Instead of one orator, there were now two. Spandemayer, a priest of the order of the Holy Ghost, a learned man, encouraged by the favorable reception of the Gospel, began to lift up his voice; and these two men, strengthening one another, said boldly—‘The true Christian doctrine has not been preached since the days of the Apostles. All those whom the church has decried as heretics were true Christians. All the popes of Rome have been antichrists; and those who trust in their own works are hypocrites, who thereby close to themselves the way of salvation.’ The two ministers rejected fasts, distinction of meats, monastic vows, and the mass. The churches were cleared of the vain ornaments which had till this time been exhibited in them; a plain table took the place of the high altar; and the Lord’s Supper was observed there in a simple manner. All the inhabitants of this important town soon professed the evangelical faith. The monks, however, had still their own churches, from which, as from fortresses, they stoutly contended against Reform. The Franciscans especially were unwearied in the contest. Claus determined to attack them in their own entrenchments. He went one day into their church at the time of vespers; entered the pulpit, and there proclaimed the truth, and fought against monachism. Is not this system the sink in which the most crying abuses come together? Are not the compulsory vows, idleness, sensuality and, above all, scandalous licentiousness, the impure waters which run into this reservoir? A Franciscan who heard him entered the pulpit immediately afterwards and endeavored to refute him. Hardly had he concluded when Claus began again. This singular contest lasted through the rest of the day, nor was the mouth of either of the champions closed by the blows which they struck at each other.[266] The two ministers preached, with ever-increasing earnestness, that it is neither masses, nor vows, nor fast-days, nor the administration of the Romish sacrament, nor meritorious works, that save the sinner; but faith alone in the Saviour who takes away our sins and changes our hearts. The archbishop of Lund, Aage Sparre, being much incensed, summoned the two preachers before him to give account of their proceedings. He awaited them day after day, but in vain. At length, his patience was exhausted, and he betook himself to Malmoe, determined to reduce to silence these insolent priests who did not submit to his orders. ‘These heretics,’ he said to the magistrates, ‘allege that man is saved by faith alone; that there is a universal priesthood which belongs to all Christians, women included. They celebrate the mass in both kinds, and cannot fail to draw down on themselves the vengeance of the Almighty.’[267]