Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 3.djvu/196

 130 STATESMEN AND SAGES In 1520 the reformer published his famous address to the -Christian Nobles of Germany." This was followed in the same year by a treatise " On the Baby- lonish Captivity of the Church." In these works, both of which circulated widely and powerfully influenced many minds, Luther took firmer and broader ground ; he attacked not only the abuses of the papacy and its pretensions to supremacy, but also the doctrinal system of the Church of Rome. !' These works," Ranke says, " contain the kernel of the whole Reformation." The papal bull containing forty-one theses was issued against him ; the dread document, with other papal books, was burned before an assembled multitude of doctors, students, and citi- zens, at the Elster Gate of Wittenberg. Germany was convulsed with excite- ment. Eck (who had been the chief agent in obtaining the bull) fled from place to place, glad to escape with his life, and Luther was everywhere the hero of the hour. Charles V. had at this time succeeded to the empire, and he convened his first diet of the sovereigns and states at Worms. The diet met in the beginning of 1521 ; an order was issued for the destruction of Luther's books, and he him- self was summoned to appear before the diet. This was above all what he desired to confess the truth before the assembled powers of Germany. He resolved having received a safe-conduct to obey the summons, come what would. All Germany was moved by his heroism ; his journey resembled a tri- umph ; the threats of enemies and the anxieties of friends alike failed to move him. " I am resolved to enter Worms," he said, " although as many devils should set at me as there are tiles on the housetops." His appearance and de- meanor before the diet, and the firmness with which he held his ground and refused to retract, all make a striking picture. He was not allowed to defend his opinions. " Unless I be convinced," he said, " by Scripture and reason, I neither can nor dare retract anything, for my conscience is a captive to God's word, and it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. There I take my stand. I can do no otherwise. So help me God. Amen." On his return from Worms he was seized, at the instigation of his friend, the Elector of Saxony, and safely lodged in the old castle of the Wartburg. The affair was made to assume an aspect of violence, but in reality it was designed to secure him from the destruction which his conduct at Worms would certainly have provoked, he having been placed under the ban of the empire. He re- mained in this shelter for about a year, concealed in the guise of a knight. His chief employment was his translation of the Scriptures into his native language. He composed various treatises besides, and injured his health by sedentary habits and hard study. His imagination became morbidly excited, and he thought he saw and heard the Evil One mocking him while engaged in his lit- erary tasks ; the blot from the inkstand that he hurled at him is still shown on the wall of his chamber. The subject of the personality and presence of Satan was a familiar one with Luther, and he has many things about it in his Table- talk. The disorders which sprang up in the progress of the Reformation recalled