1530, for the reconciliation of all differences. This being at least the
professed object of both parties, it was desirable that the conferences
should be conducted by men of moderation, disposed to soften the
subjects of dissension, and to mitigate by temper and manner the
bitterness of controversy. For this delicate office Luther was entirely
disqualified, whereas the reputation of Melancthon presented precisely
the qualities that seemed to be required; the management of the
negotiations was accordingly confided to him. But not without the near
superintendence of Luther. The latter was resident close at hand, he was
in perpetual communication with his disciple, and influenced most of his
proceedings; and, at least during the earlier period of the conferences,
he not only suggested the matter, but even authorised the form, of the
official documents.
It was thus that the ‘Confession of Augsbourg’ was composed; and we
observe on its very surface thus much of the spirit of conciliation,
that of its twenty-eight chapters twenty-one were devoted to the
exposition of the opinions of the Reformers, while seven only were
directed against the tenets of their adversaries. In the tedious and
perplexing negotiations that followed, some concessions were privately
proposed by Melancthon, which could scarcely have been sanctioned by
Luther, as they were inconsistent with the principles of the Reformation
and the independence of the Reformers. In some letters written towards
the conclusion of the Diet, he acknowledged in the strongest terms the
authority of the Roman Church, and all its hierarchy; he asserted that
there was positively no doctrinal difference between the parties; that
the whole dispute turned on matters of discipline and practice; and
that, if the Pope would grant only a provisional toleration on the two
points of the double communion and the marriage of the clergy, it would
not be difficult to remove all other differences, not excepting that
respecting the mass. “Concede,” he says to the Pope’s legate, “or
pretend to concede those two points, and we will submit to the bishops;
and if some slight differences shall still remain between the two
parties, they will not occasion any breach of union, because there is no
difference on any point of faith, and they will be governed by the same
bishops; and these bishops, having once recovered their authority, will
be able in process of time to correct defects which must now of
necessity be tolerated.” On this occasion Melancthon took counsel of
Erasmus rather than of Luther. It was his object at any rate to prevent
the war with which the Protestants were threatened, and from which he
may have expected their destruction. But the perfect and almost
unconditional submission to the Roman hierarchy, which he proposed as
the only alternative, would have accomplished the same purpose much more
certainly; and Protestant writers have observed, that the bitterest
enemy of the Reformation could have suggested no more effectual or
insidious method of subverting it, than that which was so warmly pressed
upon the Roman Catholics by Melancthon himself. Luther was indignant
when he heard of these proceedings; he strongly urged Melancthon to
break off the negotiations, and to abide by the Confession. Indeed, it
appears that these degrading concessions to avowed enemies produced, as
is ever the case, no other effect than to increase their pride and exalt
their expectations, and so lead them to demand still more unworthy
conditions, and a still more abject humiliation.
Howbeit, the reputation of Melancthon was raised by the address which he
displayed during these deliberations; and the variety of his talents and
the extent of his erudition became more generally known and more
candidly acknowledged. The modesty of his character, the moderation of
his temper, the urbanity of his manners, his flexible and accommodating
mind, recommended him to the regard of all, and especially to the
patronage of the great. He was considered as the peace-maker of the age.
All who had any hopes of composing the existing dissensions and
preventing the necessity of absolute schism placed their trust in the
mildness of his expedients. The service which he had endeavoured to
render to the Emperor was sought by the two other powerful monarchs of
that time. Francis I. invited him to France in 1535, to reconcile the
growing differences of his subjects; and even Henry VIII. expressed a
desire for his presence and his counsels; but the Elector could not be
persuaded to consent to his departure from Saxony.
In 1541 he held a public disputation with Eckius at Worms, which lasted
three days. The conference was subsequently removed to Ratisbon, and
continued, with pacific professions and polemic arguments, during the
same year, with no other result than an expressed understanding that
both parties should refer their claims to a general council, and abide
by its decision.
In the meantime, as the Popes showed great reluctance to summon any such
Council, unless it should assemble in Italy and deliberate under their
immediate superintendence, and as the Reformers constantly refused to
submit to so manifest a compromise of their claims, it seemed likely
that some time might elapse before the disputants should have any
opportunity of making their appeal. Wherefore the emperor, not brooking
this delay, and willing by some provisional measure to introduce
immediate harmony between the parties, published in 1548 a formulary of
temporary concord, under the name of the Interim. It proclaimed the
conditions of peace, which were to be binding only till the decision of
the general council. The conditions were extremely advantageous, as
might well have been expected, to the Roman Catholic claims.
Nevertheless, they gave complete satisfaction to neither party, and only
animated to farther arrogance the spirit of those whom they favoured.
