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SarbartJ  College  fLibrarg. 

THE   BEqUEST  OF 

JAMES   WALKER,   D.D.,   LL.D. 

(Clan  of  X814), 
LATE    PRESIDENT  OF   HARVARD  COLLEGE. 


Received  22  March,  1875. 


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LIBRARY  OF  TRANSLATIONS 


FBOM   BELRCT 


FOREIGN  LITERATURE. 


HISTORY 

OP  THK 

LIFE,  WRITINGS,   AND  DOCTRINES 

OP 

LUTHER. 

By  M.  AUDIN. 
•TRANSLATED  BY  WILLIAM  B.  TCJRNBULL,   ESQ. 


PBIlfTBO  BT 
COX  (BBOS.)  AVI)  vmtuf,  OBBAT  QUBBX  STBBBT, 

uirooLiff'B-nnr  vdcldb. 


J 


0 

HISTORY 

OF  THE 

LIFE,  WRITINGS,  &  DOCTRINES 

OF 

LUTHER. 

Bi<'M..ATJDIN. 


TRANaLATED    FROM    THE    LAST    FRENCH    EDITION     BY 

WILLIAM    b/TURNBULL,    EvSQ. 

AT" 


""Son  unhifl  did,  fortuitique  sennonis,  sed  plurhnorum  mensimn^  exaot»qu« 
histori»."~BRAKDOLINl,  Dialog. 


VOL.   II. 

LONDON: 
C.    DOLMAN,    61,    NEW    BOND    STREET, 

AND   22,    PATERNOSTER   ROW. 
MDOCCLIV. 


Jl 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

LUTHER'S  RETURN  TO  WITTEMBERG.     1622. 

Origin  of  Anabapiism. — CarUtadt  and  Munzer  are  Luther's  children. — Doc- 
trines of  the  Anabaptists.  —  Melancthon,  by  order  of  Frederick,  holds 
conferences  with  the  Anabaptists,  who  had  received  the  name  of  the  pro- 
phets.— ^What  he  thinks  of  them. — He  appeals  from  them  to  Luther. — 
Frederick  tries,  but  ineffectually,  to  prevent  the  monk's  return  to  Wittem- 
berg. — Luther's  letter  to  the  elector. — ^He  returns  to  Wittemberg,  ascends 
the  pulpit>  and  preaches  against  the  fitnatics. — Confers  with  Stubner  and 
Gellarius,  and  cannot  bring  them  back. — ^His  interview  with  Munzer. — ^The 
prophets  are  expelled  from  Wlttembeig. — Garlstadt's  books  are  confiscated. 
— ^What  then  had  the  prophets  done  ^-ZPoffe  1. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

SERMON  ON  MARRLIGE.    1£;22. 

Although  the  prophets  were  expelled  from  Wittemberg,  the  rebellion  was  not 
quelled. — It  was  necessary  to  supply  a  new  aliment  for  the  activity  of  mind 
created  by  free  inquiry. — Luther  preaches  upon  marriage. — Sketch  of  his 
sermon. — ^Erasmus  looks  upon  it  only  as  a  joke. — He  did  not  perceive 
Luther's  secret  intention.  —  What  did  Luther  intend  by  his  carnal  illus- 
trations in  the  pulpit  ? — ^The  princes  are  silent  on  this  scandal. — A  collection 
of  Luther's  sermons  is  published  at  Wittembeiv,  in  which  the  monk  is 
represented  with  the  Holy  Ghost  over  his  head. — Staupitz,  horrified  by 
ttiese  things,  returns  to  Catholicism,  and  deserts  his  old  friend. — Page  17. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE  BOOK  AGAINST  THE  PRIESTHOOD.    1522/ 

Development  of  Luther's  principles. — ^Myconius,  Bugenhagen,  Capito,  Hedlo, 
and  CBcolampadius  embrace  Protestantism. — ^The  secularised  monks  leave 
the  monastery. — Attempts  at  propagating  Lutheranism  in  the  religious 
houses. — Special  writing  composed  for  their  use  by  Dr.  Luther. — The  book 
against  the  priesthood. — ^Analysis  of  it. — Page  26. 


VI  .CONTENTS. 

CHAPTBE  IV. 

ADRIAN  VI.— DIET  OF  NUREMBEEG.     1522—1528. 

Florent  of  Utrecht  ia  eloTated  to  the  pontifical  chair,  and  takes  the  name  of 
Adrian  YI. — Character  of  that  pope. — Estimate  of  it  by  Protestant  histo- 
rians.— ^Reforms  which  he  wishes  to  introduce  in  the  Church. — He  sends 
Cheregatus  to  the  Diet  assembled  at  Nuremberg. — ^Appearance  of  the 
assembly. — ^Attempts  at  reconciliation  made  by  the  popedom,  and  which  are 
baffled  by  the  inimical  dispositions  of  the  members  of  the  Diet. — ^Writings 
published  by  Luther  to  foment  defiance  and  hatred  against  Rome. — ^The 
Diet  digests  its  memorial  of  grievances^  known  by  the  name  of  "  Centum 
Gravamina." — Luther's  commentary. — Adrian's  grief  and  mortification. — 
His  death. — ^Luther's  pamphlet  against  him  whom  he  oaUs  the  old  devil  of 
MeiBsen. — Melancthon  endeavours  to  justify  Luther's  rage.  —  Erasmus's 
opinion  of  the  monk. — Page  88. 

CHAFTEE  V. 

HENRY  Vin.  AND  LUTHER.     1528. 

The  Captivity  of  the  Church  in  Babylon  excites  a  great  sensation  in  England. 
— It  is  attacked  by  Henry  VIII. — Specimen  of  the  royid  work. — ^Lu^er's 
reply  to  the  king's  pamphlet. — Bugenhagen  and  Melancthon  approve  of 
Luther's  part  in  the  controversy. — Henry  complains  to  Germany  of  Luther's 
insults. — Sir  Thomas  More  defends  the  king's  aide. — His  work. — Luther's 
daring  explained. — ^New  letter,  wherein  the  monk  humbly  apologises  to 
Henry. — ^And  why  ? — Page  60. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PICTURES.     1624. 

How  Luther  makes  use  of  pictures  to  destroy  Catholidsm  in  Germany. — ^The 
pope-ass  and  monk-calf. — Legend  which  he  appends  to  these  two  caricatures. 
—  New  pictures  against  the  papacy.  —  Their  success. —  Melancthon  joins 
Luther  in  insulting  the  representative  of  Catholicity. — Page  65. 


CHAPTER  VU. 

ERASMUS  AND  FREE-WILL.     1624. 

Literary  glory  of  Erasmus. — His  war  with  the  monks. — Luther's  theses. — 
Erasmus  is  jealous  of  the  sensation  caused  by  Luther. — Letter  from  Luther 
to  him. — ^The  philosopher's  reply. — His  cowardice. — His  rival's  indifference. 
— Erasmus  conceives  the  idea  of  writing  against  Luther. — Adrian  VI. 
applies  to  Erasmus. — He  refuses,  but  continues  to  attack  the  monk  secretly. 
— Luther  breaks  out. — Erasmus's  versatility. — ^Free-will :  Luther's  psycho- 
lojg;ioal  opinions. — Estimate  of  his  system  of  philosophy. — Appeal  to  the 
Bible. — ^Erasmus  discusses  the  principle  of  free-will. — His  book  on  the  sub- 
ject.— Luther's  reply  to  it. — Erasmus  refiites  the  "Servum  Arbitrium." — His 
Hyperaspites. — His  death. — Page  7L 


CONTENTS.  Vll 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

LITERARY  LABOURS.— THE  BIBLE. 

At  Wartbuig  Luther  labonn  to  reduce  to  order  the  elements  of  his  doctrine. 
— ^Tbe  German  Bible. — Account  of  the  Doctor's  version. — ^The  excitement 
which  it  creates. — Emser  criticises  Luther's  transUition. — ^The  opinion  of 
Genuanj  in  regard  to  it. — ^Blunders  which  he  made. — ^The  Catholic  Church 
had  translated  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular  before  Luther. — She  has  never 
concealed,  as  she  has  been  charged  with  doing,  God's  word ;  and  wherefore  t 
— ^Dangers  which  the  revealed  word  would  run,  if  the  Church  did  not  watch 
over  the  deposit  of  the  truths  of  the  fiuth. — Protestant  commentary. — 
Agricola. — Page  105. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

DIETS  OF  NUREMBERG  AND  RATISBON.     1524—1625. 

The  legate  Campecgio  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg. — Aspect  of  the  States. — 
Decrees  of  the  Diet. — Luther's  protest  against  the  Orders. — ^The  Catholics 
assemble  at  Batisbon  in  defence  of  their  &ith.— Otho  Pack  deceives  the 
reformed  princes,  by  inventing  a  plan  of  conspiracy  by  the  Catholics  against 
the  Protestants. — His  imposture  is  detected  by  means  of  Duke  George  of 
Saxony  .—Pcy/c  117. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

THE  PEASANTS'  WAR.     1524—1526. 

State  of  the  public  mind  in  Germany  in  1524. — Boldness  of  the  new  doctrines. 
— Carlstadt  at  Orlamtinde. — Strauss  at  Eisenach. — Munzer  in  Thuringia. — 
Partial  revolts  of  the  peasantry. — ^The  association  of  the  Bundsohuh. — ^Conira- 
temity  of  the  Tun. — Luther's  manifesto,  addressed  to  the  German  nobility, 
drives  the  people  to  rebellion. — Menzel's  opinion  on  this  point. — Insurrec- 
tionary movement  in  the  country  places. — Scbappeler,  a  priest^  draws  up  a 
manifesto  for  the  peasants. — Effect  of  this  appeal  on  the  masses. — Insur- 
rection of  one  part  of  Germany. — Character  of  tbe  strife. — Page  126. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 

END  OF  THE  PEASANTS'  WAR  AND  EXECUTION  OF  MUNZER. 

1525. 

What  part  does  Luther  take  in  the  rebellion  of  the  peasants  against  their  lords  f 
— ^His  address  to  the  nobles. — The  peasants,  emboldened  by  his  language, 
rise  in  all  quarters. — Phiffer. — Munzer  goes  to  the  mines  of  Mansfeld. — 
Luther  changes  his  opinion  and  language  ;  his  manifesto  to  the  rebels. — 
The  prophet's  reply.— -Osiander  and  Erasmus  accuse  Luther. — Progress  of 
the  rebellion. — Luther  preaches  the  murder  of  the  rebels. — Melancthon's 
language. — Battle  of  Franckenbausen. — Defeat  of  the  peasants. — Munzer  is 
reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  dies  denouncing  Luther. — Is  Luther  to 


VIU  CONTENTS. 

be  aocnsed  of  hftving  misled  the  peasantxy  ?— The  masket,  the  ultmute  mtio 
to  which  the  monk  appeals  for  settlinjr  the  rebellion. — The  Protestant  prinoes 
rally  to  that  theory  of  despotism. — It  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  succesB  of 
the  new  doctrine. — Pagt  138. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

LUTHER'S  DISPtJTATION  WITH  CARLSTADT.    1524,  1525. 

The  extinction  of  the  peasants'  war  has  not  restored  peace  to  Lather. — ^New 
dispntee  arising  from  the  principle  of  free  inquiry. — Reappearance  of  Oarl- 
stadt. — Various  pamphlets  written  by  him  to  subvert  theWittembei^  creed. 
— ^Rise  of  Sacramentarianism. — Luther  preaches  agunst  the  prophets  at 
Jena.  —  Carlstadt's  challenge  to  Lather. — The  two  theologians  dispute 
( upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  at  the  Black  Bear  inn. — Luther  at  Orlamtinde, 
wnere  he  again  meets  Carlstadt. — Bickering  with  a  shoemaker. — ^He  is 
driven  fr^m  Orlamiinde. — Carlstadt  has  given  the  signal  for  new  revolts 
against  Luther. — Effi-onteries  of  the  ratiomJists. — Pagt  159. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

SECULARIZATION    OF  THE    RELIGIOUS   HOUSES    AND   MAR- 
RIAGE  OF  THE  MONKS.     1524,  1526. 

How  Luther  contrived  to  legitimate  the  expulsion  of  the  monks. — Disorders 
occasioned  in  the  monasteries  by  the  reformer's  writings  against  celibacy. — 
The  unfrocked  monks  enter  the  service  of  the  printers. — ^They  are  active 
auxiliaries  for  the  Reformation. — ^Froben  of  BAle. — Carlstadt.-~Monachal 
bigamies. — ^What  Luther  thought  of  them.— Po^tf  179. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

PLUNDER  OF  THE  CHURCH  PROPERTY. 

Lather,  in  order  to  win  the  princes  over  to  his  doctrines,  offers  them  the  spoils 
of  the  monasteries. — ^Feuaal  Germany  had  long  aspired  to  burst  the  tutdage 
in  which  Rome  held  her,  for  the  sake  of  the  nations. — ^Effects  of  Luther's 
preaching  on  the  great  vassals  of  the  empire. — Code  drawn  up  by  the  Saxon 
monk  for  the  use  of  the  princes  who  coveted  the  property  of  the  Church. — 
Invasion  of  the  temporal  on  the  rights  of  the  spiritual  power. — ^These 
attempts  are  justified  and  commended  by  Luther,  Melancthon,  Bucer, 
Bullinger,  and  all  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation. — ^Doctrines  of  flRtvery 
taught  by  them. — ^Pillage  of  the  Catholic  churches  and  properties. — ^Tardy 
indignation  of  Luther. — ^Had  he  not  preached  robbeiT  andmurder  f — ^Useless 
advances  made  by  him  to  some  of  his  adversaries. — Page  185. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

ABOLITION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP. 

The  Children  in  Germany  were  instructed  by  the  religious. — ^After  the  seculari^a' 
tion  of  the  monks/theeducation  of  the  people  was  entirely  neglected. — Luther's 
complaints  of  the  neglect  of  the  reformed  princes  to  instruct  the  rising 


CONTENTS.  IX 

geneimtion. — ^Yintations  of  the  oommmiities  reoommended  by  the  refoimer. 
— ^The  prince  selects  the  Tisitors. — ^The  dei^man  now  only  an  instrament 
in  the  hands  of  the  civil  power. — Disorganization  of  the  Catholic  worship 
effected  by  Luther^  with  consent  of  the  princes. — ^The  Gregorian  chant 
abolished. — German  songs  appointed  in  place  of  onr  hymns  and  proses. — 
Is  it  tme  that  Luther  was  the  first  in  his  laic  strains  to  glorify  the  blood 
of  Christ  V—Page  197. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

MORAL  AND  LITERARY  INFLUENCES  OP  THE  REFORMATION. 

Accosations  of  intolerance,  suppression,  and  fiJsehood,  brought  against  the 
reformers  by  Erasmus. — ^He  has  not  told  us  all. — ^Fatal  influences  of  the 
Reformation  on  morals  and  literature,  admitted  by  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Firkheimer,  and  others. — Page  208. 

CHAPTEE  XVII. 
LUTHER'S  MARRIAGE.     1525. 

Luther's  celibacy.  —  The  Catholics  foresaw  his  marriage.  —  His  reply  to 
Argnla>  who  urges  him  to  marry. — ^Motives  which,  perhaps^  may  have 
induced  Luther  not  to  listen  to  her.  —  His  letter  to  the  archbishop  of 
Mayence. — How  he  revenges  himself  on  the  cardinal  who  refuses  to  marry. 
— ^Unexpected  marriage  of  Luther. — ^Letter  to  Justus  Jonas  on  the  subject. 
— ^Melancthon's  regret — ^Rejoicing  of  the  Catholic  monks. — ^Emser's  epi- 
thalamium. — Conrad  Wimpina's  caricature. — ^Erasmus's  letters  to  Mauch 
of  Ulm  and  Nicholas  Ereiard,  president  of  the  high  council  of  Holland,  on 
Catherine's  precoctous  maternity. — Eridenoe  of  other  writers. — Controversy 
on  Bora's  confinement. — ^The  retractation  of  Erasmus. — ^What  we  should 
think  of  it. — Heniy  yili:'s  opinion  of  Luther's  marriage. — ^Influence  of  this 
marriage  of  the  monk.— Pc^  215. 


CHAPTEE  XVm. 

CATHERINE  BORA. 

Catherine  Bora's  extraction. — ^Her  portrait,  as  drawn  by  Werner  and  Elraus. — 
Was  Luther  happy  in  his  domestic  state! — ^Bora's  character. — Scenes  of 
their  private  life.— Po^e  288. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

LUTHER  IN  PRIVATE  LIFE. 

Luther  the  fiither  of  a  fiunily.  —Elisabeth  and  John,  hfs  children.— Luther  at 
Cobnrg  and  the  toy-merchant. — His  letter  to  his  son. — ^Luther  a  gardener. 
— In  his  own  house. — Luther's  residencc-^The  monasteiy  of  Erfurt  in 
1888. — Lnther  at  table. — ^His  opinion  of  music. — Account  of  the  expences 
of  the  city  of  Wittemberg  for  the  doctor. — ^Luther's  opinion  as  to  dancing 


CONTKNTS. 


and  mury.— A  oaie  of  oonscienoe. — ^Tbe  duds  of  Nimptachen. — Luther  an 
iiiBolvent  debtor. — HanB  Lufft  and  Ammlorf. — ^The  reformer's  courage  in 
adversity. — His  charities. — His  pride  in  poverty. — His  devotion  to  the 
Moses. — Eobanus  Hessus.— Pc^  245. 


CHAPTBE  XX. 

LUTHER  AT  TABLE.— THE  TISCH-REDEN. 

Luther  at  the  Black  Eagle  tavern  in  Wittembei:g. — Evening  conversations. — 
Why  we  collet  them. — The  object  of  these  nocturnal  gossipings. — T)ie 
devil. — SorceiT. — ^The  pope. — ^The  decretals. — ^Th^  bishops. — ^The  papists. 
— On  the  death  of  some  papists. — The  monks. — P<ige  264« 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  TISCH-REDEN  CONTINUED. 

Diseases. — ^A  jurist. — ^The  Jews. — ^The  ancient  Church. — ^The  Scriptures. — 
f     Heretics. — ^The  Sacramentarians. — St.  Gregory. — St  John. — St.  Augustine. 
—The  Fathers.— Eck,  Faber.—Sadoletus.— Paradise.— God.— Pasr«  279. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  TTSCH-REDEN  CONTINUED.— WOMAN.— THE  TEMPTER. 

Woman,  the  fertile  subject  of  conversation  at  table  in  the  Black  Eagle. — 
Luther's  tempter. — ^How  the  doctor  drove  him  away. — His  advice  to  Weller, 
how  to  repel  temptations. — Germany  and  the  Tisch-Reden. — Page  287. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    CONFERENCE   OF   MARBURG.  —  DISPUTATION    ON   THE 
EUCHARIST.     1529. 

The  Catholic  dogma  on  the  real  presence. — CarLstadt  was  the  first  who  denied 
It. — His  exegesis. — New  spirit  which  rises  in  the  church  of  Wittemberg. — 
By  whom  excited? — Zwinglius  attacks  the  sacrament. — His  dream. — The 
figurative  sense  of  Zwinglius  is  determined  by  his  doctrine  on  the  sacra- 
ments.— Luther's  theory  on  the  Lord's  Supper. — Hatred  of  popery  the  great 
argument  of  the  Swiss  for  rejecting  the  real  presence,  comliated  by  Luther. — 
Conference  of  Marbdrg. — Luther  refuses  to  call  Zwinglius  brother. — Ana- 
themas exchanged  between  Wittemberg  and  Zurich. — Appeal  of  the  two 
schools  to  authority. — Lesson  derived  from  that  appeal. — Melancholy  end  of 
Carlstadt. — Schwenckfeld  separates  from  Luther,  and  in  his  turn  attacks  the 
real  presence. — Page  296. 


C0KTE9TS.  XI 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  DIXrr  OF  ATJOSBUBG.     1590. 

State  of  Germimy  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  Diet. — Charles  V.  leftyes  Italy 
to  restore  peace  to  the  empire. — His  entry  into  Augsburg. — ^Prooesaion  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament. — ^The  Protestant  princes  refuse  to  assist  at  it. — 
Who  these  were. — Augsburg  is  disturbed  by  the  preaching  of  the  inno- 
yators. — Account  of  a  Lutheran  comedy  performed  in  presence  of  Charles  Y. 
—Catholic  orators  who  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  diet. — PoQt  319. 

CHAPTEE  XXV. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  AUGSBURG.     1580. 

Opening  of  the  Diet. — ^The  Protestant  princes  present  their  confession  of  fiiith 
to  the  emperor. — ^Tbe  confession  of  Augsburg  is  a  manifesto  against  the 
original  creed  of  Luther. — ^The  doctor's  contradictions. — Melancthon  gives 
an  account  to  his  master  of  the  deliberations  of  the  Diet. — Luther  at  Cobuig. 
— Melancthon's  dispositions  of  mind  at  Augsburg. — Various  concessions 
which  he  makes  to  the  Catholics. — Luther,  from  Coburg,  opposes  every  kind 
of  dealing*with  the  "  papists." — Spalatinus  and  Jonas  desire  a  reconciliation. 
— Anger  of  Luther,  who  will  have  peace  at  no  price. — Brack  is  of  a  similar 
way  of  thinking. — Melanothon's  chagrin  and  discouragement. — Cries  of 
reprobation  against  the  attempts  at  reconciliation  made  by  the  professor. — 
Luther's  append  to  popular  hatred. — ^The  elector  of  Saxony  clandestinely 
leaves  Augsburg. — Melancthon,  to  be  reconciled  with  the  Swins,  who  could 
not  obtain  a  hearing  at  the  Diet^  alters  the  text  of  the  confession. — ^The 
confession,  considered  as  a  dogmatic  creed,  does  violence  to  the  principle  of 
free  inquiry. — Pogt  382. 

CHAPTEE  XXVI. 

MELANCTHON. 

Melancthon  at  the  university  of  Wittemberg. — ^Portrait  of  the  professor. — His 
mode  of  Hving. — Luther  comprehends  Melancthon. —  His  opinion  of  his  dis- 
ciple's commentaries. — ^Melancthon  by  his  mother's  death-bed. — His  doubts 
and  weaknesses. — Luther's  illness  at  Schmalkalden. — Melancthon  at  Hague- 
nau. — His  influence  on  the  Befonnation. — His  philosophical  opinions. — 
Pa^  854. 

CHAPTEE  XXVn. 

LUTHER'S  POLICY.     1681,  &o. 

League  of  Schmalkalden. — Luther  attacks  the  Diet  of  Augsbui^  with  his  pen. 
— ^His  Warning  to  the  Germans,  to  which  Melancthon  supphes  a  pre&ce. — 
How  can  Luther's  audacity  be  exphuned  ? — An  anonymous  writer  answers 
Luther. — His  reply.— His  theory  on  the  right  of  resistance. — His  letters  to 
the  abbess  of  Risaa.— The  Anabaptists  rebel,  and  have  recourse  to  arms.— 
Pfsgt  867. 


/ 


ZU  00NTEKT8. 


CHAPTEE  XXVin. 

THE  ANABAPTISTS.    1684— 15S6. 

Forced  to  leave  Augsburg  anheard,  they  enter  WestphaUa.— -Munster  receives 
them. — ^Bothmann  disturbs  the  city  by  his  preachings. — Description  of  him. 
— Melchior  Hoffinann. — John  .of  Leyden  is  proclaimed  king  of  Munster. — 
Biots  caused  by  the  Anabaptists  in  that  city. — ^They  establish  community  of 
goods  there. — ^It  is  besieged  by  Bishop  Waldeck. — Is  captured. — Execution 
of  the  prophets. — David  Greorge  or  Jons.— The  Anabaptists  charge  Luther 
with  the  evils  which  stain  Germany  with  blood. — Pagt  876. 


CHAPTEE  XXIX. 

LAST  EFFOETS  OF  THE  PAPACY.    1586—1541. 

Efforts  of  Clement  VII.  to  restore  peace  to  the  Church  of  Germany. — Paul  III. 
sends  Vergerio  to  Luther. — ^His  interview  with  the  nuncio. — He  laughs  at 
the  legate. — ^Diets  of  Schmalkalden  and  Batisbon. — ^Vain  attempts  of  the 
CathoUcs  to  reconcile  the  Protestants  with  the  Church. — Melancthon  strives 
in  vain  against  Luther's  obstinacy. — ^Luther's  rage  against  Charles  V.  and 
Eric,  duke  of  Brunswick. — Death  of  George,  duke  of  Saxony. — Pa/gt  888. 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

BIGAMY  OF  THE  LANDGBAVE  OF  HESSE.     158d— 1540. 

The  Landgrave's  morals.— His  letter  to  Luther,  desiring  that  the  Wittemberg 
reformers  would  sanction  his  intended  bigamy. — Motives  which  he  assigns 
for  having  two  wives. — Consultation  and  reply  of  the  members  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church. — ^The  Landgrave's  marriage  with  one  of  his  wife  Christina's 
maids  of  honour. — ^Luther's  repentance. — Pagt  400. 


CHAPTEE  XXXI. 

LUTHEB'S  AFFLICTIONS  AND  SUFFEBINGS. 

Luther  &]ls  sick  at  Schmalkalden. — ^His  wishes  against  the  papacy. — He 
never  knew  how  to  pray. — ^Deathof  his&ther. — His  servant  Dietricn. — Death 
of  Magdalene. — The  fibther's  affectionate  care  for  his  child. — ^His  last  will. — 
Pagt  407. 

CHAPTEE  XXXII. . 

TEMPTATIONS  AND  DOUBTS. 

Doubt,  the  most  cruel  temptation  to  which  Luther  is  a  prey. — ^The  doctor's 
mental  prostral^on. — Disclosures  on  this  subject,  derived  from  his  private 
coiTespondence.— His  fiirewell  to  Borne.— Pagrc  416. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 


CHAPTEE  XXXIII. 

LUTHER'S  LAST  MOMENTS.     1646. 

QoArrols  in  the  ftmUy  of  the  Counts  of  Mansfeld. — Luther  goee  to  Bisleben 
to  suppress  them. — Incidents  on  his  journey. — He  sits  for  the  last  time  at 
table  with  his  disciples. — His  prophecy  regarding  the  papacy. — His  last 
moments  and  death. — His  funeral. — Page  424. 


CHAPTEE  XXXIV. 

CATHERINE  BORA.— LUTHER'S  RELICS. 

Distress  of  Catherine  Bora. — Her  death. — Relics  of  Luther  at  Eisleben, 
Erfurt,  ko.—Pagt  482. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

LUTHER  CONSIDERED  AS  AN  ORATOR,  AUTHOR,  MUSICIAN, 
AND  TRANSLATOR. 

Luther  as  an  orator :  he  is  the  great  preacher  of  the  Reformation. — ^His  style 
in  the  pulpit. — ^His  Haus  poetils.— Luther  as  an  author. — ^As  a  musician. — 
Has  he,  as  has  been  allegea,  effected  any  improvement  in  religious  music  t — 
As  a  translator. — His  version  of  the  Bible. — Page  440. 


CHAPTEE  XXXVI. 
THE  TRIBUNAL  OF  THE  REFORMATION.— Pfl»r«  458. 


COINTFIEMATOET  EVIDENCE. 

I.  Epithalamia  Martini  Lutheri  Wittebergensis  Johannis  Hessi  Yratis- 

laviensis Page  471 

II.  Erasmus's  Letter  to  Daniel  Mauch 473 

m.  On  the  Tiach-Reden    474 

lY .  Consultation  of  the  Theologians  of  Wittemberg,  addressed  to  Philip 

Landgrave  of  Hesse    480 


INDEX 485 


HISTOEY  OF  LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LUTHEB'S  BETUKN  TO  WITTEMBEB6.     1522. 

Origin  of  AnabftptiBin. — Cftrlafcadt  and  Mnnzer  are  Luther's  children. — Doe- 
trines  of  the  Anabaptists. — Melanothon,  by  order  of  Frederick,  holds 
oonferenoes  with  the  Anabaptists^  who  had  reeeiyed  the  name  of  the  pro* 
phots.— What  he  thinks  of  them. — ^He  appeals  from  them  to  Luther. — 
Frederick  tries^  bnt  ineffeotnallj,  to  prevent  the  monk's  return  to  Wittem- 
berg. — ^Luther's  letter  to  the  elector. — ^He  returns  to  'Wittembeig,  ascends 
the  pulpit^  and  preaches  against  the  fimatics. — Ck>nfer8  with  Stubner  and 
Cellariiis,  and  oannot  bring  them  back. — ^His  interview  with  Manser.— The 
prophets  are  expelled  from  Wittemberg.— Caristadt's  books  are  confiscated* 
— ^What  then  had  the  prophets  done ! 

Akabaptism  is  the  child  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  ;  its 
tXMdle  was  at  Wittembeig,  and  not  in  the  mountains  of  Sayo;, 
where  the  merchant  of  Lyons,  Peter  Yaldo,  sought  a  refuge. 
Protestantism,  like  Anabaptism,  proceeded  from  this  fundamental 
idea,  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  sole  rule  of  fiuth.  Luthar 
was  satisfied  with  separating  the  Scriptures  from  the  Church ; 
Munzer  rejected  the  exertions  of  man  to  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures. A  rigorous  logician,  he  believed  that  the  divine  word 
could  assume  another  than  the  sensible  form,  and  he  appealed 
to  it  to  translate  it  faithfully  by  inward  illumination,  as  Luther 
had  positively  taught.  From  that  time,  what  need  of  the  Bible  ? 
It  was  from  this  desperate  consequence  of  a  principle  established 
by  the  leader  of  the  Saxon  school,  that  Munzer  himself,  also  a 
leader,  but  of  a  thundering  legion,  was  impelled  from  fall  to  fiill, 
and  from  one  depth  to  another.  Bible  soon  signified  nothing  but 
Babd  for  this  Satan  of  the  reformation. 

Anabaptism,  which,  true  to  its  adopted  name,  admitted  but 
one  article  in  its  creed,  faith  in  a  second  baptism,  soon  bor- 

VOL.  IL  B 


2  HISTOBY  ^  LUTHER. 

rowed  firom  the  ancient  hereg&es  i  tnass  of  errors  which  it  was  to 
seal  with  its  blood.  It  annotmeed  a  new  world,  in  which  the 
Son  of  God  was  to  dwell  in  all  his  glory ;  it  promised  to  the 
nations  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  in  which  there  should  be 
an  equality  of  temporal  and  spiritual  goods,  and  in  which,  set 
firee  from  the  bonds  of  obligatory  marriage,  the  individual,  unre- 
strained, should  b^t  issue  free  from  stain.  A  Lutheran  clergy- 
man, who  long  had  associated  with  the  prophets  of  the  new 
alliance,  has  given  us,  in  a  brief  narrative,  a  clear  view  of  some 
of  the  socialist  dogmas  of  that  sect 

"  They  have,''  says  he,  "  neither  father  nor  mother,  brother 
nor  sister,  wife  nor  children  in  the  flesh,  but  are  mere  spiritual 
brethren  and  sisters  among  one  another.  Each  one  says,  ^  I  am 
not  in  mine,  but  in  our  house ;  I  lie  uot  in  mine,  but  in  our 
bed  ;  I  clothe  myself  not  with  mine,  but  with  our  coat.  It  is 
not  I  and  Kate,  my  wife,  but  I  and  Kate,  our  sister,  keep  house 
together :  in  short,  no  one  has  anything  more  of  his  own,  but 
everything  belongs  to  us,  the  brethren  and  sisters.'  "^ 

The  Anabaptist  considered  baptism  useless  to  him  who  did  not 
understand  the  nature  of  it ;  he  wished  a  second  ablution  for  the 
profane  individual,  who  was  not  bom  in  the  kingdom  of  the  new 
alliance.  He  who  desired  to  enter  into  the  New  Jerusalem  must 
renounce  seven  evil  spirits,^ — ^fear,  wisdom,  understanding,  art, 
counsel,  strength,  and  ungodliness. 

To  all  who  approached  to  receive  baptism,  Melchior  Rink 
made  use  of  the  following  formula : — 

"  Art  thou  a  Christian  ? — *  Yes.'  What  dost  thou  believe, 
then? — *I  believe  in  God,  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  For  what 
wilt  thou  give  me  thy  works  ? — '  I  will  give  them  for  a  penny.' 
For  what  wilt  thou  pve  me  thy  goods ;  for  a  penny  also  ? — 
*  No.'  For  what  wilt  thou  give,  then,  thy  life  ;  for  a  penny 
also  ? — '  No.'  Thou  art  not  a  Christian ;  thou  art  not  rightly 
baptized  ;  thou  art  only  baptized  with  water  in  St.  John's  bap- 
tism. I  ask  thee,  dost  thou,  then,  renounce  creatures  ? — '  Yes.* 
Dost  thou  renounce  thyself  ? — *  Yes.'    Then  I  baptize  you."« 


'  Justas  MeninSy  1.  c.  Moehler's  Symboliam,  translated  by  Bobertson, 
vol.  ii.  p.  177. 

'  JustiiB  Meniufl,  Der  Wiedertaaffer  Lehre  auB  heiliger  Schrlft  widerlegt, 
rait  einer  Voirede  Lnther'a ; — Justus  Menius^  The  Doctrines  of  the  Anabap- 


LUTHE&'S  BETUBH   TO   WITTEMBEKa.  3 

We  cannot  forget  that  this  is  one  of  the  tritimphs  of  free 
inqniiy,  which  had  long  before  been  announced  at  Worms  by 
Eck  and  Vehos. 

Private  judgment,  after  having  attacked  works,  denied  human 
virtue,  blotted  out  the  papal  supremacy,  and  upset  the  ecclesi- 
astical hierarchy,  brutally  struck  at  the  efficacy  of  psedo-baptism. 
One  ruin  succeeded  another.  The  mild  reproaches,  threats,  and 
even  tears,  of  the  Catholic  Church  it  had  all  disdained  in  its 
cold  insensibility.  Nicholas  Storch,  Mark  Stubner,  and  Thomas 
Munzer  had  opened  the  book  which  everybody  believed  he  was 
entitled  to  search,  and  had  met  with  this  text  in  the  Gospel : — 
'^  Whoever  shall  believe  and  be  baptized,  shall  obtain  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;"  and,  by  virtue  of  Aristotle  and  Luther,  that  is 
to  say,  of  the  deceiver  /,  they  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
in  order  to  be  regenerated,  and  become  children  of  Ood  by  bap- 
tism, it  was  necessary,  in  the  first  instance,  to  have  faith. 
Melancthon  was  directed,  by  his  highness  the  elector  Frederick, 
to  confer,  if  it  were  possible,  with  the  new  apostles.  Melancthon 
accordingly  interrogated  them  ;  and  he  wrote  to  the  prince  that 
be  must  beware  of  despising  this  new  doctrine.^ 

"Who  commissioned  you  to  preach?"  Melancthon  asked 
them.  "  The  Lord,"  was  their  reply.  What  could  be  said  to 
the  new  evangelists,  who  merely  repeated  what  Luther  had  so 
often  declared?  Wherefore  should  God  not  have  stirred  up 
Storch  to  preach  the  words  of  salvation,  as  he  had  Luther  ?  If 
every  man  is  a  priest,  as  Luther  teaches  in  the  "  Captivity  of 
the  Church  at  Babylon,"  the  tailor  has  his  letters  of  vocation 
in  his  pocket.  If  whoever  reads  the  Bible  recollectedly  is  en- 
lightened by  the  Holy  Spirit,  Mark  Stubner  the  scholar  has 
received  the  heavenly  gift,  for  he  has  read  the  Scriptures.  If 
Luther  has  declaimed  against  free-will  by  means  of  texts  from  the 
sacred  books,  Carlstadt  the  theologian  has  been  enabled  to  reject 
infant  baptism,  supported  by  a  passage  of  St.  John.  We  there- 
fore think  that  Melancthon  did  right  to  prohibit  the  students. 


tists  refbted  by  ibe  Scripturas,  with  a  prefiioe  by  Lather:  Witt.  1551,  part  it. 

L292.    Mo^er,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  163.    Meknchthon,  Unterrioht  wider  die 
hra  der  Wiedertauffer. 

'  "  Ich  babe  lie  selbet  Ternommeii,  ich  babe  in  Wahrbeit  wiohtige  Unnoben, 
daasiohiio  niohtTeracfalen  wiU.''~lIarbeinecke,  1.  o.  torn.  i.  1816,  pp.  206—807. 

b2 


4  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

who  had  made  a  bonfire  of  the  pope's  decretals,  from  tormentiog 
the  '^  prophets ;"  for  such  was  the  name  which,  in  derision,  they 
had  given  to  the  Anabaptists.^ 

Melancthon  has  not  told  us  all.  For  a  while  he  was  so  led 
away  by  the  fanatics,  that  he  felt  inclined  to  throw  aside  his 
professor's  gown,  and  become  a  baker,  that  he  might  no  longer 
eat  other  bread  than  what  his  own  hands  baked.^ 

Luther  beheld  from  Wartburg  all  these  storms.  His  friends 
invoked  his  assistance ;  Melancthon,  Jonas,  and  Amsdorf  wrote 
to  him  :  "  Come,  or  we  perish/'*  The  Council  of  Wittemberg 
was  not  less  urgent.'* 

'^  Yes,  I  shall  go,"  he  replied ;  ^*  time  presses ;  God  calls  me ; 
I  hear  his  voice.  My  flock  is  at  Wittemberg;  my  children 
in  Jesus  Christ  are  there ;  I  shall  be  guilty  of  their  blood,  if  I 
do  not  go  to  their  rescue ;  for  them  I  am  ready  to  suffer  every- 
thing, even  deatL  Satan  has  taken  advantage  of  my  absence 
to  create  disturbances  among  my  sheep  ;  I  will  snatch  them  from 
him,  for  they  are  mine ;  I  have  answered  for  them  to  the  Eternal 
Father.  I  shall  go,  therefore,  for  my  pen  is  useless  here  ;  there 
is  need  for  my  lips  and  my  ears  .  . .  .*  Pray  for  me,  that  I  may 
crush  the  head  of  the  serpent  who  rises  up  against  the  Gfospel 
at  Wittemberg.  Under  the  sun  of  the  Gospel,  I  shall  fight  with 
the  angel  of  light  or  the  angel  of  darkness.  Let  Carlstadt  per- 
sist or  not,  Christ  will  know  how  to  bring  his  wicked  efforts  to  an 


>  Marbeineoke,  1.  e.  Melancthon  said  also :  <'We  may  jud^e  by  sure  signa 
that  there  are  spirits  among  them,  of  whom  Luther  only  can  give  testimony ;" 
-^ena  man  siehetaus  Tielen  Zeichen,  daas  in  ibnen  gewisae  Geister  aeyn 
m5gen,  von  den«i  aber  Niemand  a]a  Martinns  urtbeilen  kann. — Arnold,  1.  o. 
p.  727. 

*  *'  Snnt  qui  e6  dementis  progressom  soribant,  nt  abdicate  professione  re- 
lictoqne  litterario  vits  genere,  pisturam  meditaretur ;  ne  scilicet  aliam  panem 
comederet  qukm  manuum  labore  oomparatum."— Oocbl.  in  Act.  Luth.  SurioSy 
in  Yitft  Lutheri.  Ulenberg,  Vita  et  Bes  gestss  Philippi  Melanchth. :  Coloniso, 
1622,  12mo.  p.  18. 

'  *'  Melanchthon  crebris  snis  alionunque  litteris  permoyit  Luthemm  ut . 
Wittenbergam  rediret.    Nisi  hoc  fiicere  matarftsset^  res  ViTittenbergensis  non 
modb  graviter  afflicta  atque  yexata,  sed  perdita  et  fanditiks  dinita  miaset."--* 
Gamerarius,  in  Vit&  Melanchth.  p.  51. 

*  We  read  in  the  register  of  the  chamber  of  aoeonnts  at  Wittemberg,  1525^ 
XLH.  ffl.  "  Ber  Dictua  Schnlzin  seben  hat  Dr.  Martinus  Lather  yorzehrt,  do 
er  uffErfordemng  dea  Hatha  and  gemeyner  Stadt  wjrderumb  gegen  Witten- 
berg kommen.  So  er  aoa  der  InaellFathmoB  kommen  ist  yn  dia  Jahr  allererat 
bezalt  worden. 

'  Aa  den  KurfUrsten,  12  Mai.    De  Wette,  Luther's  Briefe,  torn.  ii. 


LUTHBB  8  RBTUBK  TO  WITTEMBEBQ.  5 

end.  We  are  masters  of  life  and  death,  firom  the  moment  that 
we  haye  faith  in  the  Lord  of  death  and  life.^  I  shall  stop  the 
mouth  of  the  Holj  Spirit,  by  whom  the  prophets  say  they  are 


This  is  the  most  brilliant  page  of  Lnther's  history,  and  for 
all  the  world  we  wonld  not  tear  it  oat ;  for  the  Reformer  becomes 
great  before  ns,  when  fearless  he  bursts  firom  his  exile,  to  restore 
the  statues  which  Carlstadt  had  broken  down;  to  purify  the 
church  of  All  Saints,  polluted  by  so  many  profanities,  and  shut 
the  mouths  of  the  prophets.  Luther  is  splendid  in  his  wrath. 
Let  Protestants  with  pride  point  out  to  us  their  father  at  Worms, 
with  his  eye  directed,  like  that  of  a  judge,  upon  the  emperor ; 
when  we  for  an  instant  reflect,  we  can  only  see  in  Luther  at  the 
diet  the  hero  of  the  stage,  who  has  studied  beforehand  the  part 
which  he  has  to  perform,  and  who  cannot  for  a  moment  tremble, 
because  he  knows  well  that  the  only  man  who  can  make  him 
bleed  has  neither  the  will  nor  the  power ;  that  at  twenty  years 
of  age  a  king  has  not  completed  his  apprenticeship  of  perjury, 
and  that  a  hair  plucked  from  his  head,  even  in  a  motion  of 
foolish  anger,  would  set  Germany  in  a  flame.  John  Huss  at 
Prague  in  noways  resembled  Luther  at  Worms.  Besides  that 
time  is  a  school  in  which  kings,  as  well  as  subjects,  have  to  learn, 
the  ideas  of  the  two  sectaries  were  not  the  same.  John  Huss 
came  to  change  at  once  the  Catholic  £uth  and  the  social  politics 
of  Germany ;  he  directed  himself  as  much  against  the  tiara  as 
against  the  crowns.  Luther  had  taken  great  care,  firom  the  moment 
of  his  appearance  in  the  revolt  of  Wittembeig,  to  separate  the 
political  firom  the  religious  principle,  which  he  was  to  confound  at 
a  later  period.  Erasmus  reproached  him  with  having  flattered  the 
great  at  the  outset.  It  was  necessary  to  intoxicate  them,  to  turn 
their  heads  ;  for  without  them  he  could  not  begin  his  war  with 
Home.  If  Rome  fell  under  his  attacks,  royalty,  spared  by 
Luther,  would  consider  itself  protected  fix>m  all  danger,  because 
it  has  not  understood  that  the  popedom  is  also  a  sovereignty ; 
that  a  pope,  even  more  than  a  king,  is  stamped  on  the  brow  with 
the  mark  of  God  ;  that  pontiff  and  king  are  two  authorities  in 

>  Spalfttmo,  12  Mart.    De  Wette,  torn.  ii. 

*  '*  3«ik%  denen  derselbe  nnter  die  Angen  sagte,  ihren  Oeiflt  hane  er  ttber  die 
Schnauze."— Menzel,  Keuere  Geechichte  der  Deutechen,  torn.  i.  pp.  129 — ^181. 


6  HI8T0BT  OF  LUTHBB. 

two  different  orders,  or  ratHer  one  and  the  game  principle,  in  the 
eyes  of  God. 

In  leaving  his  exile,  it  was  no  longer  the  papacy  that  Luth^ 
attacked,  but  the  sovereignty  of  Charles  V. ;  it  was  the  emperor 
whom  he  disregarded,  when  he  escaped  firom  his  prison  to  preach 
at  Wittemberg,  in  spite  of  the  orders  of  the  diet,  and  agitate  anew 
the  world  with  his  voice,  althoii^h  he  had  promised  to  be  silent. 
Melancthon  had  good  reason  to  be  alarmed,  when  he  saw  him 
leave  Wartburg  ;  for  it  was  his  life  which  he  seemed  to 
endanger,  and  with  it  the  very  fate  of  his  doctrines,  of  which  hia 
disciples  wonld  dispute  the  inheritance,  and  which  would  perish 
for  want  of  a  mind  capable  of  sustaining  their  weight.  If  that 
work  which,  according  to  him,  came  from  God,  was  in  Luther's 
lifetime  subjected  to  such  blows,  that  it  often  could  not  be 
recognised,  mutilated  and  wounded  as  it  was ;  what  would  it 
become  if  Luther  himself  were  in  the  grave  I 

Thus,  as  we  have  ah^ady  observed,  there  are  many  serious 
thinkers  who  r^ret  that  Charles  V.  did  not  make  use  of  the 
sword  which,  at  his  election,  he  promised  to  draw,  if  necessary, 
for  the  defence  of  social  order  ;  and  who  would  that  kings  should 
oftener  remember  that  they  resemble  the  Deity  here  below,  and 
that  the  sword  which  hangs  by  their  side  was  not  given  to  them 
to  remain  useless.  They  believe  that  if  the  young  emperor  had 
drawn  it,  Germany  would  not  at  a  subsequent  period  have  been 
a  prey  to  those  cruel  wars  in  which  the  blood  of  her  children 
flowed.  A  few  drops  only,  shed  as  an  expiatory  chastisement^ 
might  have  spared  Germany  an  ocean.  They  ask  if  the  mariner, 
to  escape  from  the  storm,  would  not  tear  down  one  of  his  sails, 
and  if  the  course  of  a  river  is  interrupted,  by  taking  a  little  mud 
out  of  its  bed.^  These  inflexible  logicians  do  not  wish,  for  the 
good  of  human  nature,  that  the  principles  of  eternal  order  should 
be  tampered  with,  and  they  justify  their  theories  by  hist<»y.  Con- 
fining themselves  in  the  limits  wherein  they  discuss  the  great 
question  of  the  power  of  life  or  death,  given  to  the  prince  over 
any  one  who  should  desire  to  upset  the  common  belief, — "  See,'' 


'  Thig  is  the  idea  wbich  Hochsiraet  had,  it  is  said,  asserted  in  his  foresight 
of  the  future.  Prior  to  Hochstraet,  Luther  had  written  this  terrible  sentence  : 
"  Melius  est  omnes  episcopos  occidi,  omnia  collegia  monasteriaque  eradicari, 
qvikm  unam  perire  animam." 


luthbb'8  return  to  wittembbrq.  7 

say  they,  ^*  what  miserieB  the  neglect  of  justioe  has  brought  upon 
unhappy  (Jennany  ! — ^the  blood  of  a  hnndred  thousand  peasants 
shed  upon  the  battle-field  ;  murder  organised  ;  robb^  reduced 
to  an  axiom;  promiscnons  intercourse  with  women  publicly 
preached ;  incest  and  adultery  exalted  into  moral  deeds ;  the 
arts  degraded ;  civilization  arrested ;  and  so  much  tears,  blood, 
mis^,  and  shame,  because  an  emperor  has  retreated  before  a 
monk.'' 

That  work,  which  might  have  suffered  a  violent  death  at 
Worms  by  the  emperoi^s  sword,  would  have  now  perished  by 
a  gradual  decay,  had  Luther  remained  longer  at  Wartburg. 
It  was  not  the  edge  of  a  sword  which  it  had  to  fear,  but  the 
instrument  by  which  it  was  produced, — speecL  Luther  knew  the 
danger.  His  friends,  who  were  not  aware  of  it,  seemed  alarmed 
at  the  advice  which  they  had  at  first  given  him  to  return ;  and 
to  intimidate  him,  they  threatened  him  with  the  anger  of 
Charles  V.  But  although  their  voice  could  have  been  heard  in 
the  solitude  of  Wartburg,  Luther  would  not  have  obeyed  it ;  for 
there  was  another  which  cried  more  powerfully, — "  that  which 
c^ke  to  Moses  on  Sinai,  and  smote  down  Paul  on  the  road  to 
Damascus — ^the  voice  of  Ood,'' — ^which  Luther  said  he  heard  at 
the  depth  of  his  heart.  He  appears  to  be  filled  with  it  when 
he  replies  to  Frederick,  who  forbad  him  by  John  Osswald,  the 
bailiff  {Amtmann)  of  Eisenach,^  to  come  to  Wittembeig : — 

''  Your  highness  knows  well  that  my  gospel  comes  not  firom  men, 
but  firom  Heaven,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  I  might  have,  as  I 
shall  henceforth  do,  called  myself  his  servant  and  evangelist .... 
I  have  done  enough  for  your  highness  in  imprisoning  myself  here 
for  a  year.  It  is  not  for  fear,  at  least ;  that  the  devil  knows  well ! 
He  saw  my  heart  at  the  moment  when  I  entered  Worms ;  although 
there  had  been  as  many  devils  there  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roofs 
of  the  city,  I  should  have  scaled  the  walls  with  joy.  Now,  Duke 
Oeorge^  is  not  even  as  much  worth  as  a  deviL  As  the  Father 
of  infinite  mercies  has  given  me  power  by  his  Gospel  over  aD 

*  Iiingke,  1.  c.  p.  117. 

'  Buke  George  had  oomplaiued  to  the  elector  of  the  religious  oommotions 
at  Wittemberg,  and,  as  a  member  of  the  German  Diet,  had  invoked  the 
severity  of  the  episcopal  body  against  the  disturbers.  Seckendorf,  book  i. 
p.  217.  Pktnck,  L  o.  torn.  ii.  p.  60.  De  Wette,  Dr.  M.  Luther's  Briefe, 
torn.  ii.  p.  189. 


8  HISTOBT   OF  LVTHEB. 

deyik  and  oyer  death,  and  has  delivered  to  me  the  kingdom  of 
the  fatnre^  your  highness  must  clearly  see  that  it  would  be  an 
insult  to  my  master  were  I  not  to  trust  to  him,  or  to  forget  that 
I  am  beyond  the  reach  of  the  anger  of  Duke  George.  Were  Ood 
to  summon  me  to  Leipsic,  as  to  Wittemberg,  Tshould  go  (your 
highness  will  pardon  this  nonsense),  although  it  should  ndn 
Oeoiges  for  nine  days,  and  each  were  nine  times  more  fuiious 
than  this  devil  of  a  duke.^  He  takes  my  Christ  for  a  reed ; 
neither  Christ  nor  I  shall  suffer  him  longer. 

"  I  go  to  Wittemberg  under  the  protection  of  a  providence 
stronger  than  that  of  princes  and  electors.  I  have  no  need  of 
your  support  ;  but  you  have  <^  mine  :  it  wiU  be  of  more 
advantage  to  you.  If  I  knew  that  you  wished  to  offer  me  your 
protection,  I  should  not  go.  This  is  a  matter  which  requires 
neither  advice  nor  the  edge  of  the  sword  ;  God  alone,  and  with 
no  parade  of  visible  force,  is  my  master  and  protector.  He  who 
believes  shall  be  my  protector ;  and  you  are  too  weak  in  the 
faith  to  enable  me  to  recognise  in  you  a  support  and  a  saviour. 

'^  Tou  wish  to  know  what  you  have  to  do  on  this  occasion^ 
persuaded  as  you  are  that  you  have  not  done  enough  ?  I  tell  you, 
respectfully,  you  have  done  &r  too  much,  and  you  have  nothing 
more  to  do.  God  does  not  wish  you  to  be  a  partaker  of  my 
sorrows  and  vexations ;  he  reserves  them  for  himself,  and  not 
for  others  ....  But  if  I  will  not  obey  you,  God  will  not 
impute  to  you  either  my  fetters  or  my  blood,  if  I  faQ.  Leave 
the  emperor  to  act ;  obey  him  as  a  prince  of  the  empire ;  if  he 
should  take  my  life,  that  is  his  concern.  Tou  must  not  heed, 
prince,  if  I  do  not  consent  that  you  should  participate  in  my 
hardships  and  dangers ;  Christ  has  not  instructed  me  to  show 
myself  a  Christian  at  the  expense  of  my  neighbour.  Even 
should  they  push  their  folly  so  far  as  to  insist  upon  your  laying 
hands  on  me,  I  teU  you  what  jon  have  to  do.  I  desire  that  you 
should  obey  without  considering  your  servant,  and  that  you 
should  not  suffer  for  me  either  in  your  mind,  your  substance,  or 
your  person. 

"  By  God's  grace,  my  prince,  at  another  time,  if  necessary,  we 

>  "  Wenns  gleich  (E.  K.  F.  6.  Terzeihe  mir  mem  niinisch  Beden)  neun  Tage, 
eitel  Henog  Georgen  regnete,  and  ein  jeglioher  wttre  Deunfiich  wtLthender, 
denn  dieser  ist."— An  den  KurfUnten  Friedrich,  5  Man,  1522. 


LUTHBR  S  BBTUBK  TO  WITTBMBEBa.  9 

shall  disconnie  at  greater  length.  I  make  haste^  for  fear  your 
highness  should  be  disturbed  by  the  noise  of  my  arrival ;  my  duty, 
as  a  good  Christian,  is  to  comfort  every  one  and  annoy  nobody. 
I  have  to  do  with  a  different  person  than  Bake  (}eorge,  who 
knows  me  well,  ftnd  whom  I  also  know  welL  If  your  high- 
ness believes,  you  will  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  as  you  do 
not  believe,  you  have  seen  nothing.  Love  in  the  Lord  for 
ever.  Amen.  From  Boma,  by  the  side  of  my  guide ;  Ash- 
Wednesday,  1522." 

It  was  not  zeal  for  the  word  of  Ood  that  tormented  the 
elector,  who  always  &ncied  that  he  saw  between  him  and 
Luther  the  spectre  of  the  emperor.  A  prey  to  his  worldly  fears, 
he  despatched  to  the  monk  courier  after  courier ;  but  Luther 
continued  his  journey,  laughing  at  those  weak  human  considera- 
tions with  which  they  sought  to  alarm  him.  At  some  distance 
from  Wittemberg  he  met  his  friend  Schurf,  who  had  orders  firom 
the  prince  to  try  the  effect  of  a  friend's  advice  in  preventing 
him  from  entering  that.  city.  All  that  he  could  obtain  was  a 
few  words  in  exchange  for  those  which  the  messenger  conveyed. 

*^  I  shall  go,''  said  Luther  ;  "  time  presses,  Ood  calls  me,  he 
cries  ;  let  my  destiny  be  frdfilled,  in  Uie  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
the  master  of  life  and  death.  During  my  absence,  Satan  has 
entered  into  my  sheepfold  at  Wittemberg,  and  made  ravages  in 
it  which  my  presence  alone  can  repair  ;  there  is  need  of  my  eyes 
and  my  mouUi  to  see  and  to  speak.  They  are  my  sheep  whom 
Gh)d  has  given  to  me  to  tend,  they  are  my  children  in  the  Lord. 
For  them  I  am  ready  to  suffer  martyrdom.  I  go  to  accomplish, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  what  Christ  demands  from  those  who 
confess  him  (John  x.  12).  If  my  words  were  sufficient  to  chase 
away  the  evil,  would  I  be  called  to  Wittemberg  ?  I  shall  die 
sooner  than  delay — die  for  the  salvation  of  my  neighbour." 

And  he  dismissed  the  messenger.^ 

Such  words  well  became  Luther,  who  had  suffered  his  beard  to 
grow,  cast  off  his  priestly  attire,  and  thrown  aside  his  pilgrim's 
staff,  to  mount  a  horse,  and  taken  the  iron  cuirass,  the  great 
sword,  helmet,  spurs  and  boots  of  a  soldier  of  the  sixteenth 

*  CoiURiIt,  as  to  the  prelimiiiaries  of  this  joornoy,  mhI  his  entnr  to  Wit- 
tembeig,  Luther's  Letters  to  Spektinus,  17  Janoary ;  the  elector  Frederiok, 
5  aod  7  March ;  and  Bpalatinus,  7  March,  1522. 


10  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHSB. 

centniy.  It  is  in  this  warlike  ooettiiney  in  the  midst  of  a  doad 
of  att^tidants  aad  dust,  that  the  painter  Lucas  Granach  has 
represented  him  entering  Wittemberg.  He  was  no  longer  called 
Luther,  but  the  chevalier  George.^ 

For  our  part,  we  like  not  this  disgoise^  We  regret  the  blade 
robe  and  the  monk's  cowl  which  he  wore  when  we  met  him  on 
the  road  to  Worms ;  and  since  he  was  on  the  way  to  martyr- 
dom, wherefore  shoidd  he  cast  aside  the  dress  of  a  confessor  of 
Christ  ? 

Scarcely  had  he  arriTed  at  Wittemberg  when  he  ascended  the 
pulpit  in  that  church  of  All  Saints,  in  which  five  years  before 
he  had  sent  forth  his  first  cry  of  rebellion  against  the  papacy. 
It  was  strewn  with  the  fragments  of  statues,  and  resembled  the 
workshop  of  a  sculptor  much  more  than  a  house  of  prayer. 
Carlstadt  stood  concealed  behind  one  of  the  pillars,  to  escape  the 
eye  of  his  disciple,  who  sought  for  him  in  the  crowd.  The  arch- 
deacon had  not  yentured  to  visit  the  doctor. 

The  looks  of  Luther  were  directed  for  a  considerable  time 
in  silence  to  these  vestiges  of  anabaptistic  fury  ;  the  audience, 
crowded  round  the  pulpit,  waited  in  expectation  for  their  master's 
words.    Luther  ble^ed  the  congr^tion  according  to  the  Catholic 


*  In  the  library  of  the  Leipsic  Academy  U  preserred  a  portrait  of  Lnther 
setting  out  from  Wartburg  to  Wittemberg.  At  the  bottom  of  the  frame  are 
these  four  verses,  which  Luther  had  composed  when  ill  at  Schmaltalden, 
in  1537  :— 

"  Quaefdtus  toties,  toties  tibi  Boma  petitus, 

En  ego  per  Christum  vivo  Lutherus  adhuc. 
Una  mihi  apes  est  qnft  non  confdndar,  leans, 

Hanc  mihi  dnm  teneam,  perfida  Boma  vale ! " 
— See  Sa).  Stepner,  in  Inscript.  Lipsiensibus,  p.  806. 

He  has  been  represented  in  an  old  woodcut,  preceded  by  a  winged  ser- 
pent, with  this  inscription  : — 

"  Zu  Wartburg  Doctor  Luther  war 

Verborgen  fast  ein  gauzes  Jahr ; 

Bin  grosser  Bart  ihm  war  gewachsenj 

Wie  damals  trugen  auch  die  Sachsen, 

Und  ganz  verandert  sein  Gestalt ; 

War  neun  und  dreissig  Jahr  gleich  alt. 

Gen  Wittenberg  geritten  kam, 

Zu  Kiclas  Amsdorfl^  da  er  nahm 

Die  Herberg,  eh  er  seinen  Bart 

Hat  abgelegt,  als  bald  er  ward 

Von  Lucas  Kranach  abgemalt, 

Als  wie  er  ist  hie  gestalt.*' 
— Fred.  Scharfii,   Dissert,  de  Luthero  omnium  theologorum  .  .  .  oommoni 
pneceptoro :  Wittemb.  1686. 


LUTHB&'S  BBTUBN   TO  WITTEMBEBG.  11 

custom,  bat  on  this  oocaaon  withoat  invoking  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  He  niade  no  ezordinmy  but  roshed  at  once  into  the 
sabject  of  his  disconise. 

'^  It  is  from  the  heart/'  said  he,  pointing  to  the  shattered 
statnes,  ^^  that  you  ought  to  have  removed  them,  and  soon  you 
would  have  seen  them  fieJl  of  themselves,  or  displaced  by  the 
hands  of  the  magistrates.  But  you  ought  not  to  have  given  to 
an  iU-regulated  zeal  the  sembknce  of  a  rebellion  which  I  cannot 
approve.  Daring  my  absence  Satan  has  been  to  visit  you,  he 
has  sent  his  prophets  among  you.  He  knows  with  whom  he  has 
to  do,  you  ought  to  know  that  it  is  I  only  to  whom  you  ought 
to  listen.  By  God's  aid,  Doctor  Martin  Luther  was  the  first  to 
walk  in  the  new  way,  the  others  have  only  come  after  him ; 
they  ought  to  show  themselves  docile,  like  disciples ;  obedience 
is  tiieir  portion.  It  is  to  me  that  Gk>d  has  revealed  his  word ; 
it  is  firom  these  lips  that  it  proceeds  free  from  all  stain.  I  know 
Satan :  I  know  that  he  does  not  sleep,  that  his  eyes  are  open  in 
the  time  of  trouble  and  desolation.  I  have  learned  to  wrestle 
with  him,  I  fear  him  not ;  I  have  given  him  more  than  one 
wound  which  he  will  feel  for  a  long  time.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  those  novelties  which  have  been  introduced  in  my  absence  ? 
Was  I  at  such  a  distance  that  I  could  not  be  consulted  ?  Am  I 
no  longer  the  principle  of  the  pure  word  ?  I  have  preached  it^ 
I  have  printed  it,  and  I  have  done  more  harm  to  the  pope  while 
sleeping,  or  in  an  alehouse  at  Wittemberg,  drinking  beer  with 
Philip  and  Amsdorf,  than  all  the  princes  and  emperors  together.^ 
If  I  had  been  of  a  sanguinary  disposition,  if  I  loved  commotions, 
how  much  blood  I  should  have  caused  to  be  shed  in  Europe  ! 
Would  the  emperor  himself  have  been  in  safety  at  Worms,  if  I 
had  not  spared  his  life?  Answer,  spirits  of  confusion  and 
discord  !  What  does  the  devil  think  when  he  sees  you  building 
up  your  £a,ncies  ?  the  sly  fox  lies  quiet  in  heQ,  relying  on  the 
tragedies  which  those  extravagant  teachers  excite.  I  wish  that 
the  monks  and  nuns  would  leave  their  cells  to  come  and  hear 
me  :  I  should  say  to  them,  It  is  neither  permitted  nor  forbidden 


■  «Id  vorbnin,  dum  ego  dormivi,  dum  Wittembergeniem  oereviBUun  biU 
onm  Pbilippo  meo  et  Amsdorf,  tantum  papain!  detrimentum  intuli  quantum 
uUua  unquam  princeps  yel  imperator." — Oper.  Luth.  torn.  vii.  Chytr.  Chron. 
Sax.  p.  247. 


12  HI8T0BT  OF  LUTHER. 

to  liaye  images.  In  troth,  I  should  prefer  that  superstition  had 
not  introduced  them  among  us ;  hut  since  it  has,  it  is  not  hy 
violence  that  they  should  be  overturned.  Tes,  if  the  devil  had 
begged  it  of  me,  I  should  have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  him.'' 

Luther  kept  his  audience  captive  for  nearly  two  houni :  the 
crowd  was  dumb,  fascinated  by  the  monk's  preaching,  so  strong, 
so  clear,  so  winning.^ 

On  the  third  day,  Luther  again  held  fortL  On  this  occasion 
he  attacked  the  prophets,  and  scourged  them  with  his  eloquenceu 
Does  it  not  seem  that  you  listen  to  a  Catholic  voice  ?  What 
other  aiguments  would  a  priest  of  our  Church  make  use  of  to 
castigate  the  foolish  pride  of  the  innovators  ? 

<<  Do  you  wish  to  found  a  new  Church  ?  Let  us  see  who 
sends  you,  from  whom  do  you  derive  your  ministry  ?  As  you 
give  testimony  of  yourselves,  we  ought  not  aQ  at  once  to  believe 
you,  according  to  the  advice  of  St.  John,  but  prove  you.  Gbd 
has  sent  no  one  into  the  world  who  has  not  hem  called  by  man 
or  announced  by  signs,  not  even  his  own  Son.  The  prophets 
derived  their  title  from  the  law  and  the  prophetic  order,  as  we 
do  from  men.  I  do  not  care  for  you,  if  you  have  only  a  bare 
revelation  to  advance.  Ood  would  not  permit  Samuel  to  speak 
except  by  virtue  of  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,  so  we  say  to  you :  *  Master, 
we  wish  for  a  sign.'^    So  much  for  your  frmctions  as  evangelists. 

''  Let  us  now  see  what  spirit  breathes  in  you.  I  ask  you  if 
you  have  experienced  those  spiritual  sufferings,  those  divine  new 


I  "  GondoDee  eo  habente,  omnia  oonquiesoebant,  et  andiento^  chm  siiiga- 
larem  fiioaltaiem  explicandi  soBoeptaB  rea^  turn  dioendi  yim,  turn  etiam  ▼iitntem 
atqae  fortitudinem  admirabantar,  et  reyerebantar  autoritatem." — Gamerarius, 
Vita  M^lanoliibonis. 

'  BuUinger  has  adopted  this  ai^ment»  which  he  employs  rerj  ably  agaiiuii 
the  Anabaptists.  Luther  insisted,  on  seyeral  occasions^  in  his  works,  among 
others  book  iii.  ch.  ir.  Adrersus  Anabaptistas,  on  this  obligation,  imposed  upon 
erery  one  who  advances  a  new  doctrine^,  of  proving  his  mission  by  miracles. 
At  a  later  period  he  discovered  that  he  had  worked  none  (von  beiden  Gestalten 
des  Sacraments),  and  that  his  greatest  wonder  had  been  to  have  smitten  Satan 
on  the  fikce,  and  the  papacy  to  the  heart.  The  Lutheran  Church  has  long  since 
renounced  the  inirocation  of  mirades  in  testimony  of  a  human  yooation :  "  Nos 
mirscula  non  operamur,  neo  ea  ad  dootrin»  yeritatem  confirmandam  necessaria 
judicamus." — Sutdifl^,  in  Ep.  lib.  D.  Eelleinsonts,  p.  8.  *'  Ex  miraculis  non 
posse  suffidens  testimonium,  aut  certum  aigumentum  colligi  yere  doctrinie," — 
Whitaker,  De  Ecd.  p.  849. 


lutheb's  rbturk  to  wittembebg.  13 

lirHhB,  that  death,  thi^t  hell,  of  which  the  Scripture  speaks.  If 
you  have  only  sweet  and  gentle  words,  we  will*  not  believe  you 
even  were  you  to  say  that  you  have  been  carried  up  to  the  third 
heaven :  you  want  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  Basanos  or 
touchstone  of  the  Christian.  Do  you  wish  to  know  the  place, 
ibe  time,  the  form  of  the  divine  colloquies,  listen :  '  He  has 
bruised  my  bones  like  a  lion,  I  have  been  cast  fjEur^from  the  light 
of  his  eye,  my  soul  has  been  filled  with  evils,  my  life  has  been 
brought  nigh  to  hell." . . .  The  divine  Majesty  does  not  imme- 
diately appear,  so  that  man  may  see  it :  it  says,  '  Man  shall  not 
see  me,  and  live.'  Our  nature  could  not  support  one  spark  of 
his  word  ;  he  speaks,  therefore,  by  the  lips  of  men.  Look  at 
Mary,  who  was  so  troubled  at  the  sight  of  the  angel.  What 
more  shall  I  say  t  As  if  the  splendour  of  God  could  converse 
fiuniliarly  with  the  old  man  and  not  kill  or  wither  him  up,  to 
drive  from  him  the  filthy  odours ;  for  he  is  a  consuming  fire. 
The  dreams  and  visions  of  the  saints  are  terrible  when  pro- 
perly understood.  Look  !  Jesus  himself  was  not  glorious  until 
after  his  crucifixion."' 

The  prophets  ware  not  present  at  the  sermon,  but  they  were 
represented  there  by  their  disciples ;  one  of  them,  on  leaving  the 
church,  exclaimed  in  his  enthusiasm  that  he  had  been  listening 
to  an  angeL^  Mark  Stubner  arrived  at  Wittemberg  the  next 
day,  to  console  his  brethren  and  enter  into  controversy  with  the 
preacher.  He  sent  his  challenge  to  Luther,  who,  after  a  long 
conference  with  Melancthon,  consented  to  receive  the  prophet, 
and  Gellarius  the  neophyte.  Luther  has  given  an  account  of 
the  interview.  ' 

"  I  have  received,"  says  he  to  Spalatinus,  ^  the  abuse  of  the 
new  prophets,  Satan  has  befouled  himself  in  his  wisdom.' 
These  turbulent  and  proud  spirits  cannot  bear  gentle  admoni- 
tions, and  wish  to  be  believed  on  their  own  authority  and  fix)m 
the  first  word ;  they  will  endure  neither  discussion  nor  inquiry  ! 
When  I  saw  them  obstinate,  tergiversating,  and  endeavouring  to 
escape  horn  me  in  their  confusion  of  words,  I  soon  discovered 


'  Gamenriai,  in  Vita  Melanchihoiiis.  Seckendor^  Comm.  de  Lnth.  lib.  i. 
aect.  48,  §  czix.  p.  108. 

*  "Et  inTentiiB.«st  Satan  aese  pennerdtae  in  sapientiA  sdt.'*— Spalatino, 
12  April,  1562.    De  VfTette,  torn.  ii. 


14  HISTORT   OF  LUTHBR. 

the  old  serpent  I  ceaaed  not  to  gay  to  them,  Proye  to  me,  at 
least,  yonr  doctrine  by  miracles  ;  for  it  is  not  in  the  Scriptures. 
They  shuffled,  and  refnsed  me  ^e  signs.  I  then  threatened  to 
force  them  to  believe  me.  Master  Martin  Gellarius  chafed  and 
raged  Uke  one  possessed,  speaking  without  being  asked,  and  not 
allowing  me  to  put  in  a  word.  I  sent  them  to  their  god, 
since  they  refused  miracles  to  mine.  Thus  the  interview  ter- 
minated. . .  " 

Gamerarius  adds  that  Mark  Stubner  interrupted  Gellarius,  and 
said  to  the  doctor :  ^'  As  a  proof  that  I  am  inspired  by  Ood, 
I  can  tell  you  what  you  are  now  thinking  of."  "  Bah !"  said 
Luther,  in  a  tone  half-jesting,  half-serious.  '^  Tes,  you  think 
that  my  doctrine  cannot  be  true.''  Luther  smiled :  just  at  that 
moment  there  rolled  on  his  tongue,  "  Go  to  the  devil,  wretch  V* 

Luther  has  not  told  us  all.  The  Anabaptist  historians  pretend 
that  the  prophet  Stubner  and  Gellarius  asked  the  Reformer  what 
marvels  he  himself  had  wrought  to  prove  that  he  had  been  sent 
from  Ood.  This  rash  question  so  enraged  the  doctor,  that  he 
dismissed  the  assembly  without  desiring  to  hear  more. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  sight  to  behold  Luther  taking  shelter 
in  Gatholicism  to  confound  his  opponent,  and  employing  against 
the  fanatics  the  aiguments  of  St.  Athanasius  against  Arius : 
that  great  proof  written  in  heaven,  which  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
whom  he  so  highly  ridiculed,  requires  should,  before  all,  be 
demanded  from  whoever  rebels  against  unity  !  Some  few  years 
after,  another  reformer,  Zwinglius,  contending  with  the  Blue 
gowa  (Soutane  Ueue),  George  Blawrock,  another  fanatic  begot 
by  anabaptism,  asked  not  for  signs  fi^m  heaven,  but  appealed 
to  authority  and  tradition  against  him. 

"  If  we  were  to  permit,"  said  he,^ "  every  enthusiast  and  sophist 
to  difiuse  among  the  public  the  foolish  speculations  of  his  brain, 


*  "  Si  eDim  hoc  pennittamus  nt  capitosus  qnisque  et  malb  feriatas  homo, 
mox  ut  noynrn  aliquid  et  insolens  in  suo  animo  ooncepit,  illud  in  publicum 
spargenB,  disoipuloa  colligat,  et  sectam  instituat  novam,  brevi  tot  aectas  et 
mctiones  yidere  licebit  ut  Christus  qui  Tix  multo  negotio,  et  snmmiB  laboribus 
ad  unitatem  reductus  est,  in  singulis  ecelesiis,  in  partes  quamplurimas  denu5 
Bcindatur.  Quapropter  in  ejusm<^  rebus,  communis  totius  Eoclede  auctoritas 
consulenda,  et  Irajus  conalio,  non  cujusvis  temerariA  libidine,  omnia  hiec  trans- 
igenda  sunt.  Judicium  enim  Scriptune  nee  meum,  nee  tnum,  sed  totius 
Ecdesiae  est.  Hujus  enim  daves,  et  dayium  potestas.'* — ^Zwingli,  De  Bapt. 
p.  72. 


LUTHBB'S  RBTUBH  to  WITTE2CBEBG.  15 

to  make  disciples,  and  institate  a  fonn  of  woiship,  we  should 
see  sects  and  factions  pullulate  in  that  Church  of  Chiist  which 
has  only  maintained  unity  after  such  great  labour  and  struggles. 
It  is  therefore  necessary  on  this  occasion  to  consult  the  Churchy 
and  not  to  haUsa  to  passion  or  prejudice.  The  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures  belongs  neither  to  you  nor  to  me,  but  to  the 
Church :  to  her  belong  the  keys  and  the  power  of  the  keys.'' 

Bullinger  ^  reports  that  the  Blue  gown  exclaimed :  ''  Have 
not  you  Sacramentarians  broken  with  the  pope,  without  con- 
sulting the  Church  which  you  left,  and  that  a  Church  not  of 
yesterday's  date  ?  And  shall  we  not  be  at  liberty  to  abandon 
yours,  which  is  but  a  few  days  old ;  can  we  not  do  what  you  haye 
done  V*  Here  Bullinger  is  silent.  We  should  like  to  know 
what  Zwinglius  replied. 

Gellarius  was  not  an  opponent  by  a  victory  oyer  whom  Luther 
could  have  derived  glory ;  but  it  was  otherwise  with  Munzer, 
whom  he  wished  to  attriMst  by  a  secret  sympathy  for  that  rough 
character.  Munzer,  on  his  part,  imagined  that  if  he  could 
have  a  conversation  with  Luther,  he  would  gain  him  over  to  his 
cause.    An  interview  was  arranged  between  them.^ 

Munzer  came  to  Wittemberg.  The  conferences  were  grave, 
and  anxiously  engaged  men's  minds.  Luther  made  use  of 
reason,  passion,  prayer,  menaces ;  his  rival  employed  the  same 
weapons.  After  a  useless  exchange  of  arguments,  both  parted 
never  to  meet  again  on  this  side  of  eternity :  Luther  maintaining 
that  Munzer  was  a  devil  incarnate;  Munzer  affirming  that 
Luther  was  possessed  by  a  l^on  of  devils.  Luth^,  who  had 
promised  to  make  use  of  no  other  measures  against  his  opponents 
except  aignment,  requested  an  edict  of  proscription  against 
Munzer  and  his  adherents,  which  his  highness  the  elector  quietly 
signed,  and  the  confiscation  of  Carlstadt's  books  then  at  press, 
and  which  Frederick  still  more  calmly  ordered  to  be  done.^ 

A  few  months  had  scarcely  elapsed  since  Frederick  left  Worms, 
to  avoid  being  present  at  the  prpscription  of  his  fitvourite  by 
Charles  V.  

>  Bullinger,  in  Apol.  AnAb.  p.  254. 

*  Sleidaa,  lib.  v.    Meshovius,  OttoTiaB^  Ac 

*  ''  Bine  Sohrift  Carlttodti,  in  leinem  biaherigen  Sinne  abgefant»  von  der 
ichon  einige  Bogen  abgedruckt  waren,  wurde  von  der  Uniyeraiti&t,  die  dem 
KuriiirBten  darttber  benohtete,  nnterdrttckt."~Ranke,  I.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  84. 


16  HISTORY  OF  LUTHEB. 

Munzer  took  leave  of  Luther  like  an  ancient  Parthian,  dis- 
charging at  him  a  pamphlet,  in  which  the  theologian  of  Wittem- 
bexg  is  transformed  into  Satan :  a  similar  comparison  to  that 
made  by  the  Saxon  in  regard  of  the  emperor. 

And  Oarlstadt,  casting  a  last  look  on  that  nniyersity  in  which, 
some  years  previously,  he  had  conferred  honours  on  his  beloved 
disciple,  exclaimed : 

**  Condemned  by  my  own  pupil  unheard  I"  ^ 

On  die  expulsion  of  Carlstadt  and  Munzer  from  Wittembeig, 
people  sorrowfiilly  asked  for  what  crime  they  suffared  such  a 
punishment?  Carlstadt  wished  to  give  die  communion  under 
the  two  species :  Ludier  did  so.  Munzer  had  violently  attacked 
auricular  confession:  Luther,  without  abolishing  it,  wished 
it  not  to  be  obligatory.  Carlstadt  denied  the  Mass  to  be  a 
sacrifice :  Luther  sought  to  efiace  from  the  canon  all  that  could 
suggest  to  the  laity  the  idea  of  a  propitiatory  oblation.  Munzer 
inveighed  against  celibacy :  Luther  publishdL  his  treatise  against 
monastic  vows.  Carlstadt  had  torn  down  the  images :  Luther 
desired  that  they  should  be  peaceably  removed  from  the  churches. 
What  then  had  Carlstadt  and  Munzer  done  to  be  driven  from 
Saxony?  They  wished  to  appropriate  to  their  advantage  a 
revdation  of  which  Luther  de^red  to  remain  the  master  and  the 
moderator. 

'^  Doctor/'  he  was  asked,  "  shall  the  Anabaptists  be  put  to 
death  V  ''  That  is  according  to  circumstances,''  replied  Luther : 
''  if  the  Anabaptists  are  seditious,  the  prince  can  order  them 
for  execution ;  if  merely  fiEinatical,  he  should  be  content  with 
banishing  them."  ^ 

He  forgot  what  he  said  when  afraid  of  the  emperor :  '^  Christ 
did  not  seek  the  conversion  of  men  by  fire  and  sword."  ' 

■  Arnold,  L  o.  lib.  zyI  p.  697. 

*  '*  Eb  Bind  zweierley  Wiedertaufer.  Etliohe  sind  offentliche  AufBobttrer, 
lehren  wider  die  Obrigkeit :  die  mag  ein  Herr  wol  richten  laaeen  und  todten. 
Etliohe  aber  haben  BohwermeriBche  Wahn  und  Meinung,  dieBolben  werden 
gemeiniglioh  Terweiset." — ^Tiadi-RedeD,  p.  409. 

*  "  ChristOB  non  volnit  Ti  et  iffni  oogere  homineB  ad  fidem.**  Meianotbon 
approved  of  and  adyiaed  the  puni^ment  of  three  AnabaptistB :  JnBtns  Muller, 
of  Scbcenau ;  J.  PeiBker,  of  fhiBterdorf ;  and  Henry  Kraut,  tailor  at  Eberfeld. 

Gonanlt  the  TiBoh-Beden,  pp.  408 — 410.  Lather  there  speakB  at  great  length 
of  the  Anabaptlsta,  whom  he  lookB  npon  aB  bo  many  derilfl.  Arnold  haa 
defended  their  nMmorj  in  the  first  part  of  his  History  of  Heresies. 


SBBMON   ON   MABRIAGE.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

SERMON  ON  MARRIAGE.    1522. 

Altliough^  the  prophets  were  expelled  from  Wittemherg,  the  rebellion  was  not 
qaelled. — ^It  was  necessary  to  snpply  a  new  aliment  for  the  activity  of  mind 
created  by  free  inqniry. — Lather  preaches  npon  marriage. — Sketch  of  his 
sennoo. — Erasmns  looks  apon  it  only  as  a  joke. — He  did  not  perceive 
Luther's  secret  intention. — What  did  Lather  intend  by  his  carnal  illas- 
trations  in  the  palpitf— The  princes  are  silent  on  this  scandal. — A  collection 
of  Luther's  sermons  is  published  at  Wittemberg,  in  which  the  monk  is 
represented  with  the  Holy  Ghost  over  his  head. — Staupitz,  horrified  by 
these  things,  returns  to  Catholicism,  and  deserts  his  old  friend. 

It  was  andoubtedly  a  fine  triumph  which  Luther's  preaching 
bad  obtained  over  fanaticism  !  The  prophets  no  longer  daring  to 
meet  the  monk's  eye,  left  Wittemberg,  and  sought  to  diffuse 
their  dreamy  absurdities  in  the  country  and  seduce  the  people  to 
their  fancies :  they  yielded  in  crowds.  More  daring  than  Luther, 
Munzer  let  loose  upon  the  provinces  burning  words,  w:hich 
"  borrowed  angels'  wings  for  their  flight,"  as  formerly,  if  we 
remember,  did  Luther's  propositions  against  indulgences.  The 
peasantry  began  to  rebel  against  their  lords.  A  struggle  was 
at  hand  in  which  the  people  were  to  play  the  game  of  dupes  and 
martyrs  ;  and  this  storm  Luther  foresaw,  and  predicted  the  day 
when  Germany  would  flow  with  blood.  These  popular  storms 
were  announced  to  him  by  signs  which  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  interpret,^  first,  by  fires  which  vanished  at  night ;  then  by 
the  discovery  of  two  monsters,  a  pope-ass  and  monk-calf,  which 
had  been  found,  the  one  in  the  Tiber,  the  other  at  Freyburg ;  as 
if  his  own  doctrines  were  not  a  sufficiently  marked  augury  of 
the  approaching  calamities,  and  his  language  in  the  pulpit  a 
dear  manifesto  against  the  social  and  religious  order  of  Germany ! 

The  rebellion  was  not  quelled  ;  Luther  was  obliged  to  combat 
it  in  the  pulpit,  but  on  leaving  the  church  he  caressed  and  treated 
it,  because  to  all  people  in  rebellion  there  must  be  ruin  or  blood. 

*  "  Quo  et  mihi  non  est  dabiam  Gennanis  portend!,  yel  sununam  belli  cala- 
mitatem,  Tel  extremum  diem :  ego  tanttim  Terser  in  particalari  interpretationef 
qn»  ad  monachos  pertinet." — ^Vvencesl.  Linok.  16  Januar. 

VOL.  II.  C 


18  HISTORY   07  .LUTHEB. 

Luther  saved  the  images  for  an  instant,  but  abolished  the  Mass 
to  please  the  multitude.  Prince  Frederick,  fond,  like  every  one 
of  taste,  of  the  brilliant  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  worship, 
would  have  wished  to  preserve  them ;  but  his  power  could 
inspire  the  Reformer  neither  with  pity  nor  terror  ;  for  Luther 
proclaimed  as  an  axiom,  that  a  prince  is  but  a  secular  governor, 
who  is  at  liberty  to  wield  the  sword,  but  cannot,  without  sinning, 
lay  his  hand  on  the  censer.  The  chapter  endeavoured  to  shelter 
itself  behind  the  sword  of  his  highness  in  braving  the  monk's 
wrath ;  but  the  monk,  who  possessed  the  real  force,  defied  the 
chapter  in  a  letter  in  which  menaces  ikre  tempered  by  keen 
irony,  and  in  which  he  ridicules  the  impotent  cries  of  the  deigy. 
"  Indeed,""  says  he,  "  is  the  patience  with  which  I  have  suffered 
your  follies  unseasonable  ?  Until  now,  as  you  know,  I  have 
merely  invoked  the  assistance  of  the  Lord  ;  will  you  compel  me 
to  have  recourse  to  other  arms  V  The  chapter  affected  not  to 
understand  Luther.  The  monk  soon  explained  himself:  on« 
night  a  mob  smashed  with  stones  the  windows  of  the  chapter* 
house.  The  terrified  canons  promised  to  obey,  and  they  did  so. 
On  that  night  the  people  abjured  the  priesthoodand  royalty.^ 

A  material  must  not  be  compajred  with  an  intellectual 
revolution  ;  the  former  may  be  mastered,  but  the  latter,  never. 
Nothing  was  so  easy  to  Luther  as  the  restoration  of  the  statues 
pulled  down  by  the  fanatics  ;  the  artisan  who  had  cast  the  cord 
over  their  necks  wherewith  to  pull  them  down,  replaced  them 
triumphantly  on  their  marble  pedestals.  But  he  could  not 
deceive  himself:  the  invisible  artisan,  the  Satan  who  had  caused 
these  disturbances,  had  not  left  Wittembeig.  For  all  those 
minds  whom  he  had  set  in  motion  excitement  was  necessary : 
iJl  had  fallen  into  doubt,  that  disease  of  the  mind,  which  rest 
would  make  mortal,  Luther  knew  the  spiritual  wants  of  those 
whom  he  had  driven  into  rebellion.  So  while  the  masons  were 
engaged  in  repairing  the  havoc  of  the  iconoclasts,  he  endeavoured 
to  give  food  to  that  fever  of  innovation  with  which  Wittemberg 
was  tormented.  Like  his  work,  Luther  could  not  exist  but  on 
the  "condition  that  the  activity  created  by  free  inquiiy  should  be 
incessantiy  maintained. 

*  Menzel,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  pp.  138 — 164.  Die  guiae  Kinshenaogelegenheit  war 
bereitfl  VoUuaDgelegenlieit  geworden. 


SXRMON  ON  BfARRIAGE.  19 

Some  days  after  his  inyectiyes  against  the  prophets,  he  preached 
that  sermon  on  marriage,  which  Bossaet  has  characterised  as 
fiunons, — probably  because  he  conld  not  find  in  his  episcopal 
Tocabulary  another  word  to  describe  it  without  offending  the  ear. 
We  are  not  fettered  by  that  chastity  of  language :  the  priest 
dared  only  to  quote  a  few  extracts,  half-smothered  under  a 
timid  phraseology.  The  historian  may  indulge  in  a  boldness 
unbecoming  a  ibeol<^an.  Nevertheless,  the  reader  may  be 
assured  that  we  shall  only  lift  a  comer  of  the  yeil  Listen  to 
the  apostle  of  Saxony :  ^ 

"  Dieu  a  cr^  Fhomme '  afin  qu^il  £Dit  mdle  et  femelle,  dit  la 
Oen^,  ce  qui  nous  enseigne  que  Dieu  a  form^  TStre  double, 
Toulant  qu'il  flit  homme  et  femme,  ou  male  et  femelle :  et  cette 
oduvie  lui  pint  tellement  qu'il  jugea  que  ce  qu'il  ayait  fait  ^ait 
bien 

^'L'homme  et  la  femme  cr^,  Bieu  les  b^nit  en  disant: 
Groiflsez  et  multipliez;  d'otl  nous  ddduisons  la  n^cessit^  de 
Tunion  des  deux  sexes  pour  op6rer  la  multiplication  des  dtres ; 
d'od  encore  que  de  mdme  qu'il  ne  depend  pas  de  moi  que  je  ne 
sois  homme,  il  n'est  pas  dans  ma  nature  que  je  m'abstienne  de 
femme :  ei  comme  tu  ne  pourrais  faire  que  tu  ne  sois  femme,  tu 
ne  pounais  pas  non  plus  te  passer  d'homme.  Ce  n'est  pas  ici 
un  conseil,  une  option,  mais  une  n^cessit^  que  le  mflle  s'unisse  & 
la  femelle,  et  la  femelle  au  male. 

"  Car  ce  mot  de  TEtemel :  Croissez  et  multipliez,  n'est  pas 
seulement  un  pr^pte  diyin,  mais  plus  qu'un  pr^pte,  une 
ceruyre  du  Gr^teur  que  nous  ne  pouyons  fuir  ou  omettre :  il  est 
de  n^cessit^  souyeraine  que  je  sois  male,  destin  plus  imp^rieux 
que  de  b<Mre,  de  manger,  d'aller  h  la  seUe,  de  me  moueher,  de 
yeiller  et  de  sommeiUer.  La  nature  et  les  instincts  ont  leurs 
ibnctions  tout  comme  les  membres  du  corps.  Et  de  mdme  que 
Dieu  ne  fait  pas  un  commandement  k  Thomme  qu'il  soit  male  ou 
femeUe,  aussi  ne  lui  enjoint-il  pas  de  croitre  ou  de  mtdtiplier ; 
mais  il  lui  donne  une  nature  telle  qu'il  sort  des  mains  de  son 

'  [It  has  been  oonndered  expedient  to  leave  theee  quotations  in  the  original 
langnage. — TranalcUor.'] 

*  Martini  Lntheri  de  Matrimonio,  senno  habitus  WittembeTg».  Anno  1522^ 
torn.  T.  Oper.  Lnth.  Wittembei^,  1544,  p.  19  et  seq.  18  pp.  fol.  It  is 
remarkable  that  this  sermon  is  not  to  be  fonnd  in  almost  any  edition  of 
Luther's  works  pubUdied  since  that  time. 

C2 


20  HISTORY  OP  LUTHER. 

Dieu  male  oa  femelle,  et  que  la  g^n^ration  est  de  son  essenoe. 
C'est  ici  une  loi.de  nature,  et  non  un  pr^cepte  de  conscience.  . ,  . 

''  II  y  a  trois  vari^t^  d'hommes  auxquels  Dieu  a  ot^  le  bien&it 
de  la  g^n^ration,  ainsi  qu'on  le  voit  en  Saint  Matthieu  :  les 
eunuques  de  naissance,  les  eunuques  par  castration,  les  castrats 
par  amour  du  r^e  de  TEvangile :  dtez  ces  trois  natures  d'dtrsy 
qui  personne  ne  songe  k  vivre  sans  une .  compagne :  crois  et  te 
multiplie,  tu  ne  peux  sans  crime  d^liner  cet  ordre  de  Dieu. 

"  Les  eunuques  du  ventre  de  leur  mbre  sont  ces  impuissants  qui 
de  leur  nature  ne  sont  idoines  ni  k  procr^  ni  k  multiplier ;  qui 
sont  froids,  maladifs,  ou  atteints  de  qudque  affection  qui  leur 
ote  la  faculty  prolifique.  lis  ressemblent  au  sourd  on  k  Taveugle 
priv^  de  la  vision  ou  de  Touie.  .  . . 

''  Quid  d  mulieri  ad  rem  aptce  ooniingat  matitm  impotens  f 

"  Ecce^  mi  marite,  debitam  mihi  benewlentiam  prcBsiare  nan 
potCBy  meque  et  inutile  carpus  decepisti.  Fave^  qucesOy  ut  cum 
fraJtre  tuo  aut  proxime  tibi  sanguine  juncto  occultum  matri- 
manium  paeitcary  sic  ut  nomen  habecu,  ne  res  turn  in  aUenos 
perveniant. 

"  Perresci  porro  maritum  debere  in  ea  re  assentiri  uxoriy 
eigne  debitam  benevolentiam  spemque  sobolis  ea  pacta  reddere. 
Quod  si  renuat,  ipsa  dandestina  fuga  saluti  suw  consulat,  et  in 
aliam  profecta  terram^  alii  etiam  nubat. 

**  Quant  aux  castrats  volontaires^  c'est  une  esp^  de  mulcts 
qui,  non  idoines  au  manage,  ne  sont  pas  d^vr&  de  la  concupis- 
cence, et  ont  app^tit  de  femmes.  .  .  . 

''  lUis  acddit  juxta  proverbium  iUud :  qui  canere  nan  potest, 
semper  canere  laborat.  Hac  via  illi  affiiffuntur,  ut  lubentius 
mulieribus  conversentur,  quum  prcpstare  tamen  nihil  queant. 

''  Le  dernier  ordre  d'eunuques  est  form^  de  ces  esprits  Aev^s 
et  riches,  beaux  instincts  que  conduit  le  grfice,  Stres  qui  sont 
propres  a  la  cr^tion,  mais  que  pr^f^rent  vivre  dans  le  c^bat,  et 
qui  se  disent :  Je  pourrais  de  ma  nature  contracter  et  accomplir 
le  manage :  cela  n'est  pas  dans  mes  goiits,  j'aime  mieux  travailler 
h  Toeuvre  ^vang^que,  ou  enfanter  des  fils  spirituels  pour  le 
royaume  des  cieux.  Mais  ceux-l&  sont  rares :  il  n'y  en  a  pas  un 
sur  mille.  . .  . 

'^  Outre  ces  eateries  d'eunuques^  Satan,  qui  se  fait  dans 
rhomme  plus  sage  que  Dieu,  en  trouve  d'autres  qu'il  s^uit,  et 


SBBMON  OK   MARBIAfiH«  21 

qai,  ik  sea  insi^tions,  renoncent  ^  cr^  et  k  mxtltiplier ;  qui 
s'emprisonnent  dans  des  toileB  d'araign^,  c'est  h,  dire  des  yoenz 
et  dee  traditions  hmnaines ;  qui  s'enferrent  dans  des  chaSnes 
pour  forcer  la  nature,  Tempdcher  de  porter  semence  et  de  multi- 
plier, au  m^pris  de  la  parole  de  Dieu :  comme  s'il  d^pendait  de 
nous  de  conserver  la  yirginit^  ainsi  qu'un  v^tement  ou  un 
Soulier.  S'il  ne  fieJlait  que  des  liens  de  fer  ou  de  diamant  pour 
faire  rebrousser  la  parole  et  Tceuvre  de  Dieu,  j'aurais  Tespoir  de 
me  munir  de  si  bonnes  armures  que  je  changerais  la  femme  en 
homme,  et  Thomme  en  pierre  et  en  bois.'' 

The  preacher  proceeds  with  the  same  bold  illustration,  and 
treats  of  the  impediments  to  marriage,  of  which  he  reduces  the 
number  fixed  by  the  canons  of  the  Church  ;  then  of  the  disso- 
lutions of  matrimony ;  for  he  admits  divorce,  not  merely  on  the 
ground  of  adultery  or  prolonged  absence  of  one  of  the  parties, 
but  for  the  mere  caprices  of  the  woman  ;  and'here  his  language 
is  as  strange  as  his  sentiments ;  not  merely  his  words  but  his 
imagination  becomes  more  and  more  unblushing. 

The  orator  now  puts  a  case.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
tapers  on  the  altar  are  unextinguished ;  that  the  church  of 
Wittembei^  is  filled  with  light,  and  that  the  sexes  are  mingled 
there  as  in  our  Catholic  churches. 

**  Beperiuntur  enim  itUerdum  odeoperHfuieei  uxores  gucB 
eliamii  decies  in  Wndinem  prolaberetur  maritus^  pro  sua  duritia 
nan  curarmU, 

'^  Le  cas  ^h^nt,  que  dira  le  mari  ? — Tu  ne  yeux  pas,  une 
autre  youdra ;  si  madame  refuse,  yienne  la  servante  ;  toutefois, 
apr^  que  le  mari  aura  deux  ou  trois  fois  admonest^  sa  femme, 
proclam^  Tent^tement  de  madame,  et  qu'en  pr^ence  de  TEglise 
on  lui  aura  reproch^  publiquement  son  obstination,  si  elle  refuse 
encore  le  devoir  conjugal, — ^renvoie-la,  et,  h  la  place  de  Vasthi, 
mets  Esther,  pour  imiter  Texemple  d'Assu^rus  le  roi.^ 

"  Done  tu  te  serviras  ici  des  paroles  de  Saint  Paul,  1  Corinth,  vii. : 
Le  mari  n'a  pas  la  propri^t^  de  son  corps,  mais  bien  la  femme : 
et  la  femme  n'est  pas  maitresse  de  son  corps,  mab  bien  le  mari. 
Point  de  firaude,  si  ce  n'est  d'un  consentement  mutuel,  encore 
Tapotre  d^end-il  ce  vol:   car,  en  se  mariant,  tons  deux  ont 


Sermo  de  Matrimonio,  ib.  pp.  128,  183. 


22  HISTORY  OF  LXTTHBB. 

ali^D^  la  jouisflance  de  lour  corps,  Ainsi,  qnand  Inn  refose  it 
Tautre  le  devoir^  il  loi  £Ekit  un  vol,  il  le  spolicy  et  ce  vol  est 
d^fendu  par  le  code  conjugal,  ce  vol  brise  les  liens  da  manage. 
Le  magistrat  doit  done  employer  la  force  centre  la  femme 
rev^he ;  en  cas  de  besoin,  la  glaive.  Si  le  magistrat  use  du 
fflaive,  le  mari  imaginera  que  sa  femme  a  6t6  enleY^  et  tu^e  par 
des  Yolears,  et  il  en  prendra  une  autre/'  ^ 

The  preacher  then  treats  of  the  matrimonial  bond,  and  of  the 
husband's  duties  towards  the  wife  when  confined. 

''  Le  manage  *n'est  qu'un  contrat  politique  qu'on  pent  passer 
avec  tout  indiyidu  iufid^le,  gentil,  Turc  ou  Juif ;  et  c*est  devant 
le  magistrat  civil  qu'on  devrait  porter  toute  cause  matrimoniale. 

''  La  femme  est-elle  d^vr^  ?  O'est  h  I'homme  de  changer 
les  draps,  de  laver  le  lingCi  et  de  rendre  k  la  m^re  et  h  I'enfant,' 
mdme  quand  le  nouveau-n^  serait  issu  d'un  manage  adults,' 
tons  les  petits  services  dont  le  monde  se  moque. — Mais  on  dira 
que  Yous  faites  I'ofKce  de  femme,  de  singe :  que  vous  importe  ? 
Pieu  h,  son  tour  rira  avec  ses  anges  de  ceut  qui  vous  raUlent. .  . . 
Moines  et  moinesses  enchatn^  dans  la  chastet^  et  I'ob^issance, 
et  qui  font  sonner  bien  haut  leur  d^vouement,  ne  sent  pas  dignes 
de  remuer  les  langes  de  I'enfant. .  .  ." 

Such  was  the  sermon  on  Marriage  preached  in  the  German 
language  in  the  great  church  of  Wittemberg,  in  presence  of  the 
image  of  Christ,  still  standing  upon  the  altar,  the  mutilated 
statues  of  saints  which  encircled  the  choir,  the  tombs  of  the 
priests  and  faithful  departed,  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living  ;  in 
presence  of  mothers,  daughters,  husbands  and  wives,  and  aged 
persons,  who  ran  to  listen  to  the  pastor  I  Such  are  the  terms  in 
which  the  apostle  sent  from  God,  this  man  come  from  heaven, 
this  ecclesiastic,  this  new  Elias,'^  addressed  his  audience.  And 
the  Church  remained  silent !  How  was  it  that  no  voice  was 
raised  to  impose  silence  on  the  speaker?  That  mothers  took  not 
their  daughters  by  the  hand  and  dragged  them  from  the  sanctuary ; 
that  no  magistrate  armed  himself  with  a  whip  to  drive  from  the 


>  Sermo  de  Matrimonio,  ib.  p.  :i2d. 

^  **  Ubi  prolem  e  conjuge  sustulerit,  cunas  motare,  lavare  iasoias,  aliaque  id 
penus  viilgo  contempta  mioisteria,  tarn  matri  qukm  infanti  exhibere  debet." 
'  "  Vel  illidto  ooncubitu  natus." 
<  ^atbesiufl  Prod.  cone,  i*  p,  1 ;  oonc.  xv.  p.  86 ;  cone.  xvii.  p.  205, 


6BRM0N  ON  MAHRIAQE.  23 

pvdpit  this  vendor  of  licentious  language,  which  changed  the 
holy  place  into  a  bvothel  ?  Did  eyer,  before  the  Reformation,  a 
priest  dare  to  make  use  of  similar  imagery  ?  What  Catholic 
bishop  would  not  hare  interdicted  the  priest  who  should  have 
had  the  effrontery  to  make  use  of  such  language  ?  It  is  observ- 
able that  this  was  no  extemporary  discourse,  but  one  after  the 
mann^  of  the  schools^  composed  in  the  closet,  according  to  the 
rules  of  rhetoric^  with  its  text,  divisions,  points  or  parts,  and 
peroration ;  and  after  being  preached,  Luther  translated  it  into 
Latin,  in  order  that  no  word  that  issued  from  his  lips  should  be 
lost  to  the  ears  of  the  learned.  Its  success  must  have  been 
great,  and  the  Vasthi,  if  such  there  were,  must  have  submitted^ 
for  fear  their  husbands  should  have  taken  the  preacher  at  his 
word  and  delivered  them  over  to  the  wrath  of  the  magistrates. 

On  reading  Luther's  sermon  on  Marriage,  Erasmus  exclaimed : 
''  It  is  a  farce."'  This  was  a  man  who  found  laughter  in  every- 
thing !  As  if  Luther,  with  his  incomprehensible  licentiousness^ 
had  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  make  his  audience  laugh ! — 
as  if  he  had  been  then  seated  at  table,  beside  Jonas,  Melancthon, 
and  Amsdorf,  the  jolly  companions  of  his  ale-house  suppers  ! 
His  sermon  was  not  a  jest  These  erotic  praises  of  matrimony 
had  an  object,  that  of  preparing  the  way  for  the  emancipation  of 
the  convents,  the  marriage  of  priests,  and  of  the  preacher  him- 
self. For  if  it  is  true  that  celibacy  is  an  unnatural  state,  an 
offence  against  God,  a  rebellion  of  the  flesh  against  the  spirit, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  who  asserts  he  has  been  sent  from 
heaven  to  reform  Christian  society,  will  not  long  continue  to 
wrestle  with  the  Lord.  These  words,  coming  from  the  evan- 
gelical pulpit,  must  have  disturbed  the  young  woman  consecrated 
to  die  Lord,  the  Levite  who  was  preparing  to  ascend  the  altar, 
and  the  priest  who  had  been  living  in  chastity.  If  the  union  of 
the  sexes — ^not  to  employ  the  monk's  more  free  expression — is 
one  of  the  necessities  of  our  organisation,  as  much  so  as  sleeping, 
eating,  and  drinking ;  if  it  is  as  impossible  for  man  or  woman 
to  avoid  this  law  of  increase,  as  to  avoid  "  blowing  of  the  nose, 
spitting,  or  other  evacuations,"  it  may  be  guessed  whether  the 
praises  of  virginity  by  the  Catholic  priest  will  hereafter  go  to 
the  ear  or  the  heart  of  the  people.  When  then,  by  one  of 
these  inexplicable  inconsistencies  into  which  he  so  frequently 


24  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBE, 

falls,  Luther  says  in  the  same  discourse:  ''God  forbid  that 
I  should  depreciate  virginity ! ''  who  will  not  immediately 
reply  to  him :  "  You  deceive  us  ;  you  knowingly  deceive  your- 
self:"  for  if  marriage^  be  a  law  of  nature,  and  prescribed  by 
Providence,  to  avoid  it  is  to  be  guilty  towards  God  and  yourself ; 
it  is  a  suicide,  as  a  fast  improperly  prolonged  would  be.  And  we 
shall  see  Luther  driven  to  this  consequence  by  the  iron  hand 
of  logic,  against  which  he  vainly  stru^les,  teaching  that  a 
prostitute  is  more  agreeable  to  God  than  she  who  lives 
purely  in  a  convent ;  that  a  female  pr^nant  by  an  adulterous 
connection  may  be  proud,  because  it  is  her  work,  and  she  has 
accomplished  the  divine  precept  ''  increase  and  multiply ;''  and 
that  it  would  be  a  wonder  to  narrate  that  five  young  persons, 
male  or  female,  had  preserved  their  virginity  in  a  city  to  the  age 
of  twenty.* 

There  was  only  one  prince  in  all  Germany  who  was  alarmed 
at  Luther's  audacity.  This  was  the  Catholic  duke  George ;  the 
others  paid  no  attention  to  it' 

The  following  affects  the  mind  more  painfully  than  the  sennon 
on  marriage. 

Scarcely  had  it  been  delivered,  when  the  collection  of  his 
discourses  was  printed  under  the  doctor's  own  eyes.     At  the  end 

■  "  Quod  si  qaisquam  prohibere  molitur,  egregib  ut  est  perduriit,  saumque 
meatum  scortatione,  adulteriOi  koI  iid  iL^utvutv  tS»v  frapaimofidrwv  qunritat.** 

*  '<Ben^  si  in  aliquA  nnA  ciyitate  rel  qninque  yirginefl  et  quinqae  mareg 
annom  vigerimum  casti  attigerint :  idque  plua  esse  qu&m  tempore  apostolonmi 
et  martyrum  .  .  .  demtun  non  mintia  vires  natune  traDagredi  hominem  oele- 
bem,  qiikm  si  nihil  omnino  oomederet,  Tel  biberet." — ^Luth.  Serm.  de  Tribns 
Begibus,  p.  198. 

In  1843  there  appeared,  at  Strasburg,  a  small  pamphlet,  entitled  The  True 
and  the  False  Luther, — Der  wahre  nnd  der  falsche  Luther.  In  this  the 
sermon  on  marriage  is  thus  estimated :  "  To  judge'  without  prejudice  this  work 
of  Luther,  we  must  put  ourselves  in  the  preacher's  place.  What  he  meant  by 
employing  these  shocking  details,  was  to  combat  that  fitlse  opinion  of  the  time, 
that  celibacy,  even  with  scandals  apparent  or  concealed,  was  meritorious  in 
the  sight  of  God.'*— P.  20.  Such  is  all  the  censure  which  the  Protestant 
author  inflicts  upon  Luther,  and,  as  we  see,  slandering  Catholicism,  which  has 
never  pretended  that  impure  celibacy  was  agreeable  to  God. 

But  there  are  many  more  eccentricities  in  this  apology  for  Luther;  the 
author  maintains  in  it  that  Luther  was  always  extremely  moderate  in  his 
language,  in  regard  to  the  pope,  the  emperor,  the  princes,  and  his  opponents. 

*  We  understand  how  Flaccius  Illyricus  might  have  said,  in  speaking  of  the 
University  of  Wittemberg,  a  member  of  which  could  with  impunity  preach 
such  a  sermon : 

"  Recti&s  fikcturos  parentes  si  in  lupanar  liberos  sues  mittant,  qu2un  in  Aca- 
demiam  Wittenbeigenaem." — ^Ulenberg,  Vita,  etc.  cap.  ii.  no.  4,  p.  896. 


SERMON   ON   MARRIAGE.  25 

of  the  book,  Luther  is  represented  in  a  monk's  dress.  There  is 
no  mistaking  him  there:  it  is  the  disputant  of  Dresden,  the 
prisoner  of  Wartburg,  the  man  still  in  the  flower  of  his  youth. 
We  recognise  him  by  his  emaciated  face,  his  sunken  eye,  his 
projecting  bones,  as  Mosellanus  represented  him  to  us  at  Leipsic, 
and  as  Lucas  Cranach  at  that  time  has  depicted  him.  There, 
the  preacher  has  changed  his  nature :  he  is  a  saint  whose  head  is 
circled  with  a  large  glory.  Above  him  in  the  heavens  floats  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  whose  golden  wings  over- 
shadow the  head  of  the  apostle.  Luther  holds  in  his  hand  the 
book  of  the  Gospels :  his  countenance,  filled  with  a  celestial 
calm,  has  left  the  earth  to  bury  itself  in  the  rays  of  the  divine 
Majesty.* 

We  remember  the  former  vicar-general  of  the  Augustines,  Stau- 
pitz,  whom  Luther  had  loved  so  well.  He  could  not  read  without 
blushes  the  sermon  upon  marriage,  and  see  without  feeling  scan- 
dalized that  celestial  crown  which  the  Saxon  evangelist  permitted 
his  bookseller  to  confer  upon  liim ;  and  suddenly,  as  if  inspired 
by  Heaven,  he  deserted  all  at  once  the  doctor  and  the  saints. 
God,  with  a  beam  of  his  mercy,  had  enlightened  this  father  whose 
soul  was  all  charity.  Staupitz  returned  to  the  old  faith  of  his 
monastery.  He  bade  his  farewell  to  the  world  in  a  small 
treatise, — a  sort  of  Happy  New-year,  which  the  monks  were  in 
the  habit,  at  Easter,  of  addressing  to  the  individuals  towards 
whom  they  felt  the  most  regard.  His  little  book  is  dedicated  to 
the  duchess  of  Bavaria.'  Listen :  would  you  not  think  that 
these  lines  proceeded  from  the  author  of  the  "  Imitation  V  "  To 
love,  is  to  pray ;  he  who  loves,  prays  ;  he  who  loves  not,  prays 
not.  He  who  loves  God,  serves  him ;  he  who  loves  him  not, 
could  not  serve  him,  even  if  he  had  the  power  of  removing 
mountains." 

And  Staupitz  deplored  his  errors  of  doctrine,  and  rejected  that 
dead  faith  which  he  had  so  long  preached,  to  embrace  the  living 
and  life-giving  Catholic  belief.     A  German  of  the  old  race,  he 

>  Predigt  Dr.  Martin  Luther's.  The  collection  bears  no  date,  but  it  is 
evidently  of  1522,  when  Luther  was  not  in  that  exuberant  health  which  he 
exhibited  three  years  later,  at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  In  1582  he  still  wore 
the  monk's  habit,  which  he  was  soon  to  throw  off. 

*  Ein  BiUtgs  newes  Jar  von  der  Lieb  Gktttee.  This  little  work,  with  notes  in 
the  autograph  of  Staupitz,  is  in  the  library  of  M.  Alexander  Martin. 


26  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHBR. 

said  to  Lather :  ''  I  leave  yon,  my  brother,  because  I  at  length 
perceive  that  you  have  the  eympathies  of  all  those  who  &e* 
quent  brothels."  ^ 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  BOOK  AGAINST  THE  PRIESTHOOD.    1522. 

DoTelopment  of  Luther's  principles. — ^Mjooniusy  Bugenhagwi,  Gapito,  Hedlo, 
and  (Eoolfunpadius  embrace  Protestantism. — ^The  secularised  monks  leave 
the  monastery. — Attempts  at  propagating^  Lutheranism  in  the  religious 
houses. — Special  writing  composed  for  their  use  by  Dr.  Luther. — ^The  book 
against  the  priesthood. — ^Analysis  of  it. 

It  seems  as  if  fortune  had  been  in  collusion  with  Luther ; 
everything  went  as  he  pleased.  The  person  who  alone  could 
annoy  him  at  Wittemberg  was  a  wanderer  beyond  its  walls,  not 
daring  to  cross  its  gates ;  Garlstadt  was  concealed  in  obscurity ; 
Gabriel  retracted  publicly  ;*  Munzer  vented  his  impotent  rage 
in  Thuringia ;  and  the  monastery  of  the  Augustinians  held  a 
synod,  over  which,  according  to  Luther,  the  Holy  Spirit  had 
presided,  and  in  which  they  had  decided  on  abrogating  the 
Mass.^ 

Duke  George  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  prevent  Luther's 
works  being  introduced  into  his  dominions. 

The  monk  triumphantly  exclaimed :  "  Satan  has  been  over- 
come ;  the  pope,  with  his  abominations,  is  vanquished  ;  we  have 
now  to  triumph  by  the  wrath  of  the  bulls :  but  is  not  the  Lord 
the  God  of  the  living  and  the  dead  ?  What  have  we  to  fear  ? 
....  He  cannot  lie  who  said :  '  You  have  cast  all  under  his 
feet'  All ! — does  not  that  also  include  the  bull  of  the  man  of 
Dresden  ?  Let  them  attempt,  then,  to  throw  down  Christ  from 
heaven  !     We  shall  fearlessly  see  how  the  Father  will  with  his 


'  "  Jactaris  ab  lis  qui  lupanaria  oolunt." — Seckendorf,  1.  o.  tom.  i.  p.  48. 
Staupitz  died  abbot  of  St.  Bridget,  at  Salsburg. 

'  **  Gabriel  in  alium  virum  mutatus  est." — ^Winoeslao  Linck,  19  Mart.  1522. 
De  Wette,  1.  c.  tom.  ii. 

'  ''Neque  enim  Spiritus  Simctus  unqukn  in  synodis  monachorum  videtur 
luisse,  prseter  istam."->Ibid. 


THE  BOOK  AOAIKST  THJB  P&IESTHOOD.  27 

right  arm  protect  his  beloyed  Son  against  the  fiftce  and  the  tail  of 
these  smoking  brands."^ 

At  Magdeburg,  at  Osnaborg,  at  Leipsic,  Antwerp,  Batisbon, 
DiUengen,  Nuremberg,  in  Hesse,  as  in  Wurtemberg, — ^wherever 
Luther's  writings  penetrated,  the  monks  left  their  monasteries . 
and  apostatized.  John  Stiefel,  at  Eslingen,  announced  that 
Luther  was  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse,*  flying  through  heaven, 
Bible  in  hand^  to  deliver  the  nations  that  still  walked  in  dark^ 
ness ;  and  he  cdebrated  the  seraph  in  German  verses.^  Fre- 
derick Myconius  (Mecum),  suddenly  remembering  a  dream 
which  he  had  had  the  night  after  he  had  taken  his  monk's 
habit,  embraced  the  new  doctrines.  He  had  seen,  during  his 
sleep,  a  bald-headed  man,  such  aa  St.  Paul  is  represented,  who 
had  led  him  to  quench  his  thirst  at  a  stream  of  water  flowing 
from  a  crucifix.  He  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  man 
resembling  St.  Paul  was  Luther,  and  that  the  mysterious  stream 
of  water  was  the  word  of  life  which  the  Saxon  preached  in  his 
**  Captivity  of  the  Church,^'  or  in  his  sermon  upon  marriage.^ 

The  conversion  of  Bugenhagen  (Pomeranus)  had  likewise 
something  of  the  miracle  attending  it.  He  was  a  Premonstra* 
tensian  of  Belbuck,  in  Pomerania.  One  day,  at  table,  he  opened 
the  book  of  the  "  Captivity  of  the  Church  in  Babylon,"  read 
some  pages,  and  threw  it  aside  indignantly,  as  the  work  of  the 
most  horrid  heretic  who  had  infested  the  Church  since  the  death 
of  Christ.^  At  a  later  period^  after  Luther  had  written  against 
celibacy,  Bugenhagen  felt  inclined  to  reperuse  the  "  Captivity,"^ 
and  on  this  occasion  to  tell  the  whole  world  it  had  been  deceived, 
and  that  Luther  alone  discovered  the  trutL^  And  some  days 
thereafter,  a  party  of  the  monks  and  priests  of  the  monastery — 


I  "  Ut  Pater  Filiam  in  dexterd  suA  possit  wirare  2k  fade  et  caudA  istorom 
titioDum  fdmigantium." — ^WencesL  Link,  16  Mart.  1522. 

*  Strobe],  Neue  Beitrage,  torn.  i.  p.  10. 

'  Yon  der  ohristfbrmigen,  rechtgegriindeten  Lehre  Doctoris  Martini  Lntheri. 

*  Mjconiofl  had  another  prophetic  dream,  which  he  narrated  at  Katzeberg. 
Seckendor^  L  o.  torn.  iii.  p.  269.  This  historian  pretends  that  Luther  hiul 
predicted  that  he  would  die  six  years  before  Myoonins. — ^Ib.  p.  630. 

*  "  Multos  \k  paaso  Christo  salvatore  hsBreticos  ecclesiam  infestasse,  ac  dariter 
exercoisse,  sed  nullum,  ejus  libri  auctore,  pestilentiorem  unquam  extitisse." — 
Scult.  Ann.  Evang.  Benovati,  4to,  p.  89,  ed.  de  Van  der  Hart. 

*  ''  Quid  ego  vobis  multa  dioam  ?  Univenus  mnndus  ctecutit,  et  in  Cim* 
meriis  tenehns  versatur.    Hie  vir  unus  et  solus  verum  videt." — Id.  ib. 


28  HISTORY   OF  LITTHEB. 

John  Eyrich^  John  Lorich,  John  Boldewin,  and  Christ.  Eettelhut, 
— threw  off  an  inconvenient  gown,  and  married,  in  obedience  to 
the  command,  ^^  Increase  and  muUiply ;"  whilst  at  their  insti- 
gation the  young  people  of  the  town  pulled  down  the  statues 
which  ornamented  the  choir  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  threw  them  into  the  nearest  wells.^ 

At  Mainz,  Gaspard  Hedio  and  Gapito,  under  the  eye  of  the 
archbishop,  presumed  to  diffuse  the  new  doctrines  with  a  temerity 
of  expression  and  a  yiolence  which  (Ecolampadius  himself  cen- 
sured.' In  each  of  these  discourses,  preached  in  the  cloister,  the 
pulpit,  at  the  gate  of  the  cemeteries,  and  sometimes  in  the  open 
fields,  under  the  lindens,  as  did  Hermann  Tast  at  Husum,  the 
preacher  hailed  Luther  by  the  names  of  "  evangelist,^' — "  apostle 
of  the  truth," — '*  ecolesiafites  according  to  God's  own  heart" 
According  to  them,  God  had  revealed  to  none  but  Luther  the 
mysteries  of  the  eternal  word.  And  some  months,  days  perhaps, 
had  scarcely  elapsed,  when  Sebastian  Hofimeister,  a  Minorite  at 
Scaphus,  taught  that  Christ  cannot  be  present  in  the  eucharist 
after  his  ascension,'  a  proposition  which  he  surely  did  not  find 
in  the  Paul  of  Wittemberg ;  and  (Ecolampadius  wrote :  ''  Beware 
of  saying  to  Luther  that  he  is  deceived ;  that  would  be  to  reject 
the  Gospel.  No,  no,  my  brother,  you  will  not  convince  us  though 
the  Holy  Ghost  may  have  chosen  his  domicile  at  Wittembei^."^ 

If  you  follow  the  monks  on  their  leaving  the  monasteries,  you 
will  find  them,  when  they  do  not  return  to  their  residence,  taking 
the  road  to  Wittemberg,  where  Schneidewins  employed  them  to 
republish  Luther's  pamphlets.  They  had  long  plenty  of  work, 
for  nothing  could  equal  the  doctor's  fecundity.  Writing  was  for 
him  even  more  than  an  intellectual  recreation.  In  1520,  he 
published  133  small  works;  in  1522,  130;  in  1523,  183.* 
These  are  sermons,  homilies,  postils,  dialogues,  exegeses,  books 
polemical  or  controversial ;    some  of  them,  for  example  the 

>  Scult.  Ann.  ib.  p.  89. 

*  ''Sed  tu  videaa  no  EvangelicK  sermonU  libertati  ad  amuaBun  haso  ton 
respondeat  modestia." — Epist.  CBoolampadii  et  Zwinglii,  lib.  i. 

*  Scultetus,  Ann.  Evang.  Benoy.  I.  c.  p.  49. 

^  Ant  wort  auf  Lnther'a  Yorrede  zom  Syngranuna.    Luther's  Bhefis:  Halle. 

*  Panzer.  Ann.    Banke^  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  81. 


THE  BOOK  AGAINST  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  29 

"  CaptiTity  of  the  Church  in  Babylon,"  would  fonn  several  in 
octavo.  Almost  all  of  them  had  a  title  engraved  on  wood,  the 
design  of  which  was  famished  by  the  author.  The  printers  com- 
pensated themselves  for  the  austerities  of  the  monastic  life,  by 
jovially  spending  their  money  in  one  of  those  pints  which  they 
found  at  the  gates  of  the  German  towns.  For  want  of  pipes,  as 
tobacco  had  not  then  been  discovered,  they  had  to  r^ale  them- 
selves with  large  pots  of  beer,  which  they  emptied  while 
singing— 

"  Who  lores  not  woman,  wioe,  or  aang, 
Is  »  fool,  and  will  be  all  his  life  long."  * 

One  of  those  off-hand  distichs  of  Luther's  rare  leisure  moments, 
allowed  him  by  the  devil  or  the  pope,  and  which  has  had  the 
good  fortune  to  outUve  the  doctor's  creed.  We  have  frequently 
heard  it  sung  at  evening  on  the  terrace  of  the  old  castle  of 
Seidelberg  by  the  students  of  divinity. 

The  monks  were  the  foremost  to  show  an  example  of  public 
violation  of  their  vows  of  xhastity.  The  nuns  dared  not  leave 
their  convents.  Luther  perhaps  had  reckoned  too  much  on  the 
effect  of  his  sermon  upon  marriage  ;  the  religious  women  blushed 
while  they  perused  it.  He  came  to  the  rescue  of  their  startled 
modesty  by  publishing,  for  the  use  of  those  who  wished  to  be 
free,  a  small  tract,  entitled,  ''  Reasons  proving  that  Nuns  may 
piously  leave  their  Cells.''* 

A  young  woman  might  read  tiie  pleading  in  favour  of  marriage 
without  too  much  fear  for  her  virtue.  It  is  in  very  decent  terms 
that  the  priest  recommends  the  precept  given  to  our  first  parents. 

The  book  is  dedicated  to  Leonard  Eoeppe,  citizen  of  Torgau, 
a  youth  aged  twenty-four,  with  as  fine  a  face  as  figure,  and  who, 
proud  of  this  dedication,  every  night  scaled  the  convents  to 
remove  from  them  the  nuns  disposed  to  escape.  It  was  Eoeppe, 
as  we  shall  see,  who  carried  off  from  the  convent  of  Nimptsch, 
Catherine  Bora,  Luther's  future  wife.  For  fear  lest  the  noble 
Oerman  in  which  the  monk  wrote  so  purely  might  not  be  under- 

1  "  Wer  nicht  Hebt  Wein,  Weiber  und  Gesang, 
Der  bleibt  ein  Narr  sein  Leben  lang." 

*  Unaeb  and  Antwort^  dass  Jangfranen  ClSster  gottlioh  verlassen  mogen. 
Dr.  Martin  Luther  an  Leonhard  Koppen,  BUrger  zu  Torgau :  Wittemb.  1523. 


30  HISTOAT   OF  LUTHEB. 

stood  by  all  the  mma,  Luther  caused  his  treatise  to  be  tESDsIated 
into  the  old  Saxon  langaage  of  the  common  people.^ 

In  this  crusade  against  ecclesiastical  celibacy,  we  recognise 
even  females, — theologians  in  petticoats, — who  lend  Lathto 
drops  of  ink,  which  the  monk  is  glad  to  accept.  Argnla  Stanf, 
since  her  yisit  to  Wartbnrg,  laboured  incessantly  to  propagate 
Luther's  doctrines  by  preaching  and  writing.  In  a  "  Christian 
Admonition  to  the  People  as  well  as  to  the  Ma^strates,""  she 
maintains  that  the  Saxon  doctrine  proceeds  from  heaven,  that 
vows  of  chastity  are  an  invention  of  the  devil,  that  women  are 
entitled  to  discuss  theological  questions,^  and  that  she  will  talk 
in  spite  of  all  the  Ecks  in  the  world.  Luther  has  extolled  the 
tender  piety  of  Argula. 

In  room  of  the  plebeians,  men  of  learning  offered  themselves 
to  take  part  in  the  religious  disputes  on  the  question  of  celibacy. 
With  Bible  in  hand,  they  gravely  ventured  to  decide  whether  the 
Catholic  or  Lutheran  view  rested  upon  the  divine  word.  In 
some  cities  of  the  empire,  the  magistrates  encouraged  these 
theological  controversies.  On  an  appointed  day,  the  two  rivals 
ascended  a  theatre,  formed  by  means  of  some  empty  casks  bor- 
rowed from  the  town  inn,  and  for  ^n  hour  or  two  exchanged 
quotations  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew :  then,  says  Schmidt, 
the  magistrates,  who  knew  nothing  of  any  of  those  languages, 
pronounced  their  judgment.^  At  Constance,  the  roles  bore  that 
it  should  be  permissible  to  the  two  parties  to  quote  Greek  and 
Latin.* 

Erasmus  laughed  at  that  swarm  of  ecclesiastics  according  to 
Luther,  which  lighted  in  Germany.  Often^  than  once,  to 
supply  the  places  of  the  priests  who  were  deprived  of  their 
cures,  masons,  tailors,  tanners,  and  shopkeepers  were  selected. 
In  vain  did  a  person  of  sense,  like  George  Eberlein,  think  of 


^  Onacke  uncle  Antwort,  dat  Junekfhiwen  Kloster  godliken  Torlataa  mogen. 
Dr.  Martin  Luther  an  Leonhart  Koppen,  B&rger  xa  Torgau  :  1523. 

'  Ein  christliche  Sohrift  einer  ehrbaren  Frauen  yon  Adel,  darin  ne  alle 
christliche  Stande  und  Obrigkeiten  ermahnet,  bei  der  Wahrbeit  nnd  dem 
Wort  Gottee  zu  bleiben,  nnd  Bolches  ans  christlicber  Pfliebt  zum  emstlichsten 
£n  handbaben. — ^Argala  StanffiBrin,  an  Herm  Wilhem,  PiUz-Grafen  bey  Bhein, 
Herzoge  in  Ober-  und  Nieder-Bayem :  1528. 

*  Schmidt^  History  of  the  Germans,  torn.  yi.  p.  920. 

*  Ibid.  notOb 


THB  BOOK  AGAINST  THB  FBIESTHOOD.  31 

addng  these  new  apostles  in  whose  name  they  came ;  in  vain 
did  he  exdaim  impatiently  :  '^  Why,  then,  penoit  eyery  fool  to 
preach  who  offeTS  himself  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost^  whom 
he  has  never  known  V  These  extempore  priests  had  always  the 
same  answer :  '^  Does  not  the  Holy  Ghost  love  to  visit  the 
simple  and  ignorant?"  Luther,  when  subsequently  conferring 
ordination  on  the  journeymen  printers,  whom  he  sent,  saying, 
^'  Go  and  preach  my  sermons,"  had  no  more  r^ard  to  rank  than 
to  mind.  It  was  only  the  Catholic  priest  whom  he  wislyed  to 
repeL^ 

He  managed  to  complete  in  a  few  days  and  nights — for  he 
worked  without  intermission — his  treatise  against  the  sacerdotal 
hierarchy  ;^  a  pamphlet,  says  one  of  his  biographers,  which  would 
seem  to  have  been  written  not  with  ink,  Wt  with  blood.^  He  always 
makes  ruins  around  him ;  he  will  have  no  more  popes,  cardinals, 
bishops,  priests ;  the  Church  is  an  assembly  in  which  all  are  popes^ 
cardinids,  bishops,  or  priests.  Have  you  faith  ? — there  is  the  tiara^ 
the  cross,  the  mitre,  the  holy  oil,  the  pastoral  staff;  you  are  a 
priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedeck.  Sing,  catechise, 
lay  on  hands, — ^these  are  the  fdnctions  which  baptism  has  conferred 
upon  you.  Let  not  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  or  the  bishop  of 
Brandenburg,  offer  to  defexi^  the  priesthood  and  its  immunities. 

"  Our  priests  are  fine  hobgoblins,"  crios  the  monk,  "  who  strut 
with  the  gravity  of  bishops,  because  they  know  how  to  sprinkle 
and  cense  wood  and  stone, — stone  sprinkling  stone,  wood  censing 
wood  !  Colleges,  bishoprics^  monasteries,  universities,  are  so 
many  jakes  and  sinks  in  which  the  gold  of  princes  and  the  whole 
world  is  buried.  Pope  ! — ^you  are  not  pope,  but  Priapus ;  for 
Papists,  say  Priapists. 

"  These  spirittuil  fornicators  believe  that  they  serve  God ;  as 
if  the  God  of  heaven  had  become  Priapus, 

"  But  some  one  will  say  to  me :  *  Well !  you  have  rejected 
the  pope;  you  wish,  then,  now  to  upset  the  episcopacy  and 
ecclesiastical  rule/     Hold ;  be  my  judge,  and  pass  sentence. 


1  Tbeodnltt'fe  G«tm«hl,  yon  Baron  Starck.    Buohols  G«0chichie  der  Begie^ 

rang  Ferdinands  J. :  Yieimh,  1831,  vol  ii.  p.  220  et  ^oq, 
*  **  Adversiis  fiUsb  nommatom  statnm  eodeeias  papse  et  episcopomm."' 
'  <'Non  atramento,  eed  humaoo  gangoine  Bcripsiase  videtur."-— Ulenberg, 

p.  161. 


32  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

Tell  me,  do  I  upset  them,  when  I  glorify  God's  word'?  All  our 
famous  bishops,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Irenieus, 
were  merely  bishops  of  one  community  !  But  our  proud  knights, 
our  gracious  masters,  what  have  they  of  a  bishop  about  them  ? — 
the  name  and  the  vestments.  I  wish  that  a  painter  would  draw 
a  picture,  and  write  under  it,  '  This  is  the  bishop  of ...  / 

'^  Listen,  bishops ;  listen,  hobgoblins  and  devils,  the  doctor 
is  about  to  read  to  you  a  bull  which  will  not  sound  agreeable  to 
your  ears.  This  is  the  bull  of  Doctor  Martin :  '  Whoever  shall 
assist  with  his  person  or  means  to  lay  waste  the  episcopacy  and 
order  of  bishops,  is  the  cherished  child  of  God,  and  a  good  Chris- 
tian. If  that  is  impossible,  at  least  let  them  condemn  it,  and 
shun  that  soldiery.  Whoever  defends  a  bishop,  or  renders  him 
obedience,  is  the  servant  of  Satan.^    Amen.'  " 

Then  the  war-song  ends  ;  Pindar  changes  himself  into  Petro- 

nius,  so  that  we  dare  not  follow  him. 

********* 

What,  then,  has  become  of  the  emperor's  edict  ?* 

*  ''  Attendite  episoopi,  imb  larvaa  diaboli,  Doctor  Lutheri  ballun  vobis  et 
reformfttionem  legere  vult  qnn  vobis  non  ben^  sonabit.  .  .  .  Doctoris  Lutheri 
bulla  et  reformatio.  Quicumque  opem  feru^t>  corpus^  bona  et  frmain  in  boo 
impendunt  ut  epiaoopatuB  devastetur  et  episcoporum  regimen  exscindatur,  hi 
sunt  dilecti  filii  Dei,  et  veri  Ohristiani,  observantes  prascepta  Dei^  et  ordina- 
tionibus  dlaboli  repugnantes." 

*  The  following  works  may  be  consulted,  if  the  movement  of  mind  in  Ger- 
many, during  1522,  be  wished  to  be  understood : — 

Ulrichi  de  Hutten  equitis  Germani  ad  Garolum  imp.  advershs  intentatam 
sibi  k  Bomanistis  vim  et  injuriam  conquestio ;  Ejusdem  ad  Albertum  Bran- 
denburgensem  et  Fred.  Sazonum  ducem,  prinoipes  electores ;  Onmibus  omnis 
ordlnis  ac  status  in  GermaniA  principibus,  nobilitati  et  plebeiis  ;  SebasUano  de 
Botenban  Equiti  aur.  Jacta  est  alea :  Wittenb. ; 

Ein  schoner  Dialogus  von  den  vier  grossten  Beschwemissen  eines  jegUchen 
Pfiu-rherrs  nach  Sag  eines  sonderliohen  Vers : 

"  Die  vier  Handel  thun  den  P&rr  weh  : 
Aussatzig,  Judy  Junker,  M5nch." 
"  Felix  plebanus,  felix  porochia  sub  quA, 
Leprosus,  judaras,  prsefectus,  monaohus," 
— ^Nec  Naanima,  Abraham,  Sem,  neque  vivit  Helias. 
"  Ich  kann  nicht  viel  Neues  erdenken. 
Ich  will  den  Katzen  die  Schellen  anhenken." 
— ExituB  rerum  prudentift  metitur :  Wittenb.  ; 

Qubd  expediat  Epistolao  et  Evangelii  Lectionem  in  MissA,  vemaculo  ser- 
mone  plebi  promulgari.    (Ecolampadii  ad  Hedionem  ooncionatorem  Mogun- 
tinum,  epistola^  nee  non  epistola  Hedionis  ad  CBooIampadium,  Ebemburgi ; 
De  Interdicto  esu  Gamium  . . .  epistola  apologetica  Erasmi  Bot. :  Colonic ; 
Pasquilus  sive  Dialogus  de  Statu  Bomano ; 
Ein  Sermon  von  dem  dritten  GebotV  wie  man  Ghristlich  Feyren  sol,  mit 


ADRIAN   VI.  33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADRIAN  VI.— DIET  OF  NUREMBERG.     1522—1628. 

Florent  of  Utreclit  U  elevated  to  the  pontifiofJ  chair,  and  takes  the  name  of 
Adrian  VI. — Character  of  that  pope. — Estimate  of  it  by  Protestant  histo- 
rians.— Reforms  which  he  wishes  to  introduce  in  the  Church. — He  sends 
Cheregatns  to  the  Diet  assembled  at  Nuremberg. — Appearance  of  the 
assembly. — ^Attempts  at  reconciliation  made  by  the  popedom,  and  which  are 
baffled  by  the  inimical  dispositions  of  the  members  of  the  Diet. — ^Writings 
published  by  Luther  to  foment  defiance  and  hatred  against  Rome. — ^The 
Diet  digests  its  memorial  of  grievances,  known  by  the  name  of  ''  Centum 
Gravamina." — Luther's  commentary. — Adrian's  grief  and  mortification. — 
His  death. — Luther's  pamphlet  against  him  whom  he  calls  the  old  devil  of 
Meissen. — Melanothon  endeavours  to  justify  Luther's  rage. — Erasmus's 
opinion  of  the  monk. 

While  Luther  preached  in  the  church  of  Wittemberg  his 
sennon  on  marriage^  a  priest,  on  whom  Providence  had  also  his 
views,  ascended  the  pontifical  throne.  His  name  was  Doctor 
Florent.  God  had  not  bestowed  on  him  the  gifts  which  affect 
the  multitude:  his  discourse  was  simple,  devoid  of  worldly 
ornament,  like  his  attire.  He  formerly  occupied  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Louvain  a  small  chamber,  a  mere  cell,  full  of  theo- 
logicsJ  books.  He  rose  early  to  study,  and  ate  once  only  during 
the  day.  He  loved  the  poor,  and  shared  with  them  the  thou- 
sand florins  which  his  appointment ''as  professor  yielded  him, 
and  gave  up'  to  them  one  of  the  two  robes  which  the  city  was  in 
the  habit  of  presenting  to  him  yearly.  One  day  God  took  by  the 
hand  this  Florent,  whom  Maximilian  I.  had  appointed  preceptor 
to  Charles  of  Austria,  and  placed  him  upon  the  pontifical  throne 
in  place  of  Leo  X.    Florent  took  the  name  of  Adrian  VL* 

Adrian  was  altogether  of  a  different  disposition  from  liis  pre- 
decessor, who  foved  pageantry  and  magnificence.  He  raised  no 
monuments ;  he  spent  not  the  treasures  of  the  Vatican  in  enrich- 

Anaeig  etlicher  Missbriiaoh,  gepredigt  durch  Dr.  Urbanum  Reginm,  Prediger 
zn  Hall  im  Intall,  cum  praef.  ad  Luoam  Gasner  ; 

Kayser  all  und  Pabst  all.  £in  kurzer  Begriff  aUer  Eayser  und  Pabst  His* 
torien.    An  Kayser  Garolum,  Doct.  Jacob  Mennel :  Basil,  1522. 

I  Spend,  ad  ann.  1521.     Ciaconius,  I.  c.  tom.  iii.  p.  430, 

VOL.  II.  D 


34  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBR. 

ing  Kome  with  masterpieces  of  art ;  he  did  not  cany  on  excava- 
tions for  the  discovery  of  ancient  statues  ;  or  perambulate  the 
streets  amidst  clouds  of  dust,  and  poets,  and  historians.  His 
tastes  and  mission  were  of  another  description.  Educated  hx 
from  Italy,  he  had  acquired  on  the  benches  of  the  school  a 
great  simplicity  of  character  and  behaviour.  He  loved  literature, 
however,  because  it  polishes  the  mind,  and  confers  elegance  on 
the  manners.  Above  all,  he  was  a  being  stamped  with  goodness, 
and  who,  to  bring  peace  to  the  Church,  would  have  sacrificed  his 
rest  and  his  life. 

His  portrait  has  been  drawn  in  a  masterly  manner  by  two 
Protestants.  "  He  was  an  upright  Fleming,''  says  Schrceckh, 
"  frank  and  sincere ;  a  grave  and  studious  priest ;  a  pontiff  of 
rare  moderation,  having  under  the  tiara  all  tiiie  simplicity  of  a 
private  individual:"*  '*a  model  of  temperance  and  modesty,'* 
says  Menzel,^  '*  the  enemy  of  pomp,  worldly  splendour,  and  the 
luxury  of  courts," 

Adrian  had  a  sincere  affection  for  all  his  scholars ;  his  first 
thoughts  at  Rome  turned  to  Erasmus,  who  had  been  his 
best  pupil  at  Louvain  ;  they  were  both  persons  to  whom  the 
clash  of  religious  disputation  was  irksome,  because  it  deprived 
them  of  what  they  most  esteemed,--'peace  of  mind.  So,  on 
ascending  the  throne,  Adrian  lost  no  time  in  writing  to  his 
former  pupil,  In  a  letter,  wherein  the  sovereign  is  carefully 
concealed,  he  entreats  him  to  labour  for  the  pacification  of  the 
Church,  in  the  name  of  that  God  who  will  reward  him  richly  in 
eternity,  and  also  of  their  old  and  sacred  friendship.  He  makes 
no  secret  of  the  faults  of  the  papacy ;  perhaps  even  he  exagge- 
rates them,  with  intent  to  excite  the  zeal  of  Erasmus,  so  desirous 
is  he  to  make  an  end  of  disturbances :  at  least,  such  is  the  charge 
brought  against  him  by  Catholic  historians.*  Adrian  ¥rished 
that  the  philosopher  should  undertake  the  defence  of  Catholic- 
ism, and  enter  into  controversy  with  the  Reformer. 

"  Arise,"  said  the  pope  to  Erasmus,  "  arise  in  defence  of  the 
Lord ;  and,  in  order  to  his  glory,  make  use,  as  you  have  hitherto 


1  Sohroeckh,  1.  o.  torn.  i.  p.  815L 

*  Menzely  1.  o.  tom.  i.  p.  105. 

*  PaUavidiii,  Stori»  del  Gondlio  di  Trento,  lib.  ii.  «ap.  vii. 


ADRIAN   YI.  35 

done,   of  the  marvelloas  talents  which  he  has  heaped  upon 
yoiL"! 

Erasmus  hesitated ;  he  dared  not  enter  upon  the  work  sug- 
gested to  him  by  the  head  of  the  Church ;  he  stammered  out 
some  feeble  excuses  about  his  age  and  infirmities,  about  his 
imagination  that  froze  with  his  fingers,  and  on  the  difficulty  of 
going  to  Rome,  whither  the  pope  pressed  him  to  come.  Accord- 
ing to  him,  howeyer,  he  was  aware  of  the  diseases  of  the  Church, 
and  the  remedy  necessary  to  be  applied  for  them ;  but  this 
remedy  he  could  not  confide  except  to  trusty  messengers,  and 
such  he  could  not  find.  He  is  proud  of  having,  from  the  outset, 
foreseen  the  drama  about  to  be  performed  ;  and  when  he  could 
unfold  it,  he,  the  God  descended,  remissly  draws  back.^ 

''  I  have  from  the  beginning,''  he  says,  '^  preached  upon  the 
housetops,  that  the  monks  promoted  Luther's  cause,  and  I^was 
not  regarded.  Subsequently,  I  pointed  out  how  they  might  get 
rid  of  the  evil  and  cut  it  out  by  the  root,  and  they  rejected  my 
advice." 

Pope  Adrian  was  a  thorough  German  in  his  speech,  dress, 
manners,  and  faith,  which,  to  be  excited,  required  not,  like  that 
of  the  Italians,  symbols  and  imageries  ;  he  was  a  thorough 
Christian  of  the  primitive  Church,  but  who,  unfortunately,  could 
not  understand  that  external  forms,  to  be  lasting,  must  be  reno- 
vated with  the  manners  of  a  people.  Attired  more  than  simply, 
he  was  unrecognised  as  he  walked  through  the  streets  of  Rome, 
save  by  a  retinue  of  lame,  paralytic,  and  blind  beggars  of  both 
sexes,  who  surrounded  him,  and  to  whom  he  distributed  alms. 
No  artists  were  in  his  train,  for  he  loved  them  not,  and  reproached . 
them  with  usurping  the  goods  of  the  poor ;  not  that  he  was  a 
stranger  to  the  sesthetics,  but  that  charity  was  his  only  muse. 
One  day,  when  somebody  spoke  to  him  of  the  magnificent  pen- 
sion which  Julius  II.  had  bestowed  upon  the  nobleman  who  had 
found  the  group  of  the  Laocoon,  he  shook  his  head :  *'  These  are 
idols,"  said  he  ;*  "I  know  other  gods  whom  I  prefer ;  the  poor,, 
who  are  my  brethren  in  Jesus  Christ."     We  see  whether  the 


'  Erasmi  Epist.  lib.  zxiii.     Seckendorf,  Comm.  lib.  i.  p.  309.    Baynaldus, 
ann.  T622,  No,  70. 

*  Opinions  of  Erumus  Boterodamns,  12n]o. 

*  LeUere  de'  Prinoipi :  Vej&azia,  1664,  torn.  i.  p.  96. 

I>2 


36  HISTORY  OP  LUTHBR. 

conclave  was  righfc  in  making  Adrian  the  suooessor  of  Leo  X. 
If  Florent  had  come  sooner,  when  the  arts  required  a  golden 
hridge  to  enter  Rome,  perhaps  he  might  have  passed  on,  as  he 
did  when  they  showed  him  the  Laocoon,  and  Rome  might  have 
heen  deprived  of  one  of  its  finest  glories.  Both  fulfilled  their 
mission  ; — the  one,  by  joining  the  movement  of  mind,  by  patro- 
nising and  rewarding  all  who  possessed  the  soul  of  an  artist,  to 
let  the  world  know  that  the  papacy,  far  from  being  the  enemy  rf 
knowledge,  exalts  it  as  a  gift  sent  from  God  ;  the  other,  when 
the  arts  were  restored,  and  no  longer  feared  the  storm,  by  for- 
getting them  for  a  while  in  endeavours  to  heal  the  sores  of  the 
Church ;  a  work  very  important,  and  which  none  better  than 
Adrian  could  effect :  for  he  was  distinguished  by  all  the  qualities 
which  Protestant  Germany  accused  Leo  X.  of  despising.  He 
was  partial  to  retirement,  coarse  clothing,  a  finigal  board,  sim- 
plicity in  worship  and  ceremony,  knowledge  which  hides  itself, 
and  piety  which  is  afraid  of  being  discovered.  Long  before 
Luther  had  touched  indulgences  with  his  fiery  hand,  he  had 
studied  the  nature  of  those  works  of  satisfaction,  fixed  their 
limits,  and  assigned  to  them  their  real  character,  skilfully  sepa- 
rating the  use  from  the  abuse,  and  reconciling  the  necessity  of 
the  dogma  with  the  light  of  wisdom.  On  his  elevation  to  the 
pontificate,  he  issued  a  bull,  in  which  are  to  be  found  the  doc- 
trines which  he  had  from  the  first  professed  with  such  great 
ability,  on  the  merits  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  treasure 
of  indulgences,  as  the  Church  teachea  In  this  he  lifts  his 
voice,  with  an  energy  of  which  some  casuists  have  disapproved, 
^'against  the  scandals  which  the  popedom  had  given  to  the 
world;  the  licentiousness  of  the  prelates,  and  their  uncurbed 
luxury  ;  and  the  shameful  traffic  in  holy  tilings,  of  which  Rome 
had  been  the  first  to  set  the  example."  To  prove  ihat  these 
complaints  were  well  founded,  he  immediately  reduced  the  price 
of  the  dispensations,  which  persons  were  obliged  to  purchase  at 
Rome,  for  liberty  to  contract  marriages  within  the  forbidden 
degrees.  Complaints  were  made,  especially  in  Germany,  of  the 
prerogatives  of  the  coadjutors  of  the  chancery.  Adrian  deprived 
them  of  some  of  these.  From  the  mendicant  friars  he  took  the 
power  of  giving  and  selling  pardous.  This  was  only  the  begin- 
ning of  the  reforms  which  he  meditated^  if  Germany  had  been 


ADRIAN   Vr.  3? 

k 

Willing  to  follow  him  in  these  ways  of  amendment ;  but  the  good 
intentions  of  the  pope  were  to  be  dashed  in  pieces  against  the 
caprices  of  the  German  commonalty,  —  Luther  and  his  ad- 
herents.^ 

The  edict  of  Worms,  promulgated  by  the  emperor,  had  the  fate 
of  all  laws  which  from  the  first  are  intended  not  to  be  administered, 
and  are  only  meant  to  scare :  it  was  laughed  at  when  Protest- 
antism was  seen  boldly  to  advance  and  disseminate  its  doctrines. 
There  was  no  hand  in  Germany  sufficiently  strong  to  enforce  the 
emperor's  orders.  Charles  Y.,  then  in  Spain,  seemed  deaf  to  the 
sound  of  the  religious  quarrels  which  troubled  Germany.  Vast 
thoughts  occupied  his  mind.  He  dreamed  of  a  monarchy  on 
which  the  sun  should  never  set. 

One  man  alone  did  his  duty.  When  his  faith  and  country 
were  threatened,  Duke  George  of  Saxony  was  sure  to  be  seen 
rushing  to  their  defence  at  the  peril  of  his  blood.  On  the  6th  of 
August,  1522,  he  sent  to  the  diet  some  of  the  pamphlets  in 
which  the  pope  and  the  king  of  England  were  grossly  insulted. 
"I  have  marked,"  said  he,  "the  passages  offensive  to  the 
emperor  ;  as  for  those  in  which  the  monk  outrages  Henry  VIII. 
and  Adrian  VI.,  it  would  take  too  much  time  ;  the  book  is  filled 
with  them."*  The  council  of  the  regency  replied  very  drily  to 
the  duke,  that  they  were  displeased  with  these  insults.  ''  I  do 
not  doubt  it,"  replied  his  highness  ;  ''  but  I  demand  that  they  be 
repressed."  Being  sharply  attacked  in  a  letter  from  Luther  to 
Hartmuth  von  Kronberg,'  the  duke  again  denounced  the  monk 
to  the  council  of  regency,  who  paid  no  attention  to  the  elector's 
complaints.  "  This,  then,  is  the  great  bladder,"  said  Luther, 
"  who  is  to  sit  in  heaven  with  his  huge  belly,  and  who  imagines 
that  he  eats  Christ,  as  a  wolf  swallows  a  fly."^  George,  in- 
dignant, resolved  to  ask  Luther  if  he  had  written  the  letter 


*  It  must  not  be  forgfotten,  that  the  reforms  in  the  head  and  its  members, 
as  they  then  expressed  it,  had  been  oommeRced  by  Julius  IT.,  and  followed 
up  by  Leo  X.  See,  in  the  second  volume  of  our  History  of  Leo  X.,  the  chap- 
ter entitled  The  Council  of  the  Lateran. 

'  Schmidty  1.  a  tom.  Ti.  p.  815. 

'  An  Hurtmuth  Ton  Kronberg,  Feb.  1522.  Luther's  Werke:  Leipzig, 
tom.  sviii.  p.  226. 

*  Hat  auch  im  Sinn  er  wolle  Christum  fressen  wie  der  Wolf  eine  Miicke. 
Luther's  Werke :  Leipzig,  tom.  xviii.  p.  227. 


38  HISTOEY   OP  LUTHER. 

which  was  circulated  through  Germany,  and  addressed  to  Hart- 
muth ;  and  the  monk  replied,  without  emotion,  that  the  letter 
of  which  his  highness  complained  was  his,  and  that  eveiything 
which  he  wrote,  whether  for  publication  or  private  use,  and 
which  was  signed  with  his  name,  was  the  property  of  the  monk 
whom  men  called  Luther.^ 

He  laboured  unceasingly  to  bring  the  people  over  to  his  cause. 
They  understood  the  language  which  he  addressed  to  them,  and 
welcomed  with  joy  his  declamations  against  oppression,  full  of 
hope  that  their  turn  would  come,  and  that  they  might  one  day 
reckon  with  their  masters,  and,  whether  they  would  or  not,  play 
their  game  also.  The  manifesto  published  by  Luther  at  this 
time,  and  which  even  Seckendorf  has  condemned,  was  calculated 
to  excite  disturbances,  by  increasing  that  fever  of  independence 
with  which  the  multitude  was  infected.  He  entitled  his  book 
"  The  Secular  Magistracy."  *  It  commences  in  a  strain  of 
mockery  and  rage,  "  God,"  he  exclaims,  "  inflames  the  brains 
of  the  princes.  They  believe  that  they  must  obey  their  caprices  ; 
they  place  themselves  under  the  shadow  of  Caesar,  whose  orders, 
according  to  them,  they  only  obey  like  obedient  subjects,  as  if 
they  could  conceal  their  iniquity  from  every  eye  !  Blackguards, 
who  would  wish  to  pass  for  Christians !  *  And  these  are  the 
hands  to  whom  Caesar  has  intrusted  the  keys  of  Germany  ;  fools, 
who  would  exterminate  the  faith  of  our  land,  and  make  blas- 
phemy increase  in  it,  if  they  were  not  resisted  at  least  by  force 
of  speaking.  If  I  attacked  to  his  face  the  pope,  that  great 
Roman  idol,  ought  I  to  be  afraid  of  his  scales  V 

Luther  then  enters  into  the  matter,  and  brings  forward  some 
texts  of  Scripture  which  treat  of  the  civil  power,  and  of  the 
subject's  obedience,  and  whicli  at  first  sight  seem  contradictory. 
He  sets  himself  to  reconcile  them.  He  divides  society  into  two 
camps,  one  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  other  to  the 
kingdom  of  this  world ;  the  first,  a  company  of  the  faithful,  a 
Jerusalem  of  Christians,  has  no  need  of  sword,  or  magistrates, 


'  An  den  Herzog  Georg  yon  Sachaen^  8  Jan.  1523,     De  We  tie,  1.  c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  286. 

'  De  Magistratu  aeculari,  Opera  La  then,  torn.  ii. :  Jenae,  p.  189.     "Negari 
non  potest  vehementi  stylo  acriptum  esse  libellmn." — Comm.  lib.  i.  p,  211. 

'  *'  Olim  nebulones,  nunc  ver6  ChriBti»ni  priucipea  appellari/' 


ADRIAN   YI.  39 

or  political  miniBters  to  govern  it ;  no  anarchy  exists  there ; 
there  all  its  members  are  on  an  equality ;  there  there  is  no 
master  but  Christ ;  there  the  bishops  and  the  priests  are  only 
distinguished  by  the  ministry  which  has  devolved  upon  them ; 
there  no  laws  can  be  established  or  rules  made  without  the  assent 
of  the  common  will. 

^*  It  is  not  for  this  select  society  that  laws  have  been  made, 
magistracies  established,  and  tribunals  founded,  but  properly  for 
the  assembly  of  unbelievers,  who  cannot  exist  without  all  these 
human  inventions.  Let  priests  or  bishops  wear  the  sword  and 
exercise  political  magistracy,  but  only  in  that  civil  society  of 
men  who  are  Christians  merely  in  name.  No  Christian  ought 
to  shelter  himself  under  the  sword  of  the  civil  law,  or  invest 
himself  with  the  office  of  judge  for  administering  justice.  Who- 
ever disputes  before  the  tribunals,  who  has  recourse  to  them  to 
sue  or  to  defend  his  honour  or  temporal  means,  is  unworthy  to 
bear  the  noble  name  of  a  disciple  of  Christ ;  he  is  a  pagan,  an 
infidel  All  have  received  baptism,  but  among  those  who  have  been 
regenerated,  how  few  true  Christians  can  Christ  acknowledge!" 

After  this,  Luther  hastens  to  throw  aside  the  decency  of  meta- 
physical theories,  which  are  not  made  for  the  people,  and  which 
&tigue  if  they  are  too  long  spun  out ;  such  as  those  logical 
forms  which  are  only  addressed  to  exalted  intellects,  like  Melanc- 
thon's  or  Jonas' ;  and  he  returns  to  the  strife  impassioned  with 
that  language  in  which  he  is  so  powerful  and  unrivalled ;  to  that 
fiery  eloquence  which  inflames,  excites,  itnd  electrifies  like  a  war- 
song,  and  which  alarms  even  his  disciples. 

"  See  how  God,"  says  he,  "  delivers  the  Catholic  princes  to 
their  reprobate  senses  ;  he  wishes  to  make  an  end  of  them  and 
aU  the  great  ones  of  the  Church  ;  their  reign  is  over ;  princes, 
bishops,  priests^  monks,  rascals  upon  rascals,  are  about  to 
descend  to  the  grave  covered  with  the  hatred  of  the  human  race. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  world  a  wise  and  prudent  prince 
has  been  a  rare  bird  on  the  earth,^  but  rarer  still  a  prince  a 
good  man.  What  are  the  most  part  of  the  great  ?  fools,  good- 
for-nothing  fellows,  and  the  greatest  rascals  under  the  sun; 

*  **  Ab  initio  raundi  rara  avis  in  terrft  fait  princeps  prudentiA  pollens  ;  mult6 
rarior  probus  princeps.  Ut  plorimum,  yel  maximi  sunt  moriones,  vel  nebulones 
omnium  qui  sub  sole  vivunt,  pessimi.'' — Luther,  L  c.  ibid. 


40  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

lictors  and  hangmen,  whom  God  employs  in  his  wrath  to  punish 
the  wicked  and  preserve  the  peace  of  nations  ; — for  our  God  is 
great,  and  it  is  necessary  that  he  shoidd  have  in  his  service 
noble,  rich,  and  illustrious  executioners ;  and  it  pleases  him  that 
we  should  call  these,  his  executioners  and  lictors,  our  very 
clement  lords.^  Princes,  the  hand  of  God  is  suspended  over 
your  heads  ;  contempt  will  be  poured  upon  you  ;  you  will  die, 
were  your  power  above  that  of  the  Turk  himself.  Already  your 
reward  is  at  hand ;  you  are  accounted  rascals  and  scoundrels ; 
they  judge  you  according  to  the  part  which  you  have  played ; 
the  people  know  you,  and  that  terrible  chastisement,  which  God 
calls  contempt,  presses  you  on  all  sides  ;  you  cannot  avert  it 
The  people,  wearied  of  your  tyranny  and  iniquity,  can  no  longer 
bear  it.  God  wills  it  not  The  world  is  no  longer  what  it  was, 
when  you  could  chase  men  as  you  could  deer." 

Place  Luther  at  Florence,  like  Savonarola,  and  this  hymn 
would  rouse  the  multitude  to  rush  to  arms  and  crush  these 
insfcruments  of  iniquity  called  princes.  In  Germany,  the 
Reformer's  language  could  not  produce  the  same  effect  upon  a 
phlegmatic  nation,  receiving  only  the  influence  of  a  watery 
sun,  and  accustomed,  moreover,  to  a  passive  obedience  to  the 
powers  of  this  world,  an  obedience  which  Catholicism  had  made 
an  imperative  duty.  Open  rebellion  could  with  difficulty  have 
organised  itself,  for  a  common  bond  did  not  unite  the  populations. 
If  the  peasantry  were  to  rise,  it  would  not  at  first  be  in  the 
name  of  religion,  but  of  interests  entirely  material ;  a  war  of 
slaves,  undertaken  by  another  Spartacus.  Luther  knew  the 
chances  of  his  words  and  the  nature  of  the  beings  to  whom  they 
were  addressed.  These  people,  long  accustomed  to  the  yoke, 
had  foreseen  the  destinies  of  Charles  V. ;  they  knew  that  he 
was  not  so  far  off  that  he  could  not  retrace  his  steps,  and  drown  in 
blood  an  open  rebellion.  In  place  then  of  attacking  the  powers  in 
front,  the  people  contented  themselves  with  embarrassing  them 
on  their  march,  multiplying  obstacles  in  their  way,  creating 
suspicions,  importuning  them  with  their  complaints,  dinning 
them  with  their  grievances,  calumniating  their  intentions,  attri- 
buting to  them  sanguinary  desires,  and  accusing  them  of  seeking 

'  **  Estqne  ipsius  benb  plaoitam  ut  \iob  carni6ce«  clemeQiiniraos  dominog 
fvppellenius." — Ibid. 


ADBiAK  yr.  41 

in  a  hypocritical  repose  to  rally  their  forces,  to  crash  men's 
oonsdenoes  with  greater  security ;  snch  was  the  theme  indicated 
by  Lather.  The  Catholic  princes  were  especially  threatened. 
Protestantism  had  fonnd  means  to  slip  into  their  courts.  It 
denounced  them  to  Luther,  who  was  able  sometimes  to  appear  as 
if  he  possessed  the  gift  of  second  sight ;  for  he  prophesied  events 
which  subsequently  came  to  pass  :  thus  it  was  that  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  secrets  of  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  which 
were  communicated  to  him  by  his  secretary,  Wolfgang  Gapito, 
who  was  not  slow  to  embrace  Protestantism  ;  ^  and  the  plans  of 
the  elector  Frederick  were  revealed  to  him  by  the  prince's 
secretary,  George  Spalatinus.  When  the  diet  of  Nuremberg  was 
opened,  in  November,  1522,  Luther  was  previously  made  aware  of 
the  views  of  the  princes  who  composed  it.  The  majority,  without 
leaning  to  the  new  doctrines,  dreaded  the  immense  popularity 
which  the  monk  enjoyed  in  Germany,  and  still  more  his  language, 
which  burned,  bb  with  fire,  every  robe  to  which  it  fastened,  and 
above  all  the  purple  or  the  ermine.  He  was  certain  that  no 
unfriendly  voice  would  exclaim:  "Down  with  evangelism!" 
and  that  if  such  were  to  proceed  from  the  bench  of  the  Catholic 
princes,  it  would  instantly  be  stifled  by  the  very  numerous 
voices  which  fear  would  make  eloquent.  At  this  congress  of 
Nuremberg,  every  religious  opinion  of  the  time  was  represented : 
there  were  lukewarm  Catholics,  Lutherans,  Anabaptists,  Sacra- 
mentarians,  Zwinglians,  Melancthonians,  who  were  called  hierar* 
chists,  Carlstadians,  and  indiiferents.  The  political  sentiments 
presented  a  like  confasion.  In  the  emperor's  absence  all  these 
voices  bustled,  clamoured,  and  wished  to  save  Germany.  The  diet 
only  exhibited  the  melancholy  appearance  of  an  assembly  in 
which  the  secular  princes  were  occupied  with  theology,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  princes  with  power.  If  Cheregatus,  Adrian's 
nuncio,  had  possessed  the  eloquence  of  Aleandro,  the  ambassador 
from  Leo  X.,  he  would  unquestionably  have  led  all  these  feeble 
wills :  no  one  would  have  attempted  resistance.  There  was  not 
in  the  assembly  a  single  strong  mind.  The  moment  was  favour- 
able :  the  Reformation  might  have  been  suppressed.  But  instead 
of  that  eloquence  of  Aleandro,  lively,  forcible,  and  sparkling 
with  imagery,  which  seduced  before  convincing,  there  was  only  a 

*  Ulenbei^  Historia  de  Vit6,  etc.  p.  182. 


42  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

heavy  discourse,  oncertaiii,  weak,  and  timid.  Cher^atus  was 
rather  like  a  prisoner  at  the  bar  than  a  judge  on  the  bench. 
The  diet  seemed  struck  with  astonishment,  and  waited  for 
another  tone  of  address.  As  it  happened,  the  courage  of  all 
those  heroes  of  the  theatre  returned,  in  presence  of  the  nuncio  who 
humbled  the  purple  even  unto  prayer,  for  his  speech  was  truly  a 
confession.  He  admitted  that  ^'  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  had 
been  the  first  sullied  ;^  that  the  Church  required  to  be  reformed ; 
that  if  God  had  so  cruelly  punished  it,  it  was  because  of  the 
sins  of  its  prelates  and  priests  ;  that  for  several  years,  the  abuse 
of  holy  things,  the  insolence  of  power  and  scandals  came  from 
Rome ;  that  the  ardent  wish  of  his  holiness  was  to  labour  to 
repair  the  past,  and  to  make  reform  proceed  from  the  head  to  the 
members ;  that  the  pontifical  chair,  the  principal  seat  of  the 
evil,  ought  to  be  treated  first ;  and  that  once  healed,  the  wounds 
of  the  Church  would  very  soon  close  themselves."  *  The  nuncio 
added,  that  it  was  necessary  however  to  beware  of  all  enthusiasm, 
to  repel  the  heroic  remedies  which  would  only  increase  the  malady, 
to  employ  the  liniments  which  would  cure  the  sick ;  and  that,  by 
God's  aid,  the  pope,  who  was  only  intrusted  with  the  govern- 
ment of  souls  to  obey  the  will  of  Heaven,  would  succeed  in 
restoring  peace  to  the  Church.  Then,  addressing  himself  to  the 
members  of  the  diet :  "  I  am  prepared,"  said  he,  "  to  listen  to 
your  complaints ;  if  you  have  grievances,  be  pleased  to  state 
them ;  the  pope  is  disposed  to  receive  them  in  his  paternal 
kindness.  Remember  that  the  Orders  owe  to  him  the  concur- 
rence of  their  will ;  that  there  is  an  edict, — that  of  Worms, — 
which,  in  the  emperor's  absence,  you  are  commissioned  to  enforce, 
and  that  it  depends  on  you  to  adopt  the  most  fitting  measures, 
so  that  the  heart  of  the  common  father  of  the  faiti^ful  be  not 
afflicted  by  the  triumph  of  heresy  ;  that  the  Church  has  spoken, 
and  that,  as  docile  children,  you  ought  to  obey  her,  and  be 
vigilant  in  executing  her  decrees.'  All  who  abjure  their  errois 
will  be  forgiven."  * 

*  "  ScimuB  in  hAc  sanctft  sede,  aliquot  jam  annis  multa  abomiDanda  fuisee." 

*  Edm.  Kicherii,  Hiatoris  Conciliomm^  libri  quatuor. 
'  Mensel,  Neaere  G^eschichte  der  Deutschen,  torn.  i. 

*  **  Detur  venia  iis  qui  errores  suos  abjurare  Toluerint." — Instruciio  pro 
Cheregato. 


ADRIAN   VT.  4S 

We  see  all  that  i§  weak,  embarrassed,  and  imprudent  in  this 
language  of  the  representative  of  a  court  accustomed  to  speak 
so  high.  It  certainly  was  not  calculated  to  gire  an  exalted 
idea,  either  of  the  sovereign  in  whose  name  it  was  spoken,  or  of 
the  orator  who  acted  as  his  organ.  The  members  of  the  diet 
could  never  have  elevated  themselves  to  the  position  in  which 
the  nuncio  of  his  holiness  placed  them.  Luther  was  not  alto* 
gether  sure  of  their  disposition,  he  was  afraid  of  the  Catholic 
princes.  To  compromise  them  in  the  eyes  of  the  German  nation, 
he  had  taken  care  to  represent  them  as  instruments  of  vengeance 
in  the  hand  of  God.  The  nuncio's  address  made  so  many  petty 
iron-handed  despots  of  men  who,  left  toiheir  own  instincts,  would 
have  been  broken  by  an  energetic  breath.  Beyond  the  Alps  it 
caused  misgivings  and  discouragement  to  the  hearts  of  the  Italian 
prelates,  who  felt  that  the  language  of  Cheregatus  was  befitting  a 
person  of  the  age,  but  the  very  reverse  in  the  mouth  of  a  nuncio. 
Protestant  Ckrmany  boasted  of  having  put  Rome  to  silence  ;  and 
Luther  at  Wittemberg  did  not  fail  to  institute  a  parallel  between 
the  address  of  Cheregatus  at  the  diet  of  Nuremberg  and  that  of 
Cajetan  at  Augsburg,  and  point  out  to  the  Reformers  how  much 
his  cause  had  advanced,  since  a  nxmcio  was  obliged  to  confess 
to  the  world  that  aU  the  disturbance  hitherto  had  its  origin  in 
the  disorders  of  the  Roman  court.^ 

The  Nurembei^  assembly  had  no  need  to  meditate  long  on 
its  reply.  The  official  harangue  required  a  comment.  It 
declared  that  if  it  had  not  enforced  the  emperor's  edict  against 
Luther's  followers,  the  fault  lay  in  Rome,  of  which  Germany  had 
so  much  to  complain ;  that  rigorous  measures  would  have  served 
only  to  spread,  instead  of  repressing,  the  new  doctrines ;  and 
that  the  people  would  have  been  excited  to  rebel  against  the 
authorities,  under  the  pretence  that  they  wished  to  extinguish 
gospel  light.  It  complimented  the  pope,  who  had  so  frankly 
acknowledged  the  necessity  of  a  reformation  in  the  clergy,  and 
expressed  a  hope  that  henceforth  the  produce  of  the  first-fruits 
should  not  be  diverted  from  their  original  destination — the  war 
against  the  Turks  and  infidels.* 

'  He  published  a  portion  of  Adrian's  Mandatum  with  marginal  notes. — 
Sleidan. 
'  Coch*  in  Act.  Lutb«     Ulenberg,  Hiatoria  de  Vitft  Lutheri.     Maimbourg, 


44  HISTORT  OF  LtJTHEB. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  diet,  the  only  means  of  restoring  peace 
to  Gennany  ^as  by  summonitig  a  national  council,  in  which 
every  dissentient  voice  might  be  heard.  In  the  mean  while,  the 
Orders  promised  to  endeavour  to  effect  a  general  reconciliation. 
They  engaged  to  obtain  from  the  elector  that  Luther  should  be 
silenced ;  that  the  preachers  should  only  expound  the  word  of 
God,  rested  upon  the  teaching  and  tradition  of  the  Church ; 
that  the  duty  of  punishing  with  canonical  penalties  the  married 
priests  or  secularized  monks  should  be  left  to  the  ordinaries,  and 
that  they  might  be  deprived  of  their  benefices  or  privileges  without 
the  magistrates  interfering  to  prevent  it.^ 

The  archduke  Frederick  and  the  elector  of  Brandenburg 
wished  to  have  recourse  to  the  rigorous  measures  for  which 
Gheregatus'had  concluded  by  asking  against  those  who  should 
refuse  to  obey  the  edict  of  Worms.  But  they  met  with  lively 
opposition  in  the  diet ;  and  sharp  words  were  exchanged  between 
these  princes  and  some  members  of  the  assembly.  ''  Do  I  not 
git  here  as  representative  of  the  emperor  V  exclaimed  Ferdinand 
impatiently.  '^  Doubtless,"'  replied  Planitz,  "  but  after  the  diet 
and  the  Orders  of  the  empire."  The  Protestant  princes  had 
brought  with  them  two  Lutheran  preachers,  who  were  not 
satisfied  with  fomenting  religious  antipathies,  but  who  mounted 
the  pulpit  to  insult  the  papacy.  "  Though  the  pope,"  said  one 
of  them  in  the  church  of  St.  Laurence,  "  to  his  three  crowns 
should  add  a  fourth,  he  would  not  make  me  abandon  the  word 
of  God."  « 

The  diet  published  its  edict  on  the  6th  March,  1523,  in  the 
name  of  the  absent  emperor.  Luther  waited  with  impatience 
for  the  result  of  this  deliberation ;  the  recess  of  that  assembly 
was  a  triumph  for  him.  He  took  care  to  extol  his  victory  over 
the  papacy,  in  a  writing  full  of  artifice,'  in  which  flattery  of  the 


p.  76.  Mensel,  Neuere  Gksohiohte  der  Deutschen,  torn.  i.  p.  150.  The  acts 
of  the  Diet  are  to  be  found  in  Lather's  works,  vol.  xv,  pp.  2667,  2674,  edit. 
Walch. 

1  ''KuUos  libro«  edendos ;  Erangelinm  pnr^  jnxt2k  probatas  et  ab  EcclesiA. 
receptas  interpretationes  docendum. — ^Ab  episoopis  diligendos  homines  idoneoa 
qui  concionatores  exorbitantes  leniter  castigent. — Sacei^otes,  qui  uxores  duxe- 
rant,  juxtk  leges  pontificias  mulctandos." 

'  Ranke,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  55, 

'  Luther,  Contrit  fidsa  Edicta  Cesaris. 


ADRIAN   VI.  45 

Orders  is  dezteroasly  tempered  with  admonitions  which  do  not 
proceed  £rbm  himself,  he  says,  but  from  God,  whose  command  he 
obeys ;  he  is  only  like  a  feeble  reed  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord, 
similar  to  those  who  are  raised  in  hononrs  and  dignities,  and 
whom  the  Lord  would  orerthrow  with  a  breath,  if  ever  his  word 
were  unheeded.  He  demands  pardon  for  those  priests  and  monks 
whom  they  would  seek  to  punish  because  they  have  obeyed  God's 
command  to  Adam  and  all  his  posterity.  ^'  Unhappy  blindness,^' 
says  he,  "  merciless  severity  of  the  pontiff!  Prescription  redolent 
of  the  devil !  To  transform  into  a  divine  command  that  conti- 
nence, which  our  nature  cannot  preserve !  To  decree  chastity 
is  as  much  as  to  order  man  to  abstain  from  the  functions  of  our 
wretched  oi]gans,  or  retain  his  excrements !...."  ^ 

This  appeal  to  the  vicdation  of  celibacy,  so  curtly  expressed, 
had,  in  1522,  been  mooted  at  length  in  a  letter  from  Luther 
to  the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  Order.*  ''  My  friends,''  he  said 
to  them,  *'  God's  precept  to  multiply  is  much  older  than  that  of 
continence  decreed  by  the  councils ;  it  dates  as  far  back  as  the 
time  of  Adam.  It  is  much  better  to  live  in  concubinage  than 
in  chastity  ;  the  latter  is  an  unpardonable  sin,  and  the  former, 
by  God's  aid,  will  not  infer  the  loss  of  salvation.^ 

And  Luther  tells  us  wherefore:  libertinism  is  an  offence 
against  God,  but  is  not  a  contempt  of  his  word,  of  all  crimes 
the  greatest.  The  libertine  sins,  but  he  does  not  obstinately 
resist  the  Gospel ;  the  reverse  is  the  case  of  the  continent.  And 
as  it  happened  that  Rome  occasionally  released  certain  military 
men  from  their  vows  of  chastity,  to  them  Luther  says,  in  these 
very  words :  "  Let  there  be  no  such  marriages,  though  one,  a 
hundred,  or  a  thousand  councils  should  permit  you  ;  with  one, 
two,  or  three  mistresses  you  may  pass  all  your  life,  and  yet 
obtain  God's  forgiveness,  but  there  will  be  no  mercy  shown  to 
one  who  marries  a  wife  by  permission  of  a  council  or  papistical 


^  "  Perind^  &cere  qui  continenter  yivere  inatkiuant,  ac  si  qnis  exorement* 
yel  loticmk  oontri  natiuw  impetum  retUero  velit." — Ule&berg,  k  c.  p.  91. 

*  Ad  milites  ordiois  Tentonicij  Oper.  Luth. :  Jense,  torn.  ii.  p.  211.     Dr. 
Martin  Luther's  ErmahnuDg  an  die  Herren  deutachen  Ordens. 

'  "  In  Btata  soortationifl  vel  peocati,  Dei  proddio  imploraio,  de  salate  noa 
deiperandttm.*' — Ulenberg,  I.  c.  p.  187« 


46  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

dispensatioB  ;  and  why  ?  becaiise  the  pope  and  couDcil  are  instru* 
ments  of  the  devil"  > 

The  diet  set  forth  its  grievances:  a  hundred  in  number, 
Centum  ffravamina,^  of  which  they  sought  redress.  They  were 
remonstrances  rather  than  complaints,  rude  and  acrimonious,  and 
to  which,  in  general,  the  pope  could  not  have  attended  without 
affecting  his  authority,  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  the 
most  holy  traditions.  Cher^atus  was  alarmed  on  glancing  over 
this  volume  of  complaints,  which  the  secretary  of  the  Orders 
sent  to  him.  He  suffered  the  penalty  of  his  timidity.  The 
diet  formally  refused  to  review  its  work  ;  besides,  the  press  had 
got  hold  of  it,  republished,  and  circulated  it  throughout  Germany. 
Cheregatus  was  obliged  to  submit. 

While  he  was  on  his  way  back  to  Rome,  the  printer  of 
Wittemberg  published  the  contents  of  the  Centum  gravamina  in 
Latin  and  German,  for  the  use  of  the  learned  and  the  people, 
with  commentaries  and  remarks,  half  serious,  half  in  jest,  but  all 
insulting  to  Catholicism,  and  besides  replete  with  Luther.  It  was 
he  who  dictated  those  severe  and  biting  lines,  who  stirred  up  all 
that  gall,  and  made  all  that  filth  ;  it  was  his  breath  and  inspira- 
tion, for  Ulrich  von  Hutten  was  sick  and  dying.  Now,  there  is 
no  mistaking  him  there.     He  himself  has  taken  care  to  point 


'  "  Qaod  IB  qui  per  omnem  Titam  unnm  vel  duo,  triave  scorta  domi  &Tet, 
potits  sit  in  gratiA  Dei,  qukm  alias  quifipiam  qui  iuxta  oonoilii  definitionem 
matrimonii  se  nezu  yinciri  patiatur."  —  Ulenbeiv,  I.e.  p.  187.  See  all  these 
paasagee,  and  many  others  still  more  rash,  in  the  German  woriu  of  Luther : 
Leipsio,  vol.  zviii.  p.  408  et  seq. 

*  Pontificii  oratoris  Legati  in  CouTentu  Norimbeigensi,  1521^  inohoato, 
sequenti  verb  finite.  link  cum  instructione  ab  eodem  Legato  consignatft  :  neo 
non  responsione  CsBsaren  Majestatis  ao  reliquorum  principum  et  procerum 
nomine  reddilA. 

Was  auf  dem  Keichstag  zu  Nlimberg,  von  wegen  p&bstlicher  Heiligkeit 
kayserlicher  Majeetat  Stadthalter  und  StiUide,  lutherisoher  Sachen  hJben, 
gelanget,  und  darauf  geantwortet  worden  ist.  Item  :  Der  weltlichen  Beich- 
stande  Beschwerden,  so  sie  gegen  den  Siul  zu  Rom  und  andem  geistlichen 
Standen  haben,  und  der  pabstlichen  Heiligkeit  Oiatorem,  auf  dem  Reichstag 
xu  Nlimberg,  im  Jahr  1522  angefiingen,  und  damach  im  23.  geendet,  ttber* 
geben  worden  sind.  £in  Verzeichniss  von  etlicher  teutecher  Bisthttmer  und 
Aebten  Annata  die  sie  gen  Rom  geben.  Yon  dem  Mangel  TOigesetzter  An- 
naten.  Yon  Andem  (befallen  aus  teutschen  Landen  gen  Rom :  Ntimberg, 
1628. 

Teutscher  Nation  Beschwerden  von  den  Geistlichen.  Durch  die  weltlichen 
Reichstande,  Ftirsten  und  Herrn,  Pabst  Adriano  schriftlich  tlberachickt,  nechst 
vergangenen  Reichstage  zu  Niimberg,  im  22.  Jahr  ange£uigen,  und  im  28. 
geendet. 


ADRIAN   VI.  47 

out  the  mode  of  diyination,  and  it  is  very  simple.  ^'  When 
upon  a  clean  white  page  you  see  little  black  and  viscous  specks, 
you  say,  A  fly  has  been  upon  this."  *  And  we,  when  we  per- 
ceive the  fine  face  of  an  old  man,  such  as  Adrian  or  the  cardinal 
archbishop  of  Mayence,  flushed  with  a  blow  from  the  hand 
of  a  priest,  we  say,  That  hand  is  Luther's ;  and  we  are  not 
mistaken. 

Luther  is  perhaps  more  severe  when  he  reasons,  instead  of 
employing  raillery.  Gheregatus,  a  Southern  rhetorician,  fond  of 
imagery,  had  said,  in  the  opening  of  his  speech :  ''  Pericles  him- 
self felt  nervous  whenever  he  was  obliged  to  speak  in  public ;  you 
will  not,  then,  be  astonished  that  I  am  intimidated  by  the  sight 
of  so  many  princes  assembled  in  this  illustrious  meeting." 

The  marginal  note  said :  ''  This  impious  preface  smells  of  the 
pagan."' 

Gheregatus  remarked,  that  if  Hungary  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Turks,  all  Germany  would  become  the  slaves  of  the 
barbarians. 

The  note  said  snappishly :  "  We  should  prefer  being  under 
the  Turks  than  the  Papists.^ 

The  Teutonic  party,  who  formed  the  majority  of  the  diet  of 
Nuretnberg,  believed  they  were  making  a  bold  act  of  opposition 
to  Rome,  in  demanding  the  convocation  of  the  council  They 
hoped  that  the  appeal  would  be  considered  beyond  the  Alps  as  a 
derision  or  insult  to  the  papacy.  These  old  Germans  were  mis- 
taken :  Rome  seemed  inclined,  in  order  to  restore  peace  to  the 
Church  in  Germany,  to  allow  a  general  council  to  be  held.  Then 
Luther,  who,  since  his  conference  with  Gardinal  Gajetan  at 
Augsburg,  had  constantly  posted  the  walls  of  the  cathedral  with 
an  appeal  to  a  future  council,  when  he  saw  Rome  willing  to  grant 
it,  changed  his  mind,  and  furiously  rejected  this  mode  of  con- 
ciliation. Would  you  know  the  secret  of  this  palinode  ?  It  was 
because  a  council  could  only  be  composed  of  the  pope,  bishops, 
priests,  and  monks :  now,  all  these  had  cast  off  the  Gospel. 
Such  was  one  of  his  aiguments  against  holding  a  council.  This 
is  not  the  gravest ;  every  sheep,  he  formally  asserts,  has  a  right 
to  determine  whether  the  food  which  the  shepherd  gives  it  is 


>  TiBch-Reden.  *  Scbmidt,  1.  c  torn  vi.  p.  821. 


48  HISTOET   OF  LUTHER. 

Bound  or  corrapt ;  then,  to  what  purpose  councils,  priests,  or 
learned  men  ?^ 

The  unhappy  Adrian, — this  pope  so  pure,  this  Christian  of 
the  primitive  Church,  this  good  shepherd,  who  would  have  given 
his  life  for  his  sheep,  this  apostle,  who  "  thought  no  evil,"  and 
of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,'  according  to  the  fine  descrip- 
tion of  a  Protestant  historian, — ^was  broken-hearted  when  Chere- 
gatus  returned,  and  grief  killed  him.  All  the  poor  of  Borne 
followed  his  funeral  weeping,  and  exclaiming :  "  Our  father  is 
dead ! "  and  as  it  passed  by,  the  people  knelt,  and  shed  tears. 
Never  had  funeral  pomp  evoked  a  similar  grief ;  Rome  at  last 
knew  the  extent  of  her  loss.  Several  cardinals  accompanied  the 
body  to  the  church  of  St  Peter  :  these  were  the  Utrecht  doctor's 
friends  in  boyhood.  By  their  attention,  a  small  monument  was 
raised  to  preserve  these  cherished  remains ;  and  on  it  was  inscribed : 
*'  Here  lies  Adrian  VI.,  who  considered  power  the  greatest  of 
misfortunes."'  Subsequently,  a  German  cardinal,  Eckenwoirt, 
erected,  at  his  own  expense,  in  the  church  of  Dell'  Anima,  a  less 
simple  cenotaph,  bearing  these  words,  which  Adrian  loved  to 
repeat :  ''  Nothing  is  of  consequence  to  the  most  virtuous  person 
like  the  time  he  has  lived." 

Some  days  before  his  death,  Adrian  had  canonized  Benno, 
bishop  of  Misnia,^  a  holy  priest,  whose  memory  is  still  held  in 
veneration  throughout  Catholic  Saxony :  he  was  another  Martin, 
who  oflien,  after  selling  his  valuables,  divided  his  cloak  to  give 
it  to  the  poor.  Luther,  who  recommended  to  the  veneration  of 
Christians  those  of  his  disciples  who  died  in  the  course  of  theuf 
mission,  strove  to  prevent  respect  being  paid  to  this  new  saint 


>  Dr.  Martin  Ltither's  Gmnd-Ursacbe  aus  der  Sclirift,  daas  eine  ohristliohe 
VersamrolaDg  oder  GtemeiDo  Becht  und  Maoht  babe,  alle  Lehre  ca  urtbeileo, 
und  Lehrer  zn  berufen,  ein-  und  abzosetzen. "— Lntber's  Werke :  lioipzig, 
torn,  xviii.  p.  429  et  seq. 

'  Ad.  Meosel,  torn.  t.  p.  111.  Aus  diesem  VerdmsBe  wurde  der  fromme 
Mann,  desRen  die  Welt  nicbt  wertb  war,  zur  Freude  der  Romer,  am  14.  Sep- 
tember 1525,  durcb  den  Tod  befreit. 

'  "  Hadrianus  sIxtUB  blc  situs  est,  qui  nibil  sibi  infelicits  in  vitA  duxit  qtikm 
qu6d  imperaret.*' 

We  baye  of  tbis  pope :  "  Conunentarii  de  rebus  theologicis  in  IT.  sen  ten- 
tiarum  qusBstiones,  unk  cum  qusestionibus  quas  quodlibetaa  vocant." 

*  Emser  has  written  the  life  of  thia  bishop. — Ooch.  in  Act.  pp.  108,  109. 


ADBTAN   YI.  49 

He  wrote  his  book,  '*  Concerning  the  New  Idol  and  the  Old 
Devil/"  in  which  he  found  means  to  insult  both  the  living  and 
the  dead. 

"  Satan,"  he  says,  "  being  unable  to  bear  the  splendour  of  the 
rising  star  of  the  Gospel,  has  resolved  to  be  revenged,  and,  in 
ridicule  of  God,  has  devised  a  buffoonish  farce,  a  capital  fiction 
for  the  stage  of  a  mountebank.  He  takes  Benno's  name,  and 
desires  to  have  it  worshipped.  For  this  comedy  he  makes  use 
of  Pope  Adrian,  whose  chastity  and  innocence  they  vaunt ;  an 
impious  hypocrite,  the  determined  enemy  of  God^s  word,  who  has 
caused  the  death  of  two  of  our  Augustinian  friars  at  Brussels ; 
who  kills  the  living  saints  of  the  Lord,  and  canonizes  the  slave 
of  Rome,  or  rather  the  devil  himself.  Like  as  at  Constance, 
where  the  Others  of  the  council  have  shed  the  blood  of  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  two  sons  of  God,  two  saints,  two 
martyrs,  and  exalted  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  fountain  and  sink  of 
heresies  !  Who  was  this  Benno  ?  The  pimp  of  Gregory  VIL, 
that  mitred  scoundrel,  who  has  dethroned  the  ^nperor,  Henry  IV. 
If  Benno  did  not  do  penance  for  that  crime,  he  is  damned  to  all 
eternity,  and  feU  into  the  hands  of  the  devil  when  he  died.^ 
Misnians,  you  are  called  on  to  adore  a  cut-throat,  an  in&mous 
homicide,  a  robber  stained  with  blood,  the  author  of  all  the  cala- 
mities which  press  upon  Germany,  the  enemy  of  the  Gospel,  the 
companion  of  Antichrist,  a  saint  such  as  Annas  and  Caiaphas.'' 

Afelancthon  sorrowfully  wrote  to  Erasmus :  '^  Luther  is  of 
more  worth  than  his  pamphlets.'"' 

But  Erasmus  shook  his  head  incredulously,  and  replied  to  his 
friend :  *^  No,  I  cannot  believe  that  men,  whose  manners  are  so 
opposite  to  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  are  guided  by  his  spirit.  For- 
merly the  Gospel  made  the  fierce  mild,  the  spoiler  merciful,  the 
turbulent  peaceful,  the  slanderer  charitable.  Now  our  evangelists 
excite  fury,  possess  themselves  fraudulently  of  the  property  of 
others,  create  disturbances  everywhere,  and  speak  evil  of  those 


^  Contrib  noTuin  Idolum  et  aDtiqunm  Diabolam  qui  Misens  exaltabitur : 
Jeme,  torn.  ii.  p.  446,  b. 

'  "Quern  quidem  yirom  ego  meliorem  esse  judico,  quiun  qualis  yidetur 
fitdenti  do  eo  ju(Uoiiim  ex  illis  yiolentlB  BoripUonibuB  ipsiiiB.'* — Epist.  ad 
Enam.  inter  Epiat.  ad  Camerar.  p.  90. 

VOL.  II.  E 


60  HTSTOEY   OF  LtJTHEB. 

even  whose  conduct  is  exemplaiy.     I  see  hypocrites  and  tyrants, 
but  not  one  spark  of  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel."* 

Erasmus  had  not  yet  read  Luther's  letter  to  Henry  VIII.  ! 


CHAPTER  V. 

HENRY  Vin.  AND  LTJTHEB,    1528. 

The  Captivity  of  tbe  Church  in  Babylon  excites  a  great  Benaation  in  England, 
— It  is  attacked  by  Henry  VIII. — Specimen  of  the  royal  work. — ^Luther'* 
reply  to  the  king's  pamphlet. — ^Bngenbagen  and  Mela&cUMm  approve  of 
Luther's  part  in  the  controversy. — ^Heniy  complains  to  Germany  of  Luther's 
insults. — ^ir  Thomas  More  defends  the  king's  side. — His  work. — Luther's 
daring  explained. — ^New  letter,  wherein  the  monk  humbly  apologises  to 
Henry. — ^And  why  I 

The  "  Captivity  of  the  Church  in  Babylon/'  widely  diffused 
in  Germany,  eagerly  read  and  praised  by  the  antagonists  of  the 
school  of  Cologne,  excited  some  noise  in  England.  The  school 
divinity  had  warm  defenders  at  London  among  the  clergy  and 
seminaries.  Luther's  rebellion  had  caused  them  astonishment 
mingled  with  alarm.  It  happened  that  the  most  irritable  theo- 
logian of  the  age  was  the  very  monarch  who  reigned  over  Great 
Britain.  Henry  VI IL  was  among  the  first  who  read  Luther's 
pamphlet,  and  immediately  undertook  to  refute  it.  Erasmus  was 
aware  of  the  king's  fancy,  and  commended  it.  His  majesty  for 
some  weeks  closeted  himself  with  his  chancellor,  the  archbishop 
of  York,  Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  other  prelates,  who, 
if  we  are  to  believe  Luther,  supplied  their  master  with  their 
sophistry  and  rage.  The  reply  appeared  with  the  title  of 
''Defence  of  the  Seven  Sacraments  against  Doctor  Martin 
Luther."  « 


*  "Qui  possim  mihi  persuadere  illos  agi  Spiritu  Christi  quorum  mores 
tanthm  discrepant  ^  doctrinft  Christi !  OUm  Bvangelium  ex  ferocibus  red- 
debat  mites,  ex  rapacibus  benignos,  ex  tarbulentis  pacificoe,  ex  maledicis 
beneficos ;  hi  redduntur  furiosi,  capiunt  per  fraudem  aliena,  concitant  nbique 
tumultus,  maledicunt  etiam  de  bene  merentibus.  Novos  hypooritas,  novos 
tyrannos  video,  ac  ue  micam  quidem  Evangelii  spiritfis.'* — Erasm.  Epist. 
ep.  69,  ad  Melancbth.  p.  726. 

'  Assertio  Septem  Sacramentomm  adversiis  Martanum  Luthenun. 


HENRY   VIII.    AND   LUTHER.  61 

One  night  an  apparition,  much  more  real  than  that  of  Satan, 
came  to  torment  the  Reformer  at  Wartburg, — ^this  was  the 
spectre  of  Henry  VIII.  He  entered  the  castle,  not  as  historians 
represent  him  to  ns,  with  that  "fine  appearance,"  which  yielded 
only  to  that  of  Francis  I.,  or,  as  Holbein  has  depicted  him,  with 
his  rich  ermine,  his  face  embedded  in  a  small-ruffled  collar,  and 
his  yellow  fox-eyes, — but  in  the  garb  of  a  monk,  holding  in  his 
hand  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  faith,  which  he  had  dedicated 
to  Leo  X.1 

That  apology  for  Catholicism  by  a  crowned  head  was  a  great 
event  in  the  religious  world.  Henry's  work  soon  crossed  the 
sea,  and  was  reprinted  in  every  form  in  Holland,  Belgium, 
Germany,  and  France.*  In  Italy,  there  was  a  shower  of  sonnets, 
odes,  and  poems  in  honour  of  the  king.  It  was  celebrated  in 
Latin  verse  by  Vida  and  Cicoli : '  Erasmus  lauded  the  prose, 
Eck  the  reasoning,  of  the  prince.  For  more  than  six  months, 
the  only  theme  was  Henry  VIII.  and  his  literary  renown.  That 
renown  is  forgotten,  and  the  volume  lies  buried  in  a  vellum 
shroud  in  some  German  libraries,  where  we  have  met  with  it 
beside  the  works  of  Frierias,  Latomus,  and  CochlsBus,  who  also 
made  so  much  noise  on  this  earth.  For  an  idea  of  the  royal 
polemics  we  must  look  into  it 

"  There  was  a  time,''  says  Henry,  "  when  the  faith  had  no 
need  of  defenders ;  it  had  no  enemies.  Now  it  has  one  who 
exceeds  in  maUgnity  all  his  predecessors,  who  is  instigated  by 
the  devil,  who  covers  himself  with  the  shield  of  charity,  and, 
full  of  hatred  aod  wrath,  discharges  his  viperish  venom  against 
the  Church  and  Catholicism.  Wherefore  every  Christian  soul, 
every  servant  of  Christ,  of  whatever  age,  sex,  or  order,  must  rise 
in  their  turn  against  this  common  enemy.  .  .  . 

"  What  similar  pestilence  has  ever  attacked  the  Lord's  flock  ? 
What  serpent  can  be  compared  with  this  monk  who  has  written 


'  The  royal  maDiisoript  is  preserved  and  exhibited  in  the  Vatican.    It  is 
prefiu^d  by  the  following  distich  : 

"  Anglonim  rex,  Henricus,  Leo  decime,  mittit 
Hoc  opus  et  fidei  testem  et  amicitise." 
The  first  edition  of  the  book  appeared  at  Loudon,  in  sedibus  Pynsonianis,  1521. 
'  In  1522,  the  Assertio  was  printed  at  Antwerp,  in  two  forms,  in  ledibua 
Michaelis  Hillenii. 

'  VidsB  Op.  torn.  ii.  p.  161. 

£2 


62  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHER. 

upon  the  Babylonish  captivity  of  the  Church  ?  who  sports  with 
the  language  of  Scripture  to  attack  the  sacraments  ? — ^to  this 
scoffer  of  our  old  traditions,  who  puts  no  faith  in  our  holy  fathers, 
or  the  ancient  interpreters  of  our  holy  books,  except  when  they 
agree  with  him ;  who  compares  the  Holy  See  to  the  impure 
Babylon,  treats  as  a  tyrant  the  sovereign  pontiff,  and  makes  that 
holy  name  synonymous  with  Antichrist  ?  He  is  a  man  of  pride, 
blasphemy,  and  schism  ! — ^a  devouring  wolf,  who  would  rend  the 
flesh  of  the  Christian  flock  ! — a  child  of  the  devil,  who  seeks  to 
wile  the  sheep  from  Christ  their  pastor! — a  filthy  soul,  who 
attempts  to  revive  heresies  that  have  been  buried  for  ages,  who 
mixes  new  errors  with  the  old,  and,  like  Cerberus,  drags  to  the 
light  from  hell  blasphemies  which  slept  in  shameful  darkness ; 
and  glories  in  disturbing  with  his  doctrine  the  Church  and  the 
Catholic  communion/'  * 

Henry  enters  at  once  into  the  subject,  and  combats  and 
destroys  the  Saxon  creed.  The  crowned  theologian  is  close, 
concise,  and  cutting.  He  bears  no  likeness  to  those  dis- 
putants whom  we  have  seen  at  Worms,  —  to  those  gowned 
civilians  who  flattered  Luther,  lavished  incense  and  honey  on 
him,  and  strove  by  fair  words  to  win  back  the  wanderer  to 
authority.  Henry  is  the  monarch  as  he  appears  in  history  and 
painting, — with  flaming  eye,  brow  swollen  with  rage,  and  lips 
quivering  with  fury.  The  theologian  seems  to  wish  to  cast  away 
the  frock  and  seize  the  sword,  wherewith  to  force  his  arguments 
down  the  throat  of  his  adversary. 

"  Wretch  ! "  he  says  to  Luther,  "  do  you  not  know  how  much 
obedience  is  better  than  sacrifice  ?  Tou  do  not  reflect  that  if 
the  punishment  of  death  is  pronounced  in  Deuteronomy  against 
every  proud  spirit  who  rebels  against  the  priest,  his  master,  you 
deserve  every  sort  of  punishment  for  having  disobeyed  the 
supreme  priest,  the  great  judge  on  this  earth.  .  .  /' « 

There  are  sometimes  eloquent  parages  in  Henry's  work. 
When  he  speaks  of  the  majesty  of  crowned  heads,  of  the  respect 
due  by  subjects  to  their  sovereign,  and  of  insults  offered  by 


1  Assertio  Septem  Saor&mentorum  advent  Mart.  Lnthenim,  H«Drioo  YIII. 
AngluB  rege,  anctore :  PariBik,  1652,  12xbo. 

*  Aasertio,  etc.  p.  10. 


HEKBT   YIII.   AND   LUTHER.  63 

Lather  to  the  tiara,  he  becomes  animated  and  glowing.  His 
language  expands,  and  he  makes  use  of  images  foil  of  grandeur. 

"  Let  him  deny,  then,  that  the  whole  Christian  community 
salutes  Rome  as  her  mother  and  spiritual  guide !  Christians  at 
the  extremities  of  the  world,  and  separated  by  oceans  and  deserts, 
obey  the  Holy  See !  If,  then,  this  immense  power  has  been 
acquired  by  the  pope  neither  by  the  orders  of  God  nor  the  will 
of  man,  if  it  is  a  usurpation  and  a  robbery,  let  Luther  point 
out  its  origin  !  The  source  of  so  great  a  power  cannot  be  enve- 
loped in  darkness,  especially  if  its  history  is  known.  Let  him 
assert  that  it  goes  no  further  back  than  two  centuries  at  the 
most ;  the  pages  of  history  will  show  the  contrary. 

''  But  if  this  power  is  so  old  that  its  beginning  is  lost  in  the 
night  of  ages,  then  he  must  be  aware  that  human  laws  establish 
that  aU  possession  is  lawful,  the  origin  of  which  memory  cannot 
trace ;  and  that  by  the  consent  of  nations,  it  is  forbidden  to 
touch  that  which  time  has  made  immutable. 

''  He  must  have  rare  assurance  to  affirm,  when  the  contrary 
has  been  established,  that  the  pope  has  founded  his  right  by 
means  of  despotism.  For  whom  does  Luther  take  us  ?  Does  he 
think  that  we  are  so  stupid  as  to  believe  that  a  poor  priest  could 
have  been  able  to  establish  such  a  power  as  his  ? — that  without 
a  mission,  or  any  sort  of  right,  he  has  made  so  many  nations 
subject  to  his  sceptre? — that  so  many  cities,  provinces,  and 
kingdoms  could  be  found  so  prodigal  of  their  liberties  as  thus  to 
acknowledge  a  stranger,  to  whom  they  owed  neither  faith,  nor 
homage,  nor  obedience."'^ 

The  most  curious  page  in  Henry's  book  is  that  wherein  he 
defends  the  Mass  against  the  arguments  of  the  Augustinian 
monk,  in  the  double  point  of  view  of  good  work  and  sacrifice, 
qualities  which  Luther  denies  to  this  sacrament.  In  reading 
tills  sound  argument,  well-woven,  glowing  with  poetry  at  times, 
and  which  displays  the  rhetorician  accomplished  in  the  arts 
of  the  school,  by  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
refinement  of  the  Latin  language,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing why,  on  the  one  hand,  Luther  suspected  that  the  king 
merely  wrote  to  the  dictation  of  one  of  his  prelates ;  or,  on  the 


>  ABsertio,  etc.  p.  10. 


54  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

Other,  why  the  pope  conferred  on  the  royal  theologian  the  title 
of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith."  Sadoletus,  the  pope's  secretary, 
could  not  have  done  better ;  his  Latin  certainly  could  not  have 
been  more  elegant,  or  his  periods  more  Ciceronian.^ 

Luther  maintained  that  these  words  of  Christ :  "  Whatsoever 
you  shall  unloose  on  earth,  shall  be  unloosed  in  heaven,"  were 
addressed  to  the  community  of  the  faithful,  to  every  Christian, 
male  or  female. 

Here  Henry  lays  aside  the  professor  ;  he  does  not  embarrass 
himself  with  the  trammels  of  the  school ;  he  recalls  to  mind  his 
knowledge  of  ancient  history,  and  brings  up  one  of  the  great 
Roman  departed,  Emilius  Scaurus,  to  discomfit  his  enemy. 

**  Romans,"  exclaimed  the  old  man,  accused  before  his  coun- 
trymen by  a  worthless  fellow,  "  Varus  affirms,  and  I  deny. 
Whom  do  you  believe  ?"  And  the  people  applauded,  and  the 
accuser  was  confounded.  '*  I  wish  for  no  other  argument  in 
this  question  of  the  power  of  the  kings.  Luther  says  that  the 
words  of  institution  apply  to  the  laity ;  Augustine  denies  it. 
Whom  will  you  believe  ? — Luther  says,  Yes  ;  Bede  says.  No. 
Whom  will  you  believe  ? — Luther  says,  Yes  ;  the  whole  Church 
says,  No.     Whom  will  you  believe  V 

His  majesty  has  left  none  of  Luther's  assertions  unanswered. 
Eck,  at  Leipsic,  was  certainly  not  more  pressing  or  mordant. 
How  he  seems  to  be  delighted, — how  complacently  he  exposes 
the  monk's  errors, — how  he  quotes  texts  from  the  Scriptures,  to 
show  his  biblical  knowledge ;  and  profane  historians,  to  prove  that 
he  is  not  so  covered  with  the  dust  of  the  schools,  as  to  have 
forgotten  the  assiduous  court  which  he  formerly  paid  to  the 
Greek  and  Latin  muses  !  When  he  approaches  the  end  of  his 
long  defence,  he  becomes  as  rhetorical  as  Socrates,  and  in  a  flow 
of  artfiiUy  condensed  periods,  exhibits  Luther  such  as  he  had 
found  him  to  be.^ 

**  Th^s,  then,  there  is  no  doctor  so  ancient  in  the  world,  no 
saint  so  exalted  in  bliss,  no  scholar  so  versed  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  Bible,  whom  this  petty  doctor,  this  little  saint,  this  shadow 


'^  Luther  acknowledged  bim  to  be  "inter  omnes  qui  Qontr)^  Be  scribunt 
latinissimum." — Roacoe,  Life  of  Iieo  X.  vol.  iv.  p.  47, 

'  Assertio,  p.  55* 


HENRY   VIII.   AHD  LUTHER.  55 

of  erudition,^  does  not  reject  in  the  pride  of  his  self-constituted 
authority.  Since  he  despises  everybody,  since  he  only  believes 
in  himself,  why  should  he  be  enraged  when  he  receives  contempt 
for  contempt,  and  disdain  for  disdain  ?  What  advantage  can  be 
gained  by  a  contest  with  Luther,  who  is  of  nobody's  opinion,  and 
does  not  understand  himself ;  who  denies  what  he  has  at  first 
affirmed,  and  affirms  what  at  the  same  time  he  denies  ?  If  you 
arm  yourself  with  faith  to  oppose  him,  he  confronts  you  with 
reason ;  if  you  buckle  on  the  armour  of  reason,  he  entrenches 
himself  in  faith  ;  if  you  quote  the  philosophers,  he  appeals  from 
them  to  the  Scriptures  ;  if  you  invoke  the  Bible,  he  wraps  himself 
up  in  sophistry.  He  is  a  shameless  scribbler,  who  sets  himself 
above  the  laws,  who  despises  our  old  teachers,  and  in  the  pleni* 
tude  of  his  pride  ridicules  the  learning  of  the  age  ;  who  insults 
the  majesty  of  pontiffs,  outrages  traditions,  dogmas,  manners, 
laws,  canons,  faith,  and  the  Church  herself,  which  he  sees 
nowhere,  except  amongst  two  or  three  innovators,  of  whom  he 
has  ponstituted  himself  the  leader/'' 

There  was  in  Luther  a  fibre  irritable  to  the  last  degree, — that 
of  pride :  woe  to  him  who  dared  to  touch  it !  Henry  knew  his 
adversary  well.  He  desired  to  make  him  suffer  for  the  praises 
which  had  been  showered  upon  him  on  all  sides,  and,  with 
cruel  delight,  he  provoked  and  bantered  the  monk's  literary 
vanity.  Think  of  Luther  being  styled  doctarcidus,  sanctvius^ 
eruditultu,  diminutives  not  certainly  to  be  found  in  the  writers 
of  the  Augustan  age,  and  which  Henry  employs  only  to  make 
his  contempt  sink  deeper.^  But  Eck,  Miltitz,  even  Latomus 
himself,  had  been  more  courteous,  and  did  not  deny  his  titles  of 
doctor  and  scholar.  Ah  !  if  Luther  had  had  the  gauntlet  of  his 
adversary,  how  he  would  have  rejoiced  to  bury  it  in  the  sove- 
reign's body  !  But  he  had  luckily  a  pen  which  had  stood  him 
stead  in  more  than  one  contest,  and  which  could  besmear  with 
mud  a  countenance  so  as  to  make  it  undistinguishable.  We  use 
the  word  "  mud"  from  decency ;  for  Sir  Thomas  More  affirms 
that  he  went  elsewhere  for  the  filth  with  which  he  covered  the 
face  of  his  opponent. 

