by persecution. This was a course which, it was possible, might occasion detriment to the government of His Majesty, their young Emperor; yet he did not hazard this remark by way of counsel or warning to his noble auditory; they would be fully as sensible as himself, and even more so, of what the emergency required. He had made it out of regard for the German people, and his beloved country; and he intreated his Majesty, and their princely highnesses, most humbly, that it might not be permitted to his antagonists to proceed against him without shewing due cause.

These were the principal topics advanced in a long address, which Luther delivered with much modesty and warmth of feeling. Von Eck, however, observed in reply, that his speech had not addressed itself to the point in question, and that he had not been called upon to meddle with things which had long since been set at rest by the fathers of the church and the councils. All that was required of him was to state broadly whether he were willing or not to revoke and recant what he had written?

To this Luther answered:- "Be it so! since it is the desire of his Imperial Majesty, I will repeat my reply, and in few words. I dare not trust to the Pope, nor to the councils, inasmuch as it is notorious, that both have ofttimes erred and been at variance with each other. So long, therefore, as I am not convicted, by the evidence of Scripture, and upon clear grounds, that I have maintained erroneous doctrines, and falsely interpreted those passages in the Bible, which I have invoked, so long I neither can nor will recal one word of what I have advanced. For no upright man will trample upon his own conscience. Here I take my stand; nor can I deal otherwise. Be God my help. Amen."

the

For the Emperor's sake-he being a native of Flanders, and therefore little conversant with the German tongue-as well as for the information of the foreigners there present, Luther was requested to repeat his answer in Latin. This done, and a discussion among leading persons at the sitting having ensued upon it, Von Eck again came forward, and endeavoured to prevail upon him to recede from the decisive declaration he had made; representing to him with special force, that it could lead to no good, to renew a controversy respecting matters which had been discussed and decided centuries back; and asking him what would be the fate of Christianity, if every individual were permitted to advance his own views of religion before the public, and require them to be impugned out of Holy Writ? His Imperial Majesty, therefore, afforded him once more the opportunity of saying yea or nay, or in other words, asked him whether he would or would not recant his errors?

At any other time, Luther would have been anxious to meet the charge, which the official's comment had insinuated; but he probably felt that such a controversy would have been ill-timed and out of season, and was evidently overcome by the oppressive heat of the assembly, and the exertions attendant upon an address, which it had taken him two hours to deliver. He confined himself, therefore, to requesting, that he might not be pressed further on the subject, as he adhered immutably to the reply he had given.

VOL. XII. NO. X.

4 N

Here the inquiry terminated, and Luther was allowed to depart. But there was much commotion both in the council and out of doors, and the knights and burgesses evinced a deep interest in behalf of one, who had borne himself with such unflinching resolution. When it was reported that he was to be arrested and sent away, a universal uproar ensued, and a crowd of noblemen rushed to the spot, in order to ascertain that no personal dangers beset him.

The venerable and enlightened Elector of Saxony was not the only prince who was delighted with his conduct; some, to whom the lettered page was a mystery, and others, who were known only by their military achievements, and had shown no sort of concern in what they held to be a mere theological skirmish, openly expressed the feeling of admiration which the monk's manly deportment had extorted from them. Erich, the brave Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg, sent him a silver can of Eimbeck beer, to which Luther did ample justice, for he needed its refreshing draught; and as he raised it to his lips, he exclaimed, "For this remembrance of me, on Duke Erich's part, may God the Saviour remember him in his dying moments!"

He was visited the following day by several eminent personages, and amongst others, by the young Landgrave of Hesse, who pressed him fervently by the hand, saying, "If right be on your side, Doctor, God prosper you." The hostility of many of the leading clergy, also, seemed to have undergone a change in his favour; minds such as those which characterized Stadion, the venerable Bishop of Augsburg, Hermann, Elector of Cologne, Richard of Treves, and Albert of Mayence, were not of a mould to resist the influence of his eloquent reasonings at every point. Indeed, so far as we are informed, Joachim of Brandenburg was the only electoral prince who insisted upon the application of violent measures, and urged the withholding of a safeconduct as the means of extorting a recantation. But in this he was vehemently opposed by George of Saxony, and other princes, who were hostile, however, to the Lutheran heresy. "The olden integrity of German hearts," said he, "demands, that we should keep our word with him." In spite, therefore, of the papal nuncio, it was resolved by the Emperor's council, that the promised safe-conduct should be granted, although it was signified to the states, that after its period had expired, proceedings would be taken against Dr. Luther, as an open heretic, as well as against his heretical doctrines; and for this reason that he dared to believe all Christians had hitherto lived in error, and had obstinately persisted in this belief.

