CASSELL'S POPULAR LIBRARY. OF EACH Volume, Is. paper; 2s. cloth, gilt edges. B i^)o\fs%oUio9 BY THE Rev. STEPHEN A. 8WAINE. Vol. XIV. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.: Loynoy, parts «£• new york. [all rights reserved.] J THE Religious Revolution IN THE Sixteenth Century. BY THE REV. S. A. SWAINE. THAT TE SHOULD EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED TJNTO THE SAINTS."— Juds 3. Cassell, Fetter, G-alpin & Co,; LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK. [all EIGHTS EESEEVED.] PREFACE. It is impo.ssiljle to say how much Enghind, in common with many other countries of Europe, owes to that great religious revolution the causes and course of which are traced in the following pages. Wherever the principles of the Reformation have been most licartily adopted, and to the fullest extent carried out, there most of moral j)urity, religious earnestnest united with intellectual freedom, and social and national prosperity have been witnessed. Romanists have not unfrequently spoken of the work of the Reformens as the cause of modern unbelief. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth than such a ntatement. As a matter of fact, wliieh the most cursory glance at the condition of Europe at the present day is sulHcient to verify, Christianity is a living power chi'i/li/ — one might almost say onbj — in those countries which have renounced allegiance to Rome. Scepticism in regard to religion most largely exists in the countries which are most Romish. France, whose manhood, it is notorious, unable to believe the puerilities of Vaticanism, and unac- quainted with the " more excellent way," is almost whollv mven over to infidelitv, affords a strikinsj instance. In those lands, in particular, where the ;^0l7256 IV PREFACE. Reformation was stamped out with violence — de- stroyed by racking, and burning, and beheading — the grossest materialism prevails. The tmth is, the Re- formation saved Europe. Society was putrescent, and but for the salt of Protestantism Avould in a short time have become absolutely rotten. I have termed the great upheaving and overturn- ing sketched in these pages a revolution, and such it truly was. At the same tinie it must not be for- gotten that this revolution was a return to first principles, and for the most part to the form as well as the spirit of primitive Christianity. Some abuses remained, slightly changed, which is not sui-prising. What is surprising is that men who had been educated in the doctrines and practices of Rome should have been able, to so great an extent, to break loose from her traditions, and disencumber religion of the shameful abuses which threatened to suffocate and destroy it. They could never have done it if they had not been able to refer to the "pattern" contained in the Book, and had not been animated and directed by that Holy Spirit whom the Saviour promised to send to lead His people into all truth. That the Reformers should have retained, wholly or in part, such errors as in some cases they did, is only l)roof that they were human — Humanum est errare — while it illustrates the difficulty which even good men and earnest seekers after truth have in emanci- ])ating themselves from the trammels of an erroneous creed. The importance of the subject herein treated no PREFACE. V Protestant can doubt, nor the need of keeping well to tlie front those great and eternal prin- ciples of truth and righteousness upon which the great struggle, as canied on by the Reformers, pro- ceeded, especially at the present time, when the "Deformation" is the term which one so frequently hears applied to the work of those truly great and heroic men of God, and such zealous and persistent efforts are made in certain quarters to destroy it. It is scarcely necessary either to point out the appropriateness of a work like this finding a place in such a series as that in which it appears. With regard to the work itself, I venture to think, whatever may be its defects, that a more complete historical sketch of the Reformation does not exist within the same compass. At the same time, I have endeavoured to make it something more than a history. While recording events and dates, I have sought to invest them with such interest as a mere bald record of facts cannot have, and to enable the reader to discern and trace for himself those influences which successfully wrought to such a glorious consummation. With much dithdence, yet hopeful as to its future usefulness, I commend my book to the kind indul- gence and favour of the public, and to the blessing of Almighty God. S. A. S. Chelsea, 1882. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. r.vcR The Historian not a mere Chronicler— Tlie Early Degeneracy of the Church — Condition of things after Fifteen Centuries — Pope the most powerful Sovereign in Europe— Clerical Immorality — Authority of Written Word superseded by Authority of Church — Works of Supererogation — Faithfulness of a P^ew— Fifteenth Century not Pipe for Peformation — Preparatory Disposition of Things — Elector Frederick — Henry VIII. — Leo X. — Kevival of Learning and Invention of Printing— The "Way Open ... 9 CHAPTER II. The University of "Wittenberg — Martin Luther — Birth, P>oyhood, Youth — Enters the Augiistine Order — Religious Experiences — Professor and Preacher — Tra^le of In- dulgences— Tetzel and Luther — Luther's Loyalty to Rome — A Narrow Escape— Leo's I^etter to Frederick — Luther at Augsburg— I'apal Legate and Luther at Altenburg — Frederick Regent of the Emjure — Melancthon — Dr. Eck — Public Discussion — Election of German Emperor . . 18 CHAPTER IIL Rapid I'rogress of Reformation in Germany— Rome com- prehends the Situation — Luther's Life in Danger— Offers of Protection— I'ublication of Luther's Appeal— Papal Bull against Luther — Luther Bums the Bull— The Re- former at "Worms — Imperial Ban against the Erfurt Monk — Luther's Arrest and Imprisonment in "Wartburg— Trans- lation of New Testament into German — Marriage of Monks— Luther Renounces ^lonkery — Indulgence ^larket Re-opened- Luther's Letter to Archbishop of Mentz — Departure from "Wartburg and Arrival at "\Vittenberg . 35 CHAPTER IV. Reformation the Result of Divine Influence— Switzerland groans for Deliverance — Ulric Zwingle Bom — Early History of the Swiss Reformer — Zwingle becomes Parish CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Priest of Olaris— Religious Experience of Luther and Zw-ingle contrasted — licmoval to Einsidlen — rreaching Christ— Samson the Indulgence Vendor— Z\^-ingle receives Appointment at Zurich — Tlie Plague— Opposition to Truth —Other ^Vitncsses for Clirist — Hesults of Gospel Preach- ing — Zwingle's Marriage — Trust in God . . . .52 CHAPTER V. Where Reformation began — Lefevre and Farel — The Bishop of Mcaux and Princess Margaret — Cliaracter of the Princess -The "Concordat'' — The Foes of the Gospel- Perse utiun— Edition of tlie New Tt-stament in French — Pattleof Pavia and Consequences— Fiery Trials — Victims. Gl CHi\TTER VL Recc]»tiou in Germany of New Testament in Vernacular — Jy.ither's great Inliuence— Henry \'I1[. and Luther— A Reforming I'ope — Continued I'ersecution — Fanaticism — Rising of the Peasants— Mediation of Luther — Nature of the (iospel more clearly Discerned— Emperor prepares to Comlmt tlie I'est of "Wittenberg- Luther's Marriage — Views in taking the Step 76 CILVPTER VIL Papal Opposition not so Formidable in Swit/.erland as in other parts of Euroi)e— Victims to Popular Fury and Komisli iJigotry — Persecution a Shortsighted Policy— Dr. Eck in Switzerland — Excesses on jtart of some of Reformed — Controversy as to the Nature of the Eucharist— Farel in Southern Switzerland— Progress of Gospel in various I'laces— lierne embraces the Itcformatiou — Basle follows Example of Rerne 90- CHAPTER Vlir. Unique Character of Reformation in England— Marriage of Henry VIII. intimately connected with Reformation in England— Leaven previously at "Work— The Lollards — Erasmus's Greek New Testament — "William Tyndale, and the Scrii)tures in the Vulgar Tongue — ^Martyrs for the Gospel's sake -The Cambridge School — The Dissemina- tion of the Scriptures— The Faithful Few at Oxford . 101 CHAPTER IK. The part Henry played in Reform— Henrj-'s View as to the Validity and Sanctity of his Jlarriage— Anne Loleyn — The Pope's Dilemma— Cardinal Campeggio despatched to London— The King and Queen in a Papal Court— Touch ^•lll COXTENTS. PAGE ing Scene— Rome's Policy of Delay — 'Wolsey's Disgi-ace and Death — Cromwell and liis Sclieme .... 113 CHAPTER X. Threatened Storm in Germany — The Emperor and the Pope — The Diet of Spires in 15:9— The Celebrated Protest— The Conference of Marburg — A common Bulwark against Rome — The Confession of Augsburg — The Emperor Threatens — The Schmalkaldic League — The Religious Peace of Xiu-emberg — " Colloquy " at Ratisbon — The Council of Trent — Death of Luther — The Schmalkaldic War — The " Interim " — Protestant Liberties secured by the Elector Maurice 126 CHAPTER XI. Farel in Xeufchatel — Preaches the Gospel at Valangin — Popular Movement toward Reform — Zwingle and Politics — An Evangelical Confederation — Schemes of Zwingle — The Five Cantons declare "War — Z\vingle Slain — Estimate of Character — The Ref< nnation Checked — Geneva and the Gospel — Cahdn and the Reformation — Swiss Reformation more Thorough than the German 141 CHAPTER XII. A Crisis in Religious Affairs in England — Cranmer and the King's Divorce— Tlie Papal Supremacy Abolished — Crom- well as Vicar-General — Suppression of the Monasteries — The Scriptures freely Read in the Vulgar Tongue — Nature and Extent of the Reformation under Henry — State of Re- ligion during the Reign of Edward VI. — " Bloody Mary " and Persecution — The Reformation Re-established under Elizabeth — The Queen and Religious Liberty — The Refor- mation consolidated l.'>4 CHAPTER Xm. The Impulse felt throughout Europe — John Huss and Bohemia — Reformed Doctrines received by Prussia — Denmark embraces the Truth — Norway and Iceland declare for Reform — Gusta^'us Vasa introduces the Refor- mation into Sweden — Hungary and Transylvania — Lutherans in Spain — In spite of severe opposition Protestantism sj^reads in the Netherlands — The Light dawns upon Italy — Rise and Fall of Protestanism in Poland — Ireland— The Works of Luther in Scotland — Patrick Hamilton — George "NVishart — John Knox — Re- formation Principles L'niversally Diffused — The Great RevolutioD brought about by Divine Agency . . . 172 The Religious Revolution in THE Sixteenth Century. CHAPTER I. The Historian not a mere Chronicler— The Early Degeneracy of the Church— Condition of Tilings after Fifteen Centuries — Pope the most Powerful Sovereign in Europe — Clerical Immorality — Authority of "Written "Word superseded by Authority of Church — "Works of Supererogation — Faithful- ness of a Few— Fifteeiith Century not Ripe for Reformation — Preparatory Disposition of Things— Elector Frederick — Henry VIII.— Leo X.— Revival of Learning and Invention of Printing- The "Way Open. I>f order to iinderstaiul the great movement in the Church and general society, which took place in the sixteenth century of the Christian era, and is commonly called "The Reformation," it is necessary, at least, to glance at the state of things which prevailed just before it began. It is generally recognized now that the duty of the historian is something more than that of a mere chronicler. He has not only to record events, but, as far as possible, to enable his readers to judge concerning the various occult causes which brought about those events. The events of history have not taken place by chance, or without 10 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION sufficient and more or less ascertainable causes. The scientific historian, surveying the vast field of history as it stretches before him, and studying the pheno- mena which it presents, is able to recognize certain great laws, according to the operation of which all liistorical events have occurred. Hence, then, tho necessity to v>-hich reference has been made. The Church of Jesus Christ, as the New Testa- ment presents it to us, did not long remain in its primitive simplicity and pristine purity, either as to doctrine or ritual, or the life and character of its members and ministers. The "mystery of iniquity," which the apostle Paul testified, had already in apos- tolic times begun to work, wrought much more freely and forcibly when the apostles were no longer present to warn Christians against its particular manifesta- tions, and protect the Church against its pernicious influence. Little by little the con'uptions which crept in increased and extended, till, when fifteen centuries had rolled away, the Church, as it then existed, presented but few points of resemblance to the Church of the first half of the first cen- tury. Indeed, so apostate, degenerate, and impure had it become, that the conviction was produced in the minds of all thoughtful and far-seeing men that a change — perhaps a violent one — was at hand. The power which, as temporal princes, the Popes liad gradually possessed themseh'es of, and which they so arbitrarily and rigorously exercised, together with the spiritual tyranny which, as the processed vicars of Jesus Christ, they so ruthlessly maintained, contri- IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 11 buted not a little to that overthow of tlie Roman Cliurch wliich at length was witnessed in several of the countries of Europe. Burdens were laid upon the people, which, added to, and aggravated by, the oppressive measures which individual priests felt at liberty to impose upon their flocks, became absolutely insupportable even to some of the most patient and enduring of the devotees of the Church. " The clergy," says Burnet, *' were at that time " — namely, the middle of the fourteenth century — " very hateful to the people ; for as tlie Pope did exact heavily on them, so they, being oppressed, took all means possi- ble to make the people repay what the Popes wrested from them." But it was not simply the people or the lower clergy who were oppressed ; kings knew wliat it was to feel the iron heel of the Pope. Things had not been always like this. There was a time when the bishop of Rome had his master. " Henry III. (of the empire), in 1046, deposed three Popes, and his finger, adorned with the ring of the Roman patricians, pointed out the bishop to whom the keys of the confession of St. Peter were to be remitted. Four Popes, all Germans, and nominated by the Emperor, succeeded each other. When the pontiff of Rome died, deputies from that Church appeared at the imperial court like the envoys from other dioceses, to request a new bishop." But that time had long since gone by; and the Pope had become the most powerful sovereign of Christendom. Kings did his bidding, performing sometimes the parts of lacqueys ; and, instead of the Pope being nominated 1-2 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION* ]>y tlieni, tliey were not unfrequently noniiiiatrcl by liim. Hildeljrand was the first to deliver the 2:)apaey from its subordination to the empire, and though he was himself at length humbled and compelled to flee from Home, his successors, who had been taught the secret of their power by him, did not suffer the ad\antages he had secured to be lost. But what contributed, perhaps, as powerfully as anytliing to the bringing about of the gi'eat revolt from Rome, was the unspeakable immorality which existed in the Church. The lives of ecclesiastics were, in many instances, simply scandalous. The infamous Eoderigo Borgia, who occupied the pontifical chair under the title of Alexander VI., was but a type of a certain order and class of the clergy. His licentiousness was notorious, and he was known to be the father of five illegitimate children. When the papal chair became vacant by the death of Innocent VIIL, he secured the position by bribing the cardinals with Avhom the election lay. With such a man at the head of afiairs the state of the Church can be easily imagined. The example set by him was only too faithfully followed by those inider him. "All the ecclesiastics," says an historian, "had mistresses, and all the convents of the capital were houses of bad fame." So widespread was this immorality among the clergy, notwithstanding a tax upon those guilty of it — probably im})0sed with a view to the enriching the bishops and the Pope, rather than with a view to discouraging the custom — that a bishop, in attending a gi-eat church festival, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 13 declared that the number of priests wlio liad been brought before him in one year, for the purpose of being taxed, was no less than eleven thousand. Such was Rome. But sunk as the people were in super- stition, ignorance, and vice, there remained among not a few sufficient liveliness of moral sense to pro- duce disgust and loathing at what they were compelled to witness. It is not to be supposed that, when everything else was corrupt, the doctrine of the Church remained pure and Scriptural. The Scriptures, indeed, had been lost sifjlit of almost alto2:ether. Tradition and the authority of the Church had taken the place of the written Word. The simple Scriptural doctrine of justification by faith in Christ through His righteousness and death, which has well been de- scribed as the "sign of a rising or falling Church," was not only obscured but superseded. Salvation was only to be obtained within the pale and through the medium of the Church, and this by works. What the sinner could not do for himself the Church would do for him. There was an infinite store of merit at the disposal of the sovereign pontiff; and this he would deal out to the faithful for a consideration. The author of this theory was Alexander Hales, the " irre- fragable doctor " of the thirteenth century ; and a bull of Clement VII. declared it to be an article of faith. The Saviour, it was declared, had in his mediatorial work done far more than was necessary to reconcile God to man. A single drop of His blood would have sufficed for that. But he shed 14 THE RELIGIOUS rtEVOLUTION a great many drops. This, then, constituted a vast treasury of merit, Atdiich, moreover, was being con- stantly augmented by the merits of distinguished saints, arising from their works of supererogation, that is, works v*'hich they had performed over and above what was necessary for their own salvation. The key of this rich treasury vras in the hands of Christ's vicar, and- he could dispose of it as he pleased. Such was the theory which gave rise to one of the greatest of the many scandals of the Church of Rome, and which contributed not a little to its discomfiture — namely, the sale of indulgences. But let it not be supposed that during all this time, and amid this lamentable state of things, God had not witnesses. There were a few " faithful among the faithless found," who nobly contended for truth and righteousness. " The Vaudois of the Alps,' says Dr. Muston, " are, in my opinion, primitive Christians, or descendants and representatives of the primitive Church, preserved in these valleys from the corruptions successively introduced by the Church of Pvome into the religion of the Gospel. It is not they who have separated from Catholicism, but Catholicism Avhich has separated from them by changing the primitive religion." But apart from these many of Pvome's own sons, born of her and cherished in her bosom, repeatedly raised their voices in rebuke of her sin and her shame. Not the least among these was Wickliffe, who appeared in England in the fourteenth century. " He translated the Bible " — to quote Burnet again — " out of Latin into English, with a long preface, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 15 in which he reflected severely on the corruptions of the clergy, and condemned the worshipping of the saints and images, and denied the corporal presence of Christ's body in the sacrament, and exhorted all the people to the study of the Scriptures." John Huss, in Bohemia, getting his own opinions confirmed by the writings of Wickliffe, with which he had become acquainted, and catching inspiration from that bold reformer's example, nobly witnessed for Christ in his own country; and at length, in 1415, sealed his testimony with his blood. Savonarola, too, raised a powerful voice at Florence, declaring not only that " the Church must be reformed," but that it cer- tainly would be, and that speedily. In his own way and sphere he was, though only partially en- lightened, a reformer, and, consequently, in 1498, torture and the faggot did their work upon him. Tho names of many others, loss known, but not less faith- ful, might be added, who, with a more or less en- lightened understanding of Scriptural truth and love of spiritual religion, exclaimed against the degeneracy of Itome, and taught the people a more excellent way. But the time was not yet. Although, however, the fifteenth century was not ripe for a reformation, the measures which some of the liberal divines, as well as some of the more enlightened of the laity, adopted and advised, liad prepared the v/ay. Several monarchs, too, had attempted something, and thus contributed help in the same direction. In 1497 Charles VIII. of France caused the Sorbonne to declare the expediency of a IG THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION council being held every ten years, for the puqjose of eflecting reforms in the Church. The German princes adopted strong remonstrances in the Diets of 1500 and 1510, and these were laid before the Roman court by Maximilian I. In spite of Pope Julian II., an independent council was held at Pisa in 1511, chiefly through the influence of France. Its speakers mani- fested great boldness, but it was soon overthrown by its own weakness, and by the measures of a council, held in the Lateran in 1512, for the purpose of opposing it What monarchs had failed to accomi)lish w^as destined, when the hour had struck, to be accomplished by much meaner instruments. Still, the part that princes took in the great move- ment is not to be overlooked, when the causes that led up to it, and the means that were employed to pre- pare the way for it and bring it to its consummation, are being described. There was one prince in par- ticular, whose occupation of the electoral throne of Saxony at the critical juncture when the leading reformer arose, must be regarded as a part of that preparatoiy disposition of things, which the thoughtful and pious can only ascribe to Divine Providence. Frederick III. was not a reformer ; he was too cautious and, perhaps, too hesitating for that ; but he was wise and just and devout ; and these qualities, together with tliat very cautiousness which hindered his committing himself hastily to reforming mea- sures, prevented him from hastily committing himself ugainst them. As this history proceeds, it will be seen how Frederick's prudent slowness contributed IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 17 not a little to the success of the movement, which, beginning in liis own dominions, spread throughout the greater part of Eurojie. Henry YIIL, too, of England, though from motives often doubtful enough, took no inconsiderable part in the conflict against the Pope. The ecclesiastic who occupied the papal chair when the Heformation had fairly begun was Leo X., whose life was purer than that of some of his pre- decessors, but whose sympathies, tastes, and enjoy- ments were rather those of a cultivated worldly l)rince than such as became the minister of Christ. A member of the famous De Medici family, he favoured that revival of letters which began in Italy, and in connection with which his ancestral city, Florence, so distinguished itself. This very revival of learning was one of those potent influences which contributed incidentally to the Reformation ; and thus we see that, in the assistance he gave to it, the Pope unwittingly helped to bring about, in some of the fairest parts of his spiritual jurisdiction, liis own downfall. Among the most distinguished of the scholars whom this period — so pi*olific of scholars — produced M-ere Reuchlin and Erasmus, who, however, notwith- standing their classical and theological learning, and their, in many respects, enlightened views of religion, were neither ardent nor boM enough to take a decisive step. Contemporaneous with tlw? revival of learning was the invention of the printing press and the dis- covery of the art of printing, whereby not only the literary masterpieces of antiipiity were multiplied a D 18 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIO}^ thousand-fold and more, but those modern produc- tions which sought the reform of abuses and the dissemination of Biblical truth. Thus, then, it is abundantly clear that in a very marvellous way, by the concurrence of favourable events, and by the progi'ess of a new spirit struggling for light and freedom, the way of truth was gradually laid open. No inconsiderable part of Europe, which had long been submissive and dutiful to the Pope, was ready to shake off the yoke of priestcraft, of which some of the best and most thoughtful of men had for some time been impatient and weary. For that deliverer, Mhom the people were willing to welcome whencesoever he might come, they had not long to wait. CHAPTER 11. The University of "Wittenberg— Martin Luther— Birth, Boyhood, Youth — Enters the Augustine Order — Religious Experiences — Professor and Preacher— Trade of Indulgences — Tetzel and Luther — Luther's Loyalty to Borne — A Narrow Escape— Leo's Letter to Frederick— Luther at Augsburg — Papal Legate and Luther at Altenburg — Frederick Kcgent of the Empire — Melancthou— Dr. Eck — Public Discussion — Election of German Emperor. The revival of letters was signalized, especially in Germany, by the founding of new schools and univer- Bities for the promotion of learning. Following the example of other princes, and urged thereto no doubt IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 19 by liis own sense of the importance of such an institu- tion, tlie Elector Frederick of Saxony founded, in 1502, the university of Wittenberg. This seat of learning had not been more than six years in exis- tence, before its founder invited an Augustine monk, from the cloisters of Erfurt, to the chair of philosophy and dialectics in it. This man was destined to play the leading part in the great movement of the age. Martin Luther, the apostle of the Eeformation, was the son of John and Margaret Luther, and was born at Eislcben, in Saxony, on the 10th of November, in (it is believed) the year 1483. His parents were very poor, but hard-working, honest, and worthy people. Thus, another example is afforded of the way in which the weak things of the world are chosen to confound the mighty, and things that are not to bring to nought things that are. Six months after the birth of his child, John Luther removed from Eisleben to Mansfeld, a place about five miles distant, where were mines, in connection with which he had obtained employment. At first the struggle was very severe, and the family had to endure many privations ; but at length brighter days da^vned. Honest John, by dint of industry and frugality, was able to erect two smelting furnaces, and commenced business on his own account ; he was thus enabled to place his family in somewhat easier circumstances. He was, never- theless, not so well to do as to be able to support Martin, when, at the age of fourteen, he was sent away from home to a school at Magdeburg. The youthful scholar was obliged to obtain his bread 20 TfiE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTlOK as best he could ; and this he did chiefly by singing for it in the streets. Ordinarily, however, as may be supposed, the poor boy's head was more full of Latin roots than his stomach was of food. Luther was not long at Magdeburg, for as soon as his parents knew how much he had to suffer there they removed him to Eisenacli, where there were edu- cational advantages, and where they had relatives who, they hoped, would see that he did not want. For some time, however, he fared no better at Eise- nach than he had at Magdeburg, till a pious woman, the wife of one Conrad Cotta, taking pity on him, gave him food, and at length, with her husband's permission, received him into her house. In 1501, having attained his eighteenth year, he left Eisenach for the University of Erfurt. He had distinguished himself in the schools, in which hithei-to he had studied, outstripping his fellow-students, and making rapid progi'ess in ancient languages, elocution, and poetry. It was not to be supposed that he would do other than distinguish himself at the Univei'sity. One day among the dusty tomes of the library he lighted on a Latin copy of the Scriptures. This was a book he had never seen before, but only heard of, and over it he rejoiced as one that findeth gi'cat spoil. " Oh ! " sighs he, " would it please God one day to give me such a book for my own !" In the year in which this incident occurred, Luther took his degree of Bachelor, and in 1505 he advanced to the degree of Ma-ster of Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy. It was about this time, too, that religious convictions began to deci>en IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 21 and increase within him. The reported murder of one of his University friends had a great effect upon him, as had also another occurrence which took place at this time. He had been on a visit to his parents at Mansfcld, and was returning when lie was over- taken by a dreadful storm. The thunder burst, and a bolt struck close by his side. He was, he tells us, "wrapt in agony, and in the terror of death," and made a vow that if only deliverance were vouchsafed him from this danger he would abandon the world, and give himself entirely to God. Such was the event which changed the course of Luther's life. His father's wish was that he should give himself to the profession of the law, but henceforth his resolution was fixed, and on August 17th, 1-30.5, when he was in his twenty -second year, he joined the monks of the Order of St. Augustine at Erfurt. It is needless to say that Luther did not find that holiness, and peace, and rest in the convent which ho had anticipated. Melancthon tells us that "he ob- served the utmost rigour of discipline, and in all the exercises of reading, discussion, fastings, and prayer.s, far surpassed all." Finding all his endeavours, prayers, macerations, and night vigils in vain, his state of mind was something bordering on the agony of despair At length, however, he found a friend and teacher in Staupitz, the vicar-general of his order. This man appeai-s to have been, especially considering the dark- ness of the age in which he lived, a truly enlightened man of God. It was by such words as these that Luther found his mind soothed, aiid his weary, sin- 22 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION stricken soul encouraged and comforted, — " Why tor- ment thyself 1 . . . . Look to the wounds of Jesus Christ, to the blood which He has shed for thee ; then thou shalt see the grace of God. Instead of making a martyr of thyself for thy faults, throw thyself into the arms of thy Redeemer." It was not, however, till lying on a sick bed, attacked by an illness which brought him to the very gates of death, that the work was completed. In the utmost terror at the approach, as he feared, of death, and of what was to follow, he one day opened his heart to an old man, one of his fellow monks, who entered his cell. The aged monk did not know much, but he knew his Credo, and could, at least, attempt to comfort his brother with the comfort wherewith he himself had been comforted of God. '^ I believe,'' said he, "m the forgiveness of siii^,'' and explained that " the thing to be believed is not merely that David's or Peter's sins are forgiven ; this the devils believe ; God's command is to believe that our own sins are forgiven." From this moment light dawned ; and this must be regarded as the time when the great transition took place. As yet Luther's knowledge of the Gospel, and of Gospel ordinances, was very imperfect, and consequently he made no objection at the end of two years from his entering the convent to being ordained a priest. At the close of his third year at the convent we find him re- moving to Wittenberg to undertake the duties of the professorial chair. At this place the Erfurt monk speedily made his mark both as a professor and a preacher. On tho IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 23 19th of October, 1512, the degree of Doctor of Di- vinity was conferred upon him, on which occasion the oath he took bound him to preach the truth of Holy- Scripture faithfully, to teach it purely, to study it during his whole life, and to defend it by discussion and writing, as far as God should enable him to do so. And now approaches the time when Dr. Martin Luther, whose reputation had hitherto been simply local, was to appear to the world as the bold de- nouncer of Church abuses, and the courageous cham- pion of the truth. The impoverished condition of the papal ex- chequer — impoverished by the wasteful extravagances of the Pope — made his Holiness look about him for money. He was advised by Cardinal Pucci, his cousin, to resume the trade of indulgences — the distribu- tion to the faithful for a pecuniary consideration of some of the merits which composed the inexhaustible fund in his keeping. The idea was considered a good one, and a papal bull was issued announcing a general indulgence, the proceeds of which were, it was said, to be employed in building the cathedral of St. Peter. A Dominican of the name of Tetzel, a man of noto- riously loose life, was promoted to the office of com- missary-in-chief. " Now you can ransom your souls," this was the way in which he preached the great mercy he had to declare. " Hard-hearted and thoughtless man with twelve pence, you can deliver your father out of purgatory The Lord our God is no longer God. He has committed all power to the Pope." He assured the credulous people who 24 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION gathered about him that the moment the money tinkled in the chest the soul flew out of purgatory. This man was not only employed directly by the Pope, but was also subsequently indirectly employed by him through Albert, the Archbishop of Mentz. In 1516 the latter received permission to sell indul- gences within his own jurisdiction, on condition that he handed over a share of the profits to the Pope. Tetzel, who had i)roved his fitness for the charge, was entrusted with the prosecution of the traflBc. Luther's exclamation when he heard that this famous merchant was in the neighbourhood of Wittenberg, and was told of his extravagant sayings, was thoroughly cha- racteristic. " Please God," said he, " I'll make a hole in his drum."' On the 31st of October, 1517, he boldly aflixed to the door of the church at Witten- berg his famous ninety-five theses against the doctrine of indulgences. It will be enough if we quote two or three of the most pertinent and important of them : — 27. "It is the preaching of human folly to pretend that at the very moment when the money tinkles in the strong box the soul flies off from purgatory." 