History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume II Part 31

Meanwhile Spalatin himself began to be troubled and afraid. Surrounded at Worms by the enemies of the Reformation, he heard them saying that no respect should be paid to the safe-conduct of a heretic. He became alarmed for his friend; and at the moment when the latter was approaching the town a messenger presented himself and said to him on the part of the chaplain, "Don't enter Worms!" This from his best friend, the Elector's confidant, Spalatin himself! Luther unmoved, turns his eye on the messenger, and replies, "Go and tell your master, that were there as many devils in Worms as there are tiles upon the roofs, I would enter."[491] Never, perhaps, was Luther so grand. The envoy returned to Worms with his extraordinary message. "I was then intrepid," said Luther a few days before his death, "I feared nothing; G.o.d can give man such boldness; I know not if at present I would have as much liberty and joy."--"When the cause is good," adds his disciple Mathesius, "the heart expands, giving courage and energy to evangelists and soldiers."[492]

[491] Wenn so viel Teufel zu Worms waren, als Ziegel auf den Dachern, noch wollt Ich hinein! (L. Opp. (L.) xvii, p. 587.)

[492] So wachst das Herz im Leibe ... (Math. p. 24.)

CHAP. VIII.

Entry into Worms--Chant for the Dead--Council held by Charles V--Capito and the Temporisers--Concourse around Luther--Citation--Hutten to Luther--Proceeds to the Diet--Saying of Freundsberg--Imposing a.s.sembly--The Chancellor's Address--Luther's Reply--His Wisdom--Saying of Charles V--Alarm--Triumph--Luther's Firmness--Insults from the Spaniards--Council--Luther's Trouble and Prayer--Might of the Reformation--Luther's Oath to Scripture--The Court of the Diet--Luther's Address--Three kinds of Writings--He demands Proof of his Error--Solemn Warnings--He repeats his Address in Latin--Here I am: I can't do otherwise--The "weakness" of G.o.d--New Attempt.

At length, on the morning of the 16th April, Luther perceived the walls of the ancient city. All were looking for him, and there was only one thought in Worms. The young n.o.blemen, Bernard of Hirschfeld and Albert of Lindenau, with six cavaliers, and other gentlemen in the suite of the princes, to the number of a hundred, if we may believe Pallavicini, unable to restrain their impatience, galloped to meet him, and surrounded him in order to escort him at the moment of his entry. He approached. Before him pranced the imperial herald decked in all the insignia of his office. Next came Luther in his humble carriage. Jonas followed on horseback surrounded by the cavaliers. A large crowd was waiting in front of the gates. It was near mid-day when he pa.s.sed those walls which so many persons had foretold him he should never leave. It was the dinner hour, but the moment when the sentinel stationed in the cathedral steeple tolled the signal, every body ran into the street to see the monk. Thus was Luther in Worms.

[Sidenote: CHANT FOR THE DEAD.]

Two thousand persons accompanied him through the streets: there was a rush to meet him. The crowd was increasing every moment, and was much larger than when the emperor made his entry.

Suddenly, relates a historian, a man clad in a singular dress, and carrying a large cross before him, as is usual at funerals, breaks off from the crowd, advances towards Luther, and then, in a loud voice, and with the plaintive cadence which is used in saying ma.s.s for the repose of the souls of the dead, chants the following stanzas as if he had been determined that the very dead should hear them:--

Advenisti, O desiderabilis!

Quem expectabamus in tenebris![493]

[493] Thou hast arrived--thou whom we longed and waited for in darkness.

Luther's arrival is celebrated by a _Requiem_. If the story is true, it was the court fool of one of the dukes of Bavaria who gave Luther one of those warnings remarkable at once for wisdom and irony, of which so many instances are furnished by these individuals. But the clamour of the mult.i.tude soon drowned the _De Profundis_ of the cross-bearer.

The train could scarcely proceed through the moving ma.s.s. At length the imperial herald stopped before the hotel of the Knights of Rhodes.

Here lodged two of the Elector's counsellors, Frederic of Thun and Philip of Feilitsch, as well as the marshal of the empire, Ulric of Pappenheim. Luther got out of his carriage, and, on alighting, said, "The Lord will be my defence."[494]... "I entered Worms," said he afterwards, "in a covered car in my frock. Everybody ran into the street to see friar Martin."[495]

[494] Deus stabit pro me. (Pallavicini, i, p. 114.)