'  DoctorculoB,  saDctulus,  eruditulua. 

•  AsBertio,  pp.  97,  98. 

'  Luther  afkerwards  borrowed  them  from  Heory. 


56  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER.. 

The  reply  to  Hodij  of  England  ^eedily  appeared.  Luther  only 
took  a  few  hours  to  compose  it,  and  soon  all  Germany  was 
invited  to  an  unheard-of  spectacle. 

It  is  now  the  monk's  turn. 

**  It  is  two  years  since  I  published  a  small  book,  entitled 
'  The  Captivity  of  the  Church  in  Babylon.'*  It  has  annoyed 
the  Papists,  who  have  spared  neither  falsehoods  nor  abuse  against 
me.  I  willingly  forgive  them.  OtheiB  would  have  swallowed  it 
cheerfully,  but  the  hook  was  too  hard  and  sharp  for  their  throats. 
The  Lord  Henry,  not  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  England,  has 
recently  written  in  Latin  against  that  treatise.  There  are  some 
who  believe  that  this  pamphlet  has  not  been  written  by  Henry : 
but  whether  it  proceeds  from  the  pen  of  Henry,  or  the  devil,  or 
from  hell,  is  a  matter  of  indifference.  Whoever  lies  is  a  liar :  I 
have  no  fear  of  such  a  one.  What  I  think  is,  that  King  Henry 
has  given  one  or  two  ells  of  coarse  cloth,  and  that  snivelling 
sophist,^  that  swine  of  the  Thomist  herd  (Lee),  who  has  written 
against  Erasmus,  has  taken  needle  and  scissors,  and  made  a  cape 
ofit."» 

Luther  then  follows  Henry's  example ;  he  passes  in  review 
his  rival's  assertions,  and  refutes  them. 

"  If  a  king  of  England  spits  his  impudent  lies  in  my  &ce,  I 
am  entitled  on  my  part  to  thrust  them  down  his  throat.  If  he 
blasphemes  my  sacred  doctrines,  and  casts  his  dirt  on  the  crown 
of  my  king  and  my  Christ,^  why  should  he  be  astonished  if  I,  in 
like  manner,  bespatter  his  royal  diadem,  and  proclaim  that  the 
king  of  England  is  a  liar  and  a  rascal.^ 

"  Perhaps  he  thought,  *  Luther  is  pursued ;  he  <jannot  reply  to 
me  ;  his  books  are  burned  ;  my  calumnies  will  go  down.  I  am 
a  king,  they  will  believe  that  I  speak  the  truth !  I  can  then 
venture  to  throw  in  the  face  of  the  poor  monk  whatever  comes 

*  Die  Babylonischen  (jefangDisBe. 

*  *'  Lens  nie  .  .  .  fiigicb  pituita  sophista  qnalem  in  grege  ffuA  alerent  crassi 
illi  porci  Thomistee.'' 

■'  This  was  a  calfunnj ;  HeDry  at  first  was  intended  to  have  been  in  Orders, 
fie  bad  long  studied  theology.  "  Sub  optimis  prseceptoribus  setatem  trivisse 
ei  in  sacris  scrip turis  plurimUm  versatum  fuisse/'  says  «fohn  Clark  e,  ambassador 
^m  Henry  YlII.,  in  his  Oratio  ad  ]jeonem  habita. 

*  Und  schmieret  seinen  Dreck  an  die  KroniS  meines  Konjg^ 
^  ^in  Liigner  ist  und  ein  Unbiedermann, 


HEUEY   VIII.   AND  LUTHER.  67 

into  m;  head,  publish  what  I  please,  and  ran  down  his  reputa- 
tion in  a  clear  field/  Ah,  my  lad  !  say  whatever  you  like  ;  I 
shall  compel  you  to  hear  some  disagreeable  truths ;  I  hope  they 
will  make  you  smart  for  your  tricks.  He  accuses  me  of  having 
written  against  the  pope  through  hatred  and  malice ;  of  being 
quarrelsome,  slanderous,  and  so  proud  as  to  think  myself  the 
only  wise  man  in  the  world  !  .  .  .  .  But  I  ask  you,  my  lad,  what 
matters  it  if  I  am  vain,  cross-grained,  and  wicked  ?  Is  the 
papacy  innocent,  because  I  am  worthless  ?  Therefore,  because  I 
consider  him  a  fool,  the  king  of  England  is  a  sage  !  What  will 
you  say  ?  But  the  dear  king,  who  has  such  a  horror  for  lies 
and  calumnies,  has  more  of  them  in  his  envenomed  book  than  I 
have  in  all  my  writings.  Perhaps  in  this  quarrel  there  must 
be  a  distinction  of  persons  ?  a  king  may  at  his  will  injure  a  poor 
monk,  but  play  the  courtier  with  the  pope.'"^ 

We  have  seen  that  the  king  of  England  maintained  with 
some  eloquence  that  antiquity  in  human,  as  in  sacred  institutions, 
has  a  right  to  our  respect,  and  that,  consequently,  the  papacy 
ought  not  to  be  treated  as  a  thing  of  yesterday.  The  monk  avoids 
discussing  the  proposition,  and  to  combat  it  has  recourse  to  his 
ordinary  weapon,  raillery, 

"  I  wish  to  be  done  with  the  Papists  once  for  all,  and  to  reply 
to  them  in  addressing  the  king  of  England.  Your  just  man, 
though  a  century  old,  cannot  be  just  for  one  hour.  If  age 
constituted  right,  the  devil  would  be  the  justest  on  earth,  for  he 
is  upwards  of  5,000  years  old." 

He  follows  his  adversary  through  his  theological  work,  not 
troubling  himself  much  with  dogmatic  questions,  neither  dis- 
turbing himself  with  the  voice  of  tradition,  upon  which  the  king 
lays  so  much  stress,  nor  with  the  evidence  of  the  great  Catholic 
writers  whom  Henry  calls  to  his  aid,  nor  those  terrible  conse- 
quences for  the  peace  of  society  which  he  had  drawn  from  his 
rival's  propositions.  He  reserved  for  the  conclusion  of  his 
pleading  his  best  arguments  ;-r— the  devil  and  the  law  of  blood. 

"  What  astonishes  me,  is  not  the  ignorance  of  Henry,  king 
of  England — not  that  he  understands  less  of  faith  and  works 
than  a  block  does  about  God  ;  it  is  that  the  devil  thus  plays  the 


*  liUther's  Leben,  von  Gust.  Pfizer,  p.  3d7, 


58  HI8T0EY   OF  LUTHER. 

clown  by  means  of  his  Henry,  although  he  knows  well  that  I 
laugh  at  him.  King  Henry  is  aware  of  the  proverb :  *  There 
are  no  greater  fools  than  kings  and  princes.'  Who  does  not 
perceive  the  finger  of  God  in  the  blindness  and  folly  of  this 
man !  ....  I  will  leave  him  a  moment  of  rest,  for  I  have  the 
Bible  to  translate,  without  reckoning  other  occupations,  which 
will  not  admit  of  my  dabbling  long  in  his  Majesty's  filtL 
But  I  will,  if  God  permit,  take  my  time  again  to  reply  at  my 
leisure  to  this  royal  mouth,  which  foams  with  falsehood  and 
poison.  I  think  that  he  has  written  his  book  as  a  penance,  for 
his  conscience  loudly  tells  him  that  he  haa  stolen  the  crown  of 
England,  by  putting  to  a  violent  death  the  last  offspring  of  the 
royal  line,  and  drying  up  the  source  of  the  blood  of  the 
kings  of  Great  Britain.  He  trembles  in  his  skin  lest  this  blood 
should  fall  upon  him,  and  therefore  he  clings  to  the  pope  in  order 
that  he  may  not  lose  the  throne,  and  sometimes  courts  the 
emperor,  and  sometimes  the  king  of  France,  as  does  one 
tormented  by  a  guilty  conscience.  Henry  and  the  pope  are 
equally  legitimate  :  the  pope  has  stolen  his  tiara,  as  the  king  of 
England  his  crown  ;  which  accounts  for  their  rubbing  each 
other  like  two  mules.  Whoever  would  not  pardon  me  for  my 
insults  to  his  royal  majesty,  ought  to  know  that  I  have  only 
done  so  because  he  has  not  spared  himself.  See  then,  he  lies  in 
the  fiace  of  heaven,  and  unblushingly  spit-s  out  venom  like  an 
angry  prostitute  ;  which  is  a  clear  proof  that  he  has  not  a  drop 
of  noble  blood  in  his  veins."  ^ 

Then,  leaving  this  insignificant  monarch  as  if  he  were  unde- 
serving even  of  a  look,  he  invokes  the  most  glorious  representa* 
tives  of  the  school,  the  Thomists,  and  hurls  at  them  this  proud 
defiance. 

"  Courage,  you  swine  ;  bum  me  then,  if  you  dare  !  Here  I 
am  :  I  attend  you.     I  shall  persecute  you  with  my  ashes  after 


*  So  Bchilt  er  so  bitter,  giftig  und  ohne  Unterlass,  als  keine  offentliche 
zomige  Hure  schelten  mag. 

Luther's  reply  to  the  king  of  England  appeared  in  two  languages ;  in  Ger- 
man and  in  Latin,  with  the  title,  Contrii  regem  Angliie  Martinus  Lutherus. 
The  two  texts,  according  to  his  biographer,  Pnzer,  present  material  variations. 
The  Latin  version  is  more  bitter  and  cynical ;  it  is  dedicated  to  Sebastiah 
Schlinck,  a  Bohemian  noble,  and  is  dated  15  July,  1522.  See  vol.  ii. :  Jenao^ 
lat.  fol.  546  et  seq.  The  German  answer  will  be  found  in  vol.  ii.  of  the  edition 
of  Altenburg,  foL  187  et  seq. 


HENRT   VIII.   AND  LUTHER.  59 

I  am  dead,  although  you  should  have  scattered  them  to  the  winds 
and  the  waves.  Alive,  I  shall  be  the  enemy  of  the  papacy ; 
dead,  I  shall  be  twice  as  much  so.  Swinish  Thomists,  do  your 
utmost  I  Luther  will  be  the  bear  on  your  road,  the  lion  in  your 
path  ;  he  will  follow  you  everywhere,  be  constantly  before  you, 
and  will  never  give  you  peace  or  truce,  until  he  shall  have 
broken  your  iron  skulls  and  brazen  faces,  for  your  salvation  or 
perdition." 

These  are  strange  words,  doubtless,  but  which,  notwith* 
standing,  a  disciple  of  Luther,  has  not  been  afraid  to  attribute  to 
the  Holy  Ghost.  '*  At  one  time  I  thought,"  said  Bugenhagen, 
**that  our  father  Luther  was  too  violent  against  Henry  of 
England,  but  I  now  perceive  that  I  was  mistaken,  and  that  he 
has  been  too  gentle  ;  it  is  the  Spirit  of  heaven  who  has  dictated 
his  every  word ;  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  truth,  constancy,  and  in- 
vincible power/'  ^  Melancthon  himself  dared  not  condemn  his 
master's  violence.  To  Capito,  who  censured  it,  he  wrote :  "  Take 
care,  my  friend  ;  to  reject  Luther,  is  to  reject  the  Gospel  Tou 
are  alarmed  at  his  fury  ;  what  if  it  is  the  zeal  of  God  which 
consumes  him  ?  Tou  do  not  understand  the  state  of  the  times, — > 
what  salt  is  required  to  be  used  to  these  &t  masters  and  lords. 
St  Paul  commands  us  not  to  quench  the  Spirit."  ^  Instead  of 
divine  inspiration,  Erasmus  could  only  see  in  Luther's  reply  signs 
of  madness  and  vulgarity.' 

Luther  was  of  Bugenhagen's  opinion ;  and  in  the  preface  of 
his  book,  commended  himself  for  his  moderation  and  mildness.^ 


1  "Opinabar  patrem  nostrum  Lathemm  nimis  yehementem  esse  in  Hen- 
rionm  r^gem  Anglise,  sed  jam  video  nimis  lenem  flilsee.  .  .  .  Ita  at  &teri  oogar 
Spiritom  Sanctum  dictitsse  onmia  verba  Lutbero,  oujus  spiritus  non  est  alius 
nisi  sanotus,  verax,  oonstans  et  invictus." — Selnecoer,  p.  144.  Seckendorf, 
lib.  i.  sect,  xlyii.  §  114. 

'  "  Negare  non  potestis  quin  Kvangelium  doceat ;  id  rejicitis,  si  Lutherus 
rejiciatur.  Nee  ignoro  te  acerbitate  offbndi.  Sed  quid,  si  divinitiis  accenda- 
tor  ?  Obeeoro,  vide  qui  rerum  ac  temporum  status  sit,  quo  sale  opus  sit  tarn 
pingnibus  dominis.  Paulus  carere  pneciplt  ne  spiritus  extinguatur." — Secken- 
dorf,  L  0.  tom.  i.  p.  188. 

'  Sentiments  d'Erasme  de  Rotterdam,  oonformes  li  ceuz  de  TEglise  Catho- 
lique:  Cologne,  1688,  12mo.  p.  219. 

*  "Deinde  Ik  virulentill  et  mendaoiis  abstinui."  He  wrote,  bowever,  to 
Spalatinus,  on  tbe  4th  of  September :  "  Sciebam  multos  offensurum  quidquid 
in  regem  Anglife  scriberem,  insulsum  et  virulentum  Thomistam  ;  sed  itit  plncuit 
mibi  atqne  ade6  multis  causis  necessarium  fiiit ;  quod  facio  nescitur  mod6, 
scietur  post^"    In  August  preceding,  be  said  to  one  of  his  friends ;  "  Aliqui 


60  HISTO&T   OF  LUTUBR. 

In  the  whole  range  of  political  and  religions  pamphlets,  there 
will  nowhere  be  fonnd  snch  revolting  indecency,  except  perhaps 
in  the  "  Vieux  Cordelier "  of  Dnchesne ;  but  the  journalist 
minded  his  business,  and  did  not  believe  in  a  Ood;  while 
the  monk  interrupted  his  translation  of  the  Bible  to  reply  to 
Henry. 

But  what  causes  more  painful  astonishment  is  the  silence  of 
the  Protestant  princes;  not  one,  even  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
wished  to  give  this  insolent  monk  a  lesson,  and  teach  him  that 
such  insults  were  not  to  be  given  to  royalty  unpunished.  The 
libel  was  openly  published,  with  the  author's  name  and  printer's 
device  ;  it  was  publicly  sold  at  the  fair  at  Frankfort ;  it  crossed 
the  sea,  it  was  circulated  among  the  people ;  and  yet  this 
scandal  did  not  excite  in  these  potentates  either  emotion  or 
indignation ! 

Henry,  however,  complained  of  the  monk's  insults  to  the 
elector  Frederick,  in  a  letter*  wherein  he  was  even  witty. 
"Your  Luther  is  a  singular  fellow,"  said  the  prince,  among 
other  things ;  "  he  be^ns  by  crying,  then  he  becomes  irritated, 
then  enraged,  then  furious,  then  he  storms,  then  he  roars."  * 

In  his  reply  the  elector  protests  his  love  for  the  Gospel,  declares 
that  it  was  contrary  to  his  orders  that  Luther  left  Wartburg  for 
Wittemberg,  and  relies  much  upon  the  next  council,  where  God 
and  his  Christ  will  necessarily  be  present,  according  to  the 
promise  in  St.  Matthew,  chap,  xviii.,  vers.  19,  20 :  "  For  where 
there  are  two  or  three  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I 
in  the  midst  of  them :"  but  not  a  syllable  with  reference  to 
Luther's  insults  to  his  majesty. 

Some  Protestant  writers,  while  censuring  the  expressions  used 
by  Luther  in  his  letter  to  Henry,  have  inclined  to  admire  the 
boldness  of  the  monk,  who,  in  the  face  of  all  Germany,  dared  to 

amioi  mei  saepb  monnenxnt  at  mollitis  scriberem,  sed  semper  respond!  et 
respondeo  me  id  non  esae  &ctaram."-— Altenb.  torn.  ii.  p.  207.  Seckendorf. 
Ub.  i.  p.  187. 

'  Serenissimi  ac  potentiasimi  regis  Anglise,  Henrici  ChrisidaDSB  fidei  de- 
fensoris,  ad  iUastrissimos  ao  clarissimos  Sazonia)  principea  Fridericum  elec- 
torem  et  Johannem  et  Georfinm  duces  de  coercendo  aoigendoque  Luthera- 
nismo  et  Luthero  ipso,  epistou^  Grenwici,  1523. 

'  ChurfUrst  Freidrichs  nnd  Herzog  Johannes  Antwort  auf  rorheigefaendes 
Scbreiben  Konig  Heinrichs  VIII.  m.  Ap.  A.  1523.  Luther's  Werke :  Leipzig, 
torn,  xviii.  p.  213. 


HBNBY  Till.   AND  LUTHER.  61 

insult  the  most  powerfdl  ally  of  Charles  V.  It  is  a  sorry 
triumph  to  Luther  that  they  contend  for.  At  the  very  time 
when  his  pamphlet  appeared,  La  Tremouille  expelled  from  the 
French  territories  the  English  forces  commanded  by  the  Duke  of 
SujSblk  ;  and  the  emperor's  attempts  upon  Burgundy  and  Ouienne 
had  been  forcibly  repelled.*  Luther,  accordingly,  could  with 
safety  brave  the  emperor  and  offend  Henry  :  he  was  not  afraid 
of  Charles  returning  to  Germany  to  punish  him ;  if  the  emperor 
had  crossed  the  Rhine,  Italy  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
Francis  I. 

There  was  in  these  insults  to  royalty  a  secret  motive  of  which 
Luther,  as  he  said,  reserved  to  himself  the  explanation  at  some 
future  time.  It  is  not  difBcult  to  divine  the  mystery.  Luther 
directed  them  much  more  to  the  theologian  than  to  the  sovereign. 
He  obeyed,  without  suspecting  it,  and  at  the  risk  of  repudiating 
his  principles  of  free  inquiry,  that  Catholic  constitution  which 
does  not  recognise  the  right  of  princes  to  mix  themselves  up  with 
questions  of  doctrine.  We  have  surprised  him  in  a  moment  of 
temper  exclaiming  that  a  prince  ought  never  to  touch  the  censer, 
forgetting  that  immediately  before  he  had  proclaimed  that  we  are 
all  priests.  But  if  he  had  permitted  Henry  to  defend  the 
Catholic  faith,  Frederick,  the  elector  of  Saxony,  might,  like  the 
king,  become  a  theologian :  there  would  then  have  been  two  apostles 
at  Wittemberg !  And  Luther  wished  to  be  the  sole  master  of 
£Edth :  he  permitted  people  to  read  the  Bible,  but  on  the  express 
condition  that  they  found  nothing  in  it  but  what  he  had  dis* 
covered  there. 

There  were  in  Bngland  two  men  who  resolved  to  defend  out- 
raged royalty :  Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester,  in  a  learned  work 
published  under  the  pseudonyme  of  William  Ross,'  and  Sir 
Thomas  More,'  who,  instead  of  summoning  to  his  lud  the  high 
intellect  with  which  he  was  gifted,  preferred  to  make  use  of  jest^ 


*  Bobertflon's  Histoiy  of  Charles  V.  yol.  i.  p.  460  et  wq. 

>  EruditiaBiim  yiii,  Qnlielmi  Bosaei  opxui  el^gans,  doetnm,  ftstiTiiin,  finta, 
pnlcherrimb  retegit  ao  refellit  inaanas  Lntheri  oalnmnias,  quibns  invictiBsimuiD 
AsglisB  Gallinque  regem  Henricum  ejus  nomiDis  ootavuin,  fidei  defeiiBorem, 
baud  litterifl  mints  qvikm  regno  clamnij  sccnra  tnrpiBSunns  insectatur. 

*  Th.  Mori  Angli,  omnia  qnsB  faucnsque  ad  manns  nostras  pervenemnty 
Latina  Opera  :  Lovanii,  1566.  M.  Kisanl,  Thomas  Moms,  Bevue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  torn.  ▼.  p.  590  et  seq. 


62  HISTORY   OP  LUTHBR. 

after  the  fashion  of  Lather.  Unfortunately  his  is  not  natural, 
and  smells  of  the  lamp.  His  sarcasm  really  does  not  originate 
from  his  own  head,  but  travels,  before  touching  his  rival,  over 
the  satirists  of  antiquity,  especially  Lucian,  whom  he  particularly 
studied.  His  indignation  is  like  that  of  a  statesman.  The 
chancellor  imagines  that  he  employs  the  language  of  the  tavern, 
but  he  stammers  and  fails  for  want  of  practice.  We  know 
Luther's  ability,  when  he  wishes  to  imitate  the  style  of  a 
drunkard.  Faceti»,  sallies,  points,  and  conceits  flow  from  his 
lips  like  the  beer  from  his  glass.  The  fable  only  imagined  by 
More  is  witty. 

Luther  is  at  table  with  his  boon  companions, — ^his  bacchanalian 
senate, — considering,  after  many  bumpers  of  Eimbeck  beer,  of 
his  reply  to  the  king  of  England.  One  of  his  companions  helps 
him  out  of  his  difficulty :  '*  Insults,  falling  as  thick  as  snow- 
flakes,  are  the  only  weapons,''  he  says,  '^  to  use  against  the  king." 

Luther  approves  of  the  plan  ;  but  he  refers  to  his  dictionary, 
and  finds  that  copious  as  it  is,  it  could  not  furnish  him  with 
a  sufficient  stock  of  buSboneries,  and  he  sends  about  this  crowd 
of  evil  spirits  to  collect  them  wherever  they  can.  Some  go  one 
way,  some  another,  and  all,  like  wasps,  soon  return  to  the 
common  rendezvous  with  a  plentiful  booty,  and  go  out  again  for 
more. 

They  betake  themselves  to  the  crossways,  the  carriages,  boats, 
batlis,  gaming-houses,  barbers^  shops,  taverns,  mills,  privies  and 
stews,  observing  with  eye  and  ear  what  passes,  and  carefully 
collecting  the  coarse  jokes  of  coachmen,  impertinences  of  valets, 
chattering  of  porters,  petulancies  of  prostitutes,  buffooneries 
of  parasites,  indecencies  of  bathers,  and  the  obscenities  of  other 
individuals. 

And  after  hunting  some  months  for  insults,  sarcasms,  obscene, 
indecent,  and  infamous  expressions,  through  the  haunts  of  the 
lowest  and  most  profligate,  they  cast  all  these  into  the  sewer  of 
Luther's  breast,  from  which,  after  being  stirred  together  and 
mashed,  all  this  accumulated  filth  is  ejected — ^and  the  monk's 
book  is  complete.* 

*  **  Illi  igitur  abeuot,  alius,  alio,  quo  quemque  tulit  aoimuB,  et  se  per 
omnia  plaustra,  Tehicula,  cymbas,  thermas,  ganeas,  tonstrinas,  tabemaa,  lus- 
tra^ pistrina^  latrinas,  lupaaaria»  diffunduut :  illio  obBervaut  sedul^  atque  in 


HEIFBT   YIII.   AND  LUTHER.  63 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  honour  of  the  crown  might  havo 
been  otherwise  defended.  We  cannot  admit  the  excuse  of 
Erasmus,  that  the  ohancellor,  when  replying  to  Luther's  pamphlet, 
wafl  inspired  by  the  writings  of  the  Saxon  monk. 

In  this  controversy  Catholicism  in  Germany  had  but  one 
worthy  representative,  Duke  George,  who,  in  the  name  of 
God,  morality,  and  Germany,  denounced  Luther's  insolence  to 
the  assembly  at  Nurembeig,  and  demanded  that  he  should  be 
punished.^  The  Orders  of  the  empire  did  not  understand  their 
dignity. 

The  duke  also  wrote  a  prophetical  letter  to  the  States,  and 
even  pointed  out  a  time  near  at  hand  when  the  outrages  of 
Luther  against  popes  and  monarchs  would  produce  their  firuits. 
The  duke  did  not  require  to  consult  the  stars  as  to  the 
future ;  the  blindness  of  the  States  was  a  sufficient  indication 
of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  Grermany.* 

Two  years  elapsed  when  the  king  of  England  received  another 
letter  from  Luther : 

''  Most  serene  and  illustrious  prince,"  wrote  the  monk,  ^'  1 
should  indeed  fear  to  address  your  majesty,  when  I  remember 
bow  I  insulted  you  in  the  pamphlet  which  I,  a  proud  and  vain 
man,  yielding  to  evil  advisers  and  not  to  my  own  inclination, 
published  against  you ;  but  what  emboldens  me  to  do  so  is  your 
royal  goodness,  which  is  daily  set  before  me  in  my  conversation 
and  correspondence.  Being  mortal,  you  will  not  maintain  an 
immortal  wrath.  Besides,  I  know,  on  sure  testimony,  that  the 
document  published  in  your  majesty's  name,  was  not  by  the  king 

tabellas  reftmnt  quicqnid  aut  auriga  sordidb,  ant  servns  yaniliter,  ant  meretrix 
petulanter,  ant  portitor  improb^  ant  parasitns  scurriliter,  ant  leno  tnrpiter, 
ant  balneator  spnrc^,  ant  caoator  ohecen^  loqnntus  sit.  Atqne  hsec  qutaa 
aliquot  fecinsent  menses,  ttmi  demiun  qnioquid  undecnnqne  collegissent  con- 
▼idomm  et  scumlinm  scommatnm,  petuiantis,  spnroitiaa,  sordiunii  Inti,  ooeni, 
stercomm,  omnem  hanc  coUuTiem  in  fosdiasimam  oloaoam  Lntheii  pectus 
infiurdunt ;  quam  ille  totam  in  libellnm  istum  auum  per  os  illud  impnrum  velut 
comesam  merdam,  removit." — Opera  Mori,  p.  61. 

'  Seckendor^  Comm.  de  Lntheraniamo,  lib.  i.  §  ovi.  p.  187.  The  duke  also 
wrote  a  noble  letter  to  Henry  VIII. :  lUustrissimi  Prindpis  Ducis  Greorgii  ad 
Henrionm  regem :  Qnedlinbnrg,  7  idns  Mali,  anno  1528. 

'  The  Assertio  Septem  Sacramentorum  was  reprinted  by  the  care  of  Gabriel 
de  Saconaj,  precentor  or  cantor  of  St.  John's,  at  Lyons,  who  added  a  preface 
to  the  royal  book.  Calvin  attacked  Saoonay  on  the  subject  of  this  reprint. 
He  is  as  violent  as  Luther,  but  much  less  literary.  We  have  sketched  this, 
controversy  in  the  second  volume  of  our  History  of  Calvin. 


64  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHEB. 

of  England,  as  some  shameless  sophists  would  make  it  be 
believed,  who  are  not  aware  with  what  ignominy  they  thereby  cover 
yonr  majesty,  and  among  others  that  enemy  of  God  and  man 
(Lee).^  I  blush  for  myself,  and  scarcely  dare  to  lift  my  eyes  to 
you, — I,  a  worm  of  dust  and  rottenness,  deserving  merely  con- 
tempt and  disdain,  who,  thanks  to  these  workers  of  iniquity, 
have  not  feared  to  insult  so  great  a  prince. 

"  Prostrate  at  yotur  feet  in  all  humility,  I  pray  and  beseech 
your  majesty,  by  the  cross  and  glory  of  Christ,  to  pardon  my 
offences  according  to  his  command.  Should  your  majesty  deem 
it  necessary  for  me  to  deny  my  words  and  extol  your  name  in 
another  letter,  only  deign  to  order  me :  I  am  ready  and  right 
willing  to  do  so.  However,  the  glory  of  my  God  will  gain  by  it, 
if  I  am  permitted  to  write  to  the  king  of  England  in  behalf  of 
the  cause  of  the  Gospel."  • 

What  then  has  happened  in  this  brief  period  of  time  ?  Has 
Henry  restored  the  throne  which  he  stole  ?  Has  he  studied  the 
writers  of  the  great  age  whom  Luther  accused  him  of  n^lecting 
when  he  wrote  to  his  majesty  in  the  style  of  a  porter:  ''  Veniatis, 
ego  doeebo  to$  f" '  No  !  it  is  still  the  same  Henry  with  mis- 
tresses besides,  whom  he  royally  entertains,  and  a  concubine  whom 
he  wishes  to  place  upon  the  throne,  resolved  to  break  with  Rome, 
if  the  pope  will  not  dissolve  the  marriage  contracted  with  Catherine, 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic.  Now  Luther  knew  Henry  well. 
He  knew  that  to  Francis  Brian,  who  said  to  the  prince — ^that  to 
keep  the  mother  and  daughter  was  like  eating  the  hen  and  the 
chicken,  his  majesty  had  replied :  "  Very  well ;  by  God,  I  make 


^  Burnet,  in  hiB  Histoiy  of  the  Beformation  of  the  Church  of  Engliuicl, 
praises  the  theological  learning  of  the  prince,  and  takes  not  the  least  notice  of 
Luther's  assertion  as  to  Lee's  literary  guilt  or  complicity,  which  he  would  not 
have  omitted  if  he  had  had  any  suspicion  of  the  origin  of  the  work.  "  Minimi 
taciturus,"  says  Seckendorf,  '*  si  quid  eo  pertinens  ermsset."— Comm.  de  Luth. 
p.  189. 

•  Op.  Luth.  tom.  iv. :  Witt.  p.  284.     Coch.  p.  156.     Ulenberg,  p.  802  et  seq. 

Henrico  VIII.  regi  Angli©  et  Hibemise,  2  Sept.  1525.  De  Wette,  1.  c. 
tom.  iii.  p.  24.  Emser  translated  the  letter  under  the  title  o^  Ein  Sendbrief 
M.  Luthers  an  den  Koniff  in  England,  Heinrichen,  des  Namens  den  Aohten, 
darinnen  er  Verzicht  una  Gnade  bittet  um  dass|,  damit  er  gemeldten  Konig 
narrisch  und  zn  jahe  yerletzet  habe :  1527,  4to. 

'  *'  Quid  invitabat  Luthernm  ut  dioeret  in  libello  adrersus  regem  Angliae : 
Veniatis  domine,  Henrico,  ego  dooebo  tos.  Gert^  regis  libelluB  latinb  loque- 
batur,  neo  inerudit^  !'*— Schult.  Ann.  Ep.  1.  c.  p.  46. 


THE   PICTURES.  65 

jou  my  vicar  in  helL""  ^  Lather  was  certaixi  that  to  carry  out 
with  a  safe  conscience  that  royal  fancy,  Henry  would,  if  neces- 
sary, exterminate  Catholicism  in  his.  kingdom. 

This  is  the  most  simple  explanation  of  the  advances  made  by 
the  monk  to  his  majesty. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  printer,  Hans  Lufb,  successor  of 
Schneidewins,  continued  to  circulate  the  letter  to  Henry.  In 
order  that  it  might  address  itself  still  more  powerfully  to  the 
eye,  Luther  had  caused  the  king's  likeness  to  be  engraved  on  the 
title-page,  in  the  character  of  a  corpulent  Thomist,  with  a  stupid 
countenance,  fixed  on  the  ''  Summa''  of  the  Angel  of  the  Schools. 


CHAPTER  VL 

THE  PICTUBES.     1524. 

How  Luther  makes  nse  of  pictures  to  destroy  Catholicism  in  Germany. — ^The 
pope-ass  and  monk-calf. — Legend  which  he  appends  to  these  two  caricatares. 
—  New  pictures  against  the  papacy. — Their  success. —  Melancthon  joins 
Luther  in  insulting  the  representative  of  Catholicity. 

Luther  was  aware  of  the  power  of  pictorial  representations, 
and  he  made  use  of  them  to  popularize  his  doctrines,  and  excite 
the  masses  against  Catholicism.  Such  ought  to  address  themselves 
both  to  the  understanding  and  the  feelings ;  and  he  made  of  them 
coarse  and  biting  caricatures.  He  generally  supplied  the  designs, 
which  Lucas  Cranach  or  some  other  painter  of  the  Nuremberg 
school,  engraved  on  wood ;  and  the  picture  explained  or  illus- 
trated the  page  on  which  it  was  printed.  When  the  work  was 
done,  copies  were  taken  off  separately,  sold  in  the  public  places, 
exhibited  in  the  windows  of  book-shops,  and  publicly  vended  in 
the  fedrs  of  Germany. 

The  pope-ass  and  the  monk-calf  zxe  two  designs  calculated  much 
more  to  excite  the  merriment  than  the  anger  of  the  people.  The 
legend  in  which  these  two  grotesque  figures  are  introduced  was 
addressed  to  those  who  believed  in  the  marvellous.     In  these 


*  Sandems,  Hist  da  Sohisme  d*Angleterre,  tradoit  par  Maucroiz :  Paris, 
1676,  12mo.  p.  28. 

VOL.  II.  F 


66  HISTORY   0?  LUTHER. 

Melancthon  and  Luther  make  the  Deity  play  an  extraordinary 
part,  who  appears  with  his  usual  signs  when  he  requires  to 
punish  the  obstinacy  of  sinners.  On  this  occasion,  the  signs 
did  not  appear  in  heaven,  but  at  the  bottom  of  the  Tiber,  whence 
the  **  pope-ass "  was  fished  up ;  and  at  Freyberg,  in  Misnia, 
where  the  *'  monk-calf"  was  brought  forth. 

It  is  needless  to  observe  that  these  two  prodigies  were  hatched 
in  the  brains  of  the  doctors.  If  we  are  called  upon  to  wonder  at 
that  Lutheran  comment  which,  in  its  graphic  interpretation,  seeks 
seriously  to  deceive  the  reader  ;  which  lies  so  persuasively ;  which 
sports  with  conviction,  faith,  the  fear  of  Ood  and  his  judgments ; 
which  mimics  fear,  and  laughs  at  the  expense  of  what  has  been 
an  object  of  veneration ;  we  will  readily  admit  that  it  is  a 
strange  abuse  of  the  name  of  God,  to  make  it  subservient  to  the 
propagation  and  illustration  of  such  a  falsehood. 

''  At  all  times,  God  has  marked,  as  with  his  finger,  his  anger 
or  his  mercy,  and  by  miraculous  signs  announced  to  men  the 
overthrow,  ruin,  or  splendour  of  empires,  as  we  see  in  Daniel, 
chap,  viii.* 

"  During  the  pestilential  reign  of  the  papacy,  he  has  multi- 
plied these  signs  of  wrath,  and  recently,  by  this  horrible  figure 
of  a  pope-ass,  lately  found  in  the  Tiber,  has  given  so  exact  a 
representation  of  the  papacy,  that  no  human  hand  could  have 
traced  one  more  resembling  it. 

''  And,  1st,  the  head  of  an  ass,  which  so  well  designate  the 
pope.  The  Church  is  a  spiritual  body,  which  has  neither  head 
nor  members,  but  Christ  only  for  ruler,  lord,  and  master.  .  .  . 

The  Holy  Scriptures  understand  by  an  ass  an  eccentric  and 
carnal  life. — Exodus,  xiii.  And  so  much  as  the  brain  of  an  ass 
differs  from  the  wisdom  of  man,  so  much  are  the  papal  doctrines 
opposed  to  the  teaching  of  Christ. 

''  Thus,  the  head  of  an  ass,  according  to  Scripture  ;  the  head 
of  an  ass,  according  to  the  signification  of  the  natural  law  and 


*  Interpretatio  duorum  horribilium  moiiBtrorum  Papaselli,  Romse  in  Tiberi, 
anno  1496,  iirrenti,  ei  monachoviti  FribergaB  in  Misnil^  anno  1528  editi,  per 
Pbilippnm  Melancbthonem  et  Martinum  Lntbemm.  Op.  Luth.  torn.  ii. 
p.  892  et  seq.  The  same  pampblet  appeared  in  Grerman,  under  the  title  of 
bentung  der  zwo  greulichen  Figuren,  Bapstesels,  zu  Rom,  und  Mttnchkalbs 
■u  Freiberg  in  Meissen  fanden :  Wittemb.  ix.  184  :  Jen.  ii.  286 ;  Waioh,  xix. 
2408. 


THE   PICTUBBS.  67 

the  light  of  reason ;  as  evidenced  by  the  imperial  jurists,  who 
say,  '  a  mere  canonist, — a  mere  ass/ 

"  2nd.  The  right  hand  like  the  foot  of  an  elephant ;  which 
signifies  the  spiritual  power  of  the  pope,  wherewith  he  strikes 
and  bruises  trembling  consciences,  as  tiie  elephant  with  his 
trunk  seizes,  presses,  breaks,  and  tears  to  pieces.  For  what  is 
popery  but  a  bloody  sacrifice  of  consciences  by  means  of  con- 
fession, vows,  celibacy,  masses,  false  penitence,  swindling  indul- 
gences, superstitious  worship  of  saints  ?  according  to  the  words 
of  Daniel,  yiii. :  '  He  will  slay  the  people  of  the  saints/ 

"  3rd.  The  right  hand  of  a  man  is  the  civil  power  of  the  pope, 
which  Christ  has  denied  to  him  (Luke,  xxii.),  and  which  he  has 
usurped,  by  aid  of  the  devil,  to  constitute  himself  the  master  of 
kings  and  princes. 

"  4th.  The  right  foot  of  a  btUl's  hoof  indicates  the  spiritual 
ministers  of  the  papacy,  the  porters  (bajuli),  who  aid  and  sup- 
port popery  by  the  oppression  of  souls  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
Catholic  doctors,  the  Dominicans,  the  confessors,  and  that  swarm 
of  monks  and  nuns,  and  especially  the  scholastic  theologians,  a 
race  of  serpents,  who  inculcate  and  infiltrate  among  the  people 
the  decrees  and  ordinances  of  the  papacy,  and  under  the 
elephant's  foot  tie  down  captive  consciences  ;  the  basis  and 
foundation  of  popery,  which  but  for  them  could  not  have 
existed  so  long. 

"  For  what  does  scholastic  theology  contain  but  mad,  foolish, 
useless,  execrable,  devilish  dreams  ?  the  reveries  of  monks,  of 
which  they  make  use  to  trouble,  fascinate,  deceive,  and  njyi 
souls  ?    Matth.  xxiv. 

"  5th.  The  left  foot  of  a  griffin ;  that  is,  the  canonists,  the 
ministers  of  the  temporal  power.  When  the  griffin  seizes  its 
prey  in  its  talons,  it  never  lets  it  go ;  in  like  manner  do  these 
satellites  of  popery,  who  by  means  of  canonical  hooks  have 
fished  the  wealth  of  Europe,  which  they  keep  and  retain. 

'^  6th.  The  beUy  and  breast  of  a  woman :  the  papal  body ;  to 
wit,  the  cardinals,  bishops,  priests,  monks,  saints,  and  martyrs 
of  the  Koman  calendar,  and  that  race,  that  farrow  of  the  swine 
of  Epicurus,  who  care  for  nothing  but  eating  and  drinking,  and 
wallowing  in  all  sorts  of  luxury  with  both  sexes.  As  the  pope- 
ass  exhibits  its  female  belly  to  all  who  will,  so  they  carry  their 

f2 


68  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

heads  high,  and  make  a  parade  of  their  filthiness,  to  the  great 
injury  of  the  people  and  of  youth. 

"  7th.  The  fish-scales  on  the  arms,  feet,  neck,  and  hare  belly , 
are  the  princes  and  temporal  lords  of  this  kingdom.  The  scales 
(Job,  xli.)  signify  union  or  compactness  ;  so  the  princes  and 
the  powers  of  the  earth  are  united,  and  adhere  to  the  papacy. 

''  And  although  these  great  ones  of  the  earth  cannot  conceal^ 
approve,  or  palliate  the  luxury,  libertinism,  and  infamous  instincts 
of  the  papacy, — for  the  belly  is  bare  to  show  its  shamelessness, 
— ^yet  they  dissemble,  are  silent,  suffer  them,  and  cling  to  its 
neck,  arms,  and  feet ;  that  is  to  say,  they  embrace,  they  hug  it, 
and  thus  defend  its  tyrannical  power. 

''  8th.  The  old  mans  head  adhering  to  the  thigh,  signifies  the 
old  age,  decline,  and  fall  of  the  papsJ  kingdom.  In  Scripture, 
the  face  denotes  rising  and  progress  ;  the  back  or  posteriors,  lying 
down  and  death.  This  representation,  accordingly,  shows  us 
that  the  papal  tyranny  approaches  its  end,  and  that  it  grows  old, 
and  dies  of  sickness  or  consumption,  exhausted  by  all  its  external 
violences. 

"  So,  for  the  glory  of  the  world,  the  farce  is  over,  and  the 
curtain  falls. 

"  9th.  The  dragon  that  proceeds  from  the  papal  breech.  The 
flame  at  the  mouth  expresses  the  menaces,  the  virulent  bulls, 
and  blasphemies  which  the  pope  and  his  satellites  vomit  on  the 
world  at  the  time  when  they  perceive  that  their  destiny  is 
fulfilled,  and  that  they  must  bid  adieu  to  this  world. 

^^  I  beseech  all  you  my  readers  not  to  despise  this  great  prodigy 
of  the  divine  Majesty,  and  to  pluck  yourselves  from  the  conta- 
gion of  Antichrist  and  his  members.  God's  finger  is  in  that 
picture,  so  faithful  and  elaborate ;  it  is  a  proof  that  God  has 
pity  on  you,  and  wishes  to  draw  you  out  of  this  sink  of 
iniquity. 

''  Let  all  of  us  Christians  rejoice,  and  hail  this  sign  as  the 
morning-star  which  announces  to  us  the  day  of  our  Lord  and 
Redeemer  Jesus  Christ." 

We  cannot  imagine  the  success  which  this  portraiture  of  the 
papacy  had  in  Germany, — a  success  which  still  lasts.  There 
are  some  simple  people,  of  firm  faith  in  Luther  and  his  works, 
who  call  this  device  an  inspiration  of  his  good  genius,  a  Gospd 


^HB  PIGTUBBS.  69 

thought ;  who  believe  in  the  sign  announced  by  these  twins  of 
the  Reformation,  Melancthon  and  Luther,  and  in  the  discovery 
of  the  pope-ass  in  the  Tiber.  They  look  for  the  fall  of  the 
Antichrist  predicted  by  the  fire-vomiting  dragon.  Neither  the 
daily-increasing  splendours  pf  Catholicism,  nor  the  wonders 
worked  in  our  own  times  in  fiivour  of  St.  Peter's  chair,  nor  the 
transformation,  decrease,  and  ruin  of  Protestant  principles,  have 
been  able  to  unseal  their  eyes.  We  have  seen  in  Wittemberg 
the  picture  of  the  pope<ass  hung  at  the  bed-head  of  the  poor 
peasants,  in  place  of  the  old  Catholic  holy-water-pot  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  consoler  of  the  aflSicted,  or  of  the  patron 
saint  of  the  parish  ;  we  have  found  it  in  the  booksellers'  windows, 
as  in  the  time  of  Luther,  and  among  the  stock  of  the  printsellers 
of  Eisenach  and  Frankfort 

This  was  not  Luther's  only  graphic  work.  When  at  table 
with  his  friends,  he  fit^quently  suggested  the  subject  of  a  carica- 
ture, the  drawing  of  which  an  artist,  his  messmate,  brought  next 
day  to  be  corrected  by  the  priest  after  his  own  fashion.  Two  of 
these  efibrts,  originating  entirely  with  the  doctor,  obtained  pro- 
digious success  in  Germany. 

In  the  first  of  these,  the  pope  is  represented  in  full  pontificals, 
seated  on  a  throne  with  clasped  hands,  and  two  huge  ass's  ears 
erect,  like  those  of  the  animal  when  enraged.  Around  the 
pontiff  a  multitude  of  demons  of  various  forms  are  hovering  in 
the  air :  some  are  engaged  in  solemnly  placing  on  his  sacred 
head  the  tiara  surmounted  by  an  article  which  Luther  has 
brought  from  the  most  unclean  part  of  the  monastery ;  others 
are  dragging  him  with  ropes  to  hell ;  others  bring  wood  and  fire 
to  bum  him ;  while  others  lift  up  his  feet,  in  order  that  he 
may  descend  gently  injo  Pandemonium. 

The  second,  which  is  known  in  Germany  by  the  name  of  the 
Pope's  SoWy  represents  the  pontiff  seated  upon  a  sow  with  large 
flanks  and  swollen  paps,  which  the  rider  pricks,  like  the  horse 
in  Job,  with  heavy  spurs ;  with  one  hand  he  blesses  his  wor* 
shippers,  with  the  other  he  holds  out  the  same  stercoral  emblem, 
but  in  an  odorous  cloud.  The  delighted  sow  lifts  its  snout, 
and  inhales  with  satisfaction  the  fecal  nectar.  The  pope  is  made 
to  say — 

"  Dirty  beast,  will  you  get  on  ;  you  have  given  me  enough  of 


70  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

annoyance  mth  your  council.  .  . .  Gk),  then,  tliis  is  the  cotmcil 
which  you  so  ardently  desired."* 

Other  anti-papal  caricatures  are  also  due  to  the  monk  of 
Erfurt ;  in  all  of  them,  the  sow,  the  pope,  and  the  German  dr€ck 
or  Latin  sterctis,  form  part  of  the  design  of  the  picture. 

The  pictures  were  looked  upon  as  prophecies,  and  unhappily 
no  one  laughed  at  them  :  they  believed  them. 

But  this  silly  faith  in  Luther  seems  to  us  less  wonderful  than 
that  Melancthon  should  have  been  an  accomplice  in  some  of 
these  low  designs  ;  that  this  man  of  elegant  manners,  the  lover 
of  the  Muses,  the  polished  writer,  the  Greek  professor,  drinking 
daily  of  the  pure  waters  of  antiquity,  should  degrade  himself  by 
participating  in  the  pictures  of  the  pope-ass  and  monk-calf! 
— ^that  this  Schwartzerde,  who  changed  his  inharmonious  name 
to  that  of  Melancthon,  should  wallow  in  such  a  mire  of  ideas  and 
words,  and  soil  his  pen  and  paper  by  tracing  such  disgusting 
pictures  ; — that  this  sparkling  guest  of  the  electoral  courts — 
this  diner  with  dukes — this  friend  of  Erasmus  and  Sadoletus, 
should  throw  filth  in  the  face  of  that  spiritual  royalty  which  has 
civilized  the  world,  the  object  of  the  veneration  of  nations,  and 
of  the  worship  of  his  Catholic  mother  ! — ^that  this  glorious  mind 
should  believe,  or  pretend  to  believe,  in  the  fall  of  the  papacy 
predicted  by  a  fiery  dragon  ! — that  that  soul  of  love  should^ 
deceive  the  people,  fanaticise  and  impel  them  to  blasphemy  by 
appealing  to  Heaven  !  Is  it  not  atrocious  ?  What  a  fall ! — 
what  a  transmutation  ! 

Both  spoke  the  truth  when  they  said  that  Germany  would 
soon  be  visited  by  God.*  The  prediction  was  about  to  be  accom- 
plished. They  had,  in  the  beautiful  words  of  Scripture,  "  touched 
the  mountains,  and  they  smoked."'  When  a  nation  suffers  thus 
to  be  outraged  all  that  is  holy,  it  is  certain  that  sooner  or  later 

^  *  "  San,  du  musst  dicfa  lassen  reiten^  nnd  meine  Sporen  erleiden,  ob  dn  gleich 
nicht  gem  thnst.  Du  hast  mir  bisher  des  Concilii  halben  viel  Virdriesse  gethan^ 
damit  du  mich  ttbel  ausricbten  und  frei  sicber  schelten  mogest.  Siebe^  da  bast 
du  das  Concilium  welcbes  du  also  oft  begebrt  bast." 

We  refuse  to  translate,  even  into  Latin,  tbe  following  sentence  by  Lutber  : 
**  lob  bab  den  Pabst  mit  der  bosen  Belderen  sebr  erzUrnt :  o  wie  wird  die 
Sau  den  Borzel  in  die  H5be  recken  ;  aber  ob  sie  micb  gleicb  tostet,  so  frossen 
sie  erst  Dreck,  so  der  Pabst,  welcber  auf  der  Saue  reit,  in  der  Hand  hat." — 
TiscbReden.     EUleben,  f.  26  :  Frankf.  19  Dresd.  618. 

*  Wenc.  Linck.  1528.  *  "Tange  montes  at  fumigabunt."— Proph. 


ERASMUS.  71 

it  will  bave  to  bear  the  punishment  of  its  negligence,  and  be 
dastised  in  blood  and  tears.     This  must  happen. 

But  an  enemy  more  formidable  for  the  peace  of  Luther  than 
Henry  VIII.  or  Clement  YII.  appeared  at  this  moment,  and 
stroye  to  destroy  the  Saxon's  sway  in  Germany.  Erasmus  waged 
war  wiiih  the  doctor. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EBASMUS  AND  FBEEWILL.     1524. 

Liteniy  gloiy  of  Erasmnt. — His  war  with  the  monks. — Luthei's  thesM. — 
Ensmus  is  jealous  of  the  seDsation  caused  by  Luther. — ^Letter  from  Luther 
to  him. — ^The  philosopher's  reply. — His  cowardice. — His  rival's  indifference. 
— Erasmus  oonceives  the  idea  of  writing  against  Luther. — Adrian  YI. 
applies  to  Erasmus. — He  refuses,  but  continues  to  attack  the  monk  secretly. 
— ^Luther  breaks  out. — Erasmus's  yersatility. — Free-will :  Luther's  psycho- 
logical opinions. — Estimate  of  his  system  of  philosophy. — ^Appeal  to  the 
Bible. — ^Erasmus  discusses  the  principle  of  free>will. — His  book  on  the  sub- 
ject.— Luther's  reply  to  it. — Erasmus  refutes  the  "Servum  Arbitrium." — ^BLis 
Hyperaspites. — ^His  death. 

There  was  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  man  who  filled  the  whole 
world  with  his  name  and  his  works ;  who  reckoned  popes  and 
emperors  among  his  courtiers  ;  the  correspondent  of  Henry  VIII., 
Charles  V.,  Francis  I.,  and  Maximilian  of  Austria  ;  whom  the 
cities  of  Germany  received  under  triumphal  arches  ;  ^  who  had 
for  his  admirers,  Sir  Thomas  More,  Bembo,  Sadoletus,  Melanc- 
thon,  Ulrich  Ton  Hutten,  Julius  II.,  Leo  X  ,  and  Adrian  VI. ; 
who  was  addressed  as  "  the  prince  of  literature,"  "  the  star  of 
Germany,"  "  the  sun  of  studies,"  *'  the  high-priest  of  scholars," 
"  the  yindicator  of  theology,"  without  any  risk  of  the  letters 


>  M.  Nisard,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Moodes,  has  examined,  under  seyeial 
new  aspects,  and  with  admirable  sagacity,  the  influence  of  Erasmus  upon  his 
times.  He  is  liable  to  the  objection  of  too  much  enthusiasm  for  the  Dutch 
philosopher. 

Sentiments  d'Erasme  de  Rotterdam  :  Cologne,  12mo.  1688,  p.  212. 

Under  the  title  of  Ansichten  tlber  Erasmus  Charakter,  M.  Th.  Effitier  has 
endeavoured  to  give  an  idea  of  the  character  of  the  writer ;  the  portrait  which 
he  has  drawn  of  it  is  not  un£uthful.  See  Dr.  Luther  und  seine  Zeitgenossen, 
iom.  11.  p.  Ill  et  seq. 


72  HISTORY   OP   LUTHER. 

being  miscarried,  for  it  was  only  Erasmus  who  deserved  those 
glorious  appellations.  He  was  indeed  the  prince  of  literature, 
which  he  had  roused  from  its  slumbers  ;  the  star  of  Germany, 
which  for  thirty  years  he  had^  illuminated  with  the  fire  of  his 
genius  ;  the  sun  of  studies,  who  wanned  them  with  his  vnritings ; 
the  high-priest  of  scholars,  whose  father  and  protector  he  was  ; 
the  vindicator  of  theology,  who  had  rescued  it  from  the  limbo  of 
the  schools.  Never  of  learning  was  so  much  made,  and  if  glory 
were  hurtful,  Erasmus  must  have  sunk  under  the  weight  of  the 
wreaths  which  were  woven  for  him,  amid  the  incessant  pasans  of - 
the  Muses,  the  strains  of  poets  in  Greek  and  Latin,  the  enco- 
miums of  philosophers,  the  caresses  of  princes,  the  plaudits  of 
the  multitude.  From  1500  to  1518  his  life  was  the  most 
delightfril  which  a  literary  man  could  hope  for  ;  it  was  a  succes- 
sion of  triumphs,  which  attracted  no  hatred ;  a  slumber  with 
only  golden  dreams  ;  an  intellectual  bliss  which  was  made  up  of 
festivals,  concerts,  and  hymns,  composed  in  every  European 
language ;  the  life  of  an  artist,  without  care,  indolent  occa- 
sionally, always  lively,  independent,  and  spent  without  being 
impaired  amidst  books,  at  the  tables  of  the  learned,  in  the 
palaces  of  monarchs,  or  the  studios  of  painters  or  sculptors. 
All  contended  for  Erasmus,  because  it  was  Erasmus  who  con- 
ferred immortality,  and,  in  the  language  of  Sir  Thomas  More, 
''  deified  all  that  he  touched.'"  Happy  man  !  happy  genius  ! 
whose  good  fortune  lasted  until  Luther  appeared  in  1 518.  Then 
that  felicity  vanished,  the  noise  which  he  had  made  in  the 
world  gradually  ceased.  His  crown  became  tarnished  :  a  monk 
dethroned  him. 

This  was  to  be  expected :  Erasmus  was  the  man  of  his  time. 
When  he  appeared  men's  minds  were  in  a  state  of  slumber,  out 
of  which  none  sought  to  awake.  The  philosopher  wished  to 
rouse  them,  but  gently. 

The  monks  then  ruled  in  the  schools,  under  the  shadow  of 
Aristotle  :  a  revolution  was  required  to  overthrow  their  dynasty. 
Erasmus  was  one  of  the  first  to  try  it.  He  began  by  ridicule, 
and  his  contagious  merriment  passed  from  one  to  another  until  it 
became  universal.  Then  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Capu- 
chins, Franciscans,  and  Dominicans,  an  entirely  novel  kind 
of  polemics,  in   which  epigram,  insult,  calumny,  banter,  and 


ERASMUS.  73 

even  reaaon  was  employed.*  They  were  an  unfortnnate  race  of 
men,  to  whom  were  attributed  all  the  follies  that  were  said  or 
done  in  Europe.  A  monk  was  at  one  and  the  same  time  the 
representative  of  ignorance  and  licentiousness,  pride  and  pedantry, 
hatred  of  knowledge  and  prejudice,  corpulence  and  hypocrisy, 
gluttony  and  superstition.  If  all  the  deadly  sins  were  lost,  they 
would  be  found  under  a  cowl.  It  was  Erasmus  who  for  half  a 
century  supplied  the  learned  world  with  epigrams  against  the 
monastic  orders,  which  every  literary  understrapper  caught  hold 
of  as  he  passed,  remodelled  them  after  his  own  fashion,  and  sent 
them  forth  again  as  original.  Thus  was  reduced  into  an  apoph- 
th^m  that  scene  in  which  Erasmus  introduces  a  monk  who 
boasts  of  never  having  read  the  works  of  the  Dutch  philosopher, 
because  their  Latin  is  too  polished,  and  in  such  Latinity  lurks 
heresy.  In  Reuchlin,  Melancthon,  and  even  Luther,  will  be 
found  this  singular  definition  of  heresy :  to  understand  Greek  is 
to  be  a  heretic ;  the  saying  became  proverbial.^  The  monks 
made  a  poor  defence  ;  they  were  not  used  to  the  weapon  directed 
against  them  ;  ridicule  being  prohibited  to  them  as  a  sin,  they 
employed  the  dry  phraseology  of  their  masters,  Scotus,  Durandus, 
Peter  Lombard,  and  the  syllogisms  of  Aristotle,  the  least  witty 
individual  that  ever  existed.  Lucian  and  Aristophanes,  whom 
Erasmus  had  studied,  were  to  them  unknown.  They  were 
accordingly  defeated.  Afterwards,  they  perceived  the  necessity 
for  changing  their  style  of  controversy.  They  then  appeared 
with  some  pleasantries  hastily  borrowed  from  the  wits  of  the 
school ;  but  Erasmus  had  given  way  before  a  more  potent  rival. 
They  found  themselves  opposed  by  an  adversary  who  had  him- 
self been  educated  in  the  schools,  a  monk  also,  who  required 
no  inspiration  of  wit  from  the  ancients,  but  whose  ridicule 
was  as  impassioned  and  fiery,  as  that  of  the  Dutchman  was 


'  "  Monachas  monachos  insectatus  est."—  Canisius. 

'  **  Expolit^  loqui  hseresis  eet ;  Gnec^  scire  haeresia  eat.  Quidquid  ipsi  non 
fiuntint  hseresis  est." — Ep.  Erasmi  Alberto  Gardinali  Moguntino.  Thus  he 
makes  Thomely  de  Diez,  in  1526,  say  at  lintz,  "  Would  to  God  that  Greek 
and  Hebrew  had  never  been  introduced  into  this  country  I  we  should  have  been 
at  peace  now  :'*  a  conyersation  which  never  took  place.  A  Protestant  author, 
M.  Ad.  Muller,  who  has  Utely  written  the  life  of  Erannua,  has  observed,  that 
while  the  philosopher  was  in  Italy,  he  praised  the  1^1  orals  and  learning  of  the 
monks ;  but  he  had  scarcely  recrossed  the  Alps,  when  he  calumniated  their 
collegiate  and  cloistral  lives. 


74  HISTORY   OF  I.UTHBB. 

calm,  and  who  was  the  first  to  introduce  into  theological  oon- 
troversy  warmth,  eloquence,  intemperate  and  coarse  language, 
while  Erasmus  had  only  made  use  of  cool  reasoning  and  learned 
expressions.  Erasmus  argued  in  a  polished  style,  and  would 
have  been  ashamed  to  use  any  ornament  that  did  not  proceed 
direct  from  Rome  or  Athens. 

In  the  main,  the  monks  might  have  taken  up  the  cutting 
sarcasm  of  the  rhetorician  and  used  it,  if  needful,  widiout  much 
disadvantage  ;  but  Luther's  axe  was  too  weighty  for  them  to 
wield,  and  much  less  could  they  haye  wrested  it  from  the  hxnds 
of  their  antagonist 

The  star  of  Germany,  then,  was  in  all  its  brilliancy,  when  one 
day  a  messenger  brought  to  him,  amongst  heaps  of  prose  and 
verse,  and  sweet  incense,  Luther's  theses  on  indulgences:  a 
youth  as  obscure  as  his  order,  and  concealed  in  a  small  spot 
which  had  not  been  visited  by  knowledge.  Imagine  his  suarprise ! 
Here  was  an  Augustinian  who,  with  one  dash  of  his  pen,  strudc 
out  from  the  Catholic  creed  those  spiritual  remedies,  upon  which 
Erasmus  had,  in  the  boldness  of  philosophy,  dropped  a  few  spots 
of  ink  I  A  friar  who  grappled  with  the  pope  hand  to  hand, 
whilst  Erasmus  thought  he  had  acted  boldly  in  publishing  weekly 
two  or  three  jokes  against  the  monastic  orders  !  A  religious  who 
sought  to  destroy  the  monasteries,  when  Erasmus  after  ten  years 
had  only  discovered  these  two  propositions :  *'  Every  monk  is 
ignorant :  every  monk  is  a  glutton  !"  A  youth  still  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  studies,  and  who  made  a  greater  sensation  with  his 
theological  trifling — ntipw  theolofficw,  as  Luther  says  himself — 
than  Erasmus  with  his  *' Commentaries  on  the  New  Testament," 
his  contest  with  the  Ciceronians,  his  controversy  with  Scaliger, 
his  ^'  Enchiridion  of  the  Spiritual  Life,"  and  his  jokes  against 
Stunica  !  For  all  he  says,  you  can  perceive  in  his  correspondence 
a  secret  vexation  at  the  eagle  who  soars  alone  from  his  nest,  and 
whose  flight  is  so  high  as  to  make  all  Germany  wonder.  He  is 
jealous  of  the  incipient  fame  of  the  young  friar ;  he  is  afraid  that 
the  philosopher  will  be  forgotten,  amidst  the  storms  which 
Luther's  attempt  must  raise. 

At  this  time  it  is  likely  that  Luther  was  unacquainted  with 
any  of  the  works  of  this  multifarious  author.  He  only  knew 
with  what  generous  efforts  the  Dutchman  had  long  since  seconded 
the  intellectual  movement  which  was  now  everywhere  visible. 


B&JLSMTJS.  75 

and  how  saocessfall;  he  had  aided  the  emancipation  of  the  mind. 
It  was  necessary  to  attach  to  his  cause  an  ornament  so  powerful ; 
and  as  he  knew  the  proverbial  vanity  of  the  writer,  he  judged  it 
advisable,  to  secure  him,  to  spread  lavishly  the  perfume  of  flattery 
on  the  philosopher's  beard.  Erasmus  was  caught.  Luther's 
letter  to  the  scholar  denotes  already  a  profound  acquaintance 
with  the  human  heart.  We  shall  see  how  small  he  makes  him- 
self, what  an  adept  he  is  in  the  language  of  adulation  and  the 
artifices  of  epistolary  style  !  Would  he  not  be  taken  for  one  who 
had  grown  old  in  the  courts  of  Italy  ? 

"  For  a  very  long  time*  we  have  held  the  same  opinions  without 
being  acquainted,  my  dear  Erasmus,  my  glory  and  my  hope :  is 
not  this  monstrous  ?  What  comer  of  the  eart^  is  ignorant  of  the 
name  of  Erasmus?  Who  is  there  who  has  not  received  his 
instructions,  or  does  not  acknowledge  him  as  their  master  ?  I 
speak  of  those  who  love  literature.  It  is  to  me  an  inexpressible 
joy,  that  among  the  magnificent  gifts  which  God  has  bestowed 
upon  you,  you  possess  that  of  displeasing  many  people,  a  mark 
whereby  I  am  enabled  to  distinguish  the  gift  of  clemency  firom 
the  gift  of  the  divine  wrath.  But  see  my  folly  in  addressing  you 
with  such  freedom ;  I,  who  am  a  poor,  obscure,  solitary  being, 
condemned  to  live  among  sophists,  and  who  have  not  even 
learned  to  hail  such  a  glory  as  yours  ?  Had  it  not  been  for 
this,  I  should  by  this  time  have  wearied  you  with  my  letters,  and 
not  been  satisfied  with  only  hearing  your  voice  in  my  chamber. 
But  now,  since  I  have  learned  from  Capito  that  my  name  is 
known  to  you  by  my  trifling  work  on  indulgences,*  and  perceive 
from  the  preface  to  your  "  Enchiridion  "  that  you  are  acquainted 
with  my  writings,  which  you  have  read  and  approved,  I  am 
obliged  in  my  unpolished  style  to  acknowledge  the  splendour  of 
your  genius.  My  dear  Erasmus,  countenance,  I  beseech  you,  a 
poor,  humble  firiar,  who  loves  you  so  tenderly,  yet  who  is  so 
ignorant  as  to  deserve  only  to  be  buried  in  some  remote  comer  of 
the  earth  unvisited  by  the  sun  and  the  sky  ;  this  sweet  retire- 
ment I  have  always  wished,  and  know  not  why  I  cannot  have  it. 
Am  I  not  compelled  to  parade  my  unhappy  ignorance  before  the 
most  learned  individual  in  the  world  ?    I  weary  you  with  my 


'  Erasmo,  28  Mart.     De  Wette,  Dr.  H.  Luther^B  Briefe,  Sendsbhreiben  und 
Bedenken,  torn.  i.  p.  217. 
*  "  Per  nugas  illas  indnlgentiarum  nomen  meum  tibi  cogQitum." 


76  HISTORY   OF   LTTTHEB. 

verbosity  :  you  must  not  forget  that  you  ought  sometimes  to  be 
weak  with  tiie  weak." 

Erasmus  immediately  replied,  in  a  polished,  ornate  style,  but 
artificial  and  constrained.  In  every  sentence  we  perceive  that 
the  writer  has  racked  his  brain  in  search  of  compliments  that 
will  flatter  the  vanity  of  his  correspondent,  without  absolutely 
turning  his  head.  We  may  fancy  the  disappointment  of  the 
poor  monk,  who  firmly  believed,  because  so  informed  by  his  firiend 
Capito,  that  Erasmus  had  perused  his  amusing  gossip  about 
indulgences,  but  whose  vain  illusion  was  dispelled  by  the  declara- 
tion of  the  latter  that  he  had  not  read  a  single  line  of  his  lucu- 
brations. He  deceived  Luther,  for  that  he  h€ul  read  the  theses 
on  indulgences  is  proved  by  his  correspondence  with  his  friends 
at  that  time.  This  was  one  of  the  lies  peculiar  to  Erasmus,  and 
which  invariably  told  against  himself  What  seemed  to  be  in 
his  mind  was  this : — 

Had  he  admitted  his  acquaintance  with  the  theses,  he  must 
have  given  some  expression  of  opinion.  If  he  approved  of  the 
doctrines  set  forth  in  them,  he  must  have  separated  himself  from 
the  Catholics.  If  he  rejected  them,  he  must  have  compromised 
a  growing  reputation  of  high  promise.  It  must  be  allowed  that 
Erasmus  was  incapable  of  either  line  of  conduct.  In  the  histoiy 
of  the  sixteenth  century  there  is  not  to  be  found  a  more  weak  or 
effeminate  soul  than  his,  more  anxious  for  quiet,  which  took 
refuge  sooner  in  silence,  on  the  least  alarm  ;  or  was  more  terrified 
by  danger,  at  the  very  shadow  of  which  he  would  grow  pale  ! 
In  his  long  correspondence,  he  will  be  seen  to  tremble  at  the 
least  word  which  may  commit  him,  ever  enveloped  in  obscurity, 
fond  of  mezzotinto,  timorous,  startled,  obsequious  to  servility, 
greedy  of  praise,  which  he  abuses  ;  flattering  a  crowd  of  obscure 
individuals,  whose  very  names  are  forgotten.  Of  religious  con- 
viction, or  avowed  creed,  there  is  none.  To  Reuchlin,  Erasmus 
addresses  some  involved  sentences  against  confession ;  to  Hutten, 
two  or  three  jokes  against  fasting  ;  to  Melancthon,  some  weak 
sarcasms  on  clerical  celibacy  ;  to  Jonas,  some  worthless  banter 
on  the  ambition  of  certain  pontiffs  whom  he  dreads  to  name.  If 
he  occasionally  uses  a  somewhat  bold  expression,  it  is  when 
speaking  of  monks  in  general ;  for  if  he  writes  to  one  or  two  of 
them,  such  as  Hochstraet,  whom  Luther  and  Hutten  flagellate 


ERASMUS.  77 

unmercifTilly,  he  commends  the  monastic  life  in  a  suppressed 
tone.  It  happened  that,  desirous  of  peace  at  any  price,  he 
stood  upon  the  breach  all  his  life  ;  that  flattering  and  seeking  to 
please  every  one,  he  pleased  nobody.  By  the  Catholics  he  was 
regarded  as  an  infidel ;  by  the  Lutherans,  as  a  Papist ;  he  was 
railed  at  by  the  monks  as  having  laid  the  egg  which  Luther 
hatched ;  ^  and  lashed  like  a  helot  by  the  Protestants,  who  accused 
him  of  having  one  foot  in  hell  and  the  other  in  heaven,  in  order 
at  the  same  time  to  keep  &ir  with  God  and  the  devil.  The 
Franciscans  considered  him  to  be  the  dragon  of  the  Psalmist, 
whose  head  was  to  be  crushed  ;  and  Luther^  deemed  him  a  pagan, 
who  sought  to  restore  the  worship  of  the  false  gods.' 

Afber  1518,  by  these  miserable  shiftings  of  a  timorous  vanity, 
Erasmus  obtained  a  life  of  trouble,  the  hatred  of  all  parties,  the 
wrath  and  contempt  of  the  two  conmiunions,  and  a  reputation 
for  pusillanimity  for  which  all  the  services  he  had  rendered  to 
philosophy  and  literature  have  scarcely  atoned. 

So,  in  his  reply  to  Luther,  he  accompanied  flattering  compli- 
ments with  some  commonplace  remarks  upon  moderation,  restraint 
in  controversy,  on  the  respect  observable  towards  old  institutions, 
and — will  it  be  believed? — on  the  demon  of  pride,  who  lays 
snares  for  us  in  the  very  midst  of  thoughts  of  abnegation  and 
humility ;  and,  as  if  he  was  alarmed  at  such  an  unusual  fit  of 
boldness  on  his  part,  he  suddenly  adds,  "  but  wherefore  these 
advices  ?  you  have  no  need  of  them  ;  proceed  as  you  have 
commenced.'^  * 

This  letter  offended  both  Luther  and  the  Catholics. 

Cardinal  Campeggio,  the  friend  of  Erasmus,  was  scandalized 
at  it  The  philosopher  was  obliged  to  write  a  longietter  to  his 
eminence,  in  which  he  made  a  lame  and  confused  apology,  ending 
with  this  query,  "  Would  you  then  consider  it  a  crime  in  me  to 
reply  to  the  Sultan,  if  he  chose  to  write  to  me  V  * 

In  1518,  Erasmus  had  intrusted  his  friend  Hutten  to  convey 


I  "  Enamns  hat  das  Ey  gelegt>  imd  Luther  es  ausgebriitet." 

*  Erasmi,  18,  lib.  xxz.     Vie  d'Erasme,  par  De  Burigni,  torn.  ii. 

*  Annalee  Soulteti,  p.  197. 

*  Ep.  EraoDi,  ep.  4,  lib.  yi.  30  Maii,  1519.    De  Burigni,  torn.  ii.  pp.  85—88. 

*  Vie  d'Eraame,  par  0e  Burigni,  torn.  ii.  p.  49.    Einst.  Eraami,  ep.  42, 
lib.  xiii. 


78  HISTOBY   OF   LUTHBR. 

a  letter  to  Cardinal  Albert,  archbishop  of  Majence:  Hutten 
opened  the  letter,  copied  it,  translated  it  into  German,  printed  it 
in  both  languages,  and  dispersed  it  over  Saxony.  ''  He  is  a 
man  who  has  lighted  the  spark  of  evangelical  piety,^'  said 
Erasmus,  speaking  of  Luther  ;  ^'  if  he  follows  the  way  of  tz7ith> 
he  may  render  important  service  to  Christianity."  It  may  be 
supposed  that,  according  to  his  wont,  Erasmus  had  qualified 
these  commendations  by  some  severe  censure,  like  a  female 
coquette  desirous  of  captivating  everybody.  But  Hutten  had  the 
audacity  to  expunge  from,  the  translation  all  that  might  annoy 
Luther,  whom  Erasmus  never  styled  ''  our  Luther,  unser 
Luther.*'  This  letter  caused  great  scandal ;  and,  in  order  to 
justify  himself,  Erasmus  was  obliged  to  disown  the  fraudulency 
of  Hutten.  The  quarrel  became  envenomed  by  libels  which 
each  published  against  the  other.^ 

Luther,  who  felt  his  power  and  his  future  influence,  and  who 
clearly  perceived  that  the  friendship  or  hatred  of  Erasmus  could 
not  impede  it,  did  nothing  to  secure  the  one  or  avert  the  other. 
His  indifference  was  sufficient ;  he  did  not  even  care  for  hia 
silence.  Thus,  in  the  immense  correspondence  which  he  then 
maintained  with  the  learned  of  Germany,  the  name  of  Erasmus 
scarcely  occurs  more  than  twice  or  thrice.  When  it  does  so  in  the 
course  of  an  epistolary  communication,  Luther  notices  his  literary 
merits  by  expressions  of  politeness  rather  than  of  eulogy.  None 
of  the  gifts  which  God  had  bestowed  upon  Erasmus  elevated  him 
in  the  eyes  of  his  rival,  who  considered  that  understanding  of 
the  Scriptures  was  the  greatest  boon  which  man  could  receive 
from  his  Creator ;  a  treasure  which  he  did  not  believe  had*  been 


'  Herm  Ulrichen  tod  Hutten  mit  Erasmo  von  Rotterdam,  Priester  nnd 
Theologo,  Handluug,  allermeist  die  Lutherische  Sache  betreffend. 

Spongia  Erasmi  adverstia  Aspergines  Hutteni,  seu  purgatio  Erasmi  Rotter- 
dami  ad  expostulationem  Ulrid  Hutteni.  Erasmus  wrote  on  the  subjeot  of 
this  quarrel : 

**  8ubit6  ac  pnster  omnem  spem  exortns  fuisset  TJhicns  HQttenu%  ez  amioo 
repent^  versus  in  hostera.  Hoc  nemo  scripsit  in  Erasmum  hostilitls,  nam 
omninb  res  ipsa  loquitur,  Huttenum  non  alio  consilio  scripsisse  sic  in  me, 
qukm  ut  calamo  jugularet,  quern  gladio  non  poterat^  et,  ut  sibi  videbatur  vir 
fortis,  sic  cogitabat  \  seniculus  est,  valetudinarius  est,  meticulosus  et  imbecilliA 
est,  mox  efflabit  animum,  ubi  legerit  bs^c  tam  atrocia.  Hoc  ilium  cogitftsse, 
voces  etiam,  quas  jactabat,  arguebant  Ego  Hutteni  manibus,  ubi  mihi  mors 
hominis  est  nuntiata^  animo  Christiano  precatus  sum  Dei  miaerioordiam :  et 
audio  hominem  sub  mortem  deplor&sse,  qu6d  deceptus  quorumdam  vexvutiii^ 
laoessisset  amicum." 


ERASMUS.  79 

given  by  Heaven  to  the  philosopher.  Had  not  hatred  or  admira- 
tion collected  so  many  materials  for  it,  we  should  have  read 
Lather's  bi(^raphy  in  the  letters  of  Erasmus ;  in  none  of  which 
does  his  name  not  appear.  Bnt  yon  will  search  in  vain  to  dis- 
cover the  real  opinion  of  the  writer  on  the  particular  work  of  the 
Reformer,  his  philosophical  worth,  his  doctrines  or  instructions, 
or  the  action  or  influence  of  his  apostleship  ;  Erasmus  varies 
his  expressions  as  he  changes  his  correspondent,  and  his  language 
is  tinged,  according  as  it  is  to  be  read  in  the  Vatican  by  Cardinal 
Campe^o  oV  in  the  study  of  Melancthon :  a  useless  precaution, 
for  he  might  have  read  to  Campeggio  what  he  wrote  to  Melanc- 
thon, so  much  did  he  stand  in  awe  of  an  enemy  or  an  exalted 
partisan  !  He  only  cared  for  hatreds  or  friendships  as  effeminate 
as  his  own  character.  This  has  been  termed  the  wisdom  of 
Erasmus  ;  it  was  not  that  of  Luther.  Their  destinies  could  no 
more  be  similar  than  their  minds. 

That  star,  which  at  first  appeared  but  as  a  luminous  speck  in 
the  horizon  of  Saxony,  increased  in  splendour  with  constant 
rapidity,  whilst  the  sun  of  Germany  daily  lost  its  strength  and 
lustre,  so  that  it  died  in  sinking  behind  Basle  without  the  world 
heeding  it.  The  time  was,  however,  when  Erasmus  might  have 
eclipsed  that  star,  by  depriving  it  of  its  fire,  and  perhaps  have 
extinguished  it ;  and  that  was  when  in  the  culminating  point 
of  his  glory  and  talents, — when  his  influence  upon  men's  minds 
was  as  active  as  it  was  incontestable, — and  when  his  "  Colloquies" 
had  superseded  in  the  hands  of  scholars  the  rude  instruction  of 
the  monks.  There  was  then  no  one  who  more  truly  exercised  a  sove- 
reignty over  learning  than  Erasmus.  We  are  astonished,  in  perusing 
his  correspondence,  to  see  the  court  which  popes  and  monarchs 
paid  him,  to  induce  him  to  undertake  the  defence  of  Catholicism, 
and  measure  his  strength  with  Luther.  To  reward  his  courage, 
popes  speak  of  plenary  indulgences  and  the  purple  ;  monarchs^ 
of  brilliant  titles ;  Bembo,  of  worldly  immortality ;  the  clergy, 
his  firiends,  of  heaven  and  eternal  life ;  and  Tunstal,  bishop  of 
London,  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  ^  Erasmus  was  some- 
times tempted  to  listen  to  the  syren's  song,  and  to  grapple  with 

>  "  Te  obBeoro,  atque  obtestor,  Erasme,  imo  verb  te  orat  atqne  obteetatnr 
Ecxlesia,  ut  cum  hAo  hydrA  tandem  oongrediare.  Aude  tantiim,  et  orbis  tibi 
spondet  yioioriam." 


80  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

his  young  rival,  neither  for  the  love  of  the  Catholic  creed,  the 
soundness  of  which  he  had  not  at  heart,  nor  for  the  allurement 
of  honours  set  before  him,  for  which  he  showed  his  contempt, 
but  because  of  his  vanity,  which  suffered  from  Luther's  success, 
and  still  more,  perhaps,  from  his  affected  contempt.  The  monk 
learnt  from  his  friends  the  vexation  of  Erasmus,  and  laughed  at 
them  in  his  sleeve :  "  He  is,  poor  creature,"  he  said,  "  tortured  by 
a  word  the  mysterious  meaning  of  which  he  has  never  compre- 
hended ! "  It  is  likely  that  Luther  was  prejudiced  in  his  judg- 
ment of  Erasmus,  who  had  spent  nine  years  of  his  life  in  a 
monastery  of  canons  regular,  and  must  have  understood  theo- 
logical matters.  Besides,  he  did  not  want  friends  who  might 
have  assisted  him  in  his  dogmatic  labours.  Bembo,  Sadoletus, 
Prierias,  would  have  come  to  his  aid  ;  especially  Aleandro,  who 
had  made  a  study  of  those  religious  questions  which  Luther  had 
been  the  first  to  unsettle,  to  transfer  them  from  the  schools  to 
the  people. 

It  was,  accordingly,  at  one  time  rumoured  in  Europe  that  Eras- 
mus was  about  to  write  against  the  new  doctrines.  Erasmus  being 
unacquainted  with  Luther's  creed,  had  written  to  the  nuncio 
Aleandro  for  permission  to  read  the  Reformer's  works.  Aleandro 
had  referred  him  to  Bombasius,  who  procured  a  brief  from  the 
pope  to  that  effect.^  This  report  excited  much  joy  among  the 
Catholics :  they  congratulated  Erasmus  on  his  future  triumphs  ; 
they  celebrated  his  fame  and  courage  both  in  prose  and  verse. 
"  It  is  your  fault,"  said  Duke  George  of  Saxony  to  him,  "  that 
Luther  has  made  such  conquests  in  Germany  ;  you  could  have 
stopped  the  eagle  in  his  flight ;  you  have  wanted  courage  ;  but 
God  comes  to  your  aid,  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  feared."' 

Sadoletus,  bishop  of  Garpentras,  depicted  the  sufferings  of  the 
Church,  which  he  said  only  one  man,  Erasmus,  could  heaL 
''  Courage,  then,"  said  he  to  him,  "  and  let  us  march  to  the 
rescue  of  the  Catholic  religion,  which  is  perishing,  assailed  on  all 
sides  by  implacable  enemies."' 

The  work  which  Erasmus  had  designed  was  a  dialogue, 
consisting   of   three    interlocutors  —  Thrasimachus,    Eubulus, 

*  Ep.  Erasmi,  ep.  14,  lib.  zyii.  p.  590. 

*  Ibid.  ep.  78,  lib.  xxx. 

»  Sad.  Op.  Veron»,  1787,  torn.  i.  p.  78. 


ERASMUS.  81 

and  Philalethes.  Thrasimachus  was  a  puritaDical  Protestant,  a 
Lutheran  steeped  in  prejudice ;  Eubulus,  an  humble  Capuchin 
fiiar,  a  detester  of  heresy ;  Philalethes,  the  Mend  of  truth,  or 
Erasmus  himself,  a  wise  counsellor  and  man  of  peace,  who, 
according  to  his  wont,  was  to  address  the  monk  and  the  heretic 
in  language  which  neither  would  have  imderstood, — ^that  of  a 
courtier,  honied,  but  indirect  and  tedious.  With  his  timid 
su^estions,  his  lax  expedients,  and  lukewarm  blandishments, 
the  writer  would  haye  irritated  both  parties.  Such,  howeyer, 
was  the  plan  of  which  the  very  idea  threw  Erasmus  into  a  cold 
sweat,  and  which  he  did  not  wish  to  print  "  until  he  had  left 
Qermany,  for  fear  he  should  meet  with  a  Tiolent  death  before  he 
could  appear  on  the  arena.'' ^ 

Erasmus  did  not  die  ;  he  did  not  eyen  need  to  quit  Germany  ; 
and  of  his  work,  so  pompously  announced,  and  so  anxiously 
expected,  not  even  the  title  appeared.  The  secret  of  this 
Erasmus  kept  to  himself,  while  he  tormented  himself  as  if  the 
book  had  been  published ;  and  it  was  to  cause  these  feeble 
symptoms  of  opposition  to  be  forgotten,  that  for  several  suc- 
cessive months  he  repeated,  in  his  correspondence  with  Luther^s 
adherents,  his  accustomed  farce,  in  which  a  monk  is  always 
made  the  butt,  and  receives  the  blows  intended  for  the  Reformers. 
Still  the  monk  is  nameless ;  he  is  neither  Latomus  nor  Hoch- 
straet,  but  simply  a  monk,  whose  very  order  is  not  mentioned, 
because,  had  he  been  specially  designated,  the  monk  might  have 
cried  out,  perhaps  avenged  himself,  and  have  disturbed  that 
tranquillity  which  the  Dutchman  would  not  have  sacrificed  for 
any  price. 

The  following  was  one  of  those  little  dramas  in  which  the 
philosopher  filled  the  principal  part,  that  of  duplicity. 

Charles  V.  had  rested  at  Cologne  on  his  way  to  the  diet  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  where  he  was  to  receive  the  imperial  crown. 
Erasmus  was  to  be  present  at  the  coronation  in  his  capacity  as 
counsellor  of  the  emperor,  a  title  which  had  been  conferred  on 
him  to  engage  him  in  the  Catholic  cause.  The  Elector  Frederick 
of  Saxony,  Luther's  protector,  wished  to  converse  with  the  phi- 
losopher on  the  subject  of  the  troubles  which  afflicted  the  German 


*  Ep«  Begi  Anglis,  lib.  zz.  p.  85. 
VOL.  11.  a 


82  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

Church.  The  interview  was  had  at  the  hotel  of  the  Three 
Kings,  and  the  conversation  in  Latin,  Spalatinus  acting  as 
interpreter.  The  Catholics  were  represented  by  Erasmus,  the 
indifferents  by  Frederick,  and  the  Protestants  by  an  Angostinian 
friar.  Erasmus  stammered,  simpered,  and  approached  the  duke 
with  all  the  manner  of  a  courtier  who  is  afraid  to  give  vent  to 
the  secret  which  weighs  upon  him.  But  the  duke,  looking  at 
him  steadily,  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  said,  ''  Gome,  now, 
doctor,  will  you  speak  ?  Tell  me,  what  crime  has  my  monk 
committed,  that  they  are  so  enraged  against  him  ?"-^"  Two 
very  great  ones,^'  replied  Erasmus ;  ^'  he  has  put  his  hand  on  the 
popes'  tiaras  and  the  monks'  bellies."^ 

This  sally  spread  through  Germany,  annoyed  the  Catholics, 
and  enraged  Luther,  who  said  to  one  of  his  friends :  ''  This  weak 
man  has  only  one  idea  in  his  head,  that  of  peace  ;  he  is  ignorant 
of  the  cross  of  Christ.'"*  Some  days  after,  Luther's  writings 
were  publicly  burnt  Erasmus  wrote :  "  To  bum  is  not  to 
answer  them;"  and  to  Rosemondus,  the  rector  of  Louvain: 
''  Why,  then,  do  you  find  fault  with  me  ?  Did  I  seem  more  sad 
when  they  burnt  Luther's  writings  ?  Have  I  not  always  said 
that  they  contained  doctrines  of  which  I  could  not  approve  ?"* 
When  Leo  X.  published  his  bxdl,  "  Exsurge,"  Erasmus  every- 
where said  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  monk  ;  and  when  Luther 
replied  to  the  bull,  and  issued  his  anti-bull,  Erasmus  wrote  to 
the  pope  that  he  had  to  use  menaces  to  prevent  Froben  from 
publishing  it  at  Basle.* 

When  Adrian  VL  ascended  the  chair,  which  had  been  so 
gloriously  filled  by  Leo  X.,  his  first  thought  was  to  send  for 
Erasmus,  his  scholar  at  Louvain,  with  whom  he  had  so  often  dis- 
coursed on  the  wounds  of  the  Church,  and  the  means  of  healing 
them.  Adrian  believed  that  in  times  of  difficulty  Gh>d  always 
raised  up,  in  his  mercy,  some  being  of  an  elevated  character  to 
oppose  the  storm ;  whom,  when  his  great  mission  was  accom- 
plished, God  removed  from  the  earth  :  now,  in  his  opinion,  this 


1  <n 


*  Luthenis  peccavit  in  duobus,  nempb  quod  tetigtt  ooronam  pontificis  et 
ventrem  monaohorum," — S«ckendor£  Comin.  de  Luth.  lib.  i.  sect,  zzxiy.  §  81. 
pp.  126,  126. 

«  Seckendort  Ub.  i.  §  87,  p.  140. 

'  Ep.  Erasmi,  ep,  18,  lib,  xM  ♦  Ibid.  ep.  40,  lib,  xiv. 


EBAfiMTJS.  83 

Messiah  was  Erasmus.  He  therefore  wrote  to  him  the  following 
fine  letter : — 

'^  *  I  haye  seen/  sajB  the  prophet,  '  the  wioked  man  exalted 
aboye  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  ;  I  passed,  and  he  was  no  more ;  I 
looked,  and  could  not  discoyer  the  place  where  he  abode.'  .... 
Will  you  still,  Erasmus,  delay  to  attack  this  carnal  man,  whom 
God  has  cast  from  his  presence ;  who  disturbs  the  peace  of  the 
Church,  and  precipitates  in  the  paths  of  damnation  so  many 
unhappy  souls  ?  Arise,  arise  to  the  rescue  of  God's  cause ! 
forget  not  his  maryeUous  gifts  !  belieye  that  to  you  it  has  been 
giyen  to  saye  those  whom  Luther  leads  astray,  to  strengthen 
those  whom  he  makes  wayer,  to  raise  up  those  whom  he  has 
cast  down  !  What  glory  that  will  bring  to  your  name  ! — ^what 
joy  to  the  Catholics !  Becollect  that  sentence  of  the  apostle 
St.  James :  '  He  who  causeth  a  sinner  to  be  conyerted  from  the 
error  of  his  ways,  shall  saye  his  soul  from  death,  and  shall  coyer 
a  multitude  of  sins.'  I  cannot  express  to  you  with  what  joy  my 
heart  would  oyerflow  if,  by  means  of  your  pen,  those  whom  the 
poison  of  heresy  has  tainted,  should  repent,  without  waiting  for 
the  application  of  canons  and  imperial  decrees.  You,  with  whom 
I  sp^t  such  a  charming  retirement  at  Louyain,  know  whether 
seyere  measures  are  agreeable  to  me.  But  if  you  think  you  can 
accomplish  this  work  of  salyation  more  safely  at  Rome,  come 
when  the  winter  is  oyer,  and  the  air  is  freed  from  the  pestilential 
miasmata  which  haye  for  some  time  infected  it ;  come  with  a 
light  heart  and  healthy  body  ;  all  the  treasures  of  our  libraries 
are  open  to  you ;  I  offer  you  my  own  society,  and  that  of  all  the 
kamed  men  in  Bome."^ 

But  Erasmus  was  old ;  years  and  sickness  had  exhausted  his 
ardour,  withered  his  sarcasm,  dimmed  his  eyes,  and  blanched  his 
hair.  His  language,  formerly  exuberant  with  life  and  colour,  was 
now  as  faded  as  his  cheeks,  and  his  laugh  was  the  grin  of  an  old 
man ;  so  that,  when  Adrian's  letter  reached  him,  Erasmus  felt  that 
it  was  too  late,  and  that  a  contest  with  Luther  was  impossible. 

"  Most  holy  father,"  he  replied,*  "  I  would  most  willingly  obey 
you  ;  but  there  is  a  tyrant  more  cruel  than  Phalaris,  to  whom  I 

Ep.  Eiasmi,  ep.  639.    Sentiments  d'Eraame  de  Botterdamy  pp.  20— 37* 
•Ibid.  ep.  640. 

a2 


84  HISTORY   OP  LUTHER. 

must  submit — ^the  gravel,  if  you  wish  to  know  his  name.  The 
winter  is  past,  the  pestilence  has  left  Rome,  but  the  way  is  very 
long,  and  I  cannot  cross  the  snowy  Alps,  or  encounter  the  stoves, 
the  very  smell  of  which  makes  me  faint,  the  filthy  and  incom- 
modious inns,  and  the  strong  wines,  which  give  me  a  headache. 
And  then  my  style  is  like  my  body, — ^withered.  I  have  masters 
now  ;  my  learning  is  middling,  and  drawn  from  old  writers,  and 
adapted  more  for  speaking  than  for  controversy.  I  am  a  poor 
creature,  who  have  lost  all  my  gl^.  What  weight  would  the 
authority  of  Erasmus  have  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  defy  that  of 
the  universities,  the  sovereigns,  and  the  supreme  pontiff  himself  ? 
If  renown  has  been  mine,  it  has  much  abated ;  it  has  grown 
cold,  and  changed  to  hate.  Once  they  addressed  me  as  the 
great  hero,  the  prince  of  literature,  the  star  of  Germany ;  now 
they  scarcely  think  of  me,  except  to  defame  me.  Gome  to 
Rome  !  You  might  as  well  say  to  a  crab,  *  Fly.'  '  (Jive  me 
wings,'  the  crab  would  answer.     And  the  crab  would  be  right" 

But  Erasmus,  perhaps,  did  not  say  all  the  truth  to  his  former 
teacher  of  theology ;  the  crab,  if  it  could  have  flown,  would  not  have 
alighted  in  Rome ;  it  would  have  been  a&aid  of  the  Wittemberg 
eagle,  whose  wings  were  now  expanded,  its  fiery  eye,  and,  above 
all,  its  talons,  which  had  drawn  blood,  and  left  their  marks  on  the 
faces  of  so  many  monks.  There  was  nothing  now  to  be  gained 
by  breaking  the  happy  peace  in  which  he  had  kept  himself  since 
Luther's  appearance.  Imagine  this  Athenian,  of  polished  style, 
obliged  to  come  in  collision  ^th  a  barbarian  who  voided  insults 
and  solecisms ;  this  scholar,  who  gravely  charged  Cicero  with  two 
errors  of  syntax,  disputing  with  a  writer  who  extemporized  his 
language,  and  treated  it  like  a  veritable  Papist ;  this  poet,  fed 
on  ambrosia,  and  experienced  in  the  elegant  phraseology  of 
courts,  battling  with  a  monk  who,  in  his  visit  to  Rome,  had  not 
even  remembered  the  name  of  one  of  its  artists  ;  this  courtier  of 
the  Medicis,  obliged  to  make  use  of  an  invective  style,  which 
Luther  possessed  in  all  its  force.  Adieu,  then,  to  that  sweet 
repose  which  he  had  made,  and  which  he  so  ardently  loved. 
Once  engaged  with  Luther,  it  would  not  have  been  as  with  the 
monks,  who  knew  not  to  keep  rancour,  and  whom  the  monastic 
rule  commanded  to  forget  injuries.  Luther  would  not  have 
feared  to  risk  his  soul's  salvation  to  torment  his  enemy ;  he 


EBA8MUS.  85 

would  have  given  him  neither  peaoe  nor  trace  ;  he  would  have 
dragged  him,  without  pity  for  his  grey  hairs  and  that  glory 
which  encircled  his  brow,  upon  the  battle-field,  and  there,  in 
order  to  fight  him,  he  would  have  availed  himself  of  every  sort 
of  weapon,  even  of  calumny,  had  the  victory  been  doubtful. 
Poor  Erasmus  !  what  would  have  become  of  that  &scination 
which  still  clung  to  your  name,  and  which  still  exercised  itself 
upon  some  gifted  beings,  and  that  reputation  acquired  by  thirty 
years  of  literary  labour !  You  were  indeed  wise,  when  you 
asked  Adrian  to  give  wings  to  a  crab  ! 

But  absolute  silence  would  have  been  too  much  for  Erasmus. 
He  was  obliged  to  indulge  his  taste  for  epigram,  and  for  want  of 
the  sword,  which  he  could  not  wield,  employ  the  pen,  which  he 
had  always  handled  so  well.  He  therefore  continued  his  petty 
war&re  'With  Luther,  showering  upon  his  adversary's  head, 
instead  of  rocks,  epigrams  and  jests,  and  even  prophecies,  which 
often  had  the  merit  of  being  fulfilled,  but  which  everybody  else, 
who  studied  the  monk  of  Wittemberg,  might  have  done  as  well 
as  the  philologist,  ridiculing  with  severity  that  passion  for  mar- 
riage which  had  seized  upon  the  religious  of  both  sexes,  who  at 
Luther's  voice  burst  their  vows  of  celibacy  and  the  conventual 
gates.  All  these  witticisms  of  Erasmus,  these  asides  sufficiently 
loud  to  be  heard  by  the  audience,  reached  Luther's  ears,  who  at 
first  took  no  notice  of  them,  so  much  was  he  taken  up  with  his 
great  conflict  with  the  papacy.  But  now  that  the  latter  was,  in 
his  eyes,  levelled  to  the  earth  to  rise  no  more,  these  rumours 
buzzed  about  his  ears  like  flies.  He  bore  it  p&tiently  for  some 
time,  much  longer  than  might  have  been  expected  from  him, 
endeavouring,  in  his  turn,  in  his  private  correspondence,  to  wear 
the  mask  of  Erasmus  ;  but  although  he  thought  that  he  counter- 
feited the  voice  and  pantomimic  manner  of  the  rhetorician,  his 
friends  had  the  charity  to  inform  him  that  he  would  never  per- 
form the  part  like  his  rival,  and  he  himself  soon  perceived  it 
He  had  not  two  thoughts  or  two  tongues ;  he  must  say  at  once 
what  he  had  in  his  mind,  and  like  a  lion  or  eagle  tear  his  adver- 
sary with  his  claws  or  talons  :  such  was  his  nature.  This  was 
seen  in  his  war  with  the  pope,  in  whidi  his  voice,  when  he 
attempted  to  flatter,  belled  like  a  deer,  or  screamed  like  a 
bird  of  prey. 


86  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEE. 

Luther  resolved,  then,  to  have  done  with  Erasmus,  and  he 
wrote  to  him  the  following  letter.  In  perusing  it,  we  must 
recollect  that  Luther  could  not  bestow  on  the  scholar  of  Rotter- 
dam, as  he  did  on  his  enemies,  the  epithets  of  "  papist," — 
"  sycophant,'' — "  ignorant,"  or  "  friend  of  darkness  ;  *'  and  that, 
whether  inclined  to  it  or  not,  he  was  forced  to  submit  to  the 
dictatorship  which  the  philosopher  had  ex^sed  for  half  a 
century  in  Europe  to  the  benefit  of  literature : — 

"  I,  who  am  naturally  irritable,  have  been  irritated  by  others, 
and  have  felt  inclined  to  write  bitterly  ;  but  I  have  only  done  so 
to  obstinate  and  rebellious  people.  My  own  conscience  and  the 
public  voice  sufficiently  testify  my  clemency  and  tenderness 
towards  sinners  and  offenders.  Thus  it  is  that  I  have  restrained 
my  pen,  in  spite  of  your  pin-pricking,  and  that  I  diall  restrain 
it,  as  I  have  promised  to  my  friends,  until  you  have  thrown  off 
the  mask.  .  .  .  What  is  to  be  done  in  this  party  excitement  ? 
As  a  mediator  of  peace,  I  shall  wish  that  your  enemies  would 
cease  to  attack  you  so  violently,  and  leave  your  old  age  to.  sleep 
quietly  in  the  Lord.  They  ought  to  do  so,  in  my  opinion,  in 
consideration  of  your  weakness,  and  the  greatness  of  that  work 
which  towers  so  above  your  petty  height,  especially  when  things 
are  now  in  such  a^state,  that  our  Gospel  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
Erasmus  with  all  his  strength,  to  say  nothing  of  his  nails  and 
his  teetL"! 

The  supreme  contempt  that  pervades  Luther's  letter  must 
have  deeply  wounded  the  pride  of  Erasmus.  How  then  is  his 
silence  to  be  explained  ?  How  is  it  that  no  reply  to  this  insolent 
defiance  is  to  be  found  in  his  correspondence  ?  Was  he  then 
preparing  his  manifesto  against  Luther,  and  wished  to  lull  him 
to  sleep,  that  he  might  suddenly  start  from  his  slumber  at  the 
noise  of  that  work  on  which  he  was  silently  engaged,  and  which 
the  Catholic  world  expected  for  so  many  years  ?  On  this  we  can 
merely  form  conjectures.  It  is  certain  that  all  epistolary  com- 
munication between  them  was  broken  off ;  they  appeared  to  have 
forgotten  each  other ;  especially  Luther,  who  pursued  his  scheme  of 
Beformation  without  troubling  himself  further  about  the  rheto- 
rician, of  whom  he  stood  so  much  in  awe  on  his  entry  upon  the 


^  Erasmo  Botierodamo.     See  Dr.  Martin  Lather's  Briefe,  torn.  u.  p.  498. 


ERASMUS.  87 

theological  arena.  But  it  is  remarkable  that^  after  this  time, 
Erasmus  showed  much  less  respect  to  the  Reiformers,  whom  he 
ridiculed  to  their  faces,  spoke  of  contemptuously  in  his  corre- 
spondence^ and  laughed  at  their  self-assumption  of  learning,  faith, 
morab,  and  even  chastity;  and  that  so  loudly  that  Luther 
might  have  heard  him  in  his  Saxon  Rome.^  How  then  is  to  be 
explained  this  fit  of  courage  in  Erasmus,  who  no  longer  conceals 
his  convictions  or  belief,  and  boldly  says  to  all  who  wish  to  hear 
him,  "  I  am  a  Catholic  f  not  merely  to  the  cardinals  and  bishops, 
but  to  the  new  eyangelists,  and  even  Melancthon.  His  spirit 
glows,  his  style  sparkles ;  he  has  recovered  his  young  blood  of 
twenty :  fidth  in  place  of  indignation  possesses  him.  The  old 
athlete  of  Germany  is  Hke  the  linden-tree  of  Morat,  which  at 
three  hundred  years  old  shoots  forth  its  leaves.  Erasmus  might 
still  contend  with  Luther.  Without  having  studied  thoroughly 
the  history  of  the  sixteenth  century,  we  cannot  imagine  the 
influence  which  he  exercised  on  others,  feeble  as  he  was,  as  if  the 
human  mind  believed  in  him,  with  such  faith  did  they  receive  his 
words !  If  he  was  not  permitted  to  overcome  Luther,  at  least  he 
might  have  detached  from  the  Reformation  those  who  were  not 
misled  by  Hutten's  annunciation  of  Luther  to  Germany  as  an 
apostle  of  freedom.  Erasmus  ought  not  to  have  meddled  with 
theology,  which  Luther  understood  much  better  than  he,  and 
should  have  written  the  history  of  the  Reformation,  considered 
in  its  influence  upon  the  morals,  intelligence,  and  society  of 
Germany*  What  a  fertile  theme  for  critical  raillery!  What 
food  and  sport  his  sarcasm  might  have  found  in  the  Saxon's  life, 
since  his  positions  wherein  he  feigned  submission  to  the  pope 
down  to  his  marriage  with  Catherine  Bora  !  What  a  picture  he 
might  have  drawn  of  all  the  sects  which  were  bom  and  perished 
in  the  same  day  !  What  funereal  images  from  those  fields  of 
Thuringia,  Suabia,  Westphalia,  and  Alsatia,  fattened  with  the 
blood  of  peasantry  whose  only  crime  was  their  faith  in  Luther  ! 
What  scenes  from  the  destruction  of  pictures,  statues,  stained 
glass,  and  other  material  victims  to  the  hammer  of  the  Reforma- 
tion !  What  characters  like  those  of  Bernard,  Carlstadt,  Didy- 
mns,  and  Storch  i    What  capital  subjects  for  a  painter  those 

*  See,  in  Eragmua's  Epistles,  the  letters  from  1522  to  1524,  addressed  to 
Meljuicthon,  Campeggio,  the  Christiaiis  of  fiolland,  &o. 


88  HISTORY   OF  LTTTHER. 

monks  and  nuns  who  roslied  into  matrimony  from  a  gafitric 
impulse,  as  Luther  decently  expressed  it !  What  materials  for 
new  letters  like  those  Virorum  ohscwvrwn^  in  the  spontaneous 
creation  of  that  myriad  of  embryo  apostles  and  prophets,  whose 
books  resemble  a  cloud  of  locusts  ;  ^  evangelists  of  both  sexes, 
who  exorcise,  anathematize,  aaid  damn  each  other,  and  close  even 
against  Luther  the  gates  of  heaven,  which  he  had  opened  for 
them !  A  whole  volume  might  have  been  made  by  Erasmus  from 
this  fragment  of  Luther's  letter  to  the  Christians  of  Antwerp :  * — 

'*  The  devil  is  among  us :  he  daily  sends  mitors  to  knock  at 
my  door.  One  will  not  have  baptism,  another  rejects  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  eucharist,  a  third  announces  that  God  will  create  a 
new  worid  before  the  last  judgment,  another  that  Christ  is  not 
God,  another  this,  another  that.  There  are  nearly  as  many 
creeds  as  heads.  There  is  not  a  booby  who,  if  he  dreams,  does 
not  believe  that  he  is  inspired  by  God,  or,  at  least,  that  he  is  a 
prophet. 

"  I  am  often  visited  by  these  men  of  visions,  who  all  know 
more  of  them  than  I,  and  wish  to  explain  them  to  me.  I  wish  they 
were  what  they  profess  to  be.  One  came  to  me  yesterday.  .  . . 
*  Master,  I  am  sent  from  God,  who  created  heaven  and  earth ;' 
and  then  the  fellow  began  to  preach  like  a  veritable  blockhead, 
that  it  was  God's  command  that  I  should  read  the  books  of 
Moses  to  him.  '  Ah  !  and  where  did  you  find  that  command- 
ment of  God  V  '  In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.'  After  he  had  had 
his  say  :  '  Then,  my  friend,  come  back  to-morrow ;  for  I  cannot, 
at  one  sitting,  read  to  you  the  books  of  Moses.'  '  Adieu, 
master,  our  heavenly  Father,  who  has  shed  his  blood  for  us, 
points  out  to  us,  by  his  Son  Jesus,  the  right  way.  Adieu.' 
Such  are  these  chosen  beings  who  know  neither  God  nor  Christ. 
When  the  papacy  lasted,  there  were  none  of  these  divisions  or 
differences ;  the  strong  man  peacefully  reigned  over  hearts  :  but 
now,  a  stronger  one  has  come,  who  has  conquered  and  driven  him 
forth^  and  the  former  one  storms  and  wishes  not  to  depart     A 


*  "  Rari  sunt  apud  adversafSoa  qal  non  aliqnid  scribant,  quorum  libri  non 
Jkm.  st  cancer  serpunt,  sed  velut  agmina  locustaram  yolitaint." — BeilarminuB, 
^m.  i.     Op.  de  Controv.  Christians  Fidei,  in  Pnefiit. 

^  Ein  Brief  Dr.  Mart.  Luther's  an  die  Christen  zu  Antwerpen ;  Wittenberg, 
1525,  4to.     Dr.  Mart.  Luther's  Briefe,  torn.  iii.  p.  60. 


ERASMUS.  89 

spirit  of  disturbance  is  also  among  you,  who  tempts  and  seeks  to 
turn  yon  &om  the  right  path.  The  signs  whereby  yon  may  know 
him  are  these :  when  he  tells  you  that  every  man  has  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  that  the.  Holy  Spirit  is  none  other  than  the  reason  which 
God  has  given  as ;  that  there  is  neither  hell  nor  damnation ; 
that  the  flesh  alone  will  be  condemned,  but  the  soul  shall  have 
life  eternal ;  that  the  law  is  not  destroyed  by  concupiscence,  so 
long  as  I  do  not  delight  in  it ;  that  he  who  has  not  the  Spirit  does 
not  sin,  because  he  has  not  reason.  .  .  .  Begone,  legion  of  Satan, 
stamped  with  the  mark  of  error ;  for  God  is  a  God  of  peace,  and 
not  of  dissension/"  ^ 

This  finely-drawu  sketch  of  Luther  would,  in  the  hands  of 
Erasmus,  have  been  transformed  into  a  striking  drama,  wherein  we 
should  have  seen  the  prophets.  Anabaptists,  Zwinglians,  Sacra- 
mentarians,  and  all  the  swarm  of  dissenters  produced  by  the 
doctrine  of  free  inquiry,  disputing  together,  and  each  appealing 
to  the  text  of  the  Bible  for  proof  of  the  truth  of  his  doctrines. 
Erasmus  might  have  expended  all  his  wit  and  satire  in  drama- 
tizing the  Reformation.  It  was  by  ridicule  that  Hutten  acquired 
his  success,  and  ruined  the  monaateries ;  it  was  by  hdicole  that 
the  Reformers  shoold  have  been  attacked  ;  and,  in  the  Church  of 
Wittemberg,  there  was  more  than  one  vulnerable  monk.  Is  it 
not  true  that  the  devil  employed  by  Luther ;  the  great  white 
man  of  Zwinglius;  the  unknown  one  who  wrung  the  neck  of 
CBcolampadius,  the  familiar  spirit  of  the  prophets,  were  as  good 
subjects  as  the  devils  who  tempted  St.  Anthony  in  the  desert, 
and  which  have  been  so  often  laughed  at  by  the  Reformers  ?  The 
latter,  at  leaat,  did  not  talk  blasphemously  of  the  Mass,  and  were 
ignorant  of  Greek. 

Erasmus  mistook  himself.  Luther  has  already  told  us  that 
the  philosopher  had  forgotten  the  little  he  had  learned  of  theology 
in  the  study  of  antiquity,  which  he  knew  so  marvellously  well. 
In  wishing  to  dispute  with  Luther,  he  ought  carefully  to  have 
avoided  doctrinal  matters,  in  which  his  tne  and  lively  intellect 
could  not  disport  itself  at  ease  as  in  a  literary  comedy.  But 
what  did  he  select  from  the  immense  variety  supplied  by  Luther? 

*  "  lata  Bectarum  pugnantia  signum  et  Satante  esse  quod  docent,  et  qu5d 
spiritus  Dei  non  sit  disaensionis  Peiu^  sed  paois." — Micha^li  SUefeli  ^i  Pe< 
cember,  1524. 


90  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEB. 

Free  Will :  of  all  questions  discussed  in  the  schools  the  moBt 
mysterious ;  a  prodigy,  which  will  for  ever  confound  reason,  and 
must  be  believed  in  the  same  manner  as  we  believe  in  eternity, 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  creation.  It  is  the  inward 
sentimait  which  proclaims  moral  liberty.  If  a  man  obeys  the 
impulse  of  grace,  and  performs  good  works,  his  conscience  is 
happy.  If  he  is  seduced  and  led  away  by  concupiscence,  he 
Bu£fers  the  gnawings  of  remorse ;  but  there  is  neither  joy  nor 
sorrow  experienced  in  the  performance  of  necessary  acts.  If  man 
is  not  a  free  agent,  of  what  use  are  commands,  punishments,  and 
rewards  ?  If  he  is  the  slave  of  sin,  why  condemn  him  ?  he  is 
nothing  more  than  mere  matter.  Such  is  what  Erasmus,  with 
unquestionable  talent,  proves  in  his  book  entitled,  "  A  Disserta- 
tion upon  Free  Will."  * 

Luther  believed  in  the  fall  of  Adam  and  a  great  expiation  of 
Nature,  which  is  to  endure  until  the  creation  of  a  new  heaven  and 
new  earth.  Scarcely  had  man  rebelled  against  his  God,  when  the 
light  of  the  sun  became  dimmed ;  the  stars  were  veiled ;  the  flowers 
lost  a  portion  of  their  perfume  ;  the  animals  and  plants  degene- 
rated ;  the  air  lost  its  purity,  and  the  light  its  ori^nal  splendour. 
60  that  what  the  human  eye  admires  in  the  works  of  creation  is 
but  a  shadow  of  its  primitive  state.  But  of  all  the  beings  most 
aeverely  punished,  because  he  had  brought  sin  into  the  world, 
was  the  one  whom  God  had  created  in  his  own  image,  and  who 
had  lost  the  attribute  which  approximated  him  nearest  to  his 
Maker, — ^free  will !  Conceived  in  tears  and  corruption,  the  child, 
— a  mere  fixtm  in  the  womb  of  his  mother,  is  already  a  sinner ;  ^ 
a  piece  of  unclean  clay,  which  before  it  is  formed  into  a  human 
vessel,  commits  iniquity,  and  gains  damnation.'  In  proportion  as 
he  grows,  the  innate  element  of  corruption  increases,  becomes 
developed,  and  bears  its  fruit     He  says  to  sin :  '^  Thou  art  my 


*  De  Libero  Arbitrio  Difttriba  sive  CoUatio. 

'  "  Lutum  illud,  ex  quo  vasculuin  hoc  fingi  coBpit,  diimDabile  est.  Foetus 
in  utero,  antequim  naacimur  et  homines  esse  incipimns,  peceatum  est." — 
Lnther,  in  PsaL  4. 

'  This  doctrine  of  the  oomiption  of  human  nature,  which  was  afterwards 
slightlj  modified  by  Luther,  and  especiaUy  by  his  followers,  is  one  of  the 
articles  of  Calvin's  creed ;  "  Ex  corrupts  hominis  naturft,  nihil  nisi  damnabile." 
— Inst.  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  p.  93.  See  Mcehler,  who,  in  his  Symbolism,  has  admirably 
developed  the  different  teachings  of  the  Church  and  Protestantism  on  the  great 
question  of  original  sin. 


KBAfiMUS.  91 

father/'  and  evety  act  that  he  does  is  a  crime  ;  to  the  wonns : 
''  Ye  are  my  brethren/'  and  he  crawls  like  them  in  dirt  and 
cormption.  If  he  endeavours  to  raise  his  head,  this  motion, 
of  which  moreover  he  is  not  mast^,  is  a  crime,  like  all  that  he 
thinks  or  does ;  he  is  an  evil  tree  that  cannot  produce  good 
firoits ;  a  rock  rent  by  lightning,  that  can  no  longer  supply 
living  waters ;  a  dunghill — ^for  Luther  makes  use  of  all  these 
similes — that  can  only  exhale  infectious  odours.  And  what  is 
most  desolating  in  this  psychological  system  is,  that  this  monarch 
of  creation  is  not  permitted  to  raise  himself  from  the  abyss  into 
which  the  fall  of  the  first  man  has  plunged  him  ;  to  efface  from 
his  brow  the  mark  which  the  avenging  hand  of  the  Creator  has 
stamped  on  it ;  to  recover  the  titles  of  his  heavenly  origin.  More 
unhappy  than  that  violet  of  which  Luther  not  long  since  spoke, 
man  knows  himself;  he  knows  all  the  happiness  which  he  has 
lost,  all  the  misery  and  ignorance  which  he  retains,  and  the 
inheritance  of  glory  which  has  escaped  him.  A  few  drops  of 
water  will  revive  the  flower  that  droops  on  its  stem  ;  but  man  is 
doomed  to  debasement ;  nothing  henceforth  can  vivify  or  restore 
him, — ^neither  will,  nor  thought,  nor  deed ;  for  these  mental 
operations  are  corrupted  like  their  source  ;  and  man  sins  even  in 
doing  good.  Such  was  Luther's  doctrine ;  a  doctrine  of  despair, 
which  might  be  understood  in  hell,  where  the  soul,  surprised  in  sin, 
cannot  merit ;  but  which,  upon  an  earth  cleansed  by  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb,  is  only  an  outri^  on  the  Deity.  Necessity  impels 
the  monk,  and  hurries  him  from  blasphemy  to  blasphemy :  he 
now  proclaims  that  God  damns  some  creatures  who  have  not 
deserved  such  a  fate  ;  ^  others  even  before  they  are  bom ;  ^  that 
he  induces  us  to  sin,  and  produces  evil  in  us.^  And  his  disciples, 
in  their  turn,  declare  that  God  robs  in  the  person  of  the  robber, 
murders  in  the  assassin,  is  a  trunk  in  a  trunk,  a  tree  in  a  tree.** 


*  DaM  Gott  etliche  Mensohen  yerdammet,  die  es  nioht  yerdient  baben. 

'  DaM  Gott  etliche  Menschen  zar  Verdammniifl  yerordnet  habe,  eb  sie 
Sebobren  worden  :  8  Jen.  Lat.  fol.  207  a.  t.  6 ;  Witt.  Ger,  fol.  848  b^  585  a.  t ; 
Alt.  161.  249  b,  250. 

'  Dass  Gott  die  Menschen  znr  Sllnde  antreibe,  nnd  alle  Laster  in  ihnen 
witrcke ;  8  Lat.  fol.  199  a.  t.  6 ;  Witt.  fol.  522  b,  523  a. 

"Deum  famri  in  fure,   trucidare  in  latrone,   ease  tmncnm  in  trunoo, 
arborem  in  arbore." — ^Altbainmer,  fol.  67* 


92  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

Thus  disinherited,  Luther's  man  is  no  longer  his  own  master  ] 
he  sins  in  all  that  he  does  ;  all  wiU  is  extinct  in  him,  and  he  is 
the  slave  of  destiny.  If  he  commits  moral  good  or  evil,  it  is 
not  by  his  own  will,  for  he  has  none,  but  because  God  or  the 
devil  holds  the  bridle.  "  Do  not  speak  to  me/'  says  the  Reformer, 
"of  free  ¥rill ;  it  is  a  divine  expression,  which  can  only  be  applied 
to  the  divine  Essence,  which  can  do  whatever  it  wills  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  To  invest  man  with  it,  is  to  invest  him  with 
divinity,  which  is  a  blasphemy,  and  the  greatest  that  can  be 
imagined.  Let  theologians  then  banish  that  expression  from  their 
vocabulary,  and  reserve  it  for  God.  Let  us  cease  to  use  it,  and 
leave  this  holy  and  venerable  name  to  the  Lord."  ^ 

Nobody  better  than  Luther  knew  the  power  of  imagery  to 
reach  the  understanding.  Whenever  he  wished  to  introduce  an 
idea  into  the  world,  he  invested  it  with  a  sensible  form,  and  gave 
it  a  body  and  clothing ;  and  this  idea,  so  personified,  spread 
through  society,  gaining  proselytes,  as  he  who  gave  it  life  and 
language  might  have  done.  This  gift  of  creation,  beyond  the 
domain  of  reality,  has  not  been  possessed  by  every  leader  of 
heresy.  Melancthon,  with  his  dogmatical  disposition,  could  not 
comprehend,  and  never  made  use  of  it.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Beformation,  he  attacked  the  papacy  with  the  ordinary  weapons 
of  innovators,  old  arguments  fetched  from  the  dust  of  the  schools, 
and  rise  on  their  blunted  points  against  the  rock  of  St.  Peter. 
Luther  adopted  a  very  different  course.  He  devised  a  magic 
lantern  in  which  the  devil  was  shown  ydth  the  cloven  foot  of  an 
ass,  ignorance  with  the  puffed-out  belly  of  a  monk,  and  the  spirit 
of  innovation  in  the  guise  of  an  Anabaptist.  So  in  his  reply  to 
the  philosopher,  he  breathed  upon  the  human  will  which  Erasmus 
decked  out  as  a  queen,  and  drew  from  it  two  figures,  first  one  of 
a  horse,  then  one  of  salt.  The  horse  is  in  the  open  field :  "  Does 
God  leap  into  the  saddle  ?  The  horse  is  obedient,  accommodates 
itself  to  every  movement  of  the  rider,  and  goes  whither  he  wills  it 
Does  God  throw  down  the  reins  ?  Then  Satan  leaps  upon  the  back 
of  the  animal,  which  bends,  goes,  and  submits  to  the  spurs  and 
caprices  of  its  new  rider.*    The  will  cannot  choose  its  rider,  and 

»  Luih.  De  Servo  Arbitrio,  ad  Eraftm.  Rotterd.  lib.  i.  fol.  117,  6. 
*  "  Sic  humana  volantas  in  medio  posita  est,  seu  jumentum ;  si  insederit 
Peus,  viUt  et  vodit  qub  vult  Deus,  ut  Psalmista  dlcit:  Factiui  sum  sicat 


EBASMUS.  93 

cannot  kick  against  the  spur  that  pricks  it.  It  most  get  on, 
and  its  very  docility  is  a  disobedience  or  a  sin.  The  only  struggle 
possible  is  between  the  two  riders,  God  and  the  devil,  who 
dispute  the  momentary  possession  of  the  steed.  And  then  is 
fnlfilled  that  saying  of  the  Psahnist :  '  I  am  become  like  a  beast 
of  burden.'" 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  philosophical  system  of  Luther  in 
regard  to  the  liberty  of  man  and  the  origin  of  evil,  has  nothing 
new  in  it  but  its  plastic  form,  and  that  the  original  idea  belongs 
to  Manes ;  it  is  the  Persian  dualism ;  light  and  darkness,  or  the 
good  and  evil  principles  contending  for  the  possession  of  man. 
But  if  the  operation  of  God  upon  the  creature  is  a  mystery  from 
which  reason  could  never  entirely  lift  the  veil,  the  struggle  which 
Luther  institutes  between  God  and  the  devil  is  a  prodigy  other- 
wise incomprehensible.  The  poetical  idea  of  Satan  contending 
with  the  Deity  has  been  very  dififerently  handled  by  Milton  in 
his  *^  Paradise  Lost,"  from  that  in  the  treatise  of  ^^  Man's  Will 
Enslaved."  Can  the  mind  believe  in  such  an  antagonism  ?  From 
the  instant  Luther  gives  us  the  names  of  the  combatants,  his 
drama  is  unravelled.  What  is  Satan  against  God?  the  finite 
against  the  infinite,  the  creature  against  the  Creator  !  With  the 
poet,  it  is  an  allegory ;  with  Luther,  it  a  doctrine,  and  conse- 
quently is  devoid  of  all  real  poetry.  The  doctor's  idea  is  a  dogma. 
Melancthon,  in  order  not  to  vex  his  master  by  an  insoluble  objec- 
tion, adopts  Luther's  doctrine  of  the  servitude  of  the  will,  and 
makes  God  the  author  of  the  good  and  evil  which  happen  here 
below ;  of  David's  adultery,  of  St.  Paul's  apostleship,  of  the 
treachery  of  Judas ;  and  this,  not  as  the  schoolmen  say,  per- 
missively  (permim^)^  but  effectively  (patenter).^  Melancthon 
maintains  his  argument  from  the  Bible ;  so  that,  if  we  are  to 


jnmentum  et  ego  semper  teovm ;  si  iiiBederit  Saton^  -mlt  et  vadii  sient  Satan, 
neo  est  in  ejus  arbitrio  ad  utrum  sessorem  currere,  ant  eum  qnserere,  sed 
ipsi  sessores  oertant  ob  ipsum  obtinendum  et  possidendum."  —  Op.  Lnth. 
torn.  iii.  p.  177,  6. 

*  "  H89C  sit  oerta  sententia,  k  Deo  fieri  omnia,  tarn  bona^  qnkm  mala.  Nos 
dicimns  non  soltim  permittere  Deum  oreaturis  nt  operentur,  sed  ipsum  omnia 
proprib  agere,  ut  sicut  fatentur,  proprium  Dei  opus  fiiisse  Pauli  yocationem, 
itk  fitteantur  opera  Dei  propria  esse  sive  quse  media  vocantur,  ut  oomedere, 
nye  quse  mala  sunt,  ut  D>aTiais  adulterium.  Constat  enim  Deum  omnia  facere 
non  permissiTd,  sed  potenter,  id  est  ut  sit  ejus  proprium  opus,  Judss  proditio 
sieut  Pauli  yooatio/'--Mart.  Ghemnits  loc.  theoL  «dit.  Leyser,  1Q16,  pp.  1, 178. 


94  HISTOUT  OF  LUTHER. 

believe  hiniy  it  is  Qod,  or  the  Bible^  who  teaches  us  that  man  is 
the  slaye  of  destiny.  Bat  then  to  what  inspiration  did  he  listen, 
when  in  1530  he  afl&rmed,  in  the  Confession  of  Angabmg,  that 
the  cause  of  sin  is  the  will  of  the  evil  one,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
devil  and  the  sinner,  and  that  this  will,  nnless  assisted  saper- 
naturally,  withdraws  itself  from  God  ?  ^ 

At  Leipsic,  Luther  compared  man  to  a  saw  in  the  hands  of  a 
workman.  In  order  to  refiite  the  comparison,  Eck  said  it 
screaked ;  and  this  play  of  words  produced  more  e£fect  on  the 
audience  than  a  regular  argument  In  his  quarrel  with  Erasmus 
he  changed  the  simile :  Man  is  no  longer  a  saw ;  he  is  some- 
times, Hke  the  patriarch's  wife,  transformed  into  a  pillar  of  salt, 
at  others  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  or  a  shapeless  block  of  stone, 
which  can  neither  see  nor  hear,  has  neither  heart  nor  sense.* 
What  a  hideous  mockery  is  such  a  being,  cast  by  God  in  the 
midst  of  creation,  and  which  the  Scripture  tells  us  was  formed 
after  His  own  likeness  I  How,  after  this  life,  could  the  Supreme 
Judge  demand  an  account  of  his  desires,  thoughts,  looks,  and 
actions,  from  this  human  carcase  which  has  never  lived,  has  never 
felt ;  in  which  neither  arteries  nor  blood  are  to  be  found?  And 
how  should  human  justice  or  society  condemn  this  being,  inno* 
minate  in  any  language,  and  which  is  only  clay  or  corruption  ?  If 
Luther  be  asked  for  the  solution  of  this  psychological  problem, 
he  replies  only  by  comparisons  taken  from  the  tomb.  Need  we  be 
astonished  then  at  the  cry  of  horror  which  this  wretched  doctrine 
wrung  from  the  Catholics,  when  his  own  disciples  blushed  for 
their  master  7  Honour  at  least  to  Pfeffinger,  Victorinus,  and 
especially  to  Strigel,  who  had  the  courage  to  appeal  from  it  to 
the  conscience,  to  refrite  the  imTiihi1<i.fiTig  dogmas  of  the  Reformer, 
and  who  restored  to  man  that  perception  with  which  God  when 
he  created  had  endowed  him  ! 

Luther,  riveted  to  the  principle  which  he  had  laid  down, 
struggled  fruitlessly  to  escape  from  his  chain ;  he  necessarily  fell 
into  Rationalism,  for  want  of  inclination  to  make  use  of  fisdth 


■  Art.  XIX.  STmbolik  von  Mohler,  p.  47. 

*  "  In  spiritualibuB  et  divinia  rebua  quae  ad  ammiB  Bdiitem  speotMii,  homo 
est  inatar  Btatua  bbUm  in  qniun  nxor  patriarofae  Loth  eet  convena ;  iin6  oat 
Bimilifl  tninoo  et  lapidi  statiue,  vit&  carenti,  qu»  neque  ocolonim,  oris  aut 
uUorum  sensuum  cordisque  ufum  babet." — Luth,  in  Gen.  cxxix. 


ERASMUS.  95 

to  reconcile  the  divine  presence  with  moral  liberty.  He  had 
appealed  from  it  to  the  Scriptures^  and  a  text  interpreted  by  his 
own  reason  had  obscured  in  him  the  most  ordinary  light.  The 
Church  taught  how  the  text  of  Moses,  wherein  God  says  that  he 
hardens  Pharaoh's  heart,  should  be  interpreted  ;  but  he  preferred 
his  own  judgment  to  the  general  one,  and  it  led  him  astray. 
Let  us  follow  for  an  iostant  all  the  deductions  which  he  draws 
from  an  erroneous  interpretation.  Let  the  Christian  know,  then, 
that  God  foresees  nothing  in  a  contingent  manner ;  but  that  he 
foresees,  proposes,  and  acts  from  his  eternal  and  immutable  will : 
this  is  the  thunderbolt  which  destroys  and  overturns  firee-will  I 
Let  those,  then,  who  come  forward  as  the  champions  of  that 
doctrine  deny  first  this  thunderbolt.  Thus  it  follows,  irre- 
firagably,  that  every  human  action,  although  it  seems  to  be 
done  in  a  contingent  manner,  and  subject  to  the  doctrine  of 
chances,  is  necessary  and  immutable  in  the  order  of  Providence. 
Therefore  it  is  not  free-will,  but  necessity,  which  is  the  acting 
principle  in  us.^  Indeed,  I  wish  that  I  could  employ  another 
term  than  that  of  necessity,  which  only  imperfectly  expresses 
my  views,  when  we  speak  of  human  will.  Coercion  is  a  harsh 
and  unsuitable  expression,  for  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of 
the  two  wills  is  necessarily  constrained  or  subjected,  but  both 
obey  thsir  nature  in  producing  good  or  evil ;  it  is  an  immutable 
and  infallible  will  which  governs  another  mutable  and  fallible,  as 
in  the  words  of  the  poet : — 

..."  Stohilisqae  maneiui  das  ounota  moTerl" 
[Immoyeabley  thou  makest  all  things  more.] 

But  who  will  draw  man  out  of  that  abyss  of  darkness  into 
which  Luther  has  plunged  him  ?  Who  will  cry  for  him  who  has 
no  Toice,  or  pray  for  that  fallen  angel  whose  every  wish  and 
thought  is  pollution  ?  Who  will  mediate  for  that  soul  crucified 
by  sin  ?  Who  will  open  the  bosom  of  mercy  to  that  child  of 
Satan,  that  other  Abbadona,  but  more  unhappy  than  the  pure 
spirit  of  Elopstock,  for  he  could  weep  without  sin  ?  Luther 
has  nothing  but  grace ;  he  rushes  headlong,  and  embraces  it. 
But  since  man  is  not  free,  who  will  explain  to  us  how  Providence 
smites  and  crowns,  punishes  and  pardons,  condemns  and  rewards 

"  Lather,  De  Servo  Arbiirio  ady.  Erasm.  Rotterd.  Oper.  Lat,  Jens^ 
torn.  iii.  fol.  170, 171, 177. 


96  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

in  eternity  ?  Whence  is  it  that  one  is  damned  and  another 
glorified,  since  neither  had  eyes  wherewith  to  see,  ears  to  hear, 
and  instinct  to  choose  ? — that  both,  in  doing  good  or  eyil,  were 
impelled  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  which  is  equally  the  work 
of  God  as  the  acts  which  they  did  ?  What  a  god,  then,  has  the 
Beformation  given  ns  ?  Certainly  not  the  God  of  the  Bible. 
Let  them  say  as  they  will,  they  cannot  find  him  in  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  he  is  the  god  of  their  invention,  a  blind  deity,  like  that 
imagined  by  the  Onostic  Marcion. 

Luther  thus  completes  his"  psychological  system  of  human 
liberty :  "  As  for  myself,  I  confess,  that  were  I  oflfered  free-will,^ 
I  would  not  have  it,  or  any  other  instrument  that  might  aid  in 
my  salvation  ;  not  only  because,  besieged  by  so  many  perils  and 
adversities,  amidst  that  horde  of  devils  who  assail  me  on  all 
sides,  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  preserve  or  make  use  of 
that  instrument  of  salvation,  since  one  single  devil  is  stronger 
than  all  men  together,  and  no  way  of  real  salvation  would  be 
open  to  me ;  but  because,  were  the  dangers  surmounted,  and 
the  devils  put  to  flight,  I  should  labour  in  uncertainty,  and  my 
arm  would  be  fatigued  to  no  purpose  by  beating  the  air  with 
useless  blows.  For,  were  I  to  live  for  ever,  my  conscience 
would  never  be  certain  of  having  satisfied  God,  After  every  act 
of  presumed  perfection,  a  scruple  would  always  remain :  Who 
shall  say  that  I  have  pleased  God  ?  That  God  has  demanded  no 
more  from  me  ?  as  is  proved  by  the  experience  of  all  souls  reputed 
to  be  just,  and  mine  unhappily  more  than  all  others. 

''  But  as  God  has  taken  charge  of  my  salvation,  independently 
of  my  free-will,  and  has  promised  to  save  me  by  his  grace  and 
mercy  without  the  concurrence  of  my  works,  I  am  certain  that 
he  will  be  faithfcd  to  his  promise,  that  he  will  not  lie,  and  that 
he  is  powerful  enough  to  prevent  me  from  being  broken  by 
adversity,  or  carried  oflF  by  the  devil ;  for  he  has  said :  '  No  one 
shall  take  him  from  me,  because  the  Father  who  has  given  him 
to  me  is  stronger  than  all.'  So  then,  if  all  are  not  elect,  much 
fewer  will  be  so ;  whilst  by  free-will  none  could  be  saved,  and 
all  would  perish.  Thus  we  are  assured  of  pleasing  God,  not  by 
the  merit  of  our  works,  but  through  the  mercy  which  he  has 


]  J>e  Servo  Arbitrio,  Op.  torn.  i.p.  171. 


ERASMUS.  97 

promised  to  us,  and  because  he  will  not  impute  to  us  the  more 
or  less  of  evil  that  we  shall  commit,  but  will  forgive  and  receive 
us  into  his  fatherly  favour.  This  is  the  glorification  of  the 
saints  in  the  Lord/' 

Whether  Luther  strives  or  not  against  the  consequences  of  the 
principle  of  moral  slavery  which  he  has  laid  down,  his  God  will 
always  be  a  blind  or  wicked  deity,  who  will  groundlessly  save  or 
destroy  a  soul  that  by  itself  is  incapable  of  merit  or  demerit — a 
soul  inert  and  passive.  If  there  be  any  logical  accuracy,  the 
being  who  embraces  Luther's  doctrine  has  no  refuge  except  in 
despair  or  indifferentism.  His  profession  of  faith  amounts  to 
this, — that  no  one  will  be  happy  in  eternity,  unless  he  believes 
in  the  inefficacy  of  free-will.*  What,  then,  has  become  of  that 
principle  of  free  inquiry  which  he  introduced  into  the  world  ? 
He  has  proclaimed  the  independence  of  reason,  and  he  fetters 
thought  and  intellect.  He  has  recovered,  according  to  M.  Charles 
Villers,  the  title-deeds  to  the  kingdom  of  human  knowledge, 
which  had  been  buried  in  the  Vatican,  and  he  will  not  now 
consent  to  exhibit  them  until  the  queen  whom  he  has  set  up 
shall  perform  an  act  of  vassalage ;  that  is  to  say,  that  after 
having  sought  to  destroy  the  popedom,  he  makes  popery ! 
What  must  we  think  of  the  salvation  of  his  disciples,  who,  in 
their  different  confessions,  disobeyed  their  master's  doctrine, 
and  taught  the  dogma  of  moral  freedom?  The  despotism 
of  error  is  much  more  oppressive  than  that  of  truth :  from  the 
instant  error  has  touched  you  with  its  finger,  you  become  its 
property,  and  you  are  condemned  to  run  through  the  entire 
circle  of  falsehood  which  it  has  drawn  around  you.  When  the 
Anabaptists  preached  the  necessity  for  a  second  purification  of 
original  sin  in  adults,  resting  themselves  on  a  Pharisaical  inter- 
pretation, Luther  loudly  proclaimed  that  the  letter  killed,  and 
the  spirit  must  be  observed.  Now  he  says :  "  We  must  avoid, 
as  a  poison,  all  commentaries,  and  keep  to  the  letter,  however 
hard  it  may  appear,  unless  the  Scriptures  force  us  to  seek  the 


>  Lnih.  De  Serro  Arbitrio  adv.  Eraam.  Botterod.  Op.  torn.  i.  p. 286.  "Baas 
Niemand  selig  werden  koiine,  der  nicht  gerade  seine  Meinnng  von  dem  vdUifen 
UnyermSgen  des  freyen  WiUens,  obn  EinscbriLnkung  aoDehme."  Das  Resultat 
meiner  Wanderungen,  p.  262.  Menzel,  Neuere  Gescbicbte  der  Deutacheo^ 
torn.  i.  ob.  Y. 

VOL.  II.  H 


98  HISTORY   OP   LUTHEll. 

mysteriofus  signification  concealed  under  the  corering  of  the 
word  ;  ^  that  the  devil  alone  can  maintain  that  the  divine  word 
is  enyeloped  in  darkness,  and  requires  to  pass  through  man's  lips 
to  be  understood  ;  that  the  spirit  enlightens  every  one  who  comes 
to  it  with  love,  and  reveals  to  him  the  hidden  meaning  of  God's 
word/' 

Erasmus,  deafened  with  this  clamour  of  the  Reformers,  who 
appealed  to  the  Scriptures,  as  if  the  Bible  had  until  then  been  a 
sealed  book,  and  Luther,  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse,  had 
been  the  first  to  open  it,  wished  to  put  a  stop  to  the  noise,  and 
show  that  the  Scriptures,  reduced  to  the  bare  letter,  were  not  the 
sole  foundation  of  the  Christian  faith.  In  examining  Luther's 
principles,  he  had  recovered  his  youthful  powers  and  animated 
style,  which  at  times  seems  to  have  assumed  the  wings  of  a  poet. 
His  style  is  concise,  and  carries  his  reader  with  it. 

"  But  I  hear  you  say,  *  If  the  Scripture  is  so  clear,  what  is 
the  use  of  commentaries  ?'....  I  reply  :  If  the  Scripture  is  as 
luminous  as  you  say,  how  is  it  that  so  many  learned  men  have 
walked  for  centuries  in  darkness,  when  there  was  question  of 
what  interested  them  so  deeply  as  moral  freedom  ?  If  there  is 
no  obscurity  in  the  text  of  the  sacred  books,  why  had  the  written 
word  need  of  commentaries,  even  in  the  time  of  the  apostles 
themselves  ?  But  I  grant  you  that  the  Spirit  is  revealed  to  the 
simple  and  ignorant,  and  concealed  from  the  wise,  and  that  the 
words  of  Christ  are  accomplished :  '  My  Father,  I  thank  thee 
that  thou  hast  taught  to  the  simple,  and  those  whom  the  world 
considers  fools,  that  which  thou  hast  hidden  from  the  wise,' 
Who  knows  if  Dominic  and  Francis  would  not  have  become  like 
to  those  of  whom  Christ  speaks,  if  tliey  had  only  followed  their 
own  sense  ?  If,  when  the  gift  of  God  was  in  all  its  strength,  John 
wished  that  we  should  try  whether  those  who  came  to  us  had  the 
Spirit  firom  above,  shall  we  not  be  permitted  to  make  the  same 
test  in  these  times,  when  all  flesh  is  corruptedj  How  shall  they 
prove  to  us  their  mission  ?  By  their  gift  of  eloquence  ?  — but 
on  all  sides  I  see  rabbis.     By  their  acts  ? — On  every  side  I  see 

^  Menzel,  Neuere  Geschiohte  der  Deutschen,  torn.  i.  p.  144.  Das  Resuliat 
xneiner  WaDdemngeD,  &c.,  von  D.  Julius  Honinghaus,  p.  264.  "  Man  boU  alle 
verbliimte  Worte  meiden  und  fliehen  wie  Gift,  und  bei  den  klaren,  durren 
Worten  bleiben,  wo  nicht  die  Scbrift  eelbst  zwingt^  etUche  Spriiche,  als  ver- 
blUmte  Worte  zu  erkUiren.'* 


ERASMUS.  9d 

Binners:  there  is  a  choir  of  saints  who  proclaim  that  man  is 
free.  They  say  :  *  They  are  men  ; '  but,  observe,  I  compare  man 
with  man,  and  not  n^an  with  God.  They  say :  'Of  what  use  is 
this  cloud  of  witnesses  to  affirm  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  ?'  I  reply: 
'Of  what  greater  use  are  some  talented  people?'  They  say: 
'  How  does  the  priest's  cap  aid  in  understanding  the  Scriptures  V 
I  reply  :  * '  As  much  as  the  knight's  mantle,  or  the  monk^s  cowl/ 
They  say :  *  Of  what  avail  are  philosophy  and  science  for  under- 
standing the  inspired  writings  ? '  I  reply :  '  And  how  much 
ignorance  ? '  They  say  :  '  Of  what  use  are  councils,  in  which 
not  one  member  perhaps  has  received  the  Holy  Ghost  V  I  reply : 
*  Or  your  conventicles,  in  which  very  likely  God's  gift  is  equally 
rare?'  The  apostles  would  not  have  been  believed  if  they  had 
not  proved  their  teaching  by  miracles ;  but  every  individual 
among  you  calling  himself  an  inheritor  of  the  truth  would  wish 
to  be  believed  upon  his  word.  When  the  apostles  fascinated 
serpents,  healed  the  sick,  and  raised  the  dead,  they  were  obliged 
to  believe  them,  although  they  preached  things  supernatural. 
And  among  those  doctors  who  have  told  us  so  many  marvels,  is 
there  even  one  who  could  have  cured  a  lame  horse  ?*  They  say  to 
me:  '  You  only  invoke  the  testimony  of  men ; '  but,  when  I  insist 
and  demand  upon  what  evidence  they  wish  me  to  judge  of  the 
truth  of  a  doctrine,  if  on  both  sides  I  hear  only  men's  voices,  they 
reply  :  *  By  the  evidence  of  the  Spirit ; '  and  when  I  continue  the 
interrogatory :  '  How  is  it  that  the  Spirit  has  been  wanting 
rather  to  those  whom  the  world  has  known  by  their  wondrous 
works,  than  to  the  disciples  of  the  new  gospel  V  they  would  wish  to 
make  me  believe  that  the  Gospel  has  not  been  preached  for  thirteen 
centuries  !  I  ask  for  a  doctrine  founded  upon  works.  They  tell 
me  that  faith  justifies,  and  not  works.  Give  me  miracles.  They 
are  useless,  there  have  been  enough,  there  is  no  need  of  them 
with  the  bright  light  of  the  Scriptures.  In  this  case  the  Scrip- 
tures are  not  veiy  clear,  since  I  see  so  many  men  wander  in 
darkness.  And  when  they  have  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  will 
prove  to  me  that  they  also  understand  his  word  ?  What  am  I  to 
believe,  when,  in  the  midst  of  these  contradictory  dogmas,  each 
pretends  to  dogmatic  infallibility,  sets  himself  up  as  an  oracle, 

'  "  Ist  noch  keiner  gewesen,  der  auch  nnr  ein  lahmes  Pferd  hatte  heilen 
konnen." — ^Menze),  1.  o. 

h2 


100  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEE. 

and^  on  his  own  private  judgment,  flies  in  the  face  of  the  teach- 
ing of  all  his  predecessors  ?  What !  is  it  credible,  that  during 
thirteen  centuries,  among  so  many  holy  individuals  whom  he  has 
given  to  the  Church,  God  has  never  raised  up  one  to  whom  he 
has  revealed  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  ?".... 

When,  at  the  present  day,  in  the  silence  of  our  closet,  we 
study  the  cases  debated  between  these  two  learned  men,  we 
sometimes  question  the  evidence  of  our  eyes,  and  imagine  that 
we  are  dreaming.  Two  priests  stand  before  us:  the  one, 
Luther,  who  has  studied  mankind  in  books ;  the  other^ 
Erasmus,  who  has  studied  him  in  the  works  of  creation.  The 
former  maintains  that  man  acts  by  the  impulse  of  fate,  like 
the  animal  whose  skin  covers  the  volume  over  which  the  monk 
has  grown  pale  ;  the  latter  acknowledges  that  freedom  of  action^ 
the  principle  of  all  that  he  has  found  of  the  beautiful  and  great 
in  the  life  of  the  nations  which  he  has  visited.  From  the  text 
of  Moses,  Exodus,  ch.  vii.  ver.  14,  Luther  concludes  that  God  has 
hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  ;  Erasmus  maintains  that  we 
must  not  hold  to  the  letter,  which  killeth,  but  raise  ourselves  to 
the  Spirit,  which  giveth  life  ;  and,  in  order  to  prove  that  the 
very  letter  itself  demonstrates  man's  freedom,  he  quotes  to  his 
opponent  the  passage  where  St.  Paul  recommends  the  creature  to 
work  out  his  own  salvation,  and  throw  o£f  the  old  Adam. 

Pressed  to  the  grave  of  his  dead  letter,  what  says  Luther  ?  "  If 
Paul,'"  says  he,  '^  speaks  so,  it  is  not  because  he  supposes  that  we 
can  ever  cast  off  the  old  Adam.  He  and  the  apostles  employ  it 
as  a  figure:  do  that,  if  you  can ;  but  you  cannot !  "^  Is  not  this 
arrant  nonsense ;  and  is  not  nonsense  on  such  a  subject  real 
blasphemy  ? 

Then  the  philosopher  resumes,  as  would  a  child :  "  But  are  we 
not,  then,  free  to  wish  ? "— "  No,"  replies  Luther  drily.  "  And 
if  we  perish,"  continues  Erasmus,  "the  fault,  then,  is  God's?" 
"  Doubtless  ;  but  we  distinguish,"  adds  Luther,  "  between  God's 
manifest  will,  which  says.  No ;  and  his  secret  will,  which  says, 
Yes :  and  it  is  this  secret  will  into  which  we  must  not  pry." 

When  Plank,  who  has  summed  up  the  whole  discussion 
with  singular  impartiality,  arrives  at  this  distinction  drawn  by 

^  De  Libero  Arbitrio  Diatribe  aea  CSoUatio. 


ERASMUS.  101" 

the  father  of  the  Keformation,   he  is  obliged  to  cover   his 

Erasmus's  work  is  a  theological  treatise  which  might  be  sup- 
posed to  have  proceeded  from  the  pen  of  one  of  those  monks 
who  formed  the  butt  of  his  ridicule ;  it  savours  of  the  com- 
mentator, the  disciple  of  Scotus,  and  very  little  of  the  man  of 
genius.  Erasmus  accumulates  texts,  is  involved  in  quotations, 
and  brings  into  the  field  a  whole  cohort  of  the  fathers: — St.  Basil, 
St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Cyril,  St.  John  Damascene,  Theophylact, 
TertuUian,  St.  Cyprian,  Amobius,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose, 
Si  Hilary,  the  schoolmen,  the  faculties  of  theology,  the  councils, 
the  doctors,  the  popes ;  that  is  to  say,  evidence  for  which  his 
adversary,  who  appealed  from  them  to  rationalism,  cared  not  a 
rush.  But  what  is  remarkable  in  this  discussion  is,  that  Luther 
was  obliged  to  make  use  of  his  opponent's  weapons  in  answering 
him,  and  summon  to  his  aid  both  divine  and  human  authority. 
Erasmus  was  still  the  same  character ;  he  impaired  his  work, 
already  so  feeble,  by  commonplace  compliments  to  his  opponent ; 
his  exordium  is  a  hymn  to  Luther,  which  roused  the  indig* 
nation  of  the  Sorbonne.  Erasmus  was  unwilling  that  Luther's 
error  on  free-will  should  shadow  the  truths  which  he  had  so 
piously  taught  as  to  the  love  of  God  and  the  inanity  of  mere 
works.  His  peroration  is  a  new  canticle  in  honour  of  his  rival. 
His  friends  were  scandalized.  The  prince  of  Carpi  wrote  to 
him  :  "  You  have  confounded  Luther  ! — what  skill,  what  intel- 
lect, what  genius  is  displayed  in  your  refutation  ! — how  copious 
your  style  and  evidence  ! — with  what  perspicuity  you  explain 
the  most  difficult  matters  !  But  I  have  one  complaint  to  make : 
you  treat  Luther  too  gently.  He  is  a  madman,  an  obstinate 
heretic  I  Your  praise  is  indecorous,  your  mildness  ridiculous  !  "* 
Jerome  Emser,  that  indefatigable  champion  of  Catholicism, 
translated  Erasmus's  book  into  German,  but  omitted  from  his 
version  the  eulogies  bestowed  on  the  Reformer.* 

»  Plank,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  pp.  118,  181. 

^  Beep,  ad  Erasmuin. — Hist.  Litt.  Ref.  part.  i.  p.  127« 

'  Seckendori^  lib.  i.  p.  812.  Emser  wrote  to  Erasmus :  "  At  tu  cunctando, 
ut  ingenub  tecum  agam,  suspectum  te  nobis  reddis.  Vide  igitnr,  ut  promisRum 
de  retiqu&  parte  arbitrii  persolvas." — ^Hermann  de  Hardt,  Hist.  Litt.  Refonnat« 
part  i.  p.  10. 


102  HISTORY  OF  LTJTHEK. 

The  "  Dresden  goat,"  as  Luther  called  Emseir,  saw,  no  doubt, 
that  these  perfumed  phrases,  which  Erasmus  slipped  so  adroitly 
into  the  exordium  and  peroration  of  his  book,  were  designed  to 
pacify  his  rival,  of  whose  irritable  temper  he  was  aware.  How 
poor  Erasmus  deceived  himself !  he  expected  a  few  grains  of 
incense,  which  he  flattered  himself  Luther  would  not  fsdl  to 
bum  in  honour  of  the  great  scholar  of  the  age. 

The  "Slave-Will,"*  Luther's  reply,  is,  like  everything  else 
proceeding  from  his  pen,  keen,  violent,  and  occasionally  coarse. 
Erasmus  is  represented  in  it  as  a  Pyrrhonist,  an  epicurean,  a 
blasphemer,  and  even  an  atheist ;  he  who  at  the  very  time  made 
a  vow  to  our  Lady  of  Loretto,  and  composed,  in  praise  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  hymns  which  the  archbishop  of  Besangon  in- 
serted in  his  liturgy.*  Luther's  "  Slave- Will "  ran  through  ten 
editions. 

Erasmus  deluded  himself  in  regard  to  the  power  of  his  name ; 
he  fancied  himself  in  the  height  of  his  former  fame  ;  he  therefore 
besought  the  elector  of  Saxony  to  punish  Luther's  insolence  ;  but 
his  letter,  which  ten  years  previously  Frederick  would  not  have 
exchanged  for  a  province,  was  unanswered.  He  thought  to 
revenge  himself  for  the  silence  of  Duke  John,  who  had  succeeded 
to  that  prince,  by  writing  to  Luther  himself,  who  also  took  no 
notice  of  his  epistle.  This  which  he  had,  nevertheless,  carefully 
eLiborated,  concluded  with  these  words :  "  I  would  wish  you  a 
better  disposition,  if  you  were  not  so  content  with  your  own.  You 
may,  in  your  turn,  wish  me  anything  you  please,  provided  that 
it  be  not  your  temper,  unless  you  have  changed  it."  These  con- 
ceits were  quite  thrown  away.* 

He  then  bethought  him  of  a  formal  reply  to  his  enemy's  Diar 
tribe.  He  accordingly  shut  himself  up  in  his  cell,  and  there, 
with  the  blue  waters  of  the  Rhine,  which  laved  his  garden, 
the  green  mountains  of  Jura,  and  those  flowers  in  which  Basle  is 
set  as  in  a  picture,  before  him,  he  1  iboured  for  ten  whole  days  i^ 
provoking  his  style,  as  one  would  a  lion  to  make  him  roar ;  but  all 
to  no  purpose.  He  had,  however,  taken  the  precaution  to  keep 
constantly  before  him  Luther's  polemical  writings,  in  order  that  he 


*  De  Seryo  Arbiirio  adverstis  Liberuxn  Arbitnum  ab  Ernsmo  defen^ura. 
^  CtUiisios.  ^  De  Burigny,  I,  c,  torn,  iu  p.  96. 


ERASMUS.  103 

might  borrow  some  irascible  similes  from  them  ;  but,  in  spite  of 
all  his  efforts,  his  work  was  a  mere  effort,  without  fancy,  energy, 
or  fluency.  It  was  necessary  that  this  painfully-produced  volume 
should  appear  at  the  Frankfort  fair.  Froben,  the  printer,  of 
Basle,  to  whom  either  faith  was  indifferent  when  business  was 
concerned,  put  six  presses  at  the  service  of  Erasmus.  Accord- 
ingly, the  "Hyperaspites"^  appeared  alongside  of  Luther's  Dia- 
tribes at  Frankfort  They  met  with  a  good  sale,  and  were  severely 
criticised.  Melancthon  ridiculed  them;^  Luther  compared  them 
to  the  hissing  of  a  viper.*  Then  Erasmus,  disenchanted,  ex- 
claimed :  "  Such  is  my  reward  !  Had  I  done  nothing,  I  would 
not  write  a  single  word  to-day."* 

A  letter  from  Melancthon  to  Camerarius,  which  soon  spread 
over  Germany,  in  some  degree  alleviated  Erasmus's  annoyance. 
Melancthon  wrote  thus :  "  Luther  makes  me  many  enemies, 
without  my  having  deserved  it.  Am  I  not  accused  of  having 
written  several  pages,  and  those  the  most  virulent,  of  his  book 
against  Erasmus?  I  suffer  in  silence.  Would  to  God  that 
Luther  had  said  nothing :  unhappily,  age  and  experience  only 
make  him  more  violent ;  this  pains  me."^ 

Misfortune  is  sacred,  especially  when  it  affects  men  like 
Erasmus,  at  the  time  when,  after  having  left  all  the  excitement 
of  life,  they  see  themselves  deprived  of  their  glory  as  they 
approach  the  grave.  The  "  Hyperaspites  "  may  be  regarded  as 
a  last  will  and  testament.  In  perusing  it,  the  heart  is  wrung  in 
contemplating  all  the  sufferings  of  Erasmus  in  his  affections,  his 
vanity,  and  his  hopes  ;  all  the  contests  which,  when  old  and 
infirm,  he  has  to  enter  into  with  a  young  and  ardent  spirit ;  and 
all  the  laurels  which  the  world  decreed  to  him,  which  he  will 
not  bear  with  him  to  the  tomb,  but  see  transferred  one  by  one  to 
the  head  of  his  adversary  !  When  we  think  that,  to  the  title 
of  "  restorer  of  learning,"  Erasmus  might  have  added  that  of 
"  defender  of  Catholic  unity  ; "  that  he  refused  to  arrest  or  con- 
fine the  difiusion  of  Protestantism  ;  to  preserve  to  Germany  its 


*  Hyperaspites,  Diatribe  adyersts  Servum  Arbitrium  Martini  Luiheri. 

*  £p.  Camenurio,  lib.  iv.  '  Seckendorf,  lib.  ii.  §  32 

*  Ep.  Carpi. 

^  Epist.  Melanchth.  28,  lib.  y.    De  Burigni,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  98. 


10^!  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

ancient  faith  and  national  liberties  ;  to  prevent  the  wars  which 
drained  its  blood,  the  sacrilegious  devastations  of  its  churches 
and  their  images,  and  the  ruin  of  authority,  we  are  tempted  to 
upbraid  him  with  having  deserted  the  line  of  duty  prescribed  to 
him  by  Providence.  In  this  voluntary  shipwreck  of  Erasmus, 
at  least  there  is  this  consolation,  that  he  did  not  abandon  the 
religion  of  his  fathers,  although  he  has  been  accused  of  it.^  The 
following  lines,  which  shortly  before  his  death  he  traced  with 
failing  hand  in  his  ''  Hyperaspites,"  happily  prove  the  possibility 
of  an  alliance  between  feith  and  genius : — 

^'  Before  God  who  hears  me,  and  from  whose  wrath  I  cannot 
escape,  if  I  have  ever  wittingly  sinned,  I  desire  that  all  who 
have  received  baptism  should  know  that  I  no  less  believe  the 
silent  words  of  Scripture  than  if  Christ  himself  were  now  speak* 
ing  to  me  with  his  own  lips  ;  and  that  I  have  no  more  doubt  of 
these  material  signs  than  of  what  I  hear  with  my  ears,  see  with 
my  eyes,  or  touch  with  my  hands :  and  as  I  believe  that  the 
Gospel  has  fulfilled  all  the  figures  of  the  law  and  the  predictions  of 
the  prophets,  I  believe  in  the  promises  of  the  Sjecond  advent  It  . 
is  this  lively  faith  which  assists  me  to  support  pains  and  insults, 
sickness,  old  age,  and  all  the  reverses  of  life ;  which  cheers  me, 
and  makes  me  trust  in  divine  mercy  and  life  etemaL  I  do  not 
think  that  I  have  willingly  doubted  ojae  single  word  of  Christ ; 
I  would  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths  than  touch  one  iota  of 
the  Oospel  text ;  in  God  is  all  my  hope,  in  the  Gospel  all  my 

joy." 

''  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  is  no  more,"  said  Luther  at  table  ; 
"  be  was  a  writer  who  had  every  opportunity  of  rendering  service 
to  literature,  for  his  life  passed  away  without  conflicts  or  disap- 
pointments. He  lived  and  died  without  God,  in  all  tnaiquillity 
of  conscience.     At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  asked  neither  for 


*  Tl^e  c^non  De  Bam  published  at  BrasselB,  in  1842,  a  pamphlet,  in  8yo., 
entitled  Particulars  of  the  Besidence  of  Erasmus  at  ^asle,  and  of  the  Last 
Moments  of  that  celebrated  Man.  The  learned  author  quotes  a  letter  from 
the  MS.  collection  in  the  imperial  library  at  Vienna  (Opuscula  Polemica  Var. 
Cod.  MS.  N.  cxci.  O.  1.  445,  folio),  which  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  religious 
sentiments  entertained  by  Erasmus  at  the  time  of  his  death  (see  pp.  10 — 18). 
For  some  years  past  Belgium  has  been  enriched  with  excellent  philological 
works  by  M.  de  Bam,  N^ve,  and  others. 

Louvain  remembers  the  high  position  which  it  held  in  literature  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteeoth  century  ;  and  its  former  failie  begins  to  revive, 


THE   BIBLE.  105 

priest  nor  sacrament ;  and^  when  about  to  breathe  his  last  sigh, 
said,  *  Son  of  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  ! '  Perhaps  this  excla- 
mation attributed  to  him  is  a  lie  :  did  he  not  study  at  Rome  ?^ 
If  for  ten  thousand  gilders,  I  would  not  take  Jerome's  place  in 
the  next  world,  for  many  more  I  would  not  that  of  Erasmus/"^ 

This  wrath  towards  a  corpse  not  yet  cold  ;  this  outrage  on  one 
of  the  glories  of  Catholicism ;  this  calumny  on  the  memory  of 
a  rival,  and  cruel  play  upon  words  on  the  soul  of  one  of  his 
brethren  in  Jesus  Christ ;  all  issued  at  once  from  the  breast  of 
Luther ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LITERAEY  LABOURS.— THE  BIBLE. 

At  WaribnTg  Luther  labonn  to  reduce  to  order  the  elements  of  his  doctrine. 
— The  German  Bible. — Account  of  the  Doctor's  version. — ^The  excitement 
which  it  creates. — Emser  criticises  Luther's  translation. — ^The  opinion  of 
Germany  in  regard  to  it. — Blunders  which  he  made. — ^The  Catholic  Church 
had  translated  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular  before  Luther. — She  has  never 
concealed,  as  she  has  been  charged  with  doing,  God's  word ;  and  wherefore  t 
— Dangers  which  the  revealed  word  would  run,  if  the  Church  did  not  watch 
over  the  deposit  of  the  truths  of  the  fiuth. — Protestant  commentaiy. — 
Agrioola. 

At  Wartburg,  Luther  employed  himself  in  founding  a  dogmatic 
rule,  by  which  in  future  Protestants  might  be  known.    The  Catho- 

1  Luther  did  not  wait  for  the  death  of  Erasmus.  In  1526  he  published 
against  the  philosopher  a  letter  iull  of  calumnies,  in  which  he  tried  to  prove 
that  the  philosopher  had  only  sought  to  establish  paganism  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Christian  religion.  This  letter  Erasmus  refuted. —Erasmus  ad  calum- 
niosissimam  Epistolam  Lutheri.     AnnaL  Sculteti,  p,  197. 

'  **  Ich  woUte  nioht  zehn  Tausend  Gulden  nehmen,  und  in  der  Ge&hr  stehen, 
ftir  unserm  Herm  Gott,  da  St.  Hieronymus  inne  stehet,  viel  weniger  darinne 
Btehet  Erasmus."— Hsch-Beden,  p.  418. 

Luther  parodied  against  Erasmus  two  lines  of  Virgil : 

"  Qui  Satanam  non  odit,  amet  tua  carmina,  Erasme, 
Atque  idem  jungat  Furias  et  mulgeat  Orcum." 

The  following  works  may  be  consulted  with  reference  to  Erasmus :  Adolf 
Muller,  Leben  des  Erasmus  von  Kotterdam  ;  Hamburg,  1828,  8vo. ;  Das  Leben 
dee  fiirtrefflichen  Erasmi  von  Rotterdam,  abge&sset  von  Knight,  ins  Deutsche 
ttbersetzt  von  Theodore  Arnold :  Leipsic,  1736,  12mo.  ;  Burscher,  Spicil. ; 
Hottinger,  Hist.  Eccles.  torn.  vi. ;  Melchior  Adam,  in  Vit&  Erasmi ;  Strobel, 
Misoell.  Litt. ;  Les  Propos  de  Table  de  Martin  Luther,  traduits  par  M.  Gus- 
tavo Brunet:  Paris,  1844,  12mo.  pp.  845 — 848;  Hoeninghaus,  in  the  first 
volume  of  La  R^forroe  cootre  la  R^formQi  8vo.  1$45, 


106  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

lies  reproaclied  him  with  his  constant  shifting  of  doctrines.  They 
ridiculed  those  capricions  fancies,  which  even  his  own  disciples 
could  not  apprehend  or  put  in  shape,  and  which  Emser  justly 
compared  to  the  strange  figures  which  the  waves  are  ever  making 
on  the  sand.  They  accordingly  asked  those  who  sought  to  tempt 
their  faith,  to  give  them  a  confession  in  which  the  creed  of  their 
master  was  contained.  Luther  felt  that  he  must  build  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  old  Church  that  New  Jerusalem  which  he  announced 
to  mankind,  and  that  it  was  not  with  faith  es  with  learning,  of 
which  the  conquests  are  indefinite,  and  the  progress  incessant 
Day  and  night  he  elaborated  his  creed  at  Wartjburg.  With  this 
view  he  composed  several  treatises^  in  which  are  set  forth  very 
explicitly  those  fundamental  points  of  Protestantism,  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken.  They  are :  his  treatise  on  the  abroga- 
tion of  private  masses,^  addressed  to  his  brother  Augustinians  ; 
that  on  monastic  vows,^  dedicated  to  his  father  Hans,  in  which, 
abstracting  from  it  what  pertains  to  dogma,  there  is  an  efiusion 
of  filial  piety  which  does  honour  to  Luther's  heart ;  his  pam- 
phlets against  Ambrose  Gatharinus,  in  which  he  sets  himself  to 
prove  from  the  Scriptures  that  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse  lives 
and  reigns  in  Rome  ;'  lastly,  commentaries  upon  forty  verses  of 
David  (Psalm  xxxvi.),  to  keep  up  the  courage  of  the  flock  at 
Wittemberg.*  In  these  also,  if  we  can  forget  how  the  theologian 
twists  the  text  of  the  royal  poet  to  suit  his  views, — to  find  in  it 
menaces  against  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  represented  by  the  pope 
and  the  cardinals,  or  arms  against  Emser,  who;  like  a  real 
spectre,  always  presents  himself  in  his  way, — ^it  is  very  difficult 
not  to  admire  the  art  with  which  the  writer  welds  his  thoughts 


•  Vom  AGssbrauche  der  Messe :  Wittenberg,  1522.  Luther,  De  AbrogandA 
MiBsA  PrivatA,  assigned  by  Olearius  to  1521,  but  which  did  not  appear  until 
the  beginning  of  January,  15i2,  as  is  shown  by  Spalatinus'  correspondence. 

•  An  Hans  Luther,  21  November,  1521.  It  is  the  preface  of  the  treatise, 
De  Votis  Monasticis  M.  Lutheri  Judicium  :  Wittemb.  1521.  Jonas  translated 
it  into  German,  with  the  title,  Von  den  geistlichen  und  Kloeter-Gelubden, 
Martini  Luther's  Urtbeil. 

'  Contrk  Amb.  Catharinum,  sive  ReveUitio  Antichristi. 

•  Der  sechs  und  dreissigste  Psalm  des  konigl.  Propheten  Davids,  den  Zom 
und  Unmuth  zu  stiUen,  in  der  Anfechtung  der  Gleissner  und  Muthwilligen. 
This  frequently  admirable  paraphrase  of  the  sacred  writer,  addressed  to  the 
Christians  of  Wittemberg,  appeared  with  the  altered  title  of  Der  seohs  und 
dreissigste  Psalm  Davids  einen  christlichen  Menschen  zu  ebren  un  trosteo, 
wider  die  MUtterei  der  bosen  und  freveln  Gleissner. 


THE   BIBLE.  107 

Kith  thode  of  the  Psalmist.  His  latigaage  is  impressed  Trith 
oriental  imagery,  and,  fix>m  the  intimate  fasion  of  two  styles 
that  reflect  each  other,  seems  to  live  and  move  by  the  same 
inspiration. 

But  of  all  his  works, — ^that  at  which  he  laboured  with  most 
application,  because  it  was  to  have  the  greatest  influence  on  the 
destiny  of  the  Reformation, —  his  favourite  work,  his  incon- 
testable glory, — ^was  the  translation  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  into 
the  vulgar  tongue.*  For  the  sane  or  insane,  rich  or  poor,  high 
or  low,  whom  he  constituted  with  equal  titles  the  interpreters  of 
the  revealed  word,  a  book  which  thenceforward  should  have  no 
mystery  of  language  was  required.  As  he  had  destroyed  the 
priesthood,  or,  rather,  as  he  had  incarnated  it  in  the  human 
being,  the  man-priest  should  possess  the  charter  in  which  his 
apostleship  was  written  by  the  hand  of  God.  To  the  intract- 
able miDd,  which  feeds  on  illusions,  and  loses  itself  in  proud 
thoughts  or  ecstatic  raptures,  like  those  of  Munzer  and  Storch  ; 
to  the  dreamer,  hallucinated  like  Garlstadt ;  to  the  vacillating, 
like  Didymus  ;  to  the  simple,  like  the  Anabaptists,  Luther  had 
said :  "  There  is  the  Book  of  Life  ;  it  is  no  longer  veiled  or 
obscure  to  you ;  you  are  the  judges  of  the  meaning  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  you  are  to  translate  it,  whether  God  has  given  you  the 
rare  gift  of  interpretation  or  not ! "  Astonishing  !  at  the  very 
moment  that  he  speaks  thus,  he  himself,-^Luther, — ^who  had 
read  and  studied  the  Bible  all  his  life,  demands  a  new  explanation 
of  a  verse  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  which  seems  at  first 
as  clear  as  the  sun :  '^  Alioqui  filii  vestri  immundi  essent,  nunc 
autem  sancti  sunt  :"^ — Otherwise  your  children  should  be  unclean, 

m    

'  Fred.  Mayeri,  Hist.  Vers.  Germ.  Bibl.  Lutheri,  pp.  4—7. 

'  "  Volo  enim  scire  nt  tract&ris  illnd,  X  Corinth,  vii.  etc.  Num  de  solia 
adaltis  ant  de  sanctitate  oarnis  iotelligi  velisT" — Melanchthoni,  13  Jan.  1521. 
In  a  letter  to  Amsdorf,  Luther  admits  that,  in  attempting  to  translate  tho 
Bible,  he  has  nndertalcen  a  work  beyond  his  strength,  and  that  jt  is  very 
difiScnIt  to  interpret  the  Latin  text.  Different  texts  are  qaoted  there :  Ist, 
**  Dormiunt  cum  patribus  suis/'  in  speaking  of  the  souls  of  the  just ;  and 
2nd,  "  Virum  injustum  mala  capient  in  interitu,"  of  the  Psalmist,  which  the 
Keformer  cannot  comprehend,  and  to  which  he  gives  a  sense  quite  difierent^ 
from  Amsdorf.  It  is  there  that,  after  admitting  his  insufficient  knowledge  to 
translate  several  passages  of  the  sacred  books,  he  appeals  against  the  prophets 
of  Zwickau  to  Scripture.  "  Let  them  not  trouble  you,"  says  he  ;  "  to  confound 
them  you  have  Deuteronomy  xiii.  and  the  firdt  verse  of  St.  .John,  ch.ip.  v." 
Kow  these  prophets,  Nicholas  fcJtorgh,  Mark  Stubuer,  M,  Cellarius,  aud  Thomas 


108  HISTORY   OP  LDTHER. 

but  now  they  axe  holy.  And  yet,  at  the  same  time,  he  thinks 
himself  entitled  to  laugh  at  the  mad  inspirations  of  Garlstadt  or 
Munzer.  But  if  the  Spirit  was  communicated  to  Munzer  or 
Garlstadt,  it  was  because  both  had  read  the  sacred  word  in  a 
volume,  the  immutable  characters  of  which  feared  no  longer  the 
rust  of  time,  or  the  equally  corrupting  fancies  of  criticism.  The 
Gospel  requires  a  dead  language.  Alas  !  for  that  book,  if  it  is 
to  be  understood  by  means  of  imagery  as  changeable  as  dress, 
which  is  altered  at  each  transformation  of  mankind,  and  follows 
all  the  laws  of  material  progression.  Authority  watchea  in  vain 
over  the  destiny  of  the  revealed  word,  as  over  the  precepts  which 
it  contains  ;  that  word,  which  God  has  given  us  for  our  salva- 
tion, is  only  a  capricious  and  lying  guide.  With  a  dead  language, 
which  has  ceased  to  be  in  common  use,  the  word  of  the  Spirit  is 
like  the  holy  ark  floating  over  the  waves  which  cannot  reach  it. 
Therefore  it  is  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  preserved  the  Latin 
language  in  her  liturgy.  Every  living  language  follows  the 
human  condition  of  the  people  who  use  it ;  and  there  is  no 
nation  that  will  not  some  day  die.  Marot,  in  his  time,  attempted, 
amid  the  applause  of  his  co-religionists,  to  stitch  on  the  psalms 
some  tinsel,  which  wafl  then  styled  verse  ;  *  a  wretched  poetry,  now 
so  faded,  that  we  know  not  what  to  call  it :  it  is  the  carcase  of 
which  Bossuet  speaks. 

The  Latin  Bible  was  an  assemblage  of  characters  which 
required  an  interpreter.  Now,  according  to  Luther,  the  man- 
priest  ought  to  be  his  own  expositor.  He  therefore  translated  it 
in  language  intelligible  to  all  who  could  read,  and  he  said  again, 
"  Take  and  read  it."  But  his  own  translation  was,  sooner  or 
later,  to  become  antiquated. 

Imagine  for  an  instant  Marot  translating  the  words  of  Christ 
in  the  Gospel,  or  St.  Paul  in  the  Apostles,  without  the  aid  of  the 
muse,  if  you  choose,  and  see  whether  the  language  of  the  New 


Manzer,  who  had  separated  from  the  Heformer,  predsely  taught  their  doctrines 
from  the  Bible.— Amsdorf,  13  Jan.  1522. 

^  ^'^Qui  habitat  in  ocbUs  irridebit  eos,  et  Dominns  subsanabit  eos." — Psal. 
"  Mais  oestny  Ik  qui  les  hauts  deux  habite, 
Ne  s'en  fera  que  rlre  de  Ik  haut. 
Le  Tout-Puissant  de  leur  fa^on  despite 
Se  moquera,  car  d'eux  il  ne  lui  chaut." 

Marot. 


THE   BIBLE.  109 

Testament  would  not  be  in  our  days  most  difficult  to  be  under- 
stood ;  if  it  were  to  reach  us  without  a  commentary,  whether  it 
would  not  be  truly  a  myth,  and  frequently  inexplicable,  until 
some  modem  translation  should  replace  that  which  time  had 
caused  no  longer  to  be  understood  ;  a  fresh  emblem,  which  per- 
haps would  not  survive  the  artist  who  had  discovered  it 

The  idiom  which  Luther  employed  was  pliant  and  docile, 
serving  all  his  caprices  and  fancies ;  this  old  Saxon  German,  so 
masculine  and  attractive ;  the  language  of  Hermann,  which  had 
never  yielded  to  the  Roman  sword ;  the  only  one,  perhaps,  which 
could  be  employed  to  advantage  in  translating  the  sacred  text,  has 
inveterated  and  experienced  the  lot  of  every  human  tongue.  This 
translation  of  the  Bible  is,  however,  a  noble  literary  monument ; 
a  vast  undertaking,  which  would  seem  to  defy  a  man's  life, 
but  which  Luther  effected  in  the  space  of  a  few  years.  Although 
the  critic  may  censure  him  for  having  commenced  this  labour 
with  so  imperfect  a  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew,  which  he  only  had 
studied  seriously  while  in  his  retirement  at  Wartburg,^  the  poet 
will  often  praise  this  version,  wherein  the  sacred  muse  lives 
natural  and  melodious,  as  in  the  original.  It  is  certain  that 
Luther's  translation  brings  the  original  before  us  with  a  sim- 
plicity which  touches  the  heart,  and,  as  occasion  requires,  is 
stamped  with  a  lyrical  pomp,  and  subject  to  the  artist's  modi- 
fications ;  simple  in  the  narrative  of  the  patriarch,  elevated  with 
the  royal  prophet,  familiar  with  the  evangelists,  gentle  and  collo- 
quial in  the  epistles  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul,  Imagery 
throughout  follows  imagery ;  and  it  is  firequently  light  for  light, 
and  flame  for  flame.  To  this  is  added  that  perfume  of  antiquity 
which  Luther's  language  carries  with  it,  and  which  charms  like 
the  dark  tints  which  we  see  in  the  engravings  of  the  old  German 
masters. 

We  need  not,  then,  be  astonished  at  the  enthusiasm  excited  in 
Saxony  by  this  translation,  which  Luther  did  not  in  the  first  in- 
stance publish  complete,  but  merely  the  New  Testament,  the  most 
marvellous  portion  of  the  inspired  volume.  To  both  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  who  regarded  this  work  as  an  honour  conferred 
on   their  national  idiom,   it  was  indeed  a  curious  novelty  to 

*  See  Richard  Simon,  in  hid  Histoire  Critique  da  Nouvean  Testament, 
book  ii.  ch.  xxiii. 


110  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

observe  the  ancient  Saxon  reflecting,  as  in  a  faithful  mirror,  the 
various  beauties  of  the  original  text.  The  learned  were  espe- 
cially delighted  :  in  their  opinion,  this  translation  restored  their 
language  to  a  position  wherein  it  might  vie  with  all  the  oriental 
languages.  They  called  it  a  wonder;^  his  disciples,  a  miracle, 
—  an  inspiration  from  heaven.*  The  press,  then  directed  by 
printers  who  had  followed  the  national  movement,  and  were 
bound  to  it  by  their  own  interest,  sent  forth  the  monk's  master- 
work  with  an  elegance  and  beauty  of  type  previously  unknown, 
and  which  is  still  at  the  present  day  an  object  of  admiration. 
Hans  Lufit  cast  a  fount  expressly  for  it,  and  threw  off  nearly 
three  thousand  sheets  daily.  From  1537  to  1574,  one  hundred 
thousand  German  Bibles  were  printed  in  Saxony.'  Engraving, 
likewise,  came  into  its  service ;  but  as  it  could  not  be  combined 
with  printing  at  a  time  when  so  fierce  a  war  was  waged  against 
images,  it  ornamented  the  wooden  boards  of  the  volume  with 
scrolls,  arabesques,  flowers,  and  &ntastic  figures,  frequently 
designed  by  Lucas  Granach  or  Albert  Ducer.  Luther's  New 
Testament  accordingly  became  a  fashionable  book,  to  be  found 
at  that  time  even  on  the  toilet  of  ladies,  who  were  seized  with 
a  rage  for  Luther's  Bible.  They  carried  it  with  them  in  their 
walks,  read  and  commented  on  it  with  a  fervour  quite  ascetio, 
and  upheld  its  text,  says  Cochlseus,  against  priests,  monks, 
doctors  in  theolc^,  and  Catholic  magistrates,  whom  they  taxed 
with  gross  ignorance,^  and  called  envious,  as  knowing  nothing 
of  the  Scriptures,  or  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  or  Latin,  which  Luther 
alone  understood  !  The  Reformer  has  praised  the  zeal  of 
Argula,^  who  offered  to  dispute  in  public  upon  the  Scriptures, 
either  in  Latin  or  in  German.  "  Christ,"  said  she,  "  did  not 
disdain  to  speak  on  religious  topics  with  Magdalene  and  another 

'  Mathes.  Comm.  13,  De  Lath.     Florimond  de  B^ond,  book  i.  ch.  zt. 

■  Georges  d'Anhalt. 

'  Geoi^.  Zeltner,  Abr^g^  de  la  Vie  de  Hans  Lufit,  pp.  55,  h^,  J.  A.  Fabri- 
cius,  Cent.  Lath.  pp.  621,  622. 

^  "  Ut  non  soltim  cum  laicis  partis  CathoHcse,  yerbm  etiam  cum  saoerdotibufl, 
et  monacbis  atque  cum  magistria  diaputare  non  embeacerent.  .  .  .  £t  quidem 
procacissim^  insultantes  ignorantiamque  improperanteB :  id  quod  de  nobili 
quAdam  muliere  compertum  habetur." 

*  Seckendorj^  Comm.  de  Luth.  lib.  i.  §  126. 


THE   BIBLE.  HI 

poor  Samaritan  woman,  or  St.  Jerome  to  correspond  with  females. 
Shame  on  those  who  dare  to  question  the  accuracy  of  Luther's 
version  !  The  doctor's  language  is  a  divine  inspiration ;  and 
even  were  he  to  desert  it,  I  should  defend  and  support  if 

Catholicism  was  watching  over  the  sacred  deposit  of  the  faith. 
At  the  time  when  Protestant  Germany  received  this  translation 
of  the  New  Testament,  a  man  appeared  with  whom  the  Reformer 
had  become  acquainted  by  the  castigation  which  he  had  received 
from  him  ;  this  was  '^  that  goat''^  whom  Luther  entreated  Qod 
to  remove  from  his  path:  the  "goat"  was  waiting  for  him. 
Emser  kept  his  eye  upon  liis  enemy,  ready  at  the  least  signal  to 
engage  in  another  contest.  That  was  a  sharp  on&  Emser  took 
the  new  version,  dissected  the  preface,  where  the  milk  of  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  was  so  cleverly  concealed,  discovered  the 
poison  of  the  marginal  notes,  where  the  doctor  spoke  with  the 
authority  of  a  father  of  the  Church,  and  imposed  on  the  reader 
an  explanation  preferable  to  that  of  the  Septuagint.  Emser 
exposed,  without  asperity,  but  with  great  force  of  truth  and 
learning,  the  systematic  corruptions  of  the  text.  Luther  had  to 
deal  with  a  scholar  versed  in  Greek  and  Hebrew,  as  well  as 
general  erudition.  He  lost  his  temper,  and  again  summoned  to 
his  aid  those  impertinent  epithets  which  no  language  like  the 
German  affords  in  such  plenty.  Emser  is  represented  as  a  wild 
ass,  a  blockhead,  a  pedant,  a  basilisk,  and  a  pupil  of  Satan. 
The  learned  did  not  laugh  at  these  invectives  as  they  did 
before;  they  were  even  so  bold  as  to  ridicule  the  Reformer, 
when  they  saw  him  revise  his  work,  and  correct  many  of  the 
gross  inaccuracies  which  his  adversary  had  pointed  out,^  pro* 
fessing  all  the  while  his  haughty  contempt  for  those  papistical 
asses  who  were  unworthy  to  judge  his  book.*  **  It  is  A,  vrretched 
work,''  said  Emser,  "  in  which  the  text  is  falsified  in  every  page, 
and  in  which  we  can  reckon  more  than  a  thousand  altera- 


'  Emser  bore  a  goat  in  his  blazon. 

'  "  Ipsum  non  pauca  de  quibns  in  notis  snis  litigat  Emseros  mntAsse;  sup- 
pleviflse,  aut  que  per  errorem  irrepserant  sostoliBse." — Seckendorf,  Oomm.  ae 
Luth.  lib.  i.  sect.  lu.  §  122. 

^  "  Asinos  pontifidos  non  cnro.  Indigni  enim  sunt  qai  de  laboribna  meis 
Jndicent."— Seckendorf,  Comm.  de  Luth.  lib.  i.  sect.  lii.  §  127,  p.  240. 


112  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHER. 

tions."^     ''  It  is  one  in  which  Lather  HgJIs  at  every  step/' 
added  Bucer.* 

Time  has  done  justice  to  Emser;  Lather's  translation  is 
now  looked  apon  in  Germany  as  faulty  and  insufficient ;  the  Old 
Testament  as  incomprehensible  by  the  faithful ;'  the  epistles  as 
obscure  ;*  the  version  so  full  of  error,*  that  in  1836  some  con- 
sistories expressed  a  wish  that  it  should  be  entirely  revised.^ 

1  "  Hunc  fer^  libris,  singalisque  prop^  capitibus,  Biblia  falsftsBe  ac  fei^  xnille 
errorea  hsBreticoB,  mendaciaque  oooultavisse." — Jer.  Emser.  in 


'  **  Lutberi  lapsus  in  yertendis,  ezplanandisque  soriptnris  manifestos  < 
nee  pancoB." — ^Bucer.  Dial,  contrlb  Meubnchth. 

Some  of  the  errors  exposed  by  Emser  were,  in  Psalm  czriii.  t.  112 :  "In- 
clinavit  oor  meum  ad  faciendas  jusiificationes  iuas  in  sternum,"  Luther  had 
omitted  "  propter  retribntionem.*' 

In  the  Epistle  of  St.  John  he  has  omitted  the  7th  yerse :  ''Tree  sunt  qui 
testimonium/'  etc. 

In  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans,  ch.  iii.  yer.  26,  "  Arbitramur  hominem  justi- 
ficari  perfidem  sine  operibus;"  he  has  added  '^solam."  To  those  who,  like 
Emser,  complained  of  that  addition,  Luther  replied :  "  Si  papista  se  morosum 
et  difficilem  probere  yult  de  yoce  told  statim  die :  Papista  et  asinus  eadem  res 
est :  Sic  yolo,  sic  jubeo,  sit  pro  ratione  yoluntas."  He  adds,  in  the  Altenburg 
edition  of  hie  works :  "  Ck>ntendunt  papistsB  solam  fidem  charitate  formatam 
justificare.  Hie  debemus  ropugnare  et  totis  viribus  nos  opponere :  hie  nullis 
cedero  debemus  nee  latum  unguem,  nee  coBlestibus  angelis,  nee  inferorum 
portis,  nee  Bauoto  Paulo,  nee  centum  imperatoribus,  neo  mille  papis,  nee  totl 
mundo,  et  hisc  sit  mea  tessera  ao  Bymbolum.** 

In  1  Cor.  ch.  ix.  yer.  5,  "  Nunquid  non  habemus  potestatem  mulierem  for- 
tem  cireumducendi,"  he  adds,  "in  uzorem.'' 

In  Psalm  Ixxy.  yer.  12,  **  Yoyite  et  roddite  Domino  Deo  yestro,"  he  trans- 
lates, "  Habete  Dominum  pro  Deo  yestro." 

In  Proy.  eh.  xxxi.  yer.  10,  "  Mulierem  fortem  quis  inyeniet,"  he  puts  in  the 
margin,  "  Nihil  melihs  est  in  terrft  amore  mulierum,  si  heo  son  obtingat  alicui, 
ut  eo  possint  frui." 

In  Acts,  ch.  xix.  yer.  18,  "  Multique  credentium  yeniebant  confitentes  et 
annuntiantes  actus,"  he  writes,  "Yeniebant  et  annuntiabant  quid  quisque 
eorum  negotiatus  esset." 

Osiander  asserts  that  Luther  has  interpreted  many  passages  of  the  Soripturea 
most  fidsely  and  deceptively. 

'  Neue  deutsche  Bibliothek,  torn.  ziii.  p.  827. 

*  Seruensee,  AUgemeine  deutsche  Bibliothek,  tom.  Ixzyi.  p.  60. 

*  Ck)n8iBtorialrath  Horstig's  neue  deutsche  Bibliothek,  tom.  xiii.  p.  66.  See 
Geschichte  der  deutschen  Bibel-Uebersetzung  Dr.  Martin  Luther's :  Leipsig, 
Kohler,  1886,  yon  Heinrich  Schott. 

*  Luther  was  assisted  in  his  translation  by  Melancthon  (to  Spalatinus,  1522). 
He  first  published  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew ;  then  that  of  St.  Mark,  the  Epistle 
to  the  Bomans,  and  finally  the  other  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
was  then  published  complete  in  September,  1522.  Towards  the  end  of  No- 
yember,  1522,  he  began  to  translate  the  Old  Testament,  with  extraordinary 
ardour.  In  January  of  the  following  year  he  published  the  books  of  Moaes, 
which  he  had  sent  to  press  in  the  preceding  December  (to  Spalatinus,  2  Noy.). 
Job,  commenced  in  1524,  occasioned  him  much  difficulty :  ''  It  would  seem," 


THE   BIBLE.  113 

Protestants  accuse  the  Catholics  of  having  concealed  the  word 
of  God  until  the  advent  of  Luther.  That  a  writer  like  M.  de 
Villers  should  dare  to  assert  in  prints  "  that  to  translate  the 
Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue  would  have  been  an  audacity 
deserving  of  death,"  surprises  us  beyond  everything;  for  had 
not  Bossuet  said,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Variations,"  "  We  had 
similar  versions  for  the  use  of  Catholics  centuries  preceding  the 
Keformation?"  Is  the  language  of  the  bishop  of  Meaux  to  be 
despised  ?  John  Lefevre  d'Etaples,  in  fact,  had  published,  in 
1523,  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  on  which  he  was  engaged 
before  even  Luther's  name  was  known  in  France.*  Previous  to 
M.  de  Villers,  Seckendorf  wrote,  that  German  translations  of  the 
Bible  had  appeared  at  Wittemberg  in  1477,  1483,  and  1490, 
and  at  Augsburg  in  1518.^  Entirely  prepossessed  with  the  honour 
of  Germany,  M.  de  Villers  is  never  tempted  to  glance  at  other 
countries  to  study  their  intellectual  movement.  Had  he  been 
acquainted  with  Italy,  he  would  have  seen  that  she  anticipated 
other  nations  in  elucidating  the  sacred  text.  Jacobus  de  Voragine, 
bishop  of  Genoa,  and  author  of  the  ^'  Golden  Legend,"  translated 
the  Bible  into  Italian  about  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
nearly  at  the  same  time  when  Dante  wrote.  At  Venice,  about 
1421,  Nicolo  Malermi  or  Malerbi,  a  Camaldulensian  monk, 
translated  the  word  of  God'  so  successfully,  that  his  version  was 
reprinted  nine  times  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  nearly  twenty 
times  in  the  succeeding  one.^     Another  monk,  Guido,  translated 


he  said  to  SpalatiDUB,  "  tliat  the  wnter  did  not  wish  that  he  should  ever  he 
traoslated."  The  Prophets  appeared  in  1 527  (to  LanguB,  4  Feh.) ;  Isaias  in 
1528.  In  1580  his  translation  was  finished.  It  was  revised  and  corrected 
SQCcesfdvely  in  1541  and  1545. — Seckendorf,  Comm.  de  Luther,  lih,  i.  sect.  U. 
§  125,  126,  p.  204.  In  the  library  at  Wittemberg  is  a  copy  of  tiie  original 
edition  of  Lutber*8  New  Testament,  with  this  title :  Das  Newe  Testament 
denttch :  Wittenberg,  folio,  without  the  names  of  translator  or  printer,  and 
without  date. 

*  John  d'Etaples,  vicar-general  of  Meauz,  has  been  suspected  of  a  leaning 
to  the  reformed  doctrines ;  but  it  is  very  certain  that  he  was  engaged  on  his 
translation  long  before  he  lent  an  ear  to  Luther's  novelties. 

*  Seckendorf,  Comm.  de  Luther,  lib.  i.  sect.  li.  §  125,  p.  204. 

'  Fontanini,  Delhi  Eloq.  Ital.  p.  673.  Another  translation  of  the  Bible, 
which  appeared  in  October  of  the  same  year,  without  the  names  of  printer  or 
author,  is  mentioned  by  Dibdin  (^dee  Althorp,  torn.  ii.  p.  44). — ^BibL  Spen* 
cer.  torn.  i.  p.  63. 

*  Foflcarini,  Delia  Letteratura  Yeneziana,  torn.  i.  p.  839.  Proflpectos  of  a 
New  Translation,  by  Dr,  Geddes,  p.  103. 

VOL,  IL  I 


114  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

the  four  Gospels  with  the  commentaries  of  Simon  do  Cascia ; 
and  Federico  of  Venice  published  an  exposition  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse in  1394.1  Finally,  in  15S0,  Brucioli  made  a  complete 
translation  of  the  sacred  books.  It  was  to  Brucioli  that  Aretino 
wrote,  in  1537  :^  *'  You  are  unequalled  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  and  Chaldee  ; "  and  the  poet  ought  to 
have  added  Italian,  for  Brucioli  wrote  in  that  language,  as  Luther 
did  in  German.  He  was  master  of  the  old  idiom  of  Dante's 
time,  as  Luther  was  of  the  ancient  Saxon.  The  Church  con- 
demned his  translation,  and  Brucioli  submitted. 

Let  us,  then,  be  no  longer  told  that  the  Church  is  opposed  to 
the  diffusion  of  the  Sacred  Word.  Why  should  she  be  so  ?  Is 
not  this  word  the  manifestation  of  her  truth  and  immortality  ? 
What  she  will  not  suffer  is,  that  this  living  Word  should  be 
left  like  a  profane  text  to  every  unauthorized  commentator; 
that  every  one,  whether  resting  or  not  on  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  should  experiment  upon  it  as  an  ordinary  human  pro- 
duction, and  expose  to  the  world  his  folly  or  his  doubts ;  that 
the  word  of  God  should  be  treated  like  an  old  poem  just  dis- 
covered, and  hitherto  unexplained.  "  Writing,"  says  Plato,  ^'  is 
not  like  speech  ;  speech  can  explain  itself,  but  writing  cannot." 
This  word  has  spoken  by  the  lips  of  the  fathers,  the  doctors,  and 
the  martyrs  of  the  new  law.  Does  not  the  conduct  of  the  here- 
siarchs  justify  her  in  her  care  of  the  Divine  Word?  What 
would  have  been  its  lot,  had  not  the  Church  from  the  earliest 
ages  watched  over  this  sacred  deposit  ? 

We  shall  see;  **It  is  very  probable  that  the  pure  doctrine 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  not  been  preserved  intact  in  the  New 
Testament."  « 

"  The  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  is  neither  by  an  apostle  nor  an 
eye-witness."* 

*  Li  Quattro  Yolumim  de  gli  Evangeli  volgarizzati  da  Frate  Guido,  oon  le 
loro  Esposizioni  Fatte  per  frate  Simone  da  Gasoia :  Yen.  1486.  L'Apocaliase 
con  le  Chiose  de  Nioolo  da  Lira,  iraslaxione  di  Maestro  Federico  da  Yenesta, 
lavonita  nel  1894,  e  atampatA :  Yen.  1619.  Erasme  del  Signore  Marvhese 
Scipione  Maffei,  p.  19.     Roveredo,  1739. 

*  Ergotzlichkeiten  nus  der  Kirchenhistorie  und  Literatur,  von  Schelhorn. 
Mazzucchelli.  Scritt.  It.  torn.  li.  p.  4.  Th.  M'Orie,  Hiatory  of  the  Progress 
and  Suppression  of  the  Reformation  in  Italy  in  the  Sixteenth  Gentniy,  p.  59 
et  seq. 

3  August!,  Theol.  Monatsschrift,  No.  9. 

*  Fischer,  cited  by  Ilc3eninghau8>  1.  c.  torn.  1.  p.  176. 


TUB   BIBLE.  115 

"  The  Qoflpds  of  St  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke,  have 
been  derived  from  an  Aramean  manuscript.''^ 

*^  The  Gospel  of  St.  John  is  the  composition  of  some  philo- 
sopher of  Alexandria."* 

"  The  Epistles  attributed  to  St  John  are  by  an  unknown 
Jew."5 

"  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  composed  by  a  philosopher 
of  Alexandria."* 

"  The  Apocalypse  of  St  John  is  repudiated  by  a  great  number 
of  Protestant  commentators."  * 

"  The  history  of  Moses,  until  the  attainment  of  the  promised 
land,  has  been  falsified  by  priests  for  the  benefit  of  the  Jewish 
hierarchy."* 

"  The  book  of  Judith  is  a  pious  romance ;  the  Cantides,  a 
pastoral  idyll."^ 

"  The  Psahns  are  the  production  of  a  heated  brain." « 

"  The  writings  of  Solomon  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  New 
Testament."^ 

Permit  the  Bible  now  to  be  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue 
by  any  one  who  believes  in  the  right  of  free  inquiry,  and  what 
will  become  of  Christianity  ? 

But  when  the  Church  is  once  satisfied  of  the  fidelity  of  an 
interpreter,  see  how  she  acts.  Bossuet  distributed  through  France 
fifty  thousand  copies  of  Father  Amelotte's  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  as  many  Prayer-books  in  the  vemacular.^^  It  is 
thus  that  she  conceals  God's  word  from  the  faithful. 

Take  one  instance  of  the  danger  to  which  this  word  is 
exposed  by  leaving  it  to  the  interpretation  of  every  one. 

*  J.  G.  Elchhorn,  Bibl.  der  bibl.  Literatur,  torn.  v.  pp.  761,  996. 

*  Staadlin,  Magazin  der  Heligionsgeschichte,  torn.  iii. 
'  Claudius,  quoted  by  Hoeninghaus,  torn.  i.  p.  177. 

*  Lucke,  tJeberaicht  der  zur  Hermeneiitik  gehorigon  Literatur,  von  Anfang 
1828  bis  Miite  1829.     Theol.  Staod-Krit.  1830,  torn.  ii.  p.  440. 

*  Allgem.  d.  Real*£ncyklop.  torn.  iv. 

<  Zur  Yorlesung  liber  die  Gesohichte  des  judischen  Staats,  1828. 

^  Haffher,  Einleitung  zu  der  neuen,  yod  der  Btrassb.  Bibel-Gesellschaft 
veranstalteten  Ausgabo  der  Heil.  Schriit,  1819. 

^  Breteohneider,  Handbucb  der  Dogmatik,  torn.  ii.  p.  93. 

'  Miaerva,  Archenholz,  Julius,  1809,  p.  97.  Bobelot,  laflucnce  de  la  Re- 
formation, 8vo.  p.  418. 

*^  Bobalot^  Inflnonco  de  la  B^fonuation,  p.  389. 

i2 


116  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

"  Hail !  full  of  grace,"  says  the  angel  to  that  Virgin  whom 
the  Church  styles  the  Morning  Star  ; —  "  Ka?/>c  KBxapiTWfiivji/' 
says  St.  Luke  ; — "Ave  gratia  plena/'  says  the  Vulgate; — 
"  Ave  gratis  dilecta,"  says  Theodore  Beza  ;^ — "  Ave  gratiosa," 
says  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  f — "  Ave  gratiam  consecuta,"  says 
Andrew  Osiander  the  younger  ;* — "Who  is  received  in  grace," 
says  the  New  Testament  ;* — "  Bist  gegriisset,  du  Begnadete,"  says 
the  Church  of  Zurich.*  "  Wretched  translations  i "  here  exclaims 
Luther.  "  '  Hail  Mary  !  full  of  grace,'—'  gratiosa ! '  What 
German  hoohy  has  made  an  angel  speak  thus  !  '  Full  of  grace ; ' 
as  one  would  say  of  a  pot,  '  full  of  beer ;'  or  of  a  purse,  '  full 
of  money. '^  I  have  translated  it,  '  Hail !  Most  Holy,'  —  *  du 
Holdselige.'  My  translation  is  the  correct  one ;  I  shall  have  no 
popish  ass  for  my  judge ;  whoever  rejects  my  version,  may  go  to 
the  devil ! "  In  1523,  a  year  after  the  appearance  of  his  New 
Testament,  Luther,  forgetting  his  Satanic  wish,  translated  it,  in 
a  postil  on  the  angelic  salutation ;  '^  And  the  angel  came  and 
said,  '  Hail !  Mary,  full  of  grace  : ' — Gegriisset  seyst  du  Maria 
voUer  Gnaden."^ 

Now  mark  the  commentary  on  this  by  J.  Agricola,  Luther's 
disciple  and  successor  in  the  administration  of  the  Church  of 
Wittemberg,  a  man  of  learning  undoubtedly. 

"  Gabriel,  in  the  form  of  a  young  man,  enters  the  bedchamber 
of  the  young  woman,  and  intones  a  love-song,  a  nuptial  choral, 
as  if  to  obtain  Mary's  favour.  '  Hail !  fair  lady,'  says  he, '  Ave 
gratiosa  !'  The  Virgin,  ofiFended  by  such  a  salutation,  ponders, 
is  troubled,  and  cannot  comprehend  the  message.  Her  modesty 
is  alarmed,  her  chastity  startled, — that  modesty  which  she  hopes 
never  to  lose,  but  which  she  feels  so  strongly  attacked :  she 
knows  not  what  is  to  happen."® 


'  In  Novo  Teatamento  Gcnc^  et  L&tind :  aan.  1567,  1568« 

*  1520.    Nov.  TesUmentam :  Basil. 

'  Biblia  Saora  :  Tubings,  ann.  KDO.  foUo^ 

*  Ann.  1587. 

^  Bible  printed  at  Zurich,  ann.  1580,  8to. 

*  Welcher  Deutsoher  veretebet,  was  gesagt  sey '.  voll  Gnaden  ?  £r  muss 
denken  an  ein  Fass  voll  Bier,  oder  Beatel  voll  Geld."-— Oper.  Luib.  torn.  iv. 
fol.  160. 

^  Oper.  Lutb.  part.  ii. :  Jensa,  1565,  fol.  510  a. 

*  "Ingressas  oubiculum  puelleD  Gabriel,  adolescentis  form^   amaforinm 


NUREMBBRQ  AND  RATISBON.  117 

And  J.  Agricola  publicly  made  this  commentary  to  the  lambs 
of  the  Beformation.     The  letter  then  may  sometimes  kill. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIETS  OF  NUEEMBERG  AND  RATISBON.    1524—1625. 

Tlie  legate  Campeggio  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg. — ^Aspect  of  the  Statee. — 
Decrees  of  the  Diet. — Luther's  protest  agaiust  the  Orders. — ^The  Catholics 
assemble  at  Batisbon  in  defence  of  their  faith. — Otho  Pack  deceiyes  the 
reformed  princes,  by  inventing  a  plan  of  conspiracy  by  the  Catholics  against 
the  Protestants. — His  impostiure  is  detected  by  means  of  Duke  George  of 
Saxony. 

The  Orders  again  assembled  at  Nuremberg  in  1524.  Cle- 
ment VII.  had  been  elected  pope.  War  was  ravaging  Italy, 
where  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  were  contending  for  the  empire 
of  the  world  ;  and  the  pope  had  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
king  of  France,  for  fear  of  the  emperor.  These  troubles  occupied 
men's  minds,  and  were  serviceable  to  the  progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Charles  was  more  successfal  than  his  rival ;  he  beat  him, 
and  the  pope  then  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  conqueror. 
The  emperor  was  great  and  generous ;  he  forgot  the  past,  and 
promised  to  attend  to  the  religious  affairs  of  Germany.     The 

quiddam  et  nuptiale  ordituf,  yirginem,  ut  apparet,  peUecturus  ad  concubi- 
tum/'  etc. 

The  following  are  some  examples  of  Protestant  explanations : — 

When  the  shepherds,  in  the  fields  of  Bethlehem,  were  illuminated  with  the 
Lord's  glory,  they  only  saw  the  light  of  a  lantern,  which  they  had  held  to  their 
eyes. 

If  Jesus  laid  the  storm,  it  was  because  he  managed  the  rudder  properly ;  and 
instead  of  walking  on  the  waves,  he  walked  upon  the  shore. 

Five  thousand  people  were  satisfied  in  the  desert,  but  they  had  brought 
bread  in  their  pockets. 

The  dead  who  were  brought  to  life  were  only  entranced,  or  lethargic ;  those 
from  whom  the  devils  were  expelled,  only  enthusiasts  or  crazy  people. 

When  the  Saviour  rose  from  the  tomb,  he  had  not  tasted  of  death,  and 
had  escaped  under  cover  of  a  cloud,  when  the  disciples  believed  that  he  had 
ascended  into  heaven. 

Lightning  flashed  beside  Paul,  and  he  fancied  himself  wrapped  in  light  from 
heaven. — See  Theodul's  Grastmahl. 

Dr.  ThieSB  reckons  eighty-five  different  commentaries  on  the  parable  of  the 
unjust  steward  ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  on  the  text  "  Mediator  autem  unius 
non  est ;  Deus  autem  unus  est." — On  the  Incompatibility  of  the  Spiritual  and 
Profane  Power,  p.  17,  note  14.  M.  Lachat»  Note  on  Moehler's  Symbolism, 
voL  ii.  pp.  126,  120. 


118  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

pope  selected  as  his  repfesentative  ot  the  diet,  with  the  title  of 
legate  d  latere,  Cardinal  Campeggio,  a  man  of  ability  and  cha« 
racter,  an  able  theologian,  an  accomplished  orator,  and  the 
friend  and  admirer  of  Erasmus.^  But  the  public  mind  in  Ger- 
many was  more  and  more  excited  ;  the  Lutherans  daily  acquired 
new  strength,  and  increased  in  audacity  as  in  power.  The 
marks  of  Catholicism  now  displeased  them  as  much  as  its 
dogmas,  and  they  made  open  war  upon  them.  They  tore  down 
the  wayside  crosses,  the  images  and  pictures,  and  proscribed  or 
insulted  the  clerical  and  monastic  costume.  On  his  entry  into 
Augsburg,  Campeggio  wished  to  bestow  his  benediction,  but  the 
people  laughed  at  and  mocked  the  legate.^  The  princes,  who 
waited  to  receive  him  at  the  gates  of  Nuremberg,  entreated  him 
to  divest  himself  of  the  marks  of  his  dignity,  for  fear  lest  the 
,populace  should  show  him  any  insult.  He  was  therefore  neces- 
sitated to  assume  secular  attire,  and  enter  Nuremberg  without 
any  kind  of  ceremony.  The  cardinal  expected  to  find  the 
Elector  Frederick,  to  whom  he  was  charged  to  deliver  from  the 
pope  a  very  kind  brief.  He  relied  on  his  natural  eloquence 
to  induce  this  prince  to  embrace  the  interests  of  the  Catholic 
Church  ;  but  the  elector  had  left  the  city.  Campeggio  forwarded 
the  brief  to  him  ;  but  we  are  ignorant  of  the  elector's  reply. 

Next  day,  the  cardinal  was  received  in  solemn  audience  by 
the  princes  and  deputies  from  the  imperial  cities.  He  was  fully 
prepared ;  and  his  speech  was  deficient  neither  in  address  nor 
ability.  He  painted  in  a  forcible  manner  the  evils  to  which  the 
new  doctrines  had  consigned  Germany,  and  predicted  the  future 
calamities  to  which  they  led.  He  made  no  allusion  to  the 
national  council  which  the  States  had  so  urgently  solicited,  but 
he  rested  on  the  griefances  which  the  diet  sought  to  have 
redressed,  and  pledged  his  word  that  their  complaints  should  be 
attended  to,  and  justice  done  to  them,  on  condition,  however, 
that  from  this  list  of  grievances  they  would  expunge  some  articles 
that  manifestly  tended  to  the  overthrow  of  the  pope's  authority, 
and  the  privileges  of  the  Church.' 


*  Sckmidt,  History  of  GermaDy,  vol.  vi.  p.  383. 

