History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume II Part 4

_Luther._--"How can I when the duke forbids me?"

_Eck._--"If I cannot debate with you, I am not anxious to have any thing to do with Carlstadt. It was for you I came here." Then, after a short pause, he added--"If I obtain the dukes permission, will you take the field?"[68]

[68] Si tec.u.m non licet disputare, neque c.u.m Carlstatio volo: propter te enim huc veni. (L. Op. in Praef.)

_Luther_ (_joyfully_).--"Obtain it, and we shall debate."

[Sidenote: PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS.]

Eck forthwith repaired to the duke, and tried to dissipate his fears, representing to him that he was certain of victory, and that the authority of the pope, so far from suffering by the discussion, would come out of it more glorious. "We must strike at the head. If Luther stands erect, so do all his adherents--if he falls, they all fall."

George granted permission.

The duke had caused a large hall to be prepared in his palace of Pleissenburg. Two desks had been erected opposite to each other, tables arranged for the notaries who were to take down the discussion in writing, and benches for the spectators. The desks and benches were covered with rich tapestry. At the doctor of Wittemberg's desk was suspended the portrait of St. Martin, after whom he was named; and at that of Dr. Eck, the portrait of the knight of St. George. "We shall see," said the arrogant Eck, with his eye on the emblem, "whether I do not, with my steed, trample down my enemies." Every thing bespoke the importance which was attached to the combat.

On 25th June, the parties met in the castle to arrange the order of proceeding. Eck, who had more confidence in his declamation and gesture than in his arguments, exclaimed, "We will debate freely, off hand, and the notaries will not take down our words in writing."

_Carlstadt._--"The agreement was, that the discussion should be written down, published, and submitted to the judgment of all men."

_Eck._--"To write down every thing is to wear out the spirit of the disputants, and protract the battle. In that case there can be no hope of the vivacity requisite in an animated debate. Do not lay an arrest on the flow of eloquence."[69]

[69] Melancth. Op. i, p. 139. (Kthe ed.)

Dr. Eck's friends supported his proposal, but Carlstadt persisted in his objection, and Eck was obliged to yield.

_Eck._--"Be it so, let there be writing; but, at all events, the debate, when taken down by the notaries, is not to be published before it has been submitted to the decision of judges."

_Luther._--"The truth of Dr. Eck and the Eckians fears the light."

_Eck._--"There must be judges."

_Luther._--"And what judges?"

_Eck._--"After the debate is over we will agree upon them."

The object of the partisans of Rome was evident. If the theologians of Wittemberg accepted judges, their cause was lost. It was obvious beforehand who the persons were whom their opponents would suggest; and yet the Reformers, if they refused them, would be covered with obloquy, as it would be circulated every where that they were afraid of submitting to impartial judges.

[Sidenote: LUTHER OBJECTS.]

The judges whom the Reformers desired were not individuals whose opinion was already declared, but the whole of Christendom. Their appeal was made to the general voice. It mattered little who condemned them, if, in pleading their cause in presence of the Christian world, they succeeded in bringing some individuals to the light. "Luther,"

says a Roman historian, "demanded all the faithful for judges--in other words, demanded a tribunal so numerous that there could be no urn large enough to hold its votes."[70]

[70] "Aiebat, ad universos mortales pertinebat judicium, hoc est ad tribunal cujus colligendis calculis nulla urna satis capax."

(Pallavicini, T. i, p. 55.)

The meeting broke up. "See their stratagem," said Luther and his friends to each other. "They would to a certainty ask to have the pope or the universities for judges."

In fact, the theologians of Rome, next morning, sent one of their party to Luther, with a proposal that the judge should be ... the pope!... "The pope!" said Luther, "how could I accept him?"

"Beware," exclaimed all his friends, "of accepting conditions so unjust." Eck and his friends having consulted anew, gave up the pope, and proposed certain universities. "Don't take from us the liberty which you have already granted us," replied Luther. "We cannot yield this point," resumed Eck. "Then," exclaimed Luther, "I don't debate."[71]

[71] I. Op. (L. xvii, p. 245.)

They again parted, and what had just pa.s.sed was talked of over the whole town. The Romans kept crying every where, "Luther won't debate--he refuses to accept of any judge!" Commenting on, and torturing his words, they endeavoured to represent them in the most unfavourable light. "What! truly? he will not debate?" say the best friends of the Reformer, and hasten to him to express their alarm.

"You decline the contest," exclaim they. "Your refusal will bring eternal disgrace on your university and your cause." This was to attack Luther in his most tender point. "Very well," replied he, his heart filled with indignation, "I accept the terms which are imposed on me; but I reserve a right of appeal, and I decline the Court of Rome."[72]

[72] Ibid., p. 246.

[Sidenote: THE PROCESSION. Ma.s.s.]

CHAP. IV.

The Procession--Ma.s.s--Mosella.n.u.s--Veni, Sancte Spiritus!--Portraits of Luther and Carlstadt--Doctor Eck--Carlstadt's Books--Merit of Congruity--Natural Powers--Scholastic distinction--Point where Rome and the Reformation separate--Grace gives man freedom--Carlstadt's Note-Book--Commotion in the auditory--Melancthon during the debate--Manuvres of Eck--Luther Preaches--The Citizens of Leipsic--Quarrels of Students and quarrels of Teachers.

