Chapter XXI: Book I: Chap. I (16)

Luther, having written this letter, which was not sent to the legate till after his departure, prepared to quit Augsburg. God had kept him till this hour, and his heart praised Him for it; but he must not tempt God. He took leave of his friends, Peutinger, Langemantel, the Adelmanns, Auerbach, and the prior of the Carmelites, who had shown him so much Christian hospitality. On Wednesday before day-break he got up, and was ready to depart. His friends had advised him to use great precaution, lest his intention should be observed and frustrated, and he followed their counsels as much as he could. A pony, which Staupitz had left him, was brought to the gate of the convent, and once more bidding adieu to his brethren, he mounted and set off, without bridle, boots, or spurs, and unarmed. The magistrates had sent one of their officers on horseback, who was to accompany him, and who knew the roads perfectly. The servant led him in the darkness, through the silent streets of Augsburg, towards a small gate which was pierced in the city wall, and which counsellor Langemantel had given orders should be opened to him. He is still in the power of the legate, and the hand of Rome may still reach him. Doubtless, did the Italians know that their prey was escaping, they would sally forth in fury with hue and cry. Who knows if the intrepid opponent of Rome will not yet be seized and immured in a dungeon?... At length Luther and his guide arrive at the little gate, and, passing through it, are out of Augsburg. Then, putting their horses to the gallop, they make off in all haste.

Luther, on departing, had left his appeal to the pope in the hands of the prior of Pomesaw. His friends were of opinion that it should not be sent to the legate, and the prior was therefore charged to see to its being fixed up, two or three days after the doctor's departure, on the gate of the cathedral, in presence of a notary and witnesses. This was accordingly done.

In this document, Luther declares that he appeals from the most holy father the pope, ill informed, to the most holy lord and father in Christ, by name Leo X, by the grace of God, when better informed.[593] This appeal had been regularly drawn up and executed in due form by Gall de Herbrachtingen, the imperial notary, in presence of two Augustin monks, Bartholomew Utzmair and Wengel Steinbies. It was dated 16th October.

[593] "Melius informandum." (Luth. Op. Lat. I, p. 219.)

When the cardinal was informed of Luther's departure, he was astonished, and even, as he declares in a letter to the Elector, was frightened and amazed. In fact, he had grounds for irritation. This departure, which put so abrupt a termination to negotiation, disappointed the hopes which had so long flattered him. His ambition was to cure the wounds of the Church, and re-establish the pope's influence in Germany; and, lo! the heretic has escaped not only without having been punished, but even without having been humbled. The conference had only served to bring more prominently into view, on the one hand, the simplicity, uprightness, and firmness of Luther; and, on the other, the imperiousness and unreasonable conduct of the pope and his ambassador. Rome, having gained nothing, must have lost: her authority not having been strengthened, had, of necessity, experienced a new check. What will be said at the Vatican? What tidings will arrive at Rome? The difficulties of his situation will be forgotten, and the failure imputed to his want of skill. Serra-Longa and the Italians are furious at seeing persons of their ability outwitted by a German monk. De Vio is scarcely able to conceal his irritation. The affront cries for vengeance, and we shall soon see him giving vent to his wrath in a letter to the Elector.

CHAP. X.

Luther's Flight--Admiration--Luther's Wish--The Legate to
the Elector--The Elector to the Legate--Prosperity of the
University.

Luther continued with his guide to flee from Augsburg. He urged his steed to the utmost speed that the poor animal's strength would permit. He thought of the real or supposed flight of John Huss, the manner in which he was laid hold of, and the assertion of his adversaries, who pretended that the flight annulled the Emperor's safe-conduct, and entitled them to condemn him to the flames.[594] These uneasy thoughts merely crossed Luther's mind. Escaped from the town, where he had passed ten days under the terrible hand of Rome, which had already crushed so many thousand witnesses of the truth, and drenched herself with blood--now that he is free, now that he breathes the pure air of the field, and traverses the villages and plains--now that he sees himself wonderfully delivered--his whole soul magnifies the Lord. Truly he may now say, "_Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth._"[595] Luther's heart is thus filled with joy. But his thoughts also revert to De Vio. "The cardinal," says he, "would have liked to have me in his hands to send me to Rome. No doubt he is chagrined at my escape. He imagined that he was master of me at Augsburg--he thought he was sure of me; but he had an eel by the tail. Is it not a shame in these people to set so high a price upon me? They would give many crowns to have me; whereas, our Lord Jesus Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver."[596]

[594] Weissmann, Hist. Eccl., i, p. 1237.

