Victory--Tumult and calm--Duke Erick's Glass of Beer--The
Elector and Spalatin--Message from the Emperor--Wish to
violate the Safe-conduct--Strong opposition--Enthusiasm for
Luther--Voice for Conciliation--The Elector's
Fear--Assemblage at Luther's Lodging--Philip of Hesse.
It was night, and each regained his dwelling in the dark. Two imperial
officers were ordered to accompany Luther. Some persons imagining that
his fate was decided, and that they were conducting him to prison,
which he should leave only for the scaffold, an immense tumult arose.
Several gentlemen exclaimed, "Are they taking him to prison?" "No,"
replied Luther, "they are accompanying me to my hotel." At these words
the tumult calmed. Then some Spaniards of the emperor's household,
following this bold champion, hissed and jeered at him[533] as he
passed along the streets, while others howled like wild beasts
deprived of their prey. Luther remained firm and peaceful.
[533] "Subsannatione hominem Dei et longo rugitu prosecuti sunt." (L.
Op. Lat. ii, p. 166.) Followed the man of God with jeers and loud
bellowing.
Such was the scene at Worms. The intrepid monk, who had hitherto
hurled defiance at his enemies, spake, when in the presence of those
who had thirsted for his blood, with calmness, dignity, and humility.
There was no exaggeration, no human enthusiasm, no anger; he was
peaceful amid the strongest excitement; modest, while resisting the
powers of the earth; great, in presence of all the princes of the
world. In this we have an irrefragable proof that Luther was then
obeying God--not following the suggestions of his own pride. In the
hall of Worms there was One greater than Luther and Charles. Jesus
Christ has said, "_When they deliver you up, take no thought how or
what you shall speak. For it is not ye that speak._"[534] Never,
perhaps, was this promise so manifestly fulfilled.
[534] Matt. x, 18, 20.
A deep impression had been produced on the heads of the empire. Luther
had observed this, and it had increased his courage. The servants of
the pope were angry at John Eck for not having oftener interrupted the
guilty monk. Several princes and nobles were gained to a cause which
was maintained with such conviction. In some, it is true, the
impression was evanescent, but, on the other hand, several who till
then had concealed their sentiments, henceforth displayed great
courage.
[Sidenote: DUKE ERICK'S GLASS OF BEER.]
Luther had returned to his hotel, and was reposing from the fatigue
of the severe service in which he had been engaged. Spalatin and other
friends were around him, and all were giving thanks to God. While they
were conversing, a valet entered, bearing a silver vase full of
Eimbeck beer. "My master," said he, presenting it to Luther, "begs you
to refresh yourself with this draught of beer." "What prince is it,"
asked Luther, "who so graciously remembers me?" It was old Duke Erick
of Brunswick. The Reformer was touched by the offering thus made him
by so powerful a prince; one, too, belonging to the papal party. "His
highness," continued the valet, "was pleased to taste the draught
before sending it to you." Luther, being thirsty, poured out the
duke's beer, and after drinking it, said, "As Duke Erick has this day
remembered me, so may the Lord Jesus Christ remember him in the day of
his final combat."[535] The present was in itself of little value, but
Luther, wishing to show his gratitude to a prince who had thought of
him at such a moment, gave him what he had--a prayer. The valet
returned with the message to his master. The old duke, in his last
moments, remembered the words, and addressing a young page, Francis de
Kramm, who was standing at his bedside, said to him, "Take the gospel
and read it to me." The child read the words of Christ, and the soul
of the dying man was refreshed. "_Whosoever_," says the Saviour,
"_shall give to one of you a cup of cold water in my name, because you
are my disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his
reward_."
[535] Also gidencke seiner unser Herr Christus in seinem letzten
Kampff. (Seck. p. 354.)
The valet of the Duke of Brunswick was no sooner gone than a message
from the Elector of Saxony ordered Spalatin to come to him instantly.
Frederick had come to the Diet full of disquietude. He thought that,
in presence of the emperor, Luther's courage might give way, and he
had accordingly been deeply moved by the Reformer's firmness. He was
proud of having taken such a man under his protection. When the
chaplain arrived, the table was covered, and the Elector was going to
sit down to supper with his Court--the valets having already brought
in the vase for washing the hands. The Elector seeing Spalatin enter,
immediately beckoned him to follow, and when alone with him in his
bedchamber, said to him, with deep emotion, "Oh! how well father
Luther spoke before the emperor and all the states of the empire! My
only fear was, that he would be too bold."[536] Frederick then formed
a resolution to protect the doctor in future with greater courage.
