p. 393. seqq. tlbid. 164 ' REFORMATION IN GERMANY. from popery, and for their wives. We have- seen them already in the book shops and the printing presses. Many of them obtained their livelihood, by circulating Lutherau pamphlets through the country.* Others " took their stand near the church-gates, and often, during the divine offices, exhibited caricatures of the Pope and the bishops."f They carried on a relentless war against the Pope ; and it is remarked, that few, if any of these married priests and monks, ever repented, or were softened in their opposition against the Catholic Chureh ! Luther thus, by his marriage, raised up a whole army of zeal ous and efficient partisans, whose co-operation powerfully aided the progress of reform.J Such then. were some of the principal means adopted by the reformers and their partisans, for carrying out the work of the Beformation ! Were they such as God could have pos sibly sanctioned ? Cpuld a cause indebted to such means for its success be from heaven ? On the other hand, considering the corrupt state of society in Germany, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, can we wonder at the great success which attended a movement promoted by such unhallowed means as these ? We would be surpised, indeed, on the con trary, if similar success had not attended it, under all the cir cumstances of the case. The previous usurpations of Church patronage by the secular princes, contrary to the repeated and energetic protests of the Popes, had done its deadly work, by thrusting unworthy min isters into the sanctuary ; and then, with rare, inconsistency, the evils and abuses which necessarily ensued, were laid at the doors of the Popes who had done every thing in their power to prevent them ! We can not. too often repeat it ; the ques tion of investitures was the great vital question of the period of Church history preceding the Beformation. * "Infinites jam erat numerus qui victum ex Lutheranis libris quffiritan- tes, in speciem bibliopolarum longe lateque per Germaniae provinciss vaga- ' bantur." — Oochlseus, p. 58. Apud. Audin. f Ibid. • t Cf Audin, p. 337, seqq. SUMMING UP. 165 The distinctive doctrines of the Beformation, throwing off the wholesome restraints of the old religion, flattering pride and pandering to passion ; the protection of powerful princes, secured by feeding their cupidity and catering to their basest passions ; the furious excitement of the people, fed by mad dening appeals from the pulpit and the press, and made to revel in works of spoliation and violence; this excitement, lashed into still greater fury by the constant employment of ridicule, low raillery,, misrepresentation, and base calumny of every person and of every thing Catholic ; and the marriage of so many apostate priests and monks, binding them irre vocably to the new doctrines : — can we wonder that all these causeB combined, and acting too upon an age and country avowedly depraved, should have produced the effect of rapidly diffusing the so called Beformation % We do not, of course, mean to imply, that all who embraced ¦ the Beformation were corrupt, or were led by evil motives : we have no doubt that many were deceived by the specious appearance of piety. This was especially the case with the common people, who often followed the example and obeyed the teaching of their princes and pastors, without taking much trouble to ascertain the right. But we have intended to speak more particularly of the leading actors in the great drama; and to paint the chief parts these men played on the stage. Much less would we be understood, as indiscriminately and wantonly censuring Protestants of the present day. A broad line of distinction should be drawn between the first teachers and even the first disciples of error, and those who have inherited it from them through a long line of ancestry. The latter might be Often free from great censure, where the for mer would be wholly inexcusable. The strong and close meshes which the prejudices of early education have woven around them ; the dense and clouded medium, through which they have been accustomed to view the sun of Catholic truth; the strong influence of parental authority and of family ties ; 11 166 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and many such causes, combine to keep them in error. Be sides, history, which should be a witness of truth, has been polluted in its very sources : and the injustice which its voice has done to the cause of truth, has been accumulating for centuries. But can Protestants of the present day, notwith standing all these disadvantages, hold themselves inexcusable, if they neglect to examine both sides of the question, and this with all the diligence and attention that so grave a subject demands ? ' , To enable them to do this the more easily, was one princi pal motive that induced us to undertake the review of the partial and unfounded statements of D'Aubigne, and of others belonging to the class of writers of which he is a popular representative. If it be thought, that our picture of the causes and manner of the Beformation, and of the means to which it chiefly owed its success, is too dark, we beg leave to refer to the facts and authorities we have alleged. If there be any truth in history, our painting has not been too highly colored. Had we adduced all the evidence bearing on the subject, the coloring might have been still deeper. We had to examine and refute the flippant assertions, that the reformers were chosen instruments of heaven for a divine work ; and that the " reformation was but the reappearance of Christianity." •A " reappearance of Christianity," indeed ! It is, from the facts accumulated above, such a "reappearance," as darkness is of light!' Strip the Beformation. of all that it borrowed from Catholicism, let it appear in its own distinctive charac ter, in all its naked deformity ; and it has scarcely one feature remaining in common with early Christianity. Did the Apos tles preach doctrines which pandered to the passions of man kind? Did they flatter princes, by offering to them the plunder of their neighbors, and by allowing them to have two wives at once, to quiet their troubled conscience ? Did they employ the weapons of ridicule, sarcasm, and calumny against their adversaries ? Did they excite their followers to deeds of lawless violence against the established order of ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN SWITZERLAND. 167 things ? Did they break their solemn engagements to heaven ? The reformers did all this, and more, as we have shown ; and yet they are still to be held up to our admiration, as the new and divinely chosen apostles of a Christianity restored to its original purity ! CHAPTER V. THE REFORMATION IN S WI TZEEL AND— ZURICH. " The spirit that I have seen May be a devil ; and the devil bath power To assume a pleasing shape." — Shakspeare. The Reformation in Switzerland more radical than that in Germany — Yet like it — Sows dissensions — Zuingle warlike and superstitious — Claims precedency over Luther — Black or white ? — Precursory disturbances — Aldermen deciding on faith — How the fortress was entrenched — Riot and conflagration — Enlightenment — Protestant martyrs — Suppression of the Mass — Solemnity of the reformed worship — Downright paganism — The Reformation and matrimony — Zuingle's marriage and misgivings — Ro mance among nuns — How to get a husband — Perversion of Scripture — St. Paul on celibacy — Recapitulation. Before we proceed to examine the manifold influences of the Beformation, it may be well briefly to glance at the his tory of its establishment in Switzerland. D'Aubigne- devotes two whole books* to this portion of his history, which, as it concerns his own fatherland, is evidently a favorite topic with him. Our limits will not permit us to follow him through all his tedious and romantic details : we must content ourselves with reviewing some of his leading statements. After what we have already said concerning the causes and manner of the Beformation in Germany, it will scarcely be * Book viii, vol. ii, p. 267 to 400 : and book xi, vol. iii, p, 255 to 341, 168 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. necessary to dwell at any great length on that of Switzerland. The one was but a reappearance of the other — to use one of our author's favorite words. The same great features marked both revolutions, with this only difference: that the Swiss was more radical and more thorough, and therefore more to D'Aubigne's taste. Like the German, however, its progress was everywhere signalized by dissensions, civil commotions, rapine, violence and bloodshed. And like the German, it was also indebted for its permanent establishment to the in terposition of the civil authorities. Without this, neither re volution would have had either consistency or permanency. D'Aubigne' himself bears unwilling 'testimony to all these facts, though, as usual, he suppresses many things of vital importance. We will supply some of his omissions, and avail ourselves of his concessions, as we proceed. The Beformation found the thirteen Swiss cantons united, and in peace among themselves and with all the world. It sowed disunion among them, and plunged them into a fierce and protracted civil war, which threatened rudely to pluck up by the roots the venerable tree of liberty which, centuries be fore, their Catholic forefathers had planted and watered with their blood! The shrines sacred to the memory of. William Tell, Melchtal, and Eiirst, the fathers of Swiss independence, were attempted to be rudely desecrated: and the altars at which their forefathers had worshiped in quietness for. ages were recklessly overturned. The consequences of this at tempt to subvert the national faith by violence were most disastrous. The harmony of the old Swiss republic was de stroyed,- and the angel of peace departed forever from the hills and the valleys of that romantic country. That this picture is not too highly colored, the following brief summary of facts will prove. The four cantons of Zurich, Berne, Schaffhausen, and Basle, which first embraced the Reformation, began very soon there after to give evidence of their turbulent spirit. They formed a league against the cantons which still resolved to adhere to A FIGHTING APOSTLE. 169 the Catholic faith. One article of their alliance forbade any of the confederates to transport provisions to the Catholic cantons. Arms were in consequence taken up on both sides, and a bloody contest ensued. Ulrich . Zuingle, the father of the Reformation in Switzerland, marched with the troops of the Protestant party, and fell, bravely fighting with them " the battles of the Lord," on the 11th of Oct., 1531 ! Did he, in this particular respect, give any evidence of that apos tolic spirit, which D'Aubigne" ascribes to him ? Did ever an apostle of the primitive and genuine stamp die on the field of battle, while seeking the lives of his fellow mortals? He was, moreover, as superstitious, as he was fierce. The histo rians of his life tell us, that a little before the battle he was stricken with sad foreboding by the appearance of a comet, which he viewed as portending direful disasters to Zurich, and as announcing his own coming death. Our historian of the Reformation, though chary of the char acter of Zuingle as an apostle, furnishes us' with a httle inci dent which marks the warlike spirit of the Swiss reformer. "In Zurich itself," he says, "a few worthless persons, instiga ted to mischief by foreign agency, made an attack on Zuingle in the middle of the night, throwing stones at his house, breaking the windows, and calling aloud for the ' red-haired Uli, the vulture of Glaris ' — so that Zuingle started from his sleep, and caught up his sword. The action is characteristic of the man."* Zuingle was at Zurich, what Luther was at Wittenberg. Each claimed the precedency in the career of the Reforma tion. Mr. Hallam thus notices their respective claims : "It has been disputed between the advocates of these leaders to which the priority in the race of reform belongs. Zuingle himself declares, that in 1516, before he had heard of Luther, he began to preach the gospel at Zu rich, and to warn the people against relying upon human authority. Rut that is rather ambiguous, and hardly enough to substantiate his claim. . . . , Like Luther, he had the support of the temporal magistrates, the council of * VoL iii, p. 275. VOL. I. — 15 170 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Zurich. Upon the whole, they proceeded so nearly with equal steps, and were so connected with each other, that it seems difficult to award either any honor qf precedence."* We shall have occasion hereafter to refer at some length to the bitter controversy which raged between these two boasted apostles, the germ of which may perhaps be discovered in this early partisan struggle for precedence. They taught con tradictory doctrines : one warmly . defended, the other as warmly denied the real presence of Christ in the holy Euchar ist. Were they both guided by the spirit of God? Can the Holy Spirit inspire contradictory systems of belief? . If God was with Luther, He certainly was not with Zuingle ; if he was with Zuingle, He certainly could not be with Luther, God is the God of order, and not of confusion; and truth is one and indivisible, not manifold and contradictory. By the way, what a pity it is that D'Aubigne^ while laud ing the Swiss reformer to the skies could not settle the import ant previous question which had so sadly puzzled Zuingle,: — whether the spirit which appeared to him in his sleep, and suggested the text of Scripture by which he might disprove the real presence, was really black or white? How very gently he touches on this passage in the history of his favorite ! He merely gives vent, to his surprise, by a note of admiration, that this circumstance should have " given rise to the asser tion that the doctrine promulgated by the reformer was de Uvered to him by the devil !f Did not the reformer's own account of the visionj — of the nature of which he was cer tainly the most competent witness— give rise to the suspi cion, which afterwards grew into an assertion ? And did not his brother reformers openly make the embarrassing charge? * History of Literature, sup. cit. vol. i, p. 163-4. He cites Gerdes, Histor. Evang. Reform, i, 103. t D'Aubigne, iii, 272-3. X Ater fuerit an albus, nihil memini, somnium enim narro : " Whether it was black oi white, I remember nothing, as I relate a dream." — Why relate the dream at all, unless he attached some importance to it, as conveying some indication or augury of his mission ? Ibid. RIOTS AND COMMOTIONS. 171 Zurich was the first city of Switzerland which was favored with the new gospel. Our author treats in great detail* of the circumstances which attended its first introduction; as well as of the preliminary discussions, commotions, and riots, which were its early harbingers. We will present a few speci mens of this truculent spirit. Leo Juda, one of the precursors of the new gospel, arrived in Zurich "about the end of 1522, to take the duty of pastor of St. Peter's church." Soon after his arrival, being at church, he rudely interrupted an Augustinian monk who was preach ing. " ' Reverend father Prior,' exclaimed Leo, ' listen to me for an instant ; and you, my dear fellow-citizens, keep your seats — I will speak as becomes a Christian :' and' he proceeded to show the unscriptural character of the teaching he had just been listening to. A great disturbance ensued in the church. Instantly several persons angrily attacked the ' little priest' from Einsidlen (Zuingle). Zuingle, repairing to the council, presented himself before them, and requested permission to give an account of his doctrine, in presence of the bishop's deputies ; — and the council, desiring to terminate the dissen sions, convoked a conference for the 29th of January. The news spread rapidly throughout Switzerland."! After having given a very lengthy account of the confer ence, which, as might have been anticipated, terminated in nothing, our author thus manifests his joy at the brighten ing prospects of the gospel. " Every thing was moving for ward at Zurich ; men's minds were becoming more enlight ened — their hearts more steadfast. The Beformation was gaining strength. Zurich was a fortress, in which the new doctrine had entrenched itself, and from within whose inclosure it was ready to pour itself abroad over the whole confeder ation.";]; Our historian proceeds to tell us how the " Beformation gained strength," and how "the new -doctrine entrenched * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 238, seqq. f lb"*-, P- 23.9- X M-i P- 254- 172 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. itself in the fortress;" to say nothing of the "enlightenment," of which we will treat hereafter. The "enlightened" council of Zurich decided in favor of the reformed doctrines, and resorted to force in order to suppress the ancient worship. Only think of a town council, composed of fat aldermen and stupid burgomasters, pronouncing definitively on articles of faith ! In reading of their high-handed proceedings, we are forcibly reminded of the wonderful achievements,' in a some what different field, of the far-famed Dutch governors and burgomasters of New Amsterdam, as fully set forth by Irving in his inimitable History of New York. The one is about as grotesque as the other. They of Zurich did not, however, belong to the class of Walter, the Doubter : they were perhaps too well satisfied with their superior wisdom and knowledge to entertain a doubt! Let us trace some of the further proceedings of this enlight ened board of councilmen at Zurich. "Nor did the council stop here. The relics, which had given occasion to so many superstitions, were honorably interred. And then, on the further requisition of ihe three (reformed) pastors, an edict was issued, decreeing that, inasmuch as God alone ought to be honored, the images should be removed from all the churches of the Canton, and their ornaments applied to the relief of the poor. Accordingly twelve counselors — one for each tribe — the three pastors, and the city architect, with some smiths, carpenters, and masons, -ed the several churches ; and, having first closed the doors, took down the crosses, obliterated the paintings (the Vandals .'), whitewashed the walls, and carried away the images, to the great joy of the faithful (!) who regarded this proceeding, BuUinger tells us, as a glorious act of homage to the true God." In some of the country parishes, the ornaments of the churches were committed to the flames, " to the greater honor and glory of God." Soon after this the organs were sup pressed, on account of their connection with many "supersti tious observances, and a new form of baptism was established from which every thing unscriptural was carefully excluded."*— * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 257-8. RELIGIOUS FORAGING. 173 What enlightenment, and marvelous taste for music and the fine arts ! " The triumph of the Reformation," our author continues, "threw a joyful radiance over the last hours of the burgo master Roush and his colleague. They had lived long enough ; and they both died within a few days after the restoration of a purer (!) mode of worship."* — And such a triumph ! ! Be fore we proceed to show by what means this purer mode of worship was established at Zurich, we will give, from our historian, an instance of one out of many of the scenes of riot and conflagration enacted by the faithful children of the Reformation. The passage details the proceedings of a party, which went out on a foraging excursion with the pious bailiff Wirth. " The rabble, meanwhile, finding themselves in the neighborhood of the convent of Ittingen, occupied by a community of Carthusians, who were generally believed (by the faithful) to have encouraged the bailiff Amberg in his tyranny, entered the building and took possession of the refectory. They immediately gave themselves up to excess, and a scene of riot ensued. In vain did Wirth entreat them to quit the place ; .he was in danger of per sonal ill-treatment among them. His son Adrian had remained outside of the monastery : John entered it, but shocked by what he beheld within, came out immediately. The inebriated peasants proceeded to pillage the cellars and granaries, to break the furniture to pieces, and to burn the books''^ This is D'Aubigne's statement of the affair: but the depu ties of the Cantons found the Wirths guilty, and pronounced sentence of death on them. Our author views them as mar tyrs, and tells us,J in great detail, how cruelly they were " mocked," how they were " faithful unto death," and how intrepidly the " father and son" ascended the scaffold ! His whole account is truly affecting. The Reformation is wel come to such martyrs as these! He exclaims : " Now at length blood had been spilt — inno cent blood. Switzerland and the Reformation were baptized with the blood of the martyrs. The great enemy of the gospel D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 257-8. f Ibid., p. 264-5. % Ibid., p. 266, seqq. 174 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. had effected his purpose ; but in effecting it, he had struck a mortal blow at his own power. The death of the Wirth's was an appointed means of hastening, the triumph of the Reformation."* — "The reformers of Zurich," he adds, "had abstained from abolishing the Mass when they suppressed the use of images ; but the moment for doing so seems now to have arrived."! He then relates the manner in which the Mass was sup pressed, and the "purer worship" introduced in its place. " On the 11th of August, 1525, the three pastors of Zurich, accompanied by Megander, and Oswald, and Myconius, presented themselves before the great council, and demanded the re-establishment of the Lord's Supper. Their discourse was a weighty one, and was listened to with the deepest attention — every one felt how important was the decision which the council was called upon to pronounce. The Mass — that mysterious rite which for three (fifteen) successive centuries had constituted the animating principle in the worship of the Latin Church (and in all churches) — was now to be abrogated ; the corporeal presence of Christ was to be declared an illusion, and of that illusion the minds of the people were to be dispossessed ; somo courage was needed for such a resolution as this, and there were individuals in the council who shuddered at so audacious a design."f The grave board of councilmen did not, however, hesitate long : they seem to have made quick work in this most im portant matter. " The great council was convinced by his (Zuingle's) reasoning, and hesi tated no longer. (How could they -resist his reasoning, based as it was on the teaching of the spirit, black or white ?) The evangelical doctrine had sunk deep into every heart, and moreover, since the separation from Rome had taken place, there was a kind of satisfaction felt in malting that separa tion as complete as possible,' and digging a gulf, (the Reformation was a gulf) as it were, between the Reformation and her. The council decreed that the Mass should be abolished, and it was determined that on the fol lowing day, which was Maunday Thursday, the Lord's Supper should be celebrated in conformity with the apostolic model."§ " The altars disappeared," he continues ; " some plain tables, covered with the sacramental bread and wine, occupied their * D'Aubigne, iii, p. 270. f IWd-> P- 271. X Ibid. \ Ibid., p. 272. SOLEMNITY OF THE NEW WORSHIP. 175 places, and a crowd of eager communicants was gathered around them. There was something exceedingly solemn in that assemblage."* — No doubt it was much more solemn than had been the Catholic worship ! Our author thus describes the solemnity. " The people then fell on their knees : the bread was carried round on large wooden dishes or platters, and every one broke off a morsel for him self; the wine was distributed in wooden drinking cups ; the resemblance to the primitive supper was thought, to be the closer. (!) The hearts of those who celebrated this ordinance were affected with alternate emotions of wonder and joy ."•(— Truly there was much to -excite wonder, if not joy ! In the same strain is the following passage : ' " Such was the progress of the Reformation at Zurich. The simple com memoration of our Lord's death caused a fresh overflow in the church of love to God, and love to the brethren Zuingle rejoiced at these affecting manifestations of grace, and returned thanks to God, that the Lord's Supper was again working those miracles of charity, which had long since ceased to be displayed in connection with the Sacrifice of the Mass. ' Our city,' said he, ,' continues at peace. There is no fraud, no dissension, no envy, no wrang ling among us. Where shall we discover the cause of this agreement except in the Lord's good pleasure, and the harmlessness and meekness of the doctrine we profess? " — He, however, spoils this beautiful picture by the following cruel sentence, which immediately follows : " Charity and unity Were there — but not uniformity."! Our . historian here refers to certain strange doctrines broached by Zuingle in this same year 1525, in his famous " Commentary on true and false religions," addressed to Fran cis I., king of France. He labors hard to defend the reform er from the charge of Pelagianism, which his associates in the Reformation did not fail to make. But was it honest in him to conceal the notorious fact, that, in this same Commen tary, Zuingle had placed Theseus, Hercules, Numa, Scipio, Cato, and other heathen worthies, in heaven among the eiect ? This was something worse than Pelagianism ; it was down right paganism. Could "charity and unity" reign in the midst of the fiercest wranglings, of the most bitter civil feuds * D'Aubigne, iii, p. 273 f Ibid- t ^&-t P- 274. 176- REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and dissensions, and amidst the bloodshed of a protracted civil war? Yet these were the scenes amid which the Swiss Reformation revealed. "Such," then, " was the progress of the Reformation at Zurich !" In other places — at Berne and at Basle — its pro ceedings were marked by similar demonstrations. It was everywhere the same. Everywhere, it invoked the civil power, and everywhere it was established, as at Zurich, by the^ecisions of boards of town councilmen, and was enforced by violence. D'Aubigne' himself alleges facts which prove all this ; and we deem it unnecessary to repeat them; espe cially as we purpose to devote another chapter to the Befor mation in Switzerland, in which the , facts establishing this view will be more fully set forth. (Ecolampadius was the chief actor on the Beformation stage at Basle. He was a learned and moderate man, the early friend of Erasmus, and, in some respects, the counterpart of Melancthon. The gospel light seems to have first beamed upon him from the eye of a beautiful young lady, whom, in violation of his solemn vows plighted to heaven, he espoused ; — " probably," as Erasmus wittily remarked, " to mortify him self!" In the race of matrimony, at least, he could claim the precedency over many of his brother reformers. Yet the latter did not long remain behind. Matrimony was, in almost all cases, the denouement of the drama which signalized the zeal for reformation. Zuingle himself espoused a rich widow. A widow also caught Calvin, a little later. Martin Bucer, another reformer, who figured chiefly in Switzerland, far out stripped any of his fellows in the hymeneal career. He be came the husband of no less than three ladies in succession : and one of them had been already married three times— all too, by a singular run of good luck, in the reformation line !* * For a full and humorous account of this whole matter, see " Travels of an Irish gentleman," ch. xlvi ; where the great Irish poet enters into the subject at length ; giving his authorities as he proceeds, and playing off his caustic wit on the hymeneal propensities of the reformers. THE COMEDY OF MARRIAGE. 