'  Freilitschii  Belatio  ex  Archir.  do  Comitiis.     Schmidt^  1.  c.  torn.  vi.  p.  334. 
^  Menzel,  Nenere  GoBchichte  der  Deutschen,  torn.  i.  p.  151.    CocKlieiis,  In 
Act.  Luth.     Mnimbourg,  Hist,  da  Lath^muisme,  4to,  book  i.  p.  87. 


NUREHBBRQ   AND   BATTSBON.  119 

The  strength  of  the  two  parties  in  the  diet  was  thus  divided  : 
the  legate  could  reckon  upon  the  votes  of  the  Archduke 
Ferdinand,  the  emperor's  brother  and  lieutenant,  the  dukes  of 
Bavaria,  the  cardinal  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  the  bishop  of 
Trent,  and  ten  other  secular  or  ecclesiastical  princes.  Nearly 
all  the  deputies  of  the  imperial  cities  were  tainted  with  Luther- 
anism  ;  and  they  formed  the  majority.  The  discussion  was  long 
and  stormy.  Charles  V.  had  sent  to  the  States  a  mandate, 
in  which  he  insisted  on  the  execution  of  the  edict  of  Worms, 
and  threatened  them  with  his  anger  in  case  of  disobedience. 
The  Lutheran  princes  would  have  wished  on  that  occasion  to 
declare  liberty  of  conscience,  in  other  words,  resistance  to  the 
imperial  edict:  they  adopted  a  middle  course.  The  diet 
resolved  that  the  pope  should  summon,  with  the  emperor's  con- 
sent, a  general  council  in  Germany,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
religious  differences,  and  that  they  should  bold  a  new  assembly 
at  Spires,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Martin,  in  which  the  Orders,  after 
having  appointed  competent  theologians  to  examine  what  of 
Luther's  doctrine  should  be  admitted  or  rejected,  should  "for- 
mally  pronounce  their  judgment.  While  awaiting  the  decision 
of  the  council,  they  promised  to  examine  and,  if  possible,  amend 
in  some  points  the  statement  of  the  '^  Centum  Gravamina"  against 
the  court  of  Bome,  and,  in  obedience  to  the  emperor,  to  put  in 
execution  the  edict  of  Worms.^ 

The  resolution  of  the  diet  was  absurd  ;  it  offended  every  one. 
It  gave  the  laity  a  right  to  reconsider  the  doctrines  which  the 
Holy  See  had  condemned,  and  the  vassals  of  Charles  the  power 
of  disobeying  an  imperial  rescript.  It  recognised  the  decree  of 
Worms  as  the  law  of  the  empire,  and  provoked  Germany  to 
disregard  it.  The  Orders  constituted  themselves  judges  in  the 
matter  of  faith  and  of  legislation,  and  by  a  manifest  contradic- 
tion, acquitted  and  condemned  Luther,  by  approving  of  the 
edict  of  1620,  wherein  he  had  been  denounced  as  a  heretic,  and 
by  ordering  a  fresh  inquiry  into  his  doctrines  at  Spires. 

The  legate  protested,  and  Charles's  ambassador  declared  that 
he  would  carry  his  complaints  to  the  feet  of  his  master. 

The  emperor  was  at  that  time  absent.     The  pope  apprised 

>  MaimbouiiB;,  1.  e.  book  i.  p.  80.  Bayaaldtta,  Annal.  Eccles.  ad  ann.  1524, 
No.  15.     N.  I.  Der  BeichBabBchied,  torn.  ii.  p.  253. 


120  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

him  of  the  resolation  of  the  diet,  and  the  contempt  shown  to 
the  imperial  edict  and  the  decisions  of  the  Church.  Charles, 
offended,  addressed  a  rescript  to  the  German  princes,  in  which 
he  threatened  with  death  all  who  should  disobey  the  edict  of 
Worms.  But  this  was  only  a  menace,  to  which  the  States  paid 
no  attention.  Lntheranism  did  not  hide  itself ;  it  marched 
boldly,  defying  the  pope  and  the  emperor,  proclaiming  its  griev- 
ances, and  forcing  the  doors  of  the  Catholic  churches,  when  the 
keys  were  not  given  up  to  its  followers.  Magdeburg,  Nurem- 
berg,^ and  Frankfort  openly  abolished  the  forms  of  the  Cathdic 
worship.  At  Magdeburg,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1523,  the  citizens 
assembled,  and  issued  orders  to  the  civil  magistrates  to  close  the 
convents,  expel  the  priests,  recognise  the  ministers  sent  from 
Wittemberg,  and  establish  communion  under  the  two  species ; 
and  the  magistrates,  who  had  not  sufficient  power  to  enforce 
the  emperor's  edict,  found  it  nevertheless  to  obey  these  fanjt- 
tical  citizens.  Knights  seriously  offered  the  inhabitants  of 
Nuremberg,  if  they  would  support  them,  not  to  leave  the  head 
of  a  bishop  within  a  space  of  twenty  miles  ;'  at  Neustadt,  some 
Lutherans  laid  an  ambush  for  Ferdinand's  chaplain,  and  muti* 
lated  him.''  Luther  was  not  satisfied  ;  the  edict  of  the  diet 
enraged  him.  Never  did  a  political  assembly  subject  itself  to 
so  severe  a  castigation.  Had  there  been  any  drops  of  German 
blood  in  the  veins  of  one  of  the  members  of  the  diet,  they  would 
have  put  Luther  under  the  ban  of  the  empire,  as  a  chastisement 
for  his  insolence.  If  only  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  his  language 
is  grand  and  magnificent. 

"  How  shameful  in  the  face  of  day  are  all  these  cheats  of  the 
emperor  and  princes  !* — ^how  fearfully  shameful  those  contradic- 

'  At  Nuremberg,  two  curates  apostatized,  and  published  their  grounds  for 
secession  from  Catholicism  in  a  Grerman  pamphlet,  entitled,  Reasons  and  CauHe 
of  the  Conduct  of  the  Two  Curates  of  St.  Sebaldus  and  St.  Laurence,  &c. 
The  pamphlet  was  scarcely  published,  when  both  of  them  married. 

'  "  Si  receptum  sibi  et  sociis  in  url)e  8U&  daturi  easent,  effecturos  se  esse  ut 
intra  milliarum  viginti  spatium  nullus  reliquua  esset  episcopus.*' — Seckendor^ 
lib.  i.  p.  290. 

*  "In  sylvis  propd  Neustadium  ab  equitibus  sex  captus  atque  castratuB 
capellanus  Ferdinandi."— Seckendorf,  1.  c.  p.  290. 

*  **  Zvrei  kaiserliche  uneinige  und  widerwartige  Gebote,  das  Wormser  Edict 
und  den  NUmberger  Reichsabschied,  mit  Anmerkungen  und  einer  Bor-  und 
Nachrede,  ftc." — Luther's  Werke,  torn.  xv.  pp.  2,  712.  Ad.  Menxel,  torn.  i. 
pp.  135  et  Beq.  190.    Cochl.  in  Acta  Luth.  p.  116. 


NUREMBEHa   AND  RATI8B0N.  121 

tory  deorees  which  they  make  against  me^  proscribing  me  by  the 
edict  at  Wonns  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  appointing  a 
diet  at  Spires  to  examine  what  is  good  or  evil  in  my  books  ! — 
definitely  condemned,  and  yet  sent  to  be  judged  at  Spires ! — 
guilty  by  the  Orders  in  the  eyes  of  the  Germans,  by  whom  I  and  my 
doctrines  ought  to  be  unceasingly  pursued  ! — guilty,  but  remitted 
for  trial  in  a  new  court !  Blockheads  and  sodden-brained  princes  ! 
Well,  Germans !  it  appears  that  you  must  remain  Germans, 
asses,  victims  of  a  pope,  and  permit  yourselves  to  be  brayed  in 
a  mortar  like  chaff,  as  Solomon  says.  Neither  complaints, 
informations,  prayers,  tears,  long-suffering,  or  the  abyss  of 
sorrow  in  which  we  are  plunged,  can  avail  us  anything  !  My 
dear  princes  and  nobles,  come,  quickly  despatch  a  poor  wretch  ; 
after  my  death,  you  will  have  fine  doings.  If  you  have  ears  to 
hear,  I  will  tell  you  a  secret :  If  Luther  and  his  doctrine,  which 
comes  from  God,  were  killed,  do  you  think  that  your  power  and 
existence  would  be  more  secure,  and  that  his  death  would  not 
be  a  source  of  calamity  to  you  ?  Let  us  not  trifle  with  Heaven  ! 
Set  to  work,  princes,  kill  and  bum  I  What  God  wills,  I 
will :  here  I  am.  I  only  entreat  that,  when  you  have  killed 
me,  you  will  not  bring  me  to  life  again,  to  kill  me  a  second 
time.  I  perceive  that  God  does  not  wish  me  to  deal  with 
rational  beings  ;  he  delivers  me  to  German  brutes,  as  to  wolves 
and  boars.  But  I  must  inform  all  those  who  believe,  that 
there  is  a  God  who  forbids  the  execution  of  such  commands. 
The  Lord,  who  has  given  me  power  not  to  tremble  before 
death,  as  I  have  shown,  will  make  my  last  moments  sweet  and 
agreeable  ;  you  will  not  hasten  them  ;  your  menaces  are  power- 
less ;  you  irill  not  prevail  against  me  before  God  has  called  me. 
He,  who  for  the  last  three  years  has  supported  me  against  your 
machinations,  beyond  even  my  hope,  will  prolong  my  days  if  he 
wishes  it,  and  in  spite  of  me.  If  they  should  kill  me,  my  death 
will  be  a  victory  neither  to  my  murderers  nor  their  children. 
They  will  not  be  able  to  say  that  I  spared  to  warn  them ; 
but  to  what  purpose?  God  has  blinded  and  hardened  them. 
Dear  princes  and  nobles,  whether  you  wish  it  to  me  or  not, 
I  beseech  you  to  know  that  I  desire  no  evil  to  you ;  God  is  my 
witness,  and  I  trust  that  you  can  do  me  little  harm.  I  beseech 
you,  by  your  own  salvation,  raise  your  eyes   to  heaven,  and 


122  niSTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

change  your  ptnpose.  Indeed,  to  act  aa  you  do  is  smfbl  and 
irritating  to  the  Lord.  What  would  you  have,  my  dear  masters  ? 
God  is  very  powerful,  he  will  crush  you  :  fear  his  might ;  trem- 
ble, lest  he  inspires  you  with  these  thoughts,  lest  he  impels  you 
afterwards  to  fdlfil  them,  and  destroys  you,  as  he  does  the  strong 
ones  of  the  earth,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  '  God 
dissipates  the  counsels  of  the  nations'  (P&  z.) ;  and  of  Moses : 

*  For  I  have  raised  you  up,  to  make  manifest  my  power  in  you, 
and  to  spread  my  name  among  all  nations ; '  as  also  of  the 
Apostle :  '  He  has  cast  down  the  mighty  from  their  seats '  (Luke, 
i.  52).  This  is  what  awaits  you,  my  dear  princes,  mark  it 
well ....  Christians,  I  beseech  you,  raise  your  hands,  and 
pray  to  God  for  these  blind  princes,  of  whom  he  makes  use  to 
chastise  us  in  his  great  wrath ;  and  beware  of  giving  your 
offerings  and  alms  against  the  Turk,  who  is  a  thousand  times 
more  pious  and  wise  than  our  masters.  What  success  can  such 
fools,  who  rebel  against  Christ,  and  despise  his  words,  hope  for 
in  their  war  with  the  Turks  ?  Observe  then  this  poor  emperor, 
this  worm  of  the  earth,  who  is  not  sure  of  one  hour  of  life,  and 
who  is  not  ashamed  to  proclaim  himself  the  high  and  mighty 
defender  of  the  Christian  faith  !     What  says  the  Scripture  ? 

*  Faith  is  a  rock  stronger  than  the  devil,  death,  or  men :  it  is 
the  arm  of  God.'  And  such  an  arm  would  require  the  protection 
of  a  mortal,  whom  the  slightest  illness  can  stretch  on  his  bed ! 
My  God  !  is  the  world  mad  ?  This  is  like  that  king  of  England 
who  plumes  himself  also  on  his  title  of  '  Defender  of  tho  faith 
and  the  Church  of  Christ;'  and  the  Hungarians,  who  sing  in 
their  Litany :  '  Ut  nos  defensores  tuos  ezaudire  dignoris ! '  — 
'  Hear  us,  0  Lord !  thy  defenders  ! '  Ah  !  if  one  king  takes  a 
fancy  to  make'  himself  the  defender  of  the  Lord,  and  another  that 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  what  fine  protectors  will  the  Holy  Trinity, 
Christ,  and  the  Faith  have  found  J  I  pity  firom  the  bottom  of 
my  heart  these  Christians, — these  assemblies  of  fools,  madmen, 
blockheads,  and  idiots !  better  far  a  thousand  times  to  die,  than 
to  listen  to  such  blasphemies  against  the  Majesty  of  heaven. 
But  it  is  their  lot  and  their  chastisement  to  persecute  the  word 
of  God :  their  blindness  is  a  punishment  from  the  Lord :  may  he 
deliver  us,  then,  from  their  hands,  and  in  his  mercy  give  us 
other  masters !     Amen." 


KUBBMBEBO   AND  BATTSBON.  123 

The  Catholic  princes  were  alanned.  Safe  at  Wittemberg,  the 
Reformer  brayed  the  emperor  and  the  pope.  His  doctrines 
gained  ground.  From  Upper  Saxony  they  had  spread  in  the 
northern  provinces,  and  become  established,  partly  by  force, 
partly  by  persuasion,  in  the  duchies  of  Lunenberg,  Brunswick, 
and  Mecklenbei^.  Pomerania,  Magdeburg,  Bremen,  Hamburg, 
Wismar,  and  Rostock  had  opened  their  gates  to  them  ;  they  had 
crossed  the  Baltic,  and  invaded  Livonia ;  then  Prussia,  where 
the  margrave  Albert  of  Brandenburg  had  given  them  protection, 
and  where  the  bishop  George  had  openly  confessed  them  by  mar- 
rying.^ After  the  margrave  Albert  married,  he  had  appropriated 
to  himself,  under  pretext  of  a  fief  holding  of  Poland,  Prussia,  which 
belonged  to  the  Teutonic  Order,  of  which  he  was  grand  master !  ^ 
The  two  creeds  were  arrayed  against  each  other ;  Lutheranism 
wished  to  treat  with  Catholicism  on  equal  terms ;  from  being 
oppressed,  it  had  become  the  oppressor.  Not  satisfied  with  erecting 
places  of  worship  for  itself,  it  took  possession  of  the  Catholic 
churches,  after  tearing  down  their  images,  and  there,  by  the  sound 
of  their  bells,  it  summoned  its  gospellers  to  its  service,  and  from 
the  pulpit  inveighed  against  the  superstitions  of  a  religion  which 
it  said  was  for  ever  extinct,  and  to  which  it  boasted  of  having 
given  a  mortal  wound.  The  Catholic  princes,  either  through  regard 
to  their  creed,  or  from  fear  for  their  crowns,  felt  the  necessity  of 
closer  alliance.  They  met  at  Ratisbon  in  July,  1 524,  to  confer  as  to 
the  means  of  supporting  the  Catholic  religion.  The  assembly  was 
numerous:  it  was  composed  of  Ferdinand,  the  emperor's  vicegerent ; 
Mathew  Lang,  cardinal  and  archbishop  of  Salzburg;  William  and 
Louis,  dukes  of  Bavaria ;  Bernard,  bishop  of  Trent ;  and  John, 
duke  of  Bavaria,  prince  palatine,  in  capacity  of  commissioner  of 
the  church  of  Ratisbon.  The  following  bishops  were  represented 
by  plenipotentiaries : — Wigand,  of  Bamberg ;  George,  of  Spires  ; 
William,  of  Strasburg ;  Christopher,  of  Augsbuig ;  Hugh,  of 
Constance  ;  Christopher,  of  Basle  ;  Philip,  of  Freysingen  ; 
Sebastian,  of  Brixen ;  and  Ernest,  prince  of  Bavaria,  in  capa* 
city  of  commissioner  of  the  chapter  of  Passau.'    They  resolved 


'  In  the  bishop's  epitaph,  the  poet  praises  George,  because  that  in  contempt 
of  public  opinion,  he  had  the  courage  to  take  a  wife :  ''  Factns  deinde  maritus 
paterque." — Hartkuochius,  lib.  ii.  o.  i.  p.  808. 

'  Schmidt,  1.  c.  torn.  vi.  p.  876.  '  Ibid.  pp.  830,  840. 


124  histohy  of  luther. 

that  the  edict  of  Worms  against  Lnther  and  his  adherents 
should  be  observed  as  a  law  of  the  empire ;  that  no  alteration 
should  take  place  in  administering  the  sacraments,  or  in  the 
ritual,  commands,  and  traditions  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  that 
the  clergy  who  should  marry,  and  the  apostate  monks,  should  be 
punished  with  all  the  rigour  prescribed  by  the  canons  ;  that  the 
Gospel  should  be  preached  as  interpreted  by  the  fathers  and  the 
doctors  ;  that  such  of  their  subjects  as  were  students  at  Wittem- 
berg  should  be  compelled  to  quit  that  university  within  three 
months,  under  pain  of  confiscation  of  their  property,  add  that 
those  who  had  completed  their  studies  should  be  disqualified 
from  ever  holding  a  benefice;  that  no  exiled  Lutheran  should  find 
asylum  in  the  confederated  States  ;  and  that  support  and  assist- 
ance should  be  given  to  any  prince  who  might  be  attacked  on 
account  of  any  clause  in  the  confederation. 

The  l^te  who  attended  this  conference  was  the  first  to 
demand  that  the  just  claims  of  the  Orders  of  Nuremberg  against 
certain  abuses  which  had  crept  in  among  the  clergy  should  be 
satisfied.  He  published  a  constitution,  in  thirty-five  articles, 
for  regulating  the  ecclesiastical  government,  the  administration 
of  the  parishes,  and  the  payment  of  tithes.  Some  of  these  r^u- 
lations  depict  the  manners  of  the  time.  For  example,  in  one 
article  ecclesiastics  are  ordered  to  wear  a  decent  dress,  and 
abstain  from  merchandise  ;  in  another,  they  are  forbidden  to 
haunt  taverns,  or  dispute  on  religious  subjects  over  their  wine.^ 

Seckendorf  regards  the  conference  of  Eatisbon  as  the  tocsin 
wliich  roused  Germany  ;  as  if  Catholicism,  despoiled,  persecuted, 
which  could  not  protect  its  images  in  the  cathedrals  which  it 
had  built,  or  preach  to  the  people  whom  it  had  converted  to  the 
faith,  should  submit  to  be  delivered  over  to  those  whom  Luther 
styled  the  beasts  of  the  arena,  —  the  multitude,  and  the  great ! 
A  man  may  suffer  martyrdom  without  complaining  ;  but  a  reli- 
gion has  another  mission,  and  that  is  to  live.  If  threatened 
with  death,  it  must  repel  it  in  the  name  of  him  who  has  given 
it  and  preserves  life.  There  are  two  prophecies, — the  one  of 
Jesus  Christ,  who  has  promised  his  Church  to  protect  it  unto 


*  "  Nicht  in  den  Tabemen,  sondern  in  Hermhausem,  ordentlich  leben,  nnd 
vom  Glanben  nicht  freventlich,  hinter  dem  Wein  dispntiren." — Menzel,  1.  c. 
p.  166. 


KUREMBERG  AKD   RATISBON.  125 

the  end  of  time ;  the  other  of  Lnther,  who  fixed  the  time  when 
God  should  cease  to  support  Catholicism.  The  Lutheran  princes 
believed  that  the  time  predicted  by  the  monk  had  arrived^  and 
they  strove  to  fulfil  the  accomplishment  of  the  oracle.  Every- 
thing was  right  against  the  old  German  faith, — ^mockery,  out- 
rage, persecution,  robbery,  exile  ;  and  they  were  astonished  that 
a  religion  ''  which  had  served  its  time "  should  raise  its  head, 
and  cling  to  a  land  which  had  been  bathed  with  the  blood  of  its 
martyrs !  and,  as  if  violence  had  not  sufficiently  advanced  the 
work  of  the  Reformation,  they  had  recourse  to  calumny. 

A  wretch,  named  Otho  Pack,  offered  to  sell  to  the  landgrave 
of  Hesse  an  agreement  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Protestants, 
lately  concluded  between  Duke  George  and  the  electors  of 
Mayence  and  Brandenburg,  William  and  Louis  of  Bavaria. 
He  put  a  high  price  on  his  felony :  he  asked  four  thousand 
guilders  for  the  original  treaty  signed  by  his  master,  for  he  was 
chancellor  to  Duke  Geoi^e.  The  landgrave  immediately  gave 
him  the  money,  and  communicated  the  information  to  the 
elector  of  Saxony,  when  both  agreed  to  raise  a  numerous  army 
to  oppose  the  plans  of  the  Catholic  princes:  and  some  thousands 
of  men  were  soon  under  arms.  Protestant  Germany  was  in  a 
state  of  excitement.  Duke  George  demanded  to  see  the  con- 
vention which  Pack  had  promised  to  deliver.  On  being  pressed, 
Pack  could  only  give  a  pretended  copy,  to  which  he  had  affixed 
his  master's  sesJ.  Being  arrested  and  4ried  at  Cassel,  he  was 
obliged  to  admit  his  forgery  ;  and,  being  banished  from  Saxony 
as  a  punishment  for  his  crime,  he  wandered  about  Germany  for 
some  years,  and  died  at  Antwerp,  in  1536,  by  the  hands  of  the 
executioner.* 

'  Arnold,  1.  o.  torn.  i.  p.  469.  Frid.  Horteleboderus^  von  Ursachen  des 
dentschen  Krieges,  torn.  ii.  lib.  ii.  Sleidan,  torn.  i.  lib.  vi.  Chytrens,  1.  c. 
lib.  xii. 


126  mSTORY  OF  LUTUEB. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  PEASANTS'  WAR     1624—1526. 

State  of  the  public  mind  in  Germany  in  1624. — Boldness  of  the  new  doctrinee. 
— Carlstadt  at  Orlamiinde. — Strauss  at  Eisenach. — ^Munzer  in  Thuringia. — 
Partial  revolts  of  the  peasantry. — ^The  association  of  the  Bundschah. — Contnr 
ternity  of  the  Tun. — ^Luther's  manifesto,  addressed  to  the  German  nobility^ 
drives  the  people  to  rebellion. — Menzel's  opinion  on  this  point. — Insurrec- 
tionary movement  in  the  country  places. — Schappeler,  a  priest,  draws  up  a 
manifesto  for  the  peasants. — Effect  of  this  appeal  on  the  ma88e& — ^Insur- 
rection of  one  part  of  Germany. — Character  of  Um  strife. 

Anarchy  threatened  Luther's  work ;  in  Tain  the  monk  strove 
to  arrest  the  religious  and  social  movement  which  he  had  called 
into  action:  the  rebellion  increased.  Luther  formerly  said  to 
SpalatinuSi  "  They  may  burn  these  fragile  leaves  on  which  I 
have  written  my  theses,  but  the  spirit  which  has  breathed  upon 
them,  never ! "'  The  doctor  also  had  caused  Garlstadt's  books  to 
be  thrown  into  the  flames,  and  the  spirit  which  dictated  them 
had  escaped  the  commissioners  of  Ips  highness  the  elector  of 
Saxony ;  it  diffused  itself  everywhere,  and  even  in  Wittemberg, 
where  Luther  wished  to  reign  master. 

Sheltered  at  Orlamiinde,  a  parish  in  the  gift  of  the  university 
of  Wittemberg,  Carlstadt  destroyed  the  images,  the  statues  of  the 
saints,  the  tombs  of  the  old  bishops  of  Germany,  the  pictures  of 
the  old  masters,  the  stained  windows,  and  from  the  pulpit  taught 
the  people  visions,  which  he  said  came  direct  from  heaven. 
Luther  laughed,  and  said,  ''  In  a  little  while  the  doctor  will 
introduce  circumcision  among  his  little  flock''  Already  poly- 
gamy was  publicly  preached  at  Orlamiinde.  Appealing  to  the 
Old  Testament,  a  peasant  simply  asked  the  iconoclast  if  he 
might  not  be  the  husband  of  two  wives ;  and  the  doctor,  shaking 
his  head,  could  only  reply  by  a  smile.* 

The  greatest  boldness  of  human  language  was  no  longer 
startling;    every   doctrine  was  called  in  question,  —  prayers, 

'  Ranko,  Deutsche  Geschichte  im  Zuitalter  der  Beformation :  Berlin,  18i2, 
toil),  ii.  cb.  vi. 


THE  peasants'   WAR.  127 

public  woraliip,  aoiiciilar  confession,  purgatory,  good  works, 
Christ's  divinity,  and  the  Gospel 

At  Eisenach,  James  Strauss,  a  turbulent  individual,  opposed, 
in  the  name  of  civil  society,  the  lending  of  money  at  interest, 
taxation,  and  tithes ;  and  proclaimed,  in  Ood's  name,  the  nigh 
approach  of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  in  which  the  poor  should  regain 
possession  of  the  wealth  of  which  their  temporal  princes  had 
robbed  them,  and  of  those  fine  crops  which  the  lance  of  the 
Landsknecht,  the  satellite  of  the  feudal  lord,  had  beat  down  in 
the  labourer's  fields ;  new  heavens  which  were  to  open,  and  a  new 
earth  which  was  to  unfold,  where  the  hand  of  man  could  gather 
aU  that  God's  sun  should  cause  to  grow  and  spring  in  it. 

Not  isiX  from  Eisenach,  Munzer,  still  more  audacious,  sub- 
stituted for  Luther's  gospel  an  interior  revelation,  which  in  no 
case  could  deceive  the  soul  disposed  to  listen  to  it  docilely :  a 
celestial  voice  which  spoke  to  Ood's  elect,  and  a  thousand  times 
preferable  to  that  dead  letter,  written  in  unintelligible  characters, 
which  neither  papists  nor  Lutherans  could  understand  better  the 
one  than  the  other.  From  his  elevated  pulpit  he  hailed,  like  an 
inspired  poet,  his  future  Jerusalem.  His  language  was  as  clear  as 
it  was  savage.  In  order  to  found  his  new  church,  it  was  neces- 
sary, he  said,  to  exterminate  every  miscreant:  ''Blood!"  he 
exclaimed,  "  to  fertilize  the  word ;  the  blood  of  the  nobility  and 
the  clergy ! " 

"  Away,"  he  said,  "  with  all  those  priests  who  exact  from  the 
faithful  money  for  their  popish  masses;  they  are  worse  than 
Judas."  ^  At  Strasburg,  Otho  Brunfels  declared  that  the  time 
was  come  for  them  to  free  themselves  from  that  Mosaical  tax  of 
tithes  which  the  poor  paid  to  their  curates.  The  priest  ought 
to  support  himself,  like  ordinary  men,  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
in  working  the  soil,  for  working  was  praying.  Christopher 
Schappeler  at  Memmingen,  James  Wehe  at  Leipheim,  Belthasar 
Hubmaier  at  Waldshut,  and  John  Wolz  in  the  villages  round 
Hall,  preached  the  same  doctrine,  Luther  had  taught  that 
every  man  was  a  priest ;  these  preachers  wished  that  every  priest 
should  be  a  man,  subject,  like  the  other  sons  of  Adam,  to  the 


'  '*  Proditores  Christi  sant,  Jud&  pejores  et  saoerdotibns  Baal,  qui  pro  roifwifl 
papisticis  et  canonicM  peculis  decimas  recipiuut." — Du  Haiiooe  DecimAHUA 
OthonU  Branfelsii  ProposltioneiBj  p.  115. 


128  HISTORY   OP  LUTHEtt. 

common  law  of  labour.  The  peasantry  thought  these  preachers 
right.    ^ 

In  general  the  peasantry  were  on  Luther's  side:  his  new 
doctrines  were  to  deliver  them  from  the  yoke  of  their  superiors  ; 
and  this  was  a  weighty  one  indeed. 

On  the  death  of  the  Hausvater  [father  of  the  family],  the 
lord  inherited  the  best  pair  of  oxen  belonging  to  the  deceased  ; 
on  that  of  the  Hauafrau  [lady  of  the  house],  the  best  dress  in 
her  wardrobe.  This  right  was  termed  the  Tod/all  [right  of 
heriot].  Every  peasant  who  changed  his  master  was  obliged 
to  pay  the  LehnaschiUing  [feu-shilling]  ;  the  finest  sheaf  of 
wheat,  the  best  bunch  of  grapes,  the  best  fruit  of  his  garden, 
the  best  piece  of  honeycomb  in  his  hive  belonged  to  the  lord. 
On  Shrove  Tuesday  he  owed  his  master  a  hog ;  at  Martinmas,  a 
pair  of  geese ;  and  at  Michaelmas,  fowls.  '^  The  temporal  or 
spiritual  lord,"  says  Boettinger,'  "  treated  his  peasantry  like 
slaves :  in  body  as  well  as  soul  they  were  subject  to  him ;  if  he 
changed  his  religion,  the  vassal  was  obliged  to  adopt  that  of  his 
master  without  a  murmur." 

This  pitiless  sovereign  disdained  even  to  protect  his  property  ; 
the  Stegreifritter  scoured  over  the  fields  of  which  he  swept  away 
or  burned  the  crops;  the  Landsknecht,  after  sleeping  in  the 
villager's  hut,  would  set  out  at  daybreak,  frequently  carrying 
with  him  his  host's  wedding-cup.  The  peasant  might  mourn, 
but  he  never  dared  to  complain  ;  and  it  must  not  be  disguised, 
that  the  exactions  of  the  priest,  his  spiritual  lord,  were  often  as 
cruel  as  those  of  his  temporal  master. 

So  that  under  the  herdsman's  lowly  thatch,  from  the  foot  of 
the  Godesberg  to  the  falls  of  the  Traun,  nothing  was  heard  at 
tliis  time  but  the  wailings  of  despair:  every  place  resembled 
Dante's  hell.« 

Long  before  Luther,  the  peasantry  had  striven  to  cast  off  the 
double  yoke  of  their  "  tyrants."  In  1491  they  rose  at  Kempten 
against  tiieir  abbot.  In  1492,  in  Flanders,  they  flew  to  arms, 
to  the  number  of  40,000,  having  taken  for  their  device  on  their 
banner  an  enormous  cheese.   These  brethren  of  the  cheese  spread 

'  Bollinger,  Geschichle  von  D^utacbland.  Samuel  Bauer,  Geschichle  des 
13»uernkrieg8. 

'  H.  Krcm,  Der  deulsche  Bauemkrieg:  Reullingen,  1838,  12nio.  passim. 


THE  peasants'  wab.  129 

themselyes  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Moselle,  where 
soon,  by.the  active  measores  of  the  spiritual  and  temponJ  lords 
of  the  country,  they  were  defeated  and  reduced  to  submission.^ 

They  were  more  fortunate,  some  years  later,  in  Holstein,  aiid 
on  the  shores  of  the  North  Sea.  The  Danish  princes,  in  order 
to  subdue  them,  had  recourse  to  that  terrible  black  guard,  com- 
posed of  ruthless  soldiers,  whom  the  peasantry  attacked  with  the 
cry,  *'  Beware,  black  guard,  here  are  the  peasants."* 

In  1502,  the  Bhine  became  the  theatre  of  insurrectionary 
movements,  and  from  the  small  town  of  Niedergrombach,  be- 
longing to  the  bishopric  of  Spires,  the  signal  of  rebellion  was 
given. 

Joseph  Fritz  constituted  himself  leader  of  the  rebels,  and  gave 
the  peasantry  a  watchword  and  Standard  whereby  to  rally  round 
him.  The  standard  was  a  piepe  of  cloth,  half  blue  and  half  white, 
with  the  figure  of  Christ  cVucified  in  the  centre,  and  below  Christ 
a  laced  shoe,  Bundschuh.  The  knights  whoscampered  over  their 
newly-sown  fields  wore  boots.  To  the  well-fitting  and  polished 
boots  of  the  Bitter  they  opposed  the  great  shoe  of  the  working 
man  fastened  with  thongs,  and  shod  with  heavy  nails ;  hence  the 
nVkOiQ  q{  Bundschuh  adopted  by  the  association.^ 

"  Who  goes  there  ?"  would  be  constantly  heard  on  the  high- 
roads. 

"  Bundschuh,  Stiefd"  peasant  or  Bitter  would  reply ;  and  one 
of  the  twain  fell  a  corpse. 

If  the  peasant  slew  his  adversary,  he  would  clasp  his  hands, 
and  exclaim:  '^^lessed  be  God  !  He  who  is  humbled  shall  be 
exalted."* 

If  the  knight  felled  his  enemy  to  the  earth,  he  would  say  with 
an  oath :  "  To  hell  with  the  black  soul  of  a  boor  ! " 

But  next  day  a  peasant,  passing  by  the  scene  of  the  fray, 
would  dip  his  handkerchief  in  his  brother's  blood,  run  to  the 
next  village,  rouse  its  inhabitants  by  the  eight  of  the  victim's 
blood,  and  call  for  vengeance.  He  would  generally  say  :  '^  As 
there  is  but  one  God  in  heaven,  so  should  there  be  but  one 


^  Krem,  1.  c.  p.  7. 

*  **  Httt  dich  Gard,  nun  kommt  der  Bftuer.'* 

*  Krem,  1.  o.  p.  8. 

^  '<  Was  unten  Ut,  soil  oben  Btehea." 
VOL.  11.  K 


>, 


130  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

master  on  earth/'  At  the  close  of  this  address,  numerous  pots 
of  beer  would  be  tossed  oflF  to  the  death  of  the  tyrants,  those 
spiritual  ones  especially  whom  Luther  had  wounded  to  the  heart, 
but  whom  the  countryman's  axe  must  prevent  from  rising  again. 
They  did  not  always  curse  their  enemies ;  they  believed  them- 
selves already  strong  enough  to  laugh  at  them. 

"  Patience ! "  they  would  say,  in  the  words  of  a  pamphlet 

which  at  that  time  was  widely  circulated  in  the  country;  ''it 

will  not  always  be  as  at  present ;   peasants  and  citizens  are 

weary  of  the  game  they  have  been  made  to  play  so  long :  every- 

\a\  thing  changes."* 

One  day  at  Schoendorf,  in  Wurtemberg,  a  peasant  named 
Conrad  invited  his  comrades  to  come  on  the  following  Sunday 
to  drink  and  be  merry.  Conrad  was  an  arrant  toper,  careless 
of  the  future,  who  laughed  at  every  one,  even  his  own  curate. 
They  kept  their  appointment  punctually.  Conrad  sat  astride  a 
large  cade,  his  face  lit  up  with  the  copious  libations  of  wine 
which  he  had  poured  with  his  neighbours,  according  to  wont. 
On  his  barrel  he  played  the  prophet,  and  promised  to  all  those 
who  would  join  his  confraternity  lands  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain of  famine,  flocks  in  the  pastures  of  beggary,  and  fishponds 
in  the  sea  of  mendicity.*  The  association  was  soon  formed. 
Conrad  enrolled  all  those  who  loved  to  drink  in  secret  as  soon 
as  they  had  got  a  groschen  to  buy  good  wine.  In  1502,  a  con- 
fraternity had  been  already  formed,  but  was  obliged  to  dissolve 
by  order  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian. 

Conrad  did  not  vdsh  to  make  war  with  the^  emperor,  but  to 
laugh.  His  arms  were  a  tun.  Every  village  bM  soon  a  confra- 
ternity like  that  of  Sch(Bndor£  They  laughed,  danced,  sang, 
and  got  drunk :  the  authorities  took  no  notice  of  them.  In 
1514,  the  duke  of  Wurtemberg,  who  reckoned  in  his  states  a 
great  number  of  these  confraternities  of  the  tun,  increased  the 
duty  on  wine.  Conrad  made  a  wry  face  at  first,  but  ha  soon 
resumed  his  merriment,  and  took  it  into  his  head  (having 
drunk  that  day  more  than  usual)  to  bring  his  master  to  trial 


■  Ein   uogewohnlicher   und  der  ander   Sendbrief   des  Baaemfeyndia  zu 
KarBtbaDDseD,  gedruckt  durch  Johann  Locher,  von  M tinohen. 

'  Menze],  Ncuero  Gescbichte  dcr  Dcutschen^  tom^  j.  pp.  805;  Z06, 


THE  peasants'  WAB.  131 

The  assises  were  to  be  held  in  the  market-place  of  Schoendorf : 
the  judges,  his  boon-companions,  were  appointed. 

It  mnst  be  mentioned  that  the  dnke,  who  was  both  ayaricious 
and  needy,  had,  as  was  formerly  done .  at  Constantinople,  altered 
the  weights  and  measures.  Now,  as  banker,  merchant,  and 
privileged  factor  of  the  duchy,  he  was  confident  of  making  a 
good  profit  by  it ;  and  he  was  not  mistaken.  Accordingly,  the 
tribunal  was  constituted  ;  all  the  villagers  were  spectators  ;  the 
articles  indicted  —  the  weights  lightened  by  his  grace  —  were 
produced.  Conrad  took  them  and  threw  them  into  a  vessel  of 
water  ;  they  fell  to  the  bottom.  The  mob  clapped  their  hands 
and  laughed ;  Ood  had  pronounced  sentence,  and  the  duke  was 
condemned.  Eight  days  after,  in  a  great  number  of  villages, 
dukes,  electors,  barons,  and  abbots  i^ere  summoned  to  the  tri- 
bunal of  God,  and  everywhere  their  symbol — a  piece  of  iron 
thrown  into  water — ^was  found  too  light,  and  the  people  shouted, 
"  Hurrah !  hurrah  ! '"  Poor  Conrad's  confraternities  increased 
in  numbers ;  but  his  associates  were  not  all  as  light-hearted  as 
the  peasant.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Luther  appeared  in  the 
pulpit  at  Wittemberg,  and  announced  that  he  came  to  deliver 
Germany  from  the  "  yoke  of  the  papacy.''  Conrad's  disciples 
flocked  round  the  doctor,  because  he  waged  war  with  the  nobility, 
and  promised  to  the  poor  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  the  table 
of  the  wicked  rich.  Conrad  continued  to  laugh ;  they  cut  oiF 
his  head  to  make  him  be  quiet ;  but  the  laughter  did  not  cease ; 
the  merriment  went  on  in  Carinthia,  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg, — 
above  all,  in  electoral  Saxony,  that  country  of  Germany  where 
Charlemagne's  foundations  were  so  opulent  Luther  continued 
to  pursue  in  his  wrath  the  prelates  who  fattened  themselves  at 
the  expense  of  Germany,  and  publicly  from  the  pulpit  denounced 
them  as  robbers  and  knaves.  Now  these  prelates — ^frequently  we 
know  the  temporal  masters  of  the  communities  who  paid  to  them 

revenues,  taxes,  and  all  sorts  of  duties, — ^were  sons  of. , 

according  to  the  doctor's  expression, — ^hellhounds,  secretaries  of 
the  devil  Menzel  positively  admits  that  Luther's  was  not 
merely  a  religious  but  a  political  doctrine,  that  must  in  the  end 
upset  society,*  

*  "  Auch  liisst  rich  nicbt  laugneu,  diss  Lather  zuweilen  Worte  fidlen  liess, 
in  denen  eine  politisoho  Beziehung  henrortmt,   und  die  nichts  weniger  ala 

K  2 


132  HISTORY   OP  LUTHEU. 

Listen  to  the  Mirabeau  of  the  cloisters:  ''I  am  theevan-' 
gelist  of  Wittemberg  ;  Christ  has  so  styled  me :  at  the  day  of 
jadgment,  he  will  say  that  it  is  his  doctrine  and  not  my  own  that 
I  have  taught. 

*'  Defy  the  bishops  as  yon  would  the  devil  himself.     If  they 
tell  you  to  beware  of  rising  against  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy, 
I  answer: — 

I  "  '  Would  it  be  better  to  strive  against  the  Lord  and  his 
i  word?  Would  it  be  better  to  let  the  world  perish  and  souls 
I  be  eternally  lost,  rather  than  to  rouse  these  bishops  from  their 
1     soft  slumbers  ? ' 

I         ''  No,  no  !    let  all  the  bishops,  monasteries,  and  colleges 
perish,  rather  than  one  single  souL 

"  What  folly  to  die  for  ^  set  of  idols  and  puppets  who  only 
fatten  themselves  in  luxury  at  the  expense  of  the  labour  and  the 
sweat  of  others  ! 

*'  Bishoprics,  colleges,  monasteries,  and  universities  are  nests 
in  which  the  wealth  of  princes  is  swallowedjip."^ 

"  It  does  not  do  to  trifle  with  the  beer  of  Munich,"  says  an 
old  Bavarian  adage :  Luther's  language  was  equally  heady.  His 
manifesto,  after  the  meeting  of  the  States  at  Nuremberg,  was 
an  appeal  to  rebellion — a  war-song. 

During  all  the  time  of  Luther's  war  with  Rome,  the  peasantry 
remained  quiet  under  the  yoke  of  their  masters.  They  waited 
for  the  result  of  this  great  struggle.  Had  Rome  been  victorious, 
they  would  have  continued  to  demand  redress  for  their  grievances 
from  the  Diet  or  the  empire,  attempting,  perhaps,  if  their  com- 
plaints were  unheard,  some  partial  risings  ;  but  rebellion  would 
never  have  assumed  a  systematic  form.  Maximilian  had  on  more 
than  one  occasion  done  right  to  the  peasants'  complaints,  and  we 
may  believe  that  Charles  V.  would  have  granted  them  ample  justice. 
When  Luther  was  triumphant,  the  oppressed  listened  to  those 
learned  people  who  talked  of  liberty  and  enfranchisement,  and  they 
applied  to  themselves,  says  M.  Michelet,  what  was  not  said  for 
them,^   What  mercy  could  they  henceforward  have  for  the  masters 

geeignet  waren,    einen  im  Yolke  TorhandeneD  GabniDgslust  zu  beschwich' 
tigen." — Neuere  Geschichte  der  Deutscben,  torn.  i.  p.  16?^ 

'  Contrk  ffdsb  noisinatum  ordinem  ecclesiasticum. 

'  M,  Michelety  M^iuoires  de  Luther,  torn.  ii.  p.  163. 


THE  peasants'  wab.  133 

whom  Luther  ptiblicljdenonnced  from  his  pulpit  as  children  of  hell? 
The  war  in  which  the  peasantry  was  to  engage  was  a  regular  battle 
between  archangels  and  devils  ;  if  they  failed,  heaven  would  open 
for  the  conquered  slave.     Accordingly  they  flew  to  arms. 

The  first  insurrectionary  movement  in  the  country  broke 
out  in  the  Black  Forest,  near  the  source  of  the  Danube. 
On  the  24th  of  August,  1524,  a  shepherd,  Hans  MuUer,  of 
Bulgenbach,  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  band  of  peasants,  and 
preceded  by  a  tricoloured  flag,  red,  black,  and  white,  entered 
Waldshut,  called  together  the  inhabitants,  and  announced  to 
them  that  he  came  in  God's  name  to  deliver  them  from  bondage. 
Each  member  of  the  evangelical  association,  of  which  he  had 
constituted  himself  the  chief,  was  to  pay  a  small  sum  intended 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  rebellion  by  means  of  faithful  messen- 
gers. At  this  time  Munzer  arrived  in  that  part  of  the  country.* 
After  residing  some  weeks  at  Oriesheim,  he  crossed  the  Hegau 
and  Eletgau,  preaching  on  his  way  the  redemption  of  Israel, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  heavenly  kingdom.  The  rebels 
soon  won  over  the  counties  of  Wertemberg,  Montfort,  Sulz, 
Reichnau,  Constance,  and  Stulingen.  The  alarmed  nobles 
applied  to  the  Suabian  league  to  repress  these  outbreaks ;  the 
league  employed  entreaties  and  threats,  but  the  peasants  con- 
tinued in  arms.  In  other  times  the  empire  alone  could  have 
suppressed  the  insurrection,  but  at  this  period  it  was  weak, 
powerless,  and  divided.  Luther  had  enervated  the  great  German 
body,  and  destroyed  that  robust  nationality  which  had  cost 
Maximilian  so  much  trouble  to  form ;  the  great  vassals  had 
ceased  to  walk  in  union  with  their  lords. 

The  peasants  laid  their  grievances,  of  which  they  insolently 
demanded  redress,  before  the  imperial  government  at  Eslingen. 
"  If  the  lords,"  said  they,  "  will  not  give  us  justice  with  good- 
will, we  shall  take  it  by  force."  The  nobles,  in  order  to  escape 
from  the  clubs  of  the  peasants,  were  compelled  to  take  refuge 
within  the  walls  of  RatolffzelL* 

For  a  considerable  time  Munzer  gave  precedence  to  Hans  MuUer 
of  Bulgenbach,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  evangelical  league ; 


^  Schreiber,  Tascheobnch  fur  Stid-Dentflchland,  torn.  i.  p.  72. 
*  Certis  de  causis, — BuUinger  adyenus  Anabftptiaifcfui. 


134  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

for  the  rebellion  was  formed  and  recruited  by  means  of  the  Bible. 
He  cut  a  fine  figure  with  his  purple  cloak  shaped  like  a 
chasuble,  his  cap  fashioned  like  a  bishop's  mitre,  and  his  horse 
stolen  from  the  abbot's  stable.^  He  marched,  preceded  bj  an 
enormous  standard  drawn  on  a  carriage  ornamented  with  ribbons 
and  foliage^  and  resembling  a  Neapolitan  corricolo.  When  he 
arrived  before  a  village,  he  dismounted  from  his  horse,  demanded 
the  keys  of  the  monastic  cellar,  and  drank  with  his  companions, 
out  of  the  vessels  of  the  church,  to  the  success  of  the  holy  league. 
He  came  not,  he  said,  to  bring  war,  but  peace  to  men  of  good- 
will, that  is  to  say,  to  the  abbots  and  nobles  who  would  consent 
to  leave  their  splendid  mansions  to  live  like  the  peasant  in  a 
thatched  cabin.  In  the  meanwhile,  he  laid  violent  hands  on 
the  plate  of  the  churches  or  castles,  gave  to  his  comrades  for 
their  attire  the  finest  suits  from  the  abbatial  or  seignorial  ward- 
robes, and  exchanged  the  work-horses  of  the  rebels  for  the  Meek- 
lemburg  steeds  which  he  found  in  the  stables  of  his  tyrants.^ 

When  the  expedition  was  ended,  the  chief  of  the  rebel  corps 
assembled  the  neighbouring  villagers,  by  the  sound  of  the  tocsin, 
in  a  vast  plain,  and  a  herald,  mounted  on  a  cask,  read  to  the 
silent  mob  the  manifesto  of  the  league. 

It  was  drawn  up  by  an  able  priest,  Christopher  Schappeler, 
and  consisted  of  twelve  principal  articles. 

In  this  "  friendly  complaint"  the  peasants  demanded : — 

I.  That  they  should  be  at  liberty  to  choose  their  own  pastors 
among  those  who  preached  the  Gospel  in  its  primitive  purity, 
without  the  addition  of  human  precepts,  and  depose  him  when 
necessary,  should  they  be  dissatisfied  with  him. 

II.  That  they  should  only  pay  taxes  in  com  ;  that  the  tax 
of  blood  (of  cattiie)  should  no  longer  be  exacted,  because  the  Lord 
has  created  the  lower  animals  for  the  use  of  man. 

III.  That  they  should  no  longer  be  treated  as  slaves,  as  the 
property  of  their  Iwds,  both  shepherd  as  well  as  emperor  being 
redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 

IV.  That  they  should  be  permitted  to  hunt  and  fish  freely, 

'  Faesslin's  Beitrage  zu.  Historie  der  Kirchen-Refonnation,  torn.  ii.  p.  68. 
Walchner,  Gesehichte  von  Batolphzell,  p.  92.    Banke,  I.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  198. 

'  Schreiber,  der  Breisgan  im  Bauernkriege,  im  Taschenbnch  far  SUd- 
BeuUchland,  torn.  i.  p.  235.    Banke,  1.  o.  torn.  ii.  p.  201. 


THE  peasants'  wab.  135 

since  God,  in  the  person  of  Adam,  had  given  them  dominion  over 
the  fish  of  the  waters  and  the  birds  of  the  air. 

V.  That  they  might  cut  timber  -in  the  forests  for  warming 
themselves,  and  preparing  their  food  and  shelter. 

VI.  That  the  labour  imposed  on  them  should  be  mitigated. 

VII.  That  the  lord  should  not  exact  from  the  peasant  more 
gratuitous  services  than  should  be  stipulated  by  mutual  contract. 

VIII.  That  they  should  be  at  liberty  to  possess  real  property. 

IX.  That  the  taxes  should  not  exceed  an  equitable  rate. 

X.  That  the  fields  and  meadows  which  had  been  illegally 
taken  from  the  people  should  be  restored  to  them. 

XL  That  the  tribute  which  they  were  bound  to  pay  to  the 
lords  after  the  death  of  the  &ther  of  a  family  should  be  abo« 
lished^  so  that  the  widow  and  orphans  should  not  be  reduced  to 
beggary. 

XII.  That  if  these  grievances  were  ill-founded,  they  should  be 
disproved  by  the  word  of  God.* 

Conveyed  to  the  valley  of  Odenwald,  called  the  Schupfer- 
grund,  this  manifesto,  drawn  up  with  studied  moderation,  excited 
all  the  rural  districts.  George  Metzler,  a  tavern-keeper  of  Bal- 
lenburg,  was  elected  leader  of  the  rebels.  He  was  a  man  of 
ruined-character,  who  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  ale- 
houses, and  would  in  a  single  day  drink  from  twenty  to  thirty 
pints  of  beer.  Metzler  consented  to  make  peace  with  the  lords 
on  certain  conditions :  the  lord  was  to  surrender  the  greatest 
portion  of  his  lands  to  the  common  people,  renounce  statute- 
labour,  abolish  all  feudal  rights,  and  head  the  peasants  in  destroy- 
*  ing  the  spiritual  princes  of  the  nation.  His  troop  was  called  the 
"White  Band  ;"  another,  commanded  by  Hans  Koelbenschlag, 
was  called  the  "  Black  Band.''  Together  they  formed  a  mass  of 
several  thousand  footmen  and  horsemen,  who  fought  excellently, 
and  seldom  gave  any  quarter  to  a  conquered  foe. 

Suabia  was  soon  overrun  :  the  counts,  of  Hohenlohe  and 
Loewenstein,  and  the  baron  of  Rosenberg,  were  compelled  to 
subscribe  to  the  conditions  imposed  on  them  by  their  conquerors. 
Sometimes,  as  before  Grunbuhl,  a  tinker  stepped  forth  from 

■  Bensen,  der  Bauernkrieg  in  Ost-Fnmken :  Erlangen,  1840.  Karl  Hagen, 
der  Geist  der  Befonxiation  and  seine  Qegeniditze :  Brlangen,  1844,  torn.  ii. 
p.  135  et  aeq. 


136  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

the  ranks,  and  addressing  the  lords  whom  he  saw  on  the 
eminence :  "  Brothers  George  and  Albert/'  he  said,  "  come 
hither,  and  promise  to  serve  ns  like  true  brothers ;  for  jou  are  no 
longer  lords,  but  mere  peasants :''  and  the  two  princes  were 
obliged  to  descend  the  mountain,  and  shake  the  orator's  hand  in 
token  of  alliance.^ 

Woe  to  him  who  resisted  the  confederates,  like  the  count  of 
Helfenstein.  The  prisoner's  wife,  a  natural  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian,  implored  her  husband's  pardon  on  her 
knees,  with  her  infant  in  her  arms.  The  peasants  were  deaf 
to  her  tears  and  prayers :  they  formed  a  double  line  of  soldiers 
armed  with  pikes,  through  which  two  men  drove  the  unhappy 
count,  who  thus  perished  by  the  hands  of  his  vassals.  One  of 
his  servants  attended  him  playing  on  a  fife,  as  if  he  were  con- 
ducting his  master  to  a  village  ball.^ 

It  was  now  the  nobles'  turn  to  implore  mercy.  From  Oden- 
wald  to  the  frontiers  of  Suabia  they  submitted  without  a 
murmur.  The  Winterstetten,  the  Stettenfels,  the  Zobel,  the 
Oemmingen,  the  counts  of  Wertheim  and  Rheineck,  and  the 
Hohenlohe,  delivered  their  artillery  to  the  rebels.*  Then  the  two 
great  bands,  the  "  White"  and  the  "  Black,"  united  to  march 
against  the  most  powerful  lord  of  Franconia,  the  bishop  of 
Wurtzburg.  On  their  way,  the  peasants  met  coming  to  them 
a  renowned  captain,  Goetz  von  Berlichingen,*  who,  by  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  insurgents,  sought  means  of  revenge 
on  his  old  enemy,  the  league  of  Suabia.  Wurtzburg  threw  open 
its  gates  to  the  allies.^ 

Germany  was  in  flames :  the  monasteries,  says  one  historian, 
fell  like  card  houses  ;  the  peasantry  thought  that  God  had  com- 
manded them  not  to  stop  until  there  remained  nothing  but 
cottages.  The  Frankish  and  Suabian  races  rushed  upon  the 
various  countries  of  Germany  to  overturn  the  social  institutions 
to  their  foundation.  At  that  time  the  rebellion  was  much  more 
of  a  religious  than  a  political  character.    This  was  because  it  had 


*  Banke,  1.  o.  torn.  ii.  p.  205.  '  Benseii,  1.  o.  p.  526. 
'  Chronik  der  Truchsessen,  torn.  ii.  p.  195. 

*  LebensbeschreibuQg  des  Gotz,  p.  201. 

'  Jobann  Keinbard,  WUrzburgiachd  Chronik,  in  Ludwig  Wlirzb.  (jlescbicbt- 
Bohr.  p.  886. 


THE   PBASANTB'   WAR^  1S7 

ceased  to  be  directed  by  mere  peasants :  the  priest  came  to  lead 
the  masses.  Munzer,  the  chief  of  the  rebels,  was  in  Thuringia, 
preaching  through  the  country  from  morning  to  night  the  deli- 
yerance  of  Israel.  He  said  that  the  poetic  Christ  of  Luther — 
the  Christ  of  love  and  mercy — had  served  his  time ;  that  the 
true  Christ  had  come,  who  desired  that  the  weeds  should  be 
plucked  out  of  the  fields  whose  produce  they  choked.  He 
refused  to  subscribe  to  the  treaties  which  the  peasants  had 
settled  with  their  masters  in  Suabia  and  Franconia.  According 
to  him,  the  world  could  not  be  ruled  by  princes.  Under  God's 
heaven  every  creature  ought  to  be  free,  all  property  common, — 
air  and  water,  fish  and  fowl,  herbs  and  rocks.  He  acknowledged 
no  law  framed  by  man's  hand  i  there  was  only  one  great  law,  he 
repeated,  which  should  be  obeyed,  the  inward  revelation  ;  but 
there  was  need  of  a  new  Daniel  to  interpret  it,  and  march  at  the 
head  of  the  regenerated  nations  like  Moses ;  and  Moses  and 
Daniel  were  both  personified  in  himself.* 

While  Germany  was  a  prey  to  these  frightful  convulsions, — 
while  the  blood  of  her  children  was  flowing  at  the  foot  of  the 
Harz,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  as  far  as  the  mountains 
of  the  Danube,  a  man,  who  had  rendered  signal  service  to  the 
Beformation,  expired  in  his  castle  of  Lochau,  a  prey  to  terrible 
sufferings,  which  he  bore  with  resignation.  The  court-preacher 
knocked  at  the  door  of  the  dying  man,  who  raised  himself  on  hi» 
couch  to  salute  his  visitor.  "  Thanks,''  said  Frederick,  duke  of 
Saxony,  to  the  minister, — "  thanks  for  your  kind  visit ;  the  Gospel 
commands  us  to  visit  the  sick ;  and  I  am  very  ill."  And  making 
the  priest  approach  his  bed,  he  talked  in  a  feeble  voice  of  the 
peasants'  insurrection,  of  Luther,  the  friend  of  his  heart,  of  the 
destinies  of  the  new  doctrine,  and  of  the  future  life.  Then  he 
summoned  his  domestics.  "  My  children,"  said  he  to  them,  "  if 
I  have  offended  any  of  you,  I  beg  your  forgiveness,  for  the  love 
of  God.  We  princes  often  do  wrong  without  being  aware  of  it ; 
it  is  necessary  to  excuse  us."  He  then  asked  for  a  devotional 
book,  published  by  Spalatinus,  of  which  he  read  a  few  pages, 
received  the  communion  in  both  species,^  and  expired.   He  was 

*  ThmiDgia  Sacra^  torn.  ii.  p.  173  et  seq.  Strobel,  Leben,  Schriften  and 
Lehren  Thoma  Mtinzers,  p.  95. 

*  SpalatiD,  Leben  Friedricbs  des  Weisen,  p.  60. 


138  •  HISTOBT  OP  LUTHER, 

a  well-infonned  man,  of  pure  morals,  and  great  mildness  of  dis- 
position, but  weak  and  pusillanimous.  As  a  lover  of  peace,  he 
constantly  refused  to  join  in  the  measures  which  the  emperor 
wished  to  adopt  against  the  new  doctrines.  To  put  down  the 
disturbances  which  Luther  raised  in  Germany,  it  would  have 
been  necessary  for  him  to  emerge  from  that  tranquillity  in  which 
he  had  buried  himself.  So,  at  every  great  peril  which  threat- 
ened the  &ith  and  society,  he  withdrew,  and  betook  himself  in 
unworthy  flight  to  the  solitude  of  his  green  forests,  where  he 
fancied  he  should  fulfil  the  orders  of  God,  with  a  pagan  poet  in 
his  hands.  His  mind  resembled  his  body  ;  once  gained  by 
Luther,  it  quietly  slept,  without  the  admonitions  of  the  Catholic 
Church  being  ever  able  to  rouse  it  from  its  voluntary  supineness. 
Of  such  princes  let  us  not  inquire  the  religious  or  political 
convictions  ;  they  die  as  they  have  lived,  in  a  philosophic  calm 
which  the  world  sometimes  calls  wisdom,  but  which  is  merely 
a  chastisement  of  Heaven. 

Frederick  died  without  issue,  on  the  4th  of  May,  1525.     His 
brother  John  succeeded  him. 


CHAPTER  XL 

END  OF  THB  PEASANTS'  WAR  AND  EXECUTION  OF  MTJNZER. 
;  1526. 

What  part  does  Luther  take  in  the  rebellion  ^  the  peasanti  against  their  lords  f 
— His  address  to  the  nobles. — ^The  peasants,  emboldened  by  his  language^ 
rise  in  all  qiiarters. — Phiffer. — Munzer  goes  to  the  mines  of  MansfSold. — 
Luther  changes  his  opinion  and  language  ;  his  manifesto  to  the  rebels. — 
The  prophet's  reply. — Osiandeir  and  Erasmus  accuse  Luther. — Progress  of 
the  rebellion. — Luther  preaches  the  murder  of  the  rebels. — Melancthon'a 
language. — ^Battle  of  Franckenbausen. — Defeat  of  the  peasants. — Munzer  is 
reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  dies  denouncing  Luther. — Is  Luther  to 
be  accused  of  having  misled  the  peasantry  ? — ^The  musket^  the  ultimate  ratio 
to  which  the  monk  appeals  for  settling  the  rebellion. — ^The  Protestant  princes 
rally  to  that  theory  of  despotism. — It  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  suooess  of 
the  new  doctrine. 

Gebmany  had  its  eyes  fixed  on  Luther ;  she  anxiously  inquired, 
what  part  would  he  take  in  this  great  crisis  ?    If  he  declared  for 


END  OF  THE   PEASAKTS'  WAR.  1S9 

the  rebels,  there  was  an  end  to  society  in  Germany  ;  a  new  world 
wonld  arise  oat  of  the  chaos  which  his  almighty  word  was  to  form, 
— but  what  sort  of  a  world  ?  If  he  was  faithful  to  the  doctrines  of 
liberty  which  he  had  hitherto  preached,  inflexible  logic  inevitably 
wonld  compel  him  to  defend  the  insurrection  of  the  peasants ; 
for  they,  in  order  to  destroy  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  employed 
those  very  Bible  texts  of  which  he  so  frequently  had  made  use. 
How  could  he  condemn  a  crusade  undertaken  against  the  priests 
of  Rome,  whom  he  had  cursed  and  vilified  both  in  the  pulpit  and 
in  his  writings  ?  At  the  commencement  of  that  great  war  of  the 
cottage  against  t^TlEon^E^^ISSihfi^aBCiLO^^ 
feroluliUilUI^  niovement  would  be  directed  by  his  implacable"" 
ml^rHii^  Iffnrizftr^^i^iit^^  hiTr^p^\f  pu  the ^d^  Q^---    "^^ 

tt^jlgasantry: — Jfcih^L-aSdreSses  the  nobility  of  Germany,* 
and  his  ^unsels  resemble  rather  the  transports  of^pasBias^thkn 
tSradadcO-Mj^  wise  mediaFdf.  .^ 

'^  On  you  first,  princes  and  lords,  devolves  the  responsibility 
of  these  tumults  and  seditions  ;  on  you  especially,  blind  bishops, 
stupid  priests,  and  monks  !  ^ 

'  "  Ton,  who  persist  in  playing  the  fool,  and  attacking  the 
Gospel,  knowing  perfectly  weU  that  it  will  stand  firm  against 
your  assaults. 

"  How  do  you  govern  ?  You  only  oppress,  ravage,  and  pil- 
lage to  maintain  your  pomp  and  arrogance.  The  people  and  the 
poor  are  sick  of  you. 

"  The  sword  hangs  over  your  heads,  and  you  fimcy  yourselves 
to  be  so  firmly  seated,  that  you  cannot  be  upset. 

"  You  will  see  that  this  blind  security  will  break  your  necks 
....  God  presses  and  threatens  you  ;  his  wrath  will  burst  upon 
you,  if  you  do  not  repent. 

"  Look  at  the  signs  in  the  heavens,  those  admonitions  of  the 
Lord  t  these  denote  no  good,  my  dear  masters ;  these  predictions 
from  above,  my  good  lords,  announce  that  the  people  are  weary 
of  your  yoke,  and  that  the  time  is  arrived  when  they  are  ready 
to  break  it. 

"  There  must  be  a  change.    Beware  of  God's  wrath ;  if  you 

*  Vermahniinff  tan  die  Filrsten  trad  an  die  Bauern  :  Witt.  Mail,  1525. 
Ulenberg,  Vita  Martini  Lntheri,  p.  262  et  seq. 

*  ''  Primtun  nemini  poesum  referre  id  tnmoltOB  qukm  robis  prindpibos." 


140  HISTORY  OP  LUTHBB. 

do  not  apply  to  it  with  good-will,  they  will  make  nse  of  brute 
force. 

"  If  the  peasants  had  not  risen,  others  would  have  come  ;  and 
if  you  were  to  annihilate  all  the  insurgents,  others  would  appear. 
God  will  stir  up  new  ones.  He  wishes  to  chastise  you,  and  he 
will  do  so,  my  good  lords ;  it  is  not  the  peasantry  who  rebel 
against  you,  but  God  himself,  who  comes  to  visit  you  in  your 
tyranny.* 

*'  A  drunken  man  gets  a  litter  of  straw ;  the  peasant  must 
have  a  much  softer  bed     Do  not  go  to  war  with  them,  for  you 
know  not  how  that  will  end."* 
I  iff      ^^^  peasants,  emboldened  by  this  manifesto,  and  confident 
henceforward  of  Luther's  assistance,  rose  in  a  mass. 

Thuringia,  Alsatia,  Saxony,  Lorraine,  and  the  Palatinate  rose, 
relying  on  the  Reformer's  words  ;*  the  fields  were  covered  with 
rustic  tents,  from  which  ascended,  instead  of  war-cries,  sacred 
hymns.  The  peasants  sang  as  they  marched,  armed  with  stakes, 
which  they  cut  in  the  forests,  and  were  protected  in  their  camps 
by  dense  ramparts  of  chariots  raised  in  form  of  intrenchments :  they 
said  that  God,  on  the  day  of  battle,  would  cover  them  with  his 
buckler.  God  seemed  to  fight  for  them  ;  victory  had  provided 
^them  with  lances,  pikes,  horses,  and  even  cannon.  But  what 
artillery  was  equal  to  that  burning  eloquence  of  some  of  their 
leaders,  which  swept  before  it  the  fields,  and  depopulated  them 
to  drive  their  inhabitants  to  revolt  ?  Storch  was  no  more.  It 
is  said  that  nature  creates  beings  expressly  for  times  of  com- 
motion, and  keeps  them  in  reserve,  to  produce  them  when  the 
storm  is  about  to  burst.  Such  is  the  new  man  who  presents 
himself  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  to  fill  the  place  of  the  absent 
prophet :  he  is  a  Catholic  renegade,  a  Premonstratensian  monk, 
dealing  with  the  Lord,   who  reveals   to  him   his   pleasure  in 

'  "  Non  rusticos  esse  qui  nunc  insurgunt  contrk  principes,  sed  Deum  ipsnm 
ezercere  vindicfcam  quam  tyranni  ipsorum  merentur." — Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  262. 

*  "  Oedant  fiirori  popularium,  nee  acie  cum  illis  cozifligant,  Bed  animoa  illo- 
rum  pertentent  ob]at&  transactione." — ^Ibid. 

'  "  Die  Bauern  seteten  sich  swar  anfanglich  mit  Luther  in  Verbindung.*' — 
Karl  Hagen,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  139.  Vie  may  see  in  the  work  of  M.  Hagen, 
professor  of  histoxy  at  Heidelberg,  how  Luther  deceived  the  peasantry.  The 
Der  Geist  der  Heformation  und  seine  Gegensatze,  of  this  Protestant  author,  is 
a  conscientious  work,  in  which  the  spirit  of  the  Beformation  is  nearly  always 
impartially  judged. 


V 


END   OF  THK  PEASANTS'    WAR.  141 

dreams.  PhiiFer  does  not  seek  for  his  inspiration  in  the  Bible  ; 
he  narrates  the  marvels  of  his  slumbers,  and  this  narrative  rouses 
the  multitude.^ 

Listen  to  one  of  his  visions  :— "  I  saw,"  says  he,  "  a  vast 
swarm  of  rats,  who  rushed  into  a  bam  to  devour  the  grain  ! 
Princes,  you  are  the  rats  who  oppress  us  ;  nobles,  you  are  the 
rats  who  devour  us.  But,  during  my  sleep,  I  attacked  these 
vermin,  and  made  a  great  slaughter  of  them.  To  arms,  then  ! 
away  from  your  fields  ! — to  your  tents,  0  Israel ! — now  is  the 
day  of  battle ;  our  tyrants  and  their  castles  fedl !  A  rich  booty 
waits  us,  which  we  shall  carry  to  the  feet  of  the  prophet,  who 
will  apportion  it  faithfully  among  his  disciples." 

Munzer,  for  his  part,  descended  into  the  mines  of  Mansfeld. 

"  Arouse,  brethren,  arouse  !  "  cried  he  ;  "  awake,  you  who 
sleep  ;^'?&ke  your  hammers,  and  break  the  heads  of  the  Philis- 
tines. Victory  declares  for  our  brethren  at  Eichsfeld :  glory  to 
them  !  Let  their  example  serve  as  a  lesson  for  you.  Gome  to 
us,  Balthasar,  Bartlet,  Krump,  Walten,  and  Bischof.  Take 
care  of  God's  work.  Brethren,  let  not  your  hammers  remain 
unemployed ;  strike  with  repeated  blows  on  the  anvil  of  Nim- 
rod;  employ  the  iron  of  your  mines  against  the  enemies  of 
Heaven  ;  God  will  be  your  master  !  What,  then,  have  you  to 
fear,  if  he  is  with  you?  When  Josaphat  heard  the  words  of 
the  prophet,  he  threw  himself  with  his  face  on  the  earth. 
Brethren,  bow  your  heads,  for  behold  God  comes  in  person  to 
your  rescue." 

Then  these  subterranesin  arsenals  were  seen  to  pour  forth 
battalions  of  men  black  with  smoke,  armed  with  shovels,  mat- 
tocks, and  red-hot  iron,  responsive  to  the  voice  which  summoned 
them  with  cries  of  blood  against  the  nobles  or  priests.  Munzer, 
like  another  Satan, — ^for  we  fancy  we  are  reading  a  scene  from 
Milton, — counts  them,  ranges  them  in  battle-  array,  and  points 
out  to  them  the  spot  of  the  general  muster.  None  of  them  were 
missing. 

On  issuing  from  the  mines,  he  addressed  this  energetic  appeal 
to  other  brethren  in  rebellion : — 

"  Do  you  sleep,  then,  dear  brethren  ?     Come,  to  fight  the 


'  Menzel,  Neuere  Geschichte  der  Deatschen,  torn.  i.  pp.  190^  1^99,  &q. 


142  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

battle  of  heroes :  the  whole  of  Franconia  has  risen  ;  the  maater 
shows  himself ;  the  wicked  fall.  At  Fulda,  in  Easter-week,  four 
pestiferous  churches  have  been  pulled  down  ;  the  peasants  of 
Klegen  have  run  to  arms.  Were  there  only  three  confessors  of 
Jesus  among  you,  you  would  not  have  to  fear  a  hundred  thousand 
enemies.  To  work  !  Dran,  dran,  dran  ! — [At  it,  ai  it,  at  it !] 
Now  is  the  time ;  the  wicked  shall  be  hunted  like  dogs.  No 
mercy  for  these  atheists  ;  they  will  pray,  caress,  and  whimper  to 
you  like  babies ;  no  mercy ;  it  is  God's  command  by  the  lips  of 
Moses,  ver.  7.  Dran,  dwm,  dran  !  for  the  fire  bums ;  let  not 
the  blood  get  cold  on  the  blades  of  your  swords.^  Pink,  pank, 
on  the  anvil  of  Nimrod ;  let  the  towers  fall  beneath  your  blows. 
Dran,  dran,  dran  !  Now  is  the  time :  God  leads  you ;  follow 
him." 

Placed  between  the  nobles,  who  loudly  laid  to  his  charge  the 
troubles  which  rent  Germany,  and  the  peasants,  who  hailed  him 
at  once  as  their  apostle  and  liberator,  what  was  Luther  to  do  ? 
If,  as  he  said,  it  was  not  the  peasants  who  rebelled  against  their 
lords,  but  God,  who  came  to  chastise  their  merciless  oppressors, 
could  he,  without  denying  his  own  words,  abandon  the  oppressed  ? 
What  bed  was  he  to  prepare  for  these  unhappy  rustics,  for 
whom  he  demanded  a  couch  softer  than  the  straw  whereon  a 
drunken  man  was  stretched  ?  When  he  implored,  in  cries  of 
lamentation,  mercy  for  the  slave,  the  slave  was  not  led  by  a 
Spartacus  in  a  cassock.  With  Hans  of  Bulgenbach,  Luther 
continued  to  be  master  of  the  consciences,  which  he  directed  and 
ruled ;  but  if  Munzer  triumphed,  Luther  would  be  unseated,  and 
cease  to  be  the  ecclesiastes  of  Wittemberg,  the  Lord's  chosen, 
the  pure  disciple  of  Christ :  the  "  prophet  of  murder "  is  the 
spiritual  master  of  Germany. 

Luther  undertook  to  reply  to  the  manifesto  of  the  peasants.^ 
*'  My  brethren,  the  princes  who  oppose  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  light  among  you  are  deserving  of  God  s  vengeance ;  they 
merit  dethronement.    But  would  you  not  be  also  guilty,  were  you 


'  "  Lunet  ener  Schwert  nicht  kalt  werden  you  Blut :  sohmiedet  pink,  pvok 
auf  dem  Ambos  Nimrod,  werfet  den  Thunn  zu  Boden." — Luther*8  Werke, 
alit  of  Alteoburg,  torn.  ui.  p.  134.     Menzel,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  pp.  200—202. 

'  Erraahnung  zum  Frieden :  Auf  die  XII  Artikel  der  Bauerscbaft  ia  Schwa- 
ben;  Wittcjnberg,  1525,  4 to. 


END  OF   THB   PBASANTS'   WAE.  143 

to  stain  your  hands  and  souls  with  the  blood  which  you  in* 
tend  to  shed  ?  I  know  that  Satan  conceals  among  you,  under 
the  guise  of  the  Gospel,  cruel-hearted  men,  whose  infuriated 
tongues  seek  to  destroy  me ;  but  I  despise  them,  and  fear  not 
their  rage.  They  tell  you  that  you  will  conquer,  that  you  are 
inyincible.  But  cannot  the  God  who  destroyed  Sodom  crush 
you  ?  Tou  have  taken  up  the  sword, — you  shall  perish  by  the 
sword.  In  resisting  your  rulers,  you  resist  Jesus  Christ  You 
say :  '  The  yoke  of  our  masters  is  unbearable  ;  let  us  break  it, 
for  they  deprive  us  of  the  liberty  of  hearing  the  Lord's  Yoice.' 
But  the  law  of  nature  forbids  you  to  take  the  law  into  your  own 
hands ;  you  demand  it  in  the  name  of  an  authority  to  which  you 
have  no  right.  Speak  not  of  revelations  as  authorizing  your 
rebellion  !  Where  are  the  miracles  which  attest  them  ?  What  I 
would  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  come  to  confirm  by  prodigies, 
larceny,  murder,  rapine,  and  the  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  the 
magistrates  ?  They  take  your  property  from  you,  it  is  a  sin  ;  you 
take  from  them  their  jurisdiction,  you  are  equally  guilty.  What 
would  the  world  be,  were  you  to  succeed,  but  a  den  of  robbers, 
where  violence,  pillage,  and  homicide  would  prevail  ?  Jesus  has 
no  need  of  brute  force  to  defend  him.  Peter  drew  his  sword, 
when  they  sought  to  take  the  Redeemer's  life,  and  the  Gospel 
from  his  disciples.  What  did  the  Lord  do  ?  He  commanded 
Peter  to  return  his  sword  to  its  scabbard :  a  noble  lesson,  that 
patience  should  be  your  only  weapon  in  the  day  of  trial. 
Observe  that  I  have  always  respected  the  supreme  authority. 
Under  its  powerful  protection,  I  have  heard  unmoved  the  papists' 
cry  of  vengeance.  However,  I  do  not .  protend  to  justify  your 
rulers ;  I  know  their  injustice,  and  detest  it :  but  wait,  your 
day  will  come. 

**  You  ask  to  be  permitted  to  hear  the  Gospel  in  liberty ;  but 
that  word  is  preached  to  you  in  more  quart<;rs  than  one. 
Cannot  you  change  your  residence,  and  come  hither  to  drink  at 
the  source  of  the  Divine  Word  ?  Come,  you  will  find  Jesus 
here.  You  wish  to  choose  your  own  pastors ;  your  rulers  are 
there,  convey  your  wishes  to  them  ;  if  they  refuse  to  hear  you, 
you  are  then  frc^e ;  if  they  employ  force  against  you,  let  the 
shepherd  fly,  and  his  flock  with  him.  *  No  more  tithes  ! '  you 
exclaim.     By  what  right  do  you  take  them  from  their  lawful 


I4i  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

possessors  ?  It  is  to  convert  them  to  charitable  pnrposes.  But 
ought  you  to  be  so  liberal  with  what  is  not  your  own  ?  You  wish 
to  emancipate  yourselves  from  slavery  >  but  slavery  is  as  old  as  the 
world.  Abraham  had  slaves,  and  St  Paul  laid  down  rules  for 
those  whom  the  law  of  nations  had  reduced  to  servitude.  The 
rights  of  fishing,  hunting,  and  pasturage  are  regulated  by  the 
law  of  the  land.  On  reading  my  letter,  you  will  shout,  and 
exclaim,  that  Luther  has  become  the  courtier  of  the  princes  ; 
but,  before  rejecting  my  counsels,  examine  them  ;  above  sdl,  do 
not  listen  to  the  voice  of  these  new  prophets,  who  deceive  you  : 
I  know  them." 

By  way  of  reply,  Munzer  tore  out  a  page  of  the  pamphlet, 
entitled,  **  Contra  fals6  nominatum  Ordinem  Ecclesiasticum," 
and  sent  it  to  Luther.     It  was  thus  : — 

"Wait,  my 'lord  bishops,  imps  of  the  devil;  Doctor  Martin 
will  read  you  a  bull  which  will  make  your  ears  tingle.  This  is 
the  Lutheran  bull :  *  Whosoever  with  his  arm,  his  fortune,  and 
his  estate,  shall  assist  in  destroying  the  bishops  and  the  episcopal 
hierarchy,  is  a  true  son  of  God,  a  real  Christian,  who  obeys  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord.'  "^ 

Osiander,  the  Sacramentarian,  regrets  that  Munzer  had  not 
been  acquainted  with  this  passage  of  Luther's  pamphlet  against 
Sylvester  Prierias : — 

"  If  we  hang  robbers,  behead  murderers,  and  bum  heretics, 
.  /  ought  we  not  to  wash  our  hands  in  the  blood  of  these  masters  of 
/  /  perdition,  these  cardinals,  popes,  serpents  of  Rome  and  Sodom, 
I  who  defile  the  Church  of  God  ?"« 

"  Alas !  poor  peasants,"  adds  Osiander,  "  whom  Luther  flatters 
and  caresses,  while  they  only  attack  the  bishops  and  the  clergy  ! 
But  when  the  rebellion  increases,  and  the  insurgents,  laughing 
at  his  bull,  threaten  him  and  his  princes,  then  appears  another 
bull,  in  which  he  preaches  the  murder  of  the  peasants,  as  he 


/ 


/ 


*"Nunc  attendite  yos  episcopi,  imb  Iarv»  diaboli,  doctor  Lutheras  vnlt 
vobis  bullam  et  refonnationem  legere,  qnie  vobis  non  ben^  sonabit^  dootores. 
Doctoris  bulla  et  reformatio  :  qaicamque  opem  ferunt,  oorpaa,  bona  et  famam 
impendunt  ut  episcopi  devastentur  et  eplBcoporum  regimen  eztingnatur,  hi 
sunt  dilecti  filii  Dei  et  veri  Ghristiani,  observantea  preoepta  Dei  et  repugnantes 
ordinationibuB  diabolL" — Op.  Luth.  torn.  IL  fol.  120 :  Wittemben.  Osiander/ 
Cent.  18,  p.  87.  ' 

«  OsLvuder,  Cent.  161,  &c.  p.  109. 


BND  OF   THE  PBASANTS'   WAR.  145 

would  of  a  flock.^  And  when  they  are  slain^  how  will  he  cele- 
brate their  frinerals  ? — ^by  marrying  a  nun  !  "* 

And  to  the  accusation  of  Osiander  is  added  that  of  ErasmuB. 

'^  It  is  to  no  purpose  that,  in  your  cruel  manifesto  against  the 
peasants,  you  repudiate  all  ideas  of  rebellion  ;  your  books  are  at 
handy  written  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  wherein,  in  the  name  of  Gospel 
liberty,  you  preach  a  crusade  against  the  bishops  and  monks :  in 
them  is  the  germ  of  all  these  tumults.'"^ 

Meftnwhile,  the  rebellion  daily  made  greater  progress,  and 
Munzer  threatened  Wittembeig.  Luther  felt  the  necessity  of 
preventing,  at  all  hazard,  the  triumph  of  his  rival,  although  he 
^ust  renounce  his  own  logic,  give  the  lie  to  his  doctrines,  alter 
his  language,  and  demand  the  blood  of  Christians  whom  but 
recently  he  desired  should  be  spared.  Lately,  the  enslaved 
peasant  was  an  oppressed  being,  deserving  compassion  ;  now  he 
is  only  a  rebel,  whom  human  justice  ought  to  pursue  with  its 
ven^ance.  Lately,  Luther  piously  collected  the  tears  of  the 
poor,  which  he  offered  to  GK>d  as  a  holocaust  of  propitiation ; 
now,  it  is  the  blood  of  the  rustic  which  he  demands,  as  an 
expiation  and  a  punishment 

Listen :  let  none  of  his  new  words  be  lost.  He  sings  his 
MarseiUaise : — 

<'  Gome,  my  princes,''  he  cried,  "  to  arms !  to  arms !  the 
time  has  arrived,  the  wondrous  time,  in  which  a  prince  can 
easier  win  heaven  with  blood,  than  others  with  prayers.^ 

''Strike,  slay,  front  or  rear:   for  nothing  is  more  devilish 


'  *'  Luthenia  chm  eoa  inermes  viderety  nee  satis  potentes  ad  provBlendiun, 
eoB  ad  obedientiam  bortatus  est.  Chm  verb  turmatim  confluentes  paci  minimi^ 
acqnieecerent,  sed  bnUani  Lutheri  traosgredientesy  non  inod5  epimopos  et 
demm,  sed  alios  etiam  prooeres  impugnarent,  aliam  bullam  edidit,  quAeos 
omnes  tanquam  feras  mactandafl  esse  statu! t." — Osiander,  Cent.  6,  p.  103. 

*  *'  Lntberos  non  aliter  itinera  eorom  canit  quiun  ipse  monacbas  virginem 
Dei  Totam  Boram  sibi  oopalando." — Gent.  104,  p.  100.  See  the  learned  work 
of  BreUeins,  translated  into  Latin  by  William  Reynerius,  by  the  tide  of 
Apologia  Protestantinm,  etc. :  Paris,  1665,  4to. 

*  "Ta  qoidem  libello  in  agrioolas  ssTinimo  snspioionem  abs  te  depulisU, 
nee  tamen  efficis  qnominiks  credant  homines  per  tuos  libellos,  prassertim  6er- 
maniob  soriptos,  in  oleatos  et  rasos,  in  monacbos,  in  episoopos  pro  libertate 
evangelioA,  oontra  tyi-annidem  humanam,  hisoe  tumultibos  datam  occasionem." 
-r-Brasmi  Hyperaspites. 

*  **  Mirabile  tempus,  nimirbm  ut  principes  mnltb  faciliiu  truddandis  rustids, 
et  sanguine  fundendo,  qn2an  alii  fhndendis  ad  Deum  predbuB  coelum  merean- 
tur.'*--Oper,  Luth.  torn.  ii.  fol.  130.     V\7ittcmb.  torn.  ii.  fol.  8i>  b. 

VOL.  II.  L 


146  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBR. 

than  sedition ;  it  is  a  mad  dog  that  hites  yon^  if  yon  do  not 
destroy  it. 

''  There  mnst  be  no  more  sleep^  patience,  or  mercy  >  the  times 
of  the  sword  and  wrath  are  not  times  of  grace. 

''  If  yott  fall,  you  are  martyrs  in  the  sight  of  God,  because 
you  walk  according  to  his  word  ;  but  if  your  enemies,  the  rebel- 
lious peasants,  fall,  they  will  have  their  inheritance  in  eternal 
fire,  because  they  take  up  the  sword  contrary  to  God's  com- 
mands :  they  are  children  of  Satan.'' 

Melancthon  concurred  with  his  master  to  subdue  the  peasantry. 
Be  said  to  the  princes : — 

'^  These  rustics  are  indeed  unreasonable ;  what,  now,  would 
these  countrymen  wish,  who  have  ahready  too  much  fireedom  ? 
Joseph  increased  the  burden  of  the  Egyptians,  because  he  knew 
that  he  must  not  give  the  people. the  reins."  ^ 

The  rebels,  placed  in  the  dilemma  of  death  or  apostasy,  did 
not  hesitate ;  in  their  eyes,  death  was  martyrdom  ;  apostasy, 
eternal  punishment.  Their  courage  did  not  fail  them,  and,  in 
sight  of  the  gibbet  with  which  he  was  threatened,  Munzer  main- 
tained all  his  daring. 

The  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  count  of  Mansfeld  is  a 
savage  defiance. 

"  To  Brother  Albert,  count  of  Mansfeld,  for  his  conversion.* 

^'  Brother,  you  abuse  a  text  of  the  apostle  in  preaching  to  us 
submission  to  the  magistrates.  Tou  are  still  in  the  toils  of  that 
papacy  which  made  Peter  and  Paul  two  tyrants  to  us.  Do  you 
not  know  that  God,  in  his  anger,  often  makes  the  people  chas- 
tise princes,  and  hurl  wicked  kings  from  their  thrones  ?  It  is  of 
you,  and  such  as  you,  that  the  mother  of  Christ  has  said :  '  The 
Lord  hath  put  down  the  mighty,  and  hath  exalted  the  humble.' 
In  your  Lutheran  and  Wittemberg  repasts,  have  you  not  learned 
what  Ezekiel  prophesies  in  his  37th  chapter,  that  God  has  com- 


'  *'  Ja  68  yfwe  voimdihen,  dass  ein  solch  wild,  nngezogen  Yolk  als  Deutsche 
Bind,  noch  weniger  Freiheit  hatte,  &,c" — Pfizer,  Luther's  Leben,  p.  816. 

CDmpare  Melancthon's  aentimenta  at  this  time  with  thoee  which  he  held 
on  S  Feb.  1523.  GorptiB  Beformat.  torn.  i.  p.  600.  Earl  Hagen,  1.  c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  140. 

'  Binder  Albrechten  von  Mansfeld  zur  Bekehning  geschrieben. — Leben, 
Schriften  und  Lehren  Thoni&  MUnzer's,  tou  Strobel :  Numberg,  17^5,  Svo. 
p.  08. 


END   OP   THB   peasants'   WAR.  147 

manded  the  fowls  of  the  air  to  feed  upon  the  flesh  of  princes,  and 
the  beasts  of  the  field  to  drink  of  the  blood  of  the  great  ?  Are  not 
the  people  whom  you  oppress  more  s^eeable  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  the  wicked,  who  fatten  on  their  substance  ?  Idolater,  who 
take  the  name  of  Christian,  you  have  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in 
yonr  mouth  :  you  rush  to  destruction.  Henceforward,  dominion 
is  to  the  people.  Break  the  bands  which  bind  you  to  our  tyrants ; 
come  to  us  ;  our  anns  are  open  to  receive  you.  If  you  advance 
against  us,  come  on  ;  we  despise  your  threats  and  your  sword. 
Soon  will  the  hand  of  God  press  upon  your  brow.  From  Thomas 
Munzer,  armed  with  the  sword  of  Gideon.''^ 

At  the  same  time,  the  prophet  sent  to  Count  Ernest,  the  bro- 
ther of  Albert  of  Mansfeld,  then  at  Heldrungen,  this  insolent 
cartel: — 

"  Tell  me,  then,  count,  wretched  wormbag  (Madensack),  who 
has  appointed  you  prince  of  that  people,  whom  Christ  has 
redeemed  with  his  blood  ?  Prove  to  us  that  you  are  indeed  a 
Christian  ;  I  offer  you  a  safe-conduct  to  come  hither,  to  demon- 
strate your  faith.  Ton  must  exculpate  yourself  from  the  crime 
of  tyranny  ;  if  you  do  not  come,  I  shall  excite  against  you  my 
brettiren,  who  will  treat  you  like  a  Turk.  You  shall  be  exter- 
minated from  the  earth,  for  God  has  commanded  us  to  hurl  you 
from  your  throne ;  you  are  good  for  nothing  here  on  earth  ;  you 
are  but  the  infamous  dust-broom*  of  God's  servant.  We  demand 
an  answer  to-day,  or  we  shall  march  to  seek  it  in  the  name  of 
the  God  of  battles." 

The  two  brothers  kept  the  appointment. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  catastrophe  of  this  painfully-interesting 
drama. 

The  scene  was  at  Franckenhausen,  where  all  the  princes  were 
met.  The  army  of  the  allied  nobles  was  commanded  by  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  Duke  George  of  Saxony,  the  prince 
whose  love  of  literature  has  been  praised  by  Erasmus,^  and  whom 

'  MeahoviuSy  De  Anabapt.  lib.  i.  This  ih  the  same  Count  Albert  to  whom 
Lather  addressed  a  remarkable  letter,  on  works  and  communion  in  both 
species.  Witt.  ix.  235,  quoted  by  Wilh.  Martin  Leberecht  de  Wette,  tom.  ii. 
p.  341,  Luther's  Briefe. 

'  "Deun  du  bist  der  Christenheit  nichts  niitz,  du  bist  ein  schandlicher 
Staubbesen  der  Freimde  Gottes.  "--Strobel.  1.  c.  p.  101. 

'  Erasm.  £p.  19,  lib.  ziii. 

l2 


148  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER, 

Luther  insults  in  every  page  of  his  correspondence.  The  duke 
revenged  himself  nobly  on  the  Reformer  ;  he  fought  like  a 
soldier. 

Thomas  Munzer  had  selected  for  his  encampment  a  hill,  the 
base  of  which  he  had  surrounded  with  broken  trees  and  cars^  to 
render  it  ihaccessible  to  cavalry. 

The  two  armies  presented  a  singular  spectacle  at  sunrise. 
That  of  the  allies  was  drawn  up  in  ordelr  of  battle  in  a  vast 
plain.  The  two  wings  were  protected  by  squadrons  of  cavahry, 
whose  glittering  cuirasses  seemed  to  light  up  with  their  fire  the 
sides  of  the  hill  where  the  peasants  were  huddled  together.  In 
the  centre,  the  infantry  presented  a  black  mass,  broken  at  intervals 
by  banners,  on  which  was  depicted  the  image  of  a  saint,  or  the 
blazon  of  the  house  which  they  represented.  Some  old  cannon, 
brought  from  the  arsenals  where  they  had  long  slumbered,  or  from 
fortifications  which  they  had  not  defended  for  ages,  were  paraded 
before  the  lines  to  frighten  the  peasants. 

The  hill,  of  which  all  the  windings  were  filled  with  rebels, 
presented  another  aspect.  There  was  no  order,  no  regular  tactics 
of  war  displayed  by  these  irr^ular  groups  of  combatants.  There 
were  only  irregular  masses,  separated  from  each  other  by  some 
inequality  in  the  ground,  and  resembling  in  their  movements 
clouds  rolling  over  each  other.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  war-cries 
which  at  intervals  escaped  from  them, — ^for  the  standards  which 
the  wind  caused  to  wave  above  their  heads,  and  on  which  was 
painted  the  wheel  of  fortune,^  this  crowd  of  peasants  might  have 
been  taken  for  one  of  Munzer's  ordinary  train  of  auditors. 

The  princes  should  have  had  mercy  on  these  unhappy  wretches 
who  marched  to  destruction.  Some  cannon-shots  would  have 
sufficed  to  put  them  to  flight  But  Luther  did  not  wish  this. 
It  was  like  a  Roman  battle.  Everything  proceeded  as  in  a 
narrative  of  Livy :  first  came  the  military  harangue ;  then  the 
trumpet- sound  to  charge. 

Munzer,  from  an  eminence  on  which  he  stood,  thus  addressed 
his  followers : — 

"  You  see  before  you  those  princes  who  make  their  courtiers 
and  minions  drunk  on  your  blood  and  sweat.     Ood,  in  Deuter- 


*  Gropp.  Chron.  do  Wurzburg. 


\ 


EKD  OF   TUB   PEASANTS'   WAE.  I4f9 

onomy,  commands  kings  to  have  bat  few  horses  ;  and  what  do  our 
princes  do  ?  They  care  not  to  watch  over  the  wel&re  of  their  sub- 
jects ;  they  listen  not  to  the  voice  of  their  poor  ;  they  set  justice 
aside ;  they  repress  neither  murder  nor  robbery ;  they  assist  not  the 
widows  or  orphans  ;  they  take  no  care  of  the  young  ;  they  forget 
Ood ;  pillage,  arson,  every  iniquity  they  commit.  Think  you  that 
God  can  any  longer  bear  with  their  misdeeds  and  their  tyranny  ? 
No,  no ;  he  smote  the  Canaanites,  he  will  smite  these  miscreants. 
The  hour  of  your  revenge  has  come. 

"  Do  not  yield  to  carnal  fears,  but  boldly  await  the  enemy's 
attack  ;  fear  not  the  cannon,  every  hostile  ball  will  sink  into  tke 
sleeve  of  my  robe.  God  is  with  us.  You  see  that  rainbow 
which  he  has  set  above  our  heads,  and  which  we  bear  upon  our 
standards  ;  it  is  the  sign  of  our  victory,  the  sign  of  our  tyrants' 
defeat.     Courage  ;  stand  firm  in  your  trenches ! " 

When  his  harangue  was  finished,  Munzer,  to  increase  the 
fanaticism  of  the  peasants,  caused  to  be  stabbed,  in  sight  of  the 
whole  army,  a  young  knight,  Matemus  von  Qehofen,  one  of  the 
parliamentary  envoys  sent  to  the  rebels  by  the  landgrave  of  Hesse. 
Whilst  the  young  man  writhed  in  the  agonies  of  death,  the 
peasants,  at  a  sign  from  their  general,  fell  on  their  knees,  and 
sung  the  hymn :  **  Come,  Holy  Ghost : " — 

*'  Komm  heiliger  Geiet  an."  • 

The  landgrave  had  also  his  harangue ;  it  was  much  shorter 
than  that  of  Munzer,  but  savoured  quite  as  much  of  the 
Bible :  *' '  Whoever  will  draw  the  sword,'  says  the  Lord,  *  shall 
perish  by  the  sword  ; '  and  he  who  resists  princes  resists  God. 
A  subject  ought  to  resemble  Sem,  who  threw  a  fold  of  his  robe 
over  the  nakedness  of  Noa'     Forward ! " 

And  he  ordered  the  charge  to  be  sounded.  The  artillery 
began  to  play,  the  halls  whistled  over  the  heads  of  the  rebels 
without  hitting  any  one.  The  peasants,  who  saw  Munzer  pray- 
ing upon  an  eminence,  with  his  hands  raised  to  heaven,  believed 
that  his  prophecy  was  being  accomplished,  and  resumed  their 
hymn.  But  this  error  was  merely  of  an  instant's  duration,  the 
princes'  cavalry  charged  among  them. 

•  See  MTmzer*8  harangue  at  length,  in  the  Prophet'e  life  by  Sirobel,  1.  c. 
pp.  110,  111. 

»  Menzel,  L  c.  torn.  i.  p.  207.  *  Ibid.  p.  208. 


150  HISTORY   OF   LUTHEE. 

It  was  a  butchery,  rather  than  a  regular  fight.  The  peasants 
stretched  out  their  necks  singing  to  the  Lord,  who  did  not  send 
his  angel  to  deliver  them,  as  the  prophet  had  promised.  The 
sword  was  weary  of  the  work  of  death,  and  the  cavaby  were 
ordered  to  ride  over  all  who  still  breathed.  The  miners,  who 
relied  upon  their  hammers,  made  a  vigorous  resistance.  They  stiU 
fought  when  the  trumpets  of  the  princes'  army  sounded  victory. 
Not  one  of  them  begged  quarter.  All  died  pouring  forth  with 
their  blood  imprecations  on  their  tyrants,  and,  says  Sleidan,  for 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  liberty  of  their  country.^ 

One  of  these  wretches,  who  had  fought  valiantly,  was  taken 
and  brought  before  Philip,  landgrave  of  Hesse.  "  Let  us  see/' 
said  the  prince,  "  whether  you  love  the  rule  of  the  princes  or 
peasants  best." — "  On  my  word,  my  lord,''  replied  the  prisoner, 
"  the  swords  would  not  cut  better,  were  we  peasants  masters." 
He  was  pardoned.* 

Munzer  was  brought  to  the  camp  of  the  victors.  He  had  been 
captured  at  Franckenhausen,  stretched  on  a  bed  lent  to  him  by 
some  one  to  whom  he  was  unknown  ;  he  was  bleeding  profusely, 
much  wounded  in  the  breast,  and  with  the  pallor  of  death  on  his 
lips.  The  soldiers  who  were  in  search  of  him  passed  by,  not 
?nishing  to  disturb  the  last  moments  of  a  dying  man  ;  but  the 
servant  of  a  gentleman  of  Limbourg  accidentally  perceiving  a 
courier's  bag  hanging  by  the  sick  man's  bedside  fastened  to  a 
stool,  opened  it,  and  found  the  letter  which  Count  Albert  had 
addressed  to  the  prophet.  "  How  came  you  by  this  letter  ?"  he 
asked  the  wounded  man,  who  stammered  some  unintelligible 
words  between  his  teeth.  "  Are  you  Munzer  ? "  added  the 
servant,  looking  fixedly  at  him.  The  dying  man  turned  his 
head  away  to  avoid  reply ;  but,  pressed  with  questions,  he  at 
length  confessed  that  he  was  the  prophet'  He  was  not  allowed 
time  to  dress,  but  was  dragged  half-naked  into  the  tent  of  the 
conquerors.  His  appearance  made  them  smile  ;  but,  instead  of 
reproaching  him,  the  landgrave  wished  to  enter  into  a  contro- 
versy with  the  prisoner.* 

*  '' OccnbueniDt  videlicet  illi  honest^  ao  pi^,   pro  gloriA  nominis  divini, 
proque  salate  patrise." — Sleidan,  lib.  zxii. 
'  Mathesius,  in  der  fUnften  Predigt  von  Lnther,  pp.  451,  452. 
^  Strobel,  L  c.  p.  123.  *  Melanchthon's  Historie  Thoma  Miinzer'B. 


E»D  OF   THE   peasants'   WAR.  ]61 

The  prophet  did  not  decline  it;  but  neither  party  could 
boast  of  victory.  From  the  torture,  Munzer  was  conveyed  to 
prison,  whither  he  was  followed  by  a  Catholic  priest,  who  recon- 
ciled the  Anabaptist  to  the  Churcli,  confessed  him,  and  gave  him 
the  sacraments.^  Munxer,  to  his  last  breath,  accpsed  Luther  of 
being  the  author  of  his  misfortunes.  Religion,  rather  than  the 
approach  of  death,  which  he  had  braved  so  often,  had  tamed  his 
spirit  He  trembled,  but  it  was  through  fear  of  the  judgments 
of  God.  Wh^  the  hour  of  execution  came,  he  drank  off 
two  pints  of  wine,*  said  his  prayers,  and  walked  with 
erect  head  to  Heldrungen,  the  place  of  execution.  The  priest 
bade  him  kneel,  and  repeat  the  Greed.  The  sufferer's  voice 
failed  at  the  first  word.  Then  the  duke  of  Brunswick  and  the 
priest  recited  the  prayer,  which  Munzer  repeated  in  a  low  voice. 
It  seemed  as  if  a  supernatural  light  had  suddenly  come  to 
comfort  his  souL  He  arose,  looked  steadily  at  the  crowd,  and 
addressed  to  the  princes  who  surrounded  the  scaffold  an  exhor- 
tation which  brought  tears  to  their  eyes.  When  that  was 
ended,  he  said  to  the  executioner:  '^  Gome  on  V — ^to  the  priest 
who  attended  him  :  "  Adieu ! ""  The  executioner  caused  the 
rebel's  head  to  roll  off  six  paces  ;  a  soldier  kicked  it  back.  The 
executioner  lifted  it,  and  stuck  it  on  a  pike  surmounted  by  this 
inscription  :  '^  Munzer,  guilty  of  treason  !  " 

The  rebellion  of  the  peasants  was  extinguished  in  the  blood  of 
their  chief  His  disciples  hastily  withdrew  from  a  country  where 
death  menaced  them  at  every  step  :  some  fled  to  Moravia ;  others, 
in  greater  numbers,  to  Switzerland,  which  compassionately  received 
them.  It  had  no  cause  to  repent  of  its  hospitality.  Their  ardour 
for  rebellion  evaporated  in  religious  disputes.  Zwinglius  opened 
meetings  at  Zurich  and  ZoUikon,  where  Anabaptists  and  Sacra- 
mentarians  might  ih  peace,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  magis- 
trates, discuss  the  fundamental  points  of  their  belief.  Each  sect 
claimed  for  itself  the  victory.  Zwinglius  finally  triumphed  over 
his  opponents,  because  the  senate  was  on  his  side.   The  Anabap- 

'  **  Fidem  Romanam  professiis  et  totus  &ctu8  est  pootiSciiiB." — Joh.  Buhel, 
Ep.  ftd  Lathenim.  **  Munzenu  znagnA  fertur  ftiisBe  ductus  posnitentiAy  multA 
devotione,  et  errores  mvodaae,  et  yenerabile  sacramentum  pnevift  confessione 
rita  Gatholico  sub  unA  specie  aooepisse,  prinsqulua]  ictum  gladii  Babiret.*'-^ 
CochlsBviSy  in  Gomm.  de  Act.  et  Scriptis  Lutheri,  p.  111. 

'  "  Dttoe  congioe  uno  haustu  ^biase  didtur." 


152  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBB. 

tists  had  again  to  go  into  exile.  The  remains  of  the  sect,  under 
the  name  of  '^  Moravian  Brethren/'  live  dispersed  in  some  proyinces 
of  Holland,  reconciled,  if  not  to  the  great  Catholic  law,  at  least 
to  the  civil  anthority,  the  peace  of  which  they  no  longer  disturb. 

Were  we  to  bring  an  accusation  against  Luther,  our  testimony 
might  perhaps  be  suspected.  But  who  will  dare  to  contradict 
these  enemies  of  our  religion, — the  one,  the  Sacramentarian 
Hospinian,  who  says  to  Luther :  ''  It  is  you  who  have  excited 
the  peasants'  war;"^  the  other,  Memno  Simonius,  who  appeals 
to  the  conscience  of  the  Lutherans  themselves  for  the  origin  and 
spread  of  the  sedition.^  We  have  heard  the  last  sigh  of  Munzer 
escaping  in  maledictions  against  the  Reformer ;  Eramnus  reproach- 
ing him  to  his  face  with  having  fomented  the  rebellion  by  his 
libels  against  the  monks  and  shaven  crowns ;  and  Luther  him- 
self, in  all  our  quotations  from  him.  What  more  is  required  to 
draw  up  the  sentence  of  the  historian  ? 

"  At  the  day  of  judgment,"  says  Cochlaeus,  "  Munzer  and  his 
peasants  will  cry  before  God  and  his  angels :  '  Vengeance  on 
Luther !'"» 

There  is  a  logic  which  the  people  has  no  need  of  learning,  in 
books,  and  which  it  has  received  from  a  master  as  great  as 
Aristotle.  If  you  tell  the  people :  It  is  written  in  the  inspired 
volume  that  you  may  rebel  with  all  safety  of  conscience  against 
those  ^ho  are  called  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  the  people  will  not 
search  even  in  that  book  for  texts  to  justify  their  rebellion  against 
the  civil  power ;  wherefore  should  they  not  rise  against  the  tem- 
poral master  who  refuses  them  bread,  when  they  are  at  liberty  to 
rebel  against  the  master  who  denies  them  the  bread  of  life  ?  For 
the  people  to  live  materially  is  the  supreme  law ;  and  if  you  have  the 
anathema,  they  have  the  axe  or  the  sword.  There  are  not  two  logics, 
because  there  is  but  one  Ood :  the  theses  affixed  to  the  church  of 
All  Saints  placed  the  hammer  in  the  peasants'  hands. 

A  Protestant  historian  has  ventured  to  write  :  ''  Had  Munzer 
been  victorious,  his  name  would  have  ranked  with  those  of 

*  "Lntherns  belli  Oermanici  caoaa  non  levis." — Hist.  Saonun.  part.  ii. 
fol.  200—202. 

'  "Quam  peregrinas  et  sanguinolentas  seditiones  Lntfaerani  etiam  ad  intro- 
ducdndam  et  oomprobandam  doctrinam  suatn,  aDiiis  aliquot  proximis  concit&rint^ 
id  iUud  ipsis  expendendum  reliqaimns.*' — Memno  Simonitis,  lib.  de  Gmoe. 

'  Cochl.  Defenaio  Ducia  Georgii,  p.  63  :  Ingolst.  1545,  4to. 


END  OF  THE   PEASANTS'   WAB.  163 

Stanffacher  and  Tell ;  fortnne  betrayed  him,  and  he  died  on  the 
scaflFold.  Had  Lnther  yielded,  there  would  have  been  an  end  of 
that  glory  which  the  half  of  Europe  loves  at  present  to  contem* 
plate."' ^     It  was  in  1793  that  Hammerdoerfer  wrote  this. 

During  the  two  years  in  which  God  permitted  the  peasants 
to  scourge  society,  it  js  reckoned  that  a  hundred  thousand  men 
fell  in  battle,  seven  cities  were  dismantled,  a  thousand  religious 
houses  razed  to  the  ground,  three  hundred  churches  bumt,^  and 
immense  treasures  of  painting,  sculpture,  stained  glass,  and  en- 
gravings destroyed,'  If  they  had  triumphed,  Germany  would 
have  become  chaos ;  literature,  arts,  poetry,  morals,  dogmas,  and 
authority,  would  have  perished  in  the  same  storm.  The  rebellion 
which  proceeded  from  Luther  was  a  disobedient  child ;  but,  at 
all  evente,  her  father  knew  how  to  punish  her.  Whatever  inno- 
cent blood  was  shed,  must  fall  on  his. head:  '^  For,"  says  the 
Reformer,  *'  it  is  I  who  have  shed  it,  by  God's  commands  ;  and 
whoever  has  fallen  in  this  war  has  lost  body  and  soul,  and  is  the 
prey  of  Satan."* 

It  was  the  blood  of  the  peasants  for  which  Luther  had  no 
mercy,  for  he  no  longer  needed  it.^ 

''  Give  the  ass  thistles,  a  pack-saddle,  and  the  whip,"  says 
Luther  to  Ruhel ;  "  give  the  peasants  oat-straw.  Jf  they  are 
not  content,  give  them  the  cudgel  and  the  carbine ;  it  is  their 
due.  Let  us  pray  that  they  may  be  obedient ;  if  not,  show  them 
no  mercy ;  if  you  do  not  make  the  musket  whistle,  they  will  be  a 
thousand  times  more  wicked."^ 


>  <'  Hatte  Mlintzer  Glilck  gebabt>  so  wttrde  sein  Name  neben  dem  Staufiacber 
und  TeU  prangeni  Daa  Gliiok  verlieBS  ihn,  and  er  starb  unter  dem  Belle  dee 
Henkers.  Ware  Lntber  nicht  glficklich  gewesen,  wir  wlirden  ibn  gewiss  nichfc 
in  dem  Licbte  betracbten,  in  dem  ibn  jetzt  wenigstena  balb  Europa  siebt." — 
Geadiicbte  der  latberiscben  Heformation,  part.  i.  p.  75  :  Leipzig,  17dS,  8vo. 

*  Tbe  peasants  waged  merciless  war  on  the  ceUars.  la  tbe  monasteiy  of 
Erbach  tbere  was  a  vault  containing  eigbty-foar  bogsheads  of  wine;  tbey 
emptied  nearly  tbe  whole  of  it. — Cocbbeus. 

'  GenepeeuB  calculates  the  number  of  slain  at  110,000 ;  Cocblasus  at  150,000. 
In  two  years,  26,000  peasants  were  slaiD  in  Lorraine  and  Alsatia,  4,000  in  the 
Palatinate,  6,000  in  Hesse,  and  8,000  in  Wirtemberg. 

*  "All  ihr  Bint  ist  anf  meinem  Halse,  aber  ieh  weise  es  auf  nnseren  Herm 
Gott,  der  batt  mir  das  zu  reden  befoblen.  Welcbe  seynd  erscblagen  worden, 
sind  mit  Leib  und  Seele  verloren,  und  ewig  des  Teufels." — ^Tisch-KedeD,  Eisl. 
p.  276,  b.     Op.  Lntb.  tom;  iii. :  Jen.  Qerm,  fol.  p.  130,  b. 

*  "  Vela  vertlt,  prout  erat  fortune  flatus.^ — Ulenberg,  1.  c. 

^  "  Der  weise  Mann  sagt ;  cibus,  onus,  et  virga  asino ;  in  einem  Bauem 


164  HISTORY  OP  LUTHER. 

Hunted  and  tracked  like  deer  in  the  forests  of  Germany,  the 
peasants  vainly  implored  mercy  from  the  conquerors,  who  hnraed 
and  hanged  them.  Occasionally,  a  judge,  moved  by  compassion, 
wrote  to  his  prince  to  solicit  pardon  for  some  criminals ;  bat 
the  prince  seldom  commuted  the  punishment  of  fire  or  gibbet : 
if  he  was  mollified,  he  considered  himself  merciful  in  ordering 
the  right  hand  of  some  and  the  ears  of  others  to  be  cut  off.  In 
Luther's  opinion,  to  ask  pardon  for  the  rebels  was  a  crime. 
''  Speak  to  Luther  in  my  behalf,'"  says  one  of  these  generous 
people  who  were  moved  with  compassion ;  '^  I  am  denounced ; 
my  clemency  to  the  wretched  peasants  is  accounted  a  crime. 
What  would  you  have  ? — ^how  can  I  help  being  afBicted  at  seeing 
so  many  innocent  persons  imprisoned,  the  laws  violated,  and 
such  frightful  punishments  inflicted  on  these  unhappy  people  V'^ 

But  Luther  was  inflexible.  "  A  rebel,"  he  wrote  to  Gaspard 
Muller,  ''  deserves  not  to  be  treated  with  logic ;  we  must  answer 
him  with  the  fist  till  his  nose  bleeds  ;  the  peasants  would  not 
hear  me,  we  must  open  their  ears  by  means  of  the  musket  He 
who  will  not  hear  a  mediator  armed  with  tenderness,  will  hear  the 
executioner  armed  with  his  sword  ;  I  have  done  right  in  recom- 
mending against  snch  caitiffs  ruin,  extermination,  and  death. .  . . 
The  Scriptures  call  them  deer.  Let  the  peasants,  then,  become 
masters ;  the  devil  vrill  soon  be  abbot  of  the  monastery ;  let 
tyranny  triumph,  his  mother  will  become  its  abbess.''  ^ 


gehort  Haferetroh.  Sie  horen  Dicht  has  Wort  und  and  aDstnnig,  so  miissen 
sie  die  Yirgam,  die  Biichsen  horen,  und  geschieht  ihnen  Recht.  Betea  sollen 
wir  ftir  sie,  dass  sie  gehorchen,  wo  nicht,  so  gilt's  hie  nicht  viel  Erbarmeos. 
Lasso  nnr  die  Biichsen  unter  sie  sausen,  sie  machen's  sonst  tausendmal  arger. 
An  Joh.  Ktthel."— De  Wette,  torn.  ii.  p.  669.     Menzel,  torn.  i.  pp.  216,  217. 

'  "  Velis  me  coram  Luthero  expurgare ;  delatus  sum,  at  audio,  tanquam 
mal^  et  iniqu^  egissem  patrocinio  meo  pro  rusticis.  Videbam  et  audiebam  in- 
Dooentes  oaptos,  ordo  verb  juris  non  observabatur,  tormenta  adhibebantur." — 
Weller,  im  Alten  aus  alien  Theilen  der  Geschichte,  torn.  i.  p.  167. 

'  Luther's  Sendbrief  an  Caspar  MtiUem.    Waloh,  torn.  xvi.  p.  99. 

Luther,  in  his  correspondence,  recommends  the  princes  to  show  no  mercy  to 
the  peasants,  and  threatens  them  with  the  wrath  of  God  if  they  pour  oil  into 
the  wounds  of  their  enemies.  '*  Nulla  patientia  rusticis  debetur,  sed  ira  et 
indignatio  Dei  et  hominum.  Hos  eTg6  justificare,  horum  misereri,  illis  favere 
est  Deum  negare,  blasphemare,  et  de  coslo  yelle  eradicare." — Nicol.  Amsdorfio, 
80  Mali,  1525.  See  also  his  letter  to  Ruhel,  of  28  May,  same  year.  Consult 
the  work  of  Peter  Gnodal,  De  Rustico  Tumultu,  lib.  iii. ;  Neuere  Geschichte 
der  Deutschen,  tom.  i.  ch.  iv.  v.  pp.  167 — ^21 7.  But  especially  a  pamphlet  by 
Cochlseus,  Adversus  Latrocinantes  et  Raptorias  Cohortes  Rustioorum,  Mart. 
Luthems;  Responsio  Johannis  Cochltti  Vuendelstini,  mdxzv.    Cochinus  is 


END  OF   THE   PEASANTS'   WAR.  165 

We  must  acknowledge,  with  one  of  the  most  liberal  organs  of 
modem  Protestantism,  that  Lather's  conduct  during  the  peasants' 
war,  while  blamable  in  logic  and  morality,  was  of  a  tact  truly 
MachiaTellian.  Except  the  elector  Frederick  of  Saxony,  no 
German  prince  had  yet  ventured  publicly  to  declare  himself  for 
the  new  doctrines  of  the  monk  of  Wittemberg.^  They  were  re- 
strained by  fear  of  the  theories  of  Christian  liberty  which  he  taught 
in  his  writings.  How  often  had  they  not  heard  him  maintain, 
both  in  the  pulpit  and  in  his  pamphlets  against  Rome,  firom  texts 
of  Scripture,  that  the  word  alone  could  explain  the  word? 
— a  dangerous  theory,  which  would  not  suit  despots.  But  when 
they  saw  him  defend  the  lawfulness  of  the  '*  Faustrecht" — ^that 
law  of  the  strong  arm  which  had  so  long  ruled  Teutonic  society, — 
and  teach,  by  means  of  his  favourite  disciple,  that  the  back  of 
the  peasant  was  only  fit  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  ass ;  and  him- 
self proclaim  that  the  cudgel  and  shot  must  be  applied  to  the 
refractory  animal  if  it  refused  to  go ;  their  eyes  were  unsealed, 
and^they  only  saw  in  Luther  the  apostle  of  despotism.  These 
were  not,  we  admit,  the  social  theories  of  Eck  or  Cochlsaus.  If 
these  doctors  taught,  with  the  apostle,  that  subjects  should  obey 
their  masters,  even  if  wicked  ones,  they  did  not  erect  into  a 
dogma  the  political  forfeiture  of  the  peasants  ;  they  did  not  make 
mute  obedience  an  article  of  faith  ;  they  did  not  make  slavery 
of  the  Christian  a  divine  command ;  they  did  not  fetter  both 
the  tongue  and  the  soul  of  the  subject ;  they  did  not  say :  '^  Give 
the  ass  thistles,  a  pack-saddle,  and  the  whip;''  on  the  con- 
trary, they  taught  that  the  peasant  and  the  prince  had  alike 
been  created  after  God's  image,  and  ransomed  by  the  blood  of 
Christ. 

"  Doubtless,"  here  observes  Hagen,  ''  the  success  of  Munzer's 
theories  would  have  been  a  real  misfortune  for  Germany ;  but  we 
do  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  that  Luther  triumphed  over  the  . 


occasionally  eloquent.  Under  this  text  of  Luther,  "  Idcircb  et  sanciuB  Paulus, 
R.  ziii.,  talem  in  ruaticos  fert  sententiam :  Qui  potestatl  reaistunt,  hi  judi- 
cium super  se  acquirunt .  .  .**  Cochlseus  adds  this  oommentaij  :  "  Hoc  totum 
est  verum,  Luthere.  At  tu  non  debueras  pediculos  in  pelliduin  populi  spar- 
nssoy  ubi  scribelMM :  Quousque  teneamur  superioribus  obedientiam  prsestare  ? 
Non  debueras  Csosarem  Tocare  saooum  Yennium  et  principes  &tuoB  effemi- 
natpfl^"  etc. 

*  Karl  Hagen,  L  o.  torn.  ii.  p.  147. 


156  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBB. 

lebellion  only  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  principle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion/'* 

It  i6  a  melancholy  spectacle  for  hnman  nature  to  observe  the 
haste  of  all  these  princes  to  fall  into  Lutheranism,  by  accepting 
the  despotic  theories  of  the  Saxon.^  The  landgrave  of  Hesse, 
the  grand  master  of  the  Teutonic  order,  the  dukes  of  Bruns- 
wick, Lunenburg,  and  Mecklenburg ;  the  prince  of  Anhalt ; 
the  margraves  of  Anspach  and  Baireuth  ;  and  the  count  of 
Mansfeld,  one  after  the  other  embraced,  with  the  fervour  of 
neophytes,  this  new  pditico-religious  gospel,  which  transformed 
the  husbandman  into  a  pariah.  Some  of  them  did  not  blush  io 
put  their  names  to  the  code  which  thenceforth  waa  to  rule  the 
country. 

'^  No,''  said  they,  "  nothing  is  more  expressly  taught  in  the 
Scriptures  than  the  obligation  of  obedience  to  the  princes  of  this 
world :  whoever  rebels  against  his  prince,  rebels  against  God ; 
woe,  then,  to  those  who  disobey  their  masters.  Do  you  wish  not 
to  fear  the  authorities  ? — do  what  the  authorities  command  you. 
Would  you  resist  ?  Tremble,  for  God  has  sent  them  the  sword ; 
power  comes  from  God.  Christian  liberty  does  not  consist  in 
denying  tithes,  quit-rents,  taxes,  statute-labour,  and  seignorial 
rights,  but  in  blind  obedience  to  all  that  the  sovereigns  of  this 
world  prescribe.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  salvation  which  the  cleigy 
must  preach  to  their  flocks  ;  if  their  flocks  embrace  the  devilish 
liberty  of  the  flesh,  it  is  at  the  peril  of  their  souls,  their  bodies, 
and  their  goods." 

One  disaster  brings  with  it  another.     It  was  not  only  the 


'  "  Aber  eben  so  wenig  dfirfen  wir  laugnen,  dass  durch  die  Besiegnng  der 
volksthiimlichen  Tendenzen  und  durch  das  Mittel,  welches  Luther  anwendete, 
urn  den  Sieg  zu  erringen,  der  ganze  Charakter  der  Reformation  verandert 
ward,  und  zwar  keineswegs  zum  Yortheil  derseLbea." — ^Karl  Hagen,  1.  c 
torn.  ii.  p.  151. 

'  Den  durcblauchtigsten  hochgebomen  Fiirsten  und  Herren,  Herm  Casi- 
mirn  und  Herm  Georgen,  als  den  altesten  regierenden  G^brttder,  Markgrafen 
zu  Brandenburg;  &c.,  meinen  gnadigen  Herm  anzeigen,  wie  die  geweeen 
Emporung  und  Aufrohr,  mit  den  wenigsten  Theil  aus  ungeechickten  Predigem 
entstanden  sind,  und  dus  herwiederum  durch  frummen,  gelehrt,  geechickt^ 
christlioh  Prediger  v\e\  Aufruhr  furkummen  werden  mog.  Auch  christenliche 
XJnterricht,  wie  hinfUro  in  ihrer  F.  G.  Ftirstenthumben,  Landen  und  Gebieten, 
von  rechten,  wahren  christlichen  Glauben  und  rechter  wahrer  christlicher 
Preiheit  des  Geistes  gepredigt  werden  soil,  damit  ihrer  Gnaden  Unterthanen 
nit  durch  falsch  widerwartig  Predigt  zu  Aufruhr  und  Verderbung  ihrer  Seelen, 
Leib,  Lebung  und  Guts  verfuhrt  werden  :  1525. 


BMD  OF  THE  PEASANTS'   WAR.  167 

democratic  principle,  of  which  he  had  so  often  shown  himself  the 
eloquent  defender,  that  Lather  was  to  sacrifice  in  his  stru^le 
with  the  '^  prophets  of  murder/'  but  his  priesthood,  which  he 
made  the  appanage  of  every  Christian,  and  even  his  fiedth  without 
works,  that  ''  beautiful  pearl"  which  he  had  been  the  first  to 
discover.  With  the  priesthood  incarnated  in  every  being  rege- 
nerated by  Christ,  whether  priest  or  layman,  how  could  he  break 
the  sword  of  the  rebellious  peasants  who  had  received  the  holy  oil 
upon  their  heads  ?  By  means  of  the  Bible,  he  had  founded  his 
human  priesthood ;  by  means  of  the  Bible,  he- was  to  destroy  it 
Bagenhagen,  one  of  the  lights  of  his  school,  imagined  a  new 
theory  as  to  the  clerical  power,  which  should  prevail  in  the 
reformed  Church. 

'^  It  is  very  true,''  said  Bugenhagen,  '^  that  God  has  given  us 
his  Christ,  but  he  has  given  him  by  the  Oospel  revelation  :  now, 
since  it  is  to  the  priest  that  he  has  sent  the  Oospel,  it  is  by  the 
priest  that  Christ  is  preached  to  us  ;^  by  the  priest  that  the  word 
of  salvation  is  spread.  Who  believes  in  this  word  will  obtain 
eternal  life ;  that  holy  word  of  which  the  priest  is  the  official 
distributor.  Now,  if  it  belongs  to  the  priest  to  preach  the  word 
of  Ood,  to  him  must  belong  the  dispensation  of  the  sacraments 
and  instruction ;  spiritual  functions  which  he  derives  not  fix)m 
himself,  but  firom  God ;  heavenly  gifts,  which  are  only  efficacious 
because  they  are  divinely  delegated."  "  It  is  the  Spirit,"  added 
Bucer,*  "the  force  supreme,  the  breath  from  above,  which 
descends  and  rests  on  tiie  priest."  And  Luther,  going  beyond 
his  disciples,  withdraws  firom  man  this  vital  priesthood,  which 
assimilates  itself  to  the  Christian  after  baptism,  as  the  air  to 
the  lungs  of  the  new-bom  infant,  and  even  the  right,  which  he 
had  so  aften  acknowledged,  of  being  judge  of  his  priests.' 

With  faith  unaccompanied  by  outward  works,  how  could  he  prove 
to  the  peasants  that  they  were  the  children  of  perdition, — they 
who  boasted  of  being  directed  by  an  inward  illumination,  that  is 
to  say,  by  a  supernatural  communication  with  God  to  found  their 
New  Jerusalem  ?    Munzer  had  no  need  of  visible  signs  .to  prove 

*  Disputatioii  zu  FlenBburg,  1526. 

'  Von  der  wahren  Seelsorgo  und  dem  rechten  Hirtendienste. 
»  Von  don  Schleichern  und  VTinkelpredigern.      Luther's  Werke,  Walch, 
torn.  zx.  pp.  2074,  2078,  2085. 


158  HISTORY   OP  LtTTHEB. 

his  faith  in  Christ.  Luther  is  therefore  obliged  to  amend  his 
first  teaching :  so  we  see  him  maintain,  in  a  sermon  on  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  that  participation  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  even 
without  faith,  is  profitable  for  salvation.  Faith  alone,  then,  is  no 
longer  in  his  eyes  that  pearl  which  he  so  proudly  extols  to  us.^ 

>  "Wahrend  er  and  seine  Anh&nger  frfiher  behauptet  hatten,  daas  der 
Glaube  AUes  aei,  und  nichts  ohne  denselben  etwas  bedeute,  kam  er  nun  auf 
die  Ansicht  der  katholischen  Kirche,  dass  der  &uasere  Genuss  des  Sacramento 
etwas  ntttze ;  anch  ohne  Glaube." — Karl  Hagun,  1.  c.  lorn.  ii.  p.  166.  See,  on 
ibis  subject,  the  sermon,  Von  wiirdiger  Emp&hnng  des  heil.  Sacraments : 
JensB,  tom.  iii.  p.  161,  and  Melanchthon,  Uber  die  Wiedertauffer,  Corpus  Ref. 
torn.  i.  p.  832. 

The  foUowing  are  the  titles  of  some  works  pubhshed  by  Th.  Munzer,  when 
he  was  curate  at  Alstsedt : — 

Ordnung  und  Berechnung  des  teutschen  Ampts  zu  Altstadt  durch  Thomam 
Miinzer,  ^Iwarters,  iin  yorgangenen'Ostem  au%ericht,  1523.  Gedruckt  zu 
Eilenburg.  Several  fragments  are  to  be  found  in  the  Unschuld.  Nadirichten 
ofl707,  p.  611. 

Yon  dem  gedichteten  Glauben  auf  nachste  Protestation  ausgegangen.  Thoma 
MUnzers,  Seelvarters,  zu  Altst&dt,  1524,  4to. 

Deutsch  evangelische  Messze  etwann  durch  die  Bebstische  P&ffen  in  Latein 
zu  grossem  Nacteyl  des  Christen  Glaubens  vor  ein  Opfer  gehandelt  und  ietz 
verordnet,  in  dieser  fehrlichen  Zeit,  zu  entdecken  den  Grewel  aller  Abgotterey 
durch  solche  Missbreuche  der  Messen  lange  Zeit  getriben.  Thomas  MUnzer, 
Alstadt,  1524,  4to.  (Compare  also  the  Unschuld.  Nachrichten,  1708,  p.  393. 
Feuerlini  Bybl.  Symb.  part.  i.  p.  346.) 

Deutsch  Klrchen  Ampt  verordnet,  aufizuheben  den  hinterlistigen  Deckel 
unter  welchem  das  Liecht  der  Welt  vorhalten  war,  welche  yetzt  wiedenimb 
ersoheynt  mit  dysen  Lobgesengen  und  gotlichen  Psalmen,  die  so  erbawen  die 
zunemenden  Christenheit,  nach  Gottes  unwandelbarn  WiUen,  zum  Untergang 
aller  prechtigen  Geperde  der  Gotlosen  :  Altstedt,  1524,  4to. 

Protestation  oder  Empietung  Tome  Munzers  yon  Stolberg  am  Hartzs,  Seel- 
warters  zu  Altstedt  seine  Lore  betreffende,  und  zum  An&ng  yon  dem  rechten 
Christen-Glauben  und  der  Tawfe,  1524.  (Compare  also  the  Unschuld.  Nach- 
richten, 1706,  p.  29.) 

Hoch  yerursachte  Schutzrede  und  Antwort  wider  das  geistlose  sanfit  lebende 
Fleysch  zu  Wittenberg.  1521.  This  is  a  bitter  pamphlet  against  Luther,  in 
which  Munzer  calls  his  riyal  fool,  impostor,  scribbler,  rascal,  more  than  scoun- 
drel, infamous  monk,  doctor  of  lies,  Wittemberg  pope;  dragon,  basilisk,  serpent^ 
harlot,  devil,  chancellor  of  hell.  He  accuses  him  of  being  a  drunkard,  and  of 
emptying  many  bottles  in  bacchanalian  orgies  at  the  house  of  Melchior  Lothe, 
in  Leipsic. 

One  might  form  a  library  of  the  works  written  upon  the  peasants'  war.  The 
following  may  be  consulted :  Sattler,  Wttrtenbergische  Geschichte ;  Widemann, 
Chron.  in  Mencken,  tom.  iii. ;  Haggenmtiller,  Geschichte  der  Stadt  und 
Gra&chaft  Kempten  ;  Lang,  Geschichte  von  Baireuth  ;  Lersner^s  Frankfurter 
Chronik ;  Thuringia  Sacra ;  Pauli  Langii  Chronica  Numbergensia,  in  Men- 
cken, tom.  ii. ;  Brower,  Annales  Trevirenses,  tom.  zx. ;  Zauner,  Chronik  von 
Salzburg,  tom.  iy. ;  Luther's  Letters,  in  De  Wette's  collection,  vol.  iii. ;  the 
Correspondence  of  Capito,  Hetzer,  Sertorius,  with  Zwinglius,  £p.  Zwinglii, 
tom.  i. ;  Zwinglius's  Letter  to  Badian,  11  Oct.  1515,  Ep.  tom.  i. ;  Die  Uistoria 
Thomii  Muntzers,  des  Anf angers  der  Diiriogischen  Aufruhr,  sehr  niitzlich  zu 
lesen  :  Hagenau,  1525  ;  Aurfaack,  Dissertatio  de  Eloquenti&  inept&  Th.  Mun- 
tzeri :  Vitteb.  1716,  4 to. ;  Weller,  Altes  aus  alien  Theilen  der  Geschichte, 
tom.  i. ;  Arnold,  Kirchen-  und  Ketzergeschichte,  tom.  ii. ;  Plank,  Grcschichte 


DISPUTATION  WITH   CARLSTABT.  159 

How  powerful  was  Munzer !  The  curate  of  Alstiedt  com- 
pelled the  Wittembeig  ecclcBiastic  to  renounce  his  own  doctrines. 
And  yet  Luther  told  us  that  he  received  them  from  heaven,  and 
that  if  an  angel  were  to  bring  him  another  gospel  than  that 
which  he  had  preached,  he  would  reject  the  divine  messenger. 
This  is  easily  explained.  Luther  was  more  afraid  of  Munzer 
than  of  an  angel ;  the  invisible  being  would  have  resumed  his 
flight,  leaving  the  doctor  his  pulpit  at  Wittemberg.  Now  it  was 
this  pulpit  of  which  Munzer  wished  to  deprive  the  Saxon. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

LUTHER'S  DISPUTATION  WITH  CARLSTADT.    1524,  152o. 

The  extinction  of  the  peasants'  war  has  not  restored  peace  to  Luther. — New 
dispates  arising  firom  the  principle  of  firee  inquiry. — ^Reappearance  of  Carl- 
stadt. — ^Various  pamphlets  written  by  him  to  subvert  the  Wittemberg  creed. 
— ^Riae  of  Sacramentarianism. — Luther  preaches  against  the  prophets  at 
Jena.  —  Garlstadt's  challenge  to  Luther. — The  two  theologians  dispute 
upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  at  the  Black  Bear  inn. — Luther  at  Orlamlinde, 
where  he  again  meets  C^rlstadt. — ^Bickering  with  a  shoemaker. — He  is 
driyen  from  Orlamttnde. — Garlstadt  has  given  the  signal  for  new  revolts 
against  Luther. — Efironteries  of  the  rationalists. 

Thb  peasants'  rebellion  was  suppressed :  the  castle  had  van- 
quished the  cottage ;  but  all  was  not  finished  for  Luther.  Upon 
the  blood  of  the  hundred  thousand  rustics  ^  spilt  in  Germany^ 
floated  the  code  of  free  inquiry,  which  the  Saxon  monk  had 
brought  to  the  Teutonic  nations,  and  which  was  incessantly  to 
keep  up  religious  or  political  factions.  Garlstadt,  as  dastard  a 
soldier  as  he  was  a  sorry  theologian,  had  for  a  brief  space 
mingled  in  Franconia  with  the  rebels,  whom  he  deserted  at  the 
first  cannon-shot,  casting  aside  his  warlike  uniform,  his  peasant's 


proteetantisohen  Lehrbegrifi&y  torn.  ii. ;  Stark,  Geschichte  der  Taufe  und 
Taui^gefinnten ;  Warlich,  Gleechichte  aus  Obersachsen  ftir  einen  deutschen 
Knaben,  Mttntzers  Unrcdie :  Gottingen,  1786,  12mo. 

*  "Rustieorum  res  quievit  ubique,  csssis  ad  centum  millia,  tot  orphanis 
&ctis  reliquis  ver^  in  vitft  sic  spoliatis^  ut  Germanise  fiicies  miserior  nunquain 
fuerit." — ^Epist.  Luth.  ad  Briesmann,  in  Act.  Boruss.  torn.  i.  p.  800. 


160  HISTOttT   OP  LUTHER. 

cloak,  and  felt  hat,^  to  resame  his  original  occnpation  of  pam* 
phleteer.  His  vocation  was  to  blacken  paper ;  to  throw  ink  on 
the  head  of  Lather  or  his  disciples,  his  delight  and  amusement 
He  wrote  by  day  and  by  night,  and  printed  himself  the  lucnbrar- 
tions  of  his  distempered  brain.^  He  published  two  dissertations 
intended  to  combat  the  doctrines  of  the  Wittemberg  school :  the 
one  upon  sin,^  the  other  on  Christian  resignation.'^ 

In  the  first  he  treats  of  the  divine  wilL  To  God  he  assigns 
two  wills :  the  will  eternal,  and  the  will  temporal ;  the  one  works 
good,  illumines  us  and  draws  us  to  Christ ;  the  other  works  evil, 
and  accommodates  itself  to  the  inclinations  of  the  heart  Who- 
ever attains  to  accomplish  the  eternal  will,  cannot  wish  but  what 
God  wills.  It  is  never  by  outward  practice  that  man  obeys  the 
eternal  will.  God  is  a  spirit;  he  must  therefore  be  served  in 
spirit  It  is  to  the  essence,  and  not  to  the  suib/ce  of  the  letter, 
that  we  must  adhere :  the  letter  is  a  sepulchre.^ 

In  his  second  work,  he  follows  up  his  spiritualist  argument, 
and  inveighs  against  the  Lutheran  &ith.  He  maintains  that 
faith  cannot  exisjt  without  love:  faith  without  love  is  a  dead 
carcase — ^a  mere  paper  &ith ;  &ith,  like  love,  must  never  proceed 
from  the  fear  of  punishment,  and  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
must  look  for  reward. 

But  it  is  in  his  theory  on  the  eucharist  in  two  parts,  pam- 
phlets extremely  virulent,  that  he  principally  studies  to  destroy 
Luther's  impanation. 

In  the  one  he  seeks  to  demonstrate,  that  it  is  a  gross  error  to 
believe  that  participation  in  the  supper  can  operate  the  remission 
of  sins ;  faith  alone,  united  to  love,  can  reconcile  the  sinner  with 
God.  If  the  sacrament  eflFects  the  redemption,  it  will  follow 
from  it  that  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  was  shed  upon  the  cross. 


■  Bezusen,  der  Bauernkrieg  in  Ostfiranken,  p.  79. 

'  Von  Manningfaltigkeit  des  einfaltigen  einigen  WUlen  Gottea :  Waa  Sund 
sei.     Andreas  Bc^enstein  von  Garlatadt.     Ein  nener  Lay. 

'  Was  gesagt  ist,  sioh  gelassen  and  was  Wort  Gelassenheit  bedente,  nnd  was 
in  Helliger  Sohrift  begri&n. 

*  *'  Gott  ist  ein  Geist,  deshalben  muss  sich  die  gesohaffene  Creatur  mit  and 
durch  den  Geist  mit  Gtottes  ungeschaffenen  Geist  vereinen.  Demnach  mag 
und  soil  ein  Jeder  den  Geist  bes  Buchstabens,  and  nicht  die  Rinden  oder 
Schalen  des  Bachstabens  ergrttnden." 


DISPUTATION  WITH   CARLSTADT.  161 

hafi  been  of  no  use  to  fallen  humanity.  We  cannot  grant  to  the 
bread  and  wine  the  power  of  raising  man  from  his  fiill.^ 

In  the  other,  he  examines  the  words  of  the  institution  of  the 
Supper.^  "  If  we  were  to  refer  it,"  says  he,  "  to  Lather's  inter- 
pretation, Christ,  instead  of  his  blood,  to  save  man,  would  have 
given  only  material  bread,  made  by  the  hands  of  a  baker. 
Christ  spoke  to  the  future,  and  not  to  the  present.  At  the 
encharistic  repast  he  had  not  yet  shed  his  blood ;  what  he  said 
does  not  refer  then  to  the  supper.  Had  he  wished  to  teach  that 
his  body  is  really  under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine,  he  would 
have  explained  himself  in  clear  and  precise  terms,  especially  if 
we  admit  that  he  wished  to  make  his  presence  in  bread  and  wine 
an  article  of  £uth.'' 

It  is  useless  to  lay  hold  of  everything  in  this  deduction  of 
falsity  and  foUy.  Luther  did  right  to  laugh  at  it,  without 
disguisbg  from  himself,  however,  that  his  professor's  tropes  had 
great  chance  of  success  in  Germany,  and  especially  in  Switzer- 
land. "  You  could  not  believe,"  he  writes  to  Amsdorf,  **  what 
progress  Garlstadt's  dogma  makes."  ^  Reinhard,  at  Jena ;  the 
curate  of  Gala ;  Strauss,  at  Eisenach,  publicly  preached  it ;  ^  at 
Wittembeig  it  had  made  notable  conquests ;  ^  Nuremberg  had 
adopted  it ;  at  Heidelberg,  Martin  Frecht  taught  it,  but  with 
some  oratoiial  precautions ;  ^  others  more  daring,  such  as  Gapito, 
Bucer,  and  OUio  Brunfels,  at  Strasburg,  adhered  to  the  arch- 
deacon's opinions.  At  Zurich,  Zwinglius,  after  learning  Garl- 
stadt's  theory,  transformed  into  a  dogma  the  figurative  presence 
of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament.^  All  these  freaks  of  the  mind  broke 
out  in  the  midst  of  the  peasants'  war  with  their  lords.     The 


*  "Von  dem  widerchristliohen  Miasbrauoh  des  Herrn  Brod  und  Keloh. 
Ob  der  Glaube  in  das  Sacrament  SUnde  vei^be,  und  ob  das  Sacrament  ein 
Anabo  oder  Pfimd  sei  der  SUnde  Vergebung." 

'  "  Ob  man  mit  Heiliger  Schrift  erweisen  moge,  dass  Christus  mit  Leib, 
Bint  and  Seele  im  Sacrament  sei." 

'  Lather's  Briefe,  Octob.  1824.    De  Wette,  torn.  li.  557. 

«  Id.  ibid. 

*  Melanoh.  Spalatino,  Decemb.  1524.  Corpus  Beform.  torn.  ii.  p.  369. 
"  Nosti  valgus.     £t  hoc  dogma  arridet  sensui  communi.** 

'  Martin  Frecht  an  Wolfgang  Richard  in  Ulm,  1824,  in  Beesenmayer's 
Sanmilang  von  Aa&atzen,  p.  182. 

7  (EcoUimpad  an  Zwingli,  21  Nov.  1524.     £p.  Zwinglii,  torn.  i.  p.  S69. 

VOL.  ir.  M 


162  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHBR. 

mtfvelloiui  aotivity  of  Luther  was  not  a  moment  at  faolt 
Amidst  the  thunder  of  the  cannon,  he  fubninated  his  manifcstoeB 
against  the  rebels,  and  went  from  city  to  city  to  stifle  the  germs 
of  a  threatening  heresy. 

At  the  time  when  a  misguided  study  of  the  sacred  text 
disclosed  to  Garlstadt  the  hidden  sense  of  the  words  of  the 
supper,  an  angel,  as  we  know,  revealed  the  mystery  to  Zwinglids. 
Then  sprung  up  the  sect  of  sacramentarians,  who  deny  the  real 
presence  in  the  euchanstic  sacrament,  and  the  oblation  in  flesh 
and  blood  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  communion.  If 
the  conditions  of  the  intuition  of  the  truth  are  such  as  Luther 
exacts,  we  must  admit  the  testimony  of  Zwinglius.  ''  For,  do 
you  know  why  the  Sacramentarians  have  never  had  the  sense  of 
the  Scriptures  ?  It  is  because  they  have  not  the  devil  for  their 
adversary ;  if  the  devil  is  not  fastened  to  our  necks,  we  are  but 
sorry  theologians."  ^  Now,  that  angel  who  appeared  to  Zwin- 
glius, and  whose  colour  Zwinglius  has  not  been  able  precisdy  to 
tell  us,  was,  according  to  these  Lutheran  theolo^ans,  a  fallen 
angel :  an  angel  of  darkness, — the  deviL  How,  ihen,  does  he 
now  make  out,  that  Zwinglius  and  the  Sacramentarians,  in 
denying  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  really 
received  in  the  Eucharist,  are  heretics  who  have  Inroken  o£f  firam 
the  Church  of  God? « 

Some  mutual  friends  endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  between  Carlstadt  and  Luther.  Neither  of  them 
would  attend  the  interview  at  which  it  was  hoped  to  be  arranged : 
Carlstadt,  because  he  would  not  be  instructed  by  one  who  had 
been  his  pupil ;  Luther,  because  he  no  longer  r^arded  his  pro- 
fessor than  as  an  old  tyro  and  jabbering  charlatan,  who  had 
for  his  confederate  a  chaplain,  entrusted  with  the  part  of  the 
spirit  in  the  Lord's  visions."^ 

In  the  mean  time  Luther,  while  visiting  the  cities  into  which 

'^  '^Qubd  Bacramentarii  aacram  Bcripturam  non  intelligant,  hiBC  cauBa  est 
quia  verum  opponentem,  nemp^  diabolum,  non  habent,  qui  demom  ben^ 
docere  eos  solet .  .  .  quando  diabolum  ejusmodi  coUo  non  habemua  affixuniy 
nihil  nisi  gpeculattvi  theologi  sumus."— Luth.  CoUoq.  IsL  do  Yerbo  Dei,  fol.  28. 
CoU.  Francf.  f.  18. 

*  "H«retico8  censemuB  et  alienos  ab  ecclesift  Dei  Zwinglianos  et  omnes 
saoramentarios  qni  nmnt  corpus  et  sanguinem  Christi  ore  oamali  sumi  in 
venerabili  EucharistiA.'^— Lutbenu. 

'  Luther's  Briefer  De  Wette,  torn.  ii.  passim. 


DI8PUTATI0H  WITH  CARLSTADT.  163 

Anabaptknn  had  cr^t,  arrived  at  Jena,  which  was  in  a  state  of 
excitement  from  the  preaching  of  Garlatadt,  who  had  set  op  a 
printing-press  there.^  The  Wittemberg  monk  had  never  been 
heard  in  Jena.  He  ascended  the  pnlpit  which  Garlstadt  had 
occupied  on  the  previous  day.  The  church  was  full  He 
preached  against  the  prophets,  less  in  the  style  of  a  Christian 
orator  than  as  a  man  of  letters  of  the  sixteenth  century,  quite 
in  the  manner  of  Erasmus,  amusing  his  audience  at  the  expense 
of  the  fanatics,  on  whom  he  showered  his  raillery.  All  eyes 
looked  for  the  poor  archdeacon,  who  on  this  occasion  had  not 
concealed  himself  behind  the  broken  statuary,  as  in  the  church  of 
All'-Sauptts,  but  was  seated  opposite  the  south  window,  which  con- 
centrated on  his  face  a  flood  of  dazzling  light  Luther  perceived 
him,  and  his  discourse,  which  had  been  general,  was  directed 
suddenly,  like  the  blow  of  a  miner's  hammer,  on  Garlstadt's 
head.  It  was  no  longer  one  of  those  vague  and  general  pictures 
applicable  to  all  who  had  separated  from  the  church  of  Wittem- 
berg, but  an  accurate  sketch  of  the  unhappy  renegade,  in  which 
not  a  single  trait  ol  resemblance  was  defective,  not  ev^  the  scant 
hairs  of  him  whom  he  thus  placed  before  his  audience.  Never 
was  tiiere  such  a  martyr.  Carlstadt  rose ;  sat  down ;  rose  again, 
and  was  agitated  like  one  possessed.  Luther,  regturdless  of  all 
these  contortions,*-of  this  pantomime  of  aims  and  legs,  which 
was  intended  to  interrupt  him, — continued  his  discourse,  every 
sent^oe  of  which  became  more  bitter  and  insulting.  At  length 
Garlstadt,  unable  longer  to  restrain  himself,  withdrew  behind  a 
pillar  of  the  nave.    The  scene  was  not  yet  over. 

As  soon  a0  Luther  descended  from  the  pulpit,  the  archdeacon 
whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  preacher,  who  inade  an  affirmative 
nod  of  the  head.  It  was  a  challenge,  which  Luther  accepted. 
The  Black  Bear  inn,  where  the  monk  lodged,  was  the  place  of 
meeting. 

Scarcely  had  Luther  reached  the  inn,  when  he  received  a 
letter  from  Carlstadt,  desiring  a  conference  in  formal  terms,  the 
nod  not  appearing  to  him  sufficient. 

"  Let  him  come,'*  said  Luther  to  the  messenger ;  "  let  him 
come,  in  God's  name,  I  am  ready." 


I  An  dea  Eaiusler  Brack.  7  Jan.  1524.     De  Wette,  I.  c.  torn.  ii. 

h2 


164  HISTORY  OP  LUTHER. 

He  speedily  made  his  appearance,  bringing  with  him  some  of 
his  disciples;  among  others,  (Gerard  Westenberg,  of  Cologne. 
The  inn  had  never  before  had  so  many  visitors.  Lather  was 
mixed  up  in  the  crowd,  seated  at  table,  having  on  his  right  the 
burgomaster,  whom  he  had  requested  to  be  present  at  the  con- 
ference. 

Garlstadt  placed  himself  beside  him,  and  commenced  the 
debate  on  the  Last  Supper,  at  first  in  a  very  calm  manner. 
They  discussed  the  subject  in  a  moderate  tone,  and  without 
excitement ;  but  when  Luther  had  developed  his  opinion  on  the 
real  presence  so  clearly  that  the  guests  applauded  his  address, 
Garlstadt  could  contain  himself  no  longer.  The  following 
dialogue  then  took  place  between  the  doctors :  ^ — 

Garlstadt. — You  must  acknowledge,  master,  that  you  have 
treated  me  rudely  in  your  sermon,  in  comparing  me  with  those 
turbulent  spirits  who  breathe  nothing  but  sedition  and  murder. 
I  protfit  with  all  my  might  against  such  a  comparison :  I  have 
nothing  in  conmion  with  such  worthless  characters.  Between 
ourselves,  you  attribute  to  them,  in  regard  to  internal  revelation, 
ideas  which  they  never  had.^  I  do  not  come  here  as  their 
apologist ;  I  speak  for  myself.  I  consider  whoever  would  make 
me  responsible  for^the  sanguinary  doctrines  of  these  hotheaded 
preachers,  to  be  a  wicked  man  and  a  liar.  I  have  heard  what  you 
have  preached :  I  only  wish  to  speak  of  that  portion  of  it  which 
relates  to  the  Eucharist.  I  maintain  that,  since  the  time  of  the 
apostles,  doctrine  similar  to  your's  has  never  been  heard  on  that 
matter.  I  tell  you  this  to  your  face.  I  also  have  preached  upon 
the  Eucharist ;  but  my  preaching  is  founded  on  the  rock  of  truth, 
and  you  will  not  be  able  to  establish  the  contrary. 

Luther. — My  dear  doctor,  let  us  begin  from  the  beginning. 
You  will  never  prove  that  I  have  pointed  at  you  in  my  dis- 
course. You  say  that  you  recognised  yourself  there, — ^that  you 
saw  the  picture :  be  it  so ;  it  has  hit  you.     You  have  written 


«  Oper.  Luth. :  Jenw,  torn.  ii.  fol.  462—466  ;  Wittemb.  fol.  209— «12.  The 
prooeedingi  in  this  dispute  have  been  colleoted  and  published  by  the  preacher 
Martin  Reinhard,  of  Jena,  and  are  contained  in  Walch's  edition,  torn.  xv. 
p.  242S  et  seq. 

'  Garlstadt  did  not  speak  the  truth,  or  he  had  not  read  Munzer's  printed 
sermons.  See  Auslegung  des  andem  Unterschieds  Daoielis  des  Propheten, 
gepredigt  aufin  SohToss  zu  Altstedt  vor  den  tetigen  theuem  Henogen 
und  Yorstehem  zu  Saohsen,  durch  Thomam  Miinzem,  Diener  des  Worts 
Qottes :  Altstedt,  1524. 


DISPUTATION  WITH   CAMJSTADT.  166 

many  sharp  letters  against  me ;  for  what  end  I  cannot  imagine^ 
since  there  has  been  no  discussion  between  us.  You  complain 
that  my  words  have  offended  you :  so  much  the  worse,  and  so 
much  the  better.  So  much  the  better,  since  you  have  declared 
that  you  do  not  resemble  those  preachers ;  so  much  the  worse,  if 
you  recognize  the  portrait  I  have  spoken  against  the  prophets : 
I  will  speak  against  them  again.  If  I  have  hurt  you,  I  shall 
hurt  you  again. 

Ga&lstadt. — Say  what  you  will,  you  did  point  at  me  in 
speaking  of  the  sacrament;  but  you  have  only  perverted  the 
Gospel,  and  I  will  prove  it ;  you  do  me  injustice  in  likening  me 
to  those  homicidal  individuals ;  and  I  protest,  Wore  my  brethren 
here  assembled,  that  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  them. 

LuTHBB. — Why  this  protestation,  doctor  ?  I  have  read  the 
lettenrwhieh  you  wrote,  from  Orluniinde,  to  Thomas  Munzer, 
and  I  saw  that  you  rejected  the  seditious  doctrines  of  the 


Caelstabt. — Then  why  say  that  the  spirit  which  animates 
the  prophets  is  the  same  which  destroyed  the  images,  and  teaches 
that  the  Eucharist  must  be  taken  and  received  from  its  hands  ? 

LuTHBB. — But  I  mentioned  no  names:  your's  least  of  all, 
doctor ! 

Cablstadt. — But  I  was  obviously  pointed  at ;  for  I  was  the 
first  who  publicly  taught  the  necessity  of  an  immediate  com- 
munion. Tou  maintain  that  the  spirit  which  speaks  thus  is  the 
spirit  which  breathes,  by  the  lips  of  the  prophets  of  Alstaadt, 
murder  and  sedition  :  that  is  false.  As  for  the  letters  which  1 
have  written,  I  am  ready  to  confer  on  tbiem  with  you. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence.     Then  Garlstadt  resumed : — 

If  I  were  in  error,  and  you  wished  to  do  a  Christian  deed,  you 
ought  to  have,  in  the  first  instance,  advised  me,  and  not  shot 
your  envenomed  darts  at  me  fix)m  the  pulpit  Your  constant 
cry  is  "  charity,  charity ! "  Pretty  charity,  truly,  to  throw  a 
morsel  of  bread  to  the  poor,  and  leave  on  the  road  his  wandering 
brother,  without  caring  to  bring  him  back  to  the  fold ! 

LuTHEB. — What !  have  I  not  preached  the  Gospel  ?  What 
then  have  I  done  ? 

Cablstadt. — Hold !  I  tell  you,  and  I  will  prove  it,  that  the 
Christ  whom  you  spoke  of  in  your  sermon  on  the  Eucharist,  is 
not  the  Christ  who  was  nailed  to  the  cross,  but  a  Christ  made 


166  HISTORY  07  LUTHSIL 

by  your  hands^  and  after  your  own  image;  beaideSi  there  are 
palpable  contradictions  in  your  teaching. 

IfUTHBR. — Well,  then,  doctor,  get  up  into  the  pulpit  in  the 
£Ekoe  of  day,  like  an  honest  man,  and  show  wherein  I  ha^e  erred. 

Cablstadt. — That  I  shall  do ;  for  I  do  not  shun  the  light,  s» 
you  say.  Will  you  debate  with  me  at  Wittemberg  or  Erfiurt, 
at  table,  in  a  friendly  way  ?  We  shall  propound  our  reaaons ; 
others  shall  judge  of  them.  I  do  not  fear  the  light  of  day ;  I 
only  ask  security  for  my  person. 

LtJTHEE. — Of  what  are  you  s^raid  ?  Surely  at  Wittemberg 
you  are  safe. 

Cablstadt. — Yes.  But  it  is  long  since  I  left  it.  In  a 
public  disputation  we  might  treat  each  other  sharply;  and  I 
know,  to  my  cost,  how  the  people  are  attached  to  you. 

LuTHBB. — Well,  doctor,  come ;  I  promise  that  no  one  shall 
molest  you. 

Cablstadt. — Very  well ;  I  shall  dispute  publicly,  and  I  shall 
manifest  the  truth  of  Qoi  or  my  shame. 

LuTHEB. — Say  rather  your  folly,  doctor.* 

Cablstadt. — My  shame,  which  I  shall  bear  for  the  glorifica- 
tion of  Ood. 

LtJTHBB. — And  which  will  fall  back  on  your  own  shoulders,' 
I  care  not  for  your  menaces.    Who  fears  you  ? 

Cablstadt. — And  I,  whom  can  I  fear  ? — ^my  doctrine  is  pure  ; 
it  comes  from  Ood. 

LuTHEB. — Ah!  if  it  comes  from  God,  why  have  you  not 
infosed  into  your  hearers  that  spirit  which  made  you  break  the 
images  at  Wittemberg ! 

Cablstadt. — That  was  a  work  which  I  did  not  undertake  of 
myself  alone,  but  with  the  assistance  of  the  councillors  and  some 
of  your  disciples,  who  fled  at  the  moment  of  danger. 

LuTHEB. — ^That  is  fetlse,  I  protest. 

Cablstadt. — And  I  affirm  it. 

LuTHEB. — I  adyise  you  not  to  go  to  Wittemberg ;  you  will 
not  find  there  such  zealous  friends  as  you  imagine. 

Cablstadt. — Nor  you  any  longer,  perhaps,  creatures  so  de- 

'  **  Fiet ;  stoliditas  toa  manifestando  veniet." 

'  "  Fortabo  lubens  ignominiam,  ut  Deo  suus  conatet  honor." — "  Bedundabit 
in  te  ignominia." 


DISPUTATION   WITH   CABL8TADT.  167 

▼oted  :to  you.  At  least,  I  may  console  myself,  since  the  trath 
is  on  my  side.  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  ex{dain  all  mysteries  ; 
then  the  veil  will  be  lifted,  and  God  will  manifest  his  justice. 

LuTHEB. — Ton  astonish  me  !  Tou  always  talk  of  God's 
justice.    It  is  his  mercy  which  I  invoke. 

CABLmAJOT. — ^And  why  not  his  justice  ?  God  makes  no  dis- 
tinction of  persons ;  he  regards  not  man ;  the  weak  and  the 
strong  will  be  weighed  in  the  same  balance.  I  desire  that  God 
may  judge  me  according  to  his  justice  and  his  mercy.  But  now 
that  you  despise  the  spirit  which  lives  in  me,  and  that  you  ask 
why  I  do  not  go,  why  I  stop  in  the  way,  I  will  tell  you :  it  is 
because  you  bind  me  hand  and  foot,  and  that  you  strike  me, 
bare  and  disarmed. 

LuTHEB. — I  strike  you  ! 

Gablstadt. — Is  it  not  to  bind,  and  then  to  strike  me,  to 
write  and  preach  against  me,  to  print  Ubels  against  me,  and  to 
hinder  me  from  preaching,  writing,  and  printing  ?^  If  you  had 
left  me  speech  and  pen,  you  would  have  learned  what  spirit 
animates  me. 

LuTHEB, — Preach  without  a  vocation  1  Who  has  commis- 
sioned you  to  teach  the  people  ? 

Cablstadt. — Do  you  speak  of  man's  vocation  ? — I  am  an 
archdeacon,  and  consequently  authorised  to  teach.  Of  divine 
vocation  ? — I  also  have  my  mission. 

LuTHBB. — Mission  to  preach  in  the  parish  church  ? 

GabIiSTADT. — ^Are  the  people  who  attend  the  collegiate  not 
the  same  with  those  who  attend  the  parish  church  ? 

LuTHEB. — Tou,  doctor,  attack  and  calumniate  me  in  your 
numerous  libels. 

Cablstadt. — Libels  ! — what  libels  ?  My  treatise  on  voca- 
tion, perhaps  ?  But  when  did  you  admonish  me  charitably  ? 
I  defy  you  to  point  out,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life,  a  single 
hour  in  which,  belying  my  character,  I  have  been  deficient  in 
duirity  towards  you ;  whilst  violence  is  your  usual  weapon.    If 


'  Luther,  indeed,  wrote  in  January,  1524  (De  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  457), 
to  the  Chancellor  Bruck,  to  procure  firom  the  prince  elector  that  the  printing- 
house  established  by  Carlstaat  at  Jena  should  be  suppressed.  Subsequently, 
ha  beeouffht  the  university  of  l^ttemberg  to  remove  the  archdeacon  from 
Orlamtl]i£»,  and  supply  his  place  with  another  preacher. — ^An  Spalatin,  14 
March,  1524,  ibid.  p.  486.    An  den  Ehurfuroten,  21  May,  1525,  ibid.  p.  521. 


168  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

you  did  not  wish  to  admonish  me  alone,  you  might  haye  come 
with  some  of  your  friends. 

LuTHBR. — That  is  what  I  did,  bringing  with  me  Philip  and 
Pomeranus  to  your  study. 

Garlstabt. — That  is  false.  Tou  came,  perhaps,  but  neyer  to 
admonish  me, — ^never  to  point  out  any  enoneous  articles  taken 
from  my  writings  or  sermons. 

LuTHBR. — I  brought  you  a  statement  from  the  university, 
in  which  were  noted  the  articles  which  appeared  to  us  cen- 
surable. 

Carlstadt. — Doctor,  you  violate  truth ;  I  have  never  seen 
such  a  document. 

Luthbb. — I  will  quote  a  thousand  instances,  in  which  you 
invariably  charge  me  with  fiJsehood. 

Carlstadt. — If  you  speak  the  truth,  may  the  devil  twist  my 
neck !  * 

Luther. — But  I  brought  these  articles  to  your  lodging. 

Carlstadt. — Well,  doctor,  what  would  you  say  were  I  to 
show  you  a  letter,  in  which  Jerome  Schurff  tells  me  that  they 
would,  if  I  wished  it,  show  me  the  errors  into  which  I  had  ft}len  7 
The  university  had  not  then  assembled  to  point  out  these 
articles. 

Luther  was  silent.  Carlstadt  broke  this  new  silence  by 
intreating  the  audience's  forbearance  if  he  defended  himself 
with  too  much  passion. 

Luther. — Doctor,  I  know  you ;  I  know  that  you  like  to  fly 
in  the  clouds,  walk  proudly,  and  exalt  yourself  in  your  own 
estimation. 

Carlstadt. — It  is  you  who  have  given  me  the  example  ;  you 
are  hunting  incessantly  after  honours  and  notoriety. 

Luthbr. — Remember  that  at  Leipsic  I  publicly  reproved  you 
for  your  arrogance ;  you  wished  to  be  allowed  to  dispute  &8t, 
and  I  yielded  to  you  that  honour,  of  which  I  was  unambitious. 

Carlstadt. — Ah!  dear  doctor,  what  assurance  you  have!  You 
know  that,  at  the  outset  of  the  controversy,  it  was  a  question 
whether  you  were  to  be  permitted  to  dispute  at  all.     I  appeal 


'  '*  Wenn  das  wahr  isi,  was  Luther  sagt,  so  gebe  Gott,  dass  mich  dor  Teufel 
vor  euch  alien  zerreisse ! " 


DISPUTATION   WITH    CAIIL8TADT.  169 

to  the  ootincillorB  of  Duke  George  and  tbe  university  of 
Leipsic.^ 

LiTTHBB. — Let  U8  haye  an  end  of  this.  I  have  preached 
against  the  prophets  to-day  ;  I  shall  do  so  agun  ;  we  shall  see 
who  will  prevent  me. 

Gablstadt. — Preach  as  long  as  you  wish  ;  we  shall  see  what 
we  can  do. 

LuTHBB. — Gome,  doctor,  if  you  have  anything  on  your  mind> 
say  it  openly. 

Gablstadt. — I  shall  do  so  fearlessly. 

LuTHEB. — You  will  not  forget  to  support  these  poor  prophets  ? 

Gablstadt. — Whenever  they  have  truth  on  their  side  ;  if 
they  Ml  into  error,  the  devil  shaU  serve  them  as  acolyte. 

LuTHBB. — You  will  write  openly  against  me,  doctor  ? 

Gablstadt. — If  that  pleases  you,  doctor.  I  shall  not  spare 
you. 

LuTHBB. — There  is  a  florin  for  earnest,  doctor. 

Gablstadt. — What  a  good-for-nothing  fellow  I  should  he,  if 
I  did  not  accept  your  wager,  doctor  ! 

Then  Luther  took  from  his  pocket  a  gold  florin,  which  he 
presented  to  Garlstadt,  saying :  ''  Take  this,  and  act  boldly. "" — 
''See,''  said  Garlstadt,  showing  the  florin  to  those  present, 
''  Doctor  Martin  has  given  me  this  florin  in  pledge  and  token  of 
the  authority  which  he  gives  me  to  write  against  him.''  Luther 
gave  him  his  hand.  ''  Assuredly,"  said  he,  filling  a  glass  of  ale, 
and  handing  it  to  his  opponent :  "  Your  health,  doctor." — 
''  Yours,"  said  Garlstadt ;  ''  this  is  agreed,  but  on  condition  that 
you  do  not  give  further  annoyance  to  my  poor  printers,  and  that, 
when  the  aflGur  is  ended,  you  shall  not  oppose  any  obstacle  to 
the  new  kind  of  life  which  I  may  wish  to  lead ;  for,  after  this 
dispute,  I  desire  to  become  an  agriculturist" 

LuTHEB. — Fear  nothing ;  I  shall  leave  your  printers  alone,  as 
I  have  challenged  you  to  attack  me  ;  I  have  given  you  a  florin 
not  to  spare  me ;  the  more  violent  your  attack,  the  better  I  shall 
be  content.^ 

'  This  is  oorrect.  After  ihe  duputaiion,  so  unfortimate  for  GarlBtadt, 
Melsocthon,  in  a  letter  to  CEcolampadinSy  commends  the  arohdeaoon's  tlieo- 
logical  learning,  which  at  a  later  date  he  was  to  sacrifice  to  his  sarcasm.  See 
clu4>ters  tu.  and  viii.  of  this  yolume. 

'  It  is  evident  that  Luther  broke  his  word ;  in  this  Protestant  authors  agree. 


170  HISTORY  OF  LUTHXB. 

Carlstadt.  —  May  God  assist  you  !  I  shall  eadoavour  to 
satisfy  yon.     So  said,  they  shook  hands  and  parted.^ 

Lnther  left  Jena  and  went  to  Gala,  whare  the  popnlaoe  had 
broken  the  crucifix.  Luther  collected  the  fragments,  and  then 
ascended  the  pulpit,  and  preached  upon  the  prophets  and  obe- 
dience to  the  audiorities. 

He  then  went  towards  Neustadt,^  and  arrived  on  the  24th  of 
August  at  Orlamiinde,  where  he  was  impatiently  expected.  He 
had  sent  Wolfgang  Stein  to  the  burgomaster  of  the  city,  to  xequert 
him  to  assemble  the  council  and  the  dtiz^is^  in  order  to  confer 
with  them,  in  aocordance  with  the  desire  whidi  they  had  mani- 
fested. 

The  burgomaster,  accompanied  by  the  magistrates,  received 
and  paid  his  respects  to  the  doctor  at  the  gates  of  the  city.  The 
monk's  coimtenance  was  severe,  and  almost  impassioned.  He 
did  not  lift  his  square  cap  to  salute  his  hosts,  but  contented  him* 
self  with  a  slight  inclination  of  the  head.  The  burgomaster  was 
about  to  address  him,  but  he  interrupted  him,  on  the  pretext 
that  there  would  be  time  for  discussion  in  the  court-house. 
Luther  entered  Orlamiinde  in  a  car,  accompanied  on  each  side 
by  the  magistrates  and  councillors. 

At  the  court-house  the  burgomaster  resumed  his  address, 
thanked  Luther,  in  i^e  name  of  the  council  and  people,  for  his 
kindness  in  coming  to  visit  them,  and  besought  him  to  preach 
the  word  of  God.. 

Luther  replied  that  he  had  not  come  to  Orlamiinde  to  preach, 
but  to  confer  with  the  council  and  the  people  on  the  subject  of 
some  letters  which  he  had  received. 

They  sat  down  to  table,  and  called  for  beer.  Luther  and 
those  present  exchanged  numerous  toasts,  after  the  fashion  of 
Germany.  The  news  of  Luther's  arrival  had  spread  throi]^ 
the  city,  and  there  soon  arrived  a  crowd  of  citizens  desirous  to 
see  and  hear  the  Wittemberg  doctor.  AU  intreated  him  to 
preach,  for,  said  they,  ''  we  know  you  suspect  us,  and  call  in 
question  our  faith.     Ascend  the  pulpit,  then,  and  if  your  doc- 


'  Ulenberg,  Vita  et  res  geste  Martini  Lutheri,  cap.  xiii.  fol.  229—212. 

'  Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  243.     Oper.  Luth. :  Witt  torn.  ix.  p.  214  ;  Jena,  torn.  i. 
p.  466. 


DI8PUTATI0H  WITH  OAELSTADT.  171 

trine  is  that  of  truth,  our  eyes  will  be  uBsealed,  and  we  shall 
ocmfess  onr  exron.'" 

*'  1  have  not  oome  to  preach/"  said  Luther ;  and  drawing  from 
his  po<&et  a  letter  which  he  had  received  on  the  17th  of  the 
month:  "Tell  me,"  said  he,  *'what  seal  is  this ?"—" These 
are  the  anns  of  the  city,''  replied  the  burgomaster.  "  Is  not 
this,''  returned  Luther,  ''  the  letter  of  Carlstadt,  who,  doubtless, 
the  better  to  deceive  me,  has  aflBxed  the  seal  of  Orlamiinde?'' 
— ^'  It  is  indeed  the  letter,"  said  the  burgomaster,  '^  which  we 
addressed  to  you  ;  I  recognise  it.  Carlstadt  did  not  write  or 
dictate  a  single  syllable  of  it,  and  the  seal  of  the  city  is  too  care- 
fully kept  to  leave  room  for  suspicion  that  he  could  have  had 
aeoesa  to  it^ 

Luther  impatiently  opened  the  letter  and  read  it. 

''  The  peace  of  Ood  through  Christ  our  Saviour.  Dear  bro- 
ther : — On  his  return  from  Wittembe^,  Andrew  Carlstadt,  our 
pastor,  informed  us  that  from  your  pulpit  you  publicly  railed 
against  us,  and  represented  us  as  spirits  of  disorder  and  error, 
although  you  have  never  visited  or  heard  us.  Tour  writings 
prove  that  our  pastor  has  not  deceived  us«  In  one  of  your  pam- 
phlets, addressed  to  the  princes  of  Saxony,  do  you  not  treat  with 
contempt  those  who,  Haithful  to  God's  command,  will  not  allow 
dumb  idols  or  pagan  pictures  ?  Tou  depict  Christians  in  colours 
which  you  may  have  found  in  your  own  brain,  but  never  in  the 
Scriptures.  We,  who  are  Christ's  members  and  the  Father's 
vine,  cannot  r^ard  as  the  disciple  of  Jesus  one  who,  instead  of 
correcting  us  in  the  spirit  of  charity,  lacerates  us  with  his  poig- 
nant irony. 

''  In  tl^  name  of  God,  then,  we  intreat  you  not  to  calumniate 
those  who  have  been  redeemed  at  the  cost  of  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
the  only  Son  of  Qod.  *  See,'  you  will  say,  '  those  disciples  of 
Christ  who  cannot  bear  the  least  reproach,  and  yet  call  them* 
selves  the  children  of  him  who  has  suffered  so  much  ! '  That  is 
true ;  but  do  you  not  know  that  Jesus  soundly  rated  the  Scribes 
and  the  Jews,  who  passed  for  just,  and  that  he  prayed  for  his 
executioners  ?  We  are  ready,  however,  to  give  an  account  of  our 
&ith  and  our  works,  whenever  you  call  on  us  to  do  so.     Mean- 


*  Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  244  ei  seq.     Oper.  Luth. :  Jenm,  torn.  ii.  p.  266. 


172  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

while,  oome  and  visit  us  ;  come  and  confer  with  us ;  and  if  we 
are  deceived,  lead  ns  out  of  error  by  the  voice  of  gentleness  and 
charity,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  the  glory  of  his  holy  GhuicL 
Answer  us  in  a  spirit  of  peace.  Orlamiinde,  17th  of  August, 
1524." 

"  You  wish,"  said  Luther,  "  that  I  should  point  out  to  you 
wherein  you  have  sinned  ;  it  is,  in  the  ^rst  place,  by  giving 
the  name  of  pastor  to  Garlstadt,  whose  right  to  which  title  has 
never  been  acknowledged  either  by  the  duke  of  Saxony  or  the 
academy  of  Wittembeig." 

^'  But,"  said  one  of  the  councillors,  '^  if  Garlstadt  is  not  our 
lawful  pastor,  St.  Paul's  teaching  is  a  lie,  and  your  books  a 
deception  ;  for  we  have  chosen  and  elected  him,  as  our  letters 
to  the  academy  of  Wittembeig  testify." 

Luther  said  nothing  ;^  but,  passing  to  another  part  of  the 
letter:  ''  Tou  have  sinned,"  said  he,  "  in  the  second  place,  by 
destroying  the  pictures  and  images."^ 

He  was  proceeding,  when  Garlstadt  entered,  and,  after  saluting 
Luther,  took  his  place  among  the  bystanders.  ^'  Doctor,"  said 
he,  again  saluting  Luther,  '^  with  your  pennission,  I  come  to 
take  my  part  in  this  interview." 

<'  That  is  what  I  will  not  permit,''  said  Luther. 

"  As  you  please,  doctor." 

"  No,  no ;  you  are  my  enemy,  my  adversary ;  I  reject  you. 
Have  not  I  given  you  a  gold  florin  ?" 

'^  It  is  true,  doctor ;  I  am  the  adversary  and  enemy  of  every 
one  who  will  oppose  God,  and  fight  against  Ghrist  and  the 
truth." 

"  Leave  us,  then,"  sharply  replied  Luther,  ''  we  have  no  need 
of  you  here." 

*'  But  is  not  this  a  public  meeting  ?  "  asked  the  archdeacon ; 
"  and  if  you  have  truth  on  your  side,  why  be  afraid  of  me  ?" 

"  It  is  because  I  suspect  you,"  replied  Luther  ;  *^  you  would 
be  both  judge  and  client." 

'^  Suspected  or  not,  I  do  not  constitute  myself  your  judge ;  I 
am  your  enemy,  your  adversary :  but  what  of  that  ?" 

Then  Wolfgang    Stein,   turning  to  the  archdeacon,  said  : 


Ulenborg,  1.  c  p.  247.  *  Oper.  Luth. :  Witt.  torn.  ix.  p.  2H. 


DISPUTATION  WITH   CARLSTADT.  173 

'*  Doctor,  pray  leave  us  ;  go  away/' — "  Are  you  my  master," 
said  Garlstadt,  ''to  address  me  thus?  Show  me  the  pxince's 
orders." 

Luther,  impatient,  made  a  sign  to  put  the  horses  to  his  car- 
riage, and  threatened  to  leave  Orlamiinde  if  Carlstadt  did  not 
withdraw. 

Some  of  the  people  present  surrounded  the  archdeacon,  and 
whispered  in  his  ear,  and  Carlstadt  left  the  room. 

Luther  then  resumed  his  discourse,  and  maintained  that  he 
had  never,  either  in  the  pulpit  or  in  his  writings,  spoken  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Orlamiinde,  and  that  he  had  enough  to  do  at 
Wittembei^,  without  troubling  himself  about  them.  ''  Never- 
theless," said  the  town-clerk,  ''  you  have,  in  more  than  one 
pamphlet,  compared  those  who  denounce  pictures  to  spirits  of 
darkness.  How  should  we  not  recognise  ourselves,  since  we 
have  destroyed  the  images  in  our  churches  ?  Do  you,  then,  lie, 
doctor  ?"»       . 

"  I  have  spoken  in  general  terms,"  replied  Luther ;  "  other 
cities  besides  yours  have  attacked  images.  You  accuse  me 
wrongfully ;  your  letter  is  insulting.  In  it  you  refuse  me  a 
title  of  honour  which  princes,  the  nobility,  the  people,  and  even 
my  enemies,  give  me.  The  superscription  bears  :  *  To  the 
Christian  doctor,  Martin  Luther ;'  and,  in  the  course  of  the 
letter,  you  treat  me  as  if  I  were  not  a  Christian." 

''  Our  expressions  are  courteous  and  paternal,"  said  the  bur- 
gomaster. ''  Produce,  then,"  added  a  voice  from  the  crowd 
passionately,  "  a  single  insulting  expression." — "  This  is,"'  said 
the  doctor,  "  the  tone  and  passion  of  the  prophets.  Your  eyes, 
my  friend,  are  like  two  burning  coals ;  but  they  do  not  scorch 
me.  But,  let  us  see,  where  have  you  read  in  the  Scriptures 
that  images  ought  to  be  destroyed  ?"  There  was  a  moment  of 
silence. 

"  I  will  answer  you,"  said  a  councillor.  "  Dear  brother,  do 
you  consider  Moses  to  be  the  promulgator  of  the  Decalogue  ?" — 
"  Doubtless." — "  Well,  then,  is  it  not  written  in  the  Decalogue, 
*  You  shall  have  no  other  God  but  me  ?'  and  does  not  Moses 


'  "  Interim  verb  mendacium  fuit  quo  noe  tetigisti  quando  cum  vertis^nosis 
spiritibus  noB  oonjungebas." — Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  249. 


174  HI8T0BT  OF  LUTHBA. 

add)  as  ezplanatoiy  to  this  divine  oommand :  *  Yoa  shall 
take  away  from  among  you  all  images,  and  you  shall  keep 
none?'" 

''  But  that  applies  to  idols  or  images  irtiich  are  woishipped  ; 
it  is  not  the  inlage  of  Jesos  cnicified  that  I  woiafaip/'  replied 
Luther. 

*'  Well,  then/'  said  a  shoemaker,  ''  I  have  often,  when  pasBing 
by  images,  painted  on  walls  or  laised  on  the  highways,  lifted  my 
eap.  That  was  an  act  of  idolatry  which  Qod  certainly  condemns ; 
images,  therefore,  mnst  be  abolished."' 

<<  But  that  is  an  abuse ;  and  if,  on  acoonnt  of  abuse,  we  must 
destroy  images,  put  away  your  wires,  and  stare  your  barrels/' 

^'By  no  means,"  ssdd  another,  '^for  women  and  wine  are 
created  by  God  for  our  support  and  assistance,  and  God  has  not 
commanded  us  to  put  them  away  ;  whereas,  the  command  against 
images  made  by  men's  hands  is  express."^ 

"  Once  more,"  said  Luther,  "there  is  only  question  in  the 
Decalogue  of  the  idols  that  are  made  to  be  worshipped." 

*^  I  would  grant  it,"  said  the  shoemaker,  *'  if  Moses  had  not 
spoken  of  erery  kind  of  images." 

"  Moses  ?"  said  Luther. 

"  Let  us  argue  the  point,"  continued  the  shoemaker — "  but, 
first,  let  us  pledge  ourselres  to  the  discussion."  Then  Luther 
held  out  his  hand,  which  the  shoemakw  seised  and  shook,  whilst 
some  one  went  for  a  Bible. 

The  discussion  was  lirely  and  animated.  The  shoemaker  ex- 
claimed and  gesticulated  like  a  madman^  quoting  erery  text  of 
Scripture  that  occurred  to  his  memory.  "  Are  you  a  Christian  ¥' 
he  said  to  Luther  in  a  loud  roice  ;  ''since  you  reject  Moses,  you 
will,  at  least,  admit  the  Gospel  which  you  hare  temslated.  Let 
us  see  what  the  Gospel  teaches.  Jesus  says  in  the  Gospel — I  do 
not  know  the  place,  but  my  brethren  know  it  for  me — that  the 
wife  ought  to  strip  and  throw  aside  eren  her  shift  when  she 
wishes  to  sleep  with  her  husband."^ 

^"Nun  ha  siint  Dei  oreatuns  in  adjutoriom  et  Bustentationem  nostmm 
quas  non  mandavit  Deus  k  medio  tolli ;  vertixn  de  toUendis  imaginibuB  hominnm 
manu  figictis  prsBoeptum  habemuB." 

'  ''Jesus  dicit,  nescio  qno  looo;  fratres  mei  noTerunt:  Bpongam,  si  cum 
sponso  eubare  debeat,  prorstiB  opoitere  nudam  esse,  etiam  indusio  exutam." — 
Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  251. 


DISPUTATION  WITH  OABIBTADT.  176 

Luther,  who  had  be^  standing,  sat  down  at  this  odd  quota- 
tion, and  covered  his  face  to  conceal  his  merriment.  ''  Stay, 
then,''  he  said,  after  a  hearty-  burst  of  laughter,  ''  that  means,  in 
fact,  that  we  mnst  abolish  images  :  this  is  troly  admirable!'" 

*'  Tes,  doubtless,"  said  another  of  the  company, ''  that,  indeed, 
signifies  that  Ood  wishes  the  soul  should  strip  itself  of  all  earthly 
ideas.  When  we  set  our  affections  on  an  earthly  object,  our 
heart  is  then  filled  with  its  image.  Much  more,  then,  does  our 
sool  become  stained,  when  it  rests  upon  forbidden  images." 

They  brou^t  the  books  of  Moses,  transbted  into  German  by 
Luther,  and  some  one  read  the  20th  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  4th 
of  Deuteronomy,  and  concluded  firom  them  that  images  and  all 
representations  were  prohibited  by  Ood,  and  that  a  Christian 
eould  neither  make  nor  keep  them. 

"  But  read,  then,"  the  doctor  repeated :  "  the  question  is  as  to 
idols  which  you  shall  not  worship." 

"  There  is  no  mention  of  idols  in  the  text,"  said  one  of  the 
company,  *'  *  Tou  shall  not  make  or  keep  any  image.' " 

^'But  the  text  of  Deuteronomy  is  dear  and  express,"  re^ 
Slimed  the  shoemaker :  "  '  Take  care  of  your  souls ;  on  the  day 
when  the  Lord  spoke  to  you,  you  saw  no  similitude,  lest  you 
should  be  corrupted,  and  make  to  yourselves  some  image  or 
representation  in  the  form  of  male  or  female.'    Is  that  dear  ?" 

^*  Qo  on,  pray,"  said  Luther. 

'^ '  That  you  may  not  look  up  to  heaven,  and,  seeing  the  sun 
and  moon,  adore,  by  grievous  error,  the  stars  of  heaven.' " 

"  Well,  then,"  continued  Luther,  "  why  do  you  not  blot  out 
firom  creation  the  sun  and  moon  ?". 

*'  Because  the  celestial  luminaries,"  said  the  shoemaker, ''  were 
not  made  by  our  hands ;  the  divine  injunction  does  not  relate  to 
ihem«" 

Then  the  burgomaster  interposed,  and  maintained  that  they 
followed  God's  command ;  that  it  was  written  they  should  neither 
add  nor  take  firom  the  Lord's  word. 

"  So  then,"  said  Luther,  •*  you  condemn  me  ?" 

*^  Certainly,"  said  the  dioemaker,  ''  you  and  all  who  speak  and 
teach  contrary  to  Ood's  word." 

"  Adieu,  then,"  said  Luther,  getting  into  his  carriage. 

But  one  of  the  company  seized  him  by  his  robes,  and  said: 


176  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBR. 

'<  Before  you  leave,  master,  a  word  as  to  baptism  and  the 
encharist/' 

^'  What !  have  you  not  my  books  ?"  said  the  monk  impa- 
tiently to  him  ;  "  read  them." 

''  I  have  read  them,  and,  on  my  oonscience,  they  do  not 
satisfy  me." 

"  If  you  find  fault  with  anything  in  them,  write  against  me  /' 
and  he  drove  off. 

"  To  the  devil  and  all  his  imps  with  you  ! "  exclaimed  the 
company,  burgomaster,  councillors,  and  shoemaker  ;  "  may  you 
break  your  neck  and  limbs  before  you  get  out  of  the  city  !  "^ 

Let  us  leave  Luther  to  chant  his  victory  over  the  burgomaster 
and  shoemaker  of  Orlamiinde ;  whilst  from  the  breast  of  Garlstadt, 
the  sceptic,  that  is  to  say,  the  personification  of  the  Protestant 
principle,  will  burst  forth  a  breath  of  life  ;  the  archdeacon  will 
sow  among  the  briars  and  thorns,  through  which  he  walks  a 
fugitive,  in  peasant's  attire,  and  with  a  long  sword  by  his  side, 
the  seeds  of  rebellion  against  him  whom  he  styles  the  *^  pope  of 
Wittemberg/'  Until  the  end  of  time,  every  rising  sun  will 
cause  one  of  these  germs  to  blow.  Luther  would  fain  take 
refuge  in  that  luminous  cloud  called  ^'  tradition,"  from  which  he 
has  violently  separated.  But  it  is  all  in  vain  that  he  makes,  as 
we  admit,  magnificent  efibrts  of  mind  and  body  to  recall  those 
who  firom  the  outset  had  abandoned  it,  misled  by  his  teaching 
and  example  ;  Garlstadt,  and  all  those  whom  his  voice  misleads, 
wiU  no  longer  heed  a  letter  which  fetters  the  intellect ;  it  is 
Rationalism  which  henceforth  shall  be  the  ruler  of  the  new 
Church  ;  and  those  remains  of  truth,  which  Luther  still  main- 
tains with  admirable  courage,  will  fiUl  one  by  one  under  the 
strokes  of  those  who  boast  of  being  his  disciples,  but  who  deny 
their  master,  when  he  wishes  to  stop  them  on  the  brink  of 
the  gulph ! 

In  the  city  of  Antwerp,  preachers  proclaimed  that  every  man 
is  possessed  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  that  this  Spirit  is  none  other 
than  the  reason  which  is  bom  with  us ;  that  beyond  this  life 
there  will  be  no  punishment  for  the  soul ;  that  the  body  only  will 


*  "  Abi  in  nomine  miUe  dsmonum.    Utinam  pneceps  oorruas  fraotis  cervi- 
xxibuB  antaquam  civitatem  egrediaris/'—UIenberg,  I.  c.  p.  254. 


DISPUTATION   WITH    OARLSTADT.  377 

suffer  ;  that  nature  wills  that  we  should  do  to  our  neighbour  what 
we  should  wish  him  to  do  to  us  ;  that  he  who  has  not  the  Spirit 
cannot  sin,  because  he  is  deprived  of  his  reason.' 

John  Denck,  professor  of  literature  at  Nuremberg,  taught  his 
pupils  that  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  not  equal  to  the 
Father.* 

Louis  Hetzer,  of  the  same  city,  wrote  a  long  treatise  against 
the  divinity  of  Jesus.* 

"  Lo  ! "  mournfully  exclaims  Luther,  "  one  rejects  baptism  ; 
another,  the  eucharist ;  another  constructs  a  new  world  between 
the  present  and  that  which  will  arise  after  the  last  judgment ; 
another,  who  strikes  out  revelation  from  his  creed ;  one  says 
this ;  the  other,  that  ;  there  are  as  many  sects  as  there  are 
heads  ;  everybody  wishes  to  become  a  prophet."* 

At  Strasbuig,  while  Matthew  Zell  was  in  the  pulpit,  a  man 
entered  the  cathedral,  and  called  to  the  preacher :  "  You  lie ; 
you  lie  to  the  Hojy  Ghost ! "  He  was  thrust  out  of  the  church, 
and  when  on  the  steps  of  the  porch,  exclaimed  :  "  Your  preachers 
deceive  you  f  "^ 

At  Zurich,  the  number  of  those  who  attacked  Zwinglius's  doc- 
trine was  so  great,  that,  to  put  an  ^end  to  their  outcries  against 
the  reformer,  it  was  necessary  to  expel  them  the  city.  They 
then  spread  into  other  cities, — Schaffhausen,  Saint  Gall,  Basle, 
Berne,  Croire,  and  Soleure,  everywhere  endeavouring  to  stir  up 
people  against  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinglian  creeds. 

Constance  and   Waldshut  were  filled  with  dissenters  who, 


*  "  Jeder  Menach  hat  den  heiligen  Geiat ;  der  faeilige  Geist  ist  nichts  weiier 
fds  UDsere  Vernunft  und  Veratand.  Jeder  Mensch  glaubt.  .  .  .  Die  Natur 
lehrt  dass  ich  meinem  Nachsten  thun  soUe,  was  ich  mir  will  gethan  haben,  &c." 
— Karl  Hagen.  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  110. 

*  "  Norimberg»  ludimagiater  apud  Sebaldi  templum  negavit  Spiritum  Sanc- 
tum et  Filium  ease  sequalea  Patri." — Capito  Zwingl.  ep.  Zwinglii,  torn.  i.  p.  47. 

See,  in  Earl  Hagen,  the  chapter  entitled,  Louia  Hetser  and  Jamea  Eiautz. 
The  author  qnotea  the  following  linea,  by  Hetzer,  on  the  Trinity  : — 
"  Ich  bin  allein  der  einig  Gott, 
Der  ohne  Httlf  all  Ding  beachaffen  hat. 

Fragat  du,  wie  viel  meiner  aei  t 
Ich  bin'a  allein,  meiner  aind  nicht  drei." 
— ^See,  aa  to  Hetzer :  Frank,  Chronik,  p.  425. 

'  Fiiaati,  Beitrage  fUr  die  achweizeriache  Reform. -Geachichte,  torn.  iii.  p.  310. 

*  Luther  an  die  Chriaten  zu  Antwerpen.     De  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  iii.  pp.  60,  64. 

*  Epiat.  Zwinglii,  torn.  i.  p.  616. 
VOL.  II.  N 


178  HISTORY   OF   LUTHBR. 

witli  the  Gospel  in  hand,  announced  themselves  as  the  Lord's 
elect.^ 

Ulm,  Eslingen,  Eentlingen,  Rothenbmg  on  the  Necker, 
Stuttgart,  and  Heilbronn^  opened  their  gates  to  Mnnzer's 
disciples.^ 

Rebellion  of  the  poor  against  the  rich,  political  and  religious 
equality,  were  preached  at  Munich,  Scherding,  and  Ratisbon.' 

Garlstadt's  opinions  on  adoration  in  spirit,  carried  down  by  the 
Danube,  were  taught  on  both  sides  of  the  river.* 

If  Luther  complained  of  his  disciples'  treason,  his  disciples 
did  not  disguise  the  motives  for  their  desertion.  They  accused 
him  of  having  dastardly  abandoned  the  cause  of  the  poor  to 
support  the  rich ;  of  showing  no  pity  towards  the  oppressed ;  and 
of  having  thrown  aside  the  life-giving  spirit  of  the  pure  Gospel, 
to  preachy  a  letter  which  both  killed  body  and  soul.  These 
complaints  possess  something  which  goes  direct  to  the  heart, 
because  they  fall  from  the  lips  of  men  deceived  by  the  fine 
theories  of  liberty  which  the  Saxon  monk  formerly  promulgated, 
and  who  bore  in  exile  the  punishment  of  their  blind  faith  in 
the  apostle  of  Germany.* 

These  dissensions  tended  more  and  more  to  absorb  the  Catholic 
principle.  Other  elements  of  disorganization,  set  in  operation 
by  Luther,  were  to  hasten  the  fall  of  authority  in  Germany ; 
these  were  entirely  human,  namely,  the  secularization  of  the  reli- 
gious houses,  the  marriage  of  the  monks,  the  spoliation  of  the 
property  of  the  clergy,  and  the  usurpation  of  the  civil  over  the 
spiritual  power. 

Let  us  take  a  rapid  survey  of  their  fatal  influences.^ 


'  Haller  to  Zwinglios,  Ep.  torn.  ii.  pp.  49,  66. 

'  Pfaff,  Geschichte  der  Reicbstadt  EsslingeD,  1840,  p.  492.  Gayler,  Denk- 
wUrdigkeiten  toq  Beutlingen,  1840,  p.  297. 

'  Otto,  Annales  Anabapt.  ad  ann.  1626,  1527,  pp.  44,  46,  49. 

*  Raupacb,  EvaDgeliBcbes  Oestreich,  p.  52. 

^  M.  Alexander  Weill  has  contributed  to  the  Phalange  (1845)  several 
remarkable  articles  on  the  peasants*  war,  in  which  Lather's  part  in  that 
struggle  is  properly  appreciated. 

'  The  history  of  the  development  of  the  sectarian  spirit,  after  the  defeat  of 
the  peasants  and  the  banishment  of  the  prophets,  belongs  much  more  to  the 
general  history  of  the  Reformation  than  to  the  biography  of  Luther.  The 
following  curious  books  may  be  consulted,  on  the  variations  of  Protestantism 
at  that  time : — ^Nebr,  Beitrage  zur  Kirchengeschichte  von  Windsheioi,  1801  ; 


MABBIAOE  OF  THE  MONKS.  179 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

SECfUIARIZATION    OF  THE   KELIGIOUS  HOUSES   AND  MAR- 
RIAGE  OF  THE  MONKS.     1524,  1525. 

How  Luther  contrived  to  legitimate  the  expulsion  of  the  monks. — ^Disordera 
occasioned  in  the  monasteries  by  the  reformer's  writings  against  celibacy, — 
The  unfrodced  monks  enter  the  service  of  the  printers. — ^They  are  active 
auxiliaries  for  the  Reformation. — Froben  of  BAle. — Garlstadt. — ^Monachal 
bigamies. — What  Luther  thought  of  them. 

Thb  secularization  of  the  monks  was  one  of  the  great  measares 
contriyed  hy  the  Reformer  to  destroy  Catholicism  ;  it  was  neces- 
sarily followed  by  the  spoliation  of  the  religions  hoases. 

Among  the  Protestants>  some  timorous  persons  searched  the 
Scriptures  for  texts  to  appease  the  cry  of  their  consciences,  and 
palliate  their  attempts  against  individual  and  moral  liberty.  An 
angel  seemed  to  hold  the  Bible  open  at  that  page  in  which  Grod 
prohibits  yiolence.  They  consulted  Luther,  and  put  this  ques- 
tion to  him  : — 

'^  It  is  said,  that  to  force  consciences  is  forbidden ;  yet,  do  not 
our  princes  expel  the  monks  from  their  monasteries  V 

"  The  casuist  replies,*  *  Yes  ;  we  must  not  compel  any  one 
to  believe  our  doctrines  ;  we  have  never  done  violence  to  con- 
science ^  but  it  would  be  a  crime  not  to  prevent  our  doctrines 
from  being  profaned.  To  repel  scandal  is  not  to  injure  liberty. 
I  cannot  compel  a  rogue  to  become  an  honest  man,  but  I  can 
prevent  him  from  doing  mischief.  A  prince  cannot  compel  a 
highwayman  to  confess  the  Lord;  but  he  has  a  gibbet  for 
malefactors.' "' 

''But  do  we  not  tolerate  the  Jews,  who  blaspheme  the 
Lord?" 

"  The  Jews  belong  neither  to  the  clerical  nor  secular  com- 


Jack,  Materalien  zur  Gkschichte  Ton  Bamberg,  torn.  iii. ;  Falkenstein,  Chronik 
Ton  Schwabach ;  Will,  Geschichte  der  Wiedertaufer  in  Ntimberg ;  Winter, 
Geschichte  der  Wiedertaufer  in  Baiem. 

'  **  Ob  die  FUrsten  recht  daran  gethan,  dass  sie  nicht  haben  dulden  wollen 
das  Klosterleben  und  die  Messe."— Luther's  Werke :  Witt  tom.  ix.  p.  456. 

N  2 


180  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

munities ;  they  are  captives  among  us,  and  we  do  not  suffer 
them  to  blaspheme  God  in  our  presence.  A  robber  aboat  to  be 
hanged  may  insult  his  judges ;  who  could  prevent  him  1  But 
our  monks  wish  to  be  *  de  utroque  jure ;'  to  blaspheme  publicly, 
and  be  entitled  to  do  it !  They  would  wish  to  resemble  the 
JeivSj  and  belong  neither  to  Christ  nor  to  CaBsar ;  to  proclaim 
themselves  enemies  of  Christ  and  of  Caesar  ;  and  that  we  should 
permit  thtm  in  their  synagogues  to  blaspheme  the  Lord  at  their 
pleusure,  and  as  long  as  they  like  ! "     He  continues  : — 

**  Soj  when  our  princes  were  in  doubt  whether  the  monastic 
life  and  private  masses  were  an  offence  against  God,  they  would 
have  done  wrong  to  close  the  monasteries ;  but  since  they  have 
been  enlightened,  and  see  that  the  conventual  life  and  the  Mass 
are  insults  to  the  Deity,  they  would  have  been  guilty,  had  they 
not  exercised  their  power  to  proscribe  them ;  for  it  is  written  : 
*  Thou  Bhalt  love  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  all  thy  strength.' " 

The  princes  religiously  obeyed  Luther. 

Erasmus,  who  was  in  Germany  at  the  time  when  Luther's  pam- 
phlet against  celibacy  appeared,  has  left  us  some  curious  details  of 
the  disorders  w^hich  it  excited  in  the  monasteries.  He  represents 
certain  towns  in  Germany  crowded  with  cowled  deserters  and 
vagrant  apostates,  married  priests,  starving  and  half-naked 
monks,  leapiag,  dancing,  getting  drunk,  and  praying  for  bread 
and  a  wife  for  the  rest  of  their  lives,  and  paying  no  more  r^ard 
to  the  Gospel  than  to  a  hair  of  their  beards.*  Wives  they  had 
in  abundance  ;  when  they  could  not  find  them  in  converts,  they 
sought  for  tliem  in  brothels.  What  cared  they  for  priestly  bene- 
diction ?  They  married  each  other,  and  celebrated  their  nuptials 
in  revelries,  wherein  both  spouses  seldom  failed  to  lose  their 
senses. 

"  Formerly,"  adds  our  philosopher,  "  men  le^t  their  wives  for 
the  sake  of  the  Gospel ;  now,  the  Gospel  is  said  to  flourish  when 
a  monk  has  the  luck  to  marry  a  rich  wife.*  All,  however,  are 
not  so  happy  as  (Ecolampadius,  who,  to  mortify  his  flesh,  has 
married  a  rich  and  pretty  girl."^ 

'  "Amtint  yiaticum  et  uxorem,  cstera  pili  non  faciunt." — £p.  Erasmi, 
p.  637.     Jean  Paul  styles  them  "  zweidrittels  Mooche." 

■  *'  Nuoe  fioi^t  Evangelium,  si  pauci  ducant  uxores  benfe  dotatas/'  p.  768. 

'  "  Nuper  CEoolampadius  duxit  uxorem^  puellam  non  iuelegantem ;  volt, 


y 


MARBIAaB  OF   THE   MO^S.  181 

These  apostate  monks  generally  married  nuns.  At  first, 
modest  yoang  women,  or  those  who  belonged  to  respectable 
families,  would  not  marry  them.  Where  could  mothers  be 
found  so  devoid  of  shame  as  to  give  their  daughters  to  those 
monks  who,  in  Luther's  own  words,  had  abandoned  celibacy 
merely  from  lustful  impulses  ?'  Besides,  a  great  number  of  them 
had  nothing  to  cover  them  except  their  monastic  dress.  The 
most  of  them  entered  into  the  service  of  printers  or  book-  , 
sellers.  Unhappily,  there  were  many  of  them  who  could  scarcely 
read,  and  who,  after  having  for  several  days  yielded  to  every 
temptation  of  the  flesh,  had  no  means  of  living,  and  were 
obliged  to  beg  ;  this  was  too  severe  a  profession,  which  would 
have  ended  by  disgusting  the  renegades  with  a  wandering  life, 
and  a  spectacle  which  would  have  brought  shame  on  the  Reforma- 
tion. Luther  had  foreseen  this,  and  had  divided  the  property 
of  the  monasteries  into  several  parts,  one  of  which  was  assigned 
for  the  support  of  the  secularized  religious. 

We  might  fancy  that  the  Reformation  was  no  gainer  by  these 
shameful  desertions ; — we  are  mistaken  :  "  Every  apostasy," 
says  Plank,  '^  carried  off  from  Catholicism  an  instrument  of 
proselytism  which  in  its  sphere  of  activity  could  impede  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation."  ^  Having  renounced  his  faith,  the 
apostate  sought  to  avenge  himself  on  his  brethren,  either  by 
calumniating  or  driving  them  to  perjury  ;  he  played  itmong  feeble 
minds  the  part  of  spy  and  tempter ;  the  wicked  monk  trans- 
formed himself  into  a  bad  angel. 

At  that  period,  they  were  to  be  seen  in  bands  attacking  the  con- 
vents, and  afterwards  walking  arm-in-arm  with  the  virgins  whom 
they  had  dishonoured.  Erasmus,  more  than  once,  met  monks 
laden  with  spoils  which  they  had  stolen  from  the  churches,  reeling 
under  the  fiimes  of  wine,  and  rushing  shamelessly  to  brothels.' 


opinor,  affligere  camem.  Quidam  appellant  Lutheranam  tragoediam,  mihi  vide- 
tur  ease  comcedia ;  semper  enim  in  nuptias  exeunt  tumultus." — Ep.  p.  632. 

'  "  Viele  dieser  Menschen  werden  bloss  vom  Bauche  und  tod  Fleischesl listen 
getrieben,  und  bringen  grossen  Gestank  in  den  guten  Greruch  des  Evangeliums." 
— Menzel,  Neuere  Geschichte,  &c.  torn.  i.  p.  183. 

*  Plank,  1.  c.  torn.  iv.  p.  83.     Arnold,  1.  c.  lib.  xyi.  ch.  vi.  passim. 

•  "  Sunt  rureus  qui  incident  Opibus  sacerdotum,  et  sunt,  qui,  ut  sua  fortiter 
profundunt,  vino,  scortis,  et  aieft,  itk  rapinia  alienonim  inhiant." — Erasmi, 
fep.  p.  766. 


182  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHBB. 

Some,  yielding  to  the  passion  which  tormented  them,  would 
mount  a  deserted  pulpit,  and  preach  to  the  people  the  doctrines  . 
which  their  master  had  taught  in  his  treatise  on  monastic  tows, — 
such  as :  '^  That  as  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  the  Church 
required  to  elevate  the  state  of  virginity  in  the  midst  of  a  heathen 
society,  so  now,  that  the  Lord  had  let  the  light  of  his  Gospd 
shine,  she  required  to  exalt  marriage  and  honour  it  at  the  cost  of 
the  papistic  celibacy  ;  and  that,  since  Daniel  and  St.  Paul  repre- 
sented Antichrist  as  the  adversary  of  marriage,  they  were  bound 
to  fulfil  the  law  imposed  by  God  upon  our  first  parents,  unless 
they  wished  to  be  stamped  on. the  brow  with  the  mark  of  the 
beast."  1 

There  were  some  who  delivered  long  tirades  extracted  from 
the  sermon  upon  marriage,  and  who,  mounted  on  a  bulk,  ex- 
claimed to  their  auditors :  "  Get  married ;  the  union  of  the  sexes 
is  as  necessary  as  meat  and  drink.'^  Priests,  still  more  shameless, 
like  the  curate  of  Strasburg,  of  whom  we  have  spoken,  drew  from 
their  cassock  a  general  confession,  and  mentioned  the  day  on 
which  they  had  violated  the  sixth  of  God's  commandments. 

There  were  Augustinians  who  made  a  business  of  difiusing  in 
the  country  places  the  Lutheran  pamphlets,  poisoning  ihe  minds 
and  living  at  the  expense  of  the  poor  people  whom  they  deprived 
of  eternal  life.*  Cochl»us  represents  these  monks  as  standing 
at  the  church-doors,  and,  during  divine  service,  exclaiming: 
"  Buy,  buy  the  *  Prophecies  against  Antichrist ; '  buy  the  *  Pope- 
ass,'  the  '  Monk-calf;'  buy  the  '  Pope  and  the  Sow."'»  The 
magistrates  seldom  ventured  to  turn  them  away ;  first,  because 
they  also  expected  that  a  portion  of  the  treasures  which  the 
closing  of  the  Catholic  churches  and  the  expulsion  of  the  religious 
would  be  given  to  them  as  the  price  of  their  toleration  ;  ♦  and, 
next,  because  these  monks  were  protected  by  all  the  bad  passions 
of  the  people,  with  whom  they  frequently  divided  the  gains  of 
their  robbery.     Besides,  who  knows  whether  such  zeal  on  the 

'  Oper.  Lath.  torn.  i.  p.  526  et  seq. 

*  "  InfinituB  jam  erat  numems  qui  victum  ex  Ltitheranis  libris  qtUBritantes^ 
in  Bpedem  bibliopolarum  longb  lat^ue  per  Grermanise  proyindaa  vagabantur.** 
— Gocid.  in  ActiB,  &c.  p.  68. 

'  See  chapter  vi.  of  this  yolume,  entitled  The  Pictures. 

*  **  Multos  evexit  et  ditavit  Lutberus,  nonnullis  profait  esse  Lutheranis."— - 
Eraami,  Ep.  p.  580. 


