[Sidenote: LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET.] At length the doors of the hall being opened, Luther entered, and many persons not belonging to the Diet made their way in along with him. Never had man appeared before an assembly so august. The emperor Charles V, whose dominions embraced the old and the new world; his brother, the Archduke Ferdinand; six electors of the empire, whose descendants are now almost all wearing the crown of kings; twenty-four dukes, the greater part of them reigning over territories of greater or less extent, and among whom are some bearing a name which will afterwards become formidable to the Reformation (the Duke of Alva, and his two sons); eight margraves; thirty archbishops, bishops, or prelates; seven ambassadors, among them those of the kings of France and England; the deputies of ten free towns; a great number of princes, counts, and sovereign barons; the nuncios of the pope; in all, two hundred and four personages. Such was the court before which Martin Luther appeared. This appearance was in itself a signal victory gained over the papacy. The pope had condemned the man; yet here he stood before a tribunal which thus far placed itself above the pope. The pope had put him under his ban, debarring him from all human society, and yet here he was convened in honourable terms, and admitted before the most august assembly in the world. The pope had ordered that his mouth should be for ever mute, and he was going to open it before an audience of thousands, assembled from the remotest quarters of Christendom. An immense revolution had thus been accomplished by the instrumentality of Luther. Rome was descending from her throne, descending at the bidding of a monk. Some of the princes seeing the humble son of the miner of Mansfeld disconcerted in presence of the assembly of kings, kindly approached him; and one of them said, "_Fear not them who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul._" Another added, "_When you will be brought before kings it is not you that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you._"[511] Thus, the Reformer was consoled in the very words of his Master, by the instrumentality of the rulers of the world. [511] Einige aus denen Reichs-Gliedern sprachen Ihm einen Muth, mit Christi Worten ein ... (Matthew, x, 20, 28. Seckend. p. 348.) During this time, the guards were making way for Luther, who advanced till he came in front of the throne of Charles V. The sight of the august assembly seemed for a moment to dazzle and overawe him. All eyes were fixed upon him. The agitation gradually calmed down into perfect silence. "Don't speak before you are asked," said the marshal of the empire to him and withdrew. [Sidenote: THE CHANCELLOR'S ADDRESS AND LUTHER'S REPLY.]