U - i 
 
 I ALUMNI LIBRARY, * 
 
 * THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 
 ^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^ 
 
 BR 325 .S34 Iojj V.2 
 Scott, John, 1777-1834. 
 Luther and the Lutheran 
 reformation 
 
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 M'M ILAI^fBirMDn 
 
 .YOEK T &• J. HAEPEE 
 
Harper's Stereotype Edition. 
 
 LUTHER, 
 
 LUTHERAN REFORMATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN SCOTT, M.A. 
 
 VICAR OF NORTH FERRIBY, AND MINISTER OF ST. MARY'S, 
 HULL, ETC. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. IL 
 
 NEW- YORK : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, 
 
 NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET, 
 
 80LD BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THB 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 183 3. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Page 
 
 Recapitulation — Diet of Augsburg — Confession of Augs- 
 burg — Proceedings respecting the Confession — Luther — 
 Concluding Transactions and Recess of the Diet - - 7 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Protestant Measures of Defence — League of Smalkald — 
 Pacification of Nuremberg— Death of the Elector John, 
 and Succession of John Frederic — Progress of the 
 Reformation — Writings of Luther - - - - 41 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Erasmus on Concord in the Church — Persecutions — 
 Reformation extended — Anabaptists af Munster — Henry 
 VIII. and Francis I. — Pope's Commission for Reforma- 
 tion — Roman Cathohc League — Convention of Frankfort 56 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Luther's Interview with Vergerio— Concord of Wittemberg 
 —Ecclesiastical Funds— Luther's Illness and Prayer — 
 Character of Popery — Luther's alleged Conference with 
 Satan— His Writings 74 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Death of George of Saxony, and Succession of Henry- 
 Reformation of his Dominions, and of the Electorate of 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 Paga 
 
 Brandenburg — Joachim II. — Conferences of Haguenau, 
 Worms, and Ratisbon — Gropper's Book — Misconduct of 
 the Landgrave — Dangerous Ilhiess of Melancthon - 93 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Progress of the Reformation — Germany — Denmark and 
 Sweden — France — Austria — Italj'^ — Luther's Writings — 
 Agricola and Antinomianism 113 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Maurice succeeds Henry of Saxony — His Line of PoUcy — 
 Henry of Brunswick expelled — Reformation of his Terri- 
 tories — Situation of the Protestants — Herman Arch- 
 bishop of Cologne — The Bishop of Munster — The 
 Princes of Henneberg 131 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 George Prince of Anhalt — Bugenhagius Pomeranus — Diet 
 of Worms — Council of Trent — Alarm of the Protestants 
 — Their Leaders — Artifices of the Emperor — Diet and 
 Conferences of Ratisbon — Preparations for War- 
 Reformation of the Lower Palatinate, and of Leutkirk 154 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Closing Transactions of Luther's Life — His Death — His 
 Character — His later Writings 179 
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 
 The War of Smalkald — Elector of Saxony deposed, and 
 Maurice advanced in his room — Conduct of John Fred- 
 eric in Captivity — The Interim estabUshed — Conduct of 
 
 Melancthon 217 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL 
 
 Proceedings of Maurice — He attacks and surprises the 
 Emperor — Treaty of Passau — Death of Maurice — Peace 
 of Religion — Extracts from Melancthon's Writings — Pro- 
 gress of Reformation — Controversies — Reflections - 252 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Remainder of Melancthon's History — Further Extracts from 
 his Epistles — His Works — Notices of Lutheran Reform- 
 ers 280 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 P. P. Vergerio, and Francis Spira — Juan Diaz — The Wal- 
 denses of Provence — The Council of Trent ... 313 
 
 A2 
 

 ^■? 
 
 ^'^^ 
 
 the"^ 
 
 .^t- 
 
 LUTHERAN REFORMATION 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 Hecapitulation — Diet of Augshiirg — Confessioyi of Augsburg 
 — Proceedings respecting the Confession — Luther — Con- 
 cluding Transactions and Recess of the Diet. 
 
 The diet of Augsburg forms an era in the history of the 
 reformation : and the proceedings of that assembly are next 
 to engage our attention. 
 
 The blessed reformation had now been thirteen years in 
 progress. Its origin, its preservation, its advancement, had 
 all been alike beyond human expectation. It had seemed 
 throughout to maintain a precarious existence, dependent 
 on the will of its adversaries. And scarcely ever before had 
 those adversaries shown themselves deficient either in vigour 
 or sagacity ; but, in their treatment of the reformation in 
 its earlier stages, a remarkable want of those qualities had 
 been manifested. Their disunion among themselves, and 
 the distractions arising to the emperor Charles V. from the 
 rivalry existing between him and Francis I. King of France, 
 and to the popes from their jealousy of both these poten- 
 tates ; together with the alarms excited by the threatening 
 advances of the Turks : these, sometimes conjointly and 
 sometimes separately, proved the means of sheltering the 
 reformation, till it gradually acquired that root and establish- 
 ment which no human power could subvert. But, in fact, 
 it was the work of God ; and the greatest and best of his 
 works for the children of men in these latter ages ; and he 
 would not suffer " the gates of hell to prevail against it." 
 He caused all these agents and events, and whatever others 
 
8 DIET OF AUGSBURG. 
 
 ma3^be pointed out as having contributed to the grand result, 
 to fulfil his purposes. The friends and promoters of the 
 great cause were made to feel constantly their dependence 
 upon him ; but the requisite help was never withheld in the 
 time of need. 
 
 Amid the divisions and disorders (as they were esteemed) 
 to which the proceedings of Luther and his coadjutors, 
 in exposing the errors and corruptions of the Church of 
 Rome, had given occasion, the great remedy to which the 
 hopes of all those who wished to combine some reformation 
 of abuses with the preservation of the sort of order which 
 had previously subsisted in the Christian world, were directed 
 was the convocation of a general council. Much as 
 such assemblies had hitherto disappointed the expectations 
 entertained from them, the repetition of the experiment was 
 the only resource which suggested itself. The reformers, 
 whether they looked for any very satisfactory result from the 
 deliberations of a council, or not, yet acted prudently in 
 appealing to one : the princes and people, in general, felt 
 the necessity of sometliing being done, which only such an 
 assembly was thought properly authorized to do : the court 
 of Rome alone stood cordially opposed to the measure ; and 
 they could not with decency openly reject the numerous and 
 repeated applications made, from the very highest quarters, 
 for the calling of a council, under such circumstances as 
 might induce all to refer the points in dispute to its decision. 
 
 Clement VII, , however, who now filled the papal chair, 
 viewed the convocation of a council with a degree of aver- 
 sion and dread surpassing that usually manifested by those 
 who had occupied his situation. The proceedings of the 
 councils of Pisa and Constance, which had deposed the 
 popes Benedict XIII., Gregory XII., and .lohn XXIII., ex 
 cited his fears ; and the circumstances of his own birth an^ 
 elevation (neither of which was free from reproach) con 
 firmed his terrors. 
 
 The emperor, after spending several months with him in 
 the same palace at Bologna, was fully instructed in the views 
 of his holiness, and at his late coronation had sworn " to be, 
 with all his powers and resources, the perpetual defender of 
 the pontifical dignit}^ and of the Church of Rome :" though 
 we must conclude, that he neither felt himself inclined if he 
 had been able, nor able if he had been inclined, to carry 
 
DIET OF AUGSBURG. 9 
 
 matters with that high hand against the adherents of the 
 reformation which the pope would have wished. As how- 
 ever a council was so much dreaded by Clement, that he 
 would offer none but upon terms which he knew would be 
 rejected by the Protestants, the effect of a diet of the empire 
 was once more to be tried ; and this, as we have seen, had 
 been summoned to meet at Augsburg on the 8th of April, 
 1530. 
 
 This celebrated diet was the sixth before which the sub- 
 ject of the religious differences in Germany had been 
 brought. The first was that of Worms in 1521, which pro- 
 scribed Luther as an excommunicated heretic. The second, 
 that of Nuremberg in 1522-3, distinguished by the presenta- 
 tion of the " hundred grievances." The decree of this diet 
 virtually abrogated the edict of Worms. The third, again 
 held at Nuremberg, 1523-4, where the members resolved to 
 observe the edict of Worms " as far as they could." The 
 fourth, convoked at Augsburg, 1525, and afterward ad- 
 journed to Spires, 1526. Here a general council was 
 demanded, and all left at liberty till it should be held. The 
 fifth, that of Spires again, in 1529, which produced the pro-' 
 test whence the Protestayits derived their name. 
 
 The diet of Augsburg, summoned for the 8th of April, 
 had been postponed to the 1st of May : and it was not 
 opened till the arrival of the emperor in the middle of June. 
 
 Before entering upon the business of the diet, it may be 
 useful further to recall to the reader's memory the principal 
 leaders on both sides. On that of the papists there were, 
 besides the emperor Charles V. and his brother Ferdinand, the 
 pope's legate Campeggio, Joachim Elector of Brandenburg, 
 George Duke of Saxony, and William of Bavaria. Henry 
 Duke of Brunswick was on the same side : but he was at 
 this time comparatively moderate ; though he afterward 
 became one of the most violent. The same was to a con- 
 siderable decrree the case with the Cardinal Archbishop and 
 Elector of Mentz, brother to Joachim of Brandenburg, and 
 the first prince of the empire. The name of the Archbishop 
 and Elector of Cologne also occurs ; but he seems to have 
 taken no active part in this diet. Perhaps he was already 
 well disposed towards reformation ; and we shall ultimately 
 find him a confessor and sufferer in the cause of Protestant- 
 ism. To these are to be added two papal nuncios, Chere- 
 
10 DIET OF AUGSBURG. 
 
 gato and Pimpinello ; and the Cardinal Archbishop of Salz- 
 burg. The Bishop of Augsburg also was one of this party, 
 though he acted on more than one occasion a renjarkable 
 part, more favourable to the Protestants than any of the 
 rest. 
 
 On the side of the Protestants were John, surnamed the 
 Constant, Elector of Saxony, and his son John Frederic ; 
 Philip Landgrave of Hesse ; George Marquis (not Elector) 
 of Brandenburg ; Ernest and Francis Dukes of Lunenburg ; 
 Wolfgang prince of Anhalt; Albert Count Mansfeldt ; and 
 Count Philip of Hanover : to which are to be added the 
 deputies of several imperial cities. 
 
 Each party also brought with them some of their princi- 
 pal divines, to whose assistance recourse might be had as 
 circumstances should require. Faber, Eckius, Cochlasus, 
 and De Wimpina were among those of the papal party: 
 Melancthon, Justus Jonas, .Spalatinus, Schnepfius, and Agri- 
 cola were the chief on the part of the Protestants. Bucer, 
 Hedio, and Capito also attended from Strasburg, but they 
 leaned more to Zwingle than to Luther. The Elector of 
 Saxony took Luther with him as far as Coburg, but perhaps 
 fearing for his safety, he left him in the castle of that city, 
 as a place at once of security and convenience, where he 
 might be informed of what passed, and give his counsel 
 if required. 
 
 The emperor had been met at Inspruck by several of the 
 electors and princes of the empire. Accompanied by these 
 personages, his brother Ferdinand, Campeggio, the am- 
 bassadors of France, England, and Portugal, and met by all 
 the other princes and grandeds at some distance from the 
 city, he entered Augsl)urg on the evening of the 15th of 
 June. On the approach of the princes who came out of the 
 city to meet him, the emperor and his brother dismounted, 
 and received them in the most gracious manner, but the 
 legate and cardinals sat still on their mules. The legate 
 also, to draw the more attention to his official character and 
 authority, seized this opportunity of pronouncing his bene- 
 diction, which the emperor and the princes of that party 
 humbly knelt down to receive ; while the Elector of Sax- 
 ony and his associates continued standing. In the cathe- 
 dral some contest, it appears, arose concerning the bene- 
 diction. The Cardinal of Salzburg came forward to pro- 
 
DIET OF AUGSBURG. 11 
 
 nounce it : but he was indignantly repelled by the legate, 
 ■who chose again to perform that service himself. 
 
 The day of the emperor's entry into Augsburg had been, 
 probably by design, deferred to the eve of the festival of 
 Corpus Christi, when a solemn procession of the host took 
 place. Late in the evening the emperor sent for the Prot- 
 estant princes, and signified to them his pleasure that they 
 should attend him in the procession of the ensuing day. 
 Having anticipated the demand made upon them, the princes 
 promptly replied, that it was contrary to their consciences 
 to do it. The Marquis of Brandenburg was their spokes- 
 man ; and he, having received a sharp answer from Ferdi- 
 nand, placed his hand on his neck, and made this memora- 
 ble delaration, " Rather would I instantly kneel down, and 
 in the emperor's presence submit my neck to the execu- 
 tioner, than prove unfaithful to God, and receive or sanc- 
 tion antichristian error." The emperor merely observed, 
 with mildness and address, " That there was no intention 
 to take any man's life." The next morning the demand 
 was renewed, and the discussion concerning it was pro- 
 tracted so long as to delay the procession some hours be- 
 yond the appointed time. Here again the Marquis of Bran- 
 denburg declared, " In the present cause, which pertains to 
 God, I am compelled by an immutable Divine command to 
 resist all impositions of this kind, whatever may be the con- 
 sequence, since it is written, ' We ought to obey God rather 
 than man.' For the confession, therefore, of the doctrine 
 which I know to be the word of Christ, and eternal truth,- 1 
 decline no danger, not even that of life itself, which I hear is 
 threatened by some." 
 
 All efforts to prevail with the Protestant princes having 
 proved fruitless, the procession was celebrated without 
 them, but with great pomp. The popish historian observes, 
 " This was the triumph of Christ at Augsburg, in the sight 
 of the Lutherans !" The pious Seckendorf more justly 
 rejoins, " It was the triumph indeed of the pope and his 
 party, not of Christ ; but so conducted that the real honour 
 of the day, in the sight of God and his saints, belonged to 
 those princes and others, few in number, and of compara- 
 tively small power, whom neither the dread majesty of 
 Csesar, nor all the dangers that threatened them, could pre- 
 vail with to do any thing contrary to their consciences." 
 
12 DIET OF AUGSBURG. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony was next required, by virtue of 
 his office of marshal, to carry the sword before the em- 
 peror to the mass. While it was thought that this would 
 prove a still more odious imposition than the former, the 
 elector's divines and advisers viewed the matter in a differ- 
 ent light. The case, they said, varied materially from that 
 of the procession. There their master had no official duty 
 to perform, but here he was called to discharge a civil office 
 — " to render service to the emperor, not worship to God." 
 Having therefore premised an explanation of his views, he 
 complied with the emperor's demand, signifying his dissent 
 from the religious service by abstaining from bowing to the 
 host. As the late instance proved how firm the Protestants 
 could be where principle required it, their present conduct 
 showed their readiness to comply where conscience would 
 permit. 
 
 On another subject, some degree of contention had com- 
 menced, even before the emperor's arrival at Augsburg. 
 The chaplains of the Protestant princes, both in the places 
 they passed through, and after they arrived at Augsburg, 
 preached frequently in the churches. Though they ab- 
 stained as much as might be from controversy, and applied 
 themselves directly to the edification of the people, this pro- 
 ceeding naturally gave umbrage to their enemies ; and the 
 emperor, accordingly, before he moved from Inspruck, sig- 
 nified his pleasure that the practice should cease. This had 
 been foreseen, and the course to be, in consequence, 
 adopted had been made the subject of previous deliberation 
 among the Protestants. The divines decided in favour 
 of submission to the emperor, and Luther fully concurred 
 with them. The princes, however, seem to have been more 
 tenacious, and notwithstanding the emperor's letters, the 
 preaching was not discontinued till some days after his 
 arrival ; and not even then by an absolute surrender, but 
 only by compromise — the emperor engaging to impose 
 silence on the divines of the popish as well as of the Pro- 
 testant part}!-, and to appoint such preachers exclusively as 
 all might hear without offence to their consciences. 
 
 It may deserve to be recorded, at least for the purpose of 
 showing what were the habits of the times, that the day 
 before the diet opened (being Sunday), the emperor received 
 the holy sacrament, and spent two hours of the evening in 
 
CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG. 13 
 
 retired devotion, "besides the hour which he thus employed 
 every morning." Concerning the good Elector of Saxony 
 we are told, " After hearing the opening speech in the diet, 
 he called together the friends of the reformation, and ex- 
 horted them to an intrepid assertion of the cause of God and 
 religion ; and the next morning, having ordered all his 
 counsellors and attendants to retire, he poured forth most 
 fervent supplications to God for the success of the great 
 business in hand ; and then, for the confirmation of his own 
 mind, committed to writing some things which Dolzig 
 (one of his counsellors) and Melancthou perused with 
 admiration. 
 
 On the 20th of June, the diet was opened with a long 
 speech in the emperor's name, read by Frederic Count 
 Palatine. It turned principally upon two points. The 
 first was the necessity of adopting vigorous measures against 
 the Turks, who, under their Sultan Solyman, had taken 
 Belgrade, conquered Rhodes, besieged Vienna, and, in 
 short, threatened all Europe. The other point was, the 
 " unhappy religious differences" in Germany, on which the 
 princes and states were invited, though cautiously and 
 coldly, to unfold their sentiments. It was agreed on all 
 hands that the subject of religion should first come under 
 consideration. On the 22d of .Tune, therefore, the em- 
 peror gave notice to the Elector of Saxony and his friends, 
 that at the next session, to be held on the 24th, they 
 should present a summary of their faith, and an account 
 of the reformation of abuses which they demanded. Ac- 
 cording to the terms of the summons and the emperor's 
 letters, the one party as well as the other should have been 
 required to present the articles of their faith upon the points 
 in question : the Protestants however alone, as being the 
 innovators, were thus called upon, and the Romanists were 
 saved the trouble and peril of presenting a direct object of 
 examination to their opponents. 
 
 The elector and his friends were prepared to meet the 
 demand made upon them. " The Confession," or as it was 
 at that time called, " The Apology," had been drawn up for 
 some time. Luther had furnished the materials, particu- 
 larly in certain articles, which, from the place where they 
 were presented to the elector, were called the Articles of 
 Torgau : but it received its form from the clear and ek)quont 
 
 Vol. XL— B 
 
14 CONFESSION 
 
 pen of Melancthon, who was revising and retouching it to 
 the very last moment, with a minute anxiety which Luther 
 thought superfluous. 
 
 On the day appointed, business commenced at so late an 
 hour, and so much time was occupied with preliminary 
 and little more than mere formal proceedings, as to furnish 
 the emperor, no doubt designedly, with a plausible pretext 
 for refusing to hear the Confession read : for, as it was the 
 object of the Protestants to give it the utmost publicity, so 
 it was the aim of their adversaries to have it passed over 
 with as little notice as possible. 
 
 At length, however, the stage was open, and the elector 
 arose, attended by the several princes his friends ; and, 
 standing near the throne, he, by Pontanus his ex-chan- 
 cellor (a man of eminent piety, eloquence, and experience 
 in affairs), entreated to have the " Apology," which they 
 had prepared, read, "that their real doctrines, and the 
 observances of their religion, might be known, and that the 
 great misapprehensions, and the consequent odium, under 
 which they lay, might be removed." With this request the 
 emperor refused to comply; ordering the papers to be 
 delivered to him, and promising to hear them the next day 
 in private. To this the princes earnestly and strenuously 
 objected, and pressed for permission to read them in the 
 full diet — urging that the case was one which concerned 
 their reputation, their fortunes, their lives, and even the 
 salvation of their souls. At all events, they pleaded to be 
 allowed to retain their papers in their own hands till they 
 could be heard.* — At length, he agreed that they should 
 retain them, and that he would hear them the next day; 
 not, however, in the full diet, but in the hall which served 
 the purpose of a chapel in the episcopal palace where he 
 resided. 
 
 On Saturday, therefore, the 25th of June, the princes 
 and dignitaries of the empire, with the representatives of 
 such as were personally absent, assembled — none but official 
 characters being admitted; and the Protestant princes, and 
 the deputies of the imperial cities of Nuremberg and Reut- 
 
 * They too well knew, that if once previously examined in private, 
 their papers would never be heard in public. 
 
OF AUGSBURG. 15 
 
 linger), with Christian Bayer, the elector's chancellor, and 
 Pontanus presented themselves — Bayer bearing a German, 
 and Pontanus a Latin copy of the Confession. The em- 
 peror wished the Latin copy to be read ; but the elector, 
 proposing his request in terms which would have made the 
 rejection of it unpopular, said, "As we are in Germany, I 
 trust your majesty will allow us to speak German ;" and 
 the emperor assented. Bayer therefore read deliberately, 
 and. in so audible a voice as to be heard beyond the hall, 
 in the court below, the whole of the Confession and its 
 appendages — which occupied him two hours. When he 
 had finished, both the copies were offered to the imperial 
 secretary, but the eriiperor himself took the Latin one, and 
 then courteously dismissed the assembly, causing it to be 
 signified to the parties that he would take the subject into 
 his most serious consideration. 
 
 This public reading of a document which asserted all the 
 great principles of Protestantism, and openly impugned the 
 errors, doctrinal and practical, of the Church of Rome, was 
 to Luther a matter of great triumph and devout exultation. 
 "Our adversaries," he writes to the elector, "think they 
 have succeeded to admiration, in procuring the preaching 
 to be stopped by an imperial prohibition ; but, poor men ! 
 they do not perceive, that by the exhibition of a written 
 confession to the emperor, more is done to make known and 
 proj)agate our doctrine than perhaps ten preachers could 
 have effected. Lslebius (Agricola), it is true, and the other 
 divines, are silenced ; but forth come the Elector of Saxony 
 and the other princes and lords with a written confession 
 of faith in their hands, and preach with all possible freedom 
 before his imperial majesty and the whole empire, in the 
 view of all the world, so that they are forced to ftear, and 
 can say nothing against it ! . . . Truly Christ is not silent 
 in the diet! . . . Thus is that accomplished which is written, 
 ' The Word 6f God is not bound.' No : if it is prohibited 
 in pulpits, it shall be heard in the palaces of kings." 
 
 Tf the public reading of the Confession were a subject 
 of rejoicing to Luther, much more might the wide extended 
 publication of it, which soon followed, be so. The printing 
 of the Confession, or of any thing relating to it, was indeed 
 for the present forbidden ; but it was soon translated into 
 
16 CONFESSION 
 
 numerous languages, and manuscript copies were dispersed 
 in all the courts of Europe.* 
 
 But, in fact, the immediate effects of the Confession 
 were such as to justify a large portion of the joy and 
 triumph which Luther expressed on the occasion. Mosheim 
 says, " The princes heard it with the deepest attention and 
 recollection of mind : it confirmed some in the principles 
 they had embraced ; surprised others ; and many, who 
 before this time had little or no idea of the religious senti- 
 ments of Luther, were now not only convinced of their 
 innocence, but, moreover, delighted with their purity and 
 simplicity." Father Paul also observes, " It is not to be 
 omitted, that Cardinal Matthew Langi, Archbishop of Salz- 
 burg, told every one," after hearing the Confession, " that 
 the reformation of the mass was becoming, the liberty 
 of meats proper, and the demand to be disburdened of so 
 many commandments of men, just; but that a poor monk 
 should reform all was not to be endured." 
 
 But of another prelate, Christopher Von Stadion, Bishop 
 of Augsburg, we have a much more promising account. 
 After hearing the Confession, he is related to have said, 
 " What has been recited is true ; pure truth ; we cannot 
 deny it." And some time after, when he was among the 
 commissioners appointed to bring about, if possible, an 
 agreement between the parties, the following occurrence 
 took place. "After much dispute, the Bishop of Augs- 
 burg, the diocesan of the place, and a man of prudence 
 and firmness, rose, and, in a pious and solemn discourse, 
 entreated the princes and prelates to guard, with anxious 
 care, against determining any thing contrary to the Word 
 of God, and inconsistent with rectitude and justice. It was 
 too true," he said, " and manifest to all men, that the 
 Lutherans, in what they maintained, had hitherto opposed 
 no one article of the Christian faith ; and this being the 
 case, it became all who feared God and loved peace ear- 
 nestly and frequently to consider by what means the ancient 
 tranquillity might be restored and preserved." On hearing 
 him utter these sentiments, the Archbishop of Salzburg 
 demanded, " Whence came this sudden change, and unex- 
 
 ' * It was translated into Italian for the pope, who was but a poor 
 Latinist !— Melch. Adam. 
 
OF AUGSBURG. 17 
 
 pected sanctity 1 — for he distinctly remembered," he said, 
 " to have heard from the prelate's mouth other sentiments, 
 and other feelings than these, concerning religion." The 
 Bishop of Augsburg replied, " I do not deny that in the 
 course of my life hitherto I have done many things worthy 
 of censure, and contrary to piety : but present circumstances 
 imperiously require of me to renounce ungodliness and the 
 allurements of sin, and to commence a new life. And, not 
 to dissemble what I think, perhaps your manner of living, 
 my lord of Salzburg, is not much more religious, or more 
 virtuous, than my own : and your proceedings are worse 
 than mine, in proportion as you more obstinately and eagerly 
 excuse your sins, palliate idolatrous abuses, and attempt to 
 defend and uphold unholy doctrines : of all which impiety 
 God forbid that I should make myself a partaker !" The 
 Elector of Brandenburg then warmly took up the question 
 against Luther ; and the Bishop of Augsburg as warmly 
 defended what he had advanced, affirming that the Luther- 
 ans assailed, " not the Catholic church, but only the abuses 
 prevailing in the Church of Rome ; and that no one could 
 deny that many gross and dangerous errors remained in 
 that community." The Elector of Mentz was obhged at 
 length to interfere, and terminate the discussion.* 
 
 A few remarks may here be made on the Confession 
 itself, which attracted so much attention, and produced such 
 powerful effects at the time, and which became thencefor- 
 ward the doctrinal standard of a large and respectable sec- 
 tion of the Christian world. It is introduced by a prefatory 
 address to the emperor, and is subscribed by seven princes 
 and the representatives of two cities. It consists of twenty 
 one "chief articles of Faith," followed by seven others 
 concerning the changes made by the reformation of abuses 
 in the practice of the church : and it concludes with 
 an " Epilogue," in which it is observed, that numerous 
 other abuses might have been specified, but that, to avoid 
 prolixity, and to promote conciliation, the writers had con- 
 fined themselves to such as were essential. To most of the 
 articles of faith are subjoined rejections of the opposite 
 errors : so that each topic may be said to be explained both 
 positively and negatively. 
 
 * From Celestine— a Roman Catholic historian. 
 B2 
 
18 CONFESSION 
 
 " The general resemblance of the doctrine, and even of the 
 language of the Confession, to that of the articles of our 
 own church, must strike every attentive reader. But this is 
 little more than what is common to all the confessions of faith 
 composed at the period of the blessed reformation. Shades 
 of difference might and would exist ; but on all leading 
 points the reformers were " of one heart and of one soul." 
 " One Spirit " from God evidently rested in a large measure 
 upon them, and " opened their eyes to behold the wondrous 
 things of his Word." The same blessed truths burst almost 
 simultaneously upon their astonished and enraptured view ; 
 and the contrariety of the whole, to the system of darkness 
 and delusion which had prevailed, stood discovered in such 
 a manner, that they " could not but speak forth" to all the 
 •world the things which they had learned. Whatever may 
 be said to the contrary, the doctrine of the reformation is, in 
 the main, one : and the slight differences among the leading 
 instruments in the work, and especially in the writings 
 designed to exhibit the doctrines of the several churches, are 
 not worthy to be named in comparison with the general har- 
 mony and agreement. And this is as true of the Confessions 
 which may be supposed to have been influenced by the tenets 
 of Calvin, the Helvetian and the Galilean, for instance, as 
 with respect to any others. It is delightful to trace this, 
 and with it the sound and salutary doctrine, delivered in so 
 devout and edifying a spirit, with which they are replete. 
 
 The grand stress of all is laid on the answer to the ques- 
 tion, " How shall man be just with God ]" and the doctrine 
 taught is, that we are freely "justified by the grace of God, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ;" and that 
 our interest in this unspeakable blessing is received simply 
 through faith ; and " depends not on the condition of our 
 worthiness, neither is bestowed on account of preceding 
 works, nor for the worthiness of any works to follow" — 
 though follow they assuredly will in every one who has any 
 part or lot in the blessing. This is the great doctrine of the 
 reformation ; and not of the reformation only, but of the 
 "holy Catholic church;" the " articulus stantisvel cadentis 
 ecclesise" — the mark of distinction between a standing and 
 a falling church. It is the doctrine which, as Luther and 
 his friends evermore so strikingly set forth, at once brings 
 peace into the conscience, and holiness into the heart and 
 
OF AUGSBURG, 19 
 
 life ; gives liberty in the service of God, not, as some would 
 insinuate, from that service : the doctrine which, being 
 blessed by the Spirit of God, in the sixteenth century over- 
 threw the gainful, but corrupt and oppressive system of 
 austerities, indulgences, purgatory, and priestly domination, 
 that had for ages been growing up, and supplanting true 
 religion and righteousness in the world. It is the doctrine 
 which persons unacquainted, or but imperfectly acquainted 
 with the influence of the gospel on the hearts of men, are 
 ever ready to think big with a thousand dangers, and with 
 which therefore they are ever prone to tamper ; but which has 
 always been restored again, to the estabhshment of peace in 
 men's consciences, and righteousness in their lives, in pro- 
 portion as God has " poured his Spirit from on high" upon 
 his church. 
 
 At the same time this doctrine is in the Confession guarded 
 against abuse, and made altogether practical m its appli- 
 cation. In fact, peace given to the conscience, on sure and 
 solid grounds, is here most justly considered as one of the 
 first requisites for bringing men to the true and spiritual 
 service of God. How contrary is this to the common opin- 
 ion, that to be assured of pardon, and of having found favour 
 with God, must make us careless of our conduct. The 
 former, in contradistinction to the latter, is the doctrine of 
 Scripture, of fact, and of sound philosophy also.* 
 
 *The Confession says, "Heretofore, when this consolation," arising 
 from the true doctrine of justification, " was not proposed, many trem- 
 bling consciences endeavoured to pac-ify themselves by works ; some 
 betook themselves to a monastic l:!e, some to one species of works, 
 some to another, by which they were to obtain remission of sins and 
 justification. But there is no firm consolation, except this doctrine of 
 the gospel ; and this whole doctrine is provided and adapted for the con- 
 flicts of a conscience alarmed" by the sense of sin. 
 
 Again, it quotes the testimony of Gerson, chancellor of the university 
 of Paris (whom Mosheim calls " the most illustrious ornament" of the 
 fifteenth century, and " the oracle" of the council of Constance), " That 
 many fell into despair, and some even committed suicide, because they 
 found it impossible satisfactorily to observe the traditions of the church, 
 and had heard of no consolation from grace and the righteousness of 
 faith." To this add the following striking passage from Luther on the 
 Galatians : " What I here say from St. Paul's words I have learned by 
 experience, my own and that of others in the monastery. I have seen 
 many, who, with the utmost diligence and scrupulosity, have omitted 
 nothing which might pacify conscience; have worn hair-cloth, fasted, 
 prayed, afflicted and exhausted their bodies by various severities, so that 
 even if they had been made of iron, they must at length have been 
 
20 CONFESSION 
 
 Yet, further, the spirit in which the work is composed 
 deserves to be noted. This is such as to make the perusal 
 of it deUghtfuI to the pious mind. It is no mere cold, dry, 
 doctrinal statement ; a sacred unction overspreads it. It 
 bears upon its very face to be the production of men with 
 whom religion is a matter of deep and serious feeling : it all 
 has a direct reference to Christian experience and to prac- 
 tice ; to give relief to distressed consciences, and to produce 
 spiritual obedience. All its doctrines it delivers for the 
 benefit of those who are burdened with the sense of sin : 
 and it takes for granted that we have all need to be so bur- 
 dened ; and that true religion generally begins in such a 
 sense of guilt and danger. And with great propriety does 
 it address itself to persons thus affected ; to the " poor in 
 spirit," the " contrite in heart," the " weary and heavy 
 laden :" for Christianity itself is designed for such charac- 
 ters. No others will understand it, value it, and make the 
 right use of it. 
 
 The point on which the Confession appears to be most 
 defective is, the work of the Holy Spirit ; particularly that 
 part of it which relates to *' the grace of God by Christ 
 preventing us, that we may have a good will," and not only 
 " working with us when we have" that good will.* I 
 notice this especially for the purpose of remarking, that the 
 fashionable way of speaking of the grace of God " assisting 
 our endeavours," and of branding every thing beyond this as 
 fanatical, is a mere cover for practically excluding the grace 
 of God altogether. When we speak of " assisting a man's 
 endeavours," it implies that he is already willing and active 
 himself; but is this the state of fallen man with respect to 
 the service of God, previously to the influence of divine 
 grace upon his mind ? Prevenient grace must go before, 
 and " work in us to will," or assisting grace will find no- 
 thing with which to co-operate. The language now fre- 
 quently in use also implies, that any thing beyond assisting 
 grace must be a compulsory influence. But it has been 
 justly observed, that there is much said in Scripture, and in 
 
 destroyed ; yet the more they laboured, the more fearful they became. And, 
 especially as the hour of death drew luiiU. they were so full of trepida- 
 tion, that t have seen many mujderers, condemned to die for their crimes, 
 meet death with more confidence than these persons who had lived so 
 strictly." 
 • Church Arl. x. 
 
OF AUGSBURG. 21 
 
 all our best divines, of an influence inclinins the heart, 
 though not forcing it \* all which is thus overlooked. No- 
 thing can be further from my intention than to admit, that 
 the Confession of Augsburg countenances any such system 
 as this : it has merely omitted to guard against it so clearly 
 and distinctly as our own articles have done. 
 
 We now turn to the proceedings adopted after the read- 
 ing of the Confession. The legate, with the other papal 
 emissaries, had been anxious that the Protestants should 
 not at all be heard, but that a decision should at once be 
 pronounced against their tenets, as already condemned by 
 Leo X. ; and that force should be resorted to, to put them 
 down : in short, that the edict of Worms should be strictly 
 executed. As this could not be carried, the legate absented 
 himself from the reading of the Confession, that he might 
 not even seem to compromise the rights of the church, by 
 admitting to a hearing that which she had condemned. The 
 emperor, however, desired his advice respecting it, and he 
 accordingly read it in private, with the divines who accom- 
 panied him ; and thought, says Father Paul, " that a cen- 
 sure of it ought to be published in his name :" yet, " fore- 
 seeing that this would give occasion to greater tumults, and 
 saying plainly that ' the difference for the most part seemed 
 verbal, and it imported not much whether men spake after 
 one manner or another ;' and that it was not reasonable that 
 the apostolic see should take part in the disputations of the 
 schools ; he refased to have his name used in these conten- 
 tions." On the w^hole, however, he concluded, " that, the 
 doctrine of the Lutherans having been read, in order to 
 remove prejudice," that is, to efface the impression which 
 had been made in its favour, " a confutation of it should be 
 read likewise — but not published, for fear of opening a way 
 to disputations ; and that means should be used, by pro- 
 posing favours and threats, to prevent the Protestants from 
 going further." The emperor's counsellors concurring in 
 this opinion of the legate, the Confession was delivered into 
 the hands of the popish divines, particularly Faber and 
 Eckius, that they might prepare a refutation of it. And on 
 this w^ork they employed between five and six weeks. 
 
 During this period Campeggio's plan of " favours and 
 threats," particularly the latter, began to be put in practice. 
 
 * " Incline our hearts to keep this law," &c. 
 
22 PIET AND CONFESSION 
 
 The Elector of Saxony had never y^t received formal investi- 
 ture of his dignities and dominions from the emperor. He 
 now appUed for this confirmation of his rights, but was sur- 
 prised by a refusal. " The emperor would not grant it, 
 unless the elector would return to the Catholic church." 
 In the same terms he refused to ratify the marriage of the 
 elector's pious and excellent son, John Frederic, with 
 Sibylla of Cleves. This was the more mean and cruel, as, 
 in order to break off a match between his own sister (sub- 
 sequently Queen of Portugal) and this young prince, Charles 
 had promised to afford every countenance in his power 
 to any other suitable alliance. In like manner, he threatened 
 to deprive the Marquis of Brandenburg of the guardianship 
 of his nephew. To the Landgrave of Hesse, on the other 
 hand, he held out the hope of the restoration of Ulric of 
 Wirtemberg, who had been expelled from his dukedom — an 
 object which the landgrave had much at heart. But such 
 " threats and favours" were as unavailing as they deserved 
 to be ; and no one of the Protestant princes was induced 
 by them to swerve in the least from the principles which 
 they had in common avowed. 
 
 At length the popish divines presented their refutation 
 of the Confession. " The conclusion of it," says Sleidan, 
 " was severe and hard ; no less than the ban of the empire 
 being threatened to those that obeyed not." Such was prob- 
 ably the proposal of the divines : but " the princes," Du 
 Pin observes, " were of opinion, that all the biting expres- 
 sions, which the divines could not help bringing in, should be 
 taken out :" and thus qualified, it was read, on the 3d of 
 August, in a full assembly of the states, the emperor pre- 
 mising that it had his approbation, and should receive 
 his support. 
 
 Melancthon speaks of the refutation as " so puerile that 
 it produced much mutual congratulation" among the Prot- 
 estants. " All good and wise men," he says, " seem to be 
 in better spirits since they heard it." After it had been 
 read, it was acknowledged that some abuses existed, of which 
 the emperor would endeavour to procure reformation. He 
 trusted therefore that the Protestants would return into the 
 bosom of the church, and submit themselves. The Elector 
 of Saxony answered for himself and his friends, That they 
 would do any thing for peace which they could do with a 
 
OF AUGSBITRG. 23 
 
 safe conscience ; and, if convicted of any error by scriptural 
 authority, they would readily renounce it. But he desired 
 a copy of the Refutation, that they might consider it at 
 leisure, and show on what points it was not satisfactory to 
 them ; which would be in conformity with the fair and candid 
 discussion to which they had been invited. This however 
 was refused. Two days after, a copy was offered, merely 
 for their private perusal, and on condition that no transcript 
 should be made, and that it should not be communicated to 
 any other persons, as the emperor would have no further 
 debate, but required them to submit to his decision. On 
 such conditions they declined to receive it : and the night 
 following, the landgrave suddenly quitted Augsburg, with- 
 out taking leave ; which much displeased the emperor. Be- 
 ing a discerning, and at the same time a somewhat hasty 
 man, he had seen enough to convince him that no good was 
 to be expected at Augsburg, and therefore he did not wish 
 to be longer detained there. 
 
 Thus all prospect of the friendly discussion of differ- 
 ences, and much more of pacification, seemed to have van- 
 ished. None but the Protestants had submitted their tenets 
 to examination, and they had been met only by an angry 
 " refutation" (as it was called), and by demands of implicit 
 submission, backed by threats in case of their refusal to 
 comply. The Elector of Mentz, however, and other princes, 
 desirous of trying what further could be accomplished, 
 undertook to act as mediators between the parlies. Their 
 mediation however did not wear a very conciliatory aspect, 
 when, in the very first conference which was held, one of 
 their number permitted the declaration to escape him, That 
 if the Elector of Saxony did not renounce and anathematise 
 the new-fangled doctrine which he had embraced, the em- 
 peror would by force of arms deprive him of his dignities, 
 his possessions, and his life. This outrageous sentence, 
 which, it would naturally be suspected, did but betray coun- 
 sels secretly cherished on that side, much disturbed the good 
 elector ; but he did not suffer himself to be in the least 
 moved by it from his purpose. To the honour of those con- 
 cerned, it deserves also to be recorded, that, at this very 
 period of danger and difficulty, four fresh cities, Kempton, 
 Winsheim, Hailbrun, and Weissenberg, all of them of but 
 moderate strength and resources, joined the Protestant 
 
24 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 cause. All the attempts of the mediators proved, as might 
 have been expected, ineffectual. The differences did not 
 admit of compromise. Toleration could not be thought of 
 by the Church of Rome, or the unreserved submission de- 
 manded of them by the Protestants. The whole business 
 was therefore referred back to the emperor at the end of 
 the month, in the same state in which it had been found. 
 " What will be the event," Melancthon here writes, " I 
 cannot divine. Let us pray that God would incline the 
 mind of the emperor to the preservation of peace, of which 
 not only we, but all Germany now stands in the greatest 
 need." 
 
 It will be gratifying to turn from this scene of hopeless 
 controversy, to the employments of Luther during the same 
 period. It has been observed, that he accompanied the 
 elector on his journey to the diet as far as Coburg. He 
 took up his abode at this place in April, and he continued 
 there till the elector's return in October. He was to be 
 here in a degree of concealment, and we might be sure that 
 to his active and ardent spirit this long-continued seclusion 
 would often be irksome. He complains of the rare and tardy 
 communications which he received from Augsburg ; nor was 
 he always well pleased with them when they arrived. We 
 read also of bodily indisposition which he suffered, and of 
 the temptations of Satan with which he was harassed. 
 But his magnanimity, supported by an extraordinary spirit 
 of faith and prayer, enabled him to triumph over all dis- 
 couraging and anxious circumstances ; to be the comforter 
 of his conflicting and often desponding friends ; to carry 
 on his assaults in a very efficient manner against the up- 
 holders of the reigning delusions, and to promote the edifica- 
 tion of the church by pious and instructive writings. Even 
 the gayety of his spirit did not forsake him, and he could 
 mingle amusement both for himself and his friends with his 
 more serious occupations. He employed his leisure at 
 Coburg, we are told, in " translating the Prophets, and 
 composing a commentary on the Psalms ; and, by way of 
 relaxation, in rendering the fables of ^sop into German, 
 or in writing humorous letters to his friends." 
 
 But particularly, a little before the emperor left Inspruck, 
 on his way to Augsburg, Luther composed and published 
 
OF LUTHER. 25 
 
 an address to the ecclesiastical members of the diet, well 
 calculated to make the strong impression winch it appears 
 to have produced. He sent copies to the Prince John Fred- 
 eric at Augsburg, by whom they were forwarded to Dolzig, 
 his father's ambassador to the emperor, with directions to 
 him to put them into the hands of persons well afiected to 
 their cause in the imperial court. In this address, or 
 " Admonition," after apologizing for the liberty he took in 
 offering advice, he first pointed out how fruitless all harsh 
 measures had hitherto proved. Even the opposite party, 
 he observes, bore testimony to his doctrine, having hor- 
 roioed fro7n him, and learned to preach in quite a different 
 manner from what Jhey had heretofore done. He urges the 
 services which he must be confessed to have rendered, in 
 checking the disorders of the fanatics, preventing sedi- 
 tion at Worms, and supporting the authority of the magis- 
 trates ; in putting to rout the venders of indulgences, up- 
 holding the rights of the bishops against the insolence of 
 the monks, and removing many acknowledged abuses. 
 The most specious charge against him was that of innova- 
 tion. He repels it therefore, and indeed retorts it, with 
 great spirit. Having enumerated various particulars, he 
 exclaims, " The remainder of really ancient usages among 
 you, usages sanctioned by the canons and the fatliers of the 
 church, may be comprised in a nutshell ; while the world 
 itself is filled with your novelties. One worships and in- 
 vokes S. Ann, another S. Christopher, another S. George, S. 
 Barbara, S. Sebastian, S. Catharine ; in short, it is impossi- 
 ble to recount the new objects and new rites of worship that 
 have been introduced, and the date and origin of most 
 of which might be distinctly traced." He animadverts with 
 severity on the sort of sermons which had not only been 
 heard in the churches, but, without number, published to 
 the world, and which were of the very silliest character. 
 Nothing was heard in them of Christ, nothing of faith : the 
 very best resounded only with the invocation of saints and 
 the worship of the Virgin. His testimony upon the last of 
 these topics is very striking. " I myself, as much as any 
 others, paid to Mary what was due only to Christ. Him I 
 regarded as an angry Judge ; Mary, as the fountain of 
 grace, to whom all our hopes were to be directed, if we 
 would not be left utterly to sink in despair !" The school- 
 VoL. n.— C 
 
26 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 men, he affirms, "did nothing but propose paradoxes 5 
 their whole art was founded in a contempt of Scripture." 
 He declares before God, that he did not animadvert on these 
 things for the sake of reproaching any persons, but with the 
 sincere desire of their reformation. He then notices the 
 abuse of church censures, as the means of tyranny and 
 extortion. He reprehends also the misapplication of the 
 ecclesiastical funds, the scandals arising from the celibacy 
 of the clergy, and the utter neglect of the duties of their 
 office shown by the bishops. He then earnestly exhorts the 
 persons addressed to repentance and amendment. If no 
 hope was to be entertained from them, he begs that they 
 would not delay to take him off. " While living," he says, 
 " I have been your plague, and dying I will be the death 
 of you. God has stirred me up against you, as he did the 
 prophet Hosea against his people, that I should be to you 
 as a lion and a bear." He and his friends, however, sought 
 no diminution of the rank and revenues of the prelates ; it 
 hurt them not at all that they were lords and princes ; they 
 were ready to obey their authority as far as conscience 
 would permit, and they desired no provision to be made for 
 themselves : God would take care of them in that respect. 
 They only asked peace, and exemption from persecution : 
 they had sought, and would seek nothing, but that the 
 gospel might have free course. 
 
 This bold address of Luther's was publicly sold near the 
 hotel of the Elector of Saxony at Augsburg, and was read 
 to the assembled Roman Catholic princes by the bishop 
 of that city. Yet at the distance of a hundred and fifty 
 years it so moved the wrath of Maimbourg, as to make him 
 exclaim against the lukewarmness of the emperor, who 
 though he might be excused, in consideration of the 
 safe-conduct he had granted, in dismissing Luther from 
 Worms, ought certainly now " to have compelled the Elector 
 of Saxony to deliver him up at Augsburg." 
 
 Seckendorf will not venture to pronounce whether this 
 composition of Luther's, and another to be noticed imme- 
 diately, tended to promote or obstruct the desired result ; 
 though he inclines to the former conclusion ; and he enu- 
 merates various distinguished persons who heard this 
 address of Luther's, and who became within a few years 
 friends and patrons of the reformation : particularly Her- 
 
OF LUTHER. 27 
 
 man, Archbishop of Cologne, Frederic, Count, and soon 
 after Elector Palatine, Joachim, son and successor of the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, Eric Duke of Brunswick, the 
 Dukes of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, and others, whose 
 representatives only were present ; not to mention counts, 
 barons, knights, and free cities. 
 
 The other publication of Luther's to which we have 
 alluded was a printed letter to the Archbishop of Mentz, in 
 which he admonishes him to be on his guard against the 
 Italians ; warns him from the second Psalm, and from the 
 fatal issue which the persecution of the apostles entailed on 
 its authors ; conjures him to stand, like Gamaliel, between 
 the Protestants and their persecutors ; and scruples not to 
 tell him, that while associated with the pope and his abet- 
 ters, he stood involved with Satan himself. 
 
 But the private correspondence of the reformer will be 
 still more interesting to us. 
 
 Writing to the elector, then waiting at Augsburg for the 
 emperor's arrival, he consoles him, under all the trials he 
 endured for the gospel's sake, among other considerations, 
 by the following eulogy of the religious state of the elect- 
 orate of Saxony. " Truly there are more numerous and 
 more excellent pastors and teachers in your highness's do- 
 minions than in any other country in the world. Our youth 
 of both sexes grow up so well instructed in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures and the Catechism, that it affords me the most sensible 
 pleasure to see children learn more, and enabled to believe 
 and avow more, concerning God and Christ, than all the 
 papal colleges, monasteries, and schools heretofore knew, or 
 even yet know. These tender plants form a lovely paradise, 
 planted by God himself in your highness's territories, 
 which has not its equal in all the world besides, The chil- 
 dren of God are protected and daily fed with the bread of 
 life in your dominions : the very reverse of Vvfliich is the case 
 in those of the popish princes. In those countries, however, 
 there are many who look to the sacred land, under your 
 highness's sway, with ardent affection and fervent prayers." 
 He calls God to witness, that he wrote not thus to flatter his 
 prince, but in sincerity and truth, lest Satan should deject 
 and sadden his mind. " I know that subtle agent in part," 
 he says, " and the artifices with which he often disturbs me. 
 
28 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 He is a gloomy and morose spirit, who reluctantly suffers 
 any heart to enjoy peace." 
 
 Luther anticipated no favourable result from the discus- 
 sions at Augsburg. " Certainly," he writes to Agricola, 
 about the 20th of June (before the Confession had been 
 read), " certainly you have to do, not with men, but with 
 the very powers of darkness, well practised and fully 
 equipped ; but what comforts me, full also of rage — blinded 
 by which, they must needs at length run foul of the counsels 
 of Divine Wisdom, like a ship upon a rock." 
 
 In a letter to Justus Jonas, of the same date, he says, " I 
 exult in the gift of God, that our prince possesses so deter- 
 mined and yet so calm a spirit. This makes me trust that 
 my prayers for him are accepted in the kingdom of heaven." 
 " Philip," he adds, that is Melancthon, " is harassed by 
 his philosophy, and nothing else ; for the cause rests with 
 Him who sublimely pronounces, ' None shall pluck it out 
 of my hand.' I would not wish it to be in our hands. 
 Whatever hitherto I have been enabled to cast from myself 
 upon him has prospered : so true is it that ' God is our 
 refuge and strength.' Who ever 'trusted in Him, and was 
 forsaken!'" 
 
 Hearing of Melancthon's great anxiety and distress, he 
 w^rote to him, June 30, as follows : — " Grace and peace to 
 you in Christ ! My dear Philip, I am quite at a loss what 
 to write to you, so much do the thoughts of your vain and 
 sinful anxieties repel my attempts, and convince me that I 
 speak to the deaf. This is owing to your trusting to your- 
 self alone, and having no confidence in me or in others. I 
 will declare the truth. I have been in greater straits than 
 ever you will come into. I hope and pray that no man, not 
 even our enemies, who now so rage against us, may be like 
 me, or exposed to what I have been : and yet in those dis- 
 tresses my heart has often been relieved by the words of a 
 brother : those of Pomeranus, of Jonas, or of yourself, and 
 others. Why then do you not, in your turn, listen to us ? 
 We speak not according to the flesh and the world, but 
 according to God, and doubtless under the guidance of his 
 Holy Spirit. Though we be worthless, I pray you, let not 
 Him who speaks by us be esteemed unworthy of regard. 
 If it be false that God gave his own Son for us, then let the 
 devil, or let any one, take my place : but if he really did so, 
 
OF LUTHER. 29 
 
 then what means our care, our anxiety, our sadness, our 
 trepidation ] As if he who gave his Son for us would not 
 be with us in afi'airs of comparatively light moment ! or as 
 if Satan were stronger than he ! — In private conflicts (if my 
 conflicts with Satan are to be called private), I am weak, 
 and you are strong. In public ones it is the very reverse. 
 You despise your life, but tremble for our cause ! On the 
 contrary, with respect to the cause in which we are engaged, 
 I am confident, and at my ease, being sure that it is right- 
 eous, and the cause of truth, and, in fact, of God and his 
 Christ, which has no need to tremble at the guilt of sin, as 
 I a poor imperfect Christian have. I feel myself therefore 
 almost a secure spectator ; and value not those fierce and 
 threatening papists a rush. If we fall, Christ the Ruler 
 of the world will fall with us ; and if he falls, I choose 
 rather to fall with Christ than stand with Caesar. — Nor are 
 you at Augsburg the only persons who uphold this cause. 
 Believe me, I am faithfully with you in groans and prayers. 
 I wish I might be personally present ; for certainly the cause 
 belongs as much, and more, to me than to any of you. Nor 
 did I take it up through any rashness, or from the desire 
 either of glory or of gain ; as the Spirit himself is witness, 
 and as facts have declared, and will yet more widely declare. 
 For Christ's sake, therefore, I beseech you, do not so 
 neglect those divine promises and consolations, ' Cast thy 
 burden upon the Lord ; wait for the Lord ; be strong, and 
 he shall comfort thy heart.' The Psalms and Gospels are 
 full of such passages. * Be of good cheer, I have overcome 
 the world.' Christ is the conqueror of the world. Vvliat, 
 then, do we fear a vanquished enemy as if he were the vic- 
 tor 1 Such a sentence would be worth fetching from Rome 
 or Jerusalem, though we had to creep all the way upon our 
 hands and knees for it. But plenty and famiharity make us 
 hold things cheap. Faith is weak, but let us pray with the 
 apostles, ' Lord, increase our faith !' — But I write in vain, 
 since you, instructed by your philosophy, attempt to manage 
 all these things by reason alone : you let reason lead you 
 into folly, and vex yourself to death ; never considering that 
 the business is placed quite beyond your hand and your 
 counsel, and will be conducted independently of your care. 
 And Christ forbid that it should ever come into your hands ! 
 We should then come presently to a sudden, but forsooth a 
 C3 
 
30 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 glorious end ! — But do not you meddle with things too high 
 
 for you The Lord Jesus preserve you, that your faith 
 
 may not fail, but grow and conquer ! Amen. I have 
 prayed, do pray, and will pray for you ; and I do not doubt 
 that I am heard, for I feel that Amen in my heart. If what 
 we desire does not come to pass, what is better will : for we 
 look for a kingdom, when all things in this world have 
 passed away." 
 
 About the same time Melancthon had informed him that 
 a great part of their time at Augsburg was spent in tears, 
 and that he could not fully open his mind to Pontanus, for 
 fear of further distressing him. On this Luther writes, " I 
 hate these cares with which you are consumed. It is not 
 the greatness of our cause, but the greatness of our unbe- 
 lief that occasions them. The cause was more arduous in 
 the times of Huss, and many others. And, however great it 
 may be, its Author and Conductor is great ; for it is not 
 ours. If we are wrong, let life recant ; but if right, why do 
 we make him a liar in his promises, who has bid us be of a 
 composed and cheerful mind. It is your philosophy, not 
 your theology, that disquiets you and your friend Joachim 
 (Camerarius), who seems to sutler with you under the same 
 disease. What worse can the devil do to us than kill us] 
 As to the cause itself (whether it be insensibility or courage 
 I leave it to Christ to judge), I feel little disquiet about it ; 
 nay, I have better hopes of it than I expected to entertain. 
 If ice are not worthy to support it, others will be. If the 
 danger increases, I shall scarcely be restrained from flying 
 to you, that I may behold the formidable display of Satan's 
 teeth." 
 
 Shortly after he says, enough, and more than enough, 
 had already been conceded in the Confession ; and adds, 
 " Day and night my mind is exercised upon this subject, 
 considering, reconsidering, arguing, and examining every 
 part of Scripture, and my assured confidence in our doctrine 
 continually grows stronger. By the help of God I will 
 suf!er no more to be extorted from me, be the consequence 
 what it may." He objects to their speaking of " following 
 his authority." " I would not be, or allow myself to be 
 called your guide. If it is not equally your cause, let it 
 not be called mine, or be thought to be imposed on you 
 by me." 
 
OF LUTHER. 31 
 
 In the middle of July he writes to Justus Jonas, that he 
 had " less apprehension from the threats than from the 
 artifices and frauds practised against them at Aucrsbur'^r." 
 And indeed it is necessary to bear in mind the variety of 
 ways in which the supporters of the Protestant cause were 
 there assailed. They were indeed in general, ^houo-h not 
 always, treated with a degree of civility, particularly "by the 
 emperor, who seems in this way to have led both Luther and 
 Melancthon into the opinion, which they willingly admitted, 
 that he was more favourably disposed to them than others 
 were. But as to the avowed zealots of the papal party, and 
 some also who more sincerely wished for peace, we must 
 conceive of Melancthon, Pontanus, and their coadjutors, as 
 baited by them from day to day, and every approach to their 
 minds incessantly attempted, for the purpose of awing, 
 alluring, or betraying them into concessions injurious to 
 their cause or their honour. And it is under the influence 
 of a daily conflict of this kind that we must suppose the 
 gentle spirit of Melancthon, anxious to refuse nothing that 
 he might lawfully yield, yet most religiously fearful of be- 
 traying the truth, to have been harassed to the degree we 
 have seen. The very idea also of involving his country in 
 a civil war, the too probable and eventually the actual con- 
 sequence, must have been distressing in the extreme to a 
 patriot and a Christian — especially one of Melancthon's 
 temper. Of the direct artifices practised, we have the fol- 
 lowing notice in a manuscript relation of the transactions 
 at Augsburg, from a high authority, quoted by Seckendorf, 
 *' The hypocrisy of some was shown in conversing kindly 
 with the evangelical ministers, that they might corrupt 
 them, and fi^sh out of them the secrets of their princes ; so 
 that it became necessary to forbid them to enter into these 
 conversations. In short, such were the arts, such the 
 machinations employed, that their adversaries themselves 
 could not sufficiently wonder that the Protestants were not 
 entrapped by them." 
 
 When Luther heard of the demand that the abrogated 
 rites should be restored, the monasteries rebuilt, and all 
 things replaced on their old footing, he says, " Let us, on 
 our part, demand that they restore to life Leonard Cssar,* 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 313. 
 
32 PROCEEDINGS OF LUTHER. 
 
 and many others whom they have iniquitously put to death. 
 Let them restore the many souls ruined by their impious 
 doctrine. Let them restore also the wealth extorted by 
 indulgfences and other cheats. Let them restore the glory 
 of God, insulted by so many blasphemies ; the purity of the 
 church, so foully corrupted ; and other things, more than 
 can be enumerated." 
 
 Such were the prudence, the undaunted courage, the 
 faith, the piety, the zeal with which Luther sustained the 
 spirits of his harassed and afHicted friends at this arduous 
 period. All his letters of this date are in the same strain. 
 In one of them, addressed to Pontanus, I find the follow- 
 ing fine burst of sentiment and description. " I looked out 
 at my window" — probably alluding to his custom of offering 
 up his devotions standing at a window — " I looked out at 
 my window, and saw two prodigies. I beheld the glittering 
 stars, and all the glorious vault of heaven : I looked around 
 for the pillars by which it was upheld, but I could discover 
 none. Yet it remained firm and secure. The same unseen 
 Hand which had formed sustained it still. Yet numbers 
 anxiously search on all sides for its supports ; could they 
 feel them with their hands they might then be at ease ; but 
 as this is impossible, they live in constant disquiet, lest the 
 heavens should fall dawn upon their heads ! — I beheld again, 
 and lo, thick clouds of water, like a mighly ocean, which I 
 saw nothing to contain, nothing to hold up, rolled above our 
 beads. Yet they descended not upon us ; but after pre- 
 senting a threatening aspect for a little time, they passed 
 away, and a brilliant rainbow succeeded them. This was 
 our protection.* Yet it appeared frail and evanescent ; 
 and though it has ever hitherto proved availing, still num- 
 bers think more of the thick and dark mass of waters, than 
 of the slender fleeting arch of light. They want to have 
 sensible proof of its sufficiency, and because they cannot 
 obtain that, they live in dread of a second deluge." The 
 application of all this to the case of his friends at Augsburg 
 is obvious. 
 
 From this passage we obtain some intimation of the means 
 by which our heroic reformer was enabled to soar so high, 
 and to maintain such an elevation of confidence in God. 
 
 * Gen. ix. 
 
CONCLUDING TRANSACTIONS. 33 
 
 The secret, however, is best discovered to us by the follow- 
 ing account, given by Vitus Theodorus, one of his compan- 
 ions in the castle of Coburg. " I cannot," he says, " enough 
 admire the extraordinary cheerfulness, constancy, faith, and 
 hope of this man, in these trying times. He constantly 
 feeds these good affections by a very diligent study of the 
 Word of God. Then, not a day passes in which he does 
 not employ in prayer at least three of his ver}^ best hours. 
 Once I happened to hear him at prayer. Gracious God ! 
 what spirit, what faith is there in his expressions ! He 
 petitions God with as much reverence as if he were actually 
 in the Divine presence, and yet with as firm a hope and 
 confidence as he would address a father or a friend. ' I 
 know,' said he, ' thou art our Father and our God ; therefore 
 I am sure thou wilt bring to naught the persecutors of thy 
 children. For, shouldst thou fail to do this, thine own 
 cause, being connected with ours, would be endangered. 
 It is entirely thine own concern : we, by thy providence, 
 have been compelled to take a part. Thou therefore wilt 
 be our defence !' — While I was listening to Luther praying 
 in this manner at a distance, my soul seemed on fire within 
 me, to hear the man address God so like a friend, and yet 
 with so much gravity and reverence ; and also to hear him, 
 in the course of his prayer, insisting on the promises con- 
 tained in the Psalms as if he was sure his petitions would 
 be granted." 
 
 We proceed now to the concluding transactions at the 
 diet. — The conferences between the two parties were re- 
 luctantly abandoned by the Roman Catholic princes, most 
 of whom would fain have effected a reconciliation ; but then 
 it must have been by the Protestants submitting to their 
 opponents in all material points, and restoring the old order 
 of things. The terminating of the conferences was, on the 
 other hand, highly agreeable to Luther, who saw that recon- 
 ciliation was impossible, and that no good could result from 
 them. 
 
 Finding all means ineffectual to accomplish his purpose, 
 the emperor, on the 7th of September, after consultation 
 with the partisans of Rome, sent for the Protestant princes, 
 and in the presence only of his brother and a select num- 
 ber of his confidential advisers, expressed to them, by the 
 
34 CONCLUDING TRANSACTIONS 
 
 mouth of Frederic Count Palatine, his surprise and disap- 
 pointment at their conduct ; " that they, who were few in 
 number, should have iatrodiiced novelties, contrary to tlie 
 ancient and most sacred custom of the universal church ; 
 should have framed to themselves a singular kind of religion, 
 different from what was professed by the Catholics, by him- 
 self, his brother, and all the princes and states of the empire ; 
 nay, utterly disagreeing with the practice of all the kings in 
 the earth, and of their own ancestors. Being desirous, how- 
 ever, of peace, he would use his interest with the pope and 
 the other princes to procure a general council, as soon as the 
 place could be agreed upon ; bat still on this condition, that 
 they should, in the mean time, follow the same religion 
 which he and the rest of the princes professed." The Prot- 
 estants, in reply, " denied that they had formed any new 
 sect ; thanked him for the proposal of a council ; but, as to 
 receiving the rites and doctrines of the Church of Rome, 
 which had been abolished, they declared that they could not 
 do it consistently with their consciences." He then ordered 
 a committee to be chosen for framing a decree, and required 
 the Elector of Saxony to stay four days longer to hear it read. 
 After hearing the draught of the recess read, the Elector 
 of Saxony and his associates remarked, by Pontanus, "That 
 they could never admit that the Confession had been refuted : 
 on the contrary, they were more than ever convinced that it 
 was conformable to the Word of God, which they would 
 more fully have demonstrated had a copy of the Refutation 
 been allowed them ; but that, as that had been refused, they 
 had, with great care, drawn up an answer to so much of its 
 contents as they had been able to recollect ; which answer 
 they now begged to present to the emperor.* That, with 
 respect to disseminating their sentiments, and making pros- 
 elytes, they had compelled no man to embrace their doctrine, 
 nor ever w^ould do it ; but that, as they had stated in their 
 protest against the decree of Spires, they could not be re- 
 strained from doing, within their respective jurisdictions, 
 what conscience dictated with regard to religion. That they 
 had no communion with anabaptists and sacramentarians ; 
 nor were such persons to be found in their dominions. And, 
 
 * Melancthoii's Defence of the Confession— one of the symbolical books) 
 of the JiUtheran church. 
 
AT AUGSBURG. 35 
 
 finally, as the case was most important, and some of tho 
 parties concerned were now present only by deputy, they 
 desired to have a copy of the proposed decree, that they 
 might fully make up their minds respecting it before it 
 passed." 
 
 The apology, or answer to the Refutation, was refused by 
 the emperor; who the next day, by the mouth of the Elec- 
 tor of Brandenburg, " expressed his astonishment at the 
 assurance which the Protestant princes manifested, in affirm- 
 ing the truth and piety of their religion, and thus implicitly 
 charging, not only the emperor and the other princes, but 
 all their own ancestors, as heretics. In the proposed decree," 
 he told them, " he had granted more than he ought to have 
 done ; and they would have to answer for the serious con- 
 sequences which might follow, if they did not acquiesce in 
 its enactments. That, as to their offered answer to the 
 Refutation, he had before declared that he would admit of 
 no further debate : he neither might nor ought to do it : that 
 nothing should be altered (in their favour) in the decree as 
 already drawn up ; and that unless they submitted to it, and 
 concurred in it, he would take another course — in fact, that 
 occasion would be given him to join with the other princes 
 in making a new decree, and in taking such measures that 
 the sects lately sprung up might be utterly rooted out, and 
 the ancient faith, rites, and ceremonies be preserved in 
 force — which were things that properly belonged to his care 
 and duty. That he too regarded conscience, and the salva- 
 tion of his soul ; and would far less forsake the ancient 
 religion, which had been handed down through successive 
 ages, than they would their new one." The Elector of 
 Brandenburg further took upon him to say, "That, unless 
 they obeyed, the rest of the states would do what the em- 
 peror should be pleased to command them ; they having 
 already promised to assist him with their lives and fortunes, 
 for putting an end to these dissensions ; and that the em- 
 peror, on the other hand, had passed his word to bend all 
 his force and power to that object, and not again to quit the 
 limits of the empire before he had seen it accomplished. 
 These things," the elector said, " he now represented to 
 them by order of the princes and states." 
 
 To the latter part of this address the Protestant princes 
 replied with spirit, by Pontanus : " That they heard it with 
 
36 CONCLUDING TRANSACTIONS 
 
 astonishment : that they had given no cause for it ; being as 
 ready as any persons to venture their lives and fortunes in 
 the service of the emperor and the empire." Several of the 
 princes also afterward apologized for it, declaring it was 
 unauthorized, and that they had told the emperor so ; who 
 is said himself to have pronounced it "unwarranted and 
 more than was called for." 
 
 The Elector of Saxony left Augsburg that evening, after 
 having, with singular cheerfulness and alacrity of manner, 
 in taking leave of the emperor, again expressed his con- 
 fidence, "That the doctrine of the Confession was tirmly 
 founded on Scripture, and that the gates of hell could 
 never prevail, or even stand against it." A few days after, 
 at Nuremberg, being asked by the senate his opinion con- 
 cerning the measures which it would be proper to adopt, he 
 v/isely and piously replied, " That he had no doubt God 
 would mercifully uphold his holy Word, and the confessors 
 of it : that his intention was to take the advice of all his 
 counsellors and divines, and that he recommended to them 
 and the other Protestant states to do the same ; after which 
 they might communicate counsels with one another." 
 
 Besides the " Confession of Augsburg," two others were 
 presented to the diet : one, called the Tetrapolitan, deriving 
 its name from the four cities of Strasburg, Constance, Mem- 
 mingen, and Lindaw, and the other that of Zwingle, the 
 Swiss reformer. The former of these was drawn up by 
 Bucer, and, as well as that of which we have so largely 
 treated, was esteemed a masterpiece. Indeed the two dif- 
 fered, in sentiment, in little else than the article of the 
 Eucharist — concerning the sense in which Christ's body and 
 blood are present in that sacrament. Bucer, who seems to 
 have occupied a middle ground between Luther and Zwin- 
 gle upon that point, and more nearly the ground of our own 
 church than either of them, earnestly pleaded that, as the 
 danger seemed to thicken, and their difference did not ap- 
 pear very essential, they should all join in one confession ; 
 a union which the Landgrave of Hesse also had long been 
 labouring to effect : but here even the mild and yielding 
 Melancthon was as tenacious as Luther himself could be, 
 and would by no means admit of it, or hold communion 
 with those who differed from him upon this subject ! Such, 
 
AT AUGSBURG. 37 
 
 alas ! is the weakness, and, on one point or ailother, the 
 narrowness of human nature, even in the best and greatest 
 of men. 
 
 Of the Confession of the four cities a separate refutation, 
 and that of a sharper kind, was prepared by Faber and 
 Eckius. The authors of these repeated refutations were 
 Uberally rewarded for the services they had rendered ; Faber, 
 in particular, soon after obtaining from Ferdinand the bishop- 
 ric of Vienna ; which gave occasion to Erasmus sarcasti- 
 cally to remark, that ^'poor Luther made many rich.'''' 
 
 That eminent scholar had been invited to be present at 
 Augsburg, and to assist with his advice in the religious dis- 
 cussions : but he declined the honour, having no inclination, 
 to incur the odium with which it would be attended, prob- 
 ably from both parties. Indeed he was seriously ill at the 
 time. He corresponded, however, with different persons con- 
 cerned — Campeggio, Melancthon, and others ; still preser- 
 ving his character, by " hanging always," as Maimbourg 
 not unjustly expresses it, " in suspense between the two 
 parties." He pleaded, however^ for the toleration of the 
 Protestants, as the only means of preventing dangerous 
 extremities. " The power of the emperor," he writes to 
 Campeggio, " is great ; but all do not acknowledge it. The 
 Germans so acknowledge his authority as rather to com- 
 mand than to obey. Luther's doctrine is spread all over 
 Germany ; so that from the ocean as far as Switzerland 
 that chain of mischief is stretched. If the emperor there- 
 fore should declare that he would in all things comply with 
 the interest and desire of the pope, it is to be feared he 
 would have but few to approve his doings. Time and 
 patience sometimes cure the worst distempers : the Bohe- 
 mians were tolerated, though they acknowledged not the 
 pope ; and if the Lutherans were treated in the same man- 
 ner, it would not be amiss, in my judgment." " Such, how- 
 ever," remarks Maimbourg, with evident satisfaction, "such 
 were not the sentiments of the emperor or of the Catholic 
 princes." 
 
 The diet continued to sit about six weeks after the depart- 
 ure of the Protestant princes, engaged in providing sup- 
 plies for the Turkish war, and arranging other matters ; and 
 it then closed l)y issuing its recess, on the 19th of Novem- 
 ber. This decree enjoined the continuance, or the restora- 
 
 VoL. II.~D 
 
38 CONCLUDING TRANSACTIONS 
 
 tion where they had been aboUshed, of all the accustomed 
 rites and superstitions ; condemned the denial of " free 
 will"* as " brutish, and reproachful to God," and rejected 
 the doctrine of justification by faith only ; ordained that 
 married priests should be ejected from their livings, which 
 should immediately be given to others ; but that such as 
 should forsake their wives, and return to their former state, 
 might be restored by their bishops, with the consent of the 
 pope or his legate ; the rest were to have " no refuge or 
 sanctuary, but to be banished or otherwise condignly pun- 
 ished." It declared null and void " all unreasonable compacts 
 which the priests had anywhere been forced to make, and all 
 unjust alienations of church property :" that " nothing 
 should be changed in those things which concerned the faith 
 and worship of God ; and that they who acted otherwise 
 should forfeit life and goods :" that " monasteries and religious 
 houses which had been destroyed should be rebuilt ; and 
 such persons within the territories of the Protestants as 
 followed the ancient faith should be taken under the pro- 
 tection of the empire : that application should be made to 
 the pope for a general council, to be summoned within six 
 months, and to meet within twelve months afterward : that 
 no appeal or protest against the enactments of this decree 
 should have force : and that, to the end that the decree might 
 be observed and put in execution as far as it concerned faith 
 and religion, all men should be obliged to employ whatever 
 fortune God had been pleased to bestow upon them, and their 
 blood and lives besides : and that no man should be admitted 
 into the judicature in the Imperial Chamber" (the supreme 
 court of the empire, supported at the common charge, for 
 determining all questions that arose among the different 
 states and members), " unless he sanctioned this decree 
 made about religion ; and that those who were admitted and 
 refused to do so should be expelled." 
 
 Such was the treatment which the pope, the emperor, and 
 the great majority of the princes and states of Germany 
 thought proper for men to whom, after all allowances, we 
 
 *The reader must distinguish between free will in the sense in which 
 itwas denied by the reformers, and is rejected by our church (Art. X), 
 and free agency. All that is meant to be denied is, that fallen man will 
 ever choose tliat which is spiritually good, without the preveuient grace 
 of God. 
 
AT AUGSBURG. 39 
 
 may apply the language of the apostle, and say concerning 
 them, "Of whom the world was not worthy." Such was 
 the *' infamous"* decree of the diet of Augsburo-. We 
 cannot scruple to apply this epithet to it, whether we con- 
 template its particular clauses concerning the married 
 priests — holding out favour and reward to those who would 
 " forsake their wives," but depriving of " all refuge and 
 sanctuary," as the most atrocious of criminals, those who 
 should retain them ; concerning the restoration of all the 
 exposed and exploded superstitions and idolatries ; and con- 
 cerning the obligations of all men to employ their blood 
 and treasure in giving effect to these enactments : — or 
 whether we consider its general tenor and design. It openly 
 trampled under foot all the sacred rights of conscience, and 
 breathed a determination to suppress by force and bloodshed, 
 and at the risk of kindling the flames of civil war through- 
 out Germany, the light which had lately broken in, and the 
 reformation which was in progress. One of the many im- 
 portant lessons which we are to learn from the review of 
 such histories is, the duty of gratitude for the exemption 
 which we enjoy from evils of this kind, and for the blessed 
 changes which have taken place since the commencement 
 of the sixteenth century. At the same time we must not 
 too confidently rely on the continuance of our present repose 
 and prosperity. Still the spirit of the world is hostile to 
 that which is of God ; and it may again show itself to be so 
 beyond our expectations. It behooves us " while we have 
 the Ught to walk in the light, that we may be the children 
 of the light — lest darkness come upon us :" and still to 
 remember that, " if we love father, or mother, or our own 
 lives more than Christ," we are not and "cannot be his 
 disciples." f 
 
 The principles which were advanced in the interviews 
 between the Protestants and the more dignified of their 
 opponents, particularly the emperor himself, may also de- 
 serve our remark. They were such as are still urged, though 
 now generally in a more covert manner, against those who 
 exhibit the " singularity" which ever belongs, more or less, 
 to " the power of godliness," in this fallen world. " The 
 Protestants were few in number, an inconsiderable party : 
 
 * Dean Milner. 
 
40 CONCLUDING TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 the)^ onght to submit to the majority, and follow the same 
 religion with the emperor and the rest of the princes. 
 Theirs was a notel doctrine : they introduced a singular 
 kind of religion, disagreeing with the practice of all the 
 kings of the earth. If they were right, all others were wrong ; 
 and even /Ac/r own a7«cc^/o?"5 all heretics. T\ve\x assiirance 
 could not be sufticiently wondered at. The emperor had 
 regard to conscioice as well as they, and would maintain the 
 aiicient religion." It is somewhat amusing to hear the 
 gravity with which these arguments are urged ; while all 
 appeals to the authority of Scripture are considered as super- 
 seded by them. Luther subsequently made remarks on 
 some of them, which mp.y deserve our attention. Lecturing 
 on Isaiah xix. 11, " How say ye, I am the son of the wise, 
 the son of ancient kings V he says, " This was the first 
 argument of the ungodly against the righteous, and it will 
 be the last : ' Would you, standing alone, condemn so an- 
 cient a church ? Are you alone possessed of wisdom ] and 
 were our ancestors blind V With these two things, the 
 reputation of wisdom, and the boast of antiquity, their 
 minds are inflated. The Diatribe of Erasmus amounts to 
 nothing but what is here written, * I am the son of the 
 ancient.'" Again, on xxviii. 21, 22 — the rejection of the 
 Jews : " They assail us with this argument, ' Do you think 
 that you, so few in number, are the church, in preference to 
 us, who are numerous, powerful, and possessed of ofiicial 
 right V We simply answer, as Paul did to the Jews, However 
 many and great ye be, if ye believe not in Christ, and place 
 not your trust in his righteousness, we regard you not. Ye 
 are not the church by virtue of your filling ecclesiastical 
 oftices. It is written that the abomination may ' stand in 
 the holy place,' and that Antichrist shall ' sit in the temple 
 of God.' The church is known by faith in Christ, and not 
 by office and numbers." 
 
 Finally, it is probably to be regarded as a matter of con- 
 gratulation, that all the attempts to efiect the proposed 
 accommodation between the parties failed. Had it been 
 accomplished, it must have been by concessions Vvhich would 
 have proved eventually, if not immediately, dangerous to the 
 Protestant cause. Luther well observes, " If mutual con- 
 cessions are made, they will take ours largely, more largely, 
 most largely ; and make their own sparingly, more sparingly, 
 
LUTHER OS THE EDICT OF AUGSBURG. 41 
 
 most sparingly." Seckendorf seems also with good reason 
 jealous of leaving the Roman Catholic prelates in possession 
 of that full jurisdiction which Melancthon, and even Lu- 
 ther, would have conceded to them. It might have been 
 kept in check while such men as the first reformers presided 
 over the Protestant societies ; but when they were removed, 
 and less powerful and less watchful pastors succeeded, it 
 might have gone far towards carrying things gradually back 
 to their former state. Here too the finger of Providence is 
 to be acknowledged and adored. 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 Protestant Measures of Defence — League of Smalkald — Pa- 
 cification of Nuremberg — Death of the Elector Johriy and 
 Succession of John Frederic — Progress of the Reforma- 
 tion — Writings of Luther. 
 
 The decree of the diet of Augsburg naturally excited the 
 most serious apprdiensions in all the members of the Prot- 
 estant body : and they accordingly proceeded to form such 
 plans, and to adopt such measures, as appeared most likely 
 to protect thera against the rising storm. 
 
 Luther, sensible how greatly the minds of the German 
 people would be agitated on the occasion, and how much 
 those, in particular, who favoured his cause might need both 
 encouragement and couns<^l, published, before the close of 
 the year, his " Warning to his beloved Countrymen." In 
 this work he complains loudly of the inexorable spirit of his 
 adversaries, especially the ecclesiastics, " whom, in the late 
 diet, no submissions, no entreaties, no considerations what- 
 ever could soften. Their threats, however, he is confident, 
 would be vain and impotent. There was even danger of 
 their raising popular seditions against their authors : which, 
 notwithstandhig, he condemned, and discountenanced by all 
 means in his power. If war should ensue, his party were 
 free from the guilt of it, and might expect protection from 
 God-: but for himself, if he lost his life in the contest, the 
 D2 
 
42 LUTHER ON THE EDICT OF AUGSBURG. 
 
 pope would find this a fatal blow to his own cause. His 
 adversaries," he affirmed, " were compelled most reluctantly 
 to acknowledge, that the Confession contained no article 
 contrary to Scripture, but only to the pontitical impositions : 
 they therefore were guilty of tyranny and murder, who 
 shed the blood of innocent persons for no other ciime than 
 adherence to the Protestant doctrines. If war were com- 
 menced against them, he for his part would write nothing, 
 either to incite his friends to self-defence or to discounte- 
 nance them in it, but would leave to the law3''ers the question 
 of its equity : yet he must own that he could not condemn 
 , those who defended themselves against rapine and slaugh- 
 ter." He animadverts severely on the papal party for con- 
 cealing their " Refutation." " They were ashamed of it, 
 or afraid to let it see the light. Indeed, when read in the 
 diet it was heard in sad and downcast silence ; the very 
 reverse of the joy and approbation with which the Confes- 
 sion was listened to." He adverts to some of the arts 
 which had been practised at Augsburg ; and then, " as he 
 knows they called him ' the prophet of Germany,' he says 
 he would assume the office, and warn the people not to take 
 arms against the Protestant princes, even though the em- 
 peror should require it ; for the command would be one 
 which he had no right to give. He however could not 
 apprehend such a proceeding on the part of the emperor." 
 He again recounts and exposes the monstrous errors and 
 abuses of popery ; and concludes with repeatmg his earnest 
 deprecation of forcible and warlike measures, and declaring 
 his own ardent desire of peace and quiet. 
 
 He soon after published " Animadversions on the Edict 
 of Augsburg," and a " Defence" of this and the preceding 
 work against an anonymous censurer of them, who wrote 
 from Dresden. 
 
 Thus Luther, in his appropriate way, did his part to for- 
 tify the minds of the people, and to support the great cause 
 of the reformation. The princes and states also did the 
 same in their way. They held various meetings, and 
 formed leagues for mutual defence. 
 
 The landgrave, more impetuous than the rest, and less 
 averse to the doctrine of the Swiss reformers respecting the 
 sacrament, entered into alliance with Zuric, Basle, and 
 Strasburg. The Protestant leaders also met at Smalkald, 
 
LEAGUE OF SMALKALD. 43 
 
 in Upper Saxony, and laid the foundation of the famous 
 league which took its name from tliat place. Seven princes 
 and twenty-four cities entered into the league. The citiesin 
 general wished the Swiss to be admitted as parties to it, but 
 the Elector of Saxony, the Marquis of Brandenburg, and 
 *v others, would not agree to this, on account of their differ- 
 ^/ ence on the subject of the sacrament ; a determination in 
 which they were unhappily confirmed by Luther. The 
 rejection of the Swiss alliance seems, in many points of 
 view, to be just subject of regret : it displayed a discord 
 among brethren : but, as far as it only detracted from the 
 strength of the confederation, we may concur in the pious 
 sentiment of Melancthon. He regards the hand of Divine 
 Providence in it, and fears that, if all had been united, con- 
 fidence in their own strength might have led them to pro- 
 ceed with a precipitation and impetuosity unbecoming a 
 religious reformation. 
 
 The confederates further addressed letters to the Kings 
 of England, France, and Denmark. To the last of these 
 they proposed a concurrence in their league : of the two 
 former they chiefly asked that they would use their influ- 
 ence to obtain a free general council. Friendly answers 
 were received from these monarchs ; and the King of France, 
 in particular, would doubtless have been glad to secure allies 
 within the empire. No specific assistance however was at 
 this period derived from these foreign powers, except a small 
 supply in money from the King of England. 
 
 In addition to the object of mutual defence, it appears to 
 have been proposed by the contracting parties at Smalkald, 
 that learned men, divines and lawyers, should be deputed by 
 them, to draw up a scheme of rites and government to be 
 observed in all the reformed churches, that they might not 
 be exposed to the reproach of " doing every man what was 
 right in his own eyes." The task, however, was found to be 
 one of great delicacy, and attended with so many difficulties, 
 that the design was abandoned.* 
 
 * This acknowledgment would be highly gratifying to a writer of the 
 tone and temper of ISossuet, Bishop of Meaux. In the fourth book of his 
 celebrated "Histoire des Variations," he has collected proofs of the 
 defective order and discipline of the Protestant churches. But even the 
 disorders incident to liberty are preferable to the constrained uniformity 
 produced by absolute despotism : and, much as the Christian mind will 
 
44 LEAGUE OF SMALKALD. 
 
 The question here presents itself, how far it was lawful 
 for the Protestant princes and states to defend themselves, 
 by force of arms, against their superior lord the emperor, 
 and the decrees of the diet. Various quotations from Lu- 
 ther upon this subject, as collected by Dr. Milner, have 
 appeared in the former volume of this history : but we may 
 remark, that the reasons assigned in some of them were 
 either temporary or not very satisfactory :* and the passages 
 do not appear to exhibit Luther's latest and most matured 
 judgment on the question. On some of them Seckendorf 
 very justly remarks, that Luther assumed that the German 
 princes were " absolutely subjects of the emperor," as the 
 people under a despotic government are of their monarch ; 
 " a position which statesmen and the legal authorities could 
 never admit." It appears,! that the several princes and 
 states were sovereign within their respective dominions ; 
 that the emperor was only the head of the confederacy 
 formed among them for their common interest ; that, on his 
 inauguration, he entered into a solemn engagement (styled 
 " the capitulation") to preserve the rights and privileges of 
 each inviolate ; and that neither he alone, nor even the 
 assembled diet, could be entitled to interfere in the religious 
 and other merely internal regulations of any state, without 
 the consent, and much more in opposition to the sentiments, 
 of its head. On these grounds even the most conscientious 
 of the princes became satisfied, and Luther concurred with 
 them, that they would be justified in opposing force to force, 
 for the defence of their own rights, and of the civil and 
 religious liberties of their subjects, in case the emperor 
 should attempt to execute, by arms, the edict of Augsburg. 
 To this strict line of defence against actual violence all the 
 leading parties, with one exception, confined their measures. 
 The landgrave, as on a former occasion,^ was not content 
 
 find to lament in the collections of this acute enemy of the reformation, 
 it will still feel itself, when taking even the most unfavourable view of the 
 Saxon churches of the sixteenth century, in the midst of a scene much 
 more resembling that presented by the apostolic epistles, than in taking 
 any view, at all approaching to fairness, of the Romish church of the 
 same period. Let the confessions and lamentations of the reformers, 
 which Hossuet has brought together be qualified by such passages as 
 that of Luther, addressed to the Elector of Saxony, in the preceding 
 chapter. See p. 27. 
 • V<iL i p. iW. t Robertsoa's Charles V., vol. i. % Vol. i. p. 330. 
 
PACIFICATION OF NrREMBERG. 45 
 
 with this : he would have begun the attack ; and some few 
 of the cities seconded him : but his counsel was justly 
 rejected and condemned by all the rest. 
 
 The expediency of the course adopted by the Protestant 
 powers is another question. There can be no doubt that 
 their league, combining with the peculiar circumstances of 
 the times, held the emperor in check, and formed the great 
 obstacle to his ambitious designs with respect to Germany 
 for many years ; and thus served to protect the reformation 
 to the very end of Luther's life : but it was at the same 
 time, and for this very reason, in a high degree galling to 
 the proud and aspiring mind of Charles, and tended to irri- 
 tate the severit}'^ of his proceedings when he did succeed in 
 crushing the confederation, and, as he vainly imagined, had 
 finally triumphed over the Protestant cause. 
 
 But for the present it pleased Providence to relieve the 
 Protestants from their apprehensions in an unexpected 
 manner. The emperor was by no means prepared to en- 
 gage in a civil war. The war with the Turks was of itself 
 suiiicienlly urgent. They had again invaded Hungary 
 with an immense army, and for the avowed purpose of de- 
 throning Ferdinand : and the Protestants, before the late 
 diet separated, had declared that they could neither furnish 
 any aid against the Turks, unless they were themselves 
 protected, and peace secured v.'ithin the empire ; nor con- 
 tribute to the expenses of the imperial chamber, unless they 
 were placed on the same footing as the other states, with 
 respect to that court. Contrary also to their solemn protesta- 
 tions, as well as to those of some of the Roman Catholic 
 princes, Charles had latel}'- procured his brother to be 
 elected King of the Romans, and his successor in the em- 
 pire, which was considered as a step towards establishing 
 hereditary and absolute authorit}-, repugnant to the consti- 
 tution and subversive of the liberties of Germany. On all 
 these grounds he was desirous of conciliation, and readily 
 listened to the proposals of the Archbishop of Mentz, and 
 Lewis Elector Palatine, who offered to mediate between 
 him and the Protestants. By this means, after many diffi- 
 culties and protracted conferences, a pacific arrangement 
 was at length effected, on terms highly advantageous to the 
 Protestants. This pacification, called, from the place where 
 it was agreed upon, the Pacification of Nuremberg, was 
 
46 PACIFICATION OF NUREMBERG. 
 
 settled in that city in the month of July, 1532, and solemnly 
 ratified the month following, in the imperial diet held at 
 Ratisbon. "By this treaty," says Dr. Robertson, "the 
 Protestants of Germany, who had hitherto been viewed 
 only as a reHgious sect, came henceforth to be considered as 
 a political body of no small consequence." How far their 
 attainment of political consequence was conducive to the 
 interests of genuine religion among them, or how far, on 
 the contrary, it was prejudicial, and required some powerful 
 counterpoise, may furnish matter for grave and serious con- 
 sideration ; but one cannot forbear rejoicing in their present 
 deUverance, and in the triumph of a righteous cause. 
 
 Scultetus here very properly calls us to admire the provi- 
 dence of God, which made the Turkish sultan the great 
 instrument of annulling, or at least suspending the execu- 
 tion of the decree of Augsburg against the reformation. 
 
 Maimbourg affects to regard this pacification as a mere 
 provisional measure ; and such it might really be, as ex- 
 tending only to the time of holding a general council, or 
 some assembly of the empire, authorized to decide upon the 
 questions at issue ; but Pallavicini gives us to understand 
 that it was considered as provisional in another sense, 
 namely, as made only to meet the present exigencies, and 
 intended to be rescinded when circumstances should permit. 
 He says, the emperor told the pope, that, "if the difficulties 
 of the times were got over, the Protestants might be com- 
 pelled to observe the former edicts of Worms and Augsburg, 
 which were not dead, but only slept." 
 
 After the pacification, the Protestants, in testimony of 
 their gratitude to the emperor, exerted themselves with ex- 
 traordinary zeal to support him in the war against the 
 Turks ; and the other states vying with them, such an army 
 was raised as Germany had seldom seen. Charles, putting 
 himself, for the first time, at the head of his troops, marched 
 in person against Solyman. Each of them, however, dread- 
 ing the power and good fortune of the other, they conducted 
 themselves with such caution that no advantage could he 
 gained on either side, and the campaign afforded no memora- 
 ble event. At its close, Solyman marched back to Constan- 
 tinople ; and it is remarked that for Charles, " in his first 
 essay in arms, to have opposed such a leader was no small 
 
THE POPE AND THE EMPEROR. 47 
 
 honour ; to have obUged him to retreat merited very con- 
 siderable praise."* 
 
 Immediately after the retreat of the Turks, the emperor, 
 impatient to revisit Spain, set out for Italy, on his way 
 thither ; and again met the pope at Bologna, being seriously 
 intent upon procuring such a general council as might 
 satisfy the Germans. The whole of Charles's conduct, 
 however, had given no satisfaction to the pope, who began 
 to conclude that there was "little hope in the affairs of 
 Germany, and that it behooved him to think of a preventive, 
 that the disease might not pass to other parts of the body 
 of the church."* In fact, the mind of Clement was now 
 alienated from the emperor, and he henceforward courted 
 the alliance of the King of France. 
 
 But while Charles's conduct was regarded at Rome as a 
 portentous deviation from the duty of a good son of the 
 church, such as " gave cause to fear a sudden revenge from 
 heaven," it was differently thought of by more impartial 
 persons. They commended his piety and wisdom in en- 
 deavouring to unite all parties against the Turk, the com- 
 mon enemy of Christendom ; and remarked, " that the 
 maxim, so renowned at Rome, ' That it was more meet to 
 persecute heretics than infidels,' was well fitted for the pope's 
 dominion, but not to the general benefit of the Christian 
 world."t 
 
 With respect to the council, the pope, making a merit 
 of necessity, affected great zeal for it, so much so as to 
 send a nuncio, with an ambassador from the emperor, into 
 Germany, to make arrangements preparatory to it with the 
 Protestants ; but he would never agree to hold it on any 
 other terms than those which he knew would not be ac- 
 cepted : such as, that it should be called by the authority 
 of the pope alone ; that it should be held in Italy (where 
 it would be under his control); and that the Protestants 
 should bind themselves to submit to its decisions, even 
 before it was settled by what rule they were to be formed 
 — whether by that of Scripiure alone, or by human in com- 
 mon with Divine authority ; and that none should have votes 
 but those to whom the papal usages assigned them. In 
 short, he would agree to no council at all but one that should 
 
 * Robertson. t Father Paul. 
 
48 DEATH OF THE 
 
 be guided by his own will. The cardinals more openly 
 urged that none was necessary ; for " a council," said they, 
 "could not choose but approve what Leo X. had deter- 
 mined, except it would become a conventicle, or unlawful 
 assembly, as all those were v^'hich had separated themselves 
 from the doctrine and obedience of the pope." 
 
 The church of Christ was about this time deprived of 
 three eminent persons, who had rendered the greatest ser- 
 vices to the reformation. The first of these was Ulric 
 Zwingle, the Swiss reformer, who fell in a battle which took 
 place between the popish and the Protestant cantons, Octo- 
 ber 11, 1531, and to which, according to the custom of his 
 country, he had accompanied the troops of Zuric. He was 
 only in the forty-fourth year of his age : and his death was 
 followed six weeks after, by that of his distinguished coad- 
 jutor, GGcolampadius of Basle, five years older than him- 
 self. The closing scenes of each of these great men fur- 
 nish interesting and edifying materials to the Christian 
 historian, but they naturally belong to another branch of the 
 reformation. 
 
 The contemporaneous deaths of these two persons, who 
 had effected such an extensive change of religion in Swit- 
 zerland, gave great encouragement to the enemies of the 
 reformation : and they had besides a near prospect of the 
 removal of Luther himself only a month afterward. He 
 was seized with violent and very dangerous illness, and his 
 physicians pronounced him on the verge of apoplexy. But 
 something of that extraordinary kind which pervaded his 
 history marked his behaviour on this occasion. Hearing 
 those about him (among whom were Melancthon and Rora- 
 rius) remark, what triumph it would occasion to the papists, 
 should he too be taken off at that period, he roused him- 
 self, and said with a daring confidence, " But I shall not 
 die now ; that I know for certain. God will not confirm 
 the papal abominations by my death at this time. He will 
 not give to them that additional occasion of boasting. 
 Satan, indeed, would willingly kill me if he could ; he 
 hourly besets my steps ; but not what he wills, but what 
 the Lord wills, shall be done." And he proved right in his 
 anticipation. 
 
