A Foreign Prince--Advice of Politicians--Conference between
the Confessor and the Elector's Chancellor--Uselessness of
these Manœuvres--Aleander's activity--Luther's
Sayings--Charles gives in to the Pope.
[Sidenote: PONTANUS AND GLAPIO.]
But all this was of no importance in the eyes of politicians. How high
soever the idea which Charles entertained of the imperial dignity, it
was not in Germany that his interests and policy centred. He was
always a Duke of Burgundy, who, to several sceptres, added the first
crown of Christendom. Strange! at the moment of her thorough
transformation, Germany selected for her head a foreign prince in
whose eyes her wants and tendencies were only of secondary importance.
The religious movement, it is true, was not indifferent to the young
emperor; but it was important in his eyes only in so far as it menaced
the pope. War between Charles and France was inevitable, and its chief
seat was necessarily to be in Italy. An alliance with the pope thus
became every day more necessary to the schemes of Charles. He would
fain have either detached Frederick from Luther, or satisfied the pope
without offending Frederick. Several of those about him manifested, in
regard to the affairs of the Augustin monk, that cold disdain which
politicians usually affect when religion is in question. "Let us avoid
extremes," said they. "Let us trammel Luther by negotiations, and
reduce him to silence by some kind of concession. The true course is
to stifle the embers, not stir them up. If the monk is caught in the
net, we have gained the day. By accepting a compromise he will be
interdicted and undone. For appearance some externa reforms will be
devised; the Elector will be satisfied; the pope will be gained, and
affairs will resume their ordinary course."
Such was the project of the confidential counsellors of the emperor.
The doctors of Wittemberg seem to have divined this new policy. "They
are trying in secret to gain men's minds," said Melancthon, "and are
working in darkness."[395] John Glapio, the confessor of Charles V,--a
man of rank, a skilful courtier, and an intriguing monk,--undertook
the execution of the project. Glapio possessed the entire confidence
of Charles, who (in accordance with Spanish manners) left to him
almost entirely the management of matters relating to religion. As
soon as Charles was appointed emperor, Leo X had assiduously
endeavoured to gain Glapio by favours to which the confessor was
strongly alive.[396] There was no way in which he could make a better
return to the pope's kindness than by reducing heresy to silence, and
he accordingly set about the task.[397]
[395] "Clanculum tentent et experiantur ..." (Corp. Reform. i, p. 281,
3rd Feb.)
[396] "Benignis officiis recens a Pontifice delinitus." (Pallavicini,
i, p. 90.)
[397] "Et sane in eo toto negotio singulare probitatis ardorisque
specimen dedit." (Ibid.) And assuredly in the whole business he gave
singular proof of probity and zeal.
One of the Elector's counsellors was Chancellor Gregory Bruck, or
Pontanus, a man of great intelligence, decision, and courage, who knew
more of theology than all the doctors, and whose wisdom was a match
for the wiles of the monks at the emperor's court. Glapio, aware of
the influence of the chancellor, asked an interview with him; and
coming up to him as if he had been the friend of the Reformer, said to
him, with an expression of good will, "I was delighted when, on
reading the first productions of Luther, I found him a vigorous stock,
which had pushed forth noble branches, and which gave promise to the
Church of the most precious fruits. Several before him, it is true,
made the same discoveries: still none but he has had the noble courage
to publish the truth without fear. But when I read his book on the
_Captivity of Babylon_, I felt as if beaten and bruised from head to
foot." "I don't believe," added the monk, "that Luther acknowledges
himself to be the author. I do not find in it either his style or his
science...." After some discussion, the confessor continued,
"Introduce me to the Elector, and I will, in your presence, explain to
him the errors of Luther."
The chancellor replied, "That the business of the Diet did not leave
any leisure to his Highness, who, moreover, did not meddle with the
affair." The monk was vexed when his request was denied. "By the way,"
said the chancellor, "as you say there is no evil without a remedy,
will you explain yourself?"
[Sidenote: PONTANUS AND GLAPIO.]
Assuming a confidential air, the confessor replied: "The emperor
earnestly desires to see such a man as Luther reconciled to the
Church, for his books (before the publication of his treatise, 'On the
Captivity of Babylon,') rather pleased his Majesty.[398]... It must
doubtless have been Luther's rage at the bull which dictated that
work. Let him declare that he did not wish to disturb the peace of the
Church, and the learned of all nations will rally around him....
