suffering on account of the unfavourable termination of this business, sent for Staupitz, and directed him to exert all the influence of his age, authority, persuasion, and affection with his heretical friend. A mind that can resist the frowns of power, may be subdued by the smiles of favour. Staupitz was more successful than he expected; and though his solicitations did not prevail on Luther to retract, they had the effect of making him write to the Cardinal, asking pardon for the disrespect with which he had spoken of the Pope, promising silence, if his adversaries were equally moderate; but steadily refusing to recant, or submit his opinions to the dogmas of the schoolmen.

While he waited the effect of this letter, he prepared an appeal from the Pope, to the Pope better informed; but after remaining four days without receiving any answer from the Cardinal, he began to suspect, that this total silence portended violence to his person, in consequence of which, having put his appeal into the hands of a notary public, and written an excuse to the Legate, he left Augsburg, on the 19* or 20 of October, by a private gate, which one of the magistrates directed to be opened for him. At Nuremberg he first learned the extent of the danger to which he had been exposed, by being shown a copy of the brief which Cajetan had received, ordering him to be arrested, and forcibly conducted to Rome.

Such was the result of the conference at Augsburg. Rome was disappointed of her aims;

Luther retired more determined than before, to oppose her encroachments; and the wrath of man was thus made to praise the Lord, by the effect which it had in strengthening the foundations of the Reformed religion.

Luther, though delivered from immediate danger, by escaping from Augsburg, was by no means free from anxiety and apprehension even at Wittemberg, whither he retired, and where, till that time, he had enjoyed a secure retreat. The general integrity and generosity of Frederic, supported the hope of his continued patronage; but, on the other hand, his political prudence, and the fear of resist ing the papal court, might induce him to withdraw his protection. Luther, therefore, began to think of some other asylum, and cast his eyes on France, to which, when at Augsburg, he had been invited by the ambassador of Francis I.; and where the faculty of Paris had formerly opposed, not altogether without success, the all-grasping domination of Rome. The Elector, when informed of this, determined still to protect him, and prevailed on him to remain at Wittemberg. To this he was instigated not merely by affection for Luther and his opinions, but by the combined influence of policy and resentment ;-policy, lest the university should be deprived of its brightest ornament, and resentment, on account of a letter which he had received from Cajetan, requiring him either to send Luther to Rome, or banish him from his dominions. Instead of adopting lenient measures, the Pope still farther widened the breach, by issuing a bull,

which, without mentioning Luther's name, condemned his tenets in the most unambiguous manner, by commanding all his vassals, high and low, secular and ecclesiastic, to acknowledge, under pain of excommunication, his power of delivering from the guilt and punishment of every kind and degree of sin. This imprudent and impolitic step gave an increased celebrity to Luther, as the persecuted combatant of that arbitrary power, which disregarded the sentiments of Germany concerning indulgences, and endeavoured to establish them in opposition to that general indignation, which their abuse, and the scandalous lives of their venders had excited. Convinced that the violence of Rome at that time prevented any sort of accommodation, Luther on the 28th of Nov. appealed from the Pope to a general council; thus practically asserting the superiority of the latter over the former.

The extravagance of the tenets, which Prierias, in a defence of his first treatise, about this time published, was so excessive, that even the court of Rome was displeased, and employed every mean to prevent its circulation; but Luther immediately discerning the advantage that might be taken of it, as the best mode of refutation, caused it to be re-printed at Wittemberg, with the addition of a preface and a few notes, in which he expressed himself more vehemently than he had ever hitherto done. He concluded the preface with these words, "Adieu unhappy Rome! Lost and blasphemous Rome! Vol. I. No. 10. Ннһ

The indignation of God is risen upon thee to the utmost height, which thou hast but too well deserved: Far from receiving any advantage from the prayers, which have been made for thee, thou hast become more wicked by their means. The wounds of Babylon have been dressed, but she has not been healed. Let us now desist, let her be the resort of dragons, evil spirits, and monsters; let her remain in everlasting confusion. She is full of idols, of misers, of traitors, of apostates, of infamous persons, of robbers, of sinners; and is, as it were, a new Pantheon of iniquity. Farewel, reader; pardon my grief, and compassionate it."

