In the democracy of letters, kings are unknown; titles are not so important as quality : in the literary guild, truth only wears a crown.
Luther joroved this in his reply to "Nay, an thou 'It mouth, I '11 rant," exclaimed the fiery reformer, in spirit, if not in words.
And his pamphlet as much exceeded that of his kingly antagonist in terror of invective, as in strength of argument and aptness of illustration.
Luther opened his response to Henry by reproaching that monarch with basing his doctrines wholly upon human traditions.
I never cease crj ing. Gospel, gospel ; and my adversaries retort, Custom, custom ; ordinances, ordinances; fathers, fathers.
St. Paul says, Let not your faith stand in the ivisdom of men, hut in the poicer of God."
By this thunder-clap the apostle disperses, as a whirlwind scatters the dust, all the hobgoblins of this Henrj-."
After refuting in detail the errors with which Henry's tract swarmed, and refuting them in that disdainful, yet perspicuous and spirited style peculiar to him, he turns, at the conclusion, like a stag at bay.
"To all the words of the fathers and of men, of angels and of devils," he wrote, "I oppose not old customs, not the multitude of men, but the word of eternal majesty, the gospel, which even my adversaries are obliged to recognize.
I hold fast, on this I repose, in this I boast, in this I exult o and triumph over the papists, the Henrys, the sophists, and all the swine of hell.
The Kins: of heaven is with me.
For this reason I fear nothing, although a thousand Augustines, a thousand Cyprians, and a thousand of these churches which Henry defends, should rise up against me.
It is a small matter that I should despise and revile a king of the earth, since he himself does not fear in his writings to blaspheme the King of heaven, a,nd to profane his holy name by the most impudent falsehoods.
" I will not be gentle towards thee, king of England.
I know that it is vain for me to humble myself, to give waj^ to entreat, to try peaceful methods.
At length I will show myself more terrible towards these furious beasts, who goad me daily with their horns.
I will tiirn mine upon them.
I will provoke Satan until he falls hfeless and exhausted.
If thi> heretic does not recant, says Henry VIII., the new Thomas, he must be burned alive.
Such are the weapons you employ against me ; the fury of the stupid asses and swine of the brood of Thomas Aquinas, then the stake.
Well, then, be it so.
Let these hogs advance, if they dare, and let them burn me.
I reside at Wittemberg—I await them.
After my death, though my ashes should be strewn into a thousand seas, they will rise, reunite, pursue, and swallow up this abominable herd.
Living, I shall be the enemy of the papacy ; burned, I shall be its destruction.
Go, then, swine of St. Thomas, do what seemeth good to you.
Lutlier like ii bear upon your way, and as a lion upon your path.
He will spring ujDon you wliitliersoever you go, and will never leave ^•ou at peace until be has broken your iron heads, and ground your brazen foreheads into dust.
Papists, will you never cease from your vile attacks?
Do Avliat you please.
Nevertheless, before that gospel which I preach, down must come popes, bishops, priests, monks, princes, devils, death, sin, and all that is not Christ, or in Christ."-'
This fierce pamphlet fell like an avalanche upon poor Henry, and he felt tlie la^^rels wither upon his head even in the full flush of his triumph.
He had no wish to provoke a fresh assault from this Titanic monk, Avho gioamed like an avenging Nemesis upon the ecclesiastical horizon, who grasped such thunder-bolts, and spoke such daggers.
The festivities of Greenwich were interrupted ; the courtiers stood aghast ; while the bishop of Sir Thomas More tottered feebly forward to the support of their smitten sovereign.
When Henry had recovered his breath, he w'rote to the elector and to duke George of Saxony, bitterly complaining of Luther's tract, and conjuring them to unite in thrusting him from their joint dominions.
But while duke George w-as verv willing to comply with this request, and had indeed for j-ears been exerting every energy to secure Luther's condemnation and banishment, the friendly elector contiu- (Lcipsic.') XVIII.. 209. ued to stand, \i\ie a rampart, between tlie monk and all harm
; replying to the solicitations of the wounded English king, who had provoked the combat, and to the menaces of duke George, with imperturbable calmness
: " It may not be, good king ; it may not be, dear cousin."^ The result of this rencontre was decidedly favorable to the Reformation.