MABBIAGE   OF  THE   MONKS.  183 

part  of  the  inferior  authorities  might  not  have  heen  displeasing 
to  the  court,  where  the  elector  professed  Lutheranism  ?  It  is 
true  that  the  emperor's  edicts  prohibited  the  anti-catholic  books  ; 
but,  with  the  exception  of  Duke  George,  none  of  the  great 
Christian  princes  of  Germany  cared  to  put  them  in  force  ;  their 
empty  threats  were  laughed  at  by  the  innovators.  The  magis- 
trates, who  were  ordered  to  search  for  the  heterodox  pamphlets, 
shut  their  eyes  ;  how,  then,  should  the  people  have  shown  them- 
selves more  ready  than  the  magistrates  to  obey  the  imperial 
rescripts  ?  The  booksellers  lent  themselves  to  this  propagation 
of  Lutheran  libels,  by  printing  them  in  every  sort  of  form, 
selling  them  at  a  nominal  price  in  the  fairs  of  Germany,  and 
firequently  embellishing  them  with  false  titles,  to  deceive  the 
piety  of  the  simple  folk.*  Froben,  of  Basle,  realized  a  hand- 
some fortune  by  this  trade  ;  for  many  years  his  presses  were 
occupied  solely  in  reprinting  the  writings  of  the  Reformer. 
Erasmus  himself  was  a  long  time  afraid  of  being  unable  to  find 
a  printer  to  publish  his  treatise  on  firee-will.  He  wrote  to  the 
king  of  England :  ^'  If  your  majesty  and  the  learned  men  of 
your  court  desire  to  have  my  work,  I  shall  finish  it,  and  en- 
deavour to  publish  a  portion  of  it,  for  I  cannot  find  a  printer 
here  who  will  venture  to  print  a  single  line  against  Luther :  as 
r^rds  the  pope,  it  is  otherwise."*  See  with  what  mercantile 
exultation  Froben  mentions  his  success  in  a  letter  to  Luther ! 
"  All  your  works  move  off,"  he  says,  "  I  have  only  ten 
copies  left  ;  never  had  books  such  a  sale."'  If  CochlsBus, 
Hochstraet,  or  some  monk  replied  to  the  Reformer,  they  could 
scarcely  find  a  publisher  ;  they  were  obliged  to  resort  to  unskil- 
ful workmen,  who  spoiled  their  books  with  solecisms  and  bar- 
barisms, which  called  forth  the  merriment  of  the  learned,  and 
consigned  the  author's  name  to  the  sarcasms  of  the  Reformers. 
The  monks  who,  after  Luther's  essay  against  the  monastic  life, 
had  become  journeymen  printers  for  their  bread,  and  lent  their 
hands  and  learning  to  those  masters  whom  the  Reformation 
enriched,  reproduced  with  inconceivable  ardour  the  pamphlets  of 
the  innovators.     If  it  happened  that  a  Catholic  had  sufficient 


■  CochL  in  Actie,  ftc.  p.  50.  *  £p.  Erasmi,  p.  752. 

*  Oper.  Lath.  tonf.  i.  pp.  888,  889. 


184  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

money  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  a  printer,  his  text  came  forth 
from  the  hands  of  apostates  disfigured  with  errors  ;  and,  after  a 
long  eSorty  and  irreparable  loss  of  time,  the  unfortunate  book 
appeared  on  the  stalls  of  the  booksellers  of  Frankfort,  at  the 
great  Easter  fair,  with  all  its  deformities  of  idiom,  contemptible 
size,  wretched  type,  and  coarse  paper,  alongside  of  the  Lutheran 
pamphlet  in  all  its  luxury  of  fine  white  leaves,  beautiftd  and 
skilful  typography,  and  careful  revision  :  "  Then,''  says  Coch- 
ladus,  "  there  was  no  end  to  the  laughter  of  the  Frankfort  mer- 
chants at  the  ignorance  of  the  Papists."  ^ 

Monks  were  to  be  seen  who,  after  a  few  months'  marriage,  re- 
turned to  their  bachelor  life,  and  answered  to  those  who  reproached 
them  for  deserting  their  wives,  that  Luther  had  found  no  text 
in  the  Scriptures  forbidding  divorces ;  and  others,  who,  the 
better  to  obey  God's  command  to  "  increase  and  multiply,"  took 
two  wives  at  a  time.  On  the  first  example  of  bigamy  given  by  a 
monk,  the  old  morals  of  Germany  were  shocked  ;  they  anxiously 
searched  the  Bible  of  the  Wittemberg  doctor  for  a  text  authorising 
polygamy.  They  consulted  the  translator,  and  this  was  hisi 
answer  :  "  The  prince  ought  to  ask  the  bigamist,  '  Have  yoa 
obeyed  your  conscience  directed  by  God's  word  ?'  If  he  replies : 
^'  It  is  by  Garlstadt,'  or  some  other,  the  prince  has  nothing  more 
to  object ;  for  he  has  no  right  to  disquiet  or  hush  the  inward  voice 
of  that  man,  or  decide  in  a  matter  entirely  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  him  who,  according  to  Zacharias,  is  commissioned  to  explain 
the  divine  law.  For  my  part,  I  confess  that  I  do  not  see  how  I 
can  prevent  polygamy ;  there  is  not  in  the  sacred  texts  the  least 
word  against  those  who  take  several  wives  at  one  time  ;  but  there 
are  many  things  permissible  that  ought  not  becomingly  to  be  done : 
of  these  is  bigamy."* 

*  "  £a  tamen  neglectim,  itk  festinantur  ac  vitios^  imprimebant,  nt  majorem 
prratiam  eo  obsequio  referrent  Lntheranis  qukm  Gatholicis.  Si  qui  eorum 
justiorem  Gatholicis  openun  impeDderent,  hi  k  ceteris  in  publicis  mercatiboii 
FraDCofordise  et  alibi  vezabantur  ac  ridebantur  velut  papistae  et  sacerdotnm 
servi." — Cochl.  in  Actis,  pp.  58,  59.  See  Die  Uraachen  der  schnellen  Verbrei- 
tuDg  der  Reformation  zunachst  in  Deutschland,  by  James  Marx,  in  which  the 
action  of  the  press  on  the  diffusion  of  the  refonned  opinions  is  admirably 
described  in  the  12th  chapter,  entitled  Die  Buchdrucker  nnd  Buchhandler 
befordem  die  Reformation,  p.  152  et  seq. 

*  "  Ego  sanb  fateor  me  non  posse  prohibere  si  quis  plnres  yelit  uxoree  dncere, 
nee  repugnat  sacris  litteris.  Egregio  viro  D.  Gregorio  Brack,  18  Jan.  1524." 
-De  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  469. 


PLUNDER  OP   THE  CHURCH    PROPERTY.  ■  185 

Carlstadt,  whom  we  find  wherever  there  is  scandisd,  replied  to 
Luther :  "  Since  you  have  not,  any  more  than  myself,  found  any 
tezt  in  the  Sciiptures  against  bigamy,  let  us  be  bigamists,  triga- 
mists,  or  have  as  many  wives  as  we  can  support.  '  Increase  and 
multiply,' — ^you  understand  ?  Let  us,  then,  obey  the  command 
of  Heaven ! " 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PLUNDER  OF  THE  CHURCH  PROPERTY. 

Xiuther,  in  order  to  win  the  prinoes  over  to  hia  doctrines^  offers  them  the  spoils 
of  the  monasteries. — Feudal  Germany  had  long  aspired  to  burst  the  tutelage 
in  which  Rome  held  her,  for  the  sake  of  the  nations. — ^Effects  of  Luther's 
preaching  on  the  great  vassals  of  the  empire. — Code  drawn  up  by  the  Saxon 
monk  for  the  use  of  the  princes  who  coveted  the  property  of  the  Church. — 
Invasion  of  the  temporal  on  the  rights  of  the  spiritual  power. — These 
attempts  are  justified  and  commended  by  Luther,  Melancthon,  Bucer, 
BuUinger,  and  all  the  leaders  of  the  ReformatioD. — Doctrines  of  slavery 
taught  by  them. — Pillage  of  the  Catholic  churches  and  properties. — ^Tardy 
indignation  of  Luther. — Had  he  not  preached  robbery  and  murder  f — Useless 
advances  made  by  him  to  some  of  his  adversaries. 

JuRiBU  has  acknowledged  that  Geneva,  Switzerland,  the 
republics  and  firee  cities,  the  electors  and  princes  of  Germany, 
England,  Scotland,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  drove  out  "  popery,", 
and  established  their  religious  revolution  only  by  the  assistance 
of  the  civil  power.*  In  Saxony,  Lutheranism,  left  to  the  popular 
instincts,  to  prosely tism,  and  the  action  of  the  Reformer  on  men's 
minds,  was  but  slowly  developed  ;  its  advance  would  have  been 
checked  every  instant.^  It  is  enough  to  cast  a  glance  at  the 
court  of  Duke  George  of  Saxony,  where  no  one,  while  that  prince 
lived,  allowed  himself  to  be  seduced  by  the  innovations,  to  com- 
prehend the  influence  of  the  civil  power  on  religious  opinions. 
He  was  scarcely  dead,  when  the  Reformation  entered  the  electoral 


'  Die  Ursachen  der  schnellen  Yerbreitung  der  Reformation,  von  Jakob 
Marx,  p.  64. 

^  "  £s  ist  klar  dass  die  fUrstlichen  Oewalten  keineswegs  giinstig  fUr  die 
Reformation  gesinnt  waren,  und  wir  wisseu  ja,  dass  ausser  dem  EhurfUrsten 
von  Sachsen  sich  bis  jetzt  keiner  fur  sie  erklarte." — Karl  Hagen,  L  c.  tom.  u 
p.  U6, 


186  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

palace,  and  from  the  palace  soon  gained  Misnia  and  Thnringen. 
The  human  mind  is  seldom  excited  by  opinions  which  give  no 
advantage.  Melancthon  admits  that,  in  the  triumph  of  the 
Reformation,  the  princes  had  in  view  neither  the  purification  of 
Christianity,  the  difiusion  of  learning,  the  exalting  of  a  creed, 
nor  the  amelioration  of  morals,  but  wretched,  profane,  and  earthly 
interests.*  "They  are  worthy  Lutherans,"  said  the  doctor,  speaking 
of  the  Saxon  princes,  "  who  adjudge  to  themselves  the  treasures 
of  the  cloisters,  and  religiously  keep  the  jewels  of  the  churches  ! " 
Luther,  to  win  them,  offered  them  in  perspective  the  property 
of  the  clergy  and  the  monasteries.  Duke  Oeorge  was  the  only 
one  capable  of  resisting  him ;  this  prince  stands  out  boldly 
among  his  contemporaries  as  an  upright,  ardent,  and  just  man, 
whom  no  worldly  ambition  could  move. 

Germany,  in  the  middle  ages,  extended  from  the  lake  of  Con- 
stance, or  sea  of  Suabia,  to  the  confines  of  Poland.  Christianity 
had  softened  the  savage  manners  of  its  natives,  cleared  its  forests, 
changed  its  solitudes  into  cities,  and  assisted  it  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  of  the  Romans.  For  all  that  it  possessed  of  fiiith,  science, 
and  intellectual  art  at  Luther's  advent,  it  waA  indebted  to  its 
ancient  bishops.  The  tree  of  feudalism  had  first  flourished  on 
its  soil  It  was  one  of  the  European  states  in  which  the  influence 
of  the  papacy  was  most  sensibly  felt.  Its  great  vassals  had  often 
striven  to  free  themselves  from  ultramontane  dependence ;  but 
their  efforts  had  been  vain,  because  they  had  not  found  a  very 
zealous  protector  in  the  emperor.  We  have  seen  at  the  diet  of 
Nuremberg  the  attempts  of  the  Oermanic  body  to  establish  its 
independence.  The  secular  and  ecclesiastic  princes  set  forth,  in 
the  name  of  the  nation,  grievances  which  they  communicated  to 
the  pope's  legate,  with  the  consent  of  Ferdinand,  the  brother  and 
representative  of  Charles  V.  They  demanded  the  redress  of  a 
hundred  grievances,  as  indispensable  for  maintaining  peace  in 
the  German  Church.  Pope  Adrian  VI.  had  anticipated  thdr 
wishes,  and  was  inclined  to  grant  some  of  the  immunities  which 
they  sought  ;   but  the  bad  feeling  and  constantly  increasing 


'  **  Sie  bekUmmerten  sich  gar  nicht  um  die  Lehre :  es  aei  ihnen  bloss  am  die 
Frelheit  und  die  Herrscfaaft  zu  thun."  Gobbett  has  developed  the  B&me  idea  in 
his  work  on  the  reformation  of  England. 

*  Luther,  Von  beider  Gestalt  des  Sacraments :  Witt.  1528. 


PLUNDBB  OP  THE  CHtlECH  PBOPEBTY.  187 

exactions  of  the  refonned  princes^  who  wished  to  separate  them- 
selves from  Borne  at  all  cost,  thwarted  this  work  of  con- 
ciliation. 

For  a  long  time  Hutten  laboured  to  destroy  the  spiritual 
authority  of  Rome  in  (Jermany.  "  His  plan,"  says  M.  Alexan- 
der Weill,  "  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words ; — ^to  re-establish 
the  unity  of  Germany  in  the  name  of  the  new  Gospel  religion, 
and  to  expel  all  the  reigning  princes  and  bishops  ;  to  unite  the 
petty  aristocracy  to  the  citizens,  and  even  to  the  peasantry,  and 
proclaim  liberty  and  confraternity  in  the  name  of  the  emperor 
and  the  Gospd.  As  to  his  emperor,  he  was  ready  made ;  and 
never  was  hero  more  worthy  than  Franz  von  Sickengen  to  wear 
an  imperial  crown."  ^ 

Under  \he  pretext  of  liberty,  Hutten's  partisans  desired  a 
schism.  Then  Rome  might  be  unable  to  interfere,  as  she  had  so 
often  done,  in  the  quarrels  between  princes  and  their  subjects,  that 
is  to  say,  between  the  oppressors  and  the  oppressed.  How  often  had 
the  eye  of  the  pope,  fixed  on  the  great  German  body,  prevented 
the  feudatories  from  trampling  under  foot  the  privileges  and 
franchises  of  their  vassals  !  Protestants  themselves  have  acknow- 
ledged the  efficacy  of  that  intervention  in  the  struggles  of  the 
clergy  with  the  empire. 

The  truth  is,  that  frequently  the  lay  prebendaries  and  secular 
princes,  who  had  received  from  the  pope  palaces,  fine  estates, 
and  rich  abbeys,  bore  with  impatience  a  foreign  tutelage.  They 
would  have  desired  to  levy  taxes  at  their  own  will,  trample 
on  their  subjects  at  pleasure,  and  live  by  plunder  like  their 
ancestors,  sheltered  from  the  dread  of  Rome.  They  preferred 
the  highways  to  the  palaces,  and  had  not  entirely  stripped  off 
that  savage  nature  which  they  had  inherited  from  their  ancestors 
for  the  misfortune  of  mankind.  They  passionately  loved  to 
hunt  the  deer,  sound  the  horn,  and  mount  fiery  steeds.  Who 
has  not  heard  of  the  exploits  of  Goetz  von  Berlichingen,  Wil- 
helm  von  Grumbach,  or  Franz  von  Sickengen,  that  hero  of 
Hutten,  who  hunted  monks  as  they  do  wild  boars  ?  One  his- 
torian describes  Germany  as  being  at  this  time  changed  into  a 
very  den  of  robbers,  and  the  nobility  contending  among  them- 


'  The  peasftats*  war.    La  PhaLaage,  Januaiy  and  February,  1845,  p.  117. 


188  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

selves  in  rapacity.^  The  Eoman  chancery  made  them  pay  lai^ge 
sums  for  the  war  with  the  Turks,  the  judicial  proceedings  of 
various  tribunals,  and  dispensations  for  certain  observances, 
under  pain  of  interdict  and  excommunication.^  Now,  observe 
Luther  assembling  all  these  chiefs  of  clans,  these  highwaymen, 
these  modem  Nimrods,  and  saying  to  them  :  *'  Tour  power 
emanates  from  God  alone,  you  have  no  master  on  this  earth,  you 
owe  nothing  to  the  pope,  mind  your  own  affairs,  and  let  him 
mind  his  ;  he  is  the  Antichrist  predicted  by  the  prophet  Daniel ; 
he  is  the  man  of  sin,  the  sovereign  of  Babylon  the  whore  ;  you 
princes  and  nobles  owe  him  neither  first-fruits  nor  services  for 
the  abbeys  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  you.  These  abbeys  are  as 
much  your  property  as  the  beasts  which  run  on  your  lands,  the 
birds  which  fly  over  your  fields,  or  the  fishes  which  swim  in  your 
ponds.  The  monasteries  in  which  these  pious  hypocrites  live  are 
dens  of  iniquity,  which  infest  your  possessions, — chouses  of  abomi- 
nation, which  devour  the  food  of  your  subjects, — ^barren  briars, 
which  you  must  root  out,  if  you  wish  God  to  bless  you  in  this 
life  or  the  next.  Make  a  crusade  against  Rome,  put  between 
her  and  you  an  eternal  wall  of  separation,  and  embrace  the  new 
Gospel.  Cast  off  your  chains,  and,  like  Hermann,  deliver  Ger- 
many from  the  Eoman  conquerors ;  purge  the  earth  from  this 
vermin  of  monks,  a  theocracy  a  thousand  times  more  shameful 
than  the  yoke  of  your  ancient  masters." 

Is  it  to  be  believed  that  such  language — and  Luther  more 
than  once  made  use  of  it — could  fail  to  destroy  all  those  whom 
the  monk  marked  out  to  popular  animadversion  ?  And  when  did 
Luther  make  it  be  heard  ?  When  Charles  V.  was  four  hundred 
leagues  from  Wittemberg ;  when  all  Germany  was  disorganised ; 
when  the  episcopal  authority  was  violently  attacked ;  when  the 
people  believed  in  the  advent  of  a  new  Messiah,  announced  by 
Phiffer  and  Munzer ;  and  when  the  Turk  threatened  Hungary. 

To  those  who  set  themselves  in  rebellion  against  the  spiritual 
authority,  the  monk  decreed  an  earthly  crown  composed  of  the 
diamonds,  precious  stones,  gold  and  silver,  of  the  monasteries ; 

'  "  Potentissima  Germania  et  potentigaima  et  nobilissima,  sed  ea  tota  nuno 
QDum  latrocinium  est,  etille  inter  nobiles  gloriosiorqui  rapacior." — Campanua^ 
in  Freher,  Script.  Grerm.  torn.  ii.  pp.  294/  295. 

>  Botteck,  Hiflt.  06n^rale,  torn.  iii.  p.  79. 


PLUNDER   OP   THE  CHUROH   PROPEBTY.  189 

and  a  heavenly  one  fashioned  by  the  hand  of  God.  One 
of  these  alone  was  enough  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  the  princes. 
The  treasures  of  the  cloisters  resembled  the  martyr's  blood  of 
Tertullian,  and  daily  produced  new  disciples  to  the  Reformation. 
There  was  in  the  religious  houses  wherewith  to  allure  covetousness : 
wine,  com,  gold,  silver,  and  even  nuns  who  formed  part  of  the 
booty.*  We  have  the  testimony  of  Luther  himself,  who  affirms 
that  the  ostensoria  or  monstrances  of  the  Church  had  made 
many  conversions.^  In  like  manner  it  was  that  Albert,  mar- 
grave of  Brandenbui^,  apostatized,  that  he  might  with  a  safe 
conscience  rob  the  Teutonic  order  of  the  country  of  Prussia, 
which  he  erected  into  a  hereditary  principality ; '  and  that 
Franz  von  Sickengen,  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand  bandits, 
recruited  in  the  forests,  invaded  the  archbishopric  of  Treves, 
leaving  on  his  march  long  tracts  of  blood. 

Luther  had  drawn  up,  for  the  use  of  those  who  coveted  their 
neighbour's  goods,  a  code,  consisting  of  eight  articles,  in  which 
legalized  theft  became  a  commandment  of  God.  The  first  and 
largest  share  of  the  plunder  was  for  the  evangelical  curates  and 
preachers ;  the  second  for  the  masters  and  mistresses  who  were 
to  instruct  children  in  the  secularized  religious  houses  ;  the  third 
for  those  who  from  age  were  unable  to  work,  and  for  the  sick  ; 
the  fourth  for  orphans ;  the  fifth  for  the  parochial  poor ;  the 
sixth  for  destitute  strangers  and  travellers  ;  the  seventh  for 
maintaining  buildings  ;  and  the  eighth  for  forming  granaries  of 
corn  in  case  of  scarcity.*  The  princes  were  not  mentioned  in 
this  plan  of  division ;  but  as  Luther,  in  his  Argyrophylax,  had 
said  to  them,  "  In  a  short  while  you  will  see  what  tons  of  gold 
are  concealed  in  the  monasteries,''  ^  threatening  them  with  the 
vengeance  of  heaven  if  they  did  not  seize  on  them ;  ^  the  princes 


*  Unpartheiische  Kirchen-  and  KetzerhiBtorie,  torn.  ii.  ch.  xvi. 

'  "  XII.  Predigt  von  Lather.  Viele  siod  noch  gut  evangelisch,  wiel  efl  noch 
katholische  Moastranzen  and  KloBtergUtergibt." — Jak.  Marx,  p.  174.  Menzel, 
torn.  i.  pp.  871—379. 

>  Kotteck,  1.  c.  p.  98. 

^  De  Fisco  Commanl,  voy.  Cochl.  in  Actis,  p.  84. 

*  "  Ezperiemini  intra  paacos  menses  quot  centom  aoreonim  millia  unius 
ezignsB  ditionis  Testrse  nionachi  et  id  g^nas  hominam  possideant." — Coobl. 
p.  148. 

'  "  GottloB  seyen  diejenigen  die  diese  GUter  nicht  an  sioh  zogen,  and  sie 
beaser  yerwendeten,  als  die  Monche." 


190  HISTOEY  OF  LUTHER. 

coBjsidered  tlieinselyes  authorized  to  regulate  the  partition  of  the 
booty.  They  thoroughly  oomprehended  the  lion's  share ;  firom 
compassion  they  gaye  to  the  obstinate  monks  some  clothing,  that 
they  might  beg  on  the  highways ; — a  little  money  to  those  who 
had  been  obedient  to  Lather ; — and,  by  a  singular  generosity,  the 
sacred  vessels  of  the  secularised  monastery  to  the  curate  of  the 
parish  who  consented  to  embrace  Lutheranism  ;  all  the  rest  went 
to  their  mistresses  and  courtiers ;  and  when  they  were  as  greedy 
as  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  they  kept  to  themselves  the  vest- 
ments, sacerdotal  robes,  tapestries,  chased  plate,  and  vessels  of 
the  sanctuaries.  ''To  the  devil!"  soon  exclaimed  Luther,  in 
his  rage ;  "  to  the  devil  with  senators,  castellans,  princes,  and 
nobles,  and  mighty  lords,  who  leave  not  to  the  preachers,  the 
priests  and  servants  of  the  Oospel,  wherewith  to  support  their 
wives  and  children.''*  This  was  the  same  landgrave  who, 
not  content  with  the  property  of  the  Churchy  which  he  had 
openly  robbed,  yet  wished  to  meddle  with  the  organization  of  its 
worship,  and  suppress  the  elevation  of.  the  chalice  at  the  Mass.* 
Was  it  not  a  disgusting  spectacle  to  witness  those  ducally, 
electorally,  or  princely  crowned  robbers,  who,  because  they  did 
not  find,  like  Heliodorus,  angels  at  the  gates  of  the  temples 
which  they  pillaged,  presumed  to  r^ulate  the  forms  of  service 
in  that  old  church  from  which  they  had  torn  down  the  image  of 
Christ,  expelled  the  priests,  and  transformed  the  vessels  of  the 
sanctuary  into  plate  for  their  tables ;  to  say  how  many  grains 
of  incense  should  be  burnt  in  a  thurible,  which  had  somehow 
escaped  the  hunt  which  they  made  after  everything  that  had  the 
colour  of  gold  or  silver,  and  teach  the  bishops  the  use  of  the 
ciborium?  Thus  the  Reformation  which,  by  the  mouth  of  its 
apostle,  was  proclaimed  in  Germany  as  coming  to  free  the  people 
from  the  priestly  yoke,  created  a  pagan  monstrosity,  hierophant 
and  magistrate,  with  one  arm  seizing  the  exterior  or  political  act^ 
and  the  interior  or  religious  one.  Melancthon's  eye  had  seen 
across  the  future  the  sacrifice  of  the  people's  liberties  in  those 
prerogatives  which  Luther  conferred  on  the  civil  government. 
He  would  have  preserved  the  episcopal  jurisdiction,  which  the 


*  In  his  Tisch-Reden,  quoted  by  J.  Marx,  p.  175. 

*  J.  Marx,  1.  c.  p.  177. 


PLUin)BB  OF  THE   CHUECH   PROPERTY.  191 

fiery  refonner  crashed  to  insure  the  snccess  of  his  own  doctrines.^ 
It  was  natoraly  that  once  in  possession  of  an  authority  so  exor- 
bitant, the  princes  should  not  wish  again  to  sacrifice  it ;  and,  at 
the  peace  of  Westphalia,  they  stipulated,  as  one  of  the  prero- 
gatiyes  of  the  civil  power,  for  the  right  of  reformation,  jus  refor^ 
mandi,  in  spiritual  matters.^ 

But  Melancthon  does  not  tell  us  that,  like  his  master,  he 
▼olnntarily  sacrificed  the  democratic  principle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, in  counselling  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  who  consulted  him 
on  the  subject  of  the  religious  disputes  so  frequent  among  the 
Protestant  ministers,  to  withdraw  the  word  fxom  those  who  did 
not  preach  the  trae  gospel ;  thus  constituting  a  secular  prince 
judge  in  the  last  resort  of  a  bible  text^ 

It  was  after  the  extermination  of  the  peasants,  for  which 
Luther  returned  thanks  to  Ood,  that  the  attempts  of  the  Pro- 
testant princes  against  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  their 
subjects  were  everywhere  openly  made.  The  oppressed  had  lost 
the  protector  whom  he  believed  had  been  sent  to  him  by  the 
Lord  in  the  person  of  Luther ;  for  the  temporal  prince,  hence- 
forward the  Saxon  evangelist's  arm  of  flesh,  the  monk  had 
digested  a  theory,  which  permitted  him  to  dare  all  things,  and 
to  make  use  of  the  scourge  and  the  ball  against  those  who  might 
seek  to  rebel  That  theory  of  doing  as  they  pleased  was  sup- 
ported even  by  Melancthon.  Bucer,  on  his  part,  preached 
slavery  in  terms  still  more  precise.  He  taught  that  the  civil 
authority  is  sole  judge  of  its  conduct:  that  to  it  exclusively 
belongs  the  decision  whether  it  should  act  justly  or  capriciously, 
by  blood  or  other  punishments,  as  the  living  representative,  .in 
all  that  it  does,  of  God  who  sits  in  the  highest  heavens.  The 
civil  power  must  be  obeyed :  where  there  is  civil  power  there  is 
the  law ;  unless  we  rebel  against  God,  we  must  obey  the  prince 
in  everything  which  he  prescribes,  as  the  instrument  of  divine 
yengeance.*  

«  J.  Mwi,  1.  c.  p.  478.  »  Ibid. 

'  Karl  Hagen,  L  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  156. 

*  It  is  a  Protestant  who  has  found,  in  one  of  Bnoer's  works,  this  apotheosis 
of  despotism.  The  following  are  his  words:— "Martin  Bucer  stellt  ohne 
Weiteres  den  Grundsatz  auf,  dass  jede  Obrigkeit,  mag  sie  nun  ihre  Gewalt 
exfaalten  haben,  wie  sie  will,  rechtlioh  oder  unrechtlich,  dutch  Mord  oder 
Bonstige  Schandtbaten,  schon  durch  die  Thatsache  als  eine  von  Gott  einge- 


192  HISTORY   OP  LtJTHBB. 

That  the  civil  power  should  be  master  of  men's  consciences, 
was  a  right  which  all  the  reformers  conceded  to  it  after  the  fall 
of  the  peasants.  Bncer  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  civil 
power  may  use  fire  and  sword  against  all  those  who  have  em- 
braced error,  because  a  heretic  is  more  guilty  than  a  robber  or  a 
murderer.  He  desires  that  the  civil  power  should  have  the  right 
of  putting  to  death  both  the  child  and  the  wife,  and  the  flock  of 
the  guilty ;  and  he  appeals  to  the  Old  Testament  in  justification 
of  his  frightful  doctrine.  "  Now,^'  says  he,  "  if  the  New  Testa- 
ment has  made  obedience  to  the  pure  word  of  God  a  command- 
ment still  more  express  than  the  old,  does  it  not  follow  that 
disobedience  to  that  word  ought  to  be  still  more  severely 
punished?''  Bo  not  speak  to  him  of  that  law  of  love  which 
Christ  came  to  bring  to  men,  and  which  in  no  case  allows  of 
confounding  the  innocent  with  the  guilty ;  he  replies,  "  that  in 
Christ's  time  tde  men  who  held  the  reins  of  government  had  not 
yet  embraced  the  Gospel,  and  that  therefore  to  them  the  com- 
mandments of  Christ  were  not  addressed."  * 

Old  Erasmus,  remembering  Luther's  profession  of  faith  at 
Worms,  wherein  he  insisted  that  no  means  but  the  Gospel  should 
he  used  to  convert  the  Christian  who  had  ferred,  now  smiled,  and 
muttered,  "  Oppression  ! "  But  Bucer  replied  to  him,  "  We 
must  draw  a  distinction :  it  would  be  oppression  to  use  violence 
to  guide  men  into  error ;  but  not  so  if,  to  lead  them  to  truth. 


BOtzte  zu  betraohten  sei ;  denn  fionst  batte  Gott  die  Gewalt  niobt  zugelaasen : 
daber  mtisse  man  jeder  Obrigkeit  oboe  Unterscbied  geborchen,  denn  wo 
Gewalt,  ist  aucb  daas  Recbt  Ja,  er  gebt  so  weit,  dass  er  bebauptet,  ancb  wenn 
di^  Obrigkeit  etwas  wider  das  Gebot  Gottes  befeble,  so  mUsae  der  Untertban 
geborcben  ;  denn  es  sei  anzunebmen,  dass  dann  Gott  denselben  mit  der  Rntbe 
strafen  woUe." — Karl  Hagen,  1.  c.  pp.  154,  155. 

1  '<  Er  gebt  dann  so  weit,  dass  er  der  Obrigkeit  das  Recbt  einramnt,  dieje- 
nigen,  welcbe  eine  falscbe  Religion  baben,  mit  Feuer  nnd  Scbwert  anszurotten, 
indem  diese  die  Mutter  aller  Caster  ware,  nnd  solcbe  Leute  eine  viel  bartere 
Strafe  verdienten,  als  Diebe,  Ranber,  Morder.  Ja^  er  erlaubt  sogar,  ancb  die 
nnscbnldigen  Kinder  nnd  Weiber,  selbst  das  Vieb  solcber  Mensoben  zu  erwiir- 
gen,  nnd  beruft  siob  dabei  auf  das  Alte  Testament,  wo  es  Gott  scbon  geboten 
babe.  Da  nun  aber  das  Neue  Testament  in  der  Gottesfurcbt  nocb  weiter  geben 
solle,  milsste  die  Strafe  fUr  ein  solcbes  Vergeben  mindestens  eben  so  gross  sein, 
wie  im  Alten,  wo  nicbt  grosser.  Den  Einwurf,  dass  Cbristus  solcbe  Gran- 
samkeit  docb  nicbt  geboten  babe,  widerlegt  er  damit^  dass  er  sagt,  zu  Cbristi 
Zeiten  batten  die  Obrigkeiten  das  Evangelium  nocb  nicbt  angenommen  gebabt : 
er  babe  es  ibnen  aucb  nicbt  gebieten  konnen." — Karl  Hagen,  1.  c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  157.  See  Dialogi,  oder  Gespracbe  von  den  gemeinsamen  und  den  Kircben- 
Uebungen,  und  was  jeder  Obrigkeit  von  Amtswegen  aus  gottlicbem  Befeble, 
an  denselben  zu  verseben  und  zu  bessem  geblire :  1525. 


PLUNDER  OF   THE   CUUKCH   PROPERTY.  193 

tre  were  to  employ  even  the  gibbet :  against  the  dissenter  into- 
lerance is  a  duty/'  ^ 

The  confiscation  of  the  goods  of  the  clergy,  an  attack  on  the 
rights  of  property,  followed  the  common  law  of  every  revolu- 
tionary measure,  and  was  accompanied  by  tumults,  violent 
pillage,  the  fury  of  the  victors  and  blood  of  the  vanquished, 
ivhen  the  latter,  using  their  right  of  lawful  defence,  endeavoured 
to  repel  force  by  force,  or  when,  indifferent  to  the  perishable 
goods  of  this  life,  they  contended  with  words  alone,  in  name 
of  their  fiedth  and  their  conscience.  A  great  number  of  priests 
repeated  the  noble  example  of  the  Christians  of  the  primitive 
Church,  suffered  the  justice  of  men  to  take  its  course,  and  sur- 
rendered without  a  murmur  all  that  excited  their  covetousness. '  We 
have  the  songs  of  triumph  of  some  Protestant  historians  for  our 
authorities. 

At  Bremen,  in  Lent,  the  citizens  got  up  a  masquerade,  in 
which  the  pope^  cardinals,  and  monks  figured.  They  raised  on 
the  place  of  execution  a  pile  whereon  all  these  Catholic  personi- 
fications were  thrown  and  consumed  amidst  shouts  of  delight ; 
the  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  celebrating  with  full  libations 
the  downfall  of  the  papacy.* 

At  Zwickau,  on  Shrove-Tuesday,  they  drew  acro^  the  market- 
place hare-nets,  into  which  monks  and  nuns,  hunted  by  the 
students,  fell  and  were  caught.  At  a  short  distance  was  the 
statue  of  St.  Francis  tarred  and  feathered.  The  historian 
glories  in  this  insult  as  a  victory,  and  concludes  with  these  words 
his  account  of  the  day's  proceedings  :  '^  Thus  fell  at  Zwickau 
the  papacy ;  thus  at  length  shone  forth  the  pure  light  of  the 
Gospel.''  ^     He  adds  that  a  band  of  citizens  attacked  a  convent, 


'  "Zum  fiilsoheii  Glauben  solle  man  allerdings  Niemanden  zwineen,  nnd 
geschehe  es,  so  dttrfe  man  Widerstand  leiaten ;  aber  gegen  diejenigen,  die 
selber  den  falschen  Glauben  haben,  das  heisse,  einen  andem  als  die  orthodoxe 
Partei,  soil  man  mit  Strafen  verfahren  dfirfen,  selbst  roit  Todesslrafe.  Die 
Unduldsamkeit  gegen  Andersglaubiffe  ist  eine  I^icht."  —  Buch  wider  die 
TS.ufer,  p.  94.  See  also,  for  the  development  of  this  doctrine,  Bncer's  work, 
Schutzschrift  wider  des  Wiener  Bischofii  Johanns  (Faber)  Trostbiichlein, 
welches  er  von  dem  wunderbarlichen,  neu  erlangten  Siege  herausgab.  Fitssli, 
Bettrage,  tom.  iv.  p.  804. 

'  Arnold,  tom.  xvi.  cap.  vi. 

3  "  Also  ist  das  Papetthum  abgeschafft,  nnd  hingegen  die  reine  evangelische 
Lehre  fortgepflanzt  worden." — §  14,  ch.  vii.  §  12. 

VOL,  II.  0 


194  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

the  gates  of  which  they  broke,  pillaged  the  chests  and  tieasoiy, 
tossed  the  books  out  of  the  windows,  and  smashed  all  the  glass. 
The  authorities  took  no  notice  of  it,  and  did  not  even  exhibit  a 
hypocritical  indignation  by  denouncing  these  shocking  outrages  to 
the  country.* 

At  Stralsund,  one  day,  some  wretches  took  it  into  their  heads 
to  expel  with  stones  the  monks  and  nuns  from  their  convents. 
The  duke  seized  upon  the  goods  which  they  had  been  forced  to 
abandon,  and  confiscated  them  for  the  greater  glory  of  God.^ 

Moreover,  at  Elemberg,  the  clergyman's  house  was  given  up 
to  pillage  for  some  hours,  and  one^f  the  students,  an  actor  in  this 
drama  which  excited  the  laughter  of  the  mob,  clothed  himself 
in  the  curate's  vestments,  and,  seated  upon  an  ass,  rode  into  the 
church.* 

Sometimes  we  imagine  that  we  are  reading  one  of  Cicero's 
orations  against  Verres.  The  proconsul  of  Sicily  was  not  more 
ingenious  than  duke  John  of  Saxony,  Frederick's  successor,  in 
pillaging  a  monastery.  Some  days  beforeo  pening  the  campaign, 
he  sent  "to  demand  the  registers  of  the  monastery,  then  he  went 
with  a  strong  company  of  soldiers,  surrounded  the  house,  sum- 
moned the  abbot,  and  the  prince,  with  the  register  in  his  hand, 
caused  him  to  deliver  up  the  treasures  which  he  had  marked.^ 
Such  an  example  was  not  without  imitation, — at  Rostock,  for 
example  ;  there  the  senators  in  their  official  costume  took  posses- 
sion of  the  convent  in  the  name  of  the  city,  and  put  its  seal  on 
the  stolen  articles. 

At  Magdeburg,  the  council  of  the  consular  magistrates  acted 
with  clemency,  put  a  stop  to  the  pillage,  and  decreed  that  the 
monks  during  their  lives  should  remain  in  their  cells,  and  con- 
tinue to  be  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  house,  on  condition 
that  tliey  would  throw  ofiF  their  religious  habit  and  embrace  the 
Reformation.*     Hunger  made  numerous  apostates  ;  many  monks 


*  Id.  Arnold,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  lib.  xvi.  cap.  vi. 

'  Arnold,  torn.  ii.  lib.  xv.  cap.  ix.  §  14,  cap.  vi.  p.  59.  Dr.  Gust.  Ludw. 
Baden  (Geschichtw  des  danischen  Reichs),  Plank,  and  other  I^oteatant  hiato- 
riau8,  have  given  very  long  details  of  the  spoliation  of  the  religioua  houaes. 

^  Das  Besnltat  meiner  WandeniDgen,  &c.  von  Julius  Honinghaus,  p.  839. 

*  Arnold,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  cap.  16,  quoted  by  Hoeninghaus,  p.  341. 

^  Marheineke,  Geschichte  der  deuischen  Keformation,  torn.  ii.  p.  41. 


PLUNDER  OF   THE   OHUROH   PROPERTY.  195 

consented  to  exchange  exile  or  misery  for  the  gospel  of  Luther : 
and  snch  were  the  victories  recorded  by  the  Beformers  and 
boasted  of  afterwards.  There  is  an  old  chronicle,  printed  at 
Torgau  in  1524,  in  which  Leonard  Eoeppe  and  some  yonng 
stadents  of  the  city  narrate  a  noctomal  expedition  against  the 
Franciscan  monastery,  speak  of  the  rebellions  monks  whom  they 
threw  out  of  the  windows,  and  of  the  nnns  whom  they  spared 
because  they  were  silent^ 

Lnther  at  last  thundered  against  these  disorders  which  com- 
promised his  cause  in  Germany ;  one  day  he  exclaimed  :  '^  Who 
knows  whether,  at  the  last  day,  one  of  these  monks  will  not  be 
our  judge?"'*  As  if  he  had  not  excited  the  pasrions  of  the 
peofde  and  the  fdry  of  the  nobles  against  the  religions  houses  ! 
He  wished,  now  that  he  was  sure  of  the  support  of  the  Reformed 
princes,  that  they  should  compassionate  a  monk  who,  according 
to  him,  was  an  incarnation  of  every  sin ;  that  they  should  spare 
some  of  them,  while  he  regretted  that  he  conld  not  toss  the  pope 
into  the  flames,  as  he  had  done  his  arms.'  He  wished  that  they 
would  spare  a  Franciscan,  when  he  laughed  at  the  mere  idea  of 
seeing  the  pope,  the  cardinals,  and  their  associates  tied  to  the 
pHlory,  with  their  tongues  pulled  out.^  He  wished  that  the 
hands  of  undisciplined  students  would  leave  untouched  the 
windows  of  the  religious  houses,  while  he  had  invoked  on  the 
monasteries  the  fires  of  heaven,  the  flames  of  hell,  the  leprosy  of 
St.  Anthony,  and  the  plagues  and  boils  of  ancient  Egypt,  to  punish 
in  their  inmates  a  reason  fallen  so  low  as  to  ignore  itself.^  He 
wished  that  they  should  repress  the  violence  of  the  populace, 


'  HoQiiingliaus,  L  o. 

'  "  Es  mbchte  vielleicht  unter  ihnen  einer  seyn,  der  am  jiingsten  Crericht 
unser  aller  Richter  seyn  mochte." — Seckendorf,  lib.  ii.  p.  64.  Honingh'aua, 
das  Resaltat,  &c.  p.  344. 

*  **  DaEU  mogen  wlr  seine  Wappen,  da  er  die  SchlUaael  fUhrt  und  seine 
Krone  darauf,  mit  gutem  Qewissen,  an  fa  heimliche  Gemach  fuhren,  nnd  zur 
Untemothdtirffc  gebrauchen,  daruach  ins  Feuer  werfen  ;  besaer  ware  es,  den 
Papst  selbst." — Luther  wider  das  Papstthura  za  Bom,  vom  Teufel  gestiftet, 
torn.  viii. :  JensB,  fol.  208—248. 

*  ''Damach  soUte  man  ihn  selbst,  den  Papst,  Kardinal,  und  was  seiner 
Abgotterei  und  Heiligkeit  Gresindlin  ist,  nehmen,  und  ihnen  die  Zungeu  hinten 
zum  fials  herausreissen  und  an  den  Galgen  annageln." — Ibid. 

*  ""Eb  mochte  wohl  Jemand  gem  fluchen,  dass  sie  der  Blitz  und  Donner 
erschllige,  hollisch  Feuer  yerbrennte,  Pestilenz,  Franzosen,  St.  Velten,  St.  An- 
tonij  Aussatz,  Carbunkel  and  alle  Plagen  hatten." — Ibid. 

o2 


196  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

while  he  continued  to  exclaim  to  kings,  princes,  nobles,  and 
people :  "  Rome,  Urbino,  Bologna,  and  all  the  lands  of  the 
Church  are  yours ;  take,  in  God's  name,  that  which  belongs  to 
you/'  ^  Osiander,  (Ecolampadius,.and  many  others  have  reproached 
him  with  the  rebellion  and  death  of  the  peasants  of  Thuringia  ; 
but  we  have  no  need  of  invoking  the  testimony  of  his  disciples, 
since  we  find  in  almost  every  page  of  his  writings  a  brutal  appeal 
against  the  bishops,  a  furious  outcry  against  the  clergy,  the 
sanctification  of  robbery,  and  the  glorification  of  rapine.  The 
texts  are  plain,  we  have  not  invented  them. 

As  a  deserter  from  the  cause  of  the  people,  a  renegade  from 
the  principle  of  free  inquiry,  an  apologist  and  £a>vourer  of  dis- 
putation, Luther  required  to  forgive  himself  his  voluntary 
apostasies.  Thus  we  see  him,  at  this  time,  wholly  engaged  in 
endeavouring,  if  possible,  to  be  reconciled  with  his  adversaries. 

He  writes  to  the  king  of  England,  who  wavers  in  his  faith, 
and  is  on  the  point  of  breaking  with  Rome,  a  letter  of  studied 
humility,*  in  which  he  implores  the  prince  to  forget  the  trans- 
ports of  a  monk  who  repents  of  his  unjust  passion  ;  but  Henry, 
too  deeply  wounded  in  his  literary  vanity  ever  to  pardon  him, 
laughs  with  his  courtiers  at  the  interested  repentance  of  the 
Saxon. 

He  promises  the  archbishop  of  Mayence  *  to  be  silent  hence- 
forward, if  his  grace  will  only  consent  to  marry;*  but  the  prelate 
has  not  the  least  inclination  to  break  his  vows. 

He  writes  to  George  of  Saxony,  and  beseeches  him  on  his 
knees  to  cease  his  hostility- to  the  doctrines  of  Wittemberg  ;  but 
the  prince  rejects  the  doctors  prayers,   and  in  a  long  letter 


'  ''  Und  erstlich  nebme  man  dem  Papst  Bom,  Bomandiol,  Urbin,  Bolonia, 
und  Alles  was  er  hat  als  ein  Papst." — Ibid.  See  Das  Besultat  meiner 
Wapdemngen,  &c.,  oder  die  Nothwendigkeit  der  RUckkebr  zur  katholischen 
Religion,  ausscbliesslioh  durch  die  eigenen  Eingestandniuse  protestantischer 
Theologen  und  Philosophen,  dargethan  von  Dr.  Julius  HoninghaUH :  Aschaf- 
ienburg,  1835.  This  is  a  trustworthy  book,  in  which  the  texts  which  lead  to 
Catholic  unity  are  extracted  from  the  writings  of  the  Reformers,  and  in  which 
each  of  these  texts  is  conscientiously  indicated,  in  its  order  of  chapter,  page, 
line,  and  number.  It  has  been  translated  into  Frendi,  by  the  title  of  La 
R^forme  contre  la  R^forme,  to  which  I  have  added  a  PreftMse  (2  vols,  8vo.). 

*  September,  1526.     De  Wette,  torn.  ii. 

3  Luther  an  den  Erzbischof  Albrecht,  2  June,  1825.  Be  Wette,  I.  c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  673. 

*  22  December,  1826.     De  We'tte,  torn.  iii.  p.  55. 


ABOLITION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP.  197 

reproaches  Lnther  with  the  blood  of  the  peasants,  the  churches 
profaned,  the  clergy  reduced  to  beggary,  the  dishonoured  virgins, 
the  fftithful  monks  exiled,  the  incest  which  stalks  through  the 
streets,  the  barefaced  idolatry,  the  cities  burned  by  the  peasants, 
the  infidelity  taught  in  the  professors'  chairs,  the  impiety  which 
prevails  in  the  country  districts,  and  asks  him  if  it  is  possible  to 
be  reconciled  to  the  man  who  has  delivered  over  Germany  to  all 
these  scourges. 

"  Keep  your  Gospel,'"  says  George,  with  a  soldier's  frankness  : 
*'  I  keep  mine,  which  the  Church  of  Christ  has  received  and 
given  to  me/'  * 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ABOLITION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP. 

The  Children  inCrermany  were  iDstrucied  by  the  religions. — ^Aftor  the  aecnlariza' 
tion  of  Uie  monka,  theeduoation  of  the  people  was  entirely  neglected. — Luther's 
complaints  of  the  neglect  of  the  reformed  princes  to  instruct  the  rising 
generation. — Visitations  of  the  conununities  recommended  by  the  reformer. 
— ^The  prince  selects  the  visiton. — ^The  clergyman  now  only  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  the  ciyil  power. — ^Disorganization  of  the  Catholic  worship 
effected  by  Luther,  with  consent  of  the  princes. — ^The  Gregorian  chant 
abolished. — German  songs  appointed  in  place  of  our  hymns  and  proses. — 
Is  it  true  that  Luther  was  the  first  in  his  hue  strains  to  glorify  the  blood 
of  Christ? 

Before  the  Reformation,  there  were  attached  to  every  religious 
house  schools  where  Catholicism  summoned  the  children  of  the 
poor  for  food  and  instruction ;  from  these  pious  asylums  pro- 
ceeded all  the  great  lights  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  Germany  : 
Luther,  Erasmus,  (Ecolampadius,  Zwinglius,  Eck,  Faber,  Bucer. 
The  first  book  in  which  children  were  taught  to  read  was  the 
Bible,  which  was  not  a  sealed  volume,  although  Luther  has  said 
so,*  but  of  which  the  text  was  explained  by  an  oral  interpre- 
tation.    This   commentary  was  always  the  same  ;  the  dogmatic 

'  This  letter  of  G^rge  of  Saxony,  admirable  in  all  respects,  is  to  be  found 
in  Luther's  works,  Leipsic,  1738,  vol.  zix.  p.  361  et  seq. 

*  Jakob  Marx,  1.  c.  p.  173.     Tisch-Beden,  p.  352,  edit.  Eisleben,  1566. 


198  HTSTOBT  OP  LUTHER. 

texty  in  all  the  Catholic  latitude,  had  a  uniform  sense ;  it  was 
the  same  sentiment,  only  portrayed  to  the  eyes  by  different  signs. 

Now  it  happened  that,  when  the  bishops  were  expelled  from 
their  sees,  the  priests  from  their  presbyteries,  and  the  monks  and 
nnns  from  their  convents,  the  children  were  depriyed  both  of 
mental  and  bodily  food.  Lather  denounced  the  desertion  of  the 
clergy  by  the  nobility  and  citizens,  who  only  cared  for  their  own 
comforts,  and  had  no  regard  for  the  glory  of  the  GospeL  Strange 
astonishment  of  the  Saxon  apostle  !  here  obsenres  a  Protestant 
historian.  Luther  complains  that  they  forget  to  pay  titbes  to 
his  clergy,  when  he  has  incessantly  preached  that  poverty  is  the 
lot  of  every  Christian  who  has  taken  for  his  model  Jesus  and  his 
apostles !  * 

At  the  sight  of  all  these  princes  who,  under  Luther's  eye,  per- 
mitted thus  to  die  of  hunger  the  very  people  whom  they  had  robbed 
of  their  wealth,  some  electors  were  moved.  But  while  supplying 
food  for  the  body,  they  believed  that  it  was  their  province  to 
distribute  the  spiritual  manna,  to  supply  the  place  of  bishop, 
priest,  and  monk ;  to  point  out  the  aliment  necessary  for  the 
soul,  the  form  of  worship,  the  order  of  the  ceremonies,  and 
the  internal  policy  of  the  churches.*  They  wished  also  to  relate 
the  teaching  without  the  assistance  of  the  priesthood.  It  was 
Luther  who  from  the  outset  had  encouraged  this  strange  preten- 
sion of  the  civil  power,  by  his  complaints  in  an  eloquently  bitter 
diatribe  on  the  neglect  of  the  Gospel. 

"  I  should  not  be  astonished,"  he  said,  "  if  God  were  at  last 
to  open  the  doors  and  windows  of  hell,  and  snow  and  hail  clouds 
of  devils,  or  shower  upon  our  heads  sulphur  and  flames  from 
heaven,  and  bury  us  in  gulfs  of  fire,  like  Sodom  and  Gomorrha. 
Had  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  received  the  gifts  which  have  been 
granted  to  us,  if  they  had  had  our  visions  and  heard  our  preach- 
ings, they  would  have  been  still  standing :  they  were,  however, 
a  thousand  times  less  guilty  than  Germany,  for  they  had  not 
received  the  word  of  God  from  their  preachers.  And  we  who 
have  received  and  heard  it,  only  seek  to  rise  up  against  God. 
Undisciplined  minds  compromise  the  word  of  God,  and  the  rich 


*  MeDzel,  1.  o.  torn.  i.  p.  231. 

'  Jak.  Marx,  Die  TJrsachen,  kc,  pp.  162—196. 


ABOLITION  OP  THB  CATHOLIC  WOBSHIP.  199 

and  noble  labonr  to  deprive  him  of  his  glory,  ao  that  we  haye  our 
deserta — the  wrath  of  the  Eternal !  Others  torn  aside  their 
hands  and  refuse  to  pay  their  clergy  and  their  preachers,  and 
even  to  support  them.  If  Qermany  is  to  act  thus,  I  blush  to  be 
one  of  her  sons  or  speak  her  language  ;  and  if  I  might  silence 
,ihe  voice  of  my  conscience,  I  would  call  in  the  pope,  and 
aasist  him  and  his  minions  to  enchain  and  torture  us  again. 
Formerly,  when  we  were  in  the  service  of  Satan  and  profaned 
the  blood  of  Christ,  their  purses  were  open  ;  they  had  gold 
wherewith  to  endow  churches,  erect  seminaries,  and  support 
supeistitian.  Then  nothing  was  spared  to  place  children  in 
convents  and  make  them  go  to  school ;  but  now  that  we  require 
to  build  religious  schools,  and  endow  the  Church  of  Christ, — 
no,  not  endow,  but  assist  in  preserving  it !  for  it  is  the  Lord 
who  has  built  that  Church,  and  who  watches  over  her, — ^now 
that  we  know  the  sacred  word,  and  have  learnt  to  honour 
the  blood  of  our  martyred  God,  their  purses  are  closed  with 
iron  padlocka  Nobody  will  give  anything  !  The  children  are 
neglected,  and  no  one  will  let  them  be  taught  to  serve  God,  or 
venerate  the  blood  of  Jesus,  while  they  are  cheerfully  sacrificed 
to  Mammon !  ^  The  blood  of  Jesus  is  trampled  under  foot ! 
And  these  are  Christians  !  No  more  schools,  no  more  cloisters ; 
the  herb  is  withered  and  the  flower  fallen  !  (Isaiah  vii.)  Now 
that  carnal  men  are  sure  that  they  will  no  longer  see  their 
sons  or  their  daughters  sent  into  cloisters,  reft  of  their  patri- 
mony, there  is  no  one  to  educate  the  young.  '  Why  should  they 
be  taught,'  say  they,  *  since  they  are  neither  to  be  priests  nor 
iDonks  V  Were  ten  Moses'  to  lift  their  hands  and  bend  their 
knees  for  us,  their  voices  would  not  be  heard  ;  and  were  I  to 
supplicate  Heaven  for  my  beloved  country,  God  would  reject  my 
prayer  ;  it  would  not  reach  his  throne.  God  will  save  Lot  and 
destroy  Sodom. 

''Since  the  fall  of  the  papacy,  with  its  excommunications 
and  spiritual  punishments,  the  people  despise  the  Scriptures  ; 
care  for  the  churches  no  longer  disquiets  them  ;  they  have 
ceased  to  fear  and  honour  God.     It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  the 


'  An  die  Bathsherm  alter  Stadte  Deutschlands,  dass   sie    die   c^risUiclie 
Schulen  aufrichten  und  balten  sollen. — Menzel,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  p.  281. 


200  HISTORY  OP  IiUTHKR. 

elector,  as  supreme  head  of  the  state,  to  watch  over  and  protect 
the  sacred  work,  which  every  one  abandons ;  it  is  his  duty  to 
compel  the  cities  and  towns  which  hare  the  means  of  doing  so, 
to  found  schools  and  chairs  of  theology,  and  support  the  clergy, 
in  the  same  way  as  they  are  bound  to  make  bridges,  highways, 
and  monuments.  I  should  wish,  if  it  were  possible,  to  leave 
these  men  without  pastors,  and  let  them  live  like  swine.  There 
is  no  longer  either  fear  or  love  of  God ;  the  pope's  yoke  has 
been  broken,  and  each  lives  as  he  likes.  But  it  is  the  duty  of 
us  all,  and  chiefly  of  the  prince,  to  train  up  children  in  the  fear 
and  love  of  the  Lord,  and  to  give  them  teachers  and  pastors : 
the  old  people,  if  they  do  not  wish  such,  may  go  to  the  devil  I 
But  it  would  be  disgraceful  for  the  civil  power  to  leave  the  young 
to  wallow  in  the  mire/'  ^ 

He  added,  that  if  the  district  was  not  rich  enough  to  raise 
schools  at  its  own  cost,  it  would  be  necessary  to  take  for  that 
purpose  what  remained  of  the  property  of  the  monasteries,  which, 
had  been  intended  originally  for  the  sole  purpose  of  advancing  the 
Gospel  and  learning ;  and  that  a  cry  of  execration  would  be  raised 
if  the  academies  and  presbyteries  were  allowed  to  fall,  and  the 
nobility  appropriated  the  treasures  of  the  monasteries  to  their 
own  use  exclusively.  He  wished  that  the  elector  would  name  a 
commission  of  four  persons  to  visit  the  countries  which  had 
embraced  the  Reformation,  two  of  whom  should  superintend  the 
administration  of  the  property  of  the  religious  houses,  the  tithes 
and  dues,  and  the  other  two  the  instruction  and  selection  of  the 
masters. 

This  project  was  for  a  long  time  unapplied ;  for  the  elector 
was  not  sufficiently  powerful  yet  thus  to  play  with  the  clerical 
prerogatives.  At  a  later  period,  in  1527,  the  prince,  who  had 
nothing  more  to  fear  from  Rome,  and  who  could  without  risk 
brave  the  emperor,  then  in  Italy,  desired  to  free  himself  from 
the  rule  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  his  most  effective  mode  was 
immediately  to  apply  Luther's  theories  of  reform  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  parishes.  A  commission  of  clergy  and  laymen  was 
accordingly  appointed,  the  members  of  which  were  selected  by 


*  Luther*s  Werke,  edit.  Altenburg,  torn.  iii.  p.  519.     KeinhAnrs  Bainmtliclie 
ReformatioDspredigteD,  torn.  Hi.  p.  445. 


ABOLITION  OP  THE  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP.  201 

the  elector,  for  yisiting  the  districts  and  attending  to  their 
spiritual  administration.  These  visitors  had  for  their  mission  to 
scrutinize  the  lives,  the  morals,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  clergy, 
with  power,  if  necessary,  to  depose  and  excommunicate  them. 
If  a  clergyman  so  degraded  had  to  complain  of  the  sentence  of 
his  judges,  his  appeal  lay  to  his  highness  the  elector,  who,4n 
this  case,  discharged  the  office  of  king  and  pope. 

Thenceforward,  the  political  power  was  charged  ?dth  watching 
over  the  choice  of  the  clergy,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  oral 
and  written  instruction,  the  worship  and  the  liturgy.* , 

The  lawyers  encouraged  the  encroachments  of  the  civil  power, 
which  was  not  slow  in  destroying  the  old  Catholic  franchises. 
Luther  had  to'deplore  the  abasement  of  the  evangelical  minister, 
who  could  not  move  in  his  church  except  at  the  will  of  the 
magistrate,  whom  he  had  first  chosen  as  his  protector,  and  who 
ended  by  becoming  his  master,  and  an  arbitrary  one.  He 
endeavoured  to  protest  in  the  name  of  the  Gospel;  but  the 
historian  Menzel,  who  has  carefully  traced  the  progressive 
advances  of  these  political  usurpations,  sagely  observes  that 
Luther's  voice  had  then  no  longer  its  former  influence,  and 
remained  ?dthout  an  echo.^ 

"Our  Grospel,"  said  he  in  1536,  "teaches  the  necessity  of 
separating  the  two  policies,  civil  and  religious  ;  they  ought  not 
to  be  mixed  or  combined ;  the  Church  and  the  city  are  two  distinct 
administrations,  and  the  magistrate  and  the  priest  exercise  two 
independent  powers  which  ought  not  to  be  confounded,  according 
to  the  recommendation  of  St.  Paul,  who  says  that  we  ought  not 
to  be  aUotrio  episcopi,  that  is  to  say,  the  curators  or  inspectors 
of  others.  Christ  first  established  this  division,  and  experience 
has  taught  us  that  there  is  no  peace  to  be  hoped  for,  when  the 
magistrate  or  the  state  invades  the  priesthood,  and  when  the 
priesthood  desires  to  exercise  the  functions  of  the  magistrate  I"  ' 
This  was  not  what  he  at  first  taught. 

He  had  not  perceived  that  in  the  new  Church  the  pastor's 
dependence  was  a  consequence  of  the  mode  of  his  ordination. 


*  The  same  theories  prevailed  at  Geneva  nnder  Calvin.     See  the  second 
volume  of  my  History  of  Calvin. 
'  Menzel,  1.  c.  torn.  1.  p.  289. 
'  Luther's  Werke :  Walch.  Auag.  torn  x.  p.  1965, 


202  HISTOEY  OF  LUTHEB. 

8nch  as  the  doctor  had  settled  it.  In  1523,  the  Bohanians  con- 
sulted him  on  the  form  of  clerical  institution  to  be  followed 
in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  Luther  replied  to  them :  *^  Assemble 
and  proceed,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  select  him  whom  you 
shall  deem  worthy  of  your  votes ;  impose  your  bands  on  him 
and  confirm  him,  and  acknowledge  him  as  your  bishop  or 
pastor."  ^  What  ensued  from  this  form  of  ordination  established 
by  Luther  ?  That  the  civil  power,  who  necessarily  exercised  the 
police  of  the  districts,  might,  when  it  pleased,  prevent  such 
assemblies,  and,  if  it  permitted  them,  direct  the  election  at  its 
pleasure  ;  and  that  the  pastor  was  only  considered  by  those  who 
elected  him,  as  the  servant  of  the  parish^  In  a  case  where  the 
pastor  had  appealed  from  it  to  the  bishop  of  the  diooese  to 
confirm  his  election,  they  threatened  him  with  deposition.* 

At  the  same  time  when  he  appealed  against  the  interv^tioa 
of  the  civil  power  in  the  internal  government  of  the  Church, 
Luther  was  labouring  to  disorganize  all  the  original  forms  of  the 
Catholic  worship. 

Throughout  Saxony  there  was  no  more  chanting,  incense,  or 
lights  on  the  altar ;  the  walls  of  the  churches  were  stripped  bare ; 
the  light  no  longer  streamed  through  stained  windows,  for  they 
had  sma£ihed  them, '  under  the  pretext  that  they  tended  to 
idolatry.  The  Protestant  church  resembled  everything  but  the 
house  of  God.  This  anti-symbolic  spirit  is  at|  the  present  day 
severely  censured  by  Protestants  ! 

Yet  Luther  attempted  occasionally  to  oppose  the  foUies  of  the 
sectaries,  and  give  some  forms  of  life  to  his  new  Church.  He 
preserved,  at  first,  of  the  Catholic  baptism  the  salt  which  the 
priest  puts  on  the  infant's  lips,  the  oil  with  which  he  anoints  its 
shoulders,  and  the  cross  with  which  he  signs  its  head.'  Subse* 
quently,  of  these  rites  he  only  retained  exorcism  and  the  sign 

1  "ConFocatis  et  convenientibus  llber^  quorum  oorda  Deus  tetigerit»  ut 
Yobiscum  unum  sentiant  et  sapiant,  procedatis  in  nomine  Domini  et  eligite 
quern  et  quos  volueritis,  qui  digni  et  idonei  visi  fuerint ;  confirmetis  et  oom- 
mendetiSy  eos  populo  et  ecclesi®  seu  univeraitati,  sintque  hoc  ipso  vestri  epi- 
scopi,  ministri,  seu  pastores." — Lutherus  de  instituendis  Ministris  EcdeBisB,  ad 
clariflsimum  Senatum  Pragensem.  Opera :  Jena?,  torn.  ii.  p.  554. 

'  Dorfmaister  und  Gemaind  zu  Wendelstains  Flirbalten  den  Amptleuten  za 
Scbwobacb  iren  newangeenden  Pfarrherm,  gethan  Mittw.  nach  GalU,  1524. 
Abgedruckt  in  Biederers  Nacbrichten  zur  Biirgei^escbichte,  torn.  ii.  p.  834. 

'  Seckendorf,  Comm.  de  Luther,  lib.  iii.  p.  253. 


ABOLITIOUr  OP  THE  CATHOLIC   WORSHIP.  203 

of  the  croBS.'  He  blamed  the  confidence  placed  in  Mary ;  and 
from  the  salntation  he  struck  out  the  Ora  pro  nobis.^ 

In  1521,  the  chapter  of  Wittemberg,  in  Luther's  absence, 
abolished  the  Mass  ;  but  the  people  murmured.  Luther  replaced 
it,  no  longer  as  a  private  sign  of  oblation,  but  as  an  indifferent 
ceremony.  He  expunged  from  it  both  the  offertory,  the  canon, 
and  all  the  forms  of  the  sacrifice,  preserving  the  elevation  of  the 
bread  and  wine  by  the  priest,  the  priest's  salutation  to  the  con- 
gregation, the  mingling  of  water  with  the  wine,  and  the  use  of 
the  Latin  language. 

He  was  undecided  whether  to  abolish  or  preserve  auricular 
confession.'  He  deprived  it,  however,  of  its  Catholic  character. 
The  penitent  approached  the  minister,  and  said :  '4  have  sinned ; " 
and  that  was  sufficient.  There  was  no  enumeration  of  faults  ; 
in  Luther's  eyes,  there  was  no  gradation  in  sin ;  and  falsehood 
and  murder  were  offences  equal  in  degree  against  God. 

In  the  hands  of  the  ministers  whom  he  ordained,  and  whom  he 
set  at  the  head  of  his  churches,  confession,  such  as  Wittemberg 
had  even  wished  to  retain  it,  was  no  more  obligatory.  They  con- 
fessed who  wished  to  do  so.  In  a  pastoral  to  his  parishioners  of 
Wittemberg,  Bugenhagen  maintains  that  there  is  something  in 
the  act  of  confession  preferable  to  the  absoho  te.  This  is  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel :  "  To  absolve  is  none  other  than  to 
preach  the  Gospel."* 

At  one  time  Luther,  in  his  character  of  "  ecclesiastes  "  of 
Wittemberg,  was  stunned  with  projects  of  reformation.  These 
reformers  were  thorough  levellers.  Hausmann  devised  an  ordi- 
nation by  breathing,  without  any  other  ceremony.  Justus  Jonas 
denounced  as  devilish  a  mass  wherein  a  single  word  of  Latin 
was  pronounced.  Amsdorf  retained  excommunication,  which  he 
hurled  at  a  poor  barber,  whose  crime  Luther  could  not  divine.* 
A  preacher  of  OUnitz  wished  to  remodel  the  Liturgy  after  his 
own  fashion,   that  is   to  say,  wrote  Luther,  to  throw  his  old 


>  Ibid.  p.  234.     Daa  Taufbiichlein.  '  Kurze  Auslegmig  dee  Ave-Maria. 

'  Do  Katione  confiteDdi,  Op.  Luth.  torn.  iy.  Alt.  i.  Jen. 
*  '*  Aus  diesen  Worten  ist  klar,  das  Absolution  sprechen  ist  nichts  anders 
als  das  Evangelium  verktindigen." 
»  To  Nic.  Amsdorf,  July,  1532. 


204  HISTORY  OF   IiUTHEB. 

shoes  otit  of  the  window  before  he  has  purchased  a  pair  of  new 
ones.* 

Luther  uplifted  his  voice  in  vain  ;  it  was  unheard.  To  please 
some  infatuated  people,  he  consented  that  they  should  mingle 
with  the  Latin  chants  songs  in  the  German  language. 

He  himself  composed  some  to  replace  our  hymns  and  proses, 
those  precious  remains  of  the  poetiy  of  the  first  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  place  of  these  melodies,  so  soft,  so  beautiful^  some- 
times grave  and  austere,  by  turns  joyous  and  melancholy,  accord- 
ing to  the  occasion,  the  Protestant  churches  had  only  a  drawling 
medley.  The  reformed  Church  then  lost  a  whole  cycle  of  poems, 
inspirations,  and  symbols  of  the  Catholic  muse. 

In  1525,  Luther  wrote  to  the  Christians  of  Strasbuig :  '^  We 
can  boast  of  being  the  first  who  have  revealed  Christ.'"^  Our 
sacred  hymns  flatly  contradict  him. 

In  the  prose,  "Veni  sancte  Spiritus/'  the  Church  sings: 
"  Without  thee,  there  is  nothing  pure  on  this  earth :" — 

"  Sine  tuo  numine 
Nihil  est  in  homine, 
Nihil  est  innoxium." 

In  the  hymn  of  St.  Thomas,  "  Adoro  te  devote  latens  deitas," 
the  sinner  exclaims :  '^  Let  but  a  drop  of  thy  blood  fall,  and  the 
world  will  be  saved  :" — 

"  Cujus  una  stiUa  salvam  facere 
Totum  mundum  quit  ab  omni  scelere." 

Listen  to  the  ancient  choral  which  the  Church  intones  on  the 
grave  of  the  dead,  "  Dies  ir»,"  the  strains  of  which  made  Mozart 
weep :  *'  Terrible  Majesty,  thou  freely  savest :" — 

"  Rex  tremendiB  nukjestatls 
Qui  salvando  salyas  gratis, 
Salva  me  fons  pietatis." 

Such  were  the  songs  of  the  Saxon  Church  before  Luther;' 
magnificent  testimony  of  its  ancient  faith  ;  admirable  harmonies, 
heavenly  poems,  which  the  Reformer  banished  from  his  Liturgy, 


'  To  Michel  Van  der  Strassen,  1523. 

'  **  Christus  k  nobis  primb  vulgatum  audemus  gloriari.*' — Joh.  Pappo,  in  der 
WiderleguDg  des  Zweibriickiscben  Berichts,  p.  427. 

'  See  also  the  following  hymns :  Ghriste  Bed  emptor  omnium ;  Condi  tor  alme 
siderum  ;  Audi  benigne  conditor ;  Ad  ocenam  agni ;  Jesu  nostra  Kedemptio  ; 
Victims  paschali  laudes ;  Lauda,  Sion,  Salvatorem  ;  Jesu  dulois  memoria^  &c 


ABOLITION   OP  THE  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP.  205 

to  substitute  for  them  songs  which  have  been  constantly 
repatched,  like  old  clothes,  without  regard  for  the  monk's 
inspiration  ! 

We  remember  his  hymn  on  setting  out,  when  the  emperor  sum- 
moned him  to  Worms ;  before  his  time  the  Saxon  nation  sung 
in  its  own  idiom  songs  full  of  simple  grace.  There  is  one  which 
is  still  sung  on  Christmas-eve,  the  melody  of  which  entrances  the 
stranger's  ear:  "  To  us  a  little  child  is  bom."^  Luther  erred 
greatly  in  touching  these  sacred  relics. 

Listen  for  a  moment  to  those  songs  of  admiration  which  Pro- 
testant Germany  raises  in  honour  of  the  harmonies  of  our  ancient 
worship. 

"  When  a  poor  pilgrim,  worn  out  by  fatigue,  but  with  cheerful 
heart,  kneels  on  the  altar  steps  to  thank  Him  who  has  preserved 
him  from  the  dangers  of  a  long  journey  ;  when  an  afflicted 
mother  enters  the  empty  church  to  pray  for  her  beloved  son,  of 
whose  recovery  the  physicians  have  despaired  ;  when,  at  even- 
ing, as  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  shoot  through  the  storied 
pane  athwart  the  figure  of  a  girl  at  prayer  ;  when  the  flickering 
light  of  the  tapers  gently  dies  away  on  two  lines  of  white-robed 
priests  singing  the  praises  of  the  Eternal ;  ah  !  tell  me  if  Catho- 
licism then  does  not  proclaim  to  us,  in  eloquent  tones,  that  life 
should  be  but  one  constant  prayer ;  that  art  and  imagination 
should  unite  in  glorifying  God,  and  that  the  church,  in  which 
so  many  hymns  are  simultaneously  raised,  and  adoration 
assumes  every  possible  human  shape,  has  a  right  to  our  love 
and  our  respect''  * 

''  Admirable  ceremonial,  full  of  harmony  !    diamond,   that 


'  Ein  KiDddein  so  Ibbelich, 
let  uns  gebohren  heute. 
Von  einer  Jungfirau  reiniglich 
Znm  Trost  udb  armen  Lenten  : 
War  uns  das  Kindlein  nicht  gebohrn. 
So  waren  wir  allznmalil  verlohm, 
Das  Heil  ist  unser  aller. 
£y  du  siisser  Jesu  Christ, 
Weil  fUr  nns  Mensoh  worden  bist, 
Behiit  nns  fiir  die  HoUe." 


JLVCUUb    UUB  lUI    UIO    JLLUUO. 

The  antiquity  of  this  cantiole  is  acknowledged ;  Isfc,  in  the  Examen  Des 
Heidelbergischen  Berichts,  p.  388 ;  2ndly,  in  the  Christliches  Gesangbuoh, 
p.  86. 

'  Clausen,  quoted  by  Hoeningfaaus,  oh.  x.  torn.  ii.    . 


206  HISTORY   OP   LUTHER. 

sparkles  in  the  coronet  of  fisith !  Whoever  is  of  a  poetic  cast 
of  mind,  cannot  fail  to  be  attracted  to  Catholicism."^ 

"  How  charming  is  its  music!*  how  it  speaks  to  the  soul 
and  the  senses  !  Who  can  doubt  that  these  vocal  and  instru- 
mental melodies,  these  hymns  which  breathe  of  the  spirit,  these 
clouds  of  incense,  these  chimes  which  a  disdainful  philosophy 
affects  to  despise,  must  be  pleasing  to  Ood.  Architects  and 
sculptors,  you  are  right  to  ennoble  your  art  in  building  churches 
and  altars  to  the  Divinity."* 

*'  The  Catholic  church,  with  its  doors  open  at  all  hours  of  the 
day,  with  its  ever-burning  lamps,  its  voices  of  sorrow  or  rejoic- 
ing, its  hosannas  and  lamentations,  its  hymns,  its  masses,  its 
festivals,  and  its  memories,  resembles  a  mother  who  extends  her 
arms  to  receive  her  prodigal  child ;  it  is  a  fountain  of  sweet 
water,  round  which  are  assembled  numbers  to  imbibe  from  it 
vigour,  life,  and  health."* 

A  Franciscan  was  kneeling  before  a  fresco  painting  of  Christ 
on  the  wall  of  his  cloister,  admirable  for  its  truth  and  beauty  of 
expression.     He  rose  at  the  approach  of  a  stranger. 

'*  Brother,  that  is  truly  beautiful  I"  said  the  traveller  to  the 
monk.  '*  Yes ;  but  the  original  is  mor«  so,"  said  the  monk 
smiling.  "  Then  why  do  you  make  use  of  a  material  image  in 
prayer?"  said  the  traveller.  "I  see  you  are  a  Protestant," 
replied  the  friar  ;  "  but  do  you  not  perceive  that  the  artist 
modulates  and  purifies  the  fancies  of  my  imagination?  Have 
you  never  prayed  without  your  fancy  assuming  a  thousand 
different  shapes  ?  I  prefer  infinitely,  in  such  a  mprtter,  the  work 
of  a  great  master  to  that  of  my  own  fancy."  And  the  traveller 
was  silent.* 

"  The  custom  of  visiting  the  graves  of  the  departed  on  the 
1st  and  2nd  of  November  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  ancient.  The 
peasants  in  the  country  flock  to   the  cemeteries ;  they  kneel 

'  Isidor  (Count  of  Loeben),  Lotoabliitter,  1817,  torn.  i.  quoted  by  Hcening- 
haus,  ch.  X.  torn.  ii. 

*  Bemerkungen  wahnend  meines  Aufenthalta  in  Fninkreich,  im  Winter 
1815,  1816. 

»  Leibn.  Syst.  Theol.  p.  205. 

*  Von  Loben,  Lotosblatter,  1817,  torn.  i. 

*  Ch.  Fr.  D.  Schubart,  Leben  und  Geainnungen :  Stuttgi^rt,  1791. 


ABOLITION  OP  THE  CATHOLIC  WOESHIP.  207 

before  a  wooden  cross,  or  other  fdnereal  emblems  ;  they  think  on 
the  past,  on  the  shortness  of  life  ;  then  the  dead  are  crowned  with 
flowers,  emblematical  of  the  life  that  is  eternal ;  the  lamp  bums, 
to  remind  ns  of  the  light  which  shall  never  be  extinguished."^ 

"  How  blind  were  our  reformers  !     In  destroying  most  of  the 
all^ries  of  the  Catholic  Church,  they  imagined  that  they  were 
making  war  with  superstition.    It  was  the  abuse  that  they  ought 
to  hare  proscribed."  *    Luther  mistook  the  spirit  of  Christianity. . 
Protestants  acknowledge  this. 

Descend  from  hearen,  O  Mary,  ideal  of  maternal  love ;  listen 
to  our  hymns  of  love ;  Fetzler  wishes  to  restore  your  ancient 
festivals  !  Arise,  Ervin  von  Steinbach  and  Michael  Angelo 
Buonarotti,  and  pile  to  the  skies  a  new  spire  of  Strasburg,  a 
new  dome  of  St.  Peter's  ;  for,  as  De  Wette  has  said,  everything 
that  is  great  elevates  the  soul  to  heaven,  and  places  it  in  com- 
munion with  Gk)d,  and  all  which  is  exalted  sings  the  glory  of 
the  Lord.  Sculptors  and  painters,  fill  our  churches  with  statues 
and  pictures  I  Are  not  images  the  illustrated  Bible  of  the 
people  ?  says  Wohlfart ;  and  what  is  a  flower,  a  tree,  a  wave, 
a  star,  and  the  whole  universe,  but  magnificent  mirrors,  in 
which  the  power  and  the  goodness  of  the  Creator  shine  ?  SmaU 
village-bell,  continue  to  call  to  matin  and  vesper  prayer,  because 
at  thy  gentle  tinkling  the  labourer  uncovers  his  head  to  give  his 
heart  to  him  who  bestows  on  him  his  daily  bread.  Hail,  simple 
wooden  cross,  which  the  pious  hand  of  the  peasant  rears  on  the 
road-side  !  M.  Henry,  author  of  the  "  Life  of  Calvin,"  deplores 
that  the  iconoclasts  of  the  sixteenth  century  have  torn  you  down, 
under  the  false  pretext  of  idolatry.  Maiden,  fear  not  to  kneel 
before  the  image  of  your  patron  saint ;  of  this  be  certain,  that 
you  commit  no  sin  in  the  eyes  of  your  Maker  by  contemplating 
in  one  of  these  blessed  creatures  the  power  of  faith  and  the 
empire  of  reason  over  the  senses.  Fear  not  to  be  present  with 
your  family  at  every  festival  of  the  Church  :  have  the  poor  eaten 
their  bread  cheaper  since  Protestants  abolished  the  feasts  hal- 
lowed by  Catholicism  ?  Catholic  churches,  preserve  your  splendid 
Liturgy,   for,   as   Clausen  has  said,  it  is  not  the  principle  of 


■  C.  Spindler,  ZeiUpiegel.  L.  1791. 
'  f'eBzIer,  Thei-eeia,  torn.  ii.  p.  101. 


208  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

Christianity  to  break  the  ties  which  unite  the  soul  to  the  body, 
matter  to  spirit.  In  the  ages  of  faith  the  Gospel  manifested 
itself  in  the  domains  of  art,  and  was  reflected  in  the  sacred  style 
of  architecture,  the  harmonies  of  music,  and  the  poetic  creations 
of  painting.  No  !  the  Gospel  desires  not  a  worship  that  only 
recognises  in  the  Christian  a  being  purely  intdlectual  and  bodi- 
less, and  repels  the  wants  of  the  material  senses,  instead  of 
purifying  and  ennobling  them.  What  then  !  the  omnipotent 
word  of  the  Redeemer  requires  works  to  quicken  the  spirit,  and 
shall  we  reject  symbols,  those  truly  external  miracles  ?* 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MORAL  AND  LITERARY  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  REFORMATIOK. 

Accusations  of  intolerance,  suppression,  and  falsehood,  brought  against  the 
reformers  by  Erasmus. — He  has  not  told  us  all. — Fatal  influences  of  the 
Reformation  on  morals  and  literature,  admitted  by  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Pirkheimer,  and  others. 

There  was  a  time  in  Germany  when  error,  triumphant,  might 
have  loudly  proclaimed,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the 
Keformation  had  ennobled  mankind,  purified  society,  and  revived 
learning;  that  Luther  deserved  to  be  blessed  as  a  messenger 
from  Heaven,  because  he  had  regenerated  the  understanding, 
enlarged  the  sphere  of  knowledge,  and  destroyed  superstition. 
Then  no  voice  in  Wittemberg  would  have  dared,  as  Cochlseus 
has  told  us,  to  repel  these  calumnies  against  Catholicism,  which 
had  not  printing  to  refute  them.  Three  centuries  later,  these 
identical  falsehoods  were  openly  crowned  in  the  Institute,  and 
the  book  in  which  they  were  printed,  and  which  outraged  truth 
and  taste  alike,  was  extolled  as  the  work  of  a  philosopher  and 
genius. 

At  the  present  day,  who  would  subscribe  to  the  statements  of 
M.  -  Charles  Villers  ?  A  few  years  have  done  justice  to  his 
admirations  and  paradoxes  ! 

'  The  original  texts  of  these  quotations  are  contained  in  the  work  of 
HoeninghauB,  Das  Resnltat,  &c.  ch.  x.  of  the  translation,  vol.  ii. 


IKFLUBNOES  or   THE  KEFORMATION.  209 

So  it  was  in  Lather's  time.  After  the  death  of  Erasmus, 
when  religious  rancours  began  to  be  softened,  the  correspondence 
of  the  philosopher  was  published  by  Froben,  of  Bade,  very  indif- 
ferent to  the  Catholic  dogmas,  nevertheless,  and  justice,  therefore, 
was  done  to  the  foolish  pretensions  of  the  Reformation.  Goch- 
Iseus  might  have  been  suspected,  Erasmus  could  not  be  :  let  us 
hear,  then,  what  this  princely  intellect  says : — 

*'  I  love  to  hear  Luther^  say  that  he  does  not  wish  the  priests 
and  monks,  who  have  no  means  of  existence,  to  be  stripped  of 
their  revenues.  At  Strasburg,  perhaps  ;^  but  anywhere  else  ?  It 
is  truly  enough  to  make  one  laugh :  they  will  support  those  who 
throw  off  the  frock  ;  the  devil  may  take  those  who  would  keep  it ! 
It  is  still  more  ludicrous  to  hear  them  protest  that  they  intend  no 
harm  to  any  one  ....  What  do  they  mean  ?  Is  it  not  doing 
harm  to  expel  canons  from  their  churches,  monks  from  their 
cloisters,  and  rob  bishops  and  abbots  of  their  wealth  ?^ 

"  We  do  not  kill  them !  Whose  fault  is  that  ? — of  those  who 
prudently  make  their  escape  ?  Neither  do  pirates  kill,  if  they 
are  not  resisted  ! 

''  We  suffer  our  enemies  to  live  peaceably  among  us.  Whom 
do  you  call  your  enemies  ? — all  the  Catholics  ?  And  our  bishops 
and  priests,  do  you  believe  them  to  be  safe  in  the  heart  of  your 
cities?  If  you  are  so  gentle,  so  tolerant,  wherefore  so  much 
emigration  ?  why  these  general  complaints  that  ascend  to 
heaven  ? 

<<  They  are  allowed  to  reside  among  us,  protected  by  the  law 
of  nations.  Yes,  if  you  do  not  subscribe  to  our  teaching,  you 
shall  receive  nothing ;  you  wish  that  they  should  not  go  a  pil- 
grimage on  some  day  in  the  year !  you  wish  them  not  to  hear 
mass,  or  communicate  in  a  Catholic  chapel,  else  they  shall  be 
fined  I  If,  at  Eastertide,  you  do  not  approach  our  holy  table, 
beware  of  the  sentence  of  the  magistrates  ! 

''  None  hate  dissensions  more  than  we  do  ;  our  whole  desire 
is  to  maintain  peace  with  the  powers  of  the  earth.  Why,  then, 
puD  down  the  churches  which  they  have  built  ? 

'  In  Pseud-Evang^lioos,  lib.  xxi^i.  ep.  47 :  Lond.  Fleaher. 

'  ErasmuB  was  mistaken  ;  Gapito,  at  Strasburg,  oocnpied  the  presbyterium 
of  St.  Peter  the  Lees,  firom  which  the  curate  bad  been  expelled. 

'  Another  mistake ;  Sickingen  and  the  iron  gauntlets  mutilated  and  slew 
the  monks  and  priests.  ^ 

VOL.  II.  P 


210  UlfciTOBY   OF  LUTHER. 

''When  the  princes  command  impiety,  we  content  onraelyes  with 
paying  no  attention  to  their  orders.  Impiety  !  you  mean  to  say, 
what  is  displeasing  to  you  ?  But  do  yon  forget,  then,  that  you 
have  refosed  to  Charles  V.  and  Ferdinand  the  necessary  sab- 
sidies  for  war  against  the  Turks,  following  the  advice  of  Luther, 
wbonowretracts  it  ?  Have  the  evangelists  not  uttered  these  strange 
opinions, — that  they  would  prefer  to  fight  rather  for  the  infidel 
Turk  than  for  the  baptized,  one,  that  is  to  say,  for  the  emperor  ? 
Is  it  not  enough  to  make  one  die  of  laughter  ?  You  say :  ^  To 
him  who  smites  you  on  the  right  cheek,  turn  the  left ;  to  him 
who  takes  your  cloak,  give  your  coat'  And  I  mysdf  know  a 
person  who  was  thrown  into  prison  for  some  word  he  let  fall 
against  your  clergy,  and  another  whom  they  were  on  the  point 
of  putting  to  death.  I  need  not  speak  of  the  mildness  of 
Zwinglius.^  If  you  practise  so  well  .the  precepts  of  the  Gospel, 
why  this  shower  of  pamphlets  with  which  you  pelt  each 
other  ? — Zwinglius  against  Emser  ;  Luther  against  the  king  of 
England,  Duke  George,  and  the  emperor ;  Jonas  against  Faber  ;* 
Hutten  and  Luther  against  Erasmus  ? 

'^  These  people  disseminate  calumnies  profusely.  One  of  them 
says  he  knew  a  canon  who  stated  that  not  a  single  strumpet  was  to 
be  found  in  Zurich,  whilst  before  the  advent  of  Zwinglius  there 
were  an  immense  number.  I  showed  the  letter  to  the  canon  in 
question,  and  he  assured  me,  with  a  smile  of  contempt,  that 
such  a  word  had  never  proceeded  from  his  lips.  With  similar 
candour,  they  charge  another  priest  with  keeping  company  with 
females,  although  I,  who  am  his  intimate  friend,  affirm,  and  all 
who  know  him  will  testify  the  same  of  him,  that  he  is  irreproach- 
able in  his  words  and  actions.  They  say  so  of  the  canon,  because 
he  has  a  very  bad  opinion  of  these  sectaries  ;  and  of  the  priest, 
because,  having  at  first  inclined  to  their  doctrines,  he  soon 
renounced  them. 

'*  They  calumniate  me,  because  I  constantly  assert  that  their 
gospel  has  frozen  the  desire  for  learning  ;  and  they  quote  against 
me  Nuremberg,  where  the  professors  are  largely  endowed.  3e  it 
so ;  but  ask  the  inhabitants,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  these 

*  The  curate  of  Einsiedlen  said,  with  respect  to  Felix  Manz,  the  AnAbaptiBt : 
"Qui  iterum  mergunt,  mergantur." — Liraborch.  Int.  p.  71. 

•  Faber  is  known  by  his  book,  De  Antilogiis  Lutheri. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  KEFORMATION.  211 

-ptokaaoia  have  scarcely  any  scholars ;  that  the  master  is  as 
reluctant  to  teach  a3  the  pupil  is  to  attend  the  lecture  ;  so  that 
it  will  be  necessary  to  pension  both  scholar  and  teacher.  I  know 
not  what  all  these  schools  in  towns  and  cities  will  produce  ;  but, 
down  to  the  present  moment,  can  you  point  out  a  single  one  who 
has  come  forth  £rom  them  with  the  slightest  tinge  of  learning  ? 

'^  How  csm  one  help  being  indignant,  when  we  see  these  men 
of  yesterday  compare  themselves  to  Christ  and  the  apostles ; 
boasting  proudly  of  announcing  the  Lord,  proclaiming  the  truth, 
and  difiusing  a  taste  for  learning,  as  if  they  had  found  among  us 
neither  Christianity,  nor  knowledge,  nor  Gospel  ?  You  hear  them 
speak  of  popes,  cardinals,  bishops,  priests,  and  monks  ;  according 
to  them,  these  are  beings  of  infamous  lives,  and  of  devilish 
doctrines.  They  celebrate,  in  glowing  terms,  the  moral  purity, 
innocence,  and  piety  of  their  disciples !  as  if  I  could  not  instance 
many  of  their  cities  where  libertinism  and  adultery  openly  strut ; 
as  if  Luther  had  not  been  compelled  to  send  missionaries  to  reclaim 
a  whole  nation  who  had  plunged  into  licentiousness  ;  as  if  the 
doctor  had  not  confessed  that  he  would  infinitely  prefer  to  return 
to  the  old  yoke  of  the  papists  and  monks,  than  make  common 
cause  with  these  dissolute  men  ;  aa  if  Melancthon  had  not  made 
the  same  admission,  and  (Ecolampadius  also !  . .  .  .  You  hear 
them  tell  you  that  they  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Ohost. 
But  that  light,  when  it  does  illuminate,  shines  in  the  actions,  the 
eye,  and  countenance  of  the  person  so  inspired.  If  Zwinglius  and 
Bucer  are  so  filled  with  this  breath  firom  above,  why  do  we  not 
find  among  us  Catholics  these  privileged  individuals  ? " 

Such  is  the  elevated  language  which  truth  elicits  £rom  a 
writer  who  at  first  showed  himself  so  £sivourable  to  Luther. 

And  the  philosopher  has  not  told  us  all.  We  finish  the  pic- 
ture, making  use  almost  invariably  of  the  evidence  of  contem- 
porary Protestants. 

Luther  and  Melancthon  set  out  fipom  Wittemberg  to  visit  the 
countries  from  which  Catholicism  had  been  expelled ;  but  what 
a  sight  was  presented  to  their  sorrowful  gaze  ! — the  majority  of 
the  parishes  that  had  embraced  the  new  doctrines  had  no  pastors.* 
In  the  villages,  the  Protestant  ministers  had  scarcely  the  means 


■  Melancthon  Gamerario,  Corpus  Bef.  torn.  i.  p.  881. 

p2 


212  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBE. 

of  exLtjtence.  On  their  return,  Melancthon  and  Lather  made 
bitter  complaints  ;^  but  the  elector  John  paid  no  heed  to  them. 
"  No  persons  in  the  world  have  less  regard  for  the  Gospel/' 
wrote  Melancthon  sorrowfully  to  his  friend  Mjconius,  ''than 
those  princes  who  have  so  pompously  declared  themselves  its 
protectors."*  And  he  adds  with  tears :  "  How  much  we  have 
been  to  blame  in  introducing  theology  to  their  courts  !  I  never 
desired  anything  so  ardently  as  to  escape  as  soon  as  possible 
from  their  deadly  dwellings.''* 

Internal  dissensions  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  communities ; 
everywhere  in  the  new  parsonages  reigned  pride,  covetousness,  and 
ambition.  Every  town  of  any  small  importance  had  its  own 
Lutheran  pope.*  At  Nuremberg,  Osiander  made  himself  re- 
markable by  his  pomp  and  intolerance.  For  him  and  his  friend 
the  revenues  of  bishops  were  needed.  Their  allowance  at  first 
was  a  hundred  crowns  of  gold,  they  demanded  one  hundred  and 
fifty  ;  their  residence  was  splendid,  their  table  princely.  They 
were  not  satisfied :  they  exacted  two  hundred  crowns  of  gold  per 
annum.^  One  of  the  ministers  of  Nuremberg,  Thomas  Vena- 
torius,  was  nearly  losing  his  place  for  making  some  wise  remon- 
strances on  the  scandalous  exactions  of  his  colleagues.^ 

Osiander  was  fond  of  show.     He  resembled  a  comedian  in  the 


>  Lutber  an  den  ChnrfUraten  Johann,  De  Wette,  torn.  iL  p.  245. 

'  Melancthon  Myoonio,  Corpus  Reform,  torn.  ii.  p.  259. 

'  "  Yaldd  peocavimofl  qa5d  in  aulam  importavimus  theologiam  ;  quare  nihil 
in  yitA  ardentiiiB  optayi  ut  me  qoamprimiun  ex  his  auliois  deliberationibiu 
proniis  yel  onm  magno  meo  incommodo  ezpediam." — To  Dietrich  Veit.  Corp. 
Beform.  torn.  ii.  p.  259. 

^  "  AUenthalben  streben  ine  nach  EinfluBS  and  Macht :  fiist  jede  Stadt  nnd 
jeder  Ort  hat  seinen  lutherischen  Papst." — ^Karl  Hagen,  1.  o.  p.  187. 

'  ''Sunt  apud  noe  conoionatores  bini  qui  sub  initium  centum  aureorom 
Btipendio  ac  yictu  lauto  pro  se  et  fiunulis  sunt  professi ;  csBterum,  quiun  yidia- 
sent  se  jam  populo  persuasisse,  centum  quinquaginta  exegerant>  ao  paul6  post 
ultra  habitationem  propriam  et  yictum  splendidum,  ducentos  petiere  aureoa, 
aut  se  abituros  sunt  minati." — Pirkheiiuer  Fhrygio,  Strobel,  Beitrage,  torn.  i. 
p.  495. 

*  "  Quibus  yero  cauponationem  yerbi  hano  obsccenam  displicere  sensere,  in 
eoB  egregi^  deolamArunt.  Venatorius  noster  nuUo  yictu,  sed  centum  aureorum 
Ktipendio  tantum  concionatur,  yir  profectb  bonus  et  eruditus,  cui  quoque  multa 
quiun  displioerent,  nee  is  ob  ingenii  bonitatem  dissimulare  sciat,  quibusdam 
wimoduin  est  exoeus,  et  ni  hucusque  amioi  prohibuissent,  jampridem  ob  multam 
caasam  esse  exautoratus/* — Ibid. 


INFLUENOES  OF  THE   BEFORMATION.  213 

pulpit ;  his  clothes  were  of  the  finest  cloth,  and  his  fingers  were 
covered  with  rings.* 

The  majority  of  the  new  preachers  ascended  the  pulpit  without 
previous  preparation,  and  gave  forth  whatever  came  to  their  lips  ; 
when  inspiration  failed  them,  they  amused  themselves  in  de- 
crying their  colleagues  or  parishioners.'  "  Our  ministers,"  said 
Melancthon,  "  only  think  of  obeying  their  petty  passions  ;  the 
triumph  of  their  angry  vanities  is  what  they  everywhere  seek."* 

What  became  of  that  literature  of  which  Dalberg,  Scultetus, 
Albert,  and  Langus  took  such  pioas  care  in  their  dioceses  before 
the  Keformation  ? — it  was  either  neglected  or  proscribed.  Listen 
for  an  instant  to  the  lamentations  of  some  of  Luther's  disciples  on 
the  universal  abandonment  of  the  sciences,  provoked  by  all  those 
social  and  religious  disputes  which  the  new  gospel  occasioned  in 
Germany.  Eobanus  Hessus  deplores  with  his  friends  the  fall  of 
classical  studies  ;^  Olareanus  reproaches  the  clergy  of  his  school 
with  abandoning  pagan  antiquity,  and  making  a  parade  of  their 
ignorance  ;^  Cuspinian,  afflicted  by  seeing  that  Nuremberg, 
once  the  city  of  artists,  thinks  of  nothing  but  pepper  and  safiron,^ 
writes  to  Pirkheimer :  "  Mark  my  words ;  I  foresee  that  in  a 
short  while  the  culture  of  learning  will  be  extinguished.  I  had 
hoped  that  your  patricians  would  have  some  regard  to  the  ancient 
sciences  ;  but  I  have  been  deceived.  I  shall  go  to  sleep  like 
Epimenides,  and  throw  all  my  poetic  inspirations  into  the  fire. 
Your  school  which  Melancthon  raised  will  not  be  left  standing 
long."7  

*  Bnoer.  Zwinglius,  18  Ang.  1527.  Epist.  Zwingl.  torn.  li.  p.  81.  See 
Liter.  Muaeum,  torn.  ii.  part  ii.  pp.  184 — 195. 

*  "Kommen  aie  anyorbereitet  auf  die  Elanzel,  ho  sagen  eie  was  ihnen  in  daa 
Maul  kommt ;  nod  haben  sie  sonst  keinen  Stuff,  so  werfen  sie  mch  anfs  Schimp- 
fen."— Luther  an  Balth.  Thorinff,  16  July,  1628.  De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  852. 
See  Lather's  cnrions  accounts  of  the  Protestant  clergy,  in  his  letters  to  Haus- 
mann  of  Zwickau,  1529,  De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  482  ;  to  Justus  Jonas,  1529,  ib. 
p.  469  ;  to  Hausmann  and  Cordatus,  1529,  ib.  p.  489. 

*  "Kostri  sic  indulgent  iracundias,  ut  videantur  glorin  suae  inservire.'* — 
Melancth.  Balth.  Thoering,  Corpus  Reform,  torn.  i.  p.  995. 

<  Eoban  Hess  an  Jakob  Micyllus,  Sept.  1525.  Epist.  Famil.  Marb.  p.  42. 
To  the  same,  1526,  ibid.     To  John  Groning,  1  Aug.  1582. 

*  Glareanus  to  Pirkheimer,  5  Sept  1525.     Op.  Pirk.  pp.  316,  317. 

*  Hess  to  Sturziades,  p.  187 ;  to  Mycillus,  ibid.  p.  50.  "Quid  enim  hlo 
agamus  inter  tanttim  mercatores  ?" 

7  25  Jan.  1827.     Op.  Pirkh.  p.  227. 


214  HISTOBY   OF  LTTTHEB. 

But  it  ia  poor  Melancthoii  who  saffers  in  his  teaderest  afiec- 
tions, — he  who  had  devoted  so  much  sympathy  to  liteTatare,  and 
who  sees  it  banished  from  Wittemberg  !  The  religious  quarrels 
have  driven  it  away.  In  the  eyes  of  the  theologasters,  who 
have  the  mastery  of  that  disputatious  city,  the  prafessor  of  hu- 
mauity  is  only  a  pedant  who  serves  as  the  butt  of  their  ridicule.' 
Melancthon  k>ses  some  of  his  pupils  daily, — ^very  different  &om 
former  times,  when  his  chair  was  surrounded  by  crowds  of  young 
men  greedy  to  hear  the  lectures  of  this  distiuguished  professor. 
The  elector  forgets  to  pay  him  his  salary.  '^  It  is  a  sad  time/' 
exclaims  the  rhetorician,  "  in  which  Homer  himself  would  be 
constrained  to  beg  for  an  audience  !  I  had  hoped,  my  friend,  to 
have  attracted  them  to  the  deserted  benches  of  the  university  by 
the  sweet  harmonies  of  the  second  Olynthian  ;  for  what  is  more 
beautiful  than  that  oration  of  Demosthenes  ?  But  I  only  see  too 
clearly  that  our  times  are  deaf  to  his  accents.  I  scarcely  see 
around  me  a  few  pupils  who  have  only  from  deference  to  their 
master  not  deserted  me ;  to  whom  for  their  good-wiU  I  feel 
indebted,''*  

'  "  H\c  enim  et  quidem  k  Dostris  amicis  indigniasimd  tractor.  Non.  libet  eft 
de  re  Bcribere."— Camerario,  Noy.  1526. 

*  ''Nunc  tantus  eeb  contemptaB  optimarum  renim,  at  nisi  gratis  offeraniar 
et  quidem  pnelegantur  ^  peritis,  mendicMre  Homerus  auditores  oogatur.  .  .  . 
Speravi  me  suavitate  secundae  Olynthiacse  invitaturum  esse  auditores  ad 
Demosthenem  cognoscendum.  Quid  enim  duldus  aut  melius  eft  oratione  cogi- 
tari  potest  t  Sed,  ut  yides,  surda  est  hec  ntas  ad  hos  auditores  retineados. 
Vix  enim  pauoos  retinui  auditores  qui  mei  honoris  causft  deserere  me  nolue- 
runt>  quibus  propter  suum  ei*ga  me  officium  habeo  gratiam.'* — Strobel,  L  c. 
torn.  ii.  pp.  184,  187. 

We  Fccommend  to  our  readers  the  fine  literary  picture  of  Germany  before 
the  Beformation,  sketched  by  Carl  Hagen,  in  his  Deutsoblands  litterarische 
und  reljgiofie  Yerhaltniaae  im  Beformations-Zeitalter :  Brlangen,  1851,  torn.  i. 
They  will  see  wbat  venown  the  German  universities  possessed  at  that  time, 
with  what  success  literature  began  to  be  cultivated,  and  whut  liberal  efforts 
the  C^olio  dei^  made  to  diffuse  learning.  Once  more,  be  it  remembered, 
M.  Carl  Hageu  is  not  a  Catholic. 


LUTHBR^S  HABBIAOE.  215 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

LUTHKB'S  MABRIAGE.    152B. 

liUther^B  celibacy.  —  The  Catholics  foresaw  his  marriage.  —  His  reply  to 
Argnia,  who  urges  him  to  marry. — Motives  which,  perhaps,  may  have 
induced  Luther  not  to  listen  to  her.  —  His  letter  to  the  arehblshop  of 
Mayenee. — ^How  he  revenges  himself  on  the  cardinal  who  reftues  to  many. 
— ^Unexpected  marriage  of  Lnther. — Letter  to  Jostus  Jonas  on  the  subject. 
— Melaacthon's  regret. — Rejoicing  of  the  Catholic  monks. — Emser's  epi- 
thalaminm. — Conrad  Wimpina's  caricature. — Erasmus's  letters  to  Manch 
of  trim  and  Kieholas  Everard,  president  of  the  high  oonnoil  of  Holland,  on 
Catherine's  pTecooiona  maternity. — Evidence  of  other  writers. — ^Controversy 
on  Bora's  ooniLnement. — The  retractation  of  Erasmus. — What  we  should 
think  of  it. — Henry  VIII.'s  opinion  of  Luther's  marriage. — Influence  of  this 
marriage  of  the  monk. 

Foe  those  whom  Luther  had  seduced,  all  hopes  of  a  return  to 
Catholicism  were  not  lost.  Carried  away  at  first  by  that  love  of 
novelty  to  which  the  heart  of  man  so  rea(Uly  abandons  itself,  they 
suddenly  stopped,  and,  astonished  at  their  fall,  arose,  and  armed 
themselves  with  doubt  as  with  a  mirror.  This  was  the  case  of 
Staupitz,  Miltisch,  Grotus,  and  so  many  others,^  whose  defec- 
tions Luther  carefully  concealed,  and  who  ended  by  acknow- 
ledging their  errors,  and  becoming  reconciled  with  Catholicism. 
That  was  a  day  of  joy  to  the  ChurcL 

The  priest  was  ever  on  the  watch,  and  on  the  least  sign  of 
repentance  or  regret  on  the  part  of  the  fallen  angel,  hastened  to 
reconcile  him  with  God.  His  voice  would  have  been  powerless 
to  reclaim  the  married  monk ;  the  wife  was  the  bond  which  for 
ever  fettered  the  apostate  to  Protestantism.  We  harve  in  vain 
searched  for  an  instance  of  a  married  priest  who,  in  the  religious 
revolution  of  the  fifteenth  century,  returned  to  Catholicism ; 
repentance  never  even  sat  by  the  pillow  of  the  dying  man. 
Erasmus,  therefore,  did  wrong  to  laugh.  Luther  knew  well 
that  every  marriage  of  a  priest  bound  to  the  Reformation  a 


>  "  Ego  soleo  'dissimulare  et  oelarei  quantiira  possum,  ubi  aliqni  nottrAm 
dissentiunt  k  nobis  (quales  multos  jam  agitat  nesoio  quis  spiritus)." — Lutherus, 
FaK  Capitoni,  25  May,  1524. 


216  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

being  who  would  beget  others  of  his  own  stamp.  We  now  under- 
stand the  warfEure  against  celibacy  which  he  commenced  at  Waxt- 
burg,  and  continued  through  life.  After  the  pope,  Eck,  Emser, 
and  ErasmuS;  Luther  had  no  enemies  whom  he  handled  more 
rudely  than  celibacy ;  and  so  to  obtain  victory  over  it,  he  made 
use  of  every  weapon, — fury,  contempt,  sophistry,  epigrams,  puns, 
and  jests.  Sometimes  you  would  fancy  it  was  a  guest  from  a 
supper  of  Petronius  discoursing  of  marriage;  and  you  must  either 
extinguish  the  lights,  or  screen  your  face.  The  curious  reader 
must  therefore  read  the  works  of  Luther  in  Latin  or  in  German 
to  undeftitand  their  author ;  for  the  monk  has  not  exhausted 
the  subject  in  his  sermon  on  marriage.  There  is  at  Naples  a 
secret  museum  which  in  an  hour  will  initiate  the  traveller  in  the 
morals  of  ancient  Rome  :  Luther's  museum  veiy  much  resembles 
it ;  but  we  cannot  venture  to  act  as  cicerone  there.* 

It  was  impossible  that  so  petulant  a  panegyrist  of  marriage 
could  preserve  his  vows  of  chastity  and  die  a  bachelor.  Luther, 
who  said  whatever  he  felt,  never  concealed  his  liking  for  the 
women  of  Saxony,  Rhenish  wine,  and  Embeck  beer.  At  Eise- 
nach he  sang :  ^'  On,  earth  there  is  nothing  sweeter  than  a 
woman's  love.''  *• 

While  young,  he  visited  the  house  of  a  widow  where  lived  a 
girl  with  whom  he  was  captivated  :  full  of  his  juvenile  passion, 
he  went  to  Spalatinus :  **  Brother,"  said  he,  "  that  girl  has 
smitten  my  heart.  I  shall  never  be  happy  until  I  possess  such 
a  treasure."  To  which  Spalatinus  replied  :  "  Brother,  you  are 
a  monk  ;  the  girls  do  not  care  for  you."  *  So  Wolfgang  Agricola 
informs  us. 

The  Catholics  foresaw  that  Luther  must  yield  to  the  physical 
necessities  which  he  has  described  so  forcibly.''     **  The  people  of 

1  "  Hinc  yidemus  homines  alioqui  mulieribiis  parium  apios  prooreando  fc^i> 
natuiali  inclinatione  nihilomints  esse  plenissiinos,  et  qnS  miniis  inatructi  t^t 
tig  rb  vaidoirouXv  hoc  magis  sunt  yvvaiJco^iXoi.  Cnjusmodi  nature  ingeniVi 
est  nt  ibi  minimum  est,  hie  omnium  fortissimo  expetamus.  Quare  dyauog  vivt^B 
yolens,  planO  Advvara  Bripti,  xai  8\oc  BtofiaxtV — Ep.  ad  Keissenbucb,  SeckeiM 
dorf,  lib.  ii.  p.  21.  * 

*  '^  O  Spalatine,  du  kannst  nicht  glauben,  wie  mir  diess  schone  Madigen  iit 
dem  Herzen  lieet ;  iqh  will  nioht  sterben  bis  icb  so  viel  anricbtei  dass  icb  auci 
ein  sobon  Madigen  freyen  darf."  The  discourse  of  Wolfgang  Agricola,  X 
Lutheran  minister,  was  reprinted  at  Ingolstadt  in  1580.  \ 

'  "Camis  men  indomitee  uror  magnis  ignibus,  came,  libidine."    See  our, 
first  volume. 

I 


luthbb's  marbiaob.  217 

Wittemberg,  who  gire  wives  to  all  the  monks,  will  not  give  one 
to  me ! "  said  the  Saxon.^  Some  of  them  required,  to  quiet 
their  conscienoes,  that  he  should  yiohkte  his  vows  of  continence, 
and  so  they  assailed  him  with  their  remonstrances.  None  of 
them  at  first  dared  openly  to  avow  their  shameless  mar- 
riages. The  people  pointed  at  them,  and  to  express  their 
genesiacal  fever,  invented  an  expression  which  has  become 
proverbial : — "  se  demoiner  ! "  (to  unmonk  oneself).  Argula, 
that  female  doctor,  who  was  such  a  propagandist  of  the  Lutheran 
creed,  and  wished  to  have  a  theological  disputation  with  Eck, 
wrote  to  Spalatinus,  in  1524,  '^  that  it  was  time  for  the  modem 
Elias  to  ascend  to  heaven,  trample  under  his  feet  the  serpent  of 
monachism,  and  take  to  himself  a  wife." — ''  Thanks  for  Argula's 
advice,  my  dear  Spalatinus,''  replied  Luther;  "tell  her  that 
Ood  holds  in  his  hands  the  human  heart,  that  he  changes  and 
rechanges,  kills  and  vivifies  at  his  own  pleasure,  and  tliat  this 
heart  of  mine,  such  as  it  is,  has  no  inclination  for  marriage.  Not 
that  I  do  not  feel  the  sting  of  the  flesh  and  the  imperious  call  of 
the  senses,  for  I  am  made  neither  of  stone  nor  of  wood  ;  but  I 
have  no  time  to  think  of  marriage,  when  death  threatens  me, 
and  the  punishment  of  a  heretic  awaits  me  every  moment !  "^ 

And  yet,  some  weeks  had  scarcely  passed,  when  he  wrote  to 
Jerome  Baumgaertner,'  who  was  enamoured  of  Catherine :  ''  If 
you  hold  to  your  Ketha,  come  instantly ;  for  she  will  become 
another's,  if  you  do  not  make  hbste." 

It  is  probable  that  he  would  have  married  sooner,  if  he  had 
not  been  afraid  to  incur  the  disfavour  of  the  elector  Frederick, 
who  had  expressed  his  opinion  freely,  and  just  about  that  time 
again,  in  a  letter  to  the  bishop  of  Misnia,  on  the  marriage  of 
priests  and  monks,  which  he  called  "  a  disguised  concubinage." 
Luther  feared  also  the  railleiy  of  Erasmus,  who  had  so  smartly 
ridiculed  Garlstadt,  and  of  Schurf,  who  had  written  :  "  If  ever 


*  Mayer,  Ehren-Gedachtniss,  p.  26. 

'  The  foUowing  dialogue  between  Calviu  and  Luther  was  printed : — Calyin : 
When  did  you  nnmonk  yourself?  Lather :  In  1525,  when  I  b^gan  to  look  at 
the  pretty  girls,  and  married  a  noble  abbess,  Catherine  Bora. 

*  Luther,  in  his  correspondence,  oftener  than  once,  mentions  this  passion  of 
Ketha  for  Baumgaertner ;  he  writes  to  this  senator  from  Nuremberg :  "  Sain  tat 
te  reverenter  ignis  dim  tuus,  jam  te  ob  prsdaras  yirtutes  tuas  novo  amore 
diligensy  et  nomini  tuo  ex  animo  benb  volens.'* — De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  402. 


218  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHEB. 

this  monk  takei  a  wife,  the  detil  wiU  laugh  heartily !  "^  Thii 
SchurfwoTild  not  receive  commanion  from  the  hand  of  a  chaplain 
who  had  married  a  second  time.  Besides,  in  a  confidential  letter 
to  Bnhel,  in  1525,'  Luther  expressed  some  doubts  as  to  his 
YiriHty,  which  were  afterwards  satisfactorily  cleared  np.' 

Ent  when  the  elector  died,  Luther  took  courage.  He  was 
then  at  Seeburg,  which  he  left  to  return  to  Wittembeig.  '^  I 
go/'  he  writes  to  his  beloved  Buhel ;  ''  I  wish  to  marry  my  little 
Eetha  before  I  die  !^  It  is  a  bold  act/'  said  he,  " lor  we  monks 
and  nuns  have  the  imperial  rescript  befere  us :  '  Whoever 
espouses  a  monk  or  nun  deserves  to  be  hanged.'  "^  History, 
however,  makes  no  mention  of  the  punishment  either  of  Garlstadi 
or  the  cle^  or  nuns  who  infringed  the  empercnr's  orders. 

In  a  letter  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence  and  Magdeburg, 
Luther,  as  we  have  seen,  had  endeavoured  to  convert  the  prelate, 
and  prove  to  him  what  a  noble  example  Albert,  who  held  muh 
an  exalted  rank  in  the  hierarchy,  and  on  whom  Qod  had  be* 
stowed  the  gift  of  chastity,  would  give  to  the  worid  by  openly 
marrying.  *^  Has  not  6od  said  that  man  ot^ht  to  have  a  com* 
panion  ?  Unless  by  a  miracle,  Ood  cannot  transform  a  man  into 
an  angel.'  What  will  he  reply  at  the  day  of  judgment,  when 
God  shall  say  to  him :  '  I  have  created  you  man,  not  that  you 
should  be  alone,  but  that  you  should  take  a  companion  ;  where 
is  your  wife,  Albert  ? ' " 

The  cardinal  did  not  reply,  'Luther  revenged  himself  in  a 
torrent  of  insults  that  can  scarcely  be  translated :  ^'  Begone, 
hangman  of  a  cardinal,  knavish  lackey,  blockhead,  crazy  monk, 
effeminate  epicurean,  papistical  devil,  mad  dog,  earthworm,  that 
befouls  with  your  excrement  the  emperor's  council-chamber  ! — 
you  merit  suspension  on  a  gibbet  of  thrice  the  ordinary  hdght ; 
you  w hunter,  you  son  of  Cain,  to  whom  Luther  would  give 


1  "  Wann  dieser  Mbnch  heiratben  soUte,  so  wiirde  die  ganze  Welt,  ja  der 
Teufel  selbst  lachen."— Melchior  Adam,  in  "Vltia  Theol  p.  150. 

'  Scultet.  in  AnnaL  ad  ann.  1625. 

'  "  Warum  auch  ich  nicfat  ein  Weib  nehme,  soUet  ihr  anfcworten,  dan  ich 
imroer  noch  furchte,  icfa  seye  nicht  tuchtig  genug  dazu." 

*  Op.  Lath.  torn.  1.  Ep.  p.  887. 

'  XIach-Beden,  p.  328,  a. 


£utheb's  mabeiagb.  219 

a  Jollj  camiyaL  Learn  to  dance  ;  he  will  play  the  pipe  to 
you!"» 

We  do  not  require  to  search  for  the  motiTes.  of  a  marriage  80 
precipitate:  Luther  explains  them.  "  It  is  the  Lord  who  has 
80  quickly  decided  the  marriage.  In  marrying  Bora,  without 
acquainting  my  friends  of  it,  I  wished  to  make  the  angels  langfa 
and  the  derils  weep/'*  His  Catholic  cotemporaries  do  not  seem 
quite  satisfied  with  this  pretence.  They  hare  alleged  that  the 
doctor  had  a  double  object  in  his  sudden  marriage, — first,  to 
silence  the  gossip  to  which  his  frequent  visits  to  the  young  woman 
gave  rise  ;  next,  by  yielding  to  the  pestering  of  Bora,  who  could 
wait  no  longer,  to  conceal  the  error  of  the  woman,  and  the  name 
of  the  seducer.  Mayer'  is  indignant  at  the  evil  tongues  that 
would  destroy  the  reputation  of  the  nun  of  Nimptschen  and  the 
parson  of  Wittemberg:  we  tread  upon  delicate  ground. 

On  the  ISth  of  June,  1526,  Luther  married  Catherine  Bora, 
aged  twenty-six  years,  a  nun  of  the  convent  of  Nimptschen, 
whence  she  had  been  carried  off  by  Leonard  EoBppe,  a  young 
councillor  of  Torgau> 

The  intelligence  of  this  event  was  like  a  clap  of  thunder  to 


'  "  Er  nennei  ihn  den  I)inii6e1ien  Gardtnal,  dessen  Namen  renpeit  mid  rer- 
dammt  ist,  einea  cardinalisehen  Henker^  adialkhaffleD  Knecht,  ioUen  Kopi^ 
zornigen  Heiligen,  einen  weiblicban  S^ioumm,  romischeii  Teufel.  Morder  und 
Bhiibniid,  einen  wtlthigen  nnd  boebalten  Tflckler,  Ton  dem  viel  bbse  Thaten 
gebort  weiden,  einen  nnveraehamten  Wnnn,  den  aUe  Welt  fUr  einen  ianlen 
Arscbwiscb  bait,  der  dem  Kaiser  in  sein  Kammergericbt  scheiaset^  soil  doch 
den  Breek  eelbet  aoefegen.  Han  bibtte  ibn  sebnma]  zn  Mains  an  einen  Gal- 
ff0Q,  der  bijher  ware^  dann  drei  Giebiobsteine^  henbken  soUen ;  einen  Hnren- 
Jager^  Dieb,  Bauber,  Juncker  Cain,  dem  der  Lntber  eine  Faatnacbt  bringen 
will,  cKe  Inetig  und  gut  sein  wird.  Er  soil  die  Fttsse  sum  Tanz  wobl  jacken 
laesen,  Lutber  woUte  der  Ffeiler  sein."— De  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  iv.  pp.  670,  678. 

We  defy  all  tbe  living  or  dead  languages  to  translate  tbe  following  passage 
of  tbis  letter : — "  Weil  denn  £.  K.  F.  6.  dem  Kaiser  in  sein  Kammex^ricbt 
■ckeiss^  der  Stadt  Halle  die  Freybeit^  und  dem  Scbweit  zu  Sacbsen  sein  Recbt 
nimpty  dazu  all  Welt  und  Yemunft  ftir  &ule  Arscbwiscbe  bait  (so  lauten  fiwt 
die  Beden),  und  aUe  Dinge  sogar  papstliob,  romisob  und  oardinaliscb  bandelt ; 
BO  wirdSy  ob  Gott  will,  unser  Herr  Gott  durcb  in  den  Gibel  scbicken  einmal 
dass  E.  K.  F.  G.  den  Dreck  selbst  wird  miissen  ausfegen." — De  Wette,  tom.  iy. 
p.  677. 

s  "  Dominus  me  subit6  aliaque  oogitantem  conjecit  mir^  in  oonjngium  cum 
Catbarinil  Borensi,  moniali  illA." — ^Ad  Wences.  LincI^.  20  Jun&  "Sie  me 
Tilem  et  contemptum  bis  nuptiis  feci,  ut  angeloe  ridere  et  omnes  dAmonez  flere 
sperem." — Ad  Spalatinum,  Seek.  lib.  iL  p.  16. 

*  Ebren-GedacbtniBB  der  Bora. 

*  See  tbe  cbapter  entitled  Catberine  Bora. 


220  HI8T0B7   OF  LtJTHBB. 

Melanctbon  ;  he  did  not  recover  from  it.  Lather,  who  had 
never  concealed  anything  from  his  favonrite  disciple,  had  not 
mentioned  a  word  to  him  about  this  marriage. 

'^  Lather  has  unexpectedly  married/'  writes  Melancthon  to 
Gamerarius;  "I  shall  not  venture  to  condemn  these  sudden  nup- 
tials as  a  fall  and  a  scandal,  although  God  points  to  us  in  the 
conduct  of  his  elect  faults  which  we  cannot  approve.  Woe  to 
him  who  shall  reject  the  doctrines  because  of  the  sins  of  the 
teacher  !"i 

''  Health  and  peace  1 "  wrote  Justus  Jonas  to  Spalatinus ; 
<<  my  letter  will  surprise  you.  Our  Luther  has  married  Catherine 
Bora.  I  was  present  at  the  marriage  yesterday,  and  saw  him  in 
bed.  I  could  not  refrain  from  tears  at  the  sight.  My  soul  is 
fiUed  with  fear  and  suffering ;  I  know  not  what  Ood  has  in  store 
for  us  ;  I  wish  this  good-hearted  and  sincere  man,  our  brother  in 
God,  all  manner  of  happiness.  The  Lord  is  wonderful  in  his  coun- 
sels and  his  works.  Adieu  ....  To-day  we  have  a  few  friends  ; 
we  shall  celebrate  the  marriage  somewhat  later,  I  think,  and  you 
shall  be  of  the  party.  I  send  you  an  express  to  tell  you  these 
great  news.  Our  witnesses  were  the  painter  Lucas  Granach 
and  his  wife,  Doctor  Pomer,  and  myself"* 

Luther  had  only  confided  the  secret  to  two  of  his  friends, 
Amsdorf  and  Kceppe.'  '*  It  is  indeed  true,  Amsdorf,  that  I 
have  married  Gatherine  Bora.  I  shall  live  some  years  longer ; 
and  I  could  not  refrise  my  father  this  proof  of  filial  obedience,  in 
the  hope  of  ofispring.  It  is  necessary  to  strengthen  precept  by 
example,  there  are  so  many  weak  minds  who  dare  not  look  the 
Oospel  in  the  face !  It  is  the  order  and  will  of  Ood,  for  in 
truth,  it  is  not  love,  but  merelj  friendship,  that  I  entertain  for 
my  wife !" 

In  a  letter  to  Koeppe,  who  had  carried  off  Gatherine,  of  the 


'  Mel.  Ep.  ad  Camerarium. 

'  "  Heri  adfui  rei,  et  7idi  sponsum  jaoentem  in  thalamo,"  etc. — ^Dr.  Martin 
Luther's  Leben,  von  G.  Pfizer,  p.  585. 

'  Schelhom,  torn.  iv.  Arocenit.  Lit.  pp.  423.  424,  et  seq.  See,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Luther's  ouurriage,  the  letters  of  15  June,  to  Ruhet  Thur,  and  Caspar 
Muller ;  of  the  16th,  to  Spalatin ;  of  the  17th,  to  Leonard  Koeppe  and  Mich. 
Stiefel ;  of  the  20th,  to  Wenoeslaus  Linck ;  of  the  2l8t^  to  J.  Dolzig,  Spalatin, 
and  Amsdorf ;  contained  in  the  collection  of  Leberecht  de  Wette :  Dr.  Martin 
Luther's  Briefe,  &c.  vol.  iii.  Berlin,  1827. 


lutheb's  marbiaqe,  221 

17tli  Jnne,  the  doctor  slipped  a  small  note  to  announce  his 
marriage  to  him  : — 

^*  Ton  are  aware  what  has  happened  to  me  :  I  am  caught  in 
the  snares  of  a  woman.  It  is  a  perfect  miracle  ;  God  must 
have  pouted  at  the  world  and  me.  Embrace  your  Audi  for  me, 
and  come  on  the  day  of  the  wedding,  and  endeavour  to  learn 
from  the  bride  if  I  am  a  man."' .  .  .^ 

The  burgomaster  of  Wittemberg  sent  to  the  married  pair  a 
dozen  of  wine  for  the  marriage-feast ;  four  bottles  of  Malmsey, 
four  of  Rhenish,  and  four  of  Franconian.  The  city  presented 
them  with  a  couple  of  rings.* 

Now  was  the  day  of  triumph  for  the  monks.'  For  fifteen 
years  Luther  had  ridiculed  them  :  they  took  their  revenge,  and 
it  must  be  admitted  that  it  was  a  severe  one.  Epithalamia,  odes, 
hymns  sacred  and  profane,  distichs,  heroic  and  comic  poems, 
were  poured  forth  by  their  muse  in  every  measure  and  language. 
Should  you  ever  meet  with  one  of  the  numerous  pamphlets  called 
forth  by  the  Reformation,  and  it  bears  the  date  of  1525,  you  are 
sure,  if  written  by  a  monk,  to  find  the  name  of  Catherine  Bora 
in  it  From  Horace  the  monk  borrows  his  iambics,  from  Solomon 
his  fiigurative  style,  from  the  ancient  poets  their  free  imagery,  from 
the  pupil  of  Albert  Durer  his  pencil,  to  depict  even  the  nocturnal 
amusements  of  the  Protestant  pair  ;  for  they  were  much  bolder 
than  at  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation.  *'  In  sooth,'" 
piteously  exclaims  Juncker,  ''it  is  impossible  to  describe  the 
merriment  of  the  papists  on  the  marriage ;  they  have  even  repre- 
sented these  holy  nuptials  as  incestuous.^  One  monk,  Conrad 
Collin,  wrote  a  book  entitled,  "On  the  Coupling  of  Martin 
Luther."  *  "  What  is  the  difference  between  Luther  and  David  V 
asked  John  Hasenberg.     ''  The  latter  played  on  his  harp,  and 


*  **  Dass  ihr  meiner  Bntut  helft  gut  Zeugniss  geben,  wie  ich  em  Mann  aej, 
torn.  ii.  Alt.  903.  De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  9.  Sedcendorf  ia  annoyed  that  this 
letter  has  been  printed  in  the  collected  works  of  Luther :  ''  Epistola  fiuniliaris 
et  jocosa,  quam  omitti  satiiis  fuitiset." 

'  See  in  this  yolume  the  chapter  entitled  Kelics  of  Luther. 

3  Ulenberg,  "Vita  Lutheri,  p.  197. 

*  Melchior  Adam,  Vita  Theologor. 

«  Wider  nie  HnndB-Hochzeit  Martin  Lnthers  :  Ttlbingen;  8. 


222  HISTORY  OF   LUTHBB. 

the  former  on  his  nan."  ^  That  old  theologian  Emser,  who  had 
given  Lather  sach  hearty  blows,  improvised  an  epithalamiom, 
both  words  and  mosic :  * — 

'^  Farewell  cowl/'  sang  the  poet^  ^'farewell  oope,  prior,  goardian, 
abbot ;  farewell  vows,  matins,  prayers ;  fear  imd  consoience, 
shame,  adiea.    Tol  lol,''  &c 

The  Reformers,  to  give  popularity  to  their  hatred  of  the 
monks,  were  not  satisfied  with  rhyming :  they  set  their  words  to 
mosio.  There  is  an  old  Lutheran  song  still  sang  at  Wittem- 
berg,  of  which  the  words  and  the  mosic  have  survived.  The 
notes  are : — 


J   ,   <J       Kl      \J       ^       <J       iJ    "o  ,     ^,      -^LIH 


^^ 


and  the  first  verse : — 

**  MaitinuB  hat  gerathen. 

Das  Ri,  Ba,  Ritz, 
Man  soil  die  Pfitffen  brathen, 

DaB  Ri,  Bis  Ritas, 
Die  Monchen  unteraobireD, 
Die  Nonn'  ins  Frie-Haus  fuhren." 

"  Martin  wishes. 
Das  ri,  TA,  riiz. 
To  roast  the  priests, 

Das  ri,  &o. 
To  toast  the  monks, 

Das  ri,  Ac. 
To  kiss  the  nuns,  &c." 

Now,  if  you  go  through  Saxony,  where  Catholicism  flourishes, 

»  "  QoKm  Luther  est  similis  Davidl  t    Hie  carmina  lusit 
In  eytharft ;  in  nonnft  ludit  et  ille  suA." 
— See  Cochlseus,  in  Luthero  Septicipite,  p.  120. 

'  "  I  cucallaj  Yale  capa, 
Yale  prior,  custos,  abba, 
Cum  obedientiA, 
Cum  jubilo. 

"  Ite  vota,  preces,  hone, 

Vale  timor  cum  pudore. 

Vale  ooDBcientia, 

Cum  jubilo. 

Id,  To,  Io,  gaudeamus 

Cum  jubilo," 

Cochl.  in  Act.  Luth.  fol.  118. 
See,  in  Confirmatory  Evidenoe,  Ko.  1,  the  Epithalamium  composed  by  John 
Hessus. 


lutjibb's  ma&riaob.  223 

yoa  will  hear  some  old  woman  motter,  or  beggar  sing  through  the 
noBe>  other  veiseB  oompoded  to  a  similar  tone  at  the  same  period : — 

*'  Lootfer  vpon  lik  throiM^ 

Das  ri,  nun,  ritasy 
Was  a  lovely  angel, 

Daa  ri,  Ac. 
He  from  it  has  fallen, 

Daa  ri,  &c. 
With  his  fellow  spiritB, 

Dasri,  ftc"! 

Doctor  Conrad  Wimpina,  the  same  who,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Luther,  wrote  the  theses  of  Tetael,  printed  at  Frankfort-on-the- 
Oder  a  collection  of  religious  controversies,  in  which  are  several 
curious  woodcuts.  In  one  the  marriage  of  Luther  is  represented : 
on  the  left  the  monk  gives  the  marriage-ring  to  Bora ;  above  the 
couple  is  the  word  "  Vovbte  ;"  on  the  right  is  the  nuptial  bed 
with  the  curtains  drawn,  and  at  the  foot  "  Reddite  ;'"  in  the 
centre,  the  monk  is  dancing,  holding  the  nun  by  the  hand  ;  a 
scroll  over  their  heads  bears  the  inscription : — 

*'  Discedat  ab  aria 
Col  tnlit  hesternft  gaudia  noote  Venus." ' 

In  the  majority  of  the  caricatures  suggested  by  the  marriage  of 
Luther,  the  doctor  is  represented  either  dancing  with  Bora  or 
seated  at  table  with  a  glass  in  his  hand ;  and  these  designs 
should  be  studied.  The  engraver  does  not  lie;  he  seldom 
invents^  only  he  does  not  care  for  the  exact  resemblance,  and 
looks  solely  to  the  effect  Seckendorf  would  have  us  believe  that 
Luther's  countenance  on  the  day  of  his  marriage  bore  marks  of  care, 
the  engraver  shows  the  contrary :  he  would  have  found  means, 
doubtless,  had  Luther  been  as  serious  as  his  panegyrist  represents 
him,  to  ridicule  that  gravity  ;  in  place  of  a  scene  in  a  German 
alehouse,  he  would  have  given  us  a  dance  of  devils,  a  banquet 
in  hell. 

Long  after  the  marriage,  the  sound  of  the  bantering  hymns 


*  It  is  believed  that  this  ooanterpart  of  the  Lutheran  long  is  the  composition 
of  F.  SylviuBy  a  Dominican,  who  lived,  in  the  time  of  Luther,  in  a  monastery 
not  fiur  from  Leipac  HuUer,  in  his  book,  Defensio  Lutheii  defend  :  Ham- 
burg, 1659,  p.  6,  fias  quoted  this  song.  He  thinks  that  the  papist  has  con- 
ferred a  great  honour  on  Luther  in  comparing  him  to  Lucifer. 

^  Luther  never  replied  to  Wimpina.  "  He  grunts  like  a  hog,"  said  he, 
speaking  of  the  doctor :  D.  Wimpina  krochaet  wie  ein  brunzend  Sau." 


224  BISTORT    OF   LUWEB. 

with  which  it  had  been  hailed  still  lasted ;  some  lovers  of 
scandal  have  preserved  these  epithalamia  in  collections  which 
may  at  the  present  day  be  considered  truly  bibliographical  gems. 
"We  have  gone  through  several  of  these  hyperbolical  poems,  which 
nevertheless  must  be  consulted  if  we  wish  to  become  acquainted 
with  a  mass  of  details,  to  which  history  cannot  stoop.  Had  it  not 
been  for  those  poets,  we  should  have  represented  to  ourselves  Luther 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  as  his  disciples  describe  him  to  have 
appeared  at  Leipsic,  so  thin  that  you  might  have  counted  his 
bones  ;  instead  of  which  he  was  a  rubicund  monk,  with  a  Rabe- 
laisian paunch,  walking  with  difficulty  under  the  weight  of  his 
exuberant  flesh.  Hutten  would  have  ridiculed  the  Catholic, 
who,  with  so  lively  a  flush  of  health,  should  have  spoken  as 
Luther  did  of  the  dangers  of  death  which  threatened  him,  and 
still  more  perhaps  that  sexual  infirmity  of  which  he  gives  his 
friend  Ruhel  a  hint.  Thus  we  see  how  frequently  the  poet 
corrects  the  historian. 

It  appears  that  Catherine  was  a  stout,  fresh-looking  woman, 
merry,  and  very  active ;  for  Rempen  describes  her  as  skipping, 
leaping,  capering,  and  exhibiting  to  the  spectators  of  the  dance 
more  than  is  seemly  ;  a  sort  of  wanton  goat ;  whilst  Martin, 
impeded  by  his  enormous  stomach,  cannot  follow  the  movements 
of  his  partner,  with  difficulty  raises  his  feet,  and  resembles  a 
dromedary  dancing  to  a  harp.^ 

During  these  festivals  of  Hymen,  the  cannon  were  thundering 
and  the  blood  of  the  peasants  flowing  in  streams.*  .  Holbein  has 
left  us  a  portrait  of  Catherine,  whom  the  painter  has  perhaps 


*  We  quote  here  some  verses  of  this  ode,  highly  poetical  and  coloured,  and 
consequently  difficult  to  translate : — 

"  Atque  levi  sura  glomerabat  ovantia  cmray 
More  caprse  brutee,  vitulsque  2t  Aine  solutse, 
Multiplicans  miros  lascivo  poplite  gyros. 
Lutheras  fessus,  ventris  pinguedine  pressus, 
Non  poterat  tantns  in  saltum  tollere  plantas ; 
Qu5  se  vertebat,  pingui  se  mole  movebat, 
Per  tardos  passus,  gravitanti  abdomine  crassus, 
Subsultans  duris  ad  stridula  barbita  suris 
Ut  resonante  chely  salit  hispida  planta  cameli.'* 

ttSMPSN. 

Bempen,   the  author  of  the  ode,  afterwards  renounced  Catholicity,   and 
became  a  Lutheran. 

«  See  ch.  xi.  The  Peasants*  War. 


LUTHEKS   MARRIAGE.  225 

flattered  too  mucL  If  we  are  to  credit  Luther^s  evidence,  the 
young  woman  had  not  the  wantonness  attributed  to  her  by 
Rempen,  the  author  of  the  ode.  "  He  would  have  done  better," 
says  CochlfiBus,  "  to  marry  one  of  those  nuns  who  were  carried 
off  from  Nimptschen  and  placed  at  Wittemberg,  in  the  monas- 
tery of  the  Augustinians  ;  but  they  were  too  young."  *  .  .  .  . 

Erasmus  was  at  Basle  when  he  heard  of  Luther's  marriage ; 
and  on  the  7th  October  he  wrote  to  Daniel  Mauch,  of  Ulm,  then 
at  Kome,  in  the  household  of  Cardinal  Campeggio : — 

"  This  is  a  singular  event ;  Luther  has  thrown  off  the  philo- 
sopher's mantle,  and  married  a  young  woman  of  twenty-six, 
hiuidsome,  well  made,  and  of  a  good  family,  but  penniless,  and 
who  for  some  time  has  ceased  to  be  a  vestal.  The  marriage  has 
been  celebrated  under  happy  auspices ;  for  in  a  few  days  after  the 
ceremony,  the  bride  was  confined  !  Luther  revels  in  blood,  while 
a  hundred  thousand  peasants  descend  to  the  tomb."* 

This  letter  of  Erasmus  caused,  when  it  was  known,  great 
scandal  among  Luther's  disciples :  several  took  up  their  pens  in 
defence  of  their  master's  honour,  and  the  chastity  of  his  partner. 
Our  part,  in  such  a  dispute,  is  not  that  of  a  judge,  but  a  mere 
reporter. 

Catholics,  in  inquiring  into  a  material  fact  which  their  oppo- 
nents were  interested  in  concealing  from  them,  have  first  to  draw 
moral  inferences.  They  inquire  how,  except  by  a  miracle,  we 
can  believe  in  the  virtue  of  a  yoimg  woman  who,  at  the  very  age 
when  the  passions  are  strongest,  flies  from  her  convent,  and  seeks 
an  asylum  in  a  city  like  Wittemberg,  full  of  lecherous  monks 
and  libertine  students  ;  whom  her  parents  refuse  to  receive,  and 
who,  when  sought  in  marriage  by  Doctor  Glaz,  declares  with  tears 
that  she  will  marry  no  one  but  Luther  or  Amsdorf  ?  *  "  What 
warranty,"  says  Wimpina,  "will  you  give  us  also  for  the  continence 
or  chastity  of  a  monk  who  delights  to  paint  with  such  a  coarse 
pencil  the  joys  of  marriage,  and  to  describe  all  its  mysteries  ; 
who  understands  and  speaks  so  well  the  language  of  love  ;  who 

'  [Lather  assiffxis  a  reaion  for  his  preference,  which  may  be  found  by  the 
ouriooB  in  his  collected  works.     GoU.  Lat.  tom.  ii.  p.  95. — T.] 

'  Danieli  Manchio  TTlmano.     Roms,  in  familift  R.  D.  Card,  Campegii. 

See  the  philosopher's  letter,  in  Ko.  2  of  Confirmatory  Evidence. 

*  "  Vellet  LnthemSy  vellet  Amedorfius,  se  paratam  cum  altemtro  honestum 
inire  matrimooium :  cnm  Glacio,  nullo  modo." — ^Belat.  Amsdorfii  Scul. 

VOL.  II.  Q 


226  lUSTOEY   OF  LUTHER. 

is  assaulted  by  such  strong  temptatioDd,  and  revels  in  such  canml 
imagery  ;  and  who  writes  to  his  friend  in  the  grossest  manner  ?  ' 
How/'  he  adds,  '^  could  Luther  be  chaste,  when  his  language  is 
so  indecent  ?  an  angel,  with  passions  so  ardent  ?  and  how  should 
nature,  who,  in  his  own  words,  '  impels  us  as  irresistibly  to  the 
opposite  sex  as  to  meat  or  drink/  have  been  silent  to  him  V 

Besides  this  positive  letter  of  Erasmus  in  regard  to  Bora,  there 
is  another  from  the  same  writer  to  Nicolas  Everard,  president  of 
the  high  council  of  Holland,  at  the  Hague,  in  almost  cdmilar 
terms. 

But  the  date  of  the  safe  delivery  of  Catherine  is  determined 
with  a  painful  precisionu  The  nun  was  confined  fifteen  days 
after  her  marriage  with  Luther.*  And  the  letter  which  records 
this  fact  is  not  apocryphal ;  it  was  seen,  touched,  and  perused 
by  Bayle.  The  original  document  is  in  a  perfect  state  of  pre- 
servation,' with  the  seal  of  Erasmus,  bearing  as  a  device  the 
god  Terminus,  and  "  Nulli  Cbdo."  Wimpina  and  liis  par- 
tisans also  refer  to  the  sermon  of  Agricola,  which  we  have 
previously  quoted :  the  "Defence  of  the  Catholic  Faith,"  by  John 
Faber,  bishop  of  Vienna,  in  which  we  read  that  in  a  month  after 
her  marriage  the  bride  became  a  mother;^  the  testimony  of 
Odorico  Binaldi,  of  Graveson,''  and  many  more ;  and  the  common 
report  of  all  Germany. 

They  continue :  Has  not  Luther  said  in  his '  *  Table-Talk : "  "On 
13th  June,  1525,  during  the  time  of  the  peasants'  war,  I  married ; 
on  6th  June,  1526,  my  first  child  John  was  bom ;  in  1527,  my 


'  '*  Salnta  tnam  oonjugem  Buaviasimd,  veram  ut  id  turn  fiicias,  otun  in  iboro 
suaTisfflmia  amplezibus  et  oBouliB  GathariDam  tenueris,  ac  sic  oog^taveris :  En 
hunc  hominem,  optimam  creaturamm  Dei  mei  donavit  mihi  Christas  meui,  at 
illi  laus  et  gloria.*  —Lnther's  Briefe :  De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  58. 

*  "  Dnxit  nxorem  monacha  monacbam,  et  ut  Bciaa  nnptias  proBperis  avibns 
initao,  diebua  )k  decantato  hymenaeo  fenn^  qoatuordecim  enim  enixa  eat  nova 
nupta." 

'  "  I  bave  Been  tbe  original,  "whicb  iB  in  very  good  condition ;  the  aeal  of 
ErasmuB,  with  tbe  deus  Terminus  and  NuUi  cede  upon  it,  is  quite  perfect. 
M.  yon  Wilhem,  couuBellor  of  the  court  of  Brabant^  had  the  kindness  to  show 
me  this  letter,  and  gave  me  a  copy  of  it.  The  letter  of  Erasmus  follows.** — 
Diet.  art.  Bore,  torn.  ii. 

*  "  Qu»  illi  altero  mense  h  nuptiia,  partum  edidit.** — Defensio  OrUx.  Fidel 
Gath.  contra  Balthaaar.  Paoimontanum,  lib.  iz.  fol.  62. 

^  "Jam  gravidam  Lutberus  sibi  optavit," — Ann.  Eocl.  No.  52,  ad  ann.  1525. 
"FormA  venuatiorem  ex  illis,  jam  gravidam  sibi  copulavit.** — Hist.  Eccl. 
tract,  rii.  ad  asm.  1525. 


\ 

I 


1 


LUTHER'S   MARRIAGE.  227 

second  child,  my  daughter  Elizabeth,  was  bom ;  in  1529, 
Magdalene ;  in  1531,  on  the  7th  November,  Martin  ;  in  1636, 
on  the  28th  January,  Paul ;  lastly,  in  1534,  Margaret  V 

And  in  the  same  work  is  there  not  a  letter  of  condolence  from  the 
doct<Mr  to  Jerome  Weller,  in  which  are  these  words  : — "  If  I  had 
not  punished  my  son  Andrew  with  the  rod  V  >  Who,  theii,  is  this 
Andrew,  of  whom  Luther  here  speaks  for  the  first  time,  and  who 
has  no  place  in  the  preceding  genealogical  statement  ? 

Catholic  writers  unhesitatingly  reply  :  this  is  the  child  whom 
Erasmus  mentions  as  bom  so  felicitously  fifteen  days  after  the 
marriage  with  Bora.  But  who  was  his  father  ?  This  question  is 
more  direct,  and  more  difficult  of  solution.  Some  say  Baum- 
giertner,  with  whom  the  young  woman  was  captivated ;  others 
Amsdorf,  who  loved  her  passionately ;  others  the  young  coun- 
cillor KoDppe,  who  carried  her  off;  and  others,  Luther  himself. 

But  Catherine  has  had  zealous  defenders ;  among  others 
Makh,  who  is  fhrious  agaitist  those  who  presume  to  doubt  the 
purity  which  she  brought  to  her  husband.  "  Then  explain  to 
us,"  ask  the  Catholic  critics,  "  the  meaning  of,  *IfI  had  not 
whipped  my  son^  Andrew  f"  "Nothing  easier,'*  says  Malsh  ; 
who  makes  the  printer  responsible  for  the  child  by  a  process  which 
we  could  never  have  guessed.  For^/eum,  in  the  original  text,  he 
substitutes  the  word  famtdtim ;  we  must  therefore  read :  *'  If  T 
had  not  whipped  my  aertant  Andrew."  "  But  people  do  not  flog 
their  servants."'  "  I  know  that  as  well  as  you,"  replies  the 
Lutheran  Aristarchus ;  "instead  oi  tirgis  puniviseem^  read  eaiti- 
gassem.  The  sentence  is  then  perfect,  '  //  /  had  not  chastised 
my  servant  Andrew' " * 

The  Catholics  do  not  admit  that  they  are  beaten :  they  follow 
up  Ae  inquiry. 

In  the  " Table-Talk,"  but  in  German:  " Tisch-Reden," 
page  20,  part  ii.  of  the  edition  of  Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 
1569,  we  find  this  sentence:  "My  pregnant  wife  gives  suck 
to  an  adulterine  child :  it  is  rather  hard  to  have  two  guests 

*  ''  Conflolatio  ad  moBBtmn  Hier.  Wellemm :  si  Andream  filium  menm  yirgia 
non  puDiinem/' — Col.  Lai.  torn.  ii.  tit.  De  Morbis  Lntheri,  p.  226.  Consult 
a  carious  book,  by  Eosebius  Bngdhard,  published  at  Angsbunr,  in  1749, 
entitled,  Lucifer  Wittenbergensis,  or,  Vollstandiger  Jiebens-Lauf  Catharina 
Ton  Bore. 

^  Engelhard,  1.  o.  pp.  179,  180,  part  ii. 

q2 


228  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

to  support,  one  in  the  house  and  one  out  of  doors."  *  Now  who 
was  this  adulterine  child  whom  Catherine  so  tenderly  nursed,  to 
the  doctor's  great  dissatisfaction  ?  The  question  becomes  more 
and  more  insidious.  We  must  confess  that  in  the  very  numerous 
pamphlets  relating  to  Catherine  we  have  met  with  no  satisfac- 
tory reply.  We  mistake  ;  Engelhard  proposes  another  reading, 
and  for  adulterum  infantem  substitutes  ctdultum  infantem :  but 
Engelhard  is  a  Catholic,  and,  what  is  worse,  a  monk. 

The  Protestants  have  their  way  of  explaining  matters.  "  I 
was  mistaken,"  writes  Erasmus  to  Francis  Sylvius.  *'  Luther  is 
indeed  married,  but  the  rapid  confinement  of  Catherine  is  a 
mere  fable ;  she  is  only  said  to  be  in  the  family  way.  You  know 
it  is  a  common  saying  that  Antichrist  is  to  be  bom  of  a  monk 
and  a  nun ;  but  if  that  is  correct,  what  thousands  of  Anti- 
christs must  be  in  the  world  by  this  time  !"  * 

This  letter  is  dated  13th  March,  1526,  and  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  collection  of  the  philosopher's  letters  printed  at  Basle,  by 
Froben,  in  1558. 
See  how  the  Catholics  dispose  of  this  formal  disclaimer. 
In  the  letter  to  Daniel  Mauch,  of  Ulm,  wherein  the  philo- 
sopher announced  so  gaily  the  impromptu  maternity  of  Catherine 
Bora,  it  may  be  remembered  were  these  words :  "  Atque  ut  scias 
auspicatas  fuisse  nuptias,  pauculis  diebus  post  decantatum 
hymenaeum,  nova  nupta  peperit.  Jocatur  ille  in  crisin  san- 
guinis." Now,  in  Froben's  collection,  there  is  not  a  woyd  of 
the  event.  Why  has  the  text  been  altered  ?  We  have  not  for- 
gotten these  lines  in  Erasmus'  letter  to  Everard,  president  of  the 
high  council  of  Holland  :  ''  Et  ut  scias  nuptias  prosperis  avibus 
initas,  diebus  a  decantato  hymenseo  ferme  quatuordecim  enixa 
est  nova  nupta."  Now  this  letter,  which  Bayle  has  copied 
entire,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  collection  by  Froben  :  why  has 
it  been  suppressed  ?  If  Froben  took  the  liberty  of  altering  the 
letter  to  Mauch  and  of  suppressing  that  to  Everard,  might  he 
not  have  interpolated  in  the  text  of  one  of  the  philosopher's 


^  "  Uxor  gravida  adulterum  adhuc  lactabat  in&ntem  :  Es  ist  schwer  zwei 
Gaste  zu  eraahren,  den  einen  im  Haus,  den  andern  vor  der  Thilr." 

>  **  De  oonjugio  Luiheri  certnm  est,  de  partu  maturo  sponss  Tanus  erat 
mmor ;  nunc  tamen  gravida  esse  dicitnr.  8i  vera  est  vulgi  fitbula :  Anti- 
christum  nasciturum  ex  monacho  et  monachA,  qnemadmodom  illi  jactitant, 
quot  antichristorum  millia  jam  olim  habet  mnndus  ! " 


Luther's  mabriaoe.  229 

epistles  a  retractation  of  which  he  was  innocent,  especiallj  when 
we  know  that  in  1538,  when  the  collection  of  Erasmus'  letters 
appeared,  the  philosopher  had  been  two  years  in  his  grave  ;  that 
at  this  time  Basl^  had  embraced  Protestantism ;  that  Froben 
was  interested  in  promoting  the  new  gospel;  and  that  the 
majority  of  his  Mends  were  the  principal  leaders  of  the  Pro- 
testant party  ? 

Sach  is  the  summary  of  a  warm  controversy  between  Catholics 
and  Protestants.  The  lovers  of  scandal  will  find  numerous 
pamphlets  in  which  this  question  is  considered  in  all  its  phases. 
We  have  read  them,  and,  in  truth,  find  it  difficult  to  pronounce 
an  opinion :  besides,  being  Catholic,  we  decline  to  do  so.  But 
instead  of  Catherine  Bora  put  a  bishop's  servant,  and  how 
Luther — who  seriously  narrates  that  one  day  the  skulls  of  ^ix 
thousand  newly-born  infants  were  found  in  the  fishpond  of  a 
convent- — would  have  enjoyed  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  poor 
girl's  reputation ! 

There  was  one  person  who  did  not  laugh  at  Luther's  marriage, 
and  this  was  not  a  theologian,  but  a  crowned  head,  Henry  VIH. 
Peace  was  not  yet  concluded  between  these  two  potentates.  From 
his  palace  of  St.  James,  the  king  could  not  now  find  invectives 
enough  to  hurl  at  his  adversary.  Erasmus  had  for  a  time 
believed  that  the  warlike  ardour  of  Luther  would  exhaust  itself 
in  the  arms  of  Catherine  Bora  ;  he  was  mistaken :  marriage  had 
not  mollified  the  recent  bridegroom,  who  on  the  veiy  next  day 
steeped  his  pen  again  in  that  black  and  corrosive  ink  with  which 
he  bespattered  every  papist  right  and  left,  and  one  of  Henry's 
ministers  had  received  some  spots  of  it. 

"  You  may  well  be  ashamed,"  said  the  king  to  Luther,  "  to 
raise  your  eyes  to  me  ;  but  I  wonder  how  you  can  raise  them  to 
God,  or  look  at  any  honest  man,  when  you,  an  Augustinian 
monk,  at  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  the  suggestions  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  emptiness  of  your  understanding,  have  not  been 
ashamed  to  violate  with  your  sacrilegious  embraces  a  virgin 
devoted  to  the  Lord.  Such  an  act,  in  Pagan  Rome,  would  have 
caused  the  vestal  to  be  buried  alive,  and  you  to  be  stoned  to 
death.  But  this  is  a  greater  offence :  you  have  contracted  an 
incestuous  marriage  with  this  nun,  whom  you  parade  publicly, 
to  the  confusion  of  morality,  in  contempt  of  the  holy  laws  of 


HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

marriage,  and  those  vows  of  continence  at  which  yon  langh  with 
so  much  efirontery.  Abomination !  when  you  ought  to  be 
sinking  with  shame,  and  endeavouring  to  make  reparation,  you, 
wretched  man,  glory  in  your  crime;  and,  instead  of  asking 
pardon,  carry  your  head  high,  and  excite  other  monks  to  imitate 
your  infamous  conduct."  * 

Neither  Erasmus,  Cochlsdus,  the  Olympus  of  the  poets,  nor 
Henry  VI 11.  understood  Luther.  He  had  not  recourse  to  mar- 
riage for  the  gratification  of  sensual  plea£(ures,  which  he  could 
easily  have  procured  otherwise,  as  swarms  of  nuns  disturbed  his 
solitude,  and  he  tells  us  that  he  had  three  marriageable  virgins 
residing  in  his  house  !  ^  Had  he  only  sought  to  allay  too  violent 
temptations,  he  had  the  most  efficacious  remedies,  and  much 
more  secret  than  marriage.  His  marriage,  even  if  you  will  have 
it  to  proceed  from  physical  causes,  was,  in  truth,  a  political  step 
for  diffusing  his  doctrines.  Till  then  public  opinion  had  stig- 
matized as  infamous  all  the  marriages  of  the  monka  We  may 
remember  the  excitement  when  Archdeacon  Carlstadt  led  to  the 
altar  pretty  Anna  Mocha.  These  marriages  between  priests  and 
nuns  caused  at  first  great  scandal :  the  people  murmured  when 
they  saw  the  faces  of  men  and  women  peeping  from  under  the  same 
cowl.  Wolfgang  remained  concealed  a  long  while,  in  order  not 
to  provoke  the  people  in  the  streets  of  Wittemberg.  Luther,  in 
his  retirement  at  Wartburg,  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  his  celly  was 
for  several  months  engaged  in  connecting  passages  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  he  cast  as  a  sort  of  cloak  over  all  these  nudities ; 
but  his  labour  was  in  vain,  the  cloak  was  transparent.  For  a 
time  the  Reformer's  preaching  was  unfruitful;  no  one  being 
found  bold  enough  to  exchange  Luther's  benedictions  for  the 
scourge  of  public  opinion.  But  as  he  preached  by  example, 
there  was  in  Germany  something  stronger  than  public  opinion, — 
lechery,  which  with  unblushing  face  stalked  openly  through  the 
streets ;  for  in  case  of  violence,  it  had  for  its  concealment  the 
robe  of  a  married  priest. 

An  old  semi- French  historian,  nearly  cotemporary  with  Luther, 
has  happily  expressed  the  efiiect  produced  by  the  marriage  of  the 

*  GochlsBUB,  fol.  167  et  eeq.    Op.  Fiaheri,  epiac.  Roflf.  Wirzburgi,  ann.  1597. 

•  "  Tres  in  domo  meft  habeo  virgines  nubiles,  et  orones  virie  optim^  nubere 
possint."— Colloq.  Mens.  torn.  ii.  95. 


luthbr'b  marriaqe.  231 

monks ;  only  we  must  recollect  that  he  is  Catholic  in  his  creed 
and  pagan  in  his  style,  which  is  foil  of  ideas  drawn  firom  the 
mythological  school. 

"  Do  you  hear/'  says  Plorimond  de  Remond,  "  the  trumpets 
of  Gttpid  ?  Ladders  are  placed  against  the  walb  of  the  convents, 
the  foundations  of  which  are  shaken  and  begin  to  fall ;  a  regiment 
of  monks  rushes  through  the  breach,  breathless  with  passion,  and 
pursues  the  young  nuns,  especially  those  who,  roused  by  the 
sound  of  the  Lutheran  flourishes,  have  burst  their  gratings,  torn 
off  iheir  yeils,  and  are  spread  through  the  neighbouring  camp, 
leaving  some  of  their  old  companions  as  pledges  for  the  convent/' 

This  is  what  Florimond  de  Remond  calls  *'  the  fruits  of  the 
union  of  Luther  and  Catherine  !"  The  monk  knew  well  what 
he  was  about :  his  marriage  was  scarcely  celebrated,  when  the 
most  of  the  religious  houses  opened  their  portals,  and  foolish 
nuns  and  libertine  monks  came  forth,  seeking  each  other  in 
open  day,  and  publicly  making  Germany  the  witness  of  connec- 
tions which  the  Church  regards  as  incestuous,  but  which 
Luther's  example  caused  to  be  considered  works  of  merit  Among 
those  who  fell  were  churchmen,  who  in  the  eyes  of  men  wore  the 
priestly  robe,  but  from  whom  God  had  long  previously  withdrawn : 
men  who  loved  pleasure,  and  spent  their  lives  in  the  luxurious 
enjoyments  of  the  table  or  ,the  field.  They  were  thankful  to 
Luther  for  permitting  them  to  transform  a  concubine  into  a 
lawful  wife,  and  accepted  the  shame,  making  religion  subservient 
to  their  own  ends,  provided  they  were  not  obliged  to  blush  in 
public. 

There  were  monasteries,  particularly  near  Wittemberg,  in 
which  not  a  single  monk  remained ;  and  others  which  were  only 
partiaUy  abandoned.  Sometimes,  as  at  Orlamiinde,  or  where  the 
Anabaptists  prevailed,  the  people,  roused  by  some  fanatical 
preacher,  attacked  the  monasteries  and  presbyteries,  and  expelled 
every  inmate,  down  to  the  very  cook.  Next  day  Glaz  ascended 
the  pulpit,  and  said  :  ''  I,  the  illustrious  rector  of  the  academy 
of  Wittemberg,  proclaim  myself  pastor  of  Orlamiinde."  ^  When 
order  was  restored  and  the  popular  tempest  allayed,  the  civil 
authorities  took  possession  of   the   deserted  monafiteiy,   made 

*  **  loh  Rector  magnificas  der  hohen  Schule  emenne  mioh  Caspar  Glaz  selbat 
zu  einem  Pfarrer  in  Orlamiinde." 


232  HISTOBY   OF  LUTHER. 

an  inventory  of  its  contents,  confiscated  for  their  own  behoof  the 
conventnal  or  ecclesiastical  booty,  and  bestowed  a  few  expressions 
of  pity  or  hypocritical  concern  npon  the  indiyiduab  whom 
they  had  expelled  so  inhumanly.  "  God  will  not  abandon  you," 
they  would  say,  *'  marry,  and  fulfil  the  injunction  of  Scripture.^' 
Then  also  Catholic  Germany  had  another  scandal  to  deplore,  as 
we  have  said,  in  the  robbery  committed  by  the  authorities,  in 
contempt  of  the  law  of  nations  and  chartered  rights,  some  of 
which  ascended  to  remote  antiquity.  The  sacred  vessels,  which 
had  been  used  at  the  celebration  of  the  divine  mysteries,  were  to 
be  seen  used  as  drinking-cups  at  the  tables  of  certain  electors  ; 
and  latterly,  when  they  b^an  to  be  ashamed,  transferred  to  the 
shelves  of  public  museums.  Those  marvellous  manuscripts, 
those  old  crucifixes  in  lyood  and  ivory ;  those  episcopal  rings, 
the  gifts  of  popes  or  emperors  ;  those  embroideries,  that  stained 
glass,  those  ciboria  of  gold  and  silver  ;  all  these  medisBval  relics 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  rich  collections  of  Germany,  belonged 
to  the  religious  houses  and  the  churches.  So  that  after  the 
lapse  of  three  centuries  nothing  better  has  been  found  to  give  us 
an  idea  of  German  art  at  that  period,  than  the  display  of  the 
spoils  of  those  whom  they  robbed  when  living,  and  calumniated 
when  they  were  dead.* 


'  CoDBolt  Lucifer  Wittenbergenais,  oder  der  Morgenstem  von  Wittenbeig, 
das  let :  Tollstandiger  Lebenslauf  Catbarina  von  Bore,  des  Termevnten  Ebeweibs 
Dr.  Martin  Lutberi :  Augsburg,  1749,  8vo.  Micbael  Kubn,  dean  of  tbe  Au- 
gustinian  mooasteir  at  Ulm,  under  the  pseudonyme  of  Eusebiua,  is  the  author 
of  this  curious  book.  Wahrhafte  Geschichte  der  seligen  Frau  Catharina  von 
Bora,  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Ehegattin,  wider  Eusebii  Engelhard's  Morgenstem, 
zu  Wittenberg:  Halle,  1734,  2  vols.  8vo.  Eversio  Lutherani  Epithalamii,  per 
R.  P.  Conradum  KoUin,  Ulmensem  sacne  tbeologite  professorem :  Colonia?, 
1521,  4to.     Taillepied,  Life  of  Luther. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  tracts  for  or  against  clerical  celibacy,  which 
Luther's  marriage  called  forth  ; — 

Von  dem  ebelichen  Stand  der  Bischdffe  und  Diaken,  an  Herm  Wolfl|^ng 
Beissenbuach,  der  Bechte  Doktor  und  Praceptor  zu  Lichtenberg,  S.  Antonius 
Ordens.  Johann  Bugenhagen  Pommer,  gedeutscht  durch  Stephanum  Rodt 
von  Zwickau:  Wittenberg,  1529. 

Von  den  Gelttbden  der  Geistlichen,  ein  kurzer  Unterricht  tlber  das  Wort  im 
Psalm :  Vovete  et  reddite.  Job.  Bugenhagen  Pomer,  gedeutscht  durch 
Stephanum  Rodt:  Wittenberg,  1525. 

Libellus  F.  BartholomsBi  de  Usingen,  Augustiniani>  De  Falsis  Prophetis, 
tam  in  personft  quiim  doctrinft  vitandis  k  fidelibus.  De  Rectft  et  Mund&  Prse- 
dicatione  Evangelii,  et  quibus  confurmiter  illud  debeat  prsedicari.  De  Ckslibatu 
Sacerdotum  Novsb  Legis,  et  de  Matrimonio  eorum,  necnon  Monachorum  ezi- 
tiosorum.     Re8ponsio  ad  Sermonem  Jjaogii  de  Matrimonio  Sacerdotali,  quem 


tUTHER's   HABRIAQE.  233 

These  civil  disturbances  were  of  service  to  Protestantism.  In 
the  midst  of  these  outrages  on  Catholic  aathority,  the  Latherans 
held  public  meetings,  at  which  they  excited  themselves  to  rebel- 
lion. Luther,  from  Wittemberg,  commended  the  courage  of 
those  whom  he  called  the  children  of  light.  The  children  of 
darkness  were  Duke  George,  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  the  other 
princes  who  obeyed  the  emperor's  orders :  obedience  being  treated 
as  rebellion  by  the  Protestants,  and  rebellion  exalted  as  an 
inspiration  from  heaven.  There  were  rewards  ready  for  felony 
and  apostasy,  and  contempt  and  hatred  for  loyalty  to  God  and 
the  sovereign.  The  events  of  the  time  favoured  Luther.  War 
was  declared  between  the  emperor  and  Pope  Clement  VIL,  who 
had  embraced  the  cause  of  Francis  L  ;  JPavia  saw  an  end  of 
that  monarch's  glory  in  Italy,  where  the  arms  of  his  rival  were 
victorious :  Rome  had  been  taken  and  sacked  by  the  constable 
of  Bourbon.  His  army,  partly  composed  of  Lutherans,  had 
filled  the  holy  city  with  abominations:  the  menials  of  that 
prince  had  converted  St.  Peter's  into  a  stable,  littered  their 
horses  with  the  papal  bulls,  and,  dressed  in  the  cardinals'  copes, 
had  proclaimed  Luther  pope  in  a  chapel  of  the  Vatican.^  Clement 
having  declared  for  France,  Charles  V.  revenged  himself  by 


fecit  in  unptiis  Culsameri  Baoerdotis.  Contra  fiu^onem  Lutheranun :  Erphur- 
diiB,  1625. 

Anti-Lntheros  Jodoci  Cliohtovei  Keoportnensifl,  dooioiis  theolog^  Academia 
Faiisiensis,  tres  libroB  oomplectens :  Primus  contra  effrenam  vivendi  licenttam, 
quam  falso  Ubertatem  Chrisiianam  ac  evangelicam  nominat  Luthems,  ostendit, 
Eoclesiam  sanctam  et  ejos  pnesides,  constituendaroin  sanctionum  (qn»  obligent 
populum  Ghristianum  et  transgreBsorcB  peocati  mortalis  reos  ease  definiant), 
potestatem  habere.  Secimdus  contra  abrogationem  missse,  quam  inducere 
molitur  Luthenia,  demonstrate  distinctos  omcionim  gradus,  ao  ordines  esse 
in  Eccleaift.  Non  omnes  itidem  Christianos  esse  saceKlotes,  et  sanctissimum 
Eucharistis  sacramentnm,  quod  in  missft  consecratur,  esse  ver^  saorificium. 
TertiuB,  contra  eneryationem  votorum  monastioorum,  quam  invehere  contendit 
Luthems,  dedarat,  relig^osorum  vota  etiam  perpetua  atque  pro  toto  yitas 
cnrriculo  rect^  fieri,  idque  vivendi  in  monastic^  discipline  institutum  sum- 
mopere  esse  commendandum.  Insunt  et  prime  hujus  operis  libro  dissolu- 
tiones  qusedam  contra  Erasmum  Roterodamum,  de  uno  aut  tribus  Dionysiis 
mintis  benb  sentientem.  Ad  Carolum  Guillardum,  Parisiensis  senatiis  pr»- 
sidem :  Colon.  1525. 

Ein  Send-Brieff  und  Erinnerung  des  ehrenfesten  Caspar  von  Schwenckfeld, 
von  Ossi^.  an  die  Closter-Jungfrauen  zu  Naumburg,  wie  sie  sich  jetziger  Zeit 
balten  sollen,  und  wie  sie  des  Closterlebens,  nach  Freyheit  des  Geistes,  ntltz- 
lioh  gebrauchen  mochten. 

*  Guicciardini,  Sacco  di  Roma.  Cocblssus.  De  Marillac,  Vie  du  Connd- 
table  de  Bourbon.     Maimbourg,  Hist  du  Luth^ranisme,  lib.  i. 


234  HI8T0BY  OF  LUTHBB. 

pouring  into  Italy  the  swarms  of  Lutherans  whom  he  wished  to 
exterminate  from  Germany:  these  docile  instruments  of  his 
wrath  burned  up  even  the  grass  of  the  fields,  and  sold  for  thm 
weight  in  gold  the  ears  of  their  prisoners.  All  was  oyer  with 
the  eternal  city,  if  Gkni  had  not  cast  upon  it  a  look  of  pity. 
He  employed  to  drire  them  from  Italy  the  pestilence  which 
these  hordes  had  spread  on  their  way.  At  the  same  time, 
Soliman  threatened  Hungary,  and  sooner  or  later  would  compel 
Charles  V.  to  recross  the  Alps  in  aid  of  Utie  Archduke  Frederick. 
When  peace  was  restored  to  Italy,  the  emperor  turned  his  eyes 
to  Germany.  A  new  diet  was  summoned  to  Spires  in  1528, 
where  the  Catholics  were  in  a  majority.  The  presidents  and  com* 
missioners,  were  King  Ferdinand,  Frederick,  the  count  palatine, 
William,  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  the  bishops  of  Trent  and  Hildech 
heim.^  A  new  sect, — ^that  of  the^  Sacramentarians,  had  resolved 
to  oppose  the  Lutherans  there^  The  impmal  cities  were  ahnost 
all  infected  with  the  doctrines  of  Zwinglius  :  the  sectarians  were 
divided  among  themselves.  The  landgrave  of  Hesse,  perceiving 
the  danger  of  such  a  schism,  laboured  to  stifle  it,  but  his  efforts 
were  ineffectual.  The  Catholic  party  prevailed  in  the  end. 
After  long  debates,  the  assembly  decreed,  that  wherever  the 
edict  of  Worms  had  been  received,  change  of  religion  should  be 
prohibited ;  that  those  cities  which  had  embraced  the  new  doo* 
trines  might  possess  them  until  the  council  was  held,  but  without 
either  abolishing  the  mass,  or  depriving  the  Catiiolics  of  the  free 
exercise  of  their  worship ;  that  the  Sacramentarians  should  be 
banished  the  empire,  and  the  Anabaptists  punished  with  deatk 

The  Lutheran  princes,   John,   elector  of  Saxony,   Gfeorge, 
marquis  of  Brandenburg,  Ernest  and  Francis,  dukes  of  Lunen- 


*  Sleidan,  1.  c.  lib.  yi.    PallaTicini,  lib.  ii. 

Sebastian  Sohertlin,  who  was  present  at  the  sack  of  BomO;  writes :  "  Od 
6th  May,  we  carried  the  city  by  storm  ;  6,000  men  were  slain  in  it.  The  whole 
city  has  been  delivered  over  to  pillage ;  we  have  taken  all  that  oould  be  found 
in  the  churches  and  other  buildings,  and  have  destroyed  or  torn  all  the  regis- 
ters, letters,  charters,  &c. ;  part  of  the  city  has  been  burnt." — Lebensbeschrei- 
bung  Seb.  Schertlins,  p.  19. 

We  possess  an  account  of  the  sack  of  Borne,  published  in  Germany,  with  the 
title  of  Warhafflige  newe  Zeitung  aus  Rom  geschrieben,  wie  Herr  Jeorgen  von 
Fronsbehrssohn  den  Papst  mit  18  Cardinalen  gefangen  hat  (1527,  4  pp.).  Here 
are  a  few  lines  of  it :  "  25,000  Man  darynne  erschlagen  aJile  Mdnch,  P&ffen 
und  Nonnen  erstoohen  und  yun  die  Tiber  geworff^n ;  onn  welohe  iung  und 
htibsch  gewest  seyn." 


LUTHB&'h   MABBTAaE.  235 

bmg,  Philip,  landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  Wolfiang,  prince  of 
Anhalt ;  the  depnties  of  foorteen  imperial  cities,  of  Strashnig, 
among  others,  who  desired  to  abolish  the  mass,  assembled  two 
days  afterwards,  and  in  a  public  protest  declared  in  the  name  of 
God  and  man,  that  they  conld  not  obey  a  decree  so  inimical  to 
the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  they  appealed  from  the  general 
council  to  the  emperor  and  to  all  impartial  judges.  On  that  day 
the  Reformers  received  the  name  of  Protestants,  which  they 
adopted  as  a  glorious  appellation.^ 

The  diet  had  demanded  and  voted  subsidies  for  the  war  against 
the  Turks  ;  the  Catholics  paid,  the  Protestants  refused  the  sup- 
plies ;  but  the  money  of  the  Catholics  was  not  sufficient  to  repel 
Soliman.  His  200,000  soldiers  accordingly  advanced  into  Hun- 
gary, and  on  26th  September,  1529,  planted  their  scaling-ladders 
against  the  walls  of  Vienna.  The  shameful  desertion  of  their 
brethren  fixes  an  indelible  stain  on  the  Protestants.  In 
presence  of  a  peril  which  threatened  the  cross  of  Jesus,  all 
differences  should  have  ceased.  The  country  was  in  danger,  the 
Christian  name  might  have  been  effaced  and  Islamism  triumphant, 
if  these  battered  and  breached  walls  had  not  been  defended  by 
noble  and  stout  heart&  Honour  to  these  valiant  leaders,  Philip, 
count  palatine,  Nicholas  of  Salm,  William  of  Begendorf,  and 
that  population  of  old  men,  women,  and  children  who,  a  prey  to 
&mine,  sickness,  and  pestilence,  for  all  were  united  to  crush 
them,  lost  not  their  confidence  in  heaven,  and  pursued,  even  to 
Constantinople,  the  army  of  Soliman !  After  God,  they  were 
indebted  for  their  success  to  their  own  arms ;  for  the  emperor,  the 
empire,  and  its  princes  had  abandoned  them.  One  voice,  that  of 
Luther,  had  cried :  ''  Pea4se  toith  the  Turks !"  which  was  more 
powerful-than  the  voice  of  their  weeping  country  and  the  cross 
of  Christ.  Let  the  reader  pronounce  between  the  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  and  say  in  which  veins  ran  the  Christian  blood  f 

On  the  very  day  when  Soliman  reckoned  on  converting  the 
church  of  Si  Stephen  into  a  mosque,  the  deputies  of  the  minority 
entered  the  camp  of  Charles  V.,  then  at  Boulogne,  and  presented 
to  him  their  protest* 

"God  will  be  your  judge,"  said  the  emperor;  "you  have 


Sleidan,  lib.  yi.  '  Hist.  Hung.  lib.  z. 


236  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHER. 

refused  the  support  of  your  arms  and  money  to  your  besieged 
princes,  and  have  yiolated  a  fundamental  law  of  the  empire/'  ^ 

And  he  dismissed  them,  promising  soon  to  go  with  all  his  army 
to  settle  the  affairs  of  Germany.* 

There  are  inconsistencies  in  the  character  of  Luther  which 
Catholic  historians  carefully  state,  without  fathoming  the  causes 
of  them.  Thus,  on  the  subject  of  the  war  against  the  Turks, 
they  endeavour  to  decry  his  fickle  opinions,  so  as  to  bring  to  trial 
that  Holy  Spirit  whose  organ  he  called  himself:  a  scholastic 
argument,  excellent  on  the  benches  of  a  monastery  !  But  these 
contradictions  speak  something  beyond  the  misery  or  despair  of 
a  mind. 

In  1520,  Luther  posts  on  the  walls  of  the  church  of  All 
Saints  that  the  Turks  are  the  instruments  of  God's  vengeance, 
and  that  to  oppose  them  is  to  fly  in  the  toioe  of  Providence.' 
He  persists  in  expressing  these  opinions,  which  his  adversaries 
treat  as  absurd. 

In  1521,  he  does  not  wish  a  farthing  to  be  given  for  repelling 
these  enemies  of  our  faith,  who,  in  his  view,  are  of  infinitely 
greater  worth  than  the  papists,  and  it  is  not  his  fAvlt  that  the 
Danube  is  not  covered  with  Catholic  carcasses  as  &r  as  PestL 

But  in  1528,  he  dedicates  his  treatise  "  De  BeUo  Turcico  "  * 
to  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  whom  he  praises  as  the  scourge  of 
''those  wretched  puppets,  half-men  half-devils,  who  go  about 
dissuading  the  people  from  taking  arms  against  the  Turks,  and 
who  publicly  teach,  that  a  Christian  must  not  wear  the  sword  or 
exercise  the  functions  of  a  civil  magistrate  !" — precisely  what  he 
himself  had  recently  inculcated  in  his  book  on  secular  magis- 
tracy !  * 

All  this  may  be  easily  explained.^ 

»  Guicc.  lib.  xix.  »  Ibid. 

'  "  Pneliari  adveretiB  Turcas  est  repagiiare  Deo  visitanti  iniqviitates  nostras." 

*  De  Bello  Turcico,  Landg.  Hess.  torn.  iv.  Jense,  p.  480  ad  431,  a.  b. 

^  De  Magistratu  Seculari,  torn.  ii.  JensB,  189. 

^  "Qu6d  in  GrermaniA  quosdam  andiat  inyeniri  fiitiles  et  ineptos  coneio- 
natores  qui  populum  ab  armis  contra  Turcam  capiendis  debortentur :  quosdam 
verb  ad  earn  insaniam  provectos,  nt  dicant,  non  licere  portare  gladium  Chris- 
tianis,  vel  politioum  gerere  inagistratnm  :  qnin  GermaniaB  populum  ade6  femm 
et  agrestem  esse,  semid»mones  et  semibomines  ut  non  desint  qui  Turcarum 
adventam  desiderare  videantur."  —  Op.  Luth.  Jeuas,  torn.  iv.  pp.  480,  481. 
Ulenberg,  Vita^  etc.  p.  850. 


Luther's  marriage.  237 

Until  1528,  Lather  required  to  keep  his  implacable  enemy, 
the  house  of  Austria,  engaged.  The  disturbances  are  a  piece  of 
good  luck  for  Luther.  The  peasants'  war  will  impede  the  execution 
of  the  edict  of  Worms,  and  serve  him  in  diffusing  his  doctrines, 
in  exciting  the  people,  altering  the  liturgy,  breaking  up  the  con- 
vents, exciting  the  concupiscence  of  the  monks,  and  making 
"  the  devil  of  the  flesh  "  speak. 

While  the  emperor  is  in  Italy,  Luther  can  work  without 
fear;  when  Charles  returns  to  Germany,  Luther  is  disturbed. 
Then  is  the  time  for  him  to  frame  his  political  code,  in  which  we 
shall  read :  ''That  no  Christian  can,  without  sin,  wear  the  sword, 
or  exercise  a  secular  magistracy."  If  the  prince  has  recourse  to 
force  to  cause  his  edicts  to  be  observed,  the  Reformer  sees  before 
him  only  executioners  and  martyrs :  the  judges  are  the  execu- 
tioners; the  martyrs,  the  rebellious  subjecte. 

His  doctrines  gain  ground.  They  pervade  cities,  duchies, 
electorates,  kingdoms.  For  the  new  religion  a  police  is 
necessary  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  sword.  We  have  seen  that  he 
wished  no  Christian  to  wield  it ;  with  that  weapon  now  he  arms 
his  magistrates.  The  Scriptures  are  pliant  to  his  caprices. 
As  they  had  by  turns  denied  and  admitted  purgatory,  prayers  for 
the  dead,  confession,  and  the  mass,  so  they  will  restore  to  him 
the  sword  which  they  have  taken  away.  Thus  his  society  is  con- 
stituted, and  his  sword  is  raised,  with  which  he  threatens  at  once 
both  the  Turk  and  the  wicked  Christian  who  will  not  war  with 
the  infidel 

In  1521,  it  is  a  crime  to  contribute  to  the  war  against  the 
Turks  :  he  then  had  need  of  them. 

In  1528,  he  denounces  those  tap-room  orators  who  dissuade 
the  people  from  arming  against  the  infidels  :  he  was  then  afraid 
of  the  Turks. 

In  1522,  to  carry  a  sword  or  make  use  of  it,  is  to  upset 

"  Ne  uIlA  ratione  Beqnamxr  eos  priooipes  Gatliolicos  vel  ad  pugnaDdixm,  vel 
ad  oontribuendnm  oontrib  Turoam.  Quandbquidem  Turca  decaplb  prudentior 
est  et  jnstior  qakm  nostri  principes :"  Wittenb.  torn.  ix.  fol.  197. 

"  Quemadmodilm  et  glaaii  JQiisve  civilis  prsudio  nemo  Chriatianns  uti,  Yel 
politic!  judioiB  offidnm  ad  juatitiam  administrandain  implorare  possit  aut 
clebeat :  im6  quisquis  id  facit,  quisquia  litigat  in  judicio,  aiTO  de  bonia  tem> 
poralibua  oontroveraia  ait,  aive  de  honore,  enm  (aaaerit)  non  Chriatiannm, 
sed  anb  Cbriati  nomine  gentilem  esae  vel  infidelem :"  JenfB,  torn.  ii.  fol.  189. 
De  Magiatrata  Seculari. 


238  HISTORY   OP  LUTHBB. 

the  fundamental  laws  of  a  Ohrbtian  society :  he  was  then  afraid 
of  the  Bword. 

In  1528,  the  sword  is  a  Christian  attribute   of  the  ciyil 
authorities :  he  then  had  need  of  it.^ 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

GATHEBINE  BORA. 

Catherine  Bora^a  extraetion. — ^Hor  portrait^  as  drawn  by  Werner  and  Knos. — 
Was  Luther  happy  in  his  domeitio  state  Y — ^Bora's  chamcter. — Soenee  of 
their  priyate  life. 

Catherine  Bora,  or  Bore,*  descended  on  the  mother's  side  from 
the  noble  family  of  Haubitz,  was  bom  on  the  29th  of  January, 
1499.  Her  parents  were  poor  ;  at  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
she  was  placed  in  the  convent  of  Nimptschen,  of  the  order  of 
St.  Bernard,  near  Grimma,  on  the  Mulde,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1521.  It  seems  that  a  conventual  life  was  not  agreeable  to  the 
young  woman,  who  having  in  vain  besought  her  parents  to  let 
her  leave  the  convent,  bethought  of  interesting  the  doctor  of 
Wittemberg  in  her  behalf  Catherine  gained  over  eight  other 
nuns,  weary  like  herself  of  the  austerities  of  the  community,* 
At  Luther's  instigation,  Leonard  Koeppe,  assisted  by  a  youth  of 
his  own  age,  introduced  himself  over-night  to  the  cloister,  the 


*  He  said  of  the  Turks :  "  The  Turk  will  go  to  Borne,  as  the  prophecy  of 
Daniel  shows  us ;  but  he  will  not  reign  above  two  hundred  years." — Tisch- 
Beden,  translated  by  M.  Brunet,  p.  60. 

''  I  should  rather  prefer  to  have  the  Turks  for  enemies  than  the  Spaniards 
for  protectors." — Ibid.  p.  68. 

"Some  one  exclaimed,  'May  God  preserve  us  from  the  Turks T  'No/ 
said  Luther,  '  they  must  come  to  chastise  us,  and  they  will  assist  us  mate- 
rially.' "—Ibid.  p.  68. 

*  The  name  is  spelt  in  the  Dictionary  of  Nobility  (Adels-Lexioon),  Bora, 
Borrba,  Boma,  and  Borne,  p.  196.  The  old  German  poet,  NiooI«s  Menk,  a 
shoemaker  by  trade,  sings  ot  the  young  woman  by  the  name  of  Bon : — 

"  Cathrin  von  Bora  bin  ich  genannt, 
Gebohren  in  dem  Meissner  Land."  .  .  . 

'  "In  dieser  Absicht  wandten  sie  sich  an  ihre  Eltem,  konnton  aber  die 
Einwilllgung  derselben  nicht  erhalten.  Nun  suchten  sie  Httlfe  bei  Luthem.** 
— Efiher,  Luther  und  seine  Genossen,  tom.  i.  p.  187. 


OATHSBIKE   BOBA.     ^  239 

doors  of  which  he  had  forced.^  Nine  nona  were  in  readiness 
waiting  for  their  liberator.  At  the  gate  of  the  Gonvent  there 
stood  a  close  carriage,  in  which  Eodppe  packed  the  yonz^  women 
*'  like  so  many  herrings/'  as  the  chronicle  of  Torgan  says.^ 
They  had  to  pass  through  the  territory  of  Dnke  George,  and  a 
populous  city  like  Torgau,  and  travd  forty  leagues.  They 
escaped  all  dangers.  Bora  had  at  Wittemberg  a  chamber  pre* 
viously  bespoken,  in  the  house  of  the  former  town-clerk,  Philip 
ReichenbacL^ 

In  his  tragedy  of  XiUther,  Werner  ha£  drawn  a  poetical  cha* 
racter  of  Catherine,  who  has  visions  and  ecstasies,  and  in  her 
sleep  sees  the  being  to  whom  she  is  one  day  to  be  united.  She 
is  a  virgin,  whose  mortal  body  alone  belongs  to  this  earth,  but 
whose  soul  inhabits  the  starry  heavens,  and  dwells  with  the  pure 
spirits  there.  This  ideal  picture  is  destroyed  by  history,  which 
represents  the  nun  of  Nimptschen,  after  her  marriage,  occupied 
with  all  the  ordinary  household  details,  with  all  the  prosaiG 
habits  of  a  German  wife  ;  loving  wine,  if  we  may  believe  Kraus, 
much  better  than  beer,  distributing  it  with  sparing  hand  to  her 
husband  and  his  companions,  and  frequenting  her  cellar  as  often  as 
the  chapel  of  the  convent.  We  are  informed  by  Aurifaber,  that 
one  day  when  she  visited  the  cellar,  which  the  elector  of  Saxony 
had  just  enriched  with  a  butt  of  malmsey,  a  frightful  noise  was 
heard  like  the  knell  of  a  church-bell,  or  the  scream  of  a  bird  of 
prey.  The  servant  was  alarmed,  and  fell  back,  and  the  husband 
and  wife  nearly  lost  their  senses,  so  much  were  they  frightened  f 
Luther  considered  this  unaccountable  noise  as  a  warning  from 
Heaven.  Ten  years  after,  at  table,  when  he  remembered  the 
circupistance,  he  said  to  his  friends :  "  The  hardened  heart  is 
moved  by  the  promises,  disturbed  by  the  benefits,  terrified  by  the 
threats,  and  corrected  by  the  blows  of  Heaven.''^ 

'  "  Yigilia  resnrrectionis  dominiceBy  horis  nootumis,  novem,  imo  dnodecim 
nnotimoDiales  ordinlB  sancti  Bernardi  in  ooenobio  Nymptschen  ad  oppidum 
Grimmas,  in  Misnia,  in  rip&  fluvii  MnldsB  egressffi  simul  abierant:  omnes 
nnptune." — Chr.  Spalaiini.  Gatharina  de  Bor^  nobili  prognata  stirpe,  clau- 
stns  ooenobii  Nimptsoh  effiractis  ope  oert^  onjusdam  Torgaviensis  Lchonardi 
Koppii  libertati  snsB  resUtata  anno  152d,— Jnncker,  Yita  Lutheri. 

'  Wie  Haringstonnen. 

'  Concilia  Wittenbeigensia,  torn.  iv.  p.  19.  These  regieters  are  not  of  the 
sixteenth  century ;  they  were  digested  and  arranged  in  1629. 

*  Eisleben,  1566,  folio,  p.  620. 


240  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

Art  has  not  always  drawn  Catherine  in  the  colours  of  poetry. 
If  the  portrait  by  Lucas  Cranach  is  a  faithful  likeness,  Luther 
cannot  have  been  tempted  by  the  external  charms  of  the  young 
woman,  with  her  great  bony  cheeks,  her  large,  dull,  and  inex- 
pressive eye,  her  stretched-out  nostrils,  and  rustic  and  coarse 
features.  This  vulgar  face  Bora  sometimes  endeavoured  to  set 
ofif  by  a  plate>  of  brass  on  the  forehead,  at  others  by  having 
her  hab  rolled  round  the  ear,  and  falling  over  the  temples,  in 
the  style  of  La  belle  Ferronni^re,  or  drawn  over  the  back  of  the 
head,  and  inclosed  in  a  silken  net ;  for  contemporary  pictures 
represent  her  with  these  different  head-dresses.  The  younger 
Cranach  painted  her  in  1526,  and  the  picture  is  at  present  in 
the  library  of  Weimar.  Lucas  Cranach  took  her  likeness  in 
oil  in  1528  :  it  now  belongs  to  the  duke  of  Saxe-Gotha. 

This  portrait  must  have  been  like  her.  "  This  is  good,''  said 
Luther  to  the  artist  who  brought  it ;  ''  there  is  room  enough 
on  the  canvas  for  painting  another  &ce,  that  of  a  man  called 
Luther  ;  we  shall  send  this  picture  to  the  fathers  of  the  council, 
where  it  will  create  a  sensation.''' 

Eetha  was  of  a  fair  and  ruddy  complexion,  infallible  signs  of 
piety  and  ignorance  of  cookery,  according  to  the  doctor,  who  has 
observed,  that  women  with  rosy  cheeks  and  oruribus  aUns  are 
pious,  but  bad  cooks  and  companions.^  She  had  fine  hair, 
which  she  carelessly  tucked  under  her  nightcap,  perhaps  out  of 
coquetry,  and  which  on  waking  the  doctor  loved  to  see  rolling  in 
long  tresses  on  the  pillow.* 

Whether  Luther  was  happy  in  his  private  life  is  a  question 
which  has  been  raised  and  discussed  by  Protestant  historians, 
and  received  various  solutions.  Bredow*  describes  Catherine  as 
a  cross,  haughty,  and  jealous  woman,  who  tormented  her  hus- 
band. Bredow's  opinion  is  borrowed  from  that  of  Nas,  a  con- 
temporary writer,  who  knew  and  visited  Catherine,  whom  he 
represents  as  infatuated  with  the  renown  of  her  husband,  dis- 


'  Tisch-Beden,  p.  514. 

'  "Die  Weiber  mit  rothen  Wangen  nnd  weissen  Beinen,  dieselben  seind  die 
frombsten ;  aber  sie  koohen  nicht  wohl,  und  batten  libel. " — ^Tifich-BedeD,  p.  482. 

'  "Im  Bette,  wenn  er  erwacbt,  sieht  er  ein  Paar  Z5pfe  neben  ibm  liegeD." 
— Ibid. 

*  Minerva,  Taschenbuch  fiir  1818,  p.  886. 


CATHERINE   BOBA.  241 

dainfnl  to  her  neighbours,  puffed  np  with  pride,  and  bad- 
tempered.'  Bugenhagen  and  Justus  Jonas  give  her  a  very 
different  character.  The  doctor  himself  returns  thanks  to  Ood, 
in  his  "  Tisch-Reden/'  "  for  having  sent  him  a  pious  and  wise 
companion,  upon  whom  the  heart  of  a  man  may  repose,  in  the 
words  of  Solomon,  ch.  xxxi.  ver.  11.''  Mayer  has  collected 
from  Luther's  writings  all  the  testimonies  which  he  can  find  in 
favour  of  Catherine,  ''  that  angel  upon  earth,  sent  by  God  for 
the  happiness  of  the  Saxon  monk."  He  quotes  especially  this 
passage  from  one  of  the  Reformer's  letters :  '^  My  master  Eetha 
salutes  you,  my  Ketha  goes  to  Zolsdorf  to-morrow  ;"*  and  the 
superscription  of  a  letter  from  Marburg,  in  1529  :  "  To  my  dear 
and  much-beloved  lord,  Catherine  Lutherine,  doctorine,  and 
predicatorine  at  Wittemberg."* 

But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  these  expressions  of  love  only 
last  for  a  short  while.  Luther  ceased  to  make  use  of  them  in 
1530 ;  and  then,  when  he  writes  to  his  friends,  "  my  Eetha  " 
becomes  only  "  my  wife  Ketha."  It  was  probably  at  this  time 
that  George  Pontanus  (Bruck),  chancellor  of  the  elector  John  of 
Saxony,  cbrew  such  an  unflattering  portrait  of  his  friend's  com- 
panion, who,  according  to  him,  '*  wishes  to  have  the  mastery  at 
home,  and  rule  the  roast,  is  stingy  and  mean,  and  grudges  the 
victuals."  Pontanus  was  the  friend  of  the  family  and  guest 
of  the  doctor.* 

After  his  marriage,  Luther  must  have  regretted  the  silence  of 
the  cloister,  so  favourable  to  meditation.  Catherine  interrupted 
his  studies.  On  more  than  one  occasion,  when  the  doctor 
required  all  his  temper  to  reply  to  some  papist,  she  troubled  him 
with  foolish  questions.  Then,  to  avoid  Ketha's  prating,  he  had 
no  other  recourse  than  to  take  some  bread,  cheese,  and  beer,  and 
lock  himself  in  his  closet ;  but  this  peacefrd  asylum  was  not 
always  impenetrable,  and  frequently  the  troublesome  face  of  his 


'  '*  Bora  war  hochtragen^en  Geistes,  eigensinnig  und  stolz/'  &c. — ^Reforma- 
tions-A  Imanach,  1817}  p.  69. 

'  "Salutat  te  dominuB  meua  Ketha,   eras  meus  Ketha  profioiscelur  ad 
Zoladorf." 

*  '*  Meinem  freundlichen  lieben  Herm,  Oathariua  Lutherin,  Doctorio,  Pre- 
digerin,  zu  Wittenberg." — HasieuB,  BibL  Brem.  cap.  iv.  p.  984. 

*  '' flochmtithig  und  regierattchtig,  darbei  aber  karg  und  geizig  im  Essen 
and  Trinken  gewesen." — Critisches  Lexicon :  Bore. 

VOL.  11.  R 


242  UISTOBT   OF  LUTHER. 

wife  would  come  between  that  of  the  pope  or  some  monk  whom 
he  was  engaged  in  buffeting. 

Mayer,  Catherine's  encomiast,  nairates  that  ^'  one  day,  when 
he  was  shut  in  with  his  ordinary  viaticum,  turning  a  deaf  ear 
to  Eetha's  voice,  and  continuing,  in  spite  of  a  horrid  noise 
which  she  was  making  at  the  door  of  the  room,  to  labour  at  his 
translation  of  the  22nd  Psalm,  he  suddenly  heard  these  words 
through  a  small  window  :  '  If  you  don't  open  the  door,  I  shall 
go  for  the  locksmith.'  The  doctor,  absorbed  with  the  Psalmist, 
rousing  as  if  from  a  sound  sleep,  entreated  his  wife  not  to  inter- 
rupt him  in  this  blessed  work.  '  Open,  open,'  repeated  Catherine. 
The  doctor  obeyed.  '  I  was  afraid,'  said  Ketha,  *  that  something 
annoying  had  happened  to  you,  since  you  have  been  shut  up  in 
this  closet  for  three  days.'  To  which  Luther  replied,  like 
a  Socrates :  ^  There  is  nothing  annoying  but  that  which  I  see 
before  me.'"^ 

The  best  wish  which  the  doctor  had  for  a  friend  was  that  he 
might  have  an  obedient  wife.' 

*  *  *  **  *  *  * 

During  the  first  years  of  her  married  life,  Ketha  frequently 
looked  back  with  regret  to  the  quiet  hours  of  the  cloister ;  for 
the  world  in  which  she  found  herself  was  unkind.  The  wives 
of  the  Catholic  citizens  of  Wittemberg  turned  their  heads  aside 
when  they  saw  her,  to  avoid  saluting  her  ;  and  this  hurt 
Catherine's  pride,  and  she  wept.  The  doctor  would  try  to 
console  her,  embrace  her,  and  say :  "  You  are  my  wife,  my 
honourable  partner ;  be  sure  that  our  marriage  is  quite  lawful. 
Heed  not  the  evil  tongues  of  an  ignorant  world,  but  mind  the 
words  of  Christ  and  follow  them  ;  they  will  support  you  against 
the  devil  and  his  imps.  God  has  created  you  a  woman  and  me 
a  man  ;  and  what  God  has  willed  cannot  be  prohibited  by 
St.  Peter."> 

Catherine  was  fond  of  reading  the  Scriptures,  especially  the 
Psalms,  in  which  she  found  great  comfort ;  but  often  also  many 
obscure  passages  which  puzzled  her,  and  which  the  doctor  en- 


'  Ehren-Gedachtniss,  p.  804. 

*  Nicolao  Amsdorf.    De  Wette,  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Briefe,  torn.  iii.  p.  625. 

*  Op.  Luth.  JensB,  torn.  ii.  p.  275. 


] 


GATHBBIHE  BOBA.  243 

deayoored  to  explain,  frequently  admitting  that  ^' there  were 
some  which  he  could  no  more  comprehend  than  a  goose/' ^ 

Bat  it  was  especially  after  his  work,  when  he  walked  with 
Catherine  in  the  little  conventnal  garden,  by  the  borders  of  the 
pond  wherein  coloured  fishes  were  disporting,  that  he  loved  to 
explain  to  his  wife  the  wonders  of  creation  and  the  goodness  of 
the  Creator.  One  evening,  the  stars  blazed  with  extraordinary 
lustre  ;  the  heavens  seemed  on  fire.  ''  Do  you  see  what  splen- 
dour these  luminous  points  emit?"  said  Catherine.  Luther 
looked  up.  "  What  a  glorious  light,"  he  said  ;  "  it  shines  not 
for  us ! "  —  "  And  wherefore  V  returned  Bora  ;  "  have  we  lost 
our  right  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?"  Luther  sighed.  "  Per- 
haps so,"  said  he,  "  as  a  punishment  for  having  left  our  con- 
vents."— "  Should  we  not,  then,  return  to  them  ?"  said  Catherine. 
''  It  is  too  late,  the  car  is  sunk  too  deeply,"  replied  the  doctor  ; 
and  the  conversation  dropped.* 

One  day  the  doctor  asked  Catherine  if  she  thought  herself  a 
saint  ?  "  How,"  replied  Catherine,  "  a  saint,  I  who  am  so  great 
a  sinner !" — "  Oh,  that  abominable  doctrine  of  the  Papists," 
said  Luther,  "  how  it  has  woxmded  consciences  I  Now-a-days 
we  must  have  works,  and  outward  ones."  And  turning  to  Bora, 
he  said  :  '*  Do  you  believe  that  you  have  been  baptized,  and  are 
a  Christian  ?  Ton  ought  also  to  believe  that  you  are  a  saint, 
for  baptism  destroys  sin, — not  that  it  has  not  been  committed, 
but  in  that  it  ceases  to  be  a  cause  of  reprobation."* 

We  might  infer,  from  some  passages  of  his  writings,  that 
the  Reformer  had  frequently  to  exercise  his  patience  in  his  own 
house,  for  he  boasts  of  that  virtue,  and  makes  a  glory  of  it 
before  God  and  his  friends.  "  Patience  with  the  pope, — patience 
with  the  fanatics, — ^patience  with  my  disciples, — patience  with 
Catherine  Bora  ;  my  life  is  one  continual  exercise  of  patience.^ 
I  am  like  the  man  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Isaias,  whose 
strength  lies  in  patience  and  hope  ! " 


'  Tisch-Reden,  p.  6. 

*  Georg.  Joaneck,  Norma  Yit®.     Kraos,  OTicul.  part  xi.  p.  39. 

*  Table-Talk,  translated  by  M.  Gastave  Brunet,  pp.  209—210. 
«  Tisch-Beden  :  Eisleben,  p.  204. 

b2 


244  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBR. 

*'  We  must  learn  to  bear/'  said  he  ;  ''  the  tree  endures  a  bad 
branch,  the  body  a  sore  seat/'* 

We  sometimes  perceive  in  his  writings  a  desire  for  liberty 
which  necessity  compelled  him  to  suppress.  "  To  be  free/'  said 
he,  ''I  would  require  to  dig  up  a  stone  and  make  a  woman  of  it ; 
she  would  be  docile  then  !  Without  such  a  step  there  would  be 
no  obedience."* 

Bora  very  often  made  him  sensible  that  the  poor  sculptor  had 
not  yet  found  the  block  out  of  which  he  might  make  his  model- 
wife.  One  day,  when  she  wished  by  all  means  to  be  mistresfe,  the 
doctor  assumed  a  high  tone,  and  said  to  her :  ^'  Mistress,  mis- 
tress !  tliis  may  do  in  afiairs  of  the  house ;  but  otherwise  I  will 
not  have  it.  The  wives  have  been  mistresses  since  the  time  of 
Adam,  and  what  good  have  they  done?  When  Adam  com- 
manded, before  his  fall,  all  went  well ;  but  then  came  the  wife, 
and  farewell  all  peace  and  concord ;  such  are  your  wonders, 
Eetha  !     Therefore  it  is  that  I  resist."* 

His  yoke  did  not  always  press  on  him  ;  he  admitted  her  mas- 
tery, and  even  glorified  in  it  during  the  first  year  of  his  marriage, 
when  Ketha  was  his  "  dear  doctor."  ^ 

Eetha  took  pleasure  in  tormenting  him  in  his  learned  retreat 
by  asking  him  silly  questions.  Sometimes  she  would  ask  him 
if  the  king  of  France  was  richer  than  his  cousin  the  emperor  of 
Germany?  sometimes,  if  the  women  of  Italy  were  finer  than 
those  of  Germany  ?  if  Bome  was  as  large  as  Wittemberg  ?  or  if 
the  pope  had  diamonds  more  valuable  than  those  of  the  late 
elector  of  Saxony,  Frederick  ? 

"  Master,"  she  said  to  him  one  day,  "  how  is  it  that  when  we 
were  Papists  we  prayed  with  so  much  zeal  and  faith,  and  that 
now  our  prayers  are  so  cold  and  tepid  ?"*  At  other  times,  when, 
after  Luther  had  risen  from  the  couch  where  he  had  been 
admiring  her  fair  tresses,  he  sat  down  to  study,  Eetha  would 
steal  gently  to  the  table  and,  approaching  his  ear,  say  :  ''  Doctor, 
is  not  the  grand  master  of  the  Teutonic  order  of  Prussia  the  brother 
of  the  margrave  ?"*     They  were  one  and  the  same  person. 


*  Einen  schweren  Dreck  urn  LeiVs  Willen. 

*  TiBchBeden :  EiBleben,  1569,  p.  443. 

'  NicoL  Ericeus,  Sylvula  Sententiarum  Lutheri,  p.  190. 

*  TiBch-Iteden,  p.  218,  b.  «  Ibid.  p.  422,  a. 


LUTHEB  IN   PBIYATE  LIFE.  245 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

LUTHEB  IN  PRIVATE  LIFE. 

Lniher  the  &ther  of  a  fiunily.  —Elizabeth  and  John,  his  children. — Luther  at 
CobmiS^  and  the  toy-merchant. — ^HLb  letter  to  his  son. — ^Lnther  a  gardener. 
— In  his  own  house. — Luther's  residence. — ^The  monastery  of  Erfbrt  in 
1838. — Lnther  at  table. — His  opinion  of  music. — ^Account  of  the  ezpencee 
of  the  city  of  Wittemberg  for  the  doctor. — Luther's  opinion  as  to  dancing 
and  usury. — A  case  of  conscience. — ^The  nuns  of  Kimptschen. — Luther  an 
insoWent  debtor. — Hans  Lufit  and  Amsdorf. — ^The  reformer's  courage  in 
adversity. — His  charities. — His  pride  in  poyerty. — His  devotion  to  the 
Muses. — ^Eobanus  Hessus. 

Revolutions  have  frequently  prodaced  men  who  conquer 
every  obstacle  to  the  accomplishment  of  one  idea  which  they 
have  determined  to  realize.  Their  mission  being  finished,  we  are 
astonished  to  see  them  fall  back  into  obscurity.  Such  a  man 
was  Luther.  Rather  than  bend  the  knee  before  the  pope  or  the 
emperor,  he  would  have  preferred  to  die ;  but  when  descended 
from  the  high  position  which  he  had  so  long  occupied,  he  forgets 
himself  and  his  past  elevation,  and,  after  having  ruled  men's 
minds,  becomes  obedient  as  a  child  to  the  humours  of  a  woman 
of  thirty,  plays  with  his  children  as  he  had  played  with  crowned 
heads,  and  cultivates  his  little  garden  at  Wittemberg  with  the 
same  patience  which  we  have  seen  him  display  in  his  endeavours 
to  convert  Eck  or  Garlstadt.  He  must  be  seen  in  his  private 
life.  It  must  be  a  curious  spectacle  to  observe  the  monk,  whom 
Charles  V.  had  been  unable  to  subdue,  losing,  in  the  bosom  of 
his  &mily,  all  the  memories  of  his  past  renown,  and  concealing 
himself  from  the  world  to  surrender  himself  to  the  efFosions  of 
friendship,  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  the  culture  of  his  garden. 

Let  us  for  awhile  leave  the  Reformer,  to  study  the  private 
individual ;  the  pulpit  of  the  sectary,  to  penetrate  into  the 
domestic  life  of  a  family-man  ;  and  look  at  the  monk  transformed 
into  a  citizen  of  Wittemberg.  But  let  us  remember,  those 
modest  virtues  which  we  are  now  to  exhibit — for  we  have  no 
interest  in  concealing  them — are  like  the  flowers  in  the  solitude 
of  that  cloister,  in  which  the  obedient  son  of  the  Church  dwelt 


246  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

BO  long,  and  which  the  evil  passions  of  the  heresiarch  have  been 
unable  entirely  to  stifle. 

''  Many  children  are  a  mark  of  God's  blessing/'  said  Luther, 
"and  thus  you  see  that  Duke  George  of  Saxony  had  none  !"* 
He  himself  had  no  cause  of  complaint,  for  Providence  had 
sent  him  six.  He  exulted  when  Eetha  felt  that  she  was  to 
become  a  mother,  and  immediately  wrote  to  Briesger :  "  My 
chain  salutes  your  chain  ;  she  perceives  the  motion  of  the 
infant.*  God  be  thanked  !  "  When  John,  his  first-bom,  came 
into  the  world,  his  heart  overflowed  with  joy  ;  he  was  obliged  to 
communicate  his  happiness  to  all  his  correspondents.  His  old 
friend  Spalatinus  was  the  first  to  receive  the  intelligence.  "  Joy 
and  benediction  !  I  thank  you,  my  dear  Spalatinus,  for  all 
your  kind  wishes ;  may  the  Lord  grant  them  !  1  am  a  father  ; 
Catherine,  my  darling  wife,  has  presented  me  with  a  son,  a  gift 
from  Heaven  :  thank  God,  I  am  a  father !  I  wish  with  all  my 
heart  that  Heaven  may  send  you  the  same  and  more  abundant 
blessings,  for  you  are  much  better  than  I  am.  Pray  to  God,  my 
dear  friend,  that  he  may  preserve  this  child  from  Satan,  who  will 
neglect  no  means,  as  I  know  well,  to  break  my  heart  in  the 
person  of  this  my  beloved  son.  He  already  bears,  wherefore  I 
know  not,  all  the  marks  of  suffering.  When  will  you  come  to 
see  us,  to  renew  our  former  intimacy  ?  I  have  planted  a  garden, 
and  constructed  a  fountain  ;  with  what  taste  you  shall  see. 
Come,  then,  that  I  may  crown  you  with  lilies  and  roses."  * 

In  1526  Elizabeth  was  bom  ;  she  lived  only  a  few  months, 
and  died  in  her  father's  arms.  "  Poor  child  !  "  said  Luther, 
^'  her  death  lacerates  my  heart  Alaa  !  I  should  never  have 
believed  that  a  father's  heart  was  so  weak  !     Pray  to  God  for 


'  Befonnations-Almanaoh,  1817,  p.  64. 