The Interim was promulgated at the Diet held at Augsbourg, and it was
followed by a long succession of conferences, which were carried on at
Leipzig and in other places, under the Protestant auspices of Maurice of
Saxony. Here was an excellent field for the talents and character of
Melancthon. All the public documents of the Protestants were composed by
him. All the acuteness of his reason, all the graces of his style, all
the resources of his learning were brought into light and action; and
much that he wrote in censure of the Interim was written with force and
truth. But here, as on former occasions, the effects of his genius were
marred by the very moderation of his principles, and the practical
result of his labours was not beneficial to the cause which he intended
to serve. For in this instance he not only did not conciliate the
enemies to whom he made too large concessions, but he excited distrust
and offence among his friends; and these feelings were presently
exasperated into absolute schism.
On the death of Luther, two years before these conferences, the foremost
place among the reformers had unquestionably devolved upon Melancthon.
He had deserved that eminence by his various endowments, and his
uninterrupted exertions: yet was he not the character most fitted to
occupy it at that crisis. His incurable thirst for universal esteem and
regard; his perpetual anxiety to soothe his enemies and soften the
bigotry of the hierarchy, frequently seduced him into unworthy
compromises, which lowered his own cause, without obtaining either
advantage or respect from his adversaries. It is not thus that the
ferocity of intolerance can be disarmed. The lust of religious
domination cannot be satisfied by soothing words, or appeased by any
exercise of religious charity. It is too blind to imagine any motive for
the moderation of an enemy, except the consciousness of weakness. It is
too greedy to accept any partial concession, except as a pledge of still
farther humiliation, to end in absolute submission. It can be
successfully opposed only by the same unbending resolution which itself
displays, tempered by a calmer judgment and animated by a more righteous
purpose.
The general principle by which the controversial writings of Melancthon
at this time were guided was this—that there were certain essentials
which admitted of no compromise; but that the Interim might be received
as a rule, in respect to things which were _indifferent_. Hence arose
the necessary inquiry, what could properly be termed indifferent. It was
the object of Melancthon to extend their number, so as to include as
many as possible of the points in dispute, and narrow the held of
contention with the Roman Catholics. In the pursuance of this charitable
design he did not foresee—first, that he would not advance thereby a
single step towards the conciliation of their animosity—next, that he
would sow amongst the Reformers themselves the seeds of intestine
discord: but so, unhappily, it proved; and the feeble expedient which
was intended to repel the danger from without, multiplied that danger by
introducing schism and disorder within.
Indeed, we can scarcely wonder that it was so: for we find that among
the matters to be accounted indifferent, and under that name conceded,
Melancthon ventured to place the doctrine of justification by faith
alone; the necessity of good works to eternal salvation; the number of
the sacraments; the jurisdiction claimed by the pope and the bishops;
extreme unction; and the observance of certain religious festivals, and
several superstitious rites and ceremonies. It was not possible that the
more intimate associates of Luther—the men who had struggled by his
side, who were devoted to his person and his memory, who inherited his
opinions and his principles, and who were animated by some portion of
his zeal—should stand by in silence, and permit some of the dearest
objects of their own struggles and the vigils of their master to be
offered up to the foe by the irresolute hand of Melancthon. Accordingly,
a numerous party rose, who disclaimed his principles and rejected his
authority. At their head was Illyricus Flacius, a fierce polemic, who
possessed the intemperance without the genius of Luther. The contest
commonly known as the Adiaphoristic Controversy broke out with great
fury; it presently extended its character so as to embrace various
collateral points; and the Roman Catholics were once more edified by the
welcome spectacle of Protestant dissension.
Melancthon held his last fruitless conference with the Roman Catholics
at Worms in the year 1557; and he died three years afterwards, at the
age of 63, the same age that had been attained by Luther. His ashes were
deposited at Wittemberg, in the same church with those of his master; a
circumstance which is thus simply commemorated in his epitaph:
Hic invicte tuus Collega, Luthere, Melancthon
Non procul a tumulo conditur ipse tuo.
Ut pin doctrinæ concordia junxerat ambos,
Sic sacer amborum jungit his ossa locus.
