Doctorculus, sanctulus, eruditulus,” what words to be used by Henry to Luther! Doctorculus, to the theologian who had transformed his adversaries into bats and moles :(a) sanctulus, to the monk who had expelled from his paradise St. Augustine and St. Jerome, because neither had any knowledge of that which he called faith ;(b) eruditulus, to him who had boasted of his knowledge of the holy Scriptures, who read Homer and Virgil, who quoted the Hebrew text in controversy, and who called himself the Ecclesiast of Wittemberg! And when did Henry thus insult Luther? At the very time that the Saxon was in the zenith of his glory; when Frundsberg, at Worms, had struck him on the shoulder, saying, Monk, en avant!" when Sturm kept back the people, who were pressing forward to have a sight of their “Father in God," by his imperial wand; when Sickingen, the hero of the Black Forest, offered him the assistance of 1,000 cavalry to defend him against the snares of his enemies; when the scholars of Wittemberg were burning in his honour the bull of Leo X., who had excommunicated him! But Eck, Latomus, Prierias, Catharinus, and that swarm of "Papists" who had bewildered him by their continual humming and buzzing, had never displayed the ultra-boldness of Henry of England. Eck called him master; Latomus never refused

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(a) Audin.-Hist. de Luther.

(b) Luther's Works. Wittemberg.-See also his Auslegung des Briefes an die Galater.

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him the title of doctor; Prierias and Catharinus acknowledged his abilities. Luther panted for revenge: he took up the pen which he had used against the theologians of Cologne, and dipped it not into ink, but into another liquid described by More. The monk will have his turn; he begins in royal style: Martin Luther, by the grace of God, Ecclesiast of Wittemberg, to all those who will read this little book, grace and peace in Christ. Amen."(c) He then plunges at once'in medias res :— "About two years since I published a pamphlet, entitled the Babylonish Captivity,' which has troubled the brains of the Papists exceedingly. May God in his mercy pardon the poor miserable creatures their lies and their anger! Some would have swallowed it, but the book was too tough. Henry, by the non-grace of God, King of England, has written in Latin against my work. There are some who believe that Henry is not the author of the work. What does it matter to me whether it be the production of King Harry, the devil or hell? He who lies is

that King Henry, perhaps, has given one or two yards of cloth to Lee, that phlegmatic sophist, that hog of the Thomist flock; and that Lee has made thereof a cape, to which he has sewed on a lining. They shall see whether I am not able to unrip their sewing. What is there so wonderful in a King of England having written against me? Did not the Pope, master, as he pretends to be of kings, princes, schools, and churches, take up his pen to attack me? What has he done? I have received my doctrine through the grace of God from heaven; from heaven and from Him who with His little finger is more powerful than a thousand popes, kings, princes, and doctors.(a) Know then, ye Papists, my good friends, that ye cannot prevail against my Lord. May the grace of God be with you. Amen. Let Henry look to himself; if I attack him rudely it is his own fault. If a King of England spits forth his lying insults in my face, I have the right, in selfdefence, to thrust them down his throat, if he flings bis royal excrements at the crown of my monarch and my Christ, what right has he to be astonished if I rub his crown with it, and cry out on the housetops: The King of England is a liar and a thief!(b) And on what ground should I respect the blasphemies of a disciple of that monster Thomas? Let him defend his Church, his scarlet concubine, his mother of debauchery and whoredom, let him sing her praise, let him honour her, let him support her. Against that Church, against him, who is her self-elected champion and defender, I shall incessantly wage war, and with the help of Christ will wound him mortally. My dogmas shall remain, and the Pope

(a) Deutsche Antwort.

Denn damit lästert er alle meine christliche Lehre, und schmiert seinen Dreck an die Krone meines Königs der Ehren nämlich Christi, desz Lehre ich habe. Darum solls ihn nicht wundern, ob ich den Dreck von meines Herren Krone anf seine Krone schmiere, und sage für aller Welt, dass der König von Engelland ein Lügner ist und ein Unbiedermann. The following is the Latin version:-"Nunc cum prudens et dicens mendacia componat adversus mei regis majestatem in cœlis, damnabilis putredo tota et vermis, jus mihi erit pro meo rege et majestatem anglicam luto suo et stercore constergere et coronam istam blasphemiam in Christum pedibus conculcare."

shall fall in spite of the gates of hell and the princes of the air, the earth, and the sea. They have provoked me; they shall have war. They have despised the peace offered to them; there shall be no more truce. God shall see who shall be first fatigued and yield, the Pope or Luther. No, no, Henry has not, as he pretends, published his book in defence of the sacraments. It is, because being unable to eject the venom of malice and envy by the usual channel, he is compelled to spue it out of his mouth."