 The Saxon church, however, sustained a heavy loss a 
 
ELECTOR JOHN. 49 
 
 little more than six months after, in the death of the third 
 illustrious person referred to, the excellent Elector of Sax- 
 ony, John, surnamed the Constant. He survived the decree 
 of the diet confirming the pacification of Nuremberg only 
 thirteen days. For some time past he had been in an infirm 
 state of health, but had in a measure rallied again, when he 
 was suddenly seized with apoplexy, and died, before his 
 sons or any other of his relations could come to him, at a 
 hunting seat in the neighbourhood of Wittemberg. Luther 
 and Melancthon were sent for, but they found him in the 
 article of death. Luther said of him, " With him probity 
 expired, as with his brother Frederic wisdom had done :" 
 a mode of expression which sufficiently limits itself, while 
 it strongly marks the distinguishing virtue of the respective 
 characters. He was affectionately attached to Luther ; and 
 in Luther's late dangerous illness he visited him, and 
 among other things said to him, " I beg you will not be 
 anxious about your wife and children, in case God should 
 call you hence : I will consider them as intrusted to me, 
 and will take care of them as my own." He took such 
 delight, we are told, in the Holy Scriptures, that he would 
 frequently have them read to him by youths of noble fami- 
 nes, as much as six hours in the day ; an exercise which, 
 with such an example before their eyes, must have tended 
 as much to the benefit of his youthful readers as to his own. 
 He was accustomed also to take down the sermons which 
 he heard with the greatest accuracy. Such habits, for one 
 in his rank of life, and involved in so much important busi- 
 ness, seem to carry us back to the days of David or of 
 Daniel, and show what may and will be done when the 
 heart is thoroughly engaged. — His deadness to the world 
 also was very admirable. When he was informed of the 
 rebellion of the rustics, which led to so afflictive a war in 
 Germany, he said, " If it be the will of God that I should 
 continue a prince, as I have hitherto been, his will be 
 done ; but if otherwise, I can descend to a lower station ; 
 fewer horses and an humbler equipage will serve me very 
 well." Luther preached and published two sermons on his 
 death, from 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14, shedding many tears while 
 he delivered them. In the former of them he says, " We 
 give thanks to God who comprehended our beloved prince 
 in the benefit and influence of the death and resurrection 
 Vol. II.— E 
 
50 PROGRESS OF 
 
 of Christ. You know what risk, even of life itself, he en- 
 coantered at Augsburg. But I will not commend him for 
 his virtues, though they were great : I acknowledge that 
 he was a sinner, and needed the remission of sins. I do 
 not therefore set him forth as perfect. Yet was he an ex- 
 cellent and most kind man, free from all guile, and one in 
 whom I could never trace pride, anger, or envy. He was 
 ready to forgive ; nay, mild and gentle even to excess. If 
 he sometimes erred in his government, it is not to be 
 wondered at ; for princes are but men, and we may say 
 that ten devils beset them for one that assaults a private 
 person." 
 
 Happily, the reformation lost no ground by the death of 
 John. *' The new elector, no less attached than his" father 
 "to the opinions of Luther, occupied the station which he had 
 held at the head of the Protestant party, and defended, with 
 the boldness and zeal of youth, that cause which" John 
 " had fostered and supported with the caution of more ad- 
 vanced age."* John Frederic has already appeared in this 
 history, acting almost as the associate of his father in all his 
 important affairs, and displaying the tirmness and piety 
 which never forsook him in the trying circumstances through 
 which he was afterward called to pass. 
 
 We may avail ourselves of this period of comparative 
 repose to the German church, to glance at the progress 
 which the reformation was making more generally. Many 
 such accounts might be collected as are given in the former 
 volume, t but as they would for the most part want that de- 
 gree of particularity which might make them interesting, 
 it may suflice to say that the reformation was continually 
 spreading and advancing itself in Germany, Switzerland, 
 and other parts of the Continent. About this time also ap- 
 peared Tindal's translation of the Bible into English ; and 
 our own country was casting off the papal yoke. Here 
 likewise, and in France,t Belgium, the domuiions of Duke 
 
 * Robertson. t Vol. i. p. 177, 199, 274, &c. 
 
 t At Limoges one John Cadiircus (Du Qiiercy), a licentiate in law, 
 having been condemned to tlie stake, the monk who had been appointed 
 to preach, as was customary on such occasions, gave ont for his text, 
 1 Tim. iv. 1, " In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving 
 heed to seducing sjiirits, and doctrinesof devils." Cadurcus,on hearing 
 this, cried out, " Go on to the next words— the words immediately follow- 
 
THE REFORBIATION. 51 
 
 George of Saxony, and in other places, many now suffered 
 for the truth ; while to others of their brethren their suffer- 
 ings furnished illustrious opportunities of exercising their 
 Christian charity. This was particularly the case at Stras- 
 burg. The Duke of Lorrain had proscribed several thou- 
 sands of his subjects, at a time of great scarcity, and they 
 were in consequence compelled, in their wanderings, to 
 subsist on such fruits and herbs as grew wild in the fields. 
 The divines of Strasburg took compassion on these poor 
 people, and successfully importuned the senate to receive 
 them into the city, and support them till they could be other- 
 wise disposed of. 
 
 The name of Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt, as a supporter 
 of the Protestant cause, has already occun-ed. The accounts 
 of him and of the associate princes, his cousins, John, 
 George, and Joachim, are highly satisfactory. Wolfgang 
 had visited the Saxon court soon after the commencement 
 of Luther's proceedings ; and, being convinced of the 
 truth of his doctrines, had invited him to preach them at 
 Zerbst, in 1522. He was one of those who subscribed the 
 Confession of Augsburg. George was an ecclesiastic of 
 exalted and most exemplary character, who will deserve a 
 particular notice in a subsequent part of this history. He 
 earnestly recommended to his brothers, John and Joachim, 
 that, " abandoning the figments of men, they should delight 
 themselves in the Word of God alone." By his advice, 
 they sent to Wittemberg for a faithful Protestant minister 
 to be settled at Dessau. Hausman, who had been removed 
 from Zwickau in a manner by no means creditable to the 
 senate and people of that place, was the person recom- 
 mended to him. 
 
 Among the accessions to the Protestant cause, we have 
 also to reckon Joachim, son and successor of the Elector 
 of Brandenburg. He began about this time to manifest his 
 attachment to Luther and the reformation. But to him 
 also our attention will be more particularly called at a future 
 
 ingi" On which the monk stood confounded, and the condemned man 
 proceeded, "If you do not goon, I vi-ill : it follows— ' Speaking lies in 
 hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron ; forbidding 
 to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats ;' " and he then en- 
 larsied on the words to the assembled multitude, applying them to the 
 •Well known itnpositions of the Church of Rome. He afterward suf 
 fered death with consiSincy.—ScuUetus. 
 
52 WRITINGS OF LUTHER. 
 
 period. Philip Marquis of Baden presented an opposite 
 example. After having encouraged the preaching of the 
 reformed doctrine, he this year turned back to popery, and 
 expelled the Protestant ministers from his dominions. 
 
 The following anecdote, in which Ferdinand, the em- 
 peror's brother, is concerned, may not be unworthy of inser- 
 tion. Having been about this time unfortunate in his oper- 
 ations against the Turks, he is reported to have said to his 
 counsellors, " I wonder how it is that all my undertakings 
 fail." One of them, an Austrian by birth, replied, " That 
 happens to you, sir, which has ever happened to kings and 
 emperors : those who shed human blood, and connive at 
 sin, have always enemies raised up to them by the Divino 
 judgment, such as they cannot resist. Expect, therefore, 
 no better success, till you desist from your opposition to 
 religion." Thus, even in the councils of the royal and 
 imperial supporters of the papal tyranny, there were not 
 wanting persons to raise their voice in behalf of God and 
 his truth. 
 
 This year (1532) I find the following mention of two 
 eminent men. " In France three distinct fountains were 
 opened from which the blessed waters of the heavenly doc- 
 trine might be drawn, namely, at Toulouse, Orleans, and 
 Bourges. — At the first of these places Jw/ms Caesar Scaliger 
 caused Christ to be known : and not only the city of Agen, 
 where he resided, but a great part of Guienne and Gascony 
 owed to him the restoration of true religion, through the 
 means of pious men who resorted to his house." Again, 
 " At Orleans and Bourges some had already tasted of the 
 heavenly doctrine ; but John Calvin^ having come, at 
 twenty-three years of age, to study the law at these places, 
 under Peter de Stella (de I'Etoile) and Andrew Alciat, and 
 combining with this study the pursuit of Divine knowledge, 
 the minds of many were by his means confirmed and 
 excited."* He studied Greek also at Bourges under Mel- 
 chior Wolraar, who was secretly a Lutheran. 
 
 We will close the present chapter with some notice of the 
 writings of Luther about this period. 
 
 In the year 1531 he published nothing of consequence in 
 
 * Beza and Scultet. 
 
WRITINGS OF LUTHER 53 
 
 addition to the works which have been already mentioned. 
 He was much occupied in preaching at Wittemberg, in the 
 absence of Bugenhagen, who had gone, by invitation, to 
 Lubeck, to establish a reformed ministry in that place. 
 The next year he printed various expositions, sermons, and 
 other minor pieces, which would be very edifying to the 
 churches, but need not be particularly specified in this place. 
 Some brief quotations, however, may be given. 
 
 Let the following passages on the evidences of a state 
 of grace be combined with the writer's well known and 
 constant assertion of the doctrine of justification b}^ faith 
 only. — In his lectures on the Sermon on the Mount, he 
 says, " Our forgiving our neighbour is an external proof 
 that we are ourselves forgiven by God. Where there is not 
 this proof, I cannot be certain of the internal blessing of 
 justification ; rather, I deceive myself and others. But 
 if I find tliat I truly forgive my neighbour, then I ma}"- con- 
 clude thus : ' This proceeds not from m.yself ; I perceive 
 that by the grace of God I am a new man.'" Again, in 
 his discourses on the Christian armour (Ephes. vi.), speak- 
 ing of " the breastplate of righteousness," which it appears 
 he understood to mean a holy walk and conversation, he 
 says, " When I live a holy life before men, and can repel 
 all charges against me, I become certain of my faith ; as 
 the tree is proved to be good by good fruit ; and thus faith 
 increases and is confirmed. But this is not the case with 
 those who live in sin ; for thus faith is staggered, and the 
 mind rendered incapable of the confidence and consolation 
 that God is pacified towards it, and forgives those sins in 
 which it still continues." 
 
 Speaking of the advent of Christ, he says, " God, were 
 not that day to be looked for, I would rather never have been 
 born ! See what is the existing state of things, and how 
 the gospel is treated in the world ; what persecutions, 
 calumnies, hatred, and contempt ! And then, among our- 
 selves, how many fiilse and deceitful, wayward and wicked ! 
 .... These things wound and wear down the hearts of Chris- 
 tians. Why then do we not cry to God to terminate the 
 present state of things ? We should be most miserable, 
 could we not hope for deliverance." 
 
 In discoursing on the second Psalm, he thus notices what 
 ^ had himself witnessed : " In our time, the success of tlie 
 E2 
 
54 WRITINGS OF LUTHER. 
 
 gospel was at first great, and all hoped, as the apostles did, 
 before they were enlightened by the Spirit of God in the 
 nature of his kingdom, that our doctrine would introduce 
 public liberty and tranquillity ; but when disturbances arose, 
 and the true character of the spiritual kingdom was dis- 
 cerned, with the infirmities of good men, and the like ; then 
 many drew back, and began to hate the gospel. What was 
 the cause of all this, but ignorance of the nature and con- 
 ditions of the kingdom of Christ — which is of that kind, 
 that it is everywhere exposed to the opposition of the world 
 and of Satan. They who arc not aware of this will fail 
 when dangers arise, and will condemn the gospel as a 
 seditious doctrine." 
 
 He elsewhere complains of the conceit and arrogance 
 both of the nobles and the common people ; " that they 
 thought they understood the gospel not only better than he 
 did, but better than even S. Paul himself; and were wiser 
 in their own eyes than all their pastors :" whence he antici- 
 pated approaching calamity. 
 
 In a sermon on " God is love," we find the following 
 painftil acknowledgment : " I confess, and others join me in 
 the confession, that there is not now the same diligence and 
 zeal as under the papacy. There is not the same fervency 
 under the gospel as was seen in the time of the priests and 
 monks, when so many foundations were formed, so many 
 buildings raised ; when no one was so poor as not to con- 
 tribute something. Now, a whole city can scarcely support 
 a single preacher. All grasp and seize for themselves, and 
 will not endure a reprover. Whence arises this scandalous 
 evil ? ' From your doctrine,' cry our adversaries, with the 
 lungs of Stentor — ' because men are taught that they must 
 not trust in their good works.' But it is the devil who 
 imputes to a pious and salutary doctrine what arises from 
 himself, and from wicked men abusing that doctrine." 
 
 Luther no doubt here paints strongly, aiming to produce 
 a conduct contrary to that of which he complains. At the 
 same time, numbers, released from the obligations which 
 had extorted certain services from them under the old regi- 
 men, and continuing strangers to any new and better prin- 
 ciple, would " abuse liberty for an occasion to the flesh." 
 Yet let the reader compare the account given in the pre- 
 ceding chapter of Saxony, as contrasted with the surround- 
 
WRITINGS OF LUTHER. 55 
 
 ing countries, and he will see that Luther was as far from 
 conceding that Protestantism must yield to popery in its 
 power of producing good works, as we are at this day from 
 granting that those who renounce all confidence in their 
 own righteousness fall short, in moral virtue and useful- 
 ness of life, of those who trust in what they do. 
 
 We may confirm this statement by the following extract 
 from an address of the Protestants to Granvelle, the em- 
 peror's chief minister, in the year 1540. " It would really 
 be very acceptable in us, if the emperor would examine the 
 whole matter, and diligently inquire where it is that the 
 ministers of the church are most civilly and kindly used, 
 schools best ordered, the functions and ministry of the 
 church most decently performed ; whether in our territories 
 or among our adversaries. If the emperor would give 
 himself this trouble, we need not make any apology to jus- 
 tify and defend the matter of fact, respecting the application 
 of the ecclesiastical funds ; for the thing itself would speak 
 in our behalf, and move him to set about a true reformation 
 of the church." 
 
 His sentiments concerning pastoral authority, and the 
 right of setting up for religious teachers, will hardly suit an 
 age of relaxed or almost abrogated discipline. He approved 
 of specially opposing to the anabaptists, who privily crept 
 in and injured the people, their entire want of authority to 
 exercise the office of teachers. " Who called them," he 
 asks, " to come in, and unsettle the minds of the peasants, 
 and to withdraw men from their proper pastors 1 Why do 
 they not ask leave of the pastors to address their people 1 If 
 that is refused, they have discharged their consciences. Let 
 them either show their letters of human commission, or 
 give proofs of a divine one, by working miracles." He 
 would have the people instructed concerning the necessity 
 and the proofs of a call to exercise the office of teachers. 
 " The difficulty," he observes, " is sufficiently great for them 
 that are duly called, to set forth the true doctrine : what is 
 to be hoped for from those who are not called ] I would not 
 for all the world want my proper vocation as a teacher. 
 Without it, I should despair under the burdens which press 
 upon me. But now God and all the world are witnesses, 
 that, by the grace of God, I have publicly discharged the 
 duties which my office as a teachei and preacher requires of 
 
56 PROPOSALS FOR A COUNCIL. 
 
 me." Some of these sentiments will not obtain, perhaps 
 &re not fully entitled to, universal concurrence : yet they 
 deserve to be considered. They may tend to check the 
 rashness of some who boldly " rush," where wiser and 
 holier men " fear to tread ;" and to impress on others more 
 serious sentiments than they have been used to entertain, 
 on the subject of undertaking to instruct men in " things 
 pertaining to God." And, whatever may be determined 
 concerning those who have the authority of sending forth 
 teachers, surely no sober mind will think that a man's own 
 forwardness to assume the office is his sufficient warrant. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Erasmus on Concord in the Church — Persecutions — Reform- 
 alien extended — Anabaptists of Munster — Henry VIII. 
 and Francis I. — Popc''s Commission for Reformation — 
 Roman Catholic League — Convention of Frankfort. 
 
 Fruitless negotiations for the convocation of a general 
 council, and artful intrigues to avoid it, occupied several 
 years which follow. The details would be wholly unin- 
 teresting, and they may be almost passed over in silence. 
 Clement VII., while he professed his desire of a council, 
 persevered to the end of his life in propositions which he 
 knew would delay, if not finally prevent it. His death took 
 place in the year 1531. His successor, Paul III. (of the 
 house of Farnese), though, having witnessed " the universal 
 censure which Clement had incurred by his obstinacy, he 
 hoped to avoid the same reproach by the seeming alacrity 
 with which he proposed a council, yet flattered himself that 
 such difficulties would arise concerning the time and place 
 of meeting, the persons who had a right to be present, and 
 the order of their proceedings, as would effectually defeat 
 the intention of those who demanded it."**" 
 
 Soon after the pacification of Nuremberg, while public 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
ERASMUS ON CONCORD. 57 
 
 expectation was pretty strongly directed to this object, 
 Erasmus again rendered himself conspicuous in the afiairs 
 of the church. In a commentary on the eighty-fourth Psalm, 
 he published his- thoughts on Concord in Religion. His 
 performance appears to be precisely one of those works 
 which from time to time come forth in periods of conflict, 
 and which, assuming to occupy the high ground of impartial 
 decision between contending parties, really do great injus- 
 tice to one or the other of them, and commonly to that 
 which is esteemed the weaker and more obnoxious. Works 
 of this kind often proceed either from men of ambitious 
 policy, who seek to commend themselves to such as are 
 able to advance them, and are at the same time persons of 
 professed, perhaps of real, moderation ; or from men who, 
 attempting little themselves, affect the praise of superior 
 wisdom by censuring those who are doing great practical 
 good, though not without that mixture of error and infirm- 
 ity which is incident to human nature. Such men often 
 avail themselves of the important truths which the very 
 objects of their censure have brought into public notice, pro- 
 pound them as their own, and are severe on the extrava- 
 gances with which, as they pretend, the others have de- 
 formed and oppressed them. 
 
 In the part of his work with which we are concerned, 
 after some general advice, very good indeed, but yet very 
 bootless — such as, that all orders of men, popes, princes, 
 magistrates, monks, priests, people, should aim to become 
 what they ought to be, and to discharge their several duties 
 in an exemplary manner — Erasmus comes to some particu- 
 lar points of doctrine. On these, many of his statements 
 are, abstractedly considered, sound and good ; yet as pro- 
 posed by him they are injurious, because they imply that 
 Luther and his friends had deviated widely from them ; 
 whereas it might, with much appearance of truth be 
 affirmed that Erasmus himself had learned them from 
 Luther. At least it is probable Erasmus would never have 
 written or thought as he here does, had it not been for 
 Luther : and his positions, advanced in the manner that many 
 of them are, are proofs of the extent to which Luther had 
 prevailed in his attacks upon long-established error. Secken- 
 dorf remarks, that many of his sentiments " might have 
 been expressed, and nearly in the same words, from Luther 
 
58 ERASMUS ON 
 
 himself; while the sentences which Erasmus selected for 
 censure were not Luther's, but were calumniously imputed 
 to him." 
 
 Passing to another class of topics, Erasmus thinks it 
 *' pious to believe that the prayers and good works of the 
 living profit the dead, especially if they had made provision 
 for these services in their lifetime. But let not those," he 
 says, " who cannot believe this rave against the simplicity 
 of others, but only be the more zealous of good works 
 themselves." In like manner, of the invocation of the 
 saints he argues, that " those persons must still be sup- 
 posed to retain power with God after death, at whose 
 instance, and through whose instrumentality, he wrought 
 miracles while they lived." " Superstition, indeed, is to 
 be reproved, but simple aiTcction or regard of this kind is to 
 be borne with, even though it be joined with some degree of 
 error." — Thus does he palliate dominant evils, which he 
 cannot defend, and call that simpUcihj and pious affection 
 which he cannot but feel to be superstitious and dangerous, 
 if not even absolutely idolatrous : and thus does he, in 
 effect, become the apologist of those who were the bitter 
 enemies of all real reformation. And while he softens 
 down and puts a fovourable construction on the gross 
 errors and corrupt practices of the ruling party, he applies 
 harsh terms to the opposition made to those corruptions and 
 errors by the other side. " Let them not rave against the 
 simplicity of others." " Let them worship the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Spirit themselves, and not with disgust- 
 ing officiousness disturb those who, without superstition, 
 implore the intercession of the saints." Such are the terms 
 applied to the only men who were likely to correct the pre- 
 vailing evils. 
 
 Again, with regard to image-worship, he says, " The 
 zeal of those who rage against images is not, in my opinion, 
 altogether without reason, though it is excessive : for idol- 
 atry, or the worship of images, of which there is still 
 danger, is a horrible crime." Yet he talks of pictures and 
 statues as being " a more vivid kind of poetry ;" " and, as 
 Plato would not banish all poetry from his republic, but 
 only that which conveyed unworthy notions of the gods, 
 go," he says, " whatever superstition has crept in by 
 means of images ought to be corrected, and yet their proper 
 
CONCORD. 59 
 
 use preserved. Let those, therefore, who think that no 
 honour is to be paid to the images of the saints, enjoy their 
 own opinion, but let them not rail at others who, without 
 superstition, so venerate images, from love to the characters 
 represented by them, as a wife may kiss the ring or the 
 girdle of her absent husband !" What principle is there so 
 sacred, that may not be compromised and frittered away by 
 fallacious representations like these ? Justly indeed does 
 Jortin remark, that, if none had arisen to do more than 
 Erasmus would have done, we might have been involved in 
 all the delusion and superstition of popery to this day. 
 
 In like manner, with respect to the veneration of relics, 
 he thinks " Paul would have allowed every man his own 
 opinion on such subjects." Preposterous as the sentiment 
 is, was such the plan of the Romish Church, to allow men 
 their own opinion on any subject '? 
 
 Having treated some other topics in a similar manner, 
 passing over however several questions of great importance, 
 he concludes with a flattering encomium of the moderation 
 and conciliatory mind of the emperor, of Ferdinand, of the 
 kings of France and England, and of the pope ; and says 
 all would be well, if " other princes and states" would 
 direct their attention a right way. Thus he insinuates that 
 the real obstacles to peace were on the side of the Protest- 
 ants : whereas their opponents, though they might be glad 
 to avail themselves of Erasmus's name in the controversy, 
 would no more have admitted of his modifications than of 
 their changes. 
 
 The divines of Strasburg appear to have received this 
 work of Erasmus with more favour than it deserved ; for 
 they translated it into German, and dispersed it pretty 
 widely. This drew from Musculus, formerly of their city 
 but now of Augsburg, an expostulation in a letter to Bucer. 
 " I fear," he says, " lest, through an excessive and morbid 
 desire of concord, you should tamper with the truth that 
 has been taught anil acknowledged among you : which God 
 prevent !" " We know with whom we have to enter into 
 concord ; men who have not repented of their abominable 
 doctrine and manner of life, so as to depart from it even a 
 hair's breadth. Accursed be that concord which cannot be 
 established but at the expense of truth and of Christ's 
 kingdom !" " Erasmus," he observes, " bends all his force 
 
60 ERASMUS ON CONCORD. 
 
 to show that there is no salvation out of the unity of the 
 church." This, as appUed to an external church, Musculus 
 reprobates ; and admits it only of the spiritual church, or 
 body of Christ, of which we are constituted members by a 
 lively faith. 
 
 Corvinus, also, a Hessian divine, wrote an answer to 
 Erasmus's treatise, which Luther highly commended in a 
 preface. Luther here speaks charitably of Erasmus, and 
 allows that he and his followers meant well ; but the terms 
 of agreement which they proposed could not, he said, be 
 admitted with a safe conscience. He contrasts the conduct 
 of himself and his friends with that of their opponents. 
 " We have always been ready to yield and to sutfer what- 
 ever could be granted or endured without violating our 
 faith. Never have we thirsted after their blood, much less 
 shed it. We have strenuously supported them against the 
 seditious and fanatical spirits ; on which account those 
 furious persons abhor the Lutherans more than they do the 
 papists ; while the latter cease not to shed our blood, and to 
 pursue us with fire and sword, and every species of cruelty." 
 "The union of charity," he says, "we have sought with 
 our whole souls ; but the union of faith or doctrine 
 between us is in vain sought by Erasmus through the 
 medium of mutual concession ; for, so far from conceding 
 any thing whatever, our adversaries have even exacted 
 things which, before Luther arose, they had themselves con- 
 demned. Their whole cry is, ' The church, the church ;' 
 and they give that name to impious men, who presume to 
 think and determine above the Scriptures, and contrary to 
 the Scriptures, and that (as they pretend) by Divine author- 
 ity ! And Erasmus confirms their error, by everywhere 
 promising to follow the church, and considering every thing 
 as doubtful and undetermined till the church has decided 
 it. If this be right, we have only to say, ' I believe that 
 the papists are the church, and that whatever they determine 
 is the truth ;' and thus we shall all be safe !" 
 
 As this is the last time that our attention will be directly 
 called to Erasmus, we may here state, that he died three 
 years afterward, in July, 1536, at Basle, aged about seventy 
 years; having exhibited, says Seckendorf, "many indica- 
 tions of piety near the end of his life." On his death-bed, 
 he made honourable mention of BuHinger, the reformer, and 
 
PERSECUTIONS, 61 
 
 received with kindness Conrad Pellican of Zuric, with whom 
 he had previously had sharp contentions ; and he asked Pel- 
 hcan's forgiveness of any offence he might have given him. 
 
 The persecutions of the duke George of Saxony at this 
 time were severe and extensive. He banished nearly eight 
 hundred inhabitants of Leipzig, on account of their attach- 
 ment to the doctrines of Luther. Still greater severities 
 were exercised in Misnia against such as presumed to eat 
 forbidden meats, to frequent any other than their parish 
 churches, or to receive the sacrament otherwise than the 
 papal ritual prescribed. Priests guilty of such offences '7ere 
 subjected to torture : others were sentenced to perpetual 
 imprisonment, or died of want, or from the stench of the 
 places in which they were confined : and these were buried 
 by the hangman, or other base officer, in waste ground where 
 the dead bodies of unclean animals were cast. Some were 
 sent into exile, with merely a cloth thrown over them, 
 having in it a rent, through which their heads were passed : 
 "and this," says the narrator,* "I myself have seen at 
 Dresden." 
 
 Yet all George's severities could not prevent the progress 
 of Protestant principles, even among his ministers and his 
 own near relatives. On these grounds Anthony a Schon- 
 berg, a man of higli family, and brother to a cardinal, forfeited 
 the duke's favour, and incurred persecution from him. 
 Others of the same family manifested similar sentiments, 
 particularly Ernest, who had commanded the duke's troops in 
 the rustic war, and had himself been very tenacious of the 
 established rites. When death approached, he wrote to 
 George, requesting that he would permit him *' to receive 
 Christ's testament as Christ had himself appointed, namely, 
 entire in both its parts ;" and, not being able to prevail for 
 such indulgence, he made application to the elector, to send 
 him a pious and learned minister to instruct him, and admin- 
 ister the sacrament to him. This was accordingly done — 
 George's daughter-in-law also, Elizabeth, sister to the Land- 
 grave of Hesse, conceived such scruples as made her refuse 
 to receive the sacrament according to the papal usage. 
 
 Indeed, the extension of the reformation at this period was 
 
 * Fabrlcius, Orig. Sax. 
 Vol. it— F 
 
62 REFORMATION EXTENDED CLEVES. 
 
 rapid. " The religious truce concluded at Nuremberg," 
 says Mosheim, " inspired with new vigour and resolution the 
 friends of the reformation. It gave strength to the feeble, 
 and perseverance to the bold. Encouraged by it, those who 
 had hitherto been only secret enemies to the Roman pontiff 
 spurned now his yoke publicly, and refused to submit to his 
 imperious jurisdiction. This appears from the various cities 
 and provinces in Germany which about this time boldly 
 enlisted themselves under the standard of Luther." 
 
 The Elector of Saxony, at the instance of the states under 
 his jurisdiction, early availed himself of the coniidence 
 inspired by the pacification, to complete that ecclesiastical 
 visitation of his dominions, by commissioners, partly lay and 
 partly clerical, which had been begun some years before,* 
 but never finished. This appears to have been very con- 
 ducive to the interests of religion, by the removal of scandalous 
 priests, the rooting out of the remains of superstition, the 
 promoting, of sound instruction, both among youth and 
 persons of mature age, the making provision for the preser- 
 vation of ecclesiastical edifices, and for the maintenance of 
 the clergy. On this occasion also the reformation was first 
 extended to the seventy parishes of Swartzburg in Thu- 
 ringia, and to some places not immediately under the elector's 
 authority, particularly in Yoightland in Misnia. 
 
 Three years afterward, the same pious prince materially 
 augmented the endowment of the university of Wittemberg ; 
 on which occasion he thankfully acknowledges what God 
 had wrought by means of that institution, and especially 
 through the instrumentality of Luther and Melancthon — 
 •' making manifest," he says, " the true and Christian under- 
 standing of his Word, to the comfort and salvation of all 
 men." 
 
 In the year 1533 a movement took place in the duchy of 
 Cleves, in Westphalia, from which more, perhaps, might at 
 first have been expected than actually followed. The Duke 
 John (father of Sibylla, wife to the Elector of Saxony, and of 
 Ann, afterward married to Henry VIII. of England) issued 
 a long edict, containing very particular directions for the 
 reformation of the church in his dominions. Many of these 
 regulations were excellent ; yet many of the superstitious 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 327. 
 
ITALY. 63 
 
 usages of popery were retained with them ; very much 
 according to the principles of Erasmus : and its failure of 
 practical elfect was a specimen of what was likely to be the 
 result of Erasmus's compromising schemes. 
 
 The rays of evangelical truth, it appears, had also pene- 
 trated into Italy, and even to the very heart of the papal 
 dominions ; and we find at this time a remarkable address in 
 favour of reformation, made by some distinguished citizens 
 of Bologna to John Planitz, the elector's ambassador at the 
 court of the emperor, then held in that city. The design of 
 the address was, to entreat Planitz most seriously to urge 
 the emperor to procure a council, which the authors of the 
 address hoped might lead to some reformation in religion — 
 an object, they say, " most earnestly desired by many pious, 
 learned, and honourable persons in the first cities of Italy, 
 and even in Rome itself." They spoke for themselves in 
 the most unequivocal and, at the same time, in the most 
 humble language. They congratulated the deliverance of 
 Saxony from the tyranny of antichristian superstition, and 
 applauded the elector's zeal for extending the like liberty of 
 the gospel to other countries. They trusted that, at all 
 events, the pope would be so far prevailed upon, that it 
 might no longer be esteemed heretical for either priests or 
 laymen to purchase the Scriptures, or a proof of Luther- 
 anism to quote sometimes the words of Christ or of S. Paul. 
 This, they say, " is at present the case : and what is the 
 reign of Antichrist, if this is not 1" They entreat the 
 ambassador " to leave no means untried, that his mission into 
 Italy might prove not to have been in vain, and that their 
 hopes might not issue in disappointment. For their own 
 part, they promise to contribute their utmost endeavours, 
 even though they should sacrifice their fortunes and their 
 lives in the cause of Christ." 
 
 To read such a document as this, proceeding from Italy 
 three hundred years ago, and to reflect that all these hopes 
 and earnest desires were disappointed, the spark thus kindled 
 extinguished, and the dawning light lost in deep and perma- 
 nent darkness, which endures to this day ; and then to com- 
 pare the lot of some other countries, and particularly of our 
 own highly favoured land — must be deeply affecting to every 
 pious mind. Why has such mercy been extended to us, 
 while it was withheld from other people, though it appears 
 
64 WURTEMBERG POMERANIA.. 
 
 that among them were persons ready to make the most costly 
 sacrifices for the sake of it ? *' Even so, Father, for so it 
 seemed wood in thy sight !"* 
 
 Another event which very considerably strengthened the 
 cause of the reformation in Germany, about this time, was 
 the restoration of Ulric Duke of Wiirtembergtohis domin- 
 ions. He had been expelled in the year 1519, on account 
 of his violent and oppressive administration, and the house 
 of Austria had taken possession of his duchy. His long 
 exile having obliterated the remembrance of his misconduct, 
 which is said to have been the effect rather of inexperience 
 than of tyrannical disposition, he was become the object of 
 general compassion : and, in the year 1534, the landgrave, 
 his near relation, having received aid from the King of France, 
 restored him by force of arms, defeating the troops of Ferdi- 
 nand, under Philip Count Palatine. In this expedition the 
 landgrave was not supported by any of his Protestant 
 brethren ; and his proceeding was strongly deprecated by 
 Luther and Melancthon : yet its issue and its effects alike 
 surpassed, or even contradicted, their expectations. 
 
 Previously to the year 1529 Ulric had received impressions 
 in favour of the reformation ; and at that time, meeting 
 Luther at the conferences at Marpurg, he conceived a high 
 esteem and admiration for him. Hence his first object on 
 the recovery of his dominions, which were very considerable, 
 was " to throw them open to the admission of the glory of 
 Christ, and to introduce the preaching of his unadulterated 
 word, and the administration of the sacraments according to 
 his institution." In establishing reformation he had recourse 
 to the assistance of Schnepfius of Marpurg, Blaurer of 
 Constance, Brentius of Halle, in Suabia, and other divines. 
 Ulric further reformed and enriched the university of TiJbin- 
 gen, which had been founded by his ancestors, and procured 
 the assistance of Melancthon, Grynseus, and Camerarius, to 
 draw up proper regulations for its management. 
 
 The reformation of Wiirtemberg was accompanied or fol- 
 lowed by that of Brunswick, Calenberg, Hanover, Pomerania, 
 and Mecklenburg; and of the cities of Augsburg, Bremen, 
 and Hamburgli. — John Bugenhagen was a native of Pome- 
 
 * Dr. IVT'Crie has collected extensive and hichly interesting notices of 
 the progress of reformed principles in botli liaiy and Spain. Hist, of 
 Kef. ill Italy (1627), and Spain (1S29). 
 
SUABIA AUSTRIA. 65 
 
 rania, and was one of those who introduced the reformed 
 doctrme into his country. Behig constrained to quit his 
 residence there i)y the reigning duke, he had settled at Wit- 
 temberg, where our attention has repeatedly been drawn to 
 him. A favourable change afterward took place, and in the 
 year lo34 Bugenhagen was invited, with Paulus a Rhoda, 
 from Stettin, to join in organizing and establishing the reform- 
 ation. In 1536 the two dukes were admitted into the Prot- 
 estant league. 
 
 At Augsburg, the senate having prohibited the popish 
 worship in all the churches except the cathedral, the priests 
 quitted the city : on which reformed preachers were univer- 
 sally established in a city whence a few years before the 
 decree had issued that was to suppress Protestantism. 
 
 The reformation in the city of Nordlingen in Suabia was 
 carried on with extraordinary success. As early as the year 
 1522, Tiieobald Billicanus had been called to the office of 
 preacher there, by the senate, who had obtained the right 
 of patronage ; and two years after, the reformed state of the 
 city of Nuremberg being reported to them, they requested 
 Billicanus to conform things at Nordlingen to the same 
 model : and " with such mighty influence of the Holy Spirit 
 and such forcible eloquence" did he proceed in his work, 
 that the evangelical doctrine was universally received, and, 
 " with the exception of the stewards of certain abbots, who 
 held estates there, not a professed papist remained in the 
 city." 
 
 Even in Austria, as we have seen was also the case in 
 Italy itself, considerable inclination towards reformation in 
 religion was manifested. Pallavicini relates, that when 
 Aleander was sent legate from Paul III. to Ferdinand, he 
 found " in the very entrance of Germany" (the Austrian 
 provinces appear to be meant) " as many as fifteen hundred 
 cures vacant, through the scarcity of Catholic priests.'' 
 The historian attributes this to various inferior causes ; but 
 a more true reason appears to have been the wide dissemina- 
 tion of evangelical doctrine, and the desire for it excited 
 even among the subjects of the countries most under the 
 influence of Rome. 
 
 Some notice is taken in the former volume* of the reform- 
 
 ' Vol. i. p. 199-201. 
 F2 
 
66 REFORMATION IN DENMARK. 
 
 ation in Denmark, commenced under Christiern II., and 
 carried on under his sucGessor Frederic. It was much 
 opposed by the bishops and clergy. In 1527, Frederic 
 assembled the senate of the kingdom at Odensee, and ex- 
 pressed his purposes to them in unequivocal and determined 
 language. He told them, that it was well known what 
 ignorance, superstition, and absurdity had passed under the 
 sacred name of religion ; that the Lutheran doctrine and 
 worship had now taken root in the kingdom, so that they 
 could not be eradicated without the danger of public ruin ; 
 and he pointed out to them the course proper to be adopted 
 under existing circumstances. The senate concurred with 
 him, and came to the resolution, " That no man should be 
 disturbed for matters of conscience ; but that both the Ro- 
 man Catholic and the Lutheran religion should be freely 
 exercised, till a council should decide the questions at issue." 
 Three years afterward, articles and counter-articles were 
 exhibited to the senate by the two parties, but the former 
 resolutions were adhered to : and the divines George John, 
 John Tausson, and Christian Slirock were encouraged in 
 preaching the reformed doctrine. In 1531, the king acceded 
 to the Smalkaldic league. He died two years afterward, 
 and great disorders ensued. The clergy endeavoured to 
 prevent the succession of his eldest son, Christiern, because 
 of his known attachment to Protestantism, and set up his 
 younger brother against him — a mere child, whom they in- 
 tended to educate in the Romish faith ; while some of the 
 people proposed to restore the exiled, and now imprisoned, 
 monarch, Christiern II. Christiern III. however prevailed. 
 He imprisoned, and afterward publicly accused of treason- 
 able practices, all the seven bishops of the kingdom. They 
 were deprived, and episcopacy, as it had hitherto existed, 
 with powers and revenues that rendered it highly formi- 
 dable to the crown itself, was abolished. Bugenhagen, who 
 was invited from Wittemberg, placed the crown upon the 
 king's head, drew up for the kingdom a scheme of ecclesias- 
 tical order, and ordained seven superintendents in the room 
 of the deposed bishops. These superintendents were, in- 
 deed, still commonly denominated bishops ; but they held 
 no courts, and possessed no temporal power or pre-eminence. 
 This change (which was completed in 1539) is said to have 
 teen greater than Luther approved, as it certainly was 
 
ANABAPTISTS OF MUNSTER. 67 
 
 greater than would have been contemplated, but for the 
 violent proceedings of the bishops themselves. Bugenhao-en 
 however reported, " that he never found greater desire of 
 hearing the Word of God than in Denmark : that the peo- 
 ple assembled on ordinary days, in the winter season, before 
 it was light, and on holydays they had religious services 
 throughout the day." 
 
 From these notices of the progress of the reformation 
 we may proceed to some other miscellaneoiTs topics. 
 
 The year 1534 was distinguished by one of the most 
 extraordinary hursts of fanatical extravagance and fury 
 that ever disgraced the history of mankind. A body of ana- 
 baptists seized the imperial city of Munster, and fortified 
 themselves in it. They made John Boccold, a journeyman 
 tailor, commonly called John of Leyden, their king ; who 
 was to become '* the monarch of the earth," and to march 
 forth for the destruction of all other kings and rulers, 
 "giving quarter to none but the multitude, who were lovers 
 of justice." They retained possession of the city consider- 
 ably more than a year, promulgating the wildest principles, 
 and indulging in the most outrageous practices : and it was 
 not without a confederacy of the German princes against 
 them, under the leading of the Bishop of Munster, that the 
 city was at length reduced, and the insurgents suppressed. 
 
 About this period, and especially in the years 1535 and 
 1539, much communication took place between the court 
 of England and the German Protestants. Mutual letters 
 and embassies passed ; and Henry VIII. corresponded 
 personally, not only with the princes, but also with Melanc- 
 thon. At the early part of the period, it was an object 
 with him to obtain the sanction of the Protestant divines to 
 his divorce from Catharine of Arragon (the emperor's 
 aunt), ard to check, by means of the Protestant princes, the 
 effect of Charles's resentment against him for that measure. 
 He was willing therefore to become the "defender of the 
 faith" of the Augsburg Confession, with some alterations ; 
 for the purpose of arranging which he desired to have com- 
 missioners sent over to him, and himself particularly invited 
 Melancthon. The Protestants, however, were shy of him, 
 distrusting his professions in favour of reformation, and 
 being detexmiiied to concur in no oifen^ve measures against 
 
68 PROCEEDINGS OF HENRY VIII. 
 
 the emperor, so long as he suffered them to enjoy their 
 reUgion unmolested. 
 
 In the latter of the years above mentioned, Henry pro- 
 mulgated his famous law of the " six articles," establish- 
 ing, under the penalty of death, the reception of many of 
 the principal tenets and practices of the Romish super- 
 stition ; after which the elector would scarcely hear of any 
 further communication with him ; and, though Bucer with- 
 held his concurrence, Luther, Jonas, Bugenhagen, and 
 Melancthon, on being consulted, pronounced it to be " a new 
 device of Satan, that, when the power of the pope failed, 
 kings should thus take upon them to model religion accord- 
 ing to their own fancies ;" and advised that Henry should be 
 " let alone, as one who had been sufticiently admonished, 
 and sinned wilfully." Melancthon, whose boldness appears 
 to have risen in proportion to the disappointment which he 
 felt at Henry's conduct, wrote directly to the king himself a 
 long and faithful expostulation.* 
 
 The proceedings of the King of France at this period, 
 with respect both to the German Protestants and those 
 •within his own dominions, were extraordinary, and appa- 
 rently very inconsistent. Disappointed of the assistance 
 which he had expected from other quarters, in the war that 
 he was about to commence against the emperor, Francis 
 earnestly solicited the aid of the Protestant princes asso- 
 ciated by the league of Smalkald. In order to gain their con- 
 
 *This epistle does Melancthon great honour. With the conrtesj' and 
 address which were becoming, it combines a high degree of boldness 
 and faithi\ilness of censure. The measure itself he considers as mon- 
 strous, in some points going beyond what had elsewhere been heard of. 
 He doubts not that the bishops were the authors of it : but it was the 
 king's sanction which gave it validity: and all the German Protestants 
 lamented that he should become the instrument of other men's cruelty 
 and impiety. How remote was this from the hopes which had been 
 formed of him. The hostility of other princes was now cocfirmed, the 
 obstinacy of the wicked increased, and old errors of portentous magni- 
 tude established, by means of one from whom they had hoped for the very 
 reverse. The writer heard that Latimer and other pious men, true mem- 
 bers of Christ, were in bonds for the gospel's sake : he j)rayed God to 
 give them strength and courage worthy of Christians. Nothing more 
 honourable or blessed could befall them than to die for the sake of such 
 manifest and important truth as they maintained against the recent law; 
 but God tbrbid that the king's hand should be stained with the blood of 
 fuch men. "Recognise," he says to Henry," the snare of the devil ; 
 Btand not among the enemies of Christ, wlio are stained with idolatry 
 fijTjd blood, and on whom God will assuredly execute vengeance." 
 
AND OF FRANCIS I. 69 
 
 fidence, he affected a wonderful moderation with regard to 
 the religious points in dispute ; he permitted Bellay, his 
 envoy in Germany, to explain his sentiments concerning 
 some of the most important articles, in terms not far differ- 
 ent from those used by the Protestants ; and even conde- 
 scended to invite Melancthon to visit Paris, that by his assist- 
 ance he might concert the most proper measures for recon- 
 ciling the contending sects, which so unhappily divided the 
 church. Soon after, however, he lost the fruits of this 
 disingenuous artifice, by a step very contrary to all these 
 professions, but in some degree forced upon a timeserving 
 monarch, by the prejudices of the age and the peculiar 
 circumstances in which he was placed.* 
 
 The indiscreet zeal of some of his subjects, who. had im- 
 bibed the Protestant opinions, and who were irritated at the 
 loss of the liberty which they had enjoyed of disseminating 
 their sentiments, prompted them to affix to the gates of the 
 Louvre, and other public places, papers containing indecent 
 reflections on tlie doctrines and rites of the popish church. 
 Six of the persons concerned were discovered and seized. 
 " The king, in order to avert the judgments which it was 
 supposed their blasphemies might draw down upon the 
 nation, appointed a solemn procession. The holy sacra- 
 ment was carried through the city in great pomp ; Francis 
 walked uncovered before it, bearing a torch in his hand ; the 
 princes of the blood supported the canopy over it ; the nobles 
 marched in order behind. In the presence of this numerous 
 assembly, the king declared that, if one of his hands were 
 infected with heresy, he would cut it off with the other, and 
 would not spare even his own children, if found guilty of 
 that crime. As a dreadful proof of his being in earnest, 
 the six unhappy persons were publicly burned before the 
 procession was finished, with circumstances of the most 
 shocking barbarity attending their execution." Nor were 
 these six persons, who were burned while the king himself 
 looked on, the only ones who suffered on this occasion. 
 John Sturmius of Strasburg writes from Paris to Melanc- 
 thon, that eighteen had been burned either to death, or for 
 torture, and that many others were expecting the like treat- 
 ment. And Maimbourg, a hundred and fifty years after- 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
70 THE POPE S COMMISSION FOR REFORMATION. 
 
 ward, styles this " a most just execution !" The princes of 
 the league of Smalkald, indignant at the cruelty with which 
 their brethren were treated, broke off all further negotiation 
 with ihe King of France. 
 
 The proceedings of the Roman pontiff deserve likewise 
 to be related. Soon after his accession to the papal chair, 
 Paul III. made repeated overtures for a general council. 
 The nature of these proposals, or the circumstances under 
 which they were made, rendered them all, as might have 
 been foreseen, and as perhaps was intended, abortive. 
 
 " That he might not seem to have turned his whole atten- 
 tion towards a reformation by a council,which he was'not able 
 to accompUsh, while he neglected that which was in his own 
 power," he next professed to give efficiency to a commission 
 of cardinals and bishops, which he had three years before 
 appointed " to inquire into the abuses and corruptions of the 
 Roman court, and to propose the most effectual method 
 of removing them. This scrutiny, undertaken with reluc- 
 tance, was carried on slowly and with remissness. All 
 defects were touched with a gentle hand, afraid of probing 
 too deep, or discovering too much. But even by this partial 
 examination many irregularities were detected, and many 
 enormities exposed to light, while the remedies which thoy 
 suggested as most proper were either inadequate or were 
 never applied. The report and resolution of these deputies, 
 though intended to be kept secret, were transmitted by some 
 accident into Germany, and being immediately made public, 
 afforded ample matter for reflection and triumph to the 
 Protestants. On the one hand, they demonstrated the ne- 
 cessity of a reformation in the head as well as the members 
 of the church, and even pointed out many of the corruptions 
 against which Luther and his followers had remonstrated 
 with the greatest vehemence. They showed, on the other 
 hand, that it was vain to expect this reformation from 
 ecclesiastics themselves, who, as Luther strongly expressed 
 it, piddled at curing warts, while they overlooked or con- 
 firmed ulcers."* 
 
 Most of the points adverted to by the pope's commis- 
 sioners were little more than of an external kind. None of 
 the corrupt doctrines and principles of the Church of Rome, 
 
 * Father Paul— Robertson. 
 
THE pope's MANCEUVRES. 71 
 
 which were the main source of its great practical errors, and 
 against which accordingly Luther had especially directed 
 the powerful artillery of his vehement declamation and 
 irresistible scriptural arguments, were here touched upon. 
 The reader will be amused to find, among loud complaints 
 made of " ungodly questions bandied about and disputed 
 both in universities and churches, and of mischievous books 
 circulated," what was the only pernicious work specified : 
 " There is a book commonly read in schools, called Eras- 
 miis^s Colloquies, in which there are many things that may 
 make a dangerous impression on the understandings of 
 young and unwary people, and pervert a floating and 
 unsettled age, which WTmts a sufficient ballast of principles 
 and gravity to keep it steady. This book, therefore, and 
 others of the same kind, must be prohibited in all schools.'* 
 Alas ! for poor Erasmus, that after all his pains to stand 
 v.-^ell with popes, and cardinals, and bishops, he should thus 
 have one of his best-known publications placed in this soli- 
 tary station of " bad eminence," ere the hand that wrote it 
 was well cold in the grave ! His case strikingly teaches us 
 the lesson, how vain it is to think of conciliating ambitious 
 men, and particularly ambitious and political churchmen, 
 by truckling to them in our general conduct, while we can- 
 not make up our minds to go all lengths with them. We 
 must either do this, or be content to lose our characters 
 with such men entirely. To attempt any middle course 
 will only make us much less respected by them than their 
 open and consistent opponents are. 
 
 Nothing was to be expected from a reformation like that 
 proposed by the pope's commissioners. " The tree" itself 
 must be "made good" before its "fruit" could become so. 
 But here even the little which was proposed was never 
 attempted to be carried into execution. The pope referred 
 the report of the commissioners to the consistory of cardi- 
 nals ; where Schonberg, Cardinal and Archbishop of Capua, 
 " who was believed to have been deputed by the pope for 
 the purpose," zealously opposed all reformation ; urging, 
 among other arguments, that " the Lutherans would boast 
 that they had forced the pope into it ;" and also that " the 
 very change would be a confession that the things altered 
 had been justly reprehended by those heretics — which would 
 
72 HOLY ALLIANCE. 
 
 prove a great abetting of their whole doctrine."* The 
 result was, a resolution to proceed no further in the business. 
 
 The report of the commissioners, being sent into Ger- 
 many, was presently published there, and was freely ani- 
 madverted upon both by John Sturmius and by Luther. 
 " In Luther's book," Sleidan observes, " a man need only 
 look on the cut in the frontispiece to understand his argu- 
 ment ; for the pope is represented sitting upon a high 
 throne, and several of the cardinals about him, who, with 
 foxes' tails tied at the end of poles, are busily employed in 
 brushing away the cobwebs all around !" 
 
 With the nuncios whom the pope had despatched into 
 Germany on the subject of a general council, the emperor 
 had deputed his vice-chancellor Heldo, with orders to sup- 
 port the pope's propositions to the utmost. This officer, 
 perceiving the advantages that the Protestants derived from 
 the league by which they were all united in one firm body, 
 busied himself among the different princes in forming a 
 counter-confederation, which was styled the " Holy Alli- 
 ance," for the support of the Roman Catholic religion. 
 This league was entirely uncalled for, since none could 
 pretend that the professors of that religion were exposed to 
 the same danger that the Protestants were ; and accord- 
 ingly it obtained but few subscribers. The Archbishops 
 of Mentz and Salzburg (the former, however, only in his 
 characterof Archbishop of Magdeburg), William and Lewis 
 Dukes of Bavaria, George Duke of Saxony, and Eric and 
 Henry Dukes of Brunswick (of whom Henry had now 
 become the great instigator of all measures against the 
 Protestants), were the only persons that acceded to it. 
 
 This league was to have remained a profound secret, but 
 the rumour of it soon got abroad, and was confirmed by 
 some intercepted letters from Henry of Brunswick to Heldo 
 and the Archbishop of Mentz. This, added to other unsat- 
 isfactory and suspicious circumstances, excited great alarm 
 in the minds of the Protestants. They were ready to 
 imagine that the emperor was about to put in execution 
 some formidable plan for their extirpation, or at least for 
 the suppression of their opinions and their religious liber- 
 ties. They therefore held frequent meetings, and were 
 
 * Father Paul. 
 
CONVENTION OF FRANKFORT. 73 
 
 proposing to raise the contingents of men and money which 
 their league obliged them respectively to furnish. 
 
 " It was not long, however, before they were convinced 
 that their apprehensions were without foundation, and that 
 the emperor, to whom repose was absolutely necessary 
 after etibrts so much beyond his strength in the war with 
 France, had no thoughts of disturbing the tranquillity of 
 Germany. As a proof of this, at an interview with the 
 Protestant princes in Frankfort, his ambassadors agreed, 
 that all concessions in their favour, particularly those con- 
 tained in the pacification of Nuremberg, should continue in 
 force for fifteen months; that during this period all pro- 
 ceedings of the imperial chamber against them should be 
 suspended ; that a conference should be held by a few 
 divines of each party, in order to discuss the points in con- 
 troversy, and to propose articles of accommodation which 
 should be laid before the next diet. Though the emperor, 
 that he might not irritate the pope, who remonstrated against 
 the first part of this agreement as impolitic, and against the 
 latter as an impious encroachment upon his prerogative, 
 never formally ratified this convention, it was observed with 
 considerable exactness, and greatly strengthened the basis 
 of that ecclesiastical liberty for which the Protestants con- 
 tended."* 
 
 With the " Convention of Frankfort," thus made on the 
 19th of April, 1539, we close the present chapter ; referring 
 to the ensuing one several particulars, most of them relating 
 to Luther himself, which fall within the same period. 
 
 * RobertsoE. 
 Vol. II.— G 
 
74 LUTHER S INTERVIEW- 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Luther'' s Interview loith Vergerio — Concord of Wittemherg — 
 Ecclesiastical Funds — Luthcr^s Illness and Prayer — 
 Character of Popery — Luther^s alleged Conference with 
 Satan — His Writings. 
 
 Among the agents whom the pope sent into Germany on 
 the subject of a council, Peter Paul Vergerio, subsequently 
 Bishop of Capo D'Istria, who had also been nuncio to King 
 Ferdinand at the period of the diet of Augsburg, held an 
 eminent place. This person eventually became a Protest- 
 ant, and was himself subjected to persecution for his 
 religion ; and in that view he will hereafter claim our 
 attention ; but at present he was a willing instrument of the 
 pope's insincere and artful proceedings. He was chiefly 
 distinguished for skill in the civil and canon law. Among 
 other things, he was instructed to endeavour, if possible, to 
 bring over Luther and Melancthon, or any other of the 
 more eminent Protestant divines. Accordingly, on his 
 arrival at Wittemberg, he sent for Luther. Very different 
 accounts are given of their interview ; but that delivered by 
 Father Paul, and that inserted in Luther's German works, 
 though independent documents, mutually corroborate each 
 other. 
 
 The latter document, v/hich is written in a somewhat 
 sportive style, states that Vergerio came to V/ittemberg on 
 the evening of November 6, 1535, with a splendid retinue, 
 and was conducted to the castle with all due honour by the 
 provincial governor. The next morning Luther sent for his 
 barber at an early hour, and told him he was summoned to 
 attend the nuncio of his holiness the pope, and he would by 
 3io means go in dishabille, for he wished to look young, that 
 his enemies might think he had a long time yet to live. 
 He then put on his best suit, and a golden ornament (a 
 present from the elector) about his neck, and remarked,- 
 when his attendant expressed some surprise, " This is the 
 vi-e^ in which we must deal Vt^ith these foxes and ^erpenis."' 
 
WITH VERGERIO. 75 
 
 Then getting into a chariot which had been sent for him 
 from the castle, accompanied by Bugenhagen, he said, 
 *' Here go the Pope of Germany and Cardinal Pomeranus !" 
 Being introduced, he conversed with the nuncio, among 
 other things, on the subject of the council. He said, it was 
 not seriously proposed ; the pope did but play with them ; 
 and if it were held, it would busy itself only about trifles, 
 such as tonsures and vestments, and not upon faith, and 
 justification, and the bringing of Christians to the unity 
 of the spirit and of doctrine — ^for this would not suit their 
 purpose. He added, that he and his friends felt such 
 assurance of what they believed, as not to need the deter- 
 mination of a council ; though others might do it, who 
 groaned under the oppression of men who did not themselves 
 know what they believed. "But," said he, "call your 
 council ; God willing, I will attend it, though I should be 
 burned by it." Vergerio asked where he would have it 
 held. " Where you please," he replied ; " at Mantua, at 
 Padua, at Florence, or anywhere else." Vergerio asked, 
 was he willing it should be at Bologna? He inquired to 
 whom that city then belonged ; and on being told, " To the 
 pope ;" " Gracious Heaven," he exclaimed, "has the pope 
 seized that place too ? Well, I will come even thither." — 
 The nuncio, in a courtierlike manner, said something of the 
 pope's visiting Wittemberg. " Let him come," said Luther, 
 *'we shall be glad to see him." "But," said Vergerio, 
 " would you have him come with an army, or unattended "?" 
 "As he pleases," replied Luther, "we shall be ready for 
 him either way." The nuncio then inquired whether the 
 ministers in Saxony were consecrated. Luther replied, 
 " Certainly ; as the pope will not consecrate them for us, 
 here sits a bishop" (pointing to Bugenhan-en) "whom, we 
 have consecrated." — " Much more conversation," says the 
 author of the narrative, " passed between them, in which 
 Luther fully explained his views, with the utmost freedom, 
 and even, where the case required, with sharpness of re- 
 mark." On his taking leave, Vergerio said, " See that you 
 be ready for the council." " I will come," replied Luther, 
 "with my life in my hand." 
 
 The reformer, according to this narrative, was perfectly 
 at his ease, and assumed the superior ground ; which of 
 right belonged to him in every respect except that of external 
 
76 Luther's interview 
 
 rank. — It may be observed, that Luther seems never to 
 have concerned himself, so much as many did, in what 
 place the council should be held : the one great point with 
 him was, that the Scriptures alone should be the rule of 
 judgment. 
 
 Father Paul's account of this interview is more copious, 
 and delivered in a more serious style. It is in substance as 
 follows : 
 
 " Vergerio treated with Luther very courteously, en- 
 larging much on the council and other topics. He assured 
 him that the pope and cardinals respected him highly, and 
 were infinitely grieved for the loss of one who, had he 
 employed himself .in the cause of God and of the apostoHcal 
 see, might have done them inestimable service : that the 
 pope blamed the harshness of Cajetan and the severity of 
 Leo in their dealings with him : that for himself (the 
 nuncio), as he did not profess divinity, he would not dispute 
 with him on the existing controversies, but that by common 
 reason he could show him that it would be advantageous to 
 reunite himself with the head of the church ; for that, 
 seeing his religion, which had come to light only eighteen 
 years before, had raised innumerable sects and popular 
 seditions, attended with the death or banishment of great 
 numbers, it could not be concluded that it came from God : 
 that it demonstrated too blind a self-love for a man to trouble 
 the whole world in order to disseminate his own opinions : 
 that, if he could not but adopt them, it was sufficient for his 
 own conscience and salvation to keep them to himself; that 
 the confusion produced had become so great that a remedy 
 could no longer be deferred, and that it was in Luther's 
 power to make it easy, if he would be present at the council, 
 and treat with charity, and oblige the pope — who was a 
 munificent prince, and took special notice of persons of 
 merit, ^neas Sylvius, he further observed, by following 
 his own opinions, with incessant toil, could rise no higher 
 than to be canon of Trent ; but, being changed to a better 
 mind, became a bishop, a cardinal, and finally Pope Pius II. ; 
 and that Cardinal Bessarion's advancement had fallen little 
 short of this. — Lather in reply told him, that he made no 
 account of the estimation in which he was held by the 
 court of Rome, whose hatred he feared not, nor desired 
 their favour : that he declined no labour in the ministry of 
 
WITH VERGERIO. 77 
 
 God's Word, though he was but an unprofitable servant : 
 that he could see no more affinity between the sendee of 
 Christ and that of the papaej'-, than between hght and dark- 
 ness : that nothing in his whole life had been more service- 
 able to him than the severity of Leo and the harshness of 
 Cajetan ; so that he could not ascribe their conduct to 
 themselves, but to the providence of God ; for that, not 
 being at that time enhghtened in the great system of Chris- 
 tian truth, but having only discovered certain abuses in the 
 matter of indulgences, he should easily have been prevailed 
 upon to be silent, if only his adversaries would have 
 served the same condition ; but that the writings of Prierias, 
 the haughtiness of Cajetan, and the violence of Leo drove 
 him to investigate the whole subject, and thus to discover 
 errors and abuses more numerous and more intolerable ; 
 such as a man could not conceal with a safe conscience ; 
 that the nuncio had ingenuously confessed, that he was not 
 conversant in theology, which indeed appeared from the 
 arguments he used ; for that none could call the doctrine of 
 the reformers new, unless he believed that Christ, the apostles, 
 and the holy fathers governed their lives by such rules as 
 the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops now did : nor could 
 any argument be drawn against the doctrine from the dis- 
 cords in Germany, except by one Httle acquainted with the 
 Scriptures, and not aware that it is the peculiar mark of the 
 Word of God and the gospel of Christ, that where it is 
 preached in the world it occasions troubles and tumults, 
 even to the setting of the son against the father, and the 
 father against the son ; and that its effect is, to give life to 
 them that obey it, but to increase condemnation to them 
 that reject it : that it was a great fault of the Romanists to 
 support the church of Christ, as if it w^ere a temporal state, 
 by human sanctions ; that this is that kind of wisdom which 
 St. Paul calls ' foolishness with God ;' v/hereas to disregard 
 those political considerations by which the Romish hie- 
 rarchy is conducted, to trust the promises of God, and to 
 refer the interests of the church to his divine management, 
 is that folly of men which is wisdom with God : that it was 
 not in the power of Martin to make the council succeed, 
 and prove profitable to the church ; it rather depended on 
 the pope's leaving it free, that the Spirit of God alone 
 might rule and preside in it ; and that, all interests, usurpa- 
 G -^ 
 
78 Luther's interview with vergerio. 
 
 tions, and artifices of men being excluded, the holy Scrip- 
 tures might be the sole standard by which every thing 
 should be decided : that, if it were so conducted, he, for his 
 part, would carry with him .thither all possible sincerity and 
 Christian charity — not for the purpose of pleasing the pope, 
 or any human being, but of promoting the glory of Christ, 
 and establishing the peace and liberty of the church ; but 
 that so great a blessing to the Christian world could not be 
 hoped for, unless all hypocrisy were laid aside, and the 
 wrath of God against their sins appeased by serious repent- 
 ance ; that the assembling together of men, ever so learned, 
 was but a weak resource for this great work ; seeing that, 
 so long as the wrath of God is kindled, there is no error so 
 absurd to which the grand enemy of mankind cannot per- 
 suade those great learned men who trust in their own 
 wisdom and knowledge — for it pleases God ' to confound 
 the wisdom of the wise:' that he could receive nothing 
 from the court of Rome compatible with the ministry of the 
 gospel: that the examples of .^neas Sylvius and Bessarion 
 moved him not at all ; the twinkling splendour of worldly 
 greatness having no attractions for him ; but that, if he 
 were inclined to boast himself, he might adopt the facetious 
 remark of Erasmus, ' that poor and despised Luther made 
 many rich and great ;' that he need not go far to prove 
 this ; as the nuncio himself knew that, only in the month 
 of May last, the advancement of Fisher, Bishop of Roches- 
 ter, to the cardinalate was greatly owing, and that of 
 Schonberg entirely owing, to him."—" Vergerio, therefore,'* 
 proceeds Father Paul, " could gain nothing from Luther, 
 who maintained his wonted magnanimity, and held fast his 
 doctrine as firmly as if it had been the object of vision to 
 his botiily eyes ; openly avowing that the pope and the 
 nuncio should sooner embrace his doctrine than he would 
 surrender it." 
 
 This relation excites the indignation of Pallavicini and 
 Maimbourg, who roundly charge the great author who 
 delivers it with fiction and falsehood. In support of the 
 charge Pallavicini quotes Vergerio's letters to Rome, in 
 which he says that he " only saw Luther at dinner, just 
 before he left Wittemberg ; that Luther talked of indifferent 
 matters, and in a very mean style, answering only by mono- 
 syllables ; and that he appeared to him to be distinguished 
 
CONCORD OF WITTEMBERG, 79 
 
 by nothing but impudence and malice." Such a report of 
 the poverty and meanness of Luther's conversation is in 
 itself utterly incredible. The account is also not very con- 
 sistent with itself, for wherein was he to show his " impu- 
 dence and malice," if he talked merely " of inditferent 
 matters," and "answered only by monosyllables'!" And 
 indeed Maimbourg himself, who quotes it, betrays a sus- 
 picion that it might have been framed to suit the wishes of 
 those to whom it was addressed : " Especially," he says, 
 " if the nuncio was conscious of having imbibed some 
 taint of the heresy which he afterward avowed, he would 
 write in this way concerning an interview with Luther."* 
 
 The lamentable sacramental controversy which perma- 
 nently divided the friends of the reformation has already 
 been repeatedly noticed.! We may here add, that under 
 the auspices of Bucer, who was ever intent upon healing 
 the division, and for that desirable object sometimes per- 
 haps had recourse to nice refinements beyond what was 
 consistent with perfect " simplicity and godly sincerity," a 
 union was at length effected between certain of the parties 
 litigant. This was called the Concord of Wittemberg, and 
 took place in the year 1536. It was here conceded to 
 Luther, " That the body and blood of Christ are truly and 
 substantially present in the Eucharist, and that they are 
 received, with the bread and wine, equally by the worthy 
 and the unworthy communicant" — for the latter position, 
 no less than the former, was considered as essential to his 
 doctrine. The Swiss, however, could never be brought to 
 consent to these propositions : but the divines and churches 
 of Strasburg and other places in Upper Germany,^ which 
 
 * Melancthon in one of his epistles adverts to tliis interview, and says, 
 " Luther conversed with Vergerio very freely on the Romish tyranny." 
 It may be proper however to add, that Bayle, who in his Dictionary, 
 under the article LuLher, has mainly employed himself in examining 
 and exposing the many calumnies propagated against the reformer, 
 thinks he finds reason to doubt the authenticity of Father Paul's account, 
 particularly in what relates to his orders to gain Qver some of the lead- 
 ing reformers.— Even if we suppose that great author on this occasion 
 to have indulged his imagination, his inventions will still show us what 
 he thought to be probable, and consonant to the character of the two 
 parties respectively. 
 
 tVol.i. p. 214, 282, 338. 
 
 t Strasburg was at that time, and for a hundred and fifty years after, 
 a German city. 
 
80 LUTHER ON THE MASS. 
 
 had before inclined to the sentiments of the Helvetic church, 
 now retired from its communion, and joined themselves by 
 a public act to that of Luther ; a circumstance which gave 
 abundant satisfaction to that reformer. Those however 
 who believe, with the Church of England, that " the body 
 of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only 
 after a heavenly and spiritual manner," and that "the 
 mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in 
 the Supper is faith," will think the following little anec- 
 dote, connected with the event, as interesting as any part of 
 the proceedings. " On the day that Bucer preached at 
 Wittemberg, Luther invited him to supper, and after com- 
 mending his sermon, observed however that ' he could 
 preach better than Bucer.' Bucer courteously assented, 
 saying that ' by universal consent that praise belonged to 
 Luther.' Luther, then speaking seriously, said, ' Do not 
 think that I am vainly boasting ; I am conscious of my own 
 slender stores ; nor could I preach so ingenious and learned 
 a sermon as you have done to-day : but my practice is this ; 
 when I mount the pulpit, I consider what is the character 
 of my hearers, most of whom are rude and uninstructed 
 people — almost Goths and Vandals — and I preach to them 
 what I think they can understand : but you rise aloft, and soar 
 into the clouds ; so that your sermons suit the learned, but 
 are unintelligible to our plain people. I endeavour to copy 
 the mother, who thinks her child better fed with the simple 
 milk of the breast, than with the most costly confections.'" 
 
 Luther has a remarkable sentence, written about this 
 time, concerning the mass. " This article," he says, " will 
 be made a main point with the council : though they should 
 allow us all the rest, they will not yield a hair's breadth here. 
 Campeggio said at Augsburg, that he would be torn limb 
 from limb rather than consent to abolish the mass. And I," 
 subjoins Luther, " would rather be burned to ashes than put 
 an administrator of the mass, with the service which he per- 
 forms, on a footing with Christ" — namely, by making his 
 offering " a sacrifioe for the sins of the hving and the dead." 
 " We shall therefore eternally differ on this point : and with 
 the mass the papacy itself will stand or fall." 
 
 To a full assembly of the Protestant princes and states at 
 this time held at Smalkald, an application was made from 
 their divines generally for a provision to be made, out of the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL FUNDS. 81 
 
 ecclesiastical funds, for a triple object — the maintenance of 
 the clergy, the education of youth, and the support of hos- 
 pitals for the aged and infirm poor. This had been done in 
 some places, but was felt to be very necessary in all. And 
 as the appropriation of the funds in question was a subject 
 on which the Protestants were perpetually assailed by their 
 enemies, and much harassed by the imperial chamber, an 
 abstract of their answer to this apphcation may show the 
 principles on which they acted, and constantly maintained 
 that they were fully justified in acting, with respect to them. 
 After considering the petition, the princes and deputies 
 resolve — " Seeing that the persons who call themselves 
 ecclesiastical prelates and ministers adhere to the dogmas 
 and ceremonies of the papacy, and will not agree with us in 
 religion ; and that thus monasteries, collegiate churches, 
 and other institutions have come, or are likely to come, into 
 our hands ; we unanimously resolve to place over the par- 
 ishes within our respective jurisdictions learned, virtuous, 
 and pious pastors, preachers, and ministers, and to provide 
 from the ecclesiastical funds for the sulhcient and respectable 
 support of them and their families, according to the situa- 
 tions which they may occupy. We will appoint also super- 
 intendents of the pastors and ministers, to watch over their 
 lives and doctrine. And that there never may be wanting 
 in our churches a succession of Christian pastors and 
 ministers, we will establish schools,'or support those already 
 established, within our respective jurisdictions, for the train- 
 ing of youth in sound learning and virtuous manners. We 
 will also appoint stipends for poorer scholars, especially such 
 as may apply themselves to the study of the holy Scriptures 
 and divine knowledge. We will erect and endow hospitals 
 for the poor of either sex : in order that all may be done, 
 where it has not been done already, which can be expected 
 in this behalf from Christian princes and magistrates." 
 And this regulation, Seckendorf informs us, though repeat- 
 edly reconsidered, was never afterward rescinded or even 
 altered ; so that, if any acted not up to it, it was their own 
 private fault, and contrary to the engagement which they 
 had made. And who shall deny that it was infinitely better, 
 and more becoming Christian rulers, and even more agree- 
 able to the original desiign of these funds, to make such a 
 Use of them, than to suffer them to be applied to perpetuate 
 
82 Luther's illness. 
 
 the superstitions and vices of popery among the people 1 
 The Protestants were never backward to meet the question 
 of the propriety of their decision on this subject. They 
 constantly maintained, that, in thus appropriating these 
 revenues, they fulfilled the duty of faithftd trustees, accord- 
 ing to the light which by the good providence of God now 
 shone upon them, and as both the wishes and the interests 
 of their subjects required.* 
 
 In carrying these measures into effect, it is to be observed, 
 the present possessors were allowed to retain their emolu- 
 ments for life, if they chose to stay in their places, and act 
 as peaceable citizens : but if they withdrew from the coun- 
 try, they forfeited their advantages. Such is the substance 
 of the information afforded by the best historians upon this 
 subject : and it surely tends strongly to repel the charges so 
 liberally brought against the reformers of alluring the princes, 
 and against the princes of being allured, by the prospect of 
 plundering the wealth of the church, to favour the reform- 
 ation. 
 
 While attending the meeting at Smalkald, Luther suffered 
 a very severe and dangerous illness, arising from a topical 
 complaint.! At his own earnest entreaty, therefore, he was 
 removed from Smalkald on the 26th of February ; and, 
 beyond all expectation, his first day's journey homeward so 
 relieved him, that he wrote his wife word that he felt him- 
 self " quite a new man." " But he tells her, that " for eight 
 days together he had had neither ease nor sleep, and had 
 rejected all nourishment. In short," he says, " I was a 
 dead man, and had committed you and my children to God 
 and to our kind prince. I felt much for you, but had no 
 hope of seeing you again. Such urgent prayers however 
 were offered for me, and so many tears shed, that I am 
 relieved." — His illness produced a deep sensation among the 
 parties assembled at Smalkald ; and when the elector was 
 informed of the relief he had found, he wrote immediately 
 to him, expressing the joy he felt, and that he had caused 
 public thanks to be returned to Almighty God. Within the 
 
 * When funds have been appropriated to public purposes which are no 
 longer held to be useful, the law places the disposal of them in the crown. 
 — Lord Eldon. 
 
 t " Octo diebus obstructo urina? meatu." '• A prima'dominica (18 Feb.) 
 ad alteram usque, nuUam lotii guttam eniittere potui." 
 
Luther's prayer. 83 
 
 week, however, at Gotha, he suffered a relapse ; ant! in con- 
 sequence prepared for death. He communicated to Bucren- 
 hagen, who accompanied him, his last wishes. He told him, 
 that he knew he had done rightly, and thanked God for what 
 he had been led to do, in attacking the papacy, which was 
 the enemy of God, of Christ, and of his gospel. He sent 
 his remembrances to Melancthon, Jonas, and Cruciorer ; 
 asking their pardon for any thing in which he might have 
 oifended them. He sent his salutations to the deacons and 
 the citizens of Wittemberg, acknowledging their kindness to 
 him. " Charge the princes also," he said, " in my name, 
 confiding in God, to do boldly whatever the Holy Spirit shall 
 direct them to in the cause of the gospel : the particular 
 measures I do not prescribe to them. May the God of mercy 
 strengthen them to hold fast the sound doctrine which they 
 have received, and fill them with thankfulness for their deliv- 
 erance from Antichrist. T have earnestly recommended them 
 to God in my prayers ; and I trust that he will preserve 
 them, imperfect though they be, from yielding again to the 
 papal impiety." " Finally," he said, " my soul I commend 
 to the hands of my Father, and my Lord Jesus Christ, whom 
 I have preached and confessed on earth." — It pleased God, 
 however, that, through the skill and attention of the physi- 
 cian, George Sturzius, who accompanied him, he recovered. 
 On leaving Smalkald, Luther let fall an expression, which, 
 being reported abroad, called forth the virulent animadver- 
 sions of his enemies. Looking back on the city, where all 
 the Protestant powers were assembled, he exclaimed, " May 
 God fill you with hatred of the pope 1" The sentence 
 indeed sounds harsh, especially in the form of a prayer : but 
 we may fairly ask, What was there in it so much to be con- 
 demned ? It surely need not be said, that neither in this, 
 nor in other instances which have been adduced against him, 
 did Luther intend any thing like personal hostility to the 
 individual who filled the papal chair, or to any other indi- 
 vidual whatever : he referred to that antichristian system of 
 which the pope is the official head and representative, and 
 to that only. And does either piety or charity require us to 
 keep any measures with that system itself, abstractedly con- 
 sidered ] a system which, laying hold of God's best gift to 
 the human race, the religion of Jesus Christ, converted it, 
 tluougli successive centuries^ into the very reverse of all £os 
 
84 CHARACTER OF POPERY. 
 
 which it was designed ; making it the instrument of dark- 
 ness instead of light, of impurity instead of holiness, of 
 tyranny, both spiritual and civil, instead of freedom, and 
 even of renewed idolatry instead of the pure and spiritual 
 worship, which was to have subverted superstition and ban- 
 ished all false religion from among men. Surely, in con- 
 sistence with the most perfect good-will even to its votaries, 
 we may desire to see such a system " consumed by the spirit 
 of the Lord's mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his 
 coming."* Yes, whatever indulgence we may extend to 
 the professors of the Roman Catholic religion (and let them 
 have every indulgence, every privilege that they can enjoy 
 consistently with the common safety), yet let us never forget 
 what popery was, and is essentially in itself, and what it will 
 ever show itself to be in proportion as it is enabled to act 
 freely, and display its true character. It is one of the 
 fashionable and threatening errors of the present day, that, 
 in our zeal to show ourselves candid, and indulgent, and 
 liberal towards Roman Catholics, we are apt to soften down 
 and lose sight of the enormities, doctrinal and practical, 
 of the papal system. Here we are in danger of realizing 
 the observation of the poet : 
 
 " Vice is a monster of so frightful mien 
 As, to be liated, needs but "to be seen ; 
 Yet, seen too oft, familiar witli the face, 
 We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 
 
 Persecution, it is true, is a crime to which our fallen nature 
 is prone, and into which almost all parties have in different 
 degrees fallen ; but let us not on that ground, with affected 
 philosophy, but with real indolence and indiscrimination, 
 and in defiance of all historic verity, pretend that popery 
 stands, in this respect, on the same footing with other reli- 
 gious systems. No, persecution is inherent in the very 
 principles and constitution of the Romish church : she has 
 been in this, as in so many other respects, " the mother of 
 abominations"t to the earth. If other professedly Christian 
 bodies long retained the persecuting spirit, it was mainly 
 because they found it so difficult wholly to eradicate the 
 seeds of instruction which they had received from her hand : 
 
 * 2 Tliess. ii, t Rev. xvjj. 5- 
 
Luther's alleged conference with satan. 85 
 
 and, while they have undoubtedly been occasionally stained 
 with the blood of those who dissented from them, she has 
 been even steeped in it ; in the strong language of Scripture 
 prophecy, " drunk with the blood of the saints and the mar- 
 tyrs of Jesus."* And the testimony of her sanctioned and 
 remunerated advocate Cardinal Pallavicini, to her unaltered 
 and unalterable adherence to her principles, however she 
 may, from policy suffer her unaccredited members to deviate 
 from them, or even for a time to deny them, is equally 
 striking and true. *' The whole of our faith," he says, 
 "rests upon one indivisible article, namely, the infallible 
 authority of the church. The moment, therefore, we give up 
 any fart whatever, the rohole falls : for v:hat admits not of 
 being divided must evidently stand entire or fall entire.'*^ 
 
 We may now notice the works of Luther published during 
 this period. 
 
 Near the end of the year 1533 appeared his treatise on 
 Private Masses, a subject on which he had also written 
 several years before. t He here mentions, in addition to the 
 indecent haste with which the services were hurried over at 
 Rome, having heard there of priests who, instead of the 
 words of consecration, muttered, " Panis es, et panis man- 
 ebis," "Bread thou art, and bread thou shalt continue;" 
 and of others who indignantly omitted the consecration alto- 
 gether. 
 
 It is in this work that Luther gives the account of his 
 temptation by the devil, of which such an extraordinary use 
 has been made by his more bigoted adversaries ; and on 
 which even Bossuet is not ashamed to say, "Forced by 
 reasons urged by the angel of darkness, he abolishes, like an 
 impious wretch, that mass which, if we may believe him, 
 he had said for so many years with so much devotion." 
 And again, " Luther owns, I do not Say that he was tor- 
 mented by the devil (which might be common to him with 
 many saints), but that he was converted by his agency : and 
 that the spirit of falsehood had been his tutor in one of the 
 principal points of his reformation." The whole substance 
 of the passage however is, not that Luther describes a sen- 
 eible "conference with the prince of darkness," but a tempta- 
 
 * Rev xvii. 6. t Vol. i. p. 144. 
 
 Vol, IL— H 
 
 ( 
 
86 Luther's writings. 
 
 tion to despair pressed upon him " within his heart," and 
 drawn from the impieties of which he had been guilt)' in the 
 unchristian and idolatrous services that he had performed^ 
 during many years, as a monk. " You know that for fifteen 
 years together you celebrated private masses : what then if 
 such masses were a horrible idolatry ] — Convicted by the 
 law of God," Luther says, " I confess before my adversary 
 that I have sinned and am condemned, like Judas ; but I 
 turn me to Christ, like Peter : I regard his infinite merit 
 and mercy ; and immediately he abrogates all my dreadful 
 condemnation." He treats at considerable length, and in 
 general terms, of such temptations, in a strain which shows 
 the purport of the whole passage. " The temptations of 
 Satan are crafty, and well calculated to deceive. He lays 
 hold of some truth which cannot be denied, and yet so turns 
 it about and applies it that it might deceive the most wary. 
 So the thought which seized the heart of Judas was true, 
 ' I betrayed the innocent blood ;' Judas could not deny it : 
 but the falsehood was in the inference. 'Therefore thou 
 must despair of the m«rcy of God." But the devil so pressed 
 this false inference home upon Judas, that he could not stand 
 against it, but sank into despair."* 
 
 This year Luther also published sermons on the Chris- 
 tian faith, from 1 Tim. i. 5-7; on 1 John iv. 16, " God is 
 love ;" and on the apostles' creed ; all which were highly 
 esteemed. In the first, he demonstrates the necessity of 
 good works, " as the evidence of our justification, and for 
 the comfort of our own consciences ;" and also of faith, " by 
 which, embracing the merits of Christ, we stand accepted 
 •before the tribunal of God." He assigns the reason why 
 rhe so much insisted on the latter topic — that " the men of 
 ^that age had been accustomed to hear nothing proclaimed 
 to them but ' Keep the commandments,' while no one taught 
 i'them hoio they were to do it, so as to satisfy either God or 
 their own consciences." He urges, besides, how closely 
 self-righteousness cleaves to the heart of man. " I have 
 myself taught this doctrine," he says, " for twenty yearsy. 
 both in my preaching and in my writings ; and yet the old 
 and tenacious mire clings to me, so that I find myself want- 
 
 * See this subject of Luther's alleored "conference with the deviLJ'^' 
 examined at len^yh in Continuation of Milner vol. i. p. 546-555. 
 
LUTHElv's WRITINGS. 87 
 
 in^ to come to God, bringing something in my hand for 
 which he should bestow his grace upon me. I cannot at- 
 tain to casting myself on pure and simple mercy only : and 
 yet this is highly necessary." On the apostles' creed, he 
 speaks of it as a thing " extremely difficult, and to human 
 reason next to impossible, sincerely to say, ' I believe in 
 Jesus Christ.' Submit the article to reason ; she is ut- 
 terly confounded by it, and comes to regard the whole as 
 a fable. Hence in Italy scarcely any thing is believed about 
 it ; and our countrymen, alas ! have learned to copy that 
 kind of wisdom." 
 
 With this passage we may connect the following advice 
 to students of theology. " You who apply yourselves to 
 sacred learning, be admonished above all things to settle in 
 your minds what you should believe as the truths of the 
 Christian religion ; and have the articles of your faith well 
 considered, and confirmed by apposite texts of Scripture : 
 and then, when the devil, or heretics, his instruments, would 
 make you doubt them, oppose to them those texts, and leave 
 them, saying, ' I will not listen to your cavils and specula- 
 tions ; for thus hath the Holy Spirit directed, who commands 
 me to hearken and incline mine ear.' The doctrine, that 
 all our own righteousness must be renounced and our confi- 
 dence placed only in Christ and his righteousness, will ap- 
 pear new and strange, so that many will be offended at it. 
 So also will the doctrine that Christ himself is God, and to 
 be worshipped as such. But in the way described I shall 
 be assured that I do not err concerning it ; and the objection 
 from the first commandment, and other scriptures concern- 
 ing the unity of God, will be answered. For, if they urge, 
 ' You make more gods than one :' I answer, ' I do not : the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same God : the 
 substance and essence are one, though the persons are three. 
 How the persons differ I do not indeed understand : suffi- 
 cient for me is the authority of Scripture, which names the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in the last chapter of 
 St. Matthew. If I could comprehend the subject by my 
 reason, what need would there be of faith ] But, if I will 
 admit nothing which by my reason I cannot comprehend, I 
 must soon give up baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Word, 
 grace, original sin, and every thing : for reason comprehends 
 none of these things.' " 
 
88 Luther's writings. 
 
 In some lectures on Isaiah, of the same date, he quotes, 
 on ch. viii. 12, the sentiment of the Elector Frederic on con- 
 federacies : " That they often imboldened the parties to 
 attempt things which they would not otherwise have ven- 
 tured upon ; and then, when difficulties arose they fell away, 
 and deserted one another : which induced the Elector to 
 stand aloof from them." Again, he applies the passage 
 ch. xxix. 8, on " the hungry man dreaming that he eateth," 
 to persecutors, flattering themselves that they had devoured 
 and destroyed the church ; mentioning first the persecutions 
 of pagan Rome, and then those of Rome papal. " But 
 all," he says, " is mere illusion : it is not devouring, but 
 only dreaming that they devour. And so in ten years' time 
 you shall see the princes and bishops, who now rage against 
 the Word of God, all come to nothing, and the gospel and 
 its professors in safety." If not within ten years, yet within 
 twenty, the truth of both these passages was strikingly 
 illustrated. 
 
 On ch. xxxix he has a striking passage on the sins and 
 miseries of human life. " The sense of the sins with which 
 they are tempted and defiled is the greatest of all afflictions 
 to the righteous. Every period of life has its besetting evils. 
 In youth passion domineers ; in advancing years, covetous- 
 ness ; and then, if a man has performed his part well in 
 life, in old age comes self-applause. Every age also is ex- 
 posed to its peculiar outward dangers. Yet even all tiiis 
 cannot bow the stubborn neck of man to humility and sub- 
 mission. It is hopeless to think of living without sin. We 
 must cast ourselves simply on Christ, and say, Lord 
 Jesus, pardon me ! How often and how grievously I have 
 sinned thou knowest : I cannot trace it myself." 
 
 On ch. xlix. 8, he laments the conceit and fastidiousness 
 of the people. " The time was, when I would have pre- 
 ferred the right understanding of a single Psalm to all the 
 riches of the world. But the heaven was then brass to us, 
 and the earth iron. Now, when the windows of heaven 
 have been opened, we are grown fastidious. He who has 
 once perused the New Testament thinks he has nothing 
 more to learn. The Word of God will therefore be taken 
 from us, and given to a nation whom perhaps we know not." 
 
 Here too again, after having, in treating of the fifty-third 
 chapter, strongly asserted his doctrine concerning justifica- 
 
Luther's writings. 89 
 
 tion, he, on the fifty-eighth, insists on good works as the 
 evidence of a justified state : '' Righteousness shall go before 
 thee — thy good works shall assure thy own conscience. . . 
 Thus Peter says that good works assure men of their call- 
 ing. . . We are not here treating the question of justifica- 
 tion." 
 
 ' He published also at this time lectures on various other 
 parts of Scripture, and prefixed prefaces to dififerent works 
 of other authors ; and particularly, in the year 1533, to the 
 confession of faith of the Waldenses ; concerning whom, 
 after inquiry, he had become satisfied "that they were not 
 heretics," but sound though imperfectly instructed Chris- 
 tians. In a letter to Joachim Prince of Anhalt, who was 
 ill and depressed in mind, he recommends cheerful conver- 
 sation with his pastor Hausman, music, and even facetious 
 <liscourse : observing that God " allowed exhilaration of that 
 kind within proper limits, and would not be displeased at 
 our thus dispelling melancholy, and enjoying the blessings 
 he bestowed upon us for both soul and body." 
 
 In 1535 his renewed commentary on the epistle to the 
 Galatians appeared. It is not " a new edition" of his former 
 work, but the substance of a nevp series of lectures on that 
 part of Scripture. The account of it is to be considered, 
 however, as included in the notice already taken of this im- 
 portant portion of Luther's writings.* One or two pas- 
 sages may here be added. 
 
 On ch. iii. 10, he thus explains what it is "to fulfil the 
 law," in the only sense in which it can be done, or indeed 
 the law of God be truly obeyed at all, among sinful men. 
 " We must in the first place listen to the promise which pro- 
 poses Christ to us. Embracing him, we receive the Holy 
 Spirit for his sake. God and our neighbour are then truly 
 loved, good works are performed, the cross is borne. This 
 is truly to fulfil the law, which otherwise remains for ever 
 unfulfilled." 
 
 *Vol.i. p. 114-118. 
 
 •f Of course, the term " fulfilling the law'' is here used in a less strict 
 and proper sense, not for the absolute fulfilling of it in all its "ex- 
 ceeding breadth" (as it must be if we would he justified by our own 
 obedience to it), but in the only sense in which it is ever obeyed by 
 fallen man. 
 
 H3 
 
90 Luther's writings. 
 
 A subsequent passage may be quoted as opposed to the 
 notion, to which fresh currency has been recently given, 
 that we are first brought, indeed, into a justified state by 
 faith, but can be continueil in it only by obedience. *' Faith 
 perpetually'^'' (or to the end) "justifies and makes us alive ; 
 and yet it remains not alone ; that is, it is not idle. Not 
 that it does not stand alone in its proper province and office ; 
 for it constantly justifies us . . . but it is not idle, and with- 
 out charity." 
 
 On the difficulty of treating these questions rightly, he 
 says, on ch. v. 13 : " It is a nice and difficult thing to teach, 
 that we are justified without good works, and yet to require 
 them as necessary. Here, unless the teachers are faithful 
 and w^ise ministers of Jesus Christ, and stewards of the 
 mysteries of God, able * rightly to divide the word of truth,' 
 faith and works will immediately be confounded. Each 
 topic, both faith and works, ought to be diligently urged and 
 taught, yet so that each may be kept within its own prov- 
 ince." 
 
 Speaking of sanctification, he alludes to his former views 
 when a monk, and the desire he then felt to converse with a 
 saint, or holy person ; figuring to himself under that name 
 a hermit, an ascetic, feeding on roots : but he had since 
 learned that the saint was one who, being justified in the 
 righteousness of Christ, went on " to serve God in his 
 proper calling ; through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the 
 body, and to subdue his evil affections and desires. I joy- 
 fully, therefore, give thanks to God," he says, " that what I 
 desired he has abundantly granted me, and that I see not 
 one saint but many, yea, innumerable saints ; not such as 
 empty sophisters imagine, but such as Christ and his apostles 
 describe ; and that, by the grace of God, I myself am one 
 of the number." This, again, may be opposed to the abuse 
 often made of his complaints of the evils existing among his 
 own followers. 
 
 In some lectures on the first chapter of St. John, delivered 
 in the year 1537, he thus makes the law our rule of life. 
 " Even the moral law loses its power so far as this, that it 
 cannot condemn those who believe in Christ, and are thus 
 ' delivered from the curse of the law.' Yet the decalogue 
 remains in force, and belongs to Christians, that they may 
 
Luther's writings. 91 
 
 obey it. For the righteousness which the law requires 
 is fulfilled* by believers, through the grace and assistance 
 of the Holy Spirit which they receive. Hence all the ex- 
 hortations of the prophets, and likewise of Christ and his 
 apostles, to piety and holiness, are so many excellent expo- 
 sitions of the ten commandments." 
 
 His remarks on predestination are practical, rather than 
 conformed to a system. In a commentary on Joel, on the 
 words, " Whosoever shall call on the name of the liord shall 
 be saved," he says, " In this and similar sentences, the mercy 
 of God is offered generally to all : . . . here we ought to rest ; 
 and believe, since God sends us his Word, that we are among 
 the predestinated ; and then, on the ground of this promise, 
 * to call upon' him, and be assured [in so doing] of the sal- 
 vation which he thus expressly promises." In a joint paper 
 in the year 1536, Luther, I3ugenhagen, and Melancthon 
 observe, "We are not commanded to inquire whether we 
 are elect, but to believe that he v/ho perseveres to the end in 
 repentance and faith is elect and saved." " This doctrine," 
 say they, " is clear, and does not make the fallen secure, 
 but excites them to fear the wrath of God ; for it is most 
 certain that God is offended by all sins, whether of the elect 
 or the non-elect." 
 
 In 1537 Luther published a small piece on the constitu- 
 tion of councils, showing what was necessary to their free- 
 dom, and why one constituted as the pope would have it 
 could not be free — particularly on account of the oaths by 
 which all persons admissible to vote were bound to support 
 to the utmost all the rights, privileges, and powers of the 
 papal hierarchy. 
 
 In a preface to some expositions of St. Matthew's Gospel, 
 he expresses his fear of too great a multiplication of books ; 
 lest, as fathers, councils, and doctors had superseded the 
 apostles, so it should be again ; and he modestly says, he 
 " wishes his own books to last only for the age in which 
 they were written, and which they might serve ; but that 
 God would give to succeeding ages their own labourers, as 
 he had always heretofore done." 
 
 We will close these extracts with the following pious and 
 pleasing passage, founded on Matt. xii. 35. " A corrupt 
 
 * See p. 89. 
 
92 Luther's writings. 
 
 heart turns good to evil, a good one turns even evil to good. 
 For example :' Does a good man see a murderer or a thief^ — he 
 is moved to compassion ; pities him, prays for him, mourns 
 over the misery of man ; admonishes him, reproves him, 
 does all he can to reclaim him. Next, mindful of human 
 frailty, he humbly reflects, ' He did so yesterday, I may do 
 it to-day !' Hence, thirdly, he prays to God to keep him, 
 and praises him for having kept him hitherto. So much 
 good does a rightly disposed heart derive from one evil seen 
 in another person." 
 
 The remark of the pious and learned Seckendorf on 
 Luther's expositions of Scripture seems to be very just. 
 " I do not deny," he says, " that there are to be found at 
 this day commentaries on the sacred writings distinguished 
 by erudition, eloquence, and deep research ; but I confess I 
 much doubt whether there ever existed a man who fur- 
 nished, in extemporaneous language (for thus Luther de- 
 livered his lectures, and many of those which have been 
 published were taken down from his mouth as thus deliv- 
 ered), a more forcible and more edifying exposition of the 
 Word of God. I would not indeed undertake to defend every 
 phrase or every opinion which he uttered, as if it were in- 
 spired : he himself earnestly disclaimed all pretensions to 
 such perfection : but I speak of the general consistency of 
 his expositions with the analogy of faith, and of the heroic 
 energy of the language and the arguments which he employed : 
 and I think that all who will bestow any such pains as I 
 have done on the study of his writings will agree with me 
 in this sentiment."* 
 
 *So the good Elector John Frederic, then in captivity, says, "My 
 heart is deeply affected, my inmost soul penetrated by Luther's writings. 
 I derive more edification, comfort, strength, from a page of Luther than 
 from whole volumes of other authors." 
 
DEATH OF GEORGE OF SAXONY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 DeatJi of George of Saxony^ and Succession of Henry — 
 Reformation of his Dominions ; and of the Electorate of 
 Brandenburg — Joachim II. — Conferences of Haguenau, 
 WormSf arid Ratishon — Gropper^s Book — Misconduct of 
 the Landgrave — Dangerous Illness of Melancthon. 
 
 " A FEW days after the convention at Frankfort, George 
 Duke of Saxony died, and his death was an event of great 
 advantage to the reformation. That prince, the head of the 
 Albertine, or younger branch of the Saxon family, possessed, 
 as Marquis of iVlisnia and Thuringia, extensive territories, 
 comprehending Dresden, Leipzig, and other cities, now the 
 most considerable in the electorate. From the first dawn 
 of the reformation, he had been its enemy as avowedly as 
 the electoral princes were its protectors ; and had carried 
 on his opposition, not only with all the zeal flowing from 
 religious prejudices, but with a virulence inspired by per- 
 sonal antipathy to Luther, and imbittered by the domestic 
 animosity subsisting between him and the other branch of 
 the family. By his death without issue, the succession fell 
 to his brother Henry, whose attachment to the Protestant 
 religion surpassed, if possible, that of his predecessor to 
 popery. Henry no sooner took possession of his new 
 dominions than, disregarding a clause in George's will, 
 dictated by his bigotry, whereby he bequeathed all his do- 
 minions to the emperor and the king of the Romans, if his 
 brother should attempt to make any innovation in religion, 
 he invited some Protestant divines, and among them Luther 
 himself, to Leipzig. By their advice and assistance, he 
 overturned in a few weeks the whole system of ancient 
 rites, establishing the full exercise of the reformed religion, 
 with the universal applause of his subjects, who had long 
 wished for this change, which the authority of their duke 
 alone had hitherto prevented. This revolution delivered the 
 Protestants from the danger to which they were exposed by 
 having an inveterate enemy situated in the middle of their 
 
94 DEATH OF 
 
 territories ; and the territories of the princes and cities 
 attached to their cause now extended, in one great and 
 almost unbroken line, from the shore of the Bahic to the 
 banks of the Rhine." 
 
