with Cajetan, Luther deemed it expedient to make an abrupt retreat into the friendly territories of Saxony. Cajetan was instructed to bring him to Rome; and Luther's friends were well aware that the nuncio would not have been scrupulous about the means of executing his orders. The rupture of the conference at Augsburg, followed as it was by the decisive support of Luther by the Elector Frederick, constitutes an epoch of consequence in the history of the reformer. Indeed, it amounted to a pointed refusal on his part to comply with the desires of the court of Rome, though communicated through the medium of one of its principal ministers; while Frederick, without entering into the religious discussions of the controversy, was confirmed in his intention of protecting Luther by an anxiety to relieve himself and his subjects from the rapacious exactions of the papal court. In the succeeding year, 1519, the public attention was drawn to a formal disputation between Luther and his Catholic adversaries. Eckius, the Dominican, eager to obtain reputation, and to strengthen his interest with his ecclesiastical superiors, challenged Carolostadt, an adherent of the new doctrines, to contend with him in public at the city of Leipsic; when Luther, who took part in the discussion, excited much admiration by the display of his learning, and the ardour of his elocution. He here brought forwards, openly and positively, the doctrine that the superiority of the Pope, as universal bishop, rested on. no other authority than that of human institution; which opinion, one of the boldest that could be advanced in those times, was subsequently maintained by him in repeated publications. Leo, afraid of offending the Élector Frederick, long delayed the adoption of extreme measures against Luther: but at last, in June 1520, came forth the noted Bull which condemned his doctrines in the eyes of the Catholic world. The reformer received the anathema with undiminished fortitude: -- "The die," he said, "is cast, and I despise equally the fury and favour of Rome. Never will I be reconciled or connected with them. Let them condemn and burn my books. - I, in my turn, sa long as I can procure fire, will condemn and burn publicly the whole pontifical code." In the three years which had elapsed, the doctrines of Luther had taken a strong hold on the people of Saxony, and in many places it was found unsafe to attempt the publication of the papal edict. The first regular step taken by Luther against the bull was a protest recorded before a notary and witnesses, and an appeal from the pope to a general council. An appeal of the same nature had been been entered by him a twelvemonth before, but the respectful manner in which he then spoke of Leo was now exchanged for the most embittered expressions. Leo X. in impia sua tyrannide induratus perseverat Iniquus, temerarius, tyrannicus judex — Hereticus et Apostata-Antichristus, blasphemus, superbus contemptor sanctæ Ecclesia Dei. * The universities of Cologne and Louvain having openly burned Luther's books, and a similar example having been given at Rome, the Reformer now determined to retaliate. He caused public notice to be given at Wittemberg, that he purposed burning the antichristian decretals on Monday, 10th December. So novel a scene excited great interest, and the concourse accordingly was immense. The people assembled at nine o'clock in the morning, and proceeded, in regular divisions, to the spot in the neighbourhood where the ceremony was to be performed. Having there partaken of a slight repast, an eminent member of the university erected a kind of funeral pile and set it on fire; after which Luther took Gratian's Abridgement of the Canon Law; the letters commonly called decretals of the pontiffs; the Clementines and Extravagants, and last of all, the bull of Leo. X. All these he threw into the fire, and exclaimed with a loud voice, "Because ye have troubled the holy of the Lord, therefore let eternal fire trouble you." Having remained to witness their consumption, he returned into the city, accompanied by the same multitude, without the occurrence of the slightest disorder.' The influence of the reformed doctrine was now becoming so general, as to make it an object of great attention in the political calculations of crowned heads; and the course pursued by the principal sovereigns of Europe exemplifies, very powerfully, the degree in which religion is too often made subser vient to temporary considerations. Charles V. and Francis I. were the two great rivals of those days, and either of them might have given a great extension to the beneficent tenets of the Reformation, had they not, for the sake of political advantages, been persuaded by the Popes to resist a doctrine which they could not disapprove in their hearts. The conduct of our Henry VIII., though less steady, was equally selfish; since he came forwards at first in the character of an enemy to the Reformation, when he had a favourite object to accomplish at Rome, and departed from that character when he found that the interest of Charles V. preponderated in the papal councils. The year 1521 was remarkable for the appearance of Luther before the Imperial Diet which assembled at Worms; he having repaired thither in obedience to an order transmitted to him by the Emperor, and which had been obtained from Charles by the Catholics with the view of making the heads of the empire adopt a decided part against the Reformation. The firmness, with which Luther resisted all endeavours to shake his belief, had the effect of strengthening the popular current in his favour; and, when he entered the hall in which the princes were assembled, voices were heard from the crowd, calling to him not to "be afraid of those who could kill the body only." The Diet having gone so far as to excommunicate him, the Elector Frederick deemed it expedient to provide for him a place of secure retreat; and, with this view, he was carried, apparently by force, to the castle of Wartemburg in Thuringia. Here he continued to write against the Catholics, and undertook the most laborious of all his works, a translation of the Scriptures into German. After he had appropriated several months to the prosecution of this task, he was induced to quit his retreat, and to re-appear at Wittemberg, in order that he might check the impatient ardour of Carolostadt, and other adherents, who were advancing with too hasty steps in the career of innovation. All these memorable events happened before Luther had passed his fortieth year. On the subsequent occurrences of his life, which reached to the age of sixty three, we are less disposed to dwell, because they are, in general, sufficiently known to the readers of history. One of his remarkable characteristics was a disposition to advance in the progress of change more gradually than we might have expected from the vehemence of his temper. He was the last person who remained in the dress and capacity of a monk in the establishment to which he belonged; and many of his followers had thrown off the restraint of celibacy before their leader ventured on a similar step. The superiority of the Protestants over the Catholics in learning enabled them to triumph in most of their polemical contests: but they unfortunately became divided among themselves; and the latter part of Luther's career was disquieted and even embittered by dissensions of this nature. In particular, the