Procure me an audience of his Highness."
[398] "Es haben dessen Bücher Ihro Majestät ... um et was
gefallen...." (Archives Weimar. Seckend. p. 315.)
The chancellor waited upon Frederick. The Elector being well aware
that any kind of recantation was impossible replied, "Tell the
confessor that I cannot comply with his request, but do you continue
the conference."
Glapio received this message with great demonstrations of respect; and
changing the attack, said, "Let the Elector name some confidential
persons to deliberate on this affair."
_Chancellor._--"The Elector does not profess to defend the cause of
Luther."
_Confessor._--"Very well, do you at least discuss it with me.... Jesus
Christ is my witness, that all I do is from love to the Church, and to
Luther who has opened so many hearts to the truth."[399]
[399] Der andern das Hertz zu vielem Guten cröffnet... (Secken. p.
315.)
The chancellor having refused to undertake what was the Reformer's own
task, was preparing to retire.
"Stay!" said the monk to him.
_Chancellor._--"What then is to be done?"
_Confessor._--"Let Luther deny that he is the author of the Captivity
of Babylon."
_Chancellor._--"But the papal bull condemns all his other works."
_Confessor._--"It is because of his obstinacy. If he retracts his
book, the pope, in the plenitude of his power, can easily restore him
to favour. What hopes may we not cherish now that we have so excellent
an emperor!..."
Perceiving that these words made some impression on the chancellor,
the monk hastened to add--"Luther always insists on arguing from the
Bible. The Bible! ... it is like wax, and may be stretched and bent at
pleasure. I undertake to find in the Bible opinions still more
extraordinary than those of Luther. He is mistaken when he converts
all the sayings of Jesus into commandments." Then, wishing to work
also on the fears of the chancellor, he added, "What would happen if
to-day or to-morrow the Emperor were to try the effect of arms?...
Think of it." He then allowed Pontanus to retire.
[Sidenote: PONTANUS AND GLAPIO.]
The confessor prepared new snares. "After living ten years with him,"
said Erasmus, "we should not know him."
"What an excellent book that of Luther's on 'Christian Liberty,'" said
he to the chancellor when he saw him a few days after--"what wisdom!
what talent! what intellect! it is just the style in which a true
scholar ought to write. Let unexceptionable persons be chosen on
either side, and let the pope and Luther refer to their judgment. No
doubt Luther has the best of it on several articles.[400] I will speak
to the emperor himself on the subject. Believe me, I do not say these
things to you on my own suggestion. I have told the emperor that God
will chastise him, as well as all the princes, if the Church, which is
the spouse of Jesus Christ, is not washed from all the stains by which
she is polluted. I have added that God himself had raised up Luther,
and had ordered him to rebuke men sharply, using him as a rod to
punish the sins of the world."[401]
[400] Es sey nicht zu zweifeln dass Lutherus in vielen Artickeln werde
den Sieg davon tragen . . . . (Seckend., p. 319.)
[401] Dass Gott diesen Mann gesandt, . . . . dass er eine Geissel seye
um der Sünden willen. (Weimar Archiv.--Seckend., p. 320.)
The chancellor hearing these words, (they convey the impressions of
the time, and show what was then thought of Luther even by his
opponents,) thought it right to express his astonishment that more
respect was not shown to his master. "Deliberations on this subject,"
said he, "are daily carried on before the emperor, and the Elector is
not invited to them. It seems strange that the emperor, who owes him
some gratitude, excludes him from his counsels."
_Confessor._--"I have been present only once at these deliberations,
and I have heard the emperor resist the solicitations of the nuncios.
Five years hence it will be seen how much Charles shall have done for
the reformation of the Church."
"The Elector," replied Pontanus, "is ignorant of the emperor's
intentions: He should be invited that he may hear them stated."
The confessor answered with a deep sigh,[402] "I call God to witness
how ardently I desire to see the Reformation of Christendom
accomplished."
[402] Glapio that hierauf einen tiefen Seufzer, un rufte Gott zum
Zeugen.... (Seckend, p. 321.)
To lengthen out the affair, and meanwhile keep Luther's mouth shut,
was all that Glapio had in view. At all events, Luther must not come
to Worms. A dead man returning from the other world, and appearing in
the midst of the Diet, would not have alarmed the nuncios, and monks,
and whole host of the pope, so much as the sight of the Wittemberg
doctor.