 Such is the account given by Dr. Robertson of the next 
 event which materially advanced the cause of the reforma- 
 tion. 
 
 During the lifetime of his brother, Henry had possessed 
 little or nothing beyond the small territory of Freyburg. In 
 that district he had been careful to introduce reformation. 
 He had however to encounter the opposition of his brother 
 George, who expostulated with him as going contrary to 
 the purposes, and even the promises, which he had ex- 
 pressed, of making no changes till a council should have 
 defined what reformation ought to take place, and by what 
 means it might properly be effected. He implored him not 
 rashly to adopt a course of proceeding unworthy of his 
 family, and contrary to his duty ; not to listen to people in 
 whose estimation " unbelief was the only sin ;" or, while 
 he pretended " to seek the gospel in barns and cellars," to 
 risk not only the peace of his country but the salvation of 
 his soul. " Did he plead conscience 1 He had only to look 
 to himself, and not trouble his mind about others. I myself,'" 
 said George, " if power in religious matters had been as- 
 signed me by the Word of God, or committed to me by the 
 pope and the emperor, should long ago have reformed what 
 I considered as abuses : but, finding myself possessed of no 
 such authority, I determine to make no innovations till a 
 council shall direct them." If Henry would persist, he 
 declares that he should feel it necessary to report his con- 
 duct to the emperor. 
 
 Henry, however, was not thus to be satisfied or impeded. 
 He professed himself to be convinced from the Holy Scrip- 
 tures that the doctrines and practices hitherto received in 
 his country were contrary to the Word of God, and dan- 
 gerous to the souls of men : and therefore he could not in 
 conscience postpone a change till it should have been 
 decreed by a council. He would however deprive no one 
 of his rights, nor impose on any persons what might be 
 contrary to their consciences ; and he hoped in all things 
 so to conduct himself that he could justify his proceedings 
 to the emperor. He adds, that the people were so desirous 
 
GEORGE OF SAXONY. 95 
 
 of reformation that they would by ready to raise tumults 
 should he withhold it. 
 
 After the correspondence here referred to, George appears 
 to have left Henry unmolested in his proceedings within his 
 own small territory ; but he was exceedingly anxious to 
 prevent the introduction of similar changes into ducal* Sax- 
 ony after his own decease. Among the expedients to which 
 he had recourse for this purpose, we may reckon a com- 
 promise which he attempted, by proposing a partial reforma- 
 tion conducted according to a different model, and on this 
 basis a reconciliation between the two parties. When this 
 expedient failed, he had recourse to another, which must be 
 considered as reflecting much dishonour upon his memory. 
 He had one surviving son, an idiot, who had been pronounced 
 incapable of reigning, or of entering into any of the rela- 
 tions of life. George however now determined, according 
 to a threat which he had some time before held out, to have 
 him married, and to appoint him his successor Accordingly, 
 he was married in January, 1539, to a daughter of Eric, 
 one of the counts of Mansfeldt ; but he died within a 
 month. Being disappointed here also, George's next step 
 was to make a will, binding Henry, as the condition of suc- 
 ceeding him, to maintain the ancient religion, and accede to 
 the Roman Catholic league; and, in case of his failure to 
 do this, directing his own dominions, as has already been 
 stated, to pass to the emperor and King Ferdinand, till an 
 heir professing the true religion should arise. This will he 
 produced at the funeral of his son, desiring the confirmation 
 of it by his nobles. They, however, foreseeing the con- 
 sequences of such a measure, declined concurring in it 
 unless it had the approbation of Henry ; which of course 
 could not be obtained. Henry was next desired to send 
 over immediately some trusty persons to whom more ac- 
 ceptable terms might be proposed : and he in consequence 
 himself set out for Dresden on the 17th of April, but was 
 met on the road by messengers announcing the death of 
 George on that same day. George was sixty-eight years of 
 age, and had been for some weeks confined to his bed. The 
 priest of Dresden, when George's death approached, ex- 
 
 * By tills term, though it may not be strictly correct, I would dis- 
 tinguish the dominions of the prince who was simply duke, from hiiw 
 ■who was also Roman elector of Saxony, 
 
96 SUCCESSION OF HENRY. 
 
 horted him to call upon S. James, whom he had ever con- 
 sidered as in a special manner his patron saint : but some 
 noblemen standing by repelled the priest, and exhorted the 
 duke to call upon Christ, which, we are told, he did in few 
 but emphatic words. 
 
 Henry arrived at Dresden the same evening, and was 
 received with every demonstration of respect and joy ; even 
 those who during George's lifetime had declared that they 
 would leave all behind them, and go into exile, rather than 
 witness any change of religion, now vying with one 
 another in their testimonies of regard for their new master. 
 So great is the difference between a dead prince and a living 
 one ! 
 
 Maimbourg represents the change of religion which 
 ensued as rapid indeed : " At Leipzig, Luther in one day, 
 and by one sermon, turned the whole city from Catholic to 
 Protestant !" And his remark upon it is in all respects 
 worthy of its author. " So frail," says he, " is the founda- 
 tion of the religion of these miserable nations, who are ever 
 ready to embrace, not what may be pleasing to God, buC 
 what may gratify their princes." Nothing could be more 
 contrary to the fact in the present instance. The truth is^ 
 as Dr. Robertson has justly stated, the people " had long 
 wished for this change, which the authority of their duke- 
 alone had hitherto prevented." 
 
 But the proceedings in this important case, which was 
 big with great consequences to Germany, deserve to be more 
 particularly related. 
 
 Henry, it is to be observed, was a man of inferior talents. 
 He was now also old and feeble ; and his zeal in the Prot- 
 estant cause, though sincere, can hardly, I fear, be shown 
 (notwithstanding Dr. Robertson's statement) to have been 
 so warm and persevering as that of his predecessor had been 
 in the opposite interest. He had the wisdom, however, to 
 place himself under the direction of the elector and other 
 able counsellors, and under their guidance he at present pro- 
 ceeded with vigour and success. 
 
 The first opposition offered to his designs was from King 
 Ferdinand, who urged that the extension of the reformation 
 was contrary to the pacification of Nuremberg and the con- 
 vention of Frankfort, and that its introduction into Henry's 
 new dominions would be a violation of the rights of the 
 
REFORMATION OF DUCAL SAXONY. 97 
 
 Bishops of Misnia and Mersburg. Henry found it not dif- 
 ficult to reply to these arguments. 
 
 The Eishop of Misnia himself next addressed him, depre- 
 cating unlawful and unnecessary innovations. He proposed 
 to introduce all proper reformation himself, and sent to the 
 duke by his dean, Julius Pflug (a name afterward distin- 
 guished in these controversies), a sort of "Necessary Erudi- 
 tion of a Christian Man," consisting of 195 folio pages, 
 which he proposed to make the basis of reformation. Henry 
 sent the book to the elector, ^lesiring his judgment and that 
 of his divines upon it ; and the manuscript exists to this 
 day at Weimar with the marginal annotations of Luther, 
 Melancthon, and Pontanus, and accompanied by a letter of 
 considerable length, in which the two former, with Justus 
 Jonas, deliver their sentiments concerning it. It appears to 
 be specious, and to have borrowed miich from the reformers, 
 where this could be done without impugning Romish tenets. 
 On the V. hole, however, it was pronounced unsatisfactory and 
 unsound. Further correspondence follov,'ed with the bishops 
 both of Misnia and Mersburg, but without its having the 
 eflect of staying the proposed reformation. 
 
 The elector and the landgrave lost no time in offering 
 Henry the most effectual assistance and support ; and the 
 former of these princes immediately set out to visit him, 
 taking with him Myconius, the pastor of Gotha. In an 
 account of this visit written by himself the elector mentions 
 with great pleasure hearing him and Henry Lindeman 
 preach to immense congregations at Annaberg, on the 4th 
 of May. He soon after proceeded to Leipzig, accompanied 
 by Luther. On Whitsunday papal rites were abolished 
 there ; Luther preached before the duke and the elector ; 
 and the sacrament was administered with scriptural sim- 
 plicity. " Thus," says the elector, " was fulfilled Luther's 
 prediction, uttered many years before, when he heard of 
 George's increasing severities, ' I shall live to see his whole 
 family extinct, and to preach the Word of God at Leipzig.' " 
 Luther preached here repeatedly. Justus Jonas also joined 
 and assisted him ; and it is recorded, that on their mention- 
 ing in their sermons the Divine goodness in delivering the 
 place from papal bondage and persecution, the audience 
 " fell on their knees, and with many tears returned th?^»>Vg 
 to God." 
 
 Vol. II.-I 
 
98 DUCAL SAXONY. 
 
 Henry caused a visitation to be made of his dominions, 
 which comprised about a thousand parishes. It was con^ 
 ducted hastily, and no satisfactory provision could at present 
 be made for the instruction of the people, for want of com- 
 petent teachers : some pious ministers, however, were invited 
 from the neighbouring countries, and what was now done 
 prepared the way for a more efficient reformation in the 
 churches and the schools soon after, under the government 
 of Henry's sons. Myconius was allowed to continue his 
 faithful services at Leipzig for ^ghleen months. This excel- 
 lent minister, in the course of his correspondence, gives the 
 elector an account of a public dispute which he and Cru- 
 ciger (who had visited him for the occasion) had been 
 enabled to maintain for eight hours together, in support of 
 their doctrines, before the whole university and a large 
 and splendid audience ; and, as he trusts, with the best 
 effect. The rector of the university, and some masters, 
 assisted on the Protestant side. — Much room was given to 
 retort upon the papal clergy the charge of fickleness which 
 Maimbourg has groundlessly brought against the people of 
 these parts. Though no force was used, they almost to a 
 man acceded to the new regulations. Among the leading 
 dignitaries, the dean alone, Julius Pflug, openly adhered to 
 the old system. Cochlaeus and Vicelius, whom the late duke 
 had supported as a sort of champions in the papal cause, 
 withdrew from the country. 
 
 Other important changes still tending to the advance- 
 ment of the Protestant religion followed. They are thus 
 stated by Maimbourg. " Joachim H. Elector of Branden- 
 burg, who, after the example of his father Joachim, a zealous 
 Catholic, had hitherto professed the ancient religion, now 
 yielded to the earnest entreaties of the states of his domin- 
 ions, who offered him as an indacement the liquidation of 
 all his debts ; and he made the same changes in his prov- 
 inces as Henry had made in his. And even his uncle 
 Albert Archbishop of Mentz, though himself a devoted 
 Catholic, was compelled to bow before the torrent that swept 
 across the north of Germany, and to allow to his diocesses 
 of Magdeburg and Halberstadt the liberty of embracing the 
 confession of Augsburg." 
 
 The history of Joachim IT. will be found interestjng» 
 
JOACHIM II. OF BRANDENBURG 99 
 
 The reader will have in remembrance the zeal of his father 
 for popery at the period of the diet of Augsburg. It was 
 so great as to lead him to carry persecution into the bosom of 
 his own family ; and his treatment of his wife has been 
 already briefly stated.* He had married Elizabeth the 
 sister of Christiern II., the (expelled) King of Denmark, 
 and niece of John Elector of Saxony. She was inclined 
 to the doctrine of the reformers, and had received the sacra- 
 ment in both kinds. Her own daughter, named also Eliza- 
 beth, was the person to discover this to Joachim, who was 
 so incensed. that he confined her to her own apartments, 
 and was understood to be taking measures for her perpetual 
 imprisonment. In consequence of this she fled from Berlin, 
 and came to her uncle the Elector of Saxony, in a mere 
 rustic car, and with only one female attendant. This was 
 in the year 1528. The elector received her, and she con- 
 tinued in his dominions till the year 1546. Here she culti- 
 vated the acquaintance of Luther, and sometimes spent 
 several months together at his house, deeply engaged in the 
 study of the Word of God. 
 
 It is remarkable that the daughter who thus " betrayed 
 her own mother," not indeed " to death," but to bonds or 
 to exile, herself within ten years embraced the faith she 
 had, not in this instance only but in others, laboured " to 
 destroy ;" became zealous in its support ; and after the 
 death of her husband, Erie Duke of Brunswick, effected 
 the full reformation of that duchy. 
 
 Such being the temper and the principles of the elder 
 Joachim, there could be no douI)t of the care which would 
 be taken, in the education of his son and heir, to fix him in 
 the tenets of the Romish church. This was made an 
 object of special attention, both to Joachim himself and to 
 his brother the Archbishop of Mentz ; and, as if to render 
 the barrier thus placed around the young man insurmount- 
 able, he was married to the daughter of the inveterate George 
 of Saxony. An apparently accidental circumstance, how- 
 ever defeated all these precautions. In the year 1519, the 
 younger Joachim, while yet only a boy of fourteen, accom- 
 panied his father to Frankfort, to the diet which raised 
 Charles V. to the imperial throne. On the way, at Wittem* 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 340. 
 
100 JOACHIM II., 
 
 berg, he happened to hear Luther discourse on the articles 
 of the Christian faith, and particularly on that of justifica- 
 tion ; and was much captivated with him. Thus appears 
 to have been sown in the mind of the youth that seed 
 which, fostered by his mother's pious care, afterward 
 expanded itself; and to this occurrence, probably, it may 
 be traced that Prussia is at the present day a Protestant 
 kingdom ! 
 
 Several years indeed passed, ,as might have been expected, 
 ere the impression which had been made produced its effects, 
 and ere Joachim was brought openly to avow himself on the 
 side of the reformation. During the lifetime of his father, 
 however, in the year 1532, while he was himself leading the 
 troops of Saxony to the Turkish war, we find him in cor- 
 respondence with Luther, and affording to the reformer 
 much satisfaction by the spirit which he manifested. In 
 1535 his father died, and he succeeded him : and the next 
 year the landgrave addressed to him a very excellent letter, 
 which we should have had greater pleasure in quoting had 
 the character of the writer been more consistent vi^ith the 
 principles he professed. It was designed to confirm Joa- 
 chim in his attachment to scriptural doctrine, and to excite 
 him to a bold avowal of it. " You know," says the land- 
 grave, " that we must all die, and that the time of our 
 death is altogether uncertain : you know also the words of 
 Christ, ' What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul ]' Many," he observes, " and 
 one in particular,* would aim to draw him away from the 
 truth of the gospel ; but he trusts he would stand firm, alike 
 against threats and caresses, and prefer the glory of God to 
 all that the world could offer." — Still however Joachim had 
 not the courage to act up to this advice, or various considera- 
 tions restrained and, I fear we must say, ensnared him. 
 From his accession, indeed, he willingly, connived at the 
 introduction of evangelical teachers among his subjects ; 
 but it w^as slowly and gradually that he was induced to 
 go further. His brother John, Marquis of Brandenburg- 
 Anspach, outstripped him in his religious course, by publicly 
 establishing the reformation throughout his territories in 
 the year 1538. At length, however, perhaps excited by his 
 
 * George, the landgrave's father-in-law, as well as Joachim's. 
 
ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. 101 
 
 brother's example, Joachim adopted more decisive measures, 
 and in the year 1539 published such an ecclesiastical regu- 
 lation, both for doctrine and discipline, as could scarcely 
 have been surpassed, especially under the head of doctrine, 
 had Luther himself drawn it up. 
 
 From this document, a few passages, bearing especially 
 upon the great doctrine of justification, may deserve to be 
 transcribed. They will serve to show how uniformly that 
 doctrine, upon this fundamental point, which numbers to 
 the present day so much revile, and numbers more, by every 
 refinement, or rather perversion, strive to evade, was main- 
 tained by the reformers of ditterent countries. " This," 
 says the regulation, " is the chief topic of all, and herein 
 lies the whole sum of the gospel, namely, in its being taught 
 clearly and purely, and held fast even unto death, in spite 
 of all contradiction that can be oftered to it, that we obtain 
 the remission of sins, justification, and final and eternal 
 salvation, by the mere grace of God, and only through faith 
 in the redemption of Christ, and by no worthiness, work, 
 or desert of our own." The necessity of retaining the 
 exclusive term only — " that we are justified by faith only, 
 without our own works" — is then insisted on ; and the 
 term is affirmed to be fully borne out by the tenor of scrip- 
 ture, and to be indispensable to the purity of the doctrine, 
 and to the peace and safety of distressed consciences ; and 
 "many," it is declared, "who now preach concerning faith, 
 but avoid this assertion of its exclusive eflicacy, are to be 
 regarded as suspicious and dangerous teachers." The 
 document then proceeds to answer those who reproach, and 
 those also who abuse the doctrine, as if it superseded the 
 necessity of good works. " The true statement is by no 
 means to be abandoned or obscured on account of such 
 persons. The doctrine of the divine law is in the first 
 instance to be inculcated. The suitable fruits of repi ntance 
 and foith are to be required. The power and nature of 
 faith are to be explained, which are such that it cannot exist 
 in a heart that is hard, proud, ungodly, and insensible of sin 
 and of the Divine wrath against it : for faith is no cold and 
 idle opinion : on the contrary, it is earnest, efficacious, and 
 active ; so that the soul which seriously believes, and appre- 
 hends first the anger of God on account of. its sin, and then 
 his grace independently of any merits of its own, cannot 
 13 
 
102 JOACHIM II. OF BRANDENBURG. 
 
 but be filled with unspeakable joy and hope and consolation) 
 derived from the grace of God, and with ardent love towards 
 him ; and, as he commands, towards its neighbour also. 
 Hence proceed ail good works" — which the paper then 
 describes in detail. After having done this, it remarks : 
 " The term only, annexed to faith, by no means excludes 
 these, as if they were not to be done : for it is one thing to 
 do good works, and another to be saved by them. They 
 are to be done, but they avail not to salvation : therefore 
 the Son of God must die ; and to this point [that is, to our 
 becoming interested in his salvation] faith alone relates. 
 We ought to do good works from obedience to God, for the 
 glory of his name, for the benetit of our neighbour, and to 
 prove the sincerity of our faith. For, as faith soars up- 
 wards, bringing us into the favour of God, so works descend 
 downwards, proving us to be in his favour. Yet faith does 
 not procure our salvation by its intrinsic merit, but by 
 embracing the Divine promise. Thus we have righteous- 
 ness before God, and salvation by faith only ; but from this 
 faith, through divine grace, good works do spring." 
 
 Of the importance of the reformation of Brandenburg, 
 Seckendorf remarks, no one can doubt, who considers the 
 ample extent of the provinces concerned : and to us its 
 importance must appear still more striking, when we con- 
 sider that the electorate of Brandenburg has since grown 
 into the kingdom of Prussia. The Elector of Brandenburg, 
 indeed, influenced by the hope that he should thus be en- 
 abled, with less prejudice, to promote more extensively the 
 reformation of Germany at large, never acceded to the 
 Protestant league ; and during the Smalkaldic war, and in 
 the events which followed it, he acted not a part which we 
 can approve ; but at this period he accomplished more than 
 Luther conceived would have been found practicable. 
 
 Among the epistles of Melancthon is preserved one of 
 considerable length, drawn up by him for the Elector Joachim, 
 and addressed to Sigismund King of Poland, whose daugh- 
 ter Joachim had married for his second wife, and on whom 
 he was dependent for some part of his dominions. It is dated 
 in October, 1539, and is intended to explain and justify the 
 steps which the elector had taken. It is written in a respect- 
 ful and affectionate style, yet with becoming firmness ; and 
 the following passage exhibits a pleasing picture of the piety 
 
CONFERENCES OF RATISBON. 103 
 
 of the elector's retired life. Speaking of his wife (Sigis- 
 ir.urd's daughter), and of the happiness he enjo^'ed, and 
 should ever be careful to preserve, in his marriage wiih her, 
 he says, " She knows that religion is a matter of earnest 
 concern with me, and that my mind rbhors all unrighteous 
 counsels. And as it is our mutual desire that God should 
 be glorified in our connexion, we often unite in } if^yer, and 
 often discourse together on the Divine commandments, on 
 the hope of eternal life, and on the blessingrs derived from 
 Christ." 
 
 The history of these more interesting events has with- 
 drawn our attention from the conference which was to be 
 held, in pursuance of the convention of Frankfort, between 
 select persons of the contending parties ; who were to 
 endeavour to draw up articles of accommodation between 
 them, to be submitted to the next diet. The futility of all 
 such attempts must be obvious to any one who considers the 
 nature of their differences, and that they stood irreconcilably 
 opposed to each other upon such fundamental points, as the 
 very rule by which controversies were to be decided, and 
 the authority of the pope to decide them in a summary and 
 absolute manner. Where no beneficial result, therefore, 
 could ensue, the detail of proceedings would only be weari- 
 some, and often vexatious. The emperor, however, seems 
 to have entertained the hope, that accommodation might 
 be effected, and hence to have sincerely desired the confer- 
 ence. To the Protestants all such proceedings were useful, 
 both because they gained them time, which was highly for 
 their advantage, and also because they accustomed men to 
 see religious questions brought under discussion, instead 
 of being submitted to the absolute dictation of an mdividual. 
 On this very account they were objects of high offence to 
 the court of Rome, which regarded the proposal of them as 
 little short of an act of treason and rebellion against the 
 church. The opposition of the pope and his devcted ad- 
 herents had the effect of long delaying and greatly inter- 
 rupting the execution of the proposed measure. A meeting 
 was to have been held at Nuremberg in August, 1539, pre- 
 paratory to such conference. It did not, however, take 
 place ; nor does any thing appear to have been done till 
 June, 1540, Then, in the words of Dr. Robertson, " in a 
 
104 CONFERENCES 
 
 diet held at Haguenau, matters were ripened for the con- 
 ference. In another diet assembled at Worms," in Decem- 
 ber following, " the conference was begun, Melancthon on 
 the one side, and Eckius on the other, sustaining the prin- 
 cipal part in the dispute ; but after they had made some 
 progress, though without concluding any thing, it was sus- 
 pended by the emperor's command, that it might be renewed 
 with greater solemnity in his own presence, in a diet sum- 
 moned to meet at Ratisbon. This assembly was opened 
 with great pomp," April 5th, 1541, " and with a general 
 expectation that its proceedings would be vigorous and 
 decisive. By the consent of both parties, the emperor was 
 intrusted with the power of nominating the persons who 
 should manage the conference, which it was agreed should 
 be conducted, not in the form of a public disputation, but as 
 a friendly scrutiny or examination into the articles which 
 had given rise to the present controversies. He appointed 
 Eckius, Gropper, and Pflug, on the part of the Catholics ; 
 Melancthon, Bucer, and Pistorius, on that of the Protest- 
 ants ; all men of distinguished reputation among their own 
 adherents, and, except Eckius, all eminent for moderation, 
 as well as desirous of peace." 
 
 So far we may adopt the statement of this accom- 
 plished historian ; in what follows, where opinion is blended 
 with fact, we must regard his representations with caution, 
 or even with distrust. " As they were about to begin their 
 consultations," he states, " the emperor put into their hands 
 a book, composed, as he said, by a learned divine in the 
 Low Countries, with siich extraordinary perspicuity and 
 temper, as, in his opinion, might go far to unite and com- 
 prehend the two contending parties. Gropper, a canon 
 of Cologne, whom he had named among the managers of the 
 conference, a man of address as well as of erudition, was 
 afterward suspected to be the author of this short treatise. 
 It contained positions with regard to twenty-two of the 
 chief articles in theology, which included most of the ques- 
 tions then agitated in the controversy between the Luther- 
 ans and the Church of Rome. By ranging^ his sentiments 
 in a natural order, and expressing them with great sim- 
 plicity ; by employing often the very words of Scripture, or 
 of the primitive fathers ; by softening the rigour of some 
 opinions, and explaining away what was absurd in others ; 
 
OF RATISBON. 105 
 
 by concessions, sometimes on one side,. and sometimes on 
 the other, and especially by banishing as much as possible 
 scholastic phrases, those words and terms of art in contro- 
 versy which serve as badges of distinction to different sects, 
 and for which theologians often contend more fiercely than 
 for opinions themselves ; he at last framed his work in such 
 a manner as promised fairer than any thing that had hitherto 
 been attempted to compose and to terminate religious dis- 
 sensions." 
 
 Dr. Robertson here appears to write in the character 
 of a philosopher and a statesman, in preference, if not to the 
 disparagement of that of the Christian divine. This is en- 
 tirely to the taste of modern times, and will be sure to secure 
 him the praise of large and liberal views, among those who 
 regard a high sense of the importance of revealed truth, 
 and all " contending earnestlj'^ for the faith once delivered 
 to the saints," as the infallible mark of narrow-mindedness 
 and bigotry. Yet it would not be eas}^, perhaps, to give a 
 better description, couched in the language of a friend to 
 such measures, than that which Dr. R. has here supplied, 
 of the plausible arts by which attempts have in all ages 
 been made to fritter away the great truths of the gospel, 
 sometimes one sometimes another, "till none were left." 
 Listen even to the Unitarian : what does he aim at, but 
 *' a natural order" — " great simplicity" — " the very words 
 of Scripture," exclusively of all others, and indeed of znany 
 of ihem — " to soften the rigour of some opinions" — to 
 ''explain away absurdities" — to "banish scholastic phrases" 
 and " terms of art," the " badges of distinction to different 
 sects, for which theologians often contend more fiercely 
 than for opinions themselves" — and thus " to compose and 
 terminate religious dissensions ]" I am far from insinu- 
 ating that Dr. R. would designedly furnish a screen under 
 which Socinian errors should be covertly introduced ; I am 
 far also from denying that there are truth and propriety in 
 some of the suggestions which he would here convey ; all 
 error has some truth at the bottom of it, but the whole pas- 
 sage is dangerous — from many writers I should call it 
 insidious — and the more dangerous as proceeding from so 
 high an authority, and being precisely adapted to the preju- 
 dices of the age in which we live. The interests of divine 
 truth have little to fear from open opposition, compared 
 
JOS CONFERENCES 
 
 with what is to be apprehended from indifference, and fre- 
 quently from plausible but enfeebled statements, which pre- 
 serve perhaps the form or the semblance of sound doctrine, 
 or what may be construed to imply it, but from which all 
 the force and spirit of truth have been evaporated. Grop- 
 per's book, we shall find reason to conclude, was of this 
 kind, and it met with the fate which must ever attend all 
 such attempts to unite what is irreconcilable — it pleased 
 neither party — rather it much offended both. It was in 
 vain, therefore, that the emperor laboured to bring about an 
 accommodation between them ; and the whole affair issued 
 in a temporizing recess, offensive to the pope from the pro- 
 posal which it contained of referring the questions at issue 
 to a national synod, or even to a diet of the empire, in case 
 a general council could not be held ; and to the Protestants 
 for the restrictions which it unposed upon the liberty they 
 had previously enjoyed. As the latter murmured loudly 
 against it, Charles, unwilling to leave any seeds of discon- 
 tent in the empire, at a time when he had danger to appre- 
 hend both from the Turk and from the King of France, 
 granted them a private declaration, in the most ample 
 terms, exempting them from whatever they thought op- 
 pressive or injurious in the recess, and ascertaining to them 
 the full possession of all the privileges which they had ever 
 enjoyed. 
 
 Before we take leave of the subjects discussed in this con- 
 ference, we may observe, that a stricter discipline appears 
 to have prevailed among the Protestants than either from 
 their own complaints or from the representations of their 
 enemies we should perhaps have expected. They wish 
 their opponents could witness the state of things in their 
 churches. " No one was admitted to the holy communion, 
 till he had been examined and absolved by the pastor or 
 deacon ; and in that way numbers received instruction, and 
 many sought advice in particular cases ; and every Sunday 
 there was a large attendance for these purposes. If any 
 were immoral, they were excluded from the communion, 
 and where the case required, the pastor admonished the 
 magistrate of his duty respecting them. If any, after ad- 
 monition, profanely refused to come to the sacrament, they 
 were publicly censured, and considered as excommunicate." 
 Seckendorf remarks, " These things deserve to be notedj 
 
OF RATISBOi^. 107 
 
 in opposition to tlie difficulties which many, not only people 
 but ministers, urge against examinations of this kind, 
 though their necessity was thus pubUcly acknowledged in 
 this diet by the divines deputed by so many princes and 
 states." In fact, that is here described of which our church 
 laments,* and all wise and faithful pastors lament, the loss 
 to a considerable degree among ourselves. — And, alas ! how 
 much has the practice of consulting their ministers fallen 
 into disuse even among the more religious part of their 
 flocks. The intercourse between ministers and their people 
 has become, too frequently, of that trite, general, and un- 
 profitable kind which is almost all that passes between the 
 people themselves. They have little to learn, little to ask 
 of us, and they want confidence and earnestness of mind to 
 ask even that little ; and we ourselves, alas ! unduly taken 
 up with literature, or with news, or with business, have too 
 little to bring forth, " from the fulness of the heart," for 
 the edification of those with whom we converse. And this 
 is apt more especially to be the case where religion has 
 become familiar, and the " fervour of spirit" with which 
 it was at first both delivered and received has gradually 
 worn ofiT. May God, in his mercy, forbid that this growing 
 " lukewarmness" should after all become the bane of religion 
 in our highly favoured country, and particularly in those 
 places which have enjoyed the most abundant religious ad- 
 vantages ! May we remember, in a truly impressive and 
 efficacious manner, that " many who are first shall be last !" 
 May we " repent and do our first works," that our " candle* 
 stick" may never be "removed out of its place !" 
 
 In the course of these conferences, when all hopes of ac- 
 commodation were wellnigh extinguished, the Elector 
 of Brandenburg and his brother the Marquis George pro- 
 posed, and it was not doubted with the privity of the em-» 
 peror, that a deputation should be sent to Luther, to solicit 
 him, if possible, to point out some way in which they might 
 come to terms of agreement. Prince John of Anhalt, who 
 was joined also by his brother George, with one of the 
 Elector of Brandenburg's counsellors, undertook this em- 
 bassy* Such a reference, it must be acknowledged, was no 
 Bmall honour to the Saxon professor 5 nor could it be co»^ 
 
 * Coiiitninatiol: Sr/vir.^. 
 
108 CONFERENCES 
 
 strued otherwise than as placing, after all that he had said 
 and done, and all that had been said and done concerning- 
 him, much confidence in hid wisdom and upright intentions, 
 as well as acknowledging the great influence which he pos- 
 sessed. The united prudence, temper, and constancy 
 of Luther on this occasion are highly applauded ; but his 
 advice led to no practical result, as indeed it was scarcely 
 possible that it should do. 
 
 Conferences like those which were now carrying on, 
 where such important interests were at stake, such nice 
 distinctions to be made, and such opposite parties (if pos- 
 sible) to be reconciled ; where also every art would be em- 
 ployed to draw the Protestants into unguarded concession, 
 and then to take advantage of it, must obviously have been 
 very distressing to those engaged in them, especially if they 
 were men of refined minds, tender consciences, and truly 
 pacilic dispositions ; ail vdiich qualities eminently distin- 
 gui.-^hrd Melancthon. Ke was scarcely the man that could 
 be expected to stand sufficiently firm in the trying circum- 
 stances in which he was now placed. 'Nor was he ade- 
 qui'tply supported either by his associates, or by all the 
 leading patrops of his cause. Both the landgrave and 
 the Elector of Brandenburg appear to have been disposed 
 to carr,' concessioa too far. Bucer was still more in danger 
 than Melancthon of being betrayed into wdiat might be de- 
 nominated trimming, for the sake of peace ; and accordingly 
 his conduct gave great dissatisfaction to his friends. Pisto- 
 rius, indeed, Melancthoii's other colleague, is spoken of as 
 a " pious, candid, and firm character ;" but I find little con- 
 cerning the part which he took in these discussions, except 
 that he " concurred v/ith Melancthon." The latter amiable 
 person, however, though at first censured by the elector for 
 not adhering more closely to the Confession, seems seldom 
 to have conducted himself with greater constancy and spirit 
 than at this time. The elector's representatives at Ratisbon 
 commended him highly ; Luther himself vindicated, or at 
 least apologized for him to the elector, and the elector was 
 afterward induced to express satisfaction at what he heard 
 of his conduct. He himself declared that he would rather 
 die th.an compromise the truth and wound his own con- 
 science; and that, in fact, he should actually die of grief 
 it he were to do so ; and accordingly we find the emperor 
 
OF RATISEON. 109 
 
 offended at what he called Melancthon's stiffness, which he 
 ascribed to the suggestions of Luther. This induced Me- 
 lancthon to write to the emperor a pretty long letter, ex- 
 plaining the principles on which he felt bound to act, and 
 begging, as the greatest favour he could receive, that he 
 might be released from the task which had been imposed 
 6n him, and which he felt to be one of oppressive weight. 
 As is apt, however, to be the case with good men, ever alive 
 to the sense of their own failings and imperfections, Melanc- 
 thon could not satisfy himself : he confesses his weakness, 
 and even supposes himself chastised for it by an accident 
 which befell him from the overturning of the carriage in which 
 he travelled to Ratisbon. His wrist appears to have been 
 dislocated, and other injury sustained, so that he never per- 
 fectly recovered the use of his right hand. On this the good 
 man says, " I am chastened of God, and justly suffer, as for 
 my other faults, so particularly for my undue facility in suf- 
 fering myself to be employed in vain and foolish schemes, 
 contrary to the advice of so many wise men." He could 
 not, however, but be conscious of the difference between 
 the spirit which actuated himself and such persons as he 
 approved, and that which characterized his opponent 
 Eckius. He speaks with grief of him and others as evi- 
 dently not seeking the truth, nor desiring to serve the 
 church, but only to gain the praise of being subtle dis- 
 putants upon the .most solemn subjects. "I have heard 
 him," he says, " vaingloriously boasting that he could 
 maintain either side of the question. ... I do not think any 
 good man can be so mild and gentle as to listen unmoved 
 to his sophisms and juggling tricks. He sports with terms 
 of the most serious import, continually conceals his real 
 meaning, and only aims to embarrass an adversary. There 
 is great danger in encountering sycophants of this kind." 
 
 The firmness and zeal of the Elector of Saxony through- 
 out the whole of these proceedings were most conspicuous. 
 " No one," said he, " would more gladly see peace estab- 
 Ushed in Germany than I should do, but T would not for the 
 sake of it yield any thing contrary to the will of God and 
 the dictates of my own conscience ; and he, I trust, will keep 
 me free fro^all such sin. Peace established on those terms 
 would be a judgment from God, and would prove the occa- 
 sion of irreconcilable discord." He reprobated the coansels 
 
 Vol. n.— K 
 
no BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE, 
 
 of those who " put religion and outward peace on the same 
 footing, whereas, when the two eame in competition, the 
 latter ought always to give way to the former." He looked 
 with great jealousy upon a sort of middle party which he 
 thought was rising up among the Protestants, and in which 
 he reckoned the Elector of Brandenburg : and he feared 
 much more, he said, the caresses of Ratisbon than the seve- 
 rity of Augsburg. He would have his representatives, 
 therefore, adhere " to the very terms, as well as to the sense, 
 of the Confession, and reject all ambiguous language wliich 
 might be twisted to opposite meanings." 
 
 The truth of history requires us here to record adiilerent 
 and very painful account of another leading patron of reform- 
 ation. It has been already intimated that, notwithstanding 
 the zealous support given to the sacred cause, even from an 
 early period, by Philip Landgrave of Hesse, the conduct of 
 that prince in private life was not consistent with his reli- 
 gious professions. By his own confession it appears, that 
 he had long indulged in licentious habits, though against the 
 most alarming remonstrances of his own conscience ; and a 
 short time before the commencement of the conferences 
 which we have now reviewed, he had persuaded himself that 
 the only remedy to be found for his incontinence was in 
 marrying another wife, in addition to the daughter of the 
 late Duke George, to whom he had been for many years 
 united, and who had brought him a pretty numerous family 
 of children ! Having contrived most sophistically to satisfy 
 himself that the Scriptures allowed him this indulgence, he 
 resolved upon it, and sought to obtain the sanction of Luther, 
 Melancthon, and Bucer, confidentially communicating to the 
 two former, through the medium of the latter, the most 
 secret grounds of his proceeding. This was a step exceed- 
 ingly to be deprecated, as it tended to involve the most 
 venerable reformers, and even the reformation itself, in all 
 the scandal of the landgrave's conduct : and accordingly it 
 has been made the occasion of virulent invective against both 
 Protestants and Protestantism at large. It is by no means 
 necessary to the defence of the reforaiation, that we should 
 either apologize for the landgrave, or assert ^e unerring 
 wisdom of Luther himself; than whom no man ever more 
 sincerely disavowed all pretensions to infallibility : yet, after 
 
ILLNESS OF MELANCTHON. Ill 
 
 a careful examination of the documents brought forward, I 
 venture to affirm that they by no means warrant the charges 
 and insinuations which have* been founded upon them, and 
 are in many respects highly honourable to the Protestant 
 divines, even though we should allow that they would have 
 done better in entering their solemn protest against the 
 whole proceeding, and giving to the landgrave no further 
 advice whatever, which could be at all construed into even 
 an equivocal sanction of it. 
 
 The landgrave actually -carried his purpose into effect, 
 on the 3d of March, 1540, and that with the consent of 
 the landgravine, his lawful wife, in her own hand-writing 
 and attested by her name and seal ! With regard to him, 
 we must leave the whole of his case to his Judge. With 
 respect to others, so far was it from being true that " all the 
 most renowned persons connected with the reformation in 
 Germany concurred in this iniquity,"* that, when it came 
 to be known, it produced the deepest and most painful sen- 
 sation, and strong protestations on the part of the elector 
 and the Duke of Saxony, the Elector of Brandenburg, and 
 various others, both laymen and ecclesiastics. The tender 
 and conscientious Melancthon, in particular, was so deeply- 
 affected with the whole affair, that his distress of mind 
 brought on an illness which threatened to prove fatal to 
 him. — With this illness some interesting and important 
 occurrences are connected. Melancthon was seized with it 
 at Weimar, on his way to the appointed conference at Hague- 
 nau. When Luther, at the elector's express desire, visited 
 his suffering friend, he found him apparently at the point of 
 death : " his sight was obscured, his understanding nearly 
 gone, he had lost his hearing and his speech, he recognised 
 no one, and took no sustenance." Luther, filled with con- 
 sternation and grief, exclaimed, " Gracious God ! how hath 
 Satan prevailed to derange and disfigure this noble instru- 
 ment of thine !" Then, turning to the window (as his 
 custom was), he stood and prayed for him in an extraor- 
 dinary tone of confidence and earnestness, pleading that God 
 must indeed hear them to preserve their confidence in him 
 for the time to come. After which, taking him by the hand, 
 he thus affectionately addressed him : " My dear Philip, be 
 
 * Bossuet. 
 
112 MELANCTHON ON LUTHER. 
 
 of good cheer, you shall not die ! Though God can never 
 want sufficient occasion against us, yet he willeth not the 
 death of a sinner : he hath pleasure in his Ufe, not in his 
 death. He hath pardoned the greatest of sinners : never 
 assuredly will he cast you from his presence, or suifer you to 
 die overwhelmed with sin and grief. Give not way to your 
 sadness, nor become your own destroyer ; but trust in God, 
 who is able to kill and to make alive I" — While Luther thus 
 addressed him, Melancthon began a little to revive. Hence- 
 forward he gradually improved in health, and was eventually 
 restored. " I should have died," he himself afterward said, 
 " but for Luther's visit to me." 
 
 In a will which he a short time before composed under 
 symptoms of this attack of illness coming on, and with the 
 presentiment of death on his mind, he thus speaks of Luther. 
 " I return ray thanks to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther, first 
 because from him I received the knowledge of the gospel, 
 and next because of his singular kindness shown to me on a 
 thousand occasions ; and I desire my family to regard him 
 as a father. Having found him to be endowed with a dis- 
 tinguished and heroic genius, with many great virtues, and 
 with eminent piety and learning, I have always honoured 
 and loved him, and thought his friendship worthy of the 
 most assiduous cultivation." "Such friendships as I here 
 record," he beautifully adds, " I am persuaded are not to be 
 extinguished by death, but will soon be renewed in heaven, 
 where they will be enjoyed to much greater advantage, and 
 yield unspeakably higher delight." 
 
PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XXll. 
 
 Progress of the Reformation — 'Germany — Denmark and 
 Sweden — France — Austria — Ital]/ — Luther^ s Writing s — 
 Agricola and Antinomianism. ' 
 
 Important instances have recently occurred of the pro- 
 gress of the reformation ; others present themselves to our 
 notice. Eckius and Cochlesus, in their correspondence with 
 Cardinal Contarini, bear striking testimony to the extensive 
 and firm establishment which the new system had obtained 
 in Germany. The former dolefully complains, "That all 
 homage was withdrawn from the saints ; that the miserable 
 souls in purgatory had no longer any prayers oifered for 
 them ; that the sacred rites of the mass were discontinued ; 
 that images were insulted and broken ; that the treasures 
 of the church were alienated, the pope and the priesthood 
 held in contempt, and Rome taken for the Babylonish 
 harlot ; that celibacy was at an end, and monastic vows were 
 violated." He reproaches the blindness and inertness of 
 those who had not extinguished the conflagration while it 
 was a mere spark — which was the case when he disputed 
 with Carolstadt and Luther at Leipzig. Even the German 
 prelates, he says, now laughed at the wide-spread mischief, 
 and secretly hoped to be delivered by its means from the 
 exactions and impositions which they had suffered from the 
 court of Rome. — Cochlaeus, writing from Breslaw about the 
 same time, says, •' Our prelates in Germany, whether 
 through cowardice or despair, sit still, and suffer every- 
 where the curtailment of their revenues. The Lutherans, 
 on the contrary, spare neither care, nor labour, nor expense, 
 but devise every means of establishing their sect. They 
 ordain superintendents, a new species of bishops, to whom 
 they give the power of ordaining priests and deacons in 
 their respective districts. They diligently train their youth 
 in the schools in devotion to their own doctrine, and in 
 abhorrence of the papists ; and, that they may acquire con- 
 fidence in preaching to the people, they exercise them in 
 K3 
 
114 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 declamations taken from the postils* of Luther. They 
 assign handsome incomes, drawn from the aboHtion of the 
 private masses, to their ministers and to schoolmasters ; so 
 that it will be extremely difficult to eradicate from the minds 
 of men the pestilent evil which has been implanted at 
 school, and cherished in public assemblies, and by the reading 
 of books at home. To God, however, all things are possible !" 
 
 The discerning reader will receive these accounts with 
 great satisfaction, perceiving nothing in them but what 
 bears honourable testimony to the diligence, the piety, and 
 the discretion of the Protestants. 
 
 The reformation of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, with the 
 connivance of the Archbishop of Mentz and Magdeburg, 
 has been before noticed.! The proceedings at Halle in the 
 duchy of Magdeburg are more particularly recorded. Su- 
 perstition had been there carried even beyond the ordinary 
 limits, and the accumulation of pretended relics was im- 
 mense. The writer of an account of Halle states that there 
 were collected in the churches forty-two entire bodies of 
 eaints ; and portions of others to the amount of eight thou- 
 sand one hundred and thirty-three. The following are a 
 few specimens of the relics. A portion of the earth out of 
 which Adam was created ; fragments of Noah's ark, of the 
 bodies of the patriarchs and prophets, and of the Virgin 
 Mary's clothing at the time of the miraculous conception ; 
 the body of one of the infants slain by Herod, and those of 
 seventeen out of the eleven thousand virgins whom the 
 ignorance of the times (mistaking the name Undecimilla for 
 undecim millia) had constituted the companions of S. 
 Ursula. Once in the year a public exhibition was made of 
 all these relics, and to those who then " devoutly contem- 
 plated them, offering at the same time prayers to God, and 
 giving money to the collegiate church," indulgences were 
 granted extending to many thousands and millions " of years 
 and days." The very indefinite and nullifying clause, how- 
 ever, was added, that those persons should have the benefit 
 of these indulgences " who were found worthy to enjoy 
 it!" — As early as the year 1523, the head of a 'monastery, 
 named Nicholas Demuth, encouraged the introduction of 
 evangelical truth at Halle : and in 1537 George Winckler 
 
 * Expositions of the gospel and epistles. t See p. 98. 
 
GERMANY. 115 
 
 boldly preached it, though he paid the forfeit of his life for 
 so doing. The inhabitants subsequently importuned the 
 archbishop, " on their knees," to allow them the liberty of 
 hearing the Word of God ; but without success. At length, 
 in 1541, they took the liberty of themselves inviting Justus 
 Jonas from Wittemberg ; who became their superintendent. 
 His labours were successful, and the Protestant faith ob- 
 tained a permanent settlement at Halle. 
 
 About the same time the reformation was publicly estab- 
 lished in the cities of Ratisbon and Hildesheim. In each 
 place opposition was made by the bishop and clergy, but 
 they were unable to withstand the tide of public opinion. 
 
 But the palatinate of Bavaria was a still more important 
 accession to the Protestant cause. It was at this time under 
 the government of Otho Henry, a younger member of the 
 Bavarian family ; who afterward succeeded to the elector- 
 ate, which is connected with the palatinate of the Rhine. 
 This prince had for some years favoured the Protestant 
 principles, but he seems to have waited for that more general 
 reformation of the church which he and many others had 
 hoped might be effected by a council. Seeing, however, 
 less and less prospect of so desirable an event, he now avowed 
 himself, and, with the advice of his chaplain, Michael 
 Diller, formerly an Augustinian monk, and of Osiander from 
 Nuremberg, introduced the reformation throughout his terri* 
 tories. 
 
 Events at this time occurred also in the bishopric of 
 Naumberg, in Thuringia, which tended to confirm and per- 
 fect the reformation in that diocess : and, after some dis- 
 putes, Amsdorf, a friend of Luther's, was advanced to the 
 bishopric, on the nomination of the Elector of Saxony, to 
 the exclusion of Julius Pflug, who had been hastily and 
 irregularly elected by the chapter. Amsdorf was a man of 
 family, and had now been for eighteen years superintend- 
 ent of Magdeburg. 
 
 The elector in this instance was disposed to outstrip the 
 zeal of his divines. He proposed to appoint a bishop 
 deprived of all the civil authority which his predecessors 
 had exercised, and to suppress the canons and cathedral 
 clergy altogether. Luther and others, however, dissuaded 
 him from such measures, pointing out several things of an 
 external nature which were best administered where such 
 
116 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 officers existed ; and also the inconveniences which had 
 arisen from destro3dng the connexion of superior families 
 with the church, and thus removing the stimulus afforded to 
 the cultivation of learning among persons of rank. 
 
 The Protestants at this period had much confidence in the 
 King of Denmark ; but some distrust, it appears, had grown 
 up among them of the King of Sweden. The same illus- 
 trious prince, Gustavus Vasa, who had in so vigorous and 
 decisive a manner introduced the reformation into Sweden 
 nearly twenty years before,* still reigned over that country ; 
 and Luther on this occasion undertook to write to him, 
 exhorting him to constancy in the true doctrine, and to good 
 understanding with the Elector of Saxony and the other 
 Protestant confederates. Gustavus replied to Luther in terms 
 of respect and affection. The fact, he said, had been, that 
 his advances had met with apparent neglect, and he thought it 
 not therefore becoming his dignity to repeat them. It would 
 be very acceptable to him, however, if through Luther's 
 means any arrangement could be made between him and 
 the confederate princes, conducive to the honour of God, the 
 maintenance of divine truth in his dominions, and the best 
 interests of his family and successors. — In consequence a 
 correspondence was opened, in the course of which Gustavus 
 wrote to the elector and the landgrave in the pious strain of 
 which the following extract furnishes a specimen. " No- 
 thing," he says, " could be more to his heart's desire than 
 that, through the Divine illumination, and the influence of 
 the Holy Spirit, the preaching of the pure and saving Word 
 of God should become universal, and be crowned with the 
 greatest success : that he himself, as a Christian prince, and 
 a member of the catholic church, had taken earnest care to 
 promote this object in his kingdom ; and he doubted not but 
 God would protect his work against all adversaries: as, 
 however, both force and fraud were to be apprehended, he 
 conceived it to be just, pious, and Christian to enter 
 into alliance for the defence of their religion ; and therefore, 
 at the instance of his brother and neighbour Christiern 
 King of Denmark, he professed himself ready to treat with 
 the German princes upon that subject." It is gratifying to 
 trace such marks of ingenuous piety and zeal for rehgion in 
 
 * Vol. i. 20:-206. 
 
DENMARK SWEDEN FRANCE. 117 
 
 a man on other grounds eminently distinguished as a patriot 
 and a hero. The result was his association in the Protest- 
 ant league. 
 
 In other places, reformation was desired and attempted ; 
 but without success, or even with a calamitous issue. 
 The latter was particularly the case at Metz, at that time a 
 free imperial city, though since united to France. Num- 
 bers of the citizens, and not a few of the senate, were 
 attached to evangelical doctrine as now preached to them 
 by William Farel, a Frenchman, who had been eminently 
 useful in the reformation of Switzerland ; and considerable 
 hopes were entertained that Protestantism might here obtain 
 an establishment, and thence spread into Lorrain and the 
 neighbouring parts of France. The reformed party applied 
 to the Protestant league to be taken under their protection : 
 but the elector doubted how far it would consist with their 
 engagements to the emperor to accede to this request ; and 
 Luther and Melancthon gave it as their opinion that it was 
 in itself unwarrantable to undertake the support of a 
 minority, who could be considered but as private individuals, 
 against the governing powers of their own state. They 
 had great apprehensions also that it might in this case 
 prove as inexpedient as it would be improper. Here again 
 we have an instance of the strictly correct limits within 
 which the Protestants confined their justification of resist- 
 ance, in the defence of their religion. They interposed, 
 however, their good offices in behalf of their brethren at 
 Metz, by an embassy to the senate, through which they par- 
 ticularly urged that one parish church in the city should 
 be granted for the use of the friends of reformation ; and 
 this the senate promised. But the whole business was 
 shortly after terminated by a transaction of the most dis- 
 graceful nature. The Bishop of Metz, Cardinal of Lorrain, 
 violently opposed all reformation, and restrained all public 
 preaching in the city. In consequence, the citizens in 
 great numbers went out to hear preachers in country 
 places, who were supported by the more opulent friends of 
 the reformation. On Easter Sunday, 1.543, about two 
 hundred persons, men and women, had thus resorted to 
 Gorsa, a castle belonging to Count Furstenburgh, to hear 
 Farel and receive the sacrament from his hands. While 
 they were afterward at dinner, a son of the Duke of Guise, 
 
118 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 who was related to the Bishop of Metz, and commanded a 
 troop of horse in the neighbourhood, fell upon them with his 
 soldiers, massacred many of them, drove others into the 
 Moselle, and treated the women with the most brutal bar- 
 barity. The Protestant princes remonstrated with the 
 King of France upon this atrocious proceeding ; but obtained 
 nothing in reply beyond courteous words and a disavowal 
 of the step taken by Guise, with an attempt to give another 
 colour to the transaction. The emperor also connived at it ; 
 and no redress was obtained. Soon after, the senate of 
 Metz, with Charles's concurrence, utterly prohibited the 
 reformed doctrine, drove many into exile who professed it, 
 and required all books which taught it to be delivered up 
 under pain of heavy penalties Such were the worthy 
 measures whereby the kingdom of darkness and sin was 
 supported, by a party which spares no invective, no misrep- 
 resentation against the peaceable Protestants, when any 
 thing occurs on their side which can be distorted into an 
 appearance of hardship or persecution. 
 
 We have before seen that a strong feeling in favour of 
 reformation existed in Austria.* It manifested itself at the 
 present time in a very remarkable public document. " The 
 nobles of Austria" took occasion from the late calamities 
 suffered from the Turkg, to present to King Ferdinand, in a 
 convention of the states held at Prague, a petition in 
 which they deplored the state of the public, and their own 
 sad condition, who had a victorious and cruel enemy for so 
 near a neighbour ; it was high time, therefore, they urged, 
 to look out for remedies ; and " especially that the wrath 
 of God might be appeased, which, being provoked by the 
 sins of men, brought such judgments upon them." They 
 set forth the evils that prevailed ; that all discipline, pubhc 
 and private, was at an end ; but that " the contempt of the 
 Word of God was the chief cause of all." From both 
 sacred and profane history they showed that God " had 
 many times severely punished the most flourishing king- 
 doms for false worship and the contempt of his Word." 
 They pointed out the formidable indications which appeared 
 of like evils coming upon themselves ; and proceeded : 
 ti Truly we know no other remedy, most dread sovereign, 
 
 * See p. 51,65. 
 
AUSTRIA, 119 
 
 than that the word of God be purely taught, and the people 
 stirred up to amendment of life ; for in the true worship- 
 ping of God all our safety consists." Adverting to the 
 points which had been agreed upon, and to the injunctions 
 given at Ratisbon to the bishops to reform the abuses in their 
 churches, they add, " Wherefore we humbly beseech your 
 majesty to give command that the gospel be truly taught, 
 especially that point of doctrine which relates to justifica- 
 tion — that our sins are pardoned through Christ alone ; in 
 the next place, that men be exhorted to the practice of charity 
 and good works, which are the fruits and evidences of faith ; 
 that they be made afraid of sin ; . . . that those who desire 
 it be permitted to have the Lord's Supper administered to 
 them according to the custom of the primitive church ; that 
 the bishops be required to reform abuses, and to appoint able 
 ministers to instruct the people, and not to turn out sound 
 preachers, as they have hitherto done." Many churches, 
 they stated, " were now altogether destitute ;* whence it 
 came to pass, that the common sort of people were with diffi- 
 culty kept from wholly degenerating into paganism." "We 
 therefore," they conclude, " humbly pray your majesty not to 
 be wanting to us in so pious and necessary a cause. And 
 let not your majesty think that we so importunately beg this, 
 that we may thereby have greater liberty, or because we are 
 given to change : for we acknowledge that our salvation 
 rests only upon Christ ; that the knowledge of the gospel is 
 to be adorned with holiness of living ; and that we are 
 bound to obey and serve your majesty with our lives and 
 fortunes." This petition was presented, in the name of the 
 nobility and states of Austria, by twenty- four noblemen, and 
 the deputies often cities, (among which was Vienna), besides 
 their neighbours of Stiria and Carniola, who united with 
 them. 
 
 Ferdinand, in the style with which statesmen are familiar, 
 condoled with them under the evils which they lamented, 
 and which caused him extreme grief; protested the deep 
 interest which he took, and had manifested in the cause of 
 religion ; and declared that no due admonition, on his part, 
 should be wanting to churchmen. He still hoped, he told 
 them,, for a satisfactory adjustment of existing differences : 
 
 * See p. 65. 
 
120 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 in the mean time, they must " submissively wait, and with- 
 out attempting any change or innovation, follow the foot- 
 steps of their forefathers, walking in the old way of their 
 religion, as well as of civil duty and obedience. As to the 
 decree of Ratisbon, they must not imagine that it in any 
 way concerned them ; the intent of it being only that the 
 Catholics should continue in the old religion, and the Prot- 
 estants in that which they followed at the time of the accom- 
 modation, till a final arrangement should be made : and, this 
 being the case, he could not allow his people to act in any 
 other way." 
 
 This answer being received, the petition was in substance 
 renewed, though in few words; with the observation, that 
 unless the object aimed at were granted, victory and good 
 success against the Turks could not be hoped for. England 
 could not at this period have furnished a proceeding com- 
 parable to the petition of " the nobles of Austria :" yet what 
 is the religious state of blinded and bigoted Austria at this 
 day, and what, as contrasted with it, has been that of Great 
 Britain almost from that era to the present time ! 
 
 Venice is spoken of as a place which waited the result of 
 the proceedings at Ratisbon, and was ready to receive the 
 reformation, if the conferences and negotiations there had a 
 favourable issue. Near the close of the year 1542 an inter- 
 esting correspondence was opened between that city and 
 Luther. A long and eloquent letter is preserved, addressed 
 to him in the name of " the brethren of the church of Ven* 
 ice, Vicenza, and Treviso," by Baldassare Altieri, an 
 Italian, acting as secretary to the English envoy. It breathes 
 much pious affection, earnest desire after pure religion, con- 
 stancy amid persecutions, and high veneration for Luther, 
 whom the persons concerned regard as " their spiritual 
 father." It apologizes for their having so long neglected to 
 acknowledge to Luther the great obligations which they 
 owed to him — a sort of communication which would have 
 proved consolatory to both parties on account of their com- 
 mon faith ; complains of the exile, imprisonment, and various 
 species of persecution to which they were exposed, as re- 
 siding so near the seat of Antichrist ; and entreats the inter- 
 position of the Protestant princes of Germany with the 
 senate of Venice on their behalf: adverts to the discord 
 concerning the sacrament, which had been productive of very 
 
ITALY. 121 
 
 painful consequences even among thevi ; as also to the injury 
 they suffered from heady and high-minded, but incompetent 
 teachers ; and implores advice and assistance on these and 
 other points.* 
 
 Luther's answer is remarkable and very interesting.! " I 
 find in you," he says, " such and so great gifts of God's 
 prevenient grace, that I feel ashamed of myself, who, after 
 being so many years conversant in the Word of God, am 
 conscious that I fall far short of the spirit which actuates 
 you. I am sensible that, what you in your candour and 
 affection attribute to me I do not deserve. I really am much 
 below the opinion you form of me. I am a sinful man ; 
 though one whom God has called out of the deepest dark- 
 ness into his marvellous light, and, unfit and unworthy as I 
 am of it, has committed to me so great and weighty a minis- 
 try. I rejoice exceedingly, and heartily congratulate you, 
 and bless God the Father of all grace and heavenly benedic- 
 tion, that whether by means of my writings or those of 
 others, he has made known to you the saving and unspeak- 
 able mystery of his Son Jesus Christ. From me indeed, 
 directly at least, you can have derived but little, since I have 
 but seldom written in Latin, and have small pretensions in 
 that way. But through what channel you have derived the 
 blessing is of little consequence : God is the source of all, 
 both to you and to us : to him be praise and glory : Amen !" 
 He proceeds : " I have been ready to abstain from answer- 
 ing your letter, seeing nothing that I had to say worth 
 writing to persons whom God had prevented with so rich 
 gifts of his Spirit. For what spiritual good can be wantintr 
 to those who know and confess Christ the Son of God ; who 
 so ardently hunger and thirst after righteousness ; who are 
 so happy as to suffer for Christ in the manner you do ; and 
 who hold Antichrist and all the enemies of our Divine Mas- 
 ter in such utter abhorrence ] Who could have hoped for 
 such things from people living in Italy itself, the very domain 
 of Antichrist — who would not willingly tolerate you even if 
 you were placed beyond the boundaries of the world itself. 
 But, by such examples, He who is ' able to do above all we 
 
 *The devoted character of Altieri, and the high literary attainments 
 of the Italian friends of the reformation, have been strikingly illustrated 
 by Dr. M'Crie. Eef. in Italy, lb27. 
 
 t It was supposed by Seckendorf to be lost, but it has since come to light. 
 Vol. IL— L 
 
122 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 ask or think' bids us ask and confidently expect of him, that 
 he will accomplish the work which he has begun in you. 
 That I may not however disappoint or grieve you, I will cast 
 myself on your candour and kindness, and write you such 
 an answer as I am able." Concerning the sciolists and 
 prophets that " ran without being sent," of whom they com- 
 plained, he says he could easily believe what they stated ; 
 for such persons had given him more trouble than Antichrist 
 himself had done. " Our churches," he says, " are at peace : 
 through the grace of God, sound doctrine, the right use of 
 the sacraments, and learned and faithful pastors are every- 
 where found among them. But the proper fruit of the 
 Word is not equally apparent. The hearts of the people are 
 cold ; and many abuse spiritual liberty to the encourage- 
 ment of lukewarmness and carnal security.* May the Lord 
 Christ increase in you the gifts of his Spirit? May he cor- 
 rect and perfect all things among us, and hasten the day of 
 our redemption ! The world, the Turk, and the pope rage 
 in blasphemies against the Lord, lay waste his kingdom, 
 and mock at his will. Yet they riot in abundance, and 
 starve the famished meml)ers of Christ. But greater and 
 mightier is ' He that is in us, than he that is in the world.' 
 He triumphs and will triiunph in you even unto the end. 
 May he comfort you by his Spirit, by which he hath called 
 you into the union of his mystical body I We cease not to 
 give thanks for you, and have no doubt that you do the same 
 for us." With respect to books (a subject which they had 
 mentioned to him), he says, " I hope you have Melanc- 
 thon's commonplaces, and what he has written on Romans, 
 Daniel, and some other books of Scripture. Of mine, 
 scarcely any are in Latin, except my exposition of Galatians, 
 which was taken down by the hands of others. Those in 
 German are of no use to you. Farewell in the Lord !" 
 He concludes — " Respectfully and affectionately salute all 
 the brethren in the Lord, and commend me to their prayers, 
 that the Lord may in a happy hour take me to himself. I 
 am weary of living : I have lived long enough ; and have 
 seen greater things effected all around than any one could 
 have hoped for when I first assailed indulgences, with much 
 more caution and respect than they deserved. Blessed be 
 
 * How descriptive of our own state I 
 
Luther's writings. 123 
 
 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ' only doeth 
 wondrous things !' Amen." 
 
 From this letter of Luther's to the Venetians we may 
 again pass to a brief notice of the principal works published 
 by him about this period. 
 
 One was on the nature, powers, and uses of general coun- 
 cils. On the legitimate powers of a council he lays down, 
 what will appear very obvious to us, though it would not be 
 so to the people of that age, that it " could not make any 
 article of faith, or enjoin any new duty, or render novel 
 ceremonies binding on men's consciences : neither had it a 
 right to intermeddle with civil government, or to make 
 canons for the aggrandizement of its own members : on the 
 contrary, it ought to see that all innovations in doctrine, repug- 
 nant to the holy Scriptures, with all superstitious or unprofit- 
 able ceremonies, were condemned and removed ; and always 
 to make Scripture the rule for the determination of contro- 
 versies." This work was highly offensive to the Romanists. 
 
 In an exposition of the cxth Psalm he pronounces a strong 
 sentence upon the schemes of those who thought that the 
 differences between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants 
 might be made up by compromise and mutual concession. 
 " Let them go on : we shall not envy the success of their 
 labours : they will be the first who could ever convert the 
 devil, and reconcile him to Christ. In things which are in 
 our power, in ceremonies and externals, we may lawfully 
 seek agreement in this way ; but not in things pertaining to 
 the faith and kingdom of Christ. The sceptre of the Lord, 
 the rule of faith and of practice, admits of no bending and 
 joining, but must remain straight and unchanged," 
 
 On the subject of defence, or resistance, which was 
 much discussed in a meeting of the allies at Frankfort, his 
 mind seems now to have been fully made up, and upon very 
 solid grounds. " It is the duty," he says, " of every prince 
 to promote the exercise of true religion in his dominions, 
 and to protect it against external violence. This defence is 
 authorized both by the Divine law and by that of nature, 
 against all persons of only equal authority ; and, even if the 
 name of the emperor and the recesses of the diet be alleged, 
 these are invalid from the defect of consent, and the protests 
 and appeals lodged against them. The emperor is not an 
 
124 Luther's writings. 
 
 absolute monarch : power over religion can never belong to 
 him, seeing he cannot exercise even political power, except 
 with certain forms, and the consent of the princes." He 
 still however limits resistance strictly to defence when at- 
 tacked : he would have no anticipation of aggression. 
 
 A letter is preserved among his German works, which he 
 addressed, in conjunction with Bugenhagen, Jonas, Melanc- 
 thon, and Cruciger, to the senate of Nuremberg, concerning 
 a general form of absolution used, after the sermon, in the 
 Protestant churches. Osiander objected to it, on the ground 
 that there were many in the congregation not prepared for 
 absolution. Luther and his friends thought the form un- 
 objectionable ; but advised that, if Osiander felt scruples, he 
 should be allowed to omit it, without either censuring those 
 who used it, or being censured by them. Had this truly 
 wise and charitable way of healing differences, in things not 
 essential, been generally adopted, how much would the peace, 
 and even the uniformity, of the church have been promoted ! 
 many are the subjects of discord which would have thus 
 dropped silently into oblivion, while injunction or prohibition 
 has now given them perpetuity. 
 
 In some very pious and edifying lectures on the " Psalms 
 of Degrees" — (cxx.-cxxxiv.), he commends earnestly the 
 study and exposition of the Word of God, which he con- 
 siders as the special service and offering that God now 
 required of his ministers. He warns the people against 
 fastidiousness, conceit, and a want of relish for the Divine 
 Word — " a disease," he says, " which too naturally grows 
 up in us, and is more dangerous in proportion as it is apt to 
 be unobserved. But Satan has assuredly gained a victory 
 when we begin to slumber, to be secure, and to feel satiated." 
 
 The following passage is beautifully expressive of that 
 simplicity of taste for divine truth which is a strong mark 
 of advancement in wisdom and in grace. *' I am a professed 
 divine, who, amid various dangers, have attained some 
 moderate experience and skill in the sacred Scriptures : but 
 this does not prevent my having daily recourse to the cate- 
 chism, to the creed, the decalogue, and the Lord's prayer. 
 I rehearse them to myself with a close consideration of 
 every word — what truth it really conveys. And, when a 
 multiplicity of business or any other cause prevents my 
 doing this, I sensibly feel the want of it. The Word of 
 
LUTHER S WRITINGS. 125 
 
 Go<l is given us thus to exercise and quicken our minds, 
 "which without such a practice contract ruat, as it v.rcre, and 
 lose their tone. We see into what snares men continually 
 fall : and what else is the reason of it, but that they feel 
 secure ? they do not pray, they do not hear and meditate on 
 the divine Word ; they are content with having it in the 
 book, where they may read it when they please. Hence 
 Satan imperceptibly instils into their hearts a contempt for 
 the Word ; and this leaves them exposed to despair or other 
 great dangers. For with what shall a man defend himself 
 against the enemies of his soul, when he has lost ' the 
 sword of the Spirit V " 
 
 The following passage presents Luther's own answer to 
 those who exaggerated the mischiefs consequent upon the 
 reformation, and represented them as so great that it would 
 have been better had no change been attempted. *' It is 
 not easy to get over those scandals, when Satan, or when 
 subtle and able men set them forth in glaring colours, and 
 charge us as the authors of them. W^e see the licentious 
 liberty that prevails, and the dissolution of discipline, greater 
 than existed under the papacy. But are we answerable for 
 this? In preaching the Word, in contending by means of 
 the Word, we do but as we are commanded ; nor may we on 
 any consideration withhold obedience to the Divine command. 
 The kingdom of Christ is of more worth, not only than 
 peace — especially such a peace as existed under the papacy — 
 but than heaven and earth themselves. And then consider 
 the other side : open your eyes and see the monstrous 
 impieties which before prevailed ! Nowhere was one pure 
 sentence heard concerning sin — grace — the merit of Christ — 
 really good works — the magistracy, and other offices and 
 relations of life. All was deformed and lost beneath cor- 
 rupt and pernicious glosses. Then, what were the profana- 
 tions of masses, what the impostures of indulgences, purga- 
 tory, and other abominations devised only as sources of 
 gain ! Mankind appear to me to have been purposely and 
 studiously exposed, by impious teachers, to Satan and 
 eternal death. Look at the two sides of the question : 
 there are evils and disorders on both, but which of the two 
 is to be preferred ] I had almost said I would rather live 
 in hell with the Word of God, than in paradise without it." 
 
 A treatise of Luther's against antinomianism connects 
 L2 
 
126 
 
 with the history a person whose name has already appeared 
 in this work, and from whom better things might have been 
 hoped. This was John Agricola Islebius, or Agricola of 
 Eisleben — the same place of which Luther was a native. 
 This man was of humble origin, but, having obtained some 
 previous education, he had studied at Wittemberg under 
 Luther and Melancthon, whose tenets he professed to em- 
 brace. He afterward became master of the school in his 
 native town, and was admitted a preacher ; in the discharge 
 of which office he appears to have possessed a degree of 
 popular talent. Hence he was taken by Albert Count 
 Mansfeldt, in the train of the Elector of Saxony, to the diet 
 of Spires in 1526, and to that of Augsburg in 1530; and it 
 is in the latter connexion that we have heard of him as one of 
 the Protestant preachers.* He appears to have been a vain 
 and inconstant man, prone to innovation, but without 
 firmness to adhere to his own dogmas ; and we accordingly 
 read of his repeatedly recanting them. Elated with his 
 honours, he ventured to animadvert on Melancthon for the 
 form of ecclesiastical visitation which he had drawn up in 
 1527. He afterward removed to Wittemberg, and was 
 allowed to preach there, and read lectures in the university. 
 He broached opinions, however, which Luther felt himself 
 called upon to refute, and which their author then abandoned. 
 About the year 1538 he circulated, anonymously, some 
 theses maintaining that the law is not to be preached for the 
 purpose of bringing sinners to repentance, and condemning 
 what Luther had advanced in his commentary on the Epistle 
 to the Galatians, concerning the use of the law in awaken- 
 ing the consciences of men. With these theses others 
 were connected, in which S. Peter was charged vpith not un- 
 derstanding Christian liberty ; and his exhortation to Chris- 
 tians to give " diligence to make their calling and election 
 sure" was openly reprehended. 
 
 Against these pernicious dogmas, Luther, without naming 
 their author, maintained and published six academical dis- 
 putations ; in which he affirmed it to be the proper office of 
 the law, as given to sinners, to discover to them the wrath 
 of God against their offences, and thus to lead them to con- 
 viction and repentance of sin : so that repentance, properly 
 
 * See p. 15. 
 
AGRICOLA AND ANTINOMIANISM. 127 
 
 BO called, may be said to take its beginning from the law : 
 and he shows this to be the plan and doctrine of Scripture, 
 even according to the very texts which had been adduced 
 on the other side. He particularly insists on S. Paul's 
 method in the Epistle to the Romans, which begins with 
 the " revelation of wrath :" and it is "silly trifling," he says, 
 " to talk of preaching that revelation of wrath, and yet not 
 preaching the law— which, in fact, is the self-same thing." 
 Moreover, the law, he asserts, was to be set forth, not only 
 to the ungodly for the purposes just mentioned, but also 
 to pious persons, to admonish them of the duty of crucifying 
 the flesh and their various evil propensities and passions. 
 To propose, therefore, to take away the preaching and use of 
 the law out of the church would be a blasphemous impiety. 
 He then points out the consequences to which antinomian 
 principles lead ; one of which is the subversion of the 
 doctrine of grace itself: " for," he says, " where there is no 
 law there is no transgression ;" and where there is no 
 knowledge of sin there can be none of its forgiveness, or 
 of grace ; and the result will be, that men will live careless 
 and unconcerned except about the present world. " These 
 men," he remarks, " pretend to preach finely about grace 
 and the remission of sins, but they avoid the doctrine of 
 sanctification and newness of life in Christ : forsooth that 
 men may not be rendered uneasy, but may enjoy unin- 
 terrupted consolation. For, whereas they ought to say. If 
 you be an adulterer, a fornicator, drunken, proud, covetous, 
 a usurer, you can be no Christian ; instead of this they 
 say. Though you be such, only beUeve in Christ, and you 
 will have no need to fear the law ; Christ hath fialfilled it 
 all ! They see not how sanctification follows upon justifica- 
 tion ; so that a Christian must necessarily be a partaker of 
 the Holy Spirit, and lead a new life : and if he does not do 
 that, let him know that he has no part in Christ." 
 
 Concerning himself, Luther made an observation which 
 has by no means met with the regard to which it was 
 entitled : " That, if at any time he had taught that the law 
 was not to be preached in the church, it was unjust to 
 impute to him a sentiment long ago discarded, when he had 
 since clearly and frequently laid down the contrary. He 
 had taught many other things under the papacy with great 
 sincerity ; and indeed there was scarcely now to be found 
 
128 LUTHER'S WRITINGS. 
 
 so miserable and burdened a papist as, from conscience and 
 the fear of God, he had once been : no wonder then if he 
 had need to grow in the knowledge of Christ." 
 
 After this publication of Luther's, Agricola again professed 
 to renounce his errors : but his conduct was unsteady and 
 inconsistent. He afterward withdrew into the dominions 
 of the Elector of Brandenburg, and insinuated himself into 
 his favour. Luther congratulated himself on his removal 
 from Wittemberg, and complained bitterly of the trouble he 
 suffered from such airy and conceited spirits, calling them- 
 selves his disciples. — The account of this man may suggest 
 useful admonition ; and he gave occasion to discussions, the 
 result of which, even as here briefly exhibited, may not be 
 unimportant. 
 
 In the next year Luther published expositions of the 
 ninetieth Psalm (the " prayer of Moses the man of God"), 
 and of some of the minor prophets. In the preface he 
 observes that there were at that time men, and more would 
 afterward arise, who despised theological studies, and indeed 
 ■all studies : there ought therefore to be some to proclaim the 
 praises of God, and to disseminate the knowledge of his 
 Word. In such pursuits he desired to spend his days ; and, 
 in particular, he would employ the remainder of them in 
 explaining the writings of Moses, the fountain from which 
 both prophets and apostles, under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit, had drawn. 
 
 On blasphemous thoughts and temptations he remarks, 
 that they are no proof or occasion of Divine displeasure, 
 when we hate and reject them : they are even made a 
 special means of calling forth those " groanings which 
 cannot be uttered," that are peculiarly pleasing to God. 
 
 On the benefit to be derived from Christian communion 
 he thus feelingly speaks : " I am myself a professor of 
 theology, and many have acknowledged that they had derived 
 no inconsiderable assistance from me : yet I have often felt 
 myself most sensibly raised and helped by a single word 
 from a brother, who thought himself very much my inferior. 
 .The word of a brother, pronounced from Holy Scripture in 
 'a, time of need, carries an inconceivable v\'eight with it. 
 The Holy Spirit accompanies it, and by it moves and ani- 
 mates the hearts of his people as their circumstances require. 
 
Luther's writings. 129 
 
 The greatest saints have their tunes of weakness, when 
 others are stronger than they." 
 
 In the same year he pubUshed an earnest Exhortation to 
 prayer against the Turks. In this work he solemnly ad- 
 monishes both parties in Germany of their sins ; the papists 
 of their errors and cruelties, the Protestants of their cor- 
 ruption of manners, which dishonoured the sound doctrine 
 they professed. Particularly he reprehends the repugnance 
 of both nobles and people to endure pastoral reproof, and 
 their unwillingness decently to provide for their ministers, 
 at a period when the articles of life had risen to three times 
 their former price ; a circumstance which he ascribes in 
 great measure to the prevaiUng spirit of avarice and rapacity. 
 He anticipates that God would ere long punish Germany, 
 either by civil war or by means of the Turks. He earnestly 
 exhorts all orders of men to reformation ; and then, after 
 making that their first care, to exertion against the enemy. 
 And here he rejects every idea of despondency, or of sitting 
 still and doing nothing, referring all, like the Mahometans 
 themselves, to predestination or fate. " It is true," he says, 
 " that what God has ordained must come to pass ; but I am 
 not commanded, rather I am forbidden, to pry into his 
 unrevealed purposes. As I know them not, it is tempting 
 God to neglect what I evidently ought to do, and thus to 
 plunge myself in ruin. Precepts are given, that I may 
 know and do my duty : the Word of God teaches me that, 
 and bids me commit what is unknown to God." " Let us," 
 he says, " discharge our duty, and not trouble ourselves 
 about predestination, concerning [the specific appointments 
 of] which we have no revelation, no light, no knowledge at 
 all. Let us dismiss the subject from our thoughts, and 
 leave it in the obscurity which belongs to it ; only taking 
 care to do what is commanded us, and what we know ought 
 to be done." 
 
 Among his letters of this period an interesting one is 
 preserved, addressed to Myconius, pastor of Gotha, who 
 was very ill, and appeared drawing near his end. This 
 good man had written Luther word that he was " sick, not 
 unto death, but unto life ;" meaning that he expected his 
 sickness to remove him to life everlasting ; a sentence which 
 exceedingly pleased the reformer. In his answer he said, 
 " I beg and implore of the Lord Jesus, who is our life, our 
 
130 Luther's avritings. 
 
 health, and our salvation, that he would not permit such an 
 addition to be made to what I suffer, as that I should see 
 you or any of my comrades break through the vail and enter 
 into rest, leaving me here behind in the midst of demons. 
 I pray the Lord to make me sick instead of you, and to 
 suffer me to lay down the tabernacle of an exhausted and 
 useless body, which has done its work." And again, at the 
 close of his letter : " Farewell, my dear Frederic ; may the 
 Lord never permit me to hear of your taking your passage, 
 while I remain behind ; but may you be the survivor. So 
 I ask, and such is my will, and let my will be done. Amen ! 
 I say this because my will is directed to the glory of God, 
 and not to my own pleasure. Again, farewell ! we pray for 
 you from our inmost souls, and are greatly afflicted at your 
 illness." Myconius recovered, and survived Luther ; which 
 he attributed to Luther's prayers. He said the effect of 
 Luther's letter was such, that in reading it he seemed to 
 hear the voice of Christ saying, " Lazarus, come forth !" 
 
 A few additional particulars may be noted from his letters. 
 Concerning Melancthon, who, having this year received an 
 addition of a hundred florins to his stipend, proposed to 
 continue the Greek lecture at Wittemberg without remu- 
 neration, Luther wrote to the elector, wishing him to appoint 
 some younger person to perform that service. " Melanc- 
 thon," he said, " had been like a servant of all-work to the 
 university /or twenty years past, and he well deserved the 
 additional emolument which the elector had awarded him. 
 The whole Christian world, moreover, was indebted to him ; 
 and the adherents of Rome, he was happy to say, feared 
 none among the learned so much as Melancthon and those 
 who had been trained by him." 
 
 All his letters from this period to the end of his life 
 breathe earnest desires after release, and dismission to his 
 eternal rest. He lived five years longer, but it was amid 
 increasing infirmities and sufferings : and he was very 
 unequal to those severe labours in which he had engaged, 
 and in which, as Seckendorf observes, he still never spared 
 himself. Yet we see in him throughout the heart of a 
 Christian hero. Writing to Lauterback, pastor of Pima, 
 he expresses his joy at the reformation begun in Cologne — 
 of which we shall have to speak in the next chapter. He 
 says, " If the people of Bethsaida and Chorazin here in our 
 
THE POPE, CHARLES, AND FRANCIS. 131 
 
 own country will not receive the prophet, there will be 
 found the Samaritans and the woman of Canaan to do 
 it. Let us therefore only persevere in preaching, praying, 
 suffering : a reward awaits our work ; we labour not in 
 vain." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Maurice succeeds Henry of Saxony — His Line of Policy — 
 Henry of Brunswick expelled — Reformation of his Terri- 
 tories — Situation of the Protestants — Herman Archbishop 
 of Cologne — The Bishop of Munster — The Princes of 
 Henneberg. 
 
 We now proceed with the course of events which fol- 
 lowed the diet of Ratisbon. 
 
 Affairs in Hungary had taken an unfortunate turn for the 
 house of Austria ; and it was to provide against the con- 
 sequences of what had occurred or was anticipated in that 
 quarter that Charles had made such liberal concessions to 
 the Protestants in his declaration appended to the recess of 
 the diet. By this means he obtained a vote of such ample sup- 
 plies of both men and money for carrying on the war against 
 the Turks, as left him under little anxiety about the security 
 of Germany during the next campaign. 
 
 Immediately upon the conclusion of the diet, he set out 
 for Italy, As he passed through Lucca, he had a short but 
 fruitless interview with the pope. They could neither agree 
 between themselves on any proper method of composing the 
 religious disputes in Germany, nor could the pope remove 
 the causes of discord between Charles and the King of 
 France, which soon gave occasion to a fierce war, com- 
 mencing in 1542, but terminated again by the peace of 
 Crespy, in September, 1544. 
 
 About the time that the diet of Ratisbon broke up, Mau- 
 rice succeeded his father Henry in the government of that 
 part of Saxony which belonged to the Albertine branch of 
 the Saxon family. " This young prince, then only in his 
 twentieth year, had, even at that early period, begun to 
 
132 MAURICE OF SAXONY. 
 
 discover the great talents which qualified him for acting such 
 a distinguished part in the affairs of Germany. As soon as 
 he entered upon the administration, he struck out into such 
 a new and singular path as showed that he aimed, from the 
 beginning, at something great and uncommon. Though 
 zealously attached to the Protestant opinions, both from 
 education and principle, he refused to accede to the league 
 of Smalkald, being determined, as he said, to maintain the 
 purity of rehgion, which was the original object of that con- 
 federacy, but not to entangle himself in the political interests 
 or combinations to which it had given rise. At the same 
 time, foreseeing a rupture between Charles and the con- 
 federates of Smalkald, and perceiving which of them was 
 most likely to prevail in the contest, instead of that jealousy 
 and distrust which the other Protestants expressed of all 
 the emperor's designs, he affected to place in him an un- 
 bounded confidence ; and courted his favour with the utmost 
 assiduity."* On the other hand, he discovered a jealousy 
 of his cousin the Elector of Saxony, which in the end proved 
 very fatal to the latter, and had wellnigh occasioned an open 
 rupture between them, soon after Maurice's accession, on the 
 subject of a paltry town on the Moldau. " They were pre- 
 vented however from proceeding to action by the mediation 
 of the Landgrave of Hesse, whose daughter Maurice had 
 married, as well as by the powerful and authoritative admoni- 
 tions of Luther."* 
 
 The admonitions of Luther to the contending princes on 
 this occasion may well be styled " powerful and authorita- 
 tive :" they were even surprisingly free and vehement. He 
 apologizes, as an ecclesiastic, for interfering in a pohtical 
 question : but " the credit and the interests of religion," 
 he says, " were at stake, when so fierce a quarrel arose on 
 so trivial an occasion, between princes nearly related, and 
 both of them professed supporters of the Protestant faith. 
 Peacemakers," he observes, " are pronounced blessed, and 
 the children of God : whence it might be inferred that peace- 
 breakers were the children of the devil. And this sentence 
 of our Lord extended to men of all ranks and conditions 
 alike. Should this feud actually break out into a war," he 
 even tells them, *' wise men would regard them, instead of 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
MA.URICE OF SAXONY. 133 
 
 great princes, as resembling drunken rustics fighting in a 
 tavern about a broken wine-cup, or idiots contending for a 
 morsel of bread. In the mean time, this little spark might 
 kindle into a conflagration, over which the enemies of the 
 gospel, and even the Turks themselves, might rejoice ; while 
 the devil and his agents would tauntingly observe, ' So 
 these are the leaders who undertake to point out to others 
 the way to heaven !' " He even threatens them with 
 " eternal damnation" if they refused a pacific arrangement 
 of their differences. He refers them to the example of the 
 elector Frederic the Wise, who, having a dispute with the 
 people of Erfurt, and being told by some lovers of war, 
 " that it would not cost him more than five men to take the 
 city," replied, that " the loss of one would be too much." 
 " Retire," he says, " each of you into his chamber, and pray 
 seriously to God : sure I am that his Spirit will give you 
 another mind." He adds, that " he for his part would take 
 the side of him who was willing to submit his cause to an 
 equitable and peaceable arbitration ; and, whichever of them 
 it might be, he would animate him to do valiantly in the 
 name of the Lord, in case the other refused his acquies- 
 cence." If it should be thought that in this composition 
 Luther assumes too much, and uses stronger expressions 
 than became him, it may be observed, that his address was 
 never completed, the quarrel being appeased. 
 
 Much apprehension might not unreasonably have been 
 entertained for the cause of religion in ducal Saxony, from 
 the habits to which the people had so long been accustomed 
 under the government of George ; from the influence which 
 his counsellors still retained ; from the youth and aspiring 
 character of Maurice ; and from the misunderstandings into 
 which he fell with the elector. Happily, however, little 
 obstruction occurred, and many of Maurice's plans con- 
 tributed to extend and render permanent the reformation 
 which had been established in his dominions. In the year 
 1543 he published a copious instrument for the regulation 
 of ecclesiastical affairs, in which the instructions given to 
 the clergy were excellent. He founded three noble schools, 
 in which he provided for the free education and support of 
 two hundred and thirty scholars ; appointed exhibitions for 
 a hundred students in the university of Leipzig ; and, with 
 the concurrence of the states of the province, appropriated 
 
 Vol. II.— M 
 
134 MAURICE OF SAXONY. 
 
 for ever the revenues of the vacated monasteries and college* 
 for these purposes, for the maintenance of the clergy, and 
 for other pious and charitable uses. In order also to do 
 away the apprehension of any capricious changes, he soon 
 after, by a public instrument, constituted the doctors, licen- 
 tiates, and professors of the university of Leipzig (among 
 whom the name of Aless, Pfeffinger, and Joachim Came- 
 rarius occur) a consistory, to which all matters relating to 
 religion should be referred. Such a measure he thought 
 became him, and was called for by his circumstances, " he 
 being but a youthful prince, and one for whom the civil 
 affairs of his country would find sufficient employment." 
 His provisions for the advancement of religion and learning 
 were afterward still further extended and improved, both by 
 himself and by his brother and successor Augustus. 
 
 Concerning Maurice, we may further remark, that his 
 marriage with the daughter of the landgrave was a sudden 
 measure, and not thought to be very agreeable to his parents : 
 but it proved, in the admirable ordinations of Providence, an 
 essential link in that remarkable series of events in which 
 Maurice, having first been a principal instrument of the em- 
 peror in subverting, as it appeared, the Protestant cause in 
 Germany, afterward became the means of giving it perma- 
 nent and independent establishment, and of frustrating all 
 the emperor's ambitious designs. Seckendorf piously re- 
 marks the superintending hand of Providence in overruling 
 the novel course into which this young prince struck out, 
 which appears to have been dictated by deep and artful ambi- 
 tion, and which occasioned so much anxiety and distress to 
 his Protestant friends. Could he have been brought zeal- 
 ously to co-operate with them, they would have been ready 
 to think themselves secure against the attempts of their ene- 
 mies : yet very probably he would have been overwhelmed 
 along with them ; and then, humanly speaking, no power 
 would have remained to restore either the liberties of Ger- 
 many, or the Protestant religion within the empire. 
 
 In the mean time the pope was so urgently pressed on the 
 subject of a general council that he proceeded actually to 
 convoke one to be held at Trent (a city in the Tyrol, subject 
 to the king of the Romans), on the 1st of November, 1542 ; 
 and named three cardinals to preside in it as his legates. 
 The time however was altogether unseasonable, when a 
 
HENRY OF BRUNSWICK. 135 
 
 fierce war was just kindled between the emperor and the 
 King of France, and the place was such as could give no 
 satisfaction to the Protestants. The legates repaired to 
 Trent, and remained there several months ; but no person 
 met them, except a few prelates from the ecclesiastical state ; 
 and the pope, in order to avoid the ridicule and contempt 
 which he incurred from the enemies of the church, recalled 
 them and prorogued the council. 
 
 The circumstances of the emperor and the King of the 
 Romans obliged them at this time even to court the favour 
 of the Protestants by repeated acts of indulgence. All the 
 emperor's concessions to them at Ratisbon were now re- 
 newed, with the addition of whatever they demanded for 
 their further security. A decree of the imperial chamber 
 against one of the cities which had entered into the league 
 of Smalkald was suspended. Henry of Brunswick, how- 
 ever, a furious bigot, and no less obstinate than rash in all 
 his undertakings, continuing to molest the peace, the Elector 
 of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse assembled their 
 forces, declared war in form against him, and in space of a few 
 weeks stripped him entirely of his dominions. This sum- 
 mary and decisive chastisement inflicted upon him by the 
 Protestant princes filled all Germany with a dread of their 
 power. It excited however considerable jealousy, even 
 among some of their own friends. Henry appealed to the 
 emperor, who declared that he could not disapprove what had 
 been done, as the offender had refused submission alike to 
 the emperor's injunctions and the admonitions of the diet : 
 he only wished the conquerors to use their victory with mod- 
 eration. It was at length agreed that Henry's dominions 
 should be held in sequestration by persons appointed by the 
 emperor : and he himself, soon after renewing his attempts, 
 was made prisoner by the landgrave and Maurice, and re- 
 tained in close confinement till a new change of affairs pro- 
 cured him his liberty. 
 
 What we however are principally concerned to notice is, 
 the reformation of his country of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle, 
 while it was in the hands of the Elector of Saxony and the 
 Landgrave of Hesse. A regulation of its ecclesiastical 
 affairs, drawn up by Bugenhagen, Corvinus, and Martin 
 Gorlitz, and fully introducing Protestant doctrines and Prot- 
 estant usages, was published by authority in 1543: and, 
 though this was abrogated on Henry's restoration, five years 
 
136 MANUFACTURE OF PALLS. 
 
 afterward, yet it was productive of happy effects while it 
 lasted ; and the good providence of God so ordered, that the 
 Protestant religion was re-established in this country by wise 
 and equitable laws, under the government of JuUus, the son 
 and successor of Henry. Nay, Henry himself, before his 
 death, became reconciled to the elector and the landgrave, 
 and is spoken of as a convert to the Protestant faith. 
 
 The contest between Henry of Brunswick and the Elector 
 of Saxony had been carried on, not only with the sword but 
 with the pen also, each writing against the other with great 
 acrimony : and some charges having been thrown out by 
 the former against Luther, he too was induced to join in the 
 controversy, with more than his usual violence and severity. 
 It will not be needful to give any extracts from this work: 
 but we may observe, that, by furnishing some additional 
 information respecting that issue of indulgences which occa- 
 sioned the reformation, he draws from Sleidan an explana- 
 tion which may be a little amusing to the reader. This his- 
 torian tells us, that three archbishops of Mentz having died 
 within a short time, the expense of procuring their palls from 
 Rome fell too heavily upon the chapter ; as each pall cost 
 about thirty thousand florins : and that Albert had therefore 
 been elected to the archbishopric on the express condition 
 that he should pay the charges of his own pall. To reim- 
 burse himself, Albert applied for a bull for indulgences, 
 which the pope granted, with the provision that half the 
 money raised should be applied to the rebuilding of St. Pe- 
 ter's church at Rome. This introduces the following state- 
 ment. " On St. Agnes' day, when, in the mass said in St. 
 Agnes' church at Rome they come to the words, ' Lamb of 
 God that takest away the sins of the world,' two white 
 lambs are laid upon the altar, w^hich are afterward given to 
 two subdeacons of St. Peter's church, who rear, and in due 
 time shear them. Their wool, mixed with other wool, is 
 spun, and woven into these palls, which are three fingers 
 broad, and hang down from the shoulders to the middle of 
 the breast before, and to the reins behind ; being kept 
 stretched by thin plates of lead, of the same breadth. When 
 they are thus woven, they are carried to the bodies of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul, and, after some prayers said, are left 
 there all night. Next day the subdeacons receive them 
 again, and decently lay them up, till some archbishop that 
 needs it (for they are seldom granted to any inferior pre- 
 
SITUATION OF THE PROTESTANTS. 137 
 
 lales) applies for one. This Is neither a curious nor a costly 
 commodity, and yet the archbishops pay dear for it to the 
 pope. Nor is any one allowed to use the pall of his prede- 
 cessor, or, if translated to a new see, to retain his old one." 
 — " So well," exclaims Luther, " knows the pope how to 
 sell his cloth !" . 
 
 Imboldened by their successes, and by so many conces- 
 sions in their favour, " the princes of the league of Smalkald 
 took a solemn protest against the imperial chamber, and de- 
 clined its jurisdiction for the future, because that court had 
 not been visited or reformed according to the decree of Ratis- 
 bon, and continued to discover a most indecent partiality 
 in all its proceedings. Not long after this, they ventured a 
 step further ; and protesting against the recess of a diet held 
 at Nuremberg, which provided for the defence of Hungary, 
 refused to furnish their contingent for that purpose, unless 
 the imperial chamber were reformed, and full security were 
 granted them in every point with regard to religion."* 
 Such was the state of things when the emperor returned 
 from the Low Countries to hold the diet at Spires in the 
 year 1544. The great object which he proposed to himself 
 in this diet was, to prevail on the Germanic body to afford 
 him its hearty and united support in his war with the King 
 of France; and he succeeded in giving to the assembly such 
 an impression of the conduct of that monarch, who had 
 entered into alliance with Solyman, and of the obstruction 
 which he occasioned to both the great designs, of procuring 
 a general council, and of providing means for effectually 
 checking the formidable progress of the Turkish arms, that 
 all parties seemed well inclined to comply with his wishes. 
 " Charles perceived that nothing could now obstruct his 
 gaining all that he aimed at, but the fears and jealousies of 
 the Protestants ; which he determined to quiet by granting 
 every thing that the utmost solicitude of these passions 
 could desire for the security of their religion. With this 
 view, he consented to a recess whereby all the rigorous edicts 
 hitherto issued against the Protestants were suspended ; a 
 council, either general or national, to be assembled in Ger- 
 many, was declared necessary in order to re-establish peace 
 in the church ; until one of these should be held (which the 
 
 * Robertson. 
 M3 
 
138 SITUATION OF 
 
 emperor undertook to bring about as soon as possible), the 
 free and public exercise of the Protestant religion was au- 
 thorized ; the imperial chamber was enjoined to give no 
 molestation to the Protestants ; and, when the term for 
 which the present judges in that court were elected should 
 expire, persons duly qualified were then to be admitted as 
 members, without any distinction on account of religion. 
 In return for these extraordinary acts of indulgence, the 
 Protestants concurred with the other members of the diet in 
 declaring war against Francis in the name of the empire," 
 and in voting the requisite subsidies for carrying on both it 
 and the war against the Turks.* 
 
 Such are the statements given by Dr. Robertson, which 
 are no doubt substantially correct : yet the impression on 
 the whole made concerning the security, the power, and 
 even the triumphant progress of the Protestants seems 
 much stronger than is warranted by a more minute inspec- 
 tion of original documents. The truth is, they had all this 
 time great difficslties to encounter, and great anxieties to 
 endure : and this was especially the case at the periods of 
 the successive diets. Maimbourg charges them with fierce- 
 ness and insolence ; but Seckendorf asserts that their real 
 feelings were of a very different kind. At the time of the 
 diet of Nuremberg in 1543, in particular, he says, <' So great 
 was the accumulation of business, so many the machina- 
 tions formed against the Protestants, such their distrust and 
 want of harmony among themselves, such their alarms and 
 their mistakes, that it is wonderful that their two leaders, 
 the elector and the landgrave, could support the labours and 
 cares which devolved upon them." They were exposed to 
 ever}'^ species of chicane in their intercourse with the em- 
 peror's ministers ; at the same time that unbounded profes- 
 sions of confidence and friendship were employed to lull 
 their suspicions to sleep, or to gain their concurrence in 
 measures necessary to the emperor's present projects. 
 Even in his concessions, Charles thought proper to adhere 
 to the practice of which he had first given the example at 
 Ratisbon, by not introducing them into the recesses of the 
 diets, but appending them as declarations made by himself. 
 In this form they had no legal authority ; and they were 
 never acknowledged by the Roman Catholics as obligatory. 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
THE PROTESTANTS. 139 
 
 — In like manner, though the emperor would for the tune 
 restrain the proceedings of the imperial chamber, and sus- 
 pend its decrees ; and though he even appointed a com- 
 mission to investigate its conduct, and examine into the 
 complaints of the Protestants against it ; he would rescind 
 nothing that it had done, nor make any change in its con- 
 stitution, by admitting others than Catholics to act as judges. 
 All its decrees, though their execution was suspended, re- 
 mained in force, to be acted upon when circumstances 
 might permit. Add to this the persecutions carried on 
 under the emperor's sanction, wherever his power was not 
 controlled ; together with the very obvious reflections, that 
 circumstances imperiously required him for the present to act 
 the part he did in Germany, and that to be so compelled and 
 restrained must have been intolerably galling to a prince of 
 Charles's despotic and ambitious temper : we shall then not 
 wonder at the anxieties of the Protestant party, or at hear- 
 ing the elector thus piously, though gloomily, vent his feel- 
 ings. " If," says he, " according to the prophecy of Daniel, 
 the empire is doomed to dissolution, and the time of that 
 event is at hand ; what is appointed must be borne : but may 
 Almighty God, the Father of all mercy, show himself the 
 Lord, and the Parent, and the Master in this cause, and 
 direct all things better than human foresight could conceive ! 
 May he withstand the pope, the Turk, the emperor, and the 
 French, and preserve his Word in safety to the end of time, 
 whatever may become of all beside !" — We shall admire 
 also the spirit manifested by Luther, and his friends under 
 these circumstances. The citizens of Augsburg had exten- 
 sive commercial dealings with Italy ; and they had through 
 that channel received intimations how confidently a speedy 
 suppression of Lutheranism, by the united efforts of the pope 
 and the emperor, was now anticipated. They communicated 
 their apprehensions to the elector, who laid the case before 
 Luther and his colleagues. Their reply was, " We see 
 that we can by no mere hiiman prudence secure this great 
 object— the preser^'ation of pure and orthodox religion. 
 Let us do therefore whatever we can towards it, that may be 
 agreeable to the will of God ; but let us never think that it 
 is in our power to provide against all future dangers ; and 
 let us be careful to avoid all unlawful means of attempting 
 it." In the final clause they especially refer to a disposition 
 intimated on the part of the Augsburgers, to refuse to have 
 
140 SITUATION or 
 
 the next diet held in their city, if the emperor should direct 
 it to meet there. 
 
