History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 6

"But here is the difference, namely, that the symbols invented by men simply remind us of what they signify; while the signs given us by G.o.d, not only remind us of the things themselves, but a.s.sure our hearts of the will of G.o.d.[87]

[87] Signa ab hominibus reperta admonent tantum; signa a Deo tradita, praeterquam quod admonent, certificant etiam cor de voluntate Dei.

Corp. Ref. i. 478.

[Sidenote: THE ELECTOR.]

"As the sight of a cross does not justify, so the ma.s.s does not justify.

"As the sight of a cross is not a sacrifice either for our sins or for the sins of others, so the ma.s.s is not a sacrifice.

"There is but one sacrifice,--but one satisfaction,--Jesus Christ.

Besides him, there is none.

"Let such bishops as do not oppose the impiety of the ma.s.s be accursed."

Thus spoke the pious and gentle Philip.

The elector was amazed. He had desired to reduce some young friars,--and now the whole university, Melancthon himself, rose in their defence. To wait seemed to him in all things the surest means of success. He did not like sudden reforms, and desired that every opinion should make its way without obstruction. "Time alone," thought he, "clears up all things and brings them to maturity." And yet in spite of him the Reformation was advancing with hasty steps, and threatened to carry everything along with it. Frederick made every exertion to arrest its progress. His authority, the influence of his character, the reasons that appeared to him the most convincing, were all set in operation. "Do not be too hasty," said he to the theologians; "your number is too small to carry such a reform. If it is based upon the Gospel, others will discover it also, and you will put an end to abuses with the aid of the whole Church. Talk, debate, preach on these matters as much as you like, but keep up the ancient usages."

Such was the battle fought on the subject of the ma.s.s. The monks had bravely led the a.s.sault; the theologians, undecided for a moment, had soon come to their support. The prince and his ministers alone defended the place. It has been a.s.serted that the Reformation was accomplished by the power and authority of the elector; but far from that, the a.s.sailants shrunk back at the sound of his voice, and the ma.s.s was saved for a few days.

[Sidenote: MONACHISM ATTACKED.]

The heat of the attack had been already directed against another point. Friar Gabriel still continued his heart-stirring sermons in the church of the Augustines. Monachism was now the object of his reiterated blows; if the ma.s.s was the stronghold of the Roman doctrines, the monastic orders were the support of her hierarchy.

These, then, were the two first positions that must be carried.

"No one," said Gabriel, according to the prior's report, "no dweller in the convents keeps the commandments of G.o.d; no one can be saved under a cowl;[88] every man that enters a cloister enters it in the name of the devil. The vows of chast.i.ty, poverty, and obedience, are contrary to the Gospel."

[88] Kein Monch werde in der Kappe selig. Corp. Ref. i. 433.

This extraordinary language was reported to the prior, who avoided going to church for fear he should hear it.

"Gabriel," said they, "desires that every exertion should be made to empty the cloisters. He says if a monk is met in the streets, the people should pull him by the frock and laugh at him; and that if they cannot be driven out of the convents by ridicule, they should be expelled by force. Break open, pull down, utterly destroy the monasteries (says he), so that not a single trace of them may remain; and that not one of those stones that have contributed to shelter so much sloth and superst.i.tion may be found in the spot they so long occupied."[89]

[89] Da.s.s man nicht oben Stuck von einem Kloster da sey gestanden, merken moge. Ibid. 483.

The friars were astonished; their consciences told them that Gabriel's words were but too true, that a monkish life was not in conformity with the will of G.o.d, and that no one could dispose of their persons better than themselves.

[Sidenote: FERMENT IN WITTEMBERG.]

Thirteen Augustines quitted the convent together, and laying aside the costume of their order, a.s.sumed a lay dress. Those who possessed any learning attended the lectures of the university, in order one day to be serviceable to the Church; and those whose minds were uncultivated, endeavoured to gain a livelihood by the work of their own hands, according to the injunctions of the apostle, and the example of the good citizens of Wittemberg.[90] One of them, who understood the business of a joiner, applied for the freedom of the city, and resolved to take a wife.

[90] Etliche unter den Burgern, etliche unter den Studenten, says the prior in his complaint to the Elector. Ibid.