28. " This much is certain, as soon as the money tinkles avarice and the love of gain arrive, increase, and multiply. But the aids and prayers of the Church depend only on the will and good pleasure of God." 3G. " Every Christian who truly repents of his sins has entire forgiveness of the penalty and the fault, and, so far, has no need of indulgence." 76. " The indulgence of the Pope cannot take away the smallest daily sin, in regard to ike f^iilt or delincjuency," IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 25 Thus did Luther throw down the gage of battle. Tetzel could scarcely do other than take it up. He refuted as best he could the theses point by point ; and in return received a terrible mauling at the hands of his antagonist. " To avoid many words," said the latter, " I give to the wind (which, besides, has more leisure than I have) his other words, which are only sheets of paper, and withered leaves ; and I content myself with examining the foundations of his house of bur-thistle." What Luther here refers to is the doctrine of repentance, Tetzel having tried to con- found the repentance which God requires with the penance ordained by the Church. But Tetzel was not Luther's only opponent ; Prierio, the papal censor, Conrad Wimpina, professor of tlieology at Frankfort- on-the-Oder, Hochstraten, the chief inquisitor, and Dr. Eck, professor at Ingolstadt, entered the lists; but the redoubtable Wittenberg professor proved him- self to be more than a match for all comers. In 1518 the reformer, anxious to make known as widely as possible the truth which had brought life to his own soul, maintained a disputation in an Augustine convent at Heidelberg, on the merit of good works and the use of the Aristotelian philosophy, which gained him the attachment of Bucer and Brentz, or Brentius, as well as others who afterwards became celebrated as advocates of reform. Hitherto Luther had maintained a sincere respect for the office, and belief in the spiritual jurisdiction, of the Pope, Repudiating the authority of the bishop of Home had not so much as entered his thoughts 26 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION when he set himself the task of combating the doctrine of indulgences, and demanding the reform of the Church. A letter which he addressed to Leo, "on the day of the Holy Trinity, in the year 1518," in which he says : " I will recognize your voice as the voice of Jesus Christ, who presides and speaks by you," sufficiently shows how he had, and how he still, regarded liim. At the same time, his mind had been very considerably enlightened in regard to the nature and extent of the papal authority, as his Solutions, as he termed some expositions of his theses published about this time — a copy of which he sent with his letter to the Pope — plainly indicate. In these he says, referring to the head of the Church on earth, *' He is a man like other men. There have been Popes who loved not only errors and vices, but even things still more extraordinary. I listen to the Pope as Pope — that is, w^hen he speaks in the canons accor- dmg to the canons, or when he decides some aiiicle with a council, but not when he speaks out of bis own head. If I did otherwise, would I not be bound with those who know not Jesus Christ, to say, that the horrible massacres of Christians, of which Julius II. was guilty, were the kind acts of an affectionate shepherd towards the Lord's sheep ? " On the 7th of the following August he was cited to appear at Pome within sixty days. The danger to which the reformer would be exposed if he obeyed was very manifest. His friends, consequently, were in the utmost consternation. The L^niversity of Wittenberg despatched a letter of intercession in his IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 27 behalf direct to the Pope, and influence was used in other ways to haA'e him cited in Germany. The consequence was that the task of judging him was committed to Thomas di Yio, of Gaeta, called Cajetanus or Cajetan. The Pope, in his brief, directed his legate "to pursue and constrain without delay the said Martin Luther." " For this purpose," wrote he, " invoke the arm and assist- ance of our very dear son in Christ, Maximilian, the other princes of Germany, and all its commonalties, universities, and powers ecclesiastical or secular ; and, if you apprehend him, keep him in safe custody, in order that he may be brought before us." It is mani- fest from this that Luther had a narrow escape of being cauglit in a trap. It was on the 10th of November that he met his adversary for the first time at Augsburg. Meanwhile, a letter was sent by Leo to Frederick of Saxony, whose subject the reformer was, and who had hitherto cast over him the vogis of liis protection. In this letter those blandishments were employed, the power of which the " scarlet woman " has always so well understood, and the Elector was exhorted to be " vigilant for his honour as a Christian prince," and to ''guard against a fault so grave as that which was imputed to him," namely, that of showing favour and affording protection to such a "child of malice" and "contemner of God" as Martin Luther. Thus, every measure which caution and craft could suggest was taken to accomplish the end contemplated. Before setting out for Augsburg, Luther had been warned. Count Albert, of Mansfeld, sent a message 28 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION to liira informing him that some gi'eat barons had sucrn to make themselves masters of his person, and either to strangle or to drown him. Nevertheless, with that intrepidity which distinguished him, and, let us add, with that trust in God which he so un- failingly exhibited, he set out on foot on his journey. On arriving at the town, where the legate awaited him, he was received at first with much mildness and paternal kindness, feigned or real. The two ])oints in particular on which he was charged with lirresy were, contradicting a decision of Clement VI. respecting the Church's treasury of merit, and teach- ing that faith, in the efficacy of the sacraments, is an essential pre-condition to receiving tlie grace which they communicate. " Very dear son," said Di Vio, " here are two propositions which you have advanced, and which you must first of all retract." Not equal to Luther in argument, all that the legate could do was to peremptorily call upon him to retract, or come no more into his presence. Seeing liow vain it was to expect anything to come of discussions or appeals, and fearing that violence was intended against him, the reformer esca])ed by night from Augsburg, leaving a letter for the leg;ite, in which he announced his departure, and intimated his intention of appealing from him, and " even from our most holy lord, Leo X., ill-informed to himself better informed (male rnformato ad melius informandnm).^^ Thomas di Vio had been unsuccessful in reclaiming the heretic ; and great was the annoyance at the Roman court in consequence. It was possible, nevorthelessj that IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 29 another might succeed where he had failed, and, consequently, towards the close of the year 1518 another legate was despatched to Germany, himself a native of Saxony, Charles von Miltitz, the Pope's chamberlain. The interview between him and Luther took place at Altenburg, January 3rd, 1519. The legate was most suave and saponaceous. " Dear Martin," said he, "I thought you were an old theo- logian, sitting quietly behind your stove, and stuffed with theological crotchets ; but I see that you are still young and in the prime of life," "Do you know," added he, dropping his coaxing tone, and putting on an air of seriousness, " that you have stirred up the whole world against the Pope, and attached it to yourself r' " God," replied Luther, " arrests the billows of the ocean at the shore, and arrests them by the sand." Miltitz then sought to flatter the monk's pride; he thought it politic, too, to concede that Luther had had much occasion for the course he had taken, admitting that there were many scandalous abuses in the administration of the Cliurch which called for reform. He found, however, that Luther was not to be cajoled into a retractation. Still, so far had the astute chamberlain won upon the unsophisticated monk and professor, that Luther was constrained at length to speak as follows : — " I offer to be silent in future as to these matters, and let the affair die out of itself, provided my opponents also are silent ; but if they continue to attack me, a petty quarrel will soon beget a serious combat. My armour is quite ready. I will do still more ; I will write to his Holiness, acknow- 30 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION ledging that I have been somewhat too violent, and declaring that it was as a faithful child of the Church I combated harangues which subjected her to mockery and insult from the people. I even consent to publish a document, in which I will request all who read my books not to see anything in them adverse to the Eoman Church, but to remain subject to her. Yes ; I am disposed to do everything and bear every- thing; but as to retractation, never expect it of me." Finding that nothing more could be done, the legato thought it best to appear satisfied with this promise, merely proposing that some GeiTnan prelate should be appointed arbiter to decide certain points which had come under discussion — a proposition to which Luther assented. The prelate who was nominated and ac- cepted as arbiter was the Prince- Archbishop of Treves, who, however, was undesirous to involve himself in any way in the dispute, and agreed with tlie Elector Frederick that the matter should stand over till the next Diet. This Diet was not held till two years had elapsed, when it met at Worms. Just at this juncture, on January 12th, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died, and Frederick of Saxony became regent of the empire. This was a most toward event for Luther and his cause, for the Elector was now virtually the disposer of the imperial crown, and was delivered from all fear of the nuncios and their schemes and doings. Moreover, the Pope, engrossed with a matter which he deemed of much greater im- portance, namely, the election of a successor to Maxi- milian, allowed the affair of the monk of Erfurt to IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 31 fall temporarily into the background. One of tlio likeliest candidates for the imperial crown was Charles of Austria. Most anxious to prevent this monarch, who was already King of Naples, from ascending the throne of the empire, Leo found it politic and prudent to do nothing that would offend the Elector of Saxony. It was while these events were occurring that Luther became acquainted with one who was destined to be his life-long friend and co-adjutor in the great work to which Divine Providence had called him. This was Philip Melancthon. This man, son of an armourer at Bretten, a small town in the Palatinate, was one of the most distinguished scholars of his age. "When only twenty-one years of age he was invited by the Elector Frederick to the chair of ancient languages in the University of Wittenberg. He anived on Aug. 5th, 1518. Four days afterwards he delivered his inaugural address. Although so young he spoke such elegant Latin, and in other ways displayed so much knowledge, and so many high qualities of mind, that he won the admiration of all. It was not long before he heartily embraced the new theology, and though lacking the courage of Luther, ho faithfidly upheld his hands, and seconded his efforts in the ways and work of God. It has been seen that an armistice had been con- cluded between Luther and the papacy, an armistice which might have proved of indefinite length, if the friends of Rome had been as wise as they were foolish. Dr. Eck, tho celebrated schoolman, vice-chancellor of 32 TfiE RELIGIOUS BEVOLUTION tlje University of Ingolstadt, to whom we Lave already referred as being among the opponents of the new movement, threw down the gauntlet in a publication of his called the Obelisks. It was immediately t;iken up by Andrew Bodenstein, more generally known as Carlstadt, one of Luther's fast friends. The result was that in the summer of 1519 it was arranged to liold a public discussion concerning vaiious contested points. Eck was accompanied to the place fixed upon f(jr the discussion by Poliander, a young man whom lie had brought from Ingolstadt to report the debate; and Carlstadt was accompanied by Luther and Melancthon. It wiis soon manifest, that, though Carlstadt was his antagonist, it was at Luther that Eck aimed. The theses which had been prepareil struck directly at Luther, and that they were intended to do so was jtroved by what took place when the two men met. "What !" exclaimed Eck, "it is said that you refuse to debate with me. If I cannot deljaU; with you I am not anxious to have anything to do with Carl:,tadt. It was for you I came here." Luther, fvith his thoughtful, resolute, and care-worn face, was observed in the desk over against Eck's. The chief topic of discussion was the jjrimacy of the Pope. It would be bootless to follow the disputants through tlieir several arguments. Suflicc it to say that the discussion ended by eliciting a distinct avowal from Luther on such sul»jects as the papal sui)reinacy and tlie possibility of error in the councils of the Church ; which showed how far he had receded from the Komish position, and abandoned the Romish faith. This debate was not without fruit. Poliander, the friend of Eck, was won to the Reformation, and soon after began to preach the Gospel at Leipsic. Another into whose heart, as into prepared soil, the good seed fell, was Professor John Camerarius, who had hitherto I>cen one of the keenest of the opponents of the revived faith. He shortly after threw up his situation and went to Wittenberg to study with Luther ; sub- sequently preaching the Gospel at Frankfort and Dresden. While the discussion at Leipsic was proceeding tlie Electoi*s were met together at Frankfort to give an Emperor to Germany. Tiiree candidates were in the c 34 TIIK RELIUIOIS KEVOLUTIOX liekl, Henry YIII. of Englaiul, Francis I. of Franco, and Charles, King of the united kingdoms of Spain, Kaples, and Sicily, and ArcluUike of Austria. Tiie lii-st, probably seeing that as an insular prince his chances of success were by no means equal to those of liis rivals, soon retired from the lists. As we ha\ e seen, the Pope was opposed to the election of Charles, and for simih\r reasons he was opposed to the election of Francis. '* Choose rather one from among yourselves," Avas his advice to tho Electors. The Elector of Treves proposed the regent, the Elector of Saxony, who, if he liad been so disposed, might without doubt have l>een elected. The course wliicli Frederick took in declining the honour and responsibility has been variously i-egai-ded. For oui-selves we agree with tho estimate which Dr. Wylie, in his " History of Protesliintism," lias expressed of it in the following words : — " Will he, or ought he, to i>ut on the mantle of the empire] The princes and people of Germany would have hailed with joy his assumption of the dignity. It did seem as if Providence were putting this strong sceptre into his hand that therewith he might protect the reformer. Frederick had oftener than once been painfully sen- sible of his lack of power. He may now bo tho first man in Germany, president of all its councils, generalissimo of all its armies ; and may stave off from the Reformation's path, wars, scatlblds, violence of all sorts, and permit it to develop its spiritual energies, and regenerate society in peace. Most historians have lauded his declinature as magnanimous. "NVe take liberty most respectfully to difler from them. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 35 We think that Frederick, looking at the whole case, ought to have accepted the imperial crown ; that the offer of it came to him at a moment, and in a way that made the point of duty clear, and that his refusal was an act of weakness." Frederick declining to stand, it was evident that Charles would be the choice of the majority. The Pope, therefore, through his legate, witlidrew his objections, and on the 28th of June the youthful monarch, now nineteen years of age, was elected. He left Spain in May, 1520, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 22nd of the follow- ino; October. CHAPTER III. :" Eapid Progress of Reformation in Germany — Rome Comprehends the Situation — Luther's Life in Danger - Off ei's of Protection — Publication of Luther's Api^eal — Papal Bull against Luther — Luther Bui-ns the Bull — The Reformer at "Worms — Imperial Ban against the Erfurt Monk — Luther's Arrest and Imprison- ment in "Wartburg — Translation of New Testament into Ger- man — Marriage of Monks — Luther Renounces Monkery — Indulgence Market Re-opened — Luther's Letter to Archbishop of INIentz — Departure from Wartburg and Arrival at "V\"itten- berg. The Peformation in Germany was advancing with rapid strides. The country from end to end was pro- foundly stirred. Pallavicini has left it on record that tlie papal legate Miltitz, when on his way to that conference with Luther which has already been 36 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION* referred to, marked the esteem in which the reformer Avas held, and how men all along his route *' spoke of him with admiration." This was the general feeling. The poor, friendless friar, who dared to beard the Pope, commanded admiration for his courage, and as it was manifest that in what he did he was moved by the fear of God, and animated by concern for the salvation of men, he was revered for his piety. It was clear enough to Eome that if the allegiance of the Germans was to be retained, and the usual profit made of their souls, this arcli-herctic Luther must be dealt with promptly and vigorously. Yet how to go about the matter was a perplexing question, for it was fraught with dithculty. Luther was believed to have powerful friends who would go almost any length in measures for liis protection. Among the most powerful of these was the Elector of Saxony. Now there can be no doubt that though Frederick had a certain regard for the now famous professor of his cherished University, and was anxious that no injustice should be done him, he had not so fully committed liimself to him and his cause as the PojDe supposed. It was not till a later l)eriod that he gave a hearty assent to the doctrines of the reformer. Still there was the misai)prehen- sion, and it operated in Luther's favour. This was at a period when as yet the truth had not laid liold, as it subsequently did, on the minds and hearts of the German people. The time was rapidly a])proaching when tens of thousands, who had listened to the reformer's words as to words from Heaven, would be willing to interpose between him and the sword of IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 37 the Vatican, and offer their bodies as his buckler. Straws indicate which way the wind blows, but it was something more than a straw which at this time was wafted from Franconia to Wittenberg. It was a letter from Sylvester of Schaumburg, one of tlie most powerful of the Franconian nobles, which contained the following sentences : — " Your life is exposed to danger. If the support of electors, princes, or magistrates fails you, I beg you to beware of going into Bohemia, where of old very learned men had much to suffer ; come rather to me ; God Avilling I shall soon have collected more than a hundred gentlemen, and with their help will be able to keep you free from harm." Franz von Sickingen, one of the bravest of the chevaliers of those times, and one to whom, notwith- standing his proneness to suggest the sword as an effective instrument of evangelization, the cause of truth owed much, wrote to Luther, " My person, my property, and services — all that I possess is at your disposal. Your wish is to maintain Christian truth, and in that I am ready assist you." Ulric von Hiitten, also, in such a connection, must not be omitted. He wrote, " We must have swords? bows, javelins, and bullets, to destroy the fury of the devil." It is needless to say that Luther had juster views of the kind of weapons to be employed in this " holy war." This man. Yon Hiitten, while not exactly a friend to the truth, was a very powerful adversary of error. Though a layman and a soldier he was no contemptible scholar, and was distinguished by his -writings against the papacy. He was the chief contri- 38 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION butor to the Epistolce Ohscurorum Virorum, a satire levelled at the champions of mediceval ignorance which " took " immensely. He was a powerful icono- clast, but on account of his advocacy of carnal weapons in spiritual warfare, his friendship was openly renounced by Luther and Melancthon. In the year 1520 Luther publislied his "Appeal to His Imperial Majesty and the Christian Nobility of Germany on the Reformation of Christianity." This was destined to bring things to a crisis. In it the axe was laid to the root of the tree. It circulated everywhere. The nation was thoroughly aroused. Never had the trumpet been bl<^'vn with a more cer- tain sound, and the people prepared themselves for the battle. But not only was Germany aroused, Rome was aroused too, and this last thrust was but likely to intensify the madness into which she had been stung. On the 15th of June the sacred college had approved of the famous bull denouncing Luther, and soon afterwards it was transmitted to Germany. The redoubtable Dr. Eck, who had gone to Rome for the very purpose of procuring this measure, was en- trusted with the task of conveying the precious document to Germany, and publishing it there. This was compensation to him for his chagrin at not having been able to vanquish the famous monk by more legitimate weapons. It was, he thought, a S2:)lendid triumph, but Providence had designed it to be an ignominious defeat. At Erfurt, where he insisted on the bull being published, the students seized the copies, tore them to pieces, and threw them into the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 39 river, remarking ironically, " Since it is a bull, let it swim." This is but an example of the way m which, in more places than one, the thing was received. Eck urged on by indiscriminate zeal, and, perhaps, by feelings of personal revenge, had associated with Luther six of the most distinguished men of Germany — Carlstadt, Feldkirchen, Egranus, Adelmann, Pirck- heimer, and Spongier. The last two were made to appear before him as Roman pronotary, and write a letter to the Pope declaring that they accepted the doctrines of Luther only as they accorded with the faith of Rome, and Adelmann was compelled to appear before the Bishop of Augsburg and purge himself of heresy. The other three gave themselves little concern about the matter. But how did Luther receive it ] He received it in a truly characteristic manner. The Pope had thundered at him, and he thundered back at the Pope. On the 4th of the fol- lowing November appeared his brochitre entitled, - Acralnst the Bull of Anti-Christ." In obedience to thc^'papal mandate his books were being burnt m various parts of the empire ; he retaliated by burning the Pope's bull, along with the Canon Law, the De- cretals, the Clementines, the Extravagants, and some of the writings of Eck, and of another papal apologist named Emser. This courageous act was performed near Wittenberg on the morning of the 10th of De- cember in the presence of a crowd of professors, students, and others. Without question, the reformer had now passed the Rubicon— if the reference may be pardoned for its partial inaptness. Rome was on one 40 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION side of the stream and he was on the other. Hence- forth there was war a Voutrance before him. Ptome was now thirsting for Luther's blood. The Emperor was appealed to : he explained that having only just ascended the imperial throne, he dared not venture on extreme measures without the advice of liis councillors, and the concurrence of the princes of the empire. Frederick of Saxony was asked to inflict punishment on the offender, or deliver him up prisoner to the Pope ; but the Elector, not seeing so clearly as Pome wherein he merited punishment, declined. But the Diet was soon to be held, to which it had been agreed Luther's case should be referred. This august assembly was opened on the 28th of January, 1521, by the Em- peror, who had written to the Elector of Saxony to request him to bring Luther with him. The friends of the latter were in great consternation, but he com- mitted himself to God. The following to the Elector will reveal with what feelings he viewed the ordeal before him : — " If I cannot go to Worms in health, I will make myself be carried ; since the Emperor calls me, I cannot doubt but it is a call from God himself. If they mean to employ violence against me, as is probable (for assuredly it is not with a view to their own instruction that they make me appear), I leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. He who pre- served the three young men in the furnace still lives and reigns. If He is not pleased to save me, my life is but a small matter ; only let us not allow the gospel to bo exposed to the deriyion of the wicked, and let IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 41 US shed our blood for it sooner than permit them to triumph. Whether would my life or my death con- tribute most to the general safety 1 It is not for us to decide. Let us only pray to God that our young Emperor may not commence his reign by dipping his hands in my blood ; I would far rather perish by ihe sword of the Homans. You know what judgments befel the Emperor Sigismund after the murder of John Huss. Expect everything of me save flight and recantation ; I cannot fly, still less can I recant."' Strange as it may seem, the papal legate Alean- der^ who, with Carracioli, had been entrusted with certain powers by the Pope, especially in regard to the bull, was not pleased with the idea of Luther ap- pearing at Worms. He, therefore, made such repre- sentations to Charles as induced him to rescind his order to Frederick. Although he did not want the formidable monk to appear, this true son of Rome wanted him condemned. He urged his condemnation Avith what the intended victim himself calls " marvel- lous fury ;" but it availed not with the Diet, in the minds of many of whose members the conviction was growing that he had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds. At length it seemed certain to the Em- peror that the affair would not, and could not, be settled, unless the accused appeared personally at Worms. The document which summoned him was signed on the Gth of March, 1521, and ran as fol- lows : — " Charles, by the grace of God, elected Roman Kmperor, always Augustus, &c., &c, 42 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION " Honourable, dear, and pious ! We, and the States of tlie Holy Empire, having resolved to make an inquest touching the doctrine and the books which you have published for some time past, have given you, to come here and return to a place of safety, our safe-conduct and that of the empire here subjoined. Oar sincere desire is that you immediately prepare for this journey, in order that in the space of twenty- one days mentioned in our safe-conduct you may be here certainly, and without fail. Have no apprehen- sion of eitlier injustice or violence. We will lirinly enforce our safe-conduct under-written, and we expect that you will answer to our call. In so doing you will follow our serious advice. " Given at our imperial city of Worms the sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord, 1521, and in the second of our reign. <.