 One transaction of the emperor's, at the very time when 
 he was courting the Protestants, was personally painful to 
 the Elector of Saxony, and at the same time too clearly 
 spoke the real sentiments of its author. William Duke of 
 Cleves, the elector's brother-in-law, had a dispute with the 
 emperor respecting the duchy of Gueldres, of which the 
 former held possession. He was well affected towards the 
 reformation, and would gladly have availed himself of the 
 assistance of the Protestant confederates in support of his 
 claim ; but as they declined to interfere in a dispute merely 
 of a political nature, he sought protection in an alliance 
 with the King of France. The emperor, however, marched 
 into his country, and compelled him to submit in the most 
 abject manner ; and the first article of the treaty which he 
 made with him was, " That he should not depart from the 
 religion of the Catholic church ; and if he had made any 
 ^Iterations, should restore things again as they were before." 
 
 The proceedings of the late diets were in a high degree 
 offensive to the court of Rome. The pope considered both 
 Charles's concessions to the Protestants, and his consenting 
 to call a council, and to admit of public disputations in Ger- 
 many, with a view to determining the doctrines in contro- 
 versy, as sacrilegious encroachments upon the prerogatives 
 of the holy see ; and in consequence he addressed to Charles 
 a remonstrance, written in a style of the highest authority. 
 He tells him, that «' in the discharge of his own duty, and in 
 the love he bore to him, he could not dissemble his thoughts 
 concerning his proceedings, which tended to the danger of 
 his own soul, and the great disturbance of the church." 
 " He had ever before his own eyes," he says, " the example 
 of Eli, the high-priest, whom God severely punished for his 
 too great indulgence to his sons ;" the like to which might 
 befall himself, if he suffered the emperor, " the first-born son 
 of the church," thus to go astray without admonition. It 
 behooved the emperor to follow " the uniform practice of the 
 church, and the custom of his forefathers," which was to 
 refer the whole decision of all matters relating to religion to 
 the see of Rome : but, so far from doing this, he had taken 
 upon him to appoint general and national councils, ivithout 
 any regard to him, who " alone had the power of calling 
 
THE PROTESTANTS. 141 
 
 councils, and determining the affairs of religion :" nay, not 
 only so, he had " allowed private men, and even the assertors 
 of damned heresies, to judge in such questions ;" had pre- 
 sumed " to give judgment concerning ecclesiastical posses- 
 sions, and had restored to honours and dignity men who were 
 out of the communion of the church, and long ago con- 
 demned by his own edicts." Then, alluding to the em- 
 peror's alliance with the King of England, an excommuni- 
 cated heretic (which appeared to the pope little less portent- 
 ous than that of the French king with the Turkish sultan), 
 he declared " his fears to be still further increased when he 
 considered who the persons were with whom he had con- 
 tracted friendship." He refers him to the examples of 
 Scripture, Corah, Dathan, Abirara, Uzzah, and King Uzziah, 
 from which he might learn "the wrath and vengeance of 
 God against those who usurped to themselves the offices 
 of the high-priest." Many other instances in history also 
 showed " that God had signally crowned with honour and 
 blessings those princes who assisted the head of the church 
 and the see of Rome, and rendered that love and duty which 
 are due to the priesthood ; whereas such as did otherwise 
 were afflicted with most grievous punishments." "The 
 care of the churches was indeed an office most acceptable to 
 God, but it did not belong to the emperor, a civil governor, 
 but to the priests, and specially to himself, to whom God 
 had given the power of binding and loosing." He called 
 upon him therefore to rescind and annul what, with too 
 much lenity, he had granted to those rebels and enemies 
 against the see of Rome, for that otherwise he must deal 
 with him more severely than his custom, or his nature and 
 inclination, would lead him to do. 
 
 On this and another paper, which issued from Rome, 
 written in the same strain, Luther published severe animad- 
 versions ; but the emperor contented himself with a brief and 
 general reply, couched, however, in tenns which were not 
 suited to give the Protestants a favourable impression of his 
 intentions towards them. 
 
 This strong remonstrance of the pope, with the fear of 
 driving him to throw himself entirely into the arms of the 
 King of France, is thought to have had influence, in con- 
 nexion with other causes, in inducing the emperor hastily 
 to conclude a peace, within three or four months after he 
 
142 HERMAN ARCHBISHOP 
 
 had, with so much pains, and at the expense of so great 
 concessions, prevailed upon his German subjects heartily to 
 second him in the French war. Accordingly we shall find, 
 that from the- period of this peace with France a new line 
 of policy, big with important events to the Protestants, was 
 adopted ; and indeed that provision was made in the treaty 
 itself for its being acted upon conjointly both by Charles 
 and Francis. 
 
 But our attention must first be drawn to the zealous and 
 determined efforts of the Archbishop of Cologne in the cause 
 of the reformation. 
 
 Herman Count De Wied, descended from an ancient 
 and illustrious family bearing that title, had been appointed 
 Archbishop of Cologne, and in virtue of that dignity an 
 elector of the empire, in the year 1515. He was previously 
 Bishop of Paderborn. Even Maimbourg gives him the 
 character, before he became infected with the mania of the 
 reformation, of " a good man, of mild manners, very chari- 
 table to the poor, and zealous for the Catholic faith." The 
 last of these virtues, it seems, he had evinced in a striking 
 manner on taking possession of the bishopric of Paderborn ; 
 for, finding that Lutheranism had obtained some footing 
 there, he forcibly expelled the preachers, and denounced the 
 penalty of death against such as should continue to profess 
 that doctrine. In the year 1536, we find him holding a pro- 
 vincial council, at the desire of his people, and summoning 
 all the bishops belonging to his jurisdiction, namely, those 
 of Liege, Utrecht, Munster, Osnaburg, and Minden. This 
 council made several canons concerning doctrine and cere- 
 monies, which were afterward compiled into a book by 
 John Gropper, Archdeacon of Cologne, the reputed author 
 of the book submitted by the emperor at the late conference 
 at Ratisbon, and one of the three collocutors nominated by 
 him on that occasion. Maimbourg pronounces these canons 
 admirably adapted " for the preservation of pure religion, 
 good discipline, and correct manners :" the judgment of 
 Sleidan and Melancthon, however, was, that they " palliated 
 almost all the popish tenets, and coloured them with new 
 interpretations." This was a remedy little adapted to the 
 exigencies of the diocess of Cologne, which by the testimony 
 
OF COLOGNE. 143 
 
 of the archbishop himself was in a deplorable state of igno* 
 ranee, superstition, and vice. 
 
 Accordingly, the book gave no satisfaction ; and the 
 archbishop, in proportion as his light increased, grew dis- 
 pleased with it. Hence he three years afterward sent a 
 confidential person to Melancthon to confer with him, and 
 to invite him to visit the archbishop, that they might consult 
 together concerning further reformation. Melancthon com- 
 mended his design, and suggested important advice, but 
 did not visit Cologne till some years afterward. 
 
 After the late conferences at Ratisbon, it appears Gropper 
 mightily commended Bucer to the archbishop, as "of all 
 men the fittest to be intrusted with the reformation of 
 religion, as he was both very learned, a lover of peace, and 
 of good and upright life :" on which the archbishop, who 
 had some previous knowledge of him, sent for him to Co- 
 logne, where he was " most courteously received, particu- 
 larly by Gropper ; and, on parting with him, the arch- 
 bishop made him promise to return when he should again 
 send for him." Bucer, in letters to the landgrave, declared, 
 that Gropper either sincerely assented to the evangelical 
 doctrine, or with solemn asseverations pretended it. 
 
 The recess of Ratisbon (in which the pope's legate had 
 concurred) having enjoined on all prelates to promote " a 
 holy reformation in their several provinces and diocesses" — 
 which, however, was afterward explained to mean a reform- 
 ation of manners only, and not of doctrines or ceremonies 
 — the archbishop availed himself of it, and called a conven- 
 tion of his states, to take into consideration the complying 
 with this authoritative recommendation. It was resolved 
 that the work should be proceeded in ; and the archbishop 
 appointed persons to draw up a scheme of reformation, and 
 to select able and faithful ministers to occupy the churches. 
 When the plan was prepared, he sent it to the clergy 
 of Cologne, desiring their judgment upon it according to the 
 sacred Scriptures, but they showed no disposition to comply 
 with his demand. After a sufficient time, therefore, had 
 elapsed, and nothing was to be expected from them, he again 
 sent for Bucer in 1542, and appointed him to preach at 
 Bonn, the seat of the archiepiscopal residence. He soon 
 after called another convention of the states, but the clergy 
 sent no deputies fco it ; the other orders, however, encour- 
 
144 HERMAN ARCHBISHOP 
 
 aged him to proceed, with the assistance of such persons as 
 he might think proper to select. Accordingly, having 
 solicited the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse 
 to send to him for a time Melancthon and Pistorius, he 
 associated them with Bucer ; and thus employed those very 
 divines whom the emperor had selected as the Protestant 
 collocutors at Ratisbon to prepare his formulary of doc- 
 trine, of ceremonies, and of discipline. 
 
 Melancthon gives the following account of the proceed- 
 ings after the book of reformation was drawn up. " The 
 aged prelate ordered the whole book to be read over to him 
 in the presence of his coadjutor (SchaumburgX Count 
 Stolberg the dean, several other principal persons, and my- 
 self. He listened to it with the closest attention, and dis- 
 coursed much in a serious and forcible manner on many 
 parts of it ; some he with good reason altered according to 
 his owrn judgment, and on others, after discussion, he pre- 
 ferred our opinion to his own. To this employment he 
 devoted a whole week, spending in it four or five successive 
 hours every morning. I could not but admire the assiduity 
 of the venerable man ; and I was struck with the seriousness 
 with which he conducted the whole business ; and of how 
 much consequence that is I need not tell you. He is become 
 quite an acute judge in these controversies." 
 
 When he had thus carefully examined the book himself, 
 he sent it to the clergy of Cologne, determined to be wanting 
 in no attention to them ; and then laid it before a conven- 
 tion of the states, desiring each order to appoint persons to 
 consult together, and give their judgment upon it. The 
 clergy, however, led by the canons of the cathedral church 
 (high-spirited men, all of them of noble families), insisted 
 that Bucer and the other preachers, whom the people 
 flocked to hear, should be in the first instance dismissed, and 
 desired time to be allowed them to examine the book, though 
 they would not join the other orders in deliberating upon it. 
 With the first of these demands the archbishop refused to 
 comply, unless they could prove any thing against the per- 
 sons whom they wished to be removed ; in the second he 
 indulged them, though he saw their design. Accordingly, 
 the course they took was, to publish, in opposition to the 
 archbishop's book, a work entitled Antuiidagma, in the pre- 
 iace to which, " after a great deal of railing against the- 
 
OF COLOGNE. 145 
 
 Lutherans, they professed in plain terms that they would 
 rather live under the Turk than under a magistrate who 
 should embrace and defend that reformation." 
 
 This work likewise is ascribed to Gropper, both by 
 Sleidan and Maimbourg. Another indecent book also was 
 published about the same time, in the name of " the sec- 
 ondary clergy of Cologne," professedly against Bucer, bufc 
 in reality against the reformation at large. 
 
 While these things were going on, the archbishop 
 attended in person the diet of Spires in 1544, and there 
 expressed his sentiments with great freedom. " Reforma- 
 tion," he said, "was a duty incumbent not only upon eccle- 
 siastical but upon civil rulers, and both one and the other 
 sinned grievously if they postponed it even for an hour. 
 For his own part, he was determined to go forward in the 
 course on which he had entered ; and he thought it a 
 general rule, that, if the bishops would not do it, the 
 princes ought to take the lead in this case of indispensable 
 necessity." 
 
 The next step which his refractory clergy took was to 
 threaten him with an appeal to the pope and the emperor. 
 They accordingly exhibited heavy charges against the arch- 
 bishop, as subverting the established order of the church, 
 and forcing upon his clergy and people the doctrines and 
 practices of the Lutheran heresy; and, moreover, as "intro- 
 ducing everywhere lewd and profligate wretches under the 
 character of teachers of religion." Having made him 
 acquainted with this appeal, and received his answer, that 
 be " had done nothing but what was his duty, and that he 
 was determined to proceed in those things which concerned 
 the glory of God and the reformation of the church ;" they 
 formally signed and transmitted their appeal, procuring the 
 Bishops of Liege and Utrecht and the university of Lou- 
 vain to concur with them in it, and excluding from the 
 right of voting, as accused persons, such of their own 
 number as disagreed with them. 
 
 The canons of Cologne, at the suggestion of the pope 
 and the emperor, sent a deputation to Herman, again urging 
 him to abandon his designs, and in case he refused to do 
 so, renouncing their allegiance to him. He promptly told 
 them, that it was " not, in their power to release themselves 
 from the obligation of their oaths, and that the pretence to 
 
 Vol. IL— N 
 
146 HERMAN ARCHBISHOP 
 
 do so was a matter of very ill example." For the rest, after 
 taking time to advise w^ith counsellors, he answered, " That 
 he had not hitherto acted without consideration, or from 
 levity of mind ; but that for more than fifteen years past he 
 had been deliberating with his friends on the means of 
 correcting the abuses of the church, and particularly the 
 intolerable corruptions of the Court of Rome : that he had 
 hoped that the pope or the emperor, moved by the com- 
 plaints of such multitudes of persons aggrieved by these 
 evils, would have found some remedy for them, either by a 
 council or through the diet ; but that this had hitherto been 
 prevented by the artifices of Rome herself : that, being now 
 grown an old man, who had need to care seriously for the 
 peace of his conscience and the salvation of his soul, he had 
 diligently applied himself to the study of the holy Scrip- 
 ture's and other pious writings, and had had recourse to the 
 counsels of learned men ; and that he had thus become con- 
 vinced, by the clearest evidence from the Word of God, that 
 that doctrine which in all the successive diets the pope and. 
 others had vehemently opposed was indeed pure, pious, 
 apostolic, and divine truth ; that he could not recede from 
 it and from the Word of God, but would steadfastly persist 
 in his purpose, though it should be at the risk of his pos- 
 sessions, his dignities, and his life itself; for that he felt 
 his own eternal salvation, and that of multitudes beside, to 
 be at stake in the present cause ; that in all external and 
 civil affairs, not contrary to the express will of God, the 
 emperor should find him most dutiful and compliant ; that 
 he felt a confidence of obtaining a testimony from all per- 
 sons, that in the station assigned him by Providence he 
 had, during so long a term of years, conducted himself in 
 such a manner that no one had just cause of complaint 
 against him." He further afiirmed, that " in prosecuting 
 his plan of reformation, he had brought no burden of ex- 
 pense upon the archiepiscopal revenues, but had supported 
 twelve or fifteen preachers in his province at his own 
 charge, and chiefly from his private patrimony, without their 
 receiving any stipend from the funds of the church ; and, 
 if for what he had done in this most righteous, religious, 
 and truly honourable cause, he was now, in his extreme 
 old age, to be still infested as he had hitherto been by the 
 opposition of his canons, and should thus eventually, either 
 
OF COLOGNE. 147 
 
 by force or fraud, be despoiled of his office and dignity, he 
 left that to God, the supreme and righteous Judge ; nor 
 would it be at all grievous to him if, as he had been born, 
 so he should die, simply Count of Wied ; his family would 
 receive and support him for his remaining days : but he 
 would testify by public writings, both his own and those 
 of the learned men with whom he had advised, that he had 
 avowed and defended pure doctrine, as his solemn engage- 
 ments bound him to do ; and that he had most anxiously 
 desired that his provinces might be rescued from the com- 
 plicated idolatry in which they were involved, and receive 
 the right knowledge of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Still, however, the archbishop continued to be harassed 
 by addresses from the pope, the other archbishops of Ger- 
 many, the doctors of Louvain, and the emperor's ministers. 
 At length, in the diet of Worms, held in the year 1545, 
 where Gropper appeared and heavily accused the arch- 
 bishop, the emperor received the appeal against him ; took 
 the canons of Cologne under his protection, forbidding any 
 one, under pain of proscription to molest them in their 
 religion, their revenues, or their rights ; commanded them 
 to proceed against the professors of the Protestant faith, 
 and cited Herman himself to appear before him within 
 thirty days, either personally or by his proctor, to answer 
 the charges laid against him. This was immediately fol- 
 lowed by a similar citation from the pope, requiring Her- 
 man, with the Dean of Cologne, and five others of the 
 canons, who, says Sleidan, " loved the archbishop, and dis- 
 approved the deed of the rest," to appear, in like manner, at 
 Rome within sixty days, to give account of their conduct 
 before the tribunal of his holiness. 
 
 To the former of these citations Herman answered, by 
 sending his proctor to the emperor at Brussels, though by 
 his electoral privileges he w^as not obliged to make any 
 appearance out of the limits of the empire. It seems also 
 that the emperor, in his way from Worms, saw him person- 
 ally, and significantly reminded him that his archiepiscopal 
 dignity depended on the will of the pope, and that from it 
 the electorate was inseparable." Herman, however, was 
 still firm, and insisted upon it that he had done no more 
 than his duty required ; and declared that, " as great num- 
 bers of his people had heard with profit the preachers whom 
 
148 HERMAN ARCHBISHOP 
 
 he had introduced, he could not m conscience remove 
 them." 
 
 To the citation of the pope, it does not appear that he 
 made any answer at all ; while the clergy vigorously prose- 
 cuted their appeal. In consequence, on the 16th of April, 
 1546, the pope pronounced sentence of deprivation and 
 excommunication against him ; released his subjects from 
 their allegiance, and discharged them from yielding him any 
 obedience in future. He at the same time appointed Adolphus 
 Count Schaumburg his successor — a person whom the arch- 
 bishop had long before made his coadjutor, and who had 
 been " always as dear to him as a brother." The emperor 
 was called upon to see this decree carried into etfect : but, 
 as his schemes against the Protestants were not yet fully ripe 
 for execution, and the archbishop refused to surrender his 
 office, alleging that he " could not do it with a safe con- 
 science," it slept for some little time longer. But in Janu- 
 ary, 1547, the emperor having then obtained great advan- 
 tages over the Protestants, and being prepared to execute 
 the decree by force of arms, Herman, in order to save his 
 country from becoming the scene of war and bloodshed, 
 consented to resign (though most of his states, except the 
 clergy, seemed ready to support him), and Schaumburg on 
 the 35th of that month took possession of his place and 
 dignity. Thus had Herman the honour of being the first 
 sovereign prince in Germany (though not the last), that 
 lost his dignities and dominions in the cause of the blessed 
 reformation ; and Charles gave the first specimen of the 
 use he would make of that unlimited power at which he 
 aspired, in deposing a venerable old man, who twenty-seven 
 years before had been one of those who raised him to the , 
 imperial throne ! 
 
 The deprived archbishop retired to his native country, 
 where he lived in privacy between five and six years, till his 
 death, on the 13th of August, 1552, at the age of eighty 
 years. He continued " obstinate in his heresy" to the last, 
 says Maimbourg : but Sleidan's account will doubtless be 
 thought by the reader less prejudiced, as well as more 
 pleasing. "He- had such an end," says that faithful histo- 
 rian, " as he desired ; for many times he had wished that 
 he might either be permitted to propagate the gospel, and 
 reform the church within his territories, or else to lead a 
 
OF COLOGNE. 149 
 
 private life : and, being sometimes admonished by his friends 
 that he drew upon himself great hatred and ill-will by 
 changing his religion, he used to answer, that nothing could 
 take him by surprise, for he had long since made up his 
 mind for all events." 
 
 The mighty change which had taken place in the good 
 archbishop since he was a persecutor at Paderborn, may 
 even remind us of that which converted Saul of Tarsus 
 into an apostle of the faith "which once he destroyed." 
 His meekness is confessed even by his enemies ; his humility 
 and piety were in many instances conspicuous, and in none 
 more so than in the manner in which he bore adversity ; 
 and the spectacle of an old man, whose constitutional fail- 
 ing had perhaps been timidity, raised to all the vigour, 
 the exertion, and the resolution which we have witnessed — 
 prepared to brave all dangers, and to make the most costly 
 sacrifices in the cause of truth and dutj' — is delightful to 
 contemplate, and shows how Divine grace can change and 
 exalt the human character. 
 
 Herman had declined on various accounts to join the 
 league of Smalkald ; yet so much were the confederates 
 attached to him, that they repeatedly interposed in his behalf; 
 and they finally determined to support him, had they been 
 able to stand themselves. Among the persons deprived with 
 him were Count Stolberg, the dean, and Herman's own 
 brother Frederic, who had for ten years held the bishopric of 
 Munster, but resigned it in 1532, because he could not there 
 carry things according to his conscience. He at this 
 time held the provostship of Bonn, which Gropper obtained 
 in addition to his other benefices, in reward of the part 
 he had acted. Under the administration of the new arch- 
 bishop, the reformation which had been introduced was 
 wholly set aside : the preachers expelled ; and all that 
 excessive superstition of which Melancthon had complained, 
 and which gave to Cologne the appellation of " the Rome 
 of Germany," was restored.* 
 
 The history of the Bishop of Munster is a counterpart of 
 that of the Archbishop of Cologne, except that his canons 
 
 *Herman's Scheme of Reformation, drawn up by Bucer and Melanc- 
 ttion, which forms a good-sized 12mo. or 8vo. volume, was translated 
 rato English, and twice printed in London ; the second edition in 154S. 
 N2 
 
150 BISHOP OF MUNSTER. 
 
 showed less virulent hostility against him, and that it seems 
 not certain that he stood equally tirm to the last. The bishop- 
 ric of Munster is one of the most extensive and powerful 
 in Germany ; and, in addition to it, Francis Count Wal- 
 deck (the same who, in the year 1535, subdued the anabap- 
 tists) possessed the bishoprics of Osnaburg and Minden. 
 Several years before, strong measures had been adopted by 
 the senate for estabUshing the reformed doctrine in the city 
 of Munster. The Protestants presented to the senate a list of 
 the errors of popery, under thirty heads, pledging themselves 
 to support their charges against any persons that might un- 
 dertake to refute them. The senate called upon the clergy 
 to maintain their tenets against the innovators, and on their 
 failing to do so, required them to resign their pulpits to the 
 new teachers. The clergy retired from the city in disgust, 
 and in concert with their bishop commenced some hostile 
 proceedings against the senate and citizens. These differ- 
 ences, however, were composed by a treaty, in which the 
 Landgrave of Hesse, as well as the Bishop of Munster, took 
 a part, and by which six churches in the city were ceded to 
 the Protestants, and their antagonists left in undisturbed 
 possession of the cathedral. 
 
 Even at that time the bishop appears not to have been indis- 
 posed to reformation ; but the phrensy of the anabaptists 
 under John of Leyden and other leaders succeeded, and threw 
 all things into confusion. Ten years after, in the year 1544, 
 after having for some time connived at the preaching of the 
 evangelical doctrine in the principal cities under his juris- 
 diction, Francis openly recommended reformation to the 
 assembly of his states. The chapters of can ons opposed 
 him, acting in concert with those of Cologne, and avowing 
 their determination to adhere to an imperial mandate which 
 they had received, enjoining them to withstand all innova- 
 tions. The bishop, however, alleged the decree of Ratisbon, 
 and said that " it was incumbent upon him, both in pursu- 
 ance of that decree, and by his rights and duties as a prince, 
 to see that the people of his province were instructed in 
 Christian truth and duty, by competent preachers. He felt 
 the necessity of having pastors who should explain to the 
 people the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins, 
 and teach them to observe all things that Christ had com- 
 manded : for he had founds with great pain, that just notion* 
 
BISHOP OF MUNSTER. 15 1 
 
 of repentance scarcely existed among them ; and that they 
 were so ill informed as to seek the Divine favour through 
 the medium of images, relics, and ceremonies which they 
 did not understand, while faith in Christ (with which con- 
 trition for sin, charity, and good works were inseparably 
 connected) was utterly disregarded. The sacraments, 
 moreover, which ought to be administered and received with 
 that just understanding of their nature and design, and 
 with that faith and devotion, that men might by means of 
 them be really united to Christ, and strengthened in faith 
 more and more, were irreverently and shamefully abused ; 
 while the basest simony and grasping at gain were every- 
 where practised. In other rites and ceremonies of the 
 church also, in the singing and the prayers, which ought all 
 to be conducted to the instruction and edification of the people, 
 the clergy themselves did not understand what they sang or 
 read : all was gone through without the heart being engaged 
 in it, and without improvement either to themselves or 
 others. All this was highly offensive to God, and con- 
 demned by the inspired writers. The lives of the clergy 
 also were shamefully corrupt. By these, and other weighty 
 causes, he said, he had been induced, in virtue of his office, 
 to make some commencement of reformation, by the pure 
 preaching of the Word of God, and the administration of the 
 sacraments according to their original appointment, in some 
 parts of his territories ; and he now trusted that he should 
 have the support of his states in carrying the same into 
 effect generally. He doubted not that he should be able to 
 justify his proceedings to the emperor. But, if he were dis- 
 appointed in these hopes, and should have to encounter the 
 same sort of difficulties as had fallen to the lot of prophets, 
 apostles, and the servants of God in all ages, his states 
 would remember the answer made to the Jewish council : 
 * We ought to obey God rather than men :' and it would be 
 more tolerable for him to draw down upon himself the dis- 
 pleasure of men than the anger of God. In all civil mat- 
 ters, however, he would always be ready to perform due 
 service to the emperor, as he had hitherto done." 
 
 The proposals thus piously and forcibly urged, met the ap- 
 probation of all the orders except the clergy ; who still ex- 
 pressed their determination to adhere to the emperor's direc- 
 tions. They would not, however, they said, now enter into 
 
152 BISHOP OF MUNSTER. 
 
 dispute with their bishop ; but they trusted they should still be 
 left in possession of the cathedral church, to conduct the 
 services and ceremonies there according to their own senti- 
 ments. The bishop replied, " that neither would he move 
 disputes with them ; that with pious and benevolent inten- 
 tions he aimed at the reformation of abuses ; that he 
 should employ no force against those who declined to 
 comply vs^ith his wishes ; but that he would not depart 
 from his purpose of introducing reformation, and the 
 preaching of the true gospel of Christ." 
 
 These were the bright prospects of the province in the 
 year 1544. Soon after that, the pope succeeded in stirring 
 up the emperor to take more decisive measures against the 
 reformation : the Smalkaldic war followed, and the good de- 
 signs of the Bishop of Munster were frustrated. In the year 
 1547, he was cited to Rome by the pope, to answer the charge 
 of defection from the Catholic faith : but the canons on this 
 occasion interposed their good offices on his behalf, urging 
 particularly the services he had formerly rendered in the 
 suppression of the anabaptists. Hence he is supposed to 
 have yielded improperly to the prevailing torrent, after 
 Charles's triumph over the Protestant powers. If so, we 
 may trust that he was " chastened of the Lord, that he 
 might not be condemned with the world :" for he afterward 
 suffered in the conflicts v^'hich arose among his neighbours, 
 and the more severely for his former close alliance with the 
 landgrave : he was plundered of his wealth, and even lost 
 his bishoprics ; and was reduced to live as an exile in his 
 own city of Munster, dependent on the liberality of the 
 citizens. He died July 15, 1553. Chytrseus commends 
 him as a prince of high character, distinguished for piety, 
 wisdom, justice, and clemency. Munster is to be added to 
 the list of those places in which the light of the reformation 
 was extinguished again, ere it had well dawned upon the 
 people. 
 
 In other places, however, happier success still attended the 
 efforts made to diffuse the knowledge of Divine truth, and 
 to correct the abuses which prevailed. The town and ad- 
 joining district of Ruthen in Voightland, the city and dis- 
 trict of Roienburg, and the principality of Henneberg, both 
 in Franconia, are particularly mentioned. In the second 
 of these places the reformation was almost universally 
 
PRINCES OF HENNEBERG. 153 
 
 embraced by the votaries in religious houses, as well as by 
 other classes of the people ; so that in the year 1546 no 
 more than one monk and two aged nuns were found remain- 
 ing. The zeal also of the inhabitants, and their eagerness 
 to hear the Word of God, are represented as very striking. 
 Numbers fell on their knees in the churches, and with tears 
 of joy thanked God for their deliverance from the supersti- 
 tion in which they had lived. 
 
 But the account of Henneberg is attended with the most 
 interesting and remarkable particulars. William, prince of 
 that territory, had been a zealous devotee in the cause of 
 Romish superstition ; the institutor of associations and ob- 
 servances designed to perpetuate it ; and a persecutor of 
 those who revolted from it : and, as was to be expected, he 
 trained up his sons, three of whom he dedicated to the 
 sacred office, in the same principles. His eldest son and 
 successor, however, George Ernest, attended the Landgrave 
 of Hesse to the diet of Augsburg in the year 1530 : and 
 there it pleased God that he . should receive the seeds of 
 Divine truth, which gradually sprung up, and were after- 
 ward cherished by the piety of his wife, EUzabeth, daughter 
 of Eric Duke of Brunswick and of Elizabeth of Brandenburg, 
 before mentioned. Poppo also, another son of William's, 
 and a canon of Wurtzburg, disgusted with the lives of the 
 higher popish clergy (of which his situation had given him 
 sufficient experience), and impressed with the piety of his 
 brother, became equally inclined with him to the cause of 
 reformation : and, little as such an event might have been 
 anticipated, they prevailed upon their father, whose mind we 
 must suppose to have undergone a gradual but great change, 
 not only to yield to their wishes, but heartily to concur with 
 them. The assistance of John Forster, a pious divine of 
 Wittemberg, was solicited and obtained ; and the Protestant 
 faith was in the year 1644 publicly professed. William, as 
 he was a late, so he proved a zealous and persevering 
 labourer in the cause. Aided by his sons, he settled the 
 ecclesiastical affiiirs of his principality in an excellent order: 
 and so determined a spirit did he show, that, when the Prot- 
 estant confederation was broken and crushed, and all men 
 were trembling before the power of the emperor, he reso- 
 lutely refused the Interim (a corrupt mixture of popery and 
 Protestantism), prescribed by that potentate in the year 
 
154 GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 
 
 1548. He even wrote to him early in the year following to 
 this effect : " That he had the fullest conviction, that nothing 
 was taught in the churches of his principality which was 
 not clearly contained in the Holy Scriptures, commanded to 
 be taught by our only Saviour Jesus Christ, and received in 
 the primitive and apostolic church. That these things he 
 and those connected with him embraced, and would confess 
 in the face of the whole world, at the risk of their fortunes 
 and their lives. That, in all other respects, he had no more 
 anxious desire than to discharge his duty to the emperor ; 
 and that the same was earnestly inculcated upon his people 
 by their pastors." He begs therefore that he may not be 
 required to receive the Interim ; but that what he has already 
 established in his province may remain undisturbed. He 
 adds, that the emperor ought to conclude, that a man who, 
 for temporal considerations, would surrender what he was 
 convinced in his own conscience was the truth and will of 
 God, was not likely to prove faithful to his earthly superior. 
 Here again an open and manly avowal of principle proved 
 to be the best policy. William remained undisturbed, 
 amid all the changes which took place : he lived till the 
 year 1559, aiid then died, at the age of eighty-one, in 
 the pious and unwavering confession of the true faith of 
 the gospel. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 George Prince of Anhalt — Bugenhagius Pomeranus — Diet of 
 Worms — Council of Trent — Alarm of the Protestants — 
 Their Leaders — Artifices of the Emperor — Diet and Con- 
 ferences of Ratishon — Preparations for War — Reformation 
 of the Loiver Palatinate, and of Lcuikirk. 
 
 The histories of some other eminent individuals present 
 themselves under the period assigned to the chapter ; and 
 we will first lay them before the reader. 
 
 George Prince of Anhalt is one of them. This excellent 
 man appears to have been blessed with pious and judicious 
 
GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 155 
 
 parents, to whose care of his education, though they were 
 themselves to a considerable degree involved in the prevail- 
 ing darkness and superstition, and though he lost his father 
 at the early age of eight years, he afterward felt himself to 
 be deeply indebted. Of his mother, in particular, who was 
 the granddaughter of the King of Bohemia, we shall find him 
 taking very pleasing notice. He was born in the year 1507, 
 and being a younger son, was destined for the church. After 
 the death of his father, he was placed under the care of 
 George Heldus, or Heltus, of Forcheim, a learned and pious 
 instructer at Leipzig ; who had also Joachim Camerarius 
 and Caspar Cruciger for his scholars. Under his instruc- 
 tion, George laid the foundation of a degree of learning in 
 those days very uncommon in persons of his rank in life. 
 He subsequently applied to the study of jurisprudence, and 
 at the age of twenty-two was admitted into the council of 
 the Archbishop of Mentz and Magdeburg ; in which station, 
 in consequence of his talents and eloquence, he was em- 
 ployed in much important business. Five years, however, 
 before this time, when he had attained only the age of seven- 
 teen, he had been made provost of the cathedral church of 
 Magdeburg : and, becoming deeply interested in the theolo- 
 gical questions which were so much agitated, he applied 
 himself to the study of the Scriptures and the fathers ; still 
 availing himself of the suggestions of his old tutor Heltus. 
 In order to read the Sacred Writings with greater advantage, 
 he diligently cultivated the knowledge of the Greek and 
 Hebrew languages ; in the latter of which his proficiency is 
 particularly praised. But of these his theological studies, 
 and of the result of them, we must attend to the very in- 
 teresting account which he himself has given us. 
 
 It is remarkable, that he had for the guardians of his 
 youth three of the most devoted supporters of the papal 
 superstition, and opponents of the Protestant cause, that 
 the age produced — Albert Archbishop of Mentz, Joachim I. 
 Elector of Brandenburg, and George Duke of Saxony. These, 
 of course, opposed every obstacle to his approximation to 
 the sentiments of Luther : and it is to his correspondence 
 with the bigoted Duke of Saxony, extending from the year 
 1.^33 to 1539, that we are indebted for the fullest account of 
 the progress of his religious inquiries. 
 
 "With good conscience," he declares, "he could say 
 
156 GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 
 
 with St. Paul, that from his early youth he had felt an ardent 
 zeal for the law of his fathers ; for the ceremonies, the cus- 
 toms, and the doctrines in which he had been brought up. 
 Against those principles, therefore, which were opposed to 
 them, and tended, as he conceived, to subvert every good 
 institution, and to introduce all sorts of evil, he had cherished 
 the most uncompromising hostility. But ail the time he 
 was acting only upon hearsay and ex-parte evidence : for 
 he avoided, with a degree of horror, the reading of books 
 which he understood to be surcharged with poison. He 
 began however to reflect, that, as a member of the church 
 and of the ecclesiastical order, it behooved him to employ 
 himself in a more efficient manner in opposing the dan- 
 gerous eiforts of those who were enemies to both. He 
 determined, therefore, to lay aside for a time more amusing 
 and more lucrative pursuits, and, as far as his indispensable 
 engagements would permit, to apply himself to the study of 
 the Scriptures and of ancient ecclesiastical writers, whom, 
 he was confidently persuaded, he should find interpreting 
 the Scriptures in a widely different manner from the modern 
 innovators. Accordingly he had recourse to the doctors and 
 the canons of the church, with no other view than that of 
 triumphantly exposing the errors of the new teachers. But, 
 he exclaims, O God, what shall I say ? When I examined 
 on all sides and in all parts the writings of the approved 
 doctors, and the ancient canons, I could nowhere find that 
 interpretation, and those traditions which T sought, and of 
 which I had boasted ; nor, when I applied to persons who 
 had the aulhority of the fathers constantly in their mouths, 
 could they point out any thing of the kind to me ! On the 
 contrary I discovered, not only that numberless practical 
 abuses, repugnant to the Scriptures and the determinations 
 of the fathers, were defended among us, but that we had 
 departed widely indeed from the pure Christian doctrine. I 
 saw that many articles taught by the fathers, and sanctioned 
 by councils, were now restored and brought to light again, 
 after a long ohlivion, by those very teachers whom we were 
 denouncing as heretics : and that the reasonings by which 
 our doctors now opposed them were precisely those of the 
 ancient heretics upon similar questions, which the fathers 
 of the church had refuted and rejected. However it was to 
 be accounted for, I saw that it might be demonstrated from 
 
GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 157 
 
 these writincrs, and especially from those of Augustine 
 against the Pelagians, that, in the principal points now in 
 controversy, the sentiments of our writers ditfered little from 
 the dogmas of the heretics ; as, for instance, on the article 
 of justification, on the cause of salvation, on free-will, human 
 merits, the grace of God, and the remission of sins, faith, 
 good works, and other topics connected with them. In 
 these I clearly perceived that many things which Augustine 
 maintained in opposition to those heretics are now con- 
 demned by the monks and their adherents ; while those very 
 fundamental principles of the heretical doctrines are asserted, 
 which Augustine most zealously opposed. But Almighty 
 God, of his infinite mercy, ever kept alive in my heart that 
 spark of Divine light, kindled by himself, which led me to 
 acknowledge that our salvation is by his grace, and not for 
 our merits. I also frequently recalled to mind the discourse 
 on the subject of salvation, which, with great pleasure, I 
 had heard from my dear uncle, Adolphus Bishop of Mers- 
 burg, a little before his death. A preacher having before 
 him said much of human merits, and extolled them highly, 
 the good bishop severely reproved him, citing the words of 
 the Psalmist, ' In thy sight shall no man living be justified.' 
 Thrice he repeated and urged the exclusive terms, ' No man 
 — no man living.' And he himself at length departed this 
 life in peace, in this very confidence in the Divine mercy, and 
 not in any merits of his own. In like manner, I remembered 
 that my much loved mother held fast this article with an 
 unwavering faith ; of which I not only have the testimony 
 in her own hand-writing, but I could myself give evidence 
 to the fiict, from having been present with her to the time 
 when she drew her last breath. 
 
 " The consequence of all this was, when I found that the 
 persons on whom I had unduly relied, and who hesitated 
 not to pass off all their own notions as the decisions of the 
 church, had erred so widely from the truth of the Scriptures, 
 the sentiments of the fathers, and the determinations of the 
 holy Catholic church in this article, which is the very basis 
 of all Christian doctrine, I was not a little disturbed and 
 terrified." He then goes on to state some further consid- 
 erations which shook his confidence in these teachers, par- 
 ticularly their making so light of the Holy Scriptures. But 
 yet, he confesses, he was strongly prejudiced against the 
 
 Vol. II.— O 
 
158 GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 
 
 Lutherans, from the persuasion that their doctrine was sub- 
 versive of all good works and good order, and from the 
 number of sects to which they seemed to give occasion. He 
 calls God to witness, how many sleepless nights he had 
 passed, and what anguish he had sutiered, while his mind 
 was held in suspense. Still, however, he adhered to his 
 principle, that our dependence must be upon grace, and not 
 on our own merits ; other points he was willing to refer to 
 the decision of a council. This was about the period of the 
 diet of Augsburg. But when he had read the Confession 
 of the Protestants there presented, and saw that the repre- 
 sentations which had been made to him of their religion did 
 not correspond with it, he thought that they must have cor- 
 rected some of their errors, and be meditating a return to 
 the church. At the same time he was much pleased with 
 what he found taught in the Confession, from St. Augustine, 
 concerning free-will and some other points. When after- 
 ward he had read the Apology for the Confession, and had 
 seen the decree of Augsburg, in which all the old abuses 
 were sanctioned, and the errors of the various sects con- 
 founded with the doctrine of the Protestants, and the whole 
 condemned together, he became more and more convinced 
 that the course adopted was unjustifiable. He now had 
 recourse to the writings of Luther ; and he found that that 
 reformer had only met with the same treatment that the 
 ancient prophets had done, who always had the assertors of 
 human merits for their enemies. He does not deny that he 
 was offended at the acerbity of Luther's manner of writing; 
 yet he could not but admit the truth of his sentiments. He 
 also called to mind another observation of his mother's, 
 That she was surprised that the teachers to whom she had 
 been accustomed spoke in no such impressive manner con- 
 cerning the grace of Christ as the new preachers did : she 
 confessed that she had become better instructed upon this 
 subject from the writings of the latter than she had before 
 been ; and she hoped that the former would be brought to 
 teach in this respect in the same manner. It was a stum- 
 bling-block indeed to him, that so complete a reformation of 
 manners did not follow as he would have hoped : but then 
 he clearly saw that this was not the fault either of the 
 teachers or of the instruction given. With respect to the 
 sects that arose after the reformation, he reflected, that 
 
GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 159 
 
 Luther could not be answerable for all which rash and 
 heady spirits among his followers might advance ; that the 
 reformer had opposed such persons to the utmost of his 
 ability ; that it had been the reproach cast upon Christianity 
 itself in the early ages, that it caused divisions and disturb- 
 ances ; that the boasted harmony, prior to the reformation, 
 either did not exist (for the discords of the monks had pro- 
 duced many tragical scenes), or it was founded in ignorance 
 and the toleration of all sorts of abuses ; in short, it 
 amounted only to this, that Satan had universal possession 
 and ' his goods were in peace.' As to the argument from 
 the necessity of obeying the church, he considered, that the 
 church was the spouse of Christ, and had not authority to 
 enjoin any thing but from the Word of her Lord ; and there- 
 fore that due obedience was not violated by resistance to 
 abuses. Nor was he moved by the reasoning that, if those 
 were indeed errors which Luther assailed, then God must 
 have deserted his church for ages past : for he perceived 
 that, notwithstanding these errors and evils, God had still 
 had a church, and persons who were members of it, as in 
 the corrupt times of Israel : that he had, indeed, by a right- 
 eous but inscrutable judgment, for the punishment of the 
 people's sins, permitted great darkness and corruption to 
 prevail ; but that they might expect still worse things to 
 come upon them, if they should now shut their eyes against 
 the light which had visited them. He reprobates the idea 
 of rejecting the truth from mere prejudice against the person 
 of Luther : nor would he, he says, allow himself to be in- 
 fluenced by the consideration, that the professors of the new 
 doctrine might subject themselves to the loss of rank and 
 wealth ; for that things of that kind were not promised to 
 Christians, and ought not to be desired by them : and, with 
 respect to the hatred of men, he remembered the apostle's 
 saying, ' If I were a man-pleaser, I should not be the servant 
 of Jesus Christ.' He trusts in God, however, to make 'even 
 his enemies to be at peace with him.' " 
 
 At the close of his correspondence with George of Sax- 
 ony he observes, that " he would not further harass a per- 
 son who was now grown old, to whom he owed obligations, 
 and whom on many accounts he highly respected ; but that 
 daily, as often as he repeated the words of the Lord's 
 prayer, ' thy will be done,' he prayed, and would not cease 
 
160 GEORGE PRINCE OF ANIIALT. 
 
 to pray, for him.' This was in the year 1538, only one 
 year before the death of the duke. 
 
 The careful consideration of the statements now before 
 us cannot but be both impressive and useful. Not only do 
 they evince the integrity of George's mind ; they show also 
 what would be the result of a candid examination to many 
 others besides Roman Catholics, who now proceed very 
 confidently under the influence of earJy prejudices, or in 
 blind reliance upon what they esteem great authorities. 
 
 In the year 1541, at the time of the diet of Ratisbon, 
 when hopes were entertained of an amicable arrangement 
 between the contending parties, George addressed a letter 
 to the emperor, containing a modest and respectful defence 
 of the Confession of Augsburg. He entreated him not to 
 lend an ear to the many charges brought against the Protest- 
 ants, but to examine the facts for himself. He urged his 
 own case and that of his brothers : the most odious repre- 
 sentations had been made to them, as if good works were 
 decried, all good regulations subverted, and the floodgates of 
 iniquity thrown open by the new doctrine. They had accord- 
 ingly resisted it as impious, with all their might. But 
 those who so represented it had created a distrust in their 
 minds, by dissuading them from reading the Scriptures, and 
 examining into the grounds of things for themselves : and 
 the princes aftervv'ard discovered, that the representations of 
 these persons were grossly false ; and they felt it to be their 
 duty to give their subjects the benefit of the discoveries 
 thus made. He entreats the emperor, therefore, if he 
 could not yet think the Protestants right, that he would still 
 preserve the peace, and not suffer any one to be injured for 
 adherence to the Confession. When informed that the 
 emperor had received and read his letter, he wrote again in 
 acknowledgment, and sent him two tracts, one of them a 
 Protestant catechism, (no doubt Luther's) — begging him 
 not so much to inquire " who wrote them, as what they 
 contained." 
 
 Two years afterward he endeavoured to influence the mind 
 of his kinsman and former guardian, the Archbishop of 
 Mentz, in a similar manner, and to induce him to suggest 
 healing counsels to the emperor. He beseeches him to re- 
 gard " the truth and eternal life" alone, in this important 
 case, and not to lend himself to the designs of the pope. 
 
GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 161 
 
 " If only," he says, " recourse could be had to the sure 
 ground of Scripture, instead of human opinions, then, 
 waiving all unnecessary and doubtful points, we might 
 speedily have peace established in Germany, and throughout 
 the Christian world." He conjures him to embrace, and 
 support whatever he was convinced was true and right, that 
 he might never incur the sentence denounced against the 
 servant who " knew his Lord's will, and did it not." Never 
 was more appropriate advice given : for there seems no 
 reason to doubt that the archbishop had convictions in 
 favour of the reformation, and showed himself, till after the 
 diet of Augsburg, less adverse to it than many others ; 
 though afterward Luther considered him as a principal 
 author of the hostile measures adopted against it. 
 
 Some months before this address to the archbishop, he had 
 submitted to the chapter of Magdeburg, to which he be- 
 longed, a plan of reformation. He appeals to their deeds 
 of foundation, "written in letters of gold, and splendidly 
 ornamented," as declaring the end of their institution to be 
 " the study and promotion of sound learning," in which the 
 investigation of the Holy Scriptures and theological learning 
 ought certainly to take the lead with them as churchmen. 
 He cites the late decree of Ratisbon, which enjoined reform- 
 ation on the diocesan : and urges that it behooved them, 
 as the counsellors of their archbishop, to suggest to him the 
 nature and means of that reformation ; without which they 
 would, in fact, soon lose all their influence over the people. 
 He strikingly exposes the absurdity, and even profaneness, 
 of private masses, in which the priests went through all the 
 service, using the addresses, " The Lord be with you — Lift 
 up your hearts unto the Lord — Take, eat," &c., when there 
 were no communicants present. This proposal for the 
 reformation of the chapter of Magdeburg failed at that 
 time, but it took effect a few years afterward. George's 
 writings prove him to have become a firm, zealous, able, yet 
 mild and dignified, assertor of all the great principles of the 
 reformation. 
 
 In the year 1544 died the bishop of the important diocess 
 of Mersburg ; and, by a strange abuse not uncommon in 
 those times, Augustus, brother to Maurice Duke of Saxony, 
 though a layman, and only eighteen years of age, wa? 
 unanimously elected his successor. The election, however, 
 03 
 
162 GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 
 
 proved highly beneficial : for Augustus being, like his brotherj 
 a friend to the reformation, and fettered by no other restric- 
 tion than that of leaving the services of the cathedral 
 church to the direction of the canons, appointed George of 
 Anhalt, the senior of their number, to administer the eccle- 
 siastical affairs of the diocess according to his own discre- 
 tion, and with a liberal salary ; thus virtually conferring 
 upon him all the peculiar powers of a bishop. Maurice, at 
 the same time, made him ecclesiastical superintendent of 
 Leipzig, and of such parts of Thuringia as belonged to his 
 jurisdiction ; and he was already spiritual administrator of 
 Misnia. Thus he was raised to a sphere of usefulness 
 suited to his rank, his talents, and his piety ; and he occu- 
 pied it for five years in a manner worthy of the high repu- 
 tation he already enjoyed. 
 
 In the year 1549, after the imperial edict, called the In- 
 terim, had been published, Augustus of Saxony, having 
 married Ann of Denmark, resigned the bishopric of Mers- 
 burg, and Heldingus, one of the three persons who had 
 composed the Interim, was appointed his successor. The 
 administration of George, of course, ceased : but in his 
 capacity of senior canon, he still firmly supported the Protest- 
 ant interest in the diocess. Joined by some others of the 
 canons, he claimed of the bishop a promise not to disturb 
 the order of things which he found established ; not to 
 introduce again the abrogated ceremonies ; nor to molest 
 the married clergy. He supported this demand by urging 
 certain irregularities attending the appointment of the new 
 bishop, on the ground of which they might refuse to acknow- 
 ledge him. In deference, however, to the imperial author- 
 ity, he would consent, he said, to overlook these, provided 
 Heldingus would give him satisfaction as to the plan on 
 which he meant to proceed in the government of the dio- 
 cess. The bishop in consequence made fair promises ; but 
 George, still cherishing a distrust which the event war- 
 ranted, took care to have his protest recorded ; in which he 
 disclaimed the authority of the bishop, and appealed to a 
 free and Christian council, in case he should not act up to his 
 present professions. Having done this, he said he would 
 now attend him to the cathedral church, and join in imploring 
 for him the grace and assistance of the Holy Spirit ; but 
 still not pledging himself, by that concurrence in his inaugu- 
 
GEORGE PRINCE OF ANHALT. 163 
 
 ration, to acquiesce in any false doctrine wliich might be 
 introduced. 
 
 George's apprehensions were soon realized. The bishop, 
 being once established in power, forgot his promises ; began 
 to promulgate the ancient errors ; and ere long openly pro- 
 fessed his intention of restoring all things to their former 
 state under the papacy. In consequence, George did not 
 scruple to preach two elaborate sermons, with the avowed 
 intention of publishing them, against the errors of the 
 Church of Rome, and in defence of Protestant doctrines and 
 principles. Some delay occurred in committing them to the 
 press; but they were published in the year 1551, with acopi- 
 ous preface. They are both from the gospel for the eighth 
 Sunday after Trinity, taken from the seventh chapter 
 ■of St. Matthew ; the former a warning against false 
 teachers, from ver. 15; the latter a comparison of popery 
 and Protestantism as to their practical "fruits," from ver. 
 16. He here contrasts the prohibition of the Scriptures, 
 the neglect of the education of youth, and of the instruc- 
 tion of the people (to a degree that even tended to bring 
 back barbarism), and many other evils among the papists, 
 with the opposite system everywhere introduced by the 
 Protestants. In this connexion he makes a splendid eulo- 
 gium of Luther's translation of the whole Scriptures " from 
 the Hebrew and Greek originals," a version with which 
 neither the Septuagint, nor the Vulgate, nor any other 
 ancient one, however celebrated, could bear a comparison ; 
 and by means of which, he says, the inspired writers " spoke 
 to the people of Germany, as clearly and intelligibly as if 
 they had been born and brought up among them." 
 
 In the preface to some sermons on the sixteenth Psalm, 
 he has preserved the following interesting memorandum 
 concerning Luther. The reformer had visited George at 
 Mersburg, and just before he took his leave, while sitting 
 in his chair, he solemnly lifted up his hands and eyes, and 
 said : " I thank my God, that I never discovered or proposed 
 any new doctrine ; but held fast the old and true one ; and 
 to the utmost of my power withstood all novelties, contrary 
 to the ancient and genuine doctrine and faith of Christ, 
 whether introduced by Jews, Turks, heretics, papists, sacra- 
 mentarians, or anabaptists." " These words, " says George, 
 " I heard with great pleasure, and was confirmed by them in 
 
164 BUGENHAGIUS POMERANUS. 
 
 my opinion of Luther, that he sought no innovation, but 
 closely followed the Scriptures, constantly adhered to the 
 true faith, and censured nothing but errors in doctrine and 
 corruptions in practice." 
 
 In the close of another work, on the sacrament, he quotes 
 a letter of Eckius's, dated at Ingolstadt, in 1535, in which 
 the writer confesses that he " could not find that any pope 
 had abolished the administration of the eucharist in both 
 kinds, prior to the councils of Constance and Basil," in the 
 fifteenth century: "but," adds Eckius, "as the church 
 increased, and it became impossible that due reverence 
 should be shown to the sacrament amid such numbers of 
 people, Christians, without any express injunction, in honour 
 of the sacrament itself, withdrew, and were content with 
 one kind : and this they dovbtless (hd by the suggestion of 
 the Holy Ghost V — Such an avowal, in all its parts, from so 
 hackneyed a champion of popish errors, cannot fail to make 
 a due impression on the mind of every reflecting reader. 
 
 The excellent man whose history, on account of its 
 interesting nature, we have detailed at some length, died on 
 the 17th of October, 1553, at the age of only forty-six 
 years. He was of a weakly constitution, which he further 
 impaired by incessant labours and studies. The sentiment 
 of Seckendorf seems perfectly just, that few even of the 
 most leading reformers are more deserving of our admira- 
 tion than he was. Previously to his administration of 
 Mersburg, he had, in conjunction with his brothers, intro- 
 duced a quiet and peaceable, but very effectual reformation 
 in the principality of Anhalt ; and he continued to the end 
 of his days to live on the best terms with the same beloved 
 relatives, rendering them every assistance in the well-govern- 
 ing of their dominions. Considering his rank and attain- 
 ments, he might have aspired to the highest dignities in the 
 church ; but he was content with what he had, and pre- 
 ferred " the reproach of Christ" to any worldly advance- 
 ment. He lived unmarried, though he zealously contended 
 for the liberty of marriage in the clergy. His end appears 
 to have been eminently devout and peaceful. 
 
 The other eminent individual of whom we have here 
 some relation to offer is John Bugenhagius Pomeranus, or 
 Bugenhagen of Pomerania ; a person whose name has ire- 
 
BUGENHAGIUS POMERANUS. 165 
 
 quently occuiTed in these pages, and who had rendered 
 many important services to the reformation. In the same 
 year that George of Anhalt was made administrator of 
 Mersburg, the bishopric of Camin, in his native country, 
 was offered to Bugenhagen, and earnestly pressed upon his 
 acceptance ; and it appears that it was the third that had 
 been thus proposed to him. But never did an ambitious 
 churchman more earnestly seek such a dignity, than he 
 declined it ; nor any disappointed aspirant more bitterly 
 bewail his failure, than this good man did his having for a 
 time consented to his own advancement. The deceased 
 bishop was the very prelate who had driven Bugenhagen 
 from his country, for preaching the reformed doctrine.* 
 The nomination to the vacant see was vested in the reign- 
 ing Dukes^ Barnimus and Philip, both Protestants ; but 
 they differed with some asperity concerning the person who 
 should be appointed. At length they were prevailed with 
 to agree upon Bugenhagen ; and they sent a splendid 
 embassy to Wittemberg to solicit him to accept the office, 
 representing that in so doing he would meet the earnest 
 wishes of the chapter and the whole province. The depu- 
 ties added, that, in fact, his doing so was the only probable 
 means of preventing the differences between the two dukes 
 being decided by arms. This last consideration, seconded by 
 the advice of the Elector of Saxony, prevailed with Bugen- 
 hagen to yield a conditional assent : but he had no sooner 
 done this, than he fell into a degree of melancholy, consider- 
 ing his conduct as both infatuated and sinful, and as per- 
 mitted for the punishment of his other offences. He there- 
 fore mournfully entreated of God both pardon and deliver- 
 ance ; and, when the conditions which he had stipulated 
 were not agreed to by the dukes, he gladly availed himself 
 of the opportunity of retracting his consent. He offered, 
 however, if a bishop were first appointed, and the case 
 required, to go and reorganize the reformation of Pomerania, 
 which had been at first established in a considerable degree, 
 under his direction. Bugenhagen lived nearly fourteen 
 years after this time, and died in peace, April 20, 1558. 
 
 We turn now to the general course of events at this 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 177. 
 
166 DESIGNS or THE EMPEROR. 
 
 momentous period. The time was now arrived when the 
 emperor might begin to throw off the mask, and no longer 
 temporize with the Protestants. The restraint in which he 
 had long been held with respect to them, and the bold and 
 firm attitude which they had of late been enabled to assume, 
 must have been highly irritating to him ; but the circum- 
 stances of his other dominions, and his wars with the King 
 of France and with the Turks, imposed on him a necessity 
 to which he was compelled to submit. But peace was now 
 concluded with the former potentate, and Charles enter- 
 tained the hope, which was soon after realized, of making 
 a satisfactory arrangement with the sultan. He turned all 
 his thoughts therefore to Germany ; a,nd with a view to the 
 designs he cherished there, he had, " by a private article, not 
 inserted in the treaty of Crespy, that it might not raise any 
 unseasonable alarm, agreed with Francis, that both should 
 exert all their influence and power in order to procure a 
 general council, to assert its authority, and to exterminate the 
 Protestant heresy out of their dominions."* Still, however, 
 he had reason to proceed with caution. "He was sensible 
 that the Protestants, conscious of their own strength, but 
 under continual apprehensions of his designs, had all the 
 boldness of a powerful confederacy joined to the jealousy 
 of a feeble faction ; and were no less quick-sighted to 
 discern the first appearance of danger, than ready to take 
 arms in order to repel it."* Hence we shall find him still 
 continuing, as long as he could do it, to veil his designs 
 against them with the utmost artifice and duplicity. 
 
 The pope, immediately after the peace of Crespy, sum- 
 moned a general council to assemble at Trent early in the 
 spring of 1545, and exhorted all Christian princes " to 
 embrace the opportunity that the present happy interval of 
 tranquillity afforded them of suppressing those heresies 
 wihch threatened to subvert whatever was sacred or venera- 
 ble among Christians." Charles affected some dissatisfac- 
 tion at this : but after such a slight expression of dislike 
 as was necessary in order to cover his designs, he deter- 
 mined to sanction the council, which might become no 
 inconsiderable instrument towards accomplishing his pro- 
 jects ; and therefore not only appointed ambassadors to 
 
 * ilobertsoiL 
 
DIET OF WORMS. 167 
 
 appear there in his name, but ordered the ecclesiastics m 
 his dominions to attend at the time prescribed. 
 
 In the mean while, the imperial diet, after several proroga- 
 tions, was opened at Worms on the 25th of March, 1545. 
 The Protestants, who enjoyed the free exercise of their 
 religion by a very precarious tenure, wished earnestly to 
 establish that important privilege upon some firmer basis, 
 and to hold it by a perpetual, not by a temporai-y title. But, 
 instead of oflering them any additional security, Ferdinand 
 opene<.l the diet with observing, that there were two points, 
 chiefly, which required consideration, the prosecution of the 
 war against the Turks, and the state of religion ; that the 
 controversies about the latter were so intricate, and of such 
 difficult discussion, as to give no hope of its being possible 
 to bring them at present to any final issue ; that a council 
 so long wished for, was at length appointed ; that the time 
 of its meeting was at hand, and both parties ought to wait 
 for its decrees, and submit to them as the decisions of the 
 universal church. The popish members of the diet received 
 this declaration with great applause. The Protestants 
 expressed surprise at propositions, which were so mani- 
 festly repugnant to the recess of the former diet, and insisted 
 that the questions with regard to religion, as first in dignity, 
 and most nearly concerning them all, ought to come first 
 under deliberation. 
 
 Ferdinand, by the emperor's command, adhered inflexibly 
 to his first propositions, and would make no concessions 
 which had the most remote tendency to throw discredit on 
 the council, or to weaken its authority. The Protestants, 
 on their part, were no less inflexible ; and after much time 
 spent in fruitless endeavours to convince each other, the 
 parties came to no agreement. Nor did the presence of the 
 emperor, who arrived at Worms on the 15th of May, con- 
 tribute in any degree to render the Protestants more com- 
 pliant. Fully convinced that they were maintaining the 
 cause of God and of truth, they showed themselves superior 
 to the allurements of interest or the suggestions of fear ; 
 and, in proportion as the emperor redoubled his solicitations, 
 or discovered his designs, their boldness seems to have 
 increased. At last they openly declared, that they would 
 not even deign to vindicate their tenets in the presence of a 
 council, assembled not to examine, but to condemn them ; 
 
168 DIET OF WORMS. 
 
 and that they would pay no regard to an assembly held 
 under the influence of a pope, v/ho had already precluded 
 himself from all title to act as a judge, by having stigmatized 
 their opinions with the name of heresy, and denounced 
 against them the heaviest censures which in the pleni- 
 tude of his usurped power he could inflict. Maurice of 
 Saxony alone showed an inclination to gratify the emperor. 
 Though he professed an inviolable regard to the Protestant 
 religion, he assumed an appearance of moderation peculiar 
 to himself, by which he confirmed the favourable sentiments 
 which the emperor already entertained of him, and gradu- 
 ally paved the way for executing the ambitious designs 
 which always occupied his active and enterprising mind. 
 Charles's schemes were not yet ripe for execution ; and as he 
 perceived that he could not hope either to procure present 
 aid from the Protestants against the Turks, or to quiet their 
 fears and jealousies on account of their religion, he appointed 
 a diet to be held at Ratisbon early in the next year, in order 
 to adjust what was now left undetermined ; and previous 
 to it, he agreed that a certain number of divines of each 
 party should meet, in order to confer upon the points in 
 dispute. His conduct, however, in various other particulars 
 (among which may be mentioned his taking, precisely at this 
 period, the canons of Cologne under his protection in their 
 opposition to their archbishop), prevented this appearance 
 of a desire to maintain the present tranquillity from imposing 
 upon the Protestants ; and they began to entertain the most 
 jealous solicitude for their ov/n safety. 
 
 The recess of Spires had directed each of the twa 
 great religious parties to prepare a formulary of reformation, 
 extending both to doctrines, ceremonies, and discipline ; and 
 of which concession towards their opponents, carried to the 
 utmost limits that conscience would allow, was to be the 
 leading principle ; in order that, from the comparison of 
 the two to be made at the diet of Worms, it might be ascer- 
 tained what hope existed of bringing the contending parties 
 together, or of establishing some pacific compromise between 
 them. Though this was in itself a sufficiently unpromising 
 project, and, after the condemnation which the pope had 
 pronounced of the whole proceeding, the CathoHcs could 
 never be expected to perform their part of the prescribed 
 task ; yet the elector thought it not right that the Protest- 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 16? 
 
 ants should be wanting to their duty, or that they should 
 lose this fresh opportunity of explaining their views, and 
 showing the moderation of their aims. Accordingly he 
 called upon the divines of Wittemberg to prepare and sub- 
 mit to him such a document as was required. They lost no 
 time in complying with the demand, and transmitted their 
 plan in the month of January, 1545, signed by Luther, 
 Bugenhagen, Cruciger, G. Major, and Melancthon. It 
 is not necessary here to enlarge on its contents. Great 
 piety, wisdom, and moderation seem to reign throughout 
 the composition ; but the event showed that there was no 
 sincerity in the proposals that had been made for a candid 
 discussion of differences, and this project of reformation, 
 which had been prepared with the greatest care, was never 
 called for by the diet. 
 
 In their correspondence with the elector on this occa- 
 sion, the Wittemberg divines complain, that their adver- 
 saries became more and more furious ; that this very year 
 great numbers of persons, and among them some very wise 
 and learned men, had been burned for their religion ; and 
 that Ferdinand, notwithstanding his fair professions in Ger- 
 many, had issued such edicts concerning religion as caused 
 great distress to his Hungarian subjects. 
 
 Just at the close of the year 1 545, the general council 
 was opened with the accustomed solemnities at Trent. But 
 neither the character of the assembly itself, nor the late 
 period to which it was deferred, left any just hope of its produ- 
 cing those healing effects on the state of the church which 
 many had anticipated from it. " The first session," says 
 Dr. Robertson, " was spent in matters of form. In a sub- 
 sequent one it was agreed that the framing of a confession 
 of faith, wlierein should be contained all the articles which 
 the church required its members to believe, ought to be the 
 first and principal business of the council ; but that, at the 
 same time, due attention should be given to what was 
 necessary towards the reformation of manners and disci- 
 pline. From this first symptom of the spirit with which the 
 council was animated, from the high tone of authority which 
 the legates who presided in it assumed, and from the 
 implicit deference with which most of the members followed 
 their directions, the Protestants conjectured with ease what 
 
 Vol. II.— P 
 
170 ALARM OF THE PROTESTANTS. 
 
 decisions they might expect. It astonished them, however, 
 to see forty prelates (for no greater number were yet 
 assembled) assume authority as representatives of the uni- 
 versal church, and proceed to determine the most important 
 points of doctrine in its name." As soon as the confeder- 
 ates of Sinalkald received information of the opening of the 
 council, they published a long manifesto, containing a 
 renewal of their protest against its meeting, together with 
 the reasons whch induced them to decline its jurisdiction. 
 
 In the mean time the Protestant princes continued to re- 
 ceive intelligence from different quarters, all suited still 
 more to alarm their fears. The King of England informed 
 them that the emperor, having long resolved to exterminate 
 their opinions, would not fail to employ this interval of tran- 
 quillity, which he now enjoyed, as the most favourable junc- 
 ture for carrying his design into execution. The merchants of 
 Augsburg, as intimated on a former occasion, received advice, 
 by means of their correspondents in Italy, among whom 
 were some who secretly favoured the Protestant cause, that 
 a dangerous confederacy against it was forming between the 
 pope and the emperor. In confirmation of this, they heard 
 from the Low Countries that Charles had issued orders, 
 though with every precaution which could keep the measure 
 concealed, for raising troops both there and in other parts of 
 his dominions. The deputies of the confederates in con- 
 sequence assembled at Frankfort, and by communicating 
 their intelligence and sentiments to each other, reciprocally 
 heightened their sense of impending danger. But neither 
 the union, the promptitude, or the wisdom of their coun- 
 sels, was such as their situation required, or as the prepara- 
 tions of their enemies rendered necessary. 
 
 Of this subject, however, and of the Protestant leaders 
 generally, our justly admired historian of Charles V. here 
 makes a representation which needs, I think, to be consid- 
 erably qualified, and on which I shall submit to the reader 
 a few remarks. Occasions of jealousy and discord had no 
 doubt arisen, and the union of the parties was by no means 
 so entire as might have been wished : but Dr. Robertson's 
 statement is suited to make a much stronger impression 
 upon this subject than the authors to whom he refers us^ 
 produce. Particularly he seems to convey too unfavour- 
 able an idea of the Elector of Saxony, as compared with the 
 
PROTESTANT LEADERS. 171 
 
 landgrave; and too nearly to concur in the opinion which he 
 represents the latter as entertaining of the lormer, namely, 
 that, however " upright" a man he might be, he was " fet- 
 tered by narrow prejudices, unworthy of a prince called to 
 act a chief part in a scene of such importance." No doubt, 
 as a general, a politician, a man of the world, the land- 
 grave might be much the elector's superior : but in all other 
 respects there could be no comparison between the two char- 
 acters. For deliberate wisdom, or sound judgment, and 
 above all for piety and virtue ; for the qualities which fitted 
 him to be the head of a religious association, previously to 
 a state of actual warfare, and to do honour to the body 
 whose counsels he regulated ; the elector must decidedly 
 bear away the palm. It is true, his attachment to every 
 tenet and portion of Lutheranism might be carried to ex- 
 cess — might be what many, with Dr. Robertson, would call it, 
 "bigoted and superstitious ;" but it was not a blind attach- 
 ment : he had closely studied what he thus firmly embraced ; 
 and his adherence to it was the result of conscientious 
 conviction ; and likewise of a just apprehension of the diffi- 
 culty of knowing where to stop, if once we begin to give 
 way in such questions, and in such times, as those in which 
 he was conversant. And, if he did think " that the con- 
 cerns of religion are to be regulated by principles and max- 
 ims — different from those" by which " the common affairs of 
 life" are, in point of fact, at least, usually managed, is he 
 much to be blamed for this opinion 1 Luther was not on 
 all occasions thought, either by his friends or his enemies, 
 to be so much a " stranger to the rules of political con- 
 duct," as Dr. R. supposes : the latter sometimes bring 
 charges of an opposite nature against him. That either 
 the elector or Luther should have refused to unite with the 
 reformed Swiss, on account of their difference from them on 
 the subject of the eucharist (there was no other material arti- 
 cle, much less "several essential articles of faith," on which 
 they differed), must be again lamented, as an humbling 
 instance of the weakness and obliquity of human nature ; 
 but that they should have " refused to enter into any con- 
 federacy" for the defence of the Protestant religion m Ger- 
 many with the King of France, who was permitting, at least, 
 the most bloody persecution of that religion in his own 
 tiominioiis, and had actually conspired with the emperor for 
 
172 ARTIFICE OF THE EMPEROR. 
 
 its general suppression ; or that they should have been un- 
 willing "to solicit the friendship" of the King of England, 
 who, as the elector observed, " sought nothing but his own 
 interest and aggrandizement, had done nothing in the way 
 of reformation except making himself head of the church 
 in the pope's stead,* and at the same time persecuted pious 
 Christians, and himself lived a flagitious life :" — neither of 
 these circumstances, I think, can be censured or regretted 
 by any one who considers the exclusive object of the Ger- 
 man league, or feels properly for the honour of the sacred 
 cause which it was designed to support. In these several 
 particulars we must dissent from, or at least materially 
 qualify, the sentiments which Ur. Robertson appears to 
 convey. 
 
 The dishonourable length to which the emperor carried 
 his artifices to delude the Protestants at this period, may be 
 judged of, from the following instances. Not only did he 
 allow Granvelle, his chief minister, to assure the landgrave, 
 in return to some pressing questions which he had proposed, 
 " that the intelligence they had received of the emperor's 
 military preparations was exaggerated, and all their suspi- 
 cions destitute of foundation ; that, though, in order to 
 guard his frontiers against any insult of the French or Eng- 
 lish, he had commanded a small body of men to be raised 
 in the Low-Countries, he was as solicitous as ever to main- 
 tain tranquillity in Germany:"! not content with this, he 
 ** contrived to have a personal interview with the landgrave ; 
 and to him he made, such warm professions of his concern 
 for the happiness of Germany, and of his aversion to all 
 violent measures ; he denied, in such express terms, his 
 having entered into any league, or having begun any mili- 
 tary preparations which should give any just cause of 
 alarm to the Protestants, as seem to have dispelled all 
 the landgrave's doubts and apprehensions, and sent him 
 away fully satisfied of his pacific intentions. This artifice 
 was of great advantage, and effectually answered the pur- 
 pose for which it was employed :"t it induced the Protest- 
 However innocent the sense in which the king's majesty is now held 
 to be " the head of the church" (see Church Art. xxxvii), it appears 
 elear, that Henry VIII. meant fully to succeed to the pope's place aiid pre- 
 rogative within hLs own doaunioiis. 
 t Robertson. 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 17^ 
 
 ants to conclude it unnecessary to take any immediate 
 measures against danger, which appeared to be distant or 
 imaginary. 
 
 " Such events, however, soon occurred, as staggered the 
 credit which the Protestants had given to the emperor's 
 declarations. The council of Trent, though still composed 
 of a small number of Italian and Spanish prelates, without 
 a single deputy from many of the kingdoms which it 
 assumed a right of binding by its decrees, proceeded to set- 
 tle articles of the greatest importance. Having begun with 
 examining the first and chief point in controversy between 
 the church of Rome and the reformers, concerning the rule 
 which should be held as supreme and decisive in matters of 
 faith, the council, by its infallible authority, determined that 
 the books to which the designation of apocnjphal has been 
 given, are of equal authority with those which were received 
 by the Jews and primitive Christians into the sacred canon ; 
 that the traditions handed down from the apostolic age, and 
 preserved in the church, are entitled to as much regard as 
 the doctrines and precepts which the inspired authors have 
 committed to writing ; that the Latin translation of the 
 Scriptures, made or revised by St. Jerome, and known by 
 the name of the Vulgate translation, should be read in 
 churches, and appealed to in the schools as authentic and ca- 
 nonical. Against all who disclaimed the truth of these tenets 
 anathemas were denounced in the name and by the authority 
 of the Holy Ghost. The decision of these points, which 
 undermined the main foundation of the Lutheran system, 
 was a plain warning to the Protestants what judgment they 
 might expect, when the council should have leisure to take 
 into consideration the particular and subordinate articles of 
 their creed. This discovery of the council's readiness to 
 condemn the opinions of the Protestants was soon followed 
 by a striking instance of the pope's resolution to punish 
 such as embraced them" — in the deprivation and excommu- 
 nication of the Archbishop of Cologne. " The countenance 
 which he had given to the Lutheran heresy was the only 
 crime imputed to that prelate, as well as the only reason 
 assigned to justify the extraordinary severity of this decree. 
 The Protestants could hardly believe that Paul, how zealous 
 soever he might be to defend the established system, or to 
 humble those who invaded it, would have ventured to pro- 
 P2 
 
174 DIET OF RATISBON. 
 
 ceed to such extremities against a prince and elector of the 
 empire, without having previously secured such powerful 
 protection, as would render his censure something more 
 than an impotent and despicable sally of resentment. They 
 were of course deeply alarmed at this sentence against the 
 archbishop ; and their fears revived with such violence as is 
 natural to men roused from a false security, and conscious 
 of having been deceived." 
 
 And here we must advert to an event deeply interesting 
 to every Protestant of the present as well as of that remote 
 period ; into the particulars of which, as thus interesting to 
 all, we shall presently enter with considerable minuteness. 
 I refer to the death of Luther. In the words of Dr. 
 Robertson : " While appearances of danger daily increased, 
 and the tempest which had been so long gathering was ready 
 to break forth in all its violence against the Protestant 
 church, Luther was saved by a seasonable death, from feeling 
 or beholding its destructive rage. Having gone, though in 
 a declining state of health, and during a rigorous season, to 
 his native city of Eisleben, in order to compose, by his au- 
 thority, a dissension among the Counts of Mansfeldt, he 
 was seized with a violent inflammation in his stomach, which 
 in a few days put an end to his life, in the sixty-third year of 
 his age." 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs, when the diet of Ratis- 
 bon assembled on the 5th of June, 1546. In pursuance of 
 the recess of the late diet of Worms, a conference had taken 
 place at the beginning of the year between certain divines 
 of each party. Its proceedings, hovrever, were soon termi- 
 nated, and there is no need to enter at all minutely into 
 them. We have already had more than enough of these 
 vain attempts to make fire and water coalesce. " The em- 
 peror," Dr. Robertson observes, " instead of appointing 
 men of moderation and pacific temper to appear in defence 
 of the Catholic doctrines, made choice of fierce bigots, 
 attached to their own system with a blind obstinacy tliat 
 rendered all hope of a reconcilement desperate." On the part 
 of the Protestants, the divines first nominated were Melanc- 
 thon, Bucer, Schnepfius, and Brentius ; but Mclancthon 
 was excused, and George Major substituted for him at the 
 instance of Luther, who urged that " there was not a man 
 there worthy to dispute with MeianCthon : that Melancthon 
 
DIET OF RATISBON. 175 
 
 also was not in good health, and ought not to be needlessly 
 exposed : and that the younger men ought to be brought for- 
 ward, that they might be prepared to take the place of those 
 who were going off the stage." Major devolved the lead- 
 ing part on Bucer, as the senior, and he appears to have 
 acquitted himself in a very satisfactory manner. But Mal- 
 venda, " a Spanish divine, who took upon him the conduct 
 of the debate on the part of the Catholics, managed it with 
 all the subtle dexterity of a scholastic metaphysician, more 
 studious to perplex his adversaries than to convince them, 
 and more intent on palliating error than on discovering the 
 truth. The Protestants, filled with indignation, as well at 
 his sophistry as at some regulations which the emperor en- 
 deavoured to impose on the disputants, broke off the confer- 
 ence abruptly, being now fully convinced, that in all his late 
 measures, the emperor could have no other view than to 
 amuse them, and to gain time for ripening his own schemes."* 
 Cochlaeus (who had been one of the presidents), in a book 
 which he pubUshed, pronounced the princes, divines, and 
 all concerned on the Protestant side, to be " apostates, 
 rebels, and heretics, and that they ought to be proceeded 
 against accordingly:" and Pallavicini says, "Torches 
 were wanting here, not to illuminate the Protestants, but to 
 burn them, for they erred not from darkness of understand- 
 ing, but from depravity of heart." Father Paul's remark, 
 however, is, that *' the conference was dissolved by the arts 
 of the Catholics, and the deceitful pretences of the em- 
 peror." 
 
 The diet of Ratisbon was attended by few of the Prot- 
 estant members. From distrust of the emperor they chose 
 rather to send deputies. The emperor by an artful opening 
 address dexterously avoided discovering his own sentiments, 
 appeared to refer every thing to the judgment of the diet, 
 and reserved to himself, as his only part, that of carrying 
 into execution what they should recommend. Yet he 
 was no less secure by this means of such a decision 
 as he wished to obtain. " The Roman Catholic members, 
 prompted by their own zeal, or prepared by his intrigues, 
 joined immediately in representing that the authority of the 
 council now met at Trent ought to be supreme in all matters 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
176 DIET OF RATISBON. 
 
 ef controversy ; that all Christians should submit to its de- 
 crees as the infallible rule of their faith ; and therefore they 
 besought him to exert the power with which he was invested 
 by the Almighty in protecting that assembly, and in com- 
 pelling the Protestants to acquiesce in its determinations. 
 The Protestants, on the other hand, presented a memorial, 
 in which, after repeating their objections to the council of 
 Trent, they proposed, as the only effectual method of de- 
 ciding the points in dispute, that either a free general coun- 
 cil should be assembled in Germany, or that a select number 
 of divines should be appointed out of each party to examine 
 and define articles of faith. They mentioned the recesses 
 of several diets favourable to this proposition, and which 
 had afforded them the prospect of terminating all their differ- 
 ences in this amicable manner ; they now conjured the em- 
 peror not to depart from his former plan, and, by offering 
 violence to their consciences, to bring calamities upon Ger- 
 many, the very thought of which must fdl every lover of his 
 country with horror. The emperor, receiving this paper 
 ■with a contemptuous smile, paid no further regard to it. 
 Having already taken his final resolution, and perceiving that 
 nothing but force could compel them to acquiesce in it, he 
 despatched the Cardinal of Trent to Rome, in order to con- 
 clude an alliance with the pope, the terms of which were already 
 agreed on ; he commanded a body of troops, levied on purpose 
 in the Low Countries, to advance towards Germany; he gave 
 commissions to several officers for rai-sing men indifferent parts 
 of the empire ; he w arned John and Albert of Brandenburg, 
 that now was the proper time of exerting themselves, in order 
 to rescue their ally, Henry of Brunswick, from captivity. 
 Alarmed by such proceedings, " the deputies of the confede- 
 rates ■ demanded audience of the emperor, and, in the name 
 of their masters, required to know w^hether these mihtary 
 preparations were carried on by his command, and for what 
 end, and against what enemy 1 To a question put in such 
 a tone, and at a time when facts were become too notorious 
 to be denied, it was necessary to give an explicit answer 
 Charles owned the order he had issued, and, professing his 
 purpose not to molest on account of religion those who 
 should act as dutiful subjects, declared that he had nothing 
 in view but to maintain the rights and prerogatives of the 
 imperial dignity, and, by punishing some factious members, 
 
HOSTILE INTENTIONS OF CHARLES. 177 
 
 to preserve the ancient constitution of the empire from be- 
 ing impaired or dissolved by their irregular and licentious 
 conduct. Though the emperor did not name the persons 
 whom he charged with such high crimes, and destined to be 
 the objects of his vengeance, it was obvious that he had 
 the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse in 
 view. Their deputies considering what he had said as a 
 plain declaration of his hostile intentions, immediately re- 
 tired from Ratisbon." The diet soon after broke up (on the 
 24th of July), and both parties openly prepared for war. 
 
 On the emperor's conduct in all this business we must pro- 
 nounce, that the meanness, deceit, and tyranny by which it 
 was characterized, are in the highest degree offensive to 
 every sentiment of honour and justice. Yet all is vindica- 
 ted, and even applauded, both by Pallavicini and Maimbourg, 
 because it was to serve the church ! Nothing could have 
 been more agreeable to our feelings, than to have seen 
 Charles, after all his artifice and contrivance, taken unpre- 
 pared, and defeated at the head of the troops which he had 
 got together, and the forces of his prompter, the pope, cut 
 off before they could reach the scene of action ; all which 
 had wellnigh taken place, and, humanly speaking, might 
 easily have been effected. Thus the liberty of Ger- 
 many might have been established, and the Protestant reli- 
 gion placed in security. This would have exactly met our 
 wishes ; but to that higher Wisdom which controls all oc- 
 currence, and watches with an eye of special regard over 
 the affairs of the church, it seemed good to permit a widely 
 different course of events. It pleased Him, indeed, ulti- 
 mately to estabUsh the cause of the German Protestants in 
 safety : but, according to the anticipations' which we have 
 repeatedly seen the leading reformers entertaining, their 
 church was to be previously humbled and purified. It 
 was His good pleasure also to bring down the pride, and to 
 disappoint the ambition of Charles V., as effectually, and in 
 as mortifying a manner, as if it had been accomplished by 
 the elector and the landgrave ; but it was to be by the hand 
 of a man of far less principle than either of them, whom 
 the emperor himself was, with the most unsuspecting confi- 
 dence, nourishing up to execute both these great designs of 
 Providence. Here then we are strikingly taught to commit 
 our ways to God, to leave all with him, and in faith and 
 
178 PALATINATE OF THE RHINE. 
 
 patience to wait the unfolding of his dispensations, who 
 will infallibly bring about the events most to be desired in 
 the time and by the means which are the best to be chosen. 
 Such were, in fact, the sentiments with which the pious 
 Elector of Saxony received the news of the emperor's vir- 
 tual denunciation of him as a rebel, w^hom he would forth- 
 with proceed to punish as he deserved. In directing his 
 deputies quietly to withdraw from Ratisbon, he said, " he 
 had meritfcd no such tr'.iimcrt fiom the emperor's hands ; 
 that, whatever might be pretended, his religion was the real 
 cause of it ; and that he committed the event to God, who 
 would undoubtedly direct the whole to the glory of his own 
 name. By his grace," he added, "I have resolved to perse- 
 vere even to the end in the confession of his word and truth, 
 though it should be at the risk of my person, my life, and all 
 that I possess." He rejoiced to hear that the confederates 
 were not dispirited I he relied on the Divine aid ; and, in 
 conjunction with the landgrave, resolved to do every thing 
 in his power for the common cause. 
 
 Two honourable instances of states which joined the 
 Protestant cause, even in its present perilous circumstances, 
 demand to be here recorded. One of these was the Pala- 
 tinate of the Rhine. We have before related the reforma- 
 tion of the Upper Palatinate, or that of Bavaria. In the 
 year 1545, the Lower Palatinate, or Palatinate of the Rhine, 
 which is of much superior importance, its prince •enjoying 
 the electoral dignity, followed the example. Frederic the pre- 
 sent elector had married the emperor's niece, the daughter of 
 Christiern King of Denmark. He was a great favourite with 
 the emperor, and had been repeatedly employed by him in his 
 transactions with the Protestants : the consequence of which 
 was, very contrary to what had been intended, that he be- 
 came strongly impressed in favour of their principles. He 
 succeeded his brother Lewis in the year 1544. Like many 
 others, he had indulged in the hope that a general reforma- 
 tion, or at least a legal establishment of the reformed re- 
 ligion, would be the result of so many conferences and so 
 much discussion ; and he was willing to wait for this happy 
 event. Finding all these, however, issue in nothing, he 
 thought himself called, at length, to countenance by his au- 
 thority the system which he approved, and to gratify t^e 
 
LUTHER S APPROACHING DISSOLUTION. 179 
 
 wishes of his subjects, who, by their intercourse with the 
 Protestant states, had universally imbibed their opinions. 
 In all this he was materially prompted and aided by his re- 
 lation and destined successor, Otho Henry, of whom men- 
 tion has been made in speaking of the other Palatinate. 
 
 The case of Leutkirk, a free imperial city of Suabia, is 
 still more honourable, because its avowal of the principles 
 of the reformation was made when the danger had still fur- 
 ther increased, and notwithstanding formidable opposition, 
 both from persons possessing civil authority in the city, and 
 from powerful eclesiastical establishments in the neighbour- 
 hood. The thirst after evangelical truth appears to have 
 been first excited here by the publication of the Confession 
 of Augsburg, in the year 1531 : but it was strenuously re- 
 sisted by Faber, a native of the place — the same who was 
 afterward raised to the see of Vienna for his opposition to 
 Luther. By his influence a faction was kept up in the city, 
 which effectually withstood the public reception of the refor- 
 mation till the year 1546, when the opposition was over- 
 borne ; not, it must be confessed, without some disorders 
 taking place. Protestantism was then introduced, and, not- 
 withstanding many conflicts and some reverses, it has been 
 maintained there to this day. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Closing Transactions of Luther^s Life — His Death — His 
 Character — His later Writings. 
 
 We now proceed more particularly to describe the closing 
 scenes of Luther's life. 
 
 He completed his sixty- second year in the month of No- 
 vember, 1545 ; and he did not survive that period so much 
 as three months. For some years previously he seems 
 scarcely to have written a letter in which he did not antici- 
 pate his approaching dissolution ; and often his expressions 
 of desire for his dismissal, and for the heavenly rest, are 
 very ardent. Indeed, he had, in his many and increasing 
 iniirmities, sufficient warning that the time of his departure 
 
180 CLOSING EMPLOYMENTS 
 
 was at hand. He was troubleil with excruciating pains in 
 the head, which nearly deprived him of the sight of one 
 eye ; his legs swelled, and he suffered severely from the 
 stone. His enemies, however, were not able to wait with 
 patience for an event wliich could not now be far distant ; 
 and a pretended account of his death, as having been ac- 
 companied with " a miracle, wrought by God for the honour 
 of Christ, the terror of the wicked, and the comfort of good 
 men," was in the year 1545 printed and circulated in Italy. 
 The story is so absurd that it hardly deserves to be repeated, 
 except to show what some men were wicked enough to 
 invent, and others weak enough to receive at that time. 
 It set forth that Luther, finding death approaching, had 
 called for the sacrament, and immediately after receiving it 
 had expired ; that before his death he had desired that his 
 corpse might be placed upon the altar, and there receive 
 Divine honours — which desire, however, had not been com- 
 plied with ; that when his body was interred a tremendous 
 storm arose, which threatened destruction to every thing 
 around, and that the affrighted sp(;ctators looking up saw 
 the host, which the impious man had presumed to receive, 
 hovering in the air ; that this having been taken with great 
 reverence and deposited in a sacred place, the tempest 
 ceased, but at night returned with still greater fury ; that 
 in the morning, the grave being opened, no vestige of the 
 body could be found, but a horrible stench of brimstone 
 proceeded from the place, by which the health of the by- 
 standers was seriously affected ; and that the consequence 
 of all this had been, the return of many persons into the 
 bosom of the Catholic Church. The paper containing this 
 account was brought to Luther, and he caused it to be re- 
 printed with this addition, " I, Doctor Martin Luther, testify 
 under my hand, that I have received this extravagant fic- 
 tion this 21st day of March, and read it with great pleas- 
 ure — except for the abominable lies against the Divine 
 Majesty which it contains. It gratifies me exceedingly to 
 find myself so obnoxious to Satan, and to his agents, the 
 pope and papists. May God convert and recover them 
 from the power of the devil ! or, if my prayers for them 
 must be in vain, owing to their having committed ' the sin 
 unto death,' then may God grant that they may soon fill 
 up their measure, aiid that ihey may find their joy and 
 
OF LUTHER. 18 1 
 
 comfort only in writing such tales as this ! Let us leave 
 them alone : they go whither they have chosen to go. I 
 shall see whether they can be saved ; and how they will 
 repent them of the lies and blasphemies with which they 
 fill the world." 
 
 It would certainly have been highly gratifying to record^ 
 that in the closing period of Luther's life the ruggedness 
 of his temper had been softened down, and that his latter 
 days were passed only in peace and love. Fidelity, how- 
 ever requires us to acknowledge, that painful traces of 
 asperity still occasionally appear, and those inflamed, and 
 at the same time partially, though only partially, excused 
 by the irritability produced by age and growing infirmities. 
 The sacramental controversy still vexed him, and he was 
 not a little displeased at Melancthon, for being less severe 
 than himself in his judgment of the Zwinglians. The 
 elector, however, successfully interfered to compose this 
 difference. But several other things in the state of Wit- 
 temberg much disturbed his mind ; particularly the cor- 
 ruption of manners, and the number of clandestine mar- 
 riages contracted by the students, which, being confirmed 
 by the legal authorities (who still acted upon the pontifical 
 regulations concerning such subjects), threatened to be 
 very injurious to the university itself Luther, in conse- 
 quence, rather suddenly left Wittemberg and went to 
 Lei[ .ig ; visited George of Anhalt at Mersberg, Amsdorf at 
 Naumburg, and other friends ; and was not at all inclined 
 to return home — urging that this was " the last year of his 
 life, and he wished to spend it at a di.^ance from scenes 
 which disquieted him." Much allowance is certainly due 
 to an aged man, who had passed such a life of labour and 
 conflict as Luther had done, and who now, in the midst 
 of many personal afflictions, sought repose. His indispo- 
 sition to return was, however, overcome. The elector 
 wrote to him with exquisite tenderness and prudence; the 
 university likewise addressed him, and he yielded to their 
 united entreaties. Indeed, it seems clear from this, and 
 from what are known tc have been the closing occupations 
 of his life, that his dejection and discontent were but tran- 
 sient — the passing shade rather than the settled colour of his 
 mind, the usual tone and temper of which he ere long 
 recovered. 
 
 Vol. IL— Q 
 
183 CLOSIN-G EMPLOYMENTS 
 
 All the circumstances of Luther's visit to Eisleben, and 
 the last transactions of his life, appear to have been highly 
 honourable to him. The country of Mansfeldt is a mining 
 district, and its copper and silver mines had of late years 
 been more productive than formerly, which rather sharpened 
 than satisfied the cupidity of its sovereigns and their cour- 
 tiers. They wished to appropriate a larger share of the 
 proceeds to themselves than before, and this occasioned 
 discord between them and the people. The counts, more- 
 over, who were partly Roman Catholic and partly Protest- 
 ant, had differences between themselves ; and both these 
 sources of variance threatened serious consequences. Lu- 
 ther, who thought his countr3?Tnen oppressed, had been 
 invited over by one of the counts the year before, to use his 
 influence and afford his advice for the settlement of the dis- 
 putes, and he had obeyed the call, though without succeeding 
 in his object. Now, however, the invitation was renewed 
 by common consent, and consequently with better prospects 
 of success. Luther, therefore, determined, with the elector's 
 permission, again to undertake the service, though the 
 state of his health, and the winter season might well have 
 excused him. Six days before he set out, he thus spoke 
 of himself in a letter to the pastor of Bremen : " I am old, 
 decrepit, sluggish, weary, spiritless, and blind of an eye ; 
 yet, at a time ere which I very reasonably hoped to have 
 been removed to my rest by death, as if I had never man- 
 aged, or written, or spoken, or done any thing before, I am 
 quite overwhelmed with writing, and speaking, and doing, 
 and managing all sorts of things." 
 
 He left Wittemberg on the 23d of January, accompanied 
 by his three sons. The weather was inclement, and he 
 was detained three days at Halle, by the rising of the 
 river, which he was obHged to cross in a boat, not without 
 some danger. During his stay at Halle he preached for 
 Justus Jonas, who had been superintendent there since the 
 reformation of the place in 1539, and who attended him the 
 remainder of his journey. On his arrival on their borders, 
 the Counts of Mansfeldt received him with an escort of more 
 than a hundred horse — treating him as the Elector of Sax- 
 ony's ambassador. He was extremely weak, and seemed 
 near death when he reached the residence of Count Albert, 
 on the 38th of January ; but medicine, friction, warmth. 
 