The eight succeeding days were spent in debating upon the imperial message, and in attempts, on the part of several minor princes and scholars, to effect a change in Luther's opinions. But their endeavours proved of no avail; and he met the repeated exhortations of the Elector of Treves, and Doctors Vebus, Peutinger, and others, by replying, "That he did not set himself against the Pope or the Church, where they acted in accordance with the Scriptures; but that he would, neither then nor thereafter, forsake the Divine word, or submit to a general council, unless it were expressly understood that he should be judged by the declarations of holy writ." The Elector then enquiring of him, with earnestness, in what way the

contest could be set at rest, Luther observed, "I am unable to say; may be, Gamaliel's saying shall come to pass; for if this work be of men, it will come to nought, but, if it be of God, no man shall overthrow it." Thus ended the last discoursings with the reformer. Three hours afterwards, Von Eck and the Emperor's secretary brought him orders to leave Worms; and having promised that he should enjoy full personal security for the ensuing three weeks, they warned him against fermenting the minds of the people, either by his pen or by word of mouth, on his way back.

In the forenoon of the 26th of April, which was the tenth day after his arrival, Luther took his departure with those who had accompanied him from Wittenberg. When he reached Friedberg, in the Wetter-au, he dismissed the herald, under whose protection he had travelled; and, confiding his safety to the honour of the Hessian sovereign, had journeyed as far as the district of Salzungen, in the environs of the forest of Thuringia, when violent hands were suddenly laid upon him, by Hund of Altenstein, and John of Berlepsch, two knights in disguise, who hurried him away to the Wartburg, where he was concealed for ten months under the assumed name of Younker George. This was the undoubted act of the Elector Frederic, who was urged to it by finding that, after Luther's departure, the opinions of those possessed of most influence, gradually became more unfavourable to his cause. On the 5th of May, this prince wrote to John, his brother, who had quitted Worms, in the following terms. "This is the state of Martin's business: he is devoted to days of misery, and there is no help for it; albeit the end is in God's hands. When I am again at your side, I will tell you strange and wonderful things."

The disputation which had taken place was not a matter susceptible of being set at rest by any general decision of the diet; for which reason, the Elector Frederic and other princes, who were favourably disposed towards the Reformation, as well as the greater portion of the deputies, left Worms in the following week, and the consequence was, that, on the 23d of May, the earlier proposition, which outlawed and excommunicated Luther, in common with all his adherents, his protectors, and his publications, was on that day launched against him, in the form of an imperial edict. Such was the termination of this memorable diet, which had sat for four months; a termination no way calculated to allay the general ferment which existed.

The edict neither resolved, nor pretended to resolve, a single point of the momentous questions which agitated men's minds; even those yearnings for a clearer light in matters of conscience, which had been most vehemently urged, were left unsatisfied; nor was there, in all probability, one single member of the diet who returned home with a consciousness, that the general welfare had, in any one respect, been promoted by its proceedings. A single individual, the papal nuncio, may, however, have congratulated himself on having attained his ends to a certain extent, and succeeded in warding off the danger for an indefinite period: but there were numbers, by whom a far deeper and juster view of the future was taken, and, amongst others, Valdesius, the Spanish jurisconsult, an attendant in the Emperor's suite; who thus writes to his learned friend, Peter Martyr d'Anghiera :

-"I have now brought you acquainted with this tragedy, and many would say, with its close; but I feel convinced in my own mind, that we have but seen the first act; for the Germans are in a state of great exasperation against the Roman See.

He was a true prophet. The act of the diet of Worms paved the way for a long series of events, pregnant with the varied misery and excesses which are incidental to a state of religious warfare. The torch that had been kindled, did not begin to grow dim until after the treaty of Westphalia.

THE PALACE OF THE GREAT KING.

