On the banks of the river Saal, in Merseburg, forming part of Saxony, at
the time of which we speak, governed by the aged and excellent Elector
Frederick, stood the Castle of Lindburg. It was one of those feudal
piles of the Middle Ages, impregnable to the engines of ancient warfare,
but which were destined to crumble before the iron shots with which
cannon assailed them, as the system they represented was compelled to
succumb to the light of that truth which the Gospel was then diffusing
over the greater part of Europe.
Ulrich, Count von Lindburg, or the Knight of Lindburg, as he was often
called, sat in a room in his Castle, with his arm resting on a table and
a book before him, at which, however, his eyes seldom glanced; his looks
were thoughtful and full of care. He had engaged in much hard fighting
in his younger days, and now all he wished for was rest and quiet,
though the state of the times gave him but little hope of enjoying them.
In his own mind, too, he was troubled about many things. Four years
before the time at which he is introduced to the reader, he had visited
Worms, during the time the Diet, summoned by the Emperor Charles the
Fifth, was sitting, and was among those who found their way into the
great hall where the Emperor and the chief princes, bishops, and nobles
of the land were sitting, when Dr Martin Luther, replied to the
chancellor of Treves, the orator of the Diet, who demanded whether he
would retract the opinions put forth in numerous books he had published
and sermons he had preached.
"Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from
me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is
this: I cannot submit my fate either to the Pope or to the councils,
because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and
contradicted each other. Unless, therefore, I am convinced by the
testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am
persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus
render my conscience bound by the Word of God, _I cannot and will not
retract_, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his
conscience." And then, looking round on that assembly before which he
stood, and which held his life in its hands, he said, "HERE I STAND, I
CAN DO NO OTHER. MAY GOD HELP ME! AMEN!"
The assembly were thunderstruck. Many of the princes found it difficult
to conceal their admiration; even the emperor exclaimed, "This monk
speaks with an intrepid heart and unshaken courage." Truly he did.
This is the weakness of God, which is stronger than man. God had
brought together these kings and these prelates publicly to confound
their wisdom. These bold words had had also a deep effect on the Knight
of Lindburg, and he kept meditating on them as he rode homeward towards
the north. Could it, then, be possible that the lowly monk--the
peasant's son--should be right, and all those great persons, who wished
to condemn him, wrong? Was that faith, in which he himself had been
brought up, not the true one? Was there a purer and a better? He must
consult Father Nicholas Keller, his confessor, and hear what he had to
say on the subject. The Knight carried out his intention. Father
Nicholas was puzzled; scarcely knew what answer to make. It was a
dreadful thing to differ with the Church--to rebel against the Pope.
Dr Martin was a learned man, but he opined that he was following too
closely in the steps of John Huss, and the Knight, his patron, knew that
they led to the stake. He had no wish that any one under his spiritual
charge should go there. As to the Scriptures, he had read but very
small portions of them, and he could not tell how far Dr Martin's
opinions were formed from them. The Knight was not satisfied. He asked
Father Nicholas to explain what was the Church, and if it was not
founded on the Scriptures, on what was it founded? Father Nicholas
replied that it was founded on Peter, and that the popes were Peter's
successors, and that therefore the Church was founded on the Pope. The
Knight remarked that from what he had heard of Peter he must have been a
very different sort of person to Leo the Tenth, and he asked what we
knew about Peter, and indeed the other apostles, except through the
Scriptures? Father Nicholas, shaking his head at so preposterous a
question, replied, "Through tradition." The Knight asked, "What is
tradition?" Father Nicholas hesitated--coughed--hemmed--and then said,
"My son, tradition--is tradition! And now let us change the subject, it
is becoming dangerous."
The Knight was not yet satisfied, and he determined to look more
particularly into the matter. When, therefore, his son Eric came home,
and expressed a strong desire to migrate to Wittemburg, that he might
pursue his studies under the learned professors of that University, Drs.
Martin Luther, Melancthon, Jerome Schurff, Jonas Armsdorff, Augustin
Schurff, and others, he made no objection. Dame Margaret, his wife,
however, and Father Nicholas, loudly protested against Eric's going
among such a nest of heretics.
"He will be perverted," they exclaimed; "he will share the fate of
Huss."
"I have promised him that he shall have his will, and perhaps he will be
able to come back and tell us the meaning of tradition," answered the
Knight, with a peculiar look at Father Nicholas. "There are, besides,
two or three other things about which I want him to gain information for
me."
Dame Margaret knew from experience that when the knight, who was an old
soldier and wont to rule in his own house, said a thing, he meant it.