If Luther's entry into the Augustine convent at Erfurth had been the germ of the Reformation, the departure of these thirteen monks from the convent of the Augustines at Wittemberg was the signal of its entering into possession of Christendom. For thirty years past Erasmus had been unveiling the uselessness, the folly, and the vices of the monks; and all Europe laughed and grew angry with him: but sarcasm was required no longer. Thirteen high-minded and bold men returned into the midst of the world, to render themselves profitable to society and fulfil the commandments of G.o.d. Feldkirchen's marriage had been the first defeat of the hierarchy; the emanc.i.p.ation of these thirteen Augustines was the second. Monachism, which had arisen at the time when the Church entered upon its period of enslavement and error, was destined to fall at the dawning of liberty and truth.

This daring step excited universal ferment in Wittemberg. Admiration was felt towards those men who thus came to take their part in the general labours, and they were received as brethren. At the same time a few outcries were heard against those who persisted in remaining lazily sheltered behind the walls of their monastery. The monks who remained faithful to their prior trembled in their cells; and the latter, carried away by the general movement, stopped the celebration of the low ma.s.ses.

[Sidenote: DISTURBANCES--AUGUSTINE CHAPTER.]

The smallest concession in so critical a moment of necessity precipitated the course of events. The prior's order created a great sensation in the town and university, and produced a sudden explosion.

Among the students and citizens of Wittemberg were found some of those turbulent men whom the least excitement arouses and hurries into criminal disorders. They were exasperated at the idea of the low ma.s.ses, which even the superst.i.tious prior had suspended, still being said in the parish church; and on Tuesday the 3d of December, as the ma.s.s was about to be read, they ran up to the altars, took away the books, and drove the priests out of the chapel. The council and university were annoyed, and met to punish the authors of these misdeeds. But the pa.s.sions once aroused are not easily quelled. The Cordeliers had not taken part in this movement of the Augustines. On the following day, the students posted a threatening placard on the gates of their convent; after that forty students entered their church, and although they refrained from violence, they ridiculed the monks, so that the latter dared not say ma.s.s except in the choir.

Towards evening the fathers were told to be upon their guard: "The students (it was said) are resolved to attack the monastery!" The frightened religioners, not knowing how to shelter themselves from these real or supposed attacks, hastily besought the council to protect them; a guard of soldiers was sent, but the enemy did not appear. The university caused the students who had taken part in these disturbances to be arrested. It was discovered that some were from Erfurth, where they had become notorious for their insubordination.[91]

The penalties of the university were inflicted upon them.

[91] In summa es sollen die Aufruhr etliche Studenten von Erffurth erweckt haben. Corp. Ref. i. 490.

And yet the necessity was felt of inquiring carefully into the lawfulness of monastic vows. A chapter of Augustine monks from Misnia and Thuringia a.s.sembled at Wittemberg in the month of December. They came to the same opinion as Luther. On the one hand they declared that monastic vows were not criminal, but on the other that they were not obligatory. "In Christ," said they, "there is neither layman nor monk; each one is at liberty to quit the monastery or to stay in it. Let him who goes forth beware lest he abuse his liberty; let him who remains obey his superiors, but through love." They next abolished mendicancy and the saying of ma.s.ses for money; they also decreed that the best instructed among them should devote themselves to the teaching of the Word of G.o.d, and that the rest should support their brethren by the work of their own hands.[92]

[92] Corp. Ref. i. 456. The editors a.s.sign this decree to the month of October before the friars had quitted the convent at Wittemberg.

[Sidenote: CARLSTADT AND THE Ma.s.s.]

Thus the question of vows appeared settled; but that of the ma.s.s was undecided. The elector still resisted the torrent, and protected an inst.i.tution which he saw standing in all Christendom. The orders of so indulgent a prince could not long restrain the public feeling.

Carlstadt's head in particular was turning in the midst of the general ferment. Zealous, upright, and bold, ready, like Luther, to sacrifice everything for the truth, he was inferior to the reformer in wisdom and moderation; he was not entirely exempt from vain-glory, and with a disposition inclined to examine matters to the bottom, he was defective in judgment and in clearness of ideas. Luther had dragged him from the mire of scholasticism, and directed him to the study of Scripture; but Carlstadt had not acknowledged with his friend the all-sufficiency of the Word of G.o.d. Accordingly he was often seen adopting the most singular interpretations. So long as Luther was at his side, the superiority of the master kept the scholar within due bounds. But now Carlstadt was free. In the university, in the church, everywhere in Wittemberg, this little dark-featured man, who had never excelled in eloquence, might be heard proclaiming with great fervour ideas that were sometimes profound, but often enthusiastic and exaggerated. "What madness," exclaimed he, "to think that one must leave the Reformation to G.o.d's working alone! A new order of things is beginning. The hand of man should interfere. Woe be to him who lags behind, and does not climb the breach in the cause of the Almighty."

