"There is no doctrine," writes Melancthon to Campeggio, "in which we differ from the Roman Catholic Church; we venerate the universal authority of the Roman pontiff, and we are ready to obey him, provided he does not reject us, and that of his clemency, which he is accustomed to show towards all nations, he will kindly pardon or approve certain little things that it is no longer possible for us to change.... Now then, will you reject those who appear as suppliants before you? Will you pursue them with fire and sword? Alas! nothing draws upon us in Germany so much hatred, as the unshaken firmness with which we maintain the doctrines of the Roman church. But with the aid of God, we will remain faithful, even unto death, to Christ and to the Roman church, although you should reject us." Thus did Melancthon, the head of the evangelical theologians, lower himself in the presence of Rome and of all mankind. But there was one who was watching over the interests of the Reformation, and overruling His servant's failure for the accomplishment of His own purposes and the glory of His holy name.
Melancthon had come down so low, as to entreat the Elector to demand only the two kinds in the Eucharist and the marriage of priests. Had these two things been granted, the Reformation, humanly speaking, would have been arrested, and a reconciliation with Rome accomplished. But the legate would grant nothing. The papists now accused the reformers of having dissembled their heresy in the Apology. Melancthon, filled with shame at the advances he had made to the legate, by whom he was deceived, found a place, we doubt not, of repentance and restoration.
Luther was still at Coburg, but he was constantly hearing of all that was going on, and constantly writing to his friends, especially to the Elector and Melancthon. His letters about this time breathe a very different spirit from those of Melancthon. But as Waddington justly observes, "The wild and lofty solitudes of Coburg were far more favorable to those exclusive spiritual impressions than the crowded halls and courts of Augsburg: and that perpetual contact with the weaknesses and disquietudes of friends, that unwearied wariness necessary against an ever-plotting enemy, would have shaken a firmer resolution than Melancthon's; and had Luther himself been as long exposed to those trials, they would have disturbed his equanimity, though they might not have broken his courage."
The following extracts from the letters of Luther during this crisis will give the reader some idea of his christian principles and the soundness of his judgment.
"It is your philosophy, my Philip, which vexes you so, not your theology.... Self is your greatest foe, and it is you who supply Satan with arms against you.... I, for my part, am not very much disturbed respecting our common cause. God has power to raise up the dead; He has power then to support His cause while falling, to restore it when fallen, to advance it while standing upright. If we are not worthy to be His instruments, let the work be done by others; but if we are not to find comfort and courage in His promises, who are there now on earth to whom they more properly pertain?"
Two days afterward he wrote, "What displeases me in your letter is this, that you describe yourselves as having followed my authority in this affair. I do not choose to be, or to be said to be, your mover in this cause. If it be not also and equally your cause, I do not at least choose that it should be called mine and be imposed upon you. If the cause is mine alone, I alone will act in it.... Assuredly I am faithful to you, and present with you in my groans and prayers, and I would I were also present in body.... But it is in vain I write thus; because you, following the rules of your philosophy, persist in directing these things by reason, that is, in being rationally mad; and so you wear yourself to death, without perceiving that this cause is placed altogether beyond your reach and counsel."
Again on the 13th of July he writes to his son in the faith, "I think that you must be this time have had enough and more than enough of experience not to see, that Belial can by no devices be reconciled to Christ, and that there is not any hope of concord from a council, so far as doctrine is concerned.... Assuredly, I, for my part, will neither yield, nor suffer to be restored, so much as a hair's breadth. I will rather endure every extremity. Concede so much the less, as your adversaries require so much the more. God will not aid us until we are abandoned by all. If it were not tempting God, you would long ago have seen me at your side."
On the 21st he thus wrote to Justus Jonas: "I am delighted that Philip is beginning to find out by experience the character of Campeggio and the Italians. That philosophy of his believes nothing except from experience. I, for my part, would not trust the least, either to the Emperor's confessor, or to any other Italian. For my friend Cajetan was so fond of me, that he was ready to shed blood for me—to wit, my own blood. An Italian, when he is good, is of all men the best; but such is a prodigy as rare as a black swan.... I could wish to be the victim of this council, as Huss was the victim of that of Constance, which was the latest papal triumph."
From these extracts the reader will plainly see that Luther was not a party to the humiliating letter of Melancthon. It is also plain from all history that Luther's letters were used of God for strengthening and confirming his friends at Augsburg during that very critical interval. Though all the resources of papal diplomacy had been brought into action, the papists could not boast of a single apostate. The Elector had been especially tampered with by the Emperor, believing that, if he fell, the Confession would fall with him.
But the Lord enabled his servant to triumph. "I must either renounce God or the world," said John. "Well! my choice is not doubtful. I fling myself into His arms, and let Him do with me what shall seem good to Him.... I desire to confess my Savior." Noble resolution! Invincible warrior of light against the powers of darkness! No weapon of carnal temper could prevail against those which are spiritual and wielded by faith. Here the Elector and his friends were victorious. Would to God they had ever maintained this moral elevation! But alas! for the day when they stepped down to the world's arena of strife and conflict; then all was defeat and degradation. We shall see the mighty contrast between the two classes of weapons by-and-by.
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