- Ch^^rles. " By order of my Lord the Emperor, with his own hand, Albert, Cardinal of Mentz, Arch-Chancellor. "Nicolas Zwyl." Accompanying this letter was a safe-conduct, which was inscribed, " To the honourable our dear and pious doctor, Mai-tin Luther, of the Order of the Augustines." When the reformer received the imperial summons, and saw the distress of his friends thereat, he said, " Let the will of the Lord be done. Christ will give me His Spirit to vanquish these ministers of error. I despise them during my life, and will triumph over them by my death. They are doing all they can IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 43 at Worms to compel me to retract. Here, then, will be my retractation : I once said that the Pope was the vicar of Christ ; now I say that he is the enemy of the Lord, and the apostle of the devil." As ho approached Worms he received a message from his friend Spalatin, who, as chaplain, was in the suite of the Elector, warning him not to enter the city. The heroic reply was " Go and tell your master that were there as many devils in Worms as there are tiles upon the roofs, I would enter." As he made his entry on April the 16th, the crowd that flocked about him gazed in simple wonder upon the intrepid man who had dared to withstand Kome, and quailed not before all her display of power. On the following day he was called before the Diet. The chancellor of the Archbishopof Treves^Johnof Eck — not the Ingolstadt professor — addressed him in tlie following terms. *' Martin Luther ! his sacred and invincible Imperial Majesty has cited you before his throne, by the advice and counsel of the States of the holy Roman empire, in order to call upon you to answer these two questions : First, do you admit that these books were composed by you 1 Secondly, do you mean to retract these books and their contents, or do you persist in the things you have advanced in them 1 " The books in question were about twenty in number, copies of the various publications issued by the reformer, which Aleander, the papal legato, had taken the trouble to collect. Luther examined them, and acknowledged that they were his. With regard to the second question he said, " Considei'ing tliat is a 44 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION question which concerns faith and the salvation of souls — a question in which the Word of God is interested ; in other words, the greatest and most precious treasure either in heaven or on the earth, I should act imprudently were I to answer without reflection. I might say less than the occasion requires, or more tlian the truth demands, and thus incur the guilt which our Saviour denounced when he said, ' Whoso shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father who is in heaven ! Wherefore I pray your Imi)erial Majesty, with all submission, to give me time that I may answer without offence to the Word of God." There were some who regarded this as irresolution on Luther's part, and the friends of Rome were indulging the hope that they would have the supreme satisfaction of hearing the arch-heretic recant. But they did not know the man. What seemed to them hesitation and fear, was really a desire to treat the solemn question put to him with that deliberate and prayerful thoughtfulness which it demanded, and the august assembly before which he was being examined with becoming respect. He would not have himself appear hasty or ill-judged in his reply. In this he showed his wisdom, and a self- restraint which was not natural to him. Before again appearing before the Diet, he went to liis table on which lay the Bible, and putting liis left h-cind upon it, while he raised his right to heaven, he swore to be faithful even to death. After this it is needless to say what was the result of his re-examina- tioji. Required to give a categorical answer to the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURV. 45 question, whether he would, or would not, retract, he replied : " Since your most Serene Majesty, and your High Mightinesses, call upon me for a simple, clear, and definite answer, I will give it ; and it is this — I cannot subject my faith either to the Pope or to councils, because it is clear as day that they have often fallen into error, and even into great self- contradiction. If then I am not disproved by passages of Scripture, or by clear arguments ; if I am not convinced by the very passages I have quoted, and so bound in conscience to submit to the Word of God, I neither can nor will retract anything, for it is not safe for a Christian to speak against his con- science. Here I am ; I cannot do otherwise ; God HELP ME. Amen." After this he was removed while the members of the Diet deliberated. An interval elapsed, and he was re-called. '' Martin," said Chan- cellor Eck, the mouthpiece of the assembly, "you have not spoken with the modesty which became your office. The distinction you have made between your books was useless ; for if you retract those which contain errors, the empire will not allow the others to be burnt. It is extravagant to insist on being refuted from Scripture, when you revive heresies which were condemned by the universal Council of Constance. The Emperor, therefore, orders you to say simply, ' Whether you mean to maintain what you have advanced, or to retract any part of it — yes, or no "? '" "I have no other answer," was the calm reply, " than that which I have already given." "The Diet," said Eck, as the Emperor rose from his 4G THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION* seat, dismissing the assembly, " will meet to-morrow morning to hear the Emperor's decision. " "When on the next day the States were again assembled, the following statement, written by Charles with his o^vn hand, was read to them — "Sprung from the Christian Emperors of Germany, from tlie Catholic Kings of Spain, the Arch- dukes of Austria, and the Dukes of Burgundy, who are all illustrious as defenders of the Roman faith, it is my firm purpose to follow the example of my ancestors. A single monk, led astray by his own folly, sets himself up in opposition to the faith of Christendom. I will sacrifice my dominions, my power, my friends, my treasure, my body, my blood, my mind, and my life, to stay this imi)iety. I mean to send back the Augustine, Luther, forbiddmg him to cause the least tumult among the people; there- after I will proceed against him and his adherents, as against declared heretics, by excommunication, and interdict, and all means proper for their destruction. I call ui)on the members of the States to conduct themselves like faitliful Christians.'' Luther's condemnation was thus virtually pro- nounced. It was done in a much more formal manner a few days aftersvards in an edict drawn up by Aleander, signed by Charles at his request, and published throughout the empire. This edict pro- claimed the imperial ban against the intrepid monk as an heretic and an outcast from the Church. Mean- while the monk himself, claiming the protection of his passport, had set out on his return to Wittenberg. As, however, he was nearing the end of his journey IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 47 he was arrested by five horsemen, masked, and in complete armour. By them he was conveyed by a circuitous route to a gloomy old fortress, in the midst of the black forests which cover the mountains of Thuringia, called the Wartburg. Here he was stripped of his ecclesiastical habit, and made to don the dress of a knight, that none even of the inhabitants of the castle might know who he was. In the disguise of kniglit George — his new name — he was here confined for the space of ten months by the friendly hands of those, who, wishing to preserve his life, had taken upon themselves to deprive him of his liberty ; at the end of which time, finding his captivity and his separa- tion from his friends quite insupportable, he secretly escaped from the castle, and souglit his beloved Wit- tenberg. His seclusion, however, had not been with- out good results ; indeed, the hand of God must be traced in this as in all other events which tended to advance the Iveformation. Not only was he thus pro- tected and secured against the first consequences of the ban of the empire, but he was able to pursue his literary labours, and it was here in the Wartburg that he undertook and carried out, what has ever been re- garded as one of his chief productions — his translation of the New Testament into the German vernacular. It was while he was in captivity, too, that he reasoned his way to another important reform, namely, the marriage of all orders of the clergy, whether regular or secu- lar. In this, however, he had been preceded by others. Bernard Feldkirchen, pastor of Kemberg, had taken to himself a wife, and his example was followed 48 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION? by another priest named Seidler. Luther had said nothing against this, having already come to the con- clusion that it was right and good for priests to marry; but there was another question to which this led — the marriage of monks. Melancthon and Carlstadt main- tained that priests and monks alike had liberty to marry. When certain theses to this effect reached his hands in his house of captivity, Luther could not help exclaiming in astonishment and displeasure, '^Good God ! our "\Vit- tenbergers will give wives to monks even. " He was not long, however, in discovering that these theses of his col- leagues were in harmony with the Scriptures, and even in going farther and discovering that monasticism itself was neither in accordance with the letter of Scripture, nor with the genius of Christianity. The conclusions to which he came he embodied in the following pro- positions, which he forwarded to the " Bishops and Deacons of the Church of Wittenberg " : — "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin " (Roin. xiv. 23). " Whosoever makes a vow of virginity, chas- tity, or service to God without faith, makes an impious and idolatrous vow, and malct s it to the devil himself." " To make such vows is to be worse than the ]>riests of Cybole, or the vestals of the heathen ; for the monks pronounce their vows in the idea that they are to be faithful and saved by them, and what ought to be ascribed solely to the mercy of God, is thus attributed to the merits of cood works." " Such convents should be comi»h'tely overturned as houses of the de himself. Let your Highness act upon this notice ; I expect a prompt and good answer within a fortnight. Given in my desert, Sunday after St. Catherine's Day, 1521, by your electoral Highness s humble and de^•oted Martin Luther." As exhibiting the fear in which Rome stood of the Mansfeld miner's son, and as evincing the power which this prophet in the line of Elijah had even over one of her prince-archbishops, we give the following reply — '•' My Dear Doctor, — I have received and read your letter, rnd taken it in good part. But I believe IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 51 that for a long time the motive which led you to write me such a letter has not existed. I wish, with God's help, to conduct myself as a pious bishop and a Chris, tian prince, and I acknowledge that I stand in need of the grace of God. I deny not that I am a sinful man, one who may sin and be mistaken, one even who sins and is mistaken every day. I know well that without the grace of God I am useless and filthy mire like other men, if not more so. In reply to your letter, I did not wish to conceal from you this gracious disposition ; for, from the love of Christ, I am more than desirous to show you all sorts of kindness and favour. I know how to receive a Christian and fraternal reprimand. « With my own hand. Albert." Although Luther laboured in the castle of Wart- burg in his studies and with his pen almost beyond man's utmost strength, he regarded himself as living in idleness and luxury, and was anxious to be back at Wittenberg. At length hearing of troubles there arising from the fanaticism of some of his followers who seemed imperatively to require his guiding and moderating hand, he took his resolution on the 3rd of March, left the old towers which had given him such safe and friendly .shelter, and although aware of tlie peril to which he was exposing himself, set out for Wittenberg, where he arrived on the 7th of the same month, 1522. 52 THE RELIGIOUS KEVOLUTION CHAPTER lY. Reformation the Eesult of Divine Influence — Switzerland Groans for Deliverance — Ulric Zwingle born— Early History of the Swiss Eeformer— Zwingle becomes Parish Priest of Glaris — Religious Experience of Luther and Zwingle Contrasted — Removal to Einsidlen — Preaching Christ — Samson the Indul- gence Vendor — Zwingle receives Appointment at Zurich — The Plague— Opposition to Truth — Other "Witnesses for Christ — Results of Gospel Preaching— Zwingle's Marriage — Trust in God. There are few movements in history in wliich the hand of God is so clearly to be traced as the Reforma- tion. This is manifest from the way in which it was accomplished. At a time when intercommunication between the various nations of Europe w^as scanty and difficult, we see them almost simultaneously moved by a common impulse towards a common end. Germany, it is true, in some sense took the lead, and Luther, no doubt, must ever be regarded as the hero of the movement ; but apart from the influence of Germany the work was quietly proceeding in other lands, being carried on by men, many of whom, had it not been an age of heroes, would assuredly — for heroic courage, patient endurance for the truth's sake, perseverance in well-doing, and faithfulness to conviction— have bulked much larger in history than they do. How historians who, professing to treat history in a IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 53 scientific manner, yet exclude the Deity from it, explain the phenomena witnessed at this period in European society we know not. For ourselves we can assign no cause which appears to us an adequate one, l)ut that of a Divine Providence, and the operation of the Spirit of God. While Germany was experiencing the throes of spiritual travail, Switzerland was beginning to groan for deliverance ; and a similar service to that which the son of the Mansfeld miner had rendered to the former, an Alpine peasant's son was destined to render for the latter. The name of this peasant was Zwinglius, or Zwinf^le, and the Christian name of his distinguished son Huldreich, or Ulric. Though only a shepherd the father of young Ulric possessed considerable influence in the district of Wildhaus in the Tockenburg, or Toggenburg, where he lived, which is to be ascribed partly to the respect which his character inspired, and partly to the fact that he was the district amman^ or bailiff. The future reformer was the third son, and was born on New Year's Day, 1484, being thus the junior of Luther by seven weeks only. He soon gave evidence of the pos- session of extraordinary gifts of mind, and when he was ten years of age his father, acting on the advice of a brother, who was Dean of Wesen, determined to send him to Basle. Here Ulric spent some time, and when he had learnt all that there was to be learnt was transferred to Berne, and became the pupil of a dis- tinguished scholar named Lupulus. After this he studied philosophy for two years at the University of Vienna, returning at length to Basle for a theo- 54 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION logical course at the feet of Thomas "VVittenbach, a man at that time of no small celebrity as a scholar and theologian. To his teaching young Zwingle owed much. " The time is not far distant," said he, "when scholastic theology will be abolished, and the ancient doctrine of the Church restored." Zwingle has him- self left it on record that he learned from Wittenbach, "soZawi Christi mortem pretium esse remissionis pecca- torum" — the deatli of Christ alone to be the price of the remission of sins. Tlie parish of Claris having about this time become vacant, one of the Pope's grooms of the stable applied to his master for the appointment, and obtained it. The parishioners, however, notwithstanding the parch- ment credentials he brought with him from Kome, refused to have him, and in 1506 gave a formal call to Zwingle. At this time he was not acquainted with the Gospel in its purity and simplicity, and had not experienced through it the renewal of his heart. He seems now to have possessed the instincts and .spirit of a soldier rather than of an ecclesiastic, and in 1512 we find him with his flock marching against the French to give battle for the "deliverance of the Church." In 1515 he again took the field with his courageous but deceived flock, and was present at the battle of Marignano, when the flower of Helvetic youth fell before the chivalry of France. Unlike Luther, Zwingle with all his excellences never thoroughly learned the gi'eat truth that the weapons of the Gospel are not carnal. It was by slow degrees that the Swiss reformer IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. bi) felt his way to the truth. He knew nothing of the agony which Luther experienced — never realized so fully his condemned and lost condition as a sinner against a holy God, and never, perhaps, as a con- sequence knew so much of the joy of pardon. His temperament was very different from that of the Saxon friar. Both were conspicuous for their courage^ and both had much force of intellect, and could reason strongly and conclusively ; but Zwingle lacked the warm heart, and the emotional nature of Luther. He was more impassive and less impulsive. Men in this respect so unlike would necessarily have different religious experiences. Luther sought and found the port of safety and soul-rest impelled thereto by stress of tempestuous weather, whereas Zwingle navigated comparatively smooth seas, and entered it because from a study of his chart he was convinced it was the only port in which salvation from the perils to which immortal mariners were exposed could be found. It was not till the first period of his sojourn at Zurich that he was fully converted to God; meanwhile^ through the inlluence of Erasmus and the study of the New Testament, the light had been gradually breaking and the darkness fleeing. In 1516 Zwingle was compelled, as he himself said "through the intrigues of the French," to remove to Einsidlen, where he obtained a nearer view of the superstitions and abuses of the Church, and had the conviction, wrought in him by what he had seen in his campaigns, as to the need of reform confirmed. Near to Einsidlen there was a monastery in which an 56 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION image of the Virgin was carefully preserved, which was believed to have the power of working miracles. As the faithful approached the gateway of the aLbey their eyes fell on this inscription, "Here is obtained a plenary remission of all sins." Thousands flocked to the hallowed spot, and on the festivals of the Virgin, and the grand festival of the "Consecration of the Angels," the whole valley was crowded with devout worshippers. Its ] oculiar sanctity arose from the fact — so it had been reported, and so it was believed — that the chapel had been consecrated by angels, while Christ had Himself blessed it, the Virgin at the same time blazin^; forth like a flash of li^htninfj. Appalled at what lie saw and heard at Einsidlen, Zwingle spoke out in no uncei-tam manner. *' Think not," said he, in one of his pulpit utterances, " that God is in this temple more than in any other part of His creation. Whatever be the countiy in which you dwell, God encompasses you, and hears you as well as in our Lady of Emsidlen. Can useless works, long ])ilgrimages, ofiermgs, images, the invocation of the Virgin or the saints, obtain the gi-ace of God 1 AVhat avails the multitude of words in which we embody our prayers'? AVhat avails a glossy hood — a head well shaven — a long robe with its neat folds, and mules caparisoned with gold? God looks to the heart, but our heart is alienated from God." But the coui*ageous and faithful preacher not only showed liow salvation could not, he also showed how it could, be obtained. *' Christ,'' he testified with evangelic simplicity and apostolic fervour, " who was once oflered on the cross, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 57 is the expiatory victim, who, even through eternity, makes satisfaction for the sins of all believers." In 1518 a monk of the Franciscan order, named Samson, appeared in Switzerland as the bearer of indulgences, wliich he was commissioned to sell to the good Christians of the Helvetic League. This man was the Tetzel of Switzerland. He was not new to liis work, having served under two previous Popes in the same line of business, and had consequently acquired by long practice and experience the art of charming the money from the people's pockets into his strong box. " Heaven and hell," cried he, with eftron. t(iry only equalled by that of Tetzel, " are subject to my power, and I sell the merits of Jesus Christ to him who will purchase them by paying in cash for an indulgence." No sooner did Zwingle become ac. (juainted with what was going on than he testified against the iniquity in terms as plain and unmistakable as those the Wittenberg doctor had employed. Let the following be taken as an example : — " Jesus Christ, the son of God, thus speaks, ' Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Is it not then audacious folly, and insensate trinerity to say on the contrary, * Purchase letters of indulgence! Ptun to Rome! Give to the monks! Sacrifice to the priests ! If you do these things I will absolve you from your sins.' Jesus Christ is the only offering ; Jesus Christ is the only sacri- fice; Jesus Christ is the only way." This faithful preacher's counterblasts seemed to have inspired tli3 indulgence merchant with a wholesome dread of him, 58 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION for instead of making any sort of reply, he, taking good care to avoid the vicinity of the champion who seemed as capable of polemical as he had proved him- self of military warfare, passed on his way hy the road to Zug. In 1.319 the curate of Einsidlen was appointed to a preachership in the collegiate church of Zurich. Here he found at once that scope for his powers which they demanded, and speedily by his force of character and many gifts, took the position which lie retained for the rest of his life. It was not long after his settlement at Zurich that the impudent Franciscan vendor of indulgences, having visited Zug, Lucerne, Unterw\ild, Berne, and other places, dared to make for that city. It would seem that he had gained heart by his successes on the way. *' I know," said he, '' that Zwingle will attack me, but I will stop his mouth." ^Meanwhile his fame had preceded him, and the indignation of others beside Zwingle was excited ; so that he was met in the suburbs of the city, and requested by deputies from the Council not to enter. Pretending to have a message from the Pope to the Diet, he was at length admitted, but when this was found to be a mere trick he was dismissed the place — not, however, before he had, by compulsion, retracted a sentence of excommunication which he had had the audacity to pronounce upon an ecclesiastic named Piullinger, a dean, who had opposed both him and his trafiic. In the first year of Zwingle's residence at Zurich the plague made its appearance in the city. The IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 59 reformer ^vas seeking the benefit of the baths at Pfeffers at the time, but on hearing of it hastened back to his flock. Most assiduously did he set himself to the discharge of his duties in preaching and minis- tering to the sick. At length he was attacked by the dire malady, and for some time his life was despaired of. The city was deeply moved, and many were the prayers offered up for the devoted man of God. It pleased God to hear and answer these prayers, and to restore the object of so much solicitude to health and strength again, for " the furtherance and joy of faith " of his distressed flock. This illness had a marked eflect upon him. At the gates of death he had proved the value of the doctrines of Divine grace. Hence- forth he preached the Gospel, not simply as doctrine that was true, but as "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The truth was not to be allowed to make pro- gress unopposed. A vigorous adversary had to be encountered in the person of the bishop of Constance, who, in the spring of 1522, sent deputies to Zurich to combat the Gospel and its friends. A meeting of all the clergy was convened, in which the bishop's co- adjutor delivered a speech which was directed against Zwinglo, although he was not specifically referred to. The latter replied in a speech which was considered to have closed his adversaries' mouths. But vanquished in argument, Rome, in accordance with her usual tactics, invoked the strong arm of the secular power. The magistrates were appealed to, and ultimately the Great Council was convened. Every means was GO THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION taken to exclude the reformer, so that his condemn- ation might be procured without his having an opportunity to defend himself; but happily without success. First, the bishop's deputies were introduced, and then Zwingle and two other curates, Engelliard and Roschli by name. The co-adjutor, having de- livered his speech, rose with his colleagues to leave the council-chamber, but Zwingle called upon them to listen to his defence. Fearing the logic and Scrip- ture that would be brought to bear upon him, he replied, " We are not employed to dispute with any man whatever." Being called upon by the assembly to remain and hear the reply of the accused men, the deputies could not for very shame refuse. At length the representatives of the reform party, having made their defence, the decision of the Council was declared, namely, that the Pope and cardinals should be re- quested to explain the point specially disputed (the question of fasting on Fridays, ic), and that until their explanation was received, flesh was not to be eaten during Lent. This was virtually a decision against the deputies, and thus a considerable moral Aictory was secured for the truth, emboldening its friends and discomfiting its foes. It must not be supposed that the preacher of the collegiate church of Zuricli was the only witness for Christ in Switzerland. There were othei-s, who, tliough less prominent were none the less faithful. Among these must be mentioned Oswald ^Myconius, who was to Zwingle what Melancthon was to Luther, This man was a schoolmaster at Basle, and in a quiet IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 61 way did not a little to advance reformation principles. John Hausschein, too, or as lie is more generally called (Ecolampadius, a preacher at Basle, proclaimed Christ and Him crucified with much clearness and eloquence. Associated with him were Capito and Hedio, while Haller at Berne, and others in other places, declared, with more or less distinction and power, the glorious doctrine of remission of sins by the ]»lood of Christ. Standing forth imposingly above them all, however, is seen the figure of the son of the Wildhaus shepherd, who, while not a leader to the Swiss in the same sense and way as Luther was to the Germans, must nevertheless be regarded as the greatest light of the Reformation in Switzerland. Other faithful preachers of the Word arose later on, till at length there appeared at Geneva one beside whose great name, in some respects, even that of Zwingle pales. Each new victory for the Gospel, and each new defeat for Eome, only tended to inflame the anger and excite the rage of the obscurantists. The life of Zwingle was being continually plotted against. One day he received a letter in which the anonymous writer said, " Snares environ you on every side, mortal poison is ready to deprive you of life. Eat only in your own house, and of bread baked only by your own cook. The walls of Zurich contain men Avho are plotting your ruin. The oracle which revealed this to me is truer than that of Delphi. I am on your side, you will yet know me." Others, his fellow-labourers, were also warned, but their trust was 62 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION in God. They feared not the wrath of man, and noljly holding on their way, proved in Switzerland, what Lnther was proving in Germany, that " the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." The faithful jireaching of the Gospel was not without fruit. The eyes of the people were being opened, and in several places the manifestation of sympathy with the refonner was significant. The papacy began to be attacked by squibs and pas- quinades, emanating from the commonalty. Nicolas Manuel, a layman of considerable poetical gifts, attacked the abuses of the Church in dramas which he composed for the public merry-makings. In these the avarice, pride, pomp, and sensuality of ecclesiastics were exposed. One of them entitled " The Eatera of the Dead," was performed in the street of La Croix at Berne, to the gi-eat diversion of the peoi>le, evidencing the fact that there, at least, a great blow had been successfully struck at Medirevalism and its many abuses. Signs of the growing authority of the Scriptures, as distinguished from the authority of the Church, were not lacking. About this time (1522) Zwingle, keenly alive to the appalling scandals which the papal ordinance of clerical celibacy had given rise to, and accepting the inspired statement that "man-iage is honourable in all," took to himself a wife. The lady was Anna Reinhardt, the widow of a certain John Meyer von Knonau, and mother of Gerald ^Meyer von Knonau, a youth who had earlv attached hinr^elf to IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 63 Zwingle, and who at last fell fighting by his side. This marriage was secret, and was not declared till two years later — namely, on April 14th, 1524 — a fact which goes to show that the Zurich pastor, with all his courage and strength of mind and character, was morally a weaker man than his famous German contemporary. It is possible, as Bucer says he doubted not was the case, that he was "influenced by reasons which ought not to be rejected by a Christian man," in thus concealing his marriage, but it is impossible not to regret that the reformer could not see his way clear to acting openly and in the face of day. It is easier, however, to sit in judgment now than it was to brave the rage of Rome then. One or two other priests had preceded Zwingle in this important step, and the question was now well to the front. In the summer of 1522 a conference was held at Einsidlen in which it was resolved to send addresses to the cantons and to the bishop, praying that the free and unfettered preaching of the Gospel should be allowed, and that enforced celibacy should be abolished. Copies of the addresses were circulated throughout the cantons, and as could only be supposed excited no small stir. It was manitestly high time for the friends of the papacy to do something. Yet they could do little. Persecute they could, and that at any rate they did. Myconius and others were banished. The brothers of Zwingle were in great alarm. They felt that it would be an indelible mark of disgrace to have one of their family condemned and, perhaps, burnt as a heretic. They, therefore, vv^rote to their 64: THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION brother expressing their feelings and their fears. He replied, " So long as God permits, I will perform the task which He has entrusted to me, without fearing the world and its proud tyrants. I know the worst that can happen to me. There is no danger, no mis- fortune, which I have not long carefully weighed. My own strength is mere nothingness, and I know the power of my enemies, but I know also that I can do everything througli Christ strengthening mo." Such was the confidence of this witness for God and righteousness. The socret of the Lord was with him, and nothing could make him afraid. CHAPTER Y. ■NHiere Kefonnation Btgan— Lefevre and Farel— The Bishop of Meaux and rrincesa Slargaret— Character of the Princess — The "Concordat" — The Foes of the Gositel— Persecution- Edition of the New Testament in French— Battle of Pavia and Consequences — Fiery Trials — Victims. It has often been a subject of discussion which country can claim the honour of commencing the lleformation. As we have seen, it was in 1517 that lAither affixed his famous thosos to the door of the (.lunch at Wittenberg; but four years before that he had preached the Gospel of salvation Ity faith in Christ alone. Zwingle has marked the year 1516 as the year in which the work began in Switzerland — • IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 65 tliiit is, he began in that year to make known the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel. But as early as 1-512 such sentiments as these were being expressed by a distinguished professor in the University of Paris, named Lefevre — *' Religion has only one foundation, one aim, one head — Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, lie alone trode the wine-press ; and, therefore, we do not take our name from St. Paul, Apollos, or St. Peter. The cross of Christ alone opens heaven, and alone shuts the gate of hell." This has induced a learned historian to say, " If regard is had only to dates, it must Ije acknowldlged that the honour of commencing the work belongs neither to Switzerland nor to Germany, although these two countries only have hitherto claimed it. The honour truly belongs to France." It is obvious, however, that the mere discovery, at any period anterior to the second decade of the sixteenth century, of one or more men in any country, holding and teaching the completeness and Kullicieiicy of the sacrifice of Christ for sin, and cognate truths, is not enough to determine the time of the commencement of the Keformation. or in what country the work began. In England, Germany, and other countries there were those who rejoiced in these truths long before they were proclaimed, as with a trumpet, throughout the countries of Europe. The darkness was dense, but it was not so dense that the true light did not here and there shine in humble and teachable hearts. But Luther was the lirst to declare war against the empire of error, and determinedly with unflagging energy and perseverance B 66 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION to maintain the strife. The great movement, which has been specially designated " The Reformation," un- questionably began at Wittenberg, and Luther was the first and greatest reformer. At the same time, it should never be forgotten that the time was ripe for it, and that even if there had been no Luther this great revolution would have taken place. The cer- tainty of this is manifest from the facts we are now about to relate, as well as from what has been already recorded in the pages preceding. The professor Lefevre, to whom reference has been made, was born about 1455, at Etaples, in Picardy. In 1493 he was a doctor of theology, and the occupant of a professorial chair in the L^niversity of Paris, which, at that time, perhaps, stood second to none in the whole world. He was a man of much learning and great piety, uniting to a passion for the study of philosophy and classical antiquity an earnest and reverent love for the Holy Scriptures. Among his pupils was a youth, named William Farel, bom in 1489, in Dauphiny. This pupil was so devoted to his studies, and was withal so pious, that he completely won Lefevre's heart. The two made short pilgrimages together to shrines in the neighbourhood, and were sometimes seen prostrate before the same image of the Virgin, repeating their A ves and Paters. Lefevre had not as yet a clear apprehension of evangelical truth, and was only feeling his way. Meanwhile, Farel had commenced the study of the Bible, and was aghast at the contrast between what he there read, and what he heard and saw around liini, Pein;? found IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 67 one day by a doctor reading the Scriptures, he was sharply rebuked. *•' No man," said his monitor, " should read the Holy Scriptures till he has learned philosophy, and finished his course of arts." This had the effect of making him apply himself with fresh ardour to the prescribed nostrums of Rome. It was not long, however, before that Saviour, whom he had so long and sincerely, according to his light, been seeking, was revealed to him. Lefevre had him- self already undergone the great change, having been " delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son;" and it was from his lips that his attached pupil heard the truths which afterwards he proclaimed with so much faith- fulness and effect. " It is God alone," said he, " who by His grace through faith justifies unto eternal life. There is a righteousness of works, and there is a righteousness of grace ; the one comes from man, the other from God ; the one is earthly and transient, the other is divine and eternal ; the one is the shadow and the sign, the other is the light and the truth ; the one gives the knowledge of sin in order that we may flee from death, the other gives knowledge of grace that we may obtain life." Such words fell into the receptive heart of young Farel as good seed into good ground ; with the heart he believed unto righteous- ness, and with the mouth made confession unto salvation. Among Lefevre's personal friends was Bri9onnet, bishop of Meaux. He, too, through the influence of