[Sidenote: FAILURE OF GLAPIO'S MANŒUVRES.]
"How many days does it take to come from Wittemberg to Worms?" asked
the monk at the chancellor, affecting an air of indifference; then
begging Pontanus to present his very humble respects to the Elector,
he departed.
Such were the manœuvres of the courtiers. The firmness of Pontanus
outwitted them. This upright man was immovable as a rock in all
negotiations. Moreover, the Roman monks fell into the very snares
which they were laying for their enemies. "The Christian," says
Luther, in his figurative language, "is like a bird fastened near a
trap. The wolves and foxes go round and round, and make a dart upon it
to devour it, but fall into the pit and perish, while the timid bird
remains alive. Thus holy angels guard us, and devouring wolves,
hypocrites, and persecutors, cannot do us any harm."[403] Not only
were the confessor's artifices unavailing, but, moreover, his
admissions confirmed Frederick in the belief that Luther was in the
right, and that it was his duty to defend him.
[403] L. Op. (W. xxii, 1655.)
The hearts of men became every day more inclined towards the gospel. A
prior of the Dominicans proposed that the emperor, the kings of
France, Spain, England, Portugal, Hungary, and Poland, the pope, and
the electors, should name representatives by whom the matter should be
decided. "Never," said he, "has reference been made to the pope
alone."[404] The general feeling became such, that it seemed
impossible to condemn Luther without a hearing and regular
conviction.[405]
[404] Und niemals dem Papst allein geglaubt (Seck., p. 323.)
[405] Spalatinus scribit tantum favoris Evangelio esse istic, ut me
inauditum et inconvictum damnari non speret. (L. Ep. i, p. 556, 9th
Feb.) Spalatin writes that the gospel is so much in favour there that
he hopes I cannot be condemned unheard and unconvicted.
[Sidenote: ALEANDER'S ACTIVITY.]
Aleander became uneasy, and displayed more than wonted energy. It is
no longer merely against the Elector and Luther that he has to
contend. He is horrified at the secret negotiations of the confessor,
the proposition of the prior, the consent of Charles' ministers, and
the extreme coldness of Roman piety among the most devoted friends of
the pope, "so that one would have thought," says Pallavicini, "that a
torrent of ice had passed over them."[406] He had at length received
gold and silver from Rome, and held in his hand energetic briefs
addressed to the most powerful personages in the empire.[407] Afraid
that his prey might escape, he felt that now was the time to strike a
decisive blow. He despatched the briefs, showered gold and silver with
liberal hand, dealt out the most enticing promises, "and provided,"
says the Cardinal historian, "with this triple weapon, he strove anew
to turn the wavering assembly of the electors in favour of the
pope."[408] He laboured above all to encircle the emperor with his
snares. Availing himself of the differences between the Belgian and
the Spanish ministers, he laid close siege to the prince. All the
friends of Rome, awakened by his voice, urged young Charles with
solicitations. "Every day," wrote the Elector to his brother John,
"deliberations are held against Luther: the demand is that he be put
under the ban of the pope and the emperor; in all sorts of ways
attempts are made to hurt him. Those who parade about with their red
hats, the Romans with all their sect, labour in the task with
indefatigable zeal."[409]
[406] Hinc aqua manabat, quæ succensæ pietatis æstum restinguebat
(Pallavicini, i, p. 96.) Hence flowed water which extinguished the
flame of piety.
[407] Mandata, pecuniæ ac diplomata. (Ibid. p. 95.)
[408] Triplici hac industria nunc Aleander.... (Ibid.)
[409] Das thun die in rothen Hüten prangen. (Seck., 364.)
In fact, Aleander urged the condemnation of the Reformer with a
violence which Luther terms "marvellous fury."[410] The apostate
nuncio,[411] as Luther calls him, hurried by passion beyond the bounds
of prudence, one day exclaimed, "If you mean, O Germans, to shake off
the yoke of Roman obedience, we will act so, that, setting the one
against the other, as an exterminating sword, you will all perish in
your own blood."[412] "Such," adds the Reformer, "is the pope's method
of feeding the sheep of Christ."
[410] Miro furore Papistæ moliuntur mihi mala..... (L. Ep. i, p. 556.)
[411] Nuntius _apostaticus_ (a play on the word _apostolicus_) agit
summis viribus. (Ibid., p. 569.)