177 It is really curious to observe, how D'Aubigne' treats this remarkable subject. Speaking of the Swiss reformers, he says : "Several among them at this period (1522) returned to the 'apostolic' usage *(!) Xyloclect was already a husband. Zuingle also married about this time. Among the women of Zurich, none was more respected than Anna Reinhardt, widow of Meyer von Ejionau, mother of Gerold. From Zuingle's coming among them, she had been constant in her attendance on his ministry ; she lived near him, and he had remarked her piety, modesty, and maternal tenderness. Young Gerold, who had become almost like a son to him, contributed further to bring about an intimacy with his mother. The trials that had already befallen this Christian woman — whose fate it was to be one day more severely tried than any woman whose history is on record — had formed her to a sariousness which gave prominency to her Christian virtues. She was then about thirty-five, and her whole fortune consisted of four hundred florins.f It was on her that Zuingle (kind, sym pathetic soul !) fixed his eyes for a companion for life."}. Still he seems to have entertained serious misgivings at thus breaking his solemn vows : " He did not make his marriage public. This was beyond doubt a blame- able weakness in one who was in other respects so resolute (reckless ?). The light he and his friends possessed on the subject of celibacy was by no means general. The weak might have been stumbled."} This last is a new phrase, introduced, we suppose, to unfold a new idea, — that the people retained conscience longer than the boasted reformers, who misled them from the old paths. On this same subject, D'Aubigne' treats us to some fine touches of romance, concerning nuns who embraced the Refor mation, and then immediately, as a seemingly necessary sequel, got married ! We will give a few instances : ¦ "At Koningsfeld upon the river Aar, near the castle of Hapsburg, stood a monastery adorned with all the magnificence of the middle ages, and in which reposed the ashes of many of that illustrious house which had so often given an emperor to Germany. To this place the noble families of * How very absurd ! Was St. Paul married ? Were any of the Apostles ever married, except St. Peter, of whose wife the Scripture says nothing after lie~became an Apostle ? She was probably dead. f A very large sum at that time. J D Aubigne, vol, ii, p. 383. \ Ibid., n. 384. 178 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Switzerland and of Suabia used to send their daughters to take the vail. .... The liberty enjoyed in this convent" had favored the introduction not only of the Bible (they had it already, and were even obliged to read por tions of it daily by their rule), but the writings of Luther and Zuingle ; and soon a new spring of life, and joy changed the aspect of its interior !"* A new spring of life and- of joy was certainly thus opened to the nuns. They soon became tired of retirement and of prayer : they sighed for the flesh-pots of Egypt to which they had bidden adieu — for the "life and joy" of the world. Margaret Watteville, one of them, wrote a letter to Zuingle, full of piety and of affection ; and declared that she expressed not "her own feelings only, but those of all the convent of- Kb'ningsfeld who loved the gospel."f D'Aubigne' accordingly tells us, that a " convent into which the light of the gospel had penetrated with such power, could not long continue to adhere to monastic observances. Mar garet Watteville and her sisters, persuaded that they should better serve God in their families than in the cloister, solicited permission to leave it."J The council of Berne heard their prayer : the convent " gates were opened ; and a short time afterwards, Catharine Bonnsteten (one of the nuns) married William Von Diesbach."§ The nun Margaret Watteville was equally fortunate : she " was about the same time united to Lucius' Tscharner of Coira."|| Such was almost invariably the denouement of the reformation plot. Our historian, in fact, views the sacrilegious marriages of the priests and nuns — against their solemn vows freely plighted to God at his holy altar — as the most conclusive proof of the progress of the Reformation ! Mark this curious passage : " But it was in vain to attempt to smother the Reformation at Berne. I made progress on all sides. The nuns of the convent D'lle had not forgot ten Hallet's visit. (This was a wretched apostate, who had held improper discourse in the convent, which drew upon him a sentence of perpetual ban- * D Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 280, 281. f This letter is given in full, Ibid, vol. iii, p. 281, 282. | Ibid. 5 Ibid || Ibid, p. 285. ROMANTIC NUNS. 179 is'iment from the lesser council of Berne ; which sentence was however mitigated by the grand council, which was content with merely rebuking him and his associate reformers, and ordering them to confine themselves in future to their own business and let the convents alone.)* Clara May, (one of the nuns) and many of her friends, pressed in their consciences (!) what to do, wrote to the learned Henry BuUinger. In answer, he said : ' St. Paul enjoins young women not to take on them vows, but to marry, instead of living in idleness under a false show of piety. (1 Tim. v: 13, 14). Follow Jesus in humility, charity, patience, purity, and kindness.' Clara, looking to heaven for guidance, resolved to act on the advice, and renounce a manner of hfe at variance with the word of God — of man's invention — and beset with snares. Her grandfather Bartholomew, who had served for fifty years in the field and council hall, heard with joy of the resolution she had formed. Clara quitted the convent,"! — and married the provost, Nicholas Watteville.}: What an evidence of piety, " looking to heaven for guid ance," is it not — to get married ! And what a perversion of Scripture was not that by Henry BuUinger, to induce those to marry who had taken solemn vows of devoting themselves wholly to God in a life of chastity ! As this is a pretty good specimen of the manner in which the reformers " wrested the Scriptures to their own perdi tion, "§ we, will give entire the quotation of St. Paul to Timothy, referred to by the " learned Henry BuUinger," including the two previous verses, which he found it convenient not to quote — probably because they would have convicted him of a most glaring perversion of God's holy word. 1 Timothy, chap, v, verse 11. " But the younger widows shun : for when they have grown wanton in Christ, they will marry; (this advice the re formers took special care not to follow). Verse 12. "Having damnation, because they have made void their first faith, (by violating their vows to God). V. 13. "And withal, being idle, they learn to go about from house to house (as the escaped nuns did at the time of the Reformation): not only idle, but talkers also, and inquisitive, speaking things which they ought not. V. 14. " I will, therefore, that the younger (who had not taken vows) * Such at least is the statement of D'Aubigne — iii, p. 279. t Ibid, p. 284. X Ibid, p. 285. ' * § 2 Peter, iii: 16. 180 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. should marry, bear children, be mistresses of families, give no occasion to the adversary to speak evil." This passage of St. Paul speaks for itself, and needs no commentary. While the reformers were quoting St. Paul, with a view to iiiduce the nuns to escape from their convents and to get married, why did they not also refer to the follow ing texts : " But I say to the unmarried and to the widows : it is good for them so to continue, even as I."* " Art thou bound to a wife ? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? Seek not a wife."\ , " But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things .of the world, how he may please his wife : and he is divided."! And why especially did they conceal the following texts, which had special reference to the nun who, " having grown wanton in Christ, would marry, having damnation, because they had made void their first faith ?" " And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is mar ried, thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Therefore, both he whp giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well ; and he that giveth her not, doeth better."§ Alas ! the carnal, minded reformers understood little of this sublime perfection! They could not appreciate it. They were satisfied with doing well; nor did they even come up to this standard, any further at least, than to get married! Their case is sufficiently explained by St. Paul, in the same epistle from which the above texts are extracted. " But the sensual man perceiveth not the things that are of the spirit of God : for it is foolishness to him, and he can not under stand : because it is spiritually examined."|| We will now proceed to show more fully, that the subse quent developments pf the Swiss Beformation corresponded * 1 Corinth, vii: 8. f Ibid-> verse 27. % Ibid, verses 32, 33. \ Ibid, verses 34, 38 || 1 Corinth, ii: 14. HISTORY OF DE HALLER. 181 with its first beginnings at Zurich; and that, everywhere, throughout the Swiss confederation, it pandered to the worst passions, was established by intrigue, civil commotions and violence ; and that it openly infringed all previous ideas of popular rights and liberty. We shall hereafter devote a sep arate chapter to the Calvinistic branch of the Reformation, established at Geneva. CHAPTER VI. REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND-BERNE. History by Louis De Haller — A standard authority — Berne the centre of operations — De Haller's point of view — His character as an historian — ¦¦ His authorities — Wavering of Berne — Tortuous policy — How she em braced the reform — The bear and the pears — Treacherous perjury of Berne — Zuinglian council — Its decrees — Religious liberty crushed — Riot and sacrilege — Proceedings ,of Bernese commissioners — Downright ty ranny — The minister Farel — His fiery zeal — An appalling picture — A parallel — Priests hunted down — Character of the ministers — Avowal of Capito — The glorious privilege of private judgment — How consistent ! — Persecution of brother Protestants — Drowning the Anabaptists — Refor mation in Geneva — Rapid suinmary of horrors — The Bernese army of invasion — The sword and the Bible — Forbearance of Catholics— Affecting incident at Soleure — The war of Cappell — Points of resemblance — An armed apostle — A prophet quailing before danger — Battle of Cappell — Death of Zuingle — Triumph of Catholic cantons — Treaty of peace. Foe most of the facts contained in this chapter, we are in debted to De Haller, whose late work on the history of the Swiss Reformation is a standard authority. So far as we know, his facts have never been disputed, nor his arguments answered.*' * His work is entitled : Histoirede la revolution religieuse, ou de la re- forme Protestante dans la Suisse Occidentale. Par Charles Louis De Hal ler, ancien membre du conseil souverain, et du conseil secret de Berne, chev- 12 182 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. As we have already seen, Zurich was the first city in Switzerland which embraced the Reformation; or, as De Haller expresses it, she was " the mother and the root of all religious and political Protestantism in Switzerland."* She was nearly eight years in advance of Berne in the race of reform ; and it was through her influence mainly that the latter at length, consented to accept the new gospel. But once. Berne had embraced it, she far outstripped her pre ceptor in religious zeal or fanaticism ; and she took the lead in all the subsequent religioso-political aflairs of the country'. Her central position, her rich and extensive territory, her untiring industry, and her adroit and unscrupulous diplomacy, gave her the ascendency over the other Protestant cantons, and made her the leader in every great enterprise. It was through her intrigues that Geneva was induced to receive the,; new doctrines ; it was by her triumphant physical power that the Beformation was thrust down the throats of the good Catho lic people of Vaud. Bernese preachers, escorted by Bernese bailiffs and spies, traversed all tl;e north-western cantons, scattering dissension wherever they went, and establishing the new gospel, either by intrigue or by force, wherever they could. Cautiously and cunningly, but with an industry that never tired, and a resolution that never faltered, Berne pur sued her Machiavelian policy; until, by one means or an other, about half of the Swiss confederation was torn from Catholic unity, and bound, at the same time, by strong polit ical ties to herself. Thus she became the great leader of the Protestant, as Lucerne has ever been that ofj the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. It is from this elevated point of view, that De Haller looks alier de l'ordre royal de la legion d'honneur, et de celui de Charles III. d'Espagne, etc. History of the religious revolution, or of the Protestant Reformation, in Western Switzerland. By Charles Louis De Haller, former member of the supreme and of the secret councils of Berne, Knight of the royal order of the legion of honor, and of that of Charles ill. of Spain, etc. 4th edition. Paris, 1839. 1 vol. 12mo, pp. 436. * De Haller, p. 434 DE HALLER'S POINT OF VIEW. 183' down upon the history of the Swiss Reformation. Himself a Bernese, and, until he became a Catholic,* a Pernese coun selor as high in power and influence as he was in wisdom and talents, he was eminently qualified to write a history of the religious revolution in Switzerland. Candid and moder ate by nature, of an enlarged mind and comprehensive genius, his scrupulous veracity has not been denied even by his strongest opponents; while he certainly had every oppor tunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the events he relates. He assures us in his preface, that his history "can not be taxed with exaggeration, for it has been faithfully de rived from Historical Fragments of the city of Berne, com posed by a Bernese ecclesiastic (Protestant) ; from, the History of the Swiss, by Mallett, a Genevan Protestant ; from that of Baron d'Alt, a Catholic, it is true, but excessively reserved upon all that might displease the Bernese ; and above all, in fine, from the History of the Beformation in Switzerland, by Ruchat, a zealous Protestant minister and professor of belles- lettres at the academy of Lausanne, to whom all the archives were opened for the composition of his work."f This last named writer, whom he quotes continually, was a most violent partisan of the Swiss Reformation; and yet even he was compelled to relate a large portion of the truth, mixed up, as usual, with much adroit and canting misrepre sentation. Thus, he asserts, among other things, " that the Catholic religion is idolatrous and superstitious, and that it can not be sustained fbut by. ignorance, by interest, by vio lence, and by fraud."J De Haller meets the injurious charge, not by asserting, but by proving, from undeniable evidence, that the Swiss Reformation was established precisely by these identical means, and that it could not, in fact, have been established otherwise. He says : * For having become a Catholic, he was expelled from the council, prob ably in order to prove Protestant love of liberty ! ] De Haller, p. ix. X Quoted by De Haller, Pretace, p. x. 184 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. " Protestants of good faith — and there are many such among our separ ated brethren — Will judge for themselves, from a simple exposition of facts, whether it was .ot rather their own religion which was introduced by igno rance, interest, violence, and fraud : by ignorance, for it was everywhere the ignorant multitude that decided, without knowledge of the cause, upon questions of faith and discipline, and this was carried so far that even chil dren of fourteen years were called to these popular assemblies ; by interest, for the robbery of churches, of temples, and of monasteries, was the first act of the Reformation ; by violence, for it was with armed force that altars were overturned, images broken, convents pillaged, and it became necessary to employ fire and sword, confiscation and exile, in order to make the new religion prevail over the ancient belief ; by lying and "by fraud, for Luther and Zuingle formally recommended both to their followers as means of suc cess, and their counsel has been followed with fidelity and perseverance even unto our own day. We will now pass on to the facts and the proof."* We defy any one to read attentively De Haller's work, without admitting that he has triumphantly proved all this, and even more, by facts and evidence derived mainly from Protestant sources. Our limits will not, of course, allow us to go into all the details of the evidence ; yet we hope to be able to furnish enough to convince any impartial mind that De Haller's position is entirely sound and tenable. But first we must glance rapidly at the manner in which the Beforma tion was first introduced into Berne; which, as we. have already intimated, subsequently exercised so strong an influ ence, both religious and political, on other parts of Switzer land. It was slowly and cautiously that Berne embraced the new doctrines. Long did she resist the intrigues of the Zurichers, and the Wily arts of their new apostle, Ulrich Zuingle. This man understood well the character of the Bernese ; their wary distrust of any thing new, their deeply seated self- * Pref. x, and xi. He gives us in a note, besides some curious facts about Zuingle, the following passage from a letter of Luther to Melancthon, dated August' 30, 1530 : "When we will have nothing more to fear, and when we shall be left in repose, we will then repair all our present lies, our frauds, and our acts of violence.'" PEARS TO THE BEAR. 185 interest, and their dogged obstinacy in maintaining whatever they finally settled down upon. He well knew all this, and he acted accordingly. Writing to ^Berchtold Haller, the first herald of the new gospel at Berne, he advised moderation and caution ; " for," says he, " the minds of the Bernese are not yet ripe for the new gospel."* In a letter subsequently addressed to Francis Kolb, he uses this quaint language, alluding to the cantonal type of Berne — the bear : " My dear Francis ! proceed slowly, and not too rudely, in the business ; do not throw to the bear at first but one sour pear along with a great many sweet ones, afterwards two, then three ; and if he begin to swallow them, throw him always more and more, sour and sweet, pellmelL Finally, empty the sack altogether ; soft, hard, sweet, sour, and crude ; he will devour them all and will not suffer any one to take them away from him, nor to drive him away."f Zuingle understood his men, and his arts succeeded even beyond his most sanguine expectations. Berne vacillated for several years between truth and error ; her policy was waver ing and tortuous ; but at length she threw her whole influence into the scale of the Beformation ; and once she had taken her position, she maintained it with her characteristic obstinacy. Though her counsels were often uncertain, yet, in the main, she had continued faithful to the old religion up to the year 1527. On the 26th of January, 1524, we find her delegates uniting with those of the twelve cantons at Lucerne in a strong decree, unanimously passed, for the maintenance of Catholicity .J Shortly afterwards, she listened with respect to the voice of the three Catholic bishops of Constance, Bale, and Lausanne, who strongly urged the cantons to remain steadfast in their faith, and who promised . " that if, in lapse of time, some abuses had glided into the ecclesiastical state, they would examine the matter with unremitting diligence, and abolish the abuses with all their power."§ In 1525-6, the terrible revolt of the peasants took place in * Quoted by De Haller, p. 18. f Ibid., p. 18, note. X Tbid, p. 22. } Ibid., p. 23. vol. i. — 16 186 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Germany, and penetrated even into Switzerland. It had cer tainly grown out of the revolutionary principles broached by the reformers, and it was headed by Protestant preachers, as Ruchat, himself a preacher, admits in the following passage : " Having at their head the preachers of the reform, they pil laged, ravaged, massacred, and burnt every thing that fell into their hands."* Sartorius, another Protestant historian of Germany, admits the same.f All social order was threat ened with annihilation by these wild fanatics, whose number was legion; and Berne, appalled by the danger, made a tem porary truce with her tergiversation, recoiled from the preci pice, on the brink of which she had been standing, and fell back on her old vantage ground of conservative Catholicity. On the 21st of May, 1526, her grand council published an edict for the preservation of the old religion, .and its members bound themselves, by a solemn oath, to maintain it invi- olatePX Yet, in the following year, Berne revoked this decree, violated this solemnly plighted oath, joined the Beformation, and lent her whole influence to its propagation throughout Switzerland ! Her wavering ceased all of a sudden, and her policy, hitherto tortuous and always unprincipled, now be came firmly settled. Not only she declared for the Reforma tion, but she spared no labor, no intrigue, no money, — nothing, to make it triumph everywhere. It was mainly through her subsequent efforts that the Reformation was fastened on a large portion of the Swiss republic. By what means this was accomplished, we have already intimated ; and now we will furnish some pf the principal specifications and evidence bearing on the subject. The. facts we are going to allege clearly prove this great leading feature of the Swiss Reforma tion: — that it was only by intrigue, chicanery, persecution, and open violenee, that it was finally established at the city * Quoted by De Haller, p. 23. f Ibid. | Ibid, ch. iv, p. 27 seqq. ZUINGLIAN COUNCIL— ITS DECREES. 187 of Berne and throughout the canton, as well as in all the other cantons where Bernese influence could make itself felt. In 1528, a conference, or rather a species of Zuinglian council was held at Berne, for tne purpose of deciding on the articles of faith to be adopted in the proposed reformation. Zuingle was the master spirit of the assembly, at which very few Catholics assisted. Ten articles, or , theses, were there adopted by the ministers ; but, though drawn up with studied ambiguity and vagueness, they were still signed only by a minority of the Bernese clergy, the majority still clinging to the old faith. Yet the Bernese grand council of state not only adopted and confirmed these articles, but enjoined their adoption on all the people of the canton. Pastors and curates were forbidden to teach any thing opposed to them ; the Mass was abolished, altars were to be demolished, images to be burnt, and the four bishops of Switzerland were declared deprived of all jurisdiction! Moreover, priests were permitted to marry, and religious persons of both sexes to leave their convent's ; the ministers were ordered to preach four times each week under penalty of suspension; and finally the council reserved to itself the right " to change this new religion if any one would prove to them any thing better by the Scriptures."* Such was the tenor of the famous Bernese decree, by which the new gospel was first established by law. Nor did it re main a dead letter. Violence, sacrilege, and robbery rioted throughout the canton. The churches of the Catholics were forcibly seized on, the altars were overturned, the beautiful decorations of paintings and statuary were defaced or broken to pieces, people were forbidden any longer to worship at the altars and shrines of their fathers ; and very soon the whole canton presented the appearance of a country through which an army of Vandals and Huns had but lately marched. It is a certain and undoubted fact, that the Beformation -was forced * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 52, 53. 188 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. upon the Bernese people, against the positive will of the ma jority ! But the minority were active, untiring, revolutionary, and they had the civil authorities to back them ; the majority were often indifferent and negligent; their natural protectors^ the more zeakras among, the clergy, had been compelled to fly ; and thus left alone, a flock without shepherds, the people were at length wearied out and harassed into conformity. To enforce the new religious law, commissioners were sent, from Berne into all the communes of the canton, with instruc tions to address the people, and to use every effort to induce them to embrace the new gospel. After their harangues, the matter was to be immediately put to the popular vote, boys of fourteen years being entitled to the privilege of suffrage ! If the majority went for the new gospel, even if this majority consisted but of one voice, the minority were compelled to abandon the old religion, and the Mass was declared publicly abolished throughout the commune ! If, on the contrary, the majority, as was often the case, in spite -of every entreaty and threat, went for the old religion, the Protestant minority still remained free to practice publicly their worship. More over, in this latter case, the vote of the commune was again taken by parishes, in order that those in which the majority were Protestants might be protected by the civil authority. Even if a commune voted unanimously in favor of Catholicity, the possibility of practicing their religion was taken away from the Catholics by the banishment of their priests, and the stationing amongst them of Protestant preachers ; or if their Bernese excellencies graciously allowed them to retain their pastors, it was only for a time and until further orders !* We ask whether all this was not downright tyranny of the worst kind ; and whether our assertion made above was at all exaggerated ? But this is not yet all, nor even half. There were in Switzerland certain cities and districts under the joint government and control of Berne, Friburg and other Catholic * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 53, 54. TYRANNY AND VIOLENCE 189 cantons. To these Berne sent out her- emissaries, both re ligious and political. If they could be gained over to the new religion, they would probably throw off the yoke of their Catholic joint sovereigns, and fall solely under the govern ment Of Berne, to say nothing of the spiritual good which would accrue to their souls from the new gospel. Hence no money nor intrigue was to be spared to proselytize them. The fiery minister, Farel, armed with Bernese passports, and accompanied or sustained by Bernese deputies and bailiffs, ran over these common cities and districts, with the impetu ous fury of one possessed by an evil spirit. He stirred up seditions whithersoever he went, either against the old religion or against himself; and his progress was everywhere marked by conflagrations and ruins. In the bishopric of Bale, in several towns and communes belonging to the present can ton of Vaud, in Soleure, and elsewhere, this furious fanatic and political firebrand agitated society to its very depths, and lashed popular passions into a fury which was entirely un controllable. Wherever the populace could be won over to his party, or even overawed into silence, he caused the Mass to be abolished, churches to be stripped, pillaged, and sacrilegiously desecrated, and altars to be overturned ! And the Bernese authorities not only calmly looked on, but they even sanc tioned all these ferocious deeds, and cast the shield of their protection around the person of Farel.