[536] O wie schön hat Pater Martinus geredet. (Ibid., p. 355.)
[Sidenote: MESSAGE FROM THE EMPEROR.]
Aleander saw the impression which Luther had produced. There was no
time, therefore, to be lost. The young emperor must be induced to act
vigorously. The moment was favourable, for there was immediate
prospect of war with France. Leo X, wishing to enlarge his states, and
caring little for the peace of Christendom, caused two treaties to be
secretly negotiated, at the same time, the one with Charles against
Francis, and the other with Francis against Charles.[537] By the
former he stipulated with the emperor for Parma, Placenza, and
Ferrara; by the latter, he stipulated with the king for a part of the
kingdom of Naples, of which Charles was thus to be deprived. Charles
felt the importance of gaining over Leo, in order that he might have
him as an ally against his rival of France. Luther was an easy price
to pay for the friendship of the mighty pontiff.
[537] Guicciardini, p. 175. Dumont Corp. Dipl. t. iv, p. 96. Dicesi
del papa Leone, che quando l'aveva fatto lega con alcuno, prima soleva
dir che pero non si dovea restar de tratar cum lo altro principe
opposto. It is said of Leo X, that after entering into league with any
one, he was wont to say there was no occasion to cease treating with
princes on the opposite side. (Suriano, Venetian Ambassador at Rome,
M.S. Archives of Venice.)
The day after Luther's appearance, he caused a message to be read to
the Diet, which he had written in French, with his own hand.[538]
"Sprung," said he, "from the Christian emperors of Germany, from the
Catholic kings of Spain, the archdukes of Austria, and the dukes of
Burgundy, who are all illustrious as defenders of the Roman faith, it
is my firm purpose to follow the example of my ancestors. A single
monk, led astray by his own folly, sets himself up in opposition to
the faith of Christendom. I will sacrifice my dominions, my power, my
friends, my treasure, my body, my blood, my mind, and my life, to stay
this impiety.[539] I mean to send back the Augustin, Luther,
forbidding him to cause the least tumult among the people; thereafter
I will proceed against him and his adherents as against declared
heretics, by excommunication. and interdict, and all means proper for
their destruction.[540] I call upon the members of the states to
conduct themselves like faithful Christians."
[538] Autographum in linguæ Burgundica, ab ipsomet exaratum.
(Cochlœus, 32.)
[539] "Regna, thesauros, amicos, corpus, sanguinem, vitam, spiritumque
profundere." (Pallavicini, i, p. 118.)
[540] Und andern Wegen sie zu vertilgen. (L. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 581.)
[Sidenote: PROPOSAL TO VIOLATE THE SAFE-CONDUCT.]
This address did not please every body. Charles, young and
impassioned, had not observed the ordinary forms; he ought previously
to have asked the opinion of the Diet. Two extreme views were
immediately declared. The creatures of the pope, the Elector of
Brandenburg, and several ecclesiastical princes, demanded that no
regard should be paid to the safe-conduct which had been given to
Luther.[541] "The Rhine," said they, "must receive his ashes, as a
century ago it received the ashes of John Huss." Charles, if we may
believe a historian, afterwards bitterly repented that he had not
followed this dastardly counsel. "I confess," said he, towards the
close of his life, "that I committed a great fault in allowing Luther
to live. That heretic having offended a greater master than I, even
God himself, I was not obliged to keep my promise to him. I might,
nay, I ought to have forgotten my word, and avenged the insult which
he offered to God; because I did not put him to death, the heresy has
not ceased to gain strength. His death would have strangled it in the
cradle."[542]
[541] Dass Luthero das sichere Geleit nicht möchte gehalten werden.
(Seckend. p. 357.)
[542] Sandoval Hist. de Carlos V, quoted in Llorente, History of the
Inquisition, ii, p. 57. According to Llorente, the idea that Charles,
toward the close of his life, inclined to evangelical opinions, is a
mere invention of Protestants and the enemies of Philip II. This
question forms a historical problem which the numerous quotations of
Llorente appear unhappily to solve in conformity to his view.