the professor, was won to the Gospel, and ultimately G8 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION undertook to reform the diocese over wliich he pre- sided. Another illustrious convert was jMargaret d'Angouleme, the sister of the reigning monarch, Francis I. It was chiefly through the influence of the l)ishop of 3Ieaux that she was brought to regard the doctrines of the reformed faith with favour. Whether this celebrated princess did ever ex aninio embrace the faith of Christ as revealed in its sim- l)licity and power in the Gospel, is a moot point. D'Aubigne describes her as exhibiting "one of those conversions of the heart which in every age are pro- duced by the Word of God," and no doubt much can be said in favour of that position. It is difticult, for example, to understand how any but a truly enlight- ened person could give expression to sentiments like these, — " My Father, then, .... but who ? yea, the Eternnl, Always unseen, immutable, immortal, Who will forgive by grace each sin of mine ; Therefore, O Lord, I aist me as a criminal Before Thy sacred feet, sweet Emmanuel ; Have pity, then, on me. Father Divine, Thou art the altar. Thou the sacrifice — Thou didst for us what doth indeed suffice. Since God declares, 'tis pleasing in llis eyes." But ^^'e have to remember that .she who sang in strains like those was the author of " Heptamoron," a collection of licentious tales professedly in imitation of Boccaccio's " Decamerone ; " unless, indeed, the contention of M. Nodier, in the Revue des Deux Jfondeii, be correct, namely, that IMargaret's valei- de-chambre was the real and almost sole author, the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. G9 jmncess contributing only some of the most decent of the stories. We have also to bear in mind that on lier death-bed in the convent of Angoumois she sig- nitied her cordial adherence to the faith of Rome — a fact of which D'Aubigne says nothing. Altogether her character seems an enigma. This certainly may be said, that it is a wonder she was as good and vir- tuous as she was, taking even the least favourable view of her character, considering the mother she liad, and the influences she was under. In 1527 she was married to Henry d'Albret, King of Navarre, and was able, as his Queen, to befriend the persecuted, her court becoming from time to time the refuge of several evangelical scholars of distinction. One of the most formidable enemies the new movement had was Louisa of Savoy, the mother of Margaret, and one of tlui most dissolute women of the time. Slie possessed almost unbounded influence over the mind of her son, the King, and in conjunction with Anthony Duprat, one of her favourites, set herself the task of suppressing the Gospel in France. It seems to have been through their influence that, after the battle of Marignano, Francis met Leo X. at Bologna, and signed the famous Concordat^ the designed efiect of which was to deprive the councils of their supre- macy to give it to the Pope, and to rob churches of their right to ap})oint to bishoprics and benetices to hand it over to the King. Both parliament and the university offered a strenuous resistance, but all was of no avail. Correro, the Venetian ambassador, in- forms us that " the King began liberally to distribute 70 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION bislioprics on the solicitation of the ladies of the court, and give offices to his soldiers ; so that a traffic in bishoprics and offices was carried on at the court of France, in the same way as at Venice a traffic is carried on in pepper and cmnamon." While Louisa and Duprat, and others among the laity, were, wittingly or unwittingly, setting them- selves to resist God, the clergy, as might have been supposed, were no less active. Noel Beda, syndic of the Sorbonne, in particular, distinguished himself by his violence ; so that it was said of him by Erasmus, In uno Beda sunt tria millia moiuichorum — In one Beda are three thousand monks. It was mainly through his influence that, after Luther's Leipsic discussion with Dr. Eck, the University of Paris, to which, with that of Erfurth, the decision had been committed, decided that the works of the "Wittenberg doctor should be publicly burnt, and their author compelled to recant. The persecution to which Le- fevre had been subjected in Paris had compelled him to seek a refuge at Meaux ; and, as Farel and his fellow-labourers in the gospel, Mazurier, Gerard, Pvoussel, and his brother Arnaud, thenceforth became the special objects of priestly malignity, the amiable Bri^onnet invited them to join their friend at Meaux. Here their faithful testimony had its due effi3ct The mechanics of the town received the Word of God with gladness, and, as in Samaria, when Philip, under similar circumstances, went down and i)reached the Gospel unto them, " there was great joy in that city." One of these mechanics, a young man named Leclerc, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 71 a carder of wool, had the honour of being one of the the first in tlie lieformation era in France to suffer for Christ's sake and the Gospel's. He denounced the Pope as anti- Christ, and proclaimed that the Lord would shortly come and destroy him with the breath of His mouth. For this he was thrown into prison, and condemned to be beaten with rods, on three suc- cessive days, through the streets of the city, and then branded on the forehead — a sentence which was duly executed. This bold witness was afterwards Ijurnt alive at Mctz in a slow fire, after having had inflicted upon him the most diabolical tortures, such as the cutting off of his right thumb, the tearing off of his nose with hot pincers, and the breaking of his arms in several places. In the meantime the per- secutor.s were not idle at Paris. Louis Berquin, a gentleman of Artois, who had the reputation of being the most learned of the French aristocracy, had been won to the Gospel. His house was searched, and numerous heretical books found therein — books of the arch-heretics Luther, Melancthon, and Carlstadt. He was arrested and carried to the conciergerie ; and, no doubt, severe measures would have been taken had not the nobility, jealous of the privileges of their order, appealed to the King, who gave orders that Berquin ;^hould be set at liberty. Returning to Meaux, we find the reformers there passing through a similai' ordeal. The monks had grown furious because the new teachers were being harboured by the bishop. They carried their complaints to the Sorbonne, and even to the par- 72 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIOJT liament. Briconnet succeeded in defending himself, but was not so successful in defending his friends. iSTot possessing sufficient strength of character or faith in God to stand firm, he yielded, and on April 12th, 1526, issued an injunction depriving them of liberty to preach. This was the beginning of the bishop's apostasy. Compelled to flee from Meaux, the intrepid and faithful Favel at first re- paired to Paris, but, as might have been expected, was soon obliged to quit it again, when he sought once more his native Daupliiny, where he was the means of winning, among otliers, his three brothers to the Saviour. At length he found his way to Basle, and was received by OEcolampadius with open arms. Here in a public discussion, which the Council, in spite of the opposition of the University, permitted him to hold, he triumphantly maintained the suffi- ciency of the Word of God as a rule of faith and practice. During his residence in this city he, by his contempt for such time-serving as Erasmus showed, incurred the mortal hatred of that illustrious scholar but indifferent Christian. On returning from a visit to Zwingle and Myconius he received orders, which had been procured by Erasmus and others, his foes, to leave the place. After leaving Basle, Farel laboured for some time at the request of the people, and with the consent of the prince, in INIontbeliard. Here he was most assi- duous in disseminating the "Word of God both by preaching and by means of the press. Lefevre had already made and published se])arate translations of IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 73 the Gospels, and soon afterwards other books of the New Testament were issued. This was in 1522. In response to an earnest desire among many to have a complete copy of the New Testament in French, these separate parts were carefully revised, and pub- lished in a complete edition on the 12th of October, 1524. Treatises, commentaries, &c., were constantly being prepared and scattered over the country by the indefatigable Farel, carrying light and knowledge wherever they found their way. But Farel's usc^ful- noss in this sphere was at length interrupted by an act of imprudence into which his impetuosity one day betrayed him. It was the feast of St. Anthony, and he was walking through the streets of the town, when near the bridge he met a procession with two priests at its head carrying an image of the saint. Stung to momentary madness by the thought that the honour which was the due of God alone should be given to an image, he seized the effigy, and, wrenching it from tlie arms of the priests, threw it into the river, ex claiming, "Poor idolators, will you never leave ofl your idolatry V The act was characteristic, but miglit have cost him dear. His life was in danger, and he was compelled to flee, taking refuge at first in Basle, and afterwards in Strasburg, with Capito and Bucer. But soon fiery trials, in comparison with which thfir previous experiences were as nothing, were to come upon the faithful in France. On February, 24th, 1525, the battle of Pavia was fought, and Francis was defeated and taken prisoner. Superstition attributed 74 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION tliis calamity to the wrath of Heaven, because severe measures had not been taken against the heretics. Par- liament joined the doctors of the Sorbonne in demand- ing exemplary punishment. The members addressed a strong remonstrance to the Queen Mother, the infamous Louisa, on the conduct of the Government in regard to them. " Heresy," they said, " has raised its head in the midst of us ; and the King, by not causing scaf- folds to be erected for it, has brought down on the kingdom the wrath of Heaven." The regent, who did not love the new doctrine because it rebuked her licentiousness, and who consequently needed but little urging, sent to the Sorbonne to inquire what could be done. Beda, who was the life and soul of the faculty, replied in their name, " Force and constraint must be employed against the person even of these false teachers. Those who resist the light must be subdued to it by punishment and terror." Duprat, who had taken orders that he might possess himself of some of the richest of the benefices, had by this time been made a cardinal, and, as may be supposed, was quite ready to support the Queen Mother in her attempts at suppression. The first to be seized upon was the bishop of Meaux. "VYe have had an example of bis pusillanimity, and can anticipate the effect of his citation. He most miserably recanted, and thus denied the Lord who bought him. " We do not blame him," says Macaulay in reference to Cranmer and his recantation at the bidding of Mary, " for not choosing to be burnt alive ; " so perhaps we may say in regard to Briconnet, but, while we prefer not to constitute IN THE blXTEENTH CENTURY. 75 ourselves his judges, and pronounce harshly against him, we cannot help contrasting his weakness with the heroic fortitude of Luther, and reflecting how different the course of the Reformation in France might have been if only a man of his rank and position had stood firm, and witnessed a good confession. It is possible he would have saved himself and the Reformation too, if, like Luther, he had played the man. The next thing was to lay hands ujion Lefevre, but he saved himself by flight. Finding that their prey had escaped them, and thirsting for blood, they turned upon Berquin. He, however, had powerful friends at court, and nothing worse befel him than temporary continement. Erasmus was then attacked, though wdiy it is difficult to see, for he had never dangerously com- mitted himself, unless it was that they were moved by envy, and the malignity begotten of it. But the " philosopher of Rotterdam " was too subtle for them. He appealed to the parliament, to the King, and at last even to the Emperor Charles himself, and so managed to slip through their fingers. The bloodhounds of Rome, however, must not be disappointed. They must have victims even if they be humble ones. The first to pass through the fire was a priest of the name of Schuch, pastor in the town of Saint Hippolyte, at the foot of the Vosges. He had for some time declared to his flock the Gospel of the grace of God. At his examination he was addressed by Friar Bonaventure as " Heretic ! Judas ! Devil ! " On learning his sentence he exclaimed, " I was glad w^ien they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the 76 THE RELIGIOUS EEVOLUTIOJf Lord." He died with fortitude in the town of Nancy, repeating the fifty-first Psahn till the fire and smoke choked him. Other yictims followed in different parts of the country. A young man of the name of Pavanne suffered in the Place de Greve, and a hermit from the forest of Livry, whose name has not come down to us, in front of ISTotre Dame, in Paris. Anthony du Blet, a pious merchant at Lyons, with another named Moulin, also fell under the attacks of the enemies of the cause of Christ. In this way it was thought to strike terror into the hearts of heretics, and save the Church — to so little purpose had the perpetrators of these foul deeds read the lessons of history. Thus the first chapter in the history of the Reforma- tion in France was stained in repeated instances with hlood — sad presage of the Lloody baptism which was to follow ! CHAPTER YL Eeception in Germany of New Testament in the Vernacular — Luther's Great Influence— Henry YIII. and Luther— A Re- forming Pope — Continued Persecution — Fanaticism— Rising of the Peasants — Mediation of Luther — Nature of the Gospel more clearly Discerned — Emperor Prepares to Combat the Pest of Wittenberg— Luther's Marriage— Views in taking the Step. Immediately on his return to Wittenberg, Luther, having with admirable courage, firmness, and modera- tion, silenced the fanatical teachers — among whom were his quondam friend Carlstadt, and three men of IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 77 very extreme views named Storck, Stubner, and Cellarius — set himself to the publication of his New Testament. In the work of revision, and in correct- ing for the press, he had the valuable assistance of his friend Melancthon, and as the result of their joint labours an edition of three thousand copies appeared on the 21st of September, 1522. The reception which the ])eople gave to it showed how widespread and great was the thirst which existed for the Word of God. In a very short time the whole edition was disposed of, and a second edition appeared in December. The amount of literary work which Luther did, taking into account his numerous preaching and professorial labours, is something amazing. Even while the New Testament was at press he began a translation of the Old Testament. In a sense he may be said to have been the father of modern German literature. Some idea of the impetus he gave to reading and general Biblical study, may be gathered from the following facts furnished by D'Aubigne : — "Up to 1517 only thirty-five publications had appeared, but the number increased with astonishing rajjidity after the publica- tion of Luther's theses. In 1518 we find seventy-one different works ; in 1519, a hundred and eleven; in lo20, two hundred and eight; in 1521, two hun- dred and eleven; in 1522, three hundred and forty- seven ; in 1523, four hundred and ninety-eight." The result of the publication of the New Testa- ment in the vulgar tongue was the immediate and extensive ditfusion of evangelical knowledge among the people. Even the partisans of Rome ha^e 78 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION acknowledged — and acknowledged with bitterness, as showing the mischief which that friend and colleague of the devil, Luther, had wrought to the souls of men — that persons of the humblest stations in life, such as shoemakers, smiths, carpenters, and other mechanics, and, horrihile dictu, even women read the Scriptures, and disputed thereon. At Ingol- stadt itself, which, having been lurained so long by that star of the greatest magnitude, Eck, ought to have known better, the multitude assembled together from time to time to hear the writings of Luther read by a young w eaver. In the same place, even the favoured Tngolstadt, the professors having deterniined to silence a disciple of the "Wittenberg school whose influence in their town they deemed it prudent, if possible, to destroy, a woman named Argula Staufen undertook to defend him, and challenged them to a public discussion. Everywhere the preachers of the reformed faith were listened to by large and attentive crowds. Luther's influence among certain classes seemed to be almost unbounded. Multitudes, when the opportunity was afforded, hung upon his lips, and received through the medium of the living voice the things of God. As an example, it may be stated that on one occasion, when he was announced to preach at Zwickau, so many came together that no church in the town could contain them, and the reformer, mountmg the balcony of the Stadthaus, preached to an audience of twenty-five thousand in the public square. It was about this time that Luther came to IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 79 polemical blows with Henry YIII. The latter, no doubt, was the aggressor. What occasion there was for hmi to enter the arena as a theological disputant does not fully appear. Some historians state that, being the second son, Henry was intended by his father for the archbishopric of Canterbury ; and that but for the death of his brother Arthur, the heir to the kingdom, he would eventually have been seated on the archiepiscopal throne. Burnet, however, shows that this could scarcely have been, and certainly the l)roof of the statement seems to be lacking. Again it is stated that Henry had for a long time been desirous of a title similar to " Most Christian," and ^'Catholic," possessed by some of the continental monarchs, and had supplicated the Roman court for such a distinc- tion. If so, the hope that in this respect he would at last be gratified, if he showed himself to have a dis- tinguished claim, might have been his motive in taking up his pen. However that may be, his "little book," as Luther with some contempt termed it, came out in due time, bearing the portentous title, " Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther, by the Most Invincible King of England, France, and Ireland, Henry, Eight of the Name."' Tlie Pope on receiving a copy from the King declared that it could have been composed only by the aid of the Holy Spirit, and dubbed the royal author " Defender of the Faith." As soon as Luther had perused the King's book his soul was stirred within him, and he deter- mined, notwithstanding the endeavours of Melancthon and others to dissuade him from it, to reply. He 80 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION seldom dealt very gently with an opponent, and in this instance he felt that Henry by his style of argu- ment deserved no consideration. With much ability he refuted the Church's royal defender, declaring that "it was a small thing for him to despise and lash an earthly king, who himself had not feared in his writing to blaspheme the King of Heaven, and pro- fane His holiness by the most audacious falsehood." The reformer's slashing reply drove Henry and his followers to the very verge of madness. The dis- tinguished autlior himself did not again essay the pen, but others took it up in his behalf, among whom were the celebrated Thomas More and Fisher the bishop of Rochester. Nothing could exceed the coarse invective and low persiflage in which the former of these indulged. If Luther had been violent. More was most violent. The following, in which he described, as he said, the way in which Luther prepared his reply, is a choice sample — " He called together his companions, and asked each to go his way, and rummage for buffoonery and insult. One went to waggoners and boatmen, another to baths and gam- bling houses, a third to barbers' shops and taverns, a fourth to mills and houses of ill-fame. Everything they heard most insolent, filthy and infamous they noted down, and bringing it back threw it into that impure sink, called the mind of Luther." Henry's book did little for the papacy, and Luther's refutation did little for the Reformation. The episode, however, is not without its lessons, and was not without results of a certain kind. IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 81 The sudden dcatli of Leo on the 1st of December, 1521, gave a new aspect to affairs. He was succeeded l)y the Cardinal of Tortosa under the title of Adrian VI. The election, which was brought about by a few wirepullers from interested motives, was anything but generally popular. Nevertheless in certain quarters it gave unbounded satisfaction. In Holland there were great rejoicings, for the new Pope was a Nether- lander. He was born at Utrecht, and for some time liad been a professor at Louvain. In allusion to this, and also to the part the Emperor had taken in his elevation to the pontifical chair, the following inscrip- tion was made on tapestry displayed in front of the houses: "Utrecht planted, Louvain watered, the Emperor has given the increase." Underneath, some one of a waggish turn, or perhaps with a sense of disgust at this perversion of the words of Scripture, wrote, "And God did nothing at all in the matter." This Pope is known to history as the "reforming Pope," not that he actually accomplished much in the way of reform— the task of cleansing the Augean stable was too Herculean for that — but that he was sincerely desirous of doing so. " We know full well," said he, through his legate, to the Diet of Nuremberg, which was held on March 23rd, 1522, "that for several years many abuses and abominations have existed in the holy city. The contagion has spread from the head into the members; it has descended from the Popes to the other ecclesiastics. We desire the reformation of this Roman court, whence proceed so many evils ; the whole world desires it, and it was S2 THE EELIGIOrS REVOLUTION with a view to its accomplishniGiit that we were resigned to mount the pontifical throne." In accord- ance with his convictions, Adrian, on liis arrival in jRome, commenced the purification of the court and the city ; but his attempts only procured for him the hatred of all about him. Realizing his impotency the unhappy man is said to have exclaimed, " Ah ! how unfortunate the condition of the Popes, since they have not even the lil)erty of doing good." Notwith- standing his honest efforts and upright character he died, with scarcely one in Rome to lament him, after a brief reign of a year and a half, which, according to his own confession, was the most unhappy period of his life. On the occasion of his death the Roman.s, delighted with their deliverance, decked the gate of his physician with flowers, and placed over it this inscription, "To the saviour of his country," It must not be supposed, that because Adrian was a friend to reform, that, therefore, he was a friend to Luther and his confrh'ps. On the contrary, he wrote a most violent . letter to the Elector of Saxony respecting that " sacrilegious man," and denounced the judgments of Heaven upon him unless he took steps for putting down the reformei-s, and destroying their work. The records of his brief reign are stained with the blood of the martyrs. On the first of July, 1523, two young monks of the Augustine convent of Antwerp, who had received the truth, were com- mitted to the flames for their faith. They died un- flinchingly, having witnessed a good confession, and sang with their last breath the I'e Deum laudaimts. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 83 Soon afterwards another of tlieir brethren followed them to the stake and a martyr's cro^val. Luther wrote a poem on their death which vras sung all over Germany and the Netherlands, and wherever sung it inflamed the zeal of the jieople in behalf of the Gospel, and excited their sympathy with those who suffered for it. What was foretold in it was abundantly realized : — " Xo ! their ashes ■will not die ; Abroad their holy dust will flj", And scattered o'er earth's farthest strand, Eaise up for God a warlike band. Satan by taking life away. May keep them silent for a day ; But death has from him victory wrung, And Christ in every clime is sung." A new Pope had been made in the person of Julius de Medici, cousin of Leo X., a man of different character and ideas from his predecessor. His chief idea was to conserve the privileges and promote the power and splendour of the papacy. Rigorous measures were adopted against the Reformation, but not in every case successfully carried out. Every- where the heads of States were called upon to extir- pate with fire and sword the hateful heresy. The execution of the edict which declared that the Lutheran doctrine should be put down by force was energetically demanded. As a consequence persecu- tion began again in various quarters. Gaspard Taubner, a citizen of Venice, who had embraced the Gospel and circulated the works of Luther, was 84 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION* beheaded, and his body burnt. At Buda, in Hungary, a bookseller was burnt in a fire which consumed both him and his stock-in-trade, for the crime of circulatinof the New Testament and other relifdous books through the country. Henry, of Zuphten, a zealous preacher and holy man, was, at the instigation of a Dominican prior, put to death in a most cruel and most barbarous manner in the Dittmarches, Holstein. Ranke is responsible for the statement that the Lutherans, especially the preachers, were hanged upon trees, and that in some instances ministers were nailed to the stake by the tongue, so that in struggling to regain their liberty they were horribly mutilated, and rendered incapable of again declaring the Gospel. But while the foes of the good cause were thus seeking, but without success, to destroy it by fire and sword, it was about to receive much more formidable and effective blows from some of its professed friends. Disputes, emulations, and divisions, had already weakened the Reformed Church. The fanatics, put down and kept under at Wittenberg, were bold and active in other places. They pretended to have visions and revelations, and to be peculiarly gifted by and under the influence of the Holy Spirit. No doubt violent re-actions are usual under such circum- stances. The human mind not unfrequently goes from one extreme to the other. Ultra-materialism finds its re-action in ultra-spiritualism. Other circumstances have to be taken into account. For a long time the peasantiy of Germany had been languishing under the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 85 most oppressive taxes, and the exactions of bond- service. Tlie example had now been set of examin- ing and breaking away from established usages, and an uncontrollable desire arose in the hearts of these unfortunate people for freedom. John Bohme, a young man of the territory of Wurzburg, had headed an unsuccessful rebellion of the peasants of Wurtem- burg in 1513 and 1514. Having been arrested by the bishop of Wurzburg, Bohme Avas placed in con- finement. Forty-six thousand men soon marched to liis rescue. They were ! Racking, burning, beheading, the papacy pursued a short-sighted policy. The citizens of Zurich replied to the act of blood just described by abolishing the mass. On the 11th of April, lo^."), the three pastors with two others, Myconius and ^legander, appeared before the Great Council, and petitioned for the restoration to the Church of the simple Supper of the Lord. It was ol)jected that the words, " Tliis is my body, " irresistibly proved the real bodily presence of Christ in the Eu- charist, but Zwingle had no difficulty in showing that the Greek has no word to express sir/nijies hut eVn' (is), and the Council being satisfied granted the request, and issued a decree in accordance with it. In this way did the cause of Christ and the Gospel in this part of Switzerland step by step advance. 