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The principal argument against Luther was the instability of his doctrines. Henry used this advantage with bitter maliciousness. He did not understand that spirit of sanctity of which the monk boasted, and which led him to deny and affirm almost in the same breath the same dogma. He admitted and rejected purgatory almost the same moment; spoke in the morning as Emser, and at evening as Wickliff. Luther had various methods of justifying his continual changes. To Melancthon he replied: 'Have they, before reproaching my variations, counted the drops in the ocean?" to Dr. Enser: "Pig of a Thomist,' I wish to change; and why? because I wish it."(c) With Henry, he condescended to argue, "You have no right to boast of victory, because one calls a thing white to-day and black to-morrow, otherwise what should we think of St. Paul, who did not say after his baptism what he did when he persecuted the church,(4) what of St. Augustine, who repeatedly contradicts in one work what he has asserted in another? Truly I am amazed at the English Solomon not still wearing the shoes he wore while a babe in the cradle; and instead of drinking wine, why does he not still suck hi nurse's teats.(e) But in order to gratify this Thomist, I retract, I retract all that I may have said of the Pope and the Papists. I retract, even with tears, all that I may

(c) Sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas.

(d) The Latin has no resemblance to the German in this passage:-Damnabimus, [says Luther,] Pauli epistolas universas quod ille penitus stercora nunc vocat quae antea sibi lucra fuerant."

(e) Aber warum trinket er jetzt Wein, der etwa die Zitzen sog.-Antwort.

H

formerly have said in favour of Popery; I retract all that this Thomist brings against me with regard to the Captivity of the Church at Babylon! Indeed, I was honouring the Pope too much in comparing him to the great Nimrod of Holy Writ; for, in a word, Nimrod was a power established by God, and he should be honoured and blessed according to the precept; a power to which we must be submissive, for which we are bound to pray. Henry has perhaps said to himself: 'Luther is vanquished; he will not dare reply to me; his books are burned, my lies will pass current, I am a king, and therefore it will be generally believed that I write the truth. I will therefore accuse the poor monk of all that comes into my head; I will publish all that I please, and will injure his reputation as far as I can.' Ah! my little darling, say all that thy brains suggest to thee. I shall oblige thee to listen to some truths, which will not be amusing. Harry accuses me of having written against the Pope through hatred and malice, of being peevish, of being a slanderer, and of believing myself to be the only learned man in the world. But I ask you, what matter that I am vain and wicked? Is the papacy innocent, because I am a worthless character? Is the King of England, therefore, a model of wisdom, because I call him a scoundrel? What is your opinion of this question? But the darling king who has such a horror of lies and calumnies, has more in his pestiferous book than I in all my writings.(a) Perhaps in a dispute similar to this, we should except persons. A king may insult a poor monk with impunity, but he will be hat in hand with the Pope."(b)

Henry, in common with other apologists of the Christian faith, held that old age in man, as well as in institutions, was entitled to our respect; that the papacy which commenced at the birth of Christianity ought not to be treated as if it were only of yesterday, even supposing that it were not of Divine origin. Luther, as a general rule, never argued. He only ridiculed; and when he had succeeded in raising a laugh, believed that he had conquered. "I desire to finish once for all

(a) Antwort.-Assertio.
(b) Antwort.-Assertio.

with the Papists, and reply to them finally while addressing the King of England. If old age be necessarily right, then must Satan be the most righteous being in the world, since he is more than 5,000 years old."(c) But Luther made use of an argument which must have pierced Henry to the heart. A few drops of Buckingham's blood still stained the axe, when the apostate monk conjured the shade of that unhappy nobleman from his quiet tomb to frighten his murderer. He had placed Henry in the pillory; he now fastens him on the block. "What astonishes me so much is not the ignorance displayed by Henry, King of England. It is not that he understands works and faith not so well as the idiot who feels that there is a God; but I am amazed that the devil should aid his friend Harry, when he knows that I laugh all his tricks to scorn. The king is well acquainted with the proverb, that there are no greater fools in the world than kings and princes,' and feels its truth.