Some days before his death, while it was manifest that his end was fast
approaching, Melancthon wrote on a scrap of paper some of the reasons
which reconciled him to the prospect of his departure. Among them were
these—that he should see God and the Son of God; that he should
comprehend some mysteries which he was unable to penetrate on earth,
such as these:—why it is that we are created such as we are? what was
the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ? that he should sin no
more; that he should no longer be exposed to vexations; and that he
should escape _from the rage of the theologians_. We need no better
proof than this how his peaceable spirit had been tortured during the
decline of life by those interminable quarrels, which were entirely
repugnant to his temper, and yet were perpetually forced upon him, and
which even his own lenity had seemingly tended to augment. And it is
even probable that the theologians from whose rage it was his especial
hope to be delivered were those who had risen up last against him, and
with whom his differences were as nothing compared to the points on
which they were agreed, his brother reformers. For being in this respect
unfortunate, that his endeavours to conciliate the affections of all
parties had been requited by the contempt and insults of all, he was yet
more peculiarly unhappy, that the blackest contumely and the bitterest
insults proceeded from the dissentients of his own. Thus situated, after
forty years of incessant exertions to reform, and at the same time to
unite, the Christian world, when he beheld discord multiplied, and its
fruits ripening in the very bosom of the Reformation; when he compared
his own principles and his own conscience with the taunts which were
cast against him; when he discovered how vain had been his mission of
conciliation, and how ungrateful a task it was to throw oil upon the
waters of theological controversy; when he reflected how much time and
forbearance he had wasted in this hopeless attempt,—he could scarcely
avoid the unwelcome suspicion that his life had been, in some degree,
spent in vain, and that in one of the dearest objects of his continual
endeavours he had altogether failed.
The reason was, that the extreme mildness of his own disposition blinded
him to the very nature of religious contests, and inspired him with
amiable hopes which could not possibly be realized. He may have been a
better man than Luther; he may even have been a wiser; he had as great
acuteness; he had more learning and a purer and more perspicuous style;
he had a more charitable temper; he had a more candid mind; and his love
for justice and truth forbade him to reject without due consideration
even the argument of an adversary. He was qualified to preside as a
judge in the forum of theological litigation; yet was he not well fitted
for that which he was called upon to discharge, the office of an
advocate. He saw too much, for he saw both sides of the question; his
very knowledge, acting upon his natural modesty, made him diffident. He
balanced, he reflected, he doubted; and he became, through that very
virtue, a tame sectarian and a feeble partisan.
But his literary talents were of the highest order, and were directed
with great success to almost all the departments of learning. He
composed abridgments of all the branches of philosophy, which continued
long in use among the students of Germany, and purified the liberal arts
from the dross which was mixed up with them. And it was thus that he
would have purified religion; and as he had introduced the one
reformation without violence, so he thought to accomplish the other
without schism. But he comprehended not the character of the Roman
Catholic priesthood, nor could he conceive the tenacity and the passion
with which men, in other respects reasonable and respectable, will cling
to the interests, the prejudices, the abuses, the very vices, which are
associated with their profession. It was an easy matter to him to
confound the superstitious rites and tenets of Rome by his profound
learning and eloquent arguments; but it was another and a far different
task to deal with the offended feelings of an implacable hierarchy. And
thus it is, that while we admire his various acquirements and eminent
literary talents, and praise the moderation of his charitable temper, we
remark the wisdom of that Providence which entrusted the arduous
commencement of the work of reformation to firmer and ruder hands than
his.
Melancthon’s printed works are very numerous. The most complete edition
of them is that of Wittemberg, in 1680,3, in four volumes folio.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
WILLIAM PITT.
_From a Picture by Hoppner in the possession of the Publisher._
Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.
_London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
]
[Illustration]
PITT.
The observations made at the beginning of our memoir of Mr. Burke (vol.
iii. p. 33) apply with greater force to Mr. Pitt, on account both of the
more recent date of his death, and of the more important influence which
he exercised over our national welfare. We shall therefore lay before
the reader a very succinct account of this celebrated statesman,
endeavouring not to colour it by the introduction of our own opinions,
and avoiding any statements that can reasonably be controverted. There
can be no doubt as to Mr. Pitt’s title to a place in this work; but it
is not here that those who have their opinion still to form as to his
character and policy should seek for the materials to do so.
William Pitt, the second son of the first Earl of Chatham, was born at
Hayes in Kent, May 28, 1759. He suffered much and frequently from ill
health until he had nearly reached the age of manhood; and his delicacy
of constitution prevented his reading for honours at Pembroke College,
Cambridge, of which he became a resident member at the age of fourteen.
He therefore took the honorary degree of M.A., to which his birth
entitled him, in 1776. His private tutor and biographer, the late Bishop
of Winchester, has borne testimony to Mr. Pitt’s proficiency in
scholarship at the time when he commenced his residence, and to his
diligent study of the ancient languages, of mathematics, and of modern
literature, during the long period of seven years which he spent at
Cambridge. His illustrious father was not slow to perceive and
appreciate this early promise; and the few letters which are extant,
addressed by Lord Chatham to his son, contain a most pleasing picture of
parental affection, confidence, and esteem.
