THE PROTEST AT SPIRES.

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will. It was a measure of the highest importance to the cause of Protestantism. It is a great landmark in the history of the German Reformation. The war of the Emperor and the Pope involved the necessity of tolerating the Lutherans.

In 1527, an imperial army, composed largely of Lutheran infantry, captured and sacked the city of Rome. For several months the Pope was held a prisoner. For a number of years the position of Charles with respect to France and the Pope, and the fear of Turkish invasion, had operated to embolden and greatly strengthen the cause of Luther. But now that the Emperor had gained a complete victory in Italy, the Catholic party revived its policy of repression; and at the Diet of Spires, in 1529, a majority was obtained for an edict virtually forbidding the progress of the Reformation in the states which had not accepted it, at the same time that liberty was given to the adherents of the old confession in the reformed states to celebrate their rites with freedom. It is impossible to describe here the methods by which a reversal of the national policy was thus procured. The decisive circumstance was that Charles V., in consequence of his sympathy with the spirit of Spanish Catholicism, instead of putting himself at the head of the great religious and national movement in Germany, chose to maintain the ancient union of the Empire with the Papacy. The protest against the proceeding of the Diet, which gave the name of Protestants to the reforming party, and the appeal to the Emperor, to a general or a German council, and to all impartial Christian judges, was signed by John, the Elector of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Prince of Anhalt; to whom were united fourteen cities, among which were Nuremberg, Strasburg, and Con

stance.

The party of reform did not consider itself bound by

the action of the Diet, not only because its edict looked to compulsion in a matter that should be left to the conscience, but also because it overthrew a policy which had been solemnly established; a policy on the faith of which the princes and cities that were favorable to the evangelical cause had proceeded in shaping their religious polity and worship. The efforts made, especially by the Landgrave of Hesse, to combine the supporters of the Reformation in a defensive league, were chilled by the opposition of Luther to measures that looked to a war with the Emperor, and still more prevented from being successful by his determined unwillingness to unite with the Swiss, on account of what he considered their heretical doctrine of the sacrament. Luther and his associates were imbued with a sense of the obligation of the subject to the powers that be and with the sacredness of the Empire. The course for the Christian to take, in their judgment, was that of passive obedience. They likewise deemed it an unlawful thing to join with errorists

with men who rejected material parts of Christian truth. However open to criticism the position of the Saxon reformers was on both of these points, it should not be forgotten that their general motive was the sublime disregard of mere expediency, which had characterized, and, we may add, had ennobled their movement at every step.

The

In this state of things, the Emperor, flushed with success, met the representatives of the Empire in 1530, at the memorable Diet of Augsburg. The inconvenience and danger of keeping the Pope in captivity had caused Charles to wish for an accommodation with him. desire of Clement VII., a self-seeking politician, to have Florence restored to his family, in connection with other less influential considerations, inspired him with a like feeling; so that amity was reestablished. At the same time the Peace of Cambray terminated for a time the

THE DIET OF AUGSBURG.

119

conflict with France. The Emperor was freed from the embarrassments which had hindered him from putting forth determined endeavors to restore the unity of the Church. He had been crowned at Bologna, and was filled with a sense of his responsibility as the head of the Holy Roman Empire, the guardian of Christianity and of the Church. He was surrounded by the Spanish nobility as well as by the princes and representatives of the Empire. The design was to persuade, and, if this should prove impracticable, to overawe and coerce the Protestants into an abandonment of their cause. A faith and heroism less steadfast would have yielded to the tremendous pressure that was brought to bear upon them. It was not considered wise or safe for Luther to go to Augsburg. He was left behind in the castle of Coburg, within the limits of the Elector's dominion, but he held frequent communication with the Saxon theologians who attended the Elector. The celebrated Confession, drawn up by Melancthon, in a conciliatory spirit, but clearly defining the essential tenets of Protestantism-a creed which has obtained more currency and respect than any other Protestant symbol - was read to the Assembly. The reply, composed by Eck and other Catholic theologians, was also presented. Then followed efforts at compromise, in which Melancthon bore a prominent part, and showed a willingness to concede everything but that which was deemed most vital. These efforts fell to the ground. They could invent no formulas on which they could agree, upon the merit of works, penance, and the invocation of saints. The elaborate and able Apology by Melancthon, in defense of the Confession, was not heard, but was published by the author. The majority of the Diet enjoined the restoration of the old ecclesiastical institutions, allowing the Protestants time for reflection until the 10th of November of the following year; after which, it was implied, coercion would be adopted. Nothing in the his

tory of the Reformation is more pathetic than the conduct of the Elector John at Augsburg, who, in the full prospect of the ruin of every earthly interest, and not without the deepest sensibility from his attachment to the Emperor and to the peace of the Empire, nevertheless resolved to stand by "the imperishable Word of God." The Reformers were willing to release him from all obligation to protect them, to take whatever lot Providence might send upon them; but this true-hearted prince refused to compromise in the least his sacred convictions.1

