Preparations at Rome--Motives to resist the Papacy--Eck at
Rome--Eck gains the Day--The Pope is the World--God produces
the Separation--A Swiss Priest pleads for Luther--The Roman
Consistory--Preamble of the Bull--Condemnation of Luther.
At Rome every thing necessary for the condemnation of the defender of
the liberty of the Church was prepared. Men had long lived there in
arrogant security. The monks of Rome had long accused Leo X of
devoting himself to luxury and pleasure, and of spending his whole
time in hunting, theatricals, and music,[213] while the Church was
crumbling to pieces. At last, through the clamour of Dr. Eck, who had
come from Leipsic to invoke the power of the Vatican, the pope, the
cardinals, the monks, all Rome awoke and bestirred themselves to save
the papacy.
[213] Sopra tutto musico eccellentissimo, e quando el canta con
qualche uno, li fa donar cento e più ducati.... (Zorsi. MS. C.) And
above all a most excellent musician, and any person with whom he sings
he presents with a hundred ducats.
[Sidenote: ECK'S SUCCESS AT ROME.]
Rome, in fact, was obliged to adopt the severest measures. The
gauntlet had been thrown down, and the combat was destined to be
mortal. Luther attacked not the abuses of the Roman pontificate, but
the pontificate itself. At his bidding, the pope was humbly to descend
from his throne, and again become a simple pastor, or bishop, on the
banks of the Tiber. All the dignitaries of the Roman hierarchy were
required to renounce their riches and worldly glory, and again become
elders or deacons of the churches of Italy. All the splendour and
power which had for ages dazzled the West behoved to vanish away and
give place to the humble and simple worship of the primitive
Christians. These things God could have done, and will one day do, but
they were not to be expected from men. Even should a pope have been
disinterested enough, and bold enough to attempt the overthrow of the
ancient and sumptuous edifice of the Romish Church, thousands of
priests and bishops would have rushed forward to its support. The pope
had received power under the express condition of maintaining whatever
was entrusted to him. Rome deemed herself appointed of God to govern
the Church; and no wonder, therefore, that she was prepared with this
view to adopt the most decisive measures. And yet, at the outset, she
did show hesitation. Several cardinals and the pope himself, were
averse to severe proceedings. Leo had too much sagacity not to be
aware that a decision, the enforcement of which depended on the very
dubious inclinations of the civil power, might seriously compromise
the authority of the Church. He saw, moreover, that the violent
methods already resorted to had only increased the evil. "Is it
impossible to gain this Saxon monk?" asked the politicians of Rome.
"Would all the power of the Church, and all the wiles of Italy, be
ineffectual for this purpose? Negotiation must still be attempted."
[Sidenote: PAPACY AND THE REFORMATION.]
Eck accordingly encountered formidable obstacles. He neglected nothing
to prevent what he termed impious concessions. Going up and down Rome,
he gave vent to his rage, and cried for vengeance. The fanatical
faction of the monks having immediately leagued with him he felt
strong in this alliance, and proceeded with new courage to importune
the pope and the cardinals. According to him all attempts at
conciliation were useless. "The idea of it," said he, "is only the
vain dream of those who slumber at a distance from the scene." But he
knew the danger; for he had wrestled with the audacious monk. The
thing necessary was to amputate the gangrened limb, and so prevent the
disease from attacking the whole body. The blustering disputant of
Leipsic solves objections one after another, and endeavours, but finds
it difficult to persuade the pope.[214] He wishes to save Rome in
spite of herself. Sparing no exertion, he spent whole hours in
deliberation in the cabinet of the pontiff,[215] and made application
both to the court and the cloisters, to the people and the Church.
"Eck is calling to the depth of depths against me," said Luther, "and
setting on fire the forests of Lebanon."[216] At length he succeeded.
The fanatics in the councils of the papacy vanquished the politicians.
Leo gave way, and Luther's condemnation was resolved. Eck began again
to breathe, and his pride felt gratified by the thought that his own
efforts had procured the ruin of his heretical rival, and thereby
saved the church. "It was well," said he, "that I came to Rome at this
time, for little was known of Luther's errors. It will one day be seen
how much I have done in this cause."[217]
[214] Sarpi. Hist. of Council of Trent.
[215] Stetimus nuper, papa, duo cardinales .... et ego per quinque
horas in deliberatione .... (Eckii Epistola, 3 Maii. L. Op. Lat. ii,
p. 48.) The pope, two cardinals, and I lately remained five hours in
deliberation.
[216] Impetraturus abyssos abyssorum.... succensurus saltum Libani....
(L. Ep. i, p. 421, 429.)
[217] Bonum fuit me venisse hoc tempore Romam .... (Epist. Eckii.)
