THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 23 persisted in refusing to retract, and the matter was referred to Ch. 2. the Elector Archbishop of Trèves. A. D. While the controversy was pending, Dr. Eck, of the 1519. University of Ingolstadt, a man of great scholastic ingenuity and attainment, and proud in the possession of prizes from eight universities, challenged the professors of Wittemberg to a public controversy on the points at issue. He regarded the disputation with the eye of a practised fencer, and sought the means of extending his fame. Leipsic was the appointed arena, and thither resorted the noble and the learned of Saxony. debate. character of The place for the combat was a hall in the royal palace of The Duke George, cousin to the Elector Frederic, which was arranged and ornamented with great care, and which was honoured by the presence of the duke, and of the chief divines and nobles of Northern Germany. Carlstadt opened the debate, which did not excite much interest until Luther's turn came, the antagonist whom Eck was most desirous to meet, and whose rising fame he hoped to crush by a brilliant victory. Ranke thus describes Luther's person at this time: Ranke's "He was of the middle size, and so thin as to be mere skin and bone. He possessed neither the thundering voice, nor Luther. the ready memory, nor the skill and dexterity of his distinguished antagonist. But he stood in the prime of manhood and in the fulness of his strength. His voice was melodious and clear; he was perfectly versed in the Bible, and its aptest sentences presented themselves unbidden to his mind; above all, he inspired an irresistible conviction that he sought the truth. He was always cheerful at home, and a joyous, jocose companion at table: even on this grave occasion, he ascended the platform with a nosegay in his hand; but, when there, he displayed intrepid and self-forgetting earnestness, arising from the depth of a conviction until now unfathomed, even by himself. He drew forth new thoughts, and placed them in the fire of the battle, with a determination that knew no fear and no personal regard. His features bore 24 PRINCIPLES OF THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. Ch. 2. traces of the storms that had passed over his soul, and of the A. D. courage with which he was prepared to encounter those 1519. which yet awaited him. His whole aspect evinced profound teroftl.e thought, joyousness of temper, and confidence in the future. Charac- The battle immediately commenced on the question of the debate, authority of the papacy, which, at once intelligible and important, riveted universal attention." Eck, with great erudition and masterly logic, supported the claim of the Pope, from the decrees of councils, the opinions of scholastics, and even from those celebrated words of Christ to Peter-" Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church." Luther took higher and bolder ground, denied the infallibility of councils, and appealed to Scripture as the ultimate authority. Eck had probably the advantage over his antagonist, so far as dialectics were concerned, being a more able disputant; but Luther set at defiance mere scholastic logic, and appealed to an authority which dialectics could not reach. The victory was claimed by both parties; but the result was, that Luther no longer acknowledged the authority of the Roman church, and admitted none but that of the Scriptures. Autho the tures. This Leipsic disputation was the grand intellectual contest rity of of the Reformation, and developed its second great idea-the Scrip- only principle around which all sects and parties of the Protestants rally,-viz., that the Scriptures are the only ultimate grounds of authority in religion, and that, moreover, every man has a right to interpret them for himself. Different sects have different views respecting justification, but all profess to trace them to the Scriptures. of Critical Luther's position was now critical. He was in the situaposition tion of Huss and Jerome, and other reformers, who had Luther. been destroyed, with scarcely an exception. He was brought in direct conflict with the Pope, with the great dignitaries of the church, with the universities, and with the whole scholastic literature. He had to expect the violent opposition and vengeance of the Pope, of the monks, of the great ecclesiastical dignitaries, of the most distinguished scholars, and of those LUTHER'S ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS. 25 A. D. secular princes who were friendly to Rome. He had none to Ch. 2. protect him but a prince of the empire, powerful indeed, and wise, but old and wavering. There were but few to uphold 1519. and defend him. The worldly-minded, the learned, the powerful, were generally his enemies. But he had reason and Scripture on his side, and he appealed to their great and final verdict. cir- His fit ness for was his his work. He was indeed singularly fitted, both by nature and cumstances, for the position of a popular