CHAP. V. than enjoined; and that the people must ever be taught, that forgiveness was granted for the sake of Christ, and not because of their enumeration of their sins in confession. They wish their opponents could witness the state of things in their churches. "No one was admitted to the holy communion, till he had been examined and absolved by the pastor or deacon; and in that way numbers received instruction, and many sought advice in particular cases; and every Sunday there was a large attendance for these purposes. If any were immoral, they were excluded from communion; and, where the case required, the pastor admonished the magistrate of his duty respecting them. If any, after admonition, profanely refused to come to the sacrament, they were publicly censured, and considered as excommunicate." Secken dorf remarks, "These things deserve to be noted, in opposition to the difficulties which many, not only people but ministers, urge against examinations of this kind, though their necessity was thus publicly acknowledged in this diet by the divines deputed by so many princes and states."1 In fact, that is here described of which our church laments,2 and all wise and faithful pastors lament, the loss among ourselves.-And, alas! how much has even that consulting of their ministers, which is here spoken of, fallen into disuse even among the more religious part of their flocks. The intercourse between ministers and their people has become, too frequently, of that trite, general, and unprofitable kind, which is almost all that passes between the people themselves. They have little to learn, little to ask of us; 1 Seck. iii. 358. 2 Commination Service. and they want confidence and earnestness of may A. D. 1541. of Melanc thon. Conferences like those which were now car- Situation rying on, where such important interests were and conduct at stake, such nice distinctions to be made, and such opposite parties (if possible,) to be reconciled; where also every art would be employed to draw the protestants into unguarded concession, and then to take advantage of it; must obviously have been very distressing to those engaged in them, especially if they were men of refined minds, tender consciences, and truly pacific dispositions;-all which qualities eminently distinguished Melancthon. 2 He was scarcely the man that could be expected to stand sufficiently firm in the trying circumstances in 1 See important remarks upon this subject in the interesting Memoir of the Rev. Jos. Milner, prefixed to his Sermons. 2 Pacis et tranquillitatis amantissimum Philippum curæ angebant die noctuque." Camerar. in Vit. Melanc. § 57. V. which he was now placed. Nor was he adequately supported either by his associates, or by all the leading patrons of his cause. Both the landgrave and the elector of Brandenburg1 appear to have been disposed, at this period, to carry concession too far. Bucer was still more in danger, than Melancthon, of being betrayed into what might be denominated trimming, for the sake of peace and accordingly his conduct gave great dissatisfaction to his friends. 2 Pistorius indeed, Melancthon's other colleague, is spoken of as a "pious, candid, and firm character: " but I find little concerning the part which he took in these discussions, except that he 66 concurred with Melancthon."3 The latter amiable person, however, though at first censured by the elector for not adhering more closely to the confession, seems seldom to have conducted himself with greater constancy and spirit than at this time. The elector's representatives at Ratisbon commended him highly; and the elector was afterwards induced to express satisfaction at what he heard of his conduct. 4 He himself declared that he would rather die, than compromise the truth and wound his own conscience; and that, in fact, he should actually die of grief if he were to do so: 5 and accordingly we find the emperor offended at what he called Melancthon's stiffness, which he ascribed to the suggestions of Luther. This induced Melancthon to write to the emperor a pretty long letter, explaining the principles on which he felt bound to act, and begging, as the greatest favour he could receive, that he might 1 Seck. iii. 354, 356, 361, 363. 2 Seck. iii. 356, 360 (3), 364. Melanc. Epist. iv. 236, s Ib. iii. 356 (2), 360 (3). 5 Ib. 356 (2). be released from the task which had been imposed on him, and which he felt to be one of oppressive weight. 1 As is apt, however, to be the case with good men, ever alive to the sense of their own failings and imperfections, Mclancthon could not satisfy himself: he confesses his weakness, and even supposes himself chastized for it by an accident which befel him, from the overturning of the carriage in which he travelled to Ratisbon. His wrist appears to have been dislocated, and other injury sustained, so that he never perfectly recovered the use of his right hand. On this the good man says, "I am chastened of God, and justly suffer, as for my other faults, so particularly for my undue facility, in suffering myself to be employed in vain and foolish schemes, contrary to the advice of so many wise men." 2-He could not, however, help feeling the difference between the spirit which actuated himself and such persons as he approved, and that which characterized his opponent Eccius. He speaks with grief of him and others as evidently not seeking the truth, nor desiring to serve the church, but only to gain the praise of being subtle disputants upon the most solemn subjects. "I have heard him," he says, "vain gloriously boasting that he could maintain either side of the question.... I do not think any good man can be so mild and gentle, as to listen unmoved to his sophisms and juggling tricks. He sports with terms of the most serious import, continually 1 Mel. Epist. ii. I. His opinion of "Con 2 lb. iv. 235. Camerar. Vit. Mel. § 194. these attempts for conciliation, and his feelings concerning them, are strongly marked in many of his letters. ciliationes fucose"-" fallaces, 'plenæ turpitudinis et periculi; " &c. A. D. 1541. CHAP V. Reference to Luther. conceals his real meaning, and only aims to embarrass an adversary. There is great danger in encountering sycophants of this kind."1 When all hopes of accommodation were well nigh extinguished, the elector of Brandenburg and his brother the marquis George proposed, and it was not doubted with the privity of the emperor, that a deputation should be sent to Luther, to solicit him, if possible, to point out some way in which they might come to terms of agreement. This, it must be acknowledged, was paying no small honour to the Saxon monk; nor could it be construed otherwise than as placing, after all that he had said and done, and all that had been said and done concerning him, much confidence in his wisdom and upright intentions, as well as acknowledging the great influence which he possessed. Accordingly John prince of Anhalt, with one of the elector of Brandenburg's counsellors, and Ales, a Scotch divine employed by that prince, undertook the embassy. George prince of Anhalt, and superintendant of Magdeburg, a highly valued friend of Luther's, (of whom we shall ere long speak more fully,) joined them; and the elector of Saxony, though not at all satisfied with the measure adopted, came from Torgau to Wittemberg to receive them. They represented the emperor's earnest wish for peace and union, and urged how extremely desirable it was that conciliation should be effected: that the article of justification and some other important points had already been accommodated; and that Luther himself had said, that, if the true doctrine on that head were established and taught, and the sacrament allowed according to 1 Melanc. Op. iv. 641. Seck. iii. 298. |