[412] Ut mutuis cædibus absumpti vestro cruore pereatis. (Ibid., p.
556.)
Luther himself spoke a very different language. He made no demand of a
personal nature. "Luther is ready," said Melancthon, "to purchase the
glory and advancement of the gospel with his life."[413] But he
trembled at the thought of the disasters of which his death might be
the signal. He saw a people led astray, and perhaps avenging his
martyrdom in the blood of his enemies, especially the priests. He
recoiled from the fearful responsibility. "God," said he, "arrests the
fury of his enemies; but should it break forth, ... a storm will burst
upon the priests similar to that which ravaged Bohemia.... I am clear
of it; for I have earnestly besought the German nobility to arrest the
Romans by wisdom, and not by the sword.[414] To war upon priests, a
body without courage and strength, is to war upon women and children."
[413] Libenter etiam morte sua Evangelii gloriam et profectum emerit.
(Corp. Ref. i, p. 285.)
[414] Non ferro, sed consiliis et edictis. (L. Ep. i, p. 563.)
[Sidenote: CHARLES YIELDS TO THE POPE.]
Charles did not withstand the solicitations of the nuncio. His Belgian
and Spanish devotion had been developed by his preceptor Adrian, who
afterwards occupied the pontifical throne. The pope had addressed a
brief to him imploring him to give legal effect to the bull by an
imperial edict. "In vain," said he to him, "shall God have invested
you with the sword of supreme power if you do not employ it both
against infidels, and also against heretics, who are far worse than
infidels." One day, accordingly, in the beginning of February, at the
moment when every thing was ready at Worms for a brilliant tournament,
and after the emperor's tent had actually been erected, the princes
who were preparing to attend the fête were summoned to repair to the
imperial palace. There the papal bull was read to them, and they were
presented with a stringent edict enjoining the execution of it. "If
you have any thing better to propose," added the emperor in the usual
form, "I am ready to hear you."
Animated debates then began in the diet. "The monk," wrote the deputy
of one of the German free towns, "gives us a great deal to do. Some
would like to crucify him, and I don't think that he will escape: the
only thing to be feared is that he may rise again on the third day."
The emperor had thought he would be able to publish his edict without
opposition on the part of the States, but it was not so. Men's minds
were not prepared, and it was necessary to gain the Diet. "Convince
this assembly," said the young monarch to the nuncio. This was just
what Aleander desired, and he received a promise of being admitted to
the Diet on the 13th February.
Chap. III.
Aleander admitted to the Diet--Aleander's Address--Luther
accused--Rome defended--Appeal to Charles against
Luther--Effect of the Nuncio's Address.
The nuncio prepared for the solemn audience. The task was important,
but Aleander was worthy of it. The ambassador of the sovereign pontiff
was surrounded with all the splendour of his office; he was moreover
one of the most eloquent men of his age. The friends of the
Reformation looked forward to the sitting not without fear. The
Elector, under the pretext of indisposition, kept away, but he ordered
some of his counsellors to attend and give heed to the nuncio's
address.
[Sidenote: ALEANDER'S ADDRESS.]
On the appointed day, Aleander proceeded to the hall of the assembled
princes. Men's minds were excited; several thought of Annas or
Caiaphas repairing to Pilate's judgment hall to demand the life of him
who was "_perverting the nation_."[415] At the moment when the nuncio
was about to step across the threshold, the officer of the Diet (says
Pallavicini,) came briskly up to him, took him by the breast, and
shoved him back."[416] "He was a Lutheran at heart," adds the Roman
historian. If the story is true, it doubtless betrays strange passion
in the officer, but at the same time, gives an idea of the powerful
influence which Luther's doctrine had produced even on the
doorkeepers of the Imperial Council. Proud Aleander, haughtily drawing
himself up, moved on and entered the hall. Never had Rome been called
to make her apology before so august an assembly. The nuncio placed
before him the judicial documents which he judged necessary, the works
of Luther, and the papal bulls. Silence being called, he spoke as
follows:--
"Most august emperor!--most puissant princes!--most excellent
deputies! I come before you to maintain a cause for which my heart
burns with the most ardent affection. The subject is the preservation
on my master's head of that tiara which is reverenced by all, the
maintenance of that papal throne, for which I am ready to give my body
to the flames, could the monster who has engendered the growing heresy
be consumed by the same pile, and mingle his ashes with mine.[417]
[415] Luke, xxiii, 2.
