After a moment of solemn stillness, John of Eck, the chancellor of the Archbishop of Trèves, a friend of Aleander, and who must not be confounded with the theologian of the same name, rose up and said, in a distinct and audible voice, first in Latin and then in German, "Martin Luther, his sacred and invincible imperial Majesty has cited you before his throne, by the advice and counsel of the States of the holy Roman empire, in order to call upon you to answer these two questions: First, Do you admit that these books were composed by you?"--At the same time the imperial orator pointed to about twenty books lying on the table in the middle of the hall in front of Luther--"I did not exactly know how they had procured them," says Luther, in relating the circumstance. It was Aleander who had taken the trouble. "Secondly," continued the chancellor, "do you mean to retract these books and their contents, or do you persist in the things which you have advanced in them?" Luther, without hesitation, was going to reply in the affirmative to the former question, when his counsel, Jerôme Schurff, hastily interfering, called out, "Read the titles of the books."[512] The chancellor going up to the table read the titles. The list contained several devotional works not relating to controversy. [512] "Legantur tituli librorum." (L. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 588.) After the enumeration, Luther said, first in Latin, and then in German. "Most gracious Emperor! Gracious Princes and Lords! "His imperial Majesty asks me two questions. "As to the first, I acknowledge that the books which have been named are mine: I cannot deny them. "As to the second, considering that is a question which concerns faith and the salvation of souls, a question in which the Word of God is interested, in other words, the greatest and most precious treasure either in heaven or on the earth,[513] I should act imprudently were I to answer without reflection. I might say less than the occasion requires, or more than the truth demands, and thus incur the guilt which our Saviour denounced when he said, '_Whoso shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father who is in Heaven_.' Wherefore, I pray your imperial Majesty, with all submission, to give me time that I may answer without offence to the Word of God." [513] Weil dies eine Frage vom Glauben und der Seelen Seligkeit ist, und Gottes Wort belanget ... (Ibid.) [Sidenote: ALARMING REPORT.]