* Insurrections and violence everywhere marked the progress of the Reformation. Look, for instance, at the following graphic picture of Switzerland during the epoch in question, drawn by De Haller : "During the years 1529, 1530, and 1531, Switzerland found herself in a frightful condition, and altogether similar to that of which we are now wit nesses, three centuries later. Nothing was seen everywhere but hatred, broils, and acts of violence ; everywhere reigned discord and division ; dis cord between the cantons, discord in the bosom of the governments, discord between sovereigns and subjects, in fine, discord and division even in every 1 — - * See De Haller, p. 71 seqq, for detailed proof of all this. 190 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. parish and in every family. The defection of Berne, at which tiie Zurichers had labored for six years, had unchained the audacity of all the meddlers and bad men in Switzerland. On all sides new revolutions broke out ; — at Biile, at St. Gall, at Bienne, at Thurgovia, at Frauenfeld, at Melhngen, at Bremgarten, even at Gaster and in the Toggenburg, at Herissau, at Wettin- gen, and finally at Schaff housen. Everywhere they were brought about by a band of poltroons or at least of ignorant burgesses, both turbulent and factious, against the will of the intimidated magistrates, and of the more numerous and peaceable portion of the inhabitants who looked upon these innovations with horror, but whose indignation was arrested and whose zeal was paralyzed, as happens during our own days, by a pretended necessity of avoiding the effusion of blood, and preventing the horrors of a civil war. Thus one party declared an implacable war against their fellow-citizens and every thing that is sacred, while the other was condemned to suffer without resistance all manner of injuries, all manner of hostilities ; and this state of triumphant iniquity and of miserable servitude was qualified by the fine name of peace. Everywhere, except at Shaffhousen, a city which was always distinguished for its tranquillity and the peaceful character of its in habitants, seditious armed mobs rushed, of their own accord to the churches, broke down the altars, burnt the images, destroyed the most magnificent" monuments of art, pillaged the sacred vases as well as other objects of value, and put up for public sale at auction the sacred vestments : by such vandal ism and by such sacrileges- was the religious revolution of the sixteenth century signalized."* Just imagine that the United States were densely populated and filled with cities, and that the Catholic religion were that of the people ; but that a religious revolution had been effected in one of our great cities, — say Philadelphia, — by violence, sustained by the civil authorities ; that there all our churches had been pillaged and desecrated, a part of them burned down and the other part seized on for the Protestant worship ; that the, frenzy spread, until similar scenes were enacted in half the cities and towns of our republic ; imagine, in a word, the Philadelphia riots, aggravated a hundred fold, extending through half the country, and keeping the people in a state of anarchy and civil war for more than twenty years ; imagine our hitherto peaceful republic broken up by discord, and * De Haller, pp. 62-64. INTOLERANCE AND- INCONSISTENCY. 191 bathed in the blood of its citizens, until at last the fierce riot ers sit down in triumph amidst the ruins they had everywhere' Btrewr around them ; and you will then have some faint con ception of the rise, progress, and triumph of the Protestant Reformation in a large portion of Switzerland! Recent events, both in this country and in Switzerland, have proved that Protestantism has not yet lost all of its original fierce ness, and that. its turbulent spirit has not been yet entirely subdued by the onward march of refinement and civilization. As might have been anticipated, the Bernese met with fre quent resistance" in their efforts to destroy the, old religion, and to force the new one on the people. Popular insurrec tions broke out at Aigle, and in the bailiwicks of Lentzburg, Frutigen, Interlaken, and Haut-Siebenthal, as well as in other places. How was this resistance met ? It was crushed by main force, probably with a view to demonstrate to all the world how sincerely the Bernese were attached to the great fundamental principles of the Beformation,- — that each one should read the Bible and judge for himself! As De Haller says: " An edict of persecution was issued, which directed that images should be everywhere broken and altars demolished, as well in the churches as in private houses ; that priests who yet said Mass should be everywhere hunted down, seized on whenever they could be caught, and put in prison : that every one who spoke badly of the Bernese authorities should be treated in like manner ; for, says Ruchat, the Catholics of the canton and vicinity declaimed horribly against them. In case of relapse, the priests were out lawed and delivered up to public vengeance : in fine, the same edict decreed punishment against all who should .sustain these refractory priests (that is, all who remained faithful to the ancient religion), or who afforded them an asylum. A third edict of the 22d December, forbade any one to go into the neigboring cantons to hear Mass, under penalty of deprivation, for those who held office, and of arbitrary punishment for private individuals."* Was ever tyranny and persecution carried further than this ? And yet this is but one chapter in the history of the Swiss Reformation. The same ferocious intolerance was * De Haller, p. 57-58. 192 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. witnessed wherever the Reformation made its appearance, in ' the once peaceful and happy land of William Tell. Did our limits permit, we might prove this by facts, as undeniable as they are appalling. Those Catholic priests who were not willing to betray their religion, or to sell their conscience for a mess of pottage, were everywhere thrown into prison or banished the country. They were succeeded by preachers, many of them fugitives from France and Germany, and most of them men of little learning and less piety, remarkable only for a certain boldness and rude popular eloquence or decla mation. Men of this stamp, who had suddenly, and often without vocation or ordination, intruded themselves into the holy ministry, could not hope to win or secure the confidence of the people. Accordingly, we find the following candid avowal on the subject, in a confidential letter of the minister Capito to Farel, written as late as 1537. He says : "The authority of the ministers is entirely abolished ; all is lost, all goes to ruin. The people say to us boldly : you wish to make yourselves the tyrants of the Church, you wish to establish a new papacy. God makes me know what it is to be a pastor, and the wrong we have done the Church by the precipitate and inconsiderate vehemence which has caused us to reject ihe Pope. For the people, accustomed to unbounded freedom, and as it were nourished ' by it, have spurned the rein altogether ; they cry out to us : we know enough of the gospel, what need have we of your help to find Jesus Christ ? Go and preach to those who wish to hear you."* , The intolerance of the Protestant party was surpassed only by its utter inconsistency. The glorious privileges of private judgment, of liberty of conscience and of the press, were for ever on their lips ; and yet they recklessly trampled them all under their feet ! Each one waB to interpret the Bible for himself and yet he who dared interpret it differently from their excellencies, the counsellors of Berne, was punished as an enemy of the government ! The counter' principle of a union of church and state, was even openly avowed and con: * Epistolaad Farel. inter epist. Calvini, p. 5; quoted by De Haller, p. 99, note. CHURCH AND STATE. 193 stantly acted on. The council of ministers, held at Berne in 1532, subscribed a confession of faith drawn up by Capito, in which the following remarkable passages are found : " The ministers acknowledge that it is not possible for them to produce any fruit in their church, unless the civil magistrate lend his assistance to advance the good work. . . . Every Christian magistrate ought in the exercise of his power, to be the lieutenant and minister of God, and to maintain among his subjects the evangelical dectrine and hfe, so far at least as it is exercised out wardly and is practised in external things* .... The magistrates should then take great care to preserve sound doctrine ; to prevent error and seduc tion, to punish blasphemy and all outward sins affecting religion and con duct, to protect the truth and good morals."f This forcibly reminds us of the doctrines of the nursing fathers, so much spoken of, even in our American Presbyte rian Confession of Faith. As some additional evidence of the love which the Swiss reformers, bore to the liberty of the press and to that of conscience, read the two following extracts from our author : " The Bernese, who had talked so much about the liberty of conscience and that of the press while it was a question of establishing the reform, then sent deputies to Bale to complain of the libels which were there printed against the deputies of Berne, and they demanded that silence should be im posed on the preachers unfavorable to the reform. Thus it is that the Pro testants did not wish to allow liberty to any one, so soon as they became the masters. The Bernese deputation was, however, dismissed from Bale without having attained its object.":): " In virtue of the freedom of conscience, the triumphant innovators re moved all the Catholic counselors, and forbade any one to preach against what they called the reform. At Bale, in particular, the nobility were driven away, and the Catholic clergy, the chapter, and even the professors of the university, abandoned forever a city of which they were the ornament and the glory, and which owed to them its lustre and its very existence."} Those who are guilty of the unpardonable crime of adhering tenaciously and fondly to the time-honored religion of their fathers, were not the only ones who felt the smart of Protest ant intolerance in Switzerland. Brother Protestants were * De Haller, p. 97. He quotes Ruchat. f Ibid. p. 100. t Ibid, pp. 58-59. { Ibid, p. 64. VOL. I. 17 194 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. also persecuted, if they had the misfortune to believe either more or less than their more enlightened brethren, who hap pened to be orthodox for ihe time being. The Anabaptists. in particular, were hunted down with a ferocity which is al most inconceivable. The favorite mode of punishing them, especially at Berne, was by drowning! This manner of death was deemed the most appropriate, because it was only baptizing them in their own way !* The rivers and lakes, which abound in Switzerland, often received the dead bodies of these poor deluded men. Sometimes, however, this mode of punishment was dispensed with in favor of others less re volting to humanity. Says De Haller : " Their Excellencies of Berne, not being able to convince the Anabaptists, found it much more simple to banish them, or to throw them into the water and drown them. These punishments having, ho.wever, rather increased their number, the council 'of Berne, being embarrassed, resorted to measures less severe, and acting under the advice of the ministers, published on the 2d of March, 1533, an edict announcing that the Anabaptists should be left in peace, if they would keep their belief to themselves, and maintain silence ; but that if they continued to preach and to keep up a. separate sect, they should not be any. longer condemned to death, but only to perpetual impris onment on. bread and water ! This was certainly a singular favor. Catho lics, who are accused of so much intolerance, had never molested the Zuin- glians who had kept their faith to themselves, and even when these openly preached their doctrines from the pulpit, they were not condemned either to death or to perpetual imprisonment on bread and water.f As we have already said, the progress of the Swiss Refor mation was everywhere marked by intrigues, popular com motions, mob violence, and sacrilege. So it was at Geneva, into which the Reformation was introduced in the year 1535, chiefly again through the intrigues of Berne. It was not Calvin who established the Reformation at Geneva ; he only reaped the harvest which had been sown by others. The fiery Farel, shielded with the panoply of Bernese protection and acting in concert with Bernese envoys, had already suc ceeded in there subverting, to a great extent, the ancient * See De Haller, pp. 39, 69, et alibi passim. f Ibid, pp. 153-154. THE SWORD' AND THE BIBLE. 195 faith. And by what means? We have not room for full details, for which we must refer our readers to a very interest ing chapter in De Haller's history.* Suffice 'it to say, that the whole city was thrown into commotion ; that the Catholic churches were violently seized upon, after having been first sacrilegiously defaced and desecrated in the hallowed name of religion ; that the Catholic clergy were hunted down and forced to fly the city ; that nearly half of the population was compelled to emigrate, in order to secure to themselves peace and freedom of conscience; that even after they had emi grated, their property was confiscated and they were disfran chised, in punishment of their having dared to leave the city ; that the harmless nuns of St. Clare, after having been long harassed and insulted by the mob, were also compelled to leave their home and seek shelter elsewhere ; that the Catho lic church property was seized upon by the reformed party ; that, after having filled the whole city, and especially the churches, with the "abomination of desolation," Farel and his pious associates were able to assemble congregations and to, preach, in only two out of the many Genevan churches of which they had obtained possession ; that even in these they often preached to empty benches, so great was the horror which all these multiplied sacrileges inspired in the popular mind ; and that, finally, the Beformation was established in •Geneva by the great council, and afterwards by the swords and bayonets of the Bernese army, which entered the city in 1536 ! Such were the first fruits of the Reformation in Geneva. In the canton of Vaud, which was invaded and subdued by the Bernese army in the same year, the proceedings were, if possible, still more violent, and the policy still more truculent. Wheresoever the Bernese army marched, there the Beforma tion was established by force of arms. The Bernese bore the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other; and they * De Haller, chap. xvi. 196 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. established the new gospel in Vaud pretty much after the Mohammedan fashion of proselytism ! De Haller proves all this by an array of evidence, which can neither be gainsaid nor resisted.* He proves it from the testimony of Buchat, Mallet, Spon, and other Protestant historians. He furnishes facts, with names, dates, and specifications ; facts as clear as the noonday sun ; facts which we challenge any one to deny or contravene. And we ask, whether it be at all likely that a Reformation effected by such means, was, or could possibly have been, the work of God ? Could God have chosen such instruments and such means to effect His work? Could He smile on commotions, on riots, on robbery, on impurity, on broken vows, on sacrilege % Gracious heavens ! How much do those delude themselves, who still cling to the belief that the Reformation was the work of God ! Well may we address to them, and to all who may chance to read these pages, the emphatic words of St. Augustine prefixed to the title-page of De Haller's work: "Let those hear who haye not fallen, lest they fall; let those hear who have fallen, that they may rise ! "\ If it be alleged, that the Catholics too sometimes resorted to violence and appealed to the sword ; we answer that they did so, almost without an exception, only in necessary self-defense. Their forbearance, amidst all the terrible outrages which we have briefly enumerated, was indeed wonderful. If they some- • times repelled force by force ; if they flew to arms more than once in their own defense, it was surely competent for them to do so. Their lives were threatened, their property was invaded, their altars were desecrated ; and surely, when con siderations such as these urged them to buckle on their good swords, they were not only excusable, but they would have been arrant cowards had they failed to do so. And no one * See De Haller, p. 271 seqq. and 321 seqq. f Audiant qui rt:a ceciderunt, ne cadant; audiant qui ceciderunt, ut surgant. TOUCHING ANECDOTE. 197 has ever yet dared to taunt with cowardice the brave moun taineers of Lucerne, Schwitz, TJri, Unterwald, and Zug, who inherit the faith, the country, and the unconquerable spirit of William Tell. The recent occurrences in Switzerland prove that this spirit has not flagged in the lapse of centuries, that Catholicity is not incompatible with bravery ; and that soldiers who pray, both before and after battle, are under the special protection of the great God of battles ; though He, for His own wise and inscrutable purposes,_ may permit them sometimes to be overwhelmed by superior numbers. But whoever will read De Haller's history must be con vinced, that the Swiss Catholics were much more forbearing and tolerant than the Swiss Protestants. The former, in general, allowed the latter the free exercise of their religion in places where these were in the minority; whereas there are, indeed, but few instances on record, where the latter accorded the same privilege to the former under similar cir cumstances. Did our limits permit, we might go fully into the comparison, and prove the accuracy of our remark by undeniable evidence. But we must be content with a mar ginal reference, *and with the following touching anecdote, the scene of which is laid in the city of Soleure. The Protestant party had sought to gain the ascendency in this place, by entirely overthrowing the Catholic religion. For this purpose they seized upon the moment when nearly all the members of the council were absent, for entering into a conspiracy to take possession of " the arsenal and of the Franciscan church, to surprise the priests in their beds,and to massacre all the Catholics in case of resistance."! The con spiracy was, however, discovered to the avoyer, or chief mag- istrate^left in charge of the city — Nicholas de Wengi ; and he took every prudent precaution against the meditated attack. On the 30th day of October, 1533, at one hour after midnight, the conspirators rushed to the assault; but they * De Haller, pp. 72, 150 note, 156, 272, etc. f Md, p. 157. 13 198 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. were amazed to find nearly half the city turned o-it ready to receive them, and tp defend themselves to the last extremity. After a sharp encounter, in which the arsenal was succes* sively taken 'and retaken, without, however, any effusion of blood, the conspirators were finally driven off. But, though beaten, these had not yet given up the contest. They retired beyond the bridge,, and having intrenched themselves, began to insult the Catholics. Indignant, the latter rushed to the arsenal, brought a. cannon to bear upon the Protestant in- trenchment, and fired one shot, but without effect. Just as they were preparing to fire another, the venerable avoyer Wengi rushed, out of breath, before the cannon's mouth, and exclaimed: "Beloved and pious fellow-citizens, if you. wish to fire against the other side, I will be your first victim ; con sider-better the state of things."* His interposition was effectual ; calm was restored ; and the insurgents left the city. We conclude this chapter, already long enough, by glancing rapidly at the war of Cappell in 1531, the first great religious war that ever was waged in Switzerland.! And we do this the more willingly, because it seems to us that there is a striking parallelism between this first and the last relig ious war to which we have already alluded. In both, the Catholics acted strictly on the defensive ; in both, Lucerne was at the head of the Catholic party ; in both, the genuine chil dren of Tell proved themselves worthy of him, of their ances tral glory, of their country. There is, how.ever, this important difference in the two wars, that whereas in the first the Catho lics were triumphant, in the last, after having performed prodi gies of valor, they were finally overwhelmed by main force. In the beginning of the year 1531, the Protestant cantons, and especially Zurich, flagrantly violated the treaty concluded in 1529, by which the Catholic and Protestant cantons had * De Haller, p. 159. f There had been some troubles in 1529, which were, however, settled without much effusion of blood. THE WAR OF CAPPELL. 199 mutually promised not to molest or interfere with one an other on account of religion. After having fomented troubles in various districts partly under the control of the Catholie cantons, Zurich at length openly invaded the territory of St. Gall, and issued a decree forbidding the five neighboring Catholic cantons to trade with her subjects in corn and salt. The object of this embargo was, to cut off from the Catholic mountaineers the supplies which they had been in the habit of deriving by commerce from those living in the plains, and thereby to starve them into acquiescence in the glorious work of the Reformation ! Zuingle and the preachers openly clam ored for the blood of the Catholics, in their public harangues in Zurich. Here is an extract from one of the great Swiss reformer's sermons,, delivered on the 21st September, 1531 : "Rise up, attack; the five cantons are in your power. I will' march at the head of your ranks, and the nearest to the enemy. Then you will feel the power of God, for when I shall harangue them with the truth of the word of God, and shall say : whom seek you, 0 ye impious ! then, seized with terror and with panic, they ,will hot be able to answer, but they will fall back, and will take to flight, hke the Jews on the mountain of Olives at the word of Christ. You will see that the artillery which they will direct against us, will turn against themselves, and will destroy them. Their pikes, their halberds, and their other arms, shall not hurt you, but will hurt them."* This discourse was printed and circulated ; but alas for the prophetic faculty of the reformer! The event falsified his prediction in every particular. And, as Zuingle himself marked the preparations the five cantons were making for the coming struggle, even his own heart failed him ; and the lately inspired prophet of God dwindled down into a miser able poltroon, overcome by terror, and pretending to have had strange presentiments, and observed strange signs in the -heavens ! Nevertheless, the Zurichers compelled him to march at tneir head to the village of Cappell, near the confines of the hostile cantons. * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 78, 79, note. 200 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Here the two armies encountered ; but fiery and fanatical as were the Zuinglians, they could not withstand the impetu ous charge of the brave Swiss mountaineers. These carried every thing before them. The Zurichers took to flight in great disorder, with the loss of " nineteen cannon, four stands of colors, all their baggage, and of at least fifteen hundred men, among whom were twenty-seven magistrates, and fif teen pbeachebs."* Zuingle, the apostle of Switzerland, fell, sword in hand, fighting the battles of the Lord, as never apostle had fought them before ! The Zurichers, however, recovered from their fright in a few days, and on the 21st of October,f " having been rein forced by their allies of Saint Gall, of Toggenburg,- of Thur- gavia, and even .of the Grisons, of Berne, of Bale, and of Soleure,'they again attacked the Catholics with very superior forces ; but they were a second time defeated at the mountain of Zug, and took to flight in disorder, abandoning their artil lery, their money, and their baggage."J The Catholic army now marched in triumph almost to the very walls of Zurich, after having a third time defeated the Zurichers, and driven them from their position.^ The Zuing lians, thus humbled by defeat, were now disposed to accede to the terms of peace proposed by the Catholic cantons. The treaty bound the Zurichers " to leave the five cantons, with their allies and adherents, from the present to all future time. in peaceable possession of their ancient, true, and undoubted Christian faith, without molesting or importuning them with disputes or chicanery, and renouncing all evil intentions. stratagems, and finesse ; and that, on their side, the five can tons would leave the Zurichers and their adherents free in their belief; that in the common districts, of which the can tons were co-sovereigns, the parishes which had embraced the * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 79, 80. f The battle of Cappell was fought on the 11th of October. | De Haller, p. 81. $ Ibid, p. 83. TWO PARALLEL DEVELOPMENTS. 201 new faith, might retain it if it suited them, that those which had not yet renounced the ancient faith would also be free to retain it, and that, in fine, those who should wish to return to the true and ancient Christian faith would have the right to do so."* The Zurichers further bound themselves to pay or rather to restore to the five cantons, the money which the latter had expended in the difficulties of 1529 ; and to replace, at their own expense, the ornaments destroyed or forcibly taken from the different churches during the preceding years. Thus terminated the war of Cappell. It left the Catholics in the ascendant, and contributed more than anything else to check the headlong progress of the Swiss Reformation. CHAPTER VII. REACTION OF CATHOLICITY AND DECLINE OF PROTESTANTISM. Two parallel developments — The brave old ship — Modern Protestantism quite powerless — A "thorough godly reformation" needed — Qualities for a reformer — The three days' battle — The puzzle — A thing doomed — Which gained the victory ? — The French revolution — Banke and Hallam — The rush of waters stayed — Persecution — Protestant spice — The Coun cil of Trent— Bevival of piety — The Jesuits — Leading causes and practical results — Decline of Protestantism — Apt comparison — What stemmed the current ? — Thread of Ariadne — Divine Providence — Reaction of Catholi city — Casaubon and Grotius — Why they were not converted — Ancient and modern Puseyism — Justus Lipsius and Cassander — The inference — Splendid passage of Macaulay — Catholicity and enlightenment — The Church indestructible — General gravitation to Borne — The circle and its center. No fact in the entire history of the Reformation is perhaps more remarkable, than that which is presented by the speedy. decline of Protestantism, on the one hand, and the no less * De Haller, p. 85. 202 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. rapid reaction of Catholicity on the other. A rapid glance at the history of these opposite developments of the two systems of religion will throw much additional light on their respect ive characters, and will serve to explain to us still more fully what we have been endeavoring thus far to elucidate; the character, causes, and manner of the Reformation. It is in accordance with a divine maxim, to judge the tree by its fruits ; and we propose, in the present chapter, to make a general application of this rule; reserving, however, mOre special details on the subject to those which will follow. The Reformation swept over the world like a violent storm : and it left as many ruins in its course. It threatened to over turn every thing, and bear down all things in its impetuous course. So rapid was its work of destruction, that its admirers and partisans confidently predicted the speedy downfall of the old religion, and the triumphant establishment of the new ones on its ruins. Even many of those who remained stead fast in the ancient faith, though firmly relying on the solemn promises of Christ, yet trembled not a little for the safety of the Church. Jesus seemed to be asleep, while the tempest was so furiously raging on the sea of the world ; and His dis ciples, who were in the good old ship of the Church tossed on the waves,like their prototypes of the gospel, " came to him, and awaked him, saying : ' Lord save us, we perish.' And Jesus said to them : ' Why are ye fearful, Oye of little faith ?' Then rising up He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm."* Such was precisely the phenomenon presented by the his tory of the Church in the sixteenth century. Soon the storm of the Reformation had spent its fury, and settled down into " a great calm ; " the calm of indifferentism and infidelity on the lately troubled sea of Protestantism, and of peace and security on the broad ocean of Catholicism. When men's minds' had had time to recover from the excitement produced by the firs! * St. Matthew, viii : 24-26. REACTION AND DECLINE. 