" So great a name as that of the English Henry mixed up in the dispute, anel beaten," says Panl fSarpi, " served to give it edai) to render it more curious, and to conciliate general favor towards Luther, as usually happens in combats and tournaments, where the spectators have always a leaning towards what seems the weaker side, and rejoice in its triumph."t
"' L. 0pp. XVIII., 213. t Hist Council of Trent, pp.
14tli of September, 1523, Pope Adrian The Romans, delighted at being thus delivered from the rigorous rule of the ascetic foreigner, are said to have crowned the door of his ph^'sician with flowers, and to have inscribed over it these words:
*' To the saviour of his country .''"
Medici, another son of that famous Florentine house, and a cousin of Leo X.
Like Leo, he was fond of gayeties, of luxury, and of idleness.
All idea of reform vanished under the new regime, and the Reformation was mainly hated hj the new pontiff, because it interfered with his pleasures and meddled with the established routine.
Meantime the Reformation continued to spread.
Several princes, distinguished alike for their virtue and their rank, became its open adherents.
3'oung landgrave of Hesse, who had seen and became interested in Luther at Worms, and Prince Albert of Brandenburg, both men of singular energy and strength of character, had recently espouscd the reform tenets; and about this time George of Palenz, bishop of Sumland, declared his conversion to the new theology.
All Denmark was Lutheran, and the free cities of Magdeburg and of Nuremberg embraced the reform by solemn decrees of their respective senates."
The flame thus lit up rapidly extended itself, and before the close of the year 1523, the Eeformation counted among its ardent adherents and firm allies
Livonia, Mecklenberg, the duchy of Holstein, Pomerania, Westphalia, Leipsic, Brunswick, and Sirasburg.t But if the reformers were active, Rome was not idle.
Startled by the spread of the heresy, she began to muster her squadrons, and bade her fierce crusaders whet their swords in preparation for a bloody glut of her vengeance.
Despairing of success from the obstinate members of the Germanic diet, still in session at Nuremberg, she turned elsewhere for succor.
By skilful manipulation, the new pontiff, Clement VII., gained over to the support of his wavering cause a number of the 'most powerful houses in the empire.
Swabian league, the wealthiest cities in the empire, the oldest and most powerful nobles, Charles Y. himself—out of such materials did Clement construct his new rampart against the Reformation.
A great council, convened expressly to decide upon the policy to be pursued by the Vatican at this momentous juncture, was held at Ratisbon, and attended by a host of influential nobles and illustrious prelates. I After a conference of fifteen days' duration, the most severe measures for the extirpation
THE LIFE AND TIMES of heresy were fixed on " cry havoc, and let sh'p the dogs of war " against the Then a pitiless storm of persecution arose.
Luther trembled for the tranquiUitjof Germany, and did his utmost to still the tempest.
" If the j^rinces," said he, " oppose the truth, the result will be a confusion wdiich will destroy princes, magistrates, priests, and people.
I fear to see all Germany, ere long, deluged with blood.
Let us rise up as a -wall, and preserve our people from the wrath of God.
Nations are not now what they have heretofore been.
The sword of civil war is impending over the heads of our kings.
They are resolved to destroy Luther ; but Luther is resolved to save them.
Christ lives and reigns, and I shall live and reign with him."
But these prophetic w^ords did not stay the persecution.
Attempts to choice the heresy in blood w^ere made in various sections.
In the Low Countries, Avhichw^ere under the personal supervision of Cbarles v., and especially in Antwerp, tha Inquisition, under the congenial charge of Hochstraaten, revelled in a ghastl}" carnival.
" The executions liave begun," sadly exclaimed Erasmus.
" At last," cried Luther, " Christ is gathering some fruit of our preaching, and has created new martyrs."