OF LXJTHER. 183 
 
 and oihex means of resuscitation revived him. He lost no 
 time in entering upon the business which had brought him 
 thither, and laboured indefatigably in the despatch of it for 
 three we-eks together ; being assisted by Wolfgano- Prince of 
 Anhalt, Count Swartzburg, and others ; but his success 
 was not such as he could have wished, though other points, 
 relating to the ecclesiastical affairs of the country, were 
 brought to some satisfactory conclusion. 
 
 In the mean while his health was declining. Some time 
 before, he had had a seton or issue opened in his leg, which 
 had been the means of so much relieving his head, that he 
 had been able to walk to church and to the lecture-room, 
 and to mount the pulpit ; whereas previously he was 
 obliged to be conveyed in a carriage, and often could only 
 address his family at home. But, on leaving Wittemberg 
 for Eisleben, he had failed to take with him the applica- 
 tions used for keeping up the discharge, and amid the pres- 
 sure of his present engagements this relief was neglected, 
 which proved of bad consequence. 
 
 Thus matters proceeded till the 1 7th of February, Luther 
 at all proper times applying himself to business, eating and 
 sleeping well, and being very cheerful in his conversation. 
 On that day, his friends perceiving more repose to be desir- 
 able for him, persuaded him to keep quiet in his study, 
 which he did, frequently walking up and down, in an un- 
 dress, but conversing with animation. " From time to 
 time," says Justus Jonas, " he would stop, and looking 
 out at the window, in that attitude (as his custom was) 
 address fervent prayers to God, so that I and Coslius, who 
 were in the room with him, could not but perceive it ; and 
 then he would say, ' I was born and baptized here at Eisle- 
 ben, what if I should remain or even die here V " 
 
 Though, however, Luther passed the day in his study, 
 he did not choose to sup there, but in the large dining- 
 room, observing, that " to be solitary did not help the 
 spirits." During supper, he quoted and made observations 
 on many interesting passages of Scripture. The conver- 
 sation also happening to turn on the question, whether the 
 righteous in a future state of blessedness would recognise 
 those who had been their friends on earth, he gave his 
 opinion decidedly in the affirmative. In the course of more 
 ordinary conversation, he remarked, " If I can but estab- 
 
184 DEATH OF LFTHER. 
 
 lish peace among the counts, the rulers of my country, I 
 will then go home, lay myself down in my coffin, and give 
 my body for food to the worms." 
 
 Before supper he had complained of a pain in the chest, 
 to which he was subject. It was, however, relieved by 
 warm applications. After supper it returned, but he would 
 not have medical aid called in, but about nine o'clock lay 
 down on a couch and fell asleep. He awoke as the clock 
 struck ten, and desired that those about him would retire 
 to rest. When led into his chamber he said, " I go to rest 
 with God ;" and repeated the words of the Psalm, " Into 
 thy hands I commend my spirit ;" and stretching out his 
 hand to bid all good night, he added, " Pray for the cause 
 of God !" He then went to bed, but about one o'clock he 
 awoke Jonas and another who slept in the room with him, 
 desired that a fire might be made in his study, and ex- 
 claimed, " Oh God ! how ill I am ! I suffer dreadful op- 
 pression in my chest ; I shall certainly die at Eisleben !'* 
 — He then removed into his study without requiring assist- 
 ance, and again repeating, " Into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit !" He walked backwards and forwards, and desired 
 to have warm cloths brought him. In the mean time his 
 physicians were sent for, as also Count Albert, who pres- 
 ently came with his countess. All Luther's friends and 
 his sons were now collected about him, medicines were 
 given him, and he seemed somewhat relieved, and having 
 lain down on a couch he fell into a perspiration. This gave 
 encouragement to some present, but he said, " It is a cold 
 sweat, the forerunner of death; I shall yield up my spirit." 
 He then began to pray, nearly in these words, " eternal 
 and merciful God, my Heavenly Father, Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and God of all consolation ! I thank thee that 
 thou hast revealed to me thy Son Jesus Christ, in whom I 
 ,have believed, whom I have preached, whom I have con- 
 fessed, whom I love and worship as my dear Saviour and 
 Redeemer, whom the pope and the multitude of the ungodly 
 do persecute, revile, and blaspheme. I beseech thee, my 
 Lord Jesus Christ, receive my soul ! Heavenly Father, 
 though I be snatched out of this life, though I must now 
 lay down this body, yet know I assuredly that I shall dwell 
 with thee forever, and that none can pluck me out of thy 
 hands !" He then thrice again repeated the words, " Into 
 
FUNERAL OF LUTHER. 185 
 
 thy hands I commend my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, 
 O Lord God of truth !" Also those words, " God so loved 
 the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life ;" and that verse of the Ixviiith Psalm, " Our God is 
 the God of whom cometh salvation ; God is the Lord by 
 whom we escape death." He then became silent, and his 
 powers began to fail him ; but when several present ad- 
 dressed him, " Reverend father, you die in the constant 
 confession of Christ and his doctrine, which you have 
 preached ?" he distinctly answered, " Yes," and spoke no 
 more ; but about a quarter of an hour afterward, between 
 two and three o'clock in the morning of February 18, " with 
 his hands clasped together, and without a finger or a fea- 
 ture being disturbed, gently breathed his last." 
 
 Such is the account which Justus Jonas wrote to the 
 Elector of Saxony, by the hand of Count Albert's secretary, 
 within half an hour after Luther's death ; except that in a 
 few passages some things are supplied from the fuller nar- 
 rative which was drawn up for insertion in Luther's Ger- 
 man works, and authenticated by the signatures of Justus 
 Jonas, Superintendent of Halle, and formerly rector of the 
 university of Wittemberg, Michael Coelius, Pastor of Eisle- 
 ben, and John Aurifaber, chaplain to the Elector of Sax- 
 ony ; all of whom were present with Luther to the last. 
 
 Thus died in peace the man, who, bearing no higher 
 office than that of an Augustinian monk, and afterward 
 of a Protestant professor of divinity, had shaken to its cen- 
 tre one of the most firmly seated systems of despotism and 
 delusion that the world ever beheld ; who had provoked, 
 and for nearly thirty years together defied, the utmost 
 malice of those mighty powers which had a little time be- 
 fore made the proudest monarchs to tremble on their 
 thrones ; while, for the suppression of his principles diet 
 after diet of the German empire, aided by the representa- 
 tives of the papal authority, met in vain. His hand had 
 been against every man that was engaged on the side of 
 reigning error, and every such man's hand against him ; 
 yet not one of them could touch a hair of his head to his 
 hurt : he lived and died unharmed, not only " in the pres- 
 ence of all his brethren," but in despite of all his enemies. 
 So marvellous is the providence of God ; so inexhaustible 
 Q2 
 
186 FUNERAL OF LUTHER. 
 
 is his store of means for accomplishing " all his pleasure ;** 
 and so secure, under all circumstances, is the man over 
 whom the shield of his protection is extended. 
 
 Count Albert would gladly have retained the body of 
 Luther, and interred it in the country which gave it birth ; 
 but he submitted to the wishes of the elector, who directed 
 it to be conveyed to Wittemberg. Jonas's letter having 
 been despatched at four o'clock in the morning, the elector's 
 pleasure was signified on the evening of the same day, by 
 the return of the courier from Weimar. The next day, 
 therefore, the corpse was solemnly conveyed, with the 
 singing of hymns, and attended by all the Counts of Mans- 
 feldt and a numerous procession of persons of high rank, 
 to the church of St. Andrew at Eisleben, to be deposited 
 there till preparations were made for its removal. On this 
 occasion Justus Jonas delivered an address to the assem- 
 bled multitude, from the latter part of 1 Thessalonians iv. 
 On the 21st, Coelius preached from the opening of Isaiah 
 Ivii., "The righteous perisheth," &c.; and after the sermon 
 the body was removed, amid an immense concourse of peo- 
 ple, and conveyed with a splendid procession as far as 
 Halle. Hither people flocked from all parts of the country 
 to meet it, and it was received at the gates by the senators, 
 ministers, and all the principal persons of the place. It 
 was deposited for the night in the church of St. Mary, where, 
 says the writer of the narrative, the cxxxth Psalm was " ex- 
 pressed, not so much by singing, as by the tears and sobs 
 of the whole people." Early the next day the procession 
 set forward towards Wittemberg, and was met on the road 
 by a deputation sent by the elector to receive it. It rested 
 that night at Kemberg, and on February 23d reached Wit- 
 temberg. When it approached the gate of the city, the 
 rector, the professors, and the students of the university, 
 with all the principal citizens, met and joined the proces- 
 sion ; after which it advanced, attended by the whole pop- 
 ulation, to All-Saints church. The widow of Luther, with 
 her daughter, and some other female attendants, her three 
 sons, and Melancthon, Jonas, Bugenhagen, Cruciger, and 
 other intimate friends of the deceased, took their place im- 
 mediately after the corpse. So great an assemblage of per- 
 sons, it is said, was never before seen at Wittemberg. 
 
FUNERAL OF LXJTHER. 187 
 
 Suitable hymns were sung as the funeral proceeded through 
 the streets of the city. On arriving at the church, the 
 coffin was placed on the right-hand of the pulpit ; whence, 
 after some further verses had been sung, Bugenhagen de- 
 livered an appropriate discourse to some thousands of per- 
 sons. Melancthon then pronounced a funeral oration, both 
 expressive of his own affection, and calculated to soothe the 
 sorrows of the bereaved church : after which the body was 
 committed to the tomb, hard by the spot from which the 
 reformer had preached so many animated and devout ser- 
 mons before the Electors and Dukes of Saxony, and the 
 whole church. 
 
 Such is the account given of the funeral by the same 
 persons to whom we are indebted for the narrative of 
 Luther's closing scene. The pomp of his funeral is much 
 carped at by CochlEeus, Maimbourg, and other popish writers. 
 The former is reminded by his tin coffin of the iron one of 
 Mahomet ; and in that finds an image of the hardened heart 
 and front of Luther! The latter asserts, without any 
 foundation in fact, that the elector raised to his memory 
 a monument of white marble, surrounded with the statues 
 of the twelve apostles — intending to intimate that Luther 
 was " a thirteenth, to be added to their number." But it is 
 as unnecessary as it would be nauseating to retail, for the 
 purpose of exposing them, all the cavils of such writers, in 
 which it is hard to say whether folly or malignity prepon- 
 derates. 
 
 CochlaBUs censures the secular, or, as he is pleased to call 
 it, the " profane " employment in which Luther closed his 
 days : but we may much more justly adopt the sentiments 
 of Seckendorf : "He was well prepared for death, and, as 
 his writings and conversation showed, had been long desiring 
 and praying for it ; and he ended his days in the pious and 
 honourable discharge of business of high importance" to the 
 peace and the liberties of his native country. " In the 
 midst of this business he found leisure for daily and fervent 
 prayer. In the short and busy time which he spent at 
 Eisleben," notwithstanding all his infirmities, "he preached 
 three or four times, and twice received the sacrament, after 
 confession and absolution. He died after cheerful and 
 pious conversation with his friends ; his sons and several 
 illustrious persons of both sexes standing round him, and 
 
188 IMPRESSIONS MADE. 
 
 waiting upon him ; and, after a conflict of only a few liouTiS, 
 which he sustained in a becoming manner, came off ' more 
 than conqueror.' His age, though not very advanced, was 
 what comparatively few attain. His own observation upon 
 this subject, made at the supper-table the very night of his 
 death, was remarkable : * If a child of a year old dies, very 
 likely, taking all the world over, a thousand or two thousand 
 of the same age depart with him : but, when I, an old man 
 of sixty-three die, scarcely sixty or a hundred as far ad- 
 vanced in years will accompany me.' " 
 
 The news of Luther's death excited the deepest grief in 
 all quarters among the friends of the reformation; which 
 was strikingly expressed in the correspondence of many 
 eminent persons with the Elector of Saxony. Amsdorf 
 declared himself not only distressed, but quite alarmed, at his 
 venerated friend's removal at such a period. " He feared," 
 he said, " that it was the forerunner of judgments, which it had 
 pleased God to spare this his distinguished servant the pain 
 of beholding :" and many others wrote in the same strain. 
 The heads of the university of Wittemberg, in reply to a 
 letter which the elector had addressed to them, announcing 
 the sad event, and exhorting them not to be discouraged, 
 but to persevere in their studies and pursuits, spoke of 
 themselves as both " distressed and terrified." " We are 
 now," say they, " orphans, bereaved and solitary. The 
 Divine will, however, must be obeyed ; and we must rest on 
 the consolatory promises of the Son of God, ' I will not 
 leave you orphans' — ' Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
 the end of the world.' We implore him to be the pilot of 
 his own vessel, and to protect and guide your highness. 
 We acknowledge ourselves bound ' to keep that which is 
 committed unto us.' A precious deposit indeed our departed 
 father has left us, in the knowledge of the pure doctrine of 
 Christ : we desire to transmit it untarnished to posterity ; 
 and implore the grace of God to enable us to do so." 
 
 Luther left three sons and one daughter. The Elector of 
 Saxony and the Counts of Mansfeldt provided for his widow 
 and family. His children appear all to have done credit to 
 their father's memory, and his son Paul, in particular, 
 became eminently distinguished in the medical profession. 
 
CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 189 
 
 He was also a faithful supporter of his father's principles. 
 From him the family was propagated ; and it continued 
 respectable, both for character and situation, through several 
 generations.* 
 
 The character of Luther has been delineated by so 
 many hands, its features are so marked and prominent, and 
 he is himself now so fully before the readers of this history 
 in all his modes of thinking, feeling, and acting, from first 
 to last, that I should esteem it superfluous to attempt anew 
 any elaborate description of his various endowments, 
 whether of the understanding or of the heart. It may be 
 of more real service to bring under review the parting 
 estimate formed of him by one of our most popular, and at 
 the same time most judicious, writers. The historian of 
 Charles V. will likewise be less suspected of partiality for 
 the great reformer than either Dr. Milner or myself; yet 
 he will be found to confirm, in many important particulars, 
 the sentiments expressed concerning him throughout the 
 present work. What may appear to me erroneous in Dr. 
 Robertson's summary, I shall endeavour to correct, and to 
 supply any thing material which I think to be wanting. 
 
 " As Luther was raised up by Providence," Dr. Robertson 
 says, " to be the author of one of the greatest and most 
 interesting revolutions recorded in history, there is not any 
 person perhaps whose character has been drawn with such 
 opposite colours. In his own age, one party, struck with 
 horror and inflamed with rage, when they saw with what a 
 daring hand he overturned every thing which they held to 
 be sacred, or valued as beneficial, imputed to him not only 
 all the defects and vices of a man, but the qualities of a 
 demon. The other, warmed with the admiration and grati- 
 tude which they thought he merited as the restorer of light 
 and liberty to the Christian church, ascribed to hitn perfec- 
 tions above the condition of humanity, and viewed all his 
 actions with a veneration bordering on that which should 
 be paid only to those who are guided by the immediate 
 inspiration of Heaven. It is his own conduct, not the 
 
 * Seek. iii. 647, 651, 652,. The last lineal descendant whom I have seen 
 mentioned, Martin Gottlob Luther, died at Dresden, 1759.— Life of LU' 
 ther by Tiacher. 
 
190 CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 
 
 undistinguishing censure, or the exaggerated praise, of his 
 contemporaries, that ought to regulate the opinions of the 
 present age concerning hira. Zeal for what he regarded as 
 truth, undaunted intrepidity to maintain his own system, 
 abilities both natural and acquired to defend his principles, 
 and unwearied industry in propagating them, are virtues 
 which shine so conspicuously in every part of his behaviour, 
 that even his enemies must allow him to have possessed 
 them in an eminent degree. To these may be added, with 
 equal justice, such purity and even austerity of manners, as 
 became one who assumed the character of a reformer ; such 
 sanctity of life as suited the doctrine which he delivered ; 
 and such perfect disinterestedness as affords no slight pre- 
 sumption of his sincerity. Superior to all selfish considera- 
 tions, a stranger to the elegancies of life, and despising its 
 pleasures, he left the honours and emoluments of the 
 church to his disciples, remaining satisfied himself in his 
 original state of professor in the university, and pastor of 
 the town of Wittemberg, with the moderate appointments 
 annexed to these offices. His extraordinary qualities were 
 alloyed with no inconsiderable mixture of human frailty 
 and human passions. These, however, were of such a 
 nature that they cannot be imputed to malevolence or cor- 
 ruption of heart, but seem to have taken their rise from the 
 same source with many of his virtues. His mind, forcible 
 and vehement in all its operations, roused by great objects, 
 or agitated by violent passions, broke out on many occasions 
 ■with an impetuosity which astonishes men of feebler spirits, 
 or such as are placed in a more tranquil situation. By 
 carrying some praiseworthy dispositions to excess, he bor- 
 dered sometimes on what was culpable, and was often 
 betrayed into actions which exposed hira to censure. His 
 confidence that his own opinions were well founded ap- 
 proached to arrogance ; his courage ip asserting them to 
 rashness ; his firmness in adhering to' them to obstinacy ; 
 and his zeal in confuting his adversaries to rage and scur- 
 rility. Accustomed himself to consider every thing as sub- 
 ordinate to truth, he expected the same deference for it from 
 other men ; and, without making any allowances for their 
 timidity or prejudices, he poured forth against such as dis- 
 appointed him in this particular a torrent of invective 
 jningled with contempt. Regardless of any distinction of 
 
CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 191 
 
 rank or character when his doctrines were attacked, he 
 chastised all his adversaries indiscriminately with the same 
 rough hand : neither the royal dignity of Henry VIII., nor 
 the eminent learning and abilities of Erasmus, screened 
 them from the same gross abuse with which he treated 
 Tetzel or Eckius. 
 
 " But these indecencies of which Luther was guilty 
 must not be imputed wholly to the violence of his temper. 
 They ought to be charged in part on the manners of the 
 age. Among a rude people, unacquainted with those maxims 
 which, by putting continual restraint on the passions of 
 individuals, have polished society, and rendered it agreeable, 
 disputes were managed with heat, and strong emotions were 
 uttered in their natural language, without reserve or deli- 
 cacy. At the same time, the works of learned men were all 
 composed in Latin, and they were not only authorized by the 
 example of eminent writers in that language to use their 
 antagonists with the most illiberal scurrility ; but, in the 
 dead tongue, indecencies of every kind appeared less shock- 
 ing than in a living language, whose idioms and phrases 
 seem gross, because they are familiar. 
 
 " In passing judgment upon the characters of men, we 
 ought to try them upon the principles and maxims of their 
 own age, not by those of another. For, although virtue and 
 vice are at all times the same, manners and customs vary 
 continually. Some parts of Luther's behaviour, which to 
 us appear most culpable, gave no disgust to his contempo- 
 raries. It was even by some of those qualities which we 
 are now apt to blame, that he was fitted for accomplishing 
 the great work which he undertook. To rouse mankind 
 when sunk in ignorance or superstition, and to encounter the 
 rage of bigotry armed with power, required the utmost 
 vehemence of zeal, as well as a temper daring to excess. 
 A gentle call would neither have reached, nor have excited 
 those to whom it must have been addressed. A spirit more 
 amiable, but less vigorous, than Luther's, would have shrunk 
 back from the dangers which he braved and surmounted. 
 Towards the close of Luther's life, though without any per- 
 ceptible diminution of his zeal or abilities, the infirmities of 
 his temper increased upon him, so that he grew daily more 
 peevish, more irascible, and more impatient of contradiction. 
 Having lived to be a witness of his own amazing success j 
 
192 CHARACTER OF LUTHER* 
 
 to see a great part of Europe embrace his doctrines ; and to 
 shake the foundation of the papal throne, before which the 
 mightiest monarchs had trembled ; he discovered, on some 
 occasions, symptoms of vanity and self-applause. He must 
 have been, indeed, more than man, if, upon contemplating 
 all that he actually accomplished, he had never felt any sen- 
 timent of this kind arising in his breast. 
 
 " Some time before his death, he felt his strength declin- 
 ing, his constitution being worn out by a prodigious multi- 
 plicity of business, added to the labour of discharging his 
 ministerial function with unremitting diligence, to the fatigue 
 of constant study, besides the composition of works as 
 voluminous as if he had enjoyed uninterrupted leisure and 
 retirement. His natural intrepidity did not forsake him at 
 the approach of death : his last conversation with his friends 
 was concerning the happiness reserved for good men in a 
 future life ; of which he spoke with the fervour and delight 
 natural to one who expected and wished to enter soon upon 
 the enjoyment of it. The account of his death filled the 
 Roman Catholic party with excessive, as well as indecent 
 joy, and damped the spirit of all his followers ; neither party 
 sufficiently considering that his doctrines were now so firmly 
 rooted as to be in a condition to flourish independent of the 
 hand which first had planted them." 
 
 The enumeration here made, both of the excellences and 
 of the defects of the reformer's character, must be acknow- 
 ledged to be, in the main, and as far as it goes, just. On 
 what ground, indeed, " austerity of manners" is ascribed to 
 him, I am not aware. His disposition was eminently social : 
 he enjoyed conversation, and seems to have been very much 
 the life of the company in which he allowed himself to 
 mingle. Even Maimbourg admits that, "when he did not 
 give way to anger, he was of a very cheerful temper, and 
 joked freely :" and Dr. Milner thinks that he even carried 
 hilarity to excess. " Purity and sanctity of life," and " per- 
 fect disinterestedness," are, I am persuaded, attributed to 
 him with entire propriety, notwithstanding the attempts 
 made, by the perversion of some detached passages in his 
 writings, to charge the contrary upon him. That " malevo- 
 lence," or any real ill-will, even towards the objects of his 
 severest censure, is not to be imputed to him, will be apparent 
 to every candid student of his history and his writings. He 
 
CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 193 
 
 spoke out all the sentiments of his heart, concerning both 
 the principles and the conduct of those whom he opposed, 
 often with very culpable asperity of language : but present 
 the most virulent of his enemies to his mind in circumstances 
 which called for compassion, and his bowels yearned over 
 them. Witness his letter to the wretched Tetzel, when he 
 heard of the despair in which he was ending his days. I 
 am convinced that, with all his impetuosity and exterior 
 harshness, he was a man of a warm and even tender heart. 
 And in this connexion we ought by no means to overlook 
 that freedom from a persecuting spirit and persecuting prin- 
 ciples, which has been shown to have formed his honour- 
 able distinction above almost all his brother reformers.* 
 
 While, however, we would cordially agree with Dr. Robert- 
 son in not imputing even " the mixture of human frailty 
 and human feelings," in Luther's character, to "malevo- 
 lence," or, in the common sense of the word, to " cor- 
 ruption of the heart ;" we cannot, with him, trace these evils 
 to " the same source with many of his virtues." If by this 
 any thing more be meant, than that his faults often sprang 
 from his good qualities being unduly exercised, or carried to 
 a culpable excess ; if it really mean, that a fountain may 
 " send forth at the same place both sweet water and bitter;" 
 it must be acknowledged to be highly objectionable : but, as 
 bearing only that qualified sense which we have supposed, 
 it may be sufficient to say of the passage, that while the 
 sentiment may not be incorrect, the mode of expressing it is 
 very exceptionable. 
 
 That Luther treated Erasmus with " the same gross abuse 
 as Tetzel or Eckius," is a highly overcharged statement. 
 He showed much forbearance towards that learned man ; 
 bestowed great pains to conciliate, or at least to avoid alien- 
 ating him ; and always, I think, considerably tempered his 
 language towards him.f For the coarseness and severity 
 of his language towards Henry YHL, he himself afterward 
 apologized : and there is much justness in the considerations 
 which Dr. R. proposes in extenuation of these faults of too 
 many of his writings. Yet, after all, as Dr. Milner has 
 observed, neither the language itself nor the temper of mind 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 222, 332, &c. 
 tVol. i. p. 236, 238, 241,251. 
 
 Vol. n.— R 
 
194 CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 
 
 which dictated it (a violent, though not a mahgnant temper) 
 is to be excused. They formed the greatest blemish of 
 Luther's character. The simple fact of his " expecting 
 from men a deference for truth," which should lead them " to 
 consider every thing as subordinate to it," we can never 
 regard as implying an erroneous estimate of things ; though 
 we would offer no apology for any " invective" or " con- 
 tempt" into which the disappointment of such expectation 
 might betray him. 
 
 The largeness of mind which rendered Luther, in general, 
 quite indifferent about trifling objects, while he would con- 
 cede nothing to any man in points which he esteemed to be 
 of real importance, has been repeatedly, or even throughout 
 his whole history, presented to our notice. Nor could this 
 be separated from a real moderation of spirit in many par- 
 ticulars, however little that quality may have been generally 
 allowed to him. Undeniable instances of it occur in what 
 he was ready to yield with respect to the power and juris- 
 diction of the bishops, what he urged in favour of the pres- 
 ervation of the canonries in cathedral churches, and his 
 advice in the case of Osiander ; not to mention that which 
 he gave concerning the discontinuance of the Protestant 
 preaching at Augsburg during the period of the diet, if the 
 emperor should require it.* 
 
 " His confidence that his own opinions were well founded" 
 might sometimes (and that in other instances besides the 
 sacramental controversy) " approach to arrogance ;" and 
 *' symptoms of vanity and self-applause" might " on some 
 occasions be discovered :" he must indeed, as Dr. R. ob- 
 serves, have been " more than man, if, upon contemplating 
 all that he" had been made the means of actually accom- 
 plishing, " he had never felt any sentiment of this kind 
 rising in his breast :" yet there was not wanting in him that 
 real modesty in estimating his own endowments and per- 
 formances which is essential alike to a truly great and a 
 truly good man. Of this too we have seen proofs, and ad- 
 ditional ones are yet in reserve.! 
 
 With all his heat and violence, likewise, he was seldom 
 
 * See p. 12, 115, 124. 
 
 t See above, his conversation with Bucer on preaching, p. 79; his letter 
 to Venice, p. 121, 122 ; his observations on his own writings, on several 
 occasions , and below, his letter to Brentius. 
 
CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 195 
 
 chargeable with rashness or imprudence in his conduct. He 
 might speak hastily, but he generally acted wisely.* Indeed, 
 as Melancthon has observed of him in his funeral oration, 
 he possessed an intuitive sagacity which seemed at once to 
 suggest to him both what was true, and what, in difficult 
 circumstances, was right to be done. 
 
 But the sentence in Dr. Robertson's account of him, which 
 would be much more painful than any other, were there 
 reason to believe it correct, is the following : " Towards the 
 close of Luther's life, though without any perceptible dimi- 
 nution of his zeal or abilities, the infirmities of his temper 
 increased upon him, so that he grew daily more peevish, 
 more irascible, and more impatient of contradiction." This 
 is the very imputation which his worst enemies labour to fix 
 upon him. " Never," says Maimbourg, " was this here- 
 siarch more violent or more extravagant in his hostility to the 
 church and the pope, than immediately before his death :" 
 and for this he assigns, as a reason, his dread of the council 
 of Trent, and other causes equally imaginary. But Secken- 
 dorf, on the contrary, affirms that his writings against the 
 papacy were no more severe than they had been almost ever 
 since the diet of Worms ; that he was never more inclined 
 to peace ; for the sake of which he was willing to leave the 
 pope and the bishops in possession of all their wealth and 
 dignity ; and to tolerate ail ceremonies which could be con- 
 sidered as indiflferent — provided only pure doctrine were 
 allowed, and persecution abandoned. Bossuet would extend 
 the same injurious representation to his conduct to the sacra- 
 mentarians, and even to his own immediate friends : and 
 towards the former we must acknowledge that he at all 
 times acted with very unwarrantable harshness. But with 
 respect to the charge of increasing irascibility of temper as 
 the close of life approached, we may first remark, that cer- 
 tainly no traces of it are to be discovered amid all the em- 
 ployments which filled up several of his last w^eeks. In his 
 undertaking the business which carried him to Eisleben, in 
 his journey thither in the depth of winter, in his preaching 
 by the way, in the manner in which he passed his time 
 there, in his sermons, his labours, his intercourse with his 
 friends, and his devotions, we find nothing but what was 
 
 * Dean Miliier. 
 
196 LUTHER AND MELANCTHON. 
 
 peaceable, benevolent, and pious. Nor do I recollect any 
 thing particular of a contrary kind subsequent to his return 
 to Wittemberg, in the summer of 1545. But it is in his 
 previous sudden departure from that place, with the causes 
 and the state of feeling which led to it, that we may prob- 
 ably trace what has given occasion to the painful represent- 
 ation, too hastily, as I trust, adopted by Dr. Robertson. As 
 we have before stated, however, there is reason to believe 
 that to have been a passing cloud, shedding a gloomy influ- 
 ence over the reformer's mind (such as the firmest and best 
 regulated spirit may not always escape), rather than any 
 thing permanent : and surely, under all the circumstances 
 of the case> we may admit that it calls more for our condo- 
 lence than for severe censure. Luther was worn down with 
 care and labour, with disease and pain. External events 
 also were at that juncture peculiarly harassing : and all this 
 acting upon a temper naturally irritable, and, it is admitted, 
 not so much softened and subdued as it ought to have been, 
 for a time overcame him. He was peevish and impatient to 
 those about him, and he could no longer bear the scene of 
 his vexations. The course however which he took was the 
 proper one : he retired, he relaxed himself, he visited his 
 pious friends Amsdorf, George of Anhalt, and others, and 
 no doubt he communed with his God. The elector wrote 
 affectionately to him : the university solicited his return. 
 He complied, and we hear no more of his fretfulness and 
 desertion of his duties. I trust this is the true account of 
 the case ; which, while from the censures entailed upon 
 Luther it may admonish us how much it behooves even the 
 greatest and best of men never to relax their watchfulness, 
 but to pray to the last, " Hold thou me up and I shall be 
 safe ;" may teach us also candour and forbearance in our 
 judgments, and may especially guard us against confounding 
 what is transient in the feelings of any one with what is 
 habitual and a part of his character. 
 
 And here, after reviewing these several qualities of Lu- 
 ther's temper and mind, we may justly take occasion to notice 
 the admirable arrangement of Divine Providence, in giving 
 him and Melancthon to be so intimately associated together. 
 " Helps meet" for one another they assuredly were, in a 
 very remarkable degree. Maimbourg indeed cannot but 
 stand astonished at their close and lasting union. " Was 
 
LUTHER AND MELANCTHON. 197 
 
 there ever," he is ready to ask, " so extraordinary and 
 almost unnatural a friendship between men, from the con- 
 trariety of whose tempers we might rather have expected 
 an irreconcilable antipathy 1 Luther was daring, imperious, 
 fierce, irritable, prompt to decide, and obstinate in adhering 
 to his opinions, though, among his friends, entertaining and 
 jocose. Melancthon was mild, humble, moderate, exceed- 
 ingly grave, studious of peace, and ready to concede almost 
 any thing for the sake of it ; nay, even timid, hesitating, 
 and indecisive in every thing." While giving this some- 
 what exaggerated description of the points of difference 
 between the two characters, the writer has neglected to 
 observe, that in the great principles which governed them 
 both they were indissolubly united. " The love of Christ 
 constrained" them. Zeal for God, regard for the good of 
 mankind, both spiritual and temporal, and an ardent attach- 
 ment to divine truth ruled in both their hearts, and prompted 
 their conduct : and they in whom such principles prevail 
 are " taught of God to love one another." When this 
 great basis of union was laid, it is obvious also that many 
 of the qualities enumerated would adapt them to each other, 
 rather than the contrary. Each was suited to supply some- 
 what that the other wanted, or to moderate somewhat in 
 which he was prone to exceed. Each accordingly felt how 
 much he owed to the other, both personally and in the great 
 work which they were jointly carrying on : and hence their 
 attachment was affectionate and uninterrupted.* 
 
 I am willing here to adopt, perhaps with a little reserve 
 in some clauses, the sentences of a modern biographer of 
 Melancthon. " The profound learning and cultivated taste 
 of the one, the vigorous zeal, independent spirit, and daunt- 
 less heroism of the other, alike conduced to dissipate the 
 delusions of the age. Both adopted the same general 
 views ; and each was equally solicitous of removing that vail 
 o'f Egyptian darkness that overspread the face of the world : 
 
 yet they were constitutionally different Truth would 
 
 undoubtedly have suffered, had the one been less energetic 
 
 * See Melancthon's acknowledgment of his obligations to Luther, in 
 his will, above, p 112. Of Luther's reciprocal regard and obligations we 
 may admit Maimbourg's testimony : " Luther, in return, loved him so 
 tenderly, and esteemed him so highly, that by him alone would he suffer 
 himself to be admonished and moderated under excessive irritation." 
 R2 
 
198 CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 
 
 or daring, or the other less moderate and cultivated If 
 
 the reformation claimed the steady efforts of true courage 
 and inextinguishable zeal, be it remembered also that it no 
 less required a proportion of nice discernment, elegant taste, 
 and literary skill ; if a superstition which invested a mortal 
 with the prerogative of infallibility were to be attacked and 
 levelled with the dust, the ignorance which, with its charac- 
 teristic blindness, supported that superstition, was at the 
 same time to be dethroned and demolished : if old abuses 
 were to be removed, and a new order of things to be intro- 
 duced and systematized, it was desirable to find, not only a 
 nervous arm, but a polished mind, at once to clear away the 
 rubbish of error, and clothe unwelcome novelties with 
 attractive beauty : in a word, if existing circumstances called 
 for a iMARTiN LuTHEK, they also demanded a Philip Me- 
 
 LANCTHON."* 
 
 But some of the leading excellences which distinguished 
 the great father of the reformation, and which especially 
 endear him to the truly Christian mind, are wholly passed 
 over in the review which has thus far been made of his 
 character. We will not atfirm quite so much as this of the 
 sterling and uncompromising honesty, which is one of the 
 features that most stands out from the canvass in his genuine 
 portrait : yet even this has not been presented with the 
 prominence that belongs to it. Can any one read over the 
 history of Luther which is now before him, the detail of his 
 actual sayings and doings, without feeling that, if ever 
 honesty and integrity were imbodied, it was in him ? He 
 avowed nothing but what he conscientiously believed : he 
 kept back nothing which conscience dictated to be avowed. 
 Can any man of common fairness doubt this 1 For myself, 
 I must confess, that I never read of the man in whom I felt 
 compelled to place a more unreserved reliance, both for the 
 truth of all his declarations and the uprightness of all his 
 intentions. 
 
 And then, not only was his belief of all he taught most 
 sincere, it was also most thoroughly practical and influen- 
 tial. He himself daily lived upon that bread of life which 
 he broke to others. The doctrines which he preached to 
 mankind were the support of all his own hopes, the spring 
 
 * Cox's Life of Melancthon. 
 
CHARACTER OP LUTHER. 199 
 
 of all his comforts, the source of his peace of mind, of his 
 strength for service or for suffering in the cause of God, 
 the principles which evermore governed and animated him ; 
 raised him above the fear of man, and the love of the world, 
 and carried him with an heroic elevation of soul through a 
 series of labours and dangers, never perhaps surpassed 
 since the days of the apostle Paul. In the genuine doc- 
 trines of the gospel, and especially in that of our being 
 "justified freely, by God's grace, through the redemption 
 which is in Christ Jesus ;" and this inestimable benefit 
 appropriated only by a living faith, and not by our own 
 works or deservings ; he found that which could alone 
 relieve his own conscience from an anxiety amountinir, at 
 times, even to anguish, and for want of which he saw the 
 whole Christian world around him groaning under a system 
 of delusion, imposition, and bondage the most intolerable 
 and ruinous : and what he had thus found to be the relief 
 and salvation of his own soul he could not but proclaim to 
 others also. " A^either counted he his life dear unto him- 
 self, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the 
 ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify 
 the gospel of the grace of Gody Never probably did there 
 exist the man who could more truly say with St. Paul, 
 *' God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom (or by ichich) the world is cru- 
 cified unto me and I unto the world." And this assuredly, 
 in all its parts, is the state of mind which is especially 
 wanting to us, to give more effect to our ministrations ; to 
 draw down a larger measure of the Divine blessing upon 
 them. May He with whom is "the residue of the Spirit" 
 indeed raise up among us a 7ieio race of such "men of 
 God," by whom he may indeed revive his church wherever 
 it is decayed, reform it wherever it is corrupted, unite it 
 wherever it is divided, and extend it wherever it is not yet 
 planted ; that " the wilderness and the solitary place may 
 be glad for them, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the 
 rose." 
 
 In short, the great charm of Luther's character, and that 
 from which the other excellences admired in him, even by 
 those for whom this may have less attractions, derived their 
 origin or their support, was his spirituality. His whole 
 heart and soul were in religion ; not in the barren noiiori of 
 
200 CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 
 
 its truths, or in its mere exterior observances^ but in the 
 communion with God by which it is produced and cherished ; 
 in the love of God and of man, in the " righteousness and 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," in the penitence, the 
 faith, the devotion, the deadness to the world, the heavenly- 
 mindedness, in which it consists ; and in all the practical 
 fruits of righteousness and usefulness which it brings forth. 
 The reader will not forget his correspondence at the period 
 especially of the diet of Augsburg, or the account given 
 by his companion at Coburg, of those retired devotions by 
 which his Christian heroism was sustained. He will recall 
 to mind perhaps the manner in which he has heard Luther 
 speak of his daily exercising himself on the common truths 
 of the catechism : and he will not be displeased to receive 
 the further testimony, borne to his devotional spirit, in the 
 oration before referred to, which IVIelancthon pronounced at 
 his funeral. " Often have I myself gone to him unawares, 
 and found him dissolved in tears and prayers for the whole 
 church of Christ. He commonly devoted a portion of every 
 day to the solemn recitation of some of the Psalms of David, 
 with which he mingled his own supplications, with sighs 
 and tears : and often has he declared, that he could not help 
 feeling a sort of indignation at those who, through sloth, 
 or under the pretence of other occupations, hurried over 
 devotional exercises, or contented themselves with mere 
 ejaculatory prayer. On this account, he said, Divine Wisdom 
 has prescribed some formularies to us, that our minds may 
 be inflamed with devotional feeling in reading them — to 
 which, in his opinion, reading aloud very much conduced. 
 When therefore a variety of great and important delibera- 
 tions respecting public dangers have been pending, we have 
 witnessed his prodigious vigour of mind, his fearless and 
 unshaken courage. Faith was his sheet-anchor, and, by 
 the help of God, he was resolved never to be driven from it." 
 And in this place also may be introduced the noble appli- 
 cation which Bishop Atterbury has made to him of a sub- 
 lime passage of St. Paul's writings. It is in his defence 
 of Luther's discontinuing the observance of the *' canonical 
 hours," or that daily repetition of forms of devotion to which 
 the Romish ritual obliges the clergy. " His active spirit," 
 the bishop says, " was employed upon things more accept- 
 able to God Abnighty, because more useful to mankind. He 
 
CHARACTER OF LXTTHER. 201 
 
 was wrestling against principalities and powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
 wickedness in high places. To this end, he took unto him 
 the whole armour of God, that he might he able to withstand 
 in the evil day, ayid, having done all, to stand. He stood 
 therefore, having his loiyis girded about with truth, and having 
 on the breastplate of righteousness, and his feet shod with the 
 preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all taking the shield 
 of faith, wherewith he was able to quench all the fiery darts 
 of the wicked. And he took the helmet of salvation, and the 
 sword of the Spirit, ichich is the word of God : still praying 
 always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and 
 watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for 
 all saints; and for himself, that utterance might be given 
 unto him, that he might open his mouth boldly, to make known 
 the mystery of the gospel. — I could not forbear," the bishop 
 declares, " setting down at full length this panoply of St. 
 Paul, wherewith Luther completely armed himself in his 
 spiritual warfare : and I do not know whether this de- 
 scription so justly belongs to any man as to him, since the 
 days of the apostles."* 
 
 The following particulars of Luther's manners in private 
 life, collected by Melchior Adam, may not be uninteresting to 
 the reader. 
 
 At meal-times he frequently dictated sentiments to be writ- 
 ten down by others, or corrected proof-sheets of his works. 
 Sometimes he entertained himself and his guests with music. 
 When invited to entertainments he frequently did not go, 
 that he might not waste his time ; and he often complained 
 that it was esteemed uncivil to decline invitations, while yet it 
 was injurious to accept them. When he wished to relax 
 himself from study, he took pleasure in playing at chess, in 
 which he was very skilful. He practised also the art of 
 turning ; and sometimes threw at a mark. He was fond of 
 horticulture, aud collected seeds from his various friends for 
 the improvement of his garden. His liberality to the poor 
 was unbounded and almost excessive. When a student on 
 a journey once solicited assistance, which his wife declined, 
 pleading the want of money, Luther took up a silver cup a»i 
 
 * Answer to Considerations on the Spirit of Luther, &c. p. 42. 
 
202 CHARACTER OF LUTHER. 
 
 gave it to him, telling him to sell it and keep the money. 
 On another occasion, two hundred pieces of gold having been 
 sent him from the mines, he distributed the whole among the 
 poorer scholars at Wittemberg. When the Elector John once 
 sent him a present of clothing, he wrote him word back that 
 it was " more than he wished : if he was thus to receive the 
 reward of all his labours in this life, there would remain 
 none for the life to come," The same prince having offered 
 him a share in some mines, he declined it, lest it should 
 become a snare to him. He mentions also that he took no 
 money from his printers, but only such copies of his books 
 as he had occasion for, and those but few. — He was exceed- 
 ingly affectionate to his family, and took great care of their 
 education, keeping a tutor in the house to instruct them. 
 When he saw the death of his elder daughter, Magdalene, 
 approaching, he read to her that passage of Isaiah xxvi. "Thy 
 dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they 
 arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust : for thy dew 
 is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 
 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber, and shut thy 
 doors about thee ; hide thyself, as it were, for a little mo- 
 ment, until the indignation be overpassed." He then said, 
 " My daughter, enter thou into thy resting-place in peace : I 
 shall soon be with thee, for God will not suffer me to see the 
 evils that are coming upon Germany." Saying this, he wept 
 profusely : but at the funeral he so restrained himself in 
 public as not to shed a single tear. 
 
 In person, he was of the middle size, strongly built. His 
 eye was brilliant and penetrating, so that not every one could 
 bear to meet its full gaze. It is said that a man, once sent 
 to assassinate him, was so overpowered by his glance, that 
 he hastily retired from his presence. His voice was neither 
 powerful nor very clear. 
 
 He lived happily in the married state for more than twenty 
 years. His widow (who survived him seven years) was com- 
 pelled by the wars which followed her husband's death, to 
 lead, in some degree, a wandering life. At length, on being 
 driven from Wittemberg by the plague, she removed to Tor- 
 gau : but the horses taking fright by the way, she leaped 
 from the carriage in which she was travelling, more from 
 anxiety about her children than herself; and was so much 
 
SERVICES OF THE REFORMERS. 203 
 
 injured by her fall that she died three months after, at the 
 age of fifty-two. 
 
 The following sentences are quoted from him by the same 
 biographer. 
 
 "As the fruit never produces the tree, so works never 
 make the man good. The tree must first be produced, and 
 then the fruit follows : so a man being first made good, good 
 works follow — not to make him good, but to testify that he 
 is good." 
 
 On temptations, particularly, we must suppose, those of 
 blasphemous thoughts, he advises, "First, that the tempted 
 should avoid solitude, and should converse with others on 
 passages of the Psalms, and other parts of Scripture : then, 
 as a very effectual remedy, though one difficult to be applied, 
 that they should persuade themselves that the thoughts which 
 harass them are not their own, but Satan's, and so not 
 attempt to reason with them and overcome them, but turn 
 away from them, and apply their minds to something else ; 
 for to do otherwise would only exasperate the evil to a dan- 
 gerous degree." 
 
 I would in conclusion add an observation on the real na- 
 ture of our obligations to the blessed and venerable reformers 
 of the sixteenth century. The reader will not be surprised 
 at my expressing an utter disapprobation of all such senti- 
 ments as the following : " That the reformers are to be hon- 
 oured chiefly for the grand principles of Christian liberty 
 which they so strenuously asserted and maintained — the de- 
 tail of doctrine and practice will always occasion difference 
 of opinion : that they were too tenacious of their particular 
 creed — but that this period was only the dawn of religious 
 discovery." All this is catering most ofl^ensively to the cor- 
 rupt taste of a lukewarm and latitudinarian age. I trust I 
 honour the reformers, as much as any man can do, for " stren- 
 uously asserting and maintaining in the face of the most 
 powerful opponents" — so far as they really did assert and 
 maintain them — " the grand principles of Christian liberty :" 
 but I conceive that they did this, to say the least, not at all 
 more perfectly than they, " asserted and maintained," and 
 brought forward into open day, " the grand principles of 
 Christian" truth : that, as far as they succeeded, they were 
 
204 SERVICES OF THE REFORMERS. 
 
 " the restorers of light'*''* — the pure light of the gospel — not 
 at all less than of " liberty," to the Christian church, which 
 had for ages been " sitting in darkness and the shadow of 
 death." — " The detail of doctrine and practice will," no 
 doubt, " always," while the state of mankind continues what 
 it is, " occasion difference of opinion :" but we are not on 
 this ground to be left to conclude that truth, even on the most 
 essential points, cannot be ascertained. There has been un- 
 speakably less difference of opinion in such matters, among 
 really good men in all ages, than is commonly supposed. 
 No doubt also the reformers might be " too tenacious of their 
 particular creed, and," in some cases, " inconsistent with 
 themselves :" but let us not, under the cover of positions 
 which none can deny, as applied to minor parts of the 
 reformers' system, be led to conclusions which none should 
 admit concerning the great outlines of their doctrine. — And 
 with extreme caution is the suspicious statement to be re- 
 ceived, of " this period being only the dawn of religious dis- 
 covery." Let no inexperienced reader ever suppose, that 
 religious truth can be the subject of " discovery," in any 
 such sense as latent principles or hitherto unobserved phe- 
 nomena in chymistry or in geology may be; or that one age 
 can improve upon the theological science of another pre- 
 ceding it, any otherwise than by returning to the more sim- 
 ple and more unreserved reception of the unerring disclo- 
 sures, which were completed to the Christian church in its 
 very infancy, in the only source of all religious knowledge 
 —"the oracles of god." And, in the " discovery" an J 
 exhibition of all the leading principles of these repositories 
 of Divine wisdom, I am persuaded no class of teachers has 
 surpassed the great luminaries of the reformation. Yes, it 
 is upon this ground above all others- -by their having asserted 
 to the sacred writings, as they did, that sole and exclusive 
 authority which is their inalienable right, and having deduced 
 from them all the great truths of pure and undefiled religion 
 — that the reformers have established a claim to our eternal 
 gratitude. " These men were the servants of the most high 
 God, showing unto us" — after it had been obscured and 
 almost lost for ages — " the way of salvation."! Yes, 
 
 * Robertson . 
 
 t " By Luiher and his fellow-labourers," says Melchlor Adam, " God 
 brought to light to his church those most essential doctrines which respect 
 
Luther's last writings. 205 
 
 " Their blood was shed 
 In confirmation of the noblest claim, 
 Our claim to feed upon immdrtal truth, 
 To walk with God, to be divinely free, 
 To soar, and to anticipate the skies." 
 
 We have given some account of the writings of Luther 
 as far as the end of the year 1541. His principal publica- 
 tions in 1542, in addition to some already mentioned, were 
 a commentary on the prophet Micah ; a translation into 
 German, with a preface and notes, of a work of Richard the 
 Dominican (a writer whom he supposes to have lived early 
 in the fourteenth century) on the Koran ; and prefaces to 
 an epitome of the Conformities of St. Francis, and to the 
 postils of John Spangenberg, subsequently superintendent 
 of Mansfeldt. 
 
 The work of Richard had excited his curiosity concerning 
 the Koran. He could not for some time believe that rational 
 beings could be found to receive propositions so monstrous 
 as it professed to exhibit from the Koran : but he had since 
 obtained a Latin translation of the work of the Arabian 
 impostor, and had found that there was no fiction in 
 Richard's charges. He wished therefore to make them 
 known to his countrymen, at a time when the Mahometans 
 were so much spreading their conquests, and with them their 
 
 the Mediator, the way of justification, the difference between the law and 
 the gospel, the nature of acceptable worship, and other subjects of vital 
 importance." — He then quotes the Ibllowing testimony of Melancthon con- 
 cerning Luther. " He often bewailed the impious addresses made to de- 
 parted saints, and said, For various reasons such a profane practice is to 
 be execrated, but especially because it obscures the evidence of the deity 
 of Christ, arising from the divine honours which we are taught to pay| 
 to him, in the scriptures both of the prophets and the apostles. This is 
 the idolatry which whets the scimitars of the Turks against us : nor will 
 our blood cease to be shed by them, unless a pious relbrmation be made. 
 Who can deny the gross impiety of such sentences as these, which are 
 constantly heard in the papal churches : 
 
 ' O Mary, mother of grace. 
 Defend us from the enemy ! 
 Receive us in the hour of death '.' 
 And again : 
 
 ' O Saint Dorothy, create in me a clean heart ! 
 
 « O Saint Catharine, remove us from the troubles of this world to the 
 
 bliss of paradise I Open to us the gates of paradise I' "—Is not this justly 
 
 styled the idolatry of popery— withdrawn from view perhaps in such a 
 
 country as our own, but still retained where the public mind will bear it ? 
 
 Vol. IL— S 
 
206 Luther's writings. 
 
 reliorion in Europe. He takes occasion therefore to introdace 
 many admonitions and addresses suitable to the times. 
 
 The Conformities of St. Francis he wished to keep before 
 the public eye, that it might not be forgotten what things 
 had really been taught under the papacy. Many now affected 
 to disbeUeve that such things had actually been written and 
 received ; many were found to soften them down or varnish 
 them over, especially in the diets :* not that the papists had 
 renounced them ; they only kept them in the background, 
 to reproduce them at a more favourable opportunity ; and 
 we may easily, says Luther, relapse into them, if we prove 
 ungrateful for the benefits conferred upon us, and thus pro- 
 voke God to withdraw his grace from us. 
 
 In his preface to Spangenberg, he dwells at some length 
 
 on the term " mystery," applied by St. Paul to the gospel, 
 
 and particularly (Eph. v.) to the union between Christ and 
 
 the church. When he first set out, he says, " he thought 
 
 that he well understood all this, as many other smatterers 
 
 now did ; but when he had made some little progress, he 
 
 found that it was indeed a mystery, which too much pains 
 
 could not be taken to understand and unfold." He laments 
 
 however that many wrote, " not to make known this mystery, 
 
 but that their own fine thoughts might not be lost : and they 
 
 then set both themselves and their books to sale. But such 
 
 men would never effect any thing in the church of God." 
 
 On the contrary, he reprehends idle preachers, who contented 
 
 k themselves with " repeating, like parrots and jackdaws, only 
 
 1 what others had written." Men could not, he maintains, 
 
 \too diligently study the Scriptures, too earnestly teach what 
 
 ■ they learned from them, or too carefully illustrate what 
 
 I they taught by their own life and conversation. 
 
 i^ The next year Luther engaged in the controversy against 
 
 / the Jews. When it became known that Hebrew studies 
 
 >' were cultivated at ¥/ittemberg, it gave spirits to the men> 
 
 j bers of the Jewish communion ; which were further raised 
 
 \ hf some of the German fanatics embracing their profession. 
 
 \ In consequence, three of their learned men came to dispute 
 
 with Luther. He treated them kindly till he found their 
 
 obstinacy and virulence ; and then he wrote with some 
 
 severity " Against the Jews and their falsehoods." He. 
 
 * As latterly in tlie houses of Lords and Commons. 
 
ltither's last writings. 207 
 
 thinks it useless to discuss the Christian mysteries with them, 
 their prejudice and hardness are so great : he would rather 
 employ arguments against them drawn from their circum- 
 stances during fifteen hundred years past, which were such 
 as had been predicted by Jesus Christ, and evidently showed 
 the anger of God resting upon them. Their boasted privi- 
 leges and distinctions were to be treated as worthless, when 
 separated from faith and piety. Nothing was to be expected 
 from them, till, softened by their calamities, they should listen 
 to the proofs drawn from their own prophets that the Mes- 
 siah was come. 
 
 Among the minor writings of Luther at this period, a pre- 
 face may deserve to be mentioned which he prefixed to some 
 Latin declamations composed and delivered by the elector's 
 sons, boys of thirteen and fourteen years of age. Luther 
 here expresses great joy at the progress of learning, (so 
 different from what had been under the papacy !) at the 
 elector's manner of training his sons, and at the good hopes 
 which they afforded him ; and concludes with offering fervent 
 prayers for them, and for others of their rank, adapted par- 
 ticularly to the times in which their lot was cast. It is a 
 pleasing spectacle which this little publication presents to 
 us, both of the elector's family, and of the regard which 
 Luther bore to them. 
 
 In the year 1544, Luther published again on the Eucharist, 
 treating the Zwinglians with lamentable severity. 
 
 A letter of Luther's to Spalatinus, prefixed as a preface 
 to a collection which that worthy person had made of the 
 examples and sayings of pious men, contains many excel- 
 lent sentiments. " I am much pleased, my dear Spalatinus, 
 with your design of collecting the acts and sayings of the 
 saints of God ; and I doubt not that it will be acceptable to 
 God himself, and to the people of God. Things of this 
 kind tend not only to stop the mouths of those who reproach 
 us as introducing new doctrines, but also to confirm our own 
 minds by the testimony of so great a cloud of witnesses, 
 who have thought, and spoken, and acted, and suffered 
 in the same manner with ourselves. For, though each 
 one's own faith in the Word of God ought to support his 
 resolution of standing, though it were alone, in the conflict 
 against the gates of hell, yet even when the spirit is willing 
 the fleah is weak ; and therefore it is a great confirmation 
 
208 Luther's last writings. 
 
 to the pious mind to trace in so many excellent men, 
 through successive ages, the same things as it meets with 
 in its own daily experience. Even by the best of men, 
 indeed, there have been many things said and done under 
 the influence of the flesh, and the law of sin warring against 
 the law of the mind, according to what we read in Romans 
 vii., to say nothing of the falsehoods which have been foisted 
 into their histories by the children of the wicked one ; yet, 
 when the confession of sin and the struggle against it are- 
 concerned, we see how purely and constantly they avow 
 their faith. What could have been said more pious or more 
 becoming in St. Ambrose, than when, in his last conflict 
 against sin, death, the wrath of God, and the threats of 
 hell, he boldly pronounced to the presbyters who stood about 
 him, ' I have not so lived as to be ashamed to continue 
 among you ; nor do I fear to die, since we serve a gracious 
 Master.' St. Augustine, in his last agony, as Possidonius 
 relates, highly commended this sentiment of Ambrose. 
 The same Augustine also comforted himself against the 
 charges of conscience (the source of severest trial in the 
 hour of death) in the following words, ' I shall be troubled, 
 but not distressed, because I think on the sufferings of my 
 Saviour.' Who does not see, that in sentences like these 
 the most holy men declare their faith in Christ, a faith sole 
 and exclusive, yet firm and victorious over sin and death? 
 For, though they judge their life to be irreproachable among 
 men (as it ought to be, and must be), yet before God they 
 rely entirely on his mercy and grace, and fly to the wounds 
 of Christ, as the doves to the clefts of the rock. — We do 
 well, therefore, first to separate the histories of the saints 
 from the falsehoods with which they have been mixed up, 
 and then, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, to try them 
 by the rule and analogy of faith — according to the apostolic 
 direction. Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good. 
 But what room would there be for this admonition, if all 
 that was said and done by the saints were to be received 
 implicitly, like articles of faith 1 No ; they were holy men, 
 but yet mc7i, in whom Divine grace had still to struggle 
 against corrupt nature. Where, therefore, they spoke and 
 acted under the influence of the Spirit, their sayings and 
 actions are worthy to be preserved, as what the Lord Christ 
 wrought in them ; but, where the contrary, there we are to 
 
Luther's last writings. 209 
 
 bear with them, and consider this as permitted for our en- 
 couragement, since we see that the saints of God were infirm 
 beings hke ourselves, and each one of them bore about with 
 him in his flesh the remains of sin. — On these accounts I 
 wish your book to be published ; but do not bestow upon 
 me such lavish — if I did not know your sincerity, I should 
 say such false — commendation. I know that I am nothing. 
 Farewell in the Lord ! Pray for me that I may have a happy 
 transition from this body of sin and death ! Amen. 
 8 March, 1544." 
 
 George Heltus of Forcheim has been mentioned as the 
 preceptor of Prince George of Anhalt and other eminent 
 persons. We will here insert part of a letter from Luther to 
 George of Anhalt on his death. It is dated March 9, 1545. 
 
 " Grace and peace to you in Christ ! So then, most 
 illustrious prince, our friend Heltus is gone, leaving us to 
 lament him ! my God, at a time when we have need 
 of many holy men to comfort and strengthen us by their 
 prayers, their counsels, and their assistance, thou takest 
 away even the few that are left us ! We know, O God, 
 that the prayers and the labours of the departed saint, who 
 most ardently loved and zealously served thy Son, our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and was most useful to thy church, were 
 well-pleasing in thy sight. — Certainly I myself placed great 
 confidence in his prayers, and derived great consolation 
 from them. How severe a wound then must you have 
 suffered, most excellent prince, by the removal of one with 
 whom you lived on terms of such faithful and endeared 
 friendship. But it is well with him. Gathered to his 
 fathers and to his people, he finds more and better com- 
 panions there than he has left behind. But our lot is try- 
 ing, who live, or drag on a sort of dying existence, here in 
 Sodom and Babylon, and find the number of good men 
 diminish in proportion as the state of things, daily declining 
 towards what is worse, requires an increase of them. But 
 the wisdom of God is to be adored, who, when he is about 
 to accomplish something great, and surpassing our hopes, 
 first seems to annihilate all expectation, and to reduce us 
 to despair; as it is written, 'He bringeth down to the 
 grave, and bringeth up again.' He does this to teach us 
 the exercise of faith, hope, and love towards him ; and that 
 we may learn to esteem things not seen above those which 
 S2 
 
810 Luther's last writings. 
 
 do appear ; and ' against hope to believe in hope ;' and to 
 depend on him who ' calleth things which are not as though 
 they were.' Then, while he takes away from us all his 
 most pleasant gifts, and exhibits himself to us as if his 
 kindness and his loveliness had come utterly to an end, at 
 that very time he is thinking most especially, I might almost 
 say anxiously, the thoughts of love towards us. By means 
 like these it is that the old man is slain, ' the body of sin 
 destroyed.' — Wherefore comfort yourself, most excellent 
 prince, according to the rich measure in which it has been 
 given you to know God the Father and his Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, and to meditate on all the operations of his 
 hands. It shall be my prayer, that the God of all consola- 
 tion would confirm and strengthen you by his Holy Spirit, 
 until the appointed end of these trials is accomplished. For, 
 as it is said in Jeremiah, 'He doth not willingly grieve the 
 children of men.' And Augustine says, * God would not 
 permit evil to exist, if he had not some greater good to 
 bring out of it.' — We are yet in the flesh, and know not 
 what to ask or how to ask it ; that is, to ask what is good 
 for us ; but He who is able to do above all we ask or think 
 • careth for us ;' he can do for us beyond what the narrow- 
 ness of our hearts allows us to desire, or even to imagine. 
 But it is necessary, in order to his doing this, that he should 
 first take from us those things which we think we cannot do 
 without ; or at least think that their absence would occasion 
 us great injury or great danger. Scripture abounds with 
 examples to this effect. Adam and Eve were almost intox- 
 icated with high expectations from Cain ; God deprived 
 them of both their sons, and almost reduced them to de- 
 spair ; but then He that quickeneth the dead, and createth 
 all things out of nothing, gave them ' another seed,' and an 
 unfailing postfrity. Abraham promised himself great things 
 from Ishmael, Isaac from Esau, Jacob from Reuben, his 
 first-born ; but all these hopes must receive a death-blow, 
 that new and immortal hopes might take their place. God 
 is mighty and faithful ; he promises and he performs. — Let 
 us bewail our departed friend then because ' his light is lost,' 
 as the son of Sirach says, yet not to himself, but to us. 
 To him his light burns more brightly, and shall burn for 
 ever. Soon, too, our light shall fail here, but be rekindled 
 and perfected in that better state, through him who is at 
 
LUTHER S LAST WRITINGS. 211 
 
 once our Light and our Life. Amen ! In Him may your 
 highness ever fare well !" 
 
 We may remark from this letter, as from many other 
 passages of his writings, how much Luther's distinguishing 
 excellences, his faith, his wisdom, his fervour, his heroism, 
 the richness of his instructions, were derived from his being 
 so intimately conversant with every part of Scripture. He 
 read it daily, and most diligently. In all its contents it was 
 continually passing in review before him. 
 
 The most elaborate work of Luther, published in the year 
 1545, was a Commentary on the prophet Hosea. In this he 
 points out how great a proportion of the messages of the 
 prophets are easily applicable to our own times ; exposes 
 the false candour of leaving the papists unmolested in their 
 errors, and throughout makes powerful attacks upon them. 
 
 The elector and the landgrave both scrupulously ab- 
 stained from checking the reformer in what he thought 
 proper to write and publish ; so high an opinion did they 
 entertain of his wisdom, and of the effect of his writings. 
 Even when King Ferdinand, having read his book " Against 
 the Pope," published this year, observed that, " if the lan- 
 guage were but softened, it was not in other respects to be 
 found fault with ;" the elector replied, " Dr. Martin is a 
 man of a singular spirit, which suffers not itself to be re- 
 strained in these matters. No doubt he has weighty rea- 
 sons for this strong language. He is stirred up in an ex- 
 traordinary manner against the papacy, to overthrow it, not 
 to amend it— for that is impossible. Mild language, there- 
 fore, would be out of place." — When the ofFensiveness of a 
 picture prefixed to the book was further represented, the 
 elector still replied, that " Luther's spirit was extraordinary, 
 and that he had further views in the particular means he 
 employed than all could penetrate ; on which account 
 neither his (the elector's) father, John, nor his uncle Fred- 
 eric, would at all prescribe to him ; nor would he himself 
 presume to do it." — Though certainly it is to be wished, 
 for the sake of posterity at least, and I conceive also for the 
 sake of his own contemporaries, that Luther had moderated 
 his style, yet the wisdom and forbearance of the three 
 electors in not venturing out of their proper province, to 
 direct, or even to regulate, the movements of their subject — 
 an extraordinary man evidently raised up for an extraor- 
 
212 Luther's last writings. 
 
 dinary service — are greatly to be admired ; and we know 
 not how much they might have marred the work, had they 
 attempted to do otherwise. 
 
 This year Lutheor wrote the preface to the first volume 
 of his collected works. An interesting and important ex- 
 tract from it has been given in an early part of our history.* 
 We shall here add a few sentences, which conspire with 
 many other passages in his various compositions to show 
 the very modest estimate which he formed of his own 
 writings. " I long and stoutly held out," he says, " against 
 those who wished to have my books, or rather the confused 
 mass of my lucubrations, collected and published together. 
 I opposed this, both because I would not have attention 
 drawn off from ancient writers by my new publications, and 
 because now, through the grace of God, there exist many 
 orderly works, particularly the Commonplaces of Melanc- 
 thon, by which the divine and the pastor of the church 
 may be thoroughly furnished, especially since the Sacred 
 Writings themselves may now be had in almost every lan- 
 guage ; while my compositions, prompted and even com- 
 pelled by the course of events, are a sort of rude and un- 
 digested chaos, which I myself can hardly reduce to any 
 order." He had wished them, therefore, " to sink into ob- 
 livion, and to give way to somewhat better." He was 
 obliged, however, to yield to the importunities of his friends 
 (who urged that, if he did not collect and arrange them, 
 some would attempt it after his death, who knew not the 
 circumstances and occasions of the several pieces), as well 
 as to the pleasure and commands of the elector. — Then 
 follows the passage already given, in which he entreats the 
 reader to peruse his writings " with discrimination, and even 
 with great compassion," considering what an infatuated 
 papist he had originally been, and with what difficulty he 
 had surmounted his prejudices. 
 
 In like manner he says, in the preface to his Commen- 
 tary on the book of Genesis, " I am not one who can be 
 said to have accomplished what he aimed at, or even to 
 have made an approach towards the accomplishment of it ; 
 I must take my station in the last and lowest rank, as one 
 ^ho scarcely dares to say, ' I desired to accomplish it.' I 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 46. 
 
Luther's last writings. 213 
 
 speak every thing extemporaneously, and in a style'adapted 
 to the comnioa people. Not that I am conscious of having 
 spoken what is false ; but I have aimed only at avoiding 
 obscurity, and at making myself fully understood." 
 
 From the coincidence of the subject, I shall take occasion 
 here to insert a letter of his to Brentius, Pastor of Halle, 
 in Suabia, though written at an earlier period — 1530. It 
 well deserves to be read for the fine spirit which it breathes, 
 and for the answer which it furnishes to the charges of arro- 
 gance, to which Luther's bold and uncompi;omising oppo- 
 sition to every thing that he conceived to be a corruption 
 of divine truth exposed him. It accompanied or was pre- 
 fixed to Brentius's Commentary on the Prophet Amos. 
 
 " Grace and peace to you in Jesus Christ our Lord ! I 
 return you, my dear friend, your Amos, which you sent me 
 long ago. It is not my fault that it has not been published 
 sooner, but that of the person to whom you intrusted it. 
 In the humility of your heart you submitted your work 
 entirely to my judgment, that I should alter, add, expunge, 
 at my pleasure ; but far be it from me to do any thing of 
 the kind. It is in no case very creditable to exercise one's 
 ingenuity in working upon another man's foundation ; and, 
 among Christians, it would be intolerable for one man to 
 set up for master over others who are taught by the same 
 Spirit. It is enough ' to prove the spirits whether they are 
 of God ;' and, that being once ascertained, we ought 
 instantly to show reverence, to lay aside all magisterial 
 airs, and humbly to sit down as scholars ; for it is impos- 
 sible for the Holy Spirit to speak, without delivering truths 
 before which every man should bow, and receive them with 
 childlike simplicity. 
 
 " But, besides this general deference to what the Spirit 
 teaches, I declare to you that my own writings are very 
 mean in my eyes, when compared with yours, and those 
 of men like you. I do not here flatter you, or put on an 
 assumed humility. I am not praising Brentius, but the 
 spirit with which he is endued, and which shows itself in 
 him much more mild, gentle, and calm than in me. Then, 
 also, your composition is much more skilful than mine ; 
 your language flows much more pure, clear, and neat ; and 
 thus is more attractive and more eiRcient. My manner is 
 to pour forth a torrent and chaos of words. — Moreover, it is 
 
214 Luther's last writings. 
 
 my destiny to be engaged in an endless succession of fierce 
 eonflicts with monsters that baffle description ; so that if it 
 be allowable to use such a comparison, I seem to resemble 
 the fire and the blustering wind in Elijah's vision, while you 
 and your associates are the ' still small voice' — a gentle air 
 which refreshes, and softens, and unbinds. Your writings, 
 therefore, please me, and much more will they please 
 others, better than my own. I comfort myself, however, 
 with this thought, that the great heavenly Lord and Father, 
 in the amplitude of his household, has work for servants 
 of different descriptions, and some must be like hard wedges 
 to cleave rugged blocks. God must appear in thunder, as 
 well as in the gentle rain : by his lightning and thunder he 
 agitates and purifies the air, and thus prepares for render- 
 ing the earth more richly fruitful. 
 
 " But I especially admire in you this gift of God, that in 
 all your writings you so faithfully and clearly set forth ' the 
 righteousness of faith :' for this is the head corner-stone 
 which supports, nay, gives existence and life to the church 
 of God ; so that without it the church cannot subsist for an 
 hour. No one can teach rightly in the church, nor success- 
 fully withstand any of her enemies, who does not hold fast 
 the sound doctrine on this head. I have often felt a mix- 
 ture of surprise and indignation, that such men as Jerome 
 and Origen should have been considered as, next to the 
 apostles, master-builders in the church ; when you can 
 scarcely find three sentences in either of them setting forth 
 this doctrine. Nor would the case have been different with 
 Augustine, but for his controversies with the Pelagians. 
 They compelled him to maintain the righteousness of faith. 
 Thus he became a true father of the church ; and almost 
 the only one after the apostles and its first founders. Not 
 that I would undervalue ' the fathers ;' but I think all 
 ought to be admonished to read their writings with a dis- 
 criminating judgment — according to the rule, 'prove all 
 things.' Those who read them otherwise are tossed about 
 with the winds of uncertainty ; ' ever learning, and never 
 able to come to the knowledge of the truth.' This we our- 
 selves experienced, till the grace of God guided us from the 
 troubled sea into a safe harbour, and set our feet upon this 
 sure rock. — Go on then, my friend, strenuously asserting 
 this truth on every occasion, and even to the satiety of 
 
Luther's last writings. 215 
 
 many ; for the world is full of writers and declaimers who 
 neglect it, or persecute it, or corrupt it. And no wonder ; 
 for this it is which is to crush the serpent's head. Satan 
 therefore cannot fail to direct his opposition against it." 
 
 To the last year of Luther's life are to be referred his 
 commentaries on the prophecies of Joel, and on the book 
 of Genesis. He had delivered a previous exposition of Joel, 
 about the year 1536 : but the latter was more full and com- 
 plete. His exposition of Genesis forms of itself an immense 
 folio volume. Like most of his other expositions, it was 
 delivered in lectures, and not intended for publication, but 
 was taken down by Cruciger, Rorarius, and Vitus Theo- 
 dorus, and submitted to Luther's correction. It was begun 
 in the year 1536, and not finished till November, 1545, 
 within three months of the author's death. It was pub- 
 lished in parts, to the first of which Luther himself wrote 
 the preface, an extract from which has already been given. 
 He says further, " I entered upon my lectures on Genesis 
 with no view to their publication, but for the benefit of the 
 students, and that I might keep the minds both of myself 
 and of my audience exercised upon the Word of God, and 
 might not spend my old age in sloth and uselessness. 1 
 was excited by the words of the Psalm, ' I will sing unto 
 the Lord while I have any being.' " He dwells repeatedly 
 on the subsequent inspired writers having drawn so much 
 from the books of Moses, and recommends this to be stu- 
 diously traced. The book of Genesis he speaks of as a 
 very delightful one, and prays God to raise up persons to do 
 more justice to it than he could do. " I can accomplish no 
 more," he said, as he closed his exposition, " I am infirm ; 
 pray that God would grant me a happy dismissal !" He 
 often said, that he could wish to end his life with the expo- 
 sition of the book of Genesis : and he failed little of having 
 his desire, for he is related never again to have entered the 
 lecture-room after he had finished it. 
 
 In speaking of the works of Luther, Melancthon notices 
 four changes of doctrine which had taken place in the 
 church between the times of the apostles and the reforma- 
 tion. The first he calls the Ongeman, in which the church 
 was corrupted by philosophy, and which thus led the way 
 to the errors of Pelagius. The next was the Augustiman — 
 "God having raised up the Bishop of Hippo to correct the 
 
216 Luther's last writings. 
 
 prevailing errors :" and with his doctrine he was satisfied 
 that that of Luther agreed, notwithstanding the dishonest 
 attempts made to prove the contrary. The third was the 
 long reign of ignorance and Rome. The fourth he refers 
 to St. Francis and St. Dominic, who aimed to correct the cry- 
 ing abominations of the times, but, through want of better 
 information, plunged the church in superstition, and substi- 
 tuted the philosophy of Aristotle for the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. All good men, he says, desired a purer doctrine, as 
 well as a reformation of manners ; and God graciously 
 raised up Luther to be the instrument of introducing it. 
 
 He distributes the writings of the great reformer into three 
 classes — didactic, controversial, and expository ; the first 
 laying down the true Christian doctrine on all the most 
 material points ; the second refuting the numerous errors 
 opposed to it ; and the third illustrating and applying the 
 inspired writings, in all the various ways that the circum- 
 stances of mankind required. And the last class, he says, 
 " even by the confession of enemies, surpassed all other 
 expositions that were extant. But there was another 
 work of Luther's which stood alone, and which, both in 
 labour and in usefulness, Melancthon thinks " equalled all 
 the rest" — his translation of the sacred Scriptures into the 
 German language ; which was itself so luminously per- 
 spicuous as to supply the place of a commentary ; and yet 
 wanted not such an appendage in the brief but learned 
 annotations, and in the clear arguments of the several parts 
 which accompanied it. " It was Luther's desire," he finely 
 remarks, in perfect conformity with what we have just heard 
 from the reformer himself, " not to detain men upon his 
 own writings, but to lead them -to the original fountain of 
 truth. He wished them to hear the voice of God himself. 
 By that he desired to see true feith produced, and true prayer 
 called forth, that God might be glorified, and numerous 
 souls made heirs of eternal life." 
 
 Concerning the well-known work entitled " Luther's 
 Table Talk," which, though it may contain many amusing 
 and many good things, has yet been a fruitful source of 
 those absurd stories and extravagant sayings which have 
 greatly lovi'cred the character of Luther with many super- 
 ficial readers ; I sul»join the remark of Bishop Atterbury - 
 
SMALKALDIC WAR. 217 
 
 *' It is a book not received into the canon by the learned. 
 It depends purely on the credit of one Van Sparr, that tells a 
 blind story of his finding it in the ruins of an old house, 
 many years after Luther and Aurifaber, the pretended com- 
 piler, were dead ; but should it be genuine, yet no fair 
 adversary would urge loose table talk against a man in contro- 
 versy, and build serious inferences upon what perhaps was 
 spoken but in jest. It may serve to divert a reader, but is 
 not fit to convince him." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The War of Smalkald — Elector of Saxony deposed, and 
 - Maurice advanced in his room — Conduct of John Frederick 
 in Captivity — TAtf Interim established — Conduct ofMelano 
 thon. 
 
 It will easily be conceived how melancholy an impression 
 would be made upon all peaceable and pious minds by the 
 event of the 24th of July, 1546, when the diet of Ratisbon 
 broke up, and both parties openly prepared for war.* It is 
 interesting to be allowed to contemplate that impression, 
 softened and alleviated by a devout resignation, as it is 
 exhibited in the following letter of Melancthon to his friend 
 Camerarius, dated only four days after. 
 
 " I thank you for repeatedly endeavouring to abate my 
 sadness by your letters ; particularly because I see, that iii 
 doing this you endeavour to rise above your own distress, by 
 means of the consolations which God has provided for us. 
 I must confess, that under our common calamity, the thought 
 of your aftiiction often increases my own : but I entreat 
 you, continue to support yourself with these consolations. 
 Sooth your mind also in the society of your excellent wif6 
 and your sweet children. — Ah, but you will say. When I 
 look upon them it does but aggravate my anxiety. — True^ 
 it must do so sometimes. Yet consider that God makes 
 
 * For the details of the Smalkaldic war, the reader is referred t4 
 Robertson's Charles V., books viii. and ix. 
 Vol. II.-^T 
 
218 SMALKALDIC WAR. 
 
 the families of his servants the objects of his care, even 
 amid the ruin of empires. — The present is not the first 
 commencement of ray painful feeUngs, or of my conviction 
 that we should have to suffer oppression. Long since, as 
 you well know, I have been deeply affected by observing, 
 not only the fury of our enemies, but the vices and sins of 
 our own people. Though, therefore, my feelings are more 
 acute in this crisis of the calamity, yet, as in the case of 
 diseases of long continuance, I have become in some degree 
 prepared for it : and, while T revolve with myself all that is 
 urged concerning the causes of the war, the characters and 
 views of the leaders, the probable conduct of the military 
 enterprises, their result, and what may be the event of the 
 whole, I rest in the sentence of Gamaliel, ' If this counsel 
 or this work be of men, it will come to naught ; but, if it 
 be of God, ye cannot overthrow it :' and with earnest sighs 
 and prayers I seek a salutary issue for the church of God. 
 With my own private danger I am not much affected. 
 Should I lose my life, and thus afford some little triumph to 
 them that rejoice in iniquity (whose number, alas, is great 
 on every side), their triumphing will be short. In such 
 circumstances conscious uprightness is a great support. — 
 Some, I trust, have been enlightened by means of our 
 instructions — which would have been more unexceptionable, 
 but for the confusions of the times. — I have thus written 
 briefly to you, to relieve your anxiety for me. . . Events, 
 we may be assured, will be different from what either one 
 party or the other anticipates." 
 
 Melancthon had, no doubt, numbers throughout reformed 
 Germany to sympathize with him in these pious sentiments, 
 and in his sighs and prayers for the church, which, as his 
 numerous epistles testify, he was never weary of offering : 
 and such persons were the true " chariots and horsemen" 
 of their Israel, who did more for the cause in which they 
 were embarked, than the troops of the elector and the land- 
 grave could effect ; and w^ho, when the latter were defeated 
 and dispersed, still availed to bring about happy events, 
 *' different from what had been anticipated by either party." 
 
 The actual commencement of hostilities on the part of 
 the emperor was an event calculated to try the principle 
 and steadiness of all professed Protestants : and accord- 
 ingly, while it displayed the firmness of the Elector of Sax 
 
SMALKALDIC WAR. 219 
 
 ony and many chief members of the league, it detected the 
 weakness of some and the wickedness of others who still 
 avowed attachment to the Protestant cause. The empe- 
 ror's protestations, that he made not war on account of re- 
 ligion, but only to put down insubordination and to punish 
 rebellion, imposed upon some ; and furnished to others, who 
 ought, upon every principle of honour and religion, to have 
 appeared on the other side, a pretext for attaching them- 
 selves to him. Among those who weakly took part with 
 the emperor we may reckon John of Brandenburg,* Eric 
 of Brunswick, and George of Mecklenburg. Ulric of Wiir- 
 temburg and the city of Frankfort were also, at an early 
 period, so far overawed as to join them ; while Joachim 
 Elector of Brandenburg, and Frederic Elector Palatine 
 professed to stand neuter ; and Maurice of Saxony having, 
 with deliberate and too successful villany, formed the plan 
 of possessing himself, by means of these troubles, of the 
 dominions and dignities of the elector, avowed his reliance 
 on the emperor's word for the safety of religion, and 
 secretly entered into a treaty to support him in the contest. 
 In the Archbishop of Cologne, an aged ecclesiastic, who, 
 though a sincere Protestant, had never joined the league, 
 and was now also under sentence of deposition for his re- 
 ligion, the observance of neutrality, in obedience to the em- 
 peror's command, might well be excused. ^On the other 
 part, besides the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave 
 of Hesse, with the brother and the eldest son of the former, 
 Philip Duke of Brunswick, Calenburg and his four sons, 
 Francis Duke of Lunenburg, Wolfgang Prince of Anhalt, 
 Christopher Count Henneberg,t and Albert Count Mans- 
 feldt, openly ranged themselves. The city of Strasburg 
 also did itself immortal honour by the part it acted, both at 
 the commencement of the war and after its conclusion. To 
 it, in common with the other free cities in the Protestant 
 interest, the emperor addressed an insidious letter, profess- 
 ing to separate their cause from that of the princes of the 
 same persuasion ; representing that there existed a con- 
 spiracy against their liberties and those of Germany ; and 
 exhorting them to join him in putting down those traitorous 
 persons who were their common enpmies. The senate re- 
 
 * See p. 100 t See p. 153. ^ 
 
220 SMALKALDIC WAR. 
 
 plied, in dutiful but decided terms, advocating the cause of 
 the reformation, asserting the fidelity of the princes (of 
 which the emperor, they said, had had large experience in 
 the wars against the Turks), and insisting that he had been 
 taught to think injuriously of them by the pope and his ad- 
 herents, who were the real authors of the present counsels ; 
 and imploring him to pause and reflect before he involved 
 Germany in all the horrors of civil war. 
 
 After all the artifice practised and the secret preparations 
 made by the emperor, the zeal of the Protestants, when they 
 gaw war to be inevitable, anticipated him. They were 
 first ready, and in great force (amounting to 70,000 foot 
 and 15,000 horse), to take the field; and had it not been 
 for the hesitation with which men, and especially con- 
 scientious men, strike the first blow in a civil war, it seems 
 not improbable that they might have stormed his camp at 
 Ingoldstadt, and dispersed his half-collected army at the 
 very outset. Before this, also, Schertel, a soldier of for- 
 tune, and an ancestor of the historian Seckendorf, at the 
 head of some troops raised by the city of Augsburg, had the 
 prospect of cutting off, at Inspruck, the pope's forces on 
 their way to join the emperor ; but he was timidly or inju- 
 diciously recalled by the elector and the landgrave. 
 
 These were only specimens of the manner in which the 
 whole of the war was misconducted, in great measure in 
 consequence of that divided and co-ordinate authority vested 
 in two chiefs, and those of such different characters, which 
 has ever been found fatal to military operations. The great 
 object pursued by the emperor was, to decline a battle, and 
 by wearying out the patience of the confederates to induce 
 them to separate ; when his victory over each in succession 
 would be sure. And in this design he eventually succeeded 
 by the aid of Maurice. 
 
 When the elector quitted his own country to join the 
 confederates, he committed his dominions to the protection 
 of that prince— his next neighbour and his near relative, 
 who had received great obligations from him, and professed, 
 in common with himself, a zeal for the Protestant faith ; 
 and Maurice, who had concealed his engagements to the 
 emperor, with an artful appearance of friendship, undertook 
 the charge. No sooner, however, had the emperor inform- 
 ally and illegally put the elector and the landgrave to the 
 
SMALKALDIC WAR. 221 
 
 ban of the empire, than he sent Maurice a copy of his de- 
 cree, and required him, on pain of incurring similar penal- 
 ties, to seize and retain in his hands the forfeited estates 
 of the elector ; and Maurice, with whom it is probable the 
 whole matter had been previously concerted, did not scruple, 
 after some formalities observed for a decent show of reluc- 
 tance, to march into his kinsman's territories, and, with aid 
 received from Ferdinand King of the Romans, to attack and 
 defeat his troops, and to take all things under his own 
 administration. 
 
 This diversion had the desired effect. The elector, indig- < 
 nant at such treachery, and afflicted at the accounts which 
 he received of the sufferings endured by his subjects from 
 licentious Hungarian soldiers, accustomed to the merciless 
 modes of warfare practised against the Turks, became 
 impatient to return home. In consequence, about the end 
 of the year, the army of the confederates divided, and the 
 greater part returned into their own countries under their 
 respective leaders. The elector, indeed, succeeded in 
 immediately rescuing his territories from the invaders, and 
 in stripping Maurice for a time of nearly all his own domin- 
 ions ; but the separation of the army was th"^ ruin of the 
 cause. The emperor availed himself to the utmost of the 
 advantage given him, and, with the exception of the elector 
 and the landgrave, almost all the Protestant princes and 
 states were compelled to submit, to implore pardon in the 
 most humiliating manner, and to pay heavy fines for the 
 part they had taken. They were not allowed to make any 
 stipulation with regard to their religion : indeed, the sub- 
 ject was not permitted to be mentioned — in order to keep 
 up the emperor's pretence, that the war, on his part, had 
 no religious object. 
 
 On this painful occasion Melancthon writes to Cruciger, 
 February 13, 1547 : "At a time when our leaders had one 
 of the most glorious causes that the history of the world 
 presents, and when the eyes of all Europe were fixed upon 
 them, how lamentably have they disgraced themselves ! 
 But by these examples God admonishes us to look for 
 heavenly succour. In the confidence of obtaining it, let us 
 bear our calamities with patience." 
 
 Various circumstances for a time restrained the emperor 
 from marching into Saxony, but in the following spring 
 T2 
 
222 ADVANCEMENT OF MAURICE. 
 
 these obstacles were removed, and on the 24th of April he 
 engaged the elector at Muhlberg on the Elbe, defeated and 
 took him prisoner, and, in effect, terminated the war. Wit- 
 temberg, indeed, then esteemed one of the strongest places 
 in Germany, animated by the exhortations of the electress 
 — " a woman no less distinguished by her abilities than her 
 virtues" — still held out, and Charles was not in a condition 
 to make himself master of it. This appears to have sug- 
 gested to him the barbarous measure, intended to work upon 
 the feelings of the elector's family, of bringing that justly- 
 venerated prince to a mock trial, before a court-martial 
 composed of Spanish and Italian officers, with the unre- 
 lenting Duke of Alva at their head. By this court, simply 
 on the ground of the emperor's invalid decree, which pro- 
 claimed him a rebel and traitor, he was sentenced to death. 
 The unexpected personal danger of her beloved consort so 
 subdued the spirit of the electress, that she immediately 
 conjured him, by letters and messengers, to scruple no con- 
 cession for his own preservation, and the relief of the an- 
 guish of his family ; and the elector, who had been unmoved 
 by his own danger, was induced by regard to their feelings 
 to agree to terms of accommodation, to which he would not 
 otherwise have listened. He consented to resign abso- 
 lutely into the emperor's hands the electoral dignity, and to 
 put him in possession of Wittemberg and of such other 
 parts of his dominions as were yet unsubdued ; and, in re- 
 turn, Charles engaged to spare his life, and to settle on him 
 and his family the city of Gotha, and the small territory 
 attached to it, with an annual pension of fifty thousand 
 florins, to be paid out of the revenues of the electorate. He 
 himself was to remain a perpetual prisoner. 
 
 Maurice, as the reward of his iniquity, was immediately 
 put in possession of the electoral dominions, uaj some time 
 after solemnly invested with the electoral dignity — which 
 has ever since continued in the family of his brother, he 
 himself having left no male issue. Thus are the wicked 
 often permitted here to practise and prosper, and the right- 
 eous subjected to oppression ; but we shall see that the 
 good elector, even in bonds, was regarded with veneration, 
 and might justly have been considered as an object of envy, 
 in comparison with either his heartless conqueror or his 
 unprincipled relative — for both of whom chastisement was 
 preparing. 
 
JOHN FREDERIC IN CAPTIVITY. 223 
 
 The landgrave alone now remained in arms ; and he was 
 shortly after drawn, we may say trepanned, into submission. 
 The emperor required him to surrender upon conditions to 
 be dictated absolutely to him ; and he was at length pre- 
 vailed on, contrary to his own sentiments, to do it, having 
 the guarantee of Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg 
 for his personal liberty. In this, however, they, as well as 
 the landgrave himself, were deceived. After the most 
 abasing submissions in the emperor's presence, which were 
 received with unfeeling and insulting neglect, he was suf- 
 fered to retire, apparently at liberty, and was entertained 
 by the Duke of Alva : but when after supper he arose to 
 depart, the duke made known the orders he had received to 
 detain him ; and no intercessions, no representations what- 
 ever, could induce the emperor to release him, till after a 
 lapse of five years he was compelled to do it by the reverse 
 in his own affairs. 
 
 From these agitating, these irritating scenes, we turn to 
 what is of a very different character, and much more in ac- 
 cordance with the design of our history — the meekly mag- 
 nanimous, the sublimely Christian conduct of the late elector 
 John Frederic in captivity. AH authors agree in bestow- 
 ing this high praise upon him ; but I shall chiefly fol- 
 low Thuanus, who, being a Roman Catholic (though an 
 eminently fair and candid one), will be less suspected of 
 partiality than Protestant writers might be. 
 
 " The elector," sayg this excellent author, " was a great 
 man, and even by the testimony of his enemies, equal in 
 courtesy, liberality, prudence, and invincible fortitude, to 
 the most distinguished princes. In the judgment of all 
 ni-en, he rose superior to his adverse fortune by the con- 
 stancy of his mind." " Though irresolute in council, he 
 was bold in action." Accordingly, his conduct at Muhl- 
 berg, from the time that an engagement had become una- 
 voidable, is highly commended.. When, after discharging 
 the duties of a brave commander, wounded in the face, ex- 
 hausted with fatigue, and nearly deserted by his followers, 
 he surrendered himself a prisoner, he was conducted imme- 
 diately to the emperor. On approaching him, the elector 
 took off his glove, and was about to alight from his horse 
 that he might take the hand of the conqueror, as was the 
 
224 JOHN FREDERIC 
 
 custom in such cases ; but Charles spurned his approach. 
 *' I yield myself your prisoner, most gracious emperor," 
 said John Frederic, " and hope" — the emperor interrupted 
 him: "And am I now then your emperor? Charles of 
 Ghent was all you could lately call me." The elector un- 
 moved, resumed — " I hope to be treated according to my 
 rank." — " You shall be treated according to your desert," 
 was all the reply the emperor vouchsafed him, instantly 
 turning his back upon him. Ferdinand openly reproached 
 him, using expressions still more ungenerous and insulting. 
 The elector returned no answer, but with an unaltered coun- 
 tenance accompanied the soldiers appointed to guard him. 
 
 Duke Ernest of Brunswick was made prisoner with the 
 elector, and they were conveyed together in the same char- 
 iot, being led as it were in triumph after the emperor in his 
 further progress thro-^h Saxony. Such an exhibition of 
 the fallen elector was extremely afflicting to his subjects, 
 who both honoured and loved him. Mclancthon thus pa- 
 thetically notices his still accompanying the emperor wher- 
 ever he went, in the same manner, nearly a year and a half 
 afterward : " A criminal judge precedes the army of the 
 emperor, who is accompanied by the captives, and among 
 them by our captive prince. O sad spectacle ! It often 
 reminds me of the words, He was numbered with the trans- 
 gressors.''^ — " This indignity, however, was so far from 
 subduing the elector's spirit, that it did not even ruffle the 
 wonted tranquillity and composure of his mind." 
 
 This was strikingly illustrated when they arrived at 
 Torgau, on their way from Muhlberg to Wittemberg. This 
 town was adorned with one of the finest and most beautifully 
 situated castles in Germany, which had been a hunting-seat 
 of the Electors of Saxony. " Here," said the elector to the 
 Spanish officer who guarded him, " Here is something to 
 gratify Maurice, if his mind is at ease to enjoy it." His 
 companion Ernest expressing surprise, and a degree of 
 chagrin, that he should speak in this manner of his own 
 losses, he replied, " Why should I disquiet myself about 
 things of this nature, which even while we retain them can 
 hardly be called our own 1" When Ernest answered only 
 by a deep sigh, he turned to him, and said in a lower tone, 
 " I would gladly instill into your mind the sentiments which I 
 cherish in ray own, and which are well suited to calm our 
 
IN CAPTIVITY. 225 
 
 passions — to subdue our regrets, and resentments, and de- 
 sires of revenge. When any one is unable to preserve his 
 external goods against a more powerful assailant, he may- 
 still fortify his mind by lessons of wisdom, and thus rise 
 above his calamities, and even in captivity come off more 
 than conqueror over his victorious foe." 
 
 WTien the sentence of death, passed upon him by the 
 emperor's iniquitous court-martial, was made known to him, 
 he was amusing himself by playing at chess with his fellow- 
 captive. He paused for a moment, and without discovering 
 any symptom of surprise or terror, he observed, " So then, 
 if Wittemberg does not surrender, I must die — for I see 
 what is aimed at. Well, this does not dismay me. I wish 
 it may no more affect my wife and children, and friends, 
 and that they may not, for the sake of adding a few days 
 to a life already too long, renounce honours and possessions 
 to which they were born." He added, " I do not, how- 
 ever, prohibit their yielding something for the satisfaction 
 of their own feelings ; but let them not in their solicitude 
 for me, forget themselves." He then turned to his antago- 
 nist, whom he challenged to continue the game. He played 
 with his usual attention and ingenuity, and having beaten 
 Ernest, expressed all the satisfaction which is usually felt 
 on gaining such victories. After this, he withdrew to his 
 own apartment, that he might employ the rest of his time 
 in such religious exercises as were proper in his situation. 
 
 We have next to notice the deposed elector's invincible 
 adherence to his religious principles under all circumstances. 
 
 When the terms were proposed to him on which his life 
 should be spared, and some arrangement made for the benefit 
 of his family, one of the articles prescribed was, that he 
 should approve whatever the emperor, or the council of Trent, 
 should determine in matters of religion. But, while he con- 
 sented to resign all his earthly dignities and possessions, he 
 peremptorily rejected this article ; nor could even the fear 
 of immediate death induce him to listen to it ; so that the 
 haughty emperor was obliged to order it to be struck out. 
 
 When he had languished a year longer in captivity, and 
 the emperor had introduced, and was enforcing, his scheme 
 of religion called the Interim, Charles well knowing the in- 
 fluence which his prisoner's example would have with all the 
 Protestant party, laboured with the utmost earnestness to 
 
226 JOHN FREDERIC IN CAPTIVITY. 
 
 obtain his approbation of this formulary ; and, by employing 
 sometimes promises of setting him at liberty, sometimes 
 threats of greater harshness, he attempted alternately to 
 work upon his hopes and his fears : but it was all in vain. 
 " He was daily more and more confirmed," he said, " by the 
 study of the SacredWritings, in the truth of the doctrines he 
 had embraced ; and nothing could be more criminal in him 
 than to act contrary to this conviction : it would be no less 
 than the sin against the Holy Ghost, which can never be for- 
 given." He entreated the emperor, therefore, by all the mer- 
 cies of God in Christ, that he would not urge him to any such 
 violation of his duty, or misinterpret his refusal. He was not 
 actuated, he said, by vainglory, or by any other worldly con- 
 sideration — " for what was there of that nature which could 
 outweigh in his estimation (especially considering his age and 
 his habit of body)* the liberty of returning to repose at home 
 in the society of his beloved wife and children ] — but he aimed 
 simply at this one object, by the true worship and service of 
 God on earth to come at length to the enjoyment of his hea- 
 venly kingdom. In all things else he had ever been, and ever 
 would be, ready to consult the emperor's wishes, and as be- 
 came an upright man, and one of his quality, would faithfully 
 observe every engagement he had made to him." — This mag- 
 nanimous conduct drew upon him fresh marks of the empe- 
 ror's displeasure. Th^ rigour of his confinement was in- 
 creased ; the number of his servants abridged ; the chap- 
 lain, who had hitherto attended him, was obliged, from re- 
 gard to his own safety, to withdraw in disguise ; and even 
 the elector's books of devotion were taken from him. 
 
 Some time after, the emperor caused the displeasure which 
 he felt at the conduct of the elector's sons, in both rejecting 
 the Interim themselves, and allowing their preachers to im- 
 pugn it from the pulpit and the press, to be represented to 
 him, and desired that he would interpose his authority 
 with them in these respects. But the elector replied, that 
 he had before stated his own sentiments on the new scheme 
 of doctrine ; that they remained unaltered ; and that he 
 could not urge his children to do that which he could not 
 with a good conscience do himself. He entreated the em- 
 
 * Extremely corpulent and unwieldy. Yet Luther in one of hia 
 latest works extols the laborious diligence of the elector. 
 