"Who is there that does not trace the finger of God in the blindness and folly of this man? I shall allow him to rest tranquil for a season, as I have the Bible to translate, without including other works, which will not permit me to grovel any longer in his majesty's alvine ejections; but at another time, I shall, God willing, reply to the lies and poison spued forth by the royal mouth. I cannot help imagining that his work must have been written as a penance, for his conscience must rebuke him for having stolen the crown of England, in putting to death the last branch of the royal stock. He trembles lest the blood he has shed should fall on his own head; and therefore he cringes to the Pope, and fawns now on the emperor, and now on the King of France. Harry and the Pope have the same legitimacy. The Pope has stolen his tiara as the King of England has his crown, and therefore do they rub one against another like a pair of mules. Any one unwilling to pardon me for having insulted his royal majesty, should know that had he known how to respect himself

(c) Wenn die Jahre recht machten, ware ja der Teutel der Allergerechteste auf Erden der nun über fünf tausend Jahre alt ist. Antwort.

I should not have treated him thus severely. Look at him, Henry spits forth poison from his mouth as a mackarel when in anger, and is not this a convincing proof that he has not a drop of noble blood in his veins."(a)

It is indeed a melancholy duty for the historian to acknowledge, that not a voice was raised in reformed Germany in behalf of the insulted sovereign. Luther's libele was publicly sold in Wittemberg. It was exposed for sale in the fairs at Frankfort and at the church-doors, and was printed in Latin and German. The Elector Frederick, surnamed the Wise, contented himself by telling the nonk that Henry would assuredly chastise him. It has been said this elector had refused the empire at the Diet of Frankfort. He was perfectly right; for he who knows not how to vindicate royalty, would not have known how to defend it. Henry, however, had found two champions in England, Fisher and Sir Thomas More. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was one of the most learned prelates in the kingdom. palace was a complete museum. walls of his rooms were covered tumular inscriptions, discovered in different parts of the island, and if fortunate enough to decypher any of them, he was delighted beyond measure. Fisher resembled Sadolet in many points. So great was his purity of mind, that he never remarked Wolsey's extravagance. Subject to a chronic complaint, he seldom went to court; and in order to see him, one was obliged to go to church.

His

The

with

Sir Thomas More was at this period Henry's private secretary.(b) At thirty, he dressed in the fashion of the last reign, and

(a) So schilter, so bitter, giftig und ohne Unterlass, als keine offentliche zornige Hure schelten mag.--Antwort.-Assertio. The following is a specimen used by Luther in his Latin answer to Henry::-"Stolidus rex; sophisticus nebulo; impudenti et meretricia impotentiâ vermis, dainabilis putredo; stupidus et plane lithargicus sophista, nov us thomista, discipulus ignavi monstri; ineptus basiliscus, fœdissima meretrix; pus invidiæ, impudens, rex mendacii, progenies viperæ, cornicula, foriosus papista, fraudulentus rex larvatus, blaterator, insulsissimus asinus, stultus, stupidus truncus, rudis asinus, crassus porcus, hypocrita, stips incredibilis, stipula et stuppa thomistica, morio, &c."

Erasmi. Epist. XVII., App. [1517.]

was so careless of his person, that he often omitted shaving, through forgetfulness, for several days. His greatest delight was to play with his children, cats, dogs, parrots, and his other pets. A philosopher in a peasant's garb, at table he only ate black bread,(c) and spoke of glory and fortune in terms of ridicule. How then came he to be a courtier? A papal vessel had been seized and confiscated at Southampton, the legate of the Holy See had commenced an action for restitution, and had retained More, by whose means he obtained damages.(d) Until then, he had been permitted to absent himself from court; but on Henry hearing of his success, he exclaimed: "He is now mine," and More resigned himself to his fate.(e) Fisher's work was entitled "A defence of the 'Assertio' of the King of England regarding the Catholic faith, in reply to a book of Luther's on the Captivity of the Church at Babylon.'"(f) It is a controversial work, in which no passionate expression can be perceived, and were the bishop alive nowa-days, and about to publish it, he would not require to erase a single word. Luther must have suffered most acutely on reading a work of such candour and merit.

Fisher's arguments developed themselves naturally. He did not mistake his adversary's objections, but laid them down with much precision and frankness. Fisher seldom astonishes or dazzles his readers, but he invariably charms and persuades. He had no difficulty in showing that in the interpretation of Holy Writ, many, though endowed with fine abilities, had been deceived; that like errors and like falls might again occur; so that a judge was essentially necessary to interpret the sense of the divine word, provided that the word could not, per se, resolve the difficulties to which it had given risen. Now this judge is TRADITION, which has spoken from

age to age to our own days, and whose voice, like the light of the sun, will

(c) Erasmi Epist. LX., 30.

