compel religious uniformity; while the Protestants were numerically weak and divided by controversy. Melancthon was timid, and inclined to make almost any concession for the sake of peace; and every thing seemed to depend on the confidence and energy of Luther and the unflinching steadfastness of his two principal friends, the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse. It had been cunningly arranged that the emperor should make his public entry into Augsburg on the 15th of June, Corpus Christi day, a festival on which such ceremonies would be performed, that it would be almost impossible for the Protestant princes to attend to their official duties about the imperial person, without seeming to countenance by their presence the most idolatrous portion of the Romish ritual. The elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse made up their minds beforehand, that, whatever it might cost them, all the world should see that they no longer had any connexion with the Romish superstitions. At about six o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor, in company with his brother Ferdinand, king of Hungary, was met with great ceremony by the princes and ecclesiastics belonging to the diet, on the bridge outside of the city, the elector of Saxony, as grand marshal of the empire, bearing the naked sword before him. Joachim, elector of Brandenburg, addressed the emperor in a Latin speech, "because (says Spalatin) none of the bishops understood Latin well enough to attempt the task." Within the walls his imperial majesty was received by the bishop of Augsburg and his assembled clergy. The procession then proceeded to the Cathedral, where the bishop pronounced the benediction on the emperor, who went directly afterwards to the great altar, knelt before it for some time in silent prayer, then arose from his knees and took his seat in the choir. The Te Deum was then sung and high mass celebrated. When they came to the passage in which the ritual requires all to kneel, Charles, to show his devotion and set a good example to others, rejected the embroidered cushion which had been provided for him, and placed his royal knees directly on the hard brick floor, which, besides being cold and damp, was probably none of the cleanest. But the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse would take no hints, not even from the emperor, and kept to their feet, notwithstanding that George, duke of Saxony, already on his knees in the extremities of devotion, enforced the imperial example by nodding and shaking his fist at his brother with great energy. George, margrave of Brandenburg, a younger brother of Joachim, and a sincere and whole-hearted Protestant, under the influence of long habit and the circumstances of the occasion, at first knelt with the rest; but happening to raise his eyes and observe the tall, majestic form of the elector of Saxony, as calmly erect as one of the pillars of the cathedral itself, and the fierce little landgrave of Hesse stiffly upright and looking defiance at all the world, he also sprang to his feet as if the floor burnt his knees; and these three princes, of all the great lords of Germany, were the only ones who dared to stand during that ceremony. When the ceremony was over the archbishop of Saltzburg, as it was his duty to do, began to pronounce the benediction; but the papal legate came bustling up, exclaiming, "It is not for you to pronounce the blessing. that belongs to me," and taking the words out of the archbishop's mouth, finished the benediction himself. During this scene, the landgrave of Hesse, to show that he had neither part nor lot in the matter, set himself down behind one of the wax candles. The emperor bore every thing with exemplary patience, and seemed to take no notice of these little incoherences. It was ten o'clock at night before he retired to his lodgings in the palace of the bishop of Augsburg; and notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, and the fatigues of the day, he summoned the princes of the empire to meet him there immediately. Here king Ferdinand, in the name of his brother, peremptorily ordered the Protestant princes to put an end to Protestant preaching in the city, and to join in the procession to be formed the next Lord's day, in honor of the sacrament of the body of Christ. They respectfully, but decidedly, refused to do either the one or the other. The margrave George of Brandenburg, the youngest of the princes, standing directly before the emperor, said to him, "Before I will thus deny my God, I will kneel down here before your imperial majesty and let my head be taken off," at the same time stooping forward and drawing the edge of his hand across the back of his neck. Charles blushed and smiled, and said in reply, "No, my dear prince, no heads off, no heads off, I hope." The emperor gave them time till next morning for consideration; but that very night, before he retired to rest, he issued a positive order that they should do as his brother had commanded. The citizens of Augsburg were strongly Protestant, and but very few of them still adhered to the Romish church. They sent a deputation to Charles with an honorary present, which he received very graciously; and with great appearance of devotion he begged an interest in their prayers, both for himself and his brother Ferdinand. "Pray (said he) to Almighty God for me a poor sinner, that He may grant me His Holy Spirit, to instruct me, and lead me in the right way, that these great matters may be settled in a satisfactory and Christian manner, and that God's wrath may not be excited against us." The next day the elector of Saxony was sick and unable to wait on the emperor, but the other princes appeared before him, and in their name George, margrave of Brandenburg, reiterated their determination neither to discontinue the Protestant preaching nor attend the Corpus Christi procession. "So far are we (said the margrave to the emperor) from being willing to sanction by our presence and example usages so manifestly contrary to the word of God and the commands of Christ, that we hereby avow our determination to banish, so far as in us lies, all such ungodly human abuses entirely out of the church