5.11.2013 MARTIN LUTHER by MERLE D'AUBIGNE

LUTHER GOES TO WURMS

..he was not left quiet in his retreat.
spalatin, in conformity with the elector's orders,
sent him a not of the articles which he would be required to retract.
a retractation, after his refusal at augsburg!...
'fear not, wrote he..that i shall retract a single syllable,
since their only argument is that my works are opposed to
the rites of what they call the Church.
if the emperor charles summons me only that i may retract,
i shall reply that i will remain here,
and it will be the same as if i had gone to worms and returned.
but, on the contrary, if the emperor summons me that i may
be put death
as an enemy of the empire,
i am ready to comply with his call;
for, with the help of Christ,
i will never desert the Word on the battlefield.
 i am well aware that these bloodthirsty men
will never rest until they have taken away my life.
would that it were the papists alone that would be guilty
of my blood!'

it was now the twenty fourth of march.
at last the imperial herald had passed the gate of the city
in which luther resided.
gaspard sturm waited upon the doctor,
and delivered the citation from charles V.
what a serious and solemn moment for the reformer!
all his friends were in consternation.
no prince, without excepting frederick the wise,
had declared for him.
the knights, it is true, had given utterance to their threats;
but them the powerful charles despised.
luther, however, was not discomposed.
'the papists, said he, on seeing the anguish of his friends,
do not desire my coming to worms,
but my condemnation and my death.
it matters not!
pray, not for me, but for the Word of God.
before my blood has grown cold,
thousands of men in the whole world will have become
responsible for having shed it!
the most holy adversary of Christ,
the father, the master, the generalissimo of murderers,
insists on its being shed.
so be it!
let God's will be done!
Christ will give me His Spirit
to overcome these ministers of error.
i despise them during my life;
i shall triumph over them by my death.
they are busy at worms about compelling me to retract;
and this shall be my retractation:
i said formerly that the pope was Christ's vicar;
now i assert that he is our Lord's adversary,
and the devil's apostle.'

...on the sunday after easter the church of the augustines of erfurt
was filled to overflowing.
this friar, who had been accustomed in former times
to unclose the doors and sweep out the church,
went up into the pulpit,
and opening the bible, read these words:
'peace be unto you.
ad when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and
His side. john 20.19-20
'philosophers, doctors and writers, said he, have endeavored to teach men
the way to obtain everlasting life,
and they have not succeeded.
i will now tell it to you. '

this has been the great question  in every age;
accordingly luther's hearers redoubled their attention.

'there are two kinds of works, continued the reformer:
'woks not of ourselves and these are good;
our own works and they are of little worth.
one man builds a church;
another goes on a pilgrimage to st. jago of compostella or st. peter's;
a third fasts, prays, takes the cowl, and goes barefoot;
another does something else.
all these works are nothingness, and will come to nought;
for our own works have no virtue in them.
but i am now going to tell you what is the true work.
God has raised one man from the dead,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut the gates of hell.
this is the work of salvation. the devil thought he had the Lord
in his power
when he saw Him hanging between two thieves,
suffering the most disgraceful martyrdom, accursed of God and of men...
but the Godhead displayed its power and destroyed death, sin and hell..

Christ has vanquished!
this is the joyful news!
and we are saved by His work, and not by our own.
the pope says differently:
 but i affirm that the holy mother of god herself was saved,
neither by her works,
but solely by the instrumentality of faith and the works of God.'

while L was speaking, a sudden noise was heard;
one of the galleries cracked and it was feared that it
would break down under the pressure of the crowd.
this incident occasioned a great disturbance in the congregation.
some ran out from their places; others stood motionless through fright.
the preacher stopped a moment and stretching out his hand,
exclaimed with a loud voice:
'fear nothing! there is no danger:
it is thus the devil seeks to hinder me from proclaiming the gospel,
but he will not succeed.'
at these words those who were flying halted in astonishment and surprise;
the assembly again became clam,
and L, undisturbed..continued thus:
'you say a great deal about faith
(you may perhaps  reply to me):
show us how we may obtain it.
well, i will teach you.
our Lord Jesus Christ said:
'peace be unto you! behold My hands',
that is to say, Behold, O man!
it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sin and ransomed thee;
and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.

'i have not eaten of the fruit of the forbidden tree, resumed L,
not have you; but we have all partaken of the sin that adam
has transmitted to us, and have gone astray.
in like manner, i have not suffered on the cross, neither have you;
but Christ has suffered for us;
we are justified by God's work, and not by our own...
I am (saith the Lord) thy righteousness and thy redemption.

let us believe in the gospel and in the epistles of st. paul,
and not in the letters and decretals of the popes...