JOHN FREDERIC LIBERATED. 227 
 
 peror therefore to view in a favourable light both his own 
 conduct and that of his sons. 
 
 Another trying scene, which would have been overpowering 
 to a worldly mind, served only to display still further his 
 equanimity and Christian charity. At the diet held at 
 Augsburg in the year 1548, Maurice was to be solemnly 
 invested with the electoral dignity, of which John Frederic 
 had been stripped ; and, as if in wanton mockery of the 
 deprived elector's feelings, this was done in the open mar- 
 ket-place within sight of his lodgings. His attention being 
 drawn by the acclamations of the people, he walked to the 
 window, and, for a short time viewing the spectacle, ob- 
 served, "With what exultation do the friends of Maurice 
 congratulate his advancement to the dignity of which I am 
 unjustly despoiled ! Well, may this change have so peace- 
 ful and happy a result, that they may never have to regret 
 the loss of me and my family." And he then returned to 
 the devotional reading in which he chiefly passed his lime. 
 
 After he had been dragged about, in the manner we have 
 seen, during more than five years, such changes took place 
 as no longer left the emperor any motive for detaining him. 
 He accordingly obtained his liberty, and took possession of 
 the small territory which had been reserved to his family, the 
 districts of Jena and Weimar having been added to that of 
 Gotha, in lieu of the pension originally stipulated. His re- 
 turn occasioned great joy to many, who had honoured him in 
 his prosperity, and no\v still more revered him for his conduct 
 under adversity. Melancthon thus celebrates the event, with 
 affectionate delight, in a letter to a friend. " Though pub- 
 lic congratulations will outstrip my letters, I must announce 
 to you that, through the goodness of God, the Duke of Sax- 
 ony, John Frederic, is with his wife and children in Thu- 
 ringia. His peaceful return is more glorious than a blood- 
 stained triumph. Posterity will recount this among the 
 proofs that God hears the sighs of the righteous, and relieves 
 their troubles even in this life." Of his conduct, and the 
 esteem in which he was held, after his return. Dr. Robert- 
 son says, "i\s in his new situation he continued to display 
 the same virtuous magnanimity for which he had been con- 
 spicuous in a more prosperous and splendid state, and which 
 he had retained amid all his sufferings, he maintained during 
 
228 DEATH OF JOHN FREDERIC. 
 
 the remainder of his life that high reputation to which he 
 had so just a title." 
 
 He survived his return only eighteen months, dying at 
 Weimar, March 3, 1554, at the age of fifty-one years, just 
 after he had concluded with Augustus, the brother and suc- 
 cessor of Maurice, an arrangement by which the electorate 
 was to revert to his family in case that prince should leave 
 no children. His wife (Sibylla of Cleves) died eleven days 
 before him, having obtained the desire of her heart ; for fre- 
 quently she had been heard to say, that she could die with 
 entire resignation, if she might but see her beloved husband 
 once more return home, in possession of his liberty. When 
 her tomb was preparing, he gave orders that a place should 
 be reserved for him by her side, saying, that he should soon 
 follow her. — >" They both," says Sleiden, "died in the true 
 knowledge of God :" and of the elector, in particular, he 
 observes, " Having heard a sermon as he lay on his bed, he 
 implored the Divine mercy, and commended his spirit into the 
 hands of God ; and thus departed out of this miserable life, 
 to enter into the heavenly state." 
 
 Of the sons of John Frederic nothing very memorable is 
 recorded, except that, at their father's suggestion, they 
 became the founders of the university of Jena, intended to 
 supply the loss of that of Wittemberg. The eldest passed 
 nearly thirty years in captivity, and ended his days in that 
 state, in consequence of an ill-advised attempt to retrieve the 
 affairs of his family. 
 
 It would have been highly gratifying to present any ac- 
 counts of the Landgrave of Hesse similar to those which we 
 have been reading of his old friend and ally : but, alas ! his 
 conduct in captivity in most points furnished a contrast to 
 that of the elector. The treachery indeed (for it deserves 
 no better name) by which he had been deprived of his 
 liberty, and the unfeeling cruelty with which his galling cap- 
 tivity was continued when no conceivable end remained to 
 be answered by it, rouse our indignation even at this dis- 
 tance of time : yet his unabated impatience under his 
 calamity, and the unworthy surrender even of his religious 
 principles, which he appears to have voluntarily offered, in 
 order to obtain his liberty, while they excite our deepest re- 
 gret, camiot escape our marked condemnation. He recov" 
 
THE LANDdRAVE. 229 
 
 ereJ his liberty about the same time with the Elector of 
 Saxony, and was reinstated in his dominions : but his suffer- 
 ings appear to have broken the vigour and extinguished the 
 activity of his mind. " From being the boldest, as well as 
 the most enterprising prince of the empire, he became the 
 most timid and cautious, and passed the remainder of his 
 days in a pacific indolence."* On the whole we cannot but 
 fear (and we express the sentiment in this connexion with 
 great pain) that in him, as compared with the good Elector 
 of Saxony, we see illustrated the wide difference between 
 the case of religion merely carrying conviction to the under- 
 standing, and calling forth the exertions of a mind naturally 
 stirring and active, and one in which it thoroughly takes 
 possession of the heart. In the former the time of trial will 
 discover the essential deficiency : and then very probably 
 even those useful qualities which seemed most natural and 
 inherent, not being supported by real Christian principle and 
 Divine grace, may fail ; while the other character, perhaps 
 originally less vigorous, " by waiting on the Lord renews 
 his strength," yea, " waxes stronger and stronger." — " The 
 lamp" of theelector we see burning brightly to the last, while 
 that of the landgrave apparently goes out. 
 
 But we return to the more public transactions of the times* 
 The emperor showed no moderation in his use of the victory 
 which he had obtained. Even before the battle of Muhlberg 
 he had assumed the style of a conqueror, and dictated his 
 own terms to the princes and cities which sought to make 
 peace with him. Immediately after the battle, Bohemia, 
 which had shown a disposition to assert the liberty that by 
 the constitution of its government belonged to it, and even 
 to assist the Elector of Saxony, was reduced under the most 
 absolute despotism of Ferdinand. In receiving the submis- 
 sion of the various states which were now compelled to bow 
 to the emperor's yoke, no mention, as we have seen, was 
 permitted to be made of religion. That whole subject was 
 reserved for the diet which met at Ulm on the 15th of June, 
 and, by adjournment, at Augsburg, on the 1st of September, 
 1547. In both places the assembly was surrounded by the 
 emperor's victorious troops, prepared to mould its sentiments 
 
 * Robertson. 
 Vol. II.— U 
 
230 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 to conformity with their master's wishes. Immediately on 
 entering Augsburg, Charles took possession of the cathedral 
 and some other churches, and, after they had been duly pu- 
 rified, restored the popish worship in them, so much in oppo- 
 sition to the wishes of the inhabitants, that it is said the 
 poorer classes were bribed to attend the service, lest the ab- 
 sence of a congregation should testify the feeling that pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 The demand which the emperor first made was, that all 
 should submit to the decisions of the council of Trent. The 
 Roman Catholic states were, of course, sufiiciently ready 
 to make this engagement ; and several of the Protestant 
 princes — Maurice, the Elector Palatine, and the Elector of 
 Brandenburg — from whom better things might have been 
 hoped, were induced to concur in it. Some, however, even 
 in these circumstances, were found to hold fast their integrity: 
 and with the cities the emperor was reduced to practise an 
 extraordinary artifice. They drew up a memorial of the con- 
 ditions on which they were willing to submit to the council, 
 comprising some of the principal stipulations for which the 
 Protestants had ever contended. When the paper was pre- 
 sented to him, he affected, ^'ithout ever looking at it, to con- 
 sider it as a declaration of unreserved submission, and 
 thanked them for their compliance with his wishes. 
 
 But on the subject of the council, ditficulties arose which 
 the emperor had not anticipated. Scarcely had Charles's 
 successes against the Protestants commenced, when the 
 pope became sensible of the danger to which he should be 
 exposed if the emperor became absolute master in Germany. 
 At the earliest period, therefore, that the engagements into 
 which he had entered v/ould allow, he withdrew his quota 
 of troops from the imperial army, and even began to project 
 an alliance with the King of France.* No longer daring to 
 trust a council assembled at Trent, where it would be ex- 
 posed to the emperor's influence, he translated it to Bologna, 
 where he might hope to have it under his own control : but, 
 as this removal must destroy all expectation of the council's 
 being acknowledged by the Germans, it was strenuously 
 opposed by the emperor and other princes ; which produced 
 
 * The emperor was seasonably relieved from danger from this quarter, 
 by the death of his old rival Francis I., IMarcti 31, \bi1. Henry VIII. of 
 England had died two months before. 
 
THE INTERIM. 231 
 
 a schism in the council itself, such of the fathers as were 
 under the emperor's influence pertinaciously remaining at 
 Trent, while the rest departed to Bologna. Much alterca- 
 tion ensued, which issued in an indefinite adjournment of 
 the assembly :.nor were any means found for adjusting the 
 dift'erence, and bringing the council again into action, till 
 more than four years after, when Julius III. had succeeded 
 Paul III. in the papal chair, and the season of enforcing 
 its decrees was past. 
 
 Thus disappointed in his views from this quarter, Charles, 
 for the purpose of establishing peace and uniformity in re- 
 ligion throughout Germany, resolved on a measure which 
 as much astonished the devoted Romanists, as it proved op- 
 pressive to the Protestants. This was no other than bring- 
 ing forward to be sanctioned by the diet, and thus enforced 
 in the empire, a scheme of religion well known by the name 
 of the Interim — from its being proposed to be continued in 
 force only till the decision of a satisfactory general council 
 could be had. The persons whom Charles employed to 
 draw up this formulary were Pflug, Bishop of Naumburg, 
 Heldingus, made the year following Bishop of Mersburg, 
 and Agricola Islebius ; the two former Romanists of some 
 moderation, and the latter little better than an apostate 
 Lutheran.* The work was such as might be expected 
 from its authors. " Its contents," says Thuanus, " were 
 agreeable to the hitherto received doctrine of the Roman 
 Catholic church, except that it did not utterly condemn the 
 marriage of the priests, or entirely reject communion in 
 both kinds." It was drawn up, however, very much upon 
 the plan of the book submitted seven years before to the diet 
 of Ratisbon, and of Gropper's scheme of reformation for 
 Cologne ;t and consequently was " expressed, for the most 
 part, in the softest words, or in Scriptural phrases, or in 
 terms of studied ambiguity." 
 
 Before it was publicly brought forward, the Interim was 
 submitted to the examination of select persons. Bucer 
 being sent for from Strasburg by the Elector of Branden- 
 
 * " Suspected not without reason," says Robertson, " of having been 
 gained by bribes and promises, to betray or mislead his party on this 
 occasion." 
 
 tSee p. 104, 142. 
 
232 THE INTERIM. 
 
 burg, who now " made it his study to please the emperor,"* 
 was pressed both by him and Granvelle, the emperor's chief 
 minister, to subscribe it ; and, on his refusing to do so, it 
 was not without danger of his life that he had made his 
 escape and returned home. A copy of the work was also 
 sent to Rome, where a great outcry was made against the 
 emperor's presumption in adventuring to meddle with such 
 subjects, as well as against some things contained in the 
 book. The aged pope, however, more sagacious from long 
 experience in affairs, only wondered that Charles could be 
 so elated by one victory, as to imagine that he could dictate 
 the faith of both parties ; predicted, that " what all would 
 impugn and none defend" must soon fall ; and in the mean 
 time, with consummate artifice, affecting to believe that 
 Charles, as a secular prince, was not pretending to prescribe 
 articles to the faithful, to which they were to lower down 
 their belief, but only to the heretics articles to which they 
 must rise in order to be tolerated, he urged an explicit declar- 
 ation to that effect. With regard to the two points of the 
 marriage of priests and the giving of the cup to the laity, he 
 observed, that it belonged only to himself to grant dispensa- 
 tions to that effect ; that, " if the emperor took upon him to 
 allow them as lawful, he would grievously offend Almighty 
 God ; but that, holding them unlavvful, he might yet permit 
 them to the heretics as the less of two evils." t 
 
 The emperor having consulted with the ecclesiastical 
 electors, corrected the book as he judged fit, and proposed 
 it in the diet, March 15, 154S ; when, either by previous 
 concert with the emperor, or of his own instance, the Arch- 
 bishop of Mentz, the premier elector, rising up immediately 
 after it had been read, and before any of the members had 
 the opportunity of expressing their sentiments upon it, 
 returned thanks to the emperor, in the name of the diet, for 
 
 * We trace with pain the declension, if not even defection of Joachim 
 Elector of Brandenburg: and our pain is not alleviated by discovering 
 that there were interested motives which might lead to it. He sought to 
 have his son admitted under the sanction of the emperor and the pope 
 to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, to which he had been elected by the 
 chapter. How great is the danger arising from " loving this present 
 world !" How great also the folly of so doing ! The elector sncceeded 
 in the object of his ambition— but his son scarcely survived his fall 
 admission to his new digoitv. 
 1- Father Paul. 
 
THE INTERIM. 233 
 
 his paternal and provident care for them in the important 
 matter of religion and the peace of the empire. Every one 
 was astonished, but no one ventured to express his surprise : 
 to so servile a state were the princes of Germany reduced ! 
 and the emperor alfecting to consider the archbishop's 
 address as the ratification of the diet, closed the business, 
 and enrolled the Interim among the solemn decrees of the 
 empire. 
 
 The Interim met with the fate it deserved, afid which 
 might have been anticipated. " It was rather rejected by 
 all," says F. Paul, " than accepted by any : and that did 
 follow which doth ordinarily happen to him that would 
 unite contrary opinions — he maketh both parties agree to 
 impugn his sentiments, and each man obstinate in maintain- 
 ing his own." 
 
 The emperor, however, spared no pains to procure or 
 enforce an external compliance with it. Among the Protest- 
 ant princes, we regret to state that Joachim of Branden- 
 burg, and Frederic Elector Palatine made no scruple of 
 receiving it. XJlric of Wiirtemburg, also, whose country 
 was filled with Spanish garrisons, acquiesced in it. Maurice 
 of Saxony, contrary to what is frequentl}'^ stated, never gave 
 an unconditional assent to the Interim, nor ever established 
 it in his country. He told the emperor that he could not do 
 it consistently with his express engagements to his subjects ; 
 and he pleaded Charles's own promises relative to religion. 
 Immediately after it had passed the diet he left Augsburg, 
 and called an asseml)ly of his states to communicate to them 
 what had taken place, and to consider how far they could 
 concur in it. After repeated meetings, wherein the question 
 of submission to authority in things indifferent, which sub- 
 sequently produced very serious controversies, was first 
 moved, a form of religion for his territories was agreed upon 
 at Leipzig.* — There were not wanting, however, princes who 
 
 * Dr. Robertson has here given currency to a very erroneous statement 
 of Maurice's conduct on the subject of religion. He says, " As he knew 
 Charles to be inflexible with regard to the submission which he required 
 Jo the Interim, he did not hesitate one moment whether he shouht, 
 establish that form of doctrine and worship in his dominions." And he 
 makes the assembly of the states of Saxony at Leipzig, to be held for the 
 purpose simply of " laying the Interim before them, together with the 
 reasons which made it necessary to conform to it," and thus " rendering 
 U2 
 
234 PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 though possessed of very inferior power, made a manly and 
 honourable stand against the emperor's impositions. Among 
 these John Marquis of Brandenburg-Anspach,* brother to 
 the elector, and Wolfgang Duke of Deuxponts, of the 
 Palatine family, are distinguished. — The successful firm- 
 ness of Count Henneberg has been before related. — John 
 of Brandenburg, partly from resentment at the treatment 
 which Henry of Brunswick, his father-in-law, had met with 
 from the Protestants, had joined the emperor in the war. 
 He now pleaded with him his services; v the reliance he had 
 placed on Charles's promises concerning religion ; the in- 
 formality of the decree establishing the Interim ; and his 
 inability conscientiously to comply with it ; and so pertina^ 
 ciously did he adhere to these points, that the emperor 
 seeing he was not to be wrought upon, bade him begone from 
 Augsburg, fearing that he would influence others also. He 
 accordingly departed immediately, and m.ade no alteration 
 of religion within his territories. — The Duke of Deuxponts 
 being frequently pressed upon the subject, frankly told the 
 emperor, " That he had hitherto known no religion but 
 that in which he was brought up ; that he had examined it, 
 and was convinced of its accordance with the Word of God ; 
 that he should wound his conscience, and risk the safety of 
 his soul, if he consented to all parts of the Interim ; that 
 the same was the opinion of his divines ; and that he could 
 not think of compelling them to go contrary to their con- 
 sciences." Here too a bold and faithful avowal of principle 
 was crowned with success, and no farther engagement 
 appears to have been exacted of the duke, than that he 
 would conform as far as he conscientiously could. — The 
 sons and the subjects of the Landgrave of Hesse appear also 
 to have successfully refused the Interim. 
 
 But it was in the case of the free cities that the emperor's 
 tyranny was especially exerted. In them the doctrines of 
 the reformation had taken the deepest root. In them also, 
 by the constitution of their government, principles of liberty 
 obnoxious to one who aspired at absolute monarchy were 
 
 their obedience a voluntary deed of their own." In the same paragraph 
 he also very injuriously misrepresents the conduct of Melancthon, who, 
 as we shall see, while he concurred in the formulary of Leipzig, would 
 hold no terms with the Interim. 
 * See p.,100. 
 
PERSECUTIONS. 235 
 
 most prevalent. Could they have united their counsels and 
 their resources, they might have made their wishes to be 
 respected : but their dispersed situation rendered this im- 
 practicable, and Charles determined to put down opposition 
 in each of them separately, before combination could be 
 attempted among them. Hence Augsburg, Ulm, Halle in 
 Suabia, with Strasburg, Constance, and other cities, suffered 
 great oppression. In Augsburg, being master of every 
 thing, he abolished the existing form of government ; dis- 
 solved all the corporations and fraternities ; and displaced 
 the magistrates, substituting for them creatures of his own, 
 each of whom was sworn to observe the Interim. He next 
 proceeded to Ulm, and besides effecting like changes there, 
 carried off in chains Martin Frecht, and such others of the 
 ministers as refused to comply with his enactments. These 
 examples produced their effect in procuring the submission 
 of the neighbouring cities ; in consequence of which most 
 of the Protestant ministers were compelled to quit their 
 stations. Suabia, which was occupied in every part by 
 Spanish troops, suffered most severely. '' We hear," says 
 Melancthon, " of dreadful devastation in some of the 
 churches. In Suabia and on the Rhine more than four hun- 
 dred pastors have been expelled, and some of them murdered. 
 Every species of violence is committed. The churches are 
 shut up, and there is no one left even to baptize the chil- 
 dren. At Tiibingen (in Wiirtemberg) all the pastors and 
 preachers are driven away, and only one priest left ; who, 
 in compliance with the directions of the Interim, has restored 
 the mass. Such is the golden age which Agricola and his 
 coadjutors promised us !" " The city of Ratisbon entreated 
 the emperor that their church might not be disturbed. He 
 answered by expelling in one day seven ministers of the 
 gospel, and closing the sacred edifices." 
 
 Strasburg, which had been under the necessity of sub- 
 mitting to the emperor's authority one month only before 
 the battle of Muhlberg, now distinguished itself by a noble, 
 and not altogether unsuccessful, opposition to his dictates 
 on the subject of religion. The senate pleaded against the 
 reception of the Interim in a manner which ought to have 
 commended itself at once to the understanding and the heart 
 of every reasonable being. They urged that they desired 
 
236 PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 nothing so much as to gratify the emperor, but that to com- 
 ply in this instance would be to do violence to their con- 
 sciences, to offend Almighty God, and to endanger their sal- 
 vation. They entreated him therefore, that he would not, in 
 a case which concerned not lands and goods, of any earthly 
 matter, but their everlasting w'ell-being, compel them " to 
 say with their mouths what their hearts did not think ;" 
 that this was contrary to all the hopes which he himself had 
 held out to them, and to the constant reference which had 
 been made by all preceding diets of such questions to a 
 general and free council. 
 
 How just and striking is the description here given, in 
 few words, of the only object which persecution can ever 
 hope to accomplish — to make men " say with their mouths 
 what their hearts do not think." How infotuated the mind 
 which can pursue so worthless an object at such a cost I 
 And how detestably cruel ancfdiabolical to exact this of our 
 fellow-men, in despite of all the arguments and entreaties 
 they can use, when to their own apprehension, at least, 
 their " everlasting welfare" depends upon' their refusal ; 
 and when no rational being, however strong his own per- 
 suasion on the other side may be, can ever imagine it pos- 
 sible, that their salvation should be promoted by such a 
 constrained and merely external compliance as he can 
 exact. 
 
 Still, however, the heartless trampler on all rights human 
 and divine had no other answer to return to this forcible 
 appeal of the" senate of Strasburg than this, " That they 
 must comply or take the consequences." But they were 
 not to be silenced : they persevered in entreaty and expos- 
 tulation, till at length the emperor told them that they might 
 settle the affair with their bishop : and with him, after 
 immense difficulty, they did so far succeed as to establish a 
 compromise, by which they ceded three of their churches, 
 and retained the rest, with their own ministers to officiate 
 in them. — It was in the midst of these struggles at Stras- 
 burg that Bucer and Paul Fagius retired from the scene, 
 and accepted the invitation which Cranmer had given them 
 to remove into England. 
 
 The city of Constance was less fortunate. It had never 
 yet made its peace with the emperor for the part it had 
 taken in the late contest. When, therefore, its senate 
 
STATE OF RELIGION. 237 
 
 pleaded in the same way with that of Strasburg against the 
 Interim, he despatched a body of Spanish troops to surprise 
 the city ; but these having failed in the attempt, he put the 
 place to the ban of the empire, and not only reduced it to 
 receive the Interim, but deprived it of its privileges as a free 
 city, and subjected it henceforward to the house of Austria. 
 Its ministers were compelled to quit the place. 
 
 The reflections of Melancthon and his friends in the 
 midst of these scenes are such as we might have expected 
 from their piety and wisdom. " The dangers of the church," 
 says that excellent man, in a letter in which he notices the 
 death of his valued friend Cruciger on the first of Decem- 
 ber, 1548, " are such that we evidently cannot be saved by 
 human intervention. Indeed all human protection is with- 
 drawn. Nothing remains for us but a pious confession of 
 the truth by individuals, and earnest prayers to Almighty 
 God." 
 
 The scenes which we have been reviewing are melan- 
 choly ; and the face of Germany was, no doubt, for the 
 present changed for the worse by the event of the war ; yet, 
 still the change would be greater in appearance than in 
 reality. The deposition of John Frederic, indeed, and the 
 substitution of such a prince as Maurice in his place, was a 
 serious loss to the cause of true religion : and it is grievous 
 to find in the tergiversation, or the temporizing policy, of 
 Joachim of Brandenburg, Frederic Elector Palatine, and 
 others, that the best days of religion among persons of that 
 rank in Germany were past! Yet still we may feel assured, 
 that, as previously more religion would appear on the page 
 of history than really existed, so now more would exist than 
 openly appeared. While no great sacrifices were actually to 
 be made, and the temporal privileges of princes were asserted 
 in contending for their religious ones, many were ready to 
 take that side, who failed, or even proved themselves unsound 
 in the day of trial. We have seen also in repeated instances, 
 what heavy complaints the pious reformers made of the 
 inconsistent conduct of numbers who professed the Pro- 
 testant faith.* No doubt the church needed to be sifted 
 
 * Let the insults which Roman Catholics never cease to offer to Prot- 
 eatants on this ground, be checked by the testimony of one of their own 
 
238 STATE OF RELIGION. 
 
 and purified. As our own Archbishop Cranmer remarked 
 on this very occasion for the warning of his countrymen: 
 *' In Germany, although the gospel had shed its glorious 
 light, yet a large proportion of such as were within reach 
 of its beams had refused to reform their lives according to 
 its direction. Hence, it is said, have these unrepenting 
 converts been delivered over to imperial and papal oppres- 
 sion." Still, however, there were found persons even in 
 the highest class of society, who stood firm, and made a 
 fiiithfal protest. Whole senates contended for the truth, 
 and numerous pious ministers and others patiently suffered 
 for it : and, even where corrupt doctrines and superstitious 
 rites were publicly enforced, the sentiments of the people 
 remained unaltered. The rending asunder of the endeared 
 connexion between faithful pastors and their flocks, wherever 
 it took place, was a mournful event : j^et thousands, thus 
 deprived of public ordinances in which they could conscien- 
 tiously join, would worship God even with increased devout- 
 ness in private. " The Lord knoweth them that are his," 
 although the histories of the church no longer notice them. 
 Such persons in these troublous times would " speak often 
 one to another ;" and " a book of remembrance would be 
 written before him" in their favour : and for their sakes we 
 may conclude, was that happy revolution vouchsafed (as 
 surprising as any on record), wliich we shall have to relate 
 in the next chapter. " The rod of the wicked shall not rest 
 on the lot of the righteous," so as to cause them to be 
 *' tempted above that they are able ;" but " with every 
 temptation a way to escape" shall be provided for them, 
 *' that they may be able to bear it." 
 
 After settling in this manner the affairs of Germany, the 
 emperor proceeded, in the autumn of the year 1548, to visit 
 his hereditary dominions in tlie Netherlands, — to receive 
 there his son Philip from Spain, and to introduce the young 
 prince to the homage of his future subjects. Here he was 
 
 party. The Bishop of AUfi. preaching before the council of Trent in its 
 twenty-third session, "spake of the faith and manners of the heretics 
 and Catholics, and said, that ' as the faith of ttie Catholics was better, 
 flo the heretics did exceed them bi good life ;'' which did giveniuch dis- 
 taste, especially to those who remembered the saying of our Saviour and 
 of St. James, that faith is not showed but by works."— F. Paul. 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 239 
 
 labouring, though happily his efforts were defeated, to es- 
 toblish the Inquisition ; and, on quitting the country in the 
 following spring, he left behind him a most detestable per- 
 secuting edict, which was immediately published in both the 
 Flemish and French languages. Happily it was found that 
 this edict, if carried into effect, would prove ruinous to the 
 interests of a trading country : and on this ground chiefly, 
 or even solely, it was for that time superseded by Mary of 
 Austria, the emperor's sister, who governed the country in 
 his name ; and afterward, on her representation, it was 
 somewhat moderated by Charles himself.* It may be re- 
 membered, however, to our comfort, that this very period 
 of the threatened suppression of Protestantism on the con- 
 tinent was that of its triumph, under Edward VI., in 
 England. . - ' 
 
 But the reader will naturally desire to learn what, amid 
 these changing and turbulent scenes, were the conduct and 
 fate of Meiancthon — the most interesting character, after 
 Luther was removed, that Germany could boast. What 
 were his feelings at the commencement of the war has been 
 already shown from his private correspondence. When the 
 war was carried into Saxony by Maurice's invasion of that 
 country, in the autumn of 1546, the university of Wittem- 
 berg was dispersed ; and Meiancthon, in common with 
 many other learned and pious men, was driven out to seek 
 a retreat where he might be able to find it. Zerbst, in the 
 principality of Anhalt, was the place at which he chiefly 
 passed his time, under the anxious protection of the princes 
 of that house : but, as soon as the war was terminated, he 
 embraced the earliest opportunity of returnhig to Wittem- 
 berg, and preferred continuing there to either accepting the 
 offers made him by Maurice of an advantageous settlement 
 in the university of Leipzig, or joining the new establish- 
 ment of the sons of John Frederic at Jena. Maurice sent 
 for Meiancthon, Bugenhagen, and Cruciger, treated them 
 with kindness, and committed to them the administration 
 of the affairs both of the church and the university ; assigned 
 
 * Father Paul states, that in the Low Countries, " from the first edict 
 of Ciarles V." to the peace of 1558, " there were hanged, beheaded, 
 buried alive, and burned, to the number of 50,000," for their religion. 
 
240 CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 
 
 them salaries, and desired them to proceed as they had been 
 accustomed to do. 
 
 On such conditions they thankfully accepted his proposals : 
 and to some who objected to their conduct, Melancthon re- 
 plied, *'I have come hither, not to join the party of our 
 enemies, but to succour a mourning church." 
 
 In every thing that concerned religion Melancthon was 
 consulted by Maurice. In the year 1548, that prince held 
 no less than eight conventions of his states on the subject, 
 and three in the year following ; at all of which, except the 
 first, and a private meeting of the princes, where certain 
 articles were sanctioned, Melancthon was present, and drew 
 up most of the papers which were adopted or considered in 
 them. He incurred, it is true, much censure for the con- 
 cessions here made ; and, from the manner in which his 
 conduct is generally spoken of, it would be inferred that he 
 had been induced actually to countenance the Interim,* 
 But so far was this from being the case, that I should rather 
 affirm his opposition to that formulary to have been heroic, 
 both when it was previously submitted to his examination, 
 and after it was adopted and published by authority. To 
 this the numerous papers relative to it, written by him in 
 conjunction with his colleagues, bear ample testimony. Of 
 these papers some are private, for his own use ; some, let- 
 ters to friends, or lo learned and religious bodies ; some, 
 formal memorials to Maurice and his ministers, and other 
 persons in authority : some are in his own name alone, and 
 some are signed jointly by him and one or more of his friends 
 and coadjutors, Bugenhagen, Cruciger, Major, Pfeffinger, 
 and Froschelius : some are brief, while some follow the In- 
 terim from article to article, passing the just censure upon 
 each. A spirit of combined firmness and moderation per- 
 vades them. They avow a readiness on the part of those 
 whose signatures they bear to concur in any thing tolerable, 
 where ritual matters only were concerned, and advise the 
 elector not to make a stand on some things which it might 
 yet have been wished had been different : but on all the 
 great points at issue — on justification, on the invocation of 
 saints, on the necessity of the particular confession of sins 
 
 * See Robertson, iv. 14, 1-5. The reference to this passage is thus 
 made in Robertson's index, under the name of Melancthon : — " Is pre- 
 vailed on to favour the Interim I" See note, p. 233. 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 241 
 
 to man in order to the pardon of them by God, on the sacri- 
 fice of the mass, private masses, and masses for the dead — 
 on all these and other topics they declare that the writers 
 can never acquiesce in what the book prescribes ; and that 
 they will suffer banishment, imprisonment, or death rather 
 than ever consent to it. From the first, Melancthon de- 
 nounced the idea of establishing such a formulary by law, 
 as " an infatuated project," which would multiply, instead 
 of healing divisions ; nay, would fill the country with insur- 
 rections and tumults : the very stones, he said, would cry 
 out against it ; it would disgrace the German churches in 
 the eyes of all the world, and could never be supported but 
 by manifest tyranny and unrelenting persecution. He im- 
 plores Almighty God, therefore, that such pernicious coun- 
 sels might never be adopted. In short, his opposition to it 
 was so loud and vehement that the emperor, regarding him 
 as the most formidable individual adversary that he had to 
 encounter, ordered him to be seized and delivered up to him, 
 as " an enemy of the public peace." He was screened, 
 however, by Maurice, who appears to have secreted him for 
 some time in a monastery at Zell on the Muldaw, as the 
 Elector Frederic had done Luther in the castle of Wartburg. 
 But, as far as his own private dangers were concerned, Me- 
 lancthon was unmoved amid the storm. " If! am called upon 
 to answer," he writes to Camerarius, " though I find that 
 the emperor is enraged against me, I shall simply say that I 
 cannot assent to such delusions. And I will not assent to 
 
 them I will do to the end as I have hitherto done. 
 
 Wherever I go I will express the sam.e sentiments ; I will 
 aim to carry about with me a heart lifted up to God ; and I 
 will yet retain my wonted moderation, and avoid exciting 
 seditions." The closing sentence will be better understood 
 when it has been seen how the writer was assailed by men 
 of his ow^n party, for whom he did not go far enough, as 
 well as by those of the- opposite party, for whom he went 
 much too far. 
 
 But the point on which Melancthon especially gave dis- 
 satisfaction and offence to many of his brethren (who after- 
 ward affected the name of gemmie Lutherans) was his 
 maintaining that in things purely indifferent it was lawful, 
 even in matters of religion, to submit to the commands of an 
 earthly superior. The difficulties attending this position, 
 
 Voi..n.-x 
 
242 CONDUCT OF MELAXCTHON. 
 
 and the abuse to which it may be liable, from the latitude 
 with which the term indifferent may be interpreted, are ob- 
 vious : they gave rise at this time to a fierce controversy in 
 Germany, characterized by the appellation adiajphoristic, or 
 indifferenlial. The spirit manifested by Melancthon's op- 
 ponents will now be universally condemned. " Rather than 
 yield submission," exclaimed Flacius of Magdeburg, "we 
 ought to see the churches desolated, and to terrify our rulers 
 with the dread of insurrections." With a great majority of 
 readers the question of interest will relate rather to the ex- 
 tent to which Melancthon carried his concessions under the 
 name of conformity in things indifferent, than to the prin- 
 ciple itself which he thus admitted. The current repre- 
 sentation, or rather misrepresentation, of modern writers 
 may be given in the words of Dr. Robertson : " Many of 
 the Protestant ecclesiastics whom Maurice consulted, pro- 
 ceeded to class among the number of things indifferent, 
 several doctrines which Luther had pointed out as gross 
 and pernicious errors in the Romish creed ; and, placing in 
 the same rank many of those rites which distinguished the 
 reformed from the popish worship, they exhorted their people 
 to comply with the emperor's injunctions concerning these 
 particulars." 
 
 The representations of Mosheim, particularly as exagger- 
 ated in the translation and notes of Maclaine, are still more 
 grossly injurious. " The natural temper of Melancthon 
 was soft and flexible ; his love of peace almost excessive ; 
 and his apprehensions of the displeasure and resentment of 
 men in power were such as betrayed a pusillanimous spirit.* 
 .... His sentiments on some points of no inconsiderable 
 moment were entirely different from those of Luther. . . . 
 
 * Dr. Mosheim has elsewhere spoken of Melancthon in much more just 
 and worthy terms. " His Immane and gentle spirit was apt to sink into 
 akind of yielding softness imder tlie inflJience of mild and generous treat- 
 ment. And, accordingly, while his adversaries sootlied him with fair 
 words and flattering promises, he seemed to melt as they spoke, and in 
 some measure to comply will) tiieir demands ; but when they so far forgot 
 themselves as to make use of imperious language and menacing terms, 
 then did Melancthon appear in a very diflferent point of light ; then a 
 spirit of intrepidity, ardour, and independence animated all his words 
 and actions, and he looked down with contempt on the threats of power, 
 the favours of fortune, and the fear of death. The truth is, that in this 
 great and good man, a sofl and yielding temper was joined with the 
 most inviolable fidelity, and the most invincible attachment to the 
 truth.'' 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 243 
 
 The ideas of the latter concerning faith as the only cause 
 of salvation, concerning the necessity of good works to our 
 final happiness," &c., were among those on which Melanc- 
 thon ditfered from him. Again : though Melancthon " did 
 not entirely conceal his sentiments during the life of Luther, 
 he delivered them, nevertheless, with great circumspection 
 and modesty, yielding always to the authority of his col- 
 league, for whom he had a sincere friendship, and of whom 
 also he stood in awe. But no sooner were the eyes of 
 Luther closed, than he inculcated, with the greatest plain- 
 ness and freedom, what he had before only hinted at with 
 timorousness and caution." Maclaine makes his author to 
 add, that, " by the counsel and influence of Melancthon 
 every thing relating to the Interim had been conducted."* 
 — Yet further : " In the class of matters indifferent, this 
 great man and his associates placed many things which had 
 appeared of the highest importance to Luther. . . . For he 
 regarded as such the doctrine of justification by faith alone, 
 the necessity of good works to eternal salvation, the number 
 of the sacraments," &c.t 
 
 The great injustice of these charges may be inferred from 
 what has been already stated. The minute investigation 
 of the subject (for which the reader must be referred to an- 
 other place)t would more fully establish the fact. But 
 here our proofs must necessarily be brief. The article of 
 the Interim concerning justification, Melancthon and his 
 friends affirmed, subverted the very foundations of true doc- 
 trine. It taught, " that faith is only our preparation for 
 justification : that love follows, and by it a man is (made) 
 righteous," or justified. "This," say they, " is all one 
 with making us righteous for the sake of our own works 
 and virtues : and thus the light of the true doctrine, that a 
 
 * I had formed conjectures as to the sense in whirh this could, by any 
 possibility be meant ; but tliey are superfluous, for Mosheim here makes 
 no mention of the Interim ! The words are inserted by the translator, 
 who in ttie other passages goes (as he very frequently does) beyond the 
 original. 
 
 t Calvin, along with others, was drawn in to censure Melancthon as 
 to the particulars which he admitted into the list of " things indifferent :" 
 but it is clear that he did it chiefly on the report of others, and Beza tells 
 us Calvin afterward found ttiat tie had been misinformed. Indeed his 
 own principles and practice appear to have differed little from those of 
 Melancthon upon this sutiject. See Continuation of Milner, ii. p. 49, 50, 
 jandiii. p. 353,354, 392-395. 
 
 X Continuation of Milner, ii. p. 48-71, and preface, p. xv-jvii. 
 
244 CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 
 
 man is accounted righteous, and accepted of God, only for 
 the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, is extinguished, 
 and the darkness and errors of past ages are introduced 
 again." "St. Paul's words, 'V/e are justified by faith,' 
 are here made to mean, By faith we are prepared to receive 
 somewhat else whereby we are justified. Thus is a man led 
 away from Christ, to reliance on himself, and deprived of 
 the consolation provided for him in the Son of God." They 
 readily admit, indeed, that penitence, love, and other graces 
 must coexist with faith, and obedience follow in the justi- 
 fied man, yet not these things but his faith in Christ, or re- 
 liance on him alone, justifies him. " It is no strife of words, 
 therefore," they contend, "to say, that by faith only we are 
 justified. Other virtues must be in us, but we place not 
 our confidence in them (for they are all weak and imper- 
 fect), but only in the Son of God." 
 
 The necessity of this doctrine they feelingly and beauti- 
 fully trace out. " This is the immutable truth of the gos- 
 pel, plain and easy to be understood, and necessary to be 
 kept constantly in view in all our attempts to approach 
 unto God. When you pray, it will not prove sufficient for you 
 to look into yourself, and require the existence of love and 
 other virtues (though they must exist there) ; but, besides 
 these feeble and imperfect graces, we must possess this 
 true consolation, namely, an affiance in the Mediator, and a 
 belief that God is assuredly ready to accept us, and to hear 
 our cries and groans, and not to reject us. And this con- 
 fidence must be rested on the Son of God, and not on our 
 own holiness and Christian graces. All our virtues in this 
 life are weak and imperfect, and much evil and corruption 
 remain in our hearts. We must needs therefore fly to the 
 Mediator, lay hold on him, and seek grace and mercy 
 through him. — We are filled with horror at the view of the 
 greatness of our own sins and miseries, and therefore are 
 compelled, when we would find peace of mind, to fly to the 
 one only Propitiator, whom God in infinite mercy and wisdom 
 hath proposed to us: ana then, as the apostle testifies, 
 ♦ Being justified by faith we have peace with God.' " 
 
 And this doctrine they affirm " had not at any time 
 been wholly lost ; though the devil, from the very time of 
 Adam's fall and recovery, had never relaxed his efibrts to 
 suppress it. Even when most obscured, it was yet to be 
 traced in the experience, the spiritual exercises, of all pious 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 245 
 
 Kumble minds. In the Protestant churches it was now so 
 thoroughly known and received, that the errors of the In- 
 terim would be readily detected, and scarcely an individual 
 would be found to listen to that work." 
 
 The rejection of the true doctrine by those who compiled 
 the Interim is traced, in great measure, to their erroneous 
 views of the nature of faith. They understood by it no- 
 thing more thap a mere historical assent. Hence they main- 
 tained that faith might exist without love, and in persons 
 who were living in sin ; and " that this is still no less faith, 
 if only it acknowledge right doctrine." And hence again, 
 in manifest contradiction to the Scriptures, they scarcely 
 reckoned faith among the graces of the Spirit at all. 
 
 The passages which speak the determination of the wri- 
 ter and his friends to adhere to the truth, and to reject so 
 insidious a work as the Interim, by whatever power im- 
 posed, are numerous and striking. " To renounce the 
 truth of the gospel, after having clearly known it, and to 
 join ourselves with those who persecute it, would amount 
 to the unpardonable sin : in which may God mercifully pre- 
 vent our ever involving ourselves ! And, though wars and 
 desolation be threatened in case we refuse, we ought to 
 make more account of the commandment of God than of 
 all such evils." " As no creature either in heaven or 
 earth can change the wondrous counsel of God revealed 
 in the gospel, so, by his help, we will still set forth the 
 same doctrine concerning faith and good works, which we 
 have taught in these churches for many years past : for it 
 is most clearly revealed in the Holy Scriptures, divinely 
 vouchsafed unto us." " Our sentiments being asked, we 
 cannot but deliver them unequivocally, though we would do 
 it with the meekness and moderation which become Chris- 
 tians : and, for the dangers which we may incur by so 
 doing, we will commend ourselves to the almighty and eter- 
 nal God, the Father of our Redeemer and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." — Writing singly, Melancthon says, " Never will I 
 burden my conscience by sanctioning this book." " I will 
 by no means give my assent to it, though I know there are 
 those who thirst for my blood. But I support myself with 
 the hope of Divine protection, and the comfort of a good 
 conscience." 
 
 We find also, in the wishes and proposals of Melancthon 
 X3 
 
246 CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 
 
 and his friends at this time, much of that detachment from 
 worldly and political views which characterized the early 
 days of the reformation. They were willing that the Prot- 
 estant princes should act according to their own judgment 
 of things, and leave their divines to follow their consciences, 
 and to take the consequences. Thus they jointly write to 
 Maurice : *' The government will consider, and determine 
 for itself, what it can and ought to do for the protection of 
 the churches. For ourselves, as individuals, we are pre- 
 pared, God being our helper, for exile or whatever other 
 punishment may follow." And thus to the divines of Stras- 
 burg : " To all who have asked advice of us, we have writ- 
 ten uniformly, that we would recommend the pastors of the 
 churches to keep their deliberations quite detached from 
 those of the political governors, and to answer plainly and 
 distinctly, that they will not change their doctrine, or re- 
 ceive the new formulary — it being our part, as divines, to 
 detect and guard against every corruption of doctrine. But 
 let the civil rulers, of whom many are ignorant of Chris- 
 tian truth, and others dislike it, return the emperor such 
 answers as they think proper. Thus the pastors deliver 
 their own consciences, less change is made in the churches, 
 we avoid every thing that can be deemed seditious or vio- 
 lent, and we retain our confession of faith. — The most up- 
 right ministers of the gospel incur unknown odium, when 
 once they attempt to exercise political power. It belongs 
 not to our ministry." — To the same purport Melancthon 
 wrote to Schnepfius of Tubingen, and to Matthias Luther 
 Syndic of Nordhausen : and thus to another friend, in the 
 year 1549 : "Many exclaim that peace is to be preferred 
 before our doubtful disputations. But, where it is evident 
 that some doctrines are corrupted and others obscured, I 
 will never burthen my conscience by concurrence. Let 
 others arrange the affairs of kingdoms and of the church 
 as they will or as they can (Christ says, ' My kingdom is not 
 of this world'), I will still speak my sentiments, though with 
 moderation, wherever I may be. — If you may be allowed, 
 without expressly approving the Interim, to preach the 
 gospel as you have hitherto done, and are not required to 
 change the administration of the Lord's Supper, then your 
 conscience is not burdened, though your rulers may sanc- 
 tion the book." 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 247 
 
 We will now ofter some illustration of that "moderation" 
 of Melancthon, which exposed him to censure, and of the 
 manner in which he limited his concessions concerning 
 things " indilFerent." 
 
 AddressinjT Maurice at Aucrsburg before the Interim had 
 passed the diet, he says jointly with his friends : " Though 
 it may already sufficiently appear what we admit, and what 
 we are constrained utterly to condemn, in this book, yet, 
 that all may perceive how anxious we are for peace and 
 agreement, we will briefly recapitulate the substance of our 
 statements. The blessed doctrine of fiiith we neither may 
 nor can change, nor will we sanction false worship in the 
 churches. We agree to observe the ceremonies ordained 
 pro tempore — the lessons, the hymns, the use of vestments 
 and other ancient and becoming rites ; as also the holydays 
 (or festivals), and the regulations subservient to discipline 
 and useful exercises." They lay it down, however, that 
 nothing which could be considered as " a species of worship," 
 was ever to be introduced without the express sanction of 
 the Word of God : and on this ground they reject various 
 popish services which they specify. To the objection that, 
 when changes were once admitted, it was impossible to say 
 how far they would be carried ; and that " it was scandal- 
 ous to encourage their enemies by such an appearance of 
 yielding ;" he replies, that the}'^ had " sufficiently defined 
 the things in which they could concede ; and that submis- 
 sion in such things, made for the sake of retaining the es- 
 sential truth of the gospel, was more becoming than proudly 
 to throw up their situations, to desert the churches, and to 
 give occasion to the people to say, that by obstinacy in 
 trifles their ministers had exposed them to the horrors of a 
 militaiy occupation of their country." When it was fur- 
 ther objected that such a submission was a surrender of 
 Christian liberty, he answered, That Christian liberty re- 
 lated to far higher things ; and he lamented that men set a 
 value on the unrestrained gratification of their own wills, 
 which savoured little of Christian humility. "The king- 
 dom of God," he says, " consists in true faith, prayer, hope, 
 love, p:itience, purity, righteousneas ; and, without these 
 inward graces, external liberty in meats, and vestments, and 
 other things of that kind is not Christian liberty, but a new 
 kind of civil polity, only more agreeable to the people, be- 
 cause it lays them under fewer restraints. We ought the 
 
248 CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 
 
 more meekly to bear a degree of servitude, provided it in- 
 volve nothing contrary to piety, because we have certainly 
 abused the plea of liberty," 
 
 But Melancthon's letter to the pastors of Hamburg, who, 
 he observes, were further removed from the scene of danger, 
 and on that account perhaps the more ready to censure his 
 concessions, will give up the best view of the case — of the 
 situation of the Saxon churches, of the nature of the con- 
 cessions made, and of the Christian meekness with which 
 Melancthon defended his own conduct respecting them. 
 We shall therefore conclude our present subject by laying 
 a considerable part of this letter before the reader. It is 
 dated April 16, 1549, and signed jointly by Bugenhagen and 
 Melancthon. 
 
 " Reverend and dear Friends — We feel not at all hurt by 
 your lovingly admonishing and even reproaching us ; for 
 these are necessary duties of friendship, especially in the 
 church of Christ. We only desire that, in forming a judg- 
 ment becoming jowt prudence, your character, and your 
 Jiindness for us, you would take a candid view of our con- 
 duct, and not hastily condemn old friends, who for more 
 than twenty years have sustained great labours and conflicts 
 in the sacred cause of religion First, allow us to in- 
 form you, that, through the goodness of God, the same doc- 
 trine is still heard in our churches and schools as we have 
 for so many years professed in common with you. And, as 
 we are assured that it is the eternal truth of God, and the 
 constant doctrine of his real church, it is our determination 
 paver in any point to change it. For this very object of 
 preserving our doctrine and worship unaltered, we have had 
 sharp conflicts to maintain, during the present year, with 
 persons of great talents and high consideration in our coun- 
 try. These, we trust, are no ambiguous testimonies of our 
 steadfastness, seeing we incur, for the sake of our princi- 
 ples, odium and danger with which they are little acquainted 
 who, living at ease, and surrounded with their admirers, 
 heap reproaches upon us. We wish such persons could be 
 present at our discussions, and hear the subtle arguments 
 which we have to encounter. The same books are promul- 
 gated among us as before the v»'ar : nor are other rites ob- 
 served in our churches than you yourselves have witnessed. 
 In these, though there is not an entire uniformity, more 
 feeing used in some places and fewer ia others, yet there i^ 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 249 
 
 no such (liiference as to cause any contention among us. 
 You agree with us, that religious assemblies must be held, 
 decent rites used in them, and some sort of discipline ob- 
 served : in which things, if nothing be introduced contrary 
 to any commandment of God, the particulars are not worth 
 contending about. This you admit : but you are afraid of 
 danger lurking under the term, things indifferent. Our 
 sentiments are the same as your own, when you look to this 
 point with an eye of jealousy; and we are sensible that 
 many wish to give things a turn towards the whole popish 
 polity : but yet, when occupied in an arduous conflict for 
 essentials, we abstain from contending about things in- 
 different, we think that good and wise men should put a 
 favourable construction on our conduct. We do not apply 
 the term indiffereyit to magical consecrations, to the worship 
 of images, to the carrying about of the host, and other 
 things of that kind : these we utterly condemn, both with 
 our tongues and our pens. We do not even extend the 
 name to silly trifling ceremonies, such as watchings at the 
 graves of the deceased. Persons who make such charges 
 against us do us injustice, and indulge their own wrong 
 tempers. But, there are many things, distinct from these, 
 observed by the church from the earliest ages, and con- 
 ducive to good order, or even to ediflcation ; such as festi- 
 vals, a course of lessons, religious assemblies, examination 
 and absolution hefore the sacrament, and in order to con- 
 firmation, observances connected with public penance and 
 v/ith ordination, solemn vows and prayers at marriages, 
 and decent processions and addresses at funerals. When 
 things of this sort were in use among us, having been re- 
 tained for beneficial purposes, how could we pretend to say 
 that we would admit nothing of an indifferent nature — no- 
 thing that was established by custom ] Should we, in the 
 spirit of party-zeal and hatred, reject the usages of our ad- 
 versaries, even when they were such as the church of God 
 has ever adopted, even from the primitive times \ . . .We 
 know that your sentmients are remote from this. But your 
 censiire of us relates not to this becoming conformity of our 
 church to the ancients, but rather to certain foolish rites, re- 
 vived by some persons in power with a view to the ultimate 
 restoration of all the papal abuses. Here we are blamed for 
 not offering a more determined resistance, and for even ad- 
 
230 CONDUCT OF MELANCTIION. 
 
 vising the pastors, in some instances, not to abandon tlaelr 
 churches on account of these impositions. Take the fol- 
 lowing instance : In the territories of the Mai-quis Albert 
 of Brandenburg, the court at first required that the pastors 
 should receive and conform to the whole Interim. To this 
 the nobles, the citizens, and the pastors, with a pious union 
 of counsels, respectfully but firmly refused their concur- 
 rence. The court then adopted another course, and pro- 
 posed articles which made no change either in doctrine or 
 in the public prayers, but only imposed additional rites, and 
 those of a kind which might be borne. Such persons as 
 would not submit to this regulation were ordered to quit 
 the country : and, when many pastors chose the latter alter- 
 native, the churches entreated they might not be deserted. 
 Now, what advice was to be given in such a case 1 Some 
 answer, that the court ought to have been overawed with 
 the threats of insurrection, and thus deterred from making 
 any changes. But many reasons induced us not to give 
 such advice. Our enemies, who will not allow us to pre- 
 scribe laws, might only have been provoked to harsher 
 measures : they might have called in the emperor's armies, 
 alleging that such a tone of defiance sounded the trumpet 
 of war throughout the country. Nor could we be willing 
 to see the poor people deprived of their pastors, as has been 
 the case in Suabia, where many of the churches are left en- 
 tirely destitute, or wolves preside in them, and introduce 
 impious doctrine and false worship. If in such circum- 
 stances you disapprove the advice we have given, yet re- 
 gard us with forbearance, and do not condemn men who 
 teach the same gospel with yourselves, are placed nearer 
 the scene of danger than you are, and could, in a personal 
 interview, assign to you many reasons in justification of the 
 course they pursue. . . .To show, therefore, that we are not 
 moved by the mere desire of liberty, or by the love of no- 
 velty, or by hatred for our opponents, we contend for points 
 of importance, with respect to which the better class even 
 of our adversaries cannot shut their eyes against the light 
 of truth. And this we think a more useful course than to 
 quarrel about a surplice, and give occasion to men to say, 
 that we oppose our rulers, raise discords, and expose our 
 country to the ravages of foreign troops, by our folly and ob- 
 Btinacy. For occasioning such evils as these, we must have 
 
CONDUCT OF MELANCTHON. 251 
 
 lio light causes to assign. We congratulate you who are 
 placed in different circumstances. But the church has 
 everywhere, and at all times, had some degree of bondage, 
 more gentle or more galling to bear ; and you should en- 
 deavour to alleviate the severity of that to which we are 
 subjected, and not increase it by condemning us, while we 
 hold fast what is fundamental. Let us, therefore, preserve 
 harmony and good-will among ourselves, lest the spirit of 
 prayer be injured in us and among the people ; and lest la- 
 mentable and mischievous disputes arise on essential points ; 
 such as formerly divided the church concerning the proper 
 time of observing Easter. Let those who enjoy more liberty 
 give thanks to God for it, and use it piously to set forth his 
 truth ; and let them take care not to relax the reins of dis- 
 cipline. Let such of us as are under bondage acknowledge 
 that we are chastened of the Lord, and never suffer his gen- 
 uine worship to be corrupted — according to that which is 
 written, ' though all this be come upon us, yet we have not 
 forgotten thee.' We would not have the churches dis- 
 turbed : . . . but, when new burdens are imposed, we think it 
 should be seriously considered whether they can be borne, 
 or whether the people must be left a prey to wolves — for we 
 would no more have ceremonies admitted which are con- 
 trary to piety than you would. We trust our present an- 
 swer may satisfy you : and our desire is, that our harmony 
 may be uninterrupted, and the union of our souls in God 
 be eternal — as the Son of God, when entering upon his 
 sufferings, prayed that the hearts of all his disciples might 
 be one in God. Farewell !" 
 
 Will not the reader now concur in the conclusion at 
 which, in common with Dr. Cox, the biographer of Melanc-' 
 thon (whose sentiments on s^ich a subject should have the 
 more weight, as being those of a dissenter), I have arrived, 
 that the original documents are " amply sufficient to fur- 
 nish the defence" of the reformer against the imputations, 
 whether of his contemporary assailants or of modem his- 
 torians ? 
 
 In addition to the explicit statement of the writer's sen- 
 timents which the above letter conveys, it contains some in- 
 teresting notices concerning the situation of the churches 
 with which he was connected. It appears that up to the 
 date of the letter, when the Interim had been in force nearly 
 
253 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 a year, no material changes had taken place in the Saxon 
 churches. The same doctrines, it is affirmed, were preached, 
 and divine ordinances administered in the same manner. 
 Others of Melancthon's letters and papers carry down the 
 like information to a later period, and extend it to other 
 places. And within this period the emperor began to relax 
 in his zeal for his new form of doctrine. " He wished," 
 says Camerarius, the friend and biographer of Melancthon, 
 " to have it acknowledged, but he daily more and more con- 
 nived at the failure of conformity to it, if only his authority 
 were not impeached." We may hence infer, that less 
 change was elfected in the Lutheran church by the promul- 
 gation of the Interim than is sometimes apprehended. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Proceedings of Maurice — He attacks aiul surprises ike Em- 
 peror — Treaty of Passau — Death of Maurice — Peace of 
 Religion — Extracts from Melancthon's Writings — Pro- 
 gress of Reformation — Controversies — Reflections. 
 
 Only fouT cities of note now held out against the au- 
 thority of the emperor. These were Magdeburg, Bremen, 
 Hamburg, and Lubeck ; the first relying on. its strength, 
 and the others encouraged by their proximity to the Prot- 
 estant kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden. The resistance 
 of Magdeburg, standing connected with events which 
 changed the whole face of affairs in Germany, demands our 
 particular notice.* The ban of prescription had been some 
 time before published against the city, in the same ir- 
 regular manner as against the Elector of Saxony and the 
 landgrave : but, when it added to its other offences that of 
 resolutely refusing the Interim, Charles further proclaimed 
 it a prey to any one who could make himself master of it. 
 Though the citizens in consequence suffered many calami- 
 ties, they bore them with an undaunted spirit, and met the 
 
 * For the fuller detail of particulars, see Robertson, book x. 
 
OF MAURICE. 253 
 
 emperor's proclamations with the most vigorous manifes- 
 toes, justifying their own conduct, declaring that they con- 
 tended only for retaining their ancient liberties, and the un- 
 molested exercise of their religion, and that in all other 
 things they were ready to yield the most dutiful submission 
 to the emperor's authority. At length, in the diet held at 
 Augsburg in the year 1550, after Charles's return from the 
 Low Countries, it was resolved to despatch an army against 
 the place, and to besiege it in form ; and, on the recommen- 
 dation of the diiet, the conduct of the war was, with the em- 
 peror's full approbation, committed to Maurice of Saxony. 
 Maurice's undertaking this service (perhaps procuring his 
 own appointment to it) was another stroke of that artful 
 and ambitious prince's policy. By successive previous 
 measures calculated to regain the confidence of the Protest- 
 ants which he had entirely forfeited in the Smalkaldic war, 
 he had done much to risk the emperor's favour, and to ex- 
 cite his jealousy ; but now, by his apparent zeal against the 
 citizens of Magdeburg, whose spirit and resolution had 
 gained them the general admiration of the Protestant party, 
 he allayed every suspicion, and inspired the emperor 
 with confidence ; while he at the same time took a most 
 important step towards the execution of the mighty schemes 
 which he was meditating. 
 
 By Charles's late successes riot only the religion, but 
 the liberties, of Germany were prostrated at his feet, and he 
 had but to advance a little further in order to make himself 
 and his successors as absolute in that country as he had 
 become in Spain. This could not fail to be most offensive 
 and alarming to the princes of the empire, and to none more 
 so than to Maurice — now become the most powerful among 
 them, and as such, the most impatient of a state of entire 
 dependence on a superior. He appears also to have been 
 sincerely attached to the Protestant religion ; and he was 
 personally irritated by the cruel imprisonment of the land- 
 grave his father-in-law, who by his persuasion had put him- 
 self into the emperor's hands. All these motives conspired 
 to make hira seek the overthrow of that despotic power, 
 which he had so essentially contributed to raise. The con- 
 duct of the siege of Magdeburg not only blinded the 
 emperor to his designs, but gave him the command of a 
 powerful armv, which he made it his business to keep to- 
 
 Vol. II.— Y 
 
254 PROCEEDINGS OF MAURICE. 
 
 gether till his plans were ripe for execution. With this 
 view, though he made a 'show of vigour, he allowed the 
 siege to be protracted throughout a whole year ; and at the 
 close of it granted the besieged such terms, as both secured 
 their religion and so much attached them to him as to induce 
 them to elect him their burgrave : and all this he at the 
 same time managed with such dexterity as to avoid exciting 
 any distrust in the breast of the emperor. 
 
 But before we proceed to the development of Maurice's 
 designs, we must take some notice of the transactions 
 which took place with reference to the council of Trent. 
 
 In consequence of the death of Paul III., and the suc- 
 cession of Julius III. to the papal chair, the emperor had a 
 better prospect of succeeding in his wishes with respect to 
 the restoration of the council. A principal object, there- 
 fore, proposed in the diet opened at Augsburg, July 26, 1550 
 (which was again overawed by the presence of the imperial 
 troops), was to procure from its members an explicit acknow- 
 ledgment of the council, with an engagement to obey its 
 decrees ; and in the mean time, more effectually to provide 
 for the observance of the Interim. But here Maurice 
 acted a part which was to gain him credit again with the 
 Protestants. He boldly avowed by his deputies that he 
 would not acknowledge the council unless all points pre- 
 viously decided in it were reviewed ; unless the Protestant 
 divines were both fully heard, and allowed to vote in the 
 assembly ; and unless the pope renounced his pretensions 
 to preside in it, engaged to submit hii^iself to its decrees, 
 and absolved the bishops from the oath by which they were 
 bound to him, that they might speak and vote with freedom. 
 Yet, in some way not sufficiently explained, he contrived so 
 to represent this daring proceeding, which alone gave any 
 courage and confidence to the Protestants, as still to create 
 no distrust in the emperor's mind. The diet, however, con- 
 cluded in February, 155.1, with a recess, in which the affairs 
 of religion were referred to the council, and all parties 
 were required to send their deputies thither — the emperor 
 engaging to give his safe-conduct to such as demanded it. 
 
 The council reassembled at Trent in May, 1551 ; but all 
 the preparations which the Protestant divines, at the instance 
 of the princes, had made for it were of no avail. The ambas- 
 sadors indeed of Maurice and of the Duke of Wiirtemberg, 
 
THE EMPEROR SURPRISED. 255 
 
 ajid the deputies of Strasburg and some other cities associated 
 with it, repaired to Trent, and acted there a firm and manly 
 part : but for the divines no such safe-conduct as the Prot- 
 estant princes, warned by the case of John Huss, demanded 
 from the council itself could ever be obtained. Brentius 
 and some other divines from Wiirtemberg and Strasburg 
 ventured to Trent without it ; but they could never procure 
 a hearing : and the legate Crescentio expressed violent 
 indignation at the idea of their being p-llowed to present a 
 confession to the assembly. Melancthon likewise, by Mau- 
 rice's command, proceeded on his way as far as Nuremberg, 
 there to await further others. — But in the mean time 
 Maurice's designs were matured, and his determination 
 was to adopt measures very different from that of sending 
 divines to carry on useless discussions with the haughty 
 representatives of the Roman Catholic church. 
 
 By a tissue of the most consummate artifice and duplicity, 
 Maurice, though but a'young man, had for nearly two j^ears 
 so completely duped Charles, the most practised and wary 
 politician of his age, as to dissipate every suspicion that 
 might have arisen in his mind, and to inspire him to the last 
 with the most entire confidence ; while he actually formed 
 leagues with several German princes, collected troops and 
 kept them ready on the instant to obey his summons, and 
 even entered into an effective alliance with the King of France, 
 for the subversion of all that overgrown power which 
 Charles had established in Germany. The emperor, who at 
 this time laboured under an attack of the gout, was reposing 
 at Inspruck, within three days' journey of Trent, watching 
 the proceedings of the council there, and superintending 
 the progress of a petty war in which he was engaged in 
 Italy; while, with scarcely, sufficient troops about him to 
 form his guard, he daily expected a friendly visit from 
 Maurice. Instead of paying him this visit, the latter sud- 
 denly sounded the trumpet of war ; rushed with a well- 
 appointed army from Thuringia ; seized upon Augsburg, 
 from which the imperial garrison fled before him ; took by 
 storm the castle of Ehrenberg, which commanded the passes 
 of the mountains ; and, but for a sudden mutiny among a 
 part of his troops, would have captured the emperor at 
 Inspruck, almost before he was aware of his danger. Charles 
 Iieard of his approach only late in the evening, and though 
 
256 TREATY OF PASSATJ. 
 
 unable to bear the motion of any other vehicle than a litter, 
 he was obliged to set out immediately by torch-light, and in 
 the midst of a heavy rain, and to be carried across the 
 mountains to hide himself in the fastnesses of Carinthia ; 
 while Maurice, arriving a few hours after, and finding his 
 prey escaped, abandoned the baggage of the emperor and his 
 ministers to be plundered by his soldiers. Thus taken 
 unprepared by a foe who would not allow himself for a 
 moment to be trifled with, to whose enterprise almost all 
 Germany wished v/ell, and who was powerfully seconded 
 by the military operations of the French King in another 
 quarter, — Charles, now destitute of all hope of again forming 
 such a confederation as he" had brought to act for the over- 
 throw of the Smalkaldic league, was compelled to have 
 recourse to negotiation, and in fact to surrender all the 
 great designs which he had so long been maturing, and 
 seemed to have successfully carried into effect, against the 
 liberties, both civil and religious, of Germany. The particu- 
 lars of what followed must be sought elsewhere. Suffice 
 it for us to say, that Maurice, when he first took up arms, 
 had avowed three objects as those which he aimed to accom- 
 plish, namely, to secure the Protestant religion — to maintain 
 the ancient laws and constitution of the empire — and to 
 procure the liberation of the Landgrave of Hesse. By the first 
 of these proposals he roused all the favourers of the reform- 
 ation to support him ; by the second he interested all the 
 friends of liberty in his cause ; and by the last he engaged 
 on his side all the sympathy which had been universally 
 excited by the landgrave's unhappy situation, and all the 
 indignation raised against the base injustice and cruelty by 
 which he had been betrayed into that situation, and for five 
 years detained in it after he had fulfilled every condition pre- 
 scribed, notwithstanding every intercession that could be 
 made in his behalf. And all these objects Maurice ulti- 
 mately secured. By the treaty of Passau, concluded August 
 2, 1552, under the mediation of Ferdinand, the emperor's 
 brother, it was agreed. That on or before the 12th of that 
 month the landgrave should be set at liberty, and conveyed 
 in safety into his own dominions ; that within six months a 
 diet should be held to deliberate on the best means of ter- 
 minating the existing religious dissensions, and that in the 
 mean time no molestation whatever should be offered to 
 
TREATY OF PA6SAU. 257 
 
 those who adhered to the Confession of Augsburg ; that if 
 the diet thus to be held should not be able to effect an ami- 
 cable adjustment of the religious disputes, the stipulations 
 of the present treaty in behalf of the Protestants should 
 continue in full force for ever ; and finally, that the en- 
 croachments complained of, on the constitution and liberties 
 of the empire, should also be referred to the approaching 
 diet. 
 
 Thus was laid the basis of the religious liberties of Ger- 
 many ; thus was the fabric of absolute power, of which 
 Charles imagined himself to be laying the top stone, sub- 
 verted at a stroke ; and thus was the Protestant church, 
 which had been brought to the verge of extinction, raised 
 again, and placed in safety ; and all this, under the con- 
 trolling influence of Divine Providence, by the hands of the 
 same man who had been the chief instrument of establish- 
 ing what he now demolished, and apparently destroying 
 what he now restored. It is remarkable also that the King 
 of France, a zealous Romanist and a persecutor of the Prot- 
 estants in his own dominions, should have borne a large 
 share in giving permanence and stability to Protestantism 
 within the empire; and that a Roman CathoUc bishop* 
 should have been the negotiator of the league between him 
 and Maurice which proved so fatal to the Romish church. 
 " So wonderfully," observes Dr. Robertson — thus giving 
 utterance to a sentiment which it would show the grossest 
 insensibility not to form on such an occasion — "so wonder- 
 fully doth the wisdom of God superintend and regulate the 
 caprice of human passions, and render them subservient 
 towards the accompUshment of his purposes." 
 
 Maurice, in the several towns which opened their gates to 
 him in his march, and in all places to which his power even 
 for a time extended, reinstated the magistrates whom the 
 emperor had deposed, and restored the Protestant ministers 
 and schoolmasters whom he had ejected. In particular he 
 did this at Augsburg ; and, though the emperor afterward 
 reversed his other arrangements in that city, he suffered all 
 the ministers except three to remain, to the great joy of the 
 citizens. 
 
 Another effect of Maurice's expedition was a second dis- 
 
 * John de Feinne, Bishop of Bayonne. 
 Y2 
 
258 DEATH OF MAURICE. 
 
 persion of the council of Trent. No sooner did the fathers 
 hear of the capture of Augsburg than many of them took 
 their departure, and the rest, assembUng on the 28th of 
 April, prorogued the council for two years. Such bodies, 
 however, when once separated, are not easily reassembled, 
 and ten years elapsed before the council met again, under 
 the pontificate of Pius IV. 
 
 But the work of Maurice was wellnigh finished, when he 
 had accomplished this unlooked-for revolution in Germany. 
 In less than a year after the treaty of Passau, he fell in 
 battle against one of his associates in his late enterprise. 
 Albert Marquis of Brandenburg-Culmbach,* who had 
 throughout acted in a very disorderly manner, was not- 
 withstanding allowed to be included in the treaty, provided 
 he on his part should accede to it. But he declined to do 
 so, and chose rather to carry on a lawless and predatory 
 warfare, in which he inflicted great calamities on many of 
 the German states, and left it always in uncertainty which 
 would be the next object of his attack. He was in conse- 
 quence condemned by the imperial chamber, which deputed 
 Maurice, with the aid of some other princes, to put him 
 down by force. They met in battle at Sieverhausen, in the 
 duchy of Lunenburg, June 9, 1553, where Albert was de- 
 feated with great loss, but Maurice received a wound from 
 a pistol-shot, of which he died two days after. This extra- 
 ordinary man, who had, by his great talents and unrivalled 
 artifice, wrought changes apparently so disproportioned to 
 the power which he originally possessed, had not cortipleted 
 the thirty-second year of his age. It has been with some 
 justice remarked, that " the ends which he had in view,'* 
 in the critical junctures of his life,^ " seem to have been 
 more attended to than the means by which he attained 
 them ; and he was now as universally extolled for his zeal 
 and public spirit as he had lately been condemned for his 
 indiflerence and interested policy."! Traces of this sort of 
 judgment concerning him I have found even in the writings 
 of wise and good men,t who shared the benefit of his later 
 services : but it is a mode of judging against which it be- 
 
 * Not the master of the Teutonic knights, or " of Prussia." See vol 
 i.p.209. 
 t Robertson. i Melancthon, Camerarius, &,c. 
 
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 259 
 
 hooves us sedulously to guard ; and I fear we must pronounce, 
 that, however the talents of Maurice may command our 
 admiration, and the tinal result of his measures gratify our 
 wishes, there was little in his principles which we can 
 respect or approve. 
 
 The diet for the final settlement of religious affairs was 
 to have been held within six months after the conclusion of 
 the treaty of Passau : but, in consequence of the disorders 
 produced in Germany by Albert of Brandenburg, the wars 
 in which the emperor continued to be engaged against 
 France and in Italy, and Ferdinand's occupation in defend- 
 ing his dominions against the Turks, it did not meet for two 
 years and a half. It was at length opened at Augsburg, 
 February 5, 1555. Ferdinand at first proposed the old and 
 futile expedient of a conference and a compromise. But 
 this being agreeable to no party, and the Protestants, who 
 received the proposal with aversion and even alarm, as fall- 
 ing much short of the provisions of the treaty of Passau, 
 beginning to hold formidable meetings on the occasion, it 
 was abandoned ; and in the end a free toleration in their 
 rehgion, of all such states as received the Confession of 
 Augsburg, was agreed to, and solemnly proclaimed in the 
 recess of the diet. 
 
 The question which created the most difl^iculty and debate 
 related to the course to be adopted in the case of ecclesi- 
 astics, in future, renouncing the Romish for the Protestant 
 faith. The dignitaries of the Roman Catholic church, it 
 was agreed, were to exercise no jurisdiction in Protestant 
 states ; and the ecclesiastical benefices and revenues which 
 were in Protestant hands before the treaty of Passau were 
 still to remain so ; but if a Roman Catholic in possession 
 of a dignity or benefice became Protestant, was he to forfeit 
 his preferment, or to be allowed to. retain it 1 Considering 
 the eagerness with which this point was contested on both 
 sides, it appears surprising that no compromise was at- 
 tempted. It was expressly allowed to the supreme civil 
 power, in each state, to establish that form of doctrine and 
 worship which it might prefer : would it not therefore have 
 been natural, that, where the establishment was Protestant, 
 an ecclesiastic becoming Roman Catholic should resign his 
 preferment, as well as that, under a Roman Catholic estab- 
 lishment, one should do so who became Protestant ? Yet 
 
260 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 
 
 no arrangement of this kind appears to have been proposed 
 or adverted to in the discussions which took place. Each 
 side simply contended either for or against the reformed 
 Romanist retaining the situation which he had held pre- 
 viously to his change of sentiments. In the end the Ro- 
 mish party prevailed, and the Protestants were constrained 
 to acquiesce in the regulation called the ecclesiastical reser- 
 vatio7i, by which it was enacted, that the churchman em- 
 bracing Protestant principles should forfeit his preferment, 
 but should he subjected to no further molestation: and this 
 article in the peace of religion, it is observed, has proved, as 
 it was foreseen by both parties that it probably would do, 
 the great barrier against the extension of the reformation in 
 Germany. 
 
 Thus, after a long-protracted struggle, was a settlement 
 effected, of that kind which alone can be denominated just 
 and reasonable, or which has ever availed to heal such dif- 
 ferences. But mutual toleration, or religious liberty, was 
 here introduced more from the necessity of the case than 
 upon any enlarged and enlightened principle ; as the exclu- 
 sion from this benefit of every other denomination separate 
 from the Church of Rome, except that of the Confession of 
 Augsburg, too fully demonstrates.* The great principle, 
 that to God alone, and not to his fellow-creatures, is a man 
 accountable for his religious belief ; and that, so long as he 
 conducts himself as a peaceable subject, he is entitled to the 
 full protection of the magistrate — a principle the very oppo- 
 site of that w'hich had been received and acted upon during 
 the long reign of popery — was as yet scarcely discovered by 
 here and there a scattered individual : and almost ages more 
 elapsed before it was to any considerable extent proclaimed 
 and admitted.! 
 
 * Religious liberty was not formally extended to the followers of 
 Zwingle and Calvin till nearly a century afterward, by the treaty of 
 Westphalia, which terminated the thirty years' war, in 1648. 
 
 t It could not be expected that either governments or individuals 
 should speedily divest themselv^es of the system of persecution which 
 flowed from the maxims of so many preceding ages, and still retained 
 its hold upon the mind, even after the original error on which it was 
 founded had been detected and renounced. They w-ere incapable of at 
 once tracing to its just consequences the discovery which they them- 
 selves had made. Hence were derived those comparatively few^ and 
 trifling instances of persecution with which the reformers themselves 
 were chargeable, and which at this day many delight fo blazon, as if 
 
POPE PAUL IV. 261 
 
 Proportioned to the degree in which the recess of the diet 
 of Augsburg contravened, and tended to subvert those princi- 
 ples which the Roman pontiffs had ever laboured to estabUsh, 
 was the indignation expressed against it by the reigning pope. 
 Julius III. had died soon after the diet assembled, and his im- 
 mediate successor, Marcellus III. (a pontiff of a very prom- 
 ising character), having survived his elevation only twenty- 
 one days, the papal chair was now occupied by Paul IV., — 
 a man worthy to have been the immediate successor of Hil- 
 debrand. On receiving advice of the recess of Augsburg, he 
 gave way to the most violent transports of passion. He in- 
 sisted to the imperial ambassador, tliat the decree should im- 
 mediately be declared null and void, as an impious act, founded 
 in the sacrilegious usurpation of powers belonging only to 
 the holy see ; and he threatened vengeance against both 
 the emperor and King Ferdinand, if they did not promptly 
 comply with his demand. In vain did the ambassador urge 
 the extreme distress to which the emperor, his master, had 
 been reduced at Inspruck, and under which he had been 
 compelled to form the engagements that had led to the 
 present result. The pope answered, "" that he absolved 
 him from his oaths, yea, commanded him not to observe 
 them." And, in short, moved by this provocation, and 
 wrought upon by the ambitious intrigues of his nephews, 
 he instantly threw himself into the interest of the King of 
 France, who was at war with the emperor. — But papal vio- 
 lence had at this time become comparatively harmless. 
 
 As for Charles himself, when all his schemes for estab- 
 lishing political and religious despotism in Germany, and 
 
 they were equivalent to the wholesale systematic butcheries of the 
 Church of Rome, and placed her and the reformed churches on an equal 
 footing. 
 
 It will be remembered that even Dr. Robertson has said, " Luther, 
 Calvin, Cranmer, Knox, the founders of the reformed church in their 
 respective countries, as far as they had power ami opporhinity, inflicted 
 the same punishments upon such as called in question n?!j/ article in their 
 creeds, which were denounced against their own followers by the 
 Church of Rome." It is to be lamented that this respectable writer 
 should have lent the sanction of his name to so grossly overcharged a 
 statement, and thus have helped to countenance the flippant attempts of 
 pretended pliilosophers to cast obloquy upon religion. The utter false- 
 hood of the charge, as far as Luther is concerned, has been already ex- 
 posed throughout the preceding history. 
 
262 ABDICATrOxV OF CHARLES V. 
 
 transmitting it to his posterity,* were dashed in pieces, in 
 the manner that has been described, he became indifferent 
 to the affairs of the empire generally, and in particular to 
 the question of religion, and to the subject of the council as 
 connected with it : and it is not to be doubted, that the dis- 
 appointment and chagrin he had suffered operated power- 
 fully among the causes that induced him to form and exe- 
 cute the extraordinary measure of -resigning his vast do- 
 minions — his hereditary ones in the close of the present 
 year, and those which were elective in the year following — 
 and himself retiring into private life. After this remark- 
 able step, he passed about two years in a state of almost 
 monastic seclusion ; and he is supposed to have accelerated 
 his death by the severity of the discipline to which he sub- 
 jected himself. In this retirement he is said to have dis- 
 covered, not only the vanity of all his past schemes of ambi- 
 tion, but the folly of the attempts, on which he had bestowed 
 so great a portion of his time and labour, to compel men to 
 think alike, or at least to profess the same sentiments, on 
 the deep and mysterious subjects of religion. Several his- 
 torians of reputation have even asserted, that, as he drew 
 near his end, and was more deeply impressed with the awful 
 thought of appearing hefore the Divine tribunal, he approxi- 
 mated more and more to some of the leading doctrines of 
 Luther, particularly that of justification by faith; and it is 
 certain, that after his decease some of those who had been 
 his latest confidential attendants suffered as heretics. A 
 living writer, however, intimately acquainted with the history 
 of this period, particularly as connected with the reformation, 
 seems but too clearly to have shown that these favourable 
 conjectures concerning Charles's state of mind in his latter 
 days are without foundation ; and that, so far from repent- 
 ing of his conduct towards the Protestants, " his only regret 
 was that he had treated them with so much leniency." 
 "He ought," he said, ""to have forgotten his word," passed 
 to Luther at Worms, " and avenged the injury that heretic 
 had done to God."t Charles died September 21, 1558, at 
 the age of fifty-eight years. 
 
 * He spared no pains to induce his brother Ferdinand to surrender the 
 splendid reversion of the empire in favour of his son Philip. 
 t M'Crie's Ref. in Spain, p. 246-250, 
 
STATE OF RELIGION. 263 
 
 During all this period but little presents itself to gratify 
 the taste of the spiritual mind, in quest of the interior his- 
 tory of the true church of Christ. Scenes of warfare and 
 ambitious conflict, where men are kept in a state of constant 
 excitement and agitation, and the affairs of religion are con- 
 trolled by mere secular characters, in subservience to their 
 own selfish designs, must be deplorably unfavourable to the 
 growth of piety. " The fruit of righteousness is sown in 
 peace of them that make peace :" and we cannot be suffi- 
 ciently thankful for a settled state of society ; though, at the 
 same time, we have need to take care that we do not abuse 
 the repose and the opportunity it affords, us to become in 
 another way " mindful of earthly things," and to seek our 
 rest and portion here below. Still however we may trust 
 that at the period under review many pious pastors were 
 feeding their flocks, and many humble souls were trained up 
 for heaven at a distance from the din and bustle of the trans- 
 actions which fill the page of history. The correspondence 
 of Melancthon furnishes us with the most pleasing traces 
 of this kind that we are acquainted with for this whole 
 period ; and from his writings we shall now lay before the 
 reader some extracts illustrative of these subjects. 
 I". On two contending pastors at Zwickau, he pathetically 
 urges the cultivation of harmony and mutual affection, and 
 thus beautifully describes the effect of peace within the 
 church in troublous times. " Under all troubles, public and 
 private, it is an unspeakable relief to the hearts of men to 
 see the church where they live in a state of tranquillity. 
 The mind of man chiefly finds repose in prayer to God, 
 which is greatly hindered and interrupted where discord is 
 even within view. Now, since public calamities at the pres- 
 ent time greatly aflflict numbers, it behooves every pastor to 
 keep his church as much as possible like a safe harbour, in 
 which the distressed people may take refuge, and be re- 
 freshed by communion with God." 
 
 His exhortations to various pious ministers, from the time 
 when the Interim was first projected, to maintain their posts, 
 and go on undismayed in their work as long as they pos- 
 sibly could do it, are interesting and edifying. He coun- 
 sels Pfeffinger of Leipzig, and John Mathesius, in such cir- 
 cumstances to avoid, not only political discussions, but all 
 doubtful points of theology ; to denounce the sins both o-f 
 
264 EXTRACTS FROM 
 
 princes and people, as the cause of the existing calamities ; 
 to inculcate repentance, reconciliation with God, and the 
 duty of prayer ; to direct men to the true soUrce of con- 
 solation ; to show them the difference between devout 
 ?ind superstitious worship, and thus to fortify their minds 
 against the corruptions which some might introduce ; to 
 reprove those who would inflame the different parties one 
 against another ; to move all to sympathize with the suf- 
 ferers, and to exhort persons in authority to adopt peaceable 
 counsels. And, with respect to the event of their labours 
 directed to such ends, he quotes the words of the Psalm, " He 
 that now goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, 
 shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his 
 sheaves with him." — " I am convinced," he elsewhere says, 
 " that in this world the true heavenly doctrine will ever have 
 to maintain a conflict with errors and corruptions, and that 
 those who uphold the cause of divine truth will be under the 
 cross, and suffer for their principles. From the beginning 
 of the world it has been so ; and holy and enlightened men 
 know that these things must be borne." 
 
 In a paper on the question, which it appears embarrassed 
 some persons, of offering public prayers for the emperor 
 while he was waging war against them, he makes some 
 fine observations on the difliculties attending true prayer. 
 "First, we have to get our minds impressed with just senti- 
 ments concerning God — that he will hear prayer, and on 
 what grounds he will hear it. And this is ditlicult. — Then 
 the real exercise of faith is still more difficult : to draw near 
 to God when our sins would deter us, and drive us to a dis- 
 tance ; and to expect help when we are destitute of all visi- 
 ble protection. Next comes the due consideration of our 
 own wants, and of those of the persons for whom we are to 
 pray. Now, to apply the mind to so many topics, and at the 
 same moment to be afflicted, and to relieve our affliction by 
 the exercise of faith — experience shows all this to be most 
 difficult. Yet, whenever the devout mind calls upon God 
 under a genuine conviction of its sins and its wants, these 
 several things are necessary ; and the prayer in which they 
 concur is the effectual one. There is great need, therefore, 
 for ministers to admonish their people upon these topics 
 — We must first learn to pray for ourselves ; then follows 
 (what presents another difficult)') a due regard for the want.« 
 
melancthon's writings. 265 
 
 and the afflictions of the church : to implore of God that he 
 would rule and direct its pastors ; would protect and guide 
 all that are engaged in the study of his truth ; would brino- 
 discords and divisions to an end ; would repress hypocrites 
 and the wise men of this world, who care nothing for reli- 
 gion, and would manifest his favour to the truly pious and 
 righteous." 
 
 A constant spirit of prayer for the church at large, for his 
 own family, and for all his numerous correspondents and 
 their various connexions, is one fine trait of Melancthon's 
 epistles. And the subject of prayer itself, we may also re- 
 mark, is one which he ever treats in a very delightful manner. 
 He has a due sense of its importance ; and he deeply feels 
 how tender a plant, and how liable to be crushed and with- 
 ered in the unkindly soil and climate of this world, is a 
 genuine spirit of devotion. He therefore anxiously watches 
 over it, and fears lest it should be hurt or lost in the church, 
 amid the disorders that prevailed. He deprecates our enter- 
 taining notions or reasonings which might "weaken the 
 spirit of prayer." — "Nothing," he says, "is so tender, no- 
 thing so easily disordered, as a spirit of devotion : nor is 
 any thing more distressing or more injurious than its being 
 crippled and enfe.ebled." Again : " We know that by all 
 discords, great or small, prayer is hindered ; and, when 
 prayer is interrupted, some run into profaneness or atheism, 
 and others sink in anguish of mind and desperation." 
 
 Writing on a passage of Isaiah, he makes the followino- 
 remark on the interpretation of Scripture : " It is necessary 
 in the church diligently to investigate and adhere to the 
 simple, natural, grammatical sense of Scripture. We are 
 to listen to the divine Word, not to corrupt it. We must 
 not flay tricks with it, by fanciful interpretations, as many 
 in all ages have done. The plain natural sense of Scrip- 
 ture always carries with it the richest and most valuable 
 instruction."* 
 
 Giving advice, as it would appear, to a young divine, he 
 admirably shows, in few words, the need of learning to a 
 preacher ; the want of it in some, and the abuse of it in 
 others ; and censures the folly of aiming to catch the ad- 
 
 * So Luther : " The literal meaning of Scripture is the whole founda^ 
 Hon of fuith — the only thing that stands its ground in distress and 
 temptation." 
 
 Vol. n.— Z 
 
266 melancthon's writings. 
 
 miration of hearers by gaudy language. He then introduces 
 the following description of a preacher, such as he would 
 wish his friend to become. " On the other hand, there are 
 those who bring from home with them the (one) design, to 
 speak what is useful and necessary, in appropriate and ex- 
 pressive words. They arrange their matter, they set it forth 
 and explain it, they admonish their hearers what practical 
 use is to be made of every thing delivered ; they introduce 
 striking quotations to impress the mind, and examples for 
 illustration, that from the whole the people may know what 
 to treasure up in their memories, and carry away with 
 them. They add motives ; they address the affections — 
 awaken fear by the awful threatenings of God's word, and 
 excite hope and confidence by its promises. Now they dis- 
 tinctly exhibit the law, and now the gospel, clearly marking 
 the difference between them. One while they are simply 
 expositors of Scripture — another they powerfully address 
 the heart and conscience, rousing men's minds, not by 
 redundant declamation, but by an appropriate solemnity 
 of address. — Such a preacher have I known in Martin 
 Luther."* 
 
 This was written from Wittemberg, in the interval be- 
 tween the war of Smalkald and that by which Maurice 
 broke the power of Charles Y. ; and the writer adds, " My 
 letter is a hasty effusion in a time of sickness. I feel that I 
 materially injure myself by constant speaking in my public 
 lectures — my strength having been previously broken by 
 cares and labours. But what else is life, than a passage 
 through troubles to a better state ? Let us only endeavour 
 that our labours may serve the church of God, and make 
 known his truth." 
 
 These passages give us some insight into what was going 
 on for the edification of the church. Nor are we left with- 
 out notices which show that the reformed doctrines were 
 still making progress in these troublous times. 
 
 * Elsewhere he especially commends modesty and an unaspiring tem- 
 per in candidates for the ministry. He was pleased with a young man 
 who desired for a time to apply himself to the humbler modes of teach- 
 ing ; " For," he says, " those who hastily press forward to the high oiJice 
 of public preachers too frequently show that they seek popular applause, 
 I^t us encourage modesty, and inculcate upon young men moJeriition 
 of inind." 
 
PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 267 
 
 John Frisius, Abbot of Neustadt in Franconia, is particu- 
 larly mentioned as having been, in the year 1554, cited be- 
 fore his diocesan at Wurlzburg on suspicion of having em- 
 braced Lutheran opinions. A list of more than forty ques- 
 tions, comprising all the points at issue between Protestants 
 and papists, was presented to him, and his answers required. 
 He gave them explicitly, confirming his sentiments from the 
 Scriptures and the fathers ; and in consequence suffered 
 deprivation. 
 
 We formerly saw with pleasure the strong bearing of the 
 public mind in favour of reformation in the Austrian domin- 
 ions, and witnessed with pain the manner in which it was 
 opposed and overborne.* Similar scenes still present them- 
 selves in that quarter. In the year 1554, Ferdinand found 
 it necessary to issue an edict commanding his subjects to 
 make no innovation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
 The princes, nobles, and cities made strong representations 
 in reply, entreating that this sacrament might be admin- 
 istered among them according to Christ's institution and 
 the practice of the primitive church. 
 
 Again, a few months after the peace of religion, having 
 occasion to assemble the states of Austria, at Vienna, to pro- 
 vide the means of resisting the Turks, Ferdinand was sur- 
 prised to find their first address to him turn on the subject 
 of religion. They observed, that for fourteen years past 
 they had been soliciting him for relief with respect to it, but 
 in vain ; that in the mean time no success had attended the 
 efforts made against the enemy, who rather became more 
 formidable ; that this indicated the displeasure of God lying 
 upon the country for its sins ; so that, " unless God's Word 
 were received, and a reformation of manners promoted, they 
 were likely to lose, not only their fortunes and their lives, 
 but their eternal salvation." From time to time, they state, 
 the object of their application had been postponed ; but they 
 now entreat him to consider " how grievous it was to per- 
 sons who most ardently desired the salvation of their souls, 
 to be put off to an indefinite period, while in the mean time 
 their minds were kept in anguish, and many thousands must 
 end their days in anxiety and doubt. Certainly," they say, 
 
 * See p. 118. 
 
268 PROGRESS OF REFORMATION. 
 
 " the Word of God, which was revealed to us by Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour, ought to be the only rule which the church 
 should follow ; and if any thing had crept in contrary to that 
 standard, it ought to be rejected, to whatever antiquity it 
 might lay claim." They implore him, therefore, " by the 
 death of Christ, by the salvation of their souls, and by that 
 judgment which shall pass upon all men, that he would 
 allow them, seeing they were not corrupted by any sectarian 
 principles, to live in the true and pure religion, and to enjoy 
 the benefit of the peace lately made in the diet with those 
 who professed the Confession of Augsburg." - 
 
 Ferdinand, in reply, told them that he could not grant 
 their petition, — not for. want of inclination to gratify them, 
 but because the thing itself was unlawful, inasmuch as he 
 was bound to hear the church. He admitted that they were 
 no less included in the peace of religion than the subjects 
 of any other German prince : but then " the plain meaning 
 of the decree was, that the people should follow the religion 
 of their prince ; giving liberty, however, to those who were 
 not satisfied with that religion, to sell their estates, and to 
 remove whither they pleased." 
 
 The subjects of Albert Duke of Bavaria also were about 
 this time " very troublesome" to him, by demands similar to 
 those made upon his father-in-law Ferdinand by the Aus- 
 trians. But they had little better success ; and to this day 
 these two countries, where the chains of religious bondage 
 are riveted by the hand of civil despotism, remain more 
 under the power of Romish superstition than perhaps any 
 others in Germany. 
 
 The Polish ambassador, we are likewise told, who had 
 come to congratulate the pope on his elevation, marred all 
 his intended compliments, and gave the most intolerable 
 offence by demanding, in the name of the king and kingdom, 
 that mass should be celebrated among them in the vernacu- 
 lar language, the Eucharist administered in both kinds, mar- 
 riage allowed to the clergy, the payment of annates abol- 
 ished, and a national council assembled in Poland to reform 
 abuses and settle disputed doctrines. 
 
 Even in Spain indications were found of a vast scheme 
 being on foot for the propagation of the opinions of Luther 
 throughout the Peninsula : but the seeds of Protestantism 
 
PERSECUTIONS. 269 
 
 were crushed in the very infancy of their growth in that 
 country by the iron hand of the Inquisition.* 
 
 At the same time, whatever had been wanting to the 
 complete reformation of the Palatinate was suppUed by the 
 accession of Otho Henry to the electoral dignity. He pro- 
 hibited the performance of masg and the use of the Romish 
 ceremonies throughout his dominions. t 
 
 These accounts of the progress of the reformation give 
 evidence that persecution still more or less attended it. 
 This was from time to time carried on with great severity 
 in France ; and the latter part of the period which we 
 have been reviewuig was that of the Marian persecution in 
 England. 
 
 In his reply to the states of Austria, Ferdinand hoasted 
 that he had never compelled any man to forsake "the true 
 religion," nor ever would do it : but we must allow him to 
 put his own interpretation exclusively on the term, in order 
 to give even the semblance of truth to the declaration. One 
 of the circumstances which had rendered his opening speech 
 in the diet of Augsburg, in 1555, alarming to the Protestants 
 was, that it was accompanied by the report that he had 
 banished about two hundred ministers out of Bohemia — a 
 report which was soon too fully confirmed. To these exiles 
 Melancthon wrote a letter, in the name of himself and his 
 friends at Wittemberg, from which some extracts may here 
 be given. It is dated February 13, 1555, and is addressed 
 *' to the venerable and learned pastors teaching the true 
 doctrines of the gospel on the borders of Bohemia and Lu- 
 satia." Probably when driven out of Bohemia they might 
 jemain in Lusatia (which was for the most part subject to 
 the Elector of Saxony), near to their former residence ; or 
 some of them might not yet be actually expelled ; which 
 may account for what is said of their still continuing to con- 
 firm their people. " We are greatly distressed at the news 
 of your exile, both for your sakes and for the sake of your 
 churches ; and we implore the Son of God, who hath said, 
 ' I will not leave you orphans,' to relieve these calamities, 
 
 and to afford you the help of which you stand in need 
 
 As nothing tends more to support the mind than a clear 
 understanding of the truth, -present to your flocks, as long 
 
 * M'Crie's Reform, in Spain. * See p. 178 
 
 Z2 
 
270 CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 as it is in your power to hold communication with them, the 
 two systems in strong contrast to one another. The papal 
 faction uphold manifest idolatry — the invocation of the dead, 
 with many monstrous superstitions growing out of it. They 
 impiously prostitute the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for 
 gain, and worship the bread which they carry in procession. 
 They take away the true doctrine of the gospel concerning 
 repentance, invent vain satisfactions for sins, torment hum- 
 ble consciences by the confessions which they make neces- 
 sary to forgiveness, destroy the consolation proposed to us 
 in the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and establish 
 modes of worship of human invention. Never let the peo- 
 ple think, when our differences are on such points as these, 
 that we excite unnecessary controversies. Often, there- 
 fore, let them hear a summary of the true doctrine, and set 
 before them the solemn sentences, ' Flee from idolatry : If 
 any man teach another gospel, let him be anathema : The 
 blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven.' 
 These thunders of the Word of God fail of dismaying the 
 enemies of the gospel, many of whom knowingly oppose the 
 truth. They flatter themselves, and feign deceitful pretexts 
 for their conduct. — Be sure that the churches of these parts 
 will never be wanting to you when they can render you any 
 friendly and hospitable services." 
 