of Christ, that the pure and sound members of the church be not corrupted and destroyed by the deadly poison. Let not your imperial majesty be angry with us; for in a matter which pertains to God and our own consciences we shall stand firm, whatever dangers may threaten us; for it is written, we ought to obey God rather than man. In this matter, therefore, which I know to be eternal truth, and the voice of the Son of God, I am ready to die if need be; for I hear that death is threatened to all who persist in the profession of the truth." As to the preaching, they affirmed they would no more dispense with that than with their daily food, nor did they think it right that the word of God should be bound. In this they went further than Luther advised. Charles for the present made no reply, but hastened to prepare himself for the great procession which was to take place that very day. The host was carried by the archbishop of Mainz, and followed by an immense multitude in most splendid array, consisting of the princes who had come to attend the diet and their military followers; but all the Protestants absented themselves, and of the citizens of Augsburg (says Spalatin) not a hundred were present. So great had been the influence of the Reformation in that city. Of all that numerous procession no one seemed so pious and devout as Charles. He followed directly after the host in his heavy imperial mantle, bareheaded, and with the burning sun beating directly into his face, and holding a large wax candle in his hands, and so continued during the whole morning till the clock struck one. The emperor, finding that the Protestants were not to be shaken. from their purpose, issued by his herald the following proclamation in the public streets. "Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, what the Roman imperial majesty now ordains; that no preacher here in Augsburg, be he who he may, henceforward preach, except those whom his imperial majesty himself shall appoint, as they would avoid the highest displeasure and severity of his imperial majesty." Accordingly there could be no preaching during the session of the diet by either Protestants or Catholics; and till further orders public worship must be celebrated by prayers, church music, and reading the Scriptures only. In this arrangement, on account of its apparent impartiality, the Protestants silently acquiesced; determined, however, that if any papist ventured to preach they would preach also. Charles sent his Spanish secretary to Melancthon to obtain from him a brief summary of the Protestant doctrines for his private use. On this occasion the secretary told Melancthon, that the Spaniards generally supposed the Lutherans to be complete atheists, and that to kill a Lutheran was doing God a greater service than even to kill a Turk. On Sunday, the 20th of June, the emperor summoned all the princes to his lodgings to attend him to church and hear solemn mass before the opening of the diet. The elector of Saxony replied that he would attend the emperor with the drawn sword as grand marshal of the empire, but that he should not recognize the mass at all, nor join in any of the rites of worship. Similar declarations were made by all the Protestant princes. With this understanding they all attended as officers of the empire, but were careful to do nothing that could be construed into a recognition of the religious services of the occasion. Monday, June 21st, the elector of Saxony shut himself up in his room and spent the entire day in fasting, prayer, and reading the Scriptures, particularly the Psalms, in reference to the difficulties and dangers which now pressed so hard on him and the whole Protestant cause. In the evening he called all the Protestant princes and theologians to his lodgings, and with great anxiety and many tears they deliberated as to what they ought to do, and with earnest prayer committed their whole. cause to God. Melancthon in his anxiety and timidity was willing to make great concessions for the sake of peace; but the elector, true to his promise, would take no important step without first writing to Luther and getting his advice. When Luther's answers came, they always thundered away all Melancthon's concessions, and scattered them to the four winds. In all this there was no interruption of friendship between these two great and noble men. Melancthon still venerated Luther next to Jesus Christ, and almost worshipped him; and Luther loved Melancthon more than any other human being except his own wife and children. All this is manifest from their correspondence and their whole intercourse with each other. Luther, in his seclusion at Coburg, was very busy with his commentaries on Daniel, Ezekiel, the Psalms, and other parts of Scripture; he was writing on schools, composing school books, and refuting the papists; and his correspondence alone seemed enough to take the whole time of several men. June 20th, 1529, he writes, "Every morning the letters pour in upon me up to my neck; and here they lie, my table, my chairs, my footstools, my writing desk, the very floor itself covered with them." He preached continually, and administered the sacrament of the Lord's supper every alternate Sabbath. He spent much time in prayer, he read the Bible much for devotional purposes, and sang many hymns, especially his own magnificent psalm which he had lately written and set to music: "Ein veste Burg ist unsrer Gott, Ein gute Wehr and Waffer. A tower of strength, our God is still An idea of his habits and feelings at this time may be formed from a letter written to Melancthon by Veit Dietrich, a young man who was studying theology with Melancthon, and who remained with Luther in the capacity of personal attendant during the whole of his stay at the castle of Coburg. "I can never sufficiently admire (says Dietrich in his letter) Luther's exceeding steadfastness, joy, faith, and hope, in these distressing times. This feeling he augments every day by a diligent use of the word of God. Not a day passes in which he does not spend at least three hours, and those the best for study, in prayer. I sometimes have the good fortune to overhear his prayers. My God! what a spirit, what faith there is in his |