'since God has saved us, continued he, let us so order our words
that they may be acceptable to Him.
art thou rich? let thy goods administer to the necessities of the poor!
art thou poor? let thy services be acceptable to the rich!
if thy labor is useful to thyself alone,
the service that thou pretendest to render unto God is a lie.'...

his progress (toward worms) resembled that of a victorious general.
the people gazed with emotion on this daring man,
who was going to lay his head at the feet of the emperor and the empire.
and immense crowd flocked eagerly around him.
"ah! said some, there are so many bishops and cardinals at worms!...
they will burn you and reduce your body to ashes, as they did with john huss.'
but nothing frightened the monk.
'though they should kindle fire, said he all the way from worms to wittenberg,
the flames of which reached to heaven,
i would walk through it in the name of the Lord
-i would appear before them-
i would enter the jaws of this behemoth,
and break his teeth,
confessing the Lord Jesus Christ.'

....(letter to spalatin, on the way)
'i am coming, although satan endeavored to stop me on the road by sickness.
since i left eisenach i have been in a feeble state,
and am still as i never was before.
i learn that charles has published an edict to frighten me.
but Christ lives, and i shall enter worms
in despite of all  the gates of hell and of the powers of the air.
have the goodness, therefore, to prepare a lodging for me.'....

...(spalatin, worried greatly over all he heard of intended harm
sent a messenger to L warning him 'do not enter worms!)
..but L, undismayed, turned his eyes on the messenger and replied;
'go and tell your master that even should there be
as many devils in worms at tiles on the housetops,
still i would enter it!'
never, perhaps, has L been so sublime!
the messenger returned to worms with this astounding answer.
'i was then undaunted, said L, a few days before his death;
'i feared nothing.
god can indeed render a man intrepid at any time;
but i know not whether i should now have so much liberty and joy.'

...at length, on the morning of the 16th of april, L discovered the walls
of the ancient city.
all were expecting him.
one absorbing thought prevailed in worms.
some young nobles..with six knights and other gentlemen
in the train of princes, to the number of a hundred...,
unable to restrain their impatience,
rode out on horseback to meet him and surround him,
to form an escort at the moment of his entrance.
he drew near.
before him pranced the imperial herald, in full costume.
L came next in his modest car.
jonas followed him on horseback and the cavaliers were on both
sides of him.
a great crowd was waiting for him at the gates.
it was near midday when he passed those walls,
from which so many persons had predicted he would
never come forth alive.
everyone was at table;
but as soon as the watchman on the tower of the cathedral
sounded his trumpet, all ran into the streets to see the monk....
two thousand persons accompanied him through the streets of the city.
the citizens eagerly pressed forward to see him:
every moment the crowd was increasing.
it was much greater than at the public entry of the emperor.
on a sudden, says an historian,
a man dressed in a singular costume, and bearing a large cross,
such as is employed in funeral processions,
made way through the crowd, advanced towards L
and then with a loud voice, and in that plaintive, measured tone
in which mass is said for the repose of the soul,
he sang those words, as if he were uttering them from the
abode of the dead:
(english-at  last thou'rt come, long looked for one,
whom we have waited for in the darkness  of the grave.')
thus a requiem was L's welcome to worms.
it was the court fool of one of the dukes of bavaria,
who, if the story be true, gave L one of those warnings,
replete at once with sagacity and irony,
of which the history of these individuals furnishes so many examples.
but the shouts of the multitude soon drowned the de profundis of
the cross bearer....

charles V immediately summoned his council...'L is come, what must we do?'

modo, bishop of palermo, and chancellor of flanders, replied,
if we may credit the testimony of L himself:
'we have long consulted on this matter.
let your imperial majesty get rid of this man at once.
did not sigismund cause john huss to be burned?
we are not bound either to give or to observe the safe conduct of a heretic.'
'no!' said charles, we must keep our promise...

...meantime, the crowd still continued round the hotel of rhodes,
where L had alighted.
to some he was a prodigy of wisdom,
to others a monster of iniquity.
all the city longed to see him.
they allowed him, however, a few hours after his arrival
to recruit his strength, and to converse with his most intimate friends.
but as soon as the evening came,
counts, barons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics and citizens,
flocked about him.
all, even his greatest enemies, were struck with
the boldness of his manner, the joy that seemed to animate him,
the power of his language, and that imposing elevation and enthusiasm
which gave this simple monk an irresistible authority.
but while some ascribed this grandeur to something divine,
the friends of the pope loudly exclaimed that he was possessed by a devil.
visitors rapidly succeeded each other and this crowd of curious individuals
kept L from his bed until a late hour of the night.

...four o'clock arrived.
the marshal of the empire appeared; L prepared to set out with him.
he was agitated at the thought of the solemn congress before which he
was about to appear.
the herald walked first; after him the marshal of the empire;
and the reformer came last.
the crowd that filled the streets was still greater than on the preceding day.
it was impossible to advance;
in vain were orders given to make way;
the crowd kept increasing.
at length the herald, seeing the difficulty of reaching the town hall,
ordered some private houses to be opened, \
and led L through the gardens and private passages
to the place where the diet was sitting.
the people who witnessed this, rushed into the houses after
the monk of wittenberg,
ran to the windows that overlooked the gardens
and a great number climbed on the roofs.
the tops of the houses and the pavements of the streets, above and below,
all were covered with spectators.