*  "Salutat  te  et  tuiim  catenam  mea,  onjns  foetus  Be  pnsbait  sentiendnm 
jam  fere  sex  hebdomadibus.  Deo  gratias.*' — Eberhardo  Briesger.  De  Wette, 
torn.  iii.  p.  92.     1526. 

'  Spalatinus  was  married  in  December,  1525.  Luther  wrote  to  bim :  '*  Sa- 
luta  tuam  conjugem,  et  cum  in  thoro  suavissimis  amplexibus  et  oeoulis  Gatha- 
Tinam  tenueris.  .  .  ." — De  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  iii.  p.  58. 

Another  letter,  to  Jonas :  "  Salutabis  tuum  Diotative  multis  basiis  vice  me& 
et  Jonanelli  mei  qui  hodie  didicit  flexis  poplitibus  solus  in  oronem  angulum 
cacare,  imo  cacavit  ver^  in  omnem  angulum  miro  negotio.  Salutat  te  mea 
Ketha  et  orare  pro  se  rogat,  puerpera  propediem  future ;  Christus  assit.  19 
Oct.  1527."    To  Briesger :  "  Filiolam  aliam  habeo  in  utero,  8  Apr.  1528." 


LUTHRR  IN  PRIVATE   LIFE.  247 

me."  He  caused  to  be  engraved  upon  her  tomb  :  "  Hie  donnit 
Elizabetha,  filiola  Lutheri/' 

John  grew  apace  ;  but  as  he  increased  in  years,  the  germs  of 
disease  which  he  had  brought  with  him  into  the  world  became 
developed,  so  that  all  the  doctor's  happiness  was  poisoned.  He 
forgot  the  world  to  speak  of  his  child.  ''  My  little  one  cannot 
embrace  you,"  he  writes,  "  but  he  earnestly  commends  himself 
to  your  prayers.  For  twelve  days  he  has  taken  neither  meat 
nor  drink  until  yesterday,  when  he  was  a  degree  better.  Poor 
little  fellow,  he  is  so  playful,  but  so  weak  ! " 

There  is  a  charming  picture  in  Luther's  life.  At  the  diet  of 
Augsburg,  presided  over  by  Charles  V.  in  person.  King  Ferdi- 
nand, the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  the  pope's  nuncio,  the  electors  of 
Saxony,  and  all  the  most  illustrious  warriors  and  learned  men  of 
Germany  were  assembled.  Melancthon  was  to  present  to  that 
assembly  the  Protestants'  confession  of  faith.  In  consequence 
of  the  emperor's  anger,  Luther  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself  at 
Coburg.  While  walking  through  that  town,  he  stopped  before  a 
toyshop,  and  suddenly  remembered  his  son  John,  and  returning 
to  the  citadel,  he  left  the  magnificent  psalm,  ''  Quare  iremuernnt 
gentes?"  which  he  was  translating  into  German  with  all  the 
poetic  fire  of  the  original,  to  write  to  this  child  of  four  years' 
old  the  following  letter,  so  adapted  to  the  infant's  compre- 
hension : — 

''  Grace  and  peace  in  the  Lord,  my  dear  child  !  I  hear  with 
delight  that  you  learn  your  lessons  well,  and  say  your  prayers  to 
our  good  God.  Continue  to  do  so,  my  dear  child,  and  when  I 
return  I  shall  bring  you  a  pretty  toy. 

"  I  have  seen  a  pretty  little  garden  where  there  were  many 
children  dressed  in  golden  robes,  who  were  heaping  up  under  the 
trees  pears,  apples,  cherries,  and  plums.  They  were  singing  and 
dancing  with  joy  ;  they  were  also  riding  on  pretty  ponies  with 
bridles  of  gold  and  saddles  of  silver.  I  asked  the  owner  of  the 
garden  :  *  Whose  children  are  these  ?' — '  Oh  ! '  he  replied,  '  these 
are  good  children,  who  say  their  prayers,  and  learn  their  lessons 
well,  and  love  the  good  God.'  And  I  said  to  him  :  *  My  good 
friend,  I  also  have  a  son  named  Hans,  might  I  bring  him  to  this 
garden,  where  he  could  eat  these  nice  apples  and  pears,  and  ride 
upon  these  pretty  ponies,  and  play  with  these  children  ?'     And 


248  HISTOET  OF   LUTHER. 

the  man  replied  :  '  If  he  says  his  prayers,  and  learns  his  lesson 
well,  and  is  very  good,  he  shall  come  with  Lippus  and  Jost,  and 
when  they  are  together .  they  shall  ride  about,  play  on  the  fife 
and  the  drum,  and  dance,  and  shoot  with  little  cross-bows/  And 
the  man  showed  me  in  the  middle  of  the  garden  a  fine  green- 
sward for  dancing,  where  were  golden  fifes,  and  silver  drums,  and 
cross-bows.  But  it  was  too  early,  the  children  had  not  dined, 
and  I  had  not  time  to  wait  to  see  them  dance.  And  I  said  to 
the  man  :  *  Ah,  my  dear  sir,  I  shall  write  immediately  to  my 
little  John  to  learn  his  lessons,  and  say  his  prayers,  and  be  very 
good,  that  he  may  come  to  this  garden  ;  he  has  an  aunt  whom 
he  will  bring  with  him/  And  the  man  replied :  '  Go  and  write 
to  your  little  John.' 

''  My  dear  child,  learn  your  lessons,  say  your  prayers,  and  tell 
Lippus  and  Jost  (Philip  and  James)  to  be  very  good,  and  you 
shall  all  come  to  the  garden.  Salute  your  aunt,  and  give  her  a 
kiss  for  me."* 

One  can  hardly  believe  that  this  playful  efiusion  wa£  written 
by  the  same  hand  as  that  which  penned  the  letters  to  Henry  VIII. 
and  Leo  X.  And  if  you  see  him  digging  in  his  garden,  pulling 
up  the  weeds,  drawing  water  from  the  fountain  for  sprinkling 
his  borders,  and  as  proud  of  his  flower-pots  as  of  his  translation 
of  the  New  Testament,  you  will  not  recognise  the  ,pilgrim  who  at 
sight  of  Worms  exclaimed :  "  Were  there  as  many  devils  there 
as  there  are  tiles  on  the  housetops,  I  shall  advance  !  *'  Do  you 
know  why  he  is  so  fond  of  his  garden  ?  It  is  because,  when 
he  is  tempted  by  the  devil,  he  takes  his  spade,  laughing  in  his 
sleeve  at  his  adversary,  from  whom  he  escapes  by  taking  refuge 
among  the  flowers.- 

"  Send  me  the  seeds  which  you  promised  me  for  the  spring ; 
I  look  for  them  with  impatience,'"  he  writes  to  his  friend  Lincke  ; 
and  when  the  seeds  have  germinated,  he  despatches  another  letter 
to  inform  him  of  the  good  news.  **  My  melons  grow,  my  gourds 
are  swelling ;  what  a  blessing !  "^ 

He  was  passionately  fond  of  flowers,  and  often  knelt  down  to 
admire  them  more  closely.    "  Poor  violet,"  he  would  say,  "  what 


^  Gust.  Pfizer,  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Leben,  p.  590. 

•  Gust.  Pfizer,  1.  c.  '5  Juillet,  1627. 


LUTHER  IN   PEIVATB  LIFE.  249 

a  peifdme  you  exhale ;  bat  how  much  sweeter  it  would  be  if 
Adam  had  not  sinned  !  How  I  admire  your  tints,  oh,  rose, 
which  would  be  more  brilliant,  but  for  the  fault  of  the  first  man ! 
Lily,  whose  splendour  exceeds  that  of  the  princes  of  the  world, 
what  now  would  it  be  if  our  first  father  had  not  been  disobedient 
to  his  Creator  ?"  He  believed  that  after  Adam's  fall  the  hand 
of  God  had  taken  away  from  the  material  world  a  portion  of  the 
gifts  which  He  had  bestowed  on  it ;  but,  at  least,  he  thought, 
^'  nature  does  not  show  its  ingratitude  like  man ;  for  the  murmur 
of  the  streams,  the  perfume  of  the  gardens,  the  breath  of  the 
winds,  the  rustling  of  the  leaves,  are  so  many  hymns  chanted  to 
the  Creator ;  whilst  man,  made  after  the  image  of  God,  forgets 
Him  entirely  since  his  sin.  Oh,  man,  how  great  were  thy 
destinies,  if  Adam  had  not  fallen  !  Thou  wouldst  have  studied 
and  admired  God  in  each  of  His  works,  and  the  smallest  plant 
would  have  formed  an  inexhaustible  source  of  meditation  on  the 
goodness  and  magnificence  of  him  who  created  worlds  !  And  if 
God  causes  to  spring  from  the  rocks  such  a  variety  of  flowers, 
with  colours  so  brilliant  and  perfumes  so  sweet,  that  no  painter 
or  chemist  can  eqnal  them,  what  still  greater  number  of  flowers 
of  every  hue, — ^blue,  yellow,  and  red,  could  He  have  caused  the 
earth  to  produce  ! " 

One  day,  when  at  table,  his  children  were  admiring  the  colour 
of  a  peach,  a  fruit  then  very  dear,  and  of  which  Luther  had  received 
a  present :  ^^  My  children,"'  said  he,  ''  this  is  but  a  feeble  image 
of  what  one  day  you  may  see  on  high  !  Adam  and  Eve,  before 
their  fall,  had  peaches  far  finer  than  that,  compared  with  which 
our  peaches  are  but  wild  pears.''  He  believed  that  after  the 
day  of  judgment,  in  the  world  beyond  the  grave,  of  which  we 
have  only  a  dim  idea,  creation  would  resume  its  primitive  beauty  ; 
that  the  sun,  the  light  of  which  he  compared  to  that  of  an  ordi- 
nary lamp,  would  advance  in  glory,  like  the  giant  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  shine  with  new  brilliancy,  and  blaze  unbearable  by 
mortal  eyes.  The  stars  would  be  so  many  suns,  whose  splendour 
would  nevertheless  be  obscured  by  the  moon.  Then  other 
heavens  would  ofea  up,  and  an  earth,  of  which  ours  is  but  a 
shadow,  would  appear  decked  with  all  the  beauty  which  it  had 
lost  by  Adam's  faJL  And  after  having  discourised  at  length  on 
these  imaginary  worlds,  which  the  eye  of  man  would  one  day  see : 


250  HISTOET   or  LUTHER. 

"  Poor  Erasmus/'  said  he,  without  considering  that  this  reflec- 
tion laid  bare  the  misery  of  his  nature,  "  you  have  no  anxiety 
for  this  future  creation  ;  what  matters  it  to  you  how  the  fruit  is 
formed,  matured,  and  deyeloped  ?  You  know  nothing  of  the 
dignity,  the  grandeur,  of  sexual  union.  But  we,  thank  Ood  ! 
admire  the  power  of  the  Creator  in  the  works  of  his  hands. 
What  magnificence  a  single  blade  of  grass  conceals !  and  how 
the  might  of  his  word  is  seen  in  His  creatures  :  let  them  be,  and 
they  were  made !  See  this  kernel  of  the  peach,  its  taste  is 
bitter,  but  it  will  open,  and  another  wonder  will  issue  from  it. 
Tell  Erasmus  to  admire  these  wonders,  they  are  beyond  his 
comprehension ;  he  contemplates  creation  as  a  cow  does  a  new 
door."  ^     Had  Luther,  then,  not  read  the  philosopher's  works  ? 

In  1524,  the  monks  in  a  body  left  the  Augostinian  monastery  ; 
none  bat  the  prior  and  Luther  remained.  The  prior  lived  at  his 
ease ;  but  Luther  was  for  a  long  time  obliged  to  attend  to  the 
applications  of  the  monks  who,  as  a  means  of  subsistence, 
required  the  revenues  of  the  house.  He  handed  them  over  to 
the  elector  Frederick,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  an  administration 
which  subjected  him  often  to  the  complaints  and  anger  of  his 
former  brethren.  He  laid  aside  the  cowl,  which  he  had  only 
continued  to  wear  for  the  purpose  of  ridiculing  the  pope.*  On 
the  9th  of  October,  he  preached  for  the  first  time  in  his  new 
dress  ;  it  was  a  gown  with  wide  sleeves,  shaped  like  a  cassock,  but- 
toned up  to  the  middle  of  the  breast,  where  it  was  turned  over  on 
each  side,  and  displayed  a  black  vest,  with  a  small  collar  or  rabat 
of  white  linen.  Thus  he  appears  in  the  painting  by  his  friend 
Lucas  Cranach.  A  few  days  before  he  assumed  his  new  cos- 
tume, the  elector  had  sent  him  a  large  piece  of  Prussian  cloth 
with  this  note  :  "  This  will  make  you  a  preacher's  cassock, 
a  monk's  gown,  or  a  Spanish  cape."'  This  was  all  the  ward- 
robe of  the  period.  Eck  wore  the  cassock  at  Leipsic,  Prierias 
the  monk's  gown,  and  Erasmus  the  Spanish  cape.  Luther 
did  not  wish  to  leave  the  cloister ;  a  superstitious  feeling  kept 
him  there,  as  he  believed  that  he  was  to  die  in  it.     It  was  there 


'  Siehet  er  die  Greaturen  an  wie  die  Rillie  ein  neues  Thor. 
'  **  Nam  et  incipiam  tandem  cacullum  abjicere  qnem  ad  ludibriom  pap» 
bacteniis  retinui.'* — Fab.  Capitoni,  25  Maii,  1524. 
'  G.  Pfizer,  Martin  Lutber's  Leben,  p.  185. 


LUTBEB  IN  PBIVATB  LIFE.  251 

that  he  receiyed  the  envoy  of  King  Ferdinand,  who  came  to 
Wittemberg  to  inquire  into  the  troth  of  the  ramonr  that  the 
doctor  had  a  strong  guard  of  armed  men.  The  envoy  found  him 
all  alone  with  hijs  books,  and  did  not  see  even  the  legion  of 
devils  which  the  Anabaptists  alleged  to  attend  him,  or  that 
familiar  spirit  which  daily  dined  with  him,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Luther's  own  tale.^ 

After  the  monks  left,  Luther  removed  to  an  apartment  much 
larger  than  that  which  he  first  occupied,  and  where  the  devil 
had  tempted  him  so  violently,  that  in  order  to  drive  him  away 
he  was  obliged  to  pitch  the  inkstand  at  his  head  ;  the  door  all 
stained  with  ink  still  remains  in  evidence  of  the  apparition. 
This  was  no  longer  a  little  cell  of  some  few  square  feet,  but  a 
complete  suite  of  rooms,  in  three  divisions,- — one  for  a  bed- 
chamber, another  for  study  and  reception,  and  a  third  for 
dining.  The  walls  of  his  bedroom  were  daubed  with  texts  from 
the  Scriptures,  written  in  charcoal,  such  as  :  '^  Verbum  Bei 
manet  in  SBtemum/'  which  he  had  worked  even  on  his  servants' 
sleeves ;  or  quotations  from  the  classic  poets.  Homer  especially : 
''  He  who  watches  over  the  destiny  of  a  nation,  ought  not  to 
sleep  all  night."*  The  selection  of  Bible  texts  was  made  by 
Staupitz.  The  study,  which  was  plastered  and  whitewashed, 
was  adorned  with  portraits  in  oil  of  Melancthon  and  the  elector 
Frederick,  by  Lucas  Granach,  and  some  caricatures  against  the 
pope.  Luther  had  suggested  the  subjects  of  these  in  his  conver- 
sations at  table.  Some  itinerant  artist,  as  they  all  were,  had 
collected  them  and  carried  them  to  Nuremberg,  that  great 
emporium  of  wood  engravings.  They  were,  as  usual,  sorry 
devices, — the  pope  on  a  sow,  the  pope  carried  ofiF  by  devils,  or 
his  holiness  in  the  shape  of  a  calf,  an  elephant,  or  a  naked 
woman.  These  caricatures  were  encased  in  maple-wood  frames, 
whence  were  suspended  scrolls  containing  prophetic  sentences  in 
German  ;  such  as,  "  The  day  of  the  Lord  approaches  \* — "  Pope, 
I  shall  be  to  thee  the  bear  on  the  highway  ;" — ''  I  passed,  and  he 
was  no  more."^     Farther,  the  eye  was  disagreeably  affected  by  a 


'  lisch-Beden.  *  Reform&tioDS-Almanacb,  1817.  p.  S8. 

*  Prophecies  of  the  approaching  fivll  of  the  papacy  were  long  in  fashion 
among  Protestants.  There  was  no  theologian,  howeyer  petty,  who  did  not 
foretell  the  precise  day  and  hour  on  which  the  Holy  See  was  to  perish.    See 


262  HISTORT   OF  LUTHBE. 

clumsy  wooden  case,  on  which  lay  or  stood  a  few  books,  which 
he  called  his  library;  among  these  the  Bible,  as  the  word  of 
God  in  his  mind,  occupied  the  first  place ;  it  was  there  in 
Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  ;  there  were  Melancthon's  "  Psalms," 
and  Erasmus'  "New  Testament;"  beside  them,  in  confusion, 
lay  the  theses  on  indulgences,  treatises  on  abrogation  of  the 
Mass,  on  the  "  Captivity  in  Babylon,"  the  "  Epistol»  Obscu- 
rorum  Yirorum,"  several  works  of  John  Huss,  the  editions  of 
Virgil  and  Columella,  printed  by  Froben,  of  Basle,  and  some 
ascetic  books  published  at  Mayence,  which  had  been  presented 
to  him  by  his  friends.  The  chamber  was  of  an  irregular  figure, 
the  lateral  lines  of  which  terminated  in  a  large  bay-window, 
from  five  to  six  feet  in  height.  Coloured  panes,  of  a  round 
shape,  soldered  together  with  lead,  threw  the  Ught  in  variegated 
hues  upon  the  table.  This  table,  which  has  been  carefully  pre- 
served as  a  relic,  resembles  a  sort  of  desk  d  la  Trofichin ;  and 
on  its  centre  is  the  ivory  crucifix,  the  work  of  a  Nuremberg 
artist,  which  constitutes  its  greatest  ornament.  The  head  of  the 
Redeemer  is  admirably  expressive.  The  artist  must  certainly 
have  visited  Italy,  and  been  familiar  with  the  works  of  Michael 
Angelo.  It  is  believed  to  have  been  the  gift  of  the  elector,  who 
probably  found  it  in  a  monastery.  It  is  this  representation  of 
Christ,  but  coarsely  copied,  which  forms  the  frontispiece  to  the 
edition  of  Luther  s  works,  published  a  few  years  after  his  death. 
The  old  arm-chair  in  which  he  sat,  and  in  which  he  probably 
translated  a  part  of  the  Bible,  still  exists ;  this  is  a  monastic 
piece  of  furniture,  also  presented  to  him  by  the  prince  ;  perliaps 
it  may  have  been  the  chair  of  some  bishop,  some  disciple  of 
Scotus  or  Durandus.  On  his  return  from  Wartburg,  Luther 
brought  with  him  a  dog,  which  the  keeper  of  the  castle  had 
given  to  him,  and  which  died  of  old  age,  after  having  passed 
fifteen  years  of  his  life  with  the  doctor,  at  whose  feet  it  lay  while 
he  worked.  Hehce  Luther,  alluding  to  the  theologians  who 
boasted  of  having  seen  many  books,  contemptuously  said :  "  And 
my  dog  also  has  seen  many  books,  more  perhaps  than  Faber,  who 


on  this  subject  a  carious  volume,  published  in  1527,  Eine  wunderliche  Weissa* 
gung  Ton  dem  Papstthumb,  in  Figuren  oder  Gemalden  begriffen.  Osiander 
wrote  the  preface,  Hans  Sachs  the  verses,  and  Hans  Guldemuad  printed  it. 
See  Hist.  dipl.  Mi^g;az.  torn.  i.  p.  344. 


LUTHER  IN   PRIVATE  LIFE.  263 

talks  of  nothing  but  the  fathers  and  conncils.  I  know  that 
Faber  has  seen  many  books,  it  is  a  glory  which  I  do  not  enyy 
him."^  Near  the  door  was  a  turner's  lathe,  which  he  got  from 
Nuremberg,  that  he  might  earn  his  bread  by  his  hands,  if  ever 
the  word  of  God  should  be  insufficient  to  support  him.  "  My  dear 
Lincke,"  he  writes  to  his  friend,  "  we  have  none  but  barbarians 
here,  who  know  nothing  of  the  arts ;  Wolfgang  and  I  have  taken  it 
into  our  heads  to  learn  turning ;  he  is  to  act  as  my  master.  I  send 
you,  therefore,  a  florin,  and  request  you  will  purchase  with  it  the 
necessary  tools  for  boring  and  turning,  a  pair  of  screws,  and  all 
that  is  required  for  the  trade  we  wish  to  learn  ;  we  have  some 
tools,  but  those  of  Nuremberg  are  better ;  your  workmen  are 
better  than  ours.  If  the  florin  is  not  enough,  add  what  is  need- 
ful, and  I  shall  repay  you.'' 

At  the  door  were  hung  up,  in  place  of  those  pipes  which  you 
now  find  in  the  room  of  every  German  student,  a  flute  and  a 
guitar,  on  both  of  which  instruments  he  performed.  When  he 
felt  fatigued  by  long  composition,  his  brain  weary,  and  that  his 
ideas  did  not  keep  pace  with  his  pen, — or  that  the  devil,  as  he 
tells  us,  played  him  some  trick,  and  came  to  tempt  him, — he 
would  take  his  flute,  and  play  a  tune,  when  his  ideas  became 
fresh,  like  a  flower  dipped  in  water,  and  the  exorcised  demon 
would  take  flight,  and  the  writer  return  to  his  work  with  renewed 
energy.  He  considered  music,  like  language,  a  divine  revelation, 
of  heavenly  origin,  and  that  without  God  man  would  not  have 
discovered  it.  In  his  eyes  no  remedy  was  more  efficacious 
than  music  for  driving  away  the  evil  thoughts,  angry  desires, 
ambitious  aspirations,  and  carnal  suggestions,  which  we  inherit 
from  our  first  parent.  It  was  the  most  certain  voice  by  which 
man  could  convey  to  the  throne  of  God  his  pains,  his  cares,  his 
tears,  his  miseries,  his  love,  and  his  gratitude ;  it  was  the 
language  of  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  on  earth  that  of  the  old 
prophets.  Next  to  theology  he  laved  music,  and  often  said : 
"The  man  who  does  not  love  music,  cannot  be  loved  by  Luther.''^ 
What  a  charming  science  is  music!  its  notes  impart  life  to 
speech,  it  expels  the  cares,  inquietudes,  and  sorrows  of  the  heart. 

'  An  Jiutos  JoDM :  1528. 

'  "  Wer  die  Musikanten  veracbtet,  wie  denn  alle  Schwarmer  thun,  mit  dem 
bin  icb  nicbt  zufrieden,  denn  die  Musika  ist  eine  Gabe  nnd  Geschenk  Gottee." 


254  HISTOBT   OF  Z.UTHEE. 

Every  instructor  of  youth,  every  clergyman  should  be  a  musician. 
A  musician  is  a  truly  happy  man :  he  has  no  bitter  cares  ;  by 
the  aid  of  a  few  notes  he  l»nishes  ennui :  ^^  pacts  tempore  regnat 
musica/'  ^  He  had  retained  and  loved  to  sing,  while  digging  in 
his  garden,  some  old  hymns  of  the  Church :  '^  A  solis  orttu 
iiderey  Patris  $apientia/'  and  especially,  **  Bex  Ckriste  /actor 
omnium"  of  which  both  the  words  and  the  music  delighted  him 
much.  When  he  entered  Worms,  he  sung  a  hymn,  of  which  he 
is  said  to  have  composed  both  the  words  and  the  music.  This 
choral  is  one  of  the  oldest  musical  relics  which  Germany  has 
preserved,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  the  music  is  the  same  that 
Luther  extemporized,  for  the  music  of  Worms  does  not  resemble 
that  of  Wittemberg ;  in  neither  of  them  have  we  found  but  the 
imperfect  element  of  Meyerbeer's  choral.  The  song  in  German 
resembled  greatly  the  melopoeia  of  the  Greeks  or  the  Gr^rian 
chant ;  and  Luther  was  right  in  saying  that  music  was  a  gift 
which  man  received,  like  a  grace,  into  his  system.  In  Italy  alone 
has  man  made  it  an  art. 

Were  Luther  to  return  to  the  world,  he  would  recognise  neither 
his  gospel  nor  his  residence.  The  Augustinian  monastery  at 
Erfurt  has  undergone  the  fate  of  its  doctrines :  it  has  fallen  to 
the  ground,  and  nothing  remains  of  it  but  the  monk's  cell,  which 
is  religiously  preserved,  and  shown  to  the  inquisitive  traveller. 
It  is,  in  truth,  the  great  wonder  of  that  city.  Imagine  a  room 
of  a  few  feet  square,  sufficiently  large  to  contain  a  bed,  one 
or  two  chairs,  and  a  table.  The  window,  excessively  high,  as  in 
the  monasteries  of  the  sixteenth  century,  commands  a  view  of 
the  high  towers  of  the  neighbouring  church.  Their  tall  spires, 
ornamented  with  infinite  labour,  were  the  only  external  sight 
that  could  distract  his  attention.  They  no  longer  exist.  Enclosed 
by  thick  walls,  isolated  from  all  other  habitations,  no  sound  could 
reach  its  occupant  save  the  wind,  which  whistled  through  the  fret- 
work of  the  pinnacles  of  the  church,  or  the  monotonous  drip  of  the 
water  that  fell  from  the  conventual  fountain  into  a  vast  stone  basin. 

Martin  Goerlitz  was  his  regular  purveyor  of  Torgau  beer. 
"  Your  Ceres,"  Luther  writes  to  him,  "  goes  oflF  jollily  ;  it  was 
reserved  for  me  and  my  guests,  who  could  not  praise  it  enough, 


>  Tisoh-Reden,  pp.  577,  578. 


LUTHBB  IW   PBITATB   LIFB.  256 

and  preferred  it  to  any  that  they  had  ever  tasted.  And  I,  clown 
that  I  am,  who  have  not  yet  thanked  yoa  for  it,  or  your  EmiliuB 
either,  am  so  oikodespotes,  so  negligent,  that  I  forgot  it  at  the 
bottom  of  my  cellar,  where  it  would  have  remained  unknown 
had  my  servant  not  reminded  me  of  it  Thanks,  then,  for  that 
acceptable  gift,  the  magnificent  gift  of  a  Croesus  in  your  0¥m  way. 
Health  to  your  brothers,  especially  to  Emilius  and  his  son,  the 
graceful  hind  and  charming  fawn.  May  Ood  bless  you,  and 
make  you  abundantly  rich  in  grace  and  the  world's  goods  I"  ^ 

It  is  certain  that  Luther  loved  the  pleasures  of  the  table ; 
beer  and  good  wine  especially,  but  taken  in  moderation.  "  The 
elector's  wine  is  excellent,  and  we  do  not  spare  it,"  he  writes  to 
Spalatinus.^  Frederick  had  presented  him  with  some  Rhenish 
wine,  and  at  the  secularisation  of  the  Augustinian  monastery 
the  entire  cellar  was  given  to  him  by  the  elector.  These  mo* 
nastic  cellars  were  abundantly  stored  with  the  wines  of  Italy, 
which  the  popes  frequently  sent  to  the  religious  houses  that  had 
rendered  service  to  the  court  of  Rome.  Besides,  the  German 
princes,  who,  by  means  of  Luther,  had  become  proprietors  of 
the  rich  cellars  of  the  reformed  abbeys,  seldom  failed  to  send  a 
few  hogsheads  as  an  acknowledgment  to  the  doctor  of  Wittem- 
berg.  It  must  be  granted  that  Luther,  when  drinking  ,the 
monks'  Malmsey,  ought  to  have  been  more  sparing  of  those  who 
had  provided  him  with  such  a  gratification.  They  were  nearly  all 
apostate  monks  whom  he  regaled  at  the  expense  of  those  who 
remained  faithful  to  their  ancient  religion :  Justus  Jonas, 
Amsdorf,  and  Spalatinus.  Melanothon,  one  of  his  &vorite 
guests,  might  have  made  himself  elevated  without  ingratitude, 
for  he  had  never  worn  the  monastic  habit. 

The  townhall  of  Wittemberg  contains  registers  of  expenditure 
firom  the  fifteenth  century.  The  follovring  is  extracted  from  that 
of  the  year  1526  : — 

^'  XX.  Grosch.  for  a  small  barrel  of  Malmsey,  at  5  gros.  the 
quarter. 

'^  VI.  Orosch.  for  a  small  barrel  of  Rhenish  wine. 

"  VII.  Grosch.  for  six  cans  of  Franconian  wine,  at  XIV.  the 
quarter,  for  Dr.  Martin,  on  Wednesday  after  Trinity. 

1  15  Jao.  1529.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  417. 
*  D.  O.  SpaktiDO,  8  Mart.  1528. 


256  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEE. 

"  XVL  Grosch.  VI.  Stiib.  for  a  hogshead  of  Eimbeck  beer, 
for  the  use  of  Dr.  Martin,  on  Tuesday  after  St.  John. 

"  I.  Stiib.  VII.  Grosch.  III.  Hell,  for  a  Suabian  hood,  as  a 
new  year's  gift  to  Dame  Catherine  Bora,  wife  of  Dr.  Martin. 

"  II.  Stub.  XVI.  Grosch.  for  wine  taken  by  Dr.  Martin  from 
the  cellars  of  the  city. 

"  XLII.  Grosch.  paid  for  Dr.  Martin  when,  at  the  request  of 
the  council  of  the  district,  he  returned  to  Wittemberg  from  his 
Isle  of  Patmos. 

"  VII.  Stiib.  XX.  Grosch.  for  Dr.  Martin,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  marriage,  taken  from  the  treasury  of  the  hospital."  ^ 

The  Reformer  was  temperate  ;  he  drank  little,  and  brought  to 
table  agreeable  conversation,  expansive  gaiety,  sarcastic  sallies, 
and  the  treasures  of  his  exhaustless  memory.  Every  subject 
was  discussed  there,  especially  the  monks,  whom  they  would  not 
have  spared,  even  though  their  wine  had  been  better  than  it  was; 
then  the  pope,  whose  horoscope  was  drawn,  and  whose  rule,  both 
spiritual  and  temporal,  was  to  be  buried  long  before  Luther ; 
women,  the  devil,  the  emperor,  and  even  dancing.  "  Is  dancing 
sinful  ?"  he  was  asked ;  and  he  replied :  "  Did  not  the  Jews 
dance  ?  I  cannot  tell  you  ;  but  we  dance  now-a-days  ;  dancing 
is  a  necessary,  like  dress  with  women,  dinner,  or  supper  ;  and 
indeed  I  do  not  see  why  it  should  be  forbidden  ;  if  people  sin, 
that  is  not  the  fault  of  the  dance,  which  does  not  offend  against 
faith  or  charity.  Dance  then,  my  children.'*  The  theatre  did 
not  appear  to  him  to  be  more  dangerous  than  dancing,  and  he 
did  not  condemn  those  who  witnessed,  acted,  or  composed  scenic 
representations.  "We  must  not,"  said  he,  "condemn  the 
theatre  because  improprieties  are  said  there,  for,  on  the  same 
principle,  we  must  condemn  the  Bible."*  After  dinner,  in 
summer,  he  would  take  off  his  coat,  and  play  at  skittles  with 
Dietrich,  or  one  of  his  friends.  He  said  merrily  :  "  Melancthon 
is  a  better  Greek  scholar  than  I  am,  but  I  beat  him  at  skittles." 

The  greatest  men  of  his  time,  with  whom  Luther  formerly 
took  counsel,  kept  up  a  regular  correspondence  with  him:  he 


'  Ausgabe  yon  den  Baths-Gescbenken. 

'  See  the  chapter  entitled,  Luther  at  Table.  Seckendorf  asserts  that  Capnio 
(Reuchlin)  caused  the  first  German  comedy  to  be  performed,  in  honour  of 
Dalberg,  bishop  of  Worms. — Comm.  de  Luth.  sect,  xxvii.  §  70,  p.  104. 


LUTHEE  IN   PEIVATB   LIFE.  257 

is  the  nniversal  casaist,  the  father  of  the  Saxon  Church ;  and 
he**  answers  every  letter.  "  Doctor/'  he  is  asked,  "  what  do 
yon  think  of  usury  ?"  "  You  have  only  to  open  my  treatise  *  De 
Usuris/  He  who  lends  at  five  or  six  per  cent,  is  an  usurer. 
When  I  lend  you  my  vase,  what  do  you  return  to  me  ?  only  my 
vase ;  you  rob  me  by  gaining  on  your  exchange.  There  are 
neither  Sacraments  nor  paradise  for  usurers/'  * 

At  one  time  a  poor  monk,  peculiarly  tormented,  informs  Spala- 
tinus  of  the  circumstance,  who,  treating  it  as  a  case  of  conscience, 
immediately  writes  to  Wittemberg.  Luther's  decision  savours 
alike  of  the  casuist  and  the  physician.^ 

Another  time  it  is  a  young  woman  of  Torgau  in  search  of 
her  betrothed,  the  prince's  barber,  and  exhibiting  the  ring  and 
medal  which  she  had  received  from  him  as  pledges  of  their 
approaching  marriage.  The  betrothed  has  promised  in  presence 
of  Dr.  Schwerteger  and  Christian :  but  has  forgotten  Us  vows. 
Luther  engages  to  make  him  be  reminded  of  them  by  the  prince 
himself.  "  This  is  a  good  lesson,"  he  says  to  Spalatinus,  "  for 
a  class  of  worthless  fellows  who  constantly  trifle  with  youthful 
affections."  ^ 

A  nun  of  Freyberg  wrote  to  him :  "  My  beloved  doctor,  take 
me  from  my  convent,  and  bring  me  to  Saxony."  ♦ 

For  several  years  the  door  of  his  cell  was  besieged  by  religious 
of  both  sexes  who  came  to  ask  him  for  a  husband  or  a  wife. 
Luther  endeavoured  to  satisfy  them ;  and  he  had  plenty  of 
subjects  on  hand.  Some  of  them,  however,  lost  patience,  and 
gave  themselves  up  to  all  the  disorders  of  libertinism  ;  such  as 

John  P ,  who  was  found  in  a  brothel  drunk,  in  a  lay 

dress,  and  who  had  received  a  disgraceful  blow.^     At  the  sight 

»  Op.  Luth.  Wittenb.  torn.  vii.  pp.  419—487.  * 

'  *'  Seminiflaua  iUe  de  quo  mibi  scribia,  ei  tamen  fluit  vernm  semen,  boo 
est  cum  Bummd  voluptate  et  ooDCussioDe,  qualia  flazna  esse  si  mulieri  misoe" 
retur,  nam  sunt  quibas  fluxns  ejusmodi  tam  tennis  est,  ao  pen^  sine  voluptate, 
nt  tantum  bumor  quidam  superfluus  existimetnr,  cui  nee  ninlier,  nee  ulla  vis 
jnedebitur :  bio  st  in  otio  vivit  ao  in  secnritate,  tentare  poterit,  primo  ut  cor- 
porali  Ukbore  et  inedi&  exerceat  carnem,  turn  spes  erit  sanitatis:  sin  an  tern 
laborare  vel  non  vult,  vel  non  potest,  mandato  Dei  debet  mulieri  copnlari, 
alioqui  tentabit  Deum  et  manebit  in  peocato." — Spalattno,  6  Nov,  1523. 

'  Spalatino,  4  April. 

*  Lutber's  Briefe,  29  June,  1528. 

*  "  Inventus  k  lictoribus  in  lupanari  potatus  prob^  et  laicft  veste,  atqne  etiam 
percu.ssus  aliquft  parte,  ut  audio." — Wencesl.  Linck,  19  Dec.  1522. 

VOL.  II.  8 


258  HISTORY   OF   LUTHEE. 

of  the  scandals  given  by  the  apostate  monks,  Lather  exclaimed  : 
"  Truly,  we  are  encompassed  with  shame  I"  *  Some  violated  at 
the  same  time  both  their  vows  and  the  Christian  conditions  of 
marriage,  by  marrying  decrepid  women,  whose  riches  attracted 
their  covetousness.  "  Like  this  court-preacher  who/'  Luther  says, 
**  has  just  married  an  old  fool,  laden  with  years  and  money ;  a 
marriage  more  worthy  of  Mammon  than  the  Gospel.  It  would 
have  been  diflFerent  had  he  married  a  young  woman  who  could 
have  brought  him  children."  - 

One  day,  nine  nuns  came  to  him  at  once  :  Luther  was  at  Ids 
wit's  end. 

^'  Nine  apostate  nuns,  poor  lambs,  have  been  brought  to  me 
by  Leonard  Koeppe  and  Wolf  Tomitzch.  I  am  truly  sorry  for 
them,  and  others  like  them,  who  pine  away  in  continence ;  an 
infirm  sex,  so  fitted  for  man  by  their  nature  and  the  command  of 
God,  and  yet  treated  so  inhumanly.  0  paternal  tyranny  !  Who 
can  sufficiently  execrate  the  pope  and  cardinals  ! 

"  What  am  I  to  do  with  them  ?  I  shall  first  write  to  their 
parents ;  if  they  will  not  receive  them  I  shall  take  charge  of 
them,  and  marry  them  as  well  as  I  can.  Their  names  are : 
Magdalen  Staupitz,  Elsa  von  Canitz,  Ave  Grossin,  Ave  Schoen- 
feldin  '  and  her  sister  Margaret,  Lanete  von  Goles,  Margaret 
Zeschau  and  her  sister  Catherine,  and  Catherine  Bora.  Their 
escape  is  wonderful ;  they  must  be  relieved.  I  entreat  you  then 
to  do  a  work  of  charity,  and  procure  for  me  some  money  from 
the  rich  lords  of  your  court,  to  enable  me  to  support  them  for 
fifteen  days  until  l«can  send  them  back  to  their  families ;  for 
my  Caphamaites  profit  so  much  by  the  treasures  of  the  word 
which  I  preach  to  them,  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  the 
loan  of  ten  florins  for  a  poor  creature,  of  which  I  had  great 
need.  The  poor  have  nothing  or  they  would  have  lent  to  me, 
The  rich  either  refuse,  or  lend  so  unwillingly,  that  they  lose  all 
the  merits  of  charity  in  God's  sight.     You  know  that  my  whole 


»  Wencesl.  Linck,  19  Dec.  1522. 

•  "  Yehementer  displicent  nuptise  Wolfgangi  quas  tu  Bignificas  cum  annosft 
ot  nnramoBft  vetul&  :  opprobrium  est  ETaugelii  Bic  quaerero  Mammon.*' — Spala- 
tino,  19  Sept.  1523. 

'  Luther  married  her  to  a  physician,  Basilius. 


LUTHER  IN   PEIVATB   LIFE.  259 

income  is  only  five  hundred  and  thirty  florins ;  I  have  not  a 
penny  more  for  myself  or  my  brethren/'  * 

Luther  did  not  tell  the  Ixue  motive  for  the  refusal  of  his  co- 
religionists. When  the  time  for  payment  came  he  was  not 
always  ready  to  discharge  the  debt,  and  his  creditors  lost  their 
temper.  At  length  he  entirely  lost  credit  in  Wittemberg.  Luther 
had  then  recourse  to  his  mantel-piece,  which  was  always  adorned 
with  silver  goblets,  his  customary  gifts  from  the  electors.  He 
sold,  or  pledged,  or  alienated  them  in  perpetuity,  for  he  was  certain 
that  he  could  never  redeem  them  from  the  mortgagees.  In  1527, 
he  became  surety  for  more  than  a  hundred  florins.  He  had  the 
simplicity  to  ask  fifty  on  a  pledge  of  three  goblets  of  exquisite 
workmanship,  which  were  worth  two  hundred  ;  the  lender,  who 
knew  Luther,  was  well  pleased  with  his  advantage  over  him  ; 
but  he  was  mistaken,  and  ''the  Lord,  who  ought  to  have 
punished  the  doctor's  imprudence,  afibrded  him  the  means  of 
redeeming  them." 

His  printer,  Hans  LuSl,  who  had  become  a  Lutheran  because  he 
gained  much  money  by  selling  the  doctor's  works,  was  not  more 
charitable  than  others.  He  would  lend  him  nothing  ;  and  yet 
Luther  did  not  receive  a  farthing  from  his  works.^  He  merely 
reserved  some  five  or  six  copies  of  each  edition,  to  give  one  to 
the  first  poor  person  that  asked  for  alms,  when  his  purse  was 
empty, — ^^hich  was  generally  the  case. 

It  was  not  the  first  time  that  he  had  to  complain  of  Lufil, 
who  sent  him  proofs  full  of  errors,  overlooked  the  revises  very 
carelessly,  and  frequently  omitted  to  attend  to  the  author's  correc- 
tions. ''  My  printer  is  called  John,"  said  the  doctor  piteously, 
''  and  John  he  will  remain.  The  paper,  type,  all  that  he  has 
done  for  me  is  detestable.  .  .  .  They  are.  all  Uke  him  ;  provided 
they  make  money,  that  is  sufficient :  if  the  authors  be  content, 
why  should  they  trouble  themselves  ?"  *  But  what  would  Luther 
have  said  had  he  walked  into  one  of  those  German  printing- 
houses  where  the  majority  of  the  compositors,  Lutherans  of  their 


*  Spalatino,  10  April,  1523.     De  Wette,  1.  c  torn.  ii.  p.  819. 
»  Wencesl.  Linck,  5  Jul.  1527.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  186. 
^  Spalatino,  15  Aug.    Luther's  Briefe,  torn.  ii.  p.  42. 

s2 


260  HISTORY   OF  LUTDEB. 

trade,  amused  themselves  by  clouding  with  errors  the  Catholic 
writings  which  the  monks  published  ?  * 

Amsdorf  was  one  of  Luther's  best  friends,  obliging,  and  service- 
able, with  an  ever-open  purse  of  which  the  doctor  did  not  fail  to 
make  frequent  use.  Amsdorf  was  his  good  star.  One  day  there 
was  nothing  in  the  house,  when  unexpectedly  a  poor  pregnant 
woman  came  there  to  be  confined :  Luther  writes  to  his  friend  : 
''  Gersa  will  soon  lie  in  here  ;  should  that  happen  at  the  same 
time  when  Ketha  is  confined,  you  will  require  to  be  still  more 
liberal,  and  to  arm  yourself,  not  with  sword  or  mail,  but  with 
gold  and  silver,  and  a  well-stocked  purse  to  meet  the  emergency, 
for  we  will  not  let  you  oflF  scot  free."  *  Amsdorf  came  imme- 
diately, with  his  wallet  on  his  back  and  his  pockets  well  filled  ; 
Luther  went  down  to  the  cellar,  drew  from  the  cask  some  bottles 
of  Rhenish  wine,  and  the  companions  spent  a  few  pleasant  hours 
at  table.  In  the  evening  they  went  to  converse  at  the  tavern 
near  the  church  of  All  Saints. 

We  have  seen  with  what  philosophic  calmness  Luther  speaks 
of  his  poverty.  Amidst  all  those  vain  triumphs  which  might 
have  puflFed  up  a  mind  less  worldly  than  his,  he  is  always  the 
same  as  we  have  seen  him  at  the  beginning  of  his  contest  with 
the  pope.  Then  he  asked  a  few  florins  from  the  elector  to  pur- 
chase a  new  cassock,  his  own  being  old  and  out  at  elbow.  Now 
he  who  had  opposed  the  emperor  and  the  Orders  of  Germany  at 
Worms ;  who  had  roused  with  his  anger  all  the  princes  of 
Saxony  against  the  peasants ;  and  had  bandied  controversies 
with  crowned  heads,  cannot  find  any  one  to  lend  him  ten 
florins.  It  is  certain  that  had  he  wished  to  sell  his  silence,  he 
would  have  found  more  than  one  monarch  to  be  its  purchaser. 
This  poverty  is  noble,  and  Luther  bears  it  with  courage.  He 
never  speaks  of  it,  except  to  laugh  at  it  with  his  friends,  or 
express  his  vexation  when  any  poor  person  comes  to  solicit  alms. 
He  sends  them  to  the  elector  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  this 
prince's  charity  was  always  very  warm,  if  we  may  judge  of  it  by 
Luther's  murmurs. 


*  We  have  before  us  a  small  work,  beautifully  printed  at  Kureinl)eTig;,  by 
Baltbasar  Scbleiffier,  1501  :  Theodorici  Kysichei  Germani  Oratio,  in  which,  for 
want  of  types,  the  Greek  words  are  left  blank. 

'  Nicol.  Amsdorf,  29  March,  1529.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  432. 


LUTIIEIl   IN   PmVATE   LIFE.  261 

One  evening  a  poor  man  knocks  at  his  door :  Luther  has  no 
money.  "  Take  this/'  he  says,  "  here  is  an  o£fering  made  at  a 
baptism.''  And  when  his  wife  looks  displeased,  he  says  to  her, 
"  God  is  rich,  he  will  send  ns  something  more  beantiful." 

Another  time,  a  student  comes  to  ask  something  to  assist  his 
journey.  "  You  come  at  an  unfortunate  time,"  says  the  doctor. 
The  young  man  weeps.  "  Stop,  stop,"  says  Luther,  as  he  casts 
his  eyes  on  the  mantelpiece,  where  shines  a  silver-gilt  cup.  "  Take 
this  ;  I  wish  you  a  good  journey :  God  be  with  you  I"  The 
student  stares  with  surprise,  while  Eetha  grumbles  in  a  comer. 
Luther  takes  the  cup  and  squeezes  its  sides  together  with  his 
hands  as  if  it  had  been  in  a  vice :  "  carry  this,"  he  adds,  *'to 
the  goldsmith  ;  a  pewter  mug  will  serve  me."  * 

His  letters  of  recommendation  are  short  and  animated. 

"  The  poor  fellow  who  conveys  this  is  going  a  journey  ;  he  is 
a  worthy  man  who  must  be  assisted.  You  are  well  aware  that  I 
have  very  little,  and  have  daily  calls  upon  me.  Endeavour  to 
give  him  thirty  groschen ;  should  that  be  too  much,  give  him 
twenty,  and  I  shall  give  him  ten ;  if  that  is  still  too  much,  give 
him  the  half,  and  I  shall  try  to  make  up  the  difference.  God 
will  repay  you." 

The  elector  Frederick  generally  paid  attention  to  Luther's 
recommendations,  but  his  successor,  John,  sometimes  allowed 
them  to  remain  unnoticed.  He  thought  he  did  enough,  in  sending 
the  doctor  regularly  every  year  a  piece  of  cloth.  Luther  was  in 
no  haste  to  thank  him,  for  he  was  poor,  and  proud  as  a  mighty 
baron.  He  suffered  some  weeks  to  elapse  before  he  wrote  to  the 
prince : — 

**  I  have  long  delayed  to  thank  your  highness  for  the  robe  and 
piece  of  cloth  which  you  have  had  the  extreme  kindness  to  send 
me.  I  hope  your  highness  does  not  believe  those  who  say  that  I 
am  in  distress.  Thank  God,  you  have  never  let  me  want  for 
anything ;  I  have  even  more  than  is  necessary  for  me  in  con- 
science ;  and  I  neither  wish  nor  require  superfluities.  ,  To  tell 
you  the  truth,  I  receive  your  highness'  gifts  with  as  much  fear 
as  gratitude,  for  I  would  not  wish  to  be  of  the  number  of  those  of 
whom  Christ  has  said  :  '  Woe  to  you,  ye  rich,  you  have  received 

'  Dr.  Franz  Volkmar  Reinhard's  sammtliche  Reformationa-PredigteD,  vol.  ii. 
p.  110. 


262  HISTOBY   OF  LUTHEE. 

your  reward  in  your  treasures/  I  speak  frankly  to  yon.  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  a  burden  to  you  ;  your  highness  has  so  many  to 
support  that  I  fear  you  will  have  nothing  left :  there  are  too 
many  drafts  on  your  purse.  I  had  enough,  and  even  more  than 
enough  of  that  fine  brown  stu£f,  for  which  I  thank  you  heartily. 
But  I  wish  to  show  my  respect  for  you  ;  I  shall  accordingly  wear 
the  brown  dress,  although  it  is  much  too  fine  for  me  :  had  I  not 
received  it  from  you,  I  should  never  have  put  it  on.  I  b^  and 
entreat  your  highness  not  to  be  so  liberal,  but  wait  until  I  ask 
you,  so  that  another  time,  when  occa^iion  offers,  I  shall  not  feel 
ashamed  to  beg  for  others  who  are  more  deserving  of  your  bounty 
than  I  am :  otherwise  your  gifts  would  embarrass  me.  I  pray, 
firom  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  that  Christ  may  reward  you 
according  to  your  merits.     Amen."  * 

He  was  as  much  at  his  ease  with  the  electors,  great  people,  and 
lords  of  the  ducal  court  as  with  his  immediate  friends.  We  have 
seen  letters  addressed  to  Frederick,  written  upon  the  covers  of 
books,  of  which  the  two  leaves  had  been  pasted  together  by 
Luther. 

Justus  Jonas  was  even  more  r^ardless  of  the  customs  of 
society,  as  Luther  informs  us  in  the  following  untranslateable 
letter : — 

'^  Gratia  et  pax.  Non  de  cloaca  papyrum  sumo,  quemadmodum 
Jonas  noster  qui  te  nihil  pluris  sastimat  quam  ut  dignus  sis  qui 
schedas  natales,  hoc  est  de  natibus  purgatis  legas."  * 

For  upwards  of  two  years  he  and  the  prior  had  not  been  paid 
their  moderate  salary,  so  that  they  had  to  live  on  the  charity  of 
the  faithful :  but  this  did  not  prevent  the  tax-gatherers  of 
Wittemberg  from  constantly  insisting  on  payment  of  the 
seignorial  impost.  "  Must  we  always  hold  out  the  hand,"  said 
Luther,  "  and  receive  nothing  ?  When  is  this  to  end  ?  Christ, 
I  hope,  will  put  things  in  order."  But  his  complaint  never 
assumes  a  bitter  tone  j  he  only  raises  his  voice  a  little  when  a  poor 
person  comes  to  the  monastery  for  Luther,  who  has  frequently 
nothing  to  give  him  by  way  of  alms  but  a  recommendation  to 
one  of  his  firiends  at  court.     That  done,  the  monk  betakes  him- 


>  An  den  Ehurfiirsten  Johannes,  17  August,  1579. 
*  Epist.  Luth.  edit,  of  Aurifaber :  Eisleh.  fol.  271. 


LUTHER  IN  PRIVATE   LIFE.  263 

self  to  his  books,  to  the  Bible  especially;  which  be  prefers  to 
all  others.  Sometimes  he  returns  to  the  muses,  whom  he  had 
deserted,  and  who  could  charm  and  console  him  so  well.  These 
daughters  of  Heaven  bear  him  no  spite ;  on  the  contrary,  thoy 
receive  and  feast  him  as  the  prodigal  son,  they  inspire  him, 
and  procure  him  some  hours  of  delightful  relaxation.  We 
cannot,  then,  imagine  how  the  language  of  Luther  becomes  rich 
and  florid,  or  tell  that  he  had  ever  been  familiar  with  any  but 
the  classical  Latin,  so  sweet  does  it  flow,  and  exhale  such  a  per- 
fume of  antiquity.  He  is  again  a  poet.  Erasmus  has  not  a 
more  beautiful  page  than  that  which  the  Saxon  addresses  to  his 
friend  Eobanus  Hessus,  on  a  Latin  poem  : — 

"  Without  the  study  of  the  languages,  there  is  no  theology : 
we  have  seen  theology  and  literature  perish  in  the  same  ship- 
wreck. Never  did  the  great  voice  of  God  reveal  itself  to  man 
until  intelligence  had  prepared  the  way  for  it,  like  the  precursor 
of  the  Messiah.  It  is,  therefore,  my  most  ardent  wish  that 
youth  should  cultivate  the  muses.  Poets  and  orators  come  in 
crowds  to  initiate  man  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
give  him  the  understanding  of  the  divine  word.  Wisdom  can 
make  the  lips  of  childhood  eloquent.  Let  us  not  despise  the  gift 
of  tongues.  My  learned  friend,  make  use  of  your  own  name  and 
of  mine,  if  you  wish  to  invoke  it,  to  give  our  youth  a  taste  for 
poetry.  All  my  regret  is,  that  our  age  and  my  occupations  prevent 
me  from  cultivating  the  ancient  poets  and  orators,  and  thus  learn 
Greet  at  my  ease."  ^ 

^  Eobano  Hesso,  29  Marcli,  1523.  J.  Crotiis  Riibeanus,  the  iutimaie  friend 
of  Lather,  before  his  return  to  Catholicism,  had  sent  him  the  poem  of  Eobanas 
Hessus,  entitled  The  Captive.  See  Jac.  Burckard.  Comm.  de  Ling.  Lat.  in 
Germ,  fatis,  part.  i.  p.  170 ;  part.  ii.  p.  438  et  seq. 

Eobanas  Hessus,  author  of  the  treatise,  De  Amantium  Infelicitate  conti^ 
Yenerem,  de  Cupidinis  Impotenti&,  and  of  whom  we  have  made  mention  pre- 
viously, composed  various  poems  in  praise  of  Luther  :  In  Evangelic!  Doctoris 
Martini  Lutheri  laudem  Defensionemque ;  and  a  letter  to  him,  entitled,  £c- 
clesisB  A£9ictfe  Epistola  ad  Lutherum,  &c.  In  each  of  these  he  abases  the 
gluttony  of  the  monks : — 

"  Ignavi  monachi,  pepones  et  inertia  terrie 
Pondera,  degeneri  dedita  turba  guise." 
Now,  we  have  seen  that  Eobanas  Hessus  was  the  greatest  drunkard  of  his  age. 


264  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LUTHER  AT  TABLE.— THE  TISCH  REDEN. 

Lnther  at  the  Black  Eagle  tavern  in  Wittemberg. — Evening  convenations. — 
Why  we  oollect  them. — The  object  of  these  nocturnal  goesipings. — The 
devil — Sorcery. — ^The  pope. — The  decretals. — The  bishops. — ^The  papists. 
— On  the  death  of  some  papists. — ^The  monks. 

The  people  of  Germany  are  fond  of  evening-meetings  at  the 
tayem,  in  one  of  those  large  halls,  so  well  warmed  in  winter 
and  so  cool  in  snmmer,  always  so  well  kept  and  lighted,  and 
where  the  guests  may  spend  whole  hours  at  table  imbibing  glasses 
of  sparkling  beer.  The  Black  Eagle  tavern  at  Wittemberg,  for 
fifteen  years,  from  1525  to  1540,  had  no  more  regular  customer 
than  Luther,  the  Beer  pope,  as  the  Sacramentarians  called  him.^ 
At  nightfall  the  doctor  would  walk  to  his  favourite  resort.  There 
he  took  his  accustomed  seat,  and  soon  would  be  joined  by  his 
intimate  and  confidential  friends  or  disciples  ;  such  as  Veit 
Dietrich,  Mathesius,  and  Aurifaber,  who  placed  themselves 
beside  him  and  talked  together  until  the  castle  clock  struck  ten. 
They  then  parted,  to  meet  again  on  the  next  and  every  succeeding 
evening,  except  on  Sundays  and  festivals,  which  they  spent  in 
their  own  houses.  Each  paid  his  own  reckoning,  but  Luther 
was  not  always  able  to  pay  his.  There,  on  an  oaken  bench,  were 
held  those  conversations  which  have  since  been  collected  in  Latin 
under  the  title  of  "Convivia  Mensalia;"  and  in  German  by 
that  of  "  Tisch-Reden :"  familiar  discourses,  in  which  they 
talked  after  the  fashion  of  Pico  di  Mirandola,  de  omni  re  sdfnli ; 
— of  philosophy  and  witchcraft,  criticism  and  poetry^  morals 
and  astrology  ; — of  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist,  to  wit,  the  pope, 
bishops,  and  priests ; — of  the  Catholic  superstitions,  that  is  to 
say^  of  the  sacraments  of  orders,  extreme  unction,  works,  celibacy, 
and  communion  under  one  species  ; — of  the  future  prospects  of 
the  Reformation,  in  other  words,  of  the  downfall  of  the  modem 


'  Der  silchsische  Bier-Papst.     Erasmus  Albertus,    in   his  work  entitled. 
Wider  die  Karlstadter. 


LUTUEB  AT   TABLE.  265 

Babylon^  the  extinction  of  popery,  the  shipwreck  of  the  bark  of 
St  Peter,  or  of  Sodom,  as  they  were  pleased  to  call  it ; — of  the 
triumph  of  God's  worc(,  exemplified  in  the  closing  of  some 
monastery,  the  violation  of  some  nnn,  the  apostasy  of  some 
friar,  who  had  thrown  his  cord  and  cowl  at  the  head  of  his 
superior ;  or  the  marriage  of  some  apostle  of  the  new  gospel 
The  monks  were  frequently  tlie  subject  of  these  conversations, 
and  the  companions  were  never  at  a  loss  for  sarcasm,  irony,  and 
jokes  against  these  unfortunate  individuals,  each  guest  having 
always  a  ready  store.  They  spoke  of  the  other  sex  in  a  manner 
that  would  shock  the  ear ;  but  in  those  days  they  were  less 
refined  than  they  are  now,  or  perhaps  were  not  afraid  of  being 
overheard. 

Our  reader  need  not  be  astonished  at  the  space  which  we  shall 
devote  to  these  alehouse  scenes.  It  was  in  the  tavern  that  this 
modem  Salmoneus  defied  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican  ;  the 
tavern  was  his  chair,  his  tribune,  the  ark  of  his  sanctuary. 
There,  amongst  his  jovial  companions,  hearty  and  ever-thirsty, 
before  the  foaming  glass,  he  discovered  the  sense  of  many  a  passage 
which  he  had  vainly  looked  for  at  home  beside  Bora.  It  was 
with  a  pewter  mug  before  him,  constantly  replenished  by  a  coarse 
Suabian  servant,  that  he  extemporised  his  most  eccentric  argu- 
ments against  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.  The  tavern  was  pro- 
ductive of  more  than  one  victory  to  the  doctor.  Had  it  been, 
instead  of  Luther,  a  theologian  of  Calvin's  stamp,  morose  and 
atrabilious,  who  could  neither  eat  nor  drink,  with  an  incessant 
cough,  subject  to  headaches  and  dyspepsia,  the  Reformation 
would  not  have  been  so  easily  established  among  the  people  of 
Wittemberg.  To  have  influence  with  the  thorough  German,  it 
required  a  Reformer  who  could  empty  at  a  single  draught  a  large 
glass  of  fermented  liquor,  caress  the  child  of  the  landlady  or  her 
<log,  joke  with  the  waitress,  believe  in  witches,  tell  broad  stories, 
and  drink  and  sing  without  being  pressed.  Luther  has  acknow- 
ledged the  power  of  the  tavern  in  the  work  gf  the  Reformation. 
"  My  desultory  conversation  in  the  tavern  when  drinking  with 
Amsdorf  shook  the  papacy  more  effectually  than  the  princes  and 
the  emperor  could  have  done  with  all  their  iron-mailed  knights.'^ 
If  of  an  evening  the  weary  foot-traveller,  after  a  long  tramp 
across  the  mountains,  goes  into  one  of  these  taverns,  redolent  of 


266  HISTORY  OP  LUTHER. 

tobacco,  to  quench  his  thirst,  he  is  sure  to  hear  the  assembled 
guests  singing  over  their  cups  the  ordinary  tavern  ditty, — 
Luther's  song  upon  women  and  wine. 

In  all  the  writings  of  the  Reformation,  nothing  is  more  curious 
than  those  scenes,  enacted  at  night  without  spectators  and  with 
closed  doors,  among  friends,  -who  talked  of  all  that  they  had  in 
their  hearts  or  came  into  their  heads ;  in  which  none  had  a 
secret  from  his  neighbour ;  where  the  conversation  flowed  like 
the  contents  of  the  goblet ;  where  no  language  was  studied,  or 
speech  was  previously  prepared  ;  where  no  one  thought  of 
posterity,  which  was  not  there  to  impose  silence  on  their  tongues ; 
whispered  confidences,  unreserved  communications,  frank  con- 
versations that  they  never  thought  would  be  carried  across  the 
threshold,  to  be  dressed  up  and  tricked  out  for  publication.^ 

Let  us  enter,  then,  the  "Black  Eagle"  tavern  at  Wittemberg.- 
This  evening  the  liquor  in  demand  is  Eimbeck  beer,  which  Martin 
prefers  to  all  the  beers  of  Germany,  probably  because  Eimbeck 
was  one  of  the  first  places  where  the  Keformation  was  adopted. 
The  guests  rise,  the  doctor  has  arrived.  "  Master,  of  what  shall 
we  speak  first  ?"  says  Veit  Dietrich.  "  Honour  to  whom  honour 
is  due, — of  the  devil,"  replies  Luther. 

THE  DBVIL.^ 

"  Beyond  the  heavens,  there  is  only  God  ;  but  below,  there  are 
angels  who  watch  over  us  by  order  of  the  Creator,  and  who  pro- 
tect and  defend  us  against  the  ambushes  and  wicked  designs  of 
the  demon.  They  see  God,  and  stand  before  his  throne.  When, 
therefore,  the  devU  lays  snares  for  us,  the  angel  from  heaven, 
for  our  good,  covers  us  with  his  wing,  and  drives  away  the  evil 

*  See,  in  the  Confirmatoiy  Evidence,  No.  8,  our  dissertation  on  the  Tisch- 
Beden,  or  Table-Talk,  which  after  three  centuries  some  would  wish  to  conmder 
apocryphal. 

'  See  6.  H.  Getze,  De  Domesticis  Lutheri  Singularia:  Lubeck,  1807,  4  to. 

'  The  quotations  are^  nearly  all  taken  from  the  Tisch-Reden,  oder  Colloquia 
Dr.  Martin  Luther's,  so  er  in  vielen  Jahren,  gegen  gelarten  Leuten,  auch 
frembden  Gesten  und  seinen  Tischgesellen  gef^ret,  nach  den  Heubstiicken 
unserer  christlichen  Lere,  susammen  getragen. 

Johann  6  Gap. : 

Samlet  die  iibrigen  Brocken,  auff  dass  nichts  umkcmme. 

Gedruckt  zu  Eisleben,  bei  Urban  Gaubisch.    1566,  foK 


LUTHER  AT  TABLE.  .  267 

spirit,  for  he  has  great  power ;  he  sees  God  face  to  fece,  and  places 
himself  before  the  sun,  ever  ready  to  assist  ns  in  obeying  the 
commands  of  the  Lord.  The  demons  also  watch  ns,  are  engaged  in 
spying  ns,  and  incessantly  tempting  us,  to  trouble  us  here  and 
hereafter.  Happily  the  good  angels  come  to  our  relief,  and 
succour  us.  There  are  demons  in  the  forests,  in  the  waters,  in 
the  deserts,  in  the  marshes, — ^wherever  they  can  find  a  creature 
to  torment.  Some  dwell  in  the  sides  of  black  clouds,  others 
excite  tempests,  rouse  storms,  dart  lightnings  and  hurl  thunder- 
bolts, infect  the  air  and  the  fields.  Philosophers  and  physicians 
attribute  these  phenomena  to  the  influence  of  the  stars.^ 

"  One  day,  in  winter,  not  far  from  Zwickau,  a  poor  child  lost 
his  way  in  a  forest,  and  was  obliged  to  pass  the  night  there. 
The  snow  fell  heavily,  so  that  the  poor  child  was  quite  covered 
with  it.  He  spent  ^ee  whole  days  in  the  midst  of  the  snow, 
and  every  morning  a  man  came  who  brought  him  some  food,  and 
then  went  away.  On  the  third  day  the  stranger  came  with  the 
usual  supply  of  food,  and  then  set  the  child  on  his  proper  way 
home.  The  child  told  his  parents  what  had  happened  to  him. 
I  think  that  the  preserver  of  the  poor  creature  was  an  angel 
from  heaven.* 

''  The  devil  knows  the  thoughts  of  the  wicked,  for  it  is  he  who 
suggests  them,  who  holds  and  governs  their  hearts,  who  surrounds 
them  and  catches  them  in  his  toils,  so  that  they  cannot  think  or 
act  but  according  to  his  good  pleasure ;  but  he  knows  not  what 
passes  in  the  minds  of  the  just ;  for,  as  he  did  not  know  what 
was  in  the  mind  of  Christ,  so  he  cannot  know  the  thoughts  of 
the  just  in  whom  Christ  dwells.' 

''The  apostle,  Heb.  2,  assigns  the  power  of  death  to  the 
devil,  and  Christ  calls  him  the  man  of  death.  And,  indeed,  he 
is  a  skilful  murderer,  who  could  kill  you  with  a  tap  of  a  switch, 
and  who  has  in  his  pocket  more  deadly  poisons  than  all  the 
chemists  in  the  world.  If  one  fails,  he  immediately  applies 
another.  The  devil  is  more  powerful  than  we  can  believe  or 
imagine ;  nothing  but  the  finger  of  Ood  can  overcome  him.**  It 
is  the  devil  who  lets  loose  tempests,  and  the  angels  who  bring 
favourable  winds. 

'  Tiach-Ileden,  p.  277.  '  Ibid. 

>  Ibid.  *  Ibid.  p.  280. 


268  HISTORY  OP  LUTHER. 

''  I  believe  that  Satan  is  the  author  of  all  the  maladies  which 
afflict  man,  for  Satan  is  the  prince  of  death.  Pestilence,  dis- 
ease, and  wars,  are  the  work  of  the  demon,  and  not  of  God. 
Whatever  Osiander  may  say,  there  are  hobgoblins  whose  business 
it  is  to  torment  us  in  our  sleep,  and  beat  us  till  they  make  us 
sick.  In  1521,  after  I  left  Worms,  I  was  confined  in  Wartburg, 
my  Patmos,  far  from  all  observation,  and  where  nobody  could 
approach  me  but  two  young  noblemen,  who  brought  me  food 
twice  a  day.  One  day  th^y  left  in  my  chamber  a  bag  of  nuts, 
which  I  eat  occasionally.  At  night,  after  I  had  extinguished 
my  candle,  and  was  going  to  bed,  I  heard  a  great  noise ;  it 
seemed  as  if  my  nuts  were  battering  against  each  other  ;  I  com- 
posed myself  to  sleep,  but  had  scarcely  shut  my  eyes,  when  the 
noise  was  repeated  ;  I  thought  that  the  stairs  were  &lling  down  ; 
I  rose,  and  adjured  the  hobgoblin  in  the  name  of  him  of  whom 
it  is  written  :  '  Omnia  subjecisti  pedibus  ejus,'  and  went  to  bed 
again.^ 

"  But  the  spirit  of  darkness  is  not  always  exorcised  by  texts 
of  Scripture  ;  I  have  proof  that  pleasantries  and  jokes  can  drive 
him  ofiF  efiFectually.*  I  know  a  lady  in  Magdeburg  who  put  the 
devil  to  flight  by  the  effects  of  a  carminative  :  '  Sathanam  crepitu 
ventris  fugavit.' 

"  The  devil  loves  to  change  himself,  to  torment  us,  into  a 
serpent  or  an  ape. 

"  There  are  in  various  countries  of  the  world  places  of  which 
the  evil  spirits  are  fond  ;  Prussia  is  a  country  in  which  they  take 
much  delight  In  Switzerland,  not  far  from  Lucerne,  on  the 
top  of  a  high  mountain,  is  a  lake  called  Pilate's  Lake ;  the 
devil  often  plays  his  pranks  there.  In  the  country,  on  Polters- 
berg,  there  is  also  a  lake,  into  which  if  you  throw  a  stone  you 
are  sure  to  raise  a  great  storm  ;  .the  whole  neighbourhood  becomes 
excited  and  troubled.' 

"  The  devil  frequently  changes  children,  in  order  to  torment 
their  parents  ;  he  drags  the  nurse  into  the  water,  and  gets  her 
in  the  family-way  ;  she  is  confined,  and  the  father  puts  the  baby 
into  the  cradle,  steals  the  real  infant,  and  flies  away.  The 
changeling  never  lives  longer  than  eighteen  or  nineteen  years.^ 

»  Tisch-Reden,  p.  290.  •  Ibid. 

»  Ibid.  *  Ibid.  p.  296. 


LUTHER  AT   TABLE.  g69 

**  There  was  at  Wittemberg  ^  student  named  Valerius,  very 
disorderly  and  disobedient  to  his  master,  George  Mayer.  When 
I  reproved  him  for  his  conduct,  he  told  me  that  he  had  sold  him- 
self to  the  devil  five  years  before,  in  these  words :  *  Christ,  I 
renounce  thee,  and  wish  to  take  another  master.'  I  was  horrir- 
ficd^  and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  wish  to  repent  and  return  to 
Qod?  On  his  answering  in  the  affinnative,  I  knelt  with  the 
others  then  present,  and  prayed  thus  :  '  God  of  heaven,  who  has 
ordered  us  by  thy  beloved  Son  to  pray,  and  hast  established  and 
regulated  the  ministry  of  thy  word  in  the  Gospel,  we  implore 
thee  for  thy  servant,  forgive  his  sins,  and  recall  him  to  the  bosom 
of  tne  holy  Church,  of  thy  beloved  Son,  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen.' 
I  then  ordered  the  young  man  to  say  the  following  prayer :  '  I 
Valerius,  confess,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  his  holy  angels, 
and  of  his  holy  Church,  that  I  have  renounced  my  Saviour,  and 
given  myself  to  the  devil ;  that  I  now  sincerely  repent,  and  wish 
henceforward  to  be  the  enemy  of  Satan,  to  take  God  for  my 
guide  and  protector,  and  to  amend  my  life.     Amen.' 

"  The  devil  is  like  a  fly :  when  he  sees  a  fine  book,  the  fly 
goes  over  its  white  pages,  leaving  its  unmistakeable  marks 
behind  it,  as  if  it  wished  to  say  :  '  I  have  been  here.'  So  the 
devil,  when  he  has  found  a  pure  and  innocent  heart,  settles  on 
it,  sullies  and  corrupts  it.' 

"  I  have  always  been  better  treated  by  the  devil  than  by  man, 
and  I  would  rather  die  by  the  hand  of  the  devil  than  by  that  of  the 
emperor  ;  I  should,  at  least,  die  by  the  hand  of  a  great  man.* 

"  The  devil  sleeps  oftener  with  me  than  Ketha ;  he  has  given 
me  more  pain  than  pleasure.' 

"  The  devil  is  a  moody  spirit,  who  only  wishes  to  annoy,  and 
w^hom  joy  afflicts.  Music  drives  him  aw^ay  ;  as  soon  as  he  hears  us 
sing,  especially  spiritual  hymns,  he  flies  ofl:  David  soothed  the 
mental  sufferings  of  Saul  with  his  harp.  Music  is  a  gift  from 
heaven,  a  present  from  the  Divinity,  whom  the  devil  hates, 
and  which  has  the  power  of  keeping  off  temptations  and  evil 
thoughts.* 

"  One  day  I  found  a  caterpillar  on  my  path :  *  Look,'  said  I, 


•  Tisch-Reden,  edit.  Francf.  p.  365.  *  Ibid.  p.  286. 

»  Tisch-Beden,  Eislebon,  p.  173.  *  Ibid.  p.  266. 


270  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEE. 

'  this  represents  the  devil's  walk^  his  changeable  appearance  and 
allurements/ 

'^  Madmen,  the  lame,  the  blind,  and  the  dumb  are  possessed 
by  the  devil.  The  physicians,  who  treat  them  by  roles  of  art, 
know  nothing  of  the  matter."^ 

SOBCEBT. 

There  was  a  considerable  interval  of  silence. 

"  Doctor,"  said  Veit  Dietrich,  "  can  those  who  believe  in  God 
be  enchanted?" 

'^  Doubtless,  for  the  soul  can  be  seduced  and  deceived ;  but 
the  illusion  does  not  last  long ;  my  maladies  have  never  been 
natural,  I  believe,  but  the  work  of  Satan,  who  by  sorcery  showed 
his  hatred  of  me  ;  but  God  watched  over  me. 

"  There  are  servants  possessed  by  the  devil  who  steal  milk, 
butter,  and  eggs  from  the  nests ;  I  have  no  mercy  for  these 
sorceresses,  and  should  be  inclined  to  bum  them.  It  is  said 
that  their  butter  has  a  bad  smell,  and  falls  to  the  ground  when 
any  one  eats  of  it.  Whoever  maltreats  a  witch  is  himself  tor- 
mented by  the  devil ;  certain  schoolmasters  and  ecclesiastics  can 
attest  this.  If  our  sins  irritate  and  offend  God,  much  more  will 
sorcery,  which  has  been  properly  called  a  crime  of  base  iniquity 
against  God,  and  rebellion  against  his  infinite  power.  The  jurists, 
who  have  so  accurately  discussed  and  reasoned  upon  rebellion, 
consider  that  the  rebellion  of  a  subject  against  his  sovereign 
should  be  punished  with  death.  Should  not  sorcery,  then, 
which  is  an  act  of  insurrection  of  the  creature  who  refuses 
his  faith  to  God  and  gives  it  to  the  devil,  be  visited  with  a  like 
punishment?" 

THE   POPE. 

One  of  his  disciples  mentioned  the  pope.  At  the  word 
Luther  suddenly  stopped,  as  it  furnished  the  theme  of  a  long 
discourse. 

"  Every  animal,"  said  he,  "  is  composed  of  a  body  and  a  soul ; 
the  soul  or  spirit  of  Antichrist  is  the  pope ;  the  Turk  is  his  body 


'  Calvin,  like  Luther,  believed  that  some  incurable  diseases,  such  as  epilepsy 
for  example,  could  only  be  explained  by  demoniacal  possession. — Harm.  Evang. 
\}.  127.     Comm.  ad  Math.  23. 


LUTHER  AT    TABLE.  271 

or  flesh.  The  Turk  troubles,  torments,  and  lays  waste  the 
Church  of  Christ  bodily  or  materially  ;  but  the  pope  does  so 
at  once,  both  bodily  and  spiritually,  by  his  satellites,  his  execu- 
tioners, and  murderers.  But  the  Church,  which  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles  triumphed  over  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Jews  and 
the  sword  of  the  Romans,  will  in  our  time  become  victorious 
over  the  superstitions  and  the  idolatry  of  Rome,  and  the  tyranny 
of  the  Turks. 

*^  The  cuckoo,  as  we  all  know,  is  naturally  fond  of  the  tomtit's 
eggs.  It  lays  its  eggs  in  the  nest  of  the  bird,  who  hatches  them  as 
if  they  were  her  own.  When  the  cuckoos  have  burst  the  shell 
and  grown  big,  it  is  all  over  with  the  tomtit :  the  cuckoos  devour 
their  mother.  The  cuckoo  cannot  bear  the  nightingale's  song. 
The  pope  is  a  cuckoo,  who  eats  the  eggs  of  the  Church,  and  then 
lays  cardinals.^  Hardly  is  he  bom,  when  he  attacks  his  mother, 
the  Church  of  Christ,  to  eat  her  up.  The  songs  of  the  Church, 
that  is  preaching  and  teaching,  are  insupportable  to  him. 

"  Wherever  there  is  a  lark,  you  will  find  a  cuckoo,  who 
fancies  that  his  song  is  a  thousand  times  more  harmonious 
than  that  of  his  rival.  So  does  the  pope  in  his  church,  singing 
incessantly,  and  striving  to  drown  the  voice  of  the  other  churches. 
But  the  cuckoo  is  serviceable  in  one  respect,  for  it  announces  to 
us  that  the  summer  is  at  hand ;  and  so  the  pope  tells  us  that 
the  day  of  judgment  is  not  far  off.^ 

"  Thirty  years  ago  the  Bible  was  unknown,'  and  the  prophets 
not  understood ;  it  was  thought  that  they  could  not  be  trans- 
lated. At  twenty,  I  had  read  nothing  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
thought  that  there  were  no  other  gospel  or  epistles  than  those 


*  Er  frisst  der  Kirchen  ihre  Eyer,  und  scheiast  dagegen  Gardinele  aus. 
TiBch-Reden,  p.  342. 

*  TischReden,  p.  342. 

'  This  conceit  of  Luther  wm  long  believed  by  Protestants.  "  In  1471, 
Italy  had  the  Italian  translation  of  the  Bible  by  Nicol.  di  Mallermi,  which 
was  several  times  reprinted  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century.  A  Limou- 
sine translation  was  published  at  Valencia  in  1478 ;  at  Nuremberg,  the  Bible, 
in  German,  was  published  in  1477;  at  Prague,  in  Bohemian,  in  1488;  at 
Kutenberg,  another  Bohemian  version,  in  1489 ;  and  the  Old  Testament,  in 
Dutch,  was  printed  at  Delf  in  1477."— M.  GusUve  Brunet,  Propos  de  Table, 
p.  285,  note.  See  a  lengthened  reply  to  this  assertion  by  M.  Carl  Hagen, 
Deutschlands  literarische  und  religiose  Verh&ltnirae,  Erlangen,  1841,  tqm.  i. 
Hain,  Repertorium  Bibliographicum,  torn.  i.  Stuttgard,  1826,  gives  a  list  of 
the  translations  of  the  Bible  in  every  language  which  had  appeared  before 
that  of  Luther. 


272  HISTORY  OF  luther. 

which  are  contained  in  the  postils.  At  least,  I  found  in  the 
little  town  of  Erfurt  a  Bible,  which  I  read  with  the  greatest 
astonishments     The  Papists  do  not  know  a  word  of  it 

"  A  curate  was  severely  reprimanded  by  his  bishop,  who 
reproached  him  with  not  knowing  how  to  baptize.  As  the 
priest  grew  warm,  the  bishop  took  a  doll,  and  said  to  him  : 
*  Come,  then,  baptize/  The  priest,  pretending  to  pour  the 
water,  said :  '  Ego  te  baptiste  in  nomine  Christe.'*  Then  the 
bishop,  in  a  rage,  scolded  the  priest  for  his  ignorance  of  the  bap- 
tismal words  ;  the  curate,  letting  the  doll  fall :  '  On  my  word,' 
said  he,  '  the  words  are  like  the  baby  and  the  baptism/' 

"  May  the  name  of  the  pope  be  damned  ;  may  his  kingdom 
be  abolished  ;'  may  his  will  be  restrained  !  If  I  thought  that 
God  did  not  hear  my  prayer,  I  would  address  myself  to  the  devil* 

"  Cursed  be  the  pope,  ^ho  has  done  more  harm  to  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  and  the  Church  than  Mahomet !  The  Turk  kills  the 
body,  devastates  and  pillages  the  goods  of  Christians  ;  but  the 
pope,  more  cruel  than  the  Turk  with  his  Alcoran,  forces  them  to 
deny  Christ.  Both  are  enemies  of  the  Church,  and  servants  of 
Satan ;  but  the  pope  wishes  to  compel  us  to  adore  his  canons 
and  decretals,  in  order  to  oppress  and  extinguish  the  light  of  the 
Gospel.  May  the  monster,  then,  perish  eternally !  May  he 
and  his  decretals  be  eternally  execrated  by  the  angels  and 
saints ! 

"  There  were  three  popes  who  succeeded  each  other  at  short 
intervals.  The  first  being  dead,  the  second  declared  null  the 
decretals  of  his  predecessor,  whom  he  caused  to  be  disinterred, 
and  his  fingers  cut  ofi*;  when  the  second  died,  the  third  ordered 
his  body  to  be  exhumed  and  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  after  cutting 
ofiF  his  head.^ 

THE   DECRETALS. 

"  Do  you  wish  to  know  what  a  decretal  is  ?  It  is  the  excre- 
ment of  his  holiness ^ 


»  Tisch-Reden,  p.  852.  «  Ibid.  p.  318. 

3  Ibid.  p.  352.  *  Ibid.  p.  218. 

^  Luther  has  not  given  us  the  names  of  these  three  popes. 

*  Eisleben,  fol.  880,  a^  562,  a,  b,  569,  a,  b.  Kicht  andera  denn  EseUfUrst 
Scheisserei,  ja  BUberei,  Papst-Dreck  und  Fiirtz;  Papst-Misst  unk  Drecke, 
Drecke  und  Drecketal. 

"Courteous  reader,"  says  Peter  von  Ludwig,  "do  not  be  too  much  soaa- 


LUTHER  AT   TABLE.  273 

BISHOPS. 

Some  students,  who  had  been  admitted  by  favour  to  Luther's 
table — ^for  it  was  a  compliment  much  sought  after — ^were  seized 
with  a  fit  of  laughter.  Melancthon,  who  was  silent,  looked  to 
his  master,  when  their  merriment  ceased,  and  said :  ''  God  is 
great ;  he  has  already  brought  back  some  bishops  in  the  fold." 
Luther  shook  his  head  .... 

"  The  bishops  follow  the  instinct  of  their  nature  in  all  that 
they  do ;  they  are  dogs  who  love  to  bathe  their  feet  in  blood. 
They  resemble  Cain,  and  will  have  no  rest  until  they  have  killed 
Abd.  They  seek  war,  and  will  lose  themselves.  I  have 
announced  and  foretold  it  to  them.  We  must  now  prepare 
ourselves  for  the  battle,  and  seek  arms  in  prayer.^ 

"  A  princess  once  asked  me  if  there  was  any  hope  that  the 

bishop  of  X would  be  converted  ?  and  she  added  :  *  You 

will  see ;  I  shall  soon  bring  you  the  good  news.' — *  I  do  not 
believe  it,'  I  replied ;  *  although  I  should  greatly  rejoice  if  he 
repented  and  did  penance  ;  but  I  have  not  the  least  hope,  of  it, 
and  should  as  soon  expect  the  conversion  of  Pilate,  Herod,  Dio- 
cletian, and  other  great  sinners.' — '  But,'  returned  the  princess, 
'  Ood  is  omnipotent,  his  mercy  is  infinite  ;  he  would  have  par- 
doned Judas,  had  he  repented.' — '  That  is  very  true ;  God  would 
receive  Satan  into  favour,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  devil  ever  to 
say  :  '  Pardon  me,  for  I  have  sinned.'  There  is,  alas  !  no  hope 
of  your  bishop  returning  to  God,  for  he  opposes  the  truth  wit- 
tingly, because  it  is  the  truth.  It  is  only  a  few  days  since 
he  shamefully  allowed  some  poor  Christians  to  die  of  hunger, 
who  had  taken  communion  in  both  kinds/' 

"  That  bishop*  often  wrote  to  me  friendly  letters  ;  his  lips 
were  so  honied,  that  I  advised  him  to  take  a  wife.  He  deceived 
me  by  specious  appearances,  and  laughed  at  me.  It  was  only  at 
Augsburg  that  I  learned  to  know  him.^ 

"  One  day  he  thus  addressed  a  large  assembly  :  '  My  brethren, 


dalized  by  this  imagery  which  our  honest  Lather  employed  to  depict  the 
Roman  See.  '  Decreten  drecketen/  is  a  picturesque  expression :  the  others 
are  not  behind  it." — Johannes  Petrus  von  Lndwig,  privy  counsellor  to  his' 
majesty  the  king  of  Prussia,  1780,  in  a  panegyric  on  the  Saxon  reformer. 

*  Tisch-Beden,  p.  376.  *  Ibid.  pp.  875,  376. 

*  Albert  of  Mayenoe.  *  l^schReden,  p.  876. 
VOL.  II.                                              T 


274  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

be  submissive,  and  communicate  only  under  one  kind.  If  you  do 
88  I  bid  you,  I  shall  be  to  you  a  good  master,  your  father,  bro- 
ther, and  friend  ;  I  shall  obtain  graces  and  great  privileges  from 
his  majesty  for  you.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  are  disobedient, 
I  proclaim  myself  your  enemy,  and  I  shall  do  all  the  injury  in 
my  power  to  this  city.'  Such  language  is  worthy  of  the  emperor 
of  the  Turks  or  the  devil  in  hell.* 

"  Bishop  NN.,  although  he  has  married,  is  a  cursed  Papist, 
who  ridicules  the  Gospel,  and  only  looks  after  his  own  interest. 
As  a  general  rule,  the  bishops  are  the  pest  and  poison  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  government ;  they  create  disturbances  every- 
where.* 

"  There  was  formerly  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  near  its  falls, 
a  bishop  who  imprisoned  the  poor  who  came  to  beg  alms  from 
him.  He  closed  the  doors,  and  set  fire  to  the  prison.  When 
the  poor  wretches  cried  out  piteously :  '  Do  you  hear,'  he  said, 
'how  these  rats  squeak  V  The  same  bishop  was  ever  after  tor- 
mented by  rats.  As  he  could  not  get  rid  of  these  troublesome 
guests,  he  built  a  house  of  dressed  stone  in  the  middle  of  the 
Rhine  ;  but  the  rats  crossed  the  river,  followed  the  master  of  the 
house,  and  ate  him.' 

''  When  the  Papists  make  a  bishop,  the  devil  runs  and  takes 
possession  of  them  ;  they  make  him  swear  homage  and  obedience 
to  the  pope,  and  vow  opposition  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  He 
promises  to  serve  the  devil,  who  immediately  takes  possession  of 
him.* 

"  The  archbishop  of  Salzburg  said  to  Melancthon,  in  a  con- 
versation at  Augsburg :  '  My  dear  Philip,  we  know  very  well 
that  your  doctrines  are  good  ;  but  we  priests  never  mend  our 
lives. '^ 

THB   PAPISTS. 

''  I  maintain  that  the  pope,  the  emperor  (Charles  V.),  and 
the  bishop  of  Mayence  are  impious  wretches,  who  have  aban- 

*  Tisch-Reden,  p.  876.  Lather  gives  neither  the  evidence  of  this  speech  nor  its 
source.  See  what  M.  AlexanderWeill  (an  authority  bejond  suspicion  in  the  eyes  of 
a  Protestant)  says  of  this  prelate  :  "  Albrecht,  crown  prince  of  Brandenburg,  as 
pious  as  he  was  liberal,  played  a  great,  although  passive,  part  in  the  history  of 
the  Reformation.    He  was  the  German  Medicis." — La  Phalange,  1845,  p.  Hi, 

»  Tisch-Reden,  p.  877.  »  Ibii  p.  878. 

*  Ibid.  »  Ibid.  p.  874. 


LUTHBB  AT   TABLE.  275 

doned  the  ways  of  the  Gospel,  who  have  no  just  notion  of  the 
Divinity,  and  who  never  think  of  God.*  May  God  qniet  this 
sangoinary  demon  (Charles  Y.)  ;  how  it  pains  me  when  I  see 
him  persecuting  the  truth  !*  Our  princes  do  nothing  but  works 
of  malediction.'  What  is  a  prince  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
but  small  game  ?  Pilate  is  worth  them  all.^ 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  define  the  Popish  kingdom  ?  The  pope 
and  his  court  are  idolaters  and  servants  of  the  devil ;  his  doc- 
trines are  those  of  Satan ;  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  Church  of 
Satan  !  Wretches !  you  will  all  go  to  hell ;  Papists  !  you  are 
nothing  but  asses.^ 

"  Whoever  does  liot  hate  the  pope  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart,  will  not  gain  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  it  is  a  sin  not  to 
hate  the  pope.  They  are  blockheads  who  say  to  you :  '  Beware 
of  hating  the  pope  !  '^ 

"  I,  doctor  of  doctors,  wish  to  instruct  and  try  the  Papists, 
and  cry  to  them  :  *  You  are  asses  ;  I  glory  in  the  hatred  of  such 
ignorant  fools  as  you.  You  say  that  you  are  doctors  !  So  am  I ! 
I  can  interpret  the  Psalms  and  the  prophets  ;  you  cannot.  I  can 
translate  the  Sacred  Scriptures ;  that  you  are  forbidden  to  do. 
I  can  read  them  ;  you  cannot  I  am  a  thousand  times  better 
than  you.     Papist  and  ass  are  synonymous  terms. 

*'  The  Papists  are  lost.  Where  will  they  find  priests  and 
monks  now  ?  There  are  many  students  here,  but  not  one  of 
them,  that  I  know,  would  consent  to  open  their  mouths  to 
swallow  what  the  pope  would  put  into  them ;  except  it  be 
Mathesius  and  Plato,  my  old  scholars.*^ 

"  The  pope  would  willingly  receive  into  favour  the  Lutherans 
and  their  wives,  but  on  condition  that  they  should  only  preach 
and  teach  what  pleased  him,  and  that  they  should  regard  their 
wives  as  mistresses  or  cooks.  Fie,  fie  !  to  despise  or  condemn 
marriage  is  to  ofiend  God.  If  Witzel  does  so  with  his  com- 
panion, I  shall  never  advise  a  pious  woman  to  live  with  him.^ 

*  Tisch-Beden,  Nnremb.  p.  508.  *  Ibid.  pp.  482,  484. 
»  Ibid.  p.  77. 

*  TieclirRedeii^  Nnremb.  pp.  160, 470.  Pistoriiifl,  in  bis  Zweiter  boser  Geist 
liUtheri,  Ac.  torn.  i.  ii.,  bus  collected  a  Urge  number  of  Luther's  invectives 
against  the  princes. 

*  Ibid.  pp.  51,  842,  853.  «  Ibid.  pp.  480,  844. 
'  Ibid.  p.  875.  «  Ibid.  p.  854. 

T  2 


276  HISTOEY  OP   LUTHBJl. 

"  Two  fools  were  one  day  disputing  on  the  soul  at  the  pope's 
table  ;  the  one  mdifitained  that  it  was  mortal ;  the  other,  that  it 
was  immortal.  *  Well  argued/  said  the  pope  to  the  first ;  *  you 
are  right.'  And  turning  to  the  other :  *  Well  said  ;  you  have 
gained.'  Such  are  the  Epicureans  to  whom  the  kingdom  of  the 
Church  is  given  !  Tou  remember  that  at  Basle  the  fathers  of 
the  council  ordered  the  priests  to  wear  a  cassock  which  should 
reach  the  heels,  with  close  shoes,  and  forbade  them  to  dispute 
on  the  question  of  the  soul's  immortality.^ 

"  Pope  Paul  JII.  had  a  sister,  whom  he  gave  as  a  mistress  to 
his  predecessor,  by  which  means  he  obtained  the  Roman  purple.^ 
A  priest,  who  had  a  child  by  his  cook,  was  bound  to  pay  the 
pope  a  coin  called  a  '  milchpfenning '  (milkpenny).  The  mother 
had  to  pay  a  like  sum.  Thus  the  priests  might  keep  mistresses 
at  their  will,  without  shame  or  scandal,  and  in  all  security  of 
conscience."' 

ON   THE   DEATHS   OF   SOME   PAPISTS. 

"  People  pay  no  regard  to  the  miracles  which  God  daily  works. 
Witness  the  bishop  of  Treves,  who  suddenly  expired  at  the  coro- 
nation of  Charles  V.,  as  he  was  putting  the  glass  to  his  lips ;  and 
Count  N.  de  W.,  who  was  in  a  moment  called  out  of  life,  as  he 
was  preparing  to  attack  me  ;  and  also  that  doctor  who,  before 
saying  his  first  mass,  maintained  that  the  papistical  juggleries 
were  virtues,  how  miserably  he  died  !  Do  you  not  observe  what 
a  tragic  end  has  been  made  this  year  by  all  those  who  persecuted 
with  their  hatred,  their  ridicule,  their  acts  and  deeds,  and  preach- 
ings, the  word  of  God  ?  You  have  a  terrible  instance  of  (Jod's 
wrath  in  the  death  of  that  celebrated  Papist  A.  L.,  who,  just 
before  expiring,  and  in  the  last  throes  of  death,  exclaimed: 
'  Devil,  you  are  my  friend  ! '  and  of  that  Italian  who,  when 
dying,  said  :  '  I  give  my  property  to  the  world,  my  body  to  the 
worms,  and  my  soul  to  the  devil.'     You  know  how  severely  God 


'  TiBch-Reden,  p.  354. 

*  Alexander  Farnese  was  elected  pope  in  1584,  and  aasamed  the  name  of 
Paul  JII.  He  was  then  about  seventy.  Calvin  said  that  he  was  a  half-rotten 
carcjise. — ^Brief  Exposition,  Works,  p.  450.  Grespin,  Estat  de  TEglise,  p.  471, 
says  that  he  kept  45,000  mistresses.  Yet  Banke  has  celebrated  the  virtues 
and  worth  of  this  pope !  In  the  end  truth  always  prevails :  although  halting, 
she  is  sure  to  reach  her  point. 

»  Tisch-Reden,  p.  857. 


LUTHBB  AT   TABLE.  277 

has  punished  that  Papist  who  thought  fit  to  preach  against  me  ; 
as  also  what  happened  to  that  cnrate  of  F.,  near  Frankfort,  who 
preached  the  Gospel  for  eleven  years.  When  the  *  black  death ' 
ravaged  the  land,  he  proclaimed  that  Ood  afflicted  the  world  with 
a  new  plague,  because  it  had  received  a  new  faith  and  erroneous 
teaching,  and  advised  his  parishioners  to  remain  faithful  to  their 
mother  the  holy  Church,  telling  them  that  on  a  certain  day 
he  would  form  a  procession  and  pilgrimage  to  drive  away  the 
pestilence.  On  that  very  day  he  died,  and  was  buried.  The 
finger  of  God  was  here  ;  let  it  not  be  forgotten.  On  Trinity 
Sunday,  the  pastor  of  Eunwald  said  :  ^  If  the  Gospel  announced 
by  Luther  be  true,  may  I  be  struek  by  thunder  ! '  and  he  was 
killed  on  the  spot  by  lightning.  A  certain  unprincipled  Papist 
doctor  was  one  day  disputing  at  the  university  of  R.,  and  argued 
thus :  '  If  we  must  not  alter  a  testament  made  by  man's  hands, 
much  less  can  we  alter  the  testament  made  by  God  ;  the  supper 
under  both  species  is  the  testament  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  which  no 
power  can  alter.' — '  Well,'  said  the  doctor,  on  leaving  the  room, 
'how  do  you  think  I  spoke?' — *  Admirably,'  replied  the  person 
whom  he  had  addressed ;  then,  tapping  him  on  the  shoulder,  he 
said :  '  Doctor,  the  servant  who  knows  the  truth  and  does  not 
practise  it,  will  be  severely  punished  : '  and  next  day  the  doctor 
suddenly  died.  Thus  the  Lord  strikes  \  he  does  not  permit  his 
word  to  be  trifled  with,  but  insists  on  its  being  observed.  This 
is  an  awful  example  for  all  Christians.^ 

"  Every  time  that  Clement  VII.  dined  or  supped,  his  holiness's 
cook  was  sent  to  prison  ;  if  the  pope  experienced  no  symptoms  of 
poison,  the  cook  was  liberated,  and  restored  to  his  place.  Oh  ! 
what  a  miserable  state  of  life  !  Moses  speaks  of  it  in  the  28th 
chapter  of  Deuteronomy  :  *  In  the  morning  thou  shalt  say,  Who 
will  grant  me  evening?  and  at  evening,  Who  will  grant  me 
morning  ?'  This  Clement  VII.  knew  how  to  compound  poisons, 
and  yet  he  died  by  poison."- 


'  TiBcli-Ileden,  p.  868,  recto  et  verso. 

*  Brueys,  the  Protestant,  who  believes  that  the  pope  is  Antichrist,  has  not 
ventured  to  admit  Luther's  story.  In  our  history  of  Henry  YIII.  we  have 
given  an  account  of  the  last  moments  of  this  pope,  one  of  the  most  amiable  that 
ever  sat  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 


278  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHER. 

THB   MONKS. 

**  With  the  Papists  all  observances  are  easy  ;  it  is  easier  for 
them  to  fast  than  for  us  to  eat ;  for  one  day  of  fasting  they  have 
three  of  feasting.  At  the  evening  collation  each  monk  receives 
two  jugs  of  excellent  beer  and  a  small  cup  of  wine,  spiced  cakes 
or  slices  of  bread  with  salt  butter.  The  poor  monks,  like  flaming 
cherubim,  then  go  to  their  offices  with  a  look  of  misery,  and  as 
if  they  were  like  to  drop  from  inanition.* 

"  That  audacious  and  headstrong  priest,  that  devil  incarnate, 
Pope  Julius  II.,  took  it  into  his  head  to  reform  the  Franciscans, 
and  subject  them  to  one  common  rule.  The  monks  had  recourse 
to  the  kings  and  princes,  entreating  them  to  appeal  for  them 
against  the  resolution  of  the  holy  father ;  but  Julius  paid  no 
attention  to  it.  Then  the  monks  addressed  a  pressing  suppli- 
cation to  the  pope,  which  they  backed  with  thirty  thousand 
crowns.  *  How  is  it  possible,'  said  the  pope,  pointing  to  the 
images  of  the  princes  engraved  on  the  coins,  '  to  resist  so  many 
mailed  knights?'  The  pope  altered  his  mind,  and  left  the 
Franciscans  undisturbed.* 

"  The  monks  are  the  pillars  of  the  papacy  ;  they  defend  the 
pope  as  some  rats  do  their  king.  I  am  the  quicksilver  of  the 
Lord  diffused  through  the  puddle,  that  is,  monachism.  The 
Franciscans  are  the  lice  which  the  devil  stuck  to  the  skin  of 
Adam;  the  Dominicans,  the  fleas  that  incessantly  bite.  A 
monk  is  essentially  wicked,  virtue  cannot  abide  in  him  either 
witliin  or  without  the  cloister.  Like  the  fire  mentioned  by 
Aristotle,  which  bums  in  Ethiopia  as  well  as  in  Germany,  the 
circumstances  of  time  or  place  cannot  change  their  nature.' 

'*  In  the  cloister  they  do  not  study  but  observe  the  Scriptures. 
A  monk  knows  not  what  study  is  ;  at  certain  hours,  he  mutters 
certain  prayers  called  *  canonical ; '  but  as  for  the  gift  of  reading 
the  Scriptures,  which  has  been  conferred  on  me,  not  one  monk 
has  received  it."* 

The  clock  struck  ten,  and  Luther  rose  to  depart.     As  he  left 

the  monastery.     See  vol.  i.  of  this  work. 

«  Tisch-Reden,  p.  370.  "  «  Ibid. 

*  Ibid.  p.  871.  See  what  Carl  Hagen  says  of  the  monasteries  before 
Luther's  time,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  passim. 


THE  TISOH-BEDEN.  279 

the  tayem,  a  poor  man  touclied  his  sleeye  requesting  ahns. 
"There,"  said  the  doctor,  giving  him  a  few  groschen.  "  Thanks," 
said  the  b^gar;  "may  God  repay  you.''  Jonas  smiled  and 
whispered  to  Martin  :  "  Who  knows  whether  God  will  repay  us  V 
"Has  he  not  already  done  it?'*  said  Luther;  "let  us  give 
unconditionally;^  brother  date  is  always  followed  by  brother 
dabitur." 

How  deeply  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  being  so  splendidly 
gifted  should  have  voluntarily  closed  his  eyes  to  the  light ! 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THE  TISCH-REDEN  CONTINUED. 

Difleasefl. — A  jurist. — ^The  Jews. — ^The  ancient  Ghnrcli. — ^The  Scriptnres. — 
Heretics. — ^The  Sacramentarians. — St.  Gregory. — St  John. — St.  Augustine. 
—The  Fathers.— Ecker,  Faber.—SadoletUB.— Paradise.— God. 

Luther  had  one  day  some  sparrows  at  table  ;  he  took  up  one 
of  the  birds,  and  thus  apostrophised  it :  '^  Franciscan,  with  your 
black  cowl,  you  are  of  all  birds  the  most  rascally.  The  following 
fable  may  be  useful :  Two  monks,  a  Franciscan  and  Dominican, 
were  travelling  together  in  quest  of  alms.  It  happened  that  envy 
insinuated  itself  into  their  hearts.  One  day  the  Franciscan 
ascended  the  pulpit,  and  addressing  the  audience,  said :  '  Dear 
brethren,  dear  country-folks,  beware  of  the  swallows,  which  are 
white  beneath  and  black  above ;  it  is  a  vile  and  mischievous 
bird,  which  when  it  is  vexed  pinches  and  bites  the  cattle,  and 
blinds  with  its  excrement,  as  in  the  case  of  Tobias.'  Next  day 
it  was  the  Dominican's  tui*n  to  preach.  '  I  will  say  nothing,' 
said  he,  *  of  the  swallow  ;  but  I  would  advise  you  to  beware  of 
the  sparrow,  a  malicious  and  thieving  bird,  which  pecks  pears, 
plums,  cheese,  and  cherries,  and  has  only  one  cry  :  Scrip  ! 
scrip  ! '     He  alluded  to  his  brother  the  Franciscan.* 

''  In  one  word,  the  most  pious  monk  is  an  impious  scoundrel ; 

'  M.  Michelet,  Memoirs  of  Luther,  torn.  ii.  p.  350. 
'  Tisch-Reden,  p.  361. 


280  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

the  monks  are  lineal  descendants  of  Satan.  When  yon  wish  to 
paint  the  deyil,  mujQle  him  np  in  a  monk's  habit.  The  monks 
are  the  ministers  of  Satan  ;  what  a  roar  of  laughter  there  mnst 
be  in  the  infernal  regions  when  a  monk  goes  down  there  !  * 
They  are  the  lice  and  fleas  which  the  Almighty  stuck  on  the 
skin  of  our  father  Adam.^ 

"  In  this  century/'  continued  Luther,  "  they  removed  the 
nuns  from  the  convent  of  Neuburg,  in  Austria,  to  give  it  to  the 
Franciscan  monks.  The  friars  wished  to  build  ;  the  workmen, 
while  excavating  the  ground,  found  twelve  cases,  which  they 
broke  open,  and  found  each  contained  the  body  of  an  infant."^ 

DISEASES. 

"  '  Have  faith,  son,'  said  Jesus  Christ  to  the  paralytic  man, 
'  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee/  What  does  that  signify,  unless  it 
be  that  our  sins  are  the  causes  of  paralysis  and  all  diseases  ? 
See,  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  St.  John,  where  Jesus  says  that 
neither  the  man  bom  blind  nor  his  parents  had  sinned.  The 
man's  blindness  did  not  proceed  from  original  sin  ;  actual  sin  is 
the  cause  of  diseases :  the  paralytic  man  had  offended  God,  and 
he  was  punished  ;  the  man  blind  from  his  birth  had  not  sinned, 
and  his  blindness  did  not  result  from  Adam's  sin.  If  this  malady 
were  a  necessary  consequence,  every  man  would  be  bom  paralytic 
or  blind.  By  taking  away  sin,  Christ  removed  the  bodily  in- 
firmity. God  sends  diseases  into  the  world  by  the  intervention 
of  the  devil ;  every  pain  and  affliction  of  the  body  proceeds  from 
the  devil,  and  not  from  God.  The  Lord  permits  us  to  be  stricken 
when  we  contemn  and  offend  him.  Whatever  brings  us  to  death 
is  from  the  devil ;  it  is  his  work  :  whatever  leads  to  life  comes 
from  God  ;  it  is  his  gift,  his  mercy,  his  grace  :  the  devil  is  the 
Lord's  enemy.  In  time  of  pestilence,  the  devil  pounces  on  a 
house,  and  woe  to  him  whom  he  seizes  in  his  fangs  !  ^ 

'^  One  day  a  man  came  to  me,  complaining  piteously  of  the 
itch,  which  gave  him  no  rest  by  day  or  by  night.  *  You  are 
very  fortunate,'  said  I  to  him,  *  and  I  would  willingly  exchange 


1  Coll.  Mens.  p.  109. 

>  Tiach-Eeden,  Francf.  pp.  264,  265,  266  ;  Dresden,  pp.  572,  579,  587,  593 ; 
Eisl.  p.  371. 
3  Tisch-Reden,  Eisl.  p.  464.  *  Tisch-Beden,  p.  492. 


THE   TISOH-BEDBir.  281 

-with  you,  and  give  yon  my  dizziness  for  your  itch,  and  ten 
guilders  to  boot  You  do  not  know  what  a  malady  mine  is,  and 
how  it  fatigues  and  hammers  my  poor  head,  and  does  not  permit 
it  t-o  read  a  letter  all  through,  or  two  or  three  verses  of  a  psalm, 
or  meditate  for  any  length  of  time^  or  engage  on  any  serious 
matter!  When  my  dizziness  comes  on,  if  my  ears  tingle,  I 
frequently  fall  from  my  chair.  Why  complain  of  the  itch  ?  it  is 
a  very  useful  thing,  which  purifies  apd  strengthens  the  body,  and 
prevents  you  neither  from  walking  about,  nor  thinking,  nor  work- 
ing.    I  wish  I  had  the  itch  to  cure  me  !  * 

"  Physicians  assign  only  natural  causes  to  diseases.  Whence 
comes  that  disease  ?  what  has  produced  it  ?  how  shall  it  be  cured  ? 
That  is  all  they  trouble  themselves  about,  and  they  are  right. 
They  do  not  see  that  it  is  the  devil  who  afflicts  the  sick,  and  that 
the  cause  of  the  disease  is  not  natural ;  that  there  is  a  greater 
medicine  than  theirs  that  must  be  sought,  and  which  will 
triumph  over  all  the  power  of  the  evil  spirit ;  namely,  faith  and 
prayer."  • 

A  JURIST. 

"  What  is  a  jurist  ?  A  cobbler,  a  broker,  a  botcher,  who 
makes  a  trade  of  disputing  things  of  which  he  knows  nothiug, — 
of  the  sixth  commandment  of  God,  for  example.  I  could  never 
have  believed  that  they  are  such  papists  are  they  are.  They  are 
imbedded  in  filth  to  the  neck  ;  they  are  blockheads  who  cannot 
distinguish  dung  from  sugar.  '  Omnis  juris ta,  est  aut  nequista, 
aut  ignorista.'  When  a  jurist  wishes  to  dispute  with  you,  say 
to  him  :  '  Hark  ye,  my  boy,  a  jurist  should  never  speak  before 
he  has  heard  a  sow  grunt.'  '  Thank  you,  grandmother,'  he  will 
say,  '  it  is  the  first  sermon  I  have  bieaid  for  some  time.' "  ' 


■  Tisch-Beden,  p.  492.  *  Ibid.  p.  494. 

'  "  TJnd  wenn  ein  Jurist  davon  disputiren  will,  so  sagt  zu  ihm :  Hore,  du 
Gesell,  ein  Jurist  soU  hie  oicht  eher  Y«den,  es  fartze  denn  eine  Sau ;  so  soil  er 
Bhgen :  Dank  habe,  liebe  Grossmutter,  ich  babe  lang  keine  Predigt  gebort." — 
Hsch-Reden,  Eisleben,  p.  571. 

The  thirty  to  forty  folio  pages  which  Luther  has  devoted  to  the  jurists  in  the 
Tisch-Keden,  are  filled  with  an  insolence  and  crudity  of  expression  that  cannot 
be  imagined. 

"  Sie  sind  nur  Suppenfresser,  denn  sie  disputiren  nur  von  Dreok-Handen. 
Ich  weiss  dass  ibr  l>ing  Dreck  ist.  Sie  sind  grobe  Tolpel.  Sie  sind  noch 
zu  grttn  da  zu  wissen  mit  Zucker  ein  Dreck  davon.     Ists  euch  so  wohl  mit 


282  HISTOEY  OF  LUTHER. 

THE  JEWS. 

"  The  Jews  are  nearly  all  bastards :  I  consider  them  veritable 
epicureans.  When  a  Christian  meets  them,  they  salute  him  thns: 
*  Good  morrow,  Seth  \'  that  is  to  say,  devil ;  for  Seth,  or  Satan, 
is  the  name  of  the  devil.  If  I  were  a  magistrate,  I  wonld  ask 
the  Jews  why  they  call  Christ  ein  JEfurenkind,  and  his  mother 
eine  Hure.  If  they  proved  to  me  that  they  were  right,  I  would 
give  them  a  thousand  guilders  ;  if  not,  I  should  hang  them^up. 
In  fine,  we  ought  not  to  suffet  the  Jews  among  us,  we  ought 
neither  to  eat  nor  drink  with  them.^ 

"  When  God  and  his  angels  hear  a  Jew ,  how  they  laugh 

and  dance.^ 

"  Pye,  fye,  leave  the  Bible  alone,  Jews  ;  you  ar©  not  worthy 
to  read  that  sacred  book :  your  Bible  is  that  which  is  concealed 
by  a  sow's  tail ;  what  drops  from  it  is  bread  and  wine  for  such 
prophets  as  you."  ^ 

THE  ANCIENT   CHURCH. 

"  The  Church  of  Christ  has  become  a  real  prostitute  !  Before 
the  Reformation  she  was  so  clouded  with  darkness,  and  so 
ignorant,  that  no  one  could  answer  these  questions — What  is 
God?  what  is  Christ,  faith,  good  works,  heaven,  earth,  hell, 
the  devil?  With  its  dogmas  of  abstinence  from  meats,  its 
cowls,  its  masses,  and  other  filthy  traditions,  Kome  has  fettered 
the  consciences  of  mankind."  * 

THE   SCRIPTURES. 

*'It  is  impossible  to  dive  into  the  meaning  of  the  sacred 

den  EselirfUrtzeD,  bo  fresnet  sie.  Wann  die  Juristen  viel  konneD,  so  konnen 
ale  eiu  Kuchen  imd  Sohmeisahaus  anbauen." 

Besides,  hie  &miliar  oorrespondeDce  often  resembles  the  TLBch-Reden.  See 
his  letters  to  Archbishop  Albert. — De  Wette,  torn.  iv.  p.  676. 

»  Tisch-Reden,  p.  694.  •  Op.  Luth.  Jenae,  torn,  viii.  p.  99. 

'  ..."  Ihr  solltet  allein  die  Bibel  lesen  die  der  Sau  unter  dem  Schwantz 
stehet,  und  die  Bucbstaben  so  daselbst  herausfallen,  fressen  und  saufen,  daa 
ware  eine  Bibel  fur  solche  Propbeten"  (Jen®,  torn.  viii.  foL  83,  a.). — ^Von  den 
Juden.  This  is  only  a  scurvy  joke ;  but  Luther  is  much  more  in  earnest 
when  he  urges  the  necessity  of  expelling  the  Jews :  "  Man  soil  die  Juden  uioht 
hey  uns  leiden." 

*  Our  History  of  Leo  X.  shows  what  great  theologians  were  in  Italy  before 
the  Reformation.  Carl  Hagen  has  given  a  sketch  of  the  study  of  the  science 
of  theology  in  Germany  prior  to  the  advent  of  Luther. — Deutschlands  litera- 
rische  und  religiose  Yerh^tnisse^  torn.  i. 


TBB  TIS0H-:R£DEN.  283 

Scriptures^  we  can  onlj  skim  the  surface :  it  would  be  a  miracle 
to  comprehend  their  spirit  We  hardly  know  their  alphabet.  Let 
theologians  say  and  do  what  they  will ;  to  divine  the  mysteries 
of  the  holy  word  will  always  be  above  our  understanding.  This 
word  is  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  defies  human  comprehension ; 
the  Christian  has  only  a  glimpse  of  it.^ 

''  The  Scriptures  are  clear  and  luminous ;  sophists  vainly 
allege  that  they  are  full  of  difficulties  and  involved  in  darkness. 
The  Fathers  endeavoured  to  interpret  them ;  but  their  inter- 
pretation only  obscured  them."  * 

THE   HERETICS. 

'^  It  is  said  of  the  peacock  that  he  has  the  dress  of  an  English- 
man, the  step  of  a  tiiief,  and  the  voice  of  the  devil.  This  bird 
is  the  picture  of  a  heretic ;  for  all  heretics  wish  to  pass  for  holy 
men,  saints,  and  angels.  At  first  they  come  stealthily,  and 
assume  the  office  of  preachers,  before  they  are  called  to  it,  and 
wish  at  all  hazards  to  preach  and  teach.  They  have  the  devil's 
voice,  because  they  only  preach  error,  delusion,  and  heresy. 

'^  I  have  always  taught  the  word  of  Ood  in  its  entire  purity 
and  simplicity  ;  I  shall  continue  to  do  so  ;  for  otherwise  I  should 
be  like  a  papist,  who  neither  believes  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  nor  in  eternal  life. 

'^  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  butterfly.  It  is  at  first  a 
caterpillar,  which  attaches  itself  to  a  wall,  and  weaves  its 
envelope.  In  spring,  when  the  sunbeams  begin  to  be  felt,  the 
caterpillar  bursts  its  cell,  and  a  butterfly  escapes,  which,  when 
about  to  die,  attaches  itself  to  a  tree  or  a  leaf,  where  it  lays  its 
eggs,  from  which  will  issue  a  generation  of  caterpillars.  This  is 
the  generatio  rectproca,  a  caterpillar  which  becomes  again  a 
caterpillar.  I  have  often  found  in  my  garden  a  variety  of  cater- 
pillars :  I  believe  the  devil  sent  them  to  me ;  they  have  likS 
horns  in  the  nose  ;  wings  of  gold  and  silver ;  without,  their 
attire  is  brilliant ;  within,  they  are  full  of  poison.  The  heretics 
deck  themselves  in  the  garb  of  wisdom  and  piety,  but  they  teach 
impious  and  damnable  doctrines.  When  the  butterflies  die,  they 
deposit  a  brood  of  eggs,  and  from  one  caterpillar  is  produced  a 


'nsoh-Eedeo,  Eislebeo,  p.  556.  '  Ibid.  Fnucfort,  pp.  3,  668. 


284  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHEB. 

crowd  of  others :  thus  the  heretic  misleads  and  deceives  others, 
who  in  their  turn  bring  forth  a  multitude  of  troublesome  spirits."^ 

THB   SACRAMBNTABIANS. 

"  Begone,  pedant,  with  your  supper ;  sty  wherein  hog  feeds 
with  hog  ;  ^  go  to  the  devil  V  The  Sacramentarians  replied : 
"  Begone ;  in  your  eucharist,  you  eat  and  drink  abomination, 
instead  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ :  thy  beer  which 
I  drank  yesterday  gave  me  the  colic ;  eat  and  drink,  in  mei 
memoriam.     Away  !".^ 

GBBGOBT   THB   GREAT. 

"  Gregory  the  Great  was  a  very  holy  man.*    But  he  did  what 


1  Tisch-Heden,  p.  898. 

*  "  Bauern-Zech,  wo  eine  Sau  mit  der  andern  frisst." — Op.  Lutk.  Jens, 
1557,  torn.  vi.  p.  115.     Repeated  in  the  Tisch-Reden. 

'  "  Daas  Bie  nicht  des  Herm  Christ!  Leib  und  Blut  mit  dem  Munde  empfim- 
gen,  sondem  Dreck  fressen." — Starmius,  Theodorus  Beza,  apod  Affelmannam 
Theol.  Luth.  in  pnefat.  *'  Gerevisia  ista  quam  hen  hauai  totum  alvum  mihi 
conturbavit.  £n  vobis  unum  vel  alteram  crepitum,  in  mei  memoriam." — 
Weislinger's  Gniudliche  Antwort,  torn.  ii.  p.  583. 

*  Op.  Luth.  JenaB,  torn.  viii.  fol.  252>  a,  b.  Wider  das  Fapatthum  zu  Bom. 
Jensa,  tom.  t.  fol.  820,  a,  b,  390,  edit.  1557. 

In  1717,  a  pamphlet  waa  published  at  Leipsic,  by  the  title  of  Gregoriud 
Magnus  papa  Lutheranus,  in  which  the  author,  John  Feter  Stute,  endeavours 
to  prove  that  this  pope  taught  in  the  seventh  century  the  doctrines  which 
Luther  upheld  in  the  sixteenth.  We  shall  see  what  the  Saxon  doctor  thought 
of  Gregory  I. 

A  Lutheran,  Lucas  Osiander,  no  admirer  of  this  pope,  narrates  (Cent  vL 
lib.  iv.  ch.  xvi.  p.  287),  that  a  monk,  who  was  burning  in  hell  for  having  hid 
three  guilders  in  a  corner  of  his  cell,  was  liberated  from  that  fiery  abode  at  the 
cost  of  thirty  masses,  which  the  pope  exacted.  Luther  has  given  the  same 
anecdote  a  place  in  the  Tisch-Reden,  p.  855 ;  but  Osiander's  hell  is  changed  by 
Luther  into  purgatory. 

Frequently  in  our  travels  through  Germany  we  have  found,  in  the  shops  of 
dealera  in  second>hand  and  old  books,  volumes  of  which  the  very  title  provoked 
a  smile.  Could  any  one  have  imagined  that  our  St.  Bernard  was  merely  an 
honest  Lutheran  ?  Open  the  tract,  De  Lutheran ismo  D.  Bernardi  Scfaediasma 
Theologicum,  Dresden,  1701,  you  wiU  there  find  Uiat  the  great  saint  inva- 
riably &ught  Luther*8  doctrine  of  works,  faith,  and  the  eucharist.  But  we, 
who  know  Luther  almost  by  heart,  immediately  turn  to  the  Tisch-Reden,  and 
read  unamazed  that  St.  Bernard  has  written,  that  God  neither  hears  nor  under- 
stands the  prayers  addressed  to  him  :  "  Er  spricht  Gott  h3re  das  Wort  des 
Gebets  nicht"  (p.  208),  which  does  not  hinder  Luther  from  affirming  that 
Bernard  was  the  best  of  the  monks. — M.  G.  Brunet,  1.  c.  p.  172. 

Among  our  bibliographical  rarities  we  possess  a  smaU  octavo,  entitled, 
Thomas  Acquinas  dictus  Angelicus  confessor  veritatis  Evangelicae,  Aiigustanft 
confessione  repetitas,  1565.  The  angel  of  the  schools  transformed  into  a 
defender  of  the  Augsbure  Confession  !  George  Dorsche,  minister  of  Strasburg, 
has  made  this  singular  discovery.  We  are  sorry  that  a  Donunican,  Leonard, 
believed  it  incumbent  on  him  to  answer  Dorsche.    Dorsche  was  silent.     But 


THE   TI8CH-BBDBN.  286 

the  other  popes  haye  done :  he  taught  detestable  doctrines.  It 
was  he  who  invented  purgatory,  masses  for  the  dead,  abstinence 
from  flesh  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays,  the  monk's  cowl,  and  other 
mummeries,  with  which  he  has  enslaved  mankind.  The  devil 
possessed  him,  and  for  all  his  writings  I  would  not  ^ve  a  penny." 

ST.  JEBOHB. 

"  I  consider  St.  Jerome  a  heretic,  who  never  speaks  but  of 
fasting,  virginity,  celibacy,  &c.  I  would  not  have  him  for  a 
chaplain."  ^ 

ST.   AUGUSTINE. 

"  St  Augustine  often  erred  :  he  cannot  be  trusted.*  Many 
of  his  writings  are  worthless.'  It  was  a  mistake  to  place  him 
among  the  saints,  for  he  had  not  the  true  faith."  ^ 

"St.  Augustine  was  well  versed  and  skilled  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures ;  he  had  a  remarkable  judgment  and  a  dear  under- 
standing.    He  is  the  purest  of  all  the  doctors."  ^ 

THE  FATHERS. 

"  The  Fathers  knew  nothing  about  the  text  of  St.  Paul  con- 
cerning widows  who  have  brdken  their  first  faith, — -primam  Jidem. 
Augustine  thinks  that  by  ^primam  fid^m*  the  apostle  means 
the  vow  of  chastity ;  but  I  understand  the  text  better  than  a 
thousand  Augustines.  This  Father  should  have  been  sent  to 
school:    the   Fathers  are  blockheads  who  have  only  written 


another  Lutheran,  who  held  by  St.  Thomas,  Anthony  Beiaaer,  came  forward  to 
challenge  the  doctor.  His  work  is  entitled,  Antonius  Reisser  in  Tindiciis  Evan- 
gelioo-lliomiBtiotB,  qnibua  Thomas  de  Aqnino,  Teritatis  Evangelice  confessor 
orbi  Catholico  exhibetur,  contrk  Thomam  Leonard!  professoris  Lovaniensem : 
Ulms,  1699. 

We  quote  the  titles  of  some  other  books  still  more  curious.     For  example : 

Johannis  Wolfgangi  Jiegeri  cancellarii  Tubingenras  Dissertatio  Theologica 
de  veritate  Augustanse  Gonfessionis  in  Concilio  Tridentino  agnitie  et  defenssB : 
TubingSB,  1696. 

Johannis  Friderioi  Mayeri  Ecolesia  Papea  Lutheran»  patrona  et  oliens. 

F.  B.  de  la  fiarre,  La  Doctrine  des  Eglises  Protestantes  justifi^  par  le  Missel 
Bomain :  Geneve,  1720. 

1  Tisch-Beden,  Eisl.  p.  553. 

2  Op.  Luth.  tom.  ii.  Jen.  Germ.  fol.  108 ;  torn.  vii.  Witt.  foL  858 ;  torn.  ii. 
Alt.  fol.  142.     Von  Menschen-Lehre  zu  meiden. 

*  Coll.  Mens.  Lat.  tom.  ii.  p.  84. 

<  Enarr.  in  xlv.  cap.  Genes,  tom.  ii.  Witt.  Germ.  p.  227 ;  Alt  p.  1382. 

*  Table-Tslk,  translated  by  M.  Gustavo  Brunet,  p.  171. 


286  HlflTOBY   OP  LTTTHBR. 

fooleriee  upon  odibacy ;  and  besides,  the  apostle  only  speaks  of 
widows ;  now  Bora  is  not  a  widow,  any  more  than  I  am."  ^ 

ECK  AND   FABEB. 

"  The  emperor  Charles  V.  said :  *  My  brother  esteems  Faber 
and  Eck,  and  oonsiders  them  great  men  who  defend  the  honour 
of  the  Christian  faith/  Yes,  unquestionably ;  for  the  one 
passes  the  day  in  drinking,  and  the  other  is  a  hog  and  a  wencher.^ 
I  have  never  read  a  single  book  that  the  papists  have  written 
against  me,  with  the  sole  exception  of  Erasmus'  treatise  on  free- 
will/' 

SADOLKTUS. 

"  Sadoletus  was  selected  by  the  pope  on  accoant  of  his  talents, 
to  write  against  me  :  he  knows  nothing  of  the  Scriptures,  as  may 
be  easily  seen  by  his  '  Commentaries  on  the  51  st  Psalm/  ^  My 
God,  may  thy  light  enlighten  him,  and  guide  him  in  the  right 
way !" 

PABABISE. 

*'  You  ask  me  if  there  will  be  dogs  and  other  animals  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ?  Certainly,  for  the  earth  will  not  be  stripped 
bare;  it  will  not  lose  its  inhabitants,  and  be  changed  into  a 
desert.  Does  not  St.  Paul  call  the  new,  or  the  last  day,  a  day 
of  change,  in  which  the  heaven  and  the  earth  shall  be  changed  ! 
As  if  he  had  said :  '  or  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  shall  be 
created.'  We  shall  then  have  pretty  little  dogs  with  golden 
heads  and  fiir  of  precious  stones  ;  each  of  these  little  dogs  shall 
have  a  collar  of  diamonds,  with  a  small  pearl  on  each  hair. 
There  will  then  be  none  of  those  vile  animals,  such  as  toads  and 
bugs,  created  by  our  sins ;  none  of  them  will  eat  or  torment 
each  other;  everything  shall  be  harmless,  and  void  of  evil, 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  caress  and  play  with  them  in  complete 
safety/'* 

aoD. 

"  I  owe  more  to  my  little  Catherine  and  to  Philip  than  even 


»  Tiech-Reden,  Francf.  pp.  828,  872. 

'  "  Einer  ist  alle  Tage  tninken,  der  ondere  ist  em  Hurentreiber,  gar  eine 
San."— Tisch-RedeD,  p,  S71. 

'  Tisch-Beden,  p.  817.  *  Ibid.  p.  504. 


THE  TISOH-BEDEK.  287 

to  Grod :  neither  Eetha,  nor  any  man  on  earth,  has  suffered  so 
much  for  me  sa  my  favourite  disciple/'  ^ 

''  Ood  has  made  many  mistakes.  I  would  have  given  him  good 
advice  had  I  assisted  at  the  creation ;  I  should  have  made  the 
sun  shine  incessantly  :  the  day  should  have  had  no  end.'' ' 

The  cups  were  empty,  but  the  drinkers  were  grave.  Before 
leaving  table,  Luther  was  in  the  habit  of  amusing  the  company 
with  some  merry  tale.  On  this  occasion  he  was  in  high  spirits, 
and  narrated  the  story  of  the  Bull  for  the  edification  of  his 
associates.^ 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  TISCH-REDEN  CONTINUED.— WOMAN.— THE  TEMPTER. 

Wommn,  the  iertUe  robject  of  conyenation  at  table  in  the  Black  .Eagle.— 
Luther's  tempter. — ^How  the  doctor  drove  him  away. — His  adyioe  to  Weller, 
how  to  repel  temptations. — Germany  and  the  Tisch-Beden. 

WOMAN. 

Woman  is  a  fertile  theme  for  Luther.  Frequently,  in  the 
midst  of  a  moral  discourse  in  which  she  could  not  intervene  by 
any  rhetorical  artifice,  woman  appears  to  condemn  the  pope  and 
the  decretals.  Celibacy  is  the  great  crime  which  Luther  imputes 
to  Antichrist,  the  most  visible  mark  which  God  has  imprinted  on 
the  forehead  of  the  beast.  Singular  thing  I  It  is  not  only  in 
the  texts  which  of  his  own  authority  he  declares  to  be  authentic 
and  fi*ee  from  all  monkish  interpolation,  but  in  the  writings  which 
he  has  rejected  as  contaminated,  that  he  searches  for  the  proo& 


>  Tisch-Beden,  Francf.  p.  124.  •  Ibid,  part  ii.  p.  20. 

'  [The  translator,  as  in  other  instanceSi  has  been  compelled  to  omit  this 
gross  tale,  eren  in  Latin.  Thoee  who  are  ooriona  in  snch  faoeti»  will  find  it 
in  the  CoUoquia  Mensalia,  toL  i.  p.  251,  or  at  p.  1 75  of  the  third  volume  of 
M.  Audin's  work,  edit,  of  Paris  (Maison's),  I860.— T.] 

See  also,  Bysenteria  Martini  Lutheri  in  Merdipoetam  LsBmichen,  Coll. 
Mens.  torn.  i.  p.  281,  edit.  Franof.  ad  Moenmn,  ann.  1571,  Svo.  per  Nicol. 
Basseum  et  Hieronymnm  Feyerabend ;  Martinus  Lnthenis  dicebat  de  Flan- 
dris,  p.  76 ;  Ann.  1532,  21  Aug.  Doct.  Jonas  Lutherum  oravit.  Coll.  Mens, 
tom.  i.  p.  119,  b,  de  Principe.  Mulier  quasdam  Garrula,  GolL  Mens.  torn,  i, 
p.  233. 


288  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBB. 

of  the  divinity  of  the  command,  ''Increase  and  multiply/' 
What  do  you  think  he  opposes  to  the  monks  who  also  take  the 
Scriptnres  as  their  text-book,  to  enjoin  on  their  adversaries  the 
vow  of  chastity  ?  An  episde  of  St  Paul,  perhaps  ?  No  ;  but 
the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  which  he  so  often  ridicules,  and 
treats  as  a  dream  or  a  fable. 

But  it  is  at  table  especially  that  he  is  to  be  heard  discoursing 
on  this  subject.  In  the  ''  GoUoquia,"  no  fewer  than  a  hundred 
pages  are  devoted  to  the  fair  sex.  Luther  is  quite  at  his  ease, 
and  the  boon  companion  is  under  less  restraint  than  the  preacher, 
who,  however,  allowed  himself  singular  license. 

THE   TBMPTER. 

The  life  of  Luther  is  little  else  than  a  series  of  contests  with 
the  devil,  of  which  he  has  preserved  to  us  the  details,  and  in 
which  the  monk  was  always  victor.  But  the  devil  was  not  dis- 
couraged, he  returned  to  the  charge :  the  battle  was  renewed,  and 
invariably  terminated  in  the  same  manner, — ^by  the  discomfiture 
of  the  old  enemy  of  mankind.  The  demon  did  not  give  him  a 
moment's  rest ;  he  tormented  him  by  day  and  by  night,  at  meals 
and  in  slumber.;  at  church,  at  study,  in  his  household,  and  even 
in  his  cellar.*  Luther  has  not,ed  and  kept  a  register  of  all  these 
assaults,  in  order,  he  says,  to  teach  us  how  to  baffle  this  clever 
cheat. 

In  the  monastery  at  Wittemberg,  when  he  was  beginning  to 
read  the  Bible,  or  was  at  his  desk  translating  the  Psalms,  the 
devil  would  come  softly  and  stealthily,  and  suggest  to  him  all 
sorts  of  evil  thoughts.  If  he  appeared  not  to  understand  him, 
then  Satan  got  into  a  rage,  upset  his  papers,  opened  and  tore  his 
books,  and  then  blew  out  the  candle.  If  Luther  went  to  bed, 
the  devil  was  there  before  him. 

It  was  known  that  Luther  was  frequently  visited  by  the  devil, 
and  he  was  asked  what  should  be  done  in  such  cases  :  ''  What 
should  I  say  to  the  devil  when  he  comes  to  torment  me?'' 


'  (The  translator  is  again  under  the  necessity  of  referring  to  the  original 
text.  The  freedom  perinisdble  to  the  author  is  not  allowed  to  his  inter- 
preter.— ^T.] 

'  Tisch  Reden,  p.  819. 


THE  TISOH-BBDEN.  289 

**  Nothing,  neither  speak  to  nor  answer  him  ;  leave  him  alone, 
and  he  will  go  about  his  business/'  ^ 

He  found  the  devil's  image  in  a  great  number  of  the  Creator's 
works,  —  in  the  wolf,  and  especially  in  flies.  So  when  they 
rested  upon  his  face  or  open  book,  he  got  into  a  passion.  **  The 
devil  take  you  i"  he  would  say,  ^'  ape  and  follower  of  Satan. 
If  I  open  my  Bible,  there  you  are,  abominable  fly,  with  your  feet 
and  filth  ;  as  if  to  say,  This  is  my  book,  I  wish  to  dirty  it.''  ^ 

Luther  sometimes  droye  away  the  fallen  angel  by  absolute 
silence,  at  otheis  by  the  sign  of  the  cross,  the  name  of  Jesus,  or 
a  short  prayer.  He  speaks  in  glowing  terms  of  the  efficacy  of 
prayer,  which  can  resuscitate  the  dead,  '^  as  was  instanced  in 
the  case  of  the  doctor  himself,  who  had  breathed,  it  was  thought, 
his  last ;  of  his  wife  Eetha,  who  showed  no  signs  of  life  ;  and 
of  Philip  Melancthon,  who,  in  1540,  at  Weimar,  had  given  up  the 
ghost  The  devU  was  then  overcome,  and  death  surrendered  his 
prey."» 

He  was  visibly  annoyed  if,  in  the  course  of  -conversation,  that 
invisible  power  was  invoked  to  unravel  a  difficulty,  or  penetrate  a 
mystery,  and  especially  if,  without  good  grounds,  a  troublesome 
person  was  got  rid  of  by  sending  him  to  the  deviL  ''  For  who 
knows,"  he  said,  contracting  his  brow,  ''but  he  might  take  you 
at  your  word  ?"  When  his  displeasure  passed  away,  he  said  to 
his  companion,  "  Listen  to  the  following  story : — 

"  Two  joUy  Germans  were  enjoying  themselves  over  their  cups ; 
when  a  young  traveller,  weakly  and  much  exhausted,  arrived.  As 
he  sat  down  to  table,  he  exclaimed  in  a  melancholy  tone :  '  I 
would  give  my  soul  to  the  devil  if  I  could  enjoy  myself  like  you 
for  a  whole  day.'  Presently  arrived  another  traveller,  who  sat 
down  beside  the  youth,  and  looking  at  him  said :  '  What  was 
that  which  you  said  a  little  while  ago,  my  young  friend  V  '  Why, 
that  I  would  give  my  soul  to  the  devil  for  some  good  flagons  of 
Rhenish.'  '  Ha,  ha  I'  replied  the  stranger,  laughing  heartily  ; 
*  waiter,  bring  some  wine.'  They  drank  and  drank  ;  the  hours 
glided  away:  the  stranger  had  disappeared.  He  returned 
in  the  evening,  and  addressing  the  young  man's  fellow-topers, 
who  had  not  yet  left  the  table  :  '  Gentlemen,'  said  he,  *  when  a 


»  Tisch-Keden,  p.  617.  '  Ibid.  p.  625,  *  Ibid. 

VOL.  II.  U 


290  HISTORY   OF  LUTHKB. 

person  buys  a  horse,  does  he  not  also  buy  the  bridle  and  saddle  V 
*  Certainly,  both  bridle  and  saddle,'  they  replied,  laughing.  And 
instantly  the  devil,  for  it  was  he,  flew  off  with  the  young  man 
through  the  ceiling/'  * 

The  deyil  who  raged  against  Luther  was  a  cunning  sophist,  who 
loved  to  embarrass  his  adversary ;  a  wicked  disciple  of  Scotus, 
who  laughed  when  he  could  nonplus  the  professor  of  Wittemberg. 
He  most  frequently  appeared  to  Luther  on  his  awaking.  *'  Toa 
are  a  sinner,''  said  he  to  him  one  day,  "  an  obstinate  sinner  ! " 
*'  Have  you  nothing  newer  to  tell  me?"  replied  Luther;  "I  know 
as  well  as  you  that  I  have  sinned  ;  but  Ood  has  forgiven  me. 
His  Son  has  taken  away  my  iniquities,  they  are  no  longer  mine 
but  Christ's,  and  I  am  not  so  foolish  as  to  deny  the  grace  of  my 
Saviour.  Have  you  nothing  more  to  ask  me?  Are  you  not 
satisfied  ?  There," — and  catching  up  the  chamber-pot, — "there," 
said  he,  "  my  fine  fellow,  take  that  to  wash  your  face  with  !"  * 

This  was  unanswerable :  the  devil  fled  ! 

But  he  soon  returned.  If  Luther  was  very  much  annoyed, 
he  took  his  flute,  and  the  black  angel  rapidly  fled  ;  wherefore  the 
doctor  recommends  music  to  those  who  are  tempted.  "Sing 
then,  my  friends,"  he'  repeats,  '^  sing,  and  dispute  not,  for  the 
devil  is  a  thousand  times  more  knowing  than  you."' 

We  know  with  what  temptations  the  Saxon  monk  was  assailed. 
If  we  are  to  believe  him,  Satan  gave  him  rest  neither  by  dtfy  nor 
by  night ;  at  night  he  sent  him  dreams,  in  which  the  pagan  deities 
sat  by  his  pillow ;  voluptuous  dreams  that  bedewed  his  face  with 
perspiration.  At  other  times  he  insinuated  proud  thoughts,  and 
then  the  doctor  of  Wittemberg  beheld  all  the  crowns  of  earth  ttt 
his  feet,  and  believed  himself  greater  than  the  sovereigns  and 
pontifib  who  wore  .them.  Satan  also  strove  to  cast  him  into 
despair,  by  representing  to  him  in  sleep  his  dear  Germany  all 
torn  to  pieces  by  faction ;  the  Anabaptists  rushing  into  the 
Lutheran  churches  ;  Zwinglius  leading  men's  minds  astray  ;  his 
brethren  leaving  him,  and  his  great  work  perishing  in  waves  of 
blood,  that  flowed  like  those  of  the  Elbe.  Then  the  monks 
resumed  their  cowls  ;  the  stinking  Babylon,  Rome,  was  propped 

^  Tisch-Reclen,  p.  161. 

'  '*  So  hab  ich  aach  geschissen  unci  gepinkelt^  daran  wische  dein  Maul,  and 
heisse  dich  wohl  damit."  *  Tuch-Redeo,  p.  305. 


THE   TISCH-BEBEN.  291 

np  by  numerotw  scarlefc  robes ;  the  pope  bestrode  the  beast  of 
the  Apocalypse"";  the  nuns  fled  from  their  abductors  to  their 
cloisters  again ;  Eck,  Campeggio,  Miltitz,  and  the  whole 
"  shabby  priesthood  of  Rome,"  scoflFed  at  his  impotent  fury  and 
his  fruitless  labours.  It  was  necessary  then  for  him  to  become  ac* 
customed  early  to  repel  with  vigour  these  assaults  of  the  malignant 
spirit  The  anchorites  of  the  Thebais  had  found  prayer  to  be 
an  effectual  remedy  against  the  rebellion  of  the  old  Adam :  he 
tried  prayer,  and  was  not  satisfied  with  it.  Now  this  is  his 
remedy,  which  he  is  serious  in  recommending  to  all  his  friends. 
"  Poor  Jerome  Weller,  you  have  temptations,  you  must  get  the 
better  of  fhem :  when  the  devil  comes  to  tempt  you, — drink,  my 
friend,  drink  deeply,  make  yourself  merry,  play  the  fool,  and 
sin  in  hatred  of  the  evil  one,  and  to  play  him  a  trick.  If  the 
devil  says  to  you :  *  You  surely  will  not  drink ;'  answer  him 
thus  :  '  I  shall  drink  bump^s,  because  you  forbid  me  ;  I  shall 
imbibe  copious  potations  in  honour  of  Jesus  Christ.'  Follow  my 
example.  I  should  neither  eat,  drink,  nor  enjoy  myself  so  much 
at  table,  were  it  not  to  vex  Satan.  I  wish  I  could  discover  some  U 
new  sin,  that  he  might  learn  to  his  cost  that  I  laugh  at  all  that  1 
is  sin,  and  that  I  do  not  think  my  conscience  charged  with  it.  | 
Away  with  the  Decalogue,  when  the  devil  comes  to  torment  us ! 
when  he  whispers  in  our  ear :  *  But  you  sin,  you  deserve  death 
and  hell.'  '  Yes,  my  God,  I  know  it  but  too  well,  what  would 
you  have  me  to  say  V  '  But  you  will  be  damned  in  the  next 
world.'  *  That  is  false ;  I  know  that  there  is  one  who 
suffered  and  satisfied  for  me, — Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,- 
and  where  he  is,  there  I  shall  be  also.'  ^  If  the  devil  does 
depart,  I  cry  to  him:  *  In  manum  sume  crepitum  ventris  cum 
istoqne  baculo  vade  Romam.'  "  '  Luther  often  introduces  this 
magnificent  antidote  in  his  wiitings,  and  it  is  with  the  greatest 
gravity  possible  that  he  recommends  for  silencing  the  voice  of 
the  devil  eating,  drinking,  rejoicing,  and  taking  care  of  the 
brain  and  belly,  by  filling  the  one  with  the  fumes  of  good  wine. 


next 
has/* 

1  nott 


»  6  November,  to  Jerome  Weller,  in  Weller.  Op.  p.  208.  Leberecht  von 
Wette,  Dr.  Luther's  Briefe,  torn.  iv.  p.  188. 

*  He  mentions  elsewhere  the  anecdote  of  a  lady  of  Magdeburg :  *'  Quee  Sa< 
thanam  crepitu  yeutris  fugavit." — Propos  de  Table,  par  M.  Gustave  Brunet> 
p.  22. 

U2 


292  HISTOBY   OF  LUTHEB. 

and  the  other  with  savoury  food :  "  A  good  bumper  of  old  wine,'' 
says  he,  ''  is  the  best  remedy  for  qnieting  the  senses,  procuring 
sleep,  and  escaping  from  the  devil/'  ^ 

Poor  Weller  was  a  instant  sufferer,  and  wa£  always  implcxing 
Luther  to  deliver  him  from  his  temptations,  but  Luther  never 
pointed  out  to  him  any  other  panacea  except  this  obstreperous 
merriment  and  tumult  of  the  senses.  '^  Do  you  not  see,"  he 
says  to  him  again,  '^  that  God  is  not  a  God  of  sadness,  but  of 
joy  ?  has  not  Christ  said,  '•  I  am  the  God  of  the  living,  and  not 
of  the  dead  V  What  is  it  to  live,  but  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  ? 
You  cannot  prevent  the  birds  from  flying  above  your  head,  but 
you  can  from  building  their  nests  in  your  hair."  * 

Calvin  was  not  tempted  so  much  as  Luther ;  '^  pohaps,''  says 
his  biographer,  M.  Paul  Henri,  '^  because  Satan  was  well  aware 
that  this  servant  of  God  knew  not  what  fear  is," '  or  perhaps 
also  because  the  Genevan's  brain  was  not  so  imaginative  as  that 
of  Luther,  which  at  the  least  motion  of  an  external  agent  became 
gifted  with  violent  activity.  This  inferiority  of  poetic  power 
appears  in  every  page  of  his  "  Christian  Institutes."  Calvin  also 
maintained,  in  many  of  his  writings,  the  influence  of  the  evil 
spirit  on  the  destinies  of  the  Gospel,  but  never  as  Luther  did, 
with  such  a  faith  as  almost  partook  of  his  terrors.  His  theo- 
logical system  is  designed  to  give  assurance  from  the  first  to  him 
who  listens  to  it  Calvin  taught  that  the  devil,  who  can  bring 
under  subjection  the  soul  of  the  sinner,  is  powerless  over  that  of 
him  who  believes  in  Christ  his  Redeemer.  He  did  not  admit  of 
the  exorcising  of  infants,  as  Luther  did.  He  said  of  our 
exorcist  priests :  "  They  do  not  know  that  they  are  themselves 
possessed :  they  act  as  if  they  had  the  power  of  working  by  the 
imposition  of  hands  ;  but  they  will  never  convince  the  devil  that 
they  have  this  gift ;  in  the  fimt  place,  because  they  in  no  manner 
of  way  afiect  the  patient,  and  in  the  second,  because  they  them- 
selves are  the  property  of  Satan  ;  there  is  scarcely  one  of  them 
who  is  not  possessed."* 

1  "  MUii  oportonum  easet  contrii  tentatiooes  remedium,  fortis  hauatos  qui 
liommim  induceret." 

«  To  Weller,  15  Jnne,  1630.     Op.  Waller,  p.  204. 

'  **  Oder  dass  der  b<$6e  Ckist  wobl  wiiBste,  dies  sei  nicht  der  Weg,  ihn  za 
gtoren."— Tom.  i.  p.  6S8, 

*  lost,  lib,  iv.  cb.  xix.  §  24. 


THE   TISCU-BSBEK.  293 

Calvin  admitted  the  existence  of  sorcererB  and  ^tchcraft ; 
bat  he  did  not,  like  Lather,  endow  the  devil  with  a  creative 
power.  He  thought  that  the  devil  could  not  change  material 
objects,  but  only  deceive  the  spectator.  Thus,  in  his  system,  the 
rod  which  Moses  changed  into  a  serpent  (Exodus  vii.  12),  still 
remained  a  rod  ;  and  that  it  was  only  the  eyes  of  the  lookers-on, 
who  were  fascinated  by  the  devil,  that  saw  an  imaginary  creature 
in  a  substance  which  had  undergone  not  the  slightest  metamor- 
phosis. 

Luther's  devil  sometimes  resembles  the  devil  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  roaring  lion  of  the  Gospel,  that  tempter  who  carried  the  Son 
of  God  to  the  mountain  ;  but  he  is  more  frequently  a  filthy 
papist,  or  a  petty  theologian  in  a  cowl,  whose  eyes  are  dim  from 
perusing  Durandus,  and  his  countenance  emaciated  by  vigilance ; 
clownish,  tattered,  and  incapable  of  speaking  ought  but  the  logic 
of  Aristotle.  He  does  not  even  know  his  part ;  he  is  carefrd  for 
the  salvation  of  Luther,  as  if  he  were  his  guardian  angel,  anxious 
about  the  future  state  of  his  soul,  always  ready  to  show  him  the 
way  to  heaven,  and  if  necessary,  to  bring  him  Jacob's  ladder  to 
aid  his  ascent.  We  can  imagine  a  devil  of  this  sort  saying  to 
Luther :  ^'  Are  you  not  deceived  in  saying  the  Mass  ?  ^  Do  you 
not  perform  an  act  of  idolatry  when  celebrating  the  holy  sacrifice? 
Fool  that  you  are,  you  are  sunk  in  popery;  it  is  time  you 
escaped  from  that  fiery  frirDace.  With  the  Catholic  rabble  you 
reckon  seven  sacraments  ;  there  are  only  two,  baptism,  and  the 
eucharisf  Do  you  understand  a  devil  who,  in  full  pride,  comes 
at  night  with  the  staple  ailment  of  every  book,  which  Emser, 
Eck,  and  Faber  have  worn  threadbare  by  use :  the  passage  of 
St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  i.  5,  12,  relating  to  widows  who  marry  a 
second  time,  and  ''  so  involve  themselves  in  condemnation  by 
violating  the  vows  which  they  had  previously  sworn  to  keep  V 
This  was  a  text  which  the  devil  did  not  need  to  recall  to  Luther, 
since  the  Catholics  had  quoted  it  in  all  their  disputations,  to 
prove  the  necessity  of  the  vow  of  continence.  Luther  may  do 
what  he  will  to  exalt  his  devil,  may  torture  himself  to  elevate 
the  part  which  he  makes  him  play;  but  after  perusing  the 
'*  Tisch-Reden,"  we  must  have  but  a  poor  opinion  of  the  devil's 


*  See  chajK  xxxii.  yol.  i.  Conference  with  the  Devil. 


294  HISTORY   OP   LUTHER. 

ability.  Eck  and  Tetzel  were  more  highly  gifked.  In  Luther's 
words,  ''  these  children  of  the  devil  knew  more  than  their 
father/' 

If  the  devil,  who  so  frequently  bandies  theology  with  Luiher, 
is  a  sorry  fellow,  in  spite  of  all  the  reputation  for  learning  which 
his  adversary  would  attribute  to  him,  a  student  who  should  be 
sent  back  to  his  books  when  he  attempts  to  quote  the  Scriptures, 
and  who  deserves  to  be  whipped,  we  cannot,  at  least,  reproach 
him  with  making  oflFensive  the  places  which  he  frequents. 

He  is  generally  a  jolly  fellow  who  knows  how  to  live,  who  is 
never  angry  with  Luther,  or  has  recourse  to  insults  and  coarse- 
ness. Thus  he  will  say  to  the  monk  :  "  You  are  a  sinner ;  your 
conscience  is  blacker  than  coal ;  you  have  occasioned  the  damna- 
tion of  a  great  many  souls ; ''  but  he  would  have  been  adiamed 
to  use  such  language  as  the  monk  did  in  his  reply,  which  may 
be  seen  in  the  "Tisch-Reden.''^  In  the  constant  war  of  the 
two  principles,  the  good  and  the  bad,  which  continues  during 
the  whole  of  the  doctor's  life,  the  devil,  who  represents  the 
latter,  never  makes  one  blush  ;  he  would  seem  to  be  a  companion 
of  princes ;  whilst  Luther,  on  the  contrary,  who  represents  the 
former,  appears  always  as  if  he  had  just  emerged  from  a  brothel 
in  which  he  has  spent  the  night. 

The  historian  should  possess,  like  the  poet,  the  gift  of  evoking 
the  dead.  He  would  like  here  to  re-assemble  these  consumers  of 
Saxon  beer  round  their  father.  A  Catholic  would  go  to  the 
tavern  and  sit  down  among  the  doctor's  disciples,  and  in  his 
turn,  after  three  centuries,  say  to  him :  '^  Master,  long  ago  you 
announced  in  this  place  that  the  end  of  the  papacy  was  at  halid ; 
were  you  a  prophet  ? 

''  Master,  what  has  become  of  your  hobgoblins,  sorcerers,  and 
possessed  ones  ?  Nobody  in  Protestant  Germany  even  believes 
there  is  a  devil. 

'^  Master,  you  asserted  that  before  your  time  the  Bible  was 
only  known  by  sermons,  and  yet  look  at  those  copies  which 
were  printed  in  France,  Italy,  and  Germany  long  before  your 
advent. 

"  Yet  you  knew  perfectly  well  that  in  the  ninth  century  Louis 


Tisch-Beden,  Eial.  p.  290^  a. 


THE   TISCn-BEDEN.  295 

ihe  Pious  catised  the  Bible  to  be  translated  into  German  by 
Rabanns  Maonui  and  Wilfrid  Stra)>o ;  that  Ottfried  of  Weis- 
senbmg  made  a  metrical  yersion  of  the  four  gospels ;  that  the 
Bmperor  Wenceslaiis,  about  1400,  ordered  the  Scriptures  to  be 
published  in  Grennan ;  and  that  several  translations  of  the  Bible 
in  that  language  had  appeared  before  yours.^ 

"  Master,  you  sud :  '  The  Papists  do  not  know  a  word  of 
Latin ;  there  is  no  one  who  understands  Christ  and  his  blood/ 
There  are  the  '  Gantica  ex  Sacris  Litteris  in  Eccleeia  cantari 
solita  cum  Hymnis  et  GoUectis/  revised  and  enlarged  by  George 
Major,  your  disciple,  in  1594  ;'  and  all  the  printed  or  manu- 
script 'Agenda,'  belonging  to  every  church  in  the  Catholic 
world  : '  a  complete  refutation  of  your  conversation  at  table. 

"  Master,  can  you  tell  us  what  has  been  done  with  the  six 
thousand  children's  skulls  found  in  a  fishpond  in  Italy  ? 

"  Master,  will  you,  then,  show  me  a  Lutheran  ?  They  have 
erected  a  fine  statue  in  your  honour  at  Wittemberg ;  but  not 
one  of  those  who  made  it,  belieyed  in  your  doctrines/' 

Old  Protestant  Germany  has  long  subsisted  on  the  marrow  of 
the  "  Tisch-Reden  ;''  it  is  there  where  the  learned  men  have 
found  their  daily  bread,  that  is,  their  prophecies  against  Anti- 
christ, ever  come  and  ever  coming ;  their  insults  to  our  glories 
of  Catholicism, — St.  Jerome,  St  Augustine,  or  St.  Cyprian ; 
their  ribaldiy  against  the  monasteries  which  have  produced  St. 


'  M.  Mart.  Lipenius,  co-reotor  of  the  Lutheiaa  academy  ofLubeck. — Biblio- 
tlieca  realis  Theologica^  torn.  i.  p.  148. 
*  Strasburg,  Joiias  Bichel.    We  find  in  it  three  hymns : 
"  Ex  more  docti  mystice 
Servemua  hoc  jejunium."  .  •  , 
tend, 

"  Audi,  benigne  oonditor. 
Nostras  preces  com  fletibns 
In  hoc  saoro  jejunio. 
Pusas  qoadragenario.^ 
which  have  been  omitted  in  every  Lutheran  Oesangbnch. 

'  These  Affendas  were  a  collection  of  the  ceremonies  used  in  the  Tarions 
dioceses  for  the  celebration  of  baptism,  confirmation,  and  the  other  sacraments. 
Agenda  in  usum  EoclesisB  Aquitdnsis :  Venetiis,  1495 ;  Episcopatus  Herbipo- 
lensis,  1480 ;  In  usimi  EcclesisB  Magdeburgensis :  Magdeb.  1497,  4to. ;  In 
usnm  Eeclesie  Moflruntinensis :  Mogunt.  1480 ;  In  usum  Ecclesin  Patayiensis: 
Pat.  1400,  etc.  Vfe  quote,  Summa  de  Eucharistis  Sacramento :  Ulm«,  1498  ; 
De  Eucharistiffi  Sacramento  Sermones  XXXII. :  Colon,  imp.  per  Joh.  Gulden- 
■ohaf ;  Sermones  aurei  de  Sacrosanoto  Eucharistiaa  Sacramento :  Colonic,  1474  ; 
Summa  de  Officio  Missse  et  Sacramento  Eucharistiae :  Argent.  1439. 


296  HISTORY  OP  LUTHBB. 

Francis  Xavier,  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  and  St.  Dominic ;  their  joked 
against  the  papacy,  which,  according  to  them,  would  have  stran- 
gled learning,  civilization,  and  morals,  if  Luther  had  not  come. 
There  are  worthy  Lutherans  in  Saxony  who  still  repeat  the  sin* 
gular  exorcism,  the  invention  of  which  is  assigned  to  the  Catholics 
by  Jodocus  Hooker,  in  his  "  Theatrum  Diabolorum,"  on  the 
authority  of  the  doctor.*  These  simple  people  have  never  read 
the  **  Tisch-Reden,"  which  they  believe  to  be  a  prayer-book,  in 
which  their  master  has  dififused  a  spiritual  manna,  the  nutriment  of 
pious  souls  ;  and  in  which  not  a  word  occurs  that  can  offend  the 
ear,  or  shock  modesty.^  Mathesius,  Luther's  disciple,  has  spoken 
thus  of  them  ;  and  people  believe  him,  for  Mathesius  was  one  of 
the  guests  who  met  at  the  ^'  Black  Eagle/' 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

THE   CONFERENCE   OF  MARBURG.  —  DISPUTATION   ON  THE 
EUCHARIST.     1529. 

Tlie  Catbolio  dognuk  on  the  real  presence. — Carbtadt  "was  the  first  who  denied 
it. — His  exegesis. — New  spirit  which  rises  in  the  church  of  Wittembex^. — 
Bj  whom  excited! — Zwinglius  attacks  the  sacrament. — His  dream. — The 
fignratiye  sense  of  Zwinglius  is  determined  bj  his  doctrine  on  the  sacra- 
ments.— ^Lnther's  theory  on  the  Lord's  Supper. — Hatred  of  popery  the  great 
argument  of  the  Swiss  for  rejecting  the  real  presence,  combated  by  Luther. — 
Conference  of  Marburg. — Luther  refuses  to  call  Zwinglius  brother. — ^Ana- 
themas exchanged  between  Wittemberg  and  Zurich. — ^Appeal  of  the  two 
schools  to  authority. — ^Lesson  derived  from  that  appeal. — Melancholy  end  of 
Carlstadt. — Schwenckfeld  separates  from  Luther,  and  in  his  turn  attiMsks  the 
real  presence. 

On  the  night  before  his  death,  Christ,  seated  at  table  with  his 
disciples,  took  bread,  blessed  it,  broke  it,  and  gave  it  to  the 
apostles,  saying :  "  Take  ye  and  eat ;  this  is  my  body,  which 
shall  be  delivered  for  you.'*  -  And  then  blessing  the  chalice, 

*  Amasatonte,  Tiros,  Posthos,  Cicalos,  Cicaltri,  .^liapoli,  Starras,  Polen, 
Solemque,  Livarrasque,  Adipos  adnlpes,  Draphanus,  XTlphajius,  Trax,  caput 
Orontis.     Jacet  hoc  in  virtute  mentis. 

*  "  Ich  habe  so  lang  ich  umb  ihn  gewesst,  kein  unschambar  Wort  ans  seinem 
Munde  gehort." — In  der  xii.  Predigt,  p.  137. 


THE  COKFBREirCE  OF  HABBUBa.  297 

Baid :  "  Take  ye  and  drink,  this  is  the  new  testament  in  my 
blood,  which  shall  be  shed  for  yon  and  for  many,  for  the  remission 
of  sins/'  It  is  the  constant  and  nnanimons  tradition  of  all  the 
Chnrches ;  it  is  the  invariable  teaching  of  the  fathers,  doctors, 
and  martyrs,  that  Jesns  Christ  is  really  present  in  the  Encharist, 
and  that  God,  who  changed  water  into  wine  at  the  marriage  in 
Gana,  changes  in  the  Sacrament  the  substance  of  the  bread  and 
the  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  onr  Redeemer.^ 

Garlstadt,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  first  who  called  in  ques- 
tion the  dogma  of  the  real  presence,  in  a  volume  which  he  pub- 
lished, in  1524,  by  the  title  of  '^  The  Anti-Christian  use  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ."'  His  explanation  of  the 
words  of  institution  has  not  even  the  merit  of  being  serious. 
The  archdeacon  supposes  that  Christ,  in  saying,  ''  This  is  my 
body  ;  this  is  my  blood,"  pointed  with  the  hand  which  held  the 
bread  and  the  wine  to  his  own  body,  which  was  soon  to  be  deli- 
vered to  save  fiJlen  man.  It  must  be  admitted  that  never  was 
greater  violence  done  to  a  dearer  text.  Carlstadt,  nevertheless, 
led  away  some  simple  people,  as  there  are  always  some  to  be 
found  who  believe  every  novelty  to  be  a  truth. 

Wittemberg,  on  the  appearance  of  this  pamphlet,  which  it 
sought  to  ridicule,  learned,  with  mingled  sorrow  and  alarm,  that 
henceforward  any  one  might  probe  and  deny  every  article  of  the 
Lutheran  creed.  Scientific  doubts  then  entered  the  Church, 
which  had  been  founded  with  so  much  difficulty  by  the  Saxon 
apostle. 

But  in  this  insurrection  of  Carlstadt  there  was  something  quite 
difierent  from  a  calculated  disobedience  to  the  Ecclesiastes  of 
Wittembeig.  It  was  evidentiy  the  awaking  of  a  new  spirit  that 
sought  to  escape  firom  the  exdusive  principle  of  justification  by 
futh,  and  to  found  its  belief  upon  Rationalism.  Carlstadt  was 
the  precursor  of  Calvin. 

Besides,  if  the  ex^esis  of  Carlstadt  is  foolish,  the  principle 
whence  it  is  derived  is  serious ;  for  the  archdeacon  proceeds 
logically  from  Luther  and  Melancthon.  If  every  sacrament,  as 
Luther  has  so  often  repeated,   resembles  the  sign  set  in  the 


*  Moehler's  Symbolism,  translaied  bj  Bobertson,  vol.  i.  p.  888. 

*  "Von  dem  widerchristlicben  MiaBbraaoh  des  Herrn  Blot  vnd  Kelch.* 


298  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHER. 

rainbow ;  if  it  produoes  no  fruit  except  by  faith  ;  if  there  is  no 
personal  yirtne  in  it ;  wherefore  should  Christ  be  in  the 
£achari8t  7  If,  as  Melancthon  says,  Gideon  would  have  ob- 
tained the  victory  without  any  external  phenomenon,^  wherefore, 
once  more,  should  Christ  be  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  ? 
And,  besides,  is  it  comprehensible,  if  it  is  true  that  the  Catholic 
Church  has  been  for  so  many  centuries  in  error,  that  Christ 
should  descend  upon  the  altar  at  the  yoicd  of  a  priest  who 
believes  in  the  pope,  that  is  to  say,  in  Antichrist  ? 

Zvdnglius  boasted  of  having  been  the  first  to  understand  the 
real  sense  of  the  words  of  the  Supper.  "  Carlstadt/'  said  he, 
*'  although  a  novice,  deficient  neither  in  cottage  nor  arms,  but 
in  brains,  had  lifted  aside  one  of  the  veils  which  conceal  the 
truth ;  but  I  have  torn  it  oS."^  It  is  unquestionable  that  Zwin- 
glitts,  in  1523,  had  maintained  against  Thomas  Wittenbach 
that  the  belief  in  the  real  presence  waa  positive  idolatry.  More- 
over, he  modified  Carlstadt's  theoiy  in  this  sense,  that  the 
expression  of  Christ  seemed  to  him  entirely  figurative  ;  he 
accordingly  translated  '^  This  is  my  body,"  by  ''  This  signifies 
or  represents  my  body.''* 

It  was  said  that  Zwinglius  learned  the  mystery  of  the  eucfaa- 
ristic  text  in  a  dream.  Now  this  is  the  vision  which  the  Con- 
fessionists  of  Augsburg  ridiculed  as  much  as  the  Swiss  did 
Luther's  conference  with  the  devil. 

'^  About  the  first  day  of  April,  it  seemed  in  my  sleep  that  I 
was  again  disputing  with  my  adversary  the  registrar  (for  on  the 
previous  day  he  had  been  disputing  on  the  Eucharist  with  the 
registrar  of  Fribourg),  and  I  waa  so  puzzled  that  I  knew  not 
what  to  reply.  I  was  quite  overcome  with  vexation  >  for  dreams 
often  oppress  the  sleeper  ;  and  yet,  although  it  was  but  a  dream, 
that  which  I  have  learned  is  of  no  nnall  impcnrtance,  by  God's 
blessing.  In  this  state,  I  thought  that  I  saw  some  one  approach- 
ing me,  borne  upon  some  machine,  and  I  could  not  say  Whether 
he  was  white  or  black,  for  I  narrate  a  vision.  He  told  me  that 
I  could  easily  answer  my  adversary,  and  close  his  mouth,  by 
quoting  the  text  of  Exodus  xii. :  '  For  it  is  the  phasis,  that  is 

'  "  Sine  fligno  Gedeon  Ticturus  erat,  si  oredidisset,  et  aino  rigno  jastificari 
potes,  inod5  credas." — Mel.  Loot  Theologioi,  p.  142. 
'  Historia  de  CcbdA  :  Augsb.  p.  42.  '  Carl  Hagen,  1.  c.  p.  204. 


THE   CONFEB£NOE   OF  MABBUBG.  299 

to  say,  the  passage  of  the  Lord/  &c.  I  awoke  with  a  starts  and 
got  out  of  bed ;  I  took  the  yersion  of  the  Septnagint,  and  firom 
that  time  I  have  preached  and  explained  it  openly,  and  before 
all/'* — "  A  wonderful  interpretation,"  says  the  Lutheran  Weat- 
phal,  ^'  discoY€ared  by  a  black  or  white  interpreter ! " 

This  dream,  wonderful  as  it  was,  could  not  have  had  the 
influence  upon  Zwinglius  which  Catholics  assign  to  it  Long 
previous  to  the  appearance  of  a  black  or  white  aa^el,  Zwinglius 
had  taught  that  tiie  Sacrament  was  merely  an  external  sign.* 
Now,  if  such  be  the  nature  of  the  Sacrament,  what  need  was 
there  for  an  invisible  being  to  prove  to  the  curate  of  Einsiedlen 
that  Christ  is  not  really  in  the  Sacrament  ? 

The  doctrine  of  Ulrich  Zwinglius  spread  in  Switzerland,  espe* 
dally  in  the  dioeese  of  Basle,  where  (Eoolampadius  taught  it 
publicly,  in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  Erasmus.  The  new 
churches  were  disturbed ;  minds  in  a  state  of  suspense  knew 
not  what  doctrine  to  believe,  or  what  explanation  to  adopt 
Carlstadt  ridiculed  Luther's  impanated  Qod,  made  by  a  baker.^ 

Here,  as  we  perceive,  was  reproduced  the  main  theory  of 
Luther's  teaching  as  to  the  external  sign.  In  rejecting  the  real 
presence,  that  is  to  say,  the  visible  sign,  Carlstadt,  Zwinglius, 
(Eoolampadius,  and  idl  the  Swiss,  only  deduced  the  strict 
consequences  of  the  principle  laid  down  by  the  head  of  the  new 
school ;  so  that  while  refiising  to  fetter  themselves  by  the  Saxon 
dogma,  they  exalted  the  right  of  that  free  inquiry  whidi  Luther 
had  wished  to  establish  in  Oermany.  In  what  an  unfortunate 
situation  the  father  of  Protestantism  had  voluntarily  placed 
himself !  Evai  in  defending  the  truth,  he  could  not  logically 
demur  to  the  error,  unless  he  could  pretend  that  an  argument  is 
merely  composed  of  premises. 

Luther  continued  all  his  life  struck  with  the  clearness  of  the 
words  of  institution,  because  God,  as  Bossuet  remarks,  does  not 
always  permit  innovators  to  afflict  his  Church  as  much  as  the; 


'  Florimond  de  lUmond.    Schlnssenb.  in  Procemio  Tlieol.  OaIt. 

*  "Sunt  ergo  saenunenta  aigna  Tel  eeremonue,  qnibnB  se  homo  Eecletia 
probai  aut  can^datum  ant  milt  tern  esse  Christi,  redduntqne  Eccletiam  totam 
potiiis  certiorem  de  tnA  fide  quhm  te." — ^De  Verft  et  FalsH  Religione,  Comm. 
Op.  tom.  ii.  pp.  197>  199. 

'  "  A  pistore  &cins,  imponatua  Deus."— Op.  Lath.  Jen»,  tom.  iii.  p.  284. 


I 


300  HISTORY   OP  LUTHER. 

would.  He  conld  never  persuade  himself  that  words  so  simple 
were  susceptible  of  so  violent  a  metaphor,  or  could  have  any 
other  meaning  than  that  which  was  natural  to  the  minds  of  all 
Christians  both  in  the  East  and  West 

"  He  was  determined,  however/'  continues  Bossuet,  "  to  mix 
with  it  something  of  his  own.  All  those  who,  to  his  time,  had  well 
or  ill  explained  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  had  acknowledged  that 
they  wrought  some  sort  of  change  in  the  sacred  gifts.  Those  that 
would  have  the  body  there  in  a  figure  only,  said  that  our  Saviour's 
words  wrought  a  change  which  was  purely  mystical,  so  that  the 
consecrated  bread  became  a  sign  of  the  body.  Those  that  main- 
tained the  literal  sense,  with  a  real  presence,  by  an  opposite 
reason,  admitted  accordingly  an  effectual  change,  for  which  reason 
the  reality,  together  with  the  change  of  substance,  had  naturally 
insinuated  itself  into  the  minds  of  men;  and  all  Christian 
Churches,  in  spite  of  whatever  sense  could  oppose,  had  come  into 
a  belief  so  just  and  so  simple.  Luther,  however,  would  not  be 
directed  by  such  a  rule.  *  I  believe,'  says  he,  '  with  WicUff, 
that  the  bread  remains  ;  and  with  the  sophists  (so  he  called  our 
divines),  I  believe  that  the  body  is  there.'  He  explained  his 
doctrine  in  several  ways,  which  for  the  most  part  were  very  gross- 
One  time  he  said  the  body  was  with  the  bread,  as  fire  is  with 
red-hot  iron.  At  other  times,  he  added  these  expressions : — 
'  That  the  body  was  in  the  bread,  and  under  the  bread,  as  wine  is 
in  and  under  the  vessel ;'  from  this  the  celebrated  propositions, 
in,  sttby  cmn ;  importing  that  the  body  is  in  the  bread,  under 
the  bread,  and  with  the  bread.  But  Luther  was  very  sensible 
that  these  words  :  '  This  is  my  body,'  required  something  more 
than  placing  the  body  in  this,  or  with  this,  or  under  this  ;  and 
to  explain  '  This  is,'  he  thought  himself  obliged  to  say  that 
these  words,  —  '  This  is  my  body,'  imported,  this  bread  is 
substantially  and  properly  my  body  ;  a  thing  unheard  of,  and 
embarrassed  with  insuperable  difficulties."^ 

Luther,  in  the  controversy  which  he  was  about  to  enter  on 
with  the  Sacramentarians,  had  logic  on  his  side  ;  and  we  ought 
not  to  refuse  him  our  admiration  in  that  memorable  discus- 
sion, in  which  he  has  brought  to  the  service  of  truth  his  whole 


*  Variations,  torn.  i.  p.  58. 


THE  CONFEBEKOB   OF   MABBUBa.  301 

Energy,  eloquence,  style,  and  too  firequently  temper.  He  is  mag- 
nificent, as  is  admitted,  when  he  treats  of  the  old  dogmas  to 
which  he  yet  clings,  and  the  eagle-eyed  Bossuet  seems  daaszled 
by  the  splendours  of  that  genius,  which  wanted  nothing  but  the 
regulation  that  can  only  be  had  in  the  Church,  and  under  the 
control  of  a  lawful  authority. 

"We  have  Bibles  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  and  German," 
wrote  the  Wittemberg  Reformer  to  his  brethren  at  Frankfort ; 
"  let  the  Swiss,  then,  show  us  any  version  in  which  it  is  written : 
*  This  is  the  sign  of  my  body/  If  they  cannot  do  this,  let  them 
be  silent  They  are  incessantly  exclaiming  :  '  The  Scriptures, 
the  Scriptures ! '  but  the  Scriptures  as  loudly  and  distinctly 
proclaim:  'This  is  my  body;'  and  these  words  defy  them. 
There  is  not  a  child  of  seven  years  old  who  would  give  a  different 
interpretation  to  the  text.^  These  wretches  do  not  understand 
themselves ;  may  God,  for  our  instruction,  let  them  bite,  tear, 
and  devour  each  other  ;  for  we  know  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  a 
Spirit  of  unity,  and  that  his  word  is  one ;  a  strong  evidence 
that  these  Sacranwntamagi  come  not  firom  God^  but  from  the 
devil ! "«  

'  Luth.  Befensio  de  Coenft  Dom. 

'  An  einen  UngeiiannteD,  5  Jan.  An  die  Christen  su  BeutlingeD,  5  Jan. 
1526. 

In  1527i  Luther  already  reckoned  eight  different  interpretations  of  these 
words  of  Christ:  "Hoc  est  oorpns  meum."  Thirty  years  after  there  were 
eighty-five.  The  following  were  some  of  the  most  widely-spread  meanings 
assigned  to  them  : — 

"  Hoc  est  oorpns  menm."  Hk:  sive  in  hoc  loco  est  corpus  meuip :  Geneva 
Bible. — Corpus  meum  est  hoc,  nemp^  panis :  Schwenckfeld. — Corpus  meum 
est  hoc,  id  est,  oibus  spiritualis,  ut  Joh.  vi.  dicitur  caro  mea  verb  est  cibus : 
Joh.  Lang,  in  Comm.  ad  ApoL  2  Justini. — Hie  mens  est  panis.  Anabapt. — In, 
cum,  sub  pane  est  corpus  meum,  ut  ptlula  in  oyo :  Brencius,  in  Syntagmate 
contra  GSoolampadium. — Circa  panem  est  corpus  meum,  ut  aer  circumrasus : 
Schwenckfeld,  quoted  by  Luth.  in  Confessione  Bucharistias. — Corpus  meum 
est  hoc  quatenhs  mensss  accumbit :  Carlst.  in  Dialog,  de  EucharistiA. — Hoc 
significat  corpus  meum  :  Zuinglius,  in  Subddio  Eucharistiia,  Beza  oontrik 
Westphalum. — Hiec  est  mea  humana  natura :  Zoinglius,  in  Expositions  rei 
EucharisticiB. — Hsbc  est  mors  et  passio  mea:  Zuinglius,  lib.  ii.  De  Instit. 
CoeuK. — Haec  est  commemomtio  corporis  mei :  (Eoolampad.  ad  Theobaldum 
Billicanum. — ^Hec  est  protestatio  et  fivtifiti  meoxum  beneficiorum :  Bucerus, 
In  Apol.  de  DoctrinA  Coene  Dominice. — Hoc  est  corpus  meum  quod  de  vobis 
animo  edendum,  sicut  panem  ore :  Petrus  Martyr,  In  Tractatu  de  EucharistiA. 
— Hoc  est  corpus  meum  panis  :  Campanus  h  Lnthero  notatus  in  Confessione 
de  Eucharistift. — Hoc  est  roysticum  corpus  meum,  sen  Eoclesia  sanctorum 
redempta  meo  corpore :  Bulhng.  In  Tractatu  de  EcclesiA,  Sacramentis ;  Cal- 
vinns.  In  cap.  v.  ad  Ephes. — Hspc  ccsna  est  tessera  et  arrhabo  corporis  mei  : 
j^tancarus. — Hoc  est  corpus  meum  in  divinitatem  transformatum :  Schwenck- 
feld.— Hoc  est  corpus  meum  si  fides  adsit^  hypothetic^ :  Melanchlh. 


302  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

The  doctrine  of  ZwingliuB  possessed  the  twofold  advantage  of 
not  shocking  the  senses,  and  of  opposing  the  Catholic  dogma 
much  more  than  Lather's  theory  of  impanation.  Hatred  of 
the  papacy  was  Zwinglios's  great  argument  against  the  real 
presence. 

"  Wretched  argument/'  said  Luther.  "  Deny  the  Scriptures 
also,  for  we  have  received  them  from  the  papacy.  Ridiculous 
folly  !  Christ  found  Scribes  and  Pharisees  among  the  Jews, 
and  he  did  not  reject  all  that  they  taught.  We  must  acknow- 
ledge that  in  the  papacy  are  the  truths  of  salvation,  yes  all  the 
truths  of  salvation,  and  which  we  have  inherited  ;  for  it  is  in 
the  papacy  that  we  find  the  true  Scriptures,  true  baptism,  the 
true  sacrament  of  the  altar,  the  true  keys  which  remit  sins,  truo 
preaching,  the  true  catechism,  which  contains  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  articles  of  faith,  the  Ten  Commandments ;  nay,  the  whole 
essence  of  Christianity."^  A  noble  admission,  which  would  cause 
us  to  rejoice,  if  almost  immediately  thereafter,  when  opposed  to 
the  Catholics,  Luther  was  not  ready  to  deny  the  very  words  which 
he  hurled  against  Zwinglius. 

There  was  a  time  when  Luther  would  have  made  use  of  the 
argument  of  hate  so  familiar  to  the  Zwinglians ;  as  when  he 
wrote :  '^  Had  Carlstadt,  or  any  one  else,  five  years  ago,  been 
able  to  prove  to  me  that  there  is  nothing  but  bread  and  wine  in 
the  Sacrament,  he  would  have  done  me  great  service ;  it  would 
have  been  a  great  blow  to  the  papacy  ;  but  it  is  all  in  vain  ;  the 
text  is  too  precise."' 

Thus,  a  few  minutes  in  time,  the  striking  of  a  clock  too  late, 

^  **  Sacramentarii  vemm  panem  et  yinum  habere  volant  in  despectum  papfB, 
arbitrantea  se  hoc  pacto  rect^  Hubvertere  poese  papatam.  Profectb  friyoluni 
est  hoc  argumentom  snprk  quod  nihil  boni  sdifioaturi  sunt.  Hoc  enim  pacto 
negare  eos  oporteret  totam  quoque  Scripturam  aaoram  et  prsdicandi  offioium  : 
hoc  enim  totum  nimirum  h  pap&  habemus.  Stultitia  eat  hoc  totum.  Nam  et 
Ghristus  in  gente  Judaicft  invenit  Pharisasorom  abusus :  non  tamen  proptereA 
rejedt  quod  illi  habuerunt  et  docuenmt  Nob  autem  iatemur  sub  papatn 
plurimum  esse  boni  Christiani,  im6  omne  bonum  Ghriatianam,  atque  etiam 
illinc  ad  noe  deveniBse.  Quipp^  fatemur  in  papatu  yenun  esse  Soripturam 
aaoram,  yerum  baptiamum,  verum  sacramentum  altaria,  yeraa  olavea  ad  remia- 
stonem  peccatorum,  yerum  pnedicandi  offioium,  yerum  oatechiamum,  ut  aunt 
oratio  dominica,  articuli  fidei,  deoem  pr^cepta.  Dioo  inauper  in  papatu  veram 
Ohriatianitatem  ease,  imo  verum  nuoleum  Chriatianitatia  eaae." — De  Rebua 
Encharistiie  oontroveraia  per  01.  de  Sainctea,  Epiaoopum  Ebroioenaem  in  Nor- 
manise  Provincift :  Paria,  16751     See  Op.  Luth.  Jenie,  Germ.  fol.  408,  409. 

*  Op.  Luth.  edit.  Walch,  torn.  xv.  p.  2448.  Ad.  Mensel,  1.  o.  tom.  L 
pp.  269,  270, 


THE   CONFERENOB   OF   MAKBURQ. 

a  caprice  or  a  touch  of  bad  hmnoiir,  have  decided  a  dogma  for 
Lnther.  By  rejecting  the  real  presence,  he  would  have  given  a 
blow  to  the  papacy  ;  this  idea  makes  Luther  smile. 

The  Sacramentarians  were  not  satisfied  with  disseminating 
their  doctrines  by  oral  teaching:  they  published  writings  in 
which  the  real  presence  was  denied  with  an  ability  of  argument 
which  for  an  instant  startled  and  put  in  peril  the  faith  of  Eras- 
mus.^ The  Lutherans  perceived  the  danger,  and  one  of  them, 
Brenz,  printed,  in  opposition  to  Zwingiius's  doctrine,  the  "  Byn- 
gramma,''  which  originally  appeared  in  Latin,  and  was  then 
translated  into  German  by  Bugenhagen,  and  published  with  a 
pr^iace  by  Luth^.'  'This  theological  work  is  written  with  mo- 
deration ;  its  style  and  diction  are  calm ;  its  reasoning  close ; 
and  the  gravity  of  the  subject  is  tempered  iftith  a  genteel  irony.* 
**  Luther  warns  his  readers  against  a  sect  which  has  as  many 
bodies  as  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse ;  the  one  represented  by 
Carlstadt,  who  builds  his  system  on  the  rovro  of  the  Oreek 
version ;  the  other  by  Zwinglius,  who  holds  that  the  Latin  est 
should  be  translated  signifies ;  the  third  by  (Ecolampadius,  who 
pretends  that  the  reality  is  but  an  image^  and  that  the  body  is 
only  a  figure  of  the  body."* 

"  Say  to  Luther  that  he  is  mistaken,"  wrote  (Ecolampadius  ; 
Luther  exclaims  :  "  Blasphemy  ! " — *'  Tell  him  that,  as  a  man, 
he  may  be  mistaken  ;"  Luther  laments,  and  sighs.  ^'  But,  dear 
brother,  you  will  never  convince  us  that  the  Holy  Ohost  is  con- 
fined to  Wittemberg  any  more  than  to  Basle,  in  your  person  any 
more  than  in  that  of  another."* 

Zwinglius  complained  bitterly  of  the  attacks  of  the  Lutherans, 


'  HypeTMpiteB,  rab  fina. 

'18  Feb.  Job.  Agrioolsd.     Seckendorf,  lib.  ii.  sect  yi.  §  11. 

'  ZwiDgHas  at  first  praised  the  eloquence  and  style  of  tbe  Syngramma* 
"  Etwas  Eloqnenz  und  Sprachenkenntnise  mag  ihm  nun  wobl  nicbt  abzuepre' 
oben  seyn." — Letter  to  CBoolampadius,  quoted  h^  Hess,  in  bis  Life  of  CEco* 
lampadius,  p.  123.  A  few  weeks  later,  he  calls  its  author's  fellow-labourers, 
'*  Tenebriones,  triviales  episoopulos,"  and  BrenZj  "iuCTatum  animaL" — Ibid. 

In  a  letter  to  Pellican  and  Urbanus  Rbegius  (ad  Tbeobaldi  Bellicani  et 
Urbani  Rhegii  epistolas  responsio  Huldrichi  Zwingli,  4 to.  Tig.  1526),  Zwin- 
glius  plainly  says,  that  the  Syngramma  has  been  written  under  Satan's  inspira- 
tion :  "  Ut  illomm  halitus  Satanam  ubique  spirat." 

*  Op.  Luth.  Jente,  torn.  iii.  p.  284,  b.  In  opposition  to  the  Syngramma, 
CEoolampadius  wrote  an  Antisyngramma,  which  was  published  at  Basle. 

*  CEoolampad.  Antwort  auf  Luther's  Vorrede  zum  Syngramma. 


304  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

in  a  Oerman  work  whioli  he  printed  towards  the  end  of  1526. 
"  See,  then,"  said  he,  "  how  these  men,  who  owe  everything  to 
the  word,  wonld  wish  now  to  shut  the  mouths  of  those  who 
differ  from  them.  Christians  like  themselves.  They  cry  out  that 
we  are  heretics,  who  should  not  be  listened  to ;  they  proscribe 
our  books,  and  denounce  us  to  the  magistrates ;  is  not  this  to 
do  as  the  pope  did  formerly,  when  truth  endeavoured  to  raise  her 
head?"^ 

The  discussion  waa  no  longer  confined  to  the  pulpit :  it  en- 
tered into  books,  quite  as  violent  as  those  of  Luther  against  the 
Catholics  ;  and  in  like  manner  as  the  monk  of  Wittemberg 
had  delivered  his  adversary  to  the  devil,  ^  Zwinglius,  as  a  last 
argument,  handed  over  Luther  to  Satan.  The  Zwinglian  called 
the  Lutheran  a  devourer  of  God's  flesh,  "  Gottesfleischesser,"  or 
^Hheophagus;"  the  Lutheran  called  the  disciple  of  Zwinglius 
a  '^  Sacramentarian."^ 

The  landgrave  of  Hesse,  who  dreaded  fresh  disturbances  in 
his  unhappy  country,  wrote  to  the  two  leaders  of  these  sects, 
inviting  them  to  a  conference  at  Marburg.  Luther  at  first 
refused  ; '  but  he  yielded  to  Melancthon's  entreaties,  and 
accepted  the  interview.  The  prince  appoint^  the  23rd  of  Sep- 
tember for  the  opening  of  the  conference. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  Luther  and  Zwinglius,  these  two 
apostles  of  Germany,  as  their  disciples  called  them ;  these  two 
children  of  Satan,  as  they  called  each  other,  had  met.  Zwinglius, 
the  cold  and  formal  orator,  the  dull  dialectician,  the  dry  theolo- 
gian, was  to  be  opposed  to  the  fiery  and  impassioned  Luther. 
That  he  might  have  no  look  of  the  papist  about  him,  Zwinglius 
wore  a  sort  of  French  military  cloak,  with  a  baldrick,  from 
which  depended  a  long  rapier.  In  this  costume  he  appeared  at 
Marburg.* 

That  he  might  come  to  the  conference  all  barbed  with  argu- 
ments, Luther  devised  a  preliminary  debate,  in  which  two  of  his 

'  Eine  klare  Unterrichtuiig  vom  Nachtmahle  Christi  durch  Hnldrichen 
Zwingeln,  Tutscfa,  als  vormals  nie,  urn  der  einfaltigen  Will«n,  djunit  de  mit 
iiieiDandfl  SpttzfUDdigkeit  hiutei^ngen  mogen  werden  :  Zurich,  1526. 

*  Seckendorf,  1.  o.  lib.  ii.  Myconius,  BefbrmatioiiBgeflchichte,  p.  90. 
LiDgke,  1.  c.  p.  180. 

'  Oper.  Luth.  Jensd,  torn.  ii.  fol.  460.— Letter  to  the  Landgrave,  23  July. 

*  Ulenberg,  I.  c.  p.  350. 


THE  GONFEBENCB  OF   MABBUBG.  305 

disciples  veie  to  act  the  parts  of  Zwinglius  and  (Ecolampadios, 
iprho  were  to  accompany  the  minister  of  Zorich.  These  were 
Vitus  Theodorus  and  Hermann,^  both  W9II  trained  in  scholastic 
disputation,  who  were  completely  beaten  by  their  master,  aSd  con- 
fessed their  defeat  with  an  abnegation  of  self-loye  which  could 
not  have  been  found  in  the  Sacramentarians,  still  less  in  Zwin- 
glius than  in  (Ecolampadius,  who  was  wavering  in  his  opinions, 
and  would  readily  have  abandoned  his  master's  creed,  could  he 
have  retracted  without  too  much  shame  in  the  eyes  of  his  co- 
religionists. He  had  been  a  Bridgettine  monk,  and  had  thrown 
ofiF  the  cowl  without  being  able  to  divest  himself  of  its  spirit. 
(Ecolampadius  was  a  man  of  fine  intellect,  but  a  subtie  sophist, 
who  had  more  reliance  on  the  in£EdIibility  of  Aristotle  than  of 
Zwinglius,  and  who  had  taught  Erasmus  all  that  he  knew  of 
Hebrew,  which,  says  Richard  Simon,^  was  "  very  little." 

(Ecolampadius  had  published  at  Basle  the  explanation  of  the 
words  of  institution  of  the  Holy  Supper,  according  to  the  authors 
of  antiquity ;  and  his  work  was  so  eloquently  persuasive,  that 
the  elect  themselves,  had  God  permitted  it,  might  have  been 
seduced.' 

Luther  brought  with  him  Philip  Melancthon,  Justus  Jonas, 
and  G.  Creuziger  ;  Zwinglius,  (Ecolampadius,  Martin  Bucer, 
and  Gaspard  Hedion,  whom  he  took  up  when  passing  by  Stras- 
burg.  Andrew  Osiander  came  from  Nuremberg,  John  Brenz 
from  Halle,  and  Stephen  Agricola  from  Augsburg,  to  assist 
at  the  conference.  All  these  theolo^ans  met  for  the  first  time 
at  the  residence  of  the  landgrave,  where  the  former  curate  of 
Einsiedlen  nobly  maintained,  it  is  said,  the  reputation  of  the 
Swiss  topers.     Luther,  before  dinner,  amused  himself  by  scratch- 


'  Luiheri  Op.  Jens,  torn.  iv.  p.  867 ;  Wittem.  torn.  iz.  p.  288.  Historia 
Rei  Sacnunentaris  ab  HoBp'miano,  pars  altera,  fol.  109  et  seq. :  Geneyie,  1681. 
Hoepinian  is  a  fitnatical  Sacramentarian,  who  treats  Luther  very  ill,  and 
repreaentB  him,  thronghont  his  work,  as  a  person  devoid  of  fSuth  and  oonacience. 

'  Hifltoire  Critique  du  Nouveau  Testament^  4 to.  p.  41.  Lope  Stunica,  a 
learned  Spaniard,  has  pointed  out  the  numerous  errors  into  which  (Ecolam- 
padius led  Erasmus. 

'  "  Exortum  est  novum  dogma,  in  EuoharistiH  nihil  esse  prater  panem  et 
vinum.  Id  ut  sit  difficillimum  refellere  fecit  (Ecolampadius  qui  tot  testimoniis, 
tot  ai^mentis  eam  opinionem  communivit,  ut  seduci  posse  videantur  etiam 
elect!."— Erasmus,  Kich.  Budse,  Epis.  Ligonensi,  Epist.  766,  edit.  Cler.  The 
work  of  CEoolampadius  is  entitled,  De  genuine  Yerborum  Ghrlsti  Signifioa- 
tione :  hoc  est  coipus  meum. 

VOL.  IL  X 


306  HISTORY   OP  LUTHER. 

ing  upon  the  table,  with  the  point  of  his  knife :  "  This  is  my 
body."*  The  table  was  splendidly  served,  "  plan^  /3a(rcXiic<^  " 
[quite  regally],  says  Justus  Jonas.*  It  was  arranged  during 
dinner,  that,  in  order  to  please  the  landgrave,  before  the  public 
disputation,  they  should  discuss  in  pairs  ;  —  Luther  against 
(Ecolampadius,  and  Melancthon  against  Zwinglius.  Next  day 
the  double  disputation  took  place,  and  went  off  quietly.  The 
dispute  turned  on  some  points  controverted  by  the  Church  of 
Zurich  :  original  sin,  —  the  efficacy  of  baptism  in  r^rd  to 
guilt, — ^the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  word  of  the 
minister, — the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  mystery  of  the 
Holy  Trinity.  Zwinglius's  profession  of  faith  was  clear  and 
explicit,  and  agreed  with  Luther's  doctrine.  But  when  the 
question  of  the  Eucharist  was  mooted,  the  debate  became  ani- 
mated ;  (Ecolampadius  and  Zwinglius  were  obstinate,  and 
refused  to  allow  any  weight  to  the  argument  of  their  opponents. 
The  landgrave  then  summoned  them  to  a  public  controversy,  at 
which  he  promised  to  be  present  with  some  of  his  courtiers.^ 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  proceedings  at  Marburg, 
but  the  accounts  given  by  the  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians  are 
both  partial.  A  writer,  Rodolph  Colli,  who  was  present  at  the 
conference,  has  traced  the  animated  and  impassioned  appearance 
of  the  discussion,  without  letting  us  be  aware  to  which  side  he 
inclined.  We  shall  extract  from  his  narrative  some  of  the  most 
conspicuous  parts. 

The  first  argument  of  the  Sacramentarians  was  drawn  from 
the  6th  chapter  of  St  John. 

(Ecolampadius. — The  important  passage  of  the  apostle,  "  Ego 
sum  p£^nis  vivus,''  deduces  the  spiritual  from  the  carnal  mandu* 
cation. 

Luther. — The  6th  chapter  of  Si  John  must  be  entirely  set 
aside :  there  is  not  a  word  in  it  which  speaks  of  the  Sacrament ; 
not  only  because  the  Sacrament  had  not  been  then  instituted, 
but  because  the  meaning  of  the  expression  shows  that  the  apostle 


*  Pfixer,  Dr.  Martin  Lather's  Leben. 

*  Epist  Jnfit.  JontB  ad  BeiffeDstein. 

'  Selnec.  in  Hist.  Lath.  p.  85.  Cochlffius,  Act.  p.  170.  Sleidan,  lib.  vi. 
Schlttsa,  p.  298.  Osiander,  Hist.  Eoclea.  lib.  ii.  cap.  x.  Annales  Eocl.  p.  296. 
Matthes.  p.  71  et  seq.    Ulenberg,  p.  359. 


THE  CONFEBEKOE   OF  MABfiURa.  S07 

speaks  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  I  acknowledge^  however^  the 
metaphor ;  hut  *'  hoc  est  corpus  meom  '^  is  a  demonstratiYe 
proposition. 

OEcoLAMPADiTJS, — But  "  panis  vivus  "  is  demonstrative  also. 

LuTHEB.  —  And  far  from  inferring  the  spiritual  from  the 
carnal  manducation,  I  see  that  the  Jews  believed  that  they 
should  eat  the  body  as  bread  and  meat  are  eaten,  off  a  plate, 
''  sicut  panis  et  caro  editur  ex  patin&.'' 

(EcoLAMPADius. — That  idea  is  too  gross  :  besides,  to  believe 
that  Christ  is  bread  is  an  opinion,  and  not  an  article  of  faith. 
There  is  danger  in  attributing  too  much  to  the  element  or 
appearance  of  the  Sacrament. 

LuTHEB. — ^When  God  speaks,  man — a  mere  earth-worm — 
must  listen  with  fear ;  when  he  commands,  the  worm  must  obey. 
Let  us  embrace  and  lay  hold  of  the  word,  without  seeking  else- 
where a  deceptive  meaning. 

(EcoLAMPADius. — But,  since  we  have  the  spiritual  food,  of 
what  use  is  the  corporeal  ? 

LuTHEB. — That  is  not  my  business ;  that  is  God's  concern. 
There  is  the  "  aocipite,"  I  obey  and  bow :  "  Man  muss  es  thun" 
[it  must  be  done].  Were  God  to  say  to  me,  "  Take  this  bit  of 
dung  and  eat  it,'^  I  would  take  and  eat  it ;  for  I  am  certain  that 
it  would  be  for  my  salvation. 

ZwiNGLius. — But,  in  the  Scriptures,  is  not  the  sign  frequently 
taken  for  the  thing  signified,  the  trope  for  the  reality,  the  image 
for  the  substance  ?  For  example,  the  Fasch  of  Exodus,  and  the 
wheel  of  Ezekiel.  Do  you  mean  that  God  proposes  things  incom- 
prehensible to  his  creatures  ? 

LuTHEB. — The  Fasch  and  the  wheel  are  all^orical ;  I  do  not 
wish  to  dispute  with  you  about  a  word  ;  that  "  is  "  [est]  means 
"  signifies,"'  I  appeal  to  Christ,  who  said :  "  Hoc  est  enim  corpus 
meum.''  The  devil  cannot  get  out  of  it  ("  Da  kann  der  Teufel 
nicht  fiir").  To  doubt,  is  to  fall  from  the  faith.  Why  do  you 
not  also  see  a  trope  in  "  ascendit  in  coelum"  [he  ascended  into 
heaven]  ?  "  God  made  man," — "  the  word  made  flesh,'' — "  God 
suffering  death,''  all  these  are  incomprehensible  things,  which 
nevertheless  you  must  believe,  on  pain  of  everlasting  damnation. 

ZwiNGLius. — Tou  do  not  prove  your  theme ;  there  must  be 
no  begging  of  the  principle.     You  must  vary  your  note  ("  Ihr 

x2 


308  HISTOET  OF  LUTHER. 

werdei  mir  anders  singen'").  Do  you  think  that  Christ  (St.  John 
vi.)  wished  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  ignorant  ? 

Luther. — Do  you  deny  it?  "This  is  a  hard  saying/'  — 
"  Durus  est  hie  senno/' — muttered  the  Jews,  who  spoke  of  it 
as  a  thing  impossible  and  obscure.  This  passage  cannot  serve 
you. 

ZwiNQLius. — Bah  !  it  breaks  your  neck  ("  Nein,  nein,  brecht 
euch  den  Hals  ab"). 

Luther. — Softly !  do  not  be  so  haughty ;  you  are  not  in 
Switzerland,  but  in  Hesse,  where  they  do  not  break  the  necks  of 
their  opponents  in  this  manner  ("  Die  Halse  brechen  nicht 

also"). 

ZwiKQLius. — But  I  read  in  your  annotations  that  Christ 
said :  "  Caro  non  prodest ''  [the  flesh  profiteth  nothing]  ;  and 
in  Melancthon,  that  the  body  eaten  corporeally  ("  corponJiter  ") 
is  an  erroneous  expression. 

Luther. — It  matters  little  what  I  or  Melancthon  have  taught. 
The  word  of  man  and  the  word  of  Ood  have  no  resemblance  to 
each  other.  Were  St.  Peter  to  come  to  life  again  and  be  among 
us,  I  should  not  ask  him  what  he  believed.  It  is  the  word  of 
God  that  sanctifies  a  man,  and  not  the  pure  life  that  he  has  led. 
In  a  word,  the  priest,  even  if  impious,  produces  sanctification. 

ZwiNGLius. — What  an  absurdity  !  the  impious  can  do  nothing 
good. 

Luther. — Does  not  the  wicked  man  baptize  ? 

(Ecolampadius  wished  -to  bring  back  the  question  to  its 
original  subject.  "  Ton  make  a  great  work,''  said  he,  "  about 
a  trope  which  you  will  not  grant  to  us,  and  you  yourself  make 
use  of  a  synecdoche  against  the  Catholic  meaning." 

Luther. — There  is  a  synecdoche  also  ;  it  is  the  sword  in  the 
scabbard ;  the  body  is  in  the  bread,  as  the  sword  is  in  its  sheath  ; 
the  text  requires  this  figure,  but  there  is  no  metaphor  in  it ;  the 
body  is  not  put  for  the  figure  of  the  body. 

Zwinglius  then  began  to  quote  Fulgentius,  Augustine,  Lac- 
tantius,  and  a  great  number  of  Catholic  authorities,  to  prove  that 
the  body  must  be  in  one  place,  and  cannot  be  in  several* 
"  Therefore,"  said  he,  "  Christ,  who  is  seated  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father,  cannot  be  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  altar." 

Luthbr.  —  What  a  mathematical  argument  !    divisibility* 


THE  OONFEBENCE  OF  MARBUBa.  309 

^extension !  it  is  not  a  qaeetion  here  of  what  flails  under  the 


ZwiNGLius.— *0c  iv  juo/o^y  Otov  virapxfov — Philip,  ii. — 
[Who  being  in  the  form  of  GodJ. 

Luther. — Read  in  Latin  or  German,  but  not  in  Greek. 

ZwiNGLivs. — Excuse  me ;  for  during  the  last  twelve  years  I 
have  exclusively  used  the  Greek  text.  I  sieiy,  then,  Christ  is 
finite  inasmuch  as  we  are  finite. 

Luther. — "  Concede."  For  example  ;  the  nut  and  the  shell, 
so  also  the  body  of  Jesns  Christ.  God  cannot  make  it  be  and 
not  be  "  in  loco  "  [in  place]. 

ZwiNQLius. — But  if  you  admit  that  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  finite,  therefore  it  is  local ;  if  it  is  local,  therefore  it  is  in 
heaven,  and  not  in  the  bread.  I  repeat:  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  finite,  "  ergo  in  loco"  [therefore  in  place]. 

Luther. — "  Non  est  in  loco  "  [it  is  not  in  place].  When  it 
is  in  the  Sacrament,  it  may  be  in  place  and  out  of  it ;  for 
example,  the  world  is  a  body,  and  is  not  ''  in  loco  "  [in  place]  ; 
moreover,  let  God  explain  this  mystery,  it  concerns  me  not 

ZwiNGLius. — You  are  b^ing  the  question  ;  it  is  as  if  you 
were  to  maintain  that  John  is  the  son  of  Mary,  because  Jesos 
said  to  her  on  the  cross :  "  Woman,  behold  ihy  son." 

Luther.  —  An  article  of  faith  does  not  prove  itself  like  a 
mathematical  axiom. 

ZwiNGLius. — But,  in  fine,  give  us  a  precise  answer.  Is  the 
body  "  in  loco  "  or  not  ? 

Brekz. — The  body  is  "  sine  loco"  [without  place]. 

ZwiNGLius  and  ^golampadius  both  exclaimed,  St.  Augus- 
tine has  written :  ''  In  uno  loco  esse  oportet"  [it  must  be  in  one 
place]. 

Luther. — St.  Augustine  does  not  speak  of  the  Supper  ;  but 
what,  if  I  grant  that  Christ  is  not  in  the  Sacrament,  ^'  tanqulun 
in  loco"  [as  if  in  place]  ? 

(BijOLAMPADius  (smiling). — Therefore  he  is  not  there  corpo- 
really with  his  true  body. 

The  question  again  changed.  Zwin^us  and  (Ecolampadius 
quoted  a  multitude  of  texts  from  the  fathers  of  the  Church, 
which  they  said  confirmed  their  doctrine ;  and  Melancthon  and 
Luther  to  each  human  text  opposed  another  from  the  same 


310  HISTORY   OF  LITTHEd. 

author.  The  question  was  becoming  perplexed,  and  Luther 
threatened  his  adversaries.  The  landgrave  requested  that  they 
Vrould  bring  the  matter  to  an  end. 

''  In  the  presence  of  God/'  said  (Ecolampadius  and  Zwinglius, 
"  Christ  is  only  spiritually  in  the  Supper." 

''  He  is  there  oorporeaUy/'  said  Melancthon  and  Luther. 

''  At  least/'  said  Zwinglius,  clasping  his  hands,  '^  you  do  not 
refuse  to  consider  us  as  brethren,  who  wish  to  die  in  the  com- 
munion of  Wittemberg  V^ 

"  No,  no,"  replied  Luther ;  "  cursed  be  such  an  alliance, 
which  would  endanger  the  cause  of  Ood  and  men's  souls  ;  begone, 
you  are  possessed  by  another  spirit  than  ours  ;  but  beware,  for 
before  three  years  the  anger  of  God  will  fall  upon  you."* 

This  awful  prediction,  say  the  Lutherans,  was  literally  ful- 
filled ;  for  Zwinglius  perished  miserably  on  the  field  of  Cappel, 
where  his  body  was  exposed  to  the  sacrilegious  mockeries  of  the 
Catholic  soldiers ;  and  (Ecolampadius  was  strangled  in  his  bed 
by  the  devil,  that  good  master  who  had  instructed  him  how  to 
interpret  the  words  of  the  Supper.* 

''  This  wretched  man,"  says  Zwinglius,  speaking  of  Luther, 
'*  by  his  jealousy,  caused  the  schism  of  the  Sacramentarians.'^ 
The  devil  tempts  us  by  obstinate  men,  who,  vexed  to  see  the 
truth  of  the  Lord's  Supper  discovered  by  others  than  themselves, 
like  madmen  and  fools,  cease  not  to  cry  out  more  unreasonably 
than  the  Papists." 

Before  the  reformers  parted,  the  landgrave  wished  them  to 
dine  with  him.  A  formulary  was  drawn  up,  which  the  two 
Churches  signed ;  both  parties  declared  the  most  lively  charity 
for  each  other,  although  they  might  not  agree  as  to  the  presence 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Eucharist. 

Zwinglius  returned  to  Zurich,  and  Luther  to  Wittemberg; 
and  for  some  time  there  was  a  constant  exchange  of  maledictions 
and  anathemas  between  these  two  cities. 

"  Wretched  and  wicked  Zwinglius,"  exclaimed  those  of  Wit- 


'ZwiDgl.  in  Pr»&t.  De  Yerft  et  Faint  Beli^one. 
'  Ensmi.  Ep.  ad  CochlflBom. 
'  Lath.  De  Miasft  PrivatA^  in  Defeasione  de  Ooend. 
*  Transl.  of  Florimond  de  B^ond. 


THB  COKFEBENOE  OF  HABBUBG.  Sll 

temberg,  "  do  you  wish  to  destroy  Christianity  with  your  new 
interpretation  ?  Listen  not  to  these  Sacramentarians  ;  fly  from 
them  as  if  they  were  Satan  !  You  Zwinglius  are  a  false  prophet, 
a  mountebank,  a  hog,  a  heretic  !"  ^ 

Zurich  answered  by  the  mouth  of  Campanus :  '^  It  is  as  certain 
that  Luther  is  a  devil,  as  it  is  that  God  is  God.'^ 

Zurich  and  Wittemberg  simultaneously  celebrated  the  victory 
of  their  respective  apostles. 

