tan, mortified at his ill-success in the commission he had received to excite a general war against the Turks, wished to exalt and give lustre to his embassy by some other brilliant act.
He thought that if he could extinguish heresy, he should return to "He therefore entreated the pope to entrust this business to him.
Leo, for his part, was highly pleased with Frederick for his strong opposition to the election of the youthful Charles.
He felt that he might yet stand in need of his support.
"Without further reference to the summons, he commissioned the legate, by a brief dated on the 23d of August, to investigate the affaiiin Germany.
The pope lost nothing by this course of procedure ; and even if Luther could not be prevailed on to retract, the noise and scandal that his presence at Eome must have occasioned would be avoided."*
We translate Leo's brief of instructions to Cajetan " We charge you to summon personally before you, to prosecute and constrain without any delay, and as soon as you shall have received this paper from us, the said Luther, who has already been declared a heretic by our dear brother
Jerome, bishop of Ascoli.
" Invoke for this purpose the arm and the aid of our very dear son in Christ, Maximilian, and of the other princes of Germany, and of all the communities, universities, and potentates, ecclesiastic o D'Aubign^.
THE LIFE AND TIMES or secular.
And if you get possession of his person, keep liim in safe custody, that he may be brought before us.
" If he return to his duty, and beg forgiveness for so great a misdeed, of his own accord, and without solicitation, we give you power to receive him into the unity of our holy mother the church.
" If he persist in his obstinacy, and you cannot secure his person, we authorize you to proscribe him in every part of Germany ; to banish, curse, and excommunicate all those who are attached to him, and to order all Christians to flee from their presence.
" And in order that this contagious disease may be the more effectually eradicated, you will excommunicate all prelates, religious orders, universities, communities, counts, dukes, and potentates— the emperor Maximilian always excepted—who shall not aid in seizing the aforesaid Martin Luther and his adherents, and send them to you under good and safe guard.
And if, which God forbid, the said princes, communities, universities, and potentates, or any belonging to them, shall in any manner offer an asylum to the said Martin and his adherents, or give him, privately or publicly, by themselves or hy others, succor and counsel, we lay under interdict all these princes, communities, universities, and potentates, with their cities, towns, countries, and villages, as well as the cities, towns, countries, and villages in which the said Martin may take refuge, so long as he shall remain there, and three days after he shall have quitted them.
" As for the laymen, if tliey do not immediatelv obey your orders, without delay or ojDpositiou, we declare them infamous—the most worthy emperor always excepted—incapable of performing any lawful act, deprived of Christian burial, and stripped of all the fiefs they may hold, either from the apostolic see or from any lord whatsoever."*
Upon becoming acquainted with the nature of this amiable brief, Lutlier's indignation blazed fiercely.
" The pleasantest thing of all," he wrote, "is this: the pope's brief is dated August 23d; I was cited, and admonished on the 2d of August to appear at Rome within sixty days.
Thus it is very plain that, either before the citation was delivered to me, or at most within sixteen days after, the bishop of Ascoli proceeded against me, judged me, and pronounced me an incorrigible heretic.
What if I should ask, what are become of the sixty days mentioned in the citation delivered to me, which are to be reckoned from the 7th of August*^ and would end about the 7tli of October?
Is it the usage of the pope's court to cite, admonish, accuse, judge, condemn, and pronounce sentence all on the same day, when the supposed culprit is far from Eome, and knows nothing of these things ?
"Again, how can they charge me with having abused the pope's kindness, and with persevering obstinately in heresy ?
"Would they be able to give any other answer to these questions than that, when they fabricated the falsehoods respecting me, they
* Vau Brunt. Hist. Eef.
THE LIFE AND TIMES had lost their memory, and stood iu need of a few doses of hellebore ?"''
Yet notwithstanding his disgust at the trickery of the Roman see, Luther determined that if he received Cajetan's citation he would personally answer it, if the legate Avould meet him anywhere within the limits of the empire.
* Luther's 0pp. (L.,) XVH., I i or MARTIN LUTHER.
At this critical juncture in Luther's life, when he so greatly needed some near and congenial fiiend to sympathize with him, and to wrap him in the mantle of wise counsel, God sent Philip Melancthon to Wittemberg, thus adding the St. John of the Reformation to the St. Peter.