2 OS movements of the Reformation, they were enabled to estimate more justly the motives and causes of this revolution. The result was, that many enlightened Protestants returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church ; while others, gifted with less grace, or indued with less moral courage, plunged madly into the vortex of infidelity. Thus Catholicity, far from being ex tinguished, was, by a powerful reaction, speedily reinstated in its former position of impregnable strength ; while its ene mies, so lately boasting of their victory, were weakened by division and soon dwindled away. , Like the sturdy oak of the forest, which, instead of being thrown down by the storm, vanquishes its fury, and even sends its roots further into the earth in consequence of the agi tation of its branches ; so also the tree of the Church, planted by Christ and watered with His blood and that of his count less martyrs, successfully resisted the violence of the storm of Protestantism, and became, in consequence of it, more firmly and solidly fixed in the soil of the world — more strongly "rooted and founded in charity."* Nothing is more certain in all history than this wonderful two-fold development. Even D'Aubigne, surely an unexcep tionable witness, admits its entire truth, however he may seek to disguise it by the thin mantle of sophistry. Speaking of the decline of modern Protestantism, he employs this emphatic lan guage. "But modern Protestantism, like old Catholicism (!), is, in itself, a thing from which nothing can be hoped — a thing quite powerless. Something very different is necessary to restore to men of our day the energy which saves."f — So that, the experiment of Protestantism, notwithstanding all the noise it has made in the world, and all its loud boasting about hav ing destroyed superstition and enlightened mankind, has still turned out a complete failure, even according to the explicit avowal of its most unscrupulous advocate ! It has been en lightening and saving the world now for full three hundred * Ephesians, iii : 17. f D'Aubigne, vol. i. Preface, p. ix. 201 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. * years ; and in the end it has lost itself, and become " a thing quite powerless, from which nothing can be hoped ! " A new Beformation is now necessary to reform the old one, and to impart to it " the energy which saves." D'Aubign^, we presume, is to be the father of this new "thorough-godly" Beformation. We wish him joy of his new apostleship, and hope he may succeed better than his predtcess- >rs. He has, we humbly think,, all the qualities requisite for a reformer, according to the approved type of the sixteenth century: a smattering of learning, a sanctimonious air, in which he greatly excels some of his predecessors, a skill in sophistry, — which has, however, the admirable simplicity of not being always even specious ; and, to crown all, an utter recklessness of truth. We will here give a passage from his pages, which has the double merit of exhibiting the gist of his theory on our pres ent subject, and of being a perfect curiosity of its kind. It is an attempt to answer a writer of the Port Royal,* who had compared the religious struggle of the last three centuries to a battle of. three days' duration ; and who had accumulated evidence to prove that the infidel philosophers of France, who brought about the French revolution, had but carried out the principles broached by the reformers. Our author " willingly adopts the comparison, but not the part that is allotted to each of these days." He politely declines receiving the well deserved compliment, which the Frenchman was paying him with his most gracious bow. He says : "No, each of those days had its marked and peculiar characteristic. On the first, (the sixteenth century) the word of God triumphed, and Borne was defeated ; and philosophy, in the person of Erasmus, shared in the defeat. On the second (the seventeenth century), we admit that Borne, her author ity, her discipline, and her doctrine, are again seen on the point of obtaining the victory, through the intrigues of a far-famed society (the Jesuits), and the power, of the scaffold, aided by certain leaders of eminent character, and others of lofty genius. The third day (the eighteenth century), human phi- * Port Boyal, par Sainte Beuve, vol. i, p. 20. THE 1HREE DAYS' BATTLE. 205 toiophy arisep in all its pride, and. finding the battle field occupied, not by the gospel, but by Borne, it quickly storms every inlrenchment, and gains an easy conquest. The first day's battle was for God, the second for the priest, and the third for reason — what shall the fourth be ? "* Aye, that's the puzzle ! He piously hopes that it will be for " the triumph of Him to whom triumph belongs ft that is, for his own new system of reformation, which is to be but the "reappearance" of the old. But this is manifestly hoping against all hope ; for modern Protestantism, he confesses, is " a powerless thing" It has settled down into indifference and an almost mortal lethargy, in all those countries where it was first established, and where the progress of enlightenment has laid bare to the world its endle33 vagaries and ever growing inconsistencies — its hopeless powerlessness. Its tendency is necessarily downward ; it bears in its own bosom the seeds of death ; it must share the fate of all other merely human institutions, and must afford another verification of our blessed Saviour's prophetic declaration: "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."J No human eloquence nor effort can prevent it from meeting this doom, the seal of which is already, in fact, branded on its forehead, D'Aubigne" himself being our witness ! It is needless for us to dwell long in the examination of this pretty theory about the " three days' battle." The triumph which he ascribes to the Reformation on the first day was not real; it was scarcely even -apparent. Notwithstanding the premature shouts of victory raised by the reformed party, the old Church still retained a vast ascendency in point of num bers, of extension, and also, as we hope to prove in the sequel, of intelligence. In compensation for her losses on the battle field of Europe, she gained great accessions to her numbers in the East Indies, in Asia, and in the new world, which her navigators had discovered and her missionaries had converted. When a portion of Europe spurned her voice, she " turned to * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 304. f Ibid. X st- Matthew, xv : 13. 206 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. the Gentiles," and waved the banner of her cross in triumph over new worlds. She certainly then clearly gained the ad vantage, even in the first day's battle. In the second, she was avowedly in the ascendant. During it, she, to a great extent, retrieved her losses, even in Europe itself. Of course, all the talk about "the intrigues of a far famed society and the power of the scaffold," is mere palaver. We shall soon prove it to. be little better, on unquestionable Protestant authority. As to the scaffold, we hope to show hereafter,* by a mass of evidence which can not be answered, that it was much more frequently erected by those who raised the clamor for the emancipation of thought,, than by those who continued to abide quietly in the old Church. In the third day's battle,: Catholicity again triumphed. The French revolution was, in fact, but the "reappearance" of the " great Reformation," in another and more terrific shape. The French infidels made at least as much noise about liberty of thought, and they inveighed as fiercely against the corrup tions of the Catholic Church, as had been done by the re formers two and a half centuries before. The former did little more, in fact, than catch up the Babel-like sounds of the latter, and re-echo them, in a voice of thunder, throughout Europe. But this mere human thunder was finally drowned by the divine thunder of the Vatican ! Borne conquered the refractory daughter, as she had conquered the refractory mother. If she alone "occupied the battle field," it was because the Protestants had retired from it ; had ingloriously fled, and left Christianity to its fate, during the continuance of this its fiercest struggle with infidelity ! Did Protestants win even one laurel in that ensanguined battle field ? Can they count even one martyr who fell a victim in that bloody effort to put down Christianity? The Catholic clergy were massacred in hundreds ; they poured out their blood like * In Chapter xii, " Oil the influence of the Beformation on Religious Liberty."' RANKE AND HALLAM. 201 water, for the defense of, religion. Did the French infidels attack Protestants ? If they did not — and they certainly did not — then how are we to explain this singular phenomenon, but on the principle of a sympathetic feeling ? Men seldom go to battle against their secret or open friends and allies ! To show the rapid decline of Protestantism, after the first fifty years of its violent existence ; and to unfold the parallel reaction of Catholicism, we had intended to present a rapid analysis of what a famous living Protestant writer of Ger many — Leopold Ranke" — has abundantly proved on the subject, in his late " History of the Papacy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries."* • But Henry Hallam, another eminent Protestant writer of great research and authority, has antici pated us in our labor. In his Introduction to the History of Literature, already quoted, he follows Bank6, and presents every thing of consequence, bearing on our present subject, which the eminent German historian had more fully exhibited, as the result of much patient labor and research. Hallam also adds to the recital many things of his own. His work has thus greatly abridged our labor, and we shall do little more than cull from its pages, and put into order, what may best serve to elucidate the matter in hand. We presume that no impartial man will question our authorities. The decline of Protestantism, and the reaction of Catholi cism were intimately connected: they went hand in hand. The same causes that explain the one, will in a great measure account for the other ; with perhaps this exception, that Prot estantism, like all other merely human institutions, carried within its own bosom an intrinsic principle of dissolution; whereas Catholicity, on the other hand, had within itself, strongly developed, the principle of vitality and of perma nency. These two opposite characteristics are, in fact, emi nently distinctive of the two systems. * "Histoire de la Papaute pendant les xvi et xvii siecles." Traduite de 1' Allemand par M J. B. Haiber. 4 vols. 8vo. A Paris, 1838. 208 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. According to Hallam, Protestantism began to decline, and Catholicity to gain ground, shortly after the middle of the sixteenth century. The immediate disciples of the reformers, after the death of the latter, soon lost the fierce and warlike spirit originally manifested by those who had reared the ban ner of revolt against Rome. The enthusiasm of the first on slaught speedily died away, and the principle of hatred, which had originated the Reformation, was gradually weakened. A counter principle of love — the very essence of Christianity and of God himself — gradually gained the ascendant even in the bosom of many among those who, in a moment of fierce excitement, had been temporarily estranged from the Catho lic Church. The consequence was, that vast bodies of Prot estants re-entered its pale. Both Banke" and Hallam bear evidence to the truth of these remarks. The latter says : " This prodigious increase of the Protestant party in Europe after the middle of the century (xvi) did not continue more than a few years. It was checked and fell back, not quite so rapidly or completely as it came on, but so as to leave the antagonist Church in perfect security." After a te dious apology for entering on this subject in a history of literature, he pro poses " te dwell a little on the leading causes of this retrograde movement of Protestantism ; a fact," he continues, " as deserving of explanation as the previous excitement of the Reformation itself, though from its more nega tive character, it has not drawn so much of the attention of mankind. Those who behold the outbreaking of great revolutions in civil society or in religion, will not easily beheve that the rush of waters can be stayed in its course ; that a pause of indifference may come on, perhaps very suddenly, or a reaction bring back nearly the same prejudices and passions (!) as those which men had renounced. Yet this has occurred not very rarely in the annals of mankind, and never on a larger scale than in the history of the Reformation !"* He then proceeds to assign some of the leading causes .which, according to his view, "stayed the rush of waters" of the revolution, called by courtesy the Beformation. After speaking of the stern policy of Philip II. of Spain, and as- * Introduction to the History of Literature, etc., sup. cit. Vol. i, p. 272. REACTION — COUNCIL OF TRENT. 209 signing undue prominence to the inquisition, "which soon extirpated the remains of heresy in Italy and Spain" — into which countries Protestantism never penetrated, at least to any extent, and therefore could not be "extirpated" — he. next alludes to the civil wars in France between the Huguenots and the Catholics, and then comes down to Germany. " But in Bavaria, Albert V., with whom, about 1564, this reaction began ; in the Austrian dominions, Bodolph II. ; in Poland, Sigismund III. ; by shutting up churches, and by discoun tenancing in all respects their Protestant subjects, contrived to change a party once powerful, into an oppressed sect."* We hate persecution, no matter what is made the pretext for its exercise; but every candid man must allow that, in resorting to these measures of severity, the German Catholic princes did but repay their Protestant subjects, in their own coin. If they took from them their churches, it must be borne in mind that those same churches were originally erected by Catholics, to whom they rightfully belonged, and that, in the first effervescence of the Reformation, they had been seized on violently by the Protestant party. They did but take back by law, what had been wrested from the right ful owners by lawless violence, and what would not have been otherwise surrendered. If " they discountenanced their Protestant subjects," it was only after a long and bitter ex perience - of the troubles they had caused, of the riots and conflagrations they had brought about in the abused name of religion and of liberty, and of the utter fruitlessness of conciliatory measures. Besides, had not the German Protestant princes proceeded with still greater harshness against their Catholic subjects, whose only crime was their calm and inoffensive adherence to the religion of their fathers ? The account was certainly more- than balanced, as we shall show more fully hereafter.t * Introduction to the History of Literature, etc, sup. cit. vol. i, p. 273. f In Chapter xii. VOL. I. — 18 210 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. These facts constitute at least extenuating circumstances, which a man of Mr. Hallam's moderate principles and love of historic justice should not have wholly concealed. But, we presume, he deemed it expedient to add a little Protestant spice to his narrative, in order to season for the palate of his English Protestant readers the otherwise insipid viands of admissions in favor of Catholicity. One leading cause of the reaction of Catholicity, according to liim, was the promulgation and general adoption of the decrees of the Council of Trent. "The decrees of the Council of Trent were received by the spiritual princes of the empire (German) in. 1566; 'and from this moment,' says the excellent historian who has thrown most light on this subject, 'began a new life for the Catholic Church in Germany.' "* We heartily concur in the truth of this remark. Divine Providence, which draws good out of evil, wisely brought about the Council of Trent, and. watched over its protracted and, often interrupted labors, till they were brought to a happy termination. This was, in fact, the only legal, as well as the only adequate remedy to the evils of the Church in the sixteenth century. The Tridentine canons and decrees for reformation exercised a powerful influence throughout Christendom. Through them, faith was everywhere settled on an immovable basis, local abuses disappeared, and piety revived. The Reformation was the indirect cause of all this good ; and in this point of view, if in no other, it may claim our gratitude. The revival of piety, through the influence of the Triden tine Council, is thus attested by Mr. Hallam : " The reaction could not. however, have been effected by any efforts o? the princes, against so preponderating a majority as the Protestant churches had obtained, if the principles that originally actuated them had retained their animating influence, or had not been opposed by more efficacious resistance. Every method was adopted to revive an attachment to the ancient religion, insuperable by the love of novelty, or the power of argu- * Ranke, ii, p., 46. Hallam, Chapter x. THE JESUITS. 211 ment (!). A stricter discipline and subordination were introduced among the clergy : they were early trained in seminaries, apart from the senti ments and habits, the vices and virtues (!) of the world. The monastic orders resumed their rigid observances." * Speaking of the important influence of the Jesuits in bringing about this Catholic renovation, he says : " But, far above all the rest, the Jesuits were the instruments for regain ing France and Germany to the Church they served. And we are more closely concerned with them here, that they are in this age among the links between religious opinion and literature. We have seen in the last chapter with what spirit they took the lead in polite letters and classical style ; with what dexterity they made the brightest spirits of the rising generation, which the Church had once dreaded and checked (!) her most willing and effective instruments. The whole course of liberal studies, however deeply grounded in erudition, or embellished by eloquence, took one direction, one perpetual aim — the propagation of the Catholic faith. , . . They knew how to clear their reasoning from scholastic pedantry and tedious quotation for the simple and sincere understandings which they addressed ; yet, in the proper field of controversial theology, they wanted nothing of sophistical (!) expertness or of erudition. The weak points of Protestantism they attacked with embarrassing ingenuity ; and the reformed churches did not cease to give them abundant advantages by inconsistency, extravagance, and passion.f At the death of Ignatius Loyola, in 1556, the order he had founded was divided into thirteen provinces besides the Roman ; most of which were in the Spanish peninsula, or its colonies. Ten colleges belonged to Castile, ( eight to Arragon, and five to Andalusia. Spain was for some time the fruit ful mother of the disciples, as she had been of the, master. The Jesuits who came to Germany were called ' Spanish priests.' They took possession of the universities : 'they conquered us,' says Ranke, 'on our own ground, in our own homes, and stripped us of a part of our own country.' This, the acute historian proceeds to say, sprung certainly from the want of under standing among the Protestant theologians, and of sufficient enlargement of mind to tolerate unessential differences. The violent opposition among each other, left a way open to these cunning strangers, who taught a doctrine not open to dispute."! He then proceeds to treat of the practical results brought * Ranke, ii, p. 46. Hallam, Chapter x, J 8. f Ibid, 5 10, where he cites Hospinian, Ranke, and Tirabo'schi, the first a declared enemy of the Jesuits. X Ibid, p. 274, § 11. 212 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. about by these causes. These were a rapid declension :>f Protestantism, and a correspondent increase of Catholicism. "Protestantism, so late as 1578, might be deemed preponderant in all the Austrian dominions, except the Tyrol* In the Polish diets, the dissidents, as they were called, met their opponents with vigor and success. The eccle siastical principalities were full of Protestants ; and even in the chapters some of them might be found. But the contention was unequal, from the different character of the parties ; religious zeal and devotion (!), which fifty yeaip before had overthrown the ancient rites in northern Germany, were now more invigorating sentiments in those who secured them from further innovation. In religious struggles, where there is any thing like an equality of forces, the question soon comes to be which party will make the greatest sacrifice for its own faith. And while the Catholic self-devotion had grown far stronger, there was much more of secular cupidity, lukewarmness, and formality in the Lutheran church. In very few years, the effects of this were distinctly visible. The Protestants of the Catholic principalities went back into the bosom of Rome. In the bishopric of Wurtzburg alone, sixty- two thousand converts are said to have been received in the year 1586."f " The reaction," he continues a little afterwards, "was not less conspicu ous in other countries. It is asserted ' that the Huguenots had already lost more than two-thirds of their number in 1580 ;'{ comparatively, I presume, with twenty years before. And the change in their relative position is manifest from all the histories of this period At the close of this period of fifty years (A. D. 1600), the mischief done to the old Church in its first decennium (from 1550 to 1560) was very nearly repaired ; the proportions of the two religions in Germany coincided with those which had existed at the pacification of Passau. The Jesuits, however, had begun to encroach a little on the proper domain of the Lutheran church ; besides private conver sions, which, on account of the rigor of the laws, not certainly less intolerant than in their own communion, could not be very prominent, they had sometimes hopes of the Protestant princes, and had once, in 1578, obtained the promise of John, king of Sweden, to embrace openly the Romish (!) faith, as he had already done in secret to Possevin, an emissary dispatched by the Pope on this important errand. But the symptoms of an opposition, very formidable in a country which has never allowed its kings to trifle with it (except at the time of the Reformation), made this wavering monarch re trace his steps. His successor, Sigismund, went further, and fell a victim to his zeal, by being expelled from his kingdom."} — Here was Protestant toler ation ! 4 . _ * Ranke, ii, p. 78. + lb, p. 121." " '% lb, p. 147. \ Hallam, ib, p. 275, \ 14, THE GREAT CATHOLIC REACTION. 213 " This great reaction of the papal religion," he proceeds, " after the shock it had sustained in the first part of the sixteenth century, ought forever to restrain that temerity of prediction so frequent in our ears. As women sometimes believe the fashion of last year in dress to be wholly ridiculous, and incapable of being ever again adopted by any one solicitous for her beauty,* so those who affect to pronounce on future events are equally con fident against the possibility of a resurrection of opinions which the major ity have for the time ceased to maintain. In the year 1560, every Protest ant in Europe doubtless anticipated the overthrow of popery ; the Catholics could have found little else to warrant hope than their trust in heaven. The late rush of many nations towards democratical opinions has not been so rapid and so general as the change of religion about that period. It is im portant and interesting, to inquire what stemmed this current. We readily acknowledge the prudence, firmness, and unity of purpose that, for the most part, distinguished the wurt of Rome, the obedience of its hierarchy, the severity of intolerant laws, and the searching rigor of the inquisition; the resolute adherence of the great princes to the Catholic faith, the influence of the Jesuits over education : but these either existed before, or would, at least, not have been sufficient to withstand an overwhelming force of opinion. " It must be acknowledged that there was a principle of vitality in that relig ion independent of its external strength. By the side of its secular pomp, its relaxation of morality (!), there had always been an intense flame, of zeal and devotion. Superstition it might be in the many, fanaticism in a few ; but both of these imply the qualities which, while they subsist, render a religion indestructible. That revival of an ardent zeal through which the Franciscans had in the thirteenth century, with some good, and much more evil effect (!), spread a popular enthusiasm over Europe, was. once more dis played in counteraction of those new doctrines, that themselves had drawn their hfe from a similar development of moral emotion."-)-. Coming from the source it does, this is truly a valuable avowal. After all the talk, then, about the " downfall of popery," after all the loud boasting and high pretensions of Protestantism, the experiment of three hundred years is be ginning to convince all reasonable men of what they should have known before: that the Catholic religion "has a prin ciple of vitality in her," after all, and that she is "indestruc tible." It could not be otherwise : Christ himself had pledged * A very apposite comparison, truly, to illustrate the new rehgious fashions ! t Hallam, p. 275, 276, } 15. 14 ¦ 214 REFORMATION IN GERMANY his solemn word that " the gates of hell shall not prevail agairfst his Church, built on a rock :"* and this simple promise solves' the whole mystery which so sadly puzzled such men as Rank£ and Hallam. It is the thread of Ariadne, which would have conducted them with security from the tortuous windings of the labyrinth of history, in which they appear to have been lost. It would have explained to them, among other things, why it is that in all the great emergencies of the Church, God has always raised up, as instruments to do his high behests, men and institutions just such as the exigency of the times de manded. Thus, for instance, the Franciscans and Domini cans (why did Mr. Hallam omit the latter?) in the thirteenth century, and the Jesuits and St. Charles* Borromeo, to pass over many more illustrious names, in the sixteenth ; together with St. Athanasius in the fourth century, St. Cyril, St. Leo, St. Chrysostom, and St. Augustine in the; fifth, St. Gregory the' Great in the end of the sixth, St. Gregory VLI. in the eleventh, St. Bernard in the twelfth, St. Thomas Aquinas in the thir teenth, and many others in various Other ages, are all examples of this wonderful providence of God watching over the safety of his Church, which is " the pillar and ground of the truth."t The reaction in favor of the Catholic Church continued with redoubled force in the seventeenth century. "The progress of the latter Church" (the Catholic), says Mr. Hallam,. "for the' first thirty years of the present (seventeenth) century, was as striking and uninterrupted as it had been in the final period of the six teenth. Victory crowned its banners on every side The nobility, both in France and Germany, who in the last age had been the first to embrace' a new faith, became afterwards the first to desert it. Many also of the learned and able Protestants gave evidence of the jeopardy of that cause by their conversion. It is not just, however, to infer that they were merely influenced by this apprehension. Two other causes mainly operated : one, to which we have already alluded, the authority given to the traditions of the Church, recorded by the writers called fathers, and with which it was found difficult to reconcile all the Protestant ereed ; another, the intolerance pf the reformed churches, both Lutheran and Calvinistic, which gave as httle latitude (less) as that which they had quitted." | * St. Matth. xvi : 18. f 1 Tim. iii : 15. t Hallam, vol. ii, p. 30, } IL CASAUBON AND GROTIUS. 215; < "The defections," (from Protestantism) he continues, "from whatever- cause, are numerous in, the seventeenth century. But two, more eminent. than any who actually renounced the Protestant religion, must be owned to.