REFORMATION. 



nce to the mythology of Greece and 

 Rome. 



With this mixture of Paganism and 

 Christianity, the mysteries of the Platonic 

 philosophy were incorporated. Those 

 refinements of the Platonists, which were 

 so ingeniously infused into the devotion 

 of Lorenzo de Medici, were propagated 

 among the learned by the labours of Mar- 

 silio Ficino, of Pico of Mirandula, of his 

 ne-phew Gian-Francesco, of Girolamo 

 Benivieni, and others. 



The liberties thus taken with the Chris- 

 tian faith, and with the peculiar dogmas 

 of the Romish church, naturally begat a 

 degree of scepticism in the minds of 

 those by whom they were indulged ; and 

 from them it spread, more or less, over 

 the minds of the multitude, and prepared 

 the way for a general reformation in the 

 creed and discipline of the church. 



At length the danger arising from these 

 unbounded speculations became too evi- 

 dent to pass any longer unnoticed ; ac- 

 cordingly, in the eighth session of the 

 Council of the Lateran, several decrees 

 were passed, tending to restrain ecclesi- 

 astical students in their pursuits relative 

 to poetry and philosophy ; but these re- 

 straints and prohibitions were made too 

 late : a spirit of speculation and research 

 had gone abroad, and it was not to be 

 checked by decrees and councils, fulmi- 

 nations and threats. 



In addition to the causes of the refor- 

 mation which we have just enumerated, 

 there were others more obvious, which 

 are said to have been " the long schism 

 of the Church of Rome in the fourteenth 

 century; the misconduct of Alexander 

 VI. and of Julius II. ; the encroachments 

 of the clergy on the rights of the laity ; 

 the venality of the Roman court ; and 

 above all, perhaps, the general progress 

 of liberal studies, and the happy inven- 

 tion of the art of printing." 



The spirit of inquiry, aided by the 

 light of science and the invention of 

 printing, had more or less diffused it- 

 self over the minds of Christians in 

 every part of Europe ; but no where 

 had this spirit more successfully made 

 its approaches than in Saxony. Intoxi- 

 cated with the luxury, and dazzled with 

 the magnificence of the Roman court, the 

 Italians satisfied themselves with ridicul- 

 ing the vices of the church in poems and 

 visions ; but took no effectual steps to- 

 wards bringing about a reformation. They 

 consoled themselves with the reflection, 

 that though their chief city was the seat 

 of vice and debauchery, it was ulso the 



residence of the supreme head of the 

 church, the great depository of riches, 

 the scene of pomp and grandeur, and the 

 nursery of the fine arts. The magnifi- 

 cence of ancient ruins, the number of re- 

 ligious edifices, and the splendour of 

 crowded processions, gave a sort of dig- 

 nity and importance to the city of the 

 Cresars, and superseded pure devotion 

 and simple prayers ; while a religion 

 which captivated the senses of the Italians,' 

 lulled their vices, and caused them to 

 think reformation less needful than it 

 was. In Saxony, however, the case was 

 different. This hardy race of men had 

 never been corrupted by luxury. Almost 

 the last to embrace the doctrines of the 

 Christian faith, when they were compell- 

 ed by Charlemagne to become Christians, 

 they soon embraced the gospel with sin- 

 cerity and simplicity. They had, with 

 the profession of popery, preserved their 

 principles in a great degree free from the 

 evils with which that system of religion 

 had been attended in other countries. 

 They were papists ; but popery was not 

 the whole of their religion : when, there- 

 fore, the corruptions of the church were 

 brought before their view, they first de- 

 spised, then abhorred, and at last forsook 

 them. They had always been impatient 

 under the Roman yoke, and were fully 

 ripe for a reformation which promised 

 them freedom of thought and the full ex- 

 ercise of natural liberty. The revival of 

 literature, which manifested itself in Italy 

 by the fine arts, the enjoyments of taste., 

 and the classical beauties of ancient 

 Greece and Rome, operated on the minds 

 of the sober and active Saxons in the cul- 

 tivation of metaphysics, philosophy, and 

 history. When, therefore, the reforma- 

 tion broke forth, the Saxon theologians 

 were more than a match for the Italian 

 poets, painters, and platonists. Ariosto 

 and Luther were very different charac- 

 ters : To the one the world is indebted 

 for a diffusion of the true spirit of poetry ; 

 to the other, that of piety, and the right 

 of private judgment in matters of faith 

 and worship. It was reserved for the 

 bold and enterprising genius of Luther 

 to unloose the trammels by which the 

 minds of men had been so long fettered ; 

 to open the prison doors to those that 

 were bound ; to silence by scripture and 

 argument the thunders of the Vatican ; 

 and to assure the world, that the huma 

 mind is naturally free. 



To support the expenses of a luxuri- 

 ous court, Leo X. had availed himself of 

 an ancient custom in the church to raise 



