[281] The proclamation of the _Interim_ plunged Germany into a state
of extraordinary confusion. Some towns were so bold as to present
remonstrances to the Emperor, and protested against an arbitrary
edict, which reprobated alike the partisans of the ancient worship
and those of the new. But their voice was not heard, and the
greater number of the towns submitted. There were even theologians
compliant enough to legitimize this submission. Of this number
was Melanchthon, who, by his virtues and his knowledge, deserved
the first rank among the Reformed doctors, but who, deprived now
of the manly exhortations of Luther, and led away by an excessive
love of peace, and by the natural weakness of his character, was
making concessions which cannot be justified. Led by his example,
and seduced by the artifices of the Elector Maurice, the Assembly
of Leipsic declared that in matters purely _indifferent_ we ought
to obey the orders of our lawful superiors,--a dangerous principle,
which applied to ceremonies, and led to the revival of the grossest
and most pernicious errors of the Romish Church. Melanchthon
himself wrote a great number of the letters of Αδιάφορος
[indifferent], in support of this doctrine, and his weakness
drew down upon him the most violent reproaches from the zealous
Lutherans, who accused him of being an accomplice of the enemies of
the Gospel.--Sleidan, book xxii.; Robertson, book x. Moved by this
sad news, Calvin did not hesitate to blame Melanchthon in a letter
addressed to him, in which respect and affection are joined to a
just severity.
Controversies excited in Germany by the establishment of _the
Interim_--Brotherly reproofs.
[_18th June 1550._]