318 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



to resist the authority of the pope and to expose the 

 insufficiency of his pretensions. But, whatever other 

 helps Luther might have used, then it reason to be- 

 lieve, that his sentiments were formed, in a very great 

 degree, by the perusal of the holy scriptures them- 

 selves. He drew his knowledge from the original 

 source, pure and living ; he sought Christianity in her 

 first estate, and discovered her in all her native simpli- 

 city and beauty. There lay in an obscure corner of 

 his monastery a neglected copy of the New Testament, 

 to which his attention was casually directed ; and ha- 

 ving once begun to read in it, he commenced the stu- 

 dy of the inspired volume, with all the eagerness and 

 perseverance which belonged to his character. What 

 must have been his emotions, when he contrasted the 

 simplicity of the primitive institute, with the presump- 

 tuous pomp of the hierarchy and the papacy ; and 

 placed in opposition to one another, live humble fol- 

 lower of Jesus, and the mighty monarch, who reigned 

 uncontrolled over the understandings and the con- 

 sciences of men ! What must have been his feelings, 

 when he marked the terms of acceptance with God, 

 as these terms are proposed to us in the sacred books, 

 and bethought himself, for a moment, of the penances, 

 and relics, and the intercession of the saints, and works 

 of supererogation, and indulgences, and all the solemn 

 trifling and elaborate mummery, by which the Church 

 of Rome di reeled her votaries on the way to heaven ! 

 How different the language of inspiration, " believe on 

 the Lord Jesus Christ and tliou shall be saved," and 

 the language of the papal bulls, and even of the coun- 

 cils of Christendom ! 



At first, Luther contented himself with a bold and 

 vehement opposition to Tetzcl and the Dominicans, 

 fcuthcr dc- He declaimed against indulgences, in all the power of 

 claims a- his eloquence, from the pulpit of the great church at 

 gainst in- Wittenburg ; pointed out, with bitter reprehension, the 

 rfulgencvs. vicious lives of the monks, their injustice, extortion, 

 ami vulgar debauchery ; and, adopting already the first 

 principle of Protestanlism, he warned the people of their 

 danger, in trusting for pardon and acceptance with hea- 

 ven, to any other means than those which God had ap- 

 pointed in his word. The pope, he said, might unques- 

 tionably remit the penances which he had himself im- 

 posed, or dispense with the ceremonies ordained by the 

 church ; but it belonged to Ihe Supreme Judge, and lo 

 him alone, to forgive the transgressions of the moral 

 law. To the pope, he acknowledged that he owed all 

 submission ; and he even spoke of referring the ques- 

 tion at issue between him and his antagonisls, lo the 

 decision of the sovereign pontiff. From tliis, it is evi- 

 dent, that Ihe sentiments of Luther, with regard to the 

 powers of the papacy, were not yet mature ; and had 

 Leo X. conducted himself on the present occasion with 

 the prudence often displayed by the successors of St 

 Peter, the dispute might either have been terminated 

 among the combatants themselves, or left undecided al- 

 together; and historians would have handed it down to 

 us as nothing more than a contest between certain ec- 

 clesiastics in Germany, scarcely deserving of particular 

 notice. But the temper of Leo appears to have been vio- 

 lent, and his cause was radically bad: by threats.and fe- 

 rocious dogmatism, he roused the courage and sharpened 

 the acuteness of the reformer, induced him to prose- 

 cute his inquiries, and in the end gave oci-asjon to that 

 memorable rupture, which has rent asunder the Chris- 

 tian church, and shaken, even in its own estimation, 

 the supremacy of the holy see. 



If ever there was a time when threaU and dogmatism 



were improper to !* used, it was the time of the con- Kcr! 

 trovewy between Luther and the agents of the I'opc. ''J "'''"T- 

 The era of ignorance was now hastening towards its 'j^, ,', m ~ 

 close. The lniin.ui mind was quickened and stimula- rc<imrl 

 ted, the intellectual eye begun to open, learning had re- grntlc raea- 

 \ iveil, book* were printed and circulated, inquiries v eve "rcs. 

 made, and investigation* pursued. The reverence tor 

 antiquity was already much abated ; and mankind now 

 looked for argument in the decision of theological as 

 well as philosophical question* ; or if authority was re- 

 ferred to, they proceeded to examine the grounds on 

 which the authority was built. Reformations were talk- 

 ed of; abuses specified; the names of \\icklillc and 

 Huss were mentioned with respect ; wln|>cr weir 

 abroad unfavourable to the honour of Home, and the 

 security of the papal power. 



At tin* most inauspicious time, Leo X. and his agents I.n> v 

 proceeded against Luther, wholly in the way of despo- proceed* 

 tic authority and simple recantation. The reformer ' 1< ' :mat '~ 

 was summoned to appear at Augsburg, before Cardinal 

 Cajrtan, a Dominican monk, at once the friend of Tct- 

 zel, and the undisguised eiiemv of the new opinions. 

 The cardinal, who hail the reputation of learning, and 

 was at the same time the pope's legate in Germany, wag 

 imprudently nominated sole arbiter in the cause. Lu- 

 ther, though he perceived from the beginning, that lit- 

 tle was to be expected from the impartiality of the judge, 

 repaired to the place appointed, ready to defend the 

 sentiments which he had published, and animated with 

 a courage which nothing could resist. The event cor- 

 responded exactly with the anticipations of the refor- 

 mer. The cardinal stood high upon his dignity, refu- 

 sed to enter into a dispute with an Augustine monk, 

 would listen to none of the reasons with which Luther 

 endeavoured to support liis opinions, and required him, 

 " by virtue of the apostolic powers with which he wa- 

 clothed, to retract his errors in regard to indulgences 

 and the nature of faith, and to abstain, for the future, 

 from the publication of new and dangerous doctrines." 

 Nor was this all. The reformer was not only command- 

 ed to retract and to abstain, he was also commanded to 

 believe. And for the accommodation of his understand- 

 ing, and as the subject of his belief, the cardinal pro- 

 pounded to him, in consequence of the apostolic powers 

 which we have just alluded to, the following authorita- 

 tive dogma: " That one drop oj Christ' x lilood (icing 

 sufficient io redeem the nholr. human race, the remaining 

 quantity, which mas shed in the garden and upon t/tc cross, 

 was lejl as a legacy to tfte clutrck, to be a trriisiirc, front 

 whence indulgences can be drawn nun' administered by the 

 Roman pontiff'." The answer of Luther was temperate, 

 yet firm. He declared, in direct asseveration, that he 

 could not renounce those opinions which he held to be 

 entirely consonant with the sacred scriptures ; and that 

 nothing should ever induce him to do what he conceived 

 to be so unworthy in itself, and so dishonourable and 

 offensive to God. He expressed his willingness, at the- 

 same time, either to reason the matter to an end with 

 the cardinal himself, or to re!'< r it to the decision of cer- 

 tain universities vi Inch he named. He even went so 

 far as to engage that he woulrl al>stain, in all time to 

 come, from preaching or writing against indulgences, 

 pnnided his enemies were enjoined too!- <:i)ilar 



silencc with respect to them. This equitable and mo- 

 derate conduct, however, and these conecvsions, had no 

 effect upon tbe cardinal. He still insisted upon a sim- 

 ple and unqualified recantation. He branded Luther 

 with the- iiiiine of u schismatic, and stipiiali/ed him, as 

 indeed the pope himself had already done, in several of 