But the heretical fire refused to be dampened by this bloody baptism.
" Wherever the inquisitors raise a pile," said Ei-asmus, " there tliev seem to have been sowing heretics."^ Erasiu. Epp. to Duke Gcoi-ge.
" Your bonds are mine," shouted Lutlier from Hie heights of Wittemberg.
" Your dungeons and your blazing piles are mine; we are all with you, and God is at our head."* But while these dangers menaced nascent Protestantism, while Luther stood sadh' and anxiously watching this holocaust of his adherents, a ne^v anxiety beset him.
Avitli Carlstadt burst forth, and assumed alarming proportions.
' The quarrel had commenced in a difference between them in their interpretation of the eucharist.
Luther still held with the Eoman theologians, and continued to hold through life, to the doctrine of the real presence of the body and blood of the Saviour in the bread and wine,
Carlstadt repudiated this tenet of Eomanism with all the rest, and held that the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the last supper were typical, not real.
Luther, in the dispute at Leipsic, had explained the words, Thou art Peter, and on this rock I ic'dl build my church, by separating the two propositions, and applying the latter to Christ's person.
" In like manner," said " the words take, ecd, refer to the bread; but this is my body relates to Jesus Christ, who then pointed to himself, and intimated by the symbol of breaking the bread, that his body was soon to be broken."
This typical" interpretation of the mooted passage was held to be the true one not only by the Swiss reformers, by Zwingle and (Ecolampadius, but also bj a number of the German reformed theologians besides Carlstadt, by Bucer and by Capito, for instance.
Carlstadt went beyond this difference of opinion.
His zeal against the images now returned in full force.
Impatient of the restraint exercised upon him at Wittemberg, and conscientiously desirous of stereotyping his convictions into action, his ill-regulated zeal impelled him to quit the university early in 1523.
He did so, and that so suddenly, that neither his colleagues nor the elector were apprized of his intention.
Eepairing to the neighboring village of Orlamuiid, he had the incumbent of the church there dismissed, and he was himself appointed pastor in his stead.
And all this also occurred without the permission or knowledge of the university chapter or of the elector.* Carlstadt then began to propagate his doctrines.
We are assured that his imprudent discourses and enthusiastic language speedily inflamed the minds of his hearers in those agitated times ; and the people, believing that they heard a second Elijah, hastened under his direction to break the idols of Baal.
The dismayed elector dispatched Luther to the scene of tbese outbreaks, in the hope that he might restore the wonted tranquillit3^
But so far was this from being the case, that he was almost mobbed by the admirers of Carlstadt on reacliing Orlamund.
His exhortations Avere vain.
Spaliitiii'.s Auuiils.
4G7 he "was followed, liooted, cursed.
" Begone, in the name of all the devils," shouted some; "May you break your neck before you get out of the city," vociferated others.
Luther afterwards, in relating the incident, "I Avas glad to escape without being pelted with mud and stones."* The indignant elector now interfered, and banished Carlstadt from the electoral states.f
We are assured that Luther had absolutely nothing to do Avith these severe measures of his prince.:^ But Carlstadt held him resi^onsible in his farewell address to his flock at Orlamund, which he signed,
"Andrew Bodensteiu, expelled by Luther, unheard, unconvicted."
In narrating this sad phase of the Reformation, this unhappy breaking of a long, close friendship, this sejiaration amid crimination and recrimination of the father of the Reformation and his earliest prominent supporter, D'Aubign6 remarks,
" The fanaticism of the day explains the direction that Luther now took.
Enthusiasts Avere not content with undervaluing AA-hat they called in their mystical jargon the 'External Word,' that is, the Bible, and Avith pretending to special revelations from the Holy
Ghost; they went so far as to despise the sacrament of the Lord's supper as something outward, and they spoke of an inward communion as the only true communion.
" From that time, in every attempt to explain the D"Maikeineke, Eef. Gescli.
