Erasmus sarcastically to remark, that “ poor "2 A. D. 1530. That eminent scholar had been invited to be Erasmus. present at Augsburg, and to assist with his advice in the religious discussions: but he declined the honour, having no inclination to incur the odium with which it would be attended, probably from both parties. Indeed he was seriously ill at the time. He corresponded, however, with different persons concerned, Campeggio, Melancthon, and others; still preserving his character, as Maimbourg not unjustly expresses it-" always hanging in suspense between the two parties.' He pleaded, however, for the toleration of the protestants, as the only means of preventing dangerous extremities. "The power of the emperor," he writes to Campeggio, (August 18,)" is great; but all do not acknowledge it. The Germans so acknowledge his authority, as rather to command than to obey. Luther's doctrine," he observes, "is spread all over Germany; so that from the ocean as far as Switzerland that chain of mischief is stretched. If the emperor therefore should declare, that he would 1 'On these Confessions, and the treatment they met with, see Sleid. 137-139. Seck. ii. 198, 199, 209. Du Pin, vi. 119-123. 2 Seck. ii. 196-198 "Semper nempe inter utramque partein dubius hærens."-" I could not have gone," he says to one of his correspondents, "without running the risk of my life, and I chose rather to live. I knew very well, that, if I went thither, I should bring mischief upon my own head, without being able to compose the dissensions and tumults. I also knew on whose judgment the emperor relied; on divines, in whose opinion whoever will dare to open his mouth in favour of piety is a Lutheran,' and worse than a Lutheran. ...So I have some obligations to my bad state of health, which furnishes me with a plea for absence." Ep. 1152, in Jortin i. 501. 4to. in all things comply with the interest and desire of the pope, it is to be feared he would have but few to approve his doings....The state of the church was sorely distressed in former times, when the Arians, Pagans, Donatists, Manichees broached their doctrines, and barbarous nations (like the Turks now,) made war against it yet it weathered all those storms. Time and patience, sometimes cure the worst distempers: the Bohemians were tolerated, though they acknowledged not the pope; and, if the same thing were allowed the Lutherans, it would not be amiss, in my judgment. Though this would be bad enough, yet it were much easier to be borne than war."-" Such however," remarks Maimbourg, with evident satisfaction, "Such were not the sentiments of the emperor or the catholic princes." This the event sufficiently declared. The diet continued to sit about six weeks after the departure of the protestant princes, engaged in providing supplies for the Turkish war, and arranging other matters; and it then closed by issuing its "recess," or final decree, on the nineteenth of November. This decree enjoined the continuance, or restoration where they had been abolished, of all the accustomed rites and superstitions; condemned the denial of "free will "2 as "brutish, and reproachful to God," and rejected the 1 Sleid. 133. 2 The reader should learn to distinguish (which is too seldom done,) between free will, in the sense in which it was denied by the reformers, and is rejected by our church, (Art. x.) and free agency. All that is meant to be denied is, that fallen man will ever choose that which is spiritually good, without the prevenient grace of God.-See Scott's Works, vii. 76-102, 126-145. What Luther understood by "the bondage of the will" is sufficiently explained in Dean doctrine of justification by faith only;1 ordained that married priests should be ejected from their livings, which should immediately be given to others; but that such as should forsake their wives, and return to their former state, might be restored by their bishops, with the consent of the pope or his legate: the rest were to have "no refuge or sanctuary, but to be banished or otherwise condignly punished." It declared null and void "all unreasonable compacts which the priests had any where been forced to make, and all unjust alienations of church property: that "nothing should be changed in those things which concerned the faith and worship of God; and that they who acted otherwise should forfeit life and goods : that "monasteries and religious houses, which had been destroyed, should be rebuilt; and such persons within the territories of the protestants, as followed the ancient faith, should be taken under the protection of the empire: that application should be made to the pope for a general council, to be summoned within six months, and to meet within twelve months afterwards: that no appeal or protest against 99 Milner's ample review of his controversy with Erasmus on that subject. Church Hist. v. 263-367. (850-959.) 1 It may be almost superfluous to entreat the reader to distinguish between being justified by faith only, and being justified by a faith which is alone in the mind, and, "being alone," that is separated from repentance, love, and obedience, "is dead." James ii. 17. See Hooker of Justification, § 31. -On the term "faith only" or "faith alone," Melancthon in his Defence of the Confession says, "If the exclusive term, only, is disliked, let them erase the apostle's corresponding terms, freely, not of works, it is a free gift, &c: for these also are exclusive." Vide plura, Seck. ii. 206 (d). -In an epistle to Camerarius, dated Aug. 31, 1530, he says, "I even compelled Eckius to confess, that justification is by faith." Mel. Epist. iv. 104. 66 A. D. 1530. CHAP. I. Remarks. the enactments of this decree should have force: and that, to the end that the decree might be observed and put in execution, as far as it concerned faith and religion, all men should be obliged to employ whatever fortune God had been pleased to bestow upon them, and their blood and lives beside; and that no man should be admitted into the judicature in the Imperial Chamber," (the supreme court of the empire, supported at the common charge, for determining all questions that arose among the different states and members,) "unless he sanctioned this decree made about religion; and that they who refused to do so should be turned out." "2 Seckendorf observes, that the draught read to the protestants, on the twenty-second of September, corresponded verbatim with the decree, as eventually published, up to a certain point; namely to that part in which the restoration of the monks was enjoined; but that that article and those which followed were either not then writen, or were concealed. At that time, however, it was proposed to allow the elector and his associates till the fifteenth of April following, to determine whether they would acquiesce in the decree or not; an indulgence which they declined, as their minds were already made up.3 Such was the treatment which the pope, the emperor, and the great majority of the princes 1 Robertson understands this of" acting as judges or appearing as parties." Charles V, iii. 50. It would seem, however, that the meaning was, that no protestant should act as judge, advocate, or proctor, or even hold any inferior office in the court. See Seck, ii. 209 (1). iii. 421 (7). 2 Sleid. 139, 140. Maimb. in Seck. ii. 199. Du Pin. vi. 123. 3 Seck. ii. 200. and states of Germany thought proper for men, to whom, after all allowances, we may apply the language of the apostle, and say concerning them, "Of whom the world was not worthy. Such was the " infamous "1 decree of the diet of Augsburg. We cannot scruple to apply this epithet to it, whether we contemplate its particular clauses concerning the married priests; -holding out favour and reward to those who would "forsake their wives," but depriving of "all refuge and sanctuary," as the most atrocious of criminals, those who should retain them; concerning the restoration of all the exposed and exploded superstitions and idolatries; and concerning the obligations of all men to employ their blood and treasure in giving effect to these enactments:-or whether we consider its general tenor and design. It openly trampled under foot all the sacred rights of conscience, and breathed a determination to suppress by force and bloodshed, and at the risk of kindling the flames of civil war throughout Germany, the light which had lately broken in, and the reformation which was in progress. But this is only what Christians were from the beginning taught to expect. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. -Ye shall be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake: yea the time cometh, when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."-One of the many important lessons which we are to learn from the review of such histories is, the duty of gratitude for the exemption which we enjoy from evils of this kind, and for the blessed changes which 1 Milner. A. D. 1530. |