having reached the town hall at last, L and those who accompanied him
were again prevented by the crowd from crossing the threshold.
they cried, 'make way! make way!.
but no one moved.
upon this the imperial soldiers by main force cleared a road,
through which L passed.
as the people rushed forward to enter with him,
the soldiers kept them back with their halberds.
L entered the interior of the hall;
but even there every corner was crowded.
in the antechambers and deep recesses of the windows
there were more than five thousand spectators
-germans, italians, spaniards and others.
L advanced with difficulty.
at last, as he drew near the door which was about to admit hi
into the presence of his judges,
he met a  valiant knight, the celebrated george of freundsberg,
who four years later, at the head of his german lansquenets,
bent the knee with his soldiers on the field of pavia,
and then charging the left of the french army,
drove it into the ticino,
and in great measure decided the captivity of the king of france.
the old general, seeing L pass, tapped him on the shoulder,
and shaking his head, blanched in many battles, said kindly,
'poor monk! poor monk! thou art now going to make a nobler stand
than i  or any other captains have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles!
but if thy cause is just, and thou art sure of it,
go forward in God's name and fear nothing!
God will not forsake thee!'
a noble tribute of respect paid by the courage of the sword
to the courage of the mind!
'he that ruleth his spirit (is greater) than he that taketh a city,
were the words of a king prov. 16.32

at length the doors of the hall were opened. L went in
and with him entered many persons who formed no portion of the diet.
never had man appeared before so imposing an assembly.
the emperor charles V, whose sovereignty
extended over great part of the old and new world;
his brother the archduke ferdinand;
six electors of the empire, most of whose descendants
now wear the kingly crown;
twenty four dukes, the majority of whom were
independent sovereigns over countries more or less extensive,
and among whom were some whose names afterwards
became formidable to the reformation
-the duke of alva and his two sons; eight margraves;
thirty archbishops, bishops and abbots; 
seven ambassadors, including those from the kings of france and england;
the deputies of ten free cities;
a great number of princes, counts and sovereign barons;
the papal nuncios
-in all two hundred and four persons;
such was the imposing court before which martin luther appeared.

this appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy.
the pope had condemned the man,
and yet there he stood before a tribunal which,
by this very act,
set itself above the pope
(note: the history of the last 1000 years was about to make a shift)
the pope had laid him under an interdict and cut him off from all human society;
and yet he was summoned in respectful language
and received before the most august assembly in the world.
the pope had condemned him to perpetual silence,
and yet he was now about to speak before thousands of attentive hearers
drawn together from the farthest parts of christendom.
an immense revolution had thus bee effected by L's instrumentality.
rome was already descending from her throne,
and it was the voice of a monk that caused this humiliation.

some of the princes, when they saw the emotion of
this son of the lowly miner of mansfeldt in the presence
of this assembly of kings,
approached him kindly, and one of them said to him:
'fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.'
and another added:
'when ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake,
the spirit of your Father shall speak in you.'
thus was the reformer comforted with his master's words by the
princes of this world.

meanwhile the guards made way for L.
he advanced and stood before the throne of charles V.
the sight of so august an assembly appeared for an instant
to dazzle and intimidate him.
all eyes were fixed on him.
the confusion gradually subsided,
and a deep silence followed.
'say nothing, said the marshal of the empire to him, before you are questioned.'
L was left alone.

after a moment of solemn silence,
the chancellor of the archbishop of treves, john ab eck,
who was the friend of aleander (note: the pope's chief man)
...rose and said with a loud and clear voice, first in latin and then in german;
'martin luther! his sacred and invincible imperial majesty
has cited you before his throne,
in accordance with the advice and counsel of the states of
the holy roman empire,
to require you to answer two questions:
first, do you acknowledge these books to have been written by you?'
at the same time the imperial speaker
pointed with his finger to about twenty volumes placed on a table
in the middle of the hall, directly in front of L.
'i do not know how they could have procured them, said L.
relating this circumstance.
it was aleander who had taken this trouble.
'secondly..are you prepared to retract these books and their contents,
or do you persist in the opinions you have advanced in them/

L, having no mistrust, was about to answer the first of these questions
in the affirmative,
when his counsel, jerome schurff, hastily interrupting him, exclaimed aloud;
'let the titles of the books be read!'

the chancellor approached the table and read the titles.
there were among their number many devotional works,
quite foreign to the controversy.

their enumeration being finished, L said first in latin and then in german:
'most gracious emperor! gracious princes and lords!
his imperial majesty has asked me two questions.
'as to the first, i acknowledge as mine the books that have just been named:
i cannot deny them.
as to the second, seeing that it is a question
which concerns faith and the salvation of souls,
and in which the word of God,
the greatest and most precious treasure either in heaven or earth,
is interested,
i should act imprudently were i to reply without reflection.
i might affirm less than the circumstance demands
or more than truth requires,
and so sin against this saying of Christ:
'whosoevr shall deny Me before men,
him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.'
for this reason i entreat your imperial majesty, with all humility,
to allow me time, that i may answer without offending
against the word of God.'