The 27th of June was the day fixed for the commencement of the discussion. In the morning the parties met in the hall of the university, and thereafter walked in procession to the Church of St.

Thomas, where high ma.s.s was celebrated by the order and at the expence of the duke. After service, those present proceeded to the ducal castle. At their head walked Duke George, and the Duke of Pomerania; next came counts, abbots, knights, and other persons of distinction; and, lastly, the doctors of the two parties. A guard composed of seventy-six citizens, carrying halberds, accompanied the procession, with colours flying, and drums beating, and halted at the castle gate.

On the arrival at the palace, each took his place in the hall where the debate was to take place--Duke George, the hereditary Prince John, Prince George of Anhalt, a boy of twelve, and the Duke of Pomerania, occupying the seats allotted to them.

Mosella.n.u.s, by order of the duke, mounted a pulpit, to remind the theologians of the manner in which the discussion was to be carried on. "If you begin to quarrel," said the orator to them, "what difference will there be between a theological disputant and a swaggering duellist? What is victory here but just to recall a brother from his error?... Each, it would seem, should be more desirous to be conquered than to conquer."[73]

[73] Seckend., p. 209.

[Sidenote: PORTRAITS OF LUTHER, CARLSTADT, ECK.]

At the conclusion of the address, sacred music echoed along the aisles of the Pleissenberg, the whole a.s.sembly knelt down, and the ancient hymn of invocation to the Holy Spirit, "Veni, Sancte Spiritus," was sung. Solemn hour in the annals of the Reformation! The invocation was thrice repeated; and, while the solemn chant was pealing, the defenders of the ancient, and the champions of the new doctrines, the men of the Church of the middle ages, and those desirous of re-establishing the Church of the apostles, mingling together without distinction, in lowly att.i.tude bent their faces to the ground. The ancient tie of one single communion still united all these different minds, and the same prayer still proceeded from all these lips as if a single heart had dictated it.

These were the last moments of external lifeless unity for which a new spiritual living unity was about to be subst.i.tuted. The Holy Spirit was invoked in behalf of the Church, and the Holy Spirit was about to answer by a revival of Christendom.

When the hymn and prayer were finished, the a.s.sembly rose up. The discussion should have now commenced; but, as the hour of noon had arrived, there was an adjournment of two hours.

The leading personages who proposed to attend the debate, having dined with the duke, returned with him after dinner to the castle hall, which was filled with spectators. Meetings of this description were the public a.s.semblies in which the representatives of the age discussed questions of general and engrossing interest. The orators were soon at their post. That a better idea may be formed of them, we will give their portraits as drawn by one of the most impartial witnesses of the debate.

"Martin Luther is of middle size; and so emaciated by hard study that one might almost count his bones. He is in the vigour of life, and his voice is clear and sonorous. His learning and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures are beyond compare: he has the whole word of G.o.d at command.[74] In addition to this he has great store of arguments and ideas. It were perhaps to be wished that he had a little more judgment in arranging his materials. In conversation he is candid and courteous; there is nothing stoical or haughty about him; he has the art of accommodating himself to every individual. His address is pleasing, and replete with good humour. He displays firmness, and is never discomposed by the menaces of his adversaries, be they what they may. One is, in a manner, compelled to believe that, in the great things which he has done, G.o.d must have a.s.sisted him. He is blamed, however, for being more sarcastic in his rejoinders than becomes a theologian, especially when he announces new religious ideas.

[74] Seine Gelehrsamkeit aber und Verstand in heiliger Schrift ist unvergleichlich, so da.s.s er fast alles im Griff hat. (Mosella.n.u.s in Seckend., 206.)

"Carlstadt is of smaller stature; his complexion is dark and sallow, his voice disagreeable, his memory less retentive, and his temper more easily ruffled than Luther's. Still however he possesses, though in an inferior degree, the same qualities which distinguish his friend.

[Sidenote: CARLSTADT'S BOOKS. NATURAL POWERS.]

"Eck is tall and broad shouldered. He has a strong and truly German voice, and such excellent lungs that he would be well heard on the stage, or would make an admirable town-crier. His accent is rather coa.r.s.e than elegant, and he has none of the gracefulness so much lauded by Cicero and Quintilian. His mouth, his eyes, and his whole features, suggest the idea of a soldier or a butcher, rather than a theologian.[75] His memory is excellent, and were his intellect equal to it he would be faultless. But he is slow of comprehension, and wants judgment, without which all other gifts are useless. Hence, when he debates, he piles up, without selection or discernment, pa.s.sages from the Bible, quotations from the Fathers, and arguments of all descriptions. His a.s.surance, moreover, is unbounded. When he finds himself in a difficulty he darts off from the matter in hand, and pounces upon another; sometimes, even, he adopts the view of his antagonist, and changing the form of expression, most dexterously charges him with the very absurdity which he himself was defending."

[75] Das Maul, Augen, und ganze Gesicht, presentirt ehe einen Fleischer oder Soldaten, als einen Theologum. (Mosella.n.u.s in Seckend., 206.)

Such, according to Mosella.n.u.s, were the men who drew the eyes of the crowds who were then thronging into the great hall of Pleissenburg.