since, was never more strikingly exhibited. Rational considerations, drawn from the nature of a physical body, counted for nothing, and were peremptorily brushed aside as heathenish. Nothing could better have shown the diversity of interest between the two men than this colloquy. Luther was right in declaring Zwingli's spirit different from his. For Zwingli, with his more advanced views and broader outlook, it was easy to tolerate his antagonist and coöperate with him; for Luther it was impossible. It must be recognized, too, that while the former, like the Landgrave Philip, hoped for a great political league against emperor and pope, Luther, opposed on principle to armed resistance, was altogether averse to it. The motive driving the others to seek peace and harmony was therefore not his.

In reading the reports of the Marburg colloquy, we are inevitably reminded of the great Leipsic debate of eleven years before. As Eck then insisted upon blind and unquestioning submission to the authority of the church, Luther now insisted on the same kind of submission to the authority of the Bible. The servant should not question the will of his master; he should simply shut his eyes and obey. No wonder Ecolampadius complained that he was a second Eck. The rôle of conservative was now his instead of Eck's, and though the authority to which he appealed was different, his attitude toward it was the same.

Though the conference at Marburg failed to accomplish what Philip hoped for, it was not wholly without benefit. Luther discovered, to his surprise, that Zwingli was less heretical than he had supposed. At the request of those present he drew up a confession of faith consisting of fifteen articles, and though its wording was not altogether satisfactory to the Swiss theologians, they were able to agree to the whole of it with the exception of a portion of the article on the sacrament. Luther was wrong in taking their assent as an indication of a change of faith, and he was unjust in concluding that their convictions meant little to them. Their action showed only an honest desire for peace and a commendable willingness to overlook mere verbal differences.

On his way home Luther wrote Agricola:

We were magnificently received by the Prince of Hesse and splendidly entertained. There were present Ecolampadius, Zwingli, Bucer, and Hedio, with three excellent men, Jacob Sturm of Strasburg, Ulrich Funk of Zurich, and another from Basel. They begged most humbly for peace. The discussion lasted for two days. I replied to both Ecolampadius and Zwingli, insisting upon the words "This is my body." All their objections I refuted. The day before we had a friendly discussion in private, I with Ecolampadius, Philipp with Zwingli. In the meantime there arrived Andrew Osiander, John Brenz, and Stephen of Augsburg. To sum it all up, the men are unskilful and inexperienced in debate. Although they perceived their arguments proved nothing, they were unwilling to yield in the one matter of Christ's bodily presence, more, as I think, from fear and shame than from wickedness. In everything else they backed down, as you will see from the published report. At the end they asked us at least to recognize them as brethren, and this the prince earnestly urged; but it was quite impossible. Nevertheless, we gave them the hand of peace and charity, agreeing that bitter words and writings should be stopped, and each should teach his own opinion without invective, but not without argument and defense. So we parted.

This agreement unfortunately did not put an end to the controversy. The old asperities soon reappeared in the writings of both Luther and Zwingli. The latter died in 1531, but even then Luther did not cease his polemic, and one of his latest books was an exposition of his doctrine of the eucharist, full of the bitterest denunciations of the sacramentarians.

In 1530, another diet met at Augsburg, and the Emperor Charles appeared in Germany for the first time since the diet of Worms. As he let it be known that he would insist upon a final settlement of the religious question, the Protestant princes came prepared for the worst. Being still under the imperial ban, Luther could not appear at Augsburg, nor was it felt desirable that he should, for conciliation, not controversy, was the need of the hour. Accordingly, while Melanchthon and other theologians accompanied the elector to the diet, he was left behind at Coburg, on the Saxon frontier, about a

We have at length come to our Sinai, dearest Philipp, but out of this Sinai we will make a Zion, and will build three tabernacles, one to the psalter, one to the prophets, and one to Esop. But this will take time. The place is very agreeable, and most convenient for study, except that your absence darkens it. . . There is nothing lacking suitable to a life of solitude. The great building crowning the summit is wholly mine, and I have keys to all the rooms. They say more than thirty men eat here, among them twelve night-watchmen, and two scouts in each tower.

turn how we are doing, I would have you know that we, namely I, Master Veit, and Cyriac, did not go to the diet at Augsburg, but have come to another diet instead. There is a grove just under our window like a small forest. There the jackdaws and crows are holding a diet. They ride in and out, and keep up a racket day and night without ceasing, as if they were all crazydrunk. Young and old chatter together in such a fashion that I wonder voice and breath hold out. I should like to know whether there are any such knights and warriors still left with you. It seems as if they must have gathered here from all the world. I have not yet seen their emperor; but the nobility and bigwigs constantly flit and gad about before our eyes, not very expensively clothed, but simply, in one color, all alike black, and all alike grayeyed. They all sing the same song, but there is an agreeable contrast between young and old, great and small. They care nothing for great palaces and halls, for

A few days later he wrote the inmates of his house at Wittenberg the following charming letter, revealing a side of his nature not often shown:

To my dear table-companions, Peter and Jerome Weller, and Henry Schneidewin, and others at Wittenberg, severally and jointly: Grace and peace in Christ Jesus, dear sirs and friends. I have received the letter you all wrote and have learned how everything is going. That you may hear in

their hall is vaulted with the beautiful, broad sky, its floor is paved with lovely green branches, and its walls are as wide as the world. They do not ask for horses or armor; they have feathered chariots to escape the hunters. They are great and mighty lords, but I don't yet know what they are deciding. So far as I have been able to learn from an interpreter, they plan a great war against wheat, barley, oats, malt, and all sorts of grain, and many a one will show himself a hero and do great deeds. So we sit here in the diet, listening and looking on with great pleasure, as the princes and lords with the other estates of the realm so merrily sing and feast. It gives us a special pleasure to see in how knightly a fashion they strut about, polish their bills, and fall upon the defenses that they may conquer and acquit themselves honorably against corn and malt.