Mr. Pitt was called to the bar June 12, 1780, and went the western
circuit in that year and the following. In January, 1781, he was brought
into parliament by Sir James Lowther, for the borough of Appleby. He
made his maiden speech in support of Mr. Burke’s bill for the reform of
the civil list; and this being in great measure in reply to former
speakers, and therefore evidently not premeditated, produced the greater
effect, and amply satisfied public expectation, which had been highly
raised by his hereditary fame and reputed talents. Young as he was, he
took a leading part in denouncing the impolicy and injustice of the
American war, then drawing to its close, and in effecting the downfall
of Lord North’s administration, which occurred in March, 1782. In the
Rockingham administration, which followed, he bore no office: not that
his talents were held cheap, for he was offered several important
places; but he had already determined, as he declared soon afterwards,
never to accept any office without a seat in the cabinet. He gave his
support, however, to the measures of government; and, with a
determination which he manifested again at a later period, of securing
his independence, he continued, notwithstanding his brilliant prospects
in public life, his professional attendance at Westminster Hall. During
this session he distinguished himself as an advocate of parliamentary
reform by supporting three measures upon the subject: a motion, made by
himself, for a committee to examine into the state of representation of
the Commons; a bill for shortening the duration of parliaments; and a
bill for the prevention of bribery, and the diminution of expense at
elections. These, not being supported by government, were all thrown
out.
The death of the Marquis of Rockingham, July 1, 1782, led to the
appointment of the Earl of Shelburne as prime-minister, and to Mr. Fox’s
retirement from office. Mr. Pitt, at the age of twenty-three, was made
Chancellor of the Exchequer. As a strong opposition was expected in the
next session of parliament, it became desirable to effect a junction, if
possible, with one of the adverse parties. Against acting in concert
with Lord North, Mr. Pitt had formed an unchangeable determination; and
the negotiation with Mr. Fox was stopped in the outset by that
gentleman’s resolution not to act under Lord Shelburne. Thus two of the
three principal parties into which the House of Commons was then divided
were shut out of office during the continuance of the existing
administration; and a strong motive was given them to unite, even
against all probability, considering the virulent hostility which had
long existed between their leaders. Mr. Fox and Lord North however did
form their celebrated Coalition; and, in spite of its unpopularity, had
strength enough to turn out the Shelburne ministry in the spring of
1783. Mr. Pitt, while in office, introduced a bill for promoting
economy, and removing many gross abuses in various departments of the
public service. This, after passing the Commons, was thrown out by the
Lords.
The King, it is well known, was exceedingly averse to the re-admission
of Mr. Fox into office. He pressed the task of forming an administration
upon Mr. Pitt, who, being convinced that no effective support could be
hoped for, at that time, either in parliament or from the expression of
public opinion, steadily refused the offer. The coalition ministry
therefore came into power. In the session of 1783 Mr. Pitt again
introduced the question of parliamentary reform, in the shape of three
resolutions, which provided that one hundred members should be added to
those returned by the counties and the metropolis, and that all boroughs
should be disfranchised where a majority of voters had been proved
guilty of corruption. These resolutions were rejected.
On the meeting of parliament in November, Mr. Fox brought forward his
celebrated India Bill. It was quickly carried through the lower house,
but was thrown out in the upper, partly through the personal influence
exerted by the King; and on the next day, December 18, Mr. Fox and Lord
North received their dismissal. Mr. Pitt did not now hesitate to take
his place at the head of government. He felt himself in a much stronger
position than at the close of the Shelburne administration. He foresaw
that the India Bill would become unpopular, though as yet little outcry
had been made against it, and he resolved, with a courage, ability, and
penetration, which those who condemn his conduct most strongly cannot
deny, to assume office in the teeth of a majority of the House of
Commons, and to hold it in spite of the majorities continually arrayed
against him. Nor, though strongly urged, would he resort to a
dissolution; knowing that such a measure would be fatal unless the new
parliament should prove much more favourable to him than the existing
one, being aware that Mr. Fox’s popularity, though shaken by the
coalition, was not overthrown, and trusting to the growing unpopularity
of the India Bill to dispose the nation more favourably to his own
administration. It was therefore resolved to continue the sitting
parliament; and the house adjourned on the 26th of December to the 12th
of January. During the recess Mr. Pitt gained the applause of all
parties by his disinterestedness in giving the valuable sinecure of
Clerk of the Pells to Colonel Barré, on condition of his resigning a
pension of 3000_l._ a year; thus effecting a saving to the country of
that amount.
On the 12th the new ministry was twice left in a minority, once of
thirty-nine, the second time of fifty-four. This not inducing them to
resign, a series of motions was made to compel them to do so. It was
never ventured however to stop the supplies. Between January 12 and
March 8, fourteen motions, besides those which passed without a
division, were carried against the ministers with various but on the
whole decreasing majorities, the last only by a majority of one. This
ended the struggle. The minister saw that the time was now come when a
dissolution was likely to tell in his favour, and it took place
accordingly, March 25.