THE BONFIRE THAT BURNED MORE THAN THE POPE'S BULL; BEGINNING A BLAZE THAT HAS NOT GONE OUT.
“For the broken chains of Europe,
For her prison doors unbarred,
For the freedom of her peoples,
By the freedom-giving Word:
For the battle bravely foughten,
With the powers of hellish night,
For the scattering of the darkness,
For the victory of light;—
Blessed be God, our God, alone.
Our God, the Everlasting One,
Who spake the word, and it was done!”
PREACH in Wittemberg, will he? Then I'll knock a hole in his drum. Come, Jonas, tell us your impressions of this Tetzel and his helpers," said Dr. Luther as he looked up from his writing.
“When I arrived at Juterbok," said Jonas," I met a handsome carriage preceded by three horsemen. The magistrates, clergy, nuns, and most of the well-to-do people went in procession bearing lighted tapers, as all the church bells rang to welcome these men. First came a man carrying a velvet cushion on which was the Pope's decree; next came an arrogant fellow in the dress of a Dominican friar; it was Tetzel, the chief of the indulgence merchants, carrying a large red cross in his hands. Entering the principal Church this cross was suspended in front of the altar, the arms of the Pope being hung upon it. Before this cross all prostrated themselves; for,' said Tetzel, this cross has as much efficacy as the very cross of Jesus Christ Himself.
“Then Tetzel went into the pulpit and began to preach like a Chapman crying his wares. Come,' he cried, 'come, and I will give you letters by which the very sins you intend to commit shall be pardoned. I would not change my privileges,' he bawled, for those of St. Peter in heaven, for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than St. Peter ever did by his sermons. There is no sin, however great, a man may commit, but let a man pay well and he shall be forgiven.' Then he shouted, The Lord God no longer reigns. He has resigned all power.' Then producing a piece of money he yelled, ' Bring I bring! bring!' and rushing to the iron chest in front of the altar, he flung the money into it. First the penitents went to confessors, who sat all about the church. Then, after having declared the utmost they were able to pay; they went to the chest and flung the sum named into the box. The money jingled in like rain upon the forest leaves; all seemed, somehow, able to pay.”
“Eternal redemption is the work of our God," said Luther, "a paper pardon is the utmost the Pope and all his cardinals can give. Did you get a sight of these pardons?”
“Yes, and 1 secured one for myself to show you,” replied Jonas, displaying a strip of parchment surmounted with a triple crown and two cross keys.
“Read it then!" exclaimed Luther.
“In the authority of all the Saints, and in compassion towards thee, I absolve thee from all sins and misdeeds, and remit all punishment for ten days.—Johannes Tetzel.”
“Horrible!" exclaimed Luther.
“But listen to this," said Jonas, "this is worse.' I obliterate every taint of unvirtues, all marks of infamy which thou mayest have received. I remit all punishments which thou wouldst have endured in purgatory. I incorporate thee again in the community of the sanctified, and replace thee in the state of innocence and purity in which thou wert at the hour of thy baptism. So that in the hour of thy death the door through which the sinner enters the place of torture shall be closed, and that door will be open to thee that leads to the paradise of joys. If thou shouldst not soon die, yet this grace shall remain unshakable until the end of thy life. In the name of the Holy Father, Amen! Johannes Tetzel, Apost. Com.”
“Worse and worse! and what say the people to this folly?”
“Why, some complain how cruel the Pope is to keep people in purgatory when a little money would release them. But the shameless conduct of Tetzel and his helpers is everywhere spoken of. They are said to have gambled these indulgences; they certainly gave letters of indulgences for payment to the carriers who moved them, and to the inn-keepers who entertained them. They are now four miles off, as near to the dominions of the Elector as they can come.”
“The great purse thresher shall find that I will thwart him," said Luther.
At noon on the 31st of October, 1517, Luther nailed a paper upon the doors of the Castle church in Wittemberg. The contents of this paper excited the city marvelously. In less than a fortnight its contents had spread through Germany; in less than a month they had reached Rome; and before long they were told all over Europe, and even in the streets of Jerusalem.
“Brother, your dream has come true," said Duke John to the Elector of Saxony as they walked in the great hall of Schweinitz, some twenty miles from Wittemberg "What did you dream? Tell me again.”
“I dreamed that a monk, the true son of St. Paul, asked my permission to write somewhat upon the doors of the Castle church in Wittemberg. The pen he wrote with was so long that though many tried to break it it resisted their efforts, and pierced the ears of a lion in Rome, and shook the crowns on the Pope's head! This pen,' said the man, belonged to a Bohemian goose, and is a hundred years old.' Why do you ask?”