-, have given evident signs of wavering, Casauben and Grotius. The proofs of ., this are not founded merely on anecdotes which might be disputed, but on' their own language.* Casaubon was staggered by the study of the fathers,, in which (whom ?) he discovered many things, especially as to the Euchar ist, which he could not in any manner reconcile with the tenets of the, French Huguenots. Perron used to assail him with arguments he could- not parry. If we may beheve this cardinal, he was on the point of declar ing publicly his conversion, before he ¦accepted the invitation of James I. to, England : and even while in England, he promoted the Catholic cause more than the- world was aware." — After a feeble endeavor to impair the validity; of this statement of Perron, he adds: "Yet if Casaubon, as he had much; inclination to do, being on ill terms with some in England, and disliking the country, had returned to France, it seems probable that he would not long. have continued in what, according to the principles he had ad6pted, would* appear a schismatical communion."-)- " Grotius," he says, " was, from the time of his turning his attention tot theology, almost as much influenced as Casaubon by primitive authority, . and began, even in 1614, to commend the Anglican church for the respect it showed, very unlike the rest of the reformed, to that standard.:): But the ill usage he sustained at the hands of those who boasted their independence of papal tyranny (!) ; the caresses of the Gallican clergy after he had fixed his residence at Paris ;} the growing dissensions and virulence of the Protest- * In a very lengthy and learned note, he here accumulates evidence from the writings and correspondence of Casaubon, in support of the statement made in the text. He also speaks at length of the labors of the learnedi Cardinal Perron. t Hallam, vol. ii, p. 30, $ 11. X Truly, as the wisest of men has said, there is nothing new under the sun. Grotius, Casaubon, and many other learned Protestants, more than two hundred years ago, seem to have taken the identical ground now or, lately occupied by the Puseyites in England. This will appear from a perusal of the copious notes of Hallam on their writings. (Loid.) Speaking of the effort- of Grotius to extract from the Council of Trent a meaning favorable to his own semi-catholic views, he says : " his aim was to search for subtle interpretations, by which he might profess to believe the words of the Church, though conscious that his sense was not that of the imposers. It is needless to say that this, ia not veryingenuous,"etc. Perhaps the history of Grotius and Casaubon may serve to throw additional light on the end and aim of the Puseyite controversy; 5 It is remarkable that Grotius, persecuted by brother Protestants in Holland, found a peaceful shelter from the storm in Catholic France ! 216 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ants ; the choice that seemed albne to be left in their communion between a fanatical anarchy, disintegrating every thing like a church on the one hand,' and a domination of bigoted and vulgar ecclesiastics on the other ; made him gradually less and less averse to the comprehensive and majestic unity of the Catholic hierarchy, and more and more willing to concede some point of; uncertain doctrine, or some form of ambiguous expression. This is abun dantly perceived, and has been often pointed out, in his Annotations on the Consultation of Cassander, written in 1641 ; in his Animadversions on Bivet, < who had censured the former treatise as inclining to popery ; in the Votum pro Psfce Ecclesiastica; and in the Bivetiani Apologetici Discussio ; all which are collected in the fourth volume of the. theological works of Grotius. These treatises display a uniform and progressive tendency to defend the Church of Borne in every thing that can be reckoned essential to her creed ; and in fact he will be found to go further in this direction than Cassander."* But, alas! neither Casaubon nor Grotius ever penetrated beyond the threshold of the temple of Catholicity. Though they seem to have had light enough to know;, and ;to love the truth, yet were they not worthy the gift of faith, which is granted to those only who become "as little children" for Christ's sake. "We have already seen by what circumstances the former was prevented from entering the Catholic pale. Of the latter Hallam says : "Upon a dispassionate examination .of all these testimonies, we can hardly, deem it an uncertain question whether Grotius, if his hfe had been prolonged, would have taken the easy leap which still remained ; and there is some positive evidence of his design to do so. But, dying on a journey, and in a Protestant country, this avowed declaration (in favor of Catholicity) was never made."f It is dangerous, to tamper with the proffered grace of heaven, or to put off conversion ! The learned Lipsius went further ; he was faithful to grace, and "took the easy (not so easy) leap" into the Catholic Church. Hallam tells us that he spent the latter years of his life " in defending legendary mi racles, and in waging war against the honored dead of the * Hallam, voL ii, p. 32-35, J 13. Cassander was a Catholic theologian, :who was commissioned by the emperor Ferdinand to write a work to conciliate the Protestant party. Many think that, in executing this task, he had, through , the best motives no doubt, conceded too much. ¦ He died in 1566, aged 53 years. f I»id-> P- 35. § 16.' CATHOLIC . CHURCH INDESTRUCTIBLE. 2 17 Reformation!"* This remark was, of course, intended by the historian as an evidence of his own Protestant orthodoxy, and as a douceur to English bigotry. This unworthy viru^ lence, however, but enhances the more the value of his pre vious admissions in favor of Catholicity, .which could have been wrung from him only b,y the sternest evidence of facts. Justus Lipsius was a prodigy of classical learning and erudi tion. He became a. most exemplary Catholic, and died at Louvain in 1606. "We have now completed our rapid analysis of the facts connected with the decline of Protestantism on the one hand, and the reaction of Catholicity on the other. We have shown, on unquestionable Protestant authority, the existence and extent of both these parallel developments. Every candid man will easily draw the obvious inference from these re- ' markable results of the two opposite systems : which is, that Protestantism was a human, and Catholicity a divine institu tion. "We can explain the facts in no other way. To attempt to explain them on the principles of mere human philosophy is a miserable, fallacy. If Protestantism was true, it would have conquered and endured; if Catholicity was false, it must have fallen. "What is human is changeable, and liable to decline and decay; what is divine has the principle of ¦vitality strong within it, and abideth forever. "By their fruits ye shall know them." We will close our remarks on this subject by a welt- known avowal of another Protestant writer of great emi nence, Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose testimony, though already often quoted, is too apposite to the matter in hand to be here omitted. The passage is taken from an article in the Edinburg Review on Banke's History of the Papacy, another circumstance which would seem fairly to entitle it to a place in this chapter. "There is not, and there never was, on this earth, a work so weH deserving of examination as the Boman Catholic Church. The history of * Hallam, vol. ii, p. 35, 5 16. VOL. I. 19 218 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilization. ' Nb other institution is left standing which carries the mind, back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon ; .and when cameleopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses -are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Boman Pontiffs. This line we trace back, in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century, to the Pope who crowned. Pepin in the eighth ; and far beyonc ihe time of Pepin, the august dynasty extends until its origin is lost in the twilight of fable! ("Was the apostolic age "the twi- . light of fable ?") The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy ; and, the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, nor a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending forth, to the furthest ends of the worlds missionaries as zealous as those who landed in. Kent with Augustine, and Still confronting , hostile kings with the same spirit with which she con fronted Attila. The number of her children is greater than in any former agef Her acquisitions in the new world have more , than compensated her for. what she has lost in the old. Her spiritual ascendency extends over the vast countries which he between the plains of the Missouri and Cape Horn, countries which, a century hence, may not improbably contain a population Sis large as that which now inhabits Europe. The members of her cont munion are certainly not fewer than, a hundred, and fifty millions,* and it will be difficult to show that all the other Christian sects unjted amount to one hundred and twenty millions.f , "Nor do, we see any , sign .which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the govern ments, and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world ; and we feel no assurance that she is' not destined to see the end of them alL She was great and respected' before the Saxon set foot on Britain —before the Frank had passed the Bhiner-f-when Grecian eloquence, still flourished, at Antioch-rrwhen, idols were still worshiped in the Temple qf * The number of Catholics in the world has , been variously stated^ An, official statistical account, lately published in Borne, makes the number 160;842,424. Malte Bruh estimates it at above 164,000,000; and others Jlave stated it at 180 or even -200,000,000. The Boman statement is perhaps the most to be relied on. It does not at least exceed ; it may even fall below jflie mark, in consequence of the probable incompleteness of the.returns,,, \ This embraces the Greek and Oriental churches, and is still doubtless excessive. The total number of Protestants, including free-thinkers, etc., is not probably over 50,000,000.' MACAULAY. - 219 Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigor, when some traveler from New Zealand shall/ in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's ! " Truly splendid testimony to the vitality of the Catholic .Church, coming, as it does, from the pen of a sworn enemy— of a Scotchman and a Presbyterian ! Speaking of the trite remark that, as the world becomes- more enlightened, it will renounce Catholicity and embrace Protestantism, he says : " Yet we see that, during these two hundred and fifty years Protestantism has made no conquests worth speaking of. Nay, we believe, that as far as there has been a change, that change has been in favor of the Church of Borne. "We can not therefore feel confident that the prbgress of knowledge will necessarily be fatal to a system, which has, to say the least, stood its ground in spite of the immense progress which knowledge has made since the days of Queen Elizabeth." He a little after adds : "four times since the authority of the Church of Eome was established in western Christen dom, has the human intellect risen up against her. Twice she remained completely victorious. Twice she came forth from the conflict bearing the marks of cruel wounds, but with the principle of life still strong within her. When we reflect on the tremendous assaults which she has survived, we find it difficult to conceive in what way she is to perish ! " ; Yes — it must be avowed : the Catholic Church is indestruc tible, and. therefore divine! You might as as well try to blot out the sun from the heavens, as to extinguish the bright light of the Catholic Church from the earth ! Clouds may, indeed, hide for a time the sun?s disc from the eye of the beholder; but the sun is still there, the -same as when he shone forth before upon us with his most brilliant light : so also, the clouds of persecution and prejudice may cover for a time the fair face of the Catholic Church ; but the eye of faith penetrates those dark clouds, and assures us, that though" partially con cealed, she is still there ! And when those clouds will clear away, she will again shine out with a more brilliant and a more. cheering light than ever! He who said: "Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words shall not pass away," has also pronounced that " The gates of heU shall not prevail against her." Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance in the tendency 220 * REFORMATION IN GERMANY. of modern society, is the general and manifest reaction it favor of Catholicity throughout the world, and especially in Protestant countries. There seems to be a universal gravita tion of all spirits towards Rome !* Germany, the first theater of the Reformation, seems to have led the way in this, a waken ing. Besides the works of Yoigt, Hurter, and Ranke, whieh are well known, there are also : the Universal History and the Journeys of the Popes, by the great Protestant historian, John Mulier1"; the History of the Princes of the House of Hohenstau- fen, by the famous Raumur ; the History of the Church, and the History of Italy, by M. Leo ; — not to mention a host of other works by eminent German Protestant writers of the day, all of which evidence, by their spirit and their disposition to, do at least partial justice to the Popes and to the old religion, this wonderful resuscitation of Catholic feeling in Protestant Germany. England, Scotland, and the United States even, have participated, to a certain extent, in this movement. We trust that De Maistre's prophetic remark to the effect, that when sectarianism should have run through the whole circle of error, it would return again to the great Catholic center of truth, is on the eve of its fulfillment !f What we will now proceed to prove in relation to the mani, fold influences of the Reformation, on religion and on society, will, we trust, throw additional light upon the matter we have treated in this chapter ; and it may serve also greatly to ex plain why it was that, after a brief storm of excitenient, Catholicity so greatly reacted and Protestantism so suddenly declined. * See the Introduction to Banke's History of the Papacy, etc., by M. . Alexandre de Saint Cheron, page xv, seqq. f This was written ahout fifteen years ago ; and we are sorry to have to say, that the sanguine anticipations with which we then solaced ourselves have not been fully realized by the event. Still many have returned to the Catholic Church during this time, both in England and in Germany, as well as in the United States ; while, unhappily, others have imitated the dilatory tampering with divine grace which we have remarked in'Casaubon and Gro tius. Let such beware ! ' PAUT III. INFLUENCE • OF THB REFORMATION ON RELIGION. CHAPTER VIII, INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON DOCTRINAL BELIEF. "Who would ever have believed that the Reformation from the beginning would have attacked morality, dogma, and faith ; or that the seditious genius of a monk could have caused so much disturbance ? "— Erasm. ( Epist. Geurgio Duci). "As long as words a different sense will bear, And each may be his own interpreter, Our airy faith will no foundation find, The word's a weathercock for every wind." — Dkydkn. The nature of Beligion — A golden chain — Question stated — Private judg ment — Church authority— As many religions as heads — D'Aubigne's theory — Its poetic beauty — Fever of logomachy — "Sons of liberty"— The Bible dissected — A hydra-headed monster — Erasmus — "Curing a lame horse" — Luther puzzled — His plaint — His inconsistency — Missions and miracles — >Zuingle's inconsistency — Strange fanaticism — Storck, Miinzer, Karlstadt, and John of Leyden — A new deluge — Betorting the argument — Discussion at the " Black Boar," — Luther and the cobbler- Discussion at Marburg — Luther's avowal — Breaking necks — Melancthon's lament — The inference— Protestantism the mother of infidelity — Picture of modern Protestantism in Germany by Schlegel. Religion is a divinely established system, which came down from heaven to conduct man thither. By the disober dience of Adam, man, originally created upright or at least constituted in a state of righteousness, fell from grace, and was, as it were, loosed from heaven, to. which he had been previously bound by the mOst sacred ties of fellowship. Religion may be compared to a golden chain reaching down from heaven to earth, which, according to the etymological (221) 222 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. import of the term, binds' man again to heaven.* And to pursue the illustration a little further, as the loss of even one link would destroy the integrity of a chain, and would render it useless as a means of binding together distant objects ; so also, the removal of One link frOrti the chain of religion, would destroy its integrity and mar its lofty purpose of binding man to his God. These links are united together irf three divisions ; comprising severally the doctrines revealed by and through Jesus Christ, the moral precepts wliich He gave, and the sacraments and .sacrifice which He instituted. AE these are as essentially and as intimately connected together, as are "the several parts of a chain. "He that offendeth in one, is guilty of all :" j because by a single offense he rebels against the authority from which the .whole emanates. •-....: - ¦> Religion then consists of three parts: doctrines to be be lieved, commandments to be observed, and sacramental and sacrificial ordinances to be received and complied with. The third department partakes of the nature of the other two,: Tbeing partly doctrinal and partly moral. In other words, the Christian Religion embraces, as essential to its very nature and divine purposes, doctrines, morals, and worship: and We propose briefly to examine the influence of the pre tended Reformation on each of these separately. Was this "influence beneficial? Did it really reform Religion, as it purported to do? D'Aubigne tells us: that "the reform saved Religion, and with it society." J We shall see here after what it did for society; and we will now inquire whether it "saved Religion?" And first, what was its influence on the doctrines of Chris tianity? Did it' teach them in greater purity, and integrity, or with greater certainty, than the Catholic Church'hkd done? Did it shed on them a clearer or more steady light^ Or did it, On the contrary, give out a very doubtful and * Some persons derive tiie word Keiigibn rrom the Latin re-ligo— -to bind again. j St. James, ii : 10. J- D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 67*. PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 223 Uncertain light; leaving the minds of men in perplexity as to 'the tenets to be believed ; and permitting its disciples " to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine,"* On the stormy sea of conflicting human opinions? We shall see. It will not, however, be necessary to our inquiry, to examine the grounds which establish the truth of the various Catholic, or the falsity of the Protestant doctrines in controversy: all that will be requisite for our purpose, will be an investigation of the facts bearing on the historical question itself, as to the actual influence of the Reformation on this vital department of Religion. * The great distinctive principle of the Reformation was its rejection of Church authority, and its assertion of the right of private judgment in matters of Religion. This is the key of the new system : this the proudest ' boast of those who affected to. bring about the "emancipation of the- human mind." This is the cardinal principle of " Christian liberty," as asserted by Dr. Martin Luther, in a special work on the subject: this is the means he boastingly adopted for being 'rescued from the degrading "captivity of Babylon." f The Catholic Beligion had taught that, in all matters of contro versy, Christians were bound by the solemn command of Christ, "to hear the Church." J Church authority was the ultima ratio — last, resort — of controversy, the great means of attaining to certainty in what we are to believe or to reject; -the strong bond of union among Christians. Not that the Church meant to decide on every controverted point: she only decided where she found sufficient warrant in revelation 'to guide her with certainty. In other matters — and they were numerous — she wisely abstained from any definition, and allowed her children a reasonable latitude of opinion, provided, however, their opinions did not either directly or * Ephesians, iv: 14. t See the two works of Luther, "De Christiana Libertate," and "De Captivitate Babylonica." ¦' t St. Matthew, xviii : 17. , . . r 224 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. indirectly infringe on the unchangeable principles of faith. This was hallowed and consecrated ground, which was not to -be trodden by the rude foot of controversy. She said to the stormy billows of proud human opinion : " Thus far shall you come, and no further: and here shall you break your boiling waves 1 " * When the reformers cast off this yoke of Church authority, and said " they would not serve". any longer, they had no al ternative left, but to decide, each one for himself, what was the doctrine of Christ. Private judgment was thus necessa rily substituted for the. teaching of the Church : human opin ion for faith. As men were differently constituted, • they naturally took different views of the religion of Christ. Each one struck out a new system for himself; and soon, instead of the one Religion which had been received with reverence for ages, the world beheld the novel spectacle of almost as many religions as there were heads among the Protestant party ! D'Aubigne's theory on this subject is as curious as it is lib eral — in, the modern sense of this term. He thus discourses on what he calls the diversities of the Reformation : "We are about to Contemplate the diversities, or, as they have been since called, the variations of the Beformation. These diversities are among its most essential characters. Unity in diversity, and diversity in unity, is a law of nature, and also of the church. Truth may be cbmpared to the light of the sun. The light comes from heaven colorless, and ever the same : and yet it takes different hues on earth, varying according to the objects on which it falls. Thus different formularies may sometimes express the same Christian truth, viewed under different aspects. How dull would be this visible creation, if all its boundless variety of shape and color were to give place to an unbroken uniformity !"f A beautiful theory truly, and aptly illustrated ! So,, then, " the different formularies " of Luther, openly asserting the * Job xxxviii: 12. "Hue usque venies et non amplius; et hie con- fringes tumentes fluctus tuos." f D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 235, in the introduction to the eleventh book, in which he treats of the controversies between the partisans pf Zuingle and Luther. AS MANY RELIGIONS AS HEADS. 225 real presence of Christ, in the holy Sacrament, and of Zuingle flatly denying this presence; "both express the same Christian truth viewed under different aspects!" These great cham pions of Protestantism, as we have seen, mutually anathema tized and denounced each other as children of Satan oral's. very ground, and yet, in good sooth, they maintained " the same Christian truth under different aspects 1" They plainly contradicted each other on many other important points, and the Wittenberg doctor would consent to hold no communion with him of Zurich ;* and yet they maintained " the same Christian truth !" Luther said to Zuingle, who proposed mu tual communion at the close of the famous conference of Marburg, in 1528, "No, no: cursed be the alliance which endangers the truth of God and the salvation, of souls. Away with you: you are possessed by a different spirit from ours. But take care: before three years the anger of God will fall on you !"f And yet D'Aubigne" would have us believe, that they agreed as to the substance of " Christian truth!" Verily, he must think others as credulous as he himself seems to be ! And then, the charming illustration from the light of the sun ! It is almost a pity to spoil its poetic beauty ; though even a poet would lay himself open to the most severe criti cism, were his figures no more appropriate or true to nature. D'Aubigne" has taken more than even a poetic license. Does the light of the sun, no matter how diversified, reflect contra dictory images "of the objects on which it falls?" Is it so very uncertain, as to leave us in doubt, as to the shape and color of external objects ? Does it make us the dupes of con stant optical illusions ? The light which the reformers pro fessed to borrow from heaven did all this. And then, does it fall much short of blasphemy, to maintain that God is indif ferent as to whether we believe truth or error ; and that He delights in such a diversity of opinions as runs into open con- * In the conference of Marburg. See Audin, " Life of Luther," p. 415, 416. t Audin, ibf 1. See also Luther's Ep. ad Jacobum, prsep. Bremens. . 226 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. tradictions ? And this too, when his well beloved Son came on earth " to bear testimony to the truth," and laid down His life to seal it with his blood ! And when the Saviour pronounced the awful declaration : " He that believeth not shall be condemned;"* which declaration referred to the necessity of belief "in all things whatsoever he had com manded!"! , The doctrine of private judgment, broached by the re formers, led to endless inconsistencies- and contradictions. It was the prolific parent of sects almost innumerable. More than fifty J of these arose before the death . of Luther ! It was natural that it should be so: "These diversities were among the most essential features of the Reformation." § The tree was only bearing its- natural fruits ; and the latter,.- according to the divine standard, are the, best criterion whereby to judge of the former: "By their fruits ye shall know them." — "The Reformation, which promised to put an end to the. reign of disputatious theology, had, on the, con-' trafy, awakened in. all minds a fondness for dispute, bordering on fanaticism: it was the fever of logornachy.|| Half a cen tury before, men indeed disputed ; but then the doctrine of; the Church was not called into question: now however it was attacked on all. sides. In each university, and even in: every private house, Germany saw a pulpit erected for who ever pretended to have received the understanding of the divine word." If This raging fever of disputation has continued to burn in the bosom of Protestantism even to the present day: it has not abated in the progress of ages. True, in Germany and on the continent of .Europe, it has, to a great extent, lately cooled down into a state of mortal apathy — a more dangerous symptom far than the malady which it. has superseded-: but * St. Mark, xvi : 16. -j- The parallel passage in St. Matthew, sxviii : 20. X See Audin, p. 331. ' >' , §¦ D'Aubigne, ut supra. || A war of words. IT Audin, ibid., p. 190, 191. , THE BIBLE WRESTED. 227 elsewhere, it has left the patient in the same restless and tossing condition, as formerly. Most of the reformers found in the Bible, that a priest who had made a solemn vow of celibacy to God, might and even ought to break it, by taking a wife. The first who made this consoling discovery, were Bernard of Felkirk, abbot of Bemberg, and the aged Karlstadt, archdeacon of Wittenberg. The new light which had dawned upon them was hailed with ecstasy by the lovers of "Christian liberty" throughout Germany. Some went still further, and main tained, Bible in hand, with Bucer, Capito, Karlstadt and other evangelists, that marriage was not indissoluble; and that a Christian could dismiss his wife, or even retain her, and take one or more others at the same time, after the ex ample of the ancient patriarchs. These styled themselves ".the sons of liberty" — they should have said libertinism. We shall see, a little later, to what frightful consequences these horrid doctrines led ! "All the hallucinations of a disordered intellect were for a time ascribed to the Holy Ghost. Never had the divine wisdom communicated itself more liberally to the human mind ! The Bible was laid open, as an ana tomical subject, on an operator's table, and every doctor came with his lance in hand — as afterwards did Dumoulin — to anatomize the word of God, and to seek the spirit, which before Luther had escaped the eye of Cathctr licism. It was an epoch of glosses and commentaries, which time has not had the trouble of destroying, for they abounded with absurdity, and fell beneath the weight of ridicule which crushed them at their birth. There were new hghts, who came to announce that they had discovered an irre sistible argument against the Mass, purgatory, and prayers to the saints. This was simply to deny the immortality of the soul!"