History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume II Part 30

[473] "Velut organum quoddam electum ad ill.u.s.trandam filii sui Jesu gloriam." (Erasmi Ep. v. 27.)

[474] Vir est quem oportuit multo pretio emptum et servatum in terra.

(Weismanni, p. 1436.)

[475] Pomera.n.u.s est grammaticus, ego sum dialecticus, Jonas est orator ... Lutherus vero n.o.bis omnibus antecellit. (Knapp. Narrat. de. J.

Jona, p. 581.)

The deputation turned their steeds, and hors.e.m.e.n and footmen, surrounding Luther's carriage, entered the town of Erfurt. At the gate, in the squares and streets, where the poor monk had so often begged his bread, the crowd of spectators was immense. Luther dismounted at the Augustin convent, where the gospel had consoled his heart. Lange received him with joy; Usingen, and some of the more aged fathers, showed great coolness. There was a general desire to hear him preach, and though he was interdicted from doing it, the herald himself could not resist the desire, and consented.

[Sidenote: LUTHER PREACHES AT ERFURT.]

Sunday after Easter, the Augustin church at Erfurt was crowded. That friar who formerly opened the doors and swept the church, mounted the pulpit, and having opened the Bible, read these words: "_Peace be with you; and when he had so said, he showed_ _them his hands and his side_." (John, xx, 19, 20.) "All the philosophers, doctors, and writers," said he, "have exerted themselves to show how man may obtain eternal life, and have not succeeded. I will now tell you."

This has, in all ages, been the great question; accordingly Luther's hearers redoubled their attention.

"There are two kinds of works," continued the Reformer; "works foreign to ourselves--these are good works; and our own works--these are of little value. One builds a church; another goes on a pilgrimage to St James or St. Peter; a third fasts, prays, takes the cowl, walks barefoot; a fourth does something else. All these works are nothing, and will perish: for our own works have no efficacy in them. But I am now going to tell you what is the genuine work. G.o.d raised a man again from the dead, even the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might crush death, destroy sin, and shut the gates of h.e.l.l. Such is the work of salvation. The devil thought that he had the Lord in his power when he saw him between the two thieves, suffering the most ignominious martyrdom, accursed of G.o.d and men.... But the Divinity displayed its power, and annihilated sin, death, and h.e.l.l....

"Christ has vanquished; this is the grand news; and we are saved by his work, not by our own. The pope gives a very different account. But I maintain that the holy Mother of G.o.d herself was saved neither by her virginity nor maternity, neither by her purity nor her works, but solely by means of faith and by the works of G.o.d...."

While Luther was speaking, a sudden noise was heard; one of the galleries gave a crack, and seemed as if it were going to give way under the pressure of the crowd. Some rushed out, and others sat still, terror-struck. The orator stopped for a moment, and then, stretching out his hand, exclaimed, with a loud voice, "Fear nothing; there is no danger; the devil is seeking, in this way, to prevent me from proclaiming the gospel, but he shall not succeed."[476] At these words, those who were running out, stopped astonished and rivetted to the spot; the a.s.sembly calmed, and Luther, without troubling himself with the attempts of the devil, continued. "You will perhaps say to me, You tell us a great deal about faith. Tell us, also, how we can obtain it. Yes; well, I will tell you. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, '_Peace be with you; behold my hands_:' in other words, 'Behold, O man, it is I, I alone who have taken away thy sin, and ransomed thee, and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.'

[476] Agnosco insidias, hostis acerbe, tuas. (Hessi Eleg. Tertia.) Bitter foe, your wiles I see.

[Sidenote: LUTHER PREACHES AT ERFURT.]

"I did not eat the fruit of the tree," resumed Luther; "neither did you eat it; but we received the sin which Adam has transmitted to us, and are guilty of it. In like manner, I did not suffer on the cross, nor did you suffer on it; but Christ suffered for us; we are justified by the work of G.o.d, and not by our own.... 'I am,' saith the Lord, 'thy righteousness and thy redemption.'...

"Let us believe the gospel, let us believe St. Paul, and not the letters and decretals of the popes."

Luther, after having preached faith as the means of the sinner's justification, preaches works as the consequence and evidence of salvation.

"Since G.o.d has saved us," continues he, "let us so order our works that he may take pleasure in them. Art thou rich,--let thy wealth be useful to the poor. Art thou poor,--let thy service be useful to the rich. If thy toil is useful only to thyself, the service which thou pretendest to render to G.o.d is mere falsehood."[477]

[477] L. Op. (L.) xii, p. 485.