[416] Pugnis ejus pectori admotis repulerit. (Pallavicini, i, p. 112.)
[417] "Dummodo mecum una monstrum nascentis hæresis arderet."
(Pallavicini, i, p. 97.) Seckendorff, and after him several Protestant
historians, insist that Pallavicini himself composed the address which
he puts in the mouth of Aleander. It is true the Cardinal historian
states, that he gave it the form in which it appears; but he intimates
the sources from which he drew it, particularly the letters of
Aleander deposited in the archives of the Vatican. (Acta Wormatiæ,
fol. 66 and 99.) I think, therefore, that to reject it altogether
would betray partiality. I have collected some additional passages of
the speech from other sources, Protestant and Romish....
"No! the disagreement between Luther and Rome turns not on the
interests of the pope. Luther's books are before me, and any man with
eyes in his head may perceive that the holy doctrines of the Church
are the object of his attack. He teaches that those only communicate
worthily whose consciences are filled with sadness and confusion for
their sins, and that there is no justification in baptism, without
faith in the promise of which baptism is the pledge.[418] He denies
the necessity of our works to obtain celestial glory. He denies that
we have liberty and power to observe natural and divine law. He
affirms that we sin necessarily in all our actions. Did ever the
arsenal of hell send forth arrows better fitted to loose the reins of
modesty?... He preaches the abolition of religious vows. Can more
sacrilegious impiety be imagined?... What desolation will not be seen
in the world when those who ought to be the leaven of the people shall
have thrown aside their sacred vestments, abandoned the temples which
re-echoed with their holy hymns, and plunged into adultery, incest,
and dissoluteness!...
[418] "Baptismum neminem justificare, sed fidem in verbum promissionis
cui additur Baptismus." (Cochlœus, Act. Luth. 28.) That no man is
justified by baptism, but only by faith, in the word of the promise to
which baptism is annexed.
[Sidenote: ALEANDER'S ADDRESS.]
"Shall I enumerate all the crimes of this audacious monk? He sins
against the dead, for he denies purgatory; he sins against heaven, for
he says, he would not believe an angel from heaven; he sins against
the Church, for he pretends that all Christians are priests; he sins
against the saints, for he despises their venerable writings; he sins
against the councils, for he terms that of Constance an assembly of
demons; he sins against the world, for he forbids the punishment of
death to be inflicted on any one who has not committed a mortal
sin.[419] Some say he is a pious man ... I have no wish to attack his
life, I would only remind this assembly that the devil deceives men by
semblances of truth."
[419] "Weil er verbiete jemand mit Todes Strafe zu belegen der nicht
ein Todtsünde begangen." (Seckend. p. 333.)
Aleander having spoken of the condemnation of purgatory by the council
of Florence, laid the papal bull on this council at the feet of the
emperor. The archbishop of Mentz took it up and handed it to the
archbishops of Cologne and Treves, who received it reverently, and
passed it to the other princes. The nuncio, having thus accused
Luther, now proceeded to the second point, which was to justify Rome.
"At Rome," says Luther, "they promise one thing with the lip and do
its opposite with the hand. If this fact is true, must not the
inference be the very reverse of what he draws from it? If the
ministers of a religion live conformably to its precepts it is a proof
that it is false. Such was the religion of the ancient Romans.... Such
is that of Mahomet, and that of Luther himself; but such is not the
religion which the pontiffs of Rome teach us. Yes, the doctrine which
they confess condemns all as faulty, several as culpable, and some
even (I say it candidly) as criminal.[420]... This doctrine delivers
their actions to the censure of men during their life, and to
historical infamy after their death.[421] Now what pleasure, what
advantage, I ask, could the pontiffs have found in inventing such a
religion?
[420] "Multos ut quadantenus reos, nonnullos (dicam ingenuè) ut
scelestos." (Pallavicini, i, p. 101.)
[421] "Linguarum vituperationi dum vivunt, historiarum infaminæ post
mortem. (Ibid.)
"The Church, it will be said, was not governed in primitive times by
Roman pontiffs--What must the conclusion be? With such arguments they
might persuade men to live on acorns, and princesses to be their own
washerwomen."
[Sidenote: ALEANDER'S ADDRESS.]
