effectual steps towards bringing about a reformation. They consoled themselves with the reflection, that though their chief city was the scat of vice and debauchery, it was also the residence of the supreme head of the church, the great depository of riches, the scene of pomp and grandeur, and the nursery of the fine arts. The magnificence of ancient ruins, the number of religious edifices, and the splendour of crowded processions, gave a sort of dig nity and importance to the city of the Cæsars, a d superceded pure devotion and simple prayers; while a religion which captivated the senses of the Italians, lulled their vices, and caused them to think reformation less needed than it was. In Saxony, however, the case was different, this hardy race of men had never been corrupted by luxury. Almost the last to embrace the doctrines of the Christian faith, when they were compelled by Charlemagne to become Christians, they soon embraced the Gospel with sincerity and simplicity. They had, with the profession of popery, preserved their principles in a great degree free from the evils with which that system of religion had been attended in other countries. They were papists; but popery was not the whole of their religion: when, therefore, the corruptions of the church were brought before their view, they first despised, then abhorred, and at last forsook them. They had always been impatient under the Roman yoke, and fully ripe for a reformation, which promised them freedom of thought and full exercise of natural liberty. The revival of literature, which manifested itself in Italy by the fine arts, the enjoyment of taste, and the classical beauties of ancient Greece and Rome, operated on the minds of the sober and active Saxons, in the cultivation of metaphysics, philosophy, and history. When, therefore, the reformation broke forth, the Saxon theologians were more than a match for the Italian poets, painters, and platonists. Ariosto and Luther were very different characters. To the one, the world is indebted for a diffusion of the true spirit of poetry; to the other, that of piety, and the right of private judgment in matters of faith and worship. It was reserved for the bold and enterprising genius of Luther, to unloose the trammels by which the minds of men had been so long fettered; to open the prison doors to those that were bound; to silence by scripture and argument the thunders of the Vatican; and assure the world that the human mind is naturally free. To support the expenses of a luxurious court, Leo X. had availed himself of an ancient custom in the church to raise money by the sale of indulgences, by which the purchasers were allowed the practice of several sins, and a deliverance from the pains of purgatory. To defend these indulgences, it was urged, that as one drop of Christ's blood is sufficient

to atone for the sins of the whole world, the remainder of blood shed by the death of the Saviour, belonged to the church, and that its efficacy might be sold out to the people. It was supposed, also, that to the church belonged all the good works of the saints, beyond what were employed in their own justification. These superabundant merits were accordingly sold to the unthinking multitude at various prices, according to the nature of the offence for which they were to atone. The form of these indulgences not being very generally known, we will give an exact copy of one of those most extraordinary instruments.

"May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by the authority of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and of the most holy Pope, granted and committed to me in these parts, do absolve thee, first, from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they have been incurred, and then from all thy sins. transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever they be, even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of the holy see, and, as far as the keys of the holy church extend, I remit to you all. punishment which you deserve in purgatory on their account; and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the church, to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism, so that when you die the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be opened; and if you shall not die at present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

This is the form of absolution sold by the agents of Leo X. in various parts of the christian world; an instrument so absurd, that were it not well authenticated, and had we not even in our day, a similar instance of imposture on the one hand, and credulity on the other, in the seals disposed of by Johanna Southcott, one might be tempted to doubt the truth of its existence.

The promulgation of these indulgencies in Germany, together with a share arising from the profits in the sale of them, was assigned to Albert elector of Mentz and archbishop of Magdeburg, who as his chief agent for retailing them, employed Tetzel, a Dominican friar, of licentious morals, but of a bold and active spirit. Tetzel, assisted by the monks of his order, executed this ignoble commission with zeal and success, but with the most shameless indecency and indiscretion; at the same time magnifying the benefits of these indulgences in the most extravagant manner. To such enormities did Tetzel proceed, in describing the efficacy of these pretended dispensations, that he even said,

"If any one had ravished the mother of God, he (Tetzel) had wherewithall to efface his guilt." He also boasted, "that he had saved more souls from hell by these indulgences, than St. Peter had converted to Christianity by his preaching." These enormous blasphemies and abuses roused the indignation of Martin Luther, of the Augustinian Eremites, and professor of divinity in the Academy at Wirtemburg, to such a pitch of fervour, that he began to declaim with boldness against these scandals of the Christian name. In ninety-five propositions, maintained publicly at Wirtemberg, on the 30th of September, 1517, he censured the extravagant extortions of the questors, and plainly pointed out the Roman pontiff as a partaker of their guilt, since he suf fered the people to be seduced by such delusions, from placing their principal confidence in Christ, the only proper object of their trust. So daring an opposition from an obscure monk in a corner of Germany, excited the surprise and admiration of all the world, except Rome itself, which seemed most likely to have been first alarmed. Luther had no sooner published his propositions, than multitudes flocked to his standard, and joined him in the outcry against the shameful abominations of the church of Rome. It was, however, sometime before an eruption took place, or that the friends of reform declared open war against the decrees and authority of the church. Tetzel and others vainly attempted to defend the indulgences, but were continually repulsed and put to shame by the arguments and intrepidity of Luther. The history of the various disputes which called forth the energies of this reformer, and exposed the nakedness of the church is both interesting and curious; we must nevertheless pass over this portion of the history of the reformation in Germany, observing that Luther and his adherents soon found most powerful auxiliaries in the University of Wirtemberg, and the protection of Frederick, elector of Saxony. While the Saxon reformer was daily making inroads on the authority of the Roman see, first by an opposition to the promulgation of indulgences, and from that, by a fearless exposure of the errors and doctrines of the Catholic church itself, the pope and cardinals at Rome, were asleep in the arms of luxury, and insensible of their danger amidst the enjoyments of polite literature, the mysticisms of Plato, the glare of outward granduer, and the stupefaction of sensuality. It is true, the supineness of Leo was often reproved by those who had the interests of the church at heart, but the natural benevolence of that pontiff's disposition, and his utter aversion to business, or solicitude, rendered it difficult to convince him that the disputes in Saxony were any thing besides the squabbles of restless and ignorant monks, unworthy his