There is not a word in the sermon on Luther himself; no allusion to the circ.u.mstances in which he is placed; nothing on Worms, on Charles, or the nuncios; he preaches Christ, and Christ only; at this moment, when the world has its eyes upon him, he is not in the least occupied with himself; and herein is the mark of a genuine servant of G.o.d.

Luther set out from Erfurt, and pa.s.sed through Gotha, where he again preached. Myconius adds, that at the moment when the people were coming out from the sermon the devil detached from the pediment of the church some stones which had not budged for two centuries. The doctor slept in the convent of the Benedictines, at Rheinhardsbrunn, and thence proceeded to Eisenach, where he felt indisposed. Amsdorff, Jonas, Schurff, and all his friends, were alarmed. He was bled, and the greatest possible attention was paid him. Even the Schulthess of the town, John Oswald, hastened to him with a cordial. Luther, after drinking it, fell asleep, and was thereby so far recovered that he was able to proceed on the following day.[478]

[478] Iter faciente occurrebant populi. (Pallavicini, Hist. C. Tr. i, p. 114.)

[Sidenote: LUTHER TO SPALATIN.]

Wherever he pa.s.sed the people flocked to see him. His journey was a kind of triumphal procession. Deep interest was felt in beholding the intrepid man who was on the way to offer his head to the emperor and the empire. An immense concourse surrounded him.[479] "Ah!" said some of them to him, "there are so many cardinals and so many bishops at Worms, they will burn you; they will reduce your body to ashes, as was done with that of John Huss." But nothing terrified the monk. "Were they to make a fire," said he, "that would extend from Worms to Wittemberg, and reach even to the sky, I would walk across it in the name of the Lord; I would appear before them; I would walk into the jaws of this Behemoth, and break his teeth, and confess the Lord Jesus Christ."[480]

[479] Quacunque iter faciebant, frequens erat concursus hominum, videndi Lutheri studio. (Cochlus, p. 29).

[480] "Ein feuer das bis an den Himmel reichte"... (Keil, i, p. 98.)

One day, when just going into an inn, and while the crowd were as usual pressing around him, an officer came up to him and said, "Are you the man who undertakes to reform the papacy? How will you succeed?" "Yes," replied Luther, "I am the man. I confide in Almighty G.o.d, whose word and command I have before me." The officer, affected, gave him a milder look, and said, "Dear friend, there is something in what you say; I am the servant of Charles, but your Master is greater than mine. He will aid you and guard you."[481] Such was the impression which Luther produced. Even his enemies were struck at the sight of the mult.i.tudes that thronged around him, though they have painted the journey in different colours.[482] At length the doctor arrived at Frankfort, on Sunday, 14th April.

[481] "Nun habt Ihr einen grossern Herrn, denn Ich." (Ibid., p. 99.)

[482] "In diversortis multa propinatio, laeta compotatio, musices quoque gaudia; adeo ut Lutherus ipse alicubi sonora testudine ludens, omnium in se oculos converteret, velut Orpheus quidam, sed rasus adhuc et cucullatus, eoque mirabilior." (Cochlus, p. 29.) "In the inns there was much quaffing and joyous carousing, nor were the pleasures of music wanting; Luther himself sometimes playing on a sonorous harp, turned all eyes upon him, as if he had been a kind of Orpheus, shaven and cowled, no doubt, but on that account the greater wonder."

News of Luther's advance had reached Worms. The friends of the pope had thought he would not obey the summons of the emperor. Albert, cardinal-archbishop of Mentz, would have given anything to stop him by the way, and new schemes were set on foot for this purpose.

Luther, on his arrival at Frankfort, took some repose, and then announced his approach to Spalatin, who was at Worms with the Elector.

It is the only letter which he wrote during his journey. "I am getting on," says he, "though Satan has striven to stop me on the way by sickness. From Eisenach to this I have never been without a feeling of languor, and am still completely worn out. I learn that Charles has published an edict to frighten me. But Christ lives, and we shall enter Worms in spite of all the barriers of h.e.l.l and all the powers of the air.[483] Therefore, make ready my lodging."

[483] Intrabimus Wormatiam, invitis omnibus portis inferni et potentaribus aeris. (L. Ep. i, p. 987.)

[Sidenote: COCHLUS. NEW TACTICS.]

The next day Luther visited the learned school of William Nesse, a celebrated geographer of that time. "Be diligent," said he to the scholars, "in the reading of the Scriptures, and the investigation of truth." Then placing his right hand on the head of one of the children, and his left on another, he p.r.o.nounced a blessing on the whole school.

While Luther blessed the young, he was also the hope of the old.