She therefore held her peace, and it was finally arranged that Eric
should forthwith set off for Wittemburg.
Dame Margaret was a very well-meaning woman. She could not prevent her
son from going to the heretical University, but she hoped by her
admonitions and warnings that she might prevent him from imbibing the
dangerous principles which she understood were taught there. She
consulted Father Nicholas on the subject; indeed she never failed to
consult him on all subjects, temporal as well as spiritual, connected
with her family, so that the father had a good deal of influence in the
household. He did not give her any great hopes of success.
"With all respect be it spoken of a son of yours, Eric has ever been
obstinate and dull-headed, and turned a deaf ear to all my ghostly
counsels and exhortations. Very like his father, the knight, I regret
to say," he observed; "however, there can be no harm in warning him.
Tell him all I have told you about that heresiarch, Dr Martin, and if
he believes what you say, you may thus have the happiness of
counteracting the effects of the evil and abominable instructions he
will receive."
This was a bright idea. Father Nicholas had been accustomed to say a
good many hard things of Dr Luther and his friends. The plan must
succeed. While, like a good mother as she really wished to be, Dame
Margaret was preparing Eric's shirts and hosen, a new cloak, and other
things for his journey, she sent for her son that she might talk to him.
She was alone; Eric kissed her hand affectionately, as he entered, and
stood respectfully before her--
"You are going away for a long period from your father and me, and from
our esteemed Father Nicholas, and you will be exposed to countless
perils and dangers, my son," she began. "You have a desire to go among
those people, holding new-fangled doctrines, for the sake of the novelty
and excitement; that is but natural, so I scarcely blame you; but
beware, my son, this Dr Martin himself is, I hear, a wild, unstable
character, a roisterer and wine-bibber, who desires to overthrow our
holy Father, the Pope, for the sake of ruling, by his wicked
incantations and devices, in his stead."
"Others speak very differently of him, my mother," answered Eric,
humbly; "but I shall know more about him when I have been to Wittemburg
and heard what he and his friends have to say for themselves."
"Alas, it may be too late when you once get into his toils," sighed Dame
Margaret. "They say that he has a compact with the Evil One, and he it
is who gives him the wonderful power he possesses over men's minds and
makes them oppose our Father, the Pope, and our holy mother Church."
"I have not heard that Dr Martin Luther has been guilty of any deeds
such as those in which the Evil One especially takes delight, and we
must judge of people by the works they perform," answered Eric, in the
gentle tone which his affectionate respect for his mother induced him to
employ. "I know that Dr Martin is a learned man; he desires to
introduce learning and a pure literature into our fatherland, and he is
moreover an earnest seeker after the truth, and has sincerely at heart
the eternal interests of his fellow-men. He is bold and brave because
he believes his cause to be righteous and favoured by God. That is the
account I have heard of him; I shall know whether it is the true one
when I get to Wittemburg."
"They say that he preaches that the convents should be thrown open, and
the priests allowed to marry, because he himself wants to take a wife.
They say that the motives for all he does are very evident," continued
Dame Margaret, not listening to her son's remark.
"I should have thought that had he been plotting from the first to
oppose the power of the Pope for the sake of marrying he would have
taken a wife long ago. There has been nothing to hinder him. Certainly
not many `pfaffen' would have been so scrupulous. He himself has
remained single, and is a man, several of my friends who know him assure
me, singularly abstemious; often he goes a whole day or more without
food, and his usual meals are of the simplest kind. It is true that
when he mixes with his fellow-men his heart expands and he does not
refuse the wine cup or the generous food placed before him. His is no
churlish spirit to turn away from the good things kind Heaven has
provided for man. God sends us trials, but He intends us to enjoy what
He has in His loving mercy given us in this world, and never throws
temptations to sin in our way, as some foolish teachers would make us
believe. But as to Dr Martin's mode of life, I shall be able to tell
you more about it when I have been to Wittemburg."
Dame Margaret sighed deeply, she had not yet quite said her say, that
is, what Father Nicholas had told her to say. "My son," she continued,
"I am informed that evil people are saying many wrong things against our
Holy Father, the Pope; that he has no business to call himself head of
the Christian Church; that he is an extravagant, worldly man; that many
predecessors have been as bad as bad could be. Indeed I cannot repeat
all the dreadful things said of him."
"But suppose, dear mother, that all the things said of him are true;
suppose that Saint Peter never was at Rome, that he did not found a
Church there, and was never Bishop of Rome; that designing men, for
their own ambitious ends, have assumed that he was, and pretended to be
his successors, and finally, finding the success of their first fraud,
have claimed the right of ruling over the whole Christian world. But,
however, when I go to Wittemburg I shall better know the truth of these
things, and if they are calumnies, learn how to refute them."
