Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1507-1521.djvu/546

 perial Majesty should send Luther back in virtue of his safe- conduct, and, as he so obstinately refused to recant, should proceed against his person then, and against his books imme- diately. But now after the appearance of this notice this same man came to the Emperor, and while he and we together were waiting for an audience, he explained to us that it would be a good thing to question Luther again and have him ex- amined by learned men in the presence of certain princes and in the name of the whole realm. This, he said, was the opinion of all the electors, which I can easily believe, as both our opponents [the Electors of Saxony and of the Palatinate] desire nothing more eagerly than to procrastinate and confuse the whole matter, and the others follow them meekly. Yes, even the most influential man humbles himself from fear of this placard. When we replied that this procedure was un- reasonable and highly dangerous, he only remarked that he was charged to inform the Emperor in this sense, and begged us not to cross his intention. Thus he talked to the Emperor in our presence for about half an hour, yet in a yielding tone. But the Emperor, this noble and pious gentleman, who alone in this matter maintains his position unshaken, answered him that he would not change a jot of his resolution, and that he would hear nothing of a further examination of Luther in his presence or in that of his councillors, and that the princes would do well to follow his decision peacefully as they had promised.

The electors received this declaration of his Majesty with great admiration for his courage and constancy, but the in- fluence and cleverness of the Saxon were so great that a petition of the Estates to the Emperor was adopted setting forth that for the good of the cause it seemed advisable to them that Luther should once more be heard and exhorted to recant; if he still refused no one could then any more object to his prosecution, and they would in all points act according to the imperial decision. The Emperor wrote them [April 22] that he would not change his opinion in the least; if they could induce Martin to recant, for which he gave them three days, he would intercede with the Pope for him, but he declined in person or through his councillors to take part

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