* — This startling impiety was really maintained in* full school -at Geneva, by certain "new lights," who came from Wittenberg.f , Menzel, the Protestant historian of Germany, freely admits . * Audin,. p, 192. f "Quidquid de animarum habetur immortalitate, ab antichristo ad statu- endam suam culinam excogitatum est" Prateolus — Elench. voce Athei, p. 72. See also Bayle's Dictionary, art. Luther. 228 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. that division was the essential heritage of the Reformation, whose unity it fatally marred^ thereby frittering away its strength. He says: "The Protestants, blind to the unity and strength resulting from the policy of the Catholics, weakened themselves more and more by division. The reformed Swiss were almost more -mimical to the Lutherans than the Catholics were, and the general mania for disputation and theological ob stinacy produced divisions among the reformers themselves. When, ic 1562, BuUinger set up the Helvetic Confession, to which the Pfalz alsc assented in Zurich, Basle refused and maintained a particular Confession."* From the earliest period of its history, " the hydra of the Reformation had a hundred heads. The Anabaptists believed with Miinzer, that without a second baptism, man could not be saved. The Karlstadtians preached up polygamy. The Zuinglians rejected the real presence. Osiander taught that God had predestined only the elect. The Majorists taught that works were not necessary for salvation ; while the fol lowers of Flaccus accused the Majorists of popery. The Synergists preached up man's liberty. The Ubiquitarians believed, that the humanity of Christ was, like His divinity, omnipresent. Some held original sin to be the nature, sub stance, the essence of man ; while others regarded it as a mere mode of his being. AH these sects boasted of the Bible, as a sufficient rule of faith ; they published confessions, composed creeds, and insisted on faith, as a condition of communion. 'Children of the same father, whom they had severally denied, they cursed and proscribed each other : they gave the name of heretic to, and shut the gates of heaven against, all their brethren in revolt, who happened to , differ with them."f Other fanatics preached up the "community of goods, with Storck and the Anabaptists; others with the prophets of AJstell, "the demolition of images, of churches, of chapels, and the adoration of the Lord on high places; "J and others," * History of Germany, LI, 275. f Audin, p. 208, 209. > See the authorities he quotes, ibid., note. Idem , p. 331. A HYDRA. 229 the inutility of the law and of prayer. — The feverish spirit of innovation knew no rest ; every day brought forth a new sect. And is it not so, even in our own ago and country ? Erasmus thus hits off, in his own polished and caustic style, the extravagant inconsistencies of the Protestant rule of faith : " They ask : ' Do philosophy and learning aid us in understanding the holy books?' I reply: 'Will ignorance -assist you?' They say: 'Of what authority are these councils, in which not perhaps a single member received the Holy Ghost ? ' I ask in reply : ' Is not the gift of God, pro bably, as rare in your conventicles ?' The Apostles would not have been be lieved, had they not proved the truth of their doctrines by miracles. Among you every individual must be believed on his own word. When the Apos tles lulled the serpents, healed the infirm, and raised the dead to life, people were forced to believe in them, though they announced incomprehensible mysteries. Among these doctors, who tell us so many wonderful things, is there one who has been able to cure a lame horse ? . . . . Give me mira cles. — ' They are unnecessary : there have been enough of them : ' — the bright hght of the Scriptures is not so very clear, since I see so many men wander in the dark. Although we had the spirit of God, how can we be certain that we have the knowledge of His word ? What must I believe, when I see, in the midst of contradictory doctrines, all lay claim to dogmatical infallibi lity, and rise upNwith oracular authority against the doctrines of those who have preceded us ? Is it then likely that, during thirteen centuries, God should not have raised up, among the many holy personages he has given to His Church, a single one to whom he revealed His doctrine."* Luther was often saddened by the defection of his own dis ciples, as well as grievously puzzled, when these played off on him the same arguments which he had used against the Pope. His cherished disciple Mathesius relates the mental anguish he endured, when, being at the castle of the Wart- burg in 1521, he heard of the revolt and strange doings of Karlstadt at Wittenberg. He yielded to dejection ; he'seemed to himself to have been abandoned by God and by men: "His head grew weary, his forehead burned with the excite ment of his mind, his eye grew dim — and he would open his * "De Libero Arbitrio." Diatribe, and Adolf Menzel, i, 140. 16 230 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. window, and inhaling the ambrosial breeze, would endeavor to forget the world and its wrongs ! "* But all his efforts to quiet his own mind proved ineffectual : he chafed like a tiger in his cage. At length he resolved, against the advice. of his friends, to leave the Wartburg, and to precipitate himself into the midst of his recreant disciples at Wittenberg. He harangued them for full two hours on the wickedness of their defection from his standard ; and concluded his burning invective with the following memora ble sentence: "Yes, if the devil himself had entreated me" —to remove the images from the church by violence — "I would have turned a deaf ear to him ! "f The reformer draws a graphic sketch of his own perplex ity in a letter to the " Christians " of Antwerp, written in 1525. We will furnish a few extracts : " The devil has got among you : he daily sends me visitors to knock at my door. One will not hear of baptism ; another rejects the sacrament of the Eucharist ; a third teaches that a new world will be created by God be fore tho day of judgment ; another, that Christ is not God : in short, one this, another that. There are almost as many creeds as individuals. There ' is no booby, who, when he dreams, does not believe himself visited by God, and who does not claim the gift of prophecy. I am often Visited by these men who claim to be favored by visions, of which they all know more than I do, and which they undertake to teach me. I would be glad they were what they profess to be. No later than yesterday one came to me : ' Sir, I am sent by God who created heaven and earth ; ' and then he began to preach as a veritable idiot, that it was the order of God- that I should read the books of Moses for him. ' Ah ! where did 'you find this commandment of God ?' ' In the gospel of St. John ! ' After he had spoken much, I said to him : ' Friend, come back to-morrow, for I cannot read for you, at one sitting, the books of Moses.' ' Good-by, master ; the heavenly Pather, who shed his blood for us, will show us the right way through his Son Jesus. Amen !'.... While the Papacy lasted there were no such divisions or dissen sions : the strong man peaceably ruled the minds of men ; but now one stronger is come, who has vanquished and put him to flight, and the former one storms and wishes not to depart. A spirit of confusion is thus among you, which tempts you, and seeks to withdraw you from the true path." * Mathesius. In Vita Lutheri, apud Audin, p. 209. f See the harangue in Audin, p. 237, 238. luther's perplexity. 231 He concludes this strange epistle with these characteristic words : " Begone, ye cohort of devils, marked with the char acter of error : God is a spirit of peace and not of dissension."* But Luther could not succeed in exorcising the demons, whom his own principle of private judgment had evoked from the abyss. True, he occasionally made trial of the good old Catholic specifics for this purpose ; but they proved utterly powerless in his hands. Thus, when pressed by the Anabap tists, to prove infant baptism from the Scriptures — his only rule of faith — he had recourse to the good old Catholic argu ment of Church authority founded on tradition ! He appealed to the testimony of St. Augustine and to the teaching of the Church during his day. — "But, it is objected," he says, "what if Augustine and those whom you call and believe to be the Church, erred in this particular ? But this objection can be easily impugned. If you do not admit the right, (jus) at least will you not admit the fact (factum) of this having been the belief of the Church ? And to deny that this was the faith of the true and lawful Church, I deem most impious."t Another argument, which he employed to refute the Ana baptists, was that drawn from the necessity of a lawful mis sion to preach the gospel, and of miracles to confirm this mission, whenever it was not derived through the ordinary channels of the Church. In a sermon delivered at Witten berg against their prophets, in 1522, he employed this remark able language : "Do you wish to found a new church ? — Let us see : who has sent you ? From whom 4iave you received your mission ? As you give testimony of yourselves, we are not at once to believe you, but according to the advice of * " Ein Briefe D. Martin Luther an die Christen zu Antorf." Witten berg, 1525J 4to. "Doct. M. Luther Briefe," tom. iii, p. 60. Cf. Audin. + Objicitur vero : quid si Augustinus, et quos eeclesiam vocas vel esse credis, in hac parte errirint? .... At eadem objectio facile impugnabitur. Si non jus, tamen factum proprie credendi in ecclesia ? Hanc autem confes sionem negare esse ecclesise illius verse et legitimse, arbitror impiissimum esse." — Epist. Melancthoni, 13 January, 1522. 232 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. St. John, we must try you. God has sent no one into this world who was not called by man, or announced by signs— not even excepting, his own Son. The prophets derived their title from the law, and from the prophetic order, as we do from men. I do not care for you, if you have only a mere revela tion to propose : God would not permit Samuel to speak, except by the authority of HeU. When the law is to be changed, miracles are necessary. Where are your miracles ? What the Jews said to the Lord, we now say to you : ' Master, we wish for a sign.' "* Luther often used this argument :f and yet, it might have been retorted with unanswerable force against himself. And it was retorted by Stiibner and Cellarius, two of the Anabaptist prophets, whom he had attacked. The answer of the Saxon reformer is not recorded :{ perhaps he had none to give. According to Erasmus, the reformers never succeeded even "in curing a lame horse!" Luther himself, somewhat later, acknowledged, that he had never performed any miracles; except that " he had slapped Satan in the face, and struck the Papacy in its core."§ — Astonishing miracles truly ! Luther was not alone, in thus inconsistently appealing to arguments which condemned both himself and his own cause. Many of the other principal reformers were driven to the Baine straits. In order to refute George Blaurock, an Ana baptist enthusiast, Zuingle used the following argument: " If we allow every enthusiast or sophist to diffuse among the people all the foolish fancies of his heated imagination, to assemble together disciples and make a sect, we shall see the Church of Christ split up into an infinity of factions, and lose that unity which she has maintained at so great sacri fices. It is necessary then to consult the Church, and not to listen to passion or prejudice. The interpretation of Scripture is not the right qf individuals,- but of the Church : she has the keys, and the power of unlocking the treas- sures of the divine word."|| * Apud Audin, p. 238. f As iii lib. i«, c. iv. "Contra Anabaptistas;" and elsewhere. X In his letter to Spalatin, in which he relates his interview with Stiibner and Cellarius, Luther is silent on this retort. Epist. Spalatino, 12 Ap. 1522. Yet the Anabaptist historians relate it. Cf. Audin, p. 239. } See Audin, p. 238, note, for authority for this feat. || Zuinglius. "De Baptismo," p. 72.— Cf. Audbj p. 240. EXTRAVAGANT FANATICISM. 233 As might have been expected, Blaurock was not satisfied with this appeal to authority. BuUinger* tells -us, that he answered in a loud voice: "Did not you Sacramentarians break with the Pope, without consulting the Church which you abandoned — and that, too, a Church which was not of yesterday ? Is it not lawful for us to abandon your church, which is but a few days old ? Can not we do what you have done?" — Zuingle was nonplussed; and if even he made an attempt to reply, his answer is not recorded. We will give a few instances of the strange fanaticism to which this same principle of private judgment naturally led. We might fill a volume with such examples : but our limits will permit of only a few.f Listen, for instance, to this start ling announcement of Storck in one of his sermons : "Behold, what I announce to you. God has sent his angel to me during the night, to tell me that I shall sit on the same throne as the archangel Gabriel. Let the impious tremble and the just hope It is to me, Storck, that heaven has promised the empire of the world. Would you desire to be visited by God ? Prepare your hearts to receive the Holy Spirit. Let there be no pulpit whence to announce the word of God : no priests, no preachers, no exterior worship : let your dress be plain ; your food bread and salt ; and God will descend upon you."| Miinzer, another Anabaptist, thus pleaded for the general division of property : " Te rich ones of the earth who keep us in bondage, who have plundered us, give us back our liberty and possessions. It is not only as men that we now demand what has been taken from us : we ask it as Christians. In the primitive Church, the apostles divided with their brethren in Jesus Christ the money that was laid at their feet. Give us back the goods you unjustly retain. Unhappy flock of Jesus Christ, how long will you groan in oppres sion under the yoke of the priest and the magistrate ?" — "And then the prophet suddenly fell into an epileptic fit : his hair stood erect ; perspiration rolled down his face, and foam issued from his mouth. The people cried out: 'silence, God visits his prophet!' "J * "In Apologia Anabaptist." P. 254.— Cf. Audin, p. 240. f ' Those who wish to see more are referred to Catrou, Histoire du Fana- tisme, tom. i ; to Meshovius, Ottovius, and other writers. X See Audin, p. 230. r . } Ibid., p. 231. vol. i.— 20 234 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. At the termination of his ecstasy, which continued foi some minutes, the prophet cried out at the top of his stento rian voice: "Eternal God, pour into my soul the treasures of thy justice, otherwise I shall renounce thee and thy proph ets."* A Lutheran having appealed to the Bible, — " The Bible ? Babel !" cried out Miinzer.f What will be thought of this strange conceit of Karlstadt ? " One dayy Karlstadt was seen running through the streets of Wittenberg with the Bible in his hand, and stopping -the passers-by to inquire of then the meaning of difficult passages of the sacred books: 'What are you about ?' said the Austin friars to him. 'Is it not written ' — answered the archdeacon — 'that the voice of truth shall be heard from the lips of infante? I only accomplish the orders of heaven/ "X Who has nOt heard of the revolting obscenities of John of Leyden, and of the prophets of Munster ? All of these im pure extravagances, perpetrated, too, under the bright new Mght of the Reformation, and under its alleged , sanction ! Who,. in fine, that has even glanced at the history of this period, has not marked the endless extravagances, the absurd conceits, the astonishing fanaticism which marked almost every day of its annals ! Truly, then " the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the. flood-gates of heaven were opened ;"§ and a new deluge flooded the earth, more destructive than that which had buoyed up Noah's ark !. For this destroyed only the bodies of men ; that carried away and ruined men's souls. f'The flood-gates of heaven" — did we say? No, the origin of those waters must be sought elsewhere. Luther himself aids us in detecting their source. We have seen above his opinion on the subject, in his letter to the Christians of Ant werp. And in his subseqnent controversies with the Sacra mentarians, after having spoken of their dissensions among themselves, he said : " This is a great proof that these Sacra- mento-magists come not from God, but from the devil."[| * Meshovius, p. 4. Catrou, sup.1 cit. f Ihid. X I°id. 5 Genesis, vi : 11. II "An die Christen zu Beutlingen," 5 January, 1526, FANATICISM OF ANABAPTISTS. 235 And we have also seen how triumphantly Zuingle retorted the compliment on Luther and his branch of the Reformation. Can not we turn this, and all the other arguments employed by the several reformers to refute each other, against all of them? Can not we point to the numberless dissensions oi Protestants among themselves — dissensions perpetuated a hundred fold even unto the present day — to prove against them all, that their pretended Reformation, which always produced such fruits as these, is not and can not be from God, "who is not the God of dissension, but of peace?" Can not we ask them, whence they had their mission to re form the Church ? And if they answer, " from heaven ;" ask them again to prove it to us by miracles ? How will they, how can they answer these arguments, which they themselves so often wielded against one another ? It will be curious to see how the modern Protestant histo rian of Germany speaks of the Anabaptists and their extrav agant excesses. We accordingly here present to our readers the following extracts from Menzel, who, it will be seen, sub stantially confirms the statements made above, and adds some new facts : " The illiterate and the enthusiastic, however, far outstripped Luther in their ideas ; instead of reforming they wished to annihilate the church, and to grasp political as well as religious liberty, and it was justly feared lest these excesses might furnish Bome with a pretext for rejecting every species of reform. 'Luther,' wrote their leader, Thomas M (Inzer, 'merely draws the word of God from books, and twists the dead letters.' Nicholas Storck, Miinzer's first teacher, a clothier, who surrounded himself with twelve apostles and seventy- two disciples, boasted of receiving revelations from _ an angel. Their rejection of infant baptism and sole recognition of that of adults as efficacious, gained for them the appellation of Anabaptists. Karl stadt joined this sect, and followed the example already given by Bartholo mew Bernhardi, a priest, one of Luther's disciples, who had married." .... " The Anabaptists, repulsed by Luther, encouraged by these precedents, drew near to Zuingle, and their leader, Thomas Miinzer, who had been ex- peded from Wittenberg,. went to Waldshut on the Bhine, where, counten anced by the priest, Hubmaier, the greatest disorder took place. Zuingle de clared against them, and caused several of them to be drowned [A. D. 1524], 236 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. but was, nevertheless, still regarded by Luther . as a man who, under the cloak of spiritual liberty, sought to bring about political changes."* Of the insurrection in which Miinzer perished, he says : "At the same time, in the summer of 1525, an insurrection, bearing a more religious character, broke out in Thuringia, where Thomas Miinzer appeared as a prophet, and preached the doctrines of equality and fraternity. The insurgents were defeated by Ernest, Count von Mansfield, whose brother Albert had conceded all their demands ; and afterwards at Fulda, by Philip of Hesse, who, reinforced by Ernest, the Duke George, and the elector John of Saxony, marched on Frankenhausen, the headquarters of the rebels, who, infatuated with the belief that heaven would fight for them, allowed them selves to be slaughtered whilst invoking aid from God. Five thousand were slain. Frankenhausen was taken and pillaged, and three hundred prisoners were beheaded. Miinzer was discovered in a hay-stack, in which he had secteted himself, put to the rack, and executed with twenty-six of his com panions."! He writes as. follows of the excesses committed at Ley den, which became the headquarters of the Anabaptists : " The most extravagant folly and license ere long prevailed in the city. John Bockelson, a tailor from Leyden, gave himself out as a prophet, and proclaimed himself king of the universe ; a clothier, named Knipperdolling, and one Krechting, were elected burgomasters. A community of goods and wives was proclaimed and carried into execution. Civil dissensions en sued, but were speedily quelled by the Anabaptists. John of Leyden took seventeen wives, one of whom, Divara, gained great influence by her spirit and beauty. The city was, meanwhile, clo.sely besieged by the expelled bishop, Francis von Waldeck, who was aided by several of the Catholic and Lutheran princes; numbers of the nobility flocked thither for pastime, and carried on the siege against the Anabaptists, who made a long and valiant defense. The attempts of their brethren in HoUand and Friesland to relieve them proved ineffectual. A dreadful famine ensued in consequence of the closeness of the siege ; the citizens lost courage and betrayed the city by night to the enemy. Most of the fanatics were cut to pieces. John, Knip perdolling, and Krechting were captured, enclosed in iron cages, and carried for six months throughout Germany, after which they were brought back to Munster to suffer an agonizing death. Divara and the rest of the principal fanatics were beheaded."! To illustrate this matter still further, and to show what * History of Germany, ii, 232-3. f Ibid., p. 243. J Ibid. p. 256. LUTHER AND KARLSTADT. 237 spirit originated and perpetuated the dissensions by which early Protestantism was torn into fragments, we will here ex hibit a few specimens of the manner in which controversies among the reformers were then conducted. . In 1524, Luther went to Jena, where he preached against the new prophets of the Anabaptists, whose arguments had been answered by their brother Protestants with the convincing weapons of fire and sword ! Tens of thousands of the vast multitudes, whom these fanatics had misled, had been butchered; still their spirit was not wholly subdued. Karlstadt, then pastor at Jena, feeling himself aggrieved by the violence of Luther's sermon, challenged him to an oral discussion. The challenge was accepted, and the tavern of the Black Boar, where Luther lodged, was the place appointed for the meeting. After some preliminary discussion, in which the two new apostles in dulged in insulting personalities, Karlstadt maintaining that Luther had meant him in his sermon, and Luther calling on him for proof, telling him " if he saw the likeness in the pic ture, it must have suited him," etc., the discussion proceeded after this wise : Karlstadt. — WeU then, I will dispute in public, and I will manifest the truth of God, or my own confusion. Lnther. — Your own folly rather, Doctor. Karlstadt. — My confusion, which I shall bear for God's glory. Luther. — And which will fall back on your own shoulders. I care little for your menaces. Who fears you ? Karlstadt. — Whom do I fear ? My doctrine is pure ; it comes from God. Luther. — If it comes from God, why have you not imparted to others the spirit that' made you break the images at Wittenberg ? Karlstadt. — I was not the only one concerned in that enterprise. It was done after a mature decision of the senate, and by the co-operation of some of your disciples, who fled in the moment of peril. Luther. — False, I protest. Karlstadt. — True, I protest. Karlstadt complained a little afterwards, that Luther had condemned him at Wittenberg without previous admonition. This Luther flatly contradicted, stating that "he had brought 238 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. Philip and Pomeranius into his study," for that purpose: hereupon Karlstadt became enraged, and exclaimed : " If you speak the truth, may the d — il tear me in pieces !" The dis cussion ended in nothing — as most discussions of the kind do. Luther challenged Karlstadt to write against him; the latter accepted the challenge : Luther then gave him a gold florin as stake-money, and the compact was duly ratified,. aftee the old German fashion, by two overflowing bumpers of ale.* Never had the Black Boar of Jena been so crowded^ or witnessed a spectacle of such stirring interest ! And such a spectacle ! From Jena Luther proceeded to Orlamunde, where he car ried on a spirited controversy, in the presence of the town council, with a cobbler theologian, named Crispin, who had recently learned — thanks to the Reformation — how to apply his craft to interpreting, if not mending the Bible. The dis cussion was long and animated ; Crispin supplying his lack of argument by a stentorian voice, and by furious gesticula tions. The subject was the lawfulness of images; Luther defending, and Crispin objecting; and both appealing to the Bible. What was most mortifying to the reformer, the town council sided with the cobbler, and decided against the Wit tenberg doctor ! "'So then,' said Luther to the council, 'you condemn me ?' "'Most assuredly;' cried out Crispin—' you and all who teach what is opposed to God's word.' "'A childish insult,' said Luther as he mounted the car. One of the chamberlains here caught hold of his garments, and said : ' Before you go away, master, a word with you on baptism, and the sacrament of the Eucharist' " ' Have you not my books ?' said the monk to him. ' Bead them.' " ' I have read them, and my conscience is not satisfied with them ;' said the chamberlain. " ' If any thing displeases you in them write against me ;' said Luther : and he started off."'f * See the whole discussion in Audin, p. 322, seqq. . j Ibid., 329l THE REAL PRESENCE. 239 Luther himself relates to us this adventure, and also gives to us the words of awful malediction with which the people greeted him, when he was leaving Orlamunde.* But the most interesting discussion of all, was that held at Marburg in 1528, on the subject of the holy Sacrament, be tween Luther, Melancthon, Justus Jonas, and Cruciger, on the one part; and Zuingle, (Ecolampadius, Martin Bucer, and Gaspard Hedio, on the other. Luther contended for the real presence of the body and blood of Christ along with that of the bread and wine; and Zuinglius maintained a figurative presence, or rather, no presence at all. This point was the greatest subject of, contention among the early re formers. " In 1527, Luther counted already no less than eight different interpretations of the text : ' this is my body ! ' Thirty years afterwards, there were no less than eighty- five !"f Basperger, who wrote at a somewhat later period, reckoned no less than two hundred ! J A pretty good com mentary this, on the principle of private judgment. It must surely be a good rule of faith, since it has thus led to- those diversities, which D'Aubigne admires so much, and deems essential developments of the Reformation^ One of Zuingle's chief arguments against the real presence, was based on the fact that this doctrine was held by the Catholic Church. Luther answered: Wretched argument! Deny then the Scripture also; for we have received it too from the Pope We must acknowledge that there are * Opp.. torn, i, edit. Jense; fol. 467 ; edit. Witt, i, 214. Cf. Audin, p. 329. As he was leaving, the populace roared out after him : " May the devil and all his imps have you ! May you break your neck and limbs before you leave the city!" f See Audin, p. 408, note, for an account of the principal interpretations ; most of them, singular enough,, even for those days of Bible mania. X Apud Liebermann, Theologia Dogmat. De Eucharistia. 