94 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION But the Reformation was not to be allowed to proceed without strenuous efforts on the part of the papal party in various ways to stop it. A demon- stration planned by Dr. Eck, the indefatigable foe of Luther, was arranged in connection with a general assembly of the Swiss cantons at Baden, in the spring of 152G. The discussion commenced on the 21st of May. On the one side was Eck, and on the other (Ecolampadius, assisted by Haller. Zwinglo, having received repeated warnings, judged it unsafe to appear. The doctrines discussed were those of transubstantia- tion, the sacrifice of the mass, the intercession of the Virgin and the saints, the use of images, and purgatoiy. The audience, being composed chiefly of Roman Catholics, was strongly in favour of Eck, and at the close of the debate nine out of the twelve cantons that recognized the meeting subscribed a declaration drawn up in terms condemnatory of the Zwinglian doctrine and party. Before the meeting broke up one of the champions of Rome named Murner, having read an accusation containing no less than forty items against the Zurich reformer, spoke as follows : — *' I thought that the coward would come and answer : he has not appeared. Very well, by all the laws that govern things human and divine, I declare that the tyrant of Zurich, and all his partisans, are disloyal subjects, liars, perjurers, adulterers, infidels, robbei-s, blas- phemers, true gallows birds, and that every honest man must blush at being in any way connected with them." Such were the elegant terms used by one of those whom Rome put forward, or IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 95 suffered to put themselves forward, as her cham- pions against such antagonists as Luther, Zwingle, and Melancthon. Troubles of a different kind were soon to be en- countvired. The Church in Switzerland was to pass through similar experiences to those of the Church in Germany which liad so distressed Luther. So early as 1521 the notorious Munzer had found his way to the Swiss frontiers, and across them, and had made disciples of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and some others of the brethren at Zurich. There can be no doubt that some of the doctrines of this school were not so unscriptural, dangerous, and subversive of social and moral order as the Reformation leaders supposed them to be. Unfortunately, those who preached them did not confine themselves to the tem- perate urging of their views, which would, at least, have entitled them to respect, and to a right to be refuted by argument, but in their mad zeal gave themselves up to sad excesses. They gave out that they were specially possessed and guided by the Spirit of the Lord, and under this impression conducted themselves more like lunatics than sane men ; indeed, it is a question whether many of them were not insane, afflicted vnth a mania which is as distinctly a mental disease as any other — a mania now called religions mania. In such a case they required strait-waistcoats rather than the severe measures of burning and drowning meted out to them by Romanist and reformer alike. It must ever be re- gretted that the men who, by their bold, and, on the 96 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION whole, moderate advocacy of Scriptural principles in the sixteenth century, have laid the Church of Christ to all generations under such vast obligations, should have condescended to use the weapons of Rome in combating error, and have stained their work with the blood of those who on some j)oints differed fr(Jm them. But these were not the only differences and dis- putes which agitated the Church of the Reformation on the continent. Discussions had already arisen at Wittenberg with regard to the Lord's Supper. The real character of the Eucharist and its place in the Christian system were points which had been hotly contested between Carlstadt and Luther. The subject soon came to be a bone of contention between Luther and Zwingle. In explaining the words, " This is my body," these eminent teachers took different views of their meaning. Luther took them in their literal sense, and, while discarding the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation, taught that the body and blood of Christ existed in some occult manner in the ele- ments, so that they were verily received by tlie com- municant with and under (cic?7i et sub) the form of bread and wine. In opposition to this Zwingle con- tended that the words meant, " This symholizeth or signifieth my body," and maintained, therefore, that tlie bread and wine were mere signs of the body and blood of Christ. The doctrine of consubstantiation, as Lu- ther's doctrine has been called, seemed to imply that spiritual influence and blessing were exercised quite independent of the recipient's state of heart, while the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 97 doctrine of Zwingle maintained that faith was neces- sary in order that benefit should be received from the sacrament. It is difficult to realize now how em- bittered the controversy became, and quite impossible to say how much mischief was wrought by it. The friends of the Romish Church rubbed their hands with delight when they saw those who would purify and reform the Church thus disagreeing among them- selves. But their exultation was scarcely justified. The controversy was painful certainly, but it revealed one thing clearly enough, namely, that it was not a blind hatred of Rome which animated these men, but that the truth was what they sought, and that this was dearer to them than friendship, or unity, or anything else. The Reformation in Switzerland had been hitherto almost entirely confined to the German-speaking por- tion of the population. The time had now come when French Switzerland was to be attacked with vigour, and with success. In the winter of 1526 — 7 the Frenchman Farel, whom we have spoken of above, disguised as a foreign schoolmaster, and under the name of Ursinus, arrived at tlie small town of Aigle, one of the most southern in Switzerland. For some time he maintained his incognito, but at length, feeling himself constrained to witness for the Gospel in a more clear and open manner than he had been able to do with his disguise upon him, he threw it off, and announced himself as " William Farel, minister of the Word of God." At the first he was met by a great deal of opposition, especially on the part of the rich and lazy incumbents of the churches, who feared G 98 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION for their benefices. But he had obtained a licence from the Council of Berne to explain the Word of God to the people of Aiglo, and undauntedly pursued his work. In the city of Berne progress was being unmistak- ably made. Berthold Haller, who had for some time professed the principles of the Reformers here, was now no longer alone. Kolb, an aged priest, had quitted the Carthusian monastery at Nuremberg, in which he had been compelled to take refuge, and had appeared before his compatriots boldly preaching the Lord Jesus (Jlirist. Six of the city companies had abolished in the churches and convents of their districts all masses, advowsons, and prebends. Many of the parishes also iu other parts of the canton, more or less openly, tlirew off" allegiance to the Church of Eome. At length an event occurred which did not a little to assist the cause of the Gospel in this part of Switzer- land. It was resohed by the Council and citizens on tlic festival of St. Martin, 1527, that a public dis- })utation should take place at the beginning of the succeedinc^ year. Consequently, on Tuesday, the 7tli of the following January, Zwingle and others from Zurich having arrived under an escort of three hun- dred chosen men to take part in it, tlie debate was opened. The Cordeliers' Church was the place of meeting, and on the Evangelical side were Zwingle, TIaller, (Ecolampadius, and several more, who were com- parative strangers to Switzerland, such as Bucer, Capito, I'Aid Blarer, while on the side of tlie pai)acy were Dr. Treger, of Friburg, and others of less note. No less than some 350 Swiss and German ecclesiastics were IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 99 present. It was determined that "no proof should be proposed that was not drawn from the Holy Scriptures, and no explanation should be given of those Scriptures that did not come from Scripture itself, explaining obscure texts by such as were clear." The discussion successively turned on the Headship of Christ, the Sufficiency of vScripture, Tra- dition, the Merits of Christ, Transubstantiation, the Mass, Prayer to the Saints, Purgatory, Images, Celi- bacy, and the Disorders among the Clergy. The result was, that several of the priests avowed their accept- ance of the theses of the reformers, and the Council decreed that the mass should be abolished, and that all who had placed ornaments in the churches were at liberty to remo^"e them. But though Berne thus followed Zurich in em- bracing the Reformation, Basle remained, seemingly at least, in alliance with Rome. But the turn of Basle was approaching. The Gospel liad for some years been preached in the city, but as yet there had been no popular movement in favour of it. For some time tlie authorities pursued a temporizing policy. Basle tried, in the words of Ql^colarapadius, "to sit on two stools" : on the one hand to give liberty to the ministers, and on the other not to break with the priests. This could not succeed, and at length a crisis came. On the 10th of April, 1528, being Good Friday, five workmen entered the church of St. Martin, and removed the "idols;" and on Easter Monday thirty-four citizens united to carry them off from the church of the Augus- tincs. In the following December, two days before 100 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Christ 111 as Day, three hundred citizens assembled in the hall of the Gardeners' Company, and drew up a petition to the Senate. *' Honoured, wise, and gracious lords," they said, " we, your dutiful fellow-citizens of the Com- panies, address you as well-beloved fathers, whom we are- ready to obey at the cost of our goods and of our lives. Take God's glory to heart; restore peace to the city ; and oblige all the people's preachers to discuss with the ministers. If the mass be true, we desire to have it in our churches ; but if it be an abomination before God, why, through love for the priests, should we draw down His terrible anger upon ourselves and our children]" It was to be expected that a demonstration like this would be speedily followed by a counter-demonstration. During the night of the 25th of April, the priests' party met with arms in their hands. Information of this soon reached the party of reform, and they also quickly armed themselves. Civil war seemed imminent. The Senate, desirous of bringing so serious a crisis to an end, endeavoured to satisfy both parties by decreeing that the priests should continue to celebrate mass, while botli priests and ministers should be allowed to preach the Word of God. So far from satisfying both parties, they satisfied neither. The Evangelicals declared that they would die rather than tolerate the mass ; and the Romanists declared that they were equally ready to sacrifice their lives if the mass were not allowed to them. CEcolampadius used his best endeavours to keep the people within the bounds of reason and moderation ; but the crisis continued till some of the Romanist leaders, judging their cause to be IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 101 lost, and possibly fearing the consequences to them- selves, escaped secretly from the city. An apparently unimportant circumstance was the means, in connec- tion with this, of at length bringing the strife to an end. Impelled by curiosity, a member of a patrol party one day opened a closet in the Cathedral, in which a number of images had been stowed away. The door being opened, one of them fell out, and was smashed to pieces on the pavement. The sight of the fragments to the populace was like the taste of blood to a half- tamed beast of prey. The remaining images soon shared the fate which had accidentally befallen the fh'st. In all the churches of the city the "idols" fell under the blows of the zealous citizens ; and the Senate, apparently feeling that a trimming policy had at length become impossible, resolved that the mass and images should be abolished throughout the canton. Thus what had been done at Zurich and Berne was now also iifait accomjdi at Basle. CHAPTER VIII. Unique Character of Reformation in England — Marriage of Henry VIII. intimately connected with Keformation in England — Leaven previously at "Work — The Lollards — Erasmus's Greek New Testament — AVilliam Tyndale, and the Scriptures in the Vulgar Tongue — Martyrs for the Gospel's Sake — The Cam- bridge School — The Dissemination of the Scriptui'es — The Faithful Few at Oxford. It is now full time that we turned our attention to England, which, though late on the scene, played no 102 THE P.ELIGTOUS REVOLUTION" small part in tliat gi-eat sixteenth century movement which freed the most important, if not the largest, part of Europe from the tyranny of the Pope. The history of the Reformation in England is different from what Ave have seen it to be on the continent. It was more political and less religious. Yet in no country have the principles of the Pteformation, since that Reforma- tion was effected, been more sturdily or faithfully held * in no country at the present time does spiritual religion — the religion of the Gospel — more largely prevail. Tlie monarch who occupied the English throne at the time that the continental Reformers ap- ])eared, was, as we have already seen, Henry VIII. The second son of Henry YII., he, upon the death of his brother Artliur, liad been betrothed to the widow, Catherine of Aragon. This was chiefly the work of the young prince's father, who was anxious to retain the two Inindred thousand ducats which had formed Catherine's dowry. The most earnest objections were urged against it by the primate and others, but these were all disposed of by a bull of Julius II., in which, " for the sake of preserving union between the Catholic princes," he authorized the marriage. In the spring of 1509 the old king died, and about seven weeks afterwards Henry YIII., urgently recommended thereto by his council, married the Spanish princess. This marriage was destined to exert a most important influence on the progress of the Reformation in Great Britain. There can be no doubt there was a Gospel leaven in the nation antecedent to the rupture with Rome. IN THE SIXTEENTH CEXTURV. 103 Wiekliffe liad long since entered into the blessedness of the pious dead; resting from his labours, his works followed him. As a professor of Divinity at Oxford, this eminent man of God had struck the key-note of Evangelical teaching when he declared " The Gospel is the only source of religion." The unflinching fidelity of the martyr breathes in the words to which he gave ex- pression, when, having been denounced by the Pope as a heretic, he was cited to appear at the archiepiscopal palace to answer for his heresies. " I resolve," said he, "with my whole heart, and by the grace of God, to be a sincere Christian, and while my life shall last to profess and defend the law of Christ so far as I have the power." His translation of the Scriptures, which^ after many years of toil, he completed in 1 380, was a great work, and marked an era in the religious history of England. If " The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants," and contention for the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice, is the mark of a true Protestant, then there were Protestants in England a hundred and fifty years before the Diet of Spires. "The Bible is the faith of the Church," said Wicklifie ; " though the Pope and all his clerks should disappear from the face of the earth, our faith Avould not fail, for it is founded on Jesus alone, our Master and our God." All the great Reformation principles were more or less clearly enunciated by this faithful witness, and if only greater facilities for the multiplication of copies of the Scriptures and other works had existed, the Gospel might have prevailed to the overturning of the Romish hierarchy in England 104 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION long before it did, and by mucli more purely spiritual forces. But the fulness of time was not yet. Never- theless, fruit Avas found, and results were witnessed. To His faithful martyrs, William Sautre, who was burnt alive at Smithfield, in 1401, and John Oldcastle, Lord Cobhani, who suffered in the same manner in St. Giles' fields, in 1417, Christ gave the crown of life. Others of less note endured bonds and imprisonment at various times for the Gospel's sake, some of them showing faithfulness even unto death. The *' Lollards' Tower " is a standing witness, even to this day, of the persecutions to which they Avere subjected. The English Reformation, however, was not due to the Wickliflites ; that is, the impulses by which this country was roused to assert its independence in eccle- siastical affairs, and to re-cast Church doctrine, were not the direct results of their teachings. But they pre- pared the way. The agitations of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries presaged the coming convulsion. A work which did much more for the Reformation in England than for it in any other country, was the Greek and Latin New Testament of Erasmus, which appeared in 1516. Probably, had the Rotterdam scholar foreseen the result of his work in this respect, his constitutional timidity would have kept him back from its prosecution. However, he did not foresee it, and, without intending to be a reformer, he became one. The irritation of the priests was great. It was not enough for him to publish the New Testament in Greek, he had even ventured to correct the Vulgate. " What audacity ! " they exclaimed. " Look here ! IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 105 This book calls upon men to repent, instead of requiring them, as the Yulgate does, to do penanced Tlieir anger was aggravated by fear. The King loved learning, and was the patron of Erasmus. What a frightful calamity if he should be won over ! This was a contingency to be guarded against. It was thought necessary, therefore, to declaim from the pulpit, in the presence of the King, against the Greek Lmguaofe, and the editor of the Greek New Testa- ment. Henry smiled good-humouredly as he listened. " Bring the priest to me," said he, at the close of the sermon : and, turning to Sir Thomas More, he added, " You shall defend the Greek cause against him, and I w^ill listen to the disputation." The poor preacher, not knowing what his temerity might now cost him, came forward, fearing and trembling, and, clasping his hands, said, "I know not what spirit impelled me." "A spirit of madness," said the King, " and not the Spirit of Jesus Christ." He then inquired, " Have you ever read Erasmus % " " No, Sire," was the reply. " Away with you, then, you blockhead." " And yet," said the preacher, " I remember to have read about ' Moria ' " (Erasmus's book on "The Praise of Folly"). "A subject, your majesty," interposed a courtier, " that ought to be very familiar to him." Thinking to put the matter in a light very favourable to himself, this redoubtable theologian and scholar at length says, " I am not altogether opposed to the Greek, seeing that it is derived from the Hebrew." A hearty laugh followed such a display of erudition, followed by a con- temptuous dismissal. 106 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Tlie Greek New Testament of Erasmus was only useful to the learned — a very limited, though a very influential class — several of whom, as Tliomas Bihiey and John Frith, at Cambridge, and William Tyndale, at Oxford, soon learned the way of life from it. The time was near when the unlearned were to have the Scriptures given them in their mother tongue. The instrument specially used to this end was the last of the three just named. This remarkable man, and faithful servant of Jesus Christ, was born in 1500, at North Nil>ley, in Gloucest^^rshire, not far from l^erkeley Castle. He was sent, while still young, to Oxford, where he studied in the school of St. Mary Magdalene. It was while he was pui-suing his studies in this classic city, that, by reading the Scriptures, he was divinely illuminated, and came to know for himself the way of life through faith in Jesus. Bearing an excellent character for morals and diligence, he was admittrd a canon of Wolsey's new foundation, now known as Christchurcli ; but, on his principles becoming known, he was ejected. Virtually banished from Oxford, he betook himself to Cam- bridge, where he took his degree, afterwards returning to Gloucestei-shire, and becoming a tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh, of Sodbury. While sei-v'ing in this cap9,city, he translated Erasmus' " Enchiridion Militis Christiani,'' into English. He was accustometl also to preach the Word of God in the little church of St. Adeline, which stood just behind Sir John's mansioiL Of course, it was not long before he excited the ire of the priests, who did all they possibly could IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 107 to ruin him. He was accused to the chancellor of the diocese, but, his accusers not having the courage to support the charge they preferred against him, lie escaped with a reprimand. For some time he had cherished the idea of giving to liis fellow-countrymen the Woi-d of God in their own language, and one day his great secret came out. A celebrated theologian had been commissioned to undertake the work of restoring him to the faith he had abandoned. To all the schoolman's arguments, Tyndale replied with passages from the Scriptures. Confounded by this mode of procedure, the baflled divine exclaimed, "It were better to be without God's laws than the Pope's." The reformer was staggered by such a blasphemous avowal, but understanding the importance of the Pope's laws to a Romish theologian, and how little they could stand before the Word of God, he replied, " If God spares my life, I will take care that a ploughboy shall know more of the Scriptures than you do." There was no mistaking the meaning of this : the threat was a fearful one to Rome, whose faithful servants at once took steps to prevent the execution of 'it. Fearing for his safety, the persecuted Tyndale was obliged to leave the roof of his kind patron, and accept a retreat in the house of a London Alderman^ where he employed himself in his great work. Even here, however, he soon felt that he was not secure ; and therefore proceeded to Hamburg, carrying his manuscripts with him. In this city he toiled for some time, e^'entually removing to Cologne, whence he was hunted out, and compelled to flee to Worms, at which 108 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION city lie completed and printed his translation of the New Testament in 1525. In the following year the precious ^'olumes crossed the sea, probably by way of Antwerp, to England. About ten years later Tyii- dale received the martyr's crown, praying with his last breatl), *' Lord, 0})en the eyes of the King ol" England." But even while Tyndale was engaged preparini,' Iiis precious gift to his countrymen of the Word of God in the vulgar tongue, that Word had been running very swiftly. This is attested by the efforts which were made in various parts of the country to put down here-sy, as it was called. A i>ious artisan, named Thomas Man, who had been imprisoned for his faith, in the priory of St. Frideswide, at Oxford, in 1 .") 1 1 , was burnt alive in 1519. Foxe tells us that from six to seven hundred persons had been converted by his pieachmg. In the same year, six men and a woman were burnt alive at Coventry, for the crime of teaching their children the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar tongue. In 1521, the year in which Henry received the title of Defender cf the Faitli, the most horrible cruelties were practised on some simple folk, in the iliocese of Lincoln, for their adhesion to Evangelical doctrines. Some of them, being but imperfectly instructed and grounded in their faith, recanted, and did penance. But four of them were faithful unto death ; one of them, named Scrivener, had been very active and zealous in the dissemination of the Scriptures. The martyrologist Foxe is responsible IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 109 for the statement that, by a horrible refinement of cruelty, the victim's own children were compelled to set fire to the pile in Avhich he was consumed. Aniono; the boldest and most zealous of the English reformers was Hugh Latimer. He was bom in Leicester- shire, in 1 49 1 . His father belonged to the class of yeo- men or small farmers. When he was fourteen years old he was sent to Cambridge, where he took his Master's degree in 1514. At the close of his classical course he gave himself with much earnestness to the study of divinity, and was very fervent in his zeal for the doc- trines and ceremonies of the Church. He was particu- larly zealous in opposing the Lutheran heresy, and even went so far as to insult an eminent professor, named Stafford, whose teaching savoured of Wittenberg. At length, through the prayers and exertions of Bilney, he was brought to understand the Gospel, and to saving faith in the Saviour. With all the energy of his character, he now threw himself into the Evan- gelical movement, and was distinguished for his eloquence and power as a preacher. But Latimer was not simply a preacher; he and Bilney gave themselves to works of the most active benevolence. They visited the poor, the lepers in the lazar-house, and the prisoners in the prison, everywhere holding forth the Word of Life. Cambridge was being moved ; so also was Rome, though in a different way. It was neces- sary that Latimer, who was too popular, should be silenced. Dr. West, Bishop of Ely, and Ordinary of Cambridge, forbade him to preach in the University, or in any part of his diocese. But, meanwhile, among 110 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION those who had been won to the Gospel was Eobert Barnes, the prior of the Augustine monastery. "The bishop has forbidden you to preach," said he, to Latimer ; " but my monastery is not under episcopal jurisdiction. You can preach there." The reformer did preach there, and the chapel could not contain the crowds that flocked to it. Barnes himself had preached the truth with fidelity, if not with discretion. In a sermon on "Rejoice in the Lord alway," he had imprudently attacked the cardinal. This was even worse than heresy, and could not be tolerated. Dr. Capon, one of Wolsey's chaplains, and Gibson, ser- jeant-at-arms, were despatched to Cambridge. Barnes was arrested in the Convocation house in the presence of his friends, conveyed to London, and brought before the cardinal. " What, master doctor," said Wolsey, "had you not sufficient scope in the Scri})- tures to teach the people ; but my golden shoes, my pole-axes, my pillars, my golden cushions, my crosses, did so sore oflfend you that you nmst make us a laughing-stock, ridiculum caput, amongst the people] We were jollily that day laughed to scorn. Verily, it was a sermon more lit to be preached on a stage than in a pulpit ; for, at the last, you said that I wore a pair of red gloves — * I should say bloody gloves,' quoth you." Barnes was required to find six doctoi-s of divinity willing to swear that he was free from lieresy, and, as this was impossible, he was told he must be burnt. At length he was so wrought upon that he attached his signature to what was virtually a recan- tation, and soon afterwards was compelled, with five IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Ill merchants who had assisted to introduce Tyndale's New Testament into England, to do public penance at St. Paul's. But though Barnes's faith failed him in the hour of trial on this occasion, it proved strong- enough subsequently to lead him to the stake. The two lieutenants of Wolsey who arrested Barnes had instructions at the same time to seize what heretical books they could find at Cambridge, and take their owners into custody. As no books could be found, for the simple reason that, warning having been received, they had been carefully secreted, Bilney, Stafford, Latimer^ and their friends, for this time escaped. At Oxford, similar events were taking place. Anxious that his new college should take a high place among the academic institutions of the city, Wolsey had looked about him for men of distin- guished learning to occupy its professorial chairs. A Cambridge Master of Arts, named John Clark, who had embraced the Gospel, was one of the first to receive an appointment. Thus, in looking about for ability, the cardinal, though unaware of it, found enlightened piety too. A young student, of the name of Anthony Delaber, soon learned the way of life from Clark's lips, and it was not long before the '' conta- gion " spread further. The faithful few were strength- ened from time to time by the addition of other Cam- bridge fellows of Evangelical sympathies, who had responded to Wolsey's invitation to undertake tutorial duties at "Cardinal's College." Among these were Bichard Cox, John Fryer, Godfrey Harman, William 112 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Betts, Henry Sumner, and the excellent John Frith, who had helped Tyndale, when in the London Alder- man's house, in the translation of his New Testament. These devout men held meetings for prayer and the study of the Scriptures, endeavouring by this and other means to spread the knowledge of the truth. Their work soon received assistance, in a way not perhaps anticipated by them. When the copies of the New Testament were brought from the continent to London, they were carefully stowed away in the house of Thomas Garret, curate of All Hallows, Honey Lane, Cheapside, who superintended their dis- tribution. The bishops soon came to know, or sus- pect, what was being done. They sent to the curate s house in Honey Lane, but he was not at home. They sought him in the city, but he could not be found. At length they were informed that he had gone to Oxford, to sell his detestable books. Emissaries were at once despatclied to hunt him out. Ultimately, he and Delaber, who had tried to assist him to escape, were arreste numerous children Catherine had borne him, been taken away from him? A son, so ardently desired by him, and apparently so necessary for the peace and welfare of his kingdom, he was denied ; and it was possible that a di.«iputed succession to the crown would again plunge England into all the horrors of a civil war. Such considerations, without question, greatly oppressed him. But had not his passions been called into play, it is very doubtful whether his conscience, or anything else, would have induced him so persistently to seek for a separation from the virtuous woman who for so many years had shared his bed and his throne. Among the ladies of the Queen's suite was a young, beautiful, and accom- plished woman, Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, who for many years had been the English 116 THE RELiniOUS REVOLUTION' ambassador at Paris. She was appointed m:iid of honour to Catherine about 1522, but in consequence of being thwarted in her attachment to Lord Percy, the eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland, she returned to France, where a considerable part of her life had been spent. " She did not stay long in England," says Burnet, " she served Queen Claude, of France, till her death, and after that she was taken into service by King Francis' sister." This sister was that Margaret of Valois whom we have already seen favouring the Reformation, and writing beau- tiful verses to the "sweet Emmanuel." It seems that in consequence of Margaret's marriage with the King of Navarre, in January, 1527, Anne Boleyn returned to England, and appeared again at court. It was not long before Henry cast eyes of desire upon her, and began to intrigue against her honour. Anne indig- nantly repulsed the King's advances. " Your wife," said she, '' I cannot be, both in respect of mine own iinworthiness, and because you have a Queen already : your mistress I will not be." Notwithstanding the bold statement of CobV)ett, one of the wildest, most violent, and manifestly most biased of writers of history, that " the King had had Anne about three years * under his protection ' when she became for the first time with child," there is no sufficient reason for doubtmg that Anne remained tiiie to her resolution and herself. Cardinal Pole says that *' though a king was consumed by love for her, she obstinately refused to yield to him the power over her person." The facts seem to show that the hopelessness of his possessing IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 117 Anne so long as Catherine was his wife was the King's chief spur to the persistent efforts he made to obtain a divorce. The perseverance he disphiyed was worthy of a better cause. Wolsey, if in the first place he suggested the divorce, turned completely round when he saw who was to be second Queen. Anne Boleyn, he more than suspected, was tainted with the Lutheran heresy. The astute cardinal was alarmed for his own position and power, and that of his Church ; for if England had a Protestant Queen it was easy to see that his power and the Pope's would be largely, if not altogether, broken. The Pope opposed the divorce, for he feared the Emperor ; besides, to declare the marriage null and \ oid would be to stultify the papacy, which had previously granted a dispensation for the very puipose of sanctioning and legalizing it. Still he was anxious, if possible, to oblige the King, who, just at that time, in consequence of the complications on the Continent, was perhaps the most powerful prince in Christendom. Clement understood, too, the headstrong character of the man with whom he had to deal. If the divorce were refused, a rupture with the King was inevitable; and not only the Defender of tJie Faith, but his kingdom also, would prol)ably be lost to the Church. The great object of the Pope, therefore, was to gain time. He was told, however, in plain terms, by Henry's ambassador, that, though Fabius Cunctator saved Rome by his delaying policy, he was himself more likely to ruin her by following his example. His po.sition, no doubt, was an exceedingly difficult 118 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION one, and sometimes so oppressed was he with a sense of his embaiTassments, and with fears for his tlnone and his life, as to be in deep distress. The part the Cardinal of York had to play was equally dithcult and hazardous. He had plans of his own as to the King's future conjugal relationship. For some time he opposed the royal project as far as he could, and as discreetly as he could. But no man knew the King of England better than he. He had, consequently, to disguise his real feelings, and pretend to be anxious to further the divorce, and the proposed marriage. There came a time, indeed, when, seeing probably that there was no other way of retaining his place in the King's atfections and service, he became, apparently, sincerely desirous of gi'atifying his wishes. At length, after a good deal of diplomacy, the Pope professed his readiness to grant the divorce. Anne, seeing that both her friends and her enemies were desirous of promoting her marriage with the King, and that the Church Avas prepared to make it posrsible by nullifying his Majesty's former marriage, yielded her consent. " If the King becomes free,"' she said, *' I shall be Avilling to marry him." Poor thing ! She committed in this a great fault ; yet it may be doubted whether many of the women of her time — those of them at least who had been subjected to such influences as she had been — would have displayed as much firmness as she did. At any rate she lived to expiate her faults to the full. But though Clement, much against his inclina- tion, had consented to the furtherance of the King of England's matrimonial plans, he shrank from the IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 119 responsibility of giving tlie necessary bull. He was quite willing that Wolsey shonld pronounce the marriage in\'alid ; but from this responsibility the wily cardinal also shrank. After a while, when the army of Charles was in full flight before that of Francis, and the Emperor was therefore less to bo feared, the Pojdo seems to have screwed his courage up to the sticking point, and to have sufficiently overcome his scruples, if he had any. Cardinal Campeggio was commissioned to go to London, and on him and Wolsey was conferred the power of declarinsj the divorce, and the libertv of the Kins: and Queen to form new matrimonial alliances. This was on the 8th of June, 1528. A few days later he signed the famous " decretal," by which he himself an- nulled the marriage. This he gave to Campeggio, with orders not to let it go out of his hands, his intention being that it should have effect only if circumstances, after all, absolutely required it. Events, therefore, were to determine whether it should be used or not. Campeggio's instructions were to delay the matter as long as possible ; everything he could do to gain time was to be done. Accordingly, he crawled from Rome to London at a snail's pace, and when he arrived in Henry's capital the most frivolous excuses were advanced, from time to time, for deferring the business on which he had come. Other expedients were tried. Catherine was urged to embrace a con- ventual life, and thus relieve the Holy Father of his embarrassment. This she stoutly refused to do. Next, the legate sought to reconcile the King to his 120 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIOX wife. This only incensed the former, who, in his anger at being, as he thought, trifled with, uttered threats against Rome. " I see," said he, " that you have chosen your part ; mine, you may be sure, will soon be taken also. Let the Pope only persevere in this way of acting, and the Apostolical See, covered with perpetual infamy, will be visited with a fright- ful destruction." On hearing these alarming words, the discreet cardinal thought it necessary to display the Pope's decretal, which speedily produced a mollify- ing effect. The possession of this " miraculous talis- man," as the monarch himself termed it, was very ardently sought by him, but fruitlessly ; and before long it was rendered impossible, for Clement, trem- bling at the thought of what he had done, sent instructions to the legate to destroy it. Accordingly, it was burnt. After various discussions and postponements, the two legates proceeded to make some show of executing their commission. The King and Queen were cited to appear before them on the 18th of June, 1529, at nine in the morning, in the great hall of the Black- friars, called the " parliament chamber." The Queen duly appeared, but only to protest agamst the com- petency of the court. An adjournment was made on the 21st of the same month, and on that day, when the two legates had taken their seats, " Henry, King of England," and " Catherine, Que^n of England," were commanded to "come into court." The King responded to the call ; and the Queen handed in the paper in which she protested against the jurisdiction IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 121 of the court. It was decided that her protest could not be admitted, and she was again summoned. Upon thiS; there was witnessed one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed in a court sitting ostensibly for the dispensation of justice. Eising from her seat, and devoutly crossing herself, the Queen walked over to where her husband sat, and, with the eyes of all in the court upon her, fell upon her knees before him, and besought him, "for all that love that had been between them, and for the love of God," to let her have "justice and right." She asked him to "take pity " on her, " a poor woman and a stranger born out of his dominions," having in England " no assured friend ; " reminding him, and taking God and the whole world to witness, that she had been to him a "true, humble, and obedient wife, ever conformable to his will and pleasure." After her tearful appeal, which had a moving eflect upon all present, she, leaning upon the arm of her receiver-general, walked out of the court. Even the obdurate heart of the King had been touched, and he rendered the following testimony to the virtues of his afflicted and persecuted spouse. " Since the Queen has withdrawn, I will, in her absence, declare to you all present, that she has been to me as true and obedient wife as I could desire. She has all the virtues and good qualities that belong to a woman. She is as noble in character as in birth." After this, Henry sought to accomplish his purpose by endeavouring to procure a separation by mutual consent. With this end in view, Wolsey and Cam- 122 THE EELIGIOUS REVOLUTION peggio were directed to wait on the Queen. Catherine was inflexible; and Wolsey heard from lier on this occasion some wholesome truths. '' I know, Sir Cardinal," said she, "who has given the King the advice he is following : it is you. I have not minis- tered to your pride — I have blamed your conduct — I have complained of your tyranny, and my nephew the Emperor has not made you Pope. . . . Hence all my misfortunes. To revenge yourself, you have kindled a war in Europe, and have stirred up against me this most wicked matter. God will be my Judge . . and yours ! " As this attempt at a private arrangement had thus failed, the trial was proceeded witli. At length its close drew near, so it was believed. The 21st of July had been fixed for the conclusion, though that day came and went without any decision being given. Private ordei's from Rome were, that any expedient might be adopted, but no decision was to be given. When, therefore, ever}'body was on the tip-toe of expectation, the cardinal Campeggio pronounced that " the general vacation of the harvest and vintage being observed every year by tlie court of Rome, dating from to-mon-ow, the 24th of July, the beginning of the dog-days, we adjourn to some future period the con- clusion of these pleadings." Such was the policy of Rome in this matter — one of delay. But it could rot last. The fiery Tudor had already threatened that " the papacy should either divorce him from Catherine, or he would divorce himself from the papacy," and events were rapidly ripening for the latter separation. IN THE SIXTEENTH CEXTURY. 