"  See,''  said  Zurich,  "  it  is  not  now  as  formerly  at  Leipsic, 
where  the  Saxon  had  the  papists  only  to  oppose :  at  Marburg 
he  warred  with  a  servant  of  God,  inspired  and  filled  with  his 
Spirit.  Hence  the  darkness  could  not  bear  the  light.  What  a 
wonderful  intellect  is  that  of  Luther,  who  is  afraid  of  Greek, 
who  cannot  distinguish  a  trope,  and  confounds  the  shadow  with 
the  substance  !"  * 

Basle  added  :  '^  Thanks  be  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  assisted  his 
servant  against  the  crafts  of  Luther ;  who  now  holds  his  peace, 
either  because  he  has  lost  confidence  in  his  cause,  or  because  he 
wishes  to  crush  us  with  his  contemptuous  silence.  His  ape, 
Bugenhagen,  now  takes  his  place.'' ' 

Luther  soon  broke  silence  in  these  words  of  insult  and 
defiance :  ''  They  say  that  they  have  overcome  me.  In  this  they 
lie,  as  is  their  wont :  a  race  of  hypocrites  and  impostors  !  Did 
they  not  retract  at  the  conference  all  that  they  previously 
taught  as  to  baptism,  the  use  of  the  Sacraments,  the  power  of 
the  word,  and  so  many  other  pestilent  doctrines  ?  I  had  no  need 
to  retract  Although  perplexed,  pressed,  and  defeated,  they 
would  not  confess  their  error  as  to  the  eucharist,  because  they 
were  afraid  of  the  rabble  of  the  canton,  who  sooner  or  later 
would  have  made  them  pay  dearly  for  their  courage.  And  how 
could  they  have  resisted  me  ?  Zyringlius  incessantly  reiterated 
the  same  argument :  that  a  body  cannot  be  without  space  and 


'  Luther,  De  Goenlt ;  liber  oontiit  Sacramentarios. 

'  Pasko,  Letter  to  the  King  of  Poland.  Hosp.  Hisiorin  Sacramentaris 
pars  altera^  p.  109  et  seq.  Stnrmins,  p.  197.  Consult^  on  this  dispute.  Me- 
lanchthon.  Epist.  ad  Elect.  Sax.  de  Marpnrg.  GoUoquii  AoUs  ;  Responsio 
Tigurins  Eoclesitd  Ministromm  ad  Lutheri  nJumnias  de  Marpuigensi  col- 
loqoio. 

*  "  At  nunc  prodit  Bugenhagins  illius  sixnius  afferens  et  ipse  oonfessionem 
nltimam."— (Eoolampadius  ZwingUo,  1.  c.  p.  516. 


312  HISTOBT   OF   LUTHEB. 

dimension.  But  does  not  philosophy  teach  ns  that  heaven  is 
naturally  without  space  ?  They  could  not  answer  this ;  and 
(Ecolampadius  quoted  the  Fathers,  who  call  the* sign  the  body, 
therefore  it  is  not  a  body  !  They  were  anidous  that  we  should 
give  them  the  name  of  brethren.  Zwinglius,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  took  the  landgrave  and  his  court  to  witness  that  there  were 
no  men  in  the  world  with  whom  they  would  wish  to  live  on 
better  terms  than  those  of  Wittemberg ;  but  I  would  never 
consent  to  call  them  brethren.  '  Go,'  said  I,  '  you  are  possessed 
by  another  spirit  than  ours !'  They  were  furious.  Those 
hypocrites  affected  humility  and  modesty  with  us,  because  they 
wished  to  make  us  the  participators  and  patrons  of  their  heresy. 
Diabolical  cunning  !  But  Christ  shielded  us  with  his  buckler. 
I  am  not  astonished  that  they  lie  so  impudently :  falsehood  is 
their  element,  although  it  covers  them  with  shame."  ^ 

What  an  important  lesson  the  Reformation  teaches  us  in  tbe 
conference  of  Marburg  I  It  had  declared  that  we  could  attain  to 
truth  only  by  the  Bible,  and  that  there  was  no  other  infallible 
tribunal  but  the  written  word.  At  the  present  day  it  gives  men 
this  advice,  "  Search  the  Scriptures,  examine,  reflect,  judge  for 
yourselves ;  do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  be  swayed  by  any  authority, 
neither  by  the  Fathers,  the  councils,  your  ancestors,  nor  even  by 
the  Reformers,  who  were  faulty  and  fallible  like  yourselves ;  nor 
by  confessions  of  faith,  nor  by  synods."  ^ 

And  to  arrive  at  what  ?  To  this  double  manifesto, — of 
Loescher,  that  the  devil  was  the  author  of  Carlstadt's  interpreta- 
tion ;  ^  of  CEcolampadius,  that  the  devil  revealed  to  Luther  the 
real  presence  !  * 

In  1617,  when  he  posted  his  theses ;  in  1518,  at  his  interview 
with  Cajetan  ;  in  1619,  at  Leipsic,  when  opposed  to  Doctor  Eck ; 
in  1621,  at  Worms,  in  presence  of  the  emperor, — Luther  always 
pointed  to  one  awful  word.  Scripture,  traced  by  the  finger  of  God 
on  the  wall,  as  was  the  sentence  of  Balthazar.     That  word. 


'  Epist.  Luth.  ad.  Jacobnm  pnopoBitum  Bremens.  Selnec  pp.  241,  262. 
Ulenberg,  pp.  864—366. 

'  Des  Causes  qai  retardent,  ohes  lea  Bdform^,  les  Progrbs  de  la  Th^logie, 
par  M.  Cheaevibre,  p.  24. 

'  Hist.  Motuam,  p.  89.  Plank,  Geschichie  der  Enistehung,  &c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  297. 

*  Plank,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  297. 


THE   OOKFEBEKOS   OF  MABBURO.  dl3 

written  in  a  language  often  unintelligible,  and  which  he  wished 
every  one  to  read  because  the  Spirit  of  God  would  explain  its 
meaning ;  that  word,  which  in  rousing  the  worst  passions  of  the 
human  heart,  has  for  ever  disturbed  the  peace  of  Germany. 
And  now  that  there  is  a  combat,  no  longer  between  Protestant 
and  papist,  but  between  Luther  and  Zwinglius,  two  brothers 
nourished  with  the  same  milk,  and  who  have  grown  up  under 
the  same  sun,  the  Reformation  no  longer  appeals  to  the  word 
of  God  ;  it  becomes  a  monk,  and  in  order  to  explain  a  text 
of  the  apostle,  invokes,  not  the  celestial  ray  which  illuminates 
the  souls  of  all  who  read  with  faith,  but  the  authority  of  the 
Fathers  !  Zwinglius  invokes  the  Fathers  !  He  who  in  his 
exposition  of  the  Christian  faith  has  said,  that  *^  if  it  depended 
on  himself,  he  would  prefer  to  be  where  Seneca  and  Socrates  are, 
than  be  with  the  popes  of  Home,  the  doctors,  emperors,  and 
popish  princes ;  for,  although  these  heathens  did  not  believe  in 
Jesus,  tiiey  were  more  holy  and  pious  than  all  the  Dominicans 
and  Franciscans/'  ^ 

Luther,  too,  invokes  the  Fathers,'  and  even  Si  Augustine, 
"  who  has  firequently  erred,  and  whom  it  is  not  safe  to  trust  I" 
But  how  shall  the  Reformation  get  out  of  the  pit  which  it  has 
dug  for  itself?  This  same  word  of  God,  to  which  it  appeals,  is 
a  sign  for  Zwinglius,  a  reality  for  Luther ;  a  trope,  according  to 
(Ecolampadius,  and  flesh  in  the  opinion  of  Melancthon :  it  is  a 
double  word,  carnal  and  spiritual ;  a  multiple  figure,  synecdoche 
and  metaphor.  Tou  appeal  then  to  the  word  of  God,  which 
conceals  two  mysteries,  two  creeds  in  one  unity!  Tou  make 
then  the  Holy  Ghost  descend  to  reveal  to  Zwinglius  a  myth, 
which  Luther  treats  as  Satanic,  and  to  Luther  an  interpretation 
which  Zwinglius  considers  a  damnable  anthropomorphism  i  And 
if  the  Reformation  abandons  Scripture,  it  is  only  to  fall  into 
another  pit ;  for  what  is  the  text  of  St.  Augustine,  of  St.  Ful- 
gentius,  and  other  Fathers,  upon  which  it  rests  when  the  language 
of  Scripture  embarrasses  them  ?  a  dead  and  fallible  letter,  since 


*  Tranal.  of  Florimond  de  B^mood. 

*  To  show  that  the  Fathers  were  on  his  side,  in  the  qnestion  of  the  real 
presence,  Lnther  collected  all  the  testimonies  of  thq  Catholic  doctors,  of  which 
he  formed  a  sort  of  elenchos,  or  epitome,  and  dedicated  it  to  the  landgpraye  of 
Hesse.— See  Riederer,  Nachricht  zor  Kirohenhist.  torn.  yii.  pp.  849 — 852. 


314  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

it  comes  to  us  from  men :  as  they  have  asserted  it  to  be.  Now 
raise  that  haman  letter  as  high  as  the  word  of  God,  there  is 
still  another  difficulty ;  for  that  letter,  like  God's  word,  has 
a  multiple  signification  ;  it  is  at  the  same  time  single  and  double, 
since  Luther  and  Zwinglius  derive  from  the  very  same  word  their 
evidence  that  Christ  is,  and  is  not,  corporeally  in  the  Sacrament 
Let  the  Beformation  do  as  it  will ;  without  authority  it  can 
never  found  a  creed.  It  will  only  make  comments ;  and  when, 
unfaithful  to  its  principle,  it  shall  have  recourse  to  human 
traditions  for  explaining  or  justifying  its  belief,  it  will  condemn 
and  destroy  the  work  of  him  who,  in  founding  it,  rejected 
authority  aa  a  blasphemy. 

Somewhat  later,  Luther  is  obliged  to  fall  back  upon  authority 
in  order  to  defend  himself  against  the  Sacramentarian  interpre- 
tations. A  magnificent  retreat,  which  amply  proves  all  the 
weakness  of  that  reason  which  he  at  first  rated  so  highly,  but 
which,  in  the  hour  of  danger,  he  finds  is  nothing  better  in  his  hand 
than  a  blunt  sword.  Listen  now  to  him  who  used  to  deify  reason, 
proclaiming  that  there  is  neither  safety  nor  shelter  but  in  tradi- 
tion. Luther  writes  to  the  Margrave  Albert  of  Brandenbuig : 
^*  Since  the  institution  of  Christianity,  the  Church  has  never 
lield  any  other  doctrine,  and  its  constant  and  uniform  testimony 
ought  to  satisfy  us,  and  prevent  us  from  attending  to  the  spirits 
of  trouble  and  error.  There  is  danger  in  rising  up  against  the 
voice,  the  belief,  and  the  teaching  of  the  holy  Church,  which  for 
sixteen  centuries  has  never  varied  upon  this  dogma.  To  doubt 
them,  is  nothing  else  than  to  disbelieve  the  Church,  and  to 
condemn  her  as  &lse,  and,  with  her,  Christ  himself,  the  apostles, 
and  the  prophets.  Is  it  not  written,  '  Behold,  I  am  with  you  all 
days,  erven  to  the  consummation  of  the  world ;' — St.  Matthew ; 
and  in  St.  Paul,  *  The  house  of  God  is  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth  ?'  ^  I  think,  then,  that 
since  the  dispute  is  becoming  eternal,  silence  must  be  imposed  on 
the  dissentients  ;  and  it  is  not  I  only  who  give  you  this  advice,  but 
the  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  mouth  of  the  apostle  :  '  Avoid  him  who 
is  a  heretic,  after  the  first  or  second  admonition  ;  knowing  that, 

*  Luther*8  Sendbrief  wider  edicbe  Rottenffeister,  an  Markgraf  Albrecht  zu 
Brandenburg,  1532.  See  Adolpbus  Menzel,  Kenere  Geschiohte  der  BeutKhen,^ 
torn.  i.  p.  263. 


THE  COKFEREKOB  OF  MABBUBQ.  315 

^ch  a  one  is  perverted,  and  that  he  speaks  like  a  mait  who 
condeoms  himself  hy  his  own  judgment' " 

Thus,  then,  we  see  Luther  reduced,  after  having  yidnly 
invoked  against  his  adversaries  the  Bible,  the  Fathers,  and 
Tradition,  to  demand  that  they  should  be  treated  as  veritable 
heretics  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  their  tongues  should  be  tied,  and  if 
needful  cut  out.  He  returns  to  the  heroic  remedy  of  which  he 
bragged  in  the  peasants'  war :  ^  **  Give  the  ass  the  whip,  and,  if 
he  kicks  agaiuBt  it,  the  ball/' 

Death  relieved  Luther  from  two  powerful  enemies,  Z winglius  and 
(Ecolampadius.  Carlstadt  dragged  out  a  lifeof  suffering  andsorrow. 
Driven  from  Saxony  at  Luther's  instigation,  he  went  from  city  to 
city,  living  upon  alms,  which  he  repaid  with  doctrines  that  killed 
the  soul,  and  persecuted,  less  by  remorse  than  by  the  renown  of  the 
success  of  his  former  pupil.  Weaiy  of  wandering  about,  like  Gain, 
pointed  at  by  the  people,  an  object  of  pity  to  the  Lutheran  clergy, 
and  of  contempt  to  the  learned  and  the  great,  he  halted  in  his 
course,  and  be^ed  his  enemy  to  give  him  breatL  Luther  acted 
generously,  say  his  biographers :  he  sold  him  his  native  air  at  the 
price  of  his  retractation.  Imagine  what  this  must  have  cost  Carl- 
stadt, who  had  only  the  word  for  his  consolation  !  He  resigned 
himself  to  his  fate,  promised  to  preach  and  teach  no  longer,  and  to 
make  an  end  of  all  theological  controversy.  On  this  condition,  he 
was  permitted  to  lead  an  exile's  life  in  Eemberg  and  Bergwitz,  two 
little  villages,  from  which  the  spires  of  Wittembeig  are  visible. 
There  he  went  with  his  wife  ;  and  both  lived  for  scmie  time,  like 
the  children  of  Adam,  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow :  the  former 
tilled  the  ground ;  the  latter  sometimes  sold  cakes  in  the  evening, 
and  sometimes  carried  wood  to  the  market,  in  a  dirty  jacket, 
with  an  old  rusty  sword  in  a  broken  scabbard,  and  was  known 
by  the  name  of  "  Neighbour  Andrew."  *  At  length  Carlstadt 
forgot  his  promise,  and  took  up  the  Bible.  It  is  said  that  the 
tempter  introduced  himself  into  the  theologian's  apartment  in 
the  guise  of  a  councillor  of  Wittemberg,  who  came  to  propose  to 
him  his  pretended  doubts  on  the  sixth  chapter  of  St  John,  and 
that  this  spirit  of  darkness  was  sent  by  Luther  himself,'  who 


1  See  the  chapter  entitled  The  Peasants'  War. 

'  Ulenberg,  Vita  Lutheri.    Cochlsens,  etc. 

'  Ulenherg.    Menzel,  Neuere  Geschiohte  der  Deutsohen,  torn.  i.  p.  269. 


316  HISTOBY   OF  LUTHER. 

began  to  be  distrustful  of  Garlstadt's  patience ;  but  the  trick 
has  not  been  so  well  proved  as  to  admit  of  our  staining  the 
Reformer's  memory  with  it  Besides,  the  archdeacon  carried 
about  him  a  devil  who,  sooner  or  later,  was  to  triumph  over  his 
vows  of  obedience,  the  same  which  had  seduced  his  first  parent — 
pride  !  He  listened  to  his  suggestions,  doffed  his  frock,  resumed 
his  moth-eaten  black  gown,  which  he  had  worn  at  Orlamiinde, 
and  began  to  sermonize  again  on  the  last  supper,  to  him  an 
exciting  subject. 

At  Wittemberg  had  been  residing  recently  two  theol<^ans 
who,  for  having  rebelled  against  Luther,  were  obliged  to  leave 
Saxony :  these  were  Erautwald  and  Schwenckfeld,  who  had  pre- 
sumed to  ridicule  the  monk's  theory  of  impanation.  Carlstadt 
wrote  to  them  a  letter,  wherein  he  complained  bitterly  of  the 
intolerance  of  the  Saxon  Ecdesiastes,  and  drew  a  painful  picture 
of  his  own  poverty.  "  I  shall  soon  be  compelled  to  sell  all  I 
have  to  support  existence :  my  moveables,  my  clothes,  my 
crockery,  my  whole  furniture ;  nobody  has  compassion  on  me,  I 
believe  that  they  will  see  me  and  my  child  die  of  hunger."  At 
the  same  time  he  addressed  a  long  statement  to  Chancellor 
Bruck,  in  which  he  detailed  all  that  he  had  had  to  suffer  from 
Luther,  who  forbade  him  to  preach  or  teach.  Luther  heard  of 
Carlstadt's  complaints,  and  determined  to  silence  them  for  ever. 
The  archdeacon  was  accordingly  compelled  again  to  quit  Saxony, 
and  seek  for  hospitality  in  Switzerland.  Basle  opened  to  him 
the  gates  which  it  had  closed  against  Erasmus.^ 

After  Zwinglius  came  another  explanator,  who  also  boasted  of 
having  received  from  the  Holy  Ghost  a  revelation  of  the  meaning 
of  the  words  of  the  Sacrament  This  was  Schwenckfeld  the 
Silesian,  an  imaginative  youth,  fond  of  disputation,  wherein  he 
delighted  to  scatter  the  treasures  of  a  mind  rich  in  lively 
fancies.*  When  we  read  Schwenckfeld,  we  can  understand  how 
a  philosopher  so  original  could  aspire  to  be  the  leader  of  a  sect, 
a  position  which  he  would  have  successfully  occupied,  if  he  had 
only  had  men  of  learning  for  his  disciples.  Schwenckfeld  is 
ingenious  and  spirited ;  he  seeks  for  effect,  has  a  strong  desire  to 


'  See  the  chapter  entitled  Ensmus. 
'  Schroeckh.  L  o.  torn.  !▼.  p.  618. 


THB  OOHFERENCE   OF  MARBUBQ.  SI  7 

startle  his  readers,  and  delights  in  paradox  :  as  if  Rousseau  and 
Beaumarchais  were  united  in  a  religious  propagandism.  We 
should  have  thought  that  this  Latin  est,  which  for  six  years  had 
suffered  so  many  tortured  explanations,  would  have  been  allowed 
at  last  to  rest  in  peace ;  but  Schwenckfeld  stirred  it  again,  to 
remove  it  from  the  place  which  it  bad  held  in  the  Gospel  for 
fifteen  centuries.  Instead  of  "  This  is  my  body,"  he  said, 
''  My  body  is  this ;"  that  is  to  say,  ''  This  bread  is  my  body, 
my  body  is  this  bread  ;"  and  he  ventured  gravely  to  lay  to  the 
charge  of  the  apostle  St.  John  this  inversion,  infinitely  more 
ridiculous  than  the  explanation  of  Garlstadt,  of  which  he  made 
so  much  sport. 

Would  it  be  believed  that  Schwenckfeld,  by  dint  of  wit,  con- 
trived to  bring  over  to  his  opinions  some  men  of  consequence, 
among  the  rest  a  duke?  Besides,  '^ papists"  and  Lutherans 
were  equally  the  object  of  the  Silesian's  raillery.  The  former 
believed  they  would  have  been  honouring  Schwenckfeld  too  much 
by  attacking  his  transposition,  and  so  they  preserved  a  dignified 
sUence.  But  Luther  re-appeared  in  the  arena,  and  avenged  the 
dogma  of  the  real  presence  with  indisputable  eloquence.  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  in  playing  upon  the  name  of  the  interpreter, 
he  should  have  sought  in  Schwenckfeld  a  filthy  fiM,  in  which 
the  Silesian  might  have  found  his  inversion.^ 

At  the  time  when,  wearied  of  disputation,  Zwinglius  and 
Luther  rained,  the  one  his  beautiful  lake  of  Zurich,  the  other 
his  green  mountain  of  Poltersberg,  a  theologian  left  Marbuig, 
regretting  that  he  had  been  prevented  from  entering  the  field 
with  either  of  those  distinguished  controversialists ;  this  was 
John  Campanus,  who  had  taken  to  Marburg  a  new  explanation 
of  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the  sacrament.  According  to 
him,  neither  Zwinglius,  (Ecolampadius,  nor  Luther  knew  any 
more  than  the  pope  did  about  the  institution  of  the  eucharist : 
they  were  a  set  of  blockheads,  whose  understandings  the  Lord 
had  blinded.  They  treated  his  opinion  with  silent  contempt ;  and 
for  this  he  revenged  himself  by  making  them  the  objects  of  his 
insulting  buffoonery.^ 

*  Menzel,  1.  o.  torn.  i.  p.  469.  See  Die  Gkgenwart  des  Leibes  und  Bluiea 
Christi  im  Sacnunent  des  heiHgen  AbendnuUilB. 

*  Lather's  TiBch-Beden,  p.  496.    As  to  ihe  interpretation  of  Ganipano^  see 


318  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBB. 

In  reading  the  yarious  ridiculous  attempts  at  interpretation 
which  entered  the  head  of  every  sectary  at  that  time,  one  might 
belieye  in  the  allegory  of  Swedenborg,  a  yisionary  equally 
enlightened  as  his  predecessors.  The  Swede  represents  the  word 
as  inclosed  in  a  tabernacle  :  if  a  pure  spirit  attempts  to  touch  it, 
it  shines  like  Christ  on  Mount  Thabor,  and  his  garments  seem 
resplendent  with  flame  ;  but  should  an  evil  spirit  stretch  out  his 
hand  to  it,  the  demon,  suddenly  enyeloped  in  dense  darkness, 
falls  struck  with  lightning.^ 

Schelhoro,  AmcBoit.  Lit.  torn.  ix.  pp.  1 — 92 ;  and  Lather^a  Works^  Halle^ 
torn.  XX.  p.  2204. 

'  ''  Si  autem  id  tang^t  Terbiini,  fit  exploaio  cam  fragore,  et  iUe  projioitnr  ad 
angnliim  oonclayis  et  per  honilam  ibi  jacet  sicut  mortuus." 

A  very  curioas  work  might  be  made  of  The  Keformers  agunst  the  Reformers. 
CEcolampadiiu  said  of  Luuier :  '*  De  Lutheri  libello  scribnnt  Capito  et  Baoenis 
cni6d  nihil  magis  aophisticum  vol  calummosam  viderint.  In  nos  ambos  debac- 
chatnr." — (Ecolam|MMdiuB,  Zwinglio,  16  April.  Lebensgeechichte  Dr.  Johann 
(Ecolampads :  Zurich,  1798,  8vo.  p.  808. 

"  Jam  opus  erit  Luthero  at  reupondeaj,  placido  et  quieto  animo,  non  at  ille 
calanmiandi  magieter  et  sophistonim  prinoeps  meretur,  sed  at  yeiitatis  patro- 
ciniom  postalat.  — ^Ibid.  pp.  510,  511. 

Lather  writes  ae  to  Zwinglios :  *'  Ferox  ille  Helveticas  qai  rem  Christi  patat 
agi  Helvetic^  ferociil,''  1527,  31  May.  "  ZwiDglium  credo  sancto  dignisBimam 
odio,  quo  tam  procaciter  et  neqoiter  agit  in  aanoto  Yerbo  Dei."  27  Oct.,  to 
Melancth.  1527. 

The  foUowine  works  relating  to  the  real  presence  may  be  consulted : 

Martini  Lutheri  Sermo  Elegantisshnus  super  Sacnmento  Corporis  et  San- 
guinis Christi,  in  quo  respondetur  obiter  et  ejusdem  Sacramenti  oalumnia- 
toribus :  Item,  Quateniis  Moses  k  Christianis  accipi  debeat.  Sermo  Martini 
Lutheri,  ehm  pro  oondone  legeret  Exodum,  dictus  in  cap.  xix.  et  zx.  Epi- 
stola  ejusd.  adversus  Bucerum,  sacramentarium  errore  m  novum  refellens. 
Oratio  Job.  Bugenhagi  qu5d  ipsius  non  sit  opinio  ilia  de  EuoharistiA,  quae  in 
Psalterio  sub  nomine  ejus  G^ermanio^  translate  legitur.  Querela  Fidei,  auctoro 
YinoentioObsoopoeo,  skI  Dominicum  Sleupnerum,  Korimbergte,  ad  S.  Sebaldum 
dirini  verbi  ministrum :  Haganose,  1527. 

Dass  diese  Worte  Christi  (das  ist  mein  Leib^  &c.)  noch  fest  stehen  wider  die 
Schwermgeister.    Iklartin  Luther,  1527. 

Ein  Bericht  an  einen  guten  Freund  von  beyder  Gestalt  des  Sacraments,  au& 
Bisohoflb  zu  Meissen  Muidat.     Martin  Luther  :  Wittenberg,  1528. 

Yom  Abendmahl  Christi,  Bekantniss  Martin  Luthers  :  Wittenberg. 

Ex  yetustiss.  orthodoxorum  Patrum,  Cypriani,  Hilarii,  Ambrosii,  AugustiDi, 
Hieronymi,  Isichii  et  Pascasii,  de  genuine  Eucharistiss  negotii  intellectu  et 
usu,  libellus.  Contrit  omnes  veeano  sacramentario  spiritu  Yertiginosos  (qui  ctim 
ipsi  Patrum  opinionibus  pertinacissim^  innitautur)  plan^  Achilleum  telum. 
Nuper  ex  perretusto  exemplari  bonis  oTibus  in  &aatioorum  omnium  intemi- 
ciem  depromptus.  Cum  pr»&t.  Jobi  Gastii  ad  D.  Johannem  Brentium, 
pneceptorem  suum  :  Hagan.  1528. 

Unterricht  warum  die  Thum-Prediger  zu  Magdebui^  nicht  disputiren  wolleo, 
and  doch  uns  <Jffentlich  auf  der  Kantiel  geeisohet  und  gefodert  haben.  Nidas 
AmsdorfF:  Magdeburg,  1528. 

Job.  Bugenhagi  Pomerani  publica,  de  Sacramento  Corporis  et  Sanguinis 
Christi,  ex  Christ!  institutione,  Confessio,  qu&  suae  fidei  de  coenA  Domini 
reddit  rationem,  et  dicit  vale  iis,  qui  audire  nolunt.    Cum  epistolis  ejuad.  ad 


THE  DIET   OF   AUGSBURG.  319 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  DIET  OF  AUGSBUBG.     1530. 

State  of  Germany  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  Diet — Charles  T.  leaves  Italy 
to  restore  peaee  to  the  empire. — His  entry  Into  Angsburg. — Prooession  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament. — ^The  Protestant  princes  refuse  to  assist  at  it — 
Who  these  were. — ^Augsbarg  is  distnrbed  by  the  preaching  of  the  inno- 
Yators. — Acoount  of  a  Lutheran  comedy  performed  in  presence  of  Charles  Y. 
— Catholic  orators  who  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  diet 

It  would  be  impossible  not  to  feel  aiBicted,  on  surveying 
Germany  at  that  time.  Every  religious  and  social  tie  had  been 
dissolved  :  the  voice  of  Clement  VII.  was  no  more  regarded  than 
that  of  the  emperor.  Luther  had  made  of  the  great  feudatories 
of  the  empire  so  many  tyrants,  who  tormented  the  body  and 
outraged  the  conscience ;  soul  and  body,  all  were  compelled  to 
obey  them.  They  reigned  despotic  in  the  electoral  palace  as  well 
as  in  the  sanctuary ;  they  y^eaee  the  police  of  the  community  and 
of  the  Church.  It  was  under  their  inspiration  that  the  minister 
of  the  Gospel  was  chosen,  anointed,  consecrated,  preached  and 
administered  the  sacraments;  as  judges  of  the  orthodoxy  of 
the  pastor,  they  could  turn  him  off  when  they  had  decided  that 
he  did  not  preach  the  pure  word  of  Christ :  ^  they  were  the 
infallible  interpreters  of  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Scriptures. 
Melancthon  has  told  us  with  sorrow  what  the  Grospel  became 
after  theology  had  found  its  way  into  court  The  pulpit  then 
became  a  mere  tribune,  which  some  ignorant  apostate  ascended 
to  distribute  the  bread  of  life  to  the  lambs  of  his  official  flocks 
Avarice,  pride,  and  depravity,  were  the  prominent  vices  of  the 
new  clergy.     The  benches  of  the  universities  were  deserted,  and 

Job.  Brentinm,  Hale  Suevomm  concionatorem  ;  Hessnm  XJratislaTiensii 
Ecclesie  pastorem ;  Johannem  Agricolam,  Islebianse  schols  archididascalum : 
Wittembeiig,  1528. 

Yergleichnng  Dr.  Lathers  nnd  seines  Gegentheils  Torn  Abendmahl  Christi, 
Dialogns,  das  ist,  ein .  fireundlich  Gesprach,  gar  nah  alles  so  Dr.  Luther  in 
seinem  letzten  Buoh,  Beki&ntniss  genennet,  flugebracht  hat,  wird  hierin. 
g^andelt»  wie  das  zu  Erkentniss  der  Wahrheit  und  ohrisUiohen  Friede  dienet^ 
Cum  prsBf.  Buoeri.     1528. 

*  See  chapters  xiy.  and  xy.  of  this  volume. 


320  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBB. 

DemoBthenes  was  obliged,  by  means  of  his  learned  interpreter, 
to  beg  for  pupils.  Melancthon,  that  iUustrioos  son  of  the  muse 
of  antiquity,  had  not  even  wherewith  to  purchase  a  new  dress  as 
a  new  year's  gift  for  his  wife.  In  the  estimation  of  the  petty 
theologians  who  swarmed  in  the  smallest  towns,  a  scholar  was 
a  mere  pedant:  the  professor  of  rhetoric  held  out  his  hand, 
and  received,  with  averted  head,  thirty  florins  of  annual  charity.^ 
Wherever  the  doctrines  of  Luther  prevailed,  art,  science,  lite- 
rature, and  even  liberty  was  extinct.  From  Meissen  to  Basle 
nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  burnt  cottages,  demolished  monas- 
teries, and  ruined  palaces :  every  bush  of  the  Black  Forest  was 
tinged  with  the  blood  of  a  peasant.  If  the  eyes  looked  along 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine  for  the  airy  spires  which  Gothic  art 
had  reared,  it  found  them  prostrated  by  the  blows  of  fanatical 
peasants.  If  by  some  miracle  an  ancient  church  remained  with 
its  four  walls  standing,  not  one  of  its  statues  in  stone,  its  paint* 
ings  on  wood,  its  chased  plate  or  storied  missak,  that  once 
ornamented  it,  could  be  seen.  All  such  treasures,  when  not 
destroyed,  had  become  the  property  of  some  elector,  to  whom 
Luther  delivered  them  as  the  price  of  an  apostasy,  and  who  suffered 
to  die  of  hunger,  both  those  to  whom  they  formerly  belonged 
and  the  disciples  of  the  person  who  had  given  him  their  prepay. 
The  printing  presses  were  no  longer  occupied  in  the  reproduction 
of  the  works  of  the  ancient  authors,  but  of  wretched  pamphlets 
suggested  by  ignorant  fury. 

We  speak  not  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  who  only  met  with  their 
deserts :  remaining  futhful  to  their  God,  banishment  and  spolia* 
tion  was  the  justice  done  to  them  by  the  conqueror:  but  ot 
Schwenckfeld,  Garlstadt,  and  so  many  more,  who,  on  Luther's 
authority,  took  upon  them  to  interpret  the  Bible,  and  wera 
condemned  to  beg  their  bread  on  the  highways,  because  they 
translated  a  monosyllable  in  a  different  way  from  the  doctor ! 
Let  us  not  be  accused  of  slandering  the  Reformation.  Whoever 
has  perused  our  pages,  must  have  seen  that  this  sad  picture  of 
Germany,  in  1530,  is  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Luther, 
Melancthon,  Pirkheimer,  Jonas,  and  other  evangelists. 

Charles  V.  could  not  remain  long  in  Italy:    he  left  it  to 


See  chapter  xyi.  of  this  Tolume. 


THE   DIBT   OF  AUGSBURG.  821 

suppress,  if  it  were  possible,  the  disturbances  which  devastated  the 
empire. 

Od  the  15th  of  June,  1530,  he  made  his  entry  into  Augsburg. 
It  was  one  of  the  finest  sights  that  had  ever  been  witnessed  in  a 
German  city.* 

Every  eye  was  on  the  emperor.  Young,  handsome,  well- 
formed,  mounted  on  a  white  Polish  steed,  which  he  managed 
with  all  the  grace  of  a  perfect  horseman,  he  saluted  with  hand 
and  smile  the  people  that  crowded  the  way.  Three  hundred 
bells  rang  at  once,  and  mingled  their  sounds  with  the  roaring  of 
cannon,  the  flourishes  of  the  trumpets,  the  music,  and  shouts  of 
the  people,  which  were  louder  than  all  together.  Never  did 
prince  appear  invested  with  so  much  glory.*  He  wore  a  Spanish 
cloak,  embroidered  and  sparkling  with  precious  stones :  the 
saddle  of  his  horse  was  ornamented  with  topazes  and  rubies,  and 
his  stirrups  were  of  silver  gilt.  He  advanced  under  a  canopy  of 
crimson  velvet,  interspersed  with  golden  bees,  and  borne  by 
the  senators  of  Augsburg,  clad  in  Spanish  costume.  The  order 
prescribed  by  the  Golden  Bull,  and  the  regulations  issued  by 
Charles  IV.,  in  1356,  were  observed.  John,  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  as  grand  marshal  of  the  empire,  preceded  the  emperor, 
between  the  count  palatine,  represented  by  the  marquis  of 
Erbach,  and  George,  margrave  of  Brandenburg:  he  held  the 
imperial  sword  in  his  right  hand  ;  the  count  palatine  carried 
the  apple,  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg  the  sceptre,  all  three 
abreast,  clothed  in  scarlet  cloaks,  lined  with  ermine,  and  blazoned 
with  their  arms.  The  elector  of  Saxony  bore  party  per  fesse 
sable  and  argent,  two  swords  in  saltier  gules,  quartered  with 
all  the  provinces  which  he  possessed,  as  well  as  those  to  which  he 
laid  claims,  such  as  the  duchies  of  Juliers,  Gleves,  and  Berg ; 
the  margrave  of  Brandenburg,  hereditary  great  chamberlain  of 


*  Georg.  Sabin,  Carmen  de  Ingressu  Cisflaria  Aug.  Georg.  Goeleetin.  His- 
toria  Comitiorum  Au^.  torn.  i.  p.  105,  &c.  Maimbourg,  lib.  ii.  Diasertatio 
Inauguralis  et  Histonca  de  D.  Martino  Luthero,  h  comitis  Angufitanis  ann. 
1530,  corpore  quidem  absente,  in  illis  tamen  animo  prsasente,  Thesis,  h  Christ. 
Mauritio  Lochnero,  Altorf,  1783,  4to. 

•  See  Melanothon*8  letter  on  this  subject  to  Charles  V.,  Epistolae  Selectiores 
aliquot  Philippi  Melanchthonis  editse  k  Gasparo  Peucero,  1565,  p.  263.  And 
compare  his  opinion  of  it  with  that  of  Luther.  "In  my  opinion,"  writes 
Melancthon,  **  the  gods,  as  Horace  says,  could  not  make  the  earth  a  more 
precious  gift,  even  were  they  to  bring  back  the  golden  age." 

VOL.  II.  Y 


822  HI8T0BT   OF  LUTHER. 

the  Holy  Empire,  bore  azure,  a  sceptre  in  pale,  or,  with  arms 
quartered.  Ferdinand,  archduke  of  Austria,  hereditary  arch- 
butler  of  the  empire,  elected  king  of  Bohemia  in  1527,  walked 
by  himself,  immediately  after  the  emperor,  wearing  the  crown, 
and  escorted  by  three  hundred  guards,  clothed  in  jackets  of  red 
and  white  velvet  The  archbishop  of  Mayence,  dean  of  the 
ecclesiastical  electors,  preceded  the  princes  who  carried  the  Aulic 
insignia ;  they  were  surrounded  with  two  hundred  guards,  clothed 
in  jackets  of  yellow  and  black  velvet ;  and  on  the  left  appeared 
the  archbishop  of  Gol(^e,  at  the  head  of  another  guard  in  full 
airmour.  The  ecclesiastical  electors  wore  scarlet  caps,  turned  up 
with  ermine.  The  streets  were  hung  with  tapestry,  and  strewn 
with  leaves.  On  the  emperor's  appearing,  the  people  knelt  to 
receive  the  legate's  benediction.  Among  the  crowd  it  was  easy  to 
recognise  the  Lutherans,  who  contented  themselves  with  inclining 
the  head,  but  did*  not  bend  the  knee.  At  the  gates  of  Augsbuig, 
when  Charles  mounted  the  state  horse  which  was  provided  for 
him,  and  which  Cardinal  Campeggio  had  blessed,  the  prince- 
electors  uncovered  their  heads,  but  did  not  bow.^ 

The  eye  looked  in  vain  for  him  who  had  excited  this  great 
multitude,  who  had  torn  the  emperor  from  the  scene  of  his  glory, 
and  whose  name  and  image  filled  all  minds.  Luther  was  absent. 
He  kept  himself  retired  in  the  citadel  of  Coburg,  whither  the 
elector  of  Saxony  ^  had  taken  him,  lest  his  presence  in  Augsbui^ 
should  have  roused  the  anger  of  Charles  V.,  for  he  was  under 
the  ban  of  the  edict  of  Worms.'"*  Spalatinus,  Jonas,  and 
Melancthon  had  accompanied  him,  and  then  continued  their 
journey  to  Augsburg,  singing  the  first  verse  of  the  Psalm, 
"  Deus  in  adjutorium,"  previously  translated  into  German  verse 


'    Menzely  1.  o.  torn.  i.  ^ 

*  Cochlsus  in  Actis  Latheri,  p.  124 :  **  Elector  Lntberam  ad  Augustam 
tamen  usque  non  perdaxit,  eo  quod  esset  k  Cssare  in  edicto  WormatienBi  pro 
haeretioo  notorio  damnatua^  et  proecriptuB ;  itaqne  reliqnit  enm  in  mnnitissiniA 
aroe  suA  Gobnrg.''  PaUavicini  in  Hist.  Cone.  Trid.  lib.  iii.  cap.  iii. :  *'  Lntbenia 
Angostam  addncttui  non  est)  ne  tarn  aperto  deepicatu  CRsar  ofiendereiur,  eo 
ante  ipdns  oonspeotiun  obtruso,  quern  Bererissimo  edicto  WormatieDBi  pro- 
Bcripserat.''  Maimburgius  in  Hist.  Lutheranismi,  lib.  ii.  sect.  xzi. :  "  Elector 
veritns,  ne  imperatorem  prsesentia  bominis,  quern  in  edicto  Womiatieniii 
nominatim  proscripserat,  irritaret>  reliquit  eum  Coburgi,  in  munimento,  quod 
habebat,  prsecipuo :  translated  by  Locbner,  1.  c. 

'  Muller,  Yon  der  Evang.  Stamme  protest,  und  Auffsbnrg.  Confeflsion, 
lib.  il.  cap.  vii.  §  6,  p.  456.    OyprianuB,  In  Hist.  Aug.  Conf.  cap.  yi.  §  8,  p.  59. 


THE  DIET   OF  AUGSBURG.  323 

and  Bet  to  music  by  Lather,  and  which  was  sung  in  the  evan- 
gelical chnrches  daring  the  diet.^ 

However,  if  we  are  to  credit  Protestant  accoants,  it  depended  on 
Lather  to  tarn  all  this  triumphal  pomp  into  mourning.  The  elector 
of  Saxony  and  the  Protestant  princes,  who  feared  the  emperor's 
wrath,  were  assembled  to  avert  the  storm.  The  elector  was  of 
opinion  that  they  should  go  with  sufficient  troops  and  await  the 
emperor  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  to  prevent  him  from  entering 
the  Tyrol :  this  was  a  desperate  measure,  which  would  have  been 
&tal  to  the  Beformation.  Luther  perceived  the  danger,  and 
Wrote  to  the  duke :  *^  Prince,  it  is  not  by  arms  that  we  must 
defend  our  cause,  but  by  patience  and  resignation,  and  above  all, 
by  unbounded  confidence  in  the  Lord  and  his  all-powerful  arm/' 
This  was  prudent  counsel,  and  the  elector  followed  it*  Maim- 
bourg  and  other  Catholic  historians  have  allowed  themselves  to 
be  caught  by  this  worldly  wisdom  of  the  Reformer ;  *  probably 
they  had  not  read  his  appeal  to  the  German  nation. 

The  procession  advanced  towards  the  cathedral,  where  the 
'*  Te  Deum  "  was  sung  in  thanksgiving,  and  the  legate  gave  his 
benediction  to  the  assembly.  The  following  day  was  a  festival  of 
the  Church, — the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  when  the  blessed 
Sacrament  was  to  be  carried  in  procession  through  the  streets  of 
Augsburg.  Charles  invited  the  Protestant  princes  to  this  cere- 
mony :  they  had  previously  arranged  their  reply,  which  was  quite 
a  scenic  exhibition.  George,  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
putting  his  hand  to  his  neck,  declared  that  he  was  ready  to 
mount  the  scaffold  and  lose  his  head,  sooner  than  renounce  the 
Gospel*  The  emperor  smiled,  and  said,  "  No  head !  no  head  i" 
but  nothing  more ;  either  because  he  was  not  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  German  language,  or  disliked  long  conver- 
sation, or  perhaps  because,  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  the 
Spanish  court,  he  let  his  lieutenant,  his  brother  Ferdinand,  king 
of  Bohemia,  speak  for  him.  The  Protestants  could  not  com- 
prehend how  this  prince,  who  remained  mute  before  them, 
motionless  as  a  pagoda,   and  only  expressed  his  feelings  by 


'  Coelestin.  lib.  i.  fol.  20. 

'  CceleBtin.  torn,  i,  fol.  Id.    Luth.  Epist.  ad  Elect.  Sax.  apud  Ckslest.  p.  20. 
'  Maimbourg,  lib.  ii.  p.  174.  *  Adolph  Mensel,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  p.  441. 

y2 


324  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

wagging  his  head  or  contracting  his  eyebrows,  could  have  made 
the  world  tremble.  They  thought  they  would  have  to  address  a 
man,  and  they  found  only  a  statue.  More  than  one  Protestant 
noble  was  indebted  for  his  courage  next  day  to  this  taciturnity 
on  the  part  of  the  emperor. 

''What  a  fine  fellow  V  said  Luther;  ''he  speaks  less  in  a 
year  than  I  do  in  a  day."  * 

The  Protestant  princes  held  a  council  at  night,  and  resolved 
not  to  assist  at  the  procession.  Next  morning  they  attended  the 
emperor's  levee,  and  presented  him  with  their  written  protest 

The  margrave  of  Brandenburg  was  again  the  spokesman : 
"  Rather,''  said  he,  putting  his  hand  to  his  neck,  "  than  deny 

the  Gospel "     Charles  interrupted  him,  saying,  "No  head!" 

and  relapsed  into  his  habitual  silence.'  Ferdinand  attempted  to 
overcome  the  margrave's  obstinacy,  but  in  vain.  The  cannon 
and  church-bells  soon  announced  the  setting  out  of  the  pro- 
cession. 

It  was  prehaps  more  magnificent  than  the  triumphal  one  of 
the  previous  day.  George  Sabinus  [Schalten]  has  exhausted  all 
the  treasures  of  poetry  in  describing  it.  The  archbishop  of 
Mayence  carried  a  massive  gold  remonstrance,  sparkling  with  all 
sorts  of  gems.  Six  princes,  who  relieved  each  other,  bore  a 
canopy  worked  with  gold  and  silver,  and  decorated  at  the  four 
comers  with  plumes  of  ostrich  feathers.  In  every  public  place 
an  altar  was  raised,  adorned  with  flowers,  lace,  and  valuable 
paintings.  King  Ferdinand  walked  on  the  archbishop's  right,  and 
on  his  left  Joachim  I.,  elector  of  Brandenburg :  before  the  canopy 
were  two  lines  of  priests  and  choristers ;  then  the  two  masters 
of  the  ceremonies  of  the  imperial  and  royal  households,  followed 
by  the  heralds,  trumpeters,  and  other  musicians ;  next  came 
the  senators  of  the  empire,  the  members  of  the  Aulic  and  royal 
councils,  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  and  the  official  members  of 
the  palace.  Behind  the  canopy  came  the  emperor,  clothed  in  a 
large  purple  mantle,  lined  with  cloth  of  silver,  carrying  a  torch, 
bareheaded  and  unprotected  by  parasol  from  the  heat  of  the 
summer  sun.  In  his  majesty's  train  were  the  legate,  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  the  deputies  of  the  imperial  cities,  the 


1  Tiach-Reden,  ch.  xlv.  p.  842.  >  Seckendorf,  1.  c.  lib.  ii.  p.  162. 


THE    DIET   OP   AUGSBURG.  825 

grandees  of  Spain,  the  Italian  and  Flemish  nobility^  and  lastly, 
the  guards  of  the  emperor  and  the  king  of  Bohemia.  The 
assistants  carried  torches,  walking  silently  and  slowly,  and  knelt 
whenever  the  archbishop  elevated  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and 
presented  it  for  the  adoration  of  the  faithful.  The  choir 
children  strewed  flowers  on  the  path  of  the  procession.  The 
Protestant  princes  awaited  the  emperor  in  the  church,  which  they 
had  received  permission  from  Luther  to  enter.  John  the  elector 
carried  the  imperial  sword,  in  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his 
office.  However,  he  had  thought  it  right  to  consult  ii^me  theo- 
logians, and  among  others  Doctor  Martin,  who  allowed  him  to 
perform  his  duties  as  grand  vassal,  after  the  example  of  Naaman, 
who  supported  with  his  hand  the  king  of  Syria,  his  master,  when 
he  went  to  adore  the  idol  Rimmon.^  The  reformed  theologians 
did  not  cloak  their  language.  The  emperor  was  the  infidel  prince 
of  Syria ;  the  Catholic  church  the  pagan  temple ;  and  Christ, 
whom  the  people  were  to  adore,  was  the  idol  Bimmon. 

The  Protestant  princes,  after  his  majesty  entered  the  church, 
took  the  places  assigned  to  them.  Charles  was  seated  on  his 
throne,  facing  the  altar.  The  choir  was  hung  with  crimson 
velvet ;  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  high  altar  were  six  chairs, 
each  inscribed:  "Mayence,"'  "Cologne,"  "Bohemia,"  "Bavaria," 
"  Saxony,"  "  Brandenburg ;"  one  chair  was  left  vacant,  and 
marked  the  place  of  the  elector  of  Treves,  then  absent.  The 
officers  of  the  electors  stood  before  them,  with  their  swords 
resting  on  their  shoulders.  As  soon  as  the  electors  were  seated, 
various  princes  and  counts  entered  the  -choir  ;  then  the  count  of 
Pappenheim  closed  the  doors,  and  handed  the  keys  to  the 
chamberlain.  The  archbishop  of  Mayence  then  intoned  the 
"  Veni  Creator,"  and  all  present  rose  simultaneously :  next  followed 
the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the 
Golden  Bull.  After  the  Gospel,  the  two  assistants,  followed  by 
priests  and  preceded  by  two  acolytes,  bearing  tapers,  advanced, 
made  three  low  obeisances  to  the  emperor,  and  thrice  incensed 
him :  and  the  same  once  to  the  electors  of  Mayence  and  Cologne, 

'  XJleiiberg,  Historia  de  VitA,  Moribus,  &c.  Martini  Lutheri,  p.  374. 
Calvin,  in  his  Nicodemites,  has  examined  the  question  of  the  presence  of 
"Christians"  in  a  Catholic  church,  and  has  come  to  a  different  conclusion 
from  Luther :  the  example  of  Naaman  appears  to  him  of  no  value.  See  our 
History  of  Calvin. 


326  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

the  king  of  Bohemia^  the  elector  of  Saxony,  and  the  maigrave  of 
Brandenhurg,  to  all  of  whom  they  gave  the  Gospel  to  kiaa. 
During  the  "  Agnus  Dei/'  the  assistants  carried  a  silver  cross  to 
the  emperor  and  the  electors  to  kiss.  When  the  Mass  was  over, 
the  archbishop  took  off  his  vestments  behind  the  altar,  put  on  a 
cope,  and  kneeling  down  intoned  a  hymn,  which  the  emperor's 
band  finished. 

The  procession  then,  in  the  same  order,  returned  to  the 
episcopal  palace,  where  his  majesty  resided. 

Let  us  see  who  these  scrupulous  parties  were  who  were  afraid 
of  sullying  their  innocence  by  entering  a  Catholic  church  with- 
out Luther  s  permission.  There  was,  first,  the  elector  John,  one 
of  the  greatest  gluttons  of  his  time,  whose  overcharged  stomach, 
laden  with  meat  and  drink  from  mom  to  night,  required  an  iron 
girdle  to  support  it,  lest  it  should  fall ;  the  devoted  adherent  of 
a  creed  which  abolished  fasting  and  Lent,  and  permitted  flesh  to 
be  eaten  on  Friday  and  Saturday.  The  sideboard  of  this  elector 
was  considered  to  be  the  most  richly  furnished  in  Germany,  with 
vessels  of  aU  kinds,  stolen  from  the  monastic  refectories  or  the 
sacristies  of  the  churches.^  There  was  his  son  Frederick,  who 
spent  his  time  and  health  at  the  table  or  in  hunting,  and,  like 
his  father,  a  jolly  companion,  devoted  to  wine  and  good  cheer, 
and  scarcely  acquainted  with  his  catechism.  There  was  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  whose  lechery  had  become  proverbial,  a 
shameless  adulterer,  who,  to  resist  carnal  temptations,  demanded 
and  obtained  leave  to  cohabit  with  a  couple  of  wives,^  and  who 
caused  himself  to  be  waited  on  at  table  by  servants  upon  whose 
sleeves  were  embroidered  these  five  capital  letters:  "  V.D.M.LiE.'' 
^'Verbum  Domini  manet  in  SBtemum  ;" — "The  word  of  the 
Lord  endures  for  ever."  There  was  Wolfgang,  prince  of  Anhalt, 
so  grossly  ignorant,  that  he  never  knew,  it  was  said,  how  to 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross.  There  were  Ernest  and  Francis  of 
Luneburg,  who  did  not  give  their  servants  the  trouble  of  robbing 
the  churches,  but  stole,  with  their  own  hands,  the  sacred  vessels. 
Such  were  the  princes  whose  consciences  were  alarmed  at  the 
very  idea  of  entering  Catholic  churches. 


'  Ber  ChurfUrst  war  ein  Freund  des  Weines  und  der  Jagd. — Adolph  Menzel, 
torn.  i.  p.  338. 
*  See  chap.  xxx.  Bigamy  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse. 


THE  DIBT  OF   AUOSBURO.  327 

As  soon  as  the  emperor  was  seated,  the  archbishops  and 
prelates  came  after  each  other  to  say  grace.  The  archbishop  of 
Mayence  laid  the  seals  of  state  on  ^  the  table  ;  and  the  emperor 
handed  them  to  the  chancellor  of  Angsbnrg,  who  suspended  the 
great  seal  from  his  neck.  Then  came  the  margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, carrying  a  damask  napkin,  and  silver  basin  and  ewer, 
which  he  presented  to  the  emperor  to  wash  his  hands.  Next  the 
count  palatine,  carrying  four  silver  dishes,  each  weighing  three 
marks,  filled  with  warm  viands,  which  he  laid  on  the  table; 
lastly,  the  king  of  Bohemia,  grand  butler,  with  a  silver  jug 
weighing  twelve  marks,  full  of  wine  and  water,  which  he 
offered  respectfully  to  the  emperor. 

The  edict  of  Worms  expressly  forbade  the  innovators  to  preach 
their  doctrines.  The  edict  had  not  beenrecaUed,  but  the  Pro- 
testant princes,  under  the  pretext  that  they  could  not  do  with- 
out spiritual  nourishment,  had,  on  arriving  at  Augsburg,  opened 
in  their  private  chapels  a  course  of  sermons,  which  the  people 
attended  in  crowds.  They  went  to  hear  the  papists  insulted,  the 
pope  and  the  bishops  nicknamed  Antichrist,  and  the  celibacy  of 
the  clergy  anathematized.  An  order  of  the  emperor,  proclaimed 
by  sound  of  trumpet  in  all  the  public  places,  was  necessary  to 
silence  these  preachers,  as  Augsburg  was  menaced  with  the  same 
scourges  which  desolated  the  lower  empire,  where  every  inhabitant 
had  become  a  controversialist  The  city  swarmed  with  Zwinglians, 
Anabaptists,  Garlstadians,  Illyrians,  and  Lutherans,  all  affirming 
that  they  were  sent  by  God  to  preach  his  word.  This  cloud  of 
gospellers  settled  here  and  there,  and  converted  every  stile  into  a 
pulpit  to  harangue  the  multitude,  who,  drawn  from  all  quarters, 
knew  not  to  whom  to  listen.  Erasmus,  with  his  usual  sarcasm, 
has  sketched  this  medley  of  doctrines,  this  confusion  of  subjects, 
this  incessant  hum  of  interrogatories,  this  deafening  knell  of 
Bible  texts.  "  Here  comes  one,  with  the  New  Testament  in  his 
hand,  and  cries  out:  *  Show  me  purgatory  ;'  another,  *  Where  is 
infant  baptism  V  a  third,  '  Where  is  the  Trinity ;  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  V  another,  if  there  be  in  the  hypostatic  union  this  thing 
or  thai  Wait,  it  is  not  all  over :  I  see  one  who  asks  how  there 
can  be  accidents  in  the  eucharist ;  another,  if  the  bread  and 
wine  are  reduced  to  nothing,  or  changed  into  his  body  by  alte- 


328  HISTORY   OF  LUTHEE. 

ration  ;  a  third,  if  the  body  subsists  in  him  who  receives  it,  or  is 
changed  into  his  substance/'  ^ 

Truly  Erasmus  was  fortunate  in  being  sick  in  Switzerland ; 
for  at  Augsburg,  whither  Melancthon  had  invited  him,  his  ears 
would  have  been  cruelly  tortured,  and  his  head,  already  over- 
worked, would  have  turned  giddy. 

He  would  not  probably  have  been  more  satisfied  with  certain 
Catholic  preachers  who,  before  the  arrival  of  Charles  V.,  had 
publicly  denounced  many  of  the  great  men  of  the  age.  Such, 
for  instance,  was  a  Franciscan,  whose  name  was  not  bestowed  on 
him  by  the  resentment  of  Erasmus,^  and  whose  sermons  were  in 
great  repute,  because  he  spared  in  them  neither  priests,  bishops, 
pope,  emperor,  nor  the  learned,  to  which  latter  he  attributed  all 
the  evils  that  desolated  Qermany.  "  My  brethren,"  said  he,  "  I 
announce  to  you  a  new  luminary,  which  has  just  dawned  in  our 
horizon  ;  my  tongue  sticks  to  my  palate  ;  I  wish  to  tell  you  of 
a  long-eared  doctor,  a  thorough  ass,  who  has  the  impudence  to 
attempt  to  correct  the  *  Magnificat,'  a  canticle  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost !  This  precursor  of  Luther  has  corrupted  the 
Gospel,  and  infected  Germany."  It  was  Erasmus  whom  the 
friar  meant.  John  Faber,'  confessor  of  Charles  V.,  and  the 
cardinal  of  Trent,  imposed  silence  on  him,  and  forbade  him  to 
preach,  to  the  great  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  of  Augsburg, 
who  loved  his  vituperative  discourses. 

Erasmus  has  preserved  for  us  the  sketch  of  a  comedy  which 
savours  of  Lutheranism,  and  was  audaciously  performed  before 
the  emperor,  who  did  not  discover  its  meaning  until  the  close. 

The  court  was  assembled  in  the  hall  of  the  diet,  where  the 
king  of  Bohemia,  the  prelates,  and  the  reformed  princes  were 
present.  Suddenly  appeared  a  man  with  a  mask,  in  the  long 
gown  of  a  doctor,  having  inscribed  on  his  back  in  large  letters 
the  name  of  Keuchlin.  He  held  in  his  hand  a  faggot,  the 
branches  of  which  were  bent  in  the  form  of  a  fan,  and  which  he 
placed  in  the  middle  of  the  hall.  Then  appeared  a  masked 
ecclesiastic,  with  a  sharp  nose,  twinkling  eye,  and  sneering  lip. 


*  Enusmi  Epistol®,  ep.  1094. 

'  Concio,  sive  Merdordus.     The  Franciscan^s  name  was  Merdard. 

'  "  Joh.  Faber,  scortatioDis  patronns  ei  unus  ex  prsecipuis  papistis,  qui  beaio 
Luthero,  vel  veritis  Spiritai  sancto,  restiterunt/'  aays  a  disciple  of  Luther. 


THE   DIET  OF   AUG8BURa.  329 

who  was  immediately  recognised  for  Erasmus.  He  advanced, 
bowing  on  each  side,  with  a  mincing  gait,  and  looked  with  a 
smile  at  the  bent  branches,  which  he  endeavoured  to  bend  back  ; 
but  his  efforts  being  vain,  he  was  obliged  to  throw  them  aside  in 
disgust,  and  departed,  muttering  between  his  teeth  some  unin- 
telligible words,  and  grinning  with  a  diabolical  leer.  A  monk 
succeeded  him  with  a  large  forehead,  and  blown-up  face,  purpled 
with  wine,  who  bellowed  with  a  deep  voice,  and  set  fire  to  the 
faggot :  then  came  an  emperor  with  a  large  sword,  with  which 
he  stirred  the  fire,  which  crackled  and  threw  out  sparks  on  all 
sides :  then  a  pope  in  full  pontificals,  carrying  in  each  hand  a 
cruet ;  in  the  right  one  of  water,  in  the  left  one  of  oil.  He 
approached  for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  the  fire,  but  unfor* 
tunately  by  mistake  threw  the  oil  instead  of  the  water  on  the 
fire,  which  blazed  up  and  consumed  the  faggot  Charles  was 
offended,  and  ordered  the  culprit  to  be  sought  for  ;  but  he  could 
not  be  found.* 

The  diet  opened  on  the  20th  of  June,  in  the  presence  of 
the  emperor,  King  Ferdinand,  the  electors,  princes  of  the  empire, 
and  deputies  of  the  imperial  cities,  in  a  vast  hall  hung  with 
velvet.  In  the  middle  of  a  semicircle,  the  sides  of  which  were 
furnished  with  crimson  velvet  arm-chairs,  prepared  for  the 
sovereign  princes, — rose  the  emperor's  throne,  covered  with  cloth 
fringed  with  gold  and  silver.  On  either  side  were  pages  dressed 
in  the  Spanish  costume.  Charles  wore  a  mantle  which  swept 
the  ground,  and  on  his  head  the  imperial  crown  ;  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  who  discharged  the  functions  of  grand  marshal  of  the 
empire,  carried  the  imperial  sword  ;  the  hand  of  justice  was  held 
by  the  margrave.  The  cushion  on  which  the  crown  was  to  be 
laid  when  Charles  uncovered  himself  was  kept  by  two  pages. 
On  the  second  row  of  the  semicircle  were  the  seats  of  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  the  papal  nuncio,  and  the  ambassadors  ; 
below  these  were  the  folding  chairs  reserved  for  the  Catholic 
doctors,  Eck,  Cochlaeus,  and  Nausea.     Eck  we  already  know. 

CochlaDus  bore  no  resemblance  to  Eck  ;  instead  of  laying  nets, 
he  wove  a  spider's  web,  in  which  he  waited  patiently  until  his 
adversary  was  caught.    "  He  was  a  nettle  which  flourished  amidst 


*  Life  of  Erasmus,  by  De  Borigni,  torn.  ii.  p.  272. 


330  HISTOET   OF  LUTHBE. 

roses  and  lilies/'  says  the  poet :  ^  moreoyer,  he  waa  a  brare 
cavalier,  of  noble  appearance,  who  sometimes  sounded  the  trampet 
admirably,  and  hurled  a  bold  defiance  at  his  adversary.  This 
cartel  of  Gochl»us  was  not  unworthy  the  acceptance  of  Luther. 

"  Cochl«us  to  Luther. — If  you  are  a  man,  come  with  arms 
and  not  with  insults  ;  take  up  the  sword  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  is  the  word  of  Grod,  and  let  us  measure  our  strengtL 
Here  is  one  prepared  to  fight  for  the  faith  and  the  honour  of 
religion.  Gome,  if  you  have  courage :  come,  and  dispute  in  open 
day,  in  any  place  that  the  emperor  may  appoint,  clearly  and 
intelligibly  :  come,  and  let  us  harangue  without  circumlocutions, 
evasions,  or  reservations.  If  I  &il,  I  shall  not  refose  exile, 
imprisonment,  the  wheel,  the  stake,  or  the  sword,  or  any  punish- 
ment that  the  arbiters  of  the  contest  may  please  to  inflict  on  the 
vanquished.  It  will  be  a  glorious  thing  for  me  to  fight,  conquer, 
or  die  for  my  faith.  Come,  then  ;  struggle,  contend,  triumph, 
or  fall  in  returning  to  the  truth.  I  send  this  challenge  to  you, 
or  such  of  your  disciples  as  may  wish  to  maintain  the  honour  of 
your  Babylon.  None  but  a  womanish  soul  would,  in  such  a  case, 
make  use  of  jokes  and  jests,  ridicule  and  offensive  similes. 
Men  have  other  arms.  Come  then,  armed  eap-i-ptef — ^you,  or 
your  second,  in  your  name.  I  await  you.  I  have  said  it, 
and  my  act  shall  make  good  my  word.  May  God  assist  me ! 
Amen."« 

The  Beformer  8  disdain  for  Cochlaaus  is  singular.  He  did 
not  condescend  to  reply  to  him  even  once.  He  must  have  con- 
sidered him  unimportant,  since  Cochlseos  never  provoked  him  to 
anger.*  When  his  celebrated  work,  "  The  Seven-headed  Beast^" 
appeared,  Luther  said,  "  I  have  but  one,  which  they  cannot  cut 
ofiF ;  what  would  it  be  if  I  had  seven  of  them  ?"  * 

*  **  Attamen  annumerat  tantis  quoque  mu8a  mereniem 
Luminibus  ;  virtas  qu6d  vel  in  hoste  placet, 
Lilia  sic  inter  crescens  urtica,  rosafique 
Geiininat  et  fruitnr  floris  honore  boni." 

*  Cochlseus  died  at  Breslau,  10  January,  1552.  He  is  especially  known  by 
his  history,  De  Actia  et  Scriptis  Martini  Lutheri. 

'  See  Articuli  ccccc  Mart.  Lutheri,  quibus  sinji^latim  responsum  est  k 
Job.  CocblsDO :  Colonise,  1525,  4to.  Sept.  Lutherus,  ubique  sibi  suis  scriptis 
contrariuB,  per  Cochleenm  editus.     Lipsise,  Schumann,  1529,  4 to. 

*  "Job.  CochlsBUS  multijugft  instructus  eruditione,  et  sacris  totus  deditna 
litteris,'*  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Lutheran  Reusner,  in  his  Icon. 
Virorum,  &c.  p.  85. 


THE   DIET   OF  AUOSBUBG.  331 

Frederick  Nausea,  Cardinal  Campeggio's  Becreiaiy,  had  been 
for  four  years  one  of  the  great  Catholic  polpit  orators  of  May- 
ence  ;  he  was  somewhat  diffuse,  destitate  of  fire  and  feeling,  but 
deeply  read  in  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers.  After  severe 
study^  he  had  receiyed  the  doctorates  of  law  and  theology.  He 
was  a  scholar  devoted  to  classical  literature,  a  taste  for  which  he 
endeavoured  to  diffuse  in  Qermany.  Like  all  men  of  intellect 
at  that  time,  he  possessed  a  vast  deal  of  information  ;  and  was 
at  once  physician,  lawyer,  philosopher,  poet,  and  astronomer.^ 

John  Faber  was  a  theologian  of  the  renaissance,  who  knew 
Aristotle  and  St.  Thomas  by  heart,  devoted  like  a  laureated 
student  to  Horace  and  Virgil,  a  man  of  the  world,  and  as  par- 
ticular in  his  dress  as  in  his  language.  At  Rome,  he  had 
disputed  with  Hortensius  the  prize  for  memory ;  and  had  it  been 
necessary  would  have  recalled  to  Luther,  if  he  had  forgotten  it, 
everything  that  the  monk  had  written  for  fifteen  years,  without 
even  foigetting  the  offensive  portions.  He  had  good  luck. 
Instead  of  growing  pale  over  books  to  reftite  his  adversary,  he  had 
made  himself  acquainted  with  him,  and  was  then  about  to  compose 
Luther's  '*  Antilogia.''  Open  the  book,  you  meet  Arius,  Manes, 
Berengarius:  turn  the  page,  you  find  Scotus  and  Durandus; 
and  often  on  the  same  leaf,  Huss  and  Cajetan. 

Faber's  work  had  caused  amusement. 

But  Luther  was  jpigry.  "  I  shall  not  reply,"  he  said,  "  either 
to  CochlsBus  or  Faber :  there  is  not  an  ass  that  does  not  obtain 
the  degree  of  doctor  as  soon  as  he  attacks  Luther.  Luther  is  a 
god  who  makes  beggars  lords,  asses  doctors,  scoundrels  saints, 
and  changes  dirt  into  precious  atones:  it  was  I  who  raised 
Adrian  to  the  tiara,  and  you  shall  see  that  I  will  make  Faber  a 
cardinal."  * 

Faber  was  an  able  controversialist,  who,  according  to  Melanc- 
thon,  displayed  no  less  learning  than  zeal  to  reconcile  parties  at 
Augsburg.     It  was  he  who  said  in  the  pulpit  at  the  diet  of 


'  He  wrote:  Consilia  de  Puero  Litteris  instituendo ;  Disticba  in  Omnia 
Capita  Librorum  Lactaotii ;  Principia  Dialectioes ;  De  NaturA  CommoDda- 
tioneqne  Thennamm ;  Lib.  VII.  Renim  Mirabilium ;  Orationes,  Epi^rammata, 
&o.  Dnpin,  Bibl.  des  Aut.  Ecd.  du  Seizi^e  SihcLe,  Senurii  Mogunt.  Ber. 
lib.  i.  cap.  xl.  No.  18,  p.  176. 

'  Adyersus  iteratnm  Edictum  Episcopi  Misnensia  pro  Commanione  sub  unft 
Specie :  a  pamphlet  which  Seckendorf  ealla  "  yehemeoB  et  aculeatum." 


332  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

Spires  :  '^  I  would  sooner  believe  in  Mahomet  than  in  Luther ; 
for  the  former  has  preserved  fasting,  abstinence,  prayers,  and 
good  works."  "  I  fear  much,"  replied  Luther  at  table,  "  that 
he  may  have  prophesied  like  Caiaphas,  and  may  one  day  become 
a  Turk."  *  Luther  was  mistaken,  for  Faber  died  in  his  diocese 
of  Vienna,  which  Ferdinand  conferred  on  him  as  the  reward  of 
his  literary  labours.  ''Here  is  another  elevated  by  this  poor 
fellow  Luther,"  exclaimed  Erasmus,  on  hearing  of  the  nomination 
of  Faber,  whose  piety  and  learning  he,  however,  revered.* 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  AUGSBURG.     1630. 

Opening  of  the  Diet. — ^The  Protestant  princes  present  their  confession  of  faith 
to  the  emperor. — The  confession  of  Augsbni^  is  a  manifesto  against  the 
original  creed  of  Luther. — ^The  doctor's  contradictions. — Melancthon  gives 
an  account  to  his  master  of  the  deliberations  of  the  Diet. — Luther  at  Cobuig. 
— Melancthon's  dispositions  of  mind  at  Augsburg. — Various  concessions 
which  he  makes  to  the  Catholics. — ^Luther,  from  Cobuig,  opposes  every  kind 
of  dealing  with  the  "  papists." — Spalatinus  and  Jonas  desire  a  reconciliation. 
— Anger  of  Luther,  who  will  have  peace  at  no  price. — Bruck  is  of  a  similar 
way  of  thinking. — Melancthon's  chagrin  and  discouragement. — Cries  of 
reprobation  against  the  attempts  at  reconciliation  made  by  the  professor. — 
Luther's  appeal  to  popular  hatred. — ^The  elector  of  Saxony  clandestinely 
leaves  Augsburg. — Melancthon,  to  be  reconciled  with  the  Swiss,  who  could 
not  obtain  a  hearing  at  the  Diet^  alters  the  text  of  the  confession. — ^The 
confession,  considered  as  a  dogmatic  creed,  does  violence  to  the  principle  of 
free  inquiry. 

When  the  Count  Palatine,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  had 
pronounced  the  opening  discourse,  all  present  standing  uncovered, 
a  herald-at-arms  sounded  the  trumpet  on  tlie  steps  of  the  palace. 
At  this  signal  the  gates  of  the  great  hall  were  opened,  and  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  citizens  entered,  and  took  their  seats 
in  the  places  which  had  been  prepared  for  them.  The  emperor 
had  reserved  several  of  them  for  the  theologians  of  his  own  party: 
— Justus  Jona8  and  Spalatinus,  who  died,  it  is  said,  in  the  faith 

»  Tisch-Reden,  pp.  364,  865. 

*  Hist,  de  la  Reformation,  par  Sleidan,  lib.  vii.  torn.  ii.  p.  202. 


THB   CONFESSION   07   AUGSBURG.  333 

of  their  maater ;  Melancthon,  who  rejected  some  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  Saxon  school ;  and  Agricola  of  Eisleben,  the  leader  of 
the  Antinomians,  who  abandoned  and  afterwards  returned  to 
Latheranism,  and  died  at  Berlin,  half  Catholic  and  half  Pro- 
testant.^ Zwinglians,  Anabaptists,  and  Carlstadians,  were 
mingled  in  the  crowd.  The  Lutherans,  who  came  to  Augsburg 
to  demand  liberty  of  conscience,  were  ready  to  co-operate  in  any 
rigorous  measures  which  the  authorities  might  adopt  against  the 
dissenting  innovators. 

Then  the  elector  of  Saxony,  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
Duke  Francis  and  Ernest  of  Luneburg  and  Brunswick,  Philip, 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  Wolfgang,  prince  of  Anhalt,  rose  from 
their  seats,  and  approached  the  emperor's  throne.  Then  Oeorge 
Pontanus  (Bruck),  chancellor  of  John  the  elector,  requested  his 
majesty^s  permission  to  read  openly  before  the  Orders  the  con- 
fession of  faith  of  the  Protestant  princes  ;  in  the  view  of  opening 
the  eyes  of  those  who  ascribed  heretical  opinions  to  them.  The 
emperor  appointed  them  to  meet  him  on  the  following  day  in  the 
hall  of  the  episcopal  palace. 

In  the  mean  time,  he  requested  them  to  send  to  him  the  con- 
fession ;  but  the  princes  excused  themselves,  under  the  pretext 
that  the  copy  had  been  hastily  made,  was  full  of  errors,  omis- 
sions, and  words  deleted  and  illegible.' 

The  bishop's  palace  could  not  hold  all  the  reformers  ;  many  of 
them  were  obliged  to  remain  in  the  adjoining  apartments,  and  in 
the  lobbies,  where  they  waited  with  inexpressible  anxiety  the 
effect  of  the  reading  of  the  reformed  creed.  The  chancellor. 
Christian  Baier,  who  waa  commissioned  to  read  Mdancthon's 
confession,  had  a  sonorous  voice.  His  words,  listened  to  in 
profound  silence,  were  heard,  it  is  said,  in  the  court  of  the 
castle,  where  numerous  Protestants  drew,  from  the  silence  which 
was  accorded  to  the  reader,  bright  auguries  for  the  future 
prospects  of  their  confession.' 

When  the  confession  was  read,  the  emperor,  whose  counte- 
nance evinced  no  emotion,  gave  a  copy  of  it  in  German  to  the 


*  Sleidan,  L  c.  lib.  vi.  p.  232,  note. 

'  Goelestin.  torn.  iii.  fol.  1  et  aeq.     MaimboiiT|f,  lib.  ii.  p.  189. 

»  GiiBtaT  Pfizer,  1.  o.  p.  628. 


334  HISTOBY   OP  LUTHBE. 

archbishop  of  Mayence,  kept  for  himself  the  Latin  one,  which 
he  had  received  from  the  chancellor,  Christian  Baier,^  and  dis- 
missed the  princes,  after  exacting  a  promise  from  them  that  they 
would  not  publish  the  confession  without  his  express  permission. 
Notwithstanding  their  promise,  the  princes  caused  five  editions 
of  it  in  German  and  two  in  Latin*  to  be  printed  in  the  course 
of  that  yery  year,  all  presenting  marked  variations  from  each 
other. 

In  the  whole  history  of  the  Reformation,  there  is  no  more 
luminous  manifesto  against  Luther's  mission  than  the  creed  of 
Melancthon,  known  by  the  name  of  the  '^  Augsbui^  Confession/' 
A  monk  announces  himself  as  the  priest  of  God's  word,  as  anew 
Ecclesiastes  or  Eliseus.  He  desires  that  his  authority  should 
prevail  over  that  of  the  Catholic  Churcbp;  and  people,  either 
misled  or  surprised,  have  walked  in  its  light.  At  intervaJfl,  God 
raises  up  doctors  who  undertake  the  defence  of  the  truth ;  but 
evil  passions  stifle  their  voice,  and  their  profession  is  the  great 
obstacle  which  prevents  their  being  listened  to.  But  now  the 
Jeremias  of  the  Reformer,  the  disciple  on  whom  Luther  has  set 
his  affections,  the  child  of  his  heart  and  teaching,  when  com- 
pelled to  show  to  the  world  the  creed  of  the  new  teachers,  pre- 
sents, after  many  days  of  labour,  a  confession  which  smells  of 
the  lamp,  so  much  has  it  been  read,  reperused,  corrected,  and 
blurred  Luther  countersigned  and  noted  it  with  these  remark- 
able words :  ''  Let  whoever  teaches  the  contrary  to  this  be  con- 
demned ! "  Tet  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  this  was  a  faithful 
exposition  of  the  doctrines  which  he  had  hitherto  taught.  We 
remember  his  violence  towards  Erasmus  on  the  subject  of  free- 
wiU,'  which  the  divine  prescience  destroys  in  creatures;  that 
enslaving  of  man  which  he  discovered  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
which  he  imposes  on  our  belief  under  pain  of  damnation.  Well ! 
he  consents  to  subscribe  to  the  eighteenth  article  of  Mdancihon's 
confession,  wherein  it  asserts  "  that  free-will  is  to  be  acknow- 
ledged in  all  men  who  have  the  use  of  reafion  ;  not  for  the  things 


'  The  originalB  of  the  oonfessioii  are  lost.  The  Latin  one  was  for  some  time 
belieyed  to  be  preeenred  at  Ma^enoe ;  but  Weber  has  proTed  (Critisohe  Qe- 
schichte  der  Augsbarger  Confession),  that  it  was  only  an  inAconrate  transcript. 

^  Schmidt^  History  of  the  Germans,  toI.  yu  p.  414. 

'  See  chap.  viii.  Erasmus  and  Free  Will, 


THE   CONFESSION   OF  AUOSBUBQ.  335 

of  Qoi,  which  cannot  be  b^on  or  completed  without  Him,  but 
merely  for  the  things  of  this  present  life,  and  the  duties  of  civil 
society."  Melancthon  adds,  in  his  ''  Apology,''  to  render  more 
intelligible  a  passage  already  so  clear :  "  For  the  exterior  works 
of  the  law  of  Ood."^  But  this  is  what  Erasmus  said,  and  which 
excited  Luther's  brutality. 

"  I  do  not  want  your  free-wiU,"  said  the  Saxon  ;  "  keep  it ; 
if  God  were  to  offer  it  to  me,  I  should  refuse  it/'*  And  now 
he  accepts  it,  and  makes  it  an  article  of  his  faitL 

It  reminds  us  of  that  desolating  axiom  which  he  sought  to 
enforce  with  all  his  erudition :  "  That  God  works  sin  in  us." 
This  was  also  a  luminous  ray  which  he  derived  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  which  he  accused  us  of  rejecting ;  and  yet  he  declares, 
in  the  nineteenth  article,  *^  that  the  will  of  man  is  the  cause  of 
sin  ! "  Emser,  Gochlaeus,  Eck,  and  Erasmus, — ^poor  doctors  ! 
— ^it  is  scarcely  five  years  since  yon  denounced  that  doctrine  of 
despair  I  What,  then,  had  the  Holy  Spirit  done  ? — what  so 
disturbed  the  mind  of  the  father  of  the  Eeformation  ?  Was  it 
the  letter  that  killed  his  understanding  ?  Whom,  then,  are  we 
to  believe  ? — Luther,  in  his  pulpit  at  Wittemberg  ;  or  Melanc- 
thon, at  the  diet  of  Augsburg  ?  Let  them  now  boast  of  the 
illuminations  which  the  Bible  suddenly  emits,  and  which  are 
possessed  by  any  one  who  reads  it.  Either  Luther  was  deceived 
himself,  or  deceived  others. 

We  have  not  forgotten  the  doctor's  theories  as  to  good  works, 
which  he  considers  sinful,  although  done  by  a  righteous  person.' 
To  delude  us,  he  corrupted  the  text  of  St  Paul*  by  interpreta- 
tions which  made  the  Catholics  remonstrate ;  but  he  ridiculed 
those  Papists  whom  he  dismissed  to  the  schoolmen.  If,  to  em- 
barrass him,  the  epistle  of  St.  James  was  quoted :  ''  What  an 
authority ! "  he  would  say :  "  An  apocryphal  epistle, — an  epistle 
of  straw  ! "  And  yet,  after  all,  we  were  right.  It  was  Luther 
who  erred ;  for  now  he  says :  "  Good  works  are  worthy  of  great 
praise ;  they  are  necessary,  and  merit  reward."' 

»  Bo8BQet»  Vamtiona,  yoL  i.  p.  111.    Conf.  Act.  18,  ApoL  ad  eund.  loo. 

*  Lath.  De  Lib.  Arb.  adyer.  Eras.  Bot.  torn.  i.  fol.  226. 

*  Lath.  Assert.  86  omnium  art.  Op.  torn.  ii.  fol.  525,  6. 

*  Mcehler,  Symbolism,  translated  by  Bobertson^  vol.  i.  p.  289. 
»  Synt.  Gen.  art.  vi.  pp.  12,  20. 


336  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

Let,  then,  all  those  sleep  in  peace  whom  Luther  condemned 
when,  resting  his  elbow  on  the  table  of  his  alehotise  at  Wittem- 
berg,  between  two  pots  of  Torgau  beer,  he  answered  one  of  his 
companions,  who  asked  him  whether  a  Papist  could  be  saved, — 
"  Really,  I  do  not  know/'*  Now  Anthony,  Bernard,  Dominick, 
and  Francis,  are  reckoned  among  the  saints  by  Melancthon's 
"  Apology  ;"  consequently  they  were  sons  of  the  true  Church.- 
It  was  only  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  whom  he  damns  without  mercy, 
"  probably,"  says  Bossuet^  "  because  he  was  a  Dominican/'  We 
may  even  henceforth,  in  all  safety  of  conscience,  assist  at  mass^ 
— that  invention  of  Satan  ;* — for,  says  the  "  Apology,"  the 
Reformers  have  not  abolished  it. 

"  It  is  celebrated  among  us,"  continues  Melancthon,  "  with 
extreme  reverence  ;  and  all  the  ordinary  ceremonies  are  pre- 
served in  it/'*  At  that  time,  indeed,  a  Catholic  would  have 
been  deceived  on  entering  some  of  the  reformed  churches  near 
Wittemberg.  With  his  missal,  he  might  have  followed  the 
priest,  and  recognised  the  introit,  the  kyrie,  the  collect,  epistle, 
gospel,  credo,  preface,  sanctus,  words  of  consecration,  elevation. 
Lord's  Prayer,  agnus,  communion,  and  thanksgiving.  The 
tapers  burned  on  the  altars,  the  incense  smoked,  they  sang  in 
Latin  and  German ;  the  priest  had  his  vestments,  the  chasuble, 
with  the  embroidered  cross,  the  surplice,  and  the  amice.  Melanc- 
thon had  insisted  on  retaining  the  Catholic  liturgy,  which  partly 
remained  in  some  remote  provinces  until  his  death,  and  then 
was  abolished,  with  the  few  truths  which  he  had  preserved.  In 
Bavaria,  at  certain  Lutheran  masses,  you  might  still  have  prayed 
for  the  dead,  as  was  done  in  the  primitive  church  ;  this  is 
acknowledged  by  the  "  Apology,"  which  does  not  prohibit  these 
pious  efiusions.  Mark  this  !  the  veneration  of  the  departed,  the 
belief  in  the  expiation  of  souls  in  the  next  life  ;^  these  two  great 
superstitions,  against  which  Luther  had  declaimed  ;  these  prac- 
tices of  yesterday's  growth,  sprung  from  a  papistical  brain  !  But 
there  is  yet  something  more  astonishing :  ''  Sodom  and  Qomorrha, 


>  Ttflch-Reden,  p.  499. 

'  Apol.  Reap,  ad  Argam.  p.  99 ;  de  votis  mon.  p.  281. 

»  Von  der  Mease,  Tiaoh-Reden,  p.  886. 

^  Forma  Miasas,  cap.  iL     Boaauet,  Variations,  book  iii.  p.  144. 

*  Boaauet,  p.  135.     Apol.  cap.  de  Vocab.  Mias.  p.  284. 


THE  CONPESSIOK  OF  AU08BUR0.  337 

the  great  whore  of  Babylon/' — ^the  CathoKc  Ghnrch,  in  short, — 
IB  restored  to  favour,  justified,  and  glorified  by  Lather ;  "  for," 
says  the  ^  Apology/  "  this  is  the  soimnary  of  oar  creed,  in  which 
nothing  will  be  found  contrary  to  Scripture,  the  Catholic  or 
even  the  Roman  Church/'^  What  more  can  be  wished?  here 
is  an  eulogy  on  tradition,  an  appeal  to  the  doctors  of  the  fiedthi 
an  ofiPering  to  the  saints  whom  we  revere.  ''  We  do  not  despise 
the  dogmas  of  the  Catholic  Church,  nor  do  we  wish  to  maintain 
the  impieties  which  she  has  condemned  ;  for  it  is  not  irregular 
passions,  but  the  authority  of  (Jod's  word  and  of  the  ancient 
Church  which  has  led  us  to  embrace  this  doctrine  to  augment 
the  glory  of  God ;  the  doctrine  of  the  prophets  and  the  apostles, 
the  holy  fathers,  of  Saints  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Jerome,  &c/'* 
But  when  did  the  reign  of  the  ancdent  Church  terminate? 
Neither  Melancthon  nor  Luther  have  informed  us.  *It  could  not 
have  been  in  the  fifteenth  century,  since  Luther  elsewhere  calls 
Gerson,  who  had  condemned  Wiclif  and  John  Huss  at  the 
Council  of  Constance,  "in  every  respect  an  admirable  man."' 
So,  remarks  Bossuet,  the  Roman  Church  was  still  the  mother  of 
saints  in  the  fifteenth  century.^ 

What,  then,  are  we  to  think  of  this  confession  of  fidth  of 
Augsbuxg  ?  Had  Luther  made  it  at  the  disputation  at  Leipsic, 
wodd  heresy  have  rent  the  Church,  or  Saxony  been  deluged  with 
the  blood  of  the  peasants  ?  Had  there  been  a  Melancthon  in 
1519,  the  religious  revolution  would  not  have  taken  place ;  had 
there  not  been  a  Luther  in  1530,  the  revolution  would  have  been 
ended ;  at  least,  we  believe  so. 

On  hearing  this  confession,  the  Catholic  doctors  were  struck 
with  astonishment.  They  looked  at  each  other,  exchanged  silent 
.signs,  and  could  not  comprehend  this  guarded  language,  which 


*  Conf.  Aug.  Genevse,  pp.  22,  23.  Apol.  Besponno  ad  Argmnent.,  p.  441 
etseq. 

*  Besponsio  ad  Argument,  edit.  Geneyie,  art.  21,  p.  144. 

While  at  the  diet  Melancthon,  in  the  name  of  the  reformed  prinoes, 
spoke  thus  of  our  Fathers,  Luther  wrote  to  Brenz  :  "  Ben^  cum  indignatione 
admiror  qnomodo  Hieronjmus  nomen  doctoris  Eoclesite,  et  Origenes  magistri 
ecdesiarum  poet  epistolas  meruerint,  chm  in  utroque  auctore  non  fiusilb  tres 
versus  invenias  de  fidei  justitiA  docentes,  neoue  Christianum  uUum  facere 

fneas  ex  universis  utriusque  scriptis.     Neque  alius  fuisset  Augustinus,'*  &c. — 
trentio,  26  Aug.     De  Wette,  tom.  iv.  p.  150. 

^History  of  Variations,  hook  iii.  p.  182. 

VOL.  II.  Z 


338  HISTOBT  OF  CUTHBE. 

the  Beformers  ha4  always  disdained ;  this  sober  and  cahn  arga- 
mentation ;  this  candid  exposition,  in  which  the  ear  vainly 
expected  an  angry  expression ;  in  which  occasionally  some 
leaven  of  novelty  fermented,  or  some  heresy  rose,  but  concealed 
under  the  graces  of  a  phraseology  of  which  the  model  had  been 
for  some  time  lost. 

The  princes  were  told  that  their  confession  would  be  carefully 
examined,  and  that  a  formal  refutation  of  it  would  be  given  to 
them,  at  the  time  appointed  by  the  emperor. 

The  Protestants  wished  that  the  Catholics  should  also  draw 
up  their  confession.  ''  What  need  is  there  for  it  V  said  Faber ; 
''  we  believe  to-day  what  we  believed  yesterday,  and  what  we 
will  believe  to-morrow." 

Luther,  to  whom  Melancthon  communicated  the  deliberations 
of  the  diet,  was  sick  at  Coburg.  With  his  imagination,  which 
coloured  everything,  he  had  given  a  poetical  name  to  his  new 
prison.  Wartburg  was  the  Patmos  of  the  new  evangelist,  the 
citadel  of  Coburg  was  his  Sinai.  He  had,  as  we  see,  grown 
mighty.  At  Wartburg,  he  was  an  evangelist ;  at  Coburg,  he  is 
Jehovah ;  in  the  morning  enveloped  in  clouds,  in  the  evening 
among  owls.^ 

Luther  was  then  suffering  from  pains  in  his  ears  and  head, 
and  dizziness  to  such  an  extent  that  he  could  not  even  dwell 
on  serious  subjects.  ^'  My  head  rings,  or  rather  thunders,'^  said 
he ;  ''  if  I  did  not  give  over  work,  I  should  faint ;  my  head  is 
nothing  but  a  small  chapter,  it  will  soon  become  a  paragn^h, 
and  end  by  becoming  a  period."'^     ^'  It  is  not  a  natural  malady/' 

■  He  writes  to  Melanothon :  "  Wir  sind  endlioh  einnud  in  nnsenn  8inai 
an^relanget.  Wir  wollen  aber  auch  diesem  Sinai  ein  Sion  machen..'* — ^L other's 
8&nmtUche  Werke :  HaUe,  torn.  xv.  p.  2827. 

In  the  chamber  occupied  bv  the  doctor  in  the  citadel  of  Coburg,  and 
adjoining  a  plantation,  is  the  following  inscription  set  to  music : — 


^ 


Sa^^^ag?? 


Kon  mo-ri-arsed  Ti-rametnar-ra-bo    o  -  pe-ra     Do     •     -     -  mi-ni. 

M.  Luiherus  D.  15,  c.  80. 

>  Lutberus  ad  Cordatum  d.  d.  23  Sept.  ex  arce  Coburg.  in  Cosiest,  torn,  iii . 
fol.  89,  et  Bttdd.  Suppl.  n.  clxxzii.  p.  211.  "  Totum  hoc  tempus,  quo  hlc  fiii, 
pend  dimidium  periit  mihi  otio  molestissimo ;  jam  violentitis  et  pertinaeiiia 
caput  meum  oppressit  et  vexavit  tinnitus,  sen  bombus  potiiis  yentorum  tnr- 
bini  similis."    Ad  Melanchth.  d.  d.  12  Maii  ap.  Budd.  num.  cxviii.  p.  92,  et 


THE   dONFESSIOK   OF  AtJGSBUBO.  339 

he  \nrote  to  his  friend ;  '^itia  the  finger  of  Satan  that  presses  on 
me.  Bat  if  I  cannot  read  or  write^  I  can  at  least  pray,  and 
resist  his  arm.  God  permits  me  to  sleep,  walk  about,  sing  and 
play."'  And  elsewhere :  "  I  have  received  yonr  letter ;  I  was 
learning  to  know  Satan.  I  was  alone,  Veit  and  Cyriacns  had 
left  me  The  devil  did  his  business  so  well,  that  he  forced  me  to 
leave  my  chamber,  and  mingle  with  the  residents.'"  Sometimes 
he  sought  refuge  from  temptations  in  the  chapel  of  the  castle,  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross.^  But  a  visible  power  tormented  him  more 
than  the  prince  of  darkness;  this  was  the  emperor,  whom  he 
studiously  flattered  in  the  letters  which  he  wrote  to  his  friends, 
and  which  they  might  show  to  the  prince.  But  from  Melancthon 
he  concealed  neither  his  fears  nor  his  despair. 

When  at  intervals  the  pains  in  his  head  become  easier,  and 
his  brain  is  free  from. that  misty  atmosphere  which  conceals 
from  his  eyes  all  the  objects  of  creation,  and  even  God  himself ; 
then,  like  Gcetz  von  Berlichingen  nailed  to  his  chair,  he  resumes 
his  pen  to  write  to  his  friends  letters  in  which  all  the  fresh  ideas 
of  his  youth  appear,  and  that  poetic  style  which  he  alone  of  the 
Beformers  of  his  period  possessed ;  as  in  this  jesting  letter  to  his 
companions : — 

*^  A  small  orchard  is  above  my  window,  quite  a  miniature  forest, 
in  which  the  crows  and  rooks  have  established  their  diet.  They 
come  and  go,  croak  and  scream  incessantly,  by  day  and  by  night, 
as  if  they  were  drunk  or  mad.  Both  old  and  young  scream 
together,  so  that  it  is  a  miracle  that  their  breath  or  voice  does 
not  fail  them.  I  should  like  to  know  if  you  have  those  noble 
birds  ;  I  believe  they  have  assembled  here  from  the  four  quarters 
of  the  world.  I  have  not,  as  yet,  seen  their  emperor,  but  fre- 
quently their  margrave  and  barons.  They  hover  and  fly  con- 
stantly before  me  ;  their  attire  is  not  veiy  handsome  ;  they  have 
but  one  colour,  and  that  is  black.  They  all  sing  the  same  air, 
but  with  slight  variations,  suited  to  their  ages  and  ranks.  I  believe 
that  they  are  not  very  fond  of  fine  palaces.    The  hall  of  their 

Coelest.  torn.  i.  fol.  41,  6.  **  Caput  tmnitibus,  im5  tonitruls  coepit  impleii  et 
nisi  f ubitb  deaiissent,  statim  in  syncopen  fuissem  lapsus,  quam  segrd  hoc  bidno 
evBsi.  Itaque  jam  tertia  dies  est,  quod  ne  liiteram  quidem  inspioere  volui, 
nee  potui.  Caput  menm  &ctum  est  capitulum,  perget  rero  fietqae  paragra- 
phus,  tandem  periodus." 

'  Gustav.  P6zer,  1.  c.  p.  644. 

Z2 


340  BISTORT  OF  LUTHBB. 

conference  has  for  a  ceiling  a  large  and  magnificent  sky,  and  the 
ground  on  which  they  rest  their  feet  is  a  field,  in  which  strong 
branches  serve  for  a  table ;  their  boundary  is  infinity.  They 
have  no  need  of  horses  ;  for  they  have  rapid  wheels  at  ^eir  com- 
mand to  escape  firom  the  gun,  or  provoke  the  sportsman.  They 
are  high  and  mighty  lords  ;  but  what  they  decide  in  their  diet  I 
do  not  yet  know.  As  £Ar  as  I  am  able  to  learn  from  a  skilful 
interpreter,  they  come  to  arrange  a  crusade  against  com,  barley, 
oats,  malt, — in  short,  against  all  cereals ;  and  their  knights 
threaten  to  do  wonders.  This  is  my  diet,  in  which  I  take  great 
interest ;  these  orders  of  the  empire  sing  admirably,  I  assure  you, 
and  live  still  better.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  see  these  noble  knights 
hovering  in  the  air,  sharpening  their  beaks,  and  preparing  their 
arms  to  plunder  as  they  go  along.  Oo,  and  may  the  thorn  be  your 
blazonry !  To  conclude,  I  believe  that  these  flights  of  crows  and 
rooks  represent  the  sophists  and  papists,  with  their  concerts  of 
preaching  and  writings,  of  which  I  must  bear  the  assaults,  and 
listen  to  their  chants  and  lectures ;  a  notable  example,  which 
teaches  us  that  this  rabble  has  been  created  to  cat  whatever  is 
on  the  earth,  and  to  yelp  and  scream  for  a  long  time  yet."^ 

The  Catholic  doctors  assembled,  examined  Melancthon's  con- 
fession, and  condemned  it,  as  opposed  in  many  parts  to  the 
d(^mas  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  They  have  been  reproached 
with  acting  more  as  scholars  than  masters  in  theology,  in  hold- 
ing up  with  too  bitter  irony  and  too  clamorous  exultation  the 
versatility  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  They  would  wish  that  the 
heart  of  a  theologian  should  be  proof  agaiiist  vanity,  and  that  he 
could  change  his  nature,  and  cease  to  be  a  man ;  but  that  is 
impossible  !  A  monk,  who  has  been  represented  as  an  imp  of 
Antichrist,  who  for  many  years  has  employed-  his  learning  to 
prove  that  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  spirit  of  darkness,  and 
that  the  pope  is  not  the  angel  of  the  abyss  foretold  by  St  John ; 
a  monk,  to  whom  his  very  enemies  now  open  the  gates  of  heaven, 
while  they  bow  before  the  pontifif  whom  until  now  they  have 
been  constantly  abusing, — may  not  this  monk  feel  a  little  proud  ? 
And  may  he  not  be  forgiven  for  having  committed  the  sin  of  vanity, 


*  Gustav.  Pfizer,  Dr.  Martin  Luther*8  Leben,  pp.  669,  670. 
Luther  has  reproduced  the  same  picture,  but  vrith  different  details,  in  a  letter 
to  Justus  Jonaa,  22  April,  1530. 


THE  CONFESSION  OF  AUOSBURO.  341 

when  his  adversary  has  committed  those  of  envy  and  wrath  ?  Sub- 
sequently, Luther  regretted  that  he  had  so  readily  agreed  to  ^ve  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  these  wretched  Papists ;  and  in  his  "  Tisch-. 
Rcden/'  he  cannot  find  enough  of  fire  in  hell  to  bum  them. 

The  answer  of  4;he  Catholics  was  reconsidered  at  the  emperor's 
express  desire.* 

During  the  whole  of  Luther's  existence,  chequered  by  so  many 
controversies,  sorrows,  sicknesses,  and  temptations,  there  was  no 
time  in  which  he  suffered  so  much  as  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg. 
On  that  occasion,  his  afflictions  were  the  more  acute,  because 
they  proceeded  not  from  the  Papists,  but  from  those  who  were 
dearest  to  him  in  the  world,  his  disciples,  who  were  to  watch 
during  his  exile  at  Goburg  over  the  common  interests  of  the 
Reformation. 

Melancthon  was  weary  of  controversy.  He  was  desirous  of 
peace  for  the  remaining  years  of  his  master  and  for  Germany, 
which  for  fifteen  years  had  shed  so  much  blood  and  tears ;  for 
the  head  of  the  Church,  towards  whom  his  youthfrd  prepossessions 
drew  him ;  for  that  holy  army  of  Catholic  prelates,  who  fer  so  many 
years  had  stood  in  the  breach,  and  who,  by  an  unbroken  chain, 
remounted  to  the  very  cradle  of  Christianity.  At  Augsburg  we 
were  shown  the  doister  where  at  evening  he  loved  to  walk, 
recalling  to  memory  that  ancient  legion  of  bishops  whose  remains 
were  covered  by  some  sculptured  slabs.  To  Melancthon's  eyes, 
antiquity  presented  something  solemn.  As  he  could  not  pass  an 
ordinary  ruin  without  emotion,  so  he  could  not  think  without  r^ret 
that  the  Catholic  edifice  would  crumble  away  one  day  like  the 
stones  of  the  material  building,  for  he  had  the  weakness  to  believe 
in  his  master's  vaticinations  of  the  approaching  end  of  the  papacy. 
He  wished  to  prevent  that  papacy  from  perishing,  by  preserving 
the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy.  Tradition,  then,  must  be  a  beautiful 
thing,  since  in  that  atmosphere  of  passions  in  which  the  Lutherans 
at  the  diet  were  involved,  Melancthon  trembled  at  the  bare  idea 
of  laying  hands  on  it.  He  wished  to  put  an  end  to  the  schism, 
and  return  without  too  much  shame  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
which  he  had  left ;  we  know  not  what  he  might  have  done,  if 
the  devil  had  not  tormented  him  from  his  prison  at  Coburg  ! 

*  The  firot  report  of  the  Cathdio  commifiBion  is  partly  to  be  found  in  CkskS' 
tiuufi,  Uistoria  Comitiorum  August,  torn.  ii.  p.  234. 


S4&  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 

Lather  was  ill ;  a  prey  to  pains  which  split  his  head  as  with 
an  axe,  which  hissed  in  his  ears  like  snakes,  and  stmck  on  his 
brain  like  thunderbolts  or  avalanches — ^for  such  are  the  similes 
he  employs  to  express  his  sufferings ; — ^yet,  at  the  mere  mention 
of  reconciliation,  at  which  his  disciple  hinted  in.  one  of  his  letters, 
he  gets  up,  takes  his  pen;  and  at  the  terrible  word  restitution, 
heaps  insults  and  calumnies  on  the  Catholics.  ''  What !  we 
restore  ?  Let  them  begin  by  restoring  to  us  Leonard  Eeyser, 
and  the  many  victims  whom  they  have  slain !  Let  them  restore 
to  us  the  souls  who  have  been  lost  by  their  impious  doctrines  !— ^ 
the  noble  intellects  destroyed  by  their  fraudulent  indulgences ! 
Let  them  Restore  the  glory  of  God,  obscured  by  their  blaj^phemies ; 
— the  clerical  purity,  which  they  have  sullied  and  insulted ;  then 
we  shall  reckon  and  see  to  whom  the  balance  is  due ! '"  ^ 

Melancthon  felt  his  soul  moved,  and  communicated  his  secret 
griefs  to  the  bosom  of  his  master.  Luther  forgot  his  own  suffer- 
ings to  revive  the  courage  of  his  disciple.  For  a  moment,  a 
blush  had  covered  Philip's  cheek  when  Faber  quoted  the  passages 
in  which  the  Reformer  maintained  the  necessity  of  auricular 
confession.  He  had  no  answer  to  give.  They  could  not  be 
rejected.  The  books  were  there,  with  the  pages  folded  down  at 
the  different  places  where  the  Catholic  doctrine  had  been  defended 
by  Luther.  He  could  not  answer,  as  Jonas  did,  when  hard 
pressed  by  his  opponents, — that  Lutiier,  when  he  wrote  them,  was 
then  in  the  swaddling-bands  of  the  papacy  ;  for  he  had  by  that 
time  burst  them.  Melancthon  contented  himself  with  candidly 
laying  the  objection  before  Luther,  who  answered  it  in  a  singular 
manner. 

''  My  adversaries  quote  my  contradictions  to  make  a  parade  of 
their  learning  ;  blockheads  ^t  they  are  !  How  can  they  judge 
of  the  contradictions  of  our  doctrines,  who  do  not  understand  the 
texts  which  clash  with  each  other  ?  How  can  our  doctrine  appear 
to  them  otherwise  than  embarrassed  with  contradictions,  when  it 
demands  and  condemns  works,  rejects  and  authorises  the  neces- 
sity of  rites,  honours  and  censures  the  magistracy,  affirms  and 
denies  sin  ?    But  why  carry  water  to  the  sea  ?"* 


'  JusiuB  Jonas,  13  July.     Do  Wette,  torn.  iv.  p.  89. 

-  ''  Ciun  Bimul  exigat  et  (Uimnet  opera,  simal  tollat  et  restituat  ritus,  simul 


THB  OOlfFSSSTON   OF  AUQSBUBG.  S43 

Is  not  this  a  strange  refdtation  i  Melancthon  was  certainly 
in  no  Iiuny  to  show  it  to  Faber.  There  was  not  a  Catholic  in 
all  Germany  who  woold  have  attempted  a  similar  justification  in 
answer  to  Luther. 

At  night,  after  the  conference  with  the  Catholic  doctors  waa 
over,  Melancthon  returned  to  his  lodgings  with  a  heavy  heart 
and  tearful  eyes.  His  letters  to  Luther  frequently  conclude 
thus :  '^  We  are  in  grief  and  despair."  ^  '^  Brenz,  who  accompanies 
and  tries  to  console  me,  unites  his  teats  with  mina"' 

Jonas  was  alarmed  with  these  tears,  as  a  sign  of  discourage* 
ment,  or  perhaps  of  despair,  and  wrote  to  Luther  intreating  him 
to  rouse  his  disciple's  courage ;  but  the  master's  voice  was  power-^ 
less.  Melancthon  was  a  victim  to  doubt  His  friends  foresaw 
afjEuilure  ;  and  Obsopffius  writes  to  Gamerarius :  *^  They  say,  my 
friend,  that  Melancthon  behaves  as  if  he  were  in  the  pope's  pay, 
and  that,  indeed,  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  better  advocate 
for  the  cause  of  popery  than  he.  He  acts  like  Architophiles, 
say  some ;  like  Erasmus,  say  others ;  but  I,  like  Melancthon 
himself."  » 

Melancthon  agreed  that  it  was  necessary  not  to  strip  the 
bishop  of  his  authority,  to  leave  him  the  r^ulation  of  the  cere- 
monies of  worship,  and  the  maintenance  of  certain  observances 
and  practices  in  use  among  his  flock.  Luther,  without  rejectmg 
the  bishop,  denied  his  right  to  establish  rules,  which  he  gave  to 
what  he  called  the  Church  or  assembly  of  the  faithful,  and  which 
he  made  sole  queen  and  mistress^  of  the  external  or  liturgical 
ceremonials.  ^'But,"  said  Faber,  ''who,  then,  will  assemble 
and  convoke  this  Church,  since  you  reject  the  pope's  authority  ?" 
— "  The  bishop,"  replied  Luther,  "who  is,  in  reality,  nothing 


magistratom  oolat  et  arguat,  simnl  peccatum  asserat  et  neget.    Sed  quid  aquas 
i&  mare  t"— Ph.  Melanclktlioiij,  20  July,  1580. 

'  "Venamur  hlo  in  uuBerrimia  curia  et  planb  perpetuis  laorymis."— £p. 
Mel.  Mens.  July,  p.  21. 

'  "  Brentius  aasidebat  bso  scribenti  et  quidem  laorynuum." — Ep.  Mel.  25 
Jan.  1530.     Chytr.  in  Hist.  Aug.  Conf.  p.  73. 

'  "  Aiunt  omninb  :  si  conductus  quanta  ipee  voluiHaet  pecuniA  It  napA  easet, 
nunquam  illius  dominationem  melitis  potuisset  asserere.  Yooant  quiaam  Archi- 
tophilica  concilia ;  alii  qui  modestiores  sunt,  Erasmica :  ut  ego  puto>  propria 
ilhua."— Cam.  in  VitA  Lulh.  p.  135.  Chytrseua,  1.  c.  p.  308.  Ulenberg,  1.  c. 
p.  57. 


844  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHER. 

but  a  steward/'^  And  seiiotig  difficulties  began  to  embanass 
the  mind  of  his  disciple  ;  fiist,  from  the  interference  of  the  £sdth- 
ful  in  mattexs  to  which  they  were  strangers,  the  danger  to  the 
doctrines  from  a  popular  action  unrestrained  by  any  authority,  and 
the  degradation  of  the  sacerdotal  character  from  its  dependence 
on  the  multituda  For  example,  if  the  people  prescribe  or  reject 
fasting,  to  whom  is  the  appeal  from  their  decision  ?  Melancthon 
was  folly  aware  that  such  a  constitution  directiy  led  to  a  denial 
of  the  Lutheran  apostieship  ;  for  Luther  had  not  assembled  the 
communion  of  the  faithful  to  preach  against  indulgences,  to 
abolish  monastic  tows,  to  abrogate  the  mass,  to  mutilate  the 
Catholic  teaching,  to  proscribe  prayers  for  the  dead,  purgatory, 
and  some  of  the  sacraments.  If  the  bishop  had  not  the  right 
to  establish  external  practices,  processions,  or  pilgrimages,  could 
a  monk,  of  his  own  personal  authority,  efiface  from  the  catechism 
three  principal  dogmas,  and  like  Luther  give  a  new  creed  to  the 
Christian  world  ?  Were  not  Eck  and  Faber  justified  in  exclaim- 
ing: '^  Oh  !  misery  of  the  human  heart  I" 

Let  justice  be  done  to  Melancthon.  If  the  schism  had  been 
represented  at  Augsburg  only  by  conciliatory  persons  like  him- 
self, it  would  have  been  extinguished.  He  knew  weU  that  large 
assemblies  are  only  calculated  to  foment  party  hatreds ;  and  he 
therefore  proposed  to  select  from  the  two  communions  theologians 
who  should  debate  upon  the  controverted  questions,  without 
calling  any  one  to  their  discussions.  This  proposition  had  be^ 
received. 

There  were  on  both  sides  select  individuals,— orators  who  were 
accustomed  to  debate,  and  casuists  versant  in  all  the  niceties  of 
controversy.  The  different  articles  of  the  Lutheran  confession 
were  successively  examined ; — ^faith,  the  merit  of  works,  penance, 
the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist.  The  memories  of  Faber  and 
Eck  were  prodigious ;  they  knew  Luther's  works  by  heart 
Eck,  in  his  figurative  language,  assigned  to  the  fiither  of  the 
Reformation  many  heads,  whose  several  tongues  taught,  according 
to  the  times,  different  doctrines  on  the  same  dogma.  The  Reforma- 
tion was  no  longer  so  haughty ;  its  language  was  less  assuming. 
The  morning  was  devoted  to  matters  of  dogma ;  the  evening,  to 
those  of  discipline.    Melancthon  was  present  at  all  the  conferences, 

*  MelanchthoDi,  20  July.     De  Wette,  torn.  iv.  p.  105. 


THB  G0HFES8I0K  OF  AUGSBUBO.  345 

and  often  repressed  by  his  mildness  the  feelings  which  were 
frequently  on  the  point  of  breaking  forth  to  destroy  the  work  of  / 
conciliation,  with  which  he  connected  all  his  reputation.  Unfor-  ^ 
tonatelyy  what  he  effected  with  so  much  difficulty  in  the  mom-  \ 
'  ingy  was  at  evening  submitted  to  the  derisive  and  stem  review  ' 
of  some  Protestant  puritans  who  desired  neither  peace  nor  tmce  / 
with  Kome.     Luther  was  the  leader  of  these  intractable  men.' 

Mdancthon,  for  example,  acknowledged  the  authority  of  i 
bishops  for  the  advantage  of  political  and  religious  society. 
They  had  expelled  the  bishops  from  their  sees, — ^he  consented 
that  they  should  be  restored.  ^'  And  how  dare  we  be  so  bold/' 
said  he,  ^'to  consecrate  this  triumph  by  bmtal  violence,  if, 
the  bishops  leave  us  our  doctrines  ?  Must  I  say  what  I  think  ? 
Well,  then,  I  should  wish  to  restore  to  them  both  episcopal 
power  and  spiritual  administration.  Without  the  Church  had  a 
governing  power,  we  should  langtiish  under  a  tyranny  more  in- 
tolerable than  the  present.''^ 

He  went  still  further ;  he  wished  to  preserve  the  pope  as  the  w 
visible  head  of  the  Church.     On  the  6th  of  July,  he  wrote  to  ^ 
the  legate  Camp^gio  the  following  letter,  the  tone  of  which 
bears  a  strong  contrast  to  Luther's  habitual  acrimony : — 

'^  We  have  no  other  doctrine  than  that  of  the  Roman  ChurcLi 
We  are  ready  to  obey  her,  if  she  will  extend  to  us  those  treasures 
of  good-will  whereof  she  is  so  lavish  to  her  other  children.  We 
are  ready  to  cast  ourselves  at  the  feet  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and 
acknowledge  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  provided  iiiat  we  are 
not  repulsed.  And  why  should  he  reject  the  prayer  of  sup- 
pliants ? —  why  employ  fire  and  sword,  when  the  mptured  unity 
can  be  so  easily  hesded  V  ' 

Unfortunately  the  princes  had  advisers  whose  interest  it  was 
to  baffle  the  plan  of  pacification.  They  were  courtiers  who  had 
gained  a  brilliant  existence  since  the  Reformation,  and  who  could 
play  the  despot,  under  cover  of  their  master's  name,  like  the  Chan-  i 
cellor  Bmck,  who  concealed  his  hatred  to  the  pope  under  zeal  for 


'  Menzel,  Keuere  Geachiohte  der  Deutsohen,  torn.  i.  p.  S75  et  Beq. 

•  "Video  pofltea  multo  fore  kitolerabiliorem  tynumidem  qu2un  antea  un- 
quam  fuit." — Ep.  Camerorio,  pp.  148,  151. 

*  CcelesL  Hiat.  August.  Confesaioms,   torn.  iii.  p.  18.     Pallavicini,  Hist. 
Concil.  Trid.  lib.  iii.  cap.  iii. 


34^  UISTOBY  OF  LUTHEB. 

region,  and  said,  with  a  hypocritical  tone  of  oompnnction,  "  that 
he  could  not  conscientiously  acknowledge  the  Antichrist  who  had 
been  predicted  by  the  apostle  St  Paul/'^ 

Melancthon  replied  to  him  :  ^'  Take  care,  it  is  dangerous  to 
overturn  an  edifice  that  has  stood  for  so  many  centuries ;  even 
if  the  pope  be  Antichrist,  we  can  live  under  him,  as  the  Israelites 
did  under  Pharaoh/'  * 

But  Bruck's  voice  was  more  powerful  His  friends,  formerly 
in  orders,  but  now  occupying  fine  situations  at  court,  repeated 
with  him :  ''No  peace  with  Antichrist^  and  the  beast  of  the 
Apocalypse/'  The  magistrates  joined  the  priests  ;  a  numerous 
faction,  who  had  only  embraced  the  Reformation  to  throw  off 
the  sacerdotal  yoke,  and  who  had  gained  honours  and  wealth  by 
changing  their  religion.  For  a  time  Melancthon  was  decried, 
and  accused  of  treachery  and  venality.  The  meek  disdple 
yielded  to  the  storm.  He  saw  with  sorrow  that  he  had  under- 
taken a  task  which  the  evil  dispositions  of  his  brethren  rendered 
impossible  ;  "  for,"  as  he  said  to  his  master,  in  exposing  to  him 
the  wounds  of  the  Reformation,  ''  it  is  not  for  the  Gospel  that 
they  contend,  but  for  power.  They  give  themselves  small  concern 
for  instruction  and  religion,  and  only  aim  at  despotism  and 
licentiousness.''* 

Bruck  knew  well  that  Melancthon's  attempt  to  reconcile  the 
two  religions  would  be  defeated,  for  Luther  was  opposed  to  it 
Every  idea  of  peace  appeared  to  the  Saxon  an  impiety,  a  sacri- 
lege While  Philip  employed  his  energies,  his  fervour  of  mind  and 
pen,  and  even  his  tears — ^which  Gochlsaus  unjustly  considers  hypo- 
critical,^— to  effect  a  reconciliation ;  Luther,  in  his  ''  Commen- 
tary on  the  Second  Psalm,"  dedicated  to  that  great  martyr  of 
Catholic  constancy,  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  appealed  to  the 
hatred  and  stirred  up  the  wrath  of  the  German  princes  against 

'  Seckendorf,  Comm.  de  Lutheranismo,  lib.  ii.  p.  176. 

'  Coelest.  Hist.  Aug.  Confess,  torn.  iiL  p.  82.  Miiller's  Historie  von  der 
evangelischen  Stande  Protestation.  Melancthon's  original  reply  and  the  anno- 
tations of  Bruck  and  Luther  are  in  the  archives  of  Weimar,  £.  t  87,  n.  1. 
Act.  fol.  83  et  seq. 

'  ''So  sehr  streiten  unser^  Genossen  fUr  ihre  Herrschaft,  nicht  fiir  das 
Evangelium." 

*  Cochlaei  de  Fraudulently  Httsreticorum,  Philippica  I.  apud  Raynolduni^ 
ad  ann.  1530,  n.  85. 


/ 


THE  CONFESSION   OF  AUaSBURQ.  347 

the  papacy,  and  offered  his  blood  as  a  holocaust  for  the  triumph 
of  his  passions.^ 

''  Let  the  king  rage/'  said  he,  ^'  the  pope  roar,  and  the  princes 
storm ;  our  King  reigns,  and  the  Son  of  the  house.  My  dear 
masters,  you  shall  leave  him  quiet,  or  else  send  him  a  challenge, 
and  throw  in  his  hce  your  anger  and  defiance,  so  that  he  may  take 
precautions,  don  his  armour,  and  build  for  himself  a  fort.  But 
shall  we  Germans  not  cease  to  believe  in  the  pope  until  he  has 
provided  us  with  a  bath^  not  of  warm  water,  but  of  blood  ?  It 
is  fine  fiin  for  the  pope  when  our  princes  take  one  another  by 
the  hair ;  he  laughs  in  his  sleeve,  and  says :  ^  These  German 
blockheads  will  not  have  me  as  pope,  but  here  I  am/  I  am  no 
prophet,  but  I  beseech  you  to  take  care  that  you  have  not  to  do 
with  the  pope  and  his  adherents,  but  with  the  devil  and  his 
tricks,  which  I  know/' 

And  as  Melancthon  seemed  intimidated,  he  addresses  him  in 
these  contemptuous  and  insulting  terms:  '^  Whoever  dies  of 
fear,  should  have  the  braying  of  asses  for  his  funeral  dirge ;  but 
for  you,  who  die  of  sheer  cowardice,  what  requiem  should  be 
intoned?'' 

Spalatinus,  like  Melancthon,  was  anxious  for  peace.  He  waa 
old,  broken,  and  infirm ;  the  storms  in  which  Luther  had  in- 
volved  him  had  worn  him  out.  He  only  sought  the  grave,  and 
wished  to  descend  to  it  quietly  before  Luther,  for  whom  he  sought 
to  procure  some  hours  of  repose. 

At  Augsburg,  the  Catholics  anxiously  urged  the  restoration 
of  the  Mass.  Spalatinus  was  inclined  to  restore  the  Sacrament^ 
but  he  was  afraid  to  offend  Luther.  He  accordingly  wrote  to 
him  a  friendly  and  deferential  letter ;  and  Luther  thus  rudely 
treats  him : — 

''  It  is  Jesus  Christ  who  has  instituted  the  Mass,  but  he  has 
not  spoken  to  his  Church  of  private  masses.  It  is  not  enough 
to  say :  'I  have  a  good  intention,'  but  rather,  '  I  have  God  ob 
my  side/  Let  no  new  worship  be  introduced  without  the  express 
command  of  the  Lord,  as  I  have  so  often  taught.  You  will  say, 
on  the  same  principle  :  '  I  wish  to  become  a  monk,  on  grounds 
of  piety;'  but  monks  and  private  masses  have  all  been  con- 


^  Menzul,  Neuere  Getachichte^-  &c.  torn  i.  p.  382. 


S48  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHBB. 

demned;   they  must  not  be  again  pardoned,  lest  they  shotdd 
revive.     Let  the  robber  be  hanged ;  it  is  his  desert''^ 

What  an  immense  advance  towards  peace  !  Melancthon  con- 
sents to  acknowledge  the  power  of  the  keys  and  the  supremacy 
— consequently  the  infallibility — of  the  pope,  episcopal  jurisdic- 
tion, the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  and  expiation  in  the  present 
j  and  future  life  by  prayer  and  repentance.  Justus  Jonas  is 
willing  to  restore  the  property  of  the  clergy,  to  give  back  his  cell 
I  to  the  monk,  his  parsonage  to  the  curate,  and  his  palace  to  the 
']  bishop ;  and  Spalatinus  wishes  to  re-establish  private  masses 
'and  conventual  life!  Thus  the  Reformation  was  inclined  to 
conciliation ;  it  renounced  Luther,  and  only  preserved  some  old 
grudges  against  doctrines  which  cost  the  self-love  of  its  theo- 
logians too  much  to  disavow ;  while  it  ended  by  agreeing  with 
Faber  on  the  efficacy  of  works  sustained  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
But  Luther  was  there,  ready  to  extinguish  and  stifle  all  thoughts 
of  reconciliation  :  he  desires  neither  peace  nor  truce,  but  war  to 
the  knife  ;  one  of  the  two  must  die.  Woe  to  him  who  inter- 
poses between  Luther  and  the  pope  ;  he  renounces  him  as  a 
brother.  Neither  the  blood  which  had  flowed  in  Germany  for 
the  triumph  of  doctrines  which  his  disciples  themselves  are  then 
ready  to  disavow,  nor  that  which  is  to  flow  in  a  no  distant 
future,  the  term  of  which  Luther  foretells,  makes  him  tremble. 
He  is  determined  to  carry  out  his  design,  and  advance  till  he 
finds  no  Catholic  to  oppose  him  ;  until  he  has  trampled  under 
his  foot  the  old  serpent,  who  is  called  the  pope  ;*  and  until  the 
pope  has  abolished  the  papacy.'  "  A  pretty  work  you  have  un- 
dertaken,'' he  writes  to  Spalatinus,  ''  to  reconcile  the  pope  and 
\  Luther  !  The  pope  wishes  to  have  no  more  to  do  with  Luther, 
\'  than  Luther  with  the  pope !  If  you  succeed,  I  shall  imitate 
>you,  and  endeavour  to  reconcile  Christ  with  Belial.*  Let  Pha- 
raoh perish,  provided  Israel  be  saved.  No  peace  with  the 
murderers  who  are  choked  with  the  blood  of  the  just  Abd, 
and  cannot  Uve  without  drinking  that  of  their  brethren."^ 

'  SpalatinuB,  27  July.    De  Wette,  torn,  iv.  p.  113. 

'  Brentio,  26  Aug.  1530. 

'  **  Summa  mihi  in  totum  displicet  tractatuB  de  doctrinas  coiicordi&,  ui  qus 
plaD^  sit  impoaaibilifi  nisi  papa  velit  papatum  aboleri." — Melauoth.  2(5  Aug. 

'    *  Spalatino,  20  Aug.  ^  Joh.  Agricols,  30  June,  1530. 


THE  CONFESSION   OF  AUGSBURG.  349 

When  Charles  V.  is  about  to  enter  Angsbnig,  Lather  takes 
care  to  sound  his  praise  among  the  Catholics :  according  to  him 
he  is  a  man  of  God,  an  ambassador  from  heaven,  a  new  Augustus, 
whom  the  wishes  of  the  whole  world  attend  ;  and  his  friends  do 
not  forget  to  ask  the  Papists  if  this  is  the  austere  theologian 
who  is  constantly  represented  as  the  emperor's  enemy.  But 
wait ;  the  emperor  then  has  need  of  peace,  and  is  desirous  to 
put  an  end  to  those  religious  dissensions  which  the  Reformation 
caused  in  Gkrmany.  He  allows  the  Reformers  to  live  in  the  free 
enjoyment  of  their  churches,  creed,  and  books ;  and  only  de- 
mands that  they  shall  be  silent  until  the  council  which  they  had 
sought  for  so  many  years  shaU  have  pronounced  its  sentence. 
Then  all  is  changed;  no  more  hope  must  be  placed  in  the 
emperor's  clemency ;'  he  and  his  councillors  are  no  longer  men, 
but  gates  of  hell ;  judges  who  canno't  judge  his  cause,  and  to 
whom  he  will  not  give  up  a  single  bristle  of  his  beard.^ 

The  princes,  influenced  by  Luther,  were  only  watching  for  an 
opportunity  to  quit  Augsburg,  and  protest  against  the  decree 
with  which  the  Reformers  were  threatened.  They  soon  contrived 
one.  In  a  quarrel  which  was  intentionally  raised,  a  soldier  was 
killed ;  the  citizens  concealed  the  murderer ;  and  during  the 
tumult,  the  elector  of  Saxony  made  his  escape  by  the  eastern 
gate,  at  the  very  instant  when  the  emperor,  who  had  suspected 
the  intention  of  the  princes,  ordered  a  guard  to  be  set  there.^ 

Some  days  afterwards  appeared  the  imperial  decree,  in  which 
Charles  allowed  the  Protestants  until  the  end  of  April,  1531, 
'^  to  examine  whether  they  would  return  to  the  Catholic  com- 
munion, rather  than  persevere  in  their  schism ;  and  to  draw  up 
a  statement  of  their  grievances,  to  be  laid  before  the  council, 
which  was  to  be  held  in  six  months." 

The  princes  protested  against  the  refutation  of  their  doctrines 

1  Joh.  Agriools,  80  June,  1580. 

^  Melancihon,  18  June. 

Oochlsns  in  Actis  Lutheri,  p.  282.  "  Interek  dum  h»c  Hgerentur  Angiistset, 
Lntheras  Tsurios  edidit  libellofl  Teiitonioos,  qnibns  et  Oesarem  Germanisy  et 
episoopoB  plebi  ac  nobilitati,  odioeos  reddere  studebat^  et  ii  libri  non  solum 
per  diyersas  Germanise  urbes  spargebantur ;  sed  et  Augustam  mittebaotur, 
atque  etiam  palam  prop^  curiam  elecioris  Siuonis  interdum  vendebantur." — 
Be  interdicto  Gesaris  d.  27  Julii  promu]gato,  yid.  Auctor.  Apologia  mat.  in 
Mulleri  Hist.  Protest,  et  A.  0. 

'  CoBlest.  1.  c.  torn.  iii.  p.  187. 


350  HISTORY  OP  LUTHEE. 

by  texts  from  the  Bible.  They  complained  of  the  silence  with 
which  their  reply  to  the  Catholic  doctors  had  been  treated. 
These  complaints  were  presented  by  Brack  to  the  emperor,  who 
would  not  receive  them.  The  deputies  from  Strasburg,  Mem- 
mingen,  Constance,  and  Lindau,  refused  to  subscribe  the  decree 
of  the  diet.  Strasburg  had  embraced  Buoer  s  confession,  and, 
a&aid  of  open  violence,  had  formed  a  league  with  Berne,  Zurich, 
and  Basle.  The  treaty  bore, — that  if  the  emperor  or  the  princes 
threatened  their  religious  liberty,  these  three  cities  should  send 
troops  to  their  assistance  ;  that  Strasbui^  should  famish  20,000 
crowns  of  gold  monthly  for  every  thousand  infantry ;  that  if  the 
Swiss  cantons  should  be  disturbed,  it  should  pay  a  monthly 
subsidy  of  3,000  crowns  of  gold ;  and  that  if  the  allies  were 
attacked,  it  would  provide  10,000  measures  of  gunpowder,  and 
Zurich  10,000  of  wheat,  which  were  to  be  stored  in  Basle. 
This  convention  was  signed  without  the  emperor's  consent,  and 
was  a  felonious  act,  which  Luther  vaunted  as  a  divine  inspira- 
tion. He  forgot  that  he  had  stigmatised  those  Christians  who, 
under  the  name  of  peasants,  had  resisted  the  civil  magistrates, 
and  shed  their  blood  in  defence  of  some  obscure  texts  of 
Scripture. 

The  confession  of  faith  of  the  reformed  Churches,  which  had 
been  presented  to  the  emperor,  was  published  in  Germany. 
Then  were  renewed  the  doubts,  anxieties,  and  we  must  say 
the  merited  chagrin  of  Melancthon.  We  are  less  severe,  how- 
ever, than  a  Protestant  author,  M.  Charles  Hagen,  who  does 
not  hesitate  to  accuse  the  favoarite  disciple  of  Luther  of  having 
deceived  the  Swiss.^  Melancthon  said,  in  a  letter  to  Egidius  : 
"  If  I  seek  to  make  peace  with  the  Catholics,  it  is  because  I  am 
afraid  of  a  union  between  the  Wittembergians  and  Zwinglians  ; 
such  an  alliance  would  be  the  ruin  of  ail  our  Christian  dogmas."^ 
Thus  it  was  that  he  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  prevent  the 
Zwinglians  being  heard  at  the  diet ;  and  he  was  successful.  But 
he  soon  regretted  having  silenced  the  dissentients,  and  sought 
to  unite  himself  with  the  Swiss,  although  at  the  sacrifice  of  his 
private  opinions ;  foj   it  must  be   admitted  that   Melancthon 

*  Man  kann  nicht  laugneo,  dam  sich  Melanchthon  gegen  die  Zwinglianer 
iiberbaupt  perfid  benommen,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  445. 

*  Egidio,  80  Aug.     Corpns  Reform,  torn.  ii.  p.  382. 


THE  OOKFESSION   OF  AUGSBURG.  351 

had  never  any  settled  conyiction,  as  is  the  case  with  irresolute 
and  gentle  individuals.  Place  Melancthon  before  Sadoletus, 
and  he  will  renounce  one  by  one  the  doctrines  of  the  Saxon 
school ;  bnt  we  should  not  wish  him  to  meet  Luther  on  leaving 
the  conference ;  one  look  or  word  from  the  doctor  of  Wittem- 
berg  will  make  him  relapse. 

The  Swiss  deputies  returned  in  sorrow  to  their  native  moun- 
tains, bitterly  complaining  of  Luther's  intolerance.  Were  they 
not  justified  in  so  doing  ?  Like  Luther,  they  had  found  in  the 
Bible  that  confession  which,  in  the  name  of  truth,  they  had  gone 
to  make  triumphant  in  the  imperial  city  ;  their  sole  crime  con- 
sisted in  translating  the  Greek  i<mv  diiOTerently  from  the  Saxon 
apostle.  Melancthon  reproached  himself  on  account  of  the 
crying  injustice  which  he  had  done  to  his  brethren  of  Zurich. 
There  was  but  one  way  of  pacifying  them,  and  this  was,  if  not 
to  remodel,  at  least  skiUully  to  modify  the  confession  which  they 
came  to  present  to  the  Orders  of  the  empire.  Like  an  imperfect 
scholar,  be  accordingly  corrected  his  theme  :  we  shall  see  how. 

The  10th  article  of  the  original  confession  was  as  follows: 
"  With  respect  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  hold 
that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  reaUy  present  under  the 
species  of  the  bread  and  the  wine,  and  taken  and  distributed : 
aJl  doctrine  to  the  contrary  we  reject." 

The  Catholic  theologians  were  disposed  to  adopt  this  article, 
on  which  they  merely  made  a  few  verbal  alterations  to  render  it 
still  more  distinct  It  was  much  too  strong  for  the  Swiss  theo- 
logians ;  so  Melancthon  retired,  and  endeavoured  to  engraft  upon 
the  unlucky  article  some  learned  obscurities,  in  which  he  was 
successful. 

The  article,  as  we  see,  contains  three  propositions :  the  first, 
wherein  the  real  presence,  and  distribution,  and  manducation  of 
the  body  and  blood  are  formally  enunciated ;  the  second,  in 
which  the  change  of  substance  or  Catholic  transubstantiation  is 
set  forth ;  the  third,  in  which  the  trope  of  Zwinglius,  Schwenck- 
feld,  and  Carlstadt  is  rejected. 

In  the  first  proposition  Melancthon  cancelled  some  terms  which 
deprived  it  of  its  strong  affirmative  character.  He  took  away 
the  second  member,  the  conversion  of  the  blood  and  wine,  as 
savouring  of  "  popery,"  and  substituted  for  it  this  ambiguous 


352  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

formtila  :  that  the  body  ancL blood  of  Christ  are  offered  with  the 
bread  and  wine  to  the  communicants.  And  with  a  stroke  of  his 
pen  he  deleted  the  third  member^  the  visible  sign  of  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  Sacramentarians.^ 

At  Zurich,  Melancthon's  mutilations  of  the  confession  were 
highly  applauded,  as  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  rignificcU 
of  the  former  curate  of  Einsiedlen  preponderated  over  the  Latin 
est  and  the  Greek  i<mv.  At  Wittemberg,  the  rigid  Lutherans 
cried  shame  !  The  elector  was  alarmed,  and  thought  it  his  duty, 
with  a  view  to  pacify  their  murmurs,  to  send  George  Pontanus 
(Bruck)  to  Melancthon,  to  inquire  of  the  professor  the  motives 
for  these  doctrinal  contradictions.  Luther  was  present  at  the 
interview,  and  did  not  spare  his  disciple.  ''  Who  has  given  you 
authority  to  alter  a  public  confession?"  he  asked;  ''the  con- 
fession of  Augsburg  is  neither  mine  nor  yours  ;  it  is  the  creed  of 
all  who  bear  the  name  of  Christians  in  Wittembei^."  * 

The  confession  of  Augsburg,  considered  as  a  dogmatic  creed, 
—  the  point  of  view  under  which  Protestant  historians  have 
j  examined  it, — attacked  the  principle  of  free  inquiry  laid  down 
/  by  the  Saxon  monk,  by  giving  to  the  Reformation  a  unity  of 
/  doctrine  which  it  ought  necessarily  to  have  rejected.  Catechisms 
are  inconsistent  with  the  right  of  interpretation.  In  this  con- 
fession of  £uth,  the  Reformation  dethroned  the  individual  reason 
which  it  had  so  gloriously  crowned.  That  reason  is  no  longer 
sovereign  when  dogmas,  faith,  and  a  creed  are  given  to  ha*, 
s/  Luther  had  said  to  her,  "  Thou  art  free  -"  and  now  he  damns 
/  her,  both  in  this  life  and  the  next,  if  she  rejects  the  real  presence. 
He  has  given  wings  to  thought,  permitted  her  to  soar  to  heaven, 
investigate  mysteries  which  God  conceals  from  his  creatures, 
sound  depths  where  no  eye  dares  to  penetrate,  reject  the  authority 
of  centuries,  the  teaching  of  the  &thers,  the  unvarying  doctrine 
of  the  bishops,  and  to  believe  what  she  pleases.  But  now  he 
clips  her  wings  ;  he  makes  her  fall  from  heaven,  and  stretches 
her  on  the  bed  of  Procrustes.  If  she  endeavours  to  stir,  Luther 
accuses  her  of  rebellion  and  disobedience,  and  is  ready  to  denounce 
her  as  an  infidel     It  was  free  inquiry  that  produced  the  Sacra- 


^  Jacob  And.  in  Cone,  de  Gone.  D.  4.  b. 
*  Selnec.  in  Praefat.  uU.  Conf.  de  Gcend,  p. 


\ 


THE  CONFESSION   OF  AUOSBURG.  353 

mentarians ;  and  when  these  sectaries  come  to  Augsburg  to 
demand  liberty  of  conscience,  they  constrain  them,  and  seek  to 
impose  a  formula  of  £uth  upon  them  :  is  not  that  authority  ?  ^ 
In  Catholicism,  at  least,  the  mind  willingly  obeys,  since  it 
believes  that  the  Spirit  of  Qod  rests  in  the  pope,  the  living 
image  of  Christ  on  this  eartL  But  what  are  we  to  think  of  a 
creed  like  the  confession  of  Augsburg,  written  on  parchment,  and 
which  Melancthon  elaborates,  makes,  unmakes,  polishes,  corrects, 
restores,  and  transmits  to  Luther,  who  criticises,  reviews,  extends, 
curtails,  prunes,  and  patches  it,  to  forward  it  by  the  first  mes- 
senger to  his  disciple,  who  proclaims  this  work  of  the  Keforma- 
tion  as  the  manifestation  of  the  truth  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  ?  This  singular  gospel  bears  no  resemblance  to  itself,  for 
in  the  five  times  that  it  was  published  within  half  a  century,  on 
each  of  these  five  occasions  it  appeared  with  new  variations  ;  ^ 
'^  until,  after  six  successive  overrunnings,  it  acquires  the  width 
of  a  boot  or  Polish  cloak,  in  which  the  good  God  and  the  devil 
might  easily  conceal  themselves.'"^ 

At  present,  every  logical  mind  in  the  two  Protestant  and 
reformed  communions  rejects  confessions.  Such,  as  M.  De  la 
Harpe  has  lately  remarked,  '^  are  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation.  The  principle  of  the  Reformation  is  liberty,! 
the  right  to  choose,  the  right  to  place  the  Bible  beyond  thai 
authority  of  men  :  a  confession  of  &ith  is  the  pope.''^ 

Melancthon's  work  is  therefore  condemned.  Let  us  for  an 
instant  consider  him  who  took  so  much  trouble  to  write  it.^ 


'  Pbilipp  Niooki  in  seiner  Yerantwortong  an  Petnun  Plancimn,  pp.  288, 
289,  408. 

*  Andrew  MubcuIhb,  a  Lutheran,  said  at  the  oonference  of  Hertzberg,  that 
the  oonfeesion  had  twelve  times  changed  its  appearance.  **  Dass  die  Augs* 
burgiache  Confeflsion  wohl  zwolfmale  seye  geandert  worden."  Calvin  called  it 
a  brand  of  discord.     £p.  fol.  524. 

*  "  TJnd  dadurch  zu  einem  polnischen  stiefel  nnd  weiten  Mantel  geworden, 
hinter  welchem  der  liebe  Gott  and  der  Tenfel  gar  bequem  sich  veigraben 
konnte.** — ^Henke,  quoted  by  Hoeninghaus,  Das  Besultat,  &c.  p.  476. 

*  First  sitting  of  the  Council  of  Lausanne,  1887. 

*  The  religions  question,  agitated  in  1580  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  is  treated 
at  length  in  the  following  works : — 

Vermahnung  an  die  GeistUchen,  versamlet  auf  dem  Beiohstag  zu  Augsburg, 
ann.  1530.     Martin  Luther :  Wittenberg,  4to.  1530. 

Confessio  ezhibita  CsBsari  in  comitiis  Augustie,  ann.  1530.  Psalm  czix. : 
''  £t  loquebar  de  testimoniis  tuis  in  conspectu  reg^um,  et  non  confiindebar." 

^ne  Ermahnung  Beimens-Weis,  an  ujisem  allergnftdigsten  Herm  Carolum^ 

VOL.  II.  2  A 


354  HISTOET  or  IiUTHBB. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

MELAKCTHON. 

Melanothon  at  the  oniTersity  of  Wittemberg. — Portrait  of  tbe  profesBor.— Hit 
mode  of  living. — Luther  comprehends  Melancthon.—  Hia  opinion  of  his  dis- 
ciple's commentaries. — Melanothon  by  his  mother's  death-bed. — ^His  dombta 
and  weaknesses. — Luther's  illness  at  Sohmalkalden. — ^Melanothon  at  Hague- 
nan. — His  influence  on  the  Beformation. — His  philosophical  (pinions. 

In  1518,  Reuchlin  wrote  to  Melanothon  : — 

"  I  send  you  the  letter  of  our  dear  prince,  entirely  written  by 
his  own  hand,  and  in  which  he  makes  such  kind  mention  of  yon. 
I  will  not  speak  to  yon  poetically;  but  I  will  speak  as  a  prophet, 
and  nse  the  words  which  God  addressed  to  his  servant  Abraham: 
'  Go  forth  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  out  of 
thy  father's  house,  and  come  into  the  land  which  I  shall  show 
thee.  And  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  magnify  thy  name,  and  thou  shalt  be  blessed.' 
((Jenesis  xii.)  Such  is  my  prophecy,  such  are  my  hopes,  my 
dear^Philip.  Courage,  then  !  send  me  your  clothes  to  Stuttgart. 
Then  we  shall  see  what  you  will  want  at  Wittemberg :  that  is  my 
concern.  If  you  will  take  my  advice,  you  will  go  by  Pforz- 
heim and  salute  your  mother,  and  after  having  taken  leave  of 
your  friends,  you  shall  come  to  me.     But  do  not  tarry  on  the 

Bomischen  Kayser,  Ferdinandum  Seiner  Majestat  Bruder,  KSnig  lu  Hunffem 
und  Behem,  alle  geistliche  und  weltliche  Thurfursten  und  Fttrsten  des  heil. 
BSmiscdien  Reichs,  den  loblichen  Bund  su  Schwaben,  alle  geist-  und  weltlich 
Obrigkeit,  damit  ihnen  Gott,  der  AUmachtige,  in  diesen  jetst  angehenden  and 
llbfgenommenen  kayserlichen  Reichstag  und  concilio  an  Augsburg  den  heil. 
Geurty  das  Wort  Gotten  zu  erhalten,  geben  und  senden  woUe,  mit  Auzeigung 
der  Heil.  Schrifit  gar  htipsch,  lieUic^  andachtig  zu  lesen  und  zu  horen :  15S0. 

EiD  knrzer JLuszug  aus  dem  piipstlichen  Bechten,  Decret  und  Decretalen,  in 
den  Artionhiy  die  ungefahrlioh  Gottes  Wort  und  Evangelio  gemass  sind,  oder 
sum  Wenigsten  nicht  widerstreben :  1580. 

Auf  den  deutschen  Ausszug  ttbers  Decret,  von  unbenannten  Leuten  gemacht, 
Antwort  D.  Job.  Coclei,  ad  senatum  Lipsiensiem :  Dressden,  1530. 

Ad  Oarolum  Roman,  imperatorem,  fioei  Huldrichi  Zwinglii  ratio.  Ejusdem 
que  ad  iUustrissimos  Germanin  prindpes  Augustos  congregates  epistola. 


Absdiied  dee  Reichstags  zu  Augsbuiv,  ann.  1580  gehalten :  Mayntz,  1581. 
Romischer  kayserlicher  Mijesti&t  Oranung  und  Reformation  guter  Polizey 
in  heil.  romischen  Reich,  ftc  1530  zu  Augsburg  aufgertcht :  Mayntz,  1584. 


MBIANCTHON.  355 

way,  lest  the  place  slip  from  yon.  I  have  pledged  myself  for 
your  arrival.  And  that  yon  may  see  in  what  light  you  are  con- 
sidered at  court,  I  send  yon  a  letter  from  Spalatinns,  the  prince's 
friend:  this  is  all  of  importance  that  I  have  now  to  write. 
I  repeat ;  pack  up  all  your  clothes,  and  send  them  to  me  to 
Stuttgart;  and  that  as  soon  as  possible.  Remember,  first  to 
Tubingen  to  see  your  friends,  then  to  your  mother,  then  to  Pforz- 
heim to  salute  Augustine  and  my  sister,  and  then  fly  hither. 
Princes-  are  inconstant.  Take  courage,  and  act  like  a  man.  No 
one  is  a  prophet  in  his  own  country.  I  salute  you. — Stuttgart, 
the  eve  of  St  James.     John  Reuchlin."  * 

This  was  a  fine  letter  from  Beuchlin  to  his  cousin  Melancthon, 
then  not  yet  twenty-two  years  old,^  and  whom  Frederick  the 
elector  invited  to  the  professorship  of  ancient  languages  in  the 
university  of  Wittemberg.  Schwartzerde,  whose  name  Reuchlin 
had  gr»cised,^  mounted  his  horse  and  set  out  to  Nuremberg, 
where  he  contracted  friendship  with  Bilibaldus  Pirkheimer,  a 
noble  youth  much  devoted  to  literature.  He  soon  reached 
Leipsic ;  where  he  found  Mosellanus,  who  filled  the  place  of 
Richard  Groke  in  the  Greek  chair,  and  became  acquainted  with 
Andrew  Frank  Kamitz,  a  youth  of  great  promise,  who  subse- 
quently became  counsellor  of  Duke  Oeorge  Henry,  and  the 
elector  Maurice. 

He  arrived  at  Wittemberg  on  the  25th  of  August,  1518.  A 
few  days  after  he  delivered  his  inaugural  discourse  ;  the  subject 
of  which  was  the  improvement  of  the  studies  of  youth,  "  De 
corrigendis  adolescentise  studiis."  He  was  eloquent  and  diffuse. 
Luther,  who  was  one  of  the  audience,  frequently  interrupted  him 
by  his  murmurs  of  approbation.  Melancthon  declared  himself  a 
reformer,  and  denouncM^d  the  old  scholasticism,  the  worn  out  form 
of  teaching,  and  the  traditions  of  the  past     From  that  day  a 

*  Dr.  Fimnz  Yolkmar  Bamhard's  Bammiliche  znm  Theil  noch  tmgedrackto 
Beformatioiis-Predigten,  part  ii.  p.  11  et  seq. 

*  He  was  boni  at  Bretten,  a  small  town  of  the  Palatinate,  16  Feb.  1497. 
On  the  town-house  of  Bretten  is  the  following  inscription : 

**  Bretta»  qu6d  egregii  patria  ea  prsdara  Fhilippi, 
Hoc  satis  ex  nno  nobilitatis  nabes." 

*  Beformations-Almanaoh,  1817,  p.  24.  Melancthon  called  himself  PuUi- 
Bolns,  h  pullns,  Schwartz,  et  soliim,  Erde.  He  only  signs  Melanthon,  Heu- 
mann,  De  Oausft  cur  Philippos  Melanchthon  fuerit  creatus  Doct.  Theologiee  : 
Gottingae,  1757. 

2  a2 


366  HISTOBY  OP  LOTHBR. 

secret  Efympathy  attracted  to  each  other  these  two  persons  so  well 
formed  for  a  feUow-feeling. 

In  a  short  time  the  large  hall  of  the  university  could  not 
contun  the  numbers  who  crowded  to  hear  his  lectures.^  Among 
them  were  to  be  seen  counts,  barons,  margraves,  princes,  knights. 
Melancthon  successively  explained  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes, 
the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  Hesiod,  Homer,  Theocritus,  Thucy- 
dides,  and  ApoUonius.  He  was  proud  of  his  title  of  professor. 
<<  The  life  of  a  professor,''  he  said  to  John  Sturm,  "  is  not  so 
brilliant  as  that  of  a  courtier ;  but  how  much  more  useful  and 
serviceable  to  mankind !  0  sacred  profession,  which:  teaches 
us  to  know  the  nature  of  God,  the  duties  of  man,  and  the 
wonders  of  science  !"  • 

At  Wittemberg  they  were  astonished  to  see  this  delicate  young 
man,  who  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground,  beardless,  pale  com- 
plexioned,  and  with  a  voice  so  weak  that  he  could  scarcely  be 
heard.  **  Imagine,''  says  one  of  his  contemporaries,  ^^  a  iJiin, 
spare  youth,  buried  in  the  ample  robe  of  a  professor  with  hanging 
sleeves  ;  a  scholar  apparently  but  fifteen,  who,  when  he  walked, 
scarcely  reached  Luther's  shoulder,  but  who  is  a  perfect  giant  in 
learning  and  languages.  A  fragile  frame  which  contains  we 
know  not  what  treasures  of  wisdom  and  erudition !" 

When  seated  for  the  first  time  at  his  cousin  Reuchlin's  table, 
he  was  served  with  some  Rhenish  wine,  with  which  he  scarcely 
moistened  his  lips,  but  which  violently  affected  his  head,  as  him- 
self informs  us.  Reuchlin  had  never  more  than  two  dishes  for 
his  dinner,  and  one  for  his  supper.  He  loved  the  society  of 
young  people,  especially  when  they  were  fond  of  study,  and 
opened  to  them  his  library,  which  was  rich  in  fine  editions  of 
the  ancient  poets.  After  two  hours  spent  in  silent  study» 
Melancthon  and  his  companions  walked  in  the  garden,  then 
returned  to  table,  where  each  guest  had  set  before  him  a  bottle  of 
white  wine  of  the  marquisate,  which  he  emptied  cheerfully,  while 
Reuchlin  contented  himself  with  drinking  piquette  (loram). 

Philip  suffered  from  wakefulness,  of  which  he  was  cured  by 
attention  to  his  diet  and  the  use  of  Rhenish  wine,  which  he 


*  Heerbrand's  Leichenrede  auf  Melanchthon. 

*  Rainhard,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  p.  15. 


MELANOTHOlir.  867 

gradually  came  to  like.  He  vent  rc^arly  to  bed  after  supper, 
and  rose  at  three  in  the  morning  to  study.  When  it  became 
known  that  wine  had  been  prescribed  for  him,  he  was  supplied 
with  it  on  all  hands.  The  elector  Frederick,  on  presenting 
him  with  a  cask  of  Rudesheimer,  said  to  him :  ^'  St.  Paul 
recommends  good  wine,  and  we  must  obey  the  apostle/'  Melanc- 
ihon  obeyed.  He  preferred  fish  and  vegetables  to  meat.  When 
at  Tubingen,  he  used  to  have  a  plate  of  vegetable  soup  substi- 
tuted for  his  plate  of  meat  He  liked  his  meat  warm,  and  new- 
laid  eggs,  and  complained  of  the  elector's  table,  where  the  dinner 
was  neither  hot  nor  cold.^ 

At  the  first  glance  Luther  saw  what  Melancthon  was.  At 
their  first  interview,  which  lasted  several  hours,  Melancthon 
became  Luther's,  body  and  soul ;  the  treaty  was  signed.  The 
young  professor  brought  to  the  monk  a  letter  from  their  mutual 
firiend  Reuchlin.  Some  days  had  scarcely  elapsed  when  Luther 
wrote  to  one  of  his  disciples :  ^'  I  concur  in  all  you  say  of  our 
Philip.  He  has  delivered  his  first  lecture  with  so  much  eloquence 
that  every  one  is  charmed  with  him.  I  wish  no  other  professor 
of  Greek  ;  what  concerns  me  is  to  know  how  this  delicate  young 
man  will  agree  with  our  mode  of  living,  and  how  he  will  be  able 
to  support  himself  with  the  small  income  he  receives.  The 
people  of  Leipsic  already  talk  of  taking  him  away  from  us. 
He  is  indeed  a  man  worth  having."  Some  weeks  later  he  wrote : 
— "  Philip  is  a  much  abler  Greek  scholar  than  you  imagine ; 
what  an  audience  he  has !  he  has  inflamed  all  theologians  of 
high  and  low  degree  with  a  sudden  desire  to  learn  Greek."  * 

In  return  for  all  those  Grecian  treasures  which  Melancthon  so 
liberally  bestowed  on  him,  Luther  opened  to  his  favourite  the 
sources  of  theology,  a  science  full  of  attraction,  which  served  as 
an  aliment  to  his  religious  reveries.  His  mind  was  naturally 
inclined  to  contemplation.  It  was  to  satisfy  his  own  inquiries, 
and  not  to  magnify  the  Reformation,  that  he  devoted  himself  at 
first  with  all  the  zeal  of  a  convert  to  the  study  of  scholasticism. 
His  progress  was  so  rapid  that  Luther  ceased  to  fear  lest  death 
should  interrupt  the  work  which  he  had  commenced :  Melancthon 


*  Reinhard,  1.  c.  torn.  ii.  pp.  1 9,  23. 

^  G.  Pfizer,  Dr.  Martin  Lnther's  Leben,  p.  610  et  seq. 


358  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHEB. 

would  doubtleBS  complete  it.  "  If  I  die,"  said  he,  "  my  work 
will  not  be  lost ;  for  my  dear  Philip  will  take  it  up,  and  with 
Clod's  aid  finish  it  gloriously/^  In  1522,  Melancthon  had  com- 
pleted his  scholia  on  three  Epistles  of  St  Paul ;  it  was  this 
commentary  which  Luther  a^hnired  so  mucL  Master  Philip 
(the  name  he  bore  at  Wittemberg,  for  he  was  too  poor  to  purchase 
a  doctor's  degree)  would  not  consent  to  publish  it.  "  What  does 
it  signify,''  said  Luther,  anxious  for  the  glory  of  his  disciple, 
'*  whether  it  pleases  you  or  not,  if  it  pleases  me  ?  I  tell  you  that 
the  commentaries  of  Jerome  and  Origen,  compared  with  yours, 
are  nothing  but  absurdities."  ^  But  Luther  could  not  overcome 
Melancthon's  timid  modesty:  his  entreaties,  reproaches,  and 
anger  were  unavailing.  He  then  stole  his  Mend's  manuscript, 
and  caused  it  to  be  printed  clandestinely.  But  whether  tiie 
printer  was  too  much  hurried,  or  that  Luther  was  not  yet  prac- 
tised in  revising  proofs,  the  work  appeared  disfigured  with  errors 
which  caused  its  author  much  torture.  He  had  not  courage  to 
be  angry,  but  he  laughed  with  a  melancholy  which  his  master  fully 
comprehended.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  eaglet  left  Luther's 
wing  to  fly  in  the  open  air.  Imagine  then  his  confiision  when 
he  fell  heavily  to  the  earth.  The  Catholics  rejoiced  at  his  fall, 
and,  in  the  mythological  style  of  the  time,  compared  Melancthon 
to  Icarus  and  St.  Paul  to  the  sun,  whither  the  young  fool  had 
flown  to  bum  himself  alive.  Luther's  voice  alone  could  rouse 
the  commentator's  spirit ;  the  master's  praises  compensated  the 
disciple  for  the  criticisms  of  the  learned  world.  What  is  truly 
admirable  is  the  composure  of  Melancthon,  who  did  not  become 
angry  with  his  adversaries,  but  received  their  blows  as  a  merited 
chastisement.  Luther  would  not  have  treated  his  opponents  bo« 
Philip  revised  his  work  carefiodly,  corrected  the  oversights  of  the 
reader,  upon  whom  he  did  not  even  frown  for  an  instant,  and 
paid  no  regard  to  the  exaggerated  commendations  of  firiendship. 
He  firmly  believed  that  St.  Jerome  was  a  more  able  commentator 
than  the  professor  of  Wittemberg  ;  and  he  was  right 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Melancthon  throughout  life  was  but 
an  indifferent  theologian.     When  he  endeavours  to  fathom  the 


'  Die  Commentare  des  HierooymuB  und  Origenes  lautre  Possen  aeynd  gegen 
deine  Aumerkungen. 


MELAlffCTHON.  359 

great  problems  of  original  cdn,  the  ML  and  the  redemption  of 
mankhidy  or  the  ori^n  of  moral  evil,  he  does  not  comprehend 
that  the  strictly  supernatural  character  of  the  GathoHc  £uth 
rests  npon  a  solid  basis.  He  subjects  all  human  actions  to 
necessity,  and  to  humble  the  wise,  proclaims  that  God  teorks  all 
thtHffs,^  He  imputes  as  a  crime  to  the  mediflBval  theologians 
that  which  is  their  best  title  to  glory, — the  position  and  a£Brma- 
tion  of  the  doctrine  of  liberty;  subsequently  he  became  sensible 
of  the  abyss  into  which  his  fiitalist  doctrines  plunged  mankind, 
and  to  save  them  from  it  combated  his  former  opinions.'  Melanc- 
then  was  a  genius  more  accurate  than  fertile,  a  professor  more 
solid  than  brilliant,  a  rhetorician  more  simple  than  eloquent. 
He  loved  euphemistic  language ;  his  phraseology  is  especially 
limpid  and  clear,  free  from  imagery,  but  proper  in  the  selection 
of  words.  If  the  ear  was  pleased,  it  was  as  much  by  the  harmony 
of  the  sound  as  by  the  accuracy  of  the  expression. 

"  The  fond  search  for  expressions  which  distinguishes  Melanc- 
thon,''  says  a  learned  organ  of  modem  Protestantism,  "  explains 
also,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  perturbation  of  words,  and  conse* 
quently  of  doctrines,  which  he  threw  into  more  than  one  of  the 
Wittemberg  commentaries."'  To  attribute  them  to  an  excessiye 
devotion  to  euphemistic  language,  is  to  colour  awkwardly  the 
marked  contradictions  into  which  the  professor  fell. 

The  soul  of  Melancthon  was  superior  to  all  the  seductions  of 
vanity.  Luther  was  his  whole  glory,  his  happiness,  and  adora* 
tion.  He  always  continued  to  be  the  ingenuous  scholar  who  left 
Thuringia  to  teach  Oreek  at  Wittemberg,  and  who  was  caught 
by  Luther's  doctrines  like  a  bird  by  lime.  The  youth  had 
ever  before  his  eyes  the  legend  which  he  borrowed  from  his 
professor  of  grammar,  John  Ungher  of  Pforzheim :  '^  Cave  ac 
cede."  ^  Never  did  the  yoke  of  this  great  renown  seem  weighty 
to  him.  It  must  also  be  acknowledged  that  Luther  omitted 
nothing  to  make  it  light  for  him.    With  Spalatinus,  Amsdorf,  and 


>  Melanchth.  Loci  Theologioi,  ed.  Ang.  1522. 

'  In  1522,  Melanothon  reproached  the  Bchoolmen  with  having  taught  the 
doctrine  of  absolute  necessity  ;  in  1536,  of  daring  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  of 
liberty. 

*  AnU  Theod.  Effner,  Dr.  Martin  Luther  und  seine  Zeitgenossen,  part  ii. 
p.  16. 


360  HISTORT  OF  LUTHER. 

Jonas  he  had  squabbles^  quarrels,  and  even  threats  ;  he  soolded, 
pestaredy  and  frowned  at  them :  bat  for  Melancthon  he  had  only 
words  of  sweetness  and  affection.  "  Isaias/'  said  Spalatinns, 
'^  neyer  raises  his  voice  as  in  the  Scripture :  he  neither  thunders 
nor  lightens  when  his  Jeremias  appears  to  quit  the  road  marked 
out  for  him  ;  he  is  a  &ther,  who  carries  his  weakness  so  fiur  as 
to  shut  his  eyes  to  the  faults  of  his  child^  lest  he  should  make  him 
weep.''  Melancthon  was  often  culpable  ;  his  heart  was  so  tender 
that  when  he  turned  a  look  to  the  past  he  could  not,  even  before 
Luther,  conceal  his  sadness.  If  his  grief  was  too  acute,  Melanc- 
thon would  hang  oyer  the  bed  of  his  little  Anna,  whom  he  would 
fold  in  his  arms,  and  who  would  stroke  his  beard,  when  he  would 
for  a  moment  forget  his  sorrow.^  He  had  known  the  truth ;  and 
when  he  looked  to  heaven  with  an  indescribable  melancholy,  he 
would  recal  the  image  of  his  old  &ther,  the  smith,  as  he  rose  at 
night  to  kneel  and  pray  to  his  Maker ;  ^  and  that  last  prayer  of 
his  mother  who,  on  her  deathbed,  had  said  to  him :  "  My  son, 
you  see  your  mother  for  the  last  time :  I  am  about  to  leave  this 
world,  and  you  also  must  die,  and  have  to  give  an  accoxmt  of 
your  actions  to  the  Supreme  Judge.  You  know  that  I  was  a 
Catholic,  and  that  you  induced  me  to  abandon  the  religion  of 
my  fore&thers.  WeU,  I  adjure  you  by  the  living  Ood,  tell  me 
unreservedly  in  what  &ith  ought  I  to  ^e  V  To  which  Melanc- 
thon had  answered:  "Mother,  the  new  faith  is  the  most 
convenient ;  the  other  is  most  secure."  '  Now,  from  the  memory 
of  his  old  dying  mother,  and  of  his  father,  praying  with  so  much 
fervour  to  the  saints,  whom  the  Reformation  would  have  wished 
to  make  deaf  to  our  devotions,  there  rose  something  to  serve  as 
an  antidote  to  the  murmurings  which  his  heart  might  have  made 
against  the  belief  of  those  who  had  given  him  life :  a  ray  of  light, 
that  dissipated  all  the  shadows  which  Luther  had  gathered  with 
such  cruel  care  in  a  soul  where  faith  and  doubt  contended  so 
strongly  ;  an  ambrosia  of  truth  which  attended  him,  without  his 


1  Ant.  Theod.  Effner,  torn.  ii.  p.  59  et  »eq.  Anna  married  the  poet  G. 
Sabinus,  and  was  unfortunate  in  her  domestio  relations. 

^  "Geoi^us  Schwartzer  fuit  vir  pins  et  penb  nsqne  ad  superstitionem 
religiosus ;  singulis  noctibus  hora  12  consuevit  ^  lecto  snrgere  ad  nsitatarum 
precum  recitationem." — ^Vitus  Winshemius,  in  Orat.  funebr.  Melaochthonis. 

'  "  Dieses  ist  zwar  anuehmlicher,  der  Catholische  aber  sicherer." — ^^gidius 
Albertinus,  im  4.  Theile  des  deutschen  Lusthauses,  p.  143. 


MELAKCTHOlir.  361 

4 

being  consdous  of  it,  and  caused  him  to  be  distinguished  among 
the  rest  of  his  brethren.  Read  his  writings,  and  yon  will  see 
that  therein  he  teaches  that  eclipses,  constellations,  meteors,  and 
especially  comets,  are  messengers  sent  to  announce  to  men  the 
will  of  Qod ;  ^  bnt  never  that  the  pope  is  the  devil's  vicar. 
Twice  or  thrice  he  joined  in  the  coarse  anger  of  Luther,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  caricatures  of  the  pope-cus  and  monk-calf;  but 
he  very  soon  repented  of  such  complicity. 

He  wrote  from  Augsburg  to  one  of  his  fiiends :  ^*  At  Bome  a 
cow  has  brought  forth  a  calf  with  two  heads,  the  sign  of  an 
approaching  revolution.^'  ^ 

He  was  at  Torgau  with  other  reformers  to  treat  of  the 
pacification  of  religious  matters.  Despair  had  possessicm  of 
their  minds :  and  Melancthon  partook  of  their  common  fears. 
During  the  debate,  he  went  into  a  chamber  adjoining  that  of  the 
assembly  and  saw  a  woman  there  suckling  an  infant,  while  at 
the  same  time  she  was  hearing  a  little  girl  say  her  prayers,  and 
was  putting  some  vegetables  into  a  pot  for  her  husband's  dmner. 
Philip  immediately  returned  to  his  friends  with  a  beaming  coun- 
tenance. '^  What  is  the  matter  V  asked  Luther.  '^  Courage, 
master,^'  replied  Melancthon,  "  the  women  and  children  are  on 
our  side ;  I  have  seen  them  at  prayers  in  the  next  apartment 
God  will  not  be  deaf  to  them."  * 

While  a  youth  Melancthon  had  sated  his  thirst  at  Catholic 
fountains,  and  to  them,  in  spite  of  Luther,  in  his  riper  years,  he 


■  Weislinger.    Epist.  Lutheri,  paarim. 

'  AH  the  reformersy  -without  ezoeptioiiy  belieyed  in  &8tnl  inflnenoes ;  An- 
drew Osiander,  more  than  all  the  rest.  Not  content  with  diaooTering  in  the 
akies  the  signs  of  God's  wrath  against  Borne,  he  sought  for  them  in  old  pio- 
turesy  mannscripts,  and  popular  legends.  At  Nuremberg,  he  met  with  some 
▼erses  of  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  immediately  wrote  to  his 
friend  John  Petrens  :  "  Tou  have  seen,  I  think,  the  old  book  in  the  senatorial 
library,  in  which  the  future  destiny  of  the  popedom  is  clearly  written  and 
foretold.  In  glancing  through  it,  I.  met  these  prophetic  lines,  which  I  hasten 
to  send  you."    And  he  transcribed  : 

**  Papa  cito  moritur,  Gtesar  dominatur  ubique 
Bub  quo  tunc  van!  cessabit  gloria  cleri." 

Osiander's  original  letter  belongs  to  M.  Al.  Martin. 

Consult,  on  the  subject  of  astrology,  the  Tisch-Beden,  pp.  570,  580,  et  seq. 
Luther  believes  in  the  immobility  of  the  earth,  and  bugha  at  those  fools  who 
pretend  that  the  sun  is  fixed. 

^  Goes,  quoted  by  Hosninghaus,  p.  274.  See  Melancthon,  Declamatio, 
vol.  i.  p.  334  :  Strasburg,  1558,  De  Dignitate  Astrologi». 


S62  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBR. 

felt  tenderly  attracted.  He  i^CBembles  Dante's  dove,  ever 
retoming  to  its  nest,  but  with  drooping  wings.  Probably  had  he 
not  been  afraid  of  the  world's  censure,  he  might  have  retnmed 
to  Catholicism.  To  become  reconciled  to  the  Church  he  had 
not,  like  Luther,  to  cast  off  an  enormous  weight  of  hatred,  pre- 
judice, and  fanaticism.  He  was  not  far  from  the  fold  of  the  good 
shepherd,  when  he  wrote  to  Cardinal  Campeggio,  in  1547  (the 
date  is  important,  as  at  that  time  there  was  a  complete  rupture 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  Reformers)  ;  "  We  would  acknow- 
ledge the  supremacy  of  the  pope  and  the  hierarchy  of  the 
bishops,  if  the  pope  would  not  reject  us  \'  ^  and  to  the  chaplain 
of  Charles  V. :  "  We  would  all  be  ready  to  obey  the  holy  Roman 
Church,  so  gracious  to  us  as  she  has  been  in  all  ages  to  her 
children,  if  she  would  concede  to  us  a  few  unimportant  points, 
which  with  every  inclination  we  cannot  retract.'"  ^  How  much 
then  must  Luther  have  loved  Melancthon,  when  he  forgave  him 
00  many  doubts,  hesitations,  yearnings,  and  regrets  for  the  past, 
and  so  many  failings  and  lapses  !  Melancthon  was  led  away  by 
every  specious  novelty  that  appeared  in  the  religious  world  ;  as 
when  Didymus  discovered  in  a  passage  of  the  Oospel  the  neces- 
sity for  a  second  baptism  of  adults ;  when  Carlstadt  invented 
for  the  Christian  a  life  of  manual  labour ;  when  the  angel  of 
unknown  hue  appeared  to  Zwinglius  ;  or  when  Erasmus,  in  his 
^'  Hyperaspites,"  defended  the  liberty  of  man  against  Luther's 
fatalism.  And  yet  all  these  lapses,  and  many  more  besides,  were 
instantly  forgiven  !  There  was  -something  so  pure  in  the  disciple's 
devotion  to  his  master,  that  Luther  would  have  regretted  to 
disturb  the  youth's  conscience ;  and  he  left  him  in  peace.  There 
were  Amsdorf,  Jonas,  Spalatinus,  Linck,  and  many  other  fiiends 
also,  upon  whom  the  monk  could  vent  his  ill-humour  when  he 
chose :  but  they  knew  how  to  retort  when  they  required ; 
especially  Spalatinus,  who  sometimes  had  the  obstinacy  of  a 
Saxon,  and  suffered  himself  to  be  well  smitten,  on  condition  of 
being  heard,  for  which  Luther  could  not  foi^ve  him.     Melanc- 


>  Oonrad  Scblusselburg.  Theol.  GalT. 

'  Wir  sind  erlnetig  der  heiligen  romischen  papstlichen  Kircbe  gehonam 
Eu  seyDj  wofem  sie  oach  ihrer  Gelindigkeit,  die  sie  zu  alien  Zeiten  gegen  alle 
Volker  gebraucht  hat,  etliche  geriDgschatzige  Dinge  Iftsst  hingehen,  oder 
nachgiebt,  die  wir  jetzund,  wann  wir  lUlbereit  wollten  nicht  andern  koonea. 


X 


MBLAKCTHOH.  86 

thon,  in  the  like  circamstances,  would  have  suffered  in  silence ; 
his  heart  would  have  been  broken  with  grief,  sooner  than  he 
would  have  breathed  a  single  complaint.  But  how  paternally 
Luther  concealed  himself  from  his  much-loved  friend !  Once 
only  was  nature  stronger  in  him  than  friendship,  and  then  it  was 
but  a  vague  murmur  which  escaped  him  in  Mekmcthon's  absence, 
and  which  he  had  confided  to  some  friends,  whom  he  had  not 
bound  to  secrecy.  This  was  on  occasion  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg, 
in  reference  to  that  confession  which  Philip  had  undertaken  to 
present  to  the  emperor,  and  of  which,  like  a  skilful  painter,  he 
had  softened  the  strong  colours,  so  as  not  to  offend  the  eye  of  the 
Catholics.  He  was  so  anxious  for  peace,  that  he  would  have 
purchased  it  at  all  sacrifices,  even  of  his  self-love.  When  he 
hears  that  his  incessant  revisions  of  the  text  are  regarded  by 
Luther  as  indications  of  real  weakness  of  mind,  he  then  becomes 
troubled,  and  humbly  intreats  pardon  of  his  father.  And  Luther 
immediately  forgives  him,  and  repents  of  his  momentary  irrita- 
tion, as  of  a  sin  ! 

'^  I  was  bom  to  contend  with  the  devil,"  said  Luther ;  ^'  hence 
my  writings  are  full  of  fury.  It  is  my  destiny  to  roll  rocks  and 
masses,  to  eradicate  thorns  and  briars,  to  fill  up  marshes,  and 
trace  out  roads ;  but  Philip  has  another  mission  :  he  walks 
silently  and  softly  ;  ^nd  builds,  plants,  waters,  and  sows  in  peace 
and  joy  of  heart."  * 

There  are  two  scenes  in  the  history  of  the  reformers,  of  which 
Lucas  Cranach  might  have  made  two  exquisite  paintings :  this 
was  when  death  threatened  to  separate  them. 

Luther  feU  dangerously  iU  near  Schmalkalden.  Melancthon, 
at  his  master's  request,  wrote  to  George  Sturz,  physician  at 
Wittemberg :  **  I  implore  you  not  to  lose  a  moment,  that  such  a 
man  as  Luther  may  not  be  without  advice.  It  is  a  duty  to  hasten, 
when  we  are  called  to  assist  our  neighbour,  and  you  know  that 
the  Lord  will  look  on  whatever  you  do  for  Luther,  as  if  you  had 
done  it  for  Ood  himselt" 

The  physician  came.  While  he  was  feeling  the  sick  man's 
pulse,  tears  streamed  from  the  eyes  of  Melancthon.  Luther 
observed  his  disciple's  affliction,  and  raising  his  hand,  said : 


R4)formatioDB-Almanach,  p.  26,  note. 


364  HISTORY   OP  LUTHBE. 

"  Do  not  weep,  Philip.  Do  you  not  know  what  Hans  Loescr  is 
wont  to  say  ?  ^  It  is  no  hardship  to  drink  good  ale  ;  bnt  to  drink 
bad, — ^that  is  the  difficulty/  I  am  accustomed  to  the  apothecary's 
draughts.  God  be  praised,  I  shall  not  lose  my  courage  in  this 
struggle  with  death.'' 

The  danger  passed  away  ;  and  Melancthon,  on  the  assurance 
of  the  physician  and  at  his  friend's  express  wish,  had  returned  to 
Wittemberg,  whither,  in  a  few  days  after,  a  letter  from  Luther 
followed  him.  "  God  be  praised,  my  dear  Philip  ;  in  this  night 
of  trial  the  Lord  has  had  pity  on  you,  your  tears,  and  your 
prayers,  and  has  come  to  my  aid."  "  God  be  praised  I"  replied 
the  disciple  to  his  beloved  master ;  ^'  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  I  return  thanks  to  the  Father  of  mercies,  and  the  Saviour 
of  all,  that  he  has  sent  a  remedy  to  your  sufferings  and  your 
sorrows.  I  rejoice  in  your  convalescence,  both  for  your  own 
sake  and  that  of  the  Church  of  Christ :  and  my  joy  increases, 
because  I  see,  in  your  restoration  to  health,  a  sign  of  the  mercy 
of  God  on  our  little  flock.'' 

In  1540,  Melancthon  set  out  for  Haguenau :  he  fell  sick  at 
Weimar.  Before  leaving  Wittemberg  he  had  consulted  the 
stars  ;  ^  the  stars  were  silent,  but  he  had  a  dream  and  fancied 
that  he  should  die  on  the  way.  He  accordingly  made  his  will, 
in  which  Luther  was  not  forgotten.  '^  I  thank  the  worthy  doctor 
Martin  Luther  for  having  taught  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  especially  for  the  proofs  of  affection  which  he  has  showered 
upon  me  from  day  to  day :  I  desire  that  all  my  friends  may 
honour  him  as  a  father,  for  no  one  better  than  myself  knows 
with  what  heroic  courage,  what  strength  of  mind,  and  what 
remarkable  virtues  God  has  endowed  him  ;  let  all  love,  honour^ 
and  trust  him  with  their  whole  heart,  as  I  have  ever  done." 

At  the  first  intelligence  of  his  friend's  indisposition,  the 
elector  ordered  his  carriage :  Luther  accompanied  him.  When 
they  entered  his  chamber  an  alarming  sight  presented  itself  to 
the  Reformer's  view :  the  eyes  of  the  eicpiring  man  were  closed, 
his  reason  gone,  his  tongue  cold  ;  and  he  was  quite  unconscious. 
Luther  took  the  elector  aside,  and  said  with  heavenward  look, 
"  See  how  the  devil  has  spoiled  our  work !"    While  the  prince 


'  Herrnscbmidt,  Yit.  Lutb.  ch.  xii. 


MELANCTHOK.  865 

was  looking  on  the  livid  countenance  of  the  dying  man  for  some 
sign  of  hope,  Luther  turned  towards  the  window,  and  prayed. 
When  he  was  done^  he  returned  to  his  friend,  took  him  by  the 
hand,  and  inclining  to  his  ear  said  to  him  :  "  Courage,  Philip, 
you  shall  not  die  ;  Qod  could  take  you  from  us,  but  he  desireth 
not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he  should  be  converted 
and  live.  He  will  not  abandon  or  forsake  you;  he  will  not 
permit  pestilence  or  despair  to  triumph  over  you,  my  friend. 
Gome,  then,  no  despondency  or  self-sacrifice ;  but  turn  to  the 
Lord,  the  giver  of  life  and  of  death.''  ^  Then,  according  to  some 
historians  who  do  not  believe  in  the  miracles  worked  by  the 
intercession  of  the  saints,  God  heard  the  prayer  of  his  servant. 
Melancthon  opened  his  eyes,  recovered  his  senses,  sat  up  in  his 
bed,  and  took  the  doctor  by  the  hand.  "  I  should  have  died," 
he  said,  ''if  Luther  had  not  snatched  me  from  the  grasp  of 
death."  ^  Luther  also  believed  that  a  miracle  had  been  wrought 
on  this  occasion  by  the  omnipotence  of  prayer.  "  Prayer,"  said 
he,  ''  does  wonders :  in  our  days  has  it  not  raised  the  dead, — 
me,  my  Eetha,  and  Master  Philip  Melancthon  ?  It  is  a  trifling 
miracle,  if  you  will,  to  deliver  the  body  from  its  sufferings,  but 
it  must  not  be  kept  secret  for  the  sake  of  weak  souls."  '  It 
would  be  difficult  to  reconcile  the  power  attributed  by  Luther  to 
prayer  with  the  jhtalism  which  he  professes  in  his  treatise  ''  De 
Servo  Arbitrio."  How,  in  his  system,  could  a  few  words  articu- 
lated in  a  low  voice  arrest  that  inexorable  destiny,  that  necessity 
which  urges  and  impels  man  with  its  leaden  hand,  which  nothing 
resists,  and  which  shall  itself  be  broken  against  the  tomb-stone  ? 
What  is  become  of  his  double  anthropomorphism  of  good  and 
evil  ?    There  again  he  is  unfaithful  to  his  own  doctrines.     If  his 


*  Unschnldige  Kaohrichten,  torn.  xzv.  p.  859. 

*  "  Qni  nisi  ad  me  venisset,  mortuoB  eaaem." — HerrnBchmidt,  1.  c. 

'  "  Dtts  Kirchen-Gebet  thiit  grosse  Mirakel.  Es  hat  zn  unserer  Zeit  drei 
▼on  Todten  anferwecki :  mioh  der  idi  oft  bin  todt  krank  gelecen ;  meine  HauB- 
fran  Ketha  die  auch  todt  krank  war,  und  Magistrum  Philippum  Melanch- 
thonem,  welcber  Anno  1540  im  Winter  todt  krank  lag."— Tiash-Reden:  Els- 
leben,  fol.  436,  496. 

See  also  the  chapter,  Vom  Gebet,  l^h-Reden,  p.  207  et  aeq.,  wherein  the 
doctor,  daring  a  season  of  drought,  implores  the  Lord  for  rain,  and  is  imme- 
diately heard. 

Eben  dieselbige  folgende  Nacht  damach  kam  ein  sehr  guter  firuchtbarer 


366  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHER. 

appeal  to  tradition  in  his  dispute  with  the  Sacramentarians  is  a 
triumphant  refutation  of  his  principle  of  free  inquiry,  his  prayer 
by  Melancthon's  death-bed  is  quite  a  Yolume  against  his  slave* 
will. 

Melancthon  has  rendered  few  services  to  the  Reformation  as  a 
theologian,  and  many  as  a  writer.  Augusti  has  remarked  that 
the  Lutherans  borrowed  from  him  a  portion  of  their  terminology. 
We  must  beware,  however,  of  exaggerating  the  influence  which 
the  professor  exercised  upon  literature.  People  are  mistaken 
when  they  say  that  he  was  the  first  in  Germany  to  perceive  the 
utility  of  elementary  works  for  the  use  of  the  scholar.-  We  have 
seen  that  the  Catholic  schools,  taught  by  the  monks,  all  possessed 
Greek  and  Latin  grammars  and  lexicons  prior  to  the  Keforma- 
tion.  Hip  love  for  antiquity  may  be  commended,  but  not  at 
the  expense  of  truth.  Our  feelings  are  frequently  excited  by  the 
passionate  accents  with  which  the  professor  of  Wittembeig  hails 
the  triumph  of  the  Muses.  But  long  before  him,  doctor  Eck, 
Luther's  great  antagonist,  exclaimed  at  the  sight  of  that  holy 
flame  which  he  contributed  to  light :  ''  Oh  happy  age,  in  which 
Ignorance  is  sent  back  to  its  obscurity,  sophistry  falls  under  the 
merciless  shafts  of  ridicule,  so  many  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew 
works  are  brought  to  light,  and  in  which  our  eyes  are  dazzled  by 
that  literary  pleiad  composed  of  Erasmus,  Wimpheling,  Pirk- 
heimer,  Cuspinian,  Peutinger,  Beatus  Bhenanus,  and  Henry 
Bebelius :  oh,  how  happy  we  ought  to  be  that  we  live  in  such  a 
golden  age  as  ours  I"  ^ 

Melancthon  had  studied  at  Tubingen,  with  Stadianus,  Aris* 
totle's  philosophy,  and  conceived  the  intention  of  introducing  it 
at  the  university  of  Wittemberg ;  where  it  was  then  only  known 
by  the  exposition  of  Master  Peter  Tartaretus.®  Melancthon 
did  not  admit  without  restriction  the  celebrated  axiom,  '^  nihil 
est  in  intellectu,  quod  non  prills  frierit  in  sensu :""  he  believed 
with  Plato  that  the  images  which  the  senses  supply  to  the  mind, 
are  only  the  occasional  causes  which  develope  general  ideas.  He 
acknowledged  the  existence  of  three  minds,  the  reasoning,  the 


'  Eiederer,  Nachiichten  zur  Kirchen-  uod  Gdlehrtengeacbiohte,  torn.  iii. 
p.  44. 

*  Expositio  magiBtri  Petri  Tartareti  super  rammiilas  Petri  Hispani  cum 
allegatione  paasuum  Sooti,  Doctoris  subtilissimi. 


hjther's  policy.  867 

sensitive,  and  the  y^etative.  His  arguments  in  favonr  of  the 
immortality  of  the  incorporeal  substance,  are  partially  borrowed 
firom  the  moral  harmony  of  the  world :  metaphysical  arguments 
appear  to  him  of  small  value  to  prove  the  non-materiality  of  the 
mind.  He  calls  astrology,  physical  destiny;  and  his  opinions 
considerably  strengthened  the  £uth  which  people  then  had  in 
that  pretended  science.^ 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

LUTHER'S  POLICY.    1581,  &o. 

League  of  Sohmalkalden. — Lntber  attacks  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  with  his  pen. 
— ^His  Warning  to  the  Germans,  to  which  Mehmcthon  sappHes  a  prelaoe.— > 
How  can  Luther's  audacity  be  explained  ? — An  anonymoufl  writer  answeri 
Luther. — ^His  reply. — His  theoxy  on  the  right  of  resistance. — His  letters  to 
the  abbess  of  Bissa. — ^The  Anabaptists  rebel,  and  have  recourse  to  anns. 

Melancthon's  efiForts  to  restore  peace  to  the  Church  of  Oer- 
many  had  been  rendered  abortive  by  Lather.  It  was  at  the 
latter's  instigation  that  Philip  of  Hesse  suddenly  left  Augsburg, 
in  defiance  of  the  emperor's  orders.  The  Protestants  entrusted 
their  destinies  in  the  hands  of  this  prince,  whose  character  his- 
tory has  described  as  an  alehouse  hero,  very  valiant  when  there 
was  no  danger,  and  a  thorough  cowaid  when  it  in  the  least 
approached  him.^  Under  his  auspices  a  league,  offensive  and 
defensive,  was  concluded  at  Schmalkalden  by  the  Protestant 
princes,  from  which  he  broke  off  at  the  first  demonstration  of 
the  emperor's  wrath,  and  which  he  renewed  until  Charles  V., 
after  the  battle  of  Muhlberg,  so  fatal  to  the  Reformation,  made 
the  landgrave  expiate  his  perpetual  waverings  by  throwing  him 
and  John  Frederick  into  prison,  where  they  would  have  died, 
had  Maurice  of  Saxony  not  delivered  them.' 

The  league  of  Schmalkalden  must  have  been  fatal  to  the  repose 
of  the  country.     Luther  had  impelled  the  princes  to  rebellion. 

*  Histoire  de  la  Philosophic,  par  Buhle,  trad,  par  Jourdan,  torn.  li.  p.  424 
et.  seq. 

*  Reformations- Almanach,  1817,  p.  411  et  seq. 
'  Schmidt,  History,  &c. 


368  HISTORY  OF  LUTHBR. 

Scarcely  had  the  diet  of  Augsburg  been  closed,  when  Luther 
wrote  to  denounce  it  in  a  sort  of  savage  war-song,  which  he 
entitled :  "  Warning  to  my  dear  Germans/'^ 

"  Woe  to  you/'  he  said,  "  who  have  defended  the  papacy  at 
Augsburg !  Shame  fall  on  your  heads  !  Posterity  will  blush 
for  you  ;  it  will  scarcely  believe  that  it  had  such  ancestors. 
Oh  !  infamous  diet,  such  as  never  had  and  never  will  have  your 
equal !  you  have  covered  with  infamy  our  princes  and  the 
nation,  and  stamped  your  seal  on  the  brow  of  our  Oermans 
before  God  and  men.  What  will  the  Turk,  what  will  the 
Muscovites  and  the  Tartars  say,  on  hearing  such  a  scandal  ? 
After  this,  who  will  fear  or  respect  us  Germans,  when  they 
know  that  we  have  permitted  ourselves  thus  to  be  insulted, 
ridiculed,  treated  as  children,  as  stocks,  as  stones,  by  the  pope 
and  his  gang,  and  that,  to  amuse  this  rabble  of  Sodomites, 
we  have  suffered  truth  and  justice  to  be  crushed  under  the 
weight  of  this  scandal  of  scandals  ?  Every  German  must  be 
ashamed  of  the  name  of  his  country/'  ^ 

After  the  diet  of  Augsbui^,  a  Protestant  casuist  asked  if  it 
were  consistent  with  a  Christian's  duty  to  wage  war  with  the 
emperor  ?  He  wished  a  reply  that  might  set  at  rest  the  remorse 
of  his  conscience ;  and  he  found  it  in  Luther's  "  Warning." 

'^  When,"  said  the  monk,  "  cut-throats  and  bloodhounds  have 
only  one  desire, — of  killing,  burning,  and  roasting, — there  is  no 
harm  in  rising  up  against  them,  in  opposing  force  to  force,  and 
sword  to  sword.  We  must  not  regard  as  rebellion  what  these  blood- 
hounds call  rebellion.  They  would  wish  to  shut  our  mouths  and 
bind  our  hands,  saii  prevent  us  from  employing  against  them  either 
pen  or  fist.  That  they  might  preach  at  their  ease,  and  live 
without  fear  or  danger,  they  would  like  to  make  use  of  violence, 
and  alarm  the  world  by  the  cry  of  rebellion.  Very  fine,  my 
friend,  your  definition  is  worthless  ;  I  tell  you  so,  and  I  shall 
prove  it.  Whoever  resists  the  law  does  not  rebel;  rebellion 
only  is  when  neither  magistrates  nor  justice  are  tolerated, — 
when  they  are  openly  attacked, — ^when  Uie  insurgents  seek  to  be 
masters  and  tyrants,  as  was  the  case  with  Munzer :    ^  aliud  est 

*  ViTaraimg  an  meine  lieben  Deutschen;  in  Latin,  Gommonitio  ad  Germanos, 
with  a  prefieiM  by  Melanothon. 

*  Lather's  Werke :  Altenb.     Menzel,  torn.  i.  pp.  428,  424. 


luthbb's  policy.  369 

invasor,  alind  transgressor ;'  such  is  rebellion.  To  resist,  then, 
these  bloodhounds,  is  not  rebellion ;  papist  and  oppressor  are 
synonymous  terms.  That  is  rebellion  which  has  neither  human 
nor  divine  law  on  its  side,  but  wickedly  resembles  a  murderer 
and  madman.'^ ^ 

How  quickly  have  dried  these  tears  which  Melancthon  shed 
at  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  when  that  fierce  puritan  Bruck  opposed 
all  plans  of  reconciliation  with  the  Catholics  !  Were  they  not, 
then,  merely  hypocritical,  as  Gochlisus  said  ?  At  Wittemberg, 
Luther  dares  to  ask  his  disciple  for  a  pre&ce  to  his  '^  Warning 
to  the  Germans  ;''*  and  Melancthon  unhesitatingly  complies  with 
the  request !  He  consents  to  inscribe  his  name  on  the  first  page 
of  a  diatribe,  in  which  the  red  hat  of  a  cardinal  is  constantly 
called  a  hat  of  blood ;  in  which  the  pope  is  designated  a  mad 
dog;  and  Catholics  are  insulted,  anathematized  in  this  world, 
and  damned  in  the  next  as  idolaters  and  murderers !  He  ought 
to  hide  his  fiice. 

Were  we  less  acquainted  with  the  Saxon  monk,  we  should 
perhaps  be  astonished  by  his  appeal  to  rebellion,  drawn  up  in 
terms  so  transparent  by  one  who,  instead  of  a  manger,  cradled 
his  Christianity  in  ducal  ermine.  But  of  whom  has  he  to  be 
afiraid  ?  if  necessary,  to  defend  him  we  should  see  arise  all  the 
princes  whom  he  has  enriched  with  the  plunder  of  the  churches 
and  the  monasteries,  the  great  and  powerful  lords,  who  would 
prefer  open  revolution  to  restitution.  The  Protestant  princes  at 
Schmalkalden  have  concluded  a  league  offensive  and  defensive. 
They  have  protested  against  the  elecjaon  of  Ferdinand  to  the 
title  of  king  of  the  Romans,  and  on  all  sides  are  preparing  for 
battle.'  Already  some  of  the  electors  are  privately  arranging  an 
alliance  with  Francis  I.,  thus  sacrificing  the  greatest  glory  of  a 
people, — ^its  nationality.  Daily  new  cities  withdraw  firom  the 
Teutonic  confederacy ;  Eslingen  and  Heilbronn  have  agreed  to 
the  convention  of  Spires  ;  Henry  VIII.  has  renounced  Catholi- 


'  MenzeFs  Nenere  Geaohichte,  &o.  torn.  i.  p.  425.    Luther's  Werke :  Leipzig, 
torn.  zx.  p.  807. 

*  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Wamang  an  seine  lieben  Deutschen,  Fhilippi  Me- 
lanchthon's  Yorrede. 

'  M.  Michelet^  M^m.  de  Luther,  torn.  iii.  p.  22. 

VOL.  IL  2  B 


870  HtSTORT   OF  LUTHER. 

cism,  and  the  Turks  are  within  a  few  days'  march  from  the  capital 
of  Austria.     Accordingly,  Lather  has  nothing  to  fear. 

A  Catholic  of  Dresden  had  the  courage  to  denounce  to  Oer- 
many  the  seditious  doctrines  of  the  "  Warning."  He  attacked 
Luther  to  his  face,  stripped  the  wily  monk  of  his  serpent-skin, 
exposed  the  latent  venom  of  his  pamphlet,  and  held  ,\if  to  con- 
tempt the  political  and  doctrinal  versatilities  of  his  adversary. 
This  Dresden  writer  was  a  deep  thinker,  a  warm-hearted  German, 
a  prophet  for  whom  God,  as  He  often  does,  had  lifted  a  comer 
of  the  veil  which  conceals  futurifcy. 

Luther  answered  him  in  his  usual  style,  steeped  in  gall  and 
wormwood ;  ^  he  revived  his  exhausted  chimera  of  popery  to  alarm 
the  Germans. 

**  The  Papists/'  says  he,  ''  vend  at  Leipsic  a  disgraceful  and 
anonymous  pamphlet  against  me ;  from  whom  it  proceeds  no  one 
knows,  and  I  care  not  to  know  either ;  for  once  I  wish  to  have 
the  catarrh  to  he  unable  to  smell  the  rascal.  But  I  shall  beat 
upon  the  sack  ;  let  the  ass  beware !  If  I  hit  him,  it  will  not  be 
the  ass  but  the  sack  that  I  have  beaten. 

'^  When  my  adversary  says  that  I  urge  the  Germans  to  rebel- 
lion, he  lies  like  an  arrant  knave,  like  a  real  Papist  My  books 
are  publicly  sold  with  my  name  distinctly  attached  to  them.  What 
have  I  said  ? — that  if  the  emperor  wishes  to  war  against  God,  we 
ought  to  refuse  him  obedience.  What  of  that  ?  He  translates 
this  as  if  I  had  taught  that  we  ought  in  every  case  to  refuse 
to  obey  the  emperor  and  the  authorities.  Tou  will  see  that 
St  Maurice  and  his  glorious  knights  are  eternally  damned  for 
having  refiosed  to  obey  the  emperor,  and  fight  against  the  Lord. 
But  know,  that  when  Luther  speaks  of  disobedience,  it  is  towards 
the  tyrants  who  set  themselves  against  God." 

Luther  sets  himself  to  depict  the  outrages  of  the  Catholic  princes 
agsdnst  the  disciples  of  the  Gk>spel.  He  points  out  these  dogs  who 
thirst  for  the  blood  of  the  Christians,  and  are  known  by  the  name 
of  pope,  cardinab,  bishops,  priests,  and  monks,  as  ready  to  strangle 
every  Lutheran ;  and  he  asks  if  these  martyrs  whom  they  seek  to 
cast  to  the  beasts  of  the  amphitheatre  should  sit  with  their  arms 


*  Wider  den  Menchler  in  Drefiden,  Luther's  Werke :   Leipzig,  torn, 
p.  38a« 


Luther's  policy.  371 

folded,  and  suffer  themselves  to  be  slain  like  sheep  led  to  the 
slaughterhouse.  '^  No,  no/'*>he  says,  '^  I,  the  priest  of  the  Lord, 
ought  to  bear  all  that,  but  for  the  others  I  cannot  allow  the 
i^rants  so  to  use  them :  expect,  yon  bloodhounds,  to  be  treated  as 
murderers.  No,  no,  you  know  well  that  a  Lutheran  who  pro- 
tects himself  against  these  murderers  is  not  a  rebel. 

''  For  more  than  ten  years  I  haye  caressed  them  and  humbled 
myself :  to  what  purpose  ?  Has  not  my  patience  only  made  them 
worse,  as  it  once  did  the  peasants  ?  Well,  since  they  continue 
impenitent ;  since  their  only  desire  is  evil ;  since  they  are 
abandoned  by  God,  henceforward  let  them  not  expect  from  me 
one  word  of  pity ;  I  shall  follow  them  to  the  grave  with  my 
imprecations  and  anathemas  ;  I  shall  ring  their  fnneral-kneU 
with  the  thunders  and  lightning  of  my  wrath  !  ^ 

''  For  I  can  no  longer  pray  without  cursing.  If  I  say,  '  Hal- 
lowed be  thy  name ! '  I  add,  '  Cursed,  0  my  Ood  !  be  the  name 
of  Papist,  and  all  those  who  blaspheme  Thee  I'  If  I  say,  '  Thy 
kingdom  come,'  I  add,  '  Cursed  and  destroyed  be  the  papacy,  and 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  who  rise  ikgainst  Thee,  0  my  Gh)d  l' 
If  I  say,  '  Thy  will  be  done  ! '  I  add,  '  Cursed  and  annihilated 
be  the  designs  of  the  Papists,  and  of  all  those  who  fight  against 
Thee,  0  my  Gk>d  ! '  Such  is  my  daily  prayer,  the  prayer  of  my 
lips  and  of  my  heart,  and  I  hope  it  will  be  heard ;  for  I  am  a 
gentle,  mild,  and  loving  Christian,  as  my  enemies  know  by 
experience."* 

To  what  must  we  ascribe  these  transports  of  fury  which  inces- 
santly recur  in  the  Reformer's  polemics  ?  To  that  feverish  over- 
excitement  in  which  his  struggle  with  the  Catholics  always  kept 
him,  say  the  Protestant  historians  of  our  time.  They  know  not 
Luther  ;  anger  with  him  is  not  always  the  spontaneous  effusion 
of  a  distempered  brain ;  it  frequency  falls  from  his  pen  like  a 
cipher.  Read  attentively  his  ''  Warning  to  the  Oermans,''  his 
reply  to  the  murderer  of  Dresden,  his  commentaries  on  the  edict 
of  Charles  V.  at  Augsburg,  and  you  will  find  in  them  a  display 
of  coarse  expressions,  a  parade  of  furious  epithets,  a  proud  luxury 
of  insulting  synonyms,  which  savour  of  the  orator,  and  which  he 

*  "  Hoc  oonvitiorum  ezecrationiimque  tonitm  ao  fulgar  erit  mibi  campa- 
narum  instar,  quibus  ad  sepolturam  ipsoram  insonabo." 
'  Luther*8  Werke :  Leipzig,  torn.  xx.  p.  344. 

2b2 


372  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

has  collected  in  his  dictionary  by  dint  of  search  ;  he  is  a  scholar 
who  labours  at  his  theme  with  his  lexicon  in  his  hand. 

Germany  was  not  duped  by  the  art  with  which  Luther  handled 
insults,  pretty  much  as  the  sculptor  handles  stone, — ^plasticly. 
From  all  quarters  he  was  asked  to  express  himself  more  clearly, 
and  to  reply  distinctly  to  this  question  :  "  Are  we  entitled  to  wage 
war  with  the  emperor  ? "  They  remembered  that  a  few  years  pre- 
viously it  had  been  submitted  to  Luther  in  nearly  similar  terms, 
and  that  he  had  declared  that,  as  subjects  of  Caesar,  the  princes 
could  not  war  with  Gsesar,  not  even  with  Caesar's  subjects.^ 
They  accordingly  waited  wi&  mischievous  curiosity  for  Luther's 
answer :  they  soon  received  it. 

"  If  the  emperor  wars  with  us,  he  either  wishes  to  destroy  our 
religion,  or  prohibit  the  free  exercise  of  it  If  such  is  his  design, 
Charles  loses  his  right  as  emperor,  and  becomes  a  mere  tyrant. 
It  is,  then,  useless  to  ask  if  we  may  have  recourse  to  arms  to 
defend  our  &ith,  in  other  terms,  the  word  of  Christ  It  is  a 
duty  to  fight  for  our  wives,  our  children,  our  servants,  and  our 
dependants. 

'^  If  I  live  a  little  longer,  I  shall  demonstrate  that  we  are  obliged 
to  defend  ourselves  against  a  powerful  injustice.  First,  let  us 
not  forget  that  the  emperor  is  the  head  of  the  body  in  the  tem- 
poral kingdom,  and  that  each  individual  is  a  member  of  the  social 
body,  which  he  is  bound  to  defend  and  protect ;  for,  if  he  for- 
sakes it,  he  in  a  manner  commits  suicide. 

"  The  emperor  is  not  the  only  monarch  in  Oermany ;  there  are 
other  princes  who  are  the  living  members  of  the  empire.  The 
duty  of  each  of  them  is  to  watch  over  the  welfare  of  the  state. 
If,  therefore,  the  emperor  should  invade  the  liberties  of  Germany, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  princes  to  resist  him. 

*'  But  can  the  emperor  depose  the  prince  electors  ?  and  can 
these  princes,  in  their  turn,  depose  the  emperor  ? 

**  Here  an  important  distinction  presents  itself.  There  is  in 
every  person  a  real  duality :  he  is  a  Christian  and  a  citizen.     As 


*  "  Aller  FUraten  TJnterthanen  Beyen^ach  des  ELajsera  Untertbanen,  ja  mehr 
denn  der  Ftinten,  and  es  schicke  sioh  nicht»  daas  Jemand  mit  Gewalt  des 
Kaysen  TJnterthanen  wider  den  Kayeer,  ihren  Herm,  Bchtitze.  Gleichwie 
dich'a  nicht  zieme,  dais  der  Btlrgermeister  in  Torgau  woUte  die  Burger  mit 
Gewalt  aobUtzen  wider  den  CbarfUisten  zu  Saohsen^  so  laoge  erChurfUrst  sei." 
— ^Menzel,  torn.  i.  p.  290,  note. 


Luther's  policy.  S73 

a  Christian,  he  neither  eats,  drinks,  prosecutes,  nor  has  any  part 
in  the  temporal  government  of  the  nation  ;  he  mnst  therefore 
suffer  and  endure  eveijthing. 

''  As  a  citizen,  he  must  protect  and  defend  himself  and  all 
belonging  to  him,  in  virtue  of  the  obedience  which  he  owes  to 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom. 

'^  Let  a  wretch  attempt  to  offer  violence  to  my  daughter,  I  kill 
him,  or  call  for  assistance :  the  duality  becomes  effaced  ;  in  my 
person  there  is  nothing  but  an  individual,  the  outraged  father, 
the  citizen. 

''  Then  let  us  remember,  that  if  the  emperor  attacks  us,  he 
does  not  act  motu  proprio,  but  is  the  instrument  of  tyranny,  the 
slave  of  the  pope  and  the  Soman  idolatry  ;  it  is  therrfore  against 
the  pope  that  we  rebel,  and  not  against  the  emperor. 

**  They  will  say  :  *  But  David,  chosen  by  God  to  be  king,  and 
consecrated  by  Samuel,  would  not  resist  King  Saul;  therefore 
we  ought  not  to  resist  the  emperor.^ 

''Once  more  let  us  observe  the  distinction.  David  at  that 
time  was  not  king,  he  had  only  the  sovereignty  in  expectation  ; 
so,  in  a  similar  case,  we  do  not  take  arms  against  Saul,  but 
against  Absalom,  with  whom  David  went  to  war,  and  who  fell  by 
the  hand  of  Joab/'^ 

It  seems  that  Luther  could  not  determine  more  clearly  the 
right  of  every  citizen  to  rebel  against  his  prince.  Some  of  his 
disciples,  however,  who  felt  their  consciences  affected,  urged  him 
again  to  express  himself  categorically. 

•  Luther  replied  to  Linck :  ''  No,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  not 
given  advice  to  those  who  ask  me  if  they  may  resist  the  emperor. 
But  as  they  say  that  a  theologian  has  nothing  to  do  in  this 
matter,  of  which  the  solution  belongs  to  the  jurist,  I  have  said : 
'  If  the  jurists  can  demonstrate  that  they  can  lawfully  make  war 
with  the  emperor,  I  am  of  opinion  that  they  should  obey  the  law.' 
I  admit  that  the  prince,  as  prince,  represents  a  political  indivi- 
duality, and  that,  in  the  sphere  of  his  princely  rights,  he  does 
not  act  as  Christian."* 

To  Spongier  :    "  '  Render  to   Caesar  the  things  which  are 


1  Propos  de  Table,  translated  by  M.  G.  Bronet,  p.  183  et  aeq. 
'  Wenceelao  Linck,  15  Jan.  1831.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  213. 


374     ,  HISTOBY   OF  LUTHEB. 

Caesar's/  Now,  what  is  Gsesar's  is  to  resist  him  when  he  pre- 
scribes what  is  unjust.  I  say :  We  must  obey  all  that  G»8ar 
or  the  law  has  established.  Now  the  law  in  each  case  prescribes 
resistance ;  ergoy  &c.  We  lay  down  the  major  proposition, — 
that  we  must  obey  the  sword  in  matters  poUticd ;  the  minor 
we  neither  maintain  nor  wish  to  know.  I  therefore  draw  no 
conclusion  ;  that  is  the  province  of  the  jurists.  If  they  prove 
the  minor, — ^and  that  does  not  concern  us, — we  cannot  reject 
the  conclusion,  since  we  prove  the  major."  ^ 

And  somewhat  later,  to  John  Lubeck,  minister  of  the  ''  Word" 
in  Gotbus,  when  the  question  of  right  of  resistance  is  before 
him : — 

'^  If  it  is  lawful  to  resist  or  make  war  with  the  Turks,  much 
more  is  it  with  the  pope,  who  is  worse  than  the  Turks.  Now  if 
Caasar  should  enrol  himself  in  the  service  of  the  Turks  or  of  the 
pope,  let  him  reap  the  fruits  of  his  conduct.  In  such  a  case,  our 
friends  are  of  opinion  that  Caesar  is  no  longer  Caesar,  but  the 
constable  and  soldier  of  the  pope.  When  King  Joachim  wished 
to  slay  Jeremias,  the  princes  of  Abikam  resisted  his  sanguinary 
orders.  Now,  our  German  princes  are  more  independent  of  the 
emperor  than  the  princes  of  Abikam  were  of  King  Joachim  ;  he 
is  not  an  absolute  monarch ;  he  cannot  confiscate  to  his  own  use 
the  authority  of  the  electors,  and  alter  the  constitution  of  Ger- 
many, without  their  being  entitled  to  resist  him."* 

We  confess  that  we  are  unable  to  understand  how  Doctor  de 
Wette,  who  has  collected  with  such  pious  care  the  letters  which 
we  have  quoted,  was  not  afraid  to  write,  in  the  face  of  Germany,  • 


*  '' I^ate  Ccesari  qu»  sunt  Gssaria,  et  Ceeaaris  est  sibi  reBistendum  esse  in 
notorib  injustis.  Qiiiquid  statuit  Cesar  seu  lex  Cssaris,  est  servandmn.  Sed 
lex  Btatuit  resistere  sibi  in  tali  casa.  Ergo  resistendum  est,  etc.  None  mi^'o- 
rem  nos  haotenus  doouimus :  qubd  sit  obediendum  gladio  in  rebus  politieis. 
Sed  mlnorem  nos  neque  asserimus,  neqne  soimas.  . . .  Qn6d  si  juristss  minorem 
probaverint  de  quo  nihil  ad  nos,  non  possamus  conclusionem  negare  qui  docui- 
mus  majorem."— Lazaro  Spenglero,  15  Feb.  1581.    De  Wette,  torn.  iu.  p.  222. 