Catharine of Holzhausen, a widow advanced in years, and serving G.o.d, went to him, and said, "My father and mother told me that G.o.d would raise up a man who should oppose the papal vanities, and save the Word of G.o.d. I hope you are that man, and I wish you, for your work, the grace and the Holy Spirit of G.o.d."[484]

[484] Ich hoffe da.s.s du der verherssene.... Cypr. Hilar. Ev. p. 606.

These were by no means the sentiments universally entertained at Frankfort. John Cochlus, dean of the church of Notre Dame, was one of those most devoted to the Roman Church. On seeing Luther pa.s.s through Frankfort on his way to Worms, he could not suppress his fears. He thought the Church was in want of devoted defenders, and scarcely had Luther quitted the town than Cochlus set out in his track, ready, as he says, to give his life in defence of the honour of the Church.[485]

[485] Lutherum illac transeuntem subsequutus ut pro honore ecclesiae vitam suam....exponeret (Cochlus, p. 6.) This Cochlus is the writer whom we frequently quote.

[Sidenote: ATTEMPT TO STOP LUTHER.]

There was great alarm in the camp of the pope's friends. The heresiarch was at hand--every day, every hour brought him nearer Worms. If he entered, all was perhaps lost. The Archbishop Albert, the confessor Glapio, and all the politicians about the emperor, felt uneasy. How can the arrival of this monk be prevented? It is impossible to carry him off, for he has the emperor's safe-conduct.

Stratagem alone can arrest him. These intriguers immediately arranged the following plan. The emperor's confessor, and his high chamberlain, Paul of Armsdorff, quit Worms in great haste, and proceed about ten leagues distant, to the castle of Ebernburg, the residence of Francis de Seckingen, the knight who had offered Luther an asylum.[486] Bucer, a young dominican, chaplain to the Elector-Palatine, and who had been gained to the evangelical doctrine at the Heidelberg discussion, had then taken refuge in "this hotel of the just." The knight, who had no great knowledge of the affairs of religion, was easily imposed upon, while the disposition of the Palatine chaplain favoured the designs of the confessor. In fact, Bucer was inclined to pacific measures.

Distinguis.h.i.+ng between fundamental and secondary points, he thought he might sacrifice the latter to unity and peace.[487]

[486] Da.s.s der Keyser seinen Beichtvater und Ihrer Majest.

Ober-Kammerling, zu. Seckingen schickt. (L. Op. xvii, p. 587.)

[487] Condoce faciebat ta a?a???a a probabilibus distinguerie, ut scirent quae retinenda ... (Melch. Adam. Vit. Buceri, p. 223.) He taught that a distinction should be made between the necessary and the probable in order to ascertain what ought to be retained.

The chamberlain and confessor begin their attack. They give Seckingen and Bucer to understand that it is all over with Luther if he goes to Worms. They a.s.sure him that the emperor is ready to send certain learned men to Ebernburg there to confer with the doctor. "Under your charge," say they to the knight, "the two parties will be placed." "We are at one with Luther on all essential points," say they to Bucer: "only some secondary points remain; and as to these you will be mediator." The knight and the chaplain are shaken. The confessor and chamberlain continue. "The invitation addressed to Luther must come from you," say they to Seckingen, "and let Bucer be the bearer of it."[488] Every thing was arranged according to their wish. Let Luther only be credulous enough to come to Ebernburg; his safe-conduct will soon expire, and then who will be able to defend him?

[488] Da.s.s er sollte der Luther zu sich foderu. (L. Ep. xvii, p. 587.)

Luther had arrived at Oppenheim. His safe-conduct was available only for three days longer. He sees a troop of hors.e.m.e.n approaching, and soon recognises at their head the Bucer with whom he had such intimate conference at Heidelberg.[489] "These hors.e.m.e.n belong to Francis of Seckingen," said Bucer to him after the first expressions of friends.h.i.+p. "He sends me to you to conduct you to his strong castle.[490] The emperor's confessor is desirous of a conference with you. His influence over Charles is unbounded: every thing may be arranged. But beware of Aleander!" Jonas Amsdorff and Schurff knew not what to think; Bucer insisted; but Luther hesitated not. "I continue my journey," was his answer to Bucer; "and if the emperor's confessor has any thing to say to me, he will find me at Worms. I go where I am called."

[489] Da kam Bucer zu, mit et lichen Reutern. (Ibid.)

[490] Und wollte mir uberreden zu Seckingen gen. Ebernburg zu kommen.

(Ibid.)

[Sidenote: LUTHER ENTERS WORMS.]