123 It was on tlie 6tli of July of this year that Clement declared to the English envoys that ho avocated the matter to Rome. In doing this, however, ho was not acting as, perhaps, he would have acted had he been perfectly free. When remonstrated with by one who foresaw the consequences of the act, he replied, with tears, " Why is it my fortune to live in such evil days 1 I am encircled by the Emperor's forces, and if I were to please the King, I should draw a fearful ruin upon myself, and upon the Church. . . God will be my Judge." Henry was cited to appear at Rome, and in the event of refusing, ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 ducats. The wrath of the King was great, and descended witli full force upon the devoted head of Cardi- nal Wolsey, whom he accused of having played fast and loose with him. The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk were sent to require the great seal of him, and he was ordered to quit his palace in London and retire to Esher, while all his rich plate and furniture were taken possession of in the King's name. He was impeached in parliament, but his retainer, Cromwell, defended hira so vigorously, that the impeachment was withdrawn. At length, his palace, with all its riches, having been declared for- feit to the King, he was ordered, in 1530, to remove to his diocese of York, where he passed part of the year at Cawood, until, in November, he was arrested for high treason, and set out in custody for London. Having arrived at Leicester, he was honourably received at the Abbey, where, thoroughly broken down in health and spirits, he yielded up the ghost on the 28th of the month. It was here he is said to have uttered the 124 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION memorable words, "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have give:i me over in my grey hairs ! " It was the declining fortune of Wolsey thr^t brought Cromwell — one who played a distinguished part ill the great drama of that time — into regal as well as liublic notice. One day he expressed to another of the cardinal's servants his determination to go that Slime afternoon to London, " where," said he, " I will either make or mar before 1 come back again." He was true to his resolution, and went. When the name of Cromwell was mentioned, the King angrily exclaimed, " Do not speak to me of that man, I hate him." The beginning was not at all a promising one. The Earl of Bedford, however, who knew the character of the man, ventured to say, "Sir, since you have now to do with the Pojie, there is no man in all 1^2ngland who will be fitter for your purpose." Henry, who did not sutfer a prejudice to .stand in the way of his .securing the fittest instruments for his purpose, after a moment's reflection, granted the tlesired inter- view, which took place in Whitehall gardens. " Sir," said Cromwell, when in the presence of the King, "the Poi)e refuses your divorce. . . . But why do you ask his consent ? Every Englishman is master in his own hou.se, and why .should not you be so in England ? Ought a foreign prelate to share your l)o\ver with you ? It is true the bisho})S make oath to your majesty, but they make another to the Pope immediately after, which absolves them from the former. Sir, you are but half a king, and we are but IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 125 Iialf your subjects. This kingdom is a two-beaded mon- ster. "Will you bear with such an anomaly any longer 1 What ! are you not living in an age when Frederick the Wise and other German princes have thrown off the yoke of Rome ? Do likewise ; become once more a king ; govern your kingdom in concert with your Lords and Commons. Henceforth, let Englishmen alone have anything to say in England ; let not your subjects' money be cast any more into the yawning gulf of the Tiber: instead of imposing new taxes on the nation, convert to the general good those treasures which have hitherto only served to fatten prouil priests and lazy friars. Now is the moment for action. Rely upon your parliament ; proclaim yourself the head of the Church in England. Then shall you see an increase of glory to your name, and of prosperity to your people." To a man of Henry's proud and auto- cratic character, especially at a time when he was smarting under the indignity which, as he considered, the Pope had put upon him, such language was not likely to be very distasteful. " Your proposal," replied he, "pleases me much; but can you prove what you assert 1 " " Certainly," rejoined the politic Cromwell, who had anticipated such a question. *' I have with me a copy of the oath the bishops make to the Roman pontiff," and thereupon placed it before the astonished monarch's eyes. Cromwell's sagacity had not been at fault. Taking off" his ring, the King handed it to him, and declared that he took him into his service. The carrying out of the ideas then broached was simply a matter of time. 126 THE KELIGIOUS REVOLUTION CHAPTER X. Threatened Storm in Germany — The Emperor and the Pope— The Diet of Spires in 1521)— The celebrated Protest— The Conference of Marburg — A Common Bulwark against Rome — The Confession of Augsburg — The Emperor threatens — The Schmalkaldic League — The Religious Peace of Nuremberg — "Colloquy" at Ratisbon — The Council of Trent — Death of Luther — The Schmalkaldic "War — The "Interim" — Protes- tant Liberties secured by the Elector Maurice. We have now to recui' to the course of events in Germany. Everything, as we have seen, betokened a storm, and one of unusual violence. Divine Provi- dence ordained that when it came it should burst in a different direction from that anticipated. The Emperor was about to repair to Rome, to come to an understanding with the Pope, and thence to rJermany, to put down heresy. At the Diet of Augs- V)urg, in 152.'>, the imperial ambassadors had strongly urged the execution of the edict of Worms, and at the Diet of Spires, held in the year following, they did the same. The Emperor, in his instructions, which were given at Seville, March 23rd, lo'26, had directed that all Church usages should be maintained entire, but it Avas useless ; the Diet declared that the diifi- culties which existed could only be adjusted by a national or general council, and that in the meantime complete religious liberty ought to exist. While these things were being done in Germany, the Pope, IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 127 with singular infatuation, partly, perlia2)S, through disappointed ambition, and partly through the com- bined inliuence of Henry of England and Francis of France, turned against the Emperor. Instead, there- fore, of rej)airing to Germany to extirpate Luther- anism, Charles directed his arms against Rome. On the evening of the 5th of May the imperial army arrived under the walls of the city, and on the follow- ing day the attack commenced. By sunset it was completely mastered, and Clement, with thirteen cardinals, was virtually a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo, whither he had fled for safety. The second Diet of Spires was held in 1529, the interval having witnessed a lull in the storm, during which the reformers had devoted themselves to the consolidation of their work. This Diet was almost, if not quite, as memorable as that of Worms. The Pope and the Emperor had made up their quarrel, aud were prepared to co-operate again for the desti-uc- tion of reform. It was deemed necessary to this end to destroy the religious liberty which had existed for the past three years, liberty being a thing which Ivome hates, and has much to fear from. Accord- ingly, the imperial commissaries announced that, as tlie edict of the last Diet of Spires had given rise to great disorders, the Emperor annulled it by reason of his supreme power. This act of despotism excited alarm and indignation among the reform princes, who regarded it as inimical to their liberties. On the 7th of April the Diet passed a measure, the chief provi- sions of which vrere that changes already made might 128 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION remain, Imt no new ones should be introduced, no controverted point touched upon by the Lutherans, no Roman Catholic permitted by them to embrace their tenets, while they were not to decline episcopal jurisdiction and oversight. It can be seen how tho- roughly the Reformation would have been paralysed had such a measure been accepted by the Evangelicals. They were, however, in no mood to accede to it; they felt that it was more than they dared do thus to com- promise the interests of the kingdom of Christ. They refused, consequently, to recognize the power of the majority in the realm of conscience, and drew up their celebrated Protest, which has given a name to all who then and since have profe.ssed the great principles therein enumerated. This document, historically so important, ran as follows : — "Dear Lords, Cousins, Uncles, and Friends! — Having repaired to this Diet at the summons of his Majesty, and for the common good of the empire and f f Christendom, we have heard and h-arnt that the (^.ecisions of the last Diet concerning our holy Christian faith are to be repealed, and that it is proposed to substitute for them certain restrictive and onerous re- solutions. ''King Ferdinand and the other Imperial commis- saries, by affixing their seals to the last Jitcess of Spires, had promised, however, in the name of the Emperor, to carry out sincerely and inviolably all that it con- tained, and to permit nothing that was contrary to it. In like r.ianner, also, you and we, electors, princes, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 129 prelates, lords, and deputies of the empire, bound ourselves to maintain always and with our whole might, every article of that decree. " We cannot, therefore, consent to its repeal : " Firstly, because we believe that his Imperial Majesty (as well as you and we,) is called to main- tain firmly what has been unanimously and solemnly resolved, " Secondly, because it concerns the glory of God and the salvation of our souls, and that in such matters we ought to have regard, above all, to the commandment of God, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, each of us rendering Kim account for himself, without caring the least in the world about majority or miuoi-ity. "We form no judgment on that account which concerns you, most dear lords ; and we are content to pray Ood daily that he will bring us all to unity of faith, in truth, charity, and holiness through Jesus Christ, our throne of grace, and our only INIediator. "But in what concerns ourselves, adhesion to your resolution (and let every honest man be judge !) would be acting against our conscience, condemning a doctrine that we maintain to be Christian, and pronouncing that it ought to be abolished in our state to deny our Lord Jesus Christ, to reject His holy Word, and thus give Him just reason to deny us in turn before His Father as He has threatened. " What ! We ratify this edict ! We assert that I 130 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION when Almighty God calls a man to His knowledge, this man, however, cannot receive the knowledge of God. Oh ! of what deadly backslidings should we not thus become the accomplices, not only among our own subjects, but also among yours. " For this reason we reject the yoke that is imposed on us. And although it is universally known that in our states the holy sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord is l)ecomingly administered, we cannot adhere to what the edict proposes against the sacra- mentarians, seeing that the Imperial edict did not speak of them, that they have not been heard, and that we cannot resolve upon such important points before the next council. " Moreover, the new edict declaring the ministers shall preach the Gospel, explaining it according to the writings accepted by the holy Christian Church ; we think that for this regulation to have any value, we should first agree on what is meant by the true and holy Church. Now, seeing there is great diversity of opinion in this respect ; that there is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God ; that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine, that each text of the Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts ; that this holy book is in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understand- ing, and calculated to scatter the darkness ; we are resolved, with the gi'ace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive teaching of His holy Word, such as it is contained in the biblical books of the Old and New Testament, without adding anything thereto that may IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 131 Le contrary to it. This Word is the only truth ; it i?5 the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God. "For these reasons, most dear lords, uncles, cousins, and friends, we earnestly entreat you to weigh carefully our grievances and our motives. If you do not yield to our request, we Protest by these presents, before God our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our judge, as well as before all men and creatures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree in any thing that is contrary to God, to His holy Word, to our right conscience, to the salvation of our souls, and to the last decree of Spires. " At the same time we are in expectation that his Imperial Majesty will behave towards us like a Christian prince who loves God above all things ; and we declare ourselves ready to pay unto him as well as unto you, gracious lords, all the affection and obedience that are our just and legitimate duty." Such were the first Protestants, who thus set a noble example, gloriously followed since, of maintain- ing the sufficiency of the Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice, the right of private judgment, liberty of conscience, and independence of faith. The Conference of Marburg was held in the autumn of the same year. Tlie divisions which 132 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION existed in the reform party were to many a cause of pain and anxiety. Philip of Hes.se, in particular, laboured hard for Protestant solidarity. It was on his initiative that the Conference was held, his object being to unite, as far as possible, the Evangelicals of Germany, as led by Luther, and the Evangelicals of Switz('rland, as led by Zwingle. The Reformers met, but, notwithstanding exhaustive discussions, no more real rapprocliement was brought about than existed before. Luther maintained his doctrine of " Consub- stantiation " — a doctrine which required belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, under the form of bread and wine ; while Zwingle maintained his doctrine, that the Eucharistic bread and wine were at no time other than bread and wine, being symbols, and that the presence of C^hrist in the Supper was purely spiritual. Luther insisted on tlie words, Hoc est corpus meuni, and declared that "as soon as the words of consecration are pronounced over the bread, tlie body is there, however wicked be the priest who pronounces them." Zwingle insisted that the words Luther made so much of were figurative, and adduced examples in support of his view of the question. All, however, was useless ; neither could convince the c^her. But the Landgi-ave was bent upon securing tJiat for which he had brought the dis])utants to- ge her, and at length a document was drawn up, in whch they admitted each other's general orthodoxy, and testihed their agreement on all points of im- portance excepting the manner of Christ's presence in the Supper. The document was subscribed by IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 133 Luther, Melanctlioii, Jonas, Osiander, Brentz, and Agricola, on the one side ; and by Zwingle, Q^colam- padius, Bucer, and Hedio, on the other. The Land- grave's efforts were, after all, not in vain ; an im- portant step in advance had been taken, and a bul- wark erected in common by German and Swiss reformers against Rome. In L530 the Emperor summoned another Diet of the empire at Augsburg, his intention being to make a final appeal to the Protestants. If that failed, he would have recourse to physical force. The Elector John, who had succeeded Frederick the Wise, and who nobly trod in his predecessor's steps, directed the divines of Wittenburg, in anticipation of the Diet, to l)repare a document setting forth the essential articles of theii' faith, that so it might be ascertained to what extent it was possil)le to come to an understanding with their adversaries. When the Diet assembled, and the Protestants proposed to read their Con/essio7i, the representatives of the papacy, in alarm, most strenuously opposed it. The princes, hpwever, stood firm, insisting on their right, and on June the 25th — another memorable day in the annals of Pro- testantism and pure Christianity — Bayer, one of the chancellors of the Elector, read in the chapel of the palatine palace, before the Emperor, his brother the King of the Eomans, and the assembled electors, princes, prelates, deputies, and ambassadors, most of whom were possessed with the desire to destroy the Gospel, the celebrated statement of the doctrines which the Protestants held, known as the Confession of 134 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Augsburg. It coiiFsisted of twenty-eight articles, and maintained tlie doctrines of the Trinity, Original Sin, the Incarnation and Atonement of the Sa\dour, and Justification Ly Faith alone, in opposition to the doctrine of Human Merit. It declared that uniformity in ceremonies was not essential ; that the " true body and blood of Christ are indeed present, under the species of bread and ^^■ine, in the Lord's Supper"; that private confession might be made, without an enumera- tion and description of the sins committed being insisted on ; and that the saints were to be imitated, but not invoked. Besides this, it branded as abuses the exaction of money for masses, the compulsory celibacy of priests, the withholding the cup from the laity, the assumption of monastic vows, abstinence from particular meats, and the encroachments of ecclesiastics on the secular power. The Confession of Augsburg was exceedingly moderate, and even timid in its tone, and it is manifest that one great object of its composers was conciliation. "The dream of the moment," says Dr.AYaddington, " was to gain the Em- peror." But if so, events soon showed that it was a dream and nothing more. It is true that so good an impression was made on his mind that he thought more fiivourably — so it is said — of Protestantism from that time forward ; but, as Schepper, one of the secretaries of state, said to Jonas and Melancthon, **It is impos- sible for the Emperor, surrounded as he is by bishops and cardinals, to approve of any other religion than that of the Pope." ARefutation of the Confession was prepared by the Bomish theologians, and Charles declared that IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 135 he found the articles it contained '^oi-thodox, Catholic, and conformable to the Gospel," requiring the Pro- testants to acce})t them, and threatening that if they refused he would remember his office, and show himself the advocate and defender of the Romish Church. The Protestant princes were, nevertheless, firm as a rock, ready to sacrifice their wealth, estates, and even their lives, for the cause which, in their souls, they believed was the cause of truth. They believed that God was on their side, and would defend them — a belief in which they were not at fault. Again and again the Protestant princes had been threatened with war \inless they submitted to Rome, and believing that if these threats were carried out, they would be perfectly justified in defending by the sword the doctrines and liberties they held dear, they entered into a league, known as the Schmalkaldic League, by which they bound themselves for six years to help each otlier in maintaining the stand they had taken in the Augsburg Confession. This league was constituted on March 29th, 1531. However, the ii'ruption of the Turks into Hungary with two hundred and fifty thousand men, gave the Emj^eror work enough without a war with the Pi'otestant states of his empire, and it is to this circumstance that the preservation of these states at this juncture is mainly due. Anxious, indeed, to enlist the arms of every German prince in repelling these invaders, he opened negotiations with the Protestants, and concluded with them the " Religious Peace " of Nuremburg, on July 23rd, 1-532. This peace secured for them for a time 136 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION their religious privileges, but only for a time, as the Emperor intended. After the retreat of Solyman, and llie death of Clement VII., on September 26th, 1534, he urged the new Pojoe, Paul III., to convoke the council which the peace of Nuremberg contemplated. This council was summoned to meet at Mantua, but was never held, the Protestants objecting to the place of meeting because it was in Italy^ and to the proposal to invest the Pope, in the person of his legates, with the presidency. The Duke of Mantua, moreover, objected to the council being held in his city. After this, articles were drawn up, called the Schmalkaldic Articles, from the fact that they were accepted by the Schmalkaldic League, in which were re-stated all the doctrines which the Protestants considered themselves bound, at all hazards, to vindicate. In 1541, a Colloquy, as it was called, was held at Ratisbon, in which the reformed and unreformed approximated more nearly to an agreement than they had done at any time from the commencement of the struggle. Caspar Contarini, the papal legate on this occasion, had betrayed decided leanings toProtestanism, especially in regard to the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Melancthon, and others likeminded, who re- })resented the Protestant party, were inclined to make concessions, for the sake of peace and Christian unity. For a time it seemed as though the raging controversy was about to be amicably concluded. Things pro- ceeded so far in this direction, that an agreement was actually arrived at on the doctrines of the Fall, Free Will, Original Sin, and Justification. But it was soon IN THE SIXTEEXTFI CENTURY. 137 discovered that deeper sources of division and difference of opinion existed in the ordinances and constitution of the Church, as governed by the Roman pontiff, and the colloquy was broken off. It was not without good results, nevertheless. Hermann von Wied, the prince-archbishop of Cologne, determined mainly by the arguments advanced at Ratisbon, set on foot an energetic reformation in his dominions, and invited Melancthon and Bucer to assist him in the work. A papal excommunication was launched against him in 1516, and he was afterwards deposed. He died in seclusion in 1552. It is to be observe 1 that all this time Luther was in the background. It was considered that for these delicate discussions more of diplomacy than he was aljle to exercise was necessary : he was too blunt, out- .spoken, and uncompromising. On this account, the Saxon Elector, when setting out for Augsburg, gave orders that he was to be left behind. JMoreover, it was considered that his very presence might exasperate the Emperor, and «lrive him to extreme measures. But he was not left far behind ; the Elector desired that he should remain at Coburg, so as to be within reach for consultation. This fairly represents the position that Luther occupied in these later dis- cussions. He was not to the front, but he largely directed operations. Well was it for the Reformation that this was so. Melancthon, who was weak and yielding, and who was haunted with the phantom fear of war, conceded much, too much, and might have conceded everything, had it not been for the "No 138 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIOX surrender " voice which came from behind. When the princes took the hold and decided stand they did at Augsburg, Luther was ahuost alone among the German theologians in apphiuding their fidelity and courage. " I am overjoyed," wrote he, " that I have lived until this hour, in which Christ has been publicly exalted by such illustrious professors." Without doubt, at this juncture the Keformation owed more to the laity, as represented by the princes, than to the ministers. The long-talked-of Council was at length summoned to meet at Trent. It was opened on December 13th, 1545. The Protestants, however, refused to take part in its proceedings, or in any way acknowledge it. This, as was likely, increased the animosity of the imperial faction, which, it speedily became evident, would ere long find vent in bloodshed. In the year following that in which the Trent Council was opened, the great Protestant Confessor was called to his reward. Luther breathed his last at Eisleben, on February 18th, 1546. The Counts of Mansfeld having some dispute about their property, invited Luther to arbitrate on the matter. For this purpose, he set out with two of his sons and Justus Jonas, and spent the last days of his life in attempt- ing to accomplish the object of his visit. When his indisposition commenced, he seemed to have some foreboding of the issue. " I was born and baptized at Eisleben," he said ; " what if I should remain, and die here ! " He held his principles with unshaken earnest- ness to the last, emphatically declaring that he died IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 139 in the confession of Christ and that doctrine which he had so constantly preached. Luther was spared tlie pain of witnessing the horrors of the struggle known as the Schmalkaldic War. This broke out in the year following his death. Charles, acting under the Pope's direction, was determined to make the Protestants submit to the Council of Trent. The war waged with this object was regarded as a holy war, a second crusade, the Pope granting a plenary indulgence to all Avho might assist in the extirpation of the Lutheran heresy. The details of it do not properly belong to a history like this. Suffice it to say that the Pro- testants sustained a sanguinary defeat at Miihlberg, on April 24th, 1547, when the Elector of Saxony, on whose wisdom and courage they had so largely relied, fell into the hands of the Emperor. He and the Landgrave of Hesse were held in captivity for the space of five years, the imperial army in meantime over- running Germany and inflicting untold miseries upon the disciples of the Lord. Presently, jealousy gi-ew up between the Emperor and the Pope. The latter was alarmed at the gigantic growth of the hnperial power, and feared that some of liis own privileges might be curtailed, especially as Charles had grown dissatisfied with the Council of Trent, thinking that, instead of at once rushing into anathemas against doctrinal aberrations, they should have addressed themselves to the reform of abuses. He, therefore, removed the Council from Trent to Bologna, a transfer which Charles resented as an 140 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION indignity to liimself, and directed that such of the members as opposed it — chiefly Spaniards, and others of his own subjects — should remain at Trent till they received further instructions. In 1548 an order was issued, calling upon the Protestants to adopt a new formulary of doctrine and worship, drawn up, by command of Charles, by John Agricola, an old reformer and preacher, and two moderate prelates of the Romish party. This was called the Interim, and was intended to be in force only till a council of the Western Church could authoritatively settle the vexed question to which it referred. To this Interim not a few conformed, but the stricter Lutherans always looked upon it as an ungodly compromise, and even went so far as to exclude members who were tainted by it. On Nov. 10th, 1519, Paul III. died, and this seemed to afford the opportunity which the Emperor desired. He accordingly pre vailed on the new pontiff, Julius III., to re-establish the Council of Trent. The Reform party were induced to draw up confessions of their faith for submission to the council ; but, just when they were in ]x*ril of being again Ijrought into bondage, their liberty was definitively secured for them in a manner unlooked for. An effective instrument in )>rocuring the humiliation of the Protestants, had l)een Maurice, a cousin of the Elector John of Saxony, who was rewarded for his services with the electoral throne. It was not long, however, before the Kmperor revealed that he was not influenced solely by zeal for Mother Churcli, but that he had designs IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Ill against the political liberties of Germany. This excited the opposition and roused the energies of Maurice, who suddenly took the field in defence of the rights of his countrymen. He almost succeeded in making- Charles prisoner, and at length compelled him to sign tlie peace of Passau, by which Protestantism regained its former position. This was in 1552. As a result of the Diet of Augsburg, in 1555, the Protestants, at that time in alliance with France, and favoured by a fresh irruption of the Turks, were able to extort from the Emperor the " Peace of Religion," by wliich the rights of conscience were recognized, and religious liberty guaranteed to all the sul)jects of the empire. The two great parties, having thus tested eacli other's strength, and