this reply, far from giving grounds to suppose that L felt any hesitation,
was worthy of the reformer and of the assembly.
it was right that he should appear calm and circumspect
in so important a matter,
and lay aside everything in this solemn moment that might cause
a suspicion of passion or rashness.
besides, by taking reasonable time,
he would give a stronger proof of the unalterable firmness of his resolution.
in history we read of man men who by a hasty expression
have brought misfortunes upon themselves and upon the world.
L restrained his own naturally impetuous disposition;
he controlled his tongue, ever too ready to speak,
he checked himself at a time when all the feeling by which he was animated
were eager for utterance.
this restraint, this calmness, so surprising in such a man,
multiplied his strength a hundredfold, and put him in a position to reply,
at a later period, with such wisdom, power and dignity,
as to deceive the expectations of his adversaries,
and confound their malice and their pride.

and yet, because he had spoken in a respectful manner,
and in a low tone of voice,
many thought he hesitated and even that he was dismayed.
a ray of hope beamed on the minds of the partisans of rome.
charles, impatient to know the man whose words had stirred the empire,
had not taken his eyes off him.
he turned to one of his courtiers, and said disdainfully,
'certainly this man will never make a heretic of me.'
then rising from his seat, the youthful emperor
withdrew with his ministers into a council room;
the electors with the princes retired into another;
and the deputies of the free cities, into a third.
when the diet assembled again, it was agreed to comply with L's request.
this was a great miscalculation in men actuated by passion.

'martin luther, said the chancellor of treves, his imperial majesty,
of his natural goodness, is very willing to grant you another day,
but under condition that you make your reply viva voce
and not in writing

...on the morning of april 18, he was not without his moments of trial,
in which the face of God seemed hidden from him.
his faith grew weak;
his enemies multiplied before him;
his imagination was overwhelmed at the sight...
his soul was as a ship tossed by a violent tempest, which reels
and sinks to the bottom of the abyss, and then mounts again to heaven
in this hour..he fell to the earth and uttered these broken cries,
which we cannot understand unless we can figure to ourselves
the depth of the anguish whence they ascend to God:

'O Almighty and Everlasting God!
how terrible is this world!
behold, it openeth its mouth to swallow me up,
and i have so little trust in Thee!
...how weak is the flesh, and how powerful is satan!
if it is in the strength of this world only that  i must put my trust,
all is over!...
my last hour is come, my condemnation has been pronounced!...
O God! O God!...
O God! do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the world!
do this
Thou shouldest do this...Thou alone...
for this is not my work, but Thine.
i have nothing to do here,
nothing to contend for with these great ones of the world!
i should desire to see my days flow on peaceful and happy.
but the cause is Thine...and it is a righteous and eternal cause.
O Lord! help me!
faithful and unchangeable God!
in no man do i place my trust. it would be vain!
all that is of man is uncertain;  all that cometh of man fails....
O God! my God, hearest Thou me not....
my God, art Thou dead?...no!
Thou canst not die!
Thou hidest Thyself only!
Thou hast chosen me for this work. i know it well!
act, then, O God...stand at my side, for the sake of
Thy well beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield,
and my strong tower.'

after a moment of silent struggle, he thus continued:
'Lord! where stayest Thou?...
O my God! where art Thou?
come! come! i am ready!...
i am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth...patient as a lamb.
for it is the cause of justice- it is Thine!...
i will never separate myself from Thee, neither now nor through
eternity!...
and though the world should be filled with devils,
-though my body, which is still the work of Thy hands,
should be slain, be stretched upon the pavement, be cu in pieces
...reduced to ashes...my soul is Thine!
....yes! i have the assurance of Thy word.
my soul belongs to Thee!
it shall abide forever with Thee...Amen!...
O God! help me!...Amen!

...at four oclock the herald appeared and conducted him
to the place where the diet was sitting.
the curiosity of the people had increased,
for the answer was to be decisive.
as the diet was occupied, L was compelled to wait in the court
in the midst of an immense crowd,
which heaved to and fro like the sea in a storm and
pressed the reformer with its waves.
two long hours elapsed, while the doctor stood in this multitude
so eager to catch a glimpse of him.
'i was not accustomed..to those manners and to all this noise.'
it would have been a sad preparation, indeed, for an ordinary man.
but God was with L.
his countenance was serene; his features tranquil;
the Everlasting One had raised him on a rock.
the night began to fall.
torches were lighted in the hall of the assembly.
their glimmering rays shone through
the ancient windows into the court.
 everything assumed a solemn aspect.
at last the doctor was introduced.
many persons entered with him,
for everyone desired to hear his answer.
 men's minds were on the stretch;
all impatiently awaited the decisive moment that was approaching.
this time L was clam, free and confident,
without the least perceptible mark of embarrassment.
his prayer had born fruit.
the princes having taken their seats,
though not without some difficulty,
for many of their places had been occupied,
and the monk of wittenberg finding himself again
standing before charles V,
the chancellor of the elector of treves began by saying:

'martin luther!
yesterday you begged for a delay that has now expired.
assuredly it ought not to have been conceded,
as every man, and especially you,
who are so great and learned a doctor in the holy scriptures,
should always be ready to answer every question touching
his faith...
now, therefore, reply to the question put by his majesty,
who has behaved to you with so much mildness.
will you defend your books as a whole
or are you ready to disavow some of them?'