 It is deeply to be regretted, that, beset as the Protestant 
 church in Germany was by external enemies, it should 
 not have been at peace within itself But we are compelled 
 again to advert to the various and bitter controversies by 
 which it was agitated from the very termination of the 
 Smalkaldic war. 
 
 The sacramental controversy was now revived, and car- 
 ried on with much acrimony. Hardenberg of Bremen, a 
 disciple of Melancthon's, embraced the Zwinglian doctrine ; 
 to which Melancthon himself is believed to have become 
 less and less averse as he advanced in life : while Westphal 
 c^ Hamburgh maintained that of Luther; and Calvin, Bul- 
 linger, and John a Lasco subsequently engao-ed in the dis- 
 pute. Brentius, w^ho had shown himself no very mild par- 
 tisan in behalf of Luther's doctrine on this subject, observes 
 upon it, " I know not whether any thnig more obstructed 
 the cause of the reformation and the progre.sd of the heavenly 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 271 
 
 doctrine than this controversy." But we shall enter no 
 further into the painful subject than to transcribe the follow- 
 ing remark, which has been made upon Luther's conduct 
 relative to it, and the lesson to be derived from the review of 
 the whole. "No historical topic can be more instructive to 
 every class of readers, and especially to those whose opin- 
 ions may have weight in a revival of religion, than this 
 lamentable discussion. The only question on which Luther 
 lost his temper, betrayed his cause, injured the progress of 
 reformation, grieved the Spirit of grace, and split the infant 
 church, was that in which he was most clearly icrong. . . . 
 Let those who are in danger of magnifying points in dispute 
 be warned by this example. Let them see how prone to 
 error are the greatest and purest minds ; let them be slow 
 in committing themselves beyond the exact prescriptions of 
 revealed truth ; and, above all, let them dread erecting such 
 points into terms of communion, and creating a lasting 
 division in the affections of Christians.'"^ 
 
 The adiaphoristic controversy also was still carried on, 
 and extended to new points, with bitter animosity against 
 Melancthon and his friends. To Flacius, the prime leader 
 on the other side, Melancthon says, in 1556, " You claim 
 great credit for not publishing as mine a letter which I 
 never wrote, but which is a mere forgery. . . You have pub- 
 lished the Leipzig formulary, both garbled and interpolated. 
 What moves ■ you to attack an old friend, who has loved 
 you, with such arts as these 1" — To the pastors of the 
 Saxon churches he writes on the same subject : " I receive 
 in silence the buffets that are given me, yet Flacius and 
 Gallust never cease to revile mn. Both the courts of 
 princes and the people are excited against me with won- 
 derful artifice ; yet the mischief would only be increased, 
 and fresh controversies raised, should I answer them. I 
 look to the judgment of wise and good men,' who are not 
 alienated from me by the clamours and calumnies of my 
 adversaries. I am cheered by the hope that in a little time, 
 under the guidance of the Son of God, I shall quit the con- 
 fusions of this world, and join the church in the heavenly 
 state, where peace reigns, and truth is contemplated with 
 
 * Christian Observer, 1827, p. 46. (By the present Bishop of Calcutta.) 
 T Nicholas Callus, another eager partisan. 
 
272 CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 unmixed delight. I hope, also, that an enlightened pos- 
 terity will judge more equitabl}'^ of my labours." Melanc- 
 thon, however, could not always restrain his friends within 
 the limits which he prescribed to himself; and their inter- 
 position, we are told, on some occasions did but inflame the 
 existing evil, and add " oil to the fire." 
 
 The questions relative to justification will be more inter- 
 esting to us. The notion of Osiander upon this all-import- 
 ant subject has been already explained. He held that we 
 are justified, not by virtue of Christ's obedience unto death 
 for us, but by the essential righteousness of the Divine 
 nature, in some mystical manner imparted to us, and dwell- 
 ing in us. A brief remark or two of Melancthon's upon 
 this dogma are all that need be quoted ; but some notice 
 of its author may not be without instruction, as furnishing 
 a warning against vanity and self-conceit. 
 
 Andrew Osiander (the same whose niece our Cranmer 
 married) was a native of Bavaria, who, after studying at 
 Wittemberg, settled in his own country. He was a man 
 of considerable talents and attainments, being in particular 
 master of a popular eloquence ; and he early distinguished 
 himself in the cause of the reformation. But all his more 
 valuable qualities were vitiated, and rendered to a great 
 degree useless, by a large mixture of arrogance, conceit, and 
 fondness for new discoveries in religion. Of this he gave 
 a very oftensive proof at the conference of Marpurg, in 
 l.'iSQ. By desire of the landgrave, each of the divines there 
 present was to preach in his turn. Luther took for his 
 subject the great question, "How shall a man be just with 
 God ?" Osiander the next day took the same text as Luther 
 had done, and " philosophized concerning righteousness," 
 with such refinement as disgusted the wiser part of his 
 hearers, and raised a suspicion that he secretly cherished 
 more novelties than he Was willing to avow. To his ser- 
 mons and conversation, however, at the diet of Nuremberg, 
 seven years after this time, is attributed the conversion to 
 the Protestant faith of the elder Albert of Brandenburg :* 
 whence, on quitting his situation at Nuremberg at the 
 period of the Interim, Osiander, at Albert's invitation, re- 
 moved into Prussia, to the university then recently founded 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 209. 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 273 
 
 at Konigsberg. -Dunno- Luther's lifetime he had been held 
 under restraint by the influence of that reformer, but after- 
 ward, as he himself flippantly and in very unbecoming 
 language expressed it, " When the lion was dead, he cared 
 not for the foxes." Hence he broached many strange dog- 
 mas, the memory of which was soon lost in that concerning 
 justification. This last continued to excite much contro- 
 versy for some time after the death of its author in 15.52, 
 till at length the dispute was happily appeased, and the 
 true doctrine of the reformation publicly established in 
 Prussia. 
 
 Melancthon remarks on Osiander's notion of justification, 
 " Osiander holds that we are righteous by the divinity 
 dwelling in us. This diflfers little from the doctrine of the 
 heathen philosophers, who taught that man attains not to 
 virtue but by a divine influence. We also readily acknow- 
 ledge that God dwells in the regenerate, so as to produce 
 not only virtuous emotions, but even the commencement of 
 eternal life— to make us 'partakers,' as St. Peter expresses 
 it, 'of a divine nature.'. . . But then there exists a question 
 of another kind : How may man receive remission of sins 
 and reconciliation with God ? or have righteousness imputed, 
 or reckoned, unto him ] Is this from the in-dwelling of 
 Christ in us, or by his obedience for us ] . . . Osiander in 
 effect says that we are justified by our renovation to holi- 
 ness. We, on the other hand, while we admit the necessity 
 of renovation, hold that the renewed man is justified, or 
 accepted of God, for the sake of Christ's obedience." 
 Again, " I regard Osiander's dogma as no mere strife of 
 words. He diflfers from our churches on a very essential 
 point, and obscures, or rather destroys, the only consolation 
 provided for distressed consciences ; seeing he leads us not 
 to the promise of mercy, through the obedience of the Media- 
 tor, but directs us to another object." 
 
 On the error of Lauterwald, who in another way cor- 
 rupted the same great doctrine, we may be tempted to offer 
 somewhat larger extracts, because, though it less agitated 
 the Protestant church at the time, it was a species of error 
 which has spread its influence much more widely, and been 
 much more permanent. It bordered closely on what was 
 maintained by the more temperate papists, Pflug at Ratis- 
 bon, Gropper at Cologne, and Heldingus in the Interim ; 
 
274 CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 and it is virtually the same which is still supported by great 
 names among ourselves, though it could never to any con- 
 siderable extent make its way among Protestants in the 
 age of the reformation. 
 
 Matthias Lauterwald was the minister of Eperies, in 
 Upper Hungary. He had been known and esteemed at 
 "Wittemberg, but was fond of refinements, and too prone to 
 contention. His sentiment was, that our repentance, our 
 love, our obedience, are all included in the faith that justifies 
 us, and are thus conjointly with it the means of procuring 
 us the benefit of Christ's redemption. On this Melancthon 
 thus speaks, in delivering " the judgment of the university 
 of Wittemberg," to the senate of Eperies, in the year 1554. 
 *' Though true faith, or reliance on the Saviour, cannot 
 exist in those who go on securely in their sins, and are 
 destitute of contrition, yet contrition and new obedience 
 are not, as Lauterwald would make them, the means of 
 applying the promise of grace. Contrition necessarily pre- 
 cedes ; but when he asks. Whether as a cause or means 1 
 we answer, As neither, but rather as a wound, or the feel- 
 ing that we are wounded, precedes a cure. — The whole 
 human race is obnoxious to the dreadful anger of God. A 
 sense of this is awakened in the mind either by the ministry 
 of the Word, by our experiencing the consequences of sin, 
 or by other means. Under these convictions many perish, 
 quarrelling with the Divine judgment, or with Epicurean 
 contempt setting it at defiance. Others, casting away the 
 arms of rebellion, and seeking consolation from the gospel, 
 receive remission of sins, reconciliation with God, justifica- 
 tion, and quickening (or renovation) by the Holy Ghost.. 
 And here the promise is embraced and applied only by 
 faith, or affiance in the Mediator, and not on account of our 
 contrition, or the virtues that follow after. Faith relies 
 only on the Mediator, or on the mercies promised for his 
 sake ; in which the heart rests, knowing that the promises 
 are sure in him."— ^The writer then quotes some apposite 
 passages of Scripture, Psalm vi. 4, Daniel ix. 17, 18, 
 Romans iv. 16, and proceeds : " In order to understand 
 these Scriptures, we must cherish, not idle speculations, 
 but true convictions of sin, and the genuine consolation 
 which is found in turning to God, and calling upon him 
 daily. We teach not empty refinements, but divine truth ; 
 what is most necessary in practice, and easily intelligible 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 275 
 
 to pious minds. We say, that men, all men, ought to be 
 convinced of sin by the Word of God, and, under this alarm 
 of conscience, to fly by faith to the Mediator; and that by 
 this faith, gratuitously, not for the sake of works either 
 antecedent or consequent, remission of sins, reconciliation 
 with God, and justification are received ; and that those 
 who thus believe in the Son of God are quickened by him, 
 who speaks peace to their consciences, and delivers their 
 hearts from the pains of hell, by his Spirit given unto them : 
 and that thus new obedience is begun. — That these things 
 take place in true conversion is matter of experience to all 
 pious persons. — Never would David say that he had re- 
 mission of sins for the sake of his good works now per- 
 formed, either in whole or in part. — Let us put such cor- 
 ruptions of the truth far from us, and not suffer humble 
 souls to be deprived of their true consolation. Under real 
 distress of conscience, no ground of comfort will avail but 
 that which St. Paul lays down, ' Therefore it is of faith, 
 that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be 
 sure.' " 
 
 We add a few more sentences from the same important 
 paper. " Lauterwald's corruption of the doctrine does not 
 differ from the synecdoche of the monks,* who say that 
 faith justifies us as being the originating principle of love 
 and of good works. But the fact is this, nothing but faith 
 laijs hold on the promise. In this, faith differs from all 
 other works, that it alone embraces the promise, and receives 
 the blessing as unmerited. Other works offer something to 
 God : nor can the application of the blessing by means of 
 works be understood in any other way, than that they effect 
 it by some merit which they possess. Lautervvald, there- 
 fore, while he rejects the name of merit, retains the thing, 
 and imposes upon himself by vain speculations. — As to his 
 urging that grace is promised to a complete repentance, if 
 he does not make the just distinction between the different 
 things comprehended under that name, and assign to each 
 its proper place and office, we do not admit his position. 
 To conintton grace is promised, as healing to a wound ; 
 faith applies the remedy ; but in no sense can it be said that 
 pardon is promised in consideration of the uorks to follow. 
 
 * By which faith was considered as a compreiieusive name for all 
 Christian graces and virtues. 
 
276 CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 He will say, perhaps, this is only reciting our constant 
 ditty. And we admit that we do constantly repeat the same 
 doctrine on this subject, because no other is true." 
 
 It must be superfluous again to point out how precisely 
 this is the doctrine of our own Articles and Homilies. " Be- 
 cause by faith, given us of God, we embrace the promise of 
 God's mercy, and of the remission of sins — which none 
 
 OTHER OF OUR VIRTUES OR WORKS PROPERLY DOTH there- 
 fore the Scripture useth to say, that faith without works 
 doth justify." " Faith doth not shut out repentance, hope, 
 love, dread, and the fear of God, to be joined with faith in 
 every man that is justified ; but it shdtteth them out 
 FROM the ofkice OF JUSTIFYING. So that, although 
 they be all present together, yet they justify not all 
 
 TOGETHER."* , -• ' 
 
 Considerable dispute also arose about this time concerning 
 the exclusive term onli/, as annexed to faith, in speaking 
 of justification. Of this, however, after what we have 
 already seen, our notice may be very brief. In what sense 
 the term faith only was and is applied must be evident tc 
 every candid inquirer ; namely, not as denying the co-exist- 
 ence of other Christian graces along with faith in the man 
 that is justified, but only as excluding them from the office 
 of justifying him : not, again, as making faith to be his 
 justif^^ing righteousness, but only the link which connects 
 him with the Saviour, by whom, and for whose sake, he is 
 justified.— Flacius, it seems, accused Melancthon of having 
 given up the exclusive term : he in reply declares, " I never 
 said, I never wrote, I never thought, that it was an inaccu- 
 racy, or a mere refinement, that we are justified by faith 
 only. On the contrary, I have said and written more in 
 explanation and defence of this form of speaking than 
 others have done. When our adversaries urged that the 
 term only did not occur in the Scriptures, I always answered, 
 that exclusive terms were frequently repeated by St. Paul 
 upon this subject. — They plead that faith is not alone in us. 
 I admit this in all its extent, when speaking of the faith to 
 which we ascribe justification ; and, to preclude the mis- 
 understanding of the subject which the objection supposes* 
 I have said that I would not contend for a particular term* 
 and have sometimes substituted the word gratif:, or freely^ 
 
 * Honiiiy o[ Salvation. 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 277 
 
 which St. Paul, a master in the use cf terms, has also em- 
 ployed." — Such is the substance of Melancthon's answer, 
 frequently repeated ; and it shows the whole " head and 
 front of his offending," for which he was fiercely assailed 
 in his own day, and for which unfounded charges are still 
 brought against him.* 
 
 The controversy which arose concerning the necessity 
 of good works to salvation may chiefly deserve to be noticed, 
 as affording a warning against pushing to an extreme sen- 
 timents which have a right foundation, and are in their just 
 sense, and within their proper limits, of essential import- 
 ance ; or against deducing extravagant and dangerous 
 inferences from such sentiments. Even Amsdorf, the old 
 friend of Luther, now went the length of maintaining, 
 " that good works not only were not necessary to salvation, 
 but were an obstruction to it !" And at a much earlier 
 period Melancthon writes, " Cordatus stirs up against me 
 the city, the surrounding countries, and the court itself, 
 because, in explaining the controversy concerning justifica- 
 tion, I said that renewed obedience was necessary to salva- 
 tion." Yet these persons did not mean to be antinomians, 
 or to encourage an abuse of the grace of God ; but they 
 had unhappily possessed their minds with the idea, that 
 good works could not be insisted on as in any sense neces- 
 sary to salvation, without their being made necessary to 
 procure it, as a meritorious cause. 
 
 In another contention into which Flacius fell wdth Stri- 
 gelius, a brother professor at Jena, he is said to have gone 
 the extravagant length of maintaining " that original sin is 
 the very substance of human nature," and to have persisted 
 in this strange position to his dying day. 
 
 We shall here notice only one more of these harassing 
 controversies. This was raised by Francesco Stancari, a 
 native of Mantua, but a professor in the university of Kon- 
 igsberg, who, being compelled to quit his situation in con- 
 sequence of his opposition to the dogma of Osiander, retired 
 to Frankfort on the Oder. He is described as a man of a 
 turbulent spirit, and he fell into the error of supposing that 
 he had somevv'hat of importance to teach the church, in 
 maintaining that the mediatorial office of our Saviour was 
 
 Vol, II.— a 
 
 See p. 242-244 
 
278 REFLECTIONS ON 
 
 (lischarged exclusively in his human nature. We sh&ll 
 transcribe a short sentence from Melancthon upon the 
 subject. " I hesitate not," he says, " to pronounce Stan- 
 cari's notion an error : for to the Mediator it belongs not 
 only to die, but that his death should be an equivalent ran- 
 som for men, and that he should be the conqueror of death. 
 Also, that he should be a priest entering into the holiest of 
 all — 'into the secret council of the Most High. Yea, more- 
 over, that he should sanctify the hearts of men by giving to 
 them his Holy Spirit. But these things belong to the 
 divine nature." 
 
 All these scenes of fierce controversy, so soon rising in 
 the reformed churches, present, no doubt, a mournful spec- 
 tacle. They wofully display the tendencies of human na- 
 ture, and the art and malice of the great enemy of divine 
 truth and human happiness. Defects may probably be 
 pointed out, through which the Lutheran church failed of 
 opposing the proper checks to a rising spirit of contention 
 and insubordination : yet even these defects, with all their con- 
 sequences, afford not that matter of trium.ph to the Romanist 
 which he affects to find in them. It is better to have some 
 disorder than the stiHness of universal death. Besides, no 
 such unity as he boasts has existed in his own church : as 
 the history of the council of Trent, to make no other ap- 
 peal, abundantly demonstrates. — But the narrative before us 
 affords most important and seasonable warning to ourselves. 
 Fierce contentions have too frequently followed close upon 
 remarkable revivals of religion, and have deformed their 
 character and arrested their progress. These contentions 
 have in great part arisen from well-intentioned and zeal- 
 ous men pushing things to extremes, being too impatient to 
 allow themselves to pause in order to define and explain, 
 and thus drowning the voice of truth amid the din of loud 
 assertion and impetuous dispute. But that which was vio- 
 lent and extreme could never continue long : it is not in 
 the nature of things that it should do so. With the tem- 
 perate, and the calm, and the moderate — provided only that 
 they do not compromise substantial truth — is wisdom ; and 
 with them also is endurance ; while that which carries 
 things beyond all due bounds soon passes off: nay, very 
 commonly it opens the wa)'^ for that which is in the con- 
 trary extreme to succeed it. The overstrained discipline of 
 the Novatians, refusing to restore the lapsed, and insistirig 
 
THE CONTROVERSIES. 279 
 
 on rebaptizing those who had received the initiatory sacra- 
 ment from the hands of heretics, was soon generally con- 
 demned ; and it disappeared. The high Presbyterianism, 
 which insisted that its form of church government in all its 
 parts, with all the rules for the conduct of public worship, 
 was to be found in Scripture, and that not the minutest ob- 
 servance was to be admitted which was not prescribed 
 there, has long since given way before the more temperate 
 doctrine for which Hooker contended. The fierce opposi- 
 tion which was once made to surplices and bands and gowns 
 is now lamented by all parties, and some of these vestments 
 are adopted even by the successors of those who led that 
 opposition. And where has u///a-Calvinism ever lono- main- 
 tained its ground ? In short every thing extreme is studi- 
 ously to be avoided, if we would durably promote the true 
 interests of the church of Christ. This is a lesson which 
 may much need to be regarded in our day. True religion 
 has been extensively revived : the genuine doctrines of the 
 reformation, which are those of the gospel itself, have 
 spread to an extent hardly ever before known among us : 
 we are to guard, no doubt, against those who would tam- 
 per with them, and dilute them, and frustrate their efficacy 
 by worldly associations and a worldly spirit : but we are no 
 less to guard against those who would carry them to an ex- 
 treme ; who would overstate and overstrain them ; who 
 would vitiate them by unscriptural inferences, and lay 
 them open to antinomian abuse by crude and unwar- 
 ranted statements ; or who disgrace them by violence of 
 spirit, and a contemptuous treatment of such as cannot go 
 their lengths. By such proceedings the seeds of decay 
 were sown in the Lutheran church at a very early period : 
 and, as Romish superstition has generated infidelity, so it is 
 to be apprehended that the refinements and the contentions 
 which followed the death of Luther, might do much towards 
 gradually preparing the way for the neology and the other 
 abominations of modern German Protestantism.* "Be not 
 high-minded, but fear. Let him that thinketh he standeth 
 take heed lest he fall." 
 
 * In the fancies of Caspar Schwenckfeldt, apparently a pioiLs, but a 
 weak and enthui.iasfic rnan, who caused some trouble to the reformers, 
 we may p'^rhaps trace somewhat of the mijsticis-in which infests Protest- 
 ant Germany ; while Thammer, of whom Melancthon asserts, that he 
 " transformed the gospel into heathenish allegories," may have afforded 
 an early spociinea of modern German neologism. 
 
280 melancthon's 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Remamder of Melancthon^s History — Further Extracts from 
 his Epistles — His Works — Notices of Lutheran Reformers. 
 
 The character and services of Melancthon, his intimate 
 connexion with the reformation during the whole of its pro- 
 gress, and the leading station which he occupied ever after 
 the death of Luther, all peculiarly entitle him to our high 
 regard, and render it proper that, though we have traced the 
 Lutheran reformation to its regular and peaceful establish- 
 ment in Germany, we should not close our history without 
 attending him to the end of his earthly career. 
 
 Melancthon survived the peace of religion five years, 
 which were laboriously employed, as the preceding thirty- 
 seven had been, in the service of sound learning and divine 
 truth. He continued to the last involved in those contro- 
 versies which we have lamented as dividing and deforming 
 the Lutheran church after the death of its founder : but our 
 notice of his writings in that department has been already 
 so far extended into these last years of his life, that we shall 
 have little occasion to return to them. In this his closing 
 stage we find him, from the change of circumstances produced 
 by the peace now established, less engaged than formerly in 
 public negotiations in the cause of religion. Still however 
 he was not without employment of that kind. In 1555 he 
 went to Nuremberg, accompanied by Aless (a Scotch divine, 
 settled in Germany), and Camerarius, for the purpose of 
 endeavouring to heal the divisions which had been occa- 
 sioned in that city by the dogmas of Osiander ; and his ex- 
 ertions were crowned with success. He comprised in a clear 
 and pacific paper, in which no censure was passed upon any 
 individual, the doctrines to be approved or disapproved on the 
 points at issue ; and this paper he submitted to the clergy 
 of the place, begging them freely to canvass it, that they 
 might, if possible, come to agreement upon it, and then, 
 "by common consent, exhibit an instance of that unanimity 
 which the Son of God had so ardently prayed for on behalf 
 
LATTER YEARS. 281 
 
 of his church." The proceeding had the happiest issue, in 
 the restoration of peace among the pastors and reHgious 
 communities of that city. 
 
 In the year 1557 the vain attempt was once more re- 
 newed, by a pubUe conference held at Worms, under the 
 presidency of JuUus Pflug, to reconcile the existing reli- 
 gious diiferences of the Protestants and Roman Catholics-, 
 and Melancthon was deputed to the meeting by Augustus 
 Elector of Saxony. But the conference was soon termi- 
 nated by the Romanists' first demanding, as a measure pre- 
 liminary to the discussion of any form of concord, that all 
 Zwinglians, Osiandrists, and Flacians should be condemned 
 by name ; and the deputies from the princes of Saxe-Wei- 
 mar (the sons of John Frederic), requiring that all adiapho- 
 rists, synergists, Majorists (terms applied to Melancthon 
 and his friends), and others of a like description, should be 
 included with the Zwinglians in this condemnation. It 
 was probably the design of the papists by their proposal to 
 divide the Protestants ; an object in which the deputies 
 from Weimar, who were favourable to Flacius, unwittingly 
 seconded them. Hence no point appears to have come 
 under discussion in this conference beyond the great prin- 
 ciple of the rule of judgment — which Melancthon and his 
 friends, of course, maintained to be the Scriptures alone. 
 
 In an interval of this conference, while a deputation was 
 sent to King Ferdinand to learn his pleasure concerning 
 the course of , procedure, Melancthon accepted an invi- 
 tation from Otho Henry Elector Palatine, to visit Hei- 
 delberg, in order to arrange a plan for the conduct of 
 the university now established there. While at this place, 
 ,he received the melancholy intelligence of the death of his 
 wife, with whom he had lived in harmony and happiness for 
 thirty-seven years. His friend Camerarius came over to 
 Heidelberg to communicate the painful tidings to him ; 
 which he did while they were together in the elector's gar- 
 dens. The good man, as one wearied with the struggles of 
 life, and anticipating his own departure, though much af- 
 fected at the intelligence, made scarcely any other remark 
 at the time than this, " I shall soon follow her." 
 
 The next year, he again maintained the Protestant cause 
 against Staphylus and Avius, the former of whom was an 
 apostate frora Lutheranism — once the pupil and disciple, and 
 A a 2 
 
282 DEATH OF 
 
 afterward the malignant enemy, of Melancthon. — Besides 
 his writings, — which, we are told, were chiefly the product of 
 early morning hours — Melancthon still persevered in his in- 
 defatigable labours as a professor in the university ; in which 
 character he had been accustomed to deliver two, and often 
 three, or even four lectures in the day. His last lecture, in 
 which he explained part of the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, 
 was given April 12, 1560. He had been previously at Leip- 
 zig, attending an annual examination of the students of the 
 university, and had taken cold on his return. Intermitting 
 fever now came on. He still however continued to write ; 
 and he wished again to lecture on the 14th of April, but 
 was prevented by his friend Camerarius, who had come 
 from Leipzig to visit him, on account of his illness. With 
 him he discoursed on the words of the apostle, " Having a 
 desire to depart, and be with Christ, which is far better." 
 On the 18th day of the month he attempted to write out his 
 will afresh, but was unable to finish it. In what he did put 
 down, however, he observed, that " he wished to have what 
 he had written in opposition to the papists, anabaptists, 
 Flacians, and others, in his reply to the Bavarian Articles,* 
 considered as the confession of his faith." The next day, 
 about six o'clock in the evening, he expired in peace, offer- 
 ing up prayers and expressing kind wishes for all about him. 
 He was sixty-three years of age, during forty-tw^o of which 
 he had been connected with the university of Wittemberg. 
 On the 21st of April his remains were honourably interred, 
 near to those of his illustrious friend Luther, in AH Saints' 
 church. 
 
 A short time before his death, he wrote in parallel columns 
 a fragment of reasons why we ought not to be unwilling 
 to die. They are apparently addressed to himself. 
 
 " On the one hand — " On the other hand — 
 
 You shall depart from your sins. You shall come into the light. 
 
 You shall see God. 
 
 You shall be released from trou- You shall behold the Son of God. 
 
 bles, and from the fierce con- You .shall learn those hidden m\'s- 
 
 teutions of polemics, teries which you could not in 
 
 this life comprehend— Why we 
 
 are in our present condition — 
 
 What is the union of the two 
 
 natures in the person of Christ." 
 
 * See below, p. 305. 
 
MELANCTHON. 283 
 
 We add the following particulars from a second life of 
 him inserted by Melchior Adam in his biography of philoso- 
 phers, in addition to that which he had given in his biog- 
 raphy of divines. 
 
 " He frequently in his latter years, and particularly in the 
 last months of his life, bewailed with many tears the dis- 
 cords of the reformed churches, and implored in ardent 
 prayers that God would heal these divisions. This subject 
 seemed to be perpetually in his heart and on his tongue. 
 When his friend and physician Winsheim visited him, and 
 expressed his fears that with his feeble and reduced frame 
 he would ill sustain the attacks of his disease, he replied, 
 with a smile, ' I desire to depart, and to be with Christ.' — 
 To Peucer, his son-in-law, he said the day before his death, 
 ' My illness does not disturb me : I have no anxiety or mat- 
 ter of care but one — that the churches may be at peace in 
 Christ Jesus.' He frequently before his death repeated the 
 Saviour's prayer, 'that they may be one in us, as we also 
 are one :' and frequently this sentence of St. Paul, ' Christ 
 Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteous- 
 ness, and sanctification, and redemption.' A little time be- 
 fore he expired, Eber, Chief Pastor of Wittemberg, reciting 
 to him the words, ' as many as received him, to them gave 
 he power to become the sons of God ;' he raised his hands 
 and eyes, and said, ' That sentence is ever in my thoughts !' 
 His son-in law having asked if he wished for any thing, 
 he said, ' Nothing but heaven ;' and begged that he might 
 not be disturbed. At the close, as long as he could articulate, 
 he repealed the words, ' O God, compassionate me through 
 thy Son Jesus Christ !' and again, ' In thee, O Jjord, have I 
 trusted, let me never be confounded !' His faculties were 
 clear to the last, and his decease literally resembled a fall- 
 ing sleep." 
 
 Thus lived, thus taught, and thus died the man of whom 
 Bossuet,* in concluding the notice which he thinks pro- 
 per to take of him, can find nothing better, nor any thing 
 more correct to say, than what is contained in the following 
 sentence : " He was respected, as appeared, by the church 
 of Wittemberg, but the grievous restraints he lay under, and 
 the measures he was forced to follow, prevented his speaking 
 
 * The Roman Catholic bishop of Means 
 
284 CHARACTER OF 
 
 all he thought; and in this state he ended his miserable 
 life, in 1560 !" 
 
 Melancthon is a character with whom it is impossible to 
 become conversant without being in danger of contracting 
 for him even an excessive partiality. I have felt that I was 
 exposed to this bias in writing of him : and I am aware 
 that I have made a more favourable representation of his 
 course, and of the ground that he occupied after the death 
 of Luther, than is generally received : but I desire to have 
 my statements admitted no further than they are drawn from 
 authentic sources. I have endeavoured to trace, not from 
 the fallacious reports of others concerning him, but from his 
 own papers, what part he actually took in the controversies 
 respecting the Interim, and the adiaphoristic points — which 
 I cannot but feel confident has not been done by many who 
 have censured him : and thus I trust I have satisfactorily 
 vindicated him from numerous charges of pusillanimity, and 
 unworthy concession and compromise ; and have shown 
 that, in some of the most important cases, he was even he- 
 roically firm, where the very contrary has been imputed to 
 him. I cannot but suppose that many who have given cur- 
 rency to disadvantageous accounts of his conduct have not 
 had recourse to his own writings, or to other original docu- 
 ments : they rather seem, having heard the charges of his 
 opponents, and considered his reputed character, to have in- 
 ferred how it v^^as likely that a man of his temper should act, 
 than to have inquired how he really did act. Thus to ap- 
 portion praise or blame upon speculative grounds, and not 
 upon an actual examination of facts, it is to be feared, is not 
 uncommon even with historians of reputation. My im- 
 pression is, that the fault of Melancthon's character was 
 not, as it is commonly supposed to have been, timidity, at 
 least in the sense of a hesitation to avow his sentiments, or 
 a dread of personal danger — for many facts demonstrate 
 his bold disregard even of life itself in the cause which he 
 had undertaken ; but rather a morbid fear of deciding amiss ; 
 a fastidiousness whicli could never satisfy itself; together 
 with such an excessive and, considering in whose hands 
 the direction of the alTairs of the church is really placed, 
 such a superfluous anxiety for its peace and unity, as some- 
 times exposed him to the danger of making undue sacrifices 
 for this all but invaluable object. Yet, if any imagine that 
 
MELANCTHON. 285 
 
 it was at all a part of his plan to compromise disputed 
 points by the use of ambiguous terms, which each party 
 might construe in its own favour, I can only observe, that 
 there is no practice against which he more frequently and 
 more strongly protests. He was fully aware, that what is 
 thus unsoundly healed breaks out afresh with aggravated 
 virulence. His constant maxim was, " ambiguous terms 
 only generate new controversies."'^ 
 
 On the whole, after reading nearly two thousand of his 
 letters, and numerous others of his papers and writings, I 
 confess that I cannot but regard him as affording one of the 
 loveliest specimens of the grace of God ever exhibited in 
 our fallen nature. It is quite superfluous to speak of his 
 talents, his learning, his taste — they are known and ap- 
 plauded by all. Luther thus broke forth respecting him 
 when he came to Wittemberg a mere stripling : " Philip 
 delivered an oration the fourth day after his arrival, replete 
 with learning and elegance, so as to captivate the esteem 
 and admiration of all. We soon turned off our eyes and 
 our thoughts from his stature and appearance, to admire the 
 furniture of his mind." He immediately commenced 
 courses of lecture on Homer, and on St. Paul's epistle to 
 Titus, and then Luther was left at a loss for words to ex- 
 press his sentiments concerning him. "He has a crowded 
 audience," he says, "and he fires us all, from our first 
 divines to our humblest students, with zeal for the study of 
 Greek." And again : " He is a mere child, if you consider 
 his age, but his acquaintance with all kinds of learning is 
 astonishing." Erasmus also thus wrote concerning him as 
 early as the year 1515 : " What hopes may we not conceive 
 of Philip Melancthon 1 Though yet very young and almost 
 a boy, he is equally to be admired for his proficiency in both 
 languages. What quickness of invention — what purity of 
 diction — what vastness of memory — what variety of read- 
 ing — what modesty and noble gracefulness of behaviour !" 
 
 * " Historians have applied" the term timid to Melancthon " with great 
 incaution." " The hesitation of Melancthon in deciding upon new sub- 
 jects, or in difficult cases resulted not so much from timidity as from 
 
 conscieiUious scruples of mind. It was not that he feared temporal, but 
 moral consequences." Again : " Those who are solicitous of forming a 
 correct idea of him will rather deem it slanderous than descriptive to 
 <;aU him the timid Melancton."— Dr. Cox, Life of Mel. 
 
286 melancthon's 
 
 But that which peculiarly strikes us in reviewing his history 
 is, that this most refined and gentle spirit passed more than 
 forty years — the whole of his mature life — in almost inces- 
 sant contention against corruptions and corrupters of Divine 
 truth, of every description — and that, without ever being 
 either soured by dispute, or reduced to silence by weariness 
 and disgust. Seldom does a sharp expression escape him, at 
 least in any public writing, or in any address to an opponent : 
 yet he was as assiduous, and as ready to take up his wea- 
 pons to the last, as at any former period of his life. In the 
 words of his son-in-law, Peucer, " Neither odium, danger, 
 trouble, nor ungrateful returns induced him to throw off the 
 burden of the service which God had assigned him, though 
 he often complained that it was heavier than he could well 
 bear." 
 
 In now taking leave of his character and history, I prO' 
 pose to furnish the reader with some additional extracts, 
 chiefly from his epistles. In reading over these generally 
 simple and brief effusions, various excellent qualities of his 
 temper and spirit must forcibly strike us : his heavenly- 
 mindedness — his placability — his persevering diligence — his 
 affection — his anxiety to serve his friends— his zeal for the 
 church of Christ, and for divine truth — as also for the pro- 
 motion of education and the diffusion of knowledge — and 
 his liberality. Most or all of these, as well as his opinions 
 on several important topics, will receive illustration from 
 the extracts which follow. We will arrange them under some 
 distinct heads. 
 
 I. On public affairs, and the peace of the church. 
 
 On the approaching war of Smalkald, supposing the ques- 
 tion asked. Would he approve it, and instigate his party to 
 it 1 he wisely and piously answers, " that he would never 
 be the instigator of civil war, even where the cause was just. 
 Let us rather," he says, " deplore the common calamity • 
 let us teach that the sins of both parties are the cause of it : 
 let us exhort the people to implore Almighty God, with ar- 
 dent supplications, to send a safe and religious peace : let 
 us entreat those in power to employ their influence for this 
 purpose. All this will be becoming and useful." Alluding 
 to the pretence made by the emperor's party, that the war 
 was not waged against the religion of the Protestants, Lq 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 287 
 
 says, " God knows what is really their object. If they are 
 guilty of falsehood in their professed intentions, it is no 
 crime, however it may be a weakness, in us to believe them ; 
 and God will punish their deceit." 
 
 The opening of a letter to Paul Rhodius of Stettin, and 
 the other Pomeranian pastors, in which he kindly pleads 
 in behalf of Artopaeus, who had been banished from among 
 them for maintaining the dogma of Osiander, but had now 
 softened down or altered his opinion, is striking. " Reve- 
 rend and dear brethren, no more ardent voice was ever 
 heard in heaven or in earth than that of the Son of God, 
 pleading, before he suffered, that the Eternal Father would 
 sanctify his church through the truth, and make it one in 
 Him. It is the prayer of the Son of God that the truth 
 may be known, and peace preserved in his church : that 
 there may ever be a portion, at least, of mankind by whom 
 God may be rightly v.orshipped. To this prayer of our great 
 High-priest, the Son of God, we join our earnest suppli- 
 cations, that God would preserve truth and peace in your 
 churches, and in ours. . . .The churches subsisting among 
 you were organized by Bugenhagen and myself: we have 
 therefore a peculiar desire for their constant peace and pu- 
 rity, that they and we may at length give thanks together 
 for ever in the blessed society of the heavenly world." 
 
 A letter to Andrew Musculus, of Frankfort on the Oder,* 
 displays a fine spirit of frankness, moderation, and charity. 
 On the recommendation of Melancthon, it seems, Musculus 
 had received his doctor's degree : yet, having embraced 
 certain ascetic and, it is to be feared, self-righteous no- 
 tions, he was now condemning the whole body of the Lu- 
 theran divines, for not inculcating fasting, to the extent of 
 abstinence from food for two or three days together. On 
 such grounds he ventured to affirm, " that among them men 
 were not instructed in the doctrine of repentance." Nay, 
 he even pronounced them, in certain respects, " worse than 
 idolaters." Melancthon mildly combats the errors of Mus- 
 culus ; observes, concerning his severe sentences, " To say 
 the least, you pronounce too harshly ;" yet still expresses^ 
 his affection for him : and observes, " I think all teachers 
 
 * Not to be confounded with the ■vvell-kno^\m Wolfgang MusctHtiiS '»f 
 Augsburg, afterward of Berne. 
 
288 melancthon's 
 
 of religion, who agree in their main doctrines, ought to be 
 friends, though tiiey may not express themselves in the 
 
 same way in explaining particular points I am not 
 
 so bigoted and selfish that I can allow no one to diifer 
 from me." 
 
 In two distinct letters to our Cranmer, in the year 1548, 
 he highly approves the primate's purpose of drawing up 
 articles of religion, and urges him to execute his design 
 with all possible exactness, using the advice of the ablest 
 men, who should in the end sanction what was agreed upon 
 with their signatures. " Nothing," he says, " can be more 
 important than a measure of this kind, which will produce 
 a noble testimony to the true doctrine, in the sight of all 
 nations, and hand it down to posterity as a rule which they 
 may follow. Such a confession of faith, prepared among 
 you, will not differ much from ours. There are a few 
 points however on which I could wish it to be a 'little more 
 explicit, for fear that ambiguous expressions should give 
 occasion to fresh disputes." — He then adverts to the pro- 
 ceedings of the emperor respecting the Interim : " He is 
 forming a scheme for the termination of our controversies, 
 which he may perhaps publish : but, as his plan is to unite 
 the parties by the use of general terms, to which neither 
 can object (but which determine nothing), he will only ex- 
 cite further contentions. At the same time, he will confirm 
 existing abuses. In the church we should by all means call 
 things by their true names ; by any, other means we only 
 throw in the apple of discord among the guests. If among 
 us unanimity had existed in the churches, we should not 
 have been exposed to our present calamities. By all means, 
 therefore, pursue your intention. If you ask my opinion and 
 concurrence, I will most readily both give my own senti- 
 ments, with the grounds of them, and listen to those of 
 others — men of learning and piety. May truth and the 
 glory of God, and the good of the church, and not any pri- 
 vate aflec ions, evermore prevail !" 
 
 What he thus writes to Cranmer corresponds with the 
 earnest wishes which he elsewhere repeatedly expresses 
 concerning the Protestant chutches at large. ^' Would to 
 God that the state of the times were such, that a number 
 of experienced and learned men might meet and consult 
 together on the doctrines to be maintained ! — men who 
 should bring to the discussion, not mutual estrangementsy 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 289 
 
 not perverseness, not ignorance, not arrogance, not sophis- 
 try, not the vain desires of contention and victory ; but the 
 fear of God, learning, the love of truth, care to cherish and 
 'promote a spirit of prayer, modesty, candour, and kindness 
 one towards another, a readiness to be convinced themselves, 
 as well as a wish to convince others. In such an assembly, 
 while the Word and Son of the eternal Father governed the 
 hearts of all concerned, and the Holy Scriptures were made 
 the rule of their decisions, something might be happily 
 settled in the churches, both for the present age and for 
 posterity." 
 
 II. We will next give some extracts illustrative of his 
 temper in privat^e life, and his sentiments respecting its sev- 
 eral relations. 
 
 Let not those which he expresses concerning marriage 
 and the female sex be thought unworthy of a place here. 
 Thus he writes to a friend who had just formed this union. 
 — " Stigelius* calls the married state ' a divinely appointed 
 school of human life.' The truth and importance of this 
 representation might furnish the theme of a long discourse. 
 The establishment of such an order of things, and the ne- 
 cessity of adhering to it for the well-being of society, attest 
 the government of God, and illustrate his character. The 
 preservation of human society demonstrates the presence 
 of God with us : and those who live holily in wedlock find 
 the proofs of that presence on many trying occasions. This 
 state brings with it the exercise of numerous virtues. That 
 you have determined therefore to comply with this divine 
 appointroeiic Is a thing pleasing to God : and I pray him to 
 bestow upon you and your wife all happiness in your 
 union." — To another he expresses himself still more 
 strongly : " I commend your choosing this state of Ufe, and 
 wish you every blessing in it. Married life appears to me 
 a sort of philosophical discipline, training persons to hon- 
 ourable duties, worthy of the good and wise. Few unmar- 
 ried people are affected as they ought to be towards the 
 public good, and perceive what are really the most import- 
 ant objects in life." 
 
 He is much pleased with Pythagoras's remask on the hus- 
 band's receiving his bride from the altar, as if to remind 
 
 * A professor at Jena, and an elegant Latin poet. 
 Vol. II— B b 
 
290 melancthon's 
 
 him that, like a suppliant who had taken refuge there, she 
 had a religious claim to his protection, and that the Deity 
 would avenge his infringement of his duties to her. TlieUy 
 glancing at a union of which that of marriage is the 
 Scriptural emblem, he says, " And such, most strictly, is 
 the character under which the church is led to her husband 
 Christ, as a suppliant" whom he receives into the honour- 
 able relation of his spouse. — " Our daughters also," he af- 
 fectionately and piously remarks, " will be (like suppliants 
 at the altar) the objects of divine care and protection. 
 ' The generation of the righteous shall be blessed.' " That 
 " good awaits the children of the pious, of which others 
 have no assurance," is a sentiment which he often repeats. 
 At this very time, as we shall see, he had painful occasion 
 to recur to such consolations. 
 
 Again: "I am quite indignant at those misanthropic 
 beings who think it a proof of wisdom to despise the female 
 sex. Grant that that sex have their weaknesses : we also 
 have our faults. ... If we have superior force, let us show 
 it in protecting, not in insulting them. Though many un- 
 feeling spirits may neglect such duties, God demonstrates in 
 his providence a peculiar care of the feebler part of the 
 species. Birds build their nests for their mates and their 
 young : and in like manner cities are fortified, and the la- 
 bour of governing and defending them, is undertaken for 
 the sake of women and children, rather than of men. As 
 often then as you look upon a house or a city, reflect that 
 both of them were erected for the mothers of our chil- 
 dren. And if God in his providence has made such pro- 
 vision for your wife (now in her confinement), that govern- 
 ments, magistrates, workmen, houses, cities, castles, are all 
 subservient to her benefit, do not think it burdensome to 
 bear your part of the common duty, by attending assidu- 
 ously upon her. — Finally, since marriage presents an image 
 of the love of the Son of God to his church, let the calls 
 made upon you in domestic hfe remind you, that he has the 
 same care for the church under all her weaknesses, which 
 you now feel for your wife. — For my part I have often 
 thought of composing a history of heroic women — women 
 who have endured great afflictions with piety and firmness. 
 The trials of my own family have suggested this to me : 
 for the temper of mind manifested by my dear daughter has 
 been the great alleviation of the bitter grief occasioned me 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 291 
 
 by her calamity. She has ever exhorted me to bear it with 
 greater fortitude ; for that it was her determination to sub- 
 mit to the will of God in all that he might see good to lay 
 upon her. May he succour both her, and you, and us all 
 against our adversary the devil, and apply a healing balm 
 to the poisonous bites of the old serpent." 
 
 He often speaks beautifully, and with evident delight, of 
 the affection of parents to their children ; considering it as 
 purposely calculated to give u&-an idea of the regard which 
 God — " the Father of spirits" — bears to us. ^Thus he 
 writes to one friend, " I doubt not that God will preserve 
 the remnant of his church in these countries ; and in that 
 hope you may indulge more heart-felt joy in the birth of 
 your son. I rejoice at the event for your father's sake — 
 and your father-in-law's sake — and your own sake ; and 
 that you may all,- while you kiss the dear infant with pa- 
 rental tenderness, think of the love (cropy^) which God bears 
 towards us." And to another : " Withdraw your mind as 
 much as possible from painful subjects of reflection, and 
 refresh yourself with the sweets of domestic society : and, 
 when you feel such affection to your children think that 
 God has impressed this upon us as an image of his own 
 mind towards us."* 
 
 III. That piety of the writer's mind, which gives so reli- 
 gious a turn to all these subjects, will appear still more 
 conspicuous where the afflictions and death of his friends 
 are concerned. 
 
 The death of the excellent Nicholas Hausman,t in the 
 year 1538, seems to have deeply affected both Luther and 
 Melancthon. "Dr. Martin," says Melancthon, "passed 
 the whole of yesterday in tears. I know not what sort of 
 a night has followed so sad,a day. He bewails not our 
 
 * The last fourteen letters in the second book of Melanctlion's pub- 
 lished epistles are addressed to a faithful and valued servant, whom he 
 constantly calls " Charissime .Toannes,"— " very dear John." They bear 
 a strong testimony to the excellence of the servant and the kindness of 
 the master. On the death of John " Melancthon invited the acade- 
 micians to his funeral, delivered an oration over his grave, and composed 
 an epitaph" in Latm verse for his tomhstone, in which he speaks of 
 himself as having 
 
 — " in a servant found a friend sincere, 
 
 And more than friend, a man of faith and prayer." 
 tVol, i,151,ii. 51. 
 
292 melancthon's 
 
 departed friend, but the church which has lost so invaluable a 
 pastor. — But let us remember, Hausman is not dead, but is 
 removed from all the troubles of life to immortality. And 
 though there is reason to grieve for the church, yet Chris- 
 tians must not sink under their grief, but raise and confirm 
 their minds by means of prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 — And in another letter on the same event he says, ♦' Re- 
 flecting on the decease of Hausman, I feel as on the dis- 
 missal of friends home from a foreign land to our common 
 native country. Their departure awakens all my own love 
 for that countr}'^, and I desire to go with them to those bet- 
 ter habitations — to rise to that eternal world of light where 
 we may enjoy God, at a distance from all sin, and error, 
 and darkness. I beseech you, therefore, refrain your grief, 
 and think of semng the church committed to your care. 
 In battle, soldiers must not let their courage fail because 
 they see their comrades fall around them : but rather suc- 
 ceed to their places. So let us not desert the post assigned 
 us, but pray that God will vouchsafe to be with us." 
 
 To his friend Mathesius, on the deformity of his son. 
 "Reverend and dear brother, often in praying for ray 
 daughter, under great distress, I thought parental affection 
 had been implanted in our breasts to remind us of the love 
 of God towards his only-begotten Son, and towards us. 
 But this affection is especially called forth under afflictive 
 circumstances. I doubt not therefore the grief which you 
 and your dear wife feel for the deformity of your child. Yet 
 Adam and Eve, and David suffered still severer wounds : 
 and think what anguish pierced the soul of the blessed 
 Virgin ! — I purpose shortly to publish your discourse : and 
 I mean to weave into it the doctrine of consolation under 
 affliction, and of the distinction between philosophical and 
 evangelical consolation." 
 
 To Pfeffinger, on the death of his son. "It is the will 
 of God that we sho>ild mourn the loss of those who have 
 been dear to us ; and in our grief he approves our piety. 
 In proportion also to the excellence of a man's nature is the 
 strength of his affections. T can conceive therefore the depth 
 of your grief for the loss of your son. And I blame not 
 your feelings, but rather sympathize with tbem, both for 
 your sake and that of the public. Yet consider that God 
 has commanded us both to grieve and to moderate our grief. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 293 
 
 Let us first remember that these events are all ordered by 
 th« Divine counsel, and that our minds must be bowed into 
 submission to God. Theii let us consider, not what we 
 have lost, but to what blessedness your excellent son is 
 called away — from what a miserable world, and at what a 
 time. We ought to congratulate him on being advanced to 
 the heavenly society, where he drinks no more, as we do, 
 of polluted streams, but of the pure and inexhaustible foun- 
 tain of wisdom ; where he hears the Son of God, and the 
 prophets, and the apostles ; and gives thanks to God with 
 ineffable joy. Thinking on such a state, we could wish at 
 once to fly to it, from the comparative dungeon in which we 
 live. — Your grief is increased, perhaps, by reflecting on the 
 genius, the attainments, and the virtues of your son. But 
 this reflection ought rather to assuage your grief. He lived 
 to good purpose while he lived. You saw the evidences 
 of his piety shining forth in his life and in his death — such 
 as demonstrated that eternal life was begun in him, and 
 that his removal hence has been to heavenly bliss. As 
 often as you think of his endowments, give thanks to God, 
 who showed such favour both to you and to him. A grate- 
 ful mind will remember its mercies as well as its trials. . . . 
 If you are at any time compelled to spend some months at 
 a distance from your family, amid rude and unfriendly com- 
 panions, the thought of returning home alleviates your un- 
 easiness. So now bear your bereavement with moderated 
 feelings, because in a little time you shall go and join your 
 son in that blessed society, and see him adorned with higher 
 honours than he could here receive, and associated with the 
 most glorious companions. There you shall live with him 
 to all eternity, enjoying the vision of God, and the most 
 blessed intercourse with Christ and all his servants. On 
 this state let us fix our eyes during our troublesome sojourn 
 here : let us bear up the more cheerfully, knowing that our 
 course is short, and that we are formed for spending eternity 
 with God, and not for the fleeting gratifications of this life. 
 — May God support you in body and mind — according to 
 that sentence, ' In him we live, and move, and have our 
 being !' » 
 
 To Camerarius, on the death of his brother, " I sin- 
 cerely loved your brother, not only because I love you, but 
 for the sake of his genius, his goodness, his weight of char- 
 Bb3 
 
294 melancthon's 
 
 acter, his mocleration of mind, and because, as I saw him 
 relying on God in his troubles, I could not doubt that he 
 was himself beloved of God. I grieve therefore that he is 
 taken from us. — But what do I say, I loved him 1 Nay, I 
 still love him : for he dwells with the Son of God ; and with 
 Abraham, and Joseph, and David, and John the Baptist, and 
 St. Paul ; and sees them face to face who are the judges 
 of the conflicts in which we are engaged.* I hope I shall 
 join that blessed company a short time before you do. So 
 far am I from shrinking at the prospect of quitting my im- 
 prisonment here, that, as often as I think of the employments 
 of that blessed society, the desire to join them glows within 
 me. ... I am no stranger to the contemplation of death. 
 But God would have us not dwell on our miseries, but seek 
 and expect consolation from him, who is the God of ail com- 
 fort, and who dwells with the afflicted — as I have often 
 found, in such a manner as assures me that we are not left 
 to the government of chance." 
 
 To Gerbelius, on the death of his son. " I deeply sym- 
 pathize with you, and should gladly comfort you : but all 
 other topics than those which the divine Word furnishes are 
 frigid and empty. Among those of an availing kind, one is, 
 that God has repeatedly taught us that his church must 
 bear the cross, and the reasons why it must do so. He has 
 exercised the great luminaries of his church, and above them 
 all their great Head, his beloved Son, with severe suflferings. 
 As therefore we know the will of God, and are assured 
 what the issue shall be, we must do as St. Peter charges 
 us, ' humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God' — that 
 mighty hand which not only subverts prosperity, but also 
 wonderfully supports and delivers his people in adversity, 
 beyond their expectation. Let us obey God therefore, and 
 * not faint when we are rebuked of him.' — I have been fre- 
 quently called to mourn the death of beloved friends within 
 the last two years. I lately lost my sister, and my sister- 
 in-law, my brother's wife : also Capito, and Grynaeus, and 
 his son. I could recount a longer catalogue than I could 
 well bear to review, were I not convinced that we must 
 submit to God ; and likewise that my departed friends are 
 not lost, but still contemplate, with far higher advantage 
 
 * Heb. xii. 1. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 296 
 
 and delight, those truths which we imperfectly discussed 
 together in this state of comparative darkness. Think thus, 
 my friend, that you shall again embrace your departed wives 
 and children ; that you shall conduct your son through the 
 glorious company of the prophets and apostles, and recall 
 to his mind what you taught him concerning them, and hear 
 the doubtful points of their respective histories cleared up 
 by themselves in person. You shall hear the Son of God 
 himself speaking to you. You shall see your sainted wives 
 conversing with Eve, and Sarah, and other holy women of 
 old times. As often as I indulge these reflections, I feel 
 the ardent desire of mingling with the blessed company. 
 You remember Socrates says, that nothing could be more 
 delightful to him, if the souls of men really live hereafter, 
 than to depart out of this life, and to join Palamedes and 
 other sages, and to learn from them the things of which he 
 was here left in doubt. If to him the thought of death was 
 alleviated by that obscure and uncertain hope, how ought 
 we to be affected, who assuredly know that we are formed 
 for the presence of God himself, and that by his Son, our 
 great High-priest, our forfeited inheritance is restored to us ] 
 — I have not written to instruct you ; but because I hoped 
 the converse of a friend might at such a time be soothing to 
 you. — Farewell." 
 
 The affliction which Melancthon himself suffered on 
 account of a beloved daughter has been repeatedly referred 
 to : and with some more distinct notice of her history we 
 will close these extracts relative to cases of suffering and 
 sorrow. 
 
 Melancthon had two sons and two daughters. Concern- 
 ing the sons I find nothing recorded, and they probably died 
 in early life. The younger daughter was married to Caspar 
 Peucer, a man of great eminence as a physician, a scholar, 
 and a philosopher. He was also a zealous labourer and a 
 great sufferer in the same cause with his father-in-law : 
 being much persecuted by the divines of Jena and Weimar, 
 and subjected by the Elector Augustus to a very severe 
 imprisonment of ten years' continuance, chiefly on the 
 ground of his having renounced Luther's doctrine of the 
 corporal presence in the Eucharist. The elder daughter 
 was an elegant and accomplished young woman, who 
 
296 melancthon's 
 
 reflected the image of her father's mind, and was a great 
 favourite with him. She was married at a very early age 
 to George Sabinus, a pupil of her father's, not unworthy of 
 his master, as far as intellectual endowments were con- 
 cerned, but a stranger to his meekness and moderation of 
 mind. Sabinus, early flattered by the attentions paid him 
 by the great and the learned both in Germany and Italy, 
 cherished ambitious aims, and in consequence expected 
 services from his father-in-law in promoting his advance- 
 ment, which it was neither in Melancthon's power, nor 
 agreeable to his views, to render. Disappointed of his 
 hopes in this respect, he removed, in the year 1544, much 
 against Melancthon's wishes, into Prussia, to take the 
 superintendence of the new academical institution which 
 Albert of Brandenburg was then forming at Konigsberg. 
 This proved a final removal of his wife from her father's 
 presence. She seems to have been by no means kindly 
 treated by her husband, and she died three years afterward 
 at her new place of residence, leaving behind her three 
 daughters and an infant son. These occurrences inflicted 
 a deep wound on the tender heart of Melancthon. He how- 
 ever not only took on himself the charge of his grand- 
 children's education, but behaved with great kindness to 
 Sabinus. The latter returned from Prussia in 1553, and 
 settled at Frankfort on the Oder ; and he is spoken of as 
 spending his remaining days usefully and piously, and 
 ending them in a manner becoming a sincere Christian. 
 
 The following are extracts from Melancthon's letters 
 relative to these affairs : — 
 
 " Sabinus aims to get to court. This is his object. 
 Perhaps he is not disinclined to remove my daughter at a 
 greater distance from me. But I check myself: I commend 
 her to God. I reflect how the mother of John the Baptist, 
 and Mary the mother of our Lord, and many other pious 
 women were preserved ; and that at a time when Syria was 
 overrun by Parthian, Roman, and Herodian troops. ... I 
 remember once when she was ill, in her infancy, to have 
 found my mind suddenly and eflectually cheered under my 
 anxieties about her, by the simple reflection. She is the 
 object of the Divine care I . . . . Though I grieve to have 
 my daughter removed so far from me, yet, amid so many 
 public miseries, I must bear this private aflliction with sub- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 297 
 
 mission. The thought of her virtues often soothes my sad- 
 ness. I commend her to God !" He then relates a little 
 incident of her early years, which had made a lasting impres- 
 sion on his memory and his heart. " I was holding her in my 
 arms in the morning, when she had only her night-gown on. 
 She observed tears stealing down my cheeks, and she took 
 up her skirt and wiped them away. This little action of 
 hers so penetrated my soul that I could not but think it 
 significant." 
 
 Again : " So the mother, with her two little girls, follows 
 her husband, full of sadness, and anticipating miscarriage 
 and death as the consequence. May God avert it ! I- pray 
 the Son of God, who hath said, ' Come unto me all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden, and T will give you rest,' to 
 guard and direct her. . . . The whole proceeding is strange. 
 — But I am now drawing up for him (Sabinus) a scheme for 
 the regulation of the university." 
 
 On receiving the sad tidings of his daughter's death, in 
 1547, he wrote the following letter to her husband : — " I 
 doubt not you yourself feel that the force of paternal affec- 
 tion is great. You will readily believe me, then, when I say 
 that I loved my daughter Ann most dearly. Having there- 
 fore formed a high opinion of you from your abilities as a 
 writer, as did also many other competent judges, I willingly 
 gave her to you, praying that the connexion might be happy 
 and prosperous. As however we are taught by the heavenly 
 doctrine what are the causes and the remedies of human 
 afflictions, let us endeavour wisely to receive what has now 
 befallen us. Though I am in the deepest distress for my 
 daughter's death, and because it took place when she was 
 far removed from her pare;»t's embraces, and when I had 
 no opportunity of conversing with her on the most import- 
 ant topics, yet I keep before my mind those consolations 
 which God has graciously provided for us. Among these 
 the chief is, that my dear daughter previously exhibited 
 sure signs of love to God : on which ground I trust that 
 she now enjoys his blessed presence, and that of his Son 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I often commended her 
 with tears : and in that presence it is my hope ere long to 
 embrace her again. — But now I wish that our friendship 
 should remain unbroken : and I will do all in my power to 
 preserve it. Your children I account as my own. They 
 
298 melancthon's 
 
 are mii^e : and I love them as I loved their mother 
 
 She was devoted to her children : and I wish to catch her 
 feelings towards them. I not only advise you, but I ear- 
 nestly entreat you, to send the little girls tome, one or both 
 of them. They shall he faithfully and tenderly trained up 
 in the knowledge of God, and in becoming duties, as their 
 sister is. Her letters to you will be a proof of her progress. 
 Little Albert, I take for granted, is committed to a trusty 
 nurse. May God preserve him ! . . . . The dangers of the 
 war do not at all prevent my wishing to see all my family 
 gathered round me. God in his. mercy has protected us 
 hitherto, and he will, I trust, yet preserve us ; and, if cir- 
 cumstances require, I will not neglect to place those about 
 me in a situation of greater security. 13ut let me know 
 what you resolve to do respecting your daughters." 
 
 This letter indicates a mind llill of affection, but, I think, 
 in some degree, -adjusting itself to the less ardent sensibilities 
 of its correspondent. Some sentences, addressed to confi- 
 dential friends, depict in a more vivid manner the depth of 
 the writer's grief To Eber he says, " I send you the ac- 
 count of my daughter's death, the reading of which so ag- 
 gravates my grief that I fear, its effects on my health. I 
 have before my eyes her gesture, when, on being asked 
 what she would have said to her parents, she replied only 
 by tears ; and it awakens recollections which harrow up 
 my feelings. But I recur to the consolations which God 
 has proposed to us. — Compassion for my son-in-law also 
 now effaces from my mind the remembrance of past of- 
 fences." In a subsequent letter he says again, " That 
 silence of my daughter — those tears have inflicted an incu- 
 rable wound on my heart." Yet, he adds, " my grief for 
 our public calamities* even surpasses that which I feel for 
 ray domestic affliction." To Cruciger he writes : " I loved 
 ray daughter with that affection which God- has implanted 
 in our nature, and that, quickened by the thought of the 
 sad situation to which she was reduced— especially as it 
 threw her virtues into shade. Her premature death being 
 now added to the calamity, my grief is deep. I blame my 
 own negligence for having thrown her into such circum- 
 
 * Probably this was written just at the period of the battle of Mulh- 
 berg. His daughter died Feb. 26, 15i7. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 299 
 
 stances. Yet, since for ten years together* I daily com- 
 mended her to God with many tears, and the. care of God 
 for her was strikingly discovered to me, I judge that he has 
 removed her out of life in order to relieve her from her 
 troubles : and this thought in some degree reconciles my 
 mind. I give thanks therefore to God, the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that he hath heard my prayers, and 
 called her to a better state." 
 
 IV. We may, lastly, here collect together a few brief mis- 
 cellaneous notices. 
 
 Of the indefatigable ii%enc(? of this spare, feeble, delicate 
 man, — for between forty and fifty successive years in inces- 
 sant lecturing, in writing upon almost every branch of sci- 
 ence and literature, and indeed upon all sorts of subjects, 
 human and divine ; in corresponding with persons of all 
 ranks, and in various countries ; in maintaining the most 
 harassing conferences and disputations, and in journeying 
 to settle churches and regulate universities, — it must be 
 superfluous to speak, t We will only add a sentence or two 
 from his letters, expressive of his determination to persevere 
 under all circumstances. 
 
 To Prince George of Anhalt he writes : " As it is said in 
 the Psalm, ' I will sing praise to my God as long as I have 
 my being,' so let us, while time is allowed us, faithfully 
 spread the gospel, whether states and empires be at peace 
 or under disturbance." Again: " I will serve the' church 
 by teaching necessary truths with modesty and moderation, 
 so long as God shall give me leave. The conflicts of em- 
 pires fmd of factions are nothing to men of our class." Yet 
 again : " I form no schemes, I have no private objects to 
 aim at, I fortify myself with no factious adherents (though, 
 if I chose this, the means would not be wanting); but, in 
 my proper place, I teach good learning, serviceable to the 
 public ; and now also, in my old age, prepare for death, 
 which cannot be far off: ,and I pray the Son of God to make 
 me ' a vessel of mercy !' Let others seek for power and pre- 
 eminence ; J have nothing to do with such things. The 
 Son of God will judge of my course and of my mlentions. 
 
 * From tlie period of her marriaoje, in 1535. 
 
 t It may be observed that among the labours of Melancthon T have not 
 enumerated preaching or pastoral duties. The fact is, 1 discover no 
 proof of his ever having taken orders as a clergyman. 
 
300 melancthon's 
 
 He knows my desire to be that truth may be brought to 
 light, the glory of God set forth, and his church appear in 
 her beauty. With this consciousness I live, and commit 
 myself to God. I know that I am a man and a miserable 
 sinner ; but I hope that many wise and good men can bear 
 testimony to my aims and my labours in the cause to which 
 I have devoted myself." — To Spalatinus : " This is the 
 object I propose to myself — the scope and end of my phi- 
 losophy. You remember the wise saying of the Elector 
 Frederic — -.What we can ! Let us adopt it. Let us serve 
 the public as far as we can, and expect our protection, our 
 favour, and our reward from God. Human rewards are 
 nothing." 
 
 His zeal for the instruction of youth, and in recommend- 
 ing promising young men to patronage and to useful situa- 
 tions, are prominent points in all his correspondence. " As 
 long as I live," he says, "I will labour to bring forward 
 what may be serviceable to youth." And again : " I am 
 delighted with the verse of Epicharmus ; for I think it a 
 greater honour to be useful to children than ' to capture 
 Troy.'" And hence he deliberately preferred publishing a 
 series of treatises, in which, among other things, almost all 
 the sciences were first reduced to order, from the miserable 
 confusion in which they had been involved, to perfecting a 
 small number of works which might have more exalted his 
 own literary reputation. 
 
 His hMtnility often shines forth very pleasingly, and with- 
 out ostentation. " My errors," he says, " and the errors 
 of many other persons concerned, have been numerous : nor 
 could things of sucli impoiiance be recovered from the dark 
 chaos in which they were sunk, without many mistakes 
 being committed." — ^" I wish neither to rely on my own 
 counsels, nor to introduce novelties, nor to contend for 
 things not necessary." — •" Let others boast themselves self- 
 taught : I freely confess that I am daily indebted to many 
 persons for instruction in numerous particulars. To be 
 single-handed is to be ivcak.^^ 
 
 His liberality and disinterestedness must not be passed 
 over. Camerarius writes of Melancthon's wife, " She was 
 a most assiduous mistress of a family, liberal and beneficent 
 to all, and so attentive to the poor, that, both in giving to all 
 without distinction, and in making applications to others on 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 301 
 
 their behalf, she seemed sometimes to exceed due bounds." 
 Moderate as were his means, Melancthon's house appears 
 to have been open to all comers who took any interest in 
 the cause of religion or learning; and he did not scruple to 
 do much to support, as well as gratuitously to instruct, poor 
 students of promising talents and character. At the time 
 when he was a wanderer from home on account of the war, 
 he thus writes to a fellow-sufferer : " With respect to pe- 
 cuniary matters, God will provide. What I have left, you 
 shall share with me." And again : " Though the war is 
 ruinous to my finances, yet, if you have need to take any 
 thing of your friends, take it of ?ne. As long as any part of 
 my property remains, we will hold it in common." We may 
 perhaps think this excessive ; but certainly it is noble. 
 Surely also it is Christian ; and when such conduct is 
 adopted upon genuine principles of faith in God and love 
 to man, no one will suffer by it." We hear of no material 
 inconvenience which accrued to e?ther Melancthon or his 
 family by this disposition to share his property with the poor 
 and with his friends. Yet, with respect to his stipend from 
 the university, which was, I apprehend, his main support, it 
 would appear from a conversation related to have passed be- 
 tween Sabinus, afterward his son-in-law, and Cardinal Bembo 
 in Italy, that it did not exceed three hundred florins, or about 
 seventy pounds a year ; and we have before seen that he 
 hesitated to receive an addition to it. Maurice also, when 
 advanced to the electorate, could not, even on trial, induce 
 him to ask, and scarcely to accept, any thing from him. We 
 had occasion to observe a like spirit in Luther : and I may 
 add, that in perusing their memoirs, it has struck me as a 
 quality common to most of the eminent men who were made 
 the instruments of so great a work at the period of the 
 reformation. Yes, and those who would aspire to be em- 
 ployed with success on such high and holy services must 
 become detached more than even good men generally now 
 are from the interests of this life. Alas, we are too calcu- 
 lating — too commercial — too much given to contrive the 
 means of acquiring a good provision, and of maintaining a 
 handsome style of living. This was never the spirit which 
 wrought great things in the church of God. Let us beware 
 lest we fall under the sentence, though perhaps in a some- 
 VoL. IL— C c 
 
302 melancthon's works. 
 
 what varied sense, " Ye have your reward" — in improved 
 circumstances, but in blighted labours ! 
 
 The devout spirit of Alelancthon has sufficiently appeared ; 
 but we may add the two following short specimens of the 
 sort of sentiments which abound in his correspondence. 
 *' Amid these disorders may the Son of God protect us ! 
 When he formed such an aUiance with the human race as 
 to take our nature upon him, he gave an irrefragable proof 
 of his real regard for us. Oh amazing, that the divine 
 nature should so abase itself! Oh more than iron-hard- 
 ness of the human heart, to be so little affected with such a 
 fact !" — " In all ages the church has been subject to exile ; 
 to remind us, I think, that we have lost our proper native 
 country, and that we are to be led back to it by the Son of 
 God, for this purpose living in exile among us. But as God 
 bears a regard to us in our banishment, so would he have 
 all pious persons relieve the sorrows of their fellow-exiles." 
 
 Among the works of Melancthon, it may not be superflu- 
 ous here to take some notice of his " Commonplaces," 
 or brief discussions of the principal topics of theology ; 
 which have excited extraordinary attention, and furnish a 
 verj' interesting article of literary and theological history. 
 
 From its very first publication, in the year 1521 (when its 
 author was only twenty-four years of age), this work ob- 
 tained a high degree of celebrity. Luther spoke of it as 
 "• invincible, worthy not only of immortality, but of being 
 sanctioned by a canon of the church :" pronounced it far 
 superior to any writings of his own — "the best book in the 
 world, next to the Bible ;" and one which, thoroughly 
 digested, was sufficient, with the holy Scriptures, to make an 
 accomplished divine. In his controversy with Erasmus, he 
 told that learned writer that it had, by anticipation, "ground 
 "all the arguments of his Diatribe to powder :" and he con- 
 tinued to speak of it in the same strain to the end of his 
 days. Erasmus also highly commended it ; while Coch- 
 laeus, the virulent opponent of Luther, denounced it as " a 
 most pestilent monster, big with ruin to the church." To 
 an edition pulilished in French, at Geneva, in the year 1551, 
 Calvin prefixed an advertisement, in which he " eulogizes 
 the author in the strongest terms," and says of the Com- 
 monplaces in particular, " The work is a summary of those 
 
melancthon's works. 303 
 
 truths which are essential to a Christian's guidance in the 
 way of salvation." In numerous theological schools no 
 other text-book was used for the lectures delivered to the 
 students ; and in Misnia and Pomerania it was clothed with 
 the authority of a symbolical book. It spread even into 
 Italy, and was well received at Rome itself, till it was dis- 
 covered that the name of the author to whom it was ascribed, 
 " Messer Ippofilo da Terra Negra," was no other than a 
 translation of the words " Philip Melancthon ;"* on which 
 the copies were ordered to be burned. No less than ninety- 
 nine editions have been enumerated (sixty-seven in the 
 original Latin, and thirty-two in different modern languages), 
 which were printed at various places within seventy-four 
 years from its first appearance ; sixteen or seventeen of 
 them being between the years 1521 and 1525 : and we may 
 be sure that where the demand was so great, the impressions 
 would not be small. 
 
 But other circumstances besides those already mentioned 
 render the history of this work curious and interesting. Not 
 only were various new topics introduced in the course of its 
 progress, and the volume, at first no more than a small duo- 
 decimo of two hundred and fifty pages, swelled to nearly four 
 times its original size ; but on certain important points 
 changes were made which attracted great attention at the 
 time, have been made the subject of much investigation 
 since, and furnish a very striking instance how much increas- 
 ing experience, study, and prayer teach a wise and good man 
 modestv, and may very probably moderate his sentiments 
 upon high points on which he might at first be disposed to 
 dogmatize. So much curiosity has this subject excited 
 among the learned, that, after more than one volume had 
 been produced upon it, Brucker, the learned author of the 
 History of Philosophy, expressed his wish that some com- 
 petent writer would give a complete history of the work — a 
 wish which we are told has been fully satisfied in a Gemian 
 treatise by Strobelius, pastor of V\'oehrden,+ author of Me- 
 lancthoniana, and other esteemed works, and editor of Ca- 
 merarius's Life of Melancthon. 
 
 It appears that after Melancthon's work had been about 
 
 * Melancthim is Greek for his proper name Schwartzerd, which means 
 black earth. 
 t NurembeFg, 1776, 1782. 
 
304 melancthon's works. 
 
 four years before the public, its author, in 1525, as far as his 
 influence extended, restrained its publication ; and it was 
 no more reprinted, at least in the original Latin, till 1535, 
 when he brought it out afresh, doubled in size, and con- 
 siderably changed. Edition again rapidly succeeded edition 
 of the book in this form, till the year 1543, when it appeared 
 a second time remodelled, and again nearly doubled in size. 
 VVe have, therefore, in fact, three distinct series of edi- 
 tions, — those from 1521 to 1525, those from 1535 to 1542 
 inclusive, and those subsequent to the last of these dates. 
 On account of the extreme rarity of the early editions (which 
 made Hutter, a learned author, who died so far back as the 
 year 1616, complain that they were inaccessible to him), and 
 from their being much sought after, as exhibiting the ear- 
 liest complete monument of the original doctrine of the 
 reformers, Herman Von der Hadt was induced to reprint 
 the first edition verbatim in his Literary History, Frankfort, 
 1717; and from that copy it has been again reprinted by 
 Professor Augusti, at Leipzig, 1821. The most material 
 variations are between the first and second series of 
 editions ; those between the second and third being 
 made rather by addition than by alteration. The changes 
 which Melancthon made by no means gave satisfaction to 
 all his friends, and particularly to many of the divines who 
 took a leading part in the Protestant church after the death 
 of Luther. These latter in consequence asserted that that 
 reformer's commendations of the work referred only to the 
 earlier editions, and that he disapproved the alterations made 
 in it, though, for the sake of not disturbing the peace of the 
 church, he did not publicly censure them. This, however, 
 according to Augusti, has been amply disproved; and, in- 
 deed, its incorrectness might be pretty decisively inferred 
 from what has appeared in this history. It was in 1543, 
 eight years after the principal changes had taken place, and 
 when the editions of twenty years' previous date were no 
 doubt of comparatively rare occurrence, that Luther com- 
 mended the work, without any qualification, to his Italian 
 correspondents;* and it was in 1545, two years after the 
 last important alterations had been made, that he eulogized 
 it in the same unqualified manner in the preface to the first 
 volome of his own collected works, t 
 
 * Soe p. 122. t See p. 212. 
 
Welancthon's works, 805 
 
 It will not be to our purpose in this place to enter into 
 the particulars of the changes made by Melancthon in his 
 work as time advanced.* Suffice it to observe, that in the 
 early editions he taught the highest predestinarian and ne- 
 cessitarian doctrines, denying not only free will, as we all 
 deny it,t in the theological sense of the term, hut free agency 
 itself, and that upon principles which withhold it from all 
 creatures, simply as such, and not merely from fallen beings. 
 But in the later editions all this is withdrawn or revoked ; 
 and on some points the author has rather deviated into an op- 
 posite extreme. On the whole, however, these subjects are 
 treated with great wisdom and moderation ; and it is clear 
 that however he may have receded from the high speculative 
 ground which he formerly occupied, he has not weakened 
 his statements of a practical doctrine like that of human de- 
 pravity, or of the necessity of divine grace to our recovery. 
 Dr. Milner's positions will here fully hold good — that Me- 
 lancthon never materially altered his sentiments " on the 
 bondage of the will, or, what is the very same thing, on the 
 propensity of human nature to evil ;" and again, that " in 
 the grand Christian article of original sin, and the total 
 inability of man, and the necessity of the renovating grace 
 of Christ, Melancthon was as sound and as steady as Luther 
 himself; though perhaps he did not on all occasions grasp 
 his objects with the force and the distinctness of his master." 
 
 One of the latest of Melancthon's compositions may also 
 be adverted to, especially as he styled it " his last will," and 
 desired to have it considered as his closing "confession of 
 faith. "t I refer to his "Answers to the impious Articles of 
 the Bavarian Inquisition," or Inquisitors, written in August, 
 1559. The articles referred to were thirty-one in number, 
 all drawn up in the form of questions ; which, from their 
 nature, would appear to have been designed to detect, by 
 tests both affirmative and negative, the most latent infec- 
 tion of Lutheran principles : and they are signed by five 
 " examiners." On Melancthon's replies to them we may 
 
 * This is done, and much matter introduced which I hope may be 
 valuable to the theological student, ia Continuation of Milner, ii. p. 
 162-253. 
 
 t Church Art x. t See p. 282. 
 
 Cc2 
 
306 LUTHERAN REFORMERS* 
 
 remark, 1. That he nowhere shows a more determined ho«' 
 tility to popish errors, or a deeper sense of their enormity, 
 than in this bis last publication ; 2. That he teaches precisely 
 the same doctrine concerning the will as in the later edi- 
 tions of his Commonplaces ; and, 3. That he is as clea? 
 and determinate as ever on the great subject of justification, 
 and on its being b}' faith alone, " that is, by reliance on the 
 Mediator." "They," he says, " who reject the exclusive 
 word OJily elide into the synecdoche of Origen or the pa- 
 pists."* He earnestly recommends " that modesty of mind 
 which would humbly adhere to revealed truths, though it 
 could not answer all the cavils raised against them." 
 
 To this account of Melancthon we subjoin, in conclusion* 
 a brief notice of several of the more eminent promoters of 
 the reformation in Germany who closed their earthly career 
 about the period that has passed under review, particularly 
 from the death of Luther. Luther's earl)' and faithful 
 friend Spalatinus, chaplain to the Elector of Saxony, died 
 in January, 1545, a year before the reformer, at the age of 
 sixty-three. He was subject to depression of spirits, and 
 dejection in his work ; but by the wise and friendly admo- 
 nitions of Luther, he was kept in his post, and in the dis- 
 charge of his duties to the end of his life. Luther told 
 him, " The desire you have to quit your post is a mere 
 temptation. I consider it as a certain sign of your ministry 
 being acceptable to God that you are thus tempted. If it 
 were otherwise, you would not deplore your own unfruitful- 
 ness ; you would rather bustle and seek to please men, as 
 those do who talk much, though they were never sent with 
 a commission to preach the gospel." 
 
 The death of Frederic Myconius, for twenty-two years 
 pastor and superintendent of Saxe-Gotha, took place about six 
 weeks after that of Luther. He died at the age of fifty-five. 
 
 John Hesse, the excellent Pastor of Breslaw, died the 
 next year, 1547, aged sixty, and was succeeded by Aurifaber. 
 His colleague Ambrose Moiban survived him seven years. 
 
 Of Caspar Cruciger we may give a somewhat more de- 
 tailed account. He was a native of Leipzig, and studied at 
 Wittemberg. He afterward presided for some years over 
 the school at Magdeburg. In 1527 he was called to Wit- 
 
 *SeejJ, 275 
 
LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 307 
 
 temberg, to fill the offices of a preacher in one of the 
 churches, and a lecturer in the university ; and he con» 
 tinued there the remainder of his life — being rector of the 
 University from the year 1546 to 1548. Possessing great 
 skill in the Hebrew language, he assisted Luther in his 
 translation of tlie Scriptures. He was held in great esteem 
 by that reformer: and, after Luther's death, Melancthon 
 had scarcely a more valued adviser and coadjutor. Joachim 
 Camerarius, who had been his fellow-student under George 
 Heltus, preceptor to George Prince of Anhalt, speaks in 
 terms of the highest admiration of his erudition, prudence, 
 piety, and amiable manners. His learning was almost uni- 
 versal ; and he was particularly distinguished for the ra- 
 pidity of his penmanship. When he acted as secretary at 
 the conference of Worms, in the year 1540, Granvelle, the 
 emperor's minister, remarked of him, " The Lutherans have 
 a scribe who possesses more learning than all the men of 
 the opposite party." He greatly delighted in the study of 
 nature, and in tracing God in his works. He died in 1548, 
 at the age of only forty-five years — worn down with studies, 
 labours, and anxious cares for the church. " He departed 
 out of life," says Camerarius, "offering ardent prayers for 
 himself, and for all who in common with him were in jeo- 
 pardy for religion's sake, and committing his soul to the 
 hands of Jesus Christ, whom he had devoutedly worshipped, 
 and in all his studies faithfully served." Melchior Adam is 
 somewhat more particular. " He lay," says this collector, 
 ** three months without hope of recovery, displaying unfail- 
 ing faith, patience, and piety. Not even then did he inter- 
 mit his studies, but fill,-d up his time with useful employ- 
 ments, to the utmost that his strength would bear. In the 
 morning he had his little daughters called to him, and heard 
 them repeat their prayers, intermingling with them his own 
 sighs, tears, and supplications for the church of Christ, for 
 himself, and for his children. ' O Lord,' he prayed, ' par- 
 don my sins, for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son, who was 
 crucified for us, and raised from the dead : sanctify me by 
 thy Holy Spirit : preserve in these countries the remnant of 
 thy church, and sutler not the light of thy gospel to be ex- 
 tinguished. Make these my orphans vessels of mercy ! I 
 call upon thee in faith, though it be weak and languid. O 
 Lord Jesu Christ, Son of God, I believe thy promise, which 
 
808 LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 
 
 thou hast sealed with thy death and resurrection. Assist 
 me : raise and cheer my heart with faith !' He frequently 
 on these occasions repeated words to this effect ; and after- 
 ward, having pressed upon his children some pious instruc- 
 tions, he dismissed them. He then appUed himself to vari- 
 ous studies, mathematical and philological, as well as theo- 
 logical. He discoursed also largely with his friends on 
 various interesting topics. At length, with a peaceful mind, 
 and in the midst of his prayers, he slept in the Lord, No- 
 vember 16, 1548, and was honourably buried in the church 
 at Wittemberg." 
 
 The next year died Vitus Theodorus, or Theodore Veit, 
 one of Luther's companions at Coburg,* at the period of the 
 diet of Augsburg. He was a native of Nuremberg, and exer- 
 cised his ministry in that city with great acceptance, for many 
 years previous to his death. He was there much annoyed 
 by the public insults of Osiander : but, by Melancthon's 
 advice, he was " as a deaf man, that heard them not ;" and 
 thus they failed of their effect. 
 
 John Spangenburg,t the pious superintendent of Mans- 
 feldt, died in the year 1550, at the age of sixty-six. 
 
 Bucer and Paul Fagius had removed from Strasburg into 
 England, on the invitation of Archbishop Cranmer, in con- 
 sequence of the dangers incurred by their opposition to the 
 Interim ; and they died there, the latter in November, 1550, 
 the former in February, 1551. Bucer was in his sixty-first 
 year ; Fagius only in his forty-fifth. 
 
 The death of Bucer was the next year followed by that 
 of Caspar Hedio, who had long been his fellow-labourer at 
 Strasburg, and of Herman Tast, the reformer of Holstein. 
 
 The year 1553 removed Prince George of Anhalt, John 
 j^pinus, pastor and superintendent of Hamburgh, and 
 James Sturmius of Strasburg. Of the first a particular 
 account has been given : the last, as a layman, taking a 
 part in public affairs, rendered great service to the cause of 
 the reformation. He filled the office of senator, and repeat- 
 edly that of mayor, in his native city, and was deputed, it 
 is said, as its representative in diets of the empire, and on 
 other embassies, not less than ninety times ; on all which 
 occasions he displayed such firmness, wisdom, and elo- 
 
 *Seep. 33. t See p. 206. 
 
LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 309 
 
 quence, that he gained the highest reputation and influence. 
 He was one of those who first acquired the name of Prot' 
 estants^ at Spires in 1529 : he acted a prominent part in the 
 diet of Augsburg in the year following: and in 1532 he 
 came as ambassador into England, on important business. 
 It was by his influence that the public school at Strasburg 
 was founded, over which his brother John Sturmius pre- 
 sided ; and that stipends were appointed to encourage men 
 of learning to settle in the city. He was deputed again to 
 the emperor, on embassies for the preservation of peace and 
 the Protestant religion, at Ratisbon in 1541, Spires 1544, 
 and Worms 1545 : and it was chiefly under his guidance that 
 his fellow-citizens made the firm and honourable stand which 
 has been related, when the Interim was established, in 1548. 
 To him also we may be said to owe the valuable history of 
 Sleidan, as he prompted the author to undertake that work, 
 and gave him access to many of the original documents 
 necessary to its execution. He was held in high estimation 
 by Melancthon, who consulted with him on all affairs of 
 importance. He died October 30, 1553, at the age of sixty- 
 four years. 
 
 The next person whose death is to be noticed is Justus 
 Jonas, who had been the fellow-labourer of Luther from an 
 early period. We have seen that he removed from Wit- 
 temberg to Halle in Saxony in 1541, and thence, in conse- 
 quence of the Smalkaldic war (after which he attached him- 
 self to the sons of John Frederic), into the duchy of Co- 
 burg ; where he was made rector of Eisfeldt, and superin- 
 tendent of the churches of the duchy. He died there in 
 1555, aged sixty-three years. On his death-bed this ex- 
 cellent man is said to have suffered great mental depression, 
 but to have been roused from it by the consolations, not un- 
 mingled with reproofs, suggested by his own servant. 
 
 Martin Frecht, one of those ministers whom the emperor 
 had led away in chains from Ulm, for his opposition to the 
 Interim, and John Forster of Wittemberg, a skilful Hebraist, 
 who had rendered valuable assistance to Luther in his expo- 
 sitions of Scripture, died in 1556. The former, on recovering 
 his liberty, had settled at Tubingen, under the Duke of 
 Wiirtemberg. 
 
 The distinguished Chancellor of Saxony, Gregory Pen- 
 
310 LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 
 
 tanus, died at Jena, in 1557, at the age of seventy, having 
 settled there under the sons of the late elector. 
 
 Bugenhagen, Justus Menius, and Erhard Schnepfius 
 were all removed the year following. The first of these ex- 
 cellent men was for thirty-six years pastor at Wittemberg : 
 and how useful his labours were in various other places, to 
 vvhich he was deputed for the purpose of organizing reform- 
 ation, has abundantly appeared in the course of our history. 
 The impression made on his mind by Luther's Tract on the 
 Babylonish Captivity of the Church, in the year 1521, was 
 remarkable. When he had read a few pages of it, he said, 
 " The author of this book is the most pestilent heretic that 
 ever infested the church of Christ." After a few days' close 
 attention to the work, he recanted his opinion, and declared, 
 *' The whole world is blind, and this man alone sees the 
 truth." He seems never to have quitted Wittemberg on 
 account of the war, not even at the time of the siege ; 
 though he was deeply affected with the events which took 
 place, particularly the captivity of the good elector. He 
 supported his mind by constant devotion, and assured him- 
 self " that the ark of the church would be safe amid all 
 storms." He mourned over the changes and the controver- 
 sies which followed : but he himself altered nothing either 
 in rites or in doctrines. The scenes of his latter days were, 
 through the goodness of God, calm and peaceful. During 
 the last year of his life, when he had grown too weak to 
 preach, he daily frequented the house of God, and there 
 commended both himself and the church to the Divine mercy ; 
 taking part also in the consultations held for the good of 
 the church. He often conversed delightfully with his frienda 
 on the blessed hope of eternal life, and on the prospects 
 opening to posterity. After offering up fervent prayers, 
 and frequently repeating the words, " This is life eternal, to 
 know thee the onlj' true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
 hast sent," he slept in peace, April 20, 1558, in the seventy- 
 third year of his age. 
 
 Justus Menius had for many years laboured successfully 
 at Saxe-Gotha : but the year before his death he sought at 
 Leipzig some retreat from the contests raised by Flacius. 
 
 Schnepfius was of a good family at Hailbrun, and was 
 by a pious mother devoted to the service of God and religion 
 from his infancy. He at first, however, applied himself to 
 
LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 311 
 
 jurisprudence, and with those flattering prospects of suc- 
 cess which a profession immediately conversant with prop- 
 erty and men's temporal interests never fails to hold out to 
 talents and industry; but he was prevailed upon by the 
 entreaties of his mother to turn his back upon the splendid 
 visions of earthly riches and honours, and to fulfil her 
 original wishes respecting him. After he began to apply to 
 theology, he continued for six years involved in the laby- 
 rinths of papal error ; but at length he arrived at the know- 
 ledge of the truth, by means of the light which Luther had 
 been the instrument of diffusing. This was soon after the 
 year 1520. After labouring usefully at some other places, 
 he was calLd to the office of a preacher at Marpurg, and a 
 professor in the university which the Landgrave of Hesse 
 had founded there. In that situation he acquired great 
 weight and influence : but he was at length induced to ex- 
 change it for the important post of pastor of Stutgard, under 
 Ulric of Wiirtemberg, in 1535. In 1543 he removed to 
 Tiibingen, under the same prince, and continued there till 
 driven away, to the great grief of the citizens, by the means 
 taken to enforce the Interim. He was then made rector ot 
 the new university of Jena, by the sons of John Frederic ; 
 and filled his office with honour till his death, in the sixty- 
 third year of his age, November 1, 1558. — He had attended 
 most of the diets and conferences held on the subject of 
 religion ; and, in particular, had been Bucer's coadjutor in 
 his disputations with Malvenda, at Ratisbon, in 1546. 
 
 The death of Melancthon himself took place in 1560, and 
 that of Amsdorf about 1563. 
 
 Joachim Morlin, first driven from Prussia for his oppo- 
 sition to Osiander, but afterward recalled and made a 
 bishop there ; John Aurifaber, late of Breslaw, but now of 
 Jena ; Paul Eber, successor to Forster in x'Ml Saints 
 church, and afterward to Justus Jonas as chief pastor of 
 Wittemberg ; John Brentius, formerly of Halle in Suabia, 
 but latterly of Stutgard ; John Pfeffinger of Leipzig ; and 
 George Major of VVittemberg, survived to a later period, 
 and died between the years 1566 and 1574. Brentius suf- 
 fered cruel persecati(jns on account of the Interim. His 
 history furnishes a warning to students, he having con- 
 tracted a distressing and injurious habit of sleeplessness, 
 which continued to the end of his days, by accustoming 
 
312 LUTHERAN REFORMERS. 
 
 himself to rise soon after midnight to pursue his studies. — 
 Eber excites our sympathy, by having been crippled in 
 early youth by a fall, the circumstances of which were con- 
 cealed from his parents, and the opportunity thus lost of 
 using means which might have prevented or alleviated its 
 consequences. He lived, however, to become not only a 
 very excellent, but an eminent and highly useful character. 
 — For Major a painful interest is excited by his heavy 
 domestic afflictions, which he bore with Christian constancy 
 and resignation. 
 
 The notice of these excellent and eminent men (for 
 none but eminent men have been recounted), however brief 
 it may have been, cannot but be gratifying, if it were only 
 for their number — which shows how remarkably God had 
 at that period visited his church, and replenished it with 
 able faithful pastors and reformers. The only circum- 
 stances which excite our regret are, finding so great a num- 
 ber of such men removed in the course of twenty years, 
 and so many of them in the very midst of their days and 
 their usefulness. The latter of these circumstances, in 
 particular, impresses upon us the necessity of " working 
 while it is day," seeing the night so soon cometh, " wherein 
 no man can work." But the Son of God " holdeth the 
 stars — the angels of the churches — in his right hand," and 
 disposeth of them as seemeth him good. We cannot, how- 
 ever, but feel and lament, that the succession of men coming 
 up in the Lutheran church was deteriorating, and they 
 attained not the level of their predecessors in simplicity and 
 devotedness. Many of them were turning aside to vain 
 jangling. We shall therefore gladly withdraw our atten- 
 tion from scenes of growing secularity and contention, to 
 fix it again, should circumstances permit, on those earlier 
 stages of a reformed church, which we may hope to find 
 marked with greater spirituality. 
 
 Here, then, we consider our history of the Lutheran 
 reformation as regularly closing. A few miscellaneous 
 matters, however, indirectly connected with it, may be 
 referred to another chapter, which may be considered in 
 the light of an appendix. 
 
p. p. VERGERIO. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 P. P. Vcrgerio, and Francis Spira — Jican Diaz — The Wal- 
 denses of Provence — The Council of Trent. 
 
 It has been already intimated* that Peter Paul Ver- 
 gerio, who was for many years a confidential agent of the 
 court of Rome, and for his services was made bishop of 
 Capo D' [stria, in the territory of Venice, eventually became 
 a Protestant, and suffered for his religion. The account 
 given of his conversion and subsequent conduct deserves 
 to be here recited. The last service in which Vergerio was 
 employed by the pope, though under the assumed character 
 of a delegate from the French king, was at the conferences 
 held at Worms in 1540, 1541, — to frustrate their design, and 
 procure their dissolution ; in which objects he succeeded. 
 On his return to Rome, the pope designed to make him a 
 cardinal ; but at this time a suspicion was revived, which 
 Cardinal Aleander had three years before insinuated, that, 
 by long intercourse with the Germans, Vergerio had become 
 too favourably disposed to the Lutheran heresy. Vergerio, 
 being informed by one of the cardinals what had obstructed 
 his advancement, was both surprised and indignant ; and to 
 clear himself of the injurious suspicion, retired to the seat 
 of his bishopric, to write a book Avhich should bear this 
 title, "Against the Apostates of Germany." But in order 
 to refute the Lutherans it was necessary to read their books, 
 and in doing this an effect was produced, as we may assu- 
 redly believe under the influence of Divine grace, which 
 Vergerio had little anticipated ; he became convinced that 
 the principles he was opposing were true, and founded in 
 Scripture. " Laying aside, therefore," says the historian, 
 " all hopes of a cardinal's hat, he went to consult with his 
 own brother, John Baptista, bishop of the neighbouring city 
 of Pola. His brother, alarmed, at first bewailed his con- 
 dition, but having at his earnest entreaty applied himself to 
 
 * See p. 74. 
 Vol. II.— D d 
 
314 p. p. VERGERIO. 
 
 search the Holy Scriptures with him, particularly on the 
 great point of justification, he also yielded to conviction, and 
 concluded the popish doctrine to be false. Whereupon, 
 rejoicing in one another, they began to teach the people of 
 Istria (as the office of a bishop requires), and to preach up 
 the benefit of Christ to mankind, pointing out at the same 
 time what works God requires of us ; that so they might 
 bring men over to. the true worship of their Maker." But 
 many adversaries arose against them, among whom Han- 
 nibal Grisonio, the chief of the Inquisition,was distinguished. 
 This man, coming to Pola and Capo D'Istria, rushed into 
 the houses of the citizens, and searched for prohibited 
 books. He then mounted the pulpit, and pronounced all 
 excommunicated who did not inform of persons suspected 
 of Lutheranism, threatening those who did not repent and 
 submit themselves, that they should be burned at the stake.* 
 He further openly incited the people to stone Vergerio and 
 his heretical associates, as the true cause of the calamities 
 which they had of late years suffered in their olives, their 
 corn, their vines, their cattle, and other goods. Vergerio 
 upon this withdrew to his friend Cardinal Hercules Gon- 
 zaga, at Mantua ; but being soon given to understand that 
 he could not be harboured there, he betook himself, in 
 March, 1546, to the council then sitting at Trent, in which 
 he had a right to appear as a member, designing to justify 
 himself before the assembled fathers. The pope, under- 
 standing his design, though he would gladly have made him 
 a prisoner, yet dared not venture upon a step which would 
 have given the Germans such a handle, and so glaringly 
 have impeached the freedom of the council. He contented 
 himself, therefore, with ordering that he should not be ad- 
 mitted into the assembly, or be heard by them. In conse- 
 quence, after some other removals, he at length took up his 
 abode at Padua. And here there seems reason to suspect 
 that his zeal in some degree abated, even if his determina- 
 tion did not waver, when a very awful occurrence, in the 
 year 154S, made a salutary impression on his mind. 
 