We wish them fortune and health, that they may all be impaled on a spit together. Methinks they are none other than the sophists and papists with their preaching and writing. All of them I must have in a crowd before me that I may hear their lovely voices and sermons, and see how useful a tribe they are, destroying everything on earth, and for a change chattering to kill time.

To-day we heard the first nightingale, for she was afraid to trust our April. We have had lovely weather and no rain except a little yesterday. It is perhaps otherwise with you. God bless you! Take good care of the house. From the Diet of the Malt Robbers, April 28, 1530.

Martin Luther,

Doctor.

Arrived in Augsburg Melanchthon, at the elector's request, began work at once upon a defense of the Protes

tant cause to

be presented to the emperor and diet. The result was the

When the document was sent to Luther for his inspection, he wrote the elector: "I have read Master Philipp's apology. It pleases me very well, and I have no improvements or changes to make. Nor would it do for me to make any, for I cannot walk so softly and lightly."

On the twenty-fifth of June, the confession

famous Augsburg Confession, the first of the great Protestant symbols. The purpose was to make as favorable an impression as possible, and the confession was therefore framed in such a way as to magnify the agreements and minimize the differences between Protestants and Catholics. The evangelical faith found definite expression in it, but the emphasis was laid upon the common Catholic doctrines accepted by both parties, and in the matter of forms and customs repeated attention was called to the conservative character of the changes made.

was

gether. Mak-
ing the most
of their con-
ciliatory tem-
per, they tried

to secure all
manner of con-
cessions from
them. Me-
lanchthon, who

loved peace
above every-
thing, and was
greatly alarmed
at the hostile
attitude of the
emperor, gave
up one thing
after another,
until he was
accused
many of his
associates of
weakly betray-

by

ing the whole cause. He felt the responsibility of his position very keenly, and was almost beside himself with worry. Luther, in his far-away castle, grew firmer and more confident, the greater the fear and anxiety of his friends at the diet. He encouraged, comforted, exhorted, and admonished them as only he could. We still have a hundred and twenty-five of his Coburg letters, among them some of the finest he ever wrote. The following passages will serve to show his attitude and state of mind.

To Melanchthon he wrote on the thirtieth of June:

In private conflicts I am weaker, you more bold. On the other hand, in such public affairs you are as I am in private, while I am as you are in private, if that should be called private which goes on between me and Satan. You despise your own life, but fear for the general cause, while I am in good enough spirits over the latter, for I know certainly it is just and true, is Christ's and God's, and so need not grow pale over its sin, as I, little saint, when by myself am compelled to grow pale and tremble. Therefore I am almost a care-free spectator, and take no account of these threatening and ferocious papists. If we fall, Christ, the ruler of the world, will fall with us. And if he falls, I would rather fall with Christ than stand with Cæsar.

In August he wrote him again:

You write that Eck has been compelled by you to confess we are justified by faith. Would that you had compelled him not to lie! Eck, forsooth, may confess that righteousness is of faith, but meanwhile he defends all the abominations of the papacy; he kills, he persecutes, he condemns those professing this doctrine, nor does he yet repent, but goes right on. The same is done by all our enemies. With them, if it please Christ, seek conditions of peace, and labor in vain, until they find a chance to destroy us. . . . The negotiations looking to harmony in doctrine wholly displease me. For harmony is clearly quite impossible unless the pope is willing to abolish his papacy.

they will not, let them go where they belong. If war comes as a consequence, come it will; we have prayed and done enough.

The concessions made by Melanchthon proved, after all, of no avail. The Catholic leaders would yield nothing, and most of the Protestants refused to approve Melanchthon's course.

On the twenty-second of September, with the approval of the Catholic majority, the emperor laid before the Protestants the decision of the diet, declaring their confession unsatisfactory, and giving them until the fifteenth of April to repent and submit.

A fortnight later, though disappointed at the result, Luther wrote the Elector John:

Grace and peace in Christ, most serene, high-born Prince, most gracious Lord! I rejoice with all my heart that your Grace, by the grace of God, has come out of the hell at Augsburg. Though the disfavor of men looks sour not only to God, but to the devil as well, we yet hope God's grace, already ours, will be still more richly with us. They are in God's hands as well as we, that is certain, and they will neither do nor accomplish anything unless He wills it. They cannot hurt a hair of our heads, or of any one's, unless God compels it. I have commended the cause to my Lord God. He began it; that I know. He will also continue it; that I believe. It is not in man's power to start or create such a doctrine. Since it is God's, and all depends on His power and skill, not ours, I will watch to see who they are that wish to oppose and defy God Himself. Let things go as they It is written in the please, in God's name. fifty-fifth Psalm, "Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days." They must be allowed to begin and to threaten, but to finish and bring to a successful issue, that they cannot. Christ our Lord strengthen your Grace in a firm and joyful mind! Amen!