Lord's Slipper in a symbolical manner, Luther saw only the danger of weakening the authority of the holy Scripture ; of substituting arbitrary tillegories for their real meaning; of spiritualizing every thing in religion
; of making it consist not in the gifts of God, but in the impressions of men ; and of substituting by these means for true Christianity a mysticism, a theosophy, a fanaticism, that would infallibly become its graxe.
" We must acknoAvledge that, had it not been for Luther's violent opposition, the mystical, enthusiastic, and subjective tendency would then perhaps have made rapid progress, and would have turned back the tide of blessings which the Reformation was to spread over the world."*
But despite this defence, it must be confessed that, in the several interviev\'s which Luther had Avith his old friend and coadjutor, he acted harshly and domineeringly, and that this haughty course was in no way conducive to Carlstadt's reconciliation.
The point upon which they difiered was one upon which, by a little concession on both sides, they mio'ht have consented to differ.
Thev would thus have avoided that fierce quarrel which tore the -vitals of the Reformation, assailed fi'om Avithin and from without, and which so sorely grieved all good men and true throughout Christendom.
Carlstadt first took refuge at Strasburg, where he published several works.
He was a sound Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholar, says Dr. Schuer, and Luther acknowledged liis profound erudition.
Tarrying but a short time at Strasburg, he passed thence into Switzerland, where he breathed the free air which had nurtured the soaring spirits of Zwingle and of (Ecolampadius.
" Endowed with an elevated mind, Carlstadt thus sacrificed his reputation, his rank, his home, his friends, his very bread, to his convictions."
Luther was much dejected en his old friend's irate departure; but observing that sadness had also taken possession of the disciples of refoTm, he forgot his own troubles, and essayed to comfort his friends.
" Let us fight," he said, " as if fighting for another.
The cause is God's, the care is God's, the word is God's, the victory is God's, and to God belongs the glory.
He will contend and conquer Let that fall which ought to fall ; let that stand which ought to stand.
It is not our oavu cause that either Carlstadt or I defend, nor is it our own glory that we seek."-'
While Luther still smarted from the hurt inflicted by Carlstadt's departure from German}^ he was attacked by another, and the most distinguished literary adversary against whom he had ever been called to contend.
The great Erasmus touched his shield, and challenged him to enter into a theological debate with him.
Henry YIIL, cut to the quick by the disdainful sarcasm of Luther's rej)ly to the royal treatise, proffered a pension and the praise of all good men
THE LIFE AND TIMES as a reward to any one who should undertake his defence ; at the same time he apphed to Erasmus, who was esteemed the foremost writer of liis age— a reixitation for whicli he Avas as much indebted to the racy vigor and honhonimic of his style as to his erudition.
Eeasoniug from the jjast, Luther had a right to expect that the sage of Eotterdam would join him in chastising with the rod of his irony the imperfect and bigoted logic of the English Bluebeard.
But Erasmus was as open to the suggestions of pride as Henry himself; therefore when the monarch stooped from his throne to solicit his aid, the renegade scholar weakly 3 ielded to the temptation of having a monarch for his friend, rather than a monk, however eloquent, renowned, and pious.*
Accordingl}- in the autumn of 152-4, Erasmus published his famous book entitled the Diatribe, which was a treatise on freeicill, written from the standpoint of scholasticism.
Like every thing from his pen, it was calm, able, and philosophical.
It greatly enhanced his contemporary reputation, and was felt to be a severe blow at the Beformation for two reasons: it detached from its ranks a scholar who had been more than suspected of favoring its tenets; it hurt the reform by its intrinsic power ajid subtle sophisms.
Luther was deeply pained by this disingenuous conduct of his old friend and correspondent : Erasmus had been among tlie earliest to encourage him to enter upon his career of reform, and he had looked to liim for sympatliy and support, nor had
Liither till now seen reason to doubt his sincerity.
The defection Avould have afflicted him from whatever cause it had proceeded, for the Reformation needed belles-lettres support; but occasioned as it was by the meanest of vanities, it appeared to have happened to show him the rottenness of worldly genius, however splendid, and to teach him to place less trust than ever in human helpers.