 * " He denounced his threats from door to door everywhere. . . . Soon 
 after nothing was seen but accusations • every one engaged in them, 
 without regard to consanguinity or grariiude ; the wife did not spare 
 her husband, the son his father, or the client his patron." — Bayle, Art. 
 Vergerio. 
 
FRANCIS spreA. ^ 315 
 
 This was no other than the awful fate of Francia Spira, 
 which every one has seen alluded to, but with the particu- 
 lars of which few comparatively are acquainted. Spira was 
 a lawyer in extensive practice at the bar, who resided at 
 Citadella, not far from Padua. He had embraced the 
 reformed religion with great zeal and earnestness ; and, 
 making daily proficiency in the knowledge of its truths, 
 expressed his thoughts concerning the several points of doc- 
 trine with great freedom, both to his friends and to those 
 generally with whom he conversed. Information of this 
 was conveyed to the pope's legate at Venice, and Spira 
 began to perceive the danger to which he was exposed, 
 and to revolve with himself what was best to be done. The 
 legate had sent for him, and he determined to obey the 
 summons. Before him he retracted his alleged errors, 
 begged absolution, and promised obedience in future. The 
 legate enjoined him to go home and make a public recanta- 
 tion. He promised to do so ; and although his conscience 
 reproached him, yet at the sohcitation of his friends, 
 who told him that the welfare, not only of himself, but 
 of his wife, his children, his estate, and every thing de- 
 pended upon it, he executed his sinful engagement. But 
 soon after, struck with horror at what he had done, he fell 
 sick both in body and mind, and began to despair of God's 
 mercy. Growing worse and worse, and expressing him- 
 self in language two awful to be repeated, concerning his 
 crime and his inevitable damnation, he was removed, for the 
 sake of better advice, from Citadella to Padua. The physi- 
 cians pronounced his malady to be " the effect of pensive- 
 ness and too anxious thought," and recommended as the 
 .best remedy good discourse and spiritual consolation. 
 Many learned men therefore daily visited him, and laboured 
 to relieve his mind by such passages of Scripture as exhibit 
 the riches and extent of the mercy of God towards repenting 
 sinners. He told them that he denied not the truth of all 
 they said, but that these texts belonged not to him, for he 
 was doomed to everlasting pains, because for fear of danger 
 he had abjured the known truth ; that these pains he 
 already felt in his mind, and could not love God, but hor- 
 ribly hated him. In this condition he continued, refusing 
 all sustenance, and spitting it out again when forced upon 
 him, Advice and counsel, whethey of the physician or tho 
 
316 JUAN DIAZ. 
 
 divine, being lost upon him, and his bodily infirmity and 
 the anguish of his mind increasing daily, he was taken 
 home again, and there died miserably in all the horrors of 
 despair. — Such examples are happily rare, but they do from 
 time to time occur, presenting a warning never to be for- 
 gotten, that we should not, for any terrors or any allurements 
 that a fellow-creature can hold out to us, be induced to do 
 violence to our consciences, and thus draw down upon our- 
 selves the wrath of Him who is " able to destroy both body 
 and soul in hell." 
 
 Among others v/ho frequently visited Spira, while he lay 
 at Padua, was Vergerio ; and whatever might be the suc- 
 cess of his endeavours in behalf of the unhappy man, the 
 effect was good with regard to himself. He became more 
 confirmed in the principles he had received, and resolved 
 to leave his native country, and all that he had, and to sub- 
 mit to a voluntary exile, in order to take up his abode in 
 some place where he might safely profess the doctrine of 
 Christ. Accordingly, he a few months afterward quitted 
 the country of Bergamo, and went and settled in Switzer- 
 land among the Grisons : and having for some years 
 preached the gospel there and in the Valteline, he was 
 invited by Christopher Duke of Wiirtemberg to Tiibingen, 
 where he passed the remainder of his days. His brother, 
 the Bishop of Pola, died before Vergerio left Italy, with the 
 suspicion of having been poisoned ; and he himself was, 
 about the time of his removal, deprived of his bishopric by 
 a sentence of the court of Rome. He died October 4, 1566. 
 
 Another convert from popery paid a heavier penalty for 
 his desertion of " the true church." The following tragical 
 occurrence took place at the period of the last conferences 
 at Ratisbon in the year 1546. 
 
 Juan Diaz, by birth a Spaniard, having received a learned 
 education in his own country, removed to the university of 
 Paris, where he passed thirteen years, applying himself 
 principally to theology. His skill in the learned languages 
 (including the Hebrew), and his talents and attainments 
 generally, as well as the virtuous habits of his life, are 
 spoken of in the highest terms. Having met with the 
 writings of Luther, and being indefatigable in the study of 
 the sacred Scriptures, he became gradually more and more 
 
JUAN DIAZ. 317 
 
 dissatisfied with the divinity of the Sorbonne. He in con- 
 sequence left Paris, and repaired first to Geneva, where 
 Calvin then taught, and finally to Strasburg, where he cul- 
 tivated the acquaintance of Bucer. Bucer, appreciating 
 his talents, and being well satisfied with his character, when 
 he himself was deputed to attend the conferences at Ratis- 
 bon, petitioned the senate of Strasburg to make Diaz his 
 associate, which was accordingly done. When he came 
 to Ratisbon, Diaz waited upon his fellow-countryman Mal- 
 venda, whom he had known at Paris, and who, as we have 
 seen, led in the conference on the part of the papists. 
 Malvenda, affecting amazement, expressed his deep regret 
 to see him in those parts and in the company of Protestants, 
 " who," he said, " would triumph more for one Spaniard 
 gained to their party, than for several thousand Germans !" 
 He entreated him, therefore, to regard his reputation, and 
 not to bring so foul a blot on his character, his family, and 
 his country. Diaz repUed modestly, said a few words in 
 favour of the Protestant doctrine, and at that time took his 
 leave. A few days after, they met again by appointment ; 
 and then Malvenda, in a studied harangue, recurring to the 
 character and claims of their common country, and setting 
 forth the terrors, both temporal and eternal, of a papal ex- 
 communication, left no means untried to withdraw him from 
 his present connexions ; concluding with the recommenda- 
 tion, that he should not venture to wait for the emperor's 
 arrival at Ratisbon, but should set out to meet him, and 
 casting himself at the feet of the emperor's confessor,* 
 acknowledge his offence, and sue for mercy ; in which suit 
 he promised his own endeavours to assist him. Diaz, 
 regarding this professedly friendly advice as insidious, and 
 otherwise moved by what he had heard, replied at consider- 
 able length, with great spirit, and with that eloquence 
 which is mentioned as one of his distinguishing endow- 
 ments. He declared himself ready to meet all dangers, and 
 willing to shed his blood in what he esteemed the most 
 important cause on earth ; " for what," said he, " is life 
 without thfi knowledge of the true religion, but a continued 
 series of unrelieved miseries ]" He referred to the declara- 
 tion of the Saviour concerning such as should not confess 
 
 Peter a Soto, a perfidious sanguinarv bigot. 
 D d2 
 
318 JUAN DIAZ. 
 
 him before men ; a declaration which he told Malvenda 
 ought to make him tremble. He wondered that Malvenda 
 should talk to him in the manner he had done concerning 
 the pope's excommunication, which almost every child now 
 knew to be but an empty sound, devised to uphold the 
 tyranny of the court of Rome. The pope, however, might 
 freely, as far as he was concerned, assume to himself all the 
 power and all the riches of the world, if only he would 
 allow the people to enjoy the heavenly doctrine, unadulte- 
 rated and pure. With respect to the state of the whole 
 church in communion with the Roman pontiff, and that of 
 his own country in particular (of whose steadfast adherence 
 to the faith Malvenda boasted, as rendering Spain the ad- 
 miration of the world), he deplored it more than words 
 could express ; and he appealed to the conscience of Mal- 
 venda for the truth of various particulars which he enume- 
 rated concerning the clergy and the people. " You," he 
 said, " and those associated with you, effectually shut out 
 of Spain every ray of that divine light which is now rising 
 upon almost all the world beside." He declared his deter- 
 mination, by the grace of God, to profess and proclaim with 
 his last breath the doctrine which he had embraced ; and 
 he solemnly warned Malvenda to reconsider the course he 
 was pursuing, to fear the judgment of God, and to promote, 
 instead of obstructing, the proj/ress of his truth. 
 
 The firmness and zeal of Diaz deserve our admiration ; 
 but they may be considered as having cost him his life. Mal- 
 venda wrote to the emperor's confessor, informing him of all 
 that had passed, and solemnly urged the necessity of 
 " promptly meeting the rising evil." When the letter was 
 received, there happened to be present one Malvina, or Mar- 
 quina, lately come from Rome. He had been intimately ac- 
 quainted with Diaz, and being informed of the charges 
 brought against him, he at the time attempted somewhat in 
 his excuse ; and, returning home to Rome a few days 
 after, he reported what had passed to Alfonso, the brother of 
 Diaz, an advocate in the sacred Rota. Alfonso, struck 
 with the statement, and perhaps also with letters which 
 had been written to him, immediately set out on his jour- 
 ney, and did not rest till he found his brother at Neuburg, 
 whither he had gone upon business during the suspension 
 of the conferences. Juan, greatly surprised to see him, 
 
JUAN DIAZ. 319 
 
 was soon informed of the cause of his visit, and again 
 assailed with the same arguments which Malvenda had 
 previously employed ; but they had no better success than 
 before. Alfonso then held out to him tempting offers, if he 
 would accompany him to Rome : but all in vain. He next 
 therefore changed his plan ; and, having suffered some days 
 to elapse, told him that he was himself convinced, and 
 professed to be in love with the gospel, and desirous to pro- 
 mote it ; but he represented to his brother that he was 
 thrown away in Germany, where there were so many 
 learned men to uphold the truth : he entreated him there- 
 fore to go with him into Italy, where he might be of service 
 to multitudes : they v/ould take Trent in the way, where 
 numerous learned persons were assembled, and, after visit- 
 ing Rome, proceed to Naples : and, if right doctrine were 
 thus disseminated in Italy, it might (he said) be a means of 
 its spreading into their native country of Spain also. Juan 
 overjoyed at the change, both on his brother's account and 
 his own, wrote to his friends at Ratisbon ; who in return 
 advised him by no means to think of the journey : and 
 Bucer, coming to Neuberg on his return from Ratisbon, 
 would not stir from the place till Alfonso had taken his de- 
 parture. Alfonso therefore prepared to make his journey 
 alone ; and, the day before he set out, addressed his brother 
 in the most affectionate manner ; exhorted him to con- 
 stancy, and thought himself most happy in that, through 
 his brother's discourse, he had in a few days made such ad- 
 vances in the right knowledge of God ; begged Juan to 
 write to him from time to time, promised him every service 
 in his power, and forced money upon him even against his 
 will. Thus, with mutual tears, they took their leave, and 
 Alfonso travelled post to Augsburg, thirty-two miles from 
 Neuberg. Having there paid the driver to wait his conve- 
 nience, he suddenly returned back to Neuberg on horse- 
 back. By the road he purchased an axe of a carpenter, 
 and entered the town by break of day, accompanied by a 
 bloody ruffian, whom he had brought with him from Italy, 
 habited as a courier ; and made his way directly to his 
 brother's lodgings. Here he put the pretended courier for- 
 ward, as bearing a letter for Juan from his brother Alfonso. 
 The man, being let in, went directly up stairs ; and Juan 
 Diaz, being awakened out of his sleep, ^nd told that a post 
 
320 JUAN DIAZ. 
 
 was there from his brother, immediately went out to him 
 into the next room, having only thrown a cloak loosely over 
 him ; and while with some difficulty (it being not yet fully 
 Ught) he read the letter, which expressed mighty concern 
 for his danger, and warned liim to beware of Malvenda and 
 other such enemies of the gospel, the assassin, standing 
 behind him, and drawing the axe from under his coat, 
 struck it with such force into his scull, that he literally fell 
 dead without uttering a word ! The man then, leaving the 
 axe in the wound, hastened down stairs, and joined Al- 
 fonso, who was keeping watch at the bottom ; when they 
 set off again together with all speed to Augsburg. The 
 whole was transacted with such silence, that nothing was 
 heard of it till the rattling of the ruffian's spurs in going 
 down stairs, after the murder, awakened Claude Senarcle, a 
 Savoyard of noble family, who was studying under the 
 direction of Bucer and Diaz, and who happened that night to 
 sleep in the same chamber with his instructer. He, imme- 
 diately getting up and going into the room, had the horrid 
 spectacle of his murdered friend presented to his sight! 
 
 The murderers were presently pursued, and were taken 
 at Inspruck : but, to the eternal disgrace of Charles V., 
 though there was the fullest proof against them, and 
 though justice was repeatedly demanded of him in this 
 cause by many princes of the empire, they were, through 
 the influence of the cardinnls of Trent and Augsburg, 
 screened by him, and never brought to account. He first for- 
 bade the ordinary magistrates to proceed, declaring that he 
 would hear the cause in the diet : but when formally called 
 upon to do so, all the reply he made was, that he would ad- 
 vise about it with his brother, within whose territories the 
 accused were now prisoners ; and when Ferdinand was 
 applied to, his answer was still to the same purport. The 
 murderers were in consequence allowed to escape untried 
 and with impunity : and "the liberated fratricide appeared 
 openly at Trent without exciting a shudder in the breasts of 
 the holy fathers met in council; w;is welcomed back to 
 Rome ; and linally returned to his native country, where he 
 was admitted to the society of men of r.mk and education," 
 who rather ap})lauded than censured his sanctified crime. 
 
 This particular account of Dir-*", we owe to Claude Sen- 
 arcle, above mentioned, who published his history, with a 
 
THE WALDENSES OF PROVENCE. 321 
 
 preface by Bucer, in the very year, 1546, in which the murder 
 took place. Senarcle bears a pleasing testimony to the de- 
 vout manner in which Diaz was accustomed to pray, and 
 to his having done so, in his presence, the day before the 
 murder ; adding also, " that he had passed a considerable 
 part of that very night in extolling the works of God, and' 
 in proposing motives to sincere devotedness to him." Sen- 
 arcle's account is confirmed in every material point by other 
 narratives published at the time : and indeed " so far were 
 the Roman Catholics from denying the facts, that many of 
 them, and especially the countrymen of Diaz, justified and 
 even applauded the deed."* Even Maimbourg, who wrote 
 in the seventeenth centuiy, though he condemns the mur- 
 der as the offspring of " a false zeal in the cause of reli- 
 gion," shows little abhorrence of the act. 
 
 In the case of Juan Diaz we have had an awfiil example 
 of the power of false or perverted religion to blind the un- 
 derstanding, and to harden the hearts of men ; not only 
 suppressing the common feelings of humanity, but extin- 
 guishing every spark of relative affection. The following 
 narrative, given alike by Sleidan the Protestant, and De 
 Thou (or Thuanus) the Roman Catholic historian, con- 
 cerning the Waldenses of Provence — a part of that poor 
 and suffering but virtuous people, who have m.aintained 
 from the earliest ages a steady protest against the corrup- 
 tions of the Roman Antichrist — exhibits another instance 
 of the same kind, only on a more extensive scale. The 
 events related took place in the year 1546 : and they form 
 but too true a specimen of those which have often marked 
 the Waldensian history. 
 
 " In Provence, in France, there is a people called Wal- 
 denses, who by an old custom acknowledge not the pope of 
 Rome, have alw^ays professed a greater purity of doc- 
 trine, and, since Luther appeared, anxiously sought after 
 an increase of knowloage. Many times had they been 
 complained of to the king, as despisers of magistrates and 
 fomenters of rebellion ; which envious rather than true 
 
 * Sepulveda. *' one of the most elegant prose writers who flourished at 
 that time in Spain,"' expressly says, " The news of the slaughter was dis- 
 agreeable to none of our countrymen." T add this fact, and a sentence or 
 two at the close of the above narrative, from Dr. M'Crie. 
 
322 THE WALDENSES 
 
 accusation is by most made use of at this day. They live 
 together in some towns and villages, among which is 
 Merindol. About five years before, sentence had been pro- 
 nounced against them in the parliament of Aix, the chief 
 judicature of the province, that they should all promiscu- 
 ously be destroyed, that the houses should be pulled down, 
 the village levelled with the ground, the trees felled, and 
 the place rendered a desert. Now, though this sentence 
 was pronounced, yet it was not then put in execution ; 
 William Bellay of Langey, the king's lieutenant in Pie- 
 mont, with some others, having represented the case to the 
 king as one that ought to be reviewed by himself. But at 
 length, in this year, John Meinier, president of the parlia- 
 ment of Aix, having summoned that body together, on the 
 12th of April, reads to them the king's letters, which 
 warranted him to carry the sentence into effect. These 
 letters Meinier is said to have obtained by the influence of 
 the Cardinal of Tournon, and through the medium of Philip 
 Courtain, a fit agent in such a business. However, having 
 received them in the month of January, he produced them 
 not immediately, but kept them back to a s^eason more 
 proper for the exploit. The letters having been read, some 
 members of the parliament were chosen to see that they 
 were duly complied with ; and Meinier offered himself for 
 their assistant, as having in the absence of Grignian, the 
 governor of the province, the chief administration of affairs. 
 Now, before this time, he had by the king's orders raised 
 forces for the English war; and these he makes use of for 
 his present purpose. Besides these, he orders all that were 
 able to bear arms at Marseilles, Aix, Aries, and other popu- 
 lous places, to repair to him, on pain of severe penalties in 
 case of disobedience. He had also assistance sent him 
 from Avignon, which is under the dominion of the pope. — 
 His first attack was made, not on the inhabitants of Merin- 
 dol, but upon the country adjoining the town of Pertuis. On 
 the 13th of April, Meinier, attended by a number of gentle- 
 men and officers, came to Cadenet. In the mean time some 
 commanders of troops make an irruption into one or two 
 villages situate on the river Durance, and, putting all to fire 
 and sword, plunder and carry away a great many cattle. 
 The like was done also in other places at the same time. 
 The people of Merindol, seeing all in flames around them, 
 
OF PROVENCE. 323 
 
 leave their habitations, flee into the woods, and pass the 
 night in great consternation at the village of Saintfalaise. 
 The inhabitants of this place were themselves preparing for 
 flight ; for the pope's vice-legate, the Bishop of CavaiTlon, 
 had ordered some captains to fall upon them, and put them 
 to the sword. The next day they advanced farther into the 
 woods ; for they were beset on all hands with danger, 
 Meinier having made it death for any person to aid or assist 
 them, and commanding them all, without distinction, to be 
 massacred wherever they were found. The same order was 
 in force in the neighbouring places of the pope's jurisdic- 
 tion ; and some bishops of that country were reported to 
 have maintained a great part of the troops employed. The 
 fugitives had therefore a tedious and distressing journey, 
 marching with their children on their backs and in their 
 arms, and some in the cradle, and poor women also in a 
 state of pregnancy following in the rear. When they had 
 reached the appointed place, whither many in that forlorn 
 condition had fled, they soon had intelligence that Meinier 
 was mustering all his forces, that he might fall upon them. 
 This news they learned towards evening. On the receipt 
 of it, having consulted together what was best to be done, 
 they resolve, because the ways were rough and difficult, 
 to leave their wives, daughters, and little children there, 
 with some few to bear them company (among whom was 
 one of their ministers), and the rest to betake themselves, 
 as had been previously proposed, to the town of Mussi. 
 This they did in the hope that the enemy might show some 
 compassion towards a helpless and comfortless multitude: but 
 what wailing and lamentation, what groanings and embrac- 
 ings there were at parting, may easily be conceived. — Having 
 marched the whole night, and passed Mount Leberon, they 
 had the sad prospect of many villages and farms all in 
 flames. Meinier, in the mean time, having divided his 
 troops into two bodies, sets about his work : and, because 
 he had got intelligence of the place to which the inhabit- 
 ants of Merindol had betaken themselves, he himself marches 
 to that town, and sends the other division of his troops 
 in pursuit of the fugitives. But before these were come 
 into the wood, one of the soldiers, moved vvith pity, runs 
 before, and from the top of a rock, where he judged the 
 poor fugitives might have rested, throws down two stone»» 
 
324 THE WALDENSES 
 
 calling to them by intervals (though he did not see them), 
 instantly to fly for their lives : and, at the same moment, 
 two of those who had betaken themselves to Mussi come, 
 and having got notice of the enemy's approach, compel the 
 minister of the church, and the rest of those few guards 
 who, as we said, were left with the women, to be gone, 
 having shown them a steep way through the wood, by which 
 they might escape all danger in their flight. Scarcely had 
 these gone when the raging soldiers come in, shouting and 
 makino- a heavy noise, and with drawn swords prepared for 
 the butchery. However, for the present they forbear to 
 kill ; but, having committed many acts of insult, and robbed 
 the poor women of all their money and provisions, they 
 carry them away prisoners. They had purposed to have 
 used them still more basely ; but a captain of horse pre- 
 vented it, who by chance coming in threatened them, and 
 commanded them to march directly to Meinier : so that 
 they proceeded no further, but, leaving the women there, who 
 were about five hundred in number, they carried off" the cattle 
 and booty. — Meinier in the mean time comes to Merindol, 
 and, finding it deserted, plunders and sets it on fire ; first 
 exercising, however, an act of barbarity towards the only per- 
 son left in the place, a youth, whom he ordered to be bound 
 to an olive-tree and shot to death. He marches next to Ca- 
 brieres, and begins to batter the town. Through the me- 
 dium of Captain Poulen, however, he persuades the towns- 
 people, upon promise of safety, to open the gates ; but, 
 when that was done, and the soldiers let in, after a little 
 pause all were put to the sword, without respect to age or 
 sex. Many fled to the church, others to other places, and 
 some into the wine-cellar of the castle ; but, being dragged 
 out (all but those last named), into a meadow, and stripped 
 naked, they were murdered without exception of either man 
 or woman. Meinier also shuts up about forty women in a 
 barn full of hay and straw, and then sets it onfire ; and, when 
 the poor creatures, having attempted, but in vain, to smother 
 the fire with their clothes, which they had stripped oflf for the 
 purpose, betook themselves to the opening at which the hay 
 used to be taken in, designing to leap out, they were kept ir: 
 with pikes and spears, till they all perished in the flames. 
 This happened on the 20th of April. — Meinier after this 
 sends part of his forces to besiege the town of La Coste : 
 
OF PROVENCE. 325 
 
 out, just as they were beginning their march, those were 
 found who had fled into the wine-cellar of the castle. A 
 noise being thereupon raised, as if some ambush had been 
 discovered, the soldiers are recalled, and put every man of 
 them to the sword. The number of the slain, in the town 
 and in the fields, amounted to eight hundred. The young 
 infants which survived the massacre were, for the most part, 
 rebaptized by the enemy. — Affairs being thus despatched at 
 Cabrieres, the forces were sent to La Coste. The governor 
 of that town had urged the citizens beforehand to carry 
 their arms into the castle, and in four places to make 
 breaches in their walls ; which if they would do, he prom- 
 ised, by his influence with Meinier, to secure them from all 
 injury. They were prevailed upon to comply with his ad- 
 vice, and he set out, apparently to intercede for them. He 
 had not gone far before he met the soldiers ; who neverthe- 
 less proceeded in their march, and attacked the place. At 
 the first onset they did but little, but the next morning they 
 more briskly renewed the assault ; and, having burned all 
 the buildings in the suburbs, easily became masters of the 
 place ; and the more so because the night before most of the 
 inhabitants had deserted the town and fled, having let them- 
 selves down from the walls by ropes. After slaughtering 
 all that came in their way, and plundering the town, they 
 rush into the garden adjoining the castle, whither the women 
 and girls had fled in great consternation, and there treat 
 them with such barbarous indecency and cruelty, during the 
 next day and night, that numbers of them shortly after 
 died. — While these things were going on in that quarter, 
 such of the people of Merindol, and others who wandered 
 with them through the woods and over the rocks, as were 
 taken, were either sent to the galleys or put to death, and 
 many of them died of want. — Not far from the town of 
 Mussi, some five-and-twenty men had concealed themselves 
 in a cave hollowed out in a rock : but, being betrayed, they 
 were all suffocated with smoke or burned to death. So that 
 no kind of cruelty was abstained from towards these 
 poor people. Some of them, however, who had escaped 
 the massacre, arrived at Geneva and the neighbouring 
 places. 
 
 " When the news of these sad events reached Germany 
 it raised great indignation. Those of the Swiss also who 
 
 Vol. IL— E e 
 
326 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 v/ere not of the popish religion interceded with the French 
 king to show clemency to such as had fled their country ; 
 but he returned them for answer, that he ' had just cause 
 for what he had done, and that what he did within his own 
 territories, or how he punished the guilty, it no more con- 
 cerned them to inquire than it did him to intermeddle in 
 their affairs.' 
 
 " The preceding year the Waldenses had sent to the king 
 a written confession of their faith, that he might perceive 
 the innocency of their tenets."* 
 
 In the preceding narratives we have seen what has been 
 the too frequent practical working of the anti-christian sys- 
 tem with which the Church of Rome has identified itself. 
 A brief notice of the proceedings of the Council of Trent 
 will illustrate the manner in which the corrupt doctrines of 
 that church have been sanctioned, and its most important 
 affairs conducted. The convocation of the council has been 
 noticed. The whole term of its duration, from its com- 
 mencement to its dissolution, amounted to eighteen years, 
 extending from December, 1545, to December, 1563 : but 
 the time of its actual session was somewhat less than four 
 years — more than fourteen being passed in a state of actual 
 or virtual suspension. My examination of its history leads 
 me fully to concur in the sentence of Dr. Robertson. Hav- 
 ing described the three authors to whom we are chiefly in- 
 debted for the accounts we have of it. Father Paul, Cardinal 
 Pallavicini, and Vargas (all of them Roman Catholics, 
 though of different grades), he says : " But whichsoever of 
 these authors an intelligent person takes for his guide in 
 forming a judgment concerning the spirit of the council, he 
 must discover so much ambition as well as artifice among 
 some of the members, so much ignorance and corruption 
 among others ; he must observe such a strange infusion of 
 human policy and passions, mingled with such a scanty 
 portion of simplicity, sanctity of manners, and love of truth ; 
 . . . that he will find it no easy matter to believe that any 
 
 * Thuanus says that twenty-two towns and villages were destroyed. 
 He adds, tiiat Francis- 1, was reported to have given it in charge, a little 
 before his death, lo his son Henry to call the parliament of Aix to 
 accouni for the proceeiling ; and that one person was put to death ios 
 the part he had taken in it. 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 327 
 
 extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost hovered over this 
 assembly, and dictated its decrees." Indeed, not only more 
 secularity, but more chicane and intrigue, more fierce con- 
 tention, more that is opposite to all which ought to charac- 
 terize a sacred assembly whose professed objects were to 
 investigate Divine truth, and to purge the church from error 
 in doctrine and corruption in manners, was found here than 
 in the ordinary diets and p^irliaments of mere worldly poli- 
 ticians. 
 
 What particularly distinguished this council was, its un- 
 dertaking to fix the doctrines and the observances of the 
 Romish church in a more accurate manner than ha<3 ever 
 before been attempted : and on the footing on which it 
 placed both one and the other they must be considered as 
 standing to this day, for it is the last council that has been 
 held : no other assembly has since been called possessing 
 authority to revise or even to explain its decrees. They 
 must, therefore, as far as they go, be considered as the 
 standard of the faith and worship of every consistent Roman 
 Catholic. And by it, doctrines which had hitherto been 
 considered as mere private opinions, open to discussion, 
 were absurdly made articles of faith, and required to be re- 
 ceived on pain of excommunication ; and rites which had 
 formerly been observed only in deference to custom sup- 
 posed to be ancient, were established by the authority of 
 the church, and declared to be essential parts of its worship. 
 Thus the breach between the Church of Rome and the Pro- 
 testants, instead of being closed, was widened and made 
 irreparable. "Yet still," says Mosheim, *' those who expect 
 to derive from the decrees of the Council of Trent, and the 
 compendious confession of faith which was drawn up by 
 order of Pius IV., a clear, complete, and perfect knowledge 
 of the Romish faith will be greatly disappointed. . . . Many 
 things are expressed in a vague and ambiguous manner, 
 and that designedly, on account of the intestine divisions 
 and warm debates that reigned in the church. . . . Several 
 tenets are omitted which no Roman Catholic is allowed to 
 call in question ; . . . . and several doctrines and rules of 
 worship are inculcated in a much more rational and decent 
 manner than that in which they appear in the daily service 
 of the church, and in the public practice of its members." 
 The view therefore presented of the Roman Catholic re- 
 
328 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 ligion by the definitions of the Council of Trent must be 
 considered as the hast imfavourahle of which it is suscepti- 
 ble ; and the attempts frequently made* to soften down the 
 Romish doctrines and practices even much below this 
 standard, must be pronounced fallacious, and a perversion 
 of fact. 
 
 The decisions of the council on several important subjects, 
 traditions, the Apocrypha, the Vulgate version of the Scrip- 
 tures — establishing them all as of equal authority Vi'ith the 
 original inspired writings, and denouncing anathemas 
 against all who should dissent from these decisions — have 
 been already noticed. f 
 
 In favour of their sanctioning the Vulgate version as of 
 inspired authority, the argument, F. Paul says, weighed 
 much, " that if every one had liberty to examine whether 
 passages on which the doctrine of the church is founded, 
 were well translated, running to other translations, and seek- 
 ing how it was in the original, the new grammarians would 
 confound all, and would be made judges and arbiters of 
 faith ; and, instead of divines and canonists, pedants would 
 be preferred to be bishops and cardinals." 
 
 The next point of doctrine considered in the council was 
 original sin. The whole subject proved highly perplexing 
 to the fathers. The nature of this original taint and cor- 
 ruption, the mode of its transmission, the means of its re- 
 mission, and how far the blessed Virgin was involved in it, 
 were all found to be very unmanageable questions. In the 
 end, a decree was passed in the fifth session, consisting of 
 five articles ; the last of which anathematized all who should 
 deny " that the guilt of sin is removed by the grace which 
 Jesus Christ confers in baptism, and all which is sinful en- 
 tirely taken away." 
 
 The next article was the capital one of justification. 
 On this the discussions were rendered very complicated, by 
 being made to involve not only the nature and means of jus- 
 tification, the nature of faith, and the quality of works an- 
 tecedent, concomitant, and subsequent, but also the ques- 
 tions of assurance, free-will, and predestination. The 
 subject was felt, both by the divines and the fathers, to be 
 singularly important, as " all the errors of Luther resolved 
 
 * Bossuet, C. Butler, &c. &c. t See p. 173, 174, 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT» 329 
 
 themselves into it ; and, withal, singularly difficult, since" 
 (unlike the question of original sin) "justification by faith 
 only was a thing never heard of before ;" and Luther's doc- 
 trine relative to every part of it such as had "never been 
 thought of by any school-writer, and therefore never con- 
 futed or discussed !"* ^ 
 
 Melancthon once affirms that the reformers had gained \l 
 more ground upon their opponents on this head of justifica- "* 
 tion than on any other. Accordingly the two parties were 
 actually able, in the conferences at Ratisbon, in 1541, 
 to frame an article upon it in which they could both con- 
 cur ; and which, though not satisfactory, was one that, if 
 rightly interpreted, Luther seemed to think might be al- 
 lowed to pass, provided other points could be arranged. 
 Accordingly we are surprised and gratified to find some 
 leading characters openly asserting in the council the fo- 
 rensic sense of the term, or that justiiication stands con- 
 tradistinguished to condemnation, not to unholiness, and 
 consists in being pronounced entitled to the rewards of 
 righteousness ; in short, that it is not to be confounded 
 with sanctification. Even the imputation of Christ's 
 righteousness to us wanted not its advocates. But, as F. 
 Paul with admirable sagacity remarks, " The principal 
 point of the difficulty they touched not, namely, whether 
 
 A MAN IS RIGHTEOUS (JUSTIFIED), AND THEN DOETH RIGHT- 
 EOUSLY, OR BY DOING RIGHTEOUSLY BECOMETH RIGHTEOUS 
 
 or JUSTIFIED.! This profound author here places his finger 
 on the precise point at issue — the ver}' core of the question. 
 No one means " to exclude either hope or charity from 
 being always joined as inseparable mates with faith in the 
 man that is justified, or works being added as necessary 
 duties, required at the hands of every justified man :"i but 
 the question is. Do they go before and procure his justifica- 
 tion, or do they " follow after," and prove him justified? 
 And on this question our church has, in her xith and xiith 
 Articles, pronounced her decidedand unequivocal judgment. 
 The question of assurance of salvation, or at least of 
 present acceptance with God, occasioned long and sharp 
 debates. It was at first maintained " that uncertainty was 
 both profitable snxl meritorious," as conducing to humility 
 
 * F. Paul. t See vol. i. p. 33. % Hooker. 
 
 E 62 
 
1/ 
 
 330 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 and diligence. By degrees so much certainty seemed to be 
 admitted " as did exclude all doubt :" the argument, how- 
 ever, that this conclusion was " too much in favour of the 
 Lutherans," had great weight against it, and the question 
 was left undecided for the present.* 
 
 On the subject of free-will, as well as that of predestina- 
 tion, many would be surprised at the degree of what in 
 modern language would be called Calvinism, which was 
 found in the council. Catharinus, a leading Dominican, 
 contended " that the article, ' Free-will extends only to do- 
 ing ill, and hath no power to do good,' was not so easily to 
 be condemned." Soto, another Dominican, defended with 
 much hesitation the opinion that the consent of man's free- 
 will is necessary to give efficiency to Divine grace, " because 
 there was opposed to it this argument, that the distinction 
 of the elect from the reprobate would in that case proceed 
 from man, contrary to the perpetual Catholic sense — which 
 is, that it is grace alone which separates the vessels of mercy 
 from the vessels of wrath." Others " wished care to be 
 taken, lest, through too great eagerness to condemn Luther, 
 they should run into a contrary extreme — that objection 
 being esteemed above all, that hy this means the Divine elec- 
 tion or predestination would be for works foreseen — xohich no 
 divine did adraity Nay, " though the opinions were divers," 
 yet '* the most esteemed divines among them thought" that 
 even the high supralapsarian doctrine — making rejection to 
 be, equally with election, independent of works foreseen — 
 " was Catholic, and the contrary heretical, because the good 
 school-writers Aquinas, Scotus, and others did so think ;" 
 and also because of Scriptural passages which they cited If 
 
 These discussions were frequently marked by much ani- 
 mosity. In particular we blush to record the disgraceful 
 violence into which the Bishop of Cava was betrayed. He 
 was so incensed at a remark of the Bishop of Chiron, that 
 he actually took his right reverend brother by the beard, 
 and tore out some of the hair ! 
 
 At length, in the sixth session, the decree of the council was 
 prwiulgated, consisting of sixteen articles, followed by thirty- 
 three canons ; the former laying down the approved doctrine, 
 and the latter anathematizing the errors opposed to it. This 
 
 *F. i'aiil. t Ibid. 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 331 
 
 decree was said to have " decided more articles in one ses- 
 sion than all the councils held in the church from the apos- 
 tles' time had done."* The seventh article of the decree 
 asserts the great error of the Church of Rome concerning 
 justification, which, by confounding it with sanctification, 
 makes it in effect to be, however it may be disguised, of 
 works and not of grace — for our own internal hohness, and 
 not for the obedience unto death of Christ alone. Justifica- 
 tion, it says, is " not only remission of sins, but sanctifica- 
 tion, and a renovation of the inner man, by a voluntary re- 
 ception of grace and of the gifts which accompany it." 
 The tenth article accordingly speaks of" the increase of the 
 justification we have received, by advancing from virtue to 
 virtue." 
 
 Immediately after this session, Soto the Dominican wrote 
 three books on Nature and Grace, which he dedicated to the 
 council, to be, as he said, " a commentary" on its decrees 
 concerning original sin. justification, and the subjects con- 
 nected with these — findmg in the decrees all his own opin- 
 ions. This called forth from Vega, the Franciscan, fifteen 
 large books on the same subject, in which the several ar- 
 ticles of the decrees were expounded so as to confirm all his 
 sentiments — " differing from those of Soto in almost all 
 points, and in many directly contrary to them !" Nor was 
 this all ; but Soto, having in his book asserted, with respect 
 to assurance, that the council had denied the possibility of 
 any man's knowing, with such certainty as to exclude all 
 doubt, that he is possessed of grace ; Catharinus, now made 
 Bishop of Minori, wrote against him, maintaining the very 
 contrary, and that the council had in effect declared it a 
 , duty to have such certainty ! He, too, dedicated his work 
 to the sacred assembly itself. Several publications followed 
 from the two parties, each of which appealed to the coun- 
 cil, and adduced the testimonies of different members of 
 that body in its own favour. This put men out of all 
 hope of understanding the council, when it appeared that it 
 did not understand itself. It moreover raised the question 
 of the infallibility of that assembly. " Perhaps," says F. 
 Paul, " he would hit upon the truth who should say, that in 
 framing the decree, each party refused words contrary to 
 
 * F. Paul. 
 
332 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 the opinion they maintained, and all rested in. those which 
 they thought might be adapted to their own meaning." — 
 This is certainly giving to the council all that can be allowed 
 to belong to it — " unity of words and contrariety of mean- 
 ings." 
 
 The subject of the sacraments generally, and of baptism 
 and confirmation in particular, was proposed for the next 
 session. Here again extended discussions took place, and 
 the Franciscans and Dominicans contended so fiercely about 
 the manner in which the sacraments contain and convey 
 grace, that the legates were under the necessity of apply- 
 ing both to the generals of those orders and to the pope, 
 to admonish them to restrain themselves within more decent 
 boundaries, as their dissensions brought the council into 
 disrepute. 
 
 It was found so difficult, or rather so impracticable, to 
 define the doctrine in such a manner as not to infringe the 
 sentiment of one party or the other, that, by the advice of 
 the pope, the design was abandoned, and the council con- 
 tented itself with passing canons to anathematize certain 
 errors, without defining the truth at all. 
 
 Accordingly, in the seventh session, all were anathematized 
 who should say, among other things, that the sacraments 
 were more or fewer in number than seven ; or should deny 
 that the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and orders 
 imprint on the soul a chararlcr, or spiritual and indelible 
 mark ; or that, in administering the sacraments, the minis- 
 ter's intention to do what the church intends, is necessar3\ 
 The subject of " the character" imprinted by baptism, con- 
 firmation, and orders was scarcely less perplexing than that 
 of the manner in which the sacraments contain grace. 
 Such refinements were resorted to, that F. Paul observes, it 
 certainly behooved the respective asserters of them " to de- 
 clare how far it (the imprinted character) differed from 
 notJmig.^^ 
 
 The absurdities which follow from requiring the right 
 intention of the priest as necessary to the validity of a 
 sacrament, especially among those who make so much to 
 depend exclusively on sacraments, were pointed out by 
 Catharinus with such force and clearness, that it seems 
 wonderful how the council couM resist his arguments : nay, 
 he himself afterward affirmed in a work which he published, 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 333 
 
 that the fathers were of his opinion, and that their deter- 
 mination ought so to be understood ! " Children," he 
 urged, " must be damned, penitents remain unabsolved, the 
 people without the communion, if a priest were an infidel, 
 or a formal hypocrite, and in administering sacraments did 
 not intend what the church did." He added, " If any said 
 these cases were rare, would to God they were so ! Sup- 
 pose," he said, " there were only one such priest, and that 
 he baptized only one child without the intention to convey 
 true baptism ; that child, when grown up, might become 
 the bishop of a great city, live many years in his charge, 
 and ordain most of the priests within its limits. Yet he, 
 being himself unbaptized, is not ordained, nor are they or- 
 dained that are promoted by him. And thus, in that great 
 city, there will be neither eucharist nor confession ! Be- 
 hold millions of nullities of sacraments by the malice of one 
 minister in one act only !" The council, however, could 
 not dissent from the previous decision of the council of 
 Florence, which had held the intention necessary. 
 
 A very seasonable interruption of the council, of four 
 years' continuance, now occurred, and nothing of con- 
 sequence took place till the thirteenth session, v/hen the 
 doctrine of the church concerning the eucharist was laid 
 down in a decree which established all the absurdities of 
 transubstantiation; asserted that, "whereas other sacraments 
 have virtue to sanctify in the use of them, this doth contain 
 the Author of all sanctity before the use ;"* and ordained 
 that " all the faithful, according to the custom which has 
 ever been received in the Catholic church, are obliged to pay 
 to the holy sacrament the worship called lalreia, ^hich is 
 due to the true God." Eleven canons followed, anathema- 
 tizing all who should dissent from any part of the doctrine 
 thus established. 
 
 The Dominicans and Franciscans contended fiercely on 
 the question how the transubstantiation is efiTected. The 
 former would not allow that the body and blood of 
 Christ come into the sacrament " by a change of place." 
 
 ♦ Hence the Protestants were charged with " giving the people the 
 creature instead of the Creator'' in the sacrament! And hence the ne- 
 cessity which many felt of " seeing their Malcer, as the phrase commonly 
 went,'' in the course of the day, before they could lie down in peace in 
 their beds at night 1— Soames's Eng. Reform, i. 346. 
 
334 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 " The body," they said, " was where the bread had been, 
 but without coming thither." The latter further asserted, 
 " That the manner of Christ's being in heaven, and in the 
 sacrament, dilfereth not in substance, but in quantity, or 
 extension . in heaven his body occupies the space which 
 naturally belongs to it ; in the sacrament it is substantially, 
 without possessing any place !" 
 
 The subject of the sacraments of penance and extreme 
 unction next followed : and anathemas were decreed, in the 
 fourteenth session, against all such as should hold that 
 penance and extreme unction are not " truly and properly 
 sacraments ;" that satisfaction is not made by sufferings 
 voluntarily and submissively borne ; or that all are not bound 
 to confess at least once a year. 
 
 The dispersion of the council, in consequence of the 
 alarming progress of Maurice of Saxony in the year 1552, 
 soon after took place ; and the fathers did not reassemble 
 till 1562, under Pius IV., who had succeeded Paul IV. in 
 1559. And here by the adroit insertion of the words j9ro- 
 fonentihus legatis in the decree for opening the council, the 
 right of proposing any measure in the assembly was limited 
 to the presidents appointed by the pope ; which afterward 
 occasioned great altercation. The pope, however, insisted 
 upon the restriction being rigidly adhered to. 
 
 Much discussion ensued concerning the prohibition of 
 heretical books. The Index in consequence published in- 
 cluded the Annotations of Erasmus on the New Testament 
 (which Leo X. had approved by a brief in 1518) ; and went 
 so far as to proscribe all books, " of what author, art, or 
 idiom soever," printed by sixty-two printers who were named, 
 or by any others who ever had printed the books of heretics ; 
 " so that there scarcely remained," says F. Paul, " a book 
 to be read." — " In a word," he adds, " a better device was 
 never found for stultifying men, under the pretence of 
 making them religious." 
 
 The question of residence, and with it that of the Divine 
 or merely human right of all other prelates beside the Bishop 
 of Rome, was now revived ; and it continued to perplex the 
 pope and his adherents till near the close of the council. 
 " The mutual distastes between those at Rome and those 
 at Trent," says F. Paul, " were increased on the arrival of 
 every courier. At Trent the favourers of residence be- 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 335 
 
 wailed the miseries of the church, the servitude of the coun- 
 cil, and the manifest hopelessness of seeing the reformation 
 proceed from Rome. The opposite party lamented that a 
 schism was plotted in the council, or rather an a'postacy from 
 the apostolic sec." 
 
 In the twenty-first session the subject of the eucharist 
 was resumed, chiefly with regard to some points which had 
 not been-decided in the thirteenth. A main point was the 
 granting, or still withholding of the cup from the laity. In 
 discussing the question the most absurd arguments were 
 produced and reproduced even to satiety : as, for example, 
 the instance of St. Paul's blessing the bread only on ship- 
 board ; the manna given to the Israelites, unaccompanied by 
 any liquid ; and Jonathan's extraordinary refreshment by 
 eating honey alone, and not drinking with it ! Payva, a 
 Portuguese divine, maintained very seriously " that Christ, 
 both by precept and example, declared the bread to be due 
 to all, and the cup to priests only ; for, having consecrated 
 the bread, he gave it to his disciples, who were then mere 
 laics ; but having ordained them priests by the words, ' Do 
 this in remembrance of me,' he then consecrated the cup 
 and gave it them likewise !"• In the end it was decreed, 
 that communion in both kinds is not necessary ; and ana- 
 themas were added against all who should hold a contrary 
 opinion. 
 
 The twenty-second session laid down the doctrine of the 
 mass, declaring that Christ, " because his sacrifice was not 
 to end with his death, in order that he might leave to his 
 church such a visible sacrifice as the nature of man requires, 
 .... gave himself to be sacrificed in the church by priests 
 under visible signs ; and that this sacrifice is truly propitia- 
 tory." Anathemas were also promulgated against all who 
 should maintain that the sacrifice of the mass is " only one 
 of praise and thanksgiving, and not propitiatory ;" or that 
 it is " profitable only to him that receives it, and ought not 
 to be offered for the living and the dead :" or who should 
 deny that in the words. Do this in remembrance of me, 
 Jesus Christ did ordain the apostles priests, and com- 
 mand that they and other priests should offer his body and 
 blood ! 
 
 The subject of the next session w^as the sacrament of 
 orders, with the ditierent ranks of ministers, and their re- 
 
336 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 spective powers. The great point of debate still was whe- 
 ther the bishops derived their powers from Divine institution 
 or only from the pope. Laines, general of the order of Je- 
 suits, maintained that jurisdiction in the church belonged 
 solely and exclusively to the Bishop of Rome ; and that 
 Peter alone was ordained by Christ, and all the other apos- 
 tles by him — or, if by Christ himself, yet by him only as 
 " doinff, for that one time, what belonged to Peter," and 
 what for all future time he himself had exclusively com- 
 mitted to him. All authority, he insisted, is derived from 
 the pope, and he is himself above that which is derived from 
 him. " He giveth," Laines proceeded, " all their force to 
 the decrees of a council ; and that to which he thus giveth 
 force, and that only, is decreed by the Holy Ghost." He 
 asserted further, " that the pope had power to dispense all 
 laws, of what kind soever — the tribunal of the principal and 
 that of the vicegerent being the same :" and that " to teach 
 men to prefer their own conscience before the authority of 
 the church, is to plunge them into a bottomless pit of dan- 
 gers." 
 
 The council was from time to time harassed by fierce 
 contentions between different parties concerning the right 
 of precedence. At the present period such a dispute arose 
 between the French and Spanish ambassadors, in con- 
 sequence of a device to which the pope had had recourse for 
 putting them on a par at the celebration of mass, when he 
 could not decide between them their claims of priority, as 
 disturbed the congregation during the whole time of the 
 service, and interrupted the solemnities in the most indecent 
 manner : and the Cardinal of Lorraine, brother to the Duke 
 of Guise, on the part of the French, protested that if the 
 like attempt were made again, he would himself mount the 
 pulpit, with a crucifix in his hand, and having proclaimed, 
 " He that desires the welfare of Christendom, let him follow 
 me !" would quit the church, hoping to be followed by every 
 one present. Nay, the French were prepared on this oc- 
 casion to protest against Pius IV. as not rightful pope, and 
 against the decrees which had passed, " as made at Rome, 
 and not at Trent, and as being the decrees of Pius, and not 
 of the council." 
 
 At length, in the twenty-third session, the decrees and 
 
COUNCIL OF TRENT. 337 
 
 canons concerning orders were published. The question of 
 the Divine or the derived right of bishops was evaded : and, 
 on the other disputed subject of residence, the council, after 
 ten months' deliberation and debate, and after sending 
 various embassies and despatches to the pope and all the 
 leading princes of Europe, came to the momentous decision, 
 *' That not to reside is sinful, where there is not a lawful 
 cause to the contrary !" 
 
 The subject of the twenty-fourth session was marriage, 
 which was declared to be " a true and proper sacrament ;" 
 and that " churchmen in holy orders, or regulars who have 
 professed chastity," may not contract marriage, and that, if 
 they do, their marriage is void. Anathemas were pro- 
 nounced against such as should deny these positions. F. 
 Paul's statement of the policy of prohibiting marriage to the 
 clergy is clear and good. "It is plain," he says, "that 
 married priests will turn their affections and love to their 
 wives and children, and by consequence to their house and 
 country : so that the strict dependence of the clergy on the 
 apostolic see would cease. Thus granting marriage to 
 priests would destroy the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and leave * 
 the pope Bishop of Rome only." -,, \^ 
 
 The twenty- fifth session had been fixed for the 9th of 
 December : but for some time past the leading princes of 
 Christendom, convinced that no good was to be expected 
 from the council, had forborne to press their several objects ; 
 allowed their prelates and divines to withdraw ; and seemed 
 intent only on bringing the assembly to an end as decently 
 and quietly as possible. " And now," says F. Paul, " the 
 one only aim and joint resolution was to precipitate the con- 
 clusion." The day of the session therefore was anticipated : 
 and, on December the 3d and 4th, decrees were published 
 on purgatory, the invocation and worship of saints, images, 
 and relics ; on indulgences, and prohibited books ; as also 
 concerning various subjects of reformation ; and finally for 
 terminating the council, and desiring the pope's confirma- 
 tion of its decisions. 
 
 When these decrees had been read, Cardinal Morone, as 
 chief president, granted to every one that was present in 
 the session, or had assisted in the council, a plenary indul- 
 gence ; blessed the council and dismissed it ; saying, that, 
 after they had given thanks to God, they might go in peace. 
 
 Vol. II.— F f 
 
338 COUNCIL OF TRENT. 
 
 " It is incredible," says Pallavicini, "how much the news 
 of the conclusion of the council revived the pope in the sick- 
 ness" under which he at this time laboured, and from 
 apprehension of the consequences of which the fathers had 
 been more anxious to bring their deliberations to a close : 
 "so that his holiness would not have been without an ill- 
 ness which," by expediting this happy event, " had been so 
 useful to the church. ... He therefore ordered a solemn pro- 
 cession to be made the next day to give thanks to God, and 
 granted indulgences to all who should assist in it." 
 
 I close this account with an extract of a letter written by 
 Dudithius, Bishop of Tinia, or Knin, in Croatia, and after- 
 ward of Five-Churches, in Hungary, to the Emperor 
 Maximilian H. Dudithius is styled by Du Pin " one of 
 the most learned and eloquent men of the age." He was 
 sent, with another prelate, to represent the clergy of Hun- 
 gary in the council ; where his boldness and eloquence made 
 him so much feared by the legates, that they successfully 
 urged on the pope the necessity of procuring his recall. 
 
 " What good," he says, " could be done in a council in 
 which the votes were not weighed but numbered. . . .We 
 daily saw hungry and needy bishops come to Trent, for the 
 most part youths which did not begin to have beards, aban- 
 doned to luxury and riot, hired only to give their votes as 
 the pope pleased. They were without learning or under- 
 standing, yet fit for the purpose, through their boldness and 
 impudence. . . .There was a grave and learned man who was 
 not able to endure so great an indignity. 'He was presently 
 traduced as being no good Catholic, and was terrified, 
 threatened, and persecuted, that he might approve things 
 against his will. In fine, matters were brought to that pass, 
 by the iniquity of those who came thither formed and trained 
 for their work, that the council seemed to consist not of 
 bishops, but of disguised maskers : not of men, but of images, 
 such as Dasdalus made that moved by nerves which were 
 none of their own. They were hireling bishops, who, as 
 country bagpipes, could not speak but as breath was put 
 into them. The Holy Ghost had nothing to do in this- 
 assembly." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 The Initials L. ay\d J/, are used for Luther and Melancthon. 
 
 Adiaphoristic controversy, ii. 242, 
 271. M.'s letter on, 248. 
 
 Adrian VI., Pope, i. 1T9. 
 
 Spinas, ii. 308. 
 
 Afflictions, M. on, ii. 291. 
 
 Agricola, Islebius, account of, ii. 
 126, &c., 231. 
 
 Albert of Mansfeldt, i. 263, ii. 183. 
 Of Brandenburg, i. 209. An- 
 other, 263. 
 
 Aleander, i. 102, 103, 119, 139, 212. 
 
 Alliance, Holj-, ii. 72. 
 
 Altieri, his correspondence with 
 L., ii. 120. J 
 
 Amsdorf, ii. 115, 277, 311. ♦ 
 
 Anabaptists, i. 330. Of Munstei^ 
 ii. 67. 
 
 Anhalt, Princes of, ii. 51. George 
 of, 154, &c., 308. Letter of L. 
 to, ii. 210. 
 
 Antinomianism, L.'s opposition to, 
 ii. 125, &c. 
 
 Apology for the Confession of 
 Augsburg, ii. 34. 
 
 Aristotle, his philosophy, i. 19. 
 
 Assurance, council of Trent on, ii. 
 329. 
 
 Atterbury, Bishop, on L., ii. 200. 
 
 Augsburg, first diet of, i. 286, 289. 
 Second diet of, 351, ii. 9, &c. 
 Edict of, 37. Bishop of, 16. Re- 
 formation of, 65. 
 
 Augustine and Jerome, i. 33. 
 
 Aurifaber, ii. 311. 
 
 Austria, Bpread of reformed princi- 
 ples in, ii. 52, 65, 118,267. 
 
 Bavaria, spread of reformed prin- 
 ciples in, ii. 268. 
 
 Bible, L.'s first acquaintance with, 
 1.-29. His translation of, i. 147, 
 170, ii. 216. 
 
 Blasphemous thoughts, L. on, ii. 
 128, 203. 
 
 Bossuet, il. 44. 
 
 Brandenburg, George Marqnis of, 
 i. 206, ii. 11. Albert Marquis of, 
 i. 209. Another, 263. Joachim 
 \. of, 340. Joachim II. of, ii. 51, 
 99, 102, 233. Reformation of, 98. 
 
 Brentius, ii. 270-311. Letter of L. 
 to, 213. 
 
 Breslaw, treaty of, i. 328, 329. 
 
 Briconet, Bishop of Meaux, i. 207. 
 
 Brisman, .John, i. 210. 
 
 Brunswick- Wolfenbuttle, reforma- 
 tion of, ii. 135. Henry of, 9, 135. 
 
 Bucer, ii. 36. His preaching, 79 
 At Cologne, 143. Rejects the 
 Interim, 231, 232. Withdraws 
 into England, 236. His death, 
 308. 
 
 Bugenhagen. i. 161, 177, ii. 64. 
 Refuses the bishopric of Camin, 
 165. His death, 310. 
 
 Cadurcus, martyr, ii. 50. 
 
 Caesar, L., martyr, i. 313, ii. 31. 
 
 Cajetan, Cardinal, i. 49-56. 
 
 Calvin, ii. 52. His mistaken cen- 
 sure of M., 243. On M.'s Com- 
 monplaces, 302, 303. 
 
 Calvinism of the council of Trent 
 ii. 330. 
 
 Campeggio, i. 192, 197, 352, ii. 10. 
 
 Canonries, L. opposes their sup- 
 pression, ii. 115. 
 
 Capiio, i. 274. 
 
340 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Carolstadt, at the disputation of 
 Leipzig, i. 70. His disorderly 
 spirit, 152, 155, 215. L. on his 
 errors, 168. On the Eucharist, 
 215. Retired to Switzerland, 
 219. 
 
 Catharinus, ii. 331. 
 
 Cellius, of Strasburg, i.- 142. 
 
 Character imprinted in sacra- 
 ments, ii. 332. 
 
 Charles V., emperor, i. 112, 113. 
 His quarrel with Clement VIL, 
 343. His devotions at Augsburg, 
 ii. 12. His arbitrary proceed- 
 ings, 23, 33. His campaign 
 against the Turks, 46. His du- 
 
 • plicity, 172, 177. His tyranny, 
 222, 224, 229, 234, 239. Circum- 
 vented by Maurice of Saxony, 
 255. His abdication and death, 
 261, 262. 
 
 Cheregato, i. 179, ii. 9. 
 
 Christiern II., of Denmark, i. 199. 
 HI. 201, ii. 66. 
 
 Church, state of, i. 13-20. Eras- 
 mus on, 39. Adrian VI. on, 179. 
 Of Rome, 333, ii. 84, 204. M. 
 on, 269. 
 
 Clement VIL, Pope, i. 192. His 
 perfidy and hostility to Protest- 
 antism. 290, 343, 352 His quar- 
 rel with Charles V., 343, &c. 
 
 Cleves. reformation of, ii. 62. 
 Duke of, 140. 
 
 Cologne, university of, i. 76, 85. 
 Herman, Archbishop of, ii. 142, 
 147, 173. 
 
 Concord, Erasmus on, ii. 57. Of 
 Wittemburg, 79. 
 
 Confederacies, the Elector.Frederic 
 on. ii. 88. 
 
 Conferences of Ratisbon, ii. 104, 
 174. 
 
 Confession, abuses of, i. 143. Of 
 Augsburg, ii. 13. Refutation of, 
 22. Apology for, 34. The Te- 
 trapolitan, 36. 
 
 Controversies among the Protest- 
 ants, ii. 271, 277. Reflections 
 on, 278. 
 
 Convention of Frankfort, ii. 73. 
 
 Corvinus, of Hesse, ii. 60. 
 
 Cranrner. on the German Protest- 
 ants, ii! 238. M's. letters to, 288. 
 
 (Crosner, Alexius, i. 265. 
 
 Cruciger, ii. 306. 
 
 Cup, council of Trent on withhold- 
 ing it from the laity, ii. 335. 
 
 Denmark, reformation of, i. 199, ii. 
 65. Christiern II. King of, and 
 his queen, i. 199. Christiern III., 
 201, ii. 66. 
 
 Depravity, total, meaning of, i. 246. 
 
 Diuz, .luan, account of, ii. 316. 
 
 Diets, held on the reformation, ii. 9. 
 
 Difficulties of Scripture and provi- 
 dence, L. on, i. 249,281. 
 
 Discipline, church, ii. 106. 
 
 Dudithius, on council of Trent, ii 
 338. 
 
 Eber, Paul, ii. 311. 
 
 Eckius, i. 42, 69. At the disputa- 
 tion of Leipzig, 70. M. on, 109, 
 Another, i. 132. 
 
 Election, L. on, ii. 91. Council 
 of Trent on, 330. 
 
 Emser, his opposition to L., i. 170, 
 173. 
 
 England, correspondence of the 
 German Protestants with, ii. 67. 
 
 Enthusiasm, i. 325. 
 
 Erasmus, on justification, i. 32. 
 
 I On L., 38, 48, 64, 94, 104, &c. 
 
 P On L.'s marriage, 231. His 
 
 r character and history, 233-236, 
 254-259. On the reformers, 237. 
 
 • His controversy with L., 239, 
 254, &c. to CEcolampadius, 256. 
 His letters to Augsburg, ii. 37. 
 His work on Concord, 57. His 
 death, 60. His Colloquies con- 
 demned, 71. On M., 285. His 
 Annotations condemned, 334. 
 
 Esch, John, i. 213. 
 
 Evidences of grace, L. on, ii. 53, 
 86, 88. 
 
 Evil, oriciin of, inscrutable, i. 249. 
 
 Exhortations of Scripture, i. 248. 
 
 Extremes, danger of, ii. 278. 
 
 Faber, Stapulensis, i. 207, 212. 
 
 Fagius, Paul, ii. 236, 308. 
 
 Faith, errors respecting, ii. 245, 
 275. Only, M. on, 243, 276. 
 
 Farel, William, i. 207, ii. 117. 
 
 Ferdinand, King; his hostility to 
 the reformation, i. 200. His oppo- 
 sition to it in Austria, ii. 119, 268. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 341 
 
 Flacius, ii. 242, 271, 276. 
 
 Flanders, persecutions in, i. 212. 
 
 France, progress of reformation in, 
 i. 207, 340, ii. 50, 69. 
 
 Francis I. of France; his incon- 
 sistent and persecuting conduct, 
 ii. 68, 257. 
 
 Frankfort, reformation of, i. 275. 
 Coiiveation of, ii. 73. 
 
 Frecht, Martin, ii. 235, 309. 
 
 Frederic, the elector, his conduct 
 to L., i.,24, 51. Remarks on 
 him, 112, ,166. His death, 226, 
 and character, 227. Count Pala- 
 tine, ii. 13IB34. 
 
 Free-will, i.mO. Erasmus's con- 
 troversy orff 243, &c. M. on, ii. 
 305. Council of Trent on, 330. 
 
 Funds, ecclesiastical, ii. 80, 81. 
 
 Galatians, L. on, i. 115-118, ii. 89. 
 
 George of Saxony, hears L., i. 34. 
 His suspicious conduct, 190. 
 Rejects L.'s overtures, 265. His 
 hostility to the reformation, 274, 
 294. His persecutions, ii. 61. 
 His death, 93. 
 
 Gerson, his testimony, ii. 19. 
 
 Gospel, exposed to misapprehen- 
 sion, i. 90. Charges against it, 
 146. 
 
 Grace, prevenient an^d assisting, ii. 
 20. 
 
 Grievances, the Hundred, i. 184. 
 
 Grisonio, inquisitor, ii. .314. 
 
 Cropper, his book, ii. 104. At Co- 
 logne, 142, 145, 147, 149. 
 
 Gustaviis Vasa, i. 202, «fcc., ii. 116, 
 &c. 
 
 Halle, reformation of, ii. 114. 
 
 Hamburgh, M.'s letter to, ii. 248. 
 
 Hausman, Nic, i. 151, ii. 51, 291. 
 
 Heidelberg, i. 41. 
 
 Heldingus, ii. 162, 231. 
 
 Heltus, George, ii. 155, 209. 
 
 HenckeJl, Joim, i. 310. .._. 
 
 Henneberg, Princes of, ii. 153, &'<JF, 
 219, 234. 
 
 Henry Vlll. of England; his an- 
 swer to L., i. 153. Rejects L.'s 
 overtures, 263. Letter of M. to 
 ii. 68. 
 
 • Duke of Sa.xony, i. 152, ii, 
 
 93, &c. 
 
 Henry Duke of Brunswick, i. 174. 
 
 ii. 9, 135. 
 
 Hesse, reformation of, i. 301. The 
 Landgrave of, 209, 273, 330. Hia 
 bigamy, iL 110. Surrenders to 
 Charles V., 223. His conduct 
 in and after captivity, 228. 
 
 John, i. 207, 276, ii. 306. 
 
 Hogostrat, i. 48. 
 
 Holstein, reformation of, i. 201. 
 
 Hubnieier, Balthasar, i. 332. 
 
 Huglin, martyr, i. 312. 
 
 Hume, remarks on, i. 26, 96, 154. 
 
 Hungary, reformation there, i. 206. 
 
 Hunting, L. on, i. 148. 
 
 Huttea, Ulric, i. 237. 
 
 Idolatry of the Church of Rome, ii. 
 205, 206. 
 
 Incomprehensibility of the Divine 
 dispensations, i. 249-251. 
 
 Index, of the council of Trent, ii. 
 334. 
 
 liidifTerent things, controversy con- 
 cerning, ii. 241, &c., 271. M.'s 
 letter on, 248. 
 
 Indulgences, doctrine of, i. 16-18, 
 22. Controversy on, 20, &c. 
 Modern sale of, 23. 
 
 Intention, of the priest in a sacra- 
 ment, ii. 332. 
 
 Interim, the, rejected by the elector 
 John Frederic, ii. 225, 226. Es- 
 tablished, 232. Its effect.'s, 237, 
 251. Conduct of Maurice of 
 Saxony respecting it, 233, 240. 
 And of M., 239, &:c. 
 
 Italy, progress of reformed princi- 
 ples in, ii. 63, 303. 
 
 Jerome and Augustine, i. 33 ; and 
 
 Origen, ii. 214. 
 .lews, L. on the, ii. 206. 
 Joachim I. of Brandenburg, i. 340. 
 
 IL, ii. 51, 98-102. 219, 232. 
 John Elector of Saxony, i. 268. 
 
 His death, ii. 49. 
 John Frederic, i. 270, ii. 50. Taken 
 
 prisoner by the emperor, 222. 
 
 His conduct in captivity, 222. 
 
 His death, 228. His sons, 207, 
 
 228, 281. 
 .Jonas, Justu.s, ii. 182, 185, 186, 309. 
 Jortin, on L.'s doctrine of justifica- 
 tion, i. 253. 
 
342 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Justification, doctrine of, i. 17. 
 L.'s view of, 31, 33, 54, 77, 253. 
 Confession of Augsburg on, ii. 
 18. Regulation of Brandenburg 
 on, 101. M. on, 243, 275. Coun- 
 cil of Trent on, ii. 328. 
 
 Koran, the, L. on, ii. 205. 
 
 Laines, Jesuit, ii. 336. 
 
 Lambert, Francis, i. 302. 
 
 I/angi, Cardinal, ii. 16. 
 
 Latomus, James, i. 145. 
 
 Lauterwald, his doctrines, ii. 273. 
 
 Law, fulfilling it, ii. 89. Contin- 
 ues in force as a rule, 90. L. on 
 the uses of, ii. 126, 127. 
 
 Leipzig, disputation of, i. 70-79. 
 L. preaches there, ii. 97. 
 
 Leo X., L. on, i. 46. His impru- 
 dence, 48, 63, 100. His bull 
 against L., 98. 
 
 Lemkirk, reformation of, ii. 179. 
 
 Liberty, Christian, L. on, i. 89-91. 
 M. on, ii. 24i7. Religious, estab- 
 lished in Germany, ii. 257, 259, 
 260. 
 
 Light of nature, of grace, and of 
 glory, i. 250, 251. 
 
 Louvain, university of, i. 76, 85. 
 
 Luther, his early history, i. 14. 24, 
 27, &.C. On justification in 1516, 
 31, 33. At Rome, .W. Sir J. 
 Mackintosh on. 26. 33. At Dres- 
 den, 34. His character, 35.- S7. 
 49. His faults, 35. 107. 318. 319. 
 On his own course, 45-47. His 
 conferences with Cajetan. 52-57. 
 With Miltitz, 65-67, 82, 86. Dis- 
 putation with Eckius at Leipzig. 
 71-78. His letter to Leo X.. 86- 
 89. His tract on the Babylo- 
 tiish captivity. 97. Pope's bulls 
 against him, 98, 111. His treat- 
 ment of them, 106-112. On Ga- 
 latians, 115-1)8. ii. 89. At the 
 diet of Worms, i. 127-138. At 
 Wartburg, 13S. His attention to 
 ecclesiastical order, 150, 176. 
 His answer to Henry VIII., 153. 
 His attempts to pacify him, 2(i0- 
 203. His treatment of the tana 
 tical prophets. 159, 168, 219. His 
 lettertothe Elector Frederic, 161, 
 164. His judicious preaching, 
 Ff 2 
 
 166, ii. 266. On resistance to the 
 emperor, i. 191, 304, 329, ii. 123. 
 On the two diets of Nuremberg, 
 i. 186, 196. His conduct in the 
 sacramental controversy, 214, 
 217, ii. 207, 271. His tolerance, 
 i. 221, 332, &c., ii. 260. On the 
 war of the peasants, i. 222. His 
 marriage, 230. His treatment 
 of Erasmus, 236, 237, 241, 251. 
 His controversy with him, 239, 
 «fec. His overtures to Henry 
 VIII., and to George of Saxony, 
 261, &c. His distinguishing ex- 
 cellence as a divMb, 279. His 
 regulation of the Smon churches, 
 308, 327. His temptations, 315, 
 &c. On predestination, 335, «fec. 
 At the conference of Marpurg, 
 3.^8. His catechisms. 353. On 
 the works of M., 241, 353, ii. 122, 
 212. His, sentiments and em- 
 ployments during the diet of 
 Aug.sburg. ii. 15, 24, &c. His 
 devotions, 33, 124, 200. His dan- 
 gerous ilhiess,49. His interview 
 witli Vergerio, 74, &c. His ill- 
 ness and i)rayer at Smalkald, 82, 
 83. His alleged conference with 
 Satan, 85. Reference to him 
 from the conference of Ratisbon, 
 107. His vindication of the re- 
 formation, 125. His admonition 
 to JMaurice and the Elector of 
 Saxony, 132. He introduced no 
 novelties, 163. False story of his 
 death, 180. His closing emplov- 
 ments, 182. His deathl 174, 182, 
 <fec. His character, 189, &;c. 
 Unrestrained in his writings, 
 
 211. On his own works, 194, 
 
 212, 213. M. on his writings, 
 215. Seckendorf and the Elector 
 of Saxony uii the same, 92. His 
 translation of the Scriptures, i. 
 147, 170, ii. 216. His Table 
 
 k,216. 
 
 kintosh. Sir James, on L. i. 26, 
 
 33, 225. 
 Magdeburg, treaty of, i. 295. Siege 
 
 of ii. 252. 
 INIajor, George, ii. 311. 
 .Mansfeldt, counts of, ii. 162. 
 Malvenda, ii. 175, 317. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 343 
 
 Marpurg, conference of, i. 338. 
 Marriage, of the clergy, i. 144, 161, 
 187, 211. Policy of prohibiting 
 it, ii. 337. OfL., i. 230. M. on, 
 ii. 289. 
 
 Mary of Austria, i. 309. 
 Mass, L. on, ii. 80. Private, i. 144, 
 ii.85. 
 
 Maurice of Saxony, his policy, ii. 
 131, 133, 219, 220. Advanced to 
 the electorate, 222. His conduct 
 respecting the Interim, 233, 240. 
 His proceedings against the em- 
 peror, 253, 255. His successes; 
 255. His death, 25'8. 
 
 Mediation 'of Christ, whether in 
 his human nature only, ii. 278. 
 
 Melancholy, i. 325. 
 
 Alelancihon, on L., i. 38. Professor 
 at Wittemberg, 50, 290. At the 
 disputation of Leipzig, 80, 81. 
 Defends L., 92, 154. His char- 
 acter, 149. His defence of the 
 reformation, 287, ii. 270. His 
 ^disinterested labours, i. 311, ii. 
 130. His distress at the diet 
 of Augsburg, 28. At Ratisbon, 
 108. His illness. 111. On L., 
 112. At Cologne, 144. His fit- 
 ness as a coadjutor to L., 196. 
 His conduct with respect to the 
 Interim, 239, &c. On things in 
 different, 241. 248, &c. On faith 
 only, 243. 276. On O.siander. 
 273. On Lauterwald, 274. His- 
 tory of his latter daj's. 280. His 
 death, 282. His character, 2S4. 
 L. and Erasmus on him, 285. 
 His family, particularly his eldest 
 daughter, 295. His letters, 217, 
 237, 248, 203-267, 269, 286-302. 
 His works, 302. L. and Calvin 
 on them, i. 241, 353, ii. 122, 212, 
 243. 302. 
 
 Menius, Justus, ii. 310. 
 
 Merindol, massacre of, ii. 321, 322. 
 
 Mensburg, bishopric of, ii. 161, &c. 
 
 Melz, reformation suppressed there, 
 ii. 117. 
 
 Meyer, Sebastian, i. 212. 
 
 Miltitz, his conferences with L., i. 
 65, 82, 86. 
 
 Moderation, wisdom of, ii. 278. 
 
 Moses, L. ou his writings, ii. 128, 
 215. 
 
 Mosheim, misrepresents M., ii. 242, 
 
 &c. 
 MuUer, Henry, i. 202. 
 Munster, Anabaptists of, ii. 67. 
 
 Bishop of, his reformation, 149. 
 Munsterberg, Daches.s of, i. .340. 
 Munzer, the fanatic, i. 158, 219, 
 
 226. 
 IMuscnlus, on Erasmus, ii. 59. 
 Mvconius, Fred., i. 152, ii. 129. 
 
 306. 
 
 Navarre, Margaret of, i., 208. 212. 
 Necessity, L. on, i. 247. M. on, 
 
 305. 
 Nordlingen, reformation of, ii. 65. 
 Nuremberg, diet of, i. 179-185, 192. 
 
 Pacification of, ii. 45. 
 
 CEcolampadius, i.41. Erasmus to, 
 
 256. 
 Origen and Jerome, ii. 214. 
 Osiander, i. 209, ii. J 24. 272. 
 Otho Henry, Elector Palatine, ii. 
 
 115. 
 
 Palatinate of Bavaria, reformation 
 of, ii. 115. Of the Rhine, 178, 
 269. 
 
 Pallavicini on popes, i. 181. 
 
 Palls of archbishops, ii. 136. 
 
 Paris, divines of i. 153. 
 
 Passau, treaty of, ii. 256. 
 
 Patmos, L.'s i. 143, <fcc. 
 
 Paul III., his commission for refor- 
 mation, ii. 70. 
 
 Payva, in council of Trent, ii. 335. 
 
 Peace of religion, ii. 259. In the 
 church, 263. 
 
 Peasants, war of, i. 222. 
 
 Pelagianism, ob.servation on, i. 254. 
 
 Persecution, all that it effects, ii. 
 t236. By Protestants, 84, 261. 
 
 Petri, Laurent, and Olaus, i. 202. 
 
 Peucer, ii. 283, 295. 
 
 Pfeffmger, ii. 292. 
 
 Pflug, Julius, ii. 115.231,281. 
 
 Poland, reformed principles in, ii. 
 268. 
 
 Pontanus. ii. 309, 310. 
 
 Popery, its character, ii. 83. Im- 
 mutabilitv. 85. Its idolatry, 205. 
 M. on, 270. 
 
 Prayer, M. on, ii. 264. 
 
 Preaching, M. on, ii. 265, 266. 
 
344 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Predestination, L. on, i. 335, ii. 91. 
 
 M. on, 305. Council of Trent 
 
 on, 330. 
 Prierias, i. 42. 
 Prophets, fanatical, 1. 158, 168, 218, 
 
 219. 
 Protestants, the first, i. 348. Their 
 
 discipline, ii. 106. 
 Prussia, reformation of, i. 219. 
 
 Ratisbon, confederation of, i. 197. 
 Conferences and diet of, ii. 104, 
 174. 
 
 Ravenstein, on L., i. 106. 
 
 Reformation, need of, i. 13-19. 
 That of L , 14, 19. M.'s vindica- 
 tion of, 287, 289, ii. 270. Its doc- 
 trine, i. 18. Vindicated from the 
 charge of corrupting the people, 
 27. 51 125. 237, 238. 
 
 Reformers, our obligations to them, 
 ii. 203. Notices of Lutheran, 
 306, &c. 
 
 Reservation, ecclesiastical, ii. 260. 
 
 Resistance to the emperor, L. and 
 others on, i. 191, 222, «&c., 328, 
 329, ii. 123. I 
 
 Righteousness of God, L.'s embar- 
 rassment on, i. 77. 
 
 Robertson, Dr.. remarks on. ii. 105, 
 170. His character of L., 189. 
 Remarks on it, 192. His mis- 
 representation of M., 242. His 
 charge of persecution brought 
 against the reformers, 261. 
 
 Sabinusii. 296. 
 
 Sacramental controversy, i. 214. 
 282, 338. ii. 270. 
 
 Saints, ii. 90. 
 
 Samson, vender of indulgences, i. 
 63. 
 
 Satisfactions, i. 16. 
 
 Siivoy, Duke of i. 208. 
 
 Saxony, reformation of, under the 
 Elector John, i. 268. Visitation 
 of, 327. Religious state of, ii. 27. 
 Ducal, reformation of, 96. 
 
 Scaliger, J. C, ii. 52. 
 
 Schaumburg, i. 94. 
 
 Schism, M.'s vindicaiion of the re- 
 formation from, i. 287. 
 
 Schnepfiiis, ii. 310. 
 
 Schwenckfeldt. ii. 279. 
 
 Scriptures, L.'s translation of, i. 
 
 147, 170, ii. 216. Interpretation 
 
 of, i. 278, ii. 265. 
 Scurff, Jerome, i. 128, 163, 23L 
 Seckendorf, i. 14. 
 Sellarius, martyr, i. 342. 
 Senarcle, Claude, ii. 320. ' 
 Silesia, reformation of, i. 206. 
 Sin, original, council of Trent on, 
 
 ii. 328. 
 Smalkald, league of, ii. 42, 43. 
 
 War of, 217, &c. 
 Soto, in council of Trent, ii. 331. 
 Spain, spread of reformed principles 
 
 in, ii. 268. 
 Spalatinus, i. 32, ii. 306. 
 Spangenberg, ii. 308. 
 Sp'ra, Francis, account of, ii. 315. 
 Spires, proposed meeting there, 
 
 i. 194, 195, Convention of, 198. 
 
 F.rst diet of, 296-300. Second, 
 
 347, &c. Third, ii. 137. 
 Stancari, ii. 277. 
 Stanpitz, i. 28, 43, 55, 57-60. 
 Strasburg, reformation of, i. 210, 
 
 340. Withstands the Interim, 
 
 ii. 235. 
 Stubner, i. 158, 159, 168. 
 Student, L.'s advice to, ii. 87. 
 Sturmius, ii. 308. 
 Sweden, reformation of, i. 202-206, 
 
 ii. 116. 
 Svnechdoche of the monks, ii. 275, 
 '306. 
 
 Tast, Herman, i. 201. 
 
 Temptations. L.'s, i. 315, &c. 
 
 Tetzel, i. 2-J, 40, 65, 67. 
 
 Thammer, ii. 279. 
 
 Theses, L.'s, 26. Tetzel's, 40. 
 
 Tlmrzo, John, i. 206. 
 
 Tolerance. L.'s, i. 221, 322, ii. 261. 
 
 Established in Germany, 267, 
 
 259. 
 Tonstall, Bishop, i. 236. 
 Transobstantiation, council of 
 
 Trent on, ii. 333. 
 Trent, council of, ii. 134, 166. 169, 
 
 173, 230, 254, 326-338. Refused 
 
 bv the Protestants, 167, 168. 
 Turks, the, i. 305, 306, ii. 129, 13,45. 
 
 Ulric, of Wurtembnrg, ii. 64. 
 
 Vasa, Gustavus, i. 202-206, ii. 116. 
 &c. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 345 
 
 Vega, in council of Trent, ii. 331. 
 
 Veit, Theodore, ii. 33, 308. 
 
 Venice, reformed principles there, 
 ii. 120. 
 
 Vergerio, P. P., i. 352. L.'s inter- 
 view with, ii. 74, &c. Hi.s con- 
 version, &c., 313, Sec. J. B., 
 313, 317. 
 
 Voes, Henry, i. 213. 
 
 Vows, monastic, L. on, i. 145. 
 
 Waldenses, L. on the, ii. 89. Mas- 
 sacre of, 321, &c. 
 Wanburg, i. 138. 
 Will, free, council of Trent on, ii. 
 
 Wittemberg, university of, i. 24, 50, 
 
 Changes there, 271. Concord 
 
 of, ii. 79. 
 Women, M. on, ii. 289. 
 Works, evidences of justification, 
 
 ii. 53, 86, 88, 89. Necessity of, 
 
 277. 
 Worms, diet of, i. 118. Another, 
 
 ii. 167. L. there, i. 127, &C. 
 
 Conference of, ii. 281. 
 Wurtemburg, reformation of, ii. 
 
 64. 
 
 Zutphen, Henry of, i. 202. 
 Zwingle, i. 63. At Marpurg, 
 338. 
 
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 ceiving from individuals eminent for piety, the warmest com- 
 mendations not only of the plan, but also of the manner in 
 which it has been so far executed. 
 
JUVENILE WORKS 
 
 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON; or, ADVEN- 
 TURES OF A FATHER AND MOTHER and FOUR 
 SONS ON A DESERT ISLAND. In 2 vols. ISmo. 
 [Nos. II. & III. of the Boy's and Girl's Library.] 
 The purpose of this pleasing story is to convey instruction in 
 the arts and Natural History, and, at the same time, to inculcate 
 by example principles which tend to the promotion of social 
 happiness. Every one has read or heard of Robinson Crusoe, 
 and the unrivalled and long-continued popularity of that admi- 
 rable narrative, proves that the tastes and feelings to which it 
 addresses itself are among the strongest and most universal 
 which belong to human nature. The adventures of the Swisa 
 family are somewhat similar in character, and, of course, in in- 
 terest; and they illustrate, in the most forcible and pleasing 
 manner, the efficacy of piety, industry, ingenuity, and good- 
 temper, in smoothing difficulties and procuring enjoyments 
 under the most adverse circumstances. The story abounds 
 with instruction and entertainment, and well deserves the high 
 encomium that has been passed upon it, of being one of the 
 best cliildren's books ever written. 
 
 " Tliis little work is so much of a story, that it will seem a 
 relaxation rather than a school-task, and at the same time it 
 wiU give the juvenile reader more practical instruction in 
 natural history, economy, and the means of contriving and helping 
 one's self, than many books of the very best pretensions in the 
 department of instruction." — Boston Daily Advocate. 
 
 " We do not think a parent could select a more acceptable or 
 judicious gift." — New-Haven Religious Intelligencer. 
 
 " The story has all that wdld charm of adventure and dis- 
 covery which has made Robinson Crusoe such a wonder to 
 every generation since it was written." — Baptist Repository. 
 " This work is interesting and truly valuable." — U. S. Gazette. 
 "Well calculated to claim the attention of the interesting 
 part of the community to which it is addressed." — N. Y. 
 Advocate. 
 
JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 SUNDAY EVENINGS ; or, an EASY INTRO- 
 DUCTION TO THE READING OF THE BIBLE. [Nos. 
 IV. and XIV. of the Boy's and Girl's Library.] 
 
 The title of this excellent little work sufficiently explains 
 its object. As an introduction to the knowledge of Scripture 
 History, and an incentive to the study of the Sacred Volume, 
 it is calculated to produce the most happy eifects upon the 
 minds of children; and the siraphcity of the language pre- 
 serves to the story all those charms which are inherent in the 
 narrative, but are sometimes lost to very youthful readers by 
 their want of a perfect understanding of the words they read. 
 Besides a developed and connected view, in easy language, 
 of the Scripture story itself, the author has endeavoured to in- 
 tersperse in the narrative such notices of the countries spoken 
 of, together with such references to the New Testament and 
 practical remarks, as would tend to make the book either more 
 interesting, more intellectually improving, or more valuable in 
 a moral and religious light : and it cannot fail oi obtaining the 
 approbation of all judicious and pious parents, and of proving, 
 by the blessing of God, an assistance to the Christian mother, 
 in giving to her children an early knowledge and love of his 
 Sacred Word. 
 
 "The style is simple, the sentiments expressed Scriptural, 
 and the book every way calculated as an assistant in the in- 
 struction of children. — The Presbyterian. 
 
 " To be commended cordially." — The Churchnan. 
 
 "We recommend it particularly to mothers and guardians 
 of the young, confident that it will obtain their approbation, and 
 prove an assistance to them in giving those under their care an 
 early knowledge and love of the Sacred Word."— J.m. Traveller 
 
 " The work is well worthy the attention of parents and in- 
 structers, to whom we most cheerfully recommend it." — Boston 
 Mirror. 
 
 " It will be found, we think, a useful auxihary in the hands 
 of parents, and a most winning book to children." — Connecticvt 
 Journal. 
 
JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 THE SON OF A GENIUS. Br Mrs. Hofland 
 
 [No. V. of the Boy's and Girl's Library.] 
 
 This admirable story has been too long famihar to the pub- 
 lic — at least to that portion of it which has advanced beyond 
 the period of childhood — to require either eulogy or description. 
 It has for many years maintamed its place among the best and 
 most esteemed juvenile works in the EngUsh language ; and its 
 popularity is easily accounted for by the touching interest of the 
 incidents, and the purity of the principles it iaculcates both 
 of wisdom and rehgion. The publishers were induced to re- 
 print it as one of the numbers of the Boy's and Girl's Library, 
 partly by the advice and sohcitations of many of their friends, 
 and their own knowledge of its merits, and partly by the con- 
 sideration that it has long been out of print, and that it was veiy 
 difficult to procure a copy. 
 
 " ' The Son of a Genius' will aflford a profitable study to 
 parents, as well as an exquisite treat to youths. It is an admi- 
 rable tale : fascinating in its delineations, admirable in its moral, 
 just as a picture of the mind, a faitliful and true portraiture 
 of the results of genius vaccilating, unappUed, and turning to 
 ruin, and the same genius supported by sound moral principle, 
 strengthened by judicious exercise and continuous effort, useful 
 anS triumphant. It is a striking illustration of the importance 
 of method, perseverance, and industry to produce the perfect 
 fruits of genius ; and the utter uselessness of delicate taste, 
 vivid concepaon, rapid performance, aided by generous affec- 
 tions and engaging manner, to the attainment of excellence, 
 without that steady application, which nothing but just moral 
 principle can ensure. The story is not, however, a refined, met- 
 aphysical disquisition on genius ; but a simple, engaging tale, 
 which lets in upon the reader a sort of experience worth a hun- 
 dred essays." — Connecticut Journal. 
 
 " To youth of both sexes this work forms an excellent piece 
 of reading." — The Pennsylvanian. 
 
 " To our young friends it will afford much entertainment." — 
 Boston Mirror. 
 
JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY; or UNCLE PHILIP'S 
 
 CONVERSATIONS with the CHILDREN about 
 TOOLS AND TRADES among the INFERIOR 
 ANIMALS. [No VI. of the Boy's and Girl's Library.] 
 The wonders of God's providence, as they are manifested 
 in the figures, habits, and performances of the various creatures 
 which fill the earth, the air, and the waters, — the endless varieties 
 of form, the accuracy and ingenuity of their contrivances, 
 whether for security or sustenance, and the admirable adapta- 
 tion of their instruments to the works their instinct prompts 
 them to construct, supply an exhaustless theme for observation 
 and astonishment, and call forth in the mind the most exalted 
 ideas of the Supreme wisdom and beneficence. In the capti- 
 vating volume wliich torms the sixth number of the Boy's and 
 Girl's Library, a portion of this department of science is treated 
 of with consummate ability, and the work has deservedly re- 
 ceived the highest encomiums, not only for the extent, utihty, 
 and interesting nature of the information it conve3^s, but also for 
 the skill with wliich the ideas and language are adapted to the 
 tastes as well as the capacities of youtMul readers. But these 
 are not its only or its greatest merits: its lughest claims to 
 praise are the tone of sincere and earnest piety winch pervades 
 the conversations, and the excellence of the precepts drawn 
 from the wonders they disclose. 
 
 *' It is written with a thorough knowledge of the subject, and 
 with that deUghtful freshness of impression from natural sights 
 which revives the days of our childhood. Here, then, is a 
 beautiful and appropriate present for the Christian parent." — 
 The Presbyterian. 
 
 "This work deserves high praise. It displays much tact 
 and ingenuity, guided by sound judgment, and controlled by 
 fervent piety. Such books for the young are scarce, and Ukely 
 to be so ; for few are able to produce them. Children will de- 
 light in it, and profit by it."— TAe Churchman. 
 
 " We look upon this as one among the best juvenile works 
 we have met with." — Baptist Repository. 
 
JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 INDIAN TRAITS; being SKETCHES op thr 
 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, and CHARACTER op 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVES. By B. B. 
 THi.TCHER, Esq. [Nos. VIL and VIII. of the Boy's 
 and Girl's Library.] 
 
 The appearance, character, and habits of the North American 
 Indians have long been a favourite and fertile theme for writers 
 as well as readers, and accurate descriptions of them are equally 
 instructive and agreeable. These form the subject of the 
 seventh and eighth numbers of the Library, and they are ad- 
 mitted to contain much correct and interesting information. A 
 larger work (in the Family Library), by the same author, en 
 titled "Indian Biography," treats of the history of those re- 
 markable members of the human family : the work now under 
 consideration makes no pretensions to that character, but is en- 
 tirely descriptive ; and it is entitled to high praise, not only as 
 being the first attempt to render the subject attractive to 
 youthftd readers, but also for the abiUty with which the object 
 is accomphshed. 
 
 " These two little volumes furnish the leading traits of Indian 
 character in a style adapted to instruct while it interests the 
 youthful reader." — N. F. American. 
 
 " Most entertaining and excellent volumes." — N. Y. Weekly 
 Messenger. 
 
 ** The author has produced a work which will not only be 
 valuable to the young, but to all who wish for a concise and 
 just delineation of what is most desirable to be known respect- 
 ing the character and customs of the natives of North America." 
 ••-Boston Traveller. 
 
 "The language is easy and famihar, and the descriptions 
 quite interesting." — Atkinson's Evening Post. 
 
 " Two volumes more interesting or more useful were never 
 placed in the hands of American youth." — Boston Mirror. 
 
 " These little volumes equal in interest all that have gone 
 before them in the same family." — Troy Bttdget 
 
JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY. [Nos. IX, 
 X. and XL of the Boy's and Girl's Library.] 
 
 The writer of these Tales has had in view two chief pur- 
 poses, — the one to convey to the juvenile reader a general idea 
 of the incidents connected with the discovery and subsequent 
 history of the American continent ; the other to excite an in- 
 terest in the subject which shall create a desire for more minute 
 and extensive information. These purposes have been effected 
 with much success, and the volumes will be found instructive 
 and entertaining. In the majority of instances, the Tales have 
 been selected with reference to the illustration of some moral 
 principle ; and the frequent opportunities afforded for the intro- 
 duction of reflections leading to the cultivation of piety and re- 
 ligion have been ably and zealously improved. As a school- 
 book this collection of Historical Tales is calculated to be emi- 
 nently serviceable ; and there can be no doubt that their intro- 
 duction into seminaries will be attended with both pleasure ajid 
 advantage to the scholars. 
 
 " It is sufficient praise for this work to say that it is by the 
 author of ' American Popular Lessons,' of whose powers of pre- 
 senting knowledge to the young mind in a graceful and attract- 
 ive garb the pubhc are not now to be informed." — N. Y. Evening 
 Post. 
 
 " A collection which is really deserving of its title. We have 
 looked over these Tales with great pleasure, and find them full 
 of interest and instruction." — N. Y. Advocate. 
 
 " One of the best works that can be put into the hands of our 
 youth. ... It presents aU the circumstances respecting the dis- 
 covery of this country, in a condensed form, clothed in language 
 calculated to interest the young. It ought to be in the hands 
 of every youth ; and it cannot be too early or too extensively in- 
 troduced into our schools." — The Cabinet of Religion. 
 
 ' The stories are highly interesting, and abound v^dth pleasing 
 illustrations and notices of the history, original inhabitants, pro- 
 ductions, and first settlers of our own portion of the globe." — 
 Courier and Enquirer. 
 
INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, 82 CLIFF-STREET, 
 
 NEW-YORK, 
 AND FOR SALE BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 
 
 JUVENILE WORKS. 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES AND EARLY MARTYRS 
 OF THE CHURCH. 18mo, (Suitable for Sunday Reading^ 
 
 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON; or, Adventures o 
 a Father and Mother and Four Sons on a Desert Island. In 
 vols. ISino. V/ith Engravings, 
 
 SUNDAY EVENINGS ; or, an easy Introduction to the 
 Reading of the Bible. 18mo. (Suitable for Sunday Reading ) 
 With Engravings. 
 
 THE SON OF A GENIUS. By Mrs. Hofland. 18mo. 
 With Engravings. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY ; or, Uncle Philip's Conversations 
 with the Children about Tools and Trades among the Inferior 
 Animals. ISmo. With numerous Engravings. 
 
 INDIAN TRAITS. By the Author of " Indian Lives.' 
 In 2 vols. 18mo. With Engravings. 
 
 TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY. By the Author 
 of" American Popular Lessons." 3 vols. IBmo. Engravings. 
 
 THE YOUNG CRUSOE ; or, the Shipwrecked Boy. By 
 Mrs. Hofland. 18mo. With Engravings. 
 
 ROXOBEL. By Mrs. Sherwood. In 3 vols*. iSmo. 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. With Engravings. ISma 
 
 ADVENTURES IN THE POLAR SEAS AND RK. 
 GIONS. l8mo. With Engravings. 
 
INTERESTING WORKS. 
 
 THE WORKS OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. Complete 
 Edition. [In press."] 
 
 NARRATIVE OF SIR EDWARD SEAWARD'S SHIP- 
 WRECK. Edited by Miss Jane Porter. In 3 vols. 12mo. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE BIBLE. By the Rev. Georgb 
 R. Gleig. In 2 vols. 18mo. With a Map. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 18mo. With Engraviags. 
 
 AFFECTING SCENES ; being Passages from the Diary of 
 a late Physician. In 2 vols. 18mo. 
 
 THE PERCY ANECDOTES. Revised Edition. To 
 which is added, a valuable Collection of AMERICAN ANEC- 
 DOTES. 8vo. Portraits. 
 
 LIFE OF WICLIF. By C. W. Le Bas. 18mo. Portrait. 
 
 THE CONSISTENCY OF REVELATION V^TH IT- 
 SELF AND WITH HUMAN REASON. By Philip Nich- 
 olas Shuttlewoeth, D.D. 18rao. 
 
 LUTHER AND THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION* 
 By Rev, John Scott, M.A. In 2 vols. 18rao, Portraits. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED RELIGION IN 
 FRAJ^CE. By Rev. Edward Smedley, M.A. In 2 vols. 
 38mo. Portraits. 
 
 XENOPHON. Translated by Edward Spelman, Esq., and 
 Sir M. A. Cooper. In 2 vols. 18mo. Portrait. 
 
 THE ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES By Leland. 
 In 2 vols. 18mo. Portrait. 
 
 SALLUST. By Rose. 18mo. Portrait. 
 
 CiESAR'S COMMENTARIES. By Duncan. In 2 vol*. 
 ISmo. Portrait. 
 
 THE FAMILY LIBRARY— comprismg a number of well- 
 written vs^orks, on a variety of useful subjects, suitable fo 
 waders of all age»— nublished in a neat and cheap fomi. 
 
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