Philip Schwartzerd was born at Bretten, a hamlet in the Palatinate, on the 14th of February, 1497.
His father was a celebrated armorer, possessed of princely virtues if not of princely rank ;while his mother, who was the daughter of a respectable magistrate named John
Eeuter, was a woman of large charity, discreet, and prudent.f These well-known German lines are said to have been original with her
"Alms-giving impoverisheth not ; Church-going hindereth not To grease the car delayeth not Ill-gotten wealth profiteth not God's book deceiveth not."
The loving pens of Melancthon's German biographers have carefully gathered up and commemorated a nujnber of other proverbial rhymes of similar purport, also his mother's compositions.
When Phihp was in his eleventh year his father died.
Just before his decease he called his son to * Gamer. Vita Phil. Melancthon.
THE LIFE AND TIMES liis side, and taking liis liand, said, " My hoj, I foresee tliat terrible tempests are about to shake the world.
I have witnessed great things, but greater ones are preparing.
May God direct and guide thee."-=^ He was not at home when his father died, his friends having sent him to Spires, as they dreaded the effect upon his weak frame and imaginative mind.
" Returning to Bretten shortly after his father's death," says D'Aubign6, whose profoundly interesting account of Melancthon we now quote, "the lad's grandfather, the worthy bailiff Keuter, who himself had a son, performed a father's duty to Philiji, and took him and his brother George to his own house.
Shortly after this, he engaged John Hungarus to teach the three bo3^s.
The tutor was an excellent man, and in after 3'ears proclaimed the gospel with great energy even to an advanced age.
He overlooked nothing in the 3*oung man.
He punished him for every fault, but with discretion.
'It is thus,' said Melancthon in ' that he made a scholar of me.
He loved me as a son, and I loved him as a father; and we shall meet, I hope, in heaven.'
" Philip was remarkable for the excellence of his understanding and his facilit}^ in learning and explaining what he had learned ; he could not remain idle, and was always looking for some one to discuss with him the things he had heard.
** Miiller's Keliqiiien.
" It frequently liappened that well-educated foreigners passed tlirougli Bretten and visited Eeuter.
Immediately the bailiff's grandson would go up to them, enter into conversation, and press them so hard in the discussion that the hearers were filled with admiration.
With strength of genius he united great gentleness, and thus won the favor of all.
He stammered, but Hke the illustrious Grecian orator, he so diligently set about correcting this defect, that in after life no trace of it could be perceived.
" On the death of his grandfather, the youthful Philip, with his brother and his uncle John, was sent to the school at Pforzheim.
These lads resided with one of their relations—sister to the famous Keuchlm.
Eager in the pursuit of knowledge, Philip, under the tuition of George Simmler, made rapid progress in learning, and particularly in Greek, of which he was passionatel}^ fond.
"Eeuchlin frequently came to Pforzheim.
At his sister's house he became acquainted with her 3'oung boarders, and was soon struck with Philip's replies.
He presented him with a Greek grammar and a Bible.
These two books were to be the study of his whole life.
Eeuchlin returned from his second journey to Italy, his young relative, then twelve years old, celebrated the day of his arrival by representing before him, with the aid of some fi-ieh4s, a Latin comedy which he had himself composed.
Eeuchlin, charmed Math the .young man's talents, THE LIFE AND TIMES tenderly embraced him, called liim his dear son, and placed sportiveljupon his head the red hat he had received when he had been made doctor.
It was at this time that Reuchlin changed the name of Schwartzerd into that of Melancthon ; both words, the one in German, the other in Greek, signify hlack earth.
" Melancthon at twelve years of age went to the university of Heidelberg, and here he began to slake his ardent thirst for knowledge.
He took his bachelor's degree.
1512, Reuchlin invited him to Tubingen, where many learned men were assembled.
He attended by turns the lectui'es of the theologians, doctors, and lawyers.
There was no branch of knowledge which he deemed unworthy of his study.
Praise was not his object, but the possession and the fruits of learning.
The holy Scriptures especially engaged his attention.
Those who frequented the church of Tubingen had remarked that he often held a book in his hand which he occupied himself in reading between the services.
