were at Rome. "In the course of a fortnight," says one writer, "they had extended over the whole of Germany; and, ere four weeks had elapsed, over nearly the whole of Christendom." Multitudes, who had come to Wittemberg on pilgrimage, instead of taking an indulgence back with them, took a copy of these sentences. Every one heard, pondered, and discussed them. They attracted attention in all universities and convents. That was reckoned equivalent to death; but so rapidly had the work proceeded, that the Elector, Luther's prince, had become interested in him. He represented that, as the heresy had been perpetrated in Germany, it ought to be investigated on German ground. That was conceded, and a legate was sent from Rome to conduct the cause. Even then, however, the danger was imminent. The pious vicar-general who had directed Luther to Christ, cut off his young friend from his religious order, that it might not share the disgrace of his expected condemnation. But even that, the acutest stroke of all, did not move him. He stood before the court, and amidst all the entreaties, flatteries, and tears of his friends, without even a transient quiver. The sentence was, that his book should be burnt, and that he, should he remain obstinate for sixty days, should be solemnly excommunicated. The decree was sent over Germany by the swiftest messengers that could be found; faggots were piled together, and in all the public places these heretical books of Luther were committed to the flames. When the sentence was put into the hands of Luther, what did he do?-remember, he was only seven-and-thirty years of age. He called an assembly of the

university and inhabitants of Wittemberg. The place of concourse was the chief square of the city. He caused a great pile of wood to be constructed and lighted. He took the decree which denounced his teaching and threatened excommunication to his soul, read it aloud in the audience of the multitude, and then, casting it into the flames, he shouted, "Since thou hast grieved the Lord's anointed, let the eternal fire consume thee." The Romish powers demanded the person of Luther, and called upon the civil authority-for she herself never burned a heretic-to deliver him up. His secular prince refused to deliver him up; he was by that time himself as great a heretic as Luther.

Disappointed in that direction, the next step was to appeal to the emperor, who had just succeeded to his immense dominions. The first Diet or assembly held under the new emperor occurred in 1521, the year after the burning of the Pope's bull. Many questions occupied their attention but all sank into nothing before the religious movement. After the sittings had opened, and the ambassadors of the Papal court had delivered the most exciting harangues, it was resolved to summon Luther to the bar of the assembly. Neither his friends nor his foes wished him to obey the summons. His friends were afraid of his destruction; his enemies feared the enrapturing effect of his bravery. Still it was considered necessary to go through the form of a summons, that the sentence of extirpation might have a legal shape, and, therefore, a more determined force.

The imperial herald proceeded to Wittemberg, and put into the hands of Luther the summons of the empeIn an instant he was surround

ror.

ed by all his friends, entreating him not to go; but his resolution was taken. He followed the herald in a carriage provided for him by the city, which was pursued for miles by a weeping multitude. At every stage

of the journey he was met by fresh entreaties to return. At one town a friendly priest came out, and held up the picture of a martyr, without saying a word; Luther understood, but his soul was firm. At another town they pointed out to him a multitude of papal emissaries gathering together his writings, and committing them to the flames. As he approached Worms, and it became known to the papal ambassadors that he was actually on his way, they were alarmed beyond measure, and used the utmost diligence to turn him back. The most specious of their devices was a message sent by one of his own converts, Bucer, afterwards a distinguished man, to inform him that the emperor's confessor, who had great power over the imperial mind, wished to have a conference with him in a neighbouring castle. Luther said, "If the emperor's confessor wishes to confer with me, he will find me in Worms." Just as he gained sight of the walls, his most intimate friend and faithful counsellor, Spalatin, sent a messenger to him, and said, "Don't enter Worms ; you will never leave it again if you do." "Tell your master," said Luther, "that if there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the houses, I yet will enter."