..'upon this, dr. martin luther, says the acts of worms,
replied in the most submissive and humble manner.
he did not bawl or speak with violence;
but with decency, mildness, suitability and moderation
and yet with much joy and christian firmness.'

'most serene emperor! illustrious princes! gracious lords!
i appear before you this say, in conformity with
the order given me yesterday,
and by God's mercies I conjure (appeal to solemnly, earnestly)
your majesty and your august highnesses
to listen graciously to the defense of a cause
which i am assured is just and true.
it, through ignorance, i should transgress the usages and proprieties
of courts,
i entreat you to pardon me;
for i was not brought up in the palaces of kings,
but in the seclusion of a convent.

yesterday, two questions were put to me on behalf of his imperial majesty;
the first, if i was the author of the books whose titles were enumerated;
the second, if i would retract of defend the doctrine i had taught in them.
to the first i then made answer and i persevere in that reply.

as for the second, i have written works on many different subjects.
there are some in which i have treated of faith and good works,
in a manner at once so pure, so simple,  and so scriptural,
that even my adversaries, far from finding anything to censure in them,
allow that these works are useful, and worthy of being read by all
pious men.
the papal bull, however violent it may be, acknowledges this.
if, therefore, i were to retract these, what should i do?...
wretched man! among all men, i alone should abandon truths
that friends and enemies approve,
and i should oppose what the whole world glories in confessing...

secondly, i have written books against the papacy,
in which i have attacked those who, by their false doctrine,
their evil lives or their scandalous example, afflict the christian world
and destroy both body and soul.
the complaints of all who fear God are confirmatory of this.
is it not evident that the laws and human doctrines
of the popes entangle, torment, and vex
the consciences of believers,
while the crying and perpetual extortions of rome
swallow up the wealth and the riches of christendom
and especially of this illustrious nation?...

were i to retract what i have said on this subject,
what should i do but lend additional strength to this tyranny,
and open the floodgates to a torrent of impiety?
overflowing with still greater fury than before,
we should see these insolent men increase in number,
behave more tyrannically and domineer more and more.
and not only would the yoke that now weighs upon
the christian people be rendered heavier by my retractation,
but it would become, so to speak, more legitimate,
for by this very retractation it would receive the confirmation of
your most serene majesty and of all the states of the holy empire.
gracious God!
i would thus become a vile cloak to cover and conceal
every kind of malice and tyranny!...

lastly, i have written books against individuals who desired to defend
the romish tyranny and to destroy the faith.
i frankly confess that i may have attacked them
with more acrimony than is becoming my ecclesiastical profession.
i do not consider myself a saint;
but i cannot disavow these writings, for by so doing i should
sanction the impiety of my adversaries, and they would seize
the opportunity of oppressing the people of God with still greater cruelty.

yet i am but a mere man and not God;
i shall therefore defend myself as Christ did.
'if i have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil..john 18.23
how much more should i, who am but dust and ashes
and who may so easily go astray,
desire every man to state his objections to my doctrine!

for this reason, most serene emperor, and you, most illustrious princes,
and to all men of every degree, i conjure you, by the mercy of God,
to prove from the writings of the prophets and apostles that i have erred.
as soon as i am convinced of this,
i will retract every error
and be the first to lay hold of my books and throw them into the fire.

what i have just said plainly shows, i hope,
that i have carefully weighed and considered the dangers to which
i expose myself;
but, far from being dismayed,
i rejoice to see that the gospel in now,
as in former times, a cause of trouble and dissension.
this is the character-this is the destiny of the word of God.
'I came not to send peace (on earth), but a sword, said Jesus Christ. matt 10.34
God is wonderful and terrible in His counsels;
beware lest, by presuming to quench dissensions,
you should persecute the holy word of God
and draw down upon yourselves a frightful deluge of insurmountable
dangers, of present disasters and eternal desolation...
you should fear lest the reign of this young and noble prince,
on whom (under God) we build such lofty expectations,
not only should begin, but continue and close under the most
gloomy auspicies.
i might quote many examples from the oracles of God,
continued L, speaking with a noble courage in the presence of
the greatest monarch of the world:
'i might speak of the pharaohs, the kings of babylon and those of israel,
whose labors never more effectually contributed to their own destruction
than when they sought by counsels,
to all appearance most wise,
to strengthen their dominion.
God removeth mountains, and they know it not;
which overturneth them in His anger.  job 9.5

if i say these things, it is not because i think that such great princes need
my poor advice,
but because i desire to render unto germany what she has a right to expect
from her children.
thus, commending myself to your august majesty
and to your most serene highnesses,
i humbly entreat you not to suffer the hatred of my enemies
to pour out upon me an indignation that i have not merited.'

