What tended also to pave the way for the reformation, was the rage which at that time prevailed among the learned for Grecian literature and the Pagan my thology. The barbarous latinity of the middle ages gave way to the refined beau ties of poetry and classical learning. The paganism of Cicero, and the beauties of Virgil, were made to illustrate and adorn the sublime mysteries of the Christian faith ; and Jupiter, Apollo, and Diana, were deemed fit representatives of the persons of the Blessed Trinity, and lumi nous illustrations of Christian platonism. The doctrine of atonement, by the suf ferings of Christ, was explained and en forced by the examples of the Decii and of Curtius ; of Cecrops, Menzecius, and Iphigenia ; of Socrates and Phocion ; of Epaminondas, Scipio, and Aristides. The doctrines and practices of Paganism be ing thus honoured by the ministers of the church, no wonder that the poets, par ticularly Pontano, Sanazzaro, and Marul lus, should constantly endeavour to adorn even their sacred poems with a refer ence to the mythology of Greece and Rome.
With this mixture of Paganism and Christianity, the mysteries of the Platonic philosophy were incorporated. Those refinements of the Platonists, which were so ingeniously infused into the devotion of Lorenzo de Medici, were propagated among the learned by the labours of Mar silio Picini:), of Pico of Nfirandula, of his nephew Cian-Francesco, of Girolamo Benivieni, and others.
The liberties thus taken with the Chris tian faith, and with the peculiar dogmas of the Romish church, naturally begat a degree of scepticisrh in the minds of those by whom they were indulged ; and from them it spread, more or less, over the minds of the multitude, and prepared the way for a general reformation in the creed and discipline of the church.
At length the danger arising from these unbounded speculations became too evi dent to pass any longer unnoticed ; ac cordingly, in the eighth session of the Council of the Lateran, several decrees were passed, tending to restrain ecclesi astical students in their pursuits relative to poetry and philosophy ; but these re straints and prohibitions were made too late : a spirit of speculation and research had gone abroad, and it was not to be checked by decrees and councils, fulmi nations and threats.
In addition to the causes of the refor mation which we have just enumerated, there were others more obvious, which are said to have been " the long schism of the Church of Rome in the fourteenth century ; the misconduct of Alexander VI. and of Julius IL ; the encroachments of the clergy on the rights of the laity ; the venality of the Roman court ; and above all, perhaps, the general progress of liberal studies, and the happy inven tion of the art of printing." The spirit of Inquiry, aided by the light of science and the invention of printing, had more or less diffused it self over the minds of Christians in every part of Europe ; but no where had this spirit more successfully made its approaches than in Saxony. Intoxi
cated with the luxury, and dazzled with the magnificence of the Roman court, the Italians satisfied themselves with ridicul ing the vices of the church in poems and visions ; but took no effectual steps to wards bringing about a reformation. They consoled themselves with the reflection, that though their chief city was the seat of vice and debauchery, it was also the residence of the supreme head of the church, the great depository of riches, the scene of pomp and grandeur, and the nursery of the fine arts. The magnifi cence of ancient ruins, the number of re ligious edifices, and the splendour of crowded processions, gave a sort of dig nity and importance to the city of the Caesars, and superseded pure devotion and simple prayers ; while a religion which captivated the senses of the Italians, lulled their vices, and caused them to think reformation less needful than it was. In Saxony, however, the case was different. This hardy race of men had never been corrupted by luxury. Almost the last to embrace the doctrines of the Christian faith, when they were compell ed by Charlemagne to become Christians, they soon embraced the gospel with sin cerity and simplicity. They had, with the profession of popery, preserved their principles in a great degree free from the evils with which that system of religion had been attended in other countries. They were papists ; but popery was not the whole of their religion when, there fore, the corruptions of the church were brought before their view, they first de spised, then abhorred, and at last forsook them. They had always been impatient under the Roman yoke, and were fully ripe for a reformation which promised them freedom of thought and the full ex ercise of natural liberty. The revival of literature, which manifested itself in Italy by the fine arts, the enjoyments of taste, and the classical beauties of ancient Greece and Rome, operated on the minds of the sober and active Saxons in the cul tivation of metaphysics, philosophy, and history. When, therefore, the reforma tion broke forth, the Saxon theologians were more than a match for the Italian poets, painters, and platonists. Ariosto and Luther were very different charac ters : To the one the world is indebted for a diffusion of the true spirit of poetry ; to the other, that of piety, and the right of private judgment in matters of faith and worship. It was reserved for the bold and enterprising genius of Luther to unloose the trammels by which the minds of men had been so long fettered ; to open the prison doors to those that were bound ; to silence by scripture and argument the thunders of the Vatican ; and to assure the world, that the human mind is naturally free.