[495] L. Op. xvii, p. 587.

The news of his arrival filled the Elector of Saxony and Aleander with alarm. The young and elegant Archbishop Albert, who held a mean between those two parties, was amazed at Luther's boldness. "Had I not had more courage than he," said Luther, "it is true I never should have been seen in Worms."

Charles V immediately a.s.sembled his council. The counsellors in the emperor's confidence repaired in haste to the palace for they too were in dismay. "Luther is arrived," said Charles, "what must be done?"

Modo, bishop of Palermo and chancellor of Flanders, if we are to receive Luther's own statement, replied, "We have long consulted on this subject. Let your imperial Majesty speedily get rid of this man.

Did not Sigismond cause John Huss to be burnt? There is no obligation either to give or observe a safe-conduct to a heretic."[496] "No,"

said Charles: "what has been promised must be performed." There was nothing for it, therefore, but to make the Reformer appear.

[496] ... Da.s.s Ihre Majestat den Luther aufs erste beyseit thate und umbringen liess. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: CAPITO AND THE TEMPORISERS.]

While the councils of the great were thus agitated on the subject of Luther, there were many men in Worms who rejoiced that they were able at length to behold this ill.u.s.trious servant of G.o.d. In the first rank among them was Capito, chaplain and counsellor to the Archbishop of Mentz. This remarkable man, who a short time before had preached the gospel in Switzerland with great freedom,[497] thought it due to the place which he then occupied to pursue a course which exposed him to a charge of cowardice from the Evangelists, and of dissimulation from the Romans.[498] He had, however, preached the doctrine of faith clearly at Mentz, and on his departure had succeeded in supplying his place by a young preacher full of zeal, named Hedio. In this town, the ancient see of the primate of the German Church, the word of G.o.d was not bound. The gospel was eagerly listened to: in vain did the monks strive to preach the gospel after their own way, and employ all the means in their power in order to arrest the general impulse; they had no success.[499] But Capito, even while he preached the new doctrine, laboured to continue in friendship with those who persecuted it. He flattered himself, with others of the same sentiments, that he would thus be of great utility to the Church. To hear them talk it might have been supposed that, if Luther was not burnt, if all the Lutherans were not excommunicated, it was owing entirely to Capito's influence over the Archbishop Albert.[500] Cochlus, dean of Frankfort, arriving at Worms almost at the same time with Luther, immediately waited upon Capito, who being, apparently at least, on very good terms with Aleander, introduced Cochlus to him, thus serving as a connecting link between the two greatest enemies of the Reformer.[501]

Capito doubtless thought that he would do great service to the cause of Christ by all this management; but it cannot be said that any good resulted from it. The event almost always belies these calculations of human wisdom, and proves that a decided course, while it is the most frank, is also the most wise.

[497] See Book viii.

[498] Astutia plusquam vulpina vehementer callidum .... Lutherismum versutissime dissimulabat. (Cochlus, p. 36) Exceedingly crafty having more cunning than a fox: he most astutely disguised his Lutheranism.

[499] Evangelium audiunt avidissime, verb.u.m Dei alligatum non est...

(Caspar Hedio Zw. Ep., p. 157.)

[500] "Lutherus in hoc districtu dudum esset combustus, Lutherani ap?s??a????? nisi Capito aliter persuasisset principi."

(Ibid., 148.)

[501] Hic (Capito) illum (Cochlum) insinuavit Hieronymo Aleandro, nuncio Leonis X. (Cochlus, p. 36)

[Sidenote: CITATION TO THE DIET.]

Meanwhile the crowd continued around the hotel of Rhodes at which Luther had alighted. Some looked upon him as a prodigy of wisdom, and others as a monster of iniquity. The whole town wished to see him.[502] The first hours were left him to recover from his fatigue, and converse with his most intimate friends; but as soon as evening came, counts, barons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, and citizens flocked in upon him. All, even his greatest enemies, were struck with the bold step he had taken, the joy which appeared to animate him, the power of his eloquence, and the lofty elevation and enthusiasm which made the influence of this simple monk almost irresistible. Many attributed this grandeur to something within him partaking of the divine, while the friends of the pope loudly declared that he was possessed with a devil.[503] Call followed call, and the crowd of curious visitors kept Luther standing to a late period of the night.