This horrible proposition filled the Elector and all Luther's friends
with terror. "The execution of John Huss," said the Elector Palatine,
"brought too many calamities on Germany to allow such a scaffold to be
erected a second time." "The princes of Germany," exclaimed George of
Saxony, himself the irreconcilable enemy of Luther, "will not allow a
safe-conduct to be violated. This first Diet, held by our new emperor,
will not incur the guilt of an act so disgraceful. Such perfidy
accords not with old German integrity." The princes of Bavaria, also
devoted to the Church of Rome, joined in this protestation. The death
scene which Luther's friends had already before their eyes appeared to
be withdrawn.
[Sidenote: ALEANDER'S PROPOSAL NEGATIVED.]
The rumour of these debates, which lasted for two days, spread over
the town. Parties grew warm. Some gentlemen, partisans of reform,
began to speak strongly against the treachery demanded by Aleander.
"The emperor," said they, "is a young man whom the papists and bishops
lead at pleasure by their flattery."[543] Pallavicini makes mention of
four hundred nobles who were ready to maintain Luther's safe-conduct
with the sword. On Saturday morning placards were found posted up on
the houses and public places, some against Luther and others in his
favour. One of them merely contained the energetic words of
Ecclesiastes, "_Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!_"
Seckingen, it was said, had assembled at some leagues from Worms,
behind the impregnable ramparts of his fortress, a large body of
knights and soldiers, and only waited the issue of the affair that he
might know how to act. The popular enthusiasm, not only in Worms, but
also in the most distant towns of the empire,[544] the intrepidity of
the knights, the attachment of several princes to the Reformer, all
must have made Charles and the Diet comprehend that the step demanded
by the Romans might compromise the supreme authority, excite revolts,
and even shake the empire.[545] It was only a simple monk that they
proposed to burn; but the princes and partisans of Rome, taken all
together, had neither power nor courage enough to do it. Doubtless,
also, Charles V, their young emperor, had still a fear of perjury.
This would seem indicated by an expression, which, if some historians
speak true, he uttered on this occasion: "Were fidelity and good faith
banished from the whole world, they ought to find an asylum in the
hearts of princes." It is said he forgot this when on the brink of the
grave. But there were other motives which might have had their
influence on the emperor. The Florentine Vettori, a friend of Leo X
and of Machiaveli, affirms, that Charles spared Luther only that he
might keep the pope in check.[546]
[543] Eum esse puerum, qui nutu et blanditiis Papistarum et
Episcoporum trahatur quocunque velint. (Cochlœus, p. 33.)
[544] Verum etiam in longinquis Germaniæ civitatibus, motus et murmura
plebium. (Ibid., p. 33.)
[545] Es wäre ein Aufruhr dauraus worden, says Luther.
[546] "Carlo si excusò di non poter procedere piu oltre, rispetto al
salvocondotto, ma la verità fu che conoscendo che il Papa temeva molto
di questa doctrina di Luthero, lo volle tenere con questo freno."
Charles pretended that he could not go farther from regard to the
safe-conduct; but the truth was that, knowing the pope was much afraid
of this doctrine, he wished to hold him with this bridle. (Vettori,
Istoria d'Italia M.S. Biblioth. Corsini at Rome, extracted by Ranke.)
[Sidenote: THE ELECTOR'S FEARS.]
On the Saturday's sitting, the violent counsels of Aleander were
negatived. There was a feeling in favour of Luther, and a wish to save
the simple-hearted man whose confidence in God was so affecting; but
there was a wish also to save the Church. The Diet shuddered equally
at the consequences which would result from the triumph and from the
destruction of the Reformer. Proposals of conciliation were heard, and
it was suggested that a new attempt should be made with the doctor of
Wittemberg. The archbishop-elector of Mentz himself, the young and
extravagant Albert, more devout than courageous, says Pallavicini,[547]
had taken alarm on seeing the interest which the people and the
nobility showed in the Saxon monk. His chaplain, Capito, who, during
his residence at Bâle, had been intimate with the evangelical priest
of Zurich, named Zuinglius, the intrepid defender of the truth, of
whom we have already had occasion to speak, had also, doubtless,
represented to Albert the righteousness of the Reformer's cause. The
worldly archbishop had one of those returns to Christian sentiment
which his life occasionally exhibits, and agreed to go to the emperor
and ask him to allow one last attempt. But Charles flatly refused. On
Monday (22nd April) the princes met in a body to renew the
solicitations of Albert. "I will not depart from what I have decreed,"
replied the emperor. I will not commission any person to go officially
to Luther. "But," added he, to the great scandal of Aleander, "I give
this man three days to reflect; during this time any one may, as an
individual, give him suitable advice."[548] This was all that was
asked. The Reformer, thought they, elevated by the solemnity of his
public appearance, will yield in a more friendly conference, and
perhaps be saved from the abyss into which he is ready to fall.