“Because a messenger has just brought the tidings that Dr. Luther has nailed some theses upon the doors of the Castle church at Wittemberg, attacking the indulgences Tetzel sells, and all the city has gone mad; all men of decency approving our doctor.”
“Strange; but I hope he will not attack the Pope. We must preserve peace." said the Elector At first all Europe applauded the action that all decent people felt to be right; but, after a while, Luther fell himself left alone in the struggle he had provoked.
The Pope summoned him to Rome, and without permitting him time enough to arrive, declared him a heretic-As the Elector refused to give up Luther to proceed to certain death, Cajetan, a Papal cardinal, was appointed co visit Germany and there judge Luther.
But the cardinal would say nothing but "Retract! Retract!" and Luther, by the advice of his friends, left the city of Augsburg (in which he met Cajetan) by night.
“Only say six letters! Revoco! I retract," said the papal advocate.
“I dare not," replied Luther firmly. "Prove that I am wrong and I will retract willingly.”
“Will the Elector risk his dominions for your sake?" "God forbid.”
“Where then will you look for protection? Where will you be?”
“Under heaven, or in heaven," said Luther "God stays the waves of the sea upon the shore and He stays them with sand!" he added. "He will bring this matter to a successful issue.”
Eight days after he arrived at Wittemberg, Luther published a document appealing from the Pope to a general council of the bishops of the Church.
The death of the Emperor of Germany, who had said of Luther to the Elector, "Take care of that Luther, we shall want him," left the Elector of Saxony ruler of Northern Germany until the appointment of a new Emperor. To propitiate so Powerful a prince Luther was left unmolested; but at length the Papal decree, tailed a "Bull" from the leaden seals, called Bulla, attached to it), w s launched against him. This decree declared that unless Luther recanted his opinions (among them that men ought not to be burned for their religious belief) he should be declared a heretic; the penalty of heresy being burning alive.
“'Tis not a bull of the Pope at all," said Luther; "the Pope has not sanctioned it, I am sure.”
“Indeed, it is the Pope's bull, Doctor," said Cranoch, the painter. "But what of that? the days are gone by when men bow down and worship the Pope's decree.”
“Leo is a lover of letters," said the public notary, who now entered the apartment, "and of good fare too. But what will Luther do?”
“Listen!" said Luther. "I wish, in the presence of the notary, to make a public appeal against this wicked bull. Write it fair, and say that I esteem the Pope a false tyrant, and appeal to the German people against his injustice. Say, too, that I look to the German lords to secure a free council And say, in plain words, that if any man after this protest shall take the Popes words rather than God's, I shall be free of his blood. God's words give freedom to soul and conscience; the Pope's words only enslave the soul. Then put this document abroad too, and meet me at Elster Gate at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. And now, let us sing a psalm and frighten the devil”
At nine o'clock or the following morning, the l0th of December, a vast multitude of people assembled in the space beyond the Elster Gate, where a young oak tree marks the site of the fire.
Within view of his home, the gables of which peeped above the city walls, Luther laid the Pope's bull upon a fire, that had been kindled by one of the masters of Arts.
“It's a bold deed, and worthy of the man," observed a sturdy citizen.
“Yea, and 'tis a dangerous thing too. In your ear, be it said. Duke George raves about him, and there be men coming from Leipzig who are like to kill Luther.”
“Many a man shall die for the Gospel before the Papacy is overthrown. But what is that second procession?”
“'Tis the students who are intending to burn the Papal decretals and other bad books. Glory to God," said the first speaker.
“But what good is there in all this burning?" asked a burly man in a monk's dress, who was indeed none other than Father Hans of Erfurt.
“What good is the flag they bear at the head of the army? What good is there in the ring of the bride?" replied Luther. "Yet a good captain will not lead his soldiers to battle save under a standard, and not a country person but must be married with a ring. These things are good for what they signify. This blaze means that we have done with the Pope and his indulgences, and that the Word of God shall be the standard and law of our lives.”
The next morning Luther explained to his students his reasons for doing as he did. Though the significance of his act was understood and resented at Rome, the doctor was left free until after the election of the new Emperor of Germany.
As Luther walked along the public square of the town that same day, his enemy, Hans, stepped up to him and, drawing a knife, struck heavily at the doctor's heart, but was foiled in his effort.