off: on his back was written Leo X. This farce wanted no commentary.

Luther wrote some books against popery, during the sitting of the diet; particularly a treatise upon the second Psalm, in which he applied to the princes met at Augsburg, what was said in that Psalm concerning the assembly and conspiracy of the princes of the world against Jesus Christ. The emperor procured a decree in the diet, which allowed the protestant princes till the fifteenth of April following, to consult about their submission to it; and his imperial majesty promised to issue out his summons for a council to begin the next year. The protestant princes remained firm to their confession of faith, and the emperor published the decree of the diet on the sixteenth of November, which ordered, that no alterations or innovations should be made in the faith or religious worship of the church; and that none should be admitted to the imperial chamber who disobeyed this decree.

The elector of Saxony was summoned by the emperor to be presented at Cologne, on the twenty-ninth of December, at the election of Ferdinand, to be king of the Romans; but the elector appointed the other protestant princes to meet him at Smalkald, on the twenty-second of the same month, where they entered into a confederacy to defend themselves against the emperor and the Romanists, who were determined to put the decree, made at the diet of Augsburg, rigorously into execution.

The court of Rome was greatly disturbed at what had been transacted at the diet at Augsburg; and the Pope employed his nuncios to dissuade the emperor from holding a council: but the emperor urged the necessity of it; and the Pope, on the first day of December, 1530, wrote a circular to all the Christian princes, informing them that a council should be held, and desiring them to countenance so holy a cause by their personal attendance. The protestant princes also wrote circular letters to the European sovereigns, and particularly to the kings of England and France, requesting their interest and protection in obtaining a reformation, which had been attempted by John Colet in England, by John Garson and Nicolas Clemangis in France, and by Luther in Germany. The kings of England and France declared for a general council, peace, and reformation; which encouraged the confederate princes to meet again in Smalkald, on the twenty-ninth of March, 1521, when they renewed their league; and Luther composed a treatise against the diet of Augsburg, to prove that it was lawful to resist the magistrates, if they commanded any person to assault those who would not submit to the decree.

The protestant princes held another assembly at Francfort, on the fourth of July; and the emperor, on the thirteenth of July, 1532, by the treaty of Nuremberg, agreed that all the disputes concerning religion should cease, until a general coun

cil was held, which was to be within a year. The Protestants insisted that no innovation in doctrine should be made from their confession, nor any ceremonies introduced contrary thereto; which was granted by the emperor, and the protestant princes agreed to assist him in the war against the Turks.

The elector of Saxony died in August, and was succeeded by his son, John Frederic, in his dominions and zeal for the protestant cause. The Pope sent his nuncio, in January, 1541, to the new elector, to settle with him the conditions of holding a council; and the protestant princes met upon this occasion at Smalkald, on the twenty-fourth of June, when they desired that the council might be free, and be held in Germany, where these differences in religion first began; but the Pope refused to comply with their request.

Luther dissuaded the elector of Saxony from making an alliance with the Switzers, and persisted to unite more zealously than ever against the Sacramentarians; but Bucer undertook to reconcile the Lutherans and Zuinglians. Luther met Bucer and Capito at Wittenberg, on the twenty-second of May, 1536, when they entered into a long debate upon their faith and doctrine concerning the sacrament; and they delivered to Luther the confession of faith of the churches of Switzerland; but they could not agree in their articles of the form of union about the sacrament. Luther explained himself concerning the Lord's Supper, by saying, he had never taught that Jesus Christ came down from heaven to the earth, either visible or invisible; and that he left it to the almighty power of God to effect, how the body and blood of Christ are offered in the Lord's Supper, keeping himself entirely close to the words of the scripture: "This is my body, this is my blood." He observed, that as they could not understand each other, it was convenient they should be friends, and entertain a good opinion reciprocally of themselves, till the spirit of contention should cease among them; and so he committed to the care of Bucer and Capito to finish what they had begun.

About the beginning of the year 1527, Luther was attacked by a very severe illness, which brought him near to his grave. He applied himself to prayer, made a confession of his faith, and lamented grievously his unworthiness of martyrdom, which he had so often and so ardently desired. In this situation he made a will, for he had a son, and his wife was again with child, in which he recommended his family to the care of hea

ven.

"Lord God," says he, "I thank thee, that thou wouldest have me poor on earth, and a beggar. I have neither house, nor land, nor possessions, nor money, to leave. Thou hast given me a wife and children: take them, I beseech thee, under thy care, and preserve them, as thou hast preserved me.' He bequeathed his detestation of popery to his friends and brethren; agreeably to what he often used to say, "Pestis

e

eram vivus, moriens ero mors tua papa :" i. e. "Living, I was the plague of the Pope, and dying, I shall be his death."

Luther, from about this period, having laid the great foundation of the Reformation, was chiefly employed in raising and completing the superstructure. The remainder of his life was spent in exhorting princes, states, and universities, to confirm the great work, which had been brought about through him; and in publishing, from time to time, such writings as might encourage, direct, and assist them in doing it. The emperor threatened temporal punishment, with armies; and the Pope, eternal pains with bulls and curses: but Luther, armed with the intrepidity of grace, over and above his own courageous nature, regarded neither the one nor the other. His friend and assistant, Melancthon, could not be so indifferent; for Melancthon had a great deal of softness, moderation, and diffidence in his constitution, which made him very uneasy and alarmed at these formidable appearances. Hence we find many of Luther's letters were written on purpose to comfort him under these anxieties. "I am," says he, in one of his letters, "much weaker than you, in private conflicts, if I may call those conflicts private, which I have with the devil; but you are much weaker than me in public. You are all distrust in the public cause; I, on the contrary, am very confident; because I know it is a just and true cause, the cause of God and of Christ, which need not tremble or be abashed. But the case is different with me in my private conflicts, feeling myself a most miserable sinner, and therefore have great reason to look pale and tremble. Upon this account it is, that I can almost be an indifferent spectator amidst all the noisy threats and bullyings of the Papists; for if we fall, the kingdom of Christ falls with us; and if it should fall, I had rather fall with Christ, than stand with Cæsar." So again, a little farther: "You, Melancthon, cannot bear these disorders, and labour to have things transacted by reason, and agreeably to that spirit of calmness and moderation which your philosophy dictates. You might as well attempt cum ratione insanire, to be mad with reason. Don't you see that the matter is entirely out of your power and management, and that even Christ himself forbids your measures to take place? If the cause be bad, indeed, let us renounce it; but if it be good, why do we make God a liar, who has promised to support us? Does he make his promises to the wind, or to his people?"