But it was against his adversary, the Reformer, that the nuncio
chiefly directed his attack. Full of indignation against those who
said that he ought to be heard, he exclaimed, "Luther will not allow
any one to instruct him." The pope summoned him to Rome, but he did
not obey. The pope summoned him to Augsburg before his legate, and he
would not appear without a safe-conduct from the emperor, _i. e._
until the hands of the legate were tied, and nothing left free to him
but his tongue.[422] "Ah!" said Aleander, turning towards Charles V,
"I supplicate your imperial majesty not to do what would issue in
disgrace. Interfere not with a matter of which laics have no right to
take cognisance. Do your own work. Let Luther's doctrine be
interdicted throughout the empire: let his writings be everywhere
burnt. Fear not: there is enough in the writings of Luther to burn a
hundred thousand heretics.[423]... And what have we to fear?... The
populace? Before the battle they seem terrible from their insolence;
in the battle they are contemptible from their cowardice. Foreign
princes? The king of France has prohibited Luther's doctrine from
entering his kingdom, while the king of Great Britain is preparing a
blow for it with his royal hand. You know what the feelings of
Hungary, Italy, and Spain are, and none of your neighbours, how great
soever the enmity he may bear to yourself, wishes you any thing so bad
as this heresy. If the house of our enemy is adjacent to our own we
may wish him fever, but not pestilence.... Who are all these
Lutherans? A huddle of insolent grammarians, corrupt priests,
disorderly monks, ignorant advocates, degraded nobles, common people
misled and perverted. Is not the Catholic party far more numerous,
able, and powerful? A unanimous decree of this assembly will enlighten
the simple, give warning to the imprudent, determine those who are
hesitating, and confirm the feeble.... But if the axe is not laid to
the root of this poisonous shrub, if the fatal stroke is not given to
it, then.... I see it covering the heritage of Jesus Christ with its
branches, changing the vineyard of the Lord into a howling forest,
transforming the kingdom of God into a den of wild beasts, and
throwing Germany into the frightful state of barbarism and desolation
to which Asia has been reduced by the superstition of Mahomet."
[422] "Quod idem erat, ac revincti legati brachiis et lingua solum
soluta." (Ibid. p. 109.)
[423] Dass 100,000 Ketzer ihrenthalben verbrannt werden. (Seckend. p.
332.)
[Sidenote: EFFECT OF ALEANDER'S ADDRESS.]
The nuncio ceased. He had spoken for three hours. The torrent of his
eloquence had moved the assembly. "The princes shaken and alarmed,"
says Cochlœus, "looked at each other; and murmurs were soon heard
from different quarters against Luther and his partisans."[424] Had
the mighty Luther been present, had he been permitted to answer the
discourse, had he, availing himself of the concession forced from the
Roman orator by the remembrance of his old master, the infamous
Borgia, been permitted to show that these arguments, designed to
defend Rome, constituted her condemnation, and that the doctrine which
gave proof of her iniquity was not invented by him, as the orator
said, but was the very religion which Christ had given to the world,
and which the reformation was establishing in its primitive lustre,
could he have presented an exact and animated picture of the errors
and abuses of the papacy, and shown how it had perverted the religion
of Jesus Christ into an instrument of aggrandisement and rapine,--the
effect of the nuncio's harangue would have been neutralised at the
moment of its delivery; but nobody rose to speak. The assembly
remained under the impression of the address, and, excited and carried
away, showed themselves ready violently to eradicate the heresy of
Luther from the soil of the empire.[425]
[424] Vehementer exterriti atque commoti, alter alterum intuebantar,
atque in Lutherum ejusque fautores murmurare cœperunt (Cochl., p.
28.)
[425] Lutheranam hæresin esse funditus evellendam. (Pallavicini, i, p.
101, Roscoe's Life of Leo X, p. 50.)
Still the victory was only apparent. It was the will of God that Borne
should have an opportunity of displaying her reasons and her strength.
The greatest of her orators had addressed the assembled princes, and
said all that Rome had to say. But the last effort of the papacy was
the very thing which was destined to become, in regard to several of
those who witnessed it, the signal of her defeat. If, in order to
secure the triumph of truth, it is necessary to proclaim it aloud, so
in order to secure the destruction of error, it is sufficient to
publish it without reserve. Neither the one nor the other, in order to
accomplish its course, should be concealed. The light judges all
things.