LUTHER. 



Tied him off with theutmoll fpeed to the caftle of Warten- 

 burg. There the noble-minded eleftor ordered him to be 

 lupphed with every thing that he could want, but tlie place 

 of his retreat was kept a profound fecret. Tiie fuddcn dif- 

 appearance of Luther not only occafioncd the moft bitter 

 difappointment to his adverfaries, but rendered them doubly 

 odious to the people of Germany, who, not knowing what 

 was becom? of their leader in reformation, conjefturcd a 

 thoufand things, till at length they were ready to give him 

 up as deftroyed by the fury of his enemies. Luther was, 

 however, living in peace, and irt the enjoyment of whatever 

 was neceffary to his well being and tolas amufement ; he was 

 frequently indulged with the exercife of hunting in the com- 

 pany ot thofe who had the chargeof him, living in this retire- 

 ment under the name of Yonker George. During the pe- 

 riod of his folitude, he tranflated a great part of the New 

 Tellamcnt into the German language, wrote and pubhflicd 

 tracts in defence of his doftrines, which, as foon as they 

 were feen, revived and animated the fpirit of his followers, and 

 wrote frequent letters to his friends ; he had alfo, during this 

 period, the fatisfaftion of knowing that his opinions were gain- 

 ing ground, and that they had already made fome progrefs in 

 almo ft every city io Saxony. Luther, weary at length of 

 his retirement, appeared publicly at Wittemburg, in March 

 1522: this (lep he took without the eledlor's knowledge or 

 confent, but he immediately wrote him a letter to prevent 

 the poflibility of his taking offence, aiTigning as a rcafon, that 

 it was in conlequence of the information which he had received 

 of the proceedings of Carloftadt, one of his difciples, who 

 was animated with fimilar zeal, but pofleffed lefs prudence 

 and moderation than his mafter. This perfon, in the ab- 

 fenceof Luther, had attempted to abohfh the ufe of mafs, 

 to remove images out of the churches, to fet afide auricular 

 confeflion, the invocation of faints, and in fliort had quite 

 changed the doftrine and difcipline of the church at Wittem- 

 burg, all which Luther faid was unfeafonably and raflily 

 done. At this time the doftrines of the reformer were not 

 known in France ; and in England, the fovereign, Henry 

 VIIL, had made the mofl vigorous exertions to prevent them 

 from invading his realrns : he even undertook to write them 

 down, in a treatife entitled " Of the Seven Sacraments,'' 

 &c. This work he prefented to Leo X. in OAober 1521. 

 The pope was fo well pleafed with the royal attempt to 

 confute the arguments of Luther, that he complimented 

 him with the title of " Defender of the Faivh." Whatever 

 refpeft and reverence Luther might Ihevv to kings as fuch, 

 he had none for the arguments of an antagonift, though armed 

 with royal authority, and anfwered Henry with much feve- 

 rity, treating his performance in the moll contemptuous 

 manner. Luther now publifhed his tranflationof the fcrip- 

 tures, which produced fudden, and almoft incredible effects 

 on the people of Germany, and proved more fatal to 

 the church of Rome than all his other works. It was 

 read with the utmoft avidity by perfons of every rank, 

 who, with ailonilhment, difcovered, how contrary the pre- 

 cepts of Chrift are to the inventions of his pretended vicege- 

 rents, and being in poffeflion of the rule and flandard of 

 faith, they conceived themfelves qualified to judge of efta- 

 blilhed opinions, and to pronounce when they were conform- 

 able to that ilandard. About this time, feveral imperial 

 cities in Germany abolifhed the mafs, and the other fupcrlU- 

 tious rites of popery, and openly embraced the reformed re- 

 ligion. The elector of Brandenburg, the dukes of Brunf- 

 ■wick and Lunenburg, and the prince of Anhalt, became 

 avowed patrons of Luther's opinions, and countenanced the 

 preaching of them in their territories. Luther now made 

 *)pen war with the pope and bifhops, and to render them as 



defpicablc as potTible, he wrote one book again (I the popi-'s 

 bull, and another againft the order falfely called the order 

 of the bifhopS. The fame vcarhe wrote to the affembly of 

 theflatcsof Bohemia, in which he affured them that he was 

 labouring to cftablilh their doctrine in Germany, and ex- 

 horted them not to return to the communion of the church 

 of Rome. Ferdinand, archduke of Auftria, the empe- 

 ror's brother, promulgated a very feveri- cdift againft the 

 tranilation of the fcriptures, and forbade all the fubjefts of 

 his imperial majelly to polfefs any copies of it, or of Luther*^! 

