[574] Salutatis patronis et amicis qui eum frequentissimi convenerunt.... (L. Op. Lat. ii, p. 168.) Having saluted his patrons and friends, who called upon him in great numbers. [575] Horat. Od. lib. iii, 3. They wished once more, perhaps for ever, to bid adieu to this intrepid monk. Luther took a frugal meal. Now he must take leave of his friends, and flee far from them under a sky surcharged with storms. He wished to pass this solemn moment in the presence of God. He lifted up his soul and blessed those who were around him.[576] Ten in the morning having struck, Luther quitted the hotel with the friends who had accompanied him to Worms. Twenty gentlemen on horseback surrounded his carriage. A great crowd accompanied him beyond the walls. The imperial herald, Sturm, rejoined him some time after at Oppenheim, and the following day they reached Frankfort. [576] Seine Freunde gesegnet. (Mathesius, p. 27.) [Sidenote: JOURNEY FROM WORMS. LUTHER TO CRANACH.] CHAP. XI. Luther's Departure--Journey from Worms--Luther to Cranach--Luther to Charles V--Luther with the Abbot of Hirschfeld--The Curate of Eisenach--Several Princes leave the Diet--Charles signs Luther's Condemnation--The Edict of Worms--Luther with his parents--Luther attacked and carried off--The ways of God--Wartburg--Luther a Prisoner. Luther having thus escaped from these walls of Worms, which threatened to become his tomb, his whole heart gave glory to God. "The devil himself," said he, "guarded the citadel of the pope. But Christ has made a large breach in it; and Satan has been forced to confess that the Lord is mightier than he."[577] [577] Aber Christus macht ein Loch derein. (L. Op. (L.) xvii, p. 589.) "The day of the Diet of Worms," says the pious Mathesius, the disciple and friend of Luther, "is one of the greatest and most glorious days given to the world before its final close."[578] The battle fought at Worms re-echoed far and wide, and while the sound travelled over Christendom, from the regions of the North to the mountains of Switzerland, and the cities of England, France, and Italy, many ardently took up the mighty weapon of the Word of God. [578] Diss ist der herrlichen grossen Tag einer vorm Ende der Welt (p. 28.)