The "Diatribe'' created a sensation.
But the timid philosopher could scarce credit his own boldness.
He had been employed during the past ten years in carefully steering his scholastic bark so as to avoid the Scylla of reform and the Charybdis of the papacy.
Now he had deserted this middle course, taken his faction, allied himself with the side of retrogression.
He fixed his eyes tremblingly upon that gauntlet which he had flung down.
He knew perfectly the Hercules whom he had summoned into the arena, and he gave way to bitter " Why was I not permitted to grow old in the garden of the muses?" he exclaimed.
I at sixty driven into the arena, and holding the cestus and the net of a gladiator, instead of the congenial lyre.
I am congratulated on my triumj^h, but I have gone bej-ond my sphere, and I know not that I triumph.
The Reformation is daily spreadingThus did the timid scholar sing—not a jubilant * Erasm. Epp., p. 811.
THE LIFE AND TIMES pseau, but the sad aud tearful notes of a broken and dejected old age.
Lutlier felt, and indeed the Eeformation demanded, that a response to Erasmus must be penned.
But he determined to take his time for the composition of his answer, so that it should be worthy alike of the august subject and of the eminent scholar whom it was to rebut.
He preferred to wait, and even to endure the mocking jeers of his enemies at his delay, rather than to send forth immediately a crude work, and one which might but imperfectly exj^ress his views.
He therefore commenced to study the whole subject with that thoroughness which was an essential part of his intellectual structure, and meanwhile he bided his time.
The period succeeding the return of Luther to Y\^ittemberg was the most active and laborious of his life.
His life no longer presented that uniformity which had characterized its earlier phases.
Descended from his poetical solitude at Wartburg, and plunged into the most pitiful realities, he became a prey to the whole world, and it was to him that all the enemies of Rome addressed themselves.
; besieging his door hourly, trooped citizens, doctors, princes.
Diplomatic enigmas were to be solved, knotty theological j)oints were to be settled, the ethics of social life were to be laid down.
As showing Luther's Titanic literarv activitv at tin's period, it mav be stated that in 1520, one hunOF MAHTIN LUTHER. dred and thirtj-tliree works came from his own peu
; in 1522, one hundred and Ihirty ; in 1523, one hundred and eightythree, and thus far in 1524 nearly as many.
To almost all of these a little woodcut, from Luther's own design, was prefixed."* It has been well said that it was the aim of the Eetbrmation to lead mankind to that ripe age which Christ had jmrchased for them, and to free them fi'om the tutelage in which the subtle craft of Eome had imprisoned them.
To this end, Luther now advocated the broadest form of popular education.
The multiplication of books, the estabhshment of schools, tlie propagation of hberal ideas—he seized and made active use of all these creators of enlightened thought, and ere long, fi'om the chaotic darkness of the middle ages, a civilization was elaborated which was the jubilant herald of the new r&jime.
Luther knew the importance of interesting the young, of initiating them into the temple of knowledge.
'• Dear sirs," wrote he to the councillors of the German cities, '' we annually expend much money on arquebuses, roads, and dikes; why should
Ave not expend a little to give one or two schoolmasters to our j)oor children ?
" Busy yourselves with the children ; for many parents are like the ostriches—they are hardened towards the little ones, and satisfied with layingj:he e^^, they afterwards care little for it.
The prosperity of a city does not consist merely in heaping up THE LIFE AND TIMES great treasures, in building strong walls, in erecting splendid mansions, in possessing glittering arms.
If madmen fall upon such rotten prosperity, its ruin is assured.
The true wealth of a citj, its safety, its impregnable strength, is to have many worthy, serious, and well-educated citizens.
And whom miist we blame because there are so few at present but you magistrates who withhold the means, and permit our youth to grow up like trees in a forest?
" Do you inquire what use there is in learning the languages and in literature?
Do you say, 'We can read the Bible very Avell in German?'
Without languages we could not have received the gospel.
Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the ; they are the casket which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought; they are the vessel that holds the wine; and as the gospel says, they are the baskets in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude.