[502] Eadem die tota civitas solicite confluxit ... (Pallavicini, i, p. 114.)

[503] Nescio quid divinum suspicabantur: ex adverso alii malo daemone obsessum existimabant. (Pallavicini, i, p. 114.)

The next morning, (Friday, 17th April,) Ulric of Pappenheim, hereditary marshal of the empire, summoned him to appear at four o'clock, _p. m._, in presence of his imperial Majesty and the States of the empire. Luther received the summons with profound respect.

Thus every thing is fixed, and Luther is going to appear for Jesus Christ before the most august a.s.sembly in the world. He was not without encouragement. The ardent knight, Ulric von Hutten, was then in the castle of Ebernburg. Not being able to appear at Worms, (for Leo X had asked Charles to send him to Rome bound hand and foot,) he desired to stretch out a friendly hand to Luther, and on the same day (17th April) wrote to him, borrowing the words of a king of Israel:[504] "The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble: the name of the G.o.d of Jacob defend thee: send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion: remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. O dearly beloved Luther! my respected father, fear not and be strong. The counsel of the wicked has beset you, they have opened their mouths upon you like roaring lions. But the Lord will rise up against the wicked and scatter them. Fight then valiantly for Christ. As for me I also will fight boldly. Would to G.o.d I were permitted to see the wrinkling of their brows. But the Lord will cleanse his vine which the wild boar of the forest has laid waste....

May Christ preserve you!"[505]

[504] David, Psalm XX.

[505] Servet te Christus. (L. Op. ii, p. 175.)

Bucer did what Hutten was unable to do: he came from Ebernburg to Worms, and remained the whole time beside his friend.[506]

[506] Bucerus eodem venit. (M. Adam, Vit. Buceri. p. 212.)

[Sidenote: LUTHER PROCEEDS TO THE DIET.]

Four o'clock having struck, the marshal of the empire presented himself. It was necessary to set out, and Luther made ready. He was moved at the thought of the august congress before which he was going to appear. The herald walked first, after him the marshal, and last the Reformer. The mult.i.tude thronging the streets was still more numerous than on the previous evening. It was impossible to get on; it was in vain to cry, Give place: the crowd increased. At length, the herald seeing the impossibility of reaching the town hall caused some private houses to be opened, and conducted Luther through gardens and secret pa.s.sages to the place of meeting.[507] The people perceiving this rushed into the houses on the steps of the monk of Wittemberg, or placed themselves at the windows which looked into the gardens, while great numbers of persons got up on the roofs. The tops of the houses, the pavement, every place above and below was covered with spectators.[508]

[507] Und ward also durch heimliche Gange-gefuhrt. (L. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 574.)

[508] Doch lief das Volk haufig zu, und stieg sogar auf Dacher. (Seck.

348.)

Arrived at length at the town, Luther and those who all accompanied him were again unable, because of the crowd, to reach the door. Give way! give way! Not one stirred. At last the imperial soldiers forced a pa.s.sage for Luther. The people rushed forward to get in after him, but the soldiers kept them back with their halberds. Luther got into the interior of the building, which was completely filled with people. As well in the antechambers as at the windows there were more than five thousand spectators--German, Italian, Spanish, etc. Luther advanced with difficulty. As he was at length approaching the door, which was to bring him in presence of his judges, he met a valiant knight, the celebrated general, George of Freundsberg, who, four years afterwards, at the head of the German lansquenets couched his lance on the field of Pavia, and bearing down upon the left wing of the French army, drove it into the Tessino, and in a great measure decided the captivity of the king of France. The old general, seeing Luther pa.s.s, clapped him on the shoulder, and shaking his head, whitened in battle, kindly said to him, "Poor monk, poor monk, you have before you a march, and an affair, the like to which neither I nor a great many captains have ever seen in the bloodiest of our battles. But if your cause is just, and you have full confidence in it, advance in the name of G.o.d and fear nothing. G.o.d will not forsake you."[509] A beautiful homage borne by warlike courage to courage of intellect. It is the saying of a king,[510] "_He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city._"

[509] Munchlein, Munchlein, du gehest jetzt einen Gang, einen solchen Stand zu thun, dergleichen Ich und mancher Obrister, auch in unser allerernestesten Schlacht-Ordnung nicht gethan haben ... (Ibid.)

[510] Proverbs, xvi, 32.

[Sidenote: LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET.]