nearly worn eacli other out with contention, were content, for the remainder of the century, to regard one another with, Lt least, outM-ard resj^ect and toleration. CHAPTER XL Fiuel in Xeufchatel -Preaches the Gospel at VaLingin— Popular ^Movement toward Reform — Zwingle and Politics — An Evan- gelical Confederation— Schemes of Zwingle— The Five Cantons declare War— Zwingle Slain— Estimate of Character — The Keformation checked— Geneva and the Gospel— Calvin and the Reformation— Swiss Reformation more Thorough than the German. After preaching the Gospel in Morat and Lausanne with considerable success, the devoted Farel directed 142 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION his course towards one of the strongholds of popery in Switzerland — the principality of Neufchatel, which at that time was ruled over by Joan, the widow of the Due de Longueville. The people were mostly bigoted papists, some of the soldiers who had served with the Bernese army in 1529 being almost alone in having sympathy with the Evangelical cause. The evangelist was not dismayed, but, strong in faith, made the assault with a stout heart. His boldness was rewarded ; the common people heard him gladly, and Keufchatel, notwithstanding the opposition of the priests and their party, was virtually won for the reformed faith. One day, as Farel was surrounded by the people, they inquired, " Why should not the Word of God be proclaimed in a church *? " There- upon the preacher was hurried along to the Hospital Chapel, and set in the pulpit. " In like manner," said he, " as Jesus Christ, appearing in a state of poverty and humility, was born in a stable at Bethlehem, so this Hospital, this abode of the sick and the poor, is to-day become His birthplace in the town of Neufchatel." Not far from Neufchatel, beyond the mountain near the entrance to the Yal de Ruz, stands the town of Yalangin. In an old castle, on a rock com- manding the town, lived Guillemette de Vergy, Dowager-Countess of Yalangin, who was most bitterly hostile to the Reformation. It was not long before Farel, "in labours more abundant " than most of his contemporaries, found his way to the place. Arriving on a festival day, just as the people were thronging to IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 143 church, he, taking " French leave," mounted the pulpit, and preached the Gospel, the priest at the same time in another part of the church celebrating mass. The act was scarcely seemly, but was characteristic. The rage of the Pwomanists was great, especially when a young man, named Anthony Boyve, a companion and fellow-labourer of Farel, rising from his seat and traversing the choir, snatched the host from the hands of the priest, and cried, " This is not the God whom you should worship. He is abo\'e — in Heaven — in the majesty of the Father, and not, as you believe, in the hands of a priest." Such acts, without question, are to be condemned ; but some allowance must be made for men but lately emanci- pated from Romanism themselves, and acting under strong conviction as to the soul- destroying character of the doctrine and practices they opposed. The evangelists severely suffered for their temerity. They were cruelly beaten, and, covered with filth and blood, cast into the dungeon of the castle of Yalangin, whence it is probable they would have been taken only to be put to death, but for the interference of the men of Neufchatel. Farel, on returning to the last-named town, met with greater success than ever. As he was one day preaching at the Hospital, he demanded, " What, then, will you not pay as much honour to the Gospel as the other party does to the mass ] ... If this super- stitious act is celebrated in the high church, shall not the Gospel be proclaimed there also ? " This was enouQ^h. '' To the church ! " " To the church ! " was 114 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION the cry heard on all sides. Ere long, in spite of the resistance of the canons and their friends, the Pro- testant preacher was safely installed in the cathedral pulpit, and delivered " one of the most effective sermons he had ever preached." The excited people, crying that they would follow the Evangelical religion, and that in it they would die, seized the inmges and pictures of the Virgin and the saints, and destroyed them : taking the patens which contained the Cor^nn Chrisii, they flung them into the torrent near; and by way of showing that the consecrated wafers are mere bread, and not God, they distributed and ate them. A short time after, in order to commemorate the pro- ceedings of the day, these words were inscribed upon a pillar of the church :— " L'an 1530, le 23 Octobre, fut ot^e et abattue I'idolatrie de ceant par le bourgeois." The governor of the town was at length comi)elled to put the question of the mass vci'sus tlie Gospel to the vote, when a majority of the citizens dfclared against the mass and for the Gospel. Thus was the reformed worship established in Neufchat(^l. Zwingle in his sj)here was not loss diligent than Farcl, though he did not devote himself so exclusively to i)reaching the Gospel. He could not forget that he \vas a citizen of Zurich ; moreover, he was convinced that political action alone could save the Reformation in Switzerland. He had not learnt so perfectly as Luther the great truth that the Gospel cause is one which can be successfully contended for only by spiritual weapons. No doubt religion was so mixed up with state aflairs in the cantons, that he, in common with all his com- IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 145 patriots, was iii peculiar and constant danger of con- founding one with the other. At all events, history lias to record that he souglit to be not only a minister of Christ, but a minister of State. It was the great mistake of his life — a mistake for which he ultimately paid the penalty with his life. One of Zwingle's dreams was the union for defen- sive purposes of all the Evangelical States of SNvitzer- land. He felt at liberty to promote, and if possible accomplish, such a confederation, inasmuch as although the primitive cantons had engaged not to form new alliances without the consent of al], Zurich and Berne had reserved their right and power. But though acting strictly within legal rights, Zwingle, in opening negotiations with such an end in view, was likely to excite tlie jealousy of the Romisli States, and thus endanger the permanence of the general confederacy. Wliat was thus likely did actually occur as the result of the reformer's action. The five cantons, Lucerne, Zug, Sclnveitz, XJri, and Unterwahlen, wliich still remained in allegiance to Rome, retaliated by seeking an alliance with Austria, the hereditary enemy of the Helvetic confederacy, and by punishing such friends of the Gospel as they found within their borders with fire and sword. The irritation on both sides was great, and the burning alive of a Protestant pastor, named Keyser, by tiie landsgemeinde of Schweitz, seemed likely to bring things to a crisis. Zwingle was for maintaining liberty of conscience by the sword, and proposed war. ''Let us be firm," said he, " and not fear to take up arms. This peace wliicli J 146 THE EELIGIOUS REVOLUTION some desire so much is not peace ; while the war that we call for is not war, but peace. We thirst for no man's blood, but we will clip the wings of this oligarchy. If we shun it, the truth of the Gospel and the ministers' lives will never be secure among us." The war of religion began. Hearing that Anthony ab Acker, of XJnterwalden, had set out for Baden with an army, the Council of Zurich ordered 500 men to start for Bremgarten, with four pieces of artillery. Three days later, 600 Zurichers marched for Rapperschwyl, and the district of Gaster, where the unfortunate Keyser was seized; and on the day following that, 4,000 more repaired to Cappel. Happily, before the con- tending parties came to blows, a treaty was concluded, which secured, among other things, liberty of conscience, compensation to the family of Keyser, and that the bailiwicks should pronounce for or against reform by vote. Zwingle was indefatigable as well as bold in his efforts for the extension and establishment of the Reformation. The Emperor had just concluded an alliance with the Pope, and he believed that if their schemes succeeded all would be lost. '• The Emperor," said he, " is Stirling up friend against friend, enemy against enemy ; and then he endeavours to raise out of this confusion the glory of the papacy, and, above all, [lis own power," He conceived the bold idea of check- matfftg this puissant monarch, this inheritor of .so many crowns, and even, by an extended European alliance, securing his overthrow, and the substitution for him, on the imfxjrial throne, of Philip of Hesse. *' Most 1 IX THE SIXTEENTH CEXTrRY. 147 Gracious Prince," wi-ote he to the latter on the 2nd of November, 1529, "if I write to you as a child to a father, it is because I hope that God has chosen you for great events. . . I dare think, but I dare not speak of them. . . All that I can do with my feeble means to manifest the Tiiith, to save the uni- versal Church, to augment your power, and the power of those who love God, with God's help I wiU do." How far he would have gone in the prosecution of his plans, or to what extent he would have succeeded, it is impossible to say : erelong in the fulness of his man- hood, and the ripeness of his gi'eat powers, he was cut off; not, however, before he had opened communi- cation with Venice, and received a promise of help from the Doge, and also paved the way for an under- standing with France. It was not long before the Five Cantons, nursing their anger, and chafing under the restraints which the treaty imposed upon them, began to look about for a way out of their engagements. There was no way but by breaking them. Persecution was i-evived, the poor people who loved the Gospel being fined, flung into prison, and brutally tormented. Insults were being constantly oflered to Berne and Zurich, and calumnies of the most atrocious chai-acter were current concerning some of their leading citizens. All this was in direct violation of the treaty. Zurich proposed that they should procure redress with the sword, but Berne proposed to punish their unneigh- bourly neighbours by interdicting all commercial in- tercourse with them. This was a measure, perhaps, Ii8 THE RELIGIOUS IlEVOLUTIO>? even more severe than war, for the Five Cantons were largely dependent on their neighbours even for the necessaries of life. Zwingle opposed it, for he saw how shortsighted and, possibly, how cruel it was. ''By accepting this proposition," said he, "we sacri- fice the advantages that we now possess, and we give the Five Cantons time to arm themselves, and to fall upon us first A just war is not in opposition to the Word of God ; but this is contrary to it, taking the bread from the mouths of the innocent as well as the guilty." The Bernese would not be a party to Avar, and the Zurichers reluctantly consented to the adoption of their policy. This meant starvation to a considerable proportion of the people of the Five Cantons, and they replied by declaring war. The Zurichers, notwithstanding their previous haste, were ill-prepared, and were besides divided in council. Nevertheless, an army was collected and despatched to Cappel to meet the invaders, and, in accordance witli custom, Zwingle accompanied it in the capacity of chief i)astor. He had parted from his wife and family and numerous friends with a firm look, but with a mind full of anxious forebodings — forebodings which were fully realized. The conflict ended most disastrously for Zurich. Among the slain was the reformer. At the very commencement of the action, as he stooped to console a dying man, a stone sti-uck him on the head, and closed his lips. He rose, but received two other blows, whicli again i)rought liim to the ground. Again he rose, but received a lance- wound, which finally disabled him. At the close of IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 149 the battle two Waldstadters, prowling over the scene of action, found him lying under a tree in a meadow. *' Do you wish for a priest to confess yourself 1 " they inquired, not knowing who he was. The reformer made signs in the negative. "If you cannot speak,'' continued they, "at least, think in your heart of the Mother of God, and call upon the saints." Zwingle again shook his head. " He is an obstinate heretic," said they ; and one of them, anxious to know who he was, turned his face so as to allow the light of a fire burning not far off to fall upon it. " I think," said he, in amazement, " it is Zwingle." At this moment an officer drew near, and, hearing these words, thrust a pike into his throat, exclaiming, "Die, obstinate heretic." Succumbing to this last stroke, the Reformer yielded up his soul to Him who had redeemed it. He died on Oct. 11th, 1531, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Not content with his death, his enemies ollered indignity to liis corpse. A trial was held, and it was condemned to be quartered for treason against the Confederation, and then burnt for heresy. The sentence was carried out by the executioner of Lucerne. " He died in the vigour of life," says Dr. Wad- dington, " in the maturity of his understanding, and the fulness of his learning ; and by a violent fate the hopes of many years of informed and industrious piety were extinguished. And when we regard the many ingenious and elaborate compositions, polemical, exe- getical, hermeneutical, which he produced in scarcely twelve years — years, too, distracted by a thousand 150 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION other cares and expectations, -and which will remain an everlasting memorial of an extensive erudition ; a sound judgment; a temper, upon the whole, candid and charitable ; a calm, considerate, earnest faith ; it is a matter for serious sorrow, even now, that ho was cut off thus unseasonably." Henry BuUinger followed Zwingle at Zurieli, He adopted the latter's orphan children, and endeavoured to supply the place of a father to them. CEcolampa- dius, whose health had for some time been declining, was so afflicted with sorrow at the death of his friend, that he was himself brought near to the grave. He lallied, however, but not for long ; a violent inflam- mation attacked him, and on November 23rd, in the same year, he breathed his last. He was succeeded at Basle by Myconius. As was only to be expected, these untoward circum- stances produced for a time a reaction in favour of Piomanism. Rapperschwyl, Mellingon, Bremgartcn, and a few other places, were restored to the papal dominion, and some faint efforts Avere made at Zurich and Berne to establish the old order of things, but without success. A decided check was given to reform, from which it did not recover for some time. There is one city in Switzerland, famous in con- nection with Evangelical truth, of which as yet no mention lias been made — the city of Geneva. In the year 1532 Farel visited it, but soon took his departure without having effected much. Anthony Froment, a young friend of his, followed him in the capacity of a school-master, but with the ulterior object of dis- IN TUE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 151 geminating the Gospel. He met witli encouraging success, but was obliged at length to flee. The bishop, wlio had been absent several years, having returned, found the leaven at work, and at once took measures for destroying it. In the short space of fifteen days he made himself so unpopular, that he considered it best to withdraw. Ultimately, having removed his court from Geneva to Gex, a town in the dominions of the Duke of Savoy, a sworn enemy of Geneva, a decree was passed by the Council in 1534 declaring that he had abdicated his episcopal throne, and that the see was vacant. At this time Geneva was in alliance with Berne, and, shortly afterwards, Farel, Viret, and Froment accompanied a deputation from the latter canton to Geneva, and preached the Gospel under its protection, remaining for some time in the city, and labouring with marked success. In the same year, a public discussion was held, in which the Romish theologians confessed themselves beaten, and embraced Protestantism. The finishing stroke was, before long, given by law. The monasteries were suppressed, and superfluous ecclesiastical property applied to the maintenance of the ministry and the poor, and the advancement of education. The ministers mentioned above remained in the city, Farel becoming the chief pastor. In 153G John Calvin was added to the number, but in 1538 both he and Farel were banished for refusing to submit to the decrees of the synod of Berne. Henceforth Farel resided principally at Neufchatel, occasionally removing to other places in the prosecution of his labours as an evangelist. He 152 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION married in 1558, at the age of sixty-nine, and died at Neufchatel, in 1565, after his return from Metz, Avhether he had gone to strengthen the faith of tho German Protestants. To chronicle the events of the life of John Calvin, and desci'ibe the influence of his life and character on the Reformed Churches, does not come within the scope of this work. Calvin has the name of a reformer, and certainly was the means of effecting reforms in the city with which his name will ever be identified, but, strictly speaking, the Reformation was an accom- plished fact when he settled there. While this is said, it should not be forgotten that he had previously preached Reformed doctrines in various places, and liad been compelled, on account of the persecution to which he was exposed in consequence, to take refuge at the Court of Navarre, and afterwards in Italy, under the sheltering wing of the Duel) ess Renata, daughter of Louis XIL, and wife of Ercole d'Este, who subsequently professed her attachment to the Gospel. His well-known work, Iiistitutio C/tristiance Jieligionis, was published at Basle, in 1535. His Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans were published at Strasburg, whither he went after his expulsion from Geneva, and where he married Idoletta de Bure, the widow of an Anabaptist. In 1541, his friends at Geneva succeeded in effecting his recall, and he was restored to his flock. After a life of incessant pastoral labour and care, he died in May, 1504, having nearly completed his fifty-fifth year. The amount of work which Calvin was able to accom- IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 153 plisli is very surprising. He preached at least once almost daily, delivered theological lectures three times a week, attended all the meetings of the consistory, as well as the various sessions of the association of ministers, and was the life and soul of the councils. Besides this, he found time to publish a multitude of writings, of which his institutes and commentaries are the most important and valuable. In addition to his printed sermons, the library of Geneva contains 2,025 in manuscript, and like that at Berne, several theo- logical treatises not printed. His correspondence was large, extending to all parts of Europe, and being a great jurist as well as an able politician, no small part of his time was occupied with law and politics. He possessed a clear and penetrating intellect, but was gloomy, austere, impatient, and severe. Beferring to his temper, he wrote on one occasion to Bucer, " I have no harder battles against my sins, which are great and numerous, than those in which I seek to conquer my impatience. I have not yet gained the mastery over this raging beast." In controversy he was harsh, bitter, and contemptuous, taking little pains to conceal the sense he had of his own superiority. The greatest blot upon his memory is his persecution of Michael Servetus, a learned Spaniard, and the part he took in procuring his condemnation and death. Altogether, while his great powers and various attain- ments must be recognized and confessed, it must be said that there was little in his character that was attractive — little, as in the case of Luther, to inspire affectionate regard. 154 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION The distinguishing doctrines of the system elaborated by Calvin are Predestination, Particular Pedemption, Total Depravity, Irresistible Grace, and the Certain Perseverance of the Saints. These are known as " the five points." In concluding our account of the S^viss Refor- mation, it must in justice be said that it was more thorough than the German. Luther held the doctrines of Exorcism in Baptism, and Consubstantiation in the Lord's Supper, and retained the practice of private Confession, and the use of the Wafer in the Eucharist, not to speak of other things essentially popish : while Zwingle and his coadjutors swept them all away, and sought to conform Christian doctrine and worship to the simple teaching and rites of the New Testament. CHAPTER XIL A Crisis in Religious Affairs in England — Cranmer and the King's Divorce — The Papal Supremacy Abolished — Cromwell as Vicar-CJencral — Suppression of the Monasteries — The Scrip- tures freely Re:\d in the Vulgar Tongue — Nature and Ex- tent of the Keformation under Henry — State of Religion during the Reign of Edwanl \I. — "Bloody Mary," and Persecution— The Reformation Re-established under Elizabeth — The Queen and Religious Liberty — The Reformation Con- solidated. A CRISIS had come in the history of the Church in England. The King had actually broken with Wolsey, and had virtually broken with the Pope. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 155 Just at this juncture he had introduced to his notice a man, who, as an ecclesiastic, was to be an effective instrument in carrying out his ideas, and bringing about religious reform. This was Thomas Cranmcr, who was born in 1489, at Aslacton, in Netting] lam- shire. lie entered as a student at Jesus College, Cambridge, at the ago of fourteen took the degree of M.A., and in 1523 advanced to the degree of D.D. Tn the course of a conversation on the meditated royal divorce, he remarked that the question might be better decided by consulting learned divines, and members of the univorsiti(\s, than by an appeal to the Pope. This opinion was reported to Henry, who, higldy delighted with it, declared that the Cambridge tlioologian had "got the right sow by the ear," and, sending for him to court, made liim one of his own cliaplains, and commanded him to write a treatise on the divorce. In 1530 he was sent abroad to collect the opinions of foreign divines and canonists, r(;turning to be made Archbishop of Canterbury, and to declare formally the divorce, as well as the con- firmation of tlie King's marriage with Anne Boleyn. In the course of the controversy, the nature and extent of the Pope's supremacy naturally became a subject of debate. Gradually, both the monarch and his subjects came to see that the claims of the bishop of Rome, both in regard to temporalities and spiritu- alities, were monstrous and intolerable. As to revenues, those which he received from England alone were greater than the crown received for purposes of government. Remittances, therefore, to 156 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Iiome, for bulls, dispensations, co.nniunicatcd her, but encouraged popish monarchs to invade and seize her kingdom, and commanded all her subjects to violate their oaths of allegiance, under pain of similar anathemas. As the result of this, conspiracies and plots were formed for the express purpose of assassinating her, and substituting for her a foreign ix)pish prince on the throne. Another result, the attem})ted invasion of this country by the Si)anish Armada, is well knowiL It is scarcely surprising that under these circumstances severe edicts were issued, or that poi)isli plotters re- ceived no gentle treatment. We are far from being apologists for all the measures of the reign of Elizabeth in regard to religion. She understood the doctrine of religious liberty no better than the Pope, and, with- out question, the blood of several of Christ's holy mai-tyrs, who could not accept and subscribe to so much of Romanism as still remained in the English Church, will be required at her hands ; moreover, some of the Romanists who suffered during her reign were, it is impossible to doubt, martyrs for con- science' sake. Still, when she found tliat to dethrone, and even assassinate her, was regarded by many of the Romanists as a meritorious act, and that it was encouraged by one whom they regarded as the repre- sentative of the Divine authority on earth, it is not surprising that she should have identified popery with treason, and have taken her measures accordbij;!/. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 171 Many of these measures she was compelled to adopt in self-defence, and the guilt of shedding Romanist blood during her reign must bo largely laid at the door of the Pope and his advisers. Under Elizabeth, and in the course of her long reign, the Reformation in England became thoroughly consolidated. It is true that at her accession she seems to have meditated a partial reconciliation with Rome, and throughout her life she strongly leaned to some of the most objectionable of the features of the Romish system. But she was too imperious and haughty to humble herself to the Pope, and submit herself and her realm to his authority. Moreover, she was a shrewd observer of the "signs of the times.'' It was plain that no small part of the nation had been maddened against Rome by the proceedings of the last reign ; and as to the remaining part, they with few exceptions, were willing to accept almost any form of religion the sovereign might be pleased to prescri])e for them. Her keen sagacity, therefore, which was not at fault when she judged that Protestantism was most likely to augment her power and increase the prosperity of the nation, as well as her peculiar situation, led her to attach herself to a Church which was free from foreign domination and interference, and which she might regard as her own. Naturally she expected a more profound obedience from her subjects when they saw in her not only the head of the kingdom but the head of the Church. But, though she was inlluenced so largely by motives of political expediency, and per- 172 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION sonal prerogative, there is every reason for regarding lier as among the most enlightened of all the Protestant monarchs of her age. and therefore of all the sovereigns of the Christendom of the sixteenth century. CHAPTER XIII. The Impulse felt throughout Europe — John Ilusa and Bohemia — Eefornied Doctrines received by Prussia- Denmark embraces the Truth — Norway and Icehind declare for Keform— Gus- taviis Vasa introduces the Reformation into Sweden — Hun- gary and Transylvania— Lutherans in Spain — In spite of severe opposition Protestantism spreads in the Netherlands— The Light dawns upon Italy— Kise and P'all of Protestantism in Poland— Ireland— The Works of Luther in Scotland— Patrick Hamilton— George "NVishart —John Knox — Reformation Prin- ciples universally Diffused — The Great Revolution brought about by Divine Agency. In the foregoing chaptei-s, an attempt has been made to sketch in its broader outlines the history of the Reformation in Germany, Switzerland, France, and England. These countries were the main theatres of action, and, at least during the first quarter of the cen- tury which witnessed the movement, they were the parts of the field whei'e the great battle was chiefly fought. It must not, however, be supposed that the Reforma- tion was confined to them. Other countries felt the mighty impulse, and there was scarcely any part of Europe to which the Gospel did not penetrate, and where it did not achieve move or less distinguished IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 173 triumphs. To indicate — for the space at our disposal will not permit us to do more than that — the extent to which the outer fringe was affected, will be the task we propose for ourselves in this concluding chapter of our work. We make mention first of one, who, like our own Wickliffe, came before the Reformation proper, but whose name will ever be associated with it. This is John Huss, whose name is closely identified with the cause of the Gospel in Bohemia and Moravia. This faithful confessor and maityr of Jesus Christ was born in 1373. Having been sent by his feudal lord, Nicholas of Hussinez, to the University of Prague, he studied with much success and distinction, and gained such a degree of theological information as made him for that age remarkable. In H02, he was appointed to the ollice of Bohemian preacher in the Bethlehem Cliapel at Prague, and soon became very popular. The writings of Wicklifle having fallen into his hands, his knowledge of the Scriptures enabled him to see the justice of that bold reformer's attacks on the abuses of the Church. He became himself an earnest advocate of such reforms as would restore the Church to the simplicity and purity of New Testament Christianity. Of course, this aroused the hostility of Pome, and the Pope, Alexander V., summoned him to appear before him. Huss disobeyed this summons, knowing full well what it meant, and placed himself under the protection of Nicholas of Hussinez, his lifelong friend. At length, being in- vited by the Council of Constance to defend his 174 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Opinions before the clergy of all nations, and having received letters of safe-conduct, by which the Eni- peior became responsible for his safety, he complied ^^•ith the invitation, and appeared before the council. He was, liowever, treacherously thrown into prison, condemned to death, and burnt alive. But Rome could not destroy the incorruptible seed which he had sown : re[)resentatives of the Christian society which his followers formed have existed down to the pre- sent day. As early as 1519, the Hussites opened a correspondence with the Wittenbergei's, and Luther, as he came more and more to see the Scriiitunil character of their doctrines, gave them the right hand of fellowship. The Protestantism of the country was decidedly manifested when, in 154G, an army of volunteers aiTayed themselves on the side of the Elector of Saxony as he entered on the Schmalkaldic war. In 1612, in consequence of infringements ujKDn the religious liberty of the Protestants, political troubles arose, which were the l>eginning of the gi'eat war that devastated Germany for thirty years, and in 1G19 the people invited Frederick V., Elector of the Palatinate, to the tlu'one, to the exclusion of Ferdinand II., who liad been crowned king even in the preceding monarch's life-time. The victory at Prague, in the following year, decided the matter in favour of the house of Austria, and then the Protes- tants were treated with great barbarity. Protes- tantism, which was held by three-fourths of the lieo])le, was entirely rooted out. More than 30,000 families, 185 of which were of the rank of lords and IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 175 knights, who refused to become Catliolics, were obliged to emigrate to Saxony, Brandenburg, Holland, Switzerland, and other countries, and the Roman Catholic faith was establi.shed, to the exclusion of all others. In the sixteenth century, Prussia, which in recent years has played so important a part in German history, was scarcely included in the empire. Eastern Prussia was subject to Albert, Margrave of Branden- burg. This prince, ha\'ing heard Osiander preach at Nuremberg, was greatly impressed, and soon after- wards the Lutheran preachers were admitted to his dominions. So rapidly did Evangelical teaching win its way in this state, that, when in 1525 it was con- verted into a secular duchy, the entire population joyfully signified their adhesion to the doctrines of Luther. Western Prussia, together with Curland and Livonia, followed the example thus given, and in less than forty years the triumph of the " new religion " in these states was complete. Mainly through the exertions of Gustavus Vasa, the union of Calmar, which bound together the three countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, was, in 1523, dissolved, and Frederick I., Duke of Schleswig- Holstein, ascended the Danish throne. This prince was favourable to the Reform movement, and, as far as he could with safety, encouraged it. In 1527 a Diet was held at Odense, and liberty of conscience was decreed for all. In 1533, Frederick was followed on the throne by his son, Christian III., who was, perhaps, even more decided than his father in his 176 TnE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIO!? attacbment to the reformed faith. He was crowned by Bugenhagen, a Lutheran divine, whom he fetched from "Wittenberg for the purpose, and was one of those princes wlio banded themselves together in the Schmalkaldic League. Norway did not show any general disposition to embrace reformed tenets till after the accession of Christian III., although attempts had been made here and there to introduce the Gospel The i»relates and clergy generally made a strenuous resistance, but could not withstand the combined influence of the Gospel and the King, e.specially after 1537, when the country was united to Denmark yet more closely. Luthei-anism was finally established, and is the form of Christianity which has been professed by the country ever since. Iceland, which became subject to Norway in 12G1, would naturally Ikj largely influenced by that country in