The question above referred to was one of breadth and generality. There were others, however, of a more particular nature; and some, if not very important in the result, were sufficiently amusing in the enunciation. Of these last the .following are instances : " Can an an gel pass from one extreme to another, without travelling 'through the 'middle space ? When a man leads a pig to market, ny means of a rope, is the pig led by the man or by the rope ? (This question was propounded in a dispute about causes.) Is a Negro black 0.1' white ? (answer, he is white secundum quid, that is, in relation to his teeth.) Other questions entertained in the schools were impious and blasphemous in the highest degree. We shall men tion a few of these in the language in which they were originally proposed. An possibile fuit habere !Variant, (:lures flios, unica generatione, qud genuerit verbum ? An Maria dormiendo, habuerit usum rationis? An fuerit apostolorum apostola, et omnium artium neechanicarunt perita ? An in statu innocenties, (squalls numerics fitturus fuisset, virorum et mulierum ? An passeres, et alia bruta eccicsiam ffdantia liceat excomnzunicarc ? possit baft tizari aliquis, in laxivio, mulso, jure carnium, brodio piscium, urinci? An teneat baptismus, st conferatur in nomine Diaboli? Utrum naturant mulieris, asini, serf:en tis, vel columb& Christus debuerit ant potuerit assumere? An ha ac similes proPositiones, Deus est upupa, est scara &ens, ague sint possibiles atque ilia, Deus eet home ? An pontifes Ronzanus, sit Deus, an home, an ex utroque unum? From these questions, it will appear, that a formation was no less necessary in the schools than it was in the church.
The History of the Church of Christ, from the .Era of the Reformation (inclusive) about the Year 1545 to the present Time.
IN the year 1517, John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, be gan to publish indulgences in Germany, and to offer them for sale. He was employed by Albert, elector of Metz and archbishop of Magdeburg ; and Albert him self was the immediate agent of Leo X. whose profuse munificence had exhausted the papal treasury, and in duced him to replenish it by the most unjustifiable means. The indulgences in question were plenary, in the high est sense of the word ; for Tetzel proclaimed the com plete remission of sins, whether past, or present, or future, to all who could pay the stipulated sum. He who had money, or who had interest enough to borrow it, might transgress with impunity every precept of the decalogue, and set the justice of heaven at defiance. With an absolution already in his possession, nothing but the punishments of the civil magistrate could restrain him from committing the most atrocious wickedness ; and, by the usurpations of the ecclesiastical courts, the number even of heinous crimes which fell within the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate was exceedingly small. The church, or, more correctly speaking, the pope, reigned triumphant; the 7rerogativ-zi of the Su preme Judge was violated and destroyed; and the thun derbolt of the divine wrath snatched from the hand of Omnipotence. All morality was relaxed—all govern ment weakened—and all subordination and obedience appeared likely to cease ; and the pernicious tendency of the doctrine was surpassed by nothing but the shame less impudence of Tetzel, and his associates, who pub lished the indulgences, and magnified their value. The lives, too, of these unblushing apostles, corresponded with the nature of their mission; they often squandered, in low debauchery, the money which had been given by the pious and the simple, in the hope of obtaining ever lasting happiness ; and such was the perception of their worthlessness, and general opinion of their character, that even those who purchased the indulgences were ashamed to be seen in the company of the persons who sold them. The princes and great lords were provoked to find their subjects drained of their wealth, in order to supply the profusion of the sovereign pontiff ; men of reflection, superior to the times in which they lived. marked the deep ignorance of the age; and men of learning anticipated a brighter era, or hailed the indica tions of its approach.