About the year 1533, he had a terrible controversy with George, duke of Saxony, who had such an aversion to Luther's doctrine, that he obliged his subjects to take an oath that they would never embrace it. However, sixty or seventy citizens of Leipsic were found to have deviated a little from the catholic way, in some point or other, and they were known previously to have consulted Luther upon it. Upon which duke George complained to the elector John, that Luther had not only abused

his person, but had also preached up rebellion among his subjects. The elector ordered Luther to be made acquainted with this, and to be told, at the same time, that if he did not clear himself from the charge, he could not possibly escape punishment. But Luther easily refuted the accusation by proving, that he had been so far from stirring up his subjects against him, on the score of religion, that, on the contrary, he had exhorted them rather to undergo the greatest hardships, and even suffer themselves to be banished. Indeed, it appears, from all his conduct and writings, that no man more abhorred that impious principle of subverting kingdoms and states, under a pretence of advancing the cause of God or his gospel. The Almighty is surely able to effect his own will in this case; and it is the duty of Christians to suffer and obey it.

In this year, 1533, Luther wrote a consolatory letter to the citizens of Oschatz, who had been banished for the gospel; in which letter he uses these words: "The devil is the host in the world, and the world is his inn. Go where you will in the world, you will be sure to find this ugly host walking up and down in it."

In the year 1534, he printed, and in the next year he published, his translation of the bible into German: in which latter year, he began publicly to preach upon the book of Genesis, which task he ended with his life, as he is said to have foretold.

In the year 1538, arose the vile sect of the Antinomians, who taught that it mattered not how wicked a man was, if he had but faith. The principal person among them was Johannes Isebius Agricola. Luther had the honour not only of confuting, but of converting this man, and of bringing him back to his senses and his duty.

In the year 1540, Luther printed and prefaced the confession of Robert Barnes, his intimate friend, and a learned divine, who was burnt this year at London, for the gospel. They became acquainted through Barnes's coming to Wittenberg about the business of king Henry the Eighth's divorce.

Luther was continually baited at by a world of furies; and he was particularly set up by Providence to effect a Reformation. He published seventy-five propositions against the divines of Louvain, and also a short confession of faith; after which he was sent for to his native country, to compose a difference between the counts of Mansfeld. He preached his last sermon at Wittenberg, on the seventeenth of January, 1546; and on the twenty-third, set out for Isleben, where he was honourably entertained by the count, who escorted him to his apartments with one hundred horse. Luther attended the business upon which he came, from the twenty-ninth of January, to the seventeenth of February, when he sickened, a little before supper, of his usual illness. This was an oppression of humours in the opening of the stomach, with which Melancthon, who was

with him, had seen him frequently afflicted. His pain increased, and he went to bed, where he slept till midnight, when he awaked in such anguish that his life was near at an end. He prayed in these words: "I pray God to preserve the doctrine of his gospel among us; for the Pope and council of Trent have grievous things in hand." After which he said, "O heavenly Father, my gracious God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, thou God of all consolation, I give thee hearty thanks, that thou hast revealed to me thy Son, Jesus Christ, whom I believe, whom I profess, whom I love, whom I glorify, and whom the Pope and the multitude of the wicked do persecute and dishonour. I beseech thee, Lord Jesus Christ, receive my soul. O my heavenly Father, though I be taken out of this life, and must lay down this frail body, yet I certainly know that I shall live with thee eternally, and that I cannot be taken out of thy hands. God so loved the world,' &c. Lord, I render up my spirit into thy hands, and come to thee: Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou, O God of truth, hast redeemed me!" Albert, count of Mansfeld, Melancthon, Justus Jonas, and several other friends, attended him in his last moments, joining him in prayer, that God would preserve the doctrine of his gospel among them. Melancthon says of Luther, that having frequently repeated his prayers, he was called to God, "unto whom he so faithfully commended his spirit, to enjoy, no doubt, the blessed society of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, in the kingdom of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

Luther died on the eighteenth of February, 1546, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. A thousand fables have been invented concerning his death; nor would his enemies forbear publishing lies on this subject, long after he had left this world. Some have said that he died suddenly; others, that he killed himself; and some have impudently proceeded so far as to give out that he was taken away by the devil. Nor are they people of mean figure or credit, who vent these calumnies, but the most famous writers; as Cochlæus, Bessæus, Bozius, Fabianus, Justinian, and Bellarmine. This, says Bayle, reflects on the whole body of popery; for such fables ought not to pass the press. Father Maimbourg has rejected all these foolish stories; but he has been mistaken in a notable fact. Speaking of Luther, he says the elector of Saxony caused his body to be conveyed with a magnificent pomp to Wittenberg, where he erected for him a monument of white marble, surrounded with the statues of the twelve apostles, as if he had been the thirteenth, with respect to Germany. He was honourably interred at Wittenberg, but Seckendorf has shewn that no such statues were placed round his tomb.

The virulent partisans of the church of Rome tell us, that Luther was not only no divine, but even an outrageous enemy