leader. He master of the sympathies and passions of the people; father was a toiling miner; his grandfather was a peasant; he had been trained to penury; he had associated with the poor; he was a man of the people; he was their natural friend. He saw and lamented their burdens, and rose up for their deliverance. And the people distinguished their true friend from their false friends. They saw the sincerity, earnestness, and labours of the new apostle of liberty, and believed in him, and made an idol of him. They would assist him, honour him, obey him, and believe what he taught them, for he was their protector, whom God had raised up to take off their burdens, and point a way to heaven, without the intercession of priests, or indulgences, or penance. excom The Pope, hitherto mild, persuasive, and undecided, now Papa. arose in anger, and, as the successor of St. Peter, hurled those muniweapons which had been thunderbolts in the hands of the cation. Gregories and the Innocents. From his papal throne, and with all the solemnity of God's appointed vicegerent, he denounced the daring monk of Wittemberg, and sentenced him to the wrath of God, and to the penalty of eternal fire. Luther was excommunicated by a papal bull, and his writings were condemned as heretical and damnable. terrors. This was a dreadful sentence. Few had ever resisted it Its successfully. Excommunication was still a fearful weapon, and wielded only in desperate circumstances. It was the last resort, for frequency would destroy its power. In the Middle Ages this weapon was omnipotent; and the Middle Ages had 26 EXCOMMUNICATION OF LUTHER. A. D. Ch. 2. but just passed away. No one could stand before that awful anathema, which consigned him to the wrath of incensed and 1520. implacable Deity. Much as some professed to despise the sentence, it could not be borne even by a monarch, without fear and trembling, especially if accompanied with an interdict. Children were then left unburied. The churches were closed. The rites of religion were suspended. A funereal shade was spread over society. Fears of hell haunted every imagination. No reason was strong enough to resist the sentence. No arm was sufficiently powerful to remove the curse. It hung over a guilty land, and doomed the unhappy offender wherever he went, and in whatever work he was engaged, Luther's But Luther was strong enough to resist it, and to despise intre- it. He saw it was an imposition, which only barbarous and pidity. ignorant ages had permitted. Moreover, he perceived that Burning of the papal bull. there was now no alternative but victory or death; that in the great contest in which he was engaged retreat was infamy. Nor did he wish to retreat. He was fighting for oppressed humanity, and death in such a cause was glory. He understood fully the nature and the consequences of the struggle. He perceived the greatness of the odds against him, in a worldly point of view. No man but a Luther would have been equal to it, for no man before him had ever successfully rebelled against the Pope. It is only in view of this circumstance that his intrepidity can be appreciated. What did the Saxon monk do, when the papal bull was published? He assembled the professors and students of the university, solemnly protested against the Pope as antichrist, and marched in procession to the gates of the Castle of Wittemberg, where he cast into a bonfire the bull which condemned him, the canon law, and some writings of the schoolmen, and then re-entered the city, breathing defiance against the whole power of the Pope, conscious that a battle had commenced, which would last as long as life, yet perfectly secure that the victory would finally be on the side of truth. This was on the 10th of December, 1520. THE DIET OF WORMS. 27 The attention of the whole nation was necessarily drawn to Ch. 2. this open resistance, and the sympathy of multitudes was A. D. expressed for him. The spirit of innovation became con- 1521. tagious, and pervaded the German mind. It demanded the serious attention of the Emperor himself. Worms. A great diet of the empire was convened at Worms, and Diet of thither Luther was summoned by the temporal power. He had a safe conduct, which even so powerful a prince as Charles V. durst not violate. In April, 1521, the reformer appeared before the collected dignitaries of the German empire, both spiritual and temporal, and was called upon to recant his opinions as heretical in the eyes of the church, and dangerous to the peace of the empire. Before the most august assembly in the world, without a trace of embarrassment, he made his defence, and refused to recant. "Unless," said he, "" This declaration satisfied his friends, though it did not sonment About this time commenced his friendly imprisonment at ImpriWartburg, among the Thuringian forests; he being probably at Wartconducted thither by the orders of the Elector of Saxony. burg. Here he was out of sight, but not out of mind; and his retirement, under the disguise of a knight, gave him leisure |