[547] Qui pio magis animo erat quam forti. (Pallavicini, p. 118.) Who
was more of a devout than of a strong mind.
[548] Quibus privatim exhortari hominem possent. (Pallav. i, p. 119.)
The Elector of Saxony knew the contrary; accordingly he was in great
fear. "If it were in my power," wrote he next day to his brother, Duke
John, "I would be ready to support Luther. You could not believe to
what a degree I am attacked by the partisans of Rome. If I could tell
you all, you would hear very strange things.[549] They are bent on his
ruin, and however slight interest any one shows for his person, he is
immediately decried as a heretic. May God, who forsakes not the
righteous cause, bring all to a good end!" Frederick, without showing
the strong affection which he felt for the Reformer, contented himself
with not losing sight of any of his movements.
[549] Wunde hören werden. (Seckend. 365.)
It was not so with men of all ranks then in Worms. Many fearlessly
gave full vent to their sympathy. From the Friday, a crowd of princes,
counts, barons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, laics, and common
people surrounded the hotel where the Reformer lodged; they came in
and went out, and could not see enough of him.[550] He was become _the
man_ in Germany. Even those who doubted not that he was in error were
touched by the nobleness of soul which had led him to sacrifice his
life at the bidding of his conscience. With several of the personages
present at Worms, and forming the flower of the nation, Luther had
occasionally conversations full of that salt with which his sayings
were always seasoned. None left him without feeling animated with a
generous enthusiasm for the truth. George Vogler, the private
secretary of the margrave Casimir of Brandenburg, writing to a friend,
says, "What things I should have to tell you! What conversations full
of piety and kindness Luther has had with myself and others! How
winning that man is!"[551]
[550] Und konnten nicht satt werden ihn zu sehenr. (L. Op. xvii, p.
581.)
[551] Wie eine holdselige Person er ist. (Meuzel Magaz. i, p. 207.)
[Sidenote: VISIT FROM THE LANDGRAVE OF HESSE.]
One day a young prince of seventeen came prancing into the court of
the hotel: it was Philip, who had been reigning for two years in
Hesse. The young landgrave was of an active and enterprising
character, of a wisdom beyond his years, a martial spirit, and an
impetuous temper, seldom allowing himself to be guided by any ideas
but his own. Struck with Luther's addresses he wished to have a nearer
view of him. "As yet, however," says Luther, in relating his visit,
"he was not for me."[552] He dismounted, and without any other
formality, came up into the Reformer's room, and addressing him, said,
"Well, dear doctor, how goes it?" "Gracious lord," replied Luther, "I
hope it will go well." "From what I learn," resumed the landgrave
laughing, "you teach, doctor, that a wife may quit her husband, and
take another, when the former is found to be too old!" The people of
the imperial court had told this story to the landgrave. The enemies
of the truth never fail to circulate fabulous accounts of the lessons
of Christian teachers--"No, my lord," replied Luther gravely, "let
your highness not speak so, if you please." Thereupon the prince
briskly held out his hand to the doctor, shook his cordially, and
said, "Dear doctor, if you are in the right, may God assist you." On
this he left the room, again mounted his horse and rode off. This was
the first interview between these two men, who were afterwards to
stand at the head of the Reformation, and to defend it, the one with
the sword of the word, and the other with the sword of kings.
[552] War noch nicht auf meiner Seite. (L. Op. xvii, p. 589.)
It was the Archbishop of Trêves, Richard de Greifenklau, who, with
permission of Charles V, had undertaken the office of mediator.
Richard, who was on an intimate footing with the Elector of Saxony,
and a good Roman Catholic, was desirous to arrange this difficult
affair, and thereby at once do a service to his friend and to the
Church. On Monday evening, (22nd April,) just as Luther was going to
sit down to table, a messenger of the archbishop came to say, that the
prelate wished to see him the day after to-morrow (Wednesday), at six
o'clock in the morning.