5. LUTHER UNDER THE BAN. A presentiment had told Elector Frederick the Wise what would come, and therefore he had sheltered the steadfast confessor from the brewing storm. On the 26th of May already an imperial order appeared which is known as the Edict of Worms. By it the ban of the empire was proclaimed against Luther and all who would protect him. It declared: "Whereas Luther, whom we had invited to appear before us at Worms, has stubbornly retained his well-known heretical opinions, therefore, with the unanimous consent of the electors, princes, and estates of the empire, we have determined upon the execution of the bull as a remedy against this poisonous pest, and we now command everyone under pain of the imperial ban from the 14th day of this month of May not to shelter, house, nor give food or drink to aforesaid Luther, nor succor him by deed or word, secretly or publicly, with help, adherence, or assistance, but take him prisoner wherever you may find him, and send him to us securely bound. Also, to overpower his adherents, abettors, and followers, and to appropriate to yourselves and keep their possessions. Luther's poisonous books and writings are to be burned and in every way annihilated." 6. OPINIONS ON LUTHER'S DISAPPEARANCE. Luther's sudden disappearance caused great excitement everywhere in Germany. His friends mourned him as dead, murdered by his enemies. His opponents rejoiced and spread the lie that the devil had carried him off. A Roman Catholic wrote to the Archbishop of Mayence: "We now have our wish, we are rid of Luther; but the people are so aroused that I fear we will hardly be able to save our lives unless we hunt him with lighted torches and bring him back." The celebrated painter Albrecht Duerer of Nuremberg, who from the beginning had rejoiced at Luther's words as the lark rejoices at the golden dawn of day, wrote in his diary: "Whether he still lives, or whether they have murdered him, I do not know; he has suffered this for the sake of Christian truth, and because he reproved antichristian popery. O God, if Luther is dead, who henceforth will purely preach to us the holy Gospel?"