regard, and beneath his interference. And when, at length, he was reminded by the emperor Maximilian, that his forbearance or negligence began to be dangerous, the matter had gone too far to be easily arrested.

Emboldened by success, encouraged by the increasing number of his adherents, and, above all, protected by the secular power, Luther had already proceeded much farther in the work of reformation, than it is probable he himself at first intended; when, therefore, he was summoned by the pope, to appear before him at Rome, by the interference of Frederick the wise, he procured the liberty of being heard in a conference to be held in Germany. This indulgence might probably have somewhat abated the zeal and opposition of Luther, had proper persons been chosen to give him a hearing. But, instead of this, the persons appointed to this service were his avowed enemies, the Bishop of Ascula, and Sylvestro Prierio. Poor and barefooted, Luther, having commended himself and his cause to God, boldly repaired to Augsburg, after having written to his friend and fellow reformer, Philip Melancthon, to the following effect, "I know nothing new or extraordinary here, except that I am become the object of conversation throughout the whole city, and every one wishes to see the man that is to be the victim of such a conflagration. You will act your part properly, as you have always done; and teach the youth entrusted to your care. I go, for you and for them, to be sacrificed, if it so please God. I rather choose to perish, and what is more afflicting, to be forever deprived of your society, than to retract what I have already asserted or to be the means of affording the stupid adversaries of all liberal studies, an opportunity of accomplishing their purpose."

With such sentiments and resolutions, this fearless reformer proceeded to defend himself and his doctrines against the sense and authority of the pope's legate, and any whom that cardinal might be pleased to appoint for the purpose of opposing the reformation.

At this memorable conference, every thing which remonstrance, persuasion, and condescension, on the part of the cardinal of Gaeta could effect, were used, to bring back this unruly reformer to an implicit obedience to the authority and practices of the holy see; but all in vain. Luther gained additional strength and boldness by every encounter; and the conference closed with an appeal to Leo X. in which, after recapitulating the proceedings which had already taken place, Luther declares that he is not conscious of having advanced any thing against the holy scriptures, the ecclesiastical fathers, the decrees of the pope, or right reason: but that all which he has said is catholic, proper,

and true. Being however, a man, and liable to error, he submits himself to the church, and offers himself personally, either there or elsewhere, to adduce the reasons of his belief, and reply to all objections that may be made against it. be made against it. This protest not satisfying the mind of the cardinal, through the interference of some of Luthers friends, he procured from the reformer a conciliatory letter, in which he acknowledges that he has been indiscreet in speaking in disrespectful terms of the supreme pon'tiffs; and promises even to be silent in future respecting indulgencies, provided his adversaries were also compelled to be silent in future, or were restrained in their abuse of him. With these concessions and an appeal from the present decisions of Leo, while prejudiced and mislead, to those which he should pronounce when better informed on the subject, Luther abruptly quitted the city of Augsburg. Notwithstanding this disrespect ful conduct, the cardinal did not avail himself of the powers, with which he had been entrusted, to excommunicate Luther and his adherents, but appealed to the elector of Saxony, and requested that if Luther still persisted in his opposition to the church, he might be either sent to Rome, or, at least, banished from his dominions. The elector refused to comply with either of these requests; and the work of reformation was suffered to go on.

As it was impossible that the vicar of Christ should enter into a formal dispute with the monk of Wirtemberg, nothing now remained, but either to adopt the decisive measure of excommunicating the unbending reformer, or, to put his professions of obedience to the test, by a formal decree against his doctrines, and by a papal bull, expressively declaring, that as the Pope is the successor of St. Peter and vicar of Christ upon earth, he hath an undoubted power of granting indulgences, which avail as well the living as the dead in purgatory; and that, that doctrine is essential to the salvation of every true and obedient son of the church. Accordingly, a bull to this purport, was signed on the 7th day of November, 1518, and published throughout the christian world. This put the sincerity and boldness of Luther to the test, who soon decided concerning the measures he should adopt, either of instant and unqualified submission or open contumacy. Luther determined on the latter, and commenced hostilities against the infallibility of the pope, by an appeal from the supreme head to a general council. Here, then, commenced that schism which caused even the vicar of Christ to tremble, and which laid a train under the foundations of spiritual domination and superstition, that must one day not only agitate and deform the superstructure, as it already has done, but finally