all matters relating to religion. W"c should only expect to find, that after Norway had declared for reform, Iceland would not be long in following its example. This was what occurred, (.iisser Einarsen, who was elected to the bishopric of Skalhult in 1540, was the chief agent in diffusing a knowledge of the Gospel. He was educated at Wittenberg, and was on this account, as well as others, peculiarly fitted for the task he undertook. His ordination took place when he was only twenty-five years old, after he had been examined by the professors at Co])enhagen, and his election duly confirmed by the King. The reforming measures of Einarsen were IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 177 o|»posf'd by Jolin Aresen, bishop of Holum, who at length incited the people to rebel, and suffered deatli at the hands of the executioner, in 1550. Tlie death of Einarsen had taken place two years previously. In 1520, Christian II. of Denmark was acknow- ledged King of Sweden. His tyranny soon disgusted the people. No less than ninety-four Swedish noble- men were beheaded in the market-place of Stockholm during the ceremony of his coronation. Similar acts of barbarism and cruelty were perpetrated tliroughout the country. In the following year Gustavus Yaso, to whom reference has already been made, put himself at the head of the numerous malcontents, and in the year following that, namely, in 1523, after the de- thronement of (Jiiristian, he was elected king. It was this monarch who established the Reformation in Sweden; although the reformed doctrines had been introduced into the country some few years previously by students from Wittenberg, the most notable being two brothers named Olave and Lawrence Petersen. The course of the Reformation in Sweden was some- what similar to its progress in England. The monas- teries were suppressed, a large proportion of the clerical revenues approjiriated to the service of the crown, and the King's entire supremacy in matters ecclesiastical declared. Lawrence Petersen was made *' archbishop " of Upsala, and ultimately the Reforma- tion, as moulded by him, was established throughout the country. From that time to the present, though with varying fortunes, Lutheranism has been the pre- A' ailing religion in Sweden. h 178 THE RELIGIOUS BEVOLUTION In Hungary and Ti-ansylvania the Word of God for a time prevailed mightily. Some of the young men who went to Germany to pursue their studies found their way to Wittenberg, and, returning to their native country, souglit to diffuse the senti- ments they had learnt at the feet of Luther and liis colleagues. In 1533, ^latthew Devay published a Magyar tran.slation of tlie epistles of Paul, and, three years later, a version of the Go.spels. Another earnest worker in the Evangelical cause was John Konter, whose efforts were mostly put forth in Transylvania, ^^here he laboured diligently, both in the pulpit and by the printing-press, to sow the seed of truth. This province was soon so extensively evangolized, that we lind Paul Bornemiszc, bishop of Weissenburg, quitting it in 1556 because of the almost universal prevalence of anti-Romish doctrines. In 1579, when the Jesuits were let loose upon the Protestants, the nobility were nearly all reformed, and the people were thirty to one in favour of the Evangelical faith. But in the *' Catholic Iveaction " wliich set in at the close of the sixteenth century, almost the whole of this lost territory Wiis unfortunately recovered for Rome. We have alrei\dy observed the zeal of Charles V. in the interests of Rome; but, notwithstanding his own vigilance, and that of the Inquisition, the (»ospel was, early in the hi.story of the movement, introduced into Spain. So numerous did the Lutherans become in Valladolid and Seville, that ultimately prison accommotlation sufficient for their incarceiation could scarcely bo found. But the Inquisition, which in IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 179 Spain imt forth its most malignant energies, worked with a will to suppress the new religion ; and when Philip II., the husband of Mary of England, justly termed the •' Nero of Spain," ascended the throne, the result was everything that the Pope could desire. By imprisonment, torture, and multiplied examples of auto-da-fe, the work of extermination was carried on, and by 1570 it may be said to have been completely accomplished. In the Netherlands, the Protestant religion, though severely opposed by the Emperor, spread extensively, especially in the Bclgic and ]3atavian provinces. The penal edicts, which the Emperor had not sufficient strength to execute in Germany, were mercilessly carried out in these portions of his dominions where liis power was more securely established. Still, Scrii)tural truth spread, and everywhere its potent influence was manifested, till, at length, Charles, find- ing the measures he had himself taken insufficient, in 1550, invoked the aid of the Spanish IiKiuisition. His successor, the cold-blooded tyrant, Philip II., was, if possible, even more rigorous. Repression was carried to such a length that disafl'ection, and, finally, open hostility to the government, assumed a formidable aspect. The nobles consjnred in defence of their rights, and the Protestants publicly celebrated their worship with the defiance of enthusiasm, ready to seize the first opportunity for throwing off the galling yoke of the opi)ressor. The Duke of Alva was then sent to do his bloody work, and to till to overflowing the bitter cup of the unhappy Netherlanders. It wag 180 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION just at this juncture that William, Prince of Orange, openly espousing the Protestant cause, took the field. Though often defeated by Don John of Austria, and Alexander of Parma, Protestant heroism eventually came off victorious in the unequal conflict for freedom and faith. In 1579, the five northern provinces — Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Frie.sland — entered into the celebrated union of Utrecht, declaring ' themselves independent of Spain. Thus was inau- gurated the Kepuhlic of the United Netherlands, which bore so gi'eat a i>art in tlie history of the seventeenth century. In I.ISO they were join«'d by Overyssel, and in 1594 by (Ironingen. The Dutch are still among the stiiuncliest of the adherents to the Protestant faith. But not only did the Peformation penetrate into the hereditiiry dominions of the EmiK-ror, it jn-netrated into Italy it.self, and even into the Papal States. Tho ■works of ^lelancthon, Bucer, and Zwingle, a,s well a.s those of Luther, were circulat<'d at a comparatively early period, and were read with the same results as elsewhere. A veiy earnest worker in the cause was Bernardino Ochino of Siena, a capuchin monk. His attainments were not equal to those of many of the German and Swiss reformers, but his zeal made up for all deficiencies. A more distinguished, but not more devoted, preacher of the reformed d(X'trines was Pietro ^lartire Vermigli, more generally known as Peter INIartyr. He was the author of various theological books, including commentaries on some parts of the Old and New Testaments, and is Siiid IN THE SIXTEENTH CEXTURV. 181 to have excelled even Calvin himself in erudition. Both these men were compelled to flee their country ; the latter, coming to England, eventually attained to tlie theological chair at Oxford, On the accession of Mary, he fled from England, and took refuge at Strasburg. He died at Zurich, in 1562. Ochino died in INIoravia, two years afterwards. But though Protestantism won decided victories, and numbered considerable converts, in various parts of Italy, it did not survive the drastic measures of the Inquisition. Poland, although at the present day its popula- tion is largely lioman Catholic, was extensively leavened by Protestantism in the sixteenth century. In 1548 Sigismund Augustus ascended the throne, and his influence was favourable to the cause of refonn. Calvin dedicated to him his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, and urged him to pro- ceed with the lleformation. John Laski, a Polish ecclesiastic, who, having in 1521 been brought by Zwingle to embrace Evangelical doctrines, had resigned all his dignities at home and settled at Emden, in Friesland, used his iufluence also with the King. Sigismund, however, did not act decisively, but at the same time showed his bias by appointing to the vacant bishoprics men who favoured the Keformation. During his reign, the doctrines of the Gospel penetrated into all orders of society, the extent to which this was the case being manifest by the fact that the Polish Diet held in 1552 showed a decided leaninsr to Protestantism. After the death of Sigismund, Poland became an elective monarchy, and as her 182 THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION sovereigns, mostly drawn from other countries, generally threw their weight into the Romish scale, the country was not long before it reverted to its previous ecclesiastical position. The Reformation made but little progress in Ireland, though, of course, that country participated in the changes effected in the reign of Henry VIII. The recognition of the king's ecclesiastical supremacy was formally made by the Irish parliament in 1537. Two years previously, George Brown, provincial of tlie English Augustine friars, had been nominated to the see of Dublin, and in him Henry found an energetic co-adjutor. Dowdall, the archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland, who was appointed in 15-13, was secretly devoted to the papacy, and being at length bold enough to head tlie opposition to reforming measures, was deprived of his see, while the primacy was for a time transferred from Armagh to Dublin. One of the most distinguished of tlie Protestant clergy in Ireland was John Bale, originally a Carmelite friar, whom Edward VI. promoted to the see of Ossory, in 1553. He appears to have been a truly pious and devoted man ; but his labours were cut short by the death of the king, and the restoration in Ireland, as in England, of Komanism by Mary. Although Protes- tantism was legally re-established on the accession of Elizabeth, it did not take hold of the affections of the Irish people generally, as distinguished from those of English origin ; and to-day Ireland is known as a country more passionately devoted to the Pope than any other in Europe. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 183 Far different was the course of the Reformation in Scotland. In 152o, the works of Luther had not only found their way into that country, but had been sufficiently read to attract the attention of the govern- ment, for we find that in that year an act was passed prohibiting the Keformer's writings. Scotland, the act declared, had always "bene clene of all sic filth and vice." Notwithstanding such measures, Scotland, in its turn, was to be shaken to its depths by the great convulsion of the sixteenth century. One of the first, as well as one of the most dis- tinguished, of the Scotch reformers, was Patrick Hamilton. He seems, when quite young, to have been attracted to Wittenberg by the fame of Luther, after- wards repairing to Marburg, where he studied under the excellent Lambert, of Avignon. Possessing a burning desire to return to his native country to declare that Gospel which he had found to be the power of God unto salvation, he left INIarburg, and, on arriving in Scotland, declaimed with much freedom and effect against the errors of the times, and the vices of ecclesiastics, declaring the free justification of sinners by faith in Christ. It is scarcely necessary to say that before long he brought down upon himself the wrath of the clergy. He was brought before the archbishops of St. Andrew's and Glasgow on February 29th, 1528, and was condemned and burnt the same day. This martyrdom, however, had the very o})posite effect to that intended by its authors. " The smoke of Patrick Hamilton infected as many as it blew upon," as was said by a "meary gentillman, named 184^ THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION Jolinne Lyndesay, famylliar to Bischope James Betoun." jMany were induced to inquire into the truth of the doctrines for which the martyr suffered, and, as a consequence, embraced them. Persecuting measures, cliiefly directed by Cardinal Beaton, '' tljo Wolscy of Scotland," as he has been called, Aveic continued ; but in sjtite of tliem the good cause progressed, many of the nobles becoming " obedient unto the faith." For a time, even the regent, the earl of Arran, himself seemed to have em- ))raced reformod views, and an important act was ])assed granting liberty to all to read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. But the weak and wavering regent soon apostatized, and, liaving surrendered him- self to the influence of Beaton, made numbers sutler imprisonment and death for what he had just before allowed. Among the most distinguished of the victims who suffered at this period was (Jeorge Wishart, lie preached theGospel with such extraordinary success that Beaton was alarmed, and an attempt to assas- sinate him having failed, he was arrested, illegally tried, condemned, and burnt. He suffered at St Andrew's, on March 1st, 15 IG. In procuring the con- demnation of Wishart, however, the cardinal procured his own. Three months afterwards, he was put to death by certain individuals whose indignation had been aroused by his cruelties and injustice, and who justitied their act on the ground that those who had been guilty of flagrant crimes against God and society had forfeited their lives, and might, therefore, be justly put to death by any private person. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 185 But the most distinguished figure in the history of the Seottisli Reformation is that of the famous John Knox. He had accompanied Wishart in his last j^reach- ing tour, and narrowly escaped sharing his fate. Under these circumstances, it is scarcely sui-j:)rising that when the cardinal was put to death, and the perpetrators of the act seized and held the castle of St. Andrew's, he should have taken shelter with them. When, after the assistance of a French fleet had been secured by tlie government, the fortress capitulated, Knox, with others, was transported to Rouen, where he was compelled to labour at the oar as a galley-slave till his liberation in 1549. He then proceeded to England, and for a short time laboured under the patronage of Edward VI., retretiting to Geneva on the accession of Mary. It was at Geneva that his theology took its final form. He made a brief visit to Scotland in 1554, and in 1550 returned to settle there for the remainder of his life. From this time, under the supervision of this truly great man, the Reformation continued to advance with giant strides, and on the 17th of August in the following year the *' Confession of Faith believed by the Protestants of the realm of Scotland," was sub- mitted to Parliament, and at once ratified. In 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived from France to take possession of the kingdom. She was animated by inveterate hostility to the reformed faith, and at length her disaflected subjects seized her person and confined her in Lochlevcn Castle, compelling her to abdicate in favour of her infant son. Under the four 186 RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION IN 10X11 CENTURY. regents, who successively administered the goveniment till James YI. formally ascended the throne and assumed the duties of head of the state, Reformation principles became deeply rooted, and were, ere long, universally difiused. Thus, then, have we sketched the liistory of one of tlie greatest revolutions in the beliefs and practices of men that have ever taken place. AVe have shown it in its diiilcult preliminary stages, and in its rise, gradual and steady at first, then more and more rajjid, until at length it overspread the civilised world. We might have shown, liad our space permitted, that the mo\'ement was ivs deep as it was wide, and penetrated into every domain of social and i)olitical life, till tlie whole fabric of the Protestant States of Europe be- came transformed and moditied. We might also have dwelt more fully on the characters and history of the more prominent actors in this great religious drama. But a canvas much larger than that at our disposal would be required if we had attempted to fill in the whole of the picture, with all its complex grouping and alternation of lii^ht and shade. We have "rone as fully into details as the limits of this work would allow, while we have indicated how extensive were the ramifications of the movement which had such humble beginnings. We leave to the rationalist the ditHcult, insuperably difficult, task of accounting for it and explaining it on another hypothesis than that of a Divine agency ; for oui-sehes, we can only say, " This is the Lord's doing : it is marvellous in our eyes." INDEX AnOMTION- OF TAPAT. SUPREMACY IX KNlishcd liv Liitht-r, 3y Aid given to Uonu- by Charles V., 8S Aii-'l.', William Fanl in,9S Alhorl.ar.liliislioiiof Mcntz, 21 of I'liissia, a rt'fornior, SiS Alexander VI. ( Borgia), 12 Anibilioii of ZwingU\ 144 Anne Boloyn, a Lutheran, 117 consents to marry Ucury VIII., 118 Anthony Duprat, 09 Apostary of Bri<;onnPt, 71 " Appeal " of Luther, :« brings matters to crisis, 38 Argula Staufen, her courage, 7S Armistice between Luther'and Papacy, 31 Askew, Anno, Martyrdom of, 157 Attack of Eck on Luther, 32 of Luther on archbishop of Mcntz, 50 Ueply of the archbishop, 50 Augsburg, Diet of, Doings at, 126 Mei'liiig at, 135 Luther not present at, 137 Second diet of, 133 Badex, Discrssiox at, m Success of the papists, W Bale, John, bishop of Ossory, 182 Banishment of Myconius and others, as Barnes, Robert, Arrest of, 110 Recantation and martyrdom, lU Basle, P'arel's triumph at, 72 Crisis at, 90, IW Destruction of images at, 101 Abolition of the Mass at, 101 Boda, Noel, syndic of the Sarbonne, 70 procures itublic burning of Lu- ther's works, 70 persecutes French Reformers, 70 Berne. Reformers triumphant at, 99 Herqiiin, Louis, of Artois, 71 Bible, the faith of the church, 103 Bllney, Tliomas, 106, 109 his influence on Latimer, 109 Blood of martyrs, seed of the church, Bohme, John, of Wurzburg,85 "Boiik of Common Prayer" compiled and adopted, 162 Books of Biblical Study. 77 Bradford, .!ohn. Martyrdom of, 166 Brio.tnnet, bishop of Meaui,67 Ibida, Persecutions in, 8i Bull against Luther, 38 of Pius V. ag .inst Elizabeth, 170 Bullingerat Zurich, 150 Burnet on clergy of 14th century, 11 Calvix, Johx, Sketch of cahker OK. 1.12 his writincs, 152 his untiring energy, .tc, i51 IH'rseeution of SerVetus, 1.^3 Camerariiis won to Reformation, 33 Cajnpeggio's mission to London, 119 Capiro, Medio, llaller, &c., 61 Cardinal Benton, 183 his persecuting .spirit, 183 Catherine Bora married to Luther, 89 Cttherines appeal to Henry VIIL, 121 Charles of Austria, 31 Charles V. of Spain elected emperor of Germany. 35 before Rome, 127 Charles VIII. and the Rorbonne, 1.5 Church not long pure in doctrine, lo Citation of Henry VIII. and Catherina to appear before the leg.ates, 120 Civil war in Switzerland, 145 Clement summons Henry VIII. to Rome, 123 Closing years of Farel's life. 151 Cobbett's sbnder of Anne Boleyn, 116 Cobham, Lord, Martyrdom of, 104 " Collo.iuy " at Ratislion, 136 its good results, 137 Comparison of Luther and Zwingle. 55 Concordat Ijetween popeand Francis I., 69 Condemnation of Luther pronounced by Emiieror Charles V., 46 Conduct of Zwingle's brothers, 63 Conference at Einsidlen, 63 of Marburg, 131 188 i}a)EX. Conf. Si-ion of Protestants at Augs- biirs.', 1.33 read l)eforo the emperor, 133 Confessions of faith by r.furiu r^rty, 140 Consolidation of the Reformation in KnL'laud, 171 Consiil)>tantiatinn, Doctrine of, 132 of Luther. 96 Controversies in reformed rhurrb, 97 Convents denounced by Lutlier, « Corrern on the Concordat, HJ Council of Trent, KS I'rotestants take no part In, 133 removed from Trent to bologna, 139 Count Albert of Man sf eld, 27 Coura!,'e of Luther wlien summoned to Uiet of Worms. 40 Crnnmer, Thomas, his early life, l.VS Crisis ill history of Church in England, 15J Cn-mwell, Thomas, 124 his suggestions to Henry VIII., VJi shows Henry the oath taken by bishops to the poi>e, 125 is taken into llenry's service, 125 made vicar-gineral, 159 Crucifix at Kt.idtflhofen, 91 its overthrow by Hottinj^er, 91 Cruelties at Coventry and Linroln, 108 Crusade against Protestants, VJ9 Dkath of IlF.jruY VIII.. ICO of OScolampadlus, 150 «>f yueen Mary, 109 IK'generacy of the Church, 10 Demonstration at H.aden, 91 Denmark, lleformatlon in, 175 Devotion of Irish to pajiacy, 182 Diet of Worms, :ai Di8:m'reemcnt between Clement and Charles V., VJ7 Discussion at Berne, Subjects of, 99 at Zurich, 90 between Eck and C irlstadt. 32, 33 Diffusion of evangelical knowledge, 77 Disput.-Jtion at Heidelberu^, 2.5 Dispute between Luther and Zwingle, i:c Dissensions amoncr reformers, 8J Doctrine of church corrupted, IS Doctrines enunciated by Calvin. 154 Duprat's supi>ort of Louisa of .Savoy, 74 " Eaters op thr dkai>," Thk, 68 Eck, Dr.. and his " Obelisks," 31 Edict of Worms, 126 Edward VI.. Advance of lleformatlon uncP r, ItU Elector's action against Luther, 50 Ebetors at Frankfort. Xi Elizabeths acts in self-defence, 170 England, lleformatlon in, 101 England, Steady adherence of, to Re» formation, 102 Entry of Luther into "Worms. 43 Erasmus and Renchlin, Timidity of, 17 attacked by B. dn, :b New T. stainent of. 104 gives o:fen(e to the ptjilsts, 105 •• I'raisp of Fopy," Th-, los Error, Luther first to declare war ai.'ainst,ft5 Establishment of Protestantism at Neufchatel, 144 Examination of Luther at the Diet of Worms, 44 Excuse of Luther for his marriage, 89 Fabei.. Lkfrvuk's rrrii,, 65 rebuked for reading the Scrip- tures, 67 Festival of St. Martin, Discussion at, SS Firmness of Protestant princes, 1S5 First and greatest reformer, 66 " Five Cantons," llesentment of, 147 Declaration of war by, 148 Flikrht of Farel to Strasburg, 73 Franz von Sickinj-'en's letter, 37 Frederick of Saxony, regent of Em- pire, .30 Frederick III. of Saxony, 16 French Switzerland, lleformation In, 97 Geneva, Reformatio!? js, 150 embraces Protestantism, 160 Farul, chief pastor at. 1.^1 German princes. Action of, 16 Germans' esteem of Luther, 38 Germany and Home prepare for action 38 takes lead In Reformation, 52 God's hand to be traced in the Refor- mation, .")2 GosiH-l preached faithfully, 62 (Josi>els translated by Lefevre, 73 Greek New Testament of Erasmus. 108 useful to learned only, lu6 Grey, Lady Jane, Episode of, 162 Hales, Alexasdeb, 13 Haller, Berthold, Preaching of, 98 Hamilton, Patrick, Notice of, 189 his martyrdom, 183 Henry III. of Germany and the popcfl, 11 Henrj- VIII. and the pope, 17 and Luther. 79 his " little book," 79 dubbed " Defender of the Faith," 79 seeks divorce from Catherine, 114 reasons for his doing so, 115 his liking for Anne Boleyn, 116 INDEX. 189 Henry VIII.'s testimony to Catherine'a virtues, 121 Heresy, So-called, at Oxford, 112 Wolscy's action against, 112 Hirnian von Wied, a reformer, 137 Hildebrand and the papacy, 12 Hisiorian, Duty of the, 9 Holstein, Cruellies done in, 84 HoDjjer, Bishop, Martyrdom of, 16-1 Hospital chapel, Preaching in, 142 Hottinger, Wartyrdom of, 91 Hungary and Transylvania, Reforma- tfon in, 177 Hunger of Home for Luther's condem- nation, 41 HuKS, John, of Bohemia, 15 his career and arts, 17.3 Hussites and V\ittenberger?, 174 Iceland, Reformatios in, 176 111-treatraent of reformers at Valang in 143 Images, Public discussion on, 91 their removal fnim cliurclu s, 92 Immorality of ecclesiastics 12 Impenchnient of \V(,l-cy, 123 Imperial ban ag-iinst Liithir, 4f> Imimsoninent of reformers by Wolsey, 112 Indulgences, Sale of, 14. 23 lutlncnceof Craiimer on Henry VIII., HiO Ingol.-tadt, Movement at, 7S " Interim" dnnvn up by Acricola, 140 Intrigues of Zwingle against Charles v., 146 Invasion of Hungary by Turks, l.'iS Ireland, Reformation in, 181 King's supremacy recognized in, ISO " Irrefragable Doctor," The 13 Italv and Papal States, Reformation in, 180 Jealousy bktweex Pope axd ClIAULKS v., 1.39 John (if lick's address to Luther, 43 of Saxony, a reformer, 8,s Joy of Luther at firmness of Protes- tant princes, 1.38 Julius de Medici made Pope. 83 — Measures of, against Reformation, 83 Knox, John, CEXxnAL figure in Scottish RKFORMATros, 184 Sketch of career of, 184 Lambfrt. John, Case of, 156 Lateran, Council at, in 1512, 16 Latimer, Hugh, the reformer, 109 - — his e.irly life and conversion 109 f'Tbidden to preach by West, bishop of Ely, 109 encouraged by Barnes, 110 Leaf, John, Martyrdom of, 167 Leclerc, proto-martyr of Reformation era in France, 71 tortured and burnt at Meaux, 71 Lefevre in Paris, 65 some account of his life, 66 undergoes the great change, 67 Leo X., Ids worldly character, 17 Letter of Adrian VI. to the elector of Saxony, 82 of Zwingle to Philip of Hesse, 146 Liberty, Soundinc tocsin of, 87 Literary work of Luther, 77 Lollards' Tower, 104 Lord's Supper, Disputes respecting, at Wittenberg, 96 Louisa of .Savoy, her influence, 69 Luther, Martin, his parentage, 19 liis school days, 19 befriended liy the Cottas, 20 at University of Erfurt, 20 flnds copy of holy scriptures, 20 becomes Doctor of Philosojihy, 20 life's course, how changed, 21 enters convent at Erfurt, 21 austerity of his life, 21 how the light dawned in his hi>art,22 jirofessor at Wittenberg, 22 becomes Doctor of Divinity, 23 summoned to Rome, 26 ordered into custody, 27 meets adversary at Augsburg, 27 escapes from Augsburg by night, 2s meets Von Miltitz at Altenburg, 29 refuses to retract, 29 enters arena against Eck, .33 shows recesBion from Romish faith, 33 denounced by papal bull, S8 appears at Diet of Worms, 43 condemned by Charles V., 46 in durance in the Wartburg, 47 translates New Testament in his enforced seclusion, 47 advocates ni.arriage of clergy, 47 returns to Wittenberg, 5<3 his conduct at Wittenberg, 77 publishes the New Testament, 77 Death of, at Eisleben. U8 last days of his life. 1.38 Luther's letter to Leo X., 26 Macaulay on acts of Henry VIIL, 160 on Cranmer's recantation, 74 Mad zeal of Munzer Miid others, 95 Madness against the (io^fjiel, ll.i Magyar transl-ition of (iospels, &c., by Matthew L)e\ay, 178 Making hole in Telzel's drum, 24 Man, Thomas, Martj rdoni of, ii:>8 190 INDEX. Manuel, Nicholas. 62 Margaret d'Anponleme, 68 D'Aubigne'a account of, 68 author of the DccanxTon, 68 died profes'^inc Roiuish faith, 69 marries kinpr of Navarre, Maricrnano, Battle of, o4 Marriage of clergy lcgaliz':-d, 1G2 _ of Henry VlII and his brother s ■widow, 102 of Luther and the cx-nun Cathe- rine IJ( ra, 89 of Zwinple, 62 Public declaration of, 63 Martyrdoms at Antwerp, 62 Mary. Accession of, 162 Restoration of Romish doctnuc. 163 Mary, Queen of Scots, 1S5 Mass abolished at Zurich, 93 Maurice of Saxony, 140 defeats Charles V., 141 Maximilian, Death of, 3t) Melancthon, Philip, his early years, 31 his eminent abilities, 31 becomes a supporter of Luther, 31 Miraculous crucifix at Rexley, HiO Misery endured under Marj-, 168 Monk, Luther no longer a, 49 Montbeliard, Farels labours In, 72 Munzer, Thomas, Acti(m of, 8S excites war in Mulhausi-n, 66 defeated and cxecuK d, R7 Murder, Implied, of Adrian VL. f-2 apiilauded by the Romans, 82 of Zw ingle, 149 Muston, Dr.. on the Vaudois. 14 Mutual tistimf)ny to orthodoxy, 133 " Mystery of ini'iuity," 10 N NETnF.ni,A>-nS, REFOnMATIOS IX, 179 Neufdifitel, Farelat, 112 New Test.-inunt issued in French, 73 Norway, Rt-formation in, 176 Nuremberg, Diet of, 1522, 81 Oath of LuTiTKtt to bk faitukil TO DKATU,44 aScolampadiuP, otherwise llausschcin, 61 CExlin, pastor at Bercr, carried off, 92 Opening of Diet of Worms. 4'> Oppressive measures of priests, 11 Oswald Mycouius, 60 Papal Bcll and othisr books pcbliclt bient by lrthek, 39 exchequer, Poverty of, 23 " Paraphrase " of Erasmus, lOl' Pavanne. M.irt\ rdom of, 76 Favia, Battle of, 73 Insaster of. ascribed to d-ings of reformers. 74 Payments to Papacy forbidden, 156 Peace of Passau, 141 of religion, 141 Persecutions in France, 74 Pet-^r Martyr as a preacher, 180 Philip of Hesse, a reformer, 88 Labours of, 1."12 " Philosopher of Rotterdam," 7.5 Phy?ieal force not advocated by Luther, 87 Pi^i Poliander won to Reff>nnation. ."iS Popf. The, and Henry VIII,, 117. demands Luther from Elector of Saxony as a prisoner, 40 jirisoner in St. Angelo. 127 the apostle of the devil, 43 Pope's emissaries try to bribe Zwingle, 91 groom appointed priest of Glaris, M refused by parishioners, 54 Popes, The, supreme, 11 Prayer meetings at Oxford, 112 Priests cl iiin liberty to marry, 48 Primacy of Pope discussed by Eck and Luther, .33 Prince-.archbishop of Treves, 30 his arrangement with Elector, 30 Princes of (Jermany professing the (JOSIH'I, M Printing, etc, Discover>- of, 17 Proclamation of Henry VIII , 156 Profane allusion to Adrian VPa. election as Pope, 81 Progrei-B of Reformation under Cran- iner, 160 Protest of the leaders of the Refor- mation, 128 text of thi. Recantation of bishop of Meaux, 74 Rec'"i lion of imperhil summons by Luther. 42 of Luther by Di Vio, 28 Re-establishment of the Reformation, 1G9 Reform of Church demanded by Luther, 26 Reformation begun at "WitteDberg, 68 the Lord's doing, 1P5 Th*>, Wh.1t it is, 9 uht'ie betrun,64 why accepted by Elizabeth, 171 Reformers summoned by Eck, 30 their conduct at thia crisis, S9 w ho became martyrs, 153 INDEX. 191 •' Refonuicg Pope," The, 81 Refutation of the " Confession," 1S4 Religion, War of, in Switzerland, 146 Religious mania at Zurich, 95 Peace of Nuremberg, 135 Remonstrances of Catherine, 122 Re-opentuK of ii>dulc:tnce market, 49 Opiiosition of Luther to, 49 Reply of Luther to Henry VIII., 80 More's strictures on, 80 Restoration of simple Supper of the Lord, 93 Revival of letters, how signalized, 18 Ridley and Latimer, Death of. 107 Rogers, Prebendary, Death of. 1(^4 Romanism, Reaction in favour of, 150 Rome thirsts for Luther's blood, 40 Rupture between King and Wolsey, 154 S Sacking of Coxvext of Ittisge.v, 92 Bafe-conduct accorded to Luther, 42 f-amson, the Swiss Tetzel, 57 opposed by Zwingh-, 57 expelled from Zurich, 58 Sautre, Martyrdom of, U)4 Savonarola at Florence, 15 Saxony, Elector of, a declared cham- pion of the Reformation, 36 Schmalkaldic league, l.V., ISO Schuch, pastor of St. Hippolyte, 73 his martyrdom at Nancy, 76 Scientific historian. Ability <>f, 10 Scotland. Heformation in, 182 Scrivener, Sad death of, 1(W Second Diet of Spires, 127 Edict of, annulled by Charles V., 127 Secret of the Lord with Zwinple. 64 Sigismund Augustus of I'ulaud, 180 Skevington's gyves, 16« " Solutions " of Luther. 26 Spain, Reformation in, 178 quenched by lu'iuisition, 173 Spanish Armada, 170 Staupitz, a man of (iod, 21 his encouragfjuent of Luther, 22 Street performance at L.n Croix. 62 Struggle betwveu Luther and Tetzel, 25 of Netherlands with Spain, 179 Struggles of Ji)hn Luther, 19 Students of Eriurt tear up Pope's bull, 38 Substance of "Confession of Augs- b\irg." 1.^ Sufferers for denial of Transubstan- tiation, 1.59 Summons of Emperor to Luther, 41 Superftitii'USusagciidisciuirH!.'* d,lf.2 Suppressionof mon stcviis. etc., ico Supremacy of Pope in England denied, 1.55 Swedeu, Eefnrmation in. 177 Switzerland seeks Church Reform. 53 History of Reformation in, 90 why not so fraught with stirring events, 90 Sylvester of Schaumburg, 37 offers to protect Luther, 37 Tax ox Immorality, 12 Teaching of Zwiugle on Eucharist, 96 Temporal power of the Popes, 10 Tender mereie.* of Rome, 93 Testimony of Ri^formers at Meaux, 70 Tetzel, the Dominican, 23 employed lo sell indulgences, 23 Theses of Luther at Wittenberg, 24 specimens of, 24 "This is my body," its meaning, 93 Thoroughness of Swiss Reformation, 154 Threats of John of Eck to Luther, 45 Torture and execution of the Wirths, 83 Traffic in bishoprics, etc., 70 in indulgences, 24 Treasury of merit, 14 Treatment of Zwingle's body, 149 Triumph of Reformation in Scotland, 185 Troubles of Church in Switzerland, 95 Truculence of Noel Beda, "4 Tyndale, William, his early life and history, 106 goes from Oxford to Cambridge, 106 translates Erasmus' Enchiridion, 106 his dispute with a theologian, 107 bis bold threat to Rome, 107 retreats to Hamburg, 107 completes translation at Worms, 107 receives the martyr's crown, IC* Ui.nic vox iuttex's lt^tteb. ?,r his friendi^liip refused by Luther and Melancllicin,38 Union "f Kvangeliral States of Switz. erland projected by Zwingle, 145 Union of Utrecht, 179 Vai-.\xgix, Farel at, 143 Vaudois of the Alp?, 14 Venice, Persecutions in. 84 Vile motives of Henry VIII. with re- gard to Reformation, 113 Virgin. Worship of, at Einsldlen, 5'i at tacked by Zwingle, c6 Visitation ef Monastei-ics, 159 Von Miititz and Luther, 'j9 testimony to Luther's power, 20 proposes discussion before an arbiter, 29 Vows o'f celibacy, Luther's orini :n r Painting in Neutral Tint. By R. P. Leitch. 2nd Eaitioii ... ... ... ... ... ... 5/_ 6 I Sepia Painting. ByR. P. Leitch 5/- Cassclt, Fetter, GalJ>in & Co., Ludgate Hill, London. Ill An Edition of the Bible with BEAUTIFUL ORIGINAL COLOURED PLATES. In MONTHLY PAKTS, price 7d. CasseU's Illustrated Bible. With Fac-Simih COLOURED PLATES, From Original Designs by M. L. Gow, G. L. SEYNfOUR. H. M. Paget, H. C. Selous, M. E. Edwards. TowNELEY Green, W. J. Morgan, and C. Gkegoky. " [To be completed in 38 Parts.) be com, The heautiful Coloured Plates from Original Designs by Eminent Artists, with which this New Eflition of the Bihk will be illustrated, have been prepared with much care and consideration. 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