A miner of Schneeberg, meeting a seller of indulgences, asked, "Must we indeed give credit to what you have often said of the power of the indulgence, and of the authority of the pope, and believe it possible, by throwing a penny into the box, to ransom a soul from purgatory?" The merchant assured him it was true. "Ah!" resumed the miner, "what an unmerciful man the pope must be, for a paltry penny to leave a miserable soul so long crying in the flames. If he has no ready money, let him borrow some hundred thousand crowns, and deliver all these people at once. We poor folks will willingly pay him both the interest and the capital." Thus Germany was weary of the shameful traffic which was going on in the midst of her, and could no longer tolerate the impostures of these master-swindlers of Rome, as Luther calls them.[337] Yet no bishop, no theologian, durst oppose their quackery and their fraud. The minds of men were in suspense, and asked whether God would not raise up some mighty man for the work which required to be done? This man nowhere appeared. [337] "Fessi erant Germani omnes, ferendis explicationibus, nundinationibus, et infinitis imposturis Romanensium nebulonum." (Luth. Op. Lat. in Præf.) All the Germans were weary with the windings, traffickings, and endless impostures of Roman spendthrifts. CHAP. III. Leo X--Necessities of the Pope--Albert--His Character--Favours the Indulgences--The Franciscans and the Dominicans. The pope then on the pontifical throne was not a Borgia but Leo X, of the illustrious house of Medici. He was able, frank, kind, and gentle. His address was affable, his liberality without bounds, and his morals, superior to those of his court. Cardinal Pallavicini, however, acknowledges that they were not altogether irreproachable. To this amiable character he joined several of the qualities of a great prince. He showed himself friendly to science and art. The first Italian comedies were represented in his presence; and there are few of his day which he did not see performed. He was passionately fond of music. Musical instruments resounded every day in his palace; and he was often heard humming the airs which had been performed before him. He was fond of magnificence, and spared nothing when fêtes, games, theatricals, presents or rewards, were in question. No court surpassed that of the sovereign pontiff in splendour and gayety. Accordingly, when it was learned that Julian Medicis was proposing to reside at Rome with his young bride, "God be praised," exclaimed Cardinal Bibliena, the most influential counsellor of Leo X, "the only thing we wanted was a female court."[338] A female court was necessary to complete the court of the pope. To religious sentiment Leo was completely a stranger. "His manners were so pleasing," says Sarpi, "that he would have been perfect if he had had some acquaintance with religious matters, and been somewhat more inclined to piety, which