This unknown volume appeared larger than the prayerbook, and a report was circulated that Philip used to read profane authors during those intervals.
But the suspected book proved to be a copy of the Holy Scriptures, printed shortly before at Basle, by All his life he continued this study wdth the most unceasing application.
' I entertain the most distinguished and splendid expectations of Melancthon,' wrote Erasmus to CEcolampadius about this time. this young man may long survive us.
He will en tirely eclipse Erasmus.'
Nevertheless, Melancthon shared in many of the errors of his age.
' I shudder,' he said, at a more advanced period of his life, ' when I think of the honor I paid to images while 1514 he was made a doctor, and then he
He was seventeen years old.
The grace and charm that he imparted to his lessons formed the most striking contrast to the tasteless method which the doctors, and above all, the monks, had piu'sued till then.
He also took an active part in the struggle in which Keuchlin was engaged with the learning-haters of the da}^ Agreeable in conversation, mild and elegant in his manners, fascinating and eloquent in the lecture-room, beloved by all who knew him, he soon acquired great authority and a solid reputation in the learned world.
" It was at this time that the elector formed the design of inviting some distinguished scholar to the university of Wittemberg, as professor of the ancient languages.
He applied to Reuchlin, Avho recommended Melancthon.
Frederick foresaw the celebrity that this young man would confer on an institution so dear to him, and Reuchlin, charmed at beholding so noble a career opening before his young friend, wrote to him these words of the Almighty to Abraham:
' Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father s house^ and I ic'dl mahc thy name great, and thou shalt he a blessing.'
'Yea,' continued the old man, THE LIFE AND TIMES tliat it will be so Avitli tliee, my dear Philip, mj consolation.'
" At Lis departure the university was filled with sorrow ; yet it contained individuals who were jealous and envious of him.
He left his native place, exclaiming, ' The Lord's will be done.'
He was then twenty-one years of age.
" Melancthon travelled on horseback in company with several Saxon merchants, as a traveller joins a caravan in the deserts
; for, says Keuchlin, he was unacquainted both with the roads and the country.
He presented his respects to the elector, whom he found at Augsburg.
At Nuremberg he saAv the excellent Plrckheimer, whom he had known before Leipsic he formed an acquaintance with the learned Hellenist, Masellanus.
The universit}' of the last city gave a banquet in his honor.
The repast was academical.
The dishes succeeded one another in great variety, and at each new dish one of the professors rose and addressed Melancthon in a Latin speech prej)ared beforehand.
The latter immediately replied extemporaneously.
" At last, wearied with so much eloquence, he said, ' Most illustrious men, permit me to reply to your compliments once for all ; for, being unprepared,
I cannot put such variety into my answers as you have put in your addresses.'
After this, the dishes were brought in without the accompaniment of a speech.
"Keuchlin's youthful relative arrived in Wittemberg on the 25th of August, 1518, two days after Leo X. had signed the brief to Cajetan.
"The Wittemberg professors did not receive Melanctlion so favorably as those of Leii^sic had done.
The first impression he made on them did not correspond with their expectations.
They saw a young man, who appeared younger than he really was, of small stature, and with a feeble and almost timid air.
Was this the illustrious doctor whom Erasmus and Eeuchlin, the greatest men of the day, exalted so highly ?
Neither Luther, with whom he first became acquainted, nor his colleagues entertained any great hopes of him when they saw his youth, his shyness, and his diffident manner.
On the 29th inst., four days after his arrival, he delivered his inaugural discourse.
All the university was assembled.
Luther calls him, spoke ill such elegant latinity, and showed so much learning, an understanding so cultivated, and a judgment so sound, that all his hearers were struck with admiration.
When the speech was finished all crowded around him with congratulations, but no one felt more joy than Luther.
" He hastened to impart to his fiiends the sentiments that filled his heart.
' Melancthon,' wrote he to Spalatin, on the 31st of August, ' dehvered, four days after his arrival, so learned and so beautiful a discourse, that every one hstened with astonishment and admu-ation.
We soon recovered from the prejudices excited by his stature and appearance ; we now praise and admire his eloquence ; we return our thanks to you and to the j)rince for the service yon have done us.
I ask for no other Greek