[595] Psalm cxxiv. 7, 8.

[596] Luth. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 202.

The first day Luther travelled fourteen leagues. In the evening, on arriving at the inn where he was to pass the night, he was so fatigued (his horse, says one of his biographers, had a very hard trot,) that, on dismounting, he could not stand erect, and stretched himself out upon the straw. He, nevertheless, enjoyed some sleep, and the next day continued his journey. At Nuremberg, he found Staupitz on a visit to the convents of his order, and, for the first time saw the brief which the pope had sent to Cajetan respecting him. He was indignant at it. In all probability, if he had read it before his departure from Wittemberg, he would never have appeared before the cardinal. "It is impossible to believe," says he, "that any thing so monstrous could emanate from a sovereign pontiff."[597]

[597] Luth. Ep. i, p. 166.

Throughout the journey, Luther was an object of general interest. He had not yielded a whit. Such a victory gained by a mendicant monk over a representative of Rome, excited universal admiration. Germany seemed avenged for the contempt of Italy. The eternal Word had been more honoured than the word of the pope; and that vast power which had domineered over the world for so many ages had received an important check. Luther's journey was a triumph. People were delighted with the obstinacy of Rome, hoping that it would hasten her downfall. Had she not chosen to keep fast hold of dishonest gains--had she been wise enough not to despise the Germans--had she reformed clamant abuses--perhaps, according to human views, things might have returned to the state of death out of which Luther had aroused them. But the papacy chooses not to yield, and the doctor will see himself constrained to bring many other errors to light, and to advance in the knowledge and the manifestation of the truth.

On the 26th October Luther arrived at Græfenthal, situated at the extremity of the forests of Thuringia. Here he fell in with Count Albert of Mansfeld, who had so strongly dissuaded him from going to Augsburg. The count laughed heartily on seeing his singular equipage; and, laying hands on him, obliged him to become his guest. Shortly after Luther resumed his journey.

He made haste to be at Wittemberg by the 31st October, expecting that the Elector would be there at the Feast of All Saints, and that he would be able to see him. The brief which he had read at Nuremberg had made him fully aware of the danger of his situation. In fact, being already condemned at Rome, he could not hope either to remain at Wittemberg, or to obtain an asylum in a convent, or to be in peace and safety any where else. The protection of the Elector might, perhaps, defend him, but he was far from being able to calculate upon it. He could not expect any help from the two friends whom he had formerly had at the court. Staupitz, having lost the favour he long enjoyed, had quitted Saxony, Spalatin was loved by Frederick, but had no great influence over him. The Elector himself was not so well acquainted with the gospel as to encounter manifest perils on account of it. However, Luther saw nothing better which he could do than return to Wittemberg, and there await the decision of an almighty and merciful God. If, as several thought, he were left at liberty, his wish was to devote himself entirely to study and the education of youth.[598]

[598] Luth. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 183.

Luther did arrive at Wittemberg by the 30th October; but his haste had been to no purpose, for neither the Elector nor Spalatin came to the festival. His friends were overjoyed on seeing him again among them. The very day of his arrival he hastened to announce it to Spalatin--"I came back to Wittemberg to-day, safe and sound, by the grace of God; but how long I shall remain is more than I know.... I am filled with joy and peace; so much so, that I cannot help wondering how the trial which I endure appears so great to so many great personages."

De Vio did not wait long, after Luther's departure, to vent all his indignation to the Elector. His letter breathes vengeance. In an assuming tone he gives Frederick an account of the conference. "Since friar Martin," says he, in conclusion, "cannot be brought by paternal methods to acknowledge his error, and remain faithful to the Catholic Church, I pray your Highness to send him to Rome, or banish him from your States. Be assured that this difficult, naughty, and venomous affair, cannot last longer; for, when I shall have acquainted our most holy lord with all the craft and malice, there will soon be an end of it." In a postscript, in his own hand, the cardinal entreats the Elector not to sully his own honour, and that of his illustrious ancestors, for a miserable paltry friar.[599]

[599] Ibid. p. 203.

Never, perhaps, was the soul of Luther filled with nobler indignation than on reading the copy of this letter which the Elector sent him. The thought of the sufferings which he is destined to endure, the value of the truth for which he is combating, the contempt he feels for the conduct of the legate of Rome, at once fill his heart. His reply, written under the influence of those feelings, is full of the courage, dignity, and faith, which he always manifested in the most difficult crisis of his life. He, in his turn, gives an account of the conference of Augsburg, and then, after exposing the conduct of the cardinal continues:--

"I should like to answer the legate in the Elector's stead.