At last he stood before the assembly. There probably had never been a more magnificent assembly; and certainly since the apostles fell asleep, faith had never had a more singular victory. The greatest powers of the earth had trembled, and been filled with consternation by the preaching and writing. of one man. He stood before them. In that great hall, at that moment, there was but one person: every eye was rivetted upon him, and perused him from head to foot. He trembled, it is said, and was abashed for a little; but his courage, never far off, soon came back. The Chancellor of Treves, who was the orator of the Diet, immediately said, "It is of you to say, (pointing to a pile of pamphlets on the table), whether you are the author of those pamphlets?" They expected that he would give an immediate answer; but he required, through his counsel, that their names should first be read aloud. When the names of these pamphlets had been read, Luther answered that they had been written by him. It was then required of him to say whether he adhered to, or whether he retracted the opinions they contained. Не said, "that relates to matters of such deep importance, that I cannot give a precipitate answer; I therefore require a day's consideration." It was granted, and the assembly adjourned.

That night was not a tranquil one in Luther's chamber. His faith forsook him his imagination terrified him. He thought he had acted very improperly; that he had sacrificed the cause of Christ; that he would be destroyed in the presence of his enemies. He heard and saw nothing but the roaring and surging tempest of human passions. An intimate friend overheard the impassioned language, in

which he reasoned and wrestled with God, and has left it on record.

Then the morning came with its demand for action, and strength was not withheld. The imperial herald summoned him to the assembly at four in the afternoon; but the crowd was so dense, and so incapable of dispersion, that they did not arrive until darkness had fallen, and the torches were lighted in the hall. The Chancellor repeated the question, "Do you retract, or do you not retract, the sentiments in these books ?" Luther immediately begun his defence; he began very gently, quietly, and moderately; but as he advanced, the fire of his soul kindled; his eloquence became commanding; his eye flashed now upon the emperor, now upon the dukes of Germany, now upon the ambassadors of France and England, and above all, upon the archbishops, bishops, priests, nuncios, and legates of the papal court, until they did not know where they were ; and every man was afraid to meet the eye of his neighbour. When he stopped, he was overcome by exhaustion, but it was demanded of him to repeat what he had said in Latin, and recollecting that this language would reach many whom his German did not reach, he went on with undiminished and accumulating energy to the end. By this time the Chancellor had recovered his breath and his self-possession, and he instantly, and in an indignant tone, said to Luther, "You have not spoken to the question; you are required to give a definite answer; do you or do you not retract the sentiments of these books?" Luther replied, "Since it is asked of me to give a definite reply, I will give it: I neither can nor will retract anything." Recollecting what the possible conse

quences of that boldness might be, and glancing round on the assembled powers of Europe, and upwards to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, to the Judge of all, and to the Mediator of the New Covenant, Christ Jesus, he added those memorable words, "HERE I STAND; I

CANNOT DO OTHERWISE; AND MAY GOD HELP ME."

On that day the Reformation gained a point of ascendancy over the mind of Germany which it never deserted. The great idea of salvation which had been revived in the mind of Luther, and which had been brought into prac tical operation, in tens of thousands of souls by the Spirit of God, was placed in a position of commanding power. There were only wanting two things: first, that it should be supported and confirmed by adequate religious knowledge and next, that it should be carried out into all its legitimate consequences in society and in the Church. Luther's speech to the Diet went to the heart of the Elector of Saxony; and he, well knowing that the papal legate had been strictly charged to secure the body of Luther at all hazards, resolved to save him. On his way home to Wittemberg, he had him surrounded by armed and mounted men, and carried off, apparently by force, to a castle situated in the depth of a forest. In that castle he remained many months. The movement was intended to secure his own life it turned out for the preservation of the religious life of his country.

But do not suppose that these great men left nothing for their posterity to do. Do not suppose that the battle of the Reformation is yet ended. Babylon has been smitten, but she has not yet fallen. The emissaries of

hell have been driven back to their stronghold, but they are not yet extirpated. It appears to me that there is nothing of so much consequence in our present position in England, as that we should distinctly understand the character of the enemy.