L had pronounce these words in german with modesty,
but with great warmth and firmness;
he was ordered to repeat them in latin.
the emperor did not like the german tongue.
the imposing assembly that surrounded the reformer
the noise and his own emotion, had fatigued him.
'i was in a great perspiration,
heated by the tumult, standing in the midst of the princes.
frederick of thun, privy councilor to the elector of saxony,
who was stationed by his master's orders at the side of the reformer,
to watch over him that no violence might be employed against him,
seeing the condition of the poor monk, said:
'if you cannot repeat what you have said,
that will do, doctor.'
but L, after a brief pause to take breath,
began again and repeated his speech in latin with the same energy as at first.

this gave great pleasure to the elector frederick, says the reformer.

when he had ceased speaking, the chancellor of treves,
the orator of the diet, said indignantly:
'you have not answered the question  put to you.
you were not summoned hither to call in question the decisions of councils.
you are required to give a clear and precise answer.
will you, or will you not, retract?
upon this L replied without hesitation:
'since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses
require from me a clear, simple and precise answer,
i will give you one, and it is this:
i cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils,
because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred
and contradicted each other.
unless therefore i am convinced by the testimony of scripture,
or by the clearest reasoning
-unless i am persuaded by means of the passages i have quoted
-and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God,
i cannot
and i will not
retract,
for it is unsafe for a christian to speak against his conscience.'
and then, looking round on this assembly before which he stood,
and which held his life in its hands,
he said: 'here i stand,
i can do no other; may God help me!
amen!

..if you do not retract, said the chancellor, as soon as the diet had recovered
from the impression produced by L's speech,
'the emperor and the states of the empire will consult
what course to adopt against an incorrigible heretic.
at these word L's friends began to tremble;
but the monk repeated:
'may God be my helper;
for i can retract nothing'.

...the partisans of rome could not decide to submit to this humiliation.
L was again called in and the orator of the diet said to him:
'martin, you have not spoken with the modesty becoming your position.
the distinction you have made between your books was futile;
for if you retracted those that contained your errors,
the emperor would not allow the others to be burned.
it is extravagant in you to demand to be refuted by scripture,
when you are reviving heresies condemned by the general council of constance.
the emperor, therefore, calls upon you to declare simply, yes or no,
whether you presume to maintain what you have advanced,
or whether you will retract a portion?'
'i have no other reply to make than that which i have already made,
answered L calmly.
his meaning was understood.
firm as a rock,
all the waves of human power dashed ineffectually against him.
the strength of his words, his bold bearing, his piercing eyes,
the unshaken firmness legible on the rough outlines
of his truly german features,
had produced the deepest impression on this illustrious assembly.
there was no longer any hope.
the spaniards, the belgians, and even the romans, were dumb.
the monk had vanquished these great ones of the earth.
he had said No to the church and to the empire.
charles V arose and all the assembly with him:
the diet will meet again tomorrow to hear the emperor's opinion,
said the chancellor with a loud voice.

nigh had closed in. each man retired to his home in darkness.
two imperial officers formed L's escort.
some persons imagined that his fate was decided,
that they were leading him to prison,
whence he would never come forth but to mount the scaffold:
an immense tumult broke out. several gentlemen exclaimed:
'are thy taking him to prison?
'no, replied L, they are accompanying me to my hotel.'
at these words the agitation subsided.
some spanish soldiers of the emperor' household
followed this bold man through the streets by which he had to pass,
with shouts and mockery, while others howled and roared like wild beasts
robbed of their prey.
but L remained calm and firm.

on the day following L's appearance (friday, april 19),
the emperor ordered a message to be read to the diet,
which he had written in french with his own hand.
'descended from the christian emperors of germany,
from the catholic kings of spain,
from the archdukes of austria
and from the dukes of burgundy,
who have all been renowned as defenders of the Roman faith,
i am firmly resolved to imitate the example of my ancestors.
a single monk, misled by his own folly,
has arisin aginst the faith of christendom.
to stay such impiety i will sacrifice my kingdoms
my treasures
my friends
my body
my blood
my soul
and my life.
i am about to dismiss the augustine L,
forbidding him to cause the least disorder among the people;
i shall then proceed against him and his adherents,
as contumacious
(stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient)
heritics,
by excommunication, by interdict (forbidden from sacraments, etc.)
and by every means calculated to destroy them.
i call on the members of the states to behave like faithful christians.
...this address did not please everyone...

the enthusiasm of the people, not only in worms,
but also in the most distant cities of the empire;
the intrpidity of the knights;
the attachment felt my many princes to the cause of the reformer,
wer all of a nature to show charles and the diet
that the course suggested by the romanists
(ie. disregard the promise of safe conduct and kill L)
might compromise the supreme authority,
excite revolts and even shake the empire.
it was only the burning of a simple monk that was in question;
but the prices and the partisans of rome had not.
all together, sufficient strength or courage to do this...