5 Bellarmine bears evidence that two hundred interpretations of the words: — this is my body — had been enumerated in a work published in 1577 ! — Cohtroversise vol. iii, cap. viii, de Eucharist, p. 195. Edit. Venetiis, 1721— in 6 vols, folio. 240 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. great mysteries of faith in the Papacy; yea, all the truths we have inherited : for it is in popery that we found the true Scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys which remit sin, true preaching, the true catechism, which contains the Lord's prayer, the ten commandments— that is true Christianity.* Precious avowal, coming, as it does, from the father of the Reformation — the most inveterate enemy of Rome! How it contrasts with many of his otlier declarations ? Why abandon the Catholic Church, if it taught all this, and held "true Christianity?" "Out of thy own mouth, I judge thee, thou wicked servant!" On another occasion, Luther had said: " Had Karlstadt or any qther proved to me, five years ago, that there was nothing but bread and wine in the sacrament, he would have rendered me great service. It would have been a great blow to the Papacy : but it is all in vain ; the text is too plain."f It was perhaps too late : he had already taken his stand, and committed himself on the question. The conference on this subject at Marburg, was long and violent : instead of healing, it only widened the breach among the reformers. We can furnish but one extract from the debate. ¦ To prove the figurative presence, Zuingle had appealed to Ezechiel's wheel, and to the famous text from Exodus, chap. xii : " For it is the phase,- that is, the passover of the Lord," * Opp. Lutheri, Jenae, fol. 408, 409. Audin, 410. " Profecto frivolum est hoc argumentum, supra quod nihil boni sedificaturi sumus. Hoc enim pacto negare' eos oporteret totam quoque Scripturam Sacram et praedicandi offlcium ; hoc enim totum a Papa habemus. Stultitia est hoc totum Nos autem fatemur sub Papatu plurimum esse boni Christiani, imo omne bonum Christianam, atque etiam illinc ad nos devenisse. Quippe fatemur in Papatu veram esse Scripturam Sacram, verum baptis mum, verum sacramentum altaris, veras claves ad remissionem peccatorum, verum praedicandi offlcium ; . . . . Dico insuper in Papatu veram Christianir tatem esse,imo vero nucleum Christianitatis esse." f Lutheri Opp. edit. Hall. torn, xv, p. 2448. Ad. Menzel, i, 269, 270. LUTHER AND ZUINGLE. 241 which text had been suggested to him by the nocturnal visitor of whom " he could not say whether he was black or white ! "* Luther answered : " ' The pasch and the wheel are allegorical. I do not mean to dispute with you about a word. If is means signifies, I appeal to the words of Christ, who says : " This is my body." The devil can not get out of them (Da kann der Teufel nicht fur). To doubt is to fall from the faith. Why do you not also see a trope in " he ascended into heaven ? " A God made man, the Word made flesh, a God who suffers — these are all incomprehensible things, which you must however beheve under penalty of eternal damnation.' " Zuingle. — ' You do not prove the matter. I will not permit you to incur the begging of the question. You must change your note (Ihr werdet mir anderes singen). Do you think that Christ wished to accommodate himself to the ignorant?' " Luther. — ' Do you then deny it ? " This is a hard saying," muttered the Jews, who spoke of the thing as impossible. This passage can not serve jrou. " Zuingle. — ' Bah ! it breaks your neck (Nein, nein, bricht euch den Hals ab).' " Luther. — ' Softly, be not so haughty : you are not in Switzerland, but in Hesse ; and necks are not so easily broken here (Die Halse brechen nicht also).' "f The wavering, but often candid Melancthon wept bitterly over the dissensions of early Protestantism. He had not the power to heal the crying evil, nor the courage to abandon tho, system in which it originated. From many passages of his writings bearing on the subject, we select the following -lament, in a confidential letter to a friend : " The Elbe with all its waves could not furnish tears .enough to weep over the ¦miseries of the distracted Reformation." J , A learned German historian of the day, Dr Dollinger, has published an extensive work, replete with erudition, on the character of the German reformers, and the nature and tend ency of the religious revolution which they brought about, as described by themselves.^ We had intended to draw * Florimond Remond, and Schlussenburg, in proem. Theolog. Calvin. Zuingle's own words have been already quoted. f For an account of the entire discussion, taken from Eodolph Collin, an "eye and ear-witness, see Audin, p. 413, seqq. ' X Epist. lib. ii; Ep. 202. 5 The work was published at Batisbon, in 1846-8, in three volumes, 8vo VOL. I. 21 242 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE.' copiously from its pages ; but we luckily find the task already performed to our hands. The excellent condensed summary of its contents furnished by the Dublin Review* suits exactly the scope of our present essays ; and hence, in this and the following chapters^ we shall quote Dollinger from this sum mary, under the appropriate heads. And here we present to our readers a view of the unsettledness of faith produced by the principle of private judgment, as certified by .contem porary Protestants writers themselves : " It is really painful to read the lamentations of the Protestant writers of those days, over the utter and inextricable confusion in which every doc-, tiinal subject had been involved by the disputes and contentions of the rival religipns. ' So great,' writes the learned Christopher Fischer, superintendent of Smalkald, 'are the corruptions, falsifications, and scandalous contentions, which, like a fearful deluge, overspread the land, and afflict, disturb, mislead,. and perplex poor simple common men not deeply read in Scripture,, that one is completely bewildered as to what side is right, and to which he should give his adhesion.' Bartholomew Meyer, professor of theology at Marburg, declares that the 'last times,' predicted by the Lord and his apostles, have arrived, and that 'not only in morals, but also in the doctrine of the church, there is such confusion, that it may be doubted whether there is a believer on earth.' An equally unimpeachable witness of the same period admits, that 'so great, on the part of most people, is the contempt of religion, the neglect of piety, and the trampling down of virtue, that they would seem not to be Christians, nothing but downright savage barbarians.' Placius Illyricus declares, that 'the falsification of the doctrine of penance and justification had led to complete epicurianism.' Klopfer, the parish minister of Bolheim, in Wurtemberg, (1566) complains, that 'the greater number among them hold all that God has revealed in the Scripture, to be silly and idle things, old-world- fables and tales.' Batzenberger, aft old friend and fellow-laborer of Luther, had long before complained that 'all true doctrine and religion was utterly extinguished in Germany ;' and the celebrated Selnecker was so impressed with a sense of the hopelessness o. the evil, that he declared that many pious hearts gave up in despair : — ' I advised that things should be left to themselves, that it was not possible to change them, so completely had this spirit got the upperhand almost throughout Christendom.' " * Number for September, 1848. The writer furnishes references f<« sach quotation, which we omit. ENDLESS DIVISION. 243 Such then were the " diversities " of early Protestantism ! Such its endless maze of inconsistencies, contradictions, and absurdities ! Such the bitter fruits of that tree of revolt which Luther planted in the centre of Germany : and which was watered by the blood of the slaughtered Anabaptists, of the hundred thousand men who fell in the war of the peas ants, and of the countless multitudes, who perished in the thirty years' war ! Such was the influence of the Beformation on the doctrines of Christianity ! It found out one faith on the earth ; and it created a hundred new ones, all contradict ing one another ! Before it came, mankind were of " one tongue and of one speech ;" after it had done its deadly work, there was a confusion of tongues on the earth, and men no longer understood each other. Does not St. Paul draw a lively picture of early, and even of modern Protestantism, when he speaks of those who are like "children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness, in which they lie in wait to deceive ? "* Could a system which thus divided and unsettled faith — which produced all these disastrous results, be approved by heaven ? Let it not be said, that the Beformation did not produce all these bitter consequences. It is fairly responsible for them all. No effect ever followed more necessarily or more imme diately from any cause, than these divisions followed from their first great, and their only cause, private judgment as the only rule of faith. This principle is responsible for still more evil results.: it has led, by gradual, but by certain steps, to infidelity. History does not tell us of any at least consider able body of men, who made an open profession of infidel principles, in Christian countries, during the first fifteen ages of the Church. But now, what is the state of that portion of the world, which on the continent of Europe professes Protestant Christianity? Infidelity is the order of the day * Ephesians, iv : 14. 244 • INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. both in Germany and in Switzerland ; the two fatherlands of Protestantism. It is unnecessary to multiply proof on a mat ter so unquestionable. Even D 'Aubigne virtually admits,that the majority of Protestants have there passed over to the standard of rationalism, or the religion of men* — that is, to rank deism. And even where Protestantism ^still subsists, what is it, but a lifeless tree, the withered branches of wliich are -stirred only by the breath of its own internal dissensions ? We will conclude this Chapter with the picture of Protes tantism in modern Germany, drawn by the master-hand of Frederick Yon Schlegel, whose mighty mind, disgusted with the endless mazes of Protestantism, sought refuge within the pale of Catholic unity. He is speaking of the boasted bibli cal learning of Germany, in which he says " the true key of interpretation, which sacred tradition alone can furnish, was irretrievably lost, as the sequel has but too well proved!" He then adds : , " This is nowhere so fully understood, and so deeply felt as in Protestant Germany of the present day, Germany, where lies the root of Protestantism, its mighty center, its all-ruling spirit, and its life-blood, Germany, where, to supply the want of the true spirit of religion, a remedy is sought sometimes in the external forms of liturgy, f sometimes in the pompous apparatus of biblical philology and research, destitute of the true key of interpretation ; sometimes in the empty philosophy of rationalism, and sometimes in the mazes of a mere interior pietism.":): ' * D'Aubigne, preface to vol. i, p. 9. f He here refers to the ordinances promulgated some years ago by the king of Prussia, for the reform of the Liturgy (Protestant). I Philosophy of History, vol. ii, p. 207. TWO METHODS OF INVESTIGATION. 245 CHAPTER IX. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON MORALS. " This world is fallen on an easier way ; This age knows better than to fast and pray." — Dryden. Two methods of investigation — Connection of doctrine and morals — Salu tary influence of Catholic doctrines — Of confession — Objections answered — Of celibacy — Its manifold advantages — Utility of the doctrines of satisfac tion and indulgences — Of fasting— Of prayers for the dead — Of communion of saints — Sanctity of marriage — Divorces — Influence of Protestant doc trines — Shocking disorders — Testimony of Erasmus — Bigamy and poly gamy. — Mohammedanism — Practical results — Testimonies of Luther. Bucer, Calvin, and Melancthon — The reformers testifying on their own work — Dollinger's researches — Character of Erasmus — John Reuchlin — Present state of morals in Protestant countries. We have seen what was the influence of the Reformation on the doctrines of Christianity. ' We will now briefly ex amine its influence on morals. Was this beneficial or was it injurious ? There are two ways to decide this question : the one by reasoning a priori on the nature and tendency of the respective doctrines of Catholicism and of Protestantism ; the other, which will greatly confirm the conclusions of the for mer by facts showing what was the relative practical influence of both systems. We will employ both these methods of investigation. I. Doctrines have a powerful influence on morals. The former enlighten the understanding, the latter guide and direct the movements of the heart and will. These are of themselves 'mere blind impulses, until light is reflected on . them from the understanding. A sound faith, then, illumin ating the intellect, is an essential pre-requisite to sound morals guiding the heart, in the individual as well as in society. True, we are able, by the exercise of our free will,, to shut our eyes to the light, and to' continue acting perversely; but this does not disprove the powerful influence, which the under standing, enlightened by faith, has over our moral conduct. 16 246 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS What was the necessary moral influence of those doctrines of the Catholic Church, which the Reformation rejected ; and what that of those new ones which it substituted in the place of the old ? We speak only, of course, of the distinctive doc trines of the two communions, not of the common ground wliich they occupy. The Reformation retained many of the great principles of Christianity, which, according to the testi mony of Luther 'himself, referred to above, it had borrowed from the Catholic Church. Among the doctrines, or impor tant points of discipline which the reformers repudiated, the principal were : confession ; the celibacy of the clergy ; the doctrine of satisfaction, implied in fasting, purgatory, prayers for the dead, and indulgences ; the honor and invocation of ' saints ; and the indissoluble sanctity of marriage ; to say nothing of the real presence, which the greater portion of Protestants also rejected. We will say a few words on the moral influence of each of these doctrines. We may remark of them all, in general, that they had a restraining as well as an elevating effect ; that many of them were painful to human nature, and opposed a strong barrier to the passions. Even Voltaire admitted the salutary moral influence of confession. He says : " The enemies of the Catholic Church, who opposed an institution so salutary, seem to have taken away from men the greatest possible check to secret offenses."* Another infidel, and a mortal enemy of Rome — * Annales de 1' Empire, quoted by Bobelot, in his work entitled : Influ ence de la Beformation de Luther, sur la croyance religieuse, la politique, et le prbgres des lumieres. Par M. Bobelot, ancien chanqine de l'Eglise cathedrale de Dijon. A Lyon. 1822. 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 440. (Influence of the Beformation of Luther on religious belief, on politics, and on the progress of enlightenment. By M. Bobelot.) This work was written in reply to the Essay on the Beformation which had been published by M. Villers, and had been rewarded with a prize by the infidel French Institute. Of this essay an unexceptionable witness, Hal lam, writes as follows : " The essay oh the. Influence of the Beformation by Villers, which obtained a prize from the French Institute, and has been ex tolled by a very friendly but better informed writer in the Biographie Univer- UTILITY OF CONFESSION. 247 Marmontel — says: "How salutary a preservative for the morals of youth, is the practice and obligation of going tc confession every month ? The shame attending this humble avowal of the most hidden sins, prevents perhaps the com mission of more of them, than all other motives the . most holy taken together."* Nothing but stern truth could have drawn such avowals from such men. How many crimes, in fact, has not the practice of confes sion prevented or corrected ! How much implacable hatred- has it not appeased! How much restitution of ill-gotten goods, and how much reparation of injured character, has it not brought about ! How often has it not preserved giddy youth from confirmed habits of secret and degrading vice ! How much consolation has it not poured into bosoms torn by anguish, or weighed down by sorrow! What amount of good and salutary advice has it not imparted ! How often has it not prevented the sinner from being driven to the very verge of despair ! In a word, how much has it not contrib uted to the preservation of morals in every portion of society, which felt its influence ! Tell us not, that confession may be abused by corrupt men, that it has been often made an instrument of unholy ambi tion in the hands of the priesthood, and that it facilitates the commission of crime, by its offer of pardon. These objec- selle, appears to me the work of a man who had not taken the pains to read any one contemporary work, or even any compilation which contains many extracts. No wonder that it does not represent, in the slightest degree, the real spirit of the times, or the tenets of the reformers. Thus, ex. gr., ' Luther,' he says, ' exposed the abuse of the traffic of indulgences, and the danger of believing that heaven and the remission of all crimes could be bought with money ; while a sincere repentance and an amended life were the only means of appeasing divine justice.' (Page 65, English translation.) This at least is not very like Luther's antinomian contempt for repentance and amend ment of hfe ; it might come near to the notions of Erasmus." — Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. In 2 vols. 8vo. Harper & Brothers ; New York, 1841. Vol. i, p. 166, note. * " Memoires," tom. i, liv. i. Apud Bobelot, ibid. 248 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. tions are all based on unfounded suspicion, or on gross mis apprehension of the nature of confession. At least, the evils complained of are very greatly exaggerated, and are not to be put in comparison with the incalculable amount of good which this institution is calculated to effect, and which it has really accomplished. What good thing is there, which has not been abused ? Has not the Bible itself, abused by wicked men, been a source of incalculable mischief? And has not the Church guarded against abuses in the Confessional, by the sternest enactments? One of these takes from the wicked priest all power of absolving an accomplice in crime ; and another requires the penitent to denounce the unfaithful min ister to the proper authorities.* And. then, how sacred and inviolable has not the seal of confession ever been? History does not record a single in stance of its violation, among hundreds of thousands of priests, in the long lapse of ages !f How can the priest avail himself of the knowledge obtained through confession, in order to exercise political or any other undue influence, when he is bound by the most sacred obligation, sanctioned by the ' most severe penalties, to rhake no use whatever of the knowl edge thus acquired, outside of the confessional itself? Why reason from mere idle suppositions and mere vague possibili ties, against the strongest evidences, and the most stubborn facts? , As to the other objection — that confession, encourages the commission- of sin- — it is as puerile, as it is hackneyed. Ab surdity is stamped on its very face. What? is it easier then to commit a sin~-which you know you have to confess to a fel low man, than it would be to commit the same sin; without feeling any such obligation ? We would not be guilty of an * See the two bulls of Benedict XIV. on this subject. They begin Sac ramentum and Apostolioi. Another enactment to the same effect was made by Pope Gregory XV., in the year 1622. See Liguori — " Homo Apostolieus." Tract, xvi, numo. 95, seqq. and numo. 165, seqq. De complice- st sollicit. f See the testimony of Marmontel to this effect. Memoires, lorn. iv. AND OF CELIBACY. 249 offence, forsooth, which we believed, at the time, we could expiate by a mere act of internal repentance, joined with confession to God ; and yet we would be encouraged to com mit this same offence, if we felt that, in addition to all this, we would be obliged to confess it to a priest ! The objection is predicated on a strange ignorance of human nature. The Catholic Church requires, for the remission of sin, all that Protestants demand ; and, over and above all this, it requires, as essential conditions to pardon, many very painful things — confession, restitution, works of penitential satisfaction — which Protestants do not require. Which system really enj courages the commission of sin ? The people never could be induced to confess their sins to a married clergy. From the testimony of Burkard, Bishop of. Worms, it appears that the Catholic population of that city refused to go to confession to those priests, who, stimulated by the principles of the Reformation then just commencing, had broken their vows of celibacy by taking wives. Confes sion and celibacy fell together. A married clergy never can command the respect, which has ever been paid to those who are unmarried. This is generally admitted by Protestants themselves, and it is even made a matter of censure against the Catholic clergy, who are accused of having too much in fluence over their flocks ! The true secret of this influence lies in the greater abstraction from the world, in the greater freedom from worldly solicitude, and in the more spiritual character of an unmarried clergy. Does not St. Paul allege these very motives, in the strong appeal which he makes in favor of celibacy, in his first epistle to the Corinthians?* Does he not advise the embracing of this state, both by word and by his own example? Can the Catholic Church be blamed for having adopted his principles, and acted on his advice, in the matter of the celibacy of her clergy? Who can recount the immense advantages of priestly celi- * Chapter vii. Bead the whole chapter. 250 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION 0., MORALS. bacy to society? Who can tell of all the splendid churches it has erected; of the hospitals for the sick and the afflicted, it has reared ; of the colleges it has built ; of the ignorant it has instructed; of the noble examples of heroic charity it has given to the world ; and of the pagan nations it has converted to Christianity ? Catholic Europe is full of noble monuments to religion, to literature and to charity, wliich an unmarried priesthood has built up ; and which a married clergy, " solic- ¦ itous for the things of the world, how they might please their wives," and support their children, would certainly never have erected ? To advert briefly to the last consideration named above ;¦ can a married clergy, other things being equal, cope with one that is unmarried, in missionary labors among heathen na tions ? With the incumbrance of their wives and children, can the former be as free in their movements, or be as zealous and disinterested ; can they mingle as freely with the people, labor as much, or succeed as well, in any respect as the lat ter ? What say the annals of Protestant missionary enter prise on this very subject? Can they point to one single nation or people converted to Christianity by their married preachers, notwithstanding the immense outlay of money for this purpose, and all the parade that is made about carrying the gospel to the heathen ? True, there are other weighty causes, which have also greatly contributed to this signal fail ure of Protestant missions ; but the absence of celibacy in their missionaries is no doubt one of the chief causes. The doctrine of satisfaction was another strong Catholic barrier against vice, which the Reformation removed. The reformers could not appreciate the utility of fasting, of vigils, and of other works of penance, undertaken .for the expiation of sin. They had abolished the great sacrifice of the new law ; and they wished also to abolish all those painful obser vances, which could nourish and keep alive in the soul of the Christian that spirit of sacrifice, which might incline him "to deny himself, to take up his cross and to follow Christ," Both DOING PENANCE. 251 kinds of sacrifice were' intimately connected ; and they both fell together. The reformers no longer taught their disciples, after the example of St. Paul, " to chastise their bodies and bring them into subjection," or " to fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in their flesh."*' And yet, besides aiding in expiating sin, and rendering Christians more conformable to the image of the Saviour and of St. Paul, this doctrine was fraught with other almost in calculable advantages to society. . To expiate their sins, Catholics of the olden time not only "chastised their bodies," but they also bestowed abundant alms, and reared splendid institutions of learning and of charity. Many of the colleges and hospitals of Europe owe their erection to the operation of this principle. It is quite common to find in the testamentary' dispositions of the pious founders of these noble institutions, this consideration expressed in such clauses as this : " For the expiation of my sins, I found this hospital or college." We have seen that St. Peter's church and the university of Wittenberg were both indebted for their erection mainly to indulgences, wliich were predicated on the necessity of satis faction for sin. These are two instances, out of hundreds which might be stated, to show the beneficial influence of this doctrine on society. f Alas! Charity hath grown cold, in those places particularly where this principle hath ceased to exist! Private interest, a fever for speculation, selfish and sordid avarice, have dried up those deep fountains of Catho lic charity, which in the good old Catholic times so abundantly irrigated and fertilized the garden Catholic ! How manifold also are the advantages of holy fasting! How it elevates the mind,J fosters temperance, teaches us to * Colossians, i: 24; and 1 Corinthians, ix. f See " The Ages of Faith" by Kenelm Digby, which is full of such ey amples. J: Vitia comprimijt, mentem elevat, virtutem largitur et prsemiar— Praef ad Missa. 252 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. restrain the passions, and to subdue the rebellious flesh! " Like another spring," according to the beautiful comparison of St. John Chrysostom,* "it renews the spirit, and brings calm and joy to the soul." It also promotes health, and con duces to longevity. Who has not remarked the great age to wliich the anchorites of the desert attained ? Malte Brun in forms us, that of one hundred and fifty-two anchorites, who lived in different climates, and in different centuries, the aver- age age was seventy-six years. f By accustoming us to endure privation, fasting teaches us to bear patiently the necessary ills of life, and disposes us for great enterprises. In fact it is remarkable, that Moses and Elias approached the Deity to receive his special communications, only after the preliminary disposition of long fasting: and that Christ himself "fasted. forty days and forty nights," ere he entered on his divine mission of mercy. How soothing, too, to the soul, is that sweet communion with the departed, which is kept up by the Catholie practice of praying for the dead? Even the stern Doctor Johnson felt the beauty and the force of this sympathy : he not only defended the practice, but he seems to have occasionally adopted it himself. He was not satisfied with merely dropping a tear, warm from his heart, over the grave, of his departed mother ; but he, at the same time, wafted a fervent prayer to heaven for her repose.J And how elevating and useful, on the other hand, is that constant communion with heaven, which is kept up by the invocation of saints ! It powerfully stimulates us, not only to admire their super-eminent glory and to implore their aid ; but also to imitate their virtues. The Offices of the Church keep up a constant round of aniversary celebrations of the virtues and triumphs of these heroes of Christianity ; whose virtues are thus always kept fresh in the minds of the faith- * St. John Chrysostom — " De excellentia Jejun." Opp. T. ii. f " Precis de la Geographie," ii, 44. J See. Boswell's Life of Johnson., DIVORCES. 