The archdeacon's language communicated to others the impatience he felt himself. "All that the popes have ordained is impious," said certain upright and sincere men who followed his example. "Let us not become partakers in those abominations by allowing them to subsist any longer. What is condemned by the Word of G.o.d ought to be put down in the whole of Christendom, whatever may be the ordinances of men. If the heads of the State and of the Church will not do their duty, let us do ours. Let us renounce all negotiations, conferences, theses, and disputations, and let us apply the effectual remedy to so many evils.

"We need a second Elijah to throw down the altars of Baal."

[Sidenote: THE LORD'S SUPPER.]

The re-establishment of the Lord's Supper, in this moment of ferment and enthusiasm, unquestionably could not present the solemnity and holiness of its first inst.i.tution by the Son of G.o.d, on the eve of his death, and almost at the foot of the cross. But if G.o.d now made use of weak and perhaps pa.s.sionate men, it was nevertheless his hand that revived in the Church the feast of his love.

In the previous October, Carlstadt had already celebrated the Lord's Supper in private with twelve of his friends, in accordance with Christ's inst.i.tution. On the Sunday before Christmas he gave out from the pulpit that on the day of our Lord's circ.u.mcision (the first day of the year) he would distribute the eucharist in both kinds (bread and wine) to all who presented themselves at the altar; that he would omit all useless forms,[93] and in celebrating this ma.s.s would wear neither cope nor chasuble.

[93] Und die anderen _Schirymstege_ alle aussen la.s.sen. Corp. Ref. i.

512.

The affrighted council entreated the councillor Beyer to prevent such a flagrant irregularity; and upon this Carlstadt resolved not to wait until the appointed day. On Christmas-day, 1521, he preached in the parish church on the necessity of quitting the ma.s.s and receiving the sacrament in both kinds. After the sermon he went to the altar; p.r.o.nounced the words of consecration in German, and then turning towards the attentive people, said with a solemn voice: "Whosoever feels the burden of his sins, and hungers and thirsts for the grace of G.o.d, let him come and receive the body and blood of our Lord."[94] And then, without elevating the host, he distributed the bread and wine to all, saying: "This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting Covenant."

[94] Wer mit Sunden beschwert and nach der Gnade Gottes hungrig und durstig. Ibid. 540.

[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF THE Ma.s.s.]

Antagonist sentiments prevailed in the a.s.sembly. Some, feeling that a new grace from G.o.d had been given to the Church, approached the altar in silence and emotion. Others, attracted chiefly by the novelty, drew nigh with a certain sense of agitation and impatience. Five communicants alone had presented themselves in the confessional: the rest simply took part in the public confession of sins. Carlstadt gave a public absolution to all, imposing on them no other penance than this: "Sin no more." They finished by singing the _Agnus Dei_.[95]

[95] Wenn man communicirt hat, so singt man: _Agnus Dei_ carmen. Corp.

Ref. i. 540.

No one opposed Carlstadt; these reforms had already obtained general a.s.sent. The archdeacon administered the Lord's Supper again on New Year's day, and on the Sunday following, and from that time it was regularly celebrated. Einsidlen, one of the elector's councillors, having reproached Carlstadt with seeking his own glory rather than the salvation of his hearers: "Mighty lord," replied he, "there is no form of death that can make me withdraw from Scripture. The Word has come upon me with such prompt.i.tude......Woe be to me if I preach it not!"[96] Shortly after, Carlstadt married.

[96] Mir ist das Wort fast in grosser Geschwindigkeit eingefallen.

Ibid. 545.

In the month of January 1522, the council and university of Wittemberg regulated the celebration of the Lord's Supper according to the new ritual. They were, at the same time, engaged on the means of reviving the moral influence of religion; for the Reformation was destined to restore simultaneously faith, worship, and morality. It was decreed not to tolerate mendicants, whether they were begging friars or not; and that in every street there should be some pious man commissioned to take care of the poor, and summon open sinners before the university and the council.[97]

[97] Keinen offenbaren Sunder zu dulden......Ibid. 540.