" If we neglect literature we shall eventually lose the gospel, and through gross ignorance we shall be unable first to write in Latin, then in German.
No sooner did men cease to cultivate the languages than Christendom declined, even until it fell under the undisputed dominion of the pope.
But no sooner was this torch relighted, than this papal owl fled with a shriek into congenial gloom.
Now literature is so much honored that every one is able to appreciate our gospel, and to perceive that it is almost as pure as that of the apostles themselves.
" In former times the fathers were frequently mistaken, laecause they were ignorant of languages, and in our days there are some wlio, like the Waldenses, do not think the languages of any use
; but although their doctrine is good, they have often erred in the real meaning of the sacred text ; they are -without arms against error, and I fear rae much that their faith will not remain pure.
" If the languages had not made me positive as to the true meaning of the word, I might have still remained a chained monk, engaged in quietly preaching Romish errors in the obscurity of a cloister
; the pope, the sophists, and their antichristian empire would have remained unshaken."^''
Thus wrote this wise and prophetic monk in the early part of the sixteenth century.
Ave in advance of his intelligence to-day ?
In obedience to this requisition, libraries sprang up in every direction, schools were planted, and the four corners of the empire were taken up by societies for the amelioration of the people.
Poetry received a fresh impetus.
Hiltten and Hans Sach sang with fresh vigor ; Cranach and Albrecht Diirer revolutionized painting ; and more books were now printed in one year than had before issued from the press in a century.t
Learning had been shut up in the cells of the cloister, it had been confined in the swaddling bands of outward ordinances
; but the priests were now forced to loose their exclusive clutch iipon it, and it flowed out upon the people, humanizing and elevating humanity.
At this time mauj of Luther's brethren married, and all had entered the world to partake of its cares and its duties, deeming themselves more bound to holiness bv the cross and their simple faith in the gospel, than they had been by the vows which wedded them to a life of solitude.
Towards the close of the year 1524, Luther formed the resolution of following the example of those whose freedom was the practical result of his speculations.
He had been living in the Wittemberg cloister, and still wore the old monastic dress.
He now informed the elector of his projected change, and with that caution which, despite his fiery disposition, he always carried into important actions, he solicited the opinion of his prince in the matter.
Frederick responded by sending him a roll of cloth, and bidding him fashion from it any form of dress he pleased.
Luther thenceforward rejected both the habit and the title of a monk, and quitting the monastery, he took suitable apartments near the university.*
He was now known only by his academic distinctions, and having thus emancipated himself from most of the few remaining trammels of his monkish state, he determined to complete the work by marrying.?
In the convent of Nimptisch, near Grimma, in Saxony, dwelt, in the year 1523, nine nuns who were diligent in reading the vvord of God, and who had discovered the contrast that exists between a Christian and a cloister life.
They therefore determined to quit their convent and to return into that society which they had left under an erroneous idea of piety.
Despite the urgent importunities of their friends, who feared the consequence of such a step, they stripped off their convent gowns, and on the April, 1523, amazed at their own boldness, stopped in great emotion before the gate of that old Augustine monastery in which Luther then resided.
" This is not my doing," said Luther as he received them, " but would to God that I could thus rescue all captive consciences, and empty all cloisters ; the breach is made."
Many persons in Wittemberg offered to receive these nuns into their houses, and one of them, Catharine Yan Bora, Luther's future wife, found a welcome in the family of the burgomaster of the city.
If Luther at that time thought of preparing for any solemn event, it was to ascend the scaffold, not to approach the marriage altar.
Many months after this, he still replied to those who spoke to him of marriage, " God maj change my heart, if it be his pleasure, but now at least I have no thought of taking a wife
: not that I do not feel any attractions towards that estate I am neither a stock nor a stone, but every day I expect the death of a heretic."
But his aged father, who had been so grieved when he embraced a monastic life, now joined his tremulous voice to the importunity of his otlier friends, and urged liim to enter the conjugal state.
One idea above all was daily present before Liither's