"Oh! my son! my son! how can you even venture to utter such dreadful
heresies?" shrieked Dame Margaret, even before Eric had finished
speaking; then, hearing his last words, she added, "Of course they are
calumnies; of course you will refute them, and you will come back here,
after you have completed your studies, and be the brave opponent of this
Dr Martin and all his schismatic crew. But, my son, one of my chief
objects in sending for you was to bestow on you a most invaluable relic,
which will prove a sure and certain charm against all the dangers, more
especially the spiritual ones, by which you may be surrounded. Neither
Dr Martin nor even the Spirit of Evil himself will be able to prevail
against you if you firmly trust to it, Father Nicholas assures me; for
it contains not only a bit of the true cross, but a part of one of Saint
Peter's fishing-hooks, and a portion of the thumb-nail of Saint James.
Let me put it round your neck, my son, and thus armed I shall, with
confidence, see you go forth to combat with the world, the flesh and the
devil."
Dame Margaret spoke seriously; she was merely giving expression to the
common belief in relics entertained, not only by ignorant peasants but
by the highest nobility and the great mass of the population, a belief
encouraged by the priests, who thus secured a sure market for their own
manufactures. The excellent Elector Frederick, who became one of the
great champions of the Reformation, had a short time before employed
several dignitaries of the Church to collect relics for him, and had
purchased a considerable number for very large sums. In the war between
France and Spain, every Spanish soldier who was killed or taken prisoner
was found to have a relic round his neck with a certificate from the
priest who had sold it, that it would render his body invulnerable to
the bullets or swords of the enemy. There is a very considerable sale
of such articles, even to the present day, in Roman Catholic countries.
Eric was therefore well aware of the value his mother would attach to
the one she desired to bestow on him, yet he had already imbibed too
large a portion of truth from the writings of Dr Luther and others, and
the portions of Scripture he had read, not to look on the imposition
with the contempt it deserved; still he was too dutiful a son to treat
his mother's offer with disrespect. He thought a minute or more, and
then replied slowly--
"I will not take your relic, mother, for I am already provided with a
protection which will be sufficient for all the dangers I am likely to
encounter. I will say nothing now as to the relic. When I have been to
Wittemburg I may be able to tell you something more of its actual
value."
Nothing that Dame Margaret could say would induce him to take the
article. On repeating the conversation with her son to Father Nicholas,
she expressed a hope that Eric was not possessed of an evil spirit,
which had induced him so pertinaciously to refuse the proffered gift.
Father Nicholas bit his lip, frowned, said he could not say, it might
possibly be an embryo one, such as had clearly entered into Dr Martin
and many other persons at that time. It would certainly be safe to
exorcise him, but the difficulty would be to get so obstinate a young
man as Eric to submit to the operation. He would think about it, and
try and devise some means by which the ceremony might be performed
without the patient having the power to resist.
This promise afforded a considerable amount of comfort to Dame Margaret,
who had felt very uneasy ever since the idea had seized her, for she
could not otherwise account for her son's refusing so inestimable a
gift.
The last night Eric slept at home he had a dream, at least he was not
quite certain whether he was awake or dreaming. He opened his eyes and
saw a light in the room, and his mother and Father Nicholas, and his
sister Laneta, and his father's old henchman, Hans Bosch, who had often
carried him in his arms, when he was a child, and still looked on him in
the light of one, standing round his bed. His mother held a basin, and
Hans a book, and the priest a censer, which he was swinging to and fro,
and muttering words, in very doggerel Latin, while ever and anon, he
sprinkled him with water from the basin. What Laneta was about, he
could not exactly make out, but he thought that she had a box in her
hands, which she held open. Had he not been very sleepy and tired he
would have jumped up and ascertained whether what he saw was a vision or
a reality; but, shutting his eyes, he went off soundly to sleep again,
and sometime afterwards, when he awoke, the room was in darkness and he
was alone.
His mother, the next morning, regarded him with much more contented
looks than her countenance had worn for the last day or two.
It may as well be here mentioned that Eric discovered during his journey
the precious relic, which he had declined taking, fastened into the
collar of his cloak. He sighed and said to himself--
"Then, poor mother, let it be; should I take it out and should any
misfortune happen to me she will say it was for want of the relic; if it
remains and I receive damage I may the better prove to her the
worthlessness of the thing. No wonder the sheep go astray when they
have so ignorant a pastor as Father Nicholas."