(honeyed words from a romanist intent on destroying L)
...'.the word of God, said he, that has been so long hidden
under a bushel, must reappear in all its brightness.
turning kindly to L, he said,
'we have not sent for you to dispute with you,
but to exhort you in a fraternal tone.
you know how carefully the scriptues cal upon us to beware of
'the arrow that fieth by day,
and the destruction that wasteth at noonday'.
that enemy of mankind has excited you to publish many tings
contrary to true religion.
reflect on your own safety and that of the empire.
beware lest those whom
Christ by His blood has redeemed from eternal death
should be misled by you and perish everlastingly...
do not oppose the holy councils.
if we did not uphold the decrees of our fathers,
there would be nothing but confusion in the church.
the eminent princes who hear me feel a special interest in your welfare;
but if you persist, then the emperor will
expel you from the empire
and no place in the world will offer you an asylum...
reflect on the fate that awaits you!'

'most serene princes, replied L, i thank you for your solicitude on my account;
for i am but a poor man,
and too mean to be exhorted by such great lords.
..i have not blemed all the councils, but only that of constance,
because by condemning this doctrine of john huss,
that the christian church is the assembly of all those
who are predestined to salvation,
it has condemned this article of our faith,
i believe in the holy catholic church and the word of God itself.
it is said my teaching is a cause of offense,
i reply that the gospel of Christ cannot be preached without oddense.
why then should the fear or apprehension of danger
separate me from the Lord
and from that divine word which alone is truth?
no!
i would rather give up my body, my blood and my life!

the princes and doctors having deliberated, L was again called in
and wehe mildly resumed:
'we must honor the powers that be,
even when they are in error and make great sacrifices for the sake of charity.
and then with greater earnestness of manner. he said:
'keave it to the emperor's decision and fear not.

L -'i consent with all my heart that the emperor,
the princes and even the meanest christian should examine and judge
my works;
but on one condition, that they take the word of God for their standard.
men have nothing to do but to obey it.
do not offer violence to my conscience, which is bound and chained up
with the holy scriptures.

the elector of brandenburg-'if i rightly understnd you, doctor,
you will acknowledge no other judge than the holy scriptures?

L-'precisely so, my lord
and on them i take my stand.

upon this the princes and doctors withdrew;
but the excellent archbishop of treves
could not make up his mind to abandon his undertaking.
'follow me, said he to L, as he passed into his private room;
and at the same time ordered john ab eck and cochloeus on the one side
and schurf and amsdorff on the other,
to come after.
'why do you always appeal to scripture? asked eck with warmth.
'it is the source of all heresies.
but l..remained firm as a rock..
'the pope, replied he, is no judge in the things belonging to the
word of god.
every christian should see and decide fo himself
how he ought to live and die.
the separated.
the partisans of the papacy felt L's superiority,
and attributed it to there being no one present
capable of answering him.
'if the emperor had acted wisely, says cochloeus,
when summoning L to worms,
he would also have invited theologians to refute his errors.

...L commanded by the emperor to return home in the space of  21 days,
'felt clearly that this message was the beginning of his condemnation:
'as the Lord pleases, answered he meekly,
blessed be the name of the Lord.
he thenadded; 'before all things, humbly and from the bottom of my heat
do i thank his majesty, the electors, princes and
other states of the empire,
for having listened to me so kindly.
i desire and have ever desired, but one thing
-a reformation of the church according to holy scripture.
i am ready to do and to suffer everything
in humble obedience to the emperor.s will.
flife or deah, evil or good eport
-it is all the same to me, with one resevation
the preaching of the gospel;
for, says st. pau,
the word of God must not be bound'...

...speaking of obedience due to kings..L..set forth clearly
what is the obedience due to kings
and that which is due to god, and what the limit at which
the former should cease and give place to the latter.
as we read (L's) epistle
we are involuntarily reminded o the word of the greatest
autocrat of modern times:
'my dominion ends where that of conscience begins. .
(note: napoleon to the protesant deputation after his accession
to the kindom.)

God, who is the serche of hearts, is my witness, said L
that i am ready most earnestly to boey your majesy,
in honor and in dishonor,
in life or in death,
and with no exception save the word of God, by which man lives.
in all the afairs of this present life,
my fidelity shall be unshaken,
for her o lose or o gain is of no consequence to salvation.
but when eernal interests are concerned,
God wills not that man should submit unto man.
for such submission in spiritual matters is a real worship,
and ought to be endered solely to the Creator.

....aleander (the popes main instrument) handed to charles the fifth
the document, which signed, would bring condemnation upon L.
(because L would not repent..'for this reason,
under pain of incurring the penalties due to
the crime of high treason,
we forbid you (basically every person) to harbor
the said L after the appointed term shall be expired,
to conceal him,
to give him food or drink,
or tto furnish him, by word or by deed,
publicly or secretly,
with any kind of succor whatsoevr.
we enjoin you, moreover,
to seize him or cause him to be seized,
wherever you may find him,
to bring him before us without any delay,
or to keep him in sae custody,
until you have learned from us in what manner
you are to act towards him,
and hav received the reward due to your labors in so holy a work.

as for his adherents, you will apprehend them, confine them
and confiscate their property.

as for his writings, if the best nutriment becomes the
detestation of all men as soon as one dop of poison is
mingled with it,
how much more ought such books,
which contain a deadly poison for the soul.
be not only rejeced, but destroyed!
you will therfore burn them or utterly destroy them in any other manner.

as fo the authors, poets, printers, painters, buyers or sellers
of placards, papers or pictures, against the pope or the church,
you will seize them, body and goods
and deal with them accoding to your good pleasure.
and if any person, whatever be his dignity,
should dare act in contradiction to the decree of our ijmperial majesty,
we order him o be placed under the ban of the empire.

let every man behave according to this decree.'