AN ALLEGORY.

A WISE and munificent sovereign possessed a palace of exceedingly capacious dimensions, and of most singular construction. The founder of the dynasty had ordered it to be erected on this extensive scale, that it might afford accommodation to every individual whom he should call to his councils and employ upon the administration of his affairs. The style of the building was in some respects uncommon, and by no means harmonized with the recognized laws of architecture; but its arrangement was replete with convenience, and its aspect was to the last degree imposing, because its general features combined grandeur with simplicity. Ages had wrought no injury to its foundations, nor had the corrosion of time ever required that it should undergo reparation.

Connoisseurs condemned its façade, because their eyes were offended by a want of harmony in the character of the windows, and they sneered at the multiplicity of entrances, which led from every quarter into the interior of the palace; yet they were astonished at the brilliancy of light which pervaded its several apartments, though many of them appeared to be destitute of windows. It had occurred to few of them to raise their eyes; otherwise they would have discovered, that the light descended from above into all the noblest chambers. Some would have preferred, that a single portal should have been given to each side of the building; they lost sight of the facilities of ingress, which its numerous entrances afforded, where it was an object that those, occupied in its master's service, should lose no time in finding their way to their posts. Other critics derided the bad taste which the architect had shown in the internal arrangements, though they had but cursorily surveyed them. But in no one instance were these wise men agreed upon the plan, according to which it ought originally to have been constructed.

A number of these would-be reformers conceived, that their differences would be readily reconciled by consulting certain ancient deeds, which contained the elevations laid down by the architect, who had directed the building of this mansion. But, when they had carefully pondered over these records, the discordancy of their opinions became more virulent than ever; for there were certain words and

signs underneath the several designs, which the architect had inserted with a view to illustrate them. Now these words appertained to a language, with which none of them were acquainted, and the signs were such as they were incapable of deciphering.

From this moment, every individual conceived himself justified in assigning to them whatever interpretation suited his fancy; and the whole throng employed their leisure in severally forming new plans, which they gave out as being exact copies of the original. Indeed, each brought forward his own hypothesis with so much enthusiasm, that he boldly affirmed it conveyed the real meaning of the original builder, and, where he had the means, he compelled others also to affirm, by oath, that it was so. There existed, however, certain lovers of concord, who were anxious to allay the dissensions, which had spread imperceptibly, even amongst those who least understood the matter in dispute. The language they held was to this, or a similar effect: "Of what concern are your fancies to us, and to what good end can they lead? Are we not, all of us, conscious, that this palace is the seat of a wisdom beyond compare? Order, and prosperity, and paternal institutions, are the emanations which issue from beneath the roof of our adored sovereign. Let bickering be the task of the indolent." And yet, because these friends to the peace of society considered, that neither party were right in their conjectures, they were denounced as harbouring a design to commit the palace to the flames. Their sovereign, on the other hand, finding them to be persons of talent and capacity, turned a deaf ear to the calumnies which the malevolent spread abroad, and intrusted them with public appointments.

One night, the sentry having raised a cry of "fire!" the inmates of the royal residence woke up in trepidation and hastily quitted their apartments. But, instead of proffering assistance, they rushed in quest of their plans and elevations, and forthwith made their escape; exclaiming, "It matters little that the palace should be brought to the ground, provided our plans are safe.'

Nothing could surpass the tumult which prevailed in the public streets. Groups of men collected here and there: you might see one individual with his sketch, pointing out the exact spot where the fire had begun; and another showing the quarter, according to his own design, where the engines ought to be stationed; whilst a third was contradicting the opinion advanced by the first speaker; not a mouth but was crying and arguing, as if its owner had been ignorant, that, in the interval, the conflagration might be reducing the most important edifice in the kingdom to a pile of ashes. Of a truth, such a fate would have befallen it, had it really taken fire; but it fortunately proved, that the sentry, being a man of weak nerves, had mistaken the crimson effulgence of an aurora borealis for the blazing of a conflagration.

Such is the allegory, under guise of which the amiable Lessing has depicted the application of religious doctrine to the purposes of party polemics, and the miserable attempts of theorists to substitute dreams of mortal pride for the pure and primitive light of Gospel

truth.