(d) D. George Thomas Rudhart, Thomas Morus.

(e) Roper. More. Hoddesdon. - Biog.

Britan.

на

never cease until the end of the world. "Truth is one, and you have not unity and to prove that you have no unity, I ask you, Luther, to wait till the morrow. Tomorrow will rise in your church, and perhaps near your own cell a Lucifer will come into existence, who will convict you of error and falsehood."(a) The reply of Sir Thomas More was expected with impatience. Unfortunately, that great scholar, instead of using that fine reasoning power with which he had been gifted, preferred employing a low spirit of sarcastic raillery, and by trying to imitate Luther, only lowered himself; for the language used by the apostate monk was natural to him, whereas More only affected it. (b) We should

(a) The principal propositions of Fisher are as follow:

1. It is most evident that many who have trusted to their own skill in interpreting holy Scriptures have grossly erred.

2. It may happen at any time that a man who relies on interpretations of Scripture may fall into error.

3. Whenever any controversy arises with regard to Scripture, or Catholic truth, it is desirable that there should be some judge to settle the matter.

4. Every controversy, which thus arises, cannot be decided by means of holy Scripture alone.

5. On this account, the Holy Ghost was sent to remain for ever with the Church, that when such errors should arise, the Church might know the true doctrine on the subject.

6. The Holy Ghost has hitherto used, and will always use the tongues of the orthodox Fathers for the extirpation of heresy, and the instruction of the Church in such doubtful cases.

7. It is manifest that whoever does not receive the orthodox Fathers despises the Holy Ghost, and has it not in him.

8. If the Spirit have spoken much to the edification of the Church by the mouths of the Fathers, much more has he spoken in the general councils.

9. Although apostolic traditions are nowhere delivered in holy Scripture, yet they must be observed by all true Christians.

10. Besides these traditions, no Christian should reject the customs received by the universal Church.-Fisher's Works.

(b) The following passage is from Sir Thomas More's work:-Verum si ad istum, quo cœpit, modum scurrari pergat, si grassari calumniâ, nugari stultitiâ, insanire dementiâ, scurrilitate ludere, nec aliud in ore gestare quam santinas et cloacas, latrinas, merdas, stercora; faciant quod volunt alii; nos ex tempore capiemus consilium, velimus, ne sic bacchantem ex ejus tractare virtutibus et coloribus suis depingere, an furiosum fraterculum

indeed have pitied Sir Thomas More, but more especially Henry, whose different talents he applauds so enthusiastically,(c) had the entire work resembled those pages in which the writer yielded to the excitement of the moment. He occasionally remembers that nature had not inade him a buffoon, and then he displays his natural good sense. In reply to Luther's assertion, that nothing ought to be admitted as true, except it can be proved by Holy Writ, More inquires, "Why then do you adinit the virginity of Mary, as it is not mentioned in Holy Writ?"

Two years had elapsed. Luther saw that he could not hope for the diffusion of his new doctrine in England without Henry's aid; for at each port in the island, Henry had strictly forbidden the importation of his translation of the Bible. Then Luther forgot what he had said at Worms: "If my doctrine be from God, it will live," as also his mighty God, who would protect him against the snares of Satan, the bear and lioness who would defend him against that miserable sophist Lee; and the worm of the tomb whom they call Harry, and Buckingham's blood with which the usurper had smeared his shield.(d) The monk (prostrated himself at the feet of a prince who had profaned the crown of Christ with his spittle. He humbled himself in the dust before a Papist, whose brains he had sworn to throw to the dogs. He bowed in low humiliation before a hog of a Thomist whom he had desired to annihilate. Luther acknowledged that he had been urged on by an evil genius while writing his letter against the King of England. He scarcely dare raise his eyes, he a worm of the earth, dust and ashes, to look at so renowned a sovereign.

He implores on his knees, lying at Henry's feet, for pity and pardon by the glory and

et latrinarium nebulonem, cum suis furiis et furoribus, cum suis merdis et stercoribus cacantem cacatumque relinquere.-Biog. Brit.

(c) It much vexes that rascal that the great learning of his majesty in many branches of study, and especially in divinity, is well known and celebrated abroad as well as at home.Thomæ Mori Angli Opera.

(d) Luther Contra Henricum.