A coward fears his enemy; a braggart despises him; a brave man understands him. We do not understand Popery; by which I mean, the popular mind of England is, at this day, not informed correctly upon popery; and the teaching that has proceeded for some time from our platforms, has not tended to dissipate that darkness. It bas seemed to most speakers of late, (I trust the apparent presumption of the remark may be forgiven), that the audiences were in too excited a state to listen patiently to anything but accounts of stakes, and faggots, and nunneries, and superstitions. So that they have gone away, lifting up their hands in natural astonishment, and saying to one another, where can Popery live, but in minds of ignorance? That only betrayed their ignorance. These are the weak parts of Popery. But it is our duty to understand the strong parts of Popery. Ignorance! Is the host of clergymen which has passed over within the last few years to Popery composed of ignorant men? They were amongst the most learned men that the church of England-not deficient in Literature-had in her possession. Ignorant! Is Dr. Wiseman an ignorant man? Read his book on the "Relation of Science to Revealed Religion." Read his book on the "Doctrine of the Eucharist ;" read that book on the "Doctrine and Practices" of his church. Go, Don't go in reality, but go in imagination, to St. George's Cathedral, in London, and look at him as he stands

upon the steps of the altar, in his pontificial robes, with his crosier in his left hand, and his mitre on his head; mark his commanding gestures, and observe the lightning of his eloquence over the masses of the people; and tell me, as you come out, whether you have been listening to an illiterate man!

There are numbers amongst us who say, and we have all been accustomed to say it, to some extent, that in a day of such science, such literature, and such popular intelligence, we have nothing to fear from Popery. Luther did not think so; he knew better than that. He knew as much of science as most men of his day; but it was not with science that he went into the field. He was a man of as much learning as most men of his day,-the Pope, before he knew what Luther was to be, issued from the Vatican a list of the most eminent scholars in Europe; Luther's name was among them! But it was not with learning that he sought to assail the Papacy. He did more than any man of his day to elevate the popular mind;—when persons of class persisted in speaking in the learned tongues, he addressed them in their rough and nervous German; and there was not a peasant's heart in Germany, whose heart did not leap with ecstacy within him, as he heard or read his eloquence,—but it was not in popular, intellectual elevation that he put his trust. He knew that no missile could pierce that hell-forged armour of superstition and priestcraft, but the smooth stone that he had got direct from heaven; and he has studied the life of Luther very indifferently who does not perceive that he trusted every thing to that,—the article of a standing or falling Church, -the immutable truth, that salvation

is complete in CHRIST ALONE, and that he, though without merit, WHO BELIEVES IN HIM, IS SAVED. This is the weapon upon which we have to rely.

Let me add, that when we have got the weapon, we have to learn how to use it. Even souls must be disciplined so as to yield it aright. Our ministers of the gospel are too few; our town missionaries are too few; our Sunday-school teachers are too few ; our fellow-labourers in every department are too few; but the master deficiency is, that the faith of us all is too weak. The Church has lost her primitive spirit. how to deny herself. She is tainted with love of ease. She dies not daily for the sake of her crucified One. We need the spirit of Reformers, the spirit of Apostles, the spirit of Christ; and then, and then only, shall we be fit for the contest. Last Autumn I made a pilgrimage to the city of Worms. I stepped upon the left bank of the Rhine, on which it is situated, soon after day-break.

She has forgotten

All

the public places were closed except one; and that was the Roman Catholic Church, near the square made sacred by the events just mentioned. It stood there for centuries before Luther's time; it has stood there for the three centuries that have elapsed since. But the priest was there, as he had ever been, proceeding through his pantomime, and holding up the sacrificial cup in the eyes of the people. The power of life in the Papacy struck me to the heart. I never had bent my knees before under the roof of a Papal edifice; but I felt myself sink down into the posture of supplication at a distance from the other worshippers; and if ever petition burst from my spirit, it was then, that God would give to the people, and particularly to the ministers of Christendom, the intrepidity, the humility, the self-denial, the devotional power of Luther. Brethren, if we ask for that, since God is true, we shall get it; without it our case is hopeless.

CHESHUNT COLLEGE.

W. H. S.

"IT has become natural to domesticated dogs and young whelps to learn to bark, even when separated at birth from their parents. Wild dogs do not bark. There are numerous troops of wild dogs in South America, principally in the Pampas. There are also in the Antilles, and in the isles on the coast of Chili, similar breeds. These breeds, in recovering their liberty, have lost the habit of barking. Like other uncultivated breeds of dogs, they only howl. It is known that the two dogs brought