Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/700

 594 Outlines of European History sympathy whatever with any change of religious belief. He proposed to live and die a devout Catholic of the old type, such as his orthodox ancestors had been. He felt, moreover, that he must maintain the same religion in all parts of his heterogeneous dominions. If he should permit the Germans to declare their independence of the Church, 'the next step would be for them to claim that they had a right to regulate their government regardless of their Emperor. Upon arriving at Worms the case of Luthjpr was at once forced upon Charles's attention by Aleander, the papal repre- sentative, who was indefatigable in urging him to outlaw the heretic without further delay. While Charles seemed convinced of Luther's guilt, he could not proceed against him without serious danger. The monk had become a sort of national hero and had the support of the powerful elector of Saxony. Other princes, who had ordinarily no wish to protect a heretic, felt that Luther's denunciation of the evils in the Church and of the actions of the Pope was very gratifying. After much dis- cussion it was finally arranged, to the great disgust of the zealous Aleander, that Luther should be summoned to Worms and be given an opportunity to face the German nation and the Emperor, and to declare plainly whether he was the author of the heretical books ascribed to him, and whether he still adhered to the doctrines which the Pope had condemned. The Emperor accordingly wrote the " honorable and respected " Luther a very polite letter, desiring him to appear at Worms and granting him a safe-conduct thither. It was not, however, proposed to give Luther an opportunity to defend his beliefs before the diet. When he appeared he was simply asked if a pile of his Latin and German works were really his, and, if so, whether he revoked what he had said in them. To the first question the monk replied in a low voice that he had written these and more. As to the second question, which involved the welfare of the soul and the Word of God, he asked that he might have a litde while to consider.