(L on the way home)..the same evening he arrived
at the village of his sires.
the poor old peasnt clasped in her arms that grandson
who had withstood charles the emperor and leo he pope.
L spent the next day wih his relations, happy,
ater the umult att worms, in this sweet tranquillity.
on the next morning he resumed his journey,
accompanied by amsdorf and his brother james.
in this lonely spot the eformer' fae was o be decide.
hey skirted the woods of thuringia, following the road
to waltershausen.
as the wagon was moving through a hollow way,
near the desertted church of glisback,
at a short distance from the castle of altensein,
a sudden noise was heard,
and immediately five horsemen,
masked and armed from head ot foot,,
sprang upon the travelers.
his brother james, as soon as he caught sight of the assailants,
leaped from the wagon and ran away
as fas as his legs would cary him, 
wihout uttering a singgle word.
the driver would have resisted.
"stop!' cried on of the strangers with a terrible voice,
falling upon him and hrowing him to the ground.
a second mask laid hold of amsdorff and kept  him at a distance.
menwhile the hree remaining horsemen seize upon L,
maintaining a profound silence.
they pulled him violently from the wagon,
threw a military cloak over his shoulders,
and placed him on a horse.
the two other masks now quitted amsdorff and the wagoner;
all five leaped to their saddles
-on dropped his hat, but they did not even stop to pick it up
-and in the winkling of an eye vanished with their prisoner
into the gloomy forest.

at first they took the road to boderode,
but soon retraced heir steps by another path;
and without quiting the wood,
made so may windins in every direction as utterly to baffle any attempt
to track them.
L, little accustomed to be on hoseback,
was soon overcome with fatigue.
they permitted him to aligh for a few minutes;
he lay down near a beech tree,
wher he drank some wateer from a spring
which is sill called aer his name.
his brothr james, continuing his flight,
arrived at waltershausen in the evening.
the affrighed wagone jumped ino the car,
which amsdorf had again mounted ,
and whipping his horses,
frove rapidly away from the spot,
and conducted L's friend to wittenberg.
at walteshausen, at wittenber,
in the counry, villages and owns along their road,
they spread the news of he violen abdution of the doctor.
this intlligence, which delighed some,
struck the greater number with asonishment and indignation.
a cry of gief soon resounded  through all germany:
'l has fallen into the hands of his enemies!'

..suddenly more comforting news arived.
'our beloved father lives..take courage and be im.
but it was not long before their dejecion reurned.
L was alive, but in prison...

but the influence of a mighier hand was felt above the hand of man;
God Himself deprived he formidable edict of all its stength.
he geman prices, who had always sough o diminish
th power of rome in the empire,
trembled at the alliance between the empero and the pope.
and feared that it would terminate in the desruction of their liberty.
accordingly, while charles in his journey through
the low countries greetted with an ironical smile the
burning piles which flaterers and fanatics kindled
on the public places with L's works,
these very wriings were read in germany
with a continually increasing eageness
and numerous pamphlets in favor of the reform
were daily inflicting some new blow on the papacy.
he nuncios were disgaced at seing this eic,
he fruit of so many intrigues, producing so little effect.
'he ink with which charles V signed his arrest, said hey bitterly,
is scarcely dry and yet
the imperial decree is everywhere torn in pieces.
the people were becoming more and more attached to
he admirable man who,
heedless of the thunders of charles and of the pope,
had confessed his faith with the courage of a martyr.
'he offered to retract, said they,
if he were refuted and no one dared undertake the task.
does no this prove the truth of his doctrines?
thus the first movement of alarm was succeeded in wittenberg
and the whole empire by a movement o enthusiasm.
even the archbishop of mentz, witnessing this outburst of
popular sympathy,
dared not give the cordeliers permission o preach against the reformer.
the university, that seemed on the point of being crushed,
raised its head.
he new doctrines wee too firmly established for them
to be shaken by L's absence;
and the halls of the academy could hardly contain
the crowd of hearers.

...in the midst of the dark forests of thuringia the reformer reposed
from he violent struggles that had agitated his soul.
there he studied christian truth,
not for the purpose of contention,
bu as a means of regeneration and life.
he beginning of the reformation was of necessity polemical;
new times required new labors.
after cutting down the thorns and the thickets,
it was requisite to sow the word of God peaceably in the heart.
if l had been incessantly called upon to fight fresh battles,
he would not have accomplished a durable work in the church.
thus by his captivity he escaped a danger which might possibly
have ruined the reformation
-that of always attacking and destroying without ever defending or building up.


...