Meanwhile, Leo became sensible of the imprudence of having entrusted the management of this cause to Cardinal Cajetan; and resolved to adopt measures of a more soothing nature, in order to accomplish by moderation, what violence had attempted in vain. With this view, Charles de Miltitz, a Saxon knight of the ancient house of Misnia, and chamberlain of honour to the Pope, was sent into Germany about the end of 1518, under pretext of private business, but in reality to execute the purpose of his master. The knowledge of this new appointment alarmed the Elector for the safety of Luther, whom, as being a monk, and of course amenable to the papal authority, he durst hardly promise to protect, lest a bull of excommunication should dissolve the allegiance of his subjects, and subvert, the order of his government. But though Miltitz had

certainly a commission to employ force, if it should be found necessary, and to publish briefs in all the cities through which he was to pass, requiring the cooperation and assistance of the people, he no sooner entered the German dominions, than he clearly saw that force was inexpedient, that the briefs were useless, and that, as he himself acknowledged, though the court of Saxony had delivered up Luther, an army of 25,000 men could not have conveyed him to Rome. Though he had orders to require the Elector either to oblige Luther to recant, or to deny him protection, he, therefore, deemed it expedient to try what could be effected by the arts of conciliation. He began, accordingly, with loading Tetzel, the chief agent in the nefarious sale of indulgences, with the bitterest reproaches; ordered him to repair to Altenberg, to receive the chastisement due to his misdemeanours; and openly blamed him as the author of all the abuses, which had roused the indignation, and produced the opposition of Luther. In his first interview with the Reformer, he repeated the same accusations of Tetzel, and condemned, in general, the excesses and impieties of the collectors. He represented to Luther the danger to which he exposed himself, and the wrongs, which he had done to the Pope; endeavoured to flatter him by caresses; extolled his talents and character; wept over the injury, which the church had sustained through his means; and, in a word, omitted nothing that ingenuity could suggest, either alarm or to soothe him. As a

to

mean of accommodation, he requested him only to acknowledge, that he had exceeded the bounds of reason and moderation in his representations of the heinousness of indulgences, and his invectives against the Pope and his ambassadors; and on his own part conceded, that Tetzel and his delegates had acted in the most unjustifiable and iniquitous manner, taking care at the same time to affirm, that in this they had gone far beyond the design and extent of the papal commission. Luther was softened; confessed that, in some instances, he had been too rash and vehement; and though he afterwards affirmed, that he saw through the arts of the crafty Italian, and, even at the time, openly attributed the evils of which he complained not to Tetzel alone, but to the Pope, whose intentions, he said, were better than his plans, he agreed to be silent in future, if his enemies were also restrained, and to write a respectful letter to Leo, acknowledging his regret for the injury, which he had unintentionally done him, and promising the most filial submission to his authority. He persisted, however, in refusing to retract; but expressed his willingness to refer this point to the decision of the archbishop of Treves and the Bishop of Freisengen; while Miltitz promised to use all his influence to procure an imposition of silence on both parties, from the court of Rome.*

(To be continued.)

Beausobre, Hist. de la Reform. Berlin, 1785. Vol. 1. p. 158.

LETTER VI.

ON THE CHARACTER OF GOD.

(Continued from page 393.)

Beloved Brother,

THE second objection you state against the character, which Calvinism ascribes to God, is, the gloomy doctrine of his eternal decrees. But why is this a gloomy doctrine ? Was it not suitable, that God, in the exercise of unlimited knowledge and benevolence, should eternally fix the plan of his own operations, and the whole course of events? The denial of this must spring from the want of confidence in divine perfection. The question is, shall the circumstances of creation, the events of providence, and the condition of creatures be referred to the determination of God, or to the determination of creatures, or to the determination of chance, that is, left without any determination? The last can have no sober advocate. The great determination, then, must lie between God and his creatures. To whom can it be most safely referred? Who is the best qualified? All must answer alike; it is most desirable, that all things should be determined by HIM, who is infinitely wise and good, and whose determination must, therefore, be right. Another question is, whether it appear best, that the divine determination take place in eternity, or in some period of time? In eternity, must be considered the most

consistent answer, unless it may be supposed, that time will afford some new advantage for a proper determination. But what new advantage can time afford? If any be possible, it must consist in more clear and perfect knowledge, or in a better disposition. To suppose God capable of either, is to dishonour his immutable perfection. One more question remains. Is it desirable, that the eternal purpose of God be absolute and unalterable? If it were possible, that the divine purpose should need or admit any amendment, every good man would feel an objection against its being absolute and unchangeable. But, who can wish the purpose of infinite wisdom and infinite love to be changeable?

If, my dear brother, you would have a clear and comfortable view of this doctrine, you must detach from it all the false appendages, with which the blindness of prejudice and the malignity of sin have surrounded it. You must remove the misrepresentations, by which its cunning adversaries have deformed and disgraced it. You must cure the disease of the jaundiced eye. Then you will view the divine decrees, not as the frightful instruments with which a cruel despot injures and destroys his harmless subjects, but as the result of infallible wisdom, the dictate of unbounded benevolence, I contemplate the divine decrees, which pride and guilt have dressed in horror, as the eternal ope ration of Jehovah's perfections. If I admire his perfections, I