253 ful, who are by this means powerfully excited to follow their example. Who does not perceive the highly beneficial influ ence of this practice on the tone and morals of society ? On the subject of marriage, the Catholic Church has never swerved in the least from the stern line of duty. She has ever defended its sanctity, and maintained its indissolubility. Many of her struggles with princes during the middle ages, were undertaken by her for the vindication of these sacred principles lying at the basis of the matrimonial contract, the well-spring of society. England was lost to the Church, be cause the unwavering firmness of* the Pope would not permit Henry VIII. to repudiate a virtuous wife, and to wed another more to his royal taste. She has won imperishable honors in this battle field of conjugal unity and purity against lawless vice in high places, on which she has nobly and victoriously contended with the army of the passions. On this point, as we have seen, the reformers -were very far from being so stern or unyielding. They not only allowed two wives to the landgrave of Hesse, but they permitted di vorce for trivial causes ; and some of them even openly sanc tioned polygamy, after the example of the patriarchs. What were the sad effects of their teaching on this subject, we shall see more fully in the sequel. It will suffice here to remark- on one obvious. result of this laxity of doctrine, in regard to the sacredness and permanency of the marriage contract. Before the Reformation, divorces were almost unheard of; great princes sometimes applied for them, but met with deter mined resistance and a stern rebuke, on the part of the Church. Even at present, in Catholic countries, they are almost un known. 'Is it so in those communities where the influence of ' the Reformation has been long or extensively felt? Alas! in these, men seem almost wholly to have lost sight of the divine injunction: "What God has united, let not man put asun der."* Divorces have multiplied to a frightful extent. In * St. Matthew, xix : 6. 254 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. the United States, our legislatures and courts receive annually thousands of petitions for divorce : and what is more deplora ble, they usually grant the prayer of the petitioners !* Is not this a lamentable evil, most injurious to society ? Whence does it originate, if not in the weakening of Catholic princi ples in regard to the indissolubility of the marriage contract by the counter principles broached at the period of the Ref ormation ? A volume might be written on the salutary influence on society of those distinctive doctrines of the Church which Protestants have rejected.f But Our limits permitted" only the above rapid and imperfect sketch : and we must now pass on to the additional inquiry ; what was the moral influence of those new dpctrines which the Reformation introduced ? We have already seen what many of these doctrines were, and we have already been enabled to estimate, in a great measure, their probable effect on the morals of society. But we will here give some further details on a subject so inter? esting and important. Luther's famous, or rather infamous sermon on marriage,, preached in the public church of Wittenberg in 1522, in the plain vernacular language, gave great scandal, and was a source of incalculable moral evil throughout Germany. It openly pandered to the basest passions of human nature. It was busily circulated and greedily devoured by all classes,' especially among those who were favorable to the Reforma tion. Never was there a grosser specimen of unblushing lu bricity : and its having been so much relished by the parti sans of Luther, is a certain index of a very low standard of morality at that period. But this was not the -only specimen of decency given by the " father of the Beformation." Many * The chancery court of Louisville granted sixty divorces in a single year ! And in many other places the case is still worse ; as, for mstance, in Indiana. f Those who may wish to see more on this subject, are referred to Scotti — Teoremi di Politica Christiana — an excellent Italian work, in 2 vols. 8vo, TESTIMONY OF ERASMUS. 255 of his letters to his private friends are much too obscene to be exhibited, even in the original Latin. Yet they had a power ful effect on the morals of the age. Luther openly invited the Catholic priests, monks, and n uns, who had vowed celib acy, to break their vows, which he styled the " bonds of anti christ." His soul overflowed with joy at the news of each new sacrilegious marriage. He would congratulate the in fringer of his vows, " on his having overcome an impure and damnable celibacy," by entering into marriage, wliich he painted as " a paradise even in the midst of poverty."* He wrote a work against celibacy and monastic vows, teeming with the strongest appeals to the lowest and basest passions. He openly urged princes to expel by force the religious from their monasteries. f Erasmus, an eye witness, paints the horrible disorders to which Luther's epistles, sermons and works against celibacy, naturally led. He represents certain cities of Germany as swarming with apostate monks, who drank beer to excess, danced and sang in the public streets, and gave in to all manner of scandalous excesses. He says of them : " That if they could get enough to eat and a wife, they cared not a straw for any thing else." J "When they found not wives among the fe male religious, they sought them in the haunts of vice. What cared they for the priestly benediction ? They married each other, and celebrated their nuptials by orgies, in which the new married couple generally lOst their reason."§ "Formerly" continues Erasmus, "men quitted their wives for the sake of the gospel ; nowadays, the gospel flourishes nost, when a few suceeed in marrying wives with rich dow- * "Paradisum arbitror conjugium, vel summa inopia laborans." Epist, Nicholao Gerbellis, Nov. 1, 1521. t See his words quoted by Audin, p. 335, seqq. t " Amant viaticum et uxorem : coetera pili non faciunt." Erasmi Epist. p. 637.5 Audin p. 336, who quotes from Erasmus — loco citato. 256 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. ries."* He caustically, remarks, "that (Ecolampadius had lately married a beautiful young girl, he suspects, to mortify, his flesh."f He also informs us, that these ex-monks, after having become the most zealous partisans of the Reformation, subsisted by open robbery of the churches and their neigh bors, indulged to excess in drinking and in games of hazard, and presented a spectacle of the most revolting licentiousness.^ Luther had taught that " as in the first days of Christanity, the Church was forced to exalt virginity among the pagans, who honored adultery ; so, now, when the Lord had made the light of the gospel (!) shine forth, it was necessary to exalt marriage, at the expense of popish celibacy ."§ The apostate monks eagerly seized on tiiis and similar teachings of the reformer ; and the above are some of the disorders which naturally ensued. But even they are not the worst. Bigamy was quite common among them, at least ¦ for a time. They defended it, too, on scriptural grounds. Luther was appealed to on the subject. In his reply, he wavers and hesitates, wishes each individual to be left to the guidance of his own conscience, and concludes his letter in these remarkable words : " For my part I candidly confess, that I could not prohibit any one, who might wish it, to take many wives at once, nor is this repugnant to the Holy Scriptures. But there are things lawful, which are not expedient. Bigamy is of the number." || Karlstadt went still further : he wished to make polygamy obligatory, or at least entirely permissible to all. He said to Luther : " As neither you, nor I, have found a text in the sacred books against bigamy, let us be- bigamists and triga- mists; — let us take as many wives as we can maintain. 'In crease and multiply.' — Do you understand ? Accomplish the * " Nunc floret evangelium, si pauci ducant uxores berie dotatas."— Erasmi Epist. p. 768. f Ibid., p. 632. • X Ibid., p. 766. j Luther Opp. torn i, p. 526, seqq, || Epist. ad K Bruck 13, Janu. 1524. " Ego sane feteor me non posse prohibere si quis velit plures ducerc uxores, nee repugnat Sacris literis-?" luther's lament. 257 order of heaven."* This argument must have had great weight with Luther, as he had maintained that celibacy was impossible, and had himself alleged that very text from Genesis, to prove that marriage was a divine command obli gatory on all ! By the way, as Luther married only at the age of forty-two, what are we to think of the purity of his previous life, when he openly maintained such principles as these? They were well calculated, at any rate, to bring down the lofty standard of Christian morality to that of Moham medanism : and, if they did not bring about this result, we certainly owe no thanks to the Beformation. How strongly these loose principles of morality contrast with the stern teach ings of the Catholic Church on marriage ! II. It was natural to expect, that the influence of such principles as these, as well as of those otlier distinctive doc trines of the Beformation which we have already referred to,f should have been most injurious to public morals. . And accordingly we find, from the testimony of the reformers themselves, and of their earliest partisans, that such precisely was the case. Luther himself assures us of this deterioration in public morals: ' " The world grows worse and worse, and becomes more wicked every day. Men are now more given to revenge, more avaricious, more devoid of mercy, less modest, and more incorrigible ; in fine, more wicked than in the Papacy."| — In another place he says, speaking to his most intimate friends : "One thing no less astonishing than scandalous, is to see that, since the pure doctrine of the gospel has been brought to light (!), the world daily goes from bad to worse."§ This is not at all astonishing, when we consider the nature and necessary tendency of that " pure doctrine." He draws the following dreadful picture of the morals .of his time, after " the pure doctrine had been brought to light :" " The noblemen and the peasants have come to such a pitch, that they * Apud Audin, p. 339. f Supra, Chapter iii. X Luther in Postilla sup. 1 Dpm. Adventus. { Idem, Table Talk, fol. 55. vol. i.— 22 "258 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. boast and proclaim without scruple, that they have only to let themselves, be preached at ; but that they would prefer being entirely disenthralled from the word of Go I : and that they would not give a farthing for all our sermons put together. And how are we to lay this to them as a crime, when they make no account of the world to come ? They live as .they believe : they are and continue to be swine: they live like swine and they die like real swine."* Aurifaber, the disciple and bosom friend of Luther, and the publisher of his Table Talk, tells us : " Luther was wont to say, that after the revelation of his gospel, virffue had become extinct, justice oppressed, temperance bound with cords, vir tue torn in pieces by the dogs, faith had become wavering, and devotion had been lost."f So notoriously immoral, in fact, were the early Lutherans, that it was then a common saying in Germany, to express a day spent in drinking and debauch: "Hodie Lutheranice vivemus" — "To-day we will live like Lutherans."J In another place, Luther laments the moral evils of the Reformation, in the following characteristic strain : " I would not be astonished if God should open at length the gates and windows of hell, and snow or hail down (up V) devils, or rain down on our heads fire and brimstone, or bury us in a fiery abyss, as he did Sodom and Gomorrha. Gad Sodom and Gomorrha received the gifts which have been granted to us— had they seen our visions and heard our instructions — they would yet be standing. They were a, thousand times less culpable than Germany, for they had not heard the word of God from their preachers. And we who have received and heard it — we do nothing but rise up against God Since the downfall of popery, and the cessation of its excommu nications and spiritual penalties, the people have learned to despise the word of God. They care no longer for the churches ; they have ceased to fear and to honor God."} Martin Bucer, another of the reformers, bears the following explicit testimony on the same subject : _ * Table Talk, super i, Epist. Corinth., chap. xv. f Aurifaber, fol. 623 ; and Florimond Bemond, p. 225. X Bened. Morgenstern — Traite de 1'Eglise, p. 221. 5 Luther Wercke Edit. Altenburg, tome iii, p. 519. Beinhard's ' Refor mations Predigten," tom. iii,. p. 445. TESTIMONY, OF THE REFORMERS. 259 " The greater part of the people seem to have embraced the gospel (!), only in order to shake off the yoke ' of discipline, and the obligation of fasting, penances, etc., which lay upon them in the time of popery, and to live at their pleasure, enjoying their lust and lawless appetite without control. They therefore lend a willing ear to the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone, and not by good works, having no relish for them."* The reformers ought surely to have known better probably than any one else what was the real tendency of the new gospel, and they certainly had no motive to exaggerate its evil results. John Calvin draws a picture, not much more flattering of the state of morals to his branch of the glorious Beformation. He states that even the preachers of the new doctrines were ' notoriously immoral: "There remains still a wound more deplorable. The pastors, yes the pastors themselves who mount the pulpit .... are at the present time the most shameful examples of waywardness and other vices. Hence their sermons obtain neither more credit nor authority than the fictitious tales uttered on the stage by the strolling player: .... I am astonished that the women and children do not cover them with mud and filth."f Another leading reformer — Philip Melancthon — informs us, that those who had joined the standard of the Beforma tion at his day, " had come to such a -pitch of barbarity, that many of them were persuaded that if they fasted one day, they would find themselves dead the night following."! And still another early Protestant, Jacob Andreas, says : " It is certain that God wishes and requires of his servants a grave and . Christian discipline ; but it passes with "us as a new Papacy, and a new monkery."§ — And no wonder, after all the teaching on the subject of Luther and the other leading reformers ! We here subjoin an analysis of the testimony furnished by the reformers themselves, according to the learned and ac curate Dollinger, on the practical moral results of their teachings, as witnessed by themselves in their own times. * "De regno Christi." f Livre — sur les scandales — p. 128. t In vi, cap. Mathei § Comment, in St. Lucam. Chap. xxi. 260 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. If some of these testimonies are similar to those already given, the confirmation is still more forcible. As will be seen, the analysis is sufficiently thorough and searching, and its length will be pardoned to the great interest of the subject.* THE MOEAL EESULTS OF THE BEFOEMATION. "Upon this head, few will be disposed to call in question the authority of our first evidence, the father of the Beformation himself. With all his partiality for the child of his own labors, Luther is forced to admit, that it were no wonder if his beloved Germany 'were sunk in the earth, or utterly overthrown by the Turks and Tartars, by reason of the hellish and damn able forgetfulness and contempt of God's grace which the people manifest ; nay, that the wonder is, that the earth does not refuse to bear them, and the sun to shine upon them any longer.' He doubts 'whether it should any longer be called a world, and not rather an abyss of all evils, wherewith those sodomites afflict his soul and his eyes both day and night.' 'Every thing is reversed,' he laments, 'the world grows every day the worse for this teaching ; and the misery of it is, that men are nowadays more covetous, more hard-hearted, more corrupt, more licentious, and more wicked, than of old under tiie Papacy.' 'Our evangelicals,' he avows, 'are now sevenfold more wicked than they were before. In proportion as we hear the gospel, we steal, lie, cheat, gorge, swill, and commit every crime. If one devil has been driven out of us, seven worse ones have taken their place, to judge from the conduct of princes, lords, nobles, burgesses, and peasants, their utterly shameless acts, and their disregard of God and of his menaces.' 'Under the Papacy, men were charitable and gave freely ; but now, under the gospel, all almsgiving is at an end, every one fleeces his neighbor, and each seeks to have all for himself. And the longer the gospel is preached, the deeper do men sink in avarice, pride, and ostentation.' So utterly,- too, does he despair of the improvement of this generation of his disciples, that he 'often wishes that these filthy swine-bellies were back again und,er the tyranny of the Pope, for it is impossible that a race so savage, such a "people of Gomorrha," could be ruled by the peaoeful consolations of the gospel.' " It could hardly be expected, indeed, that Luther would himself attribute the universal depravity, the presence of which he thus frankly acknowledges, to the influence ©f his own gospel. But he can not, and does not conceal, * We take this excellent summary from the Dublin Beview for Septem ber, 1848, which gives also the proper references to Dollinger's German work. REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY 'IHE REFORMERS. 261 that such was the popular impression regarding it ; and although, of course, he denounces the imputation as sinful and blasphemous, he admits that men 'loudly and complainingly attributed it all to the gospel, or, as they call it, the new learning,' and tauntingly demanded what was the good of all their fine preaching and instruction, if no one followed it, or was the better for it, nay rather, if they grew worse than they were before ; 'it would be better,' they said, 'if things had remained as they were.' Indeed, not to multiply evi dence of a fact so notorious, he himself acknowledges that 'the peasants, through the influence of the gospel, have become utterly beyond restraint, and think they may do what they please. They no longer fear either hell or purgatory, but content themselves with saying, "I believe, therefore I shall be saved:" and they become proud, stiff-necked Mammonists, and accursed misers, sucking the very substance of the country and the people.' " These are but a few out of a'bost of similar avowals, which Dr. Dollin ger has collected from every portion of Luther's works. . Lest it should be supposed they are confined to the earlier years of the Beformation, and regard only the state of the Lutheran body in the first phases of its forma tion, we shall venture, even at the risk of being tedious, to select a few pas sages, written during the last years of his life, not a whit less expressive than those already produced. During the years 1540-6, Lutheranism may be truly said to have reached its culminating point, as far as regards the career of its founder. In a letter of his written to Hermann Bonn, (April 5, 1543,) he expresses his exultation at the completeness of his success — ' From Biga to Metz — from the foot of the Alps to the north point of the peninsula of Jutland ' — his realm had been .gradually extended. The num ber of crowned heads and of sovereign princes now in his following, was very great, and later years had notably increased the catalogue. Duke Otho, Henry, elector palatine of the Bhine, the duchess of CalenbeYg, Arch bishop Hermann of Cologne, and the bishop of Munster and Osnabruck, were among his most recent adherents. Wolfenbiittel had just been added to the ranks by the ministry of Bugenhagen. The nobility and many of the lower classes in Austria, had begun to feel the contagion. The great body of the German nobility were, at least indirectly, favorers of the movement. Many of the noble chapters had passed over en masse, and others were but tottering in their allegiance. The imperial cities were for the most part Protestant ; and it seemed but a question of time to complete and perpetu ate the conquest thus rapidly and systematically achieved ! " Such was the exterior history of the movement ; such was the external condition of the Lutheran communion during the later years of its founder's life. But how hollow the triumph, and how unsubstantial the conquest which had been thus obtained ! "On Nov. 10th, 1541, Luther writes to one of his friends, that 'he had 17 262 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. almost abandoned all hope for Germany, so universally had avarico, usury, tyranny, disunion, and the whole host of untruth, wickedness, and treach ery, as well as disregard of the word of God, and the most unheard of in gratitude, taken possession of the nobility, the courts, the towns, and the villages ' In the March of the following year, he writes in much the same strain, adding, that ' his only hope is in the near approach of the last day ; — the world has become so barbarous, so tired of tiie word of God, and enter tains so thorough a disgust for it' On the 2"3d of July, he declares, that 'those who would be followers of the gospel, draw down God's wrath by their avarice, their rapine, their plunder of the churches ; while the people listen to instructions, prayers, and entreaties, but continue, nevertheless, to heap sin upon sin.' On another occasion, (October 25th, 1542,) he declares that 'he is tired of living in this hideous Sodom.;' that 'all the good which he had hoped to effect has vanished away ; that there remains naught but a deluge of sin and unholiness, and nothing is left for him but to pray for his discharge.' And in reality, not only did he wish for death as a boon to himself, 'that he might be released from this Satanical generation,' but he was even able calmly to see his little daughter Margaret, to whom he was devotedly attached, die before his eyes. ' Alas !' he cried to the prince of Anhalt, 'we live in Babylon and Sodom. Everything is growing worse each day.' And even in the very last hours of his life, so bitterly did he feel the immorality and irreligiousness of the city which he had made the chosen seat and center of his doctrines, that he had actually made up his mind to leave it forever. So sensible was he made of the connection between his doctrines and the moral condition of Wittenberg, that the thought of residence there became insupportable. 'Let us but fly from this Sodom!' he wrote to his wife a few months before his death; 'I will wander through the world, and beg my bread from door to door, rather than embitter and disturb my poor old last days by this spectacle of the disorder of Wittenberg, and the fruitlessness of my bitter dear toil in its service:' It is a significant commentary on the fruitlessness of the mission to which he had devoted his Hfe, that it needed all the influence of the elector to induce him to abandon his determination ! " Such is a faint outline of Luther's own report of the moral fruits of his Beformation. It is but too weU borne out in its worst details by his friends and fellow-laborers. The reader will perceive that we are drawing but lightly upon Dr. Dollinger's abundant and overflowing pages ; and for what remains, -we must be even more sparing in our extracts. We shall only ob serve that those which we mean to present are taken almost at random ; that it would have been easy to find hundreds of others equally striking ; and that the effect of all is grievously impaired by the broken and fragmentary form, in which, of course, they must appear in such a notice as the present. REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY THE REFORMERS. 263 " Few of the reformers dealt less in extremes than ' the mild Melancthon.,' What, therefore, are we to think of the state of things which drew even from him the declaration, that ' in these latter times the world has taken to itself a boundless license ; that very many are so unbridled as to throw off every bond of discipline, though at. tiie same time they pretend tluit tiiey have faitJi, that they invoke God with true fervor of heart, and that they are hvely and elect members of the church ; living, meanwhile, in truly Cyclo pean indifference and barbarism, and in slavish subjection to the devil, who drives them to adulteries, murders, and other atrocious crimes f This class, too, he tells us, are firmly wedded to their own opinions, and entirely intol erant of remonstrance. ' Men receive with avidity the inflammatory ha rangues which exaggerate hberty and give loose rein to the passions ; as, for an example, the cynical, rather than Christian principle, which denies the necessity of good works. Posterity will stand amazed that, a generation should have ever existed, in which these ravings have been received with applause.' 'Never in the days of our fathers,' he avows, 'had there existed such gluttony as exists now, and is daily on the increase.' ' The morals of the people, all that they do, and all that they neglect to do, are becoming every day worse. Gluttony, debauchery, licentiousness, wantonness, are gaining the upper hand more and more among the people, and in one word, svery one does just as he pleases.' '"Most of the preachers,' writes Bucer, 'imagine, that if they inveigh stoutly against the anti-christians [papists], and chatter away on a few un important fruitless questions, and then assail their brethren also, they have discharged their duty admirably. Following this example, the people, as soon as they know how to attack our adversaries, and to prate a little about * things far from edifying, believe that they are perfect Christians. Mean while, there is nowhere to be seen modesty, charity, zeal, or ardor for God's glory ; and in consequence of our conduct, God's holy name is everywhere subjected to horrible blasphemies.' 'Nobody,' writes Althamer, in "the preface of his Catechism, ' cares to instruct his child, his servant, his maid, or any of his dependants, in the word of God or his fear ; and thus our young generation is ihe very worst that ever has existed. The elders are worth less, and the young follow their example.' ' The children,' says Culmaun, 'are, habituated to debauchery by their parents, and thus comes an endless train of djseases, seductions, tumults, murders, robberies, and thefts, which unhappily, owing to the state of society, are committed with security. And the worst of all is, that they are not ashamed ¦ to paUiate their conduct by the examples of Noah, Lot, David, and others.' " In one word, it would be as difficult to add to the catalogue of popular crimes enumerated by these men: — ' contempt, falsification, and persecution »f God's word; abuse of his holy sacraments; idolatry, heresy, simony, 264 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. sorcery, heathenish and epicurean life, indifference about God, absolute infi delity, disregard of public worship, ignorance of the first elements of religion, and the whole hideous deluge of shame and sin shamelessly committed against God's commandments, not the mere result of human weakness and frailty, but persevered in remorselessly and uiirepentingly, and regarded by the majority of men as no longer sinful and disgraceful, but as downright virtues, and legitimate subjects of boast and self-gratulation' — as it would to add to the evidence of the universal prevalence of such crimes which they supply, and for the truth of which they themselves challenge a denial.