66

The letters written by Luther during the sessions of the Diet exhibit in bold relief the noblest and most attractive sides of his character. The fine mingling of jest and earnest, the grand elevation of his faith, his serene, dauntless courage, and his broad sagacity, are never more striking. He takes time to write a charming letter to his little son. 2 To his friends at Augsburg he sportively writes that in the flock of crows and rooks hurrying to and fro, and screaming in a thicket before his window, he finds another Diet, with its dukes and lords, which quite resembles the imperial assembly. They care not for large halls and palaces; for their hall is roofed by the beautiful, wide-spreading sky, its floor is the simple turf, its tables are pretty green branches, and its walls are as wide as the world's end." He will build there, in his seclusion, three tabernacles, one for the prophets, one for the Psalter, and another for Esop; for not only will he expound the Scriptures, he will translate Esop, too, for the instruction of his Germans.4 Why had Master Joachim twice written to him in Greek? He would reply in Turkish, so that Master Joachim might also read what he 1 John the Constant succeeded his brother, Frederic the Wise, in 1525. 2 De Wette, iv. 41.

3

8 De Wette, iv. 4, 8, 13. The letter is dated from "the Diet of GrainPeckers," April 28, 1530. Writing to Spalatin a few days after in the same strain, he adds: "Yet it is in seriousness and by compulsion that I jest, that I may repel the reflections which rush in upon me, if indeed I may repel them." De Wette, iv. 14. 4 De Wette, iv. 2.

LUTHER'S FAITH AND COURAGE.

8

121

could not understand. He sets a trap to decoy a fastidious musical critic into an approval of a piece which Luther had himself partly composed, but which he contrives to have passed off as a performance at Augsburg, to celebrate the entrance of Charles and Ferdinand.2 Suffering himself from prostration of strength and from a thundering in the head, which forced him to lay down his books for days, he enjoins Melancthon to observe the rules for the care of his "little body." He exhorts the anxious Philip to the exercise of greater faith. If Moses had resolved to know just how he was to escape from the army of Pharaoh, Israel would have been in Egypt to-day.* Let Philip cease to be rector mundi and let the Lord govern.5 In bearing private griefs and afflictions, Philip was the stronger, but the opposite is true, said Luther, of those which are of a public nature. If we fall, he says, Christ falls, and I prefer to fall with Christ than stand with Cæsar.7 He rejoices to have lived to have the Confession read before the Empire. He bids Melancthon, if the cause is unjust, to abandon it; but if it be just, to cast away his fears. He is full of that sublime confidence which rang out in the most popular of his hymns, "the Marseillaise of the Reformation".

"Ein fester Burg ist unser Gott".

Three hours in the day he spent in prayer. He writes to the Elector's anxious Chancellor: "I have lately seen

2 Ibid.

6 Ibid., p. 62.

3 Ibid., p. 36.
Ibid., p. 63.

4 Ibid., p. 52.
8 Ibid., p. 71.

1 De Wette, iv. 16. 5 Ibid., p. 55. 9 Veit Dietrich, who was with him, wrote to Melancthon: "I cannot sufficiently wonder at this man's admirable steadfastness, cheerful courage, faith, and hope, in so doleful a time. He nourishes these tempers, however, by studious, uninterrupted meditation of God's Word. Not a day passes when he does not spend three hours, and those best suited for study, in prayer. Once I had the good fortune to hear him pray. Good God, what a faith appeared in his words! He prayed with such reverence that one saw he was talking with God, and yet. with such faith and hope that it seemed as if he was talking with a father and a friend. I know,' he said, 'that Thou art our God and Father. So I am certain Thou wilt bring to shame the persecutors of Thy children. If Thou doest it not, the hazard is Thine as well as ours. In truth, the whole matter is