disputed question of the sacrament kept him at variance with Zuinglius, a man of admirable attainments, and led to many unprofitable meetings and controversies. One of those which took place at the town of Marpurg, in HesseCassel, in 1529, is described in the present work (p. 249.) in animated terms, by a follower of Luther, named Jonas. Throughout the remainder of life, Luther continued indefatigable in the discharge of his duty as a professor, and equally active in the composition of publications in opposition to the Catholics. He finished his great work, the translation of the Bible into German, and had the satisfaction of seeing it obtain very general circulation. He was also engaged in publishing a complete complete collection of his works, when the decline of his constitution, accelerated in some degree by too sedentary habits, led to a final termination of his labours in 1546. Mr. Bower closes with a delineation of his character, from which we extract the following passages: Though learned beyond his contemporaries, Luther had much to acquire after coming forward as an author. His theological knowledge was derived, in great part, from the writings of the Fathers, and, familiar as he was with Scripture, he had to study its most difficult passages without the assistance of intelligent commentators. It was more suitable, however, to his constitutional ardour to attack corruption at once with the weapons which lay at hand, than to allow time to pass in preparing arms of a less defective character. Hence those changes and inconsistencies in particular topics, which, however suspicious in the eyes of the weak or the malignant, afford to the considerate observer a complete evidence of his sincerity. Conscious of pure intention, Luther felt no shame in acknowledging the errors arising from haste or engendered by early prejudice. He journeyed along the track of inquiry without assistance; he was ob liged to feel his way; and it was only step by step that he acquired a knowledge of the true path. He was long in the hope that the head of the church would disapprove of the indecent sale of Indulgences, and would extend support to the man who came forward to denounce it. When less confident of this support, he was inclined to ascribe to bad advisers that protection of vice of which he accounted the pontiff incapable. Nor could he prevail on himself to think otherwise till after the most conclusive proofs that no integrity of motive was accounted a justification of the capital crime of developing the corruption of the church. When this was clearly ascertained, Luther's choice was no longer doubtful—the establishment, which refused to listen to reform, became in his view an object for direct and unmitigated hostility. Many years of his life were yet to pass, and his views in points of doctrine were destined to undergo several changes; but no solicitation or argument had effect in altering his behaviour towards the church of Rome.' In considering Luther as an author, we are struck with the extent and variety of his labours. They consist of controversial tracts, of commentaries on Scripture, of sermons, of letters, and of narra. tives of the chief events of his life. The leading feature of his controversial writings is an unvaried confidence in the goodness of his arguments. It never seems to occur to him to entertain a doubt of the accuracy of the proposition which he undertakes to defend. It unavoidably followed that he bestowed too little time on analyzing the reasoning of others, and on reconsidering his own. His natural temper led him to conceive strongly, and his triumphs over the Romanists powerfully seconded this constitutional tendency. The same warmth led him to avail himself of the aid of whatever weapons were calculated to reach his adversary. Sarcasm in all its shapes, raillery, ridicule, direct personality, and even' punning, abound in his controversial tracts to a degree which is hardly justified by the example of othe other writers of the age. Impatience and irritability were his great faults, and they are abundantly conspicuous in his writings. No sooner had he formed an idea of the motives or of the doctrine of an individual at variance with himself, than he made it the object of unsparing condemnation. Hence the endless complaints from adversaries of his precipitation and rudeness. Without desiring to excuse such exceptionable characteristics, it is due to his memory to observe that they originated in no malignant intention. They were not displayed towards inoffensive persons, nor were they meant as the foundation of lasting animosity. They were often the ebullition of the moment, and appear to have been carried, in the heat of composition, to a greater length than was intended at the outset. The freedom of his language in treating of the conduct of the great arose partly from constitutional ardour, and partly from an habitual impression of the all-powerful claims of truth. The lofty attitude so often assumed by Luther is not therefore to be attributed to pride or vanity. In treating of the Scriptures, he considered himself as acting in the presence of God, whose majesty and glory were so infinitely exalted above all created beings, as to reduce to one and the same level the artificial distinctions of worldly institutions. Under this conviction the prince or the king who ventured to oppose what Luther considered the word of God, seemed to him no more exempted from severe epithets than the humblest of his adversaries. However we may censure the length to which his freedom was carried, the boldness of his conduct was, on the whole, productive of much good. An independent and manly tone in regard not only to religion, but to civil liberty, literature, the arts and sciences, was created and disseminated by his example. His compositions of all kinds, including sermons and epistolary disquisitions, are calculated, by his distinguished biographer, Seckendorff, at the extraordinary number of eleven hundred and thirty-seven. When we consider, in addition, the extent of his public duty, and the variety of his correspondence, we cannot fail to admire the prodigious efforts of his industry. Where the mass of writing was so large, we must expect little polish of style. Luther's imagination was vigorous, but the cultivation of taste engaged no part of his attention. His inelegance of style has been chiefly remarked in his Latin publications. His taste in early life had been corrupted by the barbarous diction of the scholastic divines, and in his riper years he was too impatient to communicate the substance of his thoughts, to bestow much attention on the dress in which they appeared. It suited his ardour to commit to paper the impression of the moment, and to give free course to that excitement which grows strongly on men of his temper in the progress of composition. The consequence is that his sentences are generally of great length; the succeeding members appearing an expansion, and not unfrequently a repetition, of what bad gone before. No pains were taken to promote clearness, and very little to correct ambiguity. As he was wholly indifferent to the praise of elegance, he gave himself no trouble about the choice of words. When classical vocables did not readily occur to him, he had no scruple in making a new word by giving a Latin termination to an expression borrowed from the Greek, or some other language. His arrangement |