 other works. In this ftate of things Leo X. died, and wag 

 fucceedcd on the papal throne by Adrian VL, who imme- 

 diately concerted meafurcs with his cardinals concerning the 

 bed means for (lopping the progrefs of liercfy. The diet 

 of the empire was holden'foon after at Nuremberg, to which 

 Adrian fent his brief, in which he obfcrves, that he had heard 

 with grief and indignation, that Martin Luther continued to 

 teach the fame errors, and to publifh almoil daily books full 

 of herefies ; that it appeared llrange to him tliat fo krge and 

 fo religious a nation coidd be fcduced by a wretched apollate 

 friar ; that nothing, however, could be more pernicious to 

 Chriftendom, and that he therefore accordingly exhorts them 

 to ufe their utmoll endeavours to make Luilier, and the au- 

 thors of thefe tumults, return to their duty ; or, if they re- 

 fufe and continue obftinate, to proceed againll thtm accord- 

 ing to the laws of the empire. 



The admonitions of his hohncfs produced no cffedl what- 

 ever, and the difciples of Luther advanced in their career 

 with exultation and triumph. In IJ23, Luther publi(hed 

 feveral pieces ; among thefe were fome on the monaftic life, 

 which he attacked with great feverity, and his exhortations, 

 united with much ftrong fatire, produced important effefts, 

 for foon after nine nuns, among whom was Catharine de 

 Bore, whom he afterwards married, eloped from a nunnery 

 and came to Wittemburg, an aft that was as highly ap- 

 plauded by the reformer, as it was condemned by the devo- 

 tees to the Roman church. Luther compares the deliverance 

 of thefe nuns from the flavery of monaftic life to that of the 

 fouls which Chrift had dehvered by his death. This year two 

 of the f illowers of Luther were burnt at Bruffels, and 

 thefe were the firft who fuffered martyrdom for his caufe ; 

 and about the fame time that this tragical event was perpe- 

 trated, he wrote a confolatory letter to three noble ladies at 

 Mifnia, who were bnnifhed from the duke of Saxony's court 

 at Eriburg, for reading his books. 



On the death of Adrian VI. , Clement VII. who fuc- 

 ceeded him, fent a legate to the diet which was to be held at 

 Nuremberg, to urge the neceffity of a fpcedy execution of 

 the edidt of Worms ; he was unfuccefsful in the objeft of 

 his miffion, and found that the Germati princes, in general, 

 were not at all inimical to the reformntion ; he accordingly 

 retired to Ratilhon with the bifliops, and tliofe of the princes 

 who adhered to the caufe of Rome, where they engaged vi- 

 goroully to execute the edift of Worms in their refp^ftive 

 dominions. It was in the courfe of this year that the coji- 

 trovcrfy between Erafmus and Luther on the doftrine of 

 " free-will" commenced. Erafmus had been long urged to 

 take up his pen againft the reformer, though it was with the 

 greatell reluftance that he yielded to the importunities of the 

 pope and Catholic princes, fufpetting that it would not be 

 found ti>^ beft mode of ending the differences, and cftablifti- 

 ing the peace of the church. At length he Itood forward in 

 defence of the doftrine of free-will, being defirous to clear 

 himfelf from the fufpicion of favouring a caufe, which he 

 would not wifh to be thought in any way to favour. Hi* 

 book was entitled a "Conference concerning Free-will," 

 which was written with much moderation, and without per. 

 4 O 2 fonal 



