to all his predecessors, that of aggrandizing the holy see. He took, therefore, the utmost care that nothing should be transacted in the council of the Lateran, which Julius left sitting, that had the remotest tendency to the reformation of the church. He went indeed still farther, and in a conference with Francis I. king of France, at Bologna, engaged that monarch to abrogate the Pragmatic Sanction, and to substitute another body of laws, under the title of the Concordate, which was received by his subjects with the utmost indignation and reluctance.

To those who are acquainted with the entire influence of superstition over the minds which it once pervades, and the ingenious policy of interested priests in supporting and propagating it; the overthrow of the papal hierarchy, and the establishment of principles of the most contrary genius, effected without the intervention of external volence, must appear to be the result of a presiding Providence, which frequently illustrates its potent energy, by accomplishing events the most important, by the agency of means the most apparently inadequate. So degraded, indeed, was christianity at this period, that, though the reformers pretended to no miraculous assistance, it is evident that the same hand which first planted christianity,

superintended the reformed faith from its early rise to its perfect maturity,

Immense as were the revenues of the pontificate, the prodigality, luxury, and magnificence of Leo, exhausted the coffers of the church. Money being indispensable to the voluptuous state and splendid projects of the pontiff, recourse was had to the never-failing expedient of a sale of indulgences, or remittances from the pains of purgatory.* The right of promulgating these indulgences in Germany, as well as a share of the profits arising from them, was granted to Albert, archbishop of Magdeburg, who employed a Dominican, of the name of John Tetzel, to proclaim in Germany the remission of all sins, past, present, and to come,

* "According to the doctrine of the Romish church, all the good works of the Saints, over and above those which were necessary towards their own justification, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury. The keys of this were committed to Saint Peter, and to his successors the popes, who may open it at pleasure, and by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person, for a sum of money, may con vey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one in whose happiness he is interested, from the pains: of purgatory. Julius II, had bestowed indulgences on all who contributed towards building the church of St. Peter, at Rome; and as Leo was carrying on that magnificent and ex-pensive fabric, his grant was founded on the same pretence.”

See Robertson's Hist, of Charles V. vol. ii. p. 106.

to those who were rich enough to purchase those famous privileges. privileges. Assisted by the monks of his order, Tetzel executed his commission with more zeal than discretion; though by disposing of the indulgences at a low price, they carried on a lucrative trade amongst those who possessed more money than understanding. The princes and nobles felt indignant at this method of draining the wealth of their vassals, in order to replenish the treasury of an extravagant pontiff. Even the common people were shocked at the behaviour of Tetzel and his associates, who consumed in drunkenness and debauchery, those sums which ignorance had appropriated to the purchase of eternal happiness.

An obscure monk at Wittemberg, disgusted with the pretensions and conduct of Tetzel, formed the resolution of checking his career. Martin Luther, a name for ever to be revered by every protestant, challenged Tetzel in ninetyfive propositions, to defend himself and his pontifical employers, whom he censured as accomplices in these impositions on the people. Tetzel appeared immediately in the field, and attempted to refute Luther's propositions in two academical discourses, which he delivered on occasion of his promotion to the degree of doctor in divinity.

Leo X. who at first beheld this controversy with indifference, was at length roused by the Emperor Maximilian I. who informed him what fatal divisions it was likely to produce in Germany. Acting upon this information, he summoned Luther to appear before him at Rome, and there to plead the cause which he had undertaken to support. This summons, the effects of which, had it been complied with, it is not difficult to calculate, was superseded by the cautious policy of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who asserted that the cause of Luther belonged to a German tribunal, and ought to be decided by the ecclesiastical laws of the empire. The pontiff, in compliance with the wishes of Frederick, ordered Luther to justify his conduct before Cardinal Cajetan, his legate, at the Diet of Augsburg. A more imprudent step could not have been taken by the court of Rome, as Cajetan being a Dominican, and the friend of Tetzel, was of all others the most unlikely to bring the controversy to a favourable issue.

Luther, however, obedient to the pontiff's summons, repaired to Augsburg, where he had three interviews with the legate, who assumed so high a tone as to produce in the mind and conduct of the reformer, only disgust and indignation. Under the influence of these feel

ings, Luther departed suddenly from Augsburg, having appealed from the present decisions of the pontiff, to those which he should form when better instructed.

Mortified by the total failure of Cajetan's commission, Leo appointed a new legate. This person was Charles Miltitz, a Saxon knight belonging to his court. Eminent for prudence, penetration, and address, he was admirably qualified for the management of so critical a commission. With the intention of securing the influence of Frederick, Leo dispatched Miltitz into Saxony with the golden consecrated rose, (the highest mark of distinction which the pontiffs were used to bestow upon their favourite princes,) and instructed him to compose the differences between Luther and Tetzel, and to effect a reconciliation between him and the court of Rome. The legate in his first conference with Luther, succeeded so far as to persuade him to write a submissive letter to Leo, in which he promised to observe a profound silence with reference to the subjects in debate, on the condition that the same obligation should be imposed upon his adversaries. A second conference took place in the castle of Liebenwerd, and a third the year following, at Lichtenberg. From the moderation which prevailed on these occasions, great hopes were