In these circumstances, it seemed good to the provi dcnce of Almighty God, to scatter the darkness, to Ind a stop to the accumulating corruption, to awaken n. quirt', and restore tho intellect of man to its exercise and strength. The dominion of imposture, and the des potism of Rome, were 110 NV to be shaken. At the junc ture of affairs which we have described above, there arose in Germany, the celebrated Mai tin Luther, a man of humble extraction, but endowed with penetration, with learning, and with courage, far beyond the propor tion which falls to the lot of ordinary mortals. IIc was
a native of Eisleben in Sixony, and in early life had en tered a convent of the Augustine friars. Being speedily distinguished, on account of his piety, his love of know ledge, and unwearied application, he was appointed by Frederic the Wise, Elector of Saxony, to teach philoso phy and theology in the university of Wittenberg. The prince just mentioned had lately founded the university, and was anxious to fill it with men who were celebrated for their learning.
Nothing is more certain, than that he who teaches others must first be taught himself. When knowledge is disseminated through the world, it is taken for grant ed, that some individual mind has previously been in structed. It would be gratifying, therefore, if we had it in our power, to ascertain the endeavours and ap proximations, in consequence of which Luther's own sentiments were formed. It would be interesting as a philosophical inquiry, and it would be most satisfactory to the readers of ecclesiastical history, could we trace the steps by which this extraordinary individual was led to call in question the truth of the prevailing opinions, —to resist the authority of the pope—and to expose the insufficiency of his pretensions. But, whatever Other helps Luther might have used, there is reason to be lieve, that his sentiments were formed, in a very great degree, by the perusal of the holy scriptures themselves. He drew his knowledge from the original source, pure and living; lie sought Christianity in her first estate, and discovered her in all her native simplicity and beau ty. There lay in an obscure corner of his monastery a neglected copy of the New Testament, to which his at tention was casually directed ; and having once begun to read in it, he commenced the study of the inspired volume, with all the eagerness and perseverance which belonged to his character. What must have been his emotio: s, when he contrasted the simplicity of the pri mitive institute, with the presumptuous pomp of the hierarchy and the papacy; and placed in opposition to one another, the humble follower of Jesus, and the mighty monarch, who reigned uncontrolled over the understandings and the consciences of men ! What must have been his feelings, when he marked the terms or acceptance with God, as those terms are proposed to us in the sacred books, and bethought himself, for a mo ment, of the penances, and relics, and the intercession of the saints, and works of supererogation, and indul gences. and all the solemn trilling and elaborate mum mery, by which the Church of Rome directed her vota ries on the way to heaven! How different the language of inspiration, " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt he saved," and the language of the papal bulls, and even of the councils of Christendom ! At first, Luther contented himself with a bold and chement opposition to Tctzcl and the Dominicans. He declaimed against indulgences, in all the power of his eloquence, from the pulpit of the great church at Wn tenburg ; pointed out, with bitter reprehension, the vt= cious lives of the monks, their injustice, extortion, and vulgar debauchery; and, adopting already the first prin ciple of Protestantism, he warned the people of their danger, in trusting for pardon and acceptance with hea ven, to any other means than those which God had ap pointed in his word. The pope, he said, might unques tionably remit the penances which he had himself im posed, (.r dispense with the ceremonies ordained by the church; but it belonged to the Supreme Judge, and to hint alone, to forgive the transgressions of the moral law. To the pope, he acknowledged that he owed all submission; and he even spoke of referring the question at issue between hint and his antagonists, to the decision of the sovereign pontiff. From this, it is evident, that the sentiments of Luther, with regard to the powers of the papacy, were not yet mature; and had Leo X. con ducted himself on the present occasion with the prudence often displayed by the successors of St Peter, the dispute might either have been terminated among the combatants themselves, or left undecided altogether; and historians would have handed it down to us as nothing more than a contest between certain ecclesiastics in Germany, scarce ly deserving of particular notice. But the temper of Leo appears to have been violent, and his cause was ra dically bad : by threats and ferocious dogmatism, he roused the courage and sharpened the acuteness of the reformer, induced him to prosecute his inquiries, and in the end gave occasion to that memorable rupture, which has rent asunder the Christian church, and shaken, even in its own estimation, the supremacy of the holy see.