*  "Si  igitar  licet  contra  Turcam  bellare,  seu  se  defendere,  malt6  magis 
contrk  papam  qui  pejor  est.  Qu6d  si  Gassar  sese  misouerit  inter  pape  vel 
Turcae  militiam,  expetet  sortem  tali  militiA  dignum.  Ideb  nostri  judicftmnt 
Os«arem  in  hoc  casu  Ceesarem  non  esse,  sed  miUtem  et  latrmiem  pape.  .  .  .  £t 
cum  rex  Joiaklm  vellet  Jeremiam  occidere,  restiterunt  principes  Abikam  et 
alii.  Jam  principes  Germaniie  plus  juris  habent  contrk  Csesarem  quam  popu- 
lus  Abikam  contrit  Jo][akim."-^ohanni  Lubeck,  ministro  verbi  in  Cotbos, 
8  Fob.  1539.     De  Wette,  1.  c.  fom.  v.  pp.  159—161. 


luthbe's  policy.  375 

''  The  Gospel  makes  obedience  even  to  unjust  powers  a  duty, 
and  Luther  incessantly  preached  it/'^ 

At  the  time  when  Luther  fatigued  his  hand  in  heaping  up 
against  the  Catholics  the  worn-out  abuses  of  Gelsus  and  Por- 
phyry, he  addressed  to  the  nuns  of  Bissa  two  letters,  in  which 
his  filthy  fancy  difiuses  itself  in  imagery  exclusively  his  own. 
We  recognise  in  them  the  priest  who  five  years  ago  discoursed 
upon  marriage.  He  again  descants  upon  those  painful  neces- 
sities for  sexual  intercourse,  which  he  so  warmly  painted  in  the 
pulpit ;  and,  to  show  that  the  creature  is  obliged  to  give  way  to 
those  carnal  appetites  which  impel  the  sexes  irresistibly  towards 
each  other,  he  sketches  the  life  which  he  supposes  to  be  led  by 
the  sisters  at  Rissa.  We  shall  only  give  here  the  superscription 
of  one  of  those  letters :  ''  To  the  mother  abbess  of  the  brothel  at 
Rissa  !"*  On  hearing  of  this  epistle,  which  a  market-porter  at 
Wittemberg  would  not  have  dared  to  write,  George  of  Saxony 
felt  his  face  flush,  and  complained  like  a  soldier  to  John  the 
elector  of  this  outrage  by  Luther.  The  elector  was  ashamed, 
and  sharply  reprimanded  his  prot^g6^  who  on  this  occasion  had 
the  courage  to  lie  and  deny  the  letter. 

Now  the  original,  entirely  autograph  of  the  monk,  remains 
between  two  blank  leaves  in  the  historical  archives  of  Weimar. 

While  writing  these  lines,  we  have  before  us  some  eloquent 
pages  firom  the  pen  of  C.  H.  L.  Poelitz,  of  Leipsic,  on  the  spirit 
of  liberty  which  the  Reformation  developed. 

"  Hail,  0  sacred  liberty ! "  exclaims  the  doctor.  **  It  is  for 
thee  that  the  apostles  contended,  the  martyrs  shed  their  blood  ; 
for  thee  Arnold  of  Brescia  and  Peter  of  Vaud  raised  their  voices  ; 
for  thee  John  Huss  was  burnt ;  for  thee  Luther  was  put  to  the 
ban  of  the   mpire."' 

M.  Poel;  z  has  not,  then,  heard  the  cries  uttered  simultaneously 
by  the  Sacramentarians,  Anabaptists,  and  all  the  sects  who 


^  "  Grelionam  gegen  die  Obrigkeit,  nnd  selbst  die  nngerechte,  gebietet  freilich 
dii8  Evangelium,  und  Luther  weiBS  dies  nicht  genug  einziucharfen." — Ueber 
den  seltlichen  Greist  der  Refbrmation  in  Beziehung  auf  nnsere  Zeit.  Before 
matjona-  A  Imanach,  1817,  p.  257. 

'  An  den  Hurenwirth,  an  die  Hurenwirthin  in  Riiusa. 

'  Die  Aebnlicbkeit  des  Kampfee  um  bttrgerlicbe  und  politische  Freiheit  in 
unsenn  Zeitalter.     SO  Oct.  1817. 


376  HISTORY   OF  LUTHBB. 

demand  firom  Luther  that  liberty  of  conscience  which  he  pro- 
mised at  the  banning  of  his  apostleship  ? 

The  Anabaptists,  weary  of  waiting,  came  to  the  determination 
of  making  prevail  by  force  of  arms  tiiat  "  Word  of  God"  which 
Wittemberg  desired  to  stifle. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  ANABAPTISTS.    1584—1586. 

Foroed  to  leave  Augsburg  tmlieard,  they  enter  Westphj^ia.— Minister  reoeiyes 
them. — Rothmann  diaturbB  the  city  hj  his  preachings. — Description  of  him. 
— Melchior  Hoffinann. — John  of  Leyden  is  proclaimed  king  of  Mnnster. — 
Riots  caused  by  the  Anabaptists  in  tiiat  city. — ^They  establish  community  of 
goods  there. — It  is  besieged  by  Bishop  WaJdeck. — Is  captured. — ^Execution 
of  the  prophets. — David  Gkorge  or  Jons.— The  Anabaptists  chatge  Luther 
with  the  evils  which  stain  Germany  with  blood. 

Anabaptists,  Zwinglians,  Lutherans,  Caxlstadians,  and  Buce- 
rians,  all  assembled  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg.^  The  Anabaptists 
were  the  most  fervid  ;  on  the  very  day  of  their  arrival,  without 
having  obtained  permission  from  the  senators,  who  were  nearly 
all  Lutherans,^  they  opened  conferences,  whence  they  sent 
forth  a  daring  defiance  to  those  who  differed  from  them.  A 
Lutheran  having  accepted  the  challenge,  inquired  of  the  Ana- 
baptist, "  From  whom  have  you  received  mission  to  preach  V — 
"Prom  whom?"  replied  the  Anabaptist;  "do  you  not,  then, 
know  the  book  which  your  master  says  he  has  been  reading  all 
his  life  ?  Now,  what  is  yrritten  in  this  inspired  volume  ? — that 
the  charity  of  Christ  is  a  sufficient  warrant  to  preach  his  word/' 

To  prove  that  the  Lutherans  had  not  this  testimony  of  which 
the  apostle  speaks,  the  Anabaptist  gave  a  satiric  sketch  of  the 
morals  of  the  Reformers.  He  represented  the  disciples  of  the  new 
gospel  scaling  convents  and  carrying  off  the  nuns,  making  merry 
with  them  in  taverns,  cramming  themselves  with  meat  and  wine, 
and  indulging  in  all  licentiousness.     The  people  laughed. 

'  Mesh.  lib.  v.  cap.  xv.  xviii.  &c. 

^  Senatus  eoim  ferb  totus  Lutheranus. — Ibid. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS.  377 

But  the  Lutheran  seized  the  moment  when  the  laugh  ceased 
to  answer  his  adversary.^ 

''  Apostle  of  iniquity,  you  corrupt  St.  Paul,  you  blaspheme  the 
Gospel  Doubtless  all  Christians  ought  to  practise  the  works  of 
charity  ;  but  every  Christian  is  not  called  to  announce  the  divine 
word.  To  disseminate  it,  you  must  have  other  titles  and  another 
mission  than  holiness  and  love  for  your  neighbours/' 

"Vocation,  without  doubt,"  returned  the  Anabaptist;  "I 
understand  you ;  but  tell  me  from  whom  you  have  it  ?" 

"  From  the  magistrates  ;  it  is  from  them  that  we  have  received 
authority  to  publish  the  Gospel" 

"  And  I  from  our  churches  ;  are  not  our  churches  as  good  as 
your  magistrates  ?  Open,  then,  our  common  book,  which  is  for 
you  a  dead  letter,  but  for  us  the  life  ;  where  do  you  find  in  it 
that  Christ  has  bestowed  on  the  magistrates  the  power  of  sending 
apostles,  and  of  saying  to  them,  '  Go,  preach,  announce  the  word 
of  life,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  men  V  " 

Then  the  Anabaptist  became  inspired,  lifted  his  eyes,  seemed 
as  it  were  absorbed,  and  then,  with  the  voice  of  a  prophet,  an- 
nounced that  he  came  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  had  appeared 
to  him  in  a  dream,  and  said  :  "  Arise,  take  the  road  of  Augsburg ; 
lo,  I  shall  be  with  thee  on  the  way,  I  shall  precede  thee,  as  the 
bright  star  went  before  the  wise  men.  I  shall  put  wisdom  in 
thy  mouth ;  thou  shalt  preach  my  word  to  the  people  of  the 
imperial  city ;  I  shall  soften  their  hearts,  and  streams  of  honey 
shall  flow  from  thy  lips." 

Generally  some  police,  sent  by  the  senate,  put  a  stop  to  these 
religious  exhibitions  ;  the  Anabaptist  descended  from  the  pulpit, 
and  went  to  excite  the  people  in  some  other  quarter. 

Elsewhere  another  preacher,  who  came  from  Munster,  assem- 
bled his  audience  to  a  conference  in  the  open  air.  He  was  one 
of  the  thousand  theologians  called  into  life  by  the  sun  of  this 
new  Sion  of  modem  times,  which  was  reverenced  in  their  dreams 
by  all  those  sectaries  whose  minds  Luther  had  unsettled.  These 
fanatics  wished  to  play  the  part  of  the  Saxon,  called  themselves 
prophets,  and  gave  themselves  the  names  of  Elias,  Enoch,  and 

'  All  theee  arguments  had  been  recently  repeated  in  a  disputation  which  took 
place  at  Strasburg,  in  1532,  between  the  Lutherans  and  Anabaptists.  See 
Bullinger,  Adversus  Anabaptistas,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xiii. 


378  HTBTOBY  OF  LUTHBR. 

Moses ;  poor  creatares^  whose  brains  had  be^  tamed  by  the 
''  Captivity  in  Babylon  ;"  uninstracted  minds,  who  had  suddenly 
emerged  from  the  obscurity  in  which  they  should  have  died,  and 
who,  perverted  by  reading  heretical  works,  fiincied  themselves 
called  to  regenerate  the  world. 

From  being,  before  Luther's  appearance,  a  perfect  Thebais, 
quietly  resting  under  the  direction  of  its  pastors,^  Munster 
suddenly  became  a  city  of  confusion  and  disturbance,  restless, 
uneasy  in  its  obscurity,  and  aspiring  to  be  the  rival  of  Wittem- 
berg.  It  was  rich  and  commercial,  and  had  cultivated  literature 
with  considerable  success.  Its  university  had  acquired  some 
fiEune  in  the  learned  world.  It  loved  antiquity,  especially  Greece, 
whose  poets  it  had  interpreted  or  elucidated.  This  was  its 
passion,  until  the  time  when  it  opened  its  gates  to  the  Saxon's 
disciples ;  then  that  city — half-Oreek,  half-Latin,  by  its  man- 
ners and  instincts — ^threw  itself  into  the  theological  controversy, 
and  its  professors  abandoned  the  study  of  Cicero  and  Homer, 
to  become  interpreters  of  the  sacred  volume.  God  knows 
what  novelties  they  discovered  in  these  inspired  writings  which 
our  priests  had  never  taught !  Then,  dl  the  classic  divi- 
nities fled  from  Munster,  like  swallows  in  the  spring,  but 
never  to  return  to  it;  and  in  their  place  came  a  punctilious 
theology,  to  disturb  the  peace  of  students,  professors,  and 
people. 

At  this  moment  appeared  a  pretended  restorer  of  the  Oospd 
text.  Bernard  Rothmann,  curate  of  St.  Maurice-without-the- 
walls,  had  for  some  time  begun  to  teach  Luther's  doctrines. 
The  senate,  who  dreaded  his  seductive  preaching,  ordered  him  to 
leave  the  city  and  go  to  Cologne  to  study  theology,  which  he 
had  not  sufficiently  cultivated.  Rothmann  departed,  taking 
with  him  a  considerable  sum  which  he  had  received  for  com- 
pleting his  studies,  and  which  he  spent  on  the  way.  He  went 
to  Wittemberg,  where  he  frequently  saw  Luther.  On  his  return 
to  Munster,  he  resumed  in  his  church  his  religious  conferences, 
less  to  attack  the  doctrines  than  the  person  of  the  Catholic  priest 
On  the  feast  of  St.  Lambert,  the  Franciscan  John  of  Deventer 
had  preached  upon  purgatory :  at  the  conclusion  of  his  discourse 


*  Meshovius,  lib.  vi. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS.  879 

Rothmann  excited  the  passers-by  agaixmt  the  firiar,  whom  he 
denounced  as  an  infidel  and  son  of  perdition.  The  bishop  sus- 
pended him^  but  Bothmann  set  the  prelate's  threats  at  open 
defiance,  and  sketched  out  thirty  articles  of  belief  which  every 
Christian  must  adopt  if  he  wished  to  gain  heayen.  The 
rector  of  St  Maurice  closed  the  church  doors  against  the  mad 
preacher  ;  but  beside  the  church  was  a  charnel-house,  in  which, 
by  means  of  some  rotten  planks,  Bothmann  soon  erected  a  tem- 
porary pulpit,  whence  he  thundered  against  the  images.  Scarcely 
had  the  preacher  concluded  his  dithyrambic,  when  his  audience 
rushed  into  the  churches,  and  broke  down  the  altars. 

But  Bothmann  had  be^  in  a  special  manner  seduced  by 
Zwinglius.  He  was  a  thorough  fanatic  of  the  tropical  sense 
revealed  to  the  curate  of  Einsiedlin.  To  defame  the  Catholic 
d(^ma,  he  mixed  in  the  same  dish  bread  and  wine,  of  which  he 
made  a  sort  of  porridge,  which  he  distributed  to  his  communi- 
cants. On  one  occasion,  to  prove  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  not 
under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine,  he  took  a  consecrated  wafer, 
which  he  broke  and  trampled  under  foot,  exclaiming,  ^^  Where 
then  is  the  flesh  and  blood  ?  If  God  were  there,  you  would  see 
him  rise  from  the  ground,  and  take  his  place  on  the  altar."  ^ 

Generally  of  an  evening,  Bothmann  and  some  of  his  disciples 
met  in  the  gardens  of  the  syndic  Wigger,  to  discuss  the  articles 
of  the  new  creed  which  should  rule  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the 
empire  of  which  God  was  to  give  to  his  disciple?  Among  his 
auditors  was  the  syndic's  wife,  who  was  seized  with  a  violent 
passion  for  Bothmann,  whom  she  married  after  getting  rid  of  her 
husband  by  poison.^ 

*  "  Anfimgs  hatte  er  Semmel  and  Wein  in  eine  groBBe  SchiiMel  geiluui,  nnd 
die  Communicanten  darauB  zugreifen  laaeen.  NachmaU  hielt  er  das  Abend- 
mahl  mit  Oblaten,  war  aber  so  eifrig  dabei  die  Lehre  von  der  leiblichen 
Gegenwart  zu  widerlegen,  dan  er  wohl  die  Oblaten  zerbrach  nnd  mit  den 
Worten  zur  Erde  warf :  Seht,  wo  ist  hier  Blut  und  Fleisoh  ?  Wenn  das  Gott 
ware,  wUrde  er  sich  wohl  von  der  Erde  aufheben  and  an  den  Altar  stellen/'— - 
Bopii^  Wahrhaftige  Historie  wie  das  Evangelium  zu  MUnster  ange&ngen : 
1536. 

'  ''Habebant  conjogem  mirabilem  qnie  coepit  inaanire  amore  Bothmanni, 
quapropter  et  Tiram  yeneno  interemit." — Looorum  commanium  collectanea 
k  Johanne  Manlio  exoerpta,  p.  488.  M.  Banke,  in  the  third  volume  of  his 
History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  657,  note,  finds  a  mat  analogy  between  the 
religious  doctrine  which  Rothmann  professed  in  his  von  tidliker  nod  irdischer 
Gewalt,  and  that  which  Robespierre  proclaimed  on  8  June,  1794. 


380  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

Meanwhile  some  Anabaptists,  expelled  from  different  parts  of 
Qennany,  came  for  shelter  to  Monster :  they  were  disciples  of 
Melchior  Hofimann,  the  prophet  of  Soabia,  who  for  some  time 
had  exhibited  his  foolish  ecstasies  in  Belgium  and  Holland.^ 
They  had  several  conferences  with  Rothmann,  who,  convinced  by 
their  aigoments,  or  perhaps  irritated  with  Luther  for  condemning 
the  disturbances  at  Monster,  became  a  convert  to  Anabaptism 
and  one  of  its  most  enthusiastic  aposties.  Bat  this  fresh 
apostasy  injored  his  fortunes.  John  Bockelson,  tailor  at  Leyden, 
and  John  Mattys,  brass-foonder  at  Haerlem,  who  had  recently 
come  to  Monster,  and  boasted  of  an  intimate  commonication 
with  the  Deity,  soon  became  the  idols  of  the  popolace.  As  Hoff- 
mann, who  had  for  some  weeks  retomed  to  Monster,  had  a 
ready,  ornate,  and  extempore  flow  of  langoage,  and  was  pretty 
well  versed  in  the  Scriptores,  Bockelson,  who  soon  assumed  the 
name  of  John  of  Leyden,  selected  him  f(v  his  (»rator  and 
secretary.  Henry  Rolle,  a  monk  of  Haerlem,  gave  the  signal 
for  those  epileptic  scenes,  in  which  the  wretched  inhabitants  of 
Monster  were  for  so  long  to  discover  divine  manifestations.  He 
rolled  on  the  groond,  twisted  aboot  his  arms,  roared,  foamed,  and 
with  mod-stained  lips  called  upon  Christ ;  and  Christ,  according 
to  the  fanatics,  immediately  descended  from  heaven.  The  crisis 
ceased,  and  the  demoniac  announced  that  God  had  appeared  to 
bim,  and  ttjat  it  was  now  time  to  do  penance.  To  do  penance, 
m\E  to  demolish  the  churches,  raze  the  monasteries,  break  the 
imag^,  and  melt  the  sacred  vessels  to  distribute  the  money 
obtained  for  them  to  the  poor ;  to  pillage  the  rich,  and  hasten 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  where  the  children  of 
God  should  have  community  of  goods  and  wives.  Another 
prophet  fell  with  his  face  to  the  ground,  and  from  the  gutter  in 
which  he  rolled,  announced  that  God  commanded  the  people  of 
Monster  to  choose  John  of  Leyden  for  their  head  ;  and  Munster 
had  its  king.^ 

John  of  Leyden  soon  had  a  royal  mansion ;  before  him  walked 
two  young  men  of  family,  one  bearing  his  majesty's  crown,  the 
other  hm  bare  sword ;   and  in  the  public  square  was  set  a 


*  Bjinke,  1.  c.  tort.  iii.  p.  631. 
Meozel,  Neuere  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  torn.  ii.  p.  52. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS.  381 

tbrone,  covered  with  cloth  of  gold,  on  which  he  sat  to  administer 
justice. 

On  the  27th  February  the  Anabaptists  assembled  at  the  town- 
halL  Whilst  they  knelt  in  prayer,  the  prophet  appeared  to  be 
plunged  in  a  deep  sleep  ;  suddenly  John  of  Leyden  awoke,  and 
casting  a  wild  look  on  the  multitude,  declared  that  Ood  had 
revealed  to  him  his  divine  will.  '^  Away  with  the  children  of 
Esau,^'  he  exclaimed,  '^  the  Lord's  inheritance  belongs  to  the 
children  of  Jacob/'  Then  the  multitude,  as  if  it  had  received 
a  message  from  heaven,  cried  with  one  voice :  ''  Away  with  the 
children  of  Esau !"  and  all  the  Anabaptists  precipitately 
descended  the  ste|»  of  the  town-hall,  burst  open  the  doors  which 
were  closed  upon  them,  and  drove  before  them  all  who  refused  to 
be  re-baptized.  Eersenbroik,  an  eye-witness  of  those  frightful 
violences,  committed  at  the  time  when  a  hot  sun  was  melting  the 
snow  that  covered  the  ground,  depicts  to  us  the  poor  little 
children  holding  their  fathers'  hands,  mothers  carrying  in  their 
arms  their  new-bom  infants,  and  old  men  leaning  on  their 
staves,  who  at  the  city-gate  were  forcibly  deprived  of  their  last 
fruiihing  and  last  morsel  of  bread.^  The  Anabaptists  were 
masters  of  Munster. 

An  edict  was  issued  which,  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  his 
Gospel,*  commanded  that  all  the  churches  should  be  razed  to  the 
ground.  The  people  obeyed ;  and  a  mob,  who  asserted  them- 
selves to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  Gk>d,  might  be  seen  breaking 
with  axes  the  church-doors,  burning  the  organs  and  pulpits, 
dn^ng  the  statues  and  pictures  into  the  market-place,  where 
a  huge  fire  soon  reduced  them  to  ashes,  tearing  the  relics  from 
their  shrines,  tossing  to  the  winds  the  bones  of  the  early  martyrs, 
drinking  out  of  the  sacred  vessels,  and  ending,  by  the  light  of 
the  altar  candles,  by  frdfilling  in  the  sanctuary  the  injunction 
given  to  our  first  parents  to  increase  and  multiply. 

On  this  day  of  profanation,  Munster  was  styled  the  new  Sion, 
and  a  rescript  posted  by  order  of  John  of  Leyden,  decided  that 
as  only  one  book — the  Bible,  was  necessary  for  salvation,  all 
others  should  be  burnt  as  useless  or  dangerous.     Two  hours  after 


'  Keraenbroik,  Historia  Anabaptistica,  MSS. 
*  Catron,  Hist,  des  Anabaptistes,  book  ii. 


382  HISTORY  OF   LUTHER. 

the  library  of  Rodolph  Langins,  almost  entirely  oomposed  of  Greek 
and  Latin  manuscripts,  perished  in  the  flames.^ 

After  this  doable  victory  over  the  living  and  the  dead,  the 
Anabaptists  bethought  them  of  organization.  An  order  of  the 
prophet,  posted  and  proclaimed  in  every  street,  commanded  each 
inhabitant  to  carry  to  the  town-hall  iJl  the  gold  and  silver  he 
possessed:  this  was  obeyed  without  mormnr.  In  the  new 
society  no  one  conld  any  longer  have  private  property  :  all  goods 
were  common,  and  woman  was  considered  a  treasure  which  eyery 
member  might  enjoy.  The  titles  of  smith,  tailor,  and  shoe- 
maker were  considered  as  honourable  distinctions.  At  mid-day 
and  evening  large  tables  were  spread,  at  which  they  ate  together. 
To  eyery  table  a  brother  and  sister  were  appointed  to  serve  the 
guests  by  turns,  while  from  a  wooden  pulpit  one  of  the  number 
read  porfcions  of  the  Bible.^  Meanwhile,  a  few  of  the  citizens, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  goldsmith  named  Mollenhoech,  endea- 
youred  to  organize  an  opposition  to  the  prophets.  At  first  they 
were  somewhat  successful ;  but  the  people,  especially  the  opera- 
tives, who  had  tasted  the  sweets  of  life  without  labour,  united, 
attacked,  and  routed  Mollenh(ech's  associates,  after  a  sanguinary 
combat.  The  prophet's  vengeance  waa  terrible.  EnipperdoUing 
was  appointed  executioner :  and  every  morning  he  cut  off  the 
heads  of  some  of  the  vanquished.^ 

But  at  length  Ood  hstd  compassion  on  his  old  church  of 
Munster.  She  had  for  her  bishop  a  man  still  young,  of  masculine 
courage,  ready  if  needs  were,  when  his  chapter  made  it  a  law  for 
him,  to  gird  on  the  soldier's  sword  in  defence  of  his  flock.  At 
the  sight  of  those  German  prelates,  armed  from  head  to  foot 
and  bestriding  their  war-steeds,  our  surprise  is  great :  but  this 
astonishment  ceases  when  we  have  studied  the  constitution  of 
the  German  empire.     We  then  know  that  at  the  yoice  of  the 


*  MesbovitiB.     Catron,  Hist,  des  AnabaptisteSy  book  v.  p.  101. 

*  Ordinatio  politicl  Begiminis  k  12  senioribua  reoeDS  introducta  (§  9).  "  lit 
in  rebiiB  administrandifl  legitimus  seiretur  ordo,  pnefecti  hujus  rei,  officii  sai 
raemores,  ejtisdem  generis  fercula  usi  hactenus,  fieri  oonsuevit  dngulis  diebua 
fratribuB  sororibiuqne  in  disjunctia  et  disparatis  niensis  modesii  et  cum  vere- 
cundift  sedentibns  apponent."->KerBenbroik,  p.  218. 

%  *  '*  PoBne  exeontio  Knipperdollingo  committitur,  qui  singulis  diebus  aliquoe 
pro  arbitrio  sno  productos  et  tandem  ad  unum  omnes  capite  plecUt." — Ker- 
senbroik,  1.  o. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS.  383 

chapter,  the  bishop,  who,  in  those  remote  times,  both  blessed  and 
fought,  had  in  his  stables  a  horse  always  saddled,  and  armour 
ever  ready,  to  defend,  even  to  bloodshed,  the  rights  of  those 
under  his  authority.  The  new  bishop  was  the  count  of  Waldeck, 
who  laid  siege  to  Munster. 

The  besieged  believed  themselves  bound  to  strict  obedience  to 
John  of  Leyden,  as  to  another  Moses.  He  mustered  them  in 
the  public  square,  and  offering  to  them  a  piece  of  bread :  '^  Take 
this,"  he  said,  "  and  announce  the  Saviour's  death."  And 
men,  women,  and  children  threw  themselves  on  their  knees, 
munched  the  bread  which  the  prophet  gave  them,  drank  the  wine 
which  the  women  distributed  to  them,  and  rising  up,  exclaimed, 
"Here  we  are!"  "Will  you  obey  Gods  word?"  "Yes!" 
"Well  then,  our  heavenly  Father  orders  that  twenty-eight 
doctors  immediately  go  forth  to  teach  the  nations.  And  of  the 
thousand  who  offered  themselves,  six  set  out  for  Osnabui^h,  six 
for  Warenburg,  eight  for  Susat,  and  eight  for  Coiffeld.  They 
were  all  captured,  put  to  torture,  and  led  to  the  scaffold,  pouring 
forth  with  their  dying  breath  anathemas  on  all  unbelievers. 

The  city  was  sore  pressed :  the  people  were  famishing,  and 
one  of  John  of  Leyden's  wives  murmured  and  complained.  He 
led  her  to  the  market-place,  made  her  kneel  down,  cut  off  her 
head,  and  then  intoned  a  canticle  of  thanksgiving,  in  which  his 
other  queens  joined.^ 

Munster  could  hold  out  no  longer :  the  garrison,  decimated  by 
jhmine,  was  soon  reduced  to  eat  vermin,  and  men  were  appointed 
to  hunt  for  rats.  Every  sick  person  who  died  was  immediately 
devoured  ;  and  people  even  killed  their  children  and  ate  them.^ 
•  Spring  had  covered  the  ramparts  and  the  gardens  of  the  city 
with  a  little  verdure.  John  of  Leyden  caused  it  to  be  cut  and 
distributed  to  his  soldiers  ;  but  a  violent  wind,  accompanied  with 
snow  and  firost,  swept  away  those  blades  of  grass ;  and  had  the 
besi^ed  not  made  a  successful  sally,  in  spite  of  the  prophet's 
orders,  they  would  have  perished  with  hunger.     Not  one  voice, 


*  Sleidan,  lib.  z.  Ghytneus,  1.  o.  lib.  ziv.  Conr.  Heresbach,  Blst.  Anab. 
Van  de  Yomftemste  Hoost-Ketteren :  Lyden,  1608. 

*  **  Sdo  pueroe  comesoB  ibi  ease,  id  quod  ab  lis  aaditum  mihi  est  qai  in 
roliqiuaB  qoaadam  oi^tA  urbe  ejus  rei  testes  inoidenmt." — Corrinns  ad  Spa- 
latinum. 


384  HI8T0RT  OF  LUTHES. 

however,  from  among  the  famished  crowd  was  raised  for  mercy. 
The  bishop  who  pressed  the  siege  had  compassion  on  these 
wretches,  and  sent  a  soldier  to  John  of  Leyden,  to  summon  him, 
in  God's  name,  to  surrender ;  but  in  vain.  The  Anabaptists 
encouraged  each  other  to  die :  one  of  them,  mounted  on  a  white 
horse,  like  that  of  the  Apocalypse,  sounded  a  trumpet,  and  pro- 
claimed that  the  dead  would  rise  from  their  grayee  and  come  to 
the  assistance  of  the  town.  But  the  dead  slept  their  eternal 
slumber.  For  a  month  the  cannon  battered  the  walls  of 
the  rebellious  city  without  effect;  when  treachery  opened  its 
gates,  and  the  bishop's  army  marched  into  the  great  square. 
There  remained  no  more  than  three  hundred  Anabaptists,  who, 
intrenched  behind  wa^ns,  sought  death  singing  hymns. 
Hunger  made  their  arms  faJl  from  their  hands ;  and  they  were 
spared.* 

John  of  Leyden  still  fought :  the  lance  of  a  soldier  unhorsed 
him.  He  was  seized,  bound  with  cords  and  chains,  and  dragged 
before  the  bishop.  The  prelate  was  on  horseback,  upon  an 
eminence  from  which  his  eye  could  command  the  whole  town, 
and  his  ear  catch  the  groans  of  the  dying.  '^  This  is  your 
work,"  he  said  to  John  of  Leyden ;  ''  look  at  all  these  churches 
and  palaces  reduced  to  ashes,  those  houses  destroyed,  the  grass  of 
the  streets  moistened  with  the  blood  of  your  brethren."  "  Wal- 
deck,"  replied  the  Anabaptist,  "  what  great  harm  have  I  done  ? 
Tour  city  was  dismantled  :  I  have  fortified  it.  Do  you  wish  to 
know  an  excellent  plan  whereby  to  reimburse  yourself  for  your 
outlay  in  besieging  Munster  ?  Put  me  in  a  cage  and  take  me  to 
all  the  cities  of  Europe,  and,  at  a  florin  per  head  to  see  the 
king  of  Sion,  you  will  have  as  many  spectators  as  will  give  you 
wherewith  to  pay  off  your  debts  and  increase  your  revenue." 
"  That  I  shall  do,"  said  the  bishop. 

John  of  Leyden  and  the  other  leaders  who  were  intended  for 
execution,  were  taken  to  the  castle  of  Bevergen.*  The  people 
crowded  from  all  quarters  to  see  and  insult  the  vanquislied. 

'  Lamb.  Hortensius,  Tamnltuiim  Anabaptistanun  liber  nntu ;  in  Echard. 
Script.  Ber.  Genn.  torn,  it 

*  Gatrou.  Ant.  Cory.  De  miaerabili  Moniifiteriensium  Anabaptistarum 
Obridione  et  Ezcidio,  memorabilibtiB  rebus  tempore  obsidionis  in  urbe  geatis 
regis  Knipperdolli,  ao  Kreohtingi  confessione  et  exitu.  Epistola  Antonii 
Corrini  ad  Georg.  Bpalatinum.     De  Wette,  1586. 


THB  ANABAPTISTS.  386 

To  quench  their  thirst,  a  man  presented  them  a  phial  filled  with 
hlood.  The  Lutheran  preachers  sometimes  made  them  halt, 
and,  snrrounded  by  their  disciples,  offered  to  dispute  with  these 
wretched  creatures.  The  prophet  accepted  the  challenge  of 
Gorvinus,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse :  the 
debate  principally  turned  on  the  plurality  of  wives.  '^  Read 
St.  Paul,''  said  John  of  Leyden  ;  "  what  does  he  teach  ?  that  a 
bishop  should  be  the  husband  of  one  wife :  therefore,  in  the  time 
of  the  apostles,  he  who  was  not  a  bishop  might  have  two  or  three 
Wives. 

"  But,"  replied  Corvinus,  "  marriage  is  a  matter  of  policy,  and 
the  civil  law,  which  regulates  the  present  state  of  society,  not 
being  the  same  as  that  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  we  can  only 
lawfully  have  one  wife :  you  condemn  yourself/' 

*'  I  fulfil  the  precept  of  the  old  law,"  said  John  of  Leyden  ; 
"jrere  I  to  listen  to  your  doctrines,  I  should  be  clearly  mad." 

"  But,"  continued  Corvinus,  who  left  both  the  Church  and 
tradition  to  shelter  himself  in  the  civil  law,  "  the  authority 
which  comes  from  God  having  power  to  regulate  the  external 
policy,  it  is  much  better  to  obey  it  than  the  old  law,  which  is 
abrogated."  ^  Then,  as  if  he  felt  he  had  done  wrong  in  exalting 
a  matter  merely  human,  he  added :  '^  Is  it  not  written,  that  a 
man  shall  leave  father  and  mother,  and  cleave  to  his  wife ; 
to  his  wife,  and  not  to  his  wives  ;  and  has  not  St.  Paul  said : 
*  Let  every  man  live  with  his  wife ;'  and  not  with  his  wives  ?" 
"  Ah  !"  replied  the  king,  "  St.  Paul  did  not  speak  of  all  wives, 
but  of  each  in  particular :  the  first  is  my  wife,  I  live  with  her  ; 
the  second  is  my  wife,  I  live  with  her ;  the  third  is  my  wife,  I 
live  with  her  ;  that  is  very  simple ;  and  besides  is  it  not  much 
better  that  I  should  have  several  wives  than  several  concubines?"* 

The  last  argument  of  the  king  of  Leyden  is  precisely  that 
which  will  soon  be  made  use  of  by  PhiHp,  the  landgrave  of 
Hesse,  and  to  which  neither  Luther  nor  Melancthon  will  be  able 
to  reply  I 

Three  men  were  to  terrify  the  world  by  their  awful  punish- 


'  This  was  the  docirme  of  Luther,  who  only  looked  upon  marriage  as  a  civil 
oontract. — ^Ranke,  1.  o.  torn.  iii.  p.  452. 

'  Gesprach  oder  Disputation  Antonii  Corvini  und  Johann  Kymei  mit  Johann 
▼on  Leiden. 

VOL.  IL  2  0 


386  HI8T0BT   OF  LUTHER. 

ment — John  of  Leyden,  Enipperdolling,  and  Erechtingk — ^for 
Rothmann  had  died  fighting.  A  scaffold  was  erected  in  the 
market-place  of  Munster,  opposite  the  yerj  palace  where  John 
of  Leyden  used  to  appear  in  all  the  splendour  of  his  regal  attire, 
and  surrounded  with  a  seraglio  of  wives.^  He  was  then  between 
his  two  accomplices,  a  little  more  elevated,  that  he  might  be  seen 
at  the  greater  distance.  The  executioner  had  burning  pincers, 
with  which  he  tore  off  his  flesh,  while  John  of  Leyden  prayed. 
The  punishment  lasted  for  nearly  an  hour;  and  at  last  was 
ended  by  a  sword  thrust  through  his  body.  His  two  companions 
suffered  the  like  death.  The  remains  of  John  of  Leyden  were 
placed  in  an  iron  cage,  which  was  placed  on  the  top  of  the  tower 
of  St.  Lambert,  as  a  terror  to  the  Anabaptists.  The  ashes  of 
Enipperdolling  and  Erechtingk  were  scattered  to  the  winds. 

The  Protestants  could  not  conceal  their  joy  at  the  fall  of  the 
Anabaptists  at  Munster :  they  hoped  to  get  possession  of  the 
ruins  of  that  unfortunate  city  ;  but  the  old  worship,  which  had 
suffered  so  much  in  its  struggle  with  John  of  Leyden,  was,  by  a 
decision  of  the  diet  of  Worms,  restored  in  all  its  rights  ;  only  it 
had  to  restore  the  ruins  which  heresy  had  made.  For  a  time  the 
name  of  Anabaptist  was  a  mark  of  reprobation,  and  whoever 
bore  it  could  not  find  an  asylum  in  any  Protestant  city. 

One  of  BrOthmann's  disciples  adopted,  with  considerable  modi- 
fications, the  doctrines  of  the  prophets  of  Munster :  like  J^hn 
of  Leyden,  David  Gteorge  or  Joris  boasted  of  being  in  commu- 
nication with  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  asserted  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  had  descended  upon  Mary,  had,  in  like  manner,  over- 
sbadowed  him ;  and  that  he  was  the  son  of  God  in  body  and 
souL  He  had  many  followers ;  but  being  expelled  from  Germany, 
he  took  refuge  in  Switzerland,  where  for  some  years  he  taught  his 
reveries  undisturbed.  He  had  predicted  that  on  the  third  day 
after  his  death  he  would  rise  from  the  grave.  At  sunrise,  on  the 
day  foretold,  some  simple  souls  joyfully  watched  the  prophet's 
tomb :  but  the  tomb  did  not  open.^ 

'  Des  Miinsterischen  Kbnigreicbs  An-  und  Abgaog,  Bluthandel  nnd  Ende. 
Samstag  nacfa  Sebastiano,  anno  1586. 

*  David  Georgen  aus  Holland,  dee  Erzketzers,  wahrbaflige  Historie :  Re- 
gensburg,  1560,  4to.      Aufgedeckte  Larve  ^avids  Georgii,   von  M.  Fried. 

Je  ^'  ' 


Kiel,  1670,  4io.      Lanr.  Surius,   Ghr.  ann.  1556,  p.  254.    Nicol. 
Blesdikias,  in  Hiatoria  D.  Georgii,  edita  per  Jacob.  Revium,  p.  15  et  seq. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS.  887 

The  Anabaptists  still  refer  to  these  stormy  times,  in  which 
their  constancy  wearied  the  arm  of  the  civil  power,  as  times  of 
trial  sent  by  God  in  fevour  to  the  Church  of  his  predilection. 
They  recall  with  pride  the  names  of  some  of  their  confessors  who 
preferred  to  suffer  imprisonment,  exile,  and  even  death,  rather 
than  deny  the  word  of  Jesus :  they  have  hymns  for  their  first 
martyrs,  and  words  of  contemptuous  pity  for  the  Saxon  monk, 
who,  in  1628,  in  his  book  "  De  GodxA  Chrisfci,"  *  and  in  another 
treatise,  ^'  Contra  P»dobaptismum,''  had  at  first  so  energetically 
defended  liberty  of  conscience.  And  their  only  revenge  is  to 
recall  to  memoiy  the  tears  which  Luther  one  day  shed,  when 
Balthazar  Hubmayer,  one  of  their  brethren,  was  executed  by 
order  of  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  and  the  language,  even  more 
eloquent  than  his  tears,  of  his  letter  to  his  parishioners  :  *  "In 
God's  name,  let  there  be  no  flames  or  gibbets,  no  bloodshed 
among  us !  let  every  one  believe  as  his  conscience  dictates.  Are 
not  the  flames  of  hell  sufficient  punishment  for  the  heretic  ? 
Wherefore  punishments  in  this  world,  if  he  has  committed  no 
other  crime  than  error  in  faith  ?"  * 

Anabaptism  would  never  have  ensanguined  Germany,  had 
Luther  ts^en  it  under  his  protection,  and  left  its  disciples  at 
liberty  to  teach  their  visions.  In  the  Catholic  point  of  view, 
the  question  is  quite  different:  Anabaptism,  at  the  bar  of 
authority,  is  a  rebel  which  the  law  must  punish;  but  in  the 
eyes  of  Lutherans,  what  is -an  Anabaptist  ?  at  most,  a  Christian 
who  deceives  himself,  and  not  a  heretic  ;  since  his  faith  is  the 
result  of  his  reason,  and  the  light  of  his  own  intelligence  explains 
every  interpretation  of  the  controverted  texts.  Rothmann  at 
Augsburg,  is  Luther  at  Worms. 

At  Worms,  Luther  was  permitted  to  be  heard  before  a  Catholic 
tribunal :  at  Augsburg,  Luther  imposes  silence  on  Rothmann.* 

'  Op.  Luth.  torn.  iii.  Jenn,  p.  458,  a. 

3  Op.  Luth.  torn.  iv.  Jene,  p.  819.    Coohl.  in  Act.  p.  198. 

'  "Cuilibet  penniitendam  ene  libartatem  oredendi  quod  lubet  Quod  el 
quisquam  db  fide  non  rect%  seniiat,  eum  in  inferno  sataB  habiturum  supplioiiy 
ubi  mt  iffnibus  sempiteniifl  oremanduB." 

like  Melancthon  and  Luther,  Brenz  was  of  opinion  that  fire  and  Rword 
miffht  be  uaed  against  the  Anabaptists.  See  Unterricht  Philipp  Melanchthons 
wider  die  Lehre  der  Wiedertaufer  duroh  Feuer  und  Schwert  vom  Leben  sum 
Tod  richten  laraen.    Johann  Brenz.     1585. 

*  Consult,  Der  Wiedert&ufer,  Lehre  und  Geheimnisse  aus  Heiliger  Schrift^ 

2o2 


388  HISTORY   OF   LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LAST  EFFORTS  OF  THE  PAPACY.     1535—1541. 

EffortB  of  Clement  YII.  to  restore  peace  to  the  (^urcfa  of  Gennany. — Piaul  111. 
aends  Yergerio  to  Lutber. — His  interview  with  the  nuncio. — He  laughs  at 
the  legate. — Diets  of  Sohmalkalden  and  Batisbon. — ^Yain  attempts  of  the 
Catholics  to  reconcile  the  Protestants  with  the  Church. — Melancthon  strives 
in  vain  against  Luther's  obstinacy. — Luther's  rage  against  Charies  Y.  and 
EriCj  duke  of  Brunswick. — ^Death  of  Qeorge,  duke  of  Saxony. 

At  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  the  emperor  had  engaged  to  request 
from  the  pope  the  session  of  a  council,  to  bring  back,  if  possible, 
the  dissenters  to  unity.^  The  Catholics,  simple  souls,  deluded 
themselves  into  the  belief  that  an  oecumenical  council  of  the 
prelates  would  extinguish  the  last  germs  of  rebellion.  Luther 
was  always  appealing  _to  a  future  council.  How  often,  since  his 
theses,  had  he  proclaimed  to  his  country  that  he  was  ready  to 
give  an  account  of  his  faith  in  a  national  synod  !  The  reformers, 
who  knew  not  these  alehouses  in  which  Luther  laughed  every 
evening  at  what  he  had  taught  during  the  day,  believed  in  his 
sincerity.  The  emperor  had  great  projects  :  but  at  the  very  time 
when  he  was  about  to  realize  them,  he  found  himself  impeded  by 
a  monk.  To  put  an  end  to  the  schism  which  increased  daily,  he 
had  tried  his  imperial  authority,  which  was  slighted,  and  in  the 
Low  Countries  even  executioners,  who  were  braved.  There 
remained  yet  one  means, — the  voice  of  the  Church  in  a  general 
council.     He  wished  his  Germans  to  hear  it,  in  the  hope  that  it 


widerlegt  duroh  Justum  Menium,  in  the  Works  of  Luther :  Wittemberg, 
torn.  ii.  p.  262 ;  Dass  weltliche  Obrigkeit  den  Wiedertaufern  mlt  leiblicher 
Strafe  zu  wehren  schuldig  sey  :  Etlicher  Bedenken  zu  Wittenberg.  1586. 

Nene  Zeitung,  wie  die  Stadt  MUnster  erobert  und  eingenommen  durch  die 
Landskneohte,  am  Freytag  nach  Johannis,  zu  Mittemacht,  mit  einem  An&U. 
Hermann  von  Mengeriffen  :  1585. 

Widerlegung  der  Munsterisohen  neuen  Yalentinianer  und  Donatisten  Be- 
kenntniss.  An  die  Christen  zu  Ossnabruck  in  Westphalen.  Durch  D.  Ur- 
banum  Begium.     Mit  einer  Yorrede  Dr.  Martin  Luthers :  Wittenberg,  1535. 

Widerlegung  etlicher  undhristlicher  Artikel,  welohe  die  Wiedertaufer  fUrge- 
ben  :  Wittenl^rg. 

Eil'che  Proporitiones  wider  die  Lehre  der  Wiedertaufer,  gestellt  durch 
PhU.  Melanchthon  :  1585. 

1  Osiander,  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  ii. 


LAST  EFFORTS  OF  THE  PAPACY.  389 

would  work  some  miracles,  as  in  the  primitive  Church.  Twenty 
years  before,  when  Luther  stormed  against  indulgences,  perhaps 
this  sovereign  voice  might  have  been  omnipotent :  now  it  had 
been  too  long  silent :  would  it  not  demand  the  restitution  of 
ecclesiastical  property  ?  and  all,  princes  as  well  as  subjects,  had 
stolen  the  property  of  others.  The  most  difficult  commandment 
was,  not  to  render  to  God  the  things  that  were  Ood's,  but  to 
Cffisar  the  things  that  were  GsDsar's.  Luther  himself  would  not 
have  been  heard,  for  the  German  nobility  had  already  sold  the 
bishops'  horses,  the  tapestries  of  the  churches,  the  sacred  vessels, 
the  pictures,  the  statues,  and,  for  future  subsistence,  expected 
that  the  Reformation  would  make  farther  progress  and  feirther 
ruins.  It  was  the  sincere  wish  of  the  pope,  that  the  session  of 
one  of  these  great  assizes,  in  which  the  voice  of  the  Church 
could  be  heard,  should  show  to  the  Christian  world  all  thtft  her 
visible  head  on  earth  had  done  for  twenty  years,  by  persuasion 
and  tears,  to  bring  back  her  rebellious  children  to  her  pale.^ 

If  the  tiara  has  ever  been  honoured,  it  was  by  Clement  VII. ; 
an  unprejudiced  and  dllpassionate  pontiff,  gentle  and  high- 
hearted, the  sincere  friend  of  learning,  learned  in  sciences  un- 
impersonated  in  preceding  popes, — at  once  mechanician,  engineer, 
and  architect !  And  yet  he  was  unhappy  :  his  policy  was  timid 
and  anxious ;  and  he  was  afraid  both  of  France  and  of  Charles  V. 
He  was  always  haunted  by  the  idea  of  weakening  the  empire  by 
France,  and  France  by  the  empire.  He  threw  himself  into  the 
arms  of  Charles  when  the  Biai  of  France  Beemed  to  bum  too 
brightly,  and  in  those  of  his  rival  when  the  emperor's  star  pre- 
vented him  from  heeding  France.  He  died  (^  grief;  having 
as  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  no  cause  for  self-reproach,  and  sleeping 
in  the  Lord  after  a  life  of  purity  ;  but  as  a  temporal  sovereign, 
mourning  over  that  timorous  policy  which  he  had  adopted  for 
the  sake  of  his  earthly  crown.^  And  see,  remarks  Ranke,  the 
powerful  vitiility  of  Catholicism !  it  seems  that  it  must  have 


*  AU  the  Catholics  were  unanimoiia  in  demiuiding  a  general  counoiK  Goch* 
hdvA,  the  warm  opponent  of  Luther,  said  to  the  pope,  in  dedicating  to  his 
Holiness  his  treatise,  De  Matrimonio  Serenissimi  Regis  Anglias  :  "  Si  quando 
dederit  nobis  Sanotitas  tua  generale  concilium,  id  quod  omnes  pii  ac  fidelea 
Christiani  longis  desideriis,  magnisque  gemitibus  et  suspiriis  abs  te  petunt  ei 
efflagitant,"  etc.  1525,  4to. 

^  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Luih(^ranisme,  4 to.  pp.  123,  131,  et  seq. 


390  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHEB. 

perished  or  become  enfeebled  in  the  weak  hands  of  this  pontiff, 
and  yet  it  springs  np  with  increased  splendour  nnder  his  soo- 
cessor,  Panl  III.  Scarcely  had  he  ascended  the  throne,  whea 
kings  and  nations  eqnally  admired  his  noble  and  easy  manners, 
his  elegance  without  pomp,  and  mildness  without  infirmity. 
The  papacy  was  exalted  by  that  noble  reply  of  Paul  to  the 
emperor,  who  asked  him  for  the  cardinal's  hat  for  his  two  grand* 
sons :  ''  I  shall  give  it,^'  he  said,  ^'when  I  hare  been  shown  that 
children  have  been  made  cardinals/'  Clement  left  to  his 
successor  a  great  task  to  perform  :  to  overcome  Protestantism,  or 
at  least  to  oppose  a  barrier  to  its  encroachments,  to  repair  the 
Catholic  edifice,  restore  what  it  had  lost  of  vitality  and  renown 
in  men's  eyes,  and  stamp  it  with  unity.  He  had  to  rouse  the 
Catholic  south  against  the  Protestant  north ;  to  oppose  a 
Catholic  to  a  Protestant  league,  and  when  this  should  be  effected, 
to  impel  Europe  against  the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  extinguish  the 
quarrels  of  princes  friendly  to  the  Holy  See,  which  did  injury  to 
the  cause  of  Christianii^,  by  reconciling  France  and  Spain.  Of 
almost  all  these  grand  thoughts  which  %ere  present  to  his  mind, 
he  had  the  gloiy  to  labour  in  the  accomplislunent.-'  Time,  more 
powerful  than  Paul,  prevented  him  from  triumphing  everywh^e 
in  the  same  degree  ;  but  his  great  work,  which  has  crowned  him 
with  honour,  even  in  the  eyes  of  honest  Protestants,  is  the 
council  which  he  opened  at  Trent,^  and  of  which  the  name  will 
for  ever  be  associated  with  the  fame  of  his  pontificate.  If  at 
Trent  an  insurmountable  barrier  arose  between  the  two  religions, 
Catholicism  acquired  new  strength  and  force,  by  uniting,  with  an 
indissoluble  bond,  all  the  nations  that  belonged  to  her.  The 
North  might  detach  itself  from  the  union  ;  but  the  chidn  which 
bound  the  South  was  for  ever  riveted.  Next  to  the  creed  of 
St.  Athanasius,  no  book  is  more  revered  among  Catholics  than 
the  "  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  which  is  itself  but 
the  luminous  devdopment  of  that  creed ;  by  it  the  inviobbility 
of  doctrine,  the  papal  supremacy,  and  Christian  unity  have 
been  secured  from  all  the  assaults  of  error  and  novelty.     Ranke, 


^  Fessler  has^  in  like  manner,  commended  the  importance  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.  "  Auch  das  Werk  der  zn  Trient  versammelten  ehrwurdig^n  Paters 
war  die  durchaus  folgerichtige  Festsetznng  der  katholisch-kirchlichen  Glau- 
benslehre  ausgemittelt  aus  der  H.  Schrift  und  Apostolischer  UeberiieferangBn.** 


LAST  EFFOBXS  OF  THE  PAPACY.  391 

whom  we  love  to  quote,  justly  observes  that  the  Saxon  hammer 
seemed  to  have  broken  the  last  stone  of  the  modem  Babylon,  but 
at  Trent  it  was  clearly  seen  that  the  Catholic  edifice  had  not  even 
been  chipped.  Then  it  was  that,  to  compensate  for  the  defection 
of  Germany,  there  arose  religions  orders  whose  mission  was  to  go 
to  all  parts  of  the  globe,  to  bring  souls  to  the  Holy  See,  to  fill 
up  the  places  which  the  Reformation  had  left  vacant,  and  carry 
to  the  verge  of  creation  the  glorious  name  of  Rome.  What* 
ever  is  great  in  modem  history,  says  the  same  autiior,  is  the 
work  of  these  orders,  and  especially  of  the  Jesuits,  a  republic 
which  equals  in  power  and  wisdom  that  of  Romulus.  If  Luther 
took  firom  Rome  two  millions  of  Christians,  Ignatius  of  Loyola 
gave  her  ten. 

Paul  III.,  of  the  family  of  the  Famese,  sought  to  efiect  a 
work  of  conciliation  which  unforeseen  events  had  prevented  his 
predecessors  from  accomplishing.  Vergerio,  his  legate,  had  orders 
to  go  to  Germany  and  announce  to  Charles  V.,  his  brother 
Ferdinand,  and  the  princes  of  Christendom,  that  the  council 
which  the  people  had  so  long  demanded  would  at  length  be  opened 
at  Mantua. 

In  the  beginning  of  November,  1535,  Vergerio  arrived  at 
Wittemberg,  and  evinced  at  once  a  desire  to  converse  with  Luther. 
The  doctor  waited  for  the  legate,  and  laughed  with  his  friends  at 
him  :  '^  They  have  announced  to  me,"  he  vnites  to.Melancthon, 
**  a  most  reverend  cardinal,  a  legate,  who  will  resemble  all  other 
legates,  a  sharper,  a  robber,  the  devil  in  person.  I  wish  that 
there  were  many  kings  like  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  who  knows 
so  well  how  to  get  rid  of  this  rabble.''  ^ 

An  old  Protestant  writer  of  the  time  has  preserved  an  account 
of  this  interview :  "  As  soon  as  Doctor  Martin  Luther  knew  the 
hour  of  meeting,  he  called  his  barber.  ^  Master,'  said  the  barber 
to  him,  '  what  means  this,  that  you  call  me  so  early  to  shave 
you  ?'  The  doctor  replied :  '  Because  I  am  about  to  be  received 
by  the  envoy  of  the  holy  father ;  and  you  see,  I  must  appear 
with  a  smooth  chin,  that  I  may  resemble  an  Adonis,  and  the 
legate  will  think :  The  deuce,  if  Luther  who  is  so  young  has 

*  "  UtinAm  haberent  plures  reges  Angliee  qui  illos  oociderent." — Melancbth. 
1535.  Im  Dezeraber.  Martin  Luther'a  Leben  von  Gustav  Pfizer,  p.  705. 
HiBtoria  de  Vitft  Martini  Lutheri,  p.  515,  Aut.  Ulenbergio. 


HISTORY   OF  LUTHBB. 

caused  us  so  much  trouble,  what  will  he  do  in  the  vigour  of 
age  V  When  Henry  had  soaped  and  shaved  him,  Luther  put  on 
his  best  coat  and  a  gold  necklace.  ^  But  you  are  going  to  joke/ 
said  the  barber,  stifling  a  laugh.  '  Tou  are  right/  replied  the 
doctor ;  '  they  have  laughed  at  us  long  enough,  it  is  now  our 
turn  to  rouse  them.  Thus  foxes  and  serpents  must  be  treated.' 
^  Oo  in  peace/  added  the  barber ;  '  May  the  Lord  be  with  you 
and  convert  them  by  your  lips.'  ^  I  shall  not  do  that/  said 
Luther,  ^  but  that  might  happen,  and  I  propose  to  rebuke  him."' 

This  said,  he  and  Pomeranus  entered  the  carriage  which  the 
legate  had  politely  sent  for  him,  and  drove  to  the  citadel  As 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  vehicle  he  laughed,  and  said  to  his  com- 
panion, ''Here  is  a  real  miracle;  the  pope  of  Germany  and 
Cardinal  Pomeranus  seated  side  by  side !" 

Luther  omitted  the  cerem<my  usually  paid  to  the  papal  l^tes. 
He  caused  himself  to  be  announced ;  Uie  legate  took  him  by  the 
hand  and  led  him  into  his  apartment  After  some  indiffi^ent  con- 
versation, Vergerio  began  to  speak  of  the  counciL  "  Bah ! "  said 
Luther,  shaking  his  head,  ''  your  council  will  be  nonsense :  if  the 
pope  holds  one,  it  will  be  to  treat  of  monks'  cowls,  the  tonsure  of  the 
clergy,  meats  and  wine,  and  other  such  trivial  fooleries ;  butnothing, 
absolutely  nothing  of  faith,  repentance,  justification,  or  the  bond 
of  charity  which  should  unite  all  who  lead  the  same  life  ;  with 
which  grave  and  solemn  doctrines  the  Breformation  has  hitherto 
been  occupied,  illuminated  by  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
What  need  then  have  we  of  your  council,  which  is  only  good  for 
the  poor  nations  which  you  hold  in  captivity  ?  You  papists  do 
not  even  know  what  you  believe.  Qo  on,  go  on :  assemble  your 
council  if  you  will ;  I  shall  go  to  it,  I  promise  you,  even  if  I 
knew  that  the  gibbet  or  the  stake  awaited  me." 

The  l^ate  did  not  retort  by  any  harsh  word ;  he  merely  bowed 
his  head  in  sign  of  satisfaction,  as  if  he  had  obtained  all  that  he 
wanted  from  Luther.  ''  But  tell  me,  doctor,"  he  asked,  "  where 
would  you  wish  the  council  to  be  held?"  ''I,"  replied  the 
Saxon,  smiling,  ''where  you  please;  at  Mantua^  Padua^  or 
Florence,  it  matters  littie  to  me."  "  Or  Bologna  ?"  said  the 
legate.  "To  whom  does  that  city  belong?"  inquired  Luther. 
"  To  the  pope,"  replied  the  l^te.  "  Good  God  !"  exclaimed 
Luther,  "  this  is  another  city  which  the  pope  has  stolen.     Well, 


LAST  EFFOETB  OF  THE  PAPACY.  393 

I  will  go  to  Bologna."  '^  The  pope  himself  would  come  to 
Wittemberg,''  returned  the  l^te,  ''  if  the  salvation  of  souls 
required  ii'^  "  Oh,  by  Q — !  let  him  come,"  said  Luther,  "  we 
shall  receive  him  as  well  as  we  can."  **  And  how  would  you 
wish  him  to  come,"  asked  Vergerio,  "  with  or  without  armed 
attendants  ?"  . "  As  he  pleases,"  said  Luther,  interrupting  him, 
'*  he  will  be  always  welcome." 

The  conyersation  changed.  The  l^te  asked  Luther  if  there 
were  any  ordinations  among  the  Protestants.  "  Certainly,  we 
ordain,  since  the  pope  forbids  his  subjects  to  confer  the  priest- 
hood on  us.  And  there,  my  lord,"  said  he,  pointing  to  Pome- 
ranus,  ''  is  a  bishop  of  our  making,  Doctor  Pomeranus,  who  has 
received  episcopal  consecration." 

The  whole  of  this  interview  was  an  insolent  mockery,*  in 
which  Luther  treated  the  papal  nuncio  as  ''  a  sharper  and  a 
rogue."  When  Vergerio  mounted  his  steed  to  leave  Wittemberg, 
he  gave  his  hand  to  Luther,  reminding  him  of  his  promise  on 
the  preceding  day.  '^  Adieu,  my  lord,"  said  Luther  ;  ''  I  shall 
go,  and  bring  my  head  on  my  shoulders."  Next  day  he  related 
to  Melanothon  and  Justus  Jonas  his  interview  with  the  l^te. 

"  Our  legate  has  gone  away :  he  only  showed  himself  here. 
This  man  flies,  and  does  not  mlk.  He  asked  me  and  Pomera- 
nus to  breakfast ;  I  had  refused  to  sup  with  him.  I  have  eaten 
at  his  table.  No  human  being  can  recount  i^hat  took  place 
between  us :  during  the  whole  time  I  was  Luther." ' 

It  is  certain  that  he  wished  to  amuse  himself  at  the  expense 
of  the  Catholics,  and  that  he  had  no  intention  of  keeping  his 
promise  to  be  present  at  the  council.  In  his  view  this  council 
was  a  work  of  Satan,  to  which  he  refused  to  be  instrumental  The 
pamphlets  which  he  published  at  that  time  clearly  demonstrate 
that  he  would  not  be  reconciled  with  Rome  at  any  price.' 

The  Protestant  princes  had  an  interview  at  Schmalkalden  to 
oppose  every  effort  that  Rome  might  make  for  the  sake  of  peace 


'  PaUavioini,  lib.  iii. 

*  Justo  Jons,  10  Not.  1585.  Vei^rio  afterwards  apostatized  from  the 
Chiuroh,  and  from  that  moment  was  ranked  among  fidthzol  and  enlightened 
men. — ^M'Orie,  History  of  the  Beformation  in  Italy. 

3  Locus  ex  jure  canonico  do  Donatione  Gonstantini  Magni.  Epistolie 
aliquot  J.  Huss.    Narratio  de  Johanne  Chrysoetomo. 


894  HISTOBT  OF  LUIHEB. 

of  confluence.  At  the  instigation  of  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
Luther,  Justus  Jonas,  Gaspard  Greuziger,  John  Bugenhagen 
(Pomeranus),  Nicholas  Amsdorf,  Melancthon,  and  John  Agricola, 
met  at  Wittemberg  to  draw  up  a  formulary  of  belief,  that  should 
thenceforward  be  the  unalterable  basis  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
new  church.* 

Luther  examined  one  by  one  the  twenty- four  articles  of  the 
Protestant  creed,  which  he  approved  and  sent  to  Spalatinus,  who 
transmitted  it  to  John  the  elector. 

Melancthon  subscribed  the  formulary,  but  with  this  express 
reservation,  that  if  the  pope  would  acknowledge  the  (Jospel,*  he 
would  admit  the  pontiff's  supremacy  over  the  bishops.  It  was 
somewhat  bold  in  the  professor  to  recognise,  even  in  the  terms 
which  he  laid  down,  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  pope,  whom 
hislnost  moderate  colleagues  looked  upon  as  Antichrist. 

Luther,  although  unwell,  then  went  to  Schmalkalden  in  ord^r 
to  maintain  the  Saxon  creed,-^ 4k  human  work  imposed  on  the 
consciences  of  all  who  bore  the  name  of  Protestants,  but  which 
beyond  the  Rhine  was  resisted  as  an  outrage  on  the  liberty  of 
thought  On  this  occasion  he  no  longer  travelled  on  foot :  he 
had  horses  of  his  own,^  which  he  lent  to  Bugenhagen  and 
Melancthon,  who  accompanied  him. 

On  the  2nd  February,  1537,  the  travellers  reached  Altenbui^, 
where  Spalatinus  entertained  them  sumptuously:  this  hospi* 
tality  Luther  repaid  with  a  few  indifferent  verses.*  At  Weimar 
he  preached  on  the  4th  of  February,  Sexagesima  Sunday,  a 


Dan.  Lanr,  SalfcheniuB,  de  Art  Smalk.  p.  15. 


*  "  Ego  PhilippuB  Melanchthon  faos  articulos  suprk  poeitos  probo  tanqoam 
veros.  Ad  pontificem  autem  quod  attinet  sic  sentio :  Si  admittere  velit  Evan- 
gelinm,  qnod  tunc  pacis  et  publicse  ooncordise  gratift  propter  Christianoa  qui 
sub  ipso  jam  sunt  et  fdturis  temporibus  esse  forsau  possunt,  superioritas  in 
episcopos,  quam  alioquin  habet,  jure  bumano  per  noa  ilU  sit  quoque  coace- 
denda." — Oper.  Lutb.  Jeuse,  Germ.  fol.  622. 

*  Laurent.  Reinbard,  Comm.  de  Vitft  Jonae,  cap.  vii.  §  4. 

*  Und  zwar  mit  seinen  eignen  Pferden,  Lingke,  1.  o.  Lutber's  Sammtlicbe 
Bcbriften :  Halle,  torn.  xzi.  p.  892. 

'  "  Ut  tua  sunt  Cbristo  gratissima  £M;ta,  Georgi, 
Sic  sit  grata  cobors  bsec  peregriua  tibi. 
Tendimus  ad  celebrem  pro  nostro  Gbalcida  coetu ; 

Magna  Dei  cogit  causa  per  istud  iter. 
Tu  quoque  nostrarum  pars  magna,  yir  optime,  rerum, 
Nobiscum  venies  duxque  comosque  vise." 


LAST  BFT0RT8  07  THE  PAPACT.  395 

yiolent  seimon  agamst  the  kings  and  bishops.  He  accused  them 
of  conspiring  to  destroy  the  word  of  God  ;  and  insisted  that  the 
pope  was  worse  than  the  Turk,  and  wished  to  extinguish  the 
Gospel.^  His  holiness's  nuncios  heard  the  monk's  insults,  without 
the  power  of  suppressing  them. 

On  the  loth  of  February,  Luther  was  at  Schmalkalden,  where 
a  great  number  of  persons  of  distinction  were  assembled  ; — ^the 
elector  of  Saxony,  the  Undgrave  of  Hesse,  Dukes  Ernest  and 
Francis  of  Luneburg,  Duke  Ulrich  of  Wurtemberg,  Princes 
Wolf,  Geoi^  and  Joachim  of  Anhalt,  Counts  Gebhard  and 
Albert  of  Mansfeld,  the  counts  of  Nassau  and  Beichlingen,  Duke  . 
Henry  of  Mecklenbui^,  Princes  Bupert  of  Denx-Ponts  and  Philip 
of  Grubenhagen.  Among  the  Protestant  theologians  were  Gabriel 
Didymus,  Urbanus  Regius,  Frederick  Myconius  (Mecum),  Brenz, 
John  Langius,  Martin  Bucer,  Paul  Fagius,  Boni&ce  Wolfart, 
John  Fontanus,  and  Ambrose  Blaurer,  nearly  aU  of  whom  aban- 
doned the  doctrines  which  they  came  to  defend  at  the  diet.' 

Mathias  Held,  vice-chancellor  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  who 
was  preparing  to  go  from  Genoa  to  Spain,  left  Vienna  in  Jan- 
uary, and  on  the  15th  of  the  following  month  opened  the  diet 
with  a  long  harangue.  To  the  complaints  and  demands  drawn 
up  by  the  Orders  since  the  former  diet,  on  *the  question  of 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  expressed  so  energetically  by  certain 
people  of  Germany,  he  replied  that  the  emperor  his  master  would 
take  them  into  consideration ;  but,  in  the  meanwhile,  he  de- 
manded that  the  treaty  signed  at  Nuremberg  should  be  observed. 
He  added,  that  at  the  counoil  summoned  by  the  pope  they  would 
soon  have  an  opportunity  of  discussing  religious  matters,  and  that 
it  was  his  majesty's  intention  to  be  personally  present  there,  as  a 
guarantee  to  his  subjects  of  his  desire  for  their  liberties.' 

At  Schmalkalden,  we  find  Melancthon  timidly  endeavouring, 
but  in  vain,  to  excite  a  desire  for  peace  in  the  theologians  ani« 
mated  with  Xuther's  sentiments.     Melancthon  did  not  object 


I  "  Er  klagte  dass  die  Kbniffe  und  Biscbofe  gegen  das  Evangelium  in  den 
ffriJflsem  Haas  hfttten,  als  die  TOrken,  welches  die  Gefahrten  des  piipstlioheii 
Nunoti  mit  anhdrten."^LiQgke,  1.  o.  p.  234.    Melanchth.  Ep.  lib.  ▼.  p.  40. 

'  Lingke,  L  o.  pp.  236,  237.    Acta  Hist.  Ecd.  torn.  ii.  p.  372  et  seq. 

'  Sleidan,  Hist,  de  la  R^foimation,  torn.  ii.  pp.  4,  5.  Christ.  Mttnde,  Hist. 
Vorbericht  zu  den  Schmalkaldischen  Artikeln. 


396  HI6T0BT   OF  LUTHEB. 

to  a  council ;  he  admitted  the  pope's  right  to  snmmoii  it^  but  he 
denied  the  pontiff's  right  to  be  supreme  judge.  His  opponents 
declared,  in  opposition  to  his  counsels,  that  a  reconciliation  with 
the  Catholics  was  impossible  ;  and  then  Melancthon,  lus  he 
usually  did,  returned  to  his  lodgings  sick  in  head  and  heart, 
and  consoled  himself  by  embosoming  to  a  firiend  his  grieft  and 
fears.* 

Meanwhile  the  Holy  See,  with  the  emperor's,  ooncurrenoey 
once  more  attempted  a  reconciliation  between  the  two  religions. 
They  hoped,  by  means  of  words,  to  reunite  the  parties  whom 
.  words  had  separated.  To  this  end  the  emperor  multiplied 
diets,  and  the  pope  constantly  changed  nuncios.  At  the  diet  of 
Ratisbon,  the  Catholic  speakers  were  all  either  profound  theo- 
logians or  brilliant  orators.  To  Faber,  Nausea,  and  John  Eck, 
was  intrusted  the  defence  of  Catholicity.  All  arrived  by  differait 
routes  at  the  place  of  rendezvous  ;  and  at  the  same  time  might 
be  seen  leaving  Wittemberg  Luther's  beloved  disciple  Mdanc- 
thon,  who  without  murmuring  set  out,  after  tenderly  embracing 
his  father,  to  endeavour  to  perform  that  which  was  impossible. 
Had  you  looked  in  his  face,  you  would  have  beheld  it  emaciated  by 
afflictions  of  the  heart,  of  all  others  the  most  cruel,  his  eyes  dim, 
his  beard  grey  and  unshorn,  and  his  whole  frame  moving  painfully : 
he  walked  to  martyrdom.  At  Wittembeig  one  man  remained, 
an  evil  spirit,  who  had  previously  given  his  lesson  to  this  Pro- 
testant messenger ;  let  there  be  no  peace  with  the  wicked,  he 
had  said  to  him  ;  and  lest  while  at  Ratisbon  he  might  be  worked 
upon,  he  ahnost  daily  sent  to  him  a  fresh  courier  with  written 
orders,  so  implacable,  that  we  suffer  while  we  read  them. 

"  Away  with-C»sar,"  he  writes,  "such  is  my  advice ;  hasten 
to  leave  that  Sodom,  for  in  the  end  the  wrath  of  God  will  fall 
upon  our  heads.  I  have  prayed  enough  for  the  emperor ;  if  he 
will  not  have  our  blessing,  let  him  be  accursed !  There  is  no 
one  more  guilty  than  this  devil  of  Mayence  ;  Ca^ar  is  of  no  con- 
sequence, he  is  a  hypocrite  who  pretends  to  be  deaf,  and  to  have 

'  *'  Nostra  sententU  semper  fiiit  ne  simplioiter  recoaaretur  synodus :  qnift 
etiamsi  pap»  non  lioeat  esse  judicem,  habet  tamen  jus  indioeude  synodi, 
deindb  judicium  constitui  h  synodo.  Bed  homines  acutiores  disputabant  has 
meas  rationes  argutas  quidem  esse  et  xens,  sed  inutiles.  .  .  .  Pericakim  esss 
video  ingentiB  motfts,  nisi  Dens  succurrerit." — Epist.  ad  Oamerarium,  p.  279. 
TJlenberg,  Vita  et  Kes  gestiB  Ph.  Melanchth.  1.  c.  pp.  135—137. 


LAST  EFFORTS  OF  THE  PAPACY.  397 

gone  to  Batisbon  to  listen  to  debates  which  he  has  no  intention 
to  hear ;  as  if,  for  the  sake  of  religion,  he  was  not  sometimes 
forced  to  eat  or  .  .  .  ."^ 

At  Ratisbon,  the  dispute  on  the  Eucharist  was  resumed. 
Calvin  came  from  Geneva  to  mix  in  the  controversy,  with  a  view 
to  promote  his  own  doctrines,  and,  if  possible,  convert  Melanc- 
thon  to  the  figurative  system  which  he  had  succeeded  in  making 
prevalent  in  Switzerland  ;  he  was  an  incarnation  of  the  serpent's 
cunning  and  wiles,  who  was  never  more  happy  than  when  he 
had  succeeded  in  involving  his  opponent  in  the  folds  of  a  cap- 
tious argument.  Melancthon  was  like  one  entangled.  If  he 
struggled,  it  was  because  the  eye  of  his  master  was  upqn  him, 
and  that  he  was  more  afraid  of  his  anger  than  of  the  Genevan 
reformer's  craft.  It  is  easy  to  perceive,  in  reading  the  formula 
as  to  the  real  presence  which  he  laid  before  the  conference,  that 
the  figure  or  trope  perplexed  him.  Had  Luther  died  at  that 
moment,  Wittemberg  would  have  had  a  fresh  apostasy  to  deplore. 

Charles  V.,  who  presided  at  the  diet,  often  saw  Melancthon, 
who  invariably  returned  from  his  conferences  with  a  more  pro- 
found respect  for  the  qualities  of  the  prince,  whom  he  admired, 
and/ almost  loved.  Wherefore  Luther,  who  knew  Philip's  blind 
side,  omitted  nothing  which  might  ruin  Charles  in  the  opinion 
of  the  deputies  from  Wittemberg,  and  of  his  dear  disciple  espe- 
cially. His  threat  of  cursing  the  emperor  was  merely  momentary. 
Five  days  after,  it  was  no  longer  a  question  of  leaving  ofiF  prayer 
in  behalf  of  his  majesty,  such  punishment  would  not  be  enough  ; 
he  threatens  him  with  his  hatred,  and  the  sword  and  arm  of  all 
his  adherents. 

"  The  people,"  he  writes  to  Melancthon,  **  will  soon  be  unable 
to  bear  Caesar's  pusillanimity  longer.  I  hate  this  CsBsar,  who, 
spoiled  by  our  praises,  torments  us  daily  more  and  more.  I  shall 
do  against  him  as  much  as  I  have  done  for  him."^ 

'  "  Spero  TOfl  ATOcari  k  prindpe,  id  enlm  oonsulni.  . .  .  Cogitate  et  festinate 
egredi  ez  istA  Sodomft,  veoit  ira  JDei  saper  nos  in  finem.  Oratum  eat  satis  nro 
Cassare ;  ri  noUt  benedictionem,  ferat  znaledictionem.  Non  potest  esse  culpa 
solins  cUaboli  Mogantini,  si  ipse  non  esset  purus  hypoorita.  Tot  querelas 
faausit  surdft  anre,  fingens  se  religionis  cansft  istlinc  deferre,  qnas  nunqaam 
cogitat  andiTOy  quasi  pro  religionis  causft  non  interim  etiam  comedere  oogatur, 
aut  oacare."— Be  Wette,  torn.  y.  pp.  340,  369.     Melanchthoni  Epistola. 

'  "  Ego  plani  odium  conce^i  in  GsBflarem  yer^  .  .  .  et  agam,  si  qua  potero, 
contrk  eura,  quanta  pro  eo  feci."—  De  Wette,  1.  c.  p.  872. 


HISTOBY   OF  LUTHBE. 

The  efiFecfc  of  these  instJts  to  the  royal  dignity  of  Charles  V. 
was,  that  some  princes  who  had  at  first  been  earned  away  by 
Luther's  theories,  ended  by  deserting  his  doctrines  and  returning 
to  the  Church ;  such  was  Eric  II.,  duke  of  Brunswick,  who,  not 
satisfied  with  making  a  rough  onslaught  on  the  Protestant 
princes,  attacked  in  a  writing,  of  which  the  tone  doubtless  might 
have  been  more  moderate,  John,  the  elector  of  Saxony,  and 
Philip,  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  both  of  whom  were  the  warm  pro- 
tectors of  the  Saxon  monk.^  It  was  a  daring  act  in  Duke  Eric  to 
bewail  as  he  did  that  old  faith  of  his  ancestors,  which  was  out- 
raged and  insulted  openly  in  that  Germany  which  the  Catholic 
religion  had  rescued  from  pagan  darkness.  He  was  well  aware 
of  the  castigation  which  Luther  would  bestow  upon  him  ;  but  he 
said,  like  his  father,  Brunswick  Calemberg,  ^'  My  conscience  is 
above  Poltesberg,  and  God  above  my  conscience."  Luther  took 
his  revenge  ;  but  who  will  venture  to  employ  the  language  in 
which  he  did  so  ?  Daring  for  daring,  that  of  Luther  is  the  most 
startling * 

Next  came  the  turn  of  his  &ther,  lately  deceased.  The 
decorator  of  Pompeii  would  never  have  represented  in  his  mosaics 
such  images  as  the  monk  of  Wittemberg  does  not  hesitate  to 
use.  In  honour  of  the  Latin  language,  we  would  not  be  com* 
peUed  to  reproduce  them  ;  we  leave  it,  therefore  to  the  Oerman : 
at  least,  we  shall  not  injure  the  dead.^ 

Tou  remember  that  generous  Catholic  who,  at  the  diet  of 
Worms,  when  Luther  was  exhausted  with  fatigue,  sent  him  a 
huge  can  of  ale,  which  the  monk  swallowed  at  a  draught  ? — ^that 
was  Eric  I.,  duke  of  Brunswick. 

Luther  now  attacked  Henry  of  Brunswick  Wolfenbuttd,  and 


*  Sleidan,  Hiet.  de  la  lUfonn.  torn.  ii.  p.  120,  4to. 

^  QSere,  as  in  previous  instanoes,  the  text  must  remain  untranslated. — ^T.] 
"VvL  Herzog  yon  Braunschweig  soUtest  nicht  ehe  ein  Buch  schreiben,  du 
hattest  denn  ein  Fortz  yon  einer  alten  Sau  gehort,  da  soUtest  du  dein  Maul 
gegen  aussperren  und  aagen  :  Dank  habe,  schone  Naehtigall,  da  hore  leh  einen 
Text  der  ist  flir  mioh."--<)p.  Luth.  Jens,  torn.  vii.  foL  428. 

*  "  Ein  schonea  Ebenbild  deines  englischen  Yaters ;  dieser  verzagte  Sdielm 
.  .  .  w^lre  besser  ein  Frauenhut,  der  nicht  thun  soil,  denn  wie  ein  Eunuckus, 
das  ist  ein  Frauenhut,  stehend  in  einer  Narrenkappen  mit  einer  Kugelwedel. 
.  .  .  Der  beste  Begen  des  Ehestands  sind  die  Kinder,  welcher  er  hat  niemahls 
wieder&hren  mogen,  so  die  schonsten  FtLrstin  mit  Dreck  schwangerten  :'*  Jena^ 
torn.  vii.  fol.  488,  489,  441.  Nuremb.  fol.  425,  426,  428.  Altenb.  torn.  vii. 
fol.  465,  466,  468.     Ann.  1662. 


LAST  BFPOBTS  OF  THE   PAPACY. 

his  langQage^  which  previonslj  wallowed  in  the  mire,  is  now 
steeped  in  blood.  To  all  who  bear  the  name  of  Christian,  he 
cries :  "  Henry  deserves  not  the  name  of  prince  ;  it  is  not  with  ^ 
wine  that  Henry  drowns  himself,  but  with  devils  ;  he  has  been 
condemned  by  God  after  this  life  as  a  thief,  a  cut-throat,  an 
incendiary,  a  hangman.  If  in  this*  world  he  escapes  the  halter 
or  the  stake,  let  all  take  care  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  such  a 
pestilence.''  On  this  denunciation,  the  Protestant  princes  united 
to  persecute  him  whom  Luther  called  a  "  mad  dog,"  took  posses- 
sion of  Wolfenbuttel,  his  most  important  fortress,  and  then  of  his 
states,  in  which  they  abolished  the  Catholic  religion.^ 

When  the  old  Teutonic  royalties  thus  fell  under  the  blows  of 
a  German  monk,  did  no  prince  come  forward  to  defend  them  ? 
Duke  George  of  Saxony  was  dead,  and  had  died  as  he  lived, 
fearless  and  irreproachable.  Shortly  before  his  death,  he  received 
from  George  of  Anhalt  a  long  letter,  beseeching  him  to  cast 
aside  the  superstitions  of  popery,  and  become  a  convert  to  Pro- 
testantism. The  duke  thought  it  not  enough  to  have  practised 
for  sixty  years  the  faith  of  his  fathers ;  he  considered  that  a 
Catholic  of  his  quality  ought  to  die  with  the  pen  in  his  hand, 
since  he  could  no  longer  serve  his  God  with  the  sword.  And 
he  replied :  "I  will  die  faithful  to  my  Redeemer.  A  single 
word  added  to  the  text  of  St.  Paul,  sola,  has  plunged  my 
country  into  an  abyss  of  misery  ;  Luther  wiU  have  to  answer 
for  the  bloodshed  which  he  has  occasioned.  I  am  old,  and  about 
to  depart,  and  you  know  that  old  dogs  are  unbreakable :  '  Alte 
Hunde  sind  ubel  handig  zu  machen.'  "^  The  old  Saxon  dog  died, 
acknowledging  and  licking  the  hand  of  him  who  had  trained, 
and  fed,  and  caressed  it.  At  the  moment  when  death  stared 
him  in  the  face,  he  rose  upon  his  couch,  his  eye  beaming  with  a 
heavenly  light,  and  turning  to  the  priest  who  watched  beside 
him :  "  0  Lord,  my  God ! "  he  said,  "  by  Thy  blood  and  death, 
have  mercy  upon  me  ! "  and  he  fell  back  on  his  pillow  to  rise  no 
more.  He  was  an  admirable  prince,  a  model  of  virtue,  know- 
ledge, and  courage  ;  who  never  once  faltered  before  an  insult  of 
Luther,  or  a  menace  of  his  foes.^ 

*  Ulenberg,  Vita  Mart.  Lnth.  pp.  588—590.     Osiander,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xlviii. 

*  Seckendorf,  1.  c.  torn.  iii.  p.  510. 

'  Seckendor^  1.  c.  torn.  iii.  p.  510.     Seckendorf  has  said  of  this  prince : 


400  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

The  landgrave  of  Hesse,,  to  be  free  from  the  emperor's  yoke, 
associated  himself  to  all  Lather's  wicked  designs ;  and  so,  by 
his  compliances  with  the  Reformation,  procured  that  license 
which  was  granted  him  to  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  hus- 
band of  two  wives.* 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

BIGAMY  OF  THE  LANDGRAYE  OF  HESSE.    1589—1540. 

The  LaiuJgnve'B  morals. — ^His  letter  to  Luther,  desiriDg  thJit  the  Wittemberg 
refonners  would  sanction  his  intended  bigamy. — ^Motiyes  which  he  aesiguB 
for  haying  two  wiyes. — Consnltation  and  reply  of  the  members  of  the  Eyan- 
gelical  Church. — The  Landgraye's  marriage  with  one  of  his  wilb  Christina's 
maids  of  hononr. — ^Luther's  repentance. 

Philip  had  been  sixteen  years  married  to  Christina^  danghter 
of  George  dnke  of  Saxony,  and  was  the  father  of  eight 
children.  The  marriage  was  not  a  happy  one,  as  the  dnke  was 
violent  and  passionate,  debauched  and  superstitious.^  He  was 
afflicted,  while  at  the  religious  synod  of  Frankfort,  with  a  name- 
less disease.'  Like  all  the  Protestants,  he  was  fond  of  reading 
the  Bible,  which  he  always  had  by  his  bedside.  He  opened  it  at 
the  chapter  of  the  New  Testament  where  St.  Paul  threatens  for- 

''Hono  finem  habtdt  Geor;prius,  princeps  multis  yirtntibus  indytos,  sed  ob 
spretam  lucem  eyangelicam  mfeUcissimus*'  (1.  o.  p.  212). 

'  Consult^  as  to  the  Diet  and  religions  questions  of  the  time,  Acta  in  Con- 
yentn  Ratisbonensi,  ftc.  omn  Pne&tione  l^hjl.  Melancbthonis :  Witt.  1541 ; 
Von  der  Condlien  Gewalt  nnd  Antoritat,  durch  Ant.  Coryinum.  1537 ; 
Dialogofl^  ein  Instig  nnd  ntttslich  Gtospriich  yom  zukUnftigen  Concilio  zn 
Mantua^  dnrch  Urrannm  Begium :  Wittenb.  1587  ;  P^uillns  noyus,  Rome 
bis  diebns  loco  solito  exsoriptns,  hie  festinanter  yeniens  de  rebus  Caroli  : 
Witt.  1587  ;  Consideratio  Artioulorom  Lntheri  qnos  nomine  suo  ynlt  Concilio 
proponi :  J.  Codihens ;  Epistolss  B.  D.  Cardinalis  Jacobi  Sadoleti  ad  Job. 
Stnrminm;  Epistola  CoohliBi  ad  Mauritinm  ab  Hntten,  Cathedralis  Eoci. 
Herbipolensis  pnepositnm :  Misnas,  1589 ;  Vom  Tag  zu  Hagen  an,  nnd  wer 
yerhindert  babe,  oaas  kein  Gespriich  yon  Yergleichung  der  Eeligion  daaelbst 
ftirgangen:  Audh  was  aus  BilOgkeit  man  den  Protestirenden  der  Kircben 
Gliter  Beetitntion  oder  in  ffetraute  Hand-Erlegung,  oder  Bewilligc^g  im 
Bechten  begehret  hat :  Durch  Waremnndi  Lnitholben.  1540. 

*  Menzel,  Neuere  Gesohiobte  der  Dentsohen,  torn.  i. 

'  The  prince  had  caught  it  at  Schmalkalden.— -Melancth.  Epist  ep.  ii. 
lib.  xiy. 


BIQAMT   OF  THB  LAKDaBAYE  OF  HESSE.  401 

nicatoTS  with  eternal  fire,  and  he  was  afindd.  On  his  recovery, 
he  continued  in  his  nsoal  course  of  life  ;  but  the  apostle's  sen- 
tence constantly  alarmed  him ;  he  oeased  to  go  to  communion, 
and  he  had  no  rest  He  was  then  desperately  enamoured  with 
Margaret  de  Saal,  maid  of  honour  to  his  sister  Elizabeth.  This 
young  lady,  pretty,  coquettish,  and  versed  in  the  intrigues  of 
courts,  repelled  his  advances  ;  and  the  landgrave's  passion 
became  more  and  more  violent  He  could  neither  eat  nor 
sleep,  and  even  foi^t  his  ordinary  debauchery.  Christina  felt 
aggrieved,  and  openly  complained.  The  courtiers  who  profited 
by  the  prince's  adulterous  amours  encouraged  him  in  his  licen- 
tiousness  ;  and  he  was  resolved,  cost  what  might,  to  have 
Maigaret 

He  again  turned  to  the  Bible,  and  this  time  it  opened  at  the 
fourth  chapter  of  Genesis,  where  he  read :  '^  Now  Lamech  said 
to  his  wives."  Philip  bdieved  it  to  be  an  admonition  from 
Heaven,  and,  like  the  patriarchs  of  the  old  law,  he  wished  to 
have  two  wives. 

It  was  necessary  to  legalize  this  bigamy.  The  landgrave 
wished  that  some  powerful  authority  would  stifle  in  his  heart  the 
germs  of  remdrse,  and  banish  those  visions  which  he  dreaded  as 
much  as  death.  He  knew  what  he  had  done  for  the  work  of  the 
new  gospel,  and  that  if  he  withdrew  his  support  it  would  be  in 
great  danger.  The  leaders  and  apostles  of  the  Reformation  lived 
on  his  bounty  ;  to  some  he  had  publicly  given  money,  to  others 
church-plate,  to  several  bishops'  mitres,  to  enable  them  to  marry. 
He  had  only  to  appeal  to  his  courtiers,  and  there  were  plenty  of 
them  ready  to  absolve,  and,  if  necessary,  eulogize  his  adultery  ; 
but  he  wished  the  sanction  of  the  Wittemberg  doctor  and  his 
disciples. 

A  Catholic  priest,  formerly  a  Dominican,  then  a  Lutheran, 
and  next  a  Zwinglian,  undertook  to  draw  up  the  case,  which  the 
prince  was  to  submit  to  the  Saxon  Church.  But  Philip  himself 
wished  to  write.  His  letter  was  short,  haughty,  and  indecent ; 
he  said  that  he  required  a  wife,  and  if  Margaret  refused  him,  he 
could  find  others  to  consent.^ 

Luther  was  angry  at  this  insolence,  having  been  accustomed 


^  Mensel,  1.  o.  tonu  iL  p.  181. 
VOL.  II.  2  D 


402  HlfiTORY  Ot  ItTHEB. 

to  greater  obsequiousnees  on  the  part  of  the  civil  power.  In  his 
reply,  he  expressed  his  desire  that  the  question  shotdd  be  care- 
fnlly  examined  by  the  clergy  of  Hesse.  The  landgrave  wished  to 
carry  a  high  head,  and  desired  to  have  some  other  approbation 
than  that  of  this  inferior  clergy,  who  submissively  obeyed  his 
humours,  but  whose  ignorance  the  people  despised. 

Buoer  again  came  to  the  landgrave^s  assistance.  He  was  a 
learned  theologian,  a  mellifluous  and  florid  speaker,*  a  thorough 
serpent,  who  changed  his  creed,  as  the  reptUe  does  its  skin,  every 
spring.  He  had  betrayed  the  mona^ry  in  which  he  had  learned 
all  that  he  knew  of  theology  ;  betrayed  the  poor  priests,  who  had 
clothed  and  fed  him  in  his  infancy  ;  betrayed  the  Church,  which 
had  made  him  a  priest ;  betrayed  Luther,  who  had  fostered^ 
praised,  and  introduced  him  to  notice ;  betrayed  Garlstadt,  whose 
creed  he  had  embraced ;  betrayed  the  Sacramentarians^  whose 
doctrines  he  had  cried  up.  Once  more  the  disciple  of  Luther,  he 
had  recently  left  him  to  join  those  of  Strasbuig.  It  was  this 
mouth,  stained  ¥dth  so  many  peijuries,  that  was  soon  to  pro* 
nounce  the  most  awful  wish  that  ever  escaped  from  the  lips  of  a 
priest, — ^that  he  might  behold  the  entrails  of  Servetus,  who 
thought  differently  fi*om  him  on  the  Trinity,  torn  out  and 
scattered.* 

Bucer,  who  was  never  at  ease  and  could  not  rest,  was  fond  of 
money.  The  landgrave,  who  lavished  it  on  his  mistresses,  treated 
Bucer  as  one  of  th^oa,  and  Bucer  drew  up  a  memorial  to  the  great 
theologians  of  Wittemberg,  which  he  undertook  to  present  to 
them  and  support.     It  was  a  soldier's  confession.' 

'^  Now,  acknowledging  that  although  I  have  a  wife  I  cannot 
abstain  i&om  women,  I  must  expect,  unless  I  change  my  life,  te 
be  eternally  damned. 

'^  When  I  married  Christina,  it  was  neither  from  inclination 
nor  passion.  The  officers  of  my  court  and  her  maids  of  honour 
may  be  examined  as  to  her  temper,  her  charms,  and  her  love  for 
wine. 

*  "Id  Buoero  oalliditas  yiilpiiia."-'-JuBt.  Jonte  Bpiai.  «d  Beiflbiuftauam. 

*  OalTini  Epist  Farello^  torn.  li.  p.  9. 

*  "  Instractio  qnft  Martmua  Baoeras  ^nd  D.  M.Xuthernm  et  Pb.  Melanch- 
tbonem  Bollicitare  debeat,  et  si  id  ipais  rectum  yidebitnr,  postmodiim  apnd 
Electorem  Sazoms." — ^Boflsnet,  Hist  des  Variations,  torn.  i.  p.  281. 


BIGAMY   OF  THB  LAKDORATE  OF  HBSSE.  403 

''  I  am  of  a  warm  temperament.  Accustomed  to  the  irr^olar 
Hfe  of  a  camp,  I  cannot  exist  witbont  women.  I  have  not  kept 
my  conjugal  fidelity  more  than  three  weeks.  My  clergy  wish  me 
to  approach  the  holy  table,  but  I  shall  exercise  my  judgment 
there,  because  I  do  not  wish  to  change  my  life. 

**  If  I  must  fight  for  the  sake  of  the  confederation,  a  stroke 
or  a  shot  may  kill  me,  and  then  I  say  to  myself,  '  You  will 
go  straight  to  the  deylL' 

''  I  have  read  in  the  Old  Testament  that  holy  persons,  such 
as  Abraham,  Jacob,  David,  and  Solomon,  had  many  wives,  and 
yet  all  beUered  in  the  coming  of  Christ 

"  Neither  has  God  in  the  Old  Testament,  nor  Christ  in  the 
New,  nor  the  prophets  or  apostles,  forbidden  a  man  to  have  two 
wives  ;  never  have  the  prophets  or  the  apostles  blamed  or 
punished  bigamy,  and  St.  Paul  has  never  excluded  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  him  who  has  two  wives.  The  apostles,  in 
laying  down  a  rule  of  conduct  to  the  Gentiles  what  tiiey  ought 
to  practise  and  what  they  should  avoid  when  they  had  received 
tiie  fiuth,  as  we  read  in  the  Acts  which  bear  their  name,  never 
forbade  them  to  have  two  wives.  Whoi  St.  Paul  tells  us  so 
expressly  that  a  bishop  should  be  the  husband  of  one  wife,  be 
would  have  laid  the  same  injunction  on  the  laity,  had  he  wished 
that  a  layman  should  have  one  only  also.^ 

"  Besides,  I  know  that  Luther  and  Melancthon  have  advised 
the  king  of  England  not  to  divorce  his  first  wife,  but  to  take 
a  second :  ^  Prseter  aliam  ipsam  ;  prseter,"  that  is  a  counsel. 

''  But  let  them  not  suppose  that,  because  I  should  have  another 
wife,  I  shall  treat  the  first  one  ill,  cease  to  cohabit  with  her,  or 
show  her  less  friendship  than  before  ;  as  hitherto,  I  should  resign 
myself  to  carry  my  cross,  to  render  her  every  kind  of  duty,  even 
the  conjugal  debt ;  let  them,  then,  in  God's  name,  grant  me 
what  I  demand,  so  that  I  may  live  and  die  cheerfully  for  the 
honour  of  the  Gospel,  and  as  a  good  Christian ;  all  which  they 
ask  that  is  just  and  reasonable  I  shall  grant  to  them,  even  the 
property  of  the  monasteries,  or  similar  things. 

''  Further,  I  only  wish  and  ask  for  two  wives.  What  matters 
it  what  the  world  says  ?  we  need  not  pay  attention  to  it ;  we 

'  Hie  landgraye  stole  this  argument  from  John  of  Leyden. — See  the  chapter 
entitled  The  Anabaptists. 

2d2 


404  HTBTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

must  look  to  God  in  all  this,  what  He  prescribes,  prohibits,  or 
permits.  The  emperor  and  the  public  would  allow  me  to  keep 
concubines,  but  never  to  have  two  wives ;  what  (xod  allows  they 
forbid." 

The  landgrave  wa0  pressing.  The  opinion  of  the  clergy  of 
Wittembeig  soon  appeared,  divided  into  twenty-four  articles.* 

The  21st  article  is  in  these  terms :  '^  If  your  highness  is 
determined  to  marry  a  second  wife,  we  judge  that  it  ought  to  be 
done  privately,  as  we  have  said  on  speaking  of  the  dispensation 
which  you  ask ;  that  is  to  say,  that  there  should  be  no  person 
present  but  the  celebrant  and  a  few  others  as  witnesses,  who 
shall  be  bound  to  secrecy,  as  if  under  the  seal  of  confession. 
Hence  there  will  be  fear  neither  of  opposition  nor  of  great  scandal ; 
for  it  is  nothing  uncommon  for  princes  to  keep  concubines ;  and 
although  the  common  people  wiU  be  scandalized  at  it,  the  more 
enlightened  will  suspect  the  trutli.  We  need  not  be  very  anxious 
about  what  the  world  will  say,  provided  the  conscienceis  at  rest. 
Thus  we  approve  of  it 

"  Your  highness  has  therefore  in  this  writing  not  only  our 
approbation  of  your  wish  in  all  the  exigencies  that  may  occur, 
but  also  the  reflections  which  we  have  made  on  it" 

This  advice  is  signed  by  Luther,  Melancthon,  Bucer,  Gor- 

vinus,  Adam  F ,  John  Leningen,  Justus  Winther,  and  Dio- 

nysius  Melander,  that  is,  by  all  the  distinguished  Protestants  of 
Wittembeig  and  Hesse. 

The  marriage-contract  between  Philip  and  Margaret  de  Saal 
was  undoubtedly  drawn  up  by  a  Lutheran  doctor ;  the  notary 
merely  appeared  to  affix  his  signature  ;  the  theologian,  to  justify 
the  landgrave's  bigamy.^ 

His  highness  therein  declares  that  he  does  not  take  Margaret 
lightly,  nor  for  singularity,  nor  contempt  of  the  civil  law,  but 
for  certain  necessities  of  body  and  soul,  and  because  without  two 
wives  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  live  godly  and  merit 
heaven. 

All  the  respectable  members  of  the  reformed  party  were 
grieved  at  this  great  scandal.     John,  the  elector  of  Saxony, 

■  Bossoet,  Hist  des  YariaiioDS,  torn.  i.  p.  289. 

'  "  iDfltnunentiim  oopulationis  Philippi  Landgravii  et  Margarit»  de  Saal." 
— BoBBuet,  1.  c.  p.  806. 


BIGAMY   OF  THE  LAKDORAVB  OF  HESSE.  405 

covered  his  face  the  fiist  time  he  saw  Bucer,  on  his  return  from 
Wittemberg.  "  If  the  landgrave  required  women,"  he  said, 
shm^ng  his  shoulders,  '^  he  had  enough  of  them  at  his 
court  r' 

Bucer,  like  a  man  of  tact,  allowed  this  indignation  to  eva* 
porate.  He  then  eulogized  the  prince's  piety,  his  love  for  his 
people,  and,  in  Philip's  name,  promised  the  elector  the  aid 
which  he  required  to  oppose  the  emperor,  and  ended  by  showing 
him  a  writing  in  which  the  landgravine  herself  consented  to 
the  marriage.     The  elector  was  inflexible,  and  Bucer  was  in 


The  marriage  was  celebrated  on  the  3rd  of  March,  1540,  at 
Rothenburg  on  the  Fulda,  in  presence  of  Melancthon,  Bucer, 
and  other  theologians.  They  wished  to  keep  it  a  secret ;  but 
the  yoxmg  lady  and  her  mother,  tempted  by  the  demon  of  vanity, 
divdged  it  The  prince's  family,  Duke  Henry  of  Dresden  and 
his  sister,  were  offended,  less  on  the  ground  of  morality,  than 
for  these  vain  worldly  considerations  which  are  so  much  thought 
of  in  Germany.  Margaret's  mother,  at  Dresden,  was  subjected  to 
the  ridicule  and  mortifications  of  a  haughty  court,  that  sought 
to  make  her  expiate  the  elevation  of  her  daughter,  by  all  that 
could  wound  the  heart  of  a  mother  and  a  woman. 

.The  landgrave  had  closed  his  Bible,  and,  at  peace  with  God, 
his  conscience,  and  his  Church,  walked  with  his  two  wives 
publicly  to  service,  sat  between  them  at  table,  and  presented 
them  at  the  same  time  to  his  courtiers.  Christina,  after  this 
second  marriage,  made  him  the  father  of  two  sons  and  a 
daughter,  and  Margaret  of  six  sons,  who  bore  the  title  of  counts 
of  Diez. 

The  Protestant  Church  was  dumb.  She  wished  to  throw  a 
veil  over  this  shameful  proceeding,  too  happy  that  no  Catholic 
hand  drew  it  aside. 

Melancthon  kept  the  secret ;  but  indiscretions  and  appear- 
ances blabbed  ;  and,  about  June  of  that  year,  it  was  rumoured 
that  the  queen's  former  maid  of  honour  was  confined.  Lauter* 
bach,  the  pastor  of  Pirna,  greatly  concerned,  hastened  to  inquire 
of  Luther,  not  if  another  child  had  been  really  bom  to  the 


■  Menzel,  torn.  ii.  pp.  179—192. 


406  HI8T0BT  OV  LUTHEB. 

landgrave,  but  if  the  prince's  marriage  with  the  young  lady 
was  not  a  mere  fable  ?  Lather's  reply  is  both  singular  and 
embarrassed. 

'^  My  dear^ Antony,  I  can  give  yon  no  precise  information  as 
to  the  landgrave's  marriage ;  I  have  only  heard  that  one  of  the 
queen's  yonng  women  has  been  confined  of  a  son.  Is  it  true  ? 
If  it  is  so,  and  the  father  acknowledges  the  child,  and  supports 
it  and  the  mother,  he  will  do  well.  If  the  report  is  very  cur- 
rent, there  is  probably  some  foundation  for  it ;  all  that  I  know 
is,  that  the  official  declaration  of  the  marriage  has  not  been 
shown  to  me."* 

It  was  certainly  not  ftank ;  but  Luther  very  dexterously 
punished  the  curiosity  of  Lauterbach,  who,  not  seeming  to  fed 
his  punishment,  continued  his  indiscreet  qumes,  and  invariably 
received  the  same  answer, — "  I  know  nothing  about  it."' 

There  was  yet  a  greater  disgrace  to  conceal, — that  of  the  two 
staes  of  the  Reformation,  Luther  and  Melancthon,  who  autho- 
rised the  prince's  bigamy,  and  in  God's  name  said  to  him: 
^^  Sleep  in  peace,  approach  when  you  will  the  communion-table, 
eat  the  flesh  and  drijik  the  blood  of  your  6od."  This  page  they 
would  have  wished  to  tear  out  at  any  cost ;  and  for  awhile  they 
thought  they  had  succeeded,  when  God  permitted  it  to  be  drawn 
from  the  archives  of  Hesse.  It  was  a  Protestant  hand  who  thus 
revealed  the  dishonour  of  the  sect.' 


>  "  De  novis  nnptiis  Landgravii  quod  petb  nihil  possniD  Bcribero,  mi  Antoni. 
Hoc  qnidem  andivi  esse  natum  pneralum  ex  yiiginalibiiB  de  Sala.  An  sit 
▼emm  nesoio,  et  si  Teram  esset,  et  ipse  agnosoeret  se  esse  pstrani,  et  matrem 
et  prolem  aleret,  jure  -videretur  &cere.  Si  hino  natas  est  mmor,  non  sine 
caofift  est  rumor.  Tantum  sdo,  et  publica  testimonia  nuptiarum  non  sunt  mihi 
ostensa." — ^Venerabili  Antonio  Lauterbach,  pastori  in  Pim&.  2  Jan.  15i0. — 
Pe  Wette,  1.  c.  torn.  v.  pp.  290,  291. 

^  See  De  Wette,  1.  o.  p.  304. 

'  Daphnaeufi  Arcnarius  (Laurence  Berger)  was  the  first  to  make  known 
Bucer's  memorial,  the  opinions  of  the  \^ttembeiv  doctors,  and  the  contract 
of  marniige,  in  a  work  which  speared  in  1679,  under  the  title  of  Kune,  doch 
unpartheiiBche  und  ^ewissenhafte  Beurtheilung  des  in  dem  Nature  und  ^tt- 
fichen  Becht  gegrUndeten  heiligen  Ehestandes,  in  welcher  die  eeither  streitigen 
Fmgen  vom  E^ebruoh,  der  Bhesoheidung,  und  sonderlich  von  dem  vielen 
Weibemehmen,  mit  allem  beiderseits  gegebenen  Beweissthumb  dem  christ- 
lichen  Leser  vorgestellt  werden.  It  may  be  seen  in  Latin,  and  translated,  in 
Boflsuet's  History  of  the  Variations,  &c.  vol.  L  p.  242,  edit,  of  Dublin,  12mo. 
1845.  M.  de  Wette  has  also  given  the  opinion,  in  his  Collection  of  Luther's 
Letters,  voL  v.  pp.  237,  242.  This  version,  more  accurate  than  that  iu 
BosBUet,  we  include  among  the  Confirmatory  Evidenoe,  at  the  end  of  this 


LUTHB&'S  APFUOTIONS.  407 

.  Fartber,  Protestaiito  have  xmited  with  the  Catholics  in  stigr 
matiaoBg  ike  oowftrdioe  of  Luther  and  Mehmcthon,  whpae  hands 
should  haye  witheied  sooner  than  have  signed  that  seandaloos 
deed.  Both  suffered  in  this  life  the  punishment  due  to  their 
&ult  Melancthon  attributed  to  it  his  sudden  ilbess;  and 
Luther  attempted  to  deny  his  own  work,  b;  proclaiming  on  all 
occasions  the  indissolubility  of  marriage ! 

When  a  person  vile  enough  was  found  to  defend  the  land- 
grave in  a  pamphlet  which  appeared  under  the  name  of  Hul- 
drich  Neobulus,  the  doctor  of  Wittemberg  cast  from  him  the 
infamous  book^  and  ezclaimed :  '^  Bascal  that  you  are !  may 
the  devil  prepare  a  bath  of  fire  in  the  lowest  part  of  hell  tor 
whoever  listens  to  you,  and  is  tempted  to  take  more  than  one 
wife ;  this  is  my  fixed  opinion  ;  and  though  you,  you  wicked 
wretch,  and  all  the  devils  were  to  teach  me  another  doctrine,  I 
would  not  listen  to  you ;  I  hold  that  a  man  cannot  leave  his 
wife,  unless  for  flagrant  adult^/'^ 

He  forgot,  then,  what  he  had  said  formerly, — that  there  was 
no  text  in  the  Bible  which  prohibited  polygamy  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXL 

LUTHER'S  AFFLICTIONS  AND  SUFFERINGS. 

Luther  fidls  8i<^  at  Sohmalkiilden. — ^Hia  wishes  againit  the  papacy. — Ke 
never  knewhow  to  pray. — ^Deathof  Ms&ther. — ^His  eenrant  Dietrich. — Death 
of  Magdalene. — The  Other's  affectionate  care  for  his  child. — ^His  last  will. 

Old  age  came  prematurely  on  Luther.  For  his  latter  days 
were  reserved  the  greatest  afflictions  which  he  had  yet  expe- 
rienced : — the  death  of  his  father  and  mother,  to  whom  he  was 
much  attached ;  the  loss  of  two  of  his  daughters,  especially 


volume.  It  will  be  found,  likewise,  in  the  edition  of  Altenbnrg',  vol.  viii. 
p.  977 ;  of  Leipsic,  vol.  xxii.  p.  469 ;  and  of  Halle,  vol.  x.  p.  886.  [See  also 
the  remarks  of  the  high-hearted,  impartial,  and  illustrious  Sir  William  Hamil- 
Um,  in  his  Discussions  on  Philosophy,  &c.  p.  497 :  London,  1852.— Tr.] 

■  "  Wer  diesem  Buben  und  Buche  fblget . . .  dem  gesegne  der  Teufel  das  Bad 
im  Abgnind^  der  HoUeik" 


408  HISTORY  OF  LUTHEA. 

Magdalene^  whom  he  ever  after  lamented ;  the  banishment  of 
some  of  his  Mends ;  the  conversion  of  many  of  his  disciples ; 
the  deterioration  of  his  doctrines,  and  constant  sickness.  These 
strokes  of  Heaven,  which  succeeded  each  other  at  brief  intervals, 
cast  him  into  a  sort  of  despair,  which  sometimes  vented  itself  in 
complaints  wherein  it  is  difficult  to  recognise  the  ''child  of 
Chrisf  In  1537,  when  sick  of  the  stone  at  Schmalkalden,  in 
momentary  expectation  of  death,  he  found  sufficient  strength  to 
sit  up  in  bed  and  address  to  Qoi  a  prayer,  the  modd  of  which 
he  certainly  did  not  find  in  the  Bible :  *'  Master  of  heaven,  my 
Qoi  and  my  Lord !"  he  exclaimed,  "  I,  the  enemy  of  thy  ene- 
mies, the  terror  and  the  scourge  of  Antichrist,  am  about  to  die, 
and  thou  art  now  to  pronounce  our  sentences.  Give  to  the  pope 
endless  pains  and  sufferings ;  to  me,  thy  poor  creature,  who  have 
proclaimed  thy  name  and  majesty,  glory  and  eternal  happiness  !"^ 
The  deathbed,  which  ordinarily  inspires  us  with  such  tender 
wishes  for  all  whom  we  must  leave  behind  us  on  earth,  was  for 
Luther  a  pulpit,  whence  he  preached  his  hatred.  In  the  midst  of 
all  the  ki^es  of  peace  which  he  sent  from  his  bed  to  her  who  had 
always  ''served  him  as  a  faithful  attendant,"'  to  his  domestics, 
his  (Usciples  at  WitJ;emberg,  and  all  whom  he  had  loved  in  this 
life,  he  found  room  for  the  name  of  the  pope,  but  only  to  curse 
him !  "  I  am  ready  to  die,''  he  writes  to  Pomeranus,  "when  it 
shall  please  God,  my  Saviour ;  but  I  would  wish  to  live  only  till 
Pentecost,  that  I  might  stigmatize  before  the  whole  world  that 
Boman  beast  whom  they  call  the  pope,  and  his  kingdom ! "  That 
Roman  beast  was  Paul  III.  His  pains  were  so  acute,  that  he 
one  day  said  to  his  nurse :  "  I  wish  there  was  a  Turk  here  to 
kill  me  !"^  His  friends  despaired  of  his  recovery ;  they  looked 
on  his  return  to  Wittembeig  as  a  miracle ;  the  veiy  physicians 
despaired  of  him. 

Luther  had  never  known  how  to  pray.  Prayer  implies  love, 
and  he  could  only  hate.  In  the  midst  of  his  effusions  to  Qoi 
there  always  arises  something  of  the  old  man,  which  chedcs  the 
pity  that  we  are  disposed  to  feel  for  his  sufferings.  How  is  it 
that  the  prayer  which  at  first  comes  from  his  lips  like  pure 

1  "Dieser  dein  Feind  and  '^derchrist  sor  ewigen  Sclimach  and  Pein  ;  ich 
aber,  deine  anne  Creator,  sor  ewigen  Gloria  and  HeniicULeit." — Gagtav  Pfiser. 
*  "  Wenn  nor  ein  Tiirke  da  ware,  der  mioh  flohlaQhtete."— Ibid. 


luthbb'b  AFFLlonOKB.  409 

incenBe,  becomes  changed  so  soon  into  wormwood  ?  **  My  sms^ 
deaths  Satan^  and  all  his  angels,  neyer  leaye  me  any  rest !  What 
remains  for  my  consolation  and  my  hope,  but  thy  grace,  0  my 
Qoi  !  Ah  !  let  it  not  abandon  the  most  miserable  of  men,  the 
greatest  of  sinners.'' 

Does  it  not  seem  as  if  the  heavens  will  open,  and  that  the 
mercy  which  he  so  fondly  invokes  will  descend  on  him  with 
angels'  wings  ?  Bnt  the  heavens  are  of  brass,  because  he  who 
implores  it  has  so  mnch  gall  in  his  heart  that  it  escapes  in  words 
of  hatred.  ''Oh!  my  Ood,''  he  adds,  ''how  I  wish  that 
Erasmus  and  the  Sacramentarians  did  for  a  moment  experience 
the  pains  which  I  suffer ;  I  should  then  become  a  prophet,  and 
foretell  their  repentance  and  conversion  l'^  We  prefer  the  prayer 
of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  who  as  he  fell  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar  under  the  assassins'  blovrs,  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven  and 
said,  as  he  expired :  "  Forgive  them,  my  Ood,  they  know  not 
what  they  do/'  And  yet  this  Thomas  was  a  papist,  whom 
Luther  more  than  once  damned  ! 

Luther  was  at  Goburg  when  he  learned  the  death  of  his 
old  father,  Hans.^  To  support  him  under  this  heavy  blow, 
his  wife  had  sketched  their  children  in  a  letter  full  of  conso- 
lation. As  Luther  read  it,  he  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven.  He 
believed  in  the  Lord,  and  the  sight  of  tlukt  firmament  where 
he  hoped  that  his  father  rested  sufficed  to  assuage  his  grief;  for 
he  loved  his  father  mucL  And  Hans  was  proud  of  his  son,  and 
spoke  of  him  with  enthusiasm. 

In  the  letter  written  on  this  occasion  by  his  servant  to 
Catherine,  we  find  some  interesting  details : — 

"  My  dear  and  good  lady,  my  beloved  ^mistress,  be  consoled, 
and  do  not  firet  about  your  husband,  the  doctor.  Thanks  be  to 
CK)d,  he  is  well,  and  received  the  account  of  his  fether's  death 
with  firmness.  As  soon  as  he  had  broken  the  seal  of  Hans 
Reinicke's  letter,  he  turned  to  me,  and  said,  '  My  poor  &ther 
is  dead/     Then  he  took  his  psdm-book  and  retired  to  his 


1  He  died  on  20th  May,  1580.  See,  in  De  Wette,  yol.  iii.  pp.  82,  88,  two 
letten  which  Luther  wrote  on  the  Bubjeot,  on  5Ui  Jone^  to  liin<^  and  to 
Melancthon,  of  nme  date.  Hans  died  in  his  son's  creed.  "  Gaudeo  sanb 
vixisse  enm  in  haso  tempera  nt  luoem  Teritatis  videret,"  says  Lather  to  Me- 
Uncthon. 


410  HISTOBT  OF  lUTHSB. 

chamber,  where  he  wept  so  much,  that  next  day  his  head  appeared 
swollen  :  after  that  he  was  as  before/'  ^ 

Some  weeks  before  his  death,  and  when  stretched  pn  the  bed 
from  which  he  was  never  to  rise,  Hans  had  received  this  last 
letter  from  his  son  : — 

'^  My  brother  James  tells  me  that  you  are  very  sick  ;  *  the  air, 
the  season,  all  make  me  tremble.  God  has  truly  blessed  you 
with  a  robust  frame  and  an  iron  constitution ;  but  your  age 
alarms  me.  None  of  us  are  sure  of  an  hour's  existence.  I 
should  have  been  very  glad  to  go  and  see  you ;  but  my  fidends 
advise  me  not  to  tempt  Ood  by  risking  the  journey ;  you  know 
how  I  am  beloved  by  the  nobles  and  the  peasantry.  There  would 
not  be  much  difficulty  in  going,  but  the  danger  lies  in  returning ; 
if  it  were  possible,  I  should  prefer  that  you  and  my  mother  would 
Gome  to  me ;  my  Eetha  desires  it  with  tears.'' 

Every  morning  and  evening  Luther  recommended  to  Ood  in 
his  prayers,  his  father,  mother,  and  Mends,  especially  Melancthon, 
and  his  excellent  and  old  servant  Veit  DietricL 

This  was  a  devoted  domestic,  who  almost  worshipped  his 
master,  looked  after  all  his  wants,  carefully  brushed,  his  clothes, 
and  repaired  them  when  necessary,  dusted  his  booke^  and  put  in 
order  the  papers  with  which  his  table  was  always  covered. 
During  his  preaching  Veit  Dietrich  sat  opposite  to  him,  listened 
with  silent  admiration,  seemed  annoyed  when  the  door  of  the 
church  was  opened  too  noisily,  and  retained  with  wonderful 
memory  his  master's  discourse.'  Luther  readily  admitted  him  to 
his  table,  and  he  was  a  disciple  rather  than  a  servant.  It  was 
Dietrich's  duty  to  replenish  the  empty  glasses ;  he  possessed  the 
knack  of  pouring  out-  ale,  like  a  thorough  German  toper,  to  the 
very  brim  without  suffering  a  drop  to  overflow.  Dietrich,  firom 
his  custom  of  sitting  at  the  same  table  with  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Jonas,  and  Aurifaber,  became  imbued  with  the  theological  atmo^ 
sphere  amidst  which  he  had  spent  every  evening  during  ten  years. 
^He  abo  discoursed  upon  indulgences,  purgatory,  and  church 
matters.  He  delighted  to  attack  some  servant  of  a  Catholic 
clergyman  whom  he  would  boast  of  having  nonplused,  ad  saccum 


*  Oust  Pfizer,  Martin  Lutli«r*B  Leben,  p.  676. 

>  Gust.  Pfizer,  p.  676.  ^  Mathesina. 


I^UTUBB's  AFFjUCTIONS.  411 

fedueere,  becange  he  had  poured  upon  hia  head  the  epithets  of 
Antichrist,  lecher^  ass,  theologaster,  Thomist,  that  fell  from  the 
lips  of  the  party  at  every  bumper.  Luther  had  perverted  him, 
li'ke  all  the  rest  in  his  service.  He  was  one  of  thosp  worthy 
Germans  such  as  we  find  in  the  romances  of  Augustus  Lafon- 
taine,  who  devote  to  their  master  an  affection  which  even  death 
does  not  dissolve  ;  for  at  his  master's  death,  the  domestic  retired 
from  service,  and  lived  in  some  obscure  abode,  where  he  mourned 
and  blessed  the  memory  of  his  benefiEustor. 

Dietrich  wrote  to  Melancthon :  ''  Pray  do  not  glance  lightly 
over  the  lines  which  the  doctor  has  written  to  you.  I  cannot 
sufficiently  admire  his  constancy,  his  fidth,  and  his  hope,  in 
these  evil  days  in  which  we  live:  these  gifts  he  doubtiess 
obtains  by  prayer.  No  day  passes,  in  which  he  does  not  mutter 
three  long  hours  between  his  teeth.  I  have  had  the  good  fortune 
to  see  him  pray.  My  God  !  what  faith,  what  soul  is  in  every 
word  !  it  is  like  a  son  addressing  his  f&ther.  *  Ah  !  yes.  Lord,' 
he  prays, '  I  know  tiiat  Thou  art  our  Father  and  beloved  Saviour ; 
therefore  have  I  confidence  in  Thee  ;  I  firmly  trust  that  Thou 
wilt  cause  thy  servants  to  overcome  temptation,  and,  if  Thou 
wilt  not  permit  it,  whatever  happens,  it  is  Thou  who  hast  wished 
it,  and  we  ought  to  submit  to  thy  will.'  ^ 

''The  first  time  that  I  heard  the  doctor's  powerful  voice 
pronounce  these  beautiful  words,  my  whole  heart  was  moved 
and  inflamed  with  a  holy  gladness.  I  doubt  not  but  that 
his  prayer  was  a  mighty  aid  to  us  in  that  unhappy  diet  at 
Augsburg." 

That  prayer  which  a  zealous  servant  has  preserved,  and  to 
which  he  attributes  such  might,  could  not,  however,  calm  the 
agonies  of  him  who  addressed  it  to  God.  It  is  very  remark- 
able that  prayer,  the  balm  for  all  tiie  wounds  of  a  Christian's 
heart,  could  never  iustil  a  drop  of  roseate  dew  in  that  of  Luther. 
He  himself  it  is  who  tells  us  of  tiiat  unaccountable  sterility  of 
prayer.  Was  he  then  abandoned  by  Qoi,  who  refused  to  listen 
to  him  ?  Is  not  this  the  mark  of  a  conscience  which  seeks  God, 
but  cannot  find  Him,  because  it  flies  from  the  light  which  God 
sheds  upon  it  ? 

I  Gtisi.  Pfiier,  Msrtin  Luther*!  Lebes,  pp.  677,  678. 


412  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHBB* 

The  most  severe  trial  to  which  he  had  to  submit  was  the  death 
of  his  little  Magdalene. 

Luther  bore  the  blow  with  admirable  oouiage.  He  tenderly 
loved  his  little  daughter ;  but,  lifting  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  said : 
**  My  God,  if  Thou  desirest  to  take  her  fiom  me,  Thy  will  be 
done !"  One  day  when  she  was  in  much  pain,  he  drew  near  the 
child's  bed,  and  covering  her  small  wasted  hands  with  kisses : 
'*  My  little  Magdalene,  my  good  dear  child,''  he  said,  ^'  you 
know  well  that  you  have  a  fond  father  on  earth ;  but  in  heaven 
there  is  one  waiting  for  you  who  is  still  fonder.  Is  it  not  so  ?" 
''  Oh  yes,  dear  father,"  answered  the  little  sufferer,  '^  let  the  will 
of  God  be  done  !"  "  Poor  dear  ! "  said  Luther,  "  the  flesh  is 
weak,  but  the  spirit  is  strong.     Oh,  how  I  love  you  !" 

Then  turning  to  one  of  his  friends  who  sought  to  console  him : 
"  See,"  said  he,  "  there  is  not  a  bishop  in  all  the  world  whom 
God  has  blessed  like  me  ;  but  I  feel  that  I  cannot  acknowledge 
his  mercies." 

Meanwhile  the  agony  came  on,  and  the  dark  shadows  of  death 
passed  over  the  child's  face.  When  the  doctor  perceived  these 
mournful  signs,  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  clasped  his 
hands  in  prayer,  and  burst  into  tears.  The  child  lost  all  con- 
sciousness, and  was  leaning  on  her  fisither's  arms,  when  death 
sealed  her  eyes  for  ever.  Catherine  was  in  a  comer  of  the  room, 
not  daring  to  look  upon  her  daughter's  bed.  This  aflUcting 
event  happened  at  nine  o'clock  of  a  Wednesday  morning,  in 
1642. 

The  doctor  laid  her  still  lovely  head  gently  on  the  pillow : 
'*  Poor  child  !"  he  said,  **  you  have  a  father  in  heaven.  0  God, 
thy  will  be  done!" 

She  was  interred  on  the  following  day.  Luther  accompanied 
the  body  to  the  cemetery.  As  the  body  was  lowered  into  the 
grave : — ^'  Adieu,"  he  said,  '^  Lennichen,  adieu :  we  shall  meet 
again,  my  sweet  little  star ;  you  will  rise  again,  and  sparkle  in 
heaven  as  a  diamond,  as  a  beautiful  sun  !"  The  sexton  had 
made  the  grave  too  small.  ^'  Your  bed  here  is  very  narrow,  my 
dear  child,"  said  Luther,  *^  but  that  which  is  above  will  be  much 
better." 

The  people  who  crowded  to  the  cemetery  entered  into  the 
father's  sorrow,  and  endeavoured  to  console  him,  by  saying, 


luthbb's  afpliottons.  413 

*•  Poor  friend,  you  suffer  much !"  *'  I  iliaiik  you  for  your 
sympathy/'  said  Luther ;  ^'  I  have  sent  a  beautiful  angel  to 
heaven :  I  wish  you  all  such  a  happy  death,  and  myself  also/" 
**  Amen/'  said  a  bystander.  To  whom  Luther  replied :  **  Flesh 
is  flesh,  and  blood  is  blood  ;  joy  in  the  heart,  and  sorrow  in  the 
countenance  ;  it  is  the  flesh  that  weeps  and  mourns.'' 

Others  drew  nigh  to  console  him  :  "  No,  no,"  he  said,  *^'  I  am 
not  sad  ;  my  dear  angel  is  in  heaven."  Some  labourers  came  to 
fing  at  the  verge  of  the  grave :  ''  Lord,  remember  not  our  former 
iniquities."  "Lord,  Lord,"  mutter^  Luther,  "neither  our 
gins  of  to-day,  nor  those  of  to-morrow." 

When  the  sexton  threw  the  earth  on  the  coffin :  "  See,"  said 
Luther,  "the  resurrection  of  the  flesh:  my  daughter  is  in 
heaven,-— body  and  seal.  That  is  God's  order  and  promise ;  why 
should  we  repine  ?  Is  it  not  His  will  that  is  accomplished  ?  We 
are  the  children  of  eternity ;  I  have  batten  a  saint  for  the 
Lord." 

When  the  coffin  was  covered  with  earth,  a  small  stone  was 
placed  on  the  grave,  bearing  the  name  of  the  child,  her  age  and 
day  of  death,  with  a  text  from  Scripture.  Some  time  after, 
when  Luther  could  apply  himself  to  work,  he  composed  for  the 
monumental  slab  the  following  Latin  inscription,  which  breathes 
a  spirit  of  tender  melancholy  and  resignation  to  Ood's  will : — 

"  Dormio  com  sanotiB  hlc  Magdalena  Lntberi 
Filia,  et  hoc  stnto  tecta  qniesco  meo ; 
Filia  mortis  eram,  peccati  semine  nata^ 
Sanguine  sed  vivo,  GhriBte,  redempta  tao." 

Here  with  the  Mdnte  repose  I,  Magdalene, 
Great  Luther's  daughter,  in  this  peaceful  bed : 

The  child  of  death  I  was,  begot  in  sin, 
But  now  redeem'd  by  Christy  our  living  head.* 

We  sought  for  this  tomb  in  the  cemetery  of  Wittembeig,  but 
could  not  find  it  This  affliction  struck  Luther  to  the  heart. 
He  looked  on  it  as  an  admonition  frx>m  heaven :  it  was  another 
thunderbolt.  The  first  had  carried  oflF  the  young  Alexis,  the 
friend  of  his  youth  ;  the  second  had  deprived  him  of  an  idolized 
daughter,  the  joy  of  his  age.     From  this  moment,  all  his  letters 


>  Tiflch-Beden,  pp.  495,  496. 


414  HISTO&T  Oil  tUTHfifi. 

are  tinged  with  melancholy ;  the  wings  of  dei^  are  stretehed 
oyer  all  his  thoughts. 

On  receiving  a  letter  from  the  elector,  who  wished  him  many 
years  of  long  life,  he  shook  hia  head,  and  replied  to  his  royal 
friend :  "  The  pitcher  has  gone  too  oftea  to  the  well ;  it  will 
break  at  last/'  ^ 

One  day  while  while  preaching,  he  drew  tears  from  his  audience 
by  announcing  to  them  his  approaching  end.  "  The  world  is 
weary  of  me,"'  he  said,  "  and  I  am  weary  of  the  world :  wq 
shall  soon  be  divorced.  Tlie  traveller  will  soon  quit  his 
lodging.'* 

For  some  time  he  had  wished  to  regulate  the  aflairs  of  his 
family ;  and  shutting  himself  up  in  his  room  he  wrote  his 
testament. 

"  I,  Martin  Luther,  doctor,  by  these  presents,  signed  by  my 
hand,  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear  wife  Catherine,  for  her  life- 
rent, and  subject  to  her  disposition,  1st,  my  small  property  of 
Zeilsdorf,  such  as  I  purchased  it,  fumidied  and  fitted  up; 
2ndly,  the  house  of  the  fountain  (zum  Brufmen)^  which  I  pur- 
chased under  the  name  of  Wolf;  3rdly,  my  goblets,  jewels, 
rings,  and  chains,  and  my  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver,  which 
may  be  worth  about  1,000  guilders. 

'^I  make  these  dispositions:  1st,  Because  she  has  always 
loved  and  cherished  me;  because  she  has  always  conducted 
herself  with  dignity  and  propriety ;  and  because,  by  special 
grace  from  the  Lord,  she  has  given  me  and  brought  up  five 
children,  still  alive,  whom  may  God  preserve  ! 

'^  2ndly,  That  she  may  take  upon  herself  to  discharge  my 
debts,  if  I  am  not  able  to  do  so  before  my  death :  these  may 
amount  to  450  guilders,  and  perhaps  more. 

"  3rdly,  And  especially  because  I  wish  that  she  shall  not  be 
dependent  upon  her  children,  but  her  children  upon  her, 
according  to  God's  precept. 

'*  I  beseech  all  my  good  friends  to  act  as  protectors  to  my  dear 
Eetha,  and  to  defend  her  against  the  evil  tongues  which  may 
accuse  her  of  keeping  for  herself  the  money  to  the  injury  of  my 
poor  children ;  for,  excepting  the  said  goblets  and  jewels,  I 


*  Der  King  ist  zum  Brnnneb  getragen  worden,  ond  wird  anf  eimnal  brechdo." 


TEMPTATIOKS  A17D  DOUBTS.  415 

declare  that  I  have  no  treaenne  of  any  kind.  That  may  be  very 
easily  nndeistood ;  for  there  is  not  a  single  particle  of  my  revenues 
which  has  not  passed  away  in  building,  purchasing,  or  house 
expenses ;  and  it  is  truly  a  great  blessing  of  Heaven  that  I  have 
been  able  to  do  all  without  contracting  more  debts. 

"  Finally,  I  demand  that,  if  I  have  not  employed  the  forms 
of  law  in  drawing  up  this  testament,  the  handwriting  of  a  man, 
well  known  in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  may  possess  more  credit 
than  that  of  any  notary.  If  Ood  has  been  pleased  to  trust  me, 
a  poor  creature  laden  with  sins  and  stains ;  if  He.  has  per- 
mitted me  to  announce  the  Gospel  of  his  dear  Son  ;  if  He  has 
blessed  my  fidelity  ;  if,  by  my  means,  many  have  embraced  the 
Gospel  and  recognised  me  as  their  apostle,  notwithstanding  the 
excommunication  of  popes,  emperors,  kings,  princes,  and  monks, 
and  the  wrath  of  the  devil ;  my  testimony  is  well  worthy  of 
credit  in  these  trifling  dispositions,  especiaQy  as  my  signature  is 
so  well  known.  I  hope  that  it  will  suffice  to  say :  '  This  is  the 
handwriting  of  Luther,  notaiy  of  God,  and  witness  of  His 
Gospel' ^'1 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

TEMPTATIONS  AND  DOUBTS. 

Donbt,  the  most  cniel  temptation  to  wliich  Lather  is  a  prey. — ^The  doctor's 
mental  proetration. — ^DisclosareB  on  this  subjeot,  deriTed  from  his  private 
coTTeapondence. — ^His  fihreweU  to  Borne. 

Op  all  Luther's  sufferings,  doubt  was  the  most  cruel.  There 
are  two  great  epochs  in  the  life  of  the  Reformer  ;  the  one, 
which  dates  from  the  time  of  his  posting  his  Theses  on  All  Saints 
at  Wittemberg,  and  extends  to  the  rebellion  of  Carlstadt,  his 
first  apostle ;  the  other,  which  begins  at  the  cradle  of  Anabap- 
tism,  and  ends  at  Augsburg.  In  the  first  half  of  his  li£s  of 
incessant  warfSsure,  he  has  no  adversaries  but  the  "  Papists,''  and, 
as  he  had  previously  damned  them  both  in  this  world  and  the 

I  Seokendor^  lib.  iii.  p.  651. 


416  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHBB* 

next,  he  is  not  much  moYed  by  their  criticism  or  their  aiga- 
ments :  they  are  so  many  eyil  spirits.  In  the  latter  period,  he 
has  for  anta^nists  his  own  children,  those  whom  he  belieyes  he 
has  begotten  for  his  Christ  It  is  only  then  that  donbt^  with 
his  agonies,  bodily  and  mental,  torments  him  incessantly :  and 
hence  those  moral  tempests  which  he  has  described  with  snch 
truthful  poignancy. 

In  vain  does  he  endeavour  to  delude  (Germany  as  to  the  nature 
of  his  aifections :  it  is  doubt  which  nails  him  to  his  coucL  At 
every  fresh  neology  that  is  produced  in  the  religious  world,  we 
see  that  an  invisible  hand  throws  around  his  bed  clouds  which 
he  vainly  tries  to  dispel  He  must  see  at  the  same  time  Denck, 
Hetzer,  Eautz,  and  others  rebel  against  the  dogmas  which  he 
has  constantly  defended :  the  divinity  of  Christ,  justification  by 
fidth,  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ  Such  audacity,  the 
source  of  which  lies  in  the  rationalism  to  which  he  opens  the 
gates,  causes  him  almost  to  lose  his  senses.  He  lies  on  his  couch 
stupified,  and  unable  to  read  or  write.  Justus  Jonas  and  Bugen- 
hagen,  who  sit  by  his  pillow,  think  to  console  him,  but  they  are 
ignorant  of  the  cause  of  this  prodi^ous  depression  of  body 
and  mind  in  their  mutual  friend ;  they  treat  the  complaint  as 
bodily,  while  it  is  the  mind  that  is  diseased.  Luther,  in  two 
lines,  explains  to  us  the  cause  of  his  mental  prostration :  ''  I 
have  almost  lost  Christ  in  these  great  billows  of  despair  in  which 
I  am  as  it  were  engulphed.""  ^ 

From  all  his  friends,  present  and  absent,  he  entreats  their 
prayers:  these  are  not  refbsed,  but  they  do  not  ascend  to  heaven. 
There  are  moments  when,  fEdliug  back  upon  the  bed  which  he 
has  watered  with  his  tears,  he  seems  to  acknowledge  that  he  has 
tortured  the  meaning  of  various  passages  of  the  Bible.  ^'  In 
truth,"  he  writes  to  Nicolas  Hausmann,  "it  is  not  a  mere 
soldier,  but  the  king  of  heU  whom  I  have  for  antagonist,  so 
great  is  his  power,  so  formidable  is  his  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. If  I  had  not  other  arms  to  defend  me,  my  knowledge  of 
them  <  would  be  insufficient"'    He  is  so  dejected,  that  he  is 


^''AmiHO  ford  toto  Christo  agebar  fluctibiiB  et  prooellia  desperatioms  et 
bksphemuB  in  Demn.'*— Melaoohthon],  2  Aug.  1627.  De  Weite,  torn.  iii. 
p.  189. 

'  ''Ego  atitkh  BOBpioor  non  gr^gariam  aliquem,  aed  principem  istum  Das- 


TEMPTATIONS   AND   DOUBTS.  417 

nearly  casting  away  the  Bible  and  ceasing  to  write  ;  "  for,"  he 
gays  to  Linck,  '^  Satan  wishes  me  to  split  my  pen,  and  follow 
him  to  hell."  ^  Then  a  thick  veil  falls  from  his  eyes  ;  it  appears 
to  him  that  his  doctrines  are  condemned  by  God,  and  that  his 
apostate  disciples  have  discovered  the  truth.  "  0  my  God  !" 
he  murmurs  in  Brisger's  ear,  ^'  it  is  wonderful  how  Satan  trans- 
forms himself  into  Christ :  if  I  yield,  if  I  have  so  often  obeyed 
Satan,  I  hope  that  the  Lord  will  forgive  me/''  At  that  moment 
he  no  longer  relies  upon  the  Redeemer's  blood  ;  Satan  strives  to 
snatch  Christ  firom  him.'  What  then  has  become  of  that  pearl 
which  he  found  in  the  dunghill  of  his  monastery,  and  which  he 
styled  Faith,  by  the  light  of  which  he  was  to  attain  to  heaven  ? 
"  I"  says  he,  "who  have  saved  others,  yet  cannot  save  myself  !"♦ 
Strange  avowal !  He  has,  therefore,  either  ceased  to  believe,  or 
his  pearl  has  lost  its  redeeming  virtue :  he  no  longer  knows  what 
idea  to  attach  to  his  great  word — Faith.  Here,  faith  is  a  con- 
cealed, incomprehensible  knowledge;  there,  faith  is  the  true 
confidence  and  assurance  of  the  heaf  t ;  elsewhere,  it  is  dialectics, 
and  hope  is  rhetoric  ;  which  of  the  first  makes  something  spe- 
culative, and  of  the  second  something  purely  practical^  Thus 
it  is  that,  notwithstanding  all  his  efibrts,  he  slips  upon  the 
descent  on  which  he  first  took  his  stand,  and  which  necessarily 
casts  him  into  the  &tal  abyss  of  rationalism,  into  which  the  most 
of  his  disciples  have  abeady  &llen.  Listen  to  him  endeavouring 
to  sift  the  words  of  the  Apostle :  "  And  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so 
also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  (1  Cor.  xv.  22.)  But  "  it 
is  a  ridiculous  commentary  which  St.  Paul  has  given  us  there  in 
his  death  and  resurrection  by  Adam  and  Christ.  In  the  eye  of 
reason,  it  is  a  mockery  that  the  whole  human  race  should  be 


monioram  is  me  insaiTexisse,  tanta  est  ejuB  potentia  et  sapientia  Bcriptnris  in 
me  annatissima,  ut  nid  alieno  verbo  h»ream,  mea  scientia  in  scripturis  non  sit 
eatiB.''— Niool.  Hanssmann,  27  Nov.  1527.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  222. 

'  "Satan  agit  et  vellet  ut  nihil  amplitiB  ecriberem,  sed  secum  ad  inferos 
desoenderem." — Be  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  225. 

'  "  Etiamai  mnlta  feci  et  fiusio  qusB  Satanas  maxt,  ipse  enim  miserioors  est  et 
ignoscit."— 27  Nov.  1527.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  225. 

•  "  Nam  Satan  solntns  in  me  mihi  Christum  eripere  tentat." — Brenzio, 
28  Nov.     Be  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  280. 

*  **  Ego  alios  salvos  feci,  me  ipsam  non  possum  salvum  fiioere  1  *' — Germ. 
Vitokam.  1  Jan.  1628.     De  Wette,  torn.  iii.  p.  24. 

'  Mcehler,  Symbolism,  translated  by  Robertson,  vol.  i.  p.  214,  note, 
TOL.  II.  2  B 


418  HISTOBT  OF  L0THEB. 

inyolyed  in  tlie  Bin  of  one  man !  It  eeems  nnjost  and  absuid 
to  suppose  that  God  had  played  a  similar  oomedy,  and  that  on 
account  of  one  apple  which  Adam  ate,  he  should  have  condemned 
to  eternal  death  generations  upon  generations.  But  Adam  was 
innocent  either  of  murder,  adultery,  theft,  or  blasphemy.  He 
ate  an  apple,  enticed  by  his  wife,  who  allowed  herself  to  be 
deceived  by  the  tempter.  What !  for  a  single  apple,  is  the  whole 
human  race,  even  the  saints,  prophets,  and  sons  of  Ood,  to  be 
doomed  to  death  ?  Even,  if  it  were  not  death,  still  it  is  suffering 
and  damnation  which  we  all  incur  on  account  of  the  sin  of 
another.  Such  injustice  causes  the  heart  to  rise:  it  is  a 
gratuitous  cruelty  which  we  ascribe  to  a  just  and  good  God ! 
This  is  the  incredible  enigma  which  St  Paul  proposes  to  us,  in 
affirming  that  death  and  life  depended  on  one  man  ;  so  that  to 
avoid  the  sentence,  virtue,  wisdom,  good  works,  all  are  powerless. 
Nothing  can  save  us  or  preserve  us  from  it ;  neither  the  piety  of 
monks,  the  holy  teaching  bf  the  apostles,  nor  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs. 

'^  When  we  reflect  on  it,  this  seems  very  astonishing,  and  very 
often  surprises  me ;  it  is  very  difficult  to  convince  the  human 
heart !  In  the  eyes  of  every  one,  such  a  doctrine  is  fiEdse. 
Nobody  can  believe  that  God  has  been  so  foolish  or  unjust,  as  to 
damn  all  men  for  the  sake  of  one  ;  or  should  for  one  have  saved 
all  the  rest,  who  have  done  nothing  to  deserve  their  lot ! 
Common  sense  teaches  us  that  every  creature  here  below  must 
live  or  die  according  to  his  works.  But  to  maintain  that  one 
man  is  to  be  accountable  for  all,  that  we  are  all  to  live  and  die 
in  consequence  of  the  deeds  of  others  than  ourselves,  is  irony  as 
cruel  as  it  is  ridiculous.'^  ^ 

You  will  soon  see  him  pass  under  review  the  whole  dogmas  of 
Christianity,  and  start  back  from  them  alL  The  Trinity  appears 
to  him  a  great  scandal ;  three  Gods  who  only  form  one :  one  of 


*  See  the  entire  passage  in  Waloh's  edition,  vol.  viL  p.  1290.  M.  Karl 
Haflen  has  quoted  it  at  pp.  412,  414,  of  his  work  on  the  Spirit  of  the 
Be&rmation,  vol.  i. ;  and  he  remarks  on  this  subject,  that  ''  tnere  are  in 
Luther's  writings,  various  pages  in  which  he  adopts  the  rationalistic  ideas 
of  his  opponents."  "Aus  diesen  Anfechtnngen  Lutbers  sind  nun  manche 
Stellen  m  seinen  Schriften  entsprungen,  wo  er  uoh  in  die  Anriohten  der 
G|egenpartei  in  die  YorsteUungen  des  gesnnden  Menschenverstandes  so  gut 
hineindenkt,  daas  wohl  keiner  dieselben  hatte  besser  wiedeiveben  kdnnen." 
~P.  412. 


TEMPTATIONS  AKB  DO0BTS.  419 

these,  the  Son,  a  man  bom  of  a  virgin,  and  this  man,  who  suffers 
as  God  without  the  Father  or  Holy  Ghost,  causes  no  change  in 
their  being  !  And  the  incarnation  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
are  extravagant  absurdities  against  reason,  which  no  one  can 
understand  without  a  grace  from  the  Holy  Spirit ;  no  one,  any 
more  than  he,  who  has  so  often  lost  God  and  Christ 

He  must  have  been  grievously  troubled  by  these  temptations, 
since  he  is  ready  to  forgive  his  dissenting  brethren.  '^  As  if," 
he  says  in  a  fit  of  compassion,  which  denotes  in  him  a  complete 
disorganization,  **  it  would  be  just  to  punish  those  who  think 
differently  from  us^;  as  if  heU  had  not  flames  enough  to  torment 
poor  wretches,  without  our  delivering  them  to  the  hands  of  the 
executioner/'  * 

From  the  time  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  these  great  troubles, 
which  so  often  assailed  Luther,  seem  to  subside.  Inured  to  the 
assaults  of  doubt,  he  voluntarily,  and  almost  without  effort, 
closes  his  eyes  to  the  light.  He  will  not  understand  all  these 
severe  blows  with  which  God  at  intervals  smites  hiuL  He  enjoys 
a  calm  which  he  regards  as  a  gift  of  the  divine  mercy,  bnt  which 
is  only  the  punishment  of  a  wilful  blindness.  It  is  certain  that 
in  this  providential  somnolence,  he  has  lost  his  original  strength 
of  mind :  when  he  takes  up  his  once  fervid  pen,  his  fingers  can 
scarcely  hold  it :  he  seeks  to  stimulate  his  brains,  but  his  head 
is  dull :  he  would  make  his  style  impassioned,  but  his  fury  is 
prosaic. 

Suddenly,  in  1545,  both  mind  and  body  become  rejuvenescent 
He  resumes  his  pen,  but  it  is  to  write  his  last  will 

See  him  at  his  desk,  labouring  on  his  farewell  to  Rome.' 
Paul  III.  is  at  this  time  endeavouring  to  bring  back  the  wan- 
derers to  their  ancient  mother  the  Church.     Luther  is  in  arms  ; 


■  14  July,  1528.  De  Wette,  vol.  iii.  p.  347.  Planck  has  acknowledged  that, 
whfiD  asBuled  hv  cruel  maUdiea,  Luther  more  than  onoe  fell  into  error  and 
injustice.  *'  Una  der  Mamigun^  hmaui  riBS,  und  selbet  in  manoher  Verletzung 
der  Wahrheit  und  Gerechtigkeit  verleitete." — Oeschichte  der  Entstehung,  &a 
p.  85. 

*  A  fine  work  has  been  published  m  Germany,  by  the  title  of  Seitenstiiok  snr 
Weisheit  Dr.  Martin  Luthen,  aufgestellt  von  einem  Katholischen,  sum  Jubel- 
jahr  der  Reformation  Luthers :  1 817,  8vo.  It  is  a  oommentary  on  the  last  pages 
of  Luther's  Cont^  Pontificatura  k  Diabolo  fundatum ;  wherein  the  author  shows 
the  gross  blunders  of  the  reformer,  in  relation  to  history,  chronology,  ciril  and 
canon  law,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

2e2 


420  HISTOBT  OF  LVTHEB. 

he  desires  to  die  in  battle  with  Rome  ;  and  here  are  some  of  the 
last  accents  of  a  voice  that  is  abont  to  expire  in  a  torrent  of 
blasphemies. 

''  The  miller's  ass  that  eats  thistles  can  tell  what  Bome  is ; 
for  the  ass  knows  that  he  is  an  ass,  and  not  a  cow  ;  that  he  is  a 
male,  Und  not  a  female.  A  stone  knows  that  it  is  a  stone ; 
water,  that  it  is  water  ;  and  so  with  every  other  creature.  But 
these  furious  pope-asses  do  not  know  that  they  are  asses,  or 
whether  they  are  mal^  or  females.  .  .  .  Now  then,  in  the  name 
of  all  of  us,  I  ask  if  you  are  men  or  women  ?  If  you  ^re  men, 
prove  that  you  are  so,  to  us  heretics.  If  you  are  women,  I  tell 
you  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  that  a  woman  should  be  silent  in 
the  Church.  What  find  you  at  Rome  ?  The  kings  and  queens 
who  live  there  are  hermaphrodites,  androffyni,  cynosdi  et  paxUcanei 
....  Now  then,  emperors,  kings,  princes,  and  lords,  lay  hands 
upon  the  pope  ;  may  God  withhold  his  blessing  firom  lazy  hands  ! 
I^ake  from  him  Rome,  Romandiola,  Urbino,  Bologna,  and  all 
that  he  possesses :  he  is  a  possessor  by  erroneous  title.  ....  He 
has  robbed  the  empire.  Hang  up  the  pope,  the  cardinals,  and 
all  the  Roman  rabble,  tear  out  their  blaspheming  tongues,  and 
fix  them  on  a  gibbet,  as  they  clap  their  seals  on  their  bulls. 

"  Truly,  if  I  were  emperor,  I  know  well  what  I  should  do. 
Of  all  this  rabble  of  pope,  cardinals,  and  the  papal  tribe,  I  should 
make  a  bundle,  and  stuff  it  into  a  sack.  At  Ostia,  about  three 
miles  firom  Rome,  there  is  a  small  river,  called  Jfar^  Tyrrhenum^ 
an  excellent  bath  for  the  cure  of  every  kind  of  papal  disease. 
There  I  should  gently  drop  them  in.  If  they  were  afiaid  of 
the  water,  for  persons  possessed  and  fools  are  hydrophobic,  I 
should  add  to  them  a  rock,  thai^  on.  which  the  Church  is  founded, 
and  then  the  keys  which  bind  and  loose  all  things  in  heaven 

and  on  earth To  their  necks  I  should  hang  the  decrees^ 

decretals,  Clementines,  Extravagants,  bulls,  indulgences,  butter 
and  cheese,  and  I  answer  for  it  that  in  half  an  hour  they  would 
be  cured  of  all  their  diseases. 

"  Glory  to  (Jod  I  I  have  shown  that  the  pope,  who  boasts  of 
being  the  visible  head  of  the  Church,  and  Christ's  vicar,  is  only 
the  head  of  the  church  accursed,  of  the  wicked  wretches  of  this 
world,  the  vicar  of  Satan,  the  enemy  of  God,  the  adversary  of 
Christ,  a  doctor  of  lies,  blasphemy,  and  idolatry,  an  arch-thief,  a 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DOUBTS.  421 

regicide,  a  keeper  of  brothels.  Antichrist,  the  Man  of  Sin,  the 
Son  of  Perdition,  a  bear-wolf.     So  help  me  God  I    Amen  V  * 


'  "  Si  imperator  forem,  scirem  profeotb  quid  eesem  actaros.  Scelestos 
aebulonesy  papam,  oardinales,  el  oniyenam  pape  familiaiD,  unk  simul  omneo, 
oolligarem  et  cingerem,  nee  nltrib  tria  ab  urbe  RomA  milliaria  distantia  Tibe- 
rina  Ostia  ducerem  (nam  non  dncti  et  non  dncti,  ituri  non  easeni,  qa5  nollent) 
ibidem  est  aquula  qiue  Latin^  Mare  Tyrrhenum  dioitur,  pretiosum  vzldh  bal- 
neom  contra  omnem  laem,  ynlnua,  morbom  pontificin  eanctitatiB,  omnium 
cardinalium,  et  totiua  Sedis,  Huic  vellem  eo8  aenrim  immittere  ei  balneare. 
Quod  si  horrerent  aquam  (nam  oommuniter  energumeni  et  &tui  aquas  horrent) 
eifl  pro  securitate  adderem  petram,  super  quam  eorum  Ecolesia  fundata  est ; 
uti  et  claves,  quibus  omnia  ligare  possunt  et  solvere,  qa»  sunt  in  coelo  et  in 
terrA ;  ut  aquis  possent  iroperare,  Jungerem  et  pedum  pastorale  clavemquey 
qui  aqua  fiioiem  valerent  percutere,  ut  sanguinem  per  os  et  nares  emitteret. 
Postremb  et  pascua  secum  duoant  pro  haustn  refocillatorio  et  exhilaratorio  in 
balneo.  Omnia  quoqne  decreta,  Deoretales  Sexti,  Clementine,  Extravagantee, 
bulls,  indulgentiiB,  butyrum,  caseus  cum  Epistolis  lactearibus,  h  collo  suapen- 
dantur,  ut  undique  essent  aecuri :  quid  valet,  si  horn  unius  dimidium  in 
aalutifero  hoc  balneo  transegiasent^  omnium  eorum  luem,  vulnera  et  morboa 
essent  oessaturi  I  Fro  eA  re  me  prtBdam  sisto,  et  Dominum  meum  Christum 
oppignoro.  .  .  . 

*'  Tam  clar^  et  potenter  demonstravi,  papam  non  esse  caput  Christianorumy 
ut,  laus  Deo  nulla  boni  Cliriatiani  conacientia  aliter  credere  possit,  qukn  qubd 
papa  neo  sit>  nee  esse  possit  caput  EodeaisB,  nee  vicariua  Dei  aut  Christi ;  sed 
sit  caput  maledictie  EoolesisB,  omnium  pessimorum  nebulonum  terra ;  vicarius 
dsmonia,  inimicua  Dei,  adversariua  Christi,  dissipator  Eocleeie  Christi,  doctor 
omnium  mendadorum,  blaaphemiarum  et  idoloUtriarum ;  Eodesis  arohiftir, 
Ecclesiae  ezpilator,  clavis  omnium  bonorum,  tam  eocleeiasticorum,  qukm 
scacularium  ;  latro  regum,  incitator  ad  omnigenam  sanguinis  efflisionem,  leno 
omnium  lenonum,  ao  omnigeni  etiam  innominabilis  lenocinii ;  Antichristus, 
homo  peocati,  filius  perditionia,  verus  ursolupus.  Hoc  qui  nolit  oredere  peigat, 
qu6  velit,  cum  suo  Deo,  papA.  Ego  tanquam  vocatus  doctor  et  pnedicator 
Eoclesiad  Christi,  qui  ad  dicendam  veritatem  obstringor,  feci  mea.  Qui  vult 
fcetere,  fostat :  qui  perire  vult,  pereat :  sanguis  ejus  super  caput  ejus.  Asino- 
papavult  esse  Eoclesie  dominus,  quamvis  non  sit  Christianus,  nihil  credat, 
nihil  amplibs  possity  qukm  crepitus  ventris  edere  instar  asini.  Petms  pape 
est,  sub  nomine  S.  Petri,  diemon  infemalis;  siout  Christus  papaa  eet,  sub 
nomine  Christi,  mater  diaboli. 

"  Papa-asinus  furit  in  suis  drecketis.  Est  spectrum  diabolionm,  bhisphemus, 
actor  totius  idololatrisa,  homo  peccati,  filius  perditionis,  cujus  opera  sunt  opera 
diaboli.  Propterea  quilibet  infans  in  baptismo  est  oonstitutus  judex  non  solius 
duntaxat  papaa,  sed  et  papalis  Dei,  diaboli.  Hinc  praaoeptum  est  baptizato 
qubd  judicare  debeat  et  poesit  papam,  diabolum,  et  omnem  ejus  appendicem, 
eum  condemnando,  declinando,  fngiendo,  conculcando,  juxta  Paal.  xci.  Super 
aspidem  et  basilisoum  ambulabis,  et  concnlcabis  leonem  et  draoonem,  etc. 

**  Est  aperta  Veritas,  papam,  cardinales,  univeraam  aulam  Romanam  et 
turmam,  uiud  non  esse,  quam  stabulum  plenum  magnia,  crudia,  rudibua  pro- 
brouaque  aeinis,  qui  nihil  intelligunt  in 'S.  Scriptur& ;  qui  ignorant,  quid  sit 
Deus,  quid  Christus,  quid  Eccleeia,  quid  episcopus,  quid  verbum  Dei,  quid 
Spiritus,  quid  bapUsmua,  quid  aacramentum,  quid  daves,  quid  bona  opera. 
Hujns  ignorantiaa  testes  aunt  aat  fortes,  eorum  ubri,  decreta^  decretales,  Sex- 
tins,  Clementine,  Extravagantes,  bulle,  et  libri  innumeri. 

"Testantur  jurists  publida  verbia,  jus  canonicum  foatere  meram  ambi- 
tionem,  hororem  et  violentiam,  ac  oanoniatam  esse  aainum ;  et  utrumque 
est  verum.  Jurists  hoc  judicium  habent  ex  humanA  et  natural!  ratione,  qn6d 
papa  sit  ambitiosus,  superbus,  inaatiabilis  helluo,  servus  ventris  et  Maonons, 


422  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHBE. 

We  know  not  who  at  this  moment  may  be  reading  these  words 
of  Lather.     If  he  has  received  the  sacred  waters  of  baptism,  it 


&cto  et  doctrinA  k  diemone  obeessus  et  actus.  Magister  fidei,  regula  Eode- 
sianim,  hoc  est,  doctor  MamoiuB,  avarituB  et  meriMimn  idololatruB,  doctor 
luxnris. 

*'  Naturalis  aBiouB,  qui  saccos  in  molendinam  asportat^  et  Bpink  veBcitar, 
potest  S.  Aulam  Romanam  judicare,  quin  et  creatarsB  omnes  cam  ipso.  Etenim 
asinufl  novit,  qu6d  sit  aainuB,  et  non  yaoca ;  idem  novit  ae  eiBe  maBcvlam,  et 
non  foemellam  :  lapia  Bcit  se  esse  lapidem  ;  aqua  eat  aqua,  et  sic  deineeps  per 
omnes  creaturas.  Ast  furibundi  pape  asini  Komaoi  nesoiunt  se  esse  asinos ; 
quin  imo  neaciunt,  an  mares  8int>  an  foeminn.  Summa :  nihil  possnnt,  nisi 
nmdationes  monasteria,  et  bona  mundi  vorare,  r^bus  ooronam  rarari  et  pre- 
dari,  meiaque  innaturalia  opera  perpetrare :  propter  qu»  omnia  ereatura  per- 
terretur,  tremit,  concnlUtur,  et  vooiferatur  super  hoc  stabulum  aainorum  ad 
eum,  qui  iUam  huic  ezitiali  servitio  addizit.    Bom.  viii.  ut  liberet  earn. 

'*  Sufficit  nobis  ndsse  papa-asinum  k  Deo  ipso,  ab  omnibus  angelis,  ab 
omnibus  Christianis,  ab  omni  ioteUigentiA,  ab  omnibus  creaturis,  k  proprUL 
oonsdentiA  suorum,  ab  omnibus  quoque  diabolis  esse  oondemnatum :  ut  nos 
ab  ipso^  et  ejus  idololatrift  et  blasphemiA  liberi,  jucundA  oonsoientiA  oontiik  eum 
▼aleamus  dooere  et  orare,  ac  eum  conspuere,  declinare  et  fngere  veluti  ipsum 
demonem,  et  ex  toto  oorde  deponere,  et  in  abyssum  infemi  demergere,  et 
dootrinam  ejus  maledictam,  quft  clamat  (qui  Komanas  Sedi  non  obedit,  non 
potest  fieri  salvus)  evertere,  et  oontrarium  ponere.  Qui  obedit  papo,  non 
potest  salvari:  qui  Tult  salvos  esse,  dediuet,  fugiat,  damnet  piqjani,  Telut 
diemonem,  cum  omnibus  operibus  et  substantik  ejus ;  prout  noa  saactom  bap- 
tisma  nostrum  docet  et  hortatur. 

**  ProTooo  et  appello  omnium  nostrilm  nomine  ad  sanctam  Sedem  Bomanam, 
iUam  scilicet^  in  quft  explorantur  papa»,  an  sint  Yin  vel  mulieres ;  si  sunt  viii 
oetendant  testes  oontiib  nos  hsereticos.  Si  sunt  mulieres,  dicam  illud  Pauli : 
Mulier  in  ecclesiA  taceat.  Hoc  fiMsere  oogit  vulgata  &ma  per  oomem  jam 
yeterem  Europam,  quae  mores  extiipat  honestoe.  Beges  enim  et  rMrime  in 
curift  BomanA  dicuntur  ut  plurimum  esse  palkm  hermaphroditas,  androgyni, 
cjn&oedi,  pssdicones  et  simiha  monstra  in  naturft.  At  illis  non  oompetit  judi- 
cium de  haereticis  fiuwre.  .  .  . 

"  HsBC  verba  non  ausus  est  invereoundissimus  impostor  Germanic^  scribere, 
sed  Latin^ ;  ne,  dum  quia  suorum  tam  nefimda  et  evidentia  legeret  mendacia 
ac  convitia,  oompelleretur  ad  detestandum  eorum  auotorem. 

"  Hie  etiam  papa  k  siiis  theologis  judicatur  et  reprehenditur  velut  mendaz, 
qubd  nos  dicat  ha&reticos :  illi  autem  negant.  Nee  ego  judioo  et  reprehendo 
papam,  ohn  dass  ich  sage,  er  sey  vom  Teufel  hinten  ausgebohren,  voUer  Teufel, 
Lugen,  Gottes-Lasterung,  Abgotterei,  Stifter  derselben,  Gottes-Feind,  Wider- 
Christ,  Verstohrer  der  Cbristenheit,  Kirchen-Bauber,  Sohliissel-Dieby  Horen- 
Wirth  und  Sodoma-Vogt^  Das  heisst  aber  nit  geurtJieilet,  gericht>  noch  ver- 
dammt^  sondern  seynd  eitel  Lobe-Spriiche,  und  Ehren-Wort,  damit  niemand 
zu  ehren  ist  ohne  der  Sataniasimns  der  Papst^  und  vrare  fein,  dass  er  sie  miiste 
an  seiner  Cron  und  Stim  begraben  und  gebrandt  tragen,  da«  solt  seiner 
Satanitati  viel  ehrlicher  anstehen  (weil  es  die  lauter  reine  Wahrheit  ist)  denn 
dass  er  ihme  die  Filss  kiissen  Iftsst.  Hoc  est :  Nee  ego  judico  et  reprehendo 
papam,  quin  dicam,  eum  ex  posterioribus  diaboli  natnm  esse,  plenum  daemoniia^ 
mendaciis,  blasf^emiis,  idololatrib,  auctorem  earum,  inimicum  Dei,  Anti- 
Christum,  turbatorem  Christianitatis,  Eoclesiae  expilatorem,  furem  olavium, 
lenonem,  et  prsepositum  Sodomas,  et  csetera  plnra,  quae  superitis  dicta  sunt. 
Hoc  autem  non  est  judicare  aut  oondemnare ;  sed  sunt  meri  tituli  honoris  et 
encomia,  quibus  nemo  exomandus  est,  nisi  solus  papa  Satanissimus ;  pal- 
ehruDjque  foret,  si  ea  deberet  ooronas  et  Ironti  suas  inscmpla  et  inusta  portare : 


TEHPTATIOKS  AND  DOUBTS.  423 

is  impossible  but  that  his  heart,  like  onrs,  beats  with  fear  at 
these  expressions  of  a  dying  man  who  thus  preaches  robbery  and 
murder! 

And  yet,  even  in  the  present  time,  people  write  and  print,  that 
Lnther  was  an  apostle  blessed  by  Ood ! 


idqne  sase  Sataoitati  miiltb  honestins  aocideret  (ctim  dt  pura  purissiina  Veritas) 
qoam  obcqIuxd  pedum. 

"  Ait  papa :  Non  ita  intelligo  pascere.  Liebes  Jungferlein  B&pstlein,  wie 
yeniehest  dn  es  deon  T  Dilecta  TirgUDcnla  papista,  qnomodo  er^  ioteUigis ! 
Sic  iDtelligpo,  ut  sab  nomine  S.  Petri  vellem  omnes  reges  et  totnm  mundnm 
perterrefaoere,  ut  se  mihi  pascendos,  et  ad  mihi  serviendam  traderent,  egoqne 
mde  dominus  mundi  evaderem,  atque  ita  antic^nam  Romanorum  monarchiam 
Rom»  restituerem,  eamque  potentiorem  et  majorem,  qnkm  fuerit  temporibus 
Angusti,  sen  Tiberii :  egoque  verus  Romanorum  imperator  appellarer :  domi- 
nns  omnium  dominantiumi  et  rex  omnium  regum,  Apoc.  six.  prout  mei  mihi 
prophetsB  dioebant.  Ja  ja,  Jungfer  Bapstlin,  bist  du  da  zemssen,  so  flicke 
dich  der  Teufel  und  seine  Mutter.  Ita,  ita,  yirgo  papissa,  hie  ne  laoerata  es, 
eigo  resarciat  te  diabolus,  et  mater  ejus. 

''Eia!  Injiciant  manus  papte,  imperatores,  reges,  principes  et  domini,  ao 
quiounque  injicere  potest!  Deus  pigras  manus  non  fortunetl  Et  quidem 
prim5  auferatur  papas  Boma^  Bomandiola^  Urbinum,  Bononia,  et  omnia  que 
quk  papa  possidet ;  est  enim  possessor  pessima;  fidei :  mendaoiis  et  dolis  omnia 
aoquismt.  Quid  dioo :  mendaoiis  et  dolis  ?  blasphemiis  et  idololatrift  eunota 
acquisivit  et  imperio  furatus  et  prodatus  est,  sibique  subjedt.  Pro  meroede 
autem  ad  letemum  incendium  innumeras  per  idololatriam  suam  animas  traxit ; 
prout  ipse  eloriatur.  Sic  papa  Christi  regnum  dissipavit :  unde  vooatur 
abominatio  molationis,  Matth.  xxiy.  Post  hsc  papa,  cardinales,  et  universa 
ejus  idololatries  ac  papalis  sanctitatis  coUuyies  arripiantur,  eisque  ceu  bias* 
pfaemis  lingue  per  oervioem  eripiantnr,  et  in  patibulo  per  ordinem  suspen- 
dantur,  siout  ipsi  sigiUa  sua  bullis  per  ordinem  affigunt.  Et  hoc  totum  nimis 
leve  est  blasphemiarum  et  idololatnarum  papalium  supplicium.  Deinde  per- 
mittantur  concilium,  vel  plura,  quotquot  velint,  oelebrare  in  patibulo,  vel  inter 
daemones  in  inferno."  ... 

The  following  is  the  judgment  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Zurich  on  Luther, 
in  1646: 

"  Neminem  unquam  mortalium  Luthero  vel  fodihs,  yel  incivilihs,  yel  inho- 
nestitis  idque  prsster  omnes  ChristiansB  modesti®  ac  sobrietatis  terminoe  in 
negotio  illibatse  religionis  nostras  et  aliis  magnis  et  arduis  disputationibus 
scripsisse  luce  darilis  constat,  nee  k  quoquam  etiam  negari  potest.  In  omnium 
manibus  enim  versantur  Lutheri  Heinzius  Anglicus,  contrli  regem  Angliae 
editus,  et  alius  nescimus  quis  Heinzius  cum  Meinzio  c^uodam  in  spurco  suo 
libro  quem  Hannswurst  appellari  yolunt.  Accedit  his  eiusdem  contrik  Judseos 
libera  ubi  fceda  et  spurcissima  qusedam  deblaterat.  feSxistat  prasterea  ejus 
SchemhamphoTBB  liber  prodigiosus,  porcornm  frequenti  mentione,  et  oleU  ac 
sterquilinii  crebrft  ac  foedA  commemoratione  spurcus  ac  foetens,  quem  si  fort^ 
subulcos  aliquid  scripsisset  aliquam  fortassis,  quamyis  non  adeo  splendidam 
excusationem  mereretur.'* — Orthodoxa  Tigurinso  Eoclesias  Ministrorum  Con- 
fessio,  folio,  1646,  p.  10. 


424f  HISTOBY   OF  L0TUEB. 


CHAPTER  XXXIIL 

LUTHER'S  LAST  MOMENTS.    1546. 

Quarrels  in  tlic  TinnUj  of  Uie  Counts  of  Mansfeld. — Luther  goes  to  Eislebea 
to  suppresH  tlieiu. — ^Incidents  on  his  jouraey. — ^He  sits  for  the  last  time  at 
table  with  his  disciples. — His  prophecy  regarding  the  papacy. — His  last 
moments  and  death. — His  funeral. 

Enmities,  which  arose  out  of  some  wretched  questions  of  ter- 
ritory^  divided  the  noble  house  of  the  counts  of  Mansfeld.  In 
1545,  Count  John  George,  on  a  visit  to  Wittemberg,  requested 
Luther  to  use  his  influence  in  reconciling  the  princes.  Luther 
promised  to  mediate;  but  Albert  repelled  his  interference  as 
offensive.  It  was  a  melancholy  spectacle  for  the  Protestants  that 
such  quarrels  should  defy  all  exhortations.  The  elector  of 
Saxony,  who  was  desirous  of  peace,  entreated  the  doctor  to  go  to 
Eisleben ;  a  noble  mission,  which  Luther  might  have  refused, 
for  his  health  was  bad.  Some  days  before,  he  had  written  to  the 
pastor  of  Bremen :  "  I  am  old,  decrepit,  indolent,  &tiguedy 
tremulous,  and  blind  of  an  eye ;  I  hoped  for  repose  in  my  old 
age,  and  I  have  nothing  but  suffering."*  He  set  out  on  the 
evening  of  the  23rd  of  January,  the  weather  being  cold  and 
rainy.* 

Luther  trembled  for  the  fate  of  his  creed.  There  was  only 
one  man  who  could  support  it,  and  that  was  Melancthon,  whose 
incessant  vacillations  alarmed  him.  He  said  to  him  with  a 
sigh  :  "  Brother,  I  am  about  to  leave  this  world,  and  God's  work 
will  depend  entirely  upon  you.  Should  the  Church  relapse  into 
popery,  it  will  be  your  fault.  All  that  we  have  constructed 
together  will  perish ;  and  woe,  then,  to  the  poor  souls  whom  we 
have  taken  so  much  trouble  to  preserve  from  it  !''^  Melancthon 
was  silent  

*  Seckendorf,  Comm.  Hist,  de  Luth.  lib.  iii.  sect  xxxvi.  §  158,  p.  634  etseq. 

*  Lingke,  1.  c.  p.  277. 

'  **  Wenige  Tage  vor  seinem  Tode  ssffte  Luther  zu  Melanchthon  in  ermah- 
nendem  Tone :  Bruder  Philipp,  ich  sterbe  bald,  und  die  Sache  Gotten  beruht 
auf  dir.    Wirst  du  die  Kirche  wieder  unter  des  Fapstes  Gewalt  bringen,  so  ist 


lutheb's  last  moments.  425 

Luther  had  not  much  confidence  in  physicians,  and  had  never 
been  very  willing  to  follow  their  advice.  At  length,  he  became 
so  weak,  that  he  conld  not  move  a  step  without  fear  of  falling  ; 
his  eyes  became  dim,  and  his  brow  hot  as  a  burning  coal.  He 
was  obliged  to  allow  a  blister  to  be  applied  to  his  leffc  1^ ;  when 
the  dizadness  left  him,  his  head  became  clear,  his  language  un* 
embarrassed,  and  his  ideas  luminous  and  copious. 

On  leaving  Wittemberg,  he  neglected  the  prescriptions  of  the 
faculty,  and  suffered  the  issue  to  close  which  had  been  opened  to 
cany  off  the  humours,  as  medical  science  then  so  expressed  it. 
His  headaches  returned,  accompanied  by  the  whole  train  of 
inconveniences  which  he  had  suffered  during  the  preceding  twelve 
years;  the  peccant  humours  flowed  back  to  the  brain.  The 
disease  with  which  Luther  was  affected  was  an  erosion  of  the 
ventricle. 

There  was  at  Landsberg  a  small  chapel  which  Catholic  piety 
had  built  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  whence  the  eye,  after  the 
heart  had  been  raised  to  God's  throne,  could  survey  a  scene  of 
magnificent  verdure.  Luther  ascended  this  hiU,  entered  the 
little  chapel,  knelt  down,  and  wrote  upon  a  marble  pillar  this 
prayer  to  God : — 

"  Lieber  Grott  von  Ewigkeit^ 
Erbarm  dich  deiner  Christenheit : 
So  seu&et  mit  Hand  und  Mund 

Martin  Luther.    D.'*» 

That  God,  who  reigns  eternally, 
May  watch  o'er  Christianity, 
Is  Martin  Luther's  latest  sigh  ! 

The  weather  was  cold,  with  a  violent  wind.  Halle,  whither  he 
journeyed,  was  inclosed,  as  it  were,  with  a  girdle  of  glaciers  ; 
for  the  Mulda  had  overflown  its  banks,  and  its  waves  floated 
down  enormous  masses  of  ice,  which  impeded  the  progress  of  the 
boat  in  which  the  doctor  was  seated.  Luther  calmly  surveyed 
this  stormy  scene.  Under  each  mass  of  ice  he  saw  at  one  time 
the  shoulders  of  Satan,  who  raised  them  up  to  immerge  the  boat ; 


es  deine  Schnld.  Alles  was  wir  gearbeitet  haben,  ist  dann  verloren,  und  die 
Seelen  die  kaum  aus  dem  Blende  heraus  sind,  werden  unglllcklich." — Effher, 
1.  c.  torn.  i.  p.  95. 

'  Sachs.  PriesteFBch.  torn.  ii.  p.  685. 


426  HI8T0BT   OF  LUTHEB. 

at  another,  the  ann  of  some  Anahaptist,  who  would  have  wished 
to  administer  for  a  second  time  the  purifying  waters  to  him  who 
had  warred  so  fiercely  with  the  prophets.  He  narrated  to  his 
wife,  with  a  charming  liveliness  which  reminds  us  of  Sterne,  this 
elemental  warfajre  against  his  little  skiSl^ 

At  Halle,  he  dined  with  Justus  Jonas,  who  had  invited  the 
burgomaster  Beyer,  Joachim  Uhlemann,  and  Gr^ory  Pareit  to 
meet  him.  Each  guest  brought  with  him  a  book,  in  which 
Luther  wrote  a  few  lines  of  valediction  or  remembrance.^ 

After  being  detained  three  days  at  Halle,  in  consequence  of 
the  inundation  of  the  Sal,  Luther  left  that  city,  accompanied  by 
Justus  Jonas  and  his  three  children ;  his  wife  being  unwell,  could 
not  go  with  him.  As  they  were  crossing  the  river,  the  boat 
inclined  to  one  side,  in  consequence  of  the  swell  of  the  waves, 
which  alarmed  the  children,  who  clung  to  their  father.  Luther 
smiled:  "You  must  acknowledge,  Jonas,"  said  he,  "that  the 
devil  would  laugh  heartily  if  Luther,  his  children,  and  Doctor 
Jonas,  were  to  be  drowned  in  the  Sal."' 

The  princes  of  Mansfeld  awaited  his  arrival  at  the  gates  of  the 
city  with  a  military  escort ;  the  banners  of  the  city  were  unfurled, 
and  more  than  a  hundred  knights  were  under  arms  ;  while  the 
cannon  roared,  and  trumpets  clanged,  as  if  a  dignitary  of  the 
empire  had  arrived. 

He  had  scarcely  discerned  the  steeples  of  his  dear  Eisleben, 
when  he  was  seized  with  a  sort  of  fednting-fit ;  his  heart  sank, 
and  he  fancied  himself  dying,  and  looked  up  to  heaven  as  if  his 
last  hour  were  come.  They  immediately  conveyed  him  to  a 
neighbouring  house,  where  they  chafed  his  body  with  warm  cloths 
to  restore  circulation.  He  opened  his  eyes,  and  bade  the  by- 
standers not  be  astonished  at  this  swoon,  as  it  was  "  the  work 


*  "Eb  begegnete  una  eine  grosse  Wiedertauferin,  mit  WasserwogeD  nnd 
grossen  EisschoUen,  die-  das  I^nd  bedeckteo,  die  droheten  nns  mit  der  Wie- 
dertaufe ;  so  konnten  wir  auch  nicht  wieder  zurdck  kommen  von  wegen  der 
Mulda,  nmssten  also  an  Halle  zwischen  den  Wassem  stille  liegen."— ^alch, 
torn.  zzi.  p.  506. 

*  Laur.  Beinhard,  De  YitA  Jonte,  cap.  z.  §  8.  Unschuld.  Nachriohten, 
ann.  1712,  pp.  945,  953. 

'  "  Ctim  non  procul  ab  nrbe  abesset  horridis  Tentis  enm  afflanfibus,  qnestns 
est  yehementer,  se  foedi  ssevitift  frigoris  et  ventoram  et  sentire  se  pericnloeas 
angustias  pectoris.  Adfuit  Melchior  (Kling),  qui  dicit  earn  quoqne  yiz  ] 
turn  sumptis  aromatis." — Melanchth.  Epist.  lib.  iii.  p.  176. 


LUfHEB's  LAST   MOMENTS.  427 

of  the  devil,  who  never  failed  to  assail  him  whenever  he  had  a 
great  mission  to  fulfil/' 

Next  day  he  forgot  his  sufierings,  ascended  the  pnlpit  in 
St.  Andrew's  church,  and  to  a  crowded  congregation,  collected 
from  far  and  near,  poured  forth  against  the  pope  and  the 
hierarchy  the  whole  series  of  insults  contained  in  his  publica- 
tions for  nearly  twenty  years. 

He  was  under  the  impression  that,  by  dismissing  the  lawyers 
to  whom  the  princes  had  committed  their  interests,  he  could 
restore  peace  to  the  &mily  of  Mansfeld ;  but  his  efforts  were 
ineffectual. 

The  princes  entertained  him  magnificently,  and  regaled  him 
with  the  finest  Rhenish  wines,  and  the  best  game  which  the 
neighbouring  forests  could  produce.  Luther  did  honour  to  their 
hospitality,  and  on  this  occasion  drank  like  a  true  German,  but 
without  becoming  intoxicated.^ 

In  these  laige  goblets,  which  he  emptied  as  in  his  younger 
days,  Luther  r^ained  all  his  juvenile  animation,  and  looked  as 
when  at  Wittemberg,  in  the  time  of  Prierias  and  Miltitz.  The 
merry  guest  vented  his  humour  in  sarcasms  against  his  natural 
enemies, — the  pope,  the  emperor,  the  monks,  and  also  the  devil, 
whom  he  did  not  forget.  "  My  dear  friends,''  he  said,  "  we 
must  not  die  until  we  have  caught  Lucifer  by  the  tail ....  I 
saw  him  yesterday  morning  ;  he  showed  me  his  hinder  parts  on 
the  castle-turrets."^  Then,  rising  from  the  table,  he  detached 
from  the  wall  a  piece  of  plaster,  and  with  trembling  hand  wrote 
upon  the  partition  this  Latin  line : — 

"  Pestia  eram  Tiynfl,  moriens  toa  mors  ero,  pap*.** 
Living,  O  pope  I  I  ever  was  your  bane  ; 
And,  dying,  your  destruction  shall  obtain.' 

He  sat  down  amidst  the  uproarious  laughter  of  the  company, 
who  looked  as  if  God  had  pronounced  sentence  upon  the  papacy. 
But  the  mask  fell  soon,  and  Luther's  count'Cnance  assumed  an 
inexpressible  character  of  concern.     He  felt  that  he  was  soon  to 

-• 

'  "Cibo  atque  potu  hilariter  usus  est  et  facetiis  indulsit." — Seckendorf^ 
Relatio  JuhU  Jon»,  lib.  iii.  p.  636. 

'  "  Wir  miissen  so  lang  leben,  dass  wir  dem  Teufel  in  den  Arsch  sohen  nnd 
in  den  Schwantz."— Tisch-Reden :  Eisleben,  p.  67. 

'  Razebergius,  in  Hist.  MSS.  Seokendorf,  lib.  iii.  sect,  xxzvi.  §  134. 


428  HISTOBT   OP  LUTHBB. 

bid  farewell  to  the  world,  and  said  to  his  companions,  who  spoke 
to  him  of  the  long  life  which  God  had  promised  him  :  '^  Men  do 
not  live  to  grow  old  as  they  did  formerly." 

'^  Master/'  said  Jonas,  interrupting  him,  ^'  shall  we  recognise 
each  other  in  heaven  V — "  Adam,"  replied  the  doctor,  "  when 
he  awoke  from  sleep,  did  not  say  to  Eve,  whom  he  had  never 
before  seen,  'Whence  art  thou?  Who  art  thou?'  but  said, 
*  This  is  bone  of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh.'  How,  then, 
did  he  know  that  this  woman  did  not  come  out  of  a  stone,  unless 
the  Holy  Spirit  told  him  ?  And  we  shall  put  on  a  new  existence 
in  the  next  world,  and  shall  recognise  our  parents  and  friends. 
To  your  health,  Jonas,"  he  continued,  perceiving  the  sadness  of 
his  friend, — ''to  your  health  ;"  and,  handing  him  a  bumper  of 
ale,  he  extemporized  this  Latin  line,  an  anacreontic  allusion  to 
the  shortness  of  life : — 

"  Dai  ▼itrum  viiro  Joiub,  vitrom  ipse  LutheroB." ' 

Glass  unto  glass  :  let  Luther  Jonas  give 
This  brimming  cup,  emblem  of  all  who  lire  ! 

One  of  the  guests,  wishing  to  change  the  conversation,  b^an  to 
speak  of  the  style  of  the  Scriptures.  Luther  interrupted  him : 
"  It  is  a  great  and  difficult  thing  to  understand  the  Scriptures. 
It  requires  five  years'  hard  labour  to  understand  Virgil's  (Jeorgics, 
twenty  years'  experience  to  be  master  of  Cicero's  epistles,  a  hun- 
dred years  with  the  prophets  Elias,  Eliseus,  John  the  Baptist, 
Christ  and  the  apostles,  to  merely  taste  the  Scriptures  ....  Poor 
human  nature  !"* 

As  they  rose  from  table,  one  of  his  disciples  arrived  from  Frank- 
fort, bringing  with  glee  the  news  of  the  death  of  Paul  III.,  which 
was  reported  in  that  city.  "  This  is  the  fourth  pope  that  I  have 
buried,"  said  Luther  gaily  ;  "  I  shall  bury  many  more  of  them.  If 
I  die,  you  will  find  a  man  who  will  not  be  so  easy  with  the  monks 
as  I  have  been.  I  have  given  him  my  blessing  ;  he  will  take  a 
sickle,  and  will  shave  them  as  with  a  sword."' 

"  Did  you  remark,"  said  Coelius  to  Jonas,  on  going  out  of  the 
dining-room,  "  how  our  father's  eye  gleaflled  with  a  dull  fire, 


'   Uleuberg,  p.  643.  ^  Colloq.  Mens.  £  4,  a  and  b,  £  290,  ab. 

'  Florimond  de  Esmond,  book  iii.  c.  2,  fol.  287.     Bozius,  Be  Sign.  £ccL 
lib.  xidii.  c.  3.    Ling,  in  Vitft  Luth.  fol.  4. 


Luther's  last  moments.  429 

and  how  his  chest  was  oppressed  ?  The  pnlpit  will  ineyitably  kill 
him/'  They  advised  Luther  to  give  over  preaching  at  so  cold  a 
season.  At  first  he  would  not  listen  to  his  friends'  counsels  ; 
but  the  request  of  the  count  of  Mansfeld  was  so  pressing,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  yield.     He  appeared  no  more  in  public. 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1646,  Luther,  wrapped  up  in  a 
dressing-gown  lined  with  fur,  sat  warming  himself  by  the  stove ; 
his  three  children  were  sitting  at  his  feet  Goelius  and  Jonas 
w^e  conversing  with  him  about  the  future  world,  and  laughing 
at  that  '^  papacy"  whose  last  hour  was  about  to  strike. 

Luther  interrupted  them,  shaking  his  head.  "  If  I  leave 
Eisleben,"  he  said,  ''it  will  only  be  to  buiy  myself  alive,  and 
give  food  to  the  worms."  ^  At  tibat  instant  he  felt  severe  pains, 
and  his  countenance  shrivelled  up.  Aurifaber  now  came.  Luth^ 
squeezed  his  hand  affectionately,  and  pressed  it  to  his  heart.  "  My 
father,"  said  Aurifaber,  ''  the  Countess  Albert  has  an  excellent 
remedy  for  pains  in  the  chest ;  it  is  a  mixture  composed  of 
brandy  and  powdered  horn ;  if  you  wish  it,  I  will  go  to  the 
castle."  Luther  signified  that  he  did.  In  the  meanwhile, 
Goelius  and  Jonas  warmed  cloths  and  applied  them  to  his 
stomach. 

Count  Albert  soon  arrived  with  the  potion.  The  immediate 
danger  had  passed  off,  and  their  fears  were  removed.  Luther 
expressed  his  thanks  in  a  low  voice.  The  count  went  away ; 
but  Aurifaber,  Coelius,  and  Jonaa  remained  with  their  father, 
whom  they  made  to  swallow  the  potion.  He  breathed  softly, 
and  expressed  a  wish  to  sleep  :  "  Tou  will  see,"  said  he,  ''  that 
a  little  sleep  will  do  me  a  d^  of  good."  It  was  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  They  laid  several  feather  pillows  in  the  chair. 
The  patient  soon  closed  his  eyes;  his  children  slept  by  the 
stove.  At  ten  o'clock  the  striking  of  the  castle-clock  awoke 
him.  He  looked  round,  and  saw  his  firiends  asleep.  ''  Why 
did  you  not  go.  to  bed?"  he  asked.  Jonas  replied  that  they 
must  watch  and  take  care  of  their  master. 

The  sick  man  wished  to  lie  down  ;  the  bed  had  been  warmed, 
and  was  ready.  Luther  rose,  and  refused  to  accept  the  arm  of  his 
disciples.    At  the  door  of  his  room,  he  said  in  a  smothered  voice : 


Ulenberg,  1.  c.  p.  646. 


430  HISTORY    OP  LUTHER. 

'^Loid,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit ;"'  and  tnming  to 
his  friends,  whose  hands  he  sought :  '^  Doctor  Jonas  and  Master 
CobUus,  pray  for  our  God  and  our  Gospel,  for  the  wrath  of  the 
council  is  enkindled."  Those  present  ranged  themselyes  round 
his  bed ;  Goelius  was  at  the  right,  AuiifiEiber  and  Jonas  at  the 
left  of  his  pillow ;  at  his  feet  were  the  three  children ;  some 
domestics  and  counsellors  of  Prince  Albert  were  seated  at  the 
bottom  of  the  room. 

Luther  slept  till  an  hour  after  midnight,  when  he  awoke  and 
sat  up  in  his  bed,  inqtiiring  if  the  sitting-room  was  warmed, 
because  he  wished  to  return  to  his  chair.  Jonas  asked  if  he 
still  suffered :  "  Very  much,"  said  Luther.  "  Ah !  my  friend, 
my  dear  doctor,  I  clearly  see  that  I  shall  die  at  Eisleben,  where 
I  was  born  and  baptized." — '*  Reverend  father,"  replied  Jonas, 
^'  call  upon  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour,  our  Father,  and  Mediator, 
whom  you  have  confessed.  You  have  perspired,  God  will  comfort 
you." — "  A  cold  sweat,"  said  Luther,  passing  his  hand  across 
his  brow,  '^  it  is  the  forerunner  of  death  ;  I  am  going :  '  In  manus 
tuas,  Domine'  (Into  thy  hands,  0  Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit)  ! " 

His  forehead  and  face  had  now  become  cold.  He  was  placed 
in  his  chair,  but  spoke  no  more.  The  physician  was  imme- 
diately sent  for,  as  well  as  Count  Albert,  who  with  his  countess 
hastened  to  the  room ;  the  count  of  Schwartzburg  was  already 
with  the  dying  man.  His  friends  and  disciples  murmured, 
"  Father ! "  Luther  heard  them  not  The  countess  rubbed  his 
temples,  and  applied  smelling-salts  ;  but  he  gave  no  signs  of 
life.  The  physician  raised  his  head,  forced  open  his  teeth,  and 
poured  into  his  mouth  some  powerful  liquid.  Luther  openol  his 
eyes.  ''  Father,"  asked  Jonas,  "  do  you  die  in  the  Ccdth  and 
doctrine  you  have  preached?"  —  "Yes,"  muttered  Luther, 
turning  on  his  left  side,  as  if  to  sleep.  The  countess's  face 
began  to  beam  with  hope ;  but  the  doctor  pointed  to  his  feet, 
which  the  cold  of  death  had  already  benumbed,  and  to  his 
face,  which  was  becoming  blue.  The  noble  lady  still  hoped ; 
she  rubbed  the  body,  which  grew  cold  under  her  hands  ;  and  the 
breast,  which  made  a  hollow  rattling.  At  that  instant  the  lips 
of  the  dying  man  opened,  and  a  slight  breath  escaped  which 
made  his  friends  grow  pale,  and  interrupted  the  pious  labour  of 
the  princess  : — the  heresiarch  was  before  the  tribunal  of  God. 


lutusb's  last  mohsnts.  431 

The  corpse  waa  coffined  and  bronght  in  great  state  to  the 
church  of  St.  Andrew  at  Eisleben.  Justus  Jonas  pronounced 
the  funeral  oration.  The  sobbing  of  the  bystanders  frequently 
interrupted  the  orator,  who  wept  bitterly.  Ten  citizens  watched 
the  bier  during  the  night  On  the  following  day,  February 
20th,  the  body  was  placed  in  a  hearse  and  conveyed  to  Wittem- 
berg.  During  the  whole  journey  the  people  ran  in  crowds 
uncovered,  chanting  the  prayer  for  the  dead.^ 

By  the  elector's  orders,  the  professors,  clergy,  senators,  and 
citizens  of  Wittetnberg,  came  to  receive  the  body  at  the 
Elster  gate,  and  accompanied  it  to  the  church,  passing  along 
College-street  and  the  market-place,  while  the  bells  of  all  the 
churches  were  tolled.  The  procession  advanced  in  the  following 
order :  the  clergy,  composed  of  four  deacons  and  Doctor  Pome- 
ranus ;  the  officers  of  the  elector's  household  on  horseback  ;  the 
two  counts  of  Mansfeld,  with  their  servants  and  esquires.  The 
corpse  was  inclosed  in  a  leaden  coffin  covered  with  black  velvet, 
and  drawn  on  a  four-wheeled  car.  This  was  followed  by  Luther's 
widow  and  some  ladies  in  a  small  open  vehicle  ;  his  three  children, 
his  brother  James,  the  two  children  of  his  sister,  George  and 
Syriac  the  merchant,  the  Chevalier  Magnificus,  Philip  Melanc- 
thon,  Justus  Jonas,  Gaspard  Creuziger,  Jerome  Schurf,  and 
other  professors,  doctors,  and  masters.  The  procession  was 
closed  by  counsellors,  students,  citizens,  noble  ladies,  young 
women  and  children ;  all  of  whom  were  bathed  in  tears.  The 
crowd  was  immense  ;  aU  the  streets  were  filled,  and  the  roo&  of 
the  houses  covered  with  spectators.  When  the  body  reached 
the  church  of  the  castle,  and  was  deposited  at  the  foot  of  the 
pulpit,  the  funeral  service  was  intoned,  and  Pomeranus  pro- 
nounced a  discourse,  which  he  firequently  interrupted  by  tears 
and  sobs.  He  compared  Luther  to  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse, 
and  recalled  the  prophecy  of  Huss  when  at  the  stake,  and  the 
voice  of  the  "  martyr,"  who  foretold  the  advent  of  Doctor  Martin. 
He  spoke  of  Luther's  Christian  death,  sufferings,  and  sickness, 
the  wishes  which  escaped  from  his  half-closed  lips,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  which  God  would  hasten.     He  recorded  the 


^  Balthazar  Mentz,    Syntagma   Bpitaphioram  Wittenbei^DBiam,    lib. 
p.  76  et  seq. 


432  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

anecdote  of  Lather  writing  upon  the  wall  "  Pestis  eram  ;"  and 
he  reckoned  with  joy  the  few  remaining  years  of  the  papacy  ! 

Mclancthon  followed  him,  and  gave  a  long  description  of  the 
labours  of  "  the  apostle  of  Germany." 

The  fiineral  chants  were  resumed.  On  their  being  ended,  the 
body  was  lowered  into  a  newly-opened  grave  opposite  the  pulpit. 
The  grave  was  then  closed  and  made  fast,  and  surmounted  with 
a  plate  of  copper,  on  which  was  engraved  the  following  Latin 
inscription : — 

"Martini  Lutheri  S.  Theologiea  doctoris  corpus  h.  L  s.  e. 
qui  anno  Christi  MDLVI,  xii  CaL  Jf artii  Eyslebii  in  patria 
S.  M.  0.  C.  V.  ann.  LXII  MUD  X."* 

Next  year  Wittembeig  was  besieged  and  taken.  Charles  V. 
wished  to  see  thp  Reformer's  tomb.  With  his  hands  crossed  on 
his  breast,  he  was  reading  the  inscription,  when  one  of  his  officers 
asked  permission  to  open  the  tomb  and  scatter  the  heretic's  ashes 
to  the  winds.  The  monarch's  eye  flashed  fire.  '^  I  have  not 
come,"  said  he,  '^  to  war  with  the  dead  ;  I  have  enough  of  living 
enemies."    And  he  left  the  church. 


CHAPTEE  XXXIV. 

CATHEEINE  BORA.— LUTHEJl'S  RELICS. 

DintraNi  of  Catherine  Bora. — Her  death. — Relics  of  Luther  at  ESdeben, 

Erfdrty  &c. 

The  Protestant  princes  soon  forgot  Luther's  widow ;  after  some 
years,  the  neglected  Catherine  Bora  had  not  bread  to  give  her 
children.  The  widow  of  the  Reformer  was  reduced  to  beg  alms  ; 
but  her  prayers  and  tears  were  unheeded.  In  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Justus  Jonas,  Melancthon  complains  of  the  hardhearted- 
ness  of  the  great  of  this  world :  "  They  rise  up  against  us,"  said 

*  Dr.  Franz  Yolkmar  Reinhard's  sammtliche  Reformationspredigtexi,  torn.  iii. 
p.  441. 
Melancthon  had  suggested  the  following  inscription  for  his  master's  tomb : 
"  Qui  Christom  docuit  pur^  et  bona  plurima  fecit 
Lutheri  bfto  um&  molliter  ossa  cubant" 


OATHERIKB   BORA.  433 

he,  "  or  forget  us.  One  only  has  had  pity  on  us, — the  king  of 
Denmark,  who  has  lately  sent  a  small  sum  to  the  widow  of  our 
departed  friend.''* 

It  appears  that  the  monarch's  pity  was  soon  exhausted.  A 
letter  addressed  by  Pomeranus  to  Christian  III.  remained  un- 
answered, notwithstanding  the  urgent  terms  in  which  it  was 
expressed :  ''  May  your  majesty  condescend  to  cast  your  eyes 
upon  a  poor  widow  who  has  not  wherewith  to  feed  and  bring  up 
her  children !  We  entreat  you  in  the  name  of  Luther,  whose 
memory  will  live  for  ever."* 

Catherine  then  resolved  to  move  the  prince's  heart.  She 
wrote  to  him  a  letter,  in  which,  thanking  him  for  the  fifty 
thalers  which  he  had  sent  her  some  few  years  before,  she  again 
appealed  to  his  majesty's  charity  in  behalf  of  a  widow  whom  the 
misfortunes  of  the  times  had  reduced  to  extreme  misery,  and 
who  had  not  bread  for  her  children. 

This  letter,  which  is  dated  6th  of  October,  1550,  was  not 
more  successful  than  those  of  Melancthon  and  Pomeranus.* 
Catherine  sorrowfully  remembered  the  prophetic  words  of  Luther, 
on  the  abandonment  to  which  the  princes  would  consign  all  that 
was  dearest  to  him  on  earth. 

In  1547,  Wittemberg  was  besieged  by  the  army  of  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.  Bora  was  sick  and  starving  ;  no  one  came 
to  give  her  the  bread  which  she  called  for.  The  pestilence  com- 
pelled her  to  quit  the  city  where  the  doctor's  ashes  reposed. 

In  1552,  on  the  feast  of  St  Thomas,  the  following  notice  was 
posted  on  the  door  of  the  parish  church  of  Torgau,  signed  by  the 
pastor,  Paul  Eber : — 

**  Catherine  Bora  is  dead.  This  noble  lady  was  exposed  to  all 
kinds  of  affliction.  It  was  for  her  a  great  privation  that  she 
could  not  attend  her  husband  in  his  last  illness,  or  close  his 
eyes,  or  pay  him  the  last  duties. . .  .  Then  came  war  which  drove 
her  into  exile,  attended  by  the  more  bitter  scourge,  the  ingra- 
titude of  her  fellow-citizens.  To  escape  the  pestilence,  she  was 
obliged  to  take  her  children  into  another  country.      On  her 


*  Epist.  98,  Jnflt.  Jone. 

*  Bebki.  mAnnsc.  omnis  JEvi,  Joannis  Petri  de  Ludewig. 
'  Daniflch.  Bibl.  p.  160. 

VOL.  II.  2  P 


434  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

joamey,  the  horses  took  fright,  and  the  carriage  was  upset ;  skd 
was  thrown  into  a  ditch,  in  conseqaence  of  which,  fear,  rather  than 
the  fall,  soon  brought  on  a  sickness,  whereof,  at  the  end  of  three 
weeks,  she  died.  During  all  the  time  of  her  illness,  she  found  con- 
solation in  God  and  His  word,  calmly  aspiring  after  another  life, 
recommending  her  children  to  the  Lord,  and  imploring  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  re-establish  that  unity  of  doctrine  which  was  the  object 
of  the  efforts  of  her  pious  husband,  and  which,  since  his  death, 
has  been  so  unhappily  broken. 

"The  funeral  will  take  place  to-day  at  three  o'clock.  We 
therefore  implore  our  parishioners  to  assemble  at  the  residence 
of  the  deceased,  in  the  street  leading  to  the  castle,  to  pay  the 
last  duties  to  this  worthy  lady."^ 

The  remains  of  Catherine  lie  in  the  parish  church  of  Torgaa. 
They  are  covered  with  a  stone,  whereon  Luther's  companion  is 
represented  as  large  as  life,  holding  in  her  hand  an  open  Bible. 
Over  her  head,  to  the  right,  are  Luther's  armorial  bearings  ;  to 
the  left,  those  of  her  own  family, — a  lion  on  a  field  of  gold,  and 
in  the  helmet  a  peacock's  feather.  On  the  four  sides  is  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  in  German  : — 

"  On  tlie  20th  December,  1552,  Catherine  de  Bora,  widow  of 
Doctor  Martin  Luther,  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord."* 

The  "  Petites  Affiches"  of  Altona,  of  15th  November,  1837, 
contained  an  advertisement  headed,  ^'  Luther's  Orphans." 

"  These  are  the  children  of  Joseph  Charles  Luther,  who  was 
bom  at  Erfurt,  11th  November,  1792,  and  who  returned  to  the 
Catholic  Church.     He  died  in  Bohemia. 

"  M.  Keinthaler,  administrator  of  the  institution  of  St.  Martin, 
erected  at  Erfurt  to  Luther's  memory,  has  taken  these  orphans 
under  his  care. 

"  On  the  6th  May,  1830,  Anthony,  the  eldest,  bom  in  1821, 


*  Meyer,  in  Intimationibus  Wittemb.  ann.  1558.  Nas,  tom.  i.  Scriptoram 
public^  Propomtoram :  Wittemb.  p.  441. 

*  "  Anno  1552,  den  208ten  December,  ist  in  Gott  selig  entschlafen  allhier  xu 
Torgau,  Herm  Dr.  Martini  Lntheri  selige  Witt  we,  Gatharina  von  Bora." — 
Bredow,  in  the  Almanack  (Minerra)  for  1813,  has  given  a  detailed  aocoont  of 
Catherine's  life. 

This  sepulchral  slab  has  been  engraved  in  Jnncker's  work  :  Ehrengedachtniss 
Lntheri,  p.  247. 


CATHEBIKE  BORA.  435 

came  to  the  old  Angastinian  monastery.  Being  instnicted  in 
the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  he  made  his  first  communion 
at  Easter.  He  has  since  been  apprenticed  to  a  cabinet-maker. 
Mary  and  Anne,  his  sisters,  are  servants  in  an  inn  ;  Theresa, 
the  youngest,  is  at  school." 

M.  Reinthaler  appealed  to  the  sympathy  of  his  co-religionists 
for  the  descendants  of  Luther.  The  subscription  was  not  suc- 
cessful. Frankfort-on-the- Maine  and  Leipsic  sent  fifty  thalers  ; 
and  that  was  all. 

Old  Schoepfer,  in  a  book  entitled,  *'  On  Luther's  Incombus- 
tibility,"^ mentions  seven  great  conflagrations  which  broke  out 
at  Eisleben  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Six  times  the  house 
in  which  the  doctor  was  bom  was  preserved,  he  says,  by  a  special 
miracle  from  heaven.  In  1693,  the  municipal  council  of  the  city 
set  on  foot  a  subscription  among  the  Protestants,  the  produce  of 
which  was  destined  for  the  preservation  of  the  Reformer's  house. 

On  the  door  of  the  small  apartment  in  which  Luther  came 
into  the  world,  is  the  following  inscription  : — 

''  Consecrated  for  ever  to  the  great  man  who  first  drew  breath 
herein." « 

Among  the  objects  of  curiosity  with  which  the  room  is  fur- 
nished, are  to  be  seen  a  desk,  supported  by  a  swan,  and  which 
he  used  when  a  child  ;  a  pamphlet  of  forty-one  pages,  entitled, 
"  On  the  Marriage  of  Doctor  Martin  Luther  /'  and  his  portrait, 
"  miraculously  saved  firom  the  flames." 

Long  after  his  death,  the  bed  in  which  Luther  lay  and  the 
table  at  which  he  studied,  were  shown  at  Eisleben.  People 
came  firom  a  distance  to  touch  these  relics :  and  every  devout 
Lutheran  carried  off  with  him  a  portion  for  the  cure  of  the 
toothache  and  headache.'  Arnold,  who  visited  Eisleben  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  observes  that  the  walls  of  the  Reformer's 
chamber  were  broken  in  a  thousand  places  by  his  superstitious 
disciples,  who  detached  from  them  some  grains  of  plaster,  to 


>  Part  i.  p.  100. 

'  "  Die  Siatto^  wo  ein  ffroMer  Mann  die  Wdt  betrat^ 
Bleibt  eingeweiht  nlr  jetzt  and  ixnmerdar." 
*  De  Beliquiifl  Lntheri  diveniB  in  loots  asaeiratifl,  ft  GiMTg.  Henr.  Goetcio. 
Fabrioiiu  in  Centifblio  Lutherano  I.     Job.  Knxa,  In  den  curioien  Naob- 
ricbten,  p.  Z,  §§  28,  89. 

2f2 


436  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

which  they  attributed  extraordinary  virtues.  This  Protestant 
pilgrim,  on  witnessing  such  evidence  of  an  idolatrous  worship, 
could  not  help  exclaiming,  "  May  God  destroy  this  house  of 
Luther,  where  superstition  has  been  introduced  !*' ' 

Christopher  Juncker,  in  a  work  dedicated  to  the  memory  of 
Luther,  speaks  in  the  gravest  manner  of  a  portrait  of  the 
fieformer,  at  Ober-Rossla,  the  forehead  of  which  was  covered 
with  perspiration  at  the  very  time  when  the  minister  was 
lamenting  over  the  melancholy  fate  of  literature  in  Germany  ; ' 
and  of  another  portrait  of  the  doctor  which  he  saw  at  Artem,  in 
the  county  of  Mansfield,  and  which  was  found  unhurt  by  the 
flames  that  totally  consumed  the  apartment  of  which  it  formed 
the  greatest  ornament 

Every  traveller  who  goes  to  Erfurt,  visits  the  old  Augustinian 
monastery,  which  Luther  entered  on  27th  July,  1505,  where, 
two  years  'after,  he  was  ordained  by  John  Lasphus,  and  which 
he  left  to  become  professor  in  the  university  of  Wittemberg. 
The  places  as  well  as  tne  times  are  much  altered.  There  are  no 
longer  any  monks  in  the  old  Augustinian  monastery,  but  poor 
orphans  who  sing  the  praises  of  the  Lord  in  German,  and  a 
Protestant  school,  in  which  are  taught  other  doctrines  than  those 
of  the  Reformer. 

Luther's  small  cell  still  remains  in  its  original  state.  The 
walls  have  been  whitewashed,  and,  upon  the  plaster,  the  hands  of 
pilgrims  have  written  a  number  of  Bible  texts,  and  sentences  in 
prose  and  verse  in  honour  of  the  Reformer.  On  the  right  of 
the  entrance  hangs  Luther's  portrait,  as  large  as  life,  with  this 
Latin  inscription : — 

''  Martinus  Lutherus  S.  Theolog.  D.  Natus  Islebiae,  anno 
1483,  ibique  in  Christo  obiit  anno  1546,  d.  18  Feb.  et  Witten- 
bergsa  sepultus  est,  setatis  63.  M.  L.  Northusanus,  P." 

The  likeness  was  taken  when  he  was  in  the  flower  of  his  age. 
His  eyes  are  bright,  and  his  lips  slightly  curled  with  a  smile. 
We  might  fancy  that  he  has  just  finished  one  of  his  impassioned 
letters  against  the  papacy.     The  unknown  artist  has  evidently 


<  In  der  Kirchen-  und  Ketaer-Historie,  part  ii.  lib.  an,  cap.  v.  §  22,  p.  501. 

'  Ehren-GediiclitnisB  Lntheri,  1707,  qpoted  by  Fred.  Keyser,  in  the  Befor- 
mationi-Almanaoh,  1817,  p.  76. 


CATHEBIKB   BOBA.  437 

intended  to  depict  the  inward  satisfaction  of  an  exasperated 
individnal  who  has  just  avenged  himself.^ 

Unquestionably  the  most  valuable  relic  in  the  oratory  of 
Erfurt  is  Luther's  travelling  writing-case  :  a  small  article,  which 
is  carefully  preserved  in  its  original  state,  and  in  which  he 
kept  his  money,  and  two  inestimable  treasures, — ^his  pen  and 
ink.  *'  Golden  ink,"  as  one  of  his  admirers  terms  it,  "  such 
aa  no  chemist  ever  composed,  in  which  Luther  dipped  his  pen  to 
trace  those  characters  which  have  shone  like  the  sun  for  three 
centuries,  and  will  only  be  extinguished  with  that  luminary : 
a  diamond  pen  which  he  discharged  like  a  dart  against  the  then 
raging  lion,  and  which  deprived  him  of  the  triple  crown  that 
encircled  his  brow."  * 

The  history  of  this  writing-case,  which  the  doctor  carried 
with  him  when  he  went  to  the  diet  of  Augsbuig,  and  visited 
princes  and  legates,  is  this : — 

When  Luther,  in  February  1546,  went  to  Halle,  he  took  with 
him  his  writing-case  well  stored  with  ink,  but  very  scant  of  money. 
He  resided  in  the  splendid  mansion  of  the  director  of  the  salt 
mines,  Joseph  Tentzner,  in  the  street  called  Schmeerstrasse,  and 
on  his  departure  forgot  his  writing-case  and  walking-stick,  some 
family  letters  and  loose  papers  on  which  he  had  written  a  few 
straggling  thoughts.  Luther  died  at  Eisleben :  war  soon  after 
broke  out,  and  his  executors  never  thought  of  asking  for  these 
valueless  articles,  which  remained  in  the  £ftmily  of  Tentzner,  as 
res  derdictWy  according  to  the  law  of  Germany. 

