Nor was the voice of the reformer lifted up in vain. The new opinions found supporters in almost every kingdom of Europe. In Switzerland, Ulric Zuinglius, a man of a republican spirit, attacked the ancient su perstition, with a courage by no means inferior to that of Luther himself. The elector Saxony was the pa tron of the Reformation. Most of the Prussian princes joined with the elector. The edict of Worms, which was unfavourable to Luther, could not be executed. At the same diet in which the edict alluded to was pro nounced, it was resolved, that every secular prince should manage the ecclesiastical affairs of his own do minions, as he himself should judge to be most proper. till the meeting of a general council. We must off n. however, that, at a subsequent diet, this wholesome re• solution was reversed ; but we must not fail to state, that against the sentence of reversal, the elector 01 Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, the marquis of Bran denburg!), together with the princes of Lunenburgh and Anhalt, and the representatives of fourteen Imperial cities, entered their most solemn protest. They declar• ed the sentence to be unjust as well as impious. From the circumstance of protesting on the part of the princes and representatives, mentioned above, the name of Pno? TrArAttrrs had its origin ; a name since applied to all the variety of sects which have withdrawn, upon any account, from the communion of Rome. The sacred scriptures were translated into the German tongue, and were read with astonishing avidity. Melancthon, who had assisted Luther in the translation, drew up the conciliatory creed, entitled the " Confession of Augs burg." The league of Smalcalde was formed, and the Protestant states were united into a regular body. The Helvetic cantons, under the auspices of the famous John Calvin, proclaimed aloud their determined hosti lity to the rites and ceremonies of the papal institute. The secret friends of the Reformation abounded in France, Spain, Hungary, Bohemia, and the Nether lands. And to crown the whole, King Henry V111. of England, after writing in defence of the papacy, and obtaining from the holy see the title of " Defender of the Faith," suddenly deserted the cause which he had espoused, and commenced a rough and hasty, but ef fectual reformation throughout his dominions, dethron ing the pope, and with blustering magnanimity, sub stituting himsql in his place.
Still, however, the enemies of the Reformation were both numerous and powerful. A very great proportion of the European princes remained attached to the an cient system; some of them from religious considera tions, and others from motives of interest or policy. Among the last class we must reckon the Emperor Charles V. It was in opposition to this monarch that the league of Smalcalde was formed ; and during a considerable part of his reign he was engaged in open war with the Protestant leaders. The sovereigns of France, Spain, and Portugal, continued to acknow ledge the powers of the holy see. All the Italian states remained submissive to the pope. The numbers on both sides were great ; the interests jarring, yet weighty ; but the strength of argument, and the power of elo quence and of truth, belonged chiefly to the Protestants. They rejoiced in the exercise of their faculties, emanci pated and enlarged; they published their opinions, and challenged investigation. True religion is ever friend ly to inquiry ; it is error alone that hastens to hide itself in darkness. Every new discovery which was made
in the arts, or in the sciences, and every copy of the holy scriptures that was printed, conveyed additional light to the understanding, and gave additional vigour to the champions of reformation.
In this of affairs, and when religious dis putes were about to be settled by an appeal to arms, the council of Trent was unexpectedly convoked. I' was summoned by the authority of the pope, and sat down, at the place from which it takes its name, in the year 1545. Strange as it may appear, the Catholics Ivere now the most forward in demanding a general council; and those oecumenical assemblies, which in the preceding ages were the terror and the abhorrence of the popes, were at length convoked, if not with greater ala crity, at least with fewer objections. The weakness of human nature had been duly estimated. The court of Rome, always intriguing in its character, and rendered dextrous by long practice in affairs, perceived that ge. neral councils might be influenced and managed as well as other bodies of men. It was easy to throw difficul ties in the way, and make it disagreeable or inconve nient for the Protestant leaders to attend ; some of the members might be flattered into acquiescence, and others overawed. Bribes were to be tried in the first instance, and if these were found to be unavailing, threatenings might be employed.
But the cause of Protestantism, identified as we must conceive it to be with that of true religion, suffered about this time in a very different way. Luther, the great father of the Reformation, died at Eislebcn in Sax ony, on the 18th of February 1546. His health had for some time been declining, and his constitution, na turally strong, was exhausted with incessant study, and that agitation of mind to which controversy almost ne cessarily gives rise. To a zealous regard for truth, he added an apostolical intrepidity in its defence. His manners were pure, perhaps even austere ; his diet was plain; his whole mode of living characterized by a pri mitive simplicity. Ile knew nothing, and wished to know nothing, of the elegancies which belong to culti vated society : he was satisfied with the emoluments of his professorship, and left the preferments and honours of the church entirely to his disciples. Upright in his intentions, and fair and direct in all his conduct, no man could justly charge him with duplicity ; he disdained the crooked artifices of little minds; but his zeal was often excessive, his temper inflexible and haughty, and his language, especially in controversy, contemptuous and coarse. Yet there was, in this coarseness, a barbaric strength ; and such was the power of his opposition, that it was not safe for any one who valued himself upon his literary reputation, to awaken him into rage. His piety was very great and sincere ; and, in his last moments, he discoursed to his friends of the happiness of heaven, with a fervour and delight which could result from no thing but a well-grounded hope of immortality. He left a character to be imitated almost in every thing but the excess of his zeal : nor will the friend of genuine Christi anity, of literature, or of liberty, ever mention his name, but with the gratitude and reverence which are due to the benefactors of mankind.