"Prove that you speak with knowledge," I would say to him; "let the whole affair be committed to writing; then I will send Friar Martin to Rome, or rather, I myself will cause him to be seized and put to death. I will take care of my conscience and my honour, and allow no stain to sully my fame. But as long as your certain knowledge shuns the light, and manifests itself only by clamour, I cannot give credit to darkness.

"This, most excellent prince, would be my answer.

"Let the reverend legate, or the pope himself, give a written specification of my errors; let them explain their reasons; let them instruct me who desire, who ask, and wish, and wait for instruction, in so much that even a Turk would not refuse to give it. If I retract not, and condemn myself after they shall have proved to me that the passages which I have cited ought to be understood differently from what I have done, then, O most excellent Elector, let your Highness be the first to pursue and chase me, let the university discard me, and load me with its anger. Nay, more, (and I call heaven and earth to witness,) let the Lord Jesus Christ reject and condemn me! The words which I speak are not dictated by vain presumption, but by immovable conviction. I am willing that the Lord God withdraw his grace from me, and that every creature of God refuse to countenance me, if, when a better doctrine shall have been shown to me, I embrace it not.

"If, on account of the humbleness of my condition, they despise me, a poor paltry mendicant friar, and if they refuse to instruct me in the way of truth, let your Highness pray the legate to point out to you in writing wherein I have erred; and, if they refuse this favour even to your Highness, let them write their views either to his Imperial Majesty, or to some Archbishop of Germany. What ought I, what can I say more?

"Let your Highness listen to the voice of your honour and your conscience, and not send me to Rome. No man can command you to do it, for it is impossible I can be in safety at Rome. The pope himself is not in safety there. It would be to order you to betray Christian blood. They have paper, pens, and ink, and they have also notaries without number. It is easy for them to write, and show wherein and how I have erred. It will cost less to instruct me by writing while I am absent, than while present to accomplish my death by stratagem.

"I resign myself to exile. My enemies are so ensnaring me on all sides, that I can no where live in safety. In order that no evil may befall you on my account, I, in the name of God, abandon your territories; I will go wherever an almighty and merciful God wishes me to be. Let him do with me as seemeth to him good!

"Thus, then, most serene Elector, with veneration I bid you farewell. I commend you to Almighty God, and give you immortal thanks for all your kindness towards me. Whatever the people among whom I shall live in future, I will always remember you, and gratefully pray, without ceasing, for the happiness of you and yours.[600]... I am still, thank God, full of joy, and I bless him that Christ his Son counts me worthy of suffering in so holy a cause. May he eternally guard your illustrious Highness! Amen!"

[600] "Ego enim ubicunque ero gentium, illustrissimæ Dominationis tuæ
nusqum non ero memor...." (Luth. Ep. i. p. 187.)

This letter, so replete with truth, made a profound impression on the Elector. "He was shaken by a very eloquent letter," says Maimbourg. He never would have thought of delivering an innocent man into the hands of Rome. Perhaps he would have asked Luther to remain for some time in concealment, but not even in appearance would he have yielded, in any way, to the menaces of the legate. He wrote to his counsellor Pfeffinger, who happened to be with the Emperor, to make him acquainted with the real state of matters, and beg him to request Rome either to put an end to the affair, or at least leave it to be decided in Germany by impartial judges.[601]

[601] Luth. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 244.

Some days after the Elector replied to the legate:--"Since Doctor Martin appeared before you at Augsburg, you ought to be satisfied. We did not expect that without having convicted him you would have thought of constraining him to retract. None of the learned in our dominions have told us that the doctrine of Martin is impious, antichristian, and heretical." The prince then refuses to send Luther to Rome, or banish him from his states.

This letter, which was communicated to Luther, filled him with joy. "Good God!" wrote he to Spalatin, "with what joy I have read it and re-read it. I know what confidence may be put in these words, so admirable at once for vigour and moderation. I fear the Romans will not comprehend all that is meant by them, but they will at least comprehend that what they thought already finished is not even begun. Have the goodness to present my thanks to the prince. It is strange that he, (De Vio,) who not long ago was a mendicant monk like me, is not afraid to accost the most powerful princes without respect, to interpel, threaten, and command them, and treat them with inconceivable pride. Let him learn that the temporal power is of God, and that it is not permitted him to trample its glory under foot."[602]

[602] Luth. Ep. i, p. 198.