Martin  Hessen,  who  had  married  a  Tentzner,  was  reduced  to 
extreme  want,  and  obliged  to  sell  the  writing-case  to  Schuler,  a 
schoolmaster  at  Lutzendorf.  This  relic  subsequently  passed  into 
the  hands  of  John  George  Zeidler,  who  was  employed  in  the 
university  of  Halle,  and  then  into  those  of  Buttner,  counsellor 


On  the  door  of  the  cell  are  these  lines : 

**  Gellnla  divina  magno  habitata  Luthero, 
Salve,  vix  tanto  cellula  digDa  viro, 
Dignus  erat  regum  qui  splendida  tecta  subiret 
Te  dedignatuB  non  tamen  ille  fuit." 

[Hail,  sacred  cell,  the  mighty  Luther's  home ! 

Unworthy  of  such  occupant  as  he ; 
Who,  meriting  a  palace*  gilded  room, 

Soorn*d  not  to  npend  his  humble  life  in  thee.] 

Friedrich  Keyser's  Reformations  Almanach,  p.  Ixxx. 


438  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

at  Weisflenfels,  who  gave  it  to  the  society  of  Natural  Sciences. 
Finally,  in  1 754,  it  was  placed  in  the  museum-cell  at  Erfurt,  where 
it  has  ever  since  been  exhibited  to  the  curiosity  of  travellers. 

After  having  for  some  time  contemplated  this  writing-case, 
and  listened  to  the  exclamations  of  the  cicerone,  we  were  shown 
another  wonder.  This  is  a  copy  of  the  Old  Testament  trans- 
lated by  Luther,  to  which  are  attached  several  leaves  of  paper 
containing  the  autographs  of  Luther,  Melancthon,  Bugenhagen, 
Greuziger,  and  Philip  Agatho.  They  are  Bible-texts,  with  a 
short  interpretation.  The  following  is  Luther's  on  a  verse  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians : — 

1  Cor.  XV.  (55). 

Absorpta  est  mors  in  victoriam. 

Isaiae  xxv.  (8). 

"  With  Adam  who  lives,  that  is  to  say,  sins,  death  swallows 

up  life ;   but  when  Christ   dies,  that  is  to  say,  justifies,  life 

swallows  up  death.     Praise  be  to  God,  because  Christ  has  died 

and  effected  our  justification. 

"  Martin  Luthbr,  d.  1543." 

The  autograph  is  now  glazed,  and  hung  like  a  picture  on 
the  wall  of  the  house.  Beside  it  is  another  of  Melancthon: 
a  paraphrase  of  the  21st  verse  of  the  59th  chapter  of  Isaiah. 
Those  who  are  of  opinion  that  a  man's  character  can  be  traced 
in  these  mute  signs  which  serve  as  the  instrument  of  his 
thoughts,  may  find  some  support  of  their  system  in  the  dif- 
ferent handwritings  of  the  two  Reformers :  that  of  Luther  is 
firm,  straight,  hard,  and  dashing ;  that  of  Melancthon  indicates 
his  indecisive,  gentle,  and  pliable  diposition. 

It  has  been  long  intended  to  enrich  the  Lutheran  museum  with 
a  wonder  which  would  surpass  all  others  ; — ^his  two  rings ;  the  one 
called  the  ring  of  his  espousals,  the  other  that  of  his  nuptials, 
although  both  of  these  events  occurred  on  the  same  day.  But 
the  proprietors  of  these  two  trinkets  have  hitherto  resisted  all  the 
brilliant  offers  made  to  them  for  the  sacrifice. 

The  spousal-ring  belongs  to  a  rich  private  individual  at 
Leipsic :  it  is  of  gold,  set  with  a  ruby,  and  encircled  with 
emblems  of  the  Passion  engraved  with  much  skill :  the  dice,  the 
reed,  and  the  cross  to  which  the  Man-God  is  nailed ;  on  the  inside 


OATHEBINE  BOBA.  439 

is  the  name  of  the  spouse  and  date  of  the  espousals^  13th  June, 
1525.  Will  it  be  believed  that  long  disputations  have  been 
written  upon  this  ring,  which  German  learning  has  treated  with 
as  much  prolixity  as  would  have  been  required  for  a  text  of 
Scripture  or  some  verses  of  Orpheus  ?  ^  This  ring  belonged  to 
Catherine  Bora,  who,  when  in  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life, 
pledged  it'  to  avoid  starvation. 

The  marriage-ring  opened  in  two,  and  was  surmounted  with  a 
ruby  and  a  diamond.  Within  were  the  initials  of  the  spouses, 
C.  V.  B.,  M.  L.  D. ;  on  the  outside  was  engraved  the  German 
device :  "  Whom  God  hath  joined  let  no  man  separate/* 

The  family  of  Mesen,  of  Zittau,  preserves  a  crystal  glass 
which  Luther  used  :  it  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  workmanship,  and 
wa£  purchased  in  the  seventeenth  century  for  sixty  thalers. 

At  Dresden  they  show  the  doctor's  spoon,  which  belonged  to 
J.  And.  Gleich.  It  is  of  silver.  On  the  handle  is  engraved, 
"  Da  Gloriam  Deo."  In  the  middle  is  the  date  1640,  and  the 
letters  D.  L.  united. 

Dresden  also  preserves  the  ring  which  Luther  received  on  the 
day  of  his  obtaining  the  degree  of  doctor,  and  the  medal  which 
Catherine  Bora  wore  round  her  neck. 

At  Frankfort-on-the-Maine  the  Reformer's  shoes  and  walking- 
stick  are  shown  in  the  library. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  seal  which  he  described  in 
a  letter  to  Spongier,  and  on  which  he  had  caused  to  be  engraved 
a  black  cross,  a  symbol  of  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  of  a  Christian's 
trying  life  ;  and  a  burning  heart  in  the  centre  of  a  white  rose, 
in  an  azure  field  within  a  circle  of  gold  ;  emblems  of  the  peace 
resulting  firom  faith  and  hope  in  eternal  happiness. 

In  the  centre  of  Wittemberg,  a  statue  of  Luther  has. been 
erected.  He  is  represented  standing,  with  the  Gospel  in  his 
hand.  On  the  left  side  of  the  pedestal  is  this  inscription :  '*  If 
the  work  is  of  God,  it  will  live  ;  if  of  man,  it  will  perisft." 

At  Wittemberg,  the  only  article  of  Luther's  creed  which  has 
been  preserved  is  that  in  which  the  pope  is  transformed  into 
Antichrist.  

'  Junker's  Ehren-Gedachtniss,  p.  235.  ReformationS'Almanach,  p.  Ixxi. 
H.  de  Hardt,  Annulus  Lutheri  Doctoralis  et  Pronubus :  Helmstsedt,  1704,  4to. 


440  HISTOkY   OF   LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

LUTHEB  CONSIDERED  AS  AN  ORATOR,  AUTHOR^  MUSICIAN, 
AND  TRANSLATOR. 

Luther  as  an  orator :  he  is  the  great  preacher  of  the  Reformation. — ^His  style 
in  the  pulpit. — ^His  Uaus  postils. — ^Luther  as  an  author.—As  a  musician. — 
Has  he,  as  has  been  allegedi  effected  any  improvement  in  religious  music ! — 
As  a  translator. — His  version  of  the  Bible. 

LuTHEK  holds  a  high  and  distinguished  place  in  Grerman 
literature.  After  he  had  become  a  doctor  in  theology,  Scripture 
interpretation  bqpame  his  constant  occupation.  To  facilitate  his 
researches,  he  had  not  yet  the  resources  which  his  subsequent 
knowledge  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  laid  open  to  him.  He  h^ 
commenced  by  studying  the  Latin  language,  by  means  of  which 
he  first  attempted  to  comprehend  the  sense  of  the  Sacred 
writings,  so  often  obscure.  It  was  not  a  simple  interpretation 
which  he  sought,  but  a  knowledge  of  the  manners,  customs, 
discipline,  and  traditions  of  the  Christian  Church,  with  the  pre- 
existing idea  of  making  the  old  and  new  laws  contradictory  of 
each  other.  His  commentaries  on  the  Sacred  text  assume  the 
form  of  the  familiar  preaching  of  a  country  curate.  His  oral 
instructions  were  produced  without  any  order,  and  made  sub- 
servient to  the  caprices  of  the  orator's  imagination :  like  the 
sermons  of  a  missionary.  Somewhat  later,  Luther  combined  the 
treasures  of  the  Oriental  languages  with  the  riches  of  the  Latin : 
hence  the  marvellous  success  which  he  obtained  by  means  of  this 
language,  which  borrowed  fascinations  from  Homer,  Cicero, 
David,  and  St.  Paul.  Lest  the  diamonds  which  fell  from  the 
lips  of  the  preacher  should  be  lost,  there  were  under  the  pulpit 
able  reporters,  who  collected  them  as  they  fell,  to  set  and  arrange 
them  afterwards  under  the  artist's  eye.  On  leaving  the  church, 
when  the  recollection  of  his  discourse  was  fresh  in  their  memory, 
Protestant  neophytes  hastened  to  commit  it  to  writing,  and 
hand  to  the  printer  the  extempore  effusions  of  Luther  as  soon  as 
they  were  transcribed.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the  notes  on  the 
epistle  to  the  Galatians  were  collected  and  given  to  the  world. 


LUTHER  AS  ORATOR.  441 

where  they  acquired  extraordinary  celebrity.  Lather  corrected 
the  proof-sheets.  At  the  beginning  of  St.  Paid's  epistle  is  a 
preface,  wherein  he  explains  the  appearance  of  this  work,  for 
which  he  always  preserved  a  marked  predilection.  ''  I  am 
astonished,"  says  he,  "  and  can  scarcely  believe  that  I  have  over- 
whelmed St.  Paul's  epistle  with  such  a  delnge  of  words ;  and 
yet,  in  this  epistle  I  find  all  my  thoughts  carefully  collected  by 
some  of  my  brethren  ;  they  might  have  been  still  more  verbose. 
Although  I  have  not  been  wanting  in  words,  I  find  that  I  have 
given  but  an  imperfect,  bare,  and  spiritless  representation  of 
those  doctrines  which  are  so  lofty,  profound,  and  so  full  of 
wisdom.  I  have  only  extracted  a  few  crumbs  of  bread  from  the 
rich  mine  of  gold  which  I  had  to  work.  Indeed,  I  am  ashamed 
to  add  my  barren  commentaries  to  the  inspiration  of  this  mag- 
nificent apostle.'' 

Luther  did  not  become  vain  or  rich  by  his  writings  ;  he  infi 
nitely  gave  the  preference  to  those  of  Melancthon, — that  writer 
so  elegant,  but  so  cold,  who  never  fires  us  with  any  inspiration ; 
that  finished  rhetorician,  who  never  extemporized,  but  took  as 
much  time  to  compose  a  prayer  as  his  master  did  to  write  a  book. 
Language  was  a  favourite  study  which  Melancthon  misemployed. 
Luther  took  it  such  as  it  came  to  his  lips,  without  troubling 
himself  about  its  origin  or  etymology,  without  taking  any  pains 
to  adorn  it ;  like  those  old  German  chiefe  of  the  time  of  Hermann, 
who  threw  themselves  on  their  enemies  in  disorderly  troops, 
and  frustrated  the  tactics  of  Polybius.  We  must  not  expect 
to  find  in  his  phraseology  the  graceful  drapery  of  a  Grecian 
statue.  He  despised  art ;  he  spoke  because  he  required  to 
speak  ;  and  if  he  reviewed  his  labour,  it  was  not  to  erase  a  word 
which  might  ofiend  the  ear,  or  a  repetition,  which  might  accuse 
him  of  carelessness.  He  treated  his  language  as  he  did  the 
Papists.  Provided  that  he  hit  the  monks,  he  cared  not  how ; 
provided  he  excited  his  hearers,  it  was  of  no  moment  to  him 
that  he  violated  all  the  rules  of  grammar,  or  the  precepts  of 
rhetoric. 

Luther  is  the  great  preacher  of  the  Reformation.  He  pos- 
sessed almost  all  the  qualities  of  an  orator ;  an  inexhaustible 
store  of  thought,  an  imagination  as  ready  to  receive  as  to  pro- 
duce its  impressions,  an  inexpressible  abundance  and  flexibility 


442  HISTOET   OF  LUTHEB. 

of  style.  HiB  voice  was  clear  and  sonorous,  his  eye  sparkled 
with  fire,  his  head  was  of  the  antique  cast,  his  chest  large, 
his  hands  singularly  beautiful,  and  his  gestures  graceful  and 
abundant.  He  did  not  neglect  his  external  appearance ;  his 
robe  was  always  exceedingly  neat,  buttoned  to  the  neck ;  his 
hair,  which  he  turned  back,  fell  in  dark  ringlets  over  his 
shoulders.  He  was  particularly  careful  of  his  teeth,  which  he 
preserved  white  till  the  end  of  his  days.  With  him  it  was  the 
thought  which  produced  the  language  ;  if  the  thought  was  grand 
or  common,  the  expression  which  conveyed  it  was  noble  ot 
familiar.  As  he  required  to  live  with  the  people,  because  he 
perceived  that  every  lasting  revolution  proceeds  from  the  masses, 
he  borrowed  from  -the  different  occupations  of  the  citizens  a 
technical  language  which  attracted  the  multitude,  and  from  their 
old  German  idiom  numerous  expressions  of  startling  simplicity. 
He  was  at  once  Rabelais  and  Montaigne ;  with  the  droll  humour 
of  the  former,  and  the  polished  and  brilliant  elegance  of  the 
latter. 

Sometimes  Luther  had  to  preach  thrice  a  day  ;  but  he  was 
never  unprepared.  He  has  been  seen  to  ascend  the  pulpit, 
collect  himself  for  an  instant  with  closed  eyes,  open  the  New 
Testament,  and  from  the  first  verse  that  caught  his  eye,  take 
the  text  of  an  extemporaneous  discourse  which  astonished  every 
one  by  the  suddenness  of  its  expression,  and  the  richness  of  its 
development.  *'  I  should  imagine  that  I  offended  Providence," 
said  Sterne,  '^  if  I  thought  on  what  I  was  about  to  write 
when  I  take  up  the  pen.''  Luther  felt  like  Sterne.  Tou  must 
not  expect  from  him  a  discourse  conformable  to  the  rules  of 
art ;  it  is  not  a  sermon  that  he  wiU  give  you,  but  a  &miliar 
conversation,  in  which  the  laws  of  rhetoric  will  perhaps  be 
violated,  but  which  will  be  warmed  by  the  glow  of  inspirar 
tion ;  in  which  all  will  proceed  from  the  heart,  and  nothing  from 
the  lips ;  where  the  language  will  not  be  required  to  conceal  the 
sterility  of  the  writer  under  vulgar  ornaments ;  where  the  speaker 
will  never  hunt  after  novelty,  and  yet  where  everything  that  will 
drop  from  his  lips  will  possess  the  freshness  of  originality.  ^ 


*  "  Nie  dem  Heize  der  Neuheit  niicfajagend,  nnd  doch  immer  neu  und  frisch.' 
— ^Martin  Luther's  LebeD,  von  Gustav  Pfizer,  p.  828. 


LUTH£E  AS  ORATOB.  443 

His  sermons  often  resemble  an  ode  in  irregnlarity ;  his  text 
does  not  chain  him  down  to  the  precision  of  the  Catholic  priest. 
Scarcely  has  he  commenced,  when  he  forgets  his  subject,  and 
treats  of  the  first  that  occurs  to  him ;  a  word  is  a  flash  of 
lightning,  which  discovers  to  him  a  new  path  into  which  he  leads 
his  auditory,  until  he  abandons  it  a  minute  after,  to  follow 
some  new  inspiration.  His  disciples  must  have  been  very 
familiar  with  his  language,  or  most  vigilant  in  their  attention 
to  follow  him  through  all  his  caprices.  From  heaven  he 
suddenly  descends  to  earth.  When  his  eye  rests  on  Germany, 
and  becomes  moist  at  the  view  of  the  evils  which  desolate  it,  it 
is  impossible  to  remain  unconcerned  ;  the  heart  is  touched,  and 
sympathises  with  the  orator.  The  Saxon  is  then  overwhelmed  with 
grief ;  we  perceive  that  he  has  studied  Jeremias,  and  knows  the 
language  of  pathos. 

The  few  specimens  of  his  pulpit  eloquence  which  follow  will 
give  us  at  once  an  idea  of  his  style,  and  perhaps  of  the  morals  of 
his  audience. 

"  When  I  was  young  even  the  rich  drank  water  and  lived 
sparingly  ;  at  thirty  few  had  ever  tasted  vrine.  But  it  is  very 
different  nowadays,  when  they  give  to  children  even  the  fiery 
and  brandied  wines  of  the  South. 

*'  We  Germans  are  regular  beer-bellies  {Bierbduche),  jolly 
topers,  ever  feasting  and  drinking.  To  drink,  in  Germany, 
means  not  merely  to  drink  after  the  manner  of  the  Greeks,  who 
made  gods  of  their  bellies,  but  to  cram  ourselves  to  the  throat 
until  we  discharge  all  we  have  eaten  and  drunk. 

"  Every  country  has  its  own  devil ;  Italy,  Prance,  Germany, 
have  theirs, — ^the  bottle.  What  we  call  drinking,  means  dis- 
tending ourselves  with  wine  and  ale ;  we  shall  go  on  drinking, 
I  am  afraid,  until  the  day  of  judgment.  Preachers  denounce  it 
from  the  pulpit,  and  appeal  to  the  word  of  God  against  it ;  lords 
make  ordinances,  and  sometimes  the  nobility  make  noble  reso- 
lutions against  it ;  scandals,  disorders,  and  all  sorts  of  evils  to 
body  and  soul  come  in  their  course  as  warnings  to  us  ;  but  all 
to  no  purpose  ;  drunkenness,  0  Lord !  goes  on  like  the  ocean, 
which  swallows  up  the  rivers,  and  is  ever  athirst. 

''  I  should  wish  to  speak  to  you  to-day  of  the  &tal  propensity 
to  drunkenness  which  our  poor  countiymen  have ;  but  where 


444  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHER. 

can  I  find  language  sufficiently  strong  to  eradicate  from  us  that 
hellish  leprosy,  which  daily  spreads  more  and  more  in  every  class 
of  society,  high  and  low,  to  such  an  extent  that  preaching  and 
teaching  are  entirely  useless  ?  What  can  I  say  of  it,  when  we 
see  this  child  of  the  devil  glide  from  the  inhahitants  of  great 
cities  into  the  cottages  of  the  peasant,  from  the  alehouse  into 
the  private  abode  ?  In  my  youth,  to  be  drunk  was  accounted 
disgraceful  in  a  nobleman  ;  now  the  nobleman  drinks  even  more 
than  the  clown.  The  princes  and  the  great  have  received 
excellent  lessons  from  their  knights,  and  they  drink  unblush- 
ingly :  drinking  is  a  princely  virtue.  A  nobleman  or  citizen 
who  does  not  drink  with  them  like  a  blackguard,  is  considered  a 
contemptible  fellow ;  he  who  gets  drunk  with  those  knights 
of  the  bottle,  wins  his  armour  and  spurs  in  sleeping  himself 
sober.  1     , 

''  Peasants,  citizens,  nobles  treat  ministers  as  they  please. 
The  preacher  is  not  better  treated,  he  cannot  complain ;  if  he 
does,  he  is  not  listened  to.  They  give  him  just  what  they  please, 
and  rob  him  of  his  wheat  and  his  fruit ;  the  nobles  make  of  him 
a  thresher,  a  courier,  a  factor,  and  rob  him  of  the  means  with 
which  he  should  support  himself  and  his  family."^ 

Sometimes  we  might  fancy  our  own  Menot  in  the  pulpit ;  as 
in  this  passage  from  his  sermon  on  the  last  trumpet : — 

"When  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  were  overwhelmed  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  all  the  inhabitants  of  these  cities, — men, 
women,  and  children,  fell  down  dead,  and  rolled  into  the  pit  of 
helL  There  was  then  no  time  for  counting  money,  or  gadding 
about  with  prostitutes  ;  but  in  an  instant  every  living  thing 
perished.  This  was  the  drum  and  the  trumpet  of  God ;  it  is 
thus  that  it  makes  its  poumerl^,  poump  1  poumerl^,  poump  I  pliz, 
plaz  !  schmir,  schmir  !  This  was  the  beat  of  drum  of  our  God, 
or,  as  St.  Paul  says,  *  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and  the  trumpet 
of  God.'  For  when  God  thunders,  it  is  like  a  beat  of  the  drum, 
poumerl^,  poump !     This  will  be  the  war-cry  and  the  taratan- 


*  Kirchenpostille,  Lather's  Werke :  Walch,  vol.  xii.  p.  784.  Tmnslation  is 
impossible  here. 

^  Doppelte  Hauspostille.  For  an  idea  of  society  under  the  reformation, 
consult  Luther's  Schilderung  der  sittlichen  Verderbniss  der  Teutechen  zu  seiner 
Zeit,  aus  Luther's  Schriften  zusainmengestellt,  von  D.  Bretschneider. 


LUTHBH   AS  OBATOR.  445 

tara  of  God.  Then  all  the  heavens  will  resound  with  the  noise : 
kir,  kir,  pomnerH  ponmp  ! "  ^ 

On  Sundays  and  feast-days,  Luther  was  accustomed  to 
assemble  under  his  fine  pear-tree,  or,  if  it  rained,  in  his 
study,  his  wife,  children,  and  servants,  and  a  small  number 
of  privileged  friends,  to  whom  he  extemporized  some  pious 
instructions.  These  familiar  effusions  of  the  heart  were  not 
lost.  Veit  Dietrich  has  collected  them  under  the  title  of 
"  Hauspostille.^'  When  the  Reformer  published  them,  in  1545, 
he  added  a  preface,  in  which  he  explained  his  motive  for  doing 
so  :  "  These,"  said  he,  "  are  family  sermons,  the  instructions  of 
a  grandfather  to  his  children  and  servants,  to  teach  them  to 
lead  a  Christian  life.  God'  grant  that  they  may  not  only  reach 
their  ears,  but* their  hearts!  I  flatter  myself  that  they  will 
bear  fruit ;  and  I  repeat  with  Isaias :  '  My  word  shall  not 
return."  The  patriarchs  were  accustomed  to  preach  in  this 
manner.  How  is  it  that  Veit  Dietrich,  my  old  table-companion, 
has  been  able  to  collect  these  commentaries  ?  truly,  I  cannot 
say ;  still  less  can  I  conceive  how  they  will  be  spread  among 
the  people.  I  thought  that  they  would  be  condemned  to 
oblivion.  May  those  who  read  them  find  there  the  bread  of  life 
and  celestial  manna  !  God  be  praised  !  the  Bible  gains  ground. 
The  proverb  says,  *  The  cow  has  grass  up  to  the  belly.'  We 
also,  in  our  time,  have  found  rich  pasturage  in  the  word  of  God. 
God  grant  that  we  may  seek  our  nourishment  there  before  the 
day  of  the  Lord  arrives,  and  the  wrath  of  Heaven  punishes  our 
infidelities !  May  we  not  be  again  condemned  to  grind  the  stone 
with  our  teeth,  as  formerly  under  the  papacy  !  "^ 

Luther  foretold  the  decline  of  the  Protestant  pulpit,  but 
without  assigning  its  causes.  He  could  not  foresee  that  one  day 
the  Protestant  preacher  would  dread  to  speak  of  dogmas,  and 
that  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  would  not  venture  to  disturb  the 
consciences  of  his  auditory  by  exhibiting  to  their  eyes  those  great 
images  which  alarm  the  soul,  and  make  it  pass  from  terror  to 
repentance.  This  is  a  power  which  the  Protestant  minister  has 
left  to  the  Catholic  priest.     Listen  to  a  Lutheran  preacher,  and 


*  Fldgel,  Geachichte  der  komischen  Literatur,  torn.  i.  p.  258,  quoted  by 
M.  Peignot,  Predicatoriana,  p.  105. 

*  Gufitay  Pfizer,  Martin  Luther's  Leben,  p.  881. 


446  niSTOBY  OF  luthbr. 

say  if  you  feel  moved  by  his  discourse.  Ltither  had  preserved 
the  old  traditions.  He  was  not  afraid  to  speak  of  the  last  judg- 
ment, of  the  wrath  of  God,  of  eternal  pains.  His  eloquence 
frequently  resembled  that  of  Bridaine  ;  his  reproaches  to  sinners 
from  the  pulpit  were  impassioned  and  impetuous. 

He  loved  to  talk  upon  an  art  in  which,  notwithstanding  his 
affectation  of  modesty,  he  knew  that  he  excelled.  At  table,  his 
Sunium,  his  garden  of  the  academy,  his  tribune  of  oratory,  we 
see  him  often  interrupt  a  conversation  to  speak  about  the  poetiy 
of  preaching.  Then  the  attention  is  redoubled,  the  silence  is 
profound.  The  ale-cups  stand  on  the  table  untouched  ;  Melanc- 
thon,  Justus  Jonas,  Dietrich,  Amsdorf,  incline  the  ear,  watchful 
to  catch  everything  that  he  is  going  to  say.  On  such  a  day  they 
retire  home  earlier  than  usual,  to  commit  their  recollections  to 
paper  while  fresh  in  their  memory,  lest  they  should  be  lost  to 
posterity. 

Luther  would  then  say :  ''  It  is  a  dijficult  and  perilous  thing 
to  preach  Christ ;  had  I  known  it  sooner,  I  should  never  have 
attempted  it ;  and,  like  Moses,  would  have  said  to  Ood,  '  Send 
whom  thou  wilt.'  Nobody  could  have  forced  me  to  undertake  so 
great  a  responsibility.'' 

One  day,  when  seated  under  his  great  pear-tree,  he  asked  his 
neighbour  Lauterbach  how  he  liked  the  profession  of  preacher  ? 
Lauterbach  complained  of  his  infirmities,  temptations,  weariness, 
and  fears. 

"  My  dear  friend,"  said  Luther  to  him,  "  you  are  telling  my 
history  ;  I  am  as  much  afraid  of  the  pulpit  as  you  are  ;  but  we 
must  be  resigned,  and  preach  ;  it  is  an  imperative  duty  on  us. 
Tou  perhaps  wish  to  be  master,  and  wiser  than  me  and  others  ? 
you  look  for  glory,  and  are  beset  with  temptations.  Endeavour  to 
preach  Ood  our  Saviour,  and  do  not  care  for  what  the  world  will 
think  of  you. 

"  What  matter  is  it  to  me,"  he  added,  "  if  people  say  that  I 
know  not  how  to  preach  ?  My  only  fear  is  that  before  God  I 
may  appear  not  to  have  spoken  of  His  majesty  and  wondrous 
works  as  I  ought.  An  enlightened,  wise,  and  prudent  preacher 
ought  to  announce  the  word  of  Ood  with  simplicity,  and  adapt 
his  instructions  to  children,  servants,  and  the  poor ;  to  treat 
them  as  a  mother  does  her  child,  whom  she  caresses  and  plays 


LUTHEB  AS  AUTHOB.  447 

with,  and  nouriBhes  with  milk  instead  of  Malmsey  wine.  Snch 
onght  the  eyangelical  preacher  to  do. 

'^  I  do  not  like  to  see  Melancthon  at  my  instructions  or 
sermons.  I  cross  myself  then,  and  say,  '  Avannt,  Philip ! ' 
Then  I  take  conrage,  and  fancy  myself  the  first  orator  of 
Christendom. 

"  Sometimes,  on  coming  down  from  the  pnlpit,  I  spit  upon 
my  preacher's  gown  :  *  Fie  !  how  you  have  preached  ;  you  have 
spoken  long,  without  saying  anything -that  you  proposed  to  treat 
of.'  The  astonished  people  exclaim,  '  What  a  fine  sermon  !  we 
have  not  heard  the  like  for  a  long  time.'  It  is  very  difficult  to 
keep  to  the  text  which  one  proposes  to  expound." 

When  Luther  ascends  the  pulpit,  a  spectre  rises  before  his 
eyes ;  it  is  the  image  of  the  pope,  whom  he  sees  as  Macbeth  does 
Banquo's  ghost,  where  a  corporeal  eye  cannot  perceive  it  These 
apparitions  furnish  him  with  striking  images. 

When  he  has  to  judge  a  majesty  which  has  betrayed  its  trust, — 
at  least  in  his  eyes, — then  his  eloquence  is  splendid ;  then  is  enacted 
a  drama  in  which  the  Christian  believes  he  is  a  spectator  of  the 
judgment  of  the  dead.  The  judge  is  there  with  flashing  eye, 
holding  in  one  hand  tibe  Bible,  and  in  the  other  the  pen  with 
which  he  is  to  write  his  sentence.  The  crowned  culprit  appears 
in  all  his  pomp  of  robes  and  insignia  of  royalty,  which  Luther 
strips  from  him  one  by  one ; — ^first  the  diadem,  then  the  mantle, 
next  the  hand  of  justice,  the  sceptre,  and,  lastly,  the  sword. 
Nothing  of  the  monarch  Remains,  but  a  body  of  dust  and  clay, 
who  has  incessantly  ofifended  God,  and  whose  iniquities  and  most 
secret  thoughts  are  now  laid  bare.  The  earthly  sovereign  con- 
ceals his  fiftce,  but  he  must  drain  the  chalice  to  the  dregs.  He 
cries  for  mercy,  but  Luther  stirs  the  wormwood.  The  monk's 
language  bums  and  emits  flames  and  lamentations  which  harrow 
and  alarm.  The  illusion — ^for  such  it  is — ^must  needs  be  dis- 
solved, else  you  would  be  completely  fascinated. 

Luther  wrote  in  German  and  Latin  ;  but  his  mother-tongue 
had  most  attractions  for  him.  In  proportion  as  he  advances  in 
years,  and  his  labours  become  consolidated,  he  abandons  the 
Latin  idiom,  notwithstanding  its  great  services  to  him  in  his 
stru^le  with  the  papacy,  and  returns  to  the  German.  When 
he  gets  into  a  passion, — ^and  that  is  very  often, — he  has  need 


448  HISTORY   OP  LUTHEB. 

of  the  langaa^  of  artisans,  street-porters,  and  soldiers,  with 
which  no  Roman  lexicon  could  provide  him,  and  then  his  native 
tongue  does  not  fail  him.  It  possesses  words  for  all  his  feelings, 
images  for  all  his  excesses,  figures  for  all  his  rage. 

The  Latin  style  of  the  Beformer  has  neither  the  elegance, 
harmony,  nor  melody  of  the  classic  writers  ;  it  is  laboured  and 
difiuse,  like  that  of  the  schools  ;  it  by  turns  copies  St.  Thomas 
and  Scotus,  and  occasionally  descends  to  barbarisms.  When  he 
wishes  to  contend  with  the  scholars  of  the  court  of  the  Medici, 
as  in  his  quarrel  with  Leo  X.,  then,  not  to  speak  an  ordinary 
language,  he  accumulates  epithets,  rounds  his  periods  with  re- 
dundancies, and  fancies  that  he  has  found  images  when  he  falls 
into  bombast.  So  Claudian  would  have  written,  had  he  been  a 
theologian,  or  Lucan,  had  he  magnUoquently  sung  of  common- 
place matters.  Anger  alone  inspires  him ;  but  then  he  ceases 
to  speak  Latin,  and  uses  a  language  that  belongs  not  to  the 
age  of  Augustus  or  the  decline  in  the  days  of  Quintilian,  to 
the  period  of  the  schools  or  of  the  revival  of  literature ;  it  is 
semi-Saxon,  semi-Roman,  and  resembles  the  Oerman  soldier, 
who,  after  the  conquest,  puts  the  sagum  upon  the  toga. 
Luther  makes  use  of  expressions  which  are  to  be  found  in  no 
writer  of  antiquity,  and  which  Ducange,  with  all  his  lexicogra- 
phical patience,  could  have  found  nowhere,  and  besides,  would 
not  have  ventured  to  introduce  into  his  glossary.  He  becomes 
low  in  expression  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  the  person 
whom  he  attacks ;  if  he  wears  the  diadem  or  tiara,  like 
Henry  VIIL  or  Leo  X.,  his  style  creeps  and  rolls  in  the 
mire. 

Never,  in  so  short  a  time,  was  the  human  mind  more  fertile. 
Three  hundred  works,  of  which  the  greater  part  may  pass  for 
perfect  treatises  on  their  subjects,  were  produced  in  thirty  years ; 
and  among  them  we  do  not  include  either  his  correspondence  or 
his  table-talk,  which  of  themselves  would  form  a  sufficient  repu- 
tation for  a  literary  person  of  that  period.  This  copiouBness 
explains  itself ;  Luther  wrote  nothing  except  under  excitement, 
and  his  whole  soul  was  diffused  in  each  of  his  works.  He  had  no 
fear  or  anxiety  for  human  eye  ;  he  required  no  rest  for  his  brain, 
nor  to  rub  his  forehead  for  ideas ;  his  pen  could  scarcely  keep 
pace  with  his  imagination.     In  his  manuscripts  no  trace  of 


LUTHEE  AS   AUTHOR.  449 

fatigue  or  hesitation  is  to  be  fonnd ;  no  embarrassment  or  erasures, 
no  ill-applied  epithet  or  unmanageable  expression  ;  and  by  the 
accuracy  of  the  writing,  we  might  imagine  him  to  have  been  the 
transcriber  rather  than  the  author  of  the  work.  It  is  true  that 
he  had  many  sources  open  to  him  whence  he  could  draw  inspira- 
tion,— the  fathers,  the  doctors  of  the  Church  and  of  the  schools, 
the  writers  of  Rome  and  of  Athens,  Moses  and  St.  Paul,  and 
the  human  heart,  that  volume  of  his  predilection,  but  in  which 
he  often  read  what  was  not  written  there,  especially  when  that 
heart  beat  within  a  Catholic  bosom.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
this  unheard-of  consumption  of  ink,  we  cannot  reproach  him  of 
sameness ;  auger  is  at  most  the  one  sin  into  which  he  relapses 
when  he  speaks  of  the  monks,  the  bishops,  or  the  pope  ;  and  he 
speaks  of  them  always.  From  the  day  when  Leo  fulminated 
against  him  the  bull  ''  Exsurge,"  the  pope  is  always  an  ass  or 
Antichrist ;  the  monks,  libertines  and  blockheads ;  the  bishops, 
men  without  faith  and  Ood ;  and  Latomus  or  Prierias,  fools  and 
rogues.  Put  a  fallen  angel,  if  he  agreed  to  it,  in  Luther's  place, 
and  the  angel  will  be  condemned  to  turn  in  the  same  circle  ;  we 
only  doubt  if  he  would  possess,  like  the  Reformer,  the  poetry  of 
insult.  To  heighten  his  insolence,  Luther  has  new  and  bold 
turns,  sallies  which  make  a  Catholic  laugh,  unwonted  combina- 
tions of  words,  picturesque  archaisms,  which  he  scatters  on  his 
paper  as  others  would  gold-dust.  Age  did  not  correct  him : 
when  he  had  one  foot  in  the  grave  ;  when  God  intimated  to  him 
by  various  signs  his  approaching  death  ;  and  when  he  himself 
foretold  his  last  hour ;  he  wrote,  at  the  iustigation  of  his  friends, 
especially  of  the  Elector,  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  asserts  of  the 
then  successor  of  St.  Peter,  that  the  devil  enters  into  the  body 
of  the  pope  the  day  on  which  he  puts  on  the  tiara.* 

His  fHends,  especially  Melancthon,  were  afflicted  at  this 
choleric  monomania,  which  no  remonstrance  could  cure.  Some- 
times Luther  himself  let  expressions  of  regret  and  repentance 
escape  him :  he  said  to  Mathesius :  ''  My  writings  come  down 
like  a  heavy  shower  ;  I  wish  they  would  drop  as  gently  as  those 
of  Philip  and  Brenz  ;"  and,  again  :  "  I  have  often  left  the 
highway ;  the  paternoster  of  which  I  make  use,  as  a  kind  of 


*  Das  Papfltthum,  zum  Toufel  gesiiiUt 

VOL.  II.  2  a 


450  HISTORY   OP  LUTHEB. 

bridge,  is  too  flinty  ;  do  not  imitate  me,  but  keep  in  the  beaten 
track."  1 

We  may  give  tmreserred  praise  to  the  hymns  which  he 
translated  from  Latin  into  German,  and  which  he  composed  for 
the  members  of  his  communion.  He  did  not  travesty  the 
Sacred  Word.  He  is  grave,  solemn,  simple,  grand,  and  endea- 
vours to  reproduce  the  Latin  image,  without  ever  disfiguring  it 
by  capricious  ornaments. 

This  collection  had  prodigious  success ;  the  Latin  hymns 
ceased  all  at  once,  and  in  the  divine  service  nothing  was  heard 
but  the  musical  stanzas  of  the  Reformer,  for  Luther  was  at  once 
the  poet  and  musician  of  a  great  number  of  his  hymns ;  but  the 
part  of  the  poet  is  always  better  sustained  than  that  of  the 
musician.  He  arranged,  rather  than  composed  ;  his  most  beau- 
tiful airs  are  Catholic  reminiscences  ;  it  is  not  even  certain  that 
the  hymn  which  he  sung  with  his  companions  on  entering  Worms, 
"  Bin  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott  I "  is  entirely  his  own  composi- 
tion. It  is  a  sacred  melody,  which  he  probably  borrowed  from 
the  old  Saxon  Church,  as  he  did  from  it  his  hymns  and  Latin 


We  may  consider  the  question  of  the  improvement  which 
Luther  is  said  to  have  made  on  religious  music  in  the  douUe 
light  of  harmony  and  melody.* 

As  a  harmonist,  Luther,  who  was  only  imperfectly  skilled  in 
the  knowledge  of  counterpoint,  as  his  biographers  admit,  cannot 
be  put  in  the  same  class  with  the  Catholic  composers,  his  con- 
temporaries, or  immediate  successors.  In  Belgium,  Josquin 
Deprez,  who  died  in  1515,  and  Orlando  di  Lasso,  in  1593  ;  in 
France,  Claude  Goudimel,  director  of  the  pontifical  chapel,  the 
master  of  Palestrina,  and  who  died  in  1572 ;  in  Spain,  Christopher 
Morales,  cantor  of  the  papal  chapel,  who  flourished  about  1540, 
are  infinitely  superior  to  the  father  of  the  Reformation  with 
respect  to  musicsd  science. 

Luther,  we  know,  so  little  understood  music,  that  the  greater 

'  "Pass  seine  Sohriften  so  ranschten,  wie  der  Platzregen,  tind  er  habe 
gewlinscht,  dass  er  so  fein,  und  lieblich  konnte  regnen  wie  Philippus  und 

'  For  this  appredation  of  Luther,  considered  as  a  musician,  we  are  indebted 
to  the  Abbe  Jouve,  canon  of  Valence,  and  composer  of  varioos  pieces  of  sacred 
music  of  high  merit. 


LUTHER  AS   MUSIOIAN.  451 

part  of  his  chorals  were  arranged  by  his  friend  John  Walther, 
and  by  Loms  Senfel,  master  of  the  chapel  of  Louis  dake  of 
Bavaria. 

As  to  melody,  Lather's  claims,  less  disputable,  are  never- 
theless inferior  to  those  of  his  rivals.  In  the  first  place,  the 
Reformer  is  the  real  inventor  of  only  a  small  number  of  musical 
phrases  among  all  those  which  have  been  gratuitously  attributed 
to  him.  He  has  derived  many  of  them  from  the  Catholic  liturgy 
itself,  and  was  inspired  frequently  by  the  popular  airs  which  the 
children  at  that  time  used  to  sing  beneath  the  windows  of  the 
rich  for  their  daily  bread.  It  is  one  of  those  airs,  impressed  with 
a  gentle  melancholy,  which  he  one  day  heard  under  his  window, 
and  adapted  to  his  hymn,  **  Es  ist  das  Feil  uns  kommen.'"^ 

But  has  the  ancient  solemnity  of  religious  song  gained  by 
introducing  into  divine  worship  pro&ne  tunes  adapted  to  pious 
words  ?  We  do  not  think  that  it  has ;  and  we  cannot  participate 
in  the  opinion  of  some  writers,  who  perceive  an  improvement  in 
an  unfortunate  innovation  which  still  in  our  own  time  stamps 
the  Lutheran  service  with  a  character  different  from  that  of  our 
sacred  office. 

We  have  said  that  the  most  of  Luther's  melodies  were  remi- 
niscences of  musicians  who  had  preceded  him.  Indeed,  who  is 
there  that  is  ignorant  that  Rupf  Selneccer,  Speratus,  Hermann, 
and  many  more,  supplied  him  with  numerous  descants  which  he 
introduced  into  has  lay  hymns,  without  his  even  thanking  the 
composers  for  them  ?  He  did  not  even  his  friend  Walther,  who 
regulated  the  melodies  which  Luther  composed  and  sang  to 
him,  before  adapting  to  them  a  very  careful  harmony  besides.^ 

It  results  from  the  preceding :  1st,  that  Luther  was  not  in  a 
condition  to  stamp  a  successfrd  movement  on  choral  harmony ; 
2nd,  that  he  had  borrowed  the  greater  part  of  the  tunes  attri- 
buted to  him  either  from  Catholic  hymns  already  existing,  or 
from  popular  tunes,  or  the  personal  inspirations  of  preceding  or 


*  Mortimer,  der  ChonL-GeBang  sur  Zdt  der  Befonnation :  Berlin,  1821, 
4to.  p.  8. 

'  "  Luther  selbst  war  ein  Liebhaber  and  Kenner  der  Mtwik,  and  hatte  tiich- 
tige  OehUlfen  an  Walther,  Rap(  Sehieocer,  Nic.  Hermann  and  andem  mehr." 
— ^Mortimer,  der  Ghoral-Gesang  zur  Zeit  der  Reformation  :  Berlin,  1821, 
4to.  p.  8. 

2a2 


452  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHBK. 

contemporary  composera  ;  Srd,  that  by  a  compulsory  result  of  his 
religious  tendencies  he  suppressed,  to  the  injury  of  sacred  music, 
a  great  number  of  really  beautiful  hymns,  particularly  those  of 
the  offices  of  the  dead  and  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  replaced 
others  with  hymns  in  the  vulgar  tongue. 

Now,  we  would  ask  whether,  on  such  grounds,  Luther  is  to 
be  considered  as  the  restorer  of  sacred  music  ? 

In  justice,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  Reformer,  who  was 
gifted  with  a  fine  voice,  had  studied  sacred  music  successfully, 
and  that  we  more  than  once  meet  with  happy  inspirations  in  his 
melodies.  He  had  frequently  musical  parties  at  his  monastery, 
where  the  works  of  the  most  celebrated  Catholic  composers, — 
Josquin  Deprez  among  the  rest, — were  performed.  But  we  may  be 
certain  that,  unless  it  were  for  the  extraordinary  reputation  which 
attached  to  all  the  Reformer's  works,  his  reputation  as  a  musi- 
cian would  never  have  crossed  the  boundaries  of  Upper  Saxony. 
And  even  making  every  possible  concession  to  his  enthusiastic 
admirers  by  admitting  that  Luther  was  a  musical  genius,  would 
his  influence  on  the  destinies  of  religious  art,  and  his  &me  as 
a  composer,  have  ever  equalled  that  of  a  Palestrina  or  AU^ri, 
and  the  other  celebrated  masters  whose  purely  Roman  inspira- 
tions have  nothing  in  common  with  his  ? 

Placed  between  the  great  religious  composers  who  immediately 
preceded  or  followed  him,  and  whose  works  are  intimately  con- 
nected, and  present  a  gradual  succession  of  changes  and  improve- 
ments, he  could  neither  arrest  nor  accelerate  the  movement  of 
change  and  progress  which  would  have  been  effected  without 
him,  and  to  which  he  could  only  have  contributed  his  individual 
share,  even  though  he  had  been  forced  to  compete  with  the  great 
masters  of  the  Roman  song.  Consequently,  the  revival  of  music, 
which  has  been  attributed  to  him  exclusively,  is  one  of  those 
historical  errors  that  will  not  bear  strict  examination. 

In  several  chapters  of  this  work  we  have  considered  many  of 
the  Reformer's  works  in  a  literary  point  of  view.  We  cannot 
forget  that  of  which  Germany  is  so  justly  proud, — ^the  German 
Bible,  the  noblest  monument  which  ho  ha;3  raised  to  his  native 
country.  We  shall  be  pardoned  for  recurring  to  this  work, 
which  engaged  a  considerable  portion  of  his  life. 

As  soon  as  he  conceived  the  idea  of  translating  the  Bible  into 


LUTHBB  AS  TRANSLATOR.  453 

the  Tolgar  tongue,  he  applied  himself  with  a  youthful  ardour  to 
the  study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew.' 

It  was  in  the  solitude  of  Wartburg, — of  that  castle  "  where 
he  breathed  like  an  eagle,"  that  he  commenced  his  translation 
of  the  New  Testament ;  ten  years  later  the  complete  version  of 
the  Scriptures  appeared.  In  1522,  he  wrote  from  his  prison  to 
Amsdorf :  ''  I  intend  to  translate  the  Bible,  although  it  is  an 
undertaking  beyond  my  power.  I  know,  however,  the  profession 
of  a  translator,  and  I  understand  why  no  one  hitherto  has  wished 
to  put  his  name  to  a  translation  of  the  Bible.  I  should  never 
attempt  to  publish  the  Old  Testament,  if  I  did  not  reckon  on 
your  assistance.  Oh  !  if  I  had  a  little  comer  near  you,  with 
your  assistance,  I  should  complete  my  task  ;  I  hope  to  enrich  my 
Germany  with  a  better  version  than  the  Latin  one.  It  is  a  great 
work,  which  deserves  to  occupy  our  minds,  and  which  will  serve 
our  common  salvation/' 

Luther  has  initiated  us  into  all  the  secrets  of  his  torments  as 
a  translator ;  it  will  easily  be  seen  that  he  must  complain  of  the 
difficulty  of  the  original,  for  the  man  always  passes  before  the 
Christian,  and  faith  does  not  impose  silence  on  vanity. 

'*  I  am  at  length  finishing,"  he  writes,  in  1528,  ''  the  second 
part  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  I  am  at  the  most  extraordinary 
portion  of  it.  We  are  now  endeavouring  to  make  the  prophets 
speak  German.  Great  God  !  what  a  labour  !  to  employ  force  to 
make  the  Hebrew  poets  express  themselves  in  German.  They 
resist,  and  are  unwilling  to  forget  their  beautiful  language  to  speak 
our  barbarous  idiom.  It  is  as  if  you  would  force  a  nightingale  to 
cease  her  charming  melody,  and  sing  like  a  cuckoo." 

Melancthon,  Justus  Jonas,  Amsdorf,  and  Spalatinus,  who  were 
learned  Hebrew  scholars,  in  their  turn  offered  him  the  tribute  of 
their  knowledge.  Luther  did  not  stand  on  ceremony  with  his 
friends ;  he  borrowed  from  them  when  he  had  need,  and  he  con- 
cealed neither  his  debts  nor  the  number  of  his  creditors.  "  The 
New  Testament  is  finished,"  he  writes  to  Spalatinus,  "  Philip  and 
I  will  occupy  ourselves  in  polishing  the  work ;  it  will  be  beautiful, 
if  God  wishes  it ;  we  have  need  of  your  assistance,  that  we  may 

'  Th.  Eccard  has  written  a  Diesertation  on  the  Greek  Manuscripte,  of  which 
Luther  made  use  in  translating  the  Bible  (LipBiie,  1723,  4 to.)-  See,  on  this 
subject,  Jani  Lib.  Hiat.  de  Luthero  Studii  Bib.  Instauratore  :  Hall»,  1732,  8vo. 


454  HISTOEY   OF   LUTHBR. 

give  the  exact  translation  of  some  terms.  We  want  some  words 
in  common  use ;  of  courtly  or  refined  language  we  have  no  need ; 
we  wish  this  translation  to  be  clear  and  comprehensible  to  eveiy 
one.  And  therefore,  to  commence,  give  me  the  names  and  tli^ 
colours  of  the  precious  stones  described  in  the  Apocalypse.  Your 
court,  if  God  pleases,  will  aid  you ;  you  have  the  model  before  you." 
In  another  letter  to  Spalatinus,  Luther  inquires  the  names  and 
species  of  certain  animals,  night-birds,  and  other  inhabitants  of 
the  air,  for  which  he  cannot  find  synonymous  terms  in  German. 
He  did  not  know  what  the  text  meant  by  tragelaphos,  pygugus, 
oryx,  camelopardus. 

He  divided  his  great  Bible  work  into  several  parts,  of  which 
each  contained  a  particular  subject,  and  might  be  considered  as  a 
complete  work.  To  each  firagment  of  this  composition  he  added 
a  prefiice,  in  which  he  examined  the  original  as  a  rhetorician, 
and  his  translation  as  a  grammarian.  In  the  preface  to  his 
translation  of  the  five  books  of  Moses,  he  thus  expresses  himself: 
**  I  recommend  all  my  readers  to  Christ,  and  I  beg  of  them  to 
obtain  for  me  of  God  that  I  may  successfully  accomplish  my 
difficult  task  of  translating  the  Old  Testament  The  Hebrew 
language  is  but  of  little  use  here  ;  the  Jews  themselves  do  not 
always  understand  it,  and  I  have  found  by  experience  that  it  is 
not  always  safe  to  trust  to  them.  If  the  Bible  is  to  be  trans- 
lated, it  can  only  be  by  Christians  possessed  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ,  without  which  all  knowledge  of  language  is  absolutely 
worthless.  If  I  cannot  flatter  myself  with  possessing  all  the 
necessary  qualifications  for  the  translator  of  so  divine  a  work, 
I  venture  to  say  that  this  Gkrman  Bible  is  clearer  and  safer  than 
the  Latin  version.  If  the  carelessness  or  ignorance  of  the  printers 
does  not  spoil  my  work,  I  am  sure  that  it  will  be  preferable  to 
the  Septuagint.  Now  the  mud  sticks  to  the  wheel,  and  there  is 
not  a  tyro  who  would  not  give  himself  airs  and  remonstrate  with 
me.  Let  them  mind  their  own  business  !  I  am  prepared  to  find 
detractors.  If  any  one  boasts  of  being  more  learned  than  me, 
let  him  take  the  Bible  and  translate  it,  and  then  show  me  his 
work  ;  if  it  be  better  than  mine,  why  should  it  not  be  preferred  ? 
I  believe  that  I  have  some  knowledge.  I  have  thought  that — 
thanks  to  God — I  could  give  lessons  to  all  the  high  schools  of 
the  sophists,  and  now  I  find  that  I  do  not  know  even  my  mother- 


LUTHEE  AS   TBAN8LAT0R.  455 

tongae ;  I  declare  that  I  have  never  seen  a  book  or  letter  in 
which  the  German  was  written  pnrely.  Who  can  speak  German 
well?  No  one,  and  least  of  all  the  lawyers:  great  preachers, 
puppets  of  writers,  who  persnade  themselves  that  they  have  the 
power  to  change  the  language,  and  daily  invent  new  words  !  In 
sh<^,  although  we  should  combine  aU  our  efforts, — some  their 
learning,  others  their  language, — ^the  Bible  would  give  us  enough 
to  do  to  translate  it  properly.  For  mercy,  then,  a  truce  to 
calumny ;  come  to  my  aid,  and  be  my  auxiliaries  in  the  work. 
If  you  refuse,  take  the  Bible  and  translate  it ;  for  all  those  who 
bark  at  me,  and  seek  to  scratch  me  with  their  nails,  are  neither 
pious  nor  learned  enough,  and  are  incapable  of  appreciating  a 
pure  text  of  the  Bible  ;  only  they  would  affect  the  mastership  in 
a  strange  language,  when  they  do  not  know  even  their  own.'' 

Job  presented  so  many  difficulties  to  him,  that  he  was  often 
on  the  point  of  abandoning  his  work  ;  nevertheless  he  had  asso- 
ciated with  him  two  great  scholars,  Melancthon  and  Aurogallus ; 
but,  in  spite  of  the  aid  of  those  two  strong  bulls, — as  he  termed 
his  fellow-labourers, — ^the  earth  which  they  ploughed  was  so  hard 
that  they  could  scarcely  make  any  daily  progress. 

Sometimes,  in  these  short  prefaces,  setting  aside  the  theo- 
logical ideas  of  the  Reformer,  we  are  pleased  to  meet  with  the 
cultivator  of  art  and  poetry.  In  these  slight  sketches,  which  are 
models  of  style,  the  genius  of  the  translator  is  tinged  with  the 
colours  of  the  original.  There  are  pages  which  flow  spontaneously 
from  his  pen,  so  full  of  inspiration,  that  you  might  fancy  you 
heard  the  prophet  himself.  For  example,  in  this  estimate  of  the 
Psalms,  a  book  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond : — 

'^  The  heart  of  man  is  a  vessel  on  a  lonely  sea,  agitated  by  the 
tempest.  At  one  time  fear  and  anxiety  for  the  future  urge  him 
on ;  at  another,  disappointment  and  present  evils  afflict  him ;  some- 
times hope,  or  the  d^esire  of  future  good  excites  him  ;  and  some- 
times he  is  moved  by  the  joys  of  this  world.  All  these  emotions 
are  a  grave  lesson  for  man,  who  ought  to  learn  to  cast  anchor  on 
a  firm  word,  and  steer  out  of  this  life  to  a  land  of  safety.  In 
such  tempestuous  sea,  what  better  pilot  than  the  Psalmist? 
Where  else  can  he  find  sweeter  language  than  in  these  hymns 
which  exhale  praise  and  gratitude  ?  There  all  the  saints  appear 
to  us  as  in  a  garden,  as  in  heaven  itself,  which  will  be  open  to 


456  HISTOEY  OF  LUTHER. 

US,  and  their  thoughts  are  like  so  many  sweet  flowers  which 
bloom  and  expand  for  God  their  Creator !  Where  can  we  find 
a  more  affecting  and  acute  melancholy  than  in  the  penitential 
Psalms?  there  we  can  read  in  the  heart  of  the  saints,  as  in 
death ;  there  the  face  of  the  Eternal  is  covered  with  a  sombre 
veil  of  wrath.  If  he  wishes  to  express  hope  or  fear,  no  painter 
has  such  brilliant  colours,  and  Cicero  would  envy  his  treasures  of 
imagery  and  eloquence.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  Christian  Church 
in  all  the  pomp  and  garniture  of  life,  although  in  a  narrow 
compass,  take  and  read  the  Psalms,  the  faithful  mirror  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  if  you  wish  to  know  both  God  and  his  creatures,  again 
turn  to  the  Psalmist."^ 

He  did  not  dissemble  his  own  importance,  and  his  high  and 
magisterial  tone  gave  lessons  to  his  critics :  ^'  I  have  taught 
them,''  he  said,  ''  the  art  of  translating ;  I  have  taught  them 
how  to  write  ;  they  rob  me  now  of  my  elegant  language,  and  in 
place  of  showing  me  gratitude,  they  abuse  me.  I  foi^ve  thenu 
It  is  delightful  to  have  taught  my  enemies  to  speak.  God  knows 
that  I  have  not  sought  a  vain  reputation  ;  that  I  am  not  stained 
with  any  earthly  thought ;  and  that  I  have  not  asked  or  received 
a  single  thaler  for  my  work.     This  I  call  God  to  witness." 

If  Luther  was  unjust  to  some  Catholic  critics,  who,  like  Emser^ 
detected  in  his  translation  a  great  number  of  errors,  which  disap- 
peared in  a  new  edition,  though  his  fury  towards  his  opponents 
increased,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  took  advantage  of  the 
friendly  corrections  which  he  received.  He  solicited  them,  and 
loved  to  extol  the  modest  merit  of  some  poor  scholar  who,  to  find 
a  new  interpretation,  restore  a  word,  point  a  passage  more  happily, 
or  hit  upon  the  meaning  of  an  obscure  paragraph,  would  often 
deprive  himself  of  food  and  sleep. 

Mathesius  has  recorded  all  that  Luther  did  to  improve  his 
work.  "  When  the  Bible  was  finished,  the  doctor  resumed  his 
labours,  revised  it,  and  read  it  over  page  by  page,  comparing 
the  texts,  praying  and  meditating  long.     And  as  the  Son  of 


*  The  whole  of  these  short  pre&cea  are  contained  in  the  select  edition  of 
Luther's  Works,  published  at  Hamburg  by  Frederick  Perthes.  But  in  order 
to  form  a  judgment  of  the  Reformer,  we  must  not  have  recourse  to  such  a 
eoUection,  from  which  the  editor  has  excluded  idi  the  angry  and  insulting 
expressions.  Luther  is  made  to  write  as  if  he  had  lived  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 


LUTHEB  AS   TBANSLATOK.  457 

Ood  has  promised  that  he  will  always  be  where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  in  his  name,  Lather  determined  on  instituting  a  sort 
of  Sanhedrim,  composed  of  select  friends,  who  met  together 
weekly  in  his  room  for  some  hours  before  supper.  These  were 
Doctor  John  Bugenhagen,  Doctor  Justus  Jonas,  Doctor  Creu- 
ziger,  Philip  Melancthon,  Matthew  Aurogallus,  and  George 
Roerer,  and  sometimes  foreign  doctors  and  learned  men/'^ 

Meanwhile  Luther  gave  himself  neither  peace  nor  rest  He 
questioned  B4ibbins,  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholars,  and  Germans 
who  knew  all  the  mysteries  of  their  mother-tongae.  He  some- 
times visited  a  butcher's  slaughterhouse,  where  he  would  cause  a 
lamb  to  be  cut  up  before  him,  that  he  might  learn  the  name  of 
each  part  of  the  animal,  and  then  repair  to  the  assembly  of  his 
Mends,  carrying  his  new  version  under  his  arm.  Melancthon 
brought  with  him  the  Septuagint,  Doctor  Greuziger  the  Bible  in 
Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  Doctor  Bugenhagen  the  Vulgate,  and 
other  professors  rabbinical  commentaries.  ""When  these  ex- 
pounders had  assembled,  the  president  selected  a  verse  of  the 
Bible,  which  he  read  in  a  loud  voice,  and  each  present  gave  in 
turn  his  interpretation.  If  some  happy  gloss  was  proposed,  it 
was  carefully  noted,  and  afterwards  appeared  in  the  maigin  of 
the  printed  Bible,  opposite  the  text  which  it  explained  or  com- 
mented. 

All  such  crumbs  which  fell  from  these  banquets  of  the  learned 
were  carefully  collected  by  Luther,  and  termed  by  him  a  celestial 
manna,  while  the  Catholic  interpreters  have  often  rejected  them 
as  poison.  Why  should  they  have  had  more  respect  for  these 
commentaries  than  Luther  had  for  the  glosses  of  the  Catholic 
doctors  ?  These  doctors  in  like  manner  had  obeyed  the  divine 
precept,  had  assembled  in  the  cloister  after  imploring  the  light 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  laboured  in  common  to  elucidate  God's 
word,  just  as  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Reformation  did. 

Luther  compared  the  Catholic  critics  "  to  flies,  who  never 
light  on  the  noble  parts  of  an  animal,  but  lodge,  to  torment  him, 

*  According  to  a  letter  from  Luther  to  Spalatinus,  three  presses  of  Hans 
Lufit  threw  off  daily  ten  thousand  sheets  (Bogen)  of  the  New  Testament ;  in 
this  statement  there  is  either  a  mistake,  or  the  printer  worked  a  miracle. 
Each  copy  was  sold  for  a  thaler.  From  1534  to  1574,  Hans  Lufft  would  have 
printed  a  hundred  thousand  copies  of  the  complete  Bible. — Effner,  1.  c.  part  i. 
p.  101,  note. 


458  HISTOBT   OF  LUTHBB. 

in  some  secret  spot :  so  they  do  with  me  ;  they  pry  into  my 
?rark  until  they  hare  found  a  place  where  they  can  bury  their 
sting  in  my  flesh/'  The  comparison  would  have  been  more 
complete,  if  he  had  added  that  the  lion  with  his  mane  and  his 
tail  knew  yery  well  where  to  find  the  insect  This  importunate 
insect  \rhich  stung  him  till  he  bled,  and  often  made  him  cry 
for  mercy,  was  Emser,  who  fastened  upon  the  sore,  and  never 
left  till  he  was  filled  with  blood.  It  waa  of  no  use  that  the 
doctor  cried  out,  '^  Papist,  you  are  an  ass ;  if  it  is  a  fiiult, 
let  it  remain  ;  it  is  my  wilL'^  The  hvlt  was  discovered,  and 
afterwards,  whether  he  would  or  not,  it  was  effisu^ed. 

When  Luther  had  laid  aside  his  translator's  robe  and  returned 
to  his  conventual  solitude  among  his  disciples,  and  Eetha,  his 
doctress,  brought  him  his  folio  Bible  bound  in  vellum,  then  he 
privately  acknowledged  the  imperfections  of  his  work. 

After  three  centuries,  see  the  state  of  matters ;  the  German 
language  has  passecl  firom  the  grammarian  to  the  poet  and  the 
philosopher,  who  have  treated  it  each  according  to  his  caprice.  It 
has  been  altered,  r^enerated,  transformed,  grown  old  and  become 
young  again,  so  that  Germany  now  complains  of  the  insuffidency 
of  Luther's  translation.^  The  monk's  production  has  been 
treated  as  he  treated  the  Vulgate  :  a  reform  has  been  called  for. 
The  doctrines  of  Luther  have  long  since  had  the  fate  of  his 
translation.     ■     •^'  '  ;.  »   -      ^^-^  ^-^d*^^^^^A t- 


V^,.....    \.4^'\^       »- 


r-t     Ofo 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  TRIBUNAL  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

We  had  intended  to  conclude  our  work  by  an  examination 
into  the  influence  which  the  Lutheran  Reformation  has  had  on 
the  morals,  learning,  arts,  and  polity  of  Germany  and  Europe. 
But  such  an  inquiry  would  demand  a  volume  rather  than  a 
chapter  ;  besides,  the  subject  has  already  been  profoimdly  treated 


'  Roeasler  (Oarolus  GodofreduB  philos.  D.  et  diaconus),  De  ScriptanB  Sacraa 
Versione  A  Laiheri  temporibus  ind^  ad  nostra  tempora  usque  in  EcdeeiA 
Evangelico-Lutheran&  constanter  usitatll,  cautd  paasim  emandandA:  Lipfliie, 
1837. 


THE   TRIBUNAL  OF  THE   REFORMATION.  459 

by  Dr.  Marx  and  M.  Bobeloi  We  onrselYes,  in  proportion  as 
the  &ct8  of  history  appear  to  ub,  have  endeayoured  to  penetrate  its 
causes,  and  judge  of  its  effects.  NeverthelesB^  it  has  seemed  to  us 
that  a  rapid  analysis  of  the  principal  features  of  the  Befoimation, 
as  traced  by  Protestant  pens,  which  even  the  prejudiced  reader 
cannot  reject,  should  find  a  place  here ;  and  this  evidence  of 
dissentients  must  serve  as  a  final  jud^ent  in  favour  of  the 
Catholic  historian.  Once  more,  therefore,  the  Beformation  shall 
judge  itsel£ 


The  Beformation  was  a  revolution,  and  they  who  rebelled 
against  the  authority  of  the  Church  were  revolutionists.^ 

However  slightly  you  look  into  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 
you  will  be  convinced  that  the  Reformation  possessed,  the  cha- 
racter of  an  insurrection.^ 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  fine  word  Reformation  f  Ame- 
lioration, doubtless.  Well,  then,  with  history  before  us,  it  is 
easy  to  show  that  it  was  only  a  prostration  of  the  human  mind. 
Glutted  with  tiie  wealth  of  which  it  robbed  the  Catholics,  and 
the  blood  which  it  shed,  it  gives  us,  instead  of  the  harmony  and 
Christian  love  of  which  it  deprived  our  ancestors,  nothing  but 
dissensions,  resentments,  and  discords.' 

No,  the  Beformation  was  not  an  era  of  happiness  and  peace  ; 
it  was  only  established  by  confusion  and  anarchy.'*     * 

Do  you  feel  your  heart  beat  at  the  mention  of  justice  and 
truth?  Acknowledge,  then,  what  it  is  impossible  to  deny, — 
that  Luther  must  not  be  compared  with  the  apostles.  The 
apostles  came  teaching  in  the  name  of  Jesos  Christ  their  Master ; 
and  the  Catholics  are  entitled  to  ask  us  from  whom  Luther  had 
his  mission  ?  we  cannot  prove  that  he  had  a  mission  direct  or 
indirect.* 

Luther  perverted  Christianity  ;   he  withdrew  himself  crimi- 


*  Bemerk.   einoB  Protest,   in  Preuasen  ttber  die  Tzkkirner^tcken  Anfein- 
dungen,  &c.  1824,  p.  62. 

*  SteffenB,  quoted  by  Honinghaus,  p.  354,  torn.  i. 
»  Cobbett,  History,  &c.  p.  4. 

*  Lord  Fitz  William's  Briefe  des  Atticus.     In's  Deutsche  tibersetst  von 
Ph.  Miiller,  1834,  p.  33. 

^  Bemerkungen  eines  Protestanten. 


460  HISTOEY   OF  LUTHBB. 

nally  from  the  communion  in  which  regeneration  was  alone 


lie.' 

It  has  been  said  that  all  Christendom  demanded  a  reforma- 
tion ;  who  disputes  it  ?  But,  long  before  the  time  of  Luther, 
the  papacy  had  listened  to  the  complaints  of  the  faithful  '  The 
Council  of  Lateran  had  been  convened  to  put  an  end  to  the 
scandals  which  afflicted  the  Church.^ 

The  papacy  laboured  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  early 
ages,  in  proportion  as  Europe,  freed  firom  the  yoke  of  brute  force, 
became  politically  organized,  and  advanced  with  slow  but  sure 
step  to  civilization.  Was  it  not  at  that  time  that  the  source  of 
all  religious  truth  was  made  accessible  to  scientific  study,  since, 
by  means  of  the  watchful  protection  of  the  papacy,  the  Holy 
Scriptures  were  translated  into  every  language?  '  The  New 
Testament  of  Erasmus,  dedicated  to  Leo  X.,  had  preceded  the 
quarrel  about  indulgences.' 

A  Reformer  should  take  care  that,  in  his  zeal  to  get  rid  of 
manifest  abuses,  he  does  not  at  the  same  time  shake  the  faith 
and  its  wholesome  institutions  to  the  foundation.^  When  the 
Reformers  violently  separated  themselves  from  the  Church  of 
Rome,  they  thought  it  necessary  to  reject  every  doctrine  taught 
by  her.*  Luther,  that  spirit  of  evil,  who  scattered  gold  with 
dirt,  declared  war  with  the  institutions,  without  which  the 
Church  could  not  exist :  he  destroyed  unity .^  Who  does  not 
remember  that  exclamation  of  Melancthon :  "  We  have  com- 
mitted many  errors,  and  have  made  good  of  evil  without  any 
necessity  for  it  ?"7 

In  justification  of  the  brutal  rupture  of  Germany  with  Rome, 
the  scandals  of  the  clergy  are  alleged.  But  if  at  the  period  of 
the  Reformation  there  were  priests  and  monks  in  Germany  whose 
conduct  was  the  cause  of  regret  to  Christians,  their  number  was 


'  Novalis,  Honingbaus,  1.  c.  p.  856. 

'  Menzel,  Neuere  Geachichte,  pp.  3,  5,  et  Beq. 

'  Schrockh,  1.  c.  torn.  iv.  pref.         *  Vogt,  Historisches  Testament,  torn.  ▼. 

'  Scbrockh,  1.  c.  torn.  ix.  p.  1805. 

^  Kirchhoff,  Auch  einige  Gedanken  iiber  die  Wiederheretellung  der  protes- 
tant.  Kirche,  1817. 

7  Melanch.  lib.  iv.  cap.  xix. 


THE  TBIBUNAL   OF   THE   BEFOBMATTOK.  461 

not  larger  than  it  had  been  previously.  When  Lather  appeared, 
there  were  in  Germany  a  great  number  of  Catholic  prelates  whose 
piety  the  Reformers  themselyes  have  not  hesitated  to  admire.^ 

What  pains  they  take  to  deceive  ns  !  In  books  of  every 
size  they  teach  us,  even  at  the  present  day,  that  the  beast,  the 

man  of  sin,  the  w of  Babylon,  are  the  names  which  Qod  has 

given  in  his  Scriptures  to  the  pope  and  the  papacy  !  Can  it  be 
imagined  that  Christ,  who  died  for  our  sins,  and  saved  us  by  his 
blood,  would  have  suffered  that  for  ten  or  twelve  centuries  his 
Church  should  be  guided  by  such  an  ab6minable  wretch  ? — ^that 
he  would  have  allowed  millions  of  his  creatures  to  walk  in  the 
shadow  of  death  ? — and  that  so  many  generations  should  have 
had  no  other  pastor  but  Antichrist  ?  * 

Luther  mistook  the  genius  of  Christianity  in  introducing  a 
new  work  to  the  world  ;  the  immediate  authority  of  the  Bible  as 
the  sole  criterion  of  the  truth.* 

If  tradition  is  to  be  rejected,  it  follows  that  the  Bible  cannot 
be  authoritatively  explained  but  by  acquired  knowledge ;  in  a 
word,  human  interpretation  based  upon  its  comprehension  of  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  languages.  So,  by  this  theory,  the  palladium 
of  orthodoxy  is  to  be  found  in  a  knowledge  of  foreign  tongues  ; 
and  living  authority  is  replaced  by  a  dead  letter,  a  slavery  a 
thousand  times  more  oppressive  than  the  yoke  of  tradition.* 

Has  any  dogmatist  succeeded  in  drawing  up  a  confession  of 
fiuth  by  means  of  the  Bible,  which  could  not  be  attacked  by 
means  of  reason  ?^ 

This  formula,  that  the  Bible  must  be  the  "unicum  princi- 
pium  theologise,''  is  the  source  of  contradictory  doctrines  in- 
Protestant  theology ;  hence  this  question  arises  :  "  What  Pro- 
testant theology  is  there  in  which  there  are  not  errors  more  or 
less  V^  It  was  the  Bible  that  inspired  all  the  neologists  of  the 
sixteenth  century  ;  the  Bible  that  they  made  use  of  to  persecute 
and  condemn  themselves  as  heretics.^ 


■  Bretacbneider,  der  Siznonismus,  p.  168.  *  Cobbett. 

*  Novalis,  Fr.  von  Hardenberg's  Scbriften,  1826. 

*  Scbell'mg,  Vorlesungea  tiber  das  akademiscbe  Studium,  p.  200. 
'  Fiflcber,  Zur  EinleituDg  in  die  Dogmatik,  p.  219. 

*  Von  Langsdorf,  BlUzzen  der  protest  Theol.  1829,  p.  623. 
'  Jenar's  AUg.  Literaturaeitung,  1821,  No.  48. 


462  HISTOBT  OF  LUTHBB. 

When  Lather  maintained  that  the  Bible  contains  the  ennnci- 
ation  of  all  the  truths  of  which  a  knowledge  is  necessary  to 
salvation,  and  that  no  doctrine  which  is  not  distinctly  laid  down 
in  the  Bible  can  be  r^arded  as  an  article  of  fsAth,  he  did  not 
imagine  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  everybody,  £rom  this 
very  volume,  would  form  a  confession  for  himself,  and- reject  all 
others  which  contradicted  his  individual  creed.  This  necessity 
for  inquiry  so  occupies  the  minds  of  men  at  the  present  day,  that 
the  principal  articles  of  the  original  creed  are  rejected  by  those 
who  call  themselves  the  disciples  of  Jesus.^ 

But  what  are  we  to  understand  by  the  Bible  ?  The  question 
was  a  difficult  one  to  solve  even  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, when  Luther,  in  his  preface  to  the  translation  of  the  Bible, 
laid  down  a  difference  between  the  canonical  book,  by  preferring 
the  gospel  of  St  John  to  the  three  other  evangelists ;  by  depre- 
ciating the  epistle  of  St.  James  as  an  epistle  of  straw,  that 
contained  nothing  of  the  Gospel  in  it,  and  which  an  apostle 
could  not  have  written,  since  it  attributed  to  works  a  merit  which 
they  did  not  possess.^ 

It  was  in  the  Bible  that  Luther  discovered  these  two  great 
truths  of  salvation  which  he  revealed  to  the  world  at  the  b^in- 
ning  of  his  apostleship, — the  slatery  of  man's  toill,  <mA  the  impeo- 
cabiUty  of  the  bdi&oer. 

It  is  said  in  Exodus,  chapter  IX.,  that  God  hardened  the  heart 
of  Pharaoh.  It  was  questioned  whether  these  words  were  to  be 
construed  literally  ?  This  Erasmus  rightly  denied,  and  it  roused 
the  doctor's  wrath.  Luther,  in  his  reply,  furiously  attacks  the 
.  fools  who,  calling  reason  to  their  aid,  dare  call  for  an  account  from 
God  why  He  condemns  or  predestines  to  damnation  innocent 
beings  before  they  have  even  seen  the  light.  Truly  Luther, 
in  the  eyes  of  all  God's  creatures,  must  appear  a  prodigy  of 
daring,  when  he  ventures  to  maintain  that  no  one  can  reach 
heaven  unless  he  adopts  the  slavery  of  the  human  wilL  And  it  is 
not  merely  by  the  spirit  of  disputation,  but  by  settled  conviction 
that  he  defends  this  most  odious  of  all  ideas.  He  lived  and 
died  teaching  that  horrible  doctrine,  which  the  most  illustrious 


'  Wiz,  Betrachtungen  Uber  die  Zweckmusigkeit,  1819. 
'  Menzel,  1.  c.  p.  165. 


THE  TRIBUNAX  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  468 

of  his  diflciples, — among  others  Melancthon  and  Matthew  Albert 
of  ReutHngen, — condemned.* 

"How  rich  is  the  Christian!''  repeated  Luther;  **  even 
though  he  wished  it,  he  cannot  forfeit  heayen  by  any  stain ; 
belieye,  then,  and  be  assured  of  your  salyation  :  God  in  eternity 
cannot  escape  you.  Believe,  and  you  shall  be  saved :  repentance, 
confession,  satisfaction^  good  works,  all  these  are  useless  for  sal- 
vation :  it  is  sufficient  to  have  faith."  ^ 

Is  not  this  a  fearful  error, — a  desolating  doctrine  ?  If  you 
demonstrate  to  Luther  its  danger  or  absurdity,  he  replies  that 
you  blaspheme  the  Spirit  of  Light.^  Neither  attempt  to  prove 
to  him  that  he  is  mistaken ;  he  will  tell  you  that  you  offend 
God.  No,  no,  my  brother,  you  will  never  convince  me  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  confined  to  Wittemberg  any  more  than  to  your 
person.* 

Not  content  with  maledictions,  Luther  then  betakes  him  to 
prophecy ;  he  announces  that  his  doctrine,  which  proceeds  from 
heaven,  will  gain,  one  by  one,  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 
He  says  of  Zwinglius'  explanation  of  the  Eucharist :  "  I  am  not 
afraid  of  this  fanatical  interpretation  lasting  long."  On  the 
other  hand,  Zwinglius  predicted  that  the  Swiss  creed  would  be 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  crossing  the  Elbe 
and  the  Rhine.  Prophet  against  prophet,  if  success  be  the  test 
of  truth,  Luther  will  inevitably  have  to  yield  in  this  point.* 

The  Keformation,  which  at  first  was  entirely  a  religious 
phenomenon,  soon  assumed  a  political  character:  it  could  not 
fidl  to  do  so.  When  people  b^an  to  exclaim,  Uke  Luther,  on 
the  house-tops,  "  The  emperor  Charles  V.  ought  not  to  be 
supported  longer,  let  him  and  the  pope  be  knocked  on  the 
head"  (Opera ;  Jen»,  tom.  vii.  p.  278)  ;  then,  "  he  is  an  excited 
madman,   a  bloodhound,  who  must  be  killed  with  pikes  and 


»  Pluik,  tom.  ii.  pp.  113—181.  The  work  of  Albert  Reutlingen  is  entitled, 
Vom  recbten  Braucb  der  ewigen  Yorsehung  Gottes  wider  die  hoobfi^irendeo 
Geister,  fleischUcbe  Klugheit  und  FUrwitz  :  Angast,  1525. 

*  Lutber,  De  Captivitate  Babyl. 

'  Y.  MathissoD,  Proaaiscbe  Schriften. 

*  (Eoolamp.  Antwort  auf  Luther's  Yorrede  zam  STDgramina :  E.  HaUe, 
tom.  XX.  p.  727. 

*  Plank,  1.  c.  tom.  ii.  p.  764,  note. 


464  HISTOBY  OF  LUTHBB. 

clubs ;"  *  how  could  civil  society  continue  subject  to  authority  ? 
It  was  natural  that  the  monk's  virulent  writings  against  the 
bishops'  spiritual  power  should  be  reduced  by  the  subjects  of 
the  ecclesiastical  superiors  into  a  political  theory.  When  he 
proclaimed  that  the  yoke  of  priests  and  monks  must  be  shaken 
off,  we  might  expect  that  this  wild  appeal  would  be  directed 
against  the  tithes  which  the  people  paid  to  the  prelates  and  the 
abbots.*  The  Saxon's  doctrine  being  based  solely  on  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  peasant  considered  himself  authorized  in  virtue 
of  their  text  to  break  violently  with  his  lord :  hence  that 
long  war  between  the  cottage  and  the  castle.  This  it  was  that 
made  Erasmus  write  sorrowfully  to  Luther :  ^'  You  see  that  we 
are  now  reaping  the  fruits  of  what  you  sowed.  You  will  not 
acknowledge  the  rebels ;  but  they  acknowledge  you,  and  they  know 
only  too  well,  that  many  of  your  disciples,  who  clothed  them- 
selves in  the  mantle  of  the  Gospel,  have  been  the  instigators 
of  this  bloody  rebellion.  In  your  pamphlet  against  the  peasants 
you  in  vain  endeavour  to  justify  yourself.  It  is  you  who  have 
raised  the  storm,  by  your  publications  against  the  monks  and 
the  prelates ;  and  you  say  that  you  fight  for  Gospel  liberty,  and 
against  the  tyranny  of  the  great !  From  the  moment  that  you 
began  your  tragedy,  I  foresaw  the  end  of  it." ' 

That  civil  war,  in  which  Germany  had  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
more  than  a  hundred  thousand  of  her  children,  was  the  conse- 
quence of  Luther's  preaching.  It  is  fortunate  that,  through 
the  efforts  of  a  Catholic  prince,  Duke  George  of  Saxony,  it  was 
speedily  brought  to  an  end.  Had  it  lasted  but  a  few  years 
longer,  of  all  the  ancient  monuments  with  which  Germany  was 
filled,  not  a  single  vestige  would  have  remained.  Garlstadt 
might  then  have  sat  upon  their  ruins,  and  sung,  with  his  Bible 
in  his  hand,  the  downfall  of  the  images.  The  iconoclaflt's 
theories,  all  drawn  from  the  word  of  God,  held  their  ground  in 
spite  of  Luther,  and  dealt  a  fatal  blow  to  the  arts. " 

"  When  a  gorgeous  worship  requires  magnificent  temples, 
imposing  ceremonies,  and  striking  solemnities ;  when  religion 
presents  to  the  eye  sensible  images  as  objects  of  public  venera- 


'  Kern,  Der  Protestantiamus  und  Kathol.  p.  32. 

»  Menzel,  I.  c.  torn.  i.  pp.  167—169.  »  Ibid.  pp.  174—178. 


THE   TRIBUNAL   OF   THE   BEFORMATION.  465 

tion ;  when  earth  and  heaven  are  peopled  with  sapematoral 
beings,  to  whom  imagination  can  lend  a  sensible  form ;  then  it 
is  that  the  arts,  enoooraged  and  ennobled,  reach  the  zenith 
of  their  splendour  and  perfection.  The  architect,  raised  to 
hononrs  and  fortune,  conceives  the  plan  of  these  basilicas  and 
cathedrals,  whose  aspect  strikes  us  with  religious  awe,  and  whose 
richly-adorned  walls  are  ornamented  with  the  finest  efforts  of 
art  These  temples  and  altars  are  decorated  with  marbles  and 
precious  metals,  which  sculpture  has  feshioned  into  the  simili- 
tude of  angels,  saints,  and  the  images  of  illustrious  men.  The 
choirs,  the  jubes,  the  chapels,  and  sacristies,  are  hung  with 
pictures  on  all  sides.  Here  Jesus  expires  on  the  cross ;  there 
he  is  transfigured  on  Mount  Thabor.  Art,  the  friend  of  ima- 
gination, which  delights  only  in  heaven,  finds  there  the  most 
sublime  creations, — a  St.  John,  a  Cecilia,  above  all  a  Mary — 
that  patroness  of  tender  hearts,  that  virgin  model  to  all  mothers, 
that  mediatrix  of  graces,  placed  between  man  and  his  God,  that 
august  and  amiable  being  of  whom  no  other  religion  presents 
either  the  resemblance  or  the  model.  During  the  solemnities, 
the  most  costly  stuffit,  precious  stones,  and  embroidery,  cover  the 
altars,  vessels,  priests,  and  even  the  very  walls  of  the  sanctuary. 
Music  completes  the  charm  by  the  most  exquisite  strains,  by 
the  harmony  of  the  choir.  These  powerful  incentives  are  re- 
peated in  a  hundred  different  places ;  the  metropolises,  parishes, 
the  numerous  religious  houses,  the  simple  oratories,  sparkle  with 
emulation  to  captivate  all  the  powers  of  the  religious  and  devout 
mind.  Thus  a  taste  for  the  arts  becomes  general,  by  means  of 
so  potent  a  lever,  and  artists  increase  in  number  and  rivaby. 
Under  this  influence  the  celebrated  schools  of  Italy  and  Flanders 
flourished ;  and  the  finest  works  which  now  remain  to  us  testify 
the  splendid  encouragement  which  the  Catholic  religion  lavished 
upon  them. 

"  After  this  natural  progress  of  events,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  Reformation  has  been  unfavourable  to  the  fine  arts, 
and  has  very  much  restrained  the  exercise  of  them.  It  has 
severed  the  bonds  which  united  them  to  religion,  which  sanc- 
tified them,  and  secured  for  them  a  place  in  the  veneration  of 
the  people.  .  .  .  The  Protestant  worship  tends  to  disenchant  the 
material  imagination ;  it  makes  fine  churches,  and  statues,  and 

VOL.  II.  2  H 


466  HISTORY  OF  LUTHER. 

paintiDgs  nnnecessary;  it  renders  them  unpopular^  and  takes 
from  them  one  of  their  most  active  springs."  ^ 

The  peasants'  war  was  soon  succeeded  by  the  spoliation  of  the 
monasteries ;  '^  an  invasion  of  the  most  sacred  of  all  righta,  more 
important,  in  certain  respects,  than  liberty  itself, — property."* 
From  that  time  not  a  day  passed  without  Luther  preaching  up 
the  robbery  of  the  religious  houses.  To  excite  the  greed  of  the 
princes  whom  he  wished  to  secure  to  his  views,  he  loved  to 
direct  their  attention  to  the  treasures  which  the  abbeys,  cloisters^ 
sacristies,  and  sanctuaries  contained.  '^  Take  them,"  he  said ; 
"  all  these  are  your  own, — ^all  belong  to  you,"  Luther  was  con- 
vinced, that  to  the  value  of  the  golden  remonstrance  which 
shone  on  the  Catholic  altars  he  was  indebted  for  more  than  one 
conversion.  In  a  moment  of  humour  he  said,  ^'  The  gentiy  and 
princes  are  the  best  Lutherans ;  they  willingly  accept  both 
monasteries  and  chapters,  and  appropriate  their  treasures."  ^ 

The  landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  obtain  authority  for  giving  his 
arm  to  two  lawful  wives,  took  care  to  make  the  wealth  of  the 
monasteries  glitter  in  the  eyes  of  the  church  of  Wittembei^,  so 
that  as  the  price  of  their  permission  he  was  willing  to  ^ve  it 
to  the  Saxon  ministers.*  The  plunder  of  Church  property, 
preached  by  Luther,  will  be  the  eternal  condemnation  of  the 
Protestants.  Though  Naboth's  vineyard  may  serve  as  a  bait 
or  reward  for  apostasy,  it  cannot  justify  crime. 

A  laureate  of  the  Institute  has  discovered  grounds  for  palliating 
this  blow  to  property.  He  congratulates  the  princes  who  em- 
braced the  Beformation  for  having,  by  means  of  the  ecclesiastical 
property,  filled  their  coffers,  paid  their  debts,  applied  the  con- 
fiscated wealth  to  useful  establishments,  clubs,  universities, 
hospitals,  orphanages,  retreats,  and  rewards  for  the  old  servants 
of  the  state.* 

But  Luther  himself  took  care,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  to 
denounce  the  avarice  of  the  princes  who,  when  once  masters  of 


*  Charles  Villera,    Essu  but  TEsprit    et  Tlnfluence  de  la  B^rmatioii, 
pp.  267—269. 

'  J.  J.  Bousseaa,  Diacours  siir  TEcoiiomie  Politique. 
3  Von  beider  Qestalt  des  Sacraments  :  Witt.  1528. 

*  See  the  chapter  of  this  volame  entitled  Bigamy  of  the  Laodgrave  of  Hesse. 
»  Charles  Villera,  Essai,  p.  104. 


THE   TRIBUFAL  OF  THB   REFORMATION.  467 

the  monastic  property,  employed  its  revenues  for  the  support  of 
mistresses  and  packs  of  hounds.  We  remember  the  eloquent 
complaints  which  he  uttered  in  his  old  age  against  these  carnal 
men,  who  left  the  Protestant  dei^  in  destitution,  and  did  not 
even  pay  the  schoolmasters  their  salaries.  He  mourned  then, 
but  it  was  too  late.  Sometimes  the  chastisement  of  Heaven  fell, 
even  in  this  life,  on  the  spoiler;  and  Luther  has  mentioned 
instances  of  several  of  those  iron  hands,  who,  after  having 
enriched  themselves  by  the  plunder  of  a  monastery,  church,  or 
abbey,  fell  into  abject  poverty.* 

Besides,  we  will  admit  that  Luther  never  thought  of  consoling 
the  plundered  monks  by  asserting,  like  M.  Charles  Villers,  that 
'^  one  of  the  finest  effects  of  these  terrible  commotions  which 
unsettle  all  properties,  the  firuits  of  social  institutions,  is  to 
substitute  for  them  greatness  of  mind,  virtues,  and  talents,  the 
fruits  of  nature  exclusively."  « 

If  the  triumph  of  the  peasants  in  the  fields  of  Thuringia 
might  have  been  an  irreparable  misfortune  to  Germany  and 
Christianity,  we  cannot  deny  that  Luther's  appeal  to  the  secular 
arm,  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  may  have  thoroughly  altered  the 
character  of  the  first  reformation.  Till  then  it  had  been  esta- 
blished by  preaching;  but  firom  the  moment  of  that  bloody 
episode,  it  required  the  civil  authority  to  move  it  The  sword, 
therefore,  took  the  place  of  the  word ;  and  to  perpetuate  itself 
the  Reformation  was  bound  to  exaggerate  the  theory  of  passive 
obedience.' 

One  of  the  distinguished  historians  of  Heidelberg,  M.  Carl 
Hagen,  has  recently  favoured  us  with  some  portions  of  the 
political  code  in  which  Protestantism  commands  subjects  to  be 
obedient  to  the  civil  power,  even  when  it  commands  them  to 
commit  sin.* 

Thus  the  democratic  element,  first  developed  by  the  Reforma- 
tion, was  effaced  to  become  absorbed  in  the  despotic.  It  was  no 
longer  the  people  lut  the  prince  who  chose  or  rejected  the 
Protestant  minister.     When  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  consulted 

'  SympoBiac.  c.  iv.  '  "Eatai,  p.  108. 

'  Carl  Hagen,  Neues  Yorbaltniss  zu  den  offent.  Gewalten,  torn.  it.  p.  151. 

^  "  So  miisse  der  Unterthan  gehorcbeD,  audi  wenn  die  Obrigkeit  etwas  wider 
das  Gebot  Gottes  befehle,"  1.  c.  p.  155. 

2  U  2 


468  HISTORY   OF  LUTHER. 

Melancthon,  in  1525,  as  to  the  line  he  should  porsne  in  the 
appointment  of  a  pastor,  the  doctor  told  him  that  he  had  the 
right  to  interfere  in  the  election  of  ministers,  and  that  if  he 
surmoanted  the  struggles  into  which  the  word  of  God  had  in- 
volved him,  he  ought  not  to  commit  that  sacred  word  but  to 
such  preacher  as  seemed  best  to  him  {vemilnjiiffen)  ;  in  other 
terms,  observes  the  historian,  to  him  whom  the  civil  power  thinks 
competent  {den  tcelchen  die  Obrigkeit  dafur  halt).  And  Martin 
Bucer  contrived  to  extend  Melancthon's  theory  by  constituting  the 
civil  power  supreme  judge  of  religious  orthodoxy,  by  conferring 
on  it  the  right  of  ultimate  decision  in  questions  of  heresy,  and 
of  punishing,  if  necessary,  by  fire  and  sword  innovators,  who  are 
a  thousand  times  more  culpable,  he  says,  than  the  robber  or  mur- 
derer, who  only  steal  the  material  bread  and. slay  the  body,  while 
the  heretic  steals  the  bread  of  life  and  kills  the  souL^ 

Intolerance  then  entered  into  the  councils  of  the  Eeformation. 
It  was  no  longer  with  the  peasants  that  Luther  declared  war. 
Whoever  did  not  believe  in  his  doctrines  was  denounced  as  a 
rebel ;  in  the  Saxon's  eyes,  the  peasant  was  only  an  enemy 
to  be  despised  ;  the  real  Satan  was  Oarlstadt,  Zwinglius,  or 
Erautwald.^ 

His  disciples  were  no  longer  satisfied  with  plundering  the 
monasteries,  they  desired  to  live  in  ease ;  they  must  have  servants, 
a  fine  house,  a  well-supplied  table,  and  plenty  of  money.^  We 
are  initiated  into  the  private  life  of  the  Reformers  by  ^a  zealous 
Protestant,  a  patrician  of  Nuremberg. 

The  struggle  then  was  no  longer  with  piety  and  knowledge, 
but  with  power  and  influence.  Every  city  and  town  had  its  own 
Lutheran  pope.*  At  Nuremberg,  Osiander  was  a  regular  pacha. 
Those  who  among  the  Protestants  endeavoured  to  reprove  his 


*  Carl  Hagen,  1.  o.  pp.  152,  154,  et  seq. 

>  "  Und  nun  erst  habe  man  mit  dem  eigentlichen  Satan  zu  kampfen."  Lather 
an  Joh.  H68S,  22  April,  1626.— De  Wetto,  torn.  iii.  p.  104, 

'  ''Sunt  apud  nos  concionatores  bini,  qui  sub  initinm  centum  aureorum 
Btipendio  ao  victu  tanto  pro  ae  et  &muli8  suis  professi,  csetenim  quiim  vidis- 
sent,  se  jam  populo  persuasisse,  centum  quinquaginta  exigerunt,  ac  paulo  post 
ultra  habitationem  propriara  et  victum  splendidum  duoentos  petiere  aureos, 
aut  se  abituroB  sunt  minati." 

*,.,'*  Fast  jede  Stadt  und  jeder  Or 6  hatte  seinen  lutberischen  Papst." — 
Carl  Hagen,  1.  c.  p.  187. 


THE  TRIBUNAL   OP   THE   REFORMATION.  469 

scandalous  ostentation  were  abased  and  maligned.'  When  he 
ascended  the  pulpit,  his  fingers  were  adorned  with  diamonds 
which  dazzled  the  eyes  of  his  hearers.^  ^ 

The  religious  disputes  which  disturbed  men's  minds  in  Ger- 
many retarded  rather  than  advanced  the  march  of  intellect. 
Blind  people  who  fought  fariously  with  each  other  could  not  find 
the  road  to  truth.  These  quarrels  were  only  another  disease  of 
the  human  mind.^  Although  printing  served  to  disseminate  the 
principles  of  the  Reformers,  the  sudden  progress  of  Lutheranism, 
and  the  zeal  with  which  it  was  embraced,  prove  that  reason  and 
reflection  had  no  part  in  their  development.* 

M.  Villers  has  drawn  a  brilliant  sketch  of  the  influence  which 
the  Beformation  exercised  over  biblical  criticism.  It  may  be 
said  that  criticism  of  the  Scripture  text  was  unknown  previous 
to  the  time  of  Luther ;  and  if  by  this  is  meant  that  captious, 
whimsical,  and  shuffling  criticism  which  M.  de  Wette  has  so 
justly  condemned, — certainly  so.  But  that  which  relates  to  lan- 
guages, antiquities,  the  knowledge  of  times,  places,  authors, — ^in 
a  word,  hermeneutics,  was  known  and  practised  in  our  schools 
before  the  Reformation,  as  is  proved  by  the  works  of  Cajetan  and 
Sadoletus,  and  a  multitude  of  learned  men  whom  Leo  X.  had 
encouraged  and  rewarded.  We  have  seen  besides,  in  the  history 
of  the  Reformation,  what  that  vain  science  has  produced.  It 
was  by  means  of  his  critical  researches  that,  from  the  time  of 
Luther,  Carlstadt  found  such  a  meaning  of  '^  semen  immolare 
Moloch,^'  as  made  his  disciple  shrug  his  shoulders ;  that 
Munzer  preached  community  of  goods  and  wives ;  that  Melanc- 
thon  taught  that  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  deprives  our  mind  of 
all  liberty  ;^  that  at  a  later  period  Ammon  asserted  that  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  could  not  be  deduced  from  the  New 
Testament  ;^  Voter,  that  the  Pentateuch  was  not  written  by 


■  ''Bieoigen,  welche  Bich  iiber  dieees  Feilachen  mit  dem  Worte  Gottes 
aufhielten,  warden  Yon  ihnen  gescbolten.'' — Ibid.  p.  187. 

'  .  .  .  "  Er  tmg  immer  Binge  an  den  Fingern,  selbst  wenn  er  predigle." — 
Epist.  Erasmi :  Lend.     Carl  Hagen,  1.  c.  p.  188. 

^  Voltaire,  Eaaai  snr  les  Moeurs  des  Nations,  quoted  by  M.  Maleville,  Dia- 
cours  sur  I'lnfluence  de  la  Information,  p.  141. 

*  Hume,  History  of  the  House  of  Tudor  under  Henry  VII.  cb.  iii. 

*  Loci  Tlieol.  1621. 

^  Biblische  Theologie,  torn.  iii.  p.  367  (1841). 


470  HI8T0BY  OF  LUTHER. 

Moses ;  that  the  history  of  the  Jews  to  the  time  of  the  Jadges 
is  only  a  poptilar  tradition ;  Bretschneider,  that  the  Psahns 
cannot  be  looked  upon  as  inspired  ;^  Augusti,  that  the  true  doc- 
trine of  Jesns  Christ  has  not  been  preserved  intact  in  the  New 
Testament ;'  and  Geisse^  that  not  one  of  the  four  gospels  was 
written  by  the  evangelist  whose  name  it  bears.^ 

^'  Since  the  days  of  Semler,  Germany  presents  a  singolar  spec- 
tacle; every  ten  years,  or  nearly  so,  its  theological  literature 
undergoes  a  complete  revolution.  What  was  admired  during  the 
one  decennial  period  is  rejected  in  the  next,  and  the  image  which 
they  adored  is  burnt  to  make  way  for  new  divinities  ;  the  dogmas 
which  were  held  in  honour  fall  into  discredit ;  the  classical  trea- 
tise of  morality  is  banished  among  the  old  books  out  of  date ; 
criticism  overturns  criticism  ;  the  commentary  of  yesterday  ridi- 
cules that  of  the  previous  one,  and  what  was  clearly  proved  in 
1840  is  not  less  disproved  in  1850  ;  the  theological  systems  of 
Germany  are  as  numerous  as  the  political  constitutions  of  France, 
^-one  revolution  only  awaits  another/'* 

'  Bretiichneider,  Handb.  der  Dog^matik,  topu  i.  p.  98. 

>  Theol.  Monatacfar.  No.  9. 

3  Geisse,  PaitMloxa  iiber  hoohwichtige  Cregenstande  des  GhristeaihamB,  1829. 

*  Le  Semear,  June,  1850. 


CONFIRMATORY  EVIDENCE. 


No.  I. 

Epithalamia    Martini   Lutheri     WiUeibergentia    Johannit  Jle^si 
VraiislaviensiSf  p.  216. 

HTHB^US  FAlLUmCPHOBUH. 

lo,  lo,  lo,  loy  Dulces  Lutheriaci  cum  jubilo 
Ghtudeamus  cum  jubilo ;  cascus  cascam  ducit. 

lo,  lo,  lo, 
Gkiudeamus  cum  jubilo 
Dulces  Lutheriaci 

Cum  jubilo. 

Koster  pater  hie  Lutberus, 
Nostrs  legis  hie  sincems, 
Nuptam  ducet  hodie 
Cum  jubilo. 

Qui  cum  sacra  sacer  junctus, 
Quse  docebat  est  perfunctus, 
Et  confecit  omnia 
Cum  jubilo. 

lo,  lo,  lo, 
Gaudeamus  cum  jubilo 
Dulces  Lutheriaci 

Cum  jubilo. 

Tali  namque  jacta  basi 
Nuptiantur  nostti  rasi 


Cum  jubilo. 


472  CONFIBMATOBT  EYIDBNOE. 

Sed  imprimifl  noster  Hessos, 
Cui  spiiat  ut  cupressus 

Uxor 

Gum  jubilo. 

Foster  est  et  Fellicanus 
Osiander,  Pomeranus, 
Zwingel  cum  Dominico, 
Cum  jubilo. 

Et  tu,  bone  Spalatine ; 
NostrsB  simul  es  farina 
Indite  Pomilio ; 
Cum  jubilo. 

Noater  luscus  Gabrielus, 
Et  cellensis  Michaelus, 
Straus  et  Carlostadius 
Cum  jubilo. 

Lynck  et  Mizisch  ventrioosus, 
Lang  et  Erizenhaus  pannosus, 
Et  CEcolampadius, 
Cum  jubilo. 

TTia  magistris  licet  nobis 
Omne  nefas :  licet  probis 
Omnibus  obstrepere ; 
Cum  jubilo. 

Conculcare  jura^  leges, 
Infamaie  licet  reges, 
Papamque  cum  Cadsare ; 
Cum  jubilo. 

Sed  et  ipsos  irridemus 
Chrifiti  sanctos,  et  delemus 
Eorum  imagines ; 
Cum  jubilo. 

At  Priapum  Lampsacenum 
Veneramur,  et  Sylenum, 
Bacchumque  cum  Yenere ; 
Cum  jubilo. 

Hi  sunt  veteres  coloni 
Nostri  ordinis,  patroni 


CONFIRMATORY   EVIDBNCB.  473 

Quibus  ille  militat 
Gum  jubilo. 

Septa  daustri  dissipamus, 
Sacra  vasa  oompilamus, 
SancfniB  ante  suppetat, 
Cum  jubilo. 

I  cuculla,  vale  cappa, 
Vale  Prior,  Gustos,  Abba, 
Gum  obedientia, 
Gum  jubilo. 

Ite  vota,  preces,  horae, 
Vale  timer  cum  pudore. 
Vale  conscientia, 
Gum  jubilo. 


No.  II. 
Erasmuses  Letter  to  Darnel  Mauch,  p.  226. 

Amantem  non  redamare,  Daniel  optime,  vix  ferarum  est.  Amas 
Erasmum  ex  litteris  cognitum.  Ego  redamo  Danielem  ex  huma- 
nissimis  modestissimisque  litteris  non  ignotum.  Dictus  est  Dani.el 
vir  desideriorum.  Quid  itaque  mirum,  si  Desiderius  Desiderimn 
desideras  P  Sed  quid  narraa  P  cffiteri  quietis  desiderio  relinquunt 
principum  aulas,  et  tu  yelut  e  fluctibus  temet  in  aulam,  velut  in 
portum  tranquillum  contulisti  P  Nausea  sui  sinulis  est,  tantum 
me  faciens  ubique  suis  laudibus,  quantum  esse  me  immodice 
amanti  persuasit  amor.  Montini  lepidissimis  litteris  nescio  an 
yacet  nimc  respondere.  Nunciabis  illi  rem  l»tam.  Lutherus, 
quod  felix  faustumque,  deposito  pbilosophi  pallio,  duxit  uxorem, 
ex  clara  familia  BomsB,  puellam  eleganti  forma,  natam  annos  26, 
sed  indotatam,  et  qu»  pridem  desierat  esse  yestalis.  Atque  ut 
scias  auspicatas  fuisse  nuptias,  pauculis  diebus  post  decantatum 
hymensBum  nova  nupta  peperit.  Jocatur  ille  in  crisin  sanguinis ; 
verum  ea  crisis  Oreo  dedit  agricolarum  plus  minus  centum  millia. 
Nunc  remisit  paroxismus,  et  Nausea  si  venerit,  reperiet  malum 
aliquanto  moderabilius.  Bene  vale,  et  mens  esto,  debes  autem, 
si  Nauseam  diligis.  Datum  Basil®,  6  d.  Oct.  anno  1525.  Eras. 
Bot.  tuus. 


474  GONFIBMATOBT   EYIBBIYCE. 

No.  in. 

On  the  Tisch-Beden,  p.  264. 

In  1566,  John  Aurifaber,  one  of  Luther's  disciples,  published 
at  Eisleben  the  doctor's  table-talk, "  Tisch-Beden."  He  dedicated 
this  collection  to  the  burgomasters  and  councillors  of  the  imperial 
cities  of  Straaburg,  Augsburg,  Ulm,  Nuremberg,  Lubeck,  Hamburg, 
Lunenburg,  Brunswick,  Frankfort-on-the-Maine,  and  Batisbon. 

In  the  preface  to  this  work,  which  forms  a  folio  volume  of  1,254 
pages,  Aurifaber  tells  us  that  he  has  collected,  for  the  instruction 
of  his  readers,  everything  which  fell  from  Luther's  lips  at  table, — 
questions,  answers,  anecdotes,  opinions,  thoughts,  prophecies,  con- 
solations, and  jokes ;  pious  treasures,  which  ought  not  to  remain 
buried,  and  which  he  publishes  for  the  glory  and  triumph  of  the 
Beformation; — celestial  eood,  which  fell  from  the  doctor's  table, 
and  which  will  serve  for  the  nourishment  of  those  who  hunger 
afber  God's  word ;  a  source  of  consolation  and  instruction  for  all 
Christians. 

Aurifaber  compares  his  master  to  Moses,  Elias,  and  St.  Paul, 
and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  complains  of  the  discredit  into  which 
Luther's  doctrine  falls  daily  more  and  more.  '*  These  are  the  days 
when  phrases,"  he  says,  "verbal  disputation, — ^ beUum grammati- 
cale ' — are  in  fashion.  Our  universities  and  schools  decay,  and 
scholasticism  revives.  Politicians,  jurists,  courtiers,  seek  to  gpvem 
the  Church,  assume  the  place  of  pastors,  and  rule  the  religious 
world  as  they  please.  Luther  was  a  prophet.  He  said :  '  I  tell 
you  that  dense  darkness  will  succeed  to  the  pure  light  of  the 
Gospel;  the  day  is  at  hand  when  the  Gospel  will  cease  to  be 
preached.'  Luther  was  a  prophet.  His  teaching  is  at  the  present 
moment  despised, — Germany  has  had  enough  of  it, — his  very  name 
almost  fatigues  the  ear."  ^ 

So,  then,  it  was  for  the  sake  of  men's  souls,  for  the  advancement 
of  the  reign  of  light  and  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel,  that  the  pious 
disciple  collected  and  published  these  pages,  of  which  we  have 
quoted  only  a  few  imperfect  scraps. 

The  imperial  cities  to  which  Aurifaber  dedicated  his  work  had 


'  **  Hierinnen  ist  nu  Bokior  Martinus  Lutherus  ein  wahrhaftiger  Prophet 
gewesen,  den  seine  Lehre  ist  jetzt  also  verachtet,  man  ist  ihrer  anch  also 
Uberdriissig,  miide  und  satt  worden  im  deutschea  Lande,  dass  man  seines 
Namens  schier  nicht  gerne  hort  gedencken." 


GONFIRHATOBY    BYIDENGE.  475 

all  received  the  light  of  the  QospeL  Luther  incessantly  boasted 
in  his  correspondence  of  their  zeal  and  love  for  the  truth.  There 
was  not  one  who  objected  to  Aurifaber's  collection  when  the 
"  Tisch-Beden"  appeared ;  all  were  edified  by  the  conversations  at 
table,  and  the  zeal  of  the  disciple  who  had  taken  so  much  pains  to 
preserve  them.  Aurifaber  tells  us  that  he  has  formed  the  "  Tisch- 
Beden"  from  the  notes  taken  by  the  customary  companions  of 
Luther, — Lauterbach,  Dietrich;  Besoldi,  Schlagenhaufien,  John 
Mathesius,  Eorer,  John  Stoltz,  and  James  Weber.  In  1566,  when 
Aurifaber's  collection  appeared,  several  of  Luther's  messmates 
were  still  alive,  and  none  of  them  made  the  least  protest  against 
that  publication,  or  accused  Luther's  disciple  of  unfaithful  re- 
porting. 

Prederick  Mecum,  clergyman  at  Gotha,  wrote  to  the  publisher 
of  a  re-impression  of  the  "  Tisch-Beden :" — "  In  my  opinion,  you 
have  done  a  good  deed  in  reprinting  these  comforting  and  affecting 
conversations  which  our'  beloved  friend  held  at  table,  and  which 
ought  to  be  circulated  among  the  people." 

Now  this  Frederick  Mecum  (Myconius)  was  one  of  Luther's 
friends ;  his  learning  and  piety  have  been  praised  by  Seckendorf. 

In  1667,  two  new  editions  of  the  "  Tisch-Eeden  "  appeared  at 
Frankfort ;  one  in  octavo,  the  other  in  folio ;  in  1568,  a  fourth 
impression  was  published  in  the  same  city.  Prefixed  to  this  latter 
is  an  advertisement  by  Aurifaber,  who  congratulates  himself  on 
the  success  which  his  work  has  obtained. 

The  '*  Tisch-Eeden"  continued  to  be  sold  throughout  Protestant 
(Germany ;  Luther's  disciples  laboured  to  disseminate  them ;  the 
booksellers  loaded  their  stalls  with  them  at  the  fair  of  Frankfort- 
on-the-Maine ;  the  apostate  monks  hawked  them  in  the  monas- 
teries ;  the  binders  clothed  them  in  the  richest  style,  as  in  the 
copy  we  possess,  of  which  the  vellum  cover  is  embossed  with  the 
portraits  of  John  Huss,  Erasmus,  and  Luther.  Listen  as  atten- 
tively as  you  will,  you  will  not  hear  at  that  time  any  voice  raised 
against  the  daring  or  unfaithfulness  of  Aurifiiber. 

This  was  because  Aurifaber  was  still  alive,  and  could,  if  neces- 
sary, summon  as  witnesses  a  crowd  of  frequenters  of  the  Wittem- 
berg  alehouse,  who  at  night,  by  the  gleam  of  a  small  lamp,  had 
heud  with  their  own  ears  the  conversations  which  one  of  the 
guests  has  faithfully  reported.  Prefixed  to  all  the  new  editions 
of  the  collection  was  a  dedication  to  the  imperial  cities  of  Pro- 
testant Germany ;  but  the  imperial  cities  were  silent,  like  every- 
body else. 


476  CONFIBMATORY   BVIDBNCB. 

In  1569,  John  Finck  published  a  new  edition  of  the  "  Tisch- 
Eeden,"  with  an  appendix.  The  book  is  dedicated  to  the  CouncU 
of  the  citj  of  Eauschemburg,  in  a  letter  dated  24th  of  March,  1568. 
At  the  end  are  ^^  Fropheceyen,  Prophecies  of  Doctor  Martin  Luther, 
to  call  and  exhort  to  Christian  repentance,  collected  with  great 
care  and  order,  by  Master  GTeorge  "Walther,  preacher  at  Halle,  in 
Saxony." 

The  "Tisch-Beden"  was  the  "book  of  the  season,"  and  Einck's 
edition  was  soon  exhausted. 

Then  appeared  two  others,  also  in  folio,  at  Eisleben,  in  1569 
and  1577,  which  Fabricius  has  described  in  his  ''  GentifoUum 
Lutheranum,"  p.  301. 

Still  Germany  preserved  the  same  silence,  and  the  "  Table-Taik  " 
continued  to  be  the  &yourite  book  of  that  nation. 

Stangwald,  one  of  the  continuators  of  the  "  Centuries  of  Magde- 
burg," met  with  a  copy  of  the  original  edition  of  the  "Tisch-Eeden," 
annotated  on  the  margin  by  Joachim  Merlin,  one  of  Luther's 
friends.  He  published  two  editions  of  it  at  Frankfort,  in  1571, 
by  the  heirs  of  Thomas  Bebai't,  and  another  in  1590,  dedicated  to 
the  Council  of  Mulhouse.  In  his  preface,  Stangwald  promises,  if 
God  wills,  to  give  another  part  of  the  "Table-Talk :"  this  con- 
tinuation never  appeared. 

Stangwald's  text,  revised  and  corrected, — ^for  Aurifaber's  edition 
is  very  faulty, — ^was  published  at  Jena  in  1603,  and  at  Leipsic  in 
1621,  in  folio ;  but  the  editor  substituted  Aurifaber's  prefsice  for 
that  of  Stangwald. 

In  1700,  Andrew  Zeidler  published  at  Leipsic  a  new  edition  of 
the  "  Tisch-Eeden,"  with  George  Walther's  "  Prophecies,"  and  the 
two  prefaces  of  Aurifaber  and  Stangwald.  Zimmermann  and  Ger- 
lach  reprinted  the  "  Table-Talk,"  still  in  German,  in  1723,  with  the 
imprint  of  Dresden  and  Leipsic. 

One  of  Luther's  contemporaries,  Nicolas  Selneccer,  who  died  in 
1592,  and  who  was  a  disciple  of  Melancthon,  wished  in  his  turn  to 
give  a  more  careful  edition  of  Luther's  conversations.  He  had 
equal  admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  doctor.  Prefixed  to  his 
labour,  which  appeared  in  1577,  is  a  biography  of  the  Wittemberg 
ecclesiastes,  whom  he  considers  to  have  been  a  man  sent  from 
heaven,  another  St.  Paul.  Selneccer' s  edition  is  deemed  superior 
to  that  of  Aurifaber. 

The  German  language  could  not  make  the  "  Table-Talk"  suffi- 
ciently popular ;  the  Latiu  was  employed  to  communicate  these 


CONFIBMATORT   EVIDENCB.  *      477 

tavern  confidencefl  to  the  learned  beyond  the  Bhine,  who  were  not 
familiar  with  the  German  idiom. 

The  first  very  complete  edition  of  the  "Table-Talk"  in  Latin 
was  published  by  Bebenstock,  minister  of  the  Gospel  at  Echer- 
sheim.  He  was  assisted  in  the  work  by  the  "  Silvula  Sententi- 
arum  Beverendi  Martini  Lutheri  ac  Philippi  Melanchthonis," 
published  by  Etriceus  at  Erankfort  in  1566,  in  8vo.  Bebenstock's 
book  forms  two  volumes,  entitled,  "  Colloquia,  Meditationes,  Gon- 
solationes,  Gonsilia,  etc.,  D.  Martini  pi»  ac  sanct®  memorise,  in 
mensa  prandii  et  cobusb  et  in  peregrinationibus  observata  ac 
fideliter  transcripta,  1571 ;"  a  curious  book,  which  only  contains  a 
portion  of  Aurifaber's,  but  several  things  not  to  be  found  in  the 
German  text, — the  famous  story  of  the  bull,  inter  alia. 

Bebenstock  participated  in  Aurifaber's  devotion  to  Luther.  He 
calls  these  conversations  divine  food,  living  waters,  from  which  the 
Christian  may  draw,  as  from  a  sacred  fountain,  the  pure  word  of 
God.i 

For  more  than  a  century,  the  "  Table-Talk "  continued  to  be 
circulated  in  Germany  without  any  one  thinking  to  question  their 
authenticity.  Only,  as  the  ear  became  more  refined,  the  mosfc 
complete  text,  that  of  Aurifeber,  was  subjected  by  the  Lutheran 
editors  to  singular  mutilations.  Weislinger,  in  his  "  Fris  Vogel 
oder  Stirb,"  has  noted  some  curious  alterations  of  the  original 
text. 

Li  the  Frankfort  edition,  which  "Weislinger  had  under  his  own 
eyes,  we  read,  at  page  830,  "  Ich  will  ihnen  die  nehrlichsten 
Worten  geben  und  sie  heissen  Marcolphum  im  Ars  lecken ;"  and 
in  that  of  Dresden,  folio  619,  "  Ich  will  ihnen  die  narrischten 
"Wort  geben,  und  sie  heissen  Marcolphum  in  der  lateinischen 
Kunst  lecken."  "  Lambere  Marcolphi  clunes "  were  Luther's 
words,  which  at  least  are  intelligible  ;  but  the  modem  Protestant, 
in  their  room,  writes  something  incomprehensible:  "Lambere 
Marcolphum  in  Latino  Sermone." 

In  the  Eisleben  edition,  folio  360,  Luther  says  of  the  pope :  "  If 
the  pope  were  St.  Peter  himself,  we  should  account  him  a  rascal 
and  a  devil."  This,  by  means  of  an  interpolation,  is  entirely 
changed  in  that  of  Dresden  :  "  If  the  pope  were  the  devil  himself, 
we  should  account  him  a  rascal  and  a  devil,  so  long  as  he  persevered 
in  his  idolatrous  practices." 

'  Latherus  in  mensA  Dei  verbum  thesaurum  pretiosisaimiun  fideliter  docuit 
suisque  diatribuit. 


478  GONFIRMATORT   BYIDENCE. 

If  you  wish  to  know  what  the  apostles  were,  Luther  tells  you 
in  the  Eisleben  edition  (1566),  p.  133,  "  They  were  sinners  and 
arrant  rogues, '  gute,  grobe,  grosse  Schalke ;'  "  but  in  the  Dresden 
edition  of  1723,  the  three  epithets  are  expunged ;  "  the  apostles 
were  merely  ordinary  sinners." 

And  the  jurists,  "  brokers,  botchers,"  as  you  will  see  in  pp.  657, 
659,  561,  662  of  Aurifaber's  edition ;  but  in  that  of  Dresden, 
fol.  781,  782,  they  are  the  executioners  of  great  works,  because  at 
Dresden,  as  at  Frankfort,  what  we  call  a  hangman  is  a  magistrate. 

And  woman,  "  The  sweetest  thing  on  earth,  when  we  can  please 
her,"  as  you  will  find  in  Aurifaber's  edition,  p.  442 ;  but,  adds 
that  of  Dresden,  p.  679,  "  in  Gottes  Furcht," — in  Dei  timore,  in 
the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

The  '^  Tisch-Beden "  has  been  printed  in  England  also :  the 
translation  appeared  in  1652,  in  folio,  by  the  title  of  **  Luther's 
Divine  Discourses  at  his  Table."  The  translator  was  Henry  Bell. 
Bell,  as  he  mentions  in  his  preface,  had  a  friend  in'  Germany  named 
Guspard  von  Sparr,  who  discovered  in  the  foundations  of  an  old 
house  occupied  by  his  ancestors,  the  "  Tisch-Eeden "  carefully 
wrapped  in  a  thick  cloth.  He  opened  it,  and  sent  it  secretly  to 
his  friend,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  German,  urging  him  to 
translate  it  into  English.  Six  weeks  affcer,  between  twelve  atid 
one  at  night,  an  old  man  with  a  white  beard  suddenly  appeared  in 
the  captain's  bedroom,  and  taking  him  by  the  ear,  said  :  "  Sirrah ! 
will  not  you  take  time  to  translate  that  book  which  is  sent  unto 
you  out  of  Germany  ?  I  will  shortly  provide  for  you  both  place 
and  time  to  do  it ;"  and  the  apparition  vanished. 

"  Fifteen  days  after,"  says  M.  Brunet,  "  Bell  was  thrown  into 
prison.  During  his  five  years'  confinement,  he  occupied  himself 
in  translating  the  '  Table-Talk.'  Archbishop  Laud  being  desirous 
to  know  the  work  on  which  the  prisoner  was  engaged,  sent  for  the 
manuscript,  and  after  perusing  the  book  procured  the  captain's 
liberty." 

Li  1646,  the  House  of  Commons  ordered  his  translation  to  be 
published.  The  order  was  somewhat  in  these  terms :  "  Whereas 
Captain  Henry  Bell  has  strangely  discovered  a  book  of  Martin 
Luther's,  called  his  *  Divine  Discourses,'  which  was  for  a  long 
time  marvellously  preserved  in  Germany ;  the  House  wills  that  this 
book  shall  be  printed  in  English."  And  the  translation  appeared. 

We  are  now  at  the  seventeenth  century,  and  Germany  does  not 
object  to  the  zeal  of  the  booksellers  who  multiply  impressions  of 


CONFIBMATOBT  BVIDBNOB.  479 

the  ^'  Tisch-Beden.**  Should  it  happen,  that  a  Catholic  endeavours 
to  expose  to  the  world  the  incredible  temeritj  of  these  private 
gossipings,  the  pastor  of  Hamburg,  Albert  Fabricius,  castigates 
the  calumniator,  and  says :  *^  Such  effrontery  is  too  bad !  In  the 
'  Table-Talk'  there  are  no  unmannerly  expressions,  no  calumnies 
against  the  princes  and  magistrates,  no  scurrilities,  no  contradic- 
tions.^ This  ha^  been  completely  proved  by  John  Gerhard  in  his 
theological  disputations."  ^ 

And  the  Protestants  who,  although  they  have  read  the  book, 
have  such  faith  in  the  modesty  of  the  guests  of  the  "  Black  Eagle" 
tavern,  accuse  the  popes  of  having  destroyed  all  the  copies  of  the 
**  Tisch-Beden"  which  they  could  find  for  sale.  A  singular  charge, 
undoubtedly,  of  which  Sparr  was  the  organ,  and  which  Captain 
Bell  has  simply  recorded  in  the  prefiEice  to  his  *'  Divine  Dis- 
courses." 

It  is  indeed  very  true  that,  notwithstanding  the  numerous  edi- 
tions, the  "  Tisch-Beden"  have  become  scarce  even  in  Germany ! 
Who,  then,  has  been  at  the  trouble  of  destroying  the  copies  ? 
The  question  is  of  no  consequence. 

In  our  own  time  the  Protestants,  bolder  perhaps  than  in  the 
days  of  Fabricius,  Juncker,  and  Gerhard,  attempt  to  dispute 
the  authenticity  of  the  *'  Tisch-Beden."  It  is  not  long  since  we 
read  in  a  journal  conducted  by  learned  Protestants,  Le  Semeur^ 
that  the  "Tisch-Beden"  were  apocryphal.  A  minister  of  the 
Gk)8pel  in  La  Yend^  has  not  hesitated  to  accuse  us  of  having 
made  use  of  a  collection  of  fictions  by  some  anonymous  editor  for 
the  purpose  of  maligning  Luther!  Fictions  by  Aurifaber,  who 
closed  the  doctor's  eyes ;  twenty  times  reprinted  by  his  favourite 
disciples,  magnified  as  another  gospel  by  Bebenstock,  glorified  by 
Fabricius,  reprinted  by  Walch,  but  with  alterations  in  his  large 
edition  of  Halle ;  quoted  in  his  "  Lessons  of  History"  by  Hagen- 
bach  of  Basle, — by  De  Wette,  in  his  edition  of  Luther's  corre- 
spondence,— ^by  Carl  Hagen,  in  his  "  Spirit  of  the  Beformation !" 

But  wherefore  this  tardy  disclaimer  of  a  book  which  for  so  long 
a  while  was  considered  to  contain  the  living  waters  of  the  Gospel  ? 
HaveMecum,  Aurifaber,  Mathesius,  Fabricius,  and  Albertus  deceived 
us  in  inviting  us  all,  such  as  we  are,  regenerated  by  Christ's  blood, 

*  "  Ab  his  oolloqulis  qnoque  abeme  spurcitiem,  calumnias  contiit  prinoipes, 
et  mivgistratas,  Bcurrilitatem,  et  pngnantia  invicem  abaonaque  dicta,  ostendit 
Dr.  Job.  (xerharduB." — In  Centif.  Luiherano,  part.  i.  cap.  Ixzxviii.  p.  807. 

'  Disput.  Theol.  pp.  1210,  1222. 


480  CONPIBMATOBY  EVIDENCE. 

to  revive  our  faith  in  a  collection  capable  of  offending  the  eyea  of 
a  Christian  ?  We  imagine,  then,  the  shame  of  our  adversaries ; 
but  in  that  case,  let  them  disavow  also  the  works  of  the  Beformer 
himself,  for  there  are  more  than  two  thousand  folio  pages  in  which 
we  find  all  the  grossest  portions  of  the  "  Tisch-Eeden."  Let  them, 
then,  tear  out  the  Eeformer's  letters  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence, 
his  epistle  to  Henry  VIII.,  his  letter  to  the  murderer  of  Dresden, 
his  pope-ass  and  monk-calf,  his  long  faction  against  Duke  Hans 
Wurtz  of  Brunswick,  and  his  papacy  possessed  by  the  devil,  Ac. 
Then,  but  only  then,  shall  we  say  that  the  "  Tisch-Eeden"  are 
not  Luther's ! 


No.  IV. 


Consultation  of  the  Theologians  ofWlttemberg,  addressed  toPhilip^ 
Landgra/ve  of  Hesse,  p.  406. 

Gratia  Dei  per  Dominum  nostrum  Jesum  Christum  pnevie,  Sere- 
nissime  Princeps  et  Domine !  Postquam  Yestra  Celsitudo  nobis  per 
dominum  Bucerum  diutumas  susb  conscientisB  molestia  nonnullas, 
simulque  considerationes  indicari  curavit,  addito  scripto  seu  in- 
structione,  quam  illi  Vestra  Cels.  tradidit,  licet  ita  properanter 
expedire  responsum  difficile  sit :  noluimus  tamen  dominum  Buce- 
rum, reditum  equo  maturantem,  sine  scripto  dimittere.  Imprimis 
sumus  ex  animo  recreati,  et  Deo  gratias  agimus,  quod  Yestram 
Cels.  difficili  morbo  liberavit,  petimusque,  ut  Deus  Cels.  Yestr.  in 
corpore  et  animo  confortare  et  conservare  dignetur :  nam  prout 
Cels.  Yestra  videt,  paupercula  et  misera  Ecclesia  est,  exigua  et 
derelicta,  indigens  probis  dominis  regentibus,  sicut  non  dubitamus, 
Deum  aliquos  conseryaturum,  quantumvis  tentationes  diversse 
occurrant. 

Circa  qusBstionem,  quam  nobis  Bucerus  proposuit,  haBC  nobis 
occurrunt  consideratione  digna.  Cels.  Yestra  per  se  ipsam  satis 
perspicit,  quantum  diiferat,  universalem  legem  condere,  vel  in 
certo  casu  gravibus  de  causis,  ex  concessione  divina,  dispensatione 
uti:  nam  contra  Deum  locum  non  habet  dispensatio.  Nunc 
suadere  non  possumus,  ut  introducatur  publico  et  velut  lege  san- 
ciatur  permissio,  plures,  quam  unam,  uxores  ducendi.  Si  aliquid 
hac  de  re  prselo  committeretur,  facile  intelligit  Yestra  Cels.,  id 
prsBcepti  instar  intellectum  et  acceptatum  iri,  unde  multa  scandala 


CONFIRMATORY    ETIDENCE.  481 

et  difficultates  orirentur.  Consideret,  qusesumas,  Cels.  Vestra, 
quam  sinistre  acciperetur,  si  quia  conVinceretur  hanc  legem  in 
Germaniam  introdaxisse,  quse  aBtemarum  litium  et  inquietudinum 
(quod  timendum)  futura  esset  seminarium. 

Quod  opponi  potest,  quod  coram  Deo  SBquum  est,  id  omninQ  pcr- 
mittendum,  hoc  certa  ratione  et  conditione  est  acdpiendum.  Si 
res  est  mandata  vel  necessaria,  verum  est,  quod  objicitur :  si  nee 
mandata  nee  necessaria  sit,  alias  circumstantias  oportet  expendere. 
Ut  ad  propositam  qusestionem  propius  accedamus :  Deus  matrimo- 
nium  instituit,  ut  tantum  duarum  et  non  plurium  personarum 
esset  Bocietas,  si  natura  non  esset  corrupta :  hoc  intendit  ilia  sen- 
tentia:  Srunt  duo  in  came  una,  idque  primitus  fiiit  obser>'atum. 
Sed  Lamech  in  matrimonium  pluralitatem  uxorum  invexit,  quod 
de  illo  Scriptura  memorat,  tanquam  introductum  contra  primam 
regulam.  Apud  infideles  tamen  fuit  consuetudine  receptum  : 
postea  Abraham  quoque  et  ejus  posteri  plures  diixerunt  uxores. 
Certmn  est,  hoc  postmodum  lege  Mosis  permissum  fuisse,  teste 
Scriptura,  Deut.  xxi.,  ut  homo  haberet  duas  uxores :  nam  Deus 
fragili  natursB  aliquid  indulsit.  Cum  vero  principio  et  crentioni 
consentaneum  sit,  unica  uxore  contentum  vivere,  hujusmodi  lex  est 
laudabilis,  et  ab  Ecclesia  acceptanda  nee  lex  huic  contraria  statu- 
enda.  Nam  Christus  repetit  hanc  sententiam :  Erunt  duo  in  came 
una.  Matt,  xix.,  et  in  memoriam  revocat,  quale  matrimonium  ante 
humanam  fragilitatem  esse  debuisset.  Gertis  tamen  casibas  locus 
est  dispensationi.  Si  quis  apud  exteras  nationes  captivus  ad 
euram  corporis  et  sanitatem  sibi  alteram  uxorem  superduceret,  vel 
si  quis  haberet  leprosam  :  his  casibus  alteram  ducere  cum  consilio 
sui  pastoris,  non  intentione  novam  legem  inducendi,  sed  bu® 
necessitati  consulendi,  hunc  nescimus  qua  ratione  damnare  liceret. 

Cum  igitur  aliud  sit,  inducere  legem,  aliud  uti  dispensatione : 
obsecramus  Yestram  Cels.,  sequentia  velit  considerare.  Frimum 
ante  omnia  cavendum,  ne^sBC  res  inducatur  in  orbem  ad  modum 
legis,  quam  sequendi  libera  omnibus  sit  potestas.  Deinde  consi- 
derare dignetur  Vestra  Cels.  scandalum,  nimirum  quod  Evangelio 
hostes  exclamatiiri  sint,  nos  similes  esse  Anabaptistis,  qui  plures 
simul  duxerunt  uxores :  item,  evangelicos  eam  sectari  libertatem 
plures  simul  ducendi,  quae  in  Turcia  in  usu  est.  Item  principum 
facta  latins  spargi,  quam  privatorum,  consideret :  item  consideret, 
privatas  personas  hujusmodi  principum  facta  audientes  facile  sibi 
eadem  permissa  perauadere,  prout  apparet,  talia  facile  irrepere: 
item  considerandum,  Cels.  Yestram  abundare  nobilitate  efferri  spi- 

VOL.  II.  2  I 


482  CONFIRMATORY   KVIDENCE. 

ritUB,  in  qua  raulti,  ut  in  aliis  quoque  terris,  sint,  qui  propter 
smplo8  proventus,  quibus  ratione  catbedralium  beneficioruin  per- 
fruuntur,  valde  Evangelio  adversantur.  Non  ignoramus  ipu  mag- 
norum  nobilium  valde  insulsa  dicta :  qualem  se  nobilitas  et  subdita 
ditio  erga  Cels.  Yestram  sit  prsbitura,  si  publica  introduetio  fiat, 
baud  difficile  est  arbitrari.  Item  Cels.  Yestra^  que  Dei  singularis 
est  gratia,  apud  reges  et  poteutes  etiam  extemos  magno  est  in 
honore  et  respectu,  apud  quos  merito  est  quod  timeat  ne  hflDC  res 
pariat  nominis  diminutionem. 

Cum  igitur  bic  multa  scandala  confluant,  rogamus  Cels.  Yestram, 
ut  banc  rem  maturo  judicio  expendere  relit.  Illud  quoque  est 
verum,  quod  Cels.  Yestram  omnimodo  rogamus  et  adbortamur,  ut 
fomicationem  et  adulterium  fugiat.  Habuimus  quoque,  ut,  quod 
res  est,  loquamur,  longo  tempore  non  parvum  moerorem,  quod  in- 
tellexerimiis  Yestram  Cels.  ejusmodi  impuritate  oneratam,  quam 
divina  ultio,  morbi,  aliaque  pericula  sequi  possint.  Etiam  rogamus 
Cels.  Yestram,  ne  talia  extra  matrimonium  levia  peccata  yelit 
sstimare,  sicut  mundus  hsdc  ventis  tradere  et  parvi  pendere  solet. 
Yorum  Deus  impudicitiam  sspe  severissime  punivit.  Nam  poBua 
diluvii  tribuitur  regentum  adulteriis :  item  adulterium  Davidis  est 
severum  divin»  vindictsB  exemplum :  et  Paulus  saspius  ait :  Beta 
non  irrideiurj  adulteri  non  introihunt  in  regnwn  Dei :  nam  fidei 
obedientia  comes  esse  debet,  ut  non  contra  conscientiam  agamus, 
primo  Timoth.,  et  prima  Job.  iii. :  Si  cor  nostrum  non  reprehenderit 
noSy  possumus  lati  Deum  invocare :  et  Bom.  viii. :  Si  eamaUa  do- 
nderia  spiritu  mortificaverimue^  vkfemus :  si  autem  secundum  oamem 
amhulemus,  boc  est,  si  contra  conscientiam  agamus,  moriomur, 

HiBC  referimus,  ut  consideret,  Deum  ad  talia  non  ridere,  proot 
aliqui  audaces  fiunt  et  etbnicas  cogitationes  animo  fovent.  Libenter 
quoque  intelleximus,  Yestram  Cels.  ob  ejusmodi  vitia  angi  et  con- 
queri.  Incumbunt  Cels.  Yestr»  negotia  totum  mundum  con- 
cementia:  accedit  Cels.  Yestr»  complexio  subtilis  et  minime 
robusta,  ac  pauci  somni,  unde  merito  corpori  paroendum  esset, 
quemadmodum  multi  alii  facere  coguntur.  Legitur  de  laudatis- 
simo  Principe  Scanderbego,  qui  multa  pneclara  faoinora  patravit 
contra  duos  Turcarum  Imperatores  Amuratbem  et  Mahometum,  et 
Grseciam,  dum  viveret,  feliciter  tuitus  est  ac  conservavit.  Hie 
ssBpius  sues  milites  ad  castimoniam  bortari  auditus  et  dicere: 
nullam  rem  fortibus  viris  aequo  animos  demere,  ao  venerem.  Item 
quod  si  Yestra  Cels.  insuper  alteram  uxorem  baberet  et  nollet 
pra\'is  affectibus  et  consuetudinibus  repugnare,  adhuc  non  esset 
veHtrsB  Cels.  consultum  ac  prospectum. 


CONFIRMATOKT   EVIDENCE.  483 

Oporiet  unumqiiemque  in  extemis  istia  suorum  membrorum 
esse  dominum,  uti  Faulus  scribit :  Curate,  ut  membra  vesira  sint 
arma  justitug,  Quare  Cels.  Yestrft  in  consideratione  allatarum 
causarum,  nempe  scandali,  curarum,  laborum  ac  soUicitudinuin  et 
corporis  infirmitatis,  velit  banc  rem  sBqua  lance*  perpendere,  et 
simul  in  memoriam  revocare,  quod  Deus  ex  modema  eonjuge  pul- 
cbram  sobolem  utriusque  sexus  dederit,  ita  ut  contentus  bac  esse 
possit.  Quot  alii  in  suo  matrimonio  debent  patientiam  exercere 
ad  vitandum  seandalum  P  Nam  nobis  non  sedet  animo,  Cels. 
Veatram  ad  tam  difficilem  novitatem  impellere  aut  inducere.  Nam 
ditio  Cels.  Yestrsd  aliique  nos  ideo  impeterent,  quod  nobis  eo 
minus  ferendum  esset,  quod  ex  pnecepto  divino  nobis  incumbat, 
matrimonium  omniaque  humana  ad  divinam  institutionem  dirigere, 
atque  in  eo,  quoad  possibile,  conservare  omneque  seandalum 
removere.  Is  jam  est  mos  saBculi,  ut  culpa  omnis  in  prsedicantes 
conferatur,  si  quid  difficultatis  incidat,  et  humanum  cor  in  summie 
et  inferioris  conditionis  bominibus  instabile ;  unde  diversa  perti- 
mescenda. 

Si  autem  Yestra  Cels.  ab  impudiea  rita  non  abstineat,  quod 
dicit  sibi  impossibile,  optaremus,  Cels.  Yestram  in  meliori  statu 
esse  coram  Deo  et  secura  conscientia  vivere,  ad  propri»  animas 
salutem  et  ditionem  ac  subditorum  emolumentum.  Quod  si 
denique  Yestra  Cels.  omnino  concluserit  adhuc  unam  conjugem 
ducere,  juramus  id  secreto  faciendum,  uti  superiua  de  dispensa- 
tione  dictum,  nempe  ut  tantum  Yestne  Cels.,  illi  personiB  ac 
pauds  personifl  fideUbns  constet  Cels.  Yestrsd  animus  et  consci- 
entia  sub  sigillo  confessionis.  Hinc  non  sequuntur  alicujus 
momenti  contradictiones  aut  scandala :  nibil  enim  est  inusiUti, 
principes  concubinas  alere:  et  quamvis  non  omnibus  e  plebe 
oonstaret  ratio,  tamen  prudentiores  intelligerent,  et  magis  placeret 
hiBc  modesta  vivendi  ratio,  quam  adulterium  et  alii  «belluini  et 
impudici  actus :  nee  curandi  aliorum  sermones,  si  recte  cum  con- 
scientia agatur,  sic  et  in  tantum  boc  approbamus. 

Nam  quod  circa  matrimonium  in  lege  Mosis  fuit  permissum, 
Evangeliuip  non  revocat  aut  vetat,  quod  externum  regimen  non 
immutat,  sed  adfert  letemam  justitiam  ad  eetemam  vitam,  et 
orditur  veram  obedientiam  erga  Deum,  et  conatur  corruptam 
naturam  reparare.  Habet  itaque  Cels.  Yestra  non  tantum  om- 
nium nostrum  testimonium  in  casu  necessitatis,  sed  etiam  ante- 
cedentes  nostras  considerationes,  quas,  rogamus,  ut  Yestra  Cels. 
tanquam  laudatus,  sapiens  et  Christianus  princeps  yelit  ponderare. 

2i2 


484  GONFIBMATOBY   EVIDENCE. 

Oramus  quoque  Deum,  ut  yelit  Cels.  Yestram  ducere  ac  regere  ad 
suam  laudem  et  Yestrsd  Cels.  animsB  salutem. 

Quod  attinet  ad  consilium  banc  rem  apud  Cffisarem  tractandi, 
existimamus,  ilium  adulterium  inter  minora  peccata  numerare: 
nam  magnopere  verendum,  ilium  Papistica,  CardinaUtia,  Italica^ 
Hispanica,  Saraoenica  imbutum  fide,  non  curaturum  Yestne  Cels. 
poBtulatum  et  in  proprium  emolumentum  vanis  verbis  sustenta- 
turum,  sicut  intelligimus,  perfidum  ac  fallacem  virum  esse,  mo- 
resque  Germanici  oblitum.  Yidet  Cels.  Yestra  ipsa,  quod  nullia 
necessitatibuB  Christianis  sincere  consulit.  Turcam  sinit  imper- 
turbatum,  excitat  tantum  rebelliones  in  Germania,  ut  potentiam 
Burgundicam  efferat.  Quare  optandum,  ut  nuUi  Ghristiani  prin- 
cipes  iUius  infidis  macbinationibus  se  misceant.  Deus  conservet 
Cels.  Yestram.  Nos  ad  serviendum  Yestr»  Cels.  sumus  promp- 
tissimi.  Datum  WitenbergsD  die  Mereurii  post  Festum  Sancti 
Nicolaiy  hdxxxix. 

Yestrs  Celritudinia 

parati  ac  subjecti  servi 

Martinus  Lutberus,  Pbilippus  Melancbtbon, 
MartinuB  Bucerus,    Antonius  Corvinus, 

Adam  F ,  Jobannes  Leningus,  Justus 

Wintber,  Dionysius  Melander. 


INDEX. 


ACCOLTI  is  reoeived  by  Leo  X,,  I  258. 

ADRIAN  YI.  His  character,  ii.  88.  His  portrait  as  drawn  by  Protestant 
historians,  ii.  84.  Writes  to  Erssmus  to  engage  him  to  labour  for  the  paci- 
fication <^  the  Churchy  A.  Beform  which  he  wishes  to  introduce  among 
the  clergy,  ii.  86.  Sends  Cheregatus  to  the  diet  at  Nuremberg,  ii.  41.  His 
death,  ii.  48. 

AGRIOOLA,  Luther's  disciple  and  successor.  His  commentary  on  the  Ave 
Maria,  ii.  116. 

ALEANDRO.  His  masters  and  Btudiei^  i.  278.  Piorio  proposes  a  literaiy 
disputation  with  him.  It  is  accepted,  i  279.  Appointed  nuncio  to  Hun- 
gaiy,  ib.  Is  the  friend  of  Erasmus,  i.  281.  At  Pftris,  ib.  At  Rome,  i. 
282.  Described  bv  Luther,  i.  288.  Repels  the  accusation  of  Judaism 
brought  against  him,  i.  286.  Studies  the  causes  of  the  success  of  the 
Reformation,  i.  288.  The  awakening  of  matter  and  not  of  mind  which 
strikes  his  observation,  i.  289.  Appomted  nuncio  from  Leo  X.  at  Worms, 
i.  290.    His  speech  at  the  diet,  i.  294. 

AMSDORF,  one  of  Luther's  friends,  ii.  260. 

ANABAPTISTS.  Their  origin,  ii.  1.  Their  doctrines,  ii.  2.  Expelled 
from  Wittemberg  at  Luther  s  instigation,  ii.  15.  Attack  the  Lutherans  at 
Augsburg,  ii.  876.  Received  at  Munster,  ii.  880.  Riots  which  they  cause 
in  that  city,  ii.  881.  Orcanixe  community  of  goods,  ii.  882.  Besieged  in 
Munster  by  Bishop  Waldeck,  ii.  888.  Defend  themselves  desperately,  ib. 
Their  punishment,  ii.  885.  Accuse  Luther  of  the  calamities  wluch  desolate 
Germany,  ii.  886. 

ARETINO  at  Rome,  i.  257.    His  letter  to  Francis  I.,  ib, 

AVE  MARIA,  The,  commented  by  the  Protestants,  ii.  116. 

BIGAMY  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  ii.  400. 

BORA,  Catherine.  Her  origin,  ii.  288.  Carried  off  from  the  convent  of 
NimptBchen  by  Leonard  Koppe,  ib.  As  described  by  Werner  and  Krauss, 
ii.  289.  Her  portrait  by  Lucas  Crannch,  ii.  240.  Was  Luther  happy  in  his 
home  with  her  t  Her  character,  ib.  Regretted  the  happy  life  of  tiie  con- 
vent, ii.  242.  Conjugal  scenes,  ii.  244.  Her  distress  after  Luther's  death, 
ii.  422.     Her  death^  ii.  488. 

BUCER  carries  off  a  nun  and  marries  her,  L  889.  Justifies  the  attempts  of 
the  reformed  princes  on  the  civil  and  religious  liberties,  i.  192.  Draws  up 
the  petition  of  Philip  of  Hesse  to  the  theologians  of  Wittemberg,  in  which 
this  prince  requests  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  have  two  wives,  iL  402. 

BUGENHAGEN,  the  monk,  embraces  the  Reformation,  ii.  27.  Approves  of 
Luther's  polemics  against  Henry  YIII.,  ii.  59. 

BUNDSCHTJH,  Association  of  the,  ii.  129. 

CAJETAN,  Cardinal,  obtains  from  Leo  X.  that  Luther  shall  be  tried  in  Ger- 
many, i.  126.     As  dc8cribed  by  a  Protestant,  t6.     His  youth  and  studies,  i. 


486  INDEX. 

129.  Promiaes  to  treat  Luther  paternally,  i.  180.  Receives  him,  and  tries 
to  make  him  retract^  i.  134.  Vainly  attempts  to  bring  back  Lather  to  the 
way  of  truth,  i.  188. 

CAMPEG6I0,  Cardinal,  at  the  diet  of  Nuremberg,  ii.  118.  His  speech,  ti. 
At  the  diet  of  Ratisbon,  requires  that  satisfiMstion  should  be  given  to  the  just 
demands  of  the  Orders  of  Nuremberg,  ii.  124. 

CABBEN,  Victor  de,  a  learned  Rabbi,  converted  to  Catholicism,  publishes  a 
pamphlet  against  the  Jews,  i.  62. 

CARLSn'ADT  accepts  the  proposal  made  to  him  lyy  Eck  to  dispute  upon  the 
questions  which  disturb  Qermany,  i.  169.  His  portrait,  i.  178.  Theses 
which  he  maintains  at  the  disputation  at  Leipsic,  L  181.  CompoeeR  a  Mass, 
and  celebrates  it  on  Christmas-day,  i.  887.  Breaks  the  images,  i.  397.  Con- 
sistent with  the  spirit  of  the  new  worship,  i.  899.  His  revolt  against  Luther, 
i.  401.  Only  applies  the  hitter's  prind^es,  i.  402.  Endeavours  to  prevail 
over  Luther,  i.  416.  Expelled  from  Wittemberff  on  demand  of  Lather ; 
his  books  are  confiscated,  ii.  16.  At  Orlamlinde,  li.  126.  Renews  the  war 
against  the  doctrines  of  the  Wittemberg  Church,  ii.  160.  His  challenge  to 
Luther,  ii.  163.  Disputes  with  him  on  the  Supper,  ii.  164.  Finds  Luther 
again  at  OriamUnde,  ii.  172.  Preaches  l»g«my,  li.  185.  Driven  from 
&xony  at  Luther's  instigation,  ii.  815.    Takes  refrige  in  Basle,  ii.  816. 

CATHOLICISM.  Ito  attitude  since  Luther's  rebellion,  i.  299.  Its  cere- 
monies and  festivals  praised  by  Protestants,  ii.  205. 

CELIO  CALCAGNINI.    His  letter  to  Erasmus,  i.  251. 

CELLARITJS,  Martin,  tries  to  defend  Luther's  doctrines,  which  are  attacked 
by  the  new  prophets,  i.  418. 

CHARLES  OF  AUSTRIA,  a  candidate  for  the  empire,  i.  147.  Means 
which  he  uses  to  obtain  the  imperial  crown,  i.  148.  His  pretenuona 
are  supported  by  Frederick,  the  elector  of  Saxony,  i.  149.  Is  elected 
emperor,  ib. 

CHARLES  Y.  His  portrait,  i.  152.  His  coronation,  i.  158.  Goes  to 
Worms  to  be  present  at  the  debates  of  the  diet,  !•  265.  Political  motives 
which  prevent  him  from  listening  to  Luther,  i.  276.  Enjoins  the  latter  to 
present  himself  before  the  diet,  i.  299.  How  he  could  judge  Luther's  creed, 
1.  885.  His  edict  against  the  Reformer,  i.  886.  Insists  after  the  diet. of 
Nuremberg  on  the  execution  of  the  edict  promulgated  at  Worms,  ii.  119. 
Leaves  It^y  and  arrives  at  Augsburg,  with  the  intention  of  restoring  peace 
to  Germany,  ii.  821.     Opens  the  diet  in  person,  ii.  829. 

CHEREGATXJS,  the  pope's  nundo,  at  the  diet  of  Nurembeig,  ii.  41. 

CHURCH,  The  Catholic,  had  transited  the  Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue 
before  Lather,  ii.  113.  Has  it  ever  concealed  the  Divine  Word,  and  where- 
fore ?  ii.  114.  Daoffers  which  the  revealed  word  would  run  if  she  did  not 
watch  over  the  truths  of  the  faith,  ii.  115. 

COCHIx^US  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  ii.  829. 

CONFERENCE  OF  MARBURG,  ii.  296. 

CONFESSION  OF  AUGSBURG,  The,  presented  to  Uie  Emperor  by  the 
Protestant  princes,  ii.  338.  Considered  as  a  dogmatic  creed,  is  an  attempt 
on  the  principle  of  free  inquiry,  ii.  352. 

CONRAD  organizes  the  confraternity  of  the  Tun,  ii.  130. 

CONVENT  OF  THE  AUGUSTINIANS  AT  ERFURT  in  1838,  ii.  254. 

CORVINUS  disputes  with  John  of  Leyden  on  the  plurality  of  wives,  ii.  885. 

COTTA,  Ursula,  takes  Luther  into  her  house,  i.  4. 

CROI,  William,  prime  minister  of  Charles  V.     His  character,  i.  266. 

DEVIL,  The.     His  ap[)eanuice  to  Luther,  i.  354.    Protestant  theologians 


IMBBX.  487 

have  affiraned  the  truth  of  the  Reformer's  narratiTe,  i.  865.  Claude  seea  in 
the  apparition  a  sort  of  myth  ioTented  by  Luther,  i.  366.  Polemics  excited 
by  the  conference  first  denied  and  afterwards  admitted,  i.  867. 

DIALOGUE,  They  bronght  into  &8hion  by  Luther,  i.  873.  Is  at  first  reli- 
gious, then  political,  i.  880. 

DIET  OF  AUGSBUBG.  Arrival  of  Charles  V.  at  Augsburg,  ii.  821.  Pro- 
cession  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  ii.  828.  The  Protestant  princes  refuse  to 
assist  at  that  ceremony,  f&.  Who  these  princes  were,  ii.  826.  The  city  is 
disturbed  by  the  Protestant  preachers,  ii.  827.  Maedartus  the  Franciocan, 
ii.  328.  Lutheran  comedy  performed  in  presence  of  Charles  V.,  ih.  Open- 
ing of  the  diet,  ii.  829.  Catholic  orators  who  take  part  in  the  proceedingH, 
ib.  The  Protestant  princes  present  their  confession  of  fiiith  to  the  Emperor, 
ii.  338.  It  is  condemned  by  the  Catholic  doctors,  ii.  840.  Dispute  between 
them  and  the  Protestants,  ii.  844.  Brack  opposes  all  negotiations  with  the 
Catholics,  ii.  846.  Imperial  decree, — ^tfae  Protestant  princes  refuse  to  sign 
it,  ii.  349. 

DIET  OF  NUREMBERG.  Dispositions  of  the  princes,  ii.  41.  AttempU 
at  agreement  made  by  the  papacy,  ii.  42.  They  mil  in  consequence  of  the 
hostile  dispositions  of  the  pnncee,  ii.  48.  Edict  passed  in  the  name  of  the 
Emperor,  ii.  44.  Publication  of  the  grievances  known  by  the  name  of 
"Centum  Gravamina,'*  ii.  46.     New  aspect  of  the  States,  ii.  119. 

DIET  OF  RATISBON.  The  Catholic  princes  unite  to  oppose  the  progress 
of  Protestantism,  ii.  128.  Decrees  pronounced  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic 
fiiith,  ii.  124. 

DIET  OF  SCHMALKALDEN.  Speech  at  the  opening,  ii.  896.  Fruitless 
efforts  made  by  the  Catholics  to  reconcile  the  Protestants  to  the  Church, 
li.  396. 

DIET  OF  SPIRE.  The  assembly  decrees  that  the  edict  of  Worms  shall  be 
rigorously  enforced,  ii.  285.  The  Lutheran  princes  protest  against  this 
decision,  ib.  The  Protestants  refuse  to. giant  the  supplies  voted  for  repelling 
the  Turks  who  besiege  Vienna,  ib. 

DIET  OF  WORMS.  The  opening,  i.  266.  Opposition  of  different  mem- 
bers of  the  assembly/  L  267.  Debates  upon  the  Annats,  i.  268.  Parties 
that  divide  it,  i.  291.  Speech  of  Aleandro,  nuncio  from  Leo  X.,  i.  294. 
What  were  to  be  the  questions  put  to  Luther,  i.  298.  Aspect  of  the 
assemblv,  i.  810.  Luther  is  heard,  and  the  Orders  deliberate,  i.  816.  The 
imperial  rescript  read,  i.  818.  Character  of  the  assembly,  i.  826.  Examina- 
tion of  the  debates,  i.  881.  The  edict  directed  against  Luther  cannot  restore 
peace  to  Germany,  i.  888. 

DIETRICH,  Luther's  servant,  ii.  410. 

DISPUTATION  OF  LEIPSIC.  The  opening,  i.  180.  Character  of  the 
assembly,  i.  186.    The  effects  produced  by  it,  i.  194. 

DISPUTATION  upon  the  Supper  between  Luther  and  Carlstadt  at  the 
*'  BUck  Bear"  hotel,  ii.  164. 

DISPUTATIONS  upon  the  Eucharist  between  Luther  and  Zwinglius,  ii.  804. 

ECK  maintains  the  Catholic  doctrine  as  to  tradition  against  Luther,  i.  108. 
Proposes  to  Carlstadt  to  dispute  upon  the  questions  which  disturb  Gennany, 
i.  169.  His  portrait,  i.  171.  Reftites  at  the  disputation  of  Leipsic  Carlstadt*s 
propositions,  i.  181.  Proves  that  Luther's  doctrines  as  to  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  supremacy  of  the  pope  are  the  pame  as  those  of  John  Huss  and  the 
Bohemians,  i.  184.  His  letter  to  Erasmus,  i.  190.  Proves  the  heterodoxy 
of  certain  doctrines  of  John  Huss,  i.  209.  His  theses  are  attacked  by 
Melaacthon,  i.  210.  Charged  with  the  publication  and  circulation  of  the 
bull  fulminated  against  Luther,  i.  231. 

ELECTION  of  an  Emperor.    The  electors  .issemble   at  Frankfort-on-the- 


488  INDEX. 

Mune,  i.  147.  Policy  of  the  court  of  Rome,  i.  148.  Opening  of  the  diet 
by  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  ib.  His  ad^-ess,  tb.  Gapitolations  drawn 
up  by  the  States,  i.  151. 

EMMETS,  The  book  of,  I  60. 

£MS£R  disputes  with  Luther,  i.  100.  Maintains  against  him  the  CSatholic 
doctrine  on  tradition,  i.  110.  Criticises  Luther's  translation  of  the  Bible, 
ii.  111. 

EOBANUS,  Hessus,  applauds  the  destruction  of  Tetzel's  theses,  i.  106. 

ERASMUS  at  first  appears  to  approve  of  Luther's  theses,  i.  96.  His  letter  on 
this  subject,  reprinted  by  Hutten,  but  with  alterations,  i.  97.  Accuses  the 
Reformer  of  invading  the  morals,  dogmas,  and  faith  of  fifteen  centuries,  i.  204. 
Visits  Italy,  i.  253.  His  recollections  of  Leo  X.,  i.  254.  Leaves  Rome  for 
England,  i.  262.  Attaches  himself  to  Aleandro.  His  opinion  of  that  scholar, 
1.  281.  Protests  against  Carlstadt's  fanaticism,  i.  399.  Tliinks  Luther*s 
sermon  on  marriage  merely  an  indecent  jest,  and  does  not  perceive  the  secret 
object  involved  in  it,  ii.  23.  Requested  by  Adrian  YI.  to  undertake  the 
defence  of  the  Church,  but  hesitates,  ii.  34.  Censures  Luthers  violence, 
ii.  49.  His  literary  fame,  ii.  71.  His  war  ¥dth  the  religious  orders,  ii.  73. 
Jealous  of  Luther's  popularity,  ii.  74.  Receives  a  letter  from  him,  ii.  75. 
He  answers  it,  ii.  76.  His  pusilhmlmity,  ib.  Thinks  of  writing  a  pamphlet 
against  Luther,  ii.  80.  Adrian  VI.  again  urges  him  to  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  Church,  ii.  82.  Refuses  to  act  openly  against  Luther,  and  continues  to 
attack  him  clandestinely,  ii.  84.  How  could  he  reply  to  the  Reformer's 
attacks  ?  ii.  S5.  Examines  the  principle  of  free-will,  ii.  89.  Publishes  the 
"Hyperaspites,"ii.  103.  His  death,  ii.  104.  His  correspondence,  wherein 
he  accuses  the  Reformer  of  intolerance,  fiilsehood,  and  obscuring  facta,  ii.  209. 
Has  not  said  all  that  be  might  have  said,  ii.  211. 

ERICH  II.,  duke  of  Brunswick,  abandons  the  Reformers,  and  returns  to  the 
Church,  ii.  398. 

FABER,  John,  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  ii.  381. 

FIRN,  Anthony,  curate  of  St.  Thomas  at  Strasburg,  marries  his  servant, 
i.  889. 

FISHER,  bishop  of  Rochester,  defends  Henry  VIII.  against  Luther,  it  61. 

FRAlNCIS  I.  a  candidate  for  the  empire,  i.  147.  Means  which  he  employs  to, 
procura  the  imperial  crown,  i.  148.  His  pretensions  are  supported  by  the 
elector  of  Treves,  i.  149. 

FRANKENHAUSEN,  BatUe  o^  ii.  147. 

FREDERICK,  elector  of  Saxony,  founds  the  university  of  Wittemberg, 
i.  35.  Appoints  Luther  professor  of  philosophy,  ib.  Advises  him  to 
recant  the  propositions  condemned  by  Rome,  i.  293.  Replies  to  the  pope's 
nuncio  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  i.  298.  Causes  Luther  to  be  conducted  to  the 
castle  ofWartburg,  i.  339.  Appoints  a  commission  to  examine  the  question 
concerning  the  Mass  and  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  i.  385.  Invites  Melancthon 
to  confer  with  the  Anabaptists,  ii.  8.  Endeavours,  but  ineffectually,  to 
prevent  Luther  from  retiring  to  Wittemberg,  ii.  7. 

FRITZ,  Joseph,  leader  of  the  members  of  the  ''  Bundschuh,"  ii.  129. 

FROBEN,  bookseller  at  Basle,  ii.  183. 

GEORGE  OF  SAXONY,  Duke,  at  the  disputation  of  Leipsic,  i.  185. 
Denoimces  to  the  elector  Frederick  Luther's  sermon  on  the  Eucharist,  as 
tainted  with  the  heresy  of  Huss,  i.  204.  Opposes  the  arrest  of  Luther  sug- 
gested by  some  members  of  the  diet  of  Worms,  i.  319.  Denounces  Luther's 
pamphlets  at  the  diet  of  Nuremberg,  ii.  37.  Detects  the  knavery  of  Othu 
Pack,  who  pretends  the  existence  of  a  Catholic  coriKpiracy  against  the  Pro- 
tcstants,  ii.  125.     Repels  Luther'b  advances,  ii.  107.     Hiu  death,  ii.  399. 


INDEX.  489 

GERMANY  ie  disturbed  by  Luther^s  propositions,  i.  112.    State  of  the  public 

mind  in  1524,  ii.  126.     Its  situation  at  the  opening  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg, 

ii.  319. 
GIDLIO  ROMANO,  a  pupU  of  Raffitele,  i.  248. 
GLASSON,  FrftDciscan  monk,  endeavours  to  reconcile  Luther  with  the  pope, 

i.  291.     Endeavours,  but  in  vain,  to  engage  the  elector  Frederick,  I  29^. 

Visits  Sickengen  at  Ebernburg,  i.  293. 
GUICOIARDINO  the  historian,  i.  248. 

HANS,  Luther's  fitther,  wishes  to  prevent  his  son  from  embracing  a  monastio 
Ufe,  i.  9.     Assists  at  the  first  mass  said  by  Luther,  i.  15. 

HENRY  YIII.  attacks  Luther's  pamphlet  on  "  The  Captivity  of  the  Church 
in  Babylon,'*  U.  50.  Sketch  of  his  ''  Defence  of  the  Seven  Sacraments 
against  Dr.  Martin  Luther,"  ii.  51.  Luther  replies  to  him,  IL  56.  De- 
nounces the  Reformer's  insolence  to  the  elector  Frederick,  ii.  60.  Ener- 
getically condemns  Luther's  marriage,  ii.  229. 

HOFFMANN,  Melchior,  sumamed  the  prophet  of  Suabia,  ii.  380. 

HUTTEN,  XJlrich  von,  attacks  Pfefferkom,  a  converted  Jew,  i.  66,  Cele- 
brates the  victory  of  Reuchlin  over  Pfefferkom,  i.  68.  His  studies,  i.  70. 
His  letters  judged  by  wi'iters  of  the  Protestant  school,  i.  71.  Quotations 
from  his  writings,  i.  72.  Comments  upon  the  bull  hurled  against  Luther, 
i.  227.  Labours  for  a  long  time  to  destroy  the  papal  authority  in  Germany, 
ii.  187. 

INDULGENCES^  The.  The  produce  of  their  sale  apx)lied  to  the  completion 
of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  i.  46.  Preached  in  Germany  by  Tetzel,  ib.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  i.  50.  Examination  of  Luther's  sermon  against 
the  preaching  of  them,  i.  55. 

JOHN  OF  LEYDEN  proclumed  king  of  Munster,  ii.  380.  Besieged  in  that 
city  by  Bishop  Waldeck,  ii.  883.  Urged  by  hink  to  surrender,  but  refuses, 
Ii.  384.  Is  made  a  prisoner  and  taken  before  Waldeck,  ib.  Disputes  with 
the  Lutherans  on  the  plurality  of  wives,  ii.  385.     His  execution,  ii.  386. 

JONAS,  Justus.  His  letter  to  Spalatinus,  informing  him  of  Luther's  mar- 
riage, ii.  220. 

JORIS  adopts,  with  some  modification,  the  doctrines  of  the  prophets  of 
Munster,  ii.  386. 

JULIUS  II.  wishes  to  reform  the  Church,  i.  79. 

JUSTIFICATION  according  to  Boasuet,  i.  20. 

KCBPPE,  Leonard,  carries  off  Catherine  Bora  from  the  convent  of  Nimptschen, 
ii  338. 

LANDGRAYE  OF  HESSE,  The,  interferes  in  the  organizing  of  the  Pro- 
testant worship,  and  suppresses  the  elevation  of  the  chalice  at  the  Mass. 
ii.  190. 

LEAGUE  OF  SCHMALKALDEN,  The,  ii.  367. 

LEO  X.  publishes  the  indulgences,  i.  46.  Condemns  Ulrich  von  Hutten's 
"  Epistolfe  Obscurorum  Virorum,"  i.  74.  Is  occupied  with  reforms  which 
he  wishes  to  introduce  into  the  Church,  i.  80.  Protests  against  certain 
superstitions,  i.  84.  Hears  of  Luther's  rebellion,  i.  117.  Hopes  to  win  him 
back  to  obedience,  and  causes  him  to  be  written  to  by  Staupitz,  i.  120. 
Summons  Luther  to  Rome  to  answer  for  his  doctrines  there,  i.  123.  Sends 
Meltitz  to  Germany  to  put  an  end  to  the  religious  disputes,  i.  154.  Still 
hopes  to  bring  back  Luther,  i.  196.  Affectionate  letter  to  him,  ib.  Fulmi- 
nates a  bull  against  him,  i.  224.     Reserves  to  Luther  a  means  of  reconcilla- 


490  IHDXX. 

Him,  i.  225.  DesigoB  the  oomplefeion  of  St.  Peter'i,  and  cfaarget  Raphael 
with  that  great  work,  i.  288.  ConoMves  the  proiect  of  restoring  Bome  to 
its  ancient  splendour,  i.  240.  Prefers  Raphael  to  Michael  Angelo,  and 
why,  i.  248.  His  derotion  to  the  sciences,  i.  245.  His  proteotion  of  the 
learned,  i.  247.  Entertains  Paul  Jovins,  i.  249.  His  portoait  by  Erasmns, 
i.  258.  His  receptions  at  the  Vatican,  i.  255.  Receives  a  deputation  from 
the  Dominicans,  who  come  to  lay  before  him  their  complaints  of  the  suffer- 
ings which  are  inflicted  on  ^e  Indians  by  the  conquerors  of  the  New  World, 
i.  256.  His  benevolence,  i.  261.  At  the  Roman  academy,  ib.  Described 
by  Roscoe,  i.  263.  Allies  himself  to  the  policy  of  Charles  V .  for  the  sake  of 
the  fiuth  and  the  nationality  of  Italy,  1.  277. 

LIBERTY,  Christian.    Examination  of  this  book,  i.  218. 
LINDEMANN,  Maigaiet,  Lather's  mother,  i.  1. 

LUTHER.     His  birth,  according  to  Melanothon,  i.  2.     His  in&ncy,  i.  8. 
hiB  &ther^B  house  to  study  at  Magdeburg,  ib,    OUiged  to  beg  his 


Leaves 

way,  and  is  adopted  by  Ursula  Cotta,  i.  4.  Studies  at  Eisenach,  i.  5~;  at 
the  Academy  of  EzfUrt,  i.  6.  His  delight  on  finding  a  Bible,  L  7.  His 
fnend  Alexis  killed  at  his  side  by  lightnmg,  i.  9.  Enters  the  Au^^ustinian 
monnstery  at  Erfurt,  ib.  His  terrors,  i.  14.  His  life  in  the  cloister,  ik, 
Receives  Orders,  and  says  his  first  Mass,  i.  15.  Beset  by  new  troubles^  i.  18. 
Faith  is  explained  to  him  by  one  of  the  brethren,  ib.  Peace  seems  to  be 
restored  to  him,  i.  19.  Draws  up  a  system  of  iustification,  L  20.  Leaves 
for  Rome,  i.  28.  His  sensations  on  entering  Italy,  i.  25.  Arrives  at  Milan 
and  Florence,  i.  26.  His  impressions  and  prejudices,  i  27.  At  Rome,  i.  28. 
Does  not  understand  the  new  scene  which  he  visits,  ih.  His  account  of  it, 
i.  82.  He  leaves  Rome,  i.  88.  His  &rewell  to  that  city,  i.  84.  Appointed 
professor  of  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Wittemberg,  L  85.  And 
preacher  of  that  city,  i.  86.  Specimen  of  his  disoourses,  i.  87.  As  bachelor 
in  theology  he  gives  lectures  on  the  BiUe,  i.  88.  Takes  his  degree  of  doc- 
tor, i.  89.  Preaches  before  Duke  Geoiige  at  Dresden,  i.  40.  Erected  by 
Htaupitz  to  visit  the  monasteries  of  his  order,  i.  41.  His  temptations,  i.  42. 
His  conduct  during  the  plague  at  Wittemberg,  ib.  Is  he  still  a  Csthotie  ? 
i.  48.  His  doubts,  i.  44.  Preaches  against  indulgences,  i.  58.  Fragments 
of  his  sermon  on  Uiis  sulject,  i.  54.  Efiiact  produced  on  the  people  by  hin 
preaching,  i.  58.  Attacks  Aristotle,  i.  62.  Alanned  at  the  excitement 
caused  by  his  preaching,  i.  87.  Writes  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  de- 
nouncing Tetzei's  sermons,  ib.  Hie  bishop  of  Brandenburg  entreats  him  to 
be  silent,  i.  88.  Posts  his  theses  on  the  doors  of  All  Saint^  Church  at  Wit- 
temberg, i.  89.  Fury  against  those  who  attack  bis  theses,  i.  95.  Disputa- 
tion at  Heidelbei^,  i.  99.  Enters  the  lists  with  Emser  at  Dresden,  i.  100. 
Accused  of  having  made  Tetsers  theses  be  burnt  by  the  students  at  Wit- 
temberg, i.  105.  Renounces  the  Catholic  doctrine  on  tradition,  L  108. 
Replies  to  Eck  and  Emser,  who  defend  it,  i.  109.  Alarmed  at  the  excite- 
ment against  him,  and  protests  that  he  never  intended  to  attack  the  Church's 
authority,  i.  118.  He  writes  to  this  effect  to  the  bishop  of  Brandenbuig, 
who  makes  no  reply,  ib.  Attadu  the  sacrament  of  penance,  i.  115.  Treatwi 
as  a  heretic,  he  appeals  to  the  pope,  i.  118.  Pretended  submission  to  the 
Holy  See,  i.  119.  Urged  by  Staupitz  to  be  reconciled  to  Rome,  but  re- 
fuses, i.  120.  The  princes  of  Germany  endeavour  to  disseminate  his  doc- 
trines, and  their  motive  for  so  doing,  i.  121.  Summoned  to  Rome  by  Leo  I. 
i.  128.  Hesitates  to  respond  to  Uie  pontiff's  call,  i.  124.  Ridicules  the 
excommunication  with  which  he  is  tiireatened,  ib.  Wishes  to  be  tried  in 
Germany,  i.  125.  Declares  beforehand  tiiat  he  will  not  reti-act,  i.  126. 
Calumniates  the  pope  and  the  cardinals,  i.  128.  Departs  for  Augsburg, 
i.  131.  At  Weimar  and  Nuremberg,  i.  182.  Arrives  at  Augsburg,  i6. 
Refuses  to  present  himself  before  Cajetan  until  he  has  received  a  safe-conduct 
from  the  emperor,  i.  183.  Before,  the  legate,  i.  134.  Urgeil  by  Cajetan  to 
retract,  but  refuses,  i.  186.      Exhibits  his  temper  to  the  legate,  i.  188. 


INDBX.  491 

Moved  1^  Caietan'a  mildneM,  he  (XMifieiises  his  Tiolenes  and  temper,  ib. 
Appeals  from  him  to  the  pope,  and  flies  from  Adgfuhurg,  i.  189.  Beceiyee 
on  his  way  Leo's  brief  to  GajetsD,  ib.  His  letter  to  Spalatiuus,  i.  140. 
Backed  by  the  Germaiipeople,  i.  142.  Denies  the  pope's  infiJlibility,  i.  144. 
New  works,  i.  145.  His  conduct  during  the  election  of  an  emperor,  i.  158. 
Writes  to  Tetsel ;  what  we  must  think  of  his  letter,  i.  157.  Caused  Tetzel's 
death,  by  attributing  to  him  language  which  he  did  not  use^  i.  158.  His 
interview  with  Miltitz,  i.  160.  Promises  to  write  a  letter  of  submission  to 
the  Holy  See,  ib.  Agrees  to  accept  of  the  archbishop  of  Saltzbuig  as  judge 
of  his  doctiines,  i.  162.  His  letter  to  Leo  X.,  ib.  He  alters  his  language, 
i.  168.  Beplies  to  the  monks  of  Juterbodc,  i.  167.  Settles  the  terms  of  a 
disputation  between  Eck  and  Carlstadt,  i.  170.  Appoints  the  disputation 
at  Leipsic  as  to  the  pope's  supremacy,  i.  177.  His  entoy  into  that  city  with 
Melancihon  and  Carlstadt,  i.  179.  Argues  the  question  of  the  pope's 
spiritual  and  temporal  supremacy,  i.  188.  When  pressed  by  Eck,  defends 
some  articles  of  John  Huss's  confession  as  orthodox,  i.  184.  Leaves  Iieipsie 
precipitately,  i.  192.  State  of  his  mind,  i.  198.  Beceives  a  letter  from 
Leo.  X.,  i.  196.  Renews  his  protestations  of  submission  to  the  Holy  See, 
i.  199.  Again  promises  Miltitz  to  write  to  the  pope,  ib.  Endeavours  to 
secure  the  protection  of  Charles  Y. ;  his  letter  to  that  prinoe,  i.  200.  The 
pope  now  appears  to  him  only  Antichrist^  i.  201.  Endeavours  in  his  new 
writings  to  destroy  the  Catholic  doctrines,  i.  204.  Beal  character  of  his 
doctrines,  i.  205.  His  theses  are  condemned  by  the  universities  of  Louvain, 
Leipsic,  and  Cologne,  i.  210.  After  having  agreed  to  abide  by  the  decision 
of  these  universitiesy  he  refuses  to  submit  to  their  sentence,  i.  211.  Pro- 
I)hetic  fury,  i.  212.  His  letter  to  Leo  X.,  with  his  book  on  Christian 
liberty,  i.  216.  His  doctrines  on  &ith,  works,  the  sacraments,  and  priest- 
hood, i.  218.  His  rage  on  hearing  that  a  buU  is  fulminated  against  him, 
i.  226.  Means  which  he  takes  to  destroy  his  opponents  in  the  opinion  of 
Germany,  i.  228.  Renews  his  appeal  to  a  geneiml  council,  i.  284.  Bums 
Leo's  bull  publicly,  ib.  Proclaims  that  eyent  to  the  Catholic  worid,  i.  235. 
Encouraged  in  his  rebellion  by  the  nobility,  i.  287.  Carlstadt  endeavours  to 
disturb  the  religious  and  national  feelings,  i.  269.  His  pamphlet  entitled 
**  The  Walls  of  Separation,"  i.  270.  Engaged  with  new  adversariesy  i.  278, 
Publishes  a  defence  of  the  arttdes  condenmed  by  Leo  X.,  i.  274.  Endea- 
vours to  excite  a  double  insurrection,  i.  275.  Could  he  hope  to  win 
Charies  Y.  t  i.  276.  His  portrait  of  Aleandro,  i.  283.  His  reply  to  the 
elector  Frederick,  who  urges  him  to  retract  his  propositions  combated  by 
Rome,  L  293.  Sets  out  for  Worms,  protected  by  two  safoHxmducts,  i.  800. 
At  Eriurt,  i.  308.  Preaches  in  that  city,  ib.  Effects  of  his  discourse,  i.  804. 
Refuses  Sickengen's  proposal  that  he  should  go  to  Ebembonr|^,  i.  805. 
Arrives  at  Worms,  singing  **  Ein  feste  Burg,"  i.  806.  His  reception  there, 
i.  807.  Summoned  before  the  Diet,  i.  808.  Effect  produced  upon  the 
assembly  by  his  appearance,  i.  311.  His  examination,  ib.  Demands  time 
to  reply,  i.  312.  Appears  next  day,  and  answers  the  questions  which  were 
put  to  him,  i.  313.  Refuses  to  retract,  i.  816.  The  sympathies  which  he 
excites,  i.  319.  Summoned  by  the  archbishop  to  appear,  obeys  the  sum- 
moos,  i.  321.  Again  refuses  every  kind  of  retractation,  i.  822.  First 
conference  with  John  Eck,  i.  823.  Everv  means  of  reconciliation  being 
exhausted,  the  official  of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves  r^s  the  imperial  sen- 
touce  to  him,  i.  825.  Returns  to  Wittemberg,  i.  326.  His  conduct  at  the 
Diet  of  Worms  is  judged  differently,  i.  327.  Resumes  the  Wittemberg 
creed,  which  he  had  expounded  before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  i.  328.  It  is 
his  own  opinions,  and  not  free  inquiry,  which  he  wishes  to  triumph,  i.  334. 
Preaches  at  Hirschfeld  and  Ei^euadi  in  defence  of  the  emperor's  prohi- 
bition, i.  338.  Takes  lefuge  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  i.  339.  Falls  sick, 
i.  341.  His  mind  appears  to  be  restored  to  tranquiUity,  i.  342.  Returns 
to  his  ordinary  excitement,  {'6.  Wishes  to  abolish  celibacy,  and  his  motives 
for  so  doing,  i.  346.     Writeti  against  the  focrifice  of  the  Ma^,  i.  348.     His 


492  INDBX. 

doctrine  oomDared  with'  the  Catholic,  i.  849.  Sends  hit  pamphletB  to 
Spalatinus,  who  is  »t  first  afraid  to  puhlish  them,  i  350.  Pablishee  the 
"Idol  of  Halle,**  i.  851.  His  letter  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  i.  355. 
The  prelate's  reply,  L  853.  Conference  with  the  devil  as  to  the  Mass,  ib. 
Perverts  Satan's  character,  i.  863.  Visited  by  Ar^a  Stan(  i.  868.  Several 
of  his  propositions  are  oondemned  by  the  Sor bonne,  i.  870.  Replies  to  that 
tribunal,  i.  871.  Dialogue  against  Eck,  i.  374.  Disorders  occasioned  in  the 
religious  houses  of  Saxony  by  his  preaching,  i.  884.  Excites  his  disciples  to 
the  destruction  of  Catholicity,  i.  393.  Wishes  to  preserve  infimt  baptism, 
attacked  by  Carlstadt,  i.  894.  Enraged  at  the  mnaticism  of  the  latter, 
i.  400.  Wishes  to  return  to  Wittemberg  to  combat  the  Anabaptists  there, 
ii.  4.  The  elector  Frederick  vainly  endeavours  to  keep  him  at  Wartburg, 
ii.  7.  Letter  on  that  subject,  ih.  Arrives  at  Wittembeig,  ascends  the 
pulpit,  and  preaches  against  the  Anabaptists,  ii.  10.  Confers  with  Stnbner 
and  Cellarius,  but  cannot  bring  them  back,  ii.  18.  His  interview  with 
Munzer,  ii.  15.  Causes  the  Anabaptists  to  be  banished  from  Wittemberg, 
ib.  Abolishes  the  Mass,  notwithstanding  the  elector  Frederick  wishee  to 
preserve  it,  ii.  18.  Endeavours  to  supply  a  new  aliment  to  the  intellectual 
activity  caused  by  free  inquiry,  ib.  Ascends  the  pulpit  and  preaches  against 
marriage,  ii.  19.  Sketch  of  his  sermon,  ib.  Erasmus  considers  it  merely 
an  indecent  jest,  ii.  23.  What  he  intends  by  employing  carnal  imageiy  in 
the  pulpit,  ib.  The  princes  are  silent,  with  the  exception  of  Duke  George, 
'  who  is  alarmed  at  the  monk's  boldness,  ii.  24.  Luther's  attempts  at  pro- 
selytism  in  the  refagious  houMS,  ii  29.  Pamphlet  against  the  clergy,  ii.  81. 
Publishes  the  **  Secular  Magistracy,"  ii  88.  Issues  new  writings,  intended 
to  keep  up  defiance  and  hatred  to  Borne,  ii.  45.  Enraged  at  the  canoniza- 
tion of  Benno,  bishop  of  Misnia,  ii  49.  His  pamphlet,  entitled  "Hie  Cap- 
tivity of  the  Church  in  Babylon,"  is  refuted  by  Heniy  YIIL,  ii  50.  Replies 
to  the  king  of  England's  attack,  ii  56.  Apologises  to  Heniy  Yin.,  and 
why  1  ii  68.  Makes  use  of  pictures  to  destroy  Catholicism  in  Germany, 
ii.  65.  Endeavours  to  gain  Erasmus ;  letter  on  that  subject,  ii  75.  Shows 
indifference  to  that  learned  individual,  ii.  78.  Attacked  by  Erasmus  co- 
vertly, ii.  85.  Wishes  to  have  done  with  the  philosopher,  ii  86.  Estimate 
of  his  philosophical  system,  ii.  98.  Replies  to  the  "  Free  Will"  of  Eraemua, 
ii.  102.  Hears  of  lus  rival's  death,  li.  104.  Endeavours  to  arrange  the 
elements  of  his  creed,  ii.  105.  Translates  the  Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue, 
ii.  107.  Commentates  the  Ave  Maria,  ii  116.  Protests  against  the  decrees 
passed  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg,  ii  120.  His  manifesto  aeainst  the  bishops 
drives  the  peasantry  into  rebellion,  ii.  181.  Declares  for  them  against  their 
lords,  ii.  189.  Addresses  the  nobility,  ib.  Change  of  language ;  his  mani- 
festo to  the  peasants,  ii.  142.  Accused  by  Osiander  and  Erasmus  of  having 
fomented  the  peasants'  rebellion,  ii.  144.  Preaches  to  the  lords  the  murder 
of  the  peasants,  ii.  145.  He  must  be  accused  of  having  induced  the  latter 
to  rebel,  ii.  152.  Preaches  the  theory  of  despotism,  ii  154.  The  Protestant 
princes,  who  had  been  for  a  while  divided,  unite  at  his  preaching,  ii.  156. 
Preaches  at  Jena  against  Carlstadt's  doctrines,  ii  163.  Disputes  with  him 
upon  the  Supper,  ii.  164.  Leaves  Jena  and  arrives  at  OrlamUnde,  ii  169. 
Finds  Carlstadt  there,  ii.  172.  Disputes  with  a  shoemaker,  ii  174.  Ex- 
pelled from  OrlamUnde,  ii.  176.  Endeavours  to  legitimate  the  banishment 
of  the  monks,  ii.  179.  Disorders  proiiuced  in  the  monasteries  by  his  writings 
against  celibacy,  ii.  180.     His  opinion  as  to  bigamy,  ii.  184.     Offers  the 

Sroperty  of  the  religious  houses  to  the  princes,  to  gain  them  over  to  his 
octrines,  ii.  186.  Effects  of  his  preaching  on  the  great  vassals  of  the 
empire,  ii.  187.  Draws  up  a  code  for  the  use  of  the  pnnces,  who  covet  the 
church  property,  ii.  189.  His  tardy  indignation  against  the  spoilers  of  the 
churches  and  the  monasteries,  ii.  195.  Useless  advances  which  he  makes 
to  some  of  his  adversaries,  ii.  196.  His  complaint  of  the  neglect  shown  by 
the  Protestant  princes  to  the  instruction  of  youth,  ii.  198.  Deplores  the 
degradation  of  the  reformed  ministers,  who  are  only  tools  in  the  hands  of 


INDEX.  493 

the  ciyU  power,  ii.  201.  Labours,  along  with  the  prinoee,  for  the  disor- 
ganization of  the  Catholic  religion,  ii.  202.  Substitutes  German  songs  for 
our  hymns  and  proses,  ii.  204.  Was  he  the  first  to  glorify  the  SaTiour's 
blood  in  his  lay  hymns  t  «6.  Various  causes  make  him  still  remain  single, 
ii.  216.  Resists  the  advice  of  Argula,  who  uiges  him  to  marry,  ii  217. 
Writes  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  and  presses  him  to  take  a  wife,  ii.  218. 
How  he  reyenges  himself  on  the  cardinal  for  refusing  to  listen  to  his  sug- 
gestions, ib.  Suddenly  resolves  to  marry,  ii.  219.  Marries  Catiierine  Bora, 
tb.  His  friends'  letters  on  this  subject,  ii.  220.  Apprises  Amsdorf  and 
Koeppe  of  his  marriage,  t&.  Erasmus  impeaches  Catherine's  chastity,  ii.  225. 
Controversy  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  as  to  her  confinement,  ib. 
His  marriage  condenmed  by  Henry  VIII.,  ii.  229.  Influence  which  his 
marriage  with  Catherine  Bora  has  on  Germany,  ii.  280.  Proclaimed  pope 
at  Rome,  when  that  dty  was  sacked  by  the  Imperial  troops,  ii.  288.  Insta- 
bility of  his  opinions,  it  286.  Was  he  happy  in  hia  domestic  life  t  ii.  240. 
Conjugal  scenes,  ii.  248.  Informs  Spalatinus  of  the  birth  of  his  first  child, 
ii.  246.  Loses  his  daughter  ElizabeUi,  ib.  When  at  Coburg,  writes  to  his 
son  John,  ii.  247.  His  gardening,  ii.  248.  His  apartments  in  the  Augus- 
tinian  monastery,  ii.  250.  His  taste  for  music,  ii.  258.  Remains  of  hia 
residence  in  1838,  ii  254.  At  table,  ii.  255.  His  opinions  on  dancing, 
usury,  &c.,  ii  256.  Case  of  conscience,  ii  257.  Besieged  by  monks  aud 
nuns,  who  wished  to  get  married,  ib.  Is  an  insolvent  debtor,  ii.  259. 
Courage  which  he  displays  in  his  poverty,  ii.  260.  Loves  to  give  alms,  ib. 
His  pnde  in  his  indigence,  ib.  His  love  for  the  muses,  ii.  268.  Letter  to 
Eobanus  Hessus,  ib.  At  the  Black  Eagle  tavern,  ii  264.  Gossip  of  the 
evening :  on  the  devil,  witches,  the  pope,  the  decretals,  the  bishops,  the 
papists,  the  deaths  of  some  papists,  monks,  diseases,  lawyers,  Jews,  the 
primitive  Church,  the  Bible,  heretics,  the  Sacramentarians,  St.  Gregoiy, 
St.  Jerome,  St.  Augustine,  the  Fathers,  Eck  and  Sadoletus,  paradise,  God, 
the  ball,  woman,  the  tempter,  ii  266  et  acq.  His  theory  on  the  Supper, 
ii  800.  At  the  conference  of  liarburg,  ii.  805.  Refuses  to  call  Zwinglius 
brother,  ii.  810.  His  anathemas  and  maledictions  against  the  church  of 
Zurich,  ii  811.  Obliged  to  appeal  from  it  to  authori^,  ii.  314.  The  Con- 
fession of  Augsburg  is  a  maiunato  against  his  original  creed,  ii.  884.  Is 
sick  at  Coburg,  ii.  888.  Opposes  eveiy  kind  of  agreement  with  the  Catholics, 
ii  842.  His  appeal  to  the  hatreds,  ii  847.  His  opinion  of  Melancthon's 
"Commentaries,"  ii.  857.  Wiih  the  latter  when  sick  at  Weimar,  ii.  364. 
Persecutes  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  with  his  writings,  ii  868.  How  the  bold 
language  of  his  "  Warning  to  the  Germans "  can  be  explained,  ii.  869. 
Replies  to  a  Catholio  of  Dresden,  who  denounces  his  seditious  doctrines  to 
Germany,  ii  370.  His  theoiy  of  the  right  of  resistance,  ii.  871.  His  let- 
ters to  the  nuns  of  Rissa,  ii  875.  Replies  to  the  attacks  of  the  Anabaptists, 
ii.  877.  Accused  by  them  of  being  the  author  of  the  evils  which  afflict 
Germany,  ii  887.  His  interview  with  Vergerio,  the  legate  of  Paul  III., 
ii  892.  Leaves  Wittembei^g  to  be  present  at  the  Diet  of  Schmalkalden, 
ii  894.  His  rage  against  Charles  V.  and  Duke  Eric  of  Brunswick,  ii.  396. 
Grants  liberty  to  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  to  many  a  second  wife,  ii  404. 
His  repentance  of  this,  ii.  406.  Is  sick  at  Schmalkalden,  ii.  408.  His 
wishes  against  the  papaqy,  ib.  Has  never  known  what  prayer  is,  ib. 
Hears  of  the  death  of  his  fether  Hans,  ii.  409.  By  the  death-bed  of  his 
daughter  Magdalene,  ii  412.  Writes  his  will,  ii  414.  Is  a  prey  to  doubts 
and  temptations,  ii  415.  His  adieux  to  Rome,  ii  419.  Goes  to  Eiiileben, 
to  allay  the  family  quarrels  of  the  counts  of  Mansfeld,  ii  424.  Incidents  of 
his  journey,  ii  425.  His  reception  at  Eisleben,  ii.  426.  At  table  for  the 
last  time,  ii  427.  His  prophecy  regarding  the  papacy,  ii.  428.  His  last 
moments,  ii  480.  His  death,  ib.  His  mneraf,  ii.  482.  Relics  of  the 
Reformer  at  Eisleben,  Erfurt,  &c.,  ii.  435.  Luther  as  an  orator,  ii  440. 
The  great  preacher  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  441.  His  manner  in  the  pulpit, 
ii.  442.      As  a  writer,  ii  447.      As  a  musician ;    has  he  stamped  any 


494  INDEX. 

improTement  on  religious  mono?  ii.  450.    As  a  tranBUtor;  his  Teraion  of 
the  Bible,  u.  452. 

MACHIAVELLI,  i.  248. 

MAGDALENE,  Lather's  daughter,  her  death,  ii  412. 

MAGISTRACY,  The  Secular.    Pamphlet  by  Luther,  ii.  38. 

MAXIMILIAN  I.  denouDces  Luther  to  the  pope,  i.  122.     His  death,  I  147. 

MELANCTHON,  Luther's  disciple.  His  portrait,  i.  121.  At  the  disputation 
of  Leipsio,  i.  189.  Attacks  the  theses  of  Eok,  the  professor  of  Ingolstadt, 
i.  209.  Refutes  the  sentence  of  the  Sorbonne,  which  condemns  sundry  of 
Luther's  propositions,  i.  370.  His  attacks  ujion  Bome^  i.  383.  Charged  by 
the  elector  Frederick  to  confer  with  the  Anabaptists,  ii.  3.  His  opinion  of 
that  new  pect^  ib.  Attempts  to  justify  Luther's  conduct,  ii.  49.  Approves 
the  latter's  controvert^  with  Henry  VlII.,  ii.  59.  Unites  with  Luther  in 
insulting  the  papacy,  ii.  69.  Justifies  the  attempts  of  the  Protestant  princes 
on  dvil  and  religious  liberty,  ii.  191.  Deplores  the  &tal  influences  of  Pro- 
testantism on  morals,  ii.  214.  Disapproves  of  Luther's  marriage,  11.  220. 
The  "  Confesdon  of  Augsburg"  is  his  work,  i^  334.  Wishes  to  nraerve 
the  Catholic  litur^,  ii.  386.  Gives  an  account  to  Luther  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  ii.  338.  Disposed  to  make  ooncessions  to  the 
Catholics,  ii.  341.  Regrets  and  discouragement^  ii.  343.  Wishes  to  restore 
the  authority  of  the  pope  and  the  bishops,  ii.  345.  Aiters  the  text  of  the 
Confession  to  reconcile  himself  with  the  Swiss,  who  could  not  obtain  a 
hearing  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  ii.  350.  Called  by  the  elector  Frederick 
to  the  chair  of  ancient  languages  in  the  university  of  Wittemheig,  vL  355. 
His  portrait,  ii.  856.  Besides  with'  Reuchlin,  ib.  His  chancter,  ii.  359. 
At  his  mother's  death-bed,  ii.  360.  His  doubts  and  wesknesses,  it  361. 
With  Luther  when  sick  at  Schmalkalden,  u.  363.  Is  sick  at  Weimar, 
ii.  364.  Influence  which  he  exercises  on  the  Reformation,  ii.  366.  His 
philosophical  opinions,  tb.  At  the  Diet  of  Schmalkalden,  ii  895.  At  that 
of  Ratbbon,  ii.  396. 

HILTITZ.  Arrives  at  Altenbuig',  to  put  an  end  to  the  religious  disputes, 
i.  154.  Wishes  to  reoonciJe  Tetzel  and  Luther,  i.  155.  Arrives  at  Leipaic^ 
and  threatens  Tetael  with  the  pope's  displeasure,  1.  157.  His  interview 
with  Luther,  L  160.  Mocked  by  him,  i.  165.  Sees  Luther  again  at  Alten- 
burg,  i  198.    And  is  again  ridiculed  by  the  reformer,  i.  199. 

MINERS  OF  MANSFELD,  The,  rise  at  Munser's  call,  ii  141. 

MINISRTERS,  The  Protestant,  remarkable  for  their  pride  and  intolerance, 
u.  212. 

MONASTERY  of  the  Augnstiniana  of  Erfixrt  in  1888,  ii  254. 

MONASTERIES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES,  The,  the  services  which  they 
rendered  to  the  sdenoee,  literature,  and  the  arts,  i.  10. 

MONKS,  The,  when  attacked  by  tJlrich  von  Hutten  could  not  defend  them- 
selves, and  why  ?  i.  74.  Leave  their  monasteries  and  embrace  Protestantiam, 
ii  28.  When  attacked  by  Erasmus,  make  a  poor  defence,  ii  73.  Many 
when  expelled  from  their  monasteries,  ii.  180.  Active  auxiliaries  of  the 
Reformation,  ii.  181.  Their  bigamies,  ii.  184.  Their  joy  on  hearing  of 
Luther's  marriage,  ii.  221.  After  ti^eir  secularization,  the  education  of  the 
people  is  entirely  neglected,  ii.  198. 

MORE,  Thomas,  defends  the  cause  of  Henry  VIII.  against  Luther,  ii.  61. 

MOSELLANUS.  His  description  of  the  three  rivals  at  the  disputation  at 
Leipsic,  i.  191. 

MULLER,  Hans,  head  of  the  gospel  league,  his  depredations,  ii.  133. 

MUNZER,  at  Zwickau,  ascends  the  pulpit,  and  rdterates  Luther's  attacks  on 
the  papacy,  i.  215.    Attacks  indulgences,  the  Mass,  purgatory,  and  clerical 


\ 


INDEX.  495 

oelibaey,  is  expelled  from  lilie  city,  »nd  takes  refiige  in  Pragoe,  i.  887. 
Draws  other  deductions,  entixely  social,  from  the  tree  inqniir  established  by 
Luther,  i.  407.  Effect  of  his  preaching  on  the  people,  i.  412.  Exaggerates 
the  principle  laid  down  by  Luther,  i.  418.  Rebels  against  the  temporal 
authorities,  L  416.  Rejects  the  Scriptures,  i.  417.  His  interview  with 
Luther,  ii.  15.  Expelled  from  Wittemberg,  seeks  to  raise  the  peasantiy, 
ii.  17.  His  bold  preaching,  ii.  127.  Excites  the  miners  of  Mansfeld,  ii.  141. 
His  letter  to  the  count  of  Mansfeld,  ii.  146.  His  challenge  to  the  count's 
brother,  ii  147.  Harangues  the  peasants  at  Franckenhausen,  ii.  148.  Is 
wounded  and  made  prisoner,  ii  150.  Is  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  dies  cursing  Luther,  ii.  151. 
MYCONIXJS,  Frederick,  embraces  Protestantism,  ii.  27. 

NAUSEA,  Frederick,  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  ii.  881. 

OSIANDER  accuses  Luther  of  having  fomented  the  revolt  of  the  peasants, 
ii  144.    Is  remarkable  for  his  pomp  and  intolerance,  ii  212. 

PACK,  Otho,  deceives  the  Protestant  prinoes,  by  inventing  a  Catholic  oon- 
spiraey  against  the  Protestants,  ii  125.    His  knavery  is  detected,  t6. 

PAPACY,  The.  The  watchftil  care  for  the  interests  of  the  people  which  it 
exerolBed  oyer  feudal  Germany,  ii.  187. 

PAXJLU8  J0VIU8,  i.  249. 

PAUL  III.    His  attempts  to  restore  peace  to  the  German  Churdi,  ii  891. 

PEASANTRY,  The,  under  the  feudal  rule,  ii.  127.  Partial  revolts,  ii.  128. 
Luther's  manifesto  to  the  German  nobles  forces  them  to  a  general  rebellion, 
ii  182.  Thev  rise,  ii.  188.  Their  manifesto,  drawn  up  by  Christopher 
Schappeler,  ii.  184.  Make  war  with  the  nobles,  ii.  185.  Encouraged  by 
Luther,  they  vise  ever^here,  ii.  140.  Progress  of  the  rebellion,  li  145. 
They  are  defeated  at  Franckenhausen,  ii.  149.  Pursued  and  hunted  down 
in  the  forests  of  Germany,  ii  154. 

PENANCE,  The  sacrament  o£    The  Catholic  and  Lutheran  doctrines,  i  115. 

PFEFFERKORN,  John,  a  Jew  oonverted  to  Catholicism,  attacks  his  former 
co-religionists,  i  68.  Disputes  with  Reuchlin,  i  65.  Proposes  to  him  the 
ordeal  by  fire,  i.  67. 

PHIFFER.    His  visions,  ii.  141. 

PHILIP  OF  HESSK  His  interview  with  Luther  at  Worms,  i.  807.  The 
league  of  Sohmalkalden  is  formed  under  his  auspices,  ii.  867.  His  morals, 
ii.  400.  Wishes  to  have  two  wives,  and  solicits  Luther  to  legitimate  his 
ny,  ii.  401.  The  motives  which  he  alleges  for  this,  ii.  402.  Marries 
' ,  maid  of  honour  to  his  wife  Christina  of  Saxony,  ii  405. 

PLUNDER  of  the  Church  property,  ii.  185. 

POPE-ASS,  The,  »  caricature  and  fiction  by  Luther,  ii  (^, 

PREACHINGS  against  the  Mass  and  celibstcy,  i  888. 

PRIERIAS,  MaswUni,  attacks  the  Lutheran  novelties,  i.  110. 

PROFESSORS,  The,  of  the  Academy  of  Erfurt,  i.  7. 

RAAB,  Hermann,  provincial  of  the  Dominicans,  defends  Tetzel  to  Miltitz, 

i  166. 
RAPHAEL-SANZIO,  appointed  by  Leo  X.  to  complete  St.  Peter^s  at  Rome, 

i  288.    His  reception  (^  the  pope,  i  259. 
RAPHAEL  D£  SAINT-GEORGE,  Cardinal.     His  welcome  of  Erasmus, 

i.  254. 
REFORMERS^  The.    The  old  Catholic  institutions  fidl  under  their  strokes, 

i  389.    What  they  make  of  the  Bible,  i  890. 


496  INDEX. 

REFORMATION,  The  Catholic,  demanded  by  Christendom,  i.  77.  Com- 
plaints of  the  disorders  of  the  clergy,  made  by  Cardinal  Julian  at  the  Council 
of  Basle,  i.  78.    Acts  of  the  Council  of  Lateran,  i.  79. 

REFORMERS,  The  Protestant.  Their  ideas  as  to  the  images,  i.  399. 
Anarchy  caused  by  the  appearance  of  the  new  evangelists,  i.  410.  Fatal 
influence  of  the  Reformation  on  learning,  ii.  213.  Their  delight  on  the  fall 
of  the  Anabaptists,  ii.  385. 

REINICK,  John,  Luther*s  friend,  accompanies  him  on  his  journey  to  Mag- 
deburg, i.  3. 

REUCHLIN.  His  calumnies  against  the  monks,  i.  40.  Harangues  the 
embassy  sent  by  Leo  X.  to  the  duke  of  Wittemberg,  i.  64.  Takes  the  part 
of  the  Jews  when  attacked  by  Pfefierkorn,  i.  65.  Some  scholars  rauge 
themselyes  on  his  side,  ib.  His  pamphlet  is  examined  and  condemned  at 
Cologne,  Louvain,  Erfurt,  Mayence,  and  Paris,  i.  67.  In  a  new  pamphlet 
treats  his  judges  as  slandereni  and  forgertf,  ib.  The  affivir  is  taken  to  Rome ; 
he  finds  in  hep  X.  and  Cardinal  Grimani  two  distinguished  protectors,  ib. 
His  "Epistolffi  Obscurorum  Virorum"  are  condemned  by  the  court  of  Rome, 
ii.  74.     His  letter  to  Melancthon,  ii.  345. 

ROTHMANN,  Bernard,  disturbs  the  city  of  Munster  by  his  preaching, 
ii.  878.     His  portrait,  ii.  379.     Becomes  an  Anabaptist,  ib. 

SACRAMENTARIANISM.    Its  rise,  ii.  161. 

SANSOVINO,  sculptor,  i.  243. 

SCHAPPELER^  Christopher,  priest,  draws  up  the  peasants'  manifissto,  ii.  134. 

SCHWENKFELD  deserts  Luther,  and  attacks  the  real  presence,  ii.  316. 

SCULTETUS,  Jerome,  bishop  of  Brandenburg,  writes  to  Luther  wishing  him 
to  be  silent,  i.  88.  Receives  a  letter  from  the  Reformer,  in  which  he  pro- 
tests that  he  has  no  intention  to  attack  authority,  i.  118.  Does  not  reply  to 
it.     Reasons  for  his  silence,  i.  114. 

SEBASTIAN  DEL  PIOMBO  presents  his  sketch  of  Lazarus  to  Leo  X., 
i.  260. 

SERMON  ON  MARRIAGE,  preached  by  Luther  in  the  chucch  of  All 
Saints,  ii.  19. 

SHOEMAKER  OF  ORLAMUNDE;  The,  disputes  with  Luther,  ii.  174. 

SICEIENGEN  in  vain  attempts  to  make  Luther  go  to  Ebembui^,  i.  805. 

SORBONNE,  The,  condemns  various  propositions  extracted  from  Luther*s 
works,  i.  870. 

SPALATINUS.  Pamphlets  sent  to  him  bv  Luther,  which  he  is  at  first  afraid 
to  publish,  i.  350.  Urges  upon  the  Reformer  the  restoration  of  the  Mass, 
ii.  347. 

STAUPITZ,  vicar-general  of  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Erfurt.  Hift 
erroneous  views  of  grace,  i.  13.  Sends  Luther  to  Rome,  i.  24.  ChargeM 
him  to  visit  the  monasteries  within  his  province,  i.  40.  Vainly  tries  to 
make  Luther  reconciled  with  Rome,  i.  120.  Alarmed  at  the  Reformer's 
daring,  lie  returns  to  the  Church,  ii.  25. 

STORCH,  Nicolas.  His  portrait,  i.  412.  Endeavours  to  prevail  over  Luther, 
i.  414. 

STRAUSS,  James,  at  Eisenach,  ii.  127. 

STUBNER,  Mark.     His  portrait,  i.  411.     Confers  with  Luther,  ii.  113. 

STUDENTS,  The,  at  Wittemberg,  disturb  the  divine  service,  and  expel  the 
celebrants,  i.  384. 

TETZEL  charged  to  preach  indulgences  in  Germany,  i.  46.  Calumniated  by 
Protestant  writers,  i.  47.     Strange  propositions  which  they  impute  to  him. 


INDEX.  497 

i.  48.  His  sermons,  i.  49.  At  Juterbock,  i.  52.  Refutes  Luther,  i.  56. 
His  challenge  to  him,  i.  67.  At  Frankfbrt-on-the-Oder,  maintains  his  theses 
in  opposition  to  those  of  Luther,  i.  103.  Examination  of  one  of  his  propo- 
siUons,  lb.  Wishes  to  post  his  theses  at  Wittemberg,  i.  104.  The  students 
rise  and  bum  them,  i.  105.  Ordered  by  Miltitz  to  reconcile  himself  with 
Luther  ;  excuses  himself  that  he  cannot  obey.  His  letter  on  the  subject, 
i.  155.  Hermann  Kaab,  provincial  of  the  Dominicans,  undertakes  his 
defence,  i.  156.  Threatened  with  the  pope's  displeasure  by  Miltitz,  i.  157. 
Being  sdready  in  bad  health,  he  takes  to  his  bed  and  dies,  t6. 

THESES,  The.  Some  quotations,  i.  91.  What  has  misled  some  Catholic 
writers  as  to  Luther's  intentions,  i.  95. 

TISCH-REDEN,  The,  ii.  264. 

TUN,  Confraternity  of  the,  ii.  180. 

VALERIANIJS,  jurist,  professor  of  eloquence  and  archaeology,  i.  249. 
YEHUS,  at  the  conference  with  the  archbishop  of  Treves,  urges  Luther  to 

retracVi.  321. 
VERGERIO,  legate  from  Paul  III.,  is  sent  to  Wittemberg,  ii.  891.    His 

interview  with  Luther,  ii.  392.    Mocked  by  him,  leaves  Wittemberg,  ii.  898. 

WALLS  OF  SEPARATION,  The.     A  pamphlet  by  Luther,  i.  270. 
WITTEMBERG,  The  senate  of,  appoint  Luther  preacher  to  the  city,  i.  86. 

ZELL,  Matthew,  curate  of  tlie  cathedral  of  Strasburg.  Attacks  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy,  i.  389. 

ZWINGLIUS  attacks  the  real  presence,  ii.  298.  Complains  of  the  violence  of 
the  Lutherans,  ii.  808.  At  the  conference  of  Marburg,  ii.  804.  His  ana- 
themas and  maledictions  against  the  Church  of  Wittembei^,  ii.  811. 


EEEATUM  IN  VOL.  I. 

Page  395,  line  7  from  top,  for  "  was  their  belief,"  read  "  ought  to  have 
been  their  belief." 


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