No one exerted himself so much in seconding Dr. Eck as the master of
the sacred palace, Sylvester Mazzolini De Prierio, who had just
published a work, in which he maintained, that not only to the pope
alone appertained the infallible decision of all debateable points,
but also that papal ascendancy was the fifth monarchy of Daniel, and
the only true monarchy; that the pope was the prince of all
ecclesiastical, and the father of all secular princes, the chief of
the world, and even in substance the world itself.[218] In another
writing he affirmed, that the pope is as much superior to the emperor
as gold is to lead;[219] that the pope can appoint and depose emperors
and electors, establish and annul positive rights; and that the
emperor, with all the laws and all the nations of Christendom, cannot
decide the smallest matter contrary to the pope's will. Such was the
voice which came forth from the palace of the sovereign pontiff, such
the monstrous fiction which, in union with scholastic dogmas, aimed at
suppressing reviving truth. Had this fiction not been unmasked, as it
has been, and that even by learned members of the Catholic Church,
there would have been neither true history nor true religion. The
papacy is not merely a lie in regard to the Bible, it is also a lie in
regard to the annals of nations. And hence the Reformation, by
destroying its fascinating power, has emancipated not only the Church,
but also kings and nations. The Reformation has been described as a
political work, and in this secondary sense it truly was so.
[218] Caput orbis et consequenter orbis totus in virtute (De juridica
et irrefragabili veritate Romanæ Ecclesiæ. Bibl. Max. xix, cap. iv.)
[219] Papa est imperatore major dignitate plus quam aurum plombo. (De
Papa et ejus potestate, p. 371.)
[Sidenote: NO MUTILATION OF TRUTH. ZWINGLE PLEADS FOR LUTHER.]
Thus God sent a spirit of delusion on the doctors of Rome. The
separation between truth and error must now be accomplished, and it is
to error that the task is assigned. Had a compromise been entered
into, it must have been at the expense of truth; for to mutilate truth
in the slightest degree is to pave the way for her complete
annihilation. Like the insect, which is said to die on the loss of one
of its antennæ, she must be complete in all her parts, in order to
display the energy which enables her to gain great and advantageous
victories, and propagate herself through coming ages. To mingle any
portion of error with truth is to throw a grain of poison into a large
dish of food. The grain suffices to change its whole nature, and death
ensues slowly, it may be; but yet surely. Those who defend the
doctrine of Christ against the attacks of its adversaries keep as
jealous an eye on its farthest outposts as on the citadel itself, for
the moment the enemy gains any footing at all he is on the highway to
conquest. The Roman pontiff determined at the period of which we now
treat to rend the Church; and the fragment which remained in his hand,
how splendid soever it may be, in vain endeavours under pompous
ornaments to hide the deleterious principle by which it is attacked.
It is only where the word of God is, that there is life. Luther,
however great his courage was, would probably have been silent had
Rome been so and made some faint show of concession. But God did not
leave the Reformation to depend on a weak human heart. Luther was
under the guidance of a clearer intellect than his own. The pope was
the instrument in the hand of Providence to sever every tie between
the past and the future, and launch the Reformer on a new, unknown,
and to him uncertain career, and the difficult avenues to which he
would, if left to himself, have been unable to find. The papal bull
was a writing of divorce sent from Rome to the pure Church of Jesus
Christ, as personified in him who was then her humble but faithful
representative. And the Church accepted the writing on the
understanding that she was thenceforth to depend on none but her
heavenly Head.
[Sidenote: LUTHER'S CONDEMNATION.]
While at Rome, Luther's condemnation was urged forward with so much
violence, a humble priest, dwelling in one of the humble towns of
Helvetia, and who had never had any correspondence with the Reformer,
was deeply moved when he thought of the blow which was aimed at him;
while even the friends of the Wittemberg doctor trembled in silence,
this mountaineer of Switzerland resolved to employ every means to stay
the formidable bull. His name was Ulrick Zwingle. William des Faucons,
who was secretary to the papal Legate in Switzerland, and managed the
affairs of Rome during the Legate's absence, was his friend, and a few
days before had said to him, "while I live you may calculate on
obtaining from me everything that a true friend can be expected to
give." The Helvetian priest, trusting to this declaration, repaired to
the Roman embassy. This, at least, may be inferred from one of his
letters. For himself, he had no fear of the dangers to which
evangelical faith exposed him, knowing that a disciple of Jesus Christ
must always be ready to sacrifice his life; "All I ask of Christ for
myself," said he to a friend to whom he was unbosoming his solicitude
on Luther's account, "all I ask is to be able to bear like a man
whatever evils await me. I am a vessel of clay in his hands. Let him
break or let him strengthen me as seemeth to him good."[220] But the
Swiss evangelist had fears for the Christian Church, should this
formidable blow reach the Reformer, and he endeavoured to persuade the
representative of Rome to enlighten the pope, and employ all the means
in his power to prevent him from launching an excommunication at
Luther.[221] "The dignity of the holy see itself," said he to him, "is
here at stake, for if matters are brought to such a point, Germany, in
the height of her enthusiasm for the gospel, and for its preacher,
will despise the pope and his anathemas."[222] The efforts of Zwingle
were in vain. It appears, indeed, that when he was making them, the
blow had been already struck. Such was the first occasion on which the
paths of the Saxon doctor and the Swiss priest met. The latter we will
again meet with in the course of this history, and will see him
gradually expanding and growing until he obtain a high standing in the
Church of the Lord.
[220] Hoc unum Christum obtestans, ut masculo omnia pectore ferre
donet, et me figulinum suum rumpat aut firmet, ut illi placitum sit.
(Zwinglii Epistolæ, curant. Schulero et Schulthessio, p. 144.)
[221] Ut pontificem admoneat, ne excommunicationem ferat. (Ibid.)
[222] Nam si feratur, auguror Germanos cum excommunicatione pontificem
quoque contempturos. (Zwinglii Epistolæ, curant. Schulero et
Schulthessio, p. 144.)
[Sidenote: THE PAPAL BULL.]
After Luther's condemnation was at last resolved upon, new
difficulties arose in the Consistory. The theologians wished to
proceed at once to fulmination, whereas the lawyers were for beginning
with a citation, asking their theological colleagues, "Was not Adam
first cited? '_Adam, where art thou?_' said the Lord. It was the same
with Cain, the question asked at him was, 'where is thy brother,
Abel?'" These strange arguments, drawn from Scripture, the canonists
strengthened by appealing to the principles of the law of nature. "The
certainty of a crime," said they, "cannot deprive the criminal of his
right of defence."[223] It is pleasing to find a sense of justice
still existing in a Roman consistory. But these scruples did not suit
the theologians, who, hurried on by passion, thought only of
proceeding to business with despatch. It was at length agreed that the
doctrine of Luther should be immediately condemned, and that a period
of sixty days should be granted to him and his adherents; after which,
provided they did not retract, they should all be, _ipso facto_,
excommunicated. De Vio, who had returned from Germany in ill health,
was carried to the meeting, that he might not lose this little
triumph, which carried with it some degree of consolation. Having been
defeated at Augsburg, he longed to be able at Rome to condemn the
invincible monk, before whom his knowledge, finesse, and authority had
proved unavailing. Luther not being there to reply, De Vio felt
himself strong. A last conference, which Eck attended, was held in
presence of the pope himself, in his villa at Malliano. On the 15th of
June the sacred college resolved on condemnation, and approved of the
famous bull.
[223] Sarpi Hist. of the Council of Trent, i, p. 12.
"Arise, O Lord!" said the Roman pontiff, speaking at this solemn
moment as vicar of God and head of the Church, "arise and be judge in
thy own cause. Remember the insults daily offered to thee by
infatuated men. Arise, O Peter, remember thy holy Roman Church, the
mother of all churches, and mistress of the faith! Arise, O Paul, for
here is a new Porphyry, who is attacking thy doctrines and the holy
popes our predecessors! Arise, in fine, assembly of all the saints,
holy Church of God, and intercede with the Almighty!"[224]
[224] L. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 305, and Op. Lat. i, p. 32.
The pope afterwards quotes as pernicious, scandalous, and poisonous,
forty-one propositions in which Luther had expounded the holy doctrine
of the gospel. Among these propositions we find the following:--
"To deny that sin remains in an infant after baptism, is to trample
St. Paul and our Lord Jesus Christ under foot."
"A new life is the best and noblest penance."
"To burn heretics is contrary to the will of the Holy Spirit, etc."
[Sidenote: MELANCTHON.]
"The moment this Bull is published," continued the pope, "it will be
the duty of the bishops to make careful search for the writings of
Martin Luther, which contain these errors, and to burn them publicly
and solemnly in presence of the clergy and laity. In regard to Martin
himself, good God! what have we not done! Imitating the goodness of
the Almighty, we are ready, even yet, to receive him into the bosom of
the Church, and we give him sixty days to transmit his retractation to
us in a writing sealed by two prelates; or, what will be more
agreeable to us, to come to Rome in person, that no doubt may be
entertained as to his submission. Meanwhile, and from this moment, he
must cease to preach, teach, or write, and must deliver his works to
the flames. If, in the space of sixty days, he do not retract, we, by
these presents, condemn him and his adherents as public and absolute
heretics." The pope afterwards pronounces a multiplicity of
excommunications, maledictions, and interdicts against Luther and all
his adherents, with injunctions to seize their persons and send them
to Rome.[225] It is easy to conjecture what the fate of these noble
confessors of the gospel would have been in the dungeons of the
papacy.
[225] Sub prædictis pœnis, præfatum Lutherum, complices adhærentes,
receptatores et fautores, personaliter capiant et ad nos mittant.
(Bulla Leonis, loc. cit.)
A thunder storm was thus gathering over the head of Luther. Some had
been able to persuade themselves, after Reuchlin's affair, that the
Court at Rome would not again make common cause with the Dominicans
and the Inquisitors. These, however, were again in the ascendant, and
the old alliance was solemnly renewed. The Bull was published, and for
ages the mouth of Rome had never pronounced a sentence of condemnation
without following it up with a death blow. This murderous message was
about to issue from the seven hills, and attack the Saxon monk in his
cloister. The moment was well chosen. There were good grounds for
supposing that the new emperor, who, for many reasons, was anxious to
obtain the friendship of the pope, would hasten to merit it by the
sacrifice of an obscure monk. Leo X, the cardinals, and all Rome, were
exulting in the belief that their enemy was already in their power.