Frederick, in answering the legate in a tone which he had not expected, had doubtless been encouraged by an address which he had received from the university of Wittemberg. This university had good reason for declaring in the doctor's favour, in as much as it was flourishing more and more, and eclipsing all the other schools. Crowds of students flocked from all parts of Germany to hear the extraordinary man whose lessons seemed to open a new era to religion and science. These youths who came from all the provinces stopped at the moment when they perceived the steeples of Wittemberg in the distance, and raising their hands to heaven, thanked God for making the light of truth shine on this town as formerly on Zion, and send its rays even to the remotest countries.[603] A life and activity hitherto unknown animated the university. "They ply their studies here like ants," wrote Luther.[604]

[603] Scultet. Annal. i, p. 17.

[604] "Studium nostrum more formicarum fervet." (Luth. Ep. i, p. 193.)

CHAP. XI.

Thoughts of Departure--Adieus to the Church--Critical
Moment--Deliverance--Luther's Courage--Discontentment at
Rome--Bull--Appeal to a Council.

Luther, thinking that he might soon be banished from Germany, employed himself in preparing the Acts of the Conference of Augsburg for publication. He wished these Acts to remain as evidence of the struggle which he had maintained with Rome. He saw the storm ready to burst, but feared it not. Day after day he expected the anathemas of Rome, and arranged and set every thing in order, that he might be ready when they arrived. "Having tucked up my coat, and girt my reins," said he, "I am ready to depart like Abraham; not knowing whither I shall go, or rather knowing well, since God is every where."[605] He intended to leave a farewell letter behind him. "Have the boldness, then," wrote he to Spalatin, "to read the letter of a man cursed and excommunicated."

[605] "Quia Deus ubique." (Luth. Ep. i, p. 188.)

His friends were in great fear and anxiety on his account, and begged him to enter himself prisoner in the hands of the Elector, in order that that prince might somewhere keep him in safe custody.[606]

[606] "Ut principi me in captivatem darem." (Ibid. p. 189.)

His enemies could not understand what it was that gave him so much confidence. One day they were talking of him at the court of the Bishop of Brandenburg, and asking on what prop he could be leaning. "It must be in Erasmus," said they, "or Capito, or some other of the learned, that he confides." "No! no!" replied the bishop, "the pope would give himself very little trouble with such folks as these. His trust is in the university of Wittemberg and the Duke of Saxony." Thus both were ignorant of the fortress in which the Reformer had taken refuge.

Thoughts of departure flitted across Luther's mind. They arose not from fear, but from the foresight of continually recurring obstacles which the free profession of the truth must encounter in Germany. "If I remain here," said he, "the liberty of speaking and writing will, as to many things, be wrested from me. If I depart, I will freely unbosom the thoughts of my heart, and offer my life to Jesus Christ."[607]

[607] "Si icro totum effundam et vitam offeram Christo." (Luth. Ep. i,
p. 190.)

France was the country in which Luther hoped he would be able, untramelled, to announce the truth. The liberty which the doctors and university of Paris enjoyed seemed to him worthy of envy. He was, besides, agreed with them on many points. What would have happened had he been transported from Wittemberg to France? Would the Reformation have taken place there as it did in Germany? Would the power of Rome have been dethroned; and would France, which was destined to see the hierarchical principles of Rome, and the destructive principles of an infidel philosophy, long warring in its bosom, have become one great focus of gospel light? It is useless to indulge in vain conjectures on this subject; but perhaps Luther at Paris might have somewhat changed the destinies of Europe and France.

Luther's soul was powerfully agitated. As he often preached at the town church in place of Simon Heyens Pontanus, pastor of Wittemberg, who was almost always sick, he thought it his duty, at all events, to take leave of a people to whom he had so often preached salvation. "I am," said he one day in the pulpit, "I am a precarious and uncertain preacher. How often already have I set out suddenly without bidding you farewell.... In case the same thing should happen again, and I not return, here receive my adieus." After adding a few words more, he thus meekly and modestly ended:--"I warn you, in fine, not to be alarmed though the papal censures let loose all their fury on me. Impute it not to the pope, and wish no ill either to him or any other mortal whatsoever, but commit the whole matter to God."[608]

[608] "Deo rem committerent." (Ibid., p. 191.)

The moment seemed to have at length arrived. The prince gave Luther to understand he was desirous of his removal to a distance from Wittemberg; and the wishes of the Elector were too sacred for him not to hasten to comply with them. He accordingly made preparations for his departure, without well knowing whither he should direct his steps. He wished, however, to have a last meeting with his friends, and for this purpose invited them to a farewell repast. Seated at table with them, he was still enjoying their delightful conversation, their tender and anxious friendship. A letter is brought to him.... It comes from the court. He opens and reads, and his heart sinks; it is a new order to depart. The prince asks why he is so long of setting out. His soul was filled with sadness. Still, however, he took courage, and raising his head and looking around on his guests, said firmly and joyfully, "Father and mother forsake me, but the Lord will take me up."[609] There was nothing for it but to depart. His friends were deeply moved. What is to become of him? If Luther's protector rejects him, who will receive him? And the gospel, and the truth, and this admirable work ... ; all doubtless must fall with their illustrious witness. The Reformation apparently is hanging by a thread; and at the moment when Luther quits the walls of Wittemberg, will not the thread break? Luther and his friends spoke little. Stunned with the blow which was directed against their brother, they melt into tears. But some moments after a second message arrives, and Luther opens the letter, not doubting he is to find a renewal of the summons to depart. But, O powerful hand of the Lord! for this time he is saved. The whole aspect is changed. "As the new envoy of the pope hopes that every thing may be arranged by means of a conference, remain still."[610] So says the letter. How important an hour this was; and who can say what might have happened if Luther, who was always in haste to obey the will of his prince, had quitted Wittemberg immediately after the first message? Never were Luther and the work of the Reformation at a lower ebb than at this moment. Their destinies seemed to be decided; but an instant sufficed to change them. Arrived at the lowest point in his career, the doctor of Wittemberg rapidly reascended; and thenceforward his influence ceased not to increase. In the language of a prophet, "The Eternal commands, and his servants descend into the depths; again they mount up to heaven."

[609] "Vater und Mutter verlassen mich, aber der Herr nimmt mich auf."

[610] Luth. Op. xv, 824.

Spalatin having, by order of Frederick, invited Luther to Lichtenberg to have an interview with him, they had a long conversation on the situation of affairs. "If the censures of Rome arrive," said Luther, "I certainly will not remain at Wittemberg." "Beware," "of being too precipitate with your journey to France," replied Spalatin,[611] who, left telling him to wait till he heard from him. "Only recommend my soul to Christ," said Luther to his friends. "I see that my adversaries are strong in their resolution to destroy me, but at the same time Christ strengthens me in my resolution not to yield to them."[612]

[611] "Ne tam cito in Galliam irem." (Luth. Ep. i, p. 195.)

[612] "Firma Christus propositum non cendi in me." (Ibid.)

Luther at this time published the "_Acts of the Conference at Augsburg_." Spalatin, on the part of the Elector, had written him not to do it; but it was too late. After the publication had taken place the prince approved of it; "Great God!" said Luther in the preface, "what new, what astonishing crime, to seek light and truth! And more especially to seek them in the Church, in other words, in the kingdom of truth." In a letter to Link he says, "I send you my _Acts_. They are more cutting, doubtless, than the legate expected; but my pen is ready to give birth to far greater things. I know not myself whence those thoughts come. In my opinion the affair is not even commenced;[613] so far are the grandees of Rome from being entitled to hope it is ended. I will send you what I have written, in order that you may see whether I have divined well in thinking that the Antichrist of which the Apostle Paul speaks is now reigning in the court of Rome. I believe I am able to demonstrate that it is at this day worse than the very Turks."

[613] "Res ista necdum habet initium suum meo judicio." (Luth. Ep. i,
p. 19.)

Ominous rumours reached Luther from all quarters. One of his friends wrote to him, that the new envoy of Rome had received orders to seize him, and deliver him up to the pope. Another told him, that in travelling he had fallen in with a courtier, and the conversation having turned on the affairs of Germany, the courtier declared that he had come under an obligation to deliver Luther into the hands of the sovereign pontiff. "But," wrote the Reformer, "the more their fury and violence increase, the less I tremble."[614]

[614] "Quo illi magis furunt, et vi affectant viam, eo minus ego
terreor." (Ibid., p. 191.)

At Rome there was great dissatisfaction with Cajetan. The chagrin which they felt at the failure of the affair at first turned upon him. The Roman courtiers thought themselves entitled to reproach him with a want of that prudence and finesse which, if they are to be believed, constitute the first quality of a legate, and with having failed on so important an occasion, to give pliancy to his scholastic theology. He is wholly to blame, said they. His lumbering pedantry has spoiled all. Of what use was it to irritate Luther by insults and menaces, instead of gaining him over by the promise of a good bishopric, or even of a Cardinal's hat.[615] These hirelings judged the Reformer by themselves. However, it was necessary to repair this blunder. On the one hand, Rome must give her decision, and, on the other, due court must be paid to the Elector, who might be of great use in the election of an emperor, an event which must shortly take place.

[615] Sarpi, Council of Trent, p. 8.

As it was impossible for Roman ecclesiastics to suspect what constituted the strength and courage of Luther, they imagined that the Elector was much more implicated in the affair than he really was. The pope, therefore, resolved to follow another line of conduct. He caused his legate in Germany to publish a bull, confirming the doctrine of indulgences in the very points in which they were attacked, but without mentioning either the Elector or Luther. As the Reformer had always expressed his readiness to submit to the decision of the Roman Church, the pope thought that he must now either keep his word, or stand openly convicted as a disturber of the peace of the Church, and a contemner of the holy Apostolic See. In either case it seemed that the pope must gain. But nothing is gained by obstinately opposing the truth. In vain had the pope threatened to excommunicate every man who should teach otherwise than he ordered; the light was not arrested by such orders. The wise plan would have been to curb the pretensions of the venders of indulgences. This decree of Rome was therefore a new blunder. By legalising clamant errors, it irritated all the wise, and made it impossible for Luther to return. "It was thought," says a Roman Catholic historian, a great enemy of the Reformation,[616] "that this bull had been made solely for the interest of the pope and the mendicants, who began to find that nobody would give anything for their indulgences."

[616] Maimbourg, p. 38.

The Cardinal de Vio published the bull at Lintz, in Austria, on the 13th December, 1518, but Luther had already placed himself beyond its reach. On the 28th November, in the chapel of Corpus Christi at Wittemberg, he had appealed from the pope to a general council of the Church. He foresaw the storm which was gathering around him, and he knew that God alone could avert it. Still he did as duty called him. He must, no doubt, quit Wittemberg (were it only for the sake of the Elector) as soon as the Roman anathema should arrive; but he was unwilling to quit Saxony and Germany without a strong protestation. This he accordingly drew up; and, in order that it might be ready for circulation the moment the furies of Rome, as he expresses it, should reach him, he caused it to be printed, under the express condition that the bookseller Should deposit all the copies in his custody. But the bookseller, in his eagerness for gain, sold almost the whole, while Luther was quietly waiting to receive them. He felt annoyed, but the thing was done. This bold protestation spread every where. In it Luther declared anew that he had no intention to say any thing against the Holy Church, or the authority of the Apostolic See, or the pope well advised. "But," continues he, "considering that the pope, who is the vicar of God upon earth, may, like any other vicar, err, sin, or lie, and that the appeal to a general council is the only safeguard against unjust proceedings which it is impossible to resist, I feel myself obliged to have recourse to it."[617]

[617] Löscher. Ref. Act.

Here, then, we see the Reformation launched on a new course. It is no longer made to depend on the pope and his decisions, but on an universal council. Luther addresses the whole Church, and the voice which proceeds from the chapel of Corpus Christi, must reach the whole members of Christ's flock. There is no want of courage in the Reformer, and here he gives a new proof of it. Will God fail him? The answer will be found in the different phases of the Reformation which are still to be exhibited to our view.

END OF VOLUME FIRST.

William Collins, and Co., Printers, Glasgow.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.

The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is superscripted (example: WILL^M).

Archaic words, variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error.

The following footnotes had no anchors and hence were added by the transcriber:

Footnote 11: "Ego me non arbitror hoc honore dignum." (Er. Ep. i, p. 653.)

Footnote 112: Erasm. Ep. 274.

Footnote 128: "Was gross sol werden, muss klein angeben." (Mathesius, Hist. p. 3.)

Footnote 563: There was no anchor for the footnote "Seckend. p. 137." The transcriber has supplied it.

On page 47 there is a footnote anchor with no matching footnote at "Promise me that you will always think so." The transcriber has placed an asterisk at the location.

Table of Contents incorrectly lists Book II Chapter IX as beginning on page 94. The transcriber has changed the number to 93. Likewise the